CHAPTEE XVIII. 



GENANTHJN (GUM). 



this title Eaure first described a substance 

 which he maintains he found in the best French 

 wines. To this he ascribes the substance and body of 

 the wine, a property which is highly valued in good 

 Medoc wines. The cenanthin itself is described by 

 Eaure as viscid, ropy, and elastic, soluble in water 

 and weak spirit, dissolves when exposed to warmth, 

 swells if the heat be great, and then yields ammonia. 

 It can no more be precipitated by solution of tannic 

 acid, than by boiling in water, nor does it render 

 the water acid. Mineral acids colour it without much 

 altering its properties. Sulphuric acid does not re- 

 solve it into sugar, nor can nitric acid convert it into 

 mucic or oxalic acid. 



Faure did not find this substance in indifferent 

 wines, it was found in small quantities in moderately 

 good wines, but in the best wines it always appeared, 

 though in very variable quantities. 



(Enanthin exercises a very great influence upon the 

 flavour of the wine ; aromatic wines in which it is 

 wanting are on that account less palatable, which is 



