88 
VINE. 
and when they were, each guest was indulged only 
with a single draught. But in the seventh century 
of Rome, as their conquests augmented the de- 
gree of their wealth, and enlarged the sphere of 
their luxury, wines became the object of parti- 
cular attention. Many vaults were constructed, 
and good stocks of liquor deposited in them ; and 
this naturally gave encouragement to the wines of 
the country. The Falernian rose immediately into 
great repute ; and a variety of others, that of Flo- 
rence among the rest, succeeded it about the close 
of the century. Thus were the more westerly parts 
of the European continent at once subjected to the 
arms, and enriched with the vines, of Italy. 
The climate of China is well calculated to for- 
ward the growth of this plant ; and accordingly, 
abundance of grapes are produced in that country. 
It is not therefore for the want of this fruit that the 
Chinese neglect the use of wine ; and the notion, 
which has long prevailed, that the vine was recently 
introduced into this empire from the West, appears 
to be erroneous. From the information which the 
Abbe Grosier obtained relating to this plant, we 
learn that the vine has been known and cultivated 
in China from the remotest antiquity. It has, 
nevertheless, experienced many revolutions since its 
first introduction into that extensive empire, and 
has never been excepted, when orders have been 
issued for rooting up all the trees that encumbered 
the fields destined for agriculture. The extirpation 
of the vine has been even carried so far in most 
