Drinks of the World

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Title: Drinks of the World
Author: Mew, James, Ashton, John
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.

*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Drinks of the World" ***

[Illustration: “DRINKS”]

DRINKS
OF THE
WORLD

BY
JAMES MEW,
Author of “Types from Spanish Story,” &c., &c.,
AND
JOHN ASHTON,
Author of “Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne,” &c., &c.

_ONE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS._

1892.

_LONDON:_
_The Leadenhall Press, 50, Leadenhall Street, E.C.
Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd._

_NEW YORK: Scribner & Welford._

* * * * *

“Ingeniosa Sitis.”—_Martial, Epig._ xiv. 117.

“J’y ai songé comme un autre, et je suis tenté de mettre l’appétence
des liqueurs fermentées, qui n’est pas connue des animaux, à côté de
l’inquiétude de l’avenir, qui leur est étrangère, et de les regarder
l’une et l’autre comme des attributs distinctifs du chef-d’œuvre de la
dernière révolution sublunaire.”—_Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Goût,
Medit._ 9.

“Ac si quis diligenter reputet, in nulla parte operosior vita est, ceu
non saluberrimum ad potum aquæ liquorem natura dederit, quo cætera omnia
animantia utuntur.”—_Pliny, Nat. Hist._ xiv. 28.

“Wine that maketh glad the heart of man.”—_Ps._ civ. 15.

INDEX.

Absinthe, 162-166

Adulteration of Beer, 199

Aërated Drinks, 324
Waters, Introduction of, 332

African Beers, 200
Wines, 58

Aix-la-Chapelle Council Decree, 158

Aizen, 355

Alcohol in Wine, 53
Effects on different Races, 51
Origin of the word, 116

Alcoholic strength of Gin, 140

Ale Conners, 200-220
Syllabub, 335
and Wine drinkers, social difference in, 93
Early mention of, 39
Origin of the word, 196
Various, 226

American Beers, 201
Drinks, 180
Terms, explanation of, 180-181
Wines, 59

Aminean Wine, 26

Analysis of Tea, 246

Anglo-Saxon Liquors, 44

Animals’ Blood, 355

Anisette, 165

Aqua Vite Composita recipe, 120
Early esteem of, 117

Arrack, 113, 343

Araffer, 359

Artificial Wines, 157

Assur-ba-ni-pal’s List of Wines, 19

Assyrian Wines, 18

Athenæus on Egyptian Wines, 15

Athol-brose, 148

Auld Man’s Milk, 185

Augustus’ favourite Drink, 30

Australian Wines, 60

Austrian Beers, 202

Bacon’s value of Cider, 111

Baga Wine, 17

Ballston Waters, 353

Barbot’s description of Kola, 296

Barley Wine, 198

Bastard Wine, 48

Bavarian Beers, 202

Beer, 49
Adulteration of, 199
Antiquity of, 197
Belgian, 202
English, The Metropolis of, 219
English, Popularity of, 207
Egyptian, 16
Manufacture of, 195-196
Origin of the word, 196
The Inventor of, 197
Various, 226

Beowulf, 37, 38, 45

Besdon, 360

Biliousness, Liqueur Specific for, 176

Black Jack Jug, 213

Bon Gaultier Ballads, 149

Bordeaux Wines, 69

Borneo Beers, 203

Bottled Beer, origin of, 219

Bottling, Italian mode of, 97

Brandy, 115
German Legend, 115
Origin of the name, 123
and Port, 361

Braket, 352

Brewers’ Company, 220

Brick Tea, 243

Bull, 359

Burgundy, 80

Burns, Robert, 148

Burton (Robert) and Coffee, 306

Burton-on-Trent, 219

Burton Brewery, early mention of, 209

Cæcuban Wine, 30

Caffeine, 317

Capnian Wine, 26

Canaries Wines, 62

Caravan Tea, 243

Cassis, 166, 175

Catherine de Medicis, 164

Cattia Edulis, 298

Ceylon Tea, 243

Champagne Country, The, 64

Champagne Cyder, 328

Champagne Manufacture, 65

Chemicals used in non-alcoholic Drinks, 329

Chinese Beers, 204
Tea, Substitutes for, 298
Tea Trade, 243
Natural Beverage, 237

Chocolate, 323

Cider, 45, 110
The finest, where made, 113

Claret, 69

Clergy Drinking, 46

Cobbler, The, 180, 181

Coca, 279
Cultivation of, 291
Early mention of, 280
Leaf, Medicinal qualities, 294

Cocaine, 295

Cocks’ Wines of Bordeaux, 75

Cocktail, 181

Cocoa, 320
Substitute, 323
Tax, 322

Cocoa, Its Manufacture, 321
Where grown, 320

Coffee, 303
Adulteration, 319
Legend about, 304, 305
Species of, 316, 319
Prosecution for the Sale of, 309
Value of different Species, 316
Its Growth, 303, 304
Its Medicinal qualities, 308
How to make, 318
Where most drunk, 303

Coffee-Leaf Tea, 300

Coffee and Liqueur, 159

Coffee Houses, a Poem on, 312
Rules and Orders of, 311
Popularity of, 309
The first, 306

Columella’s Wine Receipt, 31

Continental Liqueurs, 165

Cooked Wine, 157

_Cordial Makers’ Guide_, 167

Cordials (Non-Alcoholic), 331

Cornish Drink, 124

Corsican Wines, 82

Cowley’s Poem on Cuca, 288

Cow’s Milk, Formula for Fermenting, 341

Cream Syrup, 330

Crème de Noyau, 175

Croker’s Irishman and Whiskey, 144

Crusta, The, 181

Cuca, 279

Curaçoa, 165, 177

Curious Records, 132

Cuttach, 20

Danish Drinking Vessels, 49

Dantzig Liqueurs, 171

Date Coffee, 319

Definition of Wine, 52

Distilling Brandy, Mode of, 126

Drinking Cups, 49
Mode of Keeping, 34
Health, Origin of, 33
Horns, 41
Vessels, 213-214-216

Drinks, Pliny’s List of, 33

Drunkards, Punishment of, 51

Drunkenness, Common Cause of, 132
Cure for, 298

Duty on Gin, 133

Eau Clairette de Framboises, 176
Chamberri, 177
de Cerises, 176

Ecbolada, 16

Egg-nogg, 185

Egyptian Process of Wine Making, 14

Egyptians’ Early Use of Wine, 13, 16

Eichhoff, 156

Elixir, Derivation of, 166

English National Drink, 207
Wines, 62

Falernian Wine, 31

Fall of Madame Geneva, 134

Fathers of Brandies, 160

Fenkål, 361

Fermenting Cow’s Milk, 341

Ferrintosh, 148

Flannel, 182

Flip, 181

“Food of the Gods”, 320

Francatelli’s Service of Wine, 55
on Gin Sling, 188

French Beers, 228
Liqueurs, 172
Wines, 64

Fruit Syrups, 330

Garapa, 360

Garway’s Tea Advertisement, 253

Garoe, 349

Gartmore Estate Tea, Sale of, 244

Galazyene, 340

Gallebodde Estate Tea, Sale of, 244

Ganges Water, 350

Generous Wines, 57

Geneva (Gin), 128, 130

Gerard and the Use of Cider, 111

German Beers, 228
Liqueurs, 70
Wines, 83

Ghee, 354

Gill-house, 130

Gin, 128
Lane, 138
Sling, 140, 188
Alcoholic Strength of, 140

Ginger Ale, 327

Gingerade, 326

Ginger Beer, 324
Recipes (old & new fashions), 324-325

Glenlivet, 149

Goethe’s Opinion of Wines, 89

Gongonha, 277

Gout, Accredited Agent, 104

Grecian Wines, 26, 90
Dessert Wines, 32
Process of Wine Making, 27

Gregory of Tours, 157

Greybeard Jug, 216

Grieve (Dr. J.) and Koumiss, 339

Guru, 297

Hanway’s Essay on Tea, 266

Harrison’s (Gen.) Favourite Beverage, 185

Haynau (Gen.) & Brewer’s Draymen, 225

Heather Beer, 227

Hebrews and Wines, 22

Heidelberg Tun, 83

Helbon, The Wine of, 18

Herb Wine, 157

Hervey (Lord) and Drunkenness, 132

Hippocras, 158

Hippocrates and the Virtue of Wines, 33

Hittites and Wines, 20

Hock, 85

Hogarth’s Gin Lane, 138

Holy Tree, The, 349-350

Homer’s Wine of Thrace, &c., 25

Hunding, King, Death of, 48

Hungarian Wines, 93

Hydromel, 48, 158

Hypoteques, 177

Indian Beers, 231
Tea, 245

Irish Whiskey, 146

Italian Mode of Bottling, 97
Wines, 94

Japanese Beers, 232

Jekyll, Sir Joseph, 133

Jerry Thomas, 180

Jewish Prayers respecting Wine, 345

Johnson (Dr.) on Tea, 267
The Gin Act, 137
Different Liquors, 124-267

Julep, 181-182

Kef, 355

Kirsch, 178

Kola, 296

Koumiss, 336-355
Its Curative Properties, 339
Its Manufacture, 341-342

Kümmel, 165-174

Kvas, 112

Ladakh Beer, 360

Ladies’ Tippling, 121

Lamb Wine, 356

Lapps, The Common Drink of, 360

L’Eau Clairette de Groseilles, 176
Grenade, 177
Coings, 177

Leather Bottel, The, 214

Leake’s Description of Grecian Wines, 93

Leban, 355

Lemonade, 327

Liqueurs, 156
(Non-Alcoholic), 331

_Liqueur Makers’ Guide_, 167

Lovage Receipt, 168

Madeira Wines, 97

Mahogany Drink, 124

Maimonides, 347

Makasso, 297

Malmsey Wine, 100

Maraschino, 175

Markham on the Coca Leaf, 291

Marryatt, Capt., and Mint Julep, 182

Maté, 272
Production of, 273

Maturing Spirits, New Process, 151

Mead, 41-48

Mead-hall, 40

Mead-horns, 41

Medicinal Quality of Tea, 255

Médoc Wines, 72

Melo-cacti, 351

Methylated Spirits, 362

Metropolis of English Beer, 219

Milk, 334, 354
Beer, 355
As a Beverage, Disadvantages of, 334

Mineral Waters, 331

Mint Julep, 183

Misson on Coffee Houses, 310

Monastical Liqueurs, 160

Montaigne, 159

_Moonshine_ on American Drinks, 193

Morat, 45-158

Morewood and Birch Wine, 63

Motteux’s Poem in praise of Tea, 264

Mulder, Professor, 54

Mulls, 181-183

Murrey, 158

Murrhine Cups, 34

Mushroom Drink, 351

Nantz, 123

Negus, 181-185

Nile Water, 350

Nogg, 181-185

Non-Alcoholic Cordials & Liqueurs, 331

Northern Love of Drinking, 47-50

Noyau, 175

Olaus Magnus, 47

Old Falernian, 156

Old Tom, Origin of, 141

Ombulbul, 359

Omeire, 358

Oporto Wine Co., 99

Osiris, 197

Paraguay Tea, 272

Parfait Amour, 177

Pepys, 209-260

Pereira, 169

Perry, 114

Persian Wines, 97

Perlin’s description of English society, 209

Peter’s Pence, 162

Pigment, 45, 158

Pliny’s List of Drinks, 33-197-349-353

Poem on Tea, 261

Polo (Marco), 339-355-356-357

Pombe, 361

Pomeranzen, 178

Pope, 129-130

Popularity of Tea, 237-238

Populo, 164

Port Wines, 99-100

Portuguese Wines, 99

Private Brewing, 209

Procope, 175

Psithian Wine, 26

Ptisana, 351

Pulque, 359

Pulteney’s Duty on Gin, 133

Punch, 181-185-187

Punishment of Drunkards, 51

Pusey Horn, The, 42

Raspail, 178

Ratafia, 166-175-176

Recipes (Drinks):—
A Yard of Flannel, 190
Archbishop, 192
Black Stripe, 193
Blue Blazer, 192
Bimbo Punch, 191
Bishop, 192
Bottled Velvet, 191
Champagne Cyder, 328
Cardinal, 192
Ginger Ale, 327
Gingerade, 326
Ginger Beer, 324-325
Lemonade, 327
Locomotive, 192
Pope, 192
Pousse l’Amour, 192
Rumfustian, 191
Sleeper, 191
Stone Fence, 191
White Tiger’s Milk, 190

Recipes (Liqueurs):—
Amiable Vainqueur, 173
Eau Aerienne, 172
d’Amour, 170
de Pucelle, 171
de Scubac, 173
de Sultane Zoraide, 170
de Yalpa, 170
Divine, 171
Miraculeuse, 171
Nuptiale, 170
Elixir de Garus, 173
Guignolet d’Angers, 173
Huile des Jeunes Mariés, 173
Vespetro, 172

Recipe for Cream Syrup, 330
Fermenting Cow’s Milk, 341

Redding, Cyrus, 60-83-85-94-107

Redi’s _Bacco in Toscana_, 95

Reis’ Classification of Wines, 56

Reland, 55

Rhine Wines, 83

Rhodes, Father, on Tay, 249

Roman Wines, 30-32

Roots’ Cuca Cocoa, 293

Rosee’s Handbill on Coffee, 307

Rossolio, 164

Roussillon, 81

Rubruquis and Koumiss, 339
and Rice Wine, 357

Rice Wine, 357

Rules & Orders of the Coffee House, 311

Rum, 153

Russian Beers, 233
Wines, 104

Sabzi, 355

Sacred Wine Tree, 356

St. Vincent and the Holy Tree, 349, 350

Saguer, 357

Samchou, 361

Sangaree, 181, 188

Saprian Wine, 26

Saratoga Water, 354

Säure, 355

Sbitena, 358

Scandal and the Tea Table, 263

Schiedam, 139

Scotch Whiskey, 147
Earliest Account of, 148

Sea Water Wine, 349

Setine Wine, 30

Shandy-gaff, 324

Sherries, 106

Shrub, 181, 188

Sicilian Wines, 105

Silent Spirit, 151, 154

Sir John Barleycorn, 210

Slemp, 336

Sling, 181, 188

Sloe Poison, 271

Small Still Whiskey, 150

Smash, 181, 189

Social difference in Ale & Wine drinkers, 39

Soda Water, 332

Spanish Wines, 106

Sparkling Wines, 57

Spirit Beading, 167

Spruce Beer, 233

“Still Room”, 119

Strabo, 55

Substitutes for Chinese Tea, 298

Surrentine Wine, 31

Swedish Beers, 233
Drinking Vessels, 49

Swiss Wines, 108

Syllabub, 335

Syra, 355

Syrups, List of, 330

Table Wines, 56

Taidge, 360

Tartary Beers, 234

_Tatler_, The, 262

Tay, 250

Tea Advertisement, Garway’s, 253

Tea, 237
Duty, 238
Houses, 237
Statistics, 245
Trade, Centre of, 238
Plant, Growth of, 241
Value in time of Queen Anne, 262
Analysis of, 246
Earliest mention of, 248, 249
Early Duty on, 253
High Prices for, 244, 245
How to Make, 268
Introduction to England, 253, 260
Largest Consumers of, 239
Legendary Origin of, 239
Medicinal Qualities of, 255
Poems on, 261-263-264-265
The Finest, 243
When First Used, 240
Where Grown, 239

Teas, Various, 242

Thales, 348

The Brown Jug, 216

Theine, 295, 296

Theobromine, 322

Thudicum, Dr., 150

Toak, 359

Toast Water, 351

Toby Philpot, 216

Toddy, 189

Tokay Wine, 94

Toupare, 359

Trade Rum, 154

Transition Wines, 57

Tree Water, 349

Tschudi on the Cuca Plant, 289

Ulph’s Horn, 43

Usquebath, Recipe for, 146

Varieties of Wines, 53

Vega’s Description of Cuca, 282

Vermuth, 178

Village Ale-house, The, 225

Villeneuve, 161-163-164

Vine, Cultivation of, 39-99

Vine’s Treatise on Home-made Wines, 62

Vinegar, 351

Vizitelly and White Wines, 76

Vontaca, 359

Waller’s Poem on Tea, 261

Walnut Liquor, 357

Walpole, Sir Robert, 133

Ward, Edward, and Ladies’ Drinking, 122

Ward’s Dialogue: Claret & Darby Ale, 212

Warm Water, 354

Wassail Song, 206

Water, 348

Water Melon Drink, 358

Water of Life, 144

Whiskey, 144
Distillation, 146
Manufacture, 145
Maturing, 151
Duty on, 149

Whistling Shop, 143

White Ratafias, 177

White Wines of the Médoc District, 75

Wine Making by Greeks & Romans, 27
Vessels, 24
Alcohol in, 53
Definition of, 52
Distinguishing Qualities, 52
Origin of, 54
Oldest Records of, 13
Egyptian Process of, 14
Varieties of, 53
and Beer, Merits of, 197

Wines, Assyrian, 18
Francatelli’s Service of, 55
Goethe’s Opinion of, 89
Reis’ Classification of, 56

Wolff’s Description of Kirsch, 178

Women’s Tears, 347

Youourt, 355

Ywera, 358

Zythum, 16

[Illustration: “DRINKS”

Dedicated to those who know how to use and thankfully enjoy the good
things so bountifully provided by Dame Nature.]

[Illustration]

Introduction.

From the Cradle to the Grave we need DRINK, and we have not far to look
for the reason, when we consider that at least seventy per cent. of
the human body is composed of water, to compensate the perpetual waste
of which, a fresh supply is, of course, absolutely necessary. This is
taken with our food (all solid nutriment containing some water), and by
the drink we consume. But, as the largest constituent part of the body
is fluid, so, naturally, its waste is larger than that of the solid;
this fluid waste being enormous. Besides the natural losses, every
breath we exhale is heavily laden with moisture, as breathing on a cold
polished surface, or a cold day by condensing the breath, will show;
whilst the twenty-eight miles of tubing disposed over the surface of the
human body will evaporate, _invisibly_, two or three pounds of water
daily. Of course, in very hot weather, or after extreme exertion, this
perspiration is much more, and is visible.

To remedy this loss we must DRINK, as a stoppage of the supply would
kill sooner than if solid food were withheld, for then the body would,
for a time, live upon its own substance, as in the cases of the fasting
men of the last two years; but few people can live longer than three
days without drinking, and death by thirst is looked upon as one of the
most cruel forms of dissolution. To palliate thirst, however, it is not
absolutely necessary to drink, as a moist atmosphere or copious bathing
will do much towards allaying it,—the one by introducing moisture into
the system by means of the lungs, the other through the medium of the
skin.

Thirst is the notice given by Nature that liquid aliment is required
to repair the waste of the body; and, as in the case of Hunger, she
has kindly provided that supplying the deficiency shall be a pleasant
sensation, and one calculated to call up a feeling of gratitude for the
means of allaying the want. Indeed, no man knows the real pleasures of
eating and drinking, until he has suffered both hunger and thirst.

Water, as a means of slaking man’s thirst, has been provided for him
in abundance from the time of Father Adam, whose “Ale” is so vaunted
by abstainers from alcoholic liquors. But Water, unless charged with
Carbonic Acid gas, or containing some mineral in solution, is considered
by some, as a constant drink, rather vapid; and Man, as he became
civilized, has made himself other beverages, more or less tasty, and
provocative of excess, and also more or less deleterious to his internal
economy. The juice of luscious fruits was expressed, the vine was made
to give up its life blood; and, probably through accident, alcoholic
fermentation was discovered, and a new zest was given to drinking. A good
servant, Alcohol is a bad master; but that it satisfies a widely felt
craving, probably induced by civilization, is certain, for most savage
tribes, emerging from their primitive and natural state, manufacture
drinks from divers vegetable substances, more or less alcoholic.

The present volume is intended for that class of the public which is
known as “the general reader”; and its object is to interest rather than
to inform. Therefore it deals at no great length with what may be termed
the _caviare_ of the subject, as, for instance, the varied opinions of
the medical faculty with respect to the hygienic value of drinks, their
supposed uses in health and disease, and their chemical constituents,
or analyses. Nor is the question of price discussed, nor long lists
of vineyard proprietors given, nor the names of the brewers, nor the
number of casks of beer brewed. In short, as few statistics have been
introduced as possible. In deference to a maxim not always remembered in
books on beverages, “_De gustibus non est disputandum_,” or its English
equivalent, abhorred of Chesterfield, “What is one man’s meat is another
man’s poison,” the verdicts of enthusiasts and vendors have been, except
in rare instances, alike rejected.

Nor has very much been said on the inviting topic of adulteration. It
would be almost cruel to disturb the credulity of the good people who
drink and pay for gooseberry as Champagne, or _Val de peñas_ as curious
old Port. It is a pretty comedy to watch the _soi-disant_ connoisseur
drinking a wine fully accredited with crust, out of a bottle ornamented
with fungus and cobwebs of proper consistency—a wine flavoured with
_essence_ at so much a pound, and stained with _colour_[1] at so much per
gallon. There is no need to proclaim upon the housetops the constituents
of Hamburg sherry, nor how the best rum is flavoured with “R.E.,” or
brandy with “Caramel” or “Cognacine.”

We have generally avoided the profane use of trade or professional
jargon, too often the outcome of ignorance, pretence, and affectation,
such as “full,” “fruity,” “smooth on palate,” “round in the mouth,” “full
of body,” “wing,” “character,” etc.; nor have we touched, or desired to
touch, on the influence of alcohol on man’s social or other well-being.
Peter the Hermit is fully represented already, and we have no mission to
call upon our fellow-countrymen to “rise to the dignity of manhood,” and
never touch another glass of Madeira.

The authors have followed the example of the illustrious Molière in
taking their matter wherever they could find it. The information
contained in this work is derived either from other books, oral
information, or personal experience. “The sun robs the sea, the moon
robs the sun, the sea robs the moon,” says Timon of Athens, repeating
Anacreon, who adds that the earth robs them all. So preceding authors are
indebted to one another, and the present volume to them all. It has been
written, it is hoped, without bias or prejudice of any kind; but, as the
drinks containing Alcohol are many more than those in which it is absent,
more have been mentioned. That a full record of all drinks should appear,
is impossible; nor could any critic expect it; but an attempt has been
made to give a fairly full list, and to render it as pleasant reading as
the subject admits.

[Illustration]

THE DRINKS OF ANTIQUITY.

EGYPT: Method of Wine-Making—Early Wines—Names of Wines—Ladies
and Wine—Beer, etc. ASSYRIA: List of Assur-ba-ni-pal’s
Wines—Method of Drinking—Different Sorts of Wine. HITTITE: Two
Ladies Drinking—Their Appreciation of Wine—The Hittite Bacchus.
JUDEA: Mention of Wines in the Old Testament—Wine as an Article
of Commerce—Mixed Wines—Wine Vessels.

Has any man been bold enough to attempt to fix upon the discoverer of
Wine? Not to our knowledge. Nor can a date be even hazarded as to its
introduction. It was so good a thing, that we may be sure that men very
soon came to know its revivifying effects. We do know this: that the
oldest records of which we have any cognisance, those of the Egyptians
(who were in a high state of civilization and culture when the Hebrews
were semi-barbarous nomads), show us that they had wine, and used it in
a most refined manner, as we see by the headpiece to this chapter. Here
a father is nursing his child, who invites him to smell a lotus flower,
another blossom of which his mother is showing him. An attendant proffers
wine in bowls wreathed with flowers, and another is at hand with a bowl
possibly of water, and a napkin. This wreathing the bowls with flowers
shows how highly they esteemed the “good creature,” and, also, that they
were then at least as civilized as the later Greeks and Romans, who
followed the same practice.

We have the Egyptian pictures showing the whole process of wine-making.
We see their vines very carefully trained in bowers, or in avenues,
formed by columns and rafters; their vineyards were walled in, and
frequently had a reservoir of water within their precincts, together
with a building which contained a winepress; whilst boys frightened the
birds away with slings and stones, and cries. The grapes, when gathered,
were put into deep wicker baskets, which men carried either on their
heads or shoulders, or slung upon a yoke, to the winepress, where the
wine was squeezed out of a bag by means of two poles turned in contrary
directions, an earthen pan receiving the juice. But they also had large
presses, in which they trod the fruit with their naked feet, supporting
themselves by ropes suspended from the roof.

The grape juice having fermented, it was put into earthen jars,
resembling the Roman _amphoræ_, which were closed with a lid covered with
pitch, clay, mortar or gypsum, and sealed, after which they were removed
to the storehouse, and there placed upright. The Egyptians had a peculiar
habit, which used also to be general in Italy and Greece, and now
obtains in the islands of the Archipelago, of putting a certain quantity
of resin or bitumen at the bottom of the amphora before pouring in the
wine. This was supposed to preserve it, but it was also added to give it
a flavour—a taste probably acquired from their having been used to wine
skins, instead of jars, and having employed resins to preserve the skins.

The Egyptians had several kinds of wine, even as early as the fourth
dynasty (above 6000 years ago, according to Mariette), when four kinds
of wine, at least, were known. Pliny and Horace say that the wine of
Mareotis was most esteemed. The soil, which lay beyond the reach of the
alluvial deposits, suited the vine, and extensive remains of vineyards
near the Qasr Karóon, still found, show whence the ancient Egyptians
obtained their wines. Athenæus says, “the Mareotic grape was remarkable
for its sweetness;” and he thus describes the wine made therefrom: “Its
colour is white, its quality excellent, and it is sweet and light, with
a fragrant _bouquet_; it is by no means astringent, nor does it affect
the head.... Still, however, it is inferior to the Teniotic, a wine which
receives its name from a place called Tenia, where it is produced. Its
colour is pale and white, and there is such a degree of richness in it,
that, when mixed with water, it seems gradually to be diluted, much in
the same way as Attic honey when a liquid is poured into it; and besides
the agreeable flavour of the wine, its fragrance is so delightful as to
render it perfectly aromatic, and it has the property of being slightly
astringent. There are many other vineyards in the valley of the Nile,
whose wines are in great repute, and these differ both in colour and
taste; but that which is produced about Anthylla is preferred to all the
rest.” He also commends some of the wines made in the Thebaïd, especially
about Coptos, and says that they were “so wholesome that invalids might
take them without inconvenience, even during a fever.”

Pliny cites the Sebennytic wine as one of the choice Egyptian _crûs_, and
says it was made of three different sorts of grapes. He also speaks of a
curious wine called _Ecbolada_.

Wine took a large part in the Egyptian ritual, and was freely poured
forth as libations to the different deities; and in private life women
were not restricted in its use. In fact, the ungallant Egyptians have
left behind them several delineations of ladies in a decided state of
“how came you so?” It was probably put down to the Egyptian equivalent
for Salmon.[2] But if they noticed the failings of their womankind, they
equally faithfully portrayed their own shortcomings, for we see them
being carried home from a feast limp and helpless, or else standing on
their heads, and otherwise playing the fool.

Still, wine was the drink of the wealthy, or at least of those, as we
should call them, “well to do.” They had a beer, which Diodorus calls
_zythum_,[3] and which, he says, was scarcely inferior to the juice of
the grape. This beer was made from barley, and, hops being unknown, it
was flavoured with lupins and other vegetable substances. This old beer
was called _hega_, and can be traced back as far as the 4th dynasty. Then
they also had Palm wine, and another wine called _baga_, supposed to be
made from dates or figs; and they also made wines from pomegranates and
other fruits, and from herbs, such as rue, hellebore, absinthe, etc.,
which probably answered the purpose of our modern “bitters.”

[Illustration]

The Assyrians, who rank next in antiquity to the Egyptians, were no
shunners of wine; they could drink sociably, and hob-nob together, as we
see by the accompanying illustration.

Their wine cups were, in keeping with all the dress and furniture of
the royal palaces, exceedingly ornate; and it is curious to note the
comparative barbarism of the wine skin, and the nervous beauty of the
wine cups being filled by the effeminate eunuch. The numerous bas-reliefs
which, happily, have been rescued, to our great edification, afford many
examples of wine cups of very great beauty of form. The inscriptions give
us a list of many wines, and among them was the wine of Helbon, which was
grown near Damascus, at a village now called Halbûn. It is alluded to in
Ezekiel xxvii. 18: “Damascus was thy merchant, by reason of the multitude
of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine
of Helbon, and white wool.”

Wm. St. Chad Boscawen, Esq., the eminent Assyriologist, has kindly
favoured us with the following illustration and note on the subject of
Assyrian wines:—

[Illustration]

“This list of wines is found engraved upon a terra-cotta tablet from the
palace of Assur-ba-ni-pal, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks, and evidently
represents the wines supplied to the royal table. It reads:

Col. I. Wine of the Land of Izalli.
Wine, the Drink of the King (_Daniel_ i. 5).
Wine of the Nazahrie.
Wine of Ra-h-ū (_Shepherds’ Wine_).
Wine of Khabaru.

Col. II. Wine of Khilbunn or Helbon.
Wine of Arnabani (_North Syria_).
Wine of Sibzu (_Sweet Wine_).
Wine of Sa-ta-ba-bi-ru-ri (_which I think means Wines which
from the Vineyard come not_).
Wine of Kharrubi (_Wine of the Carrob or Locust bean_).”

On Phillips’s Cylinder (col. i. l. 21-26) is a list of wines which
Nabuchodorossor is said to have offered: “The wine of the countries
of Izalla, Toúimmon, Ssmmini, Helbon, Aranaban, Souha, Bit-Koubati,
and Bigati, as the waters of rivers without number.” And among the
inscriptions deciphered appear a long list of wines which the Assyrian
monarchs are said to have carried into their country as booty, or to have
received as tribute.

We see the process of filling the wine cups at a feast. They were dipped
into a large vase instead of being filled from a small vessel. Nor were
they alone contented with grape wine, they had palm wine, wine made from
dates, and beer even as the Egyptians had.

[Illustration]

According to the _Abodah Zarah_, a treatise on false worship, there was a
mixed drink used in Babylon called _Cuttach_, which possessed marvellous
properties. “It obstructs the heart, blinds the eyes, and emaciates the
body. It obstructs the heart, because it contains whey of milk; it blinds
the eyes, because it contains a peculiar salt which has this property;
and it emaciates the body, because of the putrefied bread which is mixed
with it. If poured upon stones, it breaks them; and of it is a proverb,
‘That it is better to eat a stinking fish than take _Cuttach_.’” The same
treatise also mentions Median beer and Edomite vinegar.

[Illustration]

The Hittites had been a powerful and civilized nation when the Jews
were in an exceedingly primitive condition, and Abraham found them the
rightful possessors of Hebron, in Southern Palestine (Gen. xxiii.), and
so far recognised their rights to the soil, as to purchase from them
the Cave of Machpelah for “four hundred shekels of silver, current money
with the merchant.” Their power afterwards waned, as they had left Hebron
and taken to the mountains, as was reported by the spies sent by Moses,
four hundred years afterwards (Num. xiii.), but they have left behind
them carvings which throw some light upon their social customs. For
instance, here is one of two ladies partaking of a social glass together.
Unfortunately, we do not know at present the true meaning of their
inscriptions, for scholars are yet at variance as to the translation
of them. That they thoroughly cherished wine may be seen from the
accompanying illustration, which represents one of their deities, who
appears to be a compound of Bacchus and Ceres, and aptly illustrative of
the two good things of those countries, corn and wine, which, with the
olive and honey, made an earthly Paradise for the inhabitants thereof. It
shows how much they appreciated wine, when they deified it.

[Illustration]

As to the Hebrews, they were well acquainted with wine, and placed Noah’s
beginning to be a husbandman, and planting a vineyard, as the earliest
thing he did after the subsidence of the flood. Throughout their sacred
writings, wine is frequently mentioned, and intoxication must have been
very well known among them, judging by the number of passages making
mention of it. A great variety of wines is not named—nay, there are only
two specifically mentioned: the wine of Helbon, which, as we have seen,
was an article of merchandise at Damascus, a fat, luscious wine, as its
name signifies; and the wine of Lebanon, which was celebrated for its
_bouquet_. “The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon” (Hos. xiv.
7). It is possible that this _bouquet_ was natural, or it might have been
artificial, for it was the custom to mix perfumes, spices, and aromatic
herbs so as to enhance the flavour of the wine, as we see in Canticles
viii. 2: “I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my
pomegranate;” by which illustration we also see that the Hebrews made
wines other than those from grapes.

[Illustration]

That it was commonly in use is proved, if it needed proof, by the miracle
at the marriage at Cana, where the worldly-wise ruler of the feast says,
“Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have
well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine
until now.” That they drank water mixed with wine may be inferred by
the two verses (Prov. ix. 2, 5): “She hath mingled her wine”; “Drink
of the wine that I have mingled.” Their wine used to be trodden in the
press, the wine being put into bottles or wine skins, specially mentioned
in Joshua ix. 4, 13. In later days they had vessels of earthenware and
glass, similar to those in the illustration, which were found whilst
excavating in Jerusalem.

That the ancient Jews knew of other intoxicating liquors, such as palm
and date wines, there can be very little doubt.

J. A.

[Illustration]

CLASSICAL WINES.

GREEK.[4]

Homer’s Wine of the Coast of Thrace—Pramnian Wine—Psithian,
Capnian, Saprian, and other Wines—The Mixing of Wines—Use of
Pitch and Rosin—Undiluted Wine—Wine Making—Spiced Wines—A Greek
Symposium.

The only wine upon which Homer dilates, in a tone of approval approaching
to hyperbole, is that produced on the coast of Thrace, the scene of
several of the most remarkable exploits of Bacchus. This wine the
minister of Apollo, Maron, gave to Ulysses. It was red and honey sweet,
so strong that it was mingled with twenty times its bulk of water, so
fragrant that it filled even when diluted the house with perfume (_Od._
ix. 203). Homer’s _Pramnian_ wine is variously interpreted by various
writers.

The most important wines of later times are those of the islands Chios,
Thasos, Cos, and Lesbos, and a few places on the opposite coast of Asia.
The _Aminean_ wine, so called from the vine which produced it, was of
great durability. The _Psithian_ was particularly suitable for _passum_,
and the _Capnian_, or smoke-wine, was so named from the colour of the
grapes. The _Saprian_ was a remarkably rich wine, “toothless,” says
Athenæus, “and sere and wondrous old.”

Wine was the ordinary Greek drink. Diodorus Siculus says Dionysus
invented a drink from barley, a mead-like drink called βρύτος; but
there is nothing to show that this was ever introduced into Greece. The
Greek wine was conducive to inebriety, and Musæus and Eumolpus (_Plato,
Rep._ ii.) made the fairest reward of the virtuous an everlasting
booze—ἡγησάμενοι κάλλιστον ἀρετῆς μισθὸν μέθην αἰώνιον. Different sorts
of wine were sometimes mixed together; sea water was added to some wines.
Plutarch (_Quæst. Nat._ 10) also relates that the casks were smeared with
pitch, and that resin was mixed with their wine by the Eubœans.

Wine was mingled with hot water as well as with cold before drinking. To
drink wine undiluted was looked on as a barbarism. Straining, usual among
the Romans, seems to have been the reverse among the Greeks. It is seldom
mentioned. The Roman wine was most likely filtered through wool. The
Spartans (_Herodotus_, vi. 84) fancied Cleomenes had gone mad by drinking
neat wine, a habit he had learned from the Scythians. The proportions of
the mixture varied, but there was always more water, and half and half
ἴσον ἴσῳ was repudiated as disgraceful.

[Illustration]

The process of wine-making was essentially the same among the Greeks
and the Romans. The grapes were gathered, trodden, and submitted to
the press. The juice which flowed from the grapes before any force was
applied was known as πρόχυμα, and was reserved for the manufacture of a
particular species of rich wine described by Pliny (_H. N._ xiv. II), to
which the inhabitants of Mitylene gave the name of πρόδρομος. The Greeks
recognised three colours in wines—black or red, white or straw-colour,
and tawny brown (κιῤῥός, _fulvus_). When wine was carried, ἀσκοί, or
bags of goat-skin, were used, pitched over to make them seam-tight. The
cut above, from a bronze found at Herculaneum (_Mus. Borbon._ iii. 28)
exhibits a Silenus astride one of them.

The mode of drinking from the ἀμφορεύς, bottle or amphora, and from a
wine skin, is taken from a painting on an Etruscan vase.

[Illustration]

A spiced wine is noticed by Athenæus under the name of τρίμμα. Into the
οἶνοι ὑγιεινοί, or medical wines, drugs, such as horehound, squills,
wormwood, and myrtle-berries, were introduced to produce hygienic
effects. Essential oils were also mixed with wines. Of these the
μυῤῥινίτης[5] is mentioned by Ælian (_V. H._ xii. 3 I). So in the early
ages when Hecamede prepares a drink for Nestor, she sprinkles her cup
of _Pramnian_ wine with grated cheese, perhaps a sort of Gruyère, and
flour. The most popular of these compound beverages was the οἰνόμελι[6]
(_mulsum_), or honey wine, said by Pliny (xiv. 4) to have been invented
by Aristæus. Greek wines required no long time to ripen. The wine drank
by Nestor (_Odyss._ iii. 391) of ten years old is an exception.

The sweet wines of the Greeks (the produce of various islands on the
Ægean and Ionian Seas) were probably something like modern Cyprus and
Constantia, while the dry wines, such as the Pramnian and Corinthian,
were remarkable for their astringency, and were indeed only drinkable
after being preserved for many years. Of the former of these Aristophanes
says that it shrivelled the features and obstructed the digestion of all
who drank it, while to taste the latter was mere torture.

[Illustration]

CLASSICAL WINES.

ROMAN.

Falernian, Cæcuban, and other Wines—Galen’s Opinion—Columella’s
Receipt—The Roman Banquet—Dessert Wines—The Supper of
Nasidienus—Dedication of Cups—Wines mentioned by Pliny made of
Figs, Medlars, Mulberries, and other Fruits.

Of Roman wines the Campania Felix boasted the most celebrated growths.
The Falernian, Massican, Cæcuban, and Surrentine wines were all the
produce of this favoured soil. The three first of these wines have been,
as the schoolboy (not necessarily Macaulay’s) is only too well aware,
immortalised by Horace, who doubtless had ample opportunities of forming
a matured judgment about them.

The Cæcuban is described by Galen as a generous wine, ripening only after
a long term of years. The Massican closely resembled the Falernian. The
Setine was a light wine, and, according to Pliny, the favourite drink of
Augustus, who perhaps grounded his preference on his idea that it was the
least injurious to the stomach. Possibly Horace differed from his patron
in taste. He never mentions this wine, which is however celebrated both
by Martial and by Juvenal.

As for the Surrentine, the fiat of Tiberias has dismissed it as generous
vinegar. Dr. Henderson has no hesitation in fixing upon the wines of
Xeres and Madeira as those to which the celebrated Falernian bears the
nearest resemblance. Both are straw-coloured, assuming a deeper tint
from age. Both present the varieties of dry and sweet. Both are strong
and durable. Both require keeping. The soil of Madeira is more analogous
to that of the Campania Felix, whence we may conclude perhaps that the
flavour and aroma of its wines are similar to those of the Campania.
Finally, if Madeira or sherry were kept in earthen jars till reduced
to the consistence of honey, the taste would become so bitter that,
to use the expression of Cicero (_Brut._ 83), we should condemn it as
intolerable.

The wines of antiquity present disagreeable features; sea water, for
instance, and resin already mentioned. Columella advises the addition of
one pint of salt water for six gallons of wine. The impregnation with
resin has been still preserved, with the result of making some modern
Greek wines unpalatable save to the modern Greeks themselves. Columella
(_De Re Rustica_, xii. 19) says that four ounces of crude pitch mingled
with certain aromatic herbs should be mixed with two _amphoræ_, or about
thirteen gallons of wine.

Ancient wines were also exposed in smoky garrets until reduced to a thick
syrup, when they had to be strained before they were drunk. Habit only
it seems could have endeared these pickled and pitched and smoked wines
to the Greek and Roman palates, as it has endeared to some of our own
caviare and putrescent game.

To drink wine unmixed was, it has been said before, held by the Greeks
to be disreputable. Those who did so were said to be like Scythians.
The Maronean wine of Homer was mixed with twenty measures of water. The
common proportion in the more polished days of Greece was three or four
parts of water to one of wine. But probably Greece, like Rome, had many
a Menenius who loved a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying Tiber
in it. If the condition of Alcibiades in the Platonic symposium was the
result of wine so diluted, the wine must have been strong indeed.

The Grecian and Roman banquet began with the _mulsum_, of mingled
wine and honey. The dessert wines among the Greeks were the Thasian
and Lesbian; among the Romans the Alban, Cæcuban, and Falernian, and
afterwards the Chian and Lesbian.

In the triumphal supper of Cæsar in his dictatorship Pliny says Falernian
flowed in hogsheads and Chian in gallons. At the well-known Horatian
supper of Nasidienus, the Cæcuban and indifferent Chian were handed round
before the host advised Mæcenas that Alban and Falernian were procurable
if he preferred them.

Juvenal and Martial tell us of the complaint of clients, that while
the master and his friends drank the best wine out of costly cups,
they themselves had to put up with ropy liquors in coarse, half-broken
vessels. Human nature has changed little in this respect since those
satirists wrote.

The old fashion of dedicating cups to divinities led perhaps to our
modern system of drinking healths. Sometimes as many cups were drunk to a
person as there were letters in the name of the person so honoured.

It was better then for the bibulous to toast the ancient Sempronia or
Messalina than the modern Meg or Kate.

_Hydromeli_, made of honey and five-year-old rain-water; _oxymeli_,
made of honey, sea-salt, and vinegar; _hydromelon_, made of honey and
quinces; _hydrorosatum_, a similar compound with the addition of roses;
_apomeli_, water in which honeycomb had been boiled; _omphacomeli_, a
mixture of honey and verjuice; _myrtites_, a compound of honey and myrtle
seed; _rhoites_, a drink in which the pomegranate took the place of the
myrtle; _œnanthinum_, made from the fruit of the wild vine; _silatum_,
taken, according to Festus, in the forenoon, and made of _Saxifragia
major_ (Forcellini) or _Tordylium officinale_ (Liddell and Scott);
_sycites_, wine of figs; _phœnicites_, wine of palms; _abrotonites_, wine
of wormwood; and _adynamon_, a weak wine for the sick—are most of them
mentioned as drinks in Pliny.[7] This author also mentions drinks made
of sorbs, medlars, mulberries, and other fruits, of asparagus, origanum,
thyme, and other herbs. Hippocrates praises wine as a medical agent. In
his third book the father of medicine gives a description of the general
qualities and virtues of wines, and shows for what diseases they are in
his opinion advantageous. For more information on wines the reader may
consult Sir Edward Barry, Dr. Alexander Henderson, and Cyrus Redding.
Henderson, who was, like Barry, a physician, did not always agree with
him. Barry’s observations, according to Henderson, are chiefly borrowed
from Bacci. Those not so borrowed are for the most part “flimsy and
tedious.”

The vessels and other drinking cups were commonly ranged on an abacus
of marble, something like our sideboard. It was large, if Philo Judeus
is to be believed. Pliny, speaking of Pompey’s spoils in the matter of
the pirates, says the number of jewel-adorned drinking cups was enough
to furnish nine _abaci_. Cicero charges Verres with having plundered the
_abaci_.

When Rome was in the height of her luxury, murrhine cups were introduced
from the East. What this substance was, the ruins of Pompeii have never
revealed; some maintain it was porcelain, others think it was a species
of spar.

Dr. Henderson adopts the opinion of M. de Rozière that these cups were
of fluor-spar; but this article is not found in Karamania, from which
district of Parthia both Pliny and Propertius agree that they came,
though they differ with respect to their nature; its geographic situation
seems confined to Europe. The anecdote told by Lampridius of Heliogabalus
(502) proves, not the similarity of material, but only the equal rareness
and value of vessels of onyx and murrhine.

[Illustration: AMPHORÆ, RHYTONS, ETC. (_Brit. Mus._).]

A writer in the _Westminster Review_ for July, 1825, believes them to
have been porcelain cups from China; the expression of Propertius,
“_cocta focis_,” proves that they were manufactured. In the time of Belon
(1555) the Greeks called them _the myrrh of Smyrna_, from _murex_, a
shell. From this it seems that their name was given to the vases from a
resemblance of colours to those of the _murex_. Stolberg (_Travels_, ix.
280) says he saw in a collection at Catania a little blue vase, believed
to be a _vas murrhinum_.

The modern jars in any of the wine districts of Italy, such as Asti
Montepulciano or Montefiascone, thin earthen two-handled vessels
holding some twenty quarts, are almost identical with the ancient
_amphoræ_. Suetonius speaks of a candidate for the quæstorship who
drank the contents of a whole _amphora_ at a dinner given by Tiberius.
This _amphora_ was probably of a smaller size. Wooden vessels for wine
seem to have been unfamiliar to the Greeks and Romans; they, however,
occasionally employed glass. Bottles, vases, and cups of that material,
which may be seen often enough now in collections of antiquities, show
the great taste which in these and in other matters they possessed. A few
of these are given to illustrate our text. Skins of animals, rendered
impervious by oil or resinous gums, were probably the most ancient
receptacles for wine after it was taken from the vat. To these there are
frequent allusions in Homer and Isaiah. Vessels of clay, with a coating
of pitch, were introduced subsequently.

[Illustration]

NORTHERN DRINKING.

Beowulf—Ale—Beer—Mead—English Wine—The Mead Hall—Drinking
Horns—Tosti and Harold—Pigment, etc.—The Clergy, etc.,
drinking—Northern Wine drinking—King Hunding—Brewing—Strange
Drinking Vessels, and their Use—Punishment of Drunkards.

Sailing from the north, being lured to the south with visions of plunder
and luxury, came the Danish and Norwegian Vikings, and, as England was
the nearest to them, she received an early visit. With them they brought
their habit of deep drinking, which was scarcely needed, as on that score
the then inhabitants of England could pretty well hold their own. Their
liquors seem to have been ale, _ealu_, beer, _beor_, wine, _win_, and
mead, _medo_.

There was a difference between those that drank ale and those that drank
beer, as we find in _Beowulf_[8]:—

“Full oft have promis’d,
with beer drunken,
Over _the_ ale cup,
sons of conflict,
that they in _the_ beer-hall
would await
Grendel’s warfare
with terrors of edges:
then was this mead-hall,
at morning tide,
_this_ princely court, stain’d with gore;
when _the_ day dawn’d,
all _the_ bench-floor
with blood bestream’d,
_the_ hall, with horrid gore;
of faithful _followers_ I own’d the less,
of dear nobles,
who then death destroyed.
Sit now to _the_ feast,
and unbind with mead
_thy_ valiant breast with _my_ warriors
as thy mind may excite.
Then was for _the_ sons of _the_ Goths
altogether
in _the_ beer hall
a bench clear’d;
there the strong of soul
went to sit
tumultuously rejoicing:
the thane observ’d _his_ duty,
who in _his_ hand bare
the ornamented ale-cup,
_he_ pour’d _the_ bright, sweet _liquor_:
the gleeman sang at times
serene in Heorot:
there was joy of warriors,
no few nobles
of Danes and Weders.”

In Dugdale’s _Monasticon_ (ed. 1682, p. 126), in a Charter of Offa to the
Monastery of Westbury, three sorts of ale are mentioned. Two tuns full of
hlutres aloth (_Clear ale_), a cumb full of lithes aloth (mild ale), and
a cumb full of Welisces aloth (Welsh ale), which is again mentioned as
_cervisia Walliæ_.

But though beer and ale were the drinks of the common folk, yet they were
not despised by their leaders.

[9]“At times before _the_ nobles
Hrothgar’s daughter
to _the_ earls in order
_the_ ale cup bore.”

We see the social difference between ale and wine drinkers in one of the
Cotton MSS. (_Tib._ A. 3), where a lad having been asked what he drank
replied: “Ale, if I have it; Water, if I have it not.” Asked why he does
not drink wine, he says: “I am not so rich that I can buy me wine; and
wine is not the drink of children or the weak-minded, but of the elders
and the wise.”

The English at that time grew the Vine for wine-making purposes; indeed,
very good wine can now be, and is, made from English grapes. Every
monastery had its vineyard, and to this day London has six Vine Streets
and one Vineyard Walk. The wine-hall seems to have been a different
apartment to either the mead or ale-halls, and of a superior order.

[10]“_The_ company all arose;
greeted then
_one_ man another
Hrothgar Beowulf,
and bade him hail,
gave _him_ command of _the_ wine-hall.”
...[11]
“_He_ strode under _the_ clouds,
until he _the_ wine-house,
_the_ golden hall of men,
most readily perceiv’d,
richly variegated.”

The mead-hall seems to have answered the purpose of a common hall, as we
see by the following. Speaking of Hrothgar, the poet says:—

[12]“_It_ ran through his mind
that _he a_ hall-house
would command,
_a_ great mead-house,
men to make,
which the sons of men
should ever hear of;
and there within
all distribute
to young and old,
as to him God had given,
except _the_ people’s share,
and the lives of men.
Then I heard _that_ widely
_the_ work _was_ proclaim’d
to many _a_ tribe
through this mid-earth
that _a_ public place was building.”

Mead was considered a glorified liquor fit for MEN and is thus sung of by
the bard Taliesin:—

“That Maelgwn of Mona be inspired with mead and cheer us with it,
From the mead-horn’s foaming, pure, and shining liquor,
Which the bees provide, but do not enjoy;
Mead distilled, I praise; its eulogy is everywhere
Precious to the creature whom the earth maintains.
God made it to man for his happiness,
The fierce and the mute both enjoy it.”

Mead was made from honey and water, fermented, and in many languages
its name has a striking similarity. In Greek, honey is _methu_, in
Sanskrit, _madhu_, and the drink made therefrom in Danish, is _miod_,
in Anglo-Saxon, _medu_, in Welsh, _medd_, whence metheglyn—_medd_,
mead, and _llyn_, liquor. In _Beowulf_ we frequently find mention of
the _mead-horns_, and we see it vividly portrayed in the heading of
this chapter, which is taken from the Bayeux Tapestry. These horns were
generally those of oxen, although some were made of ivory, and were
probably used because fictile ware was so easily broken in those drinking
bouts in which they so frequently indulged. Another reason was doubtless
that they promoted conviviality, for, like the classical _Rhyton_, they
could not be set down like a bowl, but must either be nursed, or their
contents quaffed.

Many examples of drinking horns remain to us, and illustrations of two
are here given: one that of Ulph, belonging to, and now kept at, York
Minster, and the other the Pusey horn. These are veritable _drinking
horns_; but there are many other tenure horns in existence, which are
hunting horns.

[Illustration: THE PUSEY HORN.]

This horn is an old tenure horn. It was once the custom, when making
a gift of land, instead of making out a deed of gift, to present some
article of personal use, such as a knife, a drinking or hunting horn, and
with it the manor or land, the recipient keeping the present, as a proof
that the land was given him. This Pusey horn is said to have been given
by King Knut to William Pewse, and on the silver-gilt band, to which are
appended dog’s legs and feet, is inscribed in Gothic letters—

“Kyng Knowde geve Wyllyam Pewse
This horne to holde by thy lond.”

It is an ox horn, dark brown, and is 25½ inches long, having a
silver-gilt rim, and at the small end a hound’s head, also of
silver-gilt, which unscrews, thus enabling it to be used either as a
drinking or hunting horn.

Ulph’s horn is considered of somewhat later date, and is of ivory.

[Illustration: ULPH’S HORN.]

Of this horn Dugdale[13] says: “About this time also, Ulphe, the son of
Thorald, who ruled in the west of Deira,[14] by reason of the difference
which was like to rise between his sons, about the sharing of his lands
and lordships after his death, resolved to make them all alike; and
thereupon, coming to York, with that horn wherewith he was used to drink,
filled it with wine, and before the altar of God, and Saint Peter, Prince
of the Apostles, kneeling devoutly, drank the wine, and by that ceremony
enfeoffed this church with all his lands and revenues. The figure of
which horn, in memory thereof, is cut in stone upon several parts of
the choir, but the horn itself, when the Reformation in King Edward the
VIth’s time began, and swept away many costly ornaments belonging to this
church, was sold to a goldsmith, who took away from it those tippings of
gold wherewith it was adorned, and the gold chain affixed thereto; since
which, the horn itself, being cut in ivory in an eight square form, came
to the hands of Thomas, late Lord Fairfax.”

