CHAP. 26.—ARTIFICIAL WINES.
Among the artificial wines, the preparation of which we have2941 described, [there are some which],2942 I think, are no longer made; in addition to which, it would be a mere loss of time to enlarge upon their medicinal effects, having expatiated elsewhere upon the properties of the various elements of which they are composed. And then, besides, the conceits of the medical men in relation to these wines have really passed all bounds; they pretend, for instance, that a wine extracted from turnips2943 is good for recruiting the exhausted strength, after exercises in arms or on horseback; and, not to speak of other preparations, they attribute a similar effect to wine of juniper.2944 Who is there, too, that would think of looking, upon wormwood wine2945 as superior in its effects to wormwood itself?
I shall pass in silence the rest of these preparations, and among them palm wine,2946 which is injurious to the head, and is beneficial only as a laxative to the bowels, and as a cure for spitting of blood. We cannot, however, look upon the liquor which we have spoken of2947 under the name of “bion,” as being an artificial wine; for the whole art of making it consists merely in the employment of grapes before they have arrived at maturity. This preparation is extremely good for a deranged stomach or an imperfect digestion, as also for pregnancy, fainting fits, paralysis, fits of trembling, vertigo, gripings of the bowels, and sciatica. It is said, too, that in times of pestilence, and for persons on a long journey, this liquid forms a beverage of remarkable efficacy.