eneral belief is, that this nutritious
matter, and even the peculiar combination in which it is found in the
fruit, has been made directly for the immediate use of man. This,
however, is a mistake. The nutritious matter of the grape, as in the
apple, pear, or any similar product, is designed by Nature only to
serve as the first nourishment of the future plant, the germ of which
lies in it. There are thousands of fruits of no use whatever, and are
even noxious to man, and there are thousands more which, before they
can be used, must be divested of certain parts, necessary, indeed, to
the nutrition of the future plant, but unfit, in its present state, for
the use or nourishment of man. For instance, barley contains starch,
mucilaginous sugar, gum, adhesive matter, vegetable albumen, phosphate
of lime, oil, fibre and water. All these are necessary to the formation
of roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and the new grain; but for the
manufacture of beer, the brewer needs only the first three substances.
The same rule applies to the grape.

"In this use of the grape, all depends upon the judgment of man to
select such of its parts as he wishes, and by his skill he adapts and
applies them in the best manner for his purposes. In eating the grapes,
he throws away the skins and seeds; for raisins, he evaporates the
water, retaining only the solid parts, from which, when he uses them,
he rejects their seeds. If he manufactures must, he lets the skins
remain. In making wine, he sets free the carbonic acid contained in the
must, and removes the lees, gum, tartar, and, in short, everything
deposited during, and immediately after fermentation, as well as when
it is put into casks and bottles. He not only removes from the wine its
sediments, but watches the fermentation, and checks it as soon as its
vinous fermentation is over, and the formation of vinegar about to
begin. He refines his wine by an addition of foreign substances if
necessary; he sulphurizes it; and, by one means or another, remedies
its distempers.

"The manufacture of wine is thus a many-sided art; and he who does not
understand it, or knows not how to guide and direct the powers of
Nature to his own purposes, may as well give up all hopes of success in
it."

So far DR. GALL; and to the intelligent and unbiased mind, the truth
and force of these remarks will be apparent, without further extending
or explaining them. How absurd, then, the blind ravings of those who
talk