SACK DUMPLINS. Grate the crumb of two penny rolls, add three quarters of a pound of suet cut small, three quarters of a pound of currants washed clean, a grated nutmeg, a little sugar, the yolks of eight eggs, and two wine glasses of sack. Make the paste into dumplins of a moderate size, tie them in cloths, and boil them two hours. Melted butter for sauce, with white wine and sugar.

SACK MEAD. To every gallon of water put four pounds of honey, and boil it three quarters of an hour, taking care to skim it. To every gallon add an ounce of hops; then boil it half an hour, and let it stand till the next day. Put it into a cask, and to thirteen gallons of the liquor add a quart of brandy. Stop it lightly till the fermentation is over, and then bung it up close. A large cask should be suffered to stand a year.

SACKS OF CORN. Seeds, and various kinds of grain, are liable to damage when kept in sacks or bins, from the want of being sufficiently aired. Make a small wooden tube nearly the length of the sack, closed and pointed at one end, and perforated with holes about an inch asunder, nearly two thirds of its length from the point end. Then at the other end fasten a leather tube, and thrust it into the corn to the bottom of the sack. Put the pipe of a pair of bellows into the leather tube, and blow into it, so that the air may be diffused among the corn throughout the holes of the wooden tube. If corn be thus treated every other day after it is first put into sacks, it will prevent the damp sweats which would otherwise injure it, and it will afterwards keep sweet with very little airing.

SADDLE OF MUTTON. When it has been well kept, raise the skin, and then skewer it on again. Take it off a quarter of an hour before serving, sprinkle on some salt, baste and dredge it well with flour. The rump should be split, and skewered back on each side. The joint may be cut large or small, according to the company: the latter is the most elegant. Being broad, it requires a high and strong fire.

SAFFRON CAKE. Take a quarter of a peck of fine flour, a pound and a half of fresh butter, a quarter of an ounce of mace and cinnamon together, beat fine, and mix the spice in the flour. Set on a quart of milk to boil, break the butter in, and stir it till the milk boils; take off all the butter, and a little of the milk; mix with the flour a pound of sugar beat fine, a penny-worth of saffron made into a tincture; take a pint of yeast that is not bitter, and stir it well into the remainder of the milk; beat up six eggs very well, and put to the yeast and milk, strain it to the flour, with some rose-water, and the tincture of saffron; beat up all together with your hands lightly, and put it into a hoop or pan well buttered. It will take an hour and a half in a quick oven. You may make the tincture of saffron with the rose-water.

SAGE is raised from seed, or from slips. To have it at hand for winter it is necessary to dry it; and it ought to be cut for this purpose before it comes out into bloom, as indeed is the case with all other herbs.

SAGE CHEESE. To make this kind of cheese, bruise the tops of young red sage in a mortar, with some leaves of spinach, and squeeze out the juice. Mix it with the rennet in the milk, more or less, according as the taste and colour may be preferred. When the curd is come, break it gently, and put it in with the skimmer, till it is pressed two inches above one vat. Press it eight or ten hours, salt and turn it every day.

SAGO. To prevent the earthy taste, soak it an hour in cold water; pour off the water, and wash it well. Then add more, and simmer it gently till the berries are clear, with lemon peel and spice, if approved. Add wine and sugar, and boil all up together.—If intended for the sick, or those whom disease has left very feeble, boil a teacupful of washed, sago in a quart of water, and a taste of lemon peel. When thickened, grate in some ginger, and add half a pint of raisin wine, some brown sugar, and two spoonfuls of Geneva: boil all up together.

SAGO MILK. Cleanse the sago as in the former article, and boil it slowly in new milk. It swells so much, that a small quantity will be sufficient for a quart; and when done, it will be diminished to about a pint. It requires no sugar or flavouring.

SAGO PUDDING. Boil a pint and a half of new milk, with four spoonfuls of sago nicely washed and picked; then add lemon peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sweeten the pudding, mix in four eggs, put a paste round the dish, and bake it slowly.

SAIL CLOTH. The old mode of painting canvas was to wet it, and prime it with Spanish brown. Then to give it a second coat of a chocolate colour, made by mixing Spanish brown and black paint; and lastly, to finish it with black. This was found to harden to such a degree as to crack, and eventually to break, the canvas, and so to render it unserviceable in a short time. The new method, which is greatly superior, is to grind ninety-six pounds of English ochre with boiled oil, and to add sixteen pounds of black paint, which mixture forms an indifferent black. A pound of yellow soap, dissolved in six pints of water over the fire, is mixed while hot, with the paint. This composition is then laid upon the canvas, without being wetted as formerly, and as stiff as can conveniently be done with a brush, so as to form a smooth surface. Two days afterwards, a second coat of ochre and black is laid on, with a very small portion of soap; and allowing this coat an intermediate day for drying, the canvas is then finished with black paint as usual. Three days being then allowed for it to dry and harden, it does not stick together when taken down, and folded in cloths of sixty or seventy yards each.

SALAD MIXTURE. Salad herbs should be gathered in the morning, as fresh as possible, or they must be put into cold spring water for an hour. Carefully wash and pick them, trim off all the dry or cankered leaves, put them into a cullender to drain, and swing them dry in a coarse clean napkin. Then pound together the yolks of two hard eggs, an ounce of scraped horseradish, half an ounce of salt, a table-spoonful of made mustard, four drams of minced shalots, one dram of celery seed, one dram of cress seed, and half a dram of cayenne. Add by degrees a wine glass of salad oil, three glasses of burnet, and three of tarragon vinegar. When thoroughly incorporated, set it over a very gentle fire, and stir it with a wooden spoon till it has simmered to the consistence of cream. Then pass it through a tammis or fine sieve, and add it to the salad.

SALAD SAUCE. Mix two yolks of eggs boiled hard, as much grated Parmesan cheese as will fill a dessert-spoon, a little patent mustard, a small spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a large one of ketchup. Stir them well together, then put in four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one spoonful of elder vinegar, and beat them up very smooth.

SALADS. Cold salads are proper to be eaten at all seasons of the year, but are particularly to be recommended from the beginning of February to the end of June. They are in greater perfection, and consequently more powerful, during this period, than at any other, in opening obstructions, sweetening and purifying the blood. The habit of eating salad herbs tends considerably to prevent that pernicious and almost general disease the scurvy, and all windy humours which offend the stomach. Also from the middle of September till December, and during the winter, if the weather be mild and open, all green herbs are wholesome, and highly beneficial. It is true that they have not so much vigour in the winter season, nor are they so medicinal as in the spring of the year; yet those which continue fresh and green, will retain a considerable portion of their natural qualities; and being eaten as salads, with proper seasoning, they will operate much in the same way as at other periods of the year. It is a necessary consequence of cold weather, that the heat of the body is driven more inward than in warm weather, as the cold of the atmosphere repels it from the surface. Hence arises an appetite for strong and solid food, and strong drinks, which for want of temperance and care, lays the foundation for diseases that commonly make their appearance in the summer following. Eating freely of salads and other vegetables in the winter, will prevent in a great treasure these ill effects; and if properly seasoned and prepared, they will warm the stomach, and be found exhilarating. The effect produced is in unison with all the operations of the human constitution, while the use of strong stimulants excites to unnatural action, which is soon succeeded by a cold and chilling languor. Green herbs in winter are much more beneficial than is generally imagined; they are particularly salutary to aged persons, and such as are subject to stoppages, or shortness of breath. In this case, instead of an onion, a clove of garlic may be put into the salad, which is a preferable way of eating it. This will open and warm the stomach, and give a general glow to the whole system.—The following are the principal herbs used as salads. Basil, balm, borage, burnet, celery, chervil, colewort, coriander, corn-salad, cresses, endive, French fennel, lettuce, mint, mustard, nasturtiums, nettle-tops, parsley, pennyroyal, radishes, rape, sage, sorrel, spinage, tarragon, and water-cresses. Onions, both young and full grown, shalots, garlic, and chives, are all used as seasoning to salads. Red beet-root, boiled and cold, is often sliced into them. Several of these herbs are very little in use as salads, but there are none of them that may not be recommended as good for the purpose. The usual salads are too much limited to what is specifically called small salading, lettuce, celery, and endive. These are all excellent in their kind, but to prefer them to the exclusion of every thing else, is a mere prejudice. With a wish therefore to counteract it, and to provide a larger assortment of wholesome salads, the following particulars are given, with directions for preparing several different dishes of this description. In general it may be proper to observe, that salads of all kinds should be very fresh; or if not immediately procured in this state, they may be refreshed by being put into cold spring water. They should be very carefully washed and picked, and drained quite dry in a clean cloth. In dressing lettuce, or small herbs, it is best to arrange them, properly picked and cut, in the salad dish; then to mix the sauce in something else, and pour it to the salad down the side of the dish, so as to let it run to the bottom, and not to stir it up till used at table. This preserves the crispness of the salad, which is one of its principal delicacies. With celery and endive the sauce should be poured upon them, and the whole well stirred together to mix it equally. Lettuce, endive, and celery, may be eaten with salt only; and if well chewed, as all salads ought to be, they often agree better than when mixed with seasonings. If mustard in salad sauces occasion sickness, or otherwise disagrees, cayenne pepper will often prove an excellent substitute.—The following salads are remarkably wholesome, and have a cooling and salutary effect upon the bowels. 1. Take spinage, parsley, sorrel, lettuce, and a few onions. Then add oil, vinegar, and salt, to give it a high taste and relish, but let the salt rather predominate above the other ingredients. The wholesomest way of eating salads is with bread only, in preference to bread and butter, bread and cheese, or meat and bread; though any of these may be eaten with it, when the salad is seasoned only with salt and vinegar. It is not advisable to eat butter, cheese, or meat with salads, or any thing in which there is a mixture of oil. All fat substances are heavy of digestion, and to mix such as disagree in their nature, is to encrease this evil to a degree that the stomach can hardly overcome. 2. Prepare some lettuce, spinage tops, pennyroyal, sorrel, a few onions, and some parsley. Then season them with oil, vinegar, and salt. 3. Another salad may be made of lettuce, sorrel, spinage, tops of mint, and onions, seasoned as before. 4. Take spinage, lettuce, tarragon, and parsley, with some leaves of balm. Or sorrel, tarragon, spinage, lettuce, onions, and parsley. Or tops of pennyroyal, mint, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, and parsley. Or lettuce, spinage, onions, pennyroyal, balm, and sorrel. Or sage, lettuce, spinage, sorrel, onions, and parsley; seasoned with salt, oil, and vinegar. 5. Make a salad of pennyroyal, sage, mint, balm, a little lettuce, and sorrel; seasoned with oil, vinegar, and salt. This is an excellent warming salad, though the above are all of an exhilarating tendency. 6. Mix some lettuce, sorrel, endive, celery, spinage, and onions, seasoned as above. 7. Take the fresh tender leaves of cole wort, or cabbage plants, with lettuce, sorrel, parsley, tarragon, nettle tops, mint, and pennyroyal; and season them with salt, oil, and vinegar. If highly seasoned, this is a very warm and relishing salad. 8. For winter salad, take some tender plants of colewort, sorrel, lettuce, endive, celery, parsley, and sliced onions; and season them as before. 9. Another winter salad may be made of lettuce, spinage, endive, celery, and half a clove of garlic. Season it well with oil, vinegar, and salt. This salad is very warming and wholesome. All these aromatic herbs are particularly proper for phlegmatic and weakly persons, as they have the property of warming the stomach, and improving the blood. To supply the want of oil in salads, make some thick melted butter, and use it in the same proportion as oil. Some sweet thick cream is a still better substitute, and will do as well as oil, especially as some persons have an aversion to oil. Cream also looks well in salads. A good salad sauce may be made of two yolks of eggs boiled hard, mixed with a spoonful of Parmesan cheese grated, a little patent mustard, a spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a larger one of ketchup. When stirred well together, add four spoonfuls of salad oil, and one of elder vinegar, and beat them up very smooth. It is very common in France, amongst all classes of people, to dress cauliflowers and French beans to eat cold, as salads, with a sauce of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. In some parts of France, raw salads, composed entirely of herbs growing wild in the fields, are in frequent use; and for distinction sake, are called rural salads. The English, who are not so fond of pungent flavours, are in the habit of substituting sugar instead of pepper and salt, where oil is not used, in order to soften the asperity of the vinegar.

SALMAGUNDY. This is a beautiful small dish, if in a nice shape, and the colours of the ingredients be properly varied. For this purpose chop separately the white part of cold chicken or veal, yolks of eggs boiled hard, the whites of eggs, beet root, parsley, half a dozen anchovies, red pickled cabbage, ham and grated tongue, or any thing well flavoured and of a good colour. Some people like a small proportion of onion, but it may be better omitted. A saucer, large teacup, or any other base, must be put into a small dish; then make rows round it wide at the bottom, and growing smaller towards the top, choosing such ingredients for each row as will most vary the colours. At the top, a little sprig of curled parsley may be stuck in; or without any thing on the dish, the salmagundy may be laid in rows, or put into the half-whites of eggs, which may be made to stand upright by cutting off a little bit at the round end. In the latter case, each half egg receives but one ingredient. Curled butter and parsley may be put as garnish between.

SALMON. If fresh and good, the flesh will be of a fine red, the gills particularly; the scales very bright, and the whole fish stiff. When just killed there is a whiteness between the flakes, which gives great firmness; by keeping, this melts down, and the fish is more rich. The Thames salmon bears the highest price; that caught in the Severn is next in goodness, and by some it is preferred. Those with small heads, and thick in the neck, are best.

SALMON AU COURT-BOUILLON. Scale and clean a fresh salmon very well, score the sides deep, to take the seasoning; take of mace and cloves, and white pepper, a quarter of an ounce each, a small nutmeg, and an ounce of salt; beat these very fine in a mortar; cut a little lemon peel fine, and shred some parsley, mix all together, and season the fish inside and out; then work up near a pound of butter in flour, and fill up the notches; the rest put into the belly of the fish; lay it in a clean cloth or napkin, roll it up, and bind it round with packthread, lay it into a fish-kettle, and put to it as much white wine vinegar, and water in an equal quantity, as will be sufficient to boil it in. Set it over a good charcoal fire, and when you think it is enough, draw it off your stove, so that it may but just simmer. Fold a clean napkin the length of your dish the fish is to go up in; take up the fish, unbind it, and lay it on the napkin. Garnish your dish with picked raw parsley, and horseradish. Send plain butter in a bason, and shalots chopped fine, and simmered in vinegar in a boat.

SALMON A LA BRAISE. Clean a middling salmon, take the flesh of a tench, or a large eel, and chop it very fine, with two anchovies, a little lemon peel shred, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little thyme and parsley; mix all together with a good piece of butter, put into the belly of the fish, and sew it up; put it into an oval stew-pan that will just hold it; brown about half a pound of fresh butter, and put to it a pint of fish broth, and a pint and a half of white wine; pour this over your fish; if it does not cover it, add some more wine and broth; put in a bundle of sweet herbs, and an onion, a little mace, two or three cloves, and some whole pepper tied up in a piece of muslin: cover it close, and let it stew gently over a slow fire. Before it is quite done, take out your onion, herbs, and spice; then put in some mushrooms, truffles, and morels, cut in pieces; let them stew all together, till the salmon is enough; take it up carefully, take off all the scum, and pour your sauce over. Garnish with horseradish, barberries, and lemon. Either of these is a fine dish for a first course.

SALMON PIE. Make puff paste, and lay over your dish; clean and scale a middling piece of salmon; cut it into three or four pieces, according to the size of your dish, and season it pretty high with mace, cloves, pepper, and salt; put some butter at the bottom, and lay in the salmon; take the meat of a lobster cut small, and bruise the body with an anchovy; melt as much butter as you think proper, stir the lobster into it, with a glass of white wine, and a little nutmeg; pour this over the salmon, lay on the top crust, and let it be well baked.

SALOOP. Boil together a little water, wine, lemon peel, and sugar. Mix in a small quantity of saloop powder, previously rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Stir it all together, and boil it a few minutes.

SALT. The properties of common salt are such as to render it an article of the greatest importance in the preparation of food, and in the preservation of health. If salt be withheld for any length of time, diseases of the stomach become general, and worms are gendered in the bowels, which are removed with great difficulty. In Ireland, salt is a well-known common remedy for bots in the horse; and among the poor people, a dose of common salt is esteemed a sufficient cure for the worms. It is supposed by some medical men, that salt furnishes soda to be mixed with the bile: without this necessary addition, the bile would be deprived of the qualities necessary to assist in the operation of digestion. One of the greatest grievances of which the poor man can complain is the want of salt. Many of the insurrections and commotions among the Hindoos, have been occasioned by the cruel and unjust monopolies of certain unworthy servants of the East India Company, who to aggrandize their own fortunes have oftentimes bought up, on speculation, all the salt in the different ports and markets, and thus have deprived the ingenious but wretched natives of their only remaining comfort, salt being the only addition they are usually enabled to make to their poor pittance of rice. Many of the poor in England, previously to the late reduction especially, have loudly lamented the high price of salt, which thousands are in the habit of using as the only seasoning to their meal of potatoes. Salt is also of the greatest use in agriculture. From one to two bushels makes fine manure for an acre of land, varied according to the quality of the soil. This answers better than almost any other compost. The Chinese have for ages been accustomed to manure their fields by sprinkling them with sea water. The Persians sprinkle the timber of their buildings with salt, to prevent them from rotting. It is used in Abyssinia instead of money, where it passes from hand to hand, under the shape of a brick, worth about eighteen pence. In feeding of cattle, it is also found to be highly beneficial. A nobleman who purchased two hundred Merino sheep in Spain, attributes the health of his flock principally to the constant use of salt. These sheep having been accustomed to that article in their native land, it was thought necessary to supply them with it, especially in this damp climate, and in the rich pastures of some parts of this country. A ton of salt is used annually for every thousand sheep: a handful is put in the morning on a flat stone or slate, ten of which, set a few yards apart, are sufficient for a hundred sheep. This quantity is given twice a week. Out of a flock of nearly a thousand, there were not ten old sheep that did not readily take it, and not a single lamb which did not consume it greedily. Salt is likewise a preventive of disorders in stock fed with rank green food, as clover or turnips, and it is deemed a specific for the rot. Horses and horned cattle are also very fond of salt: the cow gives more milk, and richer in quality, when salt is mixed with her food. The wild beasts of the American forests leave their haunts at certain seasons, and travel in company to various places where salt is to be found. There they lick the ground on which the salt lies, or which is strongly impregnated by it. Cattle fed on grass which grows on the sea shore, are always fatter and in better condition, than those which graze on in land-pastures. Considering its various uses in agriculture, as an article of food, and as a preservative from putrefaction, salt may be pronounced one of the most generally useful and necessary of all the minerals; and it is truly lamentable, that in almost all ages and countries, particularly in those where despotism prevails, this should be one of those necessaries of life, on which the most heavy taxes are imposed. Bay salt is a kind of brownish impure salt, obtained in France, Italy, and other countries, by evaporating sea water in pits. The principal part of bay salt sold in this country is however of home manufacture, being a coarse grained chrystalized salt, made dirty by powdered Turkey umber, or some such colouring material, to give it the appearance of a foreign article. The only utility which this salt appears to possess, beyond that of the common fine-grained salt usually found in the shops, is that it dissolves more slowly by moisture, and therefore is better calculated for salting of fish, and other animal substances, which cannot be wholly covered with brine. Basket salt is made from the water of the salt springs in Cheshire and other places. It differs from the common brine salt in the fineness of the grain, as well as on account of its whiteness and purity. It is principally used at table.

SALT BEEF. Great attention is requisite in salting meat; and in the country, where large quantities are often cured, this is of particular importance. Beef and pork should be well sprinkled, and a few hours afterwards hung to drain, before it is rubbed with the salt. This method, by cleansing the meat from the blood, serves to keep it from tasting strong. It should be turned every day; and if wanted soon, it should be rubbed daily. A salting tub or lead may be used, and a cover to fit close. Those who use a good deal of salt meat will find it answer well to boil up the pickle, and skim it clean; and when cold, pour it over meat that has been sprinkled and drained.—To salt beef red, which is extremely good to eat fresh from the pickle, or to hang to dry, choose a piece of the flank, or any part that has but little bone. Sprinkle it, and let it drain a day. Then rub it with common salt, bay salt, and a small proportion of saltpetre, all in fine powder. A few grains of cochineal may be added. Rub the pickle into the meat every day for a week, and afterwards turning it only will be sufficient. It will be excellent in about eight days; and in sixteen days it may be drained from the pickle. Smoke it at the mouth of the oven, when heated with wood, or send it to the baker's; a few days will be sufficient to smoke it. A little of the coarsest sugar added to the salt, will be an improvement. Red beef boiled tender, eats well with greens or carrots. If it is to be grated as Dutch beef, then cut a lean bit, boil it extremely tender, and put it hot under a press. When cold fold it in a sheet of paper, and it will keep in a dry place two or three months, ready for serving on bread and butter.—If a piece of beef is to be prepared for eating immediately, it should not weigh more than five or six pounds. Salt it thoroughly before it is to be put into the pot, take a coarse cloth, flour it well, put the meat into it, and fold it up close. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it as another piece of salt meat of the same size, and it will be as salt as if it had been in pickle four or five days.

SALT COD. Soak and clean the piece intended to be dressed, and lay it all night in water, with a glass of vinegar. Boil it enough, then break it into flakes on the dish; pour over it parsnips boiled, beaten in a mortar, and boiled up with cream. Add to it a large piece of butter, rubbed in a little flour. Egg sauce may be sent up instead, or the parsnip root whole. The fish may also be boiled without flaking, and served with either of the sauces as above.

SALT FISH. Backlio, old ling, and tusk, are reckoned the best salt fish. Old ling and backlio, must be laid in water for ten or twelve hours, then taken out, and scaled very clean; wash the fish, and let it lay out of water till you want to use it; if it is the next day, it will be the better. When you dress it, put it into cold water, and let it do as gently as possible; let it be boiled so tender, that you may put a fork into any part of it without sticking, then it is enough. Lay a clean napkin over your dish, take up the fish, lay it upon the napkin, and throw the corners over each other. Send it to table with egg sauce in a basin, parsnips sliced, and butter and mustard in a boat.

SALT FISH WITH CREAM. Soak and boil some good barrel cod, till about three parts done. Divide it into flakes, put them into a saucepan with some cream, a little pepper, and a handful of parsley scalded and chopped. Stew it gently till tender, thicken the sauce with two or three yolks of eggs, and serve it up.

SALT FISH PIE. Boil a side of salt fish as you would for eating; cut a square bit out of the middle, about the bigness of your hand; take the skin off the other, and take out all the bones; mince this very small with six eggs boiled hard; season it with pepper, nutmeg, and beaten mace, then slice the crumb of French rolls thin into a pan, pour over it a quart of boiling milk, and let it stand to soak; in the mean time, make a good puff paste, and sheet the dish all over; have in readiness the quantity of two spoonfuls of parsley shred very fine, beat the bread well together, then put in the fish and eggs, and chopped parsley; stir all well together; melt about three quarters of a pound of butter, and stir it into the ingredients, with a gill of Mountain; pour this into the dish, lay the square piece of fish in the middle; lay on the lid, and bake it an hour, or a little more.—You may make ling, or stock-fish pie in this manner; but you are to observe, that all the skin is to be taken off, and not to put a piece whole into the pie, according to this receipt; but mince all the fish with the yolks of hard eggs, leaving out the whites, and adding a large spoonful of made mustard when you stir the ingredients together, before you put them into the pie.

SALT PORK. To a hundred weight of pork or beef, take ten pounds of common salt, and half a pound of saltpetre. Let the meat be well cleaned from those particles of blood which hang about it when cut into four pound pieces: this is best done by washing it in salt and water, or brine that has been used, provided it be sweet. Lay the meat in rows, and rub the upper side moderately with salt; then place another layer of meat, and repeat the operation as on the first layer. In this manner continue the same proportion of salt and saltpetre, till the whole quantity is heaped up in a tub, or some other vessel, not of lead, in order to preserve the pickle from issuing from it. In this state it must remain for three days, then turn it into another tub, sprinkling it with salt in the act of turning the meat. When all is turned and salted, let the pickle procured by the first salting, be slowly poured about the meat. In this state let it remain for a week, and it will be excellent for home use. If wanted for exportation, pack it in this state into casks. But as the greatest care is required for its preservation, when sent abroad, a layer of salt must first be put into the barrel, and then a layer of meat, till the cask is full, taking care to use the hand only in packing in the pieces. When the barrel is headed, the pickle must be filtered through a coarse cloth; and when perfectly fine, fill up the cask with the pickle to the bung hole. Let it remain in this state till the next day, in order to ascertain whether the cask be quite tight, and then bung it up. Beef or pork cured in this manner will not fail to keep any reasonable length of time. The too great rubbing of meat will not keep it the better, it frequently retards the operation of the salt by filling the outward pores of the meat only to the destruction of the middle of the piece, which frequently perishes.

SALTING OF BUTTER. After the butter is well worked up and cleared from the milk, it is ready for salting. The tub in which it is to be preserved being perfectly clean, should be rubbed in the whole inside with common salt; and a little melted butter should be poured into the cavity between the bottom and the sides, before the butter is put in. Although common salt is generally employed on this occasion, yet the following composition not only preserves the butter more effectually from taint, but also makes it look better, taste sweeter, richer, and more marrowy, than if it had been cured with common salt only. Take of best common salt two parts, saltpetre one part, lump sugar one part, and beat them up together in a mortar, so that they may be completely blended. To every pound of butter, add one ounce of this composition: mix it well in the mass, and close it up for use. Butter prepared in this manner will keep good for three years, and cannot be distinguished from that which is recently salted; but it does not taste well till it has stood a fortnight or three weeks. To preserve butter for winter use, take some that is fresh and good in the month of August or September, and put it into an unglazed jar, in layers about two inches thick, till the jar is full, within three inches of the top. Make a strong brine of salt and water, boil and skim it; and when it is quite cold, pour a sufficient quantity over the butter, so that the brine may be an inch deep. Tie paper over it, and set it in a cool place. When wanted for use, cut it no deeper than the first layer till that is all used. Then cut the second in the same manner, and so on to the bottom of the tub or jar. By this means there will be no more than a part of one layer that is not covered with the brine. To make it eat like fresh butter, dip each piece into water when it is cut out of the jar; or work it over again in fresh buttermilk or milk, and make it into shapes like fresh butter. It will eat much better with toast, than most of the fresh butter that is made in winter. It is a false idea, that butter, to be preserved for winter use, requires a greater quantity of salt: experience has proved the contrary. Butter salted in the common way, and put in pots with brine over the top, retains its flavour, and is better preserved than by an additional quantity of salt. One more observation on the preservation of butter is necessary. It is universally allowed that cleanliness is indispensible, but it is not generally suspected, that butter from being made in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or in glazed earthenware pans, which glaze is principally composed of lead, is too apt to be contaminated by particles of that deleterious metal. If the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can hardly fail to take place, and it cannot be doubted, that during the decomposition of the salts, the glazing is acted on. It is better therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the butter, and to pack it either in wooden vessels, or in jars of the Vauxhall ware, which being vitrified throughout, do not require an inside glazing.

SAMPHIRE. This should be boiled in plenty of water, with a good deal of salt in it. Put it in when the water boils, and let it boil till quite tender. Serve it up with melted butter.

SANDWICHES. Properly prepared, these form an elegant and convenient luncheon; but they have got much out of fashion, from the bad manner in which they are commonly made. They have consisted of any offal or odd ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form, merely laid between slices of bread and butter. Whatever kind of meat is used however, it must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin and gristle, and nothing introduced but what is relishing and acceptable. Sandwiches may be made of any of the following materials. Cold meat, poultry, potted meat, potted shrimps or lobsters, potted cheese; grated ham, beef, or tongue; anchovy, sausages, cold pork; hard eggs, pounded with a little butter and cheese; forcemeats, and curry powder. Mustard, pepper, and salt, are to be added, as occasion requires.

SAVOURY BEEF. The tongue side of a round of beef is best adapted for the purpose; and if it weighs about fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days. Then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, some minced herbs, and three quarters of a pound of salt. Incorporate these ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; and if approved, add a quarter of an ounce of ginger. Take out the bone, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight. When it is to be dressed, put it into a pan with a quart of water. Cover the meat with about three pounds of mutton suet chopped, and an onion or two minced small. Put the whole into a pan, cover it with a flour crust, and bake it in a moderate oven for six hours. Instead of baking it may be covered with water, and stewed very gently for about five hours; and when sent to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley. The gravy will be excellent for sauce or soup, or making of soy, or browning; and being impregnated with salt, it will keep several days. That the suet may not be wasted, when the dish comes from the oven, take out the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve. Clarify the fat when cold, and it will do for frying. The meat should not be cut till it is cold, and then with a sharp knife to prevent waste, and keep it smooth and even. This is a most excellent way of preparing savoury beef for sandwiches, and for other elegant and economical purposes.

SAVOURY JELLY. If to put over cold pies, make it of a small bare knuckle of veal, or of a scrag of mutton. If the pie be of fowl or rabbit, the carcases, necks, and heads, added to any piece of meat, will be sufficient, observing to give it a consistence by adding cow heel, or shanks of mutton. Put the meat into a stewpan that shuts very close, adding a slice of lean ham or bacon, a faggot of different herbs, two blades of mace, an onion or two, a small bit of lemon peel, a tea-spoonful of Jamaica pepper bruised, and the same of whole pepper, with three pints of water. As soon as it boils skim it well, let it simmer very slowly till it is quite strong, and then strain it. When cold take off the fat with a spoon first, and then, to remove every particle of grease, lay on it a clean piece of blotting paper. If not clear, after being cold, boil it a few minutes with the whites of two eggs, but do not add the sediment. Pour it through a clean sieve, with a napkin in it, which has been dipped in boiling water, to prevent waste.

SAVOURY PIES. Few articles of cookery are more generally approved than relishing pies, if properly made; and there are various things adapted to this purpose. Some eat best cold, and in that case, no suet should be put into the forcemeat that is used with them. If the pie is either made of meat that will take more dressing, to make it quite tender, than the baking of the crust will allow; or if it is to be served in an earthen pie-form, the following preparation must be observed. For instance, take three pounds of a veiny piece of beef, that has fat and lean; wash it, and season it with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice, in fine powder, rubbing them in well. Set it by the side of a slow fire, in a stewpot that will just hold it. Add about two ounces of butter, cover it quite close, and let it just simmer in its own steam till it begins to shrink. When it is cold, add more seasoning, forcemeat, and eggs. If in a dish, put some gravy to it before baking: if in a crust only, the gravy must not be added till after it is cold, and in a jelly. Forcemeat may be put both under and over the meat, if preferred to balls.

SAVOURY RICE. Wash and pick some rice quite clean, stew it very gently in a small quantity of veal or rich mutton broth, with an onion, a blade of mace, pepper and salt. When swelled, but not boiled to a mash, dry it on the shallow part of a sieve before the fire, and either serve it dry, or put it in the middle of a dish, and pour hot gravy round it.

SAVOURY VEAL PIE. Make a good puff-paste, and sheet your dish; cut the veal into pieces, season it with pepper, mace, and nutmeg, finely beat, and a little salt; lay it into the crust, with lambstones, sweetbreads, the yolks of hard eggs, an artichoke bottom boiled, and cut in dice, and the tops of asparagus; put in about half a pint of water, lay pieces of butter over the top, put on the lid, and ornament it to your fancy. In a quick oven about an hour and an half will bake it. Make a caudle for it thus: take half a pint of strong veal broth, a gill of white wine, and the yolks of three eggs; set this over the stove, and keep it stirring; put in some grated nutmeg, and a little salt; when it boils, if there is any scum, take it off; pour in a gill of cream, keep it stirring till it simmers, then take the lid of your pie off carefully, and pour the caudle over it, shake it round, lay on the lid as exact as you can, and send it to table. You may do lamb this way.

SAVOURY VEGETABLES. Wash a dish with the white of eggs. Make several divisions with mashed potatoes and yolks of eggs mixed together and put on the dish, and bake it of a nice colour. In the first division put stewed spinach, in the second mashed turnips, in the third slices of carrots, in the fourth some button onions stewed in gravy, or any other kind of vegetables to make a variety.

SAVOY BISCUITS. Take six eggs, separate the yolks and whites, mix the yolks with six ounces of sugar finely powdered, and the rind of a grated lemon. Beat them together for a quarter of an hour, then whisk the whites up in a broad dish till they are well frothed, and mix them with the yolks, adding five ounces of flour well dried. Stir the whole well together; then, with a piece of flat ivory, take out the batter, and draw it along clean white paper to the proper size of the biscuit. Sift some sugar over them, and bake them in a very hot oven. They must however be carefully watched, for they are soon done, and a few seconds over the proper time will scorch and spoil them.

SAVOY CAKE. Put four eggs into a scale, and then take their weight in fine sugar, powdered and sifted, with the weight of seven eggs in flour well dried. Break the eggs, putting the yolks into one basin, and the whites into another. Mix with the yolks the sugar that has been weighed, a little grated lemon peel, and a little orange-flower water. Beat them well together for half an hour, then add the whites whipped to a froth, and mix in the flour by degrees, continuing to beat them all the time. Then put the batter into a tin well buttered, and bake it an hour and a half. This is a very delicate light cake for serving at table, or in a dessert, and is pretty when baked in a melon mould, or any other kind of shape. It may be iced at pleasure.

SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT. The sauces usually sent to table with boiled meat, not poured over the dish, but put into boats, are the following. Gravy, parsley and butter, chervil, caper, oyster, liver and parsley, onion, celery, shalot, and curry. The ingredients for compound sauces should be so nicely proportioned, that no one may be predominant, but that there may be an equal union of the combined flavours. All sauces should be sent to table as hot as possible, for nothing is more unsightly than the surface of a sauce in a frozen state, or garnished with grease on the top.

SAUCE FOR BRAWN. Take a peck of bran, seven gallons of water, a pound of salt, a sprig of bay and rosemary. Boil the whole half an hour, strain it off, let it stand till it is cold, and then put it in the brawn.

SAUCE FOR CARP. Rub half a pound of butter with a tea-spoonful of flour, melt it in a little water, and add nearly a quarter of a pint of thick cream. Put in half an anchovy chopped fine, but not washed; set it over the fire, and as it boils up, add a large spoonful of real India soy. If that does not give it a fine colour, add a little more. Turn it into the sauce tureen, and put in some salt and half a lemon. Stir it well to keep it from curdling.

SAUCE FOR CHICKENS. An anchovy or two boned and chopped, some parsley and onion chopped, adding pepper, oil, vinegar, mustard, and walnut or mushroom ketchup. These mixed together will make a good sauce for cold chicken, partridge, or veal.

SAUCE FOR CHOPS. To make a relishing sauce for steaks or chops, pound an ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with an ounce of salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same of shalot peeled and quartered. Put these ingredients into a pint of mushroom ketchup, or walnut pickle; let them steep for a fortnight, and then strain off the liquor. A tea-spoonful or two mixed with the gravy usually sent up for chops and steaks, or added to thick melted butter, will be found an agreeable addition.

SAUCE FOR FISH. Simmer very gently a quarter of a pint of vinegar, and half a pint of soft water, with an onion, a little horseradish, and the following spices lightly bruised: four cloves, two blades of mace, and half a tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion becomes tender, chop it small, with two anchovies, and boil it for a few minutes with a spoonful of ketchup. Beat the yolks of three eggs, strain them, and mix the liquor with them by degrees. When well mixed, set the saucepan over a gentle fire, keeping the basin in one hand, into which toss the sauce to and fro, and shake the saucepan over the fire that the eggs may not curdle. The sauce must not be boiled, but made hot enough to give it the thickness of melted butter.—The following sauces for fish will be found excellent.—Lobster sauce. Take a lobster, bruise the body and spawn, that is in the inside, very fine, with the back of a spoon, mince the meat of the tail and claws small, melt your butter of a good thickness, put in the bruised part, and shake it well together, then put in the minced meat with a very little nutmeg grated, and a spoonful of white wine; let it just boil up, and pour it into boats, or over your fish.—Shrimp sauce. Put half a pint of shrimps, clean picked, into a gill of good gravy; let it boil up with a lump of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of red wine.—Oyster sauce. Take a pint of oysters that are tolerably large; put them into a saucepan with their own liquor, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper, and a bit of lemon peel; let them stew over the fire till the oysters are plump; pour all into a clean pan, and wash them carefully, one by one, out of the liquor; strain about a gill of the liquor through a fine sieve, add the same quantity of good gravy, cut half a pound of fresh butter in pieces, roll up some in flour, and then put all to your oysters; set it over a clear fire, shake it round often till it boils, and add a spoonful of white wine: let it just boil, and pour it into your bason or boat.—Anchovy sauce. Strip an anchovy, bruise it very fine, put it into half a pint of gravy, a quarter of a pound of butter rolled in flour, a spoonful of red wine, and a tea-spoonful of ketchup; boil all together till it is properly thick, and serve it up.—Another. Half a pint of water, two anchovies split, a clove, a bit of mace, a little lemon peel, a few peppercorns, and a large spoonful of red wine; boil all together, till your anchovy is dissolved; then strain it off, and thicken it with butter rolled in flour. This is the best sauce for skate, maid, or thornback.

