March, 1910.] 



261 



Miscellaneous. 



calorific value of about 60 per cent, of 

 that of gasoline, or a comparative heat 

 value of over 70 per cent, by volume. 

 Alcohol of 85 per cent, is the common 

 grade of industrial alcohol used iu 

 Europe. The United States Geological 

 Survey found difficulties in starting and 

 regulating when the experiments em- 

 ployed 80 per cent, alcohol and the fuel 

 consumption increased more rapidly 

 thau the percentage of alcohol decreased. 



The effect upon motors, lamps, etc., 

 of using denatured alcohol has been dis- 

 cussed, and deterioration has usually 

 been attributed to the denaturant. It 

 may be possible that all of the evils 

 coming from the latter may be remedied 

 in the future. Luke and Woodward 

 found that the interior of an alcohol 

 engine had no tendency to become sooty, 

 as is the case with gasoline and kerosene, 

 and there was no undue corrosion of 

 the interior due to the use of alcohol. 



The raw materials from which indus- 

 trial alcohol comes consist of those sub- 

 stances which contain starch, sugar, and 

 other fermentable bodies, named in the 

 order of their importance, capable of 

 easily being converted into a ferment- 

 able sugar. The cereals, rice, wheat, 

 oats, rye, maize, and barley, the potato, 

 cassava or manioc, and some other roots 

 contain large percentages of starch. 

 From all of these as well as from sugar 

 cane and sugar cane molasses, sorghum, 

 and fruit juices which contain large per- 

 centages of sugars, alcohol is made. 

 The artichoke which contains neither 

 starch nor sugar but a number of other 

 fermentable carbohydrates, of which 

 inulin and levulin are the principal con- 

 stituents, has been highly recommended 

 and rather extensively used in Germany 

 for the manufacture of alcohol. At the 

 present time alcohol is made on a large 

 commercial scale from corn, rye, pota- 

 toes, sugar beets, sugar cane, and sugar 

 cane molasses. Rice has the largest per- 

 centage of starch among the cereals, but 

 it is not the cheapest source of alcohol. 

 Indian corn, which hitherto has formed 

 the chief raw material for fermentation 

 and distillation, contains approximately 

 70 per cent, of fermentable bodies, and 

 under the best conditions a kilo of corn 

 will usually yield about 340 grams of 

 alcohol (420 cubic centimeters of 95 per 

 cent, alcohol by volume at 15° C). If the 

 average price of corn be placed at 3 

 centavos per kilo and the cost of manu- 

 facture, storage, profit, etc., be taken as 

 an equal amount, industrial alcohol (95 

 per cent.) from this source, untaxed, 

 would sell wholesale for about 14 centavos 

 a liter. 



Countryi 



Retail 

 price per 



liter in 

 centavos. 



Annual 

 consump- 

 tion (mil- 

 lion 

 liters). 

 140 



Germany ... 16 

 Cuba ... 21 



France ... 23 40 



England ... ... 15 



United States... 32 13 



Besides rice, Indian corn, sugar cane, 

 the available sources from which alcohol 

 can be manufactured in this Archipelago 

 are the sap of many palms and the 

 cassava. At present nearly all of the 

 alcohol produced comes from the bled 

 sap of the nipa and other palms. Alcohol 

 from the nipa has a disagreeable odour 

 which is somewhat difficult to remove, 

 but for industrial purposes this would be 

 no consequence. A description of this 

 palm (Nipa fruticans, Wurmb.) may be 

 found in many places. Ic is a species 

 widely distributed all the way from 

 India to Malaya, in northern Australia 

 and Polynesia. A very detailed study 

 of the culture and bleeding of this palm 

 has been published by Ayala & Go. 



The nipa grows in low, sale-water 

 tidal swamps and the plant is com- 

 pletely developed in about four years 

 after planting the seed. The palms fruit 

 about every two years, at no particular 

 season. When the tree is ready to bleed 

 the fruiting stem is cut as close to the 

 young fruit as possible and the emerging 

 liquid (tuba) caught in a joint of bamboo. 

 Every day a thin slice is cut from the 

 stem before all the tuba can be drawn. 



The production of tuba from a mature 

 tree usually increases during the first 

 fifty to sixty days after tapping and 

 decreases during twenty-five to thirty 

 days more. If tuba is drawn for a longer 

 period the tree will die. The tuba from 

 mature stems is white, has an aromatic 

 odour, and is sweet. That from palms 

 having less mature fruit is bluish and 

 less sweet and, therefore, has less 

 fermentive value. The average yield 

 per tree fluctuates from one-half to 3 

 liters per day, with a total of from 30 to 

 40 liters (sp. gr. 1-07 to 1'08 at 15°). The 

 juice contains approximatelv 12 per cent, 

 of fermentable material which is largely 

 sacchrose. Thirty-two to 34 liters of 

 tuba will usually produce one liter 

 of pure alcohol. In the Provinces 

 of Bulacan and Pampanga, where the 

 the pnee of the molasses residues from 

 sugar cane is low, the latter is mixed 

 with the tuba before fermentation, and 

 is said to give a larger yield of alcohol 

 than would the two if fermented separ- 

 ately. 



Alcohol is removed from the fermented 

 tuba by distillation, The method used 



