8 ALCOHOL. 



The wine or wash is subjected to a slow heat, and as the 

 spirit rises, it is easily collected in a worm surrounded by 

 cold water. Gin is thus procured through the distillation 

 of fermented barley or other grain ; rum, from molasses ; 

 brandy, from wine. None of these processes, however, elicit 

 pure alcohol, for the strongest brandy contains between forty 

 and fifty per cent of water. Impure alcohol can be im- 

 proved by repeated Distillations, and by mixing it with some 

 salt that has a strong attraction for water, like the salt of 

 tartar ; in this way it becomes more concentrated as it gradu- 

 ally parts with much of its water. 



Alcohol at its greatest strength does not freeze, even in 

 the coldest weather. It is very volatile, boiling at 176 of 

 Fahrenheit, and in a vacuum, at 56. It unites with water. 

 It is combustible, burning with a white flame, without leaving 

 any residuum. 



Alcohol is exceedingly useful, through its capability of 

 dissolving vegetable principles, so that such parts as contain 

 medicinal virtues can be disengaged and preserved by the 

 agency of alcohol. Such medicines are known technically 

 as tinctures. Science owes an incalculable debt to alcohol, 

 as through what are called by anatomists wet preparations, 

 that is, putting objects in a perfect state into alcohol, the 

 scientific world sees the vast collections of animal and vege- 

 table structure and growth preserved in a perfect state in 

 the museums and college halls of the civilized world. 



Alcohol is used to keep venison warm, by serving it up on 

 metal plates, usually of block-tin, commonly called venison- 

 blazers, or chafing-dishes, which are hollow in the centre, 

 and filling them with the spirit, which is occasionally ignited, 

 at a small orifice placed on the side of the plate. Alcohol 

 is also much used in lamps placed under kettles, to keep 

 liquids, while on the table, at a proper temperature. 



The spirits distilled from different fermented liquors. Sir 



