74 FEKMESTTATIOtf. 



by-and-by, only it must not be confounded with 

 ferment. 



Atmospheric air first comes in contact with the 

 grapes at the time of pressing, whilst in the fruit the 

 juice was protected by a covering saturated with 

 wax. We recognise in the contact with air the 

 primary cause of fermentation, that is, of the trans- 

 formation of vegetable mucus, and rightly ; for the 

 mucus and sugar were present in the juice of the 

 same grape. If, then, the conclusions drawn by 

 Dopping and Struve from their experiments (p. 55) 

 are decisive, why did not fermentation take place 

 within the grape itself? 



It is true that both Fabroni and 'Easpail have inti- 

 mated that albumen and sugar occupy different posi- 

 tions in the grape. But this only holds good of the 

 albumen found in a solid state in the walls of the 

 grape cells (p. 35). In the juice, sugar and vegetable 

 gluten are mixed (p. 37). 



The admixture of the grape juice, which is well 

 provided with free tartaric acid, with the crushed 

 cell- walls of the pulp, promotes the solution of the 

 solid vegetable albumen of the cell- walls. 



The grape juice, from which every kind of wine is 

 prepared, is by no means clear as water, but a turbid 

 liquid, consisting of the pulp of the grapes, the con- 

 tents of the pulp cells, and the torn cell- walls. 



Fermentation and its development are undoubtedly 

 promoted by the admixture of the contents of the cells 



