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The objects of distillation, considered as a trade distinct fromthe other branches of chemistry, are chiefly spirituous liquors, andthose waters impregnated with the essential oil of plants, com-monly called simple distilled waters. The distilling of compoundspirits and waters is reckoned a different branch of business, andthey who deal in that way are commonly called rectiliers. Thisdillereqce, however, though it exists among commercial people, isnot at all founded in the nature of the thing; compound spiritsbeing made, and simple spirits being rectiiied, by the very sameoperations by which they are at first distilled, or at least with verytrifling alterations. The great object with every distiller ought tobe, to procure a spirit perleetly flavourless, oral least as well freedfrom any particular flavour as may be; and in this country theprocuring of such a spirit is no easy matter. The only materialsfor distillation, that have been used in large quantity, are malt andmolasses, or treacle., Both these, especially the first, abound withan oily matter, which, rising along with the spirit, communicates adisagreeable flavour to it, and from which it can scarce be freedafterwards by any means whatever. To dissipate this essential oii,it has been proposed to inspissate the wort into a thin extract likea syrup; afterwards to thin it with water, and ferment it in theusual manner. This certainly promises great success; there is nosubject we know of, that is possessed of any kind of essential oil,but what will part with it by distillation, or by long boiling. Theinspissating of the wort, however, does not seem to he either ne-cessary, or safe to he attempted; for, in this case, there is greatdanger of its contracting an empyreuma, which never could beremedied. The quantity lost by evaporation, therefore, might beoccasionally added, with an equal certainty of dissipating the ob-noxious oil. Whether the yield of spirit would be as great in thiscase as in the other, is a question that can by no means be decidedwithout further experiments. Previous to the operation of distil-ling, those of brewing and fermentation are necessary. SeeBrewing. The fermentation ought always to be carried on asslowly as possible, and performed in vessels closely stopped; onlyhaving at the bung a valve pressed down by a spring, which willyield with less force than is sufficient to burst the vessel. It shouldeven be allowed to remain till it has become perfectly fine andtransparent; as the spirit will thus not only be superior in quantity,but also in fragrance, pungency, and vinosity, to that commonlyproduced. As to the operation of distilling, only one general rulecan be given, viz. to let the beat, in all cases, be as gentle as possi-ble, Accidents will be effectually prevented by having the wormof a proper wideness, and by rectifying the spirits in a water bash;which, if sufficiently large, will perform the operation with all thedispatch requisite for the most extensive business. The vessel inwhich the rectification is performed, ought to be covered with wa-ter up to the neck, and to be loaded with lead at the bottom, sothat it may sink in the water. Thus the operation will go on as. quickly as if it was on an open fire, and without the least dangerof a miscarriage ; nor will it ever be necessary to make the waterin the bath come to a boiling heat. As the end of rectification isto make the spirit clean as w'ell as strong, or to deprive it of theessential oil as well as the aqueous part, it will be proper to haveregard to this even in the first distillation. For this purpose, thespirit, as it first comes over, should be received into a quantity ofcold water; as the connection betwixt it and the oily matter willthus be considerably lessened. After this, it should be again mix-ed with an equal quantity of water, and distilled a second time.Thus the spirit will be freed from most of the oily matter, eventhough it bad been very much impregnated with it at first. But,as by using such a quantity of water, a considerable part of thewater will be left in the residuum of each rectification, all theseresiduuins, must be mixed together, and distilled on an open fire,with a brisk heat, that the remainder of the spirit may he got out.After the spirit has been distilled once or twice in this manner fromwater, it maybe distilled in a water bath without any addition;ami this last rectification will free it from most of the water it con-tains. One very great desideratum among the distillers of thiscountry is, a method of imitating the foreign spirits, brandy, rum,■gin, &c. to a tolerable degree of perfection; and notwithstandingthe many attempts that are daily made for this purpose, the suc-cess, in general, has been hut very indifferent. On this subject,Mr. Cooper has the following observations, in his “ CompleteSystem of Distillation which, as they are applicable to all otherspirits as well as brandy, we shall here quote: “ The general jne-VOL. II.—No.' (30.

