THE BLACKTHORN. 



243 



intensely austere and astringent, so much so that 

 a single drop of the juice placed on the tongue 

 will produce a roughness on the throat and palate 

 which is perceptible for a long time. AVhen 

 mellowed by frosty however, it becomes red and 

 pulpy, but at no period of its existence claims 

 to be considered a grateful fruit. The juice of 

 it, in its mmpe state, is said to enter largely 

 into the composition of spurious port-wine, and it 

 may, it is said, be fermented into a liquor resem- 

 bling new port. 



So impudently and notoriously is this fraud 

 carried on in London, and so boldly is it avowed, 

 that there are books published called Publicans' 

 Guides," &c., in which receipts are given for 

 the manufacture of port-\\T.ne from cider, brandy, 

 and sloe-juice, coloured with tincture of red san- 

 dars or cudbear."* This villainous compound may 

 be converted into "old port" in a few days by 

 the addition of catechu. The corks may be 

 stained by being soaked in a strong decoction of 

 brazil-wood and a little alum ; and even bottles 

 are manufactured which contain a sufficient quan- 

 tity of lime to be sensibly acted on by the acid, 

 and to produce a counterfeit " crust !" 



In France the unripe fruit is sometimes pickled 

 and sent to table as a substitute for olives, and 

 in Germany and Russia it is crushed and fer- 



* Red sandars is a preparation of sandal-wood, used as a dye. 

 Cudbear, so called after a !Mr. Ciithbert, who first brought it into 

 use, is a lichen {Lecanora taHdrea)^ found growing in several parts 

 of the Continent, and in Great Britain, on granitic and volcanic rocks, 

 and is also used as a dye. The chemical test called litmus is a 

 preparation of this vegetable. Catechu is a substance procured by 

 boiling chips of the heart-wood of Acacia catechu ; it is a dark- 

 coloured, powerful, astringent. 



