ALCOHOL

ALCOHOL, Ethyl Alcohol (also called Grain Alcohol, Root Alcohol, Spirits of Wine, etc., according to the source) : occurs as the result of the fermentation i. e.. the effect of the growth of yeast cells, either wild or cultivated (see Yeast)of liquid containing a moderate amount of any one of several forms of "sugar." The sugary element is the result of the conversion of starch, either by natural growth in grapes, sugar beets, etc., or by the action of malt diastase, etc., on the starch of grains (see Whisky), potatoes, etc. The alcohol is extracted from the fermented liquid by the process of Distillation (which see). ,\' Pure alcohol is transparent and colorless, agreeable in odor, of strong and pungent taste and highly volatile and inflammable, burning with a pale blue or smokeless flame. If thoroughly refined, the product is identicalboth by chemical analysis and in appearance, flavor, etc.no matter what the source of the original starch. Brandy and Whisky generally contain about one-half alcohol in volume. "Proof spirit" contains approximately half in weight but somewhat more by volume. In addition to its use in spirituous liquors, alcohol is employed in an almost infinite variety of wraysin the arts, in the electrical world, in the manufacture of artificial silk, leather, etc., by perfumers, chemists, extract makers, anatomists, naturalists, etc. As Denatured Alcohol (see following), its scope has been greatly widened within the last few years. Denatured Alcohol: is merely ordinary alcohol with special ingredients added in order to make it impossible to drink it, the purpose being to cheapen it for industrial and commercial purposes by avoiding the heavy government tax on alcohol which can be consumed in beverages. The additional ingredients make it injurious to health and objectionable in both taste and odor, but do not detract from its commercial efficiency. Furthermore, when once denatured, there is little likelihood of it being improperly used,- as it is both expensive and difficult to extract the foreign ingredients. There are two forms of alcohol so treated one completely denatured and the other specially denatured the latter for uses for which the former would not be suitable. The most generally approved formula for completely denatured alcohol adds ten gallons of wood (methyl) alcohol and one-half gallon of petroleum benzine to each hundred gallons of ordinary (ethyl) alcohol. Among the many possible additions for specially denatured alcohol are camphor, benzol, castor-oil and soda lye, sulphuric ether, etc. Alcohol for industrial purposes is in Germany made chiefly from potatoes, in France from beets, and in this country from grains, molasses, etc. Its manufacture adds appreciably to the wealth of the nation by turning to account damaged and spoiled grains, vegetables and fruits all of which can be converted into alcohol thoroughly serviceable for industrial purposes. The commercial uses of alcohol, when obtainable at a low price, are almost innumerable. In the household it serves as a clean, cheap and serviceable substitute for gas or electricity, for both illumination and cooking. Its possibilities promise to be illimitable, for in France a new process has been discovered by which it may be produced by chemical synthesis, and it is predicted that the cost of such production can be reduced to less than ten cents a gallon.