500  Notes  on  some  Oriental  Plants,  etc.  {^"'•fcsy^s^''"' 
Hibiscus  esculentusy  called  Mpdmiis  by  the  Turks,  is  cultivated  in 
every  garden,  and  its  fruit  is  one  of  the  most  esteemed  in  the  Orient, 
being  used,  boiled  with  vv^ater,  w^ith  meat  and  many  other  dishes.  To 
preserve  it  for  use  during  the  v^^inter,  the  fruit  is  strung  upon  thread 
and  dried.    It  is  very  wholesome,  and  easily  digested. 
Melongena  is  the  fruit  of  Solarium  melongena^  and  commonly  employed 
like  the  foregoing.  It  is  nutritious  and  wholesome,  and  eaten  with 
meat  and  other  food.  Preserved  with  the  sugar  of  wine-must,  it  is  a 
very  excellent  sweetmeat,  usually  eaten  upon  bread.  When  cut  into 
slices  and  dried  it  may  be  kept  during  the  winter. 
Sesamum  orientate. — Benne-seed  is  extensively  used  in  oriental  coun- 
tries for  aromatizing  the  church-bread,  and  for  the  preparation  of  the 
renowned  chalha^  which  is  eaten  during  fasts  by  all  Orientals.  It  con- 
sists of  the  finely-powdered  benne-seeds,  which  are  mixed  with  honey, 
and  oftentimes,  also,  with  sugar. 
Rachat  lukumia. — This  name  is  given  to  some  oriental  sweetmeats, 
which  could  easily  be  introduced  in  other  countries  if  they  were  pre- 
pared by  confectioners  or  apothecaries,  since  they  may  be  regarded  as 
expectorant  and  soothing  remedies.  If  prepared  with  the  addition  of 
pistacia-nuts,  chocolate  or  almonds,  flavored  with  rose,  lemon  or  berga- 
mot,  and  colored  red,  they  are  delicacies,  and  are  well  adapted  for  des- 
ert. The  simple  lukumia^  which  form  the  base  of  the  more  complex 
ones,  are  prepared  as  follows :  A  syrup  is  made  from  5  pounds  of 
sugar  and  4  pounds  of  water  ;  this  is  clarified  with  egg  albumen,  and 
then  mixed  with  140  grams  of  wheat  starch  or  arrow-root  and  3  grams 
of  citric  acid,  the  latter  being  added  to  prevent  the  sugar  from  crystal- 
lizing. This  is  boiled  over  a  slow  fire  with  continued  agitation  in  the 
same  manner  as  jujube  and  marshmallow  paste,  until  the  mass  does  not 
adhere  to  the  fingers,  when  it  is  run  out  upon  a  marble  slab,  sprinkled 
with  sugar  and  powdered  starch,  and  cut  into  squares,  which  are  trans- 
parent and  soft.    After  eating  a  piece  a  glass  of  cold  water  is  drank. 
The  name  is  of  Turkish  origin,  rachat,  signifying  tranquility,  pleas- 
ure, and  lukumi,  something  which  is  readily  swallowed. 
