always the first drop of the brandy which they draw from the receiver to their God. The stick having been plunged into the receiver again, she squeezed it into the palm of her dirty and greasy hand, and after tasting the liquor, presented it to our lips." Another interesting account of the preparation of koumiss is given by John M. Wilson in the _Rural Encyclopædia_,[19] and it shows that the methods in use about the middle of last century did not differ materially from those which existed centuries before. Wilson says: "Khoumese is vinously fermented mares' milk. Any quantity of fresh mares' milk is put into wooden vessels; a sixth part of water just off the boil is mixed with it; an eighth part of old khoumese or of the sourest possible cows' milk is added; the mixture is kept from fifteen to twenty-four hours, covered up with several folds of coarse linen cloth and with a very thick board, and without being stirred or in any degree disturbed, in a moderately warm place till it becomes thoroughly sour, and sends up a thick mass to its surface; it is then beaten and pounded and stirred till the curd is not only broken, but so thoroughly mixed with the serum as to form a thick liquid; it next remains covered and at rest during twenty-four hours more, and it is finally put into a common butter churn and beaten and blended into a state of perfect homogeneity. It is now fit for use; yet it acquires an increase of given properties if it be allowed to stand for a few days, and either then or now it would, if distilled, yield nearly one third of its own bulk of a weak spirit which will bear to be rectified. Whenever it is used it must be previously so agitated that its component parts may be well mixed together, and it may be kept either in pans for immediate use or in casks for more remote use; and if placed in a cool cellar it will remain good during three or four months."