For who, said he, doth not know, that the middle of wine, the top of oil, and the bottom of honey is the best?
Yet he bids us spare the middle, and stay till worse wine runs, when the barrel is almost out.

This said, the company minded Hesiod no more, but began to inquire into the cause of this difference.
We were not at all puzzled about the honey, everybody almost knowing that that which is lightest is so because it is rare, and that the heaviest parts are dense and compact, and by reason of their weight settle below the others.

So, if you turn the vessel, each in a little time will recover its proper place, the heavier subsiding, and the lighter rising above the rest.

And as for the wine, probable solutions presently appeared; for its strength consisting in heat, it is reasonable that it should be contained chiefly in the middle, and there best preserved; for the lower parts the lees spoil, and the upper are impaired by the neighboring air.

For that the air will impair wine no man doubts, and therefore we usually bury or cover our barrels, that as little air as can be might come near them.