THE FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLDER'S GUIDE; HOW TO KEEP HOUSE; HOW TO PROVIDE; HOW TO COOK; HOW TO WASH; HOW TO DYE; HOW TO PAINT; HOW TO PRESERVE HEALTH; HOW TO CURE DISEASE, ETC., E T C : A MANUAL OF HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT, FROM THE LATEST AUTHORITIES. E D I T E D B Y E. G. S T O R K E . A U B U R N , N. Y. THE AUBURN PUBLISHING COMPANY. E. G. STORKE, PUBLISHING AGENT. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1859, B Y W I L L I S W. S I T T S E E , In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Northern District of New York. O. A. ALVORT), STEREOTYPIC AMI) PRINTER, NEW YORK. INDEX TO THE FAMILY GUIDE. A. PAGE Abstinence, effects of 126 Accidents, to treat 104 Acids, to neutralize, in fruit pies and puddings 58 Agate 225 Air, its necessity t o health 107 Air, night, hurtful 109 Air of marshes . . 109 Air of the sea 110 Albiiinen 182 Alcohol, as a beverage 166 Almonds 207 Aloes 218 Alum, use of, in washing . . . 83 Amethyst 225 Antimony 237 Ants, to destroy 100 Appetite, artificial 125 Appetite, different kinds of 125 Appetite, natural 125 Appetite of habit 125 Apple-wine, to make 76 A n i e n t spirits, the several kinds of 167 Arrow-root, as food 139 Aisenic 23S Asbestos 226 Aspai agus, to cook 68 Asparagus, to pickle 65 B. Bacon, as food Bacon, to choose Baking meats Bar*. ' Barley, as food Bathing, its advantages Beans as food Beans, sti ing, to cook Beans, to pickle Beans, to preserve, in winter Beds « Bed-chamber Beef, as food Beef, to choose Beef-tea . . . • Beer, root, to m a k e Beer, theological Bees, to cure the stings of . . . Beets, as food Beets, to cook Bell-metal Betel-nut Bird-lime Biscuit, as food Biscuit, to make Bismuth . Blacking, best, for boots and shoes .. Black-lead . . . f Bleeding, its impropriety isteis Boiling, how it should be done .. Boiling, time lequired Bowels, caie of . . Brass, the composition of Bjazil-nuts.. 136 14 24 218 141 174 148 68 66 68 185 186 134 13 135 Dl 92 93 147 68 234 215 238 207 Bread-making should be b e t t e r understood 85 Bread, its value as food .. .85, 142 Bread, various kinds, to m a k e '. 88 Breakfast 157 Britannia-metal 233 Broccoli, as food 146 Broccoli, to cook 68 Bi oiling 24 Bioth 138 Bronze 234 Bi ushes, hair, to clean 97 Bui ns, to cure 92 Buckwheat, as food 142 Buckwheat-cakes 45 Butter, as food 134 C. Cabbage, as food.. 146 Cabbage, to cook 69 Cabbage, to pickle 66 Cakes, frosting for 45 Cakes, icing for 45 Cakes, information for making and baking, 42 Cakes, various kinds of, to make 43 Calisthenics 125 Candles, improved 89 Caps 116 Carrots, as food 14T Castoi-oil 220 Cauliflower, as food 140 Cauliflower, to cook 69 Cayenne-pepper 209 Celery, to cook 69 Cellars Ill Cement, fire and water-proof 91 Cement for seams 90 Cheese, as food 133 Chei ry-wine 76 Chocolate, as a drink 162 Chocolate, to m a k e 75 Choice of food 12 Cinnamon 208 Cleanliness 172 Clothes, to fold 80 Clothes, to iron 80 Clothes, to make water-proof 94 Clothes, to save expenso in 89 Clothes, to sprinkle 80 Clothing, beneficial effects of flannel . .. 115 •Clothing, cotton, preferable to linen. .. . 115 Clothing, bow to adapt it t o individual conditions 113 Cloves 209 •Cobalt 238 Cochineal 221 Cockroaches, to drive away 88 Cocoa, as a drink 74 Oocoa-nuts, what they are 207 Cocoa, where grown 204 Cod, to choose" 13 Coffee, as a drink 162 Coffee, cream for 75 Coffee, to make . . . 74 Coffee, to roast 75 Coffee, where an,d how grown,'etc.. .....................204 4 INDEX TO THE FAMILY GUIDE. PAGE Cold 112 Cold-slaw 69 Cold, to resist 112 Cologne-water 180 Colored drawings, to m a k e t h e m resemble oil paintings 89 Common things 202-238 Contagion, to prevent the spread of 97 Condiments, their effects 154 Cookery, details of practical 35 Cookery, modes of 17 Cookery, utensils of 26 Cookies 44 Cook's table of weights and measures 78 Copper 231 Corn, green, to cook 72 Corn, Indian, as food 142 Corns, to cure 92 Corn, to dry for winter use 97 Corsets 117 Cosmetics 179 Crabs, as food 137 Crabs, to choose 13 Crackers, to m a k e 49 Cravats 117 Cream, as food 133 Croup, cure for 97 Crullers 48 Cucumber, as food 149 Cucumber, to pickle 66 Culinary economy 11 Currant-wine T7 Custards, various kinds of 59 Dancing Dates Dentifrices Diamond Dinner Disinfecting liquid Domestic rules Dough-nuts Dreaming Drinks Drunkenness Dumplings Dyeing black " black on silks " bonnets " bright madder " brown " coffee-color " drab-color " general directions for " green " kid-gloves " lemon-color " lilac-color " nankin " orange-color t; pink..... 4 purple " rose-color " royal purple " scarlet " sky-blue " slate-color " straw-color " yellow " yellow on cotton 121 207 180 224 158 97 9 47 187 159 171 56 83 85 85 84 85 85 85 83 84 85 84 83 85 86 85 85 85 84 84 83 84 84 84 86 Eggs, as food Eggs, to preserve Eggs, various ways of cooking Elderberry-wine Emeralds Emery 133 89 60 77 225 227 PAG3 Exercise, different kinds of Exercise, its necessity to health 119 119 F. Family pie-crust 50 Family tool-chest 95 Fat, as food 134 Feathers, to cleanse 88 Feet, care of 193 Feet, remedy for blistered 92 Felons, to cure 94 Fish, as food 137 Fish, fresh-water 13 Flannel . . 115 Flounders, to choose .......... 13 Flour, to detect adulterations of 36 Flour, to test 36 Food, animal 130 Food, choice of 12 Food, its uses 127 Food, varieties of 128 Food, vegetable ] 29 Friction 124 Fritters 46 Frosting for cakes 48 Frugality 10 Fruits, foreign 205 Fruits, their comparative healthfullness and value as food 149 Fruits, to preserve. 61 Frying-pan, its use 26 Frying, w h y objectionable 24 F u r n i t u r e , mahogany, to polish 90 F u r n i t u r e , of iron 198 G. Game, as food Garters, best kind of Gelatine Gestation, as an exercise Ginger-bread, as food Ginger-cakes Ginger-nuts Ginger-snaps « Ginger, where and how procured Glass, to clean Glue, liquid Gluten, as food Gold Grapes, to preserve t h e m fresh Grape-wine , Greens, best kinds of Greens, to cook Giiddle-cakes Giidiron, how to use t h e Gruel Gum-Arabic Gum, as food Gun-metal Gutta-percha Gymnastics. 136 118 131 122 144 48 48 48 210 95 96 139 234 96 76 69 69 46 26 141 220 139 234 224 124 H. Habit Hair-brushes, to clean Hair, care of the Hams, as food Hams, to pi eserve in summer Head-dress Head, scald Head, to remove scurf from t h e Health, its importance Health, means of preserving Heat Herrings, to choose H e n i n g s , when to be eaten Hominy Honey, as food Household economy 195 97 189 136 96 116 98 97 106 106 Ill 13 13 70 140 10 INDEX TO THE FAMILY GUIDE. PAGE PAGE B^use, bow it should be built House, how it should be furnished House, how it should bo situated How to provide Human body, heat of the Human body, effects of cold upon the 9 9 9 12 Ill 112 Icing for cakes India rubber Indigo Ink for garden labels Ink, marking Ink, to make various kinds of. Intemperance Iodine Ipecacuanha Isinglass , 45 223 222 91 91 91 170 220 219 222 Jam, various kinds of Jellies, to make Jelly, calves'-foot Johnny-cake Joints, names and situation of Joints, relative economy of K. Kitchen, waste in the 64 58 132 44 15 16 Laces, to iron Laces, to starch Lamb, as food Lamb, to choose Lamps, to prevent them from smoking Lettuce, as food Lettuce, to prepare for table Lime-water, use of it in bread-making .. Lime-water, use of it in washing Linen, as clothing Liquors, malt Load-stone Lobster, as food Lobster, to choose Logwood-tree Luncheon ML. Mackerel, to choose Madder Mangoes Marketing Marketing, rules for ... . Meals, how and when to be taken Meats, choice of Meats, Dr. Kitchener's rules for baking... Meats, general principles for cooking Meats, loss in cooking Meats, salted, as food Meats, time required to roast, etc Meats, to preserve fresh Microscope Milk, as food Milk, to preserve Moths, to destroy Mushrooms, broiled, as food Musk Mussels, as food Mutton, as food Mutton, time required to roast Mutton, to choose N. Nuts, as food O. Oats, as food Oil, olive, as food 82 81 135 14 92 149 69 40 79 116 163 228 13T 13 222 15T 11 13 222 66 12 12 156 15 24 22 23 137 23 17 97 132 94 88 73 222 ] 38 135 20 14 153 141 140 Olive-tree, where grown, etc Omelet Onions, as food Onions, to cook Onions, to pickle Opal Opium, how obtained Oven, the Dutch Oysters, as food Oysters, vegetable Oysters, when good P. Painting, best season for Painting, various receipts for Paint made from potatoes Paint, to clean Paint, to extract it from goods Paint, to remove the smell of Pancakes, as food Parsnips, as food Parsnip fritters Parsnips, to cook Passions, the Pastry, as food Peaches, to preserve Pearls Pears, as food Peas, green Peas stewed in cream Pears, to preserve Pepper Pewter, composition of Pickles, directions for making Pickles sold in shops Pie-crust, to make Pies, minced, best meat for Pies, to make various kinds of Piles, cure for Pine-apple Platinum Poisons and their antidotes Porcelain, how made Pork, as food Pork, to cook Potato-balls, to make Potatoes, as food Potatoes, sweet, to cook Potatoes, to preserve Potatoes, various ways to cook Poultry, as food Precious metals Preserves, as food Preserves, directions for making Puddings, as food Puddings, to make Pumice-stone Quinces, for the table Quinces, to preserve K. Eadishes Eadishes, as food Easpberry-wine Eats, easy mode of destroying Rhubarb Eice, as food Eice, Southern mode of boiling Eiding, as an exercise Eingworm, to cure Eoasting, time required for Eolls . Eusks, various kinds of Eye, as food S. Sago, as food. 206 61 148 70 66 225 215 27 138 73 13 , 90 87 87 90 90 90 145 147 72 72 187 144 63 226 150 70 70 62 156 234 65 67 50 50 50 98 208 237 102 210 135 23 72 145 72 15 71 136 234 156 61 145 53 227 64 63 72 149 77 92 218 141 74 122 88 19 41 41 141 J146 6 INDEX TO THE FAMILY GUIDE, PAGE Bailing, as an exercise Salad Salad, as food Salmon, to choose Salsify, or vegetable oyster Salt, as food Savsaparilla Saucepan, its uses Sausages, as food Sausages, to m a k e Senna Sick, various preparations for t h e Sight, to preserve Silver Sleep, promotive of health Sleep, to procure Slugs, to destroy Soap, for personal use Soap, hard Soap, to disuse Soap, to make Soda, as a substitute for sugar Soda-water, family Soups, as food^ Spit, uses of the Sponge Squashes Stains, to make various Starch, as food Starching, etc . .. • Starch, to prepare for laces Steel Strawberries, to preserve Sugar, as food Sugar, to clarify Supper Surfeit Swimming, as an exercise 123 73 148 13 73 15& 219 27 136 88 219 100 191 235 181 93 88 178 81 S3 81 58 92 136 26 223 72 89 139 80 81 229 62 139 62 159 127 122 Topaz Training, its uses Turnips Turtle, as food T. Table, engraving of t h e Table, deportment at Table, hints on setting out Tamarinds Tarts, to make Tea, as a drink Tea, how grown, etc* Tea, to make Tea, to detect adulterations in Teeth, to clean Tin Toast Tobacco, use of Tomatoes, various ways to cook Tool-chest, family 29 28 28 208 56 161 Y. 202 76 Yam, as food 76 Yeast-cakes, to m a k e 100 Yeast, domestic 230 Yeast, prime, to m a k e 144 Yeast, to m a k e various k i a d s of 193 Z. 73 95 I Zin«. V. Tarnish, to color baskets Veal, as food Veal, to choose Vegetable oysters Vegetables, as food Vegetables, medium size t h e best Vegetables, to boil Vegetables, to choose Vegetables, to pi eserve, in winter Velvet, to raise the pile of Venison, as food Venison, to choose Ventilation Vessels, to cleanse PA6S 225 195 143 1ST 89 135 13 73 139-149 14 28 14 67 82 135 14 110 97 W. "Walking t h e best exercise 121 Washing calicoes 81 Washing in one hour 79 Washing made easy 79 Washing, review of 83 Washing woolens 81 Water, hard, to make soft 82' Weights and measures for cooks 78 Wells in quick-sand, to dig 99 Wheat, as food . 1401 Whitewash, brilliant 86 Whitewash, excellent, to make 86 Whitewash t h a t will not rub off 86 Whitewash, to make, of any color 86 Wine, apple 76 Wine, as a drink 164 "Wine, cherry 76 Wine, currant 77 Wine, elder 77 Wine, grape 76 Wine, home-made, to m a k e 76 Wine, raspberry 77 Wounds, to p r e v e n t from m o r t i f y i n g . . . .100" 146 37 37 37 37 INTRODUCTION. "Finding we consumed a vast deal of soap, I sat down in my thinking-chair and took the soap question into consideration, and found reason to suspect we were using a very expensive article where a much cheaper one would serve the'purposeletter, I ordered half a dozen pounds of doth sorts, but toolc the precaution of changing the papers on which the prices were marked before giving them into the hands of Betty, ' Well, Betty, which soap do you find washes bestf i Oh, please sir, the dearest, in the blue paper; it makes a lather as well again as the other.1 ' Well, Betty, you shall always have it then;'' and thus the unsuspecting Betty saved me some pounds a year, and washed the clothes better,"—RET. SIDNEY SMITH. ECONOMY with, us is little understood, and less practiced. Since we have so far departed from the sterling and better habits of our ancestors as to leave the execution of our plans mostly to employees, it is certainly important to our own success, comfort, and happiness that we be able, at least, to lay good plans and to give intelligent and proper directions. The losses and discomforts which arise from our inability to do this are incalculable. In the various arts of practical household management how very deficient are many of the hundreds of thousands who, in this country, are annually assuming the positions of heads of families! And among those who long have held that position, how many mistakes are constantly committed, simply from ignorance of correct processes, or an unwillingness to investigate and understand the improvements which have been made in the arts of life. How much disappointment attends the practice of the simplest, yet most important of household arts. Bread-making is but imperfectly understood, and success is rather the exception than the rule; when, by a proper 8 INTRODUCTION. understanding of the true process, a failure to have light, sweet, and healthy bread would be a wonder. So with the various other departments of practical cookery. We too blindly follow the traditionary practices of the past, and give too little heed to the discoveries, improvements, and progress of the present. Washing, that most difficult and laborious of household arts, is now, by the assistance afforded by modern chemistry, performed with less than half the labor and in one-fourth of the time that were formerly bestowed upon it, and yet but few are aware of the fact; and the old patience-tiring, clothes and muscle wearing process is still generally in vogue among us. The saving that may be effected by substituting the use of soda for sugar, in correcting the acids in fruits, pies and puddings, is equally unknown; while the relative nutriment and healthfulness of the various alimentary substances are but imperfectly understood. It is the design of this work to arrange in a form for convenient reference the latest and best discoveries and improvements relating to the practical details of household affairs in their various and complicated relations. The aim has been to exclude all unnecessary matter, and to condense the most important information within the shortest compass, so that any desired fact or direction could not only be quickly found, but when found could be easily understood and practiced. The latest and most reliable authorities have been consulted, and the work, it is believed, will be found accurate, and worthy the attention of every American family. THE FAMILY. THE FAMIIiY CJUIBE. DOMESTIC RULES,—1. Do every thing in its proper time. 2. Keep every thing to its proper use. 3. Put every thing in its proper place. THE HOUSE claims primary attention. It is too often built more to gratify the public than its owner—to suit it to the wants of company rather than those who are to be its daily occupants; and the inconveniences resulting from such false notions are constant and severe. This folly, it is hoped, will soon cease. The house should be planned and constructed for a home for the family, and should combine, in the highest attainable degree, the requisites for their comfort and convenience. This should be the first object. At the same time, if the owner's means allow, a proper arrangement for the entertainment of friends should not be overlooked; for the cultivation of our social natures, and the exercise of hospitality, are important duties, which no discreet householder will overlook, as from them flow our choicest pleasures. It is not the sum invested in a dwelling, but the neatness, taste, and conveniences which it embodies, and its adaptation to the circumstances and wants of its owner that constitute its true harmony and beauty. The first point to be regarded in a house is its position. Carefully regard the healthfulness of the situation. Avoid the neighborhood of grave-yards, and of factories giving forth unhealthy vapors; avoid low and damp districts, the course of canals, and localities of reservoirs of water, gas-works, etc.; make inquiries as to the drainage of the neighborhood, and inspect the drainage and water supply of the premises. A house standing on an incline is likely to be better drained than one standing upon the summit of a hill, or on a level below a hill. Endeavor to obtain a position where the direct sunlight falls upon the house, for this is absolutely necessary to health, and give preference to a house the openings of which are sheltered from the north and east winds. Consider the distance of the house from your place of occupation, and also its relation to provision markets, and the prices that prevail in the neighborhood. Furnishing the House.—If you are about to furnish a house, do not spend all your money, be it much or little. Do not let the beauty of this thing, and the cheapness of that, tempt you to buy unnecessary articles. Doctor Franklin's maxim was a wise one—" Nothing is cheap that we do not want." Buy merely enough to get along with at first 10 THE FAMILY. It is only by experience that you can tell what will be the wants of your family. If you spend all your money, you will find you have purchased many things you do not want, and have no means left to get many things which you do want. If you have enough, and more than enough, to get every thing suitable to your situation, do not think you must spend it all, merely because you happen to have it. Begin humbly. As riches increase, it is easy and pleasant to increase in comforts; but it is always painful and inconvenient to decrease. After all, these things are viewed in their proper light by the truly judicious and respectable. Neatness, tastefulness, and good sense may be shown in the management of a small household, and the arrangement of a little furniture, as well as upon a larger scale; and these qualities are always praised, and always treated with respect and attention. The consideration which many purchase by living beyond their income, and, of course, living upon others, is not worth the trouble it costs. The glare there is about this false and wicked parade is deceptive; it does not, in fact, procure a man valuable friends or extensive influence. Frugality.—The great philosopher, Dr. Franklin, inspired the mouthpiece of his own eloquence, "Poor Richard," with "many a gem of purest ray serene," encased in the homely garb of proverbial truisms. On the subject of frugality, we cannot do better than take the worthy Mentor for our text, and from it address our remarks. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, " keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will," and " Many estates are spent in getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting." If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting. The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her out-goes are greater than her in-comes. Beware of little expenses. " A small leak will sink a great ship," as Poor Richard says 5 and again, " AiVho dainties love, shall beggars prove;" and moreover, " Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them." Here you are all got together to this sale of fineries and nick-nacks. You call them goods; but if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but if you have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor Richard says, " Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries." And again, " At a great pennyworth, pause awhile." He means, perhaps, that the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good; for in another place he says, " Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths." Again, " It is foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance;" and yet this folly is practised every day at auctions, for want of minding the almanac. FAMILY GUIDE, 11 Many, for the sake of finery on the back, have gone with a hungry stomach, and half-starved their families. " Silks and satins,, scarlets and velvets, put out the kitchen fire," as Poor Eichard says. These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called the conveniences ; and yet, only because they look pretty, how many want to have them? By these and other extravagances, the genteel are reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly despised, but who through industry and frugality have maintained their standing; in which case it appears plainly that "A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees," as Poor Eichard says. Perhaps they had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think "it is day, and will never be night;" that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but " Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom," as Poor Eichard says; and then, " When the well is dry, they know the worth of water." But this they might have known before, if they had taken his advice • " If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some; for he that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing," as Poor Eichard says; and, indeed, so does he that lends to such people, when he goes to get it in again. Poor Dick further advises: " Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse ; 1 Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse. ' And again, " Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy." When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece; but Poor Dick says, " I t is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it;" and it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the ox. " Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore." It is, however, a folly soon punished ; for " Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt; pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy." And, after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered ? