A SPECIMEN OF A DIMENSION BOOK,

Containing the Dimensions and Contents of all the Casks given in Problems III., IV., V., and VI., of Cask

Gauging.

3

H. B. L. Con. V. H. B. L. Con.

21.4 26.2 32.5 51

72 21.4 26.2 32.5 5415 4

8|2|19.6| 23.4 27.7 37 ||16| 4 | 19.6 23.4 27.7 36

Note. Those Officers who are in the habit of gauging Victuallers' Casks as being of the first variety, invariably find that the gauge of the tunnage, in the casks, exceeds the gauge of the wort in the guile-tuns. This is another proof that casks are always less than the first variety.-(See Remarks on Cask Gauging.)

A SPECIMEN OF A DIMENSION BOOK,

Containing the Dimensions and Areas of the Malt Cisterns and Kilns given in Problems I., and VII., of Malt

SECTION V.

THE METHOD of gauging AND INCHING DISTILLERS' UTENSILS, AS PRACTISED IN THE EXCISE.

DISTILLERY.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

Ir being a duty incumbent upon Officers of the Excise to do the utmost justice between the Revenue and the Trader, they ought, on all occasions, to take the dimensions, and find the areas and contents of the vessels they gauge, with the greatest accuracy. If this be necessary in the ordinary course of business, it is still more so, when an Officer has to gauge and inch the Utensils of Distillers; because the duty on a gallon of Spirits, is high when compared with that on a gallon of Ale; hence, small errors in the dimensions, areas, or contents of Stills, Wash-backs, Jack-backs, &c. will, by a constant repetition, lead to very serious results.

Some Writers on Gauging affect to divide Stills into different mathematical figures, and find their contents accordingly; thus, the upper part of a Still they suppose to form the frustum of a sphere; the middle part the frustum of a spheroid; and the bottom they take as the segment of a sphere; but it is more than probable that there never was any Still made, the parts of which exactly corresponded to these figures; consequently, this method of Gauging must be subject to considerable inaccuracy.

We have no hesitation in saying that the same method we have adopted in Gauging Coppers, may be equally well applied in Gauging Stills; and will be found much more accurate and practical than the abstruse method of dividing them into different Parts, without any possibility of proving the existence of those Parts, either by comparison or by Mathematical Rules.

Still-heads are also divided, by the same Writers, into various mathematical figures; namely, the upper and lower parts are considered to form spherical frustums, and the middle part is taken as the middle frustum of a spheroid; but we object to this method of division, on the same grounds as we do to that of the Still. The content of a Still-head, at every inch of its perpendicular depth is never wanted, but merely the content of the whole head; hence, we are of opinion that a more accurate and practical Rule cannot be devised than that which we have given in Prob. XX., Part V.

We also conceive that the method of Gauging oval Wash-backs, and Jack-backs, by means of equidistant ordinates, is very imperfectly treated by most Writers on Gauging; as they have neither elucidated the Rules, nor applied them to Practice, in such a manner as to be com◄ prehended by the generality of Readers. We trust that the Rules, Remarks, and Examples we have given in Prob. XX., Part IV., together with their Practical Application in this Section, will give general satisfaction, not only to Masters of Seminaries, but also to Officers of the Excise.

PROBLEM I.

To gauge and inch a Wash-Still.

EXAMPLES.

EXAM. 1.

Let the following figure A B C D represent a WashStill; it is required to gauge and inch it, for dry inches, as practised in the Excise.

Lay a straight rod diametrically across the top of the Still; let fall a plumb-line from the middle of the rod at E, to the centre of the crown at G; measure E G = 61; also measure EF5; then 61 556 inches = F G, the depth to be tabulated.

Next, measure the diameter A B = 28; quarter the top of the Still; place a lighted candle upon the centre of the crown at G; suspend a plumb-line successively from the four quartering points; darken the top of the Still; and trace the quartering lines down its sides by the shadow of the plumb-line.

Lastly, measure cross diameters in the middle of every 4, 6, or 8 inches; from these cross diameters find mean diameters; and enter all the dimensions in a Note Book, as directed for the copper, in Prob. II., Sect. II., Part

NOTE BOOK.

A. B.'s Wash-Still, No. 1, gauged Dec.

8th, 1821.

Find the area corresponding to each mean diameter, in the Table of Wine Areas, Part VII.; then multiply each area by its respective depth; and the sum of the products will be the whole content of the Still.

Note. The content of the liquor to cover the crown, may be found by any of the Rules given in Prob. II., Sect. II., Part VI.

DIMENSION BOOK.

Having found the areas of the several Sections, and the contents of the different Divisions, we hence form the Dimension Book as follows.