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First, the writer touches, generally, never-to-be-forgotten suggestion of Mrs upon the advantage of "thin, spare Rundell-her immortal direction to prediet ;"-exposing how all beyond is vent the creaking of a door,-" Rub a "mere pitiable luxury;"-enumerating bit of soap on the hinges !"-This it is. the diseases consequent upon high liv- "To make your teeth white." ing; and pointing out the criminal acts "Take a little brick dust on a towel, and passions to which it leads;-evi- and rub them."-The mechanical acdently demonstrating, indeed, to the tion, (the reader sees) not the chemimeanest capacity, that no man can pos- cal: but potent notwithstanding. sibly eat goose, and go to Heaven.

Shortly after, he takes the question up upon a broader ground; and examines it as one of mere worldly policy, and of mere convenience. "The man who eats flesh, has need of other things (vegetables) to eat with it; but that necessity is not felt by him who eats vegetables only." If Leadenhall market could stand against that, I am mistaken.

The recipes for cheap dishes will no doubt (when known,) come into general practice; so they shall be given in the Saver of Wealth's own words. Here is one (probably) for a Christmas dinner.

"Take two spoonfuls of oatmeal; put it into two quarts of cold water, then stir it over the fire until it boils, and put in it a little salt and an onion. And this," continues our Economist, -"this does not cost above a farthing; and is a noble, exhilarating meal !" For drink, he afterwards recommends the same dish, (unboiled;)—and no form of regimen, it must be admitted, can be more simple, or convenient.

Now this man was, certainly, (as the phrase is,)" something like" a projector in his way. And it seems probable that he met with encouragement; for, passing the necessities, he goes on to treat upon the elegancies of life.

Take his recipe for instance,next,"for dressing (cleaning) a hat."

"Smear a little soap on the places of your hat which are felthy, and rub it with some hot water and a hard brush. Then scrape it with the back of a knife, what felth sticks; and it will bring both grease and soap out."-The book of this author is scarce ;-I suspect the hatters bought it up to prevent this secret from being known.

Only one more recipe-and really it is one worthy to be written in letters of gold;-worthy to stand beside that

But Mrs. Rundell deserves better than to be quoted, in aid,on an occasion like this; nay, merits herself to take rank, and high rank, among our public benefactors. Marry, I say, that the thing is so, and shall be so; for, even amidst all the press and crowd of her moral and culinary precepts,-even while she stands already, as a man may say, "in double trust," teaching us good life in one page, and good living in another; here,holding up her ladle against "excessive luxury," such as "Essence of Ham"-(praised be her thick duodecimo, but for which the world had never known that there was such a perfume ;) and, presently,pointing out the importance, and weeping over the rarity of such "creature comforts" as strong coffee, and smooth melted butter ;— ever and anon, even amid all these complicated interests, the kind lady finds room to edge in a thought or two about the poor.

Pour Echantillon.

"The cook should be charged," says Mrs. R." to save the boiling of every piece of meat or ham, however salt; the pieces of meat which come from the table on the plates; and the bones made by the family. What a relief,” adds she, "to the labouring husband to have a warm, comfortable meal!"The rind of a ham, for instance, after Mrs. R. has extracted the "Essence."

And again she goes on." Did the cook really enter into this, (the love of her fellow creatures,) she would never wash away as useless the peas,or groats, of which soup, or gruel, have been made ;-broken potatoes;—the outer leaves of lettuce ;-the necks and feet of fowls, &c.; which make a delicious meat soup, especially for the sick."

The sick soup essay concluding with a farther direction to the cook, not to take the fat off the broth, "as the poor

like it, and are nourished by it!" and with a calculation which, if we know anything of mathematics, might make Demoivre himself look to his laurels ; "Ten gallons of this soup," concludes Mrs. R.," from ten houses, would be a hundred gallons; and that divided among forty families, would be two gallons and a half to each family."

Tam Marti quam Mercurio! And done with chalk upon a milk tally, ten to one else!--Tam Cocker quamKitchener! And this lady is dead! It almost makes us waver in our faith !

Turn sour ye casks of table beer,
Ye steaks, forget to fry ;
Why is it you are let stay here,
And Mrs. Rundell die?

But whims, (if they happen to take hold at all) take the strongest hold commonly upon strong understandings.

Count Rumford, tho' an ingenious man, had a touch of this bon chere a peu d'argent disease; and his Essays afford some pleasant illustrations of the slashing style in which men construct theories, when the practice is to fall upon their neighbours.

