NATURAL PRODUCTION OF ALCOHOL. 241 



has marked characteristics which permit it to be distinguished very 

 readily : the form of its crystals, particularly, is typical ; it is of a 

 light yellowish color, and appears under the microscope in the form 

 of six-rayed stars derived from an hexagonal prism, of precisely the 

 form of snow-crystals. The accompanying figures give photographic 

 representations of the crystals as they appear under the microscope. 

 Fig. 2 represents the crystals from pure water to which alcohol has 

 been added in the proportion of one millionth ; Fig. 3, those ob- 

 tained from rain-water ; Fig. 4, crystals from snow-water ; and Fig. 

 5, those procured from cultivated soil. M. Miintz's first experi- 

 ments were made about four years ago. He has since examined a 



Fig. 5. Crystals of loDoroRM obtained with Cui.tivated Soil. 



considerable number of samples of rain- and snow-water from Paris 

 and the country. After each distillation the apparatus has been care- 

 fully cleansed by exposing it for some time to currents of vapor, and 

 the analysis has been tested by repeating it in blank. More than 

 eighty essays have given identical results. The quantity of alcohol 

 contained in rain-, snow-, and sea-water may be estimated at from one 

 to several millionths of the whole. Cold water and snow-water seem 

 to contain a little larger proportion of it than warm water. Appreci- 

 able quantities of it are found in the water of the Seine ; and the pro- 

 portion is very sensibly increased in sewer- water. Vegetable mold 

 appears to be rich in it ; and it is probable that the natural alcohol 

 originates in the soil from the fermentation of the organic matters 

 contained in it, and is thence diffused as a vapor in the atmo- 



YOL. XIX. 16 



