450 
THE  TRADE  IN  LIQUORICE. 
According  to  the  experiments  of  Overbeck  and  others,  the 
better  sorts  of  liquorice  contain  from  twenty  to  forty  per  cent, 
of  foreign  substances,  which  remain  behind  as  sediment,  some  of 
the  lower  qualities  having  as  much  as  eighty  per  cent. ;  hence 
it  would  seem  that  the  manufacturers  add  some  powder  to  the 
liquorice  in  order  to  keep  it  dry.  Besides  the  proportion  of 
soluble  extract,  the  color  and  taste  may  also  serve  as  tests  for 
the  quality  of  commercial  liquorice.  The  solution  of  some  in. 
ferior  qualities  is  dark-colored  and  sooty,  and  the  sediment 
blackish-brown  ;  whilst  that  of  the  better  qualities  is  light-brown, 
and  can  easily  be  extracted.  The  best  sorts  of  liquorice-juice 
from  Calabria  are  obtained  from  Martucci,  Ferrara,  and  Cas- 
sano,  provided  with  their  stamp  ;  these  sorts  contain  62  to  67 
per  cent,  of  soluble  extract,  and  17  to  26  per  cent,  of  insoluble 
dry  residue. 
Two  species  of  Glycyrrhiza,  or  liquorice,  have  been  employed 
on  account  of  the  sweet  underground  stem,  called  liquorice-root: 
these  are  6r.  glabra,  common  or  smooth  liquorice  ;  and  Gr. 
echinati,  echinate  podded  liquorice.  The  rhizomes  furnish,  on 
decoction,  a  dark-colored  extractive  matter,  containing  a  large 
proportion  of  sugar.  This  is  inspissated  by  boiling  to  a  consist- 
ency for  rolling  into  paste,  when  it  is  wrapped  in  bay-leaves, 
and  put  into  small  boxes  of  a  half  to  one  cwt.  for  confectionery 
purposes,  commonly  known  as  Spanish-juice,  or  Solazzi. 
The  root  of  this  plant  is  the  useful  part,  being  replete  with 
a  sweet,  balsamic,  pectoral  juice,  which  is  either  extracted,  or 
the  wood  sold  in  substance.  It  is  much  used  in  all  compositions 
for  coughs,  sore  throats,  and  as  a  demulcent  pectoral ;  but  by 
far  the  greatest  quantity  is  used  by  brewers.  The  common 
liquorice  is  cultivated  in  most  countries  in  Europe  for  the  sake  of 
its  roots,  but  in  Spain  and  Italy,  and  particularly  in  Sicily  and 
Calabria,  it  makes  a  considerable  article  of  commerce  with  this 
country.  In  Calabria,  liquorice  is  chiefly  manufactured  and  ex- 
ported from  Corigliano,  Rossano,  Cassano,  and  Palermo.  The 
Calabria  liquorice  upon  the  whole  is  preferable  to  that  coming 
from  Sicily,  and  the  Italian  paste  to  that  coming  from  Spain. 
Liquorice  also  grows  in  great  abundance  in  the  Levant.  The  boil- 
ing requires  the  utmost  care  and  precaution,  as  the  juice  takes 
an  unpleasant  smell  and  flavor,  if  burnt  in  the  least  degree. 
