364.
288. VITIS vinifera. GRAPE VINE. Raisins and different Wines. L. E.--
These are to cheer the spirits, warm the habit, promote perspiration,
render the vessels full and turgid, raise the pulse, and quicken the
circulation. The effects of the full-bodied wines are much more durable
than those of the thinner; all sweet wines, as Canary, abound with a
glutinous nutritious substance; whilst the others are not nutrimental,
or only accidentally so by strengthening the organs employed in
digestion: sweet wines in general do not pass off freely by urine, and
heat the constitution more than an equal quantity of any other, though
containing full as much spirit: red port, and most of the red wines,
have an astringent quality, by which they strengthen the tone of the
stomach and intestines, and thus prove serviceable for restraining
immoderate secretions: those which are of an acid nature, as Renish,
pass freely by the kidneys, and gently loosen the belly: it is supposed
that these last exasperate, or occasion gout and calculous disorders,
and that new wines of every kind have this effect.
The ripe fruit of grapes, of which there are several kinds, properly
cured and dried, are the raisins and currants of the shops: the juice of
these also, by fermentation, affords wine as well as vinegar and tartar.
The medical use of raisins is, their imparting a very pleasant flavour
both to aqueous and spiritous menstrua.
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