62 Koikes respecting New Books. 



quested to receive ths names of subscribers to this vvoilc, ant! 

 will for ward them to Dr. Olbers's correspondent, who has under- 

 taken to be responsible for its delivery. 



XVIII. Notices respcciiiiff Netv Books. 



Remarks on the Art of making I Vine ; willi Suggest ions for the 

 application of ils Pr maples to the Lvprorement of tlomcstK 

 Wines, ^y .Iohn MacCujlloch, i\/.D. Longman. pp.2Gl. 

 12mo. 



JL/R. MacCuixoch's name as an author in the sciences of che- 

 mistry and mineralogy is deservedly in high estimation, and he 

 has added considerably to his reputation by the above publica- 

 tion. It is a practical treatise on a subject wbich is likely to be- 

 come daily of more interest in this coimtry, and it has been an 

 object of peculiar attention with the Caledonian Horticultural So- 

 ciety, who have the merit of being perhaps the first public body 

 which has awarded premiums for the best specimens of British 

 wines. 



Dr. MacCulloch's ideas were first thrown into the form of a 

 memoir for the Transactions of the above Society, and the en- 

 'couragement tliey received in that shape induced him to ex- 

 tend his researches, and to compose a useful portable volume on 

 the subject. The author's treatise is quite ])ractical : the im- 

 provements in modern chemistry luive enabled him triumphantly 

 to explode the gross errors which had crept into most of our fa- 

 mily receipt-books for making- wines. On the subject of the 

 absurd and deleterious practice of adding alcohol or brandy 

 to home-made and foreign wines, professedly to make them 

 keep longer ; but in reality to render them more palatable to the 

 depraved appetites of English wine-drinkers, the author is pecu- 

 liarly hajjpy. I Alluding to the undefinable light and qnick fla- 

 vour so characteristic of the French wines, and so opposite to the 

 mavvkivli, dull and heavy taste of the wines of Spain and Portugal 

 (particularly that called Port), imported into this country, Dr. 

 MacCulloch ascribes the wretched taste and bad eftects of the 

 latter to the rdmixturc of brandy or spirits. We shall select 

 this part of the work, as being a specimen of its real value, and 

 as likely to be useful both to the consumers and makers of wines 

 in this country. 



" This practice (that of mixing brandy or alcohol with wine), 

 universal in the wines of Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, which are 

 intended for the English market, has also been introduced into 

 our domestic wines, under the mistaken notion of preventing 



them 