SAUCE FOR FISH PIES. Take equal quantities of white wine, not sweet; of vinegar, oyster liquor, and mushroom ketchup. Boil them up with an anchovy, strain the liquor, and pour it through a funnel into the pie after it is baked. Or chop an anchovy small, and boil it up with three spoonfuls of gravy, a quarter of a pint of cream, and a little butter and flour.

SAUCE FOR FOWLS. Cut up the livers, add slices of lemon in dice, scalded parsley, some hard eggs, and a little salt. Mix them with butter, boil them up, and pour the sauce over the fowls. This will be found an excellent sauce for rabbit or fowl, especially to hide the bad colour of fowls. Or boil some veal gravy, with pepper and salt, the juice of a Seville orange and a lemon, and a little port wine. Pour it into the dish, or send it up in a boat.

SAUCE FOR GOOSE. Mix a table-spoonful of made mustard, and half a tea-spoonful of cayenne, in a glass and a half of port wine. Heat and pour it hot into the inside of a roast goose when it is taken up, by a slit made in the apron. What is sauce for a goose will not make bad sauce for a duck. It must be understood that this is not adapted to green geese or ducklings.

SAUCE FOR HASHES. Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, put them into a stewpan, and cover them with boiling water. Add six peppercorns, the same of allspice, a handful of parsley, half a head of celery cut in pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram. Cover it up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour. Slice half an ounce of onion, put it into a stewpan with an ounce of butter, and fry it over a quick fire for two or three minutes, till it takes a little colour. Thicken it with flour, and mix with it by degrees the gravy made from the bones. Let it boil very gently for a quarter of an hour, till it acquires the consistence of cream, and strain it through a fine sieve into a basin. Return it to the stewpan, season it a little, and cut in a few pickled onions, walnuts, or gherkins. Add a table-spoonful of ketchup or walnut pickle, or some capers and caper liquor, or a table-spoonful of ale, a little shalot, or tarragon vinegar. Cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of bread, to retain the gravy, and garnish with fried sippets. To hash meat in perfection, it should be laid in this gravy only just long enough to get properly warmed through.

SAUCE FOR LENT. Melt some butter in a saucepan, shake in a little flour, and brown it by degrees. Stir in half a pint of water, half a pint of ale, an onion, a piece of lemon peel, two cloves, a blade of mace, some whole pepper, a spoonful of ketchup, and an anchovy. Boil it all together a quarter of an hour, strain it, and it will make good sauce for various dishes.

SAUCE FOR LOBSTER. Bruise the yolks of two hard boiled eggs with the back of a wooden spoon, or pound them in a marble mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster. Rub them quite smooth with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar. Season it with a very little cayenne, and some salt. Tarragon vinegar, or essence of anchovy, may be added occasionally.

SAUCE FOR MINCED VEAL.

Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with flour, and put them into a stewpan. Add a pint and a half of weak broth, a small onion, a little grated or finely minced lemon peel, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace. Thicken it with a table-spoonful of flour rubbed into half an ounce of butter, stir it into the broth, and let it boil gently for about half an hour. Strain it through a tammis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm up, which is to be done by placing the stewpan by the side of the fire. Squeeze in half a lemon, cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of toasted bread cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of ham or bacon. A little basil wine gives an agreeable vegetable relish to minced veal.

SAUCE FOR PARTRIDGE.

Rub down in a mortar the yolks of two eggs boiled hard, an anchovy, two dessert-spoonfuls of oil, three of vinegar, a shalot, cayenne if approved, and a tea-spoonful of mustard. All should be pounded before the oil is added, and strained when done. Shalot vinegar is preferable to the shalot.

SAUCE FOR POULTRY. Wash and pick some chervil very carefully, put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the chervil about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve, mince it quite fine, and bruise it to a pulp. Mix it by degrees with some good melted butter, and send it up in a sauce boat. This makes a fine sauce for either fish or fowl. The flavour of chervil is a strong concentration of the combined taste of parsley and fennel, but is more aromatic and agreeable than either.

SAUCE FOR QUAILS. Shred two or three shalots, and boil them a few minutes in a gill of water, and half a gill of vinegar. Add to this a quarter of a pint of good gravy, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. Shake it over the fire till it thickens, and then serve it in the dish with roast quails, or any other small birds.

SAUCE ROBART. This is a favourite sauce for rump steaks, and is made in the following manner. Put a piece of butter, the size of an egg, into a saucepan; and while browning over the fire, throw in a handful of sliced onions cut small. Fry them brown, but do not let them burn. Add half a spoonful of flour, shake the onions in it, and give it another fry. Then put four spoonfuls of gravy, some pepper and salt, and boil it gently ten minutes. Skim off the fat, add a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a spoonful of vinegar, and the juice of half a lemon. Boil it all together, and pour it round the steaks, which should be of a fine yellow brown, and garnished with fried parsley and lemon.

SAUCE FOR STEAKS. When the steaks are taken out of the fryingpan, keep back a spoonful of the fat, or put in an ounce of butter. Add flour to thicken it, and rub it well over the fire till it is a little browned. Then add as much boiling water as will reduce it to the consistence of cream, and a table-spoonful of ketchup or walnut pickle. Let it boil a few minutes, and pour it through a sieve upon the steaks. To this may be added a sliced onion, or a minced shalot, with a glass of port wine. Broiled mushrooms are favourite relishes to beef steaks. Garnish with finely scraped horseradish, pickled walnuts, or gherkins.

SAUCE FOR VEAL. Mince any kind of sweet herbs with the yolks of two or three hard eggs. Boil them together with some currants, a little grated bread, pounded cinnamon, sugar, and two whole cloves. Pour the sauce into the dish intended for the veal, with two or three slices of orange.

SAUCE FOR WILD FOWL. Simmer a tea-cupful of port wine, the same quantity of good meat gravy, a little shalot, a little pepper and salt, a grate of nutmeg, and a bit of mace, for ten minutes. Put in a piece of butter, and flour; give it all one boil, and pour it through the birds. In general they are not stuffed as tame fowl, but may be done so if approved.

SAUSAGES. Chop fat and lean pork together, season it with sage, pepper, salt, and two or three berries of allspice. Half fill some hog's guts that have been soaked and made extremely clean; or the meat may be kept in a very small pan closely covered, and so rolled and dusted with a very little flour before it is fried. The sausages must be pricked with a fork before they are dressed, or they will burst in the frying. Serve them on stewed red cabbage, or mashed potatoes put in a form, and browned with a salamander.—The following is the way of making excellent sausages to eat cold. Season some fat and lean pork with salt, saltpetre, black pepper, and allspice, all in fine powder. Rub the mixture into the meat, and let it lie in pickle for six days. Then cut it small, and mix with it some shred shalot or garlic, as fine as possible. Have ready an ox-gut that has been scoured, salted, and well soaked, and fill it with the above stuffing. Tie up the ends, and hang it to smoke as you would hams, but first wrap it in a fold or two of old muslin. It must be high dried. Some choose to boil it, but others eat it without boiling. The skin should be tied in different places, so as to make each link about eight or nine inches long.

SAUSAGES WITH APPLES. Fry some sliced apples with the sausages, till they are of a light brown. Lay the sausages in the middle of the dish, and the apples round them. Or fry them without apples, and serve them up on fried bread, with mashed potatoes. Or put the sausages into boiling water, simmer them about five minutes, and serve them up with poached eggs, or roasted potatoes.

SCALDS. When a burn or scald is trifling, and occasions no blister, it is sufficient to put a compress of several folds of soft linen upon it, dipped in cold water, and to renew it every quarter of an hour till the pain is entirely removed. When a burn or scald blisters, a compress of fine linen spread over with soft pomatum should be applied to it, and changed twice a day. If the skin is burnt through, and the flesh under it injured, the same pomatum may be applied; but instead of a compress of linen, it should be spread upon a piece of soft lint, applied directly over it, and this cover with a slip of simple adhesive plaster. For an extensive burn or scald, skilful advice should immediately be obtained, as it always endangers the life of the sufferer. A linen rag dipped in laudanum, or spread thick with honey, will be sufficient in ordinary cases. The pomatum proper, where any serious injury has been sustained, is made in the following manner. Take an ounce of the ointment called nutritum, the yolk of a small egg, or the half of a large one, and mix them well together. The nutritum may easily be made by rubbing two drains of cerus, or white lead, with half an ounce of vinegar, and three ounces of common oil, and mixing them well together. If the ingredients for making nutritum are not at hand, to make the pomatum, one part of wax should be melted with eight parts of oil, and the yolk of an egg added to two ounces of this mixture. A still more simple application, and sooner prepared, is to beat up a whole egg with two spoonfuls of sweet oil, free from any rankness. When the pain of the burn and all its other symptoms have nearly subsided, it will be sufficient to apply the following plaster. Boil together to a proper consistence, half a pound of oil of roses, a quarter of a pound of red lead, and two ounces of vinegar. Dissolve in the mixture three quarters of an ounce of yellow wax, and one dram of camphor, stirring the whole well together. Take it off the fire, and spread it upon sheets or slips of paper, of any size that may be most convenient. For an adhesive plaster, melt four ounces of white wax, and add one or two spoonfuls of oil. Dip into this mixture, slips of moderately thin linen, and let them dry; or spread it thin and evenly over them.—The following is a highly esteemed method of curing scalds or burns. Take half a pound of alum in powder, dissolve it in a quart of water; bathe the burn or scald with a linen rag wet in this mixture; then bind the wet rag thereon with a slip of linen, and moisten the bandage with the alum water frequently, without removing it, in the course of two or three days. A workman who fell into a copper of boiling liquor, where he remained three minutes before taken out, was immediately put into a tub containing a saturated solution of alum in water, where he was kept two hours; his sores were then dressed with cloths and bandages, wet in the above mixture, and kept constantly moistened for twenty-four hours, and in a few days he was able to return to business.—The application of vinegar to burns and scalds is to be strongly recommended. It possesses active powers, and is a great antiseptic and corrector of putrescence and mortification. The progressive tendency of burns of the unfavourable kind, or ill-treated, is to putrescence and mortification. Where the outward skin is not broken, it may be freely used every hour or two; where the skin is broken, and if it gives pain, it must be gently used. But equal parts of vinegar and water, in a tepid state, used freely every three or four hours, are generally the best application, and the best rule to be directed by.—House-leek, either applied by itself, or mixed with cream, gives present relief in burns, and other external inflammations.

SCALD HEAD. This disorder is chiefly incident to children, and is seated in the roots of the hair. It is frequently cured by changing the nurse, weaning the child, and removing it to a dry and airy situation. If the itching of the head becomes very troublesome, it may be allayed by gently rubbing it with equal parts of the oil of sweet almonds, and the juice expressed from the leaves of the common burdock, simmered together till they form a soapy liniment, adding a few grains only of pearlash. If this treatment be not sufficient, cut off the hair, or apply an adhesive plaster made of bees' wax, pitch, and mutton suet. After it is removed, the head should be washed with warm soapy water, and the whole body cleansed in a lukewarm bath.

SCALDED CODLINS. Wrap each in a vine leaf, and pack them close in a nice saucepan: when full, pour in as much water as will cover them. Set the saucepan over a gentle fire, and let them simmer slowly till done enough to take the thin skin off when cold. Place them in a dish, with or without milk, cream or custard: if the latter, there should be no ratafia. Dust some fine sugar over the apples.

SCALDED CREAM. Let the milk stand twenty-four hours in winter, and twelve at least in summer. Place the milk pan on a hot hearth, or in a wide brass kettle of water, large enough to receive the pan. It must remain on the fire till quite hot, but on no account boil, or there will be a skim instead of cream upon the milk. When it is done enough, the undulations on the surface will begin to look thick, and a ring will appear round the pan, the size of the bottom. The time required to scald cream depends on the size of the pan, and the heat of the fire; but the slower it is done the better. When the cream is scalded, remove the pan into the dairy, and skim it the next day. In cold weather it may stand thirty-six hours, and never less than two meals. In the west of England, butter is usually made of cream thus prepared; and if made properly it is very firm.

SCALDING FRUIT. The best way of scalding any kind of fruit, is to do it in a stone jar on a hot iron hearth; or by putting the vessel into a saucepan of water, called a water-bath. Vinegar also is best boiled in the same manner.

SCALDING PUDDING. From a pint of new milk take out enough to mix three large spoonfuls of flour into a smooth batter. Set the remainder of the milk on the fire, and when it is scalding hot, pour in the batter, and keep it on the fire till it thickens. Stir it all the time to prevent its burning, but do not let it boil. When of a proper thickness, pour it into a basin, and let it stand to cool. Then put in, six eggs, a little sugar, and some nutmeg. Boil it an hour in a basin well buttered.

SCALLOPED OYSTERS. Having opened the oysters, and washed them from the grit, put them into scallop shells or saucers, and bake them before the fire in a Dutch oven. Add to them some crumbs of bread, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a bit of butter, before they are set to the fire.—Another way. To fill four scallop shells, have a pint and a half of oysters, put them on the fire, in their own liquor, with a blade of mace, a little salt, and some whole pepper; (put a salamander in the fire to be red hot,) grate some crumbs of bread sufficient for your shells; butter the inside of the shells very well, and strew bread crumbs thereon; take your oysters off the fire, pour them into a pan, take off the beards, and fill the shells; grate a little nutmeg into every shell, put a spoonful or two of the liquor upon the oysters, and fill up the shells quite full with bread crumbs; set them before the fire, and baste them with butter all over the bread, then set them upon a gridiron over a clear fire, for about half an hour; hold your salamander over them, till they are of a fine brown, then send them to table for a side-dish. In the same manner do shrimps, muscles, or cockles.

SCALLOPED POTATOES. When boiled, mash them with milk, pepper, salt, and butter. Fill some scallop shells, smooth the tops, set them in a Dutch oven to brown before the fire; or add the yolk of an egg, and mash them with cream, butter, salt, and pepper. Score the top with a knife, and put thin slices over, before they are put into the oven.

SCALLOPED VEAL. Mince it fine, set it over the fire a few minutes, with pepper and salt, a little nutmeg and cream. Put it into scallop shells, and fill them up with grated bread; over which put a little butter, and brown them before the fire.

SCARLET DYE. Wool may be dyed scarlet, the most splendid of all colours, by first boiling it in a solution of muris-sulphate of tin; then dying it a pale yellow with quercitron bark, and afterwards crimson with cochineal.

SCORCHED LINEN. Boil to a good consistency, in half a pint of vinegar, two ounces of fuller's earth, an ounce of hen's dung, half an ounce of cake soap, and the juice of two onions. Spread this composition over the whole of the damaged part; and, if the scorching were not quite through, and the threads actually consumed, after suffering it to dry on, and letting it receive a subsequent good washing or two, the place will appear full as white and perfect as any other part of the linen.

SCOTCH BARLEY BROTH. Cut a leg of beef into pieces, and boil it in three gallons of water, with a sliced carrot and crust of bread, till reduced to half the quantity. Strain it off, and put it again into the pot. Boil it an hour, with half a pound of Scotch barley, a few heads of celery cut small, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, a little minced parsley, and a few marigolds. Put in a large fowl, and boil it till the broth is good. Season it with salt, take out the onion and herbs, and serve it up with the fowl in the middle. Broth may be made with a sheep's head chopped in pieces, or six pounds of thick flank of beef, boiled in six quarts of water. Put the barley in with the meat, and boil it gently for an hour, keeping it clear from scum. The articles before-mentioned may then be added, with sliced turnips and carrots, and boiled together till the broth is good. Season it, take it up, pour the broth into a tureen, with the meat in the middle, and carrots and turnips round the dish.

SCOTCH BURGOO. This is a sort of oatmeal hasty pudding without milk, much used by the Scotch peasantry; and as an example of economy, is worthy of being occasionally adopted by all who have large families and small incomes. It is made in the following easy and expeditious manner. To a quart of oatmeal, add gradually two quarts of water, so that the whole may mix smoothly. Stir it continually over the fire, and boil it for a quarter of an hour. Take it up, and stir in a little salt and butter, with or without pepper. This quantity will provide five or six persons with a tolerable meal.

SCOTCH COLLOPS. Cut veal into thin round slices, about three inches over, and beat them with a rolling-pin. Grate a little nutmeg over, dip them into the yolk of an egg, and fry them in a little butter of a fine brown. Pour off the butter, and have ready warmed half a pint of gravy, with a little butter and flour in it, the yolk of an egg, two large spoonfuls of cream, and a dust of salt. Do not boil the sauce, but stir it till it comes to a fine thickness, and pour it over the collops.—Another way. Take what quantity of veal you want, cut into collops, and beat it with the back of a knife; season as above, and fry them in butter of a fine brown; pour off the butter, and put in half a pint of good gravy, and a small glass of white wine: you may add what other ingredients you please. Roll a piece of butter as big as a walnut in flour, toss it up, and when it boils, take off the scum very clean: let your sauce be thick enough to hang; dish it up, and garnish to your fancy.—Another way: dressed white. Take three or four pounds of a fillet of veal, cut in small thin slices; then take a clean stewpan, butter it on the inside; season your collops with beaten mace, nutmeg, and salt; dust them over with flour, and lay them into your stewpan, piece by piece, till all your meat is in: set it over the stove, and toss it up together, till all your meat be white. Put in half a pint of strong veal broth; let them boil, and take off all the scum clean; beat up the yolks of two eggs in a gill of cream, and put it to your collops, and keep it tossing all the while, till it just boils up; then squeeze in a little lemon, toss it round, and dish it up. Garnish your dish with sliced lemon. If you would make a fine dish of it, when you put in your veal broth, you must add morels, truffles, mushrooms, artichoke bottoms cut in small dice, force-meat balls boiled, not fried, and a few cock's combs; then garnish your dish with fried oysters, petit-pasties, lemon, and barberries. Remember when you make a made dish, and are obliged to use cream, that it should be the last thing; for it is apt to curdle if it boils at any time.

SCOTCH EGGS. Boil five pullet's eggs, quite hard; and without removing the white, cover them completely with a fine relishing forcemeat, in which, let scraped ham, or chopped anchovy, bear a due proportion. Fry of a beautiful yellow brown, and serve with good gravy in the dish.

SCOTCH LEEK SOUP. Prepare a sheep's head, either by cleaning the skin very nicely, or taking it off, as preferred. Split the head in two, take out the brains, and put it into a kettle with plenty of water. Add a large quantity of leeks cut small, with pepper and salt. Stew these very slowly for three hours. Mix as much oatmeal as will make the soup pretty thick, and make it very smooth with cold water. Pour it into the soup, continue stirring it till the whole is smooth and well done, and then serve it up.

SCOTCH PANCAKES. To a pint of cream beat up eight eggs, leaving out two whites, a quarter of a pound of butter melted, one spoon-full of flour, a nutmeg grated, three spoonfuls of sack, and a little sugar. When the butter is cool, mix all together into a batter; have ready a stove with charcoal, and a small fryingpan no bigger than a plate, tie a piece of butter in a clean cloth; when the pan is hot rub this round it, and put in the batter with a spoon, run it round the pan very thin and fry them only on one side; put a saucer into the middle of the dish, and lay pancakes over it, till it is like a little pyramid; strew pounded sugar between every pancake, and garnish the dish with Seville oranges cut in small quarters.

SCOURING BALLS. Portable balls for removing spots from clothes, may be thus prepared. Dry some fuller's-earth, so that it crumbles into a powder; then moisten it with the clear juice of lemons, and add a small quantity of pure pearl-ash. Knead the whole carefully together, till it acquires the consistence of a thick elastic paste: form it into convenient small balls, and dry them in the sun. To be used, first moisten the spot on the clothes with water, then rub it with the ball, and let the spot dry in the sun. After having washed it with pure water, the spot will entirely disappear.

SCROPHULA. The principal difficulty in curing the scrophula, or king's evil, arises from the circumstance, that it may remain concealed for a long time, and thus become deeply rooted in the constitution before its effects are evident. The system requires to be strengthened by the free use of Peruvian bark, sea water and sea bathing, and moderate exercise in the open air. Hemlock plasters applied to the swellings, and drinking of milk whey, have also been found useful. But in the progress of the disorder, medical advice will be necessary.

SCURVY. When the scurvy proceeds chiefly from the long-continued use of salt provisions, it will be necessary to take large portions of the juice of lemons, oranges, or tamarinds; to eat water cresses, scurvy grass, and fresh vegetables of every description. But where these cannot be procured, pickled cabbage, cucumber, onions, and other fruits, as well as horseradish and mustard, may be taken with considerable advantage. Take also a pound of water-dock roots, and boil them in six pints of water, adding an ounce or two of chrystals of tartar, till one third part of the liquor be evaporated; and drink half a pint or more of it every day. Raw carrots eaten are also very good for the scurvy; and during a voyage, they should be packed up in casks of sand and kept for use. If the limbs be swelled, or joints stiff, it will be proper to foment them with warm vinegar, or bathe them in lukewarm water. A valuable ointment may be made of a pound of fresh lard, and as much cliver or goose-grass as the lard will moisten. Boil them together over a slow fire, stir the mixture till it turns brown, and strain it through a cloth. Take the ointment from the water, and rub it on the parts affected.

SCURVY GRASS ALE. Brew it as for other ale, omitting the hops; and when the liquor boils, put in half a bushel of fine wormwood, a bushel of scurvy grass, and twelve pounds of sugar. This quantity of ingredients is sufficient for a hogshead.

SEA-KALE is a highly nutritious and palatable culinary vegetable. It is an early esculent plant, the young shoots of which are used somewhat in the manner of asparagus, and may, it is said, be grown by the method of cultivation which is given hereafter, to a size and of a delicacy of flavour greatly superior to that which is commonly brought to the table. In the cultivation of it in the garden, the improved method which has lately been advised, is that of preparing the ground for it by trenching it two feet and a half deep, about the close of the year or in the beginning of it: when not that depth naturally, and of a light quality, it is to be made so by artificial means, such as the applying of a suitable proportion of fine white sand, and very rotten vegetable mould: if the ground be wet in the winter season, it should be completely drained, that no water may stagnate in it near the bottom of the cultivated mould, as the strength of the plants depends upon the dryness and richness of the bottom soil. After which the ground is to be divided into beds, four feet in width, with alleys of eighteen inches between them; then, at the distance of every two feet each way, five or six seeds are to be sown, in a circle of about four inches diameter, to the depth of two inches. This business should be performed in a strictly regular and exact manner, as the plants are afterwards to be covered by means of pots for blanching them, and the health and beauty of the crops equally depend upon their standing at regular distances. If the seeds which were sown were sound and perfect, they will come up and shew themselves in the last spring or beginning summer months; which as soon as they have made three or four leaves, all but three of the strongest and best plants should be taken away from each circle; planting out those which are pulled up, which, when done by a careful hand, may be performed so as for them to have the whole of their tap-root in a spare bed for extra forcing, or the repairs of accidents. The turnip fly and wire worm are to be carefully guarded against, the latter by picking them by the hand from out of the ground, and the former by the use of lime laid round the young plants in a circle. When the summer months prove dry, the beds should be plentifully watered. As soon as the leaves decay in the autumn they should be cleared away, and the beds be covered with light fresh earth and sand to the thickness of an inch; the compost thus used having laid some time in a heap, and been turned several times, so as to be free from weeds, and the ova of insects as well as grubs. Upon the sandy loam dressing, about six inches in depth of light stable litter is to be applied, which completes the work of the first year. In the spring of the second, when the plants are beginning to push, the stable litter is to be raked off, a little of the most rotten being dug into the alleys, and another inch depth of loam and sand applied. Cutting this year is to be refrained from, notwithstanding some of the plants may rise strong, and the beds managed exactly as before during this winter season. In the third season, a little before the plants begin to stir, the covering laid on for the winter is to be raked off, and an inch in depth of pure dry sand or fine gravel now laid on. Then each circle of plants is to be covered with one of the blanching-pots already alluded to, pressing it firmly into the ground, so as to exclude all light and air, as the colour and flavour of the shoots are greatly injured by exposure to either of them. When the beds are twenty-six feet long, and four wide, they will hold twenty-four blanching-pots, with three plants under each, making seventy-two plants in a bed. They are to be examined from time to time, the young stems being cut, when about three inches above the ground, care being taken not to injure any of the remaining buds below, some of which will immediately begin to swell. In this way a succession of gatherings may be continued for the space of six weeks, after which period the plants are to be uncovered, and their leaves suffered to grow, that they may acquire and return nutriment to the root for the next year's buds. When seeds are not wanted, the flowers should be pinched off by the finger and thumb, as long as they appear. Where the expence of blanching-pots is objected to, the beds must be covered with a large portion of loose gravel and mats; but the saving is trifling, when the time and trouble of removing and replacing the gravel, for the cutting of the crop and securing the plant, are considered. By this mode of management, sea-kale is said to have been cut which measured ten, eleven, and even twelve inches in circumference, and that each blanching-pot on the average afforded a dish of it twice in the season. The blanching-pots for this use are somewhat of the same shape and size as the large bell-glasses commonly employed in market gardens for raising tender vegetable crops, but made of the same materials as the common earthenware, having a handle at the top. They may be about a foot and a half in diameter at the rim where they apply to the ground. Forcing sea-kale.—It is supposed that no vegetable can be so easily and cheaply forced as this, or require so little trouble; as the dung is in the finest state possible for spring hot-beds, after the common crop has been cut and gathered. The principal circumstance necessary in this business, is that of being very attentive and particular in guarding against too great a heat. The temperature under the blanching-pots should constantly be kept as near fifty-five degrees of Fahrenheit's scale as possible, and on no account higher than sixty at any time. In this intention, in either of the two concluding months of the year, as the sea-kale may be wanted more early or late, a suitable quantity of fresh stable dung should be collected and prepared, to cover both the beds and the alleys from two to three feet in height; as in the quantity to be laid on, a great deal must always be left to the judgment of the gardener, as well as to the state of the season as to mildness or severity. It should invariably be well pressed down between the blanching-pots, heat-sticks being placed at proper intervals, by the occasional examination of which the heat below will be readily shewn. When the dung has remained in this situation four or five days, the pots should be examined to see the state of the shoots It not unfrequently happens that worms spring above the surface, and spoil the delicacy of flavour in the young shoots. In order to prevent this, it is best to cover it with dry sea-coal ashes, which have been sifted neither very small nor very large. Salt has also the power of destroying them in an effectual manner, without injuring the sea-kale. The crop, it is said, will be ready to cut and gather in three weeks or a month from the first application of the heat; but as much danger and mischief are the consequence when this is violent, it is advised to begin soon enough, and to force slowly, rather than in too quick a manner. It is likewise necessary to cut the leaves off a fortnight or three weeks before they decay, in those plants which are intended to be forced at a very early period. It is also suggested that the blanching-pots used in forcing should be made in two pieces, the uppermost of which should fit like a cap upon the lower; as the crop might then be examined at all times without disturbing the hot dung. Sea-kale is cooked, and sent to the table in the same manner as asparagus.

SEA SICKNESS. This disorder may in a great measure be prevented, by taking a few drops of vitriolic Æther on a bit of sugar dissolved in the mouth, or drinking a few drops of Æther in water, with a little sugar.

SEA WATER. To render salt water fit for washing linen at sea, a quantity of soda should be kept at hand, and used for that purpose, as often as occasion requires. As much soda should be put into sea water as will render it turbid, and completely precipitate the lime and magnesia which it contains. The water will then become sufficiently alkaline for the purpose of washing.

SHAVING SOAP. Cut half a pound of fine white soap in thin slices, add half an ounce of salt of tartar, and mix them with full half a pint of spirits of wine. Put the ingredients into a quart bottle, tie it down with a bladder, digest it in a gentle heat till the soap is dissolved, and let the air escape through a pinhole in the bladder. Filter the mixture through paper, and scent it with a little bergamot, or essence of lemon. It will have the appearance of fine oil. A small quantity mixed with water will produce an excellent lather, and is much superior to any other composition in washing or shaving.

SEALING OF LETTERS. To secure letters from being opened, beat up some fine bean flour with the white of an egg, and make it into a paste. Use a little of it in the form of a wafer, close the letters with it, and hold the sealed part to the spout of a tea-pot of boiling water. The steam will harden the cement so that the letter cannot be opened without tearing, and will render it more secure than either wax or wafer.

SEASONING. Though general rules may be given for stuffings and seasoning, yet much must be left to common discretion. The different tastes of people require more or less of the flavour of spices, salt, garlic, butter, and other ingredients; and the proportions must of course be regulated accordingly, taking care that a variety of flavour be given to the different dishes served at the same time. The proper articles should be kept ready for use; but if suet or bacon be not at hand, butter must be used instead, and fish gravy instead of stock or meat gravy. More depends on judgment and care than on the ingredients merely, of which the dish is composed.

SEASONING MAHOGANY. Having provided a steam-tight wooden box, capable of holding such pieces of mahogany as are wanted for chairs or other purposes, a pipe from a boiler must be adapted to it, by means of which the box is to be filled with steam, to a temperature about equal to that of boiling water. The time required for wood an inch and a half thick, is about two hours; and pieces of this thickness become sufficiently dry to work, after being placed in a warm room for twenty-four hours. By this treatment the wood is something improved in colour, and the blemishes of green veins are entirely removed. The eggs also of any insect contained in the wood, will be destroyed by the heat of the steam. By this process, two important advantages are gained. There is a saving of capital, vested in wood lying to season during several months; and the warping of small pieces of wood is entirely prevented.

SEED CAKE. Mix a quarter of a peck of flour with half a pound of sugar, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, and a little ginger. Melt three quarters of a pound of butter, with half a pint of milk; when just warm, put to it a quarter of a pint of yeast, and work it up to a good dough. Add seeds or currants, let it stand before the fire a few minutes before it goes to the oven, and bake it an hour and a half.—Another way is to mix a pound and a half of flour, a pound of lump sugar, eight eggs beaten separately, an ounce of seeds, two spoonfuls of yeast, and the same of milk and water. Milk alone soon causes cake and bread to get dry.—Another. Break eighteen eggs into a large pan, and leave out eight of the whites; add to them two pounds of fresh butter, and with your hand work the butter and eggs till they are well mixed, and like thick barme; put in two or three spoonfuls of sack, two pounds of lump sugar sifted, two pounds of fine flour, and two ounces of carraway seeds, mix the sugar, flour, and seeds, well together, and set it before the fire for half an hour, covering it with a cloth, and remember to put the flour, &c. in by degrees. Tin pudding pans are the best things to bake it in, and take care it be not over-done; they will rise very high in the oven, and when they begin to sink again, they are baked enough.—A cheap seed cake. Take half a peck of flour, set a pint of milk on the fire, and break in a pound and a half of butter; when all the butter is melted, stir in half a pint of ale yeast that is not bitter. Take half an ounce of allspice beat fine, and a pound of sugar sifted; mix these with the flour first, then make a hole in the middle of the flour, and pour in the butter, milk, and yeast. While you are working it, strew in some carraway seeds, and set it before the fire to rise; bake it an hour and a half in a quick oven. It is best baked in two cakes; if you make it in two, put currants in one, and carraway seeds in the other.—Seed cake the nun's way. To four pounds of the finest flour, add three pounds of double-refined sugar beat and sifted; mix this with the flour, and set it before the fire to dry; beat up four pounds of nice fresh butter to a cream, break three dozen of eggs (leaving out sixteen whites) and beat them up very well, with a tea-cupful of orange-flower water, strain them into the butter, and beat them well therewith; take the flour and sugar, and mix in six ounces of carraway seeds; put these ingredients to the butter and eggs by degrees, and beating all continually for two hours: butter a hoop, and bake it three hours in a moderate oven. If you please, you may add two or three grains of ambergris.

SEED WATER. Bruise a spoonful of coriander seeds, and half a spoonful of carraway. Boil them in a pint of water, strain them, beat up the yolk of an egg and mix with the water, add a little sweet wine and lump sugar.

SEEDS. To discover when seeds of any kind are fully ripe and good, throw them into a basin of water. If not sufficiently ripe, they will swim on the surface; but when arrived at full maturity, they will be found uniformly to sink to the bottom; a fact that is said to hold equally true of all seeds, from the cocoa nut to the orchis.—Seeds of plants may be preserved, for many months at least, by causing them to be packed, either in husks, pods, &c. in absorbent paper, with raisins or brown moist sugar; or a good way, practised by gardeners, is to wrap the seed in brown paper or cartridge paper, pasted down, and then varnished over.—To preserve seeds, when sown, from vermin. Steep the grain or seed three or four hours, or a sufficient time for it to penetrate the skin, or husk, in a strong solution of liver of sulphur.

SHADS. They must be scaled very clean, then gut and wash them, dry them in a cloth, score them on the sides, rub them with butter, sprinkle salt over them, and broil them of a fine brown; boil sorrel, chervil, onion and parsley, chop it fine; melt a piece of butter in cream sufficient for your sauce, then put in your herbs, season it with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg, toss it up together, and pour over your fish; or you may serve it with a ragout of mushrooms, or a brown sauce with capers, garnished with lemon.

SEVILLE ORANGE POSSET. Squeeze Seville orange or lemon juice into a glass dish, or mix them together if preferred, and sweeten it well with fine sugar. Then warm some cream over the fire, but do not let it boil. Put it into a teapot and pour it into the juice, holding the teapot up very high, that it may froth and curdle the better. Instead of cream, milk thickened with one or two yolks of eggs may be used, if more convenient.

SHALOT. As the habits of growth in roots of this nature differ greatly in the different sorts, some requiring to be nearly or quite on the surface of the ground, while others stand in need of being a considerable depth below it, which has not been well attended to in the garden culture of such roots; it may be readily supposed that these have considerable influence and effect on the growth of such root crops. In consequence of finding that crops of this root generally became mouldy and perished, and that they were usually planted, from the directions of garden cultivators, at the depth of two or three inches from the surface; the injury, failure, and destruction of such crops, were naturally ascribed to this cause. A few bulbs or bunches of this root were consequently divided, as far as possible, into single buds or bulbs, and planted upon or rather above the surface of the ground, some very rich soil being placed underneath them, and the mould on each side raised to support them, until they became firmly rooted. This mould was then removed by means of a hoe, and the use of the watering-pot, and the bulbs of course left wholly out of the ground. The growth of the plants had now so near a resemblance to that of the common onion, as not readily to be distinguished from it, until their irregularity of form, the consequence of the numerous germs within each bulb, became evident. The forms of the bulbs, however, continued constantly different from all those raised in the ordinary method, being much more broad, but of less length. The crop was a great deal better in quality, and at the same time much more abundant in quantity. It may consequently not be unworthy of the gardener's attention.—Garlic, rocambole, and shalot are chiefly used in ragouts and sauces which require to be highly flavoured, unless a separate sauce is made of them only; and indeed, the mixing of animal juices in preparations of vegetables is by no means to be recommended, where the health is to be consulted. The substitution of butter and flour, yolks of eggs and cream, mushroom or walnut ketchup, is greatly to be preferred to rich gravies, in dressing of vegetables.

SHALOT SAUCE. Put a few chopped shalots into a little gravy boiled clear, and nearly half as much vinegar. Season with pepper and salt, and boil it half an hour.

SHALOT VINEGAR. Split six or eight shalots; put them into a wide-mouthed quart bottle, and fill it up with vinegar. Stop it close; and in a month the vinegar will be fit for use.

SHALOT WINE. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for ten days. Pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine stand on them ten days longer. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little lemon peel cut thin. This is rather the most expensive, but by far the most elegant preparation of shalot. It imparts the onion flavour to soups and sauces, for chops, steaks, hashes, or boiled meats, more agreeably than any other, without leaving any unpleasant taste in the mouth.

SHANK JELLY. Boil fifteen shanks of mutton in three quarts of water. Two cow heels, three calf's feet, or five sheep's feet, will answer the same purpose. Let them stew no longer than to extract a good jelly, and when cold take off the fat, and clear it from the settlement at the bottom. The jelly may be cleared with whites of eggs, and running it through a jelly bag. Orange or lemon juice, or wine, and sugar, may be added, as is suitable for the patient. Wine however should never be given to any invalid, without the express permission of the medical attendant, as it may do more harm than good, unless used with great discretion. Much less should any kind of spirits be allowed, as they are of a much more dangerous nature than wine in such cases.

SHARP SAUCE. Put into a silver saucepan, or one that is very clean and well tinned, half a pint of the best white wine vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of pounded loaf sugar. Simmer it gently over the fire, skim it well, pour it through a tammis or fine sieve, and send it up in a basin. This sauce is adapted for venison, and is often preferred to the sweet wine sauces.

SHEEP'S EARS. Take a dozen and a half of sheep's ears, scald and clean them very well; then make a forcemeat of veal, suet, crumbs of bread, a little nutmeg, pepper, salt, and beaten mace, parsley and thyme shred fine; mix these ingredients with the yolk of an egg; fill the ears, and lay one over the other, press them close, flour them, and fry them in clean beef dripping, of a fine brown; serve them up with gravy sauce in the dish, garnished with lemon. This is a pretty side dish.

