CHAP. XI.
¶ How to make all kinds of Pitch. The maner how Cedrium is made. Also, of thicke Pitch, how it is made; and in what sort Rosin is boiled.
THe liquid Pitch or Tar throughout all Europe is boiled out of the Torch tree: and this [unspec H] kind of pitch serueth to calke ships withall, and for many other vses. Now the manner of drawing Tarre out of this tree, is, to cut the wood thereof into pieces, and when they are piled vp hollow into an heape, to make a great fire within, as it were vnder a furnace, being clai∣ed without-forth: thus with the heate of the fire it doth fry and seeth again. The first liquour that sweateth and issueth forth runneth cleare as water, in a channell or pipe made for the pur∣pose, and this the Syrians cal Cedrium: which is of such force and efficacy, that in Egypt they vse to embalme the dead bodies of men and women departed, and keep them from putrefacti∣on. At the next running it is thicker, and this second liquor is very pitch. Howbeit this is cast again into certaine coppers or cauldrons of brasse, and together with vineger sodden a second time, vntill it come to a thick * 1.1 consistence: and when it is thus thickened, it taketh the name [unspec I] of Brutian pitch, good only for tuns, barrells, and other such vessels. Much like it is to the for∣mer pitch, but that it is more glutinous and clammy, redder also of colour, and more fatty. And thus much concerning the pitch made of the Torch tree.
As for that which comes of the pitch tree, the rosin thereof is drawne with red hot stones in certain vessels made of strong and thick oken planks: or in default thereof, the wood is clouen into pieces, and piled together after the order of a charcole hearth, & so the pitch boiles forth. The vse hereof when it is beaten into a kind of meale or pouder, is to be put into wine, and it is of a blacker colour than the rest. The same pitch-rosin, if it be boiled more lightly with water, and be let to run through a strainer, comes to a reddish colour, and is glewie: and thereupon it is called stilled Pitch. And for this purpose lightly, is set by the more grosse and faultie sub∣stance of the rosin, together with the bark of the tree. But there is another composition and ma∣ner [unspec K] of making of pitch, that serueth for heady wine, called Crapula. For the floure of the Rosin is taken green and fresh, as it distilleth from the tree, together with a good quantitie of small, thin, and short spils or chips of the tree plucked away with the same: the same are minced or shred so small, as they may passe through a sieue or a riddle: which don, all is put into scalding water, and there boileth vntill it be incorporate with the water. The fat substance that is strai∣ned and pressed from hence, is the excellent pitch Rosin, hard to come by, and not to be found in Italy, vnlesse it be in few places vnder the Alps, and very good it is in physick. Now to make it passing white, there must be taken one galon of the rosin, & sodden in two gallons of rain wa∣ter. But some think it the better way to seeth it a whole day together at a soft fire, without any [unspec L] matter at all, in a pan or vessell of Latton. Others there be likewise that boile Turpentine in a hot frying pan, and are of opinion, that this is the best of all others. And the next to it in good∣nesse is the Lentiske rosin, called Mastich.