hot.

_Time_.--Altogether, 1/2 hour.

CUCUMBER VINEGAR (a very nice Addition to Salads).

401. INGREDIENTS.--10 large cucumbers, or 12 smaller ones, 1 quart of
vinegar, 2 onions, 2 shalots, 1 tablespoonful of salt, 2 tablespoonfuls
of pepper, 1/4 teaspoonful of cayenne.

_Mode_.--Pare and slice the cucumbers, put them in a stone jar or
wide-mouthed bottle, with the vinegar; slice the onions and shalots, and
add them, with all the other ingredients, to the cucumbers. Let it stand
4 or 5 days, boil it all up, and when cold, strain the liquor through a
piece of muslin, and store it away in small bottles well sealed. This
vinegar is a very nice addition to gravies, hashes, &e., as well as a
great improvement to salads, or to eat with cold meat.

GERMAN METHOD OF KEEPING CUCUMBERS FOR WINTER USE.

402. INGREDIENTS.--Cucumbers, salt.

_Mode_.--Pare and slice the cucumbers (as for the table), sprinkle well
with salt, and let them remain for 24 hours; strain off the liquor, pack
in jars, a thick layer of cucumbers and salt alternately; tie down
closely, and, when wanted for use, take out the quantity required. Now
wash them well in fresh water, and dress as usual with pepper, vinegar,
and oil.

[Illustration: THE CUCUMBER.]

THE CUCUMBER.--Though the melon is far superior in point of
flavour to this fruit, yet it is allied to the cucumber, which
is known to naturalists as _Cucumia sativus_. The modern
Egyptians, as did their forefathers, still eat it, and others of
its class. Cucumbers were observed, too, by Bishop Heber,
beyond the Ganges, in India; and Burckhardt noticed them in
Palestine. (See No. 127.)

AN EXCELLENT WAY OF PRESERVING CUCUMBERS.

403. INGREDIENTS.--Salt and water; 1 lb. of lump sugar, the rind of 1
lemon, 1 oz. of ginger, cucumbers.

_Mode_.--Choose the greenest cucumbers, and those that are most free
from seeds; put them in strong salt and water, with a cabbage-leaf to
keep them down; tie a paper over them, and put them in a warm place till
they are yellow; then wash them and set them over the fire in fresh
water, with a very little salt, and another cabbage-leaf over them;
cover very closely, but take care they do not boil. If they are not a
fine green, change the water again, cover them as before, and make them
hot. When they are a good colour, take them off the fire and let them
cool; cut them in quarters, take out the seeds and pulp, and put them
into col