The micro-organism of faulty rum / by V.H. Veley and Lilian J. Veley (née Gould).

  • Veley, V. H. (Victor Herbert)
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The micro-organism of faulty rum / by V.H. Veley and Lilian J. Veley (née Gould). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    any quotations therefrom. Within two months after the publication of Mr. Harrison’s report our attention was called to the matter as a problem still unsolved. From the information which we had received in the course of private correspondence, we came to the conclusion that the difficulty was possibly not of a chemical nature. Notwithstanding the apparent improbability that any micro-organism could survive in strong spirit, hitherto con- sidered to be one of the best materials for preserving anatomical specimens, the phenomena described to us as attending the production of the turbidity led us to infer the possible presence of some bacteria, and consequently our examination of faulty samples sent to us was directed to this point. Our investigations have shown that neither the cloudiness nor the ‘ flocculent precipitates ’ are due to any particles of a chemical nature, whether suspended or deposited, but to the presence of a micro-organism which we believe to be hitherto undescribed. We were informed that the first samples of coloured rum received by us direct from a bonded warehouse had been assessed by the Excise as at 42°/o over proof, equivalent to 74-63°,/ per weight of alcohol. Our determinations, using standardized instruments, gave a value of 42-23% over proof, or 74-88°/o per weight of alcohol. A sample of white rum was found to have a value of 38% over proof, equivalent to 72-09% per weight of alcohol. In all cases we observed a small quantity of sediment at the bottom of the bottles. Mr. Harrison in his report alludes to such sediments in the following terms:— ‘ The diluted “ faulty ” rums were next examined, and the sediments separated. ‘ Microscopically these sediments were found to consist principally of amorphous matters mixed with occasional depolarizing crystals, probably of sulphate and of carbonate of calcium. ‘ By analytical examination the major portion of the pre- cipitate was found to be organic, whilst the inorganic matters consisted of, after ignition, calcium sulphate and the carbonates of calcium and magnesium. The bulks of these sediments were far greater than if they had consisted only B 2
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