writer, on the same subject, exclaim, in a tone of simple pathos, which goes straight to our hearts, "Alas! how seldom in this. country do we meet with good drawn butter!" The society was, besides, ambitious of establishing a tribunal which might serve as a high court of appeal for the final decision of many of those disputed points in culinary lore which have long disturbed the harmony of our dinner tables; such, for instance, as the great controversy whether the canvass back ducks of the Hudson have, indeed, the genuine flavour which has given such celebrity to those of the Susquehanna; whether or no the true Spitzenberg apple can be raised in perfection out of a certain district above the Highlands of Hudson river, and whether the opinion which an eloquent statesman is said to maintain with great warmth, that our flatfish and flounders are the plaice of Europe, be correct or not. It was hoped that the investigation of these deep and interesting questions might sometimes lead to important practical results; as we are informed by the elder Pliny that the most considerable improvement in the science of eating which took place in his day was the fruit of a similar controversy among the Roman epicures. The dispute, if we remember rightly, was about the relative merit of the Lucrine and the Brundu ian oysters, and was finally settled by a happy thought of a Roman alderman, who got his oysters from Brundusium, and had them fattened in the Lucrine lake, by which means he raised oysters incomparably finer than could be obtained from either place alone. These gentlemen were, moreover, impressed with the necessity of establishing a standard of criticism, and certain laws of style for notes of invitation, acceptance, and apology, and they aspired to lay down some critical rules for the composition of those poetical mottoes which are sometimes wrapped up with sugar plumbs, and other bon bons, by which they fondly trusted that this interesting, but sadly corrupted, relic of the customs of chivalry, might be gradually restored to its ancient dignity. To correct all these abuses, and gradually to build up an American school of scientific cookery, is the laudable object of the new institution, the first fruits of whose labours are now presented to the world. With all deference to the learned body, we cannot help sug gesting that their work would have been vastly more useful to the unscientific reader, if a little more care had been bestowed upon the arrangement of the receipts-we beg pardon-of the papers read before the society. At present, "Cakes hot for tea," "A useful glue," "The Countess of Rutland's famous Banbury Bride Cake," "Fine red Ink," "An incomparable method of salting meat, adopted by the late Empress of Russia," "Garlic sirup for a cough," "A most curious method of roasting a pig, from an old manuscript," succeed each other in rapid confusion, until the head grows giddy, and the brain turns round with the whirl of soups and soda-water, gums and gravy, balsams, blanc-mange and liquid blacking, fly-water and almond hoys, orgeat, omelets and ointment for the eyes. Really, this unseemly mixture is as offensive to our critical as it would be to our corporeal taste. A good book and a good dinner must be judged of by the same rules, and however miscellaneous either of them may be in their composition, they alike require an undivided interest, and unbro ken unity of action. Every schoolboy knows the rule which Horace has laid down on this subject, an authority, by the way, equally great in each of the sister arts, the poetical and the culinary: Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam which has been thus admirably paraphrased, with reference to our present subject: Were a picture drawn With Cynthia's face, but with a neck like brawn, With wings of turkey, and with feet of calf, Though drawn by Reynolds it would make you laugh. By some rich farmer's wife and sister drest, Which, were it not for plenty and for steam, That syllabubs come first and soups come last. In truth, this society seems formed on too narrow a scale for the great national objects which it embraces. It ought, like some of its sister societies, to have been divided into several classes, on the plan of the French Institute. The present volume, for example, might be aptly divided into the Historical and Antiquarian, comprising such papers as "The curious ancient mode of roasting a pig, from a very old manuscript," "The Empress of Russia's method of pickling," and "Lord Murray's mode of dressing horse chesnuts;" next the Chemical, comprehending the great variety of receipts for made dishes; and lastly, the class of the fine arts, under which would be properly arranged the "Pancakes of a beautiful pink colour," "The almonds of a superb lively rose or crimson," and, above all, the GRAND TRIFLE, "which," say our authors, "is an article to be prepared with the utmost delicacy of taste as well as appearance, and worthy of particular attention;" and even the glass in which it is served "should be beautifully