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The chemistry of whisky, regarded from the point of view of the finished article; is a subject to which some attention has been directed of late years, but so far the chemistry of the technology of whisky making, t.c, the chemistry of the distillation processes, has scarcely been touched upon.It is with this part of the subject that the experimental data recorded in this paper deal. At the same time it is necessary to state that the figures given are only to be regarded as the first steps in an attempt to cast some light on a difficult and intricate subject. In order that the figures may be comprehensible to those not familiar with the methods of distillation of potable spirits as carried out in the United Kingdom, we think it desirable to preface the experimental part of the paper with a brief account of the manufacturing operations as far as they touch upon the technology of the distillation process as such. The method of distillation, that is, the type of still employed, and the manner of working it, is so closely associated with the history of the whisky industry, that a few words with regard to the latter may not be out of place. Substantially, a spirit of the whisky type, that is to say, a potable liquor distilled from cereal grains, has been known for a very long time. There is much evidence to show that a spirit of this kind was made in the East before the advent of the Christian era. " Usquebaugh," from which the relatively modern word " whisky " is derived, was known in Ireland in the 12th century, but it was not until the reign of Henry VIII that the manufacture of a potable THE DISTILLATION OF WHISKY. 497 spirit made from grain was commenced in England. The origin of whisky making in Scotland is not clear. Scotch spirit seems to have been well known in England in the 17th century, but it is difficultto form an opinion as to the nature of the product then manufactured,, or the materials used. It appears fairly certain, however, that the? word "Usquebaugh" originally denoted not a simple spirit such as the modern whisky, but that it was a cordial made from grain or molasses spirit mixed with saffron, sugar, nutmegs, and various other spices. The still originally employed was of a very simple pattern, resembling a kettle or simple retort. From this wore gradually evolved the modern " pot" and " patentM stills.The Pot Still.-The original object of distillation, as applied to potable spirits, was undoubtedly that of separating the volatile constituents of the wash (i.e., fermented wort) from the non-volatile constituents. As the technology of distillation progressed, it became apparent that by repeating the distillation process, by modifying the form of the still, or by collecting the distillate not as a whole but in several fractions, or by combining all or some of these modifications of the primitive process, the more valuable part of the volatile constituents, namely, the ethylic alcohol, could be obtained in a more concentrated form; and that, in addition to this, the quality of the distillate, viewed ...

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SOME little while ago we analysed a brandy which showed an ether values of 98.8, the alcoholic strength of the sample was 54.2. This sample, we were informed, was unreduced, and had been drawn direct from bond. At the same time we examined a sample which was stated to be the same brandy from duty paid stock, and reduced in strength to 44-5. To our surprise, the ether value of the latter was found to be only 66-5. At first we were inclined to doubt whether the two samples actually represented the same brandy originally, but our subsequent investigations lead us to say that we believe this to have really been the case. We were further informed that the spirit had been '' broken down" with New River main water, the object of using this instead of distilled water being, according to our informants, to avoid the slightly mawkish taste that distilled water occasionally imparts to brandy. The cellar operations, which consist substantially in pumping the spirit into a vat, reducing therein with water, with subsequent filtration through paper pulp, and finally bottling, were carried out in the presence of one of us, and samples were drawn at various stages in order to ascertain, if possible, whether any of the operations or vessels were responsible for the falling off of the ether value recorded.In order to avoid needless repetition, we may say that throughout this paper secondary products will be expressed in those terms, and alcoholic strength in per cent. by volume.

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