VITIS VINIPERA. 
241 
Chemical and Sensible Properties of Wine. Notwith- 
standing the very great difference which we have noticed in the sensible 
properties of wine, the essential component parts of all wines are 
the same, or nearly so, viz. 1st, one or more acids, generally the 
malic, but in some the carbonic predominates, and they all contain 
some tartaric ; 2dly, extractive matter : in old wine this is deposited 
with the tartar; 3dly, a volatile oil, upon which the flavour of the 
wine depends; and 4thly, alcohol: this last is the most important 
of the ingredients, and that upon which] their dietetic and medi- 
cal properties depend. According to the analysis of Neumann, 
Malmsey wine contains the greatest quantity of rectified spirit, being 
on an average about four ounces in the quart ; and Tyrolred the least, 
being only one ounce and four drachms in the quart. For a more 
elaborate analysis of the constituents of various wines, we must 
refer our readers to a table in Thomson's Dispensatory ; for any 
attempt to describe the various shades of colour, or the tastes of 
different wines, would be quite impossible ; we shall merely say 
generally, that the odour of Sherry is agreeable, and slightly aro- 
matic ; the taste warm, with some flavour of the peach kernel : 
the taste of Port is rough and bitterish : Claret is less rough, slightly 
acidulous, thinner, and higher flavoured: and Hock acidulous. 
Medical Properties and Uses. Medical writers have prin- 
cipally confined their observations to four kinds of wines, as suffi- 
cient for officinal use: these are, the Vinum Album Hispanicum, 
Mountain; Vinum Canarium, Canary or Sack; Vinum Rhenanum, 
Rhenish ; and Vinum Rubrum, Red Port. At the present day, the 
London and Edinburgh Colleges have designated Sherry only as 
officinal ; but all the generous wines are occasionally resorted to as 
medicinal agents, j>articularly Port, Madeira, and Claret. The 
general effects of wine are, to stimulate the stomach, exhilarate the 
spirits J warm the habit, quicken the circulation, and in large quan- 
tities to prove intoxicating, and powerfully sedative; it may likewise 
be considered cordial, antiseptic, and antispasmodic. These are the 
general properties of wine, when good, of a proper age, and taken in 
moderate quantity ; but when new it is flatulent, debiUtating, and 
purgative, and intoxicates much sooner. In all diseases accom- 
panied with much debility, as typhus fever, or those of a putrid 
tendency, in cases of extensive ulceration, or gangrene, putrid sore 
throat, small pox, when attended with great debility, and symptoms 
of putrescency, wine must be considered a principal agent, either by 
itself, or in conjunction with cinchona bark and opium. In some 
