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A TRE.ATISE ON
led to the adoption of an improved system, which
consists in the direct employment of diluted alcohol,
and in vastly enlarging the surface of the liquid
.exposed to the air. This is effected by causing a
mixture of 1 part of alcohol at 80 per cent., 4 to 6
parts soft wllter, or say 5 galls. alcohol, 20 to 30
galls. soft water, and
i
lb. honey, to trickle down
through a mass of
beech sha:vilngs
steeped in vinegar,
and contained in a vessel called a vinegar generator.
It is an oak or pine tub, narrower at the bottom
than at the top, furnished with a false bottom having
a number of s_mall holes loosely :filled with pack
thread about 6 inches long, and prevented from
falling through by a knot at the upper
~nd.
The
shelf is also perforated with four open glass tubes,
as air vents, each having its ends projecting above
and below the shelf. The tub at its lower part is
pierced with a horizontal row of eight equidistant
round holes, to admit atmospheric air. One inch
above the bottom is a syphon-formed discharge pipe,
whose upper curvature stands one inch below the
level of the air holes in the side of the tub. The
body of the tub being :filled with beech shavings,
the alcoholic liquor, :first heated to between 75 and
85° F., is put in the tub. It trickles slowly down
through the holes by means of the pack thread,
after passing through the shavings slowly, collects
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