94 USE OF MUCORE^ IX THE SPIRIT INDUSTRY. 



capacity of the fungus for saccharifying starch, has, however, 

 yet been thoroughly investigated. 



Until further particulars are forthcoming, we must regai'd 

 Chlamydoiimrof ur//:ue as the piincipal agent in the diastatic 

 process that goes on in the incipient Tapej. The gradually 

 increasing quantity of sugar resulting from the activity of this 

 fungus then furnishes the desired nutrient material for yeasts, 

 which are either alread}- present in the Ragi or have found 

 their way ^through the water or from the air — into the Tapej, 

 where they reproduce freely and thus impart to this material 

 the property forming the object of its preparation : namely, to 

 quickly excite fermentation in the dilute molasses into which 

 it is introduced when ripe. Further particulars respecting the 

 yeasts in Tapej and the application of this material will be 

 given in a later section. 



The natives of Java also prepare Tapej for another purpose. 

 They express the sweet juice, allow it to thicken in the sun, 

 and pack it in small twists made of Pisang leaves. Here it 

 crystallises into crumbling masses, which are called Brem and 

 furnish a favourite sweetmeat. The composition was ascertained 

 to be in one case: dextrose, 69 per cent.; dextrin, 10.6 per 

 cent. ; ash, 1.2 per cent. ; and water, 18.7 per cent. In addi- 

 tion, Tapej is also eaten alone by the natives. 



§ 242.— The so-called Amylomyces Process. 



The Amylomyces process (or Amylo process for short) is 

 the name given to the process for the industrial utilisation of 

 the diastatic activity of Macor Rouxii and several allied fungi. 

 A company, the " Societe d'Amylo," was founded by A. Collette 

 and A. Boidin (I.), who also, in 1897, took out in the name 

 of this company a German patent for a " pi'ocess for producing 

 alcohol from starchy materials^ by means of aseptic saccharifica- 

 tion and fermentation with Mucedinece, characterised by the 

 feature that, in order to prevent the combustion of starch during 

 aseptic saccharification by means of Mucedinece, the sterilised 

 raw material, treated with water, is subjected to the passage of 

 a current of germ-free air, the material being meanwhile advan- 

 tageously kept stirred by mechanical means ; after which the 

 air supply is cut oflf and the material is pitched with yeast, 

 which, by means of the consequent I'apid liberation of cai-bon 

 dioxide, prevents the combustion of the alcohol already foi"med 

 by the Miicedinece." 



We are indebted to A. Feexbach (II.) for a lucid description 

 of the practical perfoi-mance of this process in the patentees' 

 works, the maize distillery at Seclin near Lille. Of this de- 

 scription only the main points can be reproduced here. The 

 maize, mixed with twice its own weiglit of water, is steamed for 



