3C2
A DISCOURSE
book i„ frighted those out of the baths at Antandro,, whose roof was laid with.
this material, but which, Pliny says was of Hazel, very unlike it.—Formerly they made consultory staves of this tree ;. and the variegatedrods which Jacob peeled to lay in' the troughs,, to knprefs a fancy in his.father-in-law’s conceiving ewes, are said to have been of this material.The coals are excellent for the smith, being soon kindled, and as soon ex-tinguished but the ashes of Chesnut-wood are not convenient to make a lye :with, because it is observed to stain the linen. As for the fruit, it is betterto beat it down from the tree some little time before it falls off of itself j.thus the nuts will keep the better, or else you must kiln-dry them.But we give that fruit to our swine in England, which is amongst the-delicacies of princes in ether countries, and, being of the larger nut,is a lusty and masculine food for rustics at all times, and of betternourishment for husbandmen than cole and rusty bacon,, yea, or beansto boot; instead of which, they boil them in Italy with theirbacon ; and, in Virgil’s time, they eat them, with milk and cheese'. Thebest tables in France and Italy make them a service, eating them withsalt, in wine, or juice of lemon and sugar, being first roasted In embers-on the chaplet; and, doubtlefs, we might propagate their use among ourcommon people, (as of old the BcaaMpxyo;,) being a food so cheap, andso lasting. In Italy they boil them in wine, and then smoke thema little ; these they call anseri, or geese, I know not why: Thoseof Piedmont add fennel, cinnamon, and nutmeg to their wine ; but firstthey peel them. Others macerate them in rose-water. The bread of theflour is exceedingly nutritive ; it is a robust food, and makes women well-complexioned, as I have read in a good author. They also make frittersof chesnut flour, which they wet with rose water, and sprinkle withgrated parmigiano, and so fry them in fresh butter for a delicate. Howwe here use Chesnuts in stewed meats and beatille pies, our Frenchcooks teach us; and this is in truth their very best use, and, very com-mendable ; for it is found that the eating of them raw, or in bread,as they do much in the Limosin, is apt to swell the belly, though withoutany other inconvenience that I can learn; and yet some condemn them
* Tityrus, in his invitation to Meliboeus, says,
.-Sunt nobis mitia poma,.
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