CIDER FROM APPLES AND PEARS. 349 



Claret-wine. Apple-juice, 50 quarts ; rectified alcohol, 4 quarts ; 

 black currant-juice, 2 quarts ; tartar, 2 ounces, 4 drachms. Color 

 with bilberry-juice. The further process is the same as for 

 Burgundy. 



Diseases of cider. Ciders are subject to diseases which may be 

 due to the bad quality of the apples used, a faulty method of 

 fabrication, or bad management in the cellar. 



Badly fermented cider, especially such as has merely passed 

 through the stage of tumultuous fermentation, or has been acidi- 

 fied by contact with the air, is liable to produce serious disorders. 

 The first, says Dr. E. Decaisne, being heavy and indigestible, 

 inflates the intestines and produces diarrhoea ; the second, though 

 of a sweet taste and a piquant and agreeable flavor, does not 

 quench the thirst, but excites the nervous system and produces 

 flatulency ; the third, which is really spoiled cider, causes inflam- 

 mation of the intestines by the large amount of malic and acetic 

 acids it contains. When in the fabrication of cider, water con- 

 taining organic matter has been used, putrid fermentation is 

 produced in the mass, the products of which impart some very 

 deleterious properties to the cider. 



Acidity in cider may be due either to an excess of malic acid 

 or of acetic acid. 



Some ciders contain too much malic acid when manufactured 

 from apples not sufficiently ripe, or when, in mixing the apples, 

 too large a proportion of sour apples has been taken. In both 

 these cases the acidity may be neutralized by adding to the apple- 

 juice 3 ounces, 8 drachms of potassium tartrate per 22 gallons. 

 Sometimes there is an excess of acetic acid, due to the oxidation 

 of the alcohol by long contact with the air. This defect is diffi- 

 cult to remedy; it might have been prevented by means of a thin 

 coat of olive oil, as previously mentioned, or by hermetically 

 closing the bungs. The acidity will, however, disappear by 

 putting in the bottles a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. It must, 

 however, be done immediately on detecting the defect. 



Viscosity or greasy appearance of cider is recognized by the 

 cider becoming stringy, viscous, and greasy, and is due to too 

 great an abundance of gummy substances in the fruit, a lack of 

 tannin, and, finally, to defective fermentation. In order to check 



