IV.

/The Battle of the Wines./

Temporary check to the popularity of sparkling Champagne--Doctors disagree--The champions of Champagne and Burgundy--Péna and his patient--A young Burgundian student attacks the wine of Reims--The Faculty of Reims in arms--A local Old Parr cited as an example in favour of the wines of the Champagne--Salins of Beaune and Le Pescheur of Reims engage warmly in the dispute--A pelting with pamphlets--Burgundy sounds a war-note--The Sapphics of Benigné Grenan--An asp beneath the flowers--The gauntlet picked up--Carols from a coffin--Champagne extolled as superior to all other wines--It inspires the heart and stirs the brain--The apotheosis of Champagne foam--Burgundy, an invalid, seeks a prescription--Impartially appreciative drinkers of both wines--Bold Burgundian and stout Rémois, each a jolly tippling fellow--Canon Maucroix's parallel between Burgundy and Demosthenes and Champagne and Cicero--Champagne a panacea for gout and stone--Final decision in favour of Champagne by the medical faculty of Paris--Pluche's opinion on the controversy--Champagne a lively wit and Burgundy a solid understanding--Champagne commands double the price of the best Burgundy--Zealots reconciled at table 47