THE ORIGIN OF ORGANIC MATTER 



53 



least 400 gallons of alcohol, or nearly four times as much as could be 

 obtained direct from one ton of carbide." 



For our purpose we shall confine ourselves to a brief discussion of 

 the production of alcohol through the fermentation of the products of 

 photosynthesis. This in short depends upon the hydrolysis of various 

 polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch or sucrose to monosaccharides and 

 the conversion of the latter according to the general equation, CeHiaOe -> 

 2 C2H5OH -|- 2 CO2, by means of fermentation. From the standpoint 

 of fuel the most important constituent is the carbon, of this about 66 per 

 cent is converted into alcohol, the remainder passing into the useless CO2. 

 The amount of fermentable material contained in different vegetable 

 materials varies greatly. Moreover, the cost of hydrolysis varies also 



TABLE 6 

 Alcohol Obtainable from Various Vegetable Material. 



Total Average 



Fermentable Crop Yield 95 Per cent Yield 95 Per cent 



Carbo- Yield Alcohol per Ton Alcohol per Acre 



hydrates per Acre U. S. U.S. 



Material. Per cent in Tons Gallons Liters Gallons Liters 

 CEREALS 



Wheat 65 0.5 99.6 375 50 189 



Barley 60 0.65 90 341 59 223 



Rye 64 0.4 96 i6i 38 144 



Oats 55 0.6 84 318 50 189 



Maize 67 0.7 103 390 72 273 



Sorghum grain .... 67 0.7 103 390 72 273 



Rice (cleaned) .... 76 0.43 102 386 44 167 



TUBERS 



Potatoes 17.5 6.5 25 95 164 621 



Cassava 30 9 44 167 396 1,499 



Jerusalem artichoke. 17 7 23 87 160 602 



Sweet potato 27 4 42 159 168 636 



Yam 17 5 24 91 120 454 



ROOTS 



Sugar beet 15 14 25 95 353 1,336 



Mangolds 5 20 8 31 168 636 



Sugar mangolds ... 8 20 13 49 264 999 



Sugar cane 13 15 20 76 306 1,158 



Sorghum cane 14 15 14 53 224 848 



Molasses (cane) ..58 .. 88 ?,2,i 



Molasses (beet) ... 50 .. 72 273 



TREES 

 Mowra flowers 



(dried) 50 1.3 83 314 108 400 



Nipa palm (sap)... 12 15 18 68 260 984 



Zamia palm (pith).. 13 .. 22 83 



Grass tree 



(Xanthorrhaea) .... .. 23 87 



Horse chestnuts 



and acorns .. 43 163 



Iceland and 



Reindeer moss ... 60 . . 76 288 



Sea-weed (dry) .. 34 129 



