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234
DRINKS.
an
essence
or
fluid
extract
procured
by
boiling
the
shoots,
tops,
bark
and
cones
of
the
Scotch
fir
[pinus
sylvestris).
Spruce
beer
is
supposed
to
be
of
much
medicinal
value
as
an
antiscorbutic.
Samuel
More-
wood
presents
us
with
a
gratifying
reflection
on
this
matter.
While,
he
says,
Spruce
is
beneficial
to
the
health
of
man,
it
has
not,
by
its
"
consequence
depre-
ciated
his
character,
or
lowered
him
in
his
moral
dignity."
Tartary.
The
beer
to
be
met
with
in
Tartary
is
for
the
most
part
of
an
indifferent
quality.
That
brewed
from
barley
and
millet
by
the
Turkestans,
termed
baksoum,
more
resembles
water
boiled
with
rice
than
beer.
They,
however,
admire
it,
and
affirm
that
it
is
an
in-
valuable
remedy
for
dysentery.
The
reader
will
have
already
perceived
that
it
is
a
cosmopolitan
practice
to
pamper
the
appetite
under
the
pretence
of
preserving
the
health.
Baksouju
is
acid
in
taste,
of
no
scent,
a
feeble
intoxicant,
and
cannot
be
kept
for
any
length
of
time.