oil or butter.
_Mode_.--Pare the cucumbers and cut them into slices of an equal
thickness, commencing to slice from the thick, and not the stalk end of
the cucumber. Wipe the slices dry with a cloth, dredge them with flour,
and put them into a pan of boiling oil or butter; Keep turning them
about until brown; lift them out of the pan, let them drain, and serve,
piled lightly in a dish. These will be found a great improvement to
rump-steak: they should be placed on a dish with the steak on the top.
_Time_.--5 minutes. _Average cost_, when cheapest, 4d. each.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_.--Forced from the beginning of March to the end of June; in
full season in July and August.
PROPERTIES AND USES OF THE CUCURBITS.--The common cucumber is
the C. sativus of science, and although the whole of the family
have a similar action in the animal economy, yet there are some
which present us with great anomalies. The roots of those which
are perennial contain, besides fecula, which is their base, a
resinous, acrid, and bitter principle. The fruits of this
family, however, have in general a sugary taste, and are more or
less dissolving and perfumed, as we find in the melons, gourds,
cucumbers, vegetable-marrows, and squashes. But these are
slightly laxative if partaken of largely. In tropical countries,
this order furnishes the inhabitants with a large portion of
their food, which, even in the most arid deserts and most barren
islands, is of the finest quality. In China, Cashmere, and
Persia, they are cultivated on the lakes on the floating
collections of weeds common in these localities. In India they
are everywhere abundant, either in a cultivated or wild state,
and the seeds of all the family are sweet and mucilaginous.
STEWED CUCUMBERS.