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fruit。 However; many other things that have undergone concoction are
said to be 'ripe'; the general character of the process being the
same; though the word is applied by an extension of meaning。 The
reason for this extension is; as we explained before; that the various
modes in which natural heat and cold perfect the matter they determine
have not special names appropriated to them。 In the case of boils
and phlegm; and the like; the process of ripening is the concoction of
the moisture in them by their natural heat; for only that which gets
the better of matter can determine it。 So everything that ripens is
condensed from a spirituous into a watery state; and from a watery
into an earthy state; and in general from being rare becomes dense。 In
this process the nature of the thing that is ripening incorporates
some of the matter in itself; and some it rejects。 So much for the
definition of ripening。
Rawness is its opposite and is therefore an imperfect concoction
of the nutriment in the fruit; namely; of the undetermined moisture。
Consequently a raw thing is either spirituous or watery or contains
both spirit and water。 Ripening being a kind of perfecting; rawness
will be an imperfect state; and this state is due to a lack of natural
heat and its disproportion to the moisture that is undergoing the
process of ripening。 (Nothing moist ripens without the admixture of
some dry matter: water alone of liquids does not thicken。) This
disproportion may be due either to defect of heat or to excess of
the matter to be determined: hence the juice of raw things is thin;
cold rather than hot; and unfit for food or drink。 Rawness; like
ripening; is used to denote a variety of states。 Thus the liquid and
solid excreta and catarrhs are called raw for the same reason; for
in every case the word is applied to things because their heat has not
got the mastery in them and compacted them。 If we go further; brick is
called raw and so is milk and many other things too when they are such
as to admit of being changed and compacted by heat but have remained
unaffected。 Hence; while we speak of 'boiled' water; we cannot speak
of raw water; since it does not thicken。 We have now defined
ripening and rawness and assigned their causes。
Boiling is; in general; a concoction by moist heat of the
indeterminate matter contained in the moisture of the thing boiled;
and the word is strictly applicable only to things boiled in the way
of cooking。 The indeterminate matter; as we said; will be either
spirituous or watery。 The cause of the concoction is the fire
contained in the moisture; for what is cooked in a frying…pan is
broiled: it is the heat outside that affects it and; as for the
moisture in which it is contained; it dries this up and draws it
into itself。 But a thing that is being boiled behaves in the
opposite way: the moisture contained in it is drawn out of it by the
heat in the liquid outside。 Hence boiled meats are drier than broiled;
for; in boiling; things do not draw the moisture into themselves;
since the external heat gets the better of the internal: if the
internal heat had got the better it would have drawn the moisture to
itself。 Not every body admits of the process of boiling: if there is
no moisture in it; it does not (for instance; stones); nor does it
if there is moisture in it but the density of the body is too great
for it…to…be mastered; as in the case of wood。 But only those bodies
can be boiled that contain moisture which can be acted on by the
heat contained in the liquid outside。 It is true that gold and wood
and many other things are said to be 'boiled': but this is a stretch
of the meaning of the word; though the kind of thing intended is the
same; the reason for the usage being that the various cases have no
names appropriated to them。 Liquids too; like milk and must; are
said to undergo a process of 'boiling' when the external fire that
surrounds and heats them changes the savour in the liquid into a given
form; the process being thus in a way like what we have called
boiling。
The end of the things that undergo boiling; or indeed any form of
concoction; is not always the same: some are meant to be eaten; some
drunk; and some are intended for other uses; for instance dyes; too;
are said to be 'boiled'。
All those things then admit of 'boiling' which can grow denser;
smaller; or heavier; also those which do that with a part of
themselves and with a part do the opposite; dividing in such a way
that one portion thickens while the other grows thinner; like milk
when it divides into whey and curd。 Oil by itself is affected in
none of these ways; and therefore cannot be said to admit of
'boiling'。 Such then is the pfcies of concoction known as 'boiling';
and the process is the same in an artificial and in a natural
instrument; for the cause will be the same in every case。
Imperfect boiling is the form of inconcoction opposed to boiling。
Now the opposite of boiling properly so called is an inconcoction of
the undetermined matter in a body due to lack of heat in the
surrounding liquid。 (Lack of heat implies; as we have pointed out; the
presence of cold。) The motion which causes imperfect boiling is
different from that which causes boiling; for the heat which
operates the concoction is driven out。 The lack of heat is due
either to the amount of cold in the liquid or to the quantity of
moisture in the object undergoing the process of boiling。 Where either
of these conditions is realized the heat in the surrounding liquid
is too great to have no effect at all; but too small to carry out
the process of concocting uniformly and thoroughly。 Hence things are
harder when they are imperfectly boiled than when they are boiled; and
the moisture in them more distinct from the solid parts。 So much for
the definition and causes of boiling and imperfect boiling。
Broiling is concoction by dry foreign heat。 Hence if a man were to
boil a thing but the change and concoction in it were due; not to
the heat of the liquid but to that of the fire; the thing will have
been broiled and not boiled when the process has been carried to
completion: if the process has gone too far we use the word 'scorched'
to describe it。 If the process leaves the thing drier at the end the
agent has been dry heat。 Hence the outside is drier than the inside;
the opposite being true of things boiled。 Where the process is
artificial; broiling is more difficult than boiling; for it is
difficult to heat the inside and the outside uniformly; since the
parts nearer to the fire are the first to get dry and consequently get
more intensely dry。 In this way the outer pores contract and the
moisture in the thing cannot be secreted but is shut in by the closing
of the pores。 Now b