100 YEARS AGO

As attempts are being made to found a domestic science, and to introduce exactitude into the operations of the kitchen, a note in the Monthly Weather Review recording the actual experience of a housekeeper at Albuquerque, New Mexico, is of interest. It appears that cooking recipes and practices which are trustworthy not far from sea-level are worthless at Albuquerque, the altitude of which is 4933 feet. Water boils there at 202 °F, instead of 212 °F; hence articles of food, the cooking of which depends upon heat applied through the medium of water, require a longer time for cooking than is given in the cookery books… But the worst difficulty is with cake-making. Ordinary recipes as to number of eggs and amount of baking powder break down altogether, and housekeepers have to modify them if they wish their operations to be successful. As the barometric pressure determines to what extent the disengaged carbon dioxide shall expand and aerate the dough, this may explain the different action of baking soda and egg batter. In any case, the observation is interesting, and chemists may find it worthy of their attention.

From Nature 30 August 1900.

50 YEARS AGO

Maui-of-a-Thousand-Tricks, his Oceanic and European Biographies. By Katharine Luomala.

From time immemorial adventure stories have taken hold of the imagination, and this is partly why the cult of Maui-of-a-thousand-tricks is so widespread in the Pacific. The origin of this hero is not unparalleled in other mythologies: born of human parents, he was brought up by the gods and learnt their magic, so that when he returned to earth he was able to use this knowledge in part to aid humanity, in part for his own diversion and pranks…. The cult of Maui, though predominantly Polynesian, is found also in Micronesia and Melanesia, principally where there has been contact with Polynesia. In some islands there is a long story cycle, in others merely a footprint… there can be no ‘true’ account of this hero, but the fact remains that he won the hearts of the islanders over a vast region and maintained that hold for centuries… Katharine Luomala is to be congratulated on her perseverance in collecting this vast amount of material… the fact that the bibliography runs into more than three hundred items speaks for itself.

From Nature 2 September 1950.