Aug. 



♦ knowledge: <► 



211 



Now the formula for water is H^O, so that the radical 

 ethyl has replaced one of the equivalents of hydrogen ; 

 hence we may call alcohol a hydrated oxide of ethyL We 

 have said that the alcohol of wine is derived from the grape 

 sugar. The more sugar there is in the fruit, the richer in 

 alcohol will be the wine produced. Thus the luscious 

 grapes of Spain and Portugal produce the strongest wines ; 

 while the more acid fruit of France and Germany produce 

 wines proportionately poorer in alcohol. British wines 

 again are still weaker, and require not only the addition of 

 sugar to disguise the acidity, but also of alcohol to prevent 

 acetous fermentation. 



The vine is cultivated in warm latitudes all over the 

 world. On the equator itself in South America it is grown 

 for the purpose of making wine ; and in Hindostan it is 

 met with at an elevation of 8000 ft Marsala or Sicilian 

 sherry is made from grapes grown upon the sides of Mount 

 Etna at an elevation of 5000 ft 



Having settled that our glass of wine contains alcohol, 

 it becomes an important matter to determine how much of 

 that body we are consuming. Port and brown sherry 

 contain naturally about 22 per cent of alcohol by volume. 

 The distinction between volume and weight must be borne 

 in mind : otherwise we shall be supposed to be at issue 

 with authorities who place the percentage at a much lower 

 figure. The proportion of alcohol in natural port and 

 brown sherry by u-eight is about 15 per cent Natural 

 port and sherr}', however, are hardly procurable in this 

 country. The wine shipped to this country is almost 

 invariably fortified by the addition of brandy, for the 

 purpose of arresting fermentation before all the sugar has 

 been converted into alcohol. To such an extent is this 

 practice carried, that the percentage of alcohol is often 

 brought up to 32 by volume. An ordinary wine-glass 

 contains about two fluid ounces ; taking our port, then, to 

 contain 26 per cent, of alcohol by volume — a very fair 

 average — we shall have 5^ fluid ounces, or about 2^ wine 

 glasses of pure alcohol to the pint of 20 ounces. Supposing 

 our wine-glass to hold the tenth part of a pint, then our 

 glass of port or sherry will contaui abouth one-fourth of its 

 bulk of alcohol. Madeira comes next in strength, and 

 contains from IS to 20 per cent of alcohol. The light 

 wines of France and Germany average 10 per cent, while 

 champagne has 12 to 14 per cent of alcohol. Instruments 

 for determining the amount of alcohol in spirituous liquors 

 is called an "Alcoholometer." It is simply a hydrometer 

 which sinks more or less in a liquid according to its specific 

 gravity. The greater the proportion of alcohol, the 

 lighter is the liquid in relation to water ; and the deeper 

 will the instrument sink in it These instruments, there- 

 fore, determine the alcoholic strength by weight, and not 

 by volume. 



ENGLISH SEASIDE HEALTH-RESORTS. 



By Alfred Havilaxd, M.R.C.S., F.R.M.C.S. Lend. 



CLASSIFICATION (Continued from page 177). 



LAND and Sea Winds. A very natural question 

 arises in the minds of many health-seekers as they 

 stand by the sea, and look towards the horizon it forms. 

 It is, " What is the land opposite, that is separated from 

 us by the arc of the vast expanse of waters before us, as 

 they curve around the earth, and clothe it in obedience to 

 the grand law of gravitation V Outliers, as the Britisli 

 isles are of the great Europ Asian continent, and lying, as 

 they do, in the North Atlantic ocean, the answer will, of 



course, depend upon the position of the standpoint whence 

 the speculative survey is made. The question is no idle 

 one, for it involves another of greater importance — viz., 

 do the winds, which blow towards us, come to us after 

 having travelled over thousands of miles of deep sea, or 

 have they lingered in their coui-se over the vast continent 

 from which we are detached, and reached the shore on 

 which we stand, after traversing the narrow and shallow- 

 channels which embrace us on two of the three sides of 

 England. 



The climate chart at page 1G3, and the "weather 

 charts " that are now published weekly in Knowledge, 

 will help us to understand the relation that our eastern 

 and southern coast-lines bear to the lands which flank us 

 on those sides. "We must, therefore, refer our readers to- 

 them, whilst we briefly dwell upon this, the first division of 

 our subject. 



We will take the east coast first, from the south bank of 

 the Tweed to the North Foreland, and, for simplicity 

 sake, will only use the ordinary eight points of the com- 

 pass— K, NE., E., SE., S., SW., W., and NW. 



Xorth. — From Berwick to Lowestoft (16) ; on facing 

 this point we have the sea, uninterrupted by land, stretch- 

 ing to its North Polar ice-boundary ; the wind, therefore, 

 in passing from the arctic regions would cross the path 

 of the gulf stream as it flows from the nortb-western side 

 of the Shetland to wash the north west coast of Norway, 

 and within these gulf stream longitudes would traverse 

 the 60" N. Lat, where it would meet with a mean air- 

 temperature even in the coldest month of the year^ 

 January of 33° 60 Fahr., or an amount of heat 37° 04r 

 greater than that of the mean of all other longitudes in- 

 the same parallel. Thus we see how the influence of this- 

 wonderful stream is brought to our eastern coast over our- 

 North Sea, by even the north wind. The mean January- 

 temperature within gulf stream longitudes at 60° N. Lat.,. 

 being 33° 60 F., as compared with —3° 44 within all other 

 longitudes. 



On the other hand, we find that at the same point 

 in the gulf stream in July, the mean air temperature, 

 according to Ferrel's researches, would be 57° 40, as com- 

 pared with 56° 94 within all other longitudes, or only a 

 difference of 0° 46 Fahr. 



If we take a good representative meteorological station in 

 the North Sea, such as Scarborough, we shall find that the 

 Xorth wind is the prevailing sea iriud throughout the year. 

 Thus, from the observations kindly furnished us by Mr. AV. 

 C. Hughes, F.M.S., we find that, during the five yeai-s 

 1877-81, the number of days it blew amounted to 35° 19 

 per cent of the aggregate during which these winds 

 prevailed. Thus, within the interlatitudinal zone II , in 

 which this health-resort lies, the sea winds are as follows, 

 with the percentage of their prevalence: — N., 35 19. : 

 E., 24-73; N.W., 15-93; S.E., 12-11 ; N.E., 1200. The 

 Xorth wind at this station is least prevalent in inntcr 

 (Dec, Jan., Feb.), 14-1 per cent, and most so in the 

 sprbuj (March, April, ^[ay), 30 6 per cent, culminating in 

 May; in summer (June, July, Aug.), 29-1 percent, and 

 in autumn (Sept, Oct, Nov.), 2G-3 per cent : so that in 

 the North Sea it may be said to be rather equably dis- 

 tributed throughout the seasons and the year generally. It 

 may be added that the above winds are the sea winds 

 along this line of coast between the two points indicated. 



Xorth-East. — Norway and Sweden are the countries 

 which oppose an observer on this coast looking in this 

 direction, and over these countries some of our nortli-east 

 winds liave travelled before crossing the North Sea to reach 

 our shores. We say some, because it is now well established 

 that these and other winds in different parts of their circuits 



