568 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
natural cessation of the paroxysm, or merely as the effect of 
warmth. “ Pigeons are good for old men, and verie wholesome 
for them that bee phlegmaticke ; being boyled they are whole- 
some enough for all hot, and cholericke bodies, because the heat 
of them is tempered by the moysture of the water; they are 
most convenient for cold seasons. It is very good when you eat 
them rosted to stuffe them with sour grapes, or unripe goose- 
berries, and to eat with them the soure grapes, or berries, in 
the manner of a sauce, with butter, and a little vinegar also. 
The eating of Pigeons in the time of the Plague is much com- 
mended because they are thought to make men safe from 
infection; which thing verily is not repugnant to reason, for 
they breed a strong, hot, and somewhat thicke bloud ” (Dr. T. 
Venner). When Pigeons are fresh they have their full flavour, 
but it disappears entirely if they are kept after being killed 
for the table, and the slightest haut gout makes them useless 
for food. They should therefore be roasted as soon as they are 
received; and, if not used immediately, they should be kept 
in the roasted state cold, and be heated again when wanted. 
Stewed Pigeon is a useful dish for a delicate sick person; it 
admits of many variations, and is supreme with stewed young 
green peas. Tennyson tells of a certain toothsome, and 
tempting Pigeon pie, served at Audrey Court, during a pic-nic 
gathering :— 
** There on a slope of orchard Francis laid 
A damask napkin, wrought with horse, and hound : 
Brought out a dusky loaf that smelt of home, 
And, half cut down, a pasty, costly made, 
Where quail, and pigeon, leek, and leveret lay, 
Like fossils of the rock, with golden yolks 
Imbedded, and injellied ; last, with these 
A flask of cider from his father’s ,vats, 
Prime, which I knew; and some sat, and eat, 
And talked old matters over.” 
Pigeon’s blood has long been thought good for complaints of 
the eyes ; some drops of blood withdrawn from under a Pigeon’s 
wing, if let fall on a wounded eye, would cure the sore. 
PINE APPLE (and see Fruit). 
From the Ananas sativa, a native tropical tree in South 
America, the Pine-apple has been obtained. It is cultivated 
