Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/189

VINEGAR. 147 VINE INSECTS. micro-organisms aiul to start the process. The ^'eni'iatcu' is usually a tall wooden cask, sniallci' at tlic top tlian at the bottom, and divided into three horizontal sections, one of the dividing disks beinj; near the top, and the other a false bottom. .Several glass tubes that serve as air duets extend through the upper disk, which is also perforated with numerous small holes, through which pack- threads extend. The central or main part of the generator is filled with beech-shavings. The alcoholic liquid, first heated to about 50° C. (122° F. ), and introduced at the ujiper |)art of the apparatus, trickles slowly down the pack- threads, difi'uses over the chi]is, coming in con- tact with the rising current of air, and collects in the bottom of the cask, where it is drawn oil' by a siphon pipe. It is necessary for the li((uid to pass through the cask several times, or through several casks, before aeetilication is completed, the entire operation reqiiring from 24 to 36 hours. In the preparation of wine vinegar full-bodied wines are chosen, and if they contain more than 10 per cent, of alcohol they are usually diluted or mixed with weaker wines. The.v are then treated by the quick process or fermented in scalded casks filled partly full, for a period of about two weeks, by the slow process, when a portion of the vinegar is drawn off and more wine added, this being repeated periodicall.v. Spirit vinegar is made by distilling a fermented mash of grain so as to obtain a ver,y dilute al- cohol, and converting this without rectification into vinegar by the quick method. It is often colored with caramel to sinnilate cider or wine vinegar. In the preparation of malt vin- egar an infusion of malt with a suitable quan- tity of yeast is fermented briskly for about 40 hours, to change the sugar into alcohol. The ex- tract is then filtered and allowed to settle, after which it may be treated by the quick vinegar process, or acetified in large casks l.ving on their sides in a room at a temperature of about 25° C. (77° F.). The bung-holes of the casks are left open, and at each end near the top an opening is made so as to permit the circulation of air. The operation is liegiui in the spring and finished in about three months. Cider vinegar is prepared by allowing fresh cider to ferment in barrels or casks until the proper percentage of alcohol has been formed. It is then acetified, usually by the slow process, in a warm room. The employment of the quick process in vin- egar-making enables a more uniform article to be produced with certainty than by the slow fer- mentation. The latter is more or less haphazard, depending upon the exact kinds of organisms present, and results in considerable loss of al- cohol as well as a smaller yield of acetic acid. This has suggested the use of pure cultures of vinegar bacteria for the fermentation, as is done in beer and wine making; but the difficulties in procuring these pure cultures and in managing the process have been found to outweigh the ad- vantages from their use. In addition to being a condiment, vinegar is used extensivelj' in pick- ling and preserving various kinds of foods, and has an important action in softening the fibres of hard meats and the cellulose of green vegetables. It is also occasionally employed in medicine as a cooling astringent and as a opium, which are called vinegar of lobelia, of ojiium, etc. The term aromatic vinegar is ap- plied to preparations of strong acetic acid hold- ing in solution various aromatic oils, .such as licrgamot, cloves, laveii<ler, neroli, etc., with camphor, forming a fragrant and volatile per- fume. Consult: Gardner, Acetic Acid, Yincijar, Alum, Ammonia, etc. (Philadelphia, 1885) ; Brannti .1 Practical Treatise on tlic Munufdcinre of Vinegar and Acetates, etc. (l'liiladeli)hia, ISOO). See AcKTIc .cil). VINEGAR BIBLE. See Bible, Curious FurrioN.s of the. VINEGAR-EEL, or Paste-Eel. Sec Eei^ WoKM. VINEGAR-FLY. A pomace or wine fly of tile genus Drosophila, also called 'fruit-lly.' al- though it does not attack sound fruit. The ma- jority of the thirty species breed in the juices of decayed and fermenting fruit. Their larvie are small, white, slender maggots, and are frequently found in canned fruits and pickles which have been imperfcetl,y sealed, occurring niostl,y near the top of the jars, but living without incon- venience in the briny or vinegai-y liquid, and transforming within brown puparia around the edges of the jar. Consult Howard and Marlatt, Household Insects of the United States' (Depart- ment of Agriculture, Washington, 1890). VINEGARONE, vin'e-ga-ron' (from vinegar, so called iiiini its odor when alarmed). The local name in Texas for the whip-tailed scorpion (Theliijilionus gigantens) . See Scorpio.n. VINE INSECTS (OF. vine, vigne, Fr. vigne, from Lat. riurii, vine, fem. sg. of vineiis, relating to wine, from vinum, wine). About forty species of insects aflfecting grapes have been recorded in Europe, and a much greater number occur in the I'nited States. The grapevine phylloxera (see Phylloxera) is the most important of these and has a cosmopolitan distribution. The grapevine fidia (Fidia viticida) is a brownish beetle about a quarter of an inch in length, some- what resembling the rose-chafer, and feeds upon the leaves: the' larva; live at the roots of the vine and cheek the growth of the plant. Serious damage has been done by this insect in the Cen- tral States and in New York State. The .vellow- ish eggs are laid in large batches in crevices in the bark of old wood, usually well above ground, and the larva; on hatching penetrate the cracks in the soil near the base of the plant. They feed at first >ipon the fibrous roots near the point of entrance, but soon reach the larger roots and gnaw off the bark, sometimes penetrating to a depth of three feet below the surface of the ground. They reach full growth in Augiist and construct earthen cells, in which .they remain imtil June of the following year, when they change to pupse. The adult beetles emerge two weeks after pupation. The beetles may be killed by applying an arsenical spra.v to the vines, while the larvie are destroyed by the luulerground in- jection of bisul])hide of carbon or by washing in a strong kerosene emulsion. The grape cane-borer {Amphicerus bieaudatus) is a botriehid beetle, common in the Central United States, which damages grape canes by boring small holes into them. The eggs are laid in May. and the larvic, which also bore in the canes, develop during summer, transforming to