CONFECTIONERY (Fr. Confiserie ; Ger. Zucker- werk ; Ital. Confezione ; Sp. Confitura). — This exceedingly vague term originated with the family chemist, who com- bined with his own trade that also of the grocer or spiceman. Family medicines in which the two trades were agreeably blended followed a very natural desire to please customers, which was effected by dressing up nauseous drugs in sugar, and dubbing them generally “ confections,” by which title they are familiar to this day. The variety of primitive confections could be numbered by twos and threes ; but modern chemists have extended the list indefinitely, and make up almost any drug, however unpleasant to the taste, into sugary and jam-like doses. The grocer also, after separating his sugar and spice trade from drugs, has carried with him the old name which was so familiar to all, and as a consequence the manufacture of sweetmeats and allied preparations have affiliated themselves, as it were, to the general term “ Confectionery.” In America groceries are still known as “ confectioneries,” but in all other civilised countries the sugar-worker only is a confectioner, or its equivalent in any particular language. “ To con- fect ” seems applicable to both chemists and grocers, but confectioners do not recognise any such word, and are therefore left out in the cold, having no specific verb to indicate the act of their working at the trade. By the growth and development of ages. Confectionery, nondescript as the title is, has assumed the proportions of a giant art, and now embraces under its undefined head all sorts and conditions of sugar-working, including sweetmeats of every kind, ices, compotes, jellies, jams, marmalades, and other preserves, and many that should rather be deputed to the realms of the pastry-cook. The distinction, again, between the pastry-cook and the con- fectioner is not easily defined, the two arts being usually acquired by one individual. Confectionery is derived from the chemists’ Latin conficere, to make up or “ dispense but now that we have accepted the use of the term in such a widely-extended sense, the chemists’ confections belong to - an inferior race, and are therefore described separately, sometimes as conserves or elec- tuaries. Varieties will be found under such headings as Bonbons, Candy, Comfits, Drops, Lozenges, Rocks, and Sweetmeats, and their manufacture described under Crystallising, Sugar-boiling, &c. The manufacture of cordials, liqueurs, and sweet wines were at one time classed under Confectionery, but these have assumed sufficient importance to separate themselves from general sugar-working and to become a separate industry. With this branch, flavoured-syrup makers are also associated, so that by degrees, as new branches spring from the old stock, the term will be brought down to indicate the sweetmeat-making industry only. CONFECTIONS.— The manufacture of these sugary preparations appertains to the chemist rather than to the cook or confectioner — that is, as we now understand the application of the term (see Confectionery). But as it has been generally acknowledged that there is some doubt where a line can be drawn between the chemist and the cook, it should not therefore be considered beyond the prescribed limitation of a work of this kind to include amongst its multifarious receipts a few that might more correctly be described as domestic medicines. Amongst the more useful of these are :

AI-modernized reading of the original text

CONFECTIONERY (Fr. Confiserie ; Ger. Zuckerwerk ; Ital. Confezione ; Sp. Confitura). — This exceedingly vague term originated with the family chemist, who combined with his own trade that also of the grocer or spiceman. Family medicines in which the two trades were agreeably blended followed a very natural desire to please customers, which was effected by dressing up nauseous drugs in sugar, and dubbing them generally “ confections,” by which title they are familiar to this day. The variety of primitive confections could be numbered by twos and threes ; but modern chemists have extended the list indefinitely, and make up almost any drug, however unpleasant to the taste, into sugary and jam-like doses. The grocer also, after separating his sugar and spice trade from drugs, has carried with him the old name which was so familiar to all, and as a consequence the manufacture of sweetmeats and allied preparations have affiliated themselves, as it were, to the general term “ Confectionery.” In America groceries are still known as “ confectioneries,” but in all other civilised countries the sugar-worker only is a confectioner, or its equivalent in any particular language. “ To confect ” seems applicable to both chemists and grocers, but confectioners do not recognise any such word, and are therefore left out in the cold, having no specific verb to indicate the act of their working at the trade. By the growth and development of ages. Confectionery, nondescript as the title is, has assumed the proportions of a giant art, and now embraces under its undefined head all sorts and conditions of sugar-working, including sweetmeats of every kind, ices, compotes, jellies, jams, marmalades, and other preserves, and many that should rather be deputed to the realms of the pastry-cook. The distinction, again, between the pastry-cook and the confectioner is not easily defined, the two arts being usually acquired by one individual. Confectionery is derived from the chemists' Latin conficere, to make up or "dispense," but now that we have accepted the use of the term in such a widely-extended sense, the chemists' confections belong to an inferior race, and are therefore described separately, sometimes as conserves or electuaries. Varieties will be found under such headings as Bonbons, Candy, Comfits, Drops, Lozenges, Rocks, and Sweetmeats, and their manufacture described under Crystallising, Sugar-boiling, &c. The manufacture of cordials, liqueurs, and sweet wines were at one time classed under Confectionery, but these have assumed sufficient importance to separate themselves from general sugar-working and to become a separate industry. With this branch, flavoured-syrup makers are also associated, so that by degrees, as new branches spring from the old stock, the term will be brought down to indicate the sweetmeat-making industry only. CONFECTIONS.— The manufacture of these sugary preparations appertains to the chemist rather than to the cook or confectioner — that is, as we now understand the application of the term (see Confectionery). But as it has been generally acknowledged that there is some doubt where a line can be drawn between the chemist and the cook, it should not therefore be considered beyond the prescribed limitation of a work of this kind to include amongst its multifarious receipts a few that might more correctly be described as domestic medicines. Amongst the more useful of these are :

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