He, dying in 1671, it came into the possession of his next relation,
Henry, Lord Fairfax, who restored its ornaments in silver-gilt, and
restored it to the cathedral authorities. It bears the following
inscription:—

“CORNV HOC, VLPHVS IN OCCIDENTALI PARTE
DEIRÆ PRINCEPS, VNA CUM OMNIBVS TERRIS
ET REDDITIBVS SUIS OLIM DONAVIT.
AMISSVM VEL ABREPTVM.
HENRICVS DOM. FAIRFAX DEMVM RESTITVIT.
DEC. ET CAPIT. DE NOVO ORNAVIT.
A.D. MDC. LXXV.”

Most of us know Longfellow’s poem of King Witlaf’s drinking horn, a story
which may be found in Ingulphus, who says that Witlaf, King of Mercia,
who lived in the reign of Egbert, gave to the Abbey of Croyland the horn
used at his own table, for the elder monks of the house to drink out of
it on festivals and saints’ days, and that when they gave thanks, they
might remember the soul of Witlaf the donor. That they had some horn
of the kind is probable, for the same chronicler says that when the
monastery was almost destroyed by fire, this horn was saved.

Besides the liquors above mentioned, the Anglo-Saxons had others, as we
see in a passage of Henry of Huntingdon (lib. vi.), which is probably
an invention, the same story being told by Florence of Worcester, of
Caradoc, the son of Griffith, A.D. 1065. However, he says that in 1063,
in the king’s palace at Winchester, Tosti seized his brother Harold by
the hair, in the royal presence, and while he was serving the king with
wine; for it had been a source of envy and hatred that the king showed a
higher regard for Harold, though Tosti was the elder brother. Wherefore,
in a sudden paroxysm of passion, he could not refrain from this attack on
his brother.

Tosti departed from the king and his brother in great anger, and went to
Hereford, where Harold had purveyed large supplies for the royal use.
There he butchered all his brother’s servants, and inclosed a head and
an arm in each of the vessels containing wine, mead, ale, pigment,[15]
morat,[16] and cider, sending a message to the king that when he came to
his farm he would find plenty of salt meat, and that he would bring more
with him. For this horrible crime the king commanded him to be banished
and outlawed.

There is no doubt but that the Anglo-Saxons drank to excess, and thought
no shame of it. Many times in Beowulf are we told of their being dragged
from the mead-benches by their enemies and slaughtered, and in a fragment
of an Anglo-Saxon poem on Judith we read:—

“Then was Holofernes
Enchanted with the wine of men:
In the hall of the guests
He laughed and shouted,
He roared and dinn’d,
That the children of men might hear afar,
How the sturdy one
Stormed and clamoured,
Animated and elate with wine
He admonished amply
Those sitting on the bench
That they should bear it well.
So was the wicked one all day,
The lord and his men,
Drunk with wine;
The stern dispenser of wealth;
Till that they swimming lay
Over drunk.
All his nobility
As they were death slain,
Their property poured about.
So commanded the lord of men,
To fill to those sitting at the feast,
Till the dark night
Approached the children of men.”

[Illustration]

Even the clergy and monks drank probably more than was good for them, for
a priest was forbidden by law to eat or drink at places where ale was
sold. But that did not prevent their drinking at home; their benefactors
provided well for that, as one instance will show. Ethelwold allowed the
Monastery of Abingdon a great bowl, from which the drinking vessels of
the brothers were filled twice a day. At Christmas, Easter, Pentecost,
the Nativity and Assumption of the Virgin, on the festivals of Saints
Peter and Paul, and all the other saints, they were to have wine, as well
as mead, twice a day; and taking the number of Saints in the Anglo-Saxon
Calendar, it must have gone hard with them, if this was not almost an
every-day occurrence.

[Illustration]

The Northern nations did not lose their love of drink as time rolled on,
as we may find in the pages of Olaus Magnus. They drank wine, but owing
to the extreme cold it was not of native production, but imported. In
this illustration we see the vessel that has brought it, and the bush
outside, denoting that it was to be sold. They got it from Spain, Italy,
France, and Germany, but he says that the wine most in repute was a
Spanish wine called Bastard, which Shakspeare mentions more than once, as
(1 _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 4) Prince Henry relating his adventures with a
drawer, says, “Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint of Bastard in the Half Moon.”

[Illustration]

He gives receipts for making Hydromel, or Mead, which was to be made of
one part honey, and four of boiling water, to be well stirred, boiled,
and skimmed. Hops were then to be added, then casked, and brewers’ yeast
added. Then to be strained, and it was fit for drinking in eight days. He
tells a pathetic story of King Hunding, who being sorely grieved at the
loss of his brother-in-law, Gutthorm, called all his nobility around him
to a great feast, and had a large tun, filled with hydromel, placed in
the middle of the hall. When his guests were sufficiently inebriated, he
threw himself into the liquor, and died sweetly.

[Illustration]

Beer had they, made of malt and hops, and he gives various methods of
brewing, and also a list of divers beers and their medicinal qualities.

[Illustration]

He also gives an illustration of various drinking vessels then (16th
cent.) in use among the Danes and Swedes, where is here reproduced. Here
we see some plain, others ornamental with runes, and some with very
curious handles. He says they were mostly of brass, copper, or iron,
because in that cold climate the liquor they held had to be warmed over
the fire.

An old translation of a portion of his _Historia de Gentibus
Septentrionalibus_ gives the following account “Of the manner of drinking
amongst the Northern People.”

[Illustration]

“It will not displease curious Readers to hear how the custom is of
drinking amongst the Northern People. First, they hold it Religion to
drink the healths of Kings and Princes, standing, in reverence of them;
and here they will, as it were, sweat in the contention, who shall at
one or two, or more draughts, drink off a huge bowl. Wherefore they seem
to sit at Table as if they had Crowns on their heads, and to drink in
a certain kind of vessel; which, it may be, may cause men that know it
not, to admire it. But that were more admirable to see the servants go
in a long train, in troops, as Pastours of Harts with horns, that they
may drink up those Cups full of beer to the Ghests. And, not content with
these Ceremonies, they will strive to shew their Sobriety, by setting
such a high Cup full of Beer upon their naked heads, and dance and turn
round with it; in like manner they deliver other Cups which they bring in
both hands to the Ghests to drink off, at equall draughts, which are full
of Wine, Ale, Mede, Metheglin, or new Wine.”

[Illustration]

He winds up with a moral dissertation on the punishment of drinkers,
and, after detailing the various effects of alcohol on different races,
as rendering the Gaul petulant, the German quarrelsome, the Goth
obstreperous, and the Finn lachrymose, he suggests that drunkards should
be seated on a sharp wedge, compelled to drink a mighty horn of beer, and
then be hauled up and down by a rope.

J. A.

[Illustration]

WINES.

Definition—Various Meanings of Wine—Alcohol—Varieties
of Wine—Miller—Professor Mulder—Origin of Wine—Brook
of Eshcol—Strabo and Reland—Francatelli’s Order of
Wines—Classification of M. Batalhai Reis.

In the matter of wine, as in that of beer, it is perhaps as well to
commence with a dictionary description or definition. Ogilvie declares it
to be the “fermented juice of the grape, or fruit of the vine.” It is,
however, also the juice of certain fruits, prepared in imitation of wine
obtained from grapes, but distinguished by naming the source whence it is
derived, as currant wine, gooseberry wine, etc.; and a third meaning of
wine—a meaning with which we have happily little to do—is the effect of
drinking wine in excess, or intoxication.[17]

Wines are practically distinguished by their colour, flavour, stillness
or effervescence, and what is known as hardness or softness. The
differences in quality depend on the vines, the soils, the exposure of
the vineyards, the treatment of the grapes, and the mode of manufacture.
The alcohol[18] contained is the leading characteristic. In strong ports
and sherries this varies from about 16 to 25 per cent. It is about 7 per
cent. in claret, hock, and other so-called light wines. Wine containing
about 13 per cent. of alcohol may be assumed to be _fortified_, as it is
called, with brandy or other spirit.

The varieties of wine produced are said to be “almost endless.” This
great number of wines is in some measure owing to an interesting fact
mentioned by Miller in his _Organic Chemistry_ (3rd ed. p. 187), who
tells us that a particular variety of grape, when grown upon the Rhine,
furnishes a species of hock; the same grape, when raised in the valley
of the Tagus, yields Bucellas, in which the palate of a connoisseur may
possibly detect the flavour of hock; whilst in the island of Madeira the
same grape produces the wine known as _Sercial_, which, though generally
allowed to be a delicious wine, has suggested, it seems, to no skilled
palate the flavour either of Bucellas or of hock.

It would therefore be more logical to commence an article on wines with
an article on the grapes from which they are produced, but we fear it
would be far less interesting. Of the chemical composition of wine,
and of its _uses in health and disease_, on which so many books from
the days of old have been already written, we shall, in accordance with
our preface, say nothing at all, or very little. Every person who feels
himself or herself interested in this latter matter may learn as much as
he or she will from the pages of the _Lancet_, while Professor Mulder
has probably written enough about the former to satisfy the most anxious
student.

The origin of most things is obscure. Treatises have been composed
about that of wine. We have no intention of reproducing aught of them
in the present work. Let us be content to suppose that wine had its
origin, again like most things, somewhere at some time in the East. The
date of its introduction into Greece is no more known than that of its
introduction into Italy. A traditional credit is due to Saturn, to Noah,
and to Bacchus as early wine manufacturers. Certainly in Palestine they
had the advantage of fine grapes. On the well-known historic occasion of
Moses sending men to search the land of Canaan, in the time of the first
ripe fruit, we learn that when they came unto the brook of Eshcol, they
cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and “bare it
between two upon a staff.” It has been perhaps somewhat hastily assumed
that the fruit was therefore necessarily of a large size. There may
have been other reasons for this proceeding than an enormity of weight.
But if, as is generally imagined, these grapes were unusually fine and
large, wine makers would be clearly benefited thereby. In support of this
interpretation of the passage in Numbers, Strabo has declared that some
of the grapes in the Holy Land measured two feet in length; and Reland
has not hesitated to declare, as if unwilling to be outdone by Strabo,
that some bunches are of ten pounds weight.

This prefatory matter could make no pretence to completeness if it
omitted an instruction for the service of wines, denoting the order in
which they should be drank at the dinner table, which has already been
given by an adept. Whether the matter is more admirable, or the style, it
is difficult to determine.

“I would recommend,” says Francatelli, “all _bon vivants_ desirous of
testing and thoroughly enjoying a variety of delectable wines, without
being incommoded by the diversity of those introduced for their learned
degustation, to bear in mind that they should be drunk in the following
order;” viz., “When it happens that oysters preface the dinner, a glass
of Chablis or Sauterne is their most proper accompaniment.”

After soup of any kind, genuine old Madeira, East India Sherry, or
Amontillado are recommended as “welcome stomachics.” But you are to
avoid, as you value your health, drinking punch after Turtle soup,
especially Roman punch. With fish, a large variety of wines, such as
Pouilly, Meursault, Montrachet, Barsac, and generally all dry white
wines, is allowed. With the entrées you are permitted to drink any
variety of Bordeaux or Burgundy.

Second course and dessert wines are given at too great a length to admit
of reproduction. About these a “question of the highest importance”
arises as to which should be preferred. But here Francatelli remembers
a fact which might have spared him his vast labour on this service of
wines: that “it is difficult, not to say impossible, to lay down rules
for the guidance of the palate.” The sanguine person, we are told, will
prefer the _genuine_ Champagne; the phlegmatic, Sherry or Madeira. The
splenetic and melancholy man will be prone to select Roussillon and
Burgundy. The bilious will imbibe Bordeaux. In few words, “Burgundy is
aphrodisiac, Champagne is captious, Roussillon restorative, and Bordeaux
stomachic.” By careful attention to the foregoing remarks, the reader
will happily be preserved from any serious mistake in the matter of his
dinner. But other meals must also be taken into consideration, about
which Francatelli preserves a Sibylline and mysterious silence. For
instance, luncheon. We learn, however, from another source that there are
luncheon sherries and dessert sherries. With lunch the brown, rich, and
full-bodied Raro may be suitably drunk; but the pale Solera and the soft
yet nutty Oloroso should make their appearance at dessert alone.

M. Batalhai Reis, Consul for Portugal at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in a report
on the wine trade of England, has troubled himself thus in the interests
of posterity to classify the wines of the world.

CLASS I.—TABLE WINES.

Alcohol and sugar imperceptible. Taste acid and astringent.

Division A. Red.

Group 1. _Acid._ Examples: Inferior Bordeaux and Burgundies, Wines from
North of Portugal.

Group 2. _Astringent._ Examples: Superior Bordeaux and Burgundies,
Collares from Portugal.

Division B. White.

Group 1. Simple Flavour. Example: Rhine Wines.

Group 2. Complex Flavour. Example: Bucellas of Portugal.

CLASS II.—TRANSITION WINES.

Alcohol and sugar perceptible. Taste astringent. Flavour complex.

Division A. Red. Examples: Many Spanish and Portuguese wines.

Division B. White. Examples: Many Spanish and Portuguese wines.

CLASS III.—GENEROUS WINES.

1st Family. Madeira type. Wines of the Canaries, Azores, Lisbon;
Carcanellas, Sherry, Marsala, and Cyprian wines.

2nd Family. Port type.

3rd Family. Tokay, Malaga.

4th Family. Château Yquem, Johannisberg, Steinberg.

CLASS IV.—SPARKLING WINES.

Group A. Natural.

Group B. Artificial.

This division of the wines of the world is presented to the reader as a
literary curiosity. It is at once simple and scientific. In a word, no
book on wines can be considered complete without it. In the succeeding
pages Wines as Beers are, for convenience of reference, arranged after
the alphabetical order of their countries.

AFRICA: Constantias—Rota—Mascara. AMERICA:
Catawbas—Muscatel—Chacoli—Mosto. AUSTRALIA:
Carbinet—Kaludah—Verdeilho—Conatto. CANARIES:
Vidueño—Sack. ENGLAND: Home-made Wines.

AFRICA.

Of this country the most important wines of the present are, perhaps,
Pontac, Hanepoot, Frontignac, and Drakenstein. On the wines of the Cape
of Good Hope, Dr. Edward Kretschmar is a great authority. _Kokwyn_, made
from Muscat grapes, resembles Malaga. The best dry white wines, called
Cape Hocks, are produced in the village of _Paarl_. The _Constantias_,
so called from the wife of the Dutch governor, Van der Stell, are of
three kinds. These excellent sweet wines are too frequently falsified and
adulterated before reaching the palate of the English consumer. A red
wine, called _Rota_, is made at Stellenbosch. Cape Madeira is a boiled
and mixed wine. Stein wine is excellent when old. Red Cape, when drunk in
the country, is a “sound, good wine,” says Cyrus Redding.[19] The wine
of Morocco is chiefly made by the Jews; it is light, acid, and will not
keep. In Tetuan a wine is made nearly equal, according to Cyrus Redding,
to the Spanish wine of Xeres. Palm wines are, of course, common. The
people of Cacongo prepare a wine called _Embeth_, and those of Benin
_Pali_ and _Pardon_. The Caffres make a wine called _Pombie_, from millet
or Guinea corn.[20] In Congo they drink a wine called _Milaffo_, which
will not keep beyond three days.

Of the many wines produced at Algiers, the best is probably the white
wine of _Mascara_, situated on a slope of the plane of Egbris, 1,800
feet above the sea level. The Arabic name of the place is a corruption
of _Umm-al-asakir_, or the Mother of Soldiers. The wine is the principal
industry of Algiers. It is eagerly bought up by agents of Bordeaux
houses. Wines of inferior quality are made at Boue, Tlemcen, Medeah, and
Milianah. The wines of _Oran_ are said to resemble the small wines of
Languedoc. In ancient times the valley of the Nile produced the wines of
Mareotis, Mendes, Koptos, and Arsinoe, and its Delta the liqueur wine of
Sebenytus.

AMERICA.

The first attempt to cultivate the vine in North America was made, we are
informed by Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, in 1564. Some of its best known
wines at the present time are the _Catawbas_[21] (still and sparkling),
red _Aliso_ and _Angelico_. Wine has been made from the vines on the
Ohio, said to resemble Bordeaux in quality. In several parts of Mexico,
as at Passo del Norte, at Zalaya, and at St. Louis de la Paz, wines are
made of tolerable flavour. The red wine of California is agreeable. In
Florida, according to Sir John Hawkins, wine was made from a grape like
that of Orleans, as far back as 1564. The island of Cuba possesses a
“light, cool, sharp wine,” according to Redding.

In South America wine was made long ago in Paraguay. A sweet wine
resembling Malaga is made at Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes, and is
found to improve by transportation some thousand miles across the Pampas.
The wines made in Chili and Peru are white and red. The _Muscatel_ of
Chili is considered to be especially good.[22] The white wine of _Nasca_
is inferior. The wine of _Pisco_ is highly esteemed. Though the white
is held by connoisseurs to be superior to the red wine of Chili, yet it
is little drunk in the cradle of its production. _Chacoli_ is a wine
commonly patronised by labourers. The _Mosto_ of _Concepcion_ differs
from _Mosto asoleado_ by the grapes of the latter being sundried for some
twenty days.

AUSTRALIA.

Australian wines are pretty well known from our tradesmen’s circulars.
For instance, there is the _Gouais_, the _Carbinet_, a soft wine like
Burgundy, the _Mataro_, the _Sauvignon_. There is that “elegant dinner
wine,” _Kaludah_, the Singleton Red or White _Hermitage_, “noted for its
refinement”; the _Tintara Ferruginous_, of “immense power and generous
quality”; the _Tokay Imperatrice_; and the _Alexandrian Moscat_, both
poetically described as “abounding in memories of the sun which begot
them,” and possessing the “most beautiful bouquet that can be imagined,”
with a flavour “resembling the first crush in the mouth of three or four
fine ripe Muscatel grapes—the large white oval ones—covered with a light
bloom, and attached to a clean, thin stalk.”

Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, who are themselves indebted to a publication by
Toovey, have given an excellent description of these wines. _Verdeilho_
is a wine, like Madeira, of delicate aroma and a full body; _Frontignac_
is described as a thin white wine with a slight taste of the Muscat
grape, being a fictitious elderflower flavour; _Malbee_ is described as
made from “claret” grape; _Tavoora_ is described as a pure “port” of
1859; _Tintara_, a red, clear wine; _Adelaide_, a pure white wine, mainly
from _Riessling_ grapes with a _soupçon_ of Muscatel, “a little too fiery
for greatness.” _Wattlesville_ is an acidulous white wine. The poor and
acid _Chasselas_, the strong-scented _Highercombe_, said to resemble
good Sauterne, with many varieties of so-called claret, as _Emu_, _St.
Hubert_, and so-called Hock, as _Heron_ and _Royal Reserve_, are also
imported from Australia. The _Conatto_ is a rich liqueur with a flavour
of Curaçoa and Rum Shrub combined.

CANARIES.

The Canary Islands have long been celebrated for their wines. The
favourite Teneriffe wine is _Vidueño_ or _Vidonia_. Canary _sack_ is
supposed to have been made from the _Malvasia_ sweet grape, whereas the
modern sack is dry (_sec_). The best vineyards are at Orotava, S. Ursula,
Ycod de los Vinos, Buenavista, and Valle de Guerra.

ENGLAND.

British made wines hold no very high rank. A cheap foreign manufacture
is, according to some of their vendors, gradually ousting them from the
market. But at one time they formed a part of the education of the good
housewives of Great Britain. Home wines were chiefly made from plums,
apples, gooseberries, bilberries, elderberries, blackberries, currants
(red and black), raspberries, cherries, cowslips, parsnips, raisins,
greengages, damsons, ginger, oranges, and lemons. Less commonly and in
former times we had wines from mulberries, quinces, peaches, apricots,
and from the sap of the birch, beech, sycamore, and other trees. Years
ago “sweets” or home-made wines were sent from Scotland and Ireland,
such as ginger wine and so-called cherry and raspberry whiskies. The
flowers of meadow-sweet (_Spiræa ulmaria_) yield a fragrant distilled
water, which is said to be used by wine merchants to improve the flavour
of their wines. In a little work by Mr. G. Vine on Home-made Wines, the
reader will find numerous receipts how to make and keep these wines, with
observations on gathering and preparing the fruit, fining, bottling, and
storing. A correspondent of the _Gardeners’ Chronicle_ gives a receipt
for _beer wine_, a beverage which has puzzled many connoisseurs. The
curious may find it also quoted in Vine’s brochure.

The manufacture of home-made wines is familiar. An excellent wine is
sometimes made from a mixture of the fruits above mentioned, as, for
instance, that from gooseberries and currants. All home-made wines are
prone to run into acetous fermentation without the addition of a due
proportion of pure spirits. Plums or sloes, with other ingredients, can,
it is said, be turned into excellent fruity port, the “very choice”
kind, silky, soft, and full bodied. A wine said to be agreeable is also
made from the red berries of the mountain ash or service-tree (_pyrus
aucuparia_). Birch wine is still made in some parts of England. Morewood
gives a long receipt for its manufacture. Like most other wines, it
improves greatly with age. This is especially true of parsnip wine. From
potatoes which have suffered a sort of malting from frost, a tolerable
wine has been obtained. It is said—but there are people who will say
anything—that a great portion of the champagne drunk in this country is
made from sugar and green gooseberries. Rhubarb wine has been affirmed to
be synonymous with British champagne. The reader anxious on this subject
may consult Dr. Shannon’s elaborate _Treatise on Brewing_. Cowslip wine
is all too like some of the Muscatel wines of Southern France, and the
wine of the _Sambucus nigra_ has been more than once, through some
unlucky accident, confused with Frontignac.

[Illustration]

FRENCH WINES.

The Great Makers of Champagne—Its
Manufacture—Bottling—Treatment—Bordeaux or Claret—Its early
Use and Name—Whence it comes—The different Growths—White Wines
of the District—Burgundy—Different Growths and Qualities—Other
Wines.

CHAMPAGNE.

Reims and Epernay are the two great centres of the Champagne district;
but Reims, from its size and antiquity, must be considered its capital.
Here are the establishments of Pommery & Greno, Ernest Moy, Théophile
Roederer & Co., Louis Roederer & Co., Henriot & Co., Permet & Fils,
De St. Marceaux & Co., Werlé & Co. (successors to the renowned Veuve
Cliquot), Heidsieck & Co., De Lossy & Co., G. H. Mumm & Co., Jules Mumm &
Co., Piper & Co., and many others of lesser note.

The wines of this district have, for centuries, been famous, and
especially beloved of kings and potentates. Our Henry VIII. had a
vineyard at Ay, and, in order to know that he got the genuine article,
he had a superintendent of his own on the spot. Francis I., Leo X., and
Charles V. of Spain, all had vineyards in the Champagne district. But
the wine they obtained thence was not sparkling: that was to come later,
and is said to have been the invention of Dom Petrus Perignon, who died
in 1715, monk of, and cellarer to, the Royal Monastery of St. Peter’s
at Hautvilliers. He was especially happy in his blends of wine, and
having found out the secret of highly charging the wine, naturally, with
carbonic acid, is said to have introduced the cork and string necessary
to confine it in its bottles.

Champagne Wine owes its goodness, in the first place, to the soil on
which it is grown, which is unique in its mixture of chalk, silica,
light clay, and oxide of iron; in the second, to the very great care and
delicate manipulation which the wine receives. Every doubtful grape is
discarded, and the carts conveying the grapes from the vineyard go at a
most funereal pace, so that none of their precious contents should get
bruised; for if these little grapes (for they are little larger than
currants) get at all crushed, or partly fermented, in carriage, the fruit
is rendered absolutely worthless for Champagne purposes.

Very great care, too, is exercised in the pressing. The grapes are laid
in carefully stacked heaps upon the floor of the press, where they are
left for a time, and then the first gentle, but firm, sustained squeeze
is applied. The juice thus extracted is the cream of the grape, and is
used only for the finest brands. There are six of these squeezes made,
each more powerful than the last; and the result of each is, of course,
inferior in quality to its predecessor, till the sixth, called the
_rébêche_,[23] is reached, which produces a coarse wine, reckoned only
fit to be given to the workmen.

The must begins to ferment more or less quickly, according to the
temperature, in the casks, at the end of ten or twelve hours, and the
process continues for a considerable time, during which the colour
changes from pale pink to a light straw tint. About three months are
allowed to elapse, when the fermentation stops through repeated rackings
and the cold of the season.

And now the real trouble of the Champagne manufacturer begins. First,
there is the blend, which varies in the case of each manufacturer. The
produce of the different vineyards is mixed in enormous vats, according
to the recipe in vogue in the particular establishment, and to this
mixture is added, if necessary, a proportion of some old wine of a
superior vintage. A most subtle, carefully educated, and exquisite
taste is required to discern when the wine, in this crude state, has
acquired the proper flavour and bouquet. Then comes the important point
of effervescence—a source of much anxiety to the manufacturer, for the
extremest care is required to regulate the quantity of carbonic acid gas,
so that there shall be neither too little nor too much. For if there
be too little, the wine will be flat; and if there be too much, the
bottles will burst by thousands. An instrument, called a _glucometer_, or
_saccharometer_, is used to measure the amount of saccharine matter in
the wine at this point; and if the necessary standard be not reached, the
deficiency is supplied by the purest sugar candy. To the ordinary palate,
at this stage it differs in no respect from still white wine, of somewhat
tart flavour, and is now drawn off into other casks to undergo the next
treatment in the process; viz., the fining, to make it bright, and remove
what is known to connoisseurs of wine as “ropiness.”

The wine is now ready for bottling, and the danger to be avoided is the
bursting of the bottles, for the pressure of the gas is tremendous; hence
it is that the champagne bottle is the most solid and massive in use.
The bottling takes place, as a rule, about eight months after the grapes
have been first pressed, and the precautions against breakage are of the
most minute description. The instant any symptoms of bursting display
themselves, the wine has to be removed to a cooler temperature; but even
with every precaution, the loss sustained by the bursting of bottles is
often very serious indeed, sometimes to an almost ruinous extent. The
risk of breakage is generally almost past by the end of October, and the
bottles are then kept in the cellars for a period ranging from eighteen
months to three years, according to the custom of the establishment.

But even now all is not over, for, during this period, a sediment,
resulting from the fermentation of the wine, has been deposited, which
must be removed before the wine is ready for consumption; and very
troublesome work it is to get rid of this sediment. The bottles are
placed in a slanting direction with the necks downward, and the angle
of inclination is altered from time to time till they stand almost
perpendicular, whilst every time the position is changed, the bottle is
sharply twisted round, so that the sediment may not cling to the sides.
Finally, the deposit collects in a ball in the neck of the bottle, from
whence it is “disgorged”—literally blown out—when the original cork is
removed. A temporary stopper is then inserted until the liqueur, which is
to give the wine its distinctive character, dry or sweet, is introduced.
This liquor consists of a preparation of the very finest sugar candy, the
best Champagne, and the oldest and purest Cognac.

The next process is corking, and, as we all know, champagne corks are not
as other corks. They are made larger than the vent of the bottle, and are
soaked in water, and very often steamed. They are somewhat expensive, the
best corks used costing about threepence each; but it is a very false
economy to use common corks, for the gas would escape. The pliant cork
is placed in a machine which pinches it and compresses it to the size of
the aperture of the bottle, and holds it there till a twenty-pound weight
is let drop, on the principle of a pile-driving hammer, and drives the
cork in firmly. The powerful leverage used to bring down the edge of the
cork for wiring and stringing, imparts the round-shaped top peculiar to
champagne corks. The bottles, after being corked and wired, are allowed
to rest for two or three months, in order that the wine and the liqueur
may properly amalgamate, and are then tinselled and labelled, ready for
the consumer; but some of the best wines are kept for years to mature,
and are, of course, of far higher value.

A sweet Champagne may be made of any wine, but a dry Champagne must be a
good wine, as, if it is not sound, its acidity is detected at once; but
this defect would be hidden by the liqueur necessary to make it sweet.

At Epernay, the bulk of the wine is not so good as that coming from
Reims, and sells at a lower price; but there are firms there of
world-wide note, such as Moet & Chandon, Perrier, Joüet & Co., Meunier
Frères, Wachter & Co., etc.

BORDEAUX OR CLARET.

In England we generally call the wines coming from Bordeaux, _Clarets_,
the derivation of which cognomen is somewhat obscure; but it seems almost
universally accepted that it comes from the French word _Clairet_,
which is used even at the present time as a generic term for the _vins
ordinaires_ of a light and thin quality, grown in the south of France,
and was in use from a very early date. The old French poet, Olivier
Basselin (who died 1418 or 1419), sings:—

“Beau nez, dont les rubis ont coûté mainte pipe
De vin blanc et clairet ...”

There was, however, another Claret, a compounded wine, resembling
_hypocras_, which Giraldus Cambrensis, who lived in the twelfth century,
classes thus: “Claretum, mustum, et medonem” (Claret, must, and mead).
And the venerable Franciscan, Bartholomew Glanville,[24] says: “Claretum,
ex vino et melle et speciebus aromaticis est confectum” (Claret is made
from wine, honey, and aromatic spices). It makes a marked feature in a
curious tenure.[25] “John de Roches holds the Manor of Winterslew, in
the county of Wilts, by the Service, that when our Lord the King should
abide at Clarendon, he should come to the Palace of the King there, and
go into the Butlery, and draw out of any vessel he should find in the
said Butlery at his choice, as much Wine as should be needful for making
(_pro factura_) a Pitcher of Claret (_unius Picheri Claretti_), which he
should make at the King’s charge, and that he should serve the King with
a Cup, and should have the vessel from whence he took the Wine, with all
the Remainder of the Wine left in the Vessel, together with the Cup from
whence the King should drink that Claret.” This refers to a roll of 50
Ed. III., or 1376.

[Illustration: FROM THE “COMPOST ET KALENDRIER DES BERGERES,” 1499.]

But this is not the Claret of our days, which is the wine produced in the
countries watered by the rivers Dordogne and Garonne and the Gironde,
at least it should be so; but, in truth, owing to the good railway
communication, wine comes to Bordeaux from every part of France, large
quantities owing their birth to the banks of the Rhone, from the Hérault,
Roussillon, etc.; and a judicious blending at Bordeaux, and its being
shipped thence, is a very good title to its being grown in the Médoc; but
the quantity shipped to all parts of the world, compared with the acreage
of growth, entirely precludes the supposition that it possibly could
have been the production of that district.

The nobility of the Médoc wines is small. There are only four _premiers
crûs_, but they are magnificent. They are Château Lafitte, Château
Latour, Château Margaux, and Château Haut-Brion; and all these,
especially the Latour, have a flavour and seductive _bouquet_ all their
own, which is believed to arise from an extremely volatile oil contained
in the grape skins, which, like all ethers, requires time to evolve and
mature. But the soil, undoubtedly, has most to do with it, and this must
be in a very large degree composed of fragments of rock, small and large,
while the smooth round pebbles reflect the rays of the sun and throw them
upwards, so as almost to surround the grapes with light and heat. Again,
these stones absorbing the sun’s rays during the day, give out warmth
after sunset, whilst they keep the roots of the vines cool, and prevent
to a great degree the evaporation of the natural and necessary moisture
of the earth.

But these _premiers crûs_ are not always good; for instance, in 1869,
Messrs. Fulcher & Baines, wine brokers, sold by auction a very large
parcel of Château Margaux for about 30_s._ per dozen. There was no doubt
but that it was genuine wine, bottled at the Château, for the cases and
corks were all properly branded; but of such low quality was it, or it
deteriorated so rapidly, that when sold again in 1871 the same wine only
averaged 18_s._ per dozen.

_The 2nd Growths are_:—

Mouton, coming from _Pauillac_.
Rauzan-Segla, ” _Margaux_.
Rauzan-Gassies, ” ”
Léoville-Las Cases, ” _St. Julien_.
Léoville-Poyféré, ” ”
Léoville-Barton, ” ”
Durfort-Vivens, ” _Margaux_.
Lascombes, ” ”
Gruard-La rose-Sarg, ” _St. Julien_.
Gruard-La rose, ” ”
Braune-Cantenac, ” _Cantenac_.
Pichon-Longueville, ” _Pauillac_.
Pichon-Longueville-Lalande, ” ”
Ducru-Beaucaillou, ” _St. Julien_.
Cos-Destournel, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Montrose, ” ”

_3rd Growths._

Kirwan, coming from _Cantenac_.
Château-d’Issau, ” ”
Lagrange, ” _St. Julien_.
Langoa, ” ”
Château-Giscours, ” _Labarde_.
Malescot-St. Exupéry, ” _Margaux_.
Cantenac-Brown, ” _Cantenac_.
Palmer, ” ”
La Lagune, ” _Ludon_.
Desmirail, ” _Margaux_.
Calon-Ségur, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Ferrière, ” _Margaux_.
M. d’Alesmeis Becker, ” ”

_4th Growths._

St. Pierre, coming from _St. Julien_.
Branair-Duluc, ” ”
Talbot, ” ”
Duhart-Milon, ” _Pauillac_.
Poujet, ” _Cantenac_.
La Tour-Carnet, ” _St. Laurent_.
Rochet, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Château-Beychevelle, ” _St. Julien_.
La Prieuré, ” _Cantenac_.
Marquis de Therme, ” _Margaux_.

_5th Growths._

Pontet-Canet, coming from _Pauillac_.
Batailley, ” ”
Grand-Puy-Lacoste, ” ”
Ducasse-Grand-Puy, ” _Pauillac_.
Lynch-Bages, ” ”
Lynch-Moussas, ” ”
Dauzac, ” _Labarde_.
Moulton d’Armailhacq, ” _Pauillac_.
Le Tertre, ” _Arsac_.
Haut-Bages, ” _Pauillac_.
Pédesclaux, ” ”
Belgrave, ” _St. Laurent_.
Camensac, ” ”
Cos-Labory, ” _St. Estèphe_.
Clerc-Milon, ” _Pauillac_.
Croizet-Bages, ” ”
Cantemerle, ” _Macau_.

These are only some of the wines of the Médoc, so that I may be excused
from recapitulating the names of the different growths of the Graves,
the Pays de Sauternes, the Côtes, the Palus, and those of Entredeux
Mers—their name is legion, and it would answer no good purpose. Cocks,
in his _Bordeaux and its Wines_, gives a list of 1,900 of the _principal
growths_, so that we can have a good choice of names from which to
christen our “Shilling Gladstone.”

The wines of Bordeaux used to be greatly drank in England until the great
wars with France—in the last century, when, of course, their importation
was prohibited—but, even then, large quantities were smuggled. They
must, however, have been of better quality than the cheap stuff now
imported. In Scotland, where an affinity with France always existed,
it was a common drink, and very cheap; for in Campbell’s _Life of Lord
Loughborough_ (vi. 29), we find that excellent claret was drawn from the
cask at eighteenpence a quart: and its downfall as a beverage in Scotland
is thus sung by John Home, probably in allusion to the Methuen Treaty of
1703.

“Firm and erect the Caledonian stood,
Prime was his mutton, and his claret good:
Let him drink port, an English Statesman cried;
He drank the poison, and his spirit died.”

The white wines of these districts are delicious, and are not
sufficiently appreciated in England, where we know very little of the
Sauternes, Bommes, Barsac, Fargues, St. Pierre de Mons, Preignac, and
those of Petits Graves and the Côtes. Chief of all is the wine of
Château d’Yquem, of which Vizitelly[26] thus writes:—

“Among the white wines of the Gironde which obtained the higher class
reward, two require to be especially mentioned. One, the renowned Château
d’Yquem of the Marquis de Lur Saluces, the most luscious and delicately
aromatic of wines, which, for its resplendent colour, resembling liquid
gold, its exquisite bouquet, and rich, delicious flavour, due, according
to the chemists, to the presence of Mannite, is regarded in France as
unique, and which, at Vienna, naturally met with the recognition of a
medal for progress.

“Mannite, the distinguished French chemist Berthelot informs us, has the
peculiar quality of not becoming transformed into alcohol and carbonic
acid during the process of fermentation. For a tonneau of this splendid
wine twelve years old, bought direct from the Château, the Grand Duke
Constantine paid, some few years since, 20,000 francs, or £800. The other
wine calling for notice was La Tour Blance, one of those magnificent,
liqueur-like Sauternes, ranking immediately after Château d’Yquem, and to
some fine samples of which, of the vintages of 1864 and 1865, a medal for
merit was awarded.

[Illustration: THE DILETTANTE SOCIETY.

In this illustration of “the Dilettante Society” we find that Noblemen
and Gentlemen such as Lord Mulgrave, Lord Seaforth, Hon. Chas. Greville,
Charles Crowle, and the Duke of Leeds, drank their claret out of the
black bottle—dispensing with the decanter altogether.]

“The characteristic qualities of Château d’Yquem, which certain
_soi-disant_ connoisseurs pretend to pooh-pooh, as a mere ordinary _vin
de liqueur_, are due, in no degree, to simple accident. On the contrary,
the vintaging of this wine is an extremely complicated and delicate
affair. In order to insure the excessive softness and rich liqueur
character which are its distinguishing qualities, the grapes, naturally
excessively sweet and juicy, are allowed to dry on their stalks,
preserved, as it were, by the rays of the sun, until they become covered
with a kind of down, which gives to them an almost mouldy appearance.
During this period, the fruit, under the influence of the sun, ferments
within its skin, thereby attaining the requisite degree of ripeness, akin
to rottenness.

“On the occasion of the vintage, as it is absolutely essential that the
grapes should be gathered, not only when perfectly dry, but also warm,
the cutters never commence work until the sun has attained a certain
height, and invariably suspend their labours when rain threatens, or
mists begin to rise. At the first gathering they detach simply the
_graines rôties_, or such grapes as have dried after arriving at proper
maturity, rejecting those which have shrivelled without thoroughly
ripening, and, from the former, a wine of extreme softness and density,
termed _crème de tête_, is produced.

“By the time the first gathering has terminated, other grapes will
have sufficiently ripened and rotted, or dried, and both sorts are now
detached, yielding the wine called _vin de tête_, distinguished by
equal softness with the _crème de tête_, but combined with a larger
amount of alcohol, and greater delicacy of flavour. At this point, a
delay generally ensues, according to the state of the weather, it being
requisite, towards the end of October, to wait while the rays of the
sun, combined with the night dews, bring the remainder of the grapes to
maturity, when the third gathering takes place, from which the wine,
termed _centre_, frequently very fine and spirituous, is produced.
Another delay now ensues, and then commences the final gathering,
when all the grapes remaining on the stalks are picked, which, when
the vintage has been properly conducted, is usually only a very small
quantity, yielding what is termed the _vin de queue_.”

However, although it is not given to all of us to be able to afford
Château d’Yquem, yet there are many of the other white wines of France,
which are within ordinary limits, and which compare more than favourably
with the red wines.

BURGUNDY AND OTHER WINES.

Verily there cannot be much amiss with wine that causes a holy man (by
profession) to break forth into song as follows:—

“Nous les boirons lentement,
Nous les boirons tendrement,
Ton Clos Vougeot, ton Romanée:
Par nous la sainte liqueur,
Qui nous rechauffe le cœur,
Ne sera jamais profanée.”

More generous than the wines of Bordeaux, it has been the drink of Kings
and Popes, and perhaps no vineyard has a similar honour done it as that
of Clos-Vougeot (Napoleon’s favourite wine); for when a French regiment
marches past that celebrated vineyard, it halts, and presents arms.
On the golden slope—the Côte d’Or—is grown this wine of Burgundy, and
the _vignerons_ divide the district into two parts, the Côte de Nuits
and the Côte de Beaune, the first of which produces the finest wines,
from Vosne especially, whence come Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg,
Romanée-St. Vivant, La Grande Rue, Gaudichat, Malconsort, and others;
but of all these Romanée Conti is king. Unfortunately the yield of this
vineyard is very small, and genuine Romanée is seldom to be met with.
But there are plenty of good wines to be bought at moderate prices,
those of Chambertin, Volnay, Beaune, Mâcon, and Beaujolais. Chief among
the white Burgundies is Chablis; but there are other sorts, not half
enough drank in England—Mâcon, Pouilly, Meursault, Chevalier-Montrachet,
Montrachet-Ainé, and many other fine white wines. Sparkling Burgundy is
not to be despised.

The Côtes du Rhone produce fine wines, too, such as Hermitage, Côte
Rôtie, Condrieu, and St. Peray; but of these, perhaps, Hermitage red and
white are best known to us.

Much wine is made in the South of France, in the departments of the
Hérault, the Gard, the Aude, and the Pyrenées-Orientales, whilst
Languedoc has always been famous for its wines, which are very similar to
some Spanish varieties. Roussillon is nearly as good as Burgundy, and,
after being manipulated at Cette, is often palmed off as “Vintage Port,”
and the Muscat wines of the Hérault and the Pyrenées-Orientales are
particularly luscious, especially those from Lunel.

Some wines come from Corsica, but they do not find their way, as such,
into the English market; no doubt, though, but we have them in some
shape, for the mystifications of the wine trade are stupendous, and, to
an outsider, unfathomable.

J. A.

[Illustration]

GERMANY: Rhine Wines—Heidelberg
Tun—Hock—Stein-wein—Asmannhäuser—Straw Wines—Goethe’s
Opinion of Wine GREECE: Verdea—Vino Santo—The Wine of Night.
HUNGARY: Maszlacz—Tokay—Carlowitz—Erlauer. ITALY: Monte
Pulciano—Chianti—Barolo—Barbera—Montefiascone—Lacryma Christi,
etc. MADEIRA: Malvasia—Tinta—Bual, etc. PERSIA: Shiraz.

GERMANY.

The Germans, says Cyrus Redding, like vain men of other nations, have
wasted a good deal of idle conjecture on the antiquity of the culture
of the vine in their country; and then, as though to show by example
that this waste of idle conjecture is not confined to the Germans, Mr.
Redding continues the investigation of this important matter himself.
In the opinion of an experienced merchant these wines have a “distinct
character and classification of their own.” Their alcoholic strength is
low, averaging about 18 per cent.

[Illustration: This illustration dates 1608 as “A Sciographie or Modell
of that stupendous vessel which is at this day shewed in the Pallace
of the Count Palatine of Rhene in the citie of Heidelberg.” A model of
this Tun was shown at the German Exhibition held in London, 1891. Its
capacity was eclipsed by a famous _tonneau_, elaborately ornamented with
allegorical figures, etc., which was shown in the French Exhibition of
1889. It would hold 200,000 bottles of Champagne, and came from Epernay.
It had to be drawn by a large team, by road, and the French press was
full of its imaginary adventures on its journey to Paris.]

To the north of Coblentz the wines are of little comparative value,
though a Rhenish wine has been produced at Bodendorf, near Bonn. On the
Rhine or its tributary rivers between Coblentz and Mayence, all the
most celebrated wines of Germany are grown. The grapes preferred for
general cultivation are the Riessling, a small, white, harsh species. The
true _Hochheimer_, daily consumed in Germany, is grown to the eastward
of Mentz, between there and Frankfort. The wines mellow best in large
vessels, an experience which has produced the celebrated Heidelberg Tun,
holding some six hundred hogsheads. The distinguishing characteristics
of German wine have been said to be generosity, dryness, fine flavour,
and endurance of age. The dyspeptic will learn with delight that the
strong wines of the Rhine are extremely salutary, and contain less acid
than any other. It is also averred that they are never saturated with
brandy. _Liebfrauenmilch_[27] is grown at Worms. It is full bodied,
as is that of _Scharlachberg_. Wines of _Nierstein_,[28] _Laubenheim_,
and _Oppenheim_ are good, but _Deidesheimer_ is considered superior to
them. _Hock_[29] is derived from Hochheim; but nearly every town on the
banks of the Rhine gives its name to some lauded vintage. The flavour of
Hock is supposed to be improved by thin green glasses. Perhaps, says the
judicious Redding, this is mere fancy. The Palatinate wines are cheaper
Hocks. Moselles have a more delicate perfume. The whole eastern bank of
the Rhine to Lorich, called the Rheingau, about fourteen miles in extent,
has been famous for its wines for ages. Naturally, therefore, it was
once the property of the Church. Here is _Schloss-Johannisberger_, once
nearly destroyed by General Hoche, where a leading Rhine wine is made.
_Steinberger_ takes the next rank to _Johannisberger_. _Gräfenberg_,
also once ecclesiastical property, produces wine equal to _Rüdesheimer_,
which is a wine of the first Rhine growths. _Marcobrunner_, _Roth_,
_Königsbach_ are excellent drinks. _Bacharach_ has lost its former
celebrity. The conclusion to which a celebrated connoisseur has arrived
after an exhaustive examination of German wines is this: “On the whole,
the wines of _Bischeim_, _Asmannshäuser_, and _Laubenheim_ are very
pleasant wines; those of rather more strength are _Marcobrunner_,
_Rüdesheimer_ and _Niersteiner_, while those of _Johannisberg_,
_Geissenheim_, and _Hochheim_ give the most perfect delicacy and
aroma.” The Germans themselves say _Rhein-wein, fein-wein; Necker-wein,
lecker-wein; Franken-wein, tranken-wein; Mosel-wein, unnosel-wein_.[30]

[Illustration]

The red wines of the Rhine are considered inferior to the white. Red
_Asmannshäuser_ is perhaps the best. Near Lintz _Blischert_ is made.
Königsbach and Altenahr yield ordinary wines. The most celebrated of
Moselle wines is the _Brauneberger_, of which the varieties are numerous.
A variety called _Gruenhäuser_ was formerly styled the Nectar of the
Moselle. The wines of Ahr, of which some are red, resemble Moselles,
but will keep longer. Of the wines of the Neckar the most celebrated is
_Besigheimer_. Baden, Wiesbaden, Wangen, and Würtzberg, all grow good
wines. Of the last is _Stein-wein_, produced on a mountain so called,
and named by the Hospital to which it belongs, _Wine of the Holy
Ghost_. _Leisten_ wines are grown on Mt. Saint Nicolas. _Straw_ wines
are made in Franconia. _Calmus_, a liqueur wine, like the sweet wines of
Hungary, is made in the territory of Frankfurt. The best vineyards are
those of Bischofsheim. Wines of Saxony are of little worth. Meissen and
Guben produce the best. Naumburg makes some small wines, like inferior
Burgundy. The excellence of the Rhine wines has seldom perhaps been
proved more clearly than by one who loved them well. Goethe, in his _Aus
einer Reise am Rhein, Main und Neckar_, says: “_Niemand schämt sich der
Weinlust, sie rühmen sich einigermaassen des Trinkens. Hübsche Frauen
gestehen dass ihre Kinder mit der Mutterbrust zugleich Wein geniessen.
Wir fragten ob denn wahr sey, dass es geistlichen Herren, ja Kurfürsten
geglückt, acht Rheinische Maass, das heisst sechzehn unserer Bouteillen,
in vierundzwanzig Stunden zu sich zunehmen? Ein scheinbar ernsthafter
Gast bemerkte, man dürfe sich zu Beantwortung dieser Frage nur der
Fastenpredigt ihres Weihbischofs erinnern, welcher, nachdem er das
schreckliche Laster der Trunkenheit seiner Gemeinde mit den stärksten
Farben dargestellt, also geschlossen habe—_” But for those who understand
not the German tongue we will give some of the sermon of this Church
dignitary on the Rochusberg in English. “Those, my pious brethren, commit
the greatest sin who misuse God’s glorious gifts. But the misuse excludes
not the use. Wine, it is written, rejoices man’s heart. Therefore we are
clearly intended to enjoy it. Now perhaps, beloved brethren, there is
not one of you who cannot drink two measures of wine without feeling
any ill effects therefrom; he, however, who with his third or fourth
measure has so far forgotten himself as to abuse, beat and kick his wife
and children, and to treat his dearest friend as his worst enemy, let
such a one discontinue to drink three or four measures, which thus render
him unpleasing to God and despicable to man. But he who with the fourth
measure, nay, with his fifth or his sixth, still maintains his sense in
such a manner that he can behave properly to his fellow-Christian, attend
to his domestic duties, and obey his spiritual superiors as he ought,
let him be thankful in modesty for the gift accorded to him. But let him
not advance beyond the sixth measure, for here commonly is the term set
to human power and endurance. Rare indeed is the occasion in which the
benevolent God has lent a man such especial grace that he may drink eight
measures—a grace which He has, however, accorded to me His servant. Let,
therefore, every one take only his allotted measure _und auf dass ein
solches geschehe, alles Ubermaass dagegen verbannt sey, handelt sämmtlich
nach der Vorschrift des heiligen Apostels welcher spricht; Prüfet alles
und das Beste behaltet!_”

[Illustration: “TASTING THE VINTAGE.”—_After_ Hasenclever.]

GREECE.

The vinification of Greece is commonly imperfect. Most of its wines
become vinegar in summer. Avoid, says a well-known guide-book, the wine
of this country, which is generally acid and always impure.[31] The best
Greek wines are those of the islands Ithaca, Zante, Tenos, Samos, Thera
(Santorin),[32] and Cyprus. The white wine of Zante, called _Verdea_,
resembles Madeira in flavour. The wine of Naxos is of considerable
strength, and is greatly improved by age. A quantity of it, known as
_Vino Santo_, is exported. Andros was sacred to Dionysus, and a tradition
(Plin. ii. 103; xxxi. 13; Paus. vi. 26) says that for seven days during
a festival of this god the waters of a certain fountain were changed
to wine. The wine did no credit to the god, if it resembled that which
this island at present produces. The “Nectar” of _Morta_ is bitter and
astringent. Dr. Charnock has recommended the _Monthymet_ as a good mild
wine, and the _œconomos_. A white wine, called “_the wine of night_,” is
supplied under the distinctive names of _St. Elie_ and _Calliste_; the
latter is the better.

HUNGARY.

The wines of Hungary, we are told, “possess considerable body with a
moderate astringency.” The varieties of wine known as _Ausbruch_ and
_Maszlacs_, including the _Tokays_, _Rust_, _Menes_, and many more, are
of the most important character. Without the addition of dry berries the
so-called natural wine or _Szamorodni_ is obtained. The Tokay essence,
a very sweet wine, should be also very old. When fifty years in bottle
it costs some £3[33] for a small flask. Ausbruch, also sweet, should be
also old. _Maszlacz_ is of four different kinds. The _Mezes_, _Male_ or
_Imperial_, does not get into trade. _Meograd_, _Krasso_, and _Villany_
from the West of Hungary are good strong wines of the second class. Wines
of the third class are very numerous. There is no space to mention more
than the red wines: _Baranya_, _Presburger_, _Somogy_, _Vagh-Ujhelyer_,
_Paulitsch_, and _Erdöd_, and the white _Miszla_, _Balaton_, _Füred_,
_Hont_, _Pesth_, and _Weissenburger_. _Samlauer_ is one of the best white
wines made at a place called Samlau, as _Erlauer_ another good wine
at Erlau. The most commonly known Hungarian wines of the present are
_Oedenburger_, _Samlauer_, _Neszmely_, and _Carlowitz_.

ITALY.

