M A L
M A L
All fimple fpirits may be confidered in the three different ftatcs of low-wines, proof fpirit, and alcohol, the interme- diate degrees of ftrength being of lefs general ufe ; and they are to be judged of only according as they approach to, or recede from thefe. Low-wines* at a medium, contain a iixth part of pure inflammable fpirit, five times as much wa- ter as fpirit neceflarily arifing in the operation with a boiling heat. Proof goods contain about one half of the fame totally inflammable fpirit ; and alkohol entirely confifts of it. Malt low-wines, prepared in. the common way, are exceed- ing naufeous; they have, however, a natural vinofity, or pungent agreeable acidity, which would render the ipirit agreeable to the palate, were it not for the large quantity of the grofs oil of the Malt that abounds in it. When this oil is detained in fome meafurefrom mixing itfelf among the low-wines, by the ftretching a coarfe flannel over the neck of the ftill, or at the orifice of the worm, the fpirit becomes much purer in all refpects ; it is lefs fulfome to the tafte, lefs offenfive to the fmell, and lefs milky to the eye. Shaw's Effay on Diftillcry.
When thefe low-wines, In the rectification into proof fpirits, are diftilled gently, they leave a confiderable quantity of this grofs fetid oil behind them in the Itill along with the phlegm j but if the fire be made fierce, this oil is again raifed and brought over with the fpirit ; and being now broken fome- what more fine, it impregnates it in a more naufeous man- ner than at firft. This is the common fault of the Matt diftiller and of the rectifier both ; the latter, inftead of fepa- rating the fpirit from this nafty oil, which is the principal intent of his procefs, attends only to the leaving the phlegm in fuch quantity behind, that the fpirit may be of" a due itrength as proof or marketable goods, and brings over the oil in a worfe ftate than before. To this inattention to the proper bufinefs of the procefs, it is owing, that the fpirit, after its feveral rectifications, as they are mifcalled, often is found more {finking than when delivered out of the hands of the Malt diftiller. All this may be prevented by the taking more time in the fubicquent dift illations, and keeping the fire low and regular, the hidden ftirring of the fire, and the hafty way of throwing on frefh fuel, being the general occa- fions of throwing up the oil by fpurts, where the fire in ge- neral, during the procefs, has not been lb large as to do that mifchief.
The ufe of a balneum maris, inftead of the common ftill, would effectually prevent all this mifchief, and give a purer fpirit in one rectification, than can otherwife be procured in ten, or indeed according to the common methods at all. Malt low-wine, when brought to the ftandard of proof fpi- rit, lofes its milky colour, and is perfectly clear and bright, no more oil being contained in it than is perfectly diilblved by the alcohol, and rendered mifcible with that proportion of phlegm, which is about one half the liquor j its tafte alio is cleaner, though not more plcafant ; there being lefs of the thick oil to hang on the tongue in its own form, which is not the cafe in the low-wines, where the oil being undif- folved, adheres to the mouth in its own form, and does not pafs lightly over it.
When proof fpirit of Mult is diftilled over again, in order to be rectified into alcohol, or as we ufually call it, fpirits of wine, if the fire be raifed at the time when the faints begin to come off, a very confiderable quantity of oil will be raifed by it, and will run in the vifible form of oil from the nofe of the worm. This is not peculiar to Malt fpirit, but the French brandy fhews the fame phenomenon, and that in lb great a degree, that half an ounce of this oil may be ob- tained from a fingle piece of brandy.
Malt fpirit, more than any other kind, requires to be brought into the form of alcohol, before it can be ufed internally, efpeclally as it is now commonly made up in the proof ftate, with as much of this naufeous and vifcous oil as will give it a good crown of bubbles. For this reafon it ought to be reduced to an alcohol, or totally inflammable fpirit, before it- is admitted into any of the medicinal compofitions. If it be ufed without this previous caution, the odious tafte of the Malt oil will be diftinguifhed among all the other flavours of the ingredients.
Malt fpirit, when it has once been reduced to the true form of an alcohol, is afterwards more fit for all the curious inter- nal ufes than even French brandy, it being after this purifi- cation a more uniform, hungry, taftelefs, and impregnable fpirit,- than any of the other fpirits which we efteem fo much finer. Shaw's Eflay on Diftillery.
A pure fpirit being thus procured, fhould be kept carefully in veffels of glafs or ftone, well flopped to prevent the eva- poration of any of its volatile part. If preferved in caiks, it is apt to impregnate itfelf very ftrongly with the wood. The quantity of pure alcohol obtainable from a certain quantity of Mali, differs according to the goodnefs of the fubjeet, the manner of the operation, the feafon of the year, and the fkilfulnefs of the workman ; according to which variations, a quarter of Matt will afford from eight or nine, to thirteen or fourteen gallons of alcohol. This fhould encourage the Malt diftiller to be careful and diligent in his bufinefs, as fo very large a part of his profits depends wholly on the well •onducting his procefles,
After every operation in this bufinefs, there remain a quan- tity of faints, which in their own coarfe ftate ought never to be admitted into the pure fpirit ; thefe are to be faved toge- ther, and large quantities of them at once wrought into al- cohol. It is eafy to reduce thefe to fuch a ftate, that they will ferve for lamp fpirits. Their difagreeable flavour being corrected by the adding of aromatics during the diitillations, the reducing them into a perfect and pure alcohol is practi- cable, but not without fuch difficulties as render it fcarce Worth the trader's while. One way of doing it is by diftil- Kng them from water into water, and that with a very flow fire. By this means a pure alcohol may be made out of the foulcft faints.
