82 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
which are called “‘ Fav: dei mortei,” or beans of the dead ; this 
custom being a survival of an ancient pagan bean-eating rite. 
Also, a dish of them is left on the table all that night for the 
ghosts of the departed who may then be abroad. “The 
Bean plant,” says Dr. Thudicum, “ is interesting, and instructive ; 
its leaves droop at night, and expand again by day; thus there 
is perhaps some connection between the sensitiveness of this 
plant, and the fact that it eliminates a nutriment for brain, and 
muscles.” A pithy proverb teaches that ‘‘ A Bean at liberty 
is better than a comfit in prison;” whereat the prosaic Lord 
North drily remarked, he shouldn’t care to eat a comfit, out of 
prison. 
The Kidney, or French Bean, when cooked with its pod, is 
“haricot vert,” and when the seeds alone are served, either 
fresh, or after drying, they are “‘ haricots blancs.”” The amount 
of vegetable cellulose in the pod makes its digestion tedious, 
so that this is a wasteful form of food. The Scarlet-runner 
(Phaseolus multiflorus) is allied to the French Bean, and when 
stewed makes Turkish Bean. The broad Windsor Bean is 
Faba vulgaris. Both beans, and peas are more readily digested 
if lemon-juice is added to them in cooking, which presently 
becomes converted into an alkaline salt, and thus assists to 
dissolve the starches. Marrowfat Beans stewed are very 
nutritious, and easily digested. Pick over carefully, and wash 
one quart of these beans, and soak them in water overnight ; in 
the morning drain, add fresh cold water, and bring to the boil ; 
drain again, and turn them into a four-quart stone jar; put ina 
generous cup of butter, two large tablespoonfuls of Porto Rico 
molasses, two tablespoonfuls of salt, less than a teaspoonful of 
pepper, and fill the jar with boiling water. Put it in the oven, 
covering the jar with a tin cover; it must be cooked in a slow 
oven for eight or nine hours. The water should last until the 
beans are perfectly stewed, and when done there will be a good 
gravy left, about one-third of the depth of the beans in the jar; 
keep the beans covered for two or three hours whilst cooking ; 
serve, if liked, with Chili sauce. 
Beans and peas should be steeped in water overnight, or longer, 
and the water then thrown away. One of the best methods of 
cooking them is to stew them for about four hours ; they should 
be next mixed with bread crumbs, and poured into a buttered 
dish for baking in the oven; the liquid should be retained, and, 
