Means of desiroy'mg Insects and Caterpillars. 513 



•from this last method of proceeding have not been con- 

 firmed : on the contrary, it is completely proved, that the 

 addition of carrots gives the spirits an exquisite taste and 

 flavour. 



Chemists pretend that it is the saccharine substance which 

 causes the vinous fermentation ; that the more of this sub- 

 stance any body contains, the better adapted it is for fer- 

 mentation. The present experiments on potatoes seem to 

 prove that this assertion is not strictly correct ; for they con- 

 tain no saccharine substance, but merely starch, and yet they 

 ferment. We see in corn, that the quantity of spirits is in 

 proportion to that of the starch, or perhaps the glutinous 

 substance which it contains: wheat, for instance, which 

 contains both the one and the other, in greatest abundance, 

 yields also the greatest quantity of spirits. 



The opinion of those who assert that com in germinating 

 acquires thereby a miWness, seems to me of no weight, be- 

 cause hitherto little light has been thrown on the subject ; 

 which has not been yet exhausted by rigorous experiments 

 comparing the different kinds of grain, germinated and not 

 germinated. There are some very intelligent distillers, who 

 still doubt if a determinate quantity of grain produces a 

 greater quantity of spirits because th.?it grain has germi- 

 nated. 



XXXVIII. Means of destro7jing the Insects and Caterpillars 

 which attack Fruit Trees. By Madan Gacon Dufouu*. 



We know, by sad experience, that the husbandman has 

 every year some accidents which unexpectedly diminish or 

 destroy the produce of his ground, without having to re- 

 proach himself with any want of care or attention. 



The present year, for instance (1805), ofters a singularity 

 which I have not before perceived. In some districts the 

 cherry-tree has experienced, at the time of its blossoming, 



• From Bihliothiquc Physique Economique, No. 12, August 1805- 



O 3 colds 