SHELFORD PUDDING. Mix three quarters of a pound of currants or raisins, one pound of suet, a pound of flour, six eggs, some good milk, lemon peel, and a little salt. Boil it in a melon shape six hours.

SHERBET. This liquor is a species of negus without the wine. It consists of water, lemon, or orange juice, and sugar, in which are dissolved perfumed cakes, made of the best Damascus fruit, and containing also an infusion of some drops of rose-water: another kind is made of violets, honey, juice of raisins, &c. It is well calculated for assuaging thirst, as the acidity is agreeably blended with sweetness. It resembles, indeed, those fruits which we find so grateful when one is thirsty.

SHIN OF BEEF. A shin or leg of beef, weighing full six pounds, will make a large tureen of excellent soup. Cut half a pound of bacon into slices about half an inch thick, lay it at the bottom of a soup kettle or deep stewpan, and place the meat on this, after having first chopped the bone in two or three places. Add two carrots, two turnips, a head of celery, two large onions with two or three cloves stuck in them, a dozen black peppercorns, the same of Jamaica pepper, and a bundle of lemon thyme, winter savoury, and parsley. Just cover the meat with cold water, boil it over a quick fire, skim it well, and then let it stew very gently by the side of the fire for four hours till it is quite tender. Take out all the meat, strain off the soup, and remove the fat from the surface when cold. Cut the meat into small pieces, and put them into the soup, when it is to be warmed up for the table. A knuckle of veal may be dressed in the same way.

SHINGLES. This disorder, of the same nature as St. Anthony's fire, and requiring a similar mode of treatment, attacks various parts of the body, but chiefly the waist, around which it appears in numerous pimples of a livid hue, and seldom attended with fever. No attempt should be made to repel the eruption; the body should be kept gently open, and the part affected rubbed with a little warm wheaten flour. Then linen bags of oatmeal, camomile flowers, and a little bruised camphor may also be applied, which will effectually relieve the inflammation.

SHOE BLACKING. In three pints of small beer, put two ounces of ivory black, and one pennyworth of brown sugar. As soon as they boil, put a dessert-spoonful of sweet oil, and then boil slowly till reduced to a quart. Stir it up with a stick every time it is used; and put it on the shoe with a brush when wanted.—Another. Two ounces of ivory black; one tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, one table-spoonful of sweet oil; and two ounces of brown sugar; roll the same into a ball, and to dissolve it add half a pint of vinegar.—Another. Take ivory black and brown sugar candy, of each two ounces; of sweet oil a table-spoonful; add gradually thereto a pint of vinegar, cold, and stir the whole till gradually incorporated.—Another. To one pint of vinegar add half an ounce of vitriolic acid, half an ounce of copperas, two ounces of sugar candy, and two ounces and a half of ivory black: mix the whole well together.—Another. Sweet oil, half an ounce; ivory black and treacle, of each half a pound; gum arabic half an ounce; vinegar, three pints; boil the vinegar, and pour it hot on the other ingredients.—Another. Three ounces of ivory black, one ounce of sugar candy, one ounce of oil of vitriol, one ounce of spirits of salts, one lemon, one table-spoonful of sweet oil, and one pint of vinegar.—First mix the ivory black and sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar candy, with a little vinegar to qualify the blacking, then add your spirits of salts and vitriol, and mix them all well together. N. B. The last ingredients prevent the vitriol and salts from injuring the leather, and add to the lustre of the blacking.—Another. Ivory black, two ounces; brown sugar, one ounce and a half; sweet oil, half a table-spoonful. Mix them well, and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.—Another. A quarter of a pound of ivory black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a table-spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut, and a small piece of gum arabic.—Make a paste of the flour, and while hot put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole well together in a quart of water, and you will have a beautiful shining blacking.

SHOES. The best way of cleaning shoes in the winter time is to scrape off the dirt with the back of a knife, or with a wooden knife made for that purpose, while the shoes are wet, and wipe off the remainder with a wet sponge, or piece of flannel. Set them to dry at a distance from the fire, and they will afterwards take a fine polish. This will save much of the trouble in cleaning, when the dirt is suffered to dry on; and by applying a little sweet oil occasionally, the leather will be prevented from growing hard. To secure the soles of shoes or boots from being penetrated with rain or snow, melt a little bees' wax and mutton suet, and rub it slightly over the edges of the sole where the stitches are; this will be sufficient to repel the wet. Occasionally rubbing the soles with hot tar, and dusting over it a small quantity of iron filings, will tend to fill up the pores of the leather, and preserve the feet dry and warm in winter. The practice of pouring brandy or spirits into shoes or boots, with a view to prevent the effects of wet or cold, is very pernicious, and often brings on inflammation of the bowels. The best remedy for damp feet is to bathe them in warm water; and if they become sore or blistered, rub them with a little mutton suet. As many evils and inconveniences arise from wearing improper shoes, it may be necessary to observe, that an easy shoe, adapted to the size and shape of the foot, is of considerable consequence. The soles should be thick, and their extremities round rather than pointed, in order to protect the toes from being injured by sharp stones, or other rough substances, that may occur in walking. Persons wearing narrow or fashionable shoes, merely for the sake of appearance, not only suffer immediate fatigue and languor when walking only a short distance, but are exposed to the pain and inconvenience of warts and corns, and numerous other maladies; while the want of dry easy shoes checks the necessary perspiration, which extends its influence to other parts of the body. For children, a kind of half boots, such as may be laced above the ancles, are superior to shoes, as they not only have the advantage of fitting the leg, but are likewise not easily trodden down at the heels, and children can walk more firmly in them than in shoes.

SHORT BISCUITS. Beat half a pound of butter to a cream, then add half a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered and sifted, the yolks of two eggs, and a few carraways. Mix in a pound of flour well dried, and add as much cream as will make it a proper stiffness for rolling. Roll it out on a clean board, and cut the paste into cakes with the top of a glass or cup. Bake them on tins for about half an hour.—Another way. A quarter of a pound of butter beat to a cream, six ounces of fine sugar powdered and sifted, four yolks of eggs, three quarters of a pound of flour, a little mace, and a little grated lemon peel. Make them into a paste, roll it out, and cut it into cakes with the top of a wine glass. Currants or carraways may be added if agreeable.

SHORT CAKES. Rub into a pound of dried flour, four ounces of butter, four ounces of powdered sugar, one egg, and a spoonful or two of thin cream to make it into a paste. When mixed, put currants into one half, and carraways into the rest. Cut them into little cakes with the top of a wine glass, or canister lid, and bake them a few minutes on floured tins.

SHORT CRUST. Dry two ounces of white sugar; after it has been pounded and sifted. Mix it with a pound of flour well dried, and rub into it three ounces of butter, so fine as not to be seen. Put the yolks of two eggs well beaten into some cream, mix it with the above into a smooth paste, roll it out thin, and bake it in a moderate oven.—Another. Mix with a pound of fine flour dried, an ounce of sugar pounded and sifted. Crumble three ounces of butter into it, till it looks all like flour; and with a glass of boiling cream, work it up to a fine paste.—To make a richer crust, but not sweet, rub six ounces of butter into eight ounces of fine flour. Mix it into a stiffish paste, with as little water as possible; beat it well, and roll it thin. This, as well as the former, is proper for tarts of fresh or preserved fruit.—Another. To a pound of flour allow six ounces of butter, and a little salt. Rub the butter well into the flour with the hand, till the whole is well united, and then put in a small quantity of cold water, just enough to mix it to a paste. Mould it quite smooth with the hand, and roll it out for use.

SHORT PASTE. Rub a quarter of a pound of butter into a pound of flour, mixed with water and two eggs. Work it up to a good stiffness, and roll it out. If for sweet tarts, two table-spoonfuls of sugar should be added.

SHOULDER OF LAMB FORCED. Bone a shoulder of lamb, and fill it up with forcemeat; braise it two hours over a slow stove. Take it up and glaze it, or it may be glazed only, and not braised. Serve with sorrel sauce under the lamb.

SHOULDER OF LAMB GRILLED. Roast a shoulder of lamb till about three parts done, score it both ways into squares about an inch large, rub it over with yolks of egg, season it with pepper and salt, and strew it over with bread crumbs and chopped parsley. Set it before the fire, brown it with a salamander, and serve it up with gravy, mushroom ketchup, lemon juice, and a piece of butter rolled in flour. Heat it over the fire till it is well thickened.

SHOULDER OF MUTTON. If intended to be boiled with oysters, hang it up some days, and then salt it well for two days. Bone it, sprinkle it with pepper, and a little pounded mace. Lay some oysters over it, and roll the meat up tight and tie it. Stew it in a small quantity of water, with an onion and a few peppercorns, till it is quite tender. Prepare a little good gravy, and some oysters stewed in it; thicken this with flour and butter, and pour it over the mutton when the tape is taken off. The stewpan should be kept close covered. If the shoulder is to be roasted, serve it up with onion sauce. The blade-bone may be broiled.

SHOULDER OF PORK. A shoulder or a breast of pork is best put into pickle. Salt the shoulder as a leg; and when very nice it may be roasted, instead of being boiled.

SHOULDER OF VEAL. Cut off the knuckle for a stew or gravy, and roast the other part with stuffing. It may be larded, and served with melted butter. The blade-bone, with a good deal of meat left on it, eats extremely well with mushroom or oyster sauce, or with mushroom ketchup in butter.

SHOULDER OF VENISON. The neck and shoulder are roasted the same as the haunch, and served with the same sauce. But if the shoulder is to be stewed, take out the bone, and beat the meat with a rolling-pin. Lay amongst it some slices of mutton fat, that have lain a few hours in a little port wine; sprinkle a little pepper and allspice over it in fine powder, roll and tie it up tight. Set it in a stewpan that will just hold it, with mutton or beef gravy, half a pint of port wine, with pepper and allspice. Simmer it close covered, and very slowly, for three or four hours. When quite tender, take off the tape, set the meat on a dish, and strain the gravy over it. Serve with currant-jelly sauce. This is the best way of dressing a shoulder of venison, unless it be very fat, and then it should be roasted. The bone should be stewed with it.

SHREWSBURY CAKES. Sift one pound of sugar, some pounded cinnamon, and nutmeg grated, into three pounds of fine flour. Add a little rose water to three eggs well beaten, and mix with the flour; then pour into it as much melted butter as will make it a good thickness to roll out. Mould it well, roll it thin, and cut it into any shape you please.

SHRIMP PIE. Pick a quart of shrimps; if they be very salt, season them only with mace and a clove or two. Mince two or three anchovies, mix them with the spice, and then season the shrimps. Put some butter at the bottom of the dish, and over the shrimps, with a glass of sharp white wine. The pie will not take long in baking, and the paste must be light and thin.

SHRIMP SAUCE. If the shrimps be not ready picked pour over a little water to wash them. Put them to butter melted thick and smooth, give them one boil, and add the juice of a lemon.

SHRUB. To a gallon of rum, put a quart of the juice of Seville oranges, and two pounds and a half of loaf sugar beaten fine, and then barrel it. Steep the rinds of half a dozen oranges in a little rum, the next day strain it into the vessel, and make it up ten gallons with water that has been boiled. Stir the liquor twice a day for a fortnight, or the shrub will be spoiled.

SICK ROOMS. To purify sick rooms from noxious vapours, exhalations, and all kinds of infected air, put half an ounce of finely pulverized black oxide of manganese into a saucer, and pour upon it nearly an ounce of muriatic acid. Place the saucer on the floor of the infected apartment, leave it and shut the door, and the contagion will be completely destroyed. Muriatic acid with red oxide of lead will have a similar effect. Sulphur burnt for the same purpose, has the power of overcoming the effects of noxious vapours. Shallow vessels filled with lime water are of great use in absorbing carbonic acid gas, especially in workshops where charcoal is burnt. Newly prepared charcoal will absorb various kinds of noxious effluvia, and might be used with considerable advantage for the purification of privies, if small pieces of it are strewed upon the floor. Never venture into a sick room if you are in a violent perspiration (if circumstances require your continuance there for any time,) for the moment your body becomes cold, it is in a state likely to absorb the infection, and give you the disease. Nor visit a sick person, (especially if the complaint be of a contagious nature) with an empty stomach; as this disposes the system more readily to receive the contagion. In attending a sick person, place yourself where the air passes from the door or window to the bed of the diseased, not betwixt the diseased person and any fire that is in the room, as the heat of the fire will draw the infectious vapour in that direction, and you would run much danger from breathing in it.

SILK DYES. Silk is usually dyed red with cochineal, or carthamus, and sometimes with Brazil wood. Archil is employed to give silk a bloom, but it is seldom used by itself, unless when the colour wanted is lilac. Silk may be dyed crimson, by steeping it in a solution of alum, and then dyeing it in the usual way in a cochineal bath. Poppy colour, cherry, rose, and flesh colour, are given to silk by means of carthamus. The process consists merely in keeping the silk as long as it extracts any colour, in an alkaline solution of carthamus, into which as much lemon juice has been poured, as is sufficient to give it a fine cherry red colour. Silk cannot be dyed a full scarlet; but a colour approaching to scarlet may be given to it, by first impregnating the stuff with murio-sulphate of tin, and afterwards dyeing it in equal parts of cochineal and quercitron bark.

SILK STOCKINGS. To clean silk stockings properly, it is necessary first to wash them in a lukewarm liquor of white soap, then to rinse them in clean water, and wash them again as before. They are to be washed a third time in a stronger soap liquor, made hot and tinged with blueing, and rinsed in clean water. Before they are quite dry, they are to be stoved with brimstone, and afterwards polished with glass upon a wooden leg. Gauzes are whitened in the same manner, only a little gum is put in the soap liquor before they are stoved.

SILKS CLEANED. The best method of cleaning silks, woollens, and cottons, without damage to their texture and colour, is to grate some raw potatoes to a fine pulp in clean water, and pass the liquid matter through a coarse sieve into another vessel of water. Let the mixture stand till the fine white particles of the potatoes are precipitated; then pour off the liquor, and preserve it for use. The article to be cleaned should then be laid upon a linen cloth on a table; and having provided a clean sponge, dip it into the potatoe liquor, and apply it to the article to be cleaned, till the dirt is made to disappear; then wash it in clean water several times. Two middle-sized potatoes will be sufficient for a pint of water. The coarse pulp, which does not pass through the sieve, is of great use in cleaning worsted curtains, tapestry, carpets, and other coarse articles. The mucilaginous liquor will clean all sorts of silk, cotton or woollen goods, without hurting or spoiling the colour. It may also be used in cleaning oil paintings, or furniture that is soiled. Dirtied painted wainscots may be cleaned by wetting a sponge in the liquor, then dipping it in a little fine clean sand, and afterwards rubbing the wainscot with it.

SILVERING. For silvering glass globes, and such kind of articles, one part of mercury, and four of tin, are generally used. But if two parts of mercury, one of tin, one of lead, and one of bismuth, are melted together, the compound which they form will answer the purpose better. Either of them must be made in an iron ladle, over a clear fire, and be frequently stirred. The glass to be silvered must be very clean and dry. The alloy is poured in at the top, and shaken till the whole internal surface is covered.

SILVERING OF IVORY. Prepare a diluted solution of nitrate of silver, and immerse in it an ivory paper knife. When the ivory has become yellow, in that part where it is in contact with the fluid, take it out and immerse it in an ale glass containing distilled water, placed in a window. In a short time, by exposure to the rays of the sun, it will become intensely black. Take it out of the water, wipe it dry, and rub it with a piece of leather. The silver will now appear on the ivory in a metallic state, and the knife will retain its silvery coat for a long time.

SILVERING ON SILK. Paint flowers or figures of any kind on a white silk ribbon, with a camel hair pencil, dipped in a solution of nitrate of silver. Immerse this whilst wet in a jar of sulphurous acid gas, by burning sulphur under a jar of atmospheric air. The penciling will then assume a beautiful metallic brilliance.

SINAPISMS. The sinapism is a poultice made of vinegar instead of milk, and rendered warm and stimulating by the addition of mustard, horseradish, or garlic. The common sinapism is made of equal quantities of bread crumbs and mustard, a sufficient quantity of strong vinegar, and mixing all together into a poultice. When a sinapism is required to be more stimulating, a little bruised garlic may be added. Sinapisms are employed to recal the blood and spirits to a weak part, as in the case of palsy; they are also of service in deep-seated pains, as in the case of sciatica. When the gout seizes the head or stomach, they are applied to the feet to bring the disorder down, and are likewise applied to the soles of the feet in a low state of fever. They should not be suffered to lie on till they have raised blisters, but till the parts become red, and will continue so when pressed with the finger.

SIPPETS. When the stomach is too weak to receive meat, put on a very hot plate two or three sippets of bread, and pour over them some beef, mutton, or veal gravy. Flavour with a little salt.

SIMPLE WATERS. The most expeditious method of distilling waters is to tie a piece of muslin or gauze, over a glazed earthen pot, whose mouth is just large enough to receive the bottom of a warming pan; on this lay your herb, clipped, whether mint, lavender, or whatever else you please; then place upon them the hot warming-pan, with live coals in it, to cause heat just enough to prevent burning, by which means, as the steam issuing out of the herb cannot mount upwards, by reason of the bottom of the pan just fitting the brim of the vessel below it, it must necessarily descend, and collect into water at the bottom of the receiver, and that strongly impregnated with the essential oil and salt of the vegetable thus distilled; which, if you want to make spirituous, or compound water of, is easily done, by simply adding some good spirits, or French brandy to it, which will keep good for a long time, and be much better than if the spirits had passed through a still, which must of necessity waste some of their strength. Care should be taken not to let the fire be too strong, lest it scorch the plants; and to be made of charcoal, for continuance and better regulation, which must be managed by lifting up and laying down the lid, as you want to increase or decrease the degrees of heat. The cooler the season, the deeper the earthen pan; and the less fire at first (afterwards to be gradually raised) in the greater perfection will the distilled water be obtained.—As the more moveable, or volatile parts of vegetables, are the aqueous, the oily, the gummy, the resinous, and the saline, these are to be expected in the waters of this process; the heat here employed being so great as to burst the vessels of the plants, some of which contain so large a quantity of oil, that it may be seen swimming on the surface of the water.—Medical waters thus procured will afford us nearly all the native virtues of vegetables, and give us a mixture of their several principles, whence they in a manner come up to the expressed juice, or extract gained therefrom: and if brandy be at the same time added to these distilled waters, so strong of oil and salt, a compound, or spirituous water, may be likewise procured, at a cheap and easy rate.—Although a small quantity only of distilled water can be obtained at a time by this confined operation, yet it compensates in strength what is deficient in quantity. Such liquors, if well corked up from the air, will keep good a long time, especially if about a twentieth part of any spirits be added, in order to preserve the same more effectually.

SIZE FROM POTATOES. One of the beneficial uses of potatoes, not perhaps generally known, is, that the starch of them, quite fresh, and washed only once, may be employed to make size, which, mixed with chalk, and diluted in a little water, forms a very beautiful and good white for ceilings. This size has no smell, while animal size, which putrefies so readily, always exhales a very disagreeable odour. That of potatoes, as it is very little subject to putrefaction, appears, from experience, to be more durable in tenacity and whiteness; and, for white-washing, should be preferred to animal size, the decomposition of which is always accompanied with unhealthy exhalations.

SKATE. In the purchase of this article, observe that it be very white and thick. It requires to be hung up one day at least before it is dressed; if too fresh, it eats tough. Skate may either be boiled, or fried in crumbs, being first dipped in egg. Crimp skate should be boiled and sent up in a napkin, or it may be fried as above.

SKATE SOUP. This is made of the stock fish for soup, with an ounce of vermicelli boiled in it, a little before it is served. Then add half a pint of cream, beaten with the yolks of two eggs. Stir it by the side of the fire, but not on it. Serve it up with a small French roll warmed in a Dutch oven, and then soaked an hour in the soup.

SKIRRETS. Hamburgh parsley, scorzonera, and skirrets, are much esteemed for their roots, the only part which is eaten. They should be boiled like young carrots, and they will eat very well with meat, or alone, or in soups. The shoots of salsify in the spring, from the roots of a year old, gathered green and tender, will eat very nice, if boiled in the same manner as asparagus.

SLATE, a well-known, neat, convenient, and durable material, for the covering of the roofs of buildings. There are great varieties of this substance; and it likewise differs very greatly in its qualities and colours. In some places it is found in thick laminÆ, or flakes; while in others it is thin and light. The colours are white, brown, and blue. It is so durable, in some cases, as to have been known to continue sound and good for centuries. However, unless it should be brought from a quarry of well reputed goodness, it is necessary to try its properties, which may be done by striking the slate sharply against a large stone, and if it produce a complete sound, it is a mark of goodness; but if in hewing it does not shatter before the edge of the sect, or instrument commonly used for that purpose, the criterion is decisive. The goodness of slate may be farther estimated by its colour: the deep black hue is apt to imbibe moisture, but the lighter is always the least penetrable: the touch also may be in some degree a guide, for a good firm stone feels somewhat hard and rough, whereas an open slate feels very smooth, and as it were, greasy. And another method of trying the goodness of slate, is to place the slate-stone lengthwise and perpendicularly in a tub of water, about half a foot deep, care being taken that the upper or unimmersed part of the slate be not accidentally wetted by the hand, or otherwise; let it remain in this state twenty-four hours; if good and firm stone, it will not draw water more than half an inch above the surface of the water, and that perhaps at the edges only, those parts having been a little loosened in the hewing; but a spongy defective stone will draw water to the very top. There is still another mode, held to be infallible. First, weigh two or three of the most suspected slates, noting the weight; then immerge them in a vessel of water twelve hours; take them out, and wipe them as clean as possible with a linen cloth; and if they weigh more than at first, it denotes that quality of slate which imbibes water: a drachm is allowable in a dozen pounds, and no more. It may be noticed, that in laying of this material, a bushel and a half of lime, and three bushels of fresh-water sand, will be sufficient for a square of work; but if it be pin plastered, it will take above as much more: but good slate, well laid and plastered to the pin, will lie an hundred years; and on good timber a much longer time. It has been common to lay the slates dry, or on moss only, but they are much better when laid with plaster. When they are to be plastered to the pin, then about the first quantity of lime and sand will be sufficient for the purpose, when well mixed and blended together, by properly working them. Slates differ very much in thickness as well as colour, which suits them for different situations and purposes. A great deal of good slate of various kinds is raised in different parts of Wales, and much excellent blue and other coloured sorts is procured from the northern parts of Lancashire, and other neighbouring places, as well as from different other counties throughout the kingdom. In some parts the slate is distributed into three kinds, as the best, the middling, and the waste or common sort.

SLEEP. 'Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep,' is indispensible to the continuance of health and life; and the night is appropriated for the recovery of that strength which is expended on the various exercises of the day. But sleep, as well as diet and exercise, ought to be duly regulated; for too little of it, as well as too much, is alike injurious. A medium ought therefore to be observed, though the real proportion cannot be ascertained by any given time, as one person will be more refreshed by five or six hours sleep, than another by eight or ten. Children may be allowed to take as much as they please; but for adults, six hours is generally sufficient, and no one ought to exceed eight. To make sleep refreshing, it is necessary to take sufficient exercise in the open air. Too much exertion will prevent sleep, as well as too little; yet we seldom hear the active and laborious complain of restless nights, for they generally enjoy the luxury of undisturbed repose. Refreshing sleep is often prevented by the use of strong tea, or heavy suppers; and the stomach being loaded, occasions frightful dreams, and broken and interrupted rest. It is also necessary to guard against anxiety and corroding grief: many by indulging these, have banished sleep so long that they could never afterwards enjoy it. Sleep taken in the forepart of the night is most refreshing, and nothing more effectually undermines and ruins the constitution than night watching. How quickly the want of rest in due season will destroy the most blooming complexion, or best state of health, may be seen in the ghastly countenances of those who turn the day into night, and the night into day.

SLICED CUCUMBERS. Cut some cucumbers into thick slices, drain them in a cullender, and add some sliced onions. Use some strong vinegar, and pickle them in the same manner as gherkins and French beans.

SLICES OF BEEF. To prepare red beef for slices, cut off a piece of thin flank, and remove the skin. Rub the beef well with a mixture made of two pounds of common salt, two ounces of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of moist sugar, pounded together in a marble mortar. Put it into an earthen pan, and turn and rub it daily for a week. Then take it out of the brine and wipe it, strew over it pounded mace, cloves, pepper, a little allspice, plenty of chopped parsley, and a few shalots. Roll it up, bind it round with tape, boil it quite tender, and press it. When cold cut it into slices, and garnish it with pickled barberries, fresh parsley, or any other approved article.

SLICES OF COD. To boil slices of codfish, put plenty of salt into some spring water. Boil it up quick, and then put in the fish. Keep it boiling, and skim it very clean. It will be done sufficiently in eight or ten minutes. Some small pieces may be fried and served round it. Oyster, shrimp, or anchovy sauce, should be served with it.

SLICES OF HAM. Bacon or ham may be fried, broiled on a gridiron over a clear fire, or toasted with a fork. The slices should be of the same thickness in every part. To have it curled, the slices should be cut about two inches long, then rolled up, and a little wooden skewer passed through them. Put them into a cheese toaster or Dutch oven, for eight or ten minutes, turning the slices as they crisp. This is considered the handsomest way of dressing rashers of bacon, but it is best uncurled, because it is crisper, and more equally done. Slices of ham or bacon should not be more than half a quarter of an inch thick, and will eat much more mellow if soaked in hot water for a quarter of an hour, and then dried in a cloth, before they are toasted.

SLICES OF SALMON. When washed, wipe the salmon quite dry. Rub the slices over with a soft brush dipped in sweet oil, season with pepper and salt, fold them neatly in clean white paper, and broil them over a clear fire.

SLIGHT WOUNDS. When fresh wounds bleed much, lint dipped in vinegar or spirits of turpentine, may be pressed upon the surface for a few minutes, and retained by a moderately tight bandage; but if the blood spirts out violently, it shows that an artery is wounded, and it must be held very firmly till a surgeon arrives. But when the blood seems to flow equally from every part of the wound, and there is no reason therefore to suppose that any considerable vessel is wounded, it may be permitted to bleed while the dressings are preparing. The edges of the wound are then to be gently pressed together, and retained by straps of sticking plaster. These may remain on for three or four days, unless the sore becomes painful, or the matter smells offensive, in which case the straps of plaster must be taken off, the parts washed clean with warm water, and fresh slips of plaster applied, nicely adjusted to keep the wound closed. The slips must be laid over the wound crossways, and reach several inches beyond each side of it, in order to hold the parts firmly together. By keeping the limb or part very still, abstaining from strong liquors, taking only light mild food, and keeping the bowels open, all simple wounds may easily be healed in this manner. But poultices, greasy salves, or filling the wound with lint, will have an opposite effect. Even ragged or torn wounds may be drawn together and healed by sticking plaster, without any other salves or medicines. A broken shin, or slight ruffling of the skin, may be covered with lint dipped in equal parts of vinegar and brandy, and left to stick on, unless the place inflames; and then weak goulard is the best remedy. Common cuts may be kept together by sticking plaster, or with only a piece of fine linen rag, or thread bound round them. The rag applied next to a cut or wound of any kind, should always be of white linen; but calico, or coloured rags, will do quite as well for outward bandages. Important wounds should always be committed to the care of a skilful surgeon.

SLUGS. These reptiles do great damage in fields and gardens, especially to crops of lettuces, cabbages, or turnips. Their track is perceived by the shining and slimy substance which they leave behind them. There are several kinds of these little animals. The white and brown leathery kind often even destroy the strong stems of young cabbage, and other similar plants. The destruction of them has been suggested to be effected by the use of tar-water, sprinkled over the ground; and also by having recourse to lime, in the preparation of the land for such crops. They conceal themselves in the holes and crevices, only making their appearance early in mornings and late in the evenings. The white slug or snail is likewise very destructive to young turnip crops, by rising out of the holes of the soils, on wet and dewy mornings and evenings. Rolling the ground with a heavy implement, before the sun rises, has been advised as a means of destroying them in these cases. Slugs of this sort are likewise very destructive, in some districts, to the roots of corn crops, during the day-time, in the early spring months, while they lie concealed in the ground, by eating and devouring them; and by coming out in the evenings, and during the night-time, to commit ravages on the blades, and other parts above the ground. Numbers of them are sometimes met with upon the same plant, and they may easily be extirpated and removed from the land by the above practice, while they are at work, especially in moon-light seasons, and any further injury to the crops be guarded against. Warm moist weather is always a great encouragement to their coming out of their hiding-places; and advantage should constantly be taken of it for their extermination, as they suddenly retire under ground during the time of cold. The strong lands of other places are occasionally much infested with them in the pea, bean, and rye crops and stubbles, as well as clover roots, when a wheat crop is put in upon them. The slugs, in some cases, are of about half an inch in length, having their backs of a blueish cast in the skin part, and their under parts wholly of a white appearance. A mixture of sulphur and lime, made so as to be conveniently applied, has been found to be highly destructive of them in general.—The use of lime-water has lately been advised as an excellent and cheap mode of destroying slugs in gardens, as well as fields, in the second volume of the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. It is found to be far preferable, in this intention, to quicklime, which is liable to become too soon saturated with moisture, and rendered ineffectual. The manner of employing the water is after it has been newly made from stone lime, by means of hot water poured upon it, to pour it through the fine rose of a watering-pot over the slugs, which have been collected by means of pea-haulm, or some other similar substance, laid down on the ground in portions, at the distance of about a pole from each other. In proper weather, the slugs soon collect in this way, in great numbers, for shelter as well as to get food. When a boy takes up the substance, and by a gentle shake leaves the whole of the slugs on the ground, another person then pours a small quantity of lime-water on them, and the boy removes the haulmy material to some intermediate place, in order that the same practice may be repeated. By persevering in this method for a little while, the whole of the slugs may be destroyed, as the least drop of the water speedily kills them. This practice, it is supposed, will be found highly beneficial in the flower-garden, as by watering the edgings of box, thrift, or other kinds, the slugs will be killed with certainty, even when the weather is moist. The application is considered simple, the effect certain, and the expence trifling, whether in the garden or the field; a few pots only being required, in the latter case, to the acre, which can be made with a very small quantity of lime. And the labour is not of any material consequence, so that the whole charge will not, it is imagined, exceed five shillings the acre.—To prevent slugs from getting into fruit trees. If the trees are standards, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. If they are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of coarse horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half a foot from the ground, and they will never get over it, for if they attempt it, it will kill them, as their bellies are soft, and the horse-hair will wound them.

SMALL COAL. There is generally a great waste in the article of coal, owing to the quantity of dust found amongst it; but this if wetted makes the strongest fire for the back of the grate, where it should remain untouched till it is formed into a cake. Cinders lightly wetted give a great degree of heat, and are better than coal for furnaces, ironing stoves, and ovens. They should be carefully preserved and sifted in a covered tin bucket, which prevents the dispersion of the dust.

SMALL POX. Previous to the appearance of the eruption, the patient should be kept in a cool dry apartment, and abstain from all animal food, cheese, and pastry. The diet should consist of cooling vegetables, ripe fruit, pearl barley, and sago. The drink may be barley water, with a few drops of vinegar or cream of tartar, or lukewarm milk and water; but neither beer nor wine must be allowed. In case of an obstruction of the bowels, mild laxatives or clysters may be given; and if the throat be affected, it should be gargled with vinegar and water. Warm fomentations should be applied to the neck, and mustard poultices to the feet. After the eruption has made its appearance, the recovery of the patient may be chiefly entrusted to nature, while proper attention is paid to diet and regimen. But if the pustules begin to disappear, blisters ought to be immediately applied to the calves of the legs, and parsley-root boiled in milk should frequently be eaten, in order to encourage the eruption. When the pustules suddenly sink in, it denotes danger, and medical assistance should speedily be procured. In case of inoculation, which introduces the disease in a milder form, and has been the means of saving the lives of many thousands, a similar mode of treatment is required. For about a week or ten days previous to inoculation, the patient should adhere to a regular diet; avoiding all animal food, seasoned dishes, wine and spirits, and should live sparingly on fruit pies, puddings, and vegetables. The same regimen must be observed as in the former instance, during the progress of the disease, and then, but little medicine will be required.

SMALL RICE PUDDINGS. Wash two large spoonfuls of rice, and simmer it with half a pint of milk till it is thick. Put in a piece of butter the size of an egg, and nearly half a pint of thick cream, and give it one boil. When cold, mix four yolks and two whites of eggs well beaten, sugar and nutmeg to taste. Add grated lemon, and a little cinnamon. Butter some small cups, and fill them three parts full, putting at bottom some orange or citron. Bake them three quarters of an hour in a slowish oven. Serve them up the moment they are to be eaten, with sweet sauce in the dish, or in a boat.

SMELL OF PAINT. When a room is newly painted, place three or four tubs full of water near the wainscot, and renew the water daily. In two or three days it will absorb all the offensive effluvia arising from the paint, and render the room wholesome. The smell of paint may also be prevented, by dissolving some frankincense in spirits of turpentine over a slow fire, and mixing it with the paint before it be laid on.

SMELLING BOTTLE. Reduce to powder an equal quantity of sal-ammoniac and quicklime separately, put two or three drops of the essence of bergamot into a small bottle, then add the other ingredients, and cork it close. A drop or two of Æther will improve it.

SMELTS. This delicate fish is caught in the Thames, and some other large rivers. When good and in season, they have a fine silvery hue, are very firm, and have a refreshing smell like cucumbers newly cut. They should not be washed more than is necessary merely to clean them. Dry them in a cloth, lightly flour them, and shake it off. Dip them in plenty of eggs, then into bread crumbs grated fine, and plunge them into a good pan of boiling lard. Let them continue gently boiling, and a few minutes will make them a bright yellow-brown. Take care not to take off the light roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be lost.

SMOKED HERRINGS. Clean and lay them in salt one night, with saltpetre; then hang them on a stick, through the eyes, in a row. Have ready an old cask, in which put some saw-dust, and in the midst of it a heater red-hot. Fix the stick over the smoke, and let them remain twenty-four hours.

