ALBUMINOUS MATTER. 259 



one more means of detecting adulteration when wines 

 are analysed with this view. 



This ingredient may, however, like many other 

 components of wine, be imitated, and yet, any one 

 undertaking to imitate artificially the quantity (be it 

 smaller or greater) of albumen precipitable by chlo- 

 rine, and peculiar to every kind of wine, would en- 

 counter great difficulties. 



Wine prepared from the juice of other fruits will 

 give too much or too little albumen, and other varie- 

 ties will occur in wines imitated in a different 

 manner in some, perhaps, to the complete exclusion 

 of albuminous matter. The quantity of albumen 

 rightly belonging to each kind of wine may be easily 

 learned by determining what is present in genuine 

 wine. 



The second point which causes the presence of 

 any albumen to be considered important, is its capa- 

 bility of spoiling wine, since all albuminous bodies 

 undergo chemical change, and are capable of trans- 

 ferring this motion to such other bodies as may be 

 brought into contact with them. 



Alcohol hinders such changes, which are less to 

 be expected in strong wines. But albumen effects 

 changes even in alcohol, which if air be admitted 

 it oxidises, and turns into acetic acid; and it even 

 makes wine mouldy, i. e. changes the alcohol which 

 had previously been converted into acetic acid, or 

 not, as the case might be, into vegetable gluten and 



