THE OLIVE 123 



olives plucked before perfectly mature. Other grades are 

 manufactured from whole olives at other stages or conditions, 

 or from the already pressed pulp thrown into boiling water, 

 from which the fat is skimmed, and some of the lower 

 grades (for Castile and other soaps, etc.) are procured by 

 certain processes of fermentation. 



It is a matter of medical history that olive oil is nourish- 

 ing, fattening, laxative, and easily digested; that it is 

 soothing to the stomach and intestinal tract and lessens 

 the harmful effect of acrid poisons or other harsh fluids. 

 It is one of the greatest beautifiers known, a cupful each 

 day building up the whole system, toning the nerves, and 

 making the flesh firm — the skin soft. It is a soothing 

 and relaxing food for the skin; in some countries is 

 thought (so applied) to be a preventive of the plague and in 

 the earlier stages of the disease to sometimes even cure it. 



For culinary purposes it is in salad dressings that olive 

 oil gives the artistic and gastronomic effects that tend 

 toward health (when combined with sufficient simplicity) 

 and enriches the blood. (For proportion and combination 

 for salads see Introductory Recipes.) 



The plum-like fruit of the olive when unripe and un- 

 pickled is not pleasing in flavour, resembling a combina- 

 tion of pepper, salt, and vinegar, with a peculiar acrid touch. 

 But pickled the olive becomes with most people a much 

 desired article of diet, acting as a spur to the palate as well 

 as being a source of nourishment and by some claimed 

 to assist in the digestion of other foods. (For Imitation 

 Olives see Index to Plums.) 



Olive wood is susceptible of an unusual polish which 

 brings out strange, beautiful spots and streaks of 

 cloudy black merging into green and yellow hues. The 

 leaves and bark were once supposed to possess qualities 

 similar to those of cinchona bark and the gum also was 



