162 VITACE^. 



The Grape-vine exemplifies the general properties which pervade the 

 order ; although the true Grapes alone, and indeed only a portion of these, 

 bear the edible berries, which, with their fermented juice, constitute the sole 

 important products of the family. The leaves and young shoots are also 

 acid, and more or Jess astringent. The fruits and the foliage of some Indian 

 species of Cissus are acrid. The stem of the Grape is strongly charged 

 with aqueous snp in the spring, which flows very copiously when wounded. 



Grapes contain several acids (the tartaric, malic, citric, and racemic), the 

 peculiar sugar called grape-sugar, mucilage, and more or less of some as- 

 tringent principle, in proportions varying greatly, not only in diiferent species, 

 but also in the same species under diiferent circumstances of climate or cul- 

 ture. In the warmer portions of the region of grape-culture, they contain 

 so large a proportion of sugar that they are dried in the sun as raisins ; and 

 those of a small, seedless variety are currants (Corinths) of the shops. 

 The Grape of the Old World is the only species of much importance to 

 man. The frost-grapes of the United States are extremely acerb ; and the 

 fox-grapes have a strong musky flavor and a tough pulp. But some varieties 

 worthy of cultivation, and with the advantage of being indigenous to our 

 climate, have been produced in cultivation from our Vitis Labrusca ; such are 

 the Isabella Grape, Catawba Grape, &c. 



