297 Cookery. COOKE, JOHN ESTEN, b. 1830, in Virginia, son of John R. He was admitted to the bar, but his attention was devoted almost exclusively to literature in the line of novels and poems. Among his publications are Leather Stocking and Silk; The Youth of Jefferson; The Virginia Comedians; Ellie, or the Human Comedy; The Last of the Foresters; Henry St. John, Gentleman; Life of Stonewall Jackson; Wearing of the Grey; and other works relating to the war of secession. His later publications are Doctor Van Dyke, and Her Majesty the Queen; Virginia (historical), etc. He d. 1886. COOKE, JOHN RODGERS, 1788-1854; a native of Bermuda, and a distinguished jurist in Virginia, where for nearly half a century he held a prominent position. He was a member of the legislature, and of the convention for framing the constitution of the state. He served through the war of the COOKE, PHILIP ST. GEORGE, b. Va., 1807; graduated at West Point academy in 1827, and served in the army as a dragoon officer. rebellion, rising to brevet-brig.gen., and retiring from active service in 1873. In 1856, he published Scenes and Adventures in the Army. COOKE, ROSE TERRY. See page 890. COOKERY. To prepare and soften food by the action of fire, and so to render it fit for digestion by the human stomach, has been a general custom from remote times; and more or less of skill in accomplishing this primary end has been displayed, according to the knowledge, wealth, and refinement possessed by each nation or people. In ancient times, the occasion of a banquet appears chiefly to have arisen in a sacrifice to the gods, when a part of the victim was brought to the dwelling of the sacrificer, Birthdays, funerals, and victories were also celebrated in were accustomed to honor, above all and was cooked for the feast. this manner. "The Persians," says Herodotus, others, that day on which they were born, when the rich among them would sacrifice an ox, a horse, or a camel, which they roasted whole in ovens, while the poorer class gave only the smaller animals, as sheep. Yet the Persians were not great eaters of meat, but consumed much sweet food, and did not use salt." The appendages to the higher order of banquets were most magnificent, so that in point of quantity and display they were very expensive. Herodotus says on this head," that the Greeks who invited Xerxes to supper, all came to the extremity of ruin; and that, wherever he took two meals, dining as well as supping, that city was utterly ruined. The Egyptians, it is said, were great bread-eaters. Though they possessed wheaten We read four of the finest sort, they do not appear to have used it for their common bread, which was made of spelt, or of the center of the lotus dried and pounded. Fish they salted and dried in the sun; quails, ducks, and small birds they salted and ate raw. of their roasting and boiling the flesh of the ox. Large flocks of geese and of fowls were kept by them for the use of the table, hence their plan for the artificial hatching of eggs. Fish was used by all classes except the priests, but the staple food of the people consisted of vegetables, of which they had a large supply." Herodotus mentions their making We may still see the form in which their beer from barley, which they called lythus. Apollonius, food came to table; ducks, loaves made round, and some biscuits and cakes, which have been taken from Egyptian tombs, are to be found in the British museum. who wrote a treatise on the feasts of the Egyptians, says that they ate in a sitting posture, using the very simplest and most wholesome food. The Athenian meals are ridiculed There appears to have been considerable difference as to the manner in which good eating was appreciated in different parts of Greece. by the comedians for their parsimony. After the Homeric age of simplicity, in which roast and boiled meat seems to have sufficed the kingly table, a diversity of preparation was obtained in cooking, and a certain epicureanism displayed in the quality, seasoning, and method of dressing food. The names of many authors of C. books are preserved in the writings of Athenæus; that of Archestratus, who is called the guide of Epicurus in his pleasures, and styled the inventor of made dishes, being the most renowned. Fish was a principal article of food with all classes of Greeks; but with the wealthier, much skill and delicacy were used in cooking it, and choice and expensive sorts were sought after. Archestratus writes of "a boiled torpedo done in oil and wine, and fragrant herbs, and some thin grated cheese." Fish, stuffed with force-meat and fried, boiled in pickle, baked in fig-leaves soaked in oil, cooked in hot ashes, etc., are among Large quantities of salt-fish were brought from the