SMOKY CHIMNIES. The plague of a smoking chimney is proverbial, and has engaged considerable attention from observers of various descriptions. Smoky chimnies in a new house, are such, frequently, for want of air. The workmanship of the rooms being all good and just out of the workman's hands, the joints of the flooring and of the pannels of the wainscoting are all true and tight; the more so as the walls, perhaps not yet thoroughly dry, preserve a dampness in the air of the room which keeps the woodwork swelled and close: the doors and the sashes too being worked with truth, shut with exactness, so that the room is perfectly tight, no passage being left open for the air to enter except the key-hole, and even that is frequently closed by a little dropping shutter. In this case it is evident that there can be no regular current through the flue of the chimney, as any air escaping from its aperture would cause an exhaustion in the air of the room similar to that in the receiver of an air-pump, and therefore an equal quantity of air would rush down the flue to restore the equilibrium; accordingly the smoke, if it ever ascended to the top, would be beat down again into the room. Those, therefore, who stop every crevice in a room to prevent the admission of fresh air, and yet would have their chimney carry up the smoke, require inconsistencies and expect impossibilities. The obvious remedy in this case is, to admit more air, and the question will be how and where this necessary quantity of air from without is to be admitted, so as to produce the least inconvenience; for if the door or window be left so much open, it causes a cold draft of air to the fire-place, to the great discomfort of those who sit there. Various have been the contrivances to avoid this, such as bringing in fresh air through pipes in the jambs of the chimney, which, pointing upwards, should blow the smoke up the funnel; opening passages in the funnel above to let in air for the same purpose; but these produce an effect contrary to that intended, for as it is the constant current of air passing from the room through the opening of the chimney into the flue, which prevents the smoke coming out into the room, if the funnel is supplied by other means with the air it wants, and especially if that air be cold, the force of that current is diminished, and the smoke in its efforts to enter the room finds less resistance. The wanted air must then indispensably be admitted into the room to supply what goes off through the opening of the chimney, and it is advisable to make the aperture for this purpose as near the ceiling as possible, because the heated air will naturally ascend and occupy the highest part of the room, thus causing a great difference of climate at different heights, a defect which will be in some measure obviated by the admission of cold air near the ceiling, which descending, will beat down and mingle the air more effectually. Another cause of smoky chimnies is too short a funnel, as, in this case, the ascending current will not always have sufficient power to direct the smoke up the flue. This defect is frequently found in low buildings, or the upper stories of high ones, and is unavoidable, for if the flue be raised high above the roof to strengthen its draft, it is then in danger of being blown down and crushing the roof in its fall. The remedy in this case is to contract the opening of the chimney so as to oblige all the entering air to pass through or very near the fire, by which means it will be considerably heated, and by its great rarefaction, cause a powerful draft, and compensate for the shortness of its column. The case of too short a funnel is more general than would be imagined, and often found where one would not expect it; for it is not uncommon in ill-contrived buildings, instead of having a separate funnel for each fire-place, to bend and turn the funnel of an upper room so as to make it enter the side of another flue that comes from below. By this means the funnel of the upper room is made short, of course, since its length can only be reckoned from the place where it enters the lower funnel, and that flue is also shortened by all the distance between the entrance of the second funnel and the top of the stack; for all that part being readily supplied with air through the second flue, adds no strength to the draft, especially as that air is cold when there is no fire in the second chimney. The only easy remedy here, is to keep the opening shut of that flue in which there is no fire. Another very common cause of the smoking of chimnies is, their overpowering one another. For instance, if there be two chimnies in one large room, and you make fires in both of them, you will find that the greater and stronger fire shall overpower the weaker, and draw air down its funnel to supply its own demand, which air descending in the weaker funnel will drive down its smoke, and force it into the room. If, instead of being in one room, the two chimnies are in two different rooms communicating by a door, the case is the same whenever that door is open. The remedy is, to take care that every room have the means of supplying itself from without, with the air its chimney may require, so that no one of them may be obliged to borrow from another, nor under the necessity of lending. Another cause of smoking is, when the tops of chimnies are commanded by higher buildings, or by a hill, so that the wind blowing over such eminences falls like water over a dam, sometimes almost perpendicularly on the tops of the chimnies that lie in its way, and beats down the smoke contained in them. The remedy commonly applied in this case is, a turn-cap, made of tin or plate-iron, covering the chimney above, and on three sides, open on one side, turning on a spindle, and which being guided or governed by a vane, always presents its back to the wind. This method will generally be found effectual, but if not, raising the flues, where practicable, so as their tops may be on a level with or higher than the commanding eminence, is more to be depended on. There is another case of command, the reverse of that last mentioned; it is where the commanding eminence is farther from the wind than the chimney commanded. For instance, suppose the chimney of a building to be so situated as that its top is below the level of the ridge of the roof, which, when the wind blows against it, forms a kind of dam against its progress. In this case, the wind being obstructed by this dam, will, like water, press and search for passages through it, and finding the top of the chimney below the top of the dam, it will force itself down that funnel in order to get through by some door or window open on the other side of the building, and if there be a fire in such chimney, its smoke is of course beat down and fills the room. The only remedy for this inconvenience is, to raise the funnel higher than the roof, supporting it, if necessary, by iron bars; for a turn-cap in this case has no effect, the dammed up air pressing down through it in whatever position the wind may have placed its opening. Chimnies otherwise drawing well are sometimes made to smoke by the improper and inconvenient situation of a door. When the door and chimney are placed on the same side of a room, if the door is made to open from the chimney, it follows, that when only partly opened, a current of air is admitted and directed across the opening of the chimney, which is apt to draw out some of the smoke. Chimnies which generally draw well, do, nevertheless, sometimes give smoke into the room, it being driven down by strong winds passing over the tops of their flues, though not descending from any commanding eminence. To understand this, it may be considered that the rising light air, to obtain a free issue from the funnel, must push out of its way, or oblige the air that is over it to rise. In a time of calm, or of little wind, this is done visibly; for we see the smoke that is brought up by that air rise in a column above the chimney. But when a violent current of wind passes over the top of a chimney, its particles have received so much force, which keeps them in a horizontal direction, and follow each other so rapidly, that the rising light air has not strength sufficient to oblige them to quit that direction, and move upwards to permit its issue. Add to this, that some of the air may impinge on that part of the inside of the funnel which is opposed to its progress, and be thence reflected downwards from side to side, driving the smoke before it into the room. The simplest and best remedy in this case is the application of a chimney-pot, which is a hollow truncated cone of earthenware placed upon the top of the flue. The intention of this contrivance is, that the wind and eddies which strike against the oblique surface of these covers may be reflected upwards instead of blowing down the chimney. The bad construction of fire-places is another cause of smoking chimneys; and this case will lead us to the consideration of the methods of increasing the heat and diminishing the consumption of fuel; for it will be found that the improvements necessary to produce the last-mentioned end will also have a general tendency to cure smoky chimnies. On this subject the meritorious labours of Count Rumford are conspicuous, and we shall proceed to give an abridged account of his method. In investigating the best form of a fire-place, it will be necessary to consider, first, what are the objects which ought principally to be had in view in the construction of a fire-place; and, secondly, to consider how these objects can best be attained. Now the design of a chimney-fire being simply to warm a room, it is essential to contrive so that this end shall be actually attained, and with the least possible expence of fuel, and also that the air of the room be preserved perfectly pure and fit for respiration, and free from smoke and all disagreeable smells. To cause as many as possible of the rays, as they are sent off from the fire in straight lines, to come directly into the room, it will be necessary, in the first place, to bring the fire as far forward, and to leave the opening of the fire-place as wide and high as can be done without inconvenience; and secondly, to make the sides and back of the fire-place of such form, and of such materials, as to cause the direct rays from the fire which strike against them, to be sent into the room by reflection in the greatest abundance. Now, it will be found, upon examination, that the best form for the vertical sides of a fire-place, or the covings, as they are called, is that of an upright plane, making an angle with the plane of the back of the fire-place of about 135 degrees. According to the old construction of chimnies, this angle is 90 degrees, or forms a right angle; but, as in this case the two covings are parallel to each other, it is evident that they are very ill contrived for throwing into the room, by reflection, the rays from the fire which fall on them. The next improvement will be to reduce the throat of the chimney, the immoderate size of which is a most essential fault in their construction; for, however good the formation of a fire-place may be in other respects, if the opening left for the passage of the smoke is larger than is necessary for that purpose, nothing can prevent the warm air of the room from escaping through it; and whenever this happens, there is not only an unnecessary loss of heat, but the warm air, which leaves the room to go up the chimney, being replaced by cold air from without, produces those drafts of air so often complained of. But though these evils may be remedied, by reducing the throat of the chimney to a proper size, yet, in doing this, several considerations will be necessary to determine its proper situation. As the smoke and hot vapour which rise from a fire naturally tend upwards, it is evident that it will be proper to place the throat of the chimney perpendicularly over the fire; but to ascertain its most advantageous distance, or how far above the burning fuel it ought to be placed, is not so easy, and requires several advantages and disadvantages to be balanced. As the smoke and vapour rise in consequence of their being rarefied by heat, and made lighter than the air of the surrounding atmosphere, and as the degree of their rarefraction is in proportion to the intensity of their heat, and as this heat is greater near the fire than at a distance from it, it is clear, that the nearer the throat of a chimney is to the fire, the stronger will be what is commonly called its draught, and the less danger there will be of its smoking, or of dust coming into the room when the fire is stirred. But, on the other hand, when a very strong draught is occasioned by the throat of the chimney being very near the fire, it may happen that the influx of air into the fire may become so strong as to cause the fuel to be consumed too rapidly. This however will very seldom be found to be the case, for the throats of chimnies are in general too high. In regard to the materials which it will be most advantageous to employ in the construction of fire-places, little difficulty will attend the determination of that point. As the object in view is to bring radiant heat into the room, it is clear that that material is best for the construction of a fire-place which reflects the most, or which absorbs the least of it, for that heat which is absorbed cannot be reflected. Now, as bodies which absorb radiant heat are necessarily heated in consequence of that absorption; to discover which of the various materials that can be employed for constructing fire-places are best adapted for that purpose, we have only to find, by an experiment very easy to be made, what bodies acquire least heat, when exposed to the direct rays of a clear fire; for those which are least heated evidently absorb the least, and consequently reflect the most radiant heat. And hence it appears that iron, and in general metals of all kinds, which are well known to grow very hot when exposed to the rays projected by burning fuel, are to be reckoned among the very worst materials that it is possible to employ in the construction of fire-places. Perhaps the best materials are fire-stone and common bricks and mortar. These substances are fortunately very cheap, and it is not easy to say to which of the two the preference ought to be given. When bricks are used, they should be covered with a thin coating of plaster, which, when perfectly dry, should be white-washed. The fire-stone should likewise be white-washed, when that is used; and every part of the fire-place which does not come into actual contact with the burning fuel should be kept as white and clean as possible. The bringing forward of the fire into the room, or rather bringing it nearer to the front of the opening of the fire-place, and the diminishing of the throat of the chimney, being two objects principally had in view in the alterations of fire-places recommended, it is evident that both these may be attained merely by bringing forward the back of the chimney. It will then remain to be determined how far the back should be brought forward. This point will be limited by the necessity of leaving a proper passage for the smoke. Now, as this passage, which in its narrowest part is called the throat of the chimney, ought, for reasons before stated, to be immediately or perpendicularly over the fire, it is evident that the back of the chimney should be built perfectly upright. To determine therefore the place of the new back, nothing more is necessary than to ascertain how wide the throat of the chimney ought to be left. This width is determined by Count Rumford from numerous experiments, and comparing all circumstances, to be four inches. Therefore, supposing the breast of the chimney, or the wall above the mantle, to be nine inches thick, allowing four inches for the width of the throat, this will give thirteen inches for the depth of the fire-place. The next consideration will be the width which it will be proper to give to the back. This, in fire-places of the old construction, is the same with the width of the opening in front; but this construction is faulty, on two accounts; first, because the covings being parallel to each other, are ill contrived to throw out into the room the heat they receive from the fire in the form of rays; and, secondly, the large open corners occasion eddies of wind which frequently disturb the fire and embarrass the smoke in its ascent, in such a manner as to bring it into the room. Both these defects may be entirely remedied, by diminishing the width of the back of the fire-place. The width which in most cases it will be best to give it, is one-third of the width of the opening of the fire-place in front. But it is not absolutely necessary to conform rigorously to this decision, nor will it always be possible. Where a chimney is designed for warming a room of moderate size, the depth of the fire-place being determined by the thickness of the breast to thirteen inches, the same dimensions would be a good size for the width of the back, and three times thirteen inches, or three feet three inches, for the width of the opening in front, and the angles made by the back of the fire-place, and the sides of it, or covings, would be just 135 degrees, which is the best position they can have for throwing heat into the room. In determining the width of this opening in front, the chimney is supposed to be perfectly good, and well situated. If there is any reason to apprehend its ever smoking, it will be necessary to reduce the opening in front, placing the covings at a less angle than 135 degrees, and especially to diminish the height of the opening by lowering the mantle. If from any consideration, such as the wish to accommodate the fire-place to a grate or stove already on hand, it should be wished to make the back wider than the dimension recommended, as for instance, sixteen inches; it will be advisable not to exceed the width of three feet three inches for the opening in front, as in a very wide and shallow fire-place, any sudden motion of the air in front would be apt to bring out puffs of smoke into the room. The throat of the chimney being reduced to four inches, it will be necessary to make a provision for the passage of a chimney sweeper. This is to be done in the following manner. In building up the new back of the fire-place, when this wall is brought up so high that there remains no more than about ten or eleven inches between what is then the top of it and the underside of the mantle, an opening or door-way, eleven or twelve inches wide, must be begun in the middle of the back, and continued quite to the top of it, which according to the height that it will commonly be necessary to carry up the back, will make the opening twelve or fourteen inches high, which will be quite sufficient for the purpose. When the fire-place is finished, this door-way is to be closed by a few bricks laid without mortar, or a tile or piece of stone confined in its place by means of a rebate made for that purpose in the brick-work. As often as the chimney is swept, the chimney sweeper removes this temporary wall or stone, which is very easily done, and when he has finished his work, he again puts it in its place. The new back and covings may be built either of brick-work or of stone, and the space between them and the old back and covings, ought to be filled up to give greater solidity to the structure. This may be done with loose rubbish or pieces of broken bricks or stones, provided the work be strengthened by a few layers or courses of bricks laid in mortar; but it will be indispensably necessary to finish the work where these new walls end, that is to say, at the top of the throat of the chimney, where it ends abruptly in the open canal or flue, by a horizontal course of bricks well secured with mortar. It is of much importance that they should terminate in this manner; for were they to be sloped outward and raised in such a manner as to swell out the upper extremity of the throat of the chimney in the form of a trumpet, and increase it by degrees to the size of the flue of the chimney, this construction would tend to assist the winds which may attempt to blow down the chimney, in forcing their way through the throat, and throwing the smoke backward into the room. The internal form of the breast of the chimney is also a matter of great importance, and which ought to be particularly attended to. The worst form it can have is that of a vertical plane or upright flat, and next to this the worst form is an inclined plane. Both these forms cause the current of warm air from the room which will, in spite of every precaution, sometimes find its way into the chimney, to cross upon the current of smoke which rises from the fire in a manner most likely to embarrass it in its ascent and drive it back. The current of air which, passing under the mantle, gets into the chimney, should be made gradually to bend its course upwards, by which means it will unite quietly with the ascending current of smoke, and will be less likely to check and impede its progress. This is to be effected by rounding off the inside of the breast of the chimney, which may be done by a thick coating of plaster. When the breast or wall of the chimney in front is very thin, it may happen, that the depth of the fire-place determined according to the preceding rules may be too small. Thus supposing the breast to be only four inches thick, which is sometimes the case, particularly in rooms situated near the top of a house, taking four inches for the width of the throat, will give only eight inches for the depth of the fire-place. In this case, it would be proper to increase the depth of the fire-place at the hearth to twelve or thirteen inches, and to build up the back perpendicularly to the height of the top of the grate, and then sloping the back by a gentle inclination forward, bring it to its proper place directly under the back part of the throat of the chimney. This slope, though it ought not to be too abrupt, yet should be quite finished at the height of eight or ten inches above the fire, otherwise it may perhaps cause the chimney to smoke; but when it is very near the fire, its heat will enable the current of rising smoke to overcome the obstacle which this slope will oppose to its ascent, which it could not so easily do, were the slope situated at a greater distance from the burning fuel. There is one important circumstance respecting chimney fire-places designed for burning coals which remains to be examined, and that is the grate. Although there are few grates that may not be used in chimnies, altered or constructed on the principles recommended by Count Rumford, yet they are not by any means all equally well adapted for that purpose. Those whose construction is most simple, and which of course are the cheapest, are beyond comparison the best on all accounts. Nothing being wanted but merely a grate to contain the coals, and all additional apparatus being not only useless but pernicious; all complicated and expensive grates should be laid aside, and such as are more simple substituted in their room. The proper width for grates in rooms of a middling size, will be from six to eight inches, and their length may be diminished more or less according to the difficulty of heating the room, or the severity of the weather. But where the width of a grate is not more than five inches, it will be very difficult to prevent the fire from going out. It has been before observed that the use of metals is as much as possible to be avoided in the construction of fire-places, it will therefore be proper always to line the back and sides of a grate with fire stone, which will cause the fire to burn better and give more heat into the room.

SNAILS. These are a species of slugs covered with shell, and which are very destructive to wall fruit. To prevent their ascending the standard trees, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground; and to secure the wall trees, nail a narrow slip of horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half an inch from the ground, underneath the branches of the tree. In the winter time the snails may be found in the holes of walls, under thorns, behind old trees or close hedges, and might be taken and destroyed. When they attack vegetables, a few sliced turnips laid on the borders will attract them in the evening, when they may easily be gathered up. Lime and ashes strewed on the ground, will also prevent their depredations.

SNIPES. These birds will keep several days, and should be roasted without drawing, and then served on toast. Butter only should be eaten with them, as gravy takes off from the fine flavour. The thigh and back are most esteemed.

SNIPES IN RAGOUT. Slit them down the backs, but do not take out the insides; toss them up with a little melted bacon fat, seasoned with pepper and salt, and a little mushroom ketchup; when they are enough, squeeze in a little juice of lemon, and serve them up.

SNIPES IN SURTOUT. Half roast your snipes, and save the trail; then make a forcemeat with veal, and as much beef suet chopped, and beat in a mortar; add an equal quantity of bread crumbs: season it with beaten mace, pepper, salt, parsley, and sweet herbs shred fine; mix all together, and moisten it with the yolks of eggs: lay a rim of this forcemeat round the dish, then put in your snipes. Take strong gravy, according to your dish, with morels and truffles, a few mushrooms, a sweetbread cut in pieces, and an artichoke bottom cut small: let all stew together, then beat up the yolks of two or three eggs with a little white wine; pour this into your gravy, and keep it stirring till it is of a proper thickness, then let it stand to cool; work up the remainder of your forcemeat, and roll it out as you do paste; pour your sauce over the birds, and lay on your forcemeat; close the edges, and wash it over with the yolks of eggs, and strew bread crumbs over that; send it to the oven about half an hour, and then to table as hot as you can.

SNOW BALLS. Swell some rice in milk, and strain it off. Having pared and cored some apples, put the rice round them, and tie up each in a cloth. Add to each a bit of lemon peel, a clove, or cinnamon, and boil them well.

SNOW CREAM. Put to a quart of cream the whites of three eggs well beaten, four spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to sweeten, and a bit of lemon peel. Whip it to a froth, remove the peel, and serve the cream in a dish.

SOLDERING. Put into a crucible two ounces of lead, and when it is melted, throw in an ounce of tin. This alloy is that generally known by the name of solder. When heated by a hot iron, and applied to tinned iron, with powdered rosin, it acts as a cement or solder. It is also used to join leaden pipes, and other articles.

SOLES. A fine thick sole is almost as good eating as turbot, and may be boiled in the same way. Wash the fish and clean it nicely, put it into a fish-kettle with a handful of salt, and as much cold water as will cover it. Set it on the side of the fire, take off the scum as it rises, and let it boil gently about five minutes, or longer if it be very large. Send it up on a fish-drainer, garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs of curled parsley, or nicely fried smelts, or oysters. Slices of lemon for garnish are universally approved, either with fried or boiled fish. Parsley and butter, or fennel and butter, make an excellent sauce; chervil sauce, or anchovies, are also approved. Boiled soles are very good warmed up like eels, or covered with white wine sauce. When soles are very large, the best way is to take off the fillets, trim them neatly, and press them dry in a soft cloth. Egg them over, strew on fine bread crumbs, and fry them. Or skin and wash a pair of large soles very clean, dry them in a cloth, wash them with the yolk of an egg on both sides, and strew over them a little flour, and a few bread crumbs; fry them of a fine gold colour, in Florence oil, enough to cover them; when done, drain them, and lay them into an earthen dish that will hold them at length, and set them by to cool; then make the marinate with a pint of the best vinegar, half a pint of sherry, some salt, pepper, nutmeg, two cloves, and a blade of mace; boil all together for about ten minutes, then pour it over the fish hot, the next day they will be fit for use. When you dish them up, put some of the liquor over them; garnish the dish with fennel, sliced lemon, barberries, and horseradish. If you have any fried fish cold, you may put it into this marinate.—To fricassee soles white. Clean your soles very well, bone them nicely, and if large, cut them in eight pieces, if small, only in four; take off the heads; put the heads and bones, an anchovy, a faggot of sweet herbs, a blade or two of mace, some whole pepper, salt, an onion, and a crust of bread, all into a clean saucepan, with a pint of water, cover it close, and let it boil till a third is wasted; strain it through a fine sieve into a stew-pan; put in your soles with a gill of white wine, a little parsley chopped fine, a few mushrooms cut in two, a piece of butter rolled in flour, enough to thicken your sauce; set it over your stove, shake your pan frequently, till they are enough, and of a good thickness; take the scum off very clean, dish them up, and garnish with lemon and barberries.—Another way. Strip off the black skin of the fish, but not the white; then take out the bones, and cut the flesh into slices about two inches long; dip the slices in the yolks of eggs, and strew over them raspings of bread; then fry them in clarified butter, and when they are fried enough, take them out on a plate, and set them by the fire till you have made the following sauce. Take the bones of the fish, boil them up with water, and put in some anchovy and sweet herbs, such as thyme and parsley, and add a little pepper, cloves and mace. When these have boiled together some time, take the butter in which the fish was fried, put it into a pan over the fire, shake flour into it, and keep it stirring while the flour is shaking in; then strain the liquor into it, in which the fish bones, herbs, and spice were boiled, and boil it together, till it is very thick, adding lemon juice to your taste. Put your fish into a dish, and pour the sauce over it; serve it up, garnished with slices of lemon and fried parsley. This dish may take place on any part of the table, either in the first or second course.—Another way. Take a pair of large soles, skin and clean them well, pour a little vinegar, and strew some salt over them; let them lay in this till they are to be used. When you want to boil them, take a clean stew-pan, put in a pint of white wine, and a little water, a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with three or four cloves, a blade of mace, a little whole pepper, and a little salt. When your soles are enough, take them up, and lay them into a dish, strain off the liquor, put it into the stew-pan, with a good piece of butter rolled in flour, and half a pint of white shrimps clean picked; toss all up together, till it is of a proper thickness; take care to skim it very clean, pour it over the fish. Garnish the dish with scraped horseradish, and sliced lemon; or you may send them to table plain, and for sauce, chop the meat of a lobster, bruise the body very smooth with a spoon, mix it with your liquor, and send it to table in a boat or bason. This is much the best way to dress a small turbot.

SOLE PIE. Split some soles from the bone, and cut the fins close. Season with a mixture of salt, pepper, a little nutmeg and pounded mace, and put them in layers, with oysters. A pair of middling-sized soles will be sufficient, and half a hundred oysters. Put in the dish the oyster liquor, two or three spoonfuls of broth, and some butter. When the pie comes from the oven, pour in a cupful of thick cream, and it will eat excellently.—Another way. Clean and bone a pair of large soles; boil about two pounds of eels tender; take off all the meat, put the bones into the water they were boiled in, with the bones of the soles, a blade of mace, whole pepper, and a little salt; let this boil till you have about half a pint of strong broth. Take the flesh off the eels, and chop it very fine, with a little lemon peel, an anchovy, parsley, and bread crumbs: season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and beaten mace; melt a quarter of a pound of butter, and work all up to a paste. Sheet the dish with a good puff-paste; lay the forcemeat on the paste, and then lay in the soles; strain off the broth, scum it clean, pour over the fish a sufficient quantity, and lay on the lid. When it comes from the oven, if you have any of the broth left, you may warm it, and pour it into the pie.

SOLID SYLLABUBS. Mix a quart of thick raw cream, one pound of refined sugar, a pint and a half of fine raisin wine, in a deep pan; and add the grated peel and the juice of three lemons. Beat or whisk it one way, half an hour; then put it on a sieve, with a piece of thin muslin laid smooth in the shallow end, till the next day. Put it in glasses: it will keep good in a cool place ten days.

SOMERSETSHIRE SYLLABUB. Put into a large china bowl a pint of port, a pint of sherry, or other white wine, and sugar to taste. Milk the bowl full. In twenty minutes' time, cover it pretty high with clouted cream. Grate nutmeg over it, add pounded cinnamon, and nonpareil comfits.

SORE BREASTS. Sore breasts in females, during the time of suckling, are often occasioned by the improper practice of drawing the breasts, which is both painful and dangerous. If they get too full and hard before the infant can be applied, it is better to let them remain a few hours in that state, than to use any unnatural means, or else to present the breast to a child that is a few months old. It is the application of too great force in drawing them, placing a child to suck at improper times, the use of stimulating liquors and heated rooms, which frequently occasion milk fevers and abscesses in the breast. The nipple is sometimes so sore, that the mother is sometimes obliged to refuse the breast, and a stagnation takes place, which is accompanied with ulcerations and fever. To prevent these dangerous affections, the young mother should carefully protrude the nipple between her fingers to make it more prominent, and cover it with a hollow nutmeg several weeks previous to her delivery. But if the parts be already in a diseased state, it will be proper to bathe them with lime water, or diluted port wine. After this the breast should be dressed with a little spermaceti ointment, or a composition of white wax and olive oil, which is mild and gentle. If this do not answer the purpose, take four ounces of diachylon, two ounces of olive oil, and one ounce of vinegar. Boil them together over a gentle fire, keep stirring them till reduced to an ointment, and apply a little of it to the nipple on a fine linen rag. If accompanied with fever, take the bark in electuary three or four times a day, the size of a nutmeg, and persevere in it two or three weeks if necessary.

SORE EYES. Pound together in a mortar, an ounce of bole-ammoniac, and a quarter of an ounce of white copperas. Shred fine an ounce of camphor, and mix the ingredients well together. Pour on them a quart of boiling water, stir the mixture till it is cold, and apply a drop or two to the eye, to remove humours or inflammation. A cooling eye-water may be made of a dram of lapis calaminaris finely powdered, mixed with half a pint of white wine, and the same of plantain water.

SORE THROAT. An easy remedy for this disorder is to dip a piece of broad black ribband into hartshorn, and wear it round the throat two or three days. If this be not sufficient, make a gargle in the following manner. Boil a little green sage in water, strain it, and mix it with vinegar and honey. Or pour a pint of boiling verjuice on a handful of rosemary tops in a basin, put a tin funnel over it with the pipe upwards, and let the fume go to the throat as hot as it can be borne. A common drink for a sore throat may be made of two ounces of Turkey figs, the same quantity of sun raisins cut small, and two ounces of pearl barley, boiled in three pints of water till reduced to a quart. Boil it gently, then strain it, and take it warm. Sometimes a handful of salt heated in an earthen pan, then put into a flannel bag, and applied as hot as possible round the throat, will answer the purpose. A fumigation for a sore throat may be made in the following manner. Boil together a pint of vinegar, and an ounce of myrrh, for half an hour, and pour the liquor into a basin. Place over it the large part of a funnel that fits the basin, and let the patient inhale the vapour by putting the pipe of the funnel into his mouth. The fumigation must be applied as hot as possible, and renewed every quarter of an hour, till the patient is relieved. For an inflammation or putrid sore throat, or a quinsey, this will be found of singular use if persisted in.

SORREL SAUCE. Wash and clean a quantity of sorrel, put it into a stewpan that will just hold it, with a piece of butter, and cover it close. Set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel with the back of a wooden spoon through a hair sieve, season it with pepper and salt, and a dust of powdered sugar. Make it hot, and serve it up under lamb, veal, or sweetbreads. Cayenne, nutmeg, and lemon juice, are sometimes added.

SORREL SOUP. Make a good gravy with part of a knuckle of veal, and the scrag end of a neck or a chump end of a loin of mutton. Season it with a bunch of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt, and two or three cloves. When the meat is quite stewed down, strain it off, and let it stand till cold. Clear it well from the fat, put it into a stewpan with a young fowl nicely trussed, and set it over a slow fire. Wash three or four large handfuls of sorrel, chop it a little, fry it in butter, put it into the soup, and let the whole stew till the fowl is well done. Skim it very clean, and serve it up with the fowl in the soup.

SOUPS. It has generally been considered as good economy to use the cheapest and most inferior kind of meat for broths and soups, and to boil it down till it is entirely destroyed, and hardly worth giving to the pigs. But this is a false frugality; and it is far better to buy good pieces of meat, and only stew them till they are tender enough to be eaten. Lean juicy beef, mutton, or veal, form the basis of good broth; and it is therefore advisable to procure those pieces which afford the richest succulence, and such as is fresh slain. Stale meat will make the broth grouty and bad tasted, and fat is not so well adapted to the purpose. The following herbs, roots, and seasonings, are proper for making and giving a relish to broths and soups, according as the taste may suit. Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread, raspings, peas, beans, rice, vermicelli, maccaroni, isinglass, potatoe mucilage, mushroom, or mushroom ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beet root, turnips, garlic, shalots, and onions. Sliced onions fried with butter and flour till they are browned, and then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to heighten the colour and flavour of brown soups and sauces, and form the basis of most of the fine relishes furnished by the cook. The older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour, and the quantity must be regulated accordingly. Leeks, cucumber, or burnet vinegar; celery, or celery seed pounded. The latter, though equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the fresh vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress seed, parsley, common thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine on the fresh leaves. Bay leaves, tomata, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black pepper, white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon peel, lemon juice, and Seville orange juice. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the lemon, and the acid is much milder. The above materials, with wine and mushroom ketchup, combined in various proportions, will make an endless variety of excellent broths and soups. The general fault of English soups seems to be the employment of an excess of spice, and too small a proportion of roots and herbs. This is especially the case with tavern soups, where cayenne and garlic are often used instead of black pepper and onion, for the purpose of obtaining a higher relish. Soups, which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish. The principal art in composing a good rich soup, is so to proportion the several ingredients one to another, that no particular taste be stronger than the rest; but to produce such a fine harmonious relish, that the whole becomes delightful. In order to this, care must be taken that the roots and herbs be perfectly well cleaned, and that the water be proportioned to the quantity of meat, and other ingredients. In general a quart of water may be allowed to a pound of meat for soups; and half the quantity for gravies. If they stew gently, little more water need be put in at first, than is expected at the end; for when the pot is covered quite close, and the fire gentle, very little is wasted. Gentle stewing is incomparably the best; the meat is more tender, and the soup better flavoured. The cover of a soup kettle should fit very close, or the most essential parts of the broth will soon evaporate, as will also be the case with quick boiling. It is not merely the fibres of the meat that afford nourishment, but chiefly the juices they contain; and these are not only extracted but exhaled, if it be boiled fast in an open vessel. A succulent soup can never be made but in a well closed vessel, which preserves the nutritive parts by preventing their dissipation, yet the flavour is perhaps more wholesome by an exposure to the air. Place the soup kettle over a moderate fire, sufficient to make the water hot, without causing it to boil; for if the water boils immediately, it will not penetrate the meat, and cleanse it from the clotted blood and other matters, which ought to go off in scum. The meat will be hardened all over by violent heat, will shrink up as if it were scorched, and afford very little gravy. On the contrary, by keeping the water heating about half an hour without boiling, the meat swells, becomes tender, and its fibres are dilated. By this process, it yields a quantity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as it appears. After the meat has had a good infusion for half an hour, the fire may be improved to make the pot boil, and the vegetables be put in with a little salt. These will cause more scum to rise, which must be taken off immediately. Then cover the boiler very closely, and place it at a proper distance from the fire, where it is to boil very gently and equally, but not fast. Soups will generally take from three to six hours doing. The better way is to prepare them the evening before, as that will give more time to attend to the dinner the next day. When the soup is cold, the fat may much more easily and completely be removed; and when it is decanted, take care not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they will escape through a sieve. A tammis is the best strainer, the soup appears smoother and finer, and the cloth is easier cleaned than any sieve. If you strain it while it is hot, let the tammis or napkin be previously soaked in cold water; the coldness of the strainer will tend to coagulate the fat, and only suffer the pure broth to pass through. The full flavour of the ingredients can only be extracted by long and slow simmering, during which the boiler must be kept close covered, to prevent evaporation. Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, thickened soups about the consistence of cream; the latter will require nearly double the quantity of seasoning, but too much spice makes it unwholesome. To thicken and give body to soups and sauces, the following materials are used. Bread raspings, potatoe mucilage, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice, or oatmeal and water rubbed well together. Any of these are to be mixed gradually with the soup, till thoroughly incorporated, and it should afterwards have at least half an hour's gentle simmering. If it appears lumpy, it must be passed through a tammis or fine sieve. A piece of boiled beef pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will be found an excellent addition. If the soup is too thin or too weak, take off the cover of the boiler, and let it boil till some of the watery part of it has evaporated; or add some of the thickening materials before mentioned. When soups and gravies are kept from day to day, in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cool cellar. In temperate weather, every other day may be sufficient.—It has been imagined that soups tend to relax the stomach; but so far from being prejudicial in this way, the moderate use of such kind of liquid food may rather be considered as salutary, and affording a good degree of nourishment. Soup of a good quality, if not eaten too hot, or in too great a quantity, is attended with great advantages, especially to those who drink but little. Warm fluids in the form of soup, unite with our juices much sooner and better, than those which are cold and raw. On this account, what is called Restorative Soup is the best food for those who are enfeebled by disease or dissipation, and for old people, whose teeth and digestive organs are impaired. After taking cold, or in nervous headachs, cholics, indigestions, and different kinds of cramps and spasms in the stomach, warm broth or soup is of excellent service. After intemperate eating, to give the stomach a holiday for a day or two, by a diet on mutton broth, is the best way to restore its tone. The stretching of any power to its utmost extent, weakens it; and if the stomach be obliged every day to do as much as it can, it will every day be able to do less. It is therefore a point of wisdom to be temperate in all things, frequently to indulge in soup diet, and occasionally in almost total abstinence, in order to preserve the stomach in its full tone and vigour.—Cheap soups for charitable purposes are best made of fat meat, well boiled with vegetables. Much unreasonable prejudice has prevailed on this subject, as if fat was unsuitable for such a purpose, when it is well known that the nutritious parts of animal and vegetable diet depend on the oil, jelly, mucilage, and sweetness which they contain. The farina of grain, and the seeds of vegetables, contain more of the nutritious and essential parts of the plant than any other, as is evident from the use of celery seed, the eighth part of an ounce of which will give more relish to a gallon of soup, than a large quantity of the root or stalk. On the same principle, the fat is the essence of meat, nearly so as the seeds of plants are of their respective species. To establish this fact, a simple experiment will be sufficient. Boil from two to four ounces of the lean part of butcher's meat in six quarts of water, till reduced to a gallon. Thicken it with oatmeal, and the result of the decoction will be found to be water gruel, or something like it. But dissolve the same quantity of the fat of meat in a gallon of water, thicken it over the fire with oatmeal, and the result will be a very pleasant broth, possessing the identical taste of the meat in a considerable degree, whether of beef or mutton. If some of the gelatinous parts of meat be added, the broth is then of a rich and nutritious quality, and can be made very cheap. For example: take from four to six ounces of barley, oatmeal two ounces, onions or leeks a small quantity; beef fat, suet, or drippings, from two to four ounces; celery seed half a spoonful, pepper and salt to give the soup a relish, and water sufficient to make a gallon. Boil the barley, previously washed, in six quarts of water, which when boiled sufficiently soft will be reduced to a gallon. It will be necessary to skim it clean in the course of the boiling, and to stir it well from the bottom of the boiler. The celery seed should be bruised, and added with the leeks and onions, towards the end of the process. The oatmeal is to be mixed in a little cold water, and put in about an hour before the soup is done. In the last place add the fat, melted before the fire, if not in a state of drippings, and season with pepper and salt. A few grains of cayenne would give the soup a higher relish. Wheat flour may be used instead of oatmeal, but in a smaller proportion. The addition of turnips, carrots, and cabbages, will be a considerable improvement. The intention of the oatmeal or flour is, by the mucilage they contain, assisted with barley broth, to unite the fat with the liquid, so as to form one uniform mass. Where the fat is suspended in the soup, and not seen floating on the top, by which it is rendered easier of digestion, and more readily convertible into good chyle, it is evident that it must be more palatable, as well as abundantly more nutritious. Some may think this kind of soup unwholesome, from the quantity of fat it contains; but a little reflection will shew the contrary. Suet puddings and dumplins are not unwholesome, neither are mutton drippings with potatoes or other vegetables. In short, fat is eaten daily by all ranks of people, in some way or other, in much larger quantities than is prescribed for soup. A labouring man would find no difficulty in eating as much suet at one meal, in a flour pudding, or as much drippings as is necessary for a gallon of soup, in a mass of potatoes or cabbages; while at the same time a quart of soup with a slice of bread, would be a very hearty meal. In no other way could meat drippings be applied to so good a purpose, as in the manufacture of a gallon of soup, sufficient to give a dinner to a whole family. The quantity of fat or drippings necessary for the soup is so small, that it may easily be spared from a joint of roast meat, while enough will remain for other purposes. When mutton dripping is made into soup, wheat flour is better than oatmeal; but the mucilage of potatoe is better still, requiring only one ounce to the gallon. When pork is roasted, peas should be used in preference to boiled barley, and the soup will be very superior in flavour to any that is made with the bones of meat, or combined with bacon. Fat pork is eaten daily in large quantities, in most of the counties of England; and in some parts, hog's lard is spread on bread instead of butter, besides the abundance of lard that is used by all ranks of people, in puddings, cakes, and pasties. Fat enters so much into the composition of our diet, that we could scarcely subsist without it; and the application of it to soups is only a different mode of using it, and certainly more frugal and economical than any other. It may readily be perceived how soups made from lean meat might be improved by the addition of a little fat, mixed up and incorporated with a mucilage of potatoes, of wheat flour, oatmeal, peas, and barley. But where a quantity of fat swims on the surface of the broth, made from a fat joint of meat, and it cannot from its superabundance be united with the liquid, by means of any mucilage, it had better be skimmed off, and preserved for future use; otherwise the soup will not be agreeable, for it is the due proportion of animal and vegetable substance that makes soup pleasant and wholesome. To make good soup of a leg of beef or an ox cheek, which is generally called stew, a pretty large quantity of the vegetable class ought to be added; and none seems better adapted than Scotch barley, by which double and treble the quantity of soup may be made from the same given weight of meat. One pint of well prepared leg of beef, or ox cheek soup, together with the fat, will make a gallon of good soup at the trifling expense of four-pence. In the same way soups may be made from the stew of beef, mutton, veal, or pork, choosing those parts where mucilage, jelly, and fat abound. Bacon is allowed to be a considerable improvement to the taste of veal, whether roasted or boiled; and it is the same in soup. When therefore veal broth is made for family use, two ounces of fat bacon should be added to every gallon, melted before the fire or in a fryingpan. The soup should then be thickened with flour, potatoe starch, and barley. The last article should seldom be omitted in any soup, it being so very cheap and pleasant, as well as wholesome and nutritious. Soup made of tripe is another cheap article. Boil a pound of well cleaned tripe in a gallon of barley broth, with onions and parsley, adding two ounces of bacon fat, with salt and pepper. This produces an extremely nutritious soup, from the gelatinous principle with which the tripe abounds. Cow heels, calves and sheep's feet, are also well adapted to the purpose. Excellent soups may be made from fried meat, where the fat and gravy are added to the boiled barley; and for that purpose, fat beef steaks, pork and mutton chops, should be preferred, as containing more of the nutritious principle. Towards the latter end of frying the steaks, add a little water to produce a gravy, which is to be put to the barley broth. A little flour should also be dredged in, which will take up all the fat left in the fryingpan. A quantity of onions should previously be shred, and fried with the fat, which gives the soup a fine flavour, with the addition of pepper, salt, and other seasoning. There would be no end to the variety of soups that might be made from a number of cheap articles differently combined; but perhaps the distribution of soup gratis does not answer so well as teaching people how to make it, and to improve their comforts at home. The time lost in waiting for the boon, and fetching it home, might by an industrious occupation, however poorly paid for labour, be turned to a better account than the mere obtaining of a quart of soup. But it unfortunately happens, that the best and cheapest method of making a nourishing soup, is least known to those who have most need of it. The labouring classes seldom purchase what are called the coarser pieces of meat, because they do not know how to dress them, but lay out their money in pieces for roasting, which are far less profitable, and more expensive in the purchase. To save time, trouble, and firing, these are generally sent to the oven to be baked, the nourishing parts are evaporated and dried up, the weight is diminished nearly one third, and what is purchased with a week's earnings is only sufficient for a day or two's consumption. If instead of this improvident proceeding, a cheap and wholesome soup were at least occasionally substituted, it would banish the still more pernicious custom of drinking tea two or three times a day, for want of something more supporting and substantial. In addition then to the directions already given, the following may be considered as one of the cheapest and easiest methods of making a wholesome soup, suited to a numerous family among the labouring classes. Put four ounces of Scotch barley washed clean, and four ounces of sliced onions, into five quarts of water. Boil it gently for one hour, and pour it into a pan. Put into a saucepan nearly two ounces of beef or mutton drippings, or melted suet, or two or three ounces of minced bacon; and when melted, stir into it four ounces of oatmeal. Rub these together into a paste, and if properly managed, the whole of the fat will combine with the barley broth, and not a particle, appear on the surface to offend the most delicate stomach. Now add the barley broth, at first a spoonful at a time, then the rest by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. Put into a teacup a dram of finely pounded cress or celery seed, and a quarter of a dram of finely pounded cayenne, or a dram and a half of ground black pepper or allspice, and mix it up with a little of the soup. Put this seasoning into the whole quantity, stir up the soup thoroughly, let it simmer gently a quarter of an hour, and add a little salt. The flavour may be varied by doubling the portion of onions, or adding a clove of garlic or shalot, and leaving out the celery seed. Change of food is absolutely necessary, not only as a matter of pleasure and comfort, but also of health. It may likewise be much improved, if instead of water, it be made of the liquor that meat has been boiled in. This soup has the advantage of being very soon made, with no more fuel than is necessary to warm a room. Those who have not tasted it, cannot imagine what a savoury and satisfying meal is produced by the combination of these cheap and homely ingredients.

