CENTURY IV. 157 



moisture ; but the inconvenience is, that it tasteth a 

 little of the wax : which, I suppose, in a pome 

 granate, or some such thick-coated fruit, it would 

 not do. 



319. The apple hanged in the smoke, turned 

 like an old mellow apple, wrinkled, dry, soft, sweet, 

 yellow within. The cause is, for that such a degree 

 of heat, which doth neither melt nor scorch (for we 

 see that in a greater heat, a roast apple softeneth and 

 melteth ; and pigs feet, made of quarters of war 

 dens, scorch and have a skin of cole,) doth mellow, 

 and not adure : the smoke also maketh the apple, as 

 it were, sprinkled with soot, which helpeth to ma 

 ture. We see that in drying of pears and prunes in 

 the oven, and removing of them often as they begin 

 to sweat, there is a like operation ; but that is with 

 a far more intense degree of heat. 



320. The apples covered in the lime and ashes 

 were well matured, as appeared both in their yellow 

 ness and sweetness. The cause is, for that that 

 degree of heat which is in lime and ashes, being a 

 smothering heat, is of all the rest most proper, for 

 it doth neither liquefy nor arefy, and that is true 

 maturation. Note, that the taste of those apples 

 was good, and therefore it is the experiment fittest 

 for use. 



321. The apples covered with crabs and onions 

 were likewise well matured. The cause is, not any 

 heat ; but for that the crabs and the onions draw 

 forth the spirits of the apple, and spread them 

 equally throughout the body, which taketh away 