shores the recipes we find recorded. of the Euxine and the Hellespont; and this, with meal, cheese, and onions, was the chief food of the armies and navies when on service. The Greeks boiled and roasted the flesh of sheep, pigs, lambs, and goats. They had poultry, small birds, and game, and sausages made of blood, partaking of the character of black-puddings. The bread made at Athens was the most celebrated; it was sometimes household, but chiefly bought in the market, and was made in great variety, as pan-loaves, rolls, sweet loaves, etc. The bread eaten by the poorer classes was made of barley, and sometimes flavored with Athenian cheese-cakes were also famous; and they had oil, honey, poppy-seed, etc. honey and sesame-cakes, which, with fresh and dried fruits, as figs, almonds, olives, and nuts, seem to have been partaken of after dinner. They consumed vegetable food also in abundance, and had cabbage, onions, lettuce, and so on. In the Greek house there was no regular cook, though in the establishments of the Cooks wealthy several females were kept, to attend to the kitchen. The women, in general, saw to the requirements of the table, and even the lady of the house was not idle. 1 Cook. stood in the market at Athens, ready to be hired for particular occasions; the most celebrated were those of Sicily; they were probably persons of some importance. "To roast some beef, to carve a joint with neatness, To boil up sauces, and to blow the fire, Is anybody's task; he who does this Is but a seasoner and broth-maker; A cook is quite another thing. His mind Quoted by Athenæus from Dionysius, a comic poet. In the early days of Rome, a gruel made of barley, and called puls, was the principal food of the people, and with green and other vegetables was, till later times, the usual fare of the inferior classes-meat being used but sparingly. By degrees, however, a taste for better eating crept in; and after the Asiatic conquests luxury was imported. Lucullus introduced habits of epicureanism after his return from Asia; the gourmand Apicius earned for himself a deathless name. The wealthy Romans cared for the elegant serving of their table, as well as for the quality of viands placed before them. With them, as with the Greeks, fish was a necessary as well as a luxury: they took much trouble to procure their oysters, and gave large sums for other fish. We read of a mullet of 6 lbs. sold for 8,000 sesterces (£70 168. 8d.), and of the rhombus or turbot from Ravenna being held in high estimation. They seem to have been as clever as the French in preparing surprises, and in carrying out disguises in their dishes. The pistor, who made the bread and pastry, and the structor, who composed artificial figures of fruit or flesh, and who also arranged the dishes, seem to have shared the duties of the cook. We read of dainties, as ring-doves and fieldfares, hares, capons, ducks, peacocks, pheasants, and the livers of geese; also of such a formidable pièce de résistance as a “huge boar, surrounded with sucking pigs made in sweet paste, which were distributed among the guests." The Romans prepared and cooked their food with oil to a great extent. Their meals probably consisted of two courses and a dessert, the first course being of materials intended to sharpen the appetite, and the second the "brunt of war," that is, a joint roasted or baked. The discovery or cultivation of vegetables, perhaps, gave rise to some proper names, as Lentullus, Fabius, etc. It is a Roman saying that the number of persons at a repast should not be less than that of the graces, nor more than that of the muses. The Greeks and Romans used honey for the purposes for which we use sugar. The sugar-cane probably was cultivated in China, and its manufacture understood there; but the Greeks took it for a kind of concrete honey, and used it only for medicinal purposes. Of ancient British C., nothing is known; it was probably of an extremely rude description. Hares, poultry, and fish are said to have been forbidden as food. We do not find much mention of the art of C. in the Saxon chronicles. The Danes and Germans appear to have been great drinkers, and to have paid little attention to the preparation of their eatables. The Normans were more curious in these matters; some offices among them were held in right of the kitchen. In early English C. much use was made of the mortar. Oil and lard were used instead of butter. Several English C. books bear an early date, as The Forme of Cury, by Mr. Pegge, 1390; and others date as follows: Sir J. Elliott's book, 1539; Abraham Veale's, 1575; The Widdove's Treasure, 1625. The C. of France was probably of an imperfect and rude kind, till the introduction of Italian tastes by the princesses of the house