Mb 
and the JYethod of making Wines. 
form carbonic acid ; deoxygenating the other in favour of 
the former to produce a combustible substance, which is 
alcohol ; so that, if it were possible to combine these two 
substances, the alcohol and carbonic acid, sugar would 
be re-formed. It is to be observed also, that the hydro- 
gen and carbon are not in the state of oil in the alcohol ; 
they are combined with a portion of oxygen, which ren- 
ders them miscible with water : the three principles, oxy- 
gen, hydrogen, and carbon, are here, then, still in a kind 
of staie of equilibrium ; and, indeed, by making them 
pass through an ignited glass or porcelain tube, they may 
be re- combined two and two, and water and hydrogen, 
carbonic acid and carbon, are again found. 
V The Method of taking the Wine from the Vats , 
and the proper Period for that Purpose . 
At all times agriculturists have considered it as a mat 
ter of great importance, to be able, by unerring signs, to 
discover the most favourable period for taking the wine 
from the vats ; but here, as in other things, they have fal- 
len into the very great inconvenience of general methods. 
This period ought to vary according to the climate, the 
season, and the nature of the wine proposed to be obtain- 
ed, and of other circumstances, which must always be 
kept in view. 
It will be proper for us, therefore, to lay down prin- 
ciples rather than to prescribe methods ; for, in our opinion, 
this is the only way to make ourselves masters of the 
operations, and to bring together the whole of those phae~ 
nomena, the knowledge and comparison of which become 
necessary before any dscision, founded upon certainty, 
can be given. 
Some agriculturists have ventured to determine a fixed 
period for fermentation $ as if it ought not to vary according 
