This apartment should represent in the household the important place occupied by the laboratory in a manufactory. In it should be found the necessary means of examining the qualities of the various articles consumed in the household, and of combating the evils which surround the inmates. This statement presupposes a wide knowledge on the part of the housewife, who, indeed, is often expected to know more than many professors—hence the value of a book like the present as a guide. For facility of reference, the main facts useful to the housewife in her daily duties, i.e. facts which she is particularly called upon to know outside the ordinary routine of cooking and housework, will be grouped together in sections.

Testing

Testing.—Chemistry is a valuable science, and more fully appreciated every day in its application to home matters; but the average housewife cannot be expected to qualify herself as an analyst. At the same time there are many simple tests for the purity of air, water, and foods that can easily be brought within the range of an ordinarily intelligent woman, and will be found of great service.

Air.—Apart from poisonous gases due to sewers, &c., there is a constituent of air, which, in excess, becomes poisonous also. This is carbonic acid. Wholesome air does not contain more than 5 volumes of carbonic acid in 10,000; as the proportion increases, the quality of the air deteriorates till it becomes actively poisonous. The simplest method of estimating approximately the proportion of carbonic acid present in the air of a room is by shaking up a small quantity of lime water with a certain amount of the air to be tested. The lime water is prepared by shaking slaked lime with distilled water, allowing it to settle, and then carefully drawing off the clear liquid by a siphon, so as not to disturb the sediment. It can be obtained from any druggist, but should be freshly made.

When this lime water is shaken up in a bottle of air containing carbonic acid, the acid combines with the lime, forming an insoluble powder of carbonate of lime, and when this is in sufficient quantity it makes the water turbid, or milky, so that it can be recognised by the eye. By having a series of bottles of various sizes, filling them with the air to be tested, placing in each bottle a large tablespoonful of lime water, and then shaking them vigorously for 3 or 4 minutes, so that all the air in the bottle shall be brought in contact with the lime water, and all the carbonic acid be taken up by the lime, we shall find that in one bottle of the series the turbidity is just perceptible, while in bottles of less size the fluid remains clear, and in those of greater size it is dense.

The following table is given by Dr. Smart as expressing the relation between the size of the bottle in which turbidity occurs and the volume of carbonic acid in the air:—

If an 8 oz. bottle shows turbidity, the presence of more than 8 volumes per 10,000 is indicated; how much more must be determined by a second experiment. Taking a 6½ oz. bottle, the air is known to contain less than 10 volumes if no precipitate is developed. The carbonic acid can then be stated as constituting from 8 to 10 volumes per 10,000 of the air. But a third experiment with a bottle intermediate in size will correspondingly reduce the limits of uncertainty regarding the carbonic acid figure. There is no test-paper which can be made practically useful as a quantitative test for carbonic acid. (Sanitary Engineer.)

Water.—The tests for water embrace impurities which affect the character of water for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes. Drinking-water should not be too soft, as it provides much of the lime required in building up the bones of the body; the chief evil in drinking-water is the presence of organic ferments. For cooking and washing purposes, water cannot be too soft, and, if used boiled, the presence of organic matters is practically neutralised.

Drinking-water.—In 1871, Dr. Hager published a valuable and simple test for the presence of fermentable poisonous matter. He proposed a tablespoonful of a clear solution of tannin to be added to a tumblerful of water. If no gelatinous turbidity occurs within 5 hours, the water may be considered good. If turbidity occurs within the first hour, the water is unwholesome. If turbidity is displayed within the second hour, the water is not to be recommended. Previously, in 1866, Dr. Hager had recommended for travellers, as a precaution in cholera times, the addition of the following solution (20 drops to 1 pint) to any water they might be about to drink:—Tannic acid, 5 parts; syrup, 4 parts; distilled water, 6 parts; spirit of wine, 12½ parts.

A very simple test for the purity of water is given by Heisch. He observes that good water should be free from colour, and unpleasant odour and flavour, and should quickly afford a good lather with a small proportion of soap. If ½ pint of water be placed in a clean colourless glass-stoppered bottle, a few grains of the best white lump sugar added, and the bottle freely exposed to the daylight in the window of a warm room, the liquid should not become turbid, even after exposure for a week or 10 days. If, while the stopper remains secure, the water becomes turbid, it is open to grave suspicion of sewage contamination; but if it remains clear, it is almost certainly safe for drinking and all domestic purposes.

Hard or Soft Water.—Dissolve a small quantity of good soap in alcohol. Let a few drops fall into a glass of water. If it turns milky, it is hard; if not, it is soft.

Earthy Matters or Alkali.—Take litmus paper dipped in vinegar, and if, on immersion, the paper returns to its true shade, the water does not contain earthy matter or alkali. If a few drops of syrup be added to a water containing an earthy matter, it will turn green.

Carbonic Acid.—Take equal parts of water and clear lime water. If combined or free carbonic acid is present, a precipitate is seen, in which, if a few drops of muriatic acid be added, an effervescence commences.

Magnesia.—Boil the water to ¹/₂₀ part of its weight, and then drop a few grains of neutral carbonate of ammonia into a glass of it, and a few drops of phosphate of soda. If magnesia be present, it will fall to the bottom.

Iron.—(a) Boil a little nut-gall, and add to the water. If it turns grey or slate colour, iron is present. (b) Dissolve a little prussiate of potash, and if iron is present, it will turn blue.

Lime.—Into a glass of the water put 2 drops oxalic acid, and blow upon it; if it gets milky, lime is present.

Acid.—Take a piece of litmus paper. If it turns red, there must be acid. If it precipitates on adding lime water, it is carbonic acid. If a blue sugar-paper is turned red, it is a mineral acid, and there would be reason to suspect poisonous metallic salts.

Foods.—Foods are adulterated in three principal ways, viz.:—(1) By replacing a superior article or ingredient by an inferior or cheaper substitute, (2) by adding foreign matters capable of giving an appearance of superiority, (3) by adding water to increase the weight, this being often accompanied by incorporating foreign materials which absorb much water though perhaps otherwise harmless.

Bread.—Pure flour (wheaten) may be replaced by various meals of inferior nutritive value and lower price; if done on a scale to repay the baker, their presence can be at once detected under the microscope. This kind of adulteration is nearly always accompanied by the use of alum, which improves the appearance of bread made from inferior flour, and enables it to hold much more water. The presence of alum can be ascertained easily and rapidly by the logwood test: soak some crumbs of bread for 6 or 7 minutes in an alcoholic solution of logwood containing an excess of carbonate of ammonia, and squeeze it—a more or less deep blue colour is produced. Alum is often used too to hide the employment of damaged flour, containing perhaps only 7 per cent. of gluten instead of 12. The presence of mineral adulterants, which seldom occurs, is proved by burning a sample of the bread and weighing the ash, which should not exceed 7 parts in 1000. Bread is sometimes made of the flour from wheat which has “sprouted” or germinated, and is then inferior. This can only be ascertained by examining the flour: if it has a musty odour and flavour and an acid reaction, the flour has probably been damp for some time; if there is no mustiness but only an acid reaction, sprouted wheat has been employed. The acid reaction is best discovered by stirring some of the flour in water, filtering, and testing with a solution of corallin rendered red with a trace of alkali; if the flour is acid it turns yellow.

Butter.—Cheap butters largely consist of admixtures with other animal fats, especially that known as “butterine” or “bosch.” Analysis of suspected butter could hardly be undertaken by the housewife, but the presence of butterine is probable if the butter breaks in a crumbly manner and loses its colour on being kept melted for a short time at the temperature of boiling water (212° F.).

Milk.—Adulteration chiefly consists in adding water to skim milk and in mixing skim milk with that sold as new. Analysis is possible only to the skilled chemist, but a rough test may be made. The lactoscope devised by Dr. Bond, of Gloucester, is based on the principle of that of Prof. Feser, of Munich, in which the opacity of fresh milk is taken as proportionate to the amount of butter fat. It is useful as providing a ready means of determining with approximate accuracy the richness of milk, and is therefore a rough but sufficient test where adulteration is suspected. As supplied by the Sanitary and Œconomic Association of Gloucester, it consists of a little glass dish with some black horizontal lines on the base, a small measure, and a sort of pipette. The measure is filled with water and emptied into the dish; the pipette is filled with the milk to be tested, which is then dropped into the water, the drops being counted. The mixture of water and milk is stirred, and when the horizontal lines can no longer be seen, say, from a height of 2 ft., the number of drops of milk used are compared with a table supplied, and the approximate amount of butter-fat is read off. This instrument must not be confounded with the various lactometers, which aim at estimating the quality of a milk by its density (specific gravity)—an utterly erroneous proceeding, seeing that a poor milk will often show a higher density than a rich one.

For new milk a capital test is to pour a small quantity into an ordinary glass test-tube graduated from 0 at the top to 100 at the bottom; on allowing the sample to stand, cream will form, and its proportion can be read off at a glance, always allowing 20 hours’ rest. Good new milk should show an average of 11½ per cent. of cream, and will sometimes reach 80 per cent. The quality of skim milk is less easy to estimate by ready means. It should average not less than 1 part of fat in 1000.

As a precaution against possible infection by diseased milk, it is advisable to let all milk be boiled before use, as the boiling temperature is fatal to the disease germs. Such milk, however, is not so digestible or palatable to many people.

Tea.—The present low prices of tea do not afford much scope for profitable adulteration in this country. The chief falsifications to be on the look out for are the artificial colouring of green teas, which, naturally, are hardly distinguishable from black; and the substitution of re-rolled exhausted leaves for genuine fresh leaves. There is also in cheap teas often a considerable proportion of mineral matter, i.e. added dirt. This last can be readily detected by chewing a small quantity of the leaf, when dirt will be felt in the mouth. The presence of exhausted leaves will be manifested by the increased weight of solid matters left on boiling a sample repeatedly and drying the residue. With genuine teas, the average weight of leaves (dried) remaining after exhaustion is 65 per cent.; therefore 1 oz. of tea thoroughly boiled should not give more than ? oz. of exhausted leaves weighed after drying. If the figure is higher, the addition of exhausted leaves to the original tea may be suspected.

Coffee.—Coffee-berries can scarcely be adulterated without easy detection, therefore the best safeguard is to buy the berries and grind them at home. Ground coffee is nearly always adulterated with chicory: in fact a certain proportion is allowed by law, and the chicory is itself often largely mixed with various rubbish which by roasting gives a brown colour to water. The simplest plan for detecting the sophistication of ground coffee is to sprinkle some in a glass of cold water: pure coffee will not colour the water for some time, while chicory and its substitutes will do so immediately.

Cocoa.—This is never sold in the pure state, and no two preparations are alike. The only safeguard is to buy it in packets bearing the name of one of the well-known makers, whose preparations are wholesome and adapted to the demands of the palate.

Pickles.—Pickles and preserved vegetables are often coloured highly by the addition of copper or by boiling the articles in copper vessels. The presence of copper, even in very small proportion, can be easily and rapidly detected by plunging a bright knife-blade into the vessel for a few moments, when, if copper be present, it will coat the knife. Another evil in cheap pickles is the adulteration of the vinegar by means of sulphuric and other acids, generally sulphuric, that being one of the cheapest. A very small addition of sulphuric acid can be detected by pouring a few drops of the vinegar on a small piece of lump sugar and then evaporating the vinegar away on a water bath; the residue will become more or less blackened (carbonised) according to the amount of free mineral acid present. (Hassall.) A water bath can be extemporised out of a china tea-saucer placed on a small saucepan in which water is boiling. A further risk in vinegar containing sulphuric acid is that the acid has been made from pyrites and is contaminated with arsenic.

Pepper.—Pepper-corns may readily be judged by tasting; they cannot easily be replaced by other seeds, but may have been damaged by sea water and retain but little pungency. Ground pepper is often adulterated with flour or starch, whose presence is at once revealed by the microscope. The same may be said of most spices.

Obviously the housewife cannot conduct a critical chemical analysis of any article coming into her household; the most she can do is to detect the presence of inferior or injurious goods. Where analyses are desired, the author will provide them on the terms stated below, on samples being sent to the publishers of this volume, with the necessary instructions:—

Cleaning and Renovating

Cleaning and Renovating.—This is a wide and important subject, embracing not only the person and personal attire, but also the furniture and fittings of the dwelling and the various utensils of the household. Classification is adopted as far as possible.

Chip or Straw Goods.—To Clean.—Wash in warm soap liquor, well brushing them both inside and out; then rinse in cold water, and they are ready for bleaching.

To Bleach.—(a) Put a small quantity of salts of sorrel (oxalic acid) into a clean pan, and pour on it sufficient scalding water to cover the bonnet or hat. Put the bonnet or hat into this liquor, and let it remain in it for about 5 minutes; to keep it covered, hold it down with a clean stick. Dry in the sun or before a clear fire. (b) Having first dried the bonnet or hat, put it, together with a saucer of burning sulphur, into a box with a tight-closing lid. Cover it over to keep it in the fumes, and let it remain for a few hours. The disadvantage of bleaching with sulphur is that the articles so bleached soon become yellow, which does not happen to them when they are bleached by oxalic acid.

To Finish or Stiffen.—After cleaning and bleaching, white bonnets should be stiffened with parchment size. Black or coloured bonnets are finished with a size made from the best glue.

Straw or chip plaits, or leghorn hats and bonnets, may also be cleaned, bleached, and finished as above.

Feathers.—(a) To clean feathers from their own animal oil, steep them in 1 gal. water mixed with 1 lb. lime, stir them well, then pour off the water, and rinse the feathers in cold spring water. To clean feathers from dirt, simply wash them in hot water with soap. Rinse them in hot water. (b) To clean white ostrich feathers: 4 oz. white curd soap cut small, dissolved in 4 pints water, rather hot, in a basin. Make the solution into a lather by beating it with birch rods, or wires. Introduce the feathers and rub well with the hands for 5 or 6 minutes. After the soaping, wash in clean water as hot as the hand can bear. Shake until dry. (c) Slightly soften the soiled feathers with warm water, using a camel’s-hair brush. Next raise each feather with a flat piece of wood or paper-knife, and clean them with spirits of wine. Dry with plaster-of-Paris, and afterwards brush them carefully with a dry camel’s-hair brush. (d) Make a strong solution of salt in water, saturate a large and thick cloth with it. Wrap the bird up in the damp cloth in as many folds as you can, not disarranging the plumage. Look at the bird in 6 hours, and if not long dried on the blood will be soft; if not soft, keep it in the cloth longer, and re-wet it. When soft, rub out with gentle pressure, putting something hard under each feather with blood on, and rubbing with the back of a knife. Of course each feather must be done separately. (e) Col. Wragge treated the soiled plumage of albatrosses, Cape petrel, &c., by simply washing the feathers in rain water, after the process of skinning, and then laying a thick mixture of starch and water over the portion to be cleansed. Next he laid the birds aside, and left them till the plastering of starch had become thoroughly dry. He then removed the dry plaster by tapping it, and found that the feathers had become much cleaner. Old specimens may be cleaned in this way. Feathers may be “set” by just arranging them naturally with a needle or any pointed instrument. (f) White.—Dissolve 4 oz. white soap in 2 qt. boiling water; put it into a large basin or small pan, and beat to a strong lather with a wire egg-beater or a small bundle of birch twigs; use while warm. Hold the feather by the quill with the left hand, dip it into the soap liquor and squeeze it through the right hand, using a moderate degree of pressure. Continue this operation until the feather is perfectly clean and white, using a second lot of soap liquor if necessary. Rinse in clean hot water to take out the soap, and afterwards in cold water in which a small quantity of blue has been dissolved. Shake well, and dry before a moderate fire, shaking it occasionally that it may look full and soft when dried. Before it is quite dry, curl each fibre separately with a blunt knife or ivory paper-folder.

Coloured.—These are to be cleaned, and rinsed in warm and cold water, as above, but not rinsed in blue water. Coloured feathers may also be cleaned in a mixture of 1 part fresh gall and 3 of lukewarm water, washing them in this mixture in the same manner as in the soap liquor. But they will require more rinsing when done by this method, in order to take off all smell of the gall. Dry and curl as before.

Grebe.—Carefully take out the lining, and wash with warm water and soap, as directed for white ostrich feathers, but do not shake them until they are quite dry. Before re-making, carefully repair any rents there may be in the skin.

To Purify Feathers for Beds, Pillows, &c.—Prepare a quantity of lime water in the following manner: Well mix 1 lb. quicklime in each gal. of water required, and let it stand until all the undissolved lime is precipitated, as a fine powder, to the bottom of the tub or pan, then pour off the clear liquor for use. The number of gallons to be prepared will, of course, depend on the quantity of feathers to be cleaned. Put the feathers into a clean tub, pour the lime water on them, and well stir them in it until they all sink to the bottom. There should then be sufficient of the lime water to cover them to a depth of 3 in. Let them stand in this for 3 or 4 days, then take them out, drain them in a sieve, and afterwards well wash and rinse them in clean water. Dry on nets having a mesh about the same size as a cabbage net; shake the net occasionally, and the dry feathers will fall through. When they are dried, beat them well to get rid of the dust. It will take about 3 weeks to clean and dry a sufficient quantity for a bed. This process was awarded the prize offered by the Society of Arts.

Fenders.—(a) Have your bright steel fenders and fire-irons well rubbed with mercurial ointment, and leave all bright parts smeared over with it; they will not rust while left all winter. (b) Rub them well with sperm oil; after which some people put unslaked lime. Wrap the fenders in paper to keep off dust. (c) Take a piece of raw mutton fat (the loin fat is best) and melt it in front of the fire, and rub it thickly all over the bright fenders and fire-irons, and then do them up in several thicknesses of brown paper; you will find them free from rust in the spring. The fat must be raw, not cooked, and melted just enough to rub on.

Firearms.—(a) A good and simple way of cleaning and recolouring the barrels and other metal parts of a double-barrel shot gun which are quite rusty. Take the barrels from the stock, and put them in clean cold water free from gritty matters. Attach the brush to the washing-rod, and get out all adhering powder and residues; next take tow and wash until the barrels are quite clean. If the parts have rusted it will be necessary to use a little emery flour. Dry the barrels with clean cotton rags, rubbing until the metal feels warm. Plug the ports and muzzles securely, then cleanse the outside parts with a strong alcoholic solution of caustic potash, aided, if necessary, with a little emery flour and a soft rag. Rinse thoroughly in water, dry thoroughly, warm, and while warm rub over every part with the following preparation: pure (dry) zinc chloride, 1 oz.; antimony nitrate, ¼ oz.; olive oil, 2 oz.; well rubbed down into a smooth uniform paste. After ½ hour’s exposure, rub off excess of this paste, and polish with clean soft rags. In warming the metal, avoid overheating it so as to injure the temper.

(b) In the Volunteer service there are several fluids used, which are composed of either turpentine, naphtha, petroleum, benzine, or gasoline, about one-third, or according to fancy, with Rangoon oil. But the instructions to the troops are—a damp rag, flannel or tow, is all that is required to clean the barrel out; if much water is used, it is liable to run into the action. The butt should be raised when washing out. After washing out and drying, an oily rag or flannel to be used. On many occasions the oily material will be found to be efficacious, without the previous use of water.

(c) Easy method of cleaning guns and rifles when leaded.—If a muzzle-loader, stop up the nipple or communication hole with a little wax, or if a breech-loader insert a cork in the breech rather tightly; next pour some quicksilver into the barrel, and put another cork in the muzzle, then proceed to roll it up and down the barrel, shaking it about for a few minutes. The mercury and the lead will form an amalgam, and leave the barrel as clean and free from lead as the first day it came out of the shop. The same quicksilver can be used repeatedly by straining it through wash-leather; for the lead will be left behind in the leather, and the quicksilver will be again fit for use.

(d) If the barrels have become leaded, wet the tow on the rod with spirits of turpentine, as the latter enjoys the property of removing any leading almost equally with quicksilver. Newark’s gun-cleaning composition also answers admirably for this purpose, and prevents rust. Paraffin will also be found useful where neither of the foregoing can be obtained. Never touch the grooves of a rifle with emery, as it will dull their edges, and, consequently, affect the shooting power. (Land and Water.)

(e) Fill a stable-bucket one-third full of hot water. The water should not be too hot—not hotter than the finger can bear. If scalding hot, it is likely to cause the rib to start. Dismount barrels from stock, and place breeches in the bucket. Pour some of the water into the muzzles from a jug, and sponge the barrels out with a woollen rag or tow until the water comes out perfectly clear, both at the nipples and when jerked out of the muzzle by action of cleaning-rod. Wipe the water off the exterior of the barrels, then dry the interior with woollen rags; four or five changes of rag are required. When the insides of the barrels are perfectly dry, pass an oiled rag down. Remove fouling from nipples and adjacent parts by means of a stiff brush or woollen rag. Any sharp instrument should on no account be used. Oil out the barrels, being careful not to miss the parts round the nipples, between rib and barrel, and ramrod bands. Remove fouling from hammers in the same way as from the nipples. Rub the hammers, trigger, trigger-guard, &c., clean with a dry woollen rag, then rub them with an oiled one, which should be passed all over the stock. Clean and oil the ramrod. The oil used should be animal, not vegetable. Neat’s-foot oil (of the consistency of grease) is excellent, never rusting the gun in the least. On returning from a day’s shooting, if it is not convenient to clean the gun at once, an oiled rag should be passed outside of the barrels and stock.

Floorcloths and Carpets.—(a) Oilcloths.—In buying an oilcloth for a floor, endeavour to obtain one that was manufactured several years before; as the longer it has been made previous to use, the better it will wear, from the paint becoming hard and durable. An oilcloth that has been made within the year, is scarcely worth buying, as the paint will be defaced in a very little time, it requiring a long while to season. An oilcloth should never be scrubbed with a brush; but, after being first swept, it should be cleaned by washing with a large soft cloth and lukewarm or cold water. On no account use soap, or take water that is hot; as either of them will certainly bring off the paint. When it has dried, you may sponge it over with milk, which will brighten and preserve the colours; and then wipe it with a soft dry cloth. (J. R.)

(b) Wash with a large, soft, woollen cloth and lukewarm or cold water, dry thoroughly with a soft cloth, and afterwards polish with milk, or a weak solution of beeswax, in spirits of turpentine.

(c) Oilcloth may be improved in appearance by rubbing it with a mixture of ½ oz. beeswax in a saucerful of turpentine. After being applied it must be well rubbed with a dry cloth; otherwise the floor will be quite slippery.

(d) Cleaning New Linoleum.—Equal parts of salad oil and vinegar is the best thing for the purpose, as it keeps it clean longer than skim milk, which is commonly used. If dirty, wash the linoleum first with soap-and-water. Soda rapidly destroys it, but soap or grease improves the wear.

(e) Oilcloth made from Carpet.—The following recipe is communicated to the Cultivator and Country Gentleman by a correspondent:—Nail the old Brussels carpet loosely to the floor, in a large attic or wood-house chamber not in use. Then paint it over with a thick coat of linseed oil and burnt umber. Let it dry in thoroughly; add a coat of good varnish. Let that dry for a week or two, and it can be washed with milk-and-water like any oilcloth. Paint it on the wrong side, and nail it down closely, for it need not be taken up for many years. As the varnish and paint wear off, renew them, and thus it will last four times as long as common oilcloth. It may be ornamented with a border of scarlet, green, or blue lines.

(f) Sweeping Carpets.—Before applying the broom, scatter over the carpet the refuse tea-leaves from the teapot. These should be set apart and saved in a pot kept for the purpose, squeezing the water out thoroughly in the hand. First rub the leaves into the carpet with the broom, and then sweep as usual. This will prevent dust, and brighten the colours. Indian meal (maize flour) is recommended for this purpose by many experienced American housekeepers. A small sweeping machine, with a box to catch the dust, is now often used.

(g) Cleansing Carpets.—Put 4 tablespoonfuls ammonia to 1 bucketful of water, with soap, scrubbing-brush, and cloth; scrub and wash the carpet just as you would an unpainted floor, changing the water frequently. Leave the windows open, and the carpet will soon dry. In cities where bituminous coal is used, carpets are scrubbed as regularly as wooden floors, and with happy effects. Instead of taking up a carpet every 6 weeks during the winter, as some in muddy districts think necessary, a careful wiping every week of the carpet with a mop wrung from clean water will remove the dust and brighten the colours. A thorough sweeping should precede this wiping-up.

(h) Carpets may be washed on tables or on the floor. In either case they must be taken up and well beaten and swept. Grease is taken out by rubbing hard soap on the spot, and scrubbing it out with a brush dipped in clean cold water. Each spot must be rubbed dry with a cloth as it is washed. Dissolve a bar of soap in 2 gal. water, by cutting it into the water and heating to a boil. Lay the carpet on the floor and tack it down, or have a heavy board, 3 ft. wide by 12 ft. long, laid on stout stands, or horses, and throw the carpet over that, keeping a clean board or sheet underneath to receive the carpet as it is cleansed. Provide brushes, and a quantity of coarse cotton cloths, flannels, and a large sponge. Take 2 pails filled with blood-warm water, put 2 qt. of the melted soap into one of them to scour the carpet with, and use the other for rinsing. Dip the brush in the soapsuds, and scour a square yard of the carpet at a time, using as little water as possible, not to soak it through. When the soap has done its work, rub it well out of the carpet with a flannel or coarse sponge, sucking up with these all the wet and dirt left by the brush, rinsing the article used in clean water repeatedly. Have ready a pail of clean cold water, with enough sulphuric acid or sharp vinegar in it to taste sour; dip a clean sponge in this, squeeze and rub it well into the spot just cleansed. Afterward wipe dry with coarse cloths, rinsing and hanging them where they will be dry when the next yard is washed. Finish yard after yard in this way, rubbing each clean and dry as you go. Keep a good fire in the room to dry the carpet thoroughly. If scoured on a frame, nail the carpet against the side of a house in the sun to dry. This is a tedious, but thorough process. Hearth rugs may be cleaned in the same way, beating and brushing them well, and tacking on a large board before washing. Scrub one-sixth of it at a time unless you are expeditious, and dry well with an old sheet. The secret of having carpets look well is to wash and rinse them thoroughly, without soaking them through. Ingrain, tapestry, Brussels, and Turkish carpets are all cleaned in this way. Good authorities recommend a teacupful of ox-gall to a pail of soapsuds, rinsing with clean water.

(i) Removing Grease Stain.—To take oil out of a carpet, as soon as it is spilled put on plenty of wheat flour or whiting, to absorb the oil and keep it from spreading. If the oil is near a seam, rip it, so that the spot will not spread, and put whiting on the floor under the carpet. Next day sweep up all the flour above and under the carpet with a stiff brush, and put on plenty of fresh flour. To take out grease spots, rub them with white flannel dipped in raw spirits of turpentine. If they show after a while, rub again on both sides. If there are grease spots on the floor, remove them with potters’ clay before the carpet is laid down.

(j) Ditto.—Upon the grease stain lay a little damp fullers’ earth, and, after standing for some time, rub it gently into the carpet, and then wash off by using a little ammonia carbonate, and the colour will be restored.

(k) Following are systems adopted by professional carpet cleaners.

All carpets and hearth-rugs, whether intended for dry or thorough cleaning, must first be well beaten, and swept or brushed with a hard broom. A carpet, to be properly beaten, should be hung on a stout line, the wrong side outwards, and well beaten by two or more persons, according to its size, some standing on one side and some on the other. The sticks used should be pliable, and well covered at the ends with cloth in the form of a knot in order to prevent the carpet being torn or the seams split by the sharp ends of the sticks. After being thoroughly beaten on the wrong side, the carpet should be turned and treated in the same manner on the right side.

Dry Cleaning.—Have ready a number of dry coarse cotton or linen cloths, some coarse flannels, and one or more large pieces of coarse sponge; two or more hard scrubbing or scouring brushes, some large tubs or pans, and pails, and also a plentiful supply of both hot and cold water.

First take out all grease spots; this may be effected in several ways. Well rub the spot with a piece of hard soap, and wash out with a brush and cold water, and well dry each spot before leaving it.