of Medici. The ancient use of oil was modified by the discovery made by the French, of dressing meat in its own gravy. In our own day, there is no denying that the French cook is a true artist. We may, if we please, impute the trouble he takes with the dressing of his meat to the inferiority of the material, but this can be said of meat only; the preparation of vegetables and fruits is attended to with equal care, although, probably, the French have some of these_things in greater perfection than ourselves. The great difference between French and English C. consists in the fact, that they cook their meat much longer than we do. They consider that this renders it more digestible. They are thereby enabled to multiply dishes by altering or annihilating the original taste of the meat, and making it a vehicle for foreign flavors. The variety, daintiness, and grace of form which dishes thus acquire, is advantageously made use of by us, when we admit them at our repasts to mingle with our heavier and radically English joints. But, for ourselves, we desiderate the integrity of the form and flavor of our meats, considering that to be over-cooking which the French think only sufficient. In the point of economy, the French have a decided superiority over us. The French cook throws nothing away. Instead of going to the butcher for meat for stock, as our English cook does, he uses the trimmings for stock and glaze, and the skimmings of his boiled meats for purposes to which we apply butter or lard; and like a true workman, he produces great results from small means. This requires an education which few mistresses demand and few cooks obtain, but which, when achieved, justifies the expression of Voltaire: Qu'un cuisinier est un mortel divin! Cook. The estimation in which the services of a cook are held, may be known by the large salary attached to the office in great families, hotels, and club-houses. A visit to the kitchens of one of these establishments will teach us what a highly important post is that of chef de cuisine. There must be in such a person not only the necessary knowledge how things are to be done, but the power to arrange and direct the work of the numerous assistants, as to the exact part they must fulfill at each moment of their long and busy day. These places, indeed, are excellent schools for cooks, where they can undergo that severe training, without which a thorough practical knowledge of the business cannot be attained. It is indeed to be regretted-because a source of so much disappointment, discomfort, and waste-that a knowledge of plain C., at least, is not more desired by mistresses for themselves. That acquirement, and household management generally, are important enough to be made part of the education of all classes. The poorer would thereby be enabled both to lay out their money profitably, and to prepare their food so that it might satisfy and nourish them; and the heads of establishments in the upper classes would be more in a position to direct, appreciate, or, if necessary, condemn the performance of the cook. A cultivated and elegant taste is as much shown in the arrangement of viands as in the furnishing and decoration of the choicest boudoir. The art of C., as a branch of female education, has latterly engaged considerable attention in England; and there are in London, Edinburgh, and other places, establishments where young ladies receive this kind of instruction. Recently, a school of cookery has been attached to the South Kensington museum. Efforts are also made to teach C. to the humbler classes of girls, but much in this respect remains to be done. For any shortcomings in cooking, however, the taste of the English is in some measure accountable. The universal practice of roasting large pieces of meat, which cannot be consumed while hot, causes no little waste, and is obstructive of improvement. The Scotch-who derive some part of their C., along with other usages, from the Frenchdeal more in soup and boiled meat than the English, and their processes, while not less savory, are perhaps more economical. So numerous are the books on C., that it would be out of our power to name even all the excellent ones. We can only say that Miss Acton's Cookery Book, Webster and Parkes' Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy, Soyer's work, and that of Francatelli, cook at the reform club, are all good; Meg Dods's Cookery is also excellent. For cheapness and simplicity, we may refer to Chambers's Cookery for Young Housewives (18.). The two last mentioned embrace Scotch along with English cookery. See FOOD, BOILING, RoastING, etc. COOKERY, ARMY, is now becoming an important feature in the English military system. The sufferings in the Crimea in the winter