Alcohol and science, or, Alcohol, what it is, and what it does

Front matter

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Preface

fN preparing this Essay, it has been our aim, not merely to I present our own views, but to furnish a treatise on the Alcoholic Controversy, embodying some of the early, as well as the latest experiments and demonstrations of science, on the controvertible points of the inquiry.

To present the subject fairly, nearly all the chief experiments and observations made by scientific men, within the last fifty years, have been noted. Though we do not agree with all the conclusions, yet we have presented them, in order that all the points in the controversy might be clearly understood ; and also, that those who hold differing views, should not have ground to complain, that we had only presented one side of the question.

These demonstrations and testimonies of chemists and physicians, are presented to the consideration of the reader, in the hope that the nature and effects of the Alcohols, with their merits and demerits, will be clearly understood, not only by those learned in science, but by the general community.

If, from further investigations, the Alcohols shall be found useful, the prayer of the author is, that the medical profession shall be fully agreed for what to use them, how to use them, and when to use them.

The Author.

Part I. What Is Alcohol?

PACK.

Chemical History of Alcohols n

Alcoholic or Vinous Fermentation 18

Composition of Beer, Wines, &c 22

PART II. Is Alcohol Eliminated from the Human Body ? 26

Alcoholic Alphabet . . 29

Elimination of Alcohol only Partial 31

Experiments of Dr. Subbotin 32

Dr. Anstie’s “ Final Experiments ” 33

Remarks on the Elimination of Alcohol 34

Dr. Richardson’s Cantor Lectures, extracts from 36

Part III. Physiological Action Of Alcohol

Dr. Richardson’s Experiments

Action of Butylic Alcohol . .

Action of Amylic Alcohol

Action of Ethylic Alcohol

Experiments of Dr. Parkes and Count Wollowicz . .

Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body

Experiments of Dr. Hammond

Action of Alcohol on Colloidal Matter

Contents

Action of Alcohol. Dogiel’s results ^4

Dr. Carpenter’s Observations ^

Summary of the Action of Alcohol ^

PART IV. Alcohol a Poison ^9

Alcohol a Poison. Dr. Percy’s Experiments 60

Alcohol is Poisonous to all Animals 62

Effects of continued use of Alcoholics 63

Effects of Alcoholics on Man 64.

Poisoned by Whiskey.— Children 65

Alcoholic Poisoning 67

PART V. Nutrition and Alcohol 70

Is Alcohol Respiratory Food ? 79

Nitrogenous Substances are not the only Sources of Force . . 80

Does Alcohol Produce Heat 87

Effects of Alcohol on the Temperature of the Body . . . . 93

Does Alcohol Retard the Waste of Tissue 98

Dr. Parkes’ Experiments on the effects of Alcohol and Exercise on the Body 102

Dr. Parkes’ Conclusions 104

Is Alcohol a Solvent of Food ? 108

Does Alcohol Aid Digestion ? no

Part VI

Does Alcohol Promote Health, &c., when used as a Beverage ? 1 16

Longevity and Total Abstinence 119

Mortality of Liquor Sellers, and Abstainers 124

Effects of Alcohol on the Medical Profession 126

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

State Board of Health, of Massachusetts 128

The Death Rate of Liverpool 130

Morbid Effects of Alcohol, &c 134

Will Alcoholics Prevent Disease ? 136

Total Abstinence Prevents Cholera, &c 140

PART VII. The Effects of Alcohol on the Stomach 143

The Effects of Alcohol on the Liver 154

The Effects of Alcohol on the Kidneys, &c 158

Effects of Alcohol on Stomach, Liver, Heart and Kidneys . . 160

PART VIII. Alcoholic Drinks cause Paralysis 162

Alcoholic Paresis and Paraplegia 162

Alcohol causes Thrombosis of the Cerebral Arteries .. .. 164

Alcohol the Cause of Insanity 165

Different Alcoholic Liquors and Insanity 170

The Increase and Number of the Insane 174

Dipsomania 176

Intemperance a Disease .. 178

PART IX. Hereditary Effects of Intoxicating Drinks 182

Physical Degeneracy in Children by Intemperance of Parents 187

PART X. Medical Science, What is it ? 192

CONTENTS.

