58. But concerning the manufacture of scented wine, Phanias of Eresus says, "There is infused into the wine one portion of sea-water to fifty of wine, and that becomes scented wine." And again he says, "Scented wine is made stronger of young than of old vines;" and he subjoins, "Having trodden on the unripe grapes they put the wine away, and it becomes scented." But Theophrastus says, that "the wine at Thasos, which is given in the prytaneum, is wonderfully delicious; for it is well seasoned; for they knead up dough with honey, and put that into the earthen jars; so that the wine receives fragrance from itself, and sweetness from the honey." And he proceeds to say, "If any one mixes harsh wine which has no smell with soft and fragrant wine, such, for instance, as the Heraclean wine with that of Erythræ, softness is derived from the one, and wholesomeness from the other." And the Myrtite or Myrrhine wine is spoken of by Posidippus:-- A tasteless, dry, and foolish wine I consider the myrrhine. Hermes, too, is mentioned by Strattis as the name of a drink. And Chæreas says, that a wine is made in Babylon which is called nectar. The bard of Ceos says-- 'Tis not enough to mix your wine with taste, Unless sweet converse seasons the repast; And Bacchus' gifts well such regard deserve, That we should e'en the stones of grapes preserve. 59. Now of wines some are white, some yellow, and some red. The white is the thinnest in its nature, diuretic, and warm; and being a promoter of digestion it causes a heat in the head; for it is a wine which has a tendency to move upwards. But of red wine that which is not sweet is very nutritious, and is astringent; but that which is sweet (as is the case with even white and yellow wine also) is the most nutritious of all: for it softens all the ducts and passages, and thickens the fluid parts of the body, and does not at all confuse the head. For in reality the nature of sweet wine lingers about the ribs, and engenders spittle, as Diocles and Praxagoras assert. But Mnesitheus the Athenian says, "Red wine is the most nutritious; but white is the most diuretic and the thinnest; and the yellow is a dry wine, and that which most assists in the digestion of the food."