aration, however, which they cause, is more innocent than that resulting from the use of heavier wines. The better sorts may be sometimes administered with advantage in disorders in which stimulant and subastringent tonics are required. The same observation will apply to the wines of the Rhone, and the lighter red wines of Spain and Portugal. 3. Possessing less aroma and spirit, but more astringency, than the produce of the Burgundy vineyards, the growths of the Bordelais are perhaps, of all kinds, the safest for daily use, as they rank among the most perfect light wines, and do not excite intoxication so readily as most others. They have, indeed, been condemned by some writers as productive of gout, but, I apprehend, without much reason. That with those people who are in the practice of soaking large quantities of Port and Madeira, an occasional debauch in claret may bring on a gouty paroxysm, is very possible; but the effect is to be ascribed chiefly to the transition from a strong brandied wine to a lighter beverage—a transition almost always followed by a greater or less derangement of the digestive organs. Besides, we must recollect, that the liquor which passes under the denomination of claret is generally a compounded wine. It is therefore unfair to impute to the wines of the Bordelais those mischiefs which, if they do arise in the manner alleged, are probably, in most instances, occasioned by the admixture of other vintages of less wholesome quality. 4. The wines of Oporto, which abound in the astringent principle, and derive additional potency from the brandy* added to them previously to exportation, may be serviceable in disorders of the alimentary canal, where gentle tonics are required. But the gallic acid renders them unfit for weak stomachs; and what astringent virtues they show will be found in greater perfection in the wines of Alicant and Rota, which contain more tannin and less acid. The excitement they induce is of a more sluggish nature than that attending the use of the purer French wines, and does not enliven the fancy in the same degree. As a frequent beverage, they are unquestionably much more pernicious. 5. For a long time, the vintages of Spain, and particularly the sacks, properly so called (see Sack), were preferred to all others for medicinal purposes. The wines of Xeres (Sherry) still recommend themselves by the almost total ab*These remarks are more particularly applica ble to the Port intended for the British market. sence of acidity. 6. Of all the strong wines, however, those of Madeira, when of good quality, seem the best adapted to invalids; being equally spirituous as Sherry, but possessing a more delicate flavor and aroma, and, though often slightly acidulous, agreeing better with dyspeptic habits. Some have thought them beneficial in cases of atonic gout, probably without much cause; for whenever a disposition to inflammatory disorders exists, the utility of any sort of fermented liquors is very doubtful. 7. The light wines of the Rhine, and those of the Moselle, are much more refrigerant than any of the preceding, and are frequently prescribed, in the countries where they grow, with a view to their diuretic properties. In certain species of fever, accompanied by a low pulse and great nervous exhaustion, they have been found to possess considerable efficacy, and may be given with more safety than most other kinds; as the proportion of alcohol in them is small, and its effects are moderated by the presence of free acids. They are also said to be of service in diminishing obesity. 8. It is difficult to conjecture on what circumstances the ancients founded their belief in the innocuous qualities of sweet wines, contrasted with the drier and more fully fermented kinds. They may not intoxicate so speedily, and, as they cloy sooner upon the palate, are perhaps generally drunk in greater moderation. When new, they are exceedingly apt to disorder the stomach; and when used too freely, they produce all the same effects as the heavier dry wines. In their more perfect state, they may answer the purpose of agreeable and useful cordials; but, as the excess of saccharine matter retards their stimulant operation, they ought always to be taken in small quantities at a time." Wines, Ancient and Modern. Our limits will only permit us to touch upon this part of the subject. Among the Greeks and Romans, the sweet wines were those most commonly in use; and, in preparing their wines, the ancients often inspissated them until they became of the consistence of honey, or even thicker. These were diluted with water previously to their being drank; and, indeed, the habit of