Or use, instead of the soap, a mixture of fullers’ earth, gall, and water, well rinsing and drying each spot as before. When this has been done, the carpet may be cleaned by one of the three following methods:—

(1) With Soap Liquor.—Cut up a bar of soap and dissolve it over a fire in 2 gal. water. Put 2 qt. of this dissolved soap into a pail of warm water. Dip a scrubbing-brush into this soap liquor, and scour with it about 1 sq. yd. of the carpet; be careful not to let the liquor soak through to the back. When this piece is thoroughly cleaned, rub the soap well out of it by means of a coarse flannel or sponge, sucking up all the wet and dirt made by the brush; rinse the flannel or sponge frequently in warm water. Now take a clean sponge and dip it into a pail of common sour, squeeze it out, and then rub the sour well into the part just cleaned and rinsed. Rub as dry as possible with clean, coarse cotton or linen cloths before proceeding with the cleaning. The whole carpet is to be cleaned, spirited, and dried in the same manner, a square yard at a time.

(2) With Gall.—Put a bag of very fresh bullocks’ gall into a pail containing 2 gal. cold water, with 4 oz. pearlash dissolved in it, and well mix it either with a stick or your hands. Have ready, besides this, 2 pails cold water, a large sponge, a couple of flannels, and some dry, coarse cloths. Dip the brush into the gall and water, and scrub the carpet, a square yard at a time, as quickly and as carefully as possible. Rinse, and suck up the gall and dirt with a large flannel or sponge, which is to be frequently rinsed in the pails of cold water. Well dry with cloths before beginning a second square.

By adopting this simple process, any carpet, whatever its size, may easily be cleaned on the floor; the process is especially useful when the carpet is not very dirty, or when it contains delicate colours, as the gall cannot possibly injure them. The only objection to this method is that when cleaned with gall there is often a disagreeable smell left in the carpet; but if the gall be obtained from a fresh-killed bullock, and the carpet, after cleaning, be hung for a few hours in a current of fresh air, the whole of this smell will go off.

(3) With Ammonia.—Dissolve in a small pan 1 oz. pearlash in hot water, and mix with it 1 gal. ammonia, which must be obtained from a drysalter, not from a chemist. Dip a sponge or coarse flannel into the ammonia, take it out rather wet, and well rub it into the carpet, then dip the scouring-brush into the liquor and well scour the part already sponged as quickly as possible. The dirt and ammonia must then be sucked up in the sponge or flannel, and the part well dried with flannels and cloths before proceeding with the next. Each square yard will take about 20 minutes to clean and dry thoroughly.

This is another very simple method, the only objection to it being that the carpet will smell of the ammonia for some time if it is kept in the room in which it has been cleaned; it should therefore be hung for 3 or 4 days in the open air or under an open shed, taking care, however, that it does not get wet.

In dry cleaning, special care must be taken not to allow the liquor to soak to the back of the carpet or rug; and also that, before commencing, the floor or board on which the operation is conducted, is perfectly dry. A good fire should also be kept in the room during the whole time, as much of the success of the operation depends on rapid drying.

Floors.—(a) First sweep well. Have a small tub or bucket of warm water; an old saucer to hold a piece of brown soap; a large thick tow-linen floorcloth; and a long-handled scrubbing-brush. Dip the whole of the floorcloth into the water, and with it wet a portion of the floor. Next, rub some soap on the bristles of the brush, and scrub hard all over the wet place. Then dip your cloth into the water, and with it wash the suds off the floor. Wring the cloth, wet it again, and wipe the floor with it a second time. Lastly, wash the cloth about in the water, wring it as dry as possible, and give the floor a last and hard wiping with it. Afterwards go on to the next part of the floor, wet it, scrub it, wipe it 3 times, and proceed in the same manner, a piece at a time, till you have gone over the whole; changing the dirty water for clean, whenever you find it necessary. For a large room, fresh warm water will be required 4 or 5 times in the course of the scrubbing. When the floor has been scrubbed, leave the sashes raised while it is drying. For scouring common floors that are very dirty, have by you an old tin pan with some grey sand in it; and after soaping the brush, rub it on some sand also. Always commence operations at the corner farthest from the door and work towards the door.

(b) Take some clean, sifted, white or silver sand, and scatter it on the floor. Dissolve 1 lb. potash or pearlash, in 1 pint water, and sprinkle the sand with this solution. Have a pail of very hot water, and well scrub the boards lengthwise with a hard brush, and use the best mottled soap. Change the water frequently. The potash, if applied as directed, will take out all stains. Ink stains may be removed from boards by using either strong vinegar, or salts of lemon.

(c) The following will be found useful in cleaning and restoring colour to wooden floors:—1 part calcinated soda allowed to stand ¾ hour in 1 part slaked lime; then add 15 parts water, and boil. Spread the solution, thus obtained, upon the floor with a rag, and after drying, rub with hard brush and fine sand and water. A solution of 1 part concentrated sulphuric acid and 8 parts water will enliven the wood after above application. When dry, wash and wax the floor.

(d) Remove ink from floors by scouring them with sand wet with water and a little oil of vitriol, mixed. Then rinse them with strong saleratus water (potassium bicarbonate).

(e) Take ¼ lb. fullers’ earth and ¼ lb. pearlash, and boil together in 1 qt. water, and, while hot, spread it on the greased surface, allowing it to remain 14 or 15 hours; after which it may be scoured off with sand and water.

(f) Procure some good light benzoline, scrub the stained portion with a hard brush dipped in this, then wipe with a dry flannel. Make a strong solution of common washing soda in hot water, place a little unslaked lime, broken into coarse powder, over the stains, and pour on sufficient solution of soda to wet the lime thoroughly. Leave this mixture on for a short time, then scrub hard with plenty of clean hot water, and wipe dry with clean flannel.

(g) A small quantity (say 2d. worth) oxalic acid (poison) dissolved in ½ pint hot water; apply on a rag tied to a stick; wash off with soda, soap, and water.

(h) Marks of tempera (whitewash) can be removed by a good scrubbing with soap and water; oil stains require to be softened with turpentine, and then scraped off. There is a soap called Philadelphia Kitchen Crystal Soap, which removes oil stains rapidly; it must never be put into water, but a damp flannel is rubbed on it, and the stains are scrubbed with the lather. It also removes dirty marks on paint quickly and easily.

Furniture.—(a) Scratches on furniture may be removed by rubbing with a woollen rag dipped in boiled linseed oil. The article must then be varnished with shellac dissolved in alcohol.

(b) To clean and restore the elasticity of cane chair-bottoms.—Turn the chair bottom upwards, and with hot water and a sponge wash the canework well, so that it is well soaked; should it be dirty, use soap; let it dry in the air, and it will be as tight and firm as new, provided none of the canes is broken.

(c) Straw Matting.—Wash it with weak salt and water and dry it well, or boil a small bag of bran in 2 gal. water, and wash the matting with the water, drying it well.

(d) Ink Stains out of Mahogany.—Put a few drops of spirits of nitre (nitric acid) in a teaspoonful of water, touch the spot with a feather dipped in the mixture, and on the ink disappearing, rub it over immediately with a rag wetted in cold water, or there will be a white mark, which will not be easily effaced.

(e) Ditto.—Apply spirits of salts (muriatic acid) with a rag until the spots disappear, and immediately afterward wash with clear water.

(f) Ditto.—To ½ pint soft water put 1 oz. oxalic acid, and ½ oz. butter (terchloride) of antimony; shake well; when dissolved, it will be very useful in extracting stains from mahogany, as well as ink, if not of too long standing.

(g) Furniture creams or French polishes.—These are better bought than home made. Nearly 100 good recipes exist, and maybe found in ‘Spons’ Mechanic’s Own Book.’

Furs, Skins, and Rugs.—(a) Fur.—Soap or water will spoil it. Get some clean common whiting—powdered, and plenty of it—put it in a damp place for a day or so, but on no account let it get wet; rub it into the fur with the hand, and don’t be afraid to rub it. Now let it stop till next day, give it another good rubbing, then shake out all the whiting you can, and give it a good brushing with a clothes-brush. It will now be pretty clean, except the skin at the bottom of the fur. To remove the dirt from thence get the fur over the back of a chair, and use the point of the clothes-brush very briskly, at the same time giving a short puff of wind every time you give a stroke with the brush. With a little patience you will remove every trace of whiting, grease, or dirt. Lastly, pour a little spirits of wine on a plate, dip the point of the clothes-brush in this, and lightly pass it over the fur; move the brush the same way as the fur runs.

(b) Ditto.—Take equal parts of flour and powdered salt (which should be well heated in an oven), and thoroughly rub the fur. It should afterwards be well shaken, to free it from the flour and salt.

(c) Ditto.—Lay the fur on a table, and rub it well with bran made moist with warm water. Rub until quite dry, and afterwards with dry bran. The wet bran should be put on with flannel, and the dry with a piece of book muslin.

(d) Ditto.—Thoroughly sprinkle every part with hot plaster-of-Paris, and brush well with a hard brush. Then beat it with a cane, comb smooth with a wet comb, and press carefully with a warm iron; when dry, shake out all loose plaster-of-Paris.

(e) Hearth-rugs.—Hearth-rugs should never be cleaned on the floor, but on a large scouring board, and should only be operated upon ? of their length at a time. After being cleaned, they require to be dried very quickly; as otherwise, on account of the thickness of the pile, they are apt to sadden. Hearth-rugs may be cleaned by either the first or second methods given for dry-cleaning carpets; with the following exception, that when the first method is adopted, only 1 lb. soap dissolved in 1 gal. hot water will be required. After the rug is finished, dip a clean sponge into a pail containing a little common sour, and well rub it into the face of the rug.

(f) Sheepskin Rugs and Mats.—Dissolve 1 bar soap in 2 gal. boiling water. Put 2 qt. of this into a tub or pan containing about 2 gal. warm water. First rub out the dirt and grease spots with the strong soap liquor, or, if necessary, with fullers’ earth. Then put the rug or mat into the tub containing the weak soap liquor, and well wash and punch it. Throw away this first liquor, and mix another lot with the same proportions of warm water and dissolved soap, and again well wash the rug; and so continue until it is perfectly clean. Then rinse well in cold water to take out all the soap, and afterwards in cold water in which a small quantity of blue has been dissolved. This blue water will only be required for white skins. After this has been done, the mat or rug should be wrung out, shaken, and hung to dry with the skin side towards the sun, but not when the heat is scorching, or the skin will become hard and brittle. It should, while drying, be frequently shaken and hung up first by one end and then by the other.

(g) Ditto.—Wash while fresh in strong soapsuds, first picking from the wool all the dirt that will come out. A little paraffin, 1 tablespoonful to 3 gal. water, will aid in removing the impurities. Continue to wash the skin in fresh suds till it is white and clean. Then dissolve ½ lb. each of salt and alum in 3 pints boiling water, put into it water enough to cover the skin, which should soak in the solution 12 hours, and then be hung on a line to drain. When nearly dry, nail it, wool side in, on a board, or the side of a barn, to dry. Rub into the skin 1 oz. each of pulverised alum and saltpetre, and if the skin is large double the quantity. Rub for an hour or two. Fold the skin sides together, and hang the skin away for 3 days, rubbing it every day or till perfectly dry. Then with blunt knife clear the skin of impurities, rub it with pumice or rottenstone, trim it into shape, and you have a door-mat that will last a lifetime. If it is to be dyed, have a shallow vessel as large as the skin in which to prepare the dye, so that the skin can be laid wool-side down smoothly into the vessel that all parts may be equally immersed in the dye. This should not be more than an inch deep, otherwise the skin might be injured by the hot dye. After colouring, again stretch the skin to dry, and then comb with a wool- or cotton-card.

Glass Articles.—(a) Mirrors.—Wet the surface of the glass with gin, to remove the stains. Then rub with a cloth dipped in powdered blue. Polish with a silk handkerchief. Be very careful not to touch the frames.

(b) Ditto.—To clean glass in frames, when the latter are covered or otherwise so finished that water cannot be used, moisten tripoli with brandy, rub it on the glass while moist, and when dry rub off with a silk rag; to prevent the mixture injuring the cloth on the frame, use strips of tin bent to an angle; set these on the frame with one edge on the glass; when the frames are of a character that will not be injured by water, rub the glass with water containing a little liquid ammonia, and polish with moist paper.

(c) Ditto.—Take part of a newspaper, fold it small, dip it in a basin of clean cold water, and when it is thoroughly wet squeeze it out as a sponge, and then rub it hard over the face of the glass, taking care that it is not so wet as to run down in streams. After the glass has been well rubbed with the wet paper, let it rest a few minutes and then go over it with a fresh dry newspaper, till it looks clear and bright, which it will do almost immediately.

(d) Windows.—Procure a washleather of convenient size and some “paper-hanger’s” canvas; 2 yd. divided into 3 pieces, will be a nice size to work with. Have the cut sides hemmed, and they will last a long while. When it is desired, use one; boil or soak for an hour or so in a solution of soda and water to get out the “dress”; then wring out, and rinse in as many courses of clean water as you like; then partially dry (practice will enable you to judge), fold to a convenient size, and it will be ready for use. The soda solution will now be cool enough for the leather (if too hot it will shrivel the leather); wash in the same manner, and wring superfluous moisture out; then wash the glass thoroughly with it and plenty of elbow-grease, and polish off with the canvas.

(e) Ditto.—One of the best materials is a mixture of calcined magnesia with enough purified benzin to produce, when shaken up, a thick milk. It should be kept in vessels provided with well-ground glass stoppers. For use, a small quantity of the mixture is applied to a muslin rag, or better, to a wad of cotton, and the windows are rubbed with this. It may be very readily cleaned off without leaving any deposit in the corners.

(f) Glass Globes.—Rub inside with a little wet pumice-powder on a cloth, and in 2 minutes you would not know that they were not newly purchased. The best way to cleanse dirty glass of all kinds is to put a small quantity of spirits of salts (hydrochloric acid) into a basin of water, and to place the dirty articles in the liquid for a few minutes, when it will be found that the glass is clean, and only requires drying. If very dirty, the globes may require to stay in the liquid a little longer. This plan is very useful for cleaning the pendant drops of glass chandeliers, water bottles, &c., as no soap is required. Care must be taken not to drop the undiluted spirits of salts on the clothes or hands.

(g) Photographic Glass Plates.—One of the most powerful—if not, indeed the most powerful—detergents for refractory plates is the mixture of sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash recommended by Carey Lea some years ago. It is especially useful with glasses which have been frequently used, or which from the nature of the treatment they have undergone resist the action of both acids and alkalies completely. Its utility is dependent upon the powerful action of chromic acid upon organic matter, and we have never yet met with a plate which did not succumb to its treatment. One precaution is necessary in using it, however; it must be carefully removed from the glass by copious washing as soon as possible after it has done its duty. If allowed to soak for some time, as is frequently the practice, the plates appear to absorb the solution (the penetrating power of which is extraordinary), or an insoluble compound becomes firmly attached to the surface and stedfastly refuses to be displaced. Though generally invisible, it results in a peculiar mottled appearance between the glass and the developed film which entirely ruins the picture. We recently treated a number of plates which had become useless from this cause with various detergents, including acids as well as alkalies, but to no purpose; friction with various abrading powers failed to remove the defect, and we were well-nigh compelled to give it up. Remembering, however, that cyanide of potassium has been utilised by carbon printers for the purpose of reducing the strength of over-printed proofs—which it does by virtue of its action upon the insoluble compounds of chromium—we resolved to try its efficacy on our refractory plates, when all the mottling disappeared as if by magic. Those amongst our readers who dare to fly in face of all that has been lately written upon the dangers attending cyanide and bichromate of potash have here a “wrinkle.” Surely those who have dared bichromate will not fear the minor dangers of cyanide. (Brit. Jl. Phot.)

(h) Ditto.—A cream of tripoli powder and spirits of wine, with a little ammonia added, is a very good solution for cleaning glass plates. Old collodion is also very good; it should be thinned down with an equal bulk of spirits of wine; add an excess of iodide of potassium, and shake till the solution is saturated. Caustic potash is very good; so is carbonate of soda. If the plates be new, and covered with little gritty particles which do not come off on the application of potash, they may be removed with nitric acid.

(i) Ditto.—Take a dilute solution of potash permanganate, and pour on enough to wet the sides of the vessel to be cleaned. A film of hydrated manganic oxide is deposited, which is then rinsed with hydrochloric acid. Chlorine is formed, which acts in the nascent state on the organic matter, which becomes readily soluble. The permanganate solution can be used again and again till its oxidising power is exhausted. (Walz.)

(j) Ditto.—Dissolve 15 gr. potassium iodide in 5 oz. water and 5 oz. alcohol, afterwards adding 3 gr. iodine and enough whiting or rottenstone to make a creamy paste Rub a little of this on the glass with a rag until clean, then polish with a cloth. (J. Hughes.)

(k) Glass Slides.—“I had tried previously to remove the hardened balsam in many ways, and had succeeded fairly with a mixture of prepared chalk, methylated spirit, and liquid ammonia, but found this objectionable because it was such a dirty job. I now simply warm the slides over a flame, and push off the covers into strong sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), and leave them therein for a short time; when clean, drain off, and rinse with a little fresh acid, and finish off by washing well in water. As much balsam as possible is removed from the slides by scraping with a knife, and then sulphuric acid is rubbed upon them with a glass rod. They are then well washed. If necessary, a finishing touch may be given with a warm solution of washing soda or methylated spirit and ammonia, to remove all trace of grease. Sulphuric acid should be added to water, or water to sulphuric acid, very gradually.” (Thos. H. Powell.)

(l) Removing Grease.—Dissolve soda carbonate in water, in the proportion of 1 of the former to 10 of the latter, and let the liquid boil in a clean untinned iron pot. Slake 8 parts quicklime in a covered vessel and add the hydrate thus formed to the boiling liquid, stirring it meanwhile. Great care must be exercised in using this caustic solution, which must not be allowed to touch the hands; the glass must therefore be dipped in it by the aid of tongs or pliers. When the grease is dissolved, the glass is to be well brushed and subsequently rinsed in water.

(m) Removing Paint Stains.—3 parts potash, 1 oz. caustic lime; lay on with a padded stick and let remain some hours.

(n) Ditto.—Moisten with washing soda dissolved in warm water; renew for ½ hour; wash off with clean water.

(o) Bottles.—If oily or otherwise greasy, they should not be washed with water, but wiped with dry tow, or a dry dirty cloth, so as to remove as much grease as possible. By changing the cloth for one that is clean, the vessel can be wiped until all traces of grease disappear.

(p) Ditto.—A strong solution of an alkali, such as pearlash, may be used, whereby the removal of the grease is materially facilitated.

(q) Ditto.—If soiled by resin, turpentine, resinous varnishes, &c., wash with a strong alkaline solution, and rub by means of the wire and tow.

(r) Ditto.—If the alkali fail to act, a little sulphuric acid may be employed with advantage. The latter acid will also be found advantageous in removing pitch and tar from glass vessels. Nitric or sulphuric acid may be employed to clean flasks which have contained oil.

(s) Ditto.—“To clean a silver-bottle, pour in a strong solution of potassium cyanide; shake a few times, pour out, and rinse with water 2 or 3 times, and your bottle is perfectly clean. Keep the solution, and filter and strengthen when required. By doing this you can sun your bath better in 2 hours than in a week’s exposure in the dirty black bottles photographers appear to delight in.” (Phil. Phot.)

(t) Ditto.—Alexander MÜller, of Berlin, after speaking of the various methods in vogue for cleaning glass vessels, as, for example, sand (which is objectionable, as it scratches glass), shot (good, but should be followed by a wash of dilute nitric acid, to get rid of lead), brushes, copper scale (also good, but requires subsequent rinsing with some dilute acid), bits of paper or linen, wood ashes, salt (especially rock-salt), gypsum and marble-dust (very good), ground bones (likewise excellent), he concludes as follows:—Chisel or tongue-shaped pieces are cut from thick pieces of indiarubber, and a sharp brass or platinum wire is fixed into the thick end to serve as a handle. With this washer and its flexible handle, we are able to “lick” out, to a certain extent, any kind of a bottle. For beakers and capsules, we greatly prefer it to the hair pencil and feather commonly used; for, owing to their fibrous structure, the precipitate gets entangled in them, while they also lose some of their nitrogenous particles, which would affect the accuracy of careful nitrogen determinations, as, for example, in water analyses. Finally, to clean glass or porcelain vessels from the greatest variety of adherent organic substances, he recommends a mixture of bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid as superior to ether, alcohol, benzine, &c.

(u) Bottles which have contained petroleum, wash with thin milk of lime, which forms an emulsion with the petroleum, and removes every trace of it; by washing a second time with milk of lime and a small quantity of lime chloride, even the smell may be so completely removed as to render the vessel, thus cleansed, fit for keeping beer in. If the milk of lime be used warm, instead of cold, the operation is rendered much shorter. (Ding. Pol. Jl.)

(v) Decanters.—There is often much difficulty experienced in cleaning decanters, especially after port wine has stood in them for some time. The best way is to wash them out with a little pearlash and warm water, adding a spoonful or two of fresh slaked lime if necessary. To facilitate the action of the fluid against the sides of the glass, a few small cinders may be used.

(w) Ditto.—Soak the decanters for some hours in warm soda and water; if there is much cutting on the outside, a brush will be necessary to remove the dirt and stains from the crevices. Cut a potato into small dice, put a good handful of these into the decanter with some warm water, shake the decanter briskly until the stains disappear; rinse in clean cold water, and let them drain until dry. Vinegar and sauce cruets can be cleaned in the same way.

Gloves.—Kid. (a) Make a strong lather with curd soap and warm water; lay the glove flat on a board, the bottom of a dish, or other unyielding surface; dip a piece of flannel in the lather and well rub the glove with it till all the dirt is out, turning it about so as to clean it all over. Dry in the sun or before a moderate fire. When dry they will look like old parchment, and should be gradually pulled out and stretched. (b) Have a small quantity of milk in a cup or saucer, and a piece of brown Windsor or glycerine soap in another saucer. Fold a clean towel or other cloth 3 or 4 times thick, and spread the glove smoothly on the cloth. Dip a piece of flannel in the milk, and rub it well on the soap. Hold the glove firmly with the left hand, and rub it with the flannel towards the fingers. Continue this operation until the glove, if white, appears of a dirty yellow; or, if coloured, until it looks dirty and spoiled, and then lay it to dry. Gloves cleaned by this method will be soft, glossy, and elastic. (c) French method: Put the gloves on your hands and wash them in spirits of turpentine until they are quite clean, rubbing them exactly as if washing your hands; when finished, hang them in a current of air to dry and to take off the smell of the turpentine. (d) Eau de Javelle, 135 parts; ammonia, 8; powdered soap, 200; water, 150. Make a soft paste, and use with a flannel.

Washleather. (e) Take out the grease spots by rubbing with magnesia or with cream of tartar. Then wash with soap dissolved in water as directed for kid gloves, and afterwards rinse, first in warm water and then in cold. Dry in the sun, or before the fire.

Buckskin.—(f) To ¼ lb. Paris white add the same quantity of scraped pipeclay and 3 oz. best isinglass; boil all well down, stirring the while. Put the compound on thick, and, when dry, beat it well out by clapping your hands together, &c.; then carefully iron the gloves with a hot smoothing-iron. (g) When dirty, wash 3 times in clean warm (not hot) “soap lather.” Put a little blue in, wring them well, then put them in as good a form as you can—as nearly what they should be when dry as practicable. When nearly dry, but sufficiently damp to form to the hand, put them on; if difficult to get on, damp a little; then press or push them off, and when dry (from the fire) they will be as good as new, and white and clean, and not mark anything. (h) 1 oz. gum arabic to 1 lb. white lead (powder), free from lumps, to be well dissolved and strained through muslin; afterwards mix your lead stiff and put it by until perfectly hard. Be very careful not to leave water in the box or sponge after using. (i) Take ½ lb. prepared chalk, ½ lb. prepared alum, 3 cakes pipeclay, ½ oz. oxalic acid, ½ oz. isinglass, 1 oz. powdered pumice, 1 tablespoonful starch, 6 tablespoonfuls sweet oil, 2 oz. white soap. To be mixed in boiling water; the oxalic acid and prepared alum to be added last.

All gloves are better and more shapely if dried on glove trees or wooden hands.

Hands.—The hands are apt to be stained or tainted by contact with many substances in everyday use. The following are most common.

Tar. (a) Rub with fresh orange or lemon peel.

(b) Mix together pulverised extract of liquorice and oil of aniseed to the consistency of thick cream; rub on thoroughly with the hand, then wash off with soap and warm soft water.

Disagreeable Odours. (c) Ground mustard, mixed with a little water, is an excellent agent for cleansing the hands after handling disagreeably or strongly odorous substances, such as cod-liver oil, musk, valerianic acid and its salts. Scale-pans and vessels may also be readily freed from odour by the same method. (Schneider.)

(d) All oily seeds, when powdered, answer for this purpose. Flax-seed meal, for instance, removes odours as well as mustard. The use of ground almond-cake as a detergent is well known. The explanation of this action is somewhat doubtful, but it is not improbable that the odorous bodies are dissolved by the fatty oil of the seed, and emulsionised by the contact with water. In the case of bitter almonds and mustard, the development of ethereal oil, under the influence of water, may perhaps be an additional help to destroy foreign odours. The author also mentions that the smell of carbolic acid may be removed by rubbing the hands with damp flax-seed meal, and that cod-liver-oil bottles may be cleansed with a little hot sesamÉ or olive oil. (Huber.)

Silver Nitrate. (e) Wash in solution of 10 parts potassium iodide, 1 iodine, 1 ammonia, in 100 water. (Liesegang.)

(f) Wash in strong solution of cupric chloride, and, about a minute later, in soda hyposulphite. (Underwood.)

Nitric Acid. (g) Wash immediately and put on some lime chloride.

(h) On the stain or stains place sufficient caustic soda (the usual reagent strength) with the end of the stopper (if the stain is all covered it will do); gently rub it with any solid for a few seconds, then wash it off; then gently rub the spot with a finger nail, when it will come off almost completely; put on a little dilute hydrochloric acid, when the spot will disappear entirely. If not, repeat the whole process, which will be sure to remove it without the least injury to the hand.

(i) Wash the hands in a solution of soda-ash and bleaching powder, add the solution of soda-ash to the bleaching liquor as long as a precipitate forms, then wash; the remaining stains will wear off in time. Wash in this daily till the stains are completely removed.

Potassium Bichromate. (k) Rub the stains with a solution of sulphurous acid, and subsequently wash with distilled or soft water. (l) To a warm, strong solution of soda hyposulphite add a small quantity of sulphuric acid; this may then be used on the stains with similar effect. (Photo. News.)

Ivory and Bone Articles.—(a) Spirit of turpentine is very efficacious in removing the disagreeable odour and fatty emanations of bones or ivory, while it leaves them beautifully bleached. The articles should be exposed in the fluid for 3 or 4 days in the sun, or a little longer if in the shade. They should rest upon strips of zinc, so as to be a trifle above the bottom of the glass vessel employed. The turpentine acts as an oxidising agent, and the product of the combustion is an acid liquor which sinks to the bottom, and strongly attacks the ivory if allowed to touch it.

(b) Make a thick puddle of common whiting in a saucer. Brush well with a tooth-brush into the curved work. Brush well out with plenty of clean water. Dry gently near the fire. Finish with a clean dry hard brush, adding one or two drops (not more) of sweet oil.

(c) Mix about a tablespoonful of oxalic acid in ½ pint boiling water. Wet the ivory over first with water, then with a tooth-brush apply the acid, doing one side at a time, and rinsing; finally dry in a cloth before the fire, but not too close.

(d) Take a piece of fresh lime, slake it by sprinkling it with water, then mix into a paste, which apply by means of a soft brush, brushing well into the interstices of the carving; next set by in a warm place till perfectly dry, after which take another soft brush and remove the lime. Should it still remain discoloured, repeat the process, but be careful neither to make it too wet nor too hot in drying off, or probably the article might come to pieces, being most likely glued or cemented together. If it would stand steeping in lime water for 24 hours, and afterwards boiling in strong alum water for about an hour and then dried, it would turn out white and clean. Rubbing with oxide of tin (putty powder) and a chamois leather, will restore a fine gloss afterwards.

(e) Well clean with spirits of wine, then mix some whiting with a little of the spirits, to form a paste, and well brush with it. It is best to use a rubber of soft leather where there are no delicate points; put a little soap on the leather, and dip into the paste and rub the ivory until you get a brilliant polish, finish off with a little dry whiting; the leather should be attached to flat wood surface, and rub briskly.

