Rousillon are the strongest and most durable that France produces; the choicest are those of Bagnols, Cosperou, and Collioure. The wines of Provence are of very ordinary quality. Among the dry white wines of these districts are the Rivesaltes and the Frontignac. The wines of Gascony and Guienne are better known by name in England than any other of those of the French vineyards; the names Lafitte, Grave, Château, Margaux, Sauterne, and Barsac, being familiar to most ears on this side of the channel; yet these wines are understood to be seldom seen on the table in this country, owing to the various processes to which they are subjected by the merchants of Bordeaux, in adapting them for the English market. Thus we drink an artificial wine called Claret, which is made up by adding to each hogshead of Bordeaux wine three or four gallons of Alicant, or Benicarlo, half a gallon of Stum wine, and sometimes a small quantity of Hermitage. This mixture undergoes a slight fermentation; and when the whole is sufficiently fretted in, it is exported under the name of Claret.

"The wines of Spain are distinguished by high flavour, aroma, strength, and durability; but from the mismanagement of the fermentation, the red wines in particular are dull and heavy on the palate; and, except in dry white wines, none of the Spanish wines will bear comparison with the more delicate growths of France. The most perfect are the produce of Xeres, from which our Sherry takes its name. The Spanish wines, when not exported, are stored in skins smeared with pitch, which gives them a peculiar and disagreeable taste, called the oler de bota, and renders them more liable to become muddy. The principal vineyards at Xeres are in the hands of British and French settlers; and to these the great improvement, of late years, in the manufacture of Sherry is attributed. In making this wine, red and white grapes are used indiscriminately, and dried to a certain extent before they are pressed. The fermentation is allowed to be continued from October till the middle of December, before it is racked from the lees; and that intended for exportation receives a certain proportion of brandy, which seldom exceeds three or four gallons to the butt. The nutty flavour, so highly prized in this country, is produced by infusing bitter almonds in the wine. Good Sherry is of a deep amber colour, and has a fine aromatic odour; its taste is warm, with some degree of agreeable bitterness. When new, it tastes harsh and fiery; it is mellowed by being allowed to remain four or five years or longer in the wood; but it does not attain to its full flavour and perfection until it is kept fifteen or twenty years. It is a very strong wine, containing about 19 per cent. of alcohol. Perhaps no wine is so much adulteratee as Sherry. Its consumption is very large, amounting to above 2,000,000 of imperial gallons.

"In Portugal, the principal wine district

is the province of Upper Douro, in which Port wine is grown to a great extent, and shipped at Oporto, whence its name. Besides the Douro, other districts in Portugal supply wine. The growths of Alenquer, Torres Vedras, Lamego, and Moncaon, furnish wines resembling the second growths of the Bordelais. The Colares Port, which is grown near Cintra, is the only one which has found its way to this country. Bucellas, Setuval, and Carcavellos, are the best of the Portuguese white wines. To return to Port. When this respectable and substantial liquor arrives in this country, it is of a dark purple or inky colour, has a full rough body, with an astringent bitter sweet taste, and a strong flavour or odour of brandy. After it has remained some years longer in the wood, the sweetness, roughness, and astringency of the flavour, abate; but it is only after it has been kept ten or twelve years in bottle, that the odour of the brandy is completely subdued, and the genuine aroma of the wine developed. When kept to too great an age it becomes tawny, and loses its pecuilar flavour. During the process of melioration, a considerable portion of the extractive and colouring matter is [precipitated on the sides of the vessels in the form of crust. In some wines this change occurs much earlier than in others. A large quantity of brandy is always mixed with the wine shipped from Oporto to England. Genuine unmixed Port wine is very rarely met with in this country. We have been so long accustomed to the compounded article, that were it possible to procure it unmixed it is doubtful whether it would be at all suited to our taste. According to Mr. Brande's analysis, Port wine, as used in England, contains about 23 per cent. of alcohol; consequently, nearly the fourth part of every glassful is pure spirit. It should, however, be observed, that this proportion of spirit is not injurious, as the other matter in the wine neutralizes its effects. In purchasing good Port, as in other liquors, a very great deal depends on the respectability of character of the merchant. The quality is understood to be injured previous to its shipment, in consequence of a monopoly long enjoyed by an association, called the Oporto Wine (Company, under the auspices of the Portuguese government. The quantity of Port shipped annually from Oporto to Britain amounts to above 20,000 pipes, or above 2,300,000 imperial gallons, being about the same quantity that is used of Sherry.

