A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
“© To the solid ground 
Of Nature trusts the mind which builds tor aye.” —W ORDSWORTH. 
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1902. 
ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION. 
Manual of Alcoholic Fermentation and the Allied In- 
dustries. By Charles G. Matthews, F.I.C., F.C.S., 
of cells, and is in any case due to an enzyme. “ Con- 
tact” reactions undoubtedly take place amongst organic 
as well as inorganic compounds, and really the term 
“catalytic” is very useful. It would, however, be unfair 
not to acknowledge that such discrepancies have been 
| observed between the courses followed, on the one hand, 
&c. Pp. xv + 295. (London: Edward Arnold, 1902.) | 
Price 7s. 6d. net. 
M®* MATTHEWS has written an eminently read- 
able book, containing a large amount of useful 
information. The work is divided into twelve chapters, 
to which eight appendices are added ; it is prefixed by a 
good and thorough table of contents and finishes with a 
capital index. 
The first chapter deals with ‘‘ Alcoholic Fermentation. 
General Considerations leading to Special Ones.” In this 
chapter we have an account of the earlier work of 
Leuwenhoek, Fabroni, Gay-Lussac, Cagniard de Latour, 
Schwan, Turpin, &c., and the theories held by Liebig, 
Fremy and Traube. The work of Reess and of Pasteur 
receives due acknowledgment, and towards the end of 
the chapter we find a summary of the various views 
which have been held with regard to fermentation. 
“(1) Fermentation as an effect resulting from the | 
growth or vegetation of an organism. (The accepted 
theory as established by scientific knowledge.) 
**(2) A mechanical theory or theory of chemical de- 
composition. (Liebig’s theory, and that of the Liebig 
school.) 
““(3) A theory of so-called catalytic action or decom- 
position by contact—presumably of the ferment and 
fermentable substance. 
ignorance of the true action.)” 
The last remark in brackets appears somewhat hard on | 
members of the catalytic school, and the following | 
statement, 
“that apart from the results of the vital processes of the 
yeast organism or other living cells, the production of 
alcohol from a saccharine liquid is unknown ” (p. 8), 
during the hydrolysis of esters by mineral acids and, on 
the other, fermentation by yeast as to lead to the idea 
that the two processes are fundamentally different. The 
recent work of Adrian Brown on “enzyme action” (Chem. 
Soc. Trans., \xxxi. 373), and of Horace Brown and Glen- 
dinning on the “hydrolysis of starch by diastase” 
(cbid., p. 388) prove clearly, however, that enzymes 
working in dilute solutions (2. when not overloaded) 
follow the law of mass action, so that one must conclude 
that processes of this nature are fundamentally as 
mechanical as the inversion of cane sugar by a mineral 
acid. 
Chapter ii. deals chiefly with the morphology of yeast, 
whilst chapter iii., on the “‘Saccharomycetes and other 
Organisms acting as Alcoholic Ferments,” gives a clear 
and full account of the various species of yeast which 
have been identified, the chapter ending with an account 
of mycoderma vini, mucor racemosus, &c., and the con- 
ditions under which they can behave as alcoholic 
ferments. Chapter iv., on “The Effect of Physical and 
- Chemical Influences on the Yeast Organism,” deals with 
(An elegant mode of expressing | 
seems scarcely justifiable in the light of Buchner’ re- | 
searches. In fact, the references to Buchner’s work on 
pp. 47 and 121-122 show that the author quite accepts 
the fact that fermentation may take place in the absence | 
NO. 1696, VOL. 66] 
the food material of yeast, the heat developed during 
fermentation, and the oféz7um temperature, and naturally 
leads to a further consideration of theories which have 
been put forward as to the fermentative action of yeast 
and to mention of Buchner’s zymase. Referring to this, 
the author justly remarks 
“ that though it pushes the cause of alcoholic fermentation 
a little further back, there is no reason to believe that 
Buchner’s zymase could be produced by other than vital 
agencies or in association with living matter.” 
This does not, however, preclude zymase from acting in 
a mechanical manner, neither is it Jroved that some 
inorganic ferment might not have somewhat the same 
effect, however improbable this appears in the light of 
present knowledge. 
Chapter v., entitled “ Chemical Science,” one cannot 
B 
