to 
help thinking would have been better left out. To 
attempt to cover the range of chemical science from 
atoms and molecules to the elements of organic chemistry 
in so short a space is practically impossible, nor should 
it be necessary in a technical work. 
Moreover, if such matter appears to the author de- 
sirable, he should take especial pains to be accurate. 
Chemists will take exception to N,O, as the formula of | 
nitric oxide, also to the triad radical (CH)” being called 
Sormyl. 
The footnote to p. 75 is not quite clear, whilst p. 76 
contains the following :— 
gt) H © 
and 
“ee H 
H—C_N=C, 
H 
belonging to the class called cyanoparaffins.” On p. 78 
we are informed that 
“ethers are a class of compounds bearing the same 
relation to the alcohols that the metallic oxides do to 
their hydrates.” 
“The Carbohydrates” are described in chapter vi., 
and the author deals in succession with the pentoses and 
hexoses, passing on to the di-, tri- and poly-saccharides. 
The subject of the starches occupies several pages and 
is illustrated by well-executed plates. In considering the 
question of yeasts, no one can fail to be struck with the 
influence the scientific work of Pasteur, Hansen and 
others has had on the fermentation industries, and 
chapter vi. perhaps brings home to the reader even more 
forcibly the powerful effect the brewing industry has had 
in promoting the scientific examination of the carbo- 
hydrates. 
“ Nitrogenous Substances and the Nutrition of Yeast” | 
form the subject-matter of the next chapter, and albu- 
menoids, amido-substances and enzymes are described in | 
succession. A few misprints have occurred amongst the 
formulz of the amido-acids, e.g. amido-acetic acid, 
glutamine and tyrosine. Generally the chapter is clear 
and interesting ; the author has no need to apologise for 
the space devoted to the topic. 
With chapter viii. we come to the first practical applica- 
tion of fermentation, and in eighteen pages we are made | 
acquainted with the chief features in the manufacture of 
wine, including cider and perry. But it is in the suc- 
ceeding two chapters (ix. and x.) that the author is really 
in his element, and devotes upwards of fifty pages to the 
science and practice of brewing. Chapter ix. is occupied 
with malting and the physiological and chemical changes 
involved ; the next chapter leads us by all the inter- 
mediate stages from the mash-tun to the barrel, and gives 
much information on the influence of the composition 
of brewery waters and the courses of different fer- 
mentations. 
NO. 1696, VOL. 66] 
NATURE 
[May 1, 1902 
Chapter xi. deals with “ Fermentation from the Dis- 
tiller’s Point of View,” and is all too short (twenty-seven 
pages) to give anything like a complete account of this 
extensive and important industry. The author confines 
himself to the manufacture of pot-still whisky and 
“patent-still spirit.” With regard to the former, practice 
varies so largely that the description given must not be 
taken as typical of the working of a// malt distilleries. 
One may note the temperature at which the “sparge” 
is applied ; 170° is frequently exceeded, and the use of 
stirrers in wash stills by no means universal, especially 
where small stills are employed. ‘“ Maturation,” accord- 
ing to the author, takes place 
“chiefly by a selective absorption which the wood of the 
cask exercises, and also by some little oxidation and 
| etherification of the higher alcohols” ; 
certainly a more definite and rational view than that 
which supposes new whisky to contain objectionable 
substances which, as the reviewer has sometimes been 
assured, break up into substances communicating a fine 
flavour to old spirit. 
The manufacture of patent still spirit as carried out in 
this country is next described, and we then pass on to 
continental processes. German methods deservedly re- 
ceive a large amount of attention, and the author draws 
particular attention to the preparation of the “ Vor- 
maisch” by sowing vigorous yeast in a strong wort, 
slightly acidified by a small lactic fermentation and sub- 
sequently sterilised. The ripe “ Hefegut” so obtained is 
used for pitching the chief mash; the effect of the small 
quantity of lactic acid is not only favourable to the yeast, 
but restricts the growth of bacteria. Mr. Matthews 
mentions the fact that artificial acidification has been 
frequently resorted to; the subject has been recently 
ventilated by Dr. Lange before the Verein der Spiritus- 
Fabrikanten. Dr. Lange states that hydrochloric acid at 
first gives excellent results ; unfortunately, the bacteria 
soon become accustomed to it, as they also probably 
would to sulphuric acid. Butyric acid appears to be 
efficient if properly handled, the yeast remaining cleaner. 
The course of fermentation is illustrated by diagrams 
taken from Marcker’s “ Spiritusfabrikation.” One wishes 
that this work had also been drawn upon for diagrams 
of recent German distillery plant, Ilge’s automaton, for 
example. 
The last chapter (xii.) deals with the cultivation of 
pure yeast and the brewing of “lager-beer,’ the com- 
parative uselessness, and perhaps harmfulness, of en- 
deavouring to brew English beers with pure cultivations 
being well brought out in the last few pages. 
The eight appendices are chiefly concerned with 
laboratory instructions; D, E and F are, however, of 
more general interest, since they deal respectively with 
conjugating yeast, the nutrition of yeast, and the com- 
bined action of diastase and yeast on starch granules. 
Mr. Matthews is to be congratulated on the way in 
which he has treated his subject, but the reviewer cannot 
help thinking that if he gave the space devoted to 
matters of general chemical knowledge to the subjects of 
wine and the preparation of the purer forms of alcohol, 
the book would gain in usefulness. Nsths Jats 