That Italy produces good wines is, says Cyrus Redding, undeniable.
She also produces wines that are very bad. The best Italian wines are
believed to be of Tuscany. As Hafiz is the authority for _Shiraz_, so
Redi’s _Bacco in Toscana_ should be consulted for the wines of Italy.
_Monte Pulciano_ is of a purple hue, sweet and slightly astringent.
It is to this wine that Redi gives the palm, calling it _la manna di
Monte Pulciano_. The wine of _Chianti_, near Sienna, is well known.
_Artiminio_, _Poncino_, _Antella_, and _Carmignano_, though of less
reputation, are not greatly inferior. The best _Verdea_[34] comes from
Arcetri near Florence. _Trebbiano_, a gold-coloured syrup, is produced,
according to Drs. Thudichum and Dupré, from grapes, “passulated on the
vine by torsion of the stalk.” _Montelcino_, _Rimaneze_, and _Santo
Stefano_ are Siennese wines. Of Sardinia the chief wines are the
so-called _Malvasias_, _Giro_, _Aleatico_, like the _Tinto_ of Alicante,
and _Bosa_, _Ogliastra_, and _Sassari_. Of Piedmont the principal wines
are _Barolo_, _Barbera_, _Nebbiolo_, _Braccheto_. _Asti_, _Chaumont_,
_Alba_, and _Montferrat_ have had reputation thrust upon them.
_Grignolinos_ are made from a vine closely related to the _Kadarka_
of Hungary, and the _Carmenet_ of the Gironde. The wines of Genoa are
of small repute. Central Italy furnishes _Montefiascone_,[35] with a
delicious aroma, _Albano_, resembling _Lacryma Christi_, and _Orvieto_.
The principal wine of Naples, from the base of Vesuvius, is _Lacryma
Christi_, a rich, red, exquisite drink, affirmed by some adventurous
fancies to be the _Falernian_ of Horace. “O Christ!” said a Dutchman
who drank, “why didst Thou not weep in my country?” Gallipoli, Tarento,
Baia, Pausilippo, yield good wines. The islands in the Bay of Naples
all produce wine; that of _Caprea_ is of good ordinary quality, both
white and red. Calabria furnishes many good wines. _Muscadenes_ and dry
wines are made at Reggio. _Asprino_, a white foamy wine, with a pleasant
sharpness, is a favourite of the Campagna. _Carigliano_ is a Muscadine,
with a flavour of fennel. Dr. Charnock speaks highly of the wine of
Capri, and of Orvieto, a delicate white wine of Rome. The disagreement of
travellers about the merits of wines arises principally, of course, from
a diversity of tastes, but also in the matter of Italian wines, from the
fact that different wines bear the same names in different countries.
There is, for instance, a _vino santo_ and a _vino greco_ in Naples. A
Veronese wine, _vino debolissimo e di niuna stima_, is also called _vino
santo_, and an excellently good wine at Brescia. It is the same with half
a dozen of the most noted wines of Italy. _Modico_, a fine white wine
from the place of that name near Salerno, was apparently a favourite of
the noted School of Salernum. The best known wines out of Italy are the
_Barola_, _Barbera_, and the rest which may be found on the wine-list
of every _padrone_ of an Italian restaurant; the _Inferno_ of the
Valtellina; the _Lambrusco_ of Modena; the _Chianti_ of Tuscan—a wine
grown on the estate of Baron Ricasoli, not thought so much of in Italy as
in England; and the _Lacryma Christi_ of Naples. Most Italian wines are
bottled in flasks, in the old Roman style, with oil[36] on the top, and
wool over the oil.

MADEIRA.

Wine is first mentioned as a product of Funchal, the capital of Madeira,
in the fifteenth century. In 1662, when Charles II. married the Infanta
Catherine of Bragança, English merchants began to settle in Madeira.
The principal varieties of Madeira are _Malvasia_, _Bual_, _Sercial_,
_Tinta_, and _Verdelho_ (the _Verdea_ of Tuscany). In England, Madeira
is now within the reach of all. At the beginning of this century, it
was known only to connoisseurs. The “fine rich old _Boal_” is fairly
familiar, and if we may trust the wine merchants, the “Very Superior
Old,” variously described as full, soft, golden, delicate, and mellow,
is gradually winning its way into public favour, since that same “soft
fulness,” added to a delicious and yet pungent flavour, produces a drink
“altogether superior” to the best Sherry.

PERSIA.

The ancient, most famous wines of this country were those of Chorassan,
Turan, and Mazanderan. These places still produce wines; but their
characteristics and reputation have, it is affirmed, become blended in
the wine of Shiraz, in the province of Ferdistan, on the Persian Gulf.
Chardin, the Frenchman, describes this wine as of excellent quality,
but of course not so fine as the French wines. The German, Kämpfer,
puts Shiraz on the same level with the best Burgundy and Champagne. He
who wishes to learn the nature of the wine of Shiraz should consult the
_Diwan_ of Hafiz. How far this poet speaks of wine literally understood,
and how far of spiritual delights, is a matter for commentatorial
investigation. Persian wine is frequently mixed with _raki_ and saffron,
and the extract of hemp. _Sherbet_, made of fruit juices and water, is
English rather than Oriental.

[Illustration]

PORTUGAL.

PORTUGAL: Peso da Regoa—Four Methods of Cultivation of
Vine—White and Black Ports—The _Quintas_—Tarragona—Charneco.
RUSSIA: Kahetia—Gumbrinskoé. SICILY: Marsala.
SPAIN: Malaga—Sherry—Amontillado. SWITZERLAND:
Chiavenna—St. Gall—The Canton of Vaud. CIDER:
Derivation—Ainsworth—Gerard—Bacon—Evelyn—Turberville—Macaulay—Phillips.
PERRY.

One hundred and fifty years ago, in the small town of Peso da Regoa, then
called Regua only, near the confluence of the Corgo with the Douro, lived
a single fisherman, in a hut which he had himself constructed. When the
Oporto Wine Company was established, their warehouses were erected here,
and an annual fair for the sale of wine was established.

Peso da Regoa—the Peso comes from an adjoining village—is now a thriving
town, and may be considered the capital of the Alto Douro district (_Paiz
Vinhateiro do Alto Douro_), whence are sent to England and elsewhere
those wines which are here known as Port. The wine district is bounded
by Villa Real on the north, Lamego on the south, S. João da Pesqueira on
the east, and Mezãofrio on the west. It is unwholesome, and but thinly
populated. Those who list may draw from this fact a divine prohibition of
the bibbing of Port.

The vine is cultivated in Portugal in four ways. (1) By being trained
round oaks or poplars _de enforcado_, as the Romans _ulmisque adjungere
vites_. (2) By the terrace system, the best as (1) is the most
picturesque. (3) By bushes in rows, with the intermediate ground
ploughed. (4) By the trellis or _de ramada_. The first liquor drawn from
the _lagar_, or press, the result of the weight of the grapes alone, is
called _Lacryma Christi_. After that a gang of men jump into the _lagar_,
and dance to the sound of the fife or bagpipe. The weather is warm, the
work is hard; the result is better conceived than expressed.

Of white Ports the best are _Muscatel de Jesus_ (the testimony to
religious influence in this and the _Lacryma Christi_ is extremely
touching), considered the prince of all, the _Dedo de Dama_, the _Ferral
Branco_, _Malvazia_ (our Malmsey),[37] _Abelhal_, _Agudelho_, _Alvaraça_,
_Donzellinho_, _Folgozão_, _Gonveio_, White _Mourisco_, _Rabo da Ovelha_,
and _Promissão_. Of the black Ports the finest is _Touriga_, and the
sweetest _Bastardo_. Other dark Ports are _Souzão_, the darkest of all,
_Aragonez_, _Pegudo_, besides _Tintas_, whose names are legion. Other
wines grown here, or in the immediate vicinity, are _Alvarilhão_, a kind
of Claret, _Alicante_, _Muscatel_, _Roxo_, and _Malvazia Vermelha_.
Great quantities of wine are produced in the _quintas_ outside the line
of demarcation, and some of these wines are equal to those made in the
wine district of the _Alto Douro_ itself. Red wines transformed into
French Clarets at Bordeaux, are exported in large quantities. A wine from
Tarragona, known as “Spanish Red,” or superb Catalan, is sent yearly to
England, and sold as very full, rich, fruity, and tawny Port. Port will
not keep good in the cask for more than two years without the addition of
alcohol. The Oporto merchants use a pure spirit distilled from the wine
itself. The old Port which we prize so highly and pay for so dearly is
seldom unaffected by brandy or other spirit.

[Illustration: INTRODUCTION OF THE GOUT.]

[Illustration: THE GOUT.]

Some of the best wines are produced by Estremadura, such as _Bucellas_,
_Collares_, _Lavradio_, _Chamusca_, _Carcavellos_, _Barra a Barra_,
and many others of which not even the names are known in England. The
vines round Torres Vedras might, it has been said, produce the finest
wines in the world, if properly cultivated. _Arinto_ and _Estremadura_
are comparatively new wines. The white wines of Tojal and the vintages
of Palmella and Inglezinhos have only to be known to become popular.
The province of Traz-os-Montes, in spite of its climate of _nove mezes
de inverno, e tres de inferno_, produces excellent wines in the Piaz
Vinhateiro. Those in the vicinity of the river Tua and the Sabor are
considered by connoisseurs to resemble the celebrated _Clos Vougeot_.
There is a remarkable red wine called _Cornifesto_, and the white wines
of _Arêas_, _Bragança_, _Moraes_, _Moncorvo_, and _Nosedo_ are excellent.
The cup of _Charneco_ (2 Hen. VI. ii. 3), a wine mentioned by Beaumont
and Fletcher and Decker, is said to have been made at _Charneco_, a
village near Lisbon (_European Magazine_, March, 1794).

Port-wine is accredited with producing gout, and the two accompanying
illustrations give the “Introduction to the Gout,” and the real fiend
itself.

RUSSIA.

_Kahetia_ is a wine produced in a district of that name, east of Tiflis.
It is of two descriptions, red and white, and is much esteemed throughout
Transcaucasia. As it is kept in skins made tight with naphtha, it has
generally a slight taste of leather and petroleum. _Gumbrinskoé_ is
a sweet wine grown in the Gumbri district of the Caucasus. _Donskoé
Champanskoé_, the champagne of the Don, is said by Dr. Charnock to be a
very good wine, and better than many sorts drunk in Britain. Russian
wines generally, as those of many other countries, are largely diluted,
and, like the majority of Greek wines, do not improve by keeping.

SICILY.

A thousand years before Christ, says Mr. Simmonds, districts of Sicily
were famous for wine. The coins of Naxos (500 B.C.) bear the head of
Bacchus on the obverse, on the reverse Pan, or a bunch of grapes. Of
Sicilian wines, the light amber or brown wine of _Marsala_ is best known.
There is Ingham’s L.P., and Woodhouse’s; there is also the Old Brown. The
Faro is perhaps the strongest wine of Sicily. The wine of Terre Forte is
made near Etna, in some vineyards of Benedictine monks. Marsala, as we
know it, is generally adulterated, or fortified, to use a more technical
term. Even the “Virgin” has not escaped this common lot of wines. Much
Marsala is indeed sold as Marsala, but much more is sold as Sherry. The
wine of _Taormina_ has the classic taste of pitch. Augusta produces a
wine with a strong flavour of violets. This to some palates is the most
agreeable wine drank in Sicily or elsewhere. The _Del Bosco_ of Catania,
and the _Borgetto_ have been both recommended by the subtle taste of Dr.
Charnock. A dry wine called _Vin de Succo_ is made about ten miles from
Palermo. The wine of Syracuse somewhat resembles _Chablis_.

SPAIN.

As Spain succeeds France geographically, so it follows it in the
excellence of its vinous productions. Throughout all ages this country
has been distinguished for its wines. But the Spaniard’s chief glory
under heaven is in the preparation of white dry fortified wines such as
Sherries, and sweet wines such as _Malagas_. In the province of Andalusia
is situated Xeres de la Frontera, and the convent of _Paxarete_, which
produces a rich sweet sparkling drink. Here, too, are the vines of
the _vino secco_ and the _abocado_, and _Rota_,[38] which produces
Andalusia’s best red wines. Here are _Ranico_, _Moguro_, or _Moguer_, a
cheap light wine, _Negio_, and the capital _Seville_. Catalonia yields
a large quantity of red wine shipped to England mostly as a drink
for the general. The _Malaga_ of Granada is well known. Sherry[39]
wines are, or ought to be, the products of Cadiz, including Xeres de
la Frontera, San Lucar de Barrameda,—where _Tintilla_, an excellent
Muscadine red wine, is manufactured,—Trebujena, and Puerto de Santa
Maria. The celebrated wine known as Manzanilla[40] is made in San
Lucar de Barrameda. _Val de Peñas_[41] wines are commonly red. After
the perfection of age, this celebrated product of La Manche[42] is,
in the opinion of Redding, equal to any red wine in the world. Much
wine of Catalonia is now imported into England as Catalan Port. Borja
produces a luscious white wine. The country about Tarragona on the road
to Barcelona is almost wholly occupied with wine making. _Beni-Carlos_,
_La Torre_, _Segorbe_, and _Murviedro_, are all fair wines of Valencia.
Alicant produces an excellent red wine, _vino tinto_, strong and sweet;
when old, this wine is called _Fondellol_. Vinaroz, Santo Domingo, and
Perales, offer red wines of moderate excellence. The best wines of
Aragon are _Cariñena_ and the _Hospital_, from the vine which the French
call _Grenache_. In Biscay, at Chacoli, a _vino brozno_, or austere
wine, is produced in large quantity. The best is made at Vittoria, and
called _Pedro Ximenes_.[43] Fuençaral, near Madrid, offers a good wine
seldom exported. The most famous wine-growing district of Granada is
that of Malaga, termed Axarquia. This produces _Malagas_, _Muscatels_,
_Malvasies_, and _Tintos_. The red wines called _Tinto de Rota_ and
_Sacra_ are unfermented with only enough spirit for preservation, and are
commonly advertised in our wine circulars as “suitable for sacramental
purposes.” _Guindre_ is flavoured with cherries from which it derives
its name. Into this wine, as into some others, the Spaniards are wont
to put roasted pears, under the conceit that thereby it is much improved
in taste and rendered more wholesome. Hence arose the proverb _El vino
de las peras dalo a quien bien quiéras_. _Malaga Xeres_ is often known
in England as the pale, gold, dry Sherry,[44] as the wines of Alicant,
Benicarlos, and Valencia are sold as a rich and fruity Port. The
so-called _Amontillado_ Sherry is very often the outcome of accident. Out
of a hundred butts of Sherry from the same vineyard, some, says a great
authority, will be _Amontillado_, without the manufacturers being able
to account for it. At Cordova, a dry wine called _Montilla_ is commonly
drunk.

SWITZERLAND.

Swiss wines are commonly consumed only in Switzerland. The best is
produced in the Grisons, called _Chiavenna_, aromatic and white from the
red grape. A white _Malvasia_ of good quality is made in the Valais. It
is luscious, as is _Chiavenna_. The Valais also furnishes red wines, made
at La Marque and Coquempin in the district of Martigny. Schaffhausen
gives plenty of red wine. The _wine of blood_[45] is manufactured at
Basle. These wines are also known as those of the _Hospital_ and _St.
Jaques_. The red wines of Erlach, in Berne, are of a good quality. The
red wine of Neufchâtel is equal to a third-class Burgundy. St. Gall
produces tolerable wines. In the Valteline, the red wines are both good
and durable, much resembling the aromatic wine of Southern France. These
wines are remarkably luscious, and will, it is said, keep for a century.
The largest amount of wine is produced by the Canton of Vaud. The wines
of _Cully_ and _Désalés_, near Lausanne, much resemble the dry wines of
the Rhine.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: APPLES FOR CIDER.]

CIDER.

The original meaning of the word _cider_[46] appears to have been strong
drink. It was used to designate a liquor made of the juice of any fruit
pressed, and an example of the word in this use is to be found in
Wycliffe’s Bible, in the speech of the angel to Zacharias (Luke i. 15),
in allusion to his promised progeny: _He schal not drynke wyn and syder_.
The next meaning is that of a liquor made from the juice of apples
expressed and fermented.

“A flask of _cider_ from his father’s vats,
Prime, which I knew.”

TENNYSON: _Audley Court_.

We have little information about cider either from the Greeks or the
Latins. It would seem that it was not known to them, if we may trust
Ainsworth, who translates cider by _succus e pomis expressus_, and
Byzantius, who gives μηλίτης (οἶνος) εἶδ. ποτοῦ as the equivalent for
_cidre_.[47] Gerard, in his _Historie of Plants_, published in 1597,
says that he saw in the pastures and hedgerows about the grounds of a
“worshipful gentleman,” dwelling two miles from Hereford, called M. Roger
Bodnome, so many trees of all sorts that the servants drunk for the most
part no other drink but that which is made from apples. The quantity,
says Gerard, was such that by the report of the gentleman himself, the
parson “hath for tithe many hogsheads of Syder.” This reference to the
servants and the parson drinking it, but not to the “gentleman,” seems to
show that the liquor was not then held in much esteem.

Bacon placed cider after wine, and we have followed in our arrangement
of the present volume his august example. This great philosopher speaks
of cider and perry as “notable beverages on sea-voyages.” The cider
of his day did not, he says, sour by crossing the line, and was good
against sea-sickness. He also speaks of cider, a “wonderful pleasing and
refreshing drink,” in his _New Atlantis_.

John Evelyn’s _French Gardener_ gives much information on this subject,
and his _Pomona_ is, says Stopes, the first monograph on the manufacture
of cider in England.

Cider is made in many parts of Barbary, and in Canada. In all the States,
apples are abundant, particularly in New York and New England, and cider
is a common drink of the inhabitants. And it is as excellent as it is
common. That of New Jersey is generally considered the best. It is
curious that the least juicy apples afford the best liquor. Cider of a
superior quality is abundant in Cork, Waterford, and other counties of
Ireland, where it was introduced, we are told, in the reign of Elizabeth.
It was first made at Affane, in the county of Waterford.[48] Worledge’s
_Vinetum Britannicum_, 1676, and his _Most Easy Method for Making the
Best Cider_, 1687, have been considered at full length by Mr. Stopes.
Worledge’s press is an improvement upon one shown in Evelyn’s _Pomona_.

Cider appears in Russia under the name of _Kvas_. There is _Yàblochni
kvas_, made of apples; _Grùshevoi kvas_, of pears, a perry; and
_Malinovoi kvas_, of raspberries. George Turberville, secretary to
the English Embassy to Moscow in the year 1568, mentions _kvas_ in a
description of the Russians of his time as:—

“Folk fit to be of Bacchus’ train, so quaffing is their kind;
Drink is their whole desire, the pot is all their pride.
The soberest head doth once a day stand needful of a guide.
If he to banquet bid his friends, he will not shrink
On them at dinner to bestow a dozen kinds of drink,
Such liquor as they have, and as the country gives;
But chiefly two, one called _kwas_, whereby the Moujike lives,
Small ware and waterlike, but somewhat tart in taste;
The rest is mead, of honey made, wherewith their lips they baste.”

Stopes is of opinion that the finest cider is made, not in the west, as
has been commonly asserted, but in the east of England. This authority
seems particularly to favour the Ribston pippins of Norfolk.

“Worcester,” says Macaulay, in his _History of England_, ch. iii., “is
the queen of the cider land;” but Devon and Somerset, Gloucester and
Norfolk, might dispute the title. To make good cider the apples should
be quite ripe, as the amount of sugar in ripe apples is 11·0; in unripe
apples, 4·9; in over-ripe apples, 7·95. The fermentation should proceed
slowly. Brande says that the strongest cider contains, in 100 volumes,
9·87 of alcohol of 92 per cent; the weakest, 5·21. By distillation,
cider produces a good spirit; but it is seldom converted to that purpose
in consequence of its acidity, which, however, is greatly remedied by
rectification.

Much cider is distilled in Normandy, and sent to this country under
the name of _arrack_, or some other foreign spirit, according to its
flavour. To the Normans the invention of this liquor has been attributed.
They are also said to have received it from the Moors. Whitaker (_Hist.
Manchester_, i. 321) says this drink was introduced into this country by
the Romans; and Simmonds (p. 25) that it was first used in England about
1284.

[Illustration: AN OLD CIDER MILL.]

Cider has been immortalised by Phillips in a classical poem, in imitation
of Virgil’s Georgics, which, according to Johnson, “need not shun the
presence of the original.” Milton’s nephew thought that cider—

“far surmounts
Gallic or Latin grapes.”

PERRY.

Perry is prepared from pears, as cider from apples. It is capable of
being used in the adulteration of champagne.[49] The harsher, redder,
and more tawny pears produce the best drink. Perry is less popular than
cider, but some consider it superior.[50]

[Illustration]

BRANDY.

The Invention of Brandy—Early Alchemists—Aqua
Vitæ—Distillation—The Still-room—Ladies Drinking—Nantes
and Charente—Johnson’s Idea of Brandy—The Charente
District—Manufacture of Brandy—The Cognac Firms.

Who invented Brandy? is a question that cannot be authoritatively
answered offhand; but the good people of some parts of Germany hold that
it was the Devil. And their legend is, at all events, circumstantial.

Every one who is at all acquainted with old legends is fully aware that
the Father of Evil is extremely simple, and has allowed himself, many
times, to be outwitted by man. Once, especially, he was so guileless as
to put trust in a Steinbach man, who cajoled him into entering an old
beech tree, and there he was imprisoned until the tree was cut down. His
first step, on regaining his freedom, was to revisit his own particular
dominion, which, to his horror, he found empty!

This, naturally, would not do, and he set about re-peopling hell without
delay. He thought the quickest plan would be to start a distillery; so
he hurried off at once to Nordhausen, where his manufacture of Brandy
(his own invention) became so famous that people from all parts came to
him to learn the new art, and to become distillers. From that time his
Satanic Majesty has never had to complain of paucity of subjects.

It seems fairly established that the famous chemist Geber, who lived in
the 7th or 8th century, was acquainted with distillation, and we know
that it was practised by the Arabian and Saracenic alchemists, but have
no knowledge whether they made any practical use of the _alcohol_ they
produced. They, at all events, gave us the word by which we now know the
_spirit_, or ethereal part, of wine.

Alcohol, distilled from wine, is first reliably mentioned by a celebrated
French alchemist and physician, Arnaud de Villeneuve, who died in 1313,
who gave it the name of _aqua vitæ_, or water of life,[51] and regarded
it as a valuable adjunct in physic, and as a boon to humanity. Raymond
Lully, the famous alchemist, who is said to have been his pupil, declared
it to be “an emanation from the Deity,” and on its introduction it was
supposed to be the elixir of life, capable of rejuvenating those who
partook of it, and, as such, was only purchasable at an extremely high
price.

We may see, by a book[52] written 200 years after the death of Arnaud de
Villeneuve, the esteem in which Aqua Vitæ was held even after so great a
lapse of time.

Aqua Vite is comonly called the mastresse of al medycynes, for
it easeth the dysseases comynge of colde. It gyveth also yonge
corage in a person, and cawseth hym to have a good memorye and
remembraunce. It puryfyeth the fyve wittes of melancolye and of
unclenes whan it is dronke by reason and measure. That is to
understande fyve or syx droppes in the mornynge lastyng with a
sponefull of wyne, usynge the same in the maner aforsayde the
evyl humours can not hurte the body, for it withdryveth them
oute of the vaynes.

¶ It conforteth the harte, and causeth a body to be mery.

¶ It heleth all olde and newe sores on the hede comynge of
colde, whan the hede is enoynted therwyth and a lytell of the
same water holden in the mouthe, and dronke of the same.

¶ It causeth a good colour in a parson whan it is dronke and
the hede enoynted therwyth the space of xx dayes; it heleth
Alopicia, or whan it is dronke lastyng with a lytell tryacle.
It causeth the here well to growe, and kylleth the lyce and
flees.

¶ It cureth the Reuma of the hede, whan the temples and the
fore hede therwith be rubbed.

¶ It cureth Litargiam,[53] and all yll humours of the hede.

¶ It heleth the coloure in the face, and all maner of pymples.
It heleth the fystule when it is put therein with the Juce of
Celendyne.

¶ Cotton wet in the same and a lytell wronge out agayn and so
put in the eares at nyght goynge to bedde, and a lytell dronke
thereof, is good against all defnes.

¶ It easeth the payn in the teethe, when it is a longe tyme
holden in the mouthe, it causeth a swete brethe, and theleth
the rottyng tethe.

¶ It heleth the canker in the mouthe, in the teethe, in the
lyppes, and in the tongue, whan it is longe time holden in the
mouthe.

¶ It cawseth the hevy togue to become light and wel spekyng.

¶ It heleth the shorte brethe whan it is droke with water
wheras the figes be soden in, and vanisheth al flemmes.

¶ It causeth good dygestynge and appetyte for to eat, and
taketh away all bolkynge.[54]

¶ It dryveth the wyndes out of the body, and is good agaynst
the evyll stomake.

¶ It easeth the fayntenes of the harte, the payn of the mylte,
the yelowe Jandis, the dropsy, the yll lymmes, the goute, in
the handes and in the fete, the payne in the brestes whan they
be swollen, and heleth al diseases in the bladder, and breaketh
the stone.

¶ It withdryveth venym that hath been taken in meat or in
drynke, whā a lytell tryacle is put therto.

¶ It heleth the flanckes[55] and all dyseases coming of colde.

¶ It heleth the brennyng of the body, and of al membres whan it
is rubbed therewith by the fyre viii dayes contynnynge.

¶ It is good to be dronke agaynst the sodeyn dede.

¶ It heleth all scabbes of the body, and all colde swellynges,
enoynted or washed therwith, and also a lytell thereof dronke.

¶ It heleth all shronke sinewes, and causeth them to become
softe and right.

¶ It heleth the febres tertiana and quartana, when it is dronke
an houre before, or the febres becometh on a body.

¶ It heleth the venymous bytes, and also of a madde dogge, whan
they be wasshed therwith.

¶ It heleth all stynkyng woundes whan they be wasshed therwith.”

From use in medicine, Aqua Vitæ soon came into domestic use, and here
is given one of Iherom Bruynswyke’s “Styllatoryes,” which he says was
the “comon fornays” which was “well beknowen amonge the potters, made of
erthe leded or glased, and it may be removed from the one place to the
other.”

[Illustration]

It was in a still of this sort that the old housewives of the sixteenth
and succeeding centuries used to concoct their strong and cordial
waters—a practice which has given, and left to, our own times, the
name of “Still-room,” as the housekeeper’s own particular domain.
They experimented on almost every herb that grew, and some of their
concoctions must have been exceedingly nasty. Yet some of their recipes
read as if they were comforting, and they were not deficient in variety.

Heywood, in his _Philocothonista_, or _The Drunkard, Opened, Dissected,
and Anatomized_, 1635, p. 48, mentions some of them. “To add to these
chiefe and multiplicitie of wines before named, yet there be Stills and
Limbecks going, swetting out _Aqua Vitæ_ and strong waters deriving
their names from _Cynamon_, _Lemmons_, _Balme_, _Angelica_, _Aniseed_,
_Stomach Water_, _Hunni_, etc. And to fill up the number, we have plenty
of _Vsque-ba’ha_.”

The old housewives’ books of the latter end of the sixteenth century,
until much later, are still in existence, and from them we may learn many
drinks of our forefathers, how to make _Ipocras_ (_very good_, especially
when taken in a “Loving Cup”), to clarify _Whey_, to make _Buttered
Beer_, _Sirrop of Roses or Violets_, _Rosa Solis_, _a Caudle for an old
Man_, or to distil _Spirits of Spices_, _Spirits of Wine tasting of
what Vegetable you please_, _Balme Water_, _Rosemary Water_, _Sinamon
Water_, _Aqua Rubea_, Spirits of Hony, Rose Water, _Vinegar_, very many
scents, and a distillation called _Aqua Composita_, which entered into
many receipts. There are many formulæ for this, but Bruynswyke gives the
following:—

“AQUA VITE COMPOSITA.

“The same water is made some time of wyne with spyces onely,
sometyme with wyne and rotes of the herbes, sometyme with the
herbes, some tyme with the rotes and herbes togyder, for at all
tymes thereto must be stronge wyne.

“Take a gallon of strong Gascoigne wine, and Sage, Mints,
Red Roses, Time, Pellitorie, Rosemarie, Wild Thime, Camomil,
Lavender, of eche an handfull. These herbes shal be stamped all
togyder in a Morter, and then putte it in a clene vessell and
do herto a pynte of Rose Water, and a quart of romney,[56] and
then stoppe it close and let it stand so iii or iiii dayes.
Whan ye have so done, put all this togyder in a styllatory and
dystyll water of the same; than take your dystylled water, and
pore it upon the herbes agayne into the styllatory, and strewe
upon it these powders followynge.

¶ Fyrst cloves and cynamon, of eche an halfe ounce, Oryous[57]
an ounce, and a few Maces, nutmeggs halfe an ounce, a lytell
saffran, muscus, spica nardi, ambre, and some put campher in
it, bycawse the materyals be so hote. Stere[58] all the same
well togyder and dystylle it clene of, tyll it come fat lyke
oyle, than set awaye your water, and let it be wel kepte.
After that make a stronge fyre, and dystyll oyle of it, and
receyve it in a fyole,[59] this oyle smelleth above all oyles,
and he that letteth one droppe fall on his hande, it will
perce through. It is wonderfull good, excellynge many other
soveraygne oyles to dyvers dysseases.”

Although the Still-room was serviceable for medicinal purposes, yet,
as we have seen, there were many comforting drinks made, including
_Vsquebath, or Irish aqua vitæ_ (a recipe for which we will give in its
proper place), and doubtless this contributed much towards the tippling
habit of some ladies in the 17th and 18th centuries. We hear somewhat of
this in the reign of good Queen Anne (who, by the bye, was irreverently
termed “Brandy-faced Nan”), when they used to make, and drink, _Ratifia
of Apricocks_, _Fenouillette of Rhé_, _Millefleurs_, _Orangiat_,
_Burgamot_, _Pesicot_, and _Citron Water_, etc., etc., numerous allusions
to which are made in the pages of “The Spectator,” and other literature
of the times. Edward Ward, who had no objection to call a spade, a
spade, thus plainly speaks out.[60]

“It would make a Man smile to behold her Figure in a front Box, where
her twinkling Eyes, by her Afternoon’s Drams of Ratifee and cold Tea,
sparkle more than her Pendants.... Her closet is always as well stor’d
with Juleps, Restoratives, and Strong Waters, as an Apothecary’s Shop,
or a Distiller’s Laboratory; and is, herself, so notable a Housewife in
the Art of preparing them, that she has a larger Collection of Chemical
Receipts than a Dutch Mountebank.... As soon as she rises, she must have
a Salutary Dram to keep her Stomach from the Cholick; a Whet before she
eats, to procure Appetite; after eating, a plentiful Dose for Concoction;
and to be sure a Bottle of Brandy under her Bed side for fear of fainting
in the Night.”

There is no necessity to multiply instances of the feminine liking
for brandy, for everyone finds numerous examples in his reading, from
Juliet’s nurse,[61] who, after Tybalt’s death, says, “Give me some
_aqua vitæ_,” to old Lady Clermont, of whom Grantley Berkeley tells the
following story[62]:—

“Prominent among my earliest Brighton reminiscences are those of old Lady
Clermont, who was a frequent guest at the Pavilion. Her physician had
recommended a moderate use of stimulants, to supply that energy which was
deficient in her system, and brandy had been suggested in a prescribed
quantity, to be mixed with her tea. I remember well having my curiosity
excited by this, to me, novel form of taking medicine, and holding on
by the back of a chair to watch the _modus operandi_. Very much to my
astonishment, the patient held a liqueur bottle over a cup of tea, and
began to pour out its contents, with a peculiar purblind look, upon the
_back_ of a teaspoon. Presently, she seemed suddenly to become aware of
what she was about, turned up the spoon the right way, and carefully
measured, and added the quantity to which she had been restricted. The
Tea, so strongly ‘laced,’ she now drank with great apparent gusto.”

We derive our name of Brandy from the Dutch _brand-wijn_, or the German
brannt-wein, that is, _burnt_ or distilled _wine_; and in the 17th and
18th centuries it was generally spelt, and spoken of as brandy wine. But,
also, in those centuries was it known by the name of “Nantz,” from the
town (Nantes, the capital of the Loire Inferieure) whence it came. But
this name was changed early last century, when the trade left Nantes, and
got into the Charente district, of which Cognac was the centre; so what
used to be “right good Nantz” of the old smuggling days, turned into the
delicate, many-starred “Cognac” of our times.

It was an eminently respectable spirit. Whiskey was practically unknown
out of Scotland and Ireland. Gin was the drink of the common people, and
rum was considered only fit for sailors. Even Dr. Johnson, though so fond
of his tea, was also fond of brandy, as Boswell chronicles of him, when
in his 70th year: “On Wednesday, April 7, I dined with him at Sir Joshua
Reynolds’s. Johnson harangued upon the qualities of different liquors;
and spoke with great contempt of claret, as so weak, that ‘a man would
be drowned by it, before it made him drunk.’ He was persuaded to drink
one glass of it, that he might judge, not from recollection, which might
be dim, but from immediate sensation. He shook his head, and said, ‘Poor
stuff! No, sir, claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who
aspires to be a hero’ (smiling) ‘must drink brandy. In the first place
the flavour of brandy is the most grateful to the palate, and then brandy
will do soonest for a man what drinking _can_ do for him. There are,
indeed, few who are able to drink brandy. That is a power rather to be
wished for than attained.’”

And two years later on he gives another illustration of the doctor’s
liking for strong potations. “Mr. Eliot mentioned a curious liquor
peculiar to his country, which the Cornish fishermen drink. They call it
_Mahogany_; and it is made of two parts gin and one part treacle, well
beaten together. I begged to have some of it made, which was done with
proper skill by Mr. Eliot. I thought it very good liquor, and said it was
a counterpart of what is called _Athol porridge_[63] in the Highlands of
Scotland, which is a mixture of whiskey and honey. Johnson said ‘That
must be a better liquor than the Cornish, for both its component parts
are better.’ He also observed, ‘_Mahogany_ must be a modern name; for it
is not long since the wood called mahogany was known in this country. I
mentioned his scale of liquors: Claret for boys—port for men—brandy for
heroes. ‘Then,’ said Mr. Burke, ‘let me have claret; I love to be a boy;
to have the careless gaiety of boyish days,’ Johnson: ‘I should drink
claret too, if it would give me that; but it does not; it neither makes
boys men, nor men boys. You’ll be drowned in it before it has any effect
upon you.’”

But it was the spirit always drunk by gentlemen until well on in this
century, as we see by Mr. Pickwick, whose constant resource in all cases
of difficulty, was a glass of brandy. Pale brandy was not so much drank
as brown, which is now only taken, when very old, as a liqueur, although
a brown brandy of very dubious quality is to be met with in some country
public houses. Brandy, like every other spirit, developes its ethers with
age, gets mellower, and of exquisite flavour; and its popularity would
undoubtedly be revived if the drinker were only sure he could get such
brandy as the many starred brands of Hennessy and Martell, instead of
that awful substitute so often given—British brandy, made of raw potato
spirit.

The soil of the Charente slope is particularly adapted to the growth of
the vine, although, as in all vine-growing countries some districts, and
even small patches of land, produce finer wine than others. The grapes
are white, not much larger than good-sized currants, and the vines seldom
bear fruit until four or five years from their planting, and are most
vigorous at the age of from ten to thirty. Many bear well up to fifty and
seventy, and some are fruitful at one hundred years or more.

As a rule, the large firms do not distil the brandy they sell, but leave
that operation to the small farmers round about, and then blend their
products; as, to produce the quantity they sell, enormous distilling
space would be necessary, wine only producing one-eighth or one-tenth of
alcohol to its bulk. The farmer’s distillery is very primitive; merely
a simple boiler with a head or receiver, and a worm surrounded with
cold water. There are generally two of these stills at work, and when
once the farmer commences making his brandy, he keeps on day and night,
bivouacking near the stills, until he has converted all his wine into
crude spirit, as colourless as water, which he carts off, just as it is,
to the brandy factory for sale. There it is tasted, measured, and put
into new casks of oak, hooped round with chestnut wood. These casks are
branded with the date, together with the quality and place of growth of
the wine from which the brandy was distilled, and they remain some time
in stock before their contents are blended in the proportions which the
firm deem suitable.

This new spirit is housed on a floor over large vats, which are filled
from selected casks, the spirit being filtered through flannel discs on
its way. This mixes the various growths pretty well, but the spirit is
run into other vats, being forced through filters of a peculiar kind of
paper, almost like paste-board. When it gets to the second series of
vats, it is kept well stirred, to prevent the heavier spirit sinking to
the bottom. It is then drawn off into casks, which are bunged up, and
stored for several years that the brandy may mature, and that the fusel
oil may develope into the ethyls, which give such flavour and fragrance
to the brandy.

Perhaps the oldest house in the Cognac district is Hennessy’s, but it
would be invidious to say that their brandy was superior either to
Martell’s, Otard and Dupuy’s, the Société Vignicole, Courvoisier, or many
other firms. That must be left to individual taste. But from these firms
we can rely on having pure unadulterated brandies, the pure product of
the vine, without any admixture of grain or beet spirit. At one time,
adulteration was rife among the farmers, but in 1857 and 1858 several of
them were prosecuted, and they are now credited with having abjured their
evil ways.

J. A.

[Illustration]

GIN.

Massinger’s _Duke of Milan_—Pope’s _Epilogue to Satires_—The
_Dunciad_—William III.—Lord Hervey—Sir R. Walpole—The Fall of
Madame Geneva—Hogarth’s Gin Lane—Schiedam Adulteration—Gin
Sling—Captain Dudley Bradstreet—Tom and Jerry Hawthorn.

Gin is an alcoholic drink distilled from malt or from unmalted barley or
other grain, and afterwards rectified and flavoured. The word is French,
_genièvre_, juniper, corrupted into _Geneva_, and subsequently into its
present form. It is to the berries of the juniper that the best Hollands
owes its flavour.

Perhaps one of the earliest allusions to gin is in Massinger’s _Duke of
Milan_ (1623), Act I., scene i., when Graccho, a creature of Mariana,
says to the courtier Julio, of a chance drunkard,

“Bid him sleep;
’Tis a sign he has ta’en his liquor, and if you meet
An officer preaching of sobriety,
Unless he read it in Geneva print,
Lay him by the heels.”

In this extract the word is played upon, Geneva suggesting both the habit
of spirit-drinking and Calvinistic doctrine.

When Pope wrote, the corrupted word “Gin” had become common. In the
_Epilogue to the Satires_, I. 130.

“Vice thus abused, demands a nation’s care;
This calls the Church to deprecate our sin,
And hurls the thunder of our laws on gin.”

Pope has added a note to this passage, to the effect that gin had almost
destroyed the lowest rank of the people before it was restrained by
Parliament in 1736.

Another early allusion to Geneva is to be found in _Carmina
Quadragesimalia_, Oxford, 1723, vol. i., p. 7, in a copy of verses
contributed by Salusbury Cade, elected from Westminster to Ch. Ch. in
1714.

The thesis of which Salusbury Cade maintained the affirmative, is whether
life consists in heat, or in the original _An vita consistat in calore?_

“Dum tremula hyberno Dipsas superimminet igni
Et dextra cyathum sustinet, ore tubum,
Alternis vicibus fumos hauritque, bibitque,
Quam dat arundo sitim grata Geneva levat.
Languenti hic ingens stomacho est fultura, nec alvus
Nunc Hypochondriacis flatibus ægra tumet.
Liberior fluit in tepido nunc corpore sanguis,
Hinc nova vis membris et novus inde calor.
Si quando audieris vetulam hanc periisse: Genevæ
Dicas ampullam non renovasse suam.”

Which being Englished, is

“Dipsas, who shivers by her wintry fire,
While her pipe’s smoke ascends in spire on spire,
Alternate puffs and drinks—Geneva lays
That thirst the weed is wont in her to raise.
With this her belly propped, its pain expels;
Intestine wind no more her stomach swells;
A freer blood runs leaping through her frame,
New heat, new strength recalls the ancient game.
And should you hear she’s dead, the cause you’ll know
Was that Geneva in her jug ran low.”

In the _Dunciad_, which Pope wrote in 1726 (book iii., l. 143), we read,—

“A second see, by meeker manners known,
And modest as the maid that sips alone;
From the strong fate of drams if thou get free,
Another D’Urfey, Ward! shall sing in thee!
Thee shall each ale-house, thee each gill-house[64] mourn,
And answering gin-shops sourer sighs return.”

An early allusion to Geneva is in a poem by Alexander Blunt, Distiller,
8vo, 1729, price 6_d._, called “Geneva,” addressed to the Right
Honourable Sir R⸺ W⸺. It commences,

“Thy virtues, O Geneva! yet unsung
By ancient or by modern bard, the muse
In verse sublime shall celebrate. And thou
O W⸺ statesman most profound! vouchsafe
To lend a gracious ear: for fame reports
That thou with zeal assiduous dost attempt
Superior to _Canary_ or _Champaigne_
Geneva salutiferous to enhance;
To rescue it from hand of porter vile,
And basket woman, and to the bouffet
Of lady delicate and courtier grand
Exalt it; well from thee may it assume
The glorious modern name of _royal_ BOB!”

Though “Brandy cognac, Jamaica Rum, and costly Arrack” are alluded to,
there is no mention of Hollands in the poem, which is a defence of
_Geneva_ against _ale_.

In this poem a statement is contained that Geneva was introduced by
William III., and that he himself drank it.

“Great Nassau,
Immortal name! Britain’s deliverer
From slavery, from wooden shoes and chains,
Dungeons and fire; attendants on the sway
Of tyrants bigotted and zeal accurst,
Of holy butchers, prelates insolent,
Despotic and bloodthirsty! He who did
Expiring liberty revive (who wrought
Salvation wondrous!) God-like hero! He
It was, who to compleat our happiness
With liberty, restored Geneva introduced.
O Britons. O my countrymen can you
To glorious William now commence ingrates
And spurn his ashes? Can you vilify
The sovereign cordial he has pointed out,
Which by your own misconduct only can
Prove detrimental? Martial William drank
Geneva, yet no age could ever boast
A braver prince than he. Within his breast
Glowed every royal virtue! Little sign,
O Genius of _malt liquor_! that Geneva
Debilitates the limbs and health impairs
And mind enervates. Men for learning famed
And skill in medicine prescribed it then
Frequent in recipe, nor did it want
Success to recommend its virtues vast
To late posterity.”

In 1736 Lord Hervey, describing the state of England, says: The
drunkenness of the common people was so universal by the retailing a
liquor called Gin, with which they could get drunk for a groat, that the
whole town of London and many towns in the country swarmed with drunken
people from morning till night, and were more like a scene of a Bacchanal
than the residence of a civil society.

Retailers exhibited placards in their windows, intimating that people
might get drunk for the sum of 1_d._ and that clean straw would be
provided for customers in the most comfortable of cellars.

On Feb. 20, 1736, in the ninth year of George II., a petition of the
Justices of the Peace for Middlesex against the excessive use of
spirituous liquors was presented to the House of Commons, setting forth:
That the drinking of Geneva and other distilled spirituous liquors had
greatly increased, especially among the people of inferior rank, that
the constant and excessive use thereof had destroyed thousands of his
Majesty’s subjects, debauching their morals, etc., that the “pernicious
liquor” was then sold not only by the distillers and Geneva shops, but
many other persons of inferior trades, “by which means journeymen,
apprentices and servants were drawn in to taste, and by degrees to like,
approve, and immoderately to drink thereof,” and that the petitioners
therefore prayed that the House would take the premises into their
serious consideration, etc. The House having resolved itself into a
committee on Feb. 23, Sir Joseph Jekyll moved the following resolutions:
(1) That the low price of spirituous liquors is the principal inducement
to the excessive and pernicious use thereof. (2) That a discouragement
should be given to their use by a duty. (3) That the vending, etc.,
of such liquors be restrained to persons keeping public brandy-shops,
victualling houses, coffee houses, ale houses and inn-holders, and to
such apothecaries and surgeons as should make use of the same by way of
medicine only; and, (4) That no person keeping a public brandy-shop,
etc., should be permitted to vend, etc., such liquors, but by licence
with duty payable thereon. These Resolutions were agreed on without
debate.

On March 8, Mr. William Pulteney affixed a duty of 20_s._ per gallon on
gin, on the grounds of ancient use and sanction, and of its reducing many
thousands of families at once to a state of despair.

Sir Robert Walpole had no immediate concern in the laying of this tax
on spirituous liquors, but suffered therefrom much unmerited obloquy.
The bill was presented by Jekyll from a spirit of philanthropy, which
led him to contemplate with horror the progress of vice that marked the
popular attachment to this inflammatory poison. The populace showed their
disapprobation of this Act in their usual fashion of riot and violence.
We are told in Coxe’s Walpole that numerous desperados continued the
clandestine sale of gin in defiance of every restriction.

The duty of 20_s._ per gallon was repealed 16 Geo. II., c. 8. On the 28th
of September, 1736, it was deemed necessary to send a detachment of
sixty soldiers from Kensington to protect the house of Sir Joseph Jekyll,
the Master of the Rolls, in Chancery Lane, from the violence threatened
by the populace against this eminent lawyer. Two soldiers with their
bayonets fixed were planted as sentinels at the little door next Chancery
Lane, and the great doors were shut up, the rest of the soldiers kept
garrison in the stables in the yard.

This agitation gave rise to many a ballad and broadside, such as the
“Fall of Bob,” or the “Oracle of Gin,” a tragedy; and “Desolation, or the
Fall of Gin,” a poem.

THE LAMENTABLE FALL OF MADAME GENEVA.—_29 Sept., 1736._[65]

The Woman holds a song to yᵉ tune to yᵉ Children in yᵉ Wood.

“Good lack, good lack, and Well-a-day,
That Madame Gin should fall:
Superior Powers she must obey.
This Act will starve us all.”

The Man has the second part to yᵉ same tune.

“Th’ Afflicted she has caus’d to sing,
The Cripple leap and dance;
All those who die for love of Gin
Go to Heaven in a Trance.”

[Illustration]

Underneath are the following verses—

“The Scene appears, and Madame’s Crew
In deep Despair, Exposed to view.
See Tinkers, Cobblers, and cold Watchmen,
With B⸺s and W⸺s as drunk as Dutchmen.
All mingling with the Common Throng,
Resort to hear her Passing Song.

“Whilst Mirth suppress’d by Parliament,
In Sober Sadness all lament,
Pursued by Jekyl’s indignation,
She’s brought to utter desolation.
With Oaths they storm their Monarch’s name,
And curse their Hands that form’d the Scheme.

“All Billingsgate their Case Bemoan,
And Rag-fair Change in Mourning’s hung;
Queen Gin, for whom they’d sacrifice
Their Shirts and Smocks, nay, both their Eyes.
Rather than She want Contribution,
They’d trudge the Streets without their shoes on.”

The following verses on the Gin Act, in 1736, are supposed by John
Nichols to be the production of Dr. Johnson.

“Pensilibus fusis cyatho comitata supremo,
Terribili fremitu stridula mæret anus.
O longum formosa vale mihi vita decusque,
Fida comes mensæ fida comesque tori!
Eheu quam longo tecum consumerer ævo,
Heu quam tristitiæ dulce lenimen eras.
Æternum direpta mihi, sed quid moror istis,
Stat, fixum est, nequeunt jam revocare preces;
I, quoniam sic fata vocant, liceat mihi tantum,
Vivere te viva te moriente mori.”

A clever cento from the Latin poets, which may be thus represented in
English:—

“... Left with her last glass alone,
Thus loud laments her lot, the squeaking crone:
Farewell, my life and beauty, thou art sped,
Faithful companion of my board and bed!
My earthly term fain with thee would I live,
Who to my sorrowing heart can’st solace give.
Bereft of gin, alas! am I for aye!
The Act is passed. ’Tis all in vain to pray.
Go where the Fates may call, and know that I
Living, with thee would live, and dying, die!”

Hogarth’s Gin Lane was advertised in 1751, with a note that, as its
subject was calculated to reform some reigning vices peculiar to the
lower class of people, in hopes to render them of more extensive use, the
author had published them in the cheapest manner possible. “The cheapest
manner possible” was one shilling which in those days was a fairly good
price for a print. The following lame and defamatory verse was composed
for the occasion by the Rev. James Townley:—

“GIN LANE.

Gin, cursed fiend, with fury fraught,
Makes human race a prey;
It enters by a deadly draught,
And steals our life away.
Virtue and Truth, driven to despair,
Its rage compels to fly;
But cherishes, with hellish care,
Theft, murder, perjury.
Damned cup, that on the vitals preys,
That liquid fire contains;
Which madness to the heart conveys,
And rolls it through the veins.”

Hogarth tells us that in Gin Lane every circumstance of the horrid
effects of gin drinking is brought to view _in terrorem_. Idleness,
poverty, misery, and distress, which drives even to madness and death,
are the only objects that are to be seen; and not a house in tolerable
condition but the pawnbrokers and gin shop. The same moral is taught by
Cruikshank, but not before his conversion to teetotalism.

Schiedam is the metropolis of gin, and its numerous distilleries are
omnivorous, taking with equal relish cargoes of rye and buckwheat
from Russia, and damaged rice or any cereal from other countries, and
sometimes also potato spirit from Hamburg.

The distillery of De Kuypers is probably that of the greatest note, and
that firm’s black square bottles, packed in cases filled with hemp husks,
are known all over the world. In Africa “square face” is king, but he
frequently holds some counterfeit liquor, even sometimes the vilest of
Cape Smoke.

Schiedam is the Mecca of the Dutchman, the birthplace of his beloved
Schnapps. This drink is always acceptable, and fifty good reasons exist
for drinking it.

The chief varieties of the aromatised popular spirit called gin are now
known as Geneva, Hollands, and Schiedam. It is current in some parts of
Africa as a species of coin.

Since, however, every distiller varies his materials and their
proportions, the species of this beverage are practically unlimited.
Generally, however, the distinction is clear between Hollands or Dutch
and English gin. The former is commonly purer than the highly flavoured
and too frequently adulterated British product.

The matters employed in the adulteration are very many. Corianders,
crushed almond cake, angelica root powdered, liquorice, cardamoms,
cassia, cinnamon, grains of paradise, and cayenne pepper, and many
more substances take the place of the berries of the juniper tree. As
these substances frequently produce a cloudy appearance, the liquid is
subsequently refined by other adulterants, such as alum, sulphate of
zinc, and acetate of lead.

The variety of gin dear to ancient beldams, which is known as Cordial, is
more highly sweetened and aromatized than the ordinary quality.

The alcoholic strength of gin as commonly sold ranges from 22 to 48
degrees. The amount of sugar varies between 2 and 9 per cent.

Gin is a beneficial diuretic, but the compounds sold under that name are
too often detrimental in their effects.

A popular drink called gin-sling takes its name from John Collins,
formerly a celebrated waiter in Limmer’s old house. The old lines on this
drink ran as follows:—

“My name is John Collins, head waiter at Limmer’s,
Corner of Conduit Street, Hanover Square.
My chief occupation is filling of brimmers
For all the young gentlemen frequenters there.”

The poetry is very far from bad, and so was the liquor. It was a
composition of gin, soda water, lemon, and sugar. John was abbreviated to
gin and Collins to sling.

Gin has had many popular names, but why gin should be called Old Tom
by the publicans and lower orders of London has sometimes puzzled those
who are inquisitive enough to consider the subject etymologically. The
answer may, perhaps, be found in a curious book, called “The Life and
Uncommon Adventures of Captain Dudley Bradstreet, Dublin, 1755.” Captain
Dudley, a government spy of the Count Fathom species, after declaring
that the selling of Geneva in a less quantity than two gallons had been
prohibited, says: “Most of the gaols were full, on account of this Act,
and it occurred to me to venture upon the trade. I got an acquaintance to
rent a house in Blue Anchor Alley, in St. Luke’s parish, who privately
conveyed his bargain to me: I then got it well secured, and laid out in
a bed and other furniture five pounds, in provision and drink that would
keep, about two pounds, and purchased in Moorfields the sign of a cat and
had it nailed to a street window. I then caused a leaden pipe, the small
end out about an inch, to be placed under the paw of the cat, the end
that was within had a funnel to it.

