8 



POPULAR SCIEN"OE l^EWS. 



[JaKuary, 1889. 



Tall thriving trees confess'd the fruitful mould : 

 The reddening apple ripens here to gold. 

 Here the blue tig with luscious juice o'erflows, 

 With deeper red the full pomegranate glows : 

 The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear, 

 And verdant olives tioinMsh round the year. 



Here grapes discolor'd on the sunnv side. 

 And here in autumn's richest purple dved. 

 Beds of all various herbs, forever green, 

 In beauteous order terminate the scene. 



The ancients believed that many of their kitchen 

 garden plants possessed marvellous pow ers, curative 

 and otherwise, and because of their suppcsed vir- 

 tues, philosopher and poet vied with each other in 

 sounding their praises. The cabbage, for instance, 

 was adored b_\- the Egyptians, who raised altars to 

 it. Afterwards thev made it the first dish of their 

 repasts, and in this latter particular they were imi- 

 tated by the Greeks and Romans. Pythagoras and 

 several learned philosophers composed books in 

 which they celebrated the wonderful virtues of the 

 cabbage. The Greeks and Romans ascribed to this 

 vegetable the happy quality of preserving from 

 drunkenness, and the wi.se Cato believed it to be an 

 infallible cure for all disea.ses. He says, it is to the 

 use the Romans made of it, that they were able 

 during six haundred years to do without the assist- 

 ance of physicians, whom they expelled from their 

 territories. But the cabbage has long since lost its 

 high rank as a medicine, and l^een banished to the 

 kitchen, in obedience, no doubt, .to the common law 

 of change in this sublunary world. The lettuce, it 

 seems, has from time immemorial, occupied a most 

 important place in the kitchen garden. The opu- 

 lent Greeks were fond of the lettuce of Smyrna, 

 which they had served at the end of their repast. 

 In this custom the Romans first imitated them, but 

 later, they served this dish with eggs, in order to 

 excite their indomitable appetite. The narcotic vir- 

 tues of the lettuce attracted the notice of physi- 

 cians, and writers have mentioned it as a remedy 

 against wakefulness. 



The cucumber is another vegetable that has long 

 been known and esteemed. It was much enjoyed 

 by Eastern nations, and the Greeks were particu- 

 larly fond of the kind which came from the environs 

 of Antioch. They attributed to this plant extraor- 

 dinary qualities, and were of the opinion that it 

 protected all kinds of seeds against 'the voracity of 

 insects. But perliaps no one plant was more valued 

 by the ancients for medicinal purposes than was 

 garlic. They believed it to possess a sovereign power 

 against the greater number of diseases, and it was 

 considered easy to deprive it of its penetrating 

 odor by sowing and gathering it when the moon 

 was below the horizon. This plant was a god in 

 Egypt, and the food of the peasants in Greece. The 

 Greeks also used it as part of the food of their war- 

 riors, for they believed that it tended to in.spire 

 them with courage. But, notwithstanding the fact 

 that so much has been written in favor of this aro- 

 matic plant, it w as rarely used by Greek and Roman 

 cooks. The horse-radish, also, was not prized by 

 the epicurean, and it was seldom eaten, even by the 

 poor, when anything else could be obtained. But 

 it was considered a remedj' for nearly all the e\ils 

 to which fiesh is heir. And if you would have the 

 l)ower to handle without danger the most poisonous 

 reptiles first wash your hands with a piece of the 

 horse-radish. Parsley, fable hath it, was the food 

 of Juno's coursers. The poet celebrated it as the 

 emblem of joy and festivitj", and a crown of par.s- 

 ley was given as the prize of the Xeinean and Isth- 

 mian Games. In battle the warriors of Homer fed 

 their coursers upon it, and Melancholy, taking it 

 for the symbol of mourning, admitted it at the dis- 

 mal repasts of obsequies. When it was eaten, it 



was prepared in the following manner: — Boil the 

 parsley in water with nitre, press out all the water, 

 cut it very fine ; then mix with care some pepper, 

 alisander, marjoram and onions ; add some wine, 

 gravy and oil ; stew the whole with the parsley in 

 an earthen pot or stewpan. Endive was recom- 

 mended by the ancients to be made into salads for 

 the enjoyment of the fastidious. We are told, how- 

 ever, by Pliny, that the piece of this plant mixed 

 with vinegar and the oil of roses is an excellent 

 remedy- for the headache. 



The melon is a delicacy that has always been 

 appreciated by the European nations, and also by 

 the inhabitants of the East. They were especially 

 favored by the Romans, and the Emperor Tiberius 

 is said to have melons served to him every day the 

 yearthrough. In order to add to the natural flavor 

 of the melon, the Greeks had a way of placing them 

 in vessels filed with rose leaves, with which they 

 were afterwards sown, 'i'hey thought that In so 

 doing the melon became impregnated with the 

 sweet emanations of the rose. But. aside from its 

 delicious flavors it was prized by the Greeks and 

 Romans for its very beneficial effect upon the stom- 

 ach and head. The (ireeks ate the melon with a 

 little sugar or salt and pepper, but the Romans add- 

 ed a sharp, savor\- sauce. 



Among the many other kitchen garden plants 

 prized by the ancients, not only for culinary uses 

 but because of their purely medicinal powers, were 

 purslane, hyssop, wild thyme, leeks, and onions. 



