Litchfield enquirer., 1871-03-16

are especially named, boiling, Altering and
 fumigating the same as modern science
 has only redeveioped. Smiths Greek and
 Rom an Antiquities says must. from the
 best and oldest vines, was inspissated by
 boiling, being then distinguished by the
 Greeks nnder the general name of Gleuxis"
 Several times used in the New Testament)
 while the Latin writers have various terms
 according to the extent of evaporation"
 Thus Homer represents Ulysses as taking
 in his boat "a goat skin of sweet black
 wine. a drink which the priest of Apollo
 gsve him, sweet as honey, imperishablc i;
 when drunk, diluted with twenty parts of
 water, and from it divine odor exhaled.
 Thus Virgil says. |" Or of sweet must boils
 down the luscious juice. and skins with
 leaves the trembling cauldron's flood. .''--
 Thus Horace says ' there is no wine
 sweeter to drink than Lesbian. It more
 resembles ambrosia than wine. is perfectly
 harmless and will not produce intoxica, tion," and in one of his odes writes there
 shall you quaff. under the shade, cups of
 the unintoxicating Lasbian.'' The Lace
 demonians boiled their wines until redu-
 ced one fifth, and began to drink them at
 the end of four years. Aristotle speaks of
 the wine of Arcadia as so thick that it was
 necessary to scrape it from the skin bot
 1uo
 mentions the celebrated Opimian wine as, in his day, two centuries after it's pro- duction. having the consistency of honey.
 Columilla, cotemporary with the Apostles. states that ''in Italy and Greece it was consn,on to boil their wines" and sa, s they called it Amethusson," literally non-in- toxicating and comments it as "a good wine and harmless. " He also gives mi- mute receipt for the Altering of wine and it's preservation. By this process the glu- ten was separated from it and fermentation prevented. Plutarch, Pliny and Horace refer frequently to it as rendering the wine " lighter, sweeter, more pleasant, more in accordance with nature." Pliny and many others, also describe the fumigation with sulphur, as being highly prized for the same purpose. Horace says "this day re- move the cork from the jar set to fumigate in the consulship of Tullus. Take, my Msecenas. hundred glasses, and continue the wakeful lamps even to daylight, all clamor and passion be far away" Enough. surely I need not multiply qaotations.- The conclusion of Prof. Stuart is irresisti ble. C facts show that the ancients not only preserved their wine unfer- but regarded it as of higher flavor and finer quality-than fermented wine" That they had also those which would no one denies There were then, as always, persons of vititated taste and those who craved the exhiliration of stimu- lants; but the taste of the people, and the ordinary practice among all classes who could afford what they preferred, was OF the other side. Pliny, Cato, Varro, Hor- ace, etc., were the gentlemen of their day. and none but very eccentric gentlemen then used fermented liquor; while the Ro man law absolutely prohibited it to aUomen In periods of corruption and degradation the. custom somewhat changed. Profiga- cy demanded excitement. and ''strong drink" and drugged wine became more common. but it never was prevailing habit. Always, as Henderson says, ''the use of the inspissated Ii. e. thickened by evaporation juice was general" or as Rule says. cit was chiefly known in an- tiquity as the casual drink of the peasantry and the choice beverage of epicures." But the question may arise: Did the same prac. iee exist among the nations referred to Tn the Bible? Here the testimony cannot be so explicit because of their limited litera- ture and our limited knowledge of their secular affairs. What there is, however, is to me entirely satisfactory. We should naturally suppose that intercourse among the nations would induce similarity in their mode of preparing such an article of commerce, and that it would be perfected with care in the luxuriant grape district, that of Palestine; where also the high Sum- mer temperature, causing quick acetons fermentation which precluded the vinous, would lead to the study of the best meth ods of preservation. Accordingly Arch bishop Potter,A. D. 1874. refers to Democ. ritus, @ celebrated philosopher. who trav- eled over the greater part of Europe, Asia and Africa. and died 361 B. O., as making the same statements in regard to the boil ed wines of those countries which I have already quoted concerning the Laced@mo- nians. Brown, who travelled extensively in Africa. Egypt and Syria. about A. D. 1790, states that ''the wines of Syria are. most of them prepared hy boiling immedi- ately after being expressed" and adds,
 'There is reason to believe that this mode of boiling, was the general practice among
 the ancients." Volney, 1788, in his Trav- els in Syria, says s'The general custom of the country is to reduce the must to two thirda of ifs nuantikv '" ssSuch aro &ha xu;cos