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THE MIXICOLOGIST.
The ftualities of Good Wine
In the 12th century are thus singularly set forth ; "It
should be clear like the tears of a j)enitent, so that a
man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass; its
color should represent the greenness ofa buffalo's horn;
when drunk, it should descend impetuously like thun
der; sweet-tasted as an almond; creeping like Ji
scpiirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the build
ing of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a spark
of fire; subtle like the logic of the schools of Paris,
delicate as fine silk ; and colder than crystal. If we
pursue our theme through the 13th, 14th, and 15th
centuries we find but little to edify us; those times
being distinguished more by their excess and riot than
by superiority of beverages or the customs attached to
them. It would be neither profitable nor interesting to
descant on scenes of brawling drunkenness which ended
not unfrequently in fierce battles; or pause to admire
the congregation offemale gossips at the taverns,where
the overhanging sign was either the branch of a tree,
from which we derive the saying that"good wine needs
no bush,"or the equally common appendage of a besom
hanging from the window, which has supplied us with
the idea of"hanging out the broom." The chief wine
drunk at this period was Malmsey, first imported into
England in the 13th century, when its average price
was about 50s. a butt; this wine, however, attained its
greatest popularity in the 15th century. There is a