_Concluding Remarks._ The oil of turpentine for this purpose should be of
the best quality, and not that usually vended for painting, which always
contains resin and often fixed oil. Juniper berries, bitter almonds, and
the aromatic seeds, may be used instead of the essential oils; but the
latter are the most convenient. Turpentine conveys a plain-gin
flavour,--juniper berries or oil gives a Hollands flavour,--creasote
imparts a certain degree of smokiness, or whiskey flavour,--lemon and the
other aromatics, a creaminess, fulness, and richness. The flavour imparted
by cardamoms, when used judiciously, is peculiarly agreeable and
appropriate. That from caraways is also in general esteem. Cassia in
extremely small proportions also tells well. Fusel oil gives a whiskey-gin
flavour; and in conjunction with creasote or crude pyroligneous acid, a
full whiskey flavour. The only danger in the employment of all these
articles is using too much of them. When this misfortune happens, the
remedy is to add sufficient plain spirit to reduce the flavour to the
proper standard. The creaminess and smoothness so much admired in 'foreign
geneva' results chiefly from age. The English rectifier endeavours to
imitate this by the addition of a little sugar. A rich mellowness, that
combines well with gins turning on the 'Hollands flavour,' is given by a
very small quantity of garlic, and with Canadian balsam or Strasburg
turpentine. The peculiar piquancy, or the property of 'biting the palate,'
regarded as a proof of strength and quality by the ignorant gin-drinker,
is imparted to the liquor by the addition of a little caustic potassa.
Sliced horseradish gives piquancy as well as mellowness. Grains of
paradise, cayenne pepper, and sulphate of zinc, are also commonly added by
fraudulent dealers.
Although gin is always prepared on the large scale by distillation, it may
also be made by the simple solution or digestion of the flavouring
ingredients in the spirit; but it is, of course, better for distillation.
If made in the former way, no salt must be employed. The gin produced by
the above formulæ is that denominated in the trade 'UNSWEETENED GIN,'
'GROG GIN,' &c.; but the gin usually sold in the metropolis is a sweetened
spirit, and hence is technically distinguished by the terms 'SWEETENED,'
or 'MADE UP,' The generality of London gin-drinkers prefer the latter
article, even when weaker and inferior, which it usually is, as the
addition of sugar permits adulteration and watering to an enormous extent
with absolute impunity. Sweetened spirit cannot be easily tested for its
strength, and is taken by the Excise at the strength which it is declared
to possess by the dealer. To ascertain whether gin is sweetened or not, a
little may be evaporated in a spoon, over a hot coal or a candle, when, if
it is pure, it will leave the spoon scarcely soiled; but if, on the
contrary, it has been sweetened, a small quantity of syrupy liquid, or
sugar, will be obtained, the sweetness of which may be easily recognised
by tasting it.
The whole of the casks and utensils employed for gin should be perfectly
clean, and properly prepared, so as not to give colour; as, if this spirit
acquires the palest coloured tint, its value is lessened, and if much
coloured it is rendered unsaleable. When gin has once become much stained,
the only remedy is to re-distil it; when it is only slightly stained, the
addition of a few lbs. of acetic acid (B. P.) to a pipe or butt, a
spoonful or two to a gallon, or a few drops to a decanterful, will usually
decolour it, either at once or as soon as it is mixed with water to make
grog. See ALCOHOLOMETRY, CASKS, DISTILLATION, HOLLANDS, SPIRITS, &c., and
_below_.
=Gin, Cor'dial.= This is gin sweetened with sugar, and slightly
aromatised.
