Chap. 33.] COLOUK AND SMELL OF JUICES. 325 



CHAP. 33. (28.) THE COLOUR AND SMELL OF JUICES. 



Among the juices, those of a vinous" flavour belong to the 

 pear, the mulberry, and the myrtle, and not to the grape, a 

 very singular fact An unctuous taste is detected in the olive, 1 

 the laurel, the walnut, and the almond ; sweetness exists in 

 the grape, the fig, and the date ; while in the plum class we 

 find a watery 3 juice. There is a considerable difference, too, 

 in the colours assumed by the various juices. That of the 

 mulberry, the cherry, the cornel, and the black grape resem- 

 bles the colour of blood, while in the white grape the juice is 

 white. The humour found in the summit of the fig 3 is of a 

 milky nature, but not so with the juice found in the body of 

 the fruit. In the apple it is the colour of foam, 4 while in the 

 peach it is perfectly colourless, and this is the case, too, with 

 the duracinus, 5 which abounds in juice ; for who can say that 

 he has ever detected any colour in it ? 



Smell, too, presents its own peculiar marvels ; > in the apple 

 it is pungent, 6 and it is weak in the peach, while in the sweet 7 

 fruits we perceive none at all : so, too, the sweet wines are 

 inodorous, while the thinner ones have more aroma, and are 

 much sooner fit for use than those of a thicker nature. 8 The 

 odoriferous fruits are not pleasing to the palate m the same 

 degree, seeing that the flavour 9 of them does not come up to 

 their smell : hence it is that in the citron we find the smell 



99 All fruits that are rich in sugar and amidine, Fee says, either have, 

 or acquire in time, a vinous flavour, by the development oi a certain quan- 



1 i i/the fruit with a fixed oil, this principle succeeds, when they are 

 ripe, to the mucilaginous. 



2 He must mean a thinner juice, though still sweet. 



3 About the peduncle or stalk of the fig. The juice here, Fee says, is a 

 real sugar, of the same nature as that which circulates throughout the 

 whole fruit : the juice in the interior of which is produced by another order 



° 4 V The S 'iuice is only foamy when the vinous fermentation is established. 

 It has that appearance, however, when the fruit is bitten with the teeth. 



5 The " hard-berry," or nectarine. 



6 In the sense of aromatic, or penetrating. 



7 He probably means those of a luscious or sirupy nature, without any 



acidity whatever. . . , M , Q _ 



8 He seems to mean -that the thick, luscious wines require longer keep- 

 ing, before they will gain any aroma at all. This would be done, probably, 

 at the expense of their sweetness. .. 



9 Or he may mean, that a fine flavour and a fine smell cannot co-exist. 