“When my house was ready for business I inquired what distiller in London
was most famous for good gin, and was assured by several that it was Mr.
L⸺dale, in Holborn.[66] To him I went, and laid out thirteen pounds....
The cargo was sent to my house, at the back of which there was a way to
go in or out. When the liquor was properly disposed, I got a person to
inform a few of the mob that gin would be sold by the cat at my window
next day, provided they put the money in his mouth, from whence there was
a hole which conveyed it to me.” This, by the way, is a rare anticipation
of our automatic sweetstuff, scent, and other machines. To continue:
“At night I took possession of my den, and got up early next morning
to be ready for custom. It was over three hours before anybody called,
which made me almost despair of the project; at last I heard the chink
of money and a comfortable voice say, ‘Puss, give me two pennyworth of
gin!’ I instantly put my mouth to the tube and bid them receive it from
the pipe under her paw”—the cat seems to have changed its sex in this
short interval of time—“and then measured and poured it into the funnel,
from whence they soon received it. Before night I took six shillings, the
next day about thirty shillings, and afterwards three or four pounds a
day. From all parts of London people used to resort to me in such numbers
that my neighbours could scarcely get in and out of their houses. After
this manner I went on for a month, in which time I cleared upwards of
two-and-twenty pounds.”

So far Captain Bradstreet, “but,” says the Editor of _Notes & Queries_,
“the ghost of ‘old Tom Hodges’ will probably enter a protest against
Captain Bradstreet’s cat.”

Another popular name for gin was used when Corinthian Tom and Jerry
Hawthorn visited Bob Logic in the Fleet. Bob says, “Let us spend the
day comfortably, and in the evening I will introduce you both to my
friend the haberdasher. He is a good whistler,[67] and his shop always
abounds with some prime articles that you will like to look at....” A
glass or two of wine made them as gay as larks, and a hint from Jerry to
Logic about the whistler brought them into the shop of the latter in a
twinkling.

Hawthorne, with great surprise, said, “Where are we? This is no
haberdasher’s. It’s a ⸺”

“No nosing, Jerry,” replied Logic, with a grin; “you’re wrong, the man is
a dealer in tape.”

[Illustration]

WHISKEY.

_Uisge-beatha_—“My Stint”—Its Manufacture—Good and Bad—Early
Mentions of Whiskey—Materials used in its Manufacture—St.
Thorwald—Duncan Forbes and Ferrintosh—Duty on Whiskey—Silent
Spirit—Artificial Maturing.

No matter in what country, wherever it was known, alcohol has been hailed
as the Water of Life, even in the Gaelic. _Uisge-beatha_, or, as we term
it, whiskey, bears literally that interpretation. This is “the wine of
the country,” both in Ireland and Scotland, and the quantities drank,
without any apparently hurtful effect, is astonishing to a southern
Englishman. Northwards, on the border land, it is a question whether more
whiskey is not drunk, _pro rata_, than in Scotland.

Still, even there, every one is not gifted, as was the Irishman spoken
of by John Wilson Croker. He tells the story of a lawsuit, in which a
life insurance company disputed a claim, on the ground that the death was
caused by excessive drinking. One witness for the plaintiff was called,
who deposed that, for the last eighteen years of his life, he had been in
the nightly habit of imbibing _twenty-four tumblers of whiskey punch_.
The cross-examining counsel wished to know whether he would swear to
that, or whether he ever overstepped that limit. The witness replied that
he was upon his oath, and would swear no farther; “for I never kept count
beyond the two dozen, though there is no saying how many beyond I might
drink to make myself comfortable; but _that’s my stint_.”

Good whiskey should be made solely from the finest barley malt, and is so
made by the largest and best distillers; but the smaller ones, and those
who are in a hurry to get rich by any means, use all kinds of refuse
grain, and produce a spirit which, if drank new, is neither more nor less
than rank poison. The fusel oil, which is present in all distillations
from grain, requires time to resolve itself into those delicate ethers,
which, while enhancing the flavour and bouquet of the spirit, are
harmless. Good whiskey, properly matured, mixed with a sufficient
quantity of water, and used in moderation, is a good and a wholesome
drink, acting also in lieu of food.

When this life-giving liquor was discovered is uncertain. Edward Campion,
in his _History of Ireland_, 1633, speaking of a famine which happened in
1316, says that it was caused by the soldiers eating flesh and drinking
_aqua vitæ_ in Lent; and, in another place, he states that a knight,
called Savage, who lived in 1350, having prepared an army against the
Irish, allowed to every soldier, before he buckled with the enemy, a
mighty draught of _aqua vitæ_, wine, or old ale.

Walter Harris, in his _Hibernica_, 1757, says that in the reign of Henry
VIII. it was decreed that there be but one maker of _aqua vitæ_ in every
borough town, upon pain of 6_s._ 8_d._; and that no _wheaten malt_ go
to any Irishman’s country, upon pain of forfeiture of the same in value,
except only bread, ale, or _aqua vitæ_.

In a little book, _Delightes for Ladies_, etc., 1602, is the following
recipe for _Usquebath, or Irish Aqua Vitæ_:—

“To every gallon of good Aqua Composita, put two ounces of chosen
liquerice, bruised and cut into small peeces, but first clensed from all
his filth, and two ounces of Annis seeds that are cleane and bruised. Let
them macerate five or six daies in a wodden Vessel, stopping the same
close, and then draw off as much as will runne cleere, dissolving in that
cleare Aqua Vitæ five or six spoonfuls of the best Malassoes you can get;
Spanish cute, if you can get it, is thought better than Malassoes; then
put this into another vessell; and after three or foure daies (the more
the better), when the liquor hath fined itself, you may use the same;
some add Dates and Raisons of the Sun to this receipt: those groundes
which remaine, you may redistill, and make more Aqua Composita of them,
and of that Aqua Composita you may make more Usquebath.”

The distillation of whiskey in Ireland, on a large scale, is of
comparatively modern date, the _poteen_ having been manufactured in
illicit stills, in inaccessible and unhandy places. Now, Roe’s distillery
turns out over two million gallons a year, and Jameson’s more than a
million and a half. The whiskey made by these firms, that of Sir John
Power & Sons, and some others, is distilled from pure malt; but there are
many distilleries that send out a spirit made from molasses, beet-root,
potatoes, and other things, which cannot possibly be called whiskey,
which has brought Irish whiskey somewhat into disrepute, to the great
advantage of the Scotch distillers. Again, unmalted grain is used, which
gives a practically tasteless spirit, which is almost entirely deficient
in the grateful ethers, and is only so much raw alcohol and water, a very
different article to that which occasioned the following verses:—

“Oh, Whiskey Punch, I love you much, for you’re the very thing,
To level all distinctions ’twixt a beggar and a king.
You lift me up so aisy, and so softly let me down,
That the devil a hair I care what I wear, a caubeen or a crown.

“While you’re a-coorsin’ through my veins I feel mighty pleasant,
That I cannot just exactly tell whether I’m a prince or peasant;
Maybe I’m one, maybe the other, but that gives me small trouble,
By the Powers! I believe I’m both on ’em, for I think I’m seein’
double.”

Scotch whiskey is the same as Irish, and should be similarly made from
pure malted barley. No one knows when it was first made; but, until
the time of the Pretender, it was hardly known in the Lowlands, being
a drink strictly of the Highlanders. There is a tradition of a certain
St. Thorwald, whose name may be sought for in vain in the pages of Alban
Butler, who had a cell in the side of a hill looking upon the Esk. He
is said to have possessed a wonderful elixir, famous for curing all
diseases, and, consequently, he was resorted to by pilgrims both far and
near. Could it be that he had a whiskey still? We know not; but to this
day a spring on the site of his hermitage helps to supply the Langholm
distillery.

Perhaps the earliest historical account of Scotch whiskey is the grant,
in 1690, to Duncan Forbes of Culloden, in consideration of his services
to William III., of the privilege of distilling whiskey, duty free,
in the barony of Ferrintosh. Naturally, a number of distilleries were
erected there, and Ferrintosh became the generic term for whiskey. In
1785 this grant was annulled on payment of £20,000 to the representatives
of Duncan Forbes, a proceeding which Robert Burns thus wrote about, in
his “Scotch Drink”:—

“Thee, Ferrintosh! O sadly lost!
Scotland laments from coast to coast!
Now colic-grips an’ barkin’ hoast
May kill us a’;
For loyal Forbes’ _chartered boast_
Is ta’en awa’.”

The Highland risings made the Lowlanders more familiar with this spirit;
but it was a long time before the drink became general, and a far longer
before it was generally introduced into England. “Bonnie Prince Charlie”
got too fond of it, and his affection for strong drinks was life-long.
George IV., on his visit to Scotland, thought the best way to popularise
himself on his arrival was to call for, and drink, a glass of whiskey;
and even our good Queen has tasted “Athol-brose.”

The manufacture of whiskey was encouraged for several reasons: first,
that it gave employment; secondly, that it used up large quantities of
grain, to the benefit of the farmer; and thirdly, it was hoped that
it would, in many cases, supersede the French brandy, which was most
extensively smuggled. But Government imposed so high a duty, that illicit
stills sprang up everywhere, and contraband whiskey was universally
drank, the smugglers openly bringing their wares down south, and in such
force as to defy the Excise, and frequently the military. A wise step was
then taken, and in 1823 the excise duty was lowered from 6_s._ 2_d._ to
2_s._ 4¾_d._ per imperial gallon, a proceeding which, in a year, doubled
the output of exciseable spirits; but, by degrees, fiscal exigencies have
raised it to 10_s._ per proof gallon. Now, the quantity of home-made
spirits on which duty was paid for the year ending 31st March, 1890, is
as follows:—

England. Scotland. Ireland.
_Galls._ _Galls._ _Galls._
12,636,060 9,463,012 7,521,998

or in all, 29,621,070 gallons, yielding a revenue of £14,810,522.

It would be invidious to particularize any of the large Scotch
distilleries, which mostly owe their fame to the excellence of their
malt and the extreme purity of their water, together with the fact that
peat is extensively used as fuel, even to the drying of the malt; but
“Glenlivet” has a name as world-wide as “Ferrintosh.” Do we not read in
the _Bon Gaultier Ballads_ that—

“Fhairhson had a son
Who married Noah’s daughter,
And nearly spoiled ta flood,
By trinking up ta water;
Which he would have done,
I at least pelieve it,
Had ta mixture peen
Only half Glenlivet”?

It was such a famous place that, according to the _Ordnance Gazetteer of
Scotland_, there were as many as 200 illicit stills there, in brisk work,
at the beginning of the present century.

“Small still” whiskey is undoubtedly the best, for only good materials
can be used, as the distillation carries over the flavour of the malt.
Hear what Dr. Thudicum says[68]:—

“The product of the patent still derives its name from the fact that it
is mere alcohol and water, having no distinctive qualities, telling no
tales to nose or palate of the source from which it was obtained, and
hence, in the almost poetic spirit of the trade, it is commonly called
‘silent spirit.’ The owner of a patent still, instead of being confined,
like a whiskey distiller, to the use of the best materials, is able to
make his spirit from any, even spoiled and waste, materials, and with
little reference to any other quality than cheapness. The worst of the
spirit thus produced is fit only for methylation, preparatory for being
used for trade purposes, exclusive of consumption as a beverage. When
intended for a beverage, it must be rectified and flavoured. It thus
serves as a basis for the implanting of artificial flavours, which may
be those of sham whiskey, sham brandy, or sham rum....

“The presence of grain ethers is the condition of the genuineness of
whiskey. Silent spirit, on the other hand, undergoes no change by
keeping, and must be flavoured to become drinkable. For that purpose it
is either made smoky, to become like Scotch, or it is mixed with Irish
pot whiskey, to become like Irish whiskey.”

There is yet another and a newer way of altering whiskey, which was shown
in the Brewers’ Exhibition at Islington, October, 1890, and described
in an advertisement in a morning paper as “A Transformation Scene; no
Pantomime.” This new process of maturing spirits is by subjecting them
to the action of compressed air confined in a close chamber. Nothing but
atmospheric air is used, which is filtered through pure water before
being compressed. The air chamber shown was a cylindrical vessel, which,
in practice, would be some twelve feet high or more. It is supplied with
a finely perforated floor, at a convenient distance below the top, and
it has, besides, one or two lower floors of metallic gauze. The cylinder
is charged with the liquor to be treated, and the compressed air is
then let into it. The taps having been closed on the completion of this
operation, a rotary pump keeps the liquor in continuous circulation as
it passes through the floors in the form of a fine shower. As soon as
it reaches the gauze floor it breaks up into spray, and, in this minute
state of sub-division, it is acted on by the condensed air. This air,
rising through a pipe, collects at the top of the cylinder, and in that
way it is prevented from interfering with the steady flow of the shower.
A slight circulation of the air is at the same time promoted. On the
process being completed, the liquor is run into casks, and the air which
remains in the vessel is allowed to escape, the quantity of alcohol in
combination with it not being worth saving.

The object of this process is to bring about the oxidation of the
essential oils contained in the whiskey or other spirit, and to promote
their conversion into ethers. It is claimed that this transformation does
take place, and that the spirit is changed from a new spirit, and has
all the character, mellowness, and flavour of that matured by time. This
change is said to be effected in twenty-four hours, and that the spirit
has, in that period, put on a maturity of ten years.

J. A.

[Illustration: WOODEN CUAGH OR QUAIGH. (_Brit. Mus._)]

[Illustration]

RUM.

Derivation of Name—Whence Procured—Its Manufacture—Its
Price—Trade Rum.

The etymon of the name of this spirit is somewhat dubious. Some have it
that it was formerly spelt (as it now is in French) _Rhum_, and that
it is derived from _rheum_, or ῥεῦμα, a flowing, on account of its
manufacture from the juice of the sugar cane. Others say that, as rum has
the strongest odour of any distilled spirit, it is a corruption of the
word _aroma_.

Rum is made from the refuse of sugar, and can, of course, be produced
wherever sugar is grown. This is notably the case in the West Indies, and
the best rum comes thence. The finest, and that commanding the highest
price in the market, is from Jamaica; Martinique and Guadaloupe perhaps
come next; and Santa Cruz has a very good name. British Guiana, the
Brazils, Natal, Queensland, and New South Wales all produce it.

It is made from molasses and the skimmings of the boiling sugar. Molasses
is the syrup remaining after the separation of all the saccharine
matter which will crystallize, and is a dense, viscous liquid, varying
from light yellow to nearly black, according to the source from which
it is obtained; but its distillation will not produce rum. Sugar or
molasses, if distilled, will produce alcohol, but it will have no
character of rum. This peculiar odour is imparted to it by the addition,
in distillation, of “skimmings,” which are the matters separated from
the sugar in clarifying and evaporation; that is to say, the scum of the
precipitators, clarifiers and evaporators is mixed with the rinsing of
the boiling pans, and is thus called. They contain all the necessaries
of fermentation, and when mixed with molasses and “dunder,” which is the
fermented wash left from distillation, are distilled into rum.

The odour of rum is very volatile; so much so, that it should be casked
immediately after distillation. The raw spirit is extremely injurious;
but it improves so much by age that, at a sale in Carlisle in 1865, rum,
known to be 140 years old, sold at three guineas a bottle. Like all
alcohol, rum, when distilled, is white, the colour being given to it,
as it used to be in brown brandy, by caramel (burnt sugar). Much of the
rum sold in England is made from “silent” spirit, flavoured with butyric
ether; and it is this stuff which is sold as “trade rum” for export to
Africa. Some years since an action was brought by an African merchant
against the vendor of “trade rum” for damages caused by it to his trade.
All went merrily till the negroes drank the rum, when it suddenly
ceased, owing to its colouring their excreta red, probably owing to the
colouring matter.

In the old days of punch drinking, rum was the great ingredient in that
beverage, but its use has gradually died out, except among sailors, it
still being served out in the navy, on account of its supposed warming
qualities. Rum and milk, taken before breakfast, is also a beverage used
very extensively.

J. A.

[Illustration]

LIQUEURS.

Derivation of Term—Eichhoff—Gregory of
Tours—Liqueur Wines—Herb Wines—Scot’s
_Ivanhoe_—Hydromel—Murrey—Delille—Montaigne—Monastical
Liqueurs—Arnold de Villeneuve—Catherine de Medicis—Elixir
Ratafia.

The word _liqueur_ has been traced by Eichhoff to a Sanskrit root, viz.,
_laks_ or _lauc_, to see, appear. It is now commonly understood of a
drink obtained by distillation, a beverage of which alcohol is the base.

To the ancients liqueurs appear to have been unknown. The art of
distillation on which they depend was not apparently discovered till the
middle ages. Fermented wines, of which some description will be found in
another part of this book, occupied their place at dinner and dessert.
Old Falernian when mixed with honey probably bore some near resemblance
to what is now understood by liqueur. But this drink was found to have
such disastrous effects by way of intoxication that it was forbidden to
women to drink of it.

Our ancestors, perhaps in imitation of the ancients, composed a sort of
liqueur with the must of wine, in which they had infused berries of the
_lentiscus_, or a portion of its tender wood. The artificial wines made
either with this _lentiscus_, or with other aromatic herbs, called by
Gregory of Tours _vina odoramentis immixta_, were the only approaches to
the modern liqueurs, even some time after the discovery of the process of
distillation.

Among these liqueur wines must be mentioned that species of cooked wine
which was the result of a portion of must reduced to half or a third
of its original bulk by boiling. The capitularies of Charlemagne speak
of this drink as _vinum coctum_, and the southern provinces called
it _Sabe_, from the Latin _sapa_, which with the Romans had the same
signification. Both Galen and Hippocrates refer to a Greek composition
called _Siræum_ or _Hepsema_, which, says Pliny, we call _sapa_. The
fashion in which this wine was cooked is shown in the _Pitture antiche
d’Ercolano_, t. I., tab. 35.

Those artificial wines which consisted solely of infusions of aromatic or
medicinal plants, such as absinthe, aloes, anise, rosemary, hyssop, and
so on, were called _herb wines_, and were frequently employed as remedies
and preventives. With a herb wine, the wine of a honied absinthe, it was
that Fredegonda poisoned him who reproached her with the murder of the
Pretextate. The most famous of these wines were those into which entered,
besides honey, the spices and aromatic confections of Asia, to which were
given the name of pigments. The highly spiced and “most odoriferous” wine
sweetened with honey is one of those drinks which Cedric bids Oswald, in
_Ivanhoe_,[69] to place upon the board for the refreshment of the Knight
Templar. It is mentioned in company with the oldest wine, the best mead,
the mightiest ale, the richest _morat_,[70] and the most sparkling cider.

The poets of the thirteenth century speak of this decoction with
transport. They regarded it in the light of an exquisite delicacy.
As no gentleman’s library is complete without the presence of some
particular work of which a bookseller is anxious to dispose, so no feast
at which pigment was not present was held to be complete by the medieval
_gourmet_. Indeed this drink seems to have been all too sweet, and was,
in consequence of its inebriating property, like the honied Falernian,
partially prohibited. The Council of Aix-la-Chapelle in 817 decreed
that on festival days only might this voluptuous cup be introduced into
conventual repasts.

Hydromel and hippocras were allied to this category of fermented and
almost alcoholic drinks, but they were not liqueurs. Finally certain
liqueurs were composed entirely of juices of fruits and held the rank
and title of wines. Such were cherry, gooseberry, strawberry wine, and
others. Another liqueur wine often cited by the thirteenth-century poets
is _Murrey_, a thin drink coloured or otherwise affected by mulberries.

The word liqueur appears to have had a considerable latitude of
signification. We talk now of coffee and liqueur, but according to the
French poet Delille, who lived at a time very near our own, coffee itself
was included under the latter category—

“Cest toi, divin café, dont l’aimable liqueur
Sans altérer la tête épanouit le cœur”:

which presents us with a view of coffee akin to that held by Cowper of
tea, when he talks in his _Task_ (Book IV.) of

“the cups
That cheer but not inebriate.”

Liqueurs, indeed, properly so called were not known till long after
the distillation of wine had been recognised, probably about the
fourteenth century. Many years elapsed before these preparations escaped
from the domination of the alchemists. Those religious who employed
distillation for the confection of balsams and panaceas seem to have
been the first to discover them to the world. Montaigne, in the strange
account he has written of his travel in Italy, speaks of the Jesuits of
Vicenza—the _Jesuates_ as he calls them—who had a liquor shop in their
fair monastery, in which were sold phials of scent for a crown. The
good fathers appear to have busied themselves in the intervals of their
religious exercises with distilling waters of different herbs and flowers
for the public use, as well for medicine as for sensual delight. Speaking
of Verona, Montaigne says he saw also a religious of monks who call
themselves _Jesuates_ of St. Jérosme. They are dressed in white under a
smoked robe with little white caps. They are not priests, neither do
they say mass, nor preach,[71] and they are for the most part ignorant.
But they make a boast to be excellent distillers of _eau de naffé_[72]
and other waters, both in Verona and elsewhere.

Monastical liqueurs are worthy of a paragraph to themselves. So long
as monks have existed, they seem to have manifested a taste for the
concoction of these drinks. We can scarcely pass the shop window of
a liqueur-seller without having our attention attracted by what the
French call a _Kyrielle_ or litany of flasks of diverse forms, decorated
with tickets bearing such titles as the following:—_Liqueur des
Chartreux_, _Liqueur des Benedictins_, _Liqueur des Carmes_, _Liqueur des
Trappistes_, _Liqueur des Pères de Garaison_, _Liqueur du P. Kermann_,
and so on. A large volume might well be composed on these liqueurs alone.
About their supposed virtues,—aperient, digestive, antiapoplectic,
antispasmodic, anticholeric, tonic, etc., that book might be well
supposed likely to stretch out as far as the list of Banquo’s issue to
the diseased imagination of Macbeth.

The search for the philosopher’s stone and the powder of projection was
by no means wholly fruitless. It strengthened the hands of chemistry. It
was also the cradle of liqueurs. In the early part of the middle ages
the learned inhabitants of the convents devoted their leisure time, of
which they appear to have had no lack, to the so-called _magnum opus_.
The _magnum opus_, the quintessence, the elixir of long life, were three
different denominations of one and the same thing. Monkish intellectual
toil was chiefly connected at that time with the study of essences,
spirits, alcohols, and distillations. The plants which they sought with
the greatest eagerness were rosemary, arnica, elder, camomile, sweet
trefoil, rose, borage, balm mint, snake weed, iris, etc.

In the thirteenth century, Arnold de Villeneuve, a celebrated physician,
possessed with this devil of a _magnum opus_, formulated the question
of the quintessence or elixir of long life in these terms, which became
afterwards a dogma for all his monastic successors. “This is the secret,
viz., to find substances so homogeneous to our nature that they can
increase it without inflaming it, continue it without diminishing it
... as our life continually loses somewhat, until at last all is lost.”
The outcome of the long and patient labours of the monkish alchemists
was certain elixirs and liqueurs, of which the secret composition was
transmitted from generation to generation in convents and monasteries.
Such liqueurs were in their origin simply a pharmaceutic product. It
is only within the last few years comparatively that they have been
converted into delicacies after dinner. Our age bears the hall mark of
positivism. The monks labour no longer for the sole glory of God and
comfort of the sick. Their object at the present day is to effect, it
is affirmed, a ready and productive sale. It may be so; happily it is
not our business to determine. It is certain that a vast development has
taken place in the manufacture of the majority of the monkish liqueurs.
The _Chartreux_ of _L’Isère_ now realize annual benefices of considerable
value, of which a portion is said to be contributed to the continually
diminishing Papal exchequer, under the title of Peter’s pence. Of this
medicinal liqueur the active and benevolent element is gathered from
herbs scattered on the Alpine mountains cold, or on the slopes of the
Pyrenees, or in the sombre forests of the north (see the Prospectus),
or in the shops of the apothecaries. But they all assuredly depend
upon cognac for their element of life. _Benedictine_, with its four
cabalistic letters, A M D G,[73] is made by the monks of Fécamp, at the
famous Carthusian monastery of _La Grande Chartreuse_, near Grenoble.
The elixir of long life, _de Sept-Fonds_, is made in a convent of the
Trappists of l’Allier, and _Trappistine_ is the work of the good fathers
of the abbey of _La Grâce-Dieu_ (Doubs). It is, however, affirmed that
only Chartreuse, coloured yellow or green at will, and Trappistine, are
the works of religious hands, while all other liqueurs are made by the
laics. The methods of fabrication employed in the convents are now well
known.[74] Benedictine is the only liqueur which has escaped analysis.

_Absinthe_ is not strictly a liqueur. It substitutes bitter for sweet.
This strong spirituous liquor, so prejudicial to French health and
morality, is, however, commonly called a liqueur. Its base is an
alcoholate, composed of anise, coriander, and fennel. It is flavoured
with wormwood, a species of _artemisia_, and other plants containing
_absinthin_. It is said to be commonly coloured with indigo and sulphate
of copper. It is prepared chiefly in Switzerland, but much of it is made
at Bordeaux.

Arnold de Villeneuve, in his medical treatise, written in Latin, _On the
preservation of youth and the retardation of age_, has a sermon upon
Golden water. “I have not,” he says, “read the properties of this water
in books of distinguished authority, but it is to be presumed that, if
it exists, it is so sublime a work that they have concealed the method
of its preparation, and have even refused to mention its name. Of gold,
however, they have spoken, and set it among cordial medicines. They have
praised it for the comforting of the heart and for the palliation of
leprosy. It is possible that since we every day find things diversified
by alteration of substance, acquiring the operations of those other
things into which they have been transformed, so out of wine may be made
a water of life very different from wine both in colour and in substance,
in effect and in operation. And the doubt here is, not about the fact,
but how it is brought about. That the bodies of all metals may be reduced
into water by the ingenuity of mankind, experience allows us not to
question; but the operation and nature of those things by which this end
is obtained it is no easy matter to discover.”

This golden water was originally nothing else than _eau de vie_ in which
had been macerated certain herbs and aromatic spices to give it taste
and colour; afterwards minute portions of metallic gold were added. The
ingredients mentioned by Arnold de Villeneuve are rosemary flowers, from
which, he says, the water obtains its golden colour, cinnamon, grains of
paradise, cloves, cubebs, liquorice, and the like.

In the mind of the middle ages, gold was held to be a remedy for every
ill. Many people applied themselves to the task of dissolving this metal
and rendering it potable. It was put into drinks, baths, victuals, pills,
and the pharmacopeia of the time abounds in elixirs of gold, tinctures of
gold, drops of gold, and so on. To please the public eye, those pieces of
the precious metal were cast into the composition which we now know as
_Eau de vie de Dantzig_.

Catherine de Medicis brought into France all the voluptuous discoveries
and superfluities of Italy, and helped to augment considerably the number
of new liqueurs and to popularize their usage. Henry II. was especially
fond of the _anisette_ of Marie Brizard of Bordeaux. Sully, in 1604,
examining the objects of luxury in France, found _Populo_ and _Rossolio_
to have the chief share in the public estimation and expenditure. Of them
_Populo_ is mentioned in the Letters of Gui-Patin.[75] It was composed of
spirits of wine, water, sugar, musk, amber, essence of anise, and essence
of cinnamon.

_Rossolis_, our _Rossolio_, or _Rossoli_, said to be derived, in
consequence of its extreme excellence, from the dew of the sun, _ros
solis_, was made of burnt brandy, sugar, and the juice of sweet fruits,
such as cherries or mulberries. Louis XIV. was much attached to this
particular liqueur. That prepared for him was said to differ a little
from the ordinary compound. A receipt is given of the king’s drink.

Equal quantities of _eau de vie_ and Spanish wine, in which were infused
anise, coriander, fennel, citron, angelica, and sugar-candy dissolved in
camomile water, and boiled to a thick syrup, were a distinctive feature
in this royal liqueur.

Owing to oblivion or ignorance of the _anisette_ of Henri II. this
monarchical recognition of _rossolio_ has led to the supposition that
liqueurs were invented to invigorate the senile decrepitude of Louis
XIV., but it has been shown that they existed long before his time.
George IV. is said to have been attached to liqueurs in much the same way
as Louis XIV., who may have supposed that they in some measure improved
his health or arrested his decay.

The liqueur industry is chiefly continental, and the liqueurs are
very numerous. Holland is famous for its _Curaçoa_ and Russia for
its _Kümmel_, and almost every large district of France has its own
speciality of liqueur. Bordeaux[76] is remarkable for its _Anisette_,
Dijon for its _Cassis_, Marseilles for its _Absinthe_, Grenoble for its
_Ratafias_, and Paris and Lyons are each noted for many different kinds.

The English have attained as yet no high rank as liqueur manufacturers.
The prosaic nature of the Trade Returns includes all liqueurs of foreign
origin under the heading of “_Sweetened or mixed Spirits_.” It makes no
distinction between Eaux and Crèmes or between Ratafias and Elixirs. We
have been told that elixirs are yellow and aromatized, and eaux or crèmes
white, while ratafias are substantially infusions of fruit. Originally
this may have been so. It is not the case at present.

Both _Elixir_ and _Ratafia_ are interesting from an etymological
standpoint. The latter word has excited considerable discussion. Menage,
writing it as it was commonly written in his time, _ratafiat_, says it is
a term derived from the East Indies. Leibnitz, on the contrary, holds it
to be a corruption of _rectifié_ applied to alcohol. Another etymology is
_rata fiat_. Parties were supposed to enter into a contract, and after
drinking the liqueur to say, “Let it be ratified.”

_Elixir_[77] is an Arabic word derived from the Greek, by which the
alchemists denoted their powder of projection or philosopher’s stone.

[Illustration]

LIQUEURS.

II.

Liqueur Maker’s Guide. GERMAN LIQUEURS: Eau d’Amour—Eau
Divine. DANTZIG LIQUEURS: Eau Miraculeuse—Eau Aerienne.
FRENCH LIQUEURS: Vespetro—Scubac—Absinthe—Maraschino, etc. Du
Verger—Vermuth, etc.

To a humble and unpretending volume, little known by the world, to the
_Cordial and Liqueur Makers’ Guide, and Publicans’ Instructor_, we are
indebted for a large part of the information in the present chapter.
This excellent and possibly unique volume of modern date contains some
two hundred receipts for the manufacture of the most favourite drinks
in their greatest perfection; in addition to a variety of miscellaneous
matter of much practical utility to the publicans’ profession, though of
no immediate interest probably to the readers of the present book. For
instance, we are taught therein the mysteries of _Spirit Beading_, or, in
exoteric language, the putting a head on weak spirits, and the _fining_
of sherry, port, gin, ale, and porter. Most of the receipts, we are
assured, have never before appeared in print. They are the result of an
experience of some thirty years. A warning is given in the preface about
the common and extensive adulteration of liqueurs with essential oils,
turpentine, and spirits of wine.

In the first chapter of the _Cordial and Liqueur Makers’ Guide_, we
find receipts for those familiar beverages which are most common
in our respectable public firms—public house is what Bentham would
call an emotional term—such as _Peppermint_, _Cloves_, _Rum Shrub_,
_Aniseed_, _Caraway_, _Noyeau_, _Raspberry_, _Gingerette_, _Orange
Bitters_, _Wormwood Bitters_, _Lemonade_, _Capillaire_, _Cherry Brandy_,
_Cinnamon_, _Lovage_, and _Usquebaugh_—of these the receipt for _Lovage_
may be taken as a sole representative.

This aromatic drink, which is comparatively rare, is perhaps not
generally known to be prepared from a plant indigenous to Liguria, a
country of Cisalpine Gaul—from which country its name is through sundry
philological decadences derived.[78] After reading this, the student of
human nature and mercantile morality will be fully prepared to learn that
the plant indigenous to Liguria enters in no way into its composition.

Mix, says the receipt, five drams of oil of nutmegs, five drams of oil of
cassia, and three drams of oil of caraway in a quart of strong spirits of
wine. Shake it well, and put it into a ten gallon cask with two gallons
more of spirits of wine. Dissolve twenty pounds of lump sugar in hot
water, add this to the spirit with a quarter of a pint of colouring,
and fill up the cask with water. Fine it down with two ounces of alum
dissolved in boiling water, and put into the goods[79] hot; afterwards
add one ounce of salts of tartar, and stir the whole well together.

The receipts which follow of German, Dantzig, and French liqueurs
postulate a preliminary grinding of all dry substances, such as cloves
or cinnamon; the cutting into the smallest pieces of leaves, flowers,
peels; and the reducing to a paste, by means of a marble mortar, of
almonds and fruit kernels with a small quantity of spirits to prevent
them _oiling_.[79] These ingredients should be allowed to soak in the
spirit for a month with diurnal shakings in a warm place. Then the spirit
must be poured off and the water added after the quantity in the receipt.
After standing a few days, pour off, press out all the liquid, mix with
the spirit, add sugar and colouring matter, and filter through a flannel
bag. In the matter of gold and silver leaf, an attempt to break it when
dry would reduce one half to dust, and so spoil the appearance of the
liqueur. It must be spread on a plate which has a little thin syrup on
it. The leaf must also be covered with the syrup, and then torn by means
of two forks into small pieces about the size of a canary seed. The leaf
should not be added until the liqueur is in the bottle. The reader will
observe the common use of capillaire.[80]

GERMAN LIQUEURS.

_Eau de Sultane Zoraide._

Lemon peel, 8 ounces; orange peel, 8 ounces; figs, 8 ounces; dates, 4
ounces; jessamine flowers, 4 ounces; cinnamon, 3 ounces; spirits of wine,
60 o.p., 19 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts; pure water, 12 quarts;
capillaire, 8 quarts. _Colour,[81] rose._

_Eau Nuptiale._

Parsley seed, 6 ounces; carrot seed, 5 ounces; aniseed, orris root, 2
ounces each; mace, 1½ ounces; spirit, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; rose water, 7
pints; water, 11 quarts; capillaire, 9 quarts. _Colour, yellow._

_Eau d’ Amour._

Bitter almonds, lemon peel, 12 ounces each; cinnamon, 6 ounces; mace, 1
ounce; cloves, 1½ ounces; lavender flowers, 8 ounces; spirits of wine, 60
o.p., 19 quarts; Muscat wine, 8 quarts; oil of amber, 36 drops; water 7
quarts; capillaire, 7 quarts. _Colour, rose._

_Eau de Yalpa._

Marjoram, cinnamon, 3 ounces each; fennel seed, thyme, sweet basil,
bitter almonds, figs, balm, 2 ounces each; carrot seed, sage, 1 ounce
each; cardamom, cloves, ½ ounce each; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19
quarts; essence of vanilla, 50 drops; essence of amber, 50 drams; water,
14 quarts; capillaire 8 quarts. _Colour, scarlet._

_Eau Divine._

Lemon peel, 1½ pounds; coriander, 4 ounces; mace, cardamom, 1 ounce each;
spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; oil of bergamot, 1½ drams; oil of
Neroly,[82] 2 drams; water, 14 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts.

_Eau de Pucelle._

Juniper berries, 1½ pounds; fennel seed, 4 ounces; angelica seed,
cinnamon, 3 ounces each; cloves, 1 ounce; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19
quarts; water, 13 quarts; capillaire, 10 quarts. _Colour, yellow._

Other German liqueurs, according to our authority, are _Eau de Zelia_,
_de Rebecca_, _de Fantaisie_, _the ruby Eau des Epicuriens_, _the
Elixir Monfron_, _the Eau Divine_, _the Eau d’Orient de Napoleon_, _de
Didon_, _du Dauphin_, _de Santé_, _Royale_, _Américaine_, _de Paix_,
_de J. Saint-Aure_, _de Mille-Fleurs_, _d’Argent_, _de Montpellier_,
_d’Ardelle_, _de Turin_, _de Tubinge_, _du Sorcier-Comte_, _de Vertu_,
_de Chypre_, _de Jacques_, _Romantique_, _Crème Voizot_, _Aqua Bianca_,
and many others.

DANTZIG LIQUEURS.

_Eau Miraculeuse._

Orange peel, lemon peel, 1 pound each; cinnamon, ginger, 6 ounces each;
rosemary leaves, 2 ounces; galanga,[83] mace, cloves, 1 ounce each;
orris root, 1½ ounces; spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire, 8
quarts; water, 14 quarts. _Colour, red._

_Eau Aerienne._[84]

Figs, 12 ounces; cumin, 5 ounces; leaves of rosemary, fennel seed, 4
ounces each; cinnamon, 5 ounces; sage, sassafras, 2 ounces each; lavender
flowers, camomile flowers, orris root, 4 ounces each; spirits of wine, 60
o.p., 19 quarts; capillaire, 8 quarts; water, 14 quarts.

Other Dantzig liqueurs mentioned are the _Eau de vie de Dantzig_, _Eau
Forcifère_, _Christophelet_, _Eau Carminative_, _de Musettier_, _de
Girofle_, _Persicot_, _Amer d’Angleterre_, and _Eau des Favorites_, the
ruby gold sprinkled _Eau de Lisette_, the yellow _Krambambuli_,[85] the
_Eau de Baal_, and the _Liqueur des Évèques_.

FRENCH LIQUEURS.

_Vespetro._[86]

Angelica seed, 3 ounces; coriander seed, 2 ounces; fennel seed, aniseed,
½ ounce each; lemons sliced, oranges sliced, 6 ounces each; spirits of
wine, 60 o.p., 12 quarts; water, 9½ pints; capillaire, 3 pints.

_Eau de Scubac._[87]

Lemon peel, 6 ounces; coriander, 4 ounces; aniseed, juniper berries,
cinnamon, 2 ounces each; angelica root, 1½ ounces; saffron, 1 ounce;
spirits of wine, 60 o.p., 10 quarts; orange-flower water, 2 quarts;
capillaire, 4 quarts; water, 8 quarts.

_Elixir de Garus._[88]

Myrrh, aloes, 2 drams each; cloves, nutmegs, 3 drams each; saffron, 1
ounce; cinnamon, 5 drams; spirits of wine, p., 5 quarts; sugar, 6 pounds.

_Amiable[89] Vainqueur._

Spirits of wine, p., 25 quarts; essential oil of citron, 1 ounce; of
neroli, of angelica, ½ ounce each; tincture of vanilla, 1 dram; sugar 12
pounds; water, 4 quarts.

_Guignolet[90] d’Angers._

Spirits of wine, p., 12 quarts; cherries with the stones, raspberries,
gooseberries, red currants, 1 pound each; oil of cinnamon, of cloves, 10
drops each; sugar, 7 pounds; water, 2 quarts.

_Huile des Jeunes Mariés._

Aniseed, fennel seed, 2 ounces each; angelica seed, cumin seed, caraway
seed, 1 ounce each; coriander, 3 ounces; spirits of wine, p., 4 quarts;
distilled water, 3 quarts; sugar, 10 pounds. _Colour, yellow._

Other French liqueurs worthy of notice are _Eau Archiepiscopale_, _des
Financiers_, _de Noyeau_, _de Phalsbourg_, _de Jasmin_, _des chevaliers
de Saint Louis_, _des Pacificateurs de la Grèce_, _Souvenir d’un Brave_,
_Goûte Nationale_, _Coquette Flatteuse_, _Ratafias_ of different kinds,
such as _Absinthe_, _Angelique_, _Celery_, _Quatre Graines_,[91]
_Cerises_, _Noyeau_ and _Carve_,[92] _Amour sans Fin_, _Gaîté Française_,
_Plaisir des Dames_, _Citronelle_, _Elixir Columbat_, _Eau des Chevaliers
de la Legion d’Honneur_, _Eau des Amis_, _Crème de Macaron_, and _Eau
de Pologne_, the crimson _Alkermes_, the emerald _Huile des Venus_, the
_Elixir des Anges_, the pale straw-coloured _Eau de vie d’Andaye_,[93]
the crimson _Nectar des Dieux_, and _Missilimakinac_.

The most important, or rather the most popular in this country, of the
very numerous alcoholic preparations which are flavoured, or perfumed,
or sweetened, or more commonly treated in all these three ways to be
agreeable to the taste are, placing them as they suggest themselves:—

_Kümmel_, or _Kimmel_, as it is sometimes incorrectly written, from
the German name of the herb _cumin_, is made with sweetened spirit,
generally brandy, flavoured with coriander and caraway seeds. It is
chiefly produced at Riga, and is much esteemed in Java and the Eastern
Archipelago generally.

_Maraschino_ is distilled from bruised cherries. The fruit and seed are
crushed together. It is commonly prepared in Italy and Dalmatia from a
delicately flavoured variety called _Marazques_ or _Marascas_, a small,
black, wild cherry, so named, it is said, from its bitterness. Zara, in
Dalmatia, is the principal place of production of _Maraschino_.

_Cassis_[94] (or _Cacis_) is a sort of ratafia made with the fruit of
the cassis, the vulgar French name of a species of gooseberry with black
berries.

_Noyau_, or _Crème de Noyau_, derived from the French word for a
kernel, is commonly prepared from white brandy, bitter almonds or
amygdalin, sugar candy, mace, and nutmeg. Its distinctive flavour
comes from the amygdalin, or the kernels of peaches, plums, cherries,
apricots, and other fruit. In Dominica the bark of the noyau tree
(_Cerasus occidentalis_) is used, and in France the leaves of a small
convolvulus-like tropical plant called _Ipomœa dissectis_. It is coloured
white and pink.

_Ratafias_ are called by du Verger _liqueurs de conversation_, and _eau
clairettes_ and _hypoteques_, an old term of which Menage expresses
himself unable to find the derivation as applied to a liqueur. The Master
Distiller considers them preferable to spirituous liqueurs. Procope, the
ancient Master of Paris, includes under this term liqueurs, or syrups,
as we should say, of cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, apricots,
peaches, and other fruits. He it was who first proposed the pressure of
the fruits, without infusing them entire. Some years afterwards, Breard,
one of the chiefs of the fruitery of Louis XIV., gave these liqueurs the
name of _Hypoteques_ to distinguish them. The products both of Procope
and Breard were of the highest excellence. “‘I,’ says du Verger, ‘have
always considered Procope’s Ratafias as finer and more delicate, those of
Breard softer and more flowing; but,’ he adds, ‘as tastes differ, both
their Ratafias have their approvers and their critics. It is difficult
to equal them in cold countries, either in taste or in smell.’” They are
called _Liqueurs of conversation_, because, according to this authority,
in talking after meals, you may drink of them three or four times as much
as of other liqueurs without fear of any inconvenience. Nay, they nourish
and fortify the stomach, and in addition to being pleasant to the palate,
are good friends of the liver.

The first _Ratafia_ was called _Eau de Cerises_, or cherry water. The
kernels should be added to the juice of the fruit with cinnamon and mace
in small quantities. This renders the composition beneficent, strengthens
the brain, and banishes the vapours.

The _Eau clairette de framboises_ is also composed of cherries, though
a few strawberries are added to give the dominant flavour. It should,
therefore, says the Master Distiller, be rather called _Eau clairette
framboisée_.

_L’eau clairette de groseilles_ has a specific virtue against
biliousness.

_L’eau clairette de grenade_ is the most agreeable of _Ratafias_, but has
an astringent property.

_L’eau clairette de coings_ is still more estimable than the preceding,
and imparts a new activity to the limbs.

_Eau clairette de Chamberri_ should be made of the ripest black grapes, a
small quantity of spirit of wine, a little sugar, and other ingredients.
In addition to giving an appetite, it rejoices the heart. The longer it
is kept, as in the case with all _Ratafias_, the better.

The white _Ratafias_, or _Hypoteques_, should be mixed with cinnamon,
mace, cloves, and coriander. Under these circumstances they render
the blood balsamic. The best fruits for white _Ratafias_ are oranges,
peaches, and apricots.

_Curaçoa_ derives its name from the group of small islands in the West
Indies, situated near the north shore of Venezuela, in the Caribbean Sea.
The liqueur is made in these islands by the Dutch. It is also made at
Amsterdam from orange peel imported from the Curaçoas. The bitter orange
used is the _Citrus bigaradia_.

It is commonly obtained by digesting orange peel in sweetened spirits,
and flavouring with cinnamon, cloves, or mace. The spirits employed are
usually reduced to nearly 56 under proof, and each gallon contains about
3½ pounds of sugar. _Curaçoa_ varies in colour. The darker is produced by
powdered Brazil wood, mellowed by caramel.

_Parfait Amour_ is a liqueur composed of several ingredients, such as
citron, clove, muscat, and others.

_Kirsch_, _Kirschwasser_, or _Kirschenwasser_, or cherry water, is the
genuine drink of the Black Forest. The head-quarters of this liqueur, as
Griesbach and Petersthal in the Reuch valley, are rich in cherry trees of
the Machaleb variety. H. W. Wolff, in his _Rambles_, rises into an almost
poetic description of its virtues. “It is,” he says, referring to the
Black Foresters, “their general stimulant and comforter, their consoler
in grief, their promoter of conviviality, their safety valve in trouble
or excitement.” After this, little can be added without the danger, or
rather the certainty, of _bathos_. When genuine—for alas, it shares the
common fate of drinks, adulteration—it is said to be ardent and slightly
poisonous. In other words, it contains “that excellent stomachic,
hydrocyanic acid.” Of late the Black Foresters have rivalled the Servians
in a spirit distilled from wild plums. Stolberg thinks _Kirschenwasser_
in no way inferior to the spirit made from corn at Dantzic,[95] and
others hold it equal to the Dalmatian _Maraschino_. The liqueur is also
made in Germany, France, and elsewhere.

_Pomeranzen_, or _Pomeranzen-Wasser_, somewhat resembling our orangeade,
is principally drunk in Northern Germany.

_Raspail_ was originally, as many other liqueurs, medicinal, and was so
called from the name of its inventor. Mariani has made an _Elixir à la
coca du Pérou_. This, like _Raspail_, is an agreeable tonic.

_Vermuth_[96] is composed of white wine, angelica, absinthe, and other
aromatic herbs.

Many sweet wines approach very nearly liqueurs. Of these are in Austria
some sweet wines of Transylvania and Dalmatia. In Spain, the _Tinto
d’Alicante_, and the white _Muscats_ of Malaga. In France, _Hermitage_,
_Grenache_, _Colmar_, and the _Muscats_ of Rivesaltes and of Roquevaire.
In Cyprus, _La Commanderie_. In Italy, the _Muscats_ of Vesuvius, Orvieto
and Montefiascone, the holy wine of Castiglione, the white wines of
Albano, and the aromatic wine of Chiavenna. In Greece, the _Malmseys_
of Santorin and the Ionian Isles. In Russia, the wines of _Koos_ and
_Sudach_ in the Crimea; and in Mexico, those of _Passo del Nocte_,
_Paras_, _San Luiz de la Paz_, and _Zelaya_.

In the _Widdowes Treasure_, London, 1595, are receipts for _Sirrop of
Roses_ or _Violets_, and two receipts for _Rosa Solis_, and in the
_Good Housewife’s Jewele_, London, 1596, are receipts for distilling of
_Rosemary water_, _Imperiall water_, _Sinamon water_, and the _Water of
Life_.

[Illustration]

AMERICAN DRINKS.

Cobblers—Cocktails—Flips, etc.—Punch—Varieties—A Bar
Tender—Anstey’s _Pleader’s Guide_—A Yard of Flannel—Bottled
Velvet—Rumfustian, etc.

The great authority, probably the greatest authority, on this interesting
subject is a gentleman who, with the true modesty of genius, allows
himself to be known only by the pseudonym of _Jerry Thomas_. Formerly
a bar-tender at the Metropolitan Hotel, New York, and the Planter’s
House, St. Louis, he is said to have travelled over Europe and America
in “search of all that is recondite in this branch of the spirit art.”
His very name, says one of his admirers, is synonymous in the lexicon of
mixed drinks with all that is rare and original.

Among the chief American drinks are, being alphabetically arranged,
_cobblers_, _cocktails_, _cups_, _flips_, _juleps_, _mulls_, _nectars_,
_neguses_, _noggs_, _punches_—of which there are at least three
score—_sangarees_, _shrubs_, _slings_, _smashes_, and _toddies_.[97]

The _cobbler_ is an American invention, though now common in other
countries. It requires small skill in its composition, but should be
arranged to please the eye. Of this drink the straw is the leading
characteristic.

The _cocktail_ is a comparatively modern discovery. In this drink
_Bogart’s Bitters_ occupies invariably a prominent place. The _Crusta_
is an improvement on the _cocktail_, and is said to have been invented
by Santina, a celebrated Spanish caterer. Its _differentia_ is a small
quantity of lemon juice and a little lump of ice. The paring of a lemon
must also line the glass, from which feature it probably derives its name.

_Flip_ has been immortalised by Dibdin as the favourite beverage of
sailors, though it has been asserted that they seldom drink it; a
somewhat hazardous statement, unless limited to the times in which there
is none to be had. The essential feature in _a flip_ is repeated pouring
between two vessels, supposed to produce smoothness in the drink. The
Slang Dictionary holds _flip_ to be synonymous with _Flannel_, the old
term for gin and beer drunk hot with nutmeg, sugar, etc., a play on the
old name _lamb’s wool_. The anecdote of Goldsmith drinking _flannel_ in a
night-house with George Parker, Ned Shuter, and the demure, grave-looking
gentleman, is well known.

[Illustration: MINT JULEP.]

The _julep_ is especially popular in the Southern States, and is
said to have been introduced into England by Captain Marryatt. That
romance-writing seaman in his work on _America_, says: “I must descant a
little upon the _mint julep_, as it is, with the thermometer at 100°, one
of the most delightful and insinuating potations that ever was invented,
and may be drunk with equal satisfaction when the thermometer is as low
as 70°. There are many varieties, such as those composed of _Claret_,
_Madeira_, etc., but the ingredients of the real _mint julep_ are as
follows. I learned how to make them, and succeeded pretty well.” Then
follows the receipt:—

“Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint,
upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal proportions of peach
and common brandy so as to fill it up one-third, or perhaps a little
less. Then take rasped or pounded ice and fill up the tumbler. Epicures
rub the lips of the tumbler with a piece of fresh pine apple, and the
tumbler itself is very often incrusted outside with stalactites of ice.
As the ice melts, you drink.”

“I once,” says the marine author of this receipt, of which the reader
has _ipsissima verba_, “I once overheard two ladies talking in the next
room to me, and one of them said, ‘Well, if I have a weakness for any one
thing, it is for a _mint julep_!’”

This weakness of the American lady was, in the opinion of the
Metropolitan Hotel barman in New York, very amiable, and proved, not only
her good taste, but her good sense.

In _mulls_, which may be made of any kind of wine, the essential feature
is the boiling. Sugar and spice, of which the nursery song tells us
little girls are manufactured, are also invariably used in _mulls_. We
give a rhymed receipt for mulled wine, not for the sake of the poetry,
which is indifferent, but for that of the cookery, which is not bad.

“First, my dear madam, you must take
Nine eggs, which carefully you’ll break,
Into a bowl you’ll drop the white,
The yolks into another by it.”

Here the poet was evidently hard pressed for a rhyme.

“Let Betsy beat the whites with switch,
Till they appear quite frothed and rich;
Another hand the yolks must beat
With sugar, which will make them sweet.”

An ordinary effect of sugar. Poet probably hard pressed as before.

“Three or four spoonfuls maybe’ll do,
Though some perhaps would take but two.
Into a skillet next you’ll pour
A bottle of good wine, or more;
Put half a pint of water, too,
Or it may prove too strong for you.”

This is personal, nay more, it might to some good people be offensive, as
indicating deficiency of cerebral power or endurance.

“And while the eggs by two are beating,
The wine and water may be heating;
But when it comes to boiling heat,
The yolks and whites together beat
With half a pint of water more,
Mixing them well, then gently pour
Into the skillet with the wine,
And stir it briskly all the time.”

Poet again hard pressed.

“Then pour it off into a pitcher,
Grate nutmeg in to make it richer,
Then drink it hot, for he’s a fool
Who lets such precious liquor cool.”

Of _nectar_ we have no information worth the reader’s acceptance. It
appears to be applied indifferently to any dulcet drink.

_Negus_ may be made of any sweet wine, but is commonly composed of Port.
“It is,” says Jerry Thomas, “a most refreshing and elegant beverage,
particularly for those who do not take punch or grog after supper.”

_Egg-nogg_, of which other _noggs_ seem to be the lineal descendants,
though a beverage of American origin, has “a popularity that is
cosmopolitan. In the South of the United States it is almost
indispensable at Christmas time, and at the North it is a favourite at
all seasons.” In Scotland the beverage is called “_auld man’s milk_.”
The presence of the egg constitutes the _differentia_ in this drink.
Every well-ordered bar has a tin egg-nogg “_shaker_,” which is a great
aid in mixing. The historian will be glad to learn that it was General
Harrison’s favourite beverage, and the consumptive and debilitated person
that it is full of nourishment.

