On Madame Gervais' Xeiv Method of Fcrmenlatiov. i\ 



that distillers and vinegar-makers are obliged either to stoii 

 the process before it is complete, or to suffer a certain portion 

 of alcohol to be destroyed by the commencement of the acid 

 fermentation : in both of which cases their loss is unavoidable. 

 The apparatus will not only prevent this, but condense a cer- 

 tain portion of spirit, as in every other case of the vinous fer- 

 mentation. 



The British wine- and cyder-makers may cherish the hope 

 of improving their manufacture by the same method, so as to 

 make it superior to many of the foreign wines ; cyder and 

 perry in particular are capable of being greatly benefited by 

 it, as an experiment which we have made upon the former 

 leaves us no room to doubt of the great advantages to be de- 

 rived from the application of the a2:)paratu3. 



Apples, and indeed almost every fruit, contain the principle 

 of a very jnmgent acid, called the malic acid. This, when the 

 oxygen of the atmospheric air is allowed to combine with it, 

 produces a roughness, which is often so predominant in cyder 

 as to cause it to be scarcely drinkable ; but all access of the at- 

 mospheric air being precluded during its fermentation, cyder 

 becomes a mild and pleasant beverage. The same will, 

 doubtless, be the case with perry, which, when perfect, 

 will bear as near a resemblance to champagne, as any two 

 liquids produced from fruits so different in their external 

 appearance can have. However, wine, in its most perfect 

 state, is the criterion of all fermented liquors ; every imita- 

 tion is rated according as it more or less possesses the same 

 properties. The characteristic qualities of wine are alco- 

 hol and flavour; the one may be obtained from any vege- 

 table substance containing saccharine matter and mucilage, 

 and is the principle of strength and durability. We are not 

 so well acquainted with the nature of the other, being of so 

 volatile and subtle a disposition as to have hitherto baffled all 

 analysis, and only to be detected by the most perfect sense of 

 taste ; and though some palates can discover its presence with 

 tolerable accuracy, yet they are unequal to point out the means 

 of increasing or improving it. We know some of the causes 

 which occasion its escape, the principal of which is licat; 

 every additional mixture of good, lor the purpose of improving 

 a bad flavoured liquor, any adulteration or disease, will equally 

 destroy it; and it lies concealed until lermentution is nearly 

 completed, when it is developed, and manifests itself as a last 

 and crowning perfection. 



This circumstance may have given rise to the opinion, that 

 the principle of flavour is resinous, since it becomes more pre- 

 valent as alcohol (which is the best dissolvent of resin) be- 

 Vol.Gl. No.297. Ja«. 1823. F comes 