The Malt diftiller always gives his fpirit a fingle rectifica- tion per fe, in order to purify it a little, and make it up proof, but in this ftate it is not reckoned fit for internal ufes, but ferves to be diftilled into geneva and other ordinary com- pound ftrong waters for the vulgar.
The Dutch, who carry on a great trade with Malt fpirit, never give it any farther rectification than this, and it is therefore that the Malt fpirit of England is in general fo much more in efteem. The Dutch method is only to diftil the wafh into low- wines, and then to full proof fpirit; they then directly make it into Geneva, or elfe fend it as it is to Germany, Guinea, and the Eaft-Indies, for the Dutch have little notion of our rectification. Their fpirit is by this means rendered very foul and coarfe, and is rendered yet more naufeous by the immoderate ufe they make of rye meal. Malt fpirit, in it; unredtified ftate, is ufually found to have ■ the common bubble proof, as the Malt diftiller knows that it will not be marketable without it.
The whole matter requifite to this is, that it have a confide- rable portion of the grofs oil of the Malt well broke and mixed along with it ; this gives the : rectifier a great deal of trouble if he wi]l have the fpirit fine ; but in the general run of the bufinefs, the rectifier does not take out this oil, but breaks it finer, and mixes it fafter in by alkaline falts, and difguifes its tafte by the addition of certain flavouring in- gredients. The fpirit lofes in thefe procefles the vinofity it had when it came out of the hands of the Malt diftiller, and is in all refpects worfe, except in the difguife of a mixed flavour. Shaw's Eflay on Diftillery.
Thealkaline falts ufed by the rectifier, deftroying the natu- ral vinofity of the fpirit, it is necefiary to add an extraneous acid in order to give it a new one. The acid they generally ufe is the fpiritus nitri dulcis ; and the common way of ufing it is the siixing it to the tafte with the rectified fpirit : this gives our Malt fpirit,. when well rectified, a flavour fome- what like that of French brandy, but this foon flies ofF; and the better method is to add a proper quantity of Glauber's ftrong fpirit of nitre to the fpirit in the ftill. The liquor in this cafe comes over impregnated with it, and the acid being more intimately mixed, the flavour is retained. See the ar- ticle Spiritus nitri dutch.
MALT-wonn, in the manege. See the article Crepance.
MALTA Earth. See the article Melitensis terra.
MALTHA, the name of avoracious fifhof thefhark kind, called the jorrat, and the lamiola by fome authors, a diminutive of lamia, fignifying a fmall lhark. Its teeth are broad and pointed as thofe of the fhark ; the fifti has alfo many rows of thefe ; the nofe is fhort, and its flefh lax and foft. fVillughbfs Hift. Fife. p. 50.
MALTHOCODE, a term by which the Greek writers ex- prefs'd the emollient topical remedies prepared with oil. Hip- pocrates exprefsly forbids the ufe of thefe in old ulcers.
MALVA, mallow, the name of a very large genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The flower confifts of one leaf, and is very open at the mouth, and divided into feveral fegments ;. from the bottom of the flower there arifes a pyramidal tube, which is ufually loaded with ftamina; and from the cup there arifes a piftil, which is fixed like a nail to the lower part of the flower, and alfo to the tube. This ripens into a flat orbicular fruit, though fometimes pointed, ufually ftirrounded by the cup, and compofed of a number of capfules, fo placed round an axis, as that each of its ftria^ receive their capfule as if in a kind of articulation. The feed contained in thefe is ufually of the fhape of a kidney. This genus is alfo diftinguifhed from the alcea, or vervain ?nallow y by having its leaves lefs divided and cut in, and from the al- thaea, by having them lefs hoary. Town. Inft. p. 94. The fpecies of Mallow enumerated by Mr. Tomnefort, are thefe: 1. The rofe Mallow, or, as we call it, the hollyoak, with round leaves and pale-red flowers. 2. The white flow- ered roundifh leaved rofe Mallow. 3. The deep red flow- ered round leaved rofe Mallow. 4. The fhining purple flowered round leaved rofe Mallow. 5. The blac'kifh red flowered round leaved rofe Mallow. 6. The violet coloured round leaved rofe Mallow. 7. The fingle yellow flowered round leaved rofe Mallow. 2. The double flowered red round leaved rofe Mallow, g. The double white flowered round leaved rofe Mallow. 10. The double flefh-coloured round leaved rofe Mallow, n. The double purple-flowered round leaved rofe Mallow. \%. The double black-flowered round leaved rofe Mallow, 13. The double yellow-flowered 1 round