[Illustration: “A CROWN BOWL OF PUNCH.”]

_Punch_[98] is remarkable for its variety. It is considered necessary by
the adept to rub the sugar on the rind of the citron or lemon, to extract
properly what the experienced drinker calls “the ambrosial essence.” The
extraction of the ambrosial essence, and the making the mixture sweet
and strong, using tea instead of water, and thoroughly amalgamating all
the compounds, so that the taste of neither the bitter, the sweet, the
spirit, nor the element shall be perceptible one over the other, is the
grand secret of making _punch_. And to this, as to other learning, there
is no royal road. It must, alas! be laboriously acquired by practice.
Many are the mysteries of its concoction. For instance, it is essential
in making _hot punch_ that you put in the spirits before the water; in
_cold punch_ the other way. The precise portions of spirit and water, or
even of the acidity and sweetness, can have no general rule. To attempt
offering one would only mislead. A certain inspiration must animate the
artist. It has been asserted that no two persons make this drink alike.
This remark is admirable, and might probably be applied not only to
punch, but to every drink that has yet been composed.

It has been said that of _punches_ there are at least threescore.
Here follow a few of the many varieties: _Brandy_, _Sherry_, _Gin_,
_Whiskey_, _Port_, _Sauterne_, _Claret_, _Missisippi_, _Vanilla_, _Pine
Apple_, _Orgeat_, _Curaçoa_, _Roman_, _Glasgow_, _Milk_, and _Regent’s_,
brewed by George IV.; _St. Charles’_, _Louisiana_, _Sugar House_, _La
Patria_, _Spread Eagle_, _Imperial_, _Rochester_, and _Rocky Mountain_;
_Non-Such_, _Philadelphia_, _Fish-House_, _Canadian_, _Tip-Top_, _Bimbo_,
_Nuremburgh_, _Ruby_, _Royal_, _Century Club_, _Duke of Norfolk_, _Uncle
Toby_, and _Gothic_.

People have immortalised themselves by the invention of _punches_ to
which a grateful country has attached their names. Of these famous ones
are General Ford, for many years commanding engineer at Dover; Dr.
Shelton Mackenzie, of Glasgow; D’Orsay; and M. Grassot, the eminent
French comedian of the Palais Royal, who communicated his receipt to Mr.
Howard Paul, the equally eminent entertainer, when performing in Paris.

Last, though not least, the military have thus distinguished themselves
by the _National Guard_, the _7th Regiment_ Punch, the _69th Regiment_
Punch, the _32nd Regiment_ or _Victoria_ Punch, and the _Light Guard_
Punch.

The _sangaree_, originally a West Indian drink, is as unsatisfactory in
its explanation as in its etymology. It seems, indeed, to be little more
than spirit and water, with sugar and nutmeg to taste. It very nearly
approaches, if it is not identical with, _toddy_.[99]

_Shrubs_[100] are unsatisfactory, like _sangarees_. They seem to have no
distinctive or differentiating feature. The most common kinds are _Rum_,
_Brandy_, _Cherry_, and _Currant_.

_Slings_ are very closely related to _toddies_. Their difference is,
indeed, infinitesimal, so far as we are able to learn.[101]

Of the _smash_, even Jerry Thomas speaks slightingly. He says, “This
beverage is simply a _julep_ on a small plan.” It, however, can boast
of three species—_gin_, _brandy_, and _whiskey_, and for all a small
bar-glass must be used. It is usual, though not apparently essential,
to lay two small pieces of orange on the top, and to ornament with the
berries of the season.

_Toddy_ is the Hindustani _tári tádi_, or juice of the palmyra and
cocoa-nut. _Tar_ is the Hindustani word for a palm. It is the name given
by Europeans to the sweet liquors produced by puncturing the spathes or
stems of certain palms. In the West Indies _toddy_ is obtained from the
trunk of the _Attalea cohune_, a native of the Isthmus of Panama. In
South-Eastern Asia the palms from which it is collected are the _gomuti_,
_cocoa-nut_, _palmyra_, _date_, and the _kittul_ (_Caryota urens_). When
newly drawn the liquor is clear, and in taste resembles malt. In a very
short time it becomes turbid, whitish, and sub-acid, quickly running into
the various stages of fermentation, and acquiring an intoxicating quality.

In our use of the word, _toddy_ seems to mean nothing more than spirit
and water sweetened, with the occasional addition of lemon peel. _Whiskey
toddy_ is the common and favourite species, though there are also
_apple_, _gin_, and _brandy toddies_. _Toddy_ differs from grog in being
always made with boiling water, but this distinction is not universally
maintained, nor, indeed, used by the best authors. _Whiskey_ is probably
the “vulgar” kind alluded to by Anstey in his _Pleader’s Guide_, Lect. 7.

“First count’s for that with divers jugs,
To wit, twelve pots, twelve cups, twelve mugs,
Of certain vulgar drink called _toddy_,
Said Gull did sluice said Gudgeon’s body.”

The names of American drinks form an amusing study. Passing over the
well known sleepers, sifters, flosters, knickerbockers, ching-chings,
Alabama fog-cutters and thunderbolt cocktails, the lightning smashes and
eye-openers of Connecticut, the corpse revivers, the Mother Shiptons
and the Maiden’s Prayers, we propose to give a list of some of the most
remarkable titles, with receipts added, to satisfy the appetite of any
who care to compound them.

_A Yard of Flannel._

_A yard of flannel_, otherwise called _egg flip_.—Boil a quart of ale in
a tinned saucepan. Beat up yolks of four with the whites of two eggs.
Add four tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and a _soupçon_ of nutmeg. Pour
on this by degrees the hot ale, taking care to prevent mixture from
curdling. Pour back and forward repeatedly, raising the hand as high as
possible. This produces the frothing and smoothness essential to the
goodness of the drink. It is called _a yard of flannel_ from its fleecy
appearance.

_White Tiger’s Milk_

(à la Thomas Dunn English, Esq.).

Half a gill apple jack, ½ gill peach brandy, ½ teaspoonful aromatic
tincture,[102] white of an egg well beaten. Sweeten with white sugar to
taste. Pour the mixture into 1 quart of milk, stir well, and sprinkle
with nutmeg. This receipt will make a quart of the compound.

_Bottled Velvet_

(à la Sir John Bayley).

A bottle of Moselle, ½ a pint of sherry, small quantity of lemon peel, 2
tablespoonfuls of sugar. Well mix, add a sprig of verbena, strain, and
ice.

_Stone Fence._

One wine glass of whiskey (Bourbon), 2 small lumps of ice. Use large
bar-glass, and fill up with sweet cider.

_Sleeper._

To a gill of old rum add 1 ounce of sugar, 2 yolks of eggs, and the juice
of half a lemon. Boil ½ a pint of water with 6 cloves, 6 coriander seeds,
and a bit of cinnamon. Whisk all together, and strain into a tumbler.

_Rumfustian._

Whisk yolks of a dozen eggs, and put into a quart of beer and a pint of
gin. Put a bottle of sherry into a saucepan, with a stick of cinnamon, a
grated nutmeg, a dozen lumps of sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon. When
the wine boils, pour it on gin and beer, and drink hot.

_Bimbo Punch._

Steep in 1 quart cognac brandy 6 lemons, cut in thin slices, for six
hours. Then remove lemon without squeezing. Dissolve 1 pound loaf sugar
in 1 quart boiling water, and add this hot solution to the cognac. Let it
cool.

_Bishop._

Stick an orange full of cloves, and roast it. When brown, cut it in
quarters, and pour over it 1 quart of hot port. Add sugar to taste, and
let mixture simmer for half an hour.

_Archbishop._

The same as _Bishop_, with substitution of best claret for port.

_Cardinal._

The same as _Archbishop_, with substitution of champagne for claret.

_Pope._

The same as _Cardinal_, with substitution of Burgundy for champagne.

_Locomotive._

Put 2 yolks of eggs into a goblet with 1 oz. of honey, a little essence
of cloves, and a liqueur glass of Curaçoa; add 1 pint of high Burgundy
made hot, whisk together, and serve hot in glasses.

_Pousse l’Amour._

Fill a small wineglass half full of maraschino, then put in yolk of 1
egg; in this pour vanilla cordial, and dash the surface with cognac.

_Blue Blazer_

(use two large silver-plated mugs with handles).

One wine glass Scotch whiskey, 1 ditto boiling water. Mix whiskey and
water in one mug; ignite, and, while blazing, pour from one mug to the
other. Sweeten to taste, and serve in a bar tumbler, with a piece of
lemon peel. _Blue Blazer_ is really nothing more than ordinary whiskey
and water.

_Black Stripe._

Into a small bar-glass pour 1 wine glass of Santa Cruz rum and 1
tablespoonful of molasses; cool with shaved ice, or fill up with boiling
water, according to season. Grate nutmeg on top. This is ordinary rum and
water.

The following appeared in _Moonshine_, and may fitly conclude our chapter
on American drinks, for which the verdant English youth has paid to the
cunning dispenser so many nimble ninepences:—

“Thou art thirsty, Amaryllis; say to what dost thou incline?
Wilt thou toy with amber bubbles at the _Fons Burtonis_ brink?
Shall I crown the crystal goblet with the flashing _Rhenish_ wine?
Or it may be thou would’st wish for an _American long drink_?
Shall I brew a _Flash of Lightning_ or a _Bourbon Whiskey-skin_?
Or a _Saratoga Brace-up_? Sweetest, you have but to say.
Nay, perhaps a _Bottle Cocktail_ would your kind approval win?
Or a _Santa Cruz Rum Daisy_ will be something in your way?
I can recommend a _Morning-Glory Cocktail_ to your taste
And a _Corker_ or a _Nerver_ there are few who will despise;
_Tom and Jerry_ offers pleasures it were folly rank to waste;
In a _Nectar_ for the dog-days sweet Elysian rapture lies.
Be not silent, Amaryllis, name your poison, whatsoe’er
You’ve a mind for, be it _Thunder_, _Locomotive_, or _Egg Nogg_.
I have all ingredients handy, and I reckon I’m all there
When the question’s on the _tapis_ as to what shall be the grog.”

[Illustration: AN AMERICAN BAR-TENDER.]

[Illustration]

BEERS.

Definition—Different Modes of Manufacture—Antiquity—Osiris,
the Inventor—Adam’s Ale—Egyptian—Scandinavian—Adulterations.
AFRICA: Pitto, Ballo, Bouza. AMERICA: Persimon, Chica, Vinho
de Batatas. BAVARIA: Schenk and Lager. BELGIUM: Lambic, Faro.
BORNEO: Ava or Cava. CHINA: Samtchoo.

The dictionary definition, or rather description, of Beer is “an
alcoholic liquor made from any farinaceous grain, but generally from
barley.” This barley clause is, of course, not true in all countries,
nor is beer always made from a farinaceous grain. For the rest, the
description is all that could be desired. After the barley is malted
and grained, its fermentable substance is extracted by hot water. To
this extract or infusion hops, or some other plant of an agreeable
bitterness, are added, and it is afterwards boiled for some time, both
to concentrate it and to obtain all the useful matters from the hops.
The liquor is subsequently allowed to ferment in vats. The time allowed
for fermentation depends upon the quality and kind of beer. After it has
become clear it is stored for drink.

This ordinary popular description of beer will be probably sufficient to
satisfy the general reader. But we must add to it a second explanation of
beer, which is applied to a fermented extract, not from any farinaceous
grain, but from the roots and other parts of various plants, as ginger,
spruce-sap, beet, molasses, and many more. The scientific inquirer
may learn the mysteries of malting and brewing, which are very nearly
distinct trades, in the many treatises on beer-making which have adorned
the literature of this and other countries. In these he may read as
much as he wills of the _steeping_ of the barley, its extension, its
absorption of water, and the time occupied in this process; of the
_couching_ and _sweating_, as it is called, a result of the partial
germination of the grain; of the _flooring_, or spreading out like
hay over a field; of the _kiln-drying_, or the introduction of the
half-germinated grain into a kiln with a perforated floor, with the
necessary and variable amount of heat beneath it. And if all this is
not enough, he may continue to read at full length of _cornings_ or
_cummings_, of _pale_ and _amber-coloured malt_, of _grinding the malt_,
of _washing the malt thus ground_, of _boiling the worts with hops_,
of _cooling the worts_, of _fermenting the worts_, and, finally, of
_clearing and storing_.

Beer is probably a word of German, as ale, signifying the same thing,
is of Scandinavian origin. But the source of the German word is a moot
question of comparative philology. Those interested in this matter may
find abundant information in a note inserted by M. A. Schleicher in the
_Zeitschrift_ of Kuhn. We are led thereby to a Gothic form, _pius_,
which in its turn conducts us to the Lithuanian _pyvas_. _Pyvas_ or
_pivas_—since etymology is a science _dans laquelle les consonants font
peu de chose, et les voyelles rien de tout_—may be easily attached to the
secondary root _piv_ found in the Sanskrit _pivâmi._ In Indo-European
tongues, and in accordance with the dictum of Voltaire, p, b, v, are
interchangeable as labials. And so we come to the conclusion that
_pivas_, or its descendant _beer_, means nothing else but _drink_; or,
in other words, that this particular form of drink is _the_ drink _par
excellence_. And so we might rest content, were it not for the uneasy
scruples of a certain M. Pictet, who has introduced a Slavic origin. But
of etymology this taste will suffice.

Twenty centuries before the Christian era, Osiris, according to some
authors, invented beer,[103] and according to others it has been at all
times a drink of the Hebrews. We have, indeed, heard of Adam’s ale, but
that term has been generally applied to a species of drink which would
hardly come under our present category. It is perhaps more probable that
the beverage of Osiris and the early Hebrews was a simple infusion of
barley without more. Pliny, however, Theophrastus, and Tacitus, speak of
beer as known from very early times to the people of the North, who were
prevented by their situation from the cultivation of wine.[104]

The ancient beer of Egypt is compared by Diodorus Siculus to wine on
account of its strength and flavour. This Egyptian beer is indeed spoken
of by Herodotus as _barley wine_, a title which still survives in some of
the windows of our public-houses. At present beer is the habitual drink
of the English, German, Dutch, and Scandinavian races. A drink, better
called _barley water_ than _beer_, appears to have been the favourite
beverage of the Danes and Anglo-Saxons, our ancestors in the remote
past. Before Christianity had enlightened and corrected their views
about the delights of a future state, these benighted folk supposed that
the chief felicity enjoyed by the good—in those days synonymous with
the brave—after their death and transplantation into Odin’s paradise,
would be to drink in large goblets large quantities of ale. Perpetual
intoxication thus entered largely into their conception of celestial joy.

Beer as we understand it—modified, that is, by the introduction of
the hop—was probably little known in England before the beginning of
the sixteenth century. The varieties of beer at the present time are
numerous. Some of them will be considered later on in detail. There
are, however, only three principal types of fabrication,—the Belgian,
Bavarian, and English. The beers of England, as of France, and for the
most part of Germany, become sour by the contact of air. This defect is
absent from Bavarian beers.

So favourite a drink has, of course, been largely adulterated. Taste,
colour, and smell are frequently due to unscrupulous falsifications.
Bitterness is produced by strychnine, aloes, nux vomica, gentian,
quassia, centaury, pyrethrum, absinthe, and many other ingredients.
Colour is obtained by liquorice, chicory, and caramel; and flavour by
other additions, which perhaps it is better not to particularize. Water,
of course, is added to beer, as to most drinks, to enlarge the quantity
and therefore the price. Potatoes are frequently a substitute for grain.
Potash is introduced to give the much-desired “_head_,” chalk to diminish
acidity, and chloride of sodium, or common salt, for the sake of what is
called a _piquant_ flavour. It were well if these little eccentricities
of the beer vendors had here their confine; but the sacred hunger for
gold has added, alas! to these, virulent and narcotic poisons,[105] such
as belladonna and opium, henbane and picric or carbazotic acid. In the
city of London this kind of adulteration was formerly, it was fondly
imagined, to some extent prevented by some ancient guardians, known
as _ale-conners_, who had the right of entering all public-houses and
tasting their ales.

Only the most important beers of different countries are given in the
following list, arranged alphabetically for convenience of reference:—

AFRICA.

Captain Clapperton _(Expedition to Africa_, i., 133, 187) found at
Wow-wow, the metropolis of Borghoo, a kind of ale bearing the name of
_pitto_, obtained from the same grain as that used for the same purpose
in Dahomey, and by a process nearly similar to the brewing of beer in
England from malt, only that no hops were added, a defect which prevented
it keeping for any length of time. The people of the countries from the
Gambia to the Senegal use a kind of beer called _ballo_. At a village
called _Wezo_ there is a beer called _otèe_, a sort of ale made from
millet, of a very enlivening nature. Another sort of beer, called _gear_,
is found at Ragada. At _Whidah_ an excellent beer is made from two sorts
of maize. The Jews at Taffilet use beer of their own brewing. Isaacs
(_Travels in Africa_, ii., 319) says that the Zoola nation, between
Delagoa Bay and the Bay of Natal, has a description of beer, with which
the natives are wont to get drunk. This beer is made from a seed called
_loopoco_, something in size and colour like rape. It has powerful
fermenting properties, and forms a beverage of a light brown hue, potent
and stimulating. In Sofala a beer is made from rice and millet; also in
Abyssinia is to be found a drink of many names—_tallah_, or _selleh_,
or _donqua_, or _sona_—commonly brewed from wheat, millet or barley,
mixed with a bitter herb called _geso_. According to Bruce, Abyssinian
beer of an inferior kind is made from _tocusso_. This is really a variety
of _bouza_, which is also made from _teff_, the _poa abyssinica_ of
botanists.

AMERICA.

_Persimon_ beer, from the fruit of the date plum (_Diospyros
Virginiana_), is drunk in North America. In South America, long before
the Spanish conquest, the Indians prepared and drank a beer obtained from
Indian corn, called _chica_ or maize beer. The process followed in making
_chica_ is very similar to that of beer brewing in Britain. The maize is
moistened with water, allowed partially to germinate and dried in the
sun. The maize malt so prepared is bruised, treated with warm water,
and allowed to ferment. The liquor is yellow, and has an acid taste
something like cider. It is in common demand on the west coast. In the
valleys of the Sierra the maize malt is subjected to human mastication,
not invariably by the young and beautiful girls, but by old ladies and
gentlemen who still retain, by the indulgence of nature, the requisite
dental arrangement. The saliva mixed with the chewed morsel is supposed
to produce a more excellent _chica_. Indeed, the result is so choice that
this kind is commonly called Peruvian nectar. _Chica_ can also be made
from barley, rice, peas, grapes, pine-apples, and manioc. The Brazilians
have a beer called _Vinho de Batatas_, from the Batata[106] root.
_Sora_, a Peruvian beer, was formerly forbidden by the Incas because of
its extremely intoxicating nature.

AUSTRIA.

The most famous beer is perhaps the Pilsener, or white beer, from Pilsen
in Bohemia, the favourite drink in Vienna. Gratzer is brewed from wheat
malt.

BAVARIA.

The peculiar flavour of the Bavarian ale is perhaps a result of
the very free use of pitch or resinous matters to protect the wood
of the fermenting tun, but it seems more probable that it is due
to the commixture of pine tops. _Schenk_ beer is draught beer, in
contradistinction to _Lager_, or store beer. The one is drunk in summer,
the other in winter. _Bock beer_[107] and _Salvator_, dark heavy kinds
of stout, are both well known. _Kaiserslautern_ is the name of a famous
brewage in Rhenish Bavaria.

BELGIUM.

White beers, the result of a mixture of oats and wheat, called
_Walgbaert_ and _Happe_, were made in Brussels in the fifteenth century.
_Roetbier_ and _Zwartbier_ were, as their names tell us, red and black
beers. _Cuyte_ was at one time a favourite and aristocratic drink. It
has since fallen from its high estate. There are some forty kinds of
beer, at least, now manufactured in Brussels. The white beer of Louvain
in South Brabant is the most esteemed; but an Englishman has described
it as having the flavour of pitch, soapsuds and vinegar. The winter
brew is termed _Faro_, the summer _Lambic_. The _Faro_ is by some said
to be prepared from the strong _Lambic_ and a small beer called _Mars_.
All Belgium beers, according to the opinion of some experts, have a
certain stamp of vinosity. In addition to the _Lambic_ and _Faro_, which
are distinguished in this particular, may be mentioned the _Uitzet_ of
Flanders, the _Arge_, of Antwerp, and _Fortes-Saisons_ of the Walloons.
The white sparkling beers of Louvain are the best of summer beers, they
are succeeded by those of _Hougaerde_ and _Diest_. The brown beers of
_Malines_ and the _Saison_ of _Liege_ possess good reports. Latterly
the _Grisettes_ of _Gembloux_, the beer of _Dinant_, the _blonde_ of
_Buiche_, and the ale of _Oppuers_ have been creditably mentioned.

BORNEO.

The aborigines[108] of Borneo, if we are to believe Commodore
Roggewein,[109] are the “basest, most cruel and perfidious people in
the world.” They are “honest, industrious, strongly affectionate and
self-denying,” if we are to credit the account of the Italian missionary,
Antonio Ventimiglia. When such diversity of opinion is manifested about
the people, some discordance might naturally be supposed to exhibit
itself in the matter of their potations. But this is not thus. The great
drink of the Beajus is allowed on all hands to be the _ava_ or _cava_,
prepared from the _piper methysticum_, or intoxicating pepper plant. This
is a shrub with thick roots, long heart-shaped leaves, and a clump or
spike of berries. The root is chewed only—it is satisfactory to learn—by
young girls with good teeth and dainty mouths.[110] Water or cocoa-nut
milk is poured on the masticated pulp, fermentation ensues, and the
_Beajus_ drink and become drunken. The mass of chewed matter is kneaded
with considerable dexterity by practised professionals. “Every tongue is
mute,” says Mariner—one of the crew of a vessel seized by the natives
in the commencement of this century,—“while this operation is going on;
every eye is upon them, watching every motion of their arms as they
describe the various curvilinear turns essential to success.” _Ava_ is
also drunk in Otaheite, in the Feejee islands, and those of the Marquesas
and of the South Seas.

CHINA.

_Tar-asun_, extracted from barley or wheat, is the beer of China. It is
sweet, and commonly drunk warm, before distillation. The mixed liquor
from which it is prepared is called _tchoo_, or wine; after that, _sam_
or _san_ is prefixed, to show its hot nature. _Samtchoo_—the word is
spelt in many ways—may, says Barrow (_Travels_, p. 304), be considered
the basis of the best _arrack_, itself a mere rectification of the above
spirit with the addition of molasses and the juice of the cocoa-nut tree.
_Bell’s Travels_, ii., 9.

[Illustration]

ENGLAND.

Love of the English for Beer—A National Drink—Private
Brewing—A French View of English Society—Sir John
Barleycorn—The “Black Jack” and “Leather Bottel”—“Toby
Philpot”—Burton-on-Trent—Bottled Beer—Brewers—The Village
Ale-house—Various Beers.

“Back and syde goo bare, goo bare,
Both hande and foote goo colde;
But, Bellie, God send the good ale inowghe
Whether hyt be newe or old.”

“Brynge us home good ale, syr, brynge us home good ale,
And for our der lady’s love, brynge us som good ale.
Brynge us home no beff, syr, for that is full of bonys,
But brynge us home goode ale y-nough, for that my love alone ys;
Brynge us home no wetyn brede, for yᵗ be ful of branne,
Nothyr of no ry brede, for yᵗ is of yᵉ same;
Brynge us home no porke, syr, for yᵗ is verie fatt,
Nothyr no barly brede, for neythir love I that;
Brynge us home no muton, for that is tough and lene,
Neyther no trypys, for thei be seldyn clene;
Brynge us home no veel, syr, that do I not desyr,
But brynge us home good ale y-nough to drynke by yᵉ fyer;
Brynge us home no syder, nor no palde[111] wyne,
For, and yᵘ do, thow shalt have Criste’s curse and mine.”

The foregoing verses epitomise the praise of good beer. The first is from
one of the earliest known drinking songs in the English language—the
last is an old Wassail song—the Wassail bowl, which was of hot spiced
ale, with roasted apples bobbing therein,—a kindly way of welcome on New
Year’s Eve, of Saxon derivation as its name “Wes-hal,” _be of health_, or
_your health_, testifies.

That the Anglo-Saxon took kindly to his beer, we have already seen; and
that that feeling exists at the present day is undoubted, for what says
the refrain of a comparatively modern drinking song?

“I loves a drop of good beer—I does—
I’se partickler fond of my beer—I is—
And ⸺ their eyes,
If ever they tries
To rob a poor man of his beer.”

Its popularity has never waned—and it has reached to such a height that
the brewing trade seems to be instituted for the propagation of Peers
of the realm—a fact which Dr. Johnson even could not have foreseen,
although, at the sale of Thrale’s brewery, he did say that they had not
met together to sell boilers and vats, but “the potentiality of growing
rich beyond the dream of avarice.”

It was the national drink—for tea and coffee were not introduced into
England until the middle of the seventeenth century—and it is only of
very modern times that the “free breakfast table” fad of statesmanship
has made those beverages so popular, by bringing them within the means of
the very poorest. Beer was, perforce, drank morning, noon and night by
those, and they were the vast majority, who could not afford wine—and,
as a rule, after the Norman Conquest, when the Anglo-Saxons copied the
soberer customs of their conquerors, the English were not drunkards as a
nation; in fact, although almost all their jests hinge on drinking, there
is in most of them an underlying moral, which in print are as telling as
in this illustration, which, in deference to nasty Mrs. Grundy, has been
slightly toned down. Here is very cleverly satirised for reprobation the
phases of men under the influence of drink. How it transforms them into
beasts, some like lions, others like asses and calves, sensual as hogs,
greedy as goats, stupid as gulls.

[Illustration]

Every man brewed his own beer up to the seventeenth century, when we find
Pepys speaking of Cobb’s strong ales at Margate; and in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth the public brewing had begun at Burton, for an inquiry
was made by Walsingham to Sir Ralph Sadler, the governor of Tutbury
Castle, as to “What place neere Tutbury, beere may be provided for her
Majesty’s use?” and the answer was that it might be obtained at Burton,
three miles off. Good Queen Bess would, indeed, have fared badly without
her beer, for her breakfast beverages were always beer and wine.

Yet every one was fairly sober. They were weaned on alcoholic liquors,
and, consequently, enjoyed them as foods, as they undoubtedly are, if
properly used. It is very well to “see our sen as others see us,” but
it is almost impossible to agree with Estienne Perlin, who published
his _Description des Royaulmes d’Angleterre et d’Escosse_, at Paris in
1558, in which he says that the English “sont fort grands yvrongnes.”
His description is, we feel, as untrustworthy as his English. “Car si
un Anglois vous veult traicter, vous dira en son langage, _vis dring a
quarta rim vim gasquim, vim hespaignol, vim malvoysi_, c’est a dire veulx
tu venir boire une quarte de vin du gascoigne, une autre d’espaigne,
& une autre de malvoisie, en beuvant & en mengeant vous diront plus de
cent fois _drind iou_, c’est a dire je m’en vois boyre a toy, & vous
leur responderes en leur langage _iplaigiu_, qui est a dire, je vous
plege. Si vous les remarcies vous leurs dires en leurs langages, _god
tanque artelay_, c’est a dire, je vous remercie de bon cœur. Eulx estans
yvres, vous jureront le sang et le mort que vous beures tout ce que vous
tenes dedans vostre tace, & vous diront ainsi, _bigod sol drind iou
agoud oin_.” It is much to be feared that the worthy Frenchman, if his
description is to be at all relied on, mixed with rather a fast lot.

Ale was looked upon as a kindly creature, and our ancestors of the
seventeenth century had several ballads in praise of the “little
Barleycorn” and the indictment, as well as the “Bloody Murther,” of Sir
John Barleycorn. From this latter the peasant poet, Burns, plagiarised
right royally. There was also a very curious Chap book published in the
early part of the eighteenth century, entitled,

“The whole TRIAL and INDICTMENT of _Sir_ JOHN BARLEY-CORN—_Kⁿᵗ_.

A Person of Noble Birth and Extraction, and well known by Rich and Poor
throughout the Kingdom of _Great Britain_: Being accused of several
Misdemeanours, by him committed against His Majesty’s Liege People; by
killing some, wounding others, and bringing Thousands to Beggary, and
ruins many a poor Family.

Here you have the Substance of the Evidence given in against him on
his Trial, with the Names of the Judges, Jury, and Witnesses. Also the
Comical Defence Sir _John_ makes for himself, and the Character given him
by some of his Neighbours, namely, _Hewson_ the Cobbler, an honest friend
of Sir John’s, who is entomb’d as a _Memorandum_, at the _Two Brewers_ in
_East Smithfield_.

_Taken in Short Hand by_ Thomas Tosspott, _Foreman of the Jury_.”

[Illustration]

One of the witnesses, hight Mistress _Full-Pot_, the hostess, called in
his defence, thus winds up her evidence,—

“Nay, I beseech you, give me leave to speak to you; if you put him to
Death, all _England_ is undone, for there is not such another in the
Land that can do as he can do, and hath done; for he can make a Cripple
to go, he can make a Coward to fight with a valiant Soldier, nay, he can
make a good Soldier feel neither Hunger or Cold. Besides, for Valour in
himself, there are few that can encounter with him, for he can pull down
the strongest Man in the World, and lay him fast asleep.”

Of course, the jury found a verdict of _Not Guilty_.

Beer has a large literature of its own, principally metrical, but
this has pretty well been collected in two books—_The Curiosities of
Ale and Beer_, by John Bickerdyke; and _In Praise of Ale_, by W. T.
Marchant—either of which would be a valuable addition to any one’s
library. Yet in neither of them is met with Ned Ward’s “_Dialogue between
Claret and Darby Ale_,” published 1691, in which each of the drinks speak
for themselves; and, of course, the arguments of ale are all potent over
his antagonist. Space will only allow of a very short extract.

“_Darby._—I’m glad to know you, High and Mighty _Sir_;
Think you your pompous empty Name could stir
My Choler? No, your Title makes me fear
As much as if you’d been _Six Shilling Beer_.

_Claret._—Thou _Son of Earth_, thou dull insipid thing,
To level me, who am of Liquors _King_,
With lean _Small Beer_, but that thou art not worth
My Anger, else I’de frown thee into Earth.

_Darby._—I neither fear your Frown, nor court your Smile;
But, if I’m not mistaken all this while,
By other names than Claret you are known—

_Claret._—You do not hear me, Sir, the Fact disown,
Some call me _Barcelona_, some _Navar_,
Some _Syracuse_, but at the Vintner’s Bar
_My_ name’s _Red Port_. But call me what they will,
_Claret_ I am, and will be Claret still,” etc., etc.

[Illustration]

Not content with praising the liquor ale, our ancestors fell to
eulogising the vessels used for its consumption, and the “Black Jack” and
“Leather Bottel” both came in for their meed of praise. Sketches of a
fine example of each are here given, taken from the national collection
in the British Museum.

The Black Jack is a jug or pitcher, made of leather, which was sometimes
ornamented with a silver rim and a silver plate with the owner’s name or
coat of arms engraved thereon. Here is a short lyric, “In praise of the
Black Jack.”[112]

“Be your liquor small, or as thick as mudd,
The cheating bottle cryes, good, good, good,
Whereat the master begins to storme,
Cause he said more than he could performe.
_And I wish that his heires may never want Sack,_
_That first devis’d the bonny black Jack._

No Tankerd, Flaggon, Bottle nor Jugg
Are half so good, or so well can hold Tugg,
For when they are broke, or full of cracks,
Then they must fly to the brave black Jacks.
_And I wish_, etc.

When the Bottle and Jack stands together, O fie on’t,
The Bottle looks just like a dwarfe to a Gyant;
Then had we not reason Jacks to chuse
For this’l make Boots, when the Bottle mends shoes.
_And I wish_, etc.

And as for the bottle you never can fill it
Without a Tunnell, but you must spill it,
’Tis as hard to get in, as it is to get out,
’Tis not so with a Jack, for it runs like a Spout
_And I wish_, etc.

And when we have drank out all our store,
The Jack goes for Barme to brew us some more;
And when our Stomacks with hunger have bled,
Then it marches for more to make us some bread.
_And I wish_, etc.

I now will cease to speak of the Jack,
But hope his assistance I never shall lack,
And I hope that now every honest man,
Instead of Jack will y’clip him John.
_And I wish_, etc.”

But the composer of “A Song in praise of the Leather Bottel” could rise
to the magnitude of his subject in a far superior manner than the
preceding poet, the refrain of his song being of a higher type.

“And I wish in Heaven his Soul may dwell,
That first devised the Leather Bottel.”

[Illustration]

The uses of the Bottel were so manifest, and its material so superior to
any other, that it occupied a higher position. It was better than wood,
for it would not run, and was unbreakable. When a man and his wife fell
out, as will occasionally happen even in the best matrimonial existence,
the bottel could be thrown at each other, without great injury either to
human, or the bottel. It held no temptation to steal, as if it were of
silver; nor could it be broken, as if it were of glass—because, as the
song justly says,—

“Then what do you say to these Glasses fine?
Yes, they shall have no Praise of mine;
For when a Company there are sat,
For to be merry, as we are met;
Then, if you chance to touch the Brim,
Down falls your Liquor, and all therein;
If your Table Cloath be never so fine,
There lies your Beer, your Ale or Wine;
It may be for a small Abuse,
A young Man may his Service lose;
But had it been in a Leather Bottel,
And the Stopple in, then all had been well.”

The rhymester recapitulates the gratitude of all classes for this
extremely handy and unbreakable convenience, and winds up thus, somewhat
sadly—

“Then when the Bottel doth grow old,
And will good Liquor no longer hold,
Out of its side you may take a Clout,
Will mend your Shooes when they’r worn out;
Else take it, and hang it upon a Pin,
It will serve to put many Trifles in,
As Hinges, Awls, and Candle-ends,
For young Beginners must have such things.
_Then I wish_, etc.”

The next most popular English drinking vessel was the _greybeard_, or
as it was sometimes, but seldom, called the _Bellarmine_, from the
Cardinal of that name so famous for his controversial works. These jugs
were imported largely from the Low Countries, where the Cardinal’s name
was a reproach. These greybeards are of very common occurrence, being
frequently found in excavating on the sites of old houses.

Two centuries after the greybeard, came the brown Staffordshire _Toby
Philpot_, an enormously stout old gentleman, whose arms and hands
encircle his enormous paunch, and his three-cornered hat forms a most
convenient lip, whence the ale can be poured. It owes its origin to
a once very popular drinking song, entitled “The Brown Jug,” which
is an imitation from the Latin of Hieronymus Amaltheus, by Francis
Fawkes, M.A., published in 1761, which is the date of the accompanying
illustration.

[Illustration]

“Dear Tom, this brown jug, which now foams with mild ale,
Out of which I now drink to sweet Nan of the Vale,
Was once Toby Philpot, a thirsty old soul,
As e’er cracked a bottle, or fathom’d a bowl;
In bousing about, ’twas his pride to excel,
And amongst jolly topers he bore off the bell.

It chanced as in dog-days he sat at his ease,
In his flower-woven arbour, as gay as you please,
With his friend and a pipe, puffing sorrow away,
And with honest Old Stingo sat soaking his clay,
His breath-doors of life on a sudden were shut,
And he died full big as a Dorchester Butt.

His body, when long in the ground it had lain,
And time into clay had dissolved it again,
A potter found out, in its covert so snug,
And with part of Fat Toby he form’d this brown jug;
Now sacred to friendship, to mirth, and mild ale—
So here’s to my lovely sweet Nan of the Vale.”

Burton-on-Trent may be termed the Metropolis of English Beer, and there,
veritably, “Beer is King.” This pre-eminence is attributed to the quality
of the water, which seems peculiarly fitted for brewing purposes, and the
fact that the large brewers there located use none but the finest malt
and hops procurable. There is an old saying, that wherever an Englishman
has trodden, and where has he not? there may be found an empty beer
bottle. And, truly, he does carry the taste for his natural beverage
wherever he goes, and the export trade is enormous, every ship wanting
freight, filling up with bottled beer, as a safe thing. Fuller, in his
_Worthies of England_ (ed. 1662, p. 115), gives his account of the origin
of bottled beer. Speaking of Alexander Nowell, who was made Dean of St.
Paul’s as soon as Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, he mentions his
fondness for fishing, and says, “Without offence it may be remembred,
that leaving a _Bottle_ of _Ale_ (when fishing) in the _Grasse_; he
found it some dayes after, no _Bottle_, but a _Gun_, such the sound at
the opening therof. And this is believed (Casualty is _Mother_ of more
_Inventions_ than _Industry_) the original of _bottled-ale_ in _England_.”

The London brewer had to be content, before Sir Hugh Myddleton brought
the New River to the Metropolis, with the water obtained from the Thames,
for Artesian wells were not, and other well water must, from the crowded
state of the City, have been highly charged with organic matter. But
their trade was so important that they were incorporated into a Gild,
and the Brewers’ Company is now in existence, having their Hall in Addle
Street, Wood Street. The City still maintains the importance of beer as
a beverage by keeping an Ale Conner, whose duty is to taste ales, and
see that the price charged is not excessive. Their oath of office may be
found in the _Liber Albus_, published at the instance of the Government.

[Illustration: VILLAGE INN.]

The names of our great English brewers are too well known among the
English people to need recapitulation—and space is too scarce to describe
their premises. The London draymen have always been noted as a race of
tall stalwart men, and brewers generally have taken a pride in getting
the largest and strongest horses for their work. These two draymen are
of the time of George I., and the weight they are carrying contrasts
favourably with the satire of a huge dray horse dragging a four and a
half gallon cask. On one notable occasion brewers’ draymen have gone
beyond their last. When General Haynau visited Barclay’s Brewery, they
rose in indignation against him and chased him from the place, because it
was alleged that the General had caused a lady to be flogged!

[Illustration]

The Village Ale-house is, or was, the village club, and certainly is
a welcome place of rest for the wayfarer. They are always clean, and
frequently quaint, although now-a-days it would be hard to find, as
Rowlandson did, a turnspit dog on duty.

[Illustration]

The names of ales are legion; but some are worthy of a passing notice
on account of their strength, such as some of the College Ales, those
brewed at the birth of an heir—to be drank at his coming of age, Ten
Guinea Ale, etc., and there are any quantity of pseudo beers—_i.e._
those not made from malt and hops, China Ale, Radish Ale, ale made from
beet or mangel wurzel, and heather beer, which latter is of so great
antiquity that its method of manufacture is said to have been lost with
the extirpation of the Picts, although some say it was brewed by the
Danes. It is probable that the flowers and tops of the heath were used
as a substitute for hops, as, previous to the introduction of the latter
plant, broom, wormwood and other bitter herbs were used.

J. A.

[Illustration: _After Rowlandson._]

FRANCE: Cerevisia; Double Bière; Adulteration. GERMANY: Mum;
Beer Factories; Faust. INDIA: Pachwai, Piworree. JAPAN: Saki;
Kæmpfer. RUSSIA: Kvas; Vodki; Pivo. SWEDEN: Spruce. TARTARY:
Baksoum.

FRANCE.

In France beer was originally known as _cervoise_ from the Low Latin
_cerevisia_. There are two sorts, white and red; the latter has more
hops. When much grain enters into the composition it is called _double
bière_. Its qualities vary here as elsewhere, according to the grain
employed in its manufacture, the malt, and the fermentation. It has been
commonly adulterated with _ledum palustre_ or wild rosemary, a strong
narcotic. Allusions to beer are comparatively infrequent in French works.
The details of its manufacture, which present no remarkable points of
variation, may be found in any French work on brewing.

[Illustration: _After A. L. Mayer._]

GERMANY.

Of the many beers of this country, perhaps the most deserving of notice
here is the _Mum_ of Brunswick, well known and appreciated for its
excellence. The process observed in its manufacture has been, it is said,
always kept a mystery,[113] and to prevent discovery, the men who brewed
it were hired for life. The origin of the word _Mum_ is obscure. The
German _Mumme_, a strong ale producing silence[114] from intoxication;
the Danish word for a mask, because it exhibits the parties drinking
it with a new face; and _Christian Mummer_ of Brunswick, the supposed
inventor of the drink, have been by turns suggested. The varied kinds of
_Schenk_, or winter beer, and _Lager_, or summer beer, are fairly well
known. The Leipzig Goose and the Berlin white beer are refreshing drinks
in summer. An excellent description of _Bierbrauerei_ apparatus is given
in Brockhaus’ _Conversations Lexikon_, Band iii. The most important beer
factories are in Munich,[115] Erlangen, Zirndorf, Nürnberg, and Vienna.

German beer is far less potent than that of England, but want of
strength is made up by the quantity taken. From the time of Goethe,
and long before, Germans were great consumers of beer, and the scene
in his “Faust,” of students in Auerbach’s Cellar, was typical of his
time. Now-a-days there is no degeneracy in the German beer drinker, and
a Viennese “Saufender Renommist” will drink his thirty half-pints of
_Märzen_ at a sitting. German beers are now readily attainable at any
German restaurant in London.

INDIA.

The Hill-tribes of India commonly consume _Pachwai_, prepared from rice
and other grain in Bengal. In Nepaul a beer named _Phaur_, made from rice
or wheat, is brewed much in the same manner as English ale, which it is
said strongly to resemble. It is in considerable repute and, according
to Hamilton,[116] wheat and barley are in Nepaul reared for the express
purpose of making the beer and other drinks similar to it. In the West
Indies the negroes make a fermented drink resembling beer from _cassava_,
which in Barbadoes is termed _piworree_,[117] and in other places
_ouycou_.

This plant, the _manioc_ or _mandioc_ of America, grows to the size of
a small tree, and produces roots like our parsnips.[118] _Ouycou_ is
sometimes brewed very strong. It is considered nourishing and refreshing,
as indeed most drinks which gratify the palate seem to be considered.
Molasses and yams are used in its preparation. The liquor is red.
_Piworree_ or _paiwari_ is also made by the Indians in Honduras, as in
Brazil, from cassava. Cassava bread carbonised superficially is placed in
hot water until fermentation arises. To promote this, feminine chewing is
found efficacious. The taste, says Simmonds, is said to resemble that of
ale, but is not “quite so agreeable—this may easily be believed.” _Cela
dépend_, as in the case of the _chica_ of the sierras of South America.

JAPAN.

Kæmpfer, in his _History of Japan_, i., 121, tells us that in the
manufacture of _Sacke_ or _Saki_,[119] a strong and wholesome beer
produced from rice, the Japanese are not excelled by any other people.
This beer, a very ancient drink, is white when fresh, but becomes brown,
if it remains long in the cask. It is manufactured to the highest
degree of excellence in Osacca, and thence exported to other countries.
The beer’s name is said to be derived from that of this city, being
the genitive case of the word, with the initial letter omitted. It is
wholesome and pleasant, but should be drunk moderately warm.[120] There
are many varieties of _saki_, distinguished by different names.

RUSSIA.

_Quass_, or _Kvas_, a word signifying _sour_, an ancient Scythian
beverage, is the ordinary household beer of Russia. A variety of it
called _Kisslyschtschy_ is variably described as exceedingly pleasant,
and as an abominable small beer, something like sweet wort or treacle
beer, almost as vile as the _Vodki_ or Russian gin. These matters of
course depend on individual taste. The Russian _pivo_, also in common
use, is said to resemble German beer, but German beers are many and
diverse.

SWEDEN.

Swedish beer is made at Stockholm. _Spruce_ beer is much in use. This
drink is said to have originated from a decoction of the tops of the
spruce fir. In Norway and Denmark as well as in Sweden this liquor
is made from boiling the leaves, rind and branches of pines. But the
_Spruce_ beer of Great Britain and Ireland—either white or brown,
according as sugar or molasses is employed in the making—is an essence
or fluid extract procured by boiling the shoots, tops, bark and cones of
the Scotch fir (_pinus sylvestris_). _Spruce beer_ is supposed to be of
much medicinal value as an antiscorbutic. Samuel Morewood presents us
with a gratifying reflection on this matter. While, he says, _Spruce_
is beneficial to the health of man, it has not, by its “consequence
depreciated his character, or lowered him in his moral dignity.”

TARTARY.

The beer to be met with in Tartary is for the most part of an indifferent
quality. That brewed from barley and millet by the Turkestans,
termed _baksoum_, more resembles water boiled with rice than beer.
They, however, admire it, and affirm that it is an invaluable remedy
for dysentery. The reader will have already perceived that it is a
cosmopolitan practice to pamper the appetite under the pretence of
preserving the health. _Baksoum_ is acid in taste, of no scent, a feeble
intoxicant, and cannot be kept for any length of time.

[Illustration]

_Non-Alcoholic Drinks._

[Illustration]

TEA.

Popularity of Tea as a Drink—Consumption in England, and
comparative Use all over the World—Legend of its Origin—Date
of its Use—Growth of the Plant—Different Kinds of Tea—Great
Falling off in the Exports from China—Ceylon Tea—High Prices
of—Statistics—Analysis of Tea.

Of all non-alcoholic beverages, Tea claims the pre-eminence, being drank
by nearly, if not quite, half the population of the world, and common
alike to all climes and all nations.

In China it is the national beverage, and it is used not only as an
ordinary drink, but it is the chief factor in visits of ceremony,
and in hospitality. Japan, too, is a large consumer, and its houses
of entertainment are “Tea” houses. In the wilds of Thibet its use is
universal, and so it is on the steppes of Tartary, where, however, it
is made as nauseous and repulsive a drink as possible. In Russia, it is
the traveller’s comfort, and every post house is bound by law to have
its _samovar_ hot and boiling, ready for the wayfarer. In Australia, New
Zealand, and Tasmania, the “billy” of tea is familiar, and forms the only
drink of the shepherd, the stockman, and the digger. All the British
colonies and possessions are devotees to the “cup which cheers, but not
inebriates.” Great Britain herself is a great tea drinker, whether it be
the “five o’clock tea,” which has developed into a cult, with vestments
peculiar thereto; the poor seamstress, stitching for hard life, who takes
it to keep herself awake for her task; or the labourer, who takes his
tin bottle with him to the field. In fact, go where you will, in every
civilized portion of the world (except Greece, where the consumption is
merely nominal), and you will find drinkers of tea.

Great Britain is the centre of the tea trade of the world, and in 1889
she imported a total quantity of 222,147,661 lbs., the declared value of
which was £9,987,967. Of this she took for her own consumption, and paid
duty thereon, 185,628,491 lbs, which, at 6_d._ per lb. duty, produced
a revenue of £4,640,704. Wisely or not, Mr. Goschen, in the Budget for
1890, reduced the duty to 4_d._ per lb.

In spite of this enormous quantity of tea drank in Great Britain, she
does not rank as the largest consumer per head, which, leaving out
China, Japan, Thibet, and Tartary, where statistics are unknown, is as
follows:—[121]

Australian Colonies,
New Zealand,
Tasmania,
Great Britain,
Newfoundland,
Canada,
Bermuda,
United States,
Holland,
Cape Colony,
Natal,
Russia,
Denmark,
Uruguay,
Argentine Republic,
B. Honduras,
Barbadoes,
Trinidad,
Antigua,
British Guiana,
Persia,
Portugal,
Bahamas,
Switzerland,
Norway,
Germany,
Grenada,
Morocco,
St. Vincent,
Jamaica,
Belgium,
Sweden,
France,
Roumania,
Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria,
Spain,
Turkey (no returns),
Italy (ditto),
Greece (nominal),
Mauritius, 1888, 106,589 lbs.
Sierra Leone, 1888, 6,008 lbs.

The tea shrub grows wild in Assam, and in other parts between the limits
of N. Latitude 15° to 40°, and this zone is most favourable to its growth
in its cultivated form, although of late years Ceylon, which is nearer
the equator, has made enormous strides in the production of tea. Up to
the present time, however, China has furnished the largest quantity, and
for centuries has enjoyed the monopoly of its production; a monopoly now
broken down, and every day vanishing, mainly owing to the roguery of its
manufacturers and the folly of its growers.

Of course such a plant could have had no common origin, and no reader
need be surprised at its story. The legend runs that Prince Darma, or
Djarma, the third son of King Kosjusvo, went, very many centuries ago,
from India to China, where he abode, and became celebrated for his
piety. Like the _fakirs_ of India, he showed his religious tendencies
in a morbid manner—living only under heaven’s canopy, fasting for
weeks together, and eliminating sleep altogether from his daily wants.
Tradition says that this state of things continued for years, until, one
day, weary nature asserted her pre-eminence, and Darma slept. Imagine
his holy horror on his awakening! Something of the same kind must have
possessed Cranmer when he stretched forth his right hand in the flames
of his funereal pyre, with the heart-wrung exclamation, “This hand
hath offended.” So with Darma; filled with pious horror, his first
thought was, how to expiate his offence, and his peccant eyelids were,
consequently, cut off and thrown upon the ground. Next day, returning
to the spot where he had involuntarily sinned, he saw two shrubs, of a
kind never before beheld in China. He tasted them, found them aromatic,
and, moreover, possessing the quality of imparting wakefulness to their
consumer. The discovery and miracle became noised abroad, and hence the
popularity of tea in China.

But, apart from this legend, the Chinese themselves have no certain
record of the introduction of tea into their country. They believe that
it was in use in the third century, and in the latter end of the fourth
century, Wangmung, a minister of the Tsin dynasty, made it fashionable
and much increased its consumption. In all probability it was chewed at
that time, for a decoction of it does not appear to have been drank
until the time of the Suy dynasty, when the Emperor Wass-te, suffering
from headache, was cured by drinking an infusion of tea leaves, by the
advice of a Buddhist priest. In the early seventh century this manner of
using the shrub was general, and it has maintained its popularity unto
the present time, making itself friends wherever it is introduced.

The tea-plant somewhat resembles the Camellia Japonica, and Linnæus,
imagining that the black and green teas came from different shrubs, named
them _Thea bohea_ and _Thea viridis_. Fortune has definitely settled that
both green and black tea are made off the same plants, and it is now
taken that there is but one tea-plant, the _Thea Sinensis_, of which,
however, there are several varieties, induced by climate, soil, etc.

Tea-plants are grown from seeds, and are made bushy by pinching off the
leading shoots. They are planted in rows, each plant being three or four
feet distant from the other, and the leaves are stripped in the fourth
or fifth year of its growth, and are plucked until the tenth or twelfth,
when the plant is grubbed up. May and June are the general months of
picking, which is done mostly by women; but the time varies according to
the district.

The young and early leaves give the finest and most delicate teas, but
the flavour very much depends upon the drying and roasting; but still
some soils and climates have a great deal to do with the taste, the
finest tea in China growing between the 27th and 31st parallels of
latitude.

[Illustration: THEA SINENSIS.]

The Trade names of teas imported from China to England are:
_Black_—Congou, Souchong, Ning Yong and Oolong, Flowery and Orange Pekoe.
The latter, and Caper, being artificially scented, are, therefore,
carefully eschewed by _cognoscenti_. _Green_—Twankay, Hyson Skin,
Hyson, Young Hyson, Imperial, and Gunpowder. Black tea has the rougher
taste, and produces the darkest infusion. Green tea, however, has the
greater effect upon the nerves, and if taken strong, acts as a narcotic,
producing, with some people, tremblings and headaches, and on small
animals even causing paralysis. It is, therefore, generally mixed with
black in small proportion, say ¼ lb. to 1 lb. black tea. There is also
what is called _brick tea_, which is consumed in the North of China,
Tartary, and Thibet, but which we never see in England. This choice tea
is made from the stalks and refuse and decayed twigs, mixed with the
serum of sheep and ox blood, which, when it is pressed into moulds,
hardens it.

The Russians are said to get the finest tea that comes out of
China—called Caravan Tea—which is made into large bales, covered with
lead. This goes to Russia entirely overland, and to this fact some
attribute its superior and delicate flavour.

