253. Volumes have been written to prove that spirit, in every form, is not only unnecessary to those who are in health, but that it has been the prolific source of the most painful and fatal diseases to which man is subject; in short, that Epimetheus himself did not, by opening the box of Pandora, commit a greater act of hostility against our nature than the discoverer of fermented liquors. Every apartment, it is said, devoted to the circulation of the glass, may be regarded as a temple set apart for the performance of human sacrifices; and that they ought to be fitted up, like the ancient temples of Egypt, in a manner to show the real atrocity of the superstition that is carried on within their walls. This is mere rant and nonsense; a striking specimen of the fallacy of reasoning against the use of a custom from its abuse. There exists no evidence to prove that a temperate use of good wine, when taken at seasonable hours, has ever proved injurious to healthy adults. In youth, and still more in infancy', the stimulus which it imparts to the stomach is undoubtedly injurious; but there are exceptions even to this general rule.

The occasional use of diluted2 wine has improved the health of a child, by imparting vigour to a torpid stomach: we ought, however, to consider it rather as a medicine than as a luxury.

1 An ingenious surgeon tried the following experiment. - He gave to two of his children, for a week alternately, after dinner, to the one a full glass of Sherry, and to the other a large China Orange. The effects that followed were sufficient to prove the injurious tendency of vinous liquor. In one the pulse was quickened, the heat increased, the urine became high coloured, and the stools destitute of the usual quantity of bile; whilst the other had every appearance that indicated high health. The same effects followed when the experiment was reversed. See Beddoes's Hygeia, vol. ii. p. 35.

254. Without entering further into the discussion of a question which has called so many opponents into the field, it may be observed, that whatever opinion we may have formed as to the evils or advantages consequent upon the invention of wine, we are not called upon, as physicians, to defend it; our object is to direct remedies for the cure of those diseases which assail man as we find him in the habits of society, not as he might have been had he continued to derive his nourishment from the roots of the earth, and his drink from its springs. As these habits, says Dr. W. Philip, are such, that more or less alcohol is necessary to support the usual vigour of the greater number of people even in health, nothing could be more injudicious than wholly to deprive them of it when they are already weakened by disease, unless it could be shown that even a moderate use of it essentially adds to their disease, which, in dyspeptics, is by no means the case. My own experience coincides with that opinion.

In cases where the vinous stimulant has been withdrawn, I have generally witnessed an aggravation of the dyspeptic symptoms, accompanied with severe depression of spirit: like Sindbad, in the Arabian tale, the patient has borne a weight on his shoulders which he has in vain attempted to throw off, until the fermented juice of the grape enabled him to triumph over his enemy.

2 By diluting the wine, we apply the stimulus more generally to the stomach, and thus produce a greater effect with a less quantity of spirit.

255. Although it is impossible to enter at any length on the subject of wine? upon which so many volumes 1 have been already written, a work on dietetics would be very imperfect, were the distinctions which exist between the different species to be left unnoticed. Many of these distinctions are important in a medical point of view, as the chemical circumstances, upon which they depend, confer upon the respective wines qualities which are directly connected with their effects on the body.

256. The term Wine is more strictly and especially applied to express the fermented juice of the grape; although, in common language, it is used to denote that of any sub-acid fruit. The presence of tartar is perhaps the circumstance by which the grape is more strongly distinguished from all the other sub-acid fruits that have been applied to the art of wine making. Its juice, besides, contains, within itself, all the principles essential to vinification, in such a proportion and state of balance as to enable it, at once, to undergo a regular and complete fermentation; whereas, the juices of other fruits require artificial additions for this purpose; and the scientific application, and due adjustment of these means, constitute the art of making domestic wines 1 It has been remarked, that all those wines that contain an excess of malic acid are of a bad quality: hence the grand defect that is necessarily inherent in the wines of this country, and which leads them to partake of the properties of cider; for in the place of the tartaric, the malic acid always predominates in our native fruits.

1 For any information upon this subject, the reader is referred to Dr. Henderson's able work, entitled "The History of Ancient and Modern Wines".

257. The characteristic ingredient of all wines is alcohol; and the quantity of this, and the condition or state of combination in which it exists, are the circumstances that include the more interesting points of inquiry, and explain the relative effects which different wines produce upon the system. I shall therefore proceed to investigate the various species, with reference to such conditions.

258. Wines may be, at once, resolved into two great divisions; into those which are coloured, and commonly called red wines, and into those which have a yellow tinge, more or less deep, termed white wines. This colouring matter is not derived from the juice, but from the husk of the grapes. If, therefore, the fermentation be not permitted to take place in contact with the hulls, and sometimes even with the stalks of the fruit, a white wine is in all cases produced. This colouring matter is highly astringent, and consequently the red wines differ from the white in their effects upon the stomach; and yet it is difficult to explain the well-known extent of this operation, by the presence of so small a proportion of active matter. It must, however, be remembered that irritable stomachs are frequently impatient of astringent matter. Many persons are incapable of drinking Port wine, in consequence of the heartburn it occasions; while others, on the contrary, appear to derive advantage from the tonic influence of its astringency. This is a circumstance of idiosyncrasy which no theory can explain.