ON THE SHAPE OF STILLS. 203 



Experience proves then, that it is necessary, to bring the Ebullition ne- 

 wine to boil, before the alcohol is abstracted from it. This cessar ^ 

 boiling favours the reaction of the principles of the wine, 

 and is the cause of a new combination by their mutually act- 

 ing upon each other, which renders the spirit more aromatic 

 and highly flavoured, than that obtained from wine to which 

 a similar degree of heat has not been given. 



To explain why the liquor cannot be raised to the same Cause of the 

 degi'ee of heat in a shallow still, as in a deep one, it is suf- difference in 

 ficient to observe, that, in the former, the evaporation al- 

 ways keeps pace with the heat produced : in other words, 

 if we increase the fire, we only accelerate the evaporation, 

 without perceptibly increasing the temperature of the 

 fluid. 



Hence it is evident, that shallow stills are far from being 

 well adapted to attain this end ; and the circumstance, that 

 is essential to fit them for a speedy evaporation, is here 

 a defect, instead of an advantage, in proportion to its effi- 

 cacy. 



From what has been said we may conclude: 



1. That shallow alembics, though very fit for the distilla- General con- 

 tion of certain fermented liquors, may sometimes alter the t 1081 ® 115 * 

 quality of the products of distillation. 



2. That the inconveniences arising from the employment 

 of shallow alembics in distilling wines arise from the faci- 

 lity, with which evaporation takes place in them. 



3. That a high temperature is always necessary, to carry 

 over the peculiar aroma of the wine, and perhaps too that 

 arising from the action of heat on the principles of the 

 wine. 



4. That deep alembics ought to be preferred to shallow- 

 ones for the distillation of wine. 



5. Lastly, that the best dimensions for an alembic, with- 

 out regard to its figure, must be such, that the surface of 

 the liquor heated shall be constantly greater than that from 

 which the evaporation takes place. Thus for instance we 

 may consider it as a rule, that the proportion between the 

 |two should be as four to one. 



ANNOTATION. 