FAOI.

The Use of Alcohol as a Remedy for Debility, &c 199

Alcohol Impairs the Vitality of the Blood Discs 201

Is Alcohol a Stimulant or a Narcotic ? 202

Experiments on the use of Wine 207

Recovery Retarded by the use of Wine 209

Violent Inflammation Excited by Alcohol 210

Influence of Alcoholism on Traumatic Lesions 211

Stimulants During Hemorrhage 212

Alcoholic Stimulants in Typhus Fever 214

Alcohol as a Cure for Dyspepsia 216

Alcohol in Consumption 217

The influence of Alcoholic Drinks on the Development and

Progress of Pulmonary Tuberculosis 218

Alcohol as a Cure for Bronchitis and Heart-disease . . . . 221

Alcoholic Stimulants in Child-Birth 222

The Use of Alcohol by Nursing Mothers 224

Stimulants and Death-Rate 230

The Use of Alcoholic Liquors in Workhouses 231

Medical Experience 232

Council of the British Medical Temperance Association . . 237 Concluding Remarks 240

Part I. What Is Alcohol P

THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOLS.

HE term alcohol, is not restricted to an isolated compound, as there are several kinds of alcohols, of which that met in wines, beer, brandy, &c., is only a representative of an

Alcohols are substances more or less resembling common alchol, which has the formula of C2 H6 O, and corresponds among organic substances, to the hydro-oxides in inorganic chemistry, and we may suppose them to be derived from water, by substituing an organic radical for hydrogen.

Thus : — Both common alcohol and caustic potash we may suppose to be obtained from water, by substituting for hydrogen, in the one case, potassium, in the other the organic radical ethyl.

Water. Caustic Potash. Alcohol.

Or, alcohol may be defined a compound of a hydro-carbon radical, with hydroxyl, — Thus, ethyl alcohol is, C2 H5 H O.

2. The alcohols, in their reactions with acids, resemble the metallic hydro-oxides. Methylic Alcohol or Carbinol of hydrogen has been replaced by hydroxyl. It is possible to obtain methyl alcohol from its elements, for marsh gas can be prepared from carbon and hydrogen ; and if acted upon by chlorine in the sun-light, it forms methyl chloride. If methyl chloride be heated in close tubes, with caustic potash, methyl alcohol is obtained : —

3. Methyl alcohol is commonly termed, Wood Spirits, and is the product of the distillation of Wood. The products of this distillation are, acetic acid, methyl alcohol, and some other substances. Methyl alcohol is a colourless liquid, having a burning active series of compounds known under the same name.

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ALCOHOL AND SCIENCE.

taste, and smelling sometimes like ordinary alcohol. It mixes in all proportions, with water ; boils at 66° C, and has a specific gravity of 0.8142, and burns like common alcohol, for which it is often substituted ; being cheaper. It is allowed in England, to be mixed with ethylic or common alcohol, and sold for manufacturing purposes free of duty.

4. The following are the principal alcohols :

Name.

Chemical

composition.

Vapour density.

Specific gravity water ioo.

Boiling Point.

Centigrade.

Fahr.

Methylic Alcohol

c h4 0

.814

Ethylic ,,

.792

Propylic ,,

3°

....

Butylic „

C4 Hl# O

.803

IOI

Amylic ,,

.811

Caprovlic ,,

c6 hi4 0

.821

5. Ethylic, or common alcohol, is a compound composed of carbon 2, hydrogen 6, and oxygen 1 : — C2 Hc O. Though it can be prepared snythetically, yet it is always produced by the fermentation of sugar. Under the influence of yeast, the sugar splits up into carbon dioxide — ca rbonic acid — and alcohol ; thus : —

Sugar. Alcohol. Carbon Dioxide.

c6 hI2 o6 = 2 Cj Hf O + 2 c o, .