of 1854-55 drew public attention to the subject; it was then found that C. was little understood by the British troops, and that the soldiers seldom had meat otherwise than boiled. M. Soyer was sent out by the gov ernment, principally to advise in reference to hospital C., but also to improve the system of camp C., so far as military routine would allow. He devised new forms of stoves, and constructed recipes for using to the best advantage all the available provisions for a camp. The officers at Sebastopol made a highly favorable report of Soyer's field-kitchen, a kind of camp stove, with a caldron holding 124 gallons: two such stoves would easily cook for a company of 100 men; both could be carried by one mule, with sufficient dry wood for 3 days' fuel. Though mainly intended for boiling, the apparatus afforded facilities for many varieties of cooking. When M. Soyer returned to England, he made a few improvements; and finally the apparatus presented itself as a sort of upright can, suitable for boiling, steaming, baking, roasting, stewing, and making tea or coffee: with 14 lbs. of fuel, one of these would cook for 50 men; and if 20 such were placed near together, 4 cooks could serve for 1000 men. A committee which inquired on the subject of barrack economy some years ago, recommended that every large barrack should have a bakery with two ovens, where the men could learn to make and bake their own bread; and that the barrack-kitchens should be so furnished as to enable the men to bake their meat if so inclined, instead of being confined, as heretofore, almost wholly to boiled dinners. A school of C. has been formed at Aldershot, where men are trained to act as sergeant-cooks, of whom there is now one to each regiment. His duty is to superintend and direct the operations of the soldiers detailed from the several companies to act as cooks. At various times in 1859 and 1860, certain highly ingenious forms of apparatus were tried, to test the possibility of cooking for troops while the kitchen itself is on the march. One of these inventions consists of a compact set of stoves and caldrons, fitted into a wagon, and has been found on trial to answer the purpose perfectly. COOK ISLANDS, otherwise known as the Harvey archipelago, were visited rather than discovered by the navigator whose name they bear, during his first voyage. They lie about midway between the Society and Navigator groups, near lat. 22° s. and long. 158° west. The principal members of the cluster are Mangeia, Atiou, Harvey, and Raratonga. The natives, estimated at about 15,000, have been generally converted to Christianity; Raratonga, in particular, being one of the most successful missions in Polynesia. Cooper. COOKMAN, GEORGE G., 1800-41; a native of England, and a Methodist preacher in the United States. In 1838, he was chosen chaplain to congress. He was one of the passengers on the steamship President, which was lost at sea, Mar. 11, 1841. COOK'S INLET, one of the many gulfs of the Pacific ocean on the n.w. coast of America, lies between Prince William's sound on the e. and Bristol bay on the w., in lat. 58° to 61° n., loug. 151° to 154° west. It was explored in 1778 by the navigator whose name it bears, in the vain hope of its leading him into the Arctic sea. COOK'S STRAIT, discovered by capt. Cook on his first voyage, separates the n. and middle islands of the New Zealand group. The proof of its existence dissipated the popular belief that New Zealand, as previously known, was merely a salient point of a great southern continent. COOKSTOWN, a t. in the n.e. of the co. of Tyrone, Ireland, on the left bank of the Ballinderry, 23 miles e.n.e. of Omagh. It consists of one very long and broad street, with a row of trees on each side. It has a linen trade. Pop. '81, 3,870. COOLERS, or CON'TRIVANCES FOR COOLING, are resorted to by the brewer, and by the distiller of alcohol and other liquids. See BEER and DISTILLATION. They are also used in warm weather for the cooling of water (q. v.). COOLEY, THOMAS MCINTYRE, b. N. Y., 1824. In 1843, he settled in Michigan and was admitted to the bar. He compiled and published the laws of the state, and in 1858 was made reporter of the supreme court. When the law department of Michigan university was established he was chosen one of the professors. In 1864, he was elected judge of the supreme court, and in 1868 chief-justice. His most important publication is The Constitutional Limits which rest upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union. He published, '76, The Law of Taxation; '85, Michigan; in 1887 was appointed an interstate commerce commissioner. COOLIDGE, SUSAN. See WOOLSEY, SARAH CHAUNCEY. COO'LIES, or COULIES, originally the name of one of the aboriginal or hill