DISTILLING (dis tilling) may be a new word to you, but you can easily learn its meaning.

You have all seen distilling going on in the kitchen at home, many a time. When the water in the tea-kettle is boiling, what comes out at the nose? Steam.

What is steam?

You can find out what it is by catching some of it on a cold plate, or tin cover. As soon as it touches any thing cold, it turns into drops of water.

When we boil water and turn it into steam, and then turn the steam back into water, we have distilled the water. We say vapor instead of steam, when we talk about the boiling of alcohol.

It takes less heat to turn alcohol to vapor than to turn water to steam; so, if we put over the fire some liquid that contains alcohol, and begin to collect the vapor as it rises, we shall get alcohol first, and then water.

But the alcohol will not be pure alcohol; it will be part water, because it is so ready to mix with water that it has to be distilled many times to be pure.

But each time it is distilled, it will become stronger, because there is a little more alcohol and a little less water.

In this way, brandy, rum, whiskey, and gin are distilled, from wine, cider, and the liquors which have been made from corn, rye, or barley.

The cider, wine, and beer had but little alcohol in them. The brandy, rum, whiskey, and gin are nearly one-half alcohol.

A glass of strong liquor which has been made by distilling, will injure any one more, and quicker, than a glass of cider, rum, or beer.

But a cider, wine, or beer-drinker often drinks so much more of the weaker liquor, that he gets a great deal of alcohol. People are often made drunkards by drinking cider or beer. The more poison, the more danger.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

1. Where have you ever seen distilling going on?

2. How can you distill water?

3. How can men separate alcohol from wine or from any other liquor that contains it?

4. Why will not this be pure alcohol?

5. How is a liquor made stronger?

6. Name some of the distilled liquors.

7. How are they made?

8. How much of them is alcohol?

9. Which is the most harmful the distilled liquor, or beer, wine, or cider?

10. Why does the wine, cider, or beer-drinker often get as much alcohol?