Spirit m fermented Liquors. 44 S 



This temperature was kept up from four to five hours, for 

 five successive days, at the end of which period, four ounces 

 having passed into the receiver, its specific gravity at 60' 

 wa« ascertained to be 0-963 1 i. 



ft may be concluded, from these results, that the propor- 

 tion of alcohol is not influenced by the temperature at which 

 wine is distilled, the variation of the specific gravities in the 

 above experiments beii^g even less than might have been 

 expected, when the delicacy of the operation by which they 

 are asceriamed is considered^ 



I have repeatedly endeavoured to separate the spirit from 

 wine, by subjecting it to low temperatures, with a view to 

 freeze the aqueous part ; but when the temperature is suf- 

 ficiently reduced, the whole of the wine forms a spongy cake 

 of ice. 



In a mixture of one fluid ounce of alcohol with three of 

 water, I dissolved the residuary matter afforded by evapo- 

 rating four fluid ounces of Port wine, and attempted to se- 

 parate the alcohol from this artificial mixture by freezing ; 

 but a spongy c.ike of ice was produced as in the last experi- 

 ment. 



When the temperature is more gradually reduced, and 

 when large quantities of wine are operated upon, the sepa- 

 ration of alcohol succeeds to a certain extent, and the por- 

 tion which first freezes is principally if not entirely water: 

 hence in some countries this method is employed to render 

 wine strong. 



Section IT. 



Having ascertained that alcohol exists in wine readv 

 formed, and that it is not produced during distillation, £ 

 cmploved that process to discover the relative proportion of 

 alcohol contained in diflxTcut wines. 



In the following experiments, the wine was distilled in 

 glass retorts, and the escape of any uncondensed vapour was 

 prevented by employing sufficiently capacious receivers, 

 well luted, and kept cold during the experiment. 



By a proper management of the heat towards the end of 

 the process, I could distil over nearly the whole of the 

 wine without burning the residuary matter: thus, from a 

 )-)int of Port wine, of Madeira, ot Sherry, &c. I distilled off 

 from fit'lcen fluid ounces to fifteen fluid ounces and a half; 

 and from the same quantity of Malaga and other wines 

 containing much saccharine matter, I could readily distil 

 fro^n fourteen to fifteen fluid ouucc-s. 



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