CHA1\ CV.

COEYLA'-CliiE.

.fa'gus.

1963

in a most extraordinary manner; and by squirrels and dormice, which last,Evelyn says, “ harbouring in the hollow trees, grow so fat, that, in somecountries abroad, they take infinite numbers of them, I suppose to eat. Whatrelief they give to thrushes, blackbirds, fieldfares, and other birds, every bodyknows.” {Hunt. Evel., i. p. 137.) It is said greatly to improve the flavourof wild pigeons. In France , beech mast is much eaten by pheasants andpartridges; and turkeys and other kinds of poultry are fattened by it in avery short time. In Britain , the only use, at present, made of this mast isby turning swine, deer, and poultry, into beech woods, to pick it up ; but, inFrance , it forms a most important article of domestic consumption, formaking oil. Beech oil is considered not only excellent for burning in lamps,but also for cooking, and especially for frying fish. The French cooks put acrust of bread into the pan with the oil, which they take out when it is suffi-ciently hot to put in the fish. The oil fries a fine brown; and, if it burns, doesnot produce a disagreeable smell, like that of other oils. The forests of Euand of Crecy, in the department of the Oise , it is stated in the Nouveau DuHamel, have yielded, in a single season, more than 2,000,000 bushels of mast;and Michaux adds that, in 1779, the forests of Compiegne near Verberie ,department of the Somme, afforded oil enough to supply the wants of thedistrict for more than half a century. In some parts of France , the nuts areroasted, to serve as a substitute for coffee.

Mode of making Beech Oil. When required for the table, this oil is pre-pared with great care, and is thought very little inferior to that of the olive.The nuts are first cleared from their shells by shaking them in sieves, andthen winnowing them : they are next spread out to dry in some airy place, asthe least mouldiness or appearance of germination in the nut will spoil it.The best time for extracting the oil is between December and March. Thenuts are separated from their outer brown skin by heating in an oven, orbefore the fire, and then rubbing them with the hands; or by slightly bruisingthem in a mill, and then winnowing them. If labour is cheap, they may alsobe deprived of their inner skin, a very thin pellicle, which is very acrid. Whenblanched, they should, as soon as possible, be reduced into a paste by pound-ing them in a mortar, or by grinding them in a mill made on the principle ofa coffee-mill. In either case, the implements employed must be perfectlyclean, as the least particle of rancid oil will spoil the whole. Hot water isnot sufficient to clean them, but alkaline ashes must be employed; after whichthey must be rinsed several times with pure water. When the nuts are reducedto a paste, a little water is put to them, which may be either cold or warm,according to the quality of the oil required; and they are then put into per-fectly clean linen or hair cloths, and pressed very slowly, to prevent the oilfrom becoming clogged. When a very fine oil is wanted, cold water is used,and a low temperature ; but, where it is wished to obtain a greater quantity,warm water is used, and the press is kept in a moderately warm temperature.After the first pressing, the mass, or tourteau, as it is called in France , isagain bruised, and, more water being added, it is again pressed. The oil pro-duced by the process of warm extraction is about a tenth part of the weight ofthe nuts this oil is rendered very nearly, if not quite, equal in quality to that ofthe olive, by putting it into casks, or unglazed earthen vessels, and placing themin a cool cellar. At the end of two or three months, the oil is examined, anddrawn off into fresh casks or vessels, leaving a considerable quantity of muci-lage at the bottom. This process is repeated three times during the first year;after which the oil is put into Florence oil flasks, and buried in sand in acellar. The flasks should be always kept upright, and the oil drawn off fromthe mucilage which it will deposit into fresh flasks every year. Thus treated,it will keep 10 years, and improves by keeping, at least during the first S or6 years; beech oil, about 6 years old being reckoned the best. The tourteaux,or remains of the nuts, from which the best oil has been extracted, are givento swine, cows, and poultry, which fatten rapidly on them. A coarser oil, forburning, is made by grinding the mast without taking off the shells ; and the