STUDIES ON WINE. 123 



> 

 met with this story of the bottles of St. Domingo, and 



hastened to communicate it to the Academy;. But 

 in reference to this question of heating, a discussion 

 arose as to priority, which was quite unexpected by 

 him. A Burgundian wine grower, M. de Vergnette, 

 having first proposed the congealing of wines as a pro- 

 tective influence, had afterwards spoken, without much 

 precision, of heat as another means of preservation. 

 On this ground he claimed for himself a great part of 

 the invention of Pasteur's process. ' If, after having 

 subjected some specimens of wines which are to be sent 

 abroad to the ordeal of heating,' said M. de Vergnette, 

 ' one sees that they have been able to resist the action 

 of the heat, then they may safely be shipped. In the 

 contrary case they ought not to be sent.' According to 

 M. de Vergnette, it was to the composition of the wine, 

 its robust condition, and good constitution, that it 

 owed its power of supporting the heating process. 

 Pasteur had no difficulty in demonstrating that these 

 assertions are contradicted by experiment. Wine 

 never changes by the moderate application of heat 

 when air is excluded ; and it is precisely when of 

 doubtful soundness that it should be subjected to the 

 process of heating. This operation does not alter it 

 any more than would be the case if it were in a perfectly 

 healthy state. All wines may undergo the action of 

 heat without the least deterioration, and one minute's 

 heating at the proper temperature suffices to insure 



