informs us, by mixing well together, by degrees, in a piat basin, one table-spoonful of oatmeal with three of cold water, and then adding carefully a pint of boiling water, which is to be coiled for five minutes, stirring it all the time, to prevent the oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the stewpan; then strain through a hair sieve, to separate the undissolved parts of the meal from the gruel. If a more substantial repast is required, double the above quantity of oatmeal must be treated in a similar manner. To increase the nutritive quality of this aliment, broth or milk may be substituted for water. Some persons are in the habit of introducing a piece of butter into gruel; but the propriety of this practice is questionable, where the stomach is disposed to generate acidity. 6 Sage tea. The virtues of sage have been so extravagantly praised, that, like many of our remedies, the plant is fallen into disuse from the disgust which its panegyrists have excited. I am convinced, however, that in the form of infusion it possesses some power in allaying the irritability of the stomach, and that, on many occasions, it will furnish a salutary beverage. The same observation will apply to balm tea.' We cannot here find room for the entire observations of this author on TEA; but see this article. When drunk four hours after the principal meal,' he observes, it will assist the ulterior stages of digestion, and promote the insensible perspiration; while it will afford to the stomach a grateful stimulus after its labors. In enumerating, however, the advantages of tea, it must not be forgotten that it has introduced and cherished a spirit of sobriety; and it must have been remarked by every physician of general practice, that these persons who dislike tea, frequently supply its place by spirit and water. The addition of milk certainly diminishes the astringency of tea; that of sugar may please the palate, but cannot modify the virtues of the infusion. Coffee. The hostility which has been manifested against the use of tea has been extended, with equal rancour, against that of coffee; and, probably, with equal injustice. The principle upon which its qualities depend is more stimulant than that of tea, and certainly exerts a different species of action upon the nervous system, although it is very difficult to define the nature of this difference. If taken immediately after a meal, it is not found to create that disturbance in its digestion which has been noticed as the occasional consequence of tea; on the contrary, it accelerates the operations of the stomach, and will frequently enable the dyspeptic to digest substances, such as fat and oily aliment, which would otherwise occasion much disturbance. The custom of taking coffee immediately after dinner, as so universally practised by the French, no doubt must counteract the evil effects which the peculiar form of their diet is calculated to produce. Coffee, like tea, has certainly an antisoporific effect on many individuals; it imparts an activity to the mind which is incompatible with sleep: but this will rarely occur if the beverage be taken for several hours before our accustomed period of repose. It seems to be generally admitted, that it possesses the power of counteracting the effects of narcotics; and hence it is used by the Turks with much advantage, in abating the influence of the inordinate quantities of opium they are accustomed to swallow. Where our object is to administer it as a promoter of digestion, it should be carefully made by infusion; decoction dissipates its aroma. The addition of milk is one of unquestionable propriety; that of sugar, or rather sugar-candy, may be allowed. I have known some persons who have never taken this beverage without suffering from acidity in the stomach: where this happens, the practice must be abandoned. 6 "Chocolate.-In consequence of the large quantity of nutritive matter which this liquid contains, it should be regarded,' Dr. Paris observes, rather as food than drink. It is prepared by reducing the cocoa-nut into paste, with sugar, milk, or eggs: it is also frequently mixed with different aromatics, the most common of which is the vanilla, a substance very liable to disagree with the stomach, and to produce a train of nervous symptoms. As a common beverage, chocolate is highly objectionable; it contains an oil which is difficult of assimilation; it therefore oppresses the stomach: this effect is of course increased by the application of too much heat in its preparation. Another objection against its use is to be found in the observations which I have already offered upon the subject of too great concentration. 'Cocoa is usually considered as a substitute for chocolate. As it contains less nutritive matter, it is not so objectionable; and, as the aily matter exists only in small quantities, it is less likely to disagree with the stomach. Whey is a delightful beverage; but as its nature and operation cannot be well understood until the composition of milk is investigated, the observations which I have to offer upon its use will be deferred until the history of that fluid has been examined. 'There are certain saline solutions which are frequently employed as drinks, and deserve some attention in this place: such are imperial and soda water. Imperial is a solution of cream of tartar flavored with lemon peel. It ought never to be used except as a medicine. If employed as an ordinary drink, it is apt to retard digestion. If ever useful as an article of diet, it will be under circumstances of robust health, and where a large quantity of animal food has been taken. 'Soda Water.