181 / 230
SPECIAL
DISTILLATIONS.
181
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
is,
by
the
steam
of
water
—
spirits
of
a
much
better
quality
are
obtained.
However,
it
is
not
less
certain
that
lees-
spirits
contain
a
peculiar
essential
oil,
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