ON A NEW ALCOHOLOMETER. 
171 
Resolved,—“ That local treasurers be appointed in those towns in which several mem¬ 
bers of the Conference reside, as a means of procuring greater regularity in the payment 
of the annual subscriptions, and for facilitating communication with the members of a 
district.” 
Moved by Mr. Brady, seconded by Mr. Savage. 
ON A NEW ALCOHOLOMETER. 
BY ft. REYNOLDS, F.C.S. 
The author stated that he had met with this little instrument in the Paris 
Exposition of the present year. It is the invention of MM. Musculus, Valson, 
et C ie , and is named by them the Liquometre. It depends essentially upon 
capillary action, differing thus from all previous forms of alcoholometer, which 
are based upon density for their principle, and which are manifestly inappli¬ 
cable in many cases, such as light wines, on account of the interference of 
extractive and astringent matter, tartar, etc. 
The construction of the instrument is so simple 
as to be shown by a glance at the annexed woodcut. 
A capillary tube, A B, about 4 inches long, and di¬ 
vided into degrees, is the essential part of the liquo¬ 
metre. This is supported by a little wooden bridge, 
P P, that will rest upon an ordinary tumbler-glass 
or upon the narrower trial-glass supplied with the 
instrument. The tube slides up and down, at 
pleasure, through a hole in the centre of the bridge. 
Certain precautions are needful to the accurate 
use of the liquometre, the nature of which will be 
indicated by the following directions:—Let the tem¬ 
perature of the liquid to be tested be as near 15° p 
Centigrade (59° Fahr.) as may be, as shown by a 
small thermometer that accompanies the outfit. 
Fill three-fourths of the trial-glass with this liquid, 
hold the capillary tube by its upper extremity, and 
push it through the aperture in the bridge, so far 
that its extremity shall dip to the extent of about ^ 
OT inch below the surface of the liquid. Apply the 
mouth to B, and draw a little into the mouth so as 
to moisten the interior of the tube. Now, adjust 
the extremity, A, with great exactitude, so as to 
touch the surface only of the liquid. By another and more gentle aspira¬ 
tion, the liquid is again drawn up nearly to B, and its descent is watched. 
The point at which the column remains gives the alcoholic degree. 
The inventors state that the readings of the liquometre will always be 
found rather higher than the results given by the old method of distillation, 
on account of an inevitable loss of alcohol attending the latter ; thence they 
give a table for corrections, which enables the results of the two methods to 
be collated. 
The graduation of the tubes only provides for the registration of 20 per 
cent, of alcohol. In the case of liquors containing more than this, one part is 
diluted in the graduated trial-glass with one or with three parts of distilled 
water, and the reading is multiplied by tw o or by four, as the case may be. 
Temperature necessarily affects the indications of the liquometre, and as 
has already been stated, it is desirable to operate with the liquid at a tempe- 
