30 



to jump to the conclusion, that the richer a rum was in fruit ethers the 

 higher would be the price which it would command ; a glance at the 

 total amount of fruit ethers present in each of the expensive rums will 

 show that the rum at nine shillings and eleven pence, is poorer in the 

 total quality of fruit ethers than two of the rums at nine and two pence 

 and eight and seven pence respectively. But on the other hand we may 

 observe in the case of cheap rums, that the rum at four shillings is richer 

 in the total quantity of ethers, than the rums at three and two pence, 

 and two and eight pence. In order to explain this apparent contradic- 

 tion we must remember that the fruit ethers though contributing a great 

 deal, do not contribute everything to the aroma, and also that even if 

 they did, that it is quite possible to have too much of a good thing. It 

 has been found for instance, that by the mere addition of fruity ethers 

 to a neutral spirit, it is not possible to imitate exactly the aroma of a 

 genuine rum. If this were so, in all probability, Jamaica rum 

 manufactured in Jamaica, would belong to the glories of the past ! A 

 spirit so treated will have a too pronounced and penetrating odour and 

 a sharp burning taste. " The flavour of a true rum on the contrary is 

 always soft and mild, the aroma appears to be to some extent ' covered/ 

 and leaves a kind of oily impression upon the tongue" (Windisch). As 

 regards the other aromatic constituents of rum there remains, the higher 

 alcohols generally grouped together under the name of fusel oil, the 

 organic bases, the essential oil of rum, and a fatty acid of a fruity 

 nature. Fusel oil has generally been identified with amyl alcohol 

 (Iso-butyl carbinol), which possesses poisonous properties, and is of a 

 disagreeable smell, but since higher alcohols do not necessarily mean 

 amyl alcohols, it would be unwise in the present state of our knowledge 

 concerning the higher alcohols of rum to draw any inference as to their 

 influence on the aroma. For the present we merely give the results 

 arrived at in the determination of the higher alcohols, without comment. 



Fusel Oil. 



No. 



Description. 



Vol. per cent. 



Grms in ] 



1 



Jamaica 1 



0-141 



0-114 



2 



it 



2 



0132 



0107 



3 



>> 



3 



0106 



0-086 



4 



i) 



LF 



0-058 



047 



5 



55 



TE 



0-106 



0-086 



6 



>» 



C 



0-045 



0-036 



7 





MNF 



0-104 



0-084 



8 





FAJR, 



0122 



U-099 



9 





LGrC 



037 



030 



10 



Cuba Rum 



0-140 



0-114 



11 



>> 



Los Canos 



115 



0-093 



12 





San Antonio 



0074 



0-060 



13 



Demerara 1 



0-113 



0-092 



14 



)j 



PM 



0*101 



0-082 



The Organic Bases. 



Lindet (Comp. rend, de I'Acad. des Sciences, 106, p. 280) has found 

 that different kinds of rum from Renunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique, 

 are especially rich in organic bases, which he considers to have been 



