5 



these vile compounds, when isolated from the more agreeable smelling 

 constituents of rum, could hardly be in doubt as to the desirability of 

 doing away with them if possible. But can this be done ? There 

 seems to me no doubt that it can. 



If cane juipe be tempered with gradually increasing quantities of 

 alkali, starting say from an amount sufficient to produce neutrality, it 

 will be found that these vile smelling substances can only be ex- 

 tracted when a considerable excess of alkali has been used, and 

 that by using moderate quantities of alkali it is quite possible to set 

 free the essential oil of rum, without setting free these vile smelling 

 bases. It will thus be seen that the tempering of the liquor is of great 

 importance, not only to the process of sugar boiling but also to the 

 manufacture of rum. As a result of my experiments in this direction 

 I am able to say, that whenever the liquor is tempered until it becomes 

 of a deep fiery orange to a ruby red colour, that there is danger of those 

 organic bases having been set free. 



It would appear then that a moderation in tempering is an essential 

 point in the preparation of a good drinking rum, inasmuch as it would 

 tend to furnish a rum ot: a mild, soft character, devoid of that dryness 

 and harshness due to the presence of these organic bases, and thus fitter 

 for immediate consumption : though whether this would equally hold 

 good in the case of German Rum, in which I believe as much " flavour" 

 as possible is desired, may remain a disputed point On the other 

 hand, on estates with heavy badly drained clay soils, rather heavy liming 

 is, I believe, found to be necessary, which probably stands in intimate 

 connection with the destruction of the glucose, which would be found 

 in larger quantity in canes grown on lands where all the conditions 

 necessary to the thorough ripening of the cane were not present. Be- 

 sides the effect on the flavour, these organic bases have a very disastrous 

 effect on the fermentation. As the result of a large number of fermen- 

 tation experiments, performed with No. 18 yeast, I have found this to 

 be invariably the case, and this enables us to make a shrewd guess as 

 to what would be the effect of such bases on the human system. 



The yeast is in fact poisoned. The amount of lime then used in the 

 tempering of the liquor may not only have an effect on the flavour of 

 the rum, but also on the progress of the fermentation, and it does not 

 seem at all improbable that some of the disasters of the Still Hoiis^ may 

 be due to the treatment of the juice in the Boiling House. I hope, 

 however, at some future time to be able to furnish some more definite 

 and interesting information on this point. 



Lime therefore exercises a potent influence both for good and evil. 

 Tnus indirectly, it sets free the fruity acid. While directly it sets free — 



(1) . The essential oil of rum. 



(2) . Various kinds of organic bases or alkaloidal bodies. 



As regards the nature of the chemical reactions which take place, it 

 seems to me that we can pretty well infer it from the nature of the 

 reagent used, and of the substances set free. The only reactions which 

 can take place as far as I am aware are those of hydration and interchange 

 of lime for the volatile organic bases or alkaloids combined with acids. 

 In tempering cane juice, which for this experiment may be most con- 



