548 Notice of the Siberian Bittersweet, %c. 



harshness, which in that liquor offends the palates of many, 

 and the constitutions of more ; and I believe that there is 

 not any county in England in which it might not be made to 

 afford, at a moderate price, a very wholesome and very pa- 

 latable cider. This fruit differs from all others of its species 

 with which I am acquainted, in being always sweet, and 

 without acidity, even when it is not more than half grown. 



When the juice is pressed from ripe, and somewhat mellow 

 fruit, it contains a very large portion of - saccharine matter ; 

 and if a part of the water it contains, be made to evaporate 

 in a moderately low temperature, it affords a large quantity 

 of a jelly of intense sweetness, which, to my palate, is ex- 

 tremely agreeable; and which might be employed for 

 purposes similar to those to which the inspissated juice of 

 the grape is applied in France. The jelly of the Apple pre- 

 pared in the manner above described, is, I believe, capable 

 of being kept unchanged during a very long period in any 

 climate; the mucilage being preserved by the antiseptic 

 powers of the saccharine matter, and that being incapable of 

 acquiring, as common sugar does, a state of crystallization. 

 I kept the inspissated juice of the Pear, and of the Apple, 

 more than twenty years, without being able to observe any 

 change in it. It neither attracted, nor parted with moisture, 

 though it was covered only with paper. But it always con- 

 tained an excess of acid, a defect from which the jelly of 

 the Siberian Bittersweet is perfectly free; and it scarcely con- 

 tains any perceptible degree of bitterness, that taste being 

 given apparently by the essential oil of the rind alone. If 

 the juice be properly filtered, the jelly will be perfectly 

 transparent. 



