and the Method of making Wines . 36 1 
it. £d, Its savour is more or less saccharine. 3d, It 
is thick, and its consistence varies according as the grapes 
are more or less ripe, more or less saccharine. I have 
found by experience that some marked 75 degrees of the 
areometer, and others only from 40 to 42, It is exceed- 
ingly soluble in water. Scarcely is the fermentation de- 
termined when all the characters are changed : the odour 
begins to become pungent by the disengagement of car- 
bonic acid ; the savour, still veiy sweet, is however aU 
ready mixed with a little of the pungent ; the consist- 
ence decreases ; the liquor, which hitherto presented on- 
ly otie uniform whole, exhibits flakes which become more 
and hiore insoluble. 
Tiie saccharine savour becomes gradually weaker, and 
the Vinous stronger : the consistence of the liquor is sen- 
sibly lessened : the flakes detached from the mass are 
more completely insulated. The odour of the alcohol is 
perceived at a greater distance. 
At last the moment arrives when the saccharine prin- 
ciple is no longer sensible ; the savour and smell now 
indicate nothing but alcohol : all the saccharine princi- 
ple, however, is not destroyed ; a portion of it still re- 
mains ; the existence of wilich is not masked by that of 
the predominant alcohol, as is confirmed by the very cor- 
rect experiments of Gentil. The further decomposition 
of this substance takes place by the aid of the tranquil 
fermentation which is continued in the casks. 
When the fermentation has passed through, and termi- 
nated all its periods, no more sugar exists ; the liquor 
has acquired fluidity, and presents only alcohol mixed 
with a little extract and colouring principle. 
4th, Coloration of the vinous Liquor .- — The must 
which flows from the grapes transported from the vine- 
yard to the vat before they have been trod, ferments 
Vol. i. z z 