mixing wine with water seems to have prevailed much more in antiquity than in modern times. Among the principal Greek wines, the Maronean and Ismarian were of Thracian growth: the Pramnian, of uncertain growth, was a strong, hard, astringent liquor, resembling Port; but the luscious sweet wines are the favorite topics of the Grecian drinking songs. They were chiefly the products of the Ionian and Egean isles. The Chian was famous for its exquisite aroma, the Lesbian for its delicious flavor, and the Thasian was a generous sweet wine, acquiring by age a delicate odor of the apple. The Ariusian or Arivisian, and the Phanean, called by Virgil the king of wines, were products of Chios. Besides these and other indigenous growths, several African and Asiatic wines enjoyed a high reputation among the Greeks. The Bithynian wines were of the choicest quality : the wines of Byblos, in Phoenicia, vied in fragrancy with the Lesbian: the white wines of Mareotis and Tania, in Egypt, were also famous for their delicate perfume. The finest wines used by the Romans were the produce of Campania (q. v.), which formed one continued vineyard. The Cecuban was a generous, light wine, but apt to affect the head, and ripening only after a long term of years. The Falernian, according to Henderson, was a strong, durable wine, being, when new, rough, harsh and fiery, and requiring to be kept a long time, before it attained a due degree of mellowness. The Setina was a delicate, light wine, the favorite of Augustus, but not even mentioned by Horace, who had a decided predilection for the strong wines. The Massican appears to have been a species of Falernian. The Calenum, Caulinum and Statanum were also highly prized by the Romans. The Albanian, when properly matured, was an excellent dry wine. Among the lighter growths of the Roman territory, the Sabine, Nomentan, Venafran and Spoletan were among the most agreeable. The Mamertine, a light and slightly astringent wine, and the Pollian, a sweet wine, were among the growths of Sicily. Spanish and Gallic wines were also used by the Romans, as well as the eastern growths. The richer wines were reserved by the ancients for the dessert; and among the Greeks the most esteemed dessert wines were the Thasian and Lesbian; among the Romans, the Cecuban, Albanian and Falernian of native growths, and, when they had become acquainted with the products of foreign countries, the Chian and Lesbian. Of the principal modern wines we have already spoken at considerable length under the separate heads. (See Burgundy, Bordelais, Champagne, Rhenish, Moselle, Hungarian, Sherry, Port, &c.) Madeira, so called VOL. XIII. 19 from the island which produces it, is much used in this country. There is a great difference in the flavor and other qualities of the Madeira wines: the best are produced on the south side of the island: they may be kept for a very long period, and, as is well known, are often sent long voyages in warm climates, to mellow them. They are naturally very strong, but commonly receive an addition of brandy when racked off. The Madeira wines retain their qualities unimpaired in both extremes of climate, suffering no decay, and constantly improving as they advance in age. Indeed, they are not in condition until they have been kept for ten years in wood, and afterwards allowed to mellow nearly twice that time in bottle; and even then they will hardly have reached the utmost perfection of which they are susceptible. When of good quality, and matured as above described, they lose all their original harshness, and acquire that agreeable pungency, that bitter sweetishness, which was so highly prized in the choicest wines of antiquity, uniting great strength and richness of flavor with an exceedingly fragrant and diffusible aroma. The nutty taste, which is often very marked, is not communicated, as some have imagined, by means of bitter almonds, but is inherent in the wine. The following statement of wines imported into the U. States for the years ending (Sept.) 1829 and 1831, indicate the quantity used in this country. Year ending September, 1829. Madeira, Gallons. 