A few words on the subject of fritters.  When will English housekeepers grasp the idea of frying?  They cannot get beyond a dab of grease or butter in a frying-pan.  The bath of boiling oil seems to be beyond them, or at any rate a degree of civilisation that has not yet passed beyond the limit of the fried-fish shop.  The oil will do over and over again, and in the end is undoubtedly cheaper than the dab of grease or butter thrown away.  There are hundreds of men who, in hot weather, would positively prefer a well-cooked vegetable fritter to meat, but yet they rarely get it at home.  Fruit fritters are also very economical—­orange fritters, apple fritters, &c., because the batter helps to make the dish a meal.

Those who have practised vegetarianism for many years will probably be of opinion that we have not called sufficient attention to the subject of fruit and nuts.  This is not because we do not believe in their usefulness, but because we think that those who are changing their mode of living will be far better enabled to do so without discomfort by making their chief alterations in diet in the directions we have pointed out.  There is moreover little or no cookery involved in these articles.

Of the wholesomeness of fresh fruit all are agreed; and as people become more advanced vegetarians, the desire for fruit and nuts will follow in due course.  In future years, as the demand increases, the supply will increase; but this is a question of time.  Lookers-on often see more of the game than the players.  It is not because the sudden change might not be beneficial, but because sudden changes are only likely to be effected in rare instances, that we have taken the view we have.  Prejudice is strong, and it would be very difficult to persuade persons, unless they had been gradually brought to the change, to regard nuts in the light of food.  To suggest a meal off Brazil nuts would to many have a tendency to put vegetarianism in a ridiculous light, and nothing kills so readily as ridicule.

In conclusion, it will be observed that from time to time we have used the expression, “if wine be allowed.”  There is no necessary connection between vegetarianism and teetotalism, but it would be affectation to deny the fact that they are generally connected.  Of the numerous arguments brought forward by the advocates of vegetarianism, one is that, in the opinion of many who speak with authority, a vegetarian diet is best adapted to those—­of whom, unfortunately, there are many—­who, from time to time, have a craving for more stimulant than is beneficial to their health.  Many medical men are of the opinion that large meat-eaters require alcoholic stimulant, and that they can give up the latter more easily by abstaining from the former.  This is a question for medical men to decide, as it does not properly come into the province of the cook.