CHAPTER XII. 



ON THE FATTY MATTEK OF WINE. 



IN describing the pure blue colouring matter of 

 wine (p. 216), I mentioned a quantity of fat which 

 adheres to the sulphide of lead, and must be removed 

 from it by means of ether, as, otherwise, the colouring 

 matter remains impure. 



If the only point to be considered were the prepa- 

 ration of the fat, it would only be necessary to extract 

 it with ether. This fat exists in wine as a fatty acid, 

 for sugar of lead precipitates it out of the wine ; the 

 pale blue deposit exhibits itself as fatty, since the 

 water used for washing does not wet it. There is, 

 therefore, a fatty acid contained in the wine, which 

 is resolved by sugar of lead into lead soap. 



Batilliat* separated fat from must, in the form of 

 a fatty oil, and ascribed it to the grape stones. He 

 considers the amount present too insignificant to 

 affect the wine, but forgets that only iowo of cenan- 

 thic ether is found in wine. The fat separated from 

 the sulphide of lead by means of ether, was found by 

 Oudemans to amount to O105 in 1875 grammes, that 

 is, to 6 parts in 100,000 parts wine ; not enough, cer- 

 tainly, for any one to grow fat upon. 



* Traite sur les Vins de France, p. 82. 



