its relation to that of India. Mr. Hutchins was for some years in the Madras Forest Department before he went to the Cape some fifteen or twenty years ago. He has made a special study of the rainfall of South Africa, and is a careful and enthusiastic investigator in rainfall problems. He is, from his double experience in India and South Africa and his present official work and position, eminently qualified to form a judgment on the abnormal features of rainfall distribution in either area, and on their economic effect. It is hence, as I hope to show later, very satisfactory that Mr. Sutton's figures confirm the general inferences I made about South African rainfall, based chiefly on Mr. Hutchins's information, in my address. Before discussing Mr. Sutton's data and inferences, perhaps I may be permitted to deal with two or three important issues raised in Mr. Sutton's letter. 66 The first is contained in the opening paragraph, in which he says "south-east winds are rare on the south-east coast of South Africa, and the rain of the greater part of the tableland and north-east coast comes mostly from some northerly direction." If these casual remarks have any point at all, I think I am correct in assuming that they imply that Mr. Sutton considers the rainfall in the areas mentioned is not due to humid currents from the Indian Ocean, but from the dry interior to the north of the tableland. I have examined the rainfall charts of South Africa given in Bartholomew's Meteorological Atlas, and they certainly indicate to me that the aqueous vapour, the condensation of which gives rainfall in the eastern half of South Africa, is brought up by air movement from the Indian Ocean, and occurs as a summer precipitation. Hence, so far as I can reasonably judge, that area forms a part of what I have termed the Indo-oceanic region. I might add, in further reply, that rain in certain parts of India during the south-west monsoon chiefly occurs with easterly and north-easterly, and even with northerly winds. But these facts have not yet been utilised by anyone to prove that the rainfall is not brought up from the adjacent seas and oceans by the south-west monsoon circulation. Mr. Sutton in a later paragraph says he fancies that "the impression of unusual dryness over South Africa in recent years arises from the misleading mean values used by the Meteorological Commission for comparative purposes which are taken from Buchan's rather futile Rainfall of South Africa,' and average fully two inches (equal to perhaps 10 per cent.) too great. There is an air of certainty about this statement which I am unable to share without further proof. Buchan's means are based on ten years' data, Mr. Sutton's on twenty years' data. It does not necessarily follow that twenty years' means are better representatives of normal or average conditions than ten years' means. It depends entirely upon whether the ten years may or may not be accepted as representing the normal conditions, and whether the additional ten years' data are for an abnormal period or not. The fact that the two sets of means differ on the average of the whole area by 10 per cent. indicates to an outsider on South African meteorology like myself that it is quite as probable the ten years' additional data erred in defect as that the ten years' data employed by Dr. Buchan erred in excess. There hence appears to be (in the absence of any proof) an element of doubt in his means, just as he asserts to be the case in the 66 rather futile means of Dr. Buchan. Again, if I read Mr. Sutton's letter rightly, he considers that the question as to whether the crops have failed over large areas being due to drought is settled by a consideration of percentage variations. It is certainly not the case in India. A percentage variation gives no certain indication unless considered in relation to the normal fall, and also to its time-distribution. A deficiency of 25 per cent. is of absolutely no economic importance in such areas as Sind (with an average rainfall of about four inches) or such as Arakan (with an average of more than 200 inches). The former area depends solely on irrigation for cultivation, and the latter is so abundantly supplied for the rice crop that it bears a loss of fifty inches lightly. On the other hand, in the regions termed the dry zones in India, where the mean rainfall ranges between fifteen inches and thirty inches, a deficiency of 20 per cent. is usually a serious matter, more especially if it accompanies more irregular distribution than usual unsuited to the staple crops. Local knowledge of the agricultural and economic conditions is hence of the greatest importance in estimating the probable effect of a given variation of rainfall in any area. Mr. Hutchins, I have every reason to suppose, possesses such knowledge for South Africa, and hence I attach the highest value to his information on such matters. The evidence I have collected, a small portion of which was given in my address, appears to me to have established that during the period 1895-1902 there was a marked tendency to more or less continuous deficiency of rainfall over the Indo-oceanic area, most pronounced in dry inland districts, and which in India intensified into severe, droughts in the years 1896, 1899, and 1901, diminishing the crop returns over large areas to such an extent that it was necessary to resort to famine relief on a large scale during the twelve months succeeding each period of crop failure. I was unable to make as precise statements for either Australia or South Africa, but the scanty facts and information at my disposal appeared to justify the statement that these areas were similarly affected. I also pointed out