CHAP. XL1I. .ttOSA'CEA:. 6'E'llASUS. 697 





of the forest during the winter. At present, he says (writing in 1819), the 

 fruit is wanting, and they have nothing to supply its place. The few cherries 

 which they can gather from the remaining trees are eaten on the spot, or sold 

 to make liqueurs. 



Properties and Uses. The fruit of the cherry is a favourite with almost 

 every body, and especially with children. The hard-fleshed kinds are con- 

 sidered rather indigestible when eaten in large quantities; but the soft-fleshed 

 sorts, such as the morellos, are esteemed so \\ holesome as to be given in fevers, 

 where there is a tendency to putridity. In France, the fruit, more espe- 

 cially of the soft-fleshed kinds, is dried by exposing it on boards to the sun, 

 or in an oven moderately heated. It is also preserved in the same manner 

 in Germany and in Russia. Ripe cherries are used for making cherry 

 brandy ; and preserves, marmalades, lozenges, and various other kinds of con- 

 fectionery, are manufactured from them. An oil is drawn from the kernels, 

 which is occasionally used for emulsions, and to mix in creams, sugar-plums, 

 &c., to give the flavour of bitter almonds. The distillers of liqueurs make 

 great use of ripe cherries : the spirit known as kirschewasser is distilled from 

 them after fermentation ; and both a wine and a vinegar are made by bruising 

 the fruit and the kernels, and allowing the mass to undergo the vinous fer- 

 mentation. The ratafia of Grenoble is a celebrated liqueur, which is made 

 from a large black gean ; from which, also, the best kirschewasser is made. 

 Vinegar is also made from cherries. 



Kirschwasser. The method of making this celebrated spirit is, to take bruised 

 cherries, in which the greatest part of the kernels have also been broken, and 

 to let them remain in a mass till the vinous fermentation is fairly established ; 

 after which the process of distillation is commenced, and continued as long 

 as the liquor comes over clear; or till about a pint of liquor has been obtained 

 from every 20 pints of fermented pulp. The kirschwasser comes from the 

 still as clear as the purest water; and, in order that it may not receive 

 any tinge which would lessen its value, it is always kept in stone vessels or 

 bottles. More detailed methods of making it will be found in the Gar- 

 dener's Magazine, vol. iv. p. 179. ; and in the same work, vol. viii. p. 182. The 

 best kirschwasser is made in Alsace in France, in Wirtemberg in Germany, 

 and at Berne and Basle in Switzerland. Any cherry will produce it, but, 

 as before observed, the wild black gean is greatly preferred. 



Maraschino is also made from the cherry, much in the same manner as 

 kirschwasser. The kind of cherry preferred for this purpose is a small 

 acid fruit, called marasca, which abounds in the north of Italy, at Trieste, 

 and in Dalmatia. That of Zara, in Dalmatia, is considered the best. All the 

 fruit employed in making the Dalmatian maraschino is cultivated within 20 

 miles of this city, at the foot of the mountain Clyssa, between Spalatro and 

 Almissa, on the side of a hill planted with vines. The chief difference be- 

 tween the preparation of this liqueur and kirschwasser consists in mixing 

 the mass of bruised cherries with honey; and honey or fine sugar is added to 

 the spirit after it is distilled. The genuine maraschino is as difficult to be 

 met with as genuine Tokay ; the greater part of that which is sold as such, 

 being nothing more than kirschwasser mixed with water and honey, or water 

 and sugar. The marasca cherry has been cultivated in France with a view 

 to the manufacture of this liqueur in that country; and it has been said that 

 it may be made just as good from the common wild black cherry. It is also 

 said, that, in Dalmatia, the leaves of the tree are made use of in order to give 

 the peculiar aroma which is so much esteemed in the maraschino; and that 

 this perfume may be increased to any extent desired, by mixing the leaves of 

 Cerasus Mahdlcb, the perfumed cherry, with the fruit of the marasca, or even 

 the common gean, before distillation. 



Medicinally, the fruit of the cherry, more especially of the soft-fleshed 

 varieties, is said to be cephalic and aperient. A water distilled from the fruit, 

 without fermenting it, and which, consequently, contains no spirit, is employed 

 as antispasmoclic; and a ptisan from dried cherries boiled in water is very 



