THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY. PART I. 161 



precautions are taken to prevent it, the above names seem to apply to 

 the sap at all of its stages prior to distillation. 



In India and parts of Malaj'a the beverage resulting from the distilla- 

 tion is called arrah and, in the Philippines, vino de coco (Spanish) and 

 alak (Tagalog). Some vinegar is produced from the sap of the coconut 

 palm in the Philippines, but I believe but little or no sugar is made 

 from it. 



Watt'° states that the juice ferments rapidly and becomes intoxicating. 

 "This is the tari or toddy (or in the case of the cocoanut more specifically known 

 as the nira), a beverage very extensively consumed in India. Fermentation is said 

 to be prevented by the addition of a little lime to the fluid. The earthen vessels 

 into which it drains are generally powdered with lime when the fluid is to be 

 drunk in its fresh unfermented state, or is intended to be boiled down to sugar 

 or jaggery. * * * When fermented the juice may be distilled into spirits 

 or made into vinegar. One hundred gallons of tari yields on an average twenty- 

 five of arak by distillation." 



Since the sap will produce an average of 6 per cent alcohol, the arak is thus 

 estimated to be about 24 per cent in alcoholic strength. In another place Watt " 

 states the liquor to be 80 proof, or about 40 per cent alcohol. 



"Of Ratn^giri, it is said, there are ordinarily three kinds of palm spirit, known 

 respectively as rdsi, phul or dharti, and pMnij rdsi being the weakest and ph6ni 

 the strongest. In some places a still stronger spirit called duvdsi is manufac- 

 tured. * * * The spirits are distilled in private stills, licensed to be kept 

 at certain Bhandiris' houses under fixed conditions as required, in proportion 

 to the number of trees licensed to be tapped in the vicinity. One still is usually 

 allowed for every 100 trees, and the still-pot is limited to a capacity of 20 

 gallons." ^^ 



Production. — The production of beverages in the Philippines distilled 

 from the fermented sap of the coconut has increased since the enactment 

 of the present Internal Eevenue Law and the business is becoming con- 

 centrated in four provinces. At various times eleven provinces have 

 been identified with the industry. At the present time, it is on a sub- 

 stantial basis and the output is increasing. 



These facts are brought out in Table III in the introduction, pages 

 102 and 103. 



During the calendar year 1909 there were twenty-eight distilleries, 

 all of the pot type, engaged in the industry. They handled 5,756,764 

 liters of coconut sap, from which they produced 705,376 liters of dis- 

 tilled beverages of an average proof of 74, or 37 per cent alcohol. These 

 distilled beverages were all sold locally, usually within a small radius 

 of the distilleries, under the name of vino de coco. The composition of 

 these coco whiskies will be considered in Part 2 of this article which 

 will be published at an early date. 



The available data from a number of distilleries operating in the four 

 provinces where the industry of distilling coco sap is carried on are 

 given in the following table : 



''Loc. cit., 451. "76irf., 457. *' Ihid., 451. 



