326 On the Cultivation of the Vine, 



produce an ink more or less dilute, according to the quantity 

 of gallic acid present, which, of course, would blacken the 

 goods : nor should any kind of brass or copper be made use 

 of in the apparatus, as the volatile alkali exercises so strong 

 an action on these that they would be partially dissolved, and 

 prove injurious to the process. 



XLI. A Treatise on the Cultivation of the Vine, and the 

 Method of making Wines, By C. Ciiai^al. 



[Continued from page 288."] 



IV, Of Fermentation, 



JL HE must is scarcely put into the vat when it begins to 

 ferment. That which flows from the grapes by the pressure 

 or agitation they receive during the carriage, works and fer- 

 ments before it arrives at the vat. This is a pha^nomencn 

 which any one may easily observe by following the vintagers 

 in warm climates, and carefully examining the must which 

 issues from the grapes and remains mixed with them in the 

 vessel used for carrying them. 



The antients carefully separated the first juice, which can 

 arise only from the ripest grapes, and which flows naturally 

 by the eftect of the slightest pressure exercised on them. They 

 caused it to ferment separately, and ol)tained from it a deli- 

 cious beverage, which they called protopon. Mustums pontc 

 defluens, anteqiiam calcentur uvce. Baccius has described a 

 similar process practised by the Italians : Qui piimus liquor 

 non calcatis uvis dejluit, vinnm efficit vlr^ineum non inqui- 

 natumfcecilus ; lacrymam vacant Ilali-, cito potui idoneum 

 fit et valde utile. But this virgin liquor forms only one part 

 of the juice which the grapes can furnish, and it cannot be 

 treated separrttely, except when it is required to obtain wine 

 very delicate and little coloured. In general, this first liquor 

 is mixed with the rest of the grapes which have been trod, 

 and the whole is left to ferment. 



The vinous fermentation is always effected in vats of stone 

 or of wood. Their capacity in general is proportioned to the 



quantity 



