Various

“ Let us catch one of the animals and keep it long enough to examine it. There is little difficulty in capturing a water-shrew, as the little animals are so fearless when they think themselves unobserved that a small hand-net can easily be slipped over them in their gambols. We need not keep our captive long, and, after inspecting the characteristic fringe of the feet and tail, we will examine its head and jaws.
A mere glance at the head ought to tell us that it cannot be a mouse, no mouse having a long, pointed snout, which projects far beyond the lower jaw. ”

“ Open the tin of peas, strain off the liquor, and pour the peas on to the mint leaves. Now add a small saltspoonful of powdered sugar, half a saltspoonful of salt, and a small pat of butter as big as a five-shilling piece. Toss the peas for a minute or so lightly together, so that the butter is dissolved and the sugar and salt melted, and the fresh mint leaves brought to the surface. Now send the dish to table. The fresh mint leaves help to convey the idea that the peas are fresh. In everything we eat and drink imagination goes a long way. ”

“ Mushrooms, however, are exceptions. They seem like gifts of nature, and, like the manna of old, they require us to rise early and gather in our harvest fresh, not forgetting that, like manna, they will not properly keep till the morrow. It is, however in cases like this, when the food is of a perishable nature, that the invention of preserving in tins is so useful. There are probably few of what may be called accessories to food more useful or more delicious than mushrooms. Mushrooms are preserved in tins in two forms, by far the most common one being quite plain in water. ”

“ Tinned asparagus differs in one respect from ordinary asparagus, inasmuch as you can nearly eat the whole of it. Asparagus can be eaten cold as a salad, and a very delicious salad it makes. Open a tin just as it is, strain off the contents, dry the asparagus on a cloth, and place it as I have described before on a dish, but without any toast. Now make a little sauce to pour over the tips as follows:—Take, say, a couple of ounces of butter, and dissolve it in the oven in a teacup till it runs to oil. ”

“ The chief differences between the glee and the older form of madrigal are the natural results of evolution in harmony, and the wedding of words to expressive music, even in defiance of ancient and mechanical rules. The tonality of the former is modern, the subjects are constantly changing, and are seldom developed, leaving an unsatisfactory feeling of restless abundance, inability to make the best use of the rich resources, and a consequently frequent complete cadence, which in many cases gives a detached, hesitating feeling to the work. Continuity seems to be the best test of great ideas ”

“ It has been accused, and I believe with justice, of devouring the eggs of river fish, a crime which, as I have already mentioned, is wrongly attributed to the water-vole.
Although we may see the water-shrew swim away and disappear below the surface of the water, we may watch in vain for its reappearance. As is done by the duckbill of Australia, the animal always makes several entrances to its burrow, one of them being on the side of the bank, below the surface of the water. It can, therefore, enter or leave the brook without being observed. ”

“ The only difficulty I know of in making this delicious dish is to avoid breaking the tomatoes, which are more liable to give way when they are hot than when they were first taken out of the tin. Shake a few bread-raspings over the top of each tomato before serving—that is, cover the top of the mushroom mixture with the bread raspings to make it a nice brown, but do not shake the bread raspings over the tomato itself. If the tomatoes are placed in a silver dish and surrounded with a little bright-green fried parsley, it has a very pretty appearance. ”

“ Indeed, when made up in a blue and white striped Galatea, I do not know any dress in which a girl looks better or is more becomingly attired for going about her morning duties. I must confess I like my maidens to look their best and happiest while under my roof, and nothing but the most exquisite neatness will content me; and I have found a plain girl grow quite pretty after a few months of care in the ordinary matters of the toilet. ”

“ I told them to get out of the way, only Reggie, poor little fellow, ran against me and knocked the match out of my hand—it was alight, you know—and then Joyce did scream, and,” but here Rolf buried his head in the pillow; the recollection was evidently too painful. “You will all hate me,” he sobbed, “because I nearly killed Reggie—you and Aunt Violet, and I do love Aunt Violet, because she is so pretty.”
“No one will hate you, my poor child; we are only sorry that the son of a brave soldier like Colonel Markham should be such a coward as to disobey his mother. ”

