339 
the State of Spirit in fei'mented Liquors. 
caution was taken, no spirit separated : a portion of the sub- 
carbonate, in combination with some of the ingredients of the 
wine, formed a gelatinous compound, and thus prevented the 
appearance of the alcohol. 
It has been remarked by Fabroni, in the Memoir above 
quoted, that one hundredth part of alcohol purposely added 
to wine may be separated by subcarbonate of potash, but se- 
veral repetitions of the experiment have not enabled me to 
verify this result ; when however a considerable addition of 
alcohol has been made to the wine, a part of it may be again 
obtained by saturation with the subcarbonate. The necessary 
addition of spirit to port wine, for this purpose, will be seen 
by the following experiments. 
Four ounces of dry and warm subcarbonate of potash were 
added to eight fluid ounces of port wine, which was previously 
ascertained to afford by distiilization 20 per cent, of alcohol 
(by measure), of the specific gravity of 0,825 at 6 o°. 
In twenty-four hours the mixture had separated into two 
distinct portions; at the bottom of the vessel was a strong 
solution of the subcarbonate, upon which floated a gelatinous 
substance, of such consistency as to prevent the escape of the 
liquor beneath when the vessel was inverted, and which ap- 
peared to contain the alcohol of the wine, with the principal 
part of the extract, tan, and colouring matter, some of the 
subcarbonate, and a portion of water; but as these experi- 
ments relate chiefly to the spirit contained in wine, the other 
ingredients were not minutely examined. 
To seven fluid ounces of the same wine, I added one fluid 
ounce of alcohol (specific gravity 0,825), and the same quan- 
tity of the subcarbonate of potash as in the last experiment ; 
X x 2 
