HOMINY. 401 
when she beheld the funeral of a young maiden who had died 
from consumption, and decline :— 
“Tf they wad drink Nettles in March, 
And eat Muggins (Mugwort) in May, 
Sae mony braw young maidens 
Wad na’ be gang to clay.” 
HERRING (See Fisu). 
DRYDEN (in his Duke of Guise) has immortalized the Herring by 
a couplet descriptive of neutral persons or trimmers, belonging 
to no party, or sect, in particular, and without decision of 
character : 
** Damned neuters in their middle way of steering, 
As neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring.” 
Pepys (Diary, April 2nd, 1669) tells how “ his friend, Mr. Fowkes, 
did make him eat a pickled Herring, the largest I ever saw, and 
drink variety of wines till I was almost merry.” 
HOMINY. 
AMONGST various preparations of maize, or Indian corn, Hominy 
takes a useful place as a medicinal nutriment. It is the maize 
broken or split into a preparation of high nutritive value, contain- 
ing eight per cent. of proteid, and seventy-eight per cent of 
carbohydrates. Maize, though not used largely in this country, 
is literally the “ staff of life” in Mexico, and Natal. It is fully 
as nourishing as wheat in all its parts, except as to its mineral 
ingredients, whilst richer in fat than any cereal besides oats. 
The johnny (journey) cakes of North America are made of maize- 
meal unleavened. This cereal is readily digested in the human 
body, but its corn flour is little more than starch, because the 
proteid and fat have been washed away by alkaline solutions. 
Per contra, the maize itself as Hominy is highly supporting for 
brain workers, for persons whose daily avocations demand a 
considerable amount of physical exertion, and for sufferers from 
general dyspepsia. To dress this as a vegetable, soak the grains 
for several hours in cold water sufficient to cover them, then 
strain off the liquid. Empty the meal into a saucepan containing 
plenty of fast-boiling water, to which some salt (in the proportion 
of one and a half dessertspoonfuls to each half gallon) has been 
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