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it makes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy, it hastens misfortune. Generally speaking, we are very deficient in the practice of culinary economy. A French family would live well on what is often wasted in an American kitchen. The bones, drippings, pot-liquor, remains of fish, vegetables, etc., which are too often consigned to the grease-pot or the dust-heap, might, by a very trifling degree of management on the part of the cook, or mistress of a family, be converted into sources of daily support and comfort, at least to some poor pensioner or other, at an expense that even the miser could scarcely grudge. 12 THE FAMILY. H W T PROVIDE--Marketing.—The best rule for marketing is to O O pay ready money for every thing, and to deal with the most respectable tradesmen in your neighborhood. If you leave it to their integrity to supply you with a good article, at the fair market price, you will be supplied with better provisions, and at as reasonable a rate as those bargain-htmters who trot " around, around, around about" a market till they are trapped to buy some unchewable old poultry, tough tup-mutton, stringy cow-beef, or stale fish, at a very little less than the price of prime and proper food. With savings like these they toddle home in triumph, cackling all the way, like a goose that has got ancle-deep into good luck. All the skill of the most accomplished cook will avail nothing unless she is furnished with prime provisions. The best way to procure these is to deal with shops of established character. You may appear to pay, perhaps, ten per cent, more than you would were you to deal with those who pretend to sell cheap, but you would be much more than in that proportion better served. Every trade has its tricks and deceptions; those who follow them can deceive you if they please, and they are too apt to do so, if you provoke the exercise of their overreaching talent. Challenge them to a game at " catch who can," by entirely relying on your own judgment, and you will soon find nothing but very long experience can make you equal to the combat of marketing to the utmost advantage. If you think a tradesman has imposed upon you, never use a second word, if the first will not do, nor drop the least hint of an imposition. The only method to induce him to make an abatement is the hope of future favors, pay the demand, and deal with the gentleman no more; but do not let him see that you are displeased, or as soon as you are out of sight your reputation will suffer as much as your pocket has. Before you go to market, look over your larder, and consider well what things are wanting—especially on a Saturday. No well-regulated family can suffer a disorderly caterer to be jumping in and out to make purchases on a Sunday morning. You will be enabled to manage much better if you will make out a bill of fare for the week on the Saturday before—for example, for a family of half a dozen : Sunday—Roast-beef and pudding. Monday—Fowl, with what was left of pudding, fried, or warmed in the Butch oven. Tuesday—Calf s head, apple-pie. Wednesday—Leg of mutton. Thursday—Do. broiled or hashed, or cakes. Friday—Fish, pudding. Saturday—Fish, or eggs and bacon. Choice Of Articles Of Food.—Nothing is more important in the affairs of housekeeping than the choice of wholesome food. We have been amused by a conundrum, which is as follows: "A man went to market and bought two fish. When he reached home he found they were the same as when he had bought them, yet there were three /" How was this ? The answer is—" He bought two mackerel, and one smelt /" Those who envy him his bargain need not care about the following rules ; but to others they will \Q valuable : FAMILY GUIDE. 13 Mackerel must be perfectly fresh, or it is a very indifferent fish; it will neither bear carriage nor being kept many hours out of the water. The firmness of the flesh and the clearness of the eyes must be the criterion of fresh mackerel, as they are of all other fish. Flounders, and all flat white fish, are rigid and firm when fresh; the under side should be of a, rich cream color. When out of season, or too long kept, this becomes a bluish white, and the flesh soft and flaccid. A clear, bright eye in fish is also a mark of being fresh and good. Cod is known to be fresh by the rigidity of the muscles (or flesh), the redness of the gills, and clearness of the eyes. Crimping much improves this fish. Salmon. The flavor and excellence of this fish depends upon its freshness, and the shortness of time since it was caught; for no method can completely preserve the delicate flavor it has when just taken out of the water. Herrings can only be eaten when4 very fresh, and, like mackerel, will not remain good many hours after they are caught. Fresh-ioater fish. The remarks as to firmness and clear, fresh eyes apply to this variety of fish, of which there are pike, perch, etc. Lobsters recently caught have always some remains of muscular action in the claws, which may be excited by pressing the eyes with the finger. When this cannot be produced, the lobster must have been too long kept. When boiled, the tail preserves its elasticity if fresh, but loses it as soon as it becomes stale. The heaviest lobsters are the best; when light, they are watery and poor. Hen lobsters may generally be known by the spawn, or by the breadth of the " flap." Crabs must be chosen by observations similar to those given above in the choice of lobsters. Crabs have an agreeable smell when fresh. Prawns and shrimps, when fresh, are firm and crisp. r Oysters. If fresh, the shell is firmly closed; when the shells of oysr fcers are opened, they are dead, and unfit for food. The small-shelled oysters are the finest in flavor. Larger kinds, called rock oysters, are generally considered only fit for stewing and sauces, though some persons prefer thorn. Beef. The grain of ox beef, when good, is loose, the meat red, and the fat inclining to yellow. Cow beef, on the contrary, has a closer grain, a whiter fat, but meat scarcely as red as that of ox beef. Inferior beef, which is meat obtained from ill-fed animals, or from those which had become too old for food, may be known by a hard skinny fat, a dark red lean, and, in old animals, a line of horny texture running through the meat of the ribs. When meat pressed by the finger rises up quickly, it may be considered as that of an animal which was in its prime; when the dent made by pressure returns slowly, or remains visible, the animal had probably past its prime, and the meat conse quently must be of inferior quality. Veal should be delicately white, though it is often juicy and well flavored when rather dark in color. Butchers, it is said, bleed calves purposely before killing them, with a view to make the flesh white, but this also makes it dry and flavorless. On examining the loin, if the fat enveloping the kidney be white and firm-looking, the meat will prob 14 THE FAMILY. ably be prime and recently killed. Yeal will not keep so long as an older meat, especially in hot or damp weather; when going, the fat becomes soft and moist, the meat flabby*and spotted, and somewhat porous, like sponge* Large, overgrown veal is inferior to small, delicate, yet fat veal. The fillet of a cow-calf is known by the udder attached to it, and by the softness of the skin; it is preferable to the veal of a bull-calf. Mutton. The meat should be firm and close in grain, and red in color, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep is about five years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily separates ; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-colored, the fat inclining to yellow; the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains; after cooking, the meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh. Lamb. This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the neck is bluish in color when the fore-quarter is fresh, green when becoming stale. In the hind-quarter, if not recently killed, the fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have lost its firmness. Pork. When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed or diseased pig. Bacon should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm and tinged red by the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a "short, thick one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Venison. When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the haunch, and from the smell the cook must determine on dressing or keeping it. Choice of Vegetables,—As to the quality of vegetables the middle size are preferred to the largest or the smallest; they are more tender, juicy, and full of flavor, just before they are quite full grown : freshness is their chief value and excellence, and I should as soon think of roasting an animal alive as of boiling a vegetable after it is dead. The eye easily discovers if they have been kept too long; they soon lose their beauty in all respects. Roots, greens, salads, etc., and the various productions of the garden, when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give them again; though it will refresh them a little to put them into cold spring water for some time before they are dressed. FAMILY GUIDE 15 To Preserve Potatoes.—The preservation of potatoes by dipping them in boiling water is a valuable and useful discovery. Large quantities may be cured at once, by putting them into a basket as large as t h e vessel containing the boiling water will admit, and then just dipping them a minute or two at t h e utmost. T h e germ, which is so near t h e skin, is thus destroyed without injury to the potato. In this way several tons might be cured in a few hours. They should be then dried in a warm oven, and laid up in sacks, secure from t h e frost, in a dry place. Choice Of Meats—Names and Situation of the Joints. A BULLOCK MARKED AS CUT BY THE BUTCHER. A Sirloin. B Rump. C Aitchbone. D Buttock. E Mouse Buttock. F Veiny piece. G- Thick Flank. H Thin Flank. I Leg. K L M N 0 P Q R S Fore Ribs, containing five ribs. Middle Rib, containing four ribs. Chuck Rib, containing three ribs. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton piece Brisket. Clod. Neck, or Sticking piece. Shin. Cheek. T h e baron of beef is formed of t h e pieces m a r k e d A, B , united on botti wdes. A The Loin (best end.) F Feck (best end.) B The Loin (chump end.) G- Neck (scrag.) C The Fillet. H Blade-Bone. D The Hind Knuckle. I Breast (best end.) E The Fore Knuckle. K Breast (brisket.) T h e calf is divided into joints b y the butcher, upon a system which unites the methods employed for cutting up both beef and mutton. THE FAMILY. A The Fore Loin. B The Hind Loin. B The Leg. C The Belly, or Spring. D The Hand. The sparerib is under the shoulder, which, when removed in a porker, leaves part of the neck without a skin upon it, forming the sparerib. The head is much liked by many, and appears at table dressed in various ways. The sheep is thus apportioned by butchers . A The Leg. E Neck (scrag end.) B Loin (the best end.) E Shoulder. G Loin (Chump end.) G Breast. D Neck (best end.) Relative Economy of the Joints,—The round is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts. It is usually boiled, and, like most of the boiling parts of beef, is generally sold less than roasting joints. The brisket is also a penny a pound less in price than the roasting parts. It is not so economical a part as the round, having more bone to be weighed with it, and more fat. "Where there are children, very fat joints are not desirable, being often disagreeable to them, and sometimes prejudicial, especially if they have a dislike to it. This joint also requires more cooking than many others; that is to say, it requires a double allowance of time to be given for boiling it; it will, when served, be hard and scarcely digestible if ^ho more time be allowed to boil it than that which is sufficient for other joints and meats. When stewed it is excellent; and when cooked fresh (i. e. unsalted), an excellent stock for soup may be extracted from it, and yet the meat will serve as well for dinner. The edgebone, or aitchbone, is not considered to be a very economical joint, the bone being large in proportion to the meat; but the greater MODES OF COOKING. 17 part of it at least is as good as that of any prime part. It sells at a penny a pound less than roasting joints. The rump is the part of which the butcher makes great profit, by selling it in the form of steaks. In the country, as there is not an equal demand for steaks, the whole of it may be purchased as a joint, and at she price of other prime parts. It may be turned to good account in producing many excellent dishes. If salted, it is simply boiled; if used insalted, it is usually stewed. The veiny piece is sold at a low price per pound; but if hung for a day or two it is very good and very profitable. Where there are a num. Der of servants and children to have an early dinner, this part of beef will be found desirable. From the leg and shin excellent stock for soup may be drawn; and if not reduced too much, the meat taken from the bones may be served as a stew with vegetables ; or it may be seasoned pounded with butter, and potted; or chopped very fine, and seasoned with herbs, and bound together by egg and bread-crumbs; it may be fried in balls, or in the form of large eggs, and served with a gravy made with a few spoonfuls of the soup. Of half an ox-cheek excellent soup may be made; the meat, when taken from the bones, may be served as a stew. Roasting parts of beef are the sirloin and the ribs, and these bear in all places the highest price. The most profitable of these two joints at a family table is the ribs. The bones, if removed from the beef before it is roasted, will assist in forming the basis of a soup. When boned, the meat of the ribs is often rolled up, tied with strings, and roasted ; and this is the best way of using it, as it enables the carver to distribute equally the upper part of the meat with the more skinny and fatter parts at the lower end of the bones. To Preserve Fresh Meats,—Meat may be kept several days in the height of summer, sweet and good, by lightly covering it with bran and hanging it in some high or windy room, or in a passage where there is a current of air MODES ®F COOKING. THE different modes of cooking, as boiling, baking, frying, and broiling will now be considered. BOILING,—This most simple of all culinary processes is not often performed in perfection. It does not require quite so much care and attention as roasting ; to keep your pot really boiling, and to skim it to know how long is required for cooking tire joint, etc., and to take it up at the right time, though apparently a simple process, yet to do it in the best manner requires more care than is generally believed. When the pot is coming to a boil there will always, from the cleanest meat and clearest water, rise a scum to the top of it, proceeding partly from the foulness of the meat, and partly from the water; this must be carefully taken off as soon as it rises. On this depends the good appearance of all 18 THE FAMILY. boiled things, an essential matter. When you have scummed well, put in some cold water, which will throw up the rest of the scum. The oftener it is scummed, and the cleaner the top of the water is kept, the cleaner will be the meat. If let alone it soon boils down and sticks to the meat, which, instead of looking delicately white and nice, will have that coarse and filthy appearance we have too often to complain of, and the butcher and poulterer be blamed for the carelessness of the cook in not scumming her pot with due diligence. Many put in milk, to make what they boil look white, but this does more harm than good ; others wrap it up in a cloth, but these are needless precautions; if the scum be attentively removed, meat will have a much more delicate color and finer flavor than it has when muffled up. This may give rather more trouble, but those who wish to excel in their art must only consider how the processes of it can be most perfectly performed: a cook who has a proper pride and pleasure in her business will make this her maxim and rule on all occasions. Put your meat into cold water, in the proportion of about a quart of water to a pound of meat; it should be covered with water during the whole of the process of boiling, but not drowned in i t ; the less water, provided the meat be covered with it, the more savory will be the meat, and the better will be the broth in every respect. The water should be heated gradually, according to the thickness, etc., of the article boiled; for instance, a leg of mutton of ten pounds' weight should be placed over a moderate lire, which will gradually make the water hot, without causing it to boil, for about forty minutes; if the water boils much sooner, the meat will be hardened and shrink up as if it had been scorched; by keeping the water a certain time heating without boiling its fibers are dilated, and it yields a quantity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as it rises, for the reasons already mentioned. " If a vessel containing water be placed over a steady fire, the water will grow continually hotter till it reaches the limit of boiling, after which, the regular accessions of heat are wholly spent in converting it into steam; the water remains at the same pitch of temperature however fiercely it boils. The only difference is, that with a strong fire it sooner comes to boil, and more quickly boils aWay and is converted into steam." Time for Boiling and Roasting,—Ten pounds of beef require from two hours to two hours and a half roasting, eighteen inches from a good clear fire. Six pounds require one hour and a quarter to one hour and a half, fourteen inches from a good clear fire. Three ribs of beef, boned and rolled, tied round with paper, will require two hours and a half, eighteen inches from the fire; baste once only. The first three ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three hours or three and a half. Reckon the time for its first coming to boil. The old rule of fifteen minutes to a pound of meat we think rather too little ; the slower it boils the tenderer, the plumper, and whiter it will be. For those who choose their food thoroughly cooked (which all will who have any regard for their stomachs), twenty minutes to a pound will not be found MODES OF COOKING. 