The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-01-31
MAKING or VINEGAR.


ooss CondImeas Manufactured fron . sva-
rsssy os Materials. Including Wood.
While vinegar IS ussd ir the asily
meal, yet it passes As something never
questioned and little Known about e
L. a eondiment upon ws.;ah much of
the delicate favcrirg Of iced depends
Its ms-e '.aci6ity," ko-eT~r, IS Iot the
ONLY requisite to scod qus.isy.
Originally vinegar. IS its nsme Implies,
was made only from wine. It WAS the
only acid known to the enci4nts- In
16s0. clauber. celebrated alche1ist,
speaks of product obtained by the
dry Gistillatio1 of wood il = way
waich shows his appreciation Of its
identity with vinegar, and states that
By rcctiheation it can be made as good
Is wine vinegar.
It is very difficult. in modern manu-
factufe, TO give a precise definition Of
this product. The so-called vinegars
Of commerce may be chemically divid-
I'd into two classes; those which are
the consecutive alcoholic and acctous
fc-.aentations. and those which are
not. Under the frst-class come thoss
made from, Grst, wine; second, spirits;
third. E,alt-wort or beer; fourth, fer
mented iruit juices other than wine,
and fifth, sugar bcets. Under the sec
ond class, vinegar manufactured from
the destructive distillation Of wood
forms the chief variety.
The wines used are both red and
white. of inferior quality. or considered
unfit for drinking. New wines are not
good for this purpose, as they are apt
to undergo putrid or ropy fermenta.
tion. In addition to acetic acid. the
wine vinegar contains various acids, bat
especially .tartaric and succinic.
the latter imparting the peculiarly
agreeable flavor and odor. The spirits
used are chiefly the potato brandy of
Germany and whisky in this country.
This makes really an artificial wine
vinegar containing only water, acetic
acid and small quantity of acetic
ether. Cider and perry are about the
only fruit juices beside wine fermented
for the production of vinegar. Malie
acid is its characteristic fiavoring ele-
ment. Beer, grain or malt-wort vine-
gar contains extractive matters, as
dextrine, nitrogenous substances and
phosphoric acid. Sugar-beets are used
somewhat in France. Artificial glu-
cose. cane sugar and molasses vinegars
have been used in England to adulter-
ate the molt vinegar. The above
named constitute the true or genuine
vinegars. All others are not vinegars
in any proper sense, and should be sold
under some brand indicating their
source or nature of manufacture.
At the present time the Society of
Public Analysis Of London is investi-
eating the manufacture of vinegar.
They do not enter upon a hygienic ex.
animation, but urge the necessity OF
government Inspection and proper Ia
beling; the same point that has so fire.
quently been urged in the bulletins OF
the United States agricultural depart
ment The fictitious vinegars are most
ly pyroligneous acids, with acetic ether
added as favoring. Fusil oil, oil of
cloves. and butyric ether are added to
give aroma. sulphuric acid is some.
times found in cheap vinegars, its pur-
poses being more to prevent putrsfac.
ton than as an adulteration.
Briefly. the history Of the manufac-
ture of vinegar IS this: All oxidising
agents convert alcohol FIRST into aide
hyde and then into acetic acid. Fer
mented liquors. when exposed to the
air, soon become sour. This depends
upon tho fact that they contain nitro.
genous compounds. which act as car
riers Of atmospheric oxygen. This.
however, can only take place when the
percentage of alcohol does not ex-
ceed a certain limit. 1t is for this rea
son that strong wine. such as pert or
sherry, does not become sour on expo
sure to air. This oxygen-carrying
body is the acetie ferment. This fer
ment is always floating in the air, and
when it falls into conditions suita BILE
for its development it very rapidly mul
tiplies. These ferments grow on the
surface of the liquid where the oxygen
is, forming a gelatine skin. which by
its increasing weight falls to the bot
TOM Another skin forms. and this
process goes on till the liquid is ex.
hausted of its assi:nilatable material.
The skim called tho mother Of vine
gar" consists Of q multitude Of the
minute ferments. One hundred pounds
of alcohol require three hundred
pounds Of air TO convert IL into acstic
acid IN. Y. Journal of Commerce.