THE AKALYST. 75 ANALYSIS OF A SANPLE OF PORT WINE R.ECOVERED FROX THE “ ROYAL*GEORQE.” BY A. DUPEE, Ph,D. F.R.S., &c. THE interest excited by the recent publication of an analysis of n sample of very ancieDt wine by M. Berthelot, lcads me to believe that the following -may not prove uninteresting t o many. I n the summer of last year, I received from Dr. Seaton, F.R.S. a small sample of port wine with the following history attached-the bottle from which the sample was tnkea was originally on board the ( I Royal George,” and went down with that vessel on 29Lh August, 1782, and when the ship was raised this bottle was recovered from it.The bottle next passed into the hands of Dr. Seaton’s father, and thence into tho possession of Dr. Seaton, and was opened on July lst, 1876.It mas only partially filled when it passed into Dr. Seaton’s hands, and was not quite half full when opened on July 1st. It had not, so far as is known, been recorked after it was raised. The wine was very turbid, had a disagreeable salty taste, and a somewhat unpleasant smell, scarcely reminding one of wine. The sample I received had been filtered; i t was clear, of pale amber colour, and very little vinous smell.I had so little that I did not taste it, The analysis, BQ far as it could be made with so small a yuantifiy, gave the following results :- Specific gravity ... ... ... ... 1003.8 Alcoholic strength ... ... ... 6.0.5 per cent. by weight in volume Total free acid calculated as tartaric acid ... 0.46 ,, fixed acid ,, ... 0.165 ,, volatile acid ,, acetic ,, ...0.228 ,, dry residue ... ... ... ... 3.98 per cent. ,, organic ,, ... ... ... 3.30 ,, Amount of Chlorine in wine ... ... 0.29 ,, = Chloride of Sodium ... .. * .. 0.478 ,, Sugar ,.. ..* .a. ... ... 0.64 ,, 9 9 Containing miueral matters ..* ... 0.78 ,,76 THE ANALYST. Some of the more striking points of this analysis are the facts that so much of vinous quality has been retained ; next, that so much alcohol has disappeared, and yet so little acetic acid has been formed; and, lastly, that so little sea water has found its way into the bottle. Even when taking all the chlorine as derived from sea water it shows an admixture of only about 15 per cent. The alcohol, therefore, cannot have been lost by diffusion while the bottle was submerged, otherwise much more sea water would have got in. The amount of sugar still left, more than half per cent, is also remarkable.