In Europe, tar is extracted from the torch-tree2323 by the agency of fire; it is employed for coating ships and for many other useful purposes.2324 The wood of the tree is chopped2325 into small billets, and then put into a furnace, which is heated by fires lighted on every side. The first steam that exudes flows in the form of water into a reservoir made for its reception: in Syria this substance is known as “cedrium;”2326 and it possesses such remarkable strength, that in Egypt the bodies of the dead, after being steeped in it, are preserved from all corruption.2327