ON certain occasions in the course of my jottings, I have mentioned the cup of cafe noir as the finishing touch of a nice little dinner. I think, therefore, that I may as well say a few words regarding its composition before I ask you to consider my menus ended.

Although few may think themselves ignorant of coffee-making, I question whether its real secrets are generally known. Indeed to judge by the stuff that we usually get, I think, we may say that the art is comparatively rare. First, to be sure, you must "catch your coffee," i.e: - get really good berries, and be willing to pay a trifle over the usual price for them. That done, the next thing to learn is the roasting, an operation that should be conducted daily if you want well-flavoured coffee. The process is by no means as easy as many believe; half the coffee we drink is ruined by ignorant roasting; a burnt berry, mark you, will spoil the whole brew. The best way, I think, to roast the berries is to do a few at a time in a frying-pan over a very low fire, passing them straight to the mill (a hand-mill is quite indispensable) from the pan. A table-spoonful of berries will be found quite enough at a time. Melt a little butter, sufficient to lubricate the berries, and stir them about until they turn a light Havannah brown; if perchance a berry take a darker tint, throw it away as you would a reptile; grind them at once as coarsely as your mill will admit, - the grains should be quite as large as those of rifle gun-powder, - and make the coffee as soon afterwards as possible.

A little butter or salad oil is strongly recommended, it prevents the escape of much of the fragrance of the berry while roasting, and becomes quite dried up before the roasting is finished. The custom in the Indian kitchen is to bake, often to over-bake, the berries and then tunny-cutch ammah pounds them to a dull black powder as fine as flour. The result is a leaden tinted liquid, acrid in flavour, and repulsive to look upon.

Having ground the coffee properly, - it should be rich in aroma, and of a beautiful pale snuff colour - the best coffee-pot to use, after all, is the percolator. Be liberal with the coffee (a table-spoonful for each person), heat the coffee-pot thoroughly, fill the upper chamber of the percolator according to your requirements, ram the coffee down firmly, and having previously measured the amount of coffee liquid you require, pour boiling water, according to that measurement, in tea-spoonfuls at a time, through the upper strainer upon the powder. The slower the water is added, the more thoroughly the coffee will become soaked, and, the dripping being retarded, the essence will be as strong as possible. As soon as the coffee has run through, pour the rich essence you have obtained into your cups, and for cafe au lait fill them up with boiling milk, for cafe noir with a little boiling water.

As it is scarcely possible for your servant to make coffee with all this care at the end of a dinner party, I recommend that the essence be made just before dinner, and kept covered up. For a party of twelve, two brews will be required. At the time it is wanted, the boiling milk imparts quite enough heat to the essence in the case of cafe au lait; and, for black coffee, a gentle re-heating, plus the modicum of boiling water aforesaid, insures a good cup; only, do not forget to pass round with it a flask of cognac vieil. I have confined my remarks to the method which I have followed for years successfully, but there arc, of course, other ways of making good coffee.

The Turkish system much praised by travellers may be thus described: - The roasting having been conducted with all the care I have already indicated, the berries are cast into a large metal mortar, and pounded to a very fine powder. This is carefully sifted through a fine sieve, all coarse particles being rejected. As much water as is wanted is then boiled in a small copper can, having a narrow top and broad bottom. When the water boils, powdered coffee is added, off the fire, according to requirements, and the can is replaced on the fire. The liquid is now permitted to come to the boil three times, the can after each occasion of ebullition being taken off the fire for a while. After the third boiling up, the can is placed for a minute in a shallow vessel containing cold water to precipitate the "grounds," after which the coffee clear, black, and sparkling is poured into the cup. For this 1 have to thank Colonel H. M.

The last, most worthy, recipe of all.

IT is not generally known, my dear Wyvern," writes my learned, and very kind friend C. S., "that the fumes of sulphur prevent the rapid decomposition of animal matter, and that a fine tender mutton chop can be had, even in the hottest weather, by exposing the joint from which it is cut to the fumes of burning pastiles, placed in an air tight box, for two or three hours after the meat is brought home from market. A joint thus treated will keep perfectly for thirty-six hours, even in Madras, and be found deliciously tender the day after it was purchased. The pastiles should be composed as follows: -

Eight parts of powdered sulphur.

One and a half part of powdered charcoal.

A quarter part of powdered saltpetre.

Mix all together, and make them into pastiles, adding, just enough gum water for the purpose; shape them like pyramids, and dry them in the sun. A roomy box, - say a three-dozen case,- furnished with hooks to suspend the. meat by, with a closely fitting door, and all crevices filled with putty, and pasted over with strips of strong paper, is the sort of receptacle you require for the fumigation. Suspend the meat, place two or three pastiles below it, light them, close the door securely, and leave well alone."