PIGS. 77 



and when nearly boiling take it from the Are and add 

 gradually the yolks of four eggs which have been pre- 

 viously beaten with a lialf cupful of sugar; add the four 

 beaten whites, stirring them in lightly. Return this to the 

 fire and stir till it begins to thicken. Take once more from 

 (he fire, add the veriest speck of salt and a small half tea- 

 upoonf ul of v.nilla. tut the custard, a spoonful at a time, 

 upon the layer of crumbs— not to disturb them — and bake 

 until handsomely browned on top. Eat lukewarm or cold, 

 not hot. 



THE FIG. 



The fig-tree, noteworthy from the fact that it is the first- 

 luentioned in the Bible, belongs to a family both numer- 

 ous and widely scattered. Among its members are the 

 bread-fruit of the Pacific, the upas and the India-rubber 

 trees of Java, the banyan of India, and the mulberry and 

 Osage orange of the United States. 



Most highly prized of all is the fig-tree, the productions 

 of which form an important article of commerce from the 

 Mediterranean. They are dried in the sun and contain- 

 ing so mach grape sugar as to need ao other preservative. 

 This fruit flourishes only where the late sumaier is warm 

 and dry, so that the trees are of tin destroyed even in Florida, 

 where thej' form a characteristic portion of the landscape. 

 On the Pacific coast the fig flourishes unscathed, so that 

 the fortuuate planter there can literally sit under his 

 ovm vine and fig-tree, in southern localities, all the live- 

 long year. 



The fi<;'-tree was common in Greece during the Platonic 

 era, and, following the course of empire westward became 

 acclimated in all the warm countries of the world. Its 

 yearly yousumption is constantly increasing. Great Britain 



