According to Dr. Fernie half a pound of dates and half a pint of new milk will make a satisfying repast for a person engaged in sedentary work. _Elderberry._ The elderberry has fallen into neglect of late years, owing to the lazy and disastrous modern habit of substituting the mineral drugs of the chemist for the home-made vegetable remedies of our grandmothers. Nevertheless, the elderberry is one of the most ancient and tried of medicines, held in such great esteem in Germany that, according to the German folk-lore, men should take off their hats in the presence of an elder-tree. In Denmark there is a legend to the effect that the trees are under the protection of a being known as the Elder-Mother, who has been immortalised in one of the fairy tales of Hans Andersen. The berries of the elder-tree are not palatable enough to be used as a common article of food, but in the days when nearly every garden boasted its elder-tree few housewives omitted to make elderberry wine in due season. It is not permitted to "food-reformers" to make "wine," but those readers who are fortunate enough to possess an elder-tree might well preserve the juice of the berries against winter coughs and colds. _Preserved Fruit Juice._ The following is E. and B. May's recipe for preserving fruit juice. Put the fruit into a preserving-pan, crush it and allow it to simmer slowly until the juice is well drawn out. This will take about an hour. Press out the juice and strain through a jelly-bag until quite clear. Put the juice back into the pan, and to every quart add a quarter of a pound of best cane sugar. Stir until dissolved. Put the juice into clean, dry bottles. Stand the bottles in a pan of hot water, and when the latter has come to the boil allow the bottles to remain in the boiling water for fifteen minutes. The idea is to bring the juice inside the bottles to boiling point just before sealing up, but not to boil it. See that the bottles are _full_. Cork _immediately_ on taking out of the pan, and then seal up. To seal mix a little plaster of Paris with water and spread it well over the cork. Let it come a little below the cork so as to exclude all air. The juice of the elderberry is famous for promoting perspiration, hence its efficacy in the cure of colds. Two tablespoonfuls should be taken at bed-time in a tumbler of hot water. The juice of the elderberry is excellent in fevers, and is also said to promote longevity. _Elderberry Poultice._