EARWIGS. These insects are often destructive in gardens, especially where carnations, nuts, or filberts, pears and apples are reared. Their depredations on the flowers may be prevented by putting the bowl of a tobacco-pipe on the sticks which support them, into which they will creep in the day time, and may be destroyed. Green leaves of elder laid near fruit trees, or flower roots, will prevent their approach. Large quantities may be taken by placing short cuts of reed, bean or wheat straw, among the branches of fruit trees, and laying some on the ground near the root. Having committed their depredations in the night, they take refuge in these in the day time; the reed or straw may be taken away and burnt, and more put in its stead.—If unfortunately one of these disagreeable insects have crept into the ear, from their running so frequently about our garments, let the afflicted person lay his head upon a table, while some friend carefully drop into the ear a little sweet oil, or oil of almonds. A drop or two will be sufficient to destroy the insect, and remove the pain. An earwig may be extracted by applying a piece of apple to the ear, which will entice the insect to come out.

EDGEBONE OF BEEF. Skewer it up tight, and tie a broad fillet round it, to keep the skewers in their places. Put it in with plenty of cold water, and carefully catch the scum as it rises. When all the scum is removed, place the boiler on one side of the fire, to keep simmering slowly till it is done. A piece weighing ten pounds will take two hours, and larger in proportion. The slower it boils the better it will look, and the tenderer it will be: if allowed to boil quick at first, no art can make it tender afterwards. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold carrots are a general favourite with cold beef.

EEL BROTH. Clean half a pound of small eels, and set them on the fire with three pints of water, some parsley, a slice of onion, and a few peppercorns. Let them simmer till the eels are broken, and the broth good. Add salt, and strain it off. The above should make three half pints of broth, nourishing and good for weakly persons.

EEL PIE. Cut the eels in lengths of two or three inches, season with pepper and salt, and place them in a dish with some bits of butter, and a little water. Cover the dish with a paste, and bake it.

EEL SOUP. Put three pounds of small eels to two quarts of water, a crust of bread, three blades of mace, some whole pepper, an onion, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Cover them close, stew till the fish is quite broken, and then strain it off. Toast some bread, cut it into dice, and pour the soup on it boiling hot. Part of a carrot may be put in at first. This soup will be as rich as if made of meat. A quarter of a pint of rich cream, with a tea-spoonful of flour rubbed smooth in it, is a great improvement.

EGGS. In new-laid eggs there is a small division of the skin at the end of the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to the eye. On looking through them against the sun or a candle, they will be tolerably clear; but if they shake in the shell, they are not fresh. Another way to distinguish fresh eggs, is to put the large end to the tongue; if it feels warm, it is new and good. Eggs may be bought cheapest in the spring, when the hens first begin to lay, before they set: in Lent and at Easter they become dear. They may be preserved fresh for some time by dipping them in boiling water, and instantly taking them out, or by oiling the shell, either of which will prevent the air from passing through. They may also be kept on shelves with small holes to receive one in each, and be turned every other day; or close packed in a keg, and covered with strong lime water. A still better way of preserving eggs in a fresh state is to dip them in a solution of gum-arabic in water, and then imbed them in powdered charcoal. The gum-arabic answers the purpose of a varnish for the eggs, much better than any resinous gum, as it can easily be removed by washing them in water, and is a much cheaper preparation than any other. If eggs are greased the oily matter becomes rancid, and infallibly hastens the putrefaction of the eggs. But being varnished with gum water, and imbedded in charcoal, they will keep for many years, and may be removed from one climate to another.

EGGS AND BACON. Lay some slices of fine streaked bacon in a clean dish, and toast them before the fire in a cheese-toaster, turning them when the upper side is browned; or if it be wished to have them mellow and soft, rather than curled and crisp, parboil the slices before they are toasted and do them lightly. Clear dripping or lard is to be preferred to butter for frying the eggs, and be sure that the fryingpan is quite clean before it is put in. When the fat is hot, break two or three eggs into it. Do not turn them; but while they are frying, keep pouring some of the fat over them with a spoon. When the yolk just begins to look white, which it will in about two minutes, they are enough, and the white must not be suffered to lose its transparency. Take up the eggs with a tin slice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send them up with the bacon round them.

EGGS AND ONIONS. Boil some eggs hard, take out the yolks whole, and cut the whites in slices. Fry some onions and mushrooms, put in the whites, and keep them turning. Pour off the fat, flour the onions, and add a little gravy. Boil them up, then put in the yolks, with a little pepper and salt. Simmer the whole about a minute, and serve it up.

