Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/103

Rh the oil of lemons, may be usefully combined with the saccharine and tartaric acids, in the form of  powder, by the following easy process: Half a pound of refined sugar should be rubbed on the peels of two lemons, till the yellow part is entirely consumed; then the sugar is to be triturated in a glass or marble mortar; the juice of the same lemons dropped on the mass, and the whole suffered to stand in a glazed vessel, till it become sufficiently dry to be again reduced to powder. Eight ounces of pulverized crystals of tartar are now to be incorporated with the former: a few small tea-spoonfuls of this mixture, in half a tea-cupful of spring water, taken at night, or an ounce of the powder given in divided doses through the day, generally produce a mild laxative effect, in costive habits.

Lemon-juice is one of the most cooling and antiseptic vegetable productions: it ought to form an article of the side-board, as well as the medicine-chest; for it improves the taste, and corrects the putrid tendency of animal food in the summer. Hence lemonade affords a grateful and cooling beverage for febrile patients; but it should be remarked, that the acid of lemons must never be freely given to persons, whose breast or respiration is affected.  LENITIVE, a preparation kept in the apothecaries' shops, and consisting generally of two parts of pulverized senna; one part of coriander seeds in powder, incorporated with four parts of the pulp of tamarinds; a similar portion of prunes; and a sufficient quantity of simple syrup, so as to reduce the whole into an electuary.

It is chiefly employed as a gentle aperient in doses of one tea-spoonful, taken frequently in the course of the day; but, as it is apt to become mouldy, and to lose its efficacy, if kept too long, it ought to be newly prepared, and may be more advantageously employed as a vehicle for administering the more active medicines.—Nor should this compound be indiscriminately swallowed by the lower classes of people, who thus cloy their stomachs on every occasion, without knowing whether it be a proper medicine for their complaint.  LENTIL, or Ervum Lens, L. an useful exotic vegetable of the pulse kind, that has long been cultivated in Britain.

It is propagated from seeds, which are either sown in the proportion of from one bushel and a half to two bushels, or are in rows one foot and a half a part, in order that the intermediate soil may be properly cleaned with the Dutch hoe. Sometimes, however, this vegetable is put in the ground together with oats or barley, at the rate of one bushel of the latter to two bushels of the former.

The lentil is an annual plant, growing to the height of about 18 inches, and producing pale purple flowers, which are succeeded by small flat pods, containing two or three round seeds. These are frequently used in soups, the flavour of which is thus much improved: the plant itself affords an excellent fodder for cattle.—When, however, lentils grow among oats or barley, they should be cut while in full sap; for, if well dried and preserved, they afford an inviting food, though of a heating and flatulent nature.—Nor is the fruit itself more wholesome to mankind; and observes, that it