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paratus was introduced, the mild, smooth, sweet spirit had to be a- 

 dulterated with ernpyreuma to obtain any sale. This flavour of burn- 

 ing, which in so many cases rendered white brandy unfit for the 

 uses of rectified spirit, for instance in the making of cordials, was 

 looked on as a sign of strength by the people of the North, whose 

 rigidity of fibre requires a rough agent to excite its sensibility. And 

 from the same cause, the spirits distilled from malt, acrid, empyreu- 

 matic and excoriating, are preferred to the spirits of wine in cold coun- 

 tries. 



Before the new apparatus came into use, the higher rates of proof 

 in spirits of wine were obtained by rectification or re-distilling. There 

 were two modes ; the one re-distilling in the same boiler, never al- 

 lowing the heat to exceed 75° of Reaimiur. 



At that degree the spirit rises and the water is simply warmed ; the 

 spirits all escape through the worm in steam, and the water remains 

 in the boiler ; the highest proof comes first and the succeeding pro- 

 duct constantly grows weaker and weaker. By collecting various 

 rates of proof in due time, into diflferent receivers and mixing them 

 afterwards, any rate can be obtained ; for instance, if the first that 

 comes over is 36, the second 35^, and the third 35, you can have 35z by 

 mixing them all together. 



The other process was to rectify with the Sand-bath, by the heat 

 of boiling water, into which the boiler was plunged ; by this means 

 the brandy could never be struck by a degree of heat equal to the dis- 

 tillation of water ; and this mode, the surest and safest, was therefore 

 the one most preferred. 



