I besmear the whole of the outside of the stopper with this luting, and I cover the edge of the jar with hemp and strips of linen placed above and close to the stopper, and hanging down to the rim. Farther, that the iron wire may have force enough to keep down the stopper, I put a piece of cork seven or eight lines high, and sixteen or eighteen lines in diameter, in the middle of the large stopper which is itself too big to allow the wire to have any effect upon it. By means of this second cork, placed in the middle of the large stopper, I am able to make the wire take a proper hold of the cork and give due strength and solidity to the stopper. When every thing has thus been foreseen and prepared, and, above all things, well corked, tied, and wrapped up in bags, there remains nothing to be done, but to apply the preserving principle, that is, _heat_, to the substances duly arranged, and this is the most easy part of the operation. I place all the vessels, bottles or jars, upright in a boiler, which I then fill with cold water up to the necks of the vessels; I then cover the boiler with its lid, which is made to rest upon the vessels. I cover the upper part of the lid with a piece of wet linen, in order that the sides of the lid may exactly fit, and all evaporation from the water-bath be impeded as much as possible. When the boiler has been thus filled and adjusted, I light the fire beneath. When the water-bath begins to boil, I take care to maintain the same degree of heat for the greater or less quantity of time required by the substances exposed to its influence. When this time has elapsed, I then instantly put out the fire by means of a coal extinguisher (_étouffoir_). After the fire has been put out a quarter of an hour, I let out the water of the bath by means of the cock; after the water has been withdrawn half an hour, I uncover the boiler, and I do not take out the bottles till one or two hours after the uncovering; and this terminates the operation. The next day, or a fortnight afterwards, for that is immaterial, I place my bottles on shelves, as I do wine, in a cool and shady place. If I purpose sending them a great distance, I think it worth while to pitch them before I place them on the shelves; otherwise this last operation is not absolutely necessary. I have now by me, bottles which have been three years lying under a stair-case, the substances contained in which retain as much flavour as if they were just prepared, and yet they were never pitched. We have just seen, from all that has been said, that alimentary substances, in order to be preserved, should be, without exception, subjected to the application of heat in a water-bath; after being rigorously excluded from all contact with the air, in the manner, and with the precautions already indicated.