110 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec. 



or in place of them, twelve or fifteen pounds of bread, cut in slices, 

 are also roasted, and with the oats, added to the boiling kettle, 

 where they remain till the spruce branches are well cooked. These 

 branches are now taken out, and the fire extinguished. The bread 

 and oats then settle to the bottom, and the spruce leaves are re- 

 moved by a skimmer ; after which are added six quarts of molasses 

 or syrup, or in place thereof twelve or fifteen pounds of coarse 

 sugar. The liquid is then put at once into a fresh red-wine cask; 

 and if it is wished to give more color to the liquor, the lees, and 

 five or six quarts of the wine are left therein. When the liquid is 

 only lukewarm, a pint of beer-yeast is added, the whole well stirred, 

 to mix it, and the cask then filled to the bung-hole, which is left 

 open. Fermentation soon begins, and much scum is thrown off; 

 during this time the cask must be filled from time to time with a 

 portion of the liquid which has been kept apart in some wooden 

 vessel. If the cask is bunged at the end of twenty-four hours, 

 the liquor is sharp and lively as cider, but if it is wished to have 

 it milder, the cask should be filled twice a day, and not bunged 

 till fermentation is over. This liquor is very refreshing and 

 wholesome, and those accustomed to it drink it with pleasure, 

 especially in summer." 



ON THE OBJECTS AND METHOD OF MINERALOGY. 



By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S. 

 (Read before the American Academy of Sciences, Jan. 8, 1S67.) 



Mineralogy, as popularly understood, holds an anomalous 

 position among the natural sciences, and is by many regarded as 

 having no claims to be regarded as a distinct science, but as 

 constituting a branch of chemistry. This secondary place is 

 disputed by some mineralogists, who have endeavored to base a 

 natural-history classification upon such characters as the crystal- 

 line form, hardness, and specific gravity of minerals. In systems 

 of this kind, however, like those of Mohs and his followers, only 

 such species as occur ready formed in nature, are comprehended, 

 and the great number of artificial species, often closely related to 

 native minerals, are excluded. It may moreover be said in 

 objection to these naturalists, that, in its wider sense, the chemical 

 history of bodies takes into consideration all those characters 



