Excerpt from A Study of the Gases of Emmental Cheese

The glass cylinder A is forced a short distance into the body of the cheese until it is firmly held. It is then clamped in position. Around the outside the cheese is cut away sufficiently to leave a channel into which mercury moistened with mercuric chlorid solution is poured. This forms a seal preventing entrance of air. The head of the shaft B is now resting on the surface of the cheese. Through its capillary mercury is run into the cylinder, displacing the air until it finally runs out of the side arm D and up through the annular space between the Shaft and the shoulder of the cylinder. The Short length of thick rubber tubing at E is then very tightly bound with a rubber band, leaving mercury in the small cup above, and thus effectually closing this opening against the entrance of air. When the cylinder and side arm are thus completely filled with mercury, a receptacle filled with mercury is brought over the end of the side arm (in a mercury trough, of course) and serves to retain the col lected gas until the time of the analysis. After these preparations the shaft is pushed down into the cheese. When it punctures an eye this can readily be felt. Since the head of the shaft is larger than the Shank, there is left an annular space for the escape of the gas. This gas is displaced from the eye partially by the mercury of the cylinder, which finds its way to the lower level, but more largely by the mercury which runs in through the capillary in the shaft. The exit of this is prevented from becoming clogged with cheese by care fully blowing it out just behind the head, as shown in the diagram. When the gas is displaced from the eye it is displaced from the cylinder into the receiver by continuing to run in mercury through the shaft from the reservoir C. Between this reservoir and the shaft is placed a bulb which prevents the mercury from sweeping in bub bles of air.

In the samples of gas collected with this apparatus seldom was more than a trace of oxygen found. This in itself shows that the gas was obtained without contamination by air.

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