the Strengths and Values of Spirituous Liquors. 27 



only from each other in the proportion in which these sub- 

 stances enter into their composition. The former of these 

 fluids, considered as in a state of chemical purity, or alto- 

 gether unmixed with any heterogeneous substance, is, how- 

 ever, by no means well known. The most highly rectified 

 spirit which has ever yet been procured has probably still 

 contained no inconsiderable quantity of water, which it is 

 the object of the process of rectification to separate ; and 

 though we obtain spirit which is more and more dephleg- 

 mated as we advance in our icnowledge of practical chemistiy, 

 yet we have reason to believe that the ultimate point of ab- 

 solute purity has never yet been attained. 



§ 2. The latter of these ingredients being of no value, it, 

 follows that every such compound must, cceteris paribus, 

 be appreciated by the quantity of the former which it con- 

 tains ; and we could therefore at once estimate its value if 

 ■we could determine that quantity. It is not, however, ab- 

 solutely necessary for this appreciation that we should be ia 

 possession of the actual quantity of alcohol which is con- 

 tained in any given liquor : if we can discover the propor- 

 tion which that quantity bears to the quantity entering into 

 the composition of any other given liquor, we shall be in 

 possession of its relative value, when compared with that of 

 sjuch other. 



§ 3. This proportional value, therefore, will be no less 

 truly ascertained, if, instead of considering alcohol as our 

 standard in this respect, we should take spirit of an inferior 

 Strength as being so, and appreciate all spirituous com- 

 pounds by reference to the quantity of such standard spirit 

 which would be capable of producing or being produced 

 by the given compound, by the addition of water to the 

 strongest of the two till they were reduced to the same de- 

 gree of strength. The real quantity of alcohol, properly so 

 called, which is contained in any mixture, being, from our 

 ignorance of this fluid in a state of chemical purity, impos- 

 sible to be ascertained, we have naturally been obliged to 

 have recourse to the latter mode of appreciating the values 

 of spirituous liquors by reference to the relative proportions 

 in which this hitherto unknown substance enters into their 

 composition, which are obtained by comparing all of them 

 with some other spirit of known strength as a standard j 

 and tliis has accordingly become the practice in, every coun- 

 try in which these kinds of liquors form an important article 

 of commerce. The strength of this assumed standard is 

 jnerely arbitrary', it being sufficient for all purposes that it 

 be only certainly and precisely fixed, This, however, has 



unfortunately 



