Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/241

MOL The moisture of the air has a considerable ciieQ. on the human frame. Thus, if the quan(it)' and quality of the food, together Avith the proportion of meat and drink, be ascertained, the weight of the body will be less, and the discharges ■will consequently be greater, dur- ing dry than in wet weather j be- cause the humidity of the air com- municates itself to the fibres of the fikin; and, by lessening their vibra- tory motion, dimiiiishes the insen- sible perspiration. A patent was granted, in 1795, to Ivlr. James Willson, fur his in- vention of a mode of preventing, in a very material degree, the .ef- fefts of moisture on the human body ; and of facilitating relief in inflammatory and spasmodic com- plaints, arising from humidity, as well as from other causes. — The inventor's contrivances are ingeni- ous ; but, as they would be unin- telligible without a plate, and as his privilege is not expired, the cu- rious reader will consult the 12th vol. of the Repertory of Arts, ike. ■where a full specitication is given, and illus'tratcd with an engraving. MOLASSES, or jSIelasses, the gross fluid matter, which remains after refining sugar 5 and which cannot by simple boding be reduc- ed to a niore solid consistence than that of common syrup, vulgarly called treacle. Jn Holland, this article is chiefiy used in the manufadure of tobac- co, and by the poor people as a substitute for sugar. A kind of brandy is prepared from it in this , country, in considerable quantities, by dissolving a certain portion of jnolasses in water ; fermenting it vilh wine-lees J and distilling the is^hole over a nioderato fire. This MOL [2-I-9 spirit is, however, generally adul- terated in such a manner as to reii- der it extremely pernicious to the consumer 5 but as it tinges the hands, or any substance immersed in it, of a tine yellow colour, it may, we conceive, be more advan- tageously converted to the pur- poses of dyeing. Molasses likewise form a whole- some and agreeable beverage, when prepared as a kind of Beer, of which we have already given an account, p. 23/ oi <-ur first vol. — ■ Farther, this thick fluid may be di- vested of its mawkish taste, and thus rendered fit to be used as a substitute for sugar. We seleft the following process from Cr ell's Ch-emical Annals (vol. i. part 2. 1798, in Germaii), published from the esperimenJs originally made by M. LowiTZ : — Let 24 lbs. of molasses, a similar quantity of wa- ter, and six pounds of charcoal coarsely pulverized, be mixed in a kettle, and the whole boiled over a slow tire. Wiien the mixture has simmered for the space of half an hour, it must be decaijted into a deep vessel, that the charcoal may subside ; atier which the liquid should be ponred oiF, and agaii! placed over the fire, that the supcrtluous water may evaporate, and r< store the syrup to its former consistence. — Twenty-four pounds of niolasics thus refined, will pro- duce an equal quantity of syrup. This met;iod has been succes.s- fully practised on a large scale, in Germany ; and, we conceive it might be advantageously imitated 3 for the molasses thus become sensi- bly u-iildtT, and may consequently be employed i 1 various articles of food. Fnr disiies, however, in wiiich milk is an ingredient, or for cordials