SWAY  20 
MOORE’S  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
iloiiifsiit  (Exoiioiud. 
FANCY  COOKERY. 
A  CORHE8PONPENT  wLo  signs  herself  “  Farmer 
Girl,"  iu  writing  to  the  New  England  Fainier, 
gives  some  excellent  hints  on  fancy  cookei*y,  to 
wit : 
Ilonsekcepors  who  do  them  own  work  avoid 
much  inconvenience  hy  ahvays  keeping  one  or 
two  kinds  of  jmstry  in  the  house  made  rich 
enough  to  keep  some  time,  so  that  if  unexiiected 
company  finds  them  with  a  small  stock  of  food 
(as  it  is  apt  to  do  In  warm  weather),  they  will 
not  have  to  cook  everything  for  a  meal. 
TART  CRUSTS 
ai-e  excellent  for  this  purpose,  as  tliey  look  nice 
on  the  table  and  are  relished  by  most  people 
better  than  cake.  Jly  the  following  ixile  they 
will  remain  good  many  mouths  in  a  place  dry 
enough  to  prevent  their  molding.  I  think  a 
cellar  would  bo  too  damp,  though  I  never  tried 
it,  having  always  kept  them  in  a  stone  jar  set  in 
a  cool  cupboard ;  unless  to  be  kept  a  groat  while, 
it  is  needless  to  make  tlicm  so  rich. 
With  one  pint  of  flour  use  one-half  pint  of 
lard,  a  pinch  of  salt  and  the  beaten  white  of  one 
egg.  adding  a  little  water,  if  any  licpiid  is  needed  ; 
roll  thin  and  out  in  rounds,  wotting  the  edge  of 
each  before  )>utting  on  the  rim.  which  is  made 
from  a  strip  of  dough  ent  one-third  or  one-half 
inch  wide,  set  up  edgewise  and  neatly  tlttod  on. 
Another  very  jjretly  way  of  malting  them  is  to 
take  two  round  ]necos  of  dough,  cut  tliree  or 
live  holes  in  thetn  with  a  thimble,  and  lay  it  on 
the  other  so  they  will  hold  together  flrmly  when 
baked;  when  wanted  for  the  table,  All  eatjh  tiny 
hole  mtli  jelly.  This  is  an  easier  method  than 
the  first,  but  not  as  good,  if  one  wishes  to  fill 
them  to  c.arry  to  a  levee  or  supper  away  from 
homo,  as  they  cannot  be  placed  one  upon  an¬ 
other  when  filled,  hke  those  having  high  rims 
around  them. 
OINQER  •  SNAPS 
are  another  kind  tliat  are  exccUout  to  keep.  A 
friend  told  mo  she  meant  never  to  be  without 
them ;  slie  had  kept  them  six  months  by  moving 
them  down  collai-  when  they  became  dr-y,  and  if 
they  grew  too  moist  there,  would  drj’  them  a  ht- 
lle  in  the  oven. 
Roil  two  cups  of  molasses,  and  when  slightly 
cooled,  add  one  cujj  of  lard,  pork  fat  or  butter, 
one  large  teaspoouful  of  soda,  and  some  ginger ; 
mix  hard  as  possible,  roll  thin  mid  cut  in  rounds. 
For  immediate  use,  they  are  good  enough  if  one- 
half  cup  of  water  is  added  to  tho  mixture, 
good  enough  when  beaten  but  a  moment.  One 
lady  who  makes  a  great  deal  of  sponge  cake  tells 
mo  she  beats  them  no  more  or  differently  than 
for  anything  else,  and  thinks  she  has  just  as 
goo^l  success  as  when  she  beat  it  a  long  time  and 
hail  a  lame  arm  for  several  days  afterward. 
Perhaps,  when  giving  direoUona  for  making 
tarts  and  puffs,  I  should  have  spoken  of  reserv¬ 
ing  a  portion  of  the  shortening  to  roll  in  after  it 
is  mixed  up,  as  it  is  possible  some  may  not  know 
how  much  more  flaky  that  makes  it. 
