144. THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 
Distillation being an operation which requires prepar- 
ation in the fluid to be operated upon, before proceeding 
to distil we must first understand how to prepare the 
wash so as to obtain the largest amount of alcohol from 
a given amount of sweet liquor. Where grain is the 
substance employed to form the wort or wash, the mani- 
pulations are complex and various, requiring long expe- 
rience to understand thoroughly ; but when, as in the 
present case, the fluid is already in a forward state of 
preparation, by reason of its nature, and requiring to 
undergo but one preparative operation previous to distil- 
lation, the subject becomes simplified, and less difficult to 
describe or comprehend. 
FERMENTATION. 
To produce the vinous or alcoholic fermentation in a 
fluid, it is a first requisite that that fluid be sweet. This 
sweetness may either be the result of chemical combi- 
nation, brought about by art, as in the case of worts made 
from grain, or it may be the natural condition of the 
fluid, as in the case of the expressed juice of the sorgho. 
When fermentation takes place, several phenomena not 
to be mistaken make their appearance. ‘The juice seems 
to boil, minute globules of carbonic acid gas come to the 
surface, like the effervescence of champagne when viewed 
through a glass, the temperature rises several degrees 
above that of the atmosphere, an aromatic, rummy smell 
is evolved, anda scum of yeast gathers on the top. To 
the tongue, the previous sweet flavor has given place to 
a slightly acid, pungent taste, and when the fermentation 
