cerning its freshness, for, as the contents begin to shrink, so will the egg lose in weight; and, placed in water, it will, if fresh, sink to the bottom, and if other¬ wise, gain in buoyancy until, in the case of a ve'ry had egg, it floats upon the surface of the water. This test, however, has one drawback, it must be essayed at home ; unless the purchaser has the temerity to in¬ sist upon carrying it out before the eyes of the vendor at the time of purchase. Another way of testing an egg is to weigh it. Choose two eggs of equal size, and weigh them together. The heavier of the two will be the fresher of the two. This is a simple and effec¬ tive test, which, however, must be made by the aid of scales, unless the purchaser has a very fine judg- ment of differing weights. 1 ® As to preserved eggs, they are never as nutritious as fresh eggs however clear they may appear when orbasfn ‘S a"d the contents Poured into a cup . therefore, essential, when preparing eggs for invalids and persons requiring nutriment in a con¬ densed form, to be absolutely sure that they are fresh and we trust that these few hints given on the choosing ot eggs may be of use to our readers. Plain Boiled Eggs . — This seems a simple thino- and yet how many will attend to the cooking of an _f§ pypy’y. It IS not surprising when travelling find fmc ? °f e?gs u-‘ hote,s and restaurants to nnd this most simple thing badly done— either over p-ubihdariCOOkefd' Tr0ubIn wiI1 not be taken to distin- L “hiarge from a small one, some eggs weighing but half an ounce, others to 2 ounces; but as d?ffnlS a whl"t!-of Nature- servants will not see the difference in this, and nearly all the cookery books say that they should be boiled for three minutes, and so .hree minutes is given, with varying results. The time, therefore, required to boil an egg with the white just set and yolk soft varies from 2 J to four minutes. T44 THE HOUSEHOLD t Into half a pint of water put one heaped teaspoonful of salt, and when the water boils put in the eggs✪ Plain Boiled Eggs carefully, and do not let the water boil too fast, other¬ wise it will crack the shells. The addition (although very little known) of salt, greatly improves the flavour of the egg, and also enables the shell to be more easily removed. Poached Eggs. — Put into a shallow saucepan half a pint of water, one teaspoonful of salt, and three of vinegar; when boiling break one egg at a time in a saucer, and then carefully tilt the egg✪ Poached Eggs into the boiling water, placing the s&ucer near to the surface of the water so as not to break the yolk of the eggs; let the water simmer for three to four minutes, according to size of egg. Lift the poached egg out of the water with a wire spoon and place it in the centre of a round of buttered toast, bacon, ham, spinach, or minced meat, and send to table hot. Eggs with Melted Cheese. — Grate 2 ozs. of Par¬ mesan cheese on a fireproof dish, set it over a glimmer of gas, adding a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of chopped chives, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and also 2 ozs. of good butter. Stir thor¬ oughly while cooking, and as the cheese melts, break in 3 or 4 eggs✪ Eggs with Melted Cheese; cook for five minutes longer. Sur¬ round the dish with heart-shaped croutons (dice¬ shaped pieces of bread fried with clarified butter, until a rich, golden colour), and serve very hot.

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cerning its freshness, for, as the contents begin to shrink, so will the egg lose in weight; and, placed in water, it will, if fresh, sink to the bottom, and if other¬ wise, gain in buoyancy until, in the case of a ve'ry had egg, it floats upon the surface of the water. This test, however, has one drawback, it must be essayed at home ; unless the purchaser has the temerity to in¬ sist upon carrying it out before the eyes of the vendor at the time of purchase. Another way of testing an egg is to weigh it. Choose two eggs of equal size, and weigh them together. The heavier of the two will be the fresher of the two. This is a simple and effec¬ tive test, which, however, must be made by the aid of scales, unless the purchaser has a very fine judg- ment of differing weights. 1 ® As to preserved eggs, they are never as nutritious as fresh eggs however clear they may appear when orbasfn ‘S a"d the contents Poured into a cup . therefore, essential, when preparing eggs for invalids and persons requiring nutriment in a con¬ densed form, to be absolutely sure that they are fresh and we trust that these few hints given on the choosing ot eggs may be of use to our readers. Plain Boiled Eggs . — This seems a simple thino- and yet how many will attend to the cooking of an _f§ pypy’y. It IS not surprising when travelling find fmc ? °f e?gs u-‘ hote,s and restaurants to nnd this most simple thing badly done— either over p-ubihdariCOOkefd' Tr0ubIn wiI1 not be taken to distin- L “hiarge from a small one, some eggs weighing but half an ounce, others to 2 ounces; but as d?ffnlS a whl"t!-of Nature- servants will not see the difference in this, and nearly all the cookery books say that they should be boiled for three minutes, and so .hree minutes is given, with varying results. The time, therefore, required to boil an egg with the white just set and yolk soft varies from 2 J to four minutes. T44 THE HOUSEHOLD t Into half a pint of water put one heaped teaspoonful of salt, and when the water boils put in the eggs carefully, and do not let the water boil too fast, other¬ wise it will crack the shells. The addition (although very little known) of salt, greatly improves the flavour of the egg, and also enables the shell to be more easily removed. Poached Eggs. — Put into a shallow saucepan half a pint of water, one teaspoonful of salt, and three of vinegar; when boiling break one egg at a time in a saucer, and then carefully tilt the egg into the boiling water, placing the s&ucer near to the surface of the water so as not to break the yolk of the eggs; let the water simmer for three to four minutes, according to size of egg. Lift the poached egg out of the water with a wire spoon and place it in the centre of a round of buttered toast, bacon, ham, spinach, or minced meat, and send to table hot. Eggs with Melted Cheese. — Grate 2 ozs. of Par¬ mesan cheese on a fireproof dish, set it over a glimmer of gas, adding a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of chopped chives, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and also 2 ozs. of good butter. Stir thor¬ oughly while cooking, and as the cheese melts, break in 3 or 4 eggs; cook for five minutes longer. Sur¬ round the dish with heart-shaped croutons (dice¬ shaped pieces of bread fried with clarified butter, until a rich, golden colour), and serve very hot.

The household gas cookery book