gaz is mortal to mankind, and
to all the living creation. Thirty hogsheads of fermenting liquor
producing a great deal of this gaz, the room should be purified of it by
opening two opposite windows several times a day. This is the more
essential, as the pure air, or _oxigen_, contributes to the formation of
the spirit, of which it is one of the constituting principles. A short
time, however, suffices to renew the air of the room.

It is useless to remark, that the hogsheads must be open at one end, and
rest upon pieces of wood elevating them some inches from the ground.
They must remain uncovered during the fermentation; and afterwards be
covered with a flying lid, when the liquor is calm.

CHAPTER XI.

OF THE ROOM FOR DISTILLATION.

We have hitherto considered the liquor as containing only principles
upon which the air has no action, and from which it can only extract
some watery vapors; and, in fact, all those principles contained in the
liquor are fixed. The action of the fire may concentrate, but not
volatilize them.

The liquor is now changed by the fermentation; it contains no longer the
same principles, but has acquired those which it had not, which are
volatile, and evaporate easily. They must therefore be managed
carefully, in order not to lose the fruits of an already tedious labor.
The spirit already created in the fermented liquor, must be collected by
the distillation; but in transporting it to the still, the action of the
external air must be carefully avoided, as it would cause the
evaporation of some of the spirit. A pump to empty the hogsheads, and
covered pipes to conduct the liquor into the still, is what has been
found to answer that purpose. A good distilling apparatus is undoubtedly
the most important part of a distillery. It must unite solidity,
perfection in its joints, economy of fuel, rapidity of distillation, to
the faculty of concentrating the spirit. Such are the ends I have
proposed to myself in the following apparatus.

The usual shape of stills is defective; they are too deep, and do not
present enough of surface for their contents. They require a violent
fire to bring them to ebullition; the liquor at bottom burns before it
is warm at the top.

My still is made upon different principles, and composed of two pieces,
viz. the kettle, and its lid. The kettle, forming a long square, is like
the kettle of infusion, already described, and only differs from it in
being one foot