Ingredients. - Two dessertspoonfuls of patent groats. Sugar. A small piece of fresh butter. Half a gill of rum.

Time required, about fifteen minutes.

To make Gruel:

1. Put a stewpan with one pint of water on the fire to boil.

2. Take two dessertspoonfuls of patent groats and put them in a basin.

3. Add, by degrees, two tablespoonfuls of cold water to the groats, and stir it into a smooth paste.

4. When the water in the stewpan is quite boiling, pour in the mixed gruel and stir it well with a wooden spoon, until it has boiled for ten minutes (it must not be lumpy); then pour it into a basin, and it is ready for use.

N. B. - If the gruel is required for a cold:

5. Stir in a piece of fresh butter the size of a chestnut, and sweeten it according to taste.

6. Also add two tablespoonfuls of rum.

N. B. - If the patient is feverish, spirits should not be added.