On the Distillation of Spirits, ^c. in Hollarid. 315 



makes as necessary as a hut, and frequently serves all the 

 purposes of one. A musket, and a small quantity of pow- 

 tier and lead, will procure him as much game as his whole 

 family can consume. The spring hoks are so plentiful oa 

 the borders of the colony, and so easily got at, that a farmer 

 sends out his Hottentot to kill a couple of these deer with 

 as much certainty as if he sent him among his flock of sheep_ 

 In a word, an African peasant of the lowest condition never 

 knows want ; and if he does not rise into affluence, the fault 

 must be entirely his own. 



LVI. Memorial of Mr, E.. G. J. Crookeens respectivf^ 

 the Distillation of Spirits, ^c. in Holland, 



[Conclaticd from p. 113. J 



JL HE water which is made use of is also deserving the ut- 

 most attention. Hard water, and which is loaded with 

 many particles, produces less spirit, and of a harsh and hard 

 quality. In Holland they make use of the water of the 

 Meuse, and keep vessels expressly for that purpose, which 

 load the water in thai river, and convey it to tb.e iaboratorjr 

 of the distillers. In other places, they take the water of 

 ismall brooks, where the water flows over a sandy ground, 

 and they take care to make a provision of it when the wea- 

 ther is still and calm, and not immediately after a heavy fall 

 of rain, by which the water might have been muddy. Thev 

 who have adopted the first method are of opmion, that by 

 this operation, and by distilling the whole mass at once, 

 they obtain a greater quantity of spirit, and that they have 

 less trouble in making the composition. In this tiiey are, 

 however, grossly mistaken. The great many experiments 

 I have made in Holland \\ ith either mctlwd, and which two 

 years ago I repeated in the electorate of Hanover, at a di- 

 .stiller's of my acquaintance, have confirmed me in the opi- 

 nion, that by this method no greater quantity is obtained, and 

 that the spirit, ceteris paribus, is less pleasant and of a harsher 

 taste, for this evident reason, that with the greatest precaution 

 it is hardly possible to prevent the thick mass, exjiosed to the 

 immediate action of the fire, from communicating to the 

 liquor an cnipyreumatic taste; and it is by no means iinj)ro- 

 bable, that previously to the fermentation, all the essential oil 

 not having been set at liberty, a partof it has remained united 

 and incorporated wiih the flour, or at least with (he husks 

 <jf the grain, and only disengages itself by the aid of the heat 



durinjT 



