The separation of these jellies is an operation of cookery, and one that deserves more attention than it receives. I shall never forget the _rahat lakoum_, prepared for the Sultana, which I once had the privilege of eating in the kitchen of the Seraglio of Stamboul, where it was presented to me by his Excellency the Grand Confectioner as a sample of his masterpiece. Its basis was the pure pectose of many fruits, the inspissated juices of grapes, peaches, pine-apples, and I know not what others. The sherbet was similar, but liquid. Well may they obey the Prophet and abstain from the grosser concoctions that we call wine when such ambrosial nectar as this is supplied in its place! It is to Imperial Tokay as tokay is to table-beer! I tasted many other choice confections there, and when I find myself defending the Turk against his many enemies, my conscience sometimes asks whether my politics have been influenced by the remembrance of that visit. The ‘lumps of delight’ sold by our confectioners are imitations made of flavoured gelatin. Similar substitutes are sold in Constantinople. The same as regards the sherbet. I conclude this part of my subject by re-echoing Mr. Gladstone’s advocacy of the extension of fruit culture. We shamefully neglect the best of all food, in eating and drinking so little fruit. As regards cooked fruit, I say jam for the million, jelly for the luxurious, and juice for all. With these in abundance, the abolition of alcoholic drinks will follow as a necessary result of natural nausea. I may add that besides the letters asking for the further information here given, I have since received several others from readers who have adopted the diet above prescribed with good practical results. I have further learned that vegetarians are remarkably free from the lithic acid troubles above named, and that many who were sufferers before they became vegetarians have subsequently escaped. The testimony of a large number is demanded in such subjects, as individual examples may depend upon individual peculiarities of constitution. FOOTNOTE: [16] Shortly after the close of the Great Exhibition of 1851, when the South Kensington Museum was only in embryo, I had occasion to call on Dr. Lyon Playfair at the ‘boilers,’ and there found the Prince hard at work giving instructions for the arrangement and labelling of these analysed food products and the similarly displayed materials of industry, such as whalebone, ivory, &c. I then, by inquiry, learned how much time and labour he was devoting, not only to the general business of the collection, but also to its minor details. CHAPTER XIV. COUNT RUMFORD’S COOKERY AND CHEAP DINNERS.