CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 215 



order to prevent fermentation and to retain its sweetness ; and when 

 this sweet wine is drawn off the lees, about six months after it is made, 

 three or four gallons more of spirit are added, making in all 24 or 25 

 gallons of spirit to the butt." The chief use to which this sweet wine 

 is applied is the adulteration of other wines for the English market, 

 giving them bod}', flavor, and strength. 



The term " Soleres " denotes old mother wines infused into the 

 newer. The famous Amontillado is a " chance wine ; " because, out of 

 fifty butts, only two or three can be counted upon, though the grapes 

 are gathered from the same vineyard. The wines of Valencia, Ben- 

 icarlo, and Alicante, are passed off as Ports ; and to aid the fraud, the 

 casks are so constructed in size and appearance as to deceive the in- 

 experienced. There is no such article as standard sherry. 



At Lisbon wine is excessively fortified. A natural sample of the 

 quality selected by Mr. Bernard gave 25.9 per cent. ; another, to 

 which ten gallons of spirit were added, gave 33.3. It appears, indeed, 

 that the Alto Douro wines, the finest in Portugal, require some 20 per 

 cent, of extraneous spirit to keep them sound and progressively im- 

 proving. To preserve the color, elderberry juice is mixed. The 

 natural strength of the Figueira wines is 23.1 per cent. Experiments 

 have proved the absolute necessity of fortifying the best growth of 

 even Alto Douro. Some of the vintage of 1834, without a drop of 

 brandy, was kept till 1861, and sent to London, where it was valued 

 at only 8 to 9 per pipe, the cost to the maker having been from 

 25 to 30 per pipe. It is clear, then, that port wine drinkers are 

 brandy drinkers without being conscious of the fact. 



Of Sicilian wines, the strongest, the Faro, grown in the north-east- 

 ern district, has 22.7 per cent, of spirit, but it is exceeded by the 

 Terre Forte of Mount Etna, which gives 29.9. The Neapolitan, 

 known as Lachryma Christi, grown at the base of Vesuvius, yields 

 only 18.9, but the Gallipoli rises to 2G.5. Roman wine, known as 

 Genzano, is 20.8. The Tuscan, called Montepulciano, contains 17.7 

 of spirit. The wines known as Bellit and Asti belong to Piedmont, 

 but the strength is not given. 



The total number of samples received from the various countries 

 of Europe was 149, of which 24 did not represent pure or natural 

 wine. The whole are thus classed : 14 represent wine containing 

 less than 18 per cent.; 89 contain 18 and less than 26 ; and 22 con- 

 tain 26 and less than 40. 



THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT MANURES ON THE MIXED HERBAGE 



OF GRASS LANDS. 



At the last meeting of the British Association, in 1862, Messrs. 

 Lawes & Gilbert stated that at a former meeting they had pointed 

 out the great difference in both the chemical and botanical charac- 

 ters of the herbage induced by different kinds of manure, each ap- 

 plied for three consecutive years on the same lot in a portion of Mr. 

 Lawes's park, which had been meadow for probably some centuries. 

 Now, after the continuance of the experiment for four more years, 

 they gave the results of a more complete botanical analysis of the 

 produce. The full details were exhibited' in tables, but the general 

 results may be shortly stated as follows : Unmanured, the land gave 