EGGS FOR SALLAD. Boil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them into a bason of cold water, to render the yolks firm and hard. Rub them through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a spoonful of water, or fine double cream, and add two table-spoonfuls of oil or melted butter. When these are well mixed, add by degrees a tea-spoonful of salt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard. Add very gradually three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, rub it with the other ingredients till thoroughly incorporated, and cut up the white of the egg to garnish the top of the sallad. Let the sauce remain at the bottom of the bowl, and do not stir up the sallad till it is to be eaten. This sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for cucumbers, celery, and radishes.

EGGS FOR THE SICK. Eggs very little boiled or poached, when taken in small quantities, convey much nourishment. The yolk only, when dressed, should be eaten by invalids. An egg divided, and the yolk and white beaten separately, then mixed with a glass of wine, will afford two very wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together. An egg broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a bason of milk, makes a breakfast more supporting than tea only.

EGGS FOR TURTLE. Beat in a mortar three yolks of eggs that have been boiled hard. Make it into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, roll it into small balls, and throw them into boiling water for two minutes to harden.

EGG BALLS. Boil the eggs hard, and put them in cold water. Take out the yolks, and pound them fine in a mortar, wetting them with raw yolks, about one to three. Season them with salt and white pepper, dry them with flour, and roll them into small balls, as they swell very much in boiling. When dressed, boil them in gravy for a minute.

EGG PIE. Boil twelve eggs hard, and chop them with one pound of marrow, or beef suet. Season with a little cinnamon and nutmeg finely beaten, adding one pound of currants clean washed and picked, two or three spoonfuls of cream, a little sweet wine, and rose water. Mix all together, and fill the pie: when it is baked, stir in half a pound of fresh butter, and the juice of a lemon.

EGG MINCE PIES. Boil six eggs hard, shred them small, and double the quantity of shred suet. Then add a pound of currants washed and picked, or more if the eggs were large; the peel of one lemon shred very fine, and the juice; six spoonfuls of sweet wine, mace, nutmeg, sugar, a very little salt; orange, lemon, and citron, candied. Cover the pies with a light paste.

EGG SAUCE. Boil the eggs hard, chop them fine, and put them into melted butter. If thrown into cold water after being boiled, the yolks will become firmer, will be easier to cut, and the surface be prevented from turning black. Egg sauce will be found an agreeable accompaniment to roast fowl, or salt fish.

EGG WINE. Beat up an egg, and mix it with a spoonful of cold water. Set on the fire a glass of white wine, half a glass of water, with sugar and nutmeg. When it boils, pour a little of it to the egg by degrees, till the whole is mixed, and stir it well. Then return the whole into the saucepan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for about a minute. If it boil, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. The wine may be made without warming the egg; it is then lighter on the stomach, though not so pleasant to the taste. Serve it with toast.

ELDER. The foetid smell of the common elder is such, especially of the dwarf elder, that if the leaves and branches be strewed among cabbage and cauliflower plants, or turnips, it will secure them from the ravages of flies and caterpillars; and if hung on the branches of trees, it will protect them from the effects of blight. Or if put into the subterraneous paths of the moles, it will drive them from the garden. An infusion of the leaves in water, and sprinkled over rose-buds and other flowers, will preserve them from the depredations of the caterpillar.

ELDER ROB. Clear some ripe elder-berries from the stalks, bake them in covered jars for two hours, and squeeze the juice through a strainer. To four quarts of juice put one pound of sugar, and stir it over the fire till reduced to one quart. When cold, tie it down with a bladder, and keep it in a dry place. It is very good for sore throats and fevers.

ELDER SYRUP. Pick off the elder berries when fully ripe, bake them in a stone jar, strain them through a coarse sieve, and put the juice into a clean kettle. To every quart of juice add a pound of fine soft sugar, boil and skim it well: when it is clear, pour it into a jar, cool it, and cover it down. Half a pint of this syrup added to a gallon of new made wine, will give it a very rich flavour, or it may be used for other purposes.

