672 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



before chemistry will discover precisely the substances in combination with 

 the coal. The reason why the Pennsylvania coal cannot be delivered here 

 in sufficient quantities for making gas, is that it is now so much used on 

 locomotives for generating steam, and for other purposes, that it is very 

 difficult for a cargo to reach this city. There can be no question as to our 

 having in abundance a superior quality of coal for gas making purposes. 

 There can be taken from the Pennsylvania mines a good quality of cannel 

 coal, which is equal to the English coal for making gas. 



" The action of the Gulf Stream and Tides," was selected as the subject 

 for the next discussion. Adjourned. 



American Institute, Polytechnic Association, ) 

 January 2Slh, 1864. ) 



Chairman, S. D. Tillman, Esq.; Secretary, Bcnj. Garvey. 

 During the miscellaneous business the Chairman presented the following 

 summary of scientific news: 



Must of Grapes. 



M. Pasteur, in a memoir to the French academy of science, states that 

 the sweet or unfermented juice of the grape contains no uncombined oxy- 

 gen; carbonic acid and nitrogen are the only gases found in it. He pro- 

 poses to aerate the must, by means of a blower, as the active principle in 

 vinification, considered apart from fermentation, is oxygen. It in fact 

 converts new wine into old, but unless its action is slow, the deleterious 

 result pointed out by Berthelot will be produced. The larger the cask, 

 the longer is the time required for the wine to age. When wine is put in 

 bottles the tendency to aeration is diminished, and in the same proportion 

 its keeping is prolonged. 



Artesian Mmma. 



The Artesian system of boring wells has been applied to horizontal boi> 

 ings into the sides of the Nevada mountains. By means of these adits of 

 the smallest dimensions, rich metallic veins have been discovered at a com- 

 paratively trifling cost. 



Acetic Fermentation. 



M. Blondeau, in a memoir to the Academy of Scn'ence, on the acetic fer- 

 mentation and the combustion of alcohol, expresses the opinion that acetic 

 acid, generated as it is under different circumstances, may havs its origin 

 in a variety of causes. There is a special acetic fermentation under the 

 influence of certain microtypes, but it is only when the mycoderms form a 

 sort of n)embrane that they possess the power of transferring the oxygen 

 required to turn alcohol into acetic acid. Tliis property is inherent in the 

 membranous state, and is not a physiological action. The same effect is 

 produced by paper treated with sulphuric acid, such as is used in th» 

 dialyser. This slow combustion, by means of membranous interception^ 

 M. Blondeau regards as an important method of cheaaical research in con* 

 nection with physiological investigations. 



