FERMENTED LIQUORS. 3:29 



hol is the intoxicating principle, these distilled liquors have 

 a more intemperate .tendency. The culture of the vine, 

 since its introduction into Europe, in extending northwards, 

 has spread itself more to the east than to the west, because 

 the eastern part of this continent is hotter in summer than 

 the western, under the same latitude. Now, the vine de- 

 rives more advantage from the heat of summer than it 

 suffers from the cold of winter : in the latter season it noes 

 not vegetate, so that it requires only the degree of tempe- 

 rature necessary to escape freezing, while heat in summer 

 is absolutely requisite to ripen the grapes ; and you have 

 seen that the vine succeeds much better .in Switzerland 

 than in England, because, though the winters in the form- 

 er are generally colder, the summers are hotter. 



Caroline. We read in history, of vineyards growing, 

 and wine being formerly made in England. Do you sup- 

 pose that the climate was then warmer than it is now ? 



Mrs. B. No ; but the palate of our ancestors was 

 probably not so delicate as that of their descendants. The 

 same has been affirmed of Brittany and Normandy, prov- 

 inces in which vineyards are now unknown, and where the 

 vine is cultivated, as in England, trained against walls in 

 a favorable aspect ; and even then the grapes ripen but 

 imperfectly. If wine was really ever made in these coun- 

 tries, it must have been a beverage very analagous to vin- 

 egar ; but is very possible that such wine was once pro- 

 duced : for the fact is ascertained, that in proportion as 

 the means of transport has increased, the extent of coun- 

 try, in which the vine is cultivated, has diminished. 



Emily. I should have imagined that the increase of 

 high roads, canals, and ship.ping, would, by diminishing 

 the expense of conveyance, lower the price of wine, and 

 thus render it more attainable to the northern countries, 

 where it is not grown. 



Mrs. B. Your argument is perfectly just : the increas- 

 ed facility of conveyance augments the demand for, and, 

 consequently, the production of, wine ; but that does not 

 prevent its restricting the extent of latitude in which the 



1777. And of the cheapness of different kinds of drink in England 1 ? 

 1778. Why does the vine extend itself more to the east than to the west 

 of Europe 1 ? 1779. What comparison is made between the growth of 

 the grape in England and Switzerland 1 ? 1780. Why is not the vino 

 cultivated in England as formerly'? 1781. If wine were ever made in 

 Brittany and Normandy, of what description must it have been'? 



28* 