"The wines of Italy and Greece are but little imported into England. They are, without a single exception, in all respects very inferior to those of France. The natives of Italy bestow no care upon the culture of the vine: and their ignorance, obstinacy, and want of skill in the preparation of wine, are said to be almost incredible. In some districts the art is, no doubt, better understood than in others, but had the Falernian, Cecuban, and other famous ancient wines, not been in

comparably better than the best of those that are now produced, they never would have elicited the glowing panegyrics of Horace.

"Madeira wines, the produce of the island of that name, have long been in extensive use in this country. There is a considerable difference in the flavour and other qualities of the wines of Madeira. The best are produced on the south side of the island. Though naturally strong, they receive an addition of brandy when racked from the vessels in which they have been fermented, and another portion is thrown in previously to their exportation. This is said to be required to sustain the wine in high temperature, to which it is subjected in its passage to and from India and China, to which large quantities of it are sent; it being found that it is mellowed, and its flavour materially improved, by the voyage. Madeira wines may be kept for a very long period. Indeed, they cannot be pronounced in condition until they have been kept ten years in the wood, and afterwards allowed to mellow nearly twice that time in bottle; and even then they will hardly have reached the utmost perfection of which they are suscepti ble. The Madeira wines unite great strength and richness of flavour with an exceedingly fragrant and diffusible aroma; they have latterly fallen into disrepute in England. The growth of the island is very limited, not exceeding 20,000 pipes, of which a considerable quantity goes to the West Indies and America. Hence, every sort of deception was practised with respect to it, and large quantities of spurious trash were disposed of for the genuine vintage of the island. This naturally brought the wine into discredit; so that Sherry has for several years been the fashionable white wine. Malmsey, a very rich luscious species of the Madeira, is made from grapes grown on the rocky grounds exposed to the full influence of the sun's rays, and allowed to remain in the vine till they are over ripe.

"Teneriffe wine, the produce of the island of Teneriffe, is used to a moderate extent in England. It resembles Madeira, and is not unfrequently substituted in its place; but it wants the full body and rich flavour of the best growths of Madeira.

"The wines of Germany imported into England are principally produced on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle. The Rhine wines constitute a distinct order of themselves. They are drier than the French white wines, and are characterised by a delicate flavour and aroma, quite peculiar, and which would be reckoned sourness by the uninitiated. The vineyards of Johannisberg, Steinberg, and Grafenberg, yield the choicest vintages on the banks of the Rhine. The Hock, or Hochemier, is a Mayn wine. In the Austrian states the wines are almost all of an inferior quality, being sharp and often entirely acid. Tokay is a Hungarian wine, and is merely the juice which exudes from the half-dried grapes by the pressure of their own weight. It is lucious, and at the same

time possessing a high degree of flavour and

aroma.

"Of the remaining wines imported into England, those of the Cape of Good Hope form the largest proportion; the quantity an nually entered for home consumption being about 540,000 imperial gallons. The famous Constantia wine is the produce of two contiguous farms of that name, at the base of the Table Mountain, between eight and nine miles from Cape Town. Cape wines are all inferior in quality to those produced in Europe; some are indeed execrable, but being admitted at half the duty of other wines, they are largely imported as a menstruum for adulterating and degrading Sherry, to which they bear a resemblance. In cookery, Cape wines, from their cheapness, are also sometimes used instead of Sherry.

