78 



WINE WINGED. 



its delicious flavour, and the Thasian was a gener- 

 ous sweet wine, acquiring by age a delicate odour 

 of the apple. The Ariusian or Arivisian, and tl 

 Phanean, called by Virgil the king of wines, wer 

 products of Chios. Besides these and other ind 

 genous growths, several African and Asiatic wine 

 enjoyed a high reputation among the Greeks. Th 

 Bithynian wines were of the choicest quality : th 

 wines of Byblos, in Phoenicia, vied in fragranc 

 with the Lesbian : the white wines of Mareotis an 

 Tapnia, in Egypt, were also famous for their del: 

 cate perfume. The finest wines used by the Ro 

 mans were the produce of Campania (q. v.), whic 

 formed one continued vineyard. The Cecuban wa 

 H generous, light wine, but apt to affect the head 

 and ripening only after a long term of years. Th 

 Falernian, according to Henderson, was a strong 

 durable wine, being, when new, rough, harsh an 

 fiery, and requiring to be kept a long time, before 

 it attained a due degree of mellowness. The Se 

 tina was a delicate, light wine, the favourite o 

 Augustus, but not even mentioned by Horace, wh 

 had a decided predilection for the strong wines 

 The Massican appears to have been a species o 

 Falernian. The Calemim, Caulinum and Statanum 

 were also highly prized by the Romans. The Al 

 banian, when properly matured, was an excellent 

 dry wine. Among the lighter growths of the Ro- 

 man territory, the Sabine, Nounentan, Venafran am 

 Spoletan were among the most agreeable. The 

 Mamertine, a light and slightly astringent wine, anc 

 the Polb'an, a sweet wine, were among the growths 

 of Sicily. Spanish and Gallic wines were also 

 used by the Romans, as well as the eastern growths. 

 The richer wines were reserved by the ancients for 

 the dessert; and among the Greeks the most esteem- 

 ed dessert wines were the Thasian and Lesbian ; 

 among the Romans, the Cecuban, Albanian and 

 Falernian of native growths, and, when they had 

 become acquainted with the products of foreign 

 countries, the Chian and Lesbian. Of the princi- 

 pal modern wines we have already spoken at con- 

 siderable length under the separate heads. (See 

 Burgundy, Bordeluis, Champagne, Rhenish, Moselle, 

 Hungarian, Sherry, Port, &c.) Madeira, so called 

 from the island which produces it, is much used in 

 this country. There is a great difference in the 

 flavour and other qualities of the Madeira wines : 

 the best are produced on the south side of the 

 island : they may be kept for a very long period, 

 and, as is well known, are often sent long voyages 

 in warm climates, to mellow them. They are na- 

 turally very strong, but commonly receive an addi- 

 tion of brandy when racked off. The Madeira 

 wines retain their qualities unimpaired in both ex- 

 tremes of climate, suffering no decay, and constant- 

 ly improving as they advance in age. Indeed, they 

 are not in condition until they have been kept for 

 ten years in wood, and afterwards allowed to mel- 

 low nearly twice that time in bottle ; and even 

 then they will hardly have reached the utmost per- 

 fection of which they are susceptible. When of 

 good quality, and matured as above described, they 

 lose all their original harshness, and acquire that 

 agreeable pungency, that bitter sweetishness, which 

 was so highly prized in the choicest wines of anti- 

 quity, uniting great strength and richness of flavour 

 with an exceedingly fragrant and diffusible aroma. 

 The nutty taste, which is often very marked, is 

 not communicated, as some have imagined, by 

 means of bitter almonds, but is inherent in the 

 wine. 



WING. The wings of birds correspond to the 

 fore legs of quadrupeds and the arms of man. The 

 clavicle of birds is a hollow tube of great strength, 

 and the fork is peculiar to winged animals. The 

 different bones of the wing are bound together, and 

 connected with the bones of the body, by strong 

 ligaments; and the muscles by which motion is 

 communicated to them are the most powerful with 

 which the animal is provided. All this peculiar 

 apparatus is necessary to give due force to these 

 instruments of locomotion. The construction and 

 disposition of the feathers are not less curious, and 

 admirably adapted for the purpose of flying. (^See 

 Feather, and Ornithology, for many details on this 

 subject.) The best form of windmill sails, which 

 human ingenuity and science have been able to de- 

 vise, bears a striking resemblance to the arrange- 

 ment of the feathers in the wings of birds, and is 

 one of many beautiful instances of the mathemati- 

 cal exactness of the principles on which the works 

 of creation are constructed. The form of the 

 wings is most accurately adapted to the habits of 

 the birds. There are two forms, which have re- 

 ceived the names of the rudder-formed and the sail- 

 formed wings : the former are long, slim and taper- 

 ing, as in the falcons, swallows, &c. ; the latter 

 broad, long, and rounded at the end, as in the swan, 

 e;oose, &c. The former are for quick, sudden and 

 rapid motion, and are moved often ; the latter for 



floating a long time more slowly through the air. 



The wings of insects are membranous, elastic, for 

 the most part transparent, and traversed by firm 

 air-vessels, which sometimes form a beautiful net- 

 work. In some they are naked; in others, as in 

 :he butterflies, they are covered with fine, soft, 

 eathery scales : in some they are extended and 

 straight ; in others folded. Some insects have four 

 wings, and others but two : the latter are commonly 

 )rovided with poisers or balancers (haleres). The 

 difference in the structure and disposition of the 

 wings is one of the distinctive marks on which the 

 division of insects into orders is founded : thus we 

 lave the hemiptera, the coleoptera, the lepidoptera, 

 he neuroptera, &c. (See Insects, and Entomology.') 

 Quadrupeds which fly are provided with mem- 

 >ranes extending over the bones of the extremities, 

 )y which they are enabled to impel themselves 

 hrough the air (see Bat} ; others merely have the 

 kin so loose on the sides as to be spread out when 

 he limbs are extended ; and, being buoyed up in 

 his manner, they are able to make surprising leaps. 

 See Squirrel.) The desire of flying seems to.have 

 aunted men from the earliest times, and has given 

 ise to many attempts to accomplish this object by 

 neans of artificial wings. The fable of Daedalus 

 ml Icarus shows bow old this idea is ; and many 

 ttempts have been made, in modern times, to carry 

 t into execution, but without success. Degen, an 

 ngenious watch-maker of Vienne, succeeded in 

 ustaining himself in the air by means of artificial 

 vings ; and he went to Paris, in 1813, to exhibit 

 is accomplishment ; but he failed entirely in ob- 

 aining any command over them. Borelli (JDe 

 fotu Animalium, Rome, 1680) has fully demon- 

 rated, from a comparison of the muscles of man 

 vith those of birds, that artificial wings attached to 

 ic human body, could not be employed for this pur- 

 ose. It is by no means impossible, however, that 

 cy might be applied to produce motion through 

 B air, by being connected with some sort of cars, 

 nd set in motion by steam. 

 WINGED in botany ; a term applied to sucli 



