1868 The complete Practical Distiller

181

SPECIAL DISTILLATIONS.

it is sufficient to infect 100 litres of the best I randy. M. Aubergier remarks, that the spirits that are drawn from the various fruits owe their particular taste and fla- vour to a volatile and oily principle, generally found in the surface of each fruit, and that, by taking this surface away, they would almost all be alike ; that by thus de- priving apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, and even harlei/j of their envelopes, spirits would be drawn from these vegetables almost entirely free from the flavour in- herent to them/' To this M. Gay-Lussac adds a note as follows : " Many persons attribute the taste and flavour of lees- spirit to distillation itself, during which the lees stick to the sides of the still, which causes them to be carbonized. ^^One thing which confirms the influence of this fact is, that when lees are distilled by the new process — that — spirits of a much better quality odorous, very acrid, altering their quality very much, and on which M. Aubergier has made interesting remarks. This oil, by its flavour, its acridity, and its property of not staining paper, and of not being converted into soap by alkalies, must be classed among the number of essential oils ; but its property of being little soluble in alcohol, of burning without smoke, and of being much less volatile than the rest of the essential oils, which I have verified on the sample obtained by M. Aubergier, prove that it has some analogy with fat oils.'' It may not be amiss to say a few words concerning the " semi-fluid, semi-solid wines of corn and potatoes." Ever^ ]6 is, by the steam of water are obtained. However, it is not less certain that lees- spirits contain a peculiar essential oil,