6. Fermented liquors contain diluted alcohol and other substances. The crude spirit is obtained by distillation, which still contains a considerable proportion of water, and other impurities, one of which is fusel oil, especially found in spirits, from Indian corn and potatoes. Distillation alone will not free it from water. To accomplish this, some substance having a strong affinity for water must be employed ; quick lime being commonly used, to produce anhydrous alcohol, or absolute alcohol, As alcohol possesses a strong affinity for water, really pure absolute alcohol is very difficult to obtain ; for when it is mixed with water, it evolves heat, and undergoes contraction ; so that 53.7 vols. of alcohol and 48.9 vols. of water, produce only 100 vols. of dilute alcohol.

7. The construction of ethylic , common alchol, in a chemical sense, is water (H2 O) in which the organ radical ethyl, also composed of carbon and hydrogen, (C2 Hs), replaces one atom of hydrogen of the water, thus :

^ | O Water, C2 Hs Ethyl, — H = C2 H6 O Alcohol.

8. Ethylic alcohol when oxidized yields a variety of compounds according to the character of the oxidation. The result may be the oxidation of two atoms of hydrogen by which water is only produced, which will leave a fluid with the water having the composition of C2 HU O, called aldehyde ; or, the oxidation carried further, and an equivalent of oxygen added, the resulting com-

THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOLS. I j

pound will be C2 H4 02 acetic acid. If the oxidation be intense, as the burning' of alcohol in a lamp, the carbon, which in preceding examples was not touched, is now directly oxidized with the hydrogen, and the result will be the formation of dioxide of carbon, carbonic acid, C 02, and water, H2 O.

9. Taking ethylic alcohol as a type of the other five alcohols of the table, we will study their properties. Methylic alcohol, the first on the list, as already seen, page 11,) is produced in the destructive distillation of wood, and is commonly termed woodspirits, or naphtha. It differs from common — ethylic — alcohol, being a compound in which the organic radical methyl C H3 replaces an atom of hydrogen of the water. Thus :

^ | O Water, C H3 Methyl, — H = C j O Methylic alcohol.

This methylic alcohol, whose composition is C H4 O, when slowly oxidized yields an aldehyde called formaldehyde, to produce which, two atoms of hydrogen of the methyl alcohol are oxidized, forming one equivalent of water H2 O and formaldehyde C H2 O, a gas. If the oxidation is carried still further, an equivalent of oxygen is added, and formic acid is the result, analogous to acetic acid. By burning it in a lamp, the carbon and oxygen are both oxidized, and carbonic acid C 02 and water H2 O are formed.

10. The other alcohols, propylic, butylic, amylic, and caproylic, have all the same plan of construction as common, or ethylic, that is, one atom of the hydrogen of water (H2 O) is replaced by an organic radical. In propylic alcohol, the radical is propyle (C3 H7 ;) in butylic alcohol, butyle (C4H9;) in amylic alcohol, amyle (C5 H,, ;) in caproylic alcohol, coproyle (C6 H13 ). In each the change is the same as in the ethylic alcohol, and by their oxidation the corresponding aldehydes and acids are formed.

11. If heavier alcohols are burned in a lamp, the oxygen in the air is not sufficient to consume all the carbon, and hence a large amount of free carbon will be deposited as soot. The methylic and ethylic alcohols burn without depositing soot ; the propylic alcohol will give a faint deposit ; butylic more ; amylic, still more ; while the caproylic yields a still larger amount of carbon.

12. It will be seen by referring to the table, that in the proportion carbon and hydrogen are increased, so is the fluid’s vapour density, fluid density, and higher boiling point. All these differences modify the physiological action of the alcohol. Another peculiarity is that while methylic and ethylic alcohol mix, in all proportions, with water, butylic is soluble in water in the proportion of one part to one and a half, only, but amylic and caproylic are insoluble.