tribes of Hindustan. From the circumstance that many of this tribe are employed as laborers and porters in Bombay and other places, the name is applied by Europeans in Hindustan to porters in general; and it is now used to denote emigrant laborers from India. and China to tropical and other countries. The importation of this useful class of laborers to the Mauritius, West Indies, and British settlements on the mainland of South America, has grown up as a result of negro emancipation-the emancipated slaves showing an indisposition to become regular laborers. Hence the necessity for resorting to imported labor from India or China. Much difference of opinion prevails as to the propriety of coolie immigration. It is one of those vexed questions on which something can be said on both sides. We would refer to Mr. A. Trollope's West Indies and Spanish Main (1860), for some general observations on the introduction of C. to certain British West India settlements. A later work by Mr. Jenkins, The Coolie, his Rights and Wrongs (1871), though relating exclusively to British Guiana, is full of most interesting matter. The conclusion at which he arrives regarding the system is thus expressed: " Taking a fair review of the whole system, it is one which, spite of its disabilities, its difficulties, its present evils, is full of promise, and, in my belief, can be made, with care, and skill, and honest endeavor, not only an organization of labor as successful as any hitherto attempted, but one leading to almost colossal benefits" (p. 367). Mr. Jenkins further asserts, that "any one who has seen the coolie in British Guiana is forced to admit that he has undergone a change for the better. In illustration of this, we may mention that the number of immigrant depositors in the British Guiana savings-bank on June 13, 1870, was 1817, whose deposits amounted to $138,425, or over $70 a head. The commissioners appointed by her majesty to take evidence on the working of the system at the time Mr. Jenkins went out, state in their report (pp. 854, 855): "From papers submitted by the immigration_agent-general, the commissioners gather, that in 12 ships which sailed with returning Indian immigrants between 15th Nov., 1834, and the 11th Nov., 1869, 2,828 immigrants took away with them money acquired in the colony to the amount of $433,369, or £94,452." The great drawbacks of the system appear to be the reckless mode of recruiting in India; the insecurity, if not the actual worthlessness, in Guiana of contracts drawn up in the former country, the severe penalties attached to breach of contract, and the practical difficulties, as the law stands at present, in the way of the coolie obtaining a remedy for any injustice inflicted on him. Immigration from China was stopped for all the West Indies in 1867, on account of the Chinese government insisting on a return passage at the end of five years, which the planters find will not pay them for their outlay. The total number of C. at present in British Guiana is about 50,000. The reports (1872 and 1877) of the governor of Trinidad on the coolie question are satisfactory. In 1870, various laws were passed, all of a just and beneficent character. "Among the most important provisions," says governor Longden, "are those which regulate the allotment of immigrants upon their arrival in the colony, the supply of food to them during the first two years of their residence, their lodging, the medical attendance and hospitals provided for them, their wages, the exemption of women from labor, the prevention of vagrancy, and the right of repatriation." In proof of this it may be stated, that although the coolie has a right to a free passage back to India at the public Cooper. expense, after a continuous residence in the island for ten years, in many cases he has preferred to commute this right for a grant of ten acres of crown land, and to settle permanently in the colony. The number of Indian immigrants in 1871 amounted to 27,400. In addition to these must be reckoned 1400 Chinese. Sir J. P. Grant, governor of Jamaica, is no less emphatic in expressing his opinion that a great change for the better has taken place in the treatment of the coolie in that island also. His words are (Report for 1871): "Under the old state of things this department [the immigration department] in Jamaica was in a disgraceful state, but it has now been completely reformed under the new system introduced by the new law of 1869." This law secures to the coolie full payment of day-wages at the rate fixed by law as a minimum, unless where he prefers task-work, and also regular daily rations during the whole of his five years' term of indenture, besides putting an end to all stoppages of wages at the arbitrament