Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/303

273&#93; VIN quently stirred, and either exposed to the sun, or deposited in a warm place : after standing a few days, it will ferment, become sour; and, in a fortnight, it will bs converted into vinegar. — Such is the usual manner of producing this acid ; which is frequently refitified by dis- tillation, when it is known under the name of distilled vinegar. . Cyder-vinegar, may be made by fermenting new cyder with the must of apples, in a warm room, or in the open air, where it should be exposed to the sun; and, in the course of a week or nine days, it will be fit for use. Another method of preparing vinegar, is that published by M. Heber : it consists in exposing a mixture of 72 parts of water, and 4 of reftified malt-spirit, in a tempe- rature of from 70 to 80" of Fah- BENHEiT, for about two months} ac the expiration of which the ace- tous process will be completed. — A cheaper, though more tedious mode, is that of dissolving 2 lbs. of molasses in 9 quarts of boiling wa- ter : this solution must be poured into a vessel containing a large quantity of cowslips ; and, when the mixture becomes cool, a gill of yeast should be added. The who'e is then to be exposed to the rays of the sun : at the end of 3 months, it may be bottled for use, and will be of peculiar service in pickling. Tarragon-vinegar is manufac- tured, by infusing one pound of the leaves of that vegetable (which have been gathered a short time before it flowers) in one gallon of the best vinegar, for the space of 14 days ; when it should be strain- ed through a flannel bag ; and a dram of isinglass, dissolved in cy- der, must then be added ; the whole be carefully mixed, and de- NO. XV. — VOL. IV. V I N [17^ canted into bottles for a month. Thus, the liquor will acquire a most exquisite flavour; it will become remarkably fine, and almost colour* less. The utility of vinegar, as a con- diment for preserving and season- ing both animal and vegetable food, renders it unnecessary to state the Various articles in which it may be used with advantage : we shall, therefore, only add, that it affords! an agreeable beverage, when com- bined with water, in the proportion of a table- spoonful of the former, to half a pint of the latter. Far- ther, it is a medicine of considerable efficacy in hydrophobia, as well as in inflammatory, and putrid dis- eases, whether taken internally, or applied externally to the nostrils, or by way of fomentations. Relief has, likewise, been frequently ob- tained in hypochondriacal, and hys- teric alletiiions, in vomiting, faint- ing, and hiccough, by the applica- tion of vinegar to the mouth. If this fluid be poured into vessels, and placed over the gentle heat of a lamp, in the apartments of the sick, it greatly contributes to dis- ■ perse foul or mcphitic vapours, and consequently to purify the air.— ■ Lastly, there is a metliod of pro- curing a very powerful essence of vinegar ; which, however, can be practised only during the intense frosts of winter : it simply consists; in exposing this liquor in basons, or other shallow vessels, when the watery parts are converted into ice; but the spirituous, or acetous basis, remains in a fluid state ; so that, by repeated exposure, one* pint of strong vinegar will, in very cold seasons, be reduced to about a table-spoonful of the essence. This preparation possesses a fine flavour, and a pungent, almost corrosive, T taste ;