CHINESE DAINTIES.
The common people of the country seem to fare hardly and sparingly enough, but one of our envoys praises much of the good cheer he found at the tables of the great men. They had pork, fish, and poultry, prepared in a great variety of ways, and very nice confectionery in abundance. The feasts, moreover, were served up in a very neat and cleanly manner. But there was one dainty which much offended their nostrils, and nearly turned their stomachs when it was named to them. It was not stewed dog or fricaséed pup. No; it consisted of three bowls of hatched eggs! When the Englishmen expressed some surprise at the appearance of this portion of the repast, one of the native attendants observed that hatched eggs formed a delicacy beyond the reach of the poor—a delicacy adapted only for persons of distinction! On inquiry, it was found that they cost in the market some thirty per cent. more than fresh eggs. It seems that they always form a distinguished part of every great entertainment, and that it is the practice, when invitations are sent out, to set the hens to hatch. The feast takes place about the tenth or twelfth day from the issuing the invitations,—the eggs being then considered as ripe, and exactly in the state most agreeable and pleasant to the palate of a Chinese epicure.
RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTUS MAGNUS.
"Bubo a shrick owle, is a byrd wel inough knowen, which is called Magis of the Chaldes, and Hysopus of the Greekes. There bee maruaylous vertues of this Fowle, for if the hart and ryght foote of it be put upon a man sleeping, hee shall saye anone to thee whatsoever thou shalt aske of him. And thys hath beene prooued of late tyme of our brethren. And if any man put thys onder his arme hole, no Dog wyll barke at hym, but keepe silence. And yf these thynges aforesayde ioyned together with a wyng of it be hanged up to a tree, byrdes wyl gather together to that tree."
"When thou wylt that thy wyfe or wenche shewe to thee all that shee hath done, take the hart of a Doove, and the heade of a Frog, and drye them both, and braie them vnto poulder, and lay them vpon the brest of her sleeping, and shee shall shew to thee all that shee hath done, but when shee shall wake, wipe it awaye from her brest, that it bee not lifted vp."
"Take an Adders skyn, and Auri pigmentum, and greeke pitch of Reuponticum, and the waxe of newe Bees, and the fat or greace of an Asse, and breake them all, and put them all in a dull seething pot full of water, and make it to seeth at a slowe fire, and after let it waxe cold, and make a taper, and euery man that shall see light of it shall seeme headlesse."—The Secreetes of Nature, set foorth by Albertus Magnus in Latine, newlye translated into English. Imprinted at London by me Wyllyam Copland. No date. Black letter, very old.
THE MAGPIE STONING A TOAD.
There is a story told of a tame magpie, which was seen busily employed in a garden, gathering pebbles, and with much solemnity, and a studied air, dropping them in a hole, about eighteen inches deep, made to receive a post. After dropping each stone, it cried, Currack! triumphantly, and set off for another. On examining the spot a poor toad was found in the hole, which the magpie was stoning for his amusement.
ADAPTATION OF BONES TO AGE IN THE HUMAN FRAME.
Growth produces in the species a somewhat remarkable change in the mechanical qualities of the bones. This important part of our organism consists of three constituents—fibre, cartilage, and the earthy matter already mentioned called phosphate of lime. From the fibre they derive their toughness; from the cartilage their elasticity; and from the lime their hardness and firmness. Nothing can be more admirable in the economy of our body than the manner in which the proportion of these constituents adapts itself to the habitudes of age. The helpless infant, exposed by a thousand incidents to external shocks, has bones, the chief constituents of which being gristly and cartilaginous, are yielding and elastic, and incur little danger of fracture. Those of the youth, whose augmented weight and increased activity demand greater strength, have a larger proportion of the calcareous and fibrous elements, but still enough of the cartilaginous to confer upon the solid framework of his body the greatest firmness, toughness, and elasticity. As age advances, prudence and tranquil habits increasing, as well as the weight which the bones have to sustain, the proportion of the calcareous constituent increases, giving the requisite hardness and strength, but diminishing the toughness and elasticity.