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XV. Memorial of Mr. E. G. J. Crookeens respecirpg 

 the Distillation of Spirits^ &c. in Holland. {Trans- ' 

 lated from the French.) * 



JLxV order to answer the questions relative to tlic purity and 

 goodness of the spirit distilled t'roin grain, I shall chiefly 

 confine myself to that which is distilled in Holland, and so 

 much esteemed in this country on account of its flavour as 

 /veil as of its purity and salubrity ; because tlie nature of 

 this spirit, or geneva, and the method of distilling it, from 

 the lirst beginning to the last stage of rectification, is better 

 understood by me than the spirit distilled in this country, 

 and the manner of distilling it. If you consider the hu- 

 midity of the air in Holland, and the influence which this 

 unhcalthv air must naturally possess upon the health of 

 the inhabitants, and that not only all the physicians, but 

 also the people at large, are convinced that the spirit drawn 

 from grain, or geneva, as it is there distilled, if drunk with 

 Diodcration, is an universal preservative against the inlir- 

 ihi lies and epidemical diseases which this damp air must 

 naturally produce, it cannot be a matter of surprise that 

 the use of geneva is so universal throughout Holland, and 

 that the Dutch nation has carried the art of distilling it t» 

 a degree of perfection which it has not yet been possible to 

 attain in any other country. To form a judgment on the 

 bcneiicial nature of this spirit, 1 shall only quote this one 

 fact, averred by daily example, and which has certainly npt 

 escaped the notice of English travellers who have traversed 

 Holland, or resided there some time with a spirit of ob- 

 servation, viz. that numbers of persons are found much 

 advanced in years who since their youth have made consi- 

 derable debauches in this spirit, while all those who commit 

 similar excesses in foijeign spirits succumb and perish in the 

 bloom of life ; and this observation leads me naturally to 

 this question. Wherein docs that beneficial virtue of the 

 Dutch geneva consist, which it enjoys in preference to .nil 

 other spirits ? The answer to this question must be found 

 in the sort of grain, in the good quailly of each sort, in the 

 manner of proceeding and drawing from it a spirit which 

 is pure, and unriiixcd with any heterogeneous matter wiiich 

 might impair its natural goodness. An explanation ot these 

 points will contain, I think, the answer to the principal 



' From the Parliamentary Report respecting the Di;tillt.i-ii.i in Scot- 

 land. 



fiuCKliciV 



