a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers
should be used for no other purposes.

TO MAKE HOT PUNCH.

1839. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of rum, 1/2 pint of brandy, 1/4 lb. of
sugar, 1 large lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of nutmeg, 1 pint of boiling
water.

[Illustration: PUNCH-BOWL AND LADLE.]

_Mode_.--Rub the sugar over the lemon until it has absorbed all the
yellow part of the skin, then put the sugar into a punchbowl; add the
lemon-juice (free from pips), and mix these two ingredients well
together. Pour over them the boiling water, stir well together, add the
rum, brandy, and nutmeg; mix thoroughly, and the punch will be ready to
serve. It is very important in making good punch that all the
ingredients are thoroughly incorporated; and, to insure success, the
processes of mixing must be diligently attended to.

_Sufficient_.--Allow a quart for 4 persons; but this information must be
taken _cum grano salis_; for the capacities of persons for this kind of
beverage are generally supposed to vary considerably.

PUNCH is a beverage made of various spirituous liquors or wine,
hot water, the acid juice of fruits, and sugar. It is considered
to be very intoxicating; but this is probably because the
spirit, being partly sheathed by the mucilaginous juice and the
sugar, its strength does not appear to the taste so great as it
really is. Punch, which was almost universally drunk among the
middle classes about fifty or sixty years ago, has almost
disappeared from our domestic tables, being superseded by wine.
There are many different varieties of punch. It is sometimes
kept cold in bottles, and makes a most agreeable summer drink.
In Scotland, instead of the Madeira or sherry generally used in
its manufacture, whiskey is substituted, and then its insidious
properties are more than usually felt. Where fresh lemons cannot
be had for punch or similar beverages, crystallized citric acid
and a few drops of the essence of lemon will be very nearly the
same thing. In the composition of "Regent's punch," champagne,
brandy, and _veritable Martinique_ are required; "Norfolk punch"
requires Seville oranges; "Milk punch" may be extemporized by
adding a little hot milk to lemonade, and then straining it
through a jelly-bag. Then there are "Wine punch," "Tea punch,"
and "French punch," made with lemons, spirits, and wine, in
fantastic proportions. But of a