(f) When ivory ornaments get yellow or dusky-looking, wash them well in soap and water, with a small brush to clean the carvings, and place them while wet in full sunshine; wet them 2 or 3 times a day for several days, with soapy water, still keeping them in the sun; then wash them again, and they will be beautifully white.

(g) Rub with soda bicarbonate applied on a tooth-brush dipped in warm water.

Leather Goods.—(a) Carriage tops that have faded and become grey can be restored by washing with a solution composed of 4 oz. nut-galls, 1 oz. each of logwood, copperas, clean iron filings, and sumach berries; put all but the iron filings and copperas in 1 qt. best white wine vinegar, and heat nearly to boiling point; then add the copperas and iron filings; let stand for 24 hours, and strain off the liquid; apply with a sponge. This is equally good for restoring black cloths.

(b) Enamelled leather tops that have been soiled by dust and rain should be washed with soft water and Castile or crown soap. Apply the water with a sponge and then scrub with moderately stiff brush; cleanse with clean water and dry with a “shammy.” Never apply any kind of oil or top dressing without first cleaning the leather.

(c) Mouldy Leather.—Remove the surface mould with a dry cloth, and with another cloth apply pyroligneous acid.

(d) Russet Leather-covered Mountings.—Remove all stains and dirt by rubbing the leather with a cloth and a little oxalic acid, and restore the colour and finish by the use of salts of lemon (tartaric acid) applied with a woollen cloth. Rub the leather until a good polish is produced.

(e) Rubber-covered Mountings.—Rub the covered as well as the metallic parts with a “shammy” and a little tripoli, and finish with a clean woollen cloth.

(f) Chamois-leather.—Make a solution of weak soda and warm water, rub plenty of soft-soap into the leather, and allow it to remain in soak for 2 hours, then rub it well until it is quite clean. Afterwards rinse it well in a weak solution composed of warm water, soda, and yellow soap. If rinsed in water only, it becomes hard when dry, and unfit for use. The small quantity of soap left in the leather allows the finer particles of the leather to separate and become soft like silk. After rinsing, wring it well in a rough towel, and dry quickly; then pull it about and brush it well, and it will become softer and better than most new leathers.

(g) Morocco Leather.—Strain well over a board, and scour with stiff brush, using tepid water and soft-soap, made slightly acid with oxalic acid; when done, unstrain the leather, and dry in a cool place; do not saturate the leather, but keep the board inclined; when dry, rub a little oil lightly over the surface with a rag.

(h) Saddles.—If much soiled, wash the leather with a weak solution of oxalic acid and water, and, when dry, with the watery portion of beef blood. The latter can be preserved by adding a little carbolic acid, and keeping it in a bottle tightly corked.

(i) Brown saddles may be cleaned to look as well as new by the use of tepid water and crown soap; if the latter cannot be had, use pure Castile soap.

Marble, Stone, Plaster, &c.—Marble.—(a) Take finely powdered pumice and vinegar; wash the surface with the mixture, and leave it for several hours, then brush hard and wash clean. When dry, rub with whiting and washleather. (b) Equal parts caustic potash, quicklime, and soft-soap; make into a thick paste with water, and apply with a brush; leave for about a week, and apply again and again until the stain has disappeared. (c) 2 parts soda (carbonate), 1 of pumice, and 1 of finely powdered chalk. Mix into a fine paste with water. Rub this over the marble, and the stains will be removed; then wash with soap and water. (d) Wash thoroughly with soda and warm water to remove any grease, and apply oxalic acid by laying a piece of white cotton cloth saturated upon the spots for a short time. If it destroys the polish, repolish with oxide of tin and water applied with a cloth. If the stains are not deep, rub the surface only with the oxalic acid and water upon a small piece of cloth quickly, and wash, to free the marble of acid. Then, to give it a gloss, rub with chalk wet with water. (e) Marble figures may be washed clean by putting them out in a heavy shower. (f) Spots from sulphur and phosphorus, caused by lucifer-matches, can be extracted from marble by carbon bisulphide. (g) Removing rust from marble depends upon the solubility of iron sulphide in a solution of potassium cyanide. Clay is made into a thin paste with ammonium sulphide, and the rust-spot is smeared with the mixture, care being taken that the spot is only just covered. After a lapse of 10 minutes, this paste is washed off, and replaced by one consisting of white bole mixed with a solution of potassium cyanide (1:4), which is in its turn, washed off after a lapse of about 2½ hours. Should a reddish spot remain after washing off the first paste, a second layer may be applied for about 5 minutes. (h) Brush the dust off with a piece of chamois, then apply with a brush a good coat of gum arabic about the consistency of thick mucilage, expose it to the sun or wind to dry. In a short time it will peel off. If all the gum should not peel off, wash it with clean water and a clean cloth. If the first application does not have the desired effect, it should be tried again. (i) Rub with the following solution: ¼ lb. soft-soap, ¼ lb. whiting, 1 oz. soda, and a piece of blue the size of a walnut; rub it over the marble with a piece of flannel, and leave on for 24 hours, then wash off with clean water, and polish the marble with a piece of flannel or an old piece of felt. (j) Take 2 parts common soda, 1 of pumice, and 1 of finely powdered chalk; sift through a fine sieve, and mix with water; rub it well over the marble; then wash the marble over with soap and water. (k) To take stains out of white marble, take 1 oz. ox-gall, 1 gill lye, 1½ tablespoonfuls turpentine; mix, and make into a paste with pipeclay; put on the paste over the stain, and let it remain for several days. (l) To remove oil-stains, apply common clay saturated with benzine. If the grease has remained on long, the polish will be injured; but the stain will be removed. (m) Ironmould or ink-spots may be taken out in the following manner: Take ½ oz. butter of antimony and 1 oz. oxalic acid; dissolve in 1 pint rain-water; add enough flour to bring the mixture to a proper consistency. Lay it evenly on the stained part with a brush, and, after it has remained for a few days, wash off, and repeat the process if the stain be not wholly removed.

Stone.—(n) To remove grease from stone steps or passages, pour strong soda and water boiling hot over the spot, lay on a little fullers’ earth made into a thin paste with boiling water, let remain all night, and if the grease be not removed, repeat the process. Grease may sometimes be taken out by rubbing the spot with a hard stone—not hearth-stone—using sand and very hot water, with soap and soda.

Plaster.—(o) By means of Dutch rush or shave-grass (Equisetum hyemale), or exceedingly fine sandpaper, the plaster must be rubbed over in an equal manner, and in every part. The rubbing, being done in a skilful manner, opens the pores of the plaster; then brush it over with the thick oil used for moulding, which will give it a very pleasing yellow tint, and at the same time great solidity. If, however, a white colour is preferred, soak the cast, after the first operation has been performed, in a stearine bath. If placed in a bath of hot stearine, and allowed to remain 4 hours, it will acquire almost the solidity and the polish of marble.

Alabaster.—(p) Make a paste with quicklime and water; spread this well over the discoloured article, and leave on for about 24 hours; then remove with soap and water, applying some friction on parts which are worse than others. (q) If not too much discoloured, clean with a strong lye of soap and water. (r) The superficial dirt and grease having been removed, wash with diluted muriatic acid.

Metal Goods.—Brass.—(a) Wash with rock alum, boiled in a strong lye in the proportion of 1 oz. to a pint; polish with dry tripoli. (b) The government method prescribed for cleaning brass, and in use at all the United States arsenals, is claimed to be the best in the world. The plan is to make a mixture of 1 part common nitric acid and ½ part sulphuric acid, in a stone jar, having also ready a pail of fresh water and a box of sawdust. The articles to be treated are dipped into the acid, then removed into the water, and finally rubbed with sawdust. This immediately changes them to a brilliant colour. If the brass has become greasy, it is first dipped in a strong solution of potash and soda in warm water; this cuts the grease, so that the acid has free power to act. (c) Rub the surface of the metal with rottenstone and sweet oil, then rub off with a piece of cotton flannel, and polish with soft leather. (d) A solution of oxalic acid rubbed over tarnished brass soon removes the tarnish, rendering the metal bright. The acid must be washed off with water, and the brass rubbed with whiting and soft leather. (e) A mixture of muriatic acid and alum dissolved in water imparts a golden colour to brass articles that are steeped in it for a few seconds. (f) First boil your articles in a pan with ordinary washing soda, to remove the old lacquer; then let them stand for a short time in dead aquafortis; then run them through bright dipping ditto. Swill all acid off in clean water, and brighten the relieved parts with a steel burnisher; replace in clean water, and dry out in beech sawdust. Next place your work on stove till heated, so that you can with difficulty bear your hand on articles, and apply pale lacquer with brush: the work will burn if heated too much or too rapidly. (g) Put a coat of nitric acid over the part you want cleaned, with a piece of rag; as soon as it turns a light yellow, rub it dry, and the brass will present a very clean appearance; if not, repeat. (h) Oxalic acid and whiting mixed and applied wet, with brush, and brushed again when dry with soft plate-brush to polish with dry whiting. (i) The general idea is to use strong oil of vitriol or a strong solution of oxalic acid. Now, these two substances are very corrosive, and, although they undoubtedly clean the brasswork most effectually, they do mischief in literally eating it away, so that delicate engraving and fine edges soon disappear. In cases of brass name-plates, these acids gradually insinuate themselves underneath the black filling of the letters, generating gas, and forcing it up bit by bit. The best thing to use is lemon pulp: the waste lemon from grog or lemonade does excellently. It should be tied up in a piece of rag, plum-pudding fashion, and when it becomes dry it should be dipped in water. After the brasswork has been rubbed with the lemon it should be well washed with water, and then finished off with rottenstone and oil. One word about brass plates. There is no greater eyesore to those who worship neatness than to see a rim of worn-away paint round the brass plate on the hall door of an otherwise well-appointed house. Such a defect may be easily avoided by cutting out a piece of thick cardboard to the shape of the plate, and covering over with it the paint surrounding the metal during the process of cleaning. Another fatal mistake is to suppose that the black letters require cleaning; they do not, and any efforts in this direction only result in their being gradually worn away. (j) Embossed Surfaces.—Make a mixture of 1 part nitric acid, 2 water, and 6 hydrochloric acid. Boil the articles to be cleaned in a strong soda-lye, and then leave them in the above solution, until they become covered with a black layer. Remove from the mixed acids, rinse in plenty of water, and use a fine scratch-brush to remove the black mud. When clean, rinse in hot water, and dry in hot sawdust. Articles thus treated acquire a brilliant lustre. To give a very rich orange-yellow tone to the brass, the nitric acid may be replaced by an equivalent weight of powdered alum. (k) Brass Instruments.—If the instruments are very much oxidised or covered with green rust, first wash them with strong soda and water. If not so very bad, this first process may be dispensed with. Then apply a mixture of 1 part common sulphuric acid and 12 of water, mixed in an earthen vessel, and afterwards polish with oil and rottenstone, well scouring with oil and rottenstone, and using a piece of soft leather and a little dry rottenstone to give a brilliant polish. In future cleaning, oil and rottenstone will be found sufficient. (l) Take a strip of coarse linen, saturate with oil and powdered rottenstone, put round the tubing of instrument, and work backwards and forwards; polish with dry rottenstone. Do not use acid of any kind, as it is injurious to the joints. To hold the instrument, get a piece of wood turned to insert in the bells; fix in a bench vice. The piece of wood will also serve for taking out any dents you may get in the bells. (m) Oil and rottenstone for this purpose are, though very efficacious, objectionable on account of dirt, on account of the oil finding its way to the pistons, and because the instrument cleaned in this manner so soon tarnishes. Dissolve some common soda in warm water, shred into it some scraps of yellow soap, and boil it till the soap is all melted. Then take it from the fire, and when it is cool add a little turpentine, and sufficient rottenstone to make a stiff paste. Keep it in a tin box covered from the air, and if it gets hard, moisten a small quantity with water for use.

Scale-pans.—(n) Pour sufficient ammonia in the pan to cover the bottom, and rub briskly till dry with a handful of dry pine sawdust. For very dirty pans, take about 1 dr. potash bichromate, powder it in a mortar, mix it with 2 or 3 times its bulk of concentrated sulphuric acid, and add twice as much water. With this rub the pans (having a care for the fingers), rinse well, and finish with rottenstone.

Brass or Copper.—(o) Mix together 1 oz. oxalic acid, 6 oz. rottenstone, and ½ oz. gum arabic; all these are to be finely powdered. Then add 1 oz. sweet-oil and sufficient water to form the mixture into a paste. Apply a small portion to the article to be cleaned, and rub dry with a flannel or washleather.

Bronze.—(a) For cleaning bronze statues, when blackened by smoke and soot, wash with plenty of clean water, accompanied with mechanical friction. Even this simple treatment is undesirable; because the friction, however slight, accompanying the washing, destroys, or tends to destroy, the sharpness of the outlines; and the sulphurous and sulphuric acids of the prevailing smoke rapidly corrode the surface of any bronze statue which is constantly being washed. For these reasons, the Nelson monument at Liverpool, was left untouched when it was re-erected, after the building of the new Exchange surrounding it. It has been a matter of much debate whether the soot-blackened surface of a bronze statue is not more pleasing to the eye, than the metallic lustre of a new, or newly-cleaned statue. (b) Weber finds that a dilute solution of caustic alkalies removes overlying dirt, and allows the green patina to become visible. Where the metal was not originally oxidised, the alkali simply cleanses it, and does not promote any formation of green rust. (c) By dipping fustian in soluble glass, and washing it with soap directly afterwards, we get a fabric largely impregnated with silica, which will be found very well adapted for cleaning bronzes, &c. Samples of the material were in the Vienna Exhibition, and attracted some notice. (d) The method of restoring a bronze tea-urn turned black in parts will depend, to a great extent, on the metal and the colour. Clean the surface, first of all, with whiting and water, or crocus powder, until it is polished; then cover with a paste of graphite and crocus, mixed in the proportions that will produce the desired colour. Heat the paste over a small charcoal fire. If the bronzing has been produced by a corrosive process, try painting a solution of potassium sulphide over the cleaned metal. There are many recipes for bronzing, and it is impossible to say which is suitable. The bronzed surface may be polished; but it cannot be bright unless the surface of the metal itself is polished, and then covered with transparent lacquer to preserve the brightness.

Coins.—Coins can be quickly cleansed by immersion in strong nitric acid, and immediate washing in water. If very dirty, or corroded with verdigris, it is better to give them a rubbing with ½ oz. pure potash bichromate, 1 oz. sulphuric acid, 1 oz. nitric acid; rub over, wash with water, wipe dry, and polish with rottenstone or chalk. (Lyle.)

Copper Electros.—Copper electros should be well cleaned after working, as the ink between the fine lines in time generates acids, which destroy the electro. For this purpose turpentine and the brush are employed; others also recommend the electros to be afterwards well rubbed with an oil as free from acid as possible. Should the ink be so dried up as to resist it, creosote should be applied, and the electros treated with the brush.

Copper Vessels.—Use soft-soap and rottenstone, made into a stiff paste with water, and dissolved by gently simmering in a water-bath. Rub on with a woollen rag, and polish with dry whiting and rottenstone. Finish with a leather and dry whiting. See also Brass.

Gas Chandeliers.—Very few chandeliers are gilt; they are burnished and lacquered with yellow lacquer. Proceed as follows, whether gilt or lacquered: Take the chandelier to pieces, and boil in strong soda lye for a few minutes; brush over with a soft brush, pass through a strong solution of potassium cyanide (deadly poison), wash through a tubful of boiling water, dry in clean sawdust, wipe up bright with a washleather, and relacquer.

Gilt Mountings.—Gilt mountings, unless carefully cleaned, soon lose their lustre. They should not be rubbed; if slightly tarnished, wipe them off with a piece of Canton flannel, or what is better, remove them if possible, and wash in a solution of ½ oz. borax dissolved in 1 lb. water, and dry them with a soft linen rag; their lustre may be improved by heating them a little, and rubbing with a piece of Canton flannel.

Gold.—(a) To remove the brown tarnish from coloured gold, take a piece of tissue-paper damped in liq. ammoniÆ, gently rub the gold till the tarnish disappears, then wash off carefully with soft brush, soap, and water, dry in sawdust or before the fire; if this is not sufficient, entrust the article to a jeweller. (b) Mix a little rouge and spirits of wine together, and apply to the jewellery with a rather stiff brush, and turn the brush round and round—not to brush as if to polish, but rather tickle it and pat it with the hair of the brush; but be sure to keep the brush wet with the mixture. After you have got the tarnish off, wash it out with soap and boiling water, and dry in box-dust. Take care of any stones with foil behind. (c) Rub with a piece of tissue-paper, screwed up and wet with the tongue. This will often do it; if not, re-colour it. (d) A weak solution of potassium cyanide will clean gold braid. Use with small sponge, and wash off with clean water. Strength, say 10 or 15 gr. to the oz. of water. Care should be taken that the solution does not get into any cuts or wounds, as it is very poisonous. The strength of the solution would greatly depend on the condition of the lace. It can be made stronger if necessary. (e) A solution of 20 dr. lime chloride, 20 dr. soda bicarbonate, and 5 dr. common salt, in 5¼ pints distilled water, is prepared and kept in well-closed bottles. The article to be cleaned is allowed to remain a short time in this solution (which is to be heated only in the case of very obstinate dirt), then taken out, washed with spirit, and dried in sawdust. (Chem. Cent. Blatt.)

Iron and steel.—(a) Take a spongy piece of fig-tree wood and well saturate it with a mixture of sweet-oil and finely powdered emery, and with this well rub all the rusty parts. This will not only clean the article, but will at the same time polish it, and so render the use of whiting unnecessary. (b) Bright iron or steel goods (as polished grates and fire-irons) may be preserved from rust in the following manner. Having first been thoroughly cleaned, they should be dusted over with powdered quicklime, and thus left until wanted for use. Coils of piano-wire are covered in this manner, and will keep free from rust for many years. (c) Dissolve ½ oz. camphor in 1 lb. hogs’ lard, and take off the scum; then mix with the lard as much black-lead as will give the mixture an iron colour. Rub the articles all over with this mixture, and let them lie for 24 hours; then dry with a linen cloth, and they will keep clean for months. (d) Table knives which are not in constant use should be put in a case containing a depth of about 8 in. quicklime. They are to be plunged into this to the top of the blades, but the lime must not touch the handles. (e) Steel bits that are tarnished, but not rusty, can be cleaned with rottenstone, common hard soap, and a woollen cloth. (f) Removing paint from iron.—After a number of experiments, it has been found that a paint-softener made of 1 lb. lime to 4 lb. potash and 6 qt. water works better than any other proportions.

Plate Powders.—(a) Equal parts precipitated iron subcarbonate, and prepared chalk. (b) An impalpable rouge may be prepared by calcining iron oxalate. (c) Take quicksilver with chalk, ½ oz., and prepared chalk 2 oz., mix them. When used, add a small quantity of spirits of wine, and rub with chamois leather. (d) Put iron sulphate into a large tobacco pipe, and place it in a fire for ¼ hour, mix with a small quantity of powdered chalk. This powder should be used dry. (e) The following makes a liquid polish for silver plate—3 to 4 dr. potassium cyanide, 8 to 10 gr. silver nitrate, and 4 oz. water; apply with a soft brush, wash the object thoroughly with water, dry with a soft linen cloth, and polish with a chamois skin. (f) Take 2 oz. hartshorn powder and boil it in 1 pint water; soak small squares of damask cloth in the liquid, hang them up to dry, and they will be ready for use, and better than any powders. (g) Add by degrees 8 oz. prepared chalk in fine powder to a mixture of 2 oz. spirits of turpentine, 1 oz. alcohol, ½ oz. spirits of camphor, and 2 dr. aqua ammonia; apply with a sponge, and allow it to dry before polishing. (h) Mix together 1 oz. fine chalk, 2 oz. cream of tartar, 1 oz. rottenstone, 1 oz. red-lead, and ¾ oz. alum; pulverise thoroughly in a mortar. Wet the mixture, rub it on the silver, and, when dry, rub off with a dry flannel, or clean with a small brush. (i) An excellent preparation for polishing plate may be made in the following manner:—Mix together 4 oz. spirits of turpentine, 2 oz. spirits of wine, 1 oz. spirits of camphor, and ½ oz. spirits of ammonia. To this add 1 lb. whiting, finely powdered, and stir till the whole is of the consistency of thick cream. Use this preparation with a clean sponge, cover the silver with it, so as to give it a coat like whitewash. Set the silver aside till the paste has dried into a powder; then brush off, and polish with a chamois leather. A cheaper kind may be made by merely mixing spirits of wine and whiting together.

Silver and Plated Goods.—(a) East Indian jewellers never touch silver ware with any abrasive substance, but use, instead of polishing paste, &c., slices of lemons; the goods to be cleaned are well rubbed with these, and then left in a pan for a few hours, covered with slices. For delicate jewellery, a large lime is cut in half, the article inserted, the two halves applied together and tied up for some hours; the article is then washed in several waters, placed in a pan of nearly boiling soapsuds, stirred about, rinsed, and dried on a metal plate, the smooth parts being gently rubbed with wash-leather, if required. (b) Potassium cyanide solution (rather weak) dissolves off the dirty surface gradually, but great care is required. (c) Green tamarind pods (potash oxalic) are greater detergents for gold and silver than lemons, and are often employed for the purpose of removing stains, firemarks, &c. (Boston Journal of Chemistry.) (d) Eisner states that a polish equal to that obtained by the use of the finest plate powder, can be produced by simply cleaning the silver in water in which potatoes have been boiled. (e) Dead or engraved silver goods should never be cleaned with plate powder, but be washed out with a soft brush and some strong alkali, and well rinsed afterwards. When the dead or frosted parts are quite dry, the polished parts are carefully cleaned with powder. (f) The following directions are given by a silversmith in Christiania:—Silver filagree work is best cleaned by the application of spirit of ammonia by means of a soft brush, and afterwards thoroughly washing in soft-soap and warm water, and rinsing in clean warm water, and quick drying by linen rags, blotting-paper, or some similar clean absorbent. Should this method, after several repetitions, cease to have the required effect, the article will have to be sent to a silversmith to be heated and boiled in acid. The best mode of preservation is to wrap the article in tissue paper before placing it in the case. (g) The simplest and cleanest substance for cleaning silver articles is, according to Professor Davenport, soda hyposulphite. It acts quickly, and is inexpensive. A rag or a brush, moistened with a saturated solution of the salt, cleanses even strongly oxidised silver surfaces in a few seconds, without the application of any polishing powder. (h) Mix 8 oz. prepared chalk, 2 oz. turpentine, 1 oz. alcohol, 4 dr. spirits of camphor, and 2 dr. liquor of ammonia. Apply this mixture to the article with a sponge, and allow to dry before polishing. (i) Dissolve 12 oz. potassium cyanide in 1 qt. water; dip in this solution, and brush it with a stiff brush until clean; then wash and dry. (j) A paste composed of washed whiting, precipitated magnesia carbonate, and precipitated iron peroxide. (k) Gin. (l) Apply whiting mixed with sweet oil on a shammy. (m) Take 2 qt. water, ½ oz. hartshorn, and 1 oz. whiting, and boil the whole together. While boiling, put as many of the silver or plated articles into the vessel as it will conveniently hold, and let remain for 5 minutes; withdraw, and leave to dry. Polish with clean linen or woollen rags, which, after being soaked in the above-named liquor, have been well wrung. Finally rub with a clean soft leather. (n) The ink eraser sold by stationers has the property of cleaning and brightening silver and gold mountings, such as meerschaum pipe fittings, pencil-cases, watch-cases, &c. (o) Cut some flakes of white curd soap, and put them into a saucepan of water to simmer; sew the ornaments up in a muslin bag, and place in the liquid for about 10 minutes whilst on the fire.

Tarnished Silver Lace.—(p) Sponge over with a weak solution of potassium cyanide. (q) Dab over with a cream of heavy magnesia and water, allowing this to dry, and then brushing it off with a soft-haired brush.

Zinc Vessels.—Zinc articles, if small, can be cleaned by being pickled in spirits of salt (hydrochloric acid) with water added, till the articles are nicely cleaned, in about 3 minutes, without being too strongly attacked, then washed and dried. Large articles like refrigerators are cleaned by being rubbed with a swab, dipped in raw spirits, then washed with water, and finished with whiting.

Paint.—(a) Paint should be more often swept than scrubbed, for too frequent scrubbing causes it to decay. Use as little soap as possible, and wash it off with plenty of clean water to prevent discoloration. To clean paint that has not been varnished, put upon a plate some of the best whiting; have ready some clean warm water, and a piece of flannel, which dip into the water and squeeze nearly dry; then take as much whiting as will adhere to it, apply it to the paint, when a little rubbing will instantly remove any dirt or grease; wash well off with water, and rub dry with a soft cloth. Paint thus cleaned looks equal to new, and, without doing the least injury to the most delicate colour, it will preserve the paint much longer than if cleaned with soap, and it does not require more than half the time usually occupied in cleaning.

(b) When painted work is badly discoloured, put 1 tablespoonful ammonia water into 1 qt. moderately hot water, and with the aid of flannel, wipe off the surface. Rubbing is not necessary.

(c) Take 1 oz. pulverised borax, 1 lb. shavings of best brown soap, and 3 qt. water. Put the soap and borax into the water, allow it to simmer until all the soap has been dissolved, stir it frequently, but do not allow it to boil. Apply it to the paint on a piece of old flannel, and rinse with clean water.

(d) Dissolve ½ oz. glue, and a bit of soft-soap the size of a walnut, in about 3 pints warm water, and with a well-worn whitewash brush well scrub the work, but not sufficient to get off the paint; rinse with plenty of cold clean water, using a washleather; let it dry itself. Work done in this manner will often look equal to new.

(e) First take off all the dust with a soft brush and pair of bellows. Scour with a mixture of soft-soap and fullers’ earth, and use lukewarm water. If there are any spots which are extra dirty, first remove these by rubbing with a sponge dipped in soap and water. Commence the scouring at the top of the door or wainscot, and proceed downwards; dry with a soft linen cloth. When cleaning paint, it is always better to employ two persons, one to scour and the other to rub dry.

Paint-brushes.—(a) To soften brushes that have become hard, soak them 24 hours in raw linseed oil, and rinse them out in hot turpentine, repeating the process till clean. (b) Wash in hot soda and water and soft-soap.

Paper and Books.—(a) The amateur book-cleaner had better begin to practise on some worthless volume, until he acquires the necessary skill. All traces of lime, &c., used in the cleaning process must be removed from the book, else in time it may be completely destroyed. The first thing to be done in a book that wants washing, is to cut the stitches and separate the work into sheets. Then a glance may be taken for the separation of those leaves or sheets which are dirty from those which have stains of ink or oil. The dirty leaves are now placed in a bath composed of ¼ lb. lime chloride and the same quantity of soda to about 1 qt. water. These are left to soak until the paper has regained its proper tint. The pages are now lifted out tenderly into a second bath of cold, and if possible running, water, where they are left at least 6 hours. This removes all traces of lime. The paper, when thoroughly dried by exposure, must be dipped into a third bath of size and water, and again laid out to dry. This restores the consistency of the paper. Pressure between printers’ glazed boards will then restore smoothness to the leaves. The toning of the washed leaves in accordance with the rest of the book is a delicate process, which requires some experience. Some shag tobacco steeped in hot water will usually give the necessary colouring-matter, and a bath in this liquid the necessary tone.

The process described above may do for water-stains; but if the pages are dirted by grease, oil, coffee, candle-droppings, or ink, different treatment will be required. Dilute muriatic acid with 5 times its bulk of water, and let the oil-stained pages lie in the liquid for 4 minutes—not longer. Then remove, and wash, as before, in cold water. If the grease is a spot in the middle of a page, place between 2 sheets of blotting-paper, or cover with powdered French chalk (the blotting-paper is preferable), and pass a hot iron over the place. This will melt the grease, which is immediately soaked up by the chalk or paper.

For dirty finger-marks, the following is recommended: Cover the mark with a piece of clean yellow soap for 2 or 3 hours, then wash with a sponge and hot water, and dip the page in weak acid and water. Give another bath of hot water, and then thoroughly cleanse with cold water. To remove ink-stains, dip the page in a strong solution of oxalic acid, then in a solution of 1 part muriatic acid and 6 water, after which bathe in cold water, and allow to dry slowly. Vellum covers which need cleaning may be made almost equal to new by washing with a weak solution of potash binoxalate, or, if not much soiled, warm soap and water. Grease may be removed from the covers of bound books by scraping a little pipe-clay, French chalk, or magnesia over the place, and then ironing with an iron not too hot, else it will discolour the leather. (Publishers’ Circular.)

