645 
P E 
and ingenious, gentleman in'his neighbourhood, affured 
him, as of his own experience, that it will keep a great 
while, and grow much the ftronger for keeping, if put 
into a good cellar and managed with due care. He im¬ 
putes Palladius’s error to his poflibly fpeaking of com¬ 
mon eatable pears, and to the perry’s having been made 
in a very hot country: but he would have afcribed it 
to a more real caufe, perhaps, had be pointed out the 
want of a thorough regular fermentation, to which it ap¬ 
pears plainly that the ancients were entire Grangers; 
for all their vinous liquors were medicated by boiling be¬ 
fore they were laid up in order to be kept. 
Mr. Knight ftates, that, in the making of this fort of 
liquor, the pears are ground and preffed in exaCHy the 
fame manner as thofe of apples in the manufacturing of 
cider; but that it is not ufual for the reduced pulp to be 
fuffered to remain any length of time without being 
preffed. It has never been the practice in Herefordfhire, 
or in the counties in the vicinity of it, to blend the juices 
of the different varieties of the pear, in order to correCt 
the defedls of one kind by the oppofite properties of the 
other. It is, however, he allows, more eafy to find the 
required portion of fugar and of aftringency, as well as 
flavour, in three or four varieties than in one; hence, he 
fuppofes, a judicious mixture of fruits affords a profpeCl 
of great benefit. In grinding, the pulp and rind of the 
pear, as in the apple, fhould be perfectly reduced, and, 
though no benefit is faid to have been derived from the 
reduced pulp remaining fome hours unpreffed, he has no 
doubt but that, where all other circumftances are the 
fame, that portion of liquor will for the moft part be 
found the belt which has remained the longeft under the 
power of the mill-ftone. 
The method of managing this fort of liquor during 
the procefs of fermentation, is nearly the fame as that in 
cider ; but it does not afford the fame indications by which 
the proper period of racking it off may be known. The 
thick fcum that colleCls on the furface of cider rarely ap¬ 
pears on the juice of the pear; and, during the time of the 
fufpenfion of its fermentation, the excefiive brightnefs of 
'the former liquor is feldom feen in the latter; but, where 
the fruit has been reghlarly ripe, its produce will gene¬ 
rally become moderately clear and quiet in a few days 
after it is made, and it fhould then be drawn off from its 
groffer lees. An excefs of fermentation is prevented by 
the means ufed in the making of cider, and the liquor is 
rendered bright by ifinglafs. The power this fubftance 
poffeffes of fining liquors appears to be purely mechani¬ 
cal : it is compofed of innumerable fibres, which, being 
difperfed over the liquor, attach themfelves to, and carry 
down, its impurities. For this purpofe it fhould be re¬ 
duced to final! fragments by being pounded in a mortar, 
and afterwards fteeped twelve or fourteen hours in a quan¬ 
tity of liquor fufficient to produce its greateft degree of 
expanfion. In this ftate it muff be mixed with a few gal¬ 
lons of the liquor, and ftirred till it is diffufed and fuf- 
pended in it; and it is then to be poured into the calk, 
and incorporated with the whole by continued agitation 
for the fpace of two hours. This procefs muff be re¬ 
peated till the required degree of brightnefs is obtained, 
the liquor being each time drawn oft', on the fecond or 
third day, from its precipitated lees. Not more than an 
ounce and a half or two ounces of ifinglafs are generally 
put into a calk of a hundred and ten gallons at once; 
but, were its mode of a&ion purely mechanical, there 
could be no objection to a larger quantity ; but it has alfo 
a chemical aCtion on the liquor ; it combines with and 
carries down the tanning principle, and hence, during 
the procefs of fining, the liquor is deprived of a large por¬ 
tion of its aftringency. This fubftance is moft readily 
diffufed in liquors by boiling; but by this it is diffolved, 
and converted into glue; and its organization, on which 
alone its powers of fining depend, is totally deftroyed. 
