572 



Miscellaneous, 



to solid matters, which contain only a small quantity of nitrogen, 

 but are rich in salts, and in another to the fluid excrements, which 

 contain much nitrogen, and only a small quantity of salts. But if so, 

 his meaning can only be guessed at by persons, who bring to his 

 book a knowledge of the matter as complete as his own. 



But my patience begins to be exhausted, and so, I fear, does that 

 of my reader. I shall therefore, quit Dr. Liebig, his contradictions, 

 his confusion, his possible explanations, and his impossible conclu- 

 sions, his physiological blunders, and his chemical mistakes, with a 

 short moral, chemical, and physiological lecture. [This is the 

 substance of some long observations, for which we have not room.] 



The ostrich, says the fable, hides its head in a bush when hunted, 

 thinking that what it sees not, exists not. On a former occasion. 

 Dr. Liebig unsuccessfully denied the existence of the fungi of 

 fermentation ; he now thinks to proceed with more prudence by not 

 taking notice of them. But, Sir, you are much too late. Every 

 person, who has a good miscroscope, knowns that they exist and 

 are composed of cells. It would have been wiser to attack them, 

 for your silence may induce people to think you ignorant of their 

 existence. Two substances are required to produce fermentation in 

 the most simple cases, namely, a solution of sugar and yeast. The 

 product is alcohol and carbonic acid ; water and a little ferment (}) 

 remain undecomposed. A theory of fermentation is now demanded, 

 as was formerly the case with the formation of salts ; an explanation 

 of the latter was found when the bases and acids had been decom- 

 posed into their constituents ; the law of saturation could never have 

 been discovered otherwise. Now, then, for the problem of yeast. 

 We know tolerably well the nature of sugar and water, as far as 

 regards their constituents ; but as for yeast, do you know anything 

 of that. Dr. Liebig ? Did you ever inquire whether it is a simple 

 body or a compound ; and if the last, did you ascertain what the 

 elements are of which it is composed, how they are combined, 

 and how far each contributes to the production of fermentation .f* 

 You have not ! You must be joking. What ! a great man like you. 

 who has acquired the art of experimenting in chemical labora- 

 tories, to attempt to establish the theory of a process, one-half 



