180 On the Germination and Fermentation 



The last solution of the barley contains no more saccha- 

 rine matter; it however experiences the acetic fermentation^ 

 is precipitated purple by gall-nuts, white by the acids and 

 the alkalis, which redissolve the precipitate, and it is preci- 

 pitated green bv the prussiate of potash. The substance 

 which thickens the different waters which had washed the 

 barley, is very analogous to the gluten of wheat. 



The above waters, heated to 60° (140° of Fahr.), become 

 muddy, deposit very abundant yellowish gray flakes, and 

 yield red pellicles, brown at their surface. These flake3 and 

 pellicles, when burnt, leave a fifth of their weight of phos- 

 phate of lime and magnesia; they do not cause the saccha- 

 rine matter to ferment. The liquor, after acquiring the con- 

 sistence of syrup by evaporation, mixed with sugar, ferments 

 no lonsrer, so that the vegeto-anhnal matter of barley, dis- 

 solved in water, or already altered by fermentation, is not 

 the ferment of sugar. 



The syrup of barley diluted in three or four parts of wa- 

 ter, and the mixtures of the precipitates and of sugar, fer- 

 mented and became sour, but without showing any appear- 

 ance of alcohol ; the vegeto-animal matter of the barley and 

 su^ar contributed to the formation of the acid. These sv- 



c J 



nips always preserved their saccharine matter and their ve- 

 geto-animal viscous matter. The sugar, being greatly dimi- 

 nished by these operations, may thus be acidified without 

 being first converted into wine, and without the contact of 

 the air. 



Bailey water thickened into syrup is brown, sweet, and 

 acid ; it is abundantly precipitated by gall-nuts, oxymuriatic 

 acid, and the alkalis. Alcohol precipitates from it a very 

 abundant brown matter, which furnishes a good deal of 

 phosphate of lime by combustion. 



These phenomena, belonging to the solution of a vegeto- 

 animal matter, explain why the vinegars produced from 

 orains are less agreeable and less decomposable than those 

 produced from wine ; and also why they precipitate by gall- 

 nuts, ammonia, and the acids, while wine vinegars do not 

 present these characteristics. We see also by this how the 

 vineear of grains is better preserved after a slight ebullition, 

 1 recommended 



