174 



COMMON THINGS. NO. I. 



VINEGAR. 



Vinegar exists ready formed in many plants, and is sometimes found 

 also in animal fluids. It is an abundant product of fermentation, and is 

 yielded in large quantities by all liquids that contain alcohol, as also by 

 some infusions in which this principle does not enter as an original con- 

 stituent. 



Vinegar, for domestic purposes, is commonly prepared by exposing 

 beer, cider, or other spirituous liquors, mixed with some suitable fer- 

 ment, to the action of the atmosphere, at a temperature of about 70 °. 

 The best vinegar for table use is made of rich cider, by the ordinary 

 process of fermentation. Watered cider (technically so called,) makes 

 good vinegar, though we have been assured that one barrel of pure 

 cider will make 1| of prime vinegar. But if the vinegar is too strong 

 it is easy to dilute it, and we therefore prefer making our vinegar out of 

 the best cider we can obtain, without the addition of any water in the 

 first instance. 



A friend well known for the successful application of his extensive 

 chemical knowledge to practical purposes, gives us the following as his 

 mode of making vinegar for domestic use : To ten gallons of pure 

 water, add one gallon of molasses and about half a gill of yeast, (a pint 

 to 30 gals.) or a proportionate quantity of any kind of leaven. Put 

 this in a vessel sufficiently large to allow the fermentation to go on 

 rapidly, and with a temperature of from 70° to 80° it will be lit for use 

 in from 6 to 8 weeks. At a lower temperature fermentation will, of 

 course, be slow. A handful of green cofi'ee thrown into the barrel with 

 these materials, is also said to give this vinegar the flavor of cider-vine- 

 gar, to which it is in all other respects equal. 



In some places, particularly in the vine growing countries of Eu- 

 rope, extensive establishments, termed Vinaigreries, are fitted up for the 

 manufacture of vinegar. Diluted wines are here placed in tiers of ves- 

 sels, well supplied with atmospheric air, and kept at a uniform tempera- 

 ture by means of flues. A portion of the contents is drained from each 

 cask at regular periods, the residue being left as a ferment for the new 

 wine which is then added. The vessels are completely cleansed once 

 in ten years. The period required for fermentation is variable, and is 

 often affected by causes which cannot be exactly ascertained. 



Vinegar may also be o))lained by the distillation of wood. The 

 wood is placed in large iron cylinders, and exposed for some hours to 

 a high heat, acetic acid is disengaged, accompanied hy water, empyreu- 

 matic oil, carbonic acid, carbonin oxide, and rarburetted hvdrogen. — 