-The modern custom of drinking this inviting beverage during, or immediately after dinner, has been a pregnant source of dyspepsia. By inflating the stomach at such a period, we inevitably counteract those muscular contractions of its coats which are essential to chymification. The quantity of soda thus introduced scarcely deserves notice: with the exception of the carbonic acid gas, it may be regarded as water, more mischievous only in consequence of the exhilarating quality inducing us to take it at a period at which we should not require the more simple fluid.' Of Malt liquors.-Dr. Paris says, 'malt liquors differ from wines in several essential points: they contain a much larger proportion of nutritive matter, and a less proportion of spirit; while they contain a peculiar bitter and narcotic principle derived from the hop. It would appear, that the extractive matter furnished by the malt is highly nutritive; and we accordingly find, that those persons addicted to such potations are in general fat. Where, however, they are indulged in to any extent, without a corresponding degree of exercise, they induce a plethoric state of the Lody, and all the diseases consequent upon such a condition. To those whose diet is not very nutritive, ale may be considered not only as an innocent, but as a salubrious article; and happy is that country, whose labouring classes prefer such a beverage to the mischievous potations of ardent spirit. These remarks, however, cannot apply to those classes of the community who 'fare sumptuously every day.' They will not require a nutritive potation of such a character; and light wines have accordingly, in these days of luxury, very properly superseded its use: but I am not disposed to extend this remark to its more humble companion, table-beer.' I regard its dismissal from the tables of the great as a matter of regret; its slight, but invigorating bitter is much better adapted to promote digestion than its more costly substitutes. But it should be soft and mild; for, when stale and hard, it is likely to disturb the bowels, and occasion effects the very opposite to those it is intended to produce. Nor ought it to have too great a proportion of hops, but should be thoroughly fermented and purified. Sydenham always took a glass of small beer at his meals, and he considered it as a preservative against gravel.' For WINE, see that article. On the subject of the food of the poor we have seen no remarks more intelligent than those of Count Rumford, in his ingenious Essay on Food. He observes; There is, perhaps, no operation of nature which falls under the cognizance of our senses, more surprising, or more curious, than the nourishment and growth of plants and animals; and there is certainly no subject of investigation more interesting to mankind. As providing subsistence is, and ever must be, an object of the first concern in all countries, any discovery or improvement by which the procuring good and wholesome food can be facilitated, must contribute very powerfully to increase the comforts and promote the happiness of society. That our knowledge in regard to the science of nutrition is still very imperfect, is certain; but I think there is reason to believe, that we are upon the eve of some very important discoveries relative to that mysterious operation. Since it has been known that water is not a simple element, but a compound, and capable of being decomposed, much light has been thrown upon many operations of nature, which formerly were wrapped up in obscurity. In vegetation, for instance, it has been rendered extremely probable, that water acts a much more important part than was formerly assigned to it by philosophers; that it serves not merely as the vehicle of nourishment, but constitutes at least one part, and pro bably an essential part, of the food of plants; that it is decomposed by them, and contributes materially to their growth; and that manures serve rather to prepare the water for decomposition, than to form of themselves, substantially and directly, the nourishment of the vegetables. Now a very clear analogy may be traced, between the vegetation and growth of plants, and the digestion and nourishment of animals; and as water is indispensably necessary in both processes, and as in one of them (vegetation) it appears evidently to serve as food, why should we not suppose it may serve as food in the other? There is, in my opinion, abundant reason to suspect that this is really the case; and I shall now briefly state the grounds upon which this opinion is founded. Having been engaged for a considerable length of time in providing food for the poor at Munich, I was naturally led, as well by curiosity as motives of economy, to make a great variety of experiments upon that subject; and I had not proceeded far in my opinions, before I began to perceive that they were very important; even much more so than I had imagined. The difference in the apparent goodness, or the palatableness, and apparent nutritiousness of the same kinds of food, when prepared or cooked in different ways, struck me very forcibly; and I constantly found that the richness or quality of a soup depended more upon a proper choice of ingredients, and a proper management of the fire in the combination of these ingredients, than upon the quantity of solid nutritious matter employed; much more upon the art and skill of the cook, than upon the amount of the sums laid out in the market. I found likewise, that the nutritiousness of a soup, or its power of satisfying hunger, and affording nourishment, appeared always to be in proportion to its apparent richness or palatableness. But what surprised me not a little was, the discovery of the very small quantity of solid food, which, when properly prepared, will suffice to satisfy hunger, and support life and health; and the very trifling expense