Spiritus

(spir'-it-us) - Spirit. In pharmacy, an alcoholic mixture obtained by the distillation of wine, or fermented saccharine mixtures. Good spirit should contain not le than 40 per cent, of absolute alcohol. There are 25 official spirit i. S. frumenti, whisker, spirit obtained by the distillation of fermented grain (mainly corn or rye). It should contain 44-50 per cent, of alcohol. S. juniper i, gin or whiskey (rye or barley) with which juniper berries and hops have been distilled. S. odoratus, cologne-water, consists of alcohol 800, water 158, acetic ether 2, oil of bergamont 16, oils of lemon and rosemary aa 8, oils of lavender-flowers and orange-flowers aa 4 parts. S. rector, in biology, a force exerted by the aggregate of an organism over its parts, constraining newly integrated atoms to take a definite form. See Nisus formativus. S. vin i gallic i, or Spirit of Wine, brandy; a liquor obtained by the distillation of wine. It should contain 39-47 per cent, of alcohol.