"The total amount of wines of every description used annually in the United Kingdom, is about 7,000,000 of imperial gallons, from which the government derives a duty of about 1,500,000.

"In former times the chief and most fashionable wines drunk in Merry England' seems to have been Canary, a a stoup' of which cheering liquor mingles in all our de scriptions of the olden time.' Canary wine, the produce of the Canary Islands, is now little heard of, being almost as obsolete as sack. With regard to the last mentioned wine, which has been immortalised by Shakspeare, little is satisfactorily known. It has been ascertained that the wines called Sacks were imported from Spain, and that the name is derived from sec, signifying dry. We are informed by Venner, that 'Sacke is completely hot in the third degree, and of thin parts, and therefore it doth vehemently and quickly heat the body.' This description accords with the epithet sprightly,' usually bestowed on it by the old writers, some of whom extol it as 'the elixir of wines.' Falstaff complained that there was lime in his Sack, which has been thought to allude merely to the adulteration of Sack by the vintners; but, in fact, it throws much light on its genuine qualities, and proves it to be of the same nature as the wines still manufactured in Spain and other countries, from the ripest grapes, which receive a sprinkling of gypsum, or burnt lime, before they are pressed and introduced into the vat. Of Sacks there were different species, as Canary-sack, Palm-sack, and Malagasack, &c. Sacks of all kinds are now among the liquors which have been; and, alas,' we ne'er shall look upon their like again.

[When we consider the incessant appeals made to medical practitioners as to the preference given to wines in health and disease, we cannot help thinking that in inserting the above we have done our junior friends a service.-EDS.]

1. 1. A section of the spinal column.

2. 2. A section of the parietes of the abdomen.

3. A section of the diaphragm.

4. The section of the liver.

5. Section of the stomach.

6. Section of the colon.
7. Section of the intestines.
8. Section of the pancreas.
9. Section of the kidney.
10. The rectum.

11. Section of the bladder.
12. Section of the pubis.

13. The peritoneum, lining the upper part of the parietes of the abdomen traced from the umbilicus,

14. Passing upon the under or concave part of the diaphragm, from thence to

15. The convex surface of the liver, (forming the suspensory, the two lateral, and coronary ligaments, which are not shown); from the convex surface of the liver, it passes to

16. The concave surface; from thence it descends, forming

17. The lesser omentum, or hypogastricum of Winslow, which consists of two layers, which pass to

18. The lesser curvature of the stomach Here the two layers divide;

19. The one layer passing on the anterior part of the stomach;

20. The other layer on the posterior part of the stomach; so that the two layers embrace that viscus, meeting at

3

21. The greater curvature, when the two layers again unite; and at

22. They descend to form the anterior part of the omentum magnum. At

23. The two layers are reflected upon themselves, completing the formation of the omentum magnum.

24. The two layers meet the transverse arch of the colon, where they again divide: one layer at

25. Passing above, or anterior to the colon, and the other at

26. Behind, or below the colon; the two layers again meet at

27. To form the mesocolon, connecting the colon to the spine, when one layer passes up to cover the anterior part of the pancreas and spleen, the other layer passes at

28. To form the anterior part of the mesentery, which passes at

ttt. The posterior shut sac.

This diagram points out, that when the abdomen is opened, that at

36. The anterior part of the stomach, one layer of the peritoneum covers it; at

37. The posterior part of the stomach, three layers are situated; two layers of the mesocolon, and one layer at the back of the stomach.

38. Three layers, situated at the anterior part of the colon.

39. One layer, at the back part of the colon.

40. Four layers, forming the omentum magnum; which is divided into the omentum colicum, that part situated on the right side of the abdomen attached alone to the colon, and into the omentum gastro-colicum, that part attached to the stomach, and colon.