“ All the voles are admirable climbers, as indeed is necessary, in order to enable them to gather the corn and fruit of the hawthorn and wild rose. Their paws grasp the corn stems or tree twigs as if they were hands like those of the monkey, and they run about the slender branches of the hedges and shrubs that line the banks like monkeys among the trees of their native forests. ”

“ Just as the ordinary farmer lumps together half-a-dozen species or so of small birds, under the comprehensive title of “sparrows,” so do most people consider that every animal which labours under the misfortune of being small in dimensions, brown in colour, and having a tail appended to its body, must be either a rat or a mouse, according to its size. ”

“ Being sociable little creatures, a single water-shrew is seldom seen, and, if the observer should detect one of the animals, he may be tolerably certain that it will presently be joined by others. They are as playful as kittens, and, in their way, quite as graceful, their lithe bodies and active limbs being able to assume as many varied attitudes as may be seen in a family of kittens at play. ”

“ Preserved peas are best served in a course by themselves, though, of course, they can be handed round with ordinary joints. The art of sending preserved peas to table is to make them look and taste as much as possible like green peas freshly gathered. For this purpose you should act as follows:—Make the peas hot in the tin and take, say, a dozen fresh mint leaves and scald them in the water in which the tin is being made hot. Next take these hot mint leaves and put them in a vegetable dish. ”

“ In his admirable work on the British mammals, Mr. Bell states that the water-shrew will dive into a shallow, rippling stream, and run over the stones, pushing its long snout under them, and turning them over, should they be small, for the sake of dislodging and capturing the fresh-water shrimp (Gammarus) , and then carrying it off to the bank and eating it with an audible, crunching sound. ”

“ The tail of a shrew, when burned and powdered, was considered as a certain remedy for the bite of a dog; only the tail must be cut from a living shrew.
I have already made casual mention of the shrews of the land.
Two species of land-shrews are recognised as inhabitants of England. One is the common SHREW, or SHREW-MOUSE (Sorex vulgáris) , which for a long time was thought to be identical with the water-shrew. The fringed feet and tail, however, afford sufficient indications that it is a distinct species. ”

“ So strongly, indeed, is the contrast marked, that an exceptionally dark variety was long considered as a distinct species, and called the “oared shrew.”
Like the insectivora in general, the water-shrew is not at all particular in its diet, providing it be of an animal nature. As most of us know, the hedgehog, although its normal food consists of insects, snails, and the like, will feed on frogs, toads, mice, and even snakes and blindworms. ”

“ No one can be familiar with the banks of any brook without being acquainted with the pretty little WATER-SHREWS, which, like their relatives of the land, are almost invariably considered as mice, although, as we shall presently see, they are not connected in any way with the creatures which they superficially resemble.
If the observer will pick out some spot where he can be tolerably screened, and where the water of the brook is clear and rather shallow, he will be very likely to come upon the water-shrew (Cróssopus fódiens) . ”

“ Macédoines in tins are simply mixed preserved vegetables, the chief ingredients being green peas, chopped carrot, and turnip.
Macédoines are one of the most useful kind of tinned goods to have in the house, as you can always make a pretty dish at a few moments’ notice. A spoonful of macédoines will turn some clear soup into a bright-looking spring soup. A tin of macédoines made hot and placed in the centre of a dish of mutton cutlets always has a bright and appetising appearance. Macédoines can also be added to the remains of some cold potatoes, and used to make a German salad ”

“ The second, or specific, title is (as all specific titles ought to be) derived from the Latin, and refers to the habits of the species. It signifies a digger or burrower, and alludes to its custom of digging burrows in the banks of the brook in which it loves to disport itself, and where it obtains much of its food.
As with other creatures, absolute stillness and silence is required on the part of the observer before the water-shrew will even show itself. Though there may be plenty of the little animals within a few yards, not one will be visible. ”

“ There is no doubt that in this country the present generation is far more luxurious than the one that preceded it. Living is to a great extent a question of habit. At the present moment a Russian soldier is paid at the rate of a shilling a month, and his only ration is rye-bread baked into biscuit, washed down with a draught of water. ”