_Prep._ Good gin (22 u. p.), 90 galls.; oil of almonds, 1 dr.; oils of
cassia, nutmeg, and lemon, of each 2 dr.; oils of juniper, caraway, and
coriander, of each 3 dr.; essences of orris root and cardamoms, of each 5
fl. oz.; orange-flower water, 3 pints; lump sugar, 56 to 60 lbs.;
dissolved in water, 4 galls. The essences are dissolved in 2 quarts spirit
of wine, and added gradually to the gin until the requisite flavour is
produced, when the sugar (dissolved) is mixed in, along with a sufficient
quantity of soft water, holding 4 oz. of alum in solution, to make up 100
galls. When the whole is perfectly mixed, 2 oz. of salt of tartar,
dissolved in 2 or 3 quarts of hot water, are added, and the liquor is
again well rummaged up; after which the cask is bunged up, and allowed to
repose. In a week, or less, it will have become brilliant, and may be
either 'racked,' or drawn from the same cask. _Product._ 100 galls., about
30 u. p.
=Gin, Sweetened.= _Prep._ From unsweetened gin (22 u. p.), 95 galls.; lump
sugar, 40 to 45 lbs., dissolved in clear water, 3 galls.; mix well, and
fine it down as above. _Product._ 100 galls., at 26 u. p. This, as well as
the last, is usually 'permitted' at 22 or 24 u. p., which is also done
when the gin has been further lowered with water so as to be even 30 or 35
u. p. See SPIRITS, and _above_.
=GIN'GER.= _Syn._ GINGER ROOT; ZINGIBERIS RADIX, ZINGIBER (B. P.), L. "The
scraped and dried rhizome" (rootstock or underground stem) of "_Zingiber
officinale_"--(B. P.). Ginger is an aromatic stimulant and stomachic,
very useful in flatulence and spasms of the stomach and bowels, and in
loss of appetite and dyspepsia, arising from debility, or occurring in old
or gouty subjects. A piece chewed an hour before dinner tends to provoke
the appetite; as a masticatory, it often relieves toothache, relaxation of
the uvula, tender gums, and paralytic affections of the tongue. Made into
a paste with warm water, and spread on paper, it forms a useful and simple
'headache-plaster,' which frequently gives relief when applied to the
forehead or temples. As a condiment and flavouring ingredient, it is
perhaps one of the most wholesome of the aromatic kinds, and is less acrid
than the peppers.--_Dose_, 10 gr. to 1/2 teaspoonful, stirred up in any
simple liquid.
_Pur., &c._ The best is that known in commerce as 'UNBLEACHED JAMAICA
GINGER,' which is an uncoated pale variety, occurring in large, bold,
fleshy pieces ('RACES'), which cut soft, bright, and pale-coloured. The
inferior varieties occur in smaller pieces, and are darker-coloured,
flinty, and shrivelled. The dealers frequently 'dress up' the common
dark-coloured gingers by washing them in water, drying them, and then
'rouncing' them in a bag with a little calcined whiting or magnesia
(WASHED GINGER); or they bleach them by dipping them into a solution of
chloride of lime, or by exposing them to the fumes of burning sulphur
(BLEACHED GINGER); or they dip them into a milk formed of quicklime or
whiting and water (WHITE-WASHED GINGER). The last has a chalk-white
surface, which cannot be mistaken for the natural one. POWDERED GINGER is
with difficulty obtained pure and good. The common adulterants are
wheat-flour, or East Indian arrow-root, and plantain-meal. The first may
be detected by the microscope, the others by the flavour and action of hot
water. See LOZENGES, &c.
=GINGERIN.= _Syn._ OLEORESINA ZINGIBERIS. _Prep._ (Pharm., U. S.) Put 1
lb. (Troy) of ginger in fine powder into a percolator, and pour on it 12
ounces (old measure) of pure ether. When this has been absorbed, add
rectified spirit until 12 ounces (old measure) have been obtained. Recover
the greater part of the ether by distillation over a water bath, and
expose the residue in a porcelain dish until the volatile part has
evaporated. Keep it in a stoppered bottle.
=GINSENG.= The root of the _Panax Schinseng_ (Ginseng) is greatly esteemed
in China, where it is regarded as a panacea for nearly all diseases, and
where it realises a high price in consequence. This opinion of its
therapeutic value is not shared by British and American practitioners, who
look upon it as a comparatively inert substance. An allied species, the
_Panax quinquefolium_, is sold in America, less for the sake of its very
feeble demulcent properties, than to supply the demand of those who have
acquired a taste for it. "The root has a somewhat bitter taste, and is
somewhat mucilaginous. It occurs in pieces usually about three or four
inches long, often partially divided, being joined together at the base;
when clean it has a semi-transparent appearance."[333]
[Footnote 333: 'Gardener's Chronicle.']
