November 2, 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
357 
They generally term it a wine. In this manner Petiot 
obtained 285 hectolitres of “ wine” from the quantity of 
grapes which ordinarily yielded only 60 hectolitres. But 
then Dick Swiveller’s “ Marchioness” knew how to make 
wine without any grapes at all. 
The chemistry of wanes is elaborately dealt with in a 
series of chapters. Commencing with a description of 
The physical characters of alcohol and the elementary 
constitution and chemical character of alcohol and its 
homologues, the different methods of alcohol determina¬ 
tion in wines are next described. Then follow the acids 
in wane, the ethers in wine, the varieties of sugar and 
methods for their determination, and afterwards the 
fatty, colouring, albuminous, astringent, extractive and 
mineral constituents of wines, and a series of analytical 
tables. In this section there is an evident desire to meet 
the wants of various classes of readers, for, while one 
wdth but little scientific knowledge will find nearly a 
page of elementary description of dialysis, the more ad¬ 
vanced student is furnished wdth percentages calculated 
to six places of decimals, and such specific gravities as 
999-99 ! Some idea of the intricacy of the subject may 
be formed if it be remembered that “ by the influence 
upon each other of the alcohols and acids known to be 
present in wane a considerable number of compound 
ethers may be produced. Supposing five acids and five 
alcohols to be present, they might produce twenty-five 
compound ethers, some or all of which might be present 
and contribute their share to the flavour, such flavour 
altering as one or other ether predominated. All these 
ethers occur in wine in extremely minute quantity, and 
almost entirely elude ordinary analysis.” 
Where there is so much that is valuable, it may seem 
trivial to criticize minor details ; but there are several 
points of orthography in this division against which 
we much protest. The old dispute between “ oxide ” 
and “ oxyde ” has now almost universally been decided 
in favour of the former; there seems, therefore, no suf¬ 
ficient reason for continuing such forms as “ suboxyde,” 
“binoxyde,” “ oxydizing,” etc., especially in the same 
book as “ oxidizing ” is used. Neither are we aware of 
any rule that prohibits a final “ e ” to “ mannit ” and 
“ dulcit,” and yet allows of its use in “ aldehyde.” 
“Baryum” and “ chromealum,” too, are, to say the 
least, unusual. There are also one or two cases where 
the omission of a figure has rendered a formula incor¬ 
rect. And in a book where almost everything is ex¬ 
plained, how is it that we meet with such a word as 
“ hvdrothion ?” 
w # 
There is, however, one subject alluded to in this sec¬ 
tion in a manner that appears open to justifiable criti¬ 
cism. After describing the ordinary operation for the 
making of vinegar, and the part which Mycoderma aceti 
plays in acetous fermentation, the authors say, “ If the 
alcoholic liquid employed in the vat is free from albu¬ 
minous matters, it is converted into vinegar by simple 
oxidation, without the intervention of the mycoderma, 
and even in the course of twenty years of constant use, 
no fungus is deposited on the wood shavings in the vat. 
If, however, the alcoholic solution contains albuminous 
matter, the Mycoderma aceti makes its appearance.” 
Now this is in direct opposition to the view entertained 
by M. Pasteur, who, in a recent debate in the French 
Academy, said that he did not believe there existed in 
any country a single drop of wine acidified spontane¬ 
ously in contact wdth air without the previous presence 
of the Mycoderma aceti. He backed up his opinion by 
two challenges; first, that if Baron Liebig would obtain 
some of the beech shavings referred to, dry them quickly 
in a stove, and send them to Paris, he would engage to 
demonstrate the presence of the mycoderms on their 
.surface ; and, secondly, that if a vat in work were filled 
for half an hour with boiling water, no more vinegar 
would be produced until sutficient time had elapsed for 
a fresh growth of mycoderms to appear on the shavings. 
Now, Drs. Thudichum and Dupre may be right, and 
M. Pasteur may be wrong; but the statements of the 
latter will not be disproved by simply ignoring them. 
Although controversial matters would be out of place 
in the present book, opinions that have been put forth 
with such ability and supported by many high authori¬ 
ties appear at least worthy of notice in “ a complete 
manual.” Moreover, there is the fact—also not noticed 
by the authors—that vinegar is now'- made in France by 
the direct sowing of the mycoderm on the surface of 
the wine. This method, while it does not prove that 
acetic fermentation never takes place without the myco¬ 
derms, is based bn M. Pasteur’s theory ; and it has been 
reported by M. Breton-Langier,* w r ho has worked it 
practically, to offer many advantages, a very suggestive 
one being that vinegar is produced at the end of ten 
days; the time required by the old method to put in 
work a fresh mere being from two to three months. 
The latter half of the book is taken up by descriptions 
of the principal wine districts and the pecularities in 
cultivation and manufacture. There is much hei'e to 
interest the ordinary reader, but it appears to be a vast 
store of information for the oenologist. We must be 
content with culling a few sentences here and there. 
One of the problems for the scientific viticulturist of the 
future to solve occurs in the Medoc and other districts 
where the “variation of the soil causes a great variety 
in its products, so that the best and most inferior vines 
grow frequently side by side. As the vines are the same 
and the cultivation identical, the soil alone can explain 
the difference; but the special conditions of this difference 
are yet wrapped in mystery.” The soil appears also to 
affect the duration of the vine, which in some places has 
to be replanted every twenty or thirty years ; in others 
it lives sixty or seventy years. Indeed, a sketch is given 
of a vine at Malines which produced seventy-three 
branches of grapes when upwards of one hundred years 
old. Another vine, which in M. Brouner’s vineyard 
at "Wiesloch had overgrown a pear-tree, brought a har¬ 
vest that took two men two days to cut down. 
We get one glimpse of the “ good old times,” when 
we are told that a most potent agent towards the per¬ 
fection of vinification in the Gironde has been the 
liberty which the Girondese won in the great revolution 
to gather their own grapes when they pleased; and 
another in the law existing in Portugal so late as the 
year 1833, which subjected a person adulterating wine 
in any manner, or a farmer possessing an elder tree on 
his land, to transportation for life. This is rather further 
than our modern anti-adulteration legislators would go, 
and probably would require an increase of penal settle¬ 
ments. There is ground for hope, however, that the day 
may come when a pure wine may be had for a moderate 
price, through capital and science being brought to bear 
in the development of comparatively unproductive dis¬ 
tricts. For instance, an excellent Dalmatian wine is 
sold at l^d. per litre, while yet the culture of the vine 
in Dalmatia is confined to the neighbourhood of the sea 
in consequence of the want of means of transport. 
Here, however, we must close this interesting book, 
which is got up in first-rate style; the illustrations are 
excellent, and the paper and printing very superior. 
Notice has been received of the following death : — 
On the 25th of October, Mr. David Mennie Anderson, 
of Kirriemuir, Forfarshire. 
BOOK RECEIVED. 
Health and Comfort in House Building. By J. 
Drysdale, M.D., and J. W. Hayward, M.D. London : 
E. and F. N. Spon. 1872. 
* ‘ Repertoire de Pharmaeie,’ vol. xxvii. p. 201. 
