102 SULPHURISING. 



If the sulphur should contain arsenic, the wine is 

 thereby rendered arsenical. 



It is stated in many books, but I am of opinion that 

 it originated in a misprint, which, as is often the case, 

 has been sedulously transcribed, that in old times the 

 Dutch exposed the casks, in which they exported wine 

 to the East Indies, to the fumes of sulphur, arsenic, 

 and antimony. I doubt this exceedingly, for our an- 

 cestors were no fools, especially in matters concerning 

 their profit, and this was not likely to be promoted 

 by the addition of arsenic to wine. 



In the process of sulphurising, cloves, cinnamon, 

 lavender, thyme, and other aromatic substances, are 

 sometimes put with the strips of linen which are 

 dipped in melted sulphur and allowed to burn. They 

 cannot, however, destroy the smell of the sulphurous 

 acid, although they may well impart a peculiar odour 

 to the wines, in the sulphurising of which they are 

 employed. 



Sulphurising is particularly applied to sweet white 

 wines, which, possessing an excess of sugar and 

 albuminous matter, and but a small amount of 

 tannic acid, are easily decomposed. The same pro- 

 cess applied to red wine makes them rather lighter 

 coloured. 



One great advantage gained from sulphurising the 

 casks in which wine is to be stored, is that it prevents 

 the formation of mould, which afterwards imparts a 

 musty taste to the wine. 



