72 CRITIQUES AND ADDRESSES. [iv. 



end ; scum and lees alike settle at the bottom, and the 

 fluid is once more clear and transparent. But it has 

 acquired properties of which no trace existed in the 

 original liquid. Instead of being a mere sweet fluid, 

 mainly composed of sugar and water, the sugar has more 

 or less completely disappeared, and it has acquired that 

 peculiar smell and taste which we call " spirituous." 

 Instead of being devoid of any obvious effect upon the 

 animal economy, it has become possessed of a very 

 wonderful influence on the nervous system ; so that in 

 small doses it exhilarates, while in larger it stupefies, and 

 may even destroy life. 



Moreover, if the original fluid is put into a still, and 

 heated for a while, the first and last product of its dis- 

 tillation is simple water ; while, when the altered fluid is 

 subjected to the same process, the matter which is first 

 condensed in the receiver is found to be a clear, volatile 

 substance, which is lighter than water, has a pungent 

 taste and smell, possesses the intoxicating powers of the 

 fluid in an eminent degree, and takes fire the moment it 

 is brought in contact with a flame. The alchemists 

 called this volatile liquid, which they obtained from wine, 

 " spirits of wine," just as they called hydrochloric acid 

 " spirits of salt," and as we, to this day, call refined 

 turpentine " spirits of turpentine." As the " spiritus," 

 or breath, of a man was thought to be the most refined 

 and subtle part of him, the intelligent essence of man 

 was also conceived as a sort of breath, or spirit ; and, 

 by analogy, the most refined essence of anything was 

 called its "spirit." And thus it has come about that we 

 use the same word for the soul of man and for a glass 

 of gin. 



At the present day, however, we even more commonly 

 use another name for this peculiar liquid namely, 

 " alcohol," and its origin is not less singular. The Dutch 



