should be nicely blanched, and be eaten young. They are seldom served in
any other way, but may be stewed and sent to table in a good brown gravy
flavoured with lemon-juice. In preparing them for a salad, carefully
wash them free from dirt, pick off all the decayed and outer leaves, and
dry them thoroughly by shaking them in a cloth. Cut off the stalks, and
either halve or cut the lettuces into small pieces. The manner of
cutting them up entirely depends on the salad for which they are
intended. In France the lettuces are sometimes merely wiped with a cloth
and not washed, the cooks there declaring that the act of washing them
injuriously affects the pleasant crispness of the plant: in this case
scrupulous attention must be paid to each leaf, and the grit thoroughly
wiped away.
_Average cost_, when cheapest, 1d. each.
_Sufficient_.--Allow 2 lettuces for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ from March to the end of August, but may be had all the
year.
[Illustration: LETTUCE.]
THE LETTUCE.--All the varieties of the garden lettuce have
originated from the _Lactuca sativa_ of science, which has never
yet been found in a wild state. Hence it may be concluded that
it is merely another form of some species, changed through the
effects of cultivation. In its young state, the lettuce forms a
well-known and wholesome salad, containing a bland pellucid
juice, with little taste or smell, and having a cooling and
soothing influence on the system. This arises from the large
quantities of water and mucilage it contains, and not from any
narcotic principle which it is supposed to possess. During the
period of flowering, it abounds in a peculiar milky juice, which
flows from the stem when wounded, and which has been found to be
possessed of decided medicinal properties.
BAKED MUSHROOMS.
(A Breakfast, Luncheon, or Supper Dish.)