340 



Barbery. — The fruits of the common barbery {Berheris 

 vulgaris, L.), are too acid to be eaten in the raw state, but they are 

 sometimes made into jelly in the same way as red currants, the 

 jelly being considered to possess a fine, pleasant, acid flavour. 

 The fruits have also been candied and otherwise preserved with 

 sugar and in an unripe condition they have been pickled in 

 vinegar. Johnson and Sowerby '' Useful Plants of ijrreat 

 Britain, 



macerated 



'about 12 times their quantity of water, to which a little fennel 



M 



say that the ripe fruits are used in the preparation of cooling, 

 astringent and antiscorbutic drinks which are given in febrile 

 diseases and diarrhoea. It is probable that the fruits of all the 

 species of Berheris can be used for similar purposes, for in North 

 America those of B. Aiiuifoliuvfi, Pursh., are marketed for culi- 

 nary purposes under the name of Oregon grapes; those of Z?. aris- 



those of B. asiatica. Koxb., in the H 



HimalaT 



Spindle Tree, — The fruits of the spindle tree [Euonymus 

 euTopaeus^ L., are said to be poisonous and to have violent emetic 

 and purgative properties, although the seeds are eaten by birds. 

 A yellow dye has been obtained by boiling the seeds in water, and 

 by mixing with alum a green dye may be procured. Johnson and 

 Sowerby, I.e. 



Holly. — Ilex Aqtdfolitim, L., and other species of the genus 

 ' produce fruits with violent purgative properties. They have 

 practically no economic value but are eagerly eaten by birds 

 'during severe winters, 



' ' Buckthorn.^rhe juice of the ripe berries of the buckthorn of 

 English hedgerows, Rhamnus cathartica^ L., mixed with alum 

 or lime furnishes the water-colour paint known as sap green, 

 whilst dye is obtained from the fruits of R. Frangula, L., R. 

 infectoria, L., and possibly from those of other kinds also. The 

 fruits have violent purgative properties and must not be eaten. 



Wild Cherry, Gean or Mazzard. — The wild cherry (Prunus 



'Atium, L.), grows into a large tree and bears good crops of fruit 



in many parts of the country. The fruits are very acid and are 



Usually overlooked by reason of the many kinds of cultivated 



cherries. ' They are, however, eagerly eaten by birds and have 



been employed in the manufacture of liqueurs. According to 



Loudon, ** Arboretum et Fruticetum,'' Kirschwasser and Ratafia 



■ of fjrenoblo were prepared from the fruits about the middle 



of last century. Regarding the former he says: ** The method 



oi making the celebrated spirit is to take bruised cherries, 



in which the greater part of the kernels have also been broken, 



and to let them remain in a mass till the vinous fermentation 



is fairly trsiablished, after which the process of distillation is 

 commenced and continued as loufr as tlip linnnr r-nmps ovpt pTpnr. 



