On Food and Cooking

films of liquid on the inside of the glass
that seem to be in slow but constant
movement up and down. These moving
films are created by the dynamic nature of
alcohol-water mixtures. Alcohol lowers the
forces of attraction between water
molecules in wine or spirits; but at the
edge of the surface, alcohol evaporates
from the water, the water bonds more
strongly to itself and to the glass, and the
decreasingly alcoholic water pulls itself up
the side of the glass until gravity wins out
and it falls back in a droplet. The higher
the alcoholic content of the liquid, and the
easier it is for alcohol to evaporate —
warm temperatures and wide-mouthed
shallow glasses are most favorable — the
more pronounced the tears and legs are.
Effects on Living Things One consequence of
alcohol’s chemical versatility is that it readily
penetrates the membranes of living cells,
which are made in part of fat-like molecules.