103 
CCCLXIX.—ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF CITRIC 
l ACID, 
The mode of production of vegetable acids in the plant is a wk ge 
beset with much difficulty. Liebig thought that they, or at least the 
more highly oxidised, were formed from carbonic acid and water in 
plant cells reni chlorophyll and nde the direct influence of 
ges " = rded gt as seas t ards the building up of more 
to this pene they wou uld belong to 
extremely aci ey on gestern: usually become sweet. Professor Vives 
they vt the — iin, eg of the acids, therefore, cannot 
hold good. It further appears th of ion acids do actually diminish and 
the sugar increases in ripening frui 
Nevertheless the general drift f a our knowledge of the subject has 
pointed to the conclusion that vegetable acids are, as a matter of fact, 
the result of the breaking down of a carbohydrate, probably a sugar. 
T 
discovery of a method by which citric acid can be directly produced 
from a sugar (glucose) by growing on it a tube one of the “ moulds.” 
The discovery i is of p ph than theoretical interest, great as s that i is. 
Citric acid is largely u n the arts, and its production is theesupport 
e largel 
siderable scale for the purpose. The diéitroction of this industry may 
bring about troublesome political consequences, and it is curious to 
refleet that these ES owe their origin to a deduetion from purely 
theoretical consideratio 
e first notice of cm; matter which reached Kew was in the Unite 
States Consular porn [ December, 1893, pp. 469—470]. The Mono 
is reproduced here : 
New Process ror Maxine CITRIC ACID. 
Dr. Carl Wehmer, a — botanist, is said to have recently 
discovered that sugar ‘solutions exposed to the action of certain micro- 
scopic fungi, the spores of ack float in the atmosphere, hecome trans- 
formed into citric acid precisely identical with that extracted from the 
The first experiments made to prepare citric acid compri in this 
way are said to have given excellent results, 11 kilograms * of sugar 
producing 6 P rica of erystallised citrie acid. 
e new process has already been patented in several countries, 
including Italy ; and at the factory at Thann the distinguished chemist, 
Scheuren-Kestner, is now carrying on experiments with a view 
applying the mmi on a ni scale. Everything tends to show that 
this new process will a e great development, and will make it 
possible to uPA the Aig with citric acid at a much lower cost than 
* 1 kilogram = 2:205 pounds. 
