from an Agricultural and Veterinary Point of View. 65 
dust to be found on the stems of the bunches, on the surface of 
the grapes, on the implements of the grape-gatherers ! What 
varieties of moulds and mildews ! A vast proportion of these germs 
are evidently sterilised by the wine, the composition of which, 
being at the same time acid, alcoholic, and destitute of air, is so 
little favourable to life. But is it to be wondered at that some 
of these exterior germs — so numerous, and possessing in a more 
or less marked degree the an;Erobic character — should find, at 
certain moments in the state of the wine, the proper conditions 
for their existence and multiplication ?" 
To protect the wines from these injurious organisms, Pasteur 
demonstrated that it was only necessary to heat them, when 
bottled, to a temperature of 140^ Fahr. for a few moments, in a 
water-bath. This insures the future soundness of the wine. 
After having shown the causes which determine the alterations 
in wine, by introducing a means of practically neutralising 
them, Pasteur solved one of the greatest economic questions 
with regard to this industry. By the application of heat, and 
without injuring their colour or flavour, the limpidity of all 
wines was guaranteed, while their indefinite preservation was 
certain if kept in well-closed bottles, or in barrels, even if 
transported all over the world. 
An amusing incident is related in connection with this dis- 
covery. Those most concerned in the preservation of wine 
were at first incredulous as to the heating process not damaging 
its taste, colour, or limpidness ; and Pasteur addressed himself 
first to wine-merchants and others who were skilled in the 
detection of alterations in it, with a view to obtain a decisive 
opinion — for the public had already shown a preference for his 
heated wine ; and at last he organised a large tasting Com- 
mission, appointed by the wholesale wine-merchants of Paris. 
This body, at its first meeting, could not agree as to the supa 
riority of the heated or unheated wines placed before them, 
many of them thinking the latter had a better flavour than the 
former ; and Pasteur, fancying that prejudice had much to do 
in influencing them, intimated that at the next meeting there 
would be no indication as to which was the heated and the unpre- 
pared wine, but their palates should alone distinguish them. On 
that occasion, he offered them samples taken from the same bottle, 
and as might be expected, there were preferences for one and 
lor the other, the experts not knowing they were from the same 
source. The Commission, alluding to this experiment, candidly 
confessed that the differences between the heated and non-heated 
wines were imperceptible, if they existed, and that the imagina- 
tion was not without considerable influence in wine-tasting. 
The researches of Pasteur had revealed a world of organisms, 
VOL. XXII. — S. S. F 
