Note 133 — Chapter VI · THE PHYSIOLOGICAL THEORY OF FERMENTATION.

We have elsewhere determined the formation of minute quantities of volatile acids in alcoholic fermentation. M. Béchamp, who studied these, recognized several belonging to the series of fatty acids, acetic acid, butyric acid, &c. “The presence of succinic acid is not accidental, but constant; if we put aside volatile acids that form in quantities which we may call infinitely small, we may say that succinic acid is the only normal acid of alcoholic fermentation.” Pasteur, Comptes rendus de l’Académie, t. xlvii. p. 224, 1858.