pound and a half of wheaten flour, made into a stiff paste, with the requisite quantity of water, in which the bay salt is previously dissolved, forms the patent mustard sold in pots. The salt and Cayenne pepper contribute materially to the keeping of ready-made mustard.

Professor Brande, in his "Dictionary of Materia Medica and Pharmacy," published in 1839, writes:-"The bright yellow powder sold under the name of flour of mustard, and used at the table, is a compound of powdered black and pale mustard-seed, Cayenne pepper, wheat flour, and turmeric."

the bodies used in weakening the usual pungency of mustard. The mineral substances are yellow ochre, and, as I have been informed, chromate of lead in small quantities, to give a bright yellow to mustard that has had much coloured vegetable matter, as linseed meal, added to it. I have never found chromate of lead in any sample I have examined, although I am assured it is occasionally employed."

According to Pereira, "The common flour of mustard of the shops is adulterated with flour (wheaten), coloured by turmeric, and rendered hot by pod pepper."

The first is that of M. Huormand.

"With two pounds of very fine flour of mustard, mix half an ounce of each of the following plants :-parsley, chorril, celery, and tarragon, along with a clove of garlic and twelve salt anchovies, all well minced. The whole is to be triturated with the flour of mustard, till the mixture becomes uniform. A little grape must, or sugar, is to be added, to give the requisite sweetness; then one ounce of salt, with sufficient water to form a thinnish paste by rubbing in a mortar. With this paste the mustard pots being nearly filled, a red-hot poker is to be thrust down into the contents of each, which removes (it is said) some of the acrimony of the mustard, and evaporates a little water, so as to make room for pouring a little vinegar upon the surface of the paste, and the mustard not only keeps perfectly well but improves with age."

The second receipt is by M. Soyer. "The mode of preparing table mustard, patented by M. Soyer, consisted in steeping mustard-seed in twice its bulk of weak wood vinegar for eight days, then grinding the whole into a paste in a mill, putting it into pots, and thrusting a red-hot poker into each of them."

Mr. Mitchell, in his "Treatise on the Falsification of Food," states, "The substances employed in the adulteration of this condiment are not generally injurious to health, they only weaken the strength of the material. Pea flour, ordinary flour, linseed cake ground very fine, with turmeric powder as a colouring matter, are

several writers quoted apply to mustard, as met with in the shops in the present day.

We would first remark, however, that four different qualities of mustard are supplied by the manufacturer.

The first is called "seconds," and is usually of a bright yellow colour, but is thickly studded over with numerous black or reddish black points; these are fragments of the husks of black mustard-seed.

The next quality is termed "fine;" it also presents a considerable number of black specks, but fewer than in the former

case.

The third quality is called "superfine," it is spotted to a much less extent, although minute specks are still visible.

The fourth or best quality is the "double superfine;" in this the eye can scarcely detect husk at all, although with the microscope little may still be discovered.

These several qualities are sold to the public by a wholesale and retail establishment in the city, at the following prices: -"seconds" 5d.; fine 8d.; superfine 11d.; double superfine 1s. 2d. per lb.

The price of mustard, as sold by retailers, whatever may be its quality, is rarely ever under 1s. per lb., and frequently 1s. 4d., so that it is evident that this article bears a large profit.

The following are the results of the microscopical examination of FORTY-TWO samples of mustard, as obtained from various manufacturers and grocers, and as given by the "Lancet."

1st. That genuine mustard, whatever be

the price paid for it, is scarcely ever to be

obtained.

2nd. That the whole of the Forty-two samples submitted to examination were adulterated.

3rd. That the adulteration in every case was the same in kind, varying only in degree, and consisted in the admixture with genuine mustard of immense quantities of wheaten flour coloured with turmeric.

The appearance of one of these adulterated samples, under the microscope, is exhibited in the following figure.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. This engraving represents the articles detected in a sample of "double superfine mustard," marked with the names of the parties selling. aa, wheat flour; bb, cells of turmeric powder; c, portion of husk of black mustard; d, cells of outer tunic of white mustard-seed; e c, fragments of the seed itself.