A  friend  who  makes  very  flaky  pie  crust  with 
but  little  lard  kindly  gave  me  what  she  tliinks  is 
the  secret  of  it.  She  mixes  a  little  lard  with 
floiir  and  cold  water  till  quite  stiff ;  then  rolls  it 
out,  spreads  on  a  little  lard,  sprinkles  flour  over 
it  and  folds  it  over  so  it  is  double ;  then  rolls 
out  and  spreads  on  again,  repeating  the  process 
two  or  three  times  ;  after  the  last  time,  instead 
of  rolling  it  up,  as  some  do,  she  fold.s  it  over 
once  or  twice  and  outs  the  pieces  for  usa  from 
tho  edge. 
Her  Idea  is  to  keep  the  layers  of  shortening  as 
near  horizontal  as  possible,  avoiding  mixing 
them  up,  as  one  does  in  molding  or  rolling,  and 
there  seoras  to  be  a  deal  of  reason  iu  it. 
POT -PIES. 
Admirino  your  noble  effort  to  help  M.  L.  B. 
over  her  difhculty  in  maluug  ginger-snaps  and 
o<x>kies,  and  I,  in  my  somewhat  short  expe¬ 
rience  in  hou.sokooping,  having  had  many  such 
grievances,  some  of  which  ai’o  still  a  source  of 
fa'ouble,  will  try  and  assist  yon  in  tho  art  of 
malting  those  “  puffy  crusts.”  Thoiigli  I  cannot 
do  it  as  spicily  as  your  instnictions  were  given, 
perhaps  not  wholly  because  I  am  not  dealing 
with  BO  spicy  an  article,  yet  if  yon  will  follow  my 
directions,  all  tho  “  Bells  '*  in  your  vicinity  will 
ring  merrily  when  you  bring  your  pot-pies  ou 
tho  table.  Hero  let  me  caution  you  against  two 
things.  They  are,  that  you  do  not  make  too 
many  of  tliein  at  one  Umo,  for  it  is  very  bad  In- 
deed  for  digestion  to  overload  tho  shmiach, 
though  tho  food  may  bo  light  and  wholesome  ; 
also,  if,  hi  ease  of  any  IndlspoBitiou  of  the 
“BoUs,”  you  should  have  any  left,  don’t  try  to 
soaro  tho  chickens  with  them,  for  tho  feathered 
creation  have  an  appreciation  of  good  food  as 
well  as  humans,  and  thereafter  it  would  be 
very  annoying  to  bo  continually  driving  chickens 
out  of  the  houso  during  tho  warm  weather, 
when  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  the  doors 
and  windows  open,  as  you  would  he  obliged  to 
should  they  discover  from  whence  such  a  luxm'y 
Bread  Hash. — Chop  any  kind  of  cold  meat 
I  fine,  scald  and  add  twice  as  much  dry  bread,  add 
butter,  salt,  pepper  and  sweet  cream ;  mix  thor¬ 
oughly  and  wann  np  well. 
Tho  four  following  are  furnished  by  iVEi's.  E. 
M.  Haven: 
Fried  Calces, — ^Two  cups  of  sugar,  one  pint  of 
cream,  two-thirds  of  a  enp  of  buttermilk,  three 
t’ggs.  one  teaspoonful  of  soda,  nutmeg,  a  little 
salt.  These  are  nice. 
OirtgiT  Cookies. — One  teacupfnl  of  butter  or 
lard,  two  cups  of  molas-ses,  two-thirds  of  a  cup 
of  water,  one  tablespoonful  of  ginger  and  one  of 
saleratus. 
Corn  Starch  Cake. — Ono  and  a  half  enps  of 
sugar,  one-half  cup  of  butter,  two-lhirds  of  a  cup 
of  com  starch,  two-thirds  of  a  cup  of  milk, 
whites  of  four  eggs,  one  and  a  half  cups  of  flour, 
witli  three  teaspooufuls  of  baking  powder ;  fla¬ 
vor  with  vanilla. 