that this period stood in marked contrast to a preceding period of three years, 1892-4, when the precipitation was apparently in general excess over the same large area. I give in the following table a comparison between the rainfall variations of India, and the area of spring, summer, and autumn rains in South Africa, which, so far as I can judge, is mainly dependent on the Indian Ocean supplies of aqueous vapour. give, in the absence of the number of stations for each area, the arithmetic means of the second and third horizontal rows of figures in Mr. Sutton's summary of his data : These figures show that the eastern half of South Africa had heavier rain than usual during the same period (1892-4) as India, that it was steadily in defect during the first five years of the period of persistent deficiency of rain in India, and was especially deficient in the years 1897 and 1899, the former being the year and rainfall season following the first severe drought year of the period in India, and the latter the same year as that of the greatest drought experienced in India during the past 100 years at least. The parallelism between the two sets of figures is, indeed, more complete than I anticipated, and hence I consider not only that Mr. Sutton's conclusion to the effect that "there is nothing to justify the statement that South Africa has been under the same influence as that which set up the prolonged drought in Australia and the dry years in India " is neither in accordance with what I hold to be the general meteorological conditions and relations of the whole Indooceanic area nor even with the data which Mr. Sutton furnishes. The probability, so far as I can judge, is at least twenty to one that there is some relation such as I have suggested. The chief object of my address was, I may add, to urge the necessity for the coordination and intercomparison of the meteorological observations of the whole Indo-oceanic area and their discussion as a whole by an efficient scientific staff in London. The question at issue between Mr. Sutton and myself, for example, could be authoritatively settled by such an investigating office. In conclusion, I hope that my remarks may not be interpreted as in any way depreciating the value of Mr. Sutton's work in collecting and discussing as a whole the rainfall data of South Africa, and in utilising the data to obtain normal means for purposes of comparison. His work will, I am confident, be appreciated by all interested in African meteorology from any point of view. JOHN ELIOT. Bon Porto, Cavalaire, Var, France. The Origin of Life. ALTHOUGH to the evolutionist it must necessarily appear more than probable that at some time or other non-living matter has by evolution acquired the properties of life, and to him the only question is as to how this has come about, yet, for all that, he has been in the habit of admitting that the complete failure of all experiment in this direction makes the negative evidence very strong indeed. My present object is to suggest that the negative evidence, so far from being strong, is so weak that perhaps it can hardly be said to exist. In the experiments the first step has always been, and, so far as one can see, must always be, to destroy all existing life and all existing germs of life. Suppose the agent to be heat. How does the experimenter know that the very means he employs to destroy in living matter the property of life are not equally efficacious in destroying the peculiar property or properties of matter that is just on the point of transmutation? For all that we certainly know to the contrary, dead matter may be changing into living every day in every pool, especially every warm pool, on the face of the earth. If so, the difference between the last state of the non-living and the first state of the living must, by the evolutionist's hypothesis, be extremely small; and it is probable to my mind most probable-that both would be similarly affected by an unusual degree of heat, or whatever other agent is calculated to destroy life; the precaution eliminating life and its potentiality at one stroke. But the value of the negative evidence is precisely in inverse proportion to this probability. If the probability is thought great, the negative evidence will necessarily be thought small. I submit that the probability is very great indeed, and consequently that we are pretty much in the same position as to the possible evolution of life from non-living matter as we should have been if no experiments had been made. Certainly, so far as the logic of the matter is concerned, there is no need yet to consider the hypothesis of life having been imported here from another planet. Birmingham, October 25. GEORGE HOOKHAM. Thinking Cats. 64 I HAVE known three cats which behaved as if they thought. The first, a large, sleek tabby, belonged to a private family living in the City. Between 1846 and 1858 the owner, Mr. I. S., was surprised by his manservant coming to his office at the back of the house in business hours and asking, Did you ring, sir?" No, I have not been into the house, was his answer. This occurred repeatedly. At last the man watched, and observed that, the family being in other rooms, the dining room bell rang, and when he answered it the cat ran out of the door. He then purposely shut her into the room. A leather easy chair was so placed that by getting on the seat, and then standing on the arm, she could reach the knob with her front paw; and she continued to practise this accomplishment as often as she was shut up in the room. The second cat, also a large tabby, lived at Blackheath. Her master often sat up late writing. The cook, a "good old servant," also now and then