282,660 23,562 62,689 352,350 61,467 356,332 1,838,251 WING. The wings of birds correspond to the fore legs of quadrupeds and the arms of man. The clavicle of birds is a hollow tube of great strength, and the fork is peculiar to winged animals. The different bones of the wing are bound together, and connected with the bones of the body, by strong ligaments; and the muscles by which motion is communicated to them are the most powerful with which the animal is provided. All this peculiar apparatus is necessary to give due force to these instruments of locomotion. The construction and disposition of the feathers are not less curious, and admirably adapted for the purpose of flying. (See Feather, and Ornithology, for many details on this subject.) The best form of windmill sails, which human ingenuity and science have been able to devise, bears a striking resemblance to the arrangement of the feathers in the wings of birds, and is one of many beautiful instances of the mathematical exactness of the principles on which the works of creation are constructed. The form of the wings is most accurately adapted to the habits of the birds. There are two forms, which have received the names of the rudder-formed and the sail-formed wings: the former are long, slim and tapering, as in the falcons, swallows, &c.; the latter broad, long, and rounded at the end, as in the swan, goose, &c. The former are for quick, sudden and rapid motion, and are moved often; the latter for floating a long time more slowly through the air.-The wings of insects are membranous, elastic, for the most part transparent, and traversed by firm airvessels, which sometimes form a beautiful net-work. In some they are naked; in others, as in the butterflies, they are covered with fine, soft, feathery scales: in some they are extended and straight; in others folded. Some insects have four wings, and others but two: the latter are commonly provided with poisers or balancers (haleres). The difference in the structure and disposition of the wings is one of the distinctive marks on which the division of insects into orders is founded: thus we have the hemiptera, the coleoptera, the lepidoptera, the neuroptera, &c. (See Insects, and Entomology.Quadrupeds which fly are provided with membranes extending over the bones of the extremities, by which they are enabled to impel themselves through the air (see Bat); others merely have the skin so loose on the sides as to be spread out when the limbs are extended; and, being buoyed up in this manner, they are able to make surprising leaps. (See Squirrel.)-The desire of flying seems to have haunted men from the earliest times, and has given rise to many attempts to accomplish this object by means of artificial wings. The fable of Dædalus and Icarus shows how old this idea is; and many attempts have been made, in modern times, to carry it into execution, but without success. Degen, an ingenious watch-maker of Vienna, succeeded in sustaining himself in the air by means of artificial wings; and he went to Paris, in 1813, to exhibit his accomplishment; but he failed entirely in obtaining any command over them. Borelli (De Motu Animalium,Rome, 1680) has fully demonstrated, from a comparison of the muscles of man with those of birds, that artificial wings attached to the human body, could not be employed for this purpose. It is by no means impossible, however, that they might be applied to produce motion through the air, by being connected with some sort of cars, and set in motion by steam. WINGED, in botany; a term applied to such stems of plants as are furnished, all their length, with a sort of membranaceous leaves, as the thistle, &c.-Winged leaves are such as consist of divers little leaves ranged in the same direction, so as to appear only as the same leaf. Such are the leaves of agrimony, acacia, ash, &c.-Winged seeds are such as have down or hairs on them, which, by the help of the wind, are carried to a distance. WINGS, in military affairs, are the two flanks or extremes of an army, ranged in order of battle.—Wings, in fortification, denote the longer sides of horn-works, crown-works, tenailles, and the light outworks, including the ramparts and parapets, with which they are bounded on the right and left from their gorge to their front. WINGOLF. See Northern Mythology.) WINKELRIED, Arnold von; a knight of the Swiss canton of Underwalden, who, in the battle at Sempach, July 9, 1386, by the sacrifice of his life, enabled his countrymen to defeat the troops of Leopold, duke of Austria. The long lances of the latter frustrated the efforts of the Swiss to break their ranks. Many of the Swiss had already fallen, when Arnold von Winkelried called out to his comrades, "I will make a lane for you: faithful, dear confederates, think of my family," rushed on the enemy, grasped several lances, and, heedless of the thrusts, bore them to the ground. His countrymen followed through the opening which he had made, and won the battle of Sempach. The Swiss, on the anniversary of this day, celebrate a national festival, in honor of Winkelried, and those who fell with him. See Müller's History of Switzerland. WINKLER, John Henry, the