120 NATURAL AND ECONOMICAL IIISTOIJY 
dibse or dipse, which is a Hebrew word, is generally trans- 
lated honei/ in the Old Testament *. Dr Mosely, in his 
Treatise upon Sugar, &c. says, that the strong drink of the 
Scripture was called shecar^ a word which likewise means 
intoxication. This word shecar, does not differ much in 
enunciation from the Sanscrit adjective implying ^z^;^^^; and 
it very closely resembles the Malay name of the intoxicating 
toddy of the Sago-palm {Aer saguer). Dr Moseley con- 
cludes his disquisition on the strong drink of the Old Tes- 
tament, by saying, " What sottish liquor shecar was, no 
person knows. It was probably made from grain, perhaps 
from honey -[-."''' 
The suri pots are sometimes visited, and the contents 
carried off during night. To detect the thief, the leaves 
of a species of datura are occasionally put into some of the 
pots. By means of the highly intoxicating effect of this 
compound, the marauder is often discovered. 
Arrack may be distilled from suri the same day it is 
drawn ; but sometimes this operation is delayed for a few 
days, without diminishing the quantity, or injuring the 
quality of the spirit. The process of distillation is carried 
on, in the maritime provinces, in copper stills ; but, in the 
Kandyan Provinces, earthen-ware vessels are chiefly em- 
ployed. Suri yields, by distillation, about one-eighth part 
of arrack, of the same strength as good brandy. Arrack, 
when well prepared, is clear and transparent : generally, 
however, it is slightly straw-coloured. It has a peculiar 
flavour, no doubt depending upon an essential oil which 
rises from the suri during distillation. Arrack is issued to 
the soldiers in India and Ceylon, as part of the established 
* Shaw's Observations relating to Barbary and the Levant, vol. ii. 
p. note. 
t Medical Tracts, by Dr Mosely, 2d edit. p. 138. 
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