Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 407, 25 February 1904, Page 2

Varieties.

FINGERS AND FORKS. knows how, upoa their hMIp fitßfc introduction, the moafc uae- } J*yJk fai und agreeable acquisitions. oi ! domestic life rau the risk ot supj passion because o£ the ridicule they encounter Not much mora than a century ago ■ so' gentleman could carr;» an umbrella through fche streets o! Lradonwitbbut incurring the ckinoue and derisi'»n of tb« chair porters aacl h'&cksey coachmen, who percViVed that the innotation thus-feaed iudusfry to their trade. Aa 'ate as in 3778, cao John Mscdonsld, a footman, who published hw autobiography, s'.atesi that, carrying .in Liudon a fine silk umbrella ho bad brought from lsp?.in. ho 'could not with any epmfoEt to himself u?e it, ths people calling OQtat'fcer him. ' Fisncbmiin, why dcn'o 50a get a coach ?' Opposing the Fokk The fork upon its introduction waa vary similarly viewed. By our early dramatists, notably those of the times of J»mes the First and Charles the First,

thti fork was considered a3 a strange tiring, fcvideacin.s? and effemin- «■<■•? on the part of those employing ife, Bifcre the Bestoration there! seems, indeed, to have be n no general use of the fork And stress was laid upon the d.ffianlty of using it—the art had to be acquired; Englishmen were thea as clumsy with their forks as they are now - in plyieg Ciinese chopstijka. Tn Ben Johnson's play of ' Yolpone,' Sir Politic Wouldbe counsels Peregrine, a young gentleman who 13 about to travel: Then must you barn the use And handling of your Bilver fork at meals, Elsewhere Johnson alludes to . The laudable use of forks To the sparing of napkins. And in one of his plays Masainger speaks contemptuously of:— Thy case of tootbpick3 and thy silver forks. England, however, was surpassed in op- I position to the. introduction of the fork from Italy by Germany, where certai n

uncleanly taints actually preached agaijut tbeiunovfttion as 'an inaalt oo Providence not to touch onr meals with oar Angers/ The prpverbj&l saying of m&tebeieteto&t? may Vrobabfy /s■&£& to Bntißtrprejndioa uponthe subject. v Ist •ran ••.Good :oiib j DATB,% q One doea ; not like to thirk th*t>WiM»m Shakespeare never a * -k" at dinner, [ or that the beautiful Mary Qaesao*? Scots was accustomed to tear her food with her Augers, yet that such was the case can scarcely be doubted. In the Queen Elisabeth a fork was such a J;han an Eaglieh traveller of the period brought home with him a fall description I of the Jnatrumenti Thedinaer.table of the I past must have looked unsightly enough owing to the untidy habits of the diners; they scattered on the cloth"all their bones and scraps and parings Presently a servant, with a long wooden 'vMingknife/ scraped the fragments into a basest called a * voider.' It should be mentioned, howeyeri that forks,, were not unknown in England, even at a very early period; traces of forks and spoons have even been found of the Anglo-Saxon era." But it seems clear that they were never employed at this time to lift meat to the mouth j they were used only by the higher classes to eat fruit with at dessert, or to take sopped bread or cake out of wine. They were articles of luxury - made of costly materials, and oftentimes studded with jewels. ' • CAMPHOE ACID IN PHTHISIS. This is obtained by the inter-action of camphor and nitric acid, It is usad for a variety of purposes j but that, to which I would here direct attention is tha lessening pf night sweating in phthisis. Twenty grains may be taken in sachets by the adult one or two hours before the usual time for the sweating to begin. 'CHELSE! PENSIONER/ One is often asked as to the composition of this old-time remedy for rheum itic and goaty disorders. Here is the formula: fiuaiacum resra, one ounce; sublimed sulphur, two ounces 5 powdered rhubarb, half an ounce; mustard, two ounces, saltpetre, half an ounce; honey, or treacle; las much as suffices. Dote, one teaj spoonful.