son of a miller in Lusatia, was born in 1703, studied at the university of Leipsic, from 1731 to 1739 was a teacher in a school in that city, in 1737 delivered lectures on experimental philosophy, natural theology, &c., and was afterwards appointed professor of philosophy in the university. In 1741-1745, he published a work on the souls of animals. In 1742, he was appointed professor of Greek and Latin, and published some philological works. He subsequently exchanged this professorship for that of natural philosophy, and published various works in this branch. Winkler and Hausen, professor of mathematics in Leipsic, did much to make the properties of electricity known in Germany, after public attention had been directed to the subject in England and France, about 1740, by William Gilbert. Winkler improved the electrical machines; and his Inquiries into Electricity were translated into English. He was chosen a member of the royal society, and was the first person in Germany who suggested the use of lightning-rods, in his dissertation De avertendi Fulminis Artificio er Doctrina Electricitatis (1753), in which he alludes to Franklin's discoveries. died in 1770. He WINNIPECK, or WINNIPEG; a lake of North America, 240 miles long, and from 5 to 60 in breadth; lon. 95° 48′ to 99° 12′ W.; lat. 50° 22 to 53° 57' N. It communicates, on its west side, with Little Winnipeck lake, by Dauphin river, St. Martin's lake, and Wetarhen river. On the south side, it receives the Assiniboin or Red river; and on the south-west it receives Winnipeck river. At this point the British fur companies have forts. The country around the lake is low, covered with timber, and the soil is pretty good. Wild rice grows in abundance. WINNIPISEOGEE; a lake of New Hampshire, east of the centre; lon. 71° 5 to 71° 25′ W.; lat. 43° 29′ to 43° 44′ N. It is twenty-three miles long, and ten broad. It receives several small streams, and its waters are conveyed off by Winnipiseogee river, which joins the western branch of the Merrimack at Sanbornton, opposite Salisbury. This lake is 472 feet above the ocean, and 232 above Merri mack river. It is very deep, and in some parts is unfathomable by any means possessed by the inhabitants. Its waters are very pure, and abound with fish. Its form is very irregular, and it contains 365 islands. Some of these are large enough for extensive farms. The scenery connected with this lake is said to be superior to any thing else of the kind in the U. States. A pleasing description of it has been given by doctor Dwight in his Travels. WINTER (from wind, on account of the prevalence of storms at this season; so with the Greeks, xuwv, from χεειν, to pour, and with the Romans, hyems, from bav, to rain, because in the more southern climates of the northern hemisphere it is a rainy season); the coldest season of the year, which begins astronomically on the shortest day (December 22), and ends with the vernal equinox (March 21). In the southern hemisphere, it is of course winter when it is summer with us. (See Summer.) In our hemisphere, the winter is but eighty-nine days, while, in the southern hemisphere, it is ninety-three days; our winter occurring during the earth's parhelion, and the winter of the southern hemisphere during its aphelion, when its motion in its orbit is slower. (See Seasons.) The coldness of winter is owing, therefore, to the shortness of the days, or time during which the sun is above the horizon, and the oblique direction in which his rays fall upon our part of the globe at that season. In the torrid zone, there is no winter, in our sense of the word; but a rainy season, without ice, snow or frost, takes its place. (See Climate, and Temperature.) This remark is also true of countries bordering on the tropical regions, to a considerable distance north and south. WINTER SOLSTICE. (See Solstice.) WINTER, John William de, vice-admiral, was born in 1750, in Texel. At the age of twelve years, he entered the navy. In 1787, when the revolution broke out in Holland, De Winter was a lieutenant, and embraced with ardor the cause of the patriots; which circumstance obliged him to take refuge in France, when the party of the stadtholder prevailed. In France, he entered the army, and served, in 1792 and 1793, under Dumouriez and Pichegru, and soon rose to the rank of general of brigade. In 1795, when Pichegru invaded Holland, De Winter returned to his country, where the statesgeneral offered him the rank of rear-admiral. The year following, he was made vice-admiral and commander of the naval forces at Texel. Having been blockaded here for a long time, he at last succeeded in evading the vigilance