308 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
Pear-drops, and other sweetmeats; the said acetate-amyl 
essence being got as an ether from vinegar, and potato oil. 
Perry owns about 1 per cent of alcohol over cider, and a 
slightly larger proportion of malic acid, so that it is some- 
what more stimulating, and better calculated to produce the 
healthful effects of vegetable acids in the body. Pears were 
deemed by the Romans an antidote to poisonous fungi; and 
for this reason (which subsequent experience has confirmed) 
Perry is still reckoned the best thing to be taken after partaking 
freely of mushrooms. A time-worn maxim directs that after 
eating Pears wine must be drunk as a corrective, or else mischief 
may ensue: “‘ Apres le poire ou le vin, ou le prétre.” When 
Jersey Pears, or other such superior fruit, are gathered in the 
autumn, being fully grown, they are then woody, and acid, and 
unfit for food; but by being stored for one, two, or three months 
they become lusciously tender, and sweet; the woody fibre is 
converted by fermentation into sugar (as happens with ensilage), 
and the harsh acids are neutralized, the air having been excluded 
by the thick rind, whilst the fibre is closely packed. A crop of 
small Pears grown in Switzerland, which ripen in September, 
is made into the wholesome “ Birnen-bonig,” as found on every 
hotel breakfast table. ‘‘ Pear puddings” were fashioned in 
Shakespeare’s day, but not containing any Pears ; they consisted 
of cold chicken chopped up with sugar, currants, and spices, 
being moulded mto shapes like Pears. The statesman Hume, 
when at St. Stephens, never purchased food from the 
kitchen there, but took thither with him a pocketful of Pears 
as refreshment. The Pear tree loves a sunny house-front, 
some sweet old-iashioned country mansion with ancient gables, 
where the fruit may be reached through the lattice. 
The remedial constituent principles of other fruits available 
for curative purposes may be stated in brief thus: Much acid 
(citric, and malic) which is astringent, and helpful against 
sluggishness of the liver, as in the Cranberry, belonging to the 
Bilberry tribe. This is a small fruit, brilliantly red in colour 
when ripe; it makes a delightful jam, with a keen flavour, 
somewhat bitter, and useful as a tonic. There is likewise an 
aromatic acid in the Medlar (Mespilus germanica) whilst passing 
into the early stages of decay ; but this fruit when first gathered 
is hard, harsh, and uneatable. In Shakespeare’s As you like it 
occurs the passage, “ You'll be rotten ere you be half ripe; 