formed, as well as cut and elevated, to convey an idea of grandeur." The contents are worthy of the beauty and sublimity of this "elegant depository of light and airy delicacies;" and we fully concur with the society, when, after describing the ingredients and process, they exclaim, in the conscious pride of genius, "This, it is presumed, will not fail to be considered as a GRAND TRIFLE." For the consolation of those whose humbler genius sinks under the magnitude of so great a work, they kindly add that by simplifying the process, "a very good trifle may be formed, on the same plan, adapted to all tastes, circumstances, and occasions." What an inestimable secret! for the benefit of our readers we heartily wish we were in possession of it. K.. AN ESSAY ON HONEY-DEW. My design in this essay is to give a brief statement of certain facts relative to the appearance of the honey-dew, in Carolina, which appear to militate against the received theories of its formation; together with a concise view of the opinions of ancient and modern writers with regard to this peculiar substance. The production of the honey-dew is influenced by the season of the year, and evidently by the state of the atmosphere. In Carolina it most frequently appears in the months of May or June, during a long absence of rain, and after a succession of warm days alternating with cool nights. Early in the morning it is found on the leaves of plants, grasses, &c. of the consistence of diluted honey, transparent, and resembling, in taste, the sirup of refined sugar; the viscidity of it increases with the heat of the sun, and about 10 or 11 o'clock it ceases to be fluid, giving to the leaves a shining and glossy appearance. Situation also appears to influence the production of the honeydew. I have observed it in the greatest abundance near the margins of stagnant marshes, ponds, and savannahs. In the district of Marion, South Carolina, is a morass extending 15 or 16 miles in length, and one or two in breadth; it contains no trees of considerable magnitude except the cypress, few perennial shrubs, but abounds with annual succulent aquatic plants, and grasses. Near the edges of this morass, during the season and state of the atmosphere alluded to, the honey-dew is produced in such quantities as to moisten every shrub, and to cover the grass. Horses which feed at large in the vicinity of the morass, may be found at 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning with their manes and tails agglutinated to a mass with this substance. The particles of pine leaves and grasses, carbonated by the fires which sometimes ravage extensive tracts of country in March and April, are frequently observed cemented into large masses, and in situations where, apparently, the honeydew could not have dropped from overshadowing trees. Swarms of bees inhabit almost every excavated tree, and from their honey the poor inhabitants of this steril region derive no inconsiderable support. Similar phenomena relative to the honey-dew have been observed on the eastern continent, and recorded both by writers of remote antiquity and of modern date. Pliny, (in Lib. XI. Cap. XII. Nat. Hist.) speaking of honey, says, "Venit hoc ex aere, et maxime siderum ex ortu, præcipue que vergiliarum exortu, sublucanis temporibus. Itaque tum prima aurora folia arborum melle roscida inveniuntur; ac si qui matutino sub dio fuere, unctas liquore vestes, capillum concretum sentiunt." After a few vague conjectures on its particular formation, he adds, that it is "præterea e fronde ac pabulis potus, et in uterculos congestus apum."-Every circumstance in this relation establishes the identity of the mel roscidum of the ancients and the honeydew of Carolina. It is also probable that it was from having attentively observed the honey-dew, that Aristotle, the father of Natural History, was led to hazard the general proposition, μελι δὲ ἐ πίπτον εκ του αέρος. (Lib. V. Cap. XIX. Hist. Animal.) Venegas, in his history of California, says, that "Father Piccolo observes that in the months of April, May, and June, there falls with the dew a kind of manna which becomes inspissated on the leaves of trees. He adds, that he tasted it, and though not so white as sugar, it had all the sweetness of it. The good Father, according to the common opinion, speaks as if the manna dropped from the sky." According to Dr. Darwin, precisely similar circumstances attend the appearance of the honey-dew in England as in Carolina. He remarks that he saw it in the greatest quantity dropping from the leaves of nut-trees which grew near the edges of a pond. Duhamel and Reneaume observed it in a hot and dry season, dropping from the willow, the maple, and the sycamore; and the latter adds, that the bees collected it as eagerly as common honey. That the honey-dew was formed in the atmosphere, and descended with the dew, seems to have been the opinion of naturalists from time immemorial; and Pliny, Columella, and others, supposed that the labour of bees in the formation of honey extended no far |