The tea trade of China is rapidly going from her, and she has but
herself, and the shortsighted knavery of her growers and manufacturers,
to thank for it. According to a Tea Circular,[122] the following are the
imports and deliveries of China tea from 1st to 30th June:—

1888. 1889. 1890.
6,697,000 lbs. 508,000 lbs. 452,000 lbs.

a truly fearful falling off. English people got tired of the flavourless
stuff sent from China, and India and Ceylon having perfected the
manufacture (which at first start of the industry of tea growing in those
parts was not good), send us delicious tea, of a much higher market value
than that of China.

Ceylon tea, especially, has enormously won the favour of the English
tea-drinking community in a very few years, as the following short
statistics, taken from a Tea Circular,[123] will show,—

The total value of all the Ceylon tea in bond in 1880 was £5,024.

Ditto ditto ditto 1888 ” £1,555,095.
----------

The duty on above, at 6_d._ per lb., was respectively £2,871.

£464,664.
----------

showing that not only had the quantity imported enormously increased, but
so had the quality, as shown by the enhanced market value. One instance,
although an exceptional one, will show what Ceylon can produce in the way
of tea. On 13th January, 1890, was sold at the London Commercial Tea Sale
Rooms, a consignment of tea from the Gallebodde Estate, Ceylon, which
experts described as the finest tea ever grown. This unique tea was of
the brightest gold colour, resembling grains of gold. Its sale excited
the keenest competition, and it was eventually knocked down for £4 7_s._
per lb., but it was resold a few days afterwards to a wholesale firm at
the enormous price of £5 10_s._ per lb.

“Much excitement prevailed yesterday in the London Commercial Tea Sale
Rooms, Mincing Lane, on the offering of a small lot of Ceylon tea, from
the Gartmore Estate. This tea is composed almost entirely of small
‘golden tips,’ which are the extreme ends of the small succulent shoots
of the plant. Competition was of a very keen description, the tea being
ultimately knocked down to the Mazawattee Ceylon Tea Company at the
unprecedented price of £10 2_s._ 6_d._ per pound.”—_Standard_, March
11th, 1891.[124]

Another circular of the same firm of tea brokers gives a list of 132 tea
gardens in Ceylon.

Indian tea is fast helping to supersede China tea, and another Tea
Circular[125] points out that, “Towards the 190 million lbs. probably
required for home use during the coming year, India and Ceylon together
will contribute fully 150 millions.” It also gives the following:—

“LONDON STATISTICS FOR YEAR ENDING 31ST MAY.”

1888. 1889. 1890.
Import, Indian 86,371,000 94,954,000 101,052,000
Ceylon 14,705,000 26,390,000 34,246,000
China 117,185,000 98,695,000 90,097,000
Java 2,989,000 4,170,000 3,107,000
------------ ---------- -----------
Total 221,250,000 224,209,000 228,502,000

Delivery, Indian 85,619,000 91,368,000 101,168,000
Ceylon 12,578,000 23,830,000 31,947,000
China 116,870,000 105,668,000 87,652,900
Java 3,133,100 3,862,000 3,280,000
----------- ----------- -----------
218,200,000 224,728,000 224,047,000

Of which—
Home Consumpt. 183,000,000 185,250,000 187,940,000
Export 35,200,000 39,500,000 36,107,000

There are three active substances in tea, which we should do well to
notice: Volatile Oil, Theine, and Tannin.

The volatile oil can be distilled by ordinary process, and it contains
the aroma and flavour of tea in perfection. Its action on the human body
is not thoroughly known, with the exception that it is injurious in a
greater or less degree. The Chinese are well aware of the fact, and
will rarely use tea until it is a year old, thus allowing some of it to
evaporate, and it is probably owing to this oil that tea-tasters (who
taste as much by smell as by palate) are subject to attacks of headache
and giddiness.

Theine is the principle which gives to tea its power of lessening the
waste of the tissues in the human body, and, when separated from the
decoction, it forms an alkaloid having no smell, a slightly bitter taste,
and is composed of colourless crystals. It is also an active agent in
Maté or Paraguay tea, in coffee (when it is called caffeine, although
identical in substance), in Guarana, which is used as coffee in Brazil,
and in the Kola Nut of Africa.

The third product, tannin, gives roughness of flavour to the tea, and is
particularly developed by allowing the infusion to stand a long time. It
is harmless; at least, its combination in tea has never been found to be
hurtful; Its presence is at once shown by dropping some tea on the clean
blade of a knife, when it will produce a black stain—the tannin derived
from oxgalls, and a solution of iron, forming the ink with which we write.

That Chinese tea has been, and is, largely adulterated, is an
indisputable fact, and in those bygone days, when all our supply came
from China, it had to be borne. Now, at all events, the Indian and Ceylon
teas are pure, and can be taken without the slightest fear. The green
teas used to be most adulterated, but the black teas could also tell
their tale of fraud.

J. A.

[Illustration]

TEA.

II.

Introduction of Tea into Europe—Early Authorities
thereon—“Tay”—Its Introduction into England—Excise Duty
thereon—Thomas Garway’s Advertisement.

When tea was first introduced into Europe is still an unsettled question,
and the earliest mention that the writers can find (that is, to verify)
is in a volume of Travels by Father Giovanni Pietro Maffei,[126]
published 1588 (book vi., p. 109). Speaking of his travels in China, he
says: “Quanquam è vitibus more nostro non exprimunt merum, uvas quodam
condimenti genere in hyemem adservare, mos est; cœterum ex herba quadam
expressus liquor admodum salutaris, nomine Chia, calidus hauritur, ut
apud Japonios: Cujus maxime beneficio, pituitam, gravedinem, lippitudinem
nesciunt; vitam bene longam, sine ullo ferme languore traducunt, oleis
alicubi carent.” “Although they do not extract wine from the vines as we
do, but have a custom of preserving the grapes as a kind of condiment for
the winter, they yet press out of a certain herb, a liquor which is very
healthy, which is called Chia, and they drink it hot, as do the Japanese.
And the use of this causes them not to know the meaning of phlegm,
heaviness of the head, or running of the eyes, but they live a long and
happy life, without pain, or infirmity of any sort.”

Another early mention of it is in a book by Giovanni Botero,[127] which
was translated into English by Robert Peterson, “of Lincolne’s Inne,
Gent.” He says (p. 75), “They haue also an herbe, out of which they
presse a delicate iuyce, which serues them for drincke instead of wyne.
It also preserues their health, and frees them from all those euills,
that the immoderat vse of wyne doth breed vnto us.”

Early in the seventeenth century tea was becoming known in Europe, mainly
through the instrumentality of the Dutch East India Company, and we learn
much about it in the writings of Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who, after
thirty-five years’ travel, gave the benefit of his experiences to the
public. He left Rome in October, 1618, and thus writes about “De l’Vsage
du Tay, qui est fort ordinaire en la Chine.”[128] He says, “One of the
things which, in my opinion, contributes most to the great health of this
people, who often attain to extreme old age, is _Tay_, the use of which
is very common throughout the East, and which is beginning to be known
in France, by means of the Dutch, who bring it from China, and sell it
at Paris at 30 francs the pound, which they have bought in that country
for 8 or 10 sols, and yet I perceive that it is very old, and spoilt.
Thus it is that we brave Frenchmen suffer strangers to enrich themselves
in the East India trade, whence they might draw the fairest treasures of
the world, if they had but the courage to undertake it as well as their
neighbours, who have less means of being successful than they have.

“_Tay_ is a leaf as large as that of our pomegranate, and it grows on
shrubs similar to the myrtle: it does not exist elsewhere throughout the
world, but in two provinces of China, where it grows. The chief is that
of Nanquin, whence comes the best _Tay_, which they call _Chà_; the other
is the province of Chin Chean. The gathering of this leaf in both these
provinces is made with as much care as we exercise in our vintage, and
its abundance is so great, that they have enough to supply the rest of
China, Japan, Tonquin, Cochin China, and several other kingdoms, where
the use of tea is so common, that those who drink it but three times a
day are most moderate, many taking it ten or twelve times, or, in other
words, at all hours of the day.

“When the leaf is gathered, it is well dried in an oven, after which it
is put in tin boxes, which are tightly closed, because if the air gets to
it, it is spoiled, and has no strength, the same as wine that is exposed
to the air. I leave you to judge if Messieurs the Hollanders take care of
that when they sell it in France. To know whether the _Tay_ is good, you
must see that it is very green, bitter, and so dry as to be easily broken
with the fingers. If it passes these tests, it is good; otherwise, be
assured it is not worth much.

“This is how the Chinese treat the _Tay_ when they take it. Some water is
boiled in a very clean pot, and when it boils it is taken off the fire,
and this leaf is put therein, according to the quantity of water: that
is to say, the weight of a crown of _Tay_ to a large glass of water.
They cover the pot well, and, when the leaves sink to the bottom of the
water, then is the time to drink it, for then it is that the _Tay_ has
communicated its virtue to the water, and made it of a reddish colour.
They drink it as hot as they can, for it is good for nothing if it gets
cold. The same leaves which remain at the bottom of the pot will serve a
second time, but then they boil them with the water.

“The Japanese take _Tay_ differently, for they make it into powder, which
they throw into boiling water, and swallow the whole. I know not whether
this method of making it is more wholesome than the former; I always use
it thus, and find that it is common among the Chinese. Both mix a little
sugar with the _Tay_ to correct the bitterness, which, however, does not
seem disagreeable to me.

“There are three chief virtues in _Tay_. The first is to cure and prevent
headache; for my part, when I had a headache, by taking _Tay_, I felt so
comforted, that it seemed to draw all my pain away, for the principal
force in _Tay_ is to expel those gross vapours that mount to the head,
and inconvenience us. If it is taken after supper, it generally hinders
sleep; yet there are some in whom it causes sleep, because by only
expelling the grossest vapours, it leaves those which induce sleep. For
myself, I have experienced it often enough, when I have been obliged to
sit up all night hearing the confessions of my native Christians, which
frequently happened; I had only to take _Tay_ at the hour when I should
have been going to sleep, and I could go all night without wishing for
sleep, and next morning I was as fresh as if I had had my usual slumber.
I could do this once a week without being incommoded. Once I tried to
continue this wakefulness for six consecutive nights, but on the sixth I
was quite knocked up.

“_Tay_ is not only good for the head; it has a marvellous effect
in comforting the stomach, and aiding the digestion, so that it is
ordinarily drank after dinner, but not generally after supper, if sleep
is required. The third thing that _Tay_ does is to purge the reins of
gout and gravel, and it is, perhaps, the true reason why these maladies
are unknown in these countries, as I have said before.”

One thing is very certain. Tea would not have been in use any length of
time in France before it would be drank, as a novelty, in England, and
by the year 1660 it had become in such general use that it was made a
vehicle for taxation, as we see by the 12 Chas. II., c. 23: “For every
gallon of Chocolate, Sherbet, and Tea, made and sold, to be paid by
the Makers thereof, Eightpence,” and men were appointed to visit the
coffee-houses twice daily to see the quantity brewed.

But this was so inconvenient, that in 1688, after giving this scheme
a good trial, the Act was repealed by 1 Will. & Mary, c. 40, and the
duties on coffee, chocolate, and tea (for this latter 1_s._ per lb.) were
charged and collected at the Custom House, because “It hath been found by
experience, that the collecting of the duty arising to your Majesties by
virtue of several Acts of Parliament, by way of excise, upon the liquors
of Coffee, Chocolate and Tea, is not only very troublesome and unequal
upon the retailers of those liquors, but requireth such attendance of
officers, as makes the neat receipt very inconsiderable.”

In the British Museum is a broadside folio advertisement, supposed to
be about A.D. 1600, of a tobacconist, one Thomas Garway, who kept a
coffee-house in Exchange Alley, known up till late years, when it has
disappeared in the universal rage for improvements, as Garraway’s Coffee
House. It is as follows:—

“An Exact Description of the Growth, Quality, and Vertues of the Leaf
TEA, by _Thomas Garway_ in _Exchange Alley_, near the _Royal Exchange_ in
_London_, and Seller and Retailer of TEA and COFFEE.

“TEA is generally brought from _China_, and groweth there upon little
Shrubs or Bushes, the Branches whereof are well garnished with white
Flowers that are yellow within, of the bigness and fashion of sweet
Brier, but smell unlike, bearing thin green leaves about the bigness
of _Scordium_, _Mirtle_, or _Sumack_, and is judged to be a kind of
_Sumack_: This Plant hath been reported to grow wild only, but doth not,
for they plant it in their Gardens about four foot distance, and it
groweth about four foot high, and of the Seeds they maintain and increase
their Stock. Of all places in _China_ this Plant groweth in greatest
plenty in the Province of _Xemsi_, Latitude 36 degrees, bordering upon
the West of the Province of _Honam_, and in the Province of _Namking_,
near the City of _Lucheu_; there is likewise of the growth of _Sinam_,
_Cochin China_, the Island _de Ladrones_ and _Japan_, and is called
_Cha_. Of this famous Leaf there are divers sorts (though all of one
shape) some much better than the other, the upper Leaves excelling the
other in fineness, a property almost in all Plants, which Leaves they
gather every day, and drying them in the shade, or in Iron pans over a
gentle fire till the humidity be exhausted, then put up close in Leaden
pots, preserve them for their Drink _Tea_, which is used at Meals, and
upon all Visits and Entertainments in private Families, and in the
Palaces of Grandees. And it is averred by a Padre of _Macao_, native of
_Japan_, that the best _Tea_ ought not to be gathered but by Virgins who
are destined to this work, and such _Quæ non dum Menstrua patiuntur;
gemmæ quæ nascuntur in summitatæ arbuscula, servantur Imperitorie̅, ac
præcipuis ejus Dynastis: quæ autem infra nascuntur, ad latera, populo
conceduntur_. The said Leaf is of such known vertues, that those very
Nations so famous for Antiquity, Knowledge, and Wisdom, do frequently
sell it amongst themselves for twice its weight in Silver, and the high
estimation of the Drink made therewith, hath occasioned an inquiry into
the nature thereof among the most intelligent persons of all Nations that
have travelled in those parts, who, after exact Tryal and Experience
by all Wayes imaginable, have commended it to the use of their several
Countries, for its Vertues and Operations, particularly as followeth,
_viz._:—

“_The Quality is moderately hot, proper for Winter or Summer._

“_The Drink is declared to be most wholesome, preserving in perfect
health untill extreme Old Age._

“_The particular Vertues are these_:—

“It maketh the Body clean and lusty.

“It helpeth the Head-ach, giddiness and heaviness thereof.

“It removeth the Obstructions of the Spleen.

“It is very good against the Stone and Gravel, cleansing the Kidneys and
Vriters, being drank with Virgin’s Honey instead of Sugar.

“It taketh away the difficulty of breathing, opening Obstructions.

“It is good against Lipitude distillations, and cleareth the Sight.

“It removeth Lassitude, and cleanseth and purifieth adult Humors and a
hot Liver.

“It is good against Crudities, strengthening the weakness of the
Ventricle or Stomack, causing good Appetite and Digestion, and
particularly for Men of a Corpulent Body, and such as are great eaters of
Flesh.

“It vanquisheth heavy Dreams, easeth the Brain, and strengtheneth the
Memory.

“It overcometh superfluous Sleep, and prevents Sleepiness in general,
a draught of the Infusion being taken, so that, without trouble, whole
nights may be spent in Study without hurt to the Body, in that it
moderately heateth and bindeth the mouth of the Stomach.

“It prevents and cures Agues, Surfets and Feavers, by infusing a fit
quantity of the Leaf, thereby provoking a most gentle Vomit and breathing
of the Pores, and hath been given with wonderful success.

“It (being prepared and drank with Milk and Water) strengtheneth the
inward parts, and prevents Consumptions, and powerfully asswageth the
pains of the Bowels, or griping of the Guts, or Looseness.

“It is good for Colds, Dropsies, and Scurveys, if properly infused,
purging the Blood by Sweat and Urine, and expelleth Infection.

“It drives away all pains in the Collick proceeding from Wind, and
purgeth safely the Gall.

“And that the Vertues and Excellencies of this Leaf, and Drink, are
many and great, it is evident and manifest by the high esteem and use
of it (especially of late years) among the Physitians and Knowing men
in _France_, _Italy_, _Holland_, and other parts of Christendom; and in
_England_ it hath been sold in the Leaf for six pounds, and some times
for ten pounds the pound weight, and, in respect of its former scarceness
and dearness, it hath been only used as a _Regalia_ in high Treatments
and Entertainments, and Presents made thereof to Princes and Grandees
till the year 1657. The said _Thomas Garway_ did purchase a quantity
thereof, and first publickly sold the said _Tea_ in Leaf and Drink, made
according to the directions of the most knowing Merchants and Travellers
into those Eastern Countries; And upon knowledge and experience of the
said _Garway’s_ continued care and industry in obtaining the best _Tea_,
and making Drink thereof, very many Noblemen, Physitians, Merchants and
Gentlemen of Quality have ever since sent to him for the said Leaf, and
daily resort to his House in _Exchange Alley_ aforesaid, to drink the
Drink thereof.

“And that Ignorance nor Envy have no ground or power to report or
suggest that what is here asserted of the Vertues and Excellences of
this pretious Leaf and Drink hath more of design than truth, for the
justification of himself and satisfaction of others, he hath here
innumerated several Authors, who, in their Learned Works, have expressly
written and asserted the same, and much more, in honour of this noble
Leaf and Drink, _viz._, _Bontius_, _Riccius_, _Jarricus_, _Almeyda_,
_Horstius_, _Alvarez Semeda_, _Martinious_ in his _China Atlas_, and
_Alexander de Rhodes_ in his Voyage and Missions, in a large discourse of
the ordering of this Leaf, and the many Vertues of the Drink, printed at
_Paris_ 1653 part 10. Chap. 13.

“And to the end that all Persons of Eminency and Quality, Gentlemen and
others who have occasion for _Tea_ in Leaf, may be supplyed, These are to
give notice that the said _Thomas Garway_ hath _Tea_ to sell from sixteen
to fifty Shillings the pound.

“And whereas several Persons using _Coffee_, have been accustomed to buy
the powder thereof by the pound, or in lesser, or greater quantities,
which, if kept two dayes looseth much of its first Goodness. And,
forasmuch as the Berries after drying may be kept, if need require for
some Moneths; Therefore all persons living remote from _London_, and
have occasion for the said powder, are advised to buy the said _Coffee_
Berries ready dryed, which being in a Morter beaten, or in a Mill ground
to powder, as they use it, will so often be brisk, fresh, and fragrant,
and in its full vigour and strength as if new prepared, to the great
satisfaction of the Drinkers thereof, as hath been experienced by many
in this City. Which Commodity of the best sort, the said _Thomas Garway_
hath alwayes ready dryed to be sold at reasonable Rates.

“Also such as will have _Coffee_ in powder, or the Berries undryed,
or _Chocolata_, may by the said _Thomas Garway_ be supplied to their
content: With such further Instructions and perfect Directions how to use
_Tea_, _Coffee_ and _Chocolata_, as is, or may be needful, and so as to
be efficatious and operative, according to their several Vertues.

“FINIS.

“ADVERTISEMENT. That _Nicholas Brook_, living at the Sign of the
_Frying-pan_ in St. _Tulies_ Street against the Church, is the only known
man for the making of Mills for grinding of _Coffee_ powder; which Mills
are by him sold from 40 to 45 shillings the Mill.”

J. A.

[Illustration]

TEA.

III.

Pepys and Tea—First English Poem on Tea—Price of Tea temp.
Queen Anne—Scandal over the Tea Cup—Jonas Hanway and Dr.
Johnson on Tea—Love of the latter for this Beverage—How to make
Good Tea.

By Garway’s Advertisement we get at one fact, that the use of tea had
not been brought into popular use before 1657: a fact which is borne out
by that old _quid nunc_ Pepys, who would surely have noticed it, as,
indeed, he did as soon as it was brought under his ken. He mentions it in
his diary under date 25th Sept., 1661, as being then a novelty, at all
events to him. “I did send for a Cup of Tee, a China Drink of which I
never drank before.” And again, 28th June, 1667, “Home, and there find my
wife making of Tee, a drink which Mr. Pelling the Potticary tells her is
good for her cold and defluxions.” So that even then it was not a common
drink with people well to do, as we know Pepys was. The old English
custom of drinking beer at breakfast died very hard—nay, it is not yet
dead—surviving in farm houses in many places in the country, notably in
Somersetshire; and when tea became cheap enough to be drank by the middle
classes, those beneath them in the social scale indulged in sage tea,
and infusions of other home grown herbs.

As it increased in popularity, the poets got hold of it, and numerous
were the laudatory verses in Latin respecting its virtues. But, as far as
can be found, the earliest English poem about it was by Waller, as under:—

“OF TEA.

COMMENDED BY HER MAJESTY.[129]

“Venus her Myrtle, Phœbus has his bays;
Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise.
The best of queens,[130] and best of herbs, we owe
To that bold nation[130] which the way did shew
To the fair region where the Sun does rise,
Whose rich productions we so justly prize.
The Muses’ friend, Tea does our fancy aid,
Repress those vapours which the head invade,
And keeps that palace of the soul serene,
Fit on her birthday to salute the Queen.”

As years went on, its popularity became greater, and it is satisfactory
to find by the following extract from Lord Clarendon’s diary, 10th Feb.,
1688, that the tea imported was good, and that it was treated properly.
“Le Père Couplet supped with me; he is a man of very good conversation.
After supper we had tea, which he said was as good as any he had drank
in China. The Chinese, who came over with him and Mr. Fraser, supped
likewise with us.”

With time, the consumption of tea increased, and its price was much
lower; but still, taking the money value in the time of Queen Anne, in
relation to our own it was excessively dear, and its value fluctuated
much. Black tea varied in 1704 from 12_s._ to 16_s._ per pound; in 1706,
14_s._ to 16_s._; in 1707, which seems to have been an exceptionally dear
year, 16_s._, 20_s._, 22_s._, 24_s._, 30_s._, and 32_s._ In 1709 it was
from 14_s._ to 28_s._; and in 1710, 12_s._ to 28_s._ Green tea in 1705
was 13_s._ 6_d._; in 1707, 20_s._, 22_s._, 26_s._; in 1709, 10_s._ to
15_s._; and in 1710, 10_s._ to 16_s._ The difference between new and old
is given once; the new tea is 14_s._, and the old 12_s._ and 10_s._

The margins in price are not only accounted for by difference in age, but
it was well known that old leaves were re-dried and used in the cheaper
sorts; indeed, there is a very curious advertisement in the advertising
portion of the _Tatler_, Aug. 26th, 1710: “Bohea Tea, made of the same
Materials that Foreign Bohea is made of, 16_s._ a Pound. Sold by R. Fary
only, at the Bell in Grace Church Street, Druggist. Note. The Natural
Pecko Tea will remain, after Infusion, of a light grey colour. All
other Bohea Tea, tho’ there be White in it will Change Colour, and is
artificial.”

Tea was now “in Society,” and was made the medium of pleasant little
_réunions_. The accompanying illustration gives a Tea-party, temp. Queen
Anne, by which it appears that the cups had no handles at that time, and
were of veritable oriental porcelain, and that it was not considered a
breach of good manners to drink tea out of saucers.

But even this Eden had its serpent, in the shape of scandal, from which
the tea table seemed no freer in the time of Good Queen Anne than our
own.[131] “Thus they take a sip of Tea, then for a draught or two of
Scandal to digest it, next let it be Ratifia, or any other Favourite
Liquor, Scandal must be the after draught to make it sit easie on their
Stomach, till the half hour’s past, and they have disburthen’d themselves
of their Secrets, and take Coach for some other place, to collect new
matter for Defamation.”

[Illustration]

An anonymous poet of that time sings thus of the tea table:—

“Here we see Scandal, (for our sex too base),
Seat in dread Empire in the Female Race,
’Mong Beaus and Women, Fans and Mechlin Lace,
Chief seat of Slander, Ever there we see
Thick Scandal circulate with right Bohea.
There, source of black’ning Falsehood’s Mint of Lies,
Each Dame th’ Improvement of her Talent tries,
And at each Sip a Lady’s Honour dies;
Truth rare as Silence, or a Negro Swan,
Appears among those Daughters of the Fan.”

Peter Motteux, in the same reign (1712), wrote “A Poem in Praise of Tea;”
but his theme may, after all, only have been taken to advertise his East
India Warehouse in Leadenhall Street. He says:—

“From boist’rous Wine I fled to gentle Tea;
For, Calms compose us after Storms at Sea.
In vain wou’d Coffee boast an equal Good;
The Chrystal Stream transcends the flowing Mud.
Tea, ev’n the Ills from Coffee sprung, repairs,
Disclaims its Vices, and its Vertue shares.
To bless me with the Juice two Foes conspire,
The clearest Water with the purest Fire,
Wine’s Essence in a Lamp to Fewel turns,
Exhales its Soul, and for a Rival burns.
The Leaf is mov’d, and the diffusive Good,
Thus urg’d, resigns its Spirits in the Flood.
In curious Cups the liquid Blessing flows,
Cups fit alone the _Nectar_ to enclose.
Dissembled Groves and Nymphs by Tables plac’d,
Adorn the Sides, and tempt the Sight and Taste,
Yet more the gay, the lovely Colour courts,
The Flavour charms us, but the Taste transports,” etc., etc.

As years went on, the poets still sung its praises; and the following
portion of “Tea Drinking” brings us down to 1752, by which time it was a
necessity in polite society:—

[Illustration]

“Sparkling with Youth’s gay Pride, like mirthful _May_
In the Sedan enclos’d, by Slaves up-born;
See the Love-darting Dame, swing ’long the Way,
Or to present the Visit, or return.

The sleek-comb’d Valet trimly trips before;
Loud, thro’ the gazing Croud, commanding Place;
With well-tim’d Raps he strikes the sounding Door,
Thunders in Taste, and rattles with a Grace.

Along the Pavement grates the swift-slop’d Chair,
Back on its well-oil’d Hinges flies the Gate;
Behind the high held Hoop, up-springs the Fair,
Rustling in rich Array, and silken State.

The how d’ye ended, the Contest of Place,
And all the fashionable flutt’ring Toils,
Down, curtsying, sink the Laughter loving Race,
And undisturb’d one Moment, Silence smiles.

Behold! the Beau-complexion’d Porcelain,
As Bell turn’d Tulips variegated show,
In order set among the tittering Train,
Replete with Spoils which from _Cathaya_ flow.

The leading Fair the Word harmonious gives,
_Betty_ around attends with bending Knee;
Each white-arm Fair, the painted Cup receives
Pours the rich Cream, or stirs the sweetened Tea,” etc., etc.

But, although some wrote in praise of it, there was a class of people who
were opposed to its use, and one of them was the celebrated Jonas Hanway,
of umbrella fame. Possessed of a competence, he had nothing particular
to do, so he turned philanthrope. He took up the cause of the Marine
Society, he was a Governor of the Foundling Hospital, and he founded a
Magdalen Hospital, which is now at Streatham. These things, however,
did not fully occupy his time, and he scribbled _de omnibus rebis_:
among other things, about Tea, against which he had a great aversion. In
1757 he wrote “AN ESSAY ON TEA, considered as pernicious to _Health_,
obstructing _Industry_, and impoverishing the _Nation_; also an Account
of its _Growth_, and great _Consumption_ in these _Kingdoms_.”

Judged from our present standpoint, it was a farrago of rubbish and false
arguments, and he recommends “Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea.”
He gives a list of plants which he thinks useful for the purpose:—Ground
Ivy, plain, or with a few drops of lemon Balm, or lemon Balm alone, or
mixed with Sage, and Lavender flowers; Lavender itself; the fresh tops of
Thyme; Mint; the flowery tops of Rosemary, by themselves, or mixed with
Lavender; Penny royal and Lavender; Horehound; Trefoil flowers; Sorrel;
Angelica; Sage; Cowslips; and recommends a drink, which he occasionally
used himself, made of Ground Ivy and stick Liquorice.

[Illustration: A Tea Garden: _George Morland_.]

This roused the ire of no less a person than Dr. Samuel Johnson, who, as
“a hardened and shameless tea drinker; who has for many years diluted
his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle
has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea
solaces the midnights, and with tea welcomes the morning,”[132] could
not sit still, and have his favourite beverage abused. So he wrote a
review of Hanway’s Essay, and demolished it. Johnson certainly was an
immoderate and enthusiastic tea drinker, and somewhat a tyrant over it,
as Mrs. Piozzi rather ruefully relates. “By this pathetic manner, which
no one ever possessed in so eminent a degree, he used to shock me from
quitting his company, till I hurt my own health not a little by sitting
up with him, when I was myself far from well; nor was it an easy matter
to oblige him even by compliance, for he always maintained that no one
forebore their own gratifications for the sake of pleasing another; and
if one _did_ sit up, it was, probably, to amuse one’s self. Some right,
however, he certainly had to say so, as he made his company exceedingly
entertaining, when he had once forced one, by his vehement lamentations
and piercing reproofs, not to leave the room, but to sit quietly, and
make tea for him, as I often did in London till four o’clock in the
morning.”

When dining one day with William Scott (afterwards Lord Stowell), Johnson
told a little story of Garrick and his tea drinking. “I remember drinking
tea with him long ago, when Peg Woffington made it, and he grumbled
at her for making it too strong.” But the names of worthy and eminent
tea drinkers are legion, and its virtues are so patent that even our
Legislators have a room set apart in the Houses of Parliament for the
discussion of it and other matters.

One or two words only, before concluding the subject of tea, and those
are to show how to make a good cup of tea.

[Illustration]

The teapot should be thoroughly warmed, and the tea put into it before
the addition of the water, which should _just have come to the boil_, and
not have been boiling for any length of time. After standing about three
minutes it should be ready for drinking. No second water should be used.
A sufficiently large teapot, or teapots, should be provided, and if the
quantity required exceeds the supply, then fresh tea should be made.

Tea drinking has been stigmatised by some as slow poisoning; and in one
of Hood’s works we are treated to a pictorial representation of “Sloe
poison.”

J. A.

[Illustration]

MATÉ.

Its Use in South America—Districts where Grown—Its
Manufacture—Early Notice of—The _Maté_ Cup and
_Bombilla_—Method of Drinking—Its Rapid Deterioration.

Yerba Maté, or Paraguay Tea, which is made from the leaves of the _Ilex
Paraguayensis_, or Brazilian Holly, takes the place of _Thea Sinensis_ in
nearly the whole of South America, where it has been used by the Indians
from time immemorial, and by their conquerors and settlers since the
seventeenth century.

It grows abundantly in Paraguay, Corrientes, Chaco, and the south of
Brazil, forming woods called _yerbales_. One of the principal centres
of the Maté industry is the Villa Real, a small town above Asuncion, on
the Paraguay River; another is the Villa de San Xavier in the district
between the rivers Uruguay and Parana. If let alone, it grows into a tree
some fifteen or twenty feet high; but the plants from which the Maté is
collected are moderate-sized shrubs, with numerous stems from one root.
The leaves are from four to five inches long, and the finest Maté is made
from the smallest shrubs. One bush will furnish three different kinds
of tea, which are called _caa-cuys_, _caa-miri_, and _caa-guaza_—_caa_
meaning leaf. _Caa-cuys_ is made from the half expanded buds; but,
although fine in flavour, it has the misfortune of not keeping, and,
consequently, is all consumed in Paraguay. _Caa-miri_ is prepared in the
same way as the Jesuit padres made it, the leaves being carefully picked,
and the nerves stripped before roasting them; and the _Caa-guaza_, which
is the commonest, is prepared as follows:—

[Illustration]

A Maté _yerbal_, or plantation, having been found, and a sum paid to
Government for the collection of its leaves, a party of from twenty-five
to thirty Indians settle down there with the intention of passing some
five or six months. They make themselves as comfortable as circumstances
will permit, by building wigwams covered with palm or banana leaves.
Their next care is to beat, with mallets, a good hard and smooth earthen
floor, about six feet square, which is called a _tatacua_. Over this is
built an arch of poles, on which is spread the boughs of the _Ilex_, and
under which a lively fire is kindled, that the leaves may be thoroughly
dried without being scorched. This result being effected, the fire is
swept off the hearth, and the dried branches being spread thereon, the
leaves are beaten off with sticks, which operation reduces them to a
coarse powder. Sometimes they are pounded in mortars, made by digging
holes in the ground, well rammed; but now-a-days the Maté is generally
treated in a more scientific and cleanly manner, the leaves being heated,
as tea in China, in large iron pans set in brick work. The dried leaves
are then taken to the Maté mill, which may be worked by water power, or
by mules, the wooden stampers being worked by teeth placed spirally round
the circumference of a revolving cylinder. A good-sized mill will turn
out three tons of Maté in a day. The crushed leaves are then tightly
packed in bags of damp bullock’s hide, sewn up and left to dry, when they
become as hard as stones. These sacks generally weigh from 200 to 220
lbs., and this quantity is considered a good day’s work for a peon. The
collectors suffer terribly during this six months of forest life, and the
severe labour of collecting, in those tropical forests, is especially
fatal to the unfortunate peons.

Its use is as universal as tea in China. The method of taking it has not
varied for centuries; and a description of it in 1713[133] is as good as
if written to-day.

[Illustration]

“During the day, they make much use of the Herb of _Paraguay_, which
some call St. Bartholomew’s Herb, who, they pretend, came into that
Province, where he made it wholesome and beneficial, whereas, before,
it was venomous. Being only brought dry, and almost in Powder, I cannot
describe it. Instead of drinking the Tincture, or Infusion, apart, as we
drink Tea, they put the Herb into a cup or bowl, made of a Calabash or
Gourd, tipped with silver, which they call _Maté_; they add sugar, and
pour on it the hot water, which they drink immediately, without giving
it time to infuse, because it turns as black as ink. To avoid drinking
the Herb which swims at the top, they make use of a silver pipe, at the
end whereof is a bowl, full of little holes, so that the liquor sucked
in at the other end is clear from the Herb. They drink round from the
same pipe, pouring hot water on the Herb as it is drank off. Instead of
a pipe, which they call _Bombilla_; some part the Herb with a silver
separation, called _Apartador_, full of little holes. The reluctance
which the French have shown to drink after all sorts of people, in a
country where so many are diseased, has occasioned the inventing of the
use of little glass pipes, which they began to use at _Lima_. That liquor
is, in my opinion, better than Tea; it has a flavour of the Herb, which
is agreeable enough; the people of the country are so used to it, that
even the poorest use it once a day, when they rise in the morning.”

[Illustration]

Frezier gives us an illustration of _Maté_ drinking, in which we see a
lady using the _bombilla_, although the _Maté_ cup has an _apartador_.
The silver kettle for supplying hot water is fed with charcoal at the
side, and somewhat resembles the Russian _Samovar_.

We give a modern _Maté_ cup and _bombilla_; but this, which is made
wholly of silver, is only intended for one person’s use.

Sometimes the _Maté_ cups are made of the gourds of the Cuca (_Crescentia
Cujete_) or Cabaço (_Cucurbita lagenaria_) silver mounted. Indeed, the
cup itself is the _Maté_, which gives the name to the herb, meaning, in
the language of the Incas, a _calabash_. The decoction is drank with a
little brown sugar or lemon added, never with milk, and if not drank very
quickly will turn quite black.

It loses in flavour and aroma by keeping, so that in England it cannot
possibly be drunk in perfection, which, of course, can only be done
on the spot where it is produced. Its virtues are much vaunted. It is
supposed to give nervous vigour, and to enable the system to resist
fatigue; but this can scarcely account for the enormous quantity drunk,
although to persons unused to it, when taken in large doses it is both
purgative and emetic.

Like Chinese tea, it has a volatile oil, which gives it its peculiar
aroma; it also contains nearly 2 per cent. of theine, and about 16 per
cent. of an astringent acid, resembling tannin, which causes the infusion
to turn black after a slight exposure to the air.

There is another variety of _Maté_, called _Gongonha_, which is drunk in
Brazil, which is prepared from two other species of holly, the _Ilex
Gongonha_ and the _Ilex Theezans_. In Chili a tea is made from the leaves
of the _Psoralea glandulosa_, and in Central America an infusion of the
leaves of the _Capraria bifolia_ is drunk.

J. A.

[Illustration]

CUCA.

Where Grown—Sustaining Power of Cuca—Early Mention of it, and
Methods of Preparing and Using it—Cowley on Cuca—Its Modern
Manufacture and Cost—Its Medicinal Properties—Cocaine and its
Dangers.

Cuca or Coca (_Erythroxylon Coca_) is now used as a drink, the leaves,
hitherto, having been masticated. It has very valuable medicinal
qualities, one of the chief being the ability to sustain fatigue by
those who use it. It grows in the valleys of the eastern slope of the
Andes, in Bolivia, and Peru; wild in many places, but that in use is
generally cultivated. It has been known ever since the Conquest of Peru,
notices of it being very early; and, considering the length of time this
knowledge has obtained, it is marvellous that it is only of very late
years that our scientific men have interested themselves in its medicinal
properties, and that an infusion of its leaves has not come into common
use.

[Illustration]

The earliest mention to be found of it in English is in a[134]
translation (1577) of a book written by Dr. Monades of Seville.

“OF THE COCA.

“I was desirous to see that hearbe so celebrated of the
Indians, so many yeares past, which they doe call the _Coca_,
which they doe sow and till with muche care and diligence,
for because they doe use it for their pleasures, which we
will speake of. The _Coca_ is an hearbe of the height of a
yerd, little more or lesse, he carrieth his Leaves like to
_Arraihau_, somewhat greater, and in that Leafe there is marked
another Leafe of the like forme, with a line very thinne, they
are softe, and of Coulour a light greene, they carrie the seede
in clusters, and it commeth to be so redde when it is ripe,
as the Seede of _Arraihau_, when it is ripe. And it is of the
same greatnesse, when the hearbe is seasoned, that it is to
be gathered, it is knowen in the seede, that it is ripe, and
of some rednes like to a blackekishe coulour, and the hearbe
beyng gathered, they put them into Canes, and other thinges,
that they may drie, that it maie be kepte and caried to other
partes. For that they carrie them from some high Mountaines,
to others, as Marchaundise to be soulde, and they barter and
chaunge them for Mantelles, and Cattell, and Salte, and other
thinges whiche doe runne like to money amongest us, they doe
put the seede into _Almaciga_,[135] and from that thei do take
them up, and set them in another place, into Earth that is wel
laboured or tilled, and made as it is convenient for to put
them, by their lines and order, as we doe put here a Garden of
Beanes, or of Peason.

“The use of it amongest the Indians is a thing generall, for
many thinges, for when they doe travail by the waie, for neede
and for their content when they are in their houses, thei use
it in this forme. Thei take Cokles or Oisters in their shelles,
and they doe burne them and grinde them, and after they are
burned they remaine like Lyme, very small grounde, and they
take of the Leves of the _Coca_, and they chawe them in their
Mouthes, and, as they go chawyng, they goe mingling with it
of that pouder made of the shelles in such sorte, that they
make it like to a Paste taking lesse of the Pouder then of
the Hearbe, and of this Paste they make certaine small Bawles
rounde, and they put them to drie, and when they will use of
them, they take a little Ball in their mouthe, and they chawe
hym; passing hym from one parte to another, procuring to
conserue him all that they can, and that beyng doen, they doe
retaurne to take another, and so they goe, using of it all the
tyme that they have neede, whiche is when they travaill by the
waie, and especially if it be by waies where is no meate, or
lacke of water. For the use of these little Bawles doe take
the hunger and thurste from them, and they say that they dooe
receive substaunce, as though that they did eate. At other
times thei use of them for their pleasure, although that they
labour not by the waie, and thei do use the same _Coca_ alone,
chawing it and bringing it in their mouthes, from one side to
another, untill there be no vertue remainyng in it, and then
they take another.”

Garcia Lasso de la Vega, who wrote his _Commentarios Reales_ in 1609,
gives a fine description of Cuca—which is taken from his translator, Sir
Paul Rycaut.

“_Of the pretious Leafe called_ Cuca.”

“But above all we must not omit to discourse at large of the
Herb which the _Indians_ call _Cuca_, and the _Spaniards_,
_Coca_, being that which is, and hath been a considerable
part of the Riches of _Peru_, and such as hath yielded great
benefit to the Merchants. And, indeed, the _Indians_ did justly
esteem it for the rare Virtues and Qualities of it, which the
_Spaniards_ have not onely approved, but have also discovered
several other specifick and medicinal Qualities belonging to
it. _Blas Valera_, who was a very curious Person, and one who
had resided many years in _Peru_, and came from thence thirty
years after my departure, hath wrote Very largely of the many
Virtues of this Herb, and such as he hath found out by his
own experience. His words are these, ‘The _Cuca_ is a small,
tender Tree or Bind, about the height and biggness of a Vine;
it produceth not many Branches, but is full of delicate Leaves,
of about the breadth and length of a Man’s Thumb; it is of
an excellent smell, and very fragrant; the _Spaniards_ and
_Indians_ do both give them the name of _Cuca_; the which is
so much esteemed by the _Indians_, that they prefer it before
Gold, or Silver, or Pretious Stones. They plant and manure them
with great art and diligence, and gather them with great care,
pulling them leaf by leaf, and then lay them to dry in the Sun,
and so the Indians eat them dry.

“‘The Virtue and Benefit of this _Cuca_ is plainly observable
in labouring Men, who, having eaten it are much refreshed,
and often labour a whole day in the strength of it, without
any other nourishment. The _Cuca_ moreover preserves the
Body from many infirmities; and our Physicians make use of
it, being dried and beaten to powder, to ease and assuage
the Inflammation, or swelling of any Wound; it is good to
strengthen bones which have been broken, and expell colds from
the Body, and to prevent them; it is good also to cleanse great
Wounds of Worms, and heal them; nor is the Virtue of it less,
being taken inwardly, than it is by outward applications.
Besides all which Virtues, it yields a great benefit to the
Bishop and Canons and other Dependents on the Cathedral Church
of _Cozco_, the Tithes of the Leaves of _Cuca_ being their
greatest Revenue; it is also a great commodity amongst the
Merchants; notwithstanding all which good Qualities of the
_Cuca_, there are many, who being ignorant of its Virtues
have wrote against it; for no other reason, than because the
Gentiles, in ancient times, did, by their Diviners and Wizards
offer this _Cuca_ to their Gods in Sacrifice; and, therefore,
having been abused to Idolatry, they conclude that it ought
for ever to be esteemed abominable and prophane. This Argument
might be available, if it had been the custome to offer this
Herb onely to the Devil, but, in regard that both ancient
and modern Idolaters have made their Corn, and Fruits, and
whatsoever grows above or beneath the earth, their Drinks and
Water, their Wool and Clothing, their Flocks and Herds, and
all things else, the matter and subject of their Sacrifices;
we may argue from the same foundation, that all those things
are defiled and rendred as abominable and unclean as the
_Cuca_; but to the clean, all things being clean, let us teach
them to abhor and forsake their superstitious and idolatrous
Worships, and let us, using our Christian Liberty, receive
those Blessings with moderation and thanksgiving.’

“Thus far are the Words of _Blas Valera_. To which we shall add
thus much farther, that this little Tree is about the height
of a Man, in the planting of which they cast the seed in its
green shell, and when it grows up, they then hoa and open the
Earth for it, as they do for Vines, supporting the tender twigs
with stakes; and in planting, they take great care that the
tender roots be laid streight in the Earth, for with the least
doubling they dry and wither; they take likewise the Leaf of
every sprig by itself, and, holding it between their fingers,
they cut it with great care till they come to the Bud, but do
not touch it, for then the whole branch will wither; both the
outside and inside of this Leaf in the greenness and shape of
it, is like the _Arbuteus_, onely the Leaves are so thin, that
three or four of them, being doubled, are not so thick as that
of the _Arbuteus_....

“When they gather the Leaves they dry them in the Sun; but
care is to be taken that they are not over-dried, for then
they lose much of their Virtue, and, being very thin, soon
turn to powder; nor will they bear much moisture; for they
soon grow musty and rotten; but they lay them up in Baskets of
slit Canes, of which many fine ones are made in the _Antis_.
With the Leaves of those big Canes, which are about the third
of a yard long, they cover the top of the Baskets, to keep
Moisture from the Leaves, which is very prejudicial to them;
and to consider the great pains and care which is taken to
nourish this _Cuca_, and the provisions of all things which
are made for it, we ought rather to render thanks to God for
his abundant blessings in the variety of his Creatures, than
to believe or conclude that what we write is fabulous or
incredible; if these fruits were to be planted or nourished in
other Countries, the charge and labour of them would be more
than the benefit.

“The Herb is gathered every four Months, that is three times
a year, and in the manuring of it care is taken to weed it
often; for the Country being hot and moist, the Weeds grow
apace, and the Herb sometimes increases so fast, that the
season for gathering of it advances fifteen days; so that
sometimes they have four Harvests for it in a year; the which,
a certain covetous Tithe-gatherer observing, in my time, farmed
the Tithes of all the principal and rich Inheritances and
Possessions about _Cozco_, and, taking care to keep them clear
and clean from Weeds, he so improved his Revenue, that the year
following, the Farmer of the Tithes made two thirds more than
what had been made in the preceding years; which caused a Law
Suit between the Farmer and the Proprietor, but what the Issue
was of it, I that was then but a Boy, did not much remark.

“Amongst many other Virtues of this _Cuca_, they say it
corroborates the Gums, and fortifies the Teeth, and that it
gives strength and vigour to any person that labours and toils,
onely by carrying it in his mouth. I remember a Story which I
heard in my own Countrey. That a certain Gentleman, both by
Bloud and Vertue, called _Rodrigo Pantoia_, journeying once
from _Cozco_ to _Rimac_,[136] met with a poor _Spaniard_ (for
there are some poor there, as well as here), travelling on
foot, carrying a little Girl of about two years of age in his
Armes; and being an acquaintance of this _Pantoia_, he asked
him how he came to give himself the trouble of carrying that
burthen; to which the person that was on foot, replied, that he
was poor, and had not money to hire an _Indian_ to carry it.

“In this discourse with him, _Pantoia_ observed that his mouth
was full of the _Cuca_; and it being, at that time, that
the _Spaniards_ abhorred all things which the _Indians_ did
eat or drink, because they had been abused to Idolatry, and
particularly they hated the _Cuca_, as a base and stinking
Weed, which gave cause to _Pantoia_ to ask him farther, why
he, being a _Spaniards_, did use those things which the
_Spaniards_ hated; for his necessities could never be so great
as to compell him to Meats or Customs unlawfull. To which the
Souldier replied, that though he abhorred it as much as the
_Spaniards_, yet necessity forced him to imitate the _Indians_
therein; for that without it he could never be able to travell
and carry his Burthen, for that holding it in his mouth, he
found such refreshment and strength, that he was able to
carry his Load, and perform his Journey with chearfulness.
_Pantoia_ wondring at this Report, related to many others, who,
afterwards, making the same experiment thereof, found that
the _Indians_ made use of it rather for their refreshment and
necessity, than for any pleasure in the taste, which in itself
is not very pleasant or agreeable.”

A plant having such manifold and beneficent properties must needs have
a supernatural origin, and the Indians had a belief that the goddess
Varischa first introduced the Cuca plant into Peru, and taught the
inhabitants the use thereof. Abraham Cowley sang thereof in his Latin
poems, “Sex libri plantarum,” and use is made here of the translation
by Nahum Tate, of the fifth book, published in 1700. The Indian Bacchus
challenge the other deities to judge between the fruits of the two worlds.

...
“But _Bacchus_ much more sportive than the rest,
Fills up a Bowl with Juice from Grapestones drein’d,
And puts it in _Omelichilus_ hand;
Take off this Draught, said he, if thou art wise,
’Twill purge thy Cannibal Stomach’s Crudities.
He, unaccustomed to the acid Juice
Storm’d, and with blows had answer’d the Abuse,
But fear’d t’engage the _European_ Guest,
Whose Strength and Courage had subdu’d the _East_.
He therefore chooses a less dang’rous fray,
And summons all his Country’s Plants away:
Forthwith in decent Order they appear,
And various Fruits on various Branches wear;
Like _Amazons_ they stand in painted Arms,
_Coca_ alone appears with little Charms;
Yet led the Van, our scoffing _Venus_ scorn’d
The shrublike Tree, and with no Fruit adorn’d.
The _Indian_ Plants, said she, are like to speed
In this Dispute of the most sterile Breed,
Who choose a _Dwarf_ and _Eunuch_ for their Head.
Our Gods laugh’d out aloud at what she said.
_Pachamama_ defends her darling Tree,
And said the wanton Goddess was too free,
You only know the fruitfulness of Lust,
And therefore here your Judgement is unjust,
Your skill in other offsprings we may trust,
With those Chast Tribes that no distinction know
Of Sex, your Province nothing has to do.
Of all the Plants that any Soil does bear,
This Tree in Fruits the Richest does appear,
It bears the best, and bears ’em all the year.
Ev’n now with Fruits ’tis stor’d—why laugh you yet?
Behold how thick with Leaves it is beset,
Each Leaf is Fruit, and such substantial Fare
No Fruit beside to Rival it will dare.
Mov’d with his Countries Roming Fate (whose Coil
Must for her Treasures be expos’d to toil)
Our _Varicocha_ first this _Coca_ sent,
Endow’d with Leaves of wondrous Nourishment,
Whose Juice succ’d in, and to the Stomach ta’en,
Long Hunger and long Labour can sustain;
From which our faint and weary Bodies find
More Succour, more they cheat the drooping Mind
Than can your _Bacchus_ and your Ceres join’d.
Three Leaves supply for six days march afford,
The _Quitoita_ with this Provision stor’d
Can pass the vast and cloudy _Andes_ o’er—
The dreadful _Andes_ plac’d ’twixt Winter’s store
Of Winds, Rain, Snow, and that more humble Earth,
That gives the small but valiant _Coca_ Birth;
This Champion that makes war-like _Venus_ Mirth.
Nor _Coca_ only useful art at home,
A famous Merchandize thou art become;
A thousand _Paci_ and _Vicugni_ groan
Yearly beneath thy Loads, and for thy sake alone
The spacious World’s to us by Commerce known.”

Dr. Von Tschudi says that the Coca plant is regarded by the Peruvian
Indian, as something sacred and mysterious, and it sustained an important
part in religion of the Incas. In all ceremonies, whether religious or
warlike, it was introduced, for producing smoke at the great offerings,
or as the sacrifice itself. During divine worship the priests chewed
Coca leaves, and, unless they were supplied with them, it was believed
that the favour of the gods could not be propitiated. It was also
deemed necessary that the supplicator for divine grace should approach
the priests with an _Acullico_ in his mouth. It was believed that any
business undertaken without the benediction of Coca leaves could not
prosper; and to the shrub itself worship was rendered.

During an interval of more than 300 years, Christianity has not been
able to subdue the deep-rooted idolatry; for everywhere are found traces
of belief in the mysterious power of this plant. The excavators in the
mines of Cerro de Pasco throw masticated Coca on hard veins of metal, in
the belief that it softens the ore and renders it more easy to work. The
origin of this custom is easily explained, when it is recollected that
in the time of the Incas it was believed that the _Coyas_, or deities of
metals, rendered the mountains impenetrable, if they were not propitiated
by the odour of Coca. The Indians, even at the present time,[137]
put Coca leaves into the mouths of dead persons, to secure to them a
favourable reception on their entrance into another world; and when a
Peruvian Indian, on a journey, falls in with a mummy, he, with timid
reverence, presents to it some Coca leaves as his pious offering.

Markham[138] also says, “The reliance on the extraordinary virtues of
the Coca leaf, amongst the Peruvian Indians, is so strong, that, in the
Huanaco province, they believe that, if a dying man can taste a leaf
placed on his tongue, it is a sure sign of his future happiness.”

He also gives an account of the modern cultivation of the plant. Sowing
is commenced in December and January, when the rains begin, which
continue until April. The seeds are spread on the surface of the soil in
a small nursery or raising ground called _almaciga_, over which there is
generally a thatch roof (_huascichi_). At the end of about a fortnight
they come up; the young plants being continually watered, and protected
from the sun by the _huascichi_. The following year they are transplanted
to a soil specially prepared by thorough weeding, and breaking up the
clods very fine by hand; often in terraces only affording room for a
single row of plants, up the side of the mountains, which are kept up by
small stone walls. The plants are generally placed in square holes called
_aspi_, a foot deep, with stones on the sides to prevent the earth from
falling in. Three or four are planted in each hole, and grow up together.

