Tar water
Encyclopedia
Tar-water is a Medieval medicine consisting of pine tar
Pine tar
Pine tar is a sticky material produced by the high temperature carbonization of pine wood in anoxic conditions . The wood is rapidly decomposed by applying heat and pressure in a closed container; the primary resulting products are charcoal and pine tar.Pine tar consists primarily of aromatic...

 and water. It was foul tasting and so slowly dropped in popularity, but was revived in the Victorian era.

The use of the medicine is mentioned in Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....

, Chapter 2 by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

. Young Pip and his brother in law Joe were often force fed it by Mrs. Joe, Pip's elder sister, whether they were ill or not, as sort of cruel punishment.

The physician Cadwallader Colden
Cadwallader Colden
Cadwallader Colden was a physician, farmer, surveyor, botanist, and a lieutenant governor for the Province of New York.-Biography:...

 extolled the virtues of pine resin steeped in water. This concotion also was called "Tar water".

The philosopher George Berkeley
George Berkeley
George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...

 also lauded tar water in his tract Siris.
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