The application of it is fometimes alfo neceffary in the 
manufacture of cider; though colour is feldom wanting 
R R Y 
in that liquor. But, when the perry or cider can be 
made fufficiently bright without it, the above-cited wri¬ 
ter would not by any means recommend its ufe. The 
liquor is rendered extremely agreeable to the eye by it; 
but has always appeared to him to become more thin and 
acid by its aCtion. 
In the after-management of perry, the method is the 
fame as that of cider; but it does not bear fituations 
where it is expofed to much change of temperature fo well, 
and its future merit cannot fo well be judged of by its 
prefent ftate. In the bottle it almoft always retains its 
good qualities, and in that fituation he would always re¬ 
commend it to be put, if it remains found and perfeCt at 
the conclulion of the firft fucceeding fummer. On the 
whole, the pear furnifhes a lefs popular liquor than the 
apple; but the tree is capable of being grown on a greater 
variety of foil, and is more productive, furnifhing in the 
proportion of 600 gallons of liquor to the acre,.where the 
trees are full grown and in good bearing. 
A kind of final] perry, called pcrhin, as ciderhin from ci¬ 
der, is made of the murk or grofs matter remaining after 
the perry is preffed out. To make this liquor, the murk 
is put into a large vat, with a proper quantity of boiled 
w r ater, which has flood till it is cold again: if half the 
quantity of water be ufed that there was of perry, it will 
be good ; if the quantities be equal, the perkin will be 
final). The whole is left to infufe forty-eight hours, and 
then well preffed ; what is fqueezed out by the prefs is im¬ 
mediately tunned up and flopped; it is fit to drink in a 
few days. It clarifies of itfelf, and ferves in families in- 
ftead offmall beer. It will keep, if boiled, after preflure, 
with a convenient quantity of hops. 
PER'RY (Captain John), an eminent Englifli engi¬ 
neer, was recommended to the czar Peter the Great, du¬ 
ring his abode in England, as a proper perfon to aflift 
him in his favourite fchemes of forming a navy, and 
promoting inland navigation within his dominions. He 
was taken into the czar’s fervice at a liberal falary, and 
with promifes of further reward ; and was employed for 
three fummers in making a communication between the 
rivers Don and Volga. The czar’s ill fuccefs againft the 
Swedes at the battle of Narva, and other circumftances of 
difcouragement, caufed an interruption of the work in 
1707 ; and during the two following years he was engaged 
in refitting the Ihips at Voronetz, and making navigable 
the river of that name. Like moft of the foreigners 
whom the czar’s offers drew into Rufila, he experienced 
many difappointments refpeCting the recompence for his 
labours; and finally was indebted to the protection of 
the Englifli ambaffador for the privilege of quitting the 
country in 1712. After his return, he publilhed “The 
State of Ruflia,” 8vo. 1716. In 1721 he was employed 
in flopping the alarming breach of the embankment of 
the Thames at Dagenham, which he fuccefsfuily per¬ 
formed, and of which he publiftied an “Account” in 
1721, 8vo. He was alfo confulted about improving the 
harbour of Dublin, and printed an “ Anfwer” to home 
objections made to his plan. He died in 1733. Gen. 
Hi og\ 
PER'RY (James), a celebrated literary character, and 
long diltinguiflied as a public journalift of the higheft 
note for independence and political confiftency, was a na¬ 
tive of Aberdeen. His father was a builder, named 
Pirie. James was born on the 30th of OCtober, 1756; 
and received the firft rudiments of education at Chapel 
Garioch, of which parifli the Rev. W. Farquhar, father 
of fir Walter Farquhar, was minifter, and where, along 
with theyoungeft brotherof fir Walter, he received from 
that venerable and learned divine, the moft affiduous 
inftruCtion. The Rev. Dr. Tait, who lias long fince rifen 
to a dignified ftation in the church, was then mafter of 
the fchool of Chapel, and gave it celebrity by his erudi¬ 
tion and abilities. From this, Mr. Perry was removed 
to the high fchool of Aberdeen, which he went through 
with credit to himfelf, under the Meflieurs Dunn, then 
