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178
THE
COMPLETE
PRACTICAL
DISTILLER.
With
regard
to
the
recommendation
which
has
been
made
to
saturate
the
acid
of the
lees
with
chalk,
it
is
con-
sidered
to
be
good
;
but
the
use
of
chalk
is
at
an
end
there,
it
would
s5em,
and
does
not
in
the
least
contribute
to
neutralize
the
essential
oil.
The
solid
substances
of
lees,
when
dried
and
burned,
give a
product
which
is
called
^^
lees
ashes
;''
this
operation
is
a
true
incineration,
the
products
of
which
are
gathered.
Among
these
pro-
ducts,
which
are
all
of
a
calcareous
nature,
the
tartrate
acid
of
potash
is
found
in
large
quantities,
and
it
is
to
this
body,
useful
to
arts,
that
lees
ashes
owe
their
value.
It
is
very
often
that
the
residues
of
the
distillation
of
lees
are
used
as
manure,
and
this
agent
of
reproduction
is
tolerably
appreciated
in
the
vineyards.
In
fact,
it
is
a
true
consumption,
in
the
place
of
pro-
duction,
which
assigns
to
this
mode
of
working
all
the
advantages
which
it
offers
to
science
and
to
agricultural
purposes.
The
observations
on
this
article
will
be
brought
to
a
close
by
giving
an
extract,
made
by
M.
Gay-LussaCj
out
of
a
memorial
of
M.
Aubergier
on
the
spirits
of
lees.
This
extract,
which
is
taken
from
the
"x\nnalesde
Chimie
et
de
Physique,'^
will
give
further
information
on
what
has
been
said
previously
concerning
the
special
distilla-
tion
of
lees
:
^^
Until
the
present
day,
it
has
been
thought
that
the
flavour
and
the
acid
and
penetrating
taste
of
lees-brandies
were
owing
to
a
certain
oil,
which,
according
to
some,
was
formed
during
the
process
of
distillation,
and
accord-
ing
to
others,
existed
already
formed
in
the
kernels
of
the
raisins.