13. The atmosphere is composed of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, from which all vegetable forms upon the surface of the earth derive their nourishment. The chemical elements of alcohol AND SCIENCE.

the air are the same in all parts of the earth ; so are those of the plants, for the elements of the atmosphere, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, compose almost the entire vegetable kingdom.

14. Carbon is commonly known as charcoal, but is mixed with several earthy substances, and is solid. In diamonds carbon is in absolute purity. Carbon is endowed with a considerable range of affinity, forming, as already seen, two gases by its union with oxygen.

15- Hydrogen has special affinity for oxygen, uniting with it to form water. Upon the exercise of this affinity the decay of all substances depends, and many of the most nutritive processes of plants originate in the attempt to gratify this affinity. In a gaseous state of hydrogen is the lightest body known and very combustible. It is never found in nature in an isolated state ; water is its most common combination.

16. OXYGEN is a gaseous element, and composes about one-fifth of the atmosphere and one-third of the crust of the earth. It has a powerful attraction for other elements, combining with them with such force as to produce combustion. It is superor in the extensive range of its affinities to all other elements, affecting the union and disunion of a great number of compounds.

17. Nitrogen, in its chemical character, is opposed to carbon and hydrogen, and its chief characteristics, are indifference to all other substances and a reluctance to unite with them ; and when forced by peculiar circumstances, it seems to be inert, so that a very slight change causes a disunion or decomposition. Yet nitrogen is an invariable constituent of all plants, and is subject to the control of the vital power during their life ; but when it ceases to exercise its power, nitrogen resumes its chemical character, and causes the decay of vegetable substances by escaping from the compounds of which it formed a constituent.

18. These elements form organic bodies. Plants do not use them in their simple state to build up their structures ; but in the form of carbonic acid, ammonia and water.

19. Alimentary Substances. —Although the elements employed by nature are so simple, and limited in number ; yet the vegetable products constructed from them are almost boundless in variety and numb.er. Alimentary substances are divided into non-nitrogenized and nitrogenized.

20. The non-nitrogenized are divided into three groups, differing in the relative proportions of the elementary atoms composing them. The following are the NON-NITROGENIZED.

21. First Group: Sugar and allied substances. These all appear to contain six atoms of carbon, or a multiple of that number united with hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportion in which they combine to form water. They may be divided as follows :

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THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOLS.

GROUP FIRST— FORMULA C12H22Ou.

Cane sugar, or sucrose— from sugar cane,

Milk sugar, or lactose— in milk of mammalia. Mycose, or trehaloze.

Melezitose.

Mycose.

GROUP SECOND— FORMULA C6 H,2 O0.

Grape sugar, or dextrose — in grapes.

Fruit sugar, or levulose — in honey and fruits. Galactose.

Sorbin.

Eucolin.

GROUP THIRD— FORMULA C6 H10 06.

Starch — in roots, stems and seeds of plants, as wheat, corn, potatoes, &c. Glycogene.

Dextrine — obtained by heating starch from 150° F. to 200° F.

Inuline.

Gums.

Cellulose — from the woody fibre of plants.

22. Th e. grape sugar and starch may be expressed thus :

Grape Sugar.

Carbon, 6 atoms.

Hydrogen, 12 atoms.

Oxygen, 6 atoms.

Starch.

Carbon, 6 atoms.

Hydrogen, 10 atoms.

Oxygen, 5 atoms.

Total, 24 atoms. Total, 21 atoms.

Or, they may be expressed in the usual form, C6 H,2 06 grape sugar ; and C6 H01 05 starch. In the grape sugar and starch, the atoms of carbon are the same, and the hydrogen and oxygen atoms are in exact proportion to form water, (H2 O). The same is true of lignin and gums; hence the three groups are simply charcoal and water.

23. The second group of non-nitrogen substances, the vegetable acids, malic and citric acids, that give the sour flavour to fruits, are very differently composed, as will be seen by examining the formula:

Malic acid = C4 H9 Os.

