Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/688

 664: WINDWARD ISLANDS WINE Thames connects Windsor with Eton. The town has a public ground, a handsome town hall, two churches, three dissenting chapels, two libraries, two hospitals, a dispensary and several other charitable endowments, charity and other schools, infantry barracks, and a theatre. Windsor castle, the principal resi- dence of the English monarchs, is E. of the town. The buildings cover 12 acres of ground, surrounded by a terrace on three sides 2,500 ft. in extent. They stand in the midst of the " Little park," about 4 m. in circumference, connected by a long avenue of trees S. of the castle with the "Great park," 18 m. in circuit, Windsor Castle (Blrdseye View). W. of which is Windsor forest, with a circuit of 66 m. Windsor was a residence of the Saxon kings before the Norman conquest, but the present castle was founded by William the Conqueror, and almost rebuilt by Edward III., under the direction of William of Wykeham, and again in 1824-'8, under that of Sir Jeffrey Wyatville. St. George's chapel is an excellent specimen of the florid style of Gothic architec- ture. In the royal vault connected with the chapel, Henry VI., Edward IV. and his queen, Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, Charles I., George III. and his queen, George IV., the princess Charlotte, the duke of Kent, the duke of York, William IV. and his queen, and other members of the royal family are interred. In the keep or round tower of the castle, some- times used for royal prisoners, James I. of Scotland was confined. In the state rooms and corridor are many choice paintings, groups of statuary, &o. Frogmore, the favorite resi- dence of Queen Charlotte and afterward of the duchess of Kent, is ^ m. from Windsor. WINDWARD ISLANDS. See WEST INDIES. WINE (Ileb. yain ; Gr. olvof ; Lat. vinum; Fr. mn ; Ger. TFem), originally and properly, the name of the liquor obtained by fermenta- tion of the juice of grapes; but, in later and less strict usage, denoting also certain beverages prepared in a similar manner from the juices of many other fruits. Wine is mentioned as a familiar thing in the earliest books of the Old Testament. According to certain traditions, the vine [i-<ti* viniferd) had its origin in India, and was thence disseminated to western Asia, to northern Africa, and to Europe. The earliest wines were doubtless obtained by mere ex- pression and fermentation of the grape juice ; but modifications in the way of increasing the saccharine element by partial drying of the grapes, and of aiding the development of alco- hol by heat, began very early to be introduced. Among the Greeks and Romans certain leaves or aromatic substances were infused in the ex- pressed grape juice, or " must," for their fla- vors ; and additions were sometimes made of salt, and of turpentine or other resins. In other instances, in order to give body and fla- vor to certain wines, a portion of must con- centrated by boiling was, as at the present day, added to the fermenting juice. The effect of age in maturing wines and heightening their quality was also early understood. Homer speaks of wine in its llth year; Athenams and Horace commend wines of greater age ; and Pliny relates that he had drunk of that which was 200 years old, and which was thick and harsh. The inferior wines were often used directly from the casks in which they were fermented ; others were drawn off for keeping into earthen jars or wooden vessels ; while, at least in later times among the Romans, the finest sorts were kept in flasks of glass. In the countries of the East, wine appears to have been transported chiefly in bags made of goat skins, and commonly also to have been kept