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rolfiiig theni iato the cellar ', by mould on tlie hoops or he^cliii^ from 

 the damp ; or from the shrinking of the staves. The wine also should 

 be tasted from time to time, to observe what alterations have occur- 

 ed, that^they may be remedied promptly. 



When the filling-up is neglected, a white mould collects oji the 

 surface of the wine. Tlue must be attended to immediately, as the 

 acid fermentation commences by this symptom. The air in the space 

 must be first forced out ; to this elFect the nozle of a bellows is 

 introduced at the bung and the air drawn in from every side. A 

 lighted match is then put in, the bung closed, and the match alloAV- 

 ed to burn ; after this the cask must be entirely filled up, and then, 

 several smart raps on it expel the bubbles of air that are lodged iu 

 crevices and drive the mould towards the bung-hole ; in a few minutes 

 a slight jolt must be given to the cask with the knees, which will make 

 the wine at the bung run over a little, when, by blowing upon it, the 

 film is carried down ; the filling-up must be repeated, and this pro- 

 cess tried again, until not a vestige of the mould is perceived. 



The wine also works in a singular manner when the Vine begins 

 to shoot, at the time of flowering, and when the grape turns. Buffon 

 attributes all this working and all the changes of the juice of the 

 grape from the state of must to that of vinegar, to the action of organic 

 molecules. According to Fabbrord and the remarks in confirmation of 

 his by Astier of Toulouse, these phenomena of vegeto-animal matter 

 are only remarked when the organic molecules have not been separa- 

 ted from the wine by a sufiicient quantity of alcohol. " Then," says 

 Astier, " as these elements of organization cannot remain idle whiia 

 the Vine is busy with growth, and as, in the vat or cask they cannot 

 produce leaves, flowers, and fruit, they will produce somethin op anima- 

 ted, vintage gnats, wine-mould, or the microscopic eels of vinegar. 

 These phenomena" he adds, "prove that life, though unapparent in 

 the whole, subists in the parts, though detached and separated, and 

 preserves in spite of death, a certain relation \7ith the general lif^s 

 of the species to which the individual belongs." 



These phenomena may be prevented by the use of anti-fermentative 

 substances, such as sulphuric acid, sulphate of lime, mercurial oxyds, 

 alcohol, garlic, camphor, the oold of ice, boiling heat. The manner 

 of using all these various means shall be spoken of hereafter. 



When the fluid seeras at rest, though turbid, it is complete. The 

 turbidness is caused by the foreign substances in suspension, which, 

 with time and quiet, sink to the bottom; when the pulp and murk, 

 colouring matter and tartar, form the lees. The tartar separates par^ 

 t-ially and cr3''stailize^ on the sides of the cji.sks, 

 35 