In Caravaya and Bolivia the soil in which the Coca grows is composed of a
blackish clay, formed from the decomposition of the schists, which form
the principal geological features of the mountains. On level ground the
plants are placed in furrows called _nachos_, separated by little walls
of earth, _umachas_, at the foot of each of which a row of plants is
placed; but this is a modern innovation, the terrace cultivation being
the most ancient. At the end of eighteen months the plants yield their
first harvest, and continue to yield for upwards of forty years. The
first harvest is called _quita calzon_, and the leaves are then picked
very carefully, one by one, to avoid disturbing the roots of the young
tender plants. The following harvests are called _mitta_ (“time” or
“season”), and take place three and even four times in the year. The most
abundant harvest takes place in March, immediately after the rains; the
worst, at the end of June, called the _Mitta de San Juan_. The third,
called _Mitta de Santos_, is in October or November. With plenty of
watering, forty days suffice to cover the plants with leaves afresh. It
is necessary to weed the ground very carefully, especially while the
plants are young, and the harvest is gathered by women and children.

The green leaves, called _matu_, are deposited in a piece of cloth which
each picker carries, and are then spread out in the drying yard, called
_matu-caucha_, and carefully dried in the sun. The dried leaf is called
_Coca_. The drying yard is formed of slate flags, called _pizarra_;
and when the leaves are thoroughly dry, they are sewn up in _cestos_,
or sacks, made of banana leaves, of 20 lbs. each, strengthened by an
exterior covering of _bayeta_, or cloth.[139] They are also packed in
_tambores_ of 50 lbs. each, pressed tightly down. Dr. Poeppig (writing in
1827-32) reckoned the profits of a Coca farm to be forty-five per cent.

The harvest is greatest in a hot moist situation; but the leaf generally
considered the best flavoured by consumers, grows in drier parts, on the
sides of hills. The greatest care is required in the drying; for too much
sun causes the leaves to dry up and lose their flavour, while, if packed
up moist, they become fetid. They are generally exposed to the sun in
thin layers.

The approximate annual produce of Coca in Peru is about 15,000,000 lbs.,
the average yield being about 800 lbs. an acre. More than 10,000,000 lbs.
are produced annually in Bolivia, according to Dr. Booth of La Paz; so
that the annual yield of Coca throughout South America, including Peru,
Bolivia, Ecuador, and Pasto, may be estimated at more than 30,000,000
lbs. At Tacna, the _tambor_ of 50 lbs. is worth 9 to 12 dollars, the
fluctuations in price being caused by the perishable nature of the
article, which cannot be kept in stock for any length of time. The
average duration of Coca in a sound state, on the coast, is about five
months, after which time it is said to lose flavour, and is rejected by
the Indians as worthless.

Cuca leaves can be bought in London, but up to the present time it has
not come into much use as a beverage, yet it is supplied in Roots’ Cuca
Cocoa, which is a combination of Cuca leaves, and the Cocoa bean.

There is no doubt whatever in Cuca possessing the qualities ascribed
to it, and its application in medicine for many “ills that man is heir
to,” is being diligently pursued by physicians all over the civilized
world, with very beneficial results, and it is a valuable addition to
our pharmacopœia. Johnston, in _The Chemistry of Common Life_,[140]
speaking of the general effects of the Coca leaf, says that it “acts
differently according to the way in which it is used. When infused, and
drunk like tea, it produces a gentle excitement, followed by wakefulness;
and, if taken strong, retards the approach of hunger, prevents the usual
breathlessness in climbing hills, and, in large doses, dilates the pupil,
and renders the eye intolerant of light. It is seldom used in this way,
however, but is commonly chewed in the form of a ball or quid, which is
turned over and over in the mouth, as is done with tobacco. In this way
its action is more gradual and prolonged than when the infusion only is
taken. It is also very different in its character, because the constant
chewing, the continued action of the saliva, and the influence of the
lime or ashes chewed along with it, extract from the leaf certain other
active constituents which water alone does not dissolve, when it is
infused after the manner of tea.”

It contains at least three different constituents; an odoriferous
substance, a bitter principle, and a kind of tannic acid. When Cuca
is imported into this country the leaves are coated with a resinous
substance, like hops have, slightly soluble in water, but wholly in
ether—which, on evaporation, leaves a brownish resin, which is powerfully
odorous. This scent vanishes if it is exposed to the air for any length
of time, and thus is lost one of the most important ingredients of good
Cuca—rendering the leaf useless by keeping.

It contains a crystalline bitter principle which can be separated from it
by alcohol. Like _Theine_, it is an alkaloid, and is called _Cocaine_;
but it is not harmless, as, in many particulars, and in its physiological
action upon the system, it resembles _Atropine_, the alkaloid of the
deadly nightshade.

It also has a tannic acid, which gives a deep brownish green colour
to the _per_ salts of iron. So we see in its constituents it closely
resembles the _Thea Sinensis_, only it is more powerful in its effects
on the human frame, and, consequently, ought not to be taken in the
same quantity as we now take tea, but it is invaluable in preventing,
or greatly diminishing, the ordinary and natural waste which usually
accompanies bodily exertion.

J. A.

[Illustration]

KOLA.

Whence Kola comes—Early Mention of—Early Trade in—Cure for
Drunkenness—The _Cattia edulis_—Substitutes for Tea.

Kola can scarcely be called a tea, because, as a drink, it is produced
from a nut, instead of a leaf, but it is put here because it contains
the alkaloid _Theine_. Its botanical name is _Sterculia acuminata_, and
it is a native of tropical West Africa, although now introduced into
the West Indies and Brazils. The earliest mention of it to be found,
is in “the Sieur Brüe’s Journey from Albreda, on the river Gambia, to
Kachao, by land, in the year 1700.” Shortly after his start from Gambia,
he was entertained by a Portuguese lady, and “after a short Compliment,
one of her Slaves, a young, handsome Girl, but very immodestly dressed,
presented the General a Pewter Basin full of _Kola_, a fruit much valued
by the _Portugueze_. It is bitter, and makes the Teeth and Spittle
yellow.”

Barbot[141] gives a very bad illustration of the nut, and the following
description. “The _Cola_ is a sort of fruit, somewhat resembling a large
chestnut. The tree is very tall and large, on which this fruit grows,
in clusters, ten or twelve of them together; the outside of it is red,
with some mixture of blue; and the inside, when cut, violet colour and
brown. It comes once a year, is of a harsh, sharp taste, but quenches
the thirst, and makes water relish so well, that most of the _Blacks_
carry it about them, wheresoever they go, frequently chewing, and
some eat it all day, but forbear at night, believing it hinders their
sleeping. The whole country abounds in this _Cola_, which yields the
natives considerable profit, selling it to their neighbours up in the
inland; who, as some _Blacks_ told me, sell it again to a sort of white
men, who repair to them at a certain time of the year, and take off
great quantities of it. These white men are suppos’d to be of _Morocco_
or _Barbary_, for the _English_ of _Bence_ island assur’d me, there was
a great quantity carry’d yearly by land to _Tunis_ and _Tripoli_, in
_Barbary_.”

So we see that, although a fair trade was done in Kola over 150 years
ago, it is only beginning to be known in Europe.

In Congo it is called Makasso, and Guru in Soudan, and the seeds or nuts
are used in West and Central Africa to make a refreshing beverage, which
is somewhat allied to tea, and which has the same active principle as
cocoa, without so much fatty matter. It is refreshing, invigorating,
and has digestive properties. In the West Indies it is sometimes used
by the negroes to counteract the effects of intoxication. It grows in
pods, which contains several seeds, about the size of a horse chestnut.
At present it is only used as a tonic. Kola is said to be a cure for
drunkenness, and to sober an inebriate in an hour’s time; but woe be
to him if he returns to his evil courses for three or four days—his
punishment will be equal to sea-sickness.

There is a new product, about which, at present, very little is known in
Europe. This is the _Cattia edulis_, which is said to be similar in its
properties to Maté, Cuca, and Kola, in maintaining animal strength for a
time, in the absence of food. It has been used by the natives of Arabia
and Abyssinia for centuries. The plant is a shrub with lanceolate leaves
of an olive-green colour, and it flourishes in Africa between 15° N.
and 30° S. latitude, but it is chiefly cultivated in Arabia, especially
in the province of Yemen. From Aden it is exported to the north-east of
Africa, and the coasts of Somali land. The leaves are either chewed or
infused like tea, and their sustaining virtues have recently been tested
by M. Leloups, a French therapeutist. He employed not only the infusion,
but the tincture, and an extract of the leaves, finding them all to
produce wakefulness and banish fatigue. No definite alkaloid has yet been
obtained from the leaves.

In conclusion I may give the following list of substitutes for Chinese
Tea and Maté.

Popular Name. Where collected Name of Plant.
and used.

Arabian Tea. Arabia. { Cattia edulis.
Abyssinia. { Cattia Spinosa.

Unnamed. China. Sageretia theezans.

New Jersey Tea. N. America. Ceanothus Americanus.

Unnamed. Chili. Psoralea glandulosa.

Boer Tea. Cape of Good Hope. Cyclopia Vogelii.

Sloe and Strawberry Tea. North Europe. { Prunus spinosa ⅓
{ Fragraria collina or
{ F. resca ⅔.

Long-life Tea. Bencoolen. { Glaphyria nitida
{ (flowers).

Tea Plants. } New Holland. { Leptospermum scoparium
Tasmanian Tea.} { and L. Thea.
{ Melaleuca genistifolia,
{ and M. scoparia.

Unnamed. Chili. Myrtus ugni.

Colony Tea. Cape of Good Hope. { Helichrysum
{ serpyllifolium.

Mountain Tea. N. America. Gualtheria procumbens.

Labrador Tea.} N. America. { Ledum palustre and
James’s Tea. } { Ledum latifolium.

Toolsie Tea. India. Ocymum album.

Oswego Tea. N. America. { Monarda didyma and
{ M. purpurea.

Unnamed. France. { Micromeria thea
{ sinensis.

Sage Tea. North Europe. Salvia officinalis.

Ama tsja: Tea of Heaven. Japan. Hydrangea thunbergii.

“Burr.” New Holland. Acæna sanguisorba.

Santa Fé Tea. New Granada. Styrax alstonia.

Unnamed. Central America. Capraria bifolia.

Cape Barran Tea. New Holland. Correa alba.

Capitão da matto. Brazil. Lautana pseudo thea.

Faham or Bourbon Tea. Mauritius. Angrœcum fragrans.

Brazilian Tea. Austria. { Stachytarpheta
{ jamaicensis.

Mexican Tea. Mexico and Columbia.{ Chenopodium
{ ambrosoides.

Apalachian Tea. N. America. { Viburnum Cassinoides,
{ and Prinos glaber.

A tea is also made of coffee leaves, and this infusion has been drunk for
an unknown time in the Eastern Archipelago, especially in the island of
Sumatra. It is said to be an agreeable beverage, and is preferred by the
natives to the berry.

J. A.

[Illustration]

COFFEE.

Its Growth and Birthplace—Where most Drank—Legends as to
its Origin—Its Gradual Spread—Introduction into Europe and
England—Pasqua Rosee’s Handbill—The English Coffee Houses—Their
Rules—A Poem about Coffee Houses.

Next to tea, Coffee is, perhaps, the infusion most drank, its use being
universal in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and most Mahometan countries; and on
the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, it is a greater
favourite than tea. In Norway and Sweden it is especially drank, whilst
tea is comparatively disused.

It is the seed of an evergreen shrub (_Coffea Arabica_) which grows from
six to twelve feet high, with a stem of from six to fifteen inches in
circumference. When the blossom falls off, there remains, in its room,
or rather, springs from each blossom, a small fruit, green at first,
but which becomes red when it ripens; it is not unlike a cherry, and is
very good to eat. Under the flesh of this cherry, instead of the stone,
is found the bean, or berry, which we call coffee, wrapped round in a
fine thin skin. The berry is then very soft, and of a disagreeable taste;
but as the cherry ripens, the berry in the inside grows harder, and
the dried-up fruit being the flesh or the pulp of it, which was before
eatable, becomes a shell or pod, of a deep brown colour. The berry is now
solid, and of a clear transparent green. Each shell contains one berry,
which splits into two equal parts.

In Abyssinia coffee appears to have been used as a drink from time
immemorial. Abd-Alkader, a learned native of Medina, writing at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, gives us the history of its
introduction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and
knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought it from Persia to Aden. He was wont
to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart,
and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to
the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for
the performance of religious exercises at night. The examples of these
holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking
soon became a common custom.

Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into
vogue; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy
of drinking coffee. Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its
opponents declared it to be like wine, of an inebriating nature—indeed, a
sort of wine itself; and went so far, in the heat of argument, as to say
that all who drank it would appear at the general resurrection with faces
blacker than the bottoms of their coffee-pots.

An insult of this sort was surely sufficient to justify a prompt adoption
of the severest rejoinder by the other side, and, in replying, they
became poetic. Said one:—

“It is a dear object of desire to the collector of knowledge;
It is the drink of the people of God, and in it is health,
It’s odour is Musk, it’s colour Ink:
The wise man and the good will sip it pure as milk in its innocence,
And differing from it but in blackness.”

And another sang—

“Courtesy is the coat of the customers in a Coffee-house.
The Coffee-house itself is as Paradise in its carpets, its company
and its tender delights.
When the waiter comes with the Coffee in its cup of porcelain, sorrow
disappears, and all anguish sinks under its dominion.
In its water we wash away our impurities, and burn out our solicitudes
in its fire.
The man who has looked only on its chafing dish will say, ‘Fie upon
the Wine and the Wine Vats.’”

Coffee won the day.

There is, however, another story of its introduction—how in the far-off
past a poor dervish, who lived in the deserts of Arabia, noticed that his
goats came home every evening in a state of hilarity. Unable to account
for this, he watched them, and found them feeding on the blossoms and
berries of a tree which he had never before noticed. He experimented upon
himself by eating them, and soon became as jocund as his goats, so much
so, that he was accused of having partaken of the accursed juice of the
grape. But he soon convinced his maligners that the source of his high
spirits was harmless, and they, tasting, became converts, and the berry
became of general use.

From Abyssinia, the use of coffee spread to Persia and Arabia, thence to
Aden, Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo and Constantinople, whence it found
its way to Venice in 1615. But it is hard to say exactly when its use was
introduced into England. Robert Burton mentions it in his _Anatomy of
Melancholy_, but not in the 1621 edition. He says,[142] “The Turks have a
drink called Coffee (for they use no wine), so named of a berry, as black
as soot, and as bitter (like that black drink which was in use among the
Lacedæmonians, and perhaps the same), which they sip still of, and sup
as warm as they can suffer; they spend much time in those coffee houses,
which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit,
chatting and drinking, to drive away the time, and to be merry together,
because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth
digestion, and procureth alacrity.”

Anthony à Wood says that the first coffee-house was kept in 1650 in
Oxford, by Jacobs, a Jew; and it seems generally recognised that
the first coffee-house in London was opened in St. Michael’s Alley,
Cornhill, in 1652, by one Pasqua Rosee, a Greek, servant to Mr. Edwards,
a Turkey merchant. In “A Broadside against COFFEE, or the Marriage of the
Turk” (1672), he is thus mentioned:—

“A Coachman was the first (here) _Coffee_ made,
And ever since the rest _drive on_ the trade;
_Me no good Engalash!_ and sure enough,
He plaid the Quack to salve his Stygian stuff;
_Ver boon for de stomach, de Cough, de Ptisick_,
And I believe him, for it looks like Physick.”

Here is Rosee’s handbill:—

“THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK.

“First publiquely made and sold in England, by _Pasqua Rosee_.

“The grain or berry called _Coffee_, groweth upon little Trees,
only in the _Deserts of Arabia_.

“It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all
the Grand Seignior’s Dominions.

“It is a simple innocent thing, composed into a Drink, by being
dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder, and boiled up with
Spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting
an hour before, and not Eating an hour after, and to be taken
as hot as possibly can be endured; the which will never fetch
the skin off the mouth, or raise any Blisters, by reason of
that Heat.

“The Turks drink at Meals and other times, is usually _Water_,
and their Dyet consists much of _Fruit_; the _Crudities_
whereof are very much corrected by this Drink.

“The quality of this Drink is Cold and Dry; and though it be a
Dryer, yet it neither _heats_, nor _inflames_ more than _hot
Posset_.

“It so closeth the Orifice of the Stomack, and fortifies
the heat within, that it’s very good to help digestion; and
therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 o’clock
afternoon, as well as in the morning.

“It much quickens the _Spirits_, and makes the Heart
_Lightsome_.

“It is good against sore Eys, and the better if you hold your
Head over it, and take in the Steem that way.

“It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against
the _Head-ach_, and will very much stop any _Defluxion of
Rheums_ that distil from the _Head_ upon the _Stomack_, and so
prevent and help _Consumptions_, and the _Cough of the Lungs_.

“It is excellent to prevent and cure the _Dropsy_, _Gout_ and
_Scurvy_.

“It is known by experience to be better than any other Drying
Drink for _People in years_, or _Children_ that have any
_running humors_ upon them, as _the King’s Evil_, etc.

“It is very good to prevent _Mis-carryings in Child-bearing
Women_.

“It is a most excellent remedy against the _Spleen_,
_Hypocondriack Winds_, or the like.

“It will prevent _Drowsiness_, and make one fit for busines,
if one have occasion to _Watch_; and therefore you are not
to drink of it _after Supper_, unless you intend to be
_watchful_, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.

“_It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk,
that they are not trobled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie, or
Scurvey, and that their Skins are exceeding cleer and white._

“It is neither _Laxative_ nor _Restringente_.

“Made and Sold in _St. Michael’s Alley_ in _Cornhill_, by
_Pasqua Rosee_, at the Signe of his own Head.”

That it met with opposition at its introduction, we have already seen
in “A Broadside against Coffee;” but Hatton, in his “New View of
London,” 1708, gives a case of clear persecution. “I find it Recorded
that one _James Farr_, a barber, who kept the Coffee House which is now
the _Rainbow_, was, in the year 1657, presented by the Inquest of St.
Dunstan’s in the W. for Making and Selling a sort of Liquor, called
Coffee, as a great Nusance and Prejudice of the neighbourhood, etc. And
who would then have thought London would ever have had near 3000 such
Nusances, and that Coffee should have been, as now, so much Drank by the
best of Quality and Physicians.”[143]

[Illustration]

The coffee houses soon became popular, because they filled a social
want. There were no clubs, as we know them, although there were limited
social gatherings, under the name of club, held at stated periods—and the
coffee house provided a convenient place for gossip and news. Here were
served alcoholic drinks as well as coffee; here the newspapers might be
seen; here, also, men could indulge in a pipe, and its advantages are
well summed up by Misson,[144] who travelled in England in the reign
of William and Mary. “These Houses, which are very numerous in London,
are extreamly convenient. You have all Manner of News there; You have a
good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; You have a dish of
Coffee, you meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all
for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”

“THE RULES AND ORDERS OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE.[145]

“_Enter Sirs, freely, But first, if you please,_
_Peruse our Civil-Orders, which are these._

“First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither,
And may, without Affront, sit down Together:
Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind,
But take the next fit Seat that he can find:
Nor need any, if Finer Persons come,
Rise up for to assigne to them his Room;
To limit Men’s Expence, we think not fair,
But let him forfeit Twelve pence that shall Swear;
He that shall any Quarrel here begin,
Shall give each Man a Dish t’ Atone the Sin;
And so shall he, whose Complements extend
So far to drink in COFFEE to his Friend;
Let Noise of loud Disputes be quite forborn,
No Maudlin Lovers here in Corners Mourn:
But all be Brisk, and Talk, but not too much;
On Sacred things, Let none presume to touch,
Nor Profane Scripture, or sawcily wrong
Affairs of State with an Irreverent Tongue:
Let mirth be Innocent, and each Man see,
That all his Jests without Reflection be;
To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame,
We Banish hence Cards, Dice and every Game:
Nor can allow of Wagers, that Exceed
Five Shillings, which, oft-times, much Trouble Breed;
Let all that’s Lost or Forfeited be spent
In such Good Liquor as the House doth Vent,
And Customers endeavour to their Powers,
For to observe still seasonable Howers.
Lastly, Let each Man what he calls for _Pay_,
And so you’re welcome to come every Day.”

To know of coffee-houses in their prime, we must turn to the pages of
Addison and Steele, to the _Guardian_, the _Spectator_, the _Tatler_,
etc., but they are well epitomised in the following poem, which bears
date 1667:—

“NEWS FROM THE COFFEE-HOUSE.

“In which is shewn their several sorts of Passions,
Containing Newes from all our Neighbour _Nations_.

“A POEM.

“You that delight in Wit and Mirth,
And long to hear such News,
As comes from all Parts of the _Earth_,
_Dutch_, _Danes_, and _Turks_, and _Jews_,
I’le send yee to a Rendezvouz,
Where it is smoaking new;
Go, hear it at a _Coffee-house_,
_It cannot but be true_.

There Battles and Sea-Fights are Fought,
And bloudy Plots display’d;
They know more things than ’ere was thought
Or ever was betray’d:
No Money in the Minting House
Is halfe so Bright and New;
And, comming from a _Coffee-House_
_It cannot but be true_.

Before the _Navyes_ fall to Work,
They know who shall be Winner;
They there can tell ye what the _Turk_
Last Sunday had to Dinner;
Who last did cut _Du Ruitter’s_ Corns,
Amongst his jovial Crew;
Or Who first gave the _Devil_ Horns.
_Which cannot but be true._

A _Fisherman_ did boldly tell,
And strongly did avouch,
He Caught a Shoal of Mackarel,
That Parley’d all in _Dutch_,
And cry’d out, _Yaw, yaw, yaw, Myne Here_;
But as the Draught they Drew,
They Struck for fear that _Monck_ was there,
_Which cannot but be true_.

Another Swears by both his Ears,
_Mounsieur_ will cut our Throats;
The _French King_ will a Girdle bring,
Made of Flat-bottom’d Boats;
Shall compas _England_ round about,
Which must not be a few,
To give our _Englishmen_ the Rout;
_This sounds as if ’twere true_.

There’s nothing done in all the World,
From _Monarch_ to the _Mouse_,
But every Day or Night ’tis hurl’d
Into the _Coffee-house_.
What _Lillie_ or what _Booker_ can
By Art, not bring about
At _Coffee-house_ you’l find a Man,
_Can quickly find it out_.

They’l tell ye there, what Lady-ware,
Of late is grown too light;
What Wise-man shall from Favour Fall,
What Fool shall be a Knight;
They’l tell ye when our Fayling Trade
Shall Rise again, and Flourish,
Or when _Jack Adams_ shall be made
Church-Warden of the Parish.

They know who shall in Times to come,
Be either made or undone,
From great _St. Peter’s-street_ in _Rome_,
To _Turnbull-street_ in _London_.
And likewise tell, in _Clerkenwell_,
What w⸺ hath greatest Gain,
And in that place, what Brazen-face
Doth wear a Golden Chain.

At Sea their knowledge is so much,
They know all Rocks and Shelves,
They know all Councils of the _Dutch_,
More than they know Themselves.
Who ’tis shall get the best at last,
They perfectly can shew
At _Coffee-house_, when they are plac’d
_You’d scarce believe it true_.

They know all that is Good, or Hurt,
To Dam ye, or to Save ye;
There is the _Colledge_ and the _Court_,
The _Country_, _Camp_, and _Navie_;
So great a _Vniversitie_
I think there ne’re was any;
In which you may a Schoolar be
For spending of a Penny.

A _Merchant’s Prentice_ there shall show
You all and every thing,
What hath been done, and is to do,
’Twix _Holland_ and the _King_;
What _Articles_ of _Peace_ will bee
He can precisely show,
What will be good for _Them_ or _Wee_,
He perfectly doth know.

Here Men do talk of every Thing,
With large and liberal Lungs,
Like Women at a Gossiping,
With double tyre of Tongues;
They’l give a Broad-side presently,
Soon as you are in view,
With Stories that you’l wonder at,
Which they will swear are true.

The Drinking there of _Chockolat_,
Can make a _Fool_ a _Sophie_,
’Tis thought the _Turkish Mahomet_
Was first Inspir’d with Coffee:
By which his Powers did Over-flow
The Land of _Palestine_;
Then let us to the _Coffee-house_ go,
’Tis Cheaper farr than Wine.

You shall know there, what Fashions are;
How Perrywiggs are Curl’d;
And for a Penny you shall heare
All Novells in the World.
Both Old and Young, and Great and Small,
And Rich and Poore, you’ll see;
Therefore let’s to the _Coffee_ all,
Come All away with Mee. _Finis._”

J. A.

[Illustration]

Different Sorts of Coffee—Its Enemies—Its Composition and
Treatment—Methods of Making—Adulterations—Liberian Coffee—Date
Coffee and other Substitutes.

There are about twenty-two species of coffee, seven of them belonging to
Asia, and fifteen to Africa, where it grows in districts widely apart,
as in Angola and on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza; yet, although
it is so widely disseminated, and comes from so many different places,
it is getting commercially dearer without any present prospect of any
reduction. Its value in the market is as follows—the first being the
highest, and the last the lowest in price. Mocha, Jamaica, Ceylon,
Honduras, Mysore, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, New Grenada, and divers
East Indian growths; and its consumption per head in Europe, ranks thus:
Holland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France,
Austria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy and Russia.

Unfortunately the coffee plant has its enemies, in the shape of two
fungi which have devastated the plantations of Ceylon and Mysore, one
the _Hemileia Vastata_, and the other the _Pellicularia Kolerota_,
whilst an insect called the coffee bug (_Lecanium Coffeæ_) causes great
destruction, as does also the coffee, or Golunda rat. Indeed, these
enemies so prevailed in Ceylon as to render coffee growing not only
unprofitable, but almost impossible, so the planters took to growing tea,
with the good results which we have seen.

Raw coffee has very little scent, and a bitter taste, and no one would
credit it with the delicious aroma which is developed—like the tea
leaf—by roasting, an operation which increases the bulk of the berry,
whilst diminishing its weight. Its commercial value is in proportion to
its aroma; and it is found that, by keeping the raw berry, a chemical
change takes place, which very much improves inferior qualities. But
this aroma is extremely volatile, and ground coffee should be kept in
scrupulously air-tight cases. Indeed, so fugitive is it, that coffee to
be drank in perfection should be made from berries roasted freshly every
day, as is frequently done in France.

Raw coffee contains an astringent acid, which does not stain iron black,
like that of tea, but green; and it also embodies Theine, or, as it is
called when applied to coffee, _Caffeine_. This alkaloid does not exist
in large quantities as in tea, _i.e._, the drinker of an equal number
of cups of both beverages would have less of the alkaloid if coffee was
drunk.

The berries, when roasted, and their flavour developed, are ground—coarse
or fine according to taste, and are then ready to be made into a drink.
It is here, in conjunction with the use of stale, and consequently,
tasteless coffee, that we, in England, go to grief. Of coffee-making
machines there are numbers; but if pure coffee is used, they might as
well be dispensed with, whilst they are almost necessary if the coffee
is adulterated. Another thing that our English housekeepers do not
understand is, that coffee, in order to be productive of a good result,
should be used large-handedly and generously, and not according to the
time-honoured, grandmotherly, but parsimonious method applied to tea,
of a teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot. The allowance of
freshly ground coffee should be from 1½ to 2 oz. per pint of water, and
any less does not make coffee, but only “water bewitched.”

With this quantity excellent coffee can be made without the aid of any
machine. Warm the coffee pot, or jug, put in the coffee, and then add
the water, which, as with tea, should just have come to the boil, and
after standing a little time, the coffee is fit to drink. If the coffee
is boiled, the extremely volatile aroma is dissipated, and its exquisite
flavour lost.

But a good way of making coffee is to make it over night. Put the coffee
in a jug, and pour cold water on it. The lighter particles soon get
soaked and fall to the bottom. In the morning it has only to be warmed
until it just boils, when it should be strained and served at once. This
only applies to _pure_ coffee.

There are too many adulterants used, and what “French Coffee” and “Coffee
as in France” is made of, the Lord and their manufacturers only know.
The chief of these offenders in England is the root of the succory,
chicory, or wild endive (_Cichorium Intybus_), which, originally wild,
is now extensively cultivated in England; whilst on the Continent it is
very largely grown in France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, and both
home-grown and foreign chicory are largely in our market, the latter
fetching the higher price. It does not taste like coffee, nor has it
any aroma; but, when roasted, it gives a dark colour to water, and a
bitter taste, as if a great deal of coffee had been used; and for this
purpose it must have been first used in the old coffee-houses. But it is
a question whether you buy pure roasted and ground chicory. In Germany it
is adulterated largely with turnips and carrots, whilst Venetian red is
used to give it a colour.

Notice has already been made of the different kinds of coffee, but not
the West African species—the Liberian coffee (_Coffea Liberica_)—which
has not, as yet, come into common use in England. There are many
substitutes for coffee, one of which developed a few years since into
a large commercial undertaking, but eventually collapsed. It was
Date Coffee, made out of date stones roasted and ground. Among other
substances used in lieu of coffee, are the roasted seeds of the yellow
water-lily (_Iris pseudocorus_); the seeds of a _Goumelia_, called in
Turkey _Keuguel_; roasted acorns and beans, chick peas, rye and other
grains, nuts, almonds, and dandelion roots (_Leontodon taraxacum_),
whilst in Africa many berries are used in its stead.

J. A.

[Illustration]

COCOA.

Where Cocoa is Grown—Its Manufacture—Its Use Abroad
and in England—Cocoa as a Drink—Chocolate, Edible and
Otherwise—Substitutes for Cocoa.

Linnæus was so fond of the drink made from the seeds of this plant that
he gave it the name of _Cacao Theobroma_, or “Food of the Gods.”

As a drink it cannot be classed among the infusions, like tea, nor is it
roasted and ground to powder like coffee; but the seeds are crushed and
mealed in a mill, and from this oily meal is made the thin gruel which we
drink as cocoa.

It seems to have been originally a native of Mexico, and is now
cultivated there, in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru,
Ecuador, New Granada, Venezuela, Guiana, and most of the West India
Islands. Commercially the different sorts rank in value as follow:
Trinidad, Caraccas, Grenada, Guayaquil, Surinam, Bahia, Ceylon, and
British West Indies.

It grows, as we see in the illustration, somewhat like a melon, which
contains some fifty or more seeds, in rows embedded in a spongy
substance, from which the seeds are cleansed and then dried in the sun,
when it becomes brittle and of a dark colour internally, eating like an
oily nut, but with a decidedly bitter and somewhat astringent taste.
To render it fit for food, it is gently roasted to develop the aroma,
allowed to cool, deprived of its husk, and then crushed into small
fragments called cocoa nibs, which is the purest form in which it is
used, but also the one which entails the greatest trouble in making a
drink therefrom. The granulated, rock, flake, and soluble cocoas are
made by the beans being ground into a paste in a rolling mill; starch,
flour, sugar, and other ingredients being used, according to the taste of
different manufacturers.

It was used by the Mexicans and Peruvians before their conquest by the
Spaniards, and formed an article of barter among them. Columbus brought a
knowledge of it to Europe; but those were not the days of non-alcoholic
drinks, and it was some time before it came into vogue. Naturally, first
of all in Spain, and to this day Spain is the greatest European consumer
of cocoa in some shape or other. It was introduced into England about the
same time as tea and coffee, but the chocolate houses, pure and simple,
as such, were very few compared to the coffee houses. It was taxed as a
drink by the same Acts as tea, and paid the same duty. In the eighteenth
century it became a fashionable morning drink, especially for ladies, and
is perpetually alluded to by the essayists; but it was so expensive as to
be only a drink for the upper classes.

[Illustration: CHOCOLATE DRINKING.]

Cocoa as a drink is far more nutritious than either tea or coffee, and
like those two substances it has a volatile oil which gives the delicious
aroma, and an active principle resembling Theine or Caffeine—but not
identical with them—called _Theobromine_. It has no tannic acid, but it
has what the other two do not possess, it has a peculiar fatty matter,
known as cocoa butter, which sometimes amounts to half the contents of
the seed. It is this excess of fat which renders it liable to disagree
with some susceptible stomachs, but the mixture of farinaceous matter and
sugar tend in a great measure to obviate this inconvenience.

In another method of manufacture it is known as Chocolate, which is
simply the cocoa bean ground and flavoured with sugar, vanilla, almonds,
cinnamon, or what not, according to taste. It is in a dry form the most
popular of sweetmeats, although the adulterations practised by low class
firms, in order to sell a cheap article, are many, owing to its high
price; yet the goods of first-rate firms like Menier, Fry, Cadbury, and
others, may be taken without suspicion, and are—good!!!

There are pseudo cocoas, as there are pseudo coffees and teas. The
Guarana, or Brazilian Cocoa (_Paullina sorbilis_); a ground nut, the
_Arachis hypogeia_, used in South Carolina, Angola, and elsewhere;
the _Cyperus esculentus_, or earth chestnut, in Spain, are the chief
substitutes; but it is needless to say that none compare with the
THEOBROMA. Alas! that it should be adulterated.

J. A.

[Illustration]

AËRATED DRINKS.

Ginger Beer—Old and New Methods of
Manufacture—Lemonade—Chemicals in Non-Alcoholic Drinks—Fruit
Syrups—Non-Alcoholic Cordials and Liquors—Natural Mineral
Waters—Their Constituents—Artificial Aërated Waters—Their
Introduction into England—Manufacture.

Popular among non-intoxicant drinks is the homely Ginger Beer, so dearly
beloved of thirsty holiday makers and small children; dear also to the
boating man in connection with good ale, as “Shandy-gaff.” And the stone
bottle, in which it used generally to be encased, is familiar to every
reader. We say, advisedly, _used_, because now-a-days it is also put up
in glass bottles; nay, it is sold in casks, like beer, to the publicans
and others. The probability is that, in the old days, its somewhat murky
colour would not bear inspection through bright glass. The old ginger
beer, whose flavour cannot be approached by the modern decoctions, was
made of Jamaica ginger macerated in water, with the addition of lemon
juice and sugar. It was allowed to ferment, and possessed decided traces
of alcohol. It was made after this fashion:—

Take 1 ounce of best Jamaica ginger, and crush thoroughly with a hammer
or suitable crushing machine; boil gently for about an hour in about
a quart of water, then add 1 lb. of best loaf sugar, and make up to a
gallon with hot water; stir until all is dissolved. Add a small quantity
of the soluble essence of lemon, and gum extract, the quantity to be
regulated to taste of the maker. Then stir in ¼ ounce of tartaric acid,
and, if required for quick fermentation, a very small quantity of yeast.
The beer should fine down perfectly clear, and should then be bottled. In
from one to three weeks time it is ready for drinking, and should keep
good about six months.

This was the old fashion—now for the new.[146]

Plain Syrup, from 56° to 60° T.[147] 3 quarts
Boiling Water 1 quart
Oil of Lemon 24 minims
Acetic Acid 4 fluid ounces
Ginger Tincture (21, 22, or 23), Q.S.[148]

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of the flavoured spirit to each bottle.

First incorporate the lemon oil with 1 quart of the thick syrup. (If the
oil contains a large proportion of insoluble matter, it may be well to
use rather less than 1 quart of syrup in the first place.) Then add the
boiling water, and, after that, the remaining syrup; taking care to keep
the mixture constantly agitated during the process.

Lastly, add the acid, and ginger tincture according to taste, or the
requirements of the public analyst.

By adding boiling _syrup_ instead of boiling water to the mixture of
plain syrup and oil of lemon, and subsequently adding the required
quantity of cold water, the whole operation will be brought more
thoroughly under control, and a larger proportion of oil may be employed
without waste. With some samples of the oil, it may be necessary to heat
a larger portion of the syrup; but the oil should always be mixed with
_cold_, _thick_ syrup in the first place, unless a perfectly _close_,
_air-tight vessel_ is provided for mixing; in this case, hot, thick syrup
may be poured on the oil, cold water being subsequently added to give the
requisite density.

When it is required to incorporate a maximum quantity of lemon oil with
the syrup, it should first be whisked into the _whole_ of the thick syrup
_cold_; the flavoured syrup should then be carefully heated by means of a
steam jacket, or other convenient arrangement, until the suspended oil is
reduced to a state of solution. The syrup will then be transparent. Let
it be cooled again as quickly as possible.

_Gingerade._

Plain Syrup, 42° T.[149] 1 gallon
Ginger Tincture (No. 21 or 22) 4 fluid ounces
Acetic Acid 4 ”
Bitter Orange Tincture, Q.S.

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

Ginger Ale is a beverage supposed to beguile the artless teetotaller into
an idea that he is doing something naughty, or at all events, placing
himself on the very verge of tampering with the accursed thing “Beer.”
Hence its name, but what a difference in the two drinks! Here are two
receipts for making

_Ginger Ale._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon
Comp. Ginger Tincture (No. 23) 4 fluid ounces
Acetic Acid 4 ”
Sugar Colouring ½ ”

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon
Ginger Tincture (No. 21 or 22) 4 fluid ounces
Capsicum Tincture (No. 24) 1 ”
Sugar Colouring ½ ”

Use 1 to 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

If desired, the _bouquet_ may be enriched by the use of one or more of
the following ingredients:—

Essence of Vanilla 3 drams (180 minims) per gallon
Butyric Ether 4 minims ”
Otto of Roses ⅓ ” ”

Half an ounce of Spanish liquorice to the gallon will considerably
improve the flavour.

_Lemonade._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon
Lemon Tincture (No. 19) 4 fluid ounces
Acetic Acid 4 to 5 ”

Use 1½ ounce of flavoured syrup to each bottle.

When lemonade is required specially for medicinal purposes, and is sold
expressly as a genuine fruit preparation, citric acid should be employed
instead of acetic. In that case dissolve 1 lb. of citric acid in a pint
of boiling water, and use 4 fluid ounces of the clear solution to each
gallon of syrup.

Some manufacturers have attained a high reputation for their lemonade by
adding a small quantity of _Neroli_[150] to the ordinary syrup. This, if
judiciously used, will doubtless be deemed an improvement by connoisseurs
generally, provided they are kept in ignorance of the substance employed;
but a still greater improvement is produced by adding about 1 fluid ounce
of good _orange flower water_ to each gallon of syrup.

In the next beverage we are perilously tempting the fiend Alcohol,
although it ranks as a Temperance drink.

_Champagne Cyder._

Plain Syrup, 42° T. 1 gallon
Butyrate of Ethyl[151] 4 minims
Acetate of Amyl[152] 4 ”
Nitrate of Amyl 2 ”
Acetic Acid 4 or 5 fluid ounces
Sugar Colouring 1 ”

Use 1 to 1½ fluid ounces of this syrup to each bottle.

But here is a direction which plainly shows the cloven hoof.

“The Ethyl and Amyl compounds are conveniently used by mixing them
separately in the first place with nine times their bulk of Alcohol, or
strong rectified spirit, adding these mixtures to the Acetic Acid, and
this in turn to the syrup.”

At every turn, in all these drinks, are chemicals used. Do you want the
flavour of the luscious Jargonelle pear? hey, presto! There it is for
you in a spirituous solution of Acetate of Amyl, made by distilling
potato spirit with Oil of Vitrol and Acetate of Potash, at least this
gives a fine fruity flavour, but to bring out the true Jargonelle taste
it must be mixed with six times its bulk of spirits of wine (_Mem. for
Teetotallers_). The taste of apples can be counterfeited by mixing
Amylic Ether (potato ether) and Valerianic Acid, which latter is made
by substituting Bichromate of Potash for Acetate of Potash, and largely
added Alcohol. The delicious aroma of the Pine-apple is made from Butyric
Acid, mixed with ordinary ether, and dissolved in Alcohol. Indeed with
compounds of the Ethyls, Methyls, and Amyls, all the bouquets contained
in wines or spirits can be obtained.[153]

Does your chemical compound look flat and dull when poured out? lo!
you can produce a “head,” or froth, made out of isinglass, gum arabic,
gelatine, white of egg, Irish moss, or soapwort. The latter gives an
excellent head; but as these frothing mixtures detract from the keeping
of the chemical drink, yet another chemical has to be used as an
antiseptic, and Salicylic Acid, made from Carbolic Acid, is recommended.
Do you want to colour your decoctions? There is a wide range of tints
for you to choose from, from the harmless burnt sugar to the Acetate of
Rosaniline, or Aniline Magenta, of which 1/30th of a grain will colour a
bottleful, a beautiful red.

For the fruit syrups, fruits are very often used, but of course not
necessarily. Even milk is not sacred from the chemist. Here are two
recipes for making Cream Syrup:—

No. 1.

Fresh Cream ½ pint
Fresh Milk ½ ”
Powdered Sugar 1 pound

Another formula:—

No. 2.

Oil of Sweet Almonds 2 ounces
Powdered Gum Arabic 2 ”
Water 4 ”

Make an emulsion, and add simple syrup to make up 2 pints, and there you
are, thoroughly independent of the cow!

In these syrupy mixtures the Americans run riot, and a few years since
many shops, notably druggists, sold strange and curious frothing
mixtures; but there was no call for them in the winter, and they died
out as suddenly as they were introduced. The following is a fair list
of syrups, some of which, however, are decidedly exciseable. Ambrosia,
Apple, Apricot, Banana, Blackberry, Brandy, Capillaire, Cherry,
Chocolate, Citron, Clove, Coffee, Cream, Curaçoa, Currant (black or red),
Ginger, Grape, Groseille, Gum, Lemon, Limes, Mulberry, Nectar, Nectarine,
Noyeau, Orange (bitter), Orange (sweet), Orange (Tangerine), Orgeat,
Peach, Pear, Peppermint, Pine-apple, Plum, Quince, Raspberry, Roses,
Sarsaparilla, Sherbet, Strawberry, Vanilla, Violets.

And here is a list of Non-Alcoholic Cordials and Liqueurs
(non-exciseable), it is said; but if so, they must be fearfully and
wonderfully made. Anisette, Bitters, Caraway, Cherry Brandy, Clove,
Curaçoa, Elderette, Fettle, Ginger Brandy, Ginger Cordial, Ginger Gin,
Ginger Punch, Gingerette, Lemon Punch, Lime Fruit, Nectar Punch, Noyeau,
Orange Bitters, Orange Gin, Peppermint, Pepper Punch, Pick-me-up,
Raspberry, Raspberry Punch, Rum Punch, Rum Shrub, Sarsaparilla, Shrub,
Spiced Ale, Strawberry, Tangerine, Tonic, Winter Punch.

But enough of these chemical concoctions of man; let us go to Nature, and
see what she turns out of her laboratory. Most marvellous combinations
of Minerals, Acids, Gases, and Water. Among the Minerals may be named
Alumina, Arsenic, Barium, Boron, Bromine, Cæsium, Calcium, Copper,
Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Lithium, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus,
Potassium, Rubidium, Silicon, Sodium, Strontium, Sulphur, Zinc, etc.
And of Gases we have Ammonia, Carbonic Acid, Hydrogen, Hydro-Sulphuric,
Nitrogen, and Oxygen. These materials are mixed in very varying
amounts, and from very valuable medical agencies, from the purgative
Friedrichshall, to the nauseous Harrogate. But all are not nasty: some
are just sufficiently alkaline to be tasty, and, having a briskness
imparted to them either naturally, or otherwise, by carbonic acid, make
pleasant drinks for table.

These simple waters are abundant on the Continent. In Germany we have
the well-known Apollinaris, Selters, Landskro, Brückenau, Roisdorf,
Gieshübel, and Heppingen, whilst in France there are those of St.
Galmier, Chateldon, and Pougues, besides some in Italy and many in
America.

These, especially the medical waters, are imported into England; but
mineral waters are largely manufactured. By mineral waters I do not mean
the aërated waters we drink under the names of Soda, and Seltzer, but the
medicinal waters.

The effervescing, or aërated waters, which are now so much used all over
the civilized world, were first made on a large commercial scale by the
firm of J. Schweppe, of Geneva (a name very well known in England, in
connection with the manufacture), in 1789; and ten years afterwards, his
partner, Mr. N. Paul (whose name yet survives in the firm Paul & Burrows,
St. George’s Road, S.E.), established an Aërated Water Factory in
England. It is somewhat curious how the names last in this trade, for in
1799 a Mr. Thwaites established a factory in Dublin, and the firm still
remains as A. & R. Thwaites & Co.

Since its introduction, aërated water has much improved, especially
the universal soda water, which is simply ordinary water charged with
carbonic acid gas. Vastly improved machinery has been introduced,
cleanliness and purity of materials are specially looked after, and
the bottles and vessels for holding it wonderfully improved. We have
not, in England, taken so kindly to the syphon as they have abroad; but
the cork in the bottle has been nearly entirely done away with, and we
are no longer compelled to pay for, if we could not drink, the large
bottle, which at one time bid fair to be perennial; but which has almost
succumbed to its younger brother the “Small” Soda. Year by year, through
competition and vastly increased consumption, aërated waters are getting
cheaper, and consequently more used.

The ordinary soda water of commerce contains no soda,—it is made by the
absorption, under pressure, of carbonic acid gas, which is generally
obtained from chalk or whitening, and sulphuric acid, which makes as good
a gas for commercial purposes as if it were produced from the purest
Carrara marble.

The number of chemical teetotal drinks is legion. They are all calculated
according to their concocter’s reports, to make the drinker healthier
and wiser; nay, even to provide him with extra brain power, as did the
vaunted Zoedone, which contained phosphates and iron. They have their
little day, and another nostrum takes their place. It has, hitherto,
always been so, and probably will continue, only intensified, to the end
of time.

J. A.

[Illustration]

MILK.

First Food of all Mammals—Skim and Butter Milk—Chemicals used
in its Preservation—Condensed Milk—Syllabubs—Koumiss—Its Early
Use—When first utilized in Medical Treatment—Koumiss from Cows’
Milk—Methods of Manufacture—Intoxicating Drinks made from Milk.

Milk is the first liquid food taken by man, in common with all mammals,
after his birth; and this liquid is so happily ordered, as to contain all
the elements of food necessary for him, at this period of his existence.
The new-born mammal naturally, and directly after its birth, seeks the
fountain of its nourishment, and even that most helpless of all created
beings, a baby, is soon taught where to seek its food.

But we have to consider milk as a beverage, more than as a food, and,
as a drink, it is comparatively a failure, as to most people it is
indigestible, if taken in any quantity. It may, however, be taken with
comparative impunity as skim milk, _i.e._ when deprived to a very large
extent of its fat, and of a hot day, for a perfect thirst quencher,
let us commend slightly acidulated butter milk. Milk has very great
disadvantages as a beverage: first, that it will not keep good any time,
unless chemicalized by salicylic acid, borax, liquor potassæ, or some
other bedevilment, except as condensed milk, which is milk with much of
its water evaporated, and sugar added. This, however good it may be as
a substitute for fresh cow’s milk, where such is not attainable, can
hardly be called a drink. Secondly, milk, in common with all fatty animal
substances, has a tendency to absorb any odour which may come in contact
with it, and is a ready vehicle for the seeds of disease, especially the
microbes of fever or cholera.

It is singular that milk has not been made into more _drinks_. Of modern
times we have soda and milk, or aërated milk and water, and in the
pastoral times of the last century, the times of Corydon and Phyllis,
Chloe and Strephon, it was _de rigueur_ to indulge in “syllabubs”
whenever the nearest approach to rurality, in the shape of a grass field,
and a cow, presented itself. Whoever tastes a syllabub now? Ask fifty
people—forty-nine at least, will answer that they have never partaken
of the delicacy, and the vast majority will be totally ignorant even of
its composition. It was made of milk, milked from the cow into a bowl
containing mashed fruit, such as gooseberries, and sugar, or else, wine
or beer. The great thing was to make it froth, as we may see in the
following recipe for an Ale Syllabub, which our forefathers considered as
the _ne plus ultra_ of a syllabub.

“No Syllabubs made at the milking pail,
But what are composed of a pot of good ale.”

“Place in a large bowl, a quart of strong ale or beer, grate into this
a little nutmeg, and sweeten with sugar: milk the cow rapidly into the
bowl, forcing the milk as strongly as possible into the ale, and against
the sides of the vessel, to raise a good froth. Let it stand an hour, and
it will be fit for use. The proportion of milk, or of sugar, will depend
upon the taste of the drinker, who will, after a trial or two, be able
to make a delightful beverage. Cider may be used instead of malt liquor
for those who object to the alcoholic strength of the ale, or a bottle of
wine.”

The Dutch, who are naturally a pastoral people, make a syllabub of milk,
sugar, etc., which they call _Slemp_; but this rustic delicacy has died
out owing to the universal use of tea and coffee. Curds and whey used to
be much drank, and white wine whey is not to be despised when one has a
very heavy cold—but, of course, it can only be drank by the wicked and
intemperate; good people confining themselves to hot milk, or treacle
posset, either of which served the purpose nearly as well. So, also, the
unregenerate have the solace of rum and milk in the early morning.

We have now exhausted all the milk drinks we know of, except “Koumiss,”
which, although as old as the hills, is of very modern introduction
into civilization, and comes to us heralded by a fanfare of medical
trumpets as a _panacea_ for many evils which the human body has to bear,
especially consumption; but Koumiss is decidedly alcoholic.

[Illustration]

As a drink made from mare’s milk, it has been known for centuries to the
Tartars, Khurgese, and Calmucks of the Russian Steppes, and Central and
South Western Asia. Perhaps the first mention of it may be found in the
_Ipatof Annals_, published at St. Petersburg, 1871. “In 1182, Prince Igor
Seversky was taken prisoner by the Polovtsky, and the captors got so
drunk upon Koumiss that they allowed their prisoner to escape.” The old
monk and traveller Gulielmus de Rubruquis, who travelled in Tartary in
the middle of the thirteenth century, says: “The same evening, the guide
who had conducted us, gave us some _Cosmos_. After I had drunk thereof,
I sweat most extremely from the dread and novelty, because I never drank
of it before. Notwithstanding I thought it very savoury as indeed it
was.” And in another place, he thus refers to it: “Then they taste it,
and being pretty sharp, they drink it; for it biteth a man’s tongue
like wine of _raspes_,[154] when it is drunk. After a man has taken a
draught thereof, it leaveth behind it a taste like that of almond milk,
and maketh one’s inside feel very comfortable; and it also intoxicateth
weak heads.” Ser Marco Polo speaks of it. “Their drink is mare’s milk,
prepared in such a way, you would take it for a white wine; and a right
good drink it is, called by them _Kemiz_.”

It remained as a traveller’s curiosity until 1784, when Dr. John Grieve,
a surgeon, one of the many Scotchmen who have from time to time entered
the Russian service, wrote to the Royal Society of Edinburgh (who
published his communication in their “Transactions,” Vol. I., 1788). “An
account of the Method of making a Wine, called by the Tartars Koumiss,
with observations on its use in Medicine,” and, especially, he thought
that, “with the superaddition of a fermented spirit, it might be of
essential service in all those disorders where the body is defective
either in nourishment or strength.” And he further proved the benefit of
the milk-wine on three patients, two consumptive, and one syphilitic,
sending them to the Steppes among the Tartars, whence they returned
stout, and in perfect health. From time to time, until the middle of this
century, phthisical patients were sent to Tartary to undergo this milk
cure; but life among these nomad tribes, with its filth and privations,
was hardly congenial to a sick man, so that although some returned cured,
others came back only to die.

But, in 1858, Dr. Postnikof started an establishment for the cure of
diseases by fermented mare’s milk, at Samàra, in Eastern Russia, and a
similar establishment, about forty-five miles distant, was started by the
late Dr. Tchembulatof, both of which have been extremely well patronised,
as their places were well ordered, and the Koumiss was prepared in a
cleanly manner. So successful were they, that the Russian Government,
in 1870, started a place of their own for the cure of sick soldiers
belonging to the Kazan district. Here are beds for 100 soldiers and 20
officers.

