Our navigation bar is loading . . .

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.

Do you need volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Encyclopedia Britannica

FUSEL OIL (from the Ger. Fusel, bad spirits)

This article appears in Volume V11, Page 369 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: FRA-GAE

FUSEL OIL (from the Ger. Fusel, bad spirits) , the name applied to the volatile oily liquids, of a nauseous fiery

taste

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

and smell, which are obtained in the rectification of spirituous liquors made by the fermentation of

grain

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

, potatoes, the mare of grapes, and
other material, and which, as they are of higher boiling point than ethyl alcohol, occur in largest quantity in the last portions of the distillate. Besides ethyl or

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

alcohol, and amyl alcohol, which are present in them all, there have been found in fusel oil several other bodies of the C,H2}1.OH

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

, also certain

ethers

ETHERS

, and members of the C,H2,,+1.CO2H

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of fatty acids. Normal propyl alcohol is contained in the fusel oil of the mare brandy of the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

of France, and isoprimary butyl alcohol in that of beet-root molasses. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

constituent of the fusel oil procured in the manufacture of alcohol from potatoes and

grain

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

, usually known as fusel oil and

potato

POTATO
POTATO (Solanum tuberosum)

-spirit, is isoprimary amyl alcohol, or isobutylcarbinol.

Ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

fusel oil yields also an isomeric amyl alcohol (active amyl alcohol) boiling at about 128. Variable quantities of fusel oil, less or greater according to the stage of ripening, exist in commercial spirits (see SPIRITS).
Fusel oil and its

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

constituent, amyl alcohol, are direct nerve poisons. In small doses it causes only thirst and headache, with furred tongue and some excitement. In large doses it is a convulsent poison. Impure beverages induce all the graver neurotic and visceral disorders in alcoholism; and, like fusel oil, furfurol and the essence of absinthe, are convulsent poisons. Pure ethyl alcohol intoxication, indeed, is rarely seen, being modified in the case of spirits by the higher alcohols contained in fusel oil. According to Rabuteau the toxic properties of the higher alcohols increase with their molecular

weight

WEIGHT

and boiling point. Richet considers that the fusel oil contained in spirits constitutes the chief danger in the

consumption

CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumere)

of alcoholic beverages. The expert can immediately detect the peculiarly virulent characters of the mixed intoxication due to the

consumption

CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumere)

of spirits containing a large percentage of fusel oil.

End of Article: FUSEL OIL (from the Ger. Fusel, bad spirits)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/FRA_GAE/FUSEL_OIL_from_the_Ger_Fusel_b.html">
FUSEL OIL (from the Ger. Fusel, bad spirits)
</a>

(Previous)
FUSARO, LAGO

(Next)
FUSELI, HENRY (1741-1825)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email