=Preserved Ginger.= _Syn._ CONDITUM ZINGIBERIS, L. An excellent stomachic
sweetmeat or preserve. It is chiefly imported from the West Indies and
China. See CANDYING, &c.
=A Factitious Preserved Ginger= is sometimes met with, prepared from the
stalks of lettuces just going to seed, using a concentrated syrup,
strongly flavoured with Jamaica ginger. See CANDY, &c.
=GIN'GER BEER.= See BEER.
=GIN'GERBREAD.= _Prep._ 1. (Dr Colquhoun.) Flour, 1 lb.; carbonate of
magnesia, 1/4 oz.; mix; add, of treacle, 1/2 lb.; moist sugar, 1/4 lb.;
melted butter, 2 oz.; tartaric acid (dissolved in a little water), 1 dr.;
make a stiff dough, then add of powdered ginger and cinnamon (cassia), of
each 1 dr.; grated nutmeg, 1 oz.; set it aside for half an hour or an hour
before putting it into the oven. _Obs._ It should not be kept longer than
two or three hours at the utmost, before being baked.
2. Flour and treacle, of each 1 lb.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; carbonate of
magnesia, 1 oz.; add spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne,
corianders, &c.) to taste; mix as last. _Obs._ Fit for baking in from four
to six hours.
3. Flour, 2 lbs.; carbonate of magnesia, 1/2 oz.; mix; add, treacle, 1-1/2
lb.; butter, 2 oz.; spice, q. s.; tartaric acid, 1/4 oz.; mix quickly, and
make it into forms. _Obs._ Ripe for the oven in half an hour to one hour.
4. Instead of tartaric acid in the last formula, use cream of tartar
(dissolved in water), 2 oz. _Obs._ Ripens in 40 or 50 minutes.
5. Flour or fine pollard, 1 lb.; treacle, 3/4 lb.; salt of tartar, 1/2
oz., dissolved in water, q. s., butter, 1 oz.; spices, to palate. _Obs._
Takes several days to ripen; sometimes a fortnight.
6. (Extemporaneous.)--_a._ From flour, 1-1/4 lb.; moist sugar and treacle,
of each 1/2 lb.; butter, 2-1/2 oz.; baker's salt (carbonate of ammonia),
1/4 oz., dissolved in cold water, q. s.; ginger, 3 dr.; nutmeg, 2 dr.;
cassia, 1 dr.; cayenne pepper (best), 1/2 dr.
_b._ From flour, 6 lb.; powdered ginger, 2-1/2 oz.; caraway seeds, 1 oz.
(and other spices to palate); candied lemon and orange peels, of each 2
oz.; moist sugar and melted butter, of each 1/2 lb.; treacle, 4 lb.;
volatile salt, 2 oz.; water, q. s.; mix as above. May be baked at once.
_c._ From Jones's patent flour, 2 lbs.; treacle, 1 lb.; moist sugar, 3/4
lb.; butter, 2-1/2 oz.; spice, q. s.; mix as quickly as possible, and bake
it instantly. If the dough is expertly mixed up, the quality of the
product is fully equal, if not superior, to that of any of the preceding
formulæ.
_Obs._ Gingerbread is either rolled out into thin sheets and cut into
cakes or nuts (GINGERBREAD NUTS) with the top of a wine-glass or canister,
or is formed into thick cakes, which are baked in 'batches' (ordinary
GINGERBREAD). Both varieties require a pretty brisk oven; the thinner
kinds (nuts, &c.), especially, must be baked as crisp as possible, without
being burnt. The varieties called LEMON GINGERBREAD, CARAWAY G., &c., have
a perceptible predominance of these flavouring ingredients. The addition
of a little alum, dissolved in water, makes the bread both lighter and
crisper, and causes it to ripen quicker, but at the same time lessens its
wholesomeness.