Frost  Cnkv. — One  cup  of  sugar,  two  oven 
tablespoonfuls  of  butter,  seven  tablospoonfuls  of 
milk,  yelks  of  four  eggs,  one  and  two-third  cups 
of  flour,  one  toaspoonful  of  soda,  two  of  cream 
of  tartar;  bake  iu  layers  and  put  frosting  be¬ 
tween. 
Tho  following  come  to  ns  from  a  coiTespond- 
ont  in  Now  Jei’sey : 
Boot  Beer—(T?.  A.  Johnson). — Tho  following 
is  a  good  recipe  for  “root  beer:” — k  handful 
each  of  sweet  fern,  yellow-dock,  dandelion,  sas¬ 
safras  and  plantain  roots,  a  small  handful  of 
liops,  throe  or  four  sprig.s  of  hemlock.  B(jil  in 
two  gallons  of  water  until  tho  strength  is  ex- 
ti'acUnl ;  add  molasses  or  brown  sugar  to  suit  tho 
taste  ;  strain  ;  when  cold,  add  a  dissolved  yeast 
cake,  or  a  teacup  of  bakers’  yeast ;  cover  tight 
and  it  will  be  fit  for  use  in  twenty-four  hours. 
French  Bolls — One  pint  of  milk,  ono  small  cap 
I  of  liome-niade  yeast,  and  llniir  enough  to  make 
a  stiff  batter ;  raise  over  night ;  in  the  morning 
add  one  egg,  one  tahlespomifnl  of  butter  and 
tloiu'  enough  to  make  it  stiff  to  roll.  Mix  it  well 
and  Jot  it  raise;  then  knead  it  again,  roll  out, 
out  with  a  biscuit  cutter,  fold  over.  Sot  them  in 
a  warm  place  until  very  light ;  bake  quickly. 
[]imt 
APPLE  PUFFS. 
These  are  nice  for  party  suppers,  and,  in  fact, 
are  good  any  time,  but  rather  too  tedious  to 
make  for  freiiuont  use.  The  quickest  way  of 
making  them  is  to  roll  two  large  sheets  of  dough 
ou  separate  hoards,  and  put  as  many  tiny  spots 
of  mashed  or  siftwl  sauce  upon  one  of  them  as 
you  judge  Uu-re  will  be  room  to  make  puffs; 
then  cover  it  all  with  the  other  sheet,  which 
should  he  a  trifle  larger,  and  cut  out  with  tho 
biscuit  cutter  wherever  there  is  a  huncli  of  sauce. 
If  too  much  sauce  is  put  in,  it  will  stew  out 
badly  and  di.sflgure  them;  print  aroimd  them 
with  a  three-tined  fork  —  if  you  have  nothing 
better— to  press  the  edges  together  and  keep  iu 
the  juice. 
By  the  way,  an  old  womlen  clock  wheel  is  quite 
a  handy  thmg  to  roll  around  pies,  and  makes  a 
very  pretty  margin ;  cheap,  isn’t  it  ?  and  it  is 
never  out  of  order. 
NOTIONS. 
