360 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



quantity it is a narcotic poison. The greater intoxicating effect of 

 whisky and crude corn brandy appears to be well-known to the 

 lower class of whisky-drinkers in this country, and the consumers 

 of corn brandy in some of the northern parts of Europe. 



Spirit made from potato starch which has been converted into 

 sugar by dilute sulphuric acid is completely free from " potato 

 oil." 



Malt, which in the preparation of spirit, yields a fluid containing 

 fusel oil, affords in the formation of beer, a spirituous liquor in 

 which no trace of that oil can be detected. In brewing, the wort 

 is certainly not allowed to ferment to the full extent, from one- 

 half to three-fourths only of the sugar being conyerted into 

 alcohol, but the addition of the hops modifies the transformations 

 which take place. It is known that volatile oil of mustard and 

 the empyreumatic oils, arrest completely the action of yeast ; 

 and, although the oil of hops does not possess this property, it 

 still diminishes in a great degree the influence of decomposing 

 nitrogenous bodies on the liquid with which they are in contact, 

 and modifles the nature of the products generated. 



According to the recent researches of Perdrix,* the fusel oil 

 found in commercially prepared alcohol is formed by the action of 

 bacteria. He avers having separated from Paris water a bacillus, 

 B. amylozymicus, which ferments starch with production of amyl 

 alcohol. It is separated by cultivation on potatoes, and finally on 

 gelatin. To those who are interested in the theory of fermenta- 

 tion, this paper is particularly recommended. 



Early researches of great interest " On the phenomena of 

 Fermentation " were made known by Fownesf : results of more 

 recent and searching iuA^estigations by Pasteur, on this important 

 subject, have also been published, and are of great interest. :f 



* Journ. Cliem. Soc, Jan., 1892. 



t Pharm. Journ. [i.], 1842, a series of articles. 



J Etude sur la biere, ses maladies, causes qui les provoquent. Procede 

 pour la rendre inalterable, avec une nouvelle theorie de la fermentation, par 

 M. L. Pasteur, Chez Gaultier-Villars, Paris. Refer also to Le Moniteur 

 Scientifique Quesneville, xviii., pp. 993-1012, " Quelques observations au sujet 

 <lu deruier ouvrage de M. Pasteur ; sur la fermentation et la fabrication de la 

 Biere, par Cli. Blondeau. An elaborate paper by Dr. Max Mfercker, on the 

 manufacture of alcohol (theoretical and practical), and a paper on alcoholic 

 derivatives by Dr. Bannow, is to be found in the Moniteur Scientifique, xix., 

 pp. 995-1038. 



