NATURE OF FERMENTED DRINKS 93 



before the water has been heated enough to become vapor, 

 and conducted through a coil of pipes kept cool by running 

 water, is changed back to a liquid form and collected in a 

 receiving vessel. 



The result is a new and stronger liquid, known as 

 "spirits" or "ardent (burning) spirits," which is nearly or 

 more than half alcohol. This new liquid is whisky, gin, 

 or brandy, according to the substance or flavors used in 

 the process of manufacture. 



This process of separating one liquid from another by 

 vaporizing with heat and condensing the vapor with cold 

 is called distillation. 



The products of the process are known as distilled 

 liquors. 



136. Distilled Liquors. Many of the alcoholic liquids 

 are made by distillation. Thus, alcohol itself may be dis- 

 tilled several times until we get a much stronger liquid, 

 clear and colorless like water, with a sharp, sweetish taste 

 and a peculiar odor. Various kinds of alcohol are distilled 

 from wood, from wine and beer, and from whisky and 

 fermenting potatoes and tomatoes. These different forms 

 of alcohol vary in composition, but they are alike in one 

 essential property, they are all narcotic poisons. 



The more common distilled liquors used as beverages 

 are whisky, brandy, rum, and gin. Rum is distilled from 

 the fermented molasses of sugar cane ; brandy from wine ; 

 whisky from fermented potatoes and corn ; and gin from 

 the cereals flavored with juniper berries. These distilled 

 liquors contain from forty to fifty per cent of alcohol, the 

 rest being water flavored with various aromatics. 



137. The Action of Certain Poisons. A poison is a sub- 

 stance whose nature it is, when absorbed into the blood, 



