CIDER AND PERRY WINES. 195 



fits fall in the vessel into which it is received, render it somewhat 

 unpleasant at first to European eyes. The Indians, however, always 

 drink it in the muddy state, and even shake the cask before turning- 

 the tap. The truth is, that chicha is at once a drink and a very nu- 

 tritious fqod. 



Guarazo is another vinous liquor which the Indians. prepare with 

 rice much in the same manner as they proceed with Indian corn. 



Cider and Perry. In countries where the vine is not cultivated, 

 a substitute for wine is found in the fermented juice of a variety of 

 sweet pulpy fruits, more particularly of apples arid pears. Of the 

 numerous varieties of apples which are grown in cider countries, the 

 preference is generally given to one which has a rough and some- 

 what bitter taste. The fruit is gathered by shaking or beating the 

 trees, and the few that remain are taken off by the hand ; the fruit 

 is piled up in large backs placed in cellars. It is crushed about two 

 months after it is gathered, and the pulp is left for ten or twelve 

 hours to macerate in the juice, in order to give the rusty or yellow 

 color which is esteemed in cider. The pulp is pressed and the juice 

 is run into large vats or tuns, in which it undergoes fermentation, 

 which having gone on for about a month, the temperature being 

 from 55° to 58° F., the liquor is racked off into smaller vessels, in 

 which the fermentation goes on slowly, and the cider is preserved. 

 The fermentation of cider is, or always ought to be, slow ; still, with 

 time, the whole of the sugar is transformed into alcohol, if the pro- 

 cess be not interfered with. 



Wine. Grape-juice contains — 1st. grape-sugar ; 2d. albumen and 

 gluten ; 3d. pectine ; 4th. a gummy matter; 5th. a coloring matter ; 

 6th. tannin ; 7th. bitartrate of potash ; 8th. a fragrant volatile oil, 

 or cream of tartar ; 9th. water. It is obvious, therefore, that grape- 

 juice contains within itself the elements necessary for the produc 

 tion of the vinous fermentation. The relative proportions of these 

 different elements, however, are singularly modified according to the 

 nature of the vine, the quality of the soil, and especially the heat 

 of the climate. There are indeed few crops that are so much at 

 the mercy of the atmosphere as that of the vine ; even in the vine- 

 yards that are most favorably situated, it is rare that wines of equal 

 quality and flavor are produced in two consecutive years ; and in 

 districts upon the verge of the productive limits of the vine, under 

 what may be called extreme climates, where the vine only exists in 

 virtue of hot summers, its produce is still more variable, more in- 

 constant. The limits to the culture of the vine in Europe are 

 generally fixed where the mean temperature is from 10° to 11° C, 

 (50° to 52° F. ;) under a colder climate no drinkable wine is pro- 

 duced. To this meteorological datum must be added the further 

 fact that the mean heat of the cycle of vegetation of the vine must 

 be at least 15° C. (59° F.,) and that of the summer from 18° to 19" 

 C, (from 65° to 67° F.) Any country which has not these climatic 

 conditions cannot have other than indifferent vineyards, even when 

 its mean annual temperature is above what I have indicated. It 

 is impossible, for instance, to cultivate the vine upon the temperate 



