27 



Free Acids. 



The following table shows the figures obtained : — 



Free Acid.j 









Formic. 



Acetic. 



Butyric. 



Capric. 



No. 







Grms.in 100 cc. 



1 



Jamaica 1 



0.009 



0.072 



0.004 



0.005 



2 



11 



2 



0.007 



0.078 



0.003 



0.004 



3 



11 



3 



0.009 



0.091 



0.004 



0.011 



4 



11 



LF 



0.007 



0.068 



0.005 



0.008 



5 



11 



TE 



0.004 



0.047 



0.002 



0.005 



6 



it 



C 



0.003 



0.058 



0.003 



0.004 



7 



it 



MNF 



0.008 



0.059 



0.007 



0.005 



8 



ii 



FAJ R 



0.007 



0.055 



0.009 



0.012 



9 



ii 



LGC 



0.009 



0.081 



0.007 



0.007 



10 





Cuba Rum 1 



0.012 



0.105 



0.003 



0.003 



11 



ii 



Los Canos 



0.006 



0.056 



0.011 



0.004 



12 





San Antonio 



U.003 



0.078 



trace 



0005 



13 



Demerara 1 



0.012 



0.072 



0.007 



0.004 



14 



ii 



PM 



0.011 



0.065 



0.009 



0.005 







The Ethers. 









These are 



considered to be the chief source of the 



aroma of rum, and 



as some of my readers may not know what are the nature of these bodies, 

 and may perhaps think I am speaking of the ether of the B.P. which is 

 used in medicine, it may be well to offer some explanation. The 

 ethers of which I am about to speak are generally known as the 

 " fruit ethers" so called because they possess a pleasant fruity smell. 

 These ethers are formed by the chemical combination of an alcohol, 

 generally ordinary ethyl alcohol with an acid, generally an acid belonging 

 to the order of the carbon compounds. Everybody is familiar with the 

 smell of pine-apple rum. This is due to the presence in the rum of a 

 minute quantity of butyric ether or ethyl-butyrate, which is a com- 

 bination of butyric acid with ethyl alcohol. Another ether almost in- 

 variably found in rum is acetic ether, a combination of acetic acid with 

 ethyl alcohol, which has a smell of fermented apples. The other ethers 

 most commonly met with in rum are formic and capric ethers. The 

 following table shews the figures obtained in the estimation of the ethers 

 in the fourteen samples specified : — 









Formic 



Acetic 



Butyric 



Capric 



No. 



Description. 



Ether. 



Ether. 



Ether. 



Ether. 



1 



Jamaica 1 



0.017 



0.251 



0.005 



0.012 



2 



ii 



2 



0.017 



0.310 



0.006 



0.009 



3 



a 



3 



0.019 



0.612 



0.008 



027 



4 



ii 



LF 



0.015 



0.502 



0.0023 



0.012 



5 



ii 



TE 



0.022 



0.405 



0.0062 



0.008 



6 



ii 



C ' 



0.019 



0.428 



0.0064 



0.009 



7 



ii 



MNF 



0.014 



0.472 



0.0073 



008 



8 



ii 



F AGR 



0.014 



0.426 



0.0164 



0.0223 



9 



„ LGC 

 Cuba Rum 1 



0.017 



0.542 



0.011 



0.013 



10 



0.014 



0.511 



0.005 



0X08 



11 





Los Canos 



0.010 



0.092 



0.0103 



0.006 



12 



ii 



San Antonio 



0.008 



0.363 



trace 



0.00-3 



13 



Demerara 1 



0.018 



0.297 



0.006 



0-009 



14 





„ PM 



0.023 



0.179 



0.0063 



0-016 