sat late, sewing or reading, in the kitchen. One night after twelve Mr. H. F. was interrupted by the cat running into the library (the door being open), mewing and clawing him, then running towards the door, and repeating these acts. He got up and followed the cat, which now ran into the kitchen. The cook was sitting asleep close to the fender, a piece of coal had fallen on her dress, and it was burning. No harm happened, thanks to the cat. The third was a very small, slight cat, white and tabby, a good mouser and bird catcher, and not at all afraid of a rat. On one occasion the servant, exasperated by the trouble caused by the cat's selection of a birthplace for kittens, drowned them all, for which she was duly rebuked. The next family arrived in a suitable corner, but, when two or three days old, disappeared, as well as their mother. As the cat was never allowed to go upstairs, it was supposed that, like another cat once before, she had made a lair in the garden, where she spent most of her time. At dusk the mistress of the house went up to dress for dinner. As soon as she entered her room she heard something fall, and it struck her that the noise was like a cat's jump from a height. Procuring light she found the cat standing by the door. She then saw that the curtains, where folded on the bed, had been a little disturbed, put in her hand, and found three soft warm kittens! They were immediately put into a basket with flannel, and set by the kitchen fire; but as soon as the lady had gone downstairs she met the cat, with a kitten in her mouth, on her way back to the bedroom. Why did she select that room? She was not petted by the lady, nor friendly to her. The housemaid was safe, busy waiting at table. Debarred from this resource, she hid the kittens again while the family were at dinner, and apparently felt so sure that they were safe, that she went and sat by the kitchen fire, awaiting the usual scraps. Of course a search was made in all likely hiding places and corners frequented by the young people, who were very fond of this cat, and A piteous, faint squealing thought she was fond of them. betrayed the poor little creatures on the floor behind the largest folios in the library. The space above the books was so small that it is difficult to think how the cat got in with a kitten in her mouth, or even without it. This was the one room into which the housemaid seldom came, especially in the evening, as the master sat there. He did not pet the cat at any time, and she took no notice of him. But though securely hidden, the kittens could hardly have lived in that cold place; their mother seemed to have overlooked their need of warmth. After this failure she submitted to have them kept in the basket in the kitchen. Fish-passes and Fish-ponds. Y. N. IN your issue of August 18, in an article dealing with fish-passes and fish-ponds, the following statement is made : "Much of the information as to the construction of ponds and their inlets and overflows is, of course, ancient, and can be found in such books as the History of Howietoun (by the late Sir James Ramsay Gibson Maitland, Bart.). The above statement may easily cause the incorrect inference that the information in Sir James Ramsay Gibson Maitland's work is now obsolete. Perhaps you may care to make it known that this is, of course, not the case, although no doubt with lapse of time improvements and modifications are introduced. HOWIETOUN FISHERY CO. Howietoun Fishery, Stirling, N.B., October 24. Average Number of Kinsfolk in each Degree. I THANK Dr. Galton for his explanation (p. 626), which only shows how easy it is to make mistakes in things which appear perfectly trivial. The discrepancy can be accounted for, however, more simply still by the fact that families containing boys only have to be left out of account, and therefore in the families which contain at least one girl there are on an average more girls than boys altogether. G. H. BRYAN. Misuse of Words and Phrases. IT is quite true, as Mr. Basset says, that "in English considerable care is often required in the arrangement of a sentence, so as to avoid ambiguity "; but he seems to go too far when he says that "brevity ought always to be aimed at. Too much brevity will often, as we are warned by Horace, lead to obscurity: "brevis esse laboro: obscurus fio"; and the absence of inflections and genders renders it impossible to write English in the brief, epigrammatic style that is common in Latin. To Mr. Basset's rules the following may be advantageously added that new words of foreign origin should not be employed when English words will suit the purpose as well or better. For instance, autotomic and anautotomic, as applied to curves, are objectionable, because self-cutting and non-self-cutting express precisely the same ideas in simpler and more familiar words. I am at a loss to know on what ground Mr. Basset objects to the phrase singular cubic curve"; does he think the epithet is couth or inelegant or inaccurate "? October 31. 66 66 66 nonun T. B. S. Missouri and Kansas remained no longer rivers, but became merged into an inland sea. When the flood subsided there was revealed a condition of general ruin and desolation. Holes had been gouged in the streets some 30 feet deep; railroad tracks had been torn to pieces; an oil tank, 50 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, made of iron plates, had been torn from its foundations and tossed about like a frail shanty; freight cars FIG. 1.