For young children who dislike the fat of meat, and cannot take cod-liver oil, this Toffee is an admirable substitute; if given only at the end of meals it is not likely to disagree. Sir Walter Scott (in The Abbot) speaks of "the lump of Sugar which pothicaries put into their wholesome, but bitter medicaments to please a froward child." A capital sweetmeat "rock," is to be made with onecupful of brown sugar, three-quarters of a cupful of water, and a quarter teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil slowly, without stirring, until the whole is of an amber colour. Split and toast some Turkey figs; lay them in a buttered tin dish, pour the candy over them, and cool off gradually. This is excellent against a costive habit. For compounding "Eau Sucree," to be taken against nervous headache: "Use of boiling water, one pint; orange-flower water, one tablespoonful; lump Sugar, one ounce. Put the sugar in a jug, pour over it the boiling water; stir well until the Sugar is dissolved; when cold add the orange-flower water." Syrup of Lemons mixed with water makes a delicious drink for fevered patients, or in hot weather. "Squeeze the juice of five lemons into one and a half pounds of loaf Sugar; dissolve these together in an earthen jar placed in a saucepan of boiling water; simmer in this way until the Sugar is melted into a thick syrup; bottle it when cold, and cork well.

The lemon-juice should be strained before it is blended with the Sugar." Mr. Banting, when adopting a systematic regimen to reduce his bulk, found Sugar to be the most fattening of all foods; five ounces of it in a week caused his weight to rise one pound. He called milk, "Sugar"; butter, and beer, "human beans," because these matters of diet have the same effect on the human subject which beans exercise in the case of the horse; and he regarded such items as constituting the most insidious dietary which an elderly man with the tendency to become fat can adopt (though it would be "eminently friendly to youth"). He adds: "I can conscientiously assert that I never lived so well as under my reformed plan of feeding." His obesity had been such as to render him unable to tie his own shoes, and to compel his going downstairs backwards. On a regimen of abstinence, chiefly from bread, milk, butter, Sugar, and potatoes, he lost thirty-five pounds of weight in thirty-eight weeks. In 1598 Hentzer, -a German traveller, described Queen Elizabeth of England, then sixty-five years of age, in the following terms: "Her nose is a little hooked, her lips narrow, and her teeth black, - a defect the English seem subject to from their great use of Sugar.

"Most probably, if Sugar really impairs the teeth, it does so indirectly by lingering in the crevices of the mouth, and leading to the production of acids which are destructive to the enamel.

In clarifying Sugar the first boiling proceeds to the thread degree only; the second boiling to the small pearl degree; the third to the great pearl degree, (when the bubbles forming on the surface of the boiling liquor lie close together like round pearls); the fourth, and fifth, to degrees of "cracking"; and in the sixth, boiling caramel is produced, with the Sugar slightly burnt, and of a dark-brown colour.

Sydney Smith, when writing to Lady Holland (1807), from Bath, informed her that "a dreadful controversy has broken out in this city as to whether tea is more effectually sweetened by lump, or by powdered Sugar, and the worst passions of the human mind are called into action by the pulverists, and the lumpists. I have been pressed by ladies of both sides to speak in favour of their respective theories, at the Royal Institution, which I have promised to do." Quite recently, however, a much more important issue concerning Sugar is engaging the attention of scientists at that Institution. The discovery has been lately made that this substance can be chemically produced by passing an electric current through water impregnated with carbonic acid gas; this ready manipulation promising to bring about one of the greatest revolutions in the history of the world, viz., converting simple substances into complex food-stuffs, such as we have hitherto had to provide from far countries at considerable cost.

Elia relates in his delightful Essay, My First Play, concerning his wonderment at the decorations of Drury Lane Theatre, particularly the crystal pilasters, "reaching down from the boxes to the pit, how they were adorned with a glittering substance (I know not what) under glass, as it seemed, resembling a homely fancy, but I judged it to be Sugar Candy; yet to my raised imagination, divested of its homelier qualities it appeared a glorified Candy".

