PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 173 



tion bj absorbing oxygen from the air ; and that this gluten, in 

 the act of decomposition, has the power to transmit its aptitude 

 to absorb oxygen to the particles of alcohol in contact with it in 

 the wine ; and that if this decomposing gluten can be completely 

 removed, the wine loses the property of acidifying, or of being 

 converted into vinegar. 



The excess of gluten, which exists in wines made from grapes 

 grown in temperate climates, can be obviated by instituting 

 the conditions which exist in the juice of the grape grown in 

 southern climates, which i^ so rich in sugar that a considerable 

 amount of it remains in the wine when the fermentation ceases, 

 owing to all the gluten or ferment having been decomposed, and 

 completely separated in an insoluble form as yeast. Such wines 

 alter very little when exposed to the air. Now if to the juice of 

 grapes grown in temperate climates, which is poor in sugar but 

 rich in ferment; sugar be added, then as soon as all the gluten is 

 decomposed the wine has not any tendency to pass into the ace- 

 tous fermentation. 



But if sugar be not added to juice, poor in sugar, and the unde- 

 composed gluten still remains in the wine after all the sugar has 

 been transformed into carbonic acid and alcohol, then the remain- 

 ing gluten, in its decay, will disturb the alcohol in contact with 

 it ; and, by an indirect process, cause it to absorb oxygen, and 

 thus transform the alcohol into vinegar, unless the fermentation 

 be carried on, and the wine be stored in cellars, the temperature 

 of which is always below fifty degrees. It is under this latter 

 condition that the celebrated Bavarian beer is manufactured. It 

 has been found that the transformation of alcohol into vinegar 

 takes place most rapidly when the alcohol is in contact with glu- 

 ten in a state of decay at a temperature of 95 degrees. At lower 

 temperatures the affinity of alcohol for oxygen decreases, and at 

 from 46 to 50 degrees alcohol ceases to combine with oxygen, 

 even in the presence of decomposing gluten. The gluten, how- 

 ever, at this low temperature, retains its power of absorbing 

 oxygen in the process of its own decomposition. 



If grape juice deficient in sugar be fermented after the method 

 of manufacturing Bavarian beer, in wide, shallow, open vessels, 

 under a temperature of less than 50 degrees, a more or less com- 

 plete separation of the excitor of acidification (the gluten) takes 

 place simultaneously on the surface and within the body of the 



