lioijal Socicly. 535 



combine their actions wiiii that of ll)e lower dinsion of tlie ptrtoral 

 muscle. 



This diversified adaptation of parts, he observes, forms the chief 

 cliaracteristic of the mechanism of Nature. Operating with unlimited 

 means, she yet works with scrupulous economy: in all her structures 

 no power is redundant, nor a single advantage lost: so that, how- 

 ever completely an arrangement may be subservient to one primary 

 purpose, we find, on renewed examination, an equally accurate ad- 

 justment to various secondary and no less important ends. 



The author then proceeds to inquire into the methods employed 

 for determining the absolute and relative strength of muscles ; and 

 proposes, for that purpose, the application of the constant and equable 

 stream of galvanism aftorded by the new battery invented by Mr. 

 Daniel). 



10. "An Experimental Inquiry into what takes place during the 

 Vinous, the Acetous, and diflferenl Putrefactive Fermentations of 

 dissolved Vegetable Matter j and an Examination of some of the Pro- 

 ducts." By Robert Rigg, Esq. Communicated by P. M. Roget, M.D., 

 Sec. R.S. 



The author describes with great minuteness a long train of experi- 

 ments on the subjects announced in the title of the paper. His first 

 object of inquiry is into the nature of the changes which take place 

 during the vinous fermentation ; and the conclusion to which he 

 arrives is, that in the formation of the products resulting from this 

 process sugar is not the only vegetable principle which is decom- 

 posed, but that the changes consist in the combination of two equi- 

 valents of carbon, derived from the sugar of the malt, or other vege- 

 table matter, (= 1 2'24) with two equivalents of hydrogen from water 

 (= '!•) forming 1424 parts of olefiant gas; and in the combination 

 of one equivalent of the carbon from the sugar, &c. (= G-12) with two 

 equivalents of oxygen from water, ( = i 6) forming 22* 12 parts of car- 

 bonic acid. He thinks that, on this change taking place, the olefiant 

 gas is held in solution by the water by an affinity which can be over- 

 come, and that the foreign matter which, with the carbon, formed the 

 sugar, or other vegetable substance, is then at liberty to form new 

 combinations. He finds that the products resulting from the decom- 

 position exceed the weight of the sugar, or other vegetable matter, 

 by about 10 per cent, of the former, and from II to 12 per cent, of 

 the latter, as calculated according to the prevailing theory that sugar, 

 or vegetable matter, is the only substance decomposed during the 

 process of vinous fermentation. 



From his analysis of sugar he obtains certain proportions of water 

 and of carbonic acid which are different from those given by preceding 

 chemists, the carbonic acid being 45 to 4.5\5 per cent. His analysis 

 of alcohol gives him 59v to flO |)er cent, of olefiant gas, the remain- 

 der being water. 



His experiments on the acetous and putrefactive fermentations are 

 numerous and elaborate, and the results, which are nearly the same 

 as those of former analyses, are given in a tabular form. He finds 

 that in the acetous fermentation .57 parts by weight of olefiarit gas, 