I  would  liko  to  ask  if  any  one  knows  a  sensible 
reason  for  tho  idea  that,  to  make  nice  cake  or 
pastrj',  the  butter  or  lard  sliould  not  be  melted, 
but  rubbeil  in  cold  with  tlie  hands  ?  My  mother 
(whom  1  have  seen  sit  half  an  hour  rubbing  a 
cup  or  two  of  butter  and  sugar  together)  has 
faithfully  labored  to  convert  mo  to  that  doc¬ 
trine,  but  as  she  can  give  no  reason  other  than, 
“  Old  cake  makers  would  tell  you  to  do  so,”  or 
“  Melting  tho  lard  for  liastry  makes  it  look  gray,’’’ 
I  am  still  an  unbeliever.  1  know  such  pastiV 
looks  more  gray  before  it  is  baked,  but  can  see 
no  reason  why  it  should  aftei-,  if  the  gi-ease  is 
merely  warnied  wiough  V  melt  it.  and  expe¬ 
rience  convinces  mo  it  does  not ;  though  perhaps 
if  it  were  potired  very  hot  upon  flour  or  beaten 
eggs,  It  miglit,  by  partially  cooking  them,  affect 
the  color  or  quality  when  baked.  I  can  never 
think  it  other  tlnu  a  foolish  waste  of  time  and 
strength  to  work  half  an  hour  or  more  on  dough 
wliicb,  had  tho  shortouiug  been  wanned  a  little, 
would  have  nnxed  equally  as  well  in  about  tw'o 
minutes. 
Another  foolish  whim  is  indulged  in  by  some 
when  making  sponge  cake.  I  refer  to  tho  prac¬ 
tice  of  beating  whites  and  yelks  of  eggs  sepa¬ 
rately  until  they  are  a  stiff  froth  and  one’s  body 
and  jwtienee  arc  well  nigh  exhausted.  By  the 
old-fashioned  method  this  was  undoubtedly  nec¬ 
essary.  us,  no  cream  of  tartar-  being  used,  tho 
hghtness  of  the  cake  de]reuded  upon  a  foamy 
condition  of  the  eggs  ;  but  with  cream  of  tartar-, 
as  most  people  make  it  at  the  present  time,  it  is 
Perhaps  you  have  been  taught  that  you  must 
not  raise  the  cover  of  the  kettle  while  they  are 
cooking.  Buoh  were  my  instructions  when  a 
Now  York  maid,  but  since  I  have  become  a 
Maine  matron  I  have  Ic.-vriied  better,  and  am 
dosirous  of  imparting  this  item  of  my  “Down 
East  ”  knowledgu. 
But  I  must  hurry  up  those  “  puffy  crusts," 
and  that,  too,  very  lightly  and  without  shorten¬ 
ing.  Proceed  in  the  ordinary  way  to  mix  the 
crusts  ;  then  see  that  you  have  a  good  fire,  so 
that  the  kettle  will  not  stop  boiling  when  the 
crusts  are  put  in  ;  then  be  sur-e  that  they  do  not 
co«jk  a  moment  after  they  are  done.  In  order  to 
know  when  they  are  done,  it  is  necessary  to  timi 
them  over  and  occasionally  break  one ;  this  can 
bo  done  with  a  fork,  without  detrimoiit  to  tliem ; 
in  fact.  I  am  of  Use  opinion  that  they  are  all  the 
better  for  turning.  Usually  from  sevon  to  ten 
minutes  is  ample  time  to  cook  them. 
Now,  my  dear  little  “Bell,”  when  you  have 
again  tried  your  Mldll  in  making  pot-pie,  let  us 
hear  of  yom-  success  tiu-ough  the  Ritrai,,  and  if 
you  do  not  acknowledge  that  the  siu-rouudiug 
*‘BoUe”  ring  meriily,  the  heart  of  at  least  one 
Roed  ”-ei-  will  be  amazed. 
Gardiner,  Me.  Esthbr  P.  Rekd. 
■ - ♦-VV— - 1 - 
ORIGINAL  RECIPES. 
M.  A.  Bailey,  Onondago  Co.,  N.  Y.,  contrib¬ 
utes  the  five  following  recipes  : 
My  Ginger  Snaps.— k  cup  of  butter,  a  cup  of 
molasses,  a  teasjwonful  of  soda,  a  teaspoonful  of 
cloves,  two  tablespoonfuls  of  ginger,  an  egg  ; 
mix  very  soft. 
Mg  Gingerbread.— k  cup  of  water,  a  cup  of 
molasses,  six  tablespoonfuls  of  melted  butter, 
one  and  a  half  cups  of  flour,  a  teaspoonful  of 
Soda,  two  of  cream^of  tartar,  two  of  ginger ;  bake 
very  quick. 
