Europe distilled spirits

By the 18th century in Europe, distilled spirits such as gin had become a devastating new problem, particularly among the poor in cities such as London. Gin was cheap, produced a quick high, and proved highly addictive to people seeking to escape the misery of poverty. Gin houses advertised that one could get drunk for a penny and dead drunk for two pence. The problem was made worse by employers who paid their employees in gin instead of cash. The British government tried to control the gin epidemic with laws such as the Gin Act of 1736. One could say that gin was the crack cocaine of its time. 

The presence of toxic carbamic acid ethyl ester (ethyl carbamate, also called urethane, 12-84) in fermented food products was first observed in 1976. The Canadian authorities first drew attention to this fact in 1985, when they carried out an extensive inspection of spirits imported from Europe. The ethyl carbamate level was restricted to 30 xg/kg in table wines, 100 xg/kg in fortified wines, 150 xg/kg in distilled spirits and 400 (xg/kg in fruit brandies and liqueurs. These guidehnes have been used as a reference in other countries, which do not have a specific legislation on this issue. 

The process of Eiguier is now followed on the Continent of Europe on a considerable scale. It consists in mixing the seeds, first deprived of their outer coating and bruised into a paste, with alcohol. This mixture is inclosed in canvas bags, and submitted to pressure. Tart of the alcohol is recovered by distillation of the mixture of oil and spirit the residue is then mixed with a large quantity of watsr, when the oil rises to the surface, and is drawn off. It is again heated to remove traces of moisture and then filtered. This process is more expensive than those previously given, and the product is inferior. 

It is formed abundantly in putrid urine (from urea), and in the destructive distillation of organic nitrogenised matter, as, in Egypt, by heating camel s dung in Europe, formerly, - by distilling horn, hence the name spirit of hartshorn, at present by... 

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