of the enemy, and, October 7, 1797, set sail with twentynine vessels, of which sixteen were ships of the line. The English fleet consisted of twenty ships of the line, and about fifteen frigates, and other vessels, under admiral Duncan. The action began October 11, and was maintained about three hours with equal spirit on both sides. De Winter's ship was at last taken, and he was carried on board the vessel of the British admiral. The Dutch lost nine ships of the line, taken or sunk, and about six hundred men killed, and eight hundred wounded. The loss of the English was also severe: some British vessels were sunk. De Winter received in England the honor due to his courage and talents. He was exchanged some months after; and a court-martial declared that he had gloriously sustained the honor of the Batavian republic. In 1798, he was sent, as minister of his republic, to that of France, where he remained in this capacity until 1802, when he received the command of an expedition intended to act against Algiers. He cruised for some months on the Barbary coast, and at last concluded a treaty with Tripoli. Louis Bonaparte, when king of Holland, made De Winter commander-in-chief of all the forces by sea and land. When Holland was united with France, Napoleon made him grand-officer of the legion of honor, and general-superintendent of the coasts of the North sea. In July, 1811, he gave him the command of the forces assembled at the Texel; but the fatigues of his new station ruined his health. He went to Paris, where he died June 2, 1812. His remains were deposited in the Pantheon. WINTER, Peter von, a distinguished composer of vocal music, was born at Manheim, in 1754, and was the son of a soldier. At the age of ten years, he was appointed a member of the orchestra of the elector. In 1775, he was director of the orchestra at Manheim, and subsequently at Munich. In 1780, he went to Vienna. In 1782, his first opera, Helen and Paris, was performed at Munich. In 1790, he went to Italy, where he was received with great favor. The first opera which he wrote in Italy was Cato in Utica, first performed in Venice in 1791. In 1795 and 1796, he went to Prague and Vienna. At the latter place, he wrote his most celebrated opera, the Sacrifice Interrupted. In 1802, he visited France and England. In Paris, he composed Tamerlane; in London, Calypso, Castor and Pollux, Proserpine, and Zaire. He also composed many pieces of church music, among which the requiem for the funeral of Joseph II is distinguished; also a Miserere. Among his profane cantatas, his Timotheus, or the Power of Tones, is particularly famous. He died in 1825, at Munich. His operas, oratorios, and other pieces of vocal and instrumental music, are too numerous to be given here. WINTERBURGER, John, established the first printing-press in Vienna, and cast the types himself. During seventeen years, he worked alone, but subsequently took an assistant. He published numerous editions towards the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries; but the copies have become very rare. Winterfeldt, Hans Charles von, a general of Frederic the Great, was born in 1707, and entered the service in his sixteenth year. Frederic made him a major and his aid-de-camp, after his accession to the throne. In 1740, he was sent to Petersburg to prevent the Russian cabinet from taking part in the first Silesian war. He returned to the army, distinguished himself at Glogau and Mollwitz, and was made colonel. After his victory over the Hungarians at Schlawentiz, April 11, 1745, he was made majorgeneral. He took part in the principal battles of that war. Previous to the third Silesian war, certain papers had been obtained from the archives of Dresden, by the treachery of a clerk. These disclosed the projects of Frederic's enemies; and, in consequence of Winterfeldt's advice, the king anticipated his enemies by the immediate commencement of hostilities. He was subsequently made lieutenantgeneral, and distinguished himself in many battles in the seven years' war. (q. v.) In September, 1757, he was wounded near Görlitz, and died the next morning. His life, by his son, appeared at Leipsic in 1809. WINTHROP, John, governor of the colony of Massachusetts, was born at Groton, in the county of Suffolk, England, in 1587, and came out to Massachusetts in 1630, having been previously chosen governor. He continued to be reëlected, with the intermission of a few years, until his death, in 1649. His Journal contains an accurate account of events in the infant colony, from its foundation to the year of his death. The two first books were published in 1790; but the third, which |