WINE. 5) 
the Hydaspes, in northern India. The mountains of Ferdistan, 
in Persia, probably supplied the vines which were first culti- 
vated by man; the wine of Shirez is made from vines growing 
on those hills. Homer mentions wines which may be pre- 
sumed were of a sweet taste from the epithets applied to their 
descriptions. Honey and various other substances were mixed 
with their wines. The ancients exposed their wines to the 
action of smoke, in a sort of kiln, called a fumarium, which 
thickened and matured them, requiring some sort of prepara- 
tion to preserve them from acidity. Common wines in Greece 
are still treated by mixtures to preserve them, as experienced 
by the writer (H. S.) When travelling in Greece some forty 
years ago, he found the wine of a resinous taste, very annoy- 
ing to those unaccustomed to it. 
The Malmsey of the present day owes its origin to the 
Morea, a country of Greece known a few hundred years ago 
as Malvasia. The most renowned of the ancient wines among 
the Romans was the Falernian, which grew upon the volcanic 
Campania, near Naples, where also the Massie was produced. 
The Falernian was a product of the hill-side. It was rough, 
of a dark colour, and strong. It was drunk at ten years old, 
when it was mellow, and had imbibed somewhat of a bitter 
taste. Hence Martial — 
* Crown the deathless Falernian, my boy! 
Draw the quincunx* from out the cask— 
. the note wee can wee) the ren ? 
Tis for 
The price of Falernian was high; Calenian and Formian as 
well, and were products of the vine in the time of Augustus 
Cesar; as was the Ceecuban, so named from the city of Cocu- 
<r : e ae a eres in Cmear's name 
