The Press., 1888-05-17

stay Tn the northern provinces are buried deep in the accumulated dust of centuries of Teutonic traffic; but beer remains, and still spouts and foams, and fiourishes in perrenial youth, in the British Islands.
 For many centuries after the Christian era beer and wine were the strongest alcoholic beverages consumed in Europe. Civiliza- tion was in blissful ignorance of its great enemy, distilled liquor. It was not until the Arabian alchemists perfected the pro- cess of distillation that the active agent of beer and wine was isolated and named. The invention of the simple apparatus by which distillation is effected marked an epoch in the history of chemistry-in fact !, we may say, it signalized the birth of that science. Many of you are, no doubt, fa- miliar with the principles upon which the process is based. Although am not It. censed to Carry on the business of q dis tiller, I have been SO bold as to set a small apparatus ill operation here, in order that you might have practical demonstration of the method that has contributed so largely to our knowledge of the constitu- ton of matter. By distillation we separate more volatile from 8 less volatile sub- stance. The more volatile substance is, the more easily does it pass into the gas eous state, and the lower the temperature at which it assumes this condition. After the substance which we wish to distil has been vaporized by the application of heat, it Is necessary to condense if, and make 1t again assume the liquid condition. There fore, in every distilling apparatus We have two parts, a receiver in which the sub- stance is volatilized by the action of heat, and a condenser in which 1t Is brought back to it's original condition by the action of cold. These two parts of the apparatus may be variously modified and assume many forms, but the principles of their construction always remain the same. The Arabian chemists had no rubber stoppers or tubing, but they, nevertheless, con structed very efficient distilling apparatus which differs very little from some of those in use at the present day. Into fl lsk ol receiver they placed the substance to be distilled. They covered this with sort of inverted cup, called an alembic. From this cup or head a tube led to another re ceptacle in which the vapor was coud-nsed They also invented the retort, which Is g long -necked flask, having its neck bent backwards hence its name from the Latil verb retOrque9e, to twist back. The best form of condenser is that one in which a long tube leading from the still Is cooled OT d O6ACsSLA O1 COANA WobCA 0uAAOuboAhSo AN This is the form most generally employed especially in the larger and more compll csted arrangements used in distilleries When the tube is twisted it is called 2 worm.
 The product obtaine by distilling fer mented liquors received variety of names some of them quite euphonious. It was called aqua ardelas, the classical expression for fire-water. By some it was called dquC VitCe {; by others, sri'itWs ViUats, naerceriH' Veget0bitis and by an enthusiastic Span ish scientist, co11sotdtiO atltinlG cOr20Ort' hunn0ns tSpiritus Vi,ai, or spirit of wine was 8 term next introduced, and is oftel employed at the present day. It was only within cOmparatiVeIy recent times that tlI, word alcohol was applied to this substance The word has curious origiu. It Is de rived from the Arabic, and originally sig nified fine powder. It is not easy to set any resemblance between a fine powder and the fiery intoxicant, although we know that alcohol is frequent associate of dir and degradation. The most probable as sumption is that the word, which was frs employed to signify finely divided body was then employed to designate all es sence in this way it could very properly come to be applied to the spirit of wine After the discovery of alcohol and the method of its preparation, the various dis titled liquors, like brandy, gin and whis key, were introduced, and the armamen of the modern bar-room was complete.
 You naturally ask if the discovery of al cohol has been for the best good of man kind. You recognize the fact that the dis covery of alcohol meant the invention O rum and all the distilled liquors. You recognize the appalling evil that these agents are responsible for in our world and your first impulse is to regret that sci ence ever succeeded in separating it from it's native compounds. do not hesitate tc say that the discovery of alcohol is one ot the greatest achievements of civilization It has been a great boon to man, and has contributed largely to hls happiness and prosperity.
 After the perfection of the methods oi distillation, it was inevitable that alcohol should be soon recognized. That simple process, which you see going on here to- human knowledge and human affIirs With his retort and alembic the alchemist soon discovered the powerful acids, sul phuric, hydrochloric and nitric. These acids are to the chemist what gun powder OluSA APAOoAfCo nAO pO tAO AAAAAtuA man. With these he has won many 8 hard fought battle, and his trophies are the sum of chemical science. Mighty was the strife that was made from dark. ness into light, when these potent liquids were placed at the disposal of man !!
 Let those of you, who are disposed to ask if it would not have been better if alec. hol had never been discovered, stop and reflect. Garry your thoughts back to a time within the memory of some here pres ent. Think what surgery meant fifty years ago. Imagine what frightful agony afflicted man had to endure then. None but physicians, who have seen the human form divine cut and slashed in every con- ceivable way, while the patient has slept as peacefully as tired infant, can know what a precious, blessed gift of God to man was that of an@sthesia. The bangs of nature, often no less severe than those inflicted by the surgeons knife, have been quieted by it. The primal curse has been mitigated, and the suffering humanity of the present is immeasurably indebted to a benefcent providence for gift denied the ages that have gone before us. Behold what ether has wrought! And what is ether? A compound of alcohol and sul- phuric acid, the products of the alchemist's alembic. The alchemist did not find the philosophers stone, for which he was searching, which should transmute the baser medals into gold, but he found some Al L -a .1. II