1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

76 THE FLOWING BOWL Argol, mentioned just now, is a crude variety of cream of tartar which forms a crust within wine-vats and bottles. Originally it exists in the juice of the grape, and is soluble therein j but during the fermentation of the juice, and as it passes into wine, much alcohol is developed, which remaining in the fermenting liquor, causes the precipitation of Argol. Thus the "crust" of port wine is Argol, the principal uses (and abuses) of which are in the preparation of (besides cognac) cream of tartar and tartaric acid. And malicious people say that you have only to scratch French brandy to find the Tartar. A few years ago a German chemist discovered that a very drinkable brandy can be made from sawdust—whether deal sawdust or any description of dust does not appear j and under the heading, "A New Danger to Teetotalism," an American journal published the following effusion ; "We are a friend of the temperance movement and want it to succeed ; but what chance can it have when a man can take a rip-saw and go out and get drunk with a fence-rail ? What is the use of a prohibitory liquor law if a man is able to make brandy-smashes out of the shingles on his roof, or if he can get delirium tremens by drink ing the legs of his kitchen chairs.? You may shut up an inebriate out of a gin shop and keep him away from taverns, but if he can become uproarious on boiled sawdust and desiccated window-sills, any effort must necessarily be a failure." I can believe in the ability of most German chemists to do most things ; and possibly saw-