at which the stoutest and most laborious man may in any country be fed. After an experience of more than five years in feeding the poor at Munich, during which time every experiment was made that could be devised, not only with regard to the choice of the articles used as food, but also in respect to their different combinations and proportions, and to the various ways in which they could be prepared or cooked; it was found that the cheapest, most savoury, and most nourishing food that could be provided, was a soup composed of pearl barley, peas. potatoes, cuttings of fine wheaten bread, vinegar, salt and water, in certain proportions. The method of preparing this soup is as follows. The water and the pearl barley are first put together into the boiler, and made to boil; the peas are then added, and the boiling is continued over a gentle fire about two hours; the potatoes are then added (having been previously peeled with a knife, or having been boiled, in order to their being more easily deprived of their skins), and the boiling is continued for about one hour more; during which time the contents of the boiler are frequently stirred about with a large wooden spoon or ladle, to destroy the texture of the potatoes, and to reduce the soup to one uniform mass. When this is done, the vinegar and salt are added; and last of all, at the moment it is to be served up, the cuttings of bread. The soup should never be suffered to boil, or even to stand long before it is served up, after the cuttings of bread are put to it. It will, indeed, for reasons which will hereafter be explained, be best never to put the cuttings of bread into the boiler at all, but (as is always done at Munich) to put them into the tubs in which the soup is carried from the kitchen into the dining hall; pouring the soup hot from the boiler upon them, and stirring the whole well together with the iron ladles used for measuring out the soup to the poor in the hall. It is of more importance than can well be imagined, that this bread, which is mixed with the soup, should not be boiled. It is likewise of use it should not be cut as fine or thin as possible; and if it be dry and hard, it will be so much the better. The bread we use at Munich is what is called semel bread, being small loaves, weighing from two to three ounces; and as we receive this bread in donations from the bakers, it is commonly dry and hard, being that which, not being sold in time, remains on hand, and becomes stale and unsaleable; and we have found by experience, that this hard and stale bread answers for our purpose much better than any other, for it renders mastication necessary; and mastication seems very powerfully to assist in promoting digestion; it likewise prolongs the duration of the enjoyment of eating, a matter of very great importance indeed, and which has not hitherto been sufficiently attended to. The quantity of this soup furnished to each person at each meal, or one portion of it (the cuttings of the bread included) is just one Bavarian pound in weight; and as the Bavarian pound is to the pound avoirdupois as 1,125,842 to 1,-it is equal to about nineteen ounces and nine-tenths avoirdupois. Now, to those who know that a full pint of soup weighs no more than about sixteen ounces avoirdupois, it will not, perhaps, at the very first view, appear extraordinary, that a portion weighing nearly twenty ounces, and consequently making nearly one pint and a quarter of this rich, strong, savoury soup, should be found sufficient to satisfy the hunger of a grown person; but when the matter is examined narrowly, and properly analysed, and it is found that the whole quantity of solid food which enters into the composition of .one of these portions of soup does not amount to quite six ounces, it will then appear to be almost impossible that this allow ance should be sufficient. That it is quite sufficient, however, to make a good meal for a strong healthy person has been abundantly proved by long experience. I have even found that a soup composed of nearly the same ingredients, except the potatoes, but in different proportions, was sufficiently nutritive, and very palatable, in which only about four ounces and three-quarters of solid food entered into the composition of a portion weighing twenty ounces. But this will not appear incredible to those who know, that one single spoonful of salope, weighing less than one quarter of an ounce, put into a pint of boiling water, forms the thickest and most nourishing soup that can be taken; and that the quantity of solid matter which enters into the composition of another very nutritive food, hartshorn jelly, is not much more considerable. The barley in my soup seems to act much the same part as the salope in this famous restorative; and no substitute that I could ever find for it, among all the variety of corn and pulse of the growth of Europe, ever produced half the effect; that is to say, half the nourishment at the same expense. Barley may therefore be considered as the rice of Great Britain. It requires, it is true, a great deal of boiling; but, when it is properly managed, it thickens a vast quantity of water; and, as I suppose, prepares it for decomposition. It also gives the soup, into which it enters as an ingredient, a degree of richness which nothing else can give. It has little or no taste in itself, but, when mixed with other ingredients which are savory, it renders them peculiarly grateful to the palate. It is a maxim as ancient, I believe, as the time of Hippocrates, that whatever pleases the palate nourishes; and I have often had reason to think it perfectly just. Could it be clearly ascertained and demonstrated, it would tend to place cookery in a more respectable situation among the arts