168 OLD RECEIPTS VARIETIES. 



lows: gravel or drift-sand, unctuous loam, the rub- 

 bish of an old wall, or lime, a gallon of each should 

 lime be substituted for rubbish, a less quantity of 

 the former will suffice one pound of cummin-seed, 

 one handful of bay-salt ; mix with stale urine. In- 

 close this in jars, corked or stopped, holes being 

 punched in the sides, to admit the beaks of the 

 pigeons. These may be placed abroad. 



Many fanciful and groundless tales may be found 

 in old books relative to the MEDICINAL and REME- 

 DIAL properties of almost every part of the pigeon ; 

 thus much, however, may be relied on : their flesh, 

 when young and in good condition, is a nourishing 

 and stimulant diet; that of the full-aged pigeon 

 more substantial, but harder of digestion, and, in a 

 considerable degree, heating. The general rule of 

 colour affecting quality in the flesh, holds good in 

 tame pigeons. The black and dark feathered are 

 proportionally dark or brown fleshed, of high 

 flavour, inclining to the game bitter of the wild 

 pigeon. The light colour in the feathers, denotes 

 light and delicate flesh. Their DUNG is of an ex- 

 tremely heating and drying quality, whether as a 

 manure, or for medicinal purposes. It was, in for- 

 mer days, a principal ingredient in nitre-beds, when 

 that article was almost entirely manufactured at 

 home. 



CARRIERS, HORSEMEN, and DRAGOONS, are travel- 

 lers or messengers, and I have occasionally seen 

 TUMBLERS turned off, at the distance of forty miles 

 from home. The carrier, it is said, has performed 

 a journey of forty miles in an hour and a half, and 



