h her into exile as one
of her most cherished household gods. At the present day among the
favored few, who have full purses, are found sets of little silver
chafing-dishes about four inches square. These tiny dishes rest upon a
doylie-covered plate, and a bird or rarebit may be served in them as a
course at dinner, one to each guest. The cooking is not done in these
dishes, and they are not furnished with lamps; in them the food, while
it is being eaten, is simply kept hot by means of a tiny pan filled with
hot water.

[Illustration: Chafing-Dish, Filler, Etc.

"With all Appliances and Means to boot."]

In reality, the modern chafing-dish is a species of _bain marie_, or
double boiler, with a lamp so arranged that cooking can be done
without other appliances. It consists of four parts. The _first_ is the
blazer, or the pan in which the cooking is done; this is provided with a
long handle. The _second_ is the hot-water pan, which corresponds to the
lower part of the double boiler; this should be provided with handles,
and is a very inconvenient dish without them. The _third_ is the frame
upon which the hot-water pan rests, and in which the spirit-lamp is set.
The _last_, but by no means least, part is the lamp; this is provided
with a cotton or an asbestos wick. When the lamp has a cotton wick, the
flame is regulated by turning the wick up or down, as in an ordinary
lamp. At present this style of lamp is found only in the more expensive
grades of dishes,--silver-plated, and costing from $15 upwards. When
asbestos is used as the wick, the lamp is filled with this porous stone,
which is to be saturated with alcohol immediately before using, and the
top is covered with a wire netting. The flame is regulated by means of
metal slides, which open and shut over the netting, thus cutting off or
letting on the flame, as it is desired.

=Chafing-dish Appointments.=

With all appliances and means to boot.
--HENRY IV., iii. I.

The chafing-dish should always rest upon a tray, as a very slight
draught of air, or the expansion of the alcohol when heated, will
sometimes cause the flame to flare out and downward, and thus an
unprotected tablecloth might be set on fire.

Often a cutlet dish is considered a necessary part of a chafing-dish
outfit; but as one of the chief merits of the chafing-dish consists in
the possibility of serving a repast the instant it is cooked, there
would seem