(b) Press powdered fullers’ earth lightly upon the greasy spot, and allow it to soak out the grease.

(c) Hannett says the spots may be removed by washing the part with ether, chloroform, or benzine, and placing between white blotting-paper, then passing a hot iron over.

(d) A more expeditious, and thought by some, the best way, is to scrape fine pipe-clay, magnesia, or French chalk on both sides of the stain, and apply a hot iron above, taking great care that it is not too hot.

(e) After gently warming the paper, take out all the grease you can with blotting-paper, and a hot iron, then dip a brush into essential oil of turpentine, heated almost to ebullition, and draw it gently over both sides of the paper, which must be kept warm. Repeat the operation until all is removed, or as often as the thickness of the paper may render necessary. When all the grease is removed, to restore the paper to its former whiteness, dip another brush in ether, chloroform, or benzine, and apply over the stain, especially the edges of it. This will not affect printers’ or common writing ink.

(f) Lay on a coat of indiarubber solution over the spot, and leave it to dry. Afterwards remove with a piece of ordinary indiarubber. Any operation with ether, chloroform, or benzine, should never be conducted by candle-light, as their vapour is apt to kindle even at several feet from the liquid. (d) will remove grease from coloured calf, even if the spot be on the under side of the leather; it may thus be clearly drawn right through.

(g) Apply a solution of pearlash (in the proportion of 1 oz. pearlash to 1 pint water) to oil-stained drawing-paper.

Parchment and Vellum.—(a) Immerse in a solution of acetic acid, and gently rub the stained parts while wet on a flat board with lump pumice, then bleach with lime chloride. This process was recommended in the English Mechanic. It is not very successful, but it makes it white enough for bookbinding. It has, however, the objectionable qualities of not making the parchment flexible, and when dried it is as hard as a board, and it has no gloss like the virgin parchment. On no account must the parchment be washed in very hot water, or held before a fire, as it will shrivel up in a most provoking manner.

(b) Benzine applied with a sponge. It will remove almost every stain, and does not destroy the texture in the least.

Pictures, Prints, and Frames.—Pictures.—(a) Remove the works from their frames, and first of all examine the surface of each separately and with care. Then, if there are no cobweb cracks, no cockled-up edges of bits of paint likely to peel off, and no unburst bubbles of colour, take an old soft cloth, and some white of egg, and wash the surface, a square inch at a time, with a spiral motion of the hand, not pressing too heavily. If there is much dirt, make a basin of bread, treacle, and new milk with a trifle of turpentine in it, and wash with soft flannel and sponge; after, use white of egg. If mildew from damp walls has attacked the canvas, and even the surface, let a committee of artists be called; there are so many varieties of this form of injury, it is well to understand the particular case. If coal gas, foul air, or other pollution is suspected of having injured the varnish, an artist chemist, learned in varnishes of the different schools, must prescribe; but if the surface is injured, or the colour scales off, no amateur can repair the crack; and in every case, before returning the well-cleaned and well-rubbed surfaces to their frames, let good plate glass be securely fastened over each to prevent future injury.

(b) Pictures may be cleaned by rubbing the thumb over the painting moistened with saliva, or by a raw potato cut in half and rubbed evenly over the picture.

(c) Dissolve a little common soda in urine, then add a grated potato and a little salt; well rub this over the paintings till clean. Wash off in spring water, and dry with a clean cloth.

(d) First rub the picture well with good whisky, which will make the varnish come off in froth, then wash well with cold water, and when dry varnish again; this will restore the picture to its original colour unless very old. Keep the picture covered from dust till the varnish is dry.

(e) The painting is first removed from the frame, and the dust and smoke brushed off with a pencil or feather. After this it is washed with a sponge dipped in well water. It is next covered with a thick layer of soap; shaving soap is the best for the purpose, because it remains moist and does not dry on. After the soap has been on 8 or 10 minutes it is all washed off with a strong brush or pencil, adding a little water if necessary. The soap that still adheres is rinsed off sufficiently with water, and the picture left to dry. When completely dry, it is further cleansed with nitro-benzol—also known as nitro-benzine, artificial oil of bitter almonds, or essence of mirbane. It is a yellowish oily, poisonous liquid, with a powerful smell of bitter almonds. It is formed when coal-tar benzol is mixed with fuming or concentrated nitric acid under suitable precautions. The nitro-benzol is poured into a dish, and a clean linen rag is dipped in it, and passed over the painting. This quickly removes all the adherent dirt. This linen rag must be frequently exchanged for a clean one. When the rag remains clean after going over it repeatedly, the cleansing is finished. If the colours look dull after going over it the last time and letting it dry, it is given a thin coat of the finest olive oil, and after a while must be varnished with a good, quickly-drying varnish. (Von Bibra.)

(f) The picture had better first be sponged with cold water and allowed to dry, then apply solution of hydrogen peroxide with a clean sponge in successive lines, not going over the same surface twice; again allow to dry. If the solution is sufficiently strong, the painting is now tolerably clean; if not, a second or third application is necessary. Peroxide of hydrogen, hydroxyl, or hydrogen di-oxide (H₂O₂), owing to the readiness to part with half its combining weight of oxygen, is a powerful bleaching agent; but the way in which it serves to clean oil paintings is accounted for thus:—Sulphuretted hydrogen, which is present in the atmosphere, especially in the neighbourhood of towns, attacks the lead in the paint and forms lead sulphide, which is readily soluble in peroxide of hydrogen, water and lead sulphate being the result; thus

PbS + 4H₂O₂ = PbSO₄ + 4H₂O (J. T. C. Williams.)

Prints.—(a) Presuming these to be mounted, proceed in the following manner. Cut a stale loaf in half, with a perfectly clean knife; pare the crust away from the edges. Place them on a flat table, and rubbing the surface with the fresh-cut bread, in circular sweeps, lightly but firmly performed, will remove all superficial markings. Soak the prints for a short time in a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid, say 1 part acid to 100 of water, and then remove them into a vessel containing a sufficient quantity of clear chloride of lime water to cover them. Leave them here until bleached to the desired point. Remove, rinse well by allowing to stand an hour in a pan in which a constant stream of water is allowed to flow, and finally dry off by spreading on clean cloths. Perhaps may require ironing between two sheets of clean paper.

(b) Put on a smooth board, cover it thinly with common salt finely pounded; squeeze lemon juice upon the salt so as to dissolve a considerable proportion of it; elevate one end of the board, so that it may form an angle of about 45° or 50° with the horizon. Pour on boiling water from a tea-kettle until the salt and lemon-juice be all washed off; the engraving will then be perfectly clean, and free from stains. It must be dried on the board, or on some smooth surface, gradually. If dried by the fire or the sun it will be tinged with a yellow colour.

(c) Hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid, or eau de Javelle may be employed, weakened by water. After the leaves (if it be a book) have by this means been whitened, they must be bathed again in a solution of soda sulphate, which will remove all the chlorine, and leave the pages white and clean. They will, however, have lost all firmness of texture, owing to the removal of the size from the paper. It will, therefore, be advisable to give a bath of gelatine and alum made with boiling water, to which may be added a little tobacco, or any other simple substance to restore the tint of the now too white paper.

(d) Immerse each mildewed sheet separately in a solution made in the proportions of ½ lb. lime chloride to 1 pint water. Let it stand, with frequent stirring, for 24 hours, and then strain through muslin, and finally add 1 qt. water. Mildew and other stains will be found to disappear very quickly, and the sheets must then be passed separately through clear water, or the lime chloride, if left in the paper, will cause it to rot. Old prints, engravings, and every description of printed matter may be successfully treated in the same manner.

(e) “I have in my time cleaned many hundreds. The plan which I adopt is as follows:—I place them, one or two at a time, in a shallow dish, and pour water over them until they are completely soaked or saturated with it. I then carefully pour off the water, and pour on to the prints a solution of lime chloride (1 part liquor calcis chloratÆ, to 39 of water). As a general rule, the stains disappear as if by magic, but occasionally they are obstinate. When that is the case, I pour on the spot pure liquor calcis chloratÆ, and if that does not succeed, I add a little dilute nitro-muriatic acid. I have never had a print which has not succumbed to this treatment—in fact, as a rule they become too white. As soon as they are clean they must be carefully washed with successive portions of water until the whole of the chlorine is got rid of. They should then be placed in a very weak solution of isinglass or glue, and many collectors colour this solution with coffee-grounds, &c., to give a yellow tint to the print. They should be dried between folds of blotting-paper, either in a press or under a heavy book, and finally ironed with an ordinary flat-iron to restore the gloss; placing clean paper between the iron and the print. Grease stains are much more difficult. I find benzine best. Small grease spots may be removed by powdered French chalk being placed over them, a piece of clean blotting-paper over the chalk, and a hot iron over that.” (F. Andrews.)

(f) Mildew often arises from the paste used to attach the print. Take a solution of alum of medium strength and brush on back and face of the engraving 2 or 3 coats, then make the frame air-tight by pasting a strip of paper all round the inside of glass, leaving about ½ in. overlapping (taking care not to paste the paper on the glass, so as to be seen from the front), then place your glass in frame, take the overlapping piece and paste to side of rebate; place your picture in position, spring backboard in, and then place a sheet of strong paper (brown) on the table, damp it, and paste round back of frame, lay it on to the paper, leave to dry, cut level. If this does not answer there will be no help for it, but dust off as the mould accumulates. Do not brush on surface with the alum if the engraving is coloured, but several coats on the back.

(g) A plan recommended by Wm. Brooks is to get a dish or china tray a little larger than the engraving to be operated upon; if, smaller, there is a great risk of tearing and damaging the engraving. The bleaching agent used is Holmes’ ozone bleach. The strength preferred is 1 part bleach to 10 of water, well shaken up before pouring into the dish. A much stronger solution can be used (say 1 in 5), but the weaker it is the easier is its removal from the paper afterwards. The engraving is immersed in the solution face upwards, avoiding bubbles. The only caution to be observed is that the sodden engraving is somewhat rotten, and needs careful handling. If the engraving be only slightly stained, ½ hour will suffice to clean it, but if quite brown it may require 4 hours. After all the stains are removed, and the paper has regained its whiteness, pour the solution back into the bottle, as it can be re-used till it becomes discoloured; fill up the dish with water, changing frequently for about 3 hours, or place it in running water. When the engraving is sufficiently washed, it can be taken out, blotted off, and hung up to dry. When quite dry, it may be ironed on the back with a warm flat-iron, which must not be too hot. (Brit. Jl. Photog.)

(h) If the engravings are very dirty, take 2 parts salt and 1 soda, and pound them together until very fine. Lay the engraving on a board, and fasten it with drawing-pins, and then spread the mixture dry equally over the surface to be cleaned. Moisten the whole with warm water and a little lemon-juice, and, after it has remained about a minute, or even less, tilt the board up on its end, and pour over it a kettleful of boiling water, being careful to remove all the mixture, and avoid rubbing. If the engraving is not very dirty, the less soda used the better, as it has a tendency to give a yellow hue.

(i) Does not injure the quality or texture of the engraving. Immerse the print in a lye made by adding to the strongest muriatic acid its own weight of water; to 3 parts of this mixture add 1 of red oxide of lead or black oxide of manganese. If the print is very dirty, it may remain in the liquid 24 hours without harm. Indian ink stains should be first assisted out with hot water, and pencil marks with rubber or breadcrumbs. If there be old paste on the back, it must be removed with warm water. The saline crystals left after immersion are removed by several rinsings in warm water.

(j) To remove surface dirt from engravings and mezzotints, the most effectual plan is to use common bookbinders’ paste, applied with a paste brush, both to front and back of the print; the paste will take up the whole of the dirt, which will come away with the paste when it is removed with water. A bath of plain water completes the operation, from which the print will emerge as fresh as when first issued. Many a guinea has been earned by this simple but efficacious plan.

Frames.—(a) Fly-marks can be cleaned off with soap and water used sparingly on end of finger covered by piece of rag. When all cleared off, rinse with cold water, and dry with chamois leather; next buy 1 lb. (1d.) of common size, and 2 penny paint pans. Boil a little of the size in one of the pans with as much water as will just cover it. When boiled, strain through muslin into clean pan, and apply thinly to frames with camel-hair brush (called technically a “dabber,” and costing 6d. to 1s. each). Take care you do not give the frames too much water and “elbow grease.” On no account use gold size, as it is used only in regilding, and if put on over the gold would make it dull and sticky.

(b) Dissolve a very small quantity of salts of tartar in a wine bottle of water, and with a piece of cotton wool soaked in the liquid dab the frames very gently (no rubbing on any account, or you will take off the gilt), then stand up the frames so that water will drain away from them conveniently, and syringe them with clean water. Care must be taken that the solution is not too strong.

(c) If new gold frames are varnished with the best copal varnish, it improves their appearance considerably, and fly-marks can then be washed off carefully with a sponge. The frames also last many times longer. It also improves old frames to varnish them with it.

(d) Gilt frames may be cleaned by simply washing them with a small sponge, moistened with hot spirits of wine or oil of turpentine, the sponge only to be sufficiently wet to take off the dirt and fly-marks. They should not afterwards be wiped, but left to dry of themselves.

(e) Old ale is a good thing to wash any gilding with, as it acts at once upon the fly-dirt. Apply it with a soft rag; but for the ins and outs of carved work, a brush is necessary; wipe it nearly dry, and do not apply any water. Thus will you leave a thin coat of the glutinous isinglass of the finings on the face of the work, which will prevent the following flies’ fÆces from fastening to the frame, as they otherwise would do.

(f) The Papier Zeitung recommends the following method of renovating gilt frames. It consists in applying with a camel-hair pencil a gum solution to which has been added gold bronze having the colour of the frame. Before mixing with the gum water the bronze must be washed with water until it runs off perfectly clear. If one application does not suffice, it may be repeated until the spot entirely disappears, but of course one coat must be dry before the next is applied. Spots treated in this way look very well at first, but it will not last, for it is not able to resist the moisture in the air unless it is specially prepared. For this purpose an ordinary bristle brush is rubbed with a piece of yellow wax until it is somewhat sticky, then it is passed very lightly over the spot several times as when dusting it. This gives it a very thin coat of wax that hardens in 2 or 3 days; in the meantime it must be protected against dust.

Sponge.—(a) First clean, wash, and squeeze out the sponges; then dip them into a 2 per cent. solution of potassium permanganate. Here they become quite brown (from separated manganic oxide); after 10 minutes, take out, wash in water, again well press, and dip into a 2 per cent. solution of oxalic acid [some prefer diluted sulphuric (1:20) or diluted hydrochloric acid (1:15)], in which they become perfectly white. Success mainly depends on the soaking in the permanganate solution; if they are macerated too short a time they do not become thoroughly white; if too long, they are apt to become rotten. (Siemens.)

(b) First clean the sponges by immersing in dilute hydrochloric acid. Then soak in a bleaching liquid, composed of 1 part sodium hyposulphite, 12 water, and 2 hydrochloric acid. After some time, remove and well wash. To the last wash-water a little glycerine is added in order to preserve the sponges soft. The liquid is best pressed out by passing the sponges through a clothes-wringer.

(c) Toilet sponges which have been in use, often become peculiarly slimy, fatty, and almost useless, owing to some action of the soap. Mere washing in distilled water does not remove the difficulty. It may be overcome by using fused calcium chloride. The sponge is pressed as much as possible, placed on a plate, the powdered calcium chloride is sprinkled upon it, and allowed to deliquesce upon the sponge. After about ½ hour, the sponge may be washed in water and dried, when it will become white. (Valta.)

(d) Soak the sponges, previously deprived of sand and dirt by beating and washing, in a 1 per cent. solution of potassium permanganate. Remove them, wash thoroughly with water, and press out the water. Next put them into a solution of ½ lb. sodium hyposulphite in 1 gal. water, to which 1 oz. oxalic acid has been added, and leave in the solution for 15 minutes. Finally, take out, and wash thoroughly. By this treatment the sponges are rendered perfectly white. Many sponges contain a more or less dark-coloured brownish core. If treated only with permanganate and acid, the core is either not bleached at all, or, if it has been somewhat bleached, the tint is apt to grow again darker. (Borham.)

(e) Soak for 10 minutes in a 2 per cent. solution of potash permanganate; then in a 2 per cent. solution of oxalic acid with the addition of a little sulphuric acid for about ½ hour; finally treat with a 2 per cent. solution of potash carbonate for ½ hour, wash, and dry. The solution of potash carbonate produces the yellow colour often particularly wanted. (Chem. and Drug.)

(f) A sponge employed in photographic manipulations for a few months loses all its valuable qualities, becoming black, hard, and greasy, and contaminating anything which it touches. To clean it, a solution of potash permanganate in water is prepared of such a strength that it appears of a wine colour, and into this the unserviceable sponge is immersed, and allowed to remain for some time. When taken out and squeezed, it is next put into a diluted muriatic acid of ordinary commercial quality, being immersed and kept saturated therein for some time as before. The most appropriate strength of this acid solution is about 10 parts water to 1 of acid. The sponge is taken out after sufficient treatment, squeezed well to free it from the acid, and then washed well in good spring water. When taken out, it will be found to be quite clean, to have again assumed its light colour, and to be free from all foreign matter. Sponges treated in this way become like new sponges, and can be used without any fear of their contaminating, even if employed for the filtration of neutral liquids. The main thing to be attended to in this plan of purifying sponge is to see that it is thoroughly saturated both by the permanganate and the acid solutions, which should be allowed ample time to soak through the mass; care must also be observed to wash the sponges thoroughly with plenty of water at the end of the operation. (Dr. J. Stinde.)

(g) When sponges get greasy, let them dry, and then work them with a small quantity of turpentine, and after a few minutes wash them with warm soap-and-water with a little bit of soda. This will get them quite clean with very little trouble. (E. T. Scott.)

(h) Put a handful of salt on the sponge, and rinse the salt well through the sponge. Let the sponge dry in a thorough draught of air. The latter precaution alone will keep sponges free from sliminess, unless they become saturated with soap.

(i) I tried the effect of sulphuric acid as follows:—In a large basin mixed about 1 pint water and 2 tablespoonfuls sulphuric acid (common oil of vitriol), then steeped the sponge about 2 hours, wrung it out several times in the acid, and finally well washed out the acid in clean water; it was then just like new, having regained its former size, colour, and elasticity, with not the slightest trace of its former sliminess. It was a large bath sponge, and in an extremely bad condition. (J. W. Jackson.)

(j) Dissolve some citric acid in water in a hand-basin, and wash the sponge in it as in (i).

Stuffed Specimens.—(a) Give a good brushing with a stiff clothes-brush. After this warm a quantity of new bran in a pan, taking care it does not burn, to prevent which quickly stir it. When warm, rub it well into the fur with your hand. Repeat this a few times, then rid the fur of the bran, and give it another sharp brushing until free from dust. (b) Sponge with white soap and warm water, rubbing well into and about the roots of the hair, but avoid using an excess of water to soak into the stuffing, or the specimen will, in all probability, never thoroughly dry, and moths and rot will be the result. Dry in a current of air as free from dust as possible; brush the fur occasionally as it dries (a coarse comb at first will, perhaps, separate the hairs better). Before putting it into its case, wash freely with benzoline, rubbing with the fur; you may never dread moths, and your specimen will always be clean if your case is properly made and closed up air-tight by means of paper pasted over every joint and crack.

Teapot.—(a) Fill with boiling water and add some strong washing soda; let it remain for a day or two. (b) Weak solution of spirits of salt (hydrochloric acid).

Textile Goods.—The arrangement of a laundry is dealt with in another section. The present section is concerned with the ordinary household washing, drying, ironing, and starching operations.

The first step is to sort the dirty linen the day before washing actually takes place. White goods should be separated from coloured, and linen from woollen. Repairs may often be considerably reduced by doing them while the articles are soiled and before the ordeal of the washtub has converted thin places into holes and small holes into large ones.

Much labour is saved by putting the articles in soak overnight, which dislodges the dirt and avoids the hard rubbing otherwise necessary. A good soak mixture is an inch cut off a bar of soap to every 4 gal. of water used, and a dessert spoonful of washing powder, allowing both soap and powder to dissolve before introducing the clothes. For body linen the water should be hot, for bed linen it may be cold. Curtains, blinds, fringes, and other articles which harbour dust and smoke should be soaked in plain cold water. Another excellent soak mixture is made as follows:—Dissolve 2 lb. soap in 5½ gal. nearly boiling water; add 3 tablespoonfuls ammonia and 1 of spirits of turpentine; soak the clothes in this mixture for 3 hours before washing.

On washing day the first care is to get a copper full of boiling water. Meantime the articles in soak can be prepared. Always commence operations with the most delicate goods.

Thus laces and fine muslins are dealt with first. If to be boiled they must be tied up in a clean coarse muslin bag, but usually they will hardly require this treatment, but simple washing will suffice. In this case pass them into a hot soak mixture as already described and work them with the hands without rubbing, till clean. Then rinse, first in warm water, then in cold; fold; roll up in a clean towel, and put aside ready for starching.

Go over the body linen in soak and pay special attention to stains and extra dirty spots. Wring the articles as free as possible from the dirty water, beginning always with the finest, and put into another tub containing a warm soak; here wash again, and then pass through a tub of clean cold water to remove adhering suds. Next fill the copper with clean cold water and add the same quantities of soap and washing powder as before; wring the goods out of the cold washwater, put them into the copper, bring to boiling, and let boil for 10-15 minutes. Pass successive lots into the copper in the same way, replenishing the water, soap, and washing powder as needed. Each lot as taken from the boiler should be rinsed first through hot and then through cold water, well wrung, dipped, an article at a time, in water containing some blue, wrung out, shaken, folded, and put on one side. The bluewater will need additions of blue occasionally.

When all the body linen has gone through the copper, the table and bed linen may follow in the same way; but after the second rinsing on leaving the copper these articles can at once be hung out to dry. The kitchen linen will come last and be washed in the suds of the previous batches.

Drying should always be at least partially effected in the sun if possible. When available, nothing is better than exposing linen on a clean lawn. Failing this it must be hung on wires or ropes provided for the purpose. Galvanised wire lasts longer and is cleaner than rope. Both require rubbing clean with a damp cloth before use. After sunning, the drying must always be completed before a good fire, especially in the case of body linen. Table and bed linen should be taken in while still damp, and folded and mangled before drying by the fire. Body linen is not mangled, but ironed or starched.

Ironing may be done without starching, or with. Calicoes are generally ironed on the right side, as they thus keep clean for a longer time. In ironing a frock, first do the waist, then the sleeves, then the skirt. Keep the skirt rolled while ironing the other parts, and set a chair to hold the sleeves while ironing the skirt, unless a skirt-board be used. Silk should be ironed on the wrong side, when quite damp, with an iron which is not very hot, as light colours are apt to change and fade. In ironing velvet, turn up the face of the iron, and after damping the wrong side of the velvet, draw it over the face of the iron, holding it straight; always iron lace and needlework on the wrong side, and put them away as soon as they are dry.

Starching is applied chiefly to shirts, cuffs, and collars, and in a rougher way to print dresses and white petticoats. A good cold-water starch is prepared as follows. Mix in a basin 3 tablespoonfuls of laundry starch and sufficient cold water to make a paste; then add 1 teaspoonful of white soap shredded and dissolved in warm water and 1 teaspoonful powdered borax, mixed in ½ teacupful of boiling water; stir well together till it froths. To starch collars, &c., wring them from bluewater a few at a time, well rub them in the starch, and wring hard, stirring up the starch for each fresh lot; rub them a few at a time, fold, and pass through a close mangle or wring hard in a towel. Iron immediately.

Boiled starch for shirts, &c., is made in the following manner. (a) Into a warm basin put 4 tablespoonfuls of starch; rub down with warm water to a thickish paste; add 1 in. cut off the end of a bedroom composite candle, a piece of spermaceti as large as a pea, and 4 drops turpentine. Slowly pour in boiling water, with vigorous stirring till the starch turns transparent without losing its thickness. Take the shirts in a damp state, and first dip the fronts and collars, squeezing them tightly, and then the cuffs; be expeditious, as the starch should be used quite hot. Rub moderately, hang up to dry; when quite dry, damp with cold water, fold with the two sides of the front in contact, and roll up for a day before ironing, wrapping in a damp cloth if the weather is dry.

(b) A liquid starch gloss which is well recommended consists of 5 oz. glycerine and 2 oz. each spermaceti, gum senegal (cheap gum arabic) and borax in 49 oz. water, mixed and boiled together; 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of this are added to ¼ lb. boiled starch.

Ironing starched goods requires more care. For cold-starched cuffs and collars it is well to have a table with a thick flannel and a clean cotton or linen cloth tightly stretched upon it. Lay the collar evenly on the table, and run a moderately hot iron lightly along the wrong side first; turn it, and do the same on the right side. Repeat this once or twice rather quickly until it begins to feel a little dry. Then press heavily and evenly on the right side, pulling out button-holes, and ironing them straight. A fine polish is put on by using the edge of the iron, and rubbing with it from the top of the collar to the band, leaning heavily. Curl the collar, and put aside to harden. Cuffs are ironed in the same way; if reversible, with a band in the middle, the band is ironed thoroughly and finished first.

Hot-starched cuffs and collars are ironed in the same way but with a hotter iron.

When ironing a shirt, lay the back of the sleeve smoothly on the table; iron each side smoothly. Iron the wrist-band smoothly, wrong side first, and then right side. Next iron the shoulder-strap, then the neck-band or collar, doing the latter extremely carefully, and polishing it nicely. Now double the back of the shirt, and iron it on both sides. Spread the shirt out, and iron all the front except the breast. Lay a board covered with flannel under the breast, and iron very nicely, polishing highly at the last. Hang up to dry well, fold neatly, and put away.

The following curious recipe is recommended for restoring linen which has been scorched at the fire in drying. “It is almost needless to premise that if the tissue of linen is so much burnt that no strength is left, it is useless to apply the following composition; for nothing could prevent a hole from being formed, although the composition by no means tends to injure the fabric. But if the scorching is not quite through, and the threads not actually consumed, then the application of this composition, followed by 2 or 3 good washings, will restore the linen to its original colour; the marks of the scorching will be imperceptible, and the place will seem as white and perfect as any other part of the linen. Mix well together 2 oz. fullers’ earth reduced to powder; 1 oz. hen’s dung; ½ oz. cake soap, scraped; and the juice of 2 large onions, obtained by the onions being cut up, beaten in a mortar, and pressed. Boil this mass in ½ pint strong vinegar, stirring it from time to time, until it forms a thick liquid compound. Spread this composition thickly over the entire surface of the scorched part, and let it remain on 24 hours. If the scorching was light, this will prove sufficient, with the assistance of two subsequent washings, to take out the stain. If, however, the scorching was strong, a second coating of the composition should be put on after removing the first; and this should also remain on for 24 hours. If, after the linen has been washed twice or thrice, the stain has not wholly disappeared, the composition may be used again, in proportion to the intensity of the discoloration remaining, when a complete cure will seldom fail to be effected. It has scarcely ever happened that a third application was found necessary. The remainder of the composition should be kept for use in a gallipot tied over with bladder.”

Having dealt with the general operations, it will be well to add a few notes on special processes for certain classes of goods.

Bed Ticks.—Apply starch by rubbing it in thick with a wet cloth, then put the tick in the sun. When dry, rub it with the hands. If necessary, repeat the process, and the soiled part will be as clean as new.

Black Goods.—After washing, rinse in water containing salt, to fix the colour.

Chintzes.—As coloured dresses, adding a little ammonia to the water.

Coloured Dresses.—As flannels, omitting the washing powder. Wash quickly in warm water, wring hard, wash again, rinse in cold water and hang to dry.

Crape Scarfs.—If the fabric be good, these can be washed as frequently as may be required, and no diminution of their beauty will be discoverable, even when the various shades of green have been employed among other colours in the patterns. In cleaning them, make a strong lather of boiling water, suffer it to cool; when cold, or nearly so, wash the scarf quickly and thoroughly, dip it immediately in cold hard water in which a little salt has been thrown (to preserve the colours); rinse, squeeze, and hang it out to dry in the open air; pin it at its extreme edge to the line, so that it may not in any part be folded together. The more rapidly it dries the clearer it will be.

