PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 
281 
ART. XLII.— PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. — No. XXIII. 
By Augustine Duhamel. 
Tar Beer. 
Of late there has been brought into use a new prepara- 
tion of tar under the various names of Jew's Beer, Wine of 
Tar, Balsam of Tar, and Tar Beer. Having become acquainted 
with it indirectly, I am unable to speak of its origin. I am 
not aware that any notice of its preparation has yet been pub- 
lished. As far as my information extends respecting it, it 
was first prepared here by a family in which pulmonary dis- 
ease threatened to carry off one of its members. Having ac- 
complished a cure in this case, its good effects reached the 
observation of a physician who, pleased with it, freely recom- 
mended it to a number of his patients afflicted with obstinate 
cough. Its use becoming more general, it finally reached the 
apothecary, in whom a readier means was found of obtaining 
it prepared, as properly belonging to his province. It is as 
follows: 
Put one quart, by measure, of Bran, 
One pint, " " Tar, 
Half pint, " " Honey, 
and Three quarts, " " Water, 
into a new earthen pipkin; let the mixture simmer overs 
slow fire for three hours, then remove, suffer it to cool, and 
add half a pint of yeast: after it has stood thirty-six hours 
strain, and it becomes fit for use. Dose, a wineglassful before 
each meal. 
The saccharine matter of the honey diffused through a large 
proportion of water and the presence of a fermental body, 
(the bran through its starch and gluten,) aided by an elevated 
temperature and contact of air, gives rise to the vinous fer- 
mentation, in the process of which a large quantity of tar is 
