BRA 



harrti winei. All thf ff. whtn diftilWd, yield a fpirit which 

 it (if bad quality, niiiJ. cinpyreiimatic, efpccially in tht 

 Irtll-di!liIl<rJ p Jiti'on, am! even contains a fenfiblc quantity of 

 the fame acid whicli liiii pafTtd over in ditlillation. The 

 addition of ch Ik, alkali, or lime water to the wine lines 

 indo.-d keep down the atid, and prevents it from pairiii;r into 

 the fpirit, bnt with a very rem.irkable diniinulion of the 

 quantity yielded, and even then, the cmpyreuinatic odour 

 regains. On the other hand, the richer wines are thofe 

 iffat aic the moll free from this acid. 



Another fuhftance, which ^ives a very ftrong, and mollly, 

 tinpleafaiit flavour and fmcll to bmndy, appears to be an 

 tflential oil of peculiar nature, which i-? found in the fpirit 

 of fome of tlie richcll and fuUeft bodied wines. The exaft 

 nature of thi> oil is not known, nor can it be well afctr- 

 taincd, whether it is different from the common flavonrinff 

 principle, or arorra of wines, except in beintj fo abundant, 

 as to be in p.Tt altered by d'll Illation, and cliansjed thereby 

 from a grateful to a naufenus fubllance. \\'hen fpirit, 

 charged with this oil, is rubbed in the hands till dry, a 

 llrong ungrateful fmell is left by this oil, refembling, in 

 fome degree, the breath of drunkards. Sometimes this oil 

 is in fiich a quantity as to feparate, in part, from the fpirit 

 a< it cools, and is found in the capital, as a conci'cte, fuetty 

 oil, ftrongly naufcous to the fmell and talle. Brandy dif- 

 tilltd from this oily wine is, in faft, a faturated folution of 

 this effential oil in alcohol. It is much improved by a fe- 

 cond rectification, with the previous addition of pine water, 

 which immediately renders the fpirit milky, feparatcs it 

 from a great part of its oil, and, by very careful rediflillation, 

 the fpirit rifes much more pure than before. Any artificial 

 fol'jtion of an effential oil in alcohol may be reftifiedr and the 

 oil feparated in the fame tnanner. 



The manufaclure of brandy, in other countries, very 

 clofely refembles the French procefs which we have juft 

 defcribcd. Thus, in Spain, the ftill is filled to four-fifths 

 of its contents with wine, the capital luted on, a fire kindled, 

 and, in about an hour and a half, the fpirit begins to come 

 over. About a fifth of the entire quantity of v.ine is proof- 

 fpirit, in which olive oil finks, and comes over fit to be 

 ufed, without farther procefs ; and, as much of inferior and 

 weaker fpirit comes over afterwards, which is rediflillcd and 

 reftified. When the wines are old, heavy, and oily, and a 

 fine clear fpirit is wanted at once, water is added to the 

 wine before dillillation, to keep down the oil. The princi- 

 pal ditlilleries in Spain are in Catalonia. 



In Portugal, the olive-oil proof is alfo eftablifhed, and 

 the wines arc there alfo fo heavy and oily, as often to re- 

 quire the addition ofwat^r, which, however, is not added 

 to the wine, but only to tlie brandy before rcftification. 



An inferior kind of brandy is made from the marc of 

 grapes, or the refiduc of the grapes after the juice has been 

 prcffed nut. This ftill rctaihs enough of the grape-juice to 

 be readily brought into fermentation, whtii properly ar- 

 ranged, and, therefore, to be capable of yielding after- 

 waitls a fpirit by dillillation. In Switzerland, it is thus 

 performed : Winc-call<s are filled with the frt-lh marc quite 

 full, and prcffed down by ti-amplincr, to make it lie clofe, and 

 prevent it from moulding ; the cafks are then headed, a'ld 

 the bung-holes and joinings arc clofed up with clay. In 

 two or three davs, fermentation begins, the marc heats, 

 and when the firll working has fublided, and it lias got an 

 agreeable vinous fmell, (which happens in from two to four 

 or five weej<s,) it is fit for dillillation. The alembic may be 

 filled quite to the top with the fermented marc, and juft 

 water enough is added to wet it thoroughly. The fire 

 (hould be vtry (lack, and kept up very moderately in the 



B R A 



procefs, othcrwlfe, the marc, neareft to the bottom, w!!! 

