PICKLE  . In the wider sense the

term " pickle " is applied to any saline or acid preservative solution; in the narrower to vegetables preserved in vinegar . The word appears to be an adaptation of Dutch pekel, brine, pickle; cf . Ger . Pokel . The ultimate origin is unknown; connexions with a supposed inventor's name, such as Beukeler or Bockel are mere inventions . A solution of copper or zinc sulphate is used as a " pickle " for railway-sleepers or other wood, a brine containing salt and saltpetre as a preservative for meat, lime-water as " pickle " for eggs . Domestic pickles are made from small cucumbers, onions, cauliflowers, cabbages, mangoes and unripe walnuts, by either steeping or boiling them in salt-brine and vinegar . On account of the large proportion of water natural to these vegetables, only the strongest vinegar, containing from 5 to 6% of acetic acid, can be used . For the better kinds vinegar made from malted or unmalted barley is as a rule employed, for cheaper varieties simply dilute acetic acid obtained from acetate of lime . Sauces such as Worcestershire sauce, or Yorkshire relish, consist of fluid pickles, that is of salted and variously spiced vinegar solutions or emulsions containing tissue of vegetables (tomatoes, mushrooms, &c.), or of fish (sardines or anchovies) .