Domestic Eeojiomy. 1 79 



in the country commanding extensive views, and to those of painted glass, 

 it may be apph'ed with admirable effect. 



The Use of Lime in Mortar is to fill up the hollow spaces or vacuities 

 between the grains of sand, and to cement them together, thereby forming 

 a kind of artificial stone. To add any more lime than is sufficient to fill up 

 these spaces seems to be useless, and to add much more must weaken the 

 mortar ; but, if too little lime be used, there will be cavities left between 

 some of the grains of sand, and the mortar will consequently be short or 

 brittle : therefore, when we cannot ascertain the best proportions of lime 

 and sand, it is better to use too much lime than too little. {Wai^tell on 

 Agr. Buildings, p. 52.) 



Art. VIII. Domestic Economy. 



Manufacture of Kirschwasser. — The inhabitants of the Black Forest 

 manufacture this liquor with all the care that art, guided by science, can 

 employ, and with success. This is their process : — 



When the cherries are for the most part ripe, they collect them one by 

 one with the hands, and reject all those which are over-ripe. In this state 

 they do not take those cherries which have separated from the stalks, but 

 only those which remain on the branches : they also reject all those which 

 have become rotten. 



After having thus collected a large quantity, they commence their opera- 

 tions. They crush the fruit, previously freed from the stalks, in a wicker 

 basket, made a liitle concave, and placed over a tub, which is a little smaller 

 than the basket : the expressed juice falls within it. They weigh the marc, 

 and bruise a fourth part only of it, which, with the juice, they throw into a 

 cask, cover it, and let it ferment. 



When the fermentation is perfected, they uncover the cask, and, opening 

 a cock at the bottom of it, receive the clear liquor in a basin, and instantly 

 convey it to the alembic, which is formed in the well known manner, but is 

 heated by steam. Those manufacturers, indeed, who have the highest 

 reputation, distil in alembics made of tin. They thus take all the pre- 

 cautions necessary to obtain a liquor of a good flavour, and which the con- 

 noisseurs can readily distinguish from all others which are sold under the 

 same name. 



It is important not to bruise too large a quantity of the kernels. We 

 knovvf that bitter almonds contain a large quantity of the hydro-cyanic 

 (prussic) acid, which, in a state of purity, is the most violent poison known. 

 For this reason, we think that when the liquor contains too much of it, it 

 must rather be prejudicial to those who drink it. The bitter taste of the 

 almond is agreeable, taken in a small quantity; but when the dose is too 

 great, the animal economy is grievously affected. This is the reason why 

 the good manufacturers of this liqueur only bruise a fourth part of the 

 marc, and would not employ a fourth part of that weight of almonds, but 

 only an eighth. 



It is certain that when the kirsch is well made, it has no acrid or empy- 

 reumatic flavour ; and, when old, it is not only pleasant to drink, but it 

 possesses also the valuable property of helping the digestion, and warming 

 the stomach by its spirit. Physicians recommend this liqueur in indigestion, 

 and as a preservative against certain maladies. Experiments, a thousand 

 times repeated, have proved that fruits are preserved in brandy : they are 

 decomposed and mollified in the kirsch. 



The valuable qualities which it is known this liqueur possesses, beyond 

 contradiction, increase the interest which every one must feel in seeing 



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