a change, and the elements
of which the sugar was previously composed enter into a new combination,
which constitutes the fluid named Alcohol, or Spirits of Wine. Raymand
Lully, the alchemist, (thirteenth century,) is said to have given it the
name of Alcohol; but the art of obtaining it was, in that age of
darkness and superstition, kept a profound mystery. When it became more
known, physicians prescribed it only as a medicine, and imagined that it
had the important property of prolonging life, upon which account they
designated it 'Aqua Vitae,' or the 'Water of life,' and the French, to
this day, call their Cognac _'Eau de Vie_.'"

"It is a remarkable circumstance," observed the Clergyman, filling his
glass, "that there is hardly any nation, however rude and destitute of
invention, that has not succeeded in discovering some composition of an
intoxicating nature; and it would appear, that nearly all the herbs, and
roots, and fruits on the face of the earth have been, in some way or
other, sacrificed on the shrine of Bacchus. All the different grains
destined for the support of man; corn of every description; esculent
roots, potatoes, carrots, turnips; grass itself, as in Kamtschatka;
apples, pears, cherries, and even the delicious juice of the peach, have
been pressed into this service; nay, so inexhaustible appear to be the
resources of art, that a vinous spirit has been obtained by distillation
from milk itself."

"Milk!" cried the merry-faced guest. "Can alcohol be obtained from
mother's milk?"

"Very probably," continued the Clergyman. "The Tartars and Calmucks
obtain a vinous spirit from the distillation of mares' and cows' milk;
and, as far as I can recollect, the process consists in allowing the
milk first to remain in untanned skins, sewed together, until it sours
and thickens. This they agitate until a thick cream appears on the
surface, which they give to their guests, and then, from the skimmed
milk that remains, they draw off the spirits."

"Exactly so," observed the Doctor, "but it is worthy of notice, that a
Russian chemist discovered that if this milk were deprived of its butter
and cheese, the whey, although it contains the whole of the sugar of
milk, will not undergo vinous fermentation."

"These facts," observed the host, "are interesting, but they are more
curious than useful. The alcohol, I presume, from whatever source it be
derived, is chemically the same thing; how, then, does it happen that