 burn, aiul give a very unple- fanl tnlte to the brandy. Thirty. 

 two cidiic feetof feimented m:irc will give about ten gallons 

 of fpirit. If not wanted immediately, the marc will keep 

 with ut fpoiling in the hands, if well clofed, for two, three, 

 or even tour months. This fpirit Ihould be rectified over 

 adies or lime-water to become very dri kable, 



M. Beaunit, in his experim.-nts, found, hnv.'cver, that 

 he could obtain a very uood fpirit from the marc, by a fingle 

 diftillatinii, either by immcrfiiig the alembic in a water- 

 bath, and thus regulating th.e heat, or by making a kind of 

 wicker cradle within tlie alembic, raifed an irch or two 

 from its bottom, and letting the marc reft upon it, fo as to 

 be prevented from coming in contatt with the bottom, where 

 the heat is Urongell, and adding water, as before, and- 

 dilUlling with a flow fire. By this contrivance, all the 

 burnt flavour was avoided, and the fpirit rofe at firil veiy 

 pure and good. 



Vaiious improvements have been propofcd, and partly 

 adopted, in the conltrudion of the ale;abics and difiillatory 

 appai-atus, the chief of which, with other obfervalions le- 

 lating to the general art of preparing Distilled Spirits, 

 will be dcfcribid under that article. See alfo Wine aud^ 

 Alcohol. 



Encycl. Meth. (Art. Alcool et Diflillateur liquorifte) 

 Bcaum.e tt Rozier, in Jour, de Phyf. torn, xii ct xviii. An. 

 Chim. Tom. xxxvii. — Report to the H. of Commons on 

 the Scotch Diftilleries. — Chaptal, &c. For the laws relating 

 to brandy ; fee Spirits. 



BRANDY-C/j.»/-r)'. See Cherry. 



Bp-ANDY'/'o/i-, in Gcograj'jy, the name given to iflands,. 

 in the river St. Lawrence, 46 leagues below Quebec. 



BRANDYWINE, a townfiiip of America, in Chefter 

 county, Pennfylvania. 



Brasdvwine Creek, a creek of America, which falls 

 into Chriftiana creek from the northward, at Wilmington, 

 in the ftatc of DtUwaie, about 25 miles from its N. and 

 N. W. fources in Chefter county, Pennfylvania. This creek 

 is famous for a battle, fought on the nth of September 

 1777, and terminating with confiderable lofs by the Britifh 

 troops. In confequence of this battle, Philadelphia was 

 taken pofTeflion of by general Howe on the 26th. 



BRANE, a river of South Wales, which runs into tlie 

 Towy, near Llanimdovery, in the county of Carmarthen, 

 — Alfo, a river of South Wales, which runs into the Uflf > 

 3 miles W. of Brecknock. 



BRANFORD, a townfhip of America, in the county 

 of New Haven, and ftate of Connefticut, lying on the fouth 

 fide of a river of the fame name, which runs into Long Ifland 

 found, 10 miles E. of New Haven, and 40 S. of Hartford. 

 It is confiderable on account of its iron works. 



BRANG, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of Volhy- 

 nia ; 44 miles S. W. of Lucko. 



BRANGES, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Saone and Loire, and chief place of a canton, in the 

 diftria of Louhans, half a league N. W. of Loulians. 



BRANITZ, a town of Silefia, in the principahty of 

 Oppau ; 4 miles S. E. of Jagerndorf. 



BRANrrZY, a town and diftrie^ of Ruffia, in the go- 

 vernment of Mofcow, featcd on the Mofcva, between Mof- 

 cow and Kolomna. 



BRANK, in Botany, polygonum fagopyrum, buck-wheat. 



Rrank. See Scolding Bridle. 



BRANKER, or Brancker, Thomas, in Biography, 



an eminent Englifh mathematician, was born in Devonfhire, 



in 1636, admitted butler of Exeter college, Oxford, took 



the degree of B. A. in 1655, and that of M. A. in 1658, 



and 



