524 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ply of suificient albuminous matter is stopped. The relative propor- 

 tions of these determine which of the two shall be first exhausted. 



If the sugar is exhausted before the nitrogenous food of the fun- 

 gus, a dry wane is produced ; if the nitrogenous food is first consumed, 

 the remaining unfermented sugar produces a sweet wine. If the 

 sugar is greatly in excess, a vin de liqueur is the result, such as the 

 Frontignac, Lunel, Rivesaltes, etc., made from the Muscat grape. 



The varieties of grape are very numerous. Rusby, in his " Visit 

 to the Vineyards of Spain and France," gives a list of five hundred 

 and seventy varieties, and as far back as 1827 Cavalow enumerated 

 more than fifteen hundred different wines in France alone. 



From the above it will be understood that, cceteris paribus, the 

 poorer the grape the drier the wine ; or that a given variety of grape 

 will yield a drier wine if grown where it ripens imperfectly, than if 

 grown in a warmer climate. But the quantity of wine obtainable 

 from a given acreage in the cooler climate is less than where the sun 

 is more effective, and thus the naturally dry wines cost more to pro- 

 duce than the naturally sweet wines. 



This has promoted a special cookery or artificial drying, the mys- 

 teries of which will be discussed in my next. 



SICK-EATES Al^D DEATH-RATES. 



Bt CL. T. CAMPBELL, M. D. 



THE operations of benefit societies ought to provide a fruitful field 

 for investigation by the student of vital statistics. These organi- 

 zations, embracing a very large membership, deal practically with the 

 accidents of sickness and of death, and can be made to supply valu- 

 able data. In Great Britain this has been done, and can be done, with 

 comparative ease. The laws of that country take direct cognizance 

 of benefit societies, and require from them statistical reports of their 

 work, which are tabulated and published by authority. The latest 

 available report of the British Registrar of friendly societies mentions 

 no fewer than 15,379 branches of different organizations of this kind ; 

 of which number 12,300, embracing a membership of 4,672,175, had 

 sent the required returns. The experience of so large a number of 

 persons should certainly be of value. And w^e find that it has been 

 utilized to a considerable extent, for from these returns tables of the 

 expectation of sickness and death have been prepared by a nixmber 

 of English statisticians, including Ratcliffe, Finlaison, and others. 



On this continent information concerning the operations of these 

 societies can be obtained only from such I'eports as tliey publish them- 

 selves. They are not under Government supervision ; and their sta- 



