HYDROCARBONS. 



1. Methane; Marsh Gas. 

 CH 4 



NATURAL SOURCES. 



A PRODUCT of the bacterial fermenta- 

 tion of calcium acetate and lactate, of 

 milk-sugar, glycuronic acid, choline, 

 cellulose, albumin, &c. 



Methane fermentation is produced by 

 micro-organisms from the stomach of 

 ruminants and by bacteria occurring in 

 sewage mud. (For methane fermenta- 

 tion of calcium acetate and lactate see 

 Hoppe-Seyler, Zeit. physiol. Ch. 11, 56 1 ; 

 of milk-sugar, Baginsky, ibid. 12, 457 ; 

 of albumin, Nencki and Sieber, Monats. 

 10, 526; of choline, Hasebroek, Zeit. 

 physiol. Ch. 12, 148 ; of cellulose, Mit- 

 scherlich, Monats. d. k. Akad. d. Wis- 

 sensch. Berlin, 1850, 104 ; Popoff, 

 Pfliiger's Arch. 10, 113 ; Tappeiner, 

 Ber. 16, 1734.) The methane fermenta- 

 tion of cellulose has been erroneously 

 attributed to TrecuFs Amylobacter (Van 

 Tieghem, Comp. Rend. 88, 205 ; 89, 

 5 ; Hoppe-Seyler, Zeit. physiol. Ch. 10, 

 201 ; 401 ; 409 ; Ber. 16, 122). 



The gases of the intestinal canal, 

 which are evolved especially after a 

 pulse diet, contain methane, possibly re- 

 sulting from the bacterial fermentation 

 of cellulose (Tappeiner, Ber. 15, 999 ; 16, 

 1734; 1740 ; Zeit. Biol. 20, 52; 215; 

 24, 105), of albumin (Huge, Wien. Sit- 

 zungsber. 44, 739), and of lecithin 

 (Hasebroek, Zeit. physiol. Ch. 12, 148). 



The intestinal gases of man and 

 dogs fed on purely flesh diet also contain 

 methane (Huge and Planer, quoted by 

 Lafar, ' Technical Mycology/ 1, p. 196). 

 Methane is said to have been detected 

 in the breath of calves and of sheep 

 (Reiset, Jahresber. 1863, 638). 



According to Omeliansky (Comp. 

 Rend. 125, 1131; Ch. Centr. 1900, 1, 

 918, from Arch. Sci. Biol. St. Pet. 7, 

 411) the cellulose ferment is Bacillus 

 fermentationis cellulosa, but this does 



not give rise to methane. The latter 

 is produced towards the end of the 

 fermentation by another Bacillus, which 

 is not Amylobacter. (See also Centr. 

 Bakter. 8, 193 et seq.) Chalk is 

 essential for the production of methane 

 from cellulose (Omeliansky). 



The methane fermentation of milk- 

 sugar is caused by Bacterium lactis aero- 

 genes of Escherich = Bad. aceticum of 

 Baginsky (Zeit. physiol. Ch. 12, 461 ; 

 Emmerling, Ber. 33, 2477). The de- 

 velopment of gases, including methane, 

 by Bacillus coli communis cultivated in 

 different media has been studied by 

 Mary E. Pennington and Geo. Kiisel 

 (Am. Ch. Journ. 22, 556). 



Methane is among the gases evolved 

 during the ' sauerkraut' fermentation 

 of vegetables and of nutrient saccharine 

 solutions by Bacterium brassier acida of 

 Lehmann and Conrad (Ch. Centr. 1897, 

 1, 1098). Also among the gases evolved 

 during the putrefaction of elastin (pre- 

 pared from the ligamentum nucha of the 

 ox) by anaerobic microbes (Zoja, Zeit. 

 physiol. Ch. 23, 236). Methane is 

 evolved during the putrefaction of com- 

 pressed manure (Deherain and Dupont, 

 Ann. Agronom. 26, 273 ; also Dehe'rain, 

 Comp. Rend. 99, 45 ; and for evolution 

 of methane by anaerobic fermentation 

 of straw, Ibid. Ann. Agronom. 10, 385), 

 and is among the gases given off during 

 the fermentation which takes place in 

 indigo vats and in sugar diffusers (for 

 latter see Lafar's ' Technical Mycology/ 

 I. p. 196). Methane is among the gases 

 evolved during the putrefaction of barley 

 (Lermer, Journ. Fed. Inst. 8, 509, from 

 Zeit. ges. Brau. 25, 165). 



SYNTHETICAL PROCESSES. 



[A.] Methane is produced by the direct 

 union of carbon with hydrogen at 1200 

 (Bone and Jerdan, Trans. Ch. Soc. 71, 

 41 ; 79, 1042). The carbides of the 

 metals aluminium, beryllium, cerium, 



