Wine that has been mellowed by the agency of smoke is extremely unwholesome—a fraudulent method of preparation that has been invented in the wine-lofts[2910] of the retail dealers. At the present day, however, this plan is adopted in private families even, when it is wished to give the appearance of maturity to wines that have become carious.[2911] Indeed, this term carious has been used very appositely by the ancients with reference to wines; for we find that in the case of wood even, smoke exercises a caustic effect upon the carious parts, and eats them away; and yet we, on the other hand, persuade ourselves that an adventitious age may he imparted to wines by the bitter twang derived from smoke![2912]
Those wines which are extremely pale, become more wholesome the older they are. The more generous[2913] a wine is, the thicker it becomes with age; while, at the same time, it contracts a bitter flavour, which is far from exercising a beneficial effect upon the health. To season another wine, that is not so old, with this, is nothing less than to make an unwholesome preparation. The more of its own natural flavour[2914] a wine possesses, the more wholesome it is; and the best age for a wine is that which naturally belongs to it, a medium age being the one that is the most generally esteemed.
CHAP. 23.—SIXTY-ONE OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO WINE.
Persons whose wish it is to make flesh, or to keep the bowels relaxed, will do well to drink while taking their food. Those, on the other hand, who wish to reduce themselves, or prevent the bowels from being relaxed, should abstain from drinking while taking their meals, and drink but a very little only when they have done eating. To drink wine fasting is a fashion of recent introduction[2915] only, and an extremely bad one for persons engaged in matters of importance, and requiring a continued application of the mental faculties. Wine, no doubt, was taken fasting in ancient times, but then it was as a preparative for sleep and repose from worldly cares; and it is for this reason that, in Homer,[2916] we find Helen presenting it to the guests before the repast. It is upon this fact, too, that the common proverb is founded, which says that “wisdom is obscured by wine.”[2917] It is to wine that we men are indebted for being the only animated beings that drink without being thirsty. When drinking wine, it is a very good plan to take a draught of water every now and then; and to take one long draught of it at the last, cold water taken internally having the effect of instantaneously dispelling inebriation.
It is strongly recommended by Hesiod[2918] to drink undiluted wine[2919] for twenty days before the rising of the Dog-star, and as many after. Pure wine, too, acts as an antidote to hemlock, coriander,[2920] henbane, mistletoe, opium, mercury, as also to stings inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, the phalangium, serpents, and scorpions; all kinds of poison, in fact, which are of a cold nature, the venom of the hæmorrhois and the prester,[2921] in particular, and the noxious effects of fungi. Undiluted wine is good, too, in cases of flatulency, gnawing pains in the thoracic organs, excessive vomitings at the stomach, fluxes of the bowels and intestines, dysentery, excessive perspirations after prolonged fits of coughing, and defluxions of various kinds. In the cardiac[2922] disease, it is a good plan to apply a sponge soaked in neat wine to the left breast: in all these cases, however, old white wine is the best. A fomentation of hot wine applied to the genitals of beasts of burden is found to be very beneficial; and, introduced into the mouth, with the aid of a horn, it has the effect of removing all sensations of fatigue.[2923] It is asserted that in apes, and other quadrupeds with toes, the growth will be impeded if they are accustomed to drink undiluted wine.[2924]
CHAP. 24.—IN WHAT MALADIES WINE SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED; HOW IT SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED, AND AT WHAT TIMES.
We shall now proceed to speak of wine in relation to its medicinal uses. The wines of Campania[2925] which have the least body, are the most wholesome beverage for persons of rank and station; and for the lower classes[2926] the best kind of wine is that which is the most pleasant to the person who drinks it, provided he is in robust health. For persons of all ranks, however, the most serviceable wine is that the strength of which has been reduced by the strainer;[2927] for we must bear in mind that wine is nothing else but juice of grapes which has acquired strength by the process of fermentation. A mixture of numerous kinds of wine is universally bad, and the most wholesome wine of all is that to which no ingredient has been added when in a state of must; indeed, it is still better if the vessels even in which it is kept have never been pitched.[2928] As to wines which have been treated with marble, gypsum, or lime,[2929] where is the man, however robust he may be, that has not stood in dread of them?
Wines which have been prepared with sea-water[2930] are particularly injurious to the stomach, nerves, and bladder. Those which have been seasoned with resin are generally looked upon as beneficial to a cold stomach, but are considered unsuitable where there is a tendency to vomit: the same, too, with must, boiled grape-juice,[2931] and raisin wine. New wines seasoned with resin are good for no one, being productive of vertigo and head-ache: hence it is that the name of “crapula”[2932] has been given equally to new resined wines, and to the surfeit and head-ache which they produce.