=GIN'GER CAN'DY.= See CANDYING.
=GIN'GER DROPS.= See DROPS (Confectionery).
=GLAIRE.= White of egg. See ALBUMEN and EGG.
=GLAN'DERS.= _Syn._ FARCINOMA, L. A contagious disease, generally confined
to the horse, ass, and mule, but communicable to man, in whom it assumes a
highly malignant and often fatal character. This disease appears under two
forms--1. SIMPLE ACUTE GLANDERS, marked by copious discharge of foul
mucous matter from the nostrils and adjacent parts; and--2. FARCY, FARCIN,
or FARCY GLANDERS, when it attacks the lymphatics of the skin, either
generally, producing a distended appearance of the vessels, like moles or
buttons (LEAD or BUTTON FARCY), or locally, when it takes the form of
dropsical accumulations in the legs (WATER FARCY).
_Treat._ Mr Youatt considers it useless to attempt the cure of glandered
horses; but that farcy in its earlier stages and milder forms may be often
successfully treated. "All the mercurials have been used with benefit in
farcy; but they must be discontinued as soon as the mouth is sufficiently
affected, or sickness, loss of appetite, and like symptoms, are produced."
(Blaine.) Feeding the animal entirely on green food appears to be the best
mode of treatment in both varieties. The buttons are generally removed
with caustic or a red-hot iron.
"Glanders is quite incurable, but by generous diet, good stabling, and
mineral tonics, life, except in extremely acute cases, may be prolonged
for many weeks. This, however, is not desirable; for it involves great
risk, not only to other horses, but also to the attendants." (Finlay Dun.)
=GLASS.= _Syn._ VITRUM, L. This well-known substance is essentially a
mixture of silicates with an excess of silica or silicic acid. It
generally contains the silicates of potassa, soda, lime, baryta, magnesia,
alumina, and lead, coloured by small portions of iron, manganese, cobalt,
uranium, copper, or gold. In its usual form it is brittle, transparent,
noncrystalline, insoluble, and fusible; but it sometimes exhibits other
properties.
The manufacture of glass is one of the highest beauty, and, considering
the comparative worthlessness of the materials of which it is made, and
the various purposes of a useful, ornamental, and scientific nature which
it subserves, it may be regarded as, perhaps, the most important in the
history of inventions. The principle of its production is very simple,
although great skill and experience are necessary to ensure its
excellence. Silica (commonly under the form of sand) is heated with
carbonate of potassa or of soda, and slaked lime or oxide of lead, until
the mixture fuses, and combination takes place. After a time the melted
mass becomes perfectly limpid and free from air-bubbles, when it is
allowed to cool until it assumes the peculiar tenacious condition proper
for working. The operation of fusion is conducted in large crucibles of
refractory fire-clay, which, in the case of 'lead-glass,' are covered with
a dome at the top, and have an opening at the side by which the materials
are introduced, and the melted glass withdrawn.
The manufacture of glass is only conducted on the large scale, and the
precise character and proportions of the ingredients used by the
glass-maker must necessarily greatly depend upon the nature of the raw
materials furnished by his locality, or otherwise at his command. The
attention of the manufacturer should be directed to the use of his
materials in such proportions as will furnish, in the melting-pot, the
proper quantities of the essential ingredients, as determined from the
known composition of the best commercial samples. The purity of the raw
materials and the accuracy of his proportions and quantities are proved or
disproved by the excellence of the product; and the cause of error (if
any) may be at once determined by carefully ascertaining the quality of
the ingredients employed, and the composition of the defective glass.
A writer (in 'Chem. Centr.,' 1872, 528) points out that very generally the
soda used in glass making, contains sulphate, and that when this is so a
poor glass is produced. The addition of ·75-1 part of wood charcoal for
every 100 parts of true soda--improves the quality of the glass.
_Prep._ The following formulæ exhibit the composition of the leading
commercial glasses, as shown by chemical analysis, together with the
proportions of the raw materials used in their production.