FBRMEXTED LIQUOKS.] 



CHEMISTRY. 



353 



of tartar, or acid tartrate of potash ; tartrate of alumina, 

 combined with tartrate of lime into a double salt ; malate 

 of lime ; lime combined with phosphoric aud carbonic 

 acids, in addition to magnesia, iron, and manganese, 

 lu red wine there is a greater proportion of salts than in 

 white ; in both of them, the alcohol, augmented by the 

 fermentation which still goes on in the casks, separates 

 a part of the salts. 



In all wines a peculiar ether is contained, upon which 

 the odour generally depends. In this ether, the com- 

 mon chloric ether exists, in combination with a peculiar 

 organic acid, which we may call the acid of wine-ether. 

 The perfume, or "bouquet," is something different from 

 the odour of wine produced by the wine-ether. This 

 bouquet is extremely various. It distinguishes the 

 Rhine wine, but in several wines it is not to be found at 

 all. It is also produced by different kinds of ether, by 

 ether combined with butyric, or valerianic, or acetic acid. 

 The latter compound is said to be found in most of the 

 Bordeaux wines or clarets. Like ether itself, which in 

 its composition differs very little from alcohol, but sur- 

 passes the latter in volatility, the combinations of ether 

 with organic acids are very volatile. Wine-ether and 

 the bouquet are therefore recognised by smell. 



The colouring matter and bouquet, the acids and salts, 

 cause, by the difference of their composition, the variety 

 of wines. The strength of wine depends upon its pro- 

 portion of alcohol, and the sweetness of sack upon that 

 of sutfar. Spirits are obtained from corn and potatoes, 

 from lees of wine and juniper-berries, from sugar and 

 rice, from milk and fruits. The spirit of corn, or whisky, 

 contains wine-ether and margaric-ether, oil of grain, and 

 potato-spirit oil, which increases the pungent odour of 

 spirits. Potato-spirit contains the same constituents, 

 with the exception of oil of grain and margaric-ether. 

 llrandy, or Cognac, is a mixture of water and alcohol with 

 wiiiu-ether and acetic-ether. The inferior sorts of Cognac 

 contain also some potato-spirit oil. The fragrance of 

 rum, which is prepared from the juice of the sugar-cane, 

 is produced by a combination of butyric acid and ether. 

 The molasses which remain after the preparation of sugar 

 from the juice of the cane, yield the finest rum, called 

 t;iiia, or ratafia. Arrack is obtained from rice ; gin or 

 Geneva from juniper-berries ; kumiss (as already stated) 

 from milk ; and mead from honey. 



J 7G. Alcohol in Spirits. A good beer is as nutritious 

 as fruit ; the nutritious quality of wine is scarcely equal 

 to that of sugared water ; and spirits, in their propor- 

 tionate amount of nutritious matter, do not even bear 

 comparison with sugared water. Is it, therefore, a mere 

 illusion that spirit compensates for the scanty food of 

 the poor ? And is the zeal, therefore, justifiable which 

 attempts to check its use as an intoxicating poison a 

 destroyer of domestic peace and well-being ? Such ques- 

 tions we often hear. Even medical men, occupied with 

 the study of human physiology, have answered them in 

 the affirmative : we shall reply to these questions by facts. 



Alcohol, the essential constituent of spirits, and the 

 most important substance in beer and wine, is not 

 transformed into an essential constituent of the blood. 

 It does not, therefore, effect any direct restitution, nor 

 deserves the name of an alimentary principle. Still, it 

 passes into the blood. By the oxygen we inhale, it is 

 burnt in the blood into acetic acid and water, and 

 liii.illy into water and carbonic acid. But the oxygen, 

 which decomposes the alcohol, is withdrawn from the 

 albuminous and fatty substances of the blood. Alcohol, 

 from its greater combustibility, protects these con- 

 stituents of the blood from being burnt. And, if in 

 addition to this, both special experiment and ordinary 

 experience prove that alcoholic beverages diminish the 

 quantity of carbonic acid we exhale apparently from a 

 great part of the inhaled oxygen combining with the 

 hydrogen of the alcohol to produce water there is a 

 twofold argument for believing that alcohol moderates 

 the combustion of the constituents of the blood, and 

 therefore diminishes the first cause of the need of resti- 

 tution. 



