SB Copper * 
name of mcque, were formerly thrown on the dung-hill 
after the poultry had picked out the small stones contained 
In them B At present they are preserved for making ver- 
digris, and sold at the rate of from fifteen to twenty livres 
per nmid. The preparation of them is as follows : After 
the vintage is finished, the husks are subjected to the press 
In order to extract all the wine with which they may be 
impregnated, and they are then put into vats, where they 
are pressed down with the feet to fill up all the vacuities 
and render the mass as compact as possible. The cover- 
ings of these vats are carefully fastened down, and they 
are preserved for use in a dry cool place. 
These husks are not always of the same quality : when 
the grapes contain little of the saccharine matter, when the 
season has been rainy, the fermentation incomplete, of 
when the wine is not generous, the husks are attended 
with several faults. 1. They are difficult to be preserv- 
ed, and there is great danger of their soon being spoilt. 
% They produce very little effect, cannot be easily heat- 
ed, send forth very little of the acetous odour, and make 
the plates of copper sweat without shewing efflorescence 
on their surface. Independently of the nature of the 
grapes and the state of the wine, the quality of the husks 
Varies also according as they have been expressed with 
more or less care. Husks which have not been much 
pressed, produce a far greater effect than those which have 
been dried. To explain their different effects, it will be 
sufficient to observe that their action is proportioned to 
the quantity of wine they retain, as it is that liquor alone 
which can pass to the state of vinegar. When the husks 
therefore are destined for a verdigris manufactory, care 
must be taken to express them only weakly, in order to 
preserve more of their acidifiable principle. 
When a sufficient quantity of copper and of husks has 
been provided, nothing remains but to proceed to the ope- 
