196 LACTIC ACID B.UTLKIA IN DISTILLING. LTC. 



wort is reirarded with favour ainl its development encouraged. This applies to 



the SO-called " \\Yis.-hin-' (\\lihe l.ccr). No careful b.ic!eriolo-.ic il invest iiration 

 of the acidification process, which plays such an important part in the prepara- 

 tion of this refreshing bevei-a^* t been made. Possibly SaccharobaciUus 



paslorianus is concerned therein ; at present, however nothing definite can be 

 stated on this point. 



A considerable amount of acidity is produced in the liclgian beers known as 

 Lambic, Faro, and Mars, beverages prepared by spontaneous fermentation with- 

 out any addition of yeast. The boiled and re-cooled wort is placed in barrels 

 which are only partly filled, the empty internal space communicating with the 

 external air by a small aperture. Sufficient yeast-cells to set up fermentation 

 are left adhering to the walls of the casks from the previous fermentation, so 

 that after a lapse of twenty-four hours an evolution of gas is already noticeable. 

 In addition to alcoholic ferinentaton, lactic, and subsequently also acetic, fermen- 

 tation sets in. L. v. D. HULLE and H. VAX LAKU (I.) published in 1891 the results 

 of a chemical investigation of this matter. The more important of these are 

 tabulated below : 



The beverage is consumed after a storage period of three to five years, and, in 

 its matured condition, is known as " yueuse Iambic." The acidity then amounts 



to about i per cent., and is 

 masked by an addition of 

 sugar immediately before 



IK.. 52. Si-ction through Cinder-beer I'l:ii:t. 



Tin- cells of S;iecli:iroiiiyees pyriloriui> are surrounded by the 

 rrlls of Kuctri him verniit'oi UK-, the incinbnines of which an 1 

 \eryinurh thickened and swollen. MMUII. 6co. (After H. 

 M. 



mentation also occurs in the 

 case of ginger- beer (to which 

 reference has already been 

 made in 64). The prepara- 

 tion of this foaming acid 

 .ILJP, which is largely 

 consumed in England in the 

 summer-time, i* a very simple 

 matter. To a 10-20 per cent. 

 solution of sugar are added 

 a few pieces of ginger and 

 a couple of granules of the ginger-beer plant the whole being then left 

 to stand uncovered. The liquid soon be-ins to ferment briskly, is bottled 

 at the end of twenty-four hours, and consumed within the next two days. 

 The so-called ginger-beer yeast was more closely examined by H. .M . 

 WARD (II.). It con.-i>ts of whiti.-h translucent n. ut the si/o of a hazel- 



nut, and is a mixture (Fii;. 52)0}' a }v.-t. ^'t<;-}/,i romi/cc* pyrt/ortnw, and a fission 

 fungus. The cell-walls of the latter orirani.-m are grlat ini>od in a manner with 

 which we shall become acquainted later on, more particularly in the case of cer- 

 tain filamentous bacteria : the greatly swollen outer layers of the cell-membrane 



