MATERIALS OF ADULTERATION. 



wine, dry Lisbon, and brandy-cow. Tent, hardly any 

 genuine in this country. Red Cape is adulterated by 

 cider, and coloured by berry-dye. This berry-dye is 

 a colouring matter, extracted from the German 

 bilberries. Cape Madeira and Cape Sherry are 

 generally produced by mixing together spoiled and 

 musty wines with cider, brandy-cow, and a pro- 

 portion of the other ingredients, cherry-laurel water, 

 &c. fining the mess with lamb's blood, and if sour, 

 adding carbonate of soda. Thus cheap Burgundy, 

 Hermitage, Hock, Sauterne, Claret, Champagne, and 

 other wines, are adulterated and fabricated, to the in- 

 crease of dyspepsia, &c. &c. Claret is generally com- 

 posed of Spanish red wine, rough cider, berry-dye or 

 Brazil-wood ; and the Champagne, of gooseberry wine, 

 cider, perry, Cape wine mixed up with ropy Cham- 

 pagne, softened by the addition of sugar of lead ; these 

 ingredients, by good management, will produce good 

 Sillery, and sparkling Champagne. The cider generally 

 used for this purpose is merely turnip cider, more pun- 

 gent than genuine cider, and fitter for the practice of 

 adulteration, having less malic acid. Is it surprising 

 that, in this country, frauds should be used in regard 

 to wines and spirits, when even in the wine countries 

 it is difficult to get it genuine? Oporto itself 

 fabricates Port wine ; Bourdeaux, Claret ; the Cham- 

 pagne district, Champagne ; and so with Burgundy 

 and others. I knew a friend, who when at Paris 

 some years back gave a dinner he went to a wine 

 merchant and ordered a variety of French wines, 

 which that day appeared excellent ; a few bottles of 

 each were left, which he carefully put away, thinking 