After exhausting himself upon the smoky chimnies of the world, theCount strips to the next of its nuisances, the beggars.

He was to feed the poor; (encore the Poor!) and the point was,of course, how to feed them at the cheapest rate:

"Water," then, he begins-(the cunning rogue!)" Water, I am inclined to suspect, acts a much more important part in nutrition, than has been generally supposed." This was a good active hobby to start upon; and, truly, his Countship, in the sequel, does outride all the field.

First, he sets out an admirable table, at which he dines TWELVE HUNDRED persons, all expenses included, for the very reasonable cost of one pound fifteen shillings English.

But this (which was 3 dinners for a penny) was nothing; and, in a trice, the Count, going on with his reductions, brings down the meal for twelve hundred, to one pound seven shillings. And,here,he beats our Saver of Wealth (the contractor at twopence a day) hollow; because, with his dinner found

for a farthing, a man must be an example for debauchery—a mere rascal-to think of getting thro' such a sum as two pence a day; out of which, indeed, he might well put by a provision for himself and his wife,in old age; and fortunes for two or three of his younger children.

The Count's running commentary upon these evolutions, too, is a chef d'œuvre in the art of reasoning. At one time, it seems, he dieted his flock, partly upon bread begged publicly in charity, and partly upon meat which was the remnant of the markets. Even out of evil the wise man shall bring good. The charity bread was found extremely dry and hard; " but, therefore," says the Count, "we found it answer better than any other; because it made mastication necessary,and so prolong ed the enjoyment of eating." As for the meat, he soon finds that an article quite unnecessary, and actually omits it altogether in the people's soup, with– out the fact being discovered!

But the crowning feature of all, (and there I leave Count Rumford,) is the experiment which he makes in eating (to be quite certain) upon himself; arguing upon the nutritious and stomachsatisfying qualities of a particular cheap dish, he puts the thing to issue—thus:

"I took my coffee and cream, with my dry toast, one morning" (hour not given)" at breakfast, and ate nothing between that and four o'clock. I then ate," [the particular dish,] I believe, however, it was a three farthing one, "and found myself perfectly refreshed." And so the Count finishes his dissertation upon food, by declaring the Chinese! to be the best cooks in the world.

Now, I confess that (at first sight) there would seem to be something accomplished here. No doubt if our labourers would eat farthing dinners, and get rid of that villainous propensity which they have to beef-steaks, their "savings" and consequent acquisition of property, would be immense. But does not the Count perceive, and did it never strike his coadjutors, that, if this system were acted upon, all the poor would become rich? when they would be an incomparably greater nuisance than they are in their present condition

I grant the existing evil, but do not let us exchange it for a greater. The question is a difficult one, but there be minds that can cope with it. Such a turmoil as to what the poor shall eat! I say, there are plenty of them-let them eat one another.

People must not be startled by the apparent novelty of this plan ;---those who can swallow Count Rumford's dinners, may, I am sure, swallow anything.-It is well known, that rats and mice take the same mode which I hint at, to thin their superabundant population--Let the public listen only to this suggestion, and they will find that it ends all difficulty at once. I grant that there might be some who would be rav enous, at first, upon their new diet; especially those who had been living upon Mrs. Rundell's soup; but that is an evil which would correct itself; because, so admirably operative and per

fect is the principle, the mouths would diminish in exact proportion with the meat. Upon my system, (and, I repeat, I can see no objection to it,) the poor might go on pleasantly, reducing their numbers at their leisure, until one individual only, in a state of necessity, should be left; and if it were worth while to go on to niceties, I could provide even for him under my arrangement, by having him taught to jump down his own throat, like the clown, in "Harlequin Conjurer." Certain it is, we hear, on every side, that, if the poor go on increasing, they will soon eat up the rich; and, surely, if anybody is to be eaten by them, it ought, in fairness, to be themselves. And, moreover, as it is shrewdly suspected that too many of them are already eaten up with laziness, why, hang it, if they are to be eaten at all, let them be eaten to some purpose.

(Sel. Mag.)

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

No. H.

OF VINOUS OR SPIRITUOUS FERMENTATION.

IN my last paper I endeavoured to explain the process of vinous fermentation generally; and then considered its application to both British and foreign wines. I now proceed to its remaining branches of beer, alcohol, and ardent spirit.