-Kansas City, Missouri. Scene in the freight yard of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway after subsidence of the flood. had been broken up and carried away down the river; heavy locomotive engines had been rolled over and were discovered lying in mud banks; and mud from 2 feet to 4 feet deep covered everything. An approximate estimate of the loss in this district was put at 3 million pounds. In the vicinity of Kansas City the losses were placed at upwards of three million pounds, while the value of the bridges destroyed was more than 150,000l. In previous floods the losses have fallen principally on the agricultural districts, but this time the loss to the farmers was less than one-third of the total, and about the same proportion was borne by the railroads. But great as the losses were, they would have been far greater but for the property saved owing to timely warnings issued by the Weather Bureau. Owing to the careful records kept of previous floods the department was enabled to forecast the time at which the on the floods in the Mississippi watershed in the spring | flow would reach the various towns situated on the of 1903, which gives an interesting and detailed account of the most disastrous floods in this district of which there is any record. These floods are described as marking a new epoch in the economic history of the country. When previous floods occurred they ran harmlessly over unbroken forests, and bottoms tenanted only by the beasts of the field, except over a limited area where there were small farms tenanted by French colonists. The floods of 1903 descended upon fertile and highly cultivated fields, and upon rich valleys filled to overflowing with vast industries devoted with never ceasing energy to the fulfilment of the insatiable demands of commerce. The resulting ruin and desolation were beyond description. Along the lower Mississippi 6820 square miles of country were inundated. In Kansas City five square miles of territory were overflowed; large portions of the manufacturing towns of Venice and Madison were flooded to a considerable depth; more than 3000 square miles of territory, one-half of which was under cultivation, were overflowed and the crops ruined. The towns of Armourdale, Argentine, and Harlem were covered from 8 feet to 12 feet with water, and had to be abandoned. Twenty thousand people in this district were made homeless. All public utilities were put out of service; sixteen out of seventeen bridges the river Kaw were washed away. The The Floods of the Spring of 1903 in the Mississippi Watershed. By H. C. Frankenfeld. (Washington: Weather Bureau, 1904.) over river, and the height to which it would probably rise, and so could send out timely warnings. In the lower district alone the value of the property saved by removal to places of safety was estimated at 5 million pounds. The forecasts as to the probable height of the flood were issued in the higher districts at least FIG. 2.-Repairing levee at Lagrange, Mississippi. four days in advance, and in the lower part, at New Orleans, twenty-eight days in advance. By these warnings the people were kept well informed of what they might expect in the way of high water. The work of the River and Flood Service in furnishing information regarding this flood was complete and satisfactory. By the use of the Post Office, telegraph and telephone lines, and the daily Press, and with the cooperation of the various railway companies, every intelligent person in the district was made aware of the impending danger in ample time to make such preparations as they were able. The floods of 1903 owed their inception to a series of heavy rainfalls caused by a succession of storms of the south-western type, the best rain-producing quarter, coming on the top of the water derived from the melting of the snow on the mountains in the upper reaches. In the February flood in the lower Mississippi the water rose in one long swell from Cairo to the Gulf of Mexico from 17.5 feet on the gauge on January 28, passing the danger point of 45 feet thirty-nine days later, and 50 feet, or 5 feet above the top of the banks, eight days afterwards. It remained above the danger line for another twelve days, and then began to fall. It will thus be seen that the water in the river during the flood rose 33 feet. Although excessive rainfall was the original cause of these floods, the effect was greatly increased by works that had been carried out for the improvement of the river and for providing means of inland transport, necessitating the frequent crossing of the river by railway bridges. Formerly a certain amount of relief to the floods was afforded by the water flowing through the numerous crevasses or breaches of the banks that occurred, but during recent years the banks have been systematically raised and strengthened. For example, in the St. Francis system the levees have been extended and raised 2 feet over a length of 173 miles, and the area originally subject to being submerged reduced 4000 square miles. The same operations have been carried on in other districts, so that the flooded area which previous to 1897 extended over 30,000 square miles in 1903 barely reached 7000 square miles. The fight against this flood was also the most extensive and persistent ever attempted in the history of levee engineering. When a breach was likely to occur all the help and material available was concentrated at the point of greatest weakness. At one place a force of more than 1000 men was employed both day and night, in spite of which the bank gave way for more than a mile. At another part of the river, about 36 miles below New Orleans, a crevasse occurred at a place where the river is 120 feet deep. The bank was all washed away, and where it formerly stood a hole was scoured out 60 feet deep. Owing to the precautions taken, due to the warnings of the Weather Bureau, provision had been made to