In the female, two cul de sacs are formed,

one at

41. Between the rectum and uterus, and one at

42. Between the uterus and bladder.

The peritoneum, named from its being stretched or spread around the intestines, is a firm but simple membrane, by which the abdominal viscera are surrounded, and partly supported. Its external surface is rough and cellular, and closely connected with the parts to which it belongs. The internal surface is remarkably smooth, and lubricated by a liquor which is exhaled from its own vessels. It is very elastic, and admits of great extension, as happens in gestation, corpulency, ascites, and hernia; but, upon the causes of extension being removed, it returns to its former dimensions. It lines the diaphragm, and passes downwards, adhering firmly to the abdominal muscles. It also lines and covers the contained parts of the pelvis, from which it is

reflected in the back part of the abdomen, lining the muscles there, and, by its reduplications, covers the intestines and great bloodvessels of that cavity. However, the abdominal viscera may be said to lie on the outside of the peritoneum. In its passage from one intestine to another, it forms doublings, which serve as ligaments to fix them to each other, and likewise to the body. It forms a large sac, the posterior part of which adheres firmly to the different viscera, and the anterior to the abdominal muscles; the part lining the abdomen being merely in contact with its contents, and allowing a small degree of motion.

The cellular substance, on the external surface of this membrane, is not every where of equal thickness, being in some parts, as upon the intestines, remarkably thin; in others, as over the kidneys, filled with a considerable quantity of fat.

The peritoneum lines and strengthens the cavity of the abdomen; incloses and assists in supporting its different viscera, furnishes most of them with an external coat, connects them to the body, and by its smoothness prevents the effects of friction.

7. 8. The stomach and intestines.

The last extract we shall make, will be the urinary apparatus with the descriptive letter-press.

1. A posterior view of the bladder. 2. The fundus.

3. The body.

4. The cervix.

5. The ureters, descending to terminate at the posterior, inferior, and lateral parts of the bladder.

6. The vasa deferentia, terminating in

7. The vesiculæ seminales.

8. The common union of each vas deferens and vesiculæ seminales.

9. The situation of puncturing the bladder, where it is connected to the rectum by cellular substance.

10. The prostate gland.

11. The urethra; its average length being about nine inches; dividing into

12. The prostatic portion. 13. The membranous portion. 14. The portion situated in the corpus spon giosum.

15. The bulb. 16. The orifice.

25. The opening of Cowper's ducts into the urethra.

26. The openings of the lacunæ.

The average length of the urethra is about nine inches, the prostate portion occupying about three quarters of an inch, the membranous portion about an inch and a quarter, and the portion contained in the corpus spongiosum about seven inches. There are usually three dilatations of the urethra-one at the prostatic portion, one at the bulb, and one behind the orifice termed fossa naviculare; and there are generally three contractionsone at the orifice, which is about the fifth of an inch in diameter; one at the membranous portion, about a quarter of an inch; and one anterior to the bladder, at its orifice. The openings of the urethra are numerous lacunæ, which are formed by the mucous membrane

of the urethra, constituting small sacs or folds, for the purpose of secreting mucus, to prevent the acrimony of the urine from irritating this membrane. They are more numerous at that part of the urethra which is situated towards the corpora cavernosa, by which means the mucus is enabled to flow all over the lining membrane of the urethra. These folds, or lacunæ, are estimated at about seventy in number, of which there are two or three larger than the others, just beneath the glands penis.

Cowper's glands are two small bodies, situated at the membranous portion of the urethra. Their ducts are about three quarters of an inch in length, and enter just at the anterior part of the membranous portion of the urethra, by perforating it obliquely.

The opening of the common union of each vans deferens with each vesicula seminalis forms a smaller duct or orifice than either the vas deferens or the vescula had before the union. The common ducts descend at the back part of the neck of the bladder with the prostate glands, to terminate at the eye of the caput gallinaginis, and the orifice is surrounded by six or seven openings from the prostate gland.

The penis is composed of three bodies, two of which constitute the dorsum, or upper