CHAPTEE XIX. 



AMMONIA OR AMMONIACAL SALTS. 



THE fact that a considerable portion of albuminous 

 matter which had previously passed into ferment, is 

 decomposed during the fermentation of wine, leads 

 us to expect with more or less certainty the presence 

 of ammonia combined with some acid in wine. No 

 ammonia is to be found in grape-juice, and if it 

 appears in wine it must be as a product of decom- 

 posed albuminous matter. 



In two kinds of wine, Ehine and Teneriffe, which 

 I examined by mixing them with potash, and then 

 testing them with a rod moistened with muriatic acid, 

 I have invariably found an insignificant trace of 

 ammonia, but very great care was required to place 

 its existence beyond a doubt ; in Port wine and Ma- 

 deira not the smallest vestige of it could be detected. 



Since Ehine wines are so constituted as to be more 

 disposed to slow decomposition in consequence of the 

 resolution of albuminous matters, than stronger wines, 

 and only very faint traces of ammonia are discernible, 

 we may safely assume its importance in wine to be 

 quite secondary. 



