346 VINOUS FERMENTATION. 



tine, and oil of lemons, possess a smell only during 

 their oxidation or decay. The same is the case with 

 many blossoms; and Geiger has shown, that the 

 smell of musk is owing to its gradual putrefaction 

 and decay. 



It is also probable, that the peculiar odorous prin- 

 ciple of many vegetable substances is newly formed 

 during the fermentation of the saccharine juices of 

 the plants. At all events, it is a fact, that very 

 small quantities of the blossoms of the violet, elder, 

 linden, or cowslip, added to a fermenting liquid, are 

 sufficient to communicate a very strong taste and 

 smell, which the addition of the water distilled from 

 a quantity a hundred times greater would not effect. 

 The various kinds of beer manufactured in Bavaria 

 are distinguished by different flavors, which are 

 given by allowing small quantities of the herbs and 

 blossoms of particular plants to ferment along with 

 the wort. On the Rhine, also, an artificial bouquet 

 is often given to wine for fraudulent purposes, by the 

 addition of several species of the sage and rue to 

 the fermenting liquor ; but the fictitious perfume 

 thus obtained differs from the genuine aroma, by its 

 inferior durability, and by being gradually dissi- 

 pated. 



The juice of grapes grown in different climates 

 differs not only in the proportion of free acid which 

 it contains, but also in respect to the quantity of 

 sugar dissolved in it. The quantity of azotized 

 matter in the juice seems to be the same in whatever 

 parts the grapes may grow ; at least no difference 

 has been observed in the amount of yeast formed 

 during fermentation in the south of France, and on 

 the Rhine. 



The grapes grown in hot climates, as well as the 

 boiled juice obtained from them, are proportionally 

 rich in sugar. Hence, during the fermentation of 

 the juice, the complete decomposition of its azotized 

 matters, and their separation in the insoluble state, 

 are effected before all the sugar has been converted 



