MISCELLANY. 



123 



Thus the conditions of the two phenome- 

 na are different. Again, certain fermenta- 

 tions may be arrested by oxygen at high 

 pressure ; the mycoderma of vinegar is de- 

 stroyed or killed by the action of com- 

 pressed air. Wine may be preserved from 

 acetous fermentation by submitting it to 

 compressed air. It is necessary, then, to 

 distinguish in fermentation various phenom- 

 ena belonging to chemical actions, and 

 those belonging to the action of ferments, 

 properly so called. M. Bert adds that com- 

 pressed air stops the putrefaction of meat 

 even where the latter has been impregnated 

 with putrid germs. 



Viaicalturc ia California. This was 

 the subject of a paper recently read before 

 the California Academy of Sciences by Dr. 

 James Blake. The author analyzed the 

 juice of four different varieties of grapes, 

 grown in the vineyard of the California 

 Vinicultural Society at Sonoma, viz., the 

 Zinfindel, the Reimer, the Riessling, and the 

 Mission grape. The last-named grape was 

 introduced into California by the Francis- 

 can missionaries, during the Spanish domi- 

 nation ; the others are recent importations. 

 The method of analysis was to ascertain 

 the specific gravity of the juice, which was 

 then heated, to coagulate the albuminous 

 matters, and filtered through a Bunsen 

 filter. Then the juice was brought up to 

 the original quantity, and neutralized with a 

 standard solution of potash or ammonia, so 

 as to ascertain the amount of free acid. 

 Another portion was evaporated to about 

 one-third, mixed with alcohol and ether to 

 precipitate the tartrates, and the ether and 

 alcohol distilled off from the filtered juice, 

 which was then neutralized to ascertain the 

 amount of malic acid. The amount of su- 

 gar, as indicated by the specific gravity, 

 was controlled by direct analysis of a por- 

 tion of the juice, cleared by acetate of lead, 

 by means of Fehling's copper-test. The re- 

 sult was as follows : 



The small proportion of malic acid in the 

 Mission grape explains the absence of 



aroma in the wine. The author attributes 

 the failure to make first-class wine in Cali- 

 fornia to two causes, viz. : 1. Bad quality 

 of the grapes ; 2. Injudicious choice of soil 

 for vineyards. 



" Tlie Successor of Steam." An article 

 under the above title, by Dr. H. Beins, of 

 Groningen, has appeared in the Chemical 

 News. The successor of steam is liquid 

 carbonic acid. The author says: "For 

 many years I have, with the collaboration 

 of my brother, who is director of the Neth- 

 erlands Soda Manufactory at Amsterdam, 

 considered the question, ' How to transpose 

 heat into mechanical power more advanta- 

 geously than it is done in our common 

 steam and other engines ? ' It occurred to 

 me to make an experiment to see what de- 

 gree the tension of the carbonic acid given 

 off by natrium bicarbonate would amount 

 to when heated in a closed space. We 

 were surprised and much gratified to find 

 that when natrium bicarbonate in a dry, 

 pulverized state, or in a watery solution, is 

 heated in a closed space, a part of the car- 

 bonic acid is given off and condensed in a 

 not-heated portion of that space, so that, at 

 a temperature of 300 or 400 C, liquid 

 carbonic acid can be distilled out of this 

 salt with a tension of from 50 to 60 atmos- 

 pheres." 



He then points out certain highly-im- 

 portant aspects of this fact : I. Carbonic 

 acid of high tension, and, in particular, 

 liquid carbonic acid, is an excellent motive- 

 power for small and great industries. The 

 weight of a carbonic-acid engine for ships, 

 with 100 horse - power, and combustible 

 stores for 240 hours, would be one-fifth less 

 than the weight of a steam-engine of the 

 same power. The former engine, too, will 

 occupy less space. " I have experimentally 

 found," he writes, "that a carbonic-acid 

 engine is easily constructed. Taps and 

 joints can be made to answer perfectly. A 

 year ago I filled a tube of hammered cop- 

 per with carbonic acid of 50 atmospheres, 

 and not the least loss is as yet observed. 

 Wrought metals are therefore not perme- 

 able for gases of that tension. For the great 

 industries the carbonic - acid engine can, 

 in almost every case, substitute the steam- 

 engine. For the small industries, especially 



