The royal pharmacopœea, galenical and chymical according to the practice of the most eminent and learned physitians of France : and publish'd with their several approbations / by Moses Charras, th Kings chief operator in his royal garden of plants ; faithfully Englished ; illustrated with several copper plates.

CHAP. XXXVI. Of the Distillation of Vinegar.

I Do not here undertake to speak of a great number of Liquors, become eagre, by natural or artificial fermentation, to which some authors have improperly giv'n the name of Vinegar. But I keep my self close to that of real Vinegar, or rather, wine become eager by the alteration of the parts, and the predomination of the acid above the rest. Nor will I trouble my self with the opinion of those, who have believ'd either without reason or experience, that the wine would not have become eager but by the total destruction and dissipation of the volatile and inflammable part. Only I will say this, Vinegar being compos'd of much Flegm, of little volatile Salt, but much fix'd, and good store of acid, both the one and the other united and mix'd with some terrestreities; yet Chimistry has ways to separate and display the existence of all the parts.

In the alteration which happens to good wine, when it turns to Vinegar of it self, the acid part having united to it and fix'd the volatile Salt of the wine, and finding it self more ponderous than the Flegm permits it to ascend first in distillation, and the Flegm last. This may be made out in pure Vinegar and not counterfeited, par∣ticularly in that of Languedock and Provence. In those Countries I say, where the Vinegar is not counterfeited, in the distillation of Vinegar, you shall be sure to draw forth at the beginning an insipid Flegm, though mixt with some very little quantity of the volatile Spirit: but at Paris, you shall hardly draw any distinct Flegm from Vine∣gar, by reason that the Vinegar-makers do so counterfeit it. Whence it comes to pass that we rather take all that ascends in distillation, then trouble our selves to deflegmate the Vinegar; and that we rather take heed that the settlement do not scorch at the end, and give the Spirit the scent of burnt∣too.

The better then to bring your purpose to pass, fill with the best wine Vinegar that can be got two thirds of a Cucurbit of Potters Earth, able to withstand the force of the fire, and having cover'd it with its head slightly luted, place it upon a fit Furnace, and having kindled a moderate fire, and fitted a Recipient to the beak of the head, begin and continue the distillation, till you have drawn out about two

thirds of the Vinegar which you put into the Cucurbit; then putting in fresh Vine∣gar heated before, in the place of that which you have drawn off, continue the distillation, and keep in some great bottle all the distill'd Spirit together; pouring in again fresh warm Vinegar into the Cucurbit, and pursuing your distillation, with a moderate heat, till you have a sufficient quantity of Spirit, and that the sediment increasing and thickning, constrains you to change your vessel, and to pour out the re∣sidence into a Cornute, for the extraction of the last Spirit, which will be attended with a stinking black oil, leaving at the bottom dry faeces, containing the fix'd Salt and the Terrestrial part of the Vinegar.

Generally we make good provision of the first Spirit, for the great use thereof in the dissolving of Pearl, Coral, Crabs eyes, Lime of lead, and several other sub∣stances of the same nature; not to speak of the inward and external applications, in most maladies, and in some Compositions.

We separate the last Spirit from the stinking oil, by means of a Cornet or horn of wast paper moisten'd in water, as we do oil of Tartar, and use it in the dissolution of certain metals or metallick substances, which the first Spirit of Vinegar is not able to penetrate. Some give it the name of Radical Vinegar. The oil is good against Histerick vapours, by reason of its ill smell; but the chiefest use thereof is to cleanse Ulcers.

The mark or settlement of Vinegar we calcine in a Crucible, to separate after∣wards the Salt by dissolution, filtration and coagulation; you may also if you please, turn it into Christals. Some barely dissolve this Salt in the first or second Spirit to re∣double their sharpness: But they might make a more inward Union, by putting four ounces of this Salt into a Cornute of Glass, and having pour'd upon it a pound of the one or the other of these Spirits, and plac'd the Cornute in a close Furnace of Reverberation, make the distillation with a gradual fire, and reiterate cohobation and distillation, till the Spirit have carry'd away all the Salt. This Spirit is call'd Al∣kalify'd, or Radical, and that much more justly than the second Spirit of Vinegar, for being more pure and intimately united with its proper Salt, it is more powerful to dissolve Mettals.

We also prepare a Spirit of Vinegar with equal parts of good honey and good Vi∣negar, which we afterwards digest together for fifteen days in a glass Cucurbit, large and high, cover'd with its head, and plac'd upon a Bakers oven, and then distilling it after in Balneo Mariae, or in a Sand-bath with a moderate heat, you shall draw forth a Spirit, which you may rectify once or twice to make it more subtle and pene∣trating, as also very proper for the dissolution of Pearls, Coral, and such like pre∣tious Stones.

In the same manner you may distill an acid Spirit from Spanish wine turn'd sowre, as also from Beer, Cider, Perry, or any other such kind of fermented sowre juices.