Citric acid = C6 He 07.

There is a variable amount of carbon and oxygen in excess.

24. The third Group of non-nitrogenized substances, are the Fats and Oils, which differ from both starch and frtiit acids, in having hydrogen and carbon largely in excess, and in having little oxygen, thus :

Stearic acid = C,e H36 02.

Margiric acid = Cl7 H34 02.

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ALCOHOL AND SCIENCE.

25. It was supposed by Liebig that the above groups of non-nitrogenized aliments are designed principally to be burned up in the animal system, to produce heat, and that they are decomposed during the process of respiration, into carbonic acid (C 02) and water (H2 O ) ; and are called elements of respiration. It is clear that the amount of heat produced by their decomposition will vary as the amount of hydrogen and carbon varies in their composition. As the fats and oils contain the most carbon and hydrogen, they give the most heat; next the sugars and starch; while lastly the vegetable acids give the least amount of heat.

26. We find in the arrangement and economy of nature, that these substances are distributed to meet the wants of the animal kingdom, according to the conditions of climate and season. Thus, animal oil and blubber are furnished for the inhabitants of the higher latitudes of the Polar Regions ; the fruits, acids and starch for those within the Tropics ; while they are varied and blended between the two extremes of heat and cold. Thus the different necessities of the whole animal kingdom are provided for.

27. The Nitrogenized or true Nutritive, compounds, are the second class of alimentary principles ; and are formed by the addition of nitrogen to the elements composing the first class ; hence they are called nitrogenized aliments ; they are vegetable albumen, vegetable fibrin, and vegetable casein. Albumen, fibrin, and casein are regarded by some chemists as compounds of the same primary substance (proteine), combined with different proportions of sulphur and phosphorus. The composition usually assigned to these substances is Cig H27 N* Og. They are the true builders of the animal, being transformed into the various tissues. The flesh or animal albumen, animal fibrin, animal casein and animal gluten, being identical with vegetable albumen, fibrin, casein and gluten ; containing the same proportion of nitrogen.

28. Protein Compounds. — The nitrogenous compounds, or albuminoid elements, are the true formers of the muscles and tissues of the animal system. These compounds have a strong tendency to decomposition, to putrify under favourable circumstances, and destroy sugar when brought into contact with it.

29. The gases are simple compounds, containing a pair of elements, with only 2, 3 or 4 atoms ; but substances that vegetables form out of them, consist of three or four distinct kinds of matter, having a large number of atoms. The greater the number of elements a substance contains, the more numerous the attractions, and the easier the composition is broken up by the disturbing forces brought to bear upon them. The forces which produce growth, readily derange the equilibrium in which they are held, when they are decomposed and changed into simpler and more permanent conditions.

30. The Decomposition of Matter. — The decomposition of compounds of organized substances, and the relapse of atoms to the inorganic condition, takes place under many circumstances, and gives rise to almost as many products, as the conditions under which the decomposition occurs. For example : from wood, allowed to decay, in contact with air and moisture, humus, humeric acid, &c., &c., are formed: substances of an entirely different nature. If allowed to decay under water, as in marshes and ponds, with mud and peat, an inflammable gas is generated ; but if heated with partial admission of air, as in coal pits, carbonic acid, water, and charcoal are produced ; and if heat be applied to the wood with entire exclusion of air, destructive distillation takes place, when charcoal, tar, pyroligneous acid, creosote, and illuminating gas are formed ; but when wood is burned in the open air, the oxygen seizes upon the carbon and hydrogen, and returns it to carbonic acid and water ; the original elements of the wood. In all the above processes of the destruction of wood, the attraction which held together its atoms is broken up, and the atoms again combine in other proportions, thus giving rise to new and entirely different substances, which are all intermediate states in the processes of decomposition or disorganization ; and the return of the atoms to their original condition of carbonic acid and water.

