Of Olives

Olives, before they are pickled, are rough, bitter, and have a very nauseous taste; but after they are prepared with salt, vinegar, and water, they arc agreeable enough, especially to those who are ac-cuftomed to eat them. They serve to whet the appetite, to strengthen the stomach, and to free it from gross plegm. They are very innocent, for they produce no bad effects, unless used to excess. However, pickled olives are not agreeable to every palate; and I have known some take a great deal of pains to conquer their aversion to them, because they would be in the fashion.

Of Dates

Dates are the fruit of a palm-tree which grow in Arabia, Syria, Africa, and other places, in some of which they are used instead of bread. It is laid the belt are brought to us from Tunis, which are sold at high price, and are used only as a sweet-meat. Therefore their virtues as an aliment are not worth mentioning. They are a little binding, strengthen the stomach and are good in fluxes of all kinds. They are good in coughs, thin catarrhs, and sheath the sharpness of the humours. They are useful to cleanse the lungs, and bring up the obstructing matter without difficulty.

Of Capers

The capers that are brought to us are pickled, and borrow their taste from the liquor with which they are prepared. They serve to excite a languid appetite, but are of themselves difficult of digestion.

Some give them a beautiful green colour by pickling them in a copper vessel, and by that means infect them with the poisonous quality of that metal. Therefore they should not be chosen of too lively a colour, for then they may justly be suspected.

Of Beans

There are several sorts of beans, but they are all of the same nature, and therefore need not be treated of distinctly. They are hard of digestion, and are very proper food for persons who undergo hard labour, because they yield plenty of gross nou-rishment; but are too strong for those that lead se-dentary in active lives. They are windy, distend the belly, breed the colic, render the head heavy, the fight dull, and blunt the faculties of the minds. Most are fond of young beans, but they are not so wholesome as those that are old, however agreeable they may be to the palate. They should not be eaten at all by those of delicate constitutions, or who are troubled with the stone, the colic, a pain in the head, or costiveness.

Of Pease

Pease are a very common aliment, and yield plenty of nourishment, which agrees very well with persons of a robust cnstitution, and who use much exercise. When they are green and young, they are much easier of digestion than when they are old and dry. They are laxative, windy, and unfit for weak stomachs. They are of great use for sea-fa-ring people, because when they come on more, after long voyages, and eat raw green pease, they yield great relief in the scurvy. They agree very well with persons of all constitutions whose stomachs will digest them.