thod of distilling brandies in France need not be formally describ-ed, as it differs in nothing from that practised here in workingfrom malt-wash or molasses; nor are they in the least more cleanlyor exact in the operation. They only observe more particularlyto throw in a little of the natural ley into the still along with thewine, as finding this gives their spirit the flavour, for which it isgenerally admired abroad. But, though brandy is extracted fromwine, experience tells us that there is a great difference in thegrapes from which the wine is made. Every soil, every climate,every kind of grapes, varies with regard to the quantity and qua-lity of the spirits extracted from them. A large quantity of brandyis distilled in France during the time of the vintage; for all thosepoor grapes that prove unlit for wine, are usually first gathered,pressed, their juice fermented, and directly distilled. Tnis ridstheir hands of their poor wines at once, and leaves their casksempty for the reception of better. It is a general rule with themnot to distil wine that will fetch any price as wine; for, in thisstate, the profits upon them are vastly greater than when reducedto brandies. This large stock of small wines, with which they arealmost over-run in France , sufficiently accounts for their makingsuch vast quantities of brandy in that country, more than in otherplaces which lie in warmer climates, and are much better adaptedto the production of grapes. Nor is this the only fund of theirbrandies: for all the wine that turns eager, is also condemned tothe still; and, in short, all that they can neither export nor con-sume at home, which amounts to a large quantity; since much ofthe wine laid in for their family provision is so poor as not to keepduring the time of spending. Hence many of our English spirits,with proper management, are convertible into brandies hardly dis-tinguishable from the foreign in many respects, provided the ope-ration he neatly performed. The best, and indeed the only me-thod of imitating French brandies to perfection, is by an essentialoil of wine; this being the very tiling that gives the French bran-dies their flavour. But to use even this ingredient to advantage,a pure tasteless spirit must first be procured; for it is ridiculous toexpect that this essential oil should be able to give the agreeableflavour of French brandies to our fulsome malt spirit, already'loaded with its own nauseous oil, or strongly impregnated with alixivious taste from the alkalme salts used in rectification. Themethod of procuring this essential oil of wine, is this: 'l ake somecakes of dry wine-lees, such as are used by our hatters; dissolvethem in six or eight times their weight of water; distil the liquorwith a slow fire, and separate the oil with a separating glass; re-serving for the nicest uses only that which comes over first, thesucceeding oil being coarser and more resinous. This line oil of 'wine may be mixed into a quintessence with pure alcohol; livwhich means it may he preserved a long time fully possessed of allits flavour and virtues; but, without such management, it willsoon grow resinous and rancid. When a line essential oil of wineis thus procured, and also a pure and insipid spirit, French bran-dies may be imitated to perfection. The essential^ oil, however,must he drawn from the same kind of lees as the brandy to he imi •tated was procured from. In order to imitate Coniac brandy, itwill he necessary to distil the essential oil from Coniac lees; andthe same for any other kind of brandy. For, as different brandieshave different flavours, and as these flavours are entirely owing tothe essential oil of the grape, it would be preposterous to endea-vour to imitate the flavour of Coniac brandy with an essential oilprocured from the lees of Bourdeaux wine. When the flavour ofthe brandy is well imitated by a proper dose of the essential oil,and the whole reduced into one simple and homogeneous fluid,other difficulties are still behind: the flavour, though the essentialpart, is-not, however, the only one; the colour, the proof, andthe softness, must also be regarded, before a spirit that perfectlyresembles brandy can be procured. With regard to the proof, itmay he easily hit, by using a spirit rectified above proof; which,alter being intimately mixed with the essential oil of wine, may helet down to a proper standard with fair water. And the softnessmav, in a great measure, be obtained by distilling and rectifyingthe’spirit with a gentle fire; and what is wanting of this criterionin the liquor when first made, will be supplied by time: for it istime alone that gives this property to French brandies; they beingat first acrid, foul, and fiery. But, with regard to the colour, aparticular method is required to imitate it to perlection. A smallquantity of the extract of oak, or the shavings of that wood, pro-perly digested, will furnish us with a tincture capable of giving the2 U spirit

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