Treacle is the spume of Sugar in the refineries, and is so called because resembling, either in appearance, or in its supposed medicinal properties, the ancient theriacal compounds. Theriac was of old a reputed classic antidote against venomous bites from wild beasts, serpents, etc. Evelyn records in his Diary (1646) after this fashion: ."Having packed up my purchases of books, pictures, casts, and Treacle (the making, and extraordinary ceremony whereof I had been curious to observe), I departed for Venice." Formerly the Triacle, or Treacle, was believed to be capable of curing, or preventing, the effects of poisons. Our modern Treacle is of three kinds: Black, thick Treacle, with a flavour of burnt sugar, (which Treacle can be procured only at oil-shops); Golden Syrup (which is purer, sweeter, thinner, and lighter); and the plain, old-fashioned Treacle, which is of a reddish-brown colour, without tasting of caramel. Golden Syrup is the uncrystallizable liquid finally separated from crystallized Sugar in the refining process, either by the draining of Sugar in loaves, or as forcibly thrown off by the revolving centrifugal apparatus when preparing moist Sugar. This Golden Syrup should, be made from pure Sugar alone, and from nothing else; it has sometimes a tendency to crystallize, and to become clouded, but not thereby undergoing any deterioration in quality, or flavour; indeed, the Syrup is rather improved by this slight turbidity; but the public will have none of it; and hence it comes about that glucose is added, which for a time checks the tendency to crystallize, and serves to keep the Syrup transparent; 70 per cent of glucose will answer this purpose.

Provided the glucose, which may be added to Golden Syrup, is pure, there is nothing deleterious in this; but much of what is imported as glucose is loaded with sulphites, and at the best such is not Cane Sugar, any more than the best manufactured margarine is dairy butter. The moral lesson to housewives is, "never to refuse a good Golden Syrup on the ground of its being clouded." When quite clear it lies also under the imputation of containing a minute quantity of arsenic. In the Western parts of England is made a concoction which goes by the name of "Treacle-George".

"Take a wide, shallow tin, a layer of short crust, a layer of plain Treacle, a layer of bread-crumb, and a sprinkling over of lemon-juice, repeating the series until the tin is filled; cover the top with paste, and bake in a quick oven.'1 Molasses is the draining of crude Sugar, in distinction from the Treacle of refined Sugar; but the name Treacle is frequently given by misapprehension to molasses. The Government of Queensland, Australia, has lately announced two cures of alleged cancer by molasses. One was a cancer of the tongue, nearly choking the sufferer. He accidentally discovered that molasses eased his distress, and after his taking a teaspoonful five times a day the cancerous growth gradually disappeared. The other case was declared to be cancer of the stomach, and was cured by a similar mode of treatment pursued for three months. Again, by increasing the intestinal secretions Treacle is of frequent service for obviating constipation. Furthermore, it is very nourishing for young children towards making fat, and supplying bodily warmth. "Once on a time "(see Alice in Wonderland) "there were three little sisters, Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, who lived at the bottom of a well; they lived there because it was a Treacle well; and these three little sisters were learning to draw, you know. 'What did they draw?' asked Alice. 'Treacle,' said the Dormouse. 'Where did they draw the Treacle from?' asked Alice. 'Why, you can draw water out of a water-well,' said the Hatter, 'so I should think you could draw Treacle out of a Treacle well! Eh? Stupid!' 'But they were in the well,' said Alice to the Dormouse. 'Of course they were,' said the Dormouse; ' well in.' "

For "Treacle tarts": "Take a quarter of a pound of flour, two ounces of dripping, two tablespoonfuls of Treacle, and two table-spoonfuls of bread-crumbs; put the flour in a basin, with a pinch of salt, and rub the dripping lightly in; add sufficient water to make a stiff paste; roll it out on a floured board, and line a greased tin, or plate, with the paste; mix the Treacle and bread-crumbs together, and pour out on the paste; cover with strips of the paste, and bake for half an hour." When Alice, at the end of The Looking Glass, was made Queen at last by general consent, a shrill voice was heard singing from the Castle, and hundreds of other voices joined in the chorus: -

"Then fill up the glasses as quick as you can,

And sprinkle the tables with buttons, and bran; Put cats in the coffee, and mice in the tea, And welcome Queen Alice with thirty times three!

Then fill up the glasses with treacle, and ink, Or anything else that is pleasant to drink;

Mix sand with the cider, and wool with the wine, And welcome Queen Alice with ninety times nine! "

The good old-fashioned "Treacle posset," taken hot at bedtime, when a catarrhal cold begins, has been told of explicitly in Kitchen Physic. It promotes free perspiration, whilst the lactic acid of the curdled milk induces sleep; furthermore, the Treacle acts as a gentle laxative. A posset is so named from the Welsh "posel" curdled milk. Sometimes cider is used instead of wine for making the steaming draught.