10 too much for gentle simmering by the side of the fire, allowing more 02 less time according to the thickness of the joint and the coldness of the weather, always remembering, the slower it boils the better. Without some practice it is difficult to teach any art; and cooks seem to sup pose they must be right if they put meat into a pot and set it over the fire for a certain time, making no allowance whether it simmers without a bubble or boils at a gallop. Fresh killed meat will take much longer time boiling than that which has been kept till it is what the butchers call ripe, and longer in cold than in warm weather ; if it be frozen, it must be thawed before boiling as before roasting; if it be fresh killed, it will be tough and hard if you stew it ever so long and ever so gently. In cold weather, the night before you dress it bring it into a place of which the temperature is not less than forty-five degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The size of the boiling-pots should be adapted to what they are to contain—the larger the saucepan the more room it takes upon the fire, and a larger quantity of water requires a proportionate increase of fire to boil it. In small families we recommend block-tin saucepans etc., as lightest and safest; if proper care is taken of them, and they are well dried after they are cleansed, they are by far the cheapest—the purchase of a new tin saucepan being little more than the expense of tinning a copper one. Take care that the covers of your boiling-pots fit close, not only to prevent unnecessary evaporation of the water, but that the smoke may not insinuate itself under the edge of the lid and give the meat a bad taste. If you let meat or poultry remain in the water after it is done enough it will become sodden and lose its flavor. Beef and mutton a little underdone (especially very large joints, which will make the better hash or broil) is not a great fault—by some people it is preferred; but lamb, pork, and veal are uneatable if not thoroughly boiled—but do not overdo them. A trivet, or fish-drainer, put on the bottom of the boiling-pot, raising the contents about an inch and a half from the bottom, will prevent that side of the meat which comes next the bottom from being done too much, and the lower part of the meat will be as delicately done as the other part; and this will enable you to take out the contents of the pot without sticking a fork, etc., into it. If you have not a trivet, use four skewers, or a soup-plate laid the wrong side upward. Take care of the liquor you have boiled poultry or meat in; in five minutes you may make it into soup. The good housewife never boils a joint without converting the broth into some sort of soup. If the liquor be too salt, only use half the quantity, and the rest water; wash salted meat well with cold water before you'put it into the boiler. ROASTING—Time required.—The noble sirloin of about fifteen pounds (if much thicker the outside will be done too much before the inside is enough), will require to be before the fire about three and a half or four hours. Take care to spit it evenly, that it may not be heavier on one side than the other; put a little clean dripping into the drippingpan (tie a sheet of paper over it to preserve the fat); baste it well, as 20 THE FAMILY. soon as it is put down, and every quarter of an hour all the time it is roasting till the last half hour; then take off the paper and make some gravy for it, stir the fire and make it clear; to brown and froth it, sprinkle a little salt over it, baste it with butter, and dredge it with flour; let it go a few minutes longer till the froth rises, take it up, put it on the dish, etc. Garnish it with horse-radish scraped as fine as possible with a very sharp knife. A Yorkshire pudding is an excellent accompaniment. Ribs Of Beef,—The three first ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three hours or three and a half; the fourth and fifth ribs will take as long, managed in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat and the thin part, or it will be done too much before the thick part is done enough. Ribs Of Beef Boned and Rolled,—When you have kept two or three ribs of beef till quite tender, take out the bones, and skewer it as round as possible (like a fillet of veal); before they roll it, some cooks egg it and sprinkle it with veal stuffing. As the meat is more in a solid mass, it will require more time at the fire than in the preceding receipt; a piece of ten or twelve pounds' weight will not be well and thoroughly roasted in less than four and a half or five hours. For the first half hour it should not be less than twelve inches from the fire, that it may get gradually warm to the center; the last half hour before it will be finished sprinkle a little salt over it, and if you wish to froth it, flour it, etc. Mutton.—As beef requires a large sound fire, mutton must have a brisk and sharp one; if you wish to have mutton tender it should be hung as long as it will keep, and then good eight-tooth, i. ger, and a teaspoonful of pearlash. Then mix and bake. Gooseberry-Cake.—Press the juice out of some gooseberries, and strain it through some muslin : boil it up; strew in a pound of sugar to each pint of juice; stir well, and simmer till the sugar is melted; pour it into glasses; dry it in a stove till it will turn out, and then dry the cakes on plates. Honey-Cake.—Three-quarters of a pound of honey, half a pound of fine loaf-sugar, a quarter of citron, a half-ounce of orange-peel cut small; of cinnamon and ginger each half an ounce, four well-beaten eggs, and a pound of sifted flour. Melt the sugar with the honey, and mix. Roll out the cakes, and cut in any form. Indian Breakfast-Cakes.—Take one quart of buttermilk, or sour milk, three eggs, butter in size equal to half a hen's egg; a little salt, one teaspoonful of saieratus, stirring in fine Indian flour till of a proper consistence ; and then putting it into pans of an inch in depth for a quick bake. Crackers.—Rub six ounces of butter with two pounds of flour; dissolve a couple of teaspoonfuls of saieratus in a wine-glass of milk, and strain it on the flour; add a teacupful of salt, and milk enough to enable you to roll it out. Beat it with a rolling-pin for half an hour, pounding it out thin; cut it into cakes with a tumbler; bake them about fifteen minutes, and then take them from the oven. When the rest of your things are baked sufficiently take them out; set in the crackers, and let them remain till baked hard and crisp. ^Utter-Crackers.—Rub four ounces of butter into a pound of flour; 3 ,' 50 THE FAMILY. when well mixed, put to it enough cold water to damp It and keep it together, and add a teaspoonful of salt; beat it with a rolling-pin until smooth ; then roll it thin; cut it in small cakes, or make it in small crackers between your hands; bake on tins, in a quick oven, for fifteen minutes, or set them in a moderate oven for twenty minutes; let each cracker be about the size of a dollar piece, and nearly half an inch thick. PIES,—Family Pie-Cni&t.—Work into a pound of sifted flour half a pound of sweet lard, or beef-dripping, with a dessert-spoonful of salt; when thoroughly mixed, put to it enough cold water to bind it together ; flour the paste-slab, or table, and rolling-pin: take a part of the paste, and roll it to less than a quarter of an inch thickness, For the upper or outside crust of a pie, roll the paste out thin; spread a bit of butter, half the size of an egg7 over it; fold it up, roll it out again, and cover the pie. Some are of the opinion that no under-crust should be made to apple or other fruit-pie. It is always heavy, and not fit to eat. Place a narrow rim of paste around the edge of the plate, and fill with the fruit, either raw or stewed, and cover it. The juices will be retained much better, and it will save flour and butter, which is no trifling consideration in these days; and, what is of more consequence, it saves dyspepsia, which costs more. After cutting, they are taken out with a spoon. Mince-Pie,—The best kind of meat for mince-pies is neat's tongue and feet. Boil the meat till perfectly tender; then take it up ; clear it from the bones and gristle; chop it fine enough to strain through a sieve; mix it with an equal weight of tart apples chopped very fine. If the meat is not fat, put in a little suet or melted butter. Moisten the whole with cider; sweeten it to the taste with sugar and very little molasses; add mace, cinnamon, cloves, and sail to the taste. If you wish to make your pies rich, put in wine or brandy to the taste, and raisins, citron, and Zante currants. The grated rind and juice of lemons improve the pie. Make the pies on shallow plates, with apertures in the upper-crust? and bake them from half to three-quarters of an hour, according to the heat of the oven. Meat prepared for pies in the following manner will keep good several months, if kept in a cool, dry place: to a pound of finely-chopped meat, and a quarter of a pound of suet, put half an ounce of mace, one ounce of cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, two teaspoonfuls of salt. Add, if you like, the following fruits: half a pound of seeded raisins, half a pound of Zante currants, a quarter of a pound of citron. Put in half a pint of French brandy or wine, three tablespoonfuls of molasses, and sugar sufficient to make it quite sweet. Put the whole in a stone pot, and cover it with a paper wet in brandy. When you wish to use any of it for pies, put to what meat you use an equal weight of apples pared and chopped fine. If not seasoned high enough, add. more spice and sugar. If the apples are not tart, put in lemon-juice or sour cider. Mince-Pies Without Meat.—Take of currants, apples chopped fine, moist<*gar, and suet well-chopped, a pound of each, a quarter of a pound *f raisins, stoned and chopped small, the juice of four Seville oranges, DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 51 the juice of two lemons, the rind of one shred fine, nutmeg, and mace, to suit the palate, and a glass of brandy. Mix all together; put it in a pan, and keep it closely tied up. Mince-Pies.—One pound of lean beef, boiled tender and chopped fine, one pound of beef-suet, a half-pound of apples chopped, two pounds of currants, one pound of raisins, seeded and chopped, a quarter of a pound of citron. Add sugar, salt, nutmeg, mace, cloves, wine, and brandy to vour taste. Lemon Mince-Pies.—Take a large lemon; squeeze the juice from it, and boil the outside till it becomes soft enough to beat to a mash; put to it three large apples, four ounces of suet, the same of sugar, and half a pound of currants; add the juice of the lemon, and some candied fruit, the same as for other pies. Make a short crust, and fill the pattypans in the usual way. Lemon-Pies.—Pare two lemons; take out the seeds; chop the rind and pulps; add one egg, a small piece of butter, a small tea-cup of flour, three cups of sugar, two of water. Bake in a paste. This quantity will make two pies. Apple Mince-Pies.—One pound of well washed and dried Zante currants, one pound of peeled and chopped apples, one pound of suet, chopped fine, one pound of moist sugar, a quarter of a pound of raisins, stoned and cut in two, the juice of four oranges and two lemons, with the chopped peel of one; add of ground mace and allspice each a teaspoonful, and a wine-glass of brandy ; mix them well together, and keep it closely covered in a dry, cool place. Bake with two crusts, the same as mince-pies. Cracker-Pies.—To three cups of water add two cups of sugar, two teaspoonfuls tartaric acid, five tablespoons of cracker rolled fine, flavor with lemon and season as apple-pie. This makes two pies. This also serves as a substitute for apple in mince-pies. Pumpkin-Pie.—Stew the pumpkin in a covered vessel until soft enough to mash ; then set a cullender or sieve into a basin, and press it through into the basin; when rubbed through, add to it milk enough to make a thin batter; to every quart of this batter put four well beaten eggs, a small tea-cup of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of salt; for each quart, grate in a nutmeg, and a teaspoonful of extract of lemon, and some ground ginger, if liked. Many prefer it without ginger. Line flat-bottomed pie-dishes with pie-paste, and nearly fill them with the pumpkin mixture; lay a strip of paste around the edge; trim off the outside neatly, and bake three-quarters of an hour in a quick oven; the top of the pie should be delicately brown. Ornament to taste. Squash-Pies.—Boil and sift the squash, and make them exactly like pumpkin-pies. Carrot and sweet potato pies are made in the same way with crack ers ; eggs or rice should always be used with them. Apple-Pie.—Pare, quarter, and slice the apples If not ripe, stew them in just water enough to prevent burning. Allien soft, sweeten and season to the taste. When ripe, they are f-etter not to be stewed before baking. Fill the pie-plates; cover witfl a thick crust, and bake 52 THE FAMILY. from half to three-quarters of an hour. When baked sufficiently, cut the upper crust through the center; remove it carefully with a broad knife; put a piece of butter, of the size of a walnut, into a pie; sweeten it to your taste, and if the apples are not tart enough, squeeze in the juice of part of a lemon ; flavor the pie with either nutmeg, rose-water, or grated lemon-peel. Apples cut into quarters, without paring, and stewed soft in new cider and molasses, make good plain pies. The apples should be strained after stewing, and seasoned with cinnamon or nutmeg. If made quite sweet, it will keep good several months. Dried Apple-Pie.—Stew the apples soft; turn them into a pan, and mash them fine; add half the peel of a lemon, cut fine, or a little grated nutmeg, a sprinkle of salt, molasses, or sugar, to make them quite sweet. Bake them in a rich paste, a little over half an hour. This will be quite as good as fresh fruit. Currant and Gooseberry-Pie,—Currants and gooseberries are the best for pies when of full growth, just before they begin to turn; they are tolerably good when ripe. Currants, mixed with ripe raspberries or mulberries, make very nice pies. G^een currants and gooseberries for pies are not sweet enough, without the sugar is scalded in before they are baked, as the juice of the currants is apt to run out while they are baking, and leave the fruit dry. Stew them on a moderate fire, with a tea-cup of water to a couple of quarts of currants; as soon as they begin to break, add the sugar, and let it scald a few minutes. When baked without stewing, put to each layer of fruit a thick layer-of sugar. There should be as much as a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of currants, to make them sufficiently sweet. Green-currant pies are good, sweetened with molasses and sugar mixed. Cranberry-Pie or TartS,—Pick a quart of cranberries, free from imperfections ; put a pint of water to them, and put them in a stew-pan, over a moderate fire; put a pound of clean brown sugar to them, and stew them gently until they are all soft; mash them with a silver spoon, and turn them into a dish, to become cold; then make them into pies or tarts, and bake. Many persons put flour in cranberry pies; it is a great mistake, as it completely spoils the color of the fruit. Rhubarb-Pie.—Cut the large stalks off where the leaves commence; strip off the outside skin; then cut the stalk in pieces half an inch long; line a pie-dish with paste, rolled rather thicker than a dollar piece; put in a layer of the rhubarb, nearly an inch deep; to a quart bowl of cut rhubarb, put a large tea-cup of sugar; strew it over with a saltspoonful of salt, and half a nutmeg, grated; cover with a rich piecrust ; cut a slit in the center; trim off the edge with a sharp knife, and bake in a quick oven until the pie loosens from the dish. Apricot-Pie.—Take eighteen fine apricots; cut them in halves, and take out the stones; place them in a dish lined with puff paste; add four ounces of powdered sugar, and four ounces of butter, lukewarm; then put on the upper crust; glaze with the white of egg, and sprinkle sifted sugar all over, and bake in a moderate oven. Red Sugar-Beet Pie.—Pies made of the red sugar-beet are said to be delicious, somewhat resembling rhubarb-pie in flavor, though more rich and substantial, It is seasoned with vinegar, sugar, and spices, to suit DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 53 the palate. The root may be used without boiling, being chopped fine. Prepare the crust, and bake as you would a green-apple pie. Cocoanut-Pie.—Grate the white part, and mix with milk; let it boil slowly eight or ten minutes. To a pint and a half of cocoanut add a quart of milk, four eggs, half a cup of sweet cream, two spoonfuls of melted butter, a cracker, rolled fine, and half a nutmeg. The cocoanut should cool before the eggs and sugar are stewed in. Bake in a deep plate, in a quick oven. Huckleberry or Whortleberry Pie.—Clean a quart of berries in water; line a buttered pie-dish with a pie-paste; put in the berries half an inch deep; to a quart of berries put a tea-cup of brown sugar and half a teacup of water; dredge a teaspoonful of flour over; strew a saltspoonful of salt and half a nutmeg, grated, over; cover the pie; cut a slit in the center, or make several small incisions on either side of it; trim it off neatly with a sharp knife, and bake it in a quick oven for three-quarters of an hour. Plain Custard-Pie.—Boil a quart of milk with half a dozen peachleaves, or the rind of a lemon. When they have flavored the milk, strain it, and set it where it will boil. Mix a tablespoonful of flour, smoothly, with a couple of tablespoonfuls of milk, and stir it into the boiling milk. Let it boil a minute, stirring it constantly; take it from the fire, and, when cool, put in three beaten eggs; sweeten it to the taste; turn it into deep pie-plates, and bake the pies directly in a quick oven. Cherry-Pie.—Stone your cherries, that you may be sure they are free from worms; lay your paste in a deep dish, and add a good quantity of fruit; fill the dish with molasses, with a handful of flour sprinkled over, then a nice paste, and bake more than half an hour. If sugar is used, you will need water and flour. This makes the gravy very rich, and the pie delightful. lemon-Pie.—Boil six fresh lemons in water until a straw will penetrate the skin; then take them out, chop them fine, and take out the seeds ; to a pound of light-brown sugar put a tea-cup of water; let it boil, skimming it clear until it is a nice syrup; then put in the lemon, and set it to cool; cover a shallow plate with pie-paste, put in the lemon, spread out to nearly the edge, cover with a paste, cut a slit in the center, and bake. Veal or Chicken and Parsley Pie.—Cut some slices from the leg or neck of veal; if the leg, from about the knuckle! Season them with salt; scald some picked parsley, and squeeze it dry; chop it a little, and lay it at the bottom of the dish; then put the meat, etc., in layers; fill the dish with new milk, but not so high as to touch the crust; cover it, and, when baked, pour out a little of the milk, and put in half a pint of good scalded cream. Chicken may be cut up, skinned, and made the same way. PUDDINGS.—Directions for Puddings.—Puddings should be boiled in tin forms, rubbed over on the inside with butter; or in muslin bags, 54 THE FAMILY. which should be dipped into boiling water, and then be rubbed over on the inside with flour. A small pail will answer, with a cloth tied over it. If boiled in a tin form, do not let the water reach the top of it. If in a bag, it must be turned frequently. Baked Apple-Pudding.—Twelve large apples, stewed very dry, a quarter of a pound of butter, stirred in when the apples are nearly cold, sugar to your taste, one wine-glass of wine and rose-water, a little cinnamon and nutmeg, seven eggs, two handfuls of bread, crumbed very fine. Bake twenty minutes. Serve with sauce, or sugar and cream. Boiled Apple-Padding.—Make a batter with two well-beaten eggs and a pint and a half of milk, with a pint of wheat flour; beat until smooth and light; pare, quarter, and core five or six large, tender, tart apples, and stir them into the batter with a teaspoonful of salt; tie it in a pudding-bag, and boil for two hours; serve with sugar, butter, and nutmeg sauce. Other fruits, as huckleberries and cranberries may be treated in the same way. Plain Boiled Indian Pudding.—Pour three pints of boiling milk to a quart of Indian meal, stir it well, add a tea-cup of molasses, a little salt, and two tablespoonfuls of flour. Boil four hours. Corn-Meal Pudding.—Let two quarts of *water come to a boil; then add a tablespoonful of salt; take off the light scum from the top; have sweet, fresh yellow or white corn meal; stir it in gradually and thoroughly until it is as thick as you can stir easily, or until the stick will stand in it; stir it a while longer; let the fire be gentle; when it is done enough, it will bubble or puff up ; turn it into a deep basin; this is eaten cold or hot, with milk or with butter, and syrup or sugar, or with meat and gravy, the same as potatoes or rice. When cold, it may be cut into slices and fried. Eve's Pudding.—Six eggs, six large apples, pared and chopped, six ounces of bread, crumbed fine, six ounces of currants, six ounces of r sugar. Three hours will boil it. Plum-Pudding.—Half a pound of raisins, half a pound of currants, half a pound of bread grated, half a pound of apples chopped, four eggs, half a nutmeg, a wine-glass of brandy, a quarter of a pound of suet. Boil three hours. English PlUffl-Pudding.—One pound of flour, one pound of suet, one and a half pound of currants, one pound of sugar, ten eggs, two spoonfuls of milk, two nutmegs, one gill of brandy and wine mixed, citron. Boil six hours. This quantity will make two puddings in quart bowls. Custard-Pudding—Baked.—One pint of milk, eight eggs, two spoonfuls of flour, two of rose-water, half a nutmeg, a little salt, and sugar to the taste. Bake half an hour. Plain-Baked Bread-Pudding.