SOUP WITH CUCUMBERS. Pare and cut the cucumbers, then stew them with some good broth, and veal gravy to cover them. When done enough, heat the soup with the liquor they were stewed in, and season it with salt. Serve up the soup garnished with the cucumbers. These will be a proper garnish for almost any kind of soup.

SOUP A L' EAU. Put into a saucepan holding about three pints, a quarter of a cabbage, four carrots, two parsnips, six onions, and three or four turnips. Add a root of celery, a small root of parsley, some sorrel, a bunch of white beet leaves and chervil, and half a pint of peas tied in a piece of linen. Add water in proportion to the vegetables, and stew the whole for three hours. Strain off the broth, add some salt, heat it and serve it up, garnished with the vegetables.

SOUP GRAVY. Take some good juicy lean beef, free from sinews or other offal substance; or take the lean of a neck, or loin, or the fleshy part of a leg of mutton, or well-grown fowl, in the proportion of a pound of meat to a quart of water to beef, and rather less to mutton or fowl. Cut the meat in pieces, and let it stew very gently till the pure gravy is fairly drawn from the meat, without extracting the dregs. The time required for this will vary according to the quantity, the proper degree of heat being of course longer in penetrating the larger portion. From an hour and a half to three hours, at discretion, will allow sufficient time for any quantity that is likely to be wanted at once for soup, at least in private families. When done, strain the gravy through a hair sieve into an earthen pot, and let it stand till cold. Take off the fat, and pour the gravy clear from the sediment at the bottom.

SOUP MAIGRE. Melt half a pound of butter into a stewpan, shake it round, and throw in half a dozen sliced onions. Shake the pan well for two or three minutes, then put in five heads of celery, two handfuls of spinach, two cabbage lettuces cut small, and some parsley. Shake the pan well for ten minutes, put in two quarts of water, some crusts of bread, a tea-spoonful of beaten pepper, and three or four blades of mace. A handful of white beet leaves, cut small, may be added. Boil it gently an hour. Just before serving, beat in two yolks of eggs, and a large spoonful of vinegar.—Another. Flour and fry a quart of green peas, four sliced onions, the coarse stalks of celery, a carrot, a turnip, and a parsnip. Pour on three quarts of water, let it simmer till the whole will pulp through a sieve, and boil in it the best of the celery cut thin.—Another way. Take a bunch of celery washed clean and cut in pieces, a large handful of spinage, two cabbage lettuces, and some parsley; wash all very clean, and shred them small; then take a large clean stewpan, put in about half a pound of butter, and when it is quite hot, slice four large onions very thin, and put into your butter; stir them well about for two or three minutes; then put in the rest of your herbs; shake all well together for near twenty minutes, dust in some flour, and stir them together; pour in two quarts of boiling water; season with pepper, salt, and beaten mace: chip a handful of crust of bread, and put in; boil it half an hour, then beat up the yolks of three eggs in a spoonful of vinegar; pour it in, and stir it for two or three minutes; then send it to table.

SOUP WITH ONIONS. Blanch some small white onions in scalding water, peel off the first skin, and stew them in a little broth. When ready, lay them in a row round the edge of the dish intended for the soup. To keep them in their place, put a thin slip of bread rubbed with white of egg round the rim of the dish, and set the dish for a moment over a stove to fasten the bread. Slips of bread may be used in this manner to keep all kinds of garnishing to soups in their proper place.

SOUP A LA REINE. Blanch and beat very fine in a marble mortar, three quarters of a pound of sweet almonds, with the white part of a cold roasted fowl. Slice to these the crumb of four small rolls, and then strain to it three quarts of good veal gravy, boiled with a blade of mace. Simmer these all together for a quarter of an hour, then rub them through a tammis, season it with salt, give it a boil, and serve it up with a small tea-cupful of cream stirred into it, and the slices of crust cut off the rolls laid on the top.—Another way. Have ready a strong veal broth that is white, and clean scummed from all fat; blanch a pound of almonds, beat them in a mortar, with a little water, to prevent their oiling, and the yolks of four poached eggs, the lean part of the legs, and all the white part of a roasted fowl; pound all together, as fine as possible; then take three quarts of the veal broth, put it into a clean stew-pot, put your ingredients in, and mix them well together; chip in the crust of two French rolls well rasped; boil all together over a stove, or a clear fire. Take a French roll, cut a piece out of the top, and take out all the crumb: mince the white part of a roasted fowl very fine, season it with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a little beaten mace; put in about an ounce of butter, and moisten it with two spoonfuls of your soup strained to it; set it over the stove to be thoroughly hot: cut some French roll in thin slices, and set them before the fire to crisp; then strain off your soup through a tammis or a lawn strainer, into another clean stew-pot; let it stew till it is as thick as cream; then have your dish ready; put in some of your crisp bread; fill your roll with your mince, and lay on the top as close as possible; put it into the middle of your dish, and pour a ladleful of your soup over it; put in your bread first, then pour in your soup, till your dish is full. Garnish with petty patties; or make a rim for your dish, and garnish with lemon raced. If you please, you may send a chicken boned in the middle, instead of your roll; or you may send it to table with only crisp bread.

SOUP A-LA SAP. Boil half a pound of grated potatoes, a pound of beef sliced thin, a pint of grey peas, an onion, and three ounces of rice, in six pints of water till reduced to five. Strain it through a cullender, pulp the peas into it, and return it into the saucepan with two heads of sliced celery. Stew it tender, add pepper and salt, and serve it with fried bread.

SOUR BEER. If beer be brewed ever so well, much will depend on the management afterwards, to prevent its becoming sour or vapid. Different conveniences of cellarage will materially affect beer. If the cellar is bad, there should not be more than six weeks between brewing and brewing. Where beer is kept too long in a bad cellar, so as to be affected by the heat of the weather, it will putrefy, though ever so well bunged. Hops may prevent its turning sour, but will not keep it from becoming vapid. It should be well understood, that there is no certainty in keeping beer, if not brewed at the proper season. In winter there is a danger of wort getting too cold, so as to prevent the process of fermentation; and in the summer, of its not being cool enough, unless brewed in the dead of night. In temperate weather, at the spring or autumn, the spirit of the beer is retained, and it is thereby enabled to work the liquor clear; whereas in hot weather, the spirit quickly evaporates, leaving the wort vapid and flat, unable to work itself clear, but keeping continually on the fret, till totally spoiled. This is the obvious reason for the use of sugar, prepared for colour, because sugar will bear the heat better than malt; and when thoroughly prepared, possesses such a strong principle of heat in itself, as to bid defiance to the hottest temperature of the air, and to render its turning sour almost impossible. Clean casks are also essential to the preservation of good beer. To keep the casks sweet and in order, never allow them to remain open; but whenever the beer is drawn off, bung them up tight with the lees within them. In a good cellar they will never spoil. Should the casks get musty, the following method will remedy the evil. Soak them well for three or four days in cold water, then fill them full of boiling hot water; put in a lump or two of lime, shake it thoroughly till quite dissolved, let the casks stand about half an hour, then wash them out with cold water, and they will be clean and sweet. If still apprehensive of the beer getting flat or sour, put into a cask containing eighteen gallons, a pint of ground malt suspended in a bag, and close the bung perfectly. This will prevent the mischief, and the beer will improve during the whole time of drawing it. When beer has actually turned sour, put in some oyster shells, calcined to whiteness, or a little powdered chalk. Either of these will correct the acidity, and make it brisk and sparkling. Salt of tartar, or soda powder, put into the beer at the time of drinking it, will also destroy the acidity, and make it palatable.

SOUR KROUT. Take some full-grown hard cabbages of the closest texture, and cut them into slices about an inch thick, opening them a little, that they may receive the salt more effectually. Rub a good deal of salt amongst them, lay them into a large pan, and sprinkle more salt over them. Let them remain twenty-four hours, turning them over four or five times, that every part may be alike saturated. Next day put the cabbage into a tub or large jar, pressing it down well, and then pour over it a pickle made of a pint of salt to a quart of water. This pickle must be poured on boiling hot, and the cabbage entirely covered with it. Let it stand thus twenty-four hours longer, when it will have shrunk nearly a third. Then take the cabbage out, and put it into a fresh tub or jar, pressing it down well as before, and pour over it a pickle made as follows. To one quart of the salt and water pickle which had been used the day before, put three quarts of vinegar, four ounces of allspice, and two ounces of carraway seeds. This must be poured on cold, so as to cover the cabbage completely. Let it stand one day loosely covered, and then stop it down quite close.

SOUR SAUCE FOR FISH. Boil two blades of mace in a wine glass of water, and half as much sharp vinegar, for a quarter of an hour. Then take out the mace, and put in a quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolk of an egg well beaten. Shake these over the fire one way till the sauce is properly thickened, without suffering it to boil.

SOUSE FOR BRAWN. Boil a quarter of a pint of wheat bran, a sprig of bay, and a sprig of rosemary, in two gallons of water for half an hour, adding four ounces of salt. Strain it, and let it cool. This will do for pig's feet and ears, as well as brawn.

SOUSED STURGEONS. Draw and divide the fish down the back, and then into pieces. Put the fish into salt and water, clean it well, bind it with tape, and boil it very carefully in vinegar, salt, and water. When done lay it to cool, and pack it up close in the liquor it was boiled in.

SOUSED TRIPE. Boil the tripe, but not quite tender; then put it into salt and water, which must be changed every day till it is all used. When the tripe is to be dressed, dip it into a batter of eggs and flour, and fry it of a good brown.

SOY. To make English soy, pound some walnuts when fit for pickling, in a marble mortar, very small. Squeeze them through a strainer, let the liquor stand to settle, and then pour off the fine. To every quart of liquor put a pound of anchovies, and two cloves of shalot. Boil it enough to make the scum rise, and clear it well. Add two ounces of Jamaica pepper, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and half a pint of vinegar. Boil it again, until the anchovies are dissolved and the shalot tender, and let it stand till the next day. Then pour off the fine, and bottle it for use. Strain the thick through a sieve, and put it by separately. When used for fish, put some of the soy to the usual anchovies and butter, or to plain butter.

SPANISH CARDOONS. Cut them three inches long, leaving out any that are hollow and green. Boil them in water half an hour, and then put them into warm water to pick them. Stew them with some broth, with a spoonful of flour mixed in it. Add salt, onions, roots, a bunch of sweet herbs, a dash of verjuice, and a little butter. When they are well done take them out, and put them into a good cullis, with a little broth. Boil them half an hour in this sauce to give them a flavour, and then serve them up. Let the sauce be neither too clear nor too thick, and of a fine light colour.

SPANISH FLUMMERY. Scald a quart of cream, with a little cinnamon or mace. Mix this gradually into half a pound of rice flour, and then stir it over a gentle fire till it acquires the thickness of jelly. Sweeten it to the taste, and pour it into cups or shapes. Turn it out when cold, and serve it up. Cream, wine, or preserves eat well with it, or it may be eaten alone as preferred. Oatmeal may be used instead of rice.

SPANISH FRITTERS. Cut the crumb of a French roll into square lengths, of the thickness of one's finger, nutmeg, sugar, pounded cinnamon, and an egg. When well soaked, fry the fritters of a nice brown; and serve with butter, wine, and sweet sauce.

SPANISH PUFFS. Boil a stick of cinnamon, a piece of lemon peel, and a little sugar, in three quarters of a pint of water for ten minutes. Let it cool, then add three eggs well beaten, and shake in three large spoonfuls of flour. Beat these well together, add three more eggs, and simmer the whole over the fire, till it thickens almost to a paste. Drop this with a tea-spoon into boiling lard, and fry these little puffs of a delicate light brown.

SPANISH SAUCE. Put some gravy into a saucepan with a glass of white wine, and the same of good broth. Add a bunch of parsley and chives, two cloves of garlic, half a bay leaf, a pinch of coriander seed, two cloves, a sliced onion, a carrot, half a parsnip, and two spoonfuls of salad oil. Stew these for two hours over a very slow fire. Skim off the fat, pass the sauce through a tammis, season it with pepper and salt, and use it with any thing as approved.

SPARERIB. Baste it with a very little butter and flour; and when done, sprinkle it with dried sage crumbled. Serve it with potatoes and apple sauce.

SPARROW. A mischievous destructive bird in corn-fields, and which should mostly be destroyed. It is observed, that were all the farmers in a neighbourhood to agree to their destruction, by offering rewards for their heads, their numbers might be lessened; and that were the practice general, surely the whole race might be extirpated. It is supposed that six-pence a dozen the first year, nine-pence the second, and a shilling the third year, would nearly reach their complete extirpation. To enforce which it should be considered how soon twelve sparrows destroy twelve penny-worth of wheat. In Kent, they use a species of trap, which is very effectual in taking them. It consists of a small wicker basket, resembling a fruit-sieve of the London markets, with a cover of the same material fitted to it, and formed on the principle of the fish-pot, and the vermin trap, into which the entrance is easy, but the return difficult. These traps, which are an ordinary article of sale in the markets of the district, are constituted of brown unpeeled oziers. The diameter about two feet; the depth nine inches; the cover is somewhat dishing, with a tunnel or inverted cone, in the centre, reaching to within an inch of the bottom of the basket; the aperture or entrance, formed by the points of the twigs, of which the tunnel is constructed, being about an inch and a half in diameter. And the usual bait is wheat scattered in the basket. The number caught at once, is frequently more than theory would suggest; the contentions of a few that have entered, seldom failing to bring others to the combat. These mischievous birds, however, soon grow too cunning to be taken in any sort of trap to any extent, which has a chance of extirpating and destroying the race; consequently some more effectual and certain plan, such as that suggested above, or some other, which is better and more fully adapted to the purpose, must be had recourse to in order to completely exterminate them, and prevent the injury they do annually to the farmer, in the destruction of his wheat and other crops. Though these are only small birds, they destroy vast quantities of grain, much more than has indeed been commonly supposed. It is stated to have been calculated to have amounted to a hundred sacks of wheat besides the oats and barley, in the course of only one season, in a township of no very great extent in the north-western part of the kingdom. Where rewards or sums of money are paid for the taking or destroying them, no advantages are gained, except where there are sufficiently ample and proper regulations entered into and enforced, the whole district, parish, or township, becomes partakers in the business. No languid or half measures will do any thing useful, or to the purpose, in this sort of undertaking. It is not improbable, but that these destructive birds might be greatly extirpated and thinned down in their numbers, by the use of some tasteless infusion of a strongly poisonous nature, either to the ears of the grain at the time of harvest, or to the naked grain in the winter season, when they are extremely eager for food, as they are constantly found to remain hovering about houses or other buildings, where the effects of such trials might easily be ascertained. If such a method should succeed, the whole race might readily, and with great facility and certainty, be exterminated.

SPASMS. An involuntary and painful contraction of the muscles may arise from various causes, and require different modes of treatment. But if no medical assistance be at hand, the application of volatile liniments to the part affected, a clyster with a little laudanum in it, or the warm bath, may be tried with advantage.

SPERMACETI OINTMENT. This is made of a quarter of a pint of fine salad oil, a quarter of a pound of white wax, and half an ounce of spermaceti, melted over a gentle fire, and kept stirring till the ointment is cold.

SPICES. As it regards health, spices are generally improper; but black pepper, ginger, and cayenne, may be esteemed the best. Nutmegs, cloves, mace, cinnamon, and allspice, are generally productive of indigestion and headach, in persons of a weakly habit.

SPIDERS. These industrious insects are generally loathed and destroyed, though they are extremely useful in reducing the quantity of flies, and serve as a very accurate barometer for the weather. When they are totally inactive, it is a certain sign that rain will shortly follow; but if they continue to spin during a shower, it indicates that the rain will soon be over, and that calm and fine weather will succeed. If the weather be about to change, and become wet or windy, the spider will make the supporters of his web very short; but if the threads be extended to an unusual length, the weather will continue serene for ten or twelve days, or more, according to the length of the threads which support the web. The red spider however is very injurious and destructive to different sorts of plants and fruit-trees, especially in forcing houses. It is found particularly so to those of the forced French bean, melon; peach, vine, cherry, currant, and some other kinds. The generation and production of this insect are greatly caused and promoted by the dry warm heat that is constantly kept up in the houses which contain these sorts of plants and trees, and there are many other circumstances which combine in bringing it forth. It is an insect which has no wings, and the female is oviparous. Several different methods have been attempted in order to the removal and destruction of it. Constant daily watering, or washing the trees, are said to have the power of subduing it, but in the execution of the work, care is always to be taken that every part of the leaves be wetted, otherwise the insects shelter and save themselves in the dry parts, and are preserved from the effects of the water. Moisture conveyed in some way or other is certainly found to be the most destructive, of any thing yet discovered, of these pernicious insects, as well as many others that infest hot-houses. Throwing weak lime-water in a plentiful manner on the under sides of the leaves, where these insects are commonly found, will, for the most part, soon destroy them. The following directions have been given for the destruction of this sort of spider, when it becomes injurious to melon plants; and the same may probably be found useful for those of the forced French bean, and some other similar kinds. In cases of dry weather, and with a dry heat, melon plants are very subject to be infested with the red spider; and the appearances of it may constantly be long noticed before the insects can be seen with the naked eye, by the leaves beginning to curl and crack in their middle parts. Whenever they are discovered to be in this state or condition, and there is fine warm sunny weather, the watering of them all over the leaves, both on the under and upper sides, is advised; a watering-pot, with a rose finely perforated with holes, or a garden-engine, which disperses the water in a fine dew-like manner, being employed for the purpose. The work should be performed about six o'clock in the morning, and the plants be shaded with mats about eight, if the sun shine with much power, shutting the frames down closely until about eleven; and then admitting a small quantity of fresh air, letting the mats remain until about three in the afternoon, when they should be wholly taken away. The shade which is thus afforded by the mats prevents the leaves of the plants from being scorched or otherwise injured by the action of the heat of the sun while they are in a wet cooled down state. Where a southerly breeze prevails, watering them again about three in the afternoon is recommended, shutting them up close as before, to keep the heat in, which causes a strong exhalation of the moisture, and is greatly destructive of the spiders. In all these waterings, the water is to be thrown as much and as finely as possible on the under sides of the leaves, where the insects mostly lodge; the vines or stems of the plants being gently turned in that intention, taking great care not to injure them, by which means the water is capable of being easily thrown over the whole of the under sides of the leaves, it being done in a gentle manner, in the modes already suggested, so as not to wash up the mouldy matters unto the plants: the lights and sides of the frames which contain the plants, should also, at the same time, have water plentifully thrown on and against them. When these waterings are finished, the vines or stems of the plants are to be carefully laid down again in their former positions. And if the day be sunny, the mats may be let remain, as already directed, until the leaves of the plants become perfectly dry, air being admitted according to the heat that may be present at the time. It is likewise further advised as a precautionary measure, that, before the frames and lights, which are to contain plants of this sort, are employed, they should be well washed, both inside and out, first with clean water, and then with a mixture of soap-suds and urine; a brush or woollen rag being made use of in the operation; as by this method the ova or eggs of the spiders or other insects that may have been deposited and lodged in or on them, in the preceding season, may be cleared away and destroyed. The exhalations of the water which has been thrown upon the plants, and the frames or boxes that contain them, may also be useful in killing these insects, in other cases by keeping them in a close state. These washings should never, however, be performed in cold frosty seasons; and the water made use of in such cases should always be of the rain or soft kind.

SPINACH. This vegetable requires to be carefully washed and picked. When that is done, throw it into a saucepan that will just hold it, sprinkle it with a little salt, and cover it close. Set the pan on the fire, and shake it well. When sufficiently done, beat up the spinach with some butter, but it must be sent to table pretty dry. It would look well, if pressed into a tin mould in the form of a large leaf, which is sold at the tin shops. A spoonful of cream is an improvement.

SPINACH CREAM. Beat the yolks of eight eggs with a whisk or a wooden spoon, sweeten it well, and add a stick of cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, and three quarters of a pint of new milk. Stir it well, and then add a quarter of a pint of spinach juice. Set it over a gentle stove, and stir it constantly one way, till it is as thick as a hasty pudding. Put into a custard dish some Naples biscuits, or preserved orange, in long slices, and pour the mixture over them. It is to be eaten cold, and is a dish either for supper, or for a second course.

SPINACH AND EGGS. The spinach must be well washed, then throw a small handful of salt into a saucepan of boiling water, before the spinach is put in, and press it down as it boils. When it becomes tender, press it well in a sieve or cullender. Break the eggs into cups, and put them into a stewpan of boiling water. When done, take them out with a slice, and lay them on the spinach. Send them to table with melted butter.

SPINACH PUDDING. Scald and chop some spinach very fine, four ounces of biscuit soaked in cream, the yolks of eight eggs beat up, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, a little salt and nutmeg, and sugar to your taste; beat up all together, and set it over the fire till it is stiff, but do not let it boil; cool it, and bake it in puff-paste; or you may butter a bason, and boil it.—Another. Boil a pint of cream, with some lemon-peel, a blade of mace, half a nutmeg cut in pieces; strain it off, and stir it till it is cold, then boil a good handful of young spinach tender; chop it very fine; beat up eight eggs, leave out four whites, add some fine sugar pounded, and a glass of sack; mix all well together, put it into the dish, with a puff-paste at the bottom, and lay on the top candied orange and lemon cut in thin slices. Half an hour, or a little better, will bake it.

SPINACH SOUP. Shred two handfuls of spinach, a turnip, two onions, a head of celery, two carrots, and a little parsley and thyme. Put all into a stewpot, with a bit of butter the size of a walnut, and a pint of good broth, or the liquor in which meat has been boiled. Stew till the vegetables are quite tender, and work them with a spoon through a coarse cloth or sieve. To the vegetable pulp and liquor, add a quart of fresh water, salt and pepper, and boil all together. Have ready some suet dumplins the size of a walnut, and put them into a tureen, before the soup is poured over. The suet must be quite fresh, and not shred too fine.SPIRITS. Good pure spirits ought to be perfectly clear, pleasant, and strong, though not of a pungent odour, and somewhat of a vinous taste. To try the purity of spirits, or whether they have been diluted with water, see whether the liquor will burn away without leaving any mixture behind, by dipping in a piece of writing paper, and lighting it at the candle. As pure spirit is much lighter than water, put a hollow ivory ball into it: the deeper the ball sinks, the lighter the liquor, and consequently the more spirituous.

SPIRITS OF CLARY. Distil a peck of clary flowers in a cold still, and then another peck of flowers, adding to them the distilled liquor. Put to this a bottle of sack or sweet wine, and another peck of flowers, and put all together into a glass still. Let it distil on white sugar candy, with the addition of a little ambergris.

SPIRITS OF LAVENDER. Take fourteen pounds of lavender flowers, ten gallons and a half of rectified spirits of wine, and one gallon of water. Draw off ten gallons by a gentle fire, or which is much better, by a sand-bath heat. To convert this into the red liquid known by the name of compound lavender spirits, take of the above lavender spirits two gallons, of Hungary water one gallon, cinnamon and nutmegs three ounces each, and of red saunders one ounce. Digest the whole for three days in a gentle heat, and then filtre it for use. Some add saffron, musk, and ambergris, of each half a scruple; but these are now generally omitted.

SPIRITS OF SAFFRON. Pick eight ounces of English saffron very clean, cut it fine, and steep it twenty-four hours in a gallon of the best white wine. Put it into an alembic with three gallons of water, draw it off gently so long as the saffron tastes, and sweeten it with white sugar candy. Dissolve the candy in some of the weaker extract, after the stronger part is drawn off, by setting it on the fire, and then mix the whole together.

SPITS. Roasting spits require to be kept bright and clean, and should be scoured with nothing but sand and water. If they are wiped clean, as soon as the meat is drawn from them, and while they are hot, a very little cleaning will be necessary. A very useful kind of spit is sold at the ironmongers, which sustains the meat without the necessity of passing it through, which is much to be preferred.

SPITCHCOCK EELS. Take one or two large eels, leave the skin on, cut them into pieces of three inches long, open them on the belly side, and clean them nicely. Wipe them dry, smear them over with egg, and strew on both sides chopped parsley, pepper and salt; a very little sage, and a bit of mace pounded fine and mixed with the seasoning. Rub the gridiron with a bit of suet, broil the fish of a fine colour, and serve with anchovy and butter sauce.

SPLINTERS. To run splinters, prickles or thorns, such as those of roses, thistles, or chesnuts, into the hands, feet, or legs, is a very common accident; and provided any such substance is immediately extracted, it is seldom attended with any bad consequences. But the more certainly to prevent any ill effects, a compress of linen dipped in warm water, may be applied to the part, or it may be bathed a little while in warm water. If the thorn or splinter cannot be extracted directly, or if any part of it be left in, it causes an inflammation, and nothing but timely precaution will prevent its coming to an abscess. A plaster of shoemaker's wax spread upon leather, draws these wounds remarkably well. When it is known that any part of it remains, an expert surgeon would open the place and take it out; but if it be unobserved, as will sometimes happen, when the thorn or splinter is very small, till the inflammation begins, and no advice can be at once procured, the steam of water should be applied to it at first, and then a poultice of bread and milk, with a few drops of peruvian balsam. It is absolutely necessary that the injured part should be kept in the easiest posture, and as still as possible. If this does not soon succeed, good advice must be obtained without delay, as an accident of this kind neglected, or improperly treated, may be the occasion of losing a limb. In this and all cases of inflammation, a forbearance from animal food, and fermented liquors, is always advisable.

SPONGE CAKE. Weigh ten eggs, add their weight in very fine sugar, and of flour the weight of six eggs. Beat the yolks with the flour, and the whites alone, to a very stiff froth. Mix by degrees the whites and the flour with the other ingredients, beat them well half an hour, and bake the cake an hour in a quick oven.—Another, without butter. Dry a pound of flour, and a pound and a quarter of sugar. Grate a lemon, add a spoonful of brandy, and beat the whole together with the hand for an hour. Bake the cake in a buttered pan, in a quick oven. Sweetmeats may be added if approved.

SPOONMEATS FOR INFANTS. It is something more than a human axiom, that milk is for babes; and as this forms the basis of nearly all the food from which their nourishment is derived, it is necessary to observe, that the best way of using it is without either skimming or boiling it. The cream is the most nutritious balsamic part of milk, and to deprive it of this is to render it less nourishing, and less easy of digestion, than in its pure state. In some particular cases skimmed milk may be preferable, but it may be adopted as a general rule, that new milk is the wholesomest and the best. If it stands any time before it is used, instead of taking off the cream, it should be mixed in with the milk. Boiling the milk, if it be only a little, fixes it, and entirely alters its qualities. As a proof of this, it will not afterwards afford any cream, but merely a thin skin. In this state it is hard of digestion, and therefore apt to occasion obstructions. It is most proper for food in its natural state, or when only scalded.—One of the first and simplest preparations for infants is Bread Pap, made by pouring scalding water on thin slices of good white bread, and letting it stand uncovered till it cools. The water is then drained off, the bread bruised fine, and mixed with as much new milk as will make it of a tolerable consistence. It is then warm enough for use, without setting it upon the fire. Sugar is very commonly put into this pap, but it is much better without it. The palate of the child will not require sugar in any kind of food, till habit makes it familiar.—Egg Pap is another suitable article for young children. Set a quart of spring water on a clear brisk fire. Mix two spoonfuls of fresh fine flour with the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, adding a little cold water. When the water is ready to boil, stir in the batter before it boils, till of a sufficient thickness. Then take it off the fire, add a little salt, pour it into a basin, and let it cool of itself till it become about as warm as milk from the cow. If eggs cannot be procured, a small piece of butter may be added with the salt, and stirred in gently till well mixed, to prevent its oiling. Eggs however are to be preferred. This food is extremely wholesome, affords real nourishment, opens all the passages, breeds good blood and lively spirits, is pleasant to the palate, and grateful to the stomach. The frequent use of it purifies the blood and all the humours, prevents windy distempers and griping pain, both of the stomach and bowels. From all the ingredients bearing a resemblance to each other, no predominant quality prevails, so that it may justly claim the first place amongst all spoonmeats or paps, and as food for infants it is next to the milk of the breast. In some cases it is much better, on account of the various diseases to which suckling women are subject, and the improper food in which they too frequently indulge. No other ingredients should however be added to this kind of food, such as sugar, spices, or fruits, which tend only to vitiate the diet, and to render it less nutritious. This and other sorts of spoonmeat should be made rather thin than otherwise, and abounding with liquid, whether milk or water. All porridges and spoonmeats that are made thin, and quickly prepared, are sweeter, brisker on the palate, and easier of digestion, than those which are thick, and long in preparing. Food should never be given to children more than milk warm, and the proper way to cool it is by letting it stand uncovered to cool itself; for much stirring alters the composition, and takes off the sweetness. Covering it down too, keeps in the fumes that ought to go off, and by excluding the air, renders it less pure.—Flour Pap. To two thirds of new milk, after it has stood five or six hours from the time of milking, add one third of spring water, and set it on a quick clear fire. Make a batter of milk and fine flour, and just as the milk and water is ready to boil, pour in the batter, and stir it a few minutes. When it is ready to boil again, take it off, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. A good spoonful of flour is sufficient to thicken a pint of milk, or milk and water. This will make it about the thickness of common milk porridge, which is what will eat the sweetest, and be the easiest of digestion. This kind of food affords substantial nourishment, it neither binds nor loosens the body, but keeps it in proper order, nourishes the blood, and tends to produce a lively disposition. Pap prepared in this way is far more friendly to nature than in the common way of boiling, and may be constantly eaten with much better effect, and without ever tiring or cloying the stomach.—Oatmeal Pap. Mix a pint of milk and water, in the proportion of two thirds milk and one third water, with a good spoonful of oatmeal, but it is best not to be too thick. Set it in a saucepan upon a quick clear fire, and when it is near boiling take it off. Pour it from one basin into another, backwards and forwards seven or eight times, which will bring out the fine flour of the oatmeal, and incorporate it with the milk. Then return it into the saucepan, set it upon the fire, and when it is again ready to boil take it off, and let it stand in the saucepan a little to fine, for the husky part of the oatmeal will sink to the bottom. When settled, pour it off into a basin, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. This is an excellent pap, very congenial to a weak constitution, affording good nourishment, and easy of digestion.—Water Gruel. Take a spoonful and a half of fresh ground oatmeal, mix with it gradually a quart of spring water, and set it on a clear fire. When ready to boil take it off, pour it from one basin into another, backwards and forwards five or six times, and set it on the fire again. Take it off again just before it boils, and let it stand a little time in the saucepan, that the coarse husks of the oatmeal may sink to the bottom. Then pour it out, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. When water gruel is made with grots, it must boil gently for some time. The longer it boils the more it will jelly; but moderation must be observed in this respect, for if it be very long boiled and becomes very thick, it will be flat and heavy. A mistaken idea very generally prevails, that water gruel is not nourishing; on the contrary, it is a light, cleansing, nourishing food, good either in sickness or in health, both for old and young.—Milk Porridge. Make some water gruel, and when it has stood awhile to cool, add to it about one third part of new milk without boiling. It may be eaten with or without salt. Milk porridge is exceedingly cleansing and easy of digestion, and is agreeable to the weakest stomach. There is also another way of making it, which some prefer. Stir a pint of water gradually into three large spoonfuls of fresh oatmeal, let it stand till clear, and then pour off the water. Put a pint of fresh water to the oatmeal, stir it up well, and leave it till the next day. Strain off the liquor through a fine sieve, and set it in a saucepan over a clear brisk fire. Add about half the quantity of milk gradually while it is warming, and when it is just ready to boil take it off, pour it into a basin, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. This as well as the former porridge is very light, and proper for weak stomachs.—Indian Arrow Root is another excellent preparation for children. Put a dessert-spoonful of the powdered root into a basin, and mix with it as much cold new milk as will make it into a paste. Pour upon this half a pint of milk scalding-hot, stirring it briskly to keep it smooth. Set it on the fire till it is ready to boil, then take it off, pour it into a basin, and let it cool. This may be made with water instead of milk, and some cold milk mixed with it afterwards; or if the stomach be very weak, it will be best without any milk at all. Great care must be taken to procure the genuine arrow root, which makes a very strengthening and excellent food for infants or invalids.—Sago Jelly. Soak a large spoonful of sago for an hour in cold water, then pour off the water, add a pint of fresh water to the sago, and stew it gently till it is reduced to about half the quantity. When done, pour it into a basin, and let it cool.—Sago with Milk. Prepare a large spoonful of sago by soaking it for an hour in cold water, but instead of adding water afterwards, put in a pint and a half of new milk. Boil it gently till reduced to about half the quantity, then pour it into a basin, and let it cool.—Tapioca Jelly. Wash two good spoonfuls of the large sort of tapioca in cold water, and then soak it in a pint and a half of water for four hours. Stew it gently in the same water till it is quite clear. Let it stand to cool after it is poured out of the saucepan, and use it either with or without the addition of a little new milk.—Pearl Barley Gruel. Put two ounces of pearl barley, after it has been well washed, into a quart of water. Simmer it gently till reduced to a pint, then strain it through a sieve, and let it cool.—Rice Gruel. Soak two large spoonfuls of rice in cold water for an hour. Pour off the water, and put a pint and a quarter of new milk to the rice. Stew it gently till the rice is sufficiently tender to pulp it through a sieve, and then mix the pulp into the milk that the rice was stewed in. Simmer it over the fire for ten minutes, and if it appear too thick, gradually add a little more milk, so as not to damp it from simmering. When done, pour it into a basin to cool.—Rice Milk. To four large spoonfuls of whole rice, washed very clean in cold water, add a quart of new milk, and stew them together very gently for three hours. Let it stand in a basin to cool before it is used. Another way of making rice milk is boiling the rice first in water, then pouring off the water, and boiling the rice with milk. A better way perhaps is, after washing the rice well, setting it over the fire for half an hour with a little water to break it. Add a little at a time some warm milk, till it is sufficiently done, and of a proper thickness. Let it simmer slowly, and season it with salt and sugar; but for children the sugar had better be omitted.—Ground Rice Milk. Mix a large spoonful of ground rice into a batter, with two or three spoonfuls of new milk. Set a pint of new milk on the fire, and when it is scalding hot, stir in the batter, and keep it on the fire till it thickens, but it must not boil. It should be carefully stirred to prevent its burning, and cooled by standing by in a basin.—Millet Milk. Wash three spoonfuls of millet seed in cold water, and put it into a quart of new milk. Simmer it gently till it becomes moderately thick, and cool it in a basin till wanted for use. All those preparations which require some time in doing, also require the precaution of being carefully stirred, to prevent their burning.—Drinks for young children, in addition to their diet, are best made of milk and water, whey, barley water, pearl barley water, apple water, and toast and water. For Milk and Water, put one third of new milk to two thirds of spring water. This is best drunk cold; but if it must be warmed, it should be by putting warm water to cold milk. It ought not to be made more than milk warm. For Whey, take a quart of new milk before it is cold, and put in as much rennet as will turn it to a clear whey. Let it stand till it is properly turned, and pour it off through a cheesecloth without pressing the curd, that the whey may be the purer. It may be drunk cold, or just warmed by setting it before the fire for a little while. If new milk cannot be had, other milk must be warmed to the degree of new milk.—Barley Water is made of a handful of common barley well washed, and simmered in three pints of water, till of a proper thickness for use; but the longer the barley boils, the thinner the liquor will become. Pearl Barley Water is made of an ounce of pearl barley, heated in half a pint of water over the fire in order to clean it. The water is then poured off, and a quart of fresh water added to the pearl barley. Simmer it half an hour, and if it appears too thick, add more water, but let it be kept warm, as any quantity of cold water would damp it too suddenly, and thus tend to spoil it. Both this and barley water may be used cold, or milk warm.—Apple Water. Slice into a jug two or three sound ripe apples, and pour on them a quart of scalding hot water. Let it stand to cool, and it will be fit for use. The apples should not be pared, as it takes off their spirit.—Toast and Water is made of a slice of white bread toasted quite dry, and of a dark brown colour. It is then put into a jug, and spring water poured upon it. After an hour it is fit for use. As all these preparations, both of drinks and spoonmeats, become flat and good for little by long standing, it is better to make only such quantities of them at a time as will soon be used. When they are warmed up, no more should be done at once than is just sufficient for the occasion, as repeated warming injures the nutritious quality of every thing. When it can be avoided it is better not to set things on the fire to warm them up, but to place them before or on the side of the fire. Care however must be taken not to let them dry and scorch, as it makes them very strong and unwholesome. Some earthenware vessel should be used for this purpose, as less liable to produce an injurious effect. A very good method of warming things is by setting them in a basin over boiling water, or by placing them in it.

