398 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles, 



M. Dessaignes employs rough caseine as a ferment; it is thoroughly 

 mixed with water, holding either in solution or suspension the sub- 

 stance experimented upon, and the whole is to be exposed to summer 

 heat for three weeks or a month. The author's experiments were 

 performed upon perfectly pure neutral malate of lime, supermalate 

 of lime, malate of potash, aspartate of potash, aspartate of lime, fu- 

 marate of lime, maleate of lime, and aconitate of lime extracted from 

 the Aconitum napellus. All these salts are readily converted into 

 succinate under the influence of the fermentation of caseine. Aspa- 

 ragin, under the same influence, begins by changing into aspartate 

 of ammonia, and this is converted into succinate. In fact, if the 

 fermentation is interrupted long before it is finished, a large quantity 

 of aspartic acid is found in the liquor, as well as succinic acid. 



The body which exists in the family of the leguminous plants, 

 which has not hitherto been isolated, and is converted by germination 

 into asparagin, is also susceptible of being converted into succinic 

 acid. In fact, if the meal of peas be diffused through water for twelve 

 hours, and then fermented, after having added chalk and filtered the 

 liquor, a notable quantity of succinate of lime is formed. M. Des- 

 saignes separately fermented legumin, the liquor from which it was 

 precipitated, and also a nitrogenous body which has been noticed by 

 M. Braconnot ; by these means it was hoped that the substance 

 which produces the succinic acid might be discovered. All these 

 fermentations yield succinic acid in quantities which are certainly 

 unequal, but the author has not yet terminated this part of his re- 

 searches ; the same acid was also produced by fermenting the emul- 

 sion of sweet almonds, separated from its oil and mixed with chalk. 

 It appears, therefore, that the succinic fermentation occurs in nature 

 as frequently as the acetic, metacetic, butyric, and valerianic fer- 

 mentations. 



He adds some observations on the isomeric acids with the formula 

 C*H*CK 



It has been stated above, that the fumaric, maleic and aconitic 

 acids, are al) of them convertible into succinic acid. This similarity 

 of conversion is remarkable ; for, on the one hand, the citrates of lime 

 or soda fermented with caseine do not yield succinic acid, and on 

 the other hand, the two acids derived from the malic acid are very 

 clearly distinguished from aconitic acid by another metamorphosis. 

 In fact, it was found that the bifumarate and bimaleate of ammonia, 

 submitted to dry distillation, yield a substance much resembling in 

 most of its reactions, but not identical with, the bimalate of ammonia 

 produced under similar circumstances. This matter, by the pro- 

 longed action of hydrochloric acid, is converted into aspartic acid, 

 absolutely the same as that obtained with malic acid. But the bi- 

 aconitate of ammonia and the biequisetate of ammonia, submitted to 

 the same treatment, do not produce aspartic acid. The neutral ma- 

 late of ammonia does not precipitate perchloride of iron, whilst the 

 neutral aconitate and equisetate of ammonia do precipitate this salt. 

 In the comparative examination which the author commenced of 

 these three acids, he was readily convinced of the perfect identity of 



