The amount of solid matter per gallon in the water of the New Red Sandstone varies from 6 to 15 grains, when it has been taken from wells not too shallow, or from those which are free from contamination by sewage pollution or other causes. It is to such a cause that the large proportion of saline and other ingredients in some of the Liverpool and Manchester wells, amounting in some instances to 21 and 36 grains per gallon respectively, is attributable. In general, the proportion of these ingredients occupies a central position between those of the Chalk and other limestone forma tions, on the one hand, and the surface waters of mountain districts, composed of Millstone Grit or of Silurian roe,ks, on the other.
Wine. (Fa., Vin ; GER., Wein.) Wine is a generic title applied to a very large number of beverages produced by the fermentation of the juice of the grape. The art of making these has been known and practised since the remotest ages of which we have any record.
The wine of grapes is, and always has been, the principal fermented drink of the southern European nations. In the TJnited Kingdom, its consumption has been steadily increasing for many years; without the aid of figures it would be impossible to give a just notion of the immense irnportance of wine as a beverage in this country. In 1857, the total consumption was more than 7,000,000 gallons ; while twenty years later, iu 1877, we find that it has increased to the enormous amount of nearly 17,000,000 gallons. Owing to the costliness of wine, its consumption is almost exclusively confined to the upper and middle classes, beer and spirits being the poor man's sub stitute. In France, Spain, and Italy, where beer is not largely drunk, and where wine is much less expensive, it constitutes, as already stated, the national alcoholic beverage, being consumed alike by rich and poor.
The composition and properties of different vvines are influenced by a vast number of conditions and circumstances. The climate of the country, the nature of the season, the soil in which the vines are grown, the variety of grape, the mode of culture, the time of gathering, the treatment of the gathered fruit, the mode of fermenting the must, the temperature and length of time of pre servation,—all these, and numerous other considerations of minor importance, have a direct influence upon the composition and quality of wine. All wines, however, contain alcohol, but in widely varying proportions, sugar, and certain flavouring ethers to which the peculiar bouquet or aroma of each is due. Besides these, among the reviles constituents of wine may be mentioned glycerine, extractive aud mucilaginous matters, mineral and colouring matters, and eight distinct organic acids. Of these latter, four are formed iu the juice and skins of the grape, viz. tartaric, malic,
tannic, and gallic acids ; while the remaining four, carbonic, acetic, formic, and succinic acids are formed during the process of fermentation. Water is, of course, the largest constituent of wiue, as of all other fermented beverages.
The amount of alcohol in wine depends upon the quantity of sugar held in the must before fer mentation, and hence varies considerably. The proportion by weight of absolute alcohol iu some of the best-known wines is shown in the following table :— A good proportion of alcohol is necessary to the proper preservation of wine. Such wines as port, sherry, and Madeira, which contain nearly 20 per cent, of alcohol, cannot possibly- undergo after-fermentation, and may be kept for any length of time. French wines average from 8 to 10 per cent. by volume of alcohol, and require much care for their preservation. Wines containing less than this quantity do not hear transport well, and on exposure to the air turn sour from the forma tion of acetio acid. In Spain, Portugal, and France, it is customary to add alcohol to wine after fermentation, and in these cases the whole of the alcohol in the wines does not originate from the sugar of the must. Unless the deficiency be made up in this way, precaution must be taken, by means of repeated clarifications, to remove every trace of fermentable matter from the wines, and thus to prevent the possibility of its being ruined by acetification and other degenerating influences.
The sugar which is invariably found in wine is that of the grape, which has escaped the decom posing action of the fermentation. To this unaltered sugar is due the sweetness or "fruitiness" of some wines, and notably of port. They are called "dry" when the proportion of sugar is very small. Sugar is generally added to the must of the champagne grape before fermentation, in order to give it body, and also to keep it sparkling and prevent acetification. Only tho very purest cane-sugar is ever used for this purpose, since the senses of taste and smell can easily detect the presence of impurities in the wines derived from the sugar, which cannot by any of the senses be detected in the sugar itself. Burgundy, claret, Rhenish, Moselle, and Carlowitz contain no sugar, or only a trace. The amount usually found in the most important sweet wines is shown in the following table:— Lachrymte Christi .. 27 per cent. Port .. .. 4 per cent.