—Pound rusked bread fine; to five heaping tablespoonfuls of it put a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, three tablespoonfuls of rolled sugar, a teaspoonful of salt, half a nutmeg, and three tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Bake it about an hour. It does not need any sauce. Economical Pudding.—Keep your pieces of bread and dry them nicely; when enough are collected, soak them in milk overnigRt; in the morning drain out all the milk you can through a cullender; add to the DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKEKY. 55 bread some sugar, and a little salt, with some scalded raisins; tie it in a bag, and boil five or six hours. Serve with sweet sauce. Carrot-Pudding.—Take a large carrot; boil it soft; bruise it in a marble mortar, and mix with it a spoonful of biscuit-powder, four yolks and two whites of eggs, a pint of cream, a large spoonful of rose or orange-flower water, a quarter of a nutmeg, two ounces of sugar; bake it in a shallow dish; turn it out, and serve with sugar over. Custard-Pudding—Boiled.—Take a pint of cream, six eggs, well beaten, two spoonfuls of flour, half a nutmeg, grated, and salt and sugar to taste; mix them together; butter a cloth, and pour in the batter; tie it up; put it in a sauce-pan of boiling water, and boil it an hour and a hal£ Serve with melted butter. Jenny Lilld Pudding.—One cup of sugar; one egg] one spoonful of butter; one cup of sweet milk; one pint of flour; two and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Bake three-quarters of an hour; serve with sauce. Potato-Pudding.—Take two pounds of potatoes, wash, boil, and mash them; when cojd, add a pint of new milk, three eggs, well beaten, two ounces of moist sugar, and a little nutmeg. Bake it. Puddings in Haste.—To grated bread add suet-shred, a few currants, the yolks of four eggs and the whites of two, some grated lemon-peel, and ginger; mix and form it into balls, about the size and shape of an egg, with a little flour. Put them into boiling water, and boil them for twenty minutes. Delicate Rice-Pudding.—Boil half a pound of rice in three pints of milk, until the milk is absorbed by the rice; turn it out of the sauce-pan, and when cold, add to it three well-beaten eggs, with a little nutmeg and sugar; put it into a buttered basin, and boil an hour. This, made in smaller proportions, is a light and pleasant pudding for an invalid. A bit of cinnamon may be boiled with the milk and rice. Suet-Pudding.—Chop half a pound of beef-suet extremely fine; add the same quantity of flour,, two eggs, well beaten, a small quantity of pounded and sifted sugar, and a little salt; mix well together with milk to a tolerable consistency, and either bake or boil it. Minute-Pudding.—Put a pint and a half of milk on the fire. Mix five large tablespoonfuls of either wheat or rye flour, smoothly, with half a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. When the milk boils, stir in the mixed flour and milk. Let the whole boil for one minute, stirring it constantly; take it from the fire; let it get lukewarm; then add three beaten eggs. Set it back on the fire, and stir it constantly until it thickens. JTake it from the fire as soon as it boils; serve with sauce. Corn-Pudding.—Grate sweet green corn ; to three tea-cups of it, when grated, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, half a tea-cup of melted butter, and a grated nutmeg. Bake the pudding an hour; serve it up with sauce. Cracker-Pudding.—Mix ten ounces of finely-pounded crackers with a wine-glass of wine, a little salt, and half a nutmeg, three or four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and two of melted butter. Beat eight eggs to a froth; mix them with three pints of milk, and turn them on the rest 56 THE FAMILY. of the ingredients. Let it remain till the crackers become soft; then bake it. Apples in Batter.—Pare and core several small-sized apples; set them in a deep dish; make a rich batter, and pour it over them; bake in a quick oven for one hour; serve with wine sauce. Bated Indian-Pudding.—Seven tablespoonfuls of meal, one of flour; wet with a quart of milk; thicken it over the fire like mush; take it from the. fire, and add a tea-cup' of molasses, a little salt, and bake threequarters of an hour. Boiling-Mush.—It is very common to make mush by boiling only a few minutes. This is all wrong. It should be boiled one or two hours, and if longer, will do no harm. It will be necessary to occasionally add some hot water, to keep the mass thin, and prevent burning; and it must be often stirred. Boiled Indian-Pudding.—Boil a quart of milk, and stir in Indian meal till it is nearly as thick as you can stir it with a spoon; then add a teaspoonful of salt, a cupful of molasses, a teaspoonful of ginger or ground cinnamon, and cold milk enough to make a thin batter; boil in a thick bag four hours. Care should be taken that the water does not stop boiling while the pudding is in. A dish made in this way, with the addition of a quart of chopped sweet apples, and baked from four to six hours, will be found delicious when served up hot, and eaten with sauce made of drawn-butter, nutmeg, and wine. Curd.—To a quart of milk put a large tablespoonful of rennet-wine; let it stand till it turns ; then set it on the ice till wanted. Serve with sugar and cream, and sweetmeats, if you choose. Floating-Island,—Beat the whites of six eggs, and a tablespoonful of white powdered sugar, the same of currant-jelly, to a stiff froth. Put a pint of cream into a deep dish, and pile the froth on lightly. It should not stand long. Yeast-DumplingS.—Make a dough with a tablespoonful of yeast, a little salt, and warm milk, and flour; set it to rise. When light, flour youi hands, and make it in balls the size of a common apple; throw them into boiling water, and cover close. In half an hour take them up with a skimmer; serve plain, with butter or with a sweet sauce. lemon-Dumplings.—The juice of a lemon and the rind, chopped very fine; two eggs; a quarter of a pound of beef-suet; a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar; a quarter of a pound of bread, grated. To be boiled twenty minutes, in a cloth. Light Dougll-DumplingS.—Take a pound of dough; make it into small balls, the size of eggs; boil in plenty of water, and use it for roast or boiled meats, or serve with butter and sugar, or with gravy. TARTS,—Tartlets,—Cut your paste, after rolling it thin, with a fluted cutter as large as your tartlet-pan may be round; place each piece even into the pan; press it down with your finger; then put into each, eithei a piece of square crust of bread cut into dice in the middle of each, or a very little piece of jam; you will have to add more after they are baked; sift some fine sugar over them; bake them a light color. Apple-Tart.—Use good tart apples. Peel, slice, and stew them with a tea-cup each of water and sugar to a quart of sliced apples; add half DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 57 a nutmeg, grated, a saltspoonful of salt, and a little grated lemon-peel, or lemon extract, or half a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon; set them to become cold; line small pie-plates with rich pie or light puff-paste; put in the stewed apples half an inch deep; roll out some of the paste; wet it over slightly with the yolk of an egg, beaten with a little milk, and a teaspoonful of sugar; cut in strips the width of a finger, and lay it in bars or diamonds across the tart; lay another strip around the edge, trim off the outside neatly with a sharp knife, and bake it in a quick oven until the paste loosens from the dish. Tarts may be made of other fruits and sweetmeats in a similar manner. Bil'd'S-Nest Pudding.—Pare and core six or eight good tart apples, so as to leave them whole, and place them in a pudding-dish. Take a quart of milk, nine eggs, and sufficient flour to make a thin batter; pour it on, and cover the apples; bake it in an oven till it is done, and eat with butter and sugar or sauce. Another,—Take some good baking apples, pare, core, and cut them into small pieces; place them in a dish lined with puff-paste; strew over pounded sugar, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon-peel chopped small; then add a layer of apples, then spice, and so on till the dish is full; pour a glass and a half of white wine over the whole; cover with puff-paste, and bake it. When done, raise the crust, stir in two ounces of fresh butter, and two eggs well beaten ; replace the crust, and serve either hot or cold. Api'iCOt-Tart.—Take some apricots, cut them in two and break the stones; put them into paste with sugar, a small quantity of preserved lemon, and a few of the kernels; close it, sprinkle sugar over and glaze it. If the apricots are not ripe, boil them a short time in water, and drain them well. Apricot Sweetmeat for Tarts.—Take a pound of ripe apricots, remove the stones, break them, and blanch the kernels; add one pound and a half of green gages, and one pound and a quarter of lump-sugar; simmer it until the fruit becomes a jam. It must not boil, and must be kept well skimmed; clarified sugar will be found the best to use for this preserve. Clierry-Tai't.—Line the sides of a dish with good crust; strew in sugar; fill it with picked cherries, and put sugar at the top; red currants may be added, if liked; cover with crust, and bake. Curraiit-Tart.—Line a dish with puff-paste; strew powdered sugar over the bottom of it; then put in alternate layers of currants carefully picked, and sugar, till the dish is full; then cover and bake it. The addition of raspberries or mulberries to currant-tart is a great mprovement. MlMOll-Tart.—Line a dish with a good crust; put in the fruit, and proceed the same as for any other fruit-pie. Grape-Tart.—Take the youngest grapes before stones are formed; pick and scald them the same as currants or gooseberries, and finish the same as other tarts. More sugar will be required than usual, on account of the extreme tartness of the fruit. Gooseberry (Green) Tart.—Use either whole gooseberries, or make a marmalade of them with a good syrup ; the last method is perhaps the3* 5 58 THE FAMILY. best, as you can tell easily how sweet they are and ought to be; if made of marmalade, the seeds ought to be taken out. Pear-Tart,—Peel some pears carefully; cut them into quarters, and remove the cores; if large and green, boil them soft in a little water, simmering them in some rich syrup, and place them with the syrup in a dish lined with puff-paste; cover and bake it. Quince-Tart,—Take a few preserved quinces, put an equal weight of syrup, made with sugar and water and preserve, into a preserving-pan; boil, skim, and then put in the fruit; when somewhat clear, place the quinces in a tart-dish, with puff-paste as usual. Cover, bake it, and when done, lift the top gently, put in the syrup, and serve. The observance of the following will save any family, in a few years, ten times the price of this work: To Neutralize the Acid in Fruit Pies and Puddings.—A large quantity of the free acid which exists in rhubarb, gooseberry, currants, and other fruits, may be judiciously corrected by the use of a small quantity of carbonate of soda, without the least affecting their flavor, so long as too much soda is not used. To an ordinary-sized pie or pudding, as much soda may be added as, piled up, will cover a shilling, or even twice such a quantity if the fruit is very sour. If this little hint is attended to, many a stomach-ache will be prevented, and a vast quantity of sugar saved, because, when the acid is neutralized by the soda, it will not require so much sugar to render the tart sweet. JELLIES.—Clear Apple-Jelly.—Pare and core some pippins; put them into a pan, with as much water as will cover them ; let them boil gently until soft; let them get cold; then strain them through a jelly-bag; put the juice into your preserving-pan, and to each pint of juice put one pound of fine sugar and the peel of two lemons; then boil it until it is reduced to the stiffness of calves'-foot jelly; skim it well, and add the juice of a lemon ; it should be made in September—the flavor of the apple is better; if you cannot get the pippin, any acid apple will do. Apple-Jelly.—Pare and core some tart apples; boil till soft in plenty of water, and strain through a jelly-bag. Do not squeeze them. Add a pound of white sugar to each pint of liquor, and boil slowly to a thick jelly. A little cranberry or beet juice put in on removing from the fire, will give it a red tinge; or use saffron tincture, or spinach leaves, to color, if preferred. Strain again, and when cool, put into glasses and cover. Q,uince-Jelly.—This may be made in much the same manner as applejelty. Add the white of eggs; clarify it, and put it into glasses. Apricot-Jelly.—Take eighteen fine apricots ; let them be of a nice red color; stone them, and cut them in pieces into some syrup, usually made with twelve ounces of sugar; but for apricot-jelly it should be rather more liquid than for other jellies; when the fruit is done, put it into a napkin to express all the juice you possibly can, which you must add to the syrup in which the apricots have been done, and which has been previously strained through a silk sieve; and, after having mixed with it a proper quantity of isinglass, to thicken it, finish the same as all other jellies. DETAILS OF PBACTICAL COOKERY. 59 Ltmon-Jelly,—To a pint of water put an ounce of white isinglass, pulled into shreds and rinsed, and the rinds of six lemons. Stir till dissolved, and then add a pint of lemon-juice, and sweeten with white sugar. Boil four or five minutes; color with tincture of saffron; strain and fill glasses when nearly cool. Strawberry Raspberry, and Blackberry Jelly.—Take the berries when ripe; mash them, and let them drain through a flannel bag without squeezing it. To each pint of juice put a pound of white sugar, and the beaten white of an ?gg to three pounds of the sugar. Set it on the fire; when it boils up well, take it from the fire, and skim it clear. Set it back on the fire; if any more scum rises, take it from the fire and skim it off. Boil it till it becomes a jelly, which is ascertained by taking a little of it up into a tumbler of cold water. If it falls to the bottom in a solid mass, it is sufficiently boiled. Seal it up in tumblers or cups. Cranberry, Grape, and Currant Jelly.—They are all made in the same manner. Take the fruit in its prime; wash, and drain it till nearly dry; then put it in an earthen jar or pot, and set the pot in a kettle of hot water to boil, taking care that none of it gets into the jar. When the fruit breaks, turn it into a flannel bag, and let it drain slowly through into a deep dish without squeezing. When the juice has all passed through the bag, put to each pint of it a pound and a half of white sugar. Put to each quart of the syrup the beaten white of an egg. Set the syrup where it will boil gently; as fast as any scum rises, take the syrup from the fire and skim it clear. Boil fifteen or twenty minutes, and then try it in cold water; if it sinks, it is done. Pour into tumblers, sealing them over with white paper smeared with the white of egg (which will make the paper stick to the glass), and place them in the sun till made. Currant-Jelly,—Having stripped off the stems, put the fruit into a stone jar; set it into a kettle of boiling water until the juice runs freely ; then strain it through a flannel; to every pint of jui^e add a pound of loafsugar ; let it stand till dissolved; put it in a preserving-kettle, and boil it twenty minutes; skim it; put it in small glasses, and when cold, paste paper over them. CUSTARDS.—Apple-Custard.—Select good sweet apples, such as will cook well; pare, cut, and stew them ; when thoroughly done, stir them briskly till the pieces are all broken fine. Allow the apples time to cool, and thin down to the proper consistency with good milk, and bake with one crust, as you would bake a common custard, or a pumpkin-pie. If a richer pie is wanted, a few eggs may be added. If the apples are totally sweet, but little sugar or other sweetening will be required. If desirable, spices may be added. Another Kind.—Pare, core, and slice twelve pippins. Boil a pint of water, a pound of loaf-sugar, and twelve cloves, and skim. Put in the apples, and stew until the liquid is nearly gone. Lay them in a deep dish; take out the cloves when they are cold ; pour in a quart of custard, and let it cook by setting the dish in boiling water until it sets. The same with quince, but more sugar. Boiled Custards.—Scald a quart of milk; when cool, pour it into a m THE FAMILY. mixture of nine beaten eggs, nine tablespoonfuls of sugar, and rose-water to yoar taste; strain this through a sieve into your {/ustard-cups; set the cups into a deep iron pan; fill it half full of water, and boil them hard. Soft Custards.—Scald a quart of milk, with mace, cinnamon, and lemon-peel; pour into this sixteen well-beaten eggs, leaving out the whites of eight, and half a pound of sugar ; strain this through a sieve into a pitcher, and set it into a kettle of hot water, stirring it constantly until boiled enough. Custard, Baked,—Boil a pint of cream, with mace and cinnamon; when cold, take four eggs, a little rose and orange-flower water, a little white-wine, nutmeg, and sugar to your taste; mix them well together, and bake them in china cups. Custard, Plain,—Boil together a quart of cream or new milk, a stick of cinnamon, and some mace; then take twelve eggs, beat them up well; sweeten them; put them into a pan, and bake or boil them, stirring them all one way till they are of a proper thickness; boil the spice first, and when the milk is cold, mix the eggs, and boil it. The spice may be left out, and in lieu of that, four or five bitter almonds—to the EGGS A D OMELETS,—For making omelets, or frying eggs, it is best N to have an omelet-pan which is thick-bottomed and about six inches in diameter; this is the best also for pancakes, fritters, or for frying oysters. For turning omelets, fried oysters, fried parsley, etc, use a skimmer. Boiled-EggS.—Wash them ; put them into boiling water in their shells; keep the water boiling—three minutes for very soft—five, that the yolk only may be soft; six minutes will boil the yolk hard, for eating. Eight minutes are required for boiling eggs for salad or garnish. When done, take them from the boiling water into a basin of cold water, which will prevent the yolk turning dark or black. Another way, which* is very nice, is to break the shells and drop the eggs into a pan of scalding-hot water; let it stand till the white has set; then put the pan on a moderate fire; when the water boils up, the eggs are cooked sufficiently. Eggs look very prettily cooked in this way, the yolk being just visible through the white. Poached-EggS,—Break the eggs into a pan ; beat them to a froth ; then put them into a buttered tin pan ; set the pan on a few coals ; put in a small lump of butter, and a little salt; let them cook very slowly, stirring them constantly till they become quite thick; then turn them on to buttered toast. To Dress EggS.—Break your eggs separately in cups; have ready a large stew-pan half full of water; let it simmer; then put in your eggs, not too many at a time; some like them done less than others ; therefore boil them accordingly; have ready by your side a dish of warm water, and when your eggs are sufficiently done, put them into this clean water; trim them smooth and round; dish them on pieces of toast buttered ; if for dinner, upon prepared spinach or potatoes. Scotch-EggS,—Boil hard six eggs; take off the shells; then mask each e gg vrtih some raw forcemeat, rolling each egg in some grated tongue DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKER Y. 61 or ham; press this with your hands close to the eggs; roll each egg in some very fine bread crumbs ; fry them to a fine yellow color; put in your dish a sharp sauce or plain gravy, or dry upon a napkin, and fried parsley. Omelet,—Take as many eggs as you think proper, according to the size of your omelet; break them into a basin, with some chopped parsley and salt; then beat them well, and season them according to taste; have ready some onions chopped small; put some butter into a fryingpan, and when it is hot, but not to burn, put in your chopped onions; give them two or three turns: add your eggs to it, and fry the whole to a nice brown ; you must only fry one side, when done, turn it into a dish, the fried side uppermost, and serve. Omelet an Naturel.—Break eight or ten eggs into a pan; add pepper, salt, and a spoonful of cold water; beat them up with a whisk; in the mean time, put some fresh butter into a frying-pan; when it is quite melted and nearly boiling, put in the eggs with a skimmer. As it is frying, take up the edges, that they may be properly done; when cooked, double it. Serve very hot. Ollion-Omelet.—Cut some very white onions into slices ; give them a few turns over the fire ; when nearly done, moisten them with cream, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; mix this with half a dozen eggs; beat the whole up well, and fry the omelet either in oil or butter. Omelet With Ham, etc.