"Take of tar, two pints; water, a gallon. Mix, stirring with a wooden rod for a quarter of an hour; then, after the tar shall have subsided, let the liquor be strained, and preserve in well-corked bottles."

Water readily dissolves a portion of tar; and is impregnated with empyreumatic oil, a small portion of resinous matter, and acetic acid, the components of the tar. The solution has the colour of Madeira wine, and a sharp, empyreumatic taste.

Medical properties and uses. - Tar water is stimulant and diuretic; but, as a diuretic, its operation requires to be aided by bodily exercise. It may prove useful in scurvy, and some cutaneous diseases; but the reputation which it obtained on the faith of the judgment of the worthy Bishop of Cloyne1 has long since been lost. It is now scarcely ever employed. From O j. to O ij. may be taken in the course of a day.