All the resins are soluble in oil;[1515] some persons are of opinion also that potters’ chalk may be so dissolved:[1516] I feel ashamed[1517] to avow that the principal esteem in which the resins are held among us is as depilatories for taking the hair off men’s bodies. The method used for seasoning wines is to sprinkle pitch in the must during the first fermentation, which never lasts beyond nine days at the most, so that a bouquet is imparted to the wine,[1518] with, in some degree, its own peculiar piquancy of flavour. It is generally considered, that this is done most effectually by the use of raw flower[1519] of resin, which imparts a considerable degree of briskness to wine: while, on the other hand, it is thought that crapula[1520] itself, if mixed, tends to mitigate the harshness of the wine and subdue its asperity, and when the wine is thin and flat, to give it additional strength and body. It is in Liguria more particularly, and the districts in the vicinity of the Padus, that the utility is recognized of mixing crapula with the must, in doing which the following rule is adopted: with wines of a strong and generous nature they mix a larger quantity, while with those that are poor and thin they use it more sparingly. There are some who would have the wine seasoned with both crapula and flower of resin at the same time.[1521] Pitch too, when used for this purpose, has much the same properties as must when so employed. In some places, the must is subject to a spontaneous fermentation a second time: when this unfortunately happens it loses all its flavour, and then receives the name of “vappa,”[1522] a word which is applied as an opprobrious appellation even to worthless men of degenerate spirit: in vinegar, on the other hand, notwithstanding its tart and acrid taste, there are very considerable virtues, and without it we should miss many of the comforts[1523] of civilized life. In addition to what we have already stated, the treatment and preparation of wines are the object of such remarkable attention, that we find some persons employing ashes, and others gypsum and other substances of which we have already[1524] spoken, for the purpose of improving its condition: the ashes,[1525] however, of the shoots of vines or of the wood of the quercus, are in general preferred for this purpose. It is recommended also, to take sea-water far out at sea, and to keep it in reserve,[1526] to be employed for this purpose: at all events, it ought to be taken up in the night and during the summer solstice, while the north-east wind is blowing; but if taken at the time of the vintage, it should be boiled before being used.