THE FERMENT OF MADDER ON SUGAR. I 19 



almost impossible to bring into a state of perfect purity 

 without losing nearly the whole quantity obtained.* Were 

 the atomic weight of the acid yielded by this process much 

 higher, there might still be doubts concerning its composition 

 and identity ; but as the amount of discrepancy between the 

 calculated composition and that found by experiment does 

 not, in the case of any one of the constituents of either the 

 acid or the silver salt, correspond to more than half an equi- 

 valent,! and as the reactions of the acid agree so entirely with 

 those characteristic of succinic acid, I think there can be no 

 room for any uncertainty. 



Besides this acid, I have not been able to discover any 

 other solid product of decomposition resulting from this 

 process. Through the liquid filtered from the lead precipitate 

 containing the succinic acid I have passed sulphuretted 

 hydrogen until all the lead was precipitated, and then filtered 

 and evaporated. A sweet brown syrup was left, consisting 

 apparently of undecomposed sugar, which, though allowed to 

 stand for a length of time, yielded no trace of anything 

 crystalline. Part of this syrup being redissolved in water, 

 and the solution being again evaporated with the addition of 

 acetate of zinc, no crystals were formed, and the residue left 

 after evaporation was completely soluble in alcohol — a proof 

 of the absence of lactic acid. 



The products resulting from this process of decomposition 

 are therefore the following : — carbonic acid, hydrogen, alcohol, 

 acetic acid, and succinic acid. Of these the last-named is the 



• In order to procure the acid used for the two analyses given above, I wat 

 obliged to subject about 26 lbs. of sugar to fermentation. The time and labour 

 required to obtain a sufficient quantity of ferment for the purpose (about 100 

 quarts) are very great. 



t In the analysis of the acid given above the quantities of C, H and O are 

 to one another as 24 : 3.4 : 31.4, or expressed in numbers of equivalents as 

 4C : 3.4H : 3.90 The amount of the diflFerent constituents found in the 

 silver salt are to one another as 24 : 2.5 : 24.H : 111, or expressed in equiva- 

 lents as 4C : 2.0H : 3.10 : 0.90 Ag O. 



