PKODUCTION AND COMMERCE. 189 



indication. The objections to the fermentation process 

 are due to the small amount of alcohol produced in the 

 relatively large bulk of liquid. This renders the solution 

 liable to acetification, and the ultimate distillate obtained 

 is very weak in spirit, making it extremely diflScult to 

 obtain the correct specific gravity; the specific gravities 

 obtained were always between '998 and unity. 



" We worked as follows : — 200 grains of dried tumbeki 

 were exhausted by repeated infusion in boiling water. 

 The filtered liquid when cool was mixed with 100 grains 

 of German yeast and allowed to stand three days in a 

 warm place to ferment. 



" About one-third was then distilled, the distillate being 

 redistilled and three successive fractions of 500 fluid 

 grains collected, the alcohol in each being estimated ; the 

 third portion contained little if any spirit. 



" It being stated that basic acetate of lead removes 

 saccharoid matter from the kindred plant tobacco ; we 

 tried its action on the infusion of tumbeki. 



" At the onset it was found impossible to thoroughly 

 wash the bulky precipitate caused by the lead ; so, to 

 ensure a definite result, sufficient basic acetate of lead was 

 added to the infusion of 200 grains of tumbeki and the 

 whole made up to 30 fluid ounces with distilled water and 

 well mixed. An aliquot part (20 fluid ounces) was then 

 filtered off, excess of lead removed by sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, the sulphide filtered out, the solution boiled to 

 diive off the sulphuretted hydrogen and the infusion, 

 when cool, was fermented in the usual way. But acetic 

 acid was necessarily present from the decomposition of 

 the lead salt by the sulphuretted hydrogen, and this on 