Mrs.  Jones'  Gingerbread.— k  cup  of  bntter- 
milk,  two  of  molasses,  foui-  even  teaspooufuls  of 
soda,  six  tablespoonfuls  of  butter,  two  of  gin¬ 
ger  ;  mix  as  soft  as  it  can  be  rolled  out ;  bake  20  ' 
minutes. 
Fruit  Cake  Without  Fggs. — A  cup  of  mo¬ 
lasses,  one  of  sugar,  one  of  butter  (beat  till  tho 
butter  is  molted),  two  tablespoonlnls  of  cloves, 
four  of  cinnamon,  a  nutmeg,  a  coffee  cup  of 
chopped  raisins,  one-third  of  a  cup  of  citron,  a 
teaspoonful  of  soda,  a  cup  of  sour  milk,  one  and 
a  half  pints  of  flour ;  bake  one  hour. 
MEDICAL  FASHIONS. 
It  is  a  trite  old  saying  that  “  ono  might  as 
well  be  out  of  tho  world  as  out  of  tho  fashion,” 
and  it  seems  to  be  getting  more  true  every  day. 
Tho  latest  phase  of  this  mania  is  in  “  medical 
fashions,”  wliich  is  elaborately  ti-cated  by  a  con¬ 
tributor  to  tJie  Atlantlo  Moutlily.  From  his  ex¬ 
tensive  lucubrations  on  the  subject  wo  condense 
a  few  of  the  moro  salient  points. 
The  aiiciinilH  bad  their  musical  medicine,  as 
well  as  tlioir  unguents  and  baths,  their  purgings 
and  fastings,  then-  bloodletting  and  their  lielle- 
boro ;  the  Middle  Ages  had  their  metuiihysioal 
medicine,  as  well  as  their  mummies  and  their 
magnets,  their  amnJots  and  thou-  salves,  then- 
antimony  and  their  mithiidatics ;  while  to-day, 
contemporary  with  orthodoxy,  homa-.opathy  and 
hydrojiathy,  wo  have  tho  medicine  of  clairvoj-- 
anco,  a  sjjiritualistic  medicine,  and  a  nowsiiapcr 
medicino,  all  enacting  miraculons  cures,  and  all 
having  followers  most  prollUbly  tiumerous.  We 
know  more  about  anatomy  than  was  known  of 
old ;  we  know  more  about  patJiology ;  and  onr 
materia  medica  ranges  somewhat  more  ration¬ 
ally  over  a  wider  field  than  diil  that  of  the  past 
generation.  It  must  be  admitttd,  liowever,  that 
practice  is  as  imperfect,  uiagno-stio  as  bewildered, 
and  pharmacy  as  absurd  to-tlay  as  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Dioscoi-ides,  or  when  the  “  white  witches  " 
of  old  England  culled  simples  bcneatli  a  favor¬ 
ing  moon.  Disease  is  as  rife  now  us  it  was  then ; 
treatment  is  of  as  little  uflicacy ;  and  people  take 
as  many  medicines,  and  are  duped  as  grossly  and 
as  blindly  in  their  mad  pursuit  of  health,  in  the 
days  of  telegraphs,  railroads,  and  universal  suf¬ 
frage,  as  in  the  days  of  Theoplu-astus  and  Galen. 
The  remarkable  circumstanco  about  metlical 
literature  is,  that  its  authorities  stand  to-day  al¬ 
most  precisely  where  they  stood  in  the  first  ages 
of  medicine,  upon  the  vei-y  threshold  of  a  scionco 
into  which  they  cannot  enter,  but  where  each 
age  fancies  itself  to  have  safely  arrived.  The 
utmost  jiossible  action  of  medicine,  it  would 
seem,  is  to  inci-ease,  diminish,  or  in  some  way 
modify  the  motions  natural  to  the  viscera  with 
which  it  can  be  brought  in  contact,  an  effect 
which,  as  Montaigne  has  said,  there  are  a  thou¬ 
sand  simples  in  every  herb-garden  to  pnxiuce  j 
yet.  what  a  weight  of  materials  for  fostering  the 
diversity  and  adding  to  tlie  confusion  of  pres- 
scriptions,  do  the  shelves  of  our  apothecaries 
groan  under ! 
