564 GENERAL REVIEW. 



THE GRAPE-VINE FAMILY ( Vitacece)* 



A group of rambling shrubs or erect bushes, the woody 

 tissues of which at certain seasons abound in a copious supply 

 of sap. The species are wild in the woods of the milder and 

 tropical climates of both hemispheres, and especially in the E. 

 Indies. The principal genera are Vitis, Cissus, and Ampdopsis. 

 Several species of Vitis abound in America, including K 

 vulpina, V. cestivalis, V. labrusca, and others. The European 

 cultivated Grape, V. vinifera, is supposed to be a native of 

 Asia, and its small-berried, seedless variety is much grown at 

 Corinth, Zante, and other parts of Greece, and imported to 

 this country under the name of u Currants," which is a corrup- 

 tion of Corinth. The value of these depends on their being 

 seedless ; and it is said that if cultivated in other warm parts 

 of Europe this variety shows a tendency to produce larger 

 berries containing seeds. The " Sultana " Grape, of the fruit 

 of which raisins are made, is also seedless, as well as a variety 

 called Black Monukka, long grown at Chiswick and elsewhere. 

 The Grape-Vine is one of the earliest cultivated of all our 

 fruits, and the art of wine-making was known at least 6000 

 years ago. In the tomb of Phtah-hotep, a high functionary 

 who lived at Memphis 4000 years B.C., are scenes in bas-relief 

 representing the gathering of the Grapes, bruising them with 

 the feet, &c. ; and, curiously enough, the artist has represented 

 a wine-bibber in a state which leads one to suppose that the 

 ancients did not always drink wine in moderation (see ' Belg. 

 Hort.,' 1872, p. 288). We need not pretend to talk of the de- 

 terioration of our modern cultivated fruits, when the bas-reliefs 

 of Egyptian artists speak to us across an awful gulf of five or 

 six thousand years, and show us that our Vine of to-day is much 

 the same as that grown thousands of years before our time.t 

 The American Vines deserve some slight notice here, as they 

 succeed in a severe winter and very trying summer climate, 

 where our European varieties have hitherto failed. There are 

 nine types or species of Grapes found wild in the woods of the 



* For a very full and interesting account of American native Vines, and 

 their cultural varieties, hybrids, &c., see "The Illustrated Descriptive 

 Catalogue of American Grape- Vines," published by Bush & Son, of the 

 vineyards and grape-nurseries, Bushberg, Jefferson county, Mo., U.S.A. 

 The species in this valuable work were described and arranged by the 

 late Dr Engelman of St Louis, and a perusal will amply repay the culti- 

 vator here at home. 



t For a full account of the Vines of N. America, China, and Japan, see 

 Dr Regel's 'Conspectus Speciorum Generis Vitis.' 



