A simple decoction of the tops, cones, leaves or even green bark and wood of these trees is an excellent antiscorbutic medicine; but it will, I am apt to think, become much more so when fermented, as in making spruce beer. By carrying a few bags of spruce or its extract to sea, this wholesome drink may be prepared at any time. But where it cannot be had the common fir-tops used for fuel in the ship should be first boiled in water, and the decoction afterwards fermented with molasses in the common method of making spruce beer; to which a small quantity of wormwood and horse-radish root (which it is easy to preserve fresh at sea) may be added. The juice of the cocoanut tree was experienced to be of very great benefit to several persons afflicted with the scurvy.
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