STRENGTH  OF  COMMERCIAL  ALCOHOL. 
393 
result  was,  that  the  Tralles  scale  on  my  instrument  agreed  with 
their's  in  every  trial.  I  then  concluded  the  trouble,  if  any^existed, 
must  be  in  the  Richter  scale;  but  how  one  scale  should  be  per- 
fectly correct  and  the  other  wrong,  I  could  not  understand,  sup- 
posing that  after  they  had  graduated  one  correctly,  it  would  be 
just  as  easy  to  adjust  the  other  to  it  right,  as  to  have  it  wrong. 
I  tried  to  find  a  table  of  Richter,  but  without  success.  I  then  ap- 
plied to  Mr.  Wightman  for  an  explanation.  He  had  just  received 
a  new  lot,  and  we  compared  them  together  and  found  them  to 
agree  with  the  one  I  had.  He  said  he  was  about  sending  an  order 
to  Berlin  for  some  more  goods,  and  if  I  would  make  a  statement 
}f  the  trouble  I  found,  he  would  send  it  to  the  fountain  head  for 
explanation.  I  did  so,  stating  the  disagreement  I  found  between 
Richter's  scale  as  appeared  on  their  alcoholometer,  and  all  other 
tables  for  alcohol  by  weight  that  I  could  find.  The  reply  came  in 
a  letter  to  Mr.  W.,  containing  matters  of  business,  therefore  it 
is  in  his  possession;  but  the  amount  of  it  was,  that  they  knew 
nothing  about  the  tables  which  I  mentioned,  but  that  Richter 
was  correct,  and  that  their  alcoholometers  were  made  strictly  by 
his  scale,  and  were  warranted  correct  both  by  volume  and  by 
weight.  They  referred  me  to  page  —  lire's  Dictionary  for  Richter's 
scale,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  it  either  in  the  American 
or  English  edition. 
The  Government  alcoholometer  as  used  in  the  Boston  .Custom 
House,  is  made  of  glass,  with  a  thermometer  connected;  they  are 
manufactured  expressly  for  Government,  in  Berlin.  They  have 
but  one  scale,  and  that  is  Tralles',  so  that  all  their  liquors  are 
marked  so  much  by  volume. 
While  at  the  Custom  House  testing  my  hydrometer,  I  saw  the 
book  of  tables  used  in  connection  with  their  instrument,  from 
which  I  copied  the  following:— 
Government  Standard  of  Proofs. 
1st  proof  anything,  50     per  cent,  by  volume. 
2nd    «  «  from  50    to  53.3     «  « 
3d     «  «         «    53.3  to  56       «  « 
4th    «  «         «    56    to  67.7     "  " 
5th    «  «         «    67.7  to  79.3    "  " 
6th    "         "  over  79,3  4£  « 