Although the Greeks devoted time to research 

 concerning the qualities of the.se useful vegetables, 

 it was the Romans who were especially fond of le- 

 guminous plants. Their enthusiasm in this direc- 

 tion went so far that illustrious families <lid not dis- 

 dain to borrow names from them, and thev are said 

 to have invented most astonishing ragouts of mush- 

 rooms and pot herbs. An interesting fact relative 

 to the kitchen garden is told by a writer under date 

 of 1548. He says. ■■ The English cultivated scarce- 

 ly any vegetables before the last two centuries. At 

 the commencement of the reign of Henry VIII.. 

 neither salad, nor carrots, nor cabbages, nor rad- 

 ishes, nor any other comestibles of a like nature 

 were grown in any part of the kingdom : they came 

 iroin Holland and Flanders." So, by this, we .see 

 that this country which is so abundantly furnished 

 with vegetables today, had formerly to borrow from 

 foreign countries. 



COFFEE MAKING. 



IIV EI'HRAI.M t'UTTKR. ,M. I). 



The facility with which burnt and finelv ground 

 coffee parts with its virtues, by displacement, to hot 

 water is something wonderful. The progress with 

 coffee is more rapid and thorough than the process 

 of a solution of most salts, or of almost any botan- 

 cal specimen used in pharmacy. The displacement 

 process is largely employed iji pharmacy and in 

 leaching bark for tanner's use. Each drop of water 

 acts like a bucket in a wheat elevator. As each 

 drop becomes .saturated with inconceivable rapiditv. 

 if the filter is permeable, it settles by its own weight 

 and is followed by other drops which saturate with 

 like celerity and descend to join the other drops, so 

 that in the space of thirt\ seconds a good cup of 

 coffee can surely be had every time. 



The French were the first to u.se this process for 

 coffee, and they excel in the art of extracting a good 

 cup of this drink. My attention having been di- 

 rected to the adulteration of foo<l. it lias seemed to 

 me that the contact of coftee with metallic recepta- 

 cles is objectionable on account of the chemical 

 products made by the coffee with the iron, lead. tin. 

 I'^.'c. of the reci'ptacle. Especially was 'this objec- 

 tion enforced b\ an examination of okl metallic cof- 



fee pots that leaked from the solution and loss of 

 their substance, particularly at the soldered joints 

 which make galvanic batteries when excited by the 

 coffee solution. 



Perhaps this is over nice, but when cotton cloth 

 or non-metallic receptacles for making coftee are 

 cheaper than metallic ones, there seems to be no 

 reason why the\ should not be preferred, and thus 

 avoid the risks of drinking up one's coffee pot in 

 time. It is cott'ee, not salts of tin. iron, lead. &c., 

 that is wanted. 



Troubles come last enough. Init there is no use of 

 inviting them to come in coft'ee. when it is cheaper 

 and more satisfactory and time saving to dispense 

 with them at the outset, by using a combination of 

 earthen ware and cotton. 



This may seem a small matter, but it is not when 

 one considers how few people make good coffee In 

 the conventional methods in use. and how import- 

 ant this matter of food is to tlie welfare of the race. 

 A cup of good coft'ee in the morning — best without 

 sugar^makes the heart glow with strength, and is 

 of itself a good beginning of any day. 



Poor coft'ee is inexcusable now that it is only nec- 

 essar\' to have good coft'ee grains, burnt, roasted, 

 and very finely ground, by being run twice or thrice 

 through the mill, put into a cotton filter suspended 

 in an earthen ware coft'ee pot. and boiling water 

 poured over it. The cott'ee is then ready to use. 



My wife thinks that coffee is saved by this process. 

 Of cour.se care should be taken to have the filter 

 cleaned and dried after use, and new ones substi- 

 tuted from time to time. The coft'ee is made on the 

 table at the time of using. To physicians and 

 those exposed to the action of the weather, such a 

 device is a boon as it is so easy to manage, and so 

 sure in its action. The directions oi' Count Rum- 

 ford, given for coffee-making about one hundred 

 years ago, are fresh and crisp as if written yester- 

 day. It seems as if this was deemed by him a mat- 

 ter of importance. Besides, he taught the preference 

 of earthenware coft'ee'pots. Had he only put a cot- 

 ton bag in place of his finely perforated china dia- 

 phragm we could not boast of any advance on him 

 for the past 100 years. — I'ro.m Food in Moiheilwmi. 

 BY TiiK Author. 



Bro.vdwav. New York. Xnr. iSSS. 



GLEANINGS. 



Hogs. — To keep a hog in proper condition, it is 

 estimated that it takes about one and three-fourths 

 per cent, in corn of the live-weight of a pig of a 

 hundred pounds, and two and three-fourths per 

 cent, of the whole of a hog of two hundred and fifty 

 poLUids. 



-\ Drop of Ink is suflicient to w rite from 100 to 

 500 words, according to the fineness of the pen. and 

 the handwriting. The average writer puts 150 writ- 

 ten words on a page of note-paper, or 2J5 on a page 

 of foolscap, and in an hour uses about five drops of 

 ink, writing from 1,000 to 1.500 words, while his 

 pen travels about an eighth of a mile. 



Soil tor Str.\wberries. —if the land will grow 

 a fair crop of potatoes or corn, it is not necessary to 

 put on any fertilizers to secure a good crop of straw- 

 berries from the plants next season, as the compost 

 or phosphate can he put on late in the fall or the 

 next spring: in fact, we would prefer to get the land 

 in good tilth, .set the plants and give them gootl cul- 

 tivation, and as time can be had after they are set, 

 scatter a little phosphate around each plant; and in 

 the fall put what fine manure you can get around 

 tlurn. If the land is very poor, plough furrows 

 where the plants are to come, and scatter in the bot- 

 tom of these furrows the phosphate, sav a pint or :i 

 quart to a ro<l. and <>\ er this set the plants. 



