astel de Maria who had a spit that played tunes, "and so regulated
and indicated the condition of whatever was hung upon it to roast. By
a singular mechanical contrivance this wonderful spit would strike up
an appropriate tune whenever a joint had hung sufficiently long on its
particular roast. Thus, _Oh! the roast beef of Old England_, when a
sirloin had turned and hung its appointed time. At another air, a leg
of mutton, _a l'Anglaise_ would be found excellent; while some other
tune would indicate that a fowl _a la Flamande_ was cooked to a nicety
and needed removal from the fowl roast."

To Crowest, too, I am indebted for a list of beverages and eatables
which certain singers held in superstitious awe as capable of
refreshing their voices. Formes swore by a pot of good porter and
Wachtel is said to have trusted to the yolk of an egg beaten up with
sugar to make sure of his high Cs. The Swedish tenor, Labatt, declared
that two salted cucumbers gave the voice the true metallic ring.
Walter drank cold black coffee during a performance; Southeim took
snuff and cold lemonade; Steger, beer; Niemann, champagne, slightly
warmed, (Huneker once saw Niemann drinking cocktails from a beer
glass; he sang Siegmund at the opera the next night); Tichatschek,
mulled claret; Rubgam drank mead; Nachbaur ate bonbons; Arabanek
believed in Gampoldskirchner wine. Mlle. Brann-Brini took beer and
_cafe au lait_, but she also firmly believed in champagne and would
never dare venture the great duet in the fourth act of _Les Huguenots_
without a bottle of Moet Cremant Rose. Giardini being asked his
opinion of Banti, previous to her arrival in England, said: "She is
the first singer in Italy and drinks a bottle of wine every day."
Malibran believed in the efficacy of porter. She made her last
appearances in opera in Balfe's _Maid of Artois_ during the fall of
1836 in London. On the first night she was in anything but good
physical condition and the author of "Musical Recollections of the
Last Half-Century" tells how she pulled herself through: "She
remembered that an immense trial awaited her in the finale of the
third act; and finding her strength giving way, she sent for Mr. Balfe
and Mr. Bunn, and told them that unless they did as they were bid,
after all the previous success, the end might result in failure; but
she said, 'Manage to let me have a pot of porter somehow or other
before I have to sing, and I will get you an encore which will br