The origin of wine-making is also claimed by the Persians, who have a tradition of its accidental discovery by their king Jemsheed. The monarch being fond of grapes had placed a quantity in a large vessel in his cellar for future use. Some time afterwards the vessel was opened, and the grapes were found in a state of fermentation, and, being very acid, were believed by the king to be poisonous, and marked accordingly. A lady of his harem being racked by pain, determined to poison herself, for which purpose she drank some of the grape-juice--in fact, got very drunk. After sleeping a considerable time, she awoke perfectly well, and, being pleased with the result, managed in time to finish all the poison. The monarch discovered what she had done, and thence took the hint for his own advantage. The Armenians claim the origin of wine because Noah planted his first vineyard near Erivan, upon the spot where Noah and his family resided before the Deluge. The wines of Chio, however, held the greatest reputation, which was such that the inhabitants of that island were thought to have been the first who planted the vine and taught the use of it to other nations. These wines were held in such esteem and were of so high a value at Rome, that in the time of Lucullus, at their greatest entertainments, they drank only one cup of them, at the end of the feast; but as sweetness and delicacy of flavour were their prevailing qualities, this final cup may have been taken as a liqueur. Both the Greeks and the Romans kept their wine in large earthenware jars, made with narrow necks, swollen bodies, and pointed at the bottom, by which they were fixed into the earth; these vessels, called Amphoræ, though generally of earthenware, are mentioned by Homer as being constructed of gold and of stone. Among the Romans it was customary, at the time of filling their wine-vessels, to inscribe upon them the name of the consul under whose office they were filled, thus supplying them with a good means of distinguishing their vintages and pointing out the excellence of particular ones, much in the same way as we now speak of the vintages of '20, '34, or '41. Thus, Pliny mentions a celebrated wine which took its name from Opimius, in whose consulate it was made, and was preserved good to his time (a period of nearly 200 years). The vessel used for carrying the wine to the table was called Ampulla, being a small bulging bottle covered with leather and having two handles, which it would be fair to consider the original type of the famous "leathern bottel," the inventor of which is so highly eulogized in the old song,-- "I wish that his soul in heaven may dwell, Who first invented the leathern bottel." The wine was frequently cooled by keeping the vessels in snow; and it was brought to the table in flasks, which, instead of being corked, had a little fine oil poured into the necks to exclude the air.