PROCEEDINGS OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 385 



been given) and it is this enzyme which acts upon the sugar de- 

 composing it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The process of 

 fermentation, therefore, can no longer be considered as the result 

 of any vital force, but is a purely chemical process. While this 

 discovery is one of great importance as is evidenced by the fact 

 that it gained for Buchner the Nobel Prize, nevertheless, the 

 mechanism of the reactions involved in fermentation is still 

 largely a mystery. It seems certain that phosphates in some way 

 enter into the change and that the production of alcohol is pre- 

 ceded by the formation of intermediate compounds. Ehrlich has 

 shown that the higher alcohols produced in small amounts along 

 with the ethyl alcohol are not the products of yeast juice fer- 

 mentation but are formed by the action of yeast on the animo 

 acids which result from the hydrolysis of the proteins present in 

 the yeast cells. 



The Indestructibility of Matter. The construction of bal- 

 ances of extreme sensitiveness has made it possible to test with 

 much greater accuracy than ever before the principle expressed 

 in the law of conservation of mass. In 1906 Landolt published 

 the results of a series of experiments carried out under condi- 

 tions that enabled him to detect even very minute changes 

 of mass. In general his experiments consisted in placing two 

 substances in separate limbs of a glass vessel which was then 

 sealed and weighed with extreme care. By tilting the vessel 

 the two substances were then brought in contact with each other 

 and after the interaction of the two was complete and the con- 

 ditions had become normal the vessel was again weighed. The 

 greatest difference that Landolt detected in the weights of sub- 

 stances before and after interaction amounted to about one part 

 in 10,000,000 — a difference well within the limits of experimen- 

 tal error. 



Practical Applications. I have time only to barely mention 

 a few examples of the progress made through the application 

 of chemistry to the industrial development of the nation. It is 

 only natural that such progress should result, for certainly a 

 great number of manufacturing operations are primarily chemical 

 in their nature. The chemist co-operating to be sure with the 