He who possesses little, must spend little, if he wish 



VOL. I. 



to retain as much as another who unites abundance with 

 liberality. Alcohol may be considered a savings-box of 

 the tissues ; but let the reader understand this expression 

 rightly. He who eats little, and drinks a moderate 

 quantity of spirit, retains as much in the blood and 

 tissues as a person who eats proportionally more 

 without drinking any beer, wine, or spirits. Hence it 

 follows that it would be cruelty to deprive the working 

 man, who earns his frugal meal by the sweat of his 

 brow, of those means by which he is enabled to prolong 

 the nourishment yielded by his scanty food. Or are we 

 to abolish a custom which renders abuse possible, to 

 degrade man by demanding of him to renounce an 

 enjoyment, in order that he may not succumb to a 

 bestial instinct 1 The monk who requires the vow of 

 chastity, does not greater violence to the true nature of 

 man, than the physician who would prohibit spirits 

 because some men are drunkards. Goethe has given to 

 the new contemplation of the world the noble watch- 

 word " Memento vivere." He who preaches the renun- 

 ciation of spirits, transfers us to the Christendom of the 

 middle ages, which, by its motto of " Memento mori," 

 has stifled the fairest blossoms of humanity. 



77. Fermented Liquors. Fermented liquors, taken 

 in moderation, increase the secretion of the digestive 

 juices, and promote the solution of the food. Taken in 

 excess, they cause induration of the stomach ; which 

 destroys, together with the digestive powers, the forma- 

 tion of blood. 



Beer, wine, and spirits accelerate the circulation, or, 

 as people say, heat the blood. This acceleration is pro- 

 duced in a higher degree by wine than by beer more 

 by spirits than by wine ; not merely because wine con- 

 tarns a greater proportion of alcohol than beer ; and 

 spirits still more than wine ; but in wine and spirits, 

 the different kinds of ether, the oil of grain and the 

 potato-spirit oil, all tend to quicken the circulation of 

 the blood. The glowing cheeks and glistening eyes are 

 produced by the capillaries of the cheeks aud eyeballs 

 being more filled, in consequence of the increased 

 activity of the heart. 



Together with the blood, the alcohol passes into the 

 brain, which beyond all other organs is affected by its 

 action. Spirituous liquors stimulate the imagination in 

 particular. " In consequence of this faculty, the asso- 

 ciation of ideas is facilitated, and the memory sharpened. 

 The susceptibility of the senses is also rendered more 

 keen ; the impressions are quickly and distinctly per- 

 ceived. The judgment is formed with greater ease, as, 

 from the lively idea and the excited memory, the facts 

 from which it is derived are brought nearer together. 

 Hence a frequent and surprising clearness and precision 

 of judgment in matters not requiring a long and close 

 examination. We speak foreign languages with more 

 than usual adroitness. The facilitated movements of 

 thought, the versatility of ideas, are associated with 

 greater ease in the movement of all the voluntary 

 muscles ; the voice becomes fuller and stronger; the 

 weariness and relaxation following the exertions of the 

 body vanish. Thus arises a feeling of comfort and 

 delight, of increased strength and freshly-armed courage, 

 scaring away ill-humour, sorrow, and fear. The affairs 

 of others .find a greater sympathy and forbearance, 

 which, in return, are likewise expected of those around 

 us. We therefore talk with a greater self-confidence 

 of ourselves; and not only of what has already been 

 performed, but even future undertakings are spoken of 

 with unreserved self-complacency. 



"When wine or other spirituous liquors are taken in 

 excess, hallucinations of the senses ensue ; objects 

 appear to the intoxicated person obliterated, blurred, 

 or double ; dark spots resembling flies and sparks appear 

 before the eyes ; there is ringing in the ears ; ho cannot 

 hear distinctly his own voice nor the voice of others ; 

 crying instead of speaking, and involuntarily singing out 

 of tune. At the same time the imagination produces 

 uncertain, variegated, unsteady images, combined without 

 regularity ; the memory refuses its functions in the very 

 act of speaking ; the intoxicated man forgets what he 



2z 