Flannels.—The great difficulty in washing flannels, blankets, and all woollen goods without causing excessive shrinkage is due to the nature of the fibres, which, under the conditions of rubbing and heat, become matted together in a kind of felt, reducing the dimensions of the article and adding to its thickness. The following recipes for washing such goods, are all destined to prevent this felting process.

(a) The water should be only warm, not boiling, and soda silicate or caustic ammonia is preferable to soap as a detergent. Flannels well soaped and shrunk when first fulled always remain softer and shrink less ultimately than those not so treated. The felting power of wool varies considerably, and it should be selected accordingly for fabrics intended to be frequently washed. Flannels should not be rubbed or beaten in washing, merely rinsed, and soiled spots soaped and brushed with a soft brush. It is important not to press the material until thoroughly dry.

(b) Buy the flannel in the piece, put it into a tub, and cover it with boiling water, turning it about with a stick to allow the air to escape from between the folds. Leave it in the water until the next day, when take out and hang on a line to drain and dry. It must not be wrung or pressed, but allowed to get rid of the water in its own way. When made up into trousers or jackets, it will never shrink any more; but in the case of shirts, there may be a slight shrinking in the course of time, though not to nearly the usual extent. Flannel should be washed in lukewarm water, and without soda, when, if it has been properly shrunk before being made up, it will last very well.

(c) The great principle is, not to have the water any hotter than a lady’s hand can comfortably bear. Cut up, overnight, some pieces of yellow or mottled soap, into a large saucepan of cold water; next morning allow this to heat gradually, until all melted. Have two tubs of the hot water ready, into which pour some of the melted soap, and whisk it with the hand to make a thoroughly good lather. The first tub must be more than double the strength of the second, which latter should have plenty of blue in. In the first tub wash the white flannels, without rubbing any soap on, excepting on stains of perspiration, &c. Directly after they have been done through the first tub, do them in the same way through the second, shake well, and hang out immediately. Coloured flannels can follow in the same way. Stockings should always have a third wash. The small pieces of soap left in the bedroom soap-dishes come in nicely for melting down.

(d) Flannel should be soaked in cold hard water before making, and hung up to drain and dry without any squeezing or handling in the water. After this it will not shrink in washing. Fill a tub with spring water, place the flannel in it, and take out as soon as it sinks to the bottom. It does not lose the appearance of new flannel when dry.

(e) To prevent shrinking in washing, soak the flannel for a night in cold water when dirty, and the next morning wash with curd soap in very lukewarm water. Do not wring, but press the water out and hang to dry.

(f) White Flannel. Use pipeclay, which should be mixed to proper consistency in a pipkin; stand on the fire till warm, stir with wax candle for 5 minutes, add a modicum of soap and a dash of Prussian blue, and stand by to cool, and always use cold, laid on with a sponge, and dry in shady breeze. For grease spots, lay over them pure clay, size the thickness of a crown piece, then place in the sun, and the clay will absorb all the grease without fail. When trousers are dry, rub them to loosen the clay, which brush off, and you will have cleaner looking trousers than by washing, and they will be fit to wear two or three times without pipeclaying. The same for flannel jackets.

(g) In order to keep flannel from shrinking and felting as much as possible, dissolve 1 oz. potash in a bucketful of rain-water, and steep the fabric in it for 12 hours. Next heat the water with the cloth in it, wash it out without rubbing, simply drawing it through several times. Then place the flannel in another bath consisting of 1 spoonful wheat flour to 1 pint water, and wash in like manner. Then rinse in lukewarm rain-water. Flannel washed in this manner becomes very clean, and will scarcely shrink or felt.

(h) It must strictly be observed that the heat does not rise beyond 100° F., and the fabric to be washed must be immersed in a bath of boiled soap, to which 1¼ dr. sal ammoniac per pint of fluid have been added; ¼ hour’s immersion in a well-covered vessel will have dissolved the fat and dirt sufficiently, and a beating or rubbing will no longer be necessary in order to wash the fabric clean. Very dirty spots are rubbed in with soap, and brushed with a soft brush. If one washing is not to satisfaction, repeat the process in a weaker soap bath, observing the same cautionary rules, and conclude with rinsing in cold water. It is also important not to smooth the fabric in a half-moist condition; because in this case, the condition of felting is complied with in this operation; while smoothing of the sharply dried substance is performed without being accompanied by the evil effects of shrinkage. The addition of sal ammoniac is to be left out with sensitive colours.

(i) Scotch methods for Shawls.—Scrape or cut up 1 lb. soap, and boil in a small quantity of water. When sufficiently cool, beat to a jelly with the hand, at the same time mixing with it 3 tablespoonfuls spirits of turpentine, and 1 of spirits of hartshorn. Wash the shawl thoroughly in this, then well rinse in cold water, and, when all the soap is out, in salt and water. This last need only be done when the shawl contains delicate colours. Then fold the shawl between two sheets, being careful not to let two folds of the shawl come together. Mangle, and afterwards iron with a very cool iron.

(j) To wash red or scarlet flannel when soiled, mix a handful of flour in a quart of cold water, and boil 10 minutes. Add this to some warm suds, and wash the flannel gently, rinsing rather than rubbing; rinse in 3 or 4 warm waters, and the brightest scarlet will never lose its colour. Soft soap or olive soap should be used for woollen goods in preference to bar soap.

(k) After rinsing, a wringing machine dries them better than any other method. The drying must be done rapidly, and the articles should be shaken and pulled during the drying.

Lace.—(a) Washing Black Lace.—Mix bullocks’ gall with sufficient hot water to make it as warm as you can bear your hand in, and pass the lace through it. It must be squeezed, not rubbed; and it will be well to perfume the gall with a little musk. Rinse through 2 cold waters, tinging the last with a little blue. After drying, put it into some stiffening made by pouring boiling water on a very small piece of glue; squeeze out, stretch, and clap it. Afterwards, pin out on a linen cloth to dry, laying it very straight and even, and taking care to open and pin the edge very nicely. When dry, iron on the wrong side, having laid a linen cloth over the ironing blanket.

(b) Cleaning White Lace.—Boil gently for 15 minutes in a solution of white soap; put it into a basin holding warm water and soap, and keep gently squeezing it (do not rub it) till it is clean, and then rinse it from the soap. Then take a vessel of cold water, into which put a drop or two of liquid blue; rinse in it. Have ready some very clear gum arabic water, or some thin rice-water. Pass through it. Then stretch out even, and pin to dry on a linen cloth, making the edge as straight as possible; open out all the scallops, and fasten each with a pin. When dry, lay a piece of thin muslin smoothly over it, and iron on the wrong side.

(c) Ditto.—Cover an ordinary wine bottle with fine flannel, stitching it firmly round the bottle. Tack one end of the lace to the flannel, then roll it very smoothly round the bottle, and tack down the other end, then cover with a piece of very fine flannel or muslin. Now rub it gently with a strong soap liquor, and, if the lace is very much discoloured or dirty, fill the bottle with hot water, and place it in a kettle or saucepan of suds and boil it for a few minutes, then place the bottle under a tap of running water to rinse out the soap. Make some strong starch, and melt in it a piece of white wax and a little loaf sugar. Plunge the bottle 2 or 3 times into this and squeeze out the superfluous starch with the hands; then dip the bottle in cold water, remove the outer covering from the lace, fill the bottle with hot water, and stand it in the sun to dry the lace. When nearly dry take it very carefully off the bottle, and pick it out with the fingers. Then lay it in a cool place to dry thoroughly.

(d) Ditto.—Take a black bottle covered with clean linen or muslin, and wind the blond round it (securing the ends with a needle and thread), not leaving the edge outward, but covering it as you proceed. Set the bottle upright in a strong cold lather of white soap and very clear soft water, and place it in the sun, having gently with your hand rubbed the suds up and down on the lace. Keep it in the sun every day for a week, changing the lather daily, and always rubbing it slightly when you renew the suds. At the end of the week, take the blond off the bottle, and (without rinsing) pin it backward and forward on a large pillow covered with a clean tight case. Every scallop must have a separate pin; or more, if the scallops are not very small. The plain edge must be pinned down also, so as to make it straight and even. The pins should be of the smallest size. When quite dry, take it off, but do not starch, iron, or press it. Lay it in long loose folds, and put it away in a pasteboard box.

(e) Thread Lace.—As in (d).

(f) Ditto.—When it has been tacked to the bottle, take some of the best sweet oil and saturate the lace thoroughly. Have ready in a wash-kettle, a strong cold lather of clear water and white Castile soap. Fill the bottle with cold water, to prevent its bursting, cork it well and stand it upright in the suds, with a string round the neck secured to the ears or handle of the kettle, to prevent its shifting about and breaking while over the fire. Let it boil in the suds for an hour or more, till the lace is clean and white all through. Drain off the suds and dry it on the bottle in the sun. When dry, remove the lace from the bottle and roll it round a white ribbon-block; or lay it in long folds, place it within a sheet of smooth white paper, and press it in a large book for a few days.

(g) Starching Lace.—Use a very thin boiled starch or the liquor in which rice has been boiled. Dip the lace in the starch, and squeeze out. Clap between the folds of a towel to partially dry it. Lay wrong side up on the table, slightly picked out, and place a piece of muslin over. Rub a cool iron over several times, till a little dry. Take up, and with the fingers pick it out to show the pattern and the edge. Iron again. Pick out once more, carefully draw to each side, and give a final ironing. The iron must be very cool, or the lace will be stiff; moving it about in the hands, and drawing it out tends to make it flexible.

Loose Colours.—As black.

Silk Goods.—(a) Silk scarfs and stockings are best washed in tepid water, with white soap dissolved in it, then rinsed quite free from soap, wrung dry in a towel, and ironed dry on the wrong side with a muslin cloth between the iron and the silk.

(b) Heat some rain or soft water, and while on the fire cut into it slices of good yellow soap, to make a lather; put the stockings in while the lather is warm, but not scalding, and wash in two such waters (a wineglassful of gin in the first water is an improvement); rinse well in lukewarm water, having ready a second rinsing water, in which is mixed a little blue (not the common kind, but such as is used for muslins and laces), or rose pink, which can be procured at a chemist’s, and is used in the same way as the blue, by tying it up in a piece of flannel and squeezing it into the water. After rinsing, put the stockings between towels and let them get almost dry; place on a small sheet, lay out quite flat, as they are when first purchased, tack to the sheet with a needle and thread, turn the sheet over them, and mangle. If it is not convenient to mangle them, the next best plan is to put 4 or 6 stockings one upon the other between muslin, lay them on a stone doorstep, and beat them with the rolling pin. They must not be mangled or beaten in towels, as the pattern of the towels would be impressed on them. If the stockings have lace fronts they will more particularly require the tacking mentioned above to make them look nice. No soda or washing powder of any kind must be put to them. They must be done quickly.

Stains, Removing.—The great difficulty in eradicating stains is to do so without damaging the often delicate tints of the fabric. Following is a synopsis of the best plans in use, arranged according to the nature of the substance causing the stain.

Acids.—Nearly all acids produce a red discoloration on goods dyed black or blue with vegetable dyes. If the acid is strong, the fabric will probably be locally destroyed as well as stained. The best treatment for all acids is the immediate application of a strong alkali, either ammonia, potash, or soda, but ammonia is the most satisfactory. When once the stain is old nothing will efface it. Nitric acid stains are the most troublesome, as the acid bleaches away the original colour. Repeated moistening with a very strong solution of potash permanganate (Condy’s fluid may be used as a weak substitute) followed by rinsing with water, is said to be effective.

Anilines.—(a) Wash out in alcohol containing some acetic acid, unless the colours of the fabric would be damaged by acetic acid, in which case use alcohol alone. (b) Try a solution of sodium sulphite.

Coffee, Chocolate, &c.—Apply a mixture of glycerine and egg-yolk; wash out with warm water, while still damp iron on the reverse side with a moderately hot iron.

Dust.—White and cotton coloured goods only require beating and brushing. For old dry stains on coloured silk and woollen goods, apply alcohol mixed with yolk of egg, let dry, and scrape off; wipe away remaining traces of the egg by means of a linen rag dipped in warm water.

Fruits, Red Wine, Vegetable Dyes.—The greater part may be removed without leaving a stain, if the spot be rinsed in cold water in which a few drops of aqua ammoniÆ have been placed, before the spot has dried. Wine stains on white materials may be removed by rinsing with cold water, applying locally a weak solution of chloride of lime or dilute chlorine water, or eau de javelle (potash or soda hypochlorite), and again rinsing in an abundance of water. Some fruit stains yield only to soaping with the hand, followed by fumigation with sulphurous acid (fumes of burning sulphur); but the latter process is inadmissible with certain coloured stuffs. If delicate colours are injured by soapy or alkaline matters, the dye must be renewed by applying colourless vinegar of moderate strength. For coloured cotton and woollen materials, the stain is washed with hot soapy water (to which more or less chlorine water has been added, according to the fastness of the dyes), rinsed in water containing a little ammonia, dipped in a solution of soda hyposulphite and then in a solution of tartaric acid, and finally washed in hot water. For silk and satin goods the same programme must be followed but with very dilute solutions. Another plan is to treat with salts of sorrel (hydrogen potassium oxalate) or with solution of soda hypochlorite. The latter especially must be carefully removed when the object is attained. Another well-tried plan, when space is available, is to spread the stained fabrics on the ground in the open air, smear the spots with soap, and sprinkle ground potash or common salt upon them. Water is added and replaced when lost by evaporation. After 2 or 3 hours’ exposure the whole fabric may be washed, and will usually be found freed from its stains.

Grass.—White goods need only be washed in boiling water. Coloured goods, whether cotton, woollen, silk, or satin, are damped with a solution of tin chloride and immediately washed out in abundance of water.

Grease.—(a) Simple washing in soap and water. (b) Stains from oil colours will yield to a mixture of soap and caustic potash. (c) Chalk, fullers’ earth, or steatite (French chalk) diffused through a little water to form a thin paste, spread upon the spot, allowed to dry, and then brushed out. (d) Ox-gall and yolk of egg. The ox-gall should be purified, to prevent its greenish tint from degrading the brilliancy of dyes or the purity of whites. Thus prepared it is most effective, especially for woollens. It is diffused through its own bulk of water, applied to the spots, and rubbed well in with the hands till the stains disappear, after which the stuff is washed with soft water. (e) Volatile oil of turpentine will take out recent stains, for which purpose it ought to be previously purified by distillation over quicklime. Wipe the stain with a sponge dipped in oil of turpentine, cover with filter paper (blotting-paper) and pass a hot iron over several times; finally wash out in warm soapy water. (f) Benzine or essence of petroleum is commonly used for removing grease spots; but these liquids present the inconvenience of leaving, in most cases, a brownish ring. To prevent this, the garments, &c., should be laid out flat, in daylight, upon a cake of plaster of Paris, or upon some folds of blotting-paper, moistened with sulphuric ether, otherwise known as rectified ether, and rubbed gently with a soft brush or clean linen rag. This process, if necessary, may be repeated. It neither injures the colour nor the material, and evaporates completely on exposure to the air. Another remedy is to scatter powdered gypsum or lycopodium on the moist surface, brushing the powder away when dry. (g) Equal parts strong ammonia water, ether, and alcohol form a valuable cleaning compound. Pass a piece of blotting-paper under the grease spot, moisten a sponge, first with water to render it “greedy,” then with the mixture, and rub with it the spot. In a moment it is dissolved, saponified, and absorbed by the sponge and blotter.

Gelatine, Glue, Blood, Sugar.—Wash in clean warm water.

Green nuts, Tanning Juices.—Wash white goods in weak eau de javelle or chlorine water. For coloured goods, first damp, and then touch the spot with more or less dilute chlorine water, afterwards rinsing in clean water.

Ink, Ironmould.—For ink stains, dilute hydrochloric acid, which must subsequently be carefully washed out, will mostly be found effectual. For the same purpose oxalic acid or salts of sorrel (hydrogen potassium oxalate) may also be employed, and that most economically, in fine powder to be sprinkled over the stains and moistened with boiling water. The action of these solvents may be hastened by gentle rubbing, or still better by placing the stained portion of the fabric in contact with metallic tin. If there is much ironmould to be removed, dyers’ tin salt (stannous chloride) will perform the same work at less expense than the oxalic acid compounds. Another solvent for such stains consists of a mixture of 2 parts argol with 1 of powdered alum. On coloured cotton and woollen goods let a drop from a burning tallow candle fall on the stain, and then wash out in a concentrated solution of pyrophosphate of soda. On fast dyes, lime chloride or tartaric acid may be used. On fine silk or satin goods damp with strong vinegar and leave covered for some time with beechwood ashes, washing finally in strong soapy water. Some iron stains submit to a washing in a solution of yellow prussiate of potash with addition of sulphuric acid; the blue colour thus produced is removed by rinsing in a solution of potash carbonate. One of the simplest and most efficacious removers of ink stains is milk, applied instantly.

Lime and other Alkalis.—If white goods, wash out in clean water. For coloured cottons or woollens, silk or satin, wet the stuff, and apply successive drops of dilute citric acid; when the stain has disappeared, wash thoroughly in clean water.

Mildew.—(a) Dip the spot into a strained weak solution of lime chloride (2 teaspoonfuls to 1 qt. water) for a moment and expose to the sun for a few minutes; repeat till gone, and then rinse thoroughly in clean water. (b) Soak in water for an hour and then sun. (c) Moisten with lemon juice and lay in the sun. (d) Moisten with lemon juice, cover with a paste of soft-soap and chalk, and sun for ½ hour; repeat till gone.

Milk, Soup.—For white goods, wash thoroughly in soapy or lye water; for coloured cottons and woollens, wipe the stain with a sponge dipped in pure turpentine-oil or benzine, remove excess with blotting-paper, and wash out in warm soapy water. For silks and satins use purest benzine ether.

Nitrate of Silver.—(a) Dip in a neutral solution of copper chloride and touch the spot with a crystal of soda hyposulphite dipped in ammonia. (b) Damp with solution of potash hypermanganate and dip into solution of potash bisulphite. (c) Moisten with solution of mercury bichloride (a deadly poison). (d) Moisten repeatedly with very weak solution of potassium cyanide and rinse thoroughly in clean water.

Oil, Paint, Varnish.—(a) New stains will submit to carbon bisulphide, or spirits of turpentine. (b) Cover old stains with butter or olive oil, and when softened apply first spirits of turpentine and then benzine. (c) For white goods, and coloured cottons and woollens, damp the patch, and pass a sponge dipped in turpentine-oil or benzine repeatedly over the stain, then lay on a sheet of blotting-paper and pass a hot iron over; finally wash out in warm soapy water. (d) For silks and satins spread on a thin paste of ether and magnesia carbonate; when the ether has volatilised, brush away the magnesia, or rub with crumb of bread.

Perspiration.—Wash in a solution of soda hyposulphite, and then bleach if the goods are white.

Stearine, Wax.—Remove with a knife; place a piece of wet linen beneath, cover the stain with several layers of blotting-paper, and pass a hot iron over. Any remaining trace can be removed by a sponge dipped in benzine.

Tar, Pitch, Resin.—For coloured cottons and woollens the stuff is damped, and fat is applied to the stain, on which soap is well rubbed. The soap is allowed to act for a few minutes, and is washed out alternately with oil of turpentine and hot water. If this has not succeeded, the yellow of egg mixed with some oil of turpentine is applied, and when this has dried it is scratched away, and thorough washing out in hot water ensues. The last method is the washing of the stuff in water mixed with a little muriatic acid, and thorough rinsing out in pure river water. For silk and satin, the stuff is wetted, and a sponge dipped in a solution of ether and chloroform is rubbed over the stain. If the stain is no longer noticeable, white clay is strewn over it, over which blotting-paper is placed, and the stain is extracted by passing a hot smoothing iron over. If this process has not been successful, the yellow of egg mixed with chloroform is used in the same manner.

Unknown origin.—(a) For white goods, and coloured cotton goods, a small quantity of soap is dissolved in lukewarm water, and for each pint is added a coffee spoonful of ammonia. The stain is wiped with a sponge steeped in this fluid, and the material is finally washed out in water. (b) For coloured woollen stuffs, dissolve 20 parts ox-gall, 40 of borax, 500 of spirit, and 200 of ammonia, adding 30 of glycerine and the yellow of two eggs. The stuff is washed in this boiling solution. It is subsequently rinsed in clean warm water, and dried in the air, but not in the sun. (c) For silk and satin, dissolve 40 parts borax and 10 of soap in 70 of diluted spirit and 30 of ether, adding 10 of magnesia carbonate and the yellow of two eggs. The mixture is applied to the stain, and the stuff is washed in lukewarm water, rinsed in cold water, and dried at a moderate warmth, being subsequently ironed with a moderately hot iron.

Urine.—Wash in alcohol or very weak solution of citric acid.

Vinegar, Wine, Acid Fruits.—For white goods, wash out in clean water, to which ammonia has been added. For coloured cotton and woollen materials, silk, and satin, diluted ammonia is spread over the satin, and when it has disappeared a thorough washing in water ensues.

Wine, Beer, Punch.—Wash in soapy and then clean hot water.

Tobacco Pipes.—A very simple and effective plan. Cut ½ in. from the end of an ordinary cork, and fit it tightly into the bowl of the pipe. Then with a knife cut a hole through the cork wide enough to admit the nozzle of a water tap with a little pressure, turn on the water gently until the flow through the stem is sufficiently strong, and let it run until the pipe is clean.

Violin.—(a) Use soap and water, but avoid its running through the “f” holes. Clean the interior with dry rice.

(b) Moisten the solid parts with salad oil, then mix same oil and spirits of wine together in a basin, trying its strength first on a part of the neck or scroll, then with a piece of white linen rag, dipped in the oil and spirit, rub the soiled parts, keep shifting the rag as it gets dirty: it will take several days to do, but keep the parts well soaked, where dirty, with oil after every rubbing; but by no means scrape it.

(c) Ordinary paraffin oil. Slightly saturate a rag of soft silk, and proceed to wash your violin therewith. The effect is almost magical; the paraffin dissolves the crust of dirt and resin and cleans the varnish without injuring.

(d) For the outside, a strongish solution of washing-soda, applied with piece of flannel. If you find the soda remove the varnish (as it does with some oil-varnishes), use soap-and-water, and then paraffin. When clean, rub with linseed-oil; spirits of wine removes the old resin at once, but sometimes takes the varnish with it. For the inside, get a handful of rice, steep in solution of sugar and water 5 minutes, strain off, and nearly dry the rice till just sticky. Put in at sound-holes and shake till tired. This will pick up all dirt, then turn out.

Violin Bows.—(a) Take a small piece of flannel, wet it (cold process), well rub it with best yellow soap, double it, holding the hair gently between the finger and thumb, rub gently till clean, using plenty of soap; rinse flannel, wipe off, then wipe dry with a piece of calico or linen; in an hour afterwards it will be ready for the resin. (b) A solution of borax-and-water.

Wall-papers.—To remove oil stains or marks where people have rested their heads, from wall-papers, mix pipeclay with water to the consistency of cream, lay it on the spot and allow it to remain till the following day, when it may be easily removed with a penknife or brush.

Watches.—A correspondent of the Watchmaker and Metal-worker tells how he cleans watches with benzine. The method may be useful for other fine work. He says: I immerse the parts in benzine and dry in boxwood sawdust. This gives the gilding a fresh, new look, which I have not been able to get by any other process. The movement must be entirely taken down. The dial screws may be screwed down tightly and left, but all parts united with screws must be separated, so that there will be no places where the benzine can remain and not be at once absorbed by the sawdust. I have a large alcohol cup, which I fill about half full of benzine, taking down my movement and putting the larger pieces in the fluid. The scape wheel, balance, and delicate parts I treat separately, that they may not be injured by contact with the heavier pieces. I then take the pieces one at a time, and tumble them into the sawdust. In a few seconds they will be dry, when I pick them out and lay in a tray, using brass tweezers, which do not scratch. I treat all the parts in this way except the mainspring, when a slight use of the brush and clean chamois will remove all dust. Of course, the holes must be cleaned with a pointed peg; and I wipe out the oil sinks with chamois over the end of a blunt peg, but it is not often necessary to clean the pinions with a peg; they will come out of the sawdust bright and clean. The mainspring must not be put in benzine unless you want it to break soon after. The fluid seems to remove the fine oily surface which a spring gets after working for a time, and which is very desirable to retain; so I clean my springs by wiping with soft tissue paper. If they are gummy, I put on a little fresh oil to soften, and wipe off, being careful not to straighten out the springs.

Vermin, Destroying

Vermin, Destroying.—Before proceeding to classify the various kinds of noxious creatures whose presence is objectionable to man, and giving hints for their destruction or removal, it will be well to put forward a word of caution against using any substance which will poison the vermin in situations where their bodies can putrefy unseen and produce unpleasant and injurious odours. Wherever poisons are mentioned in the following recipes their use is intended exclusively away from the dwelling, and there are many sound reasons why poisons should be avoided on all occasions.

Insects.—As this word is commonly used in the household it embraces a considerable number of small creatures outside the class known as insects to naturalists, and may be regarded as including all winged and creeping vermin.

Before descending to special remedies against different insects a few lines may be devoted to that universal insecticide the so-called “Persian insect powder.” This is of two kinds, one produced in the Transcaucasian region and another in Dalmatia. The first is the produce of Pyrethrum roseum and P. carneum, and the last of P. cinerariÆfolium [Chrysanthemum turreanum], all common wild flowers in their special districts. The useful part of the plants is their flowers, which are gathered when half developed, in dry weather, dried in the shade under cover, ground to powder, and stored in air-tight vessels. The plants can be cultivated in warm climates. The Dalmatian gives the stronger powder, or perhaps the powder sold there is less adulterated. Experiments have conclusively proved that while these powders are perfectly harmless to human beings and domestic animals, they are distinctly poisonous to all insects having open mouth parts, such as bees, wasps, ants, mosquitoes, flies, fleas, bugs, dragon-flies, spiders, carpet-beetles, &c.

Ants.—(a) White ants will eat the whole timber work of a house without noise. They bore close to the surface of the wood, but without destroying it, so that there is no visible indication of what they are doing. They will even bore through the boards of a floor and up the legs of a table, leaving the latter a mere shell. The principal woods used in this country which are said to resist the white ant are cedar, greenheart, ebony, and lignum vitÆ, and the heartwood of jarrah. Pitch pine is sometimes attacked. White ants will not attack new teak, but will bore through teak to get at yellow pine. Arsenic seems to prevent the attack of these insects, and is sometimes used for this purpose in the concrete, mortar, paint, and plaster of buildings. Arsenic is also mixed with aloes, soap, &c., to form a wash to exterminate these insects. Creosoting is an effectual preservative against white ants, but on account of its smell is only adapted for out-door work, and can hardly be applied to very dense tropical timbers. A cheap source of arsenic for this purpose is the lime arsenite residue from aniline dyeworks.

(b) Black Ants.—Scatter a few leaves of green wormwood about their haunts. (c) To clear them from pantries, chalk the shelves upon which the provisions are put, so that the ants cannot move about; or apply moistened fly-paper and lay about the pantry; or apply quassia tincture, and soak crumbs of bread with it, and lay it about the pantry. (d) Leave a vessel, such as a butter-crock, containing at the bottom a few stewed prunes, or a little water in which prunes have been stewed, uncovered in the places frequented by the ants; it will attract them, and thousands will drown in it. (e) Boil pieces of string in beer and sugar, and lay them in the ants’ way; collect once in 24 hours, when they will be found covered with ants, and drop into boiling water. (f) Pour benzoline down the holes. (g) Pour boiling water down the holes. (h) Rooms on a ground floor may be cleared by carefully pouring some strong oil of vitriol down each hole. This will be fatal to the living insects and all their eggs, but will destroy flooring, plaster, and bricks wherever it touches.

(i) Red Ants.—Grease a plate with lard, and set it where the insects abound. They prefer lard to anything else, and will forsake sugar for it. Place a few sticks around the plate for the ants to climb up on. Occasionally turn the plate bottom up over the fire, and the ants will fall in with the melting lard. Reset the plate, and in a short time you will catch them all.

