538 Notices of Books. [October, 
Apropos of poisonous beverages, our attention naturally turns 
to the worst of the class, absinthe. Dr. Prescott describes it as 
containing 40 to 60 per cent. by volume of alcohol, and several 
per cent of essential oils, those of wormwood, cinnamon, cloves, 
anise, and angelica being chiefly used, and coloured green with 
leaves of spinach and parsley, occasionally also with acetate of 
copper or with a mixture of indigo and gamboge. Doubtless 
by an oversight, he makes no allusion to the specifically noxious 
quality of this liqueur as compared with alcohol. We certainly 
think it essential that the manufacture, importation, or sale of 
this and of any analogous compound should be, on obvious sani- 
tary grounds, totally prohibited. 
Returning to wine, we find, among the list of impurities or 
additions, sugar, to increase the alcoholic strength of wines 
which otherwise would be weak. The author mentions that not 
more than 20 per cent of alcohol can be obtained by fermenta- 
tion. If a greater amount be detected, the wine is sophisticated 
by the addition of spirits, generally of a low quality. Glycerine 
is occasionally added to the extent of 1 to 3 per cent., and if of 
good quality, free from traces of lead, is one of the most pardon- 
able additions. 
Calcined gypsum is sometimes added ‘‘to prevent viscous fer- 
mentation, to restore ropy wines, to fix colour, and to remove 
water.”’ It is sometimes sprinkled upon the grapes, constituting 
the sin of plastering. This evil practice has not only been long 
and widely followed by the manufacturers—we use the term 
advisedly instead of growers—of sherry, but is finding its way 
into Australia. The result is that sulphate of potash is formed 
in the wine to an unnatural extent; its harsh, saline bitterness 
greatly injuring the flavour, and its well known action upon the 
heart rendering it hurtful, even dangerous. We should propose 
that all wines found to contain sulphuric acid in combination 
that above the normal amount should be at once condemned and 
run out into the river. Of course a brisk debate would then 
arise as to the normal quantity, and those chemists who stated 
the amount correctly would be pronounced ‘ incompetent” by 
self-constituted judges. It is an important fact that in the juice 
of the grape magnesian salts predominate, whilst the fruits with 
which spurious imitations are chiefly got up are richer in calcium 
compounds. ‘True wine contains malic and tartaric acids, whilst 
sham wines are oftenrich in citric, and, horribile dictu, in oxalic. 
The latter prevails when the fermented juice of rhubarb plays a 
leading part in the manufacture. Cane-sugar is never found in 
genuine wine, and its presence is, therefore, a mark of fraud. 
The author very judiciously remarks that ‘the artificial pro- 
duction of wines is not, like that of brandy, a task which chemi- 
cal skill can hope to accomplish. Besides the great complexity 
of the ethers, the solid extractives are requisite. Then the 
peculiarity—in many cases the commercial value—of an actual 
wine depends upon. certain proportions of the constituents 
