24 
of fruit are then put into a vessel, where they are left for 
three weeks or a month, till they are quite putrid. They 
are then put into the distilling vessel, and the brandy is made 
and afterwards distilled over again. This brandy is not 
good for people who have a more refined taste, but it is only 
for the common kind of people, such as workmen and the 
like. Apples yield a brandy, when prepared in the same 
manner, as the peaches. But for this purpose those apples 
are chiefly taken which fall from the trees before they are 
ripe. The American Nightshade, or Phytolacca Decandra, 
grows abundantly near the farms, on the high road, in hedges 
and bushes, and in several places in the fields. Whenever I 
came to any of these places, I was sure of finding this plant 
in great abundance. Most of them had red berries, which 
grew in bunches, and looked very tempting, though they 
were not at all fit for eating. Some of these plants were yet 
in flower. In some places, such as in hedges, and near the 
houses, they sometimes grow two fathoms high. But in the 
fields were always low, yet I could nowhere perceive that the 
cattle had eaten of it. A German of this place who was a 
confectioner, told me that the dyers gathered the roots of 
this plant and made a fine red dye of them." 
We cannot here, as we should like, give Prof. Kalm's 
account in full, but before proceeding to other data of his 
bearing upon the subject, let us have a side light upon his 
humor, as indicated by a story related to him by Mr. Sleidorn, 
of Germantown. The Indians about these parts were res- 
pected for their honesty and peaceful habits, and some were 
celebrated for their keenness. For "sport," this Mr. Sleidorn 
asked "a venerable old American savage" a question in the 
Bible, which he answered satisfactorily, and who "at the 
same time asked leave to propose a question in turn," which 
Sleidorn granted. The old man then asked, "Who was the 
first Quaker" ? Sleidorn answered it was uncertain, that some 
took one person for it, and some another; but the cunning 
old fellow told him, "You are mistaken, sir, Mordecai was 
the first Quaker, for he would not take off his hat to Haman." 
