=Gilding Shells.= See GOLD SHELLS.
=Gilding Size.= See GOLD SIZE.
=Gilding Wax.= _Syn._ GILDING VARNISH, GILDER'S WAX. _Prep._ 1. From
beeswax, 4 oz.; verdigris and sulphate of copper, of each 1 oz.; melted
together.
2. Beeswax, 4 oz.; verdigris, red ochre, and alum, of each 1 oz. Used to
give a red gold colour to water gilding.
=GIN.= _Syn._ GENE'VA. Corn spirit flavoured with either oil of juniper or
oil of turpentine.
Gin was originally and, for some time, wholly imported from Holland, and
was a rich, soft spirit, flavoured, chiefly, with juniper berries; on
which account it had obtained the name of 'GENEVA,' from 'GENIÈVRE,' the
French for juniper. After a time the distillation of an imitation geneva
sprung up in this country, when the foreign spirit came to be called
'HOLLANDS,' or 'HOLLANDS GENEVA,' to distinguish it from the spirit of
home manufacture. The English monosyllable 'GIN' is a corruption of
geneva, the primary syllable of which, as in numerous other instances, was
seized on by the vulgar, and adopted as a short and convenient substitute
for the whole word.
The liquor at present known by the name of 'gin' in this country is a very
different article to that imported from Holland, and consists of plain
corn-spirit, flavoured with oil of turpentine and small quantities of
certain aromatics. The thousand and one receipts for this article, which
have from time to time been printed in books, produce a flavoured spirit
bearing no resemblance to the more esteemed samples of English gin; and,
if possible, the products are even more unlike genuine Hollands. Any
persons may easily satisfy himself of the truth of this assertion by
actual experiment on the small scale. The cause of this incongruity has
arisen chiefly from the writers not being practically acquainted with the
subject, and from the disinclination of well-informed practical men to
divulge, gratuitously, what they conceive to be valuable secrets. Hence
the utter failure of any attempts to produce either gin or Hollands from
the receipts usually published. The authors appear to have all imbibed a
juniper-berry mania--probably from the imbibition of their favourite
beverage. Oil of juniper, in the hands of these gentlemen, appears to be a
perfect aqua mirabilis, that readily converts whisky into gin, and imparts
the rich creamy flavour of 'Schiedam Hollands' to crude corn or molasses
spirit. But theory and experiment sometimes disagree. In practice, it is
found that the true flavour of foreign geneva cannot be imparted to spirit
by juniper alone, and that the English gin of the present day depends for
its flavour on no such a substance. The following formulæ are merely given
as specimens; and it is proper to remark, that every distiller has his own
receipt for this notorious beverage. Hence it is that the gins of no two
distillers are of precisely the same flavour; and this difference is still
more marked when the distillers reside in parts of the country remote from
each other. Booth's, Smith's, and Nicholson's gins have each a
characteristic flavour, readily perceived by their respective votaries;
whilst the difference between 'Plymouth' or 'Bristol gin,' and the 'gin of
the metropolis,' is as remarkable as that between 'Barclay's XXX' and
'Guinness's bottled stout.' These variations in flavour generally depend
on the use of more or less flavouring matter, or of a spirit more or less
clean or free from taint; and, less frequently, on the addition of a small
quantity of some peculiar aromatic, which exercises a modifying influence
on the chief flavouring ingredient. In many cases the flavour has
originated from accident, but the consumers having become accustomed to,
and hence relishing, that particular 'palate,' it is found to be unwise or
commercially impossible to alter it. Any change in these matters is
therefore looked upon in every distillery as a dangerous innovation, which
would prove more prejudicial to the prosperity of its exchequer than the
repeal of the duty on French wines and brandy, or even a frightful
conflagration. The distillers, like the brewers, are thorough
conservatives in all matters connected with the flavour of their liquors.
In the preparation of gin, both sweetened and unsweetened, and indeed of
liquors generally, the greatest possible care must be taken to avoid an
excess of flavouring. The most esteemed samples are those that consist of
very pure spirit, slightly flavoured.
_Prep._ 1. Clean corn spirit, at proof, 80 galls.; newly rectified oil of
turpentine, 1-1/4 pint; mix well by violent agitation, add culinary salt,
14 lbs., dissolved in water, 40 galls.; again well agitate, and distil
over 100 galls., or until the faints begin to rise. _Product._ 100 galls.
of gin 22 u. p., besides 2 galls. contained in the faints. If 100 galls.
at 17 u. p. are required, 85 galls. of proof spirit, or its equivalent at
any other strength, must be employed.
2. Proof spirit (as above), 8 galls.; oil of turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; salt,
1-1/2 lb., dissolved in water, 4 galls.; draw over 10 galls., as before.
22 u. p.
3. Clean corn spirit, 80 galls.; oil of turpentine, 1 pint; pure oil of
juniper, 3 fl. oz.; salt, 21 lbs.; water, 35 galls.; draw over 100 galls.,
as before. 22 u. p.
4. To the last, before distillation, add, of oil of caraway, 1/2 fl. oz.;
oil of sweet fennel, 1/4 fl. oz.; cardamoms (ground), 8 oz.
5. To No. 3 add, of essential oil of almonds, 1 dr.; essence of lemon, 4
dr.