than it now holds. That the manner in which food is prepared is a matter of real importance; and that the water used in that process acts a much more important part than has hitherto been generally imagined, is, I think, quite evident; for it seems to me to be impossible, upon any other supposition, to account for the appearances. If the very small quantity of solid food which enters into the composition of a portion of some very nutritive soup were to be prepared differently, and taken under some other form, that of bread, for instance; so far from being sufficient to satisfy hunger, and afford a comfortable and nutritive meal, a person would absolutely starve upon such a slender allowance; and no great relief would be derived from drinking crude water to fill up the void in the stomach. But it is not merely from an observation of the apparent effects of cookery upon those articles which are used as food for man, that we are led to discover the importance of these culinary processes. Their utility is proved in a manner equally conclusive and satisfactory, by the effects which have been produced by employing the same process in preparing food for brute animals. It is well known that boiling the potatoes with which hogs are fed renders them much more nutritive; and, since the introduction of the new system of feeding horned cattle, that of keeping them confined in the stables all the year round (a method which is now coming fast into common use in many parts of Germany), great improvements have been made in the art of providing nourishment for those animals; and particularly by preparing their food, by operations similar to those of cookery; and to these improvements it is most probably owing, that stall feeding has in that country, been so universally successful. It has long been a practice in Germany for those who fatten bullocks for the butcher, or feed milch cows, to give them frequently what is called a drank or drink; which is a kind of pottage, prepared differently in different parts of the country and in different seasons, according to the greater facility with which one or other of the articles occasionally employed in the composition of it may be procured, and according to the particular fancies of individuals. Many feeders make a great secret of the composition of their drinks, and some have, to my knowledge, carried their refinement so far, as actually to mix brandy in them in small quantities; and pretend to have found their advantage in adding this costly ingredient. The articles most commonly used are, bran, oat meal, brewers' grains, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, rye meal, and barley meal, with a large proportion of water; sometimes two or three or more of these articles are united in forming a drink: and, of whatever ingredients the drink is composed, a large proportion of salt is always added to it. There is perhaps nothing new in the method of feeding cattle with liquid mixtures, but the manner in which these drinks are now prepared in Germany is, I believe, quite new; and shows, what I wish to prove, that cooking renders food really more nutritive. These drinks were formerly given cold, but it was afterwards discovered that they were more nourishing when given warm; and of late their preparation is, in many places, become a very regular culinary process. Kitchens have been built, and large boilers provided and fitted up, merely for the cooking for the cattle in the stables; and I have been assured by many very intelligent farmers, who have adopted this new mode of feeding (and have also found by my own experience), that it is very advantageous indeed; that the drinks are evidently rendered much more nourishing and wholesome by being boiled; and that the expense of fuel, and the trouble attending this process, are amply compensated by the advantages derived from the improvement of the food. We even find it advantageous to continue the boiling a considerable time, two or three hours for instance; as the food goes on to be still farther improved, the longer the boiling is continued. These facts seem evidently to show, that there is some very important secret with regard to nutrition, which has not yet been properly investigated; and it seems to me to be more than probable, that the number of inhabitants who may be supported in any country upon its internal produce, depends almost as much upon the state of the art of cookery, as upon that of agriculture. The Chinese, perhaps, understand both these arts better than any other nation. Savages understand neither of them. But, if cookery be of so much importance, it certainly deserves to be studied with the greatest care; and it ought to be particularly attended to in times of general alarm on account of a scarcity of provisions; for the relief which may in many cases be derived from it is immediate and effectual, while all other sources are distant and uncertain.' After anticipating some objections to his plan, Count Rumford recommends the establishment of public kitchens in all towns and large villages throughout the kingdom. See KITCHEN. FOOL, n. s., v. n. & v. a. FOOL'ERY, n. s. FOOL'ISH, adj. FOOL'ISHLY, adv. FOOL'ISHNESS, n. s. Greek φαυλος ; German faul, and probably foul in English. Thus, the original mean ing of fool is worthless, or good for nothing; dirty or idle: applied to the mind, weak, muddy in its ideas; slow of apprehension; reluctant to think It is now generally applied to a natural, au idiot; one to whom nature has denied reason; to one who counterfeits folly; a buffoon or jester. In Scripture the term is employed to designate a wicked man, to intimate that wickedness is folly; as it debases reason, and dishonors the character. The neuter verb is used in the sense to