It thus appears that neither Cayenne pepper, pea-flour, linseed meal, radish, rape-seed, yellow ochre, or chromate of lead, although stated to be employed in the adulteration of mustard, was detected in any of the samples. Nevertheless, there is little doubt but that Cayenne is sometimes employed to impart a pungency in some of those cases where the mustard has been mixed with a large excess of flour, and also that chromate of lead is occasionally had recourse to as a colouring agent to heighten and to bring up the tint of the impoverished article.

Rape and radish-seed resemble mustard

seed very closely, and, if ever employed, their detection would on this account be

very difficult. While rape-seed is very cheap, the price of radish-seed is in general too great to permit of its use in the adulteration of mustard.

The practice of making inferior qualities of mustard, remarks the "Lancet," such as "seconds" and "fine mustard" is open to much objection, since it gives the unscrupulous grocer the greatest scope for imposition. The poor man buys his mustard by the ounce, and for this he usually pays one penny, and receives so much "seconds," "fine," or 66 superfine" mustard, as the case may be, according to the conscience of the vendor. Now, as we have seen, "seconds" may be sold retail, and realise a profit, at five pence per pound.

The mustard manufacturer endeavours to excuse his use of wheat-flour and turmeric powder, on two grounds,-first, that the natural colour of mustard is of a dull brownish yellow, and that the appearance of the article is greatly improved by the use of turmeric powder; second, that the flavour of mustard in its pure state is not agreeable, and that its admixture with wheat-flour is a great improvement. The truth of this last portion we deny, and although turmeric certainly improves the colour of mustard, this is a very secondary matter, and we maintain that in no case ought purity and quality to be sacrificed to any extent for the mere sake of colour. For the same poor reason, in the instance of pickles, health even is sacrificed for the sake of obtaining a bright and most unnatural and coppery bluish green tint.

We are happy to say that the exposures made by the "Lancet" of the adulterations to which mustard is liable have had the effect of inducing several parties to manu. facture a really genuine mustard, and which may now be obtained by the public at a very moderate cost.

WE seldom in life find ourselves more unpleasantly situated than when, as is often the case, our fate and happiness are staked upon an enterprise in which many other persons are joined, whose errors or negligences counteract all our best endeavours, and whose conduct, however much we disapprove, we cannot command.

READINGS.

A NEW species of literary entertainment has sprung up within a few years, to which the above name has been given. Shakspere readings," "sacred readings," "readings from the poets," &c., have become so common, that we must conclude they are indebted to something more than the charm of novelty for their success. And, indeed, when they are conducted by a truly accomplished reader, we do not see how they can help being agreeable and profitable to the cultivated mind. We all know how great a difference there is between written and spoken eloquence between the poetry of the printed page, and the same poetry when kindled into life by the melodious voice, the eloquent eye, and the impressive gesture. The one is the marble statue, pure, beautiful, but lifeless; the other is a living and breathing form, full of vitality and grace.

But the rapturous harmonies of a Handel or Beethoven may be turned to jarring discord, in the hands of a bungling performer. So is the writer at the mercy of his reader. An improper emphasis, or a vulgar pronunciation, is often the single step which leads from the sublime to the ridiculous; and Ariosto is not the only one who has discovered this melancholy fact, to his shame and sorrow. The Italian poet, we are told, used to recite his own poems with so sweet a voice, that his friends were enraptured to hear him. He once overheard a potter reading some of his verses with a faulty accent, which so enraged him that he entered the literary murderer's shop, and proceeded to demolish the wares exposed for sale. In vain did the astonished tradesman expostulate at the violence of the stranger. "I have not sufficiently revenged myself on thee," exclaimed the enraged poet; "I have only broken a few pots, and you have spoiled the most beautiful of compositions to my face." What poet, whom the world acknowledges as such, has not endured a thousand similar crucifixions?