True,  the  suiierstition  iu  regard  to  tlioso  things 
id  notqnite  soaiiparoutasit  was  formerly  ;  drugs 
do  not  have  to  be  gathered  in  certain  stages  of 
the  moon  and  prescribed  aspect  of  the  stars,  nor 
approached  backward  with  aunointed  bodies ;  nor 
are  our  phai-macopaoias  so  full  as  those  of  th 
■t  aneients  wore  of  heterogenous  and  incompatiblo 
d  compounds,  such  as  that  Venetian  mitlu-idato 
which  was  made  np  of  two  hundred  anil  fifty  in- 
greilients,  ranging  from  aloes  and  red  oak  bark 
to  Oio  oil  of  live  swallows  and  the  moss  from  a 
human  skull. 
f  But  that  coi-taln  iucongrnitios  palpablo  to  the 
g  eye  have  boon  expunged,  Is  no  proof  that  the 
g  essential  superstition  wliioh  regulates  the  use  of 
sab.Htances  has  been  disponsod  with  hi  favor  of 
^  a  moro  rational  theory  of  practicn  oonsonant 
^  with  tho  demands  of  a  more  enlightened  ago.  On 
^  the  c.ontrary,  there  is  Just  as  much  sortilogcry  in 
physic,  just  as  much  wild  conjcctnro  and  hap¬ 
hazard  oxperimont  with  all  of  tho  products  of  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  in  an  insane 
^  pursuit  of  tho  impossiblo,  as  over  there  was. 
•  There  is  no  now  herb,  or  root,  nowadays  fresh- 
-  brought  to  notice  from  California  oi-  Australia, 
hut  tho  faculty  rnn  just  as  mad  about  it,  as  the 
IKipulaco  rnii  mad  after  the  well-advertised  now 
I  nostrum  in  tho  papers. 
It  is  a  nice  question,  in  many  oases,  i^rjiich  has 
*  done  tho  most  injury,  tho  disottso  or  remedy: 
‘  whether  cancer  or  tho  knife  produces  death  moro 
speedily;  whether  caloriicl  and  quinino  bo  not 
pretty  much  such  friends  to  tho  siek  man  as  La 
Pontaluo’s  good-natured  boar  was  to  tho  gar¬ 
dener,  whose  mouth  ho  crushed  while  trying  to 
brush  tho  flies  off  as  ho  slept.  It  is  an  equally 
iwo  question  to  detormin.o  whetUor  there  ever 
rcally  does  oceur  a  critical  period  iu  any  disease, 
when  the  direct  action  of  any  actual  medicino, 
per  se.  can  turn  hijek  the  wavering  life  from  tho 
Jaws  of  doatli  to  tho  flowery  meads  of  re-ostab- 
lisliod  health ;  or,  granting  the  possibility  of  such 
a  rare  occiu-renec,  do  w-e  not  rnn  ton  groat  risk, 
as  a  nilo,  to  be  ahlo  to  profit  by  it  ?  These  are 
nice  questions,  as  I  have  called  them,  nor  does  the 
present  condition  of  niedieiuo  offlitle  us  to  ex- 
liect  to  SCO  them  answered.  For  theso  reasons, 
among  many  others,  modicino  cannot  bo  called  a 
cioiu:e. 
It  must  not  1)0  supposed,  however,  that  tho 
doctor’s  oflico  is  to  hocomo  a  sinecure  hooauso  his 
drugs  arc  voted  rubbish  and  his  methods  false. 
