Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-01-12


INTOXICATING LIeuoRs OF the AsciENTs.-Admit-
ting that the invention Of barley wine originated in
Egypt, not because they had vines, but because
stimulating liquor, cheaper than grape wine, re-
CURED fer the of the common people, can trace
the use of it extending throughout Europe Dion
Cassus says, that I" the Pannonans, who nbabit the
| banks Of the Danube, had neither oil wine,
cept very lttc and that little bad they eat barley
and millet, and from these two kinds of grain make
drink" We learn from Ammianus, that similar
! liquor, called saJaia prepared from barley or
wheat in Illyricum. Tactus declares, that the an
cient Germans much addicted TO drunkenness,
and that amongst them, ait was no disgrace to con-
tnue drinking night and day;-"they prepared n
beverage from barley wheat, which they made into
liquor somewhat resembling wine" 1t is only in
this indirect way that learn anything concern
ing the quality Of the wines of antiquity, because
we know nothing Of the mode of preparation. Were
we acquainted with the process the would be other
wise; and the chief fact Of which ignorant is,
whether not any fcrment made Of With
out yeast the slight NATION, which takes place
spontaneously in corn liquors, would afford poor,
pd aciduous drink with very little eShirating pow
r er: and to the taste Of moderns it would prove not
a little disgusting Yeast certainly known to the
anciens Plny says i" the frohy head of all these Ii.
quors is used by ladies for identifying the skin of their
faces" but he does not say that il was used in brewing
, AT Roman ieasts the wine contained in earthen-
ware glass bottles, with label indicating lis
age and quality, for they set The greatest value the
oldest wines Sometimes the wine perfumcd, and
often il cooled with 1t was almost always
mixed with water, being seldom drunk By itself the
guests did it, but for this purpose boys Of great
beauty in attendance who measured it into cups
as required The mixing of water with wine at all
easts, was enforced among the Greeks. As the
Scythians and Thracans mixed no water, and were
much addicted to drunkenness; if n Laccd9monian did
the same, he stignatiZed Scythian topper. The
wine at Roman entertainments served at the second
course along with fruits The Romans drank healths,
either to each other or to an absent friend, and the
quantity drunk was in exact proportion TO the number
Fl of letters in the person name-not 10 the degree uf
friendship. But the most extraordinary of their
vivia customs the following A skeleton was
sometimes introduced at feass the representation OF
one, in imitation Of the Egyptians, upon which the
master of the feast looking at it, used to say, Drn
and be merry, for thus thou shalt be after death.
, Strange, indeed, must be the temper Of mind that
could be excited to mirth by such spectacle.
Some years since, in an old well in London, were
found some bottles of wlne which from various cir
cumstanccs, especially the glass being IN state Of
decomposition, and the shape of the bottles were
considered of great antiquity. On account of guam
tty of burnt wood which surrounded them, it was
thought that they had laid there since the great fire Of
London, in 1866 One of these bottles contained ex,
cellent Malaga, the other contained what appeared
to have been Port but the spirit had changed into
vinegar, and the vegetable matter in state Of
putreacton. During the excavation of the ancient
city Of Hercuaneuni, which was buried by an ernp
ton of Vesuvius, than seventeen hundred years
ago, cartlen containing wine found in 4
cellar it solid and resembled of porous
dark, volet-coloed glass. 1t is probable that this
mass had been esaPoraed wine. Boyle froze French
and Rhensh wines into ice. He relates follows -
flea physician Of my acquaintance having purchased
some Malaga suck at Moscow, which drawn from
frozen hogshead of the same liquor, it proved much
better and stronger than was expected but the remain
ing part Of the ice being thawed was little more than
phlegm. The Doctor also observed the like 10 happen
in other liquors; he did not, however, find the
sprtuous part always retire to the centre Of the vessel
but that lay sometimes interspersed among the ice
Mr. Bowie also instances that certain wines brought 10
Moscow are frozen their arrival that the casks
s,uved and the wine cleaved with hachets.
! He further adduces the Of barrel of strong
beer left by sailors shore IN Greenland. On
their return next year, il found hard trozcn "bnt
running heated spit into the middle Of the ice, there
issued out ,urbid liquor, that exceedingly strong
and sprituous whilst the frozen part almost insi-
pid" We have next to trace the progress of the diff
erent vnous liquors which have been made of in
the British isles in ancient times Previously 10 the
conquest of Britain by the Romans, (B. c. 55) ngri.
culture almost entirely unknown on the island.
The Romans, we'll versed in this important branch
of knowledge, taught the British the arts of peace
as we'll of war; and, during the time that they
maintained possession of the island, far advanced
were the inhabitants in civilization, that they export
ed corn and cattle in abundance, well as metals,
and pearls of great beauty Before the introduction Of
agriculture into Britain says Dr. Henry, mead, that s
honey diluted with water and fermented, probably
the only strong liquor known to its inhabitants, it
was TO many other nations in the circumstances
This continued to be favorise beverage amongst the