Mozart once wrote a composition, entitled a "Musical Joke," some portions of which are scored precisely as a poor performer would play them. The effect is of course highly ludicrous-but not more so than would be a page of Everett or Long

fellow, if printed exactly as an indifferent
reader would render them. There are few
really good readers among us, and even
those who are most accustomed to public
speaking, are often sadly deficient in this
accomplishment. What queer examples
of false emphasis to mention a com-
mon fault
do we hear almost daily!
"Do you imagine me to be a scoundrel,
sir?" demanded one man indignantly of
another. "No," was the reply, "I do not
imagine you to be one." This illustration
of the force of emphasis, in giving mean-
ing to a sentence, is often paralleled in
the pulpit, and on the stage and rostrum.
A careless reader once gave a passage
from the Bible with the following accents
and pauses: "And the old man said
unto his sons, saddle me, the ass; and
they saddled him." We once heard a
clergyman tell his flock that they "had
not followed a cunningly-devised fable; "
the natural inference being that he did
not deny the fable, but only the cunning.
Another clergyman, noted for reading
hymns with an abrupt, biting emphasis,
once uttered the word bears in the follow-
ing couplet so that it seemed to his con-
gregation a noun instead of a verb:

"He takes young children in his arms,
And in his bosom-bears."

We have all heard similar infelicities of expression, a thousand times, though all are not equally sensitive to the jar which they produce upon the cultivated ear. John Randolph, when dying, corrected the pronunciation of Dr. Parrish, who was reading aloud to him. Few would desire to be critical, under similar circumstances; but we cannot help respecting the instinct which to the last shrank from a mispronunciation. The evil of which we have spoken is by no means on the decline. Since the introduction of a multiplicity of studies into our public schools, less attention is given to reading than formerly. We recently heard of a grammarschool in a neighbouring town, the pupils of which are required to read only once a week! It seems to us it would be better for our public schools to confine themselves wholly to Sir William Curtis's three R's, "Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic," rather than to cultivate science and philosophy at the expense of the fundamental branches of knowledge.

THE WORK-TABLE FRIEND.

NETTED PURSE.

Materials.-3 skeins of scarlet netting silk of the finest size, 2 skeins of fine and pure gold thread, and a skein of coarse sewing-silk of each of the following colours; dark blue, green, white, purple, and brown. Harlequin tassels, and slides for a garniture. Netting meshes, No. 15 and this width.

Although we have not yet given instructions in netting, as this purse is done in the ordinary diamond stitch, every one who has the slightest knowledge of netting may do it; and we need scarcely remind our readers that all our friends will be welcome guests on every Wednesday, if they wish to receive more practical instruction than writing will afford.

The netting is done entirely with the scarlet silk, and the pattern is formed by darning afterwards with the gold thread and the other colours.

Make a foundation of 62 stitches. Then with the finest mesh work a round of 60 stitches only. Do 56 rounds in this manner. Take the large mesh, and do one round with it. With the small mesh work the next round, as follows: miss 1 stitch, net the second as usual, then the missed stitch. Repeat this all round. Do another round with the large mesh, and one as before with the small. Then instead of working rounds, work backwards and forwards, the following: + 3 rounds plain with the small mesh; one with the large, one with the small, taking the second stitch before the first,-one again with the larger and one with the small as before, +4 times. End with three plain fine rows, and close into a round. Do alternately a large plain and small twisted row, twice: then 56 rounds with the small mesh.

We must now refer to the engraving. The reader will see two rows of diamonds, and above, between, and below, these, a line of vandykes, the threads being marked leaning to the right, instead of, (as in the body of the purse,) to the left. These vandykes are darned in gold thread; begin four diamonds from the first large round; +darn in a direct line towards the left, across 9 diamonds, raising one bar, and crossing the next; darn up again, raising

NETTED PURSE, BY MRS. PULLAN.

those bars which before were crossed. The diamond should be filled by 6 threads, three each way. Fill the next line, and the succeeding in the same way; then darn across three diamonds only, instead of nine; keeping the slope of the upper line,+repeat all round the purse.

From the lowest point, miss 5 holes, sloping towards the left, reckoning that which the gold thread enters, but does not cross, and repeat the gold darning. Do the same again for the third round of vandykes. The diamonds between are then darned as represented. The diamonds are darned over 5 holes, the colours coming in the following order. A, purple; B, blue;

C, brown; D, green; the white is white in the engraving also.

Draw up the ends of the purse, sew on the tassels, and slip on the slides.

NETTED MAT.

Materials. 6 skeins of white Berlin wool, and 6 pink ditto. 1 bone mesh in width, and one No. 11.

With the large mesh work one round of 32 stitches, with the pink wool. Then 5 rounds with the fine mesh. Take the large mesh; +4 stitches in 1, miss the next; + repeat all round.