lieve, however, that brandy
improves indefinitely, even when kept in wood, for, as a matter of fact,
after a certain time--which varies considerably according to the type of
brandy, the vintage, &c.--there is so much evaporation of alcohol that a
number of undesirable changes come about. The brandy begins to "go
back," and becomes, as it is called, "worn" or "tired." It is necessary,
therefore, that the bottling should not be deferred too long. Sometimes,
for trade reasons, it is necessary to keep brandy in cask for a long
period, and under these conditions the practice is to keep a series of
casks, which are treated as follows:--The last cask is kept filled by
occasionally adding some spirit from the cask next in order, the latter
is filled up by spirit taken from the third cask from the end, and so
on, until the first cask in the row is reached. The latter is filled up
or "topped" with some relatively fresh spirit.

Brandy is much employed medicinally as a food capable of supplying
energy in a particularly labile form to the body, as a stimulant,
carminative, and as a hypnotic.

_Adulteration._--A good deal has been written about the preparation of
artificial brandy by means of the addition of essential oils to potato
or beetroot spirit, but it is more than doubtful whether this practice
was really carried on on a large scale formerly. What undoubtedly did
occur was that much beet, potato or grain spirit was used for blending
with genuine grape spirit. Prosecutions under the Food and Drugs Act, by
certain English local authorities in the year 1904, resulted in the
practical fixation of certain chemical standards which, in the opinion
of the present writer, have, owing to their arbitrary and unscientific
nature, resulted in much adulteration of a type previously non-existent.
There is no doubt that at the present time artificial esters and higher
alcohols, &c., are being used on an extensive scale for the preparation
of cheap brandies, and the position, in this respect, therefore, has not
been inproved. Where formerly fraud was practically confined to the
blending of genuine brandy with spirit other than that derived from the
grape, it is now enhanced by the addition of artificial essences to the
blend of the two spirits. (P. S.)

BRANDYWINE, the name of a stream in Pennsylvania and Delaware, U.S.A.,
which runs into the Delaware river a few miles east of Wilmington,
Delaware. It is famous as the scene of th