Blackbeetles.—(a) Keep a hedgehog. (b) Set a deep dish or earthen pan, containing a little sugared beer by way of attraction; it will entrap the insects in vast numbers, if a few pieces of wood are inclined against the sides to serve as ladders. They will tumble in when they reach the edge, and the glazed sides will prevent their getting out. (c) Immediately before bedtime, strew the floor of those parts of the house most infested with the vermin with the green peel, cut not very thin, from the cucumber. (d) A mixture of Persian insect powder and powdered wormseed, thrown about where they frequent. (e) Use powdered borax, about ½ lb. to each room. It requires perseverance and care in its use. It should be scattered about freely wherever they congregate, and particularly in cracks and crevices where they can hide from it. It may be blown or forced by the blade of a knife into narrow cracks. The effect of the borax is to cause them to emigrate. It may kill a few, which will be found afterwards in a dried withered up condition lying about on the floor. They may be swept up without injury to carpets or furniture.

Bugs.—The following are paste poisons:—(a) 1 oz. mercurial ointment, ¼ oz. corrosive sublimate, ¼ oz. Venetian red. (b) Soft soap and cayenne pepper. (c) Soft soap and corrosive sublimate. (d) Soft soap and strong snuff. The following are washes for furniture or floors:—(a) A small quantity (6d. worth) salts of wormwood, dissolved in a bucket of hot writer. (b) Solution of pyroligneous acid, arsenite of potash, decoction of oak bark, and garlic. (c) 2 dr. corrosive sublimate, 8 oz. spirits of wine rubbed in mortar till dissolved, then add ½ pint spirits of turpentine. (d) 1 lb. each sal ammoniac, and corrosive sublimate, 8 gal. hot water. (e) 1½ oz. camphor, 8 oz. each spirits of turpentine and spirits of wine. (f) Weak solution of zinc chloride. (g) Benzine. (h) Equal parts spirits of turpentine and kerosene. Application:—(a) The room must be thoroughly cleared; take the bed and bedclothes into the open air, and beat them thoroughly; take the bedstead to pieces, and after a thorough purification with hot water, plug every hole and crevice with one of the pastes given above; stop all cracks, &c., in the floor and walls with the paste also. (b) Empty the room; scrape off all paper and burn immediately on the spot in charcoal brazier; fill all cracks in plaster, paint, and wormwood with a poison paste; scent the floor with a wash; burn all old scraps of carpet.

Crickets.—(a) Half fill some jampots with water and set at night. (b) A covered box with perforated lid containing a little salt or oatmeal.

Earwigs.—Place lengths of hollow bean-stalk or other tube where the insects collect, and each morning empty them into boiling water by blowing sharply through.

Fleas.—In Beds.—(a) Sprinkle chamomile flowers in the bed. (b) Use young leaves of wild myrtle in the same way. (c) Strew fresh mint under the beds. (d) Have walnut leaves about the person. (e) Place a piece of new flannel in the bed, and there seek the vermin. (f) Sprinkle the bed or night dress with a little solution of camphor in spirits of wine. (g) Sponge your person with camphor water-¼ oz. camphor, ½ oz. tincture of myrrh in 1 qt. water, shake well before use.

In Rooms.—(a) Slice a strong onion and rub the bottom edge of the trousers. The favourite point of attack is at the ankles and the legs up to the knee; they do not jump so much from above. (b) Make a strong decoction of laurel leaves by filling a large copper with the leaves, adding as much water as possible, and boil for 4 or 5 hours. Then take the leaves away, and deluge the floors with the boiling hot liquor. The liquor will but very slightly discolour the ceilings, which can be whitened again.

On Animals.—(a) Oil of pennyroyal will certainly drive them off; but a cheaper method, where the herb flourishes, is to dip dogs and cats into a decoction of it once a week. Mow the herb and scatter it in the beds of pigs once a month. Where the herb cannot be got, the oil may be procured. In this case, saturate strings with it and tie them around the necks of dogs and cats, pour a little on the back and about the ears of hogs, which you can do while they are feeding, without touching them. By repeating these applications every 12 or 15 days, the fleas will leave the animals. Strings saturated with the oil of pennyroyal, and tied around the neck and tail of horses, will drive off lice; the strings should be saturated once a day. (b) Equal parts ox-gall, oil of camphor, oil of pennyroyal, extract of gentian, spirits of wine; wash.

Flies.—In Rooms.—(a) A castor-oil plant growing in the room kills many and drives away the rest. (b) A bunch of walnut leaves keeps them out. (c) A large, handsome Japanese lily (Lilium auratum) behaves like the castor-oil plant. (d) Soak blotting-paper in a solution of sugar of lead, and sweeten with molasses. (e) Mix treacle, moist sugar, or honey with ¹/₁₂ of orpiment. (f) Boil ¼ oz. of quassia chips in 1 pint water for 10 minutes; strain; add 4 oz. molasses. (g) Spread laurel oil on picture frames, curtains, &c. (h) When going to bed, blow some Persian or Dalmatian insect powder into the air of the room and close it for the night; burn the dust swept from the room in the morning.

On Animals.—(a) Procure a bunch of smartweed, and bruise it to cause the juice to exude. Rub the animal thoroughly with the bunch of bruised weed, especially on the legs, neck, and ears. Neither flies nor other insects will trouble him for 24 hours. The process should be repeated every day. A very convenient way of using it, is to make a strong infusion by boiling the weed a few minutes in water. When cold it can be conveniently applied with a sponge or brush. Smartweed is found growing in every section of the country in the United States, usually on wet ground near highways. (b) Scatter lime chloride on a board in the stable or pen.

Harvest Bugs.—Smear the legs all over with (a) Decoction of colocynth; (b) strong vinegar; (c) paraffin; (d) thick soap lather; (e) tincture of iodine; (f) benzine; (g) tar ointment (h) 1 oz. insect powder (Dalmatian) macerated in 1 oz. weak spirit, and then diluted with 2½ oz. water.

Mosquitoes and Gnats.—To keep them away from the person:—(a) 1 oz. each olive oil and oil of tar, ½ oz. each glycerine, spirit of camphor, and oil of pennyroyal, 2 dr. carbolic acid; mix and shake well before use. (b) Sponge with 1 oz. camphor dissolved in 1 qt. cold water. (c) Dissolve as much camphor as possible in olive or castor oil, boil down the oil to half, and smear on the face and hands. (d) Mix 3 oz. olive oil, 2 oz. oil of pennyroyal, 1 oz. glycerine, 1 oz. ammonia; shake well; apply, avoiding the eyes. (e) Rub lime juice on the skin. (f) Essential oil of lemon. (g) Rub with bruised laurel leaves. (h) Dust the face and hands with potato flour. (i) Vaseline or petroleum ointment. (j) Rub on 4 oz. glycerine, 4 dr. oil of turpentine, 2½ dr. oil of spearmint. (k) Hang a piece of camphor in a muslin bag from the topmost coat button-hole. (l) Dissolve in a cupful of water as much alum as the water will contain—in other words, make the strongest solution possible of alum and water; add ? proportion of aromatic vinegar, and ¼ of glycerine; keep it in small flat phials convenient for the pocket, and apply it constantly during the day. Rae mentions that he does not believe without its alleviating influence he would have been able to carry out his journey in Lapland, so severe were the attacks of these insect pests.

Driving from Bedstead.—Hang on the bedstead: (a) a few bruised leaves of pennyroyal; (b) a sponge dipped in camphorated spirit; (c) a bunch of elder; (d) a bunch of wormwood; (e) a bough of ash.

Driving from Room.—Burn: (a) Camphor in a tin dish over a candle so that it evaporates without igniting; (b) cow-dung; (c) wormwood; (d) juniper wood sawdust.

Moths.—Numerous opinions have been expressed from time to time as to the most effective means of preventing the ravages of the larva of the “clothes-moth.” The most practical may be summarised as follows. (a) When the number of garments or other fabrics is small an efficient plan is found to be to keep them exposed to the air and liable to constant disturbance, with occasional shaking and beating. (b) One writer finds it a very good plan to put winter things, such as curtains, furs, heavy shawls, dresses, extra blankets, &c., away in wine cases, papered inside and out with newspaper; when nailed down, every crack or crevice is pasted over. This should be done in April, before any moths are about; the clothes are then safe. Other articles which cannot well be packed away for the summer, such as dress-coats, are quite safe if folded in plenty of sound newspaper. (c) Another states that articles put away for 5 years in a warehouse were perfectly uninjured in all cases where they were completely wrapped in linen, while every part not thus protected was more or less destroyed by moth. (d) One experimenter placed 4 moths in the balance, and found that they weighed 2¾ gr. They were then placed in a watch-glass, and dried over the steam of boiling water. There remained ·830 gr., say 30 per cent., or, in other terms, if 100 lb. of the grubs were dried they would lose 70 lb. or 7 gal. of water (and this is exclusive of what the insect must have lost in perspiration and other animal functions). The remedy which suggested itself was, that if we could render our garments absolutely dry, even if the mother moth should deposit her eggs, they could not grow or live in the absolute absence of moisture; and that if we could place our garments for a short time, during the moth season, May and June, in a close chamber, heated by steam pipes to the boiling point, aided by a little chloride of calcium, on trays to absorb moisture, the necessary conditions would be met; and even if the mother moth had succeeded in depositing her eggs before the hot chamber process had been applied, it would still prove effective, as the eggs would be hard-boiled and rendered unproductive. Possibly if drying ovens were kept available at a small charge, they would find extensive employ, as the losses incurred by dealers in furs is immense; and in private families for the treatment of clothing, blankets, and other articles they would be of great value. (e) The use of a vacuum and hot gases has been under experiment by the Government of the United States. It is believed that a large cylinder of boiler iron may be filled with woollen goods, either cloth or made-up garments, in unbroken bales or boxes; the top screwed on air-tight; the air exhausted by an air-pump worked by the steam engine, and the vacuum filled after a sufficient time to kill all active developed moths and grubs, with air which has passed through a stove filled with ignited charcoal or anthracite coal. This atmosphere will contain no supporter of respiration; it consists of nitrogen, carbonic acid, and carbonic oxide, and some watery vapour, with a little sulphur and traces of other volatile impurities contained in the fuel. The carbonic oxide is a violent poison. The other gases named are all either inert, unable to support life, or positively noxious. They will penetrate under the pressure of 15 lb. to the sq. in. into every nook and cranny between the folds of the goods, and into every empty pore of the woollen fibres themselves. They can be introduced at such a temperature as may be determined to be best and sufficient. Experiments at Nottingham reported in the Journal of Applied Science show, if correctly performed, that woollen goods may be exposed for 3 hours to an atmosphere in a close vessel heated to 250°F. (121°C.) without injury, and that even 295°F. (146°C.) is not seriously injurious to the fibre, though it changes the colours of some goods. One difficulty in caring for great quantities of these goods is the labour and exposure incident to opening packages, taking out to handle separately each article, exposing it after brushing to the attacks of the moths, always ready for action at the only season when this overhauling is needed. (f) The larva of the clothes-moth will only attack and devour substances that immediately serve it for food, and will not gnaw through the most flimsy envelope, provided this is not edible. But still in these the most careful folding will fail to keep them out, as the tiny hatchlings will find their way through the seams; these should be pasted together, but as the insects are particularly fond of paste this should be poisoned either with a little corrosive sublimate or by triturating some camphor with it. Moths will never eat through brown paper. This must be of the right sort, i.e. made from old tarred ropes, and smelling of tar. LarvÆ of clothes-moths, if they can get at nothing else, will feed on ordinary paper if kept in a damp place. The protection of the wrappers consists in their coarse tarry nature. (g) Dust the articles with alum dried to a cinder and powdered. (h) Mix 2 oz. snuff, 4 oz. cedar sawdust, 1 oz. black pepper, 1 oz. camphor, 1 dr. lupulin (hop flowers), and blow it into corners with a powder bellows. (i) Soak blotting-paper in a mixture of oil of camphor and spirits of turpentine, and lay it among the goods. (j) Prof. Riley says that the early days of June should herald vigorous and exterminating warfare against these subtle pests. Closets, wardrobes, all receptacles for clothing, should be emptied and laid open, their contents thoroughly exposed to light and air, and well brushed and shaken before being replaced. In old houses much infested with moths all cracks in floors, wainscots, shelves, or furniture, should be brushed over with spirits of turpentine. Camphor or tobacco should be placed among all garments, furs, plumes, &c., when laid aside for the summer. To secure cloth linings of carriages from the attacks of moths, sponge them on both sides with a solution of corrosive sublimate of mercury in alcohol, made just strong enough not to leave a white mark on a black feather. Moths may be killed by fumigating the article containing them with tobacco or sulphur, or by putting it, if practicable, into an oven heated to about 150° F. (k) Nothing is better than Mikado moth papers (Fleming, 101 Leadenhall St., E.C.), placed between folds of the articles to be protected, and occasionally renewed.

Poultry Lice.—(a) Damp the skin beneath the feathers and dust on powdered sulphur. (b) Scatter male persimon leaves on the floor of the house, or wash the house with a decoction of the leaves. (c) Thoroughly lime-white the house, adding sulphur to the lime.

Slugs and Snails.—Lay salt on the trails.

Wasps.—(a) Put pulverised commercial potassium cyanide, one or two tablespoonfuls, into the entrance of the nest without disturbing it or the insects; they enter never to return. (b) At noon, or soon after, when the insects are abroad in search of food, fumigate the hole with sulphur; dig out the comb and destroy everything in it; then place a wine bottle, half full of water, in the hole, leaving the mouth of the bottle within an inch of the surface of the surrounding earth; on taking it up next morning, you will find every one of that family safe in the trap. (c) Pour some tar into and around the nest and ignite it; take care to have the head and hands covered with gauze. (d) Spread arsenic and the dust of loaf sugar (1 to 20) on pieces of orange peel out of the reach of children. (e) Hang bottles containing treacle and water in the plum trees and other resorts, and examine daily.

Rats.—(a) Mix together 8 oz. strong cheese and 2 oz. powdered squills, and place in their haunts and runs. It acts immediately, and the rats die instantly; whereas most of the pastes, &c., allow the animals to retire into their holes, where their subsequent death and putrefaction may cause great inconvenience from effluvia. (b) Make a strong solution of copperas water, and paint the walls of the whole cellar, then pound up copperas, and scatter it along the sides of the walls and into every hole where it can be thrown. (c) In the runs and holes, lay a mixture of tar and broken glass. (d) Feed them liberally for several days on a smooth surface, then damp the floor and smear it with caustic potash; the rats, in running over it while feeding at the bait, get their feet besmeared with it, which causes a burning or corroding of the flesh. At the same time they lick their feet to relieve the pain, and are either so annoyed or poisoned that they leave the premises. (e) Scatter lime chloride in their haunts and holes. (f) Having caught one, tar him all over, or coat him with paste containing tincture of asafoetida, and turn him into the hole again.

Traps.—(g) Scald common gin traps and set them at the holes, covered with sawdust, avoiding touching the gins with the naked hand. (h) Feed the rats for 3 or 4 nights successively, leaving the traps (box traps) fixed open and baited with the following paste, so that they may go in and out and feed at their ease. If the rats are numerous and the premises extensive, take 4 lb. bread crumbs, 4 lb. flour, ½ pint treacle, 1 teaspoonful essence of anise, and ½ teaspoonful essence of musk; mix the whole well together, and bait the traps. Several traps should be so prepared. On the night the rats are to be taken, bait as usual, having the traps set for catching. (i) Set a steel trap in the run and cover it with a butter cloth. A fresh cloth must be used each time. (j) Fill a barrel about half full of water. Make the cover ½ in. smaller all round than the inside of the top of the barrel. Drive a nail or wire on each side of the cover exactly opposite each other, as a pivot, and fit in the barrel, so that a light weight will readily tip the cover. Put the bait on top, in a firm way, and place an empty barrel or box near by. (k) Mix 1 lb. oatmeal or flour, ½ oz. aniseed, 1 oz. cassia, 2 oz. white sugar, all finely powdered; feed with this mixture for 5 nights at least before you tilt up the trap, which must be concealed with straw scented with 4 drops oil of rhodium, 8 drops oil of cinnamon, and 8 drops oil of caraway. The paper on which the food is placed must also be scented with the same. When you cease to catch any at night, feed again, and when you suppose all to be caught in one place, remove the trap to another.

Snakes.—(a) In all probability, the acclimation or encouragement of certain animals which seek out snakes as their favourite food will do more towards effecting extermination than anything else. The mongoose enjoys a reputed pre-eminence in this respect which is quite undeserved—it need hardly be said that the “antipathy” which it is supposed to entertain toward its prey is a chimera born of an argument by analogy to human prejudices. The ichneumon hunts snakes to eat them; so do various foxes, tayras, rats, civets, grisons, weasels, genets, paradoxures, and other members of the ViverridÆ and MustelidÆ. Still more addicted to an ophidian diet are pigs; it is said that Mauritius was cleared of venomous species by a number of wild hogs turned loose there. Toads, frogs, fish, lizards, newts, and even slow-worms devour young snakes; indeed, it is only their popularity as an article of food that serves to restrain their increase, for they are produced in broods of from twenty to a hundred or more. But their greatest enemies are birds. Peacocks, in particular, will desert the home where they are fed in a district abounding with snakes; not long ago, six pairs of pea fowl were employed to get rid of the vipers on an island off the west coast of Scotland, which they rendered almost uninhabitable by their abundance. Storks, pelicans, cassowaries, sunbitterns, cranes, falcons, and some vultures are also perpetually on the look-out for snakes, while the scientific title of the secretary bird, Serpentarius reptilivorus, sufficiently indicates its proclivities.

(b) A pitfall of some kind sunk below the level of the ground in an infested district, and furnished with water frogs, and a cage of rats, or some such small deer, might help to rid the neighbourhood.

(c) For every one that may be expected to find its way into a trap, however arranged, a dozen might certainly be taken, living or dead, by those who would make a business of pursuit; and for capturing them alive there is no safer or better appliance than the “twitch.” This consists of a simple loop of string passed through an eye at the end of a long crooked stick, and controlled by the hand. Directly a snake is seen it is hooked out into the open, if need be, away from all shelter, the noose dropped over its head and drawn up tight, and in that way it can be carried, powerless to do harm, or deposited in any receptacle which is ready for it. Collectors, too, would find this little apparatus far more practicable than the net or tongs. Places likely to form a resort for the deposition of eggs—situations which combine warmth, moisture, and protection, as a rule—should be diligently explored; and rocks or other fastnesses known to be their favourite breeding grounds should, if possible, be frequently disturbed by blasting. (A. Stradling, C.M.Z.S.)

Removing Stoppers

Removing Stoppers.—It not unfrequently happens that when a stoppered bottle has remained undisturbed for a considerable time, the stopper becomes firmly fixed in the neck of the bottle, and cannot be moved by the hand in the ordinary way. The removal of a fixed stopper requires judgment and tact, in order to preserve the bottle unbroken. One or other of the following means may be resorted to:—(a) Place the bottle firmly on a table, and hold it with the left hand. Then apply the right hand to the stopper, and pull it forcibly on one side, using the thumb as a fulcrum at the exterior of the neck of the bottle. If the stopper moves, the motion will be indicated by a ticking kind of noise; and the stopper can then be withdrawn without further trouble. This plan should be tried at various parts, observing to pull the stopper towards the operator, and not away from him. (b) By tapping the stopper on alternate sides with the handle of a hammer, or with a piece of wood, it can frequently be loosened. (c) Dip one end of a cloth in boiling water, and then wrap it round the neck of the bottle; the heat causes the neck to expand which allows the stopper more room, whereby it can often be removed with ease. (d) Or the flame of a spirit lamp may be applied to the neck of the bottle with the same effect. But in both cases the operation must be performed quickly, in order that the heat may not get at the stopper and expand it, for if such is the case, it remains as firmly fixed as before. (e) Pass a piece of strong twine round the neck of the bottle and fix one end of the string to a hook; the neck will be heated by the friction occasioned by drawing the bottle rapidly backwards and forwards, the bottle being held in one hand, and one end of the string in the other. The heat expands the neck as before described. (f) Stoppers are sometimes fixed by the coagulating or crystallisation of substances between the inside neck of the bottle and the stopper. The application of oil, or water, or muriatic acid, to the top of the bottle, will often dissolve away so much of the hard matter as to render the removal of the stopper easy. (g) When the fixed stopper of a glass bottle resists all management—such as warming the neck with a cloth wet with warm water, by tapping, and by the wrench, or by all these in combination—there is another means which will frequently succeed. Let the bottle be inverted, so as to stand on the stopper in a vessel of water so filled that the water reaches up to the shoulder of the bottle, but not to the label. Two or three nights of this treatment may be required sometimes before the stopper will yield. (h) Another method is to use a stopper extractor. This can easily be made out of a block of wood 3 in. square and 2 in. thick, by cutting a hole through its centre large enough to receive the head of the stopper. The use of the above is preferable to pulling out two drawers, sticking the head of the stopper between them, and twisting the bottle round. To apply the extractor, it is placed over the stopper, and grasped firmly in one hand, while the neck of the bottle is held by the other. A gentle, but firm and steady twisting motion is then used, care being taken to keep both hands moving in the same plane, but in opposite directions. If the pressure be applied too vigorously or spasmodically, or if the lines of the direction of the opposite forces be not quite parallel, there is a danger of wrenching off the head of the stopper or breaking the neck of the bottle.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping.—Volumes might be written on this subject, with column after column of figures to illustrate exactly how much of the annual income should be expended on each item; but when done, the labour would be practically fruitless, for the simple reason that each household has its own special wants. The skill and knowledge of the housewife are constantly devoted to the solution of the question how to supply the needs of the house. No brief summary of hints or information can help her. Every topic discussed in this volume has a bearing on the subject and must be studied. A few words of advice may be offered:—(1) Keep account of every penny received and spent. (2) Pay cash. (3) Study quality before price: cheap things are seldom economical. (4) Avoid both extravagance and waste. (5) Trust nothing to the servants. (6) Consult the index of this volume whenever you are in doubt.

Marketing

Marketing.—The following observations condensed from two series of articles in that inestimable journal The Queen, will indicate what is in season during each month of the year; they will also contain suggestions as to the best mode of marketing and the signs and symptoms by which the quality of foods may be judged. Obviously remarks on the latter heads when once made will not need repetition.

January.

Meat.—Of meats, beef and mutton are of course in season all the year round; pork only in the cold weather. Veal can be had at any time, but it is cheaper in late spring and summer; and even lamb as an article of luxury can be bought as early in the year as this. Doe venison can be bought this month. The greatest difficulty a young housekeeper has to encounter is that of going to choose meat at the butcher’s. No rules without experience in applying them are likely to be of great value. Good beef should be red, with a purplish hue where it has been lately cut. If it is very brilliant scarlet or very pale, it is not good. The fat should be opaque, not transparent, and should be abundant on the ribs and under the sirloin; there should be plenty of white or yellowish suet inside the animal, and even on the lean joints there should be specks of fat mixed up with the meat. It should not waste much in cooking, though this has to do with the stove as well as the meat, and it should not be watery—lying, for example, in a pool of moisture on the block. All this may have to do with the wholesomeness of the meat, as these are the indications to show that the animal was in good health when it was killed, and that it was not “knocked on the head to save its life.” Even for those who do not like any fat with meat, a lean joint should be ordered, not a joint that would be fat on a healthy animal. This does not apply to the preposterously fat beasts killed about Christmas time, that are scarcely in a state of health from repletion, and the meat is too rich to be very wholesome, and far too fat to be economical. The yellow colour of the fat in Christmas beef is caused by feeding on oilcake instead of green food. Then, as regards the tenderness of meat, it should be fine grained, and should not have thick strips of sinew or gristle running through it. All meat has some in some parts, of course; for instance, in the coarse end of the ribs (i.e. the ribs nearest the tail) there is a strip of gristle about 1½ in. under the skin. It is there always, and is very tough and prominent in old meat. Butchers often cut it out, and it should be cut out before cooking; but it is better still to insist on having the first cut of the ribs (i.e. the shoulder end). All these indications are, it may be easily seen, comparative rather than absolute, and an inexperienced housewife walking into a butcher’s shop will be puzzled to know exactly how red, what tinge of purple, what proportion of fat, and what thickness of gristle she is to be prepared to expect. It is for each woman to decide whether she will choose her own meat or leave it to the butcher’s choosing. At any rate, the butcher will do his part of the bargain better if he clearly understands that his customer knows good meat from second rate, and will not overlook shortcomings in quality or weight. The meat should be weighed frequently, if not invariably, and the butcher should not be allowed to send more than is ordered, or less than he charges for. Comparatively few butchers kill their own meat. They buy at the dead-meat markets such parts of such animals as they have the best sale for. A first-class butcher in a wealthy neighbourhood, only buys the best meat and the prime joints; but a butcher in a poor neighbourhood, with a low-class trade, finds a ready sale for coarser inferior meat, and in some town slums it seems as though every animal had at least 6 heads and a corresponding number of internal arrangements. The coarse meat may be perfectly wholesome; it would be in a respectable shop; but, being coarse or tough, it commands a much less price in the wholesale market, the sales at which, and the ruling prices, are quoted constantly in the daily papers. The price given is at per stone of 8 lb. Retail buyers can often make an excellent bargain in the meat markets, either by arranging with a salesman to have a certain quantity delivered once or twice a week, or by going to the market themselves. On a Saturday night, or on any night in bad keeping weather, meat of all kinds can often be bought at much less than its usual price. Against this has to be set the trouble, the value of the time, the railway fare, and the possibility of an inexperienced person being taken in.

Beef is no doubt the cheapest meat to buy. It is most satisfying, and there is least bone. The prime joints of beef, and the leg and loin of mutton are usually about the same price, and in these there is not much difference; but the cheaper joints of mutton are very bony, while the cheaper joints o£ beef can be quite solid meat with no bone at all. These solid pieces of beef are what economical people should buy, instead of ribs and sirloins, and rump, for every day household use. They are far less fat than the more expensive joints, and therefore they waste less in cutting at table as well as in cooking. Ribs of beef cut to greater advantage for a large party if the bone is taken out and the meat rolled. The cheaper joints are the thick flank, “leg of mutton piece” (part of the shoulder), the shin, clod, and sticking piece. Of these the last three are only fit for stewing or braising, as the meat is tough, though it is wholesome and nourishing. It is very suitable for economical pies and puddings, but needs separate stewing first. Of mutton the leg is most economical, though the shoulder is generally lower in price. Breasts of mutton are sometimes sold at a very low price, and may then be cheap for stewing or braising. On the whole, the fillet is probably the most economical joint of roasting veal; the breast is better fitted for stewing, but it should be considerably lower in price than the leaner and less bony joints.

Fish.—Cod is now at its cheapest; soles, more or less in season all the year; lemon soles, which are rather less round in shape, less firm in texture, and about half the price of the black soles; haddocks, skate, conger, hake, herrings, plaice, ling, all of which are among the cheapest of fish; whiting, halibut, oysters, lobsters, crabs, shrimps; with shell-fish, such as winkles, whelks, and mussels, all are in season. Turbot, smelts, brill, flounders, and sea bream, red and grey mullet, are also to be recommended. Rhine salmon puts in an appearance this month, and, taken in conjunction with early cucumber, is delicious in flavour if extravagant in cost.

Game and Poultry.—Turkey is never better than at this season; but we may recommend our readers, if they wish to taste turkey in perfection, to eschew the larger specimens, and pin their faith on a hen turkey of 7-9 lb. in weight. Among birds eaten with the trail, the golden plover is perhaps one of the best when skilfully dressed, either as a roast or en salmis. Larks, excellent either roasted, en caisses, or as an adjunct to rump-steak pudding, are also abundant; while from America are imported the savoury pinnated grouse and succulent canvas-back duck—not to be eaten except with currant jelly and celery salad. Grouse went out in December, but there remain fowls, chickens, geese, pheasants, partridges, wild ducks, hares, rabbits, capercailzies, snipe, and woodcock.

