864 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 3, 1873. 
before the barometer began to fall, and consequently long 
before the office in London could issue warnings. 
Some storms do not give even so much warning. That 
of Feb. 10, 1871, is one instance, and that of Nov. 22, 
1872, when the ‘Royal Adelaide’ was lost on Chesil 
Bank, is a recent case. On that day at noon the tele¬ 
graphic reports showed an apparent improvement in the 
weather on that of the previous day, so the drums on our 
south coast were lowered. At night the gale came, and 
of course the comments on the office were not favourable. 
But one of our best sea observers, Captain Donkin, who 
was out in that gale, being asked whether he had anticipated 
the storm from the look of the sky, answered :— 
“With respect to the weather on the 22nd November, 
I may say that at noon I was standing in towards the 
land, between Falmouth and Plymouth, and a pilot cutter 
came alongside, and if I had had the least apprehension 
of such a gale as followed being near at hand, I should 
have taken a pilot and gone into Plymouth. The appear¬ 
ance of the weather at the time was fine, though the glass 
was falling, though not low at the time for S.W. wind and 
unsettled weather.” 
This will show that we cannot foretell all storms by means 
of telegraphy. We are beginningto recognize other signs 
of disturbance of the atmosphere generally as indications 
of a storm, but these can hardly as yet be considered as 
scientifically exact. Among these may be mentioned the 
circumstance which Professor Mohn has noticed, that 
warning of south-westerly gales for the coast of Norway 
is given by a rise of temperature at Dovre at a height of 
2100 feet above the sea. In these islands we have little 
prospect of availing ourselves of this source of information, 
as our telegraphic stations are all at low levels. 
Another principle is that pointed out by Mr. Meldrum, 
that storms are generated between two currents of air 
flowing in opposite directions, the easterly winds being on 
the polar side of the westerly. 
It may seem a comparatively simple matter to say 
whether or not a warning was issued in time ; but it is 
really not so easy a matter, as storms are exceedingly 
local, so that two observers situated close to each other 
may differ seriously as to whether there has been a gale 
or not. Every effort has been made to keep a check on 
the correctness of warnings for the last three years ; that 
is, on whether or not intelligence of gales has been given 
in time to be of practical service to seamen. The result 
has been for the years 1870-71, that 46 per cent, of the 
warnings have been followed by gales, and about 20 per 
cent, in addition have been justified by the occurrence of 
strong winds after they were hoisted, showing a total per¬ 
centage of successful warnings of nearly 70 per cent. For 
the first six months of 1872 the percentage of gales for 
which warnings were issued in time has risen above 60, 
and the total percentage of successes to nearly 80, owing 
to the postal telegraphic arrangements having gradually 
become more perfect, and the exchange of information with 
the Continent being now more regular. 
THE PRESENCE OF ALCOHOL AND ACETIC ACID 
IN MILK.* 
BY M. A. B&CHAMP, 
The author on a former occasion attempted to show 
that milk necessarily contains microzymes, which, by a 
purely physiological action, produce the agents of spon¬ 
taneous coagulation. From the known action of micro¬ 
zymes in general, he concluded that besides lactic acid, 
coagulated milk must also contain alcohol and acetic acid ; 
but if so, why should not milk contain them physiologically ? 
The present note has for its object to show that cow’s 
milk does, at the moment of being drawn from the cow, 
contain both these bodies ; and, subsidiarily, that, the 
same cause operating before and after coagulation, alcohol 
and acetic acid ought to augment in the coagulated milk. 
* ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxvi. p. 836. 
Fresh milk was added to a slight excess of oxalic acid, 
and immediately submitted to distillation in a chloride 
of calcium bath, the temperature of which was maintained 
at 120° C. Nineteen twentieths of the milk were distilled ; 
the clear liquid had always an acid reaction, and to it was 
added excess of pure carbonate of soda. Little more than 
one-tenth was then collected, which was concentrated by 
distillation and rectification over carbonate of potash. In 
the case of coagulated milk it was thrown upon a filter 
and the whey collected and distilled as above. 
A pretty considerable quantity of fresh milk was operated 
upon to obtain a measurable quantity of alcohol. This was 
distinguished (1) by burning with the characteristic flame; 
(2) by its oxidation products when treated with a mixture 
of bichromate of potash and sulphuric acid; (3) by the 
formation of crystallized acetate of soda; (4) by the 
formation of acetate of silver. 
Acetic acid was obtained from the sodic residues from 
which the alcohol had been separated. It was distinguished 
principally by the formation of acetate of soda, which salt 
crystallized under its usual form down to the last drop. 
No trace of any of the acids superior to acetic acid was 
ever found. 
The same phenomena have been met with in the alcohol 
and acetic acid of milk coagulated spontaneously while 
sheltered from the air. Butyric acid, or other volatile 
acid homologues, which are products of the decomposition 
of albuminous matters, were sought for, but none were 
found ; crystals of acetate of soda being formed down te 
the last drop. 
This being the case, it was an interesting point te 
ascertain whether alcohol and the volatile acids are present 
in milk coagulated by lamb’s rennet. M. B^champ found 
alcohol, acetic acid, and a little caproic acid. 
In order to decide whether the results permitted of 
generalization, alcohol and acetic acid were sought for in 
ass’s milk. The animal was milked close to the laboratory 
and the milk distilled. Like that from the cow it was 
found to contain alcohol and acetic acid. M. Bdchamp, 
therefore, ventures to assert that these bodies exist in the 
milk of all herbivorous animals, but that of carnivorous 
animals requires investigation. 
Some estimates were made of the amount of alcohol 
and acetic acid present in fresh milk, in order to compare 
them with the quantities present in coagulated milk. 
The alcohol was indirectly determined by the acetic acid 
yielded by its oxidation, and this acid and that already 
formed in the milk were determined by a titrated solution 
of caustic soda. The proportions of alcohol and acid were 
found to vary very considerably. 
The author does not think that the alcohol and acetic 
acid are, in the same sense as other chemical elements of 
milk, products of the milk-secreting organism ; he is 
rather of opinion that they are formed in some way in the 
mammary gland, by the action of microzymes upon the 
glycogenous matters of the milk, the evidence being that 
they exist only in small and variable quantities, which 
are increased naturally outside the udder, without the 
intervention of organic ferment other than microzymes. 
The author considers that these results accord with 
the generalizations he has drawn from former investi¬ 
gations. The microzymes of every origin that he has 
studied possess the same power of forming alcohol and 
acetic acid, not only from glycogenous matters, but also 
from substances which are not convertible into sugar, 
such as tartaric, citric, muric, and lactic acids. These same 
microzymes engender alcohol and acetic acid in ripening 
fruits, producing it in greater abundance if, by bruising, 
the cells which contain the microzymes are broken, and 
they come into more immediate contact with the juice. 
M. Bdchamp also considers that the theory of Liebig as 
to the alterability of albuminoid matters in the phenomenon 
of fermentation is a great chemical and physiological error. 
He says that in the fermentation of eggs and the souring 
of milk the albuminoid matters remain intact, and pre¬ 
serve all their essential properties. 
