420 
Brimstone  in  Sicily. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      August,  1897. 
220  days  to  mature.  Seeds  retain  their  vitality  for  five  years,  and 
many  a  gardener  asserts  that  the  best  crop  is  obtained  from  those 
three  years  old.  They  say  that  new  seeds  produce  roots  which 
throw  off  too  many  branches  and  flower-stalks.  This  statement, 
however,  is  not  always  verified.  For  keeping  and  marketing,  the 
vegetable  may  simply  be  left  where  it  was  grown,  or  kept  buried  in 
the  earth  like  beets  or  turnips. 
I  am  aware  that  a  discourse  on  burdock  will  be  of  little  interest 
to  Americans  unless  it  contains  some  information  regarding  the 
mode  of  using  it,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  Japanese  cuisine 
differs  widely  from  the  American.  I  need  only  state  in  general 
terms  that,  after  their  skin  is  scraped  or  peeled  off,  the  roots  may 
be  sliced  into  long  strips  or  cut  into  pieces  of  less  than  an  inch  in 
length,  and  boiled  with  soy,  salt  or  Spanish  pepper,  to  impart  savor 
to  them  ;  or,  if  boiled  alone,  they  may  afterwards  be  browned  in 
sesame  oil,  which  of  itself  will  flavor  them.  Another  common  way 
of  cooking  them  is  to  scrape  off  the  outer  skin  and  cut  them  into 
pieces  about  2  inches  long,  then,  when  they  are  boiled  soft,  to  take 
them  out  of  the  pan  and  mash  them;  then  make  them  into  cakes 
much  as  you  treat  oyster-plants.  A  kind  of  salad,  though  not  un- 
cooked, is  also  made  of  them.  A  rather  unique  and  more  elegant 
process  consists  in  stuffing  the  roots  with  sea-eel,  and  boiling  them, 
after  dipping  them  in  a  preparation  containing  soy  and  pepper. 
Slices  of  Lappa  fried  and  eaten  with  some  condiments  form  one  of 
the  commonest  dishes  with  us.  The  roots  are  sometimes  pickled 
in  miso.  There  are  many  other  ways  of  preparing  this  valuable 
vegetable  for  table  use,  but  a  longer  description  would  be  interesting 
or  amusing  only  to  the  curious.  Each  country  has  its  own  taste  and 
national  cookery. 
BRIMSTONE  IN  SICILY.1 
Through  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  Ferd.  Bailer  &  Co.,  of  this  city,  I 
am  enabled  to  submit  the  following  statistics  of  Sicily  brimstone, 
which,  at  this  time,  when  the  Anglo-Sicilian  sulphur  trust  is  en- 
deavoring to  absorb  the  business,- will  be  of  special  interest.  The 
currency  quoted  is  not  the  gold  lire  to  be  estimated  at  5*18  to  the 
dollar,  but  that  of  paper,  the  average  value  of  which  for  the  period 
covered  was  about  5-50  to  the  dollar. 
1  Consular  Report,  Vol.  54,  page  202. 
