Acids, Alkalis and Salts

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Acids. A vague hint from Nature gave mankind the first indication of the existence of acids. The juice pressed from ripe grapes is a sweetish liquid. If it is kept for some time, the sweetness goes, and the liquid acquires a burning taste. If kept still longer, the burning taste is lost, and in its place a sharp acid flavour, not entirely displeasing to the palate, is devel oped. The liquid obtained in this way is now called wine vinegar; the particular substance which gives it its characteristic taste is acetic acid.