WINE 1135 



it 5s collected by elutriation and deposition, and dried in stoves, a little below the 

 boiling point of water. Formerly this grinding was performed in the dry way, and 

 much injury to the health of the workmen thus resulted ; but for many years past 

 the wet mode of grinding has been general, and is greatly to be preferred. 



WHlTirjO. Chalk levigated and carefully washed, after which it is formed into 

 balls. 



WICK (Meche, Fr. ; Docht, Ger.) is a spongy cord, usually made of soft spun 

 cotton threads, which by capillary action draws up the oil in lamps, or the melted 

 tallow or wax in candles, in small successive portions, to be burned. In common wax 

 and tallow candles the wick is formed of parallel threads ; in the stoarine candles the 

 wick is plaited upon the braiding machine, moistened with a very dilute sulphuric acid, 

 and dried, whereby as it burns it falls to one side and consumes without requiring to 

 be snuffed ; in the patent candles of Mr. Palmer one-tenth of the wick is first imbued 

 with subnitrate of bismuth ground .up with oil ; the whole is then bound round in the 

 manner called gimping ; and of this wick, twice the length of the intended candle is 

 twisted double round a rod. This rod with its coil being inserted in the axis of the 

 candle-mould is to be enclosed by pouring in the melted tallow ; and when the tallow 

 is set the rod is to be drawn out at top, leaving the wick in the candle. As this 

 candle is burned, the ends of the double wick stand out sideways beyond the flame ; 

 and the bismuth attached to the cotton being acted on by the oxygen of the atmo- 

 sphere causes the wick to be completely consumed, and therefore the trouble of snuffing 

 it is saved. See CANDLES. 



WXNCXXffG MACHINE is the English name of the dyers' reel, which he sus- 

 pends horizontally, by the ends of its iron axis in bearings, over the edge of the vat, 

 so that the line of the .axis, being placed over the middle partition in the copper, will 

 permit the piece of cloth which is wound upon the reel to descend alternately into 

 either compartment of the bath, according as it is turned by hand to the right or the 

 left. See DYEING. 



WINS is the fermented juice of the grape. This beverage has been in use from 

 the earliest periods of man's history. We have, however, only space to deal with 

 wine in its modern relations. 



In the reign of Elizabeth the wines chiefly in use in England were those of Gas- 

 cony, Burgundy, and Guienne, which, with Canary, Cyprus, Grecian Malmsey, 

 Italian Vernage, Rhenish Tent, Malaga, and others, were ' accompted of, because of 

 their strength and valure. 1 



In the time of Charles II. ' the consumption of French wines was two-fifths that 

 of the whole of England. The favourite wines were then Bordeaux, Burgundy, and 

 Hermitage. Champagne, although known in England in the reign of Henry VIII., 

 did not come into tise till that of Charles II. 



The strong wines of Burgundy, the white wines of Spain (Shcrris-sack or Sec}, and 

 the red wines of Portugal, first came into use about 1690 A.D. Port wine was at 

 first a much lighter wine than it afterwards became. According to Baron Forrester, 

 the first Port wine introduced into this country was not from the Douro, or even 

 shipped at Oporto. It was a wine resembling the Claret of Burgundy. 



The wine-growing countries are especially the more southern states of Europe, 

 where the grapes, being very saccharine, afford a more abundant production of 

 alcohol, and stronger wines, as exemplified in the best Port, Sherry, and Madeira. 

 In the more temperate climates, such as the district of Burgundy, the finer-flavoured 

 wines are produced ; and there the vines are usually grown upon hilly slopes fronting 

 the south, with more or less of an easterly or westerly direction, as on the Cote- 

 d'Or, at a distance from marshes, forests, and rivers, whoso vapours might deteriorate 

 the air. The plains of this district, even when posses.sing a similar or analogous 

 soil, do not produce wines of so agreeable a flavour. The influence of temperature 

 becomes very manifest in countries further north, where, in consequence of a few 

 degrees of thermometric depression, the production of generous, agreeable wine be- 

 comes impossible. 



The land most favourable to the vine is light, easily permeable to water, but some- 

 what retentive by its composition ; with a sandy subsoil, to allow the excess of moisture 

 to drain readily off. Calcareous soils produce the highly-esteemed wines of the Cote- 

 d'Or ; a granitic debris forms the foundation of the lands where the Hermitage wines 

 are grown ; siliceous soil interspersed with flints furnishes the celebrated wines of 

 Chateau-Neuf, Ferte, and La Gaude ; schistose districts afford also good wine, as that 

 called la Malgue. Thus we see that lands differing in chemical composition, but 

 possessed of the proper physical qualities, may produce most agreeable wines. As a 

 striking example of these effects, we may adduce the slopes of the hills which grow 

 the wines of Montrachet. The insulated part towards the top furnishes the wine, 

 called Chevalier Montrachet, which is less esteemed, and sells at a much lower price, 