of only one party to the bargain. Many of the details of medical supervision are extremely creditable to the planters. The census returns for 1879 give the gross number of Indians at 15,134. Here also, as well as in Trinidad, the C. show a disposition to become settlers on the crown lands. Some recent reports from the island of Mauritius are less encouraging, which is much to be deplored, because that island contains more C. than all the rest of our colonial possessions put together. Out of a total pop. of (1881) 359,419, more than 247,000 were Indian immigrants. It would seem that the relations between employers and employed are not quite satisfactory, though here too, improvement can be noted. Besides what may be called the legitimate traffic in Chinese C. (stopped at present), an infamous counterfeit was long carried on at Macao (q.v.). Native crimps brought thousands of their countrymen to that Portuguese island, and shipped them for Cuba and Peru. This "involuntary emigration," as it has been called, began in 1848, and as many as 13,000 persons were shipped in the course of a year; but as in reality it was nothing more than an elaborate system of kidnapping, the Chinese and British governments, in 1872, prohibited any vessel suspected of being engaged in this trade, from fitting out in any Chinese or British port, and the "trade" was practically destroyed in consequence. At the close of 1873, the Portuguese government formally declared the "exportation" of C. illegal, and the atrocious traffic may now be considered at an end. Similar to the coolie immigration, though the laborers are not called C., is the importation of Polynesian natives into Queensland to work on the sugar plantations, and into the Fiji islands. By laws of 1868 and 1875, the imperial parliament has secured the rights of a helpless but industrious race. See In Quest of Coolies, by J. L. A. Hope, 1872. COOMANS, PIERRE OLIVIER JOSEPH. See page 891. COOMAS'SIE, the capital of the kingdom of Ashantee, western Africa, is situated about 120 m. n.n.w. of Cape Coast Castle, in lat. 6° 35' n., long. 2° 12' w. C. occupies the side of a rocky hill, and is about 4 m. in circuit. The walls of the houses are mostly formed of stakes and wattle-work, the interstices being filled up with clay; the roofs are of palm-leaves. The king's palace is here. C. was captured and burned in 1874 during the war with Great Britain. See ASHANTEE. Pop. stated by natives to be 100,000; but other reports, including observations during the war, say 20,000. COON TIE, or COONTA, a plant of s. Florida the stem of which furnishes starch from which arrow-root is made. In the Bahamas and other countries it is called sago. COOPER, a co. in central Missouri, on the Missouri river, intersected by the Pacific railroad of Missouri, and the Boonville Branch road; 558 sq.m.; pop. '80, 21,638-3,504 colored. The surface is undulating and hilly, and the soil fertile, producing wheat, corn, tobacco, etc. There are mines of coal, iron, and lead, and quarries of marble and hydraulic limestone. Co. seat, Booneville. COOPER, ANTHONY ASHLEY. See SHAFTESBURY. COOPER, Sir ASTLEY, a celebrated English surgeon, was born at Brooke, in Norfolk, where his father was a curate, in Aug., 1768. In his 16th year, he went to London, and placed himself under the care of Mr. Cline, one of the most noted surgeons of his day. He devoted himself with ardor to his profession, and was a constant attender at the dissecting-rooms, and also at the lectures of the famous John Hunter. In 1789, C. was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at St. Thomas's hospital; and four years after, he assisted Mr. Cline, who was surgeon at St. Thomas's, in the course of lectures on anatomy and surgery. In 1793, he was appointed professor of anatomy at surgeons' hall; and in 1800, surgeon to Guy's hospital. In 1813, he received the professorship of comparative anatomy in the college of surgeons. Meanwhile, C. had been enriching medical literature by various contributions. An essay on the effects resulting from the destruction of the membrana tympani gained him, in 1802, the Copley medal of the royal society, of which he was elected a fellow three years afterwards. In 1804-7, appeared his great work on hernia, with illustrations mostly of life-size, a contribution of the utmost value to medical science-the anatomy of the disease and the mode of operating for its relief being alike ill understood before-though in a pecuniary point of view it proved very unprofitable to himself. The practical part of his profession was not neglected during this time. He was the first to attempt the tying of the carotid artery, an attempt which, though unsuccessful in his hands, has since proved effectual |