—Beat the eggs to a froth, and to a dozen of eggs put three ounces of finely-minced boiled ham, beef, or veal; if the latter meat is used, add a little salt. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter; mix a little of it with the eggs; it should be just lukewarm; set the remainder of the butter on the fire in a frying or tin pan ; when quite hot, turn in the eggs, beaten to a froth ; stir them until they begin to set. When brown on the under side, it is sufficiently cooked. The omelet should be cooked on a moderate fire, and in a pan small enough to have the omelet an inch thick. When you take them up, la}' a fiat dish on them; then turn the pan upside down. Omelet-Fritters.—Make two or three thin omelets; cut them into small pieces, and roll them into the shape of olives; when cold, dip them into batter, or enclose them into puff-paste; fry, and serve them with fried parsley. Omelet-Souffle.—Break six eggs; separate the whites from the yolks; to the latter put four dessert-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, and the rind of a lemon, chopped exceedingly small; mix them well; whip the whites, as if for biscuits, and add them to the rest; put a quarter of a pound of butter into a frying-pan over a slow fire. PiJESEMED FEUITS, etc,—A very common discovery made by those who preserve fruits, etc., for family use, and are not sufficiently versed in the art of confectionery, is, that the preserve either ferments, grows mouldy, or becomes candied. These three effects arise from three separate causes. The first, from insufficient boiling; the second, from being kept in a damp place, assisted, in some degree, by the first cause; and the third, from too quick and too long boiling. 62 THE FAMILY. Preserves of all kinds should be kept entirely secluded from the air, and in a dry place. In ranging them on the shelves of a store-closet, they should not be suffered to come in contact with the wall. Moisture in winter and spring exudes from some of the dryest walls, and preserves invariably imbibe it. To prevent all risks, it is always as well to lay a brandy paper over the fruit before tying down. This may be renewed in the spring. They should be looked to frequently to see that they do not ferment. "Whenever they do, the syrup should be turned from them, scalded, and turned back on them while hot. A pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, is sufficient to preserve most kinds of fruit. Some kinds require more and some less, than an equal weight of sugar. White sugar makes the most delicate sweetmeats— nice brown sugar answers very well for most kinds of fruit. The West India sugar-house syrup is better than sugar to preserve fruit, on account of its never fermenting. When sugar is used, clarify it, and put in the fruit. The skimmer should never be left in the preserving-pan after the sugar is clarified, nor after the scum is removed. In boiling, the sugar is continually rising and falling, and on falling, leaves marks on the side of the pan, which the heat of the fire would soon burn, and thereby spoil the whole of the sugar. To avoid this, have by the side of you a pan of cold water, and a cloth or sponge, upon which wipe the sides of the pan carefully the instant after the sugar has fallen. All kinds of fire-proof ware wilj do to preserve in, excepting iron ware. The fruit should not be crowded while preserving, and should boil gently. The fruit should be turned out of the preserving-kettles as soon as done, and set away. Keep the sweetmeats in stone or China jars, that have never been used for other purposes. Glass jars are the best for delicate sweetmeats, such as strawberries or cherries. Preserves should be covered tight, and kept in a cool place. Fruit may be dried in a stove-oven or in the sun—if in the sun, cover with glass to keep off insects; if in oven, it must be of gentle warmth. To Clarify Sugar,—Take the quantity of fine white loaf-sugar you intend to clarify, add to it of very clean warm water half a pint for every pound; when dissolved, add to it the white of one or two eggs—as the quantity may require—well whipped, put it on the fire, and when it comes to a boil, poiir into it an ordinary teacnpful of cold water; on its rising again to a boil, remove it, and let it settle twenty minutes; skim the scum from the top, pour off the syrup into a clean vessel with sufficient quickness to leave all the sediment at the bottom, and such steadiness as to prevent any of the latter rising and mixing with it. Strawberries Preserved Whole.—Take equal weights of the fruit and double-refined sugar; lay the former in a large dish, and sprinkle half the sugar in fine powder over; give a gentle shake to the dish, 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 one pint of red-currant juice to every pound of strawberries; in this simmer them until sufficiently jellied; choose the largest scarlets ox others, when not dead ripe; they eat well served in thin cream in glasses. Pears, Preserved.—These may be preserved whole, pared with' the DETAILS OF PKACTTCAL COOKERY. 63 stems on, or in halves, cored. Make a thin syrup, and boil them tender. If boiled too fast, they will break. They will be sufficiently cooked in half an hour. If you wish them nice, let them lie in the syrup, in a jar or tureen, two days. Drain the syrup from the pears; add more sugar; boil ten minutes; skim, and put in the pears; simmer them till they are transparent; take them out; stick a clove in the end of each, and lay them in a jar when cool; then pour over the warm syrup. For common use, they are best done in quarters, boiled tender in a little water; then add half a pound of sugar to a pound of pears to the liquor, and simmer them gently half an hour. They may be flavored with lemon, if preferred. Peaches, Preserved.—If preserved whole, they should be gathered before they are fully ripe, and before they part from the stone. Pare them, and boil in the syrup gently, until they are tender. If in quarters, crack the pits of half the peaches, and boil in the syrup; strain, and cook in the usual way. Put up in jars and glasses. Some prefer them cooked in a little water, and the syrup poured over them hot. If you wish them preserved in brandy, they should be gathered before they are ripe, rubbed with flannel, pricked with a large needle to the pit, in several places, and run the needle down the seam. Put them in cold water, and boil them very gently until tender. Take them carefully out, and fold them in a table-cloth or soft flannel. Have ready a pint of brandy, a pint of the juice in which they were boiled, and a pound of loaf-sugar. When the peaches are cool, lay them in a jar, and pour over them. They may be used as a dessert. Plums, Candied,—Choose your fruit of a nice shape, and good size ; cut them in halves; lay them on a large shallow dish; strew powdered sugar over them, and put them in a moderate oven, tightly closed; in half an hour's time take them out, and place the plums, one by one, on glass plates, to dry. Plums, Preserved.—May be preserved nice with the skins on or off. If on, they should be pricked at the top and bottom with a large needle. If you take them off, first turn boiling water over them. Plums require a pound and a half of sugar to a pound of fruit. Prepare your syrup thick, and lay in your plums to simmer, not to boil; let them remain in a scalding state until cooked through—at least two hours. Then skim out, and boil the liquor down about an hour. It must be thick, to keep well. The flavor will be much improved, by boiling in the syrup half a pint of the kernels, cracked. They must be strained out. Plums maybe hardened by scalding them in alum-wrater; and when drained, pour the hot syrup over them every day for a week; but if done with care, they will remain whole, preserved as above. Quinces, Preserved.—Choose the quinces very ripe, yellow, and quite sound; pare, quarter, and core them; put them into a little water, and scald; as soon as they are soft, throw into cold water, and put them to drain ; clarify and boil an equal weight of sugar; put in the fruit, cover, and leave them to simmer for another quarter of an hour; then take them from the fire; skim, and pour the preserves into a pan. In two days, drain off the syrup; boil it; add the fruit; give the whole 64 THE FAMILY. one boil, covered; let it cool a little, and then simmer for a quarter of an hour; after which leave it till next day, when proceed as above, but boil the syrup. As soon as the preserve is cooled, put it into pots, adding to each a little quince jelly. Rhubarb, Preserved,—Rhubarb preserve, if made according to the following directions, is almost equal to the celebrated Scotch marmalade : procure six oranges, peel, and take away the white rind and the seeds; slice the pulp into the stew-pan, along with the peel; cut very small; add a quart of rhubarb, cut fine, and from one pound to one pound and a half of loaf-sugar; boil the whole down, as for other preserves. Raspberry-Jam.—To every pound of fruit use a pound of sugar, but always boil the fruit well before you add the sugar to it—it will be a better color; put your fruit in your preserving-pan, mashing them with a long wooden spoon; after boiling them a few minutes, add the same quantity of sugar as fruit, boiling it for half an hour, keeping it well stirred. When sufficiently reduced, fill your jars. Tomato-Figs.—Pour boiling water over the tomatoes to remove the skins; weigh them, and put them into a stone jar, with as much sugar as tomatoes; let them stand two days; pour off the syrup; and boil and skim till no scum rises; then pour it over the tomatoes, and let them stand two days, as before; boil and skim again. After a third boiling and skimming, let them stand in their syrup until drying weather ; then place them on earthen plates or dishes, and put them in the sun to dry—that takes about a week; then pack them in small wooden boxes, with fine white sugar between each layer. They will keep for years. Figs made of tomatoes are really better than those make of true figs. Gooseberry-Jam,—Take what quantity you please of ripe gooseberries, and half their quantity of lump-sugar, break them well and boil them together for half an hour or more, if necessary; put them into pots, and cover with paper. Peach-Jam,—Take the fruit when ripe, peel and stone them, put them into the pan, and mash them over the fire till hot; rub them through a sieve, and to each pound of pulp add a pound of white sugar, and half an ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded; let it boil ten or fifteen minutes, and stir and skim it well. Cherry-Jam,—Having stoned and boiled three pounds of fine cherries, bruise them, and let the juice run from them ; then boil together half a pound of red-currant juice, and half a pound of loaf-sugar; put the cherries into these whilst they are boiling, and strew on them threequarters of a pound of sifted sugar; boil all together very fast for half an hour, and then put into pots; when cold, put on brandy papers. ftllilices for the Table,—We know, from personal observation, that few persons are acquainted with the best method of preparing quinces, for the table; it is simply this: bake them, remove the skin, slice, and serve with cream and sugar. Prepared in this manner, many prefer them to the peach. If you have never eaten them prepared in this way, try it, by all means, and you will thank us for the suggestion. To Preserve Peaches,—First weigh your peaches, then dip them in weak boiling lye, without being peeled ; take them out and rub them DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 65 gently with, a coarse towel; be very careful not to break the peel. Have your syrup ready, made of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, scald the peaches in it, and add to a peck of peaches one quart of white brandy while the syrup is hot. Golden-Pippins, to Preserve,—Take the rind of an orange, boil it very tender, and lay it in cold water for three days; take two dozen goldenpippins, pare, core, and quarter them,* boil them to a strong jelly and run it through a jelly-bag till it is clear. Take the same quantity of pippins, pare and core them, and put three pounds of loaf-sugar in a preserving-pan, with a pint and a half of spring water; let it boil, skim it well, and put in your pippins with the orange-rind cut into long thin slips; let them boil fast till the sugar becomes thick and will almost candy; then put in a pint and a half of pippin-jelly, and boil till the jelly is clear ; then squeeze in the juice of a fine lemon ; give the whole another boil, and put the pippins in pots or glasses with the orangepeel. Lemon-peel may be used instead of orange, but then it must only be boiled and not soaked. PICKLES,—Mes to k observed in Pickling,—Procure always the best vinegar. Vinegar is so grossly adulterated that it is really difficult to obtain it pure. The success of your pickle depends on the goodness of your vinegar. Use glass bottles or stone jars for your pickles; if earthen jars, they must be unglazed, as the vinegar, acting upon the glazing, produces a mineral poison. Use sauce-pans lined with earthen-ware, or stone pipkins, to boil your vinegar in. If you are compelled to use tin, do not let your vinegar remain in it one moment longer than actually necessary ; employ also wooden knives and forks in the preparation of your pickles. Fill your jars three parts full with the articles to be pickled, and then add vinegar up to the neck of the jar or bottle. When greening, keep the pickles covered down, or the evaporation of the steam will injure the color; a little alum may be added to crisp the pickles, but it should be very small in proportion to the quantity, oi it will give a disagreeable flavor. Pickles should occasionally be looked over, that the softest, and those least likely to keep well may be used first. Store pickles, or those intended for use the following summer, should be assorted from the remainder when first made; choose those most firm; put them into stone or glass-ware, with fresh vinegar to cover them; cover the vessel close. Beans, radish-pods, tomatoes, small cucumbers, green plums, and nasturtions may be put in a jar together for assorted pickles, with a few^ onions, if liked. Five or six peppers among two or three hundred cucumbers will make them sufficiently strong. Should the vinegar on pickles become white or weakened, turn it off, scald, and skim it, and return it to them either hot or cold. Asparagus, Tickled.—Cut and wash the green heads of the largest asparagus ; let them lie two or three hours in cold water; scald them very carefully in salt and water; then lay them on a cloth to cool; make a pickle according to the quantity of your asparagus, of vinegar and salt, and boil it. To a gallon of pickle put two nutmegs, a quarter of an 66 THE FAMILY. ounce of mace, the same of whole white pepper, and pour the pickle hot over them; cover the jar with a thick cloth, and let it stand a week; then boil the pickle; when it has stood another week, boil it a third time; when cold, cover the jar close. BeailS, French, Pickled.—Lay them in salt and water for nine days, then add a little vinegar, and boil them in the liquor; when they become green drain them, wipe them dry, and put the beans into ajar; boil some vinegar, ginger, mace, pepper, cloves, and mustard-seed, all bruised, and while hot pour it on the beans; cover them close when cold. Cabbage, Eed, to Pickle*—Quarter a purple-red cabbage; cut out the stalk, then slice down the cabbage endwise ; put them on a drying-sieve, sprinkle each layer of cabbage with salt, which lay and drain two or three days; then put it into ajar, boil some vinegar with spice tied up in a muslin bag ; cut a beet-root of good color into slices; the branches of cauliflower cut off, after it has lain in salt, will look and be of a beautiful red; put it into a stone jar, and pour boiling vinegar over it. Cucumbers, Young.—Choose nice young gherkins, lay them upon dishes, sprinkle salt over them, let them lie a week, drain them off, and put them into stone jars; pour boiling vinegar over them, place them near the fire, cover them well with vine-leaves, and if not a good green, pour off the vinegar and boil it again; cover them with fresh vine-leaves, and continue doing so until they are a good color; as, to make a better green, you must use a metal stew-pan or brass skillets, which are very pernicious and poisonous. Use wooden spoons with holes to dish all pickles, keeping them always well covered and free from air. Another method of pickling cucumbers, which is good, is to put them in salt and water, as yoii pick them, changing the salt and water once in three or four days. When you have done collecting your cucumbers for pickling, take them out of the salt and water, and turn on scalding hot vinegar, with alum, salt, and pepper-corns in it. Peaches,—Take those of full growth, ripe, but not soft; wipe them with a flannel cloth, or pare them; stick three or four cloves into each peach ; lay them in a stone jar. Put half a pound of sugar to a quart of good vinegar, add cinnamon and other spices to the taste; let the vinegar come to a boil, skim, and pour it on the peaches. Let them stand two weeks; then pour off the vinegar and boil it, and pour it on again, and they are then fit for use. Onions, to Pickle,—Peel the onions till they look white; boil some strong salt and water, and pour it over them; let them stand in this twenty-four hours; keep the vessel closely covered to retain the steam; after that time wipe the onions quite dry, and when they are cold pour boiling vinegar, with ginger and white pepper, over them ; take care the vinegar always covers the onions. BlangOCS,—Procure musk-melons as late in the season as possible; if pickled early, they are not apt to keep well. Cut a small piece from the under side; take out the seeds, and if the citron or nutmeg melons are used for mangoes, the rough part should be scraped off. The long, common musk-melons make the best mangoes. Soak the melons in salt and water three or four days ; then take them out of the water; sprinkle DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 67 on the inside of the melons powdered cloves, pepper, and nutmeg; fill them with small strips of horseradish, cinnamon, and small string-beans. Flag-root, nasturtions, and radish-tops, are also nice to fill them with. Fill the crevices with American mustard-seed. Put back the pieces of melon that were cut off, bind it up tight with white cotton cloth, and sew it on. Lay the melons in a stone jar, with the part that the covers are on up. Put into vinegar for the mangoes, alum, salt, and pepper-corns, in the same proportion as for cucumbers; heat it scalding hot, and put it over, then cover with a folded towel; let them stand for one night; drain off the vinegar, make it hot again, and pour it on; cover as before; repeat this scalding four or five times, if necessary, until the mangoes are a fine green; three times is generally enough. Caution.—^-Pickles sold in the shops are found to be adulterated with various compounds; but the greatest evil lies in the fact that they are frequently impregnated with copper. In the case of preserves, the copper probably proceeds from the use of copper pans in making the preserves, but with regard to pickles, copper is employed to improve their color, and sulphuric acid to strengthen bad vinegar. The best way is to avoid purchasing the pickles sold in clear glass bottles, and presenting a most tempting appearance. VEGETABLES, SALADS, etc—Vegetables form a most important feature in the art of cooking. Much depends upon boiling greens, and the manner in which it is done; the water should be soft; a handfulof salt should be thrown into the water, which should be made to boil before the greens are put in; it should then be made what cooks term " gallop;" the sauce-pan should be kept uncovered, and when the greens sink they are done; take them out, and quickly, too. Vegetables are a most useful accessory to our daily food, and should be made the object of a greater study than they are usually. Care should be taken in the preservation of vegetables for winter use. 68 THE FAMILY. Green beans may be preserved by being packed in layers of salt. They should be soaked before being used. Carrots, beans, beet-roots, parsnips, and potatoes keep best in dry sand or earth in a cellar; turnips keep best on a cellar bottom, or they may be kept the same as carrots, etc. Whatever earth remains about them, when taken from the ground, should not be taken off. When sprouts come on potatoes or other stored vegetables, they should be carefully cut off. Celery may be kept in the cellar all winter, by setting it in boxes rilled with earth. Cabbage keep some time, by being laid on a stone floor in the cellar. To keep pumpkin, it should be cut up and dried, or stewed and made up into cakes, which should be thoroughly dried in the oven or in the sun. Parsley should be gathered wThen young and tender, and packed in a little sweet butter. Asparagus.