The curative effect of fermented mare’s milk set people thinking
whether the milk of cows, which is much more easy to procure, would not
answer the same purpose. It was tried, and a new drink was given to the
civilized world, as also a new name, which was coined expressly for
it—GALAZYENE, from γάλα, milk, and ζῦμη, a ferment. It can be obtained in
London from the large dairies.

Dr. Polubensky gives the following formula for fermenting cow’s milk.

“An oak churn, such as is used for churning butter, has a bottle of
fermented cow’s or mare’s milk, five days old, poured into it in the
morning. A tumbler and a half of warm milk (of a temperature of about 90°
Fahr.), in which half an ounce of cane, still better milk, sugar has been
dissolved, and a bottle of skimmed cow’s milk, are then added.

“The addition of the sugar is made for the purpose of remedying the small
amount of lactine in cow’s milk; the water is added to make the milk,
which is rich in casein, thinner, and thus to facilitate its agitation
and emulsion. Skim milk is used because it contains less fat, an excess
of which interferes with fermentation. The mixture is then beaten up
during half an hour, to prevent the curdling of the casein, and is
then laid aside for three hours. (This is effected at an ordinary room
temperature of 60° Fahr.)

“After the lapse of three hours, when the surface of the mixture is
covered with a film (of casein and fat in a non-emulsioned condition), it
is again agitated for half an hour, and another bottle of skim milk—with
or without warm water, according to the thickness of the milk—is added;
the whole mass is again churned for an hour and a half, or longer, until
the casein is well divided, and small bubbles appear on the surface of
the fluid. Then the mixture, having stood for half an hour, has a fresh
bottle of milk added to it, and the stirring is again renewed, with short
intervals, until the Koumiss is ready, which usually happens by 10
o’clock p.m., if its preparation was commenced at 8 a.m.

“The approaching completion of the Koumiss is known by a thick froth,
which sometimes rises very high, forming on its surface; while the full
completion of fermentation is recognised by a falling of the froth,
and by certain signs detectable by the ear and hand; the process of
churning becomes easier, and the splash of the drops during agitation
presents a clearer and more metallic sound. The Koumiss is then poured
into Champagne bottles, well corked, and left for the night at a room
temperature of from 60° to 70° Fahr. Towards morning, the Koumiss is
quite fit for use. Left in bottle till the next day, it becomes stronger,
but is still drinkable; while, if placed in a cold room, it may be used
even on the fifth day.

“In order that the preparation of Koumiss may be carried on successfully,
it will be necessary to put aside two bottles of the Koumiss first
prepared, and to keep them for three or four days, so as always to have a
bottle of four days old Koumiss in store for fermenting new portions of
milk, and of replacing the used bottles by new ones.”

This seems to be rather a long method of making Koumiss, compared to that
given by Dr. Wolff of Philadelphia, which is excessively simple.

“Take of grape sugar ½ oz.; dissolve in 4 ozs. of water. In about 2 ozs.
of milk dissolve 20 grains of compressed yeast, or else well washed and
pressed out brewer’s yeast. Mix the two in a quart Champagne bottle,
which is to be filled with good cow’s milk to within two inches of
the top; cork well, and secure the cork with string or wire, and place
in an ice chest or cellar at a temperature of 50° Fahr. or less, and
agitate three times a day. At the expiration of three or four days, at
the latest, the Koumiss is ready for use, and ought not then to be kept
longer than four or five days. It should be drawn with a Champagne syphon
tap, so that the carbonic acid may be retained, and the contents will not
entirely escape on opening the bottle.”

Be wary in opening a bottle of Koumiss, or you may be thoroughly
drenched, and have nothing left to drink, for it generates a large
quantity of carbonic acid gas, so much so, indeed, that extra thick
bottles should be used.

There is an interesting speculation abroad, that the milk which Jael gave
Sisera was fermented, and highly intoxicating, which rendered him in a
condition favourable for her purpose.

The Usbecks, Mongols, Kalmucks, and other Tartars not only make milk
into Koumiss, but distil a very strong spirit from it, which they call
_araka_, conjectured by some, from its high antiquity, to be the true
source whence the Indian _Arrack_ derives its name. The distillation
is generally effected by means of two earthen pots closely stopped,
from which the liquor slowly runs through a small wooden pipe into a
receiver, which is usually covered with a coating of wet clay. The
spirit, at first, is weak, but after two or three times distilling, it
becomes exceedingly intoxicating. Dr. Edward Clarke, in his _Travels in
Russia, Turkey, and Asia_, saw this process performed by means of a
still constructed of mud, or very coarse clay, having for the neck of the
retort a piece of cane.

J. A.

[Illustration]

ADDITIONAL DRINKS.

Jewish Prayers respecting various Drinks—Women’s
Tears—Dew—Oil—Sea Water—Blood—Vegetable Water—Ganges
Water—Vinegar—Ptisana—Toast Water—Bragget—Ballston Water—Warm
Water—Asses’ Milk—Ghee—Milk Beer—Kumyss—Syra—Lamb Wine—Rice
Wine—Garapa—Fenkål—Brandy and Port—Methylated Spirit.

In the Jewish prayers there is an especial, exclusive and extensive
blessing upon wine, which runs in the following wise:—

“Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, universal King, for the vine, and for
the fruit of the vine, and for the produce of the field, and for the
land of delight and goodness and amplitude which Thou hast been pleased
to give as an inheritance to thy people Israel, to eat of its fruit, and
to be satisfied with its goodness.” Then follow petitions for the divine
mercy upon those who say the blessing, upon Israel, God’s people, and
upon God’s city, Jerusalem, and upon Zion, the dwelling-place of His
glory, and upon His altar, and upon His temple.

The blessing concludes with a prayer for speedy transportation into the
holy city: “Bring us up into the midst thereof eftsoons, even in these
present days, that we may bless Thee in purity and holiness. For Thou art
good, and the Giver of good to all. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, for the
land and for the fruit of the vine.”

This beautiful prayer,[155] of which only the roughest sketch has been
given here, has been said by pious Hebrews at every meal in which wine
has been drunk from time immemorial. But upon wine alone has this honour
been conferred. Those who drink _Shecar_, or water, or any other beverage
except wine, say before their draught thus much only: “Blessed art Thou,
O Lord our God, universal King, by whose word all things were made;” and
after it, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, universal King, the Creator
of many souls, and their needs, for all which Thou hast created, to
keep alive the soul of every living thing. Blessed art Thou who livest
everlastingly.”

But these two prayers have no especial and necessary relation to drinks.
They are also used where aught is eaten which has not grown originally
and directly out of the earth, as, for example, the flesh of some beasts,
and birds, and fishes, and cheese, milk, butter, and honey.

In the present work particular attention has been given, in the case
of alcoholic drinks, to wines, spirits, liqueurs, and beers, and in
the case of non-alcoholic, to mineral waters, tea, coffee, and other
beverages usually considered non-intoxicant; but under both these widely
extended categories a large number of drinks must enter of which no
mention whatever has been made in the preceding pages. It remains for
us, therefore, to consider in the present chapter the most interesting
and important of these drinks which have been hitherto excluded. Of
the curious and, in many cases, repulsive liquids which have from time
to time been taken, either to assuage the pangs of human thirst, or to
gratify the taste of the human palate in health or in disease, the reader
who has not devoted some little time and attention to the investigation
of this subject will probably have but a very faint conception. To go no
farther back on the pathway of time than to the age of John Taylor, the
water poet, we find so strange a drink as women’s tears.

But at a date far earlier than that of the water poet, the date of the
Babylonian Talmud, in _Machshirin_, vi. 64, there are seven liquids
comprehended under the generic term _drink_ (Lev. xi. 34, and therefore
liable to ceremonial defilement), dew, water, wine, oil, blood, milk,
and honey. Upon every one of these seven liquids something curious and
interesting might be written.

About these drinks a question arises in the Talmud, whether under water
are included such beverages as mulberry water, pomegranate water, and
other waters of fruits which have a _shem livoui_, or compound name.
Rambam the great Eagle, more commonly known as Maimonides, seems to
exclude these drinks from the general category. By honey is to be
understood the honey of bees; the honey of hornets is not to be numbered
in the list. In the _Tosephoth_ of _Shabbath_ it is asked, How do we know
that blood is a drink? Because it is said (Num. xxiii. 24), And drink the
blood of the slain. How do we know that wine is a drink? Because it is
said (Deut. xxxii. 14), And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
How do we know that honey is a drink? Because it is said (Deut. xxxii.
13), But He made him to suck honey out of the rock. How do we know that
oil is a drink? Because it is said (Isa. xxv. 6), A feast of fat things.
How do we know that milk is a drink? Because it is said (Judges iv. 19),
And she opened a bottle of milk and gave him drink. How do we know that
dew is a drink? Because it is said (Judges vi. 38), And wringed the dew
out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. There is a curious addition,
reminding us of Taylor, the water poet. How do we know that the tears of
the eye are a drink? Because it is said (Ps. lxxx. 5), And givest them
tears to drink in great measure. How do we know that the water of the
nose is a drink? Because—but the reader has had probably enough of the
Rabbinical lucubrations.

A chapter of this book might, were not space a consideration, be devoted
to water, which Thales[156] declared to be the first principle of things,
and, according to Seneca,[157] _valentissimum elementum_. Iced, it was
inveighed[158] against by the Stoic philosopher, as injurious to the
stomach. The desire for it was said to proceed from a pampered appetite.
Pliny[159] speaks of a wine made from sea water, but considers it, with
Celsus, a bad stomachic. In later times sea water has been converted into
fresh.

Bory de St. Vincent,[160] in his _Essais sur les Isles Fortunées_, an
entertaining description of the archipelago of the Canaries, says that in
Fer, one of the Canary Islands, a nearly total privation of running water
was compensated by an extraordinary tree. Bacon (_Nov. Scient. Org._,
412), the Father Taillandier (_Lettr. Edit._, vii., 280), Corneille
(_Grand Dict._, under _Fer_) may be consulted about this tree, called
the holy one. Gonzalez d’Oviedo (ii., 9) says it distils water through
its trunk, branches, and leaves, which resemble so many fountains. The
“exaggerator Jakson,” says Bory de St. Vincent, being at Fer in 1618, saw
this tree dried up during the day, but at night yielding enough water
to supply the thirst of 8,000 inhabitants and 100,000 other animals.
According to this authority, it was distributed from time immemorial all
over the island by pipes of lead. It is nothing to “Jakson” that lead was
not known from time immemorial. Viana (_Cant._, i.) speaks of the sacred
tree as a sort of celestial pump.[161] Another author says the holy tree
was called _Garoe_, and that its fruit resembled an acorn, that its
leaves were evergreen, and like those of a laurel. During an east wind
the water harvest was the most abundant.

This celebrated vegetable product was unfortunately destroyed by a
hurricane in 1625. But even about this date authors disagree. While Nunez
de la Pena is an authority for that given, Nieremberg assures us the
catastrophe occurred in 1629. Another date mentioned is 1612.

The view of Bory de St. Vincent is that this holy tree was nothing
more than the _Laurus Indica_ of Linnæus, which is indigenous to the
mountain summits of the Canary Islands. His concluding remark is pregnant
with common sense: _Si les auteurs que nous ont parlé du Garoé ont dit
qu’il était seul de son espèce dans l’île, c’est qu’ils n’étaient pas
botanistes, et qu’ils n’avaient pas réfléchi que cet arbre ayant un
fruit, devait se reproduire, comme tous les autres végétaux._

The water of rivers is often clarified in a peculiar manner before
drinking. For instance, that of the Ganges is said to be improved by
rubbing certain nuts on the edges of the vessel in which it is kept,[162]
though how this may be it is as difficult to understand, as how the
turtle is affected by a touch of his carapace, or the Dean and Chapter—to
borrow Sydney Smith’s illustration—of St. Paul’s by stroking the cupola
of that cathedral. The Nile water is also said to be purified by treating
the vessel which holds it in a similar manner to that which holds the
water of the Ganges, with bitter almonds. The bitter waters of Marah were
made sweet in a far different fashion.

The _Melo-cacti_ of South America have earned for themselves the name of
“springs of the desert,” owing to their liquor-preserving properties. An
ingenious drink is that of the natives of Siberia, a drink prepared of
an intoxicating mushroom,[163] in a peculiar and economical manner, by
natural distillation.

Vinegar appears as a beverage in a few countries only, and then for
special purposes. The Roman soldiers received it as a refreshing drink on
their marches, and even in the time of Constantine their rations included
vinegar on one day and wine on the other. After all, this vinegar may
have been nothing more than what many of us drink at present under the
title of wine. That “excellent claret,” for instance, “fit for any
gentleman’s table,” which may be had at 1_s._ 6_d._ a bottle, may be very
like the vinegar of the Roman soldier. Roman reapers used it mixed with
water, we are told by Theocritus (Idyl x.), and before that time Ruth was
directed to dip her morsel in the vinegar when she gleaned in the field
of Boaz.

_Ptisana_, mentioned by Celsus (iii., 7), appears to have been a mixture
of rice or barley water and vinegar.

Toast-water is a drink which may be held by some unworthy of mention,
but they may change their minds after reading what Mr. James Sedgwick,
apothecary at Stratford-le-Bow, had to say on this subject in the year
1725. The burning of a crust and putting it hissing hot into water has,
according to this gentleman, several good advantages. By it, the “raw
coldness from nitrous particles are (sic) taken off and moderated, and it
becomes more palatable, besides which, from the sudden hissing opposition
of temperament, an elevation is made of the heterogeal particles, a
motion, an interchanging position is obtained: These Principles during
their intercourses will be imbibed and sucked into the bread in order,
according to their respective distance and gravities, whereby the liquor
will become more pure and almost uncompounded, less foreign than it was
under its natural acception.” And yet though all these securities are
taken to blunt the “frigorific mischiefs” of the water in general, yet
in many constitutions and at particular seasons it is not to be trusted
without some “substantial warmth to give and maintain a glowing, e’er it
dilutes and disperses.” He goes on to say that it is better to add wine
to the water, “to prevent the contingent hazards from the limpid element.”

_Braket_ or _Bragget_ or _Bragwort_, was a drink made of the wort of ale,
honey, and spices.[164] Her mouth, says Chaucer, speaking of Alison, the
carpenter’s pretty wife in the _Mother’s Tale_,

“was swete as _braket_ or the meth,
Or hord of apples, laid in hay or heth.”

And in Beaumont and Fletcher’s _Little Thief, or the Night-Walker_, Jack
Wildbrain speaks with contempt of

“One that knows not neck-beef from a pheasant,
Nor cannot relish _braggat_ from ambrosia.”

The opponents of alcoholic drinks are often met by the objection
that some of the drinks recommended by themselves are alcoholic, as
indeed they often are. Even water appears to possess, in some cases,
an intoxicating property. Pliny (_Nat. Hist._, ii., cvi.) speaks of a
_Lyncestis aqua_,[165] of a certain acidity, which makes men drunken.
The celebrated _Ballston_ waters in the State of New York, are said to
be affected with qualities “highly exhilarating,” sometimes producing
vertigo, which has been followed by drowsiness; in other words, they who
drink them exhibit the usual symptoms of drunkenness.

Timothy Dwight, in his _Travels in New England and New York_, says that
these waters are considered by the farmers of the neighbourhood as an
excellent beverage, and are sent for from a considerable distance for
drink to labourers during haymaking and harvesting, a time well known
to be full of desire on the part of country people employed in these
agricultural pursuits, for alcoholic refreshment. “They supersede,” says
Dwight, “in a great measure the use of any ardent spirits.” But since
the result of drinking these waters seems precisely the same, as far as
regards inebriation, as that of drinking beer or other alcoholic liquor,
it is questionable whether any advantage is gained by this supersession.

The properties of the _Saratoga_ water, situated some seven miles from
that of _Ballston_, are also of a very remarkable nature. They abound to
such an extent in a species of gas, that we are told a very nice sort of
breakfast bread is baked from them instead of yeast.

The Romans considered warm water an agreeable drink at the conclusion of
the chief repast of the day. This may explain why Julius Cæsar was always
taken ill after dinner.

Many drinks are derived from animals, either wholly as milk and blood, or
from animals and vegetables in common, as oil.

It is said that there are people here in England who like—so strange is
the diversity of tastes—a draught of oil from the liver of a cod as much
as an Esquimaux approves of a draught of the oil of a porpoise or a seal.

Of milk a large catalogue of drinks can be reckoned. First, there are
the different kinds of milk of different animals, as the milk of asses,
of women, of goats, of cows, of sheep, of reindeer, of camels, of sows,
and of mares. Then it may be swallowed as it is drawn, or in the form of
whey, or curdled. _Ghee_[166] is a common favourite throughout all India.
It is a stale butter clarified by boiling and straining, and then set
to cool, when it remains in a semi-liquid or oily state, and is used in
cooking, or is drunk by the natives.

In milk-beer, milk is substituted for water. _Kef_ is a kind of
effervescing fermented milk, much resembling _Koumiss_ (or rather
_Kumyss_), of which the best is probably to be obtained in Samàra.
_Youourt_[167] is a favourite drink at Constantinople, made of milk
curdled after a peculiar fashion. _Syra_, a form allied with the German
_Säure_, is a sour whey, used for drink like small beer in Norway and
Iceland. _Aizen_ and _Leban_ are both sorts of _Kumyss_, one of the
Tartars, the other of the Arabs. The latter have also an intoxicating
liquor _Sabzi_, made of _Bhang_, a species of hemp. The green leaf from
which the drink derives its name is pounded and diluted with sugared
water.

Even the warm blood of living animals has been considered suitable for
a drink. In the book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, concerning the
marvels of the East, we are told, the Tartar will sustain himself in an
economical manner, by opening a vein in the neck of the horse upon which
he rides, and having taken a sufficient drink will close the aperture,
and ride on as before. Carpini says much the same of the Mongols. This
appears indeed to have been a time-honoured institution.

Dionysius Periegetes, in the nineteenth chapter of his _Description of
the World_, treating of Scythia and other ancient nations situated in
what is now known as Great Tartary, says of the Massagetæ that they have
no eating of bread nor any native wine, but

ἵππων
Αἵματι μίσγοντες λευκὸν γάλα δαῖτα τίθεντο.

“Or with horses blood,
And white milk mingled set their banquets forth,”

_Orbis Desc._, 578.

And Sidonius, to the same effect,

“_solitosque cruentum_
_Lac potare Getas, et pocula tingere venas._”

_Parag. ad Avitum._

Another strange variety of drink is made by the Peruvians. The ordinary
_chica_ is mixed with the bloody garments of a slain warrior. Temple
(_Travels_, ii., 311).

According to Lobo, the Abyssinians esteem the gall one of the most
delicious parts of a beast, and drink glasses of it, as epicures with us
drink _Château Lafitte_. Pearce (_Adventures in Abyssinia_, i., 95) says
that they also drink blood warm from the animal with an extraordinary
relish.

The Mantchoos, the conquerors of China, prepare a wine of a peculiar
mixture from the flesh of lambs, either by fermenting it reduced to a
kind of paste with the milk of their domestic animals, or by bruising it
to a pulp with rice. When properly matured, it is put into jars and drawn
as occasion requires. It is said to be strong and nutritious, and the
most voluptuous orgies of the Tartars are the result of an intoxication
from _lamb wine_. Abbé Rickard, _History of Tonquin_.

The only wine in Sumatra, according to Marco Polo, was derived from
a certain tree, the _sacred wine_-tree as it might be called, in
comparison with the _sacred water_-tree, afterwards known as _Areng
Saccharifera_, from the Javanese name, called by the Malays _Gomuti_ and
by the Portuguese _Saguer_. It has some resemblance to a date palm, to
which Polo compares it, but is much coarser and more ragged, _incompta
et adspectu tristis_, dishevelled and of a melancholy aspect, as it
is described by Rumphius. A branch of this tree was cut, a large pot
attached, and in a day and a night the pot was filled with excellent
wine, both white and red, which, says the Venetian, cures dropsy and
tisick and spleen.

The Chinese _Rice Wine_ and its manufacture is described in Amyot’s
_Memoires_, v., 468. A yeast is employed, with which is often mixed a
flour prepared from fragrant herbs, almonds, pine seeds, dried fruits,
etc. Rubruquis says the liquor is not distinguishable, except by smell,
from the best wine of Auxerre, a wine so famous in the middle ages that
the historian friar Salimbene went to that town for the express purpose
of drinking it. Ysbrand Ides compares it to Rhenish, John Bell to Canary,
and a modern traveller, quoted by Davis, “in colour and a little in taste
to Madeira.” Marco Polo says, “it is a very hot stuff,” making one drunk
sooner than any other beverage.

From the walnut, which is cultivated to great extent in the Crimea, a
sweet clear liquor is extracted in the spring, at the time the sap is
rising in the tree. The trunk of the walnut is pierced and a spigot
placed in the incision. The fluid obtained soon coagulates into a
substance used as sugar. It does not, however, appear that the juice
has been converted to any inebriating purpose. Not only, however, from
the walnut can a good drink be extracted, but also from the birch, the
willow, the poplar and the sycamore.

A sort of birch wine is made in Normandy.

An excellent drink, resembling brandy, has been distilled, it is said,
from water melons in the southern provinces of Russia, where consequently
much attention is paid to the culture of this vegetable, producing in
some cases water melons of thirty pounds in weight.

In the Sandwich Islands a drink is distilled from the root of the
_Dracæna_, something like the beet of this country. The root of the
_Dracæna_ gives a saccharine juice resembling molasses. From this,
with the addition of some ginger, a kind of tea is made, also a spirit
called by the natives _Ywera_. Their manufacture of this drink is
remarkable for its complexity, involving certain mystic operations with
an old pot, a leaky canoe, a calabash, and a rusty gun-barrel. It is
unnecessary to give a detailed account of the process. We yearn in vain
for that absence of entanglement which distinguishes the religion of the
Iroquois, who have no other worship than the annual sacrifice of a dog to
_Taulonghyaawangooa_, which being interpreted is the “supporter of the
Heavens.” At this sacrifice they eat the dog.

_Sbitena_, or Sbetin, is the name of a delightful drink sold in the
streets of _St. Petersburg_ to the populace. In Granville’s _St.
Petersburg_ (ii., 422) a mention is made of this beverage. It is composed
of honey and hot water and pepper and boiling milk.

A drink called _Omeire_ is prepared in the South-West of Africa by the
aid of some dirty gourds and milk vigorously shaken therein at stated
intervals.

In Nubia the crumb of strongly leavened bread made from _dhurra_ is mixed
with water and set on the fire. It is afterwards allowed to ferment for
two days, strained through a cloth, a lady’s garment by choice, and
drunk. It is called _Ombulbul_, or the mother of the nightingale, because
it makes the drinker sing like that bird. _Pulque_ is a vinous beverage
made in Mexico by fermenting the juice of the _agave_. Its distinctive
peculiarity is its odour, which has been compared by an experimentalist
to that of putrid meat.

There are four drinks in Madagascar: _Toak_, made from honey and water;
_Araffer_, from a tree called _Sater_, resembling a small cocoa-nut;
_Toupare_, from boiled cane, a liquid so corrosive as in a short time to
penetrate an egg shell; and _Vontaca_, from the juice of the so-called
Bengal quince. The last soon produces intoxication, against which another
curious drink is mentioned as a remedy by Ovalle, to wit, the sweat of a
horse infused in wine.

The aborigines of Australia (Dawson’s _Present State of Australia_, p.
60) are inordinately fond of a beverage known by them under the name of
_bull_. The recipe for this, as given by Mr. Dawson, runs thus: Get an
old sugar bag, steal it if you cannot get it by any other means, and cut
it into small pieces. Prepare a large kettle of boiling water, throw into
it as many of these pieces of bag as it will hold, and let it simmer for
half a day. An excellent _bull_ will be the result. This _bull_, says
Dawson, they are extremely fond of, and will drink it till they are blown
out like an ox with clover, and can contain no more.

Poncet speaks of booza as the usual liquor of the Abyssinians, “vastly
thick and very ill tasted,” produced from a day’s soaking of a roasted
berry.

The negroes of Brazil affect a mixture of black sugar and water without
fermentation, called _Garapa_, to which heat is sometimes added by the
leaves of the _Acajou_ tree.

Snow melted and impregnated with the flavour of smoke from the fire upon
which it is placed is the common drink of the Lapp. Occasionally he gets
a decoction of the herb _angelica_ in milk. The maritime Lapp drinks with
gusto the oil squeezed from the entrails of fish. Women, it is said,
will take a pint and a half of this so-called _tran_ at a meal. But the
favourite drink is composed of water and meal flavoured with a quantity
of tallow, and, if circumstances will permit, the blood of the reindeer.

_Taidge_ or _Tedge_ or _Tedj_ is a kind of honey wine or hydromel, said
by Father Poncet[168] to be a delicious liquor, pure, clarified, and
of the colour of Spanish white wine. The process of its manufacture is
simple. Wild honey is mixed with water, and set in a jar, with a little
sprouted barley, some _biccalo_ or _taddoo_ bark, and a few _geso_ or
_guécho_ leaves. A superior kind is made by adding _kuloh_ berries. This
is called _barilla_. The taste of _tedj_ has been described as that of
small beer and musty lemonade. The women commonly strain it through their
shifts.

_Besdon_ is made like _tedj_, with honey, and is highly valued in some
parts of Africa. _Ladakh_ beer has the merit of portability. It is made
of parched barley, rice, and the root of an aromatic plant, and pressed
into a cake. A piece of this is broken off and cast into water. It
resembles in taste sour gruel.

_Pombe_ is a liquid brewed of fruit, furnishing a common sort of cider
known well in Eastern Africa.

In Tonquin[169] on the annual renewal of allegiance, they drink chicken’s
blood mixed with arrack. They make a sort of cider from _miengou_, a
fruit like a pomegranate. An extract of wheat, rye, or millet is mixed
with _peka_, consisting of rice flour, garlic, aniseed, and liquorice.
After fermentation it is distilled and becomes the celebrated _Samchou_.

In Sweden, with the _smör-gås_, or fore taste[170] at a side-table a
glass of _fenkål_, sometimes very good, sometimes very bad, is given
to him who is about to dine. It is made from fennel—a form perhaps of
_fœniculum_—growing wild and abundant, as at Marathon[171] the celebrated
deme on the east coast of Attica, the field of the famous battle.

In addition to strange compounds known in various parts of this country,
such as Gin and Lime Juice, Whiskey or Rum and Milk, Brandy and Port, a
drink said to have originated in Lancashire, Dog’s Nose, Shandy Gaff,
etc., etc., may be mentioned Ethyl or Methylated Spirits, a beverage
which, like ether in Ireland, has of late years advanced considerably in
public estimation. It has the two advantages of being cheap and heady.
An Act of 1880 imposed penalties on any retail tradesman selling it for
the purpose of drink. A better method perhaps to prevent its being poured
down the throats of Her Majesty’s liege subjects would be to take steps
to ensure its being mixed before sold with a strong emetic. The palate
can be trained, but the stomach is far less docile.

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTES

[1] These essences and colours are no new thing. Addison spoke of them
nearly two hundred years ago in his “Trial of the Wine Brewers” in the
_Tatler_. Tom Tintoret and Harry Sippet have left a large family behind
them.

[2] See tailpiece, where a servant is coming to the assistance of her
mistress.

[3] Jablonski is our authority for supposing it primarily an Egyptian
drink. A _zythum_ and a _dizythum_ seem to have existed, corresponding,
let us say, to our _Single_ and _Double X_.

This _zythum_ is nearly allied to the _sacera_ of Palestine, the _cesia_
of Spain, the _cervisia_ of Gaul, the _sebaia_ of Dalmatia, and the
_curmi_ or _camum_ of Germany. According to Rabbi Joseph, this beer
was made ⅓ barley, ⅓ _Crocus Sylvestris_, ⅓ salt. He adds, “He that is
bound, it looseth; and he who is loose, it binds; and it is dangerous for
pregnant women.”

[4] Information on this subject is given by Sir Edward Barry,
_Observations on the Wines of the Ancients_; Henderson, _History of
Ancient and Modern Wines_; and Becker’s _Charicles_.

[5] This is probably the murrhina of Plautus (_Pseudol._ ii. 4, 50)

[6] This drink must not be confounded with ὑδρόμελι, honey and water, our
mead, or ὑδρόμήλον, our cider.

[7] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xiv. 19, etc.

[8] Line 964, etc.

[9] Line 4044, etc.

[10] Line 1387, etc.

[11] Line 1432, etc.

[12] Line 135, etc.

[13] _Hist. Account of the Cathedral Church of York_, Lond., 1715, p. 7.

[14] That division of the ancient kingdom of Northumberland, which was
bounded by the river Humber southwards, and to the north by the Tyne.

[15] A liquor made of honey, wine, and spice.

[16] Honey, diluted with the juice of mulberries.

[17] In this sense it is apparently used in Gen. ix. 24: “Noah awoke from
his _wine_.”

[18] From an Arabic word for antimony, applied to the eyes, the name
is said to have been transferred to rectified spirits (C₂H₆O). It is a
liquid formed by fermentation of aqueous sugar solutions. _Spirit of
Wine_ contains about 90 per cent. of alcohol. 55 parts of alcohol and
45 of water form _proof spirit_. Of alcohol, spirits contain 40-50 per
cent.; wines, 7-25; ale and porter, 6-8; small beer, 1-2.

[19] Who would believe this from the specimens tasted in England? Yet we
are assured the statement is perfectly true.

[20] Patterson’s _Travels in Caffraria_, p. 92.

[21] One of these inspired Longfellow, who thinks (poetically) the
richest wine is that of the West, which grows by the beautiful river,
whose sweet perfume fills the apartment, with a benison on the giver:—

“Very good in its way is the Verzenay,
Or the Sillery, soft and creamy;
But Catawba wine has a taste more divine,
More dulcet, delicious, and dreamy.”

A dreamy taste is something startling even in poetical description.

[22] Chili has lately taken Paris medals for its wines; it also produces
a light and wholesome beer.

[23] The _rébêche_ is principally sold to people manufacturing cheap
Champagnes; by mixing with other wines of very light complexion, they
give them body, and make a stuff which can be produced at a very low
price.

[24] _De Proprietatibus Rerum._ Argent. 1485, lib. xix. cap. 56.

[25] Blount’s _Fragmenta Antiquitatis_. Sec. “Grand Serjeantry,” No. IV.

[26] _The Wines of the World, Characterized and Classed_, 1875, pp. 16,
17.

[27] This wine is said to profit much by a quiescent state of the air
afforded by the town wall.

[28] A wine at Homburg, called _Erlacher_, at about one mark a bottle,
is, says Dr. Charnock, frequently superior to the ordinary _Niersteiner_.

[29] “Hock,” says one of those wine circulars, which weary alike the
postman and the public, “is the English name for the noble vintages of
the Rhine, which afford models of what wine ought to be. Their purity is
attested by their durability. They are almost imperishable. They increase
appetite, they exhilarate without producing languor, and they purify
the blood. The Germans say good Hock keeps off the doctor. Southey says
it deserves to be called the Liquor of Life. And so Pindar would have
called it, if he had ever tasted it.” Nothing surely can be added to this
description of its virtues.

[30] Thus unfortunately translated, “Rhine wine is good, Neckar pleasant,
Frankfort bad, Moselle innocent.” But Moselle, we have been told, is very
far from “innocent.” _Unnosel_ is without bouquet. _Tranken_ means not
bad but drinkable, and _lecker_ is rather lickerish than good. A sample
of the same carelessness occurs on the next page, where _ein weinfask
von anderhalb ahm ein pipe_ is intended to express _ein Weinfass von
anderthalb Ohm, eine Pipe_. It is a pity that an excellent work, to which
we, as many writers on wine like ourselves, have been deeply indebted,
should be marred by these irregularities.

[31] Colonel Leake described the ordinary country wine as a villainous
compound of lime, resin, spirits of wine, and grapes, without body or
flavour. Nor were things better in the days of old. Dugald Dalgetty, a
German Ensign, writing from Athens in 1687, says, “Would that I could
exchange a cask of Athenian wine for a cask of German beer!” The _vin du
pays_ is impregnated with resin or turpentine now as formerly, whence,
according to Plutarch, the Thyrsus of Bacchus is adorned with a pine
cone. Pliny says it favours the preservation of the drink.

[32] The island owes this name to its patron saint Irene, martyred here
A.D. 304.

[33] The value attached to this wine is one example among many of the
caprice of fashion. The _Muscadine_ of Syracuse or the _Lagrima_ of
Malaga is equal to it in richness, and few people would prefer it to
other wines, did they dare to contradict the decision of fashion in its
favour, and to have a taste of their own.

[34] So called from its green colour. It is said to have been a favourite
wine of Frederick the Great. It is held now in slighter esteem.

[35] Called _Est Est_ from the writing under the bust of the valet of the
bibulous German bishop Defoucris, who drank himself to death, upon which
his valet composed his epitaph.

_‘Est est,’ propter minium ‘est,’._
_Dominus meus mortuus est._

Reverence for antiquity is our sole excuse for the reproduction of these
wretched lines. _Monte Pulciano_ has also the credit of having killed a
Churchman. Other wines doubtless have had the same honour.

[36] “Let no man,” says the Talmud, “send his neighbour wine with oil
upon its surface.”—_Chulin_, fol. 94, col. 1.

[37] Malmsey wine is also a product of Funchal, in Madeira. The first
so-called wine was shipped for Francis I. of France. The word is probably
a corruption of _Malvasia_ or _Monemvasia_ (μόνη ἐμβασία, or single
entrance), a Greek island from which the grape may have been brought by
the Florentine Acciajoli in 1515.

[38] Rota wines are mostly coloured, or _Tintos_, whence our English
sacramental drink. They are all simmered—at their best in youth, and
their worst in age.

[39] Supposed by some to be the old English Sack. The reader interested
may consult Hakluyt, Nicols, Hewell’s Dictionary, and Venner’s _Via
Recta_.

[40] The etymology is uncertain. Some derive it from the town near
Seville, others from the Spanish word for an apple, and others again from
that for a camomile flower.

[41] _Valley of Rocks_, indicating the soil on which it is grown.

[42] It is frequently damaged by the carelessness of the _vinatero_, or
wine-seller, to such an extent that the proverb _Pregonar vino y vender
vinagre_ becomes, like wisdom, justified of her children.

[43] So called from the grape common in most parts of Spain.

[44] The fine old Amoroso, of which a small stock is still remaining.

[45] So called from the battle of Birs, in the reign of Louis XI., in
which 1,600 Swiss opposed 30,000 French, and only sixteen of the former
survived. The fallen succumbed, we are told, less to the power of the foe
than to the fatigue of the fighting.

[46] It is supposed by the erudite divine, Adam Clarke, to be probably
borrowed from the Hebrew word שֵׁכָר, Greek σίκερα, which, according to
St. Jerome (_Epist. ad Nepotianum de vita Clericorum, et in Isai. xxvii.
1_), means any intoxicating liquor, whether of honey, corn, apples,
dates, or other fruits.

[47] In a treatise of the Talmud, _Abodah Zarah_, fol. 40, col. 2, cider
is called “wine of apples.”

[48] Walker: _Hist. Essay on Gardening_, p. 166. _Anthologia Hibernica_,
i. 194.

[49] The extra dry old lauded or pale cremant, or the extra reserve
Cuvée, 1884 vintage.

[50] For further information, see Crocker, Marshall, Knight, and
especially Stopes.

[51] The French name, _Eau de Vie_, having the same meaning.

[52] “The Vertuose boke of Distyllacyon of the Waters of all maner of
Herbes, with the fygures of the styllatoryes, Fyrst made and compyled by
the thyrte yeres study and labour of the most con̅ynge and famous master
of phisyke, Master Iherom bruynswyke. And now newly Translated out of
Duyche into Englysshe,” etc. Lond., 1572.

[53] Lethargy.

[54] Belching.

[55] Pleurisy.

[56] A Spanish Wine.

[57] ? Orrice.

[58] Stir.

[59] Phial.

[60] _Adam and Eve stript of their furbelows_, 1710 (?)

[61] Act III., s. 3.

[62] _My Life and Recollections_, Vol. I., p. 59.

[63] Now called Athol brose.

[64] Of the word gill-house a recent editor of Pope observes that it is
doubtful whether it is to be understood as a house where gill, or beer
impregnated with ground-ivy, was sold, or whether as an inferior tavern,
where beer was sold by the measure known as a gill.

[65] There are two other prints connected with this event, all published
at the same time. One is “The Funeral Procession of Madame Geneva, Sept.
29, 1736.” The other is a Memorial, “To the Mortal Memory of Madame
Geneva, who died Sept. 29, 1736. Her weeping Servants and loving Friends,
consecrate this Tomb.”

[66] Whose premises were burnt down during the Lord George Gordon riots.
Dickens immortalized Langdale in _Barnaby Rudge_. The distillery is still
in existence at the same place.

[67] A whistling shop was a sly grog-shop. No spirits were allowed in
the Fleet prison, but of course they were introduced, and could be got
at some places. The method of telling who could be trusted, was for the
customers to whistle—hence the term.

[68] _Alcoholic Drinks_, 1884, p. 67.

[69] Scott’s _Ivanhoe_, cap. iii.

[70] _Morat_ is a composition of honey and mulberries, from which latter
its name is derived.

[71] According to their first institution the Jesuits were not priests.
This was conceded to them afterwards by Paul V. Their primitive principal
occupation was the assistance of the sick and the distillation of
salutiferous waters, whence they were known as “_padri dell’ acquavite_,”
or Fathers of brandies.

[72] A liqueur made with the flower of citron.

[73] _Ad majorem Dei gloriam._

[74] Roret’s “_Manuel du distillateur-liquoriste_.”

[75] _Gui-Patin Lettres_, ii. 425.

[76] One of the most important liqueur manufactories is that of Marie
Brizard and Roger of Bordeaux. In 1755 Marie Brizard, in the Quartier
S. Pierre, a lady of much devotion and charity, devoted a large portion
of her time, in imitation of the monks, to the concoction of medicinal
cordials. Of these, her _Anisette_, so called from its chief ingredient,
soon attained a wide reputation. Roger married the niece of this lady,
and the firm is now known under their joint names. They manufacture
many other liqueurs, but are still chiefly famous for the old medicinal
cordial.

[77] الاكسير, _alacsir_, from ξηρόν, dry.

[78] Here is the etymological process for the linguistic student:
_Ligusticum_; Lat., _levisticum_; Fr., _luvesche_, _leveshe_, _livèche_;
O. Eng., _livish_, _lovage_. The Italian has the form _libistico_, and
the Portuguese _levistico_.

[79] A technical term.

[80] So called because said to be prepared from the maidenhair fern,
_Adiantum capillus Veneris_; “but,” says Pereira, (_Materia Medica_),
“the liqueur sold in the shops under this name is nothing but clarified
syrup flavoured with orange-flower water.”

[81] These colours by which _soi-disant_ connoisseurs profess to
determine the excellence of the liqueur, are in most cases merely
adscititious. Rules are given for their manufacture. Rose, for instance,
is the outcome of cochineal or sanders wood steeped for a fortnight in
spirits of wine. Blue, of indigo and sulphuric acid. Yellow, of saffron.
Pink, of cudbear, a corruption of the name of the chemist, Dr. _Cuthbert_
Gordon, who first employed this lichen; and green, of blue and yellow
mixed.

[82] A pharmaceutical term for volatile oil of orange flowers. Said to be
derived from an Italian princess, Néroli, who invented it.

[83] From Arabic خلنج _Khulanj_, “a tree from which wooden bowls are
made,” Richardson. A dried rhizome brought from China, an aromatic
stimulant of the nature of ginger. The drug is mostly produced by
_Alpinia officinarum_.

[84] Also called Luft-Wasser.

[85] Only an Italian, we are told, can make this liqueur. The composition
is a dark secret, but, we are also told, it originated in Austria, and is
a mixture of tea, wine and milk in unknown quantities.

[86] Said, on account of its carminative properties, to be derived from
the three words _vesse_, _pet_, and _rot_, which it is not incumbent upon
us to translate.

[87] Merely a corruption of _Usquebaugh_.

[88] So called from the inventor. Said to be useful in stomachic
affections.

[89] _Sic_, aimable (?)

[90] So called because made with _guignes_, Sp. _guindas_; dark red, very
sweet cherries, smaller than the _bigarreaux_. The _Guignolet d’Angers_
is especially famous.

[91] This is composed of fennel, celery, coriander, and angelica.

[92] Sometimes written _Karoy_. _Carum carve_, L., from the Greek κάρον,
an umbelliferous plant of which the root by culture becomes edible. The
fruit is analogous to that of anise.

[93] Also written more correctly _d’Hendaye_; white, yellow, and green,
according to its alcoholic strength.

[94] _Cassis_ would appear to be the name of a _ville_
(_Bouches-du-Rhone_) which has a commerce of wine and fruit.

[95] _Stolberg’s Travels_, i., 146.

[96] Germ. _Wermuth_, absinthe or wormwood, plant of genus
_Artemisia_—perhaps originally connected with _warm_, on account of the
warmth it produces in the stomach. This bitter, though commonly quoted
under liqueurs, should be classed with _Quinine Wine_, _Angostura_,
_Khoosh_, etc., _Juglandine_, made in France from the walnut, _Malakoff_
made in Silesia, the _Shaddock_ and _Quassia_ bitters of the West Indies,
and the _Schapps_ bitter of Switzerland.

[97] The dictionary explanations of these terms are commonly
unsatisfactory. The experience of the bar-tender is more than the
learning of the lexicographer. _Cobbler_, indeed, is well explained as
compounded of wine, sugar, lemon, and sucked up through a straw; but
of _cocktail_ we only learn that it is a compounded drink much used in
America. The etymologies given are generally satisfactory. _Julep_ is
from گلاب rose water. _Mull_ from _mulled_, erroneously taken as a past
participle. According to Wedgwood, _mulled_ is a form of _mould_, and
_mulled_ ale is funeral ale, _potatio funerosa_. _Nogg_ is from _noggin_,
signifying a pot, and then the strong beer which it contains. _Negus_ is
commonly known to have been the invention of Col. Francis Negus in the
reign of Anne. _Punch_ is of course from the Hindustani پانچ, signifying
5, from its five original ingredients, to wit, _aqua vitæ_, _rose water_,
_sugar_, _arrack_, and _citron juice_. A very unsatisfactory derivation
of _Sangaree_ is from the Spanish _sangria_, the incision of a vein.
_Shrub_ is clearly the Arabic شرب or syrup. _Smash_, explained curtly as
“iced brandy and water.” (_Slang_) is probably from the smashing of the
ice; while _sling_ seems evidently to be from the German _schlingen_, to
swallow.

[98] The verdict of François Guislier du Verger, the master-distiller in
the art of chemistry at Paris, in his _Traité des Liqueurs_, in 1728, is
altogether unfavourable to what he calls _Le Ponge_. “It is,” he says,
“an English liqueur, and a man must be English to drink it; for I think
it cannot be to the taste of any other nation in the world. It upsets
the stomach, provokes the bile, and violently affects the head. How,
indeed, can it be otherwise, seeing that it is composed of white wine,
Eau de vie, citrons, a little sugar, and bread crumbs.” And then follows
the observation: “If water were put instead of Eau de vie, with an equal
quantity of wine, a citron, and four ounces of sugar, a liqueur suitable
to every one would be the result, a liqueur which would do as much good
as the other does harm.”

[99] Such at least is the signification of _sangaree_ as far as American
drinks are concerned. But _Sang-gris_ is said by Bescherelle to be a
mixture of tea in wine amongst the sailors of the North. Perhaps the name
is taken from the colour. It recalls David Garrick’s “Why, the tea is
as red as blood.” In the West Indies it is made of Madeira, water, lime
juice, and sugar. Spices are sometimes added. Pinckard’s “West Indies,”
i. 469.

[100] _Shrub_ is called _santa_ in Jamaica. It is made in the West Indies
with rum, syrup, and orange-peel.

[101] The Slang Dictionary, however, defines _Sling_ as a drink peculiar
to Americans, generally composed of gin, soda-water, ice, and slices of
lemon. At some houses (understand public) in London _gin slings_ may be
obtained. Francatelli has an exquisite note on _Gin Sling_, which he
directs to be sucked through a straw. “I fear that very genteel persons
will be exceedingly shocked at my words; but when I tell them that the
very act of imbibition through a straw prevents the gluttonous absorption
of large and baneful quantities of drink, they will, I make no doubt,
accept the vulgar precept for the sake of its protection against sudden
inebriety.”

[102] Aromatic tincture: Ginger, cinnamon, orange peel, each 1 oz.;
valerian, ½ oz.; alcohol, 2 quarts. Macerate for fourteen days and filter
through unsized paper.

[103] Those who wish to investigate the antiquity of beer may find ample
matter to supply their desire in a work commonly attributed to Archdeacon
Rolleston, entitled, “Οινος Κριθινος, _a dissertation concerning the
origin and antiquity of barley wine_.” Oxford, 1750.

[104] Much has been written on the comparative merits of wine and
beer. Perhaps as good a remark as any on this subject was made by a
modern tradesman who, wishing to sell both, explained that, while
strongly advocating the introduction of wine, he did not at all intend
to depreciate the merits of our national beverage, beer. Where, he
continued, plenty of out-door exercise is taken, and little intellectual
effort is demanded, good beer is perhaps the most wholesome of all
drinks; and therefore he advised the “labouring man,” who could not
probably afford to buy wine, to drink beer, while others, who might be
supposed able to afford wine, were warned that they could not drink beer
with impunity.

[105] The world has little altered since the time of Martial (i. 19).

“_scelus est jugulare Falernum,_
_Et dare Campano toxica sæva mero._”

[106] This is the sweet potato, introduced into Europe before the common
potato.

[107] For an interesting account of this, vid., Dr., Charnock’s _Verba
Nominalia_.

[108] _Beajus_, which in Malay signifies a wild man.

[109] Roggewein’s _Voyage Round the World_.

[110] According to Kotzebue, old women chew, as in the South American
_chica_—let us hope this cannot be correct—and little girls spit on it to
thin the paste. Kotzebue’s _New Voyage Round the World_, vol. ii., p. 170.

[111] From the old French _Pallir_, to become vapid, lose spirit. Washy
stuff.

[112] See second part of _Westminster Drollery_, 1672.

[113] General Monk’s receipt is given in the _Harleian Miscellany_, i.,
524. London, 1744.

[114] “Mum’s the word,” etc.

[115] _Der Bierbrauer_, Prag., 1874.

[116] Hamilton’s _Account of Nepaul_.

[117] Pinckard’s _Notes_, p. 429.

[118] Robertson’s _History of America_, ii., 7.

[119] This is the beverage in general use. Titsingh’s _Japan_. Some
writers have connected it with our “_sack_.”

[120] When cold, it is said to produce _serki_, a species of fatal colic.

[121] For this list we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Gow,
Wilson & Stanton, 13, Rood Lane, London, E.C.

[122] Messrs. William, James & Henry Thompson, 38, Mincing Lane London.

[123] Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton.

[124] In September, 1890, a small parcel of Flowering Pekoe fetched, at
public sale, 36_s._ per lb., and this price has been largely exceeded on
former occasions.

“A parcel of tea from the Oriental Bank Estates Company’s Havilland
Estate in Ceylon was sold at auction in Mincing Lane yesterday for £17
per lb., or over one guinea an ounce.”—_Standard_, May 6th, 1891.

“A small lot of Golden Tip Ceylon tea from the Gartmore Estate was sold
by auction in Mincing Lane yesterday to the Mazawattee Ceylon Tea Company
at £25 _10s._ per lb.”—_Standard_, May 8th, 1891.

[125] Messrs. Wm. Jas. and Hy. Thompson.

[126] _Joannis Petri Maffeii Bergomatis, e Societate Jesu, Historiarum
Indicarum_, etc. _Florentiæ_, 1588.

[127] _Delle Cause della grandezza delle Città_, etc., del Giovanni
Botero. _Milano_, ed. 1596, p. 61.

[128] _Divers Voyages et Missions du P. Alexandre de Rhodes, en la Chine,
& autres Royaumes de l’Orient_, etc. _Paris_, 1653, p. 49.

[129] Catharine of Braganza, wife of Charles II.

[130] Portugal.

[131] The Works of Thomas Brown, ed. 1708, vol. iii., p. 86.

[132] His friend Tyers parodied the last phrase as “_te_ inviente die,
_te_ decedente.”

[133] _Relation du voyage de la Mer du Sud, aux côtes du Chily, et
du Pérou, fait pendant les années 1712, 13, 14_, par Amédée François
Frezier. _Paris_, 1716, 4ᵒ.

[134] _Joyfull Newes out of the newe founde Worlde_, etc. Englished, by
Jhon Frampton, _Marchaunt_, 1577, fol 101 b.

[135] Garden beds in which seeds are planted.

[136] Lima.

[137] Tschudi travelled in Peru, 1838-1842.

[138] _Travels in Peru_, by C. R. Markham, 1862, p. 237.

[139] In 1861, the cesto of Coca sold at 8 dollars in Sandia. In Huanaco
it was 5 dollars the aroba of 25 lbs.

[140] Ed. 1879, p. 363.

[141] _A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea, etc., by
John Barbot, etc. Now first printed from his original MS., 1732._

[142] Part 2, Section 5.—Mem. 1, Sub. 5.

[143] For a list of 500 Coffee Houses, see Appendix to _Social Life in
the Reign of Queen Anne_, by John Ashton.

[144] _Memoirs and Observations in his Travels over England_, etc.

[145] _A Brief Description of the excellent Vertues of that Sober and
Wholesome Drink called Coffee._ 1674, s. sh. fol.

[146] _The Mineral Water Maker’s Manual for 1866_, from which many
receipts are taken with thanks.

[147] Twaddell’s Hydrometer. From 11 to 12 lbs. sugar to the gallon
should give something near this specific gravity.

[148] A sufficient quantity.

[149] About 8½ lbs. loaf sugar to the gallon of water should produce this
S. G.

[150] An extract made from orange flowers.

[151] Or Butyric Ether, known as Essence of Pine-apple.

[152] Jargonelle Ether.

[153] Beware, however, of one compound ether, which gives the taste of
cinnamon, and is, Ethyl Perchlorate. This mixture is _explosive_!!!

[154] Raspberries.

[155] The form of this thanksgiving is very nearly akin to that said on
the occasion of eating any of the five kinds of cooked food from which
the _challah_ is due.

[156] Arist., _Metaph._, i., 3.

[157] Seneca, _Nat. Quæst._, iii., 13.

[158] _Ibid._, iv., 13.

[159] Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxiii., 24.

[160] p. 220.

[161] Other authorities concerning this remarkable drinking fountain are
Nieremberg (_Occult. Philos._, ii., 350), Clavijo, Cairasio, and Dapper.

[162] _Harper’s New Monthly Magazine_, xi., p. 499.

[163] The mushroom used by the Chukchees is described by Lansdell,
_Through Siberia_, ii., 269, as “spotted like a leopard, and surmounted
by a small hood—the fly agaric, which here has the top scarlet, flecked
with white points. It sells for three or four reindeer.” So powerful
is the fungus that the native who eats it remains drunk for several
days. Half a dozen persons may be successively intoxicated by a single
mushroom, but every one in a less degree than his predecessor. Goldsmith,
_Chinese Philosopher_.

[164] Another description is, “Ale mixed with pepper and honey.”

[165]

Quem quicunque parum moderato gutture traxit,
Haud aliter turbat quam si mera vina bibisset.

—Ovid, _Metam._, xv., 329.

[166] The Hindustani گهي.

[167] A corruption of the Turkish يوغرت _Yughurt_.

[168] Lockman’s _Travels of the Jesuits_, i., 218.

[169] P. Alex. de Rhodes, _Voyages et Missions_. P. de Marini, _On the
Kingdom of Tonquin_.

[170] A word which, according to the _Glossarium Suiogothicum_,
originally meant simply bread and butter. It now comprehends anchovies
and other antepasts.

[171] So called probably from its being overgrown with fennel (μαραθρῶν
in Strabo, 160).

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Drinks of the World" ***

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