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178
DRINKS:
Kirsch,
Kirschwasse7%
or
Kirschenwasser,
or
cherry
water,
is
the
genuine
drink
of
the
Black
Forest.
The
head-quarters
of
this
Hqueur,
as
Griesbach
and
Peters-
thai
in
the
Reuch
valley,
are
rich
in
cherry
trees
of
the
Machaleb
variety.
H.
VV.
Wolff,
in
his
Rambles,
rises
into
an
almost
poetic
description
of
its
virtues.
"
It
is,"
he
says,
referring
to
the
Black
Foresters,
*'
their
general
stimulant
and
comforter,
their
consoler
in
grief,
their
promoter
of
conviviality,
their
safety
valve
in
trouble
or
excitement."
After
this,
little
can
be
added
without
the
danger,
or
rather
the
certainty,
of
bathos.
When
genuine
—
for
alas,
it
shares
the
com-
mon
fate
of
drinks,
adulteration
—
it
is
said
to
be
ardent
and
slightly
poisonous.
In
other
words,
it
contains
"
that
excellent
stomachic,
hydrocyanic
acid."
Of
late
the
Black
Foresters
have
rivalled
the
Servians
in
a
spirit
distilled
from
wild
plums.
Stollberg
thinks
Kirschenwasser
in
no
way
inferior
to
the
spirit
made
from
corn
at
Dantzic,^
and
others
hold
it
equal
to
the
Dalmatian
Maraschino.
The
liqueur
is
also
made
in
Germany,
France,
and
elsewhere.
Pomeranzeny
or
Pomeranzen-
JVasser,
somewhat
resembling
our
orangeade,
is
principally
drunk
in
Northern
Germany.
Raspail
was
originally,
as
many
other
liqueurs,
medicinal,
and
was
so
called
from
the
name
of
its
inventor.
Mariani
has
made
an
Elixir
a
la
coca
du
Pirou,
This,
like
Raspail,
is
an
agreeable
tonic.
Vermuth
^
is
composed
of
white
wine,
angelica,
absinthe,
and
other
aromatic
herbs.
1
Stolber^s
Travels,
i.,
146.
2
Germ.
Wermuth,
absinthe
or
wormwood,
plant
of
genus