Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/207

 should be added with much caution, and in very minute quantities.

entering upon a detail of the principal results afforded by fermentation, it may be advantageous, in a rapid manner, to trace its march through its various stages.

The commencement of fermentation is announced by the appearance of little bubbles of air at the surface of the must; by and by, they may be observed rising from the very centre of the mass, and bursting at the surface. Their passage across the liquid, agitates it throughout, and displaces all its particles, causing, very soon, a noise to be heard, similar to that produced by gentle boiling.

Small drops of the liquid may now be observed to rise from the surface, to the height of several inches. In this stage, the must is cloudy; every thing is mingled, confounded, and agitated; filaments, skins, flakes, stalks, and seeds, are swiming in all directions, and are elevated and precipitated through the mass, till they are finally fixed at the surface, or deposited at the bottom of