Vegetables.—Broccoli, cabbage, savoys, spinach, Scotch kale, and sprouts for green; the green part of leeks is also useful as a garnish. Celery, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, and turnips for white vegetables. Lettuce, endive, beetroot, cresses, and forced cucumbers for salad. Potatoes can be bought at 50s. to 60s. a ton, according to size and quality. There is no economy in buying very small potatoes, as even at a low price, they are dear in the long run. Small consumers will find it more economical to buy by the sack of 168 lb. or the bushel of 56 lb. They should be kept in the dark and covered so that frost cannot reach them. Every week until new potatoes come in, the old ones grow dearer, and it is more difficult to get them good. A rough skin is said to indicate a mealy potato, and a smooth skin a waxy one; but that is not a sure guide, and the best way is to boil a sample and watch the result. There are few potatoes that cannot be made good by appropriate cooking, but some are good anyhow. Salsify—better known and appreciated in France and in America than in this country—an excellent vegetable, susceptible of varied treatment at the hands of a skilful cook—is also to be obtained.

Fruit.—Not now very plentiful. American apples, by the lb. or barrel, can be had in plenty, but they are not cheap. Apple chips can be used for all cooking purposes where fresh apples are employed, and are no doubt the cheapest substitute for fresh fruit. Medlars, pears, and hothouse grapes are the only home-grown fruits. American grapes, sent over in barrels of sawdust, and oranges are so familiar that we almost forget they are foreign. This is pre-eminently the season for dried and crystallised fruits of all kinds. Old raisins (which can, of course, be bought at a much cheaper rate than any new crop) are better than new for cake and pudding making, as the skins are less tough, and large cake bakers commonly buy their year’s stock late in the season.

February.

Meat.—Beef, mutton, pork, and in a lesser degree veal are all in season, and lamb begins to appear frequently on our tables; but neither lamb nor veal has yet attained its highest flavour.

Fish.—Turbot and brill are still seasonable, and are much alike, though turbot is considered the better, and is the dearer of the two. The flesh should have a yellowish tinge, and these, like all other flat fish, should be preferred when they are thick in proportion to their size. Turbot keeps well for a few days, and should be hung up by its tail, not laid flat. Other fish are still in season that were in the markets last month. The lists of the London fish markets give the following names: Soles, plaice, sturgeon, eels, conger, skate, haddocks, sprats, halibut, herrings, whiting, mackerel, hake, roker, coal fish, smelts. As much fish is caught and brought to London that should be left in the sea, it does not follow that all the prices quoted are of fish in full season. There are names in the list quite unfamiliar to some readers, but there is not one that does not belong to a fish that, good of its kind and well cooked, is fit to set before any one. We often should fare better and save money if we lengthened our list. Codfish, haddock, plaice, flounders, and the ever-welcome sole are in fine condition, but herrings and mackerel are not to be recommended. Smelts, whitings, and red mullet are still in season. Of late years the conger-eel has taken up a position formerly denied to him, and although in bad odour, on account of his cheapness, he is not a bad fish when carefully dressed, and, above all things, makes an excellent soup. Shell-fish are scarce, dear, and—with the exception of oysters—are not so good as later in the season. Salmon is never finer than during this month.

Game and Poultry.—Game is on the wane. Grouse, pheasant, and partridge are over, and game imported from the forests of Norway and the prairies of Illinois but inadequately fills the place of our home-grown birds. In default of these come swimming and wading fowl, woodcock, snipe, and golden plover. Wild duck holds its own, and always presents an appetising morsel. Of all Lenten fowl, the curlew holds the chiefest place, and affords an admirable dish either as a roast or en salmis. The godwit is also an excellent bird. Larks are to be had, and, in default of ortolans, are agreeable if diminutive. Hares are still to the fore, and rabbit is to be obtained, and may be roasted, smothered in onions, or best of all exhibited in a curry.

Barndoor poultry waxes scarce and dear. Turkeys no longer abound as at Christmas, and guinea-fowl are found the best substitute. Spring chickens present but a diminutive appearance, while geese and ducks are becoming rare.

Vegetables.—Seakale and rhubarb can be added to the list of vegetables, but they are still costly, though before the end of the month forced rhubarb will be common.

Fruit.—Oranges are now at the lowest prices, and very plentiful. It is a time of year when bottled and tinned fruits are in great request, both for dessert and for cooking.

Apples, with the exception of the reinette and other varieties of russets, are becoming scarce. France and America, however, send us lady-apples, and a few choice pippens, such as the famous Newtown variety.

Breadstuffs.—Good flour should have a very slight yellow tinge, should not feel gritty between the fingers, and it should be adherent, so that a handful pressed together retain its shape. There should be no mouldy smell nor acid taste. The best test of all is to bake a loaf of bread, always granted that the character of the flour is not to be held liable for shortcomings of cook or yeast. The very fine and white pastry flour makes the best-looking and also delicious-tasting bread, and is much to be preferred for puff paste and rolls; but for family use seconds flour and seconds bread is better, for not only is it cheaper, but it is more nourishing, because it contains less starch and a larger proportion of bone and flesh forming material. Rice is added in making bread, sometimes because it is cheaper than flour, at other times because it retains water. Bread made so is heavier and of closer texture. Potatoes are used only in small quantity, to assist the action of the yeast. Alum enables flour to be used that without it could not make passable bread.

As it cools, bread begins to lose weight. This may be stopped by throwing a thick cloth over the loaves, but the crust thereby becomes heavy. No private person would need to do this, but as household bread is sold by weight, and every customer may demand a full 4 lb. to each quartern, or 2 lb. to an ordinary loaf, it is sometimes in the baker’s interest to do so. When bread is left at the house it is not customary to weigh it, but the humbler housekeepers who fetch their bread take care to have a slice thrown in as makeweight if the scale does not turn at 2 lb. or 4 lb. Fancy bread is never sold by weight.

It is customary to allow about 1 lb. baker’s bread a day for each person. Two people would eat a half-quartern loaf between them. Of course, individual appetites vary, and if there is great abundance of other food, the bread bill may be diminished; but (though, of course, there should be no idea of stinting the supply) 1 lb. a day is an ample allowance, and if more is consumed there is probably some waste going on, new loaves being begun before the old are finished, and pieces of bread thrown into the dustbin or hog-tub. This is as unnecessary as it is undesirable. Half a stale loaf can be made fresh by warming it through in the oven. Slices of bread should not be cut till they are needed; but if they are cut, they can be made into puddings or fritters for the nursery tea or kitchen supper, much more popular and wholesome, and no more costly, than the monotonous bread and butter and bread and cheese. Smaller pieces can be dried and pounded for cutlets or fish; soaked in cold water or milk, they come in for rissoles and stuffing.

March.

Meat.—Pork is not seasonable in hot weather, and is not often seen on table after this month. Beef, mutton, and veal are obtainable as usual, and lamb can also be had, though it will be dear for a few weeks yet.

Fish.—Slightly salted and smoked haddocks are consumed in enormous quantities in London. Fresh or smoked, they are always a low-priced fish. There is not much to be remembered in choosing such fish, except that they should be large and thick; the smaller ones are all bone and skin. They should be scalded to draw out the salt and to make them soft, a preliminary to cooking that is often forgotten.

Perhaps nothing varies in quality and price so much as fish. It must be in season, as it is always tasteless and insipid, sometimes actually unwholesome, at other times. Fish out of season should not be bought, however cheap it seems to be. It is always in best condition just before spawning, when it is filled with roe. Afterwards it loses the store of fat, and becomes poor and watery. It must be fresh, and this is not easy of detection to the inexperienced. The smell is a guide; but fish kept on ice may not smell disagreeably, yet it may have been a long time out of the water, and as soon as it is taken from the ice it will begin to decompose, and in a few hours of warm weather will be quite uneatable. It should be bright and red about the gills and eyes, not dull and brown; but this also is an appearance that the fishmongers know how to give the fish long after nature has taken it away. It should not have been knocked about or bruised; the scales should be all there. A large fish is usually to be preferred to a small one, provided it be not old and coarse fleshed, and consequently tough, for the small contain a greater proportion of bone. The flesh should, with some few exceptions, have a bluish tinge when freshly cut. It should be firm, though not tough; but the firmness has something to do with good cookery. Salt enough to make the water like weak brine, or a little vinegar, tends to make the flesh of boiled fish firm.

In choosing any shell-fish, the great thing to be considered is the weight in proportion to size. The heavier they are the better; the lighter fish are apt to be watery. Of lobsters choose those with broadest tails. The very large lobsters, hoary with white incrustations on the shell, are often old and tough.

Cod is a winter fish, flourishing best in the coldest waters. Whitebait is brought into town each afternoon for the late dinners of fashionable London, as it loses its freshness even in a few hours, especially when the warm weather of June and July comes. Smelts when fresh are brown on the back and silvery-looking. They are not so plentiful now as in late autumn.

Monday is a dangerous day to go marketing, because perishable goods may have been kept from the Saturday before. For the same reason, on Saturday night fish may often be bought very cheap, because, though it is perfectly good at the time, it will not keep for 36 hours.

All oily fish must be perfectly fresh, and they do not generally keep long or well. Salmon trout, for instance, is said never to be eaten in perfection except by the fisherman, and many cases of poisoning with mackerel have been sufficiently severe to be noticed in the papers, while mild cases of discomfort due to that cause are known to every one. Mackerel lives but a very little time after it is taken out of the water. There are two mackerel fisheries, one in the spring and one in the autumn, and the fish are sometimes sold even in London at a very low price; in the fishing villages a score or more can be bought for a shilling. Nothing like this price is to be met with in town, but yet they are among the cheapest foods as soon as the fishing boats are in full work; and tons will be sold this month and next from barrows in the streets, often excellent fish, though they cost about a quarter of what we pay at the fishmonger’s. It should be bright and silvery looking, not bruised about the head.

Of salmon, it is usual to allow about ½ lb. for each person, if a handsome piece is wanted for boiling; less will do if a large party is to be provided for, but more is needed for a dinner of 2 or 3 persons. The middle of the fish costs more than the head and shoulders, and the tail less than either. Salmon goes farther than most kinds of fish, but only very seldom is it a cheap food. A curdy appearance between the flakes generally denotes a good fish. Turbot and the smaller species of the same genus are in prime condition. Brill is an admirable fish when chicken-turbot is not to be had. Soles are firm and white as ever. Salmon, now in splendid condition, has to endure the rivalry of the dainty trout. Towards the end of the present month shad begin to ascend the Severn and some of the rivers of France. This delicate fish is never better than when simply grilled. Eels are now in season, and may be served either as a stew, a spatchcock, or À la tartare.

Game and Poultry.—Goslings are to be found, and in the opinion of many are much more agreeable in their youthful beauty than in the mature and adipose condition of stubble-fed geese. Guinea-fowl are always good, great and small, and perhaps are best when nipped in the bud as mere eggs—a delicious morsel to a delicate palate.

Very little game is to be had, and that little consists, besides hares, of aquatic birds, woodcock, snipe, plover, widgeon, and teal, together with curlew.

Vegetables.—The vegetable market shows signs of spring. Forced cucumbers appear to keep salmon company. Spring salads take the place of winter. Artichokes from France are tolerably plentiful, and that excellent vegetable—sorrel, which forms such an agreeable addition to shad or to a fricandeau, is to be seen in our markets, although at present it finds but little favour in the sight of English cooks. Covent Garden imports sweet potatoes for the benefit of American customers, and custard-apples from the island of Madeira. New potatoes, carrots, turnips and parsnips are more abundant than in the preceding month. Portugal sends green peas, and imported asparagus becomes less costly.

Fruit.—We should be badly off for fruit if it were not for oranges, which are actually cheaper than English apples in the apple season. Now is the time to make marmalade, as Seville oranges are plentiful. If oranges or any other fresh fruit have to be kept, they should be in the dark, and laid on wood, not on a plate or dish. It is better to put them in rows, and not heap them up. Grapes are still in the market, flanked by apples and pears of the most durable kinds, and early strawberries.

April.

Meat.—Grass lamb is the meat of the season.

Fish.—Whitebait is a choice natural product. It is supposed that this delicious fish can only be obtained, either “plain,” “devilled black,” or “devilled red,” in true perfection at those excellent hostelries which by its means have attained celebrity. No greater mistake exists. It is within the power of every gentleman to have as good whitebait at his own table as he can obtain elsewhere. Fresh bait, ample flouring, and boiling—absolutely boiling—lard will solve the problem in the most satisfactory manner.

Salmon is getting cheaper—if not better—and plump chicken-turbot is still in. The gigantic but rather coarse halibut remains, with plaice and flounder. Dainty brook-trout and larger specimens of the same genus, from the Irish lakes, present an agreeable spectacle; while the gurnet is in great force. Whiting is yet in season, but mackerel and herring are better later on. Oysters take their leave.

Game and Poultry.—Spring chickens, ducklings, goslings, and guinea-fowl but feebly replace the juicy birds of the autumn and winter months.

Vegetables.—Among the prime vegetables of the month asparagus holds the chiefest place, and is always delicious. To those who have not yet tasted it we may recommend cold asparagus, with plain salad-dressing, as a breakfast dish without a peer. Green peas, early French beans, seakale, sorrel, spinach, succulent mushrooms, early carrots, and baby turnips are plentiful.

Fruit.—Pines, melons, oranges, hothouse grapes, peaches, nectarines and strawberries, and a few durable apples and pears apart—fruit is scarce; but delicious tarts can be made of green peaches and apricots.

May.

Meat.—Veal and lamb are in full season, and sweetbreads are in great request. As the supply is always limited, butchers not seldom try to pass off bullock’s sweetbread—i.e. the pancreatic gland—on their customers. True sweetbread is a gland in the neck of the young animal only. This should not be tolerated, as bullock’s sweetbread is coarse-flavoured and hard, and needs long and careful washing and cooking before it comes to table. It can, however, be made very palatable with care, and is occasionally worth buying as a change, under its rightful name, and at a legitimate price. Brains parboiled in salt and water to harden them are another good substitute for sweetbreads, and offer one more change from the perpetual joint and fowls that are on every table.

Game and Poultry.—A young fowl has large feet, knees, and neck in proportion to its size, and its thighs look white or pinkish. An old one has thin, scraggy legs and purplish tinge on its thighs; the scales look hard and horny, and often there are long hairs on the skin. If the beak is on, it should be soft, and so with the breast bone, which is frequently broken by the poulterer to give the bird a plump appearance. The length and size of the claws is another indication of age; the size is little or no guide, as that depends on the variety and the feeding. The small-boned, short-legged varieties are generally said to be the best. A very fat bird is to be avoided, for it wastes much in cooking, and even what remains of the fat cannot be eaten. Birds that are kept in the dark and crammed previous to killing become very fat, but the flesh loses flavour and firmness, and they are far inferior to barndoor fowls. Cleanliness is also essential to the production of a well-flavoured fowl; the same may be said of ducks, now as ducklings to be eaten with the earliest green peas. Full-grown ducks are better in late summer or autumn. Their age can be judged from the appearance of the feet, and by the pliability of the bill. The down that covers them may be an indication of youth, but it may also be put on by the poulterer with a sprinkling of gum.

Chickens, turkey poults, ducklings, goslings, and guinea-fowl dispute supremacy, but very little is to be said for any of them. The pigeon is possibly the best bird procurable during May. Plover’s egg, always delicious, even when eaten under difficulties, seems to gain in beauty when presented in the form of an aspic.

Fish.—May is the true mackerel month. The herring too puts in an appearance during the month of May, and is a thoroughly delicate fish. The only valid accusation against the herring is on account of his innumerable bones, but this is not the true reason of his being voted unfashionable. Unfortunately, the herring is too cheap, and, in consequence of this defect, is in the habit of haunting vulgar localities, and thus excluding himself from the refined society that he is so well qualified to exhilarate.

Whiting and smelts still appear, but are practically superseded by whitebait. The SalmonidÆ are in grand condition. Salmon, salmon trout, lake and brook trout prevail on our dinner-tables; but the most delicate member of the entire family is rarely seen. Either from scarcity, the distance of the lakes from the metropolis, or from some other cause, the beautiful silvery char seldom reaches London. Small as he is, he has all the richness of the salar, and possesses a delicacy all his own. Turbot now ceases, and codfish has retired. Brill, gurnet, soles, plaice, and flounders are in season. Oysters having departed, other shell-fish improve much in quality. Lobsters and crabs now lose much of the dryness that is so conspicuous a fault with them during the winter months.

Vegetables.—Vegetables are now plentiful and cheap. In warm seasons that are yet sufficiently damp they grow quickly, and the fibre is less woody and hard than that of vegetables grown in cold or dry weather. With the warm weather comes the difficulty of transport, but it is not yet so great as in July and August, when the plants are full of sap and ferment quickly under a hot sun. Gardeners have a habit of keeping vegetables for a few hours in a hot bed or greenhouse before sending them to the kitchen. They have some idea that it improves the quality—an idea that is wholly erroneous, and should be combated. Potatoes are often laid in the sun for a few hours to dry, but they should never be allowed to lie long enough for fermentation to set in. All withered vegetables should have the stalks freshly cut, and the ends should then be put in a bowl of water, just as withered flowers would be treated. Through the stalks they suck up water enough to fill their shrunken cells, and make them green and stiff once more, but to plunge the entire plant under water is a mistake, and after a few hours of such treatment the water is often perceptibly warm, and the leaves bruised and decaying. Of course this does not apply to washing vegetables and salads, which cannot be too thorough and complete, especially of the vegetables that many housekeepers buy off barrows in the streets.

Asparagus is now in great perfection, and green peas wait upon the insipid duckling. Unless young, quickly grown, freshly gathered, and properly cooked, green peas are apt to be a failure, and when four important conditions have to be fulfilled the chances are naturally against success. Summer cabbages, cauliflowers, spinach, young carrots, turnips, and potatoes are all to the fore; nor do salads fail to keep pace with these, as cabbage, lettuce, summer endive, and corn-salad are to be had in profusion.

Fruit.—The weak point of May is fruit, as almost the only good fruit that can be obtained at a reasonable price is the orange. Strawberries are to be bought for money, but in this instance the open-air-grown fruit is far preferable to the productions of the hothouse.

June.

Meat.—Lamb is now in fine condition, and, besides the ever-welcome fore-quarter, supplies admirable material for entrÉes of various kinds. Lamb’s head, either baked and served upon a mince or stewed with green peas, will always find legions of admirers.

On the subject of veal mankind is by no means so unanimous as on that of lamb, and in this country especially veal is generally denounced as unwholesome. Although it is unfortunately the custom to allow calves to grow unreasonably large before the day of sacrifice, and to compensate the loss of whiteness by phlebotomy, thereby losing much of the tenderness and succulence of the meat, veal is after all one of the most valuable materials for the production of dainty dishes. Calf’s head is susceptible of various treatment and the ears are esteemed choice morsels. Tongue, liver, sweetbread and feet have their several admirers. Breast of veal, either stuffed or curried, is a good dish, and so is the fricandeau well larded and served with mushrooms, peas, spinach, or—best of all—with sorrel. To the various forms of paupiettes, escalopes and cutlets there is verily no end, and to sum up its qualifications, veal makes an excellent roast. This latter remark, however, applies only to the loin. The huge mass called in English fillet of veal is one of the most tasteless and barbarous of joints.

Buck venison is in season from the middle of this month until September. It is one of those delicacies of the table that is not very often bought in the open market, and no one looks a gift horse in the mouth. Lean venison is scarcely worth eating, and is often sold at a very small price; the fat should be thick and abundant, clear and bright looking; the hoof smooth and close. In cool weather a haunch may hang for a fortnight, and it should be kept perfectly dry by wiping with cloths. Tastes, however, differ greatly as to the length of time that venison should be hung, and indeed “high” meat or game is actually in a state of decomposition, and it has been known to produce symptoms of poisoning in persons unaccustomed to its use. It begins first to decompose near the bone, and its state can best be ascertained by running a skewer into the middle of the joint.

Fish.—Lobster, whiting, trout, eels, and salmon, continue in season. The tiny Thames flounder is exceedingly sweet in flavour, and although lacking the firmness of the sole has peculiar merit of its own, either accommodated in sootje, or fried in perfect style.

Game and Poultry.—Goslings and half-grown geese—called in many country places green geese—are in season from now to September. The 29th of that month is a fixed date when every one knows that geese are in season to continue so until early spring. Ducks have no such date in their history; and, beginning in April or May as ducklings at a high price, they grow larger and cheaper all through the summer until the decline and disappearance of green peas. The age of both these birds may be guessed from the toughness of pinion, beak, and feet; from the deep orange or red colour of the feet of an old goose, those of a young bird being yellow; from the downy appearance of the feathers, and the size of the quills. A duck or goose, especially if not very young, is better for hanging a day or two, but it must not be in the least high, as the abundant fat would be rank. Rabbits, that is wild rabbits, are out of season. A few are seen in the shops, for they are not protected by game laws, but careful housekeepers know better than to buy them. Tame rabbits are fattened for market all the year round, though it is in winter that they are imported and sold in largest quantities.

Chickens are larger, and turkey poults assume respectable dimensions; but the great event of the present month is the advent of quail, wheatear, and ortolan. These delicious birds are doubly welcome at the present moment, as they afford inestimable relief from the insipid sameness of spring banquets. Of all game birds the quail is the most dainty, and combines in the highest degree delicacy of texture, beauty of form, and subtle aroma.

It is generally admitted that of all small birds the ortolan is the best, although some fastidious epicures affect to prefer the becafico and the reed-bird. Caught in great numbers in the south of France, ortolans are subjected to a preliminary process of fattening before the day of doom. Perhaps the most refined method of cooking ortolans is the traditional one of wrapping them in a vineleaf and simply roasting them. Johannesberg is the wine of all others which has the greatest sympathy with the tiny bird of the sunny south. Wheatears abound on the great South Downs of England, and these plump morsels may be dealt with in the same fashion as their foreign compeer.

Eggs.—During spring and early summer eggs are cheap and good. Those of the plover, turkey, and guinea-hen are exquisite in flavour, and always command a comparatively high price; but the productions of the barndoor fowl, the game-fowl, the bantam and Cochin China are to be obtained at a very moderate price, while the choice vegetables now in season suggest varieties of omelet but little known to the English cuisine. Eggs should be put by for winter use during this month or next. Recipes for preserving them are given on p. 117. Fresh eggs are not easy things to choose. It is quite easy to distinguish a distinctly bad egg, because, on holding it to the light, it is seen to be opaque, and a fresh egg is transparent; but there is no such visible difference between a new-laid egg and one that is some days or weeks old. The actual difference consists in the evaporation of water and its replacement by air, so that at one end there is a large air bubble in a stale egg. This is often enough to cause a rattling of the yolk if it is shaken close to the ear. Sometimes the yolk is seen to be settled on one side. The comparative weight is a sure test, for the air is lighter than the water, and a stale egg floats in brine where a fresh one sinks; but the drawback of this test is that the salt and water are not available in the market. Dissolve 2 oz. kitchen salt in 1 pint water. When a fresh-laid egg is placed in this solution it will descend to the bottom of the vessel, while one that has been laid on the day previous will not quite reach the bottom. If the egg be 3 days old it will swim in the liquid, and if it be more than 3 days old it will float on the surface, and project above the latter more and more in proportion as it is older.

Vegetables.—Green vegetables of all sorts are now at their best. Green peas, asparagus, summer endive, spinach, and sorrel. New potatoes are plentiful, and though really inferior to the ripe tuber, are greatly preferred by many persons pretending to taste.

As is fitting in summer, salads are to be found in great abundance, and perhaps the best of these is the Cos lettuce; for plain salad or for mayonnaise of fish or fowl no better basis exists. Lobster, crab, salmon, trout, sole or chicken mayonnaises form an agreeable interlude in any repast, and the prevailing fashion of serving a plain salad with roast meat is both healthful and appetising. In all salads compounded of Cos lettuce it should never be forgotten that tarragon vinegar is indispensable, as this pleasant condiment relieves the flavour of the lettuce in the most agreeable and refreshing manner.

Fruit.—At present rhubarb and gooseberries are the only fruits available for kitchen purposes. Apricots have even descended to street barrows; they are imported, and of the hard variety generally used for cooking. By the end of the month we shall be thinking of jam, and it is not amiss to issue an early warning against the idea that damaged or over-ripe fruit is good for jam.

Early raspberries, cherries, currants, apricots, peaches and nectarines are to be obtained, but the strawberry is master of the situation. Some pretend that the flavour of the wild strawberry is superior to that of the finest cultivated varieties. Strawberries make an excellent beginning for the day, and never taste better than when plucked and eaten at once. One great advantage the strawberry unquestionably has over other fruits—it may be eaten at any time and in any quantity “without compunction.”

July.

Meat.—The fiery temperature of the dog-days renders necessary some departure from the national system of alimentation. Even the carnivorous Briton turns aside with weariness, if not absolute loathing, from huge masses of tough beef and tasteless mutton, and sighs for a break in the monotony of our insular cuisine. There is veal it is true, but the fatted calf is not relished by everybody, and grass lamb, although now in superb condition, has lost the charm of novelty, and, like salmon, is viewed askant during the torrid days of July.

Red-deer venison is the flesh of a thoroughly wild animal, and possesses a high flavour, but is unfortunately not free from a certain dryness and toughness of fibre, resulting from “too high training” or superabundance of exercise; while buck venison is a delicious compromise between the wild flavour of “beasts of venerie” and the luscious products of artificial feeding.

By many epicures the neck of a fine buck is held in almost equal estimation with the haunch. Lovers of tit-bits linger affectionately over a venison fry; this prime delicacy must be ordered of venison dealers a few days in advance, especially if the weather be very hot.

Large joints—excepting in the case of venison which is readily convertible into stews and hashes—are not to be recommended, and a recourse to “kickshaws” is almost unavoidable.

Game and Poultry.—EntrÉes of fowl are always dainty and wholesome. Quail and ortolan still supply the roast, which in this month receives an important addition in the leveret—the avant-courier of the game season.

A guinea-fowl well hung is the nearest approach to a pheasant that the season affords. Then there are turkey poults, green geese, ducks, wild ducks, wheatears, and plenty of poultry, besides rabbits.

Fish.—The fish for the month are salmon and salmon trout, which will not be cheaper or better than now; grey and red mullet, which was in ancient Rome prized above all fish, and is still thought a delicacy; prawns, shrimps, crayfish, most often used for soup or garnish to other fish; mackerel, still abundant, but not so good as it was some weeks ago; fresh haddocks, conger, whiting, herrings, eels, soles, plaice, turbot, Thames flounders—the cheapest of flat fish, and sometimes muddy-flavoured, though a good flounder makes not a despicable dish. A large number of ling, hake, or white salmon, coalfish, roker, and other little-known fish find their way to the less fashionable quarters of London, and are sold at a low price.

At the best tables trout take the place of salmon, while chicken-turbot and whitebait supply an agreeable variety, and the much-vilified mussel partly fills up the vacancy left by the secession of the oyster. The John Dory is now in fine condition, and yields to no fish in the sea for fineness of texture and delicacy of flavour. It is unhappily the custom to stuff the Dory with an over-rich stuffing and serve him with a potent sauce. This treatment effectually destroys the fine flavour of a fish which requires no stronger condiment than caper-sauce.

Vegetables.—Of vegetables we have a great abundance. Green peas are plentiful and cheap, and the later varieties will keep our tables supplied for many weeks yet. French beans, said to be in season when beef is in perfection, broad beans, artichokes, cauliflowers, cabbage, carrots, marrows, outdoor mushrooms if the weather is propitious, outdoor cucumbers for the next 10-12 weeks, and salad of all kinds grown quickly and crisp in summer weather, new potatoes at their best, all belong to July.

Fruit.—Walnuts should be ready for pickling at the beginning of this month. They should be so soft that a pin easily penetrates them. This is a good time to make all sorts of pickles; but it is cheaper to buy them than to buy all the materials. Ketchup can be made of the shell when the walnuts are ripe in September.

What fruit ripens this mouth depends greatly on the part of England where one looks for it. In the large markets, where much foreign fruit comes, the seasons are not definitely defined, and all sorts of fruits are to be found out of their proper season. Much, probably more than half, of the peaches and nectarines and better kinds of fruit grown for sale, are grown in houses, or at least with some protection of glass. Without it they will hardly ripen in the north of England, and everywhere the uncertainty of spring weather, and the fatality of a wet frost while the fruit is setting, make the glass almost a necessity where the crop is raised for profit.

The cry of “cherry ripe” is still familiar, and the subacid fruit is exceedingly grateful to a parched palate. Strawberries are on the wane, but raspberries, currants, and gooseberries take their place. On the good qualities of raspberry and currant tart it is needless to dilate.

