National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-05-22
health to gratifya sentimental recollection
Of the virtues Of the primitive cognac.
authorizations OF WINE,

OF the virtues OF the primitive cognac,
ADULTERATioSs or WINE.
A few words on the authorizations Of wine
may not be out OF place. Chemically con-
sidered, pure wine Is the fermented Juice OF
the grape. The constituents Of pure wine
may therefore vary through a wide range,
depending on the kind of grape employed,
the character Of the fermentation, and the
nature Of the manipulation to which IL is
subjected. In addition TO this the proper
ties Of a wine are greatly influenced by the
operations TO which the new wine Is sub
lected, the method Of its preservation, its
subsequent treatment, and the temperature
Of the cellar Ia which II is kept.
The expressed juice Of the grape contains
grape sugar. fruit sugar, and inesitc, in all
amounting to 20 or 30 per cent. OF the
whole 1t also contains from g to g per
cent Of albuminous matters, which, under
the influence Of special organisms, give
rise to vigorous lamentations.
In addition to this the must contains
peCtine and some other vlscous substances,
some elements not well known and called
'eNtractive mattern and containing the
odorous and coloring matters Of the wine,
some organic acids, namely, tartarlc and
malic; some inorganic acids, viz, sillcic,
phospboric, and hydrochloric combined
with calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron,
and Manganese. When fannie acid is found,
the grape; 1t is not found In the juice.
The chief effect OF the fermentation con-
sists In transforming part OF the sugar
into alcohol and carbonc acid. In addition
to these there are produced, by fermenta-
ton, small quantities Of succinic acid, glyc.
crime; fatty bodies, and cellulose
The small quantity Of sugar left by the
first fermentation tends to 2 appear with
time, giving rise tonew quantities OF alcohol
and parlppip npi1-
Meanwhile the insolublc substances are
| precipitated, the acidity diminished, the
bouquet appears, and the wine is rendered
| palatabe.
Then the juice Of the grape, MS Ia often
| the case, docs not contain large percent.
age Of sugar, and does contain an unu-
| sually large percentage OF ac!d IL becomes
necessary todlminish the latter and increase
| the former, In order to make palatable
| wine.
This process, called by tAe French "Chap-
| talizatGn,n from Chaptal, its inventor con
sists In adding to the must marble dust, to
| nCutralize portion Of the free acii, and
sugar to increase the percentage OF alcohol
| Chaptal used for this purpose cane or beet
sugar, but this is often replaced by the sugar
Of starch or so.called grape sugar"
DR.. Ludwig Gall has invented modii-
| cation Of the above process, which Is known
as "Gallization," and in which water is
also added, and thus the total quantity Of
the wine increased.
| According to Gall, musts OF good quality
contain-Sugar, "a per cent; water, 15.4;
acid, 0O6. A must of mean quality con
tains-Sugar, 90 per cent; water, 79.5;
acid, 00.5. In the process Of Civilization
the object TO be attained is to reduce all
musts to this latter type. Thus, II natural
must Of poor quality contains for each
100. parts-Sugar, 10 parts; water, 500;
acid, IS, 1t can be reduced approximately
to the normal standard by adding water,
sulting solution will contain Of sugar, 20
per cent; water, 76.6; acid, 0.4, and the
| quantity Of wine produced will be doubled.
PETIoTIzATIoN.
Petiot has Invented process OF manu-
featuring a second wine from the pomace
| by treating the latter with water containing
In solution a proper amount Of sugar. Much
| Of the bi-tartrate of potassium, of the col
oring and odorous matters and Of the tannin
remains in the monaco after the expression
OF the juice, and this is secured by the treat
ment above mentioned. The wine thus
made is usually sour and is known as pi-
| quette.
In France Petiotization is practiced on
large scale, and this Is the explanation OF
the enormous quantities of wine known as
! Bordeaux, and which is sold so cheaply in
| all parts Of the world.
The above processes in the manufacture
| OF wine have become so common that they
are no longer regarded as processes Of
adulteration, and yet, strictly speaking they
| should be placed In that category. ] have
| yet to cOntider some Of the processes
clearly fraudulent, by which purely artifi-
cial wines are fabricated, or pure wines so
altered as to become clearly artificial. For
merly the authorizations were so clumsily
practicGd that IL was not diflcnlt to detect
Them, but the falsifiers have SO kept pace
with the progress Of modern chemistry
that even wine-tasters, experts, and chem
lists hesitate to judge them.
In general II may be said that the adul-
iteration OF wine consists in the addition OF
any substance whatever, with view to
profit.
BY far the most important and widely
| practiced adulteration consists In what the
French call mouillage. This consists in
adding water to the wine, and then alcohol
to raise the alcoholic content to the mean
Of good wines. In case the color Of the
wine is weakened too much by this pro
cess IL Is restored by the addition OF
fucbsine or some other appropriate color
ing matter. On the other hand the fraud
may also he detected by the decrease Of the
"cxtractive matter" which may fall from
thirty to fifteen parts per thousand, The
|
diminished. lit the municipal laboratory
OF Paris the basis Of comparison for mouil
lage Is fixed ct a mean OF IL per cent
alcohol and twenty Jour parts per Thousand
of eXtractive matter for normal wine.
sCuEELIsAGg.
The addition OF glycerine Is practiced Il
make the wine mild, to give 1t body, nnC
assist in Its preservation. The addition o
glycerine also serves to conceal to certain
extent the absence Of extract. The nor
NAL content Of glycerine in wines is abou
six parts per thousand.
The introduction OF quantity Of glycer
inc into the system does not seem TO b
without injurious results. 1t has bee
shown that 1t increases the quantity of cal
bonic acid eShaled, and very notably dc
creases the execretion Of urea. In animal
urae mia has been produced by large au
continued use Of glvcerine. 1t is there
fore one Of those authorizations which mus
be regarded as prejudicial to health.
LITHARGE.
: The oxide OF lead is sometimes added I
wine to mask its sourness, In the wine
is converted into acetate Of lead, which hi
an intensely sweet taste. Wine treated |
this way Is veritable poison. Alum an
: common salt are also sometimes added
wine,
PLATRAGE.
Sulphate ofpotassium is added to watere
, wines for the purpose OF restoring I'll
potash present In natural wines rs bl-ta
trate. 1t makes but poor substitute Il
, the natural salt.
sALICYLIC ACID.
} The employment of salicylic acid hi
} lately come into use, especially with ii
object Of defrauding the revenue. 1t
well known that this acid has the power {
I arTesting, for considerable tim
the process OF fermentation, a
though It does not destroy the fe
} ment germ. After time this agai
becomes active, and the production Of a
cohol is recommended. II follows, Their
/ fore, that to new wine, only partial
fermented, sugar aud salicylic acid can |
l | nhdel. md Tie wine snhieclnd to laYailn