On  tho  contrary,  wo  shall  need  him  quite  as 
mucli,  and  his  ailvfoo  will  bo  more  valuable  to  ns 
than  over.  He  will  not  have  it  in  his  power  to 
do  harm,  and  consequently  can  give  liis  undi¬ 
vided  energies  to  tho  pm-snit  of  good.  It  shall 
be  his  oflico  to  teai-.h  us  tho  fallacy  of  physio.  He 
shall  present  U)  oiu-  miuds  hi  all  its  horrid  array 
the  atrocious  enormity  of  medicine  as  once  it 
was  practiced,  and  so  shall  save  many  a  poor 
sufferer  among  ns  from  unconscious  suicidt-. 
Ho  shall  bo  our  vierpetual  beacon-light  against 
tho  iroii-boiuid,  inmiltigablo  load-stono  rock  of 
quaokcry,  where  so  many  fair  keels  Uo  untimely 
wrecked,  lu  flue,  ho  shall  become  to  us  tho 
oounturpart  of  tliat  invaluable  member  of  an¬ 
other  jirofossion,  known  as  tho  chambor-lawyor, 
a  quiet  man  of  skill  and  experience,  whoalxmnds 
with  all  the  wisdom  and  unction  of  portuient 
counsel,  and  who  never  takes  his  client  into 
coiu-t,  where  he  is  hound  to  lose,  no  matter  how 
his  case  is  decided. --yi’dicn/-d  Spenrer. 
- - — — 
POISON  IVY. 
Btranok  ailvico  sometimes  appears  in  our  ex¬ 
changes  iu  regard  to  poisonous  plants,  and  espe¬ 
cially  about  “rmison  ivy.”  If  what  is  called 
])oi8on  ivy  (which,  by  the  way,  is  not  an  ivy,  but 
a  species  of  sumac)  was  tho  only  plant  growing 
wild  likely  to  poison  a  person  by  contact,  we 
might  excuse  some  of  tho  misUkos  uhmIo  by 
writers  upon  this  snbjoct.  But  tho  facts  are 
that  tho  so-called  “  Ivy  ”  is  the  most  harmless  of 
the  two  virulent  species  found  iu  all  our  moist- 
woods  and  low  grounds.  Even  so  good  an  au¬ 
thority  as  Dr.  James  U.  White  writes  to  the 
Boston  Jledical  and  Biirgi-  . 
cal  Journal,  advising  “  all  (V . 
who  are  unacquainted  with 
the  iKiisons  of  ivy  to  avoid 
any  vine  or  bnsli  growing  ^  a 
by  roclts,  fences  and  wood- 
sides,  and  having  glossy 
leave.-!  arranged  iu  threes." 
Now  this  climbing  or  trail- 
ing  spccioH  of  sumac,  or 
poison  ivy  is  the  Bhus  K 
Toxicodendron,  and  ninety  persons  out  of  every 
hundred  can  haiuUc  it  with  impunity. 
Bat  growing  in  similar  localities,  and  frequently 
side  by  side  with  it,  there  is  another  species 
knoAvn  as  poison  elder.  Poison  sumac,  or  iioison 
dogwood,  is  botanically  tho  Bhus  cenenala,  which 
few  persons  can  handle  without  being  jioiaoned. 
This  vuulent  siiocics  is  not,  however,  a  “  vino 
having  three  loaves,”  but  a  shrub,  growing  ten 
to  twenty  feet  high,  witli  long  pmnate  leaves  of 
7  to  13  ovale  entire  leaflets,  rhinato  loaves 
are  those  which  have  small  leaflets  on  each  ^side 
of  tho  mid-rib,  as  shown  in  tho  accompatiying 
figure. 
Now,  whon  any  of  onr  readers  are  searching 
for  wild  plants,  or  fruits,  in  moist  grounds,  we 
would  warn  thorn  to  give  this  plant  a  wide  berth, 
if  they  are  at  all  susceptible  to  sumac  poison.  1 
