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The Old Apple Woman

"She sits by the side of a turbulent stream, That rushes and rolls for ever, Up and down like a weary dream In the trance of a burning fever :

Up and down in the long Broadway It flows with its endless paces; Down and up through the noisy day, A river of feet, and of faces.

Withered and dry like a leafless bush That clings to the bank of a torrent.

Year in, year out, in the whirl and the push, She sits, of the city's current.

Apples and cakes, and candy to sell, Daily before her lying; The ragged newsboys know her well, The rich never think of buying.

Year in, year out, in her dingy shawl, The wind and the rain she weathers, Patient and mute at her humble stall; But few are the coppers she gathers.

The loud carts rattle in thunder and dust, Gay Fashion sweeps by in its coaches.

With an absent stare she mumbles her crust, Being past complaint, and reproaches :

Yet in her heart there remains the hope Of a Father's love, and pity:

For her the clouded skies shall ope', And the gates of a heavenly City."

As a remedy against pride, "Bear in mind," said Spurgeon, we are all descended from a certain disreputable old gardener, who was turned out of his Master's garden for stealing His apples."

The wild Apple tree (scrab, or crab), armed with thorns, grows in our fields, and hedgerows, furnishing verjuice in its fruit, which abounds with tannin, and is highly astringent, being of very helpful use against some forms of chronic diarrhea. For crab-apple jam, choose some of the largest crab apples; peel, score, and slice them; to each pound of these add one and a quarter pounds of lump sugar; and boil gently for three-quarters of an hour to a proper consistence. Verjuice also contains citric acid, about ten grains in an ounce. If a piece of a cut crab apple be rubbed on warts first pared to the quick, it will effectually cure them. Warts are brought about by the bacillus porri. "Their disappearance when charmed away by this or that whimsical method, is due," says Dr. Plowright, "to an auto-immunization, such as occurs likewise with regard to ringworm, leaving the child immune for the remainder of its life." But this would not obtain in the case of adults, or old persons, from whose skin warts may be similarly dispelled by incantation, etc. The greater probability is a physical effect produced on their skin by the mental suggestion. Verjuice-formerly verjuyce-may be expressed from other green crude fruits, such as unripe grapes, etc. "Having a crabbed face of her own, she'll eat the less verjuice with her mutton." Again, "His sermons with satire are plenteously verjuiced." Being rich in tannin, verjuice is a most useful application for old sprains. Similarly, a vinegar poultice put on cold is an effectual remedy for sprains and bruises; it will also sometimes arrest the growth of scrofulous enlargements of bones. The poultice should be made with vinegar and oatmeal, or with the addition of breadcrumb, as was directed in the Pharmacopœia Chirurgensis (1794). APRICOT (See MARMALADE).

THE Apricot, Armeniaca, is a beautiful stone fruit, of a rich, reddish, yellow colour, "shining," as Ruskin has said, " in sweet brightness of golden velvet." Its name originated in the Roman epithet "præcox," early; because of its ripening so soon in the season. Shakespeare has told of it as "apricock." At the Cape, Apricots, dried and salted, are commended as remedial against sea sickness. They go by the name of "Mebos," and are a delicious confection.

The stones of Apricots are imported because of their kernels, which contain Noyau freely. At Cairo the pulp is made into a luscious paste, which is slightly dried, and then rolled, incorporating the kernels. In Italy the fruit is cut in half, the stones being removed, and the pulp spread out for a while in a spent