ossible, add
the sugar, and work the whole up to a smooth paste with the boiling
milk. Roll it out thin, and bake in a moderate oven.

_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.

QUALITIES OF SUGAR.--Sugars obtained from various plants are in
fact, of the same nature, and have no intrinsic difference when
they have become equally purified by the same processes. Taste,
crystallization, colour, weight, are absolutely identical; and
the most accurate observer cannot distinguish the one from the
other.

BUTTER CRUST, for Boiled Puddings.

1213. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 6 oz. of butter, 1/2
pint of water.

_Mode_.--With a knife, work the flour to a smooth paste with 1/2 pint of
water; roll the crust out rather thin; place the butter over it in small
pieces; dredge lightly over it some flour, and fold the paste over;
repeat the rolling once more, and the crust will be ready for use. It
may be enriched by adding another 2 oz. of butter; but, for ordinary
purposes, the above quantity will be found quite sufficient.

_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.

DRIPPING CRUST, for Kitchen Puddings, Pies, &c.

1214. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 6 oz. of clarified beef
dripping, 1/2 pint of water.

_Mode_.--After having clarified the dripping, by either of the recipes
No. 621 or 622, weigh it, and to every lb. of flour allow the above
proportion of dripping. With a knife, work the flour into a smooth paste
with the water, rolling it out 3 times, each time placing on the crust 2
oz. of the dripping, broken into small pieces. If this paste is lightly
made, if good dripping is used, and _not too much_ of it, it will be
found good; and by the addition of two tablespoonfuls of fine moist
sugar, it may be converted into a common short crust for fruit pies.

_Average cost_, 4d. per pound.

WATER:--WHAT THE ANCIENTS THOUGHT OF IT.--All the nations of
antiquity possessed great veneration for water: thus, the
Egyptians offered prayers and homage to water, and the Nile was
an especial object of their adoration; the Persians would not
wash their hands; the Scythians honoured the Danube; the Greeks
and Romans erected altars to the fountains and rivers; and some
of the architectural embellishments executed for fountains in
Greece were remarkable for their beauty and delicacy. The purity
of the water was a great object of the care of the ancients; and
we learn that t