The method of making BEER, as we have seen, was known in the most remote ages. Almost every species of corn has been employed for this purpose. In Europe, it is generally made from barley; in India, from rice; and in the interior of Africa, from the holcus spicatus. But whatever grain is employed, the process is very nearly the same; and in each case is derived from the saccharine properties which they possess. They do not indeed possess them in the state in which they come from the ear; for there is then little or no sweetness discoverable: but when subjected to the malting pro

Compere Matthieu, I think, makes this remark somewhere, in a general defence of cannibalism. But my project does not go

so far.

cess, they become sensibly sweet. The method adopted in our own country of converting barley into malt is as follows,

The barley is steeped in cold water for a period which (as regulated by law) must not be less than forty hours; but beyond that time the steeping may be continued as long as is thought proper. The water is then drained off, and the barley thrown out of the cistern upon the malt-floor, where it is formed into a rectangular heap, called the couch, about sixteen inches deep. In this situation it is allowed to remain about twenty-six hours. It is then turned by means of wooden shovels, and diminished a little in depth. This turning is repeated twice a day, or of tener, and the grain is spread thinner, till at last its depth does not exceed a few inches. When placed on the couch, it gradually absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere, which it converts into carbonic acid; at first very slowly, but afterwards more rapidly. The temperature, during this process, gra

dually increases, and in about four days the grain is ten degrees hotter than the surrounding atmosphere. At this period, the grain which had been dry on the surface becomes again so moist, that it will wet the hand, and at the same time exhales an agreeable odour, not unlike that of apples. This appearance of the moisture is called sweating. The great object of the maltster is to keep the temperature from becoming excessive. This is effected by means of frequent turning. While the sweating is taking place, the roots of the grains begin to appear, and would increase with great rapidity, unless checked by turning. About a day after the sprouting of the roots, the rudiments of the future stem, called acrospire, may be seen to lengthen. As it shoots along the grain, the mealy part undergoes a considerable change. The glutinous and mucilaginous matter is taken up and removed; the colour becomes white; and the texture so loose, that it may be crumbled between the fingers. When the acrospire has nearly reached the end of the seed, the process is stopped by drying the malt upon the kiln. The temperature at first does not exceed 90°; but it is raised very slowly up to 140° or high er, according to circumstances. The rootlets are then separated, which are considered as injurious.

Malt, thus prepared, is ground, or rather broken, in a mill, and then infused in water, varying in temperature from 160° to 180°, but always short of the boiling point. This infusion is termed wort: and when this is drawn off, hot water is again and again added, till the malt is sufficiently exhausted.

Wort, if left to itself, would ferment: but this process is so slow and imperfect, that the liquor runs into acidity before the formation into beer or ale has made sufficient progress. To hasten this fermentation yeast is added.

ALE differs from beer chiefly in its strength, and its having a less proportion of hops. Pale is accounted more wholesome than brown ale, because it is brewed from malt slightly roasted, while the latter is made from malt of a drier nature.

same fermentation which takes place with that mentioned in the former paper, namely, the vinous or spirituous; for beer and ale might with strict propriety be called malt or barley wine. And, in the same manner, cider is, in fact, apple wine; and perry and mead, pear and honey wine.

SPIRITS OF WINE were formerly obtained by the distillation of wine; and from this circumstance they derived their name. But this spirit is now procured in a less expensive manner by distilling farinaceous and saccharine roots, as well as the pulpy fruit of vegetables and private families might obtain perhaps more than enough for their ordinary use, by distilling the dregs of their ale and beer.

When this spirit first arises through distillation, it is mixed with a considerable portion of aqueous vapour, which combines with it, and which, after condensation, becomes water, and thus weakens the spirit. It is therefore subjected to a second or a third distillation, by which means it is divested of most of its aqueous particles, and in this state is termed rectified spirits; and is commonly sold under the denomination of alcohol or spirits of wine.

This, however, is not as strong as it may be; for with the greatest care in distillation, there will still remain a considerable portion of water. Pure alcohol, however, may be obtained by mixing with it very dry and warm salt of tartar, which, having a great affinity for water, easily combines with it, and leaves the spirit supernatant in a state of great purity.*

ARDENT SPIRITS, as they are termed, are obtained, as in the case of simple distillation, from fermented liquors, and receive their various names according to the nature of the substance employed. Thus, brandy is procured from wine; rum, from the fermented juice of the sugar-cane; and whiskey and gin, from the fermented infusion of

* The alcohol, thus obtained, contains indeed a little potash in solution: but this may be separated by distilling it in a water-bath with a very small heat. The spirit passes over, and leaves the potash behind. The distillation, however, must not proceed

In each of the above cases, it is the to dryness.

malt or grain. But ardent spirits, of whatever name, consist almost entirely of three ingredients; namely, water, pure spirit or alcohol, and a little resin or oil, to which they owe their colour and flavour.

