mi. L. GALL ON IMPROVEMENTS IN WINE-MAKING. £91 



tenth and one twentieth per cent, of the real alcohoHc parts of 

 certain fluids (as wine, beer, vinegar). The scale at the tube BB 

 is therefore divided into one per cenA and one tenth per cent, 

 lines, bearing the numbers 1, 2, 8, 4 , 5, etc. When the quicksilver 

 rises to the line 5, we know, consequently, that the fluid contains 

 in every 100 parts by weight 5 such parts of alcohol free from 

 water. 



As wine always contains carbonates, and the action of this might 

 tend to drive the quicksilver higher, it is better to free it, there- 

 fore, from these previous to examining. To do this, we put a tea- 

 spoonful of burned and finely-pulvcrizcd lime into a small, wide- 

 mouthed glass vial, and fill this with the wine, cork it, and shake 

 it about a minute, then filter it through a glass funnel and filter- 

 paper. 



Carbonates. 



A part of the elements of the sugar change during the act of 

 fermentation into carbonates. A part of it escapes by its gaseous 

 nature, carrying away with it from the must some part of the 

 alcoholic fluid. Another part remains, however, dissolved in the 

 wine, and gives it that peculiar prickling taste, and to the effer- 

 vescing wines the peculiarity of foaming. The quantity of it de- 

 pends on the temperature of the wine ; the less this is, the more 

 carbonate. 



In the same degree as the wine afterward increases its temper- 

 ature, a part of the carbonates also escape, and in this lies the rea- 

 son of the turbulency of such wines (in the warmer season) as 

 contain no more undissolved sugar. In the course of time it dis- 

 appears almost entirely. The carbonatie air emanating from the 

 fermenting must may become very injurious; in rooms where 

 many tubs are kept, it will frequently concentrate so much that 

 a lighted candle will not burn. Great care ought always to be 

 taken when entering or bending over a tub. By putting fresh- 

 made lime upon the floor of the room beneath the tubs, much 

 harm may be prevented. 



Ether. 



This is a thin, very combustible fluid substance, of agreeable, 

 penetrating smell, that forms itself in the wine by the influence 

 of the acids upon the alcohol. Besides the " Oenanth" we find 

 also "oxygen-ether," formed by the oxydation of a part of the 

 alcohol, and "vinegar-ether." All these are to be charged to the 

 account of the alcohol ; and as the wine consequently thereby 

 loses some of its strength, we ought to give the wines, at their 

 making, so much alcohol as they would have attained if the grapes 

 had been perfectly ripe. 



Acetic Acid. 



This never forms a part of the grape-juice, but invariably orig- 