“ These sharp, rattling tones, without a natural ‘dying fall’—these heartless, whirling tumults—this archi-prosaic rumbling and tinkling—this pianoforte mania kills all thought and feeling, and we grow stupid, insensible, and imbecile. ”

“ This sauce, to be good, requires real butter, which is a substance now rarely met with, even at respectable grocers, the adulteration of butter with fat being almost universal—this universal adulteration being the chief cause of the depression of trade throughout the country. The salad should not be served till the sauce is quite cold and sticks to the asparagus.
Green peas are now to be had preserved in tins, not only very good but very cheap. Good preserved peas should be small and of a light green. When the peas are large and high coloured, they are inferior. ”

“ It is an{339} improvement if you have some good thick gravy, to add a little of it to the gravy in the tin. One of these tins very greatly improves the flavour of a dish of hash or stewed steak. I would strongly recommend you to try the experiment of using one of these tins the next time you have a chop or steak. They can be served just as they are, after being made hot, in a sauce tureen, and will be found far superior to any mushroom sauce generally met with, even when made from freshly gathered mushrooms. ”

“ At the beginning of the seventeenth century the madrigal, properly so called, disappeared from amongst the compositions of both English and foreign musicians. The word glee is the Anglo-Saxon “gligg”—music, and has no special reference to joyfulness; in fact, it is as common to find the title “serious glee,” as it is to see “cheerful glee.” A glee is unaccompanied, and is written for at least three solo voices, most frequently men. ”

“ As might be expected from its name, the BANK-VOLE (Arvícola glaréolus) is to be sought upon the banks of our brook. As its tail is nearly as long as that of the common mouse, it is often called the “long-tailed field mouse,” and it may easily be distinguished from a true mouse which does inhabit the country by the shortness of its ears, the bluntness of its snout, and the white colour of its paws. ”

“ The disease, being caused by the shrew, could only be cured by the shrew, the usual mode of treatment being to burn the animal alive and rub the cow with the ashes. As, however, a shrew might not always be at hand when a cow was taken ill, the ingenuity of our forefathers devised a plan of having essence of shrew always within reach. ”

“ White and primrose-colour are likewise generally becoming to them. Fair-skinned people may wear browns, blues, and pinks, as well as green.
But after all, the great thing, it seems to me, is to be able to choose for one’s self; and thus to avoid either the extreme of fashion or the fear of dowdiness; and the taste of the Englishwoman seems generally to turn to quiet, neat styles. It is to her good taste and sense that we owe most of the best fashions of the day—the tailor-made, neat dress of tweed cheviot or woollen material ”

“ We will suppose the store cupboard to contain a tin of tomatoes preserved whole, and also a tin of mushrooms. The dish we are going to send to table is called tomatoes au gratin. We will suppose the larder to contain a piece of cold boiled bacon, but raw bacon would serve our purpose equally well. Take the piece of cold boiled bacon, and with a blunt knife scrape off about two or three tablespoonfuls of fat. Chop up very finely a tin of mushrooms with a piece of onion, lemon peel and parsley, exactly as if we were making a sole au gratin. ”

“ On opening its mouth and examining its teeth, we not only see that it cannot be a mouse, but that it is not even a rodent. It is, in fact, much more nearly related to the hedgehog than to the mouse. All its teeth are sharply pointed, and the lower incisors project almost horizontally forwards. The animal must, therefore, be predacious in character, and a comparison with the structure of other animals shows that it belongs to the important though not very numerous group of the insectivora, or insect-eaters, of which the mole is the generally accepted type. ”

“ In opening a tin of asparagus, cut the tin right round the edge, so that the sticks of asparagus can be taken out without breaking them, and take out any tops that may be left in the tin, and add them to the rest. Strain off the liquid, and place the asparagus on the toast, the white part resting on the edge of the dish. The asparagus should therefore be divided into two parts, so that the green parts meet on the toast and half the white sticks rest on one end of the vegetable dish and half on the other. A little ordinary melted butter or white sauce is generally served with them. ”