ABSTRACT
In approaching the subject of the uses of Wines in health and in disease, this chapter aims to define the intended scope of our inquiry, in order to avoid misunderstandings. The vigorous frame and perfect digestion of a healthy young or middle-aged person requires but a moderate daily allowance of alcohol to assist functional activity. The temptation to free indulgence in the pleasures of the table is most influential in the middle period of life, it is of the greatest consequence that the alcohol should be taken in the most diluted forms. The natural acidity of wines is the next item which needs consideration in reference to their use as beverages. A more general diffusion of accurate knowledge on this subject is highly desirable, since the taste of wines, by which people ordinarily judge of their acidity, is often highly misleading.