meet such a catastrophe, and workmen were at once concentrated on the spot, and trainloads of material which had been provided in readiness for such an emergency were brought to the place. By this means the breach was successfully closed, and the flooding of some of the finest sugar plantations in Louisiana averted. Other causes that contributed to the greater rise of the flood were the numerous railway bridges that had been carried across the river without leaving sufficient waterway for floods. In one place, where the natural width of the river is 900 feet, the waterway had been contracted to 400 feet by a railway bridge, the velocity of the water through which rose to twelve miles an hour. Encroachments by reclamation have also materially interfered with the free flow of the river, the original width of the channel in some places having been reduced one-half. The report of these floods contains numerous illustrations which give a very graphic idea of the ruin caused in the flooded areas, and also of the works carried on in repairing the levees. There is also a map of the watershed of the Mississippi and of the flooded areas, and of the rainfall in the different districts. Two other volumes issued by the Geological Department relate to the floods of the river Passaic in 1902 and 1903, when the loss to the inhabitants of the district was estimated for the two floods at about 3 million pounds. These two volumes also contain numerous very telling illustrations of the flooded areas and of the damage done to houses and factories.1 WHAT IS BRANDY? THIS question, which a few months ago greatly exercised analytical chemists in this country in consequence of the action of certain local authorities under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, has recently engaged the attention of the Technical Committee of Enology, instituted by the French Minister of Commerce by decree of March 22, 1904, and the committee have adopted the conclusions of M. Rocques, the reporter of the subcommittee charged with the consideration of the matter, whose report is published in extenso in the Moniteur Officiel du Commerce of June 30. In view of the importance of the subject, it may be desirable to give a short summary of the facts and arguments which led the technical committee to adopt the conclusions of the special subcommittee. In the first place the committee, for reasons which it is unnecessary to explain, object to the term coefficient of impurities, hitherto employed by French chemists, in conformity with a decree of the Minister of Commerce of May 26, 1903, to designate the aggregate proportion of the substances other than ethylic alcohol in brandy, and prefer to denote it by the term coefficient non-alcohol, or more simply non-alcohol, by which is to be understood the sum of the different volatile substances, other than ethylic alcohol, expressed in grams per hectolitre of absolute alcohol. These substances are the acids, aldehydes, ethers, the alcohols higher in the homologous series than ethyl alcohol, and the furfurol. The causes which influence this coefficient are many, but in the main they may be said to depend upon (1) the nature of the wine, (2) the method of distillation, and (3) age. As regards the first cause, it is found that the proportion, as well as the character, of the volatile matters vary according to the origin of the wine, the conditions under which its fermentation has been effected, the manner in which it has been kept, &c. The proportion of acids and ethers is considerably augmented if the wine becomes sour, and, speaking generally, the proportion of aldehydes is higher in white than in red wines. But it is mainly in the method of distillation that we are to seek for the cause of the wide variations in this coefficient. This is readily understood if we examine the manner in which the various substances, which together constitute non-alcohol, behave during distillation. It is known that these substances pass over in very different proportion in the course of the distillation. Thus the aldehyde and the more volatile ethers are found mainly in the first runnings (produits de tête), whereas the taillings (produits de queue) contain in largest quantity the higher alcohols and the furfurol. The separation of these various products-the produits de tête, the alcohol itself (de coeur), and the produits de queue-is effected in a manner more or less complete, depending upon the apparatus employed. In the larger distilleries this apparatus is of a very high order of perfection. But without further labour1 The Passaic Flood of 1902, Water Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 88, and of 1903, Paper 92. (Washington: Government Printing Office. ing this point, it is obvious that the aggregate amount and relative proportion of these products must depend very largely upon the means made use of, and hence perfectly genuine brandies must necessarily show wide differences in the coefficient non-alcohol. In addition, it must be remembered that in the manufacture of brandy from wines of repute, the elimination of the substances constituting non-alcohol must be made with the greatest circumspection, since it is upon their bouquet that the value of these brandies depends, and this bouquet resides wholly in the nonalcohol. On the other hand, if the brandy is being made from damaged wine the rectification must be most carefully conducted, and may have to be pushed to a point that the alcohol is obtained almost pure, that is to say, almost free from non-alcohol. As regards the influence of age, it is observed that in those brandies which are found to improve on keep ing there is an increase in non-alcohol due (1) to the