516 Transactions of the 



considered a good French authority on distillation, sa} T s of the advan- 

 tages of heating by steam instead of tire: First — economy of fuel, since 

 it permits all the operations of the distiller to be conducted by the use of 

 a single furnace, when otherwise each one would require a separate 

 fire. Second — economy of labor and consequently greater facility of 

 personal supervision. Third — perfect regularity of temperature neces- 

 sary for the work. Fourth, and as a consequence of this regularity of 

 temperature — a superiority in the quality of the product. On the style 

 of still used in France, the same author says of the Derosue still: " It 

 is in use in the larger portion of the distilleries of France," and with 

 regard to the size of the apparatus: " The greater the capacity of the 

 apparatus the better the quality of the product." 



The same author, in speaking of marc brandy, says: "Usually the 

 process of obtaining marc brandy is very objectionable. The following 

 is the method pursued in wine growing countries: The marc, on leaving 

 the press, is borne to a deep pit dug in the earth, sometimes plastered 

 with clay, in which it is packed and pressed as it is brought. When the 

 pit is full it is covered with straw, vine leaves and twigs, over which is 

 thrown a thick bed of earth to prevent contact with the air. The whole 

 is left to ferment for about six weeks. When it is thought the fermen- 

 tation is completed they commence to distill the marc. For this purpose 

 the boiler of a simple still, having a grating on the bottom, is tilled to 

 about three fourths with the marc, then a sufficient quantity of water is 

 poured in to prevent the marc from burning in the still. It is then 

 closed by luting and heat applied. The first product of the operation is 

 very weak, and must lie rectified or distilled to produce potable brandy 

 at fifty degrees. The marc, thus submitted to a sort of dry fermentation, 

 evolves an amount of heat sufficient to decompose it promptly and cause 

 it partly to putrify, if care is not taken to lie assured from time to time 

 whether the fermentation is completed. A preferable method, which is 

 adopted by some proprietors, consists in mixing the marc in a vat with 

 tepid water at twenty-live to thirty degrees (seventy-seven to eighty-six 

 degrees Fahrenheit), to cause a new fermentation, from which is drawn 

 a light wine called piquctte and which is distilled separately. The marc 

 is then distilled with a small quantity of water. 



Brandy from the mare has a very disagreeable odor, and always 

 retains an acid and penetrating taste which is very difficult to remove. 

 This insupportable taste is due to the presence of an essential oil which, 

 according to M. Aubergier, exists already formed in the skin of the 

 grape, and which is not developed in the course of and by the distilla- 

 tion as has hitherto been thought. This chemist, on rectifying some 

 marc brandy in a water bath with a. very gentle heat at the beginning 

 of the operation, and regulated so as to obtain a spirit of thirty-six 

 degrees Cartier, perceived that the first portion of alcohol was partly 

 free from the acid principle which strongly impregnated the brandy he 

 rectified. "1 undertook," said he, "to repeat the operation, and divided 

 the product into three parts ; the first constituting all the spirits drawn 

 off up to the period when I ascertained that the admixture of a small 

 quantity of water caused it to become a 'little milky; I changed the 

 receiver, and that which came over, until it became necessary to increase 

 the heat sufficiently to cause the liquor to flow in a continuous thread, 

 constituting my second product. After having continued the heat in 

 order to draw ort' all the alcohol contained in the liquor, I obtained for 

 my third product only a thick milky liquor. I took the first product 

 and after repeated distillations with gentle heat, I obtained an alcohol 



