314 Observations upon Alicant Wine, 



tal, when minister of the interior, who honoured me with 

 a most flattering approbation of its contents. That letter 

 contains the theory of the deleterious effects of wines and 

 casks, with the most efficacious method of preventing in- 

 juries, founded upon authentic experiments collected during 

 these four years. Circumstances have occurred to hinder 

 me from printing this work ; but I think it useful to com- 

 municate one of the facts which by chance occurred, and 

 which appeared extremely worthy of attention, by its im- 

 portance to the healing art. 



Last year I attended a patient, to whom I frequently ad- 

 ministered Alicant wine, which I was perfectly certain was 

 genuine, and it was twenty years old. The patient vomited 

 frequently, and violet-coloured pellicles were seen floating 

 upon the matter vomited : these I took at first sight for the 

 refuse of the coat of the stomach, as I had often seen ttie 

 like in cases of gangrene in that organ, — with this difference, 

 however, that in the latter case the colour is always more 

 livid : I also remarked that the smell of the former pellicles 

 was acid, and not putrid ; they did not appear upon every 

 occasion of vomiting, and they were attended with no other 

 symptom of gangrene. 



I concluded from these observations that there must be 

 some chemical illusion in the case. I mixed all the liquids 

 which were administered to the patient with one another ; 

 and I at length discovered that these pellicles, so alarming 

 in their appearance, were occasioned by the mixture of Ali- 

 cant wine with fat broth ; and of this all the attendants were 

 also convinced. 



The moment the mixture was made the wine lost its co- 

 lour entirely, and violet-coloured flakes floated on the liquor, 

 like the scrapings of a cask. No other wine produced any 

 such effect. Sevc ral kinds, sold for Alicant wines, were also 

 tried without effect. Presuming that the above phenome- 

 non was occasioned by the peculiar nature of the plant, I 

 requested M. Heraud, a good apothecary, and who has the 

 teinturier among his vines, to make some experiments, 

 which I was prevented from undertaking myself in conse- 

 quence of other avocations. M. Heraud accordingly ex- 

 pressed 



