Convalescents, sober persons who resisted the sweet seductions of Falernian and Chios wines, drank a kind of barley-water _ptisana_, a sorry liquid, of which the following is the recipe for the use of the abstemious of the present day. They placed barley in water, and left it there until it swelled; it was then dried in the sun, then beaten to deprive it of its husk, and ground. Then, when it had been boiled in water for a long time, it was again exposed to the sun. When they wished to drink barley-water, a small quantity of this flour was boiled, the water was strained off, and a few drops of vinegar were added.[XXVI-29] The disciples of Comus have always shuddered at this beverage, when only mentioned. The _oxycratus_ was not much better. It was a mixture of water and vinegar, with which the lower orders contented themselves when they could obtain nothing more exhilarating to drink;[XXVI-30] and with which the soldiers, especially in the camp, were compelled to quench their thirst.[XXVI-31] Some passages from Pliny, and also from other authors, prove that the ancients were acquainted with cider.[XXVI-32] It is, however, asserted that the use of this beverage goes no farther back than three or four centuries, either in England or France;[XXVI-33] but this cannot be a fact with regard to the last-named country, since the capitulars of Charlemagne place among the number of ordinary trades that of _sicerator_, or “cider maker.” This “wine of apples,”[XXVI-34] it is said, was very common among the Hebrews. That is possible, but it would, nevertheless, be difficult to prove it from the holy writings, since the word _schecar_, which has been translated by _sicera_, and which, again, has been rendered into cider, signifies all kinds of intoxicating beverage, whether made from grain, honey, or fruit.[XXVI-35] Gaul, covered with forests, and swarming with bees, possessed an immense quantity of wild honey, of which, by the aid of fermentation in water, the inhabitants composed a strong and intoxicating drink, called _hydromel_. This beverage, highly esteemed both in Rome and Greece, was prepared in the following manner: rain water was kept some time, and then boiled until reduced to one-third, to which honey was added.[P] This mixture was exposed to the sun for the space of forty days; it was then placed in a vessel, and by these means they obtained, in time, a vinous hydromel very similar to our Madeira wine.[XXVI-36] To make _oxymel_, still more heady, ten pounds of honey were mixed with two pints and a half of old vinegar, and one pound of sea-salt; the whole boiled only an instant in five pints of water. This liquor was left to get very old.[XXVI-37] Juice of quinces and honey, boiled in water, produced _hydromelon_, a delicious drink, which our century might envy the delicate drinkers of Athens and Rome,[XXVI-38] especially when roses had been added to this nectar, which changed it into _hydrorosatum_.[XXVI-39]