3dly. Another source of loss arises in the distilling vessels themselves. Nothing is more imperfect than the stills of a whiskey distillery. Lavoisier's were so perfect, that he made the analysis and the synthesis in the most delicate operations [B]. The vessels of the whiskey distillers, far from being hermetically closed, allow the spirit to evaporate through every joint. And this is not all: corroded by the acetous acid, they are full of small holes, particularly in the cap, where all the vapors collect themselves, as in a reservoir. It is easy to conceive with what rapidity they escape, which occasions a considerable waste of liquor. In proof of the truth of this observation, we may refer to the smell of whiskey, so strongly perceivable on the roads leading to a distillery, and preceeding from no other cause than that liquor wasting out of bad vessels, to the great loss of the distiller. 4thly. A fourth cause of loss arises from the worm of the still. However careful in keeping the surrounding water cool, there is always one portion of vapor not condensed. This is made more sensible in the winter, when the cold of the atmosphere makes every vapor visible; upon examination, it will be seen that the running stream of liquor is surrounded with it. In my description of my apparatus, I give the means of obviating that evil. To these several causes, may we not add another? May not the production of spirit be in a ratio to the richness of the fermenting liquor? It is certain, that in every spirituous fermentation there is a portion of the sweet matter which remains undecomposed and in its original state. Lavoisier found that it was 4.940; that is, nearly 5 parts in 100. It may possibly be the same in a weaker liquor; which would increase the loss, in the inverse ratio of the density of the liquor. Such are the causes to which I attribute the great superiority of Lavoisier's products; and from those observations I thought I could establish the fabrication of whiskey upon new principles. CHAPTER V. A COMPARISON OF THE PROCESSES OF THE BREWER WITH THOSE OF THE WHISKEY DISTILLER. From the experiments of one of the most learned chymists of Europe, it has been demonstrated, that the proportions the most advantageous to the formation of a good vinous liquor, are, one part of dry sweet substance to four parts of water; that is, that the sugar must form one fifth of the whole. We have, moreover, seen that 100lbs. of dry sweet matter gave 25 gallons of spirit 19 deg., which comes to 4lbs. of sugar per gallon. We shall make use of that scale in comparing the processes of the brewer with those of the whiskey distiller.