formation of products of oxidation (acids and aldehydes), and (2) to concentration due to a loss of alcohol and water. Brandies manner : may be classified in the following (1) The brandies of the two Charentes, which are habitually designated by the name of Cognac. (2) The brandies of Armagnac. (3) The brandies de vin du Midi and of Algeria (trois-six de Montpellier, &c.). (4) Marc brandies. The brandies of the Charentes are obtained by distillation of the wines of the district, and as the reputation of these brandies depends upon their bouquet they are submitted to a slight rectification only in order to preserve that bouquet. The same may be said of the Armagnac brandies. As to brandies made in other viticultural regions, and in particular in the middle of France, their nature is much more variable. These brandies require to be rectified in a manner, more or less complete, depending upon the nature of the wine or of the marc from which they are derived, and varying, too, with the quality of the brandy it is desired to produce. Certain wines require, in fact, to be most carefully rectified in order to produce merchantable brandy. Marc brandy is made in all viticultural regions, and that of Burgundy enjoys a special reputation. As regards the value of the coefficient in different brandies, it is found that in those of Charente and Armagnac the coefficient is very high. Thus, as minima, a brandy of Clunis (1879, good, but not guaranteed) gave 259 (Girard and Cuniasse). A Cognac of 1892 gave 287 (Rocques). As maxima may be cited a Bois brandy of 1817, which gave 1174 (Lusson). This last number is exceptionally high. It may be said that, ordinarily, the value of the coefficient in Cognacs and fine champagne ranges between 275 and 450. But little analytical evidence has been published respecting the Armagnac brandies, but, such as it is, it indicates that the coefficients in their case are less than are generally found in Cognacs. The brandies obtained from the wines of the Midi and Algeria show much wider variations, ranging from 25 to 500. Marc brandies have almost invariably a high coefficient. The numbers range from 555 to 1487, and it is interesting to note that the aldehydes frequently form a large proportion of the whole. Thus a Burgundy marc brandy was found to contain as much as 519 of aldehyde, and one from the Midi as high as 730 of aldehyde. The question whether it is possible to fix minimum and maximum limits to this coefficient naturally_received much consideration from the committee. The fixation of these presents a certain interest, and that from two different points of view. The fixation of a minimum limit has interest for the analyst, as guiding him in his inference as to the genuineness of the brandy or as to the amount of "silent" spirit with which it may have been mixed. The fixation of a maximum limit has an interest from the hygienic point of view, since it may become necessary if regulations are to be established in this sense. The committee, however, are unable to recommend that any such limits should be fixed, owing mainly to the extremely variable character of brandy. Even in the case of brandies of a definite character, as, for example, Cognac, the non-alcohol coefficient is not the only element of value, and any conclusions as to character cannot be based solely upon it. Regard must be had to the proportions of the different volatile substances and their relations among themselves. Expert tasting (dégustation) must be considered as an indispensable complement of chemical analysis. The hygienic point of view, involving the fixation of a maximum value for the non-alcohol coefficient, was brought to the notice of the International Congress of Chemistry in Paris in 1900, but the problem, as then stated, received no definite solution. To base conclusions on the value of the coefficient alone, with no regard to the factors which it comprises, seems illogical. For example, the acids, and in particular acetic acid, frequently make up a large proportion of this value, but it cannot be contended that these substances, at least in the proportion in which they are present in brandy, have any detrimental influence. Far more important are the aldehydes, ethers, the higher alcohols, and furfurol. As regards the higher alcohols, the attempt has been made to establish a higher limit. Thus in Belgium, by a Royal decree of December 31, 1902, the sale is prohibited of spirituous liquors containing more than I gram of the higher alcohols and essences per litre of absolute alcohol when these liquors have an alcoholic content higher than 90°, and 3 grams when the alcoholic richness does not exceed 90°. The committee remark that the effect of this regulation would be to exclude some of the most famous, and notably the oldest, brandies of the Charente, many of which exceed the maximum Belgian limit, which, expressed as a non-alcohol coefficient, is 300. Bois Brandy, 1817 (Lusson)... Thus : From the hygienic point of view the ethers, furfurol, and especially the aldehydes, are undoubtedly of much greater importance than the higher alcohols, since admittedly the action of these substances on the organism is far more deleterious than that of the higher alcohols. From this point of view the attention of hygienists should be directed to the Marc brandies, able quantities of aldehydes. which, as already stated, frequently contain consider Interesting and, no doubt, valuable as the report is, it is hardly calculated to facilitate the work of the unfortunate public analysts who may be called upon to express an opinion as to the genuineness of a sample of brandy. The question, What is brandy? analytically speaking, still awaits solution. |