PROOF SPIRITS Consist of half spirit and half water. An instrument called an hydrometer is used by the officers of excise, and others, in order to ascertain the strength of spirituous liquors. This instrument, when there is an equal proportion of spirit and water,

sinks down to proof. But since water is heavier than spirits, if there be more water than spirit, the mixture will be of greater specific gravity than proof spirit, and, of course, the hydrometer will not sink so far down as proof, or the surface of the liquor will stand below proof. And in the same manner, if there be less than spirits, the specific gravity will in this case be less than that of proof spirits, and the surface of the liquor stand above proof.

(Gent. Mag.) SOMNAMBULISM.

A Remarkable instance of this affection of Holborn, whose son some years back walked

the nerves occurred on Sunday, October 5, to a lad named George Davis, sixteen years and a half old, in the service of Mr. Hewson, Butcher, Bridge-road, Lambeth. At about 20 minutes after 9 o'clock, the lad bent forward in his chair, and rested his forebead on his hands, and in ten minutes started up, went for his whip, put on his one spur, and from thence to the stable. Not finding his saddle in the proper place, he returned to the house and asked for it; being questioned what he wanted with it, he replied to go his rounds. He returned to the stable, mounted his horse without the saddle, and was proceeding to leave the stable. It was with much difficulty and force, that Mr. Hewson, jun. assisted with the other lad, could remove him from the horse, his strength was great, and it was with difficulty he was brought in doors. Mr. Hewson, sen. coming home at the time, sent for me. I stood by the lad a quarter of an hour, during which time he considered himself stopped at the turnpike-gate, and took sixpence from bis pocket to be changed, holding out his hand for it, the sixpence was returned to him; he immediately observed, none of your nonsense, that is the sixpence again, give me my change; when threepence halfpenny was given to him, be immediately counted it over, and observed, none of your gammon, that is not right, I want a penny more (making the fourpence-halfpenny, which was his proper change): then observing, give me my caster, meaning his hat, which slang terms he had been in the habit of using, and then began the motion of whipping and spurring, as if to get his horse on. His pulse at this time were 136, full and hard, no change of countenance could be observed, or any spasmodic affection of the muscles (the eyes remaining closed the whole of the time). His coat was taken off the arm, shirt sleeve stripped up, and I bled him to 32 ounces. No alteration had taken place in him during the first part of the time the blood was flowing; at about 94 ounces the pulse began to decrease, and when the full quantity named above had been taken, they were at 80, a slight perspiration on the forehead. During the time of bleeding, Mr. Hewson, jun. related a circumstance of a Mr. Harris, Optician, in

out on the parapet of the house, in his sleep. this boy joined the conversation, and observed, he lived at the corner of Brownlowstreet. After the arm was tied up he unloosed one boot, and said he would go to bed; in ten minutes from this time he awoke, got up, and asked what was the matter (having then been one hour in the trance). A strong opening medicine was then administered, he went to bed, slept well, and the next day appeared perfectly well, excepting debility from the loss of blood, and operation of the medicine, &c. None of his family or himself were affected in this way before.

Additional Facts which occurred during the Trance.---When stripped, he asked for his jacket, his coat was given to him, he observed this is not my jacket, it is my best coat, but never mind, I am behind my time. When he had put it on, he began the motions of whipping and spurring; he was held in the chair by force, and his observations were, "to get out of his way, and let go his horse; ah! damn you, won't you, I will soon make you let him go. Go along, Jack, "and whipped and spurred in motion, to make his horse restive and to kick, in order to get away; observing again, "let go my horse's tail, or I will soon make you." He was then brought out of the parlour into the front shop, and was asked what orders be had; he then went through the regular list of all the customers living at Brixton, &c. which he had been in the habit of calling on, and named three pounds of beef-steaks for one, chump end of loin of veal for another, leg of lamb for another, quarter of lamb for another, &c. as regularly as if he had been sent out in a morning; he was then told to clean the shop, he stripped off his coat, and turned up his sleeves to begin washing the benches, and was obliged to be held to prevent his doing it. After two or three minutes, he observed, "there is no pig's victuals mixed up, let me go, when master comes home he will be angry at that." I then observed to Mr. Hewson, if I had the boy on board ship, I would tie him up, and ropes end him. It was agreed that experiment should be tried; he was held by the arms in front, and Mr. Hewson, jun. (a stout young man) took a hand

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