ELDER WINE. Pick the berries from the stalk, and to every quart allow two quarts of water. Boil them half an hour, run the liquor and break the fruit through a hair sieve, and to every quart of juice put three quarters of a pound of moist sugar. Boil the whole a quarter of an hour, with some peppercorns, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, and when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with toast and yeast to work, which there is more difficulty to make it do than most other liquors. When it ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, and stop it up. Bottle it in the spring, or at Christmas.—To make white elder wine, very much like Frontiniac, boil eighteen pounds of white powder sugar with six gallons of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten. Skim it clean, and but in a quarter of a peck of elder flowers from the tree that bears white berries, but do not keep them on the fire. Stir it when nearly cold, and but in six spoonfuls of lemon juice, four or five spoonfuls of yeast, and beat it well into the liquor. Stir it every day, put into the cask six pounds of the best raisins stoned, and tun the wine. Stop it close, and bottle it in six months. When well kept, this wine will pass for Frontiniac.

ELDER FLOWER WINE. To six gallons of spring water put six pounds of sun raisins cut small, and a dozen pounds of fine sugar: boil the whole together for about an hour and a half. When the liquor is cold, put in half a peck of ripe elder flowers, with about a gill of lemon juice, and half the quantity of ale yeast. Cover it up, and after standing three days, strain it off. Pour it into a cask that is quite clean, and that will hold it with ease. When this is done, add a quart of Rhenish wine to every gallon of liquor, and let the bung be lightly put in for twelve or fourteen days. Then stop it down fast, and put it in a cool dry place for four or five months, till it is quite settled and fine: then bottle it off.

ENGLISH BAMBOO. About the middle of May, cut some large young shoots of elder; strip off the outward peel, and soak them all night in some strong salt and water. Dry them separately in a cloth, and have in readiness the following pickle. To a quart of vinegar put an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all boiled together. Put the elder shoots into a stone jar, pour on the liquor boiling hot, stop it up close, and set it by the fire two hours, turning the jar often to keep it hot. If not green when cold, strain off the liquor, pour it on boiling again, and keep it hot as before.—Or if it be intended to make Indian pickle, the addition of these shoots will be found to be a great improvement. In this case it will only be necessary to pour boiling vinegar and mustard seed on them, and to keep them till the jar of pickles shall be ready to receive them. The cluster of elder flowers before it opens, makes a delicious pickle to eat with boiled mutton. It is prepared by only pouring vinegar over the flowers.

ENGLISH BRANDY. English or British brandy may be made in smaller quantities, according to the following proportions. To sixty gallons of clear rectified spirits, put one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, one pound of cassia buds ground, one pound of bitter almond meal, (the cassia and almond meal to be mixed together before they are put to the spirits) two ounces of sliced orris root, and about thirty or forty prune stones pounded. Shake the whole well together, two or three times a day, for three days or more. Let them settle, then pour in one gallon of the best wine vinegar; and add to every four gallons, one gallon of foreign brandy.

ENGLISH CHAMPAIGNE. Take gooseberries before they are ripe, crush them with a mallet in a wooden bowl; and to every gallon of fruit, put a gallon of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it well. Squeeze the mixture with the hands through a hop sieve, then measure the liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds and a half of loaf sugar. Mix it well in the tub, and let it stand one day. Put a bottle of the best brandy into the cask, which leave open five or six weeks, taking off the scum as it rises. Then stop it up, and let it stand one year in the barrel before it is bottled.

ENGLISH SHERRY. Boil thirty pounds of lump sugar in ten gallons of water, and clear it of the scum. When cold, put a quart of new alewort to every gallon of liquor, and let it work in the tub a day or two. Then put it into a cask with a pound of sugar candy, six pounds of fine raisins, a pint of brandy, and two ounces of isinglass. When the fermentation is over, stop it close: let it stand eight months, rack it off, and add a little more brandy. Return it to the cask again, and let it stand four months before it is bottled.

ENGLISH WINES. During the high price of foreign wine, home-made wines will be found particularly useful; and though sugar is dear, they may be prepared at a quarter of the expence. If carefully made, and kept three or four years, a proportionable strength being given, they would answer the purpose of foreign wines for health, and cause a very considerable reduction in the expenditure. Sugar and water are the principal basis of home-made wine; and when these require to be boiled, it is proper to beat up the whites of eggs to a froth, and mix them with the water when cold, in the proportion of one egg to a gallon. When the sugar and water are boiled, the liquor should be cooled quickly; and if not for wines that require fermenting, it may be put into the cask when cold. If the wine is to be fermented, the yeast should be put into it when it is milk-warm; but must not be left more than two nights to ferment, before it is put into the cask. Particular care should be taken to have the cask sweet and dry, and washed inside with a little brandy, before the wine is tunned, but it should not be bunged up close till it has done fermenting. After standing three or four months, it will be necessary to taste the wine, to know whether it be fit to draw off. If not sweet enough, some sugar should be added, or draw it off into another cask, and put in some sugar-candy: but if too sweet, let it stand a little longer. When the wine is racked, the dregs may be drained through a flannel bag; and the wine, if not clear enough for the table, may be used for sauce.

ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Take a dram of the oil of pimento, and mix it by degrees with two ounces of strong spirit of wine. A few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine.

ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. Put into a marble mortar ten or twelve fine mellow anchovies, that have been well pickled, and pound them to a pulp. Put this into a clean well-tinned saucepan, then put a table-spoonful of cold water into the mortar, shake it round, and pour it to the pounded anchovies. Set them by the side of a slow fire, frequently stirring them together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a dram of good cayenne, and let it remain by the fire a few minutes longer. Rub it through a hair sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and keep it stopped very closely: if the air gets to it, it is spoiled directly. Essence of anchovy is made sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the addition of mushroom ketchup.

ESSENCE OF CAYENNE. Put half an ounce of cayenne pepper into half a pint of wine or brandy, let it steep a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor. This article is very convenient for the extempore seasoning and finishing of soups and sauces, its flavour being instantly and equally diffused.

ESSENCE OF CELERY. Steep in a quarter of a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, half an ounce of celery seed bruised, and let it stand a fortnight. A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are an excellent addition to pease, and other soups.

ESSENCE OF CLOVES. Mix together two ounces of the strongest spirit of wine, and a dram of the oil of cloves. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace are prepared in the same manner.

ESSENCE OF FLOWERS. Select a quantity of the petals of any flowers which have an agreeable fragrance, lay them in an earthen vessel, and sprinkle a little fine salt upon them. Then dip some cotton into the best Florence oil, and lay it thin upon the flowers; continue a layer of petals, and a layer of cotton, till the vessel is full. It is then to be closed down with a bladder, and exposed to the heat of the sun. In about a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed away from the whole mass, which will yield a rich perfume.

ESSENCE OF GINGER. Grate three ounces of ginger, and an ounce of thin lemon peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, and let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day. If ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect, to warm the stomach, or dispel flatulence, this will be found the best preparation.

ESSENCE OF LAVENDER. Take the blossoms from the stalks in warm weather, and spread them in the shade for twenty-four hours on a linen cloth; then bruise and put them into warm water, and leave them closely covered in a still for four or five hours near the fire. After this the blossoms may be distilled in the usual way.

ESSENCE OF LEMON PEEL. Wash and brush clean the lemons, and let them get perfectly dry. Take a lump of fine sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the sugar; scrape off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down. Cover it very close, and it will keep for some time. By this process is obtained the whole of the fine essential oil, which contains the flavour.

ESSENCE OF MUSHROOMS. This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over some mushrooms, and mashing them three hours after. Next day strain off the liquor, put it into a stewpan, and boil it till reduced one half. It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the ketchups. An artificial bed of mushrooms would supply this article all the year round.

ESSENCE OF OYSTERS. Take fine fresh Milton oysters, wash them in their own liquor, skim it, and pound them in a marble mortar. To a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry, boil them up, and add an ounce of salt, two drams of pounded mace, and one of cayenne. Let it just boil up again, skim it, and rub it through a sieve. When cold, bottle and cork it well, and seal it down. This composition very agreeably heightens the flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes. If a glass of brandy be added to the essence, it will keep a considerable time longer than oysters are out of season.

ESSENCE OF SHALOT. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for three days. Then pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine remain on them ten days longer. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little thin lemon peel. This will impart a fine flavour to soups, sauces, hashes, and various other dishes.

ESSENCE OF SOAP. For washing or shaving, the essence of soap is very superior to what is commonly used for these purposes, and a very small quantity will make an excellent lather. Mix two ounces of salt of tartar with half a pound of soap finely sliced, put them into a quart of spirits of wine, in a bottle that will contain twice the quantity. Tie it down with a bladder, prick a pin through it for the air to escape, set it to digest in a gentle heat, and shake up the contents. When the soap is dissolved, filter the liquor through some paper to free it from impurities, and scent it with burgamot or essence of lemon.

ESSENCE OF TURTLE. Mix together one wine-glassful of the essence of anchovy, one and a half of shalot wine, four wine-glassfuls of Basil wine, two ditto of mushroom ketchup, one dram of lemon acid, three quarters of an ounce of lemon peel very thinly pared, and a quarter of an ounce of curry powder, and let them steep together for a week. The essence thus obtained will be found convenient to flavour soup, sauce, potted meats, savoury patties, and various other articles.

