WINE. 243 



in their native spirit without loss of bulk or flavor, as healthy 

 mental excitements become generally diffused, and motives 

 for self-control increase in a secure ratio, we shall, we confi- 

 dently hope, find this instinct of man dying out. Taking 

 things as they now are, we shall make a few general remarks 

 upon wines. 



It is only by a moderate use of wine that persons can ever 

 become good tasters. A wine-merchant in extensive busi- 

 ness once remarked to the author that he never swallowed 

 his wines when judging of their relative merits, knowing that 

 if he did he should soon lose his nicety of taste. The osten- 

 tation which induces people to produce several varieties of 

 wine at one dinner merits, therefore, censure for more rea- 

 sons than one ; after one or two glasses, the nerves of the 

 stomach are over-stimulated. 



Port-wine, on account of the imperfectly combined alcohol 

 always present in it, is more injurious to stomach and un- 

 derstanding than Sherry, even when this is of like strength 

 with the Port. Claret and Rhenish are the most innocent. 

 Champagne produces but a temporary excitement, followed 

 by no after consequences of serious derangement, unlike in 

 these respects the wines of Oporto, which, abounding in as- 

 tringent qualities and uncombined brandy, are pernicious in 

 their effects as a daily drink, even when accompanied with 

 great exercise. The Spanish wines, which include the Sher- 

 ries, are strong, heady wines,*which should be diluted with 

 water, excepting when ordered as medicine. Madeira dilut- 

 ed is said to be a good wine for the dyspeptic, provided there 

 is no disposition to hypochondriasis or melancholy. The 

 Bordeaux wines, the best light wines of the Rhine and the 

 Moselle, are, for daily use, the least injurious of all wines ; 

 they are said to have the little alcohol they contain wholly 

 combined. They contain tartaric acid, and thus tend to di- 

 minish obesity. Sweet wines disorder the stomach, and their 



