THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 55 



In 1780 he discovered Lactic Acid and showed it to be the cause 

 of sour milk, as the sugar of milk is transmuted to acid: 



[Milk Sugar] [Lactic Acid] 



A Cjuarter of a century later, Lagrange and Fourcroy and 

 Vauquelin claimed that Scheele's new acid was merely impure 

 Acetic, and though Berzelius — discoverer of Sarcolactic Acid in the 

 juices of the flesh — combated this opinion, it was only in 1832, 

 when Liebig and Mitscherlich analyzed the lactates, that the mat- 

 ter was definitely settled. 



Just at present the distinguished JMetchnikofif has brought Lactic 

 Acid into extraordinary prominence. Everyone anxious to prolong 

 his visit to Mother Earth is making and drinking "buttermilk." 

 Numerous manufacturers are ofifering the Lactic Acid bacillus in 

 all forms from loose powders to compressed tablets. Suspensions 

 of the living Lactic Acid bacillus are now used in diseases of the 

 nose and throat, and in genito-urinary work. 



By boiling Milk Sugar with Nitric Acid, he obtained Mucic Acid. 

 It is a white crystalline powder, practicallv insoluble in water, and 

 on further oxidation yields Racemic Acid, an insomeric modification 

 of Tartaric Acid, first obtained artificially in 1863 by Pasteur. 



In 1781, he discovered the composition of the vitreous mineral 

 Tungsten. It has since been called Scheelite. He obtained from 

 it, Tungstic Acid, which by means of Nitric Acid is precipitated 

 as yellow crystals from solutions of tungstates. 



In 1782 he experimented with that highly volatile and inflam- 

 mable liquid, Ether. 



In 1783 Scheele boiled Olive Oil, Litharge and Water to get 

 Lead Plaster. He obtained the plaster, but noticed also a liquid 

 which was strange to him. He tasted it; it was sweet; it was 

 Glycerin ! So another important reaction was written down on 

 Scheele's scroll : 



2CA(Q3H,,0,)3 + 3PbO + 3H30= . 

 [Olive Oil] [Litharge] [Water] 



3Pb(Q,H,,0,), + 2C3H,(OH)3 

 [Lead Oleate] [Glycerin] 



This thick, oily, mawkishly sweet substance is now one of the 

 indispensible necessities of the drug-store. "Glycerin," says Rem- 

 ington, "is one of the most valuable liquids known to pharmacy." 

 If all the girls who rub Glycerin on their hands at night to keep 