trifle; to toy; to play; to idle; to sport. The active signifies to treat with contempt; to disappoint; to frustrate; to cheat; to defeat; to infatuate; to allure from the dictates of reason and sobriety. Foolery is either habitual folly, or a solitary act, or the object of folly. Foolish, to be void of understanding; weak of intellect; imprudent; indiscreet; ridiculous; contemptible. Foolishly, weakly; without understanding. In Scripture all these terms signify wicked and wickedly. Foolishness is folly; want of understanding; actual deviation from the right. Fool is used in composition and in phrases idiomatic and peculiar the following are instances of both, and their illustrations are placed in the regular chronological order with those of their etymon. FOOL'BORN, adj. Fool and born. Foolish from the birth. FOOL-HAPPY, adj. Fool and happy. Lucky; without contrivance or judgment. FOOL'-HARDINESS, n. s. Fool and hardy. FOOL-HARDISE, n. s. Mad rashness; couFOOL-HARDY, adj. rage without sense. The second noun is obsolete: it is however used by Spenser, and signifies adventurousness without judgment: the adjective signifies foolishly bold. FOOL'-LARGE, adj. Fool and large. Foolishly liberal. FOOL'-TRAP, n. s. Fool and trap. A snare to catch fools in, generally set by rogues. jester; to jest; to make sport; to act like one To play the fool. To play pranks like a hired void of common understanding. To make a fool of. To disappoint; to defeat. stance; to exchange without an adequate equivaTo fool away. To squander; to waste sublent. flattering his vanity, or cajoling his understandTo fool one of his money, is to cheat him by ing; that is, to rob him through the medium of his folly or his ignorance. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. A ful gret fool is any conseillour, Chaucer. The Marchantes Tale. But for as moche as som folk ben unmesurable, men oughten for to avoid and eschue fool-largesse, the whiche men clepen waste. Certes, he that is fool-large, he geveth not his catel, but he leseth his catel. Id. The Persones Tale. This is my lif but if that I wol fight; Id. Prologue to the Monkes Tale. As when a ship, that flies fair under sail, An hidden rock escaped unawares, That lay in wait her wreck for to bewail; The mariner, yet half amazed, stares At perils past, and yet in doubt he dares To joy at his fool-happy oversight. Faerie Queene. More huge in strength than wise in works he was, And reason with foolhardise over-ran; Stern melancholy did his courage pass, And was, for terror more, all armed in shining brass. [d. One mother, when as her foolhardy child Like Romans: neither foolish in our stands, "Twere as good a deed as to drink when a man's a-hungry, to challenge him to the field, and then to break promise with him, and make a fool of him. Id. Twelfth Night. Foolery, Sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines every where: I would be sorry, Sir, but the fool should be as oft with your master as with my mistress. Id. When I am read, thou feign'st a weak applause, As if thou wert my friend, but lackest a cause : This but thy judgment fools; the other way Would both thy folly and thy spite betray. Ben Jonson. No honour's got by such a maim. Hudibras. I returning where I left his armour, found another There is a difference betwixt daring and foolhardi. ness: Lucan and Statius often ventured them too far, our Virgil never. Id. I am tired with waiting for this chemick gold, Which fools us young, and beggars us when old. Id. To be thought knowing, you must first put the fool upon all mankind. Id. Juvenal, Preface. Bets at the first, were fooltraps, where the wise Like spiders lay in ambush for the flies. Dryden. We are transported with fooleries, which, if we understood, we should despise. L'Estrange. It must be an industrious youth that provides against age; and he that fools away the one, must either beg or starve in the other. Id. He must be happy that knows the true measures of fooling. Id. Is it worth the name of freedom to be at liberty to play the fool, and draw shame and misery upon a man's self? Locke. It may be asked, whether the eldest son, being a fool, shall inherit paternal power before the younger, a wise man. Id I would advise this blinded set of men not to give credit to those, by whom they have been so often fooled and imposed upon. Addison's Freeholder. A woman, who is not a fool, can have but one reason for associating with a man who is one. Congreve. Way of the World. 'Tis not so hard to counterfeit joy in the depth of affliction, as to dissemble mirth in the company of fools! Congreve. He thanks his stars he was not born a fool. Pope. Although we boast our winter sun looks bright, And foolishly are glad to see it in its height; Yet so much sooner comes the long and gloomy night. Swift. treating of things, where the difference lies only in It is mere foolery to multiply distinct particulars in words. Watts. He allows himself in foolish hatreds and resentments against particular persons, without considering Law. that he is to love every body as himself. Call me not Mother; for if I brought thee forth, it was As foolish hens at times hatch vipers, by Sitting upon strange eggs. Byron. Deformed Transformed. FOOLADOO, a district of Africa, near the sources of the Senegal, situated between Kaarta, instead thereof, and armed myself therein to play the Konkodoo, Jallonkadoo, and Manding. It is fool. Is this a time for fooling? Sidney. Dryden. When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat; For fooled with hope, men favour the deceit. It rocky, and watered by the numerous streams that fall into the Senegal, of which the principal are the Wonda, the Ba Lee, and the Ba Woollima. This country is the original residence of the |