—Let the stalks be lightly but well scraped, and as they are done, be thrown into cold water; when all are finished, fasten them into bundles of equal size ; put them into boiling water; throw in a handful of salt; boil until the end of the stalk becomes tender; it will be about half an hour; cut a round of bread, and toast it to a clear brown; moisten it with the water in which the asparagus was boiled, and arrange the stalks with the white end outward. A good melted butter must accompany it to table. Asparagus should be dressed as soon after it has been cut as practicable. Asperge a la Pois—French Recipe.—When asparagus is first in season, and too small to make a handsome appearance, this mode of dressing is very good: take the asparagus and cut off only the green heads; none of the white stalk must be retained; put them into clear, cold water, and when clean, pop them into boiling water, in which salt has been thrown; in ten minutes they will be tender; they may then be taken out and laid upon a white cloth, which must be used to wipe them dry ; lay in a stew-pan a slice of butter; when it is melted, put in the asparagus; stew them over a quick fire; keep them turning; when ten minutes have elapsed, dredge a little flour, and a small quantity of white sugar, in powder, over them; beat up the yolks of a couple of eggs ; pour over the asparagus just sufficient water to cover them; boil up rapidly; stir in the yolk of one egg; and, making a pyramid of the asparagus in the dish, serve very hot. Beets.—Break off the leaves, but do not cut beets, as that spoils both flavor and appearance; wash them and boil them till tender; then take them out into a basin of cold water, and rub all the outside skin off with the hands; then slice them thin in a dish, and just cover them with cold vinegar, and sprinkle with pepper and salt, or quarter them, and lay them for a day or two in cold vinegar, as they are then fit for use. The tops of young beets are dressed as asparagus. Bl'OCColi.—Peel the thick skin of the stalks, and boil for a quarter of an hour, with salt in the water. The small shoots will only require half the time. They should be tied in bunches. Serve with toast and melted butter. Green or Stringed Beans.—Get young, tender beans; take off the stem DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 69 end and the strings from the sides of the beans, and cut them in lozenges of an inch in length; then boil them tender in water to cover them. Some boil a bit of salt pork with them, or add to them, when dished, butter, salt, and pepper, to taste. Green corn, cut from the cob, is cooked with them, and called succotash. Celery,—Scrape and wash it well; let it lie in cold water until just before being used; dry it with a cloth; trim it, and split down the stalks almost to the bottom. Send it to table in a celery glass, and eat with salt only; or chop it line, and make a salad dressing for it. • Cabbage and Cauliflowers.—Trim off the loose leaves of the cabbage; cut the stalk in quarters, to the heart of the cabbage; boil it an hour. If not boiled with corned meat, put a little salt in the water in which they are boiled. White cauliflowers are the best. Take off the outside leaves ; cut the stalk close to the leaves ; let them lie in salt and cold water for half an hour, before boiling them. Boil them fifteen or twenty minutes, according to the size. Milk and water is the best to boil them in, but clear water does very well. Put a little salt in the pot in which they are boiled. Cabbage Salad and Cole-Slaw,—Take a hard, close head of cabbage; cut it in two, and with a sharp knife shave it fine; lay it in a dish, and garnish and finish as lettuce. For cole-slaw, cut it in the same way ; then add to it a good bit of butter, some vinegar, pepper and salt to taste, and put it in a clean stew-pan ; set it on the fire, and stir it with a silver spoon until the seasoning is mixed, and the butter melted. Serve in a covered dish. fied Cabbage,—This is eaten as salad, prepared as directed for cabbage salad or cole-slaw, or it may be shaved fine and pickled. Carrots.—Carrots may be plain boiled, and served with a drawn butter sauce. They are generally used in soups, sliced or grated. Stewed Cucumbers.—Take two or three straight cucumbers; cut off one end; then take out the seeds ; lay them in vinegar, water, pepper, and salt; have some good farce, and fill each cucumber with it; dry your cucumbers well out of the vinegar first; then dry them in a clean rubber; then fry them, if for brown; if for white, not; take them out of the butt?r, and put them to stew into some good stock, one large onion, a fagot of herbs, a slice of lean ham, until tender; thicken the liquor, and strain ; season with vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and white pepper; glaze the cucumbers several times. Greens,—White mustard, spinach, water-cresses, dandelions, and the leaves and roots of very small beets, are the best greens. Boil them, with a little salt and saleratus in the water. If not fresh and plump, soak them in salt and water half an hour, before cooking them. When they are boiled enough, they will sink to the bottom of the pot. Lettuce.—Strip off the outside leaves ; split it, and lay it in cold water awhile. Drain and lay in a salad dish. Have ready two hard-boiled eggs; cut in two, and lay on the leaves. If you choose, it may be dressed with sugar and vinegar, with a little salt, before it goes to the table. Some prefer a dressing of salt, mustard, loaf-sugar, vinegar, sweet oil, and a mashed hard-boiled eggy with the salad cut fine and this over it. 70 THE FAMILY. Hominy,—There are three sizes of hominy; the middle size is b e s t wash a tea-cup of it well in two or three waters; all that is not good will rise to the top, drain it carefully off; then put to it a quart of water, and let it stand all night; in the morning add to it a teaspoonful of salt, and set the vessel which contains it over the fire, in a kettle of boil ing water; one hour will boil it; the reason for putting it in water is, that otherwise it is very apt to turn; when it has absorbed all the water, stir it well with a spoon and serve. Coarse hominy requires five or six hours' boiling. Dried beans are cooked with it. Onions.—White onions are best for boiling. Take off the skins and lay them in cold water for an hour or two before boiling. When boiled tender serve them with butter, pepper, and salt over, or a drawn butter. The red ones are good sliced thin, with vinegar, pepper, and salt. Onions may be fried like potatoes. Green Pease.—A delicious vegetable, a grateful accessory to many dishes of a more substantial nature. Green pease should be sent to table green ; no dish looks less tempting than pease if they wear an autumnal aspect. Pease should also be young, and as short a time as possible should be suffered to elapse between the periods of shelling and boiling. If it is a matter of consequence to send them to table in perfection, these rules must be strictly observed. They should be as near of a size as a discriminating eye can arrange them ; they should then be put in a cullender, and some cold water suffered to run through them in order to wash them;. then, having the water in which they are to be boiled slightly salted, and boiling rapidly, pour in the pease; keep the sauce-pan uncovered, and keep them boiling swiftly until tender; they will take about twenty minutes, barely so long, unless older than they should be; drain completely, pour them into the tureen in which they are to be served, and in the center put a slice of butter, and when it has melted stir round the pease gently, adding pepper and salt; serve as quickly and as hot as possible. Pease Stewed in Cream.—Put two or three pints of young green pease into a sauce-pan of boiling water; when they are nearly done and tender drain them in a cullender quite dry; melt two ounces of butter in a clean stew-pan, thicken it evenly with a little flour, shake it over the fire, but on no account let it brown, mix smoothly with it the fourth of a pint of cream, add half a teaspoonful of white sugar, bring it to a boil, pour in the pease, and keep them moving until they are well heated, which will hardly occupy two minutes. Send them to table immediately. How to Cook Potatoes.—To Boil Potatoes.—In Ireland potatoes are boiled in perfection. Potatoes should always be boiled in their "jackets;" peeling a potato before boiling is offering a premium for water to run through it and go to table waxy and unpalatable; they should be thoroughly washed and put into cold water. In Ireland they always nick a piece of the skin off before they place them in the pot; the water is gradually heated, but never allowed to boil; cold water should be added as soon as the water commences boiling, and it should thus be checked until the potatoes are done, the skins will not then be broken or cracked until the potato is thoroughly done; JUETAILS OF FKACTICAL COOKERY. 71 pour the water off completely, and let the skins be thoroughly dry before peeling. To Boil Hew Potatoes.—The sooner the new potatoes are cooked after being dug the better they will eat; clear off the loose skins with a coarse towel and cold water; when they are thoroughly clean put them into scalding water, a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes will be found sufficient to cook them; strain off the water dry, sprinkle a little salt over the potatoes and send them to table. If very young, melted butter should accompany them. To Boil Irish Potatoes—Wash your potatoes, then pare them, and throw them into a pail of cold water; let them stand several hours,*if convenient. Put them into boiling water, with a little salt, let them boil about twenty minutes, or till you can pass a fork through them, pour off the water, and let them stand a few moments to dry. Take them out one or, if small, two at a time into a clean crash-towel and wring them. They will be dry and mealy, as twenty years7 experience has proved. Roasted Potatoes.—Clean thoroughly; nick a small piece out of the skin, and roast in the oven ; a little butter is sometimes rubbed over the skin to make them crisp. Potatoes in Haste.—A very nice little dish may be made of pbtatoes7 in about fifteen minutes (or less if the wrater is boiling): peel and cut some potatoes in slices, a quarter or half an inch thick; pour on them boiling water, enough to cover them, and let them boil till tender; skim them; then add butter with flour, worked in it in proportion to the quantity of potatoes, let it boil up once, add a little chopped parsley, and serve, with the addition of pepper to taste. Fried or Broiled Potatoes.—Cut cold boiled potatoes in slices a quarter of an inch thick ; have ready a frying-pan with hot lard or dripping, in which put some salt, lay in the potatoes, and let them fry a delicate brown, turning them as they require, or lay them on a gridiron over bright coals, and as they are done take them on a hot dish, with butter, pepper, and salt to taste. Potatoes Glazed.—Boil well; skim them ; choose the most floury, roll them in yolk of egg, and place them before the fire to brown. Potato Rissoles.—Boil the potatoes floury; mash them, seasoning with salt and a little cayenne; mince parsley very finely, and work up with the potatoes, adding an onion also chopped small; bind with yolk of egg, roll into balls, and fry with fresh butter over a clear fire. Meat shred finely, bacon, or ham, may be added. Potato Ragout.—Mash floury potatoes, make them into balls with yolk of egg, flour, and fry them ; drain off all grease, cover them with brown sauce, and serve. Porridge, or Soup of Potatoes.—Mash them; after having boiled them quite hot, mix them with some fine white veal gravy, thicken with cream; it should, when done, be of the consistency of apple-sauce. To Mash Potatoes.—Boil the potatoes as above; peel them, remove all the eyes and lumps ; beat them up with butter and salt until they are quite smooth ; force them into a mould which has been previously floured, turn into a tureen, which the flour will enable you easily to 72 THE FAMILY. do; brown them before the fire, turning gently so as not to injure the shape, and when a nice color send to table. They are sometimes coated with white of egg, but they may be cooked without. Potato-Balls.—Mash some floury potatoes quite smooth, season with pepper and salt, add fresh butter until sufficiently moist, but not too much so; make into balls, roll them in vermicelli crumbled, or bread crumbs; in the latter case they may be brushed with the yolk of egg' fry them a nice brown. Serve them on a napkin, or round a dish of mashed potatoes which has not been moulded. Sweet Potatoes, Baked,—Wash them perfectly clean, wipe them dry, ai^d bake in a quick oven, according to their size—half an hour for quite small size, three-quarters for larger, and a full hour for the largest. Let the oven have a good heat, and do not open it, unless it is necessary to turn them, until they are done. Parsnip Fritters.—Boil four or five parsnips; when tender, take off the skin and mash them fine, add to them a teaspoonful of wheat flour and a beaten egg; put a tablespoonful of lard or beef dripping in a frying-pan over the fire, add to it a saltspoonful of salt; when boiling hot put in the parsnips, make it in small cakes with a spoon; when one side is a delicate brown tarn the other; when both are done, take them on a dish, put a very little of the fat in-which they were fried over, and serve hot. These resemble very nearly the taste of the salsify or oyster plant, and will generally be preferred. Parsnips,—Wash parsnips and boil them with the skins on; when done, scrape them and slice them, with butter, pepper, and salt; or fry them as potatoes in hot lard—or they may be stewed down with meat. Radishes.—Wash them, and let them lie in clean cold water as soon as they are brought in. Before they go to table scrape off the outside skin, trim the sharp end, leave the stalk about an inch long; if large, split them in four half-way down, and send them to the table in tumblers, to be eaten with salt. Spashes.—Summer squashes, if very young, may be boiled whole— if not, they should be pared, quartered, and the seeds taken out. When boiled very tender, take them up, put them in a strong cloth, and press out all the water—mash them ; salt and butter them to your taste The neck part of the winter squash is the best. Cut it in narrow strips, take off the rind, and boil the squash in salt and water till tender—then drain off the water, and let the squash steam over a moderate fire for ten or twelve minutes. It is good mashed—if mashed, add a little butter. Green Sweet Corn.—Corn is much sweeter to be boiled in the cob. If made into succotash, cut it from the cobs, and boil it with Lima beans, and a few slices of salt pork. • It requires boiling from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to its age. Sea-Kale requires to be very well done—there is little occasion to fear doing it too much; tie in bundles after washing and trimming, boil it in equal parts of milk and water, and serve it with melted butter. It may be laid on toast or not, according to taste. After being well boiled it must be thoroughly drained before laying upon the toast; five-and-twenty minutes will be found sufficient to boil it. DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 73 Porridge of Turnips.—Pare and cut up several turnips into slices, put them on to boil in milk and water until tender, strain them on the back of a sieve, throw away the liquor, and rub through the turnips; when done put them into a stew-pan with a piece of butter, a spoonful of flour, a gill of cream, a little sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper. Broiled Mushrooms.—Pare some large open mushrooms, leaving the stalks on, paring them to a point; wash them well, turn them on the back of a sieve to drain. Put into a stew-pan two ounces of butter, some chopped parsley and onions; fry them for a minute on the fire; when melted, place your mushroom-stalks upward on a pan, then pour the butter and parsley over all the mushrooms; pepper and salt them well with black pepper, put them in the oven to broil; when done put a little good stock to them, give them a boil, and dish them; pour the liquor over them, add more gravy, but let it be put in hot; an hour and a quarter before it is done add four tablespoonfuls of red wine to the liquor; serve /ery hot. Salad.—Take one or two lettuces, split them in two, thoroughly wash them, and drain the water from them, then cut them into small pieces, and mix them with small salad, celery,, and beet-root; cut in small pieces some young radishes, and sliced cucumber, and an egg boiled hard cut into pieces'and garnished about them. Make a sauce with the yolks of two eggs boiled hard, which rub well together in a basin with a wooden spoon; add a little pepper, salt, and mustard $ when these are mixed to a smooth paste put in a few teaspoonfuls of sweet oil, mixing it well between each spoonful; then mix in a few teaspoonfuls of vinegar in the same manner; when the sauce is mixed according to the directions it will never require shaking, and will always look like cream; pour this over the salad, or serve it in a cruet. Salsify or Vegetable Oyster.—The best way to cook it is to parboil it, (after scraping off the outside), then cut in slices, dip it into a beaten egg and fine bread-crumbs, and fry it in lard. It is very good broiled, then stewed a few minutes in milk, with a little butter and salt. Another way, which is very good, is to make a batter of wheat flour, milk, and eggs ; cut the salsify in thin slices (after having been boiled tender), put them into the batter with a little salt; drop this mixture into hot fat by the large spoonful. When a light brown they are cooked sufficiently. Tomatoes, if very ripe, will skin easily ; if not, pour scalding water on them, and let them remain in it four or five minutes. Peel and put them in a stew-pan, with a tablespoonful of water, if not very juicy; if so, no water will be required. Put in a little salt, and stew them for half an hour; then turn them into a deep dish with buttered toast. Another way of cooking them, which is considered very nice by epicures, is to put them in a deep dish, with fine bread-crumbs, crackers pounded fine, a layer of each alternately; put small bits of butter, a little salt and pepper on each layer—some cooks add a little nutmeg and sugar. Have a layer of bread-crumbs on the top. Bake it threequarters of an hour. Tomatoes, Raw,—Tomatoes may be sliced thin, and served with salt, pepper, and vinegar over, for breakfast; or sliced, and strewn with sugar 4 6 u THE FAMILY. and grated nutmeg, for tea; for dinner they may be stewed, or broiled, or baked. Southern Mode of Boiling Rice.—Have the water boiling. Allow at least two quarts of water to a pint of rice; throw in a teaspoonful of salt; wash and pick clean and put in ; let it boil twenty minutes, and if not then dry, turn off the water, and let it stand on the coals a few moments with the lid off. The kernels will be white, and preferred by many. Use in the place of pudding, with a sweet sauce, or with meats as a vegetable. Eice is better for being soaked two or three hours. COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, COCOA.—Coffee and tea have now become such universal beverages for the morning or after-dinner meal, that, beyond a few general directions, little remains for prefatory matter. Coffee should be purchased in the berry, and fresh roasted; it should always, when possible, be ground just previous to being made. After it is ground, it should not be exposed to the air, as the aroma speedily flies off. If more is ground than is required for the meal, keep it in a glass bottle closely stopped, or a tight tin canister. Coffee, like tea, should be an infusion, not a decoction. The best coffee is the Mocha, the next is the Java, and closely approximating is the Jamaica and Berbice. Of tea, little need be said; almost every one knows the rules for making it. Boiling water should alone be used. Earthen tea-pots in preference to metal. Silver is better than either. Chocolate can only be obtained pure of a first-rate house; that commonly sold is most infamously adulterated. Cocoa is the foundation of chocolate; it may be pounded, and either boiled as milk, or boiling water may be poured upon it. It is very digestible, and of a fattening nature. COFFEE AND TEA.—Coffee.