80 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



quires frequent cleaning from anj'thing adhering, to prevent 

 souring. 



Air being the necessary agent for fermentation, the impelling 

 of it into the *' must" is commenced at once. A slow current. of 

 air will generally prove sufficient. Tiie temperature of the air is 

 to be kept low as a general thing; only exceptional cases may 

 require it exceeding 70*^ F. ; 55*^ to 60° to be considered the aver- 

 age. 



It is impossible here to lay down a general rule for the dura- 

 tion and quantity of the impelled air; it depends on the kind of 

 "must," the weather, and locality. How^ever, it is certain that a 

 deviation from the precise quantity of air, for the production of 

 the very best wine, will be of less injurious consequence to the 

 product than the incorrect guess as to the termination of the usual 

 fermentation. It will also be preferable, toward the end of the 

 process, to impel the air not continually, but to allow some inter- 

 vals, during which the manner of clarification will permit an accu- 

 rate judgment whether the process is finished or not. 



By this plan, it is claimed, a given quantity of wine may be 

 worked with a smaller number of vats and in far less time than 

 by the usual method. The losses by various accidents, which, 

 when the time is prolonged, are liable to occur, are a yearly oft- 

 set against the cost of pump-apparatus, which will last for j'ears. 



It was formerly supposed that air should be excluded from 

 wine ; and this was done in the face of the fact known to all, that 

 it was improved by occasional changing from cask to cask. About 

 25 5'ears ago Lielng proposed that the casks be left open. This 

 did not answer the purpose, because the air came in contact with 

 the surface only of the wine. Mons. D'Heureuse says that upon 

 the first announcement of his plan it met with no encouragement. 

 He has now an ally in Mr. C. H. Frings, a well-known German 

 expert, who gives it as his opinion that this method is the only one 

 suited for American wines. The patentee considers the method 

 as adapted also to the treatment of cider, beer, and all fermented 

 liquors. — Mining and Scientijic Press. 



PRESERVATION OF WOOD. 



Mr. Sigismund Beer, of New York, at a recent meeting of the 

 American Institute, explained his new process for preserving wood. 

 The following are extracts from his patent: — 



♦'Wood freshly cut is full of sap, composed of hygroscopic and 

 very perishable organic substances. Heretofore, the idea has 

 been, in seasoning and preserving wood, to wash out these sub- 

 stances, or to chemically combine and convert them into more 

 durable compounds. Washing by steam only removes matter 

 having great affinity for water, and soluble therein, leaving 

 those that coagulate by the action of steam to fill the pores and 

 stop further action. The chemical conversion of these substances 

 is commonly produced by metallic salts, which combine with them, 

 forming insoluble compounds of more durability. But this acticju 



