68 Notices respecting Neio Books. 



place in his experiment, account for t!>is difference of effect ; or 

 it may even happen that the action of alcohol on a process al- 

 ready commenced mav be sufficient to account for the difference, 

 the same alcohol applied before the commencement of the pro- 

 cess being susceptible of the incipient changes, and being thus 

 ultimatelv capable of entering into the final ones in common 

 with the rest of the fluid. But this subject is yet obscure. A 

 correct and varied repetition of these experiments would be ne- 

 cessary to render this subject thoroughly intelligilde, and they 

 mav be added to the general list of desiderata in this depart- 

 ment of chemistry which have already been enumerated. 



" I must therefore proceed in the examination of this subject 

 on the basis of former experience, omitting any exceptions to be 

 drawn from these experiments, as being for the present incapable 

 of application ; the more so that they do not appear strictly ap- 

 plicable to the case under review, the prevention of the change 

 from wine to vinegar. If brandy and milk are mixed together, 

 the acetous process establishes itself speedily, and the produce 

 is vinegar. We have here then ample proof that brandy, in 

 these cases, so far from checking the acetous process, increases 

 it, and therefore, that its use, as a preservative to wine, is founded 

 in error. I have dwelt the more on this subject because this 

 view is opposed to all popular opinions and practices, opinions 

 most assuredly founded on erroneous and vague analogies, drawn 

 from some supposed preservative power residing in spirits. I 

 am the more particular in calling to this subject the attention 

 of those who may engage in tlie manufacture of domestic wines, 

 because a notion is prevalent, that these wines are above all 

 others deficient in durability, and cannot exist without this ad- 

 mixture. The effect, on the contrary, is to destroy the brisk- 

 ness of these wines, often the only meritorious quality they |)0s- 

 sess, while it increases their expense and diminishes their salu- 

 brity. If taste or prejudice require that wine should be stronger 

 than it can be made naturally, or if for temporary purposes it is 

 desirable to mix brandy with wine, it may be done, but under 

 certain restrictions which I shall presently point out, when I 

 have occasion to speak of the diseases incident to wine and their 

 remedies." 



The Philosophical Transaction's, Part I. for 1816, has just ap- 

 peared, and the following are its contents: 

 I. On the Fire-damp of Coal-mines, and on Methods of 

 lighting the Mines so as to prevent its Explosion. By Sir H. 

 Davy, LL.D. F.R.S. V.P.R.I. — II. Account of an Invention for. 

 giving Light in explosive Mixtures of Fire-damp in Coal-mines, 

 by consuming the Fire-damp. By Sir Humphry Davy, LL.D. 



F.R.S. 



