132 DISEASES OF WINE. 



hence they are often called pitch wines. They pos- 

 sess so little alcohol that they are scarcely available 

 for the manufacture of vinegar. One cause of their 

 being so easily Spoiled may be thus explained, since 

 alcohol prevents chemical alterations, and weak wines 

 spoil easily. 



The addition of pitch and tar to the wines is no 

 modern invention, for the ancients often drank wine 

 prepared in this manner. They made use of pitch and 

 tar in order that the combustible oil contained in 

 them (creosote, &c.) might hinder chemical decompo- 

 sition from taking place in the wine. 



Such adulterations do not, however, prove that all 

 the wines which need them were originally weak ; for 

 turbid wines, when they are not protected from the 

 air, are equally liable to spoil quickly. 



Whatever the disease of wine may be, the cause 

 is always to be found in substances which are con- 

 tained in the wine, and which can decompose them- 

 selves, and cause decomposition in others. There is 

 no occasion to seek further if we find a certain quan- 

 tity of that substance which has converted the sweet 

 juice into wine, and a portion of which remains in 

 the wine. An albuminous substance is to be found in 

 all wines, which under certain circumstances causes 

 the wine to become diseased, and occasions a variety 

 of diseases according to the difference of circum- 

 stances. As a rule, the wine is improved by this 

 albumen, which devel opes out of other bodies odori- 