—The adulterations of tea and coffee pointed out by Dr. Hassall are not of a serious'nature, being confined to flour, starch, potato-farina, sago-meal, wheat-flour, tapioca-starch, Maranta, and other arrowroots, tous les mois, and animal fats ; but as the latter are employed in the roasting of all farinaceous grains, to prevent the burning thereof, and also to preserve as far as possible their essential oils from destruction by heat, we see nothing to make our readers uncomfortable. Those who prefer the pure cocoa can obtain the "nibs," or more properly "beans," and grind them. But many prefer the soluble cocoa, which is simply cocoa modified by admixture with less stimulating substances. To make good common coffee, allow a tablespoonful of it, when properly roasted and ground, to each pint of water. Turn on the water boiling hot, and boil the coffee in a tin pot from twenty to twenty-five minutes—if boiled longer, it will not taste fresh and lively. Let it stand, after being taken from the fire, four or five minutes to settle; then turn it off carefully from the grounds, into a coffee-pot or urn. "When the coffee is put on the fire to boil, a piece of fish-skin (prepared and dried for that purpose,) or isinglass of the size of a shilling, should fce put in, or the white and shell of half an egg, to a couple of quarts DETAILS OF PEACTTCAL COOKEET. ?5 of coffee. When cream cannot be procured for coffee, the cofiee will be much richer to boil it with a less proportion of water than the above rule, and weaken it with boiling-hot milk, when served out in cups. Another way for making coffee is, to put the ground coffee into a wide-mouthed bottle overnight, and pour rather more than half a pint of water upon each ounce and a half^ and to cork the bottle; in the morning to loosen the cork, put the bottle into a pan of hot water, and bring the water to a boiling heat. The cofiee is then to be poured off clear, and the latter portion strained; that which is not drank immediately is kept closely stopped, and is heated as it is wanted. Coffee is adulterated with chiccory, roasted beans, pease, and acorns; but chiefly by chiccory. Having your own mill, buy the roasted beans; find out a respectable grocer, ascertain his roasting-days, and always buy from a fresh roast. If you like the flavor of chiccory, purchase it separate, and add to taste. Chiccory, in small quantities, is not, as has been represented, injurious, but healthful; because the " taraxacum" root has been used medicinally, and its name has found a place in Pharmacopoeias, it has been vulgarly set down as " physic," and thrown to the dogs. The tonic hop might be discarded upon the same pretext. Chiccory is a healthful addition to coffee, but you need not pay the coffee price for it. Grind your coffee, and mix with chiccory for yourself. Coffee, to Roast.—Coffee should never be roasted but when you are going to use it, and then it should be watched with the greatest care, and made of a gold color; mind and do not burn it, for a few grains burnt would communicate a bitter taste to the whole; it is the best way to roast it in a roaster which turns with the hand, over a charcoal fire, as, by that means, it will not be forgotten, wThich is very often the case when in the oven, or before the fire. A Substitute for Cream for Coffee,—Beat up a fresh egg, then pour boiling water on it gradually to prevent its curdling. It is difficult to distinguish it from rich cream. Coffee Milk,—Boil a dessertspoonful of coffee in nearly a pint of milk a quarter of an hour, then put in a little isinglass and clear it, and let it boil a few minutes, and set it on the fire to grow fine. Coffee Cream,—Mix three cups of good coffee with one pint of cream, and sugar according to taste; boil them together, and reduce them about one-third; observe that the coffee must be done as if it was for drinking alone, and settle very clear before you mix it with the cream. Coffee, to give it the Flavor of Vanilla.—Take a handful of oats, very clean, and let them boil for five or six minutes in soft water; throw this away, and fill it up with an equal quantity, and let it boil for half an hour; then pass this decoction through a silk sieve, and use it to make your coffee, which will acquire, by this means, the flavor of vanilla, and is very nice. CHOCOLATE.—According as you intend to make this, either with milk or water, for each cup of one or the other of these liquids put into a chocolate-pot, add one ounce of cake chocolate. Some persons dissolve the chocolate before they put it into the milk; let it boil slowly or just simmer for half an hour; add cream or milk to it, and sugar to taste * or the sugar may be omitted until served. 76 THE FAMILY. Tea.—Scald the tea-pot, and if the tea is a strong kind, a teaspoonful for a pint of water is sufficient; if it is a weak kind, more will be required. Pour on just enough boiling water to cover the tea, and let it steep. Green tea should not steep more than five or six minutes before drinking; if steeped longer, it will not be lively. Black tea requires steeping ten or twelve minutes to extract the strength. Tea is adulterated with leaves of the sycamore, horse-chestnut, and plum; with lie-tea, which is made up of tea-dust, sand and gum, to give it consistency; also with leaves of the beech, bastard plane, elm, poplar, willow, fancy oak, hawthorn, and sloe. It is colored with black-lead, rose-pink, Dutch-pink, vegetable red and yellow dyes, arsenite of copper, chrornate and bichromate of potash. Green teas are more adulterated than black. They are colored with Prussian-blue, turmeric, Chinese yellow, etc., flavored with sulphate of iron, catechu-gum, la veno beno, and Chinese botanical powder. Tea-leaves that have been once used, are collected, " doctored," and again sold as fresh tea. Obtain some genuine leaves of tea, moisten them, and lay them out with gum upon paper. Press them between the leaves of books until dry. When you suspect a sample of tea, damp and unroll the leaves, and gum and dry them as genuine ones; you will then be able by comparison to detect the admixture. HOME-MADE WINES,—Now that fruit and sugar are both so cheap, all housewives may add wines to their household stores as easily as they may preserves. The difficulty and expense of making is trifling, compared with what the latter used to be. Next to the fruit, sugar is the most important ingredient. In wine countries, the grape, under the influence of climate, contains within itself the chemical properties to produce fermentation, while with us artificial aid is compelled to be used to accomplish it. The four requisites for fermentation are sugar, vegetable extract, malic acid, and water; and upon the proper regulation of these constituents the success depends. The fermentation requires great attention, and should neither be suffered to continue too long, nor be checked too early. Its commencement, which will be about a day after the articles have been mixed, will attract attention by the noise it makes. For a sweet wine, the cask should not be closed until the sound of fermentation has almost ceased. If a dry wine, have ready a barrel which has been subjected to the fumes of sulphur, and draw off your wine into it. Rack off the wine, clearing it with isinglass, and bottle it in about ten weeks after. Apple-Wine,—Add to a barrel of cider the herb scurlea, the quintessence of wine, a little nitre, and a pound of syrup of honey. Let it work in the cask till clear and well settled; then draw it off, and it will be little inferior to Rhenish, either in clearness, color, or flavor. firapC-WillC.—To one gallon of grapes put one gallon of water; bruise the grapes; let them stand a week without stirring; then draw it off, and fine. Put to a gallon of wine three pounds of sugar; put it in a vessel, but it must not be stopped till it has done hissing. Cherry-Wine,—To make five pints of this wine, take fifteen pounds of cherries and two of currants; bruise them together; mix with them two-thirds of the kernels, and put the whole of the cherries, currants, DETAILS OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. 77 and kernels into a barrel, with a quarter of a pound of sugar to every pint of juice. The barrel must be quite full; cover the barrel with vine-leaves, and sand above them, and let it stand until it has done working, which will be in about three weeks; then stop it with a bung, and in two months' time it may be bottled. . Currant-Wine,—Take sixteen pounds of currants and three gallons of water; break the currants with your hands in the water; strain it off; put to it fourteen pounds of sugar; strain it into a vessel; add a pint of brandy and a pint of raspberries; stop it down, and let it stand three months. Another.—To every pailful of currants, on the stem, put one pailful of water; mash and strain. To each gallon of the mixture of juice and water add three and a quarter pounds of sugar. Mix well, and put in your cask, which should be placed in the cellar, on the tilt, that it may be racked off in October, without stirring up the sediment. Two bushels of currants will make one barrel of wine. Four gallons of the mixture of juice and water will, after thirteen pounds of sugar are added, make five gallons of wine. The barrel should be filled within three inches of the bung, which must be made air-tight, by placing wet clay over it after it is driven in. Elder-Wine,—Pour a gallon of boiling water over every gallon of berries; let it stand twelve hours; then draw it off, and boil it up with three pounds and a half of sugar; when boiling, beat up the whites of some eggs, and clarify it; skim it clear; then add half an ounce of pounded ginger to every gallon of the wine ; boil it a little longer before you put it in the tub; when cool, put in a toast rubbed in yeast; let it ferment a day or two, after which put it into a barrel previously rinsed with brandy. All wines should be lukewarm when the yeast is added to it. Raspberry-Wilie,—Take three pounds of raisins, wash, clean, and stone them thoroughly; boil two rgallons of spring-water for half an hour; as soon as it is taken off the fire pour it into a deep stone jar, and put in the raisins, with six quarts of raspberries and two pounds of loafsugar ; stir it well together, and cover them closely, and set it in a cool place ; stir it twice a day, then pass it through a sieve; put the liquor into a close vessel, adding one pound more loaf-sugar; let it stand for a day and night to settle, after which bottle it, adding a little more sugar. 78 THE FAMILY. THE COOK'S TABLE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, By which persons not having scales and weights at hand may readily measure the articles wanted to form any recipe, without the trouble of weighing. Allowance to be mads for an extraordinary dryness or moisture of the article weighed or measured. WEIGHT AND MEASURE. Wheat flour Indian meal Butter, when soft Loaf-sugar, broken White sugar, powdered Best brown sugar Eggs Flour "Flour one pound is one pound two ounces are one pound is one pound is one pound one ounce are one pound two ounces are ten eggs are eight quarts are four pecks are one quart. one quart. one quart. one quart. one quart. one quart. one pound. one peck. one bushel. LIQUIDS, ETC. Sixteen large tablespoonfuls are Eight large tablespoonfuls are Four large tablespoonfuls are Two gills are Two pints are Four quarts are A common-sized tumbler holds A common-sized wine-glass is A tea-cup is A large wine-glass is A tablespoonful Forty drops are equal to Four teaspoonfuls are equal to * half a pint. one gill. "... half a gill. half a pint. one quart. one gallon. half a pint. half a gill. one gill. two ounces. half ounce. one teaspoonful. one tablespoonful. mSCEULAJVEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS IM H O U S E H O L D ECONOMY. WASHING.—This is t h e most difficult and laborious of household duties; and he that shall render its performance shorter and easier will be a public benefactor. Improvements have been made in this as in other a r t s ; and if they were more widely known and generally practiced, this difficult duty would be rendered much more efficient and less tedious than it now is. Washing Made Easy.—Any family t h a t will use t h e following receipt will find it worth to them every year more t h a n twice t h e cost of this book. I t saves much time and hard labor, and also much injury in the wearing of clothes. I t is not to be used for colored clothes. I t is used extensively in England and on t h e continent, and, it is hoped, will become as general in this country. W e have found it to be all t h a t is MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. • 79 claimed for it. The advantage of this over all others, is in the use of lime, which, without in the least injuring the texture of garments, makes them, by its strong bleaching qualities, a beautiful white. First, select from the clothes to be washed all the coarse and dirtiest pieces from the fine ; then put them in separate tubs of soft water to soak overnight (the night previous to washing). Then prepare, in a separate vessel, the liquid for a large washing, namely, half a pound of good brown soap, cut in small pieces, half a pound of soda, and three ounces of fresh unslacked lime, mixed in one gallon of boiling soft water. Stir well up, so as to mix the ingredients, and let it stand until morning. Then strain off the liquid, being careful to leave all sediment behind. Having ready ten gallons or so of boiling soft water in your boiler, pour in the prepared liquid (keeping out all settlings that may yet be remaining), then throw in your clothes and boil them twenty minutes or half an hour; previous to which, put an earthen plate at the bottom of the boiler, to prevent the clothes from burning. After boiling the appointed time, take them out; scald them, blue them, and rinse them in clean soft water, warm or cold, and your clothes will be as clean and white as snow. By this method, the finest linens, laces, cambrics, etc., can be readily and easily cleansed with VERY LITTLE TROUBLE. NO rubbing the skin off your hands and tearing the clothes to pieces; and the washing for a family of twenty persons completed before breakfast; have the clothes out to dry, the house in good order, all cdTiifortable again for the day, and the family saved from washing-day annoyances. Who would not wish to have such comforts ? Should there be only a small washing, and less than ten gallons of water required to boil them in, less of the liquid of lime, soap and soda can be used in proportion. When there is any difficulty in procuring fresh lime, a quantity of the liquor may be made at once from the lime, which will keep for years, corked in bottles and ready for use. Another Method of Washing—occupying exactly One Hour.—Have a preparation made from two tablespoonfuls of alcohol, two ditto spirits of turpentine, half a pound of brown soap, cut fine and mixed in one quart of hot water. Pour the same into a large tub of boiling water, and allow the clothes to soak for twenty minutes; then take them out and put them in a tub of clean cold water for twenty minutes. Afterward boil them in a like quantity of the above preparation for the other twenty minutes, and rinse in cold wrater. N. B* In using either of the above methods of washing, all fine clothes should be gone through with first, as colored, very dirty, or greasy clothes ought not to be boiled with those of a finer fabric, and containing less dirt, as the water in which they are boiled must of course partake more or less of its contents. The same water that has been used for the finer clothes will likewise do for coarse and colored. Should the wristbands of the shirts be very dirty, a little soap may be previously rubbed on. The above is a very excellent receipt, and may be confided in as particularly effective in labor saving. Another Receipt—Take one pint of alcohol, one pint spirits of tur- 80 THE FAMILY. pentine, two quarts of strong soda-water. Manage the clothes as above directed. Spirits turpentine, camphene, or Porter's burning fluid, separately, answer a good purpose. Two or three tablespoonfuls to a washing will greatly facilitate the business. Another Very Good Receipts—One pound hard soap (for four dozen clothes), seven teaspoonfuls spirits turpentine, HVQ ditto hartshorn, five ditto of vinegar. Directions.—Dissolve the soap in hot water; mix the ingredients. Then divide the mixture in two parts; put half in the water with the clothes overnight; next morning wring them out. Put them to boil in five or six gallons of water, and add the rest of the mixture; boil thirty minutes, and rinse out thoroughly in cold water; blue them, and hang them out to dry. This receipt has been found to answer a very valuable purpose, and is worthy of trial. STARCHING, FOLDING, IRONING, ETC.—To Prepare Starch.—Take two tablespoonfuls of starch dissolved in as much water; add a gill of cold water; then add one pint of boiling water, and boil it half an hour, adding a small piece of spermaceti, sugar, or salt; strain, etc. Thin it with water. Flour-Starch.—Mix flour gradually with cold water, so that it may be free from lumps. Stir in cold water till it will pour easily ; then stir it into a'pot of boiling water, and let it boil five or six minutes, stirring it frequently. A little spermaceti will make it smoother. This starch will answer very well for cotton and linen. Poland starch is made in the same manner. Glue-Starch.—Boil a piece of glue four inches square in three quarts of water. Keep it in a bottle well corked. Use for calicoes. Glim-Starch.—Dissolve four ounces of gum-arabic in a quart of hot water and set it away in a bottle corked. This is used for silks and fine muslins. It can be mixed with water at discretion. Starching Clothes.—Muslins look well when starched, and clapped dry while the starch is hot, then folded in a damp cloth till they become quite damp, before ironing them. If muslins are sprinkled they are apt to be spotted. Some ladies clap muslins, then dry them, and afterward sprinkle them. Sprinkling Clothes.—They should be sprinkled with clear water, and laid in separate piles; one of flannels, one of colored, one of common, and one of fine articles. Folding Clothes.—Fold the fine articles and roll them in a towel, and then fold the rest, turning them all right side outward. Lay the colored articles separate from the rest. They should not remain damp long, as the colors might be injured. Sheets and table linen should be shaken and folded. Ironing.—In ironing a shirt, first do the back, then the sleeves, then the collar and bosom, and then the front. Iron calicoes generally on the right side, as they thus keep clean for a longer time. In ironing a frock, first do the waist, then the sleeves, then the skirt. Keep the skirt rolled while ironing the / other parts, and set a chair to hold the MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 81 sleeves while ironing the skirt, unless a skirt-board be used. Silk should be ironed on the wrong side when quite damp, with an iron which is not very hot; light colors are apt to change and fade. In ironing velvet, turn up the face of the iron, and, after dampening the wrong side of the velvet, draw it over the face of the iron, holding it straight; always iron lace and needlework on the wrong side, and carry them away as soon as they are dry. Starching.—Clear-Starching, etc—To Make Starch for Linen, Cotton, etc. —To one ounce of the best starch add just enough soft cold water to make it (by rubbing and stirring) into a thick paste, carefully breaking all the lumps and particles. When rubbed perfectly smooth, add nearly or quite a pint of boiling water (with bluing to suit the taste), and boil for at least half an hour, taking care to have it well stirred all the time, to prevent its burning. When not stirring, keep it covered, to prevent the accumulation of dust, etc. Also keep it covered when removed from the fire, to prevent a scum from rising upon it. To give the linen a fine, smooth, glossy appearance, and prevent the iron from sticking, add a little spermaceti (a piece as large as a nutmeg) to the starch when boiling, and half a teaspoonful of the finest table-salt. If you have no spermaceti (to be had cheap at any druggist's), take a piece of the purest, whitest hogs' lard, or tallow (mutton is the best), about as large as a nutmeg, or twice this quantity of the best refined loaf-sugar, and boil with the starch. In ironing linen collars, shirt-bosoms, etc., their appearance will be much improved by rubbing them, before ironing, with a clean white towel dampened in soft water. The bosom of a shirt should be the last part ironed, as this will prevent its being soiled. All starch should be strained before using. Receipt for Washing Woolen Goods,—The art of washing woolen goods so as to prevent them from shrinking, is one of the desiderata in domestic economy worthv of being recorded; and it is, therefore, with satisfaction we explain this simple process to our readers. All descriptions of woolen goods should be washed in very hot water with soap; and as soon as the article is cleansed immerse it in cold water; then let it be hung up to be dried. To Make Calicoes Wash Well,—Infuse three gills of salt in four quarts of boiling water, and put the calicoes in while hot, and leave them till cold; in this way the colors are rendered permanent, and will not fade by subsequent washing. So says a lady who has frequently made the experiment herself. Nothing can be cheaper or quicker done. H W to Make Soap Without Boiling,—Take one gallon of lye, strong O enough to bear up an egg, to every pound of grease. Put the lye into your barrel, and strain the grease hot through a sieve or cullender. Stir this three or four times a day for several days, or until it thickens. By this process you have soap clearer, and with much less trouble, than in the old way. Hard Soap,—Take eight pounds of soft soap—if you wish it nice, use that made of olive-oil—boil it two hours with six pounds of common salt, and it will make ^ve pounds of hard soap. Add a little rosin when you melt it over, and if you wish it nice, scent it with fragrant oil. To Clear-Starch Lace, etc,—Starch for laces should be thicker and used 4* 82 THE FAMILY. hotter than for linens. After your laces have been well washed and dried, dip them into the thick hot starch in such a way as to have every part properly starched. Then wring all the starch out of them, and spread them out smooth on a piece of linen, and roll them up together, and let them remain for about half an hour, when they will be dry enough to iron. Laces should never be clapped between the hands, as it injures them. Cambrics do not require so thick starch as net or lace. Some people prefer cold or raw starch for book-muslin, as some of this kind of muslin has a thick clammy appearance, if starched in boiled starch. Fine laces are sometimes wound round a glass bottle to dry, which prevents them from shrinking. Ironing Laces.