Let the acids be what they may, let their intermixture be ever so complicated, the respective bases must always unite with them in an invariable and constant ratio.

1 An Essay on the Disorders of Old Age.

261. Before we quit the subject of vinous acidity, I shall beg to say a few words upon its supposed influence in exciting paroxysms of gout. That such attacks have followed particular potations, I do not mean to deny; but a slight excess of any kind, whether in diet or in exercise, will excite the disease in those predisposed to it. Where the train is laid, an additional glass of claret may have acted as the match; but in all such cases, the explosion would have equally taken place, had, instead of claret, some other exciting cause fired it.

262. It has been already stated, that the characteristic ingredient of all wines is Alcohol; and that its quantity, and the condition or state of combination in which it exists, are the circumstances in which the medical inquirer is principally interested. The late experiments of Mr. Brande have thrown considerable light upon this subject; although, as in most instances of discovery, they have raised up new doubts and difficulties. Daily experience convinces us, that the same quantity of alcohol applied to the stomach under the form of wine, and in a state of mixture with water, will produce very different effects upon the body, and to an extent which it is difficult to understand. It has, for instance, been demonstrated beyond the reach of doubt, that Port, Madeira, and Sherry contain from one-fourth to one-fifth their bulk of alcohol; so that a person who takes a bottle of either of them, will thus take nearly half a pint of alcohol, or almost a pint of pure brandy! Aud, moreover, that different wines, although containing the same absolute proportion of spirit, will be found to vary very considerably in their intoxicating powers.

No wonder, then, that such results should have staggered the philosopher, who is naturally unwilling to accept any tests of difference from the nervous system, which elude the ordinary resources of analytical chemistry. The conclusion was therefore drawn, that alcohol must necessarily exist in wine in a far different condition from that in which we know it in a separate state; or, in other words, that its elements only could exist in the vinous liquor, and that their union was determined, and, consequently, alcohol produced, by the act of distillation. That it was the product, and not the educt of distillation, was an opinion which originated with Rouelle, who asserted, that alcohol was not completely formed until the temperature was raised to the point of distillation. More lately, the same doctrine was revived and promulgated by Fabbroni, in the Memoirs of the Florentine Academy. Gay Lussac has, however, silenced the partisans of this theory, by separating the alcohol by distillation, at the temperature of 66° Fahrenheit; and, by the aid of a vacuum, it has since been effected at 56°. And to complete the demonstration, Mr. Brande has shown that, by precipitating the colouring matter, and some other elements of the wine, by the sub-acetate of lead, and then saturating the clear liquor with sub-carbonate of potass, the alcohol may be separated without any elevation of temperature; and he has accordingly, by this ingenious expedient, been enabled to construct a table, exhibiting the proportions of spirit which exist in the several kinds of wine.

No doubt, therefore, can any longer be entertained upon the subject; and the fact of the difference of effect produced by the same bulk of alcohol, when presented to the stomach in different states, is to be explained on the supposition that, in wine, it is not only more intimately mixed with water, but that it exists in combination with its extractive matter; in consequence of which it is incapable of exerting its full effects before it becomes altered in its properties, or, in other words, partially digested1; and this view of the subject may be fairly urged in explanation of the fact, that the intoxicating effects of the same wine are liable to vary in degree, in the same individual, from the peculiar state of his digestive organs at the time of its potation.

263. In the former editions of this work, the reader was presented with an abstract of Mr. Braude's table; upon more mature deliberation, however, I agree with Dr. Henderson in suspecting, that several of the wines analysed by that distinguished chemist, must have been mixed with a considerable quantity of adventitious alcohol. I have therefore availed myself of those corrections which the author of the history of wines, in conjunction with his friend, Dr. Prout, has been enabled to afford us.

1 Dr. Macculloch has conjectured that alcohol may be subject to varieties of composition, analogous to those which are found in the bodies included under the denomination of carburetted hydrogen gas.

Table Of The Quantity Of Alcohol (Sp. Gr. .825), At 60&Deg; Fahr., In Several Kinds Of Wines And Other Liquors

Per cent, by measure.

Port, average of seven specimens......

2296

Do..............

2064

Madeira, average of four speci.

mens.........

22.27

Sherry, average of four kinds. ..

19.17

Ditto, very old.....

2380

Claret, average of three kinds. ..

14.43

Calcavella......

1810

Lisbon........

18.94

Malaga....

1726

Bacellas...

18.49

Red Madeira...

18.40

Malmsey do....

1.406

Marsala.....

17.26

Red Champagne...

11.30

White do....

12.80

Burgundy.....

14.57

Ditto.....

11.95

White Hermitage....

17.43

Red do....

12.32

Hock......................

14.37

Do.........

8.88

Palm Wine......

4.70

Per cent, by measure.

vin de Grave.....

12.80

Frontignac.....

12 79

Cote Roti.....

12 32

Rousillon.....

17 26

Cape Madeira.....

18.11

Cape Muchat....

18.25

Constantia.....

14.50

Tent.......

13 20

Sheraaz......

1980

Syracuse....

15.28

Nice......

14.63

Tokay....

9.88

Raisin Wine.....

25 77

Grape Wine....

18.11

Currant Wine....

20.55

Gooseberry Wine...

11.64

Elder Wine, Cider, and Perry..

9.87

Stout....

6.80

Ale.....

8.88

Brandy....

53.39

Rum.......

5368

Hollands......

51.60

264. We have hitherto only considered alcohol as it exists in a combined state in wine; but it is essential to state, that the stronger wines of Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, are rendered marketable in this country by the addition of brandy, and must consequentiy contain more or less uncombined spirit; but the proportion of which will not bear a ratio to the quantity added, because, at the period of its admixture, a renewed fermentation is produced by the scientific vintner, which will assimilate and combine a certain proportion of the foreign spirit with the wine; this manipulation, in technical language, is called "fretting in" It is to the quantity of free, not to that of combined spirit, that the injurious effects of such wines are to be attributed. "It is well known," observes Dr, Macculloch, "that diseases of the liver are the most common and the most formidable of those produced by the use of ardent spirits." It is equally certain, that no such disorders follow the intemperate use of pure wine, however long indulged in: to the concealed and unwitting consumption of spirit, therefore, as contained in the wines generally drunk in this country, is to be attributed the excessive prevalence of those hepatic affections, which are comparatively little known to our continental neighbours.

265. Much has been said about the effects of new wine upon the stomach, compared with those produced by that which has been long kept. It will be necessary to consider the changes produced in this liquor by being kept. In the first place, red wine gradually deposits a quantity of cream of tartar, in combination with extractive and colouring matter, forming what is commonly called the crust; so that a considerable portion of that matter which is likely to disagree with the stomach is thus removed; but when kept in a cask, in addition to this change, a quantity of water is evaporated, and the wine becomes comparatively stronger1. The custom of exposing Madeira to motion, and a certain elevation of temperature, by sending it a voyage to the East Indies, unquestionably improves the flavour, and produces some internal change in the composition of the wine, which the chemist is unable to explain.