SPRAINS. These generally proceed from some external injury, attended with pain, swelling, and inflammation. A fomentation of vinegar, or camphorated spirits of wine, if applied immediately, will generally be sufficient: if not, a few drops of laudanum should be added. The fomentation should be frequently renewed, and the sprained part kept in a state of rest and relaxation.SPRATS. When quite good and fresh, their gills are of a fine red, their eyes and whole body beautifully bright. After being scaled and cleaned, they should be fastened in rows by a skewer run through the heads; then broiled, and served up hot and hot.

SPRATS LIKE ANCHOVIES. Salt them well, and let the salt drain from them. In twenty-four hours wipe them dry, but do not wash them. Mix four ounces of common salt, an ounce of bay salt, an ounce of saltpetre, a quarter of an ounce of sal-prunella, and half a tea-spoonful of cochineal, all in the finest powder. Sprinkle it amongst three quarts of the fish, and pack them in two stone jars. Keep them in a cool place, fastened down with a bladder. These artificial anchovies are pleasant on bread and butter, but the genuine should be used for sauce.

SPRING FRUIT PUDDING. Peel and wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb, put them into the stewpan with a lemon, a little cinnamon, and sweeten the whole with moist sugar. Set it over the fire, and reduce it to a marmalade. Pass it through a hair sieve, add the yolks of four eggs and one white, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, half a nutmeg, and the peel of a lemon grated. Beat all well together, line the inside of a pie dish with good puff paste, put in the pudding, and bake it half an hour.

SPRING SOUP. Put a pint of peas into a saucepan with some chervil, purslain, lettuce, sorrel, parsley, three or four onions, and a piece of butter. Shake them over the fire a few minutes, add warm water in proportion to the vegetables, and stew them till they are well done. Strain off the soup, and pulp the vegetables through a tammis or sieve. Heat the pulp with three parts of the soup, mix six yolks of eggs with the remainder of it, and thicken it over the fire. When ready to serve, add this to the soup, and season the whole with salt.

SPROUTS. Before the sprouts of greens are boiled, trim and wash them very nicely, and drain them in a cullender. Then put them into boiling water, with some salt thrown in, and sprinkle a little more upon the sprouts. Boil them very fast, and clear off any scum that may arise. When the stalks are quite tender, drain the sprouts off directly into a cullender, or they will lose both their flavour and colour. Serve them up laid neatly in the dish with a fork, as that will not break them like a spoon. Borecole and Brussel sprouts, like all the cabbage species, should be boiled in plenty of water, changing it when about half done, and boiling them well.

SPRUCE BEER. Pour sixteen gallons of warm water into a barrel, with twelve pounds of molasses, and half a pound of the essence of spruce. When cool, add a pint of yeast, stir it well for two or three days, and put it into stone bottles. Wire down the corks, pack the bottles in saw dust, and the liquor will ripen in about a fortnight.

SQUAB PIE. Prepare apples as for other pies, and lay them in rows with mutton chops. Shred some onion, and sprinkle it among them, and also some sugar.—Another. Make a good crust, and sheet your dish all over; lay a layer of pippins, and strew sugar over them; cut a loin of mutton into steaks, season them with pepper and salt; lay a layer of steaks, then pippins; then lay some onions sliced thin on the apples, then the rest of your mutton, and apples and onions over all; pour in a pint of water, and lid your pye; let it be well baked.

STAFFORDSHIRE BEEF STEAKS. Beat them a little with a rollingpin, then flour and season, and fry them of a fine light brown, with sliced onions. Lay the steaks into a stewpan, and pour over them as much boiling water as will serve for sauce. Stew them very gently for half an hour, and add a spoonful of ketchup or walnut liquor, before they are served up.

STAFFORDSHIRE SYLLABUB. Put into a bowl a pint of cider, and a glass of brandy, with sugar and nutmeg. Pour into it some warm milk, from a large tea-pot, held up high, and moved over it.STAINS BY ACIDS. Wet the injured part, and lay on some salt of wormwood; then rub it, without diluting it with more water. Or let the cloth imbibe a little water without dipping, and hold the part over a lighted match at a due distance. The spots will be removed by the sulphureous gas. Another way is to tie up some pearl ash in the stained part, then scrape some soap into cold soft water to make a lather, and boil the linen till the stain disappears.

STAINS IN MAHOGANY. If any kind of furniture get stained with ink, dilute half a tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol with a large spoonful of water, and touch the stained part with a feather dipped in the liquid. It must be watched, and not suffered to remain too long, or it will leave a white mark. It is better to rub it quick, and to moisten it again, if the stain be not entirely removed.

STAINING OF BONE. This article must first be prepared, by being steeped for several days in a mixture of roche alum, vitriol, verdigris, and copper filings, infused in white wine vinegar. When the ingredients are dissolved, the mixture may be boiled with the bone in it, and it will take a fine green colour. By infusing brazil wood, French berries, or indigo in the vinegar, with a little roche alum, either red, yellow, or blue may be produced. Either bone, ivory, or wood, may be coloured in this manner.

STAINING OF PARCHMENT. Paper or parchment may be stained of a green colour, by gradually dissolving some copper filings in aqua-fortis, or the spirits of salt, putting in the filings till the ebullition ceases. A solution of verdigris in vinegar, or the crystals of verdigris in water, will answer the same purpose. A fine crimson stain may be produced by a tincture of the Indian lake, made by infusing the lake several days in spirits of wine, and pouring off the tincture from the dregs. A beautiful yellow may be formed from the tincture of turmeric, made in the same way. If the colours be wanted of a deeper cast, arnatto or dragon's blood may be added to the tincture.

STAINING OF WOOD. To stain wood of a mahogany colour, put it into a mixture of oil of turpentine and pounded dragon's blood, and let it stand an hour over a slow fire. When taken off the fire, the wood may remain in the liquor all night. The dye may be made stronger or weaker, by using more or less of dragon's blood, and by a greater or less degree of digestion and boiling. The best wood for this purpose is plane tree, because it may easily be sawn and polished, and is beautifully veined and spotted. To stain wood a fine black, drop a little oil of vitriol into a small quantity of water, rub it on the wood, and hold it to the fire. It will then become a fine black, and receive a beautiful polish.

STALKS OF BEET LEAVES. Trim and well wash the stalks of green and white beet leaves, and boil them in water, moving them frequently, to prevent the upper ones from turning black. When done enough, drain them in a cullender. Make a white sauce with a little flour and water, a piece of butter, some pepper and salt, and a taste of vinegar. Thicken this over the fire, and put in the stalks to stew gently for a few minutes, to give them a flavour. If the butter oils, it is a sign that the sauce is too thick. In this case add another spoonful or two of water, and shake the stewpan till the sauce recovers it appearance.

STARCH is a substance which is extracted from wheaten flour, by washing it in water. All farinaceous seeds, and the roots of most vegetables, afford this substance in a greater or less degree; but it is most easily obtained from the flour of wheat, by moistening any quantity thereof with a little water, and kneading it with the hand into a tough paste: this being washed with water, by letting fall upon it a very slender stream, the water will be rendered turbid as it runs off, in consequence of the fecula or starch which it extracts from the flour, and which will subside when the water is allowed to stand at rest. The starch so obtained, when dried in the sun, or by a stove, is usually concreted into small masses of a long figure and columnar shape, which have a fine white colour, scarcely any smell, and very little taste. If kept dry, starch in this state continues a long time uninjured, although exposed to the air. It is not soluble in cold water; but forms a thick paste with boiling-hot water, and when this paste is allowed to cool, it becomes semi-transparent and gelatinous, and being dried, becomes brittle, and somewhat resembles gum. Starch, although found in all nutritive grains, is only perfect when they have attained maturity, for before this it is in a state approaching to mucilage, and so mixed with saccharine matter and essential oils, that it cannot be extracted in sufficient purity to concrete into masses. Wheat, or such parts of it as are not used for human food, are usually employed for manufacturing starch, such as the refuse wheat and bran; but when the finest starch is required, good grain must be used. This, being well cleaned, and sometimes coarsely bruised, is put into wooden vessels full of water to ferment: to assist the fermentation, the vessels are exposed to the greatest heat of the sun, and the water is changed twice a day, during eight or twelve days, according to the season. When the grain bursts easily under the finger, and gives out a milky white liquor when squeezed, it is judged to be sufficiently softened and fermented. In this state, the grains are taken out of the water by a sieve, and put into a canvas sack, and the husks are separated and rubbed off, by beating and rubbing the sack upon a plank: the sack is then put into a tub filled with cold water, and trodden or beaten till the water becomes milky and turbid, from the starch which it takes up from the grain. A scum sometimes swims upon the surface of the water, which must be carefully removed; the water is then run off through a fine sieve into a settling-vessel, and fresh water is poured upon the grains, two or three times, till it will not extract any more starch, or become coloured by the grain. The water in the settling-vessels being left at rest, precipitates the starch which it held suspended; and to get rid of the saccharine matter, which was also dissolved by the water, the vessels are exposed to the sun, which soon produces the acetous fermentation, and takes up such matter as renders the starch more pure and white. During this process, the starch for sale in the shops receives its colour, which consists of smalt mixed with water and a small quantity of alum, and is thoroughly incorporated with the starch; but this starch is unfit for medicinal purposes. When the water becomes completely sour, it is poured gently off from the starch, which is washed several times afterwards with clean water, and at last is placed to drain upon linen cloths supported by hurdles, and the water drips through, leaving the starch upon the cloths, in which it is pressed or wrung, to extract as much as possible of the water; and the remainder is evaporated, by cutting the starch into pieces, which are laid up in airy places, upon a floor of plaster or of slightly burnt bricks, until it becomes completely dried from all moisture, partly by the access of warm air, and partly by the floor imbibing the moisture. In winter time, the heat of a stove must be employed to effect the drying. Lastly, the pieces of dried starch are scraped, to remove the outside crust, which makes inferior starch, and these pieces are broken into smaller pieces for sale. The grain which remains in the sack after the starch is extracted, contains the husks and the glutinous part of the wheat, which are found very nutritious food for cattle. The French manufacturers, according to "Les Arts et Metiers," pursue a more economical method, as they are enabled, by employing an acid water for the fermentation in the first instance, to use the most inferior wheat, and the bran or husks of wheat. This water they prepare, by putting a pailful of warm water into a tub, with about two pounds of leaven, such as some bakers use to make their dough rise or ferment. The water stands two days, and is then stirred up, and half a pailful of warm water added to it; then being left to settle till it is clear, it is poured off for use. To use this water in the fermentation of the materials, a quantity of it is poured into a tub, and about as much fair water is poured upon it as will fill the tub half full: the remainder of the tub is then filled up with the materials, which are one half refuse wheat, and the other half bran. In this tub it continues to steep and ferment during ten days, or less, according to the strength of the leaven-water, and according to the disposition of the weather for fermentation. When the materials have been sufficiently steeped, or fermented, an unctuous matter, which is the oil of the grain, will be seen swimming on the surface, having been thrown up by the fermentation. This must be scummed off; and the fermented grain, being taken out of the tub, is put into a fine hair sieve, placed over a settling-tub, when fair water is poured upon it, and washed through the sieve into the tub; by which means the starch is carried through the sieve with the water, of which about six times the quantity of the grain are used. The water stands in the settling tub for a day, and becomes clear at top; when it is carefully laded out of the tub, leaving at the bottom a white sediment, which is the starch. The water which is taken off is sour, and is called sure water: this is the proper leaven for the first steeping of the materials. The starch now obtained must be rendered marketable; for which purpose, as much water is poured upon it as will enable it to be pounded and broken up with a shovel, and then the tub is filled up with fair water. Two days after this, the water is laded out from the tub, and the starch appears in the bottom, but covered over with a dark-coloured and inferior kind of starch, which is taken off, and employed for fattening hogs. The remainder of the sediment, which is good starch, is washed several times, to remove all the inferior starch; and when this is done, about four inches of thick starch should be found at the bottom of each tub: but the quantity varies, according to the goodness of the meal or bran which has been used. It is evident that the refuse wheat, when employed for making starch, ought to afford more, the whole being used, than the bran or husks; but the starch so extracted is always of an inferior quality to that which is extracted from the bran of good wheat, particularly in the whiteness of its colour. The starch in the different tubs is brought together into one, and there worked up with as much water as will dissolve it into a thin paste, which is put into a silk sieve, and strained through with fresh water. This water is settled in a tub, and afterwards poured off, but before it is so completely settled as to lose all its white colour: this renders the starch which is deposited, still finer and whiter; and the starch which is deposited by the water so poured off, is of a more common quality. The starch, thus purified, is taken out of the bottom of the tubs, and put into wicker-baskets, about eighteen inches long and ten deep, rounded at the corners, and lined with linen cloths, which are not fastened to the baskets. The water drips from the starch through the cloths for a day, and the baskets are then carried up to apartments at the top of the house, where the floor is made of very clean white plaster; and the windows are thrown open, to admit a current of air. Here the baskets are turned downwards upon the plaster-floor, and the linen cloths, not being fastened to the baskets, follow the starch, and when taken off, leave loaves, or cakes of starch, which are left to dry a little, and are then broken into smaller pieces, and left on the plaster-floor, till very dry. But if the weather is at all humid, the starch is removed from the plaster-floor and spread out upon shelves, in an apartment which is warmed by a stove, and there it remains till perfectly dry. The pieces are afterwards scraped, to remove the outside crust, which makes common starch; and the scraped pieces being again broken small, the starch is carried to the stove, and spread out to a depth of three inches, on hurdles covered with cloths. The starch must be turned over every morning and evening, to prevent it from turning to a greenish colour, which it would otherwise do. Those manufacturers who are not provided with a stove, make use of the top of a baker's oven to spread the starch upon; and after being thoroughly dried here, it is ready for sale. Starch may be made from potatoes, by soaking them about an hour in water, and taking off their roots and fibres, then rubbing them quite clean by a strong brush: after this they are reduced to a pulp, by grating them in water. This pulp is to be collected in a tub, and mixed up with a large quantity of clear water: at the same time, another clean tub must be provided; and a hair sieve, not too fine, must be supported over it by two wooden rails extended across the tub. The pulp and water are thrown into the sieve, and the flour of starch is carried through with the water; fresh water must then be poured on, till it runs through quite clear. The refuse pulp which remains in the sieve, being boiled in water, makes an excellent food for animals; and the quantity of this pulp is near seven-eighths of all the potatoes employed. The liquor which has passed through the sieve is turbid, and of a darkish colour, from the extractive matter which is dissolved in it. When it is suffered to rest for five or six hours, all this matter deposits or settles to the bottom, and the liquor which remains is to be poured off as useless; and a large quantity of fresh water is thrown upon the flour, and stirred up: it is then settled for a day, and the water being poured off, the flour will be found to have again settled in a whiter state. But to improve it, another quantity of water is poured on, and mixed up with it; in which state it is passed through a fine silk sieve, to arrest any small quantity of the pulp which may have escaped the first hair sieve. The whole must afterwards be suffered to stand quiet, till the flour is entirely settled, and the water above become perfectly clear; but if the water has any sensible colour or taste, the flour must be washed again with fresh water, for it is absolutely necessary that none of the extractive matter be suffered to remain with it. The flour, when thus obtained pure, and drained from the water, may be taken out of the tub with a wooden shovel, and placed upon wicker-frames covered with paper, to be dried in some situation properly defended from dust. When the manufacture of starch from potatoes is attempted in a large way, some kind of mill must be used to reduce them to a pulp, as the grating of them by hand is too tedious an operation. A mill invented by M. BaumÉ is very complete for this purpose. In its general structure it resembles a large coffee-mill: the grater consists of a cone of iron plate, about seven inches in diameter, and eight inches in height, the exterior surface of which is made toothed, like a rasp, by piercing holes through the plate from the inside. This cone is fixed upon a verticle axle, with a handle at the top to turn it by; and is mounted on the pivots of the axle, within a hollow cylinder of plate-iron, toothed withinside like the outside of the cone; the smallest end of the interior cone being uppermost, and the lower or larger end being as large as the interior diameter of the hollow cylinder. A conical hopper is fixed to the hollow cylinder, round the top of it, into which the potatoes are thrown; and falling down into the space between the outside of the cone and the inside of the hollow cylinder, they are ground, and reduced to a pulp, when the interior cone is turned round by its handle; and as the lower part of the cone is fitted close to the interior diameter of the cylinder, the potatoes must be ground to a fine pulp before they can pass through between the two. The machine, when at work, is placed in a tub filled with water; and as fast as the grinding proceeds, the pulp mixes regularly with the water, ready for the process before described. Poland starch is reckoned the best: its quality may be judged of by the fineness of the grain, its being very brittle, and of a good colour. The price of starch depends upon that of flour; and when bread is cheap, starch may be bought to advantage. If it be of good quality it will keep for some years, covered close, and laid up in a dry warm room. In the year 1796, lord William Murray obtained a patent for manufacturing starch from horse-chesnuts. The method was to take the horse-chesnuts out of the outward green prickly husk, and either by hand, with a knife or tool, or else with a mill adapted for the purpose, the brown rind was carefully removed, leaving the chesnuts perfectly white, and without the smallest speck. In this state the nuts were rasped or ground to a pulp with water, and the pulp washed with water through a coarse horse-hair sieve, and twice afterwards through finer sieves, with a constant addition of clear cold water, till all the starch was washed clean from the pulp which remained in the sieve; and the water being settled, deposited the starch, which was afterwards repeatedly washed, purified, and dried, in the same manner as the potatoe-starch before described. We are not informed if this manufacture has been carried into effect. The sour, nauseous, milky liquor obtained in the process of starch-making, appears, upon analysis, to contain acetous acid, ammonia, alcohol, gluten, and phosphate of lime. The office of the acid is to dissolve the gluten and phosphate of lime, and thus to separate them from the starch. Starch is used along with smalt, or stone-blue, to stiffen and clear linen. The powder of it is also used to whiten and powder the hair. It is also used by the dyers, to dispose their stuffs to take colours the better. Starch is sometimes used instead of sugar-candy for mixing with the colours that are used in strong gum-water, to make them work more freely, and to prevent their cracking. It is also used medicinally for the same intentions with the viscous substance which the flour of wheat forms with milk, in fluxes and catarrhs, under various forms of powders, mixtures, &c. A drachm of starch, with three ounces of any agreeable simple water, and a little sugar, compose an elegant jelly, of which a spoonful may be taken every hour or two. These gelatinous mixtures are likewise an useful injection in some diarrhoeas, particularly where the lower intestines have their natural mucus rubbed off by the flux, or are constantly irritated by the acrimony of the matter.

STEAKS FRIED. Moisten the pan with butter, put in some beef steaks, and when done, lay them on a dish. Put to the gravy that comes out of them, a glass of port wine, half an anchovy, a sliced shalot with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Give it a boil in the pan, pour it over the steaks, and send them hot to table. In a plainer way, put a little flour and water into the pan with the gravy when the steaks are taken out, adding a spoonful of ketchup, an onion or shalot. The wine and anchovy may be omitted. Garnish with scraped horse-radish round the dish.

STEAK PIE. Raise a crust pretty deep and thick. Divide a breast or neck of mutton into steaks, beat and season them with nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Add some sweet herbs cut very fine, two onions sliced, the yolks of three or four hard eggs minced, and two spoonfuls of capers. Scatter these among the steaks as they are laid into the pie. Put on the top crust, and let the pie soak in a moderately hot oven for two hours or longer, according to its size. Have some gravy ready to put into it through a funnel, when it is to be served up.

STEAK PUDDING. Make a paste of suet or dripping and flour, roll it out, and line a basin with it. Season the meat, and put it in. Cover it with the paste, pinch it close round the edge, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it two hours, but be careful not to break it.—Another way. Make a good paste, with suet shred very fine, and flour; mix it up with cold water, and a little salt, and make your crust pretty stiff; about two pounds of suet to a quarter of a peck of flour. Let the steaks be either beef or mutton, well seasoned with pepper and salt; make it up like an apple-pudding, tie it in a cloth tight, and put it into the water boiling. If it be a large pudding, it will take four or five hours; if a middling one, three hours.

STEAKS ROLLED. After beating them to make them tender, spread them over with any quantity of high seasoned forcemeat. Then roll them up, and skewer them tight. Fry the steaks in nice dripping, till they become of a delicate brown. Then take them out of the fat in which they were fried, and put them into a stewpan with some good gravy, a spoonful of port wine, and some ketchup. When sufficiently stewed, serve them up with the gravy, and a few pickled mushrooms.

STEAM. Steam is employed to great advantage for culinary purposes. It is made to communicate with vessels in the form of boilers, as a substitute for having fires under them, which is a great advantage, both in the economy of fuel, and in avoiding at the same time the nuisance of ashes and smoke. The most convenient application of steam for culinary purposes is, when it directly acts upon the substance to be heated. This has been generally effected by placing the substance, whether meat or vegetables, in a vessel without water, and allowing the steam to enter and condense upon it. The most convenient apparatus of this kind we have yet heard of, consists of a cast-iron plate about thirty inches or three feet square, standing horizontally in a recess in the wall, like a table. Round the edge of this plate is a groove, about half an inch wide and two inches deep. Into this groove fits an inverted tin vessel, like a dish-cover. This is capable of being elevated and depressed by a pulley and chain, having a counterpoise, in order to expose the table at any time. The steam comes under the table and enters in the centre. The dishes to receive the heat are placed on any part within the groove, the steam being common to all. The water resulting from the condensation runs into the groove, and at a point short of the top runs off. The water which remains forms a complete water-lute, to prevent the escape of steam. The table being placed in a recess, like a common stone hearth, a small flue is placed over it to take away any steam that may escape when the cover is lifted up. The great quantity of hot water required in a scullery should be perpetually kept up by a supply of steam. For this purpose a large cylindrical vessel of cast-iron should be elevated in a corner of the scullery, in order that water may be drawn from it by a cock. This vessel should be connected from the bottom with a cold-water cistern, the bottom of which is level with the top of the cylinder, by which the latter is kept constantly full. The hot-water cylinder is closed firmly at the top, and therefore, when the air is allowed to escape, the water rises to the top. If now a pipe be connected with the top, coming down to where it is to be drawn off, if any portion is drawn out here, as much will come in at the bottom of the cylinder from the reservoir above. So far we have described this cylinder without its steam-vessel. Within this cylinder, and about the middle, is a distinct vessel, nearly of the width of the cylinder; but having a free space round the inner vessel about an inch wide. The depth of the inner vessel must be about one-sixth that of the outer one. This inner vessel must have no connection with the outer one, and must be so water-tight, that although it is surrounded with the water of the outer one, none should get in. The inner vessel is on one side connected by a pipe with a steam-boiler, having another pipe to allow the condensed water to run off, which may be preserved as distilled water, and is valuable for many purposes. The heat arising from the condensation is communicated to the water in the outer vessel, the hottest being at the top, where the mouth of the exit-pipe is placed. When, therefore, a portion of hot water is drawn from the cock, the pipe of which comes from the top of the vessel immediately under the cover, an equal quantity comes in at the bottom from the reservoir. This useful apparatus is the invention of an ingenious economist of Derby, and is at present in use in his kitchen. The art of boiling vegetables of all kinds in steam instead of water, might probably be managed to advantage, as a greater degree of heat might be thus given them, by contriving to increase the heat of the steam after it has left the water; and thus the vegetable mucilage in roots and seeds, as in potatoes and flour puddings, as well as in their leaves, stems, and flower-cups, might be rendered probably more nutritive, and perhaps more palatable; but that many of the leaves of vegetables, as the summits of cabbage-sprouts, lose their green colour by being boiled in steam, and look like blanched vegetables. Steam has likewise lately been applied in gardening to the purpose of forcing plants of different kinds in the winter season, in order to have their produce at an early period, as to the cucumber, and some other vegetables of a somewhat similar nature; but the exact manner of its application in this intention, so far as we know, has not yet been communicated to the public; it is, however, by some mode of flues, pipes, and other contrivances for conveying and containing it, so as that its heat may be uninterruptedly, equally, and regularly afforded to the roots of the plants which it is designed to push forward into the fruiting state. It is said to have been used in some instances in different parts of Lancashire with great success. But how far the expense and advantage of such a method may admit of and encourage its being introduced into general practice, have not, probably, yet been well or fully ascertained. If it should be found capable of perfectly succeeding in this use, on more full and correct experience, it will, however, constitute not only a neat and clean, but an elegant mode of forcing plants into fruit at early seasons.

STEAMED POTATOES. The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery.

STEEL. To transform iron into steel, put four ounces of cast iron into a crucible, with a considerable degree of heat. While in a state of fusion, immerse in it a polished iron wire of some thickness, and keep it there for some time, but not so long as to fuse it. When cold, the wire will be so hard as to resist the action of a common file, being converted into steel.

STEEL RUST. The prevention of rust, on such articles of furniture as are made of polished steel, is an object of great importance in domestic economy. The cutlers in Sheffield, when they have given a knife or razor blade the requisite degree of polish, rub them with powdered quick-lime, in order to prevent them from tarnishing; and it seems that articles made of polished steel are dipped in lime water, before they are sent into the retail market. But when steel has contracted rust, the method of cleaning and polishing it is to oil the rusty parts, and let it remain in that state two or three days. Then wipe it dry with clean rags, and polish with emery or pumice stone, or hard wood. After the oil is cleared off, a little fresh lime finely powdered will often be found sufficient; but where a higher polish is required, it will be necessary to use a paste composed of finely levigated bloodstone and spirits of wine.

STEEL STOVES. To preserve them effectually from rust, beat into three pounds of unsalted lard, two drams of camphor sliced thin, till the whole is absorbed. Then take as much black lead as will make it of the colour of broken steel; dip a rag into it, rub it thick on the stove, and the steel will never rust, even if wetted. When the stove is to be used, the grease must be washed off with hot water, and the steel be dried before polishing.

STEWED ARTICHOKES. Wash and pare some Jerusalem artichokes, and part them in two. Boil them in a small quantity of gravy till almost done, and the liquor nearly consumed. Then add some cream, a piece of butter rolled in flour and a little salt, all in proportion to the number of artichokes. Stew them gently for ten minutes, and serve them up with sippets of white bread fried.

STEWED ARTICHOKE BOTTOMS. Boil some artichokes till about half done, and then take off the leaves and the choke. Trim the bottoms nicely, and stew them gently in some gravy, with a little lemon-juice or vinegar, and some salt, till they are quite tender. Before serving them up, wipe them dry, then lay them in a dish with sippets of toasted or fried bread laid round it, and pour some strong clear gravy over them. Dried artichoke bottoms may also be used for stewing, but should first be soaked a little while in warm water.

STEWED BREAST OF VEAL. Take a nice breast of veal, cut off the thin end, and boil it down for your sauce, with a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with three cloves, two blades of mace, some whole pepper and salt; put to it a quart of water, and let it stew gently till half is wasted, then raise the skin off your breast of veal, and make a forcemeat of the sweetbread first parboiled, a few crumbs of bread, a little beef suet, and some parsley shred very fine; season it with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; moisten it with a spoonful of cream, and an egg; mix all well together, and force your veal; skewer it down close, dredge it over with flour, tie it up in a clean cloth, and let it boil an hour and a half. If your gravy is done, strain it off, and take off the fat very clean; blanch and beard half a pint of oysters, a gill of pickled mushrooms, a little lemon-peel shred very fine: put this to your gravy, and thicken it with a piece of butter rolled in flour; fry six or eight large oysters, dipped in batter for garnish. When your veal is enough, dish it up, and pour your sauce over. Garnish your dish with lemon, oysters, and barberries.

STEWED BRISKET OF BEEF. Stew nine pounds of brisket of beef, in two gallons of water, for two or three hours over night. When made sufficiently tender, take out the bones, and carefully skim off the fat. Boil in some of the liquor a few carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and white cabbage, till they become quite tender. Add some salt, and the remainder of the broth to the beef, and stew all together till sufficiently done.

STEWED CALF'S LIVER LARDED. Take a calf's liver, and lard it, and put it into a stewpan, with some water, a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion, a blade of mace, some whole pepper, and a little salt; cover it close, and let it stew till it is enough; then take up your liver, and put it into the dish you intend; cover it over, and take out your herbs and spice; skim off all the fat very clean; put in a piece of butter rolled in flour; boil it till it is of a proper thickness; pour it over your liver, and send it to table garnished with lemon.

STEWED CARDOONS. Cut them into pieces, not more than five or six inches long. Take off the outward skin, and wash and scald them. Put them into a stewpan, with gravy enough to cover them, and let them stew gently till almost done, and the liquor nearly exhausted. Add a small quantity of fresh gravy, and continue stewing them gently till quite tender. Serve them up with sippets of toasted bread round the edge of the dish. If the gravy is not sufficiently seasoned, add a little salt and cayenne.

STEWED CARP. Scale and clean the fish, and preserve the roe. Lay the carp in a stewpan, with a rich beef-gravy, an onion, eight cloves, a dessert-spoonful of Jamaica pepper, the same of black pepper, and a glass of port or cider. Simmer it closely covered; when nearly done, add two anchovies chopped fine, a dessert-spoonful of made mustard, a little fine walnut ketchup, and a bit of butter rolled in flour. Shake it, and let the gravy boil a few minutes. Serve with sippets of fried bread, the roe fried, and a good deal of horseradish and lemon.—Another way. Scale your carp, then gut and wash them very clean, and dry them in a cloth; put a piece of butter into a stewpan, when it is hot, fry them as quick as you can, till they are of a fine brown; boil the roes, then fry them of a fine gold colour; take them up, and keep them hot before the fire: then put to your carp half port wine and half water, as much as will cover them a little more than half way; put in some thyme, parsley, a piece of lemon-peel, whole pepper, a few cloves, a blade or two of mace, an onion, some horse-radish sliced, and two spoonfuls of ketchup; put on your cover, and let it stew very gently, till your fish is enough; do not turn them in the pan, but with a ladle take some of the liquor, and pour over your fish every now and then, while they are stewing, then cover them close again: When they are done enough, take them out of the pan with a slice, and take care not to break them; put them into the dish you intend to send them to table in, then strain the liquor, and thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in flour; let it boil till it is pretty thick, pour the sauce over the fish, and garnish your dish with the roes, lemon, and horseradish, and send it to table. You may squeeze a little lemon into the sauce, if you like it, and add oysters fried in butter; or you may stew them in cider, instead of wine, and it is very little inferior. Tench may be done the same way.—To stew carp white. Scale and gut your fish very clean, save the roes and melts, then stove them in some good white broth; season them with mace, salt, whole pepper, an onion stuck with cloves, a faggot of sweet herbs, and about half a pint of white wine; cover them close, and let them stew gently over a charcoal fire. Dip the roes and melts in the yolk of an egg; flour them, and fry them of a fine brown, and have fried parsley and sippets ready. When the fish is near done, take out the onion and faggot, beat up the yolks of four or five eggs, take up the fish carefully, and put it into the dish you serve it in; pour off the sauce, then strain it into a stewpan, and put in your eggs; keep it stirring till it is as fine as cream, then pour it over the dish. Garnish with the roes, fried parsley, sippets, horseradish scraped, and lemon: send it as hot as possible to table.—A plain way to stew carp. Clean your carp very well, cut them in two, put them into a stewpan, with a little onion shred fine, pepper, salt, a little beaten mace, a few capers chopped small, and some crusts of bread chipped in. Then pour in a gill of white, and a gill of red wine, and as much water as will just cover them; cover the pan close, and let them stew till they are enough, and the sauce grown thick. Serve it up with lemon and horseradish for garnish.

STEWED CARROTS. Half boil, scrape them nicely, and slice them into a stewpan. Add half a tea-cupful of weak broth, the same quantity of cream, with pepper and salt. Simmer till the carrots are quite tender, but not broken. Before serving, warm them up with a bit of butter rubbed in flour. Chopped parsley may be added, if approved, ten minutes before serving.

STEWED CELERY. Wash six heads, and strip off the outer leaves. Either divide or leave them whole, according to their size, and cut them into lengths of four inches. Put them into a stewpan with a cup of broth, or weak gravy, and stew them tender. Add two spoonfuls of cream, and a little flour and butter seasoned with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, and simmer them all together.

STEWED CHICKENS. Cut two chickens into quarters; wash them clean, and put them into a stewpan, with half a pint of red wine, and a gill of water, an onion, a faggot of sweet herbs, seasoned with mace, pepper, and salt; cover them close, and let them stew half an hour, then take the quantity of an egg of butter rolled in flour; take out the onion and sweet herbs; shake it round till it is of a good thickness, and take off all the scum very clean: dish it up garnished with lemon.—To stew chickens for a tender stomach. Take two nice chickens, and half boil them; then take them up into a small soup-dish; separate all the joints, and add three or four spoonfuls of the liquor they are boiled in, with a little beaten mace, and salt; then cover them close with another dish, and keep in all the steam; set it over a clear stove, and let it stew till the chickens are enough, and send them hot to table in the same dish they were stewed in.

STEWED COD. Cut a cod in slices, as you would for crimping, lay it in a clean stewpan; season it with nutmeg, a little mace finely beaten, pepper, and salt, and a bundle of sweet herbs; then pour in white wine and water an equal quantity, just to cover it: put on the cover, and let it simmer for six or eight minutes; skim it very clean, put in half a pint of shrimps clean picked, a good piece of butter rolled in flour, and the juice of a lemon; cover it, and shake your pan round gently: as soon as it begins to boil, take off all the scum as it rises: if your sauce is of a proper thickness, your fish will be enough; wipe the rim of the pan very clean, and slide the fish into your dish, taking care not to break it. Garnish with lemon and scraped horse-radish.—Another way. Lay the slices into a large stewpan, so that they need not be laid one upon another. Season with nutmeg, pepper, and salt, a bundle of sweet herbs, and an onion. Add half a pint of white wine, and a quarter of a pint of water. Simmer it gently a few minutes, squeeze in a lemon, add a few oysters, the liquor strained, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a little mace. Cover it close, and let it stew gently, shaking the pan often. When done take out the herbs and onions, and serve it up with the sauce poured over it.

STEWED CUCUMBERS. Slice them thick, or halve and divide them into two lengths. Strew over them some salt and pepper, and sliced onions: add a little broth, or a bit of butter. Simmer very slowly, and put in a little flour and butter before serving.—Another way. Slice the onions, and cut the cucumbers large. Flour and fry them in butter, then stew them in good broth or gravy, and skim off the fat.

STEWED DUCK. Half roast a duck, put it into a stewpan with a pint of beef gravy, a few leaves of sage and mint cut small, pepper and salt, and a small bit of onion shred as fine as possible. Simmer them a quarter of an hour, skim it clean, and add nearly a quart of green peas. Cover the stewpan close, and simmer near half an hour longer. Put in a piece of butter and a little flour, give it one boil, and serve all together in a dish.