3L Putrefaction of Nitrogenized Substances. — Nitrogenous aliments are the most transient and changeable of all organized matter. At the common temperature, under the influence of moisture and oxygen, their decomposition, or putrefaction, rapidly takes place. Milk, meat, dough, &c., containing large quantities of nitrogenous matter, when placed in a moist condition, rapidly become putrid. The nitrogenized substances not only become rapidly putrid themselves, but communicate putrefaction to the non-nitrogenized. Pure starch, sugar, &c., are very enduring, and are able to resist putrefaction for a long time ; but when brought into contact with nitrogenized substances in the process of decay they are at once affected, and go on to the same condition. “The substances,” says Liebig, “which constitute the principal mass of every vegetable, are compounds of carbon with oxygen and hydrogen, in the proper relative proportion for forming water. For example ; a rotten peach or apple, placed in contact with one that is sound, soon causes it to rot ; and its atoms return to their original condition, or elements ; carbonic acid and water.

32. Fermentation is the term applied to the change which occurs in one organic substance when brought into contact with, and influenced by another in a state of decay or putrefaction. The process was originally understood to include all the changes which the substances of plants and animals undergo, when disunited from living force j but is now restricted to certain changes which all organic matter undergo.

33. Starch, sugar, &c., have no power of themselves to pass into decay; while albumen, fibrin, casein, gelatinous tissues, mucus, &c., when exposed to moderately heated air in a moist condition, begin to putrify more or less rapidly. The sub-

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ALCOHOL and science.

stances that spontaneously pass into a state of change or putrefaction are called ferments, and when they are brought into contact with sugar, &c., which would not otherwise be altered, cause the latter to be broken up into simpler compounds ; it is this process that constitutes fermentation. The ferment is always a substance that has the power of rotting or becoming putrid.

34. Every substance that is liable to putrefy becomes, while putrefying, a ferment j and in this condition acquires the property of inducing or starting the process of fermentation in other bodies capable of it, and retains that power till it is so far decomposed, that putrescence is over. Ferments are very widely distributed in inorganic bodies, and therefore when an animal or a plant dies, the process of fermentation proceeds more or less rapidly.

35. Alcoholic or Vinous Fermentation is the fermentation which will claim our particular attention, as being the principal process in the production of alcoholic liquors; beer, wine &c.

36. Vinous fermentation is the decomposition that the different kinds of sugars undergo, by which the elements combine to form new compounds, and under like conditions, are always the same. These conditions consist mainly in the action of a peculiar ferment, called yeast, upon a saccharine liquid ; when sugar C6 H12 Oe, is decomposed into two atoms of alcohol each C2 H6 O, and two atoms of carbonic acid, each C O2. It was formerly supposed that all the sugar was transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid ; but that is not the case, as about 6 per cent of it is changed, thus : —

3.5 per cent, are converted into Glycerine.

0.5 per cent, are converted into Succinic acid.

1.5 per cent, are converted into Cellulose.

0.5 per cent, are converted into Carbonic acid.

37. Without going into the different theories of the causes of

the changes occurring in the process of vinous fermentation ; there is very strong evidence that in all cases living organisms are present. Yeast, when examined under the microscope, is seen to be made up of organized cells, or globules, which are either vegetable or animal. When these living organisms are added to grape juice, or an infusion of malt, fermentation begins. The yeast cells increase in number, and go through various changes, and the result of their life-action is the conversion of sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid. These cells consists of two parts, the cell wall composed of matter, termed cellulose, and the contents of the cell resembling fat or oil. The idea that yeast was an organized living plant, was strongly opposed by both Berzelius and Liebig, but by the microscope they were convinced both of the organization and vitality. The scientific name is Fermentum cervesia, or torula cervisia.*

* Schnctzler says : “ That alcoholic fermentation, with evolution of gas, is caused by living cells of tn e fungus known as saccharomyces, present in the ferment j and that there are cases in which other species of fungus, as mucus, aspergillus and pemctlltum, present in the same liquid, produce fermentation with evolution of gas. Annual Record of Science and Industry, 1873.