EVACUATIONS. Few things are more conducive to health than keeping the body regular, and paying attention to the common evacuations. A proper medium between costiveness and laxness is highly desirable, and can only be obtained by regularity in diet, sleep, and exercise. Irregularity in eating and drinking disturbs every part of the animal economy, and never fails to produce diseases. Too much or too little food will have this effect: the former generally occasions looseness, and the latter costiveness; and both have a tendency to injure health. Persons who have frequent recourse to medicine for preventing costiveness, seldom fail to ruin their constitution. They ought rather to remove the evil by diet than by drugs, by avoiding every thing of a hot or binding nature, by going thinly clothed, walking in the open air, and acquiring the habit of a regular discharge by a stated visit to the place of retreat. Habitual looseness is often owing to an obstructed perspiration: persons thus afflicted should keep their feet warm, and wear flannel next the skin. Their diet also should be of an astringent quality, and such as tends to strengthen the bowels. For this purpose, fine bread, cheese, eggs, rice milk, red wine, or brandy and water would be proper.—Insensible perspiration is one of the principal discharges from the human body, and is of such importance to health, that few diseases attack us while it goes on properly; but when obstructed, the whole frame is soon disordered, and danger meets us in every form. The common cause of obstructed perspiration, or taking cold, is the sudden changes of the weather; and the best means of fortifying the body is to be abroad every day, and breathe freely in the open air. Much danger arises from wet feet and wet clothes, and persons who are much abroad are exposed to these things. The best way is to change wet clothes as soon as possible, or to keep in motion till they be dry, but by no means to sit or lie down. Early habits may indeed inure people to wet clothes and wet feet without any danger, but persons of a delicate constitution cannot be too careful. Perspiration is often obstructed by other means, but it is in all cases attended with considerable danger. Sudden transitions from heat to cold, drinking freely of cold water after being heated with violent exercise, sitting near an open window when the room is hot, plunging into cold water in a state of perspiration, or going into the cold air immediately after sitting in a warm room, are among the various means by which the health of thousands is constantly ruined; and more die of colds than are killed by plagues, or slain in battle.

EVE'S PUDDING. Grate three quarters of a pound of bread; mix it with the same quantity of shred suet, the same of apples, and also of currants. Mix with these the whole of four eggs, and the rind of half a lemon shred fine. Put it into a shape, and boil it three hours. Serve with pudding sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a little nutmeg.

EXERCISE. Whether man were originally intended for labour or not, it is evident from the human structure, that exercise is not less necessary than food, for the preservation of health. It is generally seen among the labouring part of the community, that industry places them above want, and activity serves them instead of physic. It seems to be the established law of the animal creation, that without exercise no creature should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. Every creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary: he alone deviates from this original law, and suffers accordingly. Weak nerves, and glandular obstructions, which are now so common, are the constant companions of inactivity. We seldom hear the active or laborious complain of nervous diseases: indeed many have been cured of them by being reduced to the necessity of labouring for their own support. This shews the source from which such disorders flow, and the means by which they may be prevented. It is evident that health cannot be enjoyed where the perspiration is not duly carried on; but that can never be the case where exercise is neglected. Hence it is that the inactive are continually complaining of pains of the stomach, flatulencies, and various other disorders which cannot be removed by medicine, but might be effectually cured by a course of vigorous exercise. But to render this in the highest degree beneficial, it should always be taken in the open air, especially in the morning, while the stomach is empty, and the body refreshed with sleep. The morning air braces and strengthens the nerves, and in some measure answers the purpose of a cold bath. Every thing that induces people to sit still, except it be some necessary employment, ought to be avoided; and if exercise cannot be had in the open air, it should be attended to as far as possible within doors. Violent exertions however are no more to be recommended than inactivity; for whatever fatigues the body, prevents the benefit of exercise, and tends to weaken rather than strengthen it. Fast walking, immediately before or after meals, is highly pernicious, and necessarily accelerates the circulation of the blood, which is attended with imminent danger to the head or brain. On the other hand, indolence not only occasions diseases, and renders men useless to society, but it is the parent of vice. The mind, if not engaged in some useful pursuit, is constantly in search of ideal pleasures, or impressed with the apprehension of some imaginary evil; and from these sources proceed most of the miseries of mankind. An active life is the best guardian of virtue, and the greatest preservative of health.

---