2S(J Ohervationsof the Appearance of the Comet 4 



often the most generous and of the most agreeable ffavour. 

 It is to secure these advantages, without totally interrupting 

 the communication with the air, that M. Chaptal advises to 

 cover the vat with boards upon which is suspended a co- 

 vering of old hneu cloths ; — an excellent iriethod, and easily 

 put in practice, as the cost of it is so triflino-. 



Tlie loss of alcohol in the vinous fermentation is provecr 

 by the experiments of Dom Gcntil, and by the happy ap- 

 plication of them by M. Chaptal, in his manufactory of 

 vinegar. It is also proved, probably, by the two following 

 facts. Some white grapes found whole, by M. Coste, at 

 the top of the vat in the time of tunning, tasted precisely 

 like grapes preserved in brandy. I also saw some grapes, 

 tinder similar circumstances, entirely coated with small 

 crystals of acidulated tartrite of potass. Do not these two 

 phaenomena show that the grapes had absorbed a portion of 

 the alcohol which escaped during fermentation, and were 

 thereby deprived of a certain quantity of their water of 

 Vegetation ? I have no hesitation in thinking so. 



[To berontiuued.] 

 ' •..... ■ ■ . • ' " ii». 'i 



XLII. IntelUgence and Miscellaneous Articles, 



THE COMET. 



observations of the Appearance of the Cotnet. ByW. Crane, 

 Esq. of' Boston, Lincolnshire. 



X HE brilliant appearance which the comet now makes in 

 the north, having excited the attention nut only of the stu- 

 dents in astronomy, but also that of the public at large, I 

 hope it will direct many to the pursuit of that beautiful and 

 interesting science j for, in this country, it must be observed 

 with regret that it has not been of late cultivated with the 

 ardour its importance demands. 



The following observations on the comet have been taken, 

 at eight o'clock in the evening, according to the dales be- 

 low : 



From the circumstance of my being, at present, in a town 

 where I cannot have access to astronomical instruments, I 

 am under the necessity of using a quadrant of my own 

 construction : it is made of well dried mahogany, and its 

 radius is 14| inches, which gives nearly 3-lOths of an inch 

 for a degree. I therefore llatter myself they are not very 

 erroneous. Its situation respecting the right ascension and 

 declination, being taken from Scncx's 18-inch celestial 



globe. 