STEWED EELS. Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan, add a handful of sorrel cut in large pieces, a dozen sage leaves finely minced, five pounds of eels cut in pieces, and seasoned with pepper and salt. Then put in two anchovies boned and minced, half a nutmeg, and half a pint of water. Stew them gently together for half an hour, take out the onion, squeeze in a lemon, and lay toasted bread round the dish. Half this quantity will be sufficient for a small dish.—Another way. Take what quantity of eels you please; after they are cleaned, fry them in butter, then pour the butter clear off; put into your pan a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with two or three cloves, a blade of mace, some whole pepper, and a little salt; then add a pint of red wine and water, and let them stew till they are tender: put the eels into a dish, strain off the sauce, and thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in flour, or a piece of thickened burnt butter. Garnish your dish with horse-radish and lemon.—Another way. Having cleaned your eels very well, cut them in pieces, put them into a stewpan, with a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with cloves, mace, whole pepper, and a little salt; put to them a gill of white wine, half a pint of red, and a gill of water; cover them close, and let them stew till tender; strain off the gravy, thicken it up, and send it to table.—To stew an eel whole. Take a fine large eel, clean it well, force the inside with crumbs of bread, an anchovy cut fine, salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and two or three oysters bruised, with some parsley shred fine; fill the inside as full as you can, sew it up with fine thread, turn it round, and run a small skewer through it, to keep it in its folds; put it into a small stewpan, with an onion stuck with cloves, and a faggot of herbs; put over it red wine; cover the pan down very close, and let it stew gently till tender; take out the onion, &c. put the eel into a dish, and a plate over it; thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, and squeeze a little lemon into the plate. If you have any forcemeat left, make them into small balls, and fry them; put them into the sauce, give them a toss, and pour it over the eel. Garnish the dish with fried oysters, horseradish, and lemon.

STEWED ENDIVE. Trim off all the green parts of the endive, wash and cut into pieces, and scald it till about half done. Drain it well, chop it a little, put it into a stewpan with a little strong gravy, and stew it gently till quite tender. Season it with some pepper and salt, and serve it up as a sauce to any kind of roast meat; or it eats well with potatoes.

STEWED FOWL WITH CELERY. Take a fowl or turkey trussed short as for boiling, press down the breast-bone, put it into a clean stewpan, with good veal broth, as much as will cover it; season it with beaten mace, pepper and salt, a faggot of sweet herbs, and an onion; cover it close, and let it boil; in the mean time, take a large bunch of celery, cut all the white part small, and wash it very clean; if your turkey or fowl boils, take out the onion and herbs; scum it very clean, and put in your celery; cover it down close, and let it stew till your celery is very tender, and your fowl likewise; take a clean stewpan, and set it over your stove; take up your fowl or turkey, and keep it hot; pour your celery and sauce into your stewpan; beat up the yolks of two or three eggs in half a pint of cream, and a large spoonful of white wine; stir it till it is of a good thickness, and just at boiling squeeze in a little juice of lemon, or a little mushroom pickle; shake it round, and pour it over your fowl. Garnish your dish with lemon.

STEWED FRENCH BEANS. Prepare some young beans as for boiling, and boil them in plenty of water, with salt in it, till they are rather more than half done. Drain them in a cullender, beat up the yolks of three eggs with a quarter of a pint of cream, put them into a stewpan with two ounces of fresh butter, and set it over a slow fire. When hot, put in the beans, with a spoonful of vinegar, and simmer them quite tender, stirring the mixture to keep it from curdling or burning. To stew French beans with gravy, pursue the same method, only instead of the eggs and cream, put half a pint of gravy. Use only half the quantity of butter, and add that rolled in flour, to thicken up the whole after the beans are put in. The vinegar should be omitted, and cayenne and salt added if required.

STEWED GIBLETS. After very nicely cleaning goose or duck giblets, and removing the thick membrane from the gizzards, stew them, in a little water. Season them with salt and pepper, and a very small piece of mace. Before serving, give them one boil with a cup of cream, and a piece of butter rubbed in a tea-spoonful of flour.

STEWED GREEN PEAS. To a quart of peas add a quart of gravy, two or three lumps of sugar, with pepper and salt. Stew them gently till the peas are quite tender, and if the gravy is not sufficiently thick, add a piece of butter rolled in flour. If the peas are old, half boil them first in hard water, before they are stewed. Whether for young or old peas, the gravy must be strong. To stew them in a mild way, put a pint of young peas into a stewpan, with very little water, and two young lettuces cut small. Stew them gently till the peas are tender, then add four spoonfuls of cream, a lump of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs. Stir the whole together over the fire for a short time, but do not allow it to boil. A little salt should be added before serving up the stew. Another way is to take a quart of young peas, a small onion sliced, two lettuces cut small, and a sprig or two of mint. Put them into a stewpan, adding some salt, a little pepper and mace, and half a pint of hard water. Stew these gently for twenty minutes, then put in a quarter of a pound of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup. Keep the stewpan over the fire till the peas are quite tender, shaking it frequently, and never suffering them to boil. Receipts for stewing peas might be multiplied to almost any extent, for there is no one preparation in cookery perhaps more varied than this, though without any very material difference.

STEWED HARE. Take off the legs and shoulders, cut out the backbone, cut into pieces the meat which comes off the sides, and put all into a stewpan. Add three quarters of a pint of small beer, the same of water, a large onion stuck with cloves, some whole pepper, a slice of lemon, and a little salt. Stew it gently for an hour, close covered, and put to it a quart of gravy. Stew it gradually two hours longer, or till it is quite tender. Take out the hare, rub smooth half a spoonful of flour in a little gravy, add it to the sauce, and boil it up. Then add a little salt and cayenne, and put in the hare again. When heated through, serve it up in a tureen or deep dish, adding port wine if approved.

STEWED KNUCKLE OF VEAL. Take a knuckle of veal of about five pounds; wash it clean, and put it into a clean stewpan, with two quarts of water, a faggot of sweet herbs, two blades of mace, an onion stuck with three or four cloves, some whole pepper, and a little salt; put in a crust of the upper part of a loaf, cover it down close, and make it boil, then scum it very clean, and let it just simmer for full two hours. When you take it up, put your veal into the dish first, and strain your broth through a fine sieve over it, then take off all the fat very clean, and put some thin slices of French roll in your dish, and toasted bread cut in dice, in a plate. Serve it up hot. You may boil a quarter of a pound of rice in fair water, till it is very tender; then strain it off; and when you send your veal to table, lay your rice all over it.—Rice is better boiled by itself, for when you boil it with the meat, the scum is apt to discolour it, and make it eat greasy.

STEWED LOBSTER. Pick the meat out of the shell, put it into a dish that has a lamp, and rub it down with a bit of butter. Add two spoonfuls of any sort of gravy, one of soy or walnut ketchup, a little salt and cayenne, and a spoonful of port. A lobster thus stewed will have a very fine relish.

STEWED MUSCLES. Wash your muscles very clean, then put them into a large stewpan over a good fire; put over them a coarse wet cloth doubled: when they begin to boil, take up the cloth; if the shells are open, take them off the fire, and pick out the fish, beard them, and cut off the tongue: when you have picked about a quart, strain half a pint of the liquor to them, roll two ounces of butter in flour, add a glass of white wine, a little beaten mace, and squeeze in a little lemon juice; let them stew till of a proper thickness, put toasted sippets in the dish, pour in the muscles, and send them to table. Cockles may be done the same way.

STEWED MUSHROOMS. The large buttons are best, and the small flaps while the fur is still red. Rub the large buttons with salt and a piece of flannel, cut out the fur, and take off the skin from the others. Sprinkle them with salt, put them into a stewpan, and add some peppercorns. Let it simmer slowly till it is done, then put in a small bit of butter and flour, and two spoonfuls of cream. Give it one boil, and serve up the dish with sippets of bread.

STEWED MUTTON CHOPS. Take some chops of the best end of a loin of mutton, or some slices out of the middle part of a leg. Season them with pepper and salt, lay them into a stewpan with some sliced onion, and cover them with water and a little gravy. When done on one side, turn the steaks on the other, and thicken the gravy at the same time with some butter and flour. A little shalot or ketchup, or both, may be added at pleasure. Twenty or twenty-five minutes will stew them, but long stewing will make them hard.

STEWED ONIONS. Peel six large onions, fry them gently of a fine brown, but do not blacken them. Then put them into a small stewpan, with a little weak gravy, pepper and salt. Cover and stew them gently two hours, and let them be lightly floured at first.

STEWED OX CHEEK. Soak and cleanse a fine cheek the day before it is to be eaten. Put it into a stewpan that will cover close, with three quarts of water; simmer it after it has first boiled up, and been well skimmed. In two hours put in plenty of carrots, leeks, two or three turnips, a bunch of sweet herbs, some whole pepper, and four ounces of allspice. Skim it often, and when the meat is tender, take it out. Let the soup get cold, take off the cake of fat, and serve the soup separately, or with the meat. It should be of a fine brown, which may be done by adding a little burnt sugar, or by frying some onions quite brown with flour, and simmering them with it. This last method improves the flavour of all soups and gravies of the brown sort. If vegetables are not approved, they may be taken out of the soup, and a small roll be toasted, or bread fried and added. Celery is a great addition, and should always be served. When out of season, the seed of it gives quite as good a flavour, boiled in, and strained off.—Another way. Soak an ox cheek three hours, and clean it with plenty of water. Take the meat off the bones, and put it into a stewpan with a large onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, some bruised allspice, pepper and salt. Lay the bones on the top, pour on two or three quarts of water, and cover the pan close with stout paper, or a dish that will fit close. Let it stand eight or ten hours in a slow oven, or simmer it by the side of the fire, or on a hot hearth. When done tender, put the meat into a clean pan, and let it get cold. Take off the cake of fat, and warm the head in pieces in the soup. Serve with any sort of vegetables.

STEWED OYSTERS. Open the shells, separate the liquor from the oysters, and wash them from the grit. Strain the liquor, add to the oysters a bit of mace, lemon peel, and a few white peppers. Simmer them very gently, put in some cream, a little flour and butter, and serve them up with sippets. Boiled oysters should be served in the shell, and eaten with cold butter.

STEWED PARSNIPS. Boil the parsnips in milk and water, or milk alone, till fully half done. Slice and divide them into two, down the middle and across. Stew them gently with some good gravy, seasoned with pepper and salt; and five minutes before they are taken up, add a piece of butter rolled in flour. If parsnips are to be stewed white, put in broth and cream in equal quantities, instead of gravy.

STEWED PEARS. Pare and quarter some large pears; throw them into water as soon as pared, and before they are divided, to prevent their turning black. Pack them round a block-tin stewpan, and sprinkle as much sugar over as will make them pretty sweet. Add lemon peel, a clove or two, and some bruised allspice; just cover them with water, and add a little red liquor. Cover them close, and stew three or four hours: when tender, take them out, and pour the liquor upon them.

STEWED PEAS. Steep some old peas in water all night, if not fine boilers; otherwise only half an hour. Put them into a stewpan of water, just enough to cover them, with a good bit of butter, or a piece of beef or pork. Stew them very gently till the peas are soft, and the meat is tender. If it be not salt meat, add salt and a little pepper, and serve the peas round the meat.

STEWED PHEASANTS. Stew your pheasants in a strong veal gravy. While they are simmering, prepare artichoke bottoms cut in dice, and some chesnuts roasted, blanched, and cut in four: let your pheasants stew till your gravy is half wasted, then scum it very clean, and put in your chesnuts and artichoke bottoms; season with a little beaten mace, pepper, and salt, a small glass of white wine, and a little juice of lemon. If your sauce is not thick enough, roll a piece of butter in flour, and let it boil up: in case any scum arises, take it clean off; dish your pheasants, and pour the sauce over them; garnish with lemon.

STEWED PIGEONS. See that they are quite fresh, carefully cropped, drawn, and washed; then soak them half an hour. In the mean time cut a hard white cabbage in slices, as if for pickling, and put it in water. Then drain and boil it in milk and water; drain it again, and lay some of it at the bottom of a stewpan. Put the pigeons upon it, but first season them well with salt and pepper, and cover them with the remainder of the cabbage. Add a little broth, and stew gently till the pigeons are tender; then put among them two or three spoonfuls of cream, and a piece of butter and flour for thickening. After a boil or two, serve up the birds in the middle of the dish, with the cabbage placed round them.—Another way is to stew the birds in a good brown gravy, either stuffed or not; and seasoned high with spice and fresh mushrooms, or a little ketchup.—Another way. Take your pigeons trussed as for baking; bruise the livers, and mix them up with a few bread crumbs, parsley, and a little lemon peel chopped small; season it with mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt; work all up with a piece of butter, and stuff the bellies of your pigeons; tie up the necks and vents; then stew them with some butter, till they are brown all over; put them into another pan that will just hold them, with as much strong gravy as will cover them; let them stew till they are tender, then bruise an anchovy, a shalot shred fine, a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of white wine; let all boil together to a proper thickness; scum very clean; dish up, and garnish with crisp bacon and lemon.

STEWED PIPPINS. Scoop out the core of some golden pippins, pare them very thin, and throw them into water. For every pound of fruit, make half a pound of refined sugar into a syrup, with a pint of water. When skimmed, put in the pippins, and stew them quite clear. Grate some lemon over, be careful not to break them, and serve them up in the syrup. They make an elegant corner dish, or a dessert.—Another way. Pare your pippins nicely, cut them in halves, and take out the cores; to a quart of spring water, put a pound of double refined sugar, and a piece of lemon-peel; boil it almost to a syrup; take out the peel, and put in the pippins; boil them till they are pretty tender, then draw them to one side of the fire, and let them stew till clear; take them out carefully one at a time, and lay them in a china or earthen dish for use. If golden pippins are done this way, they are very little inferior to apricots.

STEWED PORK STEAKS. Cut some steaks from the best end of a loin or neck of pork. Take off the skin, and nearly all the fat, and fry them of a nice brown. Put the steaks into a stewpan, with good gravy enough to make a proper sauce to them, adding pepper and salt. Ten minutes before they are done, thicken the gravy with a piece of butter rolled in flour. A little shalot, or ketchup, or both may be added.

STEWED POTATOES. Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely, and cut them into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream, fresh butter, and salt, each proportioned to the quantity of potatoes; or stew them in good gravy, with pepper and salt. Simmer them gently till they are well done and be careful not to let them break.

STEWED PRUNES. Stew some prunes gently in a little water, till the stones will slip out easily, but they must not be boiled too much. These are useful in fevers, or in any complaint where fruit is proper; and when fruit more acid would not agree.

STEWED RABBIT. Divide them into quarters, flour and fry them in butter; then put them into a stewpan, with some good gravy, and a glass of white wine. Season with salt, pepper, and a sprig of sweet herbs. Cover them close, and let them stew till they become tender. Strain off the sauce, thicken it with flour and butter, and pour it over them.

STEWED RED CABBAGE. Slice a small red cabbage, or half a large one, and wash it clean. Put it into a saucepan with pepper, salt, and butter, but no water except what hangs about the cabbage. Stew it tender, and when ready to serve, add two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, and give it one boil over the fire. It may be eaten with cold meat, or with sausages laid upon it.—Another way. Shred the cabbage, and wash it. Put it into a saucepan with pepper, salt, some slices of onion; and a little plain gravy. When it is boiled quite tender, add a bit of butter rubbed with flour, a few minutes before serving, with two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, and boil it up.—Another. Cut the cabbage very thin, put it into a stewpan with a small slice of ham, and half an ounce of butter at the bottom. Put in half a pint of broth, and a gill of vinegar, and let it stew three hours covered down. When it is very tender, add a little more broth, salt, pepper, and a table-spoonful of pounded sugar. Mix these well, and boil it till the liquor is wasted. Then put it into the dish, and lay fried sausages upon it.

STEWED RUMP OF BEEF. Wash it well, and season it high with pepper, cayenne, salt, allspice, three cloves, and a blade of mace, all in fine powder. Bind it up tight, and lay it into a pot that will just hold it. Fry three large onions sliced, and put them to it, with three carrots, two turnips, one shalot, four cloves, a blade of mace, and some celery. Cover the meat with good beef broth, or weak gravy. Simmer it as gently as possible for several hours, till quite tender. Clear off the fat, and add to the gravy half a pint of port wine, a glass of vinegar, and a large spoonful of ketchup; half a pint of beer may be added. Simmer for half an hour, and serve in a deep dish. The herbs to be used should be burnet, tarragon, parsley, thyme, basil, savoury, marjoram, pennyroyal, knotted marjoram, and some chives; a good handful all together. But observe to proportion the quantities to the pungency of the several sorts. Garnish with carrots, turnips, or truffles and morels, or pickles of different colours, cut small, and laid in little heaps separate. Chopped parsley, chives, and beet root may be added. If there is too much gravy for the dish, take only a part to season for serving, the less the better; and to increase the richness, add a few beef bones and shanks of mutton in stewing. A spoonful or two of made mustard is a great improvement to the gravy.—Another way. Half roast the rump, then put it into a large pot with three pints of water, one of small beer, one of port vine, some salt, three or four spoonfuls of vinegar, and two of ketchup. Add a bunch of sweet herbs, consisting of burnet, tarragon, parsley, thyme, basil, savoury, pennyroyal, marjoram, knotted marjoram, and a leaf or two of sage; also some onions, cloves, and cayenne. Cover it close, and simmer it for two or three hours, till quite tender. When done lay it into a deep dish, set it over some hot water, and cover it close. Skim the gravy, put in a few pickled mushrooms, truffles, morels, and oysters if agreeable, but it is very good without. Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, heat it with the above, and pour it over the beef. Forcemeat balls of veal, anchovies, bacon, suet, herbs, spice, bread, and eggs to bind, are a great improvement. A rump of beef is excellent roasted; but in the country it is generally sold whole with the edge-bone, or cut across instead of lengthways as in London, where one piece is for boiling, and the rump for stewing or roasting. This must be attended to, the whole being too large to dress together.—Another way. Raise the lean next the chump-end; cut that bone off, but leave the chine-bone, then with two skewers fasten the meat as if the bone was not taken away: Put it into a pot with a little more water than will cover it: Add parsley, thyme, two or three large onions, a handful of salt, whole pepper half an ounce, half a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same quantity of mace; cover it close down, and stew it over a slow fire for three hours, till your beef is very tender. To make your sauce, take two pounds of gravy beef, cut it in pretty thick slices, and flour them well; put a piece of butter into your stewpan, over a stove, or a quick fire. When that is brown, put in the slices of beef, and fry them brown, as quick as you can; then add water as much as you think will be sufficient to make a very strong gravy; cut an onion cross with parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt, two or three cloves, and a blade of mace; let this stew till your gravy is very rich, then strain it off, and thicken it up with a piece of butter rolled in flour.

STEWED SAVOYS. These may be done in the same manner as red cabbage; but the better way is to boil the savoy in water till about half done, and then stew it. This takes off the strong flavour, and makes it much more agreeable.

STEWED SCALLOPS. Boil them very well in salt and water; take out the fish, stew them in some of their liquor, with a little white wine, two or three blades of mace, a little nutmeg, and a good piece of butter rolled in flour; let them be thoroughly stewed, then pour in a little cream, shake your pan round, and squeeze in the juice of a Seville orange. Send them to table garnished with baked sippets and orange.

STEWED SOLES. Half fry them in butter, take out the fish, and put a quart of water or gravy into the pan, two anchovies, and a sliced onion. When they have boiled slowly for a quarter of an hour, put the fish in again, and stew them gently about twenty minutes. Take them out, thicken the liquor with butter and flour, boil it gently, strain it over the fish, and serve it with oyster, cockle, or shrimp sauce.

STEWED SORREL. Wash it clean, and put it into a silver vessel, or stone jar, with no more water than hangs to the leaves. Simmer it as slowly as possible; and when done enough, beat it up with a piece of butter. This is very fine with a fricandeau, with roast meat, mackarel, or any thing usually eaten with an acid sauce. The same thickening may be added, as for spinach and sorrel. It is as well prepared in a stone jar set before the fire, only it requires a longer time.

STEWED SPINACH WITH CREAM. Boil the spinach till nearly done enough, then squeeze all the water from it, and put it into a stewpan, with a piece of butter and some salt. Stir it over the fire till the butter is well mixed in with it, and add as much cream as will make it of a moderate thickness. Shake it for a minute or two over the fire, and serve it up with sippets of bread, either fried or toasted.

STEWED SPINACH WITH GRAVY. Pick the spinach nicely, then wash it well, and put it into a stewpan, with a few spoonfuls of water, and a little salt. Stew this till quite tender, shaking the pan very often to prevent its burning. When done enough, put it into a sieve to drain, and give it a slight squeeze. Beat the spinach well, then return it to the stewpan with some gravy, pepper, salt, and a piece of butter. Let it stew about a quarter of an hour, stirring it frequently. Serve it up either in a dish by itself, or with poached eggs upon it, according to the occasion for which it is wanted.

STEWED SPINACH WITH SORREL. Take spinach and sorrel, in the proportion of three fourths of spinach to one of sorrel. Pick and wash these very nicely; cut them a little, and put them into a stewpan, with two or three spoonfuls of water. Keep them stirring over the fire, till they begin to soften and to liquify. Then leave it to stew at a distance over the fire for an hour or more, stirring it every now and then. Thicken it with a little flour, and when quite done, add some pepper and salt, and serve it up. This will form an excellent sauce to all kinds of meat, or to eat with potatoes. Almost any kind of cold vegetables may be added to this stew. They should be put in just long enough to heat, and mixed in properly with the spinach before it is served up.

STEWED TONGUE. Prepare a tongue with saltpetre and common salt for a week, and turn it every day. Boil it tender enough to peel, and afterwards stew it in a moderately strong gravy. Season it with soy, mushroom ketchup, cayenne, pounded cloves, and salt if necessary. Serve with truffles, morels, and mushrooms. The roots of the tongue must be removed before it is salted, but some fat should be left.

STEWED TURKEY. Have a nice hen turkey trussed close, and the breast-bone broken; put it into a stewpan with a good piece of butter; let the breast and pinions be glazed of a fine brown; then put it into a stewpan that is very clean; and a faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with three cloves, two blades of mace, some whole pepper, and a little salt; then put in as much strong broth or gravy as will just cover it; cover it very close, and let it stew over a moderate fire, till you think it is tender; in the mean time make some forcemeat balls of veal, &c. and let them be fried of a fine brown, in readiness. When your turkey is done, take it up, put it into your dish, and keep it hot; strain off your liquor into a clean stewpan, and scum it very clean: if it is not thick enough, roll apiece of butter in flour; put in half a glass of white wine, and your forcemeat balls; toss up all together, till your sauce is of a good thickness; squeeze in a little lemon; pour your sauce over the turkey, and garnish your dish with lemon. In the same manner you may do a large fowl; and you may add morels, truffles, artichoke bottoms, &c.—Another. Put turkey or fowl into a stewpan, with a sufficient quantity of gravy or good broth, a head of celery cut small, whole pepper, and a sprig of thyme tied up in a muslin bag. When these are stewed enough, take them up, thicken the liquor with flour and butter, lay the meat in a dish, and pour the sauce over it.

STEWED VEAL. Cut off the neck end of a breast of veal, and stew it for gravy. Make a forcemeat of the sweetbread boiled, a few crumbs of bread, a little beef suet, an egg, pepper and salt, a spoonful or two of cream, and a little grated nutmeg. Mix them all together, raise the thin part of the breast, and put in the stuffing. Skewer the skin close down, dredge it over with flour, tie it up in a cloth, and stew it in milk and water rather more than an hour: if a large one, an hour and a half. The proper sauce for this dish is made of a little gravy, a few oysters, a few mushrooms chopped fine, and a little lemon juice, thickened with flour and butter. If preferred, the veal may be stewed in broth, or weak gravy. Then thicken the gravy it was stewed in, pour it over the veal, and garnish with forcemeat balls.

STEWED VENISON. Let the meat hang as long as it will keep sweet. Take out the bone, beat the meat with a rolling-pin, lay on some slices of mutton fat, sprinkle over it a little pepper and salt, roll it up light and tie it. Stew it in mutton or beef gravy, with a quarter of a pint of port wine, some pepper and allspice. Cover it close, and simmer it as slowly as possible for three or four hours. When quite tender take off the tape, lay the meat on a dish, strain the gravy over it, and serve it up with currant jelly.

STEWED WATER CRESSES. Pick and wash a quantity of water cresses, and boil them for a few minutes. Drain and press them dry, chop them slightly, and put them into a stewpan, either with good gravy or cream, and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Add a thickening of butter rolled in flour, if necessary. Stew them gently for ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, and serve them up with a garnish of sippets, of fried or toasted bread.

STICKING PLASTER. Melt three ounces of diachylon with half an ounce of rosin, and when cooled to about the thickness of treacle, spread it upon a piece of smooth soft linen.

STILTON CHEESE. This rich and relishing article is made in the following manner. The night's cream is put into the morning's milk, with the rennet. When the curd is come, it is not broken, as is usually done with other cheese, but taken out whole, and put into a sieve to drain. Here it is pressed till it becomes firm and dry, when it is placed in a wooden hoop made to fit it, in order to prevent its breaking. After being taken out of the hoop, the cheese is bound with cloths, which are changed every day, till it is sufficiently firm to support itself. The cloths are then removed, and the cheese is rubbed with a brush and turned every day. The rennet bag should be kept perfectly sweet and fresh: if it be in the least degree tainted, the cheese will never have a good flavour.

STINGS. The stings of bees are often more virulent than those of wasps, and attended with more painful effects. The sting being barbed, it is always left in the wound. When therefore a person is stung by a bee, the sting should be instantly extracted, or it will communicate more of its poison, according to the time it is permitted to remain. It should be carefully pulled out with a steady hand, for if any of it break in, remedies will in a great measure be ineffectual. When the sting is completely extracted, the wounded part should be sucked, and very little inflammation will ensue. If a few drops of the spirits of hartshorn be immediately rubbed on the part affected, the cure will be more speedily accomplished. Another simple remedy is, a solution of indigo in water, or of potash, a little oil of tartar, or common sweet oil, rubbed upon the part. Honey and olive oil, or some bruised mallows, may occasionally be substituted with advantage; but their application should be repeated till the pain ceases. Rubbing on a little common salt, after it has been moistened, is also said to be an effectual cure. If a wasp or bee has been incautiously swallowed in a glass of liquor, take a spoonful of common salt, or repeated doses of salt and water. This will immediately kill the insect, and prevent the injurious effects of the sting. To remove the disagreeable itching which arises from the sting of gnats, wash the part directly with cold water; or at night, rub on fuller's earth mixed with water.

STOCK. To make a clear brown stock, for gravy or gravy soup, put into a stewpan with two quarts of water, a pound of lean beef, a pound of the lean of a gammon of bacon, all sliced. Add two or three scraped carrots, two onions, two turnips, and two heads of sliced celery. Stew the meat quite tender, but do not let it brown. When thus prepared, it will serve either for soup, or brown or white gravy. If for brown, put in some soup colouring, and boil it a few minutes.

STOCK-FISH. Put it into water, and let it remain there two days, shifting the water often; then take it out, and clean the skin and inner part with a hard brush, and hang it up for one night in the air. In the morning put it again into water, and let it remain till the next morning, shifting the water often; take it out, and hang it up for another day, when it will be fit for dressing. Roll up the fish round, and tie it close with a tape; put it into a fish-kettle, the water of which simmers when you put it on: let it remain simmering for three quarters of an hour, then let it boil for five minutes, and the fish is enough.

STOMACHIC TINCTURE. In low nervous affections arising from a languid circulation, and when the stomach is in a state of debility, the following tincture will be found to be strengthening and beneficial. An ounce and a half of peruvian bark bruised, and an ounce of orange peel, steeped in a pint of the best brandy, for ten days. Shake the bottle every day, then let it settle for two days, and decant off the clear liquor. Take a tea-spoonful of the tincture in a wine glass of water, twice a day, when the stomach feels empty and uneasy, an hour before dinner, and also in the evening. This agreeable aromatic tonic will procure an appetite, and aid digestion. Tea made with dried Seville orange peel, in the same way as common tea, and drunk with milk and sugar, has been taken by nervous persons with great benefit. Sucking a bit of dried orange peel about an hour before dinner, when the stomach is empty, is very grateful and strengthening.

STONE STAIRS AND HALLS. In order to clean these properly, boil a pound of pipe-maker's clay with a quart of water, a quart of small beer, and a bit of stone blue. Wash the stairs or the floor with this mixture, and when dry, rub it with flannel and a brush.

STOPPLES. When a glass stopple is set fast, in a bottle or decanter, rub a drop or two of olive oil round it, close to the mouth of the decanter, and place it near the fire. The oil will soon insinuate itself downwards, and the stopple may then be loosened by the hand, or by striking it lightly with a piece of soft wood. Sometimes the rubbing of the neck of the bottle with a small key, and striking the head of the stopper, will be sufficient to loosen it, without the application of any oil.

STORING. The storing of fruits, vegetables, and roots, has been performed in various ways, which are well known already; but lately some better modes have been suggested for this purpose. For apples and pears, after they have been carefully gathered from the trees, and laid in heaps covered with clean cloths or mats for sweating, which is effected in three or four days, they remaining for that length of time afterwards, they are to be wiped separately with clean cloths; when some glazed earthen jars are to be provided with tops and covers, and likewise a quantity of pure pit-sand, which is quite free from any mixture. This is to be thoroughly dried upon a flue. Then put a layer of this sand an inch thick on the bottoms of the jars; above this layer of fruit, a quarter of an inch free of each other; covering the whole with sand to the depth of an inch; then a second course of fruit is to be laid in, and again covered with an inch of the sand, proceeding in the same way until the whole be finished and completed. An inch and a half in depth of sand may be laid over the last or uppermost layer of fruit; when the jars are to be closed and placed in some dry situation, as cool as possible, but entirely out of the way of frost. The usual time at which each kind of such fruits should be ready for the table being known, the jars containing such fruit may, it is said, be examined, by turning out the sand and fruit together cautiously into a sieve. The ripe fruit may then be laid upon the shelves of the fruit-room for use, and the unripe be carefully replaced in the jars as before, but with fresh dry sand. Some kinds of apples managed in this way, will, it is said, keep a great while, as till July; and pears until April, and in some sorts till June. It is not improbable but that many other sorts of fruit might be stored and preserved in somewhat the same way. Vegetables of the cauliflower kind have been stored and kept well through a great part of the winter, by putting them, when in full head, on a dry day, into pits about eighteen inches in depth, and much the same breadth, in a perfectly dry soil, with the stalks and leaves to them, the latter being carefully doubled over and lapped round the heads, instead of hanging them up in sheds or other places, as is the usual practice in preserving them. In performing the work, it is begun at one end of the pits, laying the heads in with the root-stalks uppermost, so as that the former may incline downwards, the roots of the one layer covering the tops or heads of the other, until the whole is completed. The pits are then to be closely covered up with the earth into a sort of ridge, and beaten quite smooth with the back of the spade, in order that the rain-water may be fully thrown off. Fine cauliflowers have been thus stored and kept for the occasional supply of the table until the middle of the following January. For storing and preserving different kinds of roots for common summer use, until the coming in or return of the natural crops, the following method has likewise been proposed. As the ice in ice-houses has commonly subsided some feet, as four, five, or more, by the beginning of the spring, it is proposed to deposit in the rooms or vacancies so left empty, the roots that are to be preserved. As soon as any openings in the places have been well stuffed with straw, and the surfaces of the ice covered with the sort of material, case-boxes, dry ware, casks, baskets, or any other such vessels, are to be placed upon it, which are then to be filled with the roots, such as turnips, carrots, beets, celery, potatoes in particular, and some others. In cases where there are not ice-houses, vegetation may be greatly retarded, and the roots preserved by storing them in deep vaulted cellars, caves, coal-pits, mines, or in any place seated deep in the earth. Potatoes have also been well stored and preserved, it is said, by earthing them in small parcels, as about two bolls each, heaped up, and covered in the usual way with straw and earth; which are turned over into other pits in the early spring, first rubbing off all the sprouts or shoots, and having the roots well watered in small quantities as they are put into the other pits, the whole earthy covering being also well watered and beaten together at the time with the back part of the spade. This covering is to be made to the thickness of about two feet. The same practice or process is to be repeated every time the potatoes are turned over, which should be about once in three weeks, as the state of the weather may be. And where the pits or heaps are not in the shade, it is sometimes proper, when the season is very hot, to cover them with mats supported on sticks, so as to permit a free current of air between the mats and the heaps. In this way it is stated that these roots have been preserved quite plump and entire in the taste until the end of September, or till the succeeding crop becomes perfectly ripe, so as to be used without loss, as that must always be the case where the roots are largely employed before they are in a state of mature growth. It is asserted, too, that in this manner potatoes are even capable of recovering in plumpness and taste, where they have been suffered, by improper exposure to air or heat, to become deficient in these qualities.

STOVE BLACKING, for backs of grates, hearths, and the fronts of stoves, is made in the following manner. Boil a quarter of a pound of the best black lead, with a pint of small beer, and a bit of soap the size of a walnut. When that is melted, dip in a painter's brush, and wet the grate, having first cleared off all the soot and dust. Then take a hard brush, and rub it till it is quite bright. A mixture of black lead and whites of eggs well beaten together, will answer the same purpose.

STRAMONIUM. This celebrated plant, commonly called the Thorn Apple, often grows on dunghills, and flowers in the month of July. Having lately been discovered as possessing very powerful medical properties, and as affording the most effectual remedy for the asthma, it is now frequently transplanted into gardens, though its odour is extremely offensive. A kind of herb tobacco is made of the dried leaves, mixed with a little rosemary to prevent nausea, and a pipeful is smoked in the evening before going to bed. The practice should be continued for some time, or as often as asthma returns, and it will afford very sensible relief. The plant may easily be raised from seed; but an elegant preparation of the stramonium, or the asthmatic tobacco, may be had of several medicine vendors in the kingdom.

STRAWBERRIES. Sir Joseph Banks, from a variety of experiments, and the experience of many years, recommends a general revival of the now almost obsolete practice of laying straw under strawberry plants, when the fruit begins to swell; by which means the roots are shaded from the sun, the waste of moisture by evaporation prevented, the leaning fruit kept from damage, by resting on the ground, particularly in wet weather, and much labour in watering saved. Twenty trusses of long straw are sufficient for 1800 feet of plants. On the management of strawberries in June and July, the future prosperity of them greatly depends; and if each plant has not been kept separate, by cutting off the runners, they will be in a state of confusion, and you will find three different sorts of plants. 1. Old plants, whose roots are turned black, hard, and woody. 2. Young plants, not strong enough to flower. 3. Flowering plants, which ought only to be there, and perhaps not many of them. Before the time of flowering is quite over, examine them, and pull up every old plant which has not flowered; for, if once they have omitted to flower you may depend upon it they will never produce any after, being too old, and past bearing; but to be fully convinced, leave two or three, set a stick to them, and observe them next year. If the young plants, runners of last year, be too thick, take some of them away, and do not leave them nearer than a foot of the scarlet, alpines, and wood, and fifteen or sixteen inches of all the larger sorts; and in the first rainy weather in July or August, take them all up, and make a fresh plantation with them, and they will be very strong plants for flowering next year. Old beds, even if the plants be kept single at their proper distance, examine, and pull all the old plants which have not flowered. When the fruit is nearly all gathered examine them again, and cut off the runners; but if you want to make a fresh plantation, leave some of the two first, and cut off all the rest. Then stir up the ground with a trowel, or three-pronged fork, and in August they will be fit to transplant. If you have omitted in July do not fail in August, that the runners may make good roots to be transplanted in September, for, if later, the worms will draw them out of the ground, and the frost afterwards will prevent them from striking root; the consequence of which is, their not flowering the next spring; and you will lose a year.

STRAWBERRY AND RASPBERRY FOOL. Bruise a pint of scarlet strawberries, and a pint of raspberries, pass them through a sieve, and sweeten them with half a pound of fine sugar pounded, add a spoonful of orange-flower water, then boil it over the fire, for two or three minutes; take it off, and set on a pint and a half of cream, boil it and stir it till it is cold; when the pulp is cold, put them together, and stir them till they are well mixed; put the fool into glasses, or basins, as you think proper.

STRAWBERRY JAM. Dissolve four pounds of lump sugar in a quart of currant juice, then boil and scum it quite clean. Mash four quarts of raspberries, and mix with it. Let it boil quick, over a clear fire, for nearly an hour, or till the sugar and raspberries are quite mixed. This may be known by putting a little on a plate; if the juice drains from the fruit, it must be boiled longer. When done enough, put it into pots, and the next day put brandy papers over them. Tie them down with another paper, and set the jars in a dry place.

STRAWBERRIES PRESERVED. To keep whole strawberries, take equal weights of the fruit and double refined sugar. Lay the strawberries in a large dish, and sprinkle over them half the sugar in fine powder. Shake the dish gently, that the sugar may touch the under side of the fruit. Next day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the sugar, and instead of water, allow to every pound of strawberries a pint of red currant juice. Simmer the fruit in this, until sufficiently jellied. Choose the largest scarlet strawberries, before they are dead ripe. They will eat well in thin cream, served up in glasses.

