| that exhilarating beverage. 
| of a tonic, these wines will prove beneficial. 
| convalescence, however, from acute diseases, if 
WINE. 
738 
peated on the smallest appearance of stupor, 
quick and sinking pulse, or tremor. A few 
glasses, and these even diluted with water, given 
in the space of twenty-four hours, will often pro- 
duce all that is required from wine ; but some- 
times very large quantities are necessary. Ina 
case of symptomatic tetanus, mentioned by Cur- 
rie, five bottles of Madeira wine were taken every 
day for some time, without producing the least 
symptoms of inebriety, or morbidly exciting the 
pulse ; but, on the contrary, with the utmost ad- 
vantage in allaying irritation, and relieving the 
patient. In ordinary cases of fevers, however, 
wine is, perhaps, in general, too freely given, so 
as to occasion exhaustion instead of supporting 
strength. Ina dietetical point of view, wine is 
useful or prejudicial, in proportion as the fer- 
mentation is more or less perfect. In wines con- 
taining the malic acid, when the fermentation 
has been imperfect, the fermentative state of the 
liquor is recommenced in the stomach, and much 
carbonic acid and other gases are evolved, which, 
distending that organ, oppress the individual ; 
and if he be dyspeptic, produce depression of 
spirits and all the horrors of hypochondriacism. 
When wine, however, is good, it stimulates grate- 
| fully the nerves of the stomach, and, consequently, 
promoting a more healthy secretion of the gastric 
fluid, greatly assists the chymification of the food. 
Sweet wines are more apt to become acescent than 
the dry wines; but it is erroneously conjectured 
that the same objection applies to the use of the 
Rhenish wines; for, as these wines contain much 
| free tartaric acid, and scarcely any malic or gallic 
acids, they are less: liable to ferment than many 
of the stronger wines. Sparkling, brisk wines, 
such as Champagne, intoxicate more speedily 
than the stiller wines, but the morbid excite- 
ment is of short duration, and the subsequent 
exhaustion is comparatively trifling. They are 
said to induce gout in those strongly predis- 
posed to that disease; but, probably, more is to 
| be attributed to the luxurious dishes which gen- 
erally accompany the use of Champagne, than to 
In febrile habits, 
Burgundy, Port, and the stronger white wines, 
are to be avoided; but in diseases of debility, 
particularly where the stomach requires the aid 
In 
wine be admissible, claret or some of the better 
kinds of Rhine wines—for example, Moselle or 
| Hock—are preferable; and this is particularly 
the case, if with a low pulse and much exhaus- 
| tion the nerves are so excitable as to produce a 
_ febrile action in the arterial system, on the ap- 
me er 2 Ste 
| plication of stimulants, either corporeal or men- 
| tal. 
In those who have a disposition to obesity, 
the Rhine wines, on account of their diuretic 
properties, are preferable to every other kind for 
daily use. Where health abounds, wine is alto- 
gether unnecessary; but, as habit has rendered 
the use of it general, it is to be lamented that, 
WING. 
in this country, the high prices of the more 
wholesome kinds force the great majority of the 
middling ranks to indulge in the use of those 
which contain too large a quantity of alcohol, 
and the lower classes to the abuse of spirituous 
liquors. When wine is prescribed as a cordial 
in a state of convalescence from acute diseases, 
or in a weakened state of the habit, it should not 
be taken with dinner or any other meal, but at 
; hoon, upon an empty stomach.” 
WINE-PALM,—botanically Manicaria sacci- 
fera. An Indian palm-tree, of commonly about 
30 feet in height. It constitutes a genus of it- 
self; and was introduced about 26 years ago to 
the palm-houses of Britain. See the article Pau. 
WINE (Sprrit or). See Anconon. 
WING. The wings of birds correspond to the 
fore legs of quadrupeds and the arms of man. 
The clavicle of birds is a hollow tube of great 
strength, and the fork is peculiar to winged ani- 
mals, The different bones of the wing are bound 
together, and connected with the bones of the 
body, by strong ligaments; and the muscles by 
which motion is communicated to them are the 
most powerful with which the animal is provided. 
All this peculiar apparatus is necessary to give 
due force to these instruments of locomotion. 
The construction and disposition of the feathers 
are not less curious, and admirably adapted for 
the purpose of flying. The best form of wind- 
mill sails, which human ingenuity and science 
have been able to devise, bears a striking resem- 
blance to the arrangement of the feathers in the 
wings of birds, and is one of many beautiful 
instances of the mathematical exactness of the 
principles on which the works of creation are 
constructed. The form of the wings is most 
accurately adapted to the habits of the birds. 
There are two forms, which have received the 
names of the rudder-formed and the sail-formed 
wings: the former are long, slim, and tapering, 
as in the falcons, swallows, &c. ; the latter broad, 
long, and rounded at the end, as in the swan, 
goose, &c. The former are for quick, sudden, 
and rapid motion, and are moved often; the 
latter for floating a long time more slowly 
through the air.—The wings of insects are mem- 
branous, elastic, for the most part transparent, 
and traversed by firm air-vessels, which some- 
times form a beautiful net-work. In some they 
are naked; in others, as in the butterflies, they 
are covered with fine, soft, feathery scales: in 
some they are extended and straight, in others 
folded. Some insects have four wings, and others 
but two; the latter are commonly provided with 
poisers or balancers (halteres). The difference in 
the structure and disposition of the wings is one 
of the distinctive marks on which the division of 
insects into orders is founded: thus we have the 
hemiptera, the coleoptera, the lepidoptera, the neu- 
roptera, &¢.—Quadrupeds which fly are provided 
with membranes extending over the bones of 
the extremities, by which they are enabled to 
| 
