244 NATURAL HISTORY. 



from which it comes forth clear, but as the juice first 

 drawn is considered stronger, the -whole is generally 

 mixed together. 



In order to have good -wine, the first rule to he ob- 

 served is in the gathering. Great care must be taken in 

 selecting the grapes, allowing none that are unripe or 

 decayed to remain among them ; the second rule is, not 

 to mix different species of the grapes together ; and the 

 third, and altogether necessary to be remembered, is to 

 maintain the most perfect cleanliness. The wine being 

 pressed, and having come forth clean from the strainer, is 

 placed in barrels to undergo a second fermentation. 

 This new and yet sweet wine, called Must, contains 

 sugar, mucilage, tartaric acid, water, and an oily sub- 

 stance of a peculiar and pleasant odor, and coloring mat- 

 ter. The sweeter the new wine is, the more spirit will 

 it possess after fermentation ; after which the oily prin- 

 ciple loses its delightful odor, the coloring matter its hue, 

 and the sugar is changed into alcohol. The mucilaginous 

 portion and tartaric acid mingle together, and after a 

 greater or less effervescence, form carbonic acid. The 

 gas arising from this latter element diffuses itself 

 throughout the wine vault, and makes it dangerous for 

 any one to enter, as it produces suffocation. It is cus- 

 tomary to place pans of burning charcoal on the cellar 

 floor in order to absorb this poisonous gas. During the 

 fermenting process the wine becomes heated from fifteen 

 to twenty degrees. 



The husks or skins that remain after being pressed, 

 are used partly by tanners or given as* food to swine ; 

 and, last of all, good oil is made from the seeds. The 

 fermentation having ceased, which is not before spring, 

 the wine is drawn from the lees and put into new barrels. 