STRAWBERRIES IN WINE. Put a quantity of the finest strawberries into a gooseberry bottle, and strew in three spoonfuls of fine sugar. Fill up the bottle with madeira, or fine sherry.

STRENGTHENING DRAUGHT. For weakly persons, any of the following preparations will be highly beneficial. Put two calves' feet in two pints of water, and the same quantity of new milk; bake them in a jar closely covered, three hours and a half. When cold remove the fat, and take a large teacupful of the mucilage, morning and evening. It may be flavoured by baking in it lemon peel, cinnamon, or mace: sugar is to be added afterwards.—Or simmer six sheeps' trotters, with two blades of mace, a bit of cinnamon, lemon peel, a few hartshorn shavings, and a little isinglass, in two quarts of water till reduced to one. When cold, remove the fat, and take nearly half a pint twice a day, warming it with a little new milk.—Another way. Boil an ounce of isinglass shavings, forty peppercorns, and a bit of brown crust of bread, in a quart of water, till reduced to a pint, and strain it. This makes a pleasant jelly to keep in case of sickness, and a large spoonful may be taken in wine and water, in milk, tea, soup, or any other way.—Or boil a quarter of an ounce of isinglass shavings with a pint of new milk, till reduced one half. Add a little sugar, and for a change a bitter almond. Take this at bed-time, but not too warm. Dutch flummery, jellies, or blamange, if not too rich, are also very strengthening.

STRENGTHENING JELLY. Put an ounce of isinglass shavings, with a few Jamaica peppercorns, and a toast of bread. Boil it to a pint, and strain it off. A large spoonful of the jelly may be taken in wine and water, milk, tea, or any other agreeable liquor. Or boil a quarter of an ounce of isinglass shavings in a pint of new milk, till it is reduced to half a pint, adding a bitter almond, or a little sugar, by way of change.

STRONG GRAVY. Take a stewpan that will hold four quarts, lay at the bottom of it a slice or two of undressed ham or bacon, about a quarter of an inch thick, and two pounds of beef or veal. Add a carrot, a large onion with four cloves stuck in it, one head of celery, a bundle of parsley, lemon thyme, and savoury; a few leaves of sweet basil, a bay leaf, a shalot, a piece of lemon peel, and a dozen corns of allspice. Pour on half a pint of water, cover it close, and let it simmer gently on a slow fire for half an hour, in which time it will be almost dry. Watch it very carefully, and let it take a nice brown colour. Turn the meat and herbs, to brown on all sides; then put in a pint of water to a pound of meat, and let it boil for two hours. It will now be formed into a rich strong gravy, easily converted into cullis, or thickened gravy.

STUCCO. A stucco for walls, &c. may be formed of the grout or putty, made of good stone-lime, or the lime of cockle-shells, which is better, properly tempered and sufficiently beat, mixed with sharp grit-sand, in a proportion which depends on the strength of the lime: drift-sand is best for this purpose, and it will derive advantage from being dried on an iron plate or kiln, so as not to burn; for thus the mortar would be discoloured. When this is properly compounded, it should be put up in small parcels against walls, or otherwise, to mellow, as the workmen term it; reduced again to a soft putty, or paste, and spread thin on the walls without any undercoat, and well trowelled. A succeeding coat should be laid on, before the first is quite dry, which will prevent joints of brick-work appearing through it. Much depends upon the workmen giving it sufficient labour, and trowelling it down. If this stucco, when dry, is laid over with boiling linseed oil, it will last a long time, and not be liable, when once hardened, to the accidents to which common stucco is liable. Liardet's, or, as it is commonly called, Adams oil-cement, or stucco, is prepared in the following manner: for the first coat, take twenty-one pounds of fine whiting, or oyster-shells, or any other sea-shells calcined, or plaster of Paris, or any calcareous material calcined and pounded, or any absorbent material whatever, proper for the purpose; add white or red lead at pleasure, deducting from the other absorbent materials in proportion to the white or red lead added; to which put four quarts, beer measure, of oil; and mix them together with a grinding-mill, or any levigating machine: and afterwards mix and beat up the same well with twenty-eight quarts, beer measure, of any sand or gravel, or of both, mixed and sifted, or of marble or stone pounded, or of brick-dust, or of any kind of metallic or mineral powders, or of any solid material whatever, fit for the purpose. For the second coat, take sixteen pounds and a half of super-fine whiting, or oyster-shells, or any sea-shells calcined, &c. as for the first coat; add sixteen pounds and a half of white or red lead, to which put six quarts and a half of oil, wine measure, and mix them together as before: afterwards mix and beat up the same well with thirty quarts, wine measure, of fine sand or gravel sifted, or stone or marble pounded, or pyrites, or any kind of metallic or mineral powder, &c. This composition requires a greater proportion of sand, gravel, or other solids, according to the nature of the work, or the uses to which it is to be applied. If it be required to have the composition coloured, add to the above ingredients such a proportion of painter's colours, as will be necessary to give the tint or colour required. In making the composition, the best linseed or hempseed, or other oils proper for the purpose, are to be used, boiled or raw, with drying ingredients, as the nature of the work, the season, or the climate requires; and in some cases, bees' wax may be substituted in place of oil: all the absorbent and solid materials must be kiln-dried. If the composition is to be of any other colour than white, the lead may be omitted, by taking the full proportion of the other absorbents; and also white or red lead may be substituted alone, instead of any other absorbent material. The first coat of this composition is to be laid on with a trowel, and floated to an even surface with a rule or darby, (i. e. a handle-float.) The second coat, after it is laid on with a trowel, when the other is nearly dry, should be worked down and smoothed with floats edged with horn, or any hard smooth substance that does not stain. It may be proper, previously to laying on the composition, to moisten the surface on which it is to be laid by a brush with the same sort of oil and ingredients which pass through the levigating machine, reduced to a more liquid state, in order to make the composition adhere the better. This composition admits of being modelled or cast in moulds, in the same manner as plasterers or statuaries model or cast their stucco work. It also admits of being painted upon, and adorned with landscape, or ornamental, or figure-painting, as well as plain painting.—To make an excellent stucco, which will adhere to wood work, take a bushel of the best stone lime, a pound of yellow ochre, and a quarter of a pound of brown umber, all in fine powder. Mix them to a proper thickness, with a sufficient quantity of hot water, but not boiling, and lay it on with a new white-washer's brush. If the wall be quite smooth, one or two coats will do; but each must be dry before the next is put on. The month of March is the best season for doing this.

STUCCO WASHES. The most beautiful white-wash is made of clean good lime mixed with skim milk instead of water. For Blue wash, put four pounds of blue vitriol into an iron or brass pot, with a pound of the best whiting, and a gallon of water. Let it boil an hour, stirring it all the time. Then pour it into an earthen pan, and set it by for a day or two till the colour is settled. Pour off the water, and mix the colour with the white-washer's size. Wash the walls over three or four times, according as it may be necessary. To make Yellow wash, dissolve in soft water over the fire equal quantities of umber, bright ochre, and blue black. Add as much white-wash as is necessary for the work, and stir it all together. If either cast predominates, put in more of the others, till the proper tint is obtained.

STUFFINGS. Forcemeat or stuffing is generally considered as a necessary accompaniment to most of the made dishes, and when composed with good taste, it gives to them additional spirit and relish. It is often employed in making of patties, for stuffing of veal, game, and poultry. The ingredients should be so proportioned, that no one flavour predominates; and instead of using the same stuffing for veal, hare, and other things, it is easy to make a suitable variety. The poignancy of forcemeat should be regulated by the savouriness of the viands, to which it is intended to give an additional zest. Some dishes require a very delicately flavoured stuffing, while for others it should be full and high seasoned. The consistence of forcemeats is attended with some difficulty; they are almost always either too heavy or too light. They should be mixed perfectly smooth, and the ingredients thoroughly incorporated. Forcemeat balls must not be larger than a small nutmeg. If for brown sauce, flour and fry them: if for white sauce, put them into boiling water, and boil them for three minutes: the latter are by far the most delicate. Parboiled sweetbreads and tongues are the principal ingredients for stuffing or forcemeat. Besides these, yolks of hard eggs, flour, bread crumbs, boiled onion, mashed potatoe, mutton, beef, veal suet, marrow, calf's udder or brains, veal minced and pounded, and potted meats. Also of garden herbs and roots, parsley, thyme, spinach, marjoram, savoury, tarragon, sage, chervil, basil, burnet, bay leaf, truffles, morels, mushrooms, leeks, shalot, onions, and garlic. Of fish, shrimps, prawns, crabs, oysters, lobsters, and anchovies. Of spices, pepper, mace, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne, and cloves. These, with bacon and ham, form the principal ingredients for various kinds of stuffing. The liquids in general consist of meat gravy, lemon juice, syrup of lemons, essence of anchovy, mushroom ketchup, vegetable essences, and the essence of spices.

STUFFING FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine one or two onions, and a little green sage. Add a large teacupful of bread crumbs, a very little pepper and salt, half the liver parboiled, and the yolks of two eggs. Incorporate the whole well together, put it into the goose, but leave a little room for the stuffing to swell.

STUFFING FOR HARE. Two ounces of beef suet chopped fine, three ounces of fine bread crumbs, a little parsley, marjoram, lemon thyme, or winter savory; a dram of grated lemon peel, half a dram of nutmeg, of shalot, and the same of pepper and salt. Mix these with an egg, so as to make them cohesive; but if the stuffing be not of a sufficient consistence, it will be good for nothing. If the liver be quite sound, it may be parboiled, minced very fine, and added to the above. Put the stuffing into the hare, and sow it up.

STUFFING FOR PIG. Rub some of the crumb of a stale loaf through a cullender, mince fine a handful of sage, and a large onion. Mix these together with an egg, some pepper and salt, and a piece of butter. Fill the belly of the pig with the stuffing, and sow it up. Lay the pig to the fire, and baste it with salad oil, without leaving it for a moment.

STUFFING FOR PIKE. Take equal parts of fat bacon, beef suet, and fresh butter; some parsley, thyme, and savoury; a small onion, and a few leaves of scented marjoram shred fine; an anchovy or two, a little salt and nutmeg, and some pepper. Oysters will be an improvement, with or without anchovies; add some crumbs, and an egg to bind.

STUFFING FOR POULTRY. Mince a quarter of a pound of beef suet, (marrow is better,) the same weight of bread crumbs, two drams of parsley leaves, nearly as much of sweet marjoram or lemon thyme, and the same of grated lemon peel. Add an onion or shalot, chopped as fine as possible, a little grated nutmeg, pepper and salt. Pound all together thoroughly, with the yolk and white of two eggs. This is about the quantity for a turkey poult; a very large turkey will take nearly twice as much. To the above may be added an ounce of dressed ham.

STUFFING FOR VEAL. Take an equal quantity of grated bread and beef suet, shred very fine. Add parsley and sweet herbs chopped small, a minced anchovy, some nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and a little grated lemon peel. Mix these well together with raw egg or milk. This stuffing will do for roast turkey or hare.

STURGEON. Fresh sturgeon should be cut in slices, rubbed over with egg, and sprinkled with grated bread, parsley, salt and pepper. Then fold the slices in white paper, and broil them gently. For sauce, send up butter, anchovy, and soy.—Another way. Clean the sturgeon, and prepare as much liquor as will cover it, thus: take a pint of vinegar, about two quarts of water, a stick of horseradish cut in slips, some lemon peel, two or three bay leaves, and a small handful of salt, boil it in this pickle, till you think it is enough, and serve it with the following sauce: melt a pound of butter, with an anchovy bruised, a blade or two of mace, the body of a crab, or lobster bruised, a little ketchup, a small glass of white wine, half a pint of white shrimps, boil all together, till it is of a proper thickness, squeeze in some lemon, and scraped horseradish; pour a little sauce over your fish, the rest send in boats.

STURTIUMS. Gather them young and dry, and put them into a jar of old vinegar, which has been taken from green pickles and onions. The vinegar must be boiled afresh, or boil some fresh vinegar with salt and spice, and when cold, put in the sturtiums.

SUBSTITUTE FOR CREAM. As milk or cream is difficult to procure in some situations, particularly during a long voyage, a very good substitute may be found in beating up a fresh egg, and gradually pouring on boiling water to prevent its curdling. The taste of this composition in tea will scarcely be distinguished from the richest cream, and eggs may easily be preserved for a considerable length of time.

SUBSTITUTE FOR GRAVY. Mix a gill of water, a gill of table beer, a spoonful of ketchup, an onion sliced thin, a clove or two, three or four peppercorns, and a little salt, all together. Melt a piece of butter, the size of an egg in a small saucepan, and when hot dredge in some flour, stirring it till the froth subsides, by which time it will be browned. Add to it the mixture already prepared, give it a boil, and flavour it with a very small quantity of the essence of anchovy.

SUCCORY. Wild white succory is only good to eat in salads. The green is used to put into cooling broths, and to make decoctions in medicine. Common white succory is eaten in salads, and used for ragouts. First pick and wash it, then scald it half an hour in water, put it afterwards into fresh water, in order to press it well with the hands. Stew it with some broth, a little butter, and some cullis, if any at hand. If not, brown a little flour to thicken the sauce. When done enough, take off the fat, season it nicely, and add a little shalot. Serve it under a shoulder, a leg, or neck of mutton, roasted.

SUCKERS. The season for taking up or transplanting suckers of trees and shrubs, is almost any time, in open weather, from October till March, being careful to dig them up from the mother-plant with as much and many root-fibres as possible, and trimming them ready for planting, by shortening the long straggling fibres, and cutting off any thick-nobbed part of the old root that may adhere to the bottom, leaving only the fibres arising from the young wood; though it is probable some will appear with hardly any fibres; but as the bottom part, having been under ground, and contiguous to the root of the main plant, is naturally disposed to send forth fibres for rooting; preparatory to planting them out, the stems of the shrub and tree-suckers should likewise be trimmed occasionally, by cutting off all lower laterals; and any having long, slender, and weak tops, or such as are intended to assume a more dwarfish or bushy growth, may be shortened at top in proportion, to form about half a foot to one or two feet in length, according to their nature or strength; and others that are more strong, or that are designed to run up with taller stems, may have their tops left entire, or shortened but little: when thus taken up and trimmed, they should be planted out in rows in the nursery; the weak suckers separately in close rows; and also the shortened and stronger plants, each separately in wider rows; so that the rows may be from one to two feet asunder, in proportion to the size and strength of the suckers: and after being thus planted out, they should have the common nursery-culture of cleaning from weeds in summer, and digging the ground between the rows in winter, &c. and in from one to two or three years they will be of a proper size for planting out where they are to remain: and some kinds of trees, large shrubs, &c. produce suckers strong enough in one season to be fit for planting where they are to remain; as well as some sorts of roses, and numerous other flowering shrubs; also some plants of the strong shooting gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and others of similar kinds. It may generally be observed of such trees and shrubs as are naturally disposed to send up many suckers, that by whatsoever method they are propagated, whether by seeds, suckers, layers, cuttings, &c. they commonly still continue their natural tendency in this respect. When it is, therefore, required to have any sorts to produce as few suckers as possible, not to over-run the ground, or disfigure the plants, it is proper, both at the time of separating the suckers, or planting them off from the main plants, and at the time of their final removal from the nursery, to observe if at the bottom part they shew any tendency to emit suckers, by the appearance of prominent buds, which, if the case, should all be rubbed off as close as possible: as, however, many sorts of trees and shrubs are liable to throw out considerably more than may be wanted, they should always be cleared away annually at least, and in such as are not wanted for increase, it is proper to eradicate them constantly, as they are produced in the spring and summer seasons. Also numerous herbaceous and succulent plants are productive of bottom offset suckers from the roots, by which they may be increased. In slipping and planting these sorts of offset suckers, the smaller ones should be planted in nursery beds, pots, &c. according to the nature of growth and temperature of the different sorts, to have the advantage of one summer's advanced growth; and the larger ones be set at once, where they are to remain, in beds, borders, pots, &c. according to the different sorts or descriptions of them. The suckers of many of the finer kinds of flower-plants, as in the auricula and others, may be separated or taken off from the parent plants any time between the month of February and that of August, as they may become of a proper size, or be wanted for increase; but if they be not wanted for this use, they should never be suffered to remain. They can often be slipped off by the fingers, or a sharp piece of wood, without removing much earth, or the plants from the pots; but when they are large, and cannot be thus separated with a sufficient number of fibres to their bottom parts, they may be taken out of the pots, and be removed by the knife without danger, which is perhaps the best way, as affording most fibres. The suckers of such old flower-plants, when they are wanted to blow strong, should always be taken off without disturbing the plants in the pots, especially when they are few. The suckers, in all cases of this sort, should constantly be planted as soon as possible after they are slipped, in proper small upright pots, giving a slight watering at the time, with suitable temporary shade. They should be placed in proper situations out of the droppings of trees. They thus soon become rooted. The suckers of such flower-plants must, however, never be removed after the latter of the above periods, as they have then done shooting, and are become inactive, and as the winter immediately succeeds, seldom do well, especially without great care and trouble.

SUCKING PIG. When the pig has been killed and well cleaned, cut off the feet at the first joint, and put them with the heart, liver, and lights, to boil for gravy. Before the pig is spitted, chop a little sage very fine, mix it with a handful of bread crumb, a little pepper and salt, and sow it up in the belly. Lay it down to a brisk fire, rub it with butter tied up in a piece of thin rag, during the whole time of roasting. Take off the head while at the fire, take out the brains and chop them, mix them with the gravy that comes from the pig, and add a little melted butter. Before the spit is drawn, cut the pig down the back and belly, and lay it in the dish. Put a little of the sauce over it, take the bottom jaws and ears to garnish with, and send brown gravy sauce to table, mixed with the bread and sage that comes out of the pig. Currant sauce is frequently eaten with it. A moderate sized pig will require about an hour and a half roasting.

SUET. The proper way of treating suet, is to choose the firmest part as soon as it comes in, and pick it free from skin and veins. Set it in a nice saucepan at some distance from the fire, that it may melt without frying, or it will taste. When melted, pour it into a pan of cold water. When it comes to a hard cake, wipe it very dry, fold it in fine paper, and then in a linen bag. Keep it in a dry cool place. Suet prepared in this way, will keep a twelvemonth. When used, scrape it fine, and it will make a good crust, either with or without butter.

SUET DUMPLINS. Take a pound of suet, or the outward fat of loins or necks of mutton, and shred it very fine. Mix it well with a pound and a quarter of flour, two eggs, a sufficient quantity of milk to make it, and a little salt. Drop the batter into boiling water, or boil the dumplins in a cloth.

SUET DUMPLINS WITH CURRANTS. Take a pint of milk, four eggs, a pound of suet shred fine, and a pound of currants well cleaned, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, and three of beaten ginger; first take half the milk and mix it like a thick batter, then put in the eggs, the salt, and ginger, then the rest of the milk by degrees, with the suet and currants, and flour enough to make it like a light paste. Make them up about the bigness of a large turkey's egg, flat them a little, and put them into boiling water; move them softly that they do not stick together, keep the water boiling, and a little more than half an hour will do them.

SUET DUMPLINS WITH EGGS. Mix up a pint of milk, two eggs, three quarters of a pound of beef suet chopped fine, a tea-spoonful of grated ginger, and flour enough to make it into a moderately stiff paste. Make the paste into dumplins, roll them in a little flour, and put them into boiling water. Move them gently for a little while to prevent their sticking together. If the dumplins are small, three quarters of an hour will boil them; if large, the time must be proportioned to their size. They will boil equally well in cloths, which is often preferred for keeping the outside drier.

SUET PUDDING. Shred a pound of suet; mix with it a pound and a quarter of flour, two eggs beaten separately, some salt, and as little milk as will make it. Boil the pudding four hours. It eats well the next day, cut in slices and broiled. The outward fat of a loin or neck of mutton finely shred, makes a more delicate pudding than suet.

SUET PUDDING WITH EGGS. To a pound of beef suet chopped very fine, add six large spoonfuls of flour, a tea-spoonful of grated ginger, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Gradually mix with these ingredients a quart of milk, and four eggs well beaten. Boil it three hours in a buttered basin, or two hours and a half in a cloth well floured.

SUFFOCATION. Immediately on discovering a person in this unfortunate situation, whatever be the cause, the windows and doors ought to be opened; the body undressed, covered with blankets, removed to the open air, and supported in a leaning posture on a chair. The patient's face should be sprinkled with vinegar, the pit of the stomach with water, and the legs plunged into a cold bath; at the same time rubbing the skin with flannel, or a soft brush. Clysters of vinegar and water will also be useful, and an attempt should be made to promote sickness, by tickling the throat with a feather dipped in oil. When the patient is able to swallow, the most proper drink is vinegar and water, or infusions of mint and balm.

SUFFOLK CHEESE. The curd is broken up in the whey, which is poured off as soon as the former has subsided. The remainder, with the curd, is put into a coarse strainer, left to cool, and is then pressed as tightly as possible. After this it is put into the vat, and set in a press to discharge the remaining whey. The curd is then taken out, broken again as finely as possible, salted, and returned to the press.

SUFFOLK DUMPLINS. Make a very light dough with yeast, as for bread; add a little salt, and use milk instead of water. Let it rise an hour before the fire. Round the dough into balls, the size of a middling apple; throw them into boiling water, and let them boil twenty minutes. To ascertain when they are done enough, stick a clean fork into one; and if it come out clear, they are ready to take up. Do not cut, but tear them apart on the top with two forks, for they become heavy by their own steam. They should be eaten immediately, with gravy or cold butter, or with meat.

SUGARS. These being an article of considerable expense in all families, the purchase demands particular attention. The cheapest does not go so far as the more refined, and there is a difference even in the degree of sweetness. Of white sugar that should be preferred which is close, heavy, and shining. The best sort of brown sugar has a bright gravelly appearance, and it is often to be bought pure as imported. East India sugars are finer for the price, but not so strong, consequently unfit for wines and sweetmeats, but do well for common purposes, if good of their kind. To prepare white sugar pounded, rolling it with a bottle and sifting it, wastes less than pounding it in a mortar.

SUGAR CAKES. Make into a paste a pound of flour, twelve ounces of fine sugar sifted, the yolks of two eggs, a little nutmeg, and orange-flower water. Roll it out thin, cut out the cakes with a tin or glass, sift sugar over them, and bake them in a quick oven.

SUGAR PASTE. To a pound of flour put two ounces of loaf sugar rolled and sifted, and rub in half a pound of butter. Mix it up with one egg well beaten, and cold water sufficient to make it into a paste. Mould it with the hand till it is quite smooth, and roll it out for use.

SUGAR VINEGAR. To every gallon of water, add two pounds of the coarsest sugar; then boil and skim it thoroughly, and add one quart of cold water for every gallon of hot. When cool, put in a toast spread with yeast. Stir it nine days, then barrel it off, and set it in the sun, with a piece of slate on the bung hole. Make the vinegar in March, and it will be ready in six months. When sufficiently sour it may be bottled, or may be used from the cask with a wooden spigot and faucet.

SUN FLOWER. The valuable properties of the sun flower are too much neglected, and might be rendered of general advantage. The leaves furnish abundance of agreeable fodder for cattle, the flower is enriched with honey for the bees, the dry stalks burn well, affording a considerable quantity of alkali from the ashes, and the seed is highly valuable in feeding pigs and poultry. The cultivation of this plant cannot be too much recommended, and requires but little management.

SUPPER DISH. To make a pretty supper dish, wash a tea-cupful of rice in milk, and boil it tender. Strain off the milk, lay the rice in small heaps on a dish, strew over them some finely-powdered sugar and cinnamon, and put warm wine and a little butter into the dish.

SUPPERS. Hot suppers are not much in use where people dine late, nor indeed in ordinary cases. When required, the top and bottom of the table may be furnished with game, fowls, rabbit; boiled fish, such as soles, mackarel, oysters, stewed or scalloped; French beans, cauliflower, or Jerusalem artichokes, in white sauce; brocoli with eggs, stewed spinach with eggs, sweetbreads, small birds, mushrooms, scalloped potatoes; cutlets, roast onions, salmagundi, buttered eggs on toast, cold neat's tongue, ham, collared things, sliced hunter's beef, buttered rusks with anchovies, grated hung beef with butter, with or without rusks; grated cheese round, and butter dressed in the middle of a plate; radishes the same, custards in glasses with sippets, oysters cold or pickled; potted meats, fish, birds, cheese; good plain cake sliced, pies of birds or fruit; lobsters, prawns, cray fish, any sweet things, and fruits. A sandwich set with any of the above articles, placed on the table at a little distance from each other, will look well. The lighter the things, the better they appear, and glass intermixed has the best effect. Jellies, different coloured things, and flowers, add to the beauty of the table. An elegant supper may be served at a small expense, by those who know how to make trifles that are in the house form the greatest part of the entertainment.

SUSAN PUDDING. Boil some Windsor beans, just as they begin to be black-eyed, till they are quite tender. Then peel them, and beat up half a pound of them very smooth in a marble mortar. Add four spoonfuls of thick cream, sugar to taste, half a pound of clarified butter, and eight eggs, leaving out half the whites. Beat up the eggs well with a little salt, and white wine sufficient to give it an agreeable flavour. Line a dish with puff paste, add a pretty good layer of candied citron cut in long pieces, pour in the other ingredients, and bake it in a moderate oven three quarters of an hour.

SWEEPING OF CHIMNIES. The common practice of employing poor children to sweep narrow chimnies, is most inhuman and unwise: many lives are lost by this means, and much injury is done to the building. The children being obliged to work themselves up by pressing with their feet and knees on one side, and their back on the other, often force out the bricks which divide the chimnies, and thereby encrease the danger, in case a foul chimney should take fire, as the flames frequently communicate by those apertures to other apartments, which were not suspected to be in any danger. To avoid these consequences, a rope twice the length of the chimney should be provided, to the middle of which a bunch of furze or broom is to be tied, sufficient to fill the cavity of the chimney. Put one end of the rope down the chimney, with a stone fastened to it, and draw the brush after it, which will clear the sides of the chimney, and bring down the soot. If necessary, a person at top may draw the brush up again to the top of the chimney, keeping hold of the rope, and thus clean the chimney thoroughly without difficulty or danger.

SWEET HERBS. It is of some importance to know when the various seasons commence for procuring sweet and savoury herbs, fit for culinary purposes. All vegetables are in the highest state of perfection, and fullest of juice and flavour, just before they begin to flower. The first and last crop have neither the fine flavour nor the perfume of those which are gathered in the height of the season; that is, when the greater part of the crop of each species is ripe. Let them be gathered on a dry day, and they will have a better colour after being preserved. Cleanse them well from dust and dirt, cut off the roots, separate the bunches into smaller ones, and dry them by the heat of a stove, or in a Dutch oven before the fire. Take them in small quantities, that the process may be speedily finished, and thus their flavour will be preserved. Drying them in the sun exhausts some of their best qualities. In the application of artificial heat, the only caution requisite is to avoid burning; and of this, a sufficient test is afforded by the preservation of the colour. The common custom is, when they are perfectly dried, to put them in bags, and lay them in a dry place. But the best way to preserve the flavour of aromatic plants, is to pick off the leaves as soon as they are dried; then to pound and pass them through a hair sieve, and keep them in well-stopped bottles.—Basil is in the best state for drying, from the middle of August, and three weeks afterwards. Knotted marjoram, from the beginning of July to the end of the month. Winter savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout August. Thyme, lemon thyme, and orange thyme, during June and July. Mint, the latter end of June, and throughout July. Sage, August and September. Tarragon, June, July, and August. Chervil, May, June, and July. Burnet, June, July, and August. Parsley, May, June, and July. Fennel, the same. Elder flowers, and orange flowers, May, June, and July. Herbs carefully dried, are a very agreeable substitute; but when fresh ones can be had, their flavour and fragrance are much finer, and therefore to be preferred.

SWEET LAMB PIE. Make a good puff paste; then cut a loin of lamb into chops, and season with salt and nutmeg; lay a paste over the bottom of your dish; put in your chops, with a handful of currants washed and picked very clean; lay on your lid, and bake it. When it comes from the oven, take off the lid nicely, and pour over a caudle made of white wine, the yolks of eggs, a little nutmeg, and sugar pounded: lay the lid on again, and send it to table as hot as you can.

SWEET MACARONI. To make a very nice dish of macaroni, boil two ounces of it in a pint of milk, with a bit of cinnamon and lemon peel, till the pipes are swelled to their utmost size without breaking. Lay them on a custard dish, pour a custard over them, and serve them up cold.

SWEET PATTIES. Chop the meat of a boiled calf's foot, the liquor of which is intended for jelly; two apples, one ounce of orange and lemon peel candied, and some fresh peel and juice. Mix with them half a nutmeg grated, the yolk of an egg, a spoonful of brandy, and four ounces of currants washed and dried. Fill some small pattipans lined with paste, and bake them.—To make patties resembling mince pies, chop the kidney and fat of cold veal, apple, orange and lemon peel candied; adding some fresh currants, a little wine, two or three cloves, a little brandy and sugar.

SWEET POT. Take three handfuls of orange flowers, three of clove gilliflowers, three of damask roses, one of knotted marjoram, one of lemon thyme, six bay leaves, a handful of rosemary, one of myrtle, one of lavender, half one of mint, the rind of a lemon, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves. Chop all together, and put them in layers, with pounded bay-salt between, up to the top of the jar. If all the ingredients cannot be got at once, put them in when obtained, always throwing in salt with every fresh article. This will be found a quick and easy way of making a sweet-scented pot.

SWEET SAUCE. Put some currant jelly into a stewpan, and when melted, pour it into a sauce boat. This is a more salubrious relish for venison or hare, than either spice or salt, and is an agreeable accompaniment to roast or hashed meats.

SWEETBREADS FRICASSEE. Cut the sweetbreads in pretty thick slices, boil them till about half done, with a little more water than just to cover them. Add a little salt, white pepper, and mace. Then some butter, the yolks of four eggs beaten with a little white wine, and some verjuice. Keep this over the fire, shaking it well, till the sauce is properly thickened. Serve it up with the juice of a Seville orange squeezed over it. If it is to be a brown fricassee, fry the sweetbreads first in butter till the outside is browned. Then pour away the butter, put water to the sweetbreads, and boil and finish them as before. An onion or a clove of garlic may be added to the water; or if broth be used instead of water, it will make the fricassee more savoury.

SWEETBREADS FRIED. Cut them into long slices, rub them over with egg, season with pepper, salt, and grated bread, and fry them in butter. Serve them up with melted butter and ketchup, garnished with crisped parsley, and thin slices of toasted bacon.

SWEETBREADS RAGOUT. Cut them about the size of a walnut, wash and dry them, then fry them of a fine brown. Pour on them a good gravy, seasoned with salt, pepper, allspice, and either mushrooms or mushroom ketchup, adding truffles and morels, if approved. Strain, and thicken with butter and a little flour.

SWEETBREADS ROASTED. Parboil two large ones; when cold, lard them with bacon, and roast them in a Dutch oven. For sauce, plain butter and mushroom ketchup.

SWEETMEATS. Preserves or sweetmeats should be carefully kept from the air, and set in a very dry place. If they have only a small proportion of sugar, a warm situation would not injure them; but if they have not been sufficiently boiled, the heat will make them ferment, and the damp will cause them to grow mouldy. They should be inspected two or three times in the first two months that they may be gently boiled again, if not likely to keep. It is necessary to observe, that the boiling of sugar more or less, constitutes the chief art of the confectioner; and those who are not practically acquainted with the subject, and only preserve fruit in a plain way for family use, are not aware that in two or three minutes, a syrup over the fire will pass from one gradation to another, called by the confectioners, degrees of boiling, of which there are six, and those sub-divided. Without entering, however, into the minutiÆ of the business, it is only necessary to make the observation in order to guard against under boiling, which prevents sweetmeats from keeping; and quick and long boiling, which reduces them to candy. Attention, without much practice, will enable a person to do any of the following sorts of sweetmeats and preserves, which are quite sufficient for a private family. The higher articles of preserved fruits may be bought at less expense than made. Jellies of fruit are made with an equal quantity of sugar, that is, a pound to a pint, and require no very long boiling. A pan should be kept for the purpose of preserving, of double block tin, with a bow handle for safety, opposite the straight one: and if when done with, it be carefully cleaned and set by in a dry place, it will last for several years. Pans of copper or brass are extremely improper, as the tinning wears out by the scraping of the ladle. Sieves and spoons should likewise be kept on purpose for sweetmeats. Sweetmeats keep best in drawers that are not connected with a wall. If there be the least damp, cover them only with paper dipped in brandy, and laid on quite close; and to prevent the mouldiness occasioned by insects, cover them with fresh paper in the spring. When any sweetmeats are to be dried in the sun, or in a stove, it will be best in private families, where there is not a regular stove for the purpose, to place them in the sun on flag stones, which reflect the heat, and to cover them with a garden glass to keep off the insects. If put into an oven, take care that it be not too warm, and watch to see them done properly and slowly. When green fruits are to be preserved, take pippins, apricots, pears, plums, or peaches, and put them into a block tin preserving pan, with vine leaves under and over them, and cover them with spring water. Put on the tin cover to exclude the air, and set the pan on the side of the fire. When the fruit begins to simmer, remove the pan from the fire, pour off the water, and if not green, put fresh leaves when cold, and repeat the same. Take them out carefully with a slice, peel and do them as directed for the different kinds of preserves. When fruit is plentiful, and sweetmeats are wanted for tarts, divide two pounds of apricots just ripe, and take out and break the stones. Put the kernels without their skins to the fruit; add three pounds of greengages, and two pounds and a half of lump sugar. The sugar should be broken in large pieces, and just dipped in water, and added to the fruit over a slow fire. Simmer it till reduced to a clear jam, but observe that it does not boil, and skim it well. If the sugar be clarified, it will make the jam the better. Put it into small pots, which art the best for preserving sweetmeats.

SWEETMEAT PIES. Sweetmeats made with syrups are made into pies the same as raw fruit, and the same crusts may be used for them. Tarts made of any kind of jam are commonly made with a crust round the bottom of the dish, the sweetmeat then put in, and only little ornaments of crust cut with a jagging iron, and laid over the top. Sugar paste may be used if preferred. Little tartlets are made in the same way, only baked in tins and turned out.

SWOONS. In a swooning fit, the patient should immediately be exposed to the open air, and the face and neck sprinkled with cold water. Pungent odours, or volatile spirits, should be held to the nostrils, and the feet rubbed with hot flannels, or put into warm water.

SYLLABUB. Put a pint of cider and a bottle of strong beer into a large punch bowl, grate in a nutmeg, and sweeten it. Put in as much new milk from the cow as will make a strong froth, and let it stand an hour. Clean and wash some currants, and make them plump before the fire: then strew them over the syllabub, and it will be fit for use. A good imitation of this may be made by those who do not keep cows, by pouring new milk out of a tea-pot into the cider and beer, or wine.—A fine syllabub from the cow. Make your syllabub either of wine or cyder, (if cyder, put a spoonful of brandy in) sweeten it, and grate in some nutmeg; then milk into the liquor till you have a fine light curd; pour over it half a pint, or a pint of good cream, according to the quantity of syllabub you make: you may send it in the basin it was made in, or put it into custard-cups, and tea-spoons with it on a salver.—To make very fine syllabubs. Take a quart and half a pint of cream, a pint of Rhenish, and half a pint of sack; grate the rind of three lemons into the cream; with near a pound of double-refined sugar; squeeze the juice of three lemons into the wine, and put it to the cream; then beat all together with a whisk half an hour, take it up together with a spoon, and fill the glasses. It is best at three or four days old, and will keep good nine or ten days. These are called the everlasting syllabubs.

SYMPATHETIC INK. Write on paper with a solution of nitrate of bismuth, and smear the writing over with a feather, moistened with an infusion of galls. The letters which were before invisible, will now appear of a brown colour. Or write with a solution of muriate of antimony, and smear the writing over with a feather dipped in a solution of galls. The writing before invisible, will now turn yellow. Or write with a transparent infusion of gall nuts, and smear it over with a solution of metallic salt; and on a slight exposure to the air, the writing will turn quite black. If written with a solution of sulphate of iron, and rubbed over with a solution of prussiate of potass, it will appear of a beautiful blue colour.

SYRUP OF CREAM. Scald a pint of perfectly fresh cream, add to it a pound and a quarter of powdered lump sugar. Keep it in a cool place for two or three hours, then put it into small phials, holding one or two ounces each, and cork it close. It will keep good thus for several weeks, and will be found very useful in voyages.

SYRUP OF DIACODIUM. Steep two pounds and a quarter of poppy heads in a gallon of water, and let it infuse twenty-four hours. Boil the infusion till reduced to three pints, and add to it a pound and a half of sugar.

SYRUP OF MULBERRIES. Put the mulberries into a jar, and the jar into a kettle of water over the fire, till the juice runs from them. Then squeeze the fruit, and add to the juice twice its weight in sugar. Set it over a slow fire, skim it clean, and keep it simmering till the sugar is all dissolved.

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