Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

1204 VINUiM, VINUTM.
shown in the illustration on page 90. (Compare renewed, in which case a fresh chemical change
Lucian, Lex. 6.) takes place, and the wine is converted into vinegar
(6eos., acetelm1), and this acid, again, if exposed to
the air, loses its properties and becomes perfectly,_- insipid, in which form it was called vappa by the
Romnans, who used the word figuratively for a
worthless blockhead.
Now the great majority of inferior wines, beimng
thin anld wvatery, and containing little alcohol,
are constantly liable to undergo these changes,
-',;7\4 v ~and hence the disposition to acescence was closely.lrl.( ~ 2 \<a' watched and combated as far as possible. With
this view those substances were thrown into the
dolia, which it was known would neutralize any
acid which might be formed, such as vegetable
ashes, which contain an alkali, gypsum, and pure
lime, besides which we find a long list of articles,........ which must be regarded as preventives rather
"~5 X / \, ~~than correctives, such as the various preparations
of turpentine already noticed, almonds, raisins
steeped in muIllst, parched salt, goats' milk, cedarSXq.... lI\0&cones, gall-nuts, blazing pine-torches, or red-hot
irons quenched in the liquid, and a multitude of
others. (Geopon. vii. 12, 15, 16, &c.) But in ad) X — ) - - 1' dition to these, which are all harmless, we find
some traces of the use of the highly poisonous
salts of lead for the same purpose (Geopon. vii. 19),
a practice which produced the most fatal consequences in the middle ages, and was prohibited by
Among the ancients recourse -was had to va- a series of the most stringent enactments. (See
rious devices for preventing or correcting acidity, Beckmann's sIistory of' Inventions, vol. i. p. 396,
heightening the flavour, and increasing the dila- Trans.)
bility of the inferior kinlds of wine. IThis subject t ]ef2uttuns also was employed to a great extent;
was reduced to a regular system by the Greeks: but being itself liable to turn sour, it was not used
Pliny mentions four asuthors who had written for.. until its soundness had beenl tested by keeping it
llMal treatises, and the authors of the Geoponic col- for a year. It was then introduced, either in its
lection, together with Cato, Varro, and Columlella, simple state, in the proportion of a sextarits to the
supply a multitude of precepts upon the same ampllora, that is, of 1 to 48, or it was combined
topic. The object in view was accomplished somle- withl a great variety of aromatics, according to a
times by merely mixing different kiuds of wine prescription' furnished by Columella (xii. 20). In
together, but more fiequently by throwino into this receipt, and others of the same kind, the
the dolia or amphorae various condiments, or sea-. ml'ious herbs were intenlded to give additional.sonings (apdtu'ets, mlediesinC, conldilsrae). A-When efficacy to the nourishing powers of the defrutunl,
two wines were mixed together those were selected and great pains were taken to prevent them frosn
which possessed opposite good qualities and deCects. affecting the taste of the wine. But from a very
(Athen. i. p. 32. 6.) early period it was customary to flavour wines
Thie principal substsances employed as conditurtoe highly by a ]-arge admlixture of perfumes, plants,
avere, 1. sea-water; 2. turpentine, either pure, or anld spices. We find a spiced drink (4i dpas`drwu
ini the form of pitch (pix'),tar (lpdix liqusida), or caerao'sceVa' U6.eos) noticed under the namsne of
resin (resbins). 3. Limlle, ill the form of gypsium, I'rpmLuta by Athenanes and the writers of the ilew
burnt marble, or calcinled shells. 4. Illspissated comiedy (Athen. i. p. 31, e.; Pollux, vi. 18), andid
inust. 5. Arolmatic herbs, spices, anld gunis; and for thie whole class Pliny has the general term
these were used eithller singly, or cooked up into a aroem/tiles (xiv. 19. ~ 5).
great variety of comlplicated confections. Thriere was another and very numerous family
We lhave already seen tha:t it -was customary to of wines, entitled oevoeo vyseLro, into which drugs
line the inlterior of bothl the dolia and the amphorae were istroduced to produce mnedicilnal effects. Such
-with a coating of pitch; bult besides this it was were vine in(arserubii (horehound) for coughs, the
common to add this substance, or resin, inl powvder, scillites (squill-wine), to assist digestion, promote
to the must during the fermentation, from a con- expectorationl, atnd act as a general tonic, absinthites
viction that it not only rendered the wine Inore (wine of x wormwood), corresponding to the modern
full-bodied, but also comlnmlnicated asl agreeable verz:z/, and above all the oyriites (myrtle-berrybouquet, together with a certain degree of raciness wiile), which possessed innumerable virtues. (Coor piquancy. (Plin. NA It. xiv. 25; Plutarch, lumell. 32, 39; Geopon. viii. 1, &c.)
Syzmp. v. 3.) Wine of this sort, however, when Pliny, under thle head of vits fticilia, includes
new (noviliun v-esin2atlze) was accounted unwhole- inot onlly the oeot oyiEtwo[, but a vast number of
some and apt to induce headach and giddiness. others bearing a strong analogy to our British
From this circumstance it was denomisnated crapula, holme-made wines, such as cowslip, ginger, elderand was itself found to be serviceable in checkingl berry, anld the like; anld as we manufacture
the fermentation of the mast when too violent. Clhlaspagnle out of gooseberries, so the Italians
It must be remembered, that when the vinous had thleir ilmitations of the costly vintages of the
fermentation is not well regulated, it is apt to be | most favoured Asiatic isles. These visna fictitia