273 
nations the 24th of December was the winter solstice, when on that and the fol- 
lowing day they celebrated the birth (as it were) of the new sun, the 24th being 
the last of the shortest days; so that we can readily perceive the natural con- 
tinuity of festive enjoyment when there was a certain amount of apparent corres- 
pondence with the several seasons under the old and new religious faith. 
In Fosbrooke’s Encyclopedia of Antiquities, quoting Danet, the author 
notes that ovens were invented by the Goddess Fornax, and were at first mere 
contrivances for roasting wheat before the way of grinding corn and making bread 
was found out; previously to which, as we well know, bread was made in the 
form of cakes baked upon the hearth, or flat plates or pans. Ovens, according to 
Suidas, were invented by the Egyptians ; at first they were small, but in process 
of time larger ones became adopted. The bakehouse became an important 
appendage to a Roman residence, and the principal families baked their bread at 
home, at first upon heated stones and afterwards in ovens. The ancient Jews, in 
common with other Eastern nations, adopted the custom of baking in pans. In 
Leviticus ii., 5 to 7, we find reference to this mode of baking in the expression, 
‘Tf thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan ;” and again, “If thy oblation 
be a meat baken in the frying pan.” Parkhurst in his Hebrew lexicon informs us 
that the Hebrew word (lebebut) pancakes is derived from the word (lebeb), which 
signifies to move or toss up and down; and in illustration quotes the passage, 2nd 
Sam., xiii., 6 to 8, where, in recording the circumstances of Tamar, the daughter 
of David, and her brother Amnon, it is said she took the dough or flour and 
kneaded it, and made cakes, or rather tossed it in his sight, and did bake the 
cakes, which would mean no other than that she tossed and turned the cakes in 
the pan during the process of baking. 
Dr. Shaw informs us in his travels among the Bedouin Arabs, that their 
bread was made into thin cakes, baked either on the coals, or else in a shallow 
earthen vessel like a frying pan, and was the same kind of vessel as mentioned in 
Leviticus ii. 5. 
This account of baking in the East has been noticed by Dr. Pococke, Sir 
John Chardin, and other Eastern travellers and writers. 
Dr. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, quoting Dr. Shaw’s 
Travels, states that some of the Arabians had in their tents stones or copper 
plates made for the purpose of baking, and that Dr. Pococke had similiarly 
observed iron hearths used for baking their bread. The Dr. further states that 
Sir John Chardin described these iron plates as commonly used in Persia, and 
among the wandering people dwelling in tents, as being the easiest way of baking. 
Thus we have, as it were, a connecting link with the pancake of the present 
day—a lingering illustration of the manners and customs of patriarchal times. 
The pancake of Shrove Tuesday was known among the Normans under the name 
of ecrespe or crispelle, and it was made with flour mixed with eggs, and fried in 
a pan. 
The fritter appears to be of latter date. Orange fritters are mentioned by 
some writers, and there was the apple fritter of the 15th century, known as the 