THE CHEMICAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOLS Jg

38. Vinous fermentanion proceeds best at a temperature ranging from 6o° to 8o° F., the mean and more desirable temperature being about 70° F. The process itself causes the development of heat, and confirms the organic theory, which is, that the yeast cells or ferment, feed upon the vegetable substances, multiply, evolve heat, and give off as excretions alcohol and carbonic acid. According to every theory, fermentation is the process by which the food of man is destroyed and alcohol produced. The results invariably are that by the fermentation of sugar, new substances are produced, by a new grouping or arrangement of its elements ; the elements of the body which excites the fermention, taking no share in the transformation.

39. It has been shown by very exact experiments, that 100 parts of cane sugar, give from 50.3, to 50.27 parts of carbonic acid, and 52.62 parts of alcohol ; the sum of 103.89. The excess is found in the alcohol formed as oxygen and hydrogen, in the proportion to form water. It is therefore certain, that in the fermentation of cane sugar, the elements of one atom of water, have a share in the transformation. M. M. Duplaise says: “Among the proximate principles of organic substances, sugar alone gives occasion to vinous fermentation, from which alcohol is derived.’’

40. This fermentation requires the concurrence of five agents, each acting in a different direction, the union of which is indispensable, viz.: 1st, sugar or saccharine principle; 2d, water; 3d, heat ; 4th, a ferment ; 5th, atmospheric air. If one of these agents is suppressed, vinous fermentation will not take place, and consequently alcohol will not be produced. The action of each is of more or less importance, and fermentation absolutely depends on their employment and combination.

41. Sugar, as we have said, is the only constituent element that can produce alcohol ; the other agents are merely auxiliaries to the decomposition. According to the principles of chemistry, sugar, when dissolved and brought in contact with a ferment, is transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid ; composed, by weight, 42.47 parts of carbon, 50.73 of oxygen, and 6.90 of hydrogen.

42. The great French chemist, A. F. Fourcroy, says :* “Thefermentation of alcohol takes place at the expense of the destruction of a vegetable principle; thus: spirituous fermentation is a commencement of the destruction of principle formed by vegetation. The acid or acetous fermentation, is the second natural movement which contributes to reduce vegetable compounds to more simple states of composition. Wine, in turning sour, absorbs air; so that certain portions of the oxygen of the atmosphere appear to be necessary to the formation of the acetous acid. Finally, after vegetable liquors, or their solid parts moistened, have passed to the acid state, their decomposition continuing, under unfavourable circumstances, (namely, a warm temperature, exposure to air, and the contact of water,) leads them into putrefaction, which terminates in volatilizing most of the principles, under the form of

* Philosophy of Chemistry, Ch. XII., 1785.

ALCOHOL AND SCIENCE.

gas. Water, carbonic acid, carbonated and even sulphurated hydrogen gas, volatile oil in vapour, and sometimes even azotic gas and ammonia, are evolved ; and after this, there remains nothing but a brown or black residuum, known by the name of mould. Though all the circumstances of putrefaction are not described, or ever known, we have discovered that they are confined to the conversion of complex substances into simple substances, less compounded j that nature restores to new combinations, the materials which it had but lent, as it were to vegetables and animals ; and that she thus accomplishes the perpetual circle of compositions and decompositions, which attests her power, and demonstrates her fecundity, while it announces equal grandeur and simplicity in the course of her operations.”

43. The juices of all vegetables and other liquids containing sugar, are capable of alcoholic or vinous fermentation, when sufficient albuminous matter is present to produce and sustain the process, which is usually the case when the juice of apples, pears, peaches, currants, grapes, &c., are employed as sources of alcohol.

44. As already seen, there are several kinds of sugar. Grape sugar is alone capable of being directly converted into alcohol ; the others must be transformed into grape sugar before they are susceptible of vinous fermentation.