34-2 Method employed to prepare Soy. 



time when he wrote his defcription the natural hiftory of the 

 orang outangs was involved in fuch obfcurity, that he muft 

 naturally have confidered his ape to bz the fame animal as 

 the large orang outang or pongo of Buffon. Naturalifts 

 were then far from being convinced that this animal, fuch 

 as it is defcribed in the immortal work of that celebrated 

 author, is an imaginary being to which Buffon has affigned 

 a form and characteriling marks, by confounding, under 

 the fame name, and in the fame defcription, fix different 

 fpecics of apes defcribed by travellers. 



II. Account of the Methods employed in Japan and China to 

 prepare Soy, with fome Obfcrvations on the Bean from 

 which it is produced. By ProfeJJor BECKMANN. 



X HIS article, which is a brown faline liquor, imported to 

 Europe from the Eaft Indies, is employed for feafoning va- 

 rious kinds of dimes, and improving the tafte of different 

 fauces. It is brought from Japan in fmall wooden veffels, 

 and alfo from China and other parts of India in glafs flafks, 

 feveral of which are packed together in a wooden box. 

 The ufe of it has been long general in the Eaft Indies; 

 where it is placed on the table at each meal, inftead of fait, 

 for the purpofe of dipping in it flefh, fifh, and other kinds, 

 of food. 



The Japanefe are faid to be the invehtors of this article; 

 and, at prefent, their foy is preferred to any other ; though it 

 is afferted by connoiffeurs that this preference arifes more 

 from the price than the goodnefs. In my opinion, it was 

 firft introduced in the European commerce in the prefent 

 pentury ; for it is not to be found in the old catalogues of 

 goods; in Saavary's or Ludovici's dictionaries, nor in the 

 old books on cookcrv. The firft account of the method of 

 preparing it after the Japanefe manner was publifhed by 



Kempfer, 



Before 