August.

Game.—The great events for the fashionable and dining world during the coming month are, no doubt, the commencement of grouse shooting on the 12th, and of black-cock shooting on the 21st. At one time, when it was less customary for gentlemen to sell game, a great part of that sold in shops was obtained in some questionable manner. Perhaps even now there will be some who do not think of marketing for grouse, but wait until a present comes from friends at a Scotch or Yorkshire moor. From whatever source grouse are obtained, the housekeeper ought to know if they are old or young birds, in order to avoid the old in case of purchase, and to cook the young and hang the old in case of gift. It is comparatively easy to distinguish the two when lying side by side. The undeveloped plumage, the smooth legs, the short spur are conspicuous. The old birds are usually larger than the young, and the bones of the pinion and thigh stiffen with age. They are not so easy to distinguish apart, except by practice. The old birds not only are improved by longer hanging, but require longer to cook, so that it is better not to serve old and young on the same day. Except for this addition, the meat supply remains as for last month.

Vegetables.—Some of the summer vegetables are past their best days, but their place is speedily taken by others. Vegetable marrows can be cut and hung up for winter use, and French beans are still tender enough for pickling, though the length of time they will continue so depends on getting a due proportion of rain with summer sunshine. In dry seasons vegetables are always stringy and tough.

Fruit.—Gooseberries, raspberries, and currants will not last the month out in the warmer parts of England. Even if they are kept from the birds they drop from the trees as soon as they are perfectly ripe, and there is so much other fruit that they are not missed. Strawberries are nearly over, although a few late varieties are still fit for table. But there is no scarcity of fruit for those who have money in pocket. The market lists comprise peaches, nectarines, apricots, greengages, melons, grapes, green figs, early pear and apples, pine-apples, oranges, lemons.

Groceries.—With regard to groceries, there are two very distinct points to be debated. In the present day no hints on marketing are in any way complete without some consideration of the advantages and disadvantages connected with retail shops and co-operative stores. It will be conceded by every one that the stores are not well adapted for the sale of goods involving great latitude of choice. Nor, as a rule, have they large trade in articles of an exceptionally perishable character. Rapidity of distribution is one of the conveniences that customers at stores have decided they prefer not to pay for. Housekeepers, as well as servants, who are accustomed to have a boy to call daily for orders, and return in an hour’s time with the order, though it be only 6d. worth of sugar or 1 lb. of steak, often have an insuperable objection to the stores. The fact is that the stores make heavier demands upon their foresight than people can meet. None of us is so long-sighted in her household arrangements that she would like to be wholly dependent on the stores. The country shops exist for the benefit of even the most uncompromising adherents of the stores, and, that being so, it is just as well to remember that if no one ever deals with the shops they may some day die of inanition, and that during a slow decline they must deteriorate. It is, no doubt, a remembrance of these facts that induces many persons to deal with local tradesmen, even though they make no tangible difference in their prices for ready money. And then the competition of the stores has brought into existence the ready-money shops. Some are well known to all. There is no reason why they should not sell as well and as cheaply as the stores if they adhere strictly to the “no credit” system, if they spend no more than the stores do on rent in a fashionable neighbourhood, advertisements, ground-floor space, plate-glass windows, and such unnecessary luxuries. But the difficulty of enforcing ready-money payment is very great where the bulk of the customers are weekly wage-earners, liable to be thrown out of work at any time through ill-health, winter weather, depression of trade. It would not be necessary to insist on the want of thrift that makes these people live always on the wages of the week to come, instead of on the wages of the week gone by, if this were a habit solely confined to the uneducated classes. But it seems the ordinary custom of most persons earning limited incomes—and it is productive of so much misery that the one hint for housekeepers of all degree needing most to be pressed home is that to make a practice of paying ready money is the only way to ensure good value, either in the goods purchased or in comfort gained.

September.

Meat.—As for the meat market, buck venison goes out, and pork is again seasonable. It need scarcely be said that fresh pork is eaten all the year round by a section of the public. All meat ought to be very cheap. The highest prices for mutton always mean for Southdown, of which there is only enough to supply a small percentage of customers. Not a twentieth part of the mutton killed is Southdown, so that butchers cannot fairly quote the prices given for it as a justification of exorbitant retail prices of mutton in general. Southdown sheep carry most of their weight in the hind quarter, and the Leicester and other coarser sheep are heavier in front, and this also must be allowed for in quoting market prices, as the fore quarter is always cheaper than the leg and loin.

Ham must not be too new. The best manufacturers keep their hams for some months before they send them out; but people in a small way of business cannot afford to turn over their money so slowly, and it never would answer to keep cheap hams. If the consumer has no place to keep them, it is often possible to make arrangements to have them kept a month or two at the shop. Ham and bacon must be hung up in a warm but airy place, and they are generally tied in canvas or paper bags. They are often hung in a kitchen, which does very well if it is not too warm. There is much fashion and fancy as to choice of different parts of bacon. The streaky covering of the rib bones, corresponding to the thin flank of beef and breast of mutton, is preferred for boiling, and commands a high price, strangely enough, because that is one of the cheapest parts of other meat. A leaner part is the back, or part of the gammon. The cheapest is the fore hock or fore end, for boiling or family use. Part of the thick flank is very good for boiling. To choose bacon, a knife or skewer should be run in close to the bone, and, when withdrawn, should have no strong, rancid smell. The bacon should not have yellow, “rusty” patches.

Game and Poultry.—Partridge-shooting begins with the month. Much the same hints must be given to distinguish old from young as for grouse. The tough, hard beak is characteristic of last year’s birds; the under half of the beak breaks or bends if a young bird is held up by it. There is also in the breast plumage of an old bird a mark shaped like a horseshoe. They should have dark-coloured bills and yellowish legs. French partridges, with the beautiful grey and brown plumage, are not considered so good eating; they are slightly larger.

September witnesses the advent of the stubble-goose in all the glory of sage and onions and apple-sauce, but many prefer gosling, or tender adolescent “green” goose, to the plump stubble-fed bird. This animal must of course be roasted to get rid of his superabundant fat; but in Ireland a curious dish, called a goose-pie, is often consumed by the robust inhabitants, and boiled goose is sometimes eaten in the rural districts.

Fish.—Net-fishing ended last month, but line-fishing still goes on. Good takes of herring are reported from the Scotch coast, and before the month is out the Cornish fishermen will be drawing their harvest of pilchards from the sea, packing and curing them for foreign exportation. This yearly exportation of pilchards is one of the unaccountable food customs of England. We send them to the Mediterranean, and we import sardines in oil. Sardines are eaten everywhere, and yet the two fish are so much alike that many persons believe them to be the same in different stages of growth; and in appearance and flavour they both strongly resemble herrings, which are eaten in England far more than any other fish. It is said of herring, pilchard, and sardine, that if you hold them up by the dorsal fin, one tilts its head up, the other its tail up, and the third swings even.

Oysters are again in the market. Small ones with fairly smooth shells are the best, though it may be advisable to buy the larger and less delicate fish at a lower price for scalloping or cooking.

In a country admirably supplied with lobsters the tiny crayfish cuts an insignificant figure, except in the eyes of those who by foreign travel have become awakened to its rare merit. To be thoroughly appreciated, the crayfish should be eaten hot, and “accommodated” À la bordelaise.

Among true fishes grey mullet holds the chiefest place during the present month. This excellent fish may be cooked in various ways—boiled, broiled, or au vin blanc. John Dory holds his position, but salmon is gone and codfish is hardly yet in season; turbot and brill are good in September, and the latter fish is no insignificant rival to the turbot.

Vegetables.—This month sees many of the winter’s potatoes out of the ground, and stored in a dry dark place for winter. In choosing them it should be remembered that large deep eyes cut to waste. Champions, for instance, are good, but on this account not economical. A rough-skinned potato is generally floury; but there are many exceptions to this rule. Small potatoes are seldom economical, even at a low price, the waste in peeling being so great. The best way to try them is by cooking a few in various ways.

As the golden tints of summer are succeeded by the brown hues of autumn, a certain falling off in vegetables begins to make itself felt; but ripe potatoes, scarlet tomatoes, creamy cauliflowers, and abundant artichokes console us in some measure for the asparagus, peas and beans of earlier days. Summer salads are scarce, while the celery and endive of winter have not yet appeared. Cold cooked cauliflower makes an excellent salad, and potato salad is well known in America and in Germany. The comparative cheapness of artichokes at this season is a strong inducement to indulge in one of the most delicate of all possible salads. Cut up and served either with plain salad dressing, or better still with a rich mayonnaise, artichoke bottoms present a delicious dish, and if a little cooked and finely minced truffle be added, the salad gains much in elegance and flavour.

It is a delusion to suppose that the small button mushrooms are the only variety worthy of careful cookery. The huge field mushrooms are excellent when toasted and eaten for breakfast, with a little pepper, salt, and butter, and a slice of well-made dry toast.

Fruit.—Stone-fruit of all kinds is to be had in abundance. Peaches and plums, apples and pears, form the basis of many charming tarts, pies, and puddings. West Indian pines are to be bought at a low price, and as the tropical fruit lacks the high flavour of hothouse fruit, it is perhaps eaten to the best advantage when sliced and dressed with wine, sugar, and a little orange or lemon juice. Magnificent melons of all sizes, shapes, and colours, from the huge green rosy-hearted water melon, and the rocky-looking Dutch variety to the elegant “cantelupe,” the dainty “nutmeg,” the recherchÉ “green fleshed,” and the tiny “golden drop.” In this country it is but too common to regard the melon simply as a dessert fruit, to be eaten with sugar and accompanied by wine. Eaten in this way the melon is excellent; but perhaps the true use of the melon, like that of most fruits, is to form the initial dish of the day. In America it is customary to begin breakfast with a melon seasoned with pepper and salt.

The apple crop is commencing in most parts of the country; but winter apples will not be picked until quite the end of the month.

Buying at the Stores almost necessitates buying in large quantities. Whether it is wise to do this more than one is compelled must depend to some extent on the facilities for keeping groceries. If they are anything tolerable, it will not be amiss to give a large order for necessaries at the beginning of the month or quarter, when last month’s earnings or income have just been paid. Some groceries improve by keeping, as, for instance, candles and soap, which harden by exposure to the air, and so do not waste in use.

Many others are no worse for keeping. Under this head come all the groceries that are sent out in air-tight tins and bottles, and these are also delightfully independent of a bad store-room; and the greater number of the rest will keep without harm in wood or earthenware for any reasonable length of time. The things that do harm with keeping are those that are artificially dried, such as oatmeal and maize meal, which readily take up moisture from the surrounding air and turn bitter. Salt, and, to some extent, sugar, have the same disagreeable absorbent power, but they can easily be dried, and return to their former condition. Cheese is another thing that improves with keeping in a damp place, or closely covered; but, as the process of ripening is really a careful cultivation of mites and mould, and, as mould is fatal to most food, it is not wise to buy a store of cheese and keep it in the store-room.

To choose groceries is not always an easy thing. One would need to qualify for a buyer in the grocery trade to do it well. But a few hints every one can pick up, and every one will find useful. The quotations in the daily newspapers will not help us much, for those paragraphs bristle with trade terms, and are barely intelligible to the outsider. A grocer selects sugar by the taste and smell; to the average housekeeper all sugars smell alike. Mites are common in moist sugar, less so in crystallised, and they may be detected by dropping a pinch into water; the sugar sinks and the mites float. Presently the sugar dissolves, and the sediment may fairly be taken for sand or other adulterant. The profit on the sale of cane sugar has of late been extremely small; in fact, cane sugar has often during the past year sold for less than it cost to bring it to England. The chief adulterant used is grape sugar, which is made from starchy matter. Grape sugar has much less sweetening power than cane sugar—5 parts of the former doing the work of 3 of the latter—and it crystallises with difficulty. The sugar prepared from beet, of which much is used in England, is cheaper, and therefore it also may be said to be used as an adulterant, when it is passed off for cane sugar; but the two sugars nearly resemble one another, and there is no reason to suppose that beet sugar is unsuitable for preserving. There is, however, this difference in the two sugars—i.e. that the treacle drained off from beet sugar has an unpleasant flavour, and so cannot be used as cane treacle is. Lump sugar and crystallised sugar are least likely to be adulterated, and are therefore better to buy than ordinary moist sugar.

Rice is sold under many names. Aracan is the lowest priced, and that grown in Rangoon is not much dearer. Patna rice is recommended for curries, because it is said to keep its shape better when boiled, and occasionally Carolina, which is very large grained, is spoken of. True Carolina is seldom met with in this country; there is but a limited supply, and little of that leaves America; selected Patna does duty under its name. The rice that swells most in cooking is the best. Rice is like potatoes, and different sorts develop different tendencies, and need different treatment. Good Rangoon is generally cheapest for household purposes, and good rice broken is more advantageous than inferior rice whole. Tapioca used to be an article of luxury, but is now as cheap as sago, which it strongly resembles in taste and nourishing power. Corn-flour can always be recommended. To ensure having a genuine article it is well to order the brand of an established house.

October.

Meat.—The grosser viands, supplied by the butcher, are in great perfection. Beef, mutton, and veal are all to be recommended, and lamb has been replaced by pork. Esteemed coarse and indigestible by many, the flesh of youthful swine yet possesses rare merits.

Game and Poultry.—Pheasants come into the market. Ude says they should “be eaten when blood runs from the bill, generally 6-7 days.” Cooked quite fresh, they have not much more flavour than a fowl; but the time of keeping depends on the weather. In damp, warm weather nothing keeps long or well. The birds should be plucked just before cooking; always hung in the feathers. The development of the spur in the cock bird, and of the wing feathers in both cock and hen, show the age. The hen is smaller, but generally thought better.

Hares are plentiful. Many are brought from abroad. The average weight of a hare is about 5-7 lb., but it is not a suitable dish to serve for a large party, as, except for the slices on either side of the back, there are no choice morsels to be carved from a hare. There are few dishes that it is so hard to carve well. An old hare should be well hung, and jugged rather than roasted. It may be distinguished from a young one by its size, by the much-spread cleft in the upper lip, by the rough and blunted claws, and by the comparatively small size of the knee joints. A hare should hang some time, “better not paunched or skinned, but if paunched, it should be wiped inside every day, and sprinkled with pepper and ginger.” Some persons advise that an old hare should lie for a time in vinegar and water. Vinegar always has the effect of softening the fibres of meat, and so making it less tough. It is for this reason that vinegar is often added to boiled meat or stew.

Rabbits are also very plump and good, and barndoor poultry is abundant. Capons, ducks, geese, and young turkeys crowd the markets. By no exercise of the culinary art can the tame duck be made to rival her wild compeer, but she is nevertheless very toothsome when “accommodated” aux olives.

Fish.—Among the fishes of the present month may be found John Dory, grey mullet, and red mullet. During October turbot is very fine. A sigh of regret must, however, be exhaled over the persistence of English people in accompanying this delicate fish with the rich stew popularly known as lobster sauce. Hollandaise sauce and caper sauce are much to be preferred, for one reason among others, that they permit the epicure to taste the fried smelts or fried oysters, with which every turbot should be served.

Smelts, soles, whiting, skate, eels, and the famous Dublin Bay haddock are now in season; but although codfish is supposed to be “in” from September to March, the true gourmand will reserve the pleasure of discussing that magnificent dish—cod’s head and shoulders with oyster sauce—until at least November. Sea bream, a fish in good condition during the autumn and winter, only requires to be properly understood and properly dressed to be thoroughly appreciated.

Vegetables.—Potatoes need be covered only when there is fear of frost; but they must never be exposed to the sun, especially when they are washed and freed from the particles of earth that cling to their skins. They should be turned over, and any diseased ones picked out from time to time.

The common way of buying potatoes is by weight or by measure. Small consumers almost always buy by weight, but it is not in any way a good plan. It is dear. 2d. a lb. is not an uncommon price; 9s. a bushel is almost unheard of. Last year it was easy to get very fair potatoes at 1s. 6d.-2s. a bushel of 56 lb. There must be few households where a bushel of potatoes could not be eaten while they were good, and they would keep very well in a sack at the bottom of a cupboard, if no better placed offered. In larger quantities they can be had cheaper than by the bushel. Just as with carrots, or onions; they are cheapest soon after they are dug out of the ground; and carrots keep well in any outhouse or cellar that is fairly dry, stacked a few inches from the ground, and covered when the frost comes. Per bushel the price is very moderate; but they make a considerable item in housekeeping expenses when they are bought one or two at a time from the greengrocer’s stall. Onions are even easier to keep, for they do not dry up as carrots are apt to dry in the kitchen cupboard, nor sprout so soon as carrots if they are too damp.

Vegetables are also sold by the sack or by the stone of 8 lb. Local customs vary much. The actual weights and measures are standard the same over all the country; but what is sold by weight in one county is sold by measure in another. One needs be a ready reckoner to turn pounds into gallons, stones into bushels or sacks, quarts into pecks. And it is easy to see that a given measure does not contain the same weight of any two things. A gallon nominally holds ? of a corn bushel, which is 7 lb. Practically a gallon measure of fruit may weigh anything over 5½ lb. Sometimes though the measure is spoken of, the weight is given. Of course, the larger the fruit, the less advantageous to the purchaser to measure instead of weigh. The disadvantage may be enough to compensate for the great waste of small potatoes, small apples, or other fruit.

To pass over the truffle when discussing the luxuries of October would be an unpardonable omission. The diamonds of the kitchen are never in more superb condition than at present. On their immense value, from their faculty of communicating an incomparable flavour to everything with which they are associated, it is needless to dilate. France rejoices in no less than 4 species of truffles; and of these priority of place is universally granted to the black truffle of PÉrigord.

Apart from the important position occupied by truffles in sauces, salads, farces, and entrÉes, the truffle possesses the admirable faculty of enhancing the flavour of Burgundy about fifty per cent.

With the exception of peas, beans, and asparagus, almost every vegetable is in season. Artichokes, tomatoes, aubergines, cardoons, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, and winter spinach may all be had.

Fruit.—Lovers of fruit may rejoice in late peaches and plums, early apples and delicious pears. Grapes are also abundant; and the advent of ripe walnuts is enthusiastically hailed.

Plums can be kept many weeks if wrapped in thin paper and laid singly on wood. Damsons and bullaces hang through the early frost, and can be kept through November, laid out on wooden trays. They are besides the most suitable fruit for bottling and preserving for tarts, and are greatly in demand, and generally much dearer than cooking plums.

Mulberries and blackberries are plentiful, but the former travel so ill that they have not much place in the markets. Blackberries are seldom sold except in country and seaside towns. The American blackberry, having a larger and fuller-flavoured fruit, and more serrated leaves, has been introduced into this country, and promises to be a valuable addition to our list of autumn fruits.

The best way of keeping ripe nuts is in an earthenware crock covered, in a cellar, where they remain quite moist up to Christmas. Those who have forgotten to make walnut pickle in July can turn the shells into good ketchup now.

Chestnuts are generally sent to our markets from abroad, and, there being little demand for them except as luxuries, they are dear. The Spanish chestnut grows and ripens well in many parts of England; but most of the trees are valued chiefly for their ornamental appearance, it not being worth while to plant trees for the sake of the nut harvest.

November.

Fish.—At the head of the fish list is the cod, which has never quite disappeared from the market, though its season is from November to March. It is best in cold, frosty weather, and caught in high latitudes. The Dogger Bank is the fishing ground best known by name, but there are several different species brought to the London market, which perhaps accounts for the great variety in the quality of this fish. A thick head, red gills, bright eyes, flesh bronze-shaded where it is cut, are all indications of a good and fresh fish. It should besides be elastic to touch, with a stiff back and tail, which shows that it is likely to be firm-fleshed. It will crimp only when it is very fresh. The sound and liver are both esteemed. Cod liver is a very suitable food to buy for an invalid, if it should happen to be relished, as it is both nourishing and digestible.

The following are mentioned as fish in season; Barbel, brill, carp, cod, dace, eels, haddocks, herrings, ling, perch, pike, plaice, skate, smelt, soles, sprats, tench, whiting, cockles, mussels, crabs, lobsters, oysters. In this country fresh-water fish do not form an important article of food. Their excellence depends almost entirely on the character of the stream in which they are caught. Like all fresh-water fish, the larger they are the better. Shell-fish are also among the foods that vary most according to special conditions of their life. Well-known instances of mussels having proved poisonous when taken from the copper sheathing of an old pier, and of shrimps that caused symptoms of poisoning because they were caught at the outlet of a sewer, have originated a belief that to eat any cheap shell-fish is dangerous to health. But there seems no foundation for the belief.

Meat.—There is nothing new to be said about meat this month. Beef, mutton, veal, doe venison, pork are in season. Small pork, with a thin rind, a fair amount of fat, finely-grained lean, and small bones is to be chosen for roasting; bacon pork is fatter and larger. The quality of pork depends on the food that has fattened it.

Game and Poultry.—Birds are never more plentiful than in November. Partridges, pheasants, grouse, wild duck, teal, plover, dotterel, woodcock, snipes, widgeon, ducks, geese, turkeys, fowls, are all in season. The best turkeys are said to be fattened in Norfolk. At any rate, most persons will agree that those fed and fattened in England are preferable to those sent from Ireland, France, or Belgium. The number consumed in England at Christmas is very much greater than the number fattened in this country. The best indication of youth is the absence of spur and the smooth skin, soft and silky to touch, which with age becomes hard and wrinkled. As to plumpness, that may be felt by the breast and thighs. It is not quite easy to see if a fowl is plump, for either it has its feathers on or else it is trussed, and the skill of the poulterer is used to give the bird its best possible appearance. With this aim it is pressed into a round plump shape, a thin layer of fat is laid over the breast, known as the leaf, and supposed to come out of the bird, but quite as often fetched from the butcher’s shop, and even white down is powdered over and secured with a little gum. A hairy turkey, with reddish or purplish thighs and back, is likely to be old, so is one of unusually large size. The chief attainment of a successful poultry breeder is to get size and youth together, but it is only the successful who accomplish it.

Partridges and pheasants are much cheaper than last month. It is no longer quite so easy to distinguish old birds from young, as the plumage is gradually developing. One sign of youth is that the penfeathers are pointed in a young, rounded in an old bird. It happens very often that wild duck, widgeon, teal, and sometimes the common plover are sold at a very low price in the London markets, or are hawked about the streets. All these birds are apt to be coarse-flavoured, rank, and fishy. It is rare that a widgeon is anything else. Teal is the best of the three, and a good wild duck is not to be despised. The most of them are caught in the fens of Lincolnshire, where they abound. All these birds have soft pliable legs and feet while they are fresh, and the legs very soon dry and stiffen. They should be eaten as fresh as possible, for keeping only develops the oily flavour. Of plovers there are two kinds, the golden and the grey, the latter being the commoner and the former the better kind. Neither is so commonly seen on fashionable tables as plovers’ eggs, for which, however, the eggs of other semi-aquatic birds are often substituted.

Coals.—A few words about coals may not be unacceptable to some housekeepers. They always last longer if they are kept in a well-ventilated coal-cellar. Shut up, they give off gas, which helps forward their speedy consumption, and is also unwholesome to the inmates of the house. Country people cannot do better than keep the coals out of doors—that is, if they can so arrange that they are not likely to be stolen to any large amount. If they are wetted, so much the better, for they burn slower, and make less dust. By far the cheapest way is to have a truckload (about 7 tons) direct from the colliery; in that way they cost several shillings a ton less. The coalheaver is one of those public functionaries who comes in for a good share of general abuse. As coals are sold by weight, the most obvious way of delivering short measure is by wetting them, when a given bulk weighs more. It is also easy to fill the sacks less than full. A respectable coal merchant would not lend himself to any such practices. Of course, with connivance of the servants, it is easy to deliver any quantity of coals a sack or two short; but that might equally be said of any other goods. Coke helps much to economise coal, and should be purchased of the gas company. Briquettes made of coal-dust are very cheap and most enduring fuel; they are sold by special agents.

December.

Meat.—All meats are in their primest condition in this month.

Game and Poultry.—Barndoor poultry specially challenges attention during the present month. Deliciously plump, fat, well-fed capons come from the Eastern counties.

To the enormous turkeys so popular at Christmas-tide we cannot accord unqualified admiration, as they are terribly apt to be dry and tasteless—not to say stringy. Smaller turkeys than those in fashion at the present moment yield a far greater amount of satisfaction. Perhaps the best way to deal with a turkey of exaggerated dimensions is to boil and serve it with celery sauce or oyster sauce, both excellent accompaniments to any kinds of boiled poultry.

Towards the end of the month doe venison puts in an appearance. Hares and wild rabbits are still very good, and even tame rabbits, when very fat, are by no means to be despised. Rabbits are often sold skinned and trussed for table, and in that state they are not so easy to choose well. The claws should be smooth and sharp, the knee joints large, the ears soft; when it is old its fur turns grey. If fresh it will be supple and moist, with a blue tinge on the flesh. Wild rabbits have more flavour; tame are whiter, fatter, and more delicate. Fowls, geese, pigeons, teal, turkeys, widgeon, wild duck, larks, ortolans, partridges, pheasants, plovers, quails, snipe, woodcock, and swan are all in season just now, and at no time is there so much choice of birds. Pigeons vary much; to waste and to fatten is with them only the work of hours. They should not be fully fledged when they come to table, and the fillets should be bright red; when old these darken to purple and the legs are thin.

Grouse are getting scarce, and are but feebly replaced by capercailzie and ptarmigan. Partridges and pheasants are still in prime condition, and all sorts of water-fowl are in great abundance. Woodcock and snipe, having had ample time to recuperate after their migration, are now superbly plump, while to those who cannot afford such expensive luxuries the golden plover affords a tolerable substitute. The lark also affords a toothsome morsel.

Fish.—Codfish is now in its prime; the perennial sole still appears in many shapes on well-appointed tables; while sturgeon, turbot, skate, whiting, and the delicious smelt contend for notice. Red mullet also charms the eye and palate.

Vegetables.—The vegetable world, albeit less generous than in the summer months, still affords sufficient luxuries. Brussels sprouts, spinach, savoys, and Scotch kale, rival in tenderness the excellent greens so much sought after at Christmas. Carrots are still good; while cardoons and salsify—a root which has curiously enough, like cardoons, dropped out of fashion in England—are also to be obtained. Radishes, endive, and beetroot supply salads, and celery is in prime condition.

Forced seakale and beans are already in the market. Broccoli, parsnips, celery, artichokes, turnips, leeks, onions, sorrel, beet, winter salads, are the commonest vegetables.

Fruit.—For fresh fruits we have apples and pears home-grown, and apples, oranges, tomatoes, grapes from abroad, and hothouse pineapples and melons. In dried fruits the choice is endless. Raisins, currants, and sultanas are but three names given to many different kinds of dried grape. They should be plump and moist, and have few or no stones in their skins. Large cake-makers often pour boiling water on them to make them swell and look plump in the cake. The relative prices vary a good deal. As a rule, currants cost less than raisins or sultanas; but then they are not so nourishing nor so sweet, and they do not go so far. The best raisins are generally sold on the stalks for table fruit, and they are to be preferred for cooking. From raisins one passes by an easy transition to almonds. Jordan almonds are about double the price of the Valencia, which, however, serve very well for many purposes. The best are long and oval-shaped, the commoner kind rounder and flat. Bitter almonds come from Mogador. Peach nut oil is often used to flavour in their stead, but should be used with great care, as it is a poison; indeed, many persons cannot eat anything flavoured with bitter almonds, even though the flavouring is not at all strong. Green almonds and pistachio nuts are very much liked by some persons, but they are not imported in large quantities, possibly because they soon turn rancid.

All kinds of French and Portuguese plums are said to improve by keeping. The various kinds of tinned fruits have, to some extent, driven these out of popular favour.

Supplementary Literature.

F. R. Hogg: ‘Indian Notes.’ London. 1880. 5s.

Dr. R. Riddell: ‘Indian Domestic Economy and Receipt Book, with Hindustan romanized names; comprising numerous directions for plain wholesome cookery, both Oriental and English; with much miscellaneous matter, answering all general purposes of reference connected with household affairs likely to be immediately required by families, messes, and private individuals residing at the Presidencies or out-stations.’ Calcutta and London. 8th edition, 1877. 6s.

The Queen. London, weekly. 6d.

---