FLOWKKS \M) SI'IKIT 



BASSIA 



Mahua 

 Spirit 







! 



Adulteration of. 



Early Accounts 

 of. 



ovi i IIM -al IK-, i ,old. The ( -hief purchasers are the distillers, and 



tin- additional revenue tlms derived ureatlv enhances the value of the 

 Some few years a.'< the experiment was at tempted in Bombay of 

 tin- Forest Department becoming the vendors of the available surplus 

 llmi; tn the trade. The object in view was the protection of the 

 i ml ignorant people, who it was l>elie\v<l often got but a fraction 

 of the ait mil value of their produce. At that time also there \v;i 

 lairlv lirisk new export trade in ninfniu, which went ..apparently to Europe 

 to he used for distillation. It is generally believed that the action of 

 the French (iovernmcnt iu closing their ports to mahua ruined the 

 foreign tni flic and accordingly the exports shrank to small proportions, 

 the article being at present exclusively used in Europe to feed pigs a European uses. 

 purpose recommended originally by E. Lockwood (Journ. Linn. Soc., 

 xvii., 89). 



Mahua Spirit. As already indicated, the art of distilling these Spirit. 

 flowers is a very ancient one in India. Susruta mentions mahua spirit. 

 The .lin-i-Akbari alludes to it. Hove (who travelled in Bombay in 1787, 

 ML') tells us that the mawra (as he calls it) affords when distilled a pure and 

 very pleasant but remarkably strong spirit. This he observes is often 

 poisoned with Itntiirti. and accordingly he concludes, "I would advise the 

 Company to send out orders to their Settlements to inspect the common 

 liquors more minutely and they would not lose half the troops which they 

 commonly do on this side of India." Williamson (East Ind. Vade Mecum, 

 ii., 153) tells us that in 1810 the number of shops for the sale of mahua and 

 other spirits was " absolutely incalculable." Thus India had little to 

 learn from Europe either in the art of distillation or in the habit of 

 alcoholic consumption. The registration and supervision of the traffic 

 which had been inherited by the Company and by the Crown became a 

 necessary evil. 



One of the best accounts of mahua spirit is that by Archibald 



eir (As. Res., 1788, i., 309-19). That article was written in Chatra in 

 mgar after a most careful personal study of the subject. Dr. Gibson 

 Hooker's (Kew) Journ. Bot., 1853, v., 90) tells us that in Gujarat and 

 Rajputana every village has its spirit-shop, and he adds that the 



ivernment duty on the spirit distilled at Caranja, opposite Bombay, 



me to something like 80,000. He then observes that the spirit 

 Tepared was something like Irish whisky but had a strong smoky and 



ther foetid flavour. 

 The aroma is the chief disadvantage to the spirit, but it is understood its Aroma. 



at a gentleman who experimented in Monghyr very extensively with this 

 issue, succeeded in producing a spirit quite free from the objectionable 

 smell. Lockwood tells us that he had ascertained that six gallons of 

 spirit could in Europe be produced from one hundredweight of mahua. Yield. 

 More recently it has been found that as much as 7'6 gallons per cwt. can 

 be produced, the yield from molasses being only 5 gallons, and much 



as from barley, potatoes, etc. [Of. Manson, Journ. Agri.-Hort. Soc. 



/'/.. 1886, vii., 83-5.] He tells us that the spirit is called daru and 



.uch resembles Hollands both in appearance and taste, but unfortunately 

 it retains the sickening flavour of the flowers. The method of dis- 

 tillation is similar to that pursued in all other countries, save that in 

 India it is less scientific and correspondingly more wasteful (see Eleusine, 

 p. 521). For preparation of vinegar from mahua, flowers, see p, 1109, 



119 