—Ordinary laces and worked muslin can be ironed by the usual process with a smoothing or sad-iron; finer laces cannot. When the lace has been starched and dried, ready for ironing, spread it out as smooth as possible on an iron-cloth, and pass over it, back and forth, as quickly as you can, a smooth, round glass bottle containing hot water, giving the bottle such pressure as may be required to smooth the lace. Sometimes you may pass the laces over the bottle, taking care to keep them smooth. Either way is much better than to iron laces with an iron. In filling the bottle with hot water, care must be taken not to pour it in too fast, or the bottle will break. To Raise the Pile of Velvet when Pressed Down.—Warm a smoothingjron moderately, and cover it with a wet cloth, and lay or hold it unde? the velvet, on the Wrong side. The steam from this will penetrate the velvet, and you can raise the pile with a common brush, and make it appear as good as new. When Water is Hard, and will not readily unite with soap, it will always be proper to boil it before use; which will be found sufficiently efficacious, if the hardness depends solely upon the impregnation of Jme, in the form of what modern chemistry designates as a subcarbonate. The philosophical reason for this is, that the lime, by some secret process of nature, is united to a portion of carbonic acid, which causes it to be suspended in the water: but, in the process of boiling, the carbonic acid unites with the acquired caloric, and is carried off with it into the atmosphere. Even exposure to the atmosphere will produce this effect in a great degree upon spring water so impregnated, leaving it much fitter for lavatory purposes. In both cases the water ought to be carefully poured off from the sediment, as the neutralized lime, when freed from its extra quantity of carbonic acid, falls to the bottom by its own gravity. Boiling, however, has no effect, when the hardness of the water proceeds from lime united with the sulphuric acid, or sulphate of lime of the modern chemistry; and it must be neutralized, or brought to its proper state, by the application of common wood-ashes from the kitchen grate, or of barilla, now called soda, or the Dantzic ashes, or pearlash, or by the more scientific process of dropping in a solution of subcarbonate of potash. Each of these unites with the sulphuric acid, and separates it from the lime, which gravitates, as in the former case, to the bottom. To a pint of fresh-slacked lime, add a gallon of water, and allow the sediment to settle; pour off the clear water, and bottle tightly for use. Half a pint of this should be added MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 83 to a gallon of hard water, which should be stirred and allowed to settle, after which the clear water is filtered through Canton flannel, and is then fit for use, being quite soft. Having thus philosophically explained the arcana of the washing-tub, we may offer a saving hint in order to economize the use of soap, which is, to put any quantity of pearlash into a large jar, covered from the dust; in a few days the alkali will become liquid, which must be diluted in double its quantity of soft water with its equal quantity of new-slacked lime. Boil it half an hour, frequently stirring it; adding as much more hot water, and drawing off the liquor, when the residuum may be boiled afresh, and drained, until it ceases to feel acrid to the tongue* Soap and Labor may be Saved by dissolving alum and chalk in branwater, in which the linen ought to be boiled, then well rinsed out, and exposed to the usual process of bleaching. Soap may be disused, or nearly so, in the getting up of muslins and chintzes, which should always be treated agreeably to the oriental manner ; that is, to wash them in plain water, and then boil them in congee or rice-water: after which they ought not to be submitted to the operation of the smoothing-iron, but rubbed smooth with a polished stone. The EcORGHiy which must result from these processes renders their consideration important to every private family; in addition to which we must state, that the improvements in philosophy extend to the laundry as well as to the wash-house. Review.—After washing, overlook linen, and stitch on buttons, hooks and eyes, etc.; for this purpose, keep a " housewife's friend," full of miscellaneous threads, cottons, buttons, hooks, etc. DYEING.—General Directions.—The materials should be perfectly clean; soap should be rinsed out in soft water; the article should be entirely wetted, or it will spot; light colors should be steeped in brass, tin, or earthen; and, if set at all, should be set with alum. Dark colors should be boiled in iron, and set with copperas. Too much copperas rots the thread. For Coloring Sky-blue.—Get the blue composition. It may be found at the druggist's or clothier's for a shilling an ounce. If the articles are not white, the old colors should be all discharged by soap or a strong tartaric acid water; then rinse. Twelve or sixteen drops of the composition, stirred into a quart bowl of warm soft water, and strained if settlings are seen, will dye a great many articles. If you want a deeper color, add a few drops more of the composition. If you wish to color cotton goods, put in pounded chalk to destroy the acid, which is very destructive to all cotton. Let it stand until the effervescence subsides, and then it may be safely used for cotton as well as silk. For Lilac Color,—Take a little pinch of archil, and put some boilinghot water upon i t ; add to it a very little lump of pearlash. Shades may be altered by pearlash, common salt, o'r wine. To Color Black.—Logwood and cider, boiled together in iron—add water for the evaporation—makes a good and durable black. Rusty nails, or any bits of rusty iron, boiled in vinegar, with a small piece of copperas, will also dye black; so will ink-powder, if boiled with vinegar. In all cases, black must be set with copperas. 84 THE FAMILY. Lemon-Color.—Peach-leaves, bark scraped from the barberry-bush, saffron, etc., steeped in water, and set with alum, will color a bright lemon ; drop in a little gum-arabic to make the articles stiff. Royal Purple.—Soak logwood chips in soft water until the strength is out; then add a teaspoonful of alum to a quart of the liquor. If this is not bright enough, add more alum. Rinse, and dry. When the dye is exhausted, it will color a fine lilac. Slate-Color.—Tea grounds, boiled in iron vessels, set with copperas, makes a good slate-color. To produce a light slate-color, boil white maple bark in clear water, with a little alum. The bark should be boiled in brass utensils. The goods should be boiled in it, and then hung where they will drain and dry. Scarlet.—Pip the cloth in a solution of alkaline or metallic salt, then in a cochineal dye, and let it remain some time, and it will come out permanently colored. Another method: half a pound of madder, half an ounce of cream tartar, one ounce of marine acid to a pound of cloth —put it all together, and bring the dye to a scalding heat. Put in your materials, and they will be colored in ten minutes. The dye must be only scalding hot. Rinse your goods in cold water as soon as they come from the dye. To Color a Bright Madder,—For one pound of yarn or cloth take three ounces of madder, three ounces of alum, one ounce of cream tartar; prepare a brass kettle with two gallons of water, and bring the liquor to a steady heat; then add your alum and tartar, and bring it to a boil. Put in your cloth, and boil it two hours; take it out, and rinse it in cold water. Empty your kettle, and fill it with as much water as before; then add your madder; rub it in fine in the water before your cloth is in. When your dye is as warm as you can bear your hand in, then put in your cloth, and let it lie one hour, and keep a steady heat ;* keep it in motion constantly; then bring it to a boil fifteen minutes; then air and rinse it. If your goods are new, use four ounces of madder to a pound. To Color Green,—If you wish to color green, have your cloth as free as possible from the old color, clean, and rinsed; and, in the first place, color it deep yellow. Fustic, boiled in sgft water, makes the strongest and brightest yellow dye; but saffron, barberry-bush, peach-leaves, or onion-skins, will answer pretty well. Next take a bowlful of strong yellow dye, and pour in a great spoonful or more of the blue composition. Stir it up well with a clean stick, and dip the articles you have already colored yellowT into it, and they will take a lively grass-green. This is a good plan for old bombazet-curtains, dessert-cloths, old flannel for desk-coverings, etc. Straw-Color and Yellow.—Saffron, steeped in earthen, and strained, colors a fine straw-color. It makes a delicate, or deep shade, according to the strength of the tea. The dry, outside skins of onions, steeped in scalding water, and strained, color a yellow very much like the " bird of paradise" color. Peach-leaves, or bark scraped from the barberry; bush, color a common bright yellow. In all these cases, a little bit of alum does no harm, and may help to fix the color. Ribbons, gauze handkerchiefs, etc., are colored well in this way, especially if they MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 85 be stiffened by a bit of gum-arabic, dropped in while the stuff is steeping. Drab-Color.—Take plum-tree sprouts, and boil them an hour or more; add copperas, according to the shade you wish your articles to be. White ribbons take very pretty in this dye. To Dye Purple With Cochineal,—Boil an ounce of cochineal in a quart of vinegar. To Dye Brown,—Use a teaspoon of soda to an ounce of cochineal and a quart of soft water. To Color Pink,—Boil one pound of cloth an hour in alum-water; pound three-quarters of an ounce of cochineal and mix with one ounce of cream of tartar; put in a brass kettle, with water enough to cover the cloth; when about blood-heat, put in your cloth; stir constantly, and boil about fifteen minutes. To Dye a Coffee-Color.—Use copperas in a madder-dye, instead of madder compound. Nankin-Color.—The simplest way is to take a pailful of lye, to which put a piece of copperas half as big as a hen's egg. Boil in a copper or tin kettle. To Make Rose-Color,—Balm blossoms, steeped in water, color a pretty rose-color. This answers very well for the linings of children's bonnets, for ribbons, etc. To Dye Straw and Chip Bonnets Black.—Boil them in strong logwood liquor three or four hours, occasionally adding green copperas, and taking the bonnets out to cool in the air, and this must be continued for some hours. Let the bonnets remain in the liquor all night, and the next morning take them out, dry them in the air, and brush them with a soft brush. Lastly, rub them inside and out with a sponge moistened with oil, and then send them to be blocked. To Dye White Gloves a Beautiful Purple.—Boil four ounces of logwood and two ounces of roche-alum, in three pints of soft water, till half wasted. Let it stand to be cold after straining. Let the gloves be nicely mended; then do them over with a brush, and when dry repeat it. Twice is sufficient, unless the color is to be very dark. When dry, rub off the loose dye with a coarse cloth. Beat up the white of an egg, and with a sponge rub it over the leather. The dye will stain the hands, but wetting them with vinegar before they are washed will take it off. To Bleach Straw Hats, 6tC.—Straw hats and bonnets are bleached by putting them, previously washed in pure water, in a box with burning sulphur; the fumes which arise unite with the water on the bonnets, and the sulphurous acid thus formed bleaches them. To Dye Silks Black.—To eight gallons of water add four ounces of copperas; immerse for one hour and take out and rinse. Boil two pounds logwood chips, or one half-pound of extract; one half-pound of fustic; and for white silks, one half-pound of nicwood; dissolve two pounds of good bar-soap in a gallon of water; mix all the liquids together, and then ,add the soap, having just enough to cover the silk. Stir briskly until a good lather is formed, then immerse the silk and handle it lively. The dye should be as warm as the hand will bear. Dry 86 THE FAMILY. quickly and without rinsing. The above is enough for ten yards, or one dress. To Color Yellow on Cotton,—Wet six pounds of goods thoroughly; and to the same quantity of water add nine ounces of sugar of lead; and to the same quantity of water in another vessel add six ounces of bichromate of potash. Dip the goods first into the solution of sugar of lead, and next into that of the potash, and then again into the first. Wring out, dry, and afterward rinse in cold water. For Orange,—Prepare a lime-water as for whitewash; the stronger it is the deeper will be the color. Pour off the water and boil. While boiling dip the goods which you have already colored yellow. The above solutions to be cold, except the lime-water. These colors will not fade. WHITEWASHING.—To Make Whitewash that will not rub off.—Mix up half a pailful of lime and water ready to put on the wall; then take one gill of flour and mix it with the water; then pour on it boiling water sufficient to thicken it; then pour it, while hot, into the whitewash ; stir it all well together, and it is ready for use. But if you wish for yellow wash, take horseradish leaves half a pailful, boil them as if for greens, filter, and add the juice to the foregoing composition, and it will be a beautiful yellow. Excellent Cheap Whitewash.—Slack the lime as usual, except that the water used should be hot, and nearly saturated with salt; then stir in four handfuls of fine sand to make it thick like cream. Coloring matter can be added to both, making a light stone-color, a cream-color, or a light buff. Brilliant Whitewash,—Many have heard of the brjlliant stucco whitewash on the east end of the President's house at Washington. The following is a receipt for it; it is gleaned from the National Intelligencer, with some additional improvements learned by experiments. Take half a bushel of nice unslacked lime, slack it with boiling water, cover it during the process to keep in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it a peck of salt, previously well dissolved in warm water; three pounds of ground rice, boiled to a thin paste, and stirred in boiling hot; half a pound of powdered Spanish whiting, and a pound of clean glue, which has been previously dissolved by soaking it well, and then hanging it over a slow fire, in a small kettle within a large one filled with water. Add five gallons of hot water to the mixture, stir it well, and let it stand a few days covered from the dirt. It should be put on right hot; for this purpose it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. It is said that about a pint of this mixture will cover a square yard upon the outside of a house if properly applied. Brushes more or less small may be used according to the neatness of the job required. It answers as well as oil-paint for wood, brick, or stone, and is cheaper. It retains its brilliancy for many years. There is nothing of the kind that will compare with it, either for inside or outside walls. Coloring matter may be put in and made of any shade you like. Spanish brown stirred in will make red pink, more or less deep accord- MISCELLANEOUS PKACT1CAL RECEIPTS. 87 ing to the quantity. A delicate tinge of this is very pretty for inside walls. Finely-pulverized common clay, well mixed with Spanish brown, make a reddish stone-color. Yellow ochre stirred in makes yellow wash, but chrome goes farther, and makes a color generally esteemed prettier. In all these cases the darkness of the shades is of course determined by the kind and quantity of coloring matter employed. PAINTING.—In this article we shall not give directions for ordinary oil painting; but for those cheap and valuable substitutes for it, which every householder can prepare and apply, and which will be found equally efficient for the preservation of out-buildings, fences, farm implements, etc. A Cheap and Durable Cement.—A most valuable and durable cement for the outside covering of wood-buildings and fences may be obtained by mixing two parts of sifted wood-ashes, one of fine sand, and three of clay; these being again mixed with oil, and applied to the surface of the wood, are said to be capable of resisting the inclemency of the weather even better than marble itself. Black Paint made from Potatoes.—The " American Mechanic" says, on the authority of an old painter, that potatoes, being baked moderately at first in a close vessel from which air is excluded, and exposed to increased heat until they are completely charred through, may be ground in oil, and thus produce a beautiful black, superior in many respects to any other black in use. Substitute for White-Lead,—Take one bushel of unslacked lime, and slack it with cold water. When slacked, add twenty pounds of Spanish whiting, seventeen pounds of salt, and twelve pounds of sugar. Strain this mixture through a wire-sieve, and it will be fit for use, after reducing it with water. This is intended for the outside of buildings, or where it is exposed to the weather. Two coats should be laid on wood, and three on brick. A whitewash-brush may be used for laying it on, and each coat must be dried before the next is applied. This may be made of any color you please. For straw-color, instead of the whiting use yellow ochre ; for lemon-color, ochre and chrome yellow; for lead, or slate-color, lampblack; for blue, indigo; and for green, chrome green. A Substitute for White Oil-Paint.—Four quarts of skim-milk; one pound of fresh-slacked lime; twelve ounces of linseed oil; four ounces of white Burgundy pitch; six pounds of Spanish white; to be mixed as follows: the lime to be slacked in water, exposed to the air, mixed in about one-fourth of the milk; the oil, in which the pitch is to have been previously dissolved, to be added a little at a time; then the rest of the milk, and afterward the Spanish white. This quantity is sufficient for more than fifty square yards with two coats. Cheap Paint for a Barn,—An excellent and cheap paint for rough wood-work is made of six pounds of melted pitch, one pint of linseedoil, and one pound of brick-dust or yellow ochre. A Tarnish to Prevent the Rays of the Sun from Passing through Window or Other Glass.—Pound gum tragacanth into powder, and put it to dissolve for twenty-four hours in whites of eggs, well beaten. Lay a coat of this on your glass with a soft brush, and let it dry. 88 THE FAMILY. Cleansing Feathers of their Animal Oil,—The following receipt gained a premium from the Society of Arts: take for every gallon of clean water one pound of quick-lime; mix them well together, and when the undissolved lime is precipitated in fine powder, pour off the dean lime-water for use. Put the feathers to be cleaned in another tub, and add to them a quantity of the clean lime-water, sufficient to cover them about three inches, when well immersed and stirred about therein. The feathers, when thoroughly moistened, will sink down, and should remain in the lime-water three or four days; after which, the foul liquor should be separated from them, by laying them in a sieve. The feathers should be afterwards well washed in clean water, and dried upon nets, the meshes of which may be about the fineness of cabbage-nets. The feathers must be, from time to time, shaken on the nets, and, as they get dry, will fall through the meshes, and are to be collected for use. The admission of air will be serviceable in drying. The process will be completed in three weeks; and after being thus prepared, the feathers will only require to be beaten to get rid of the dust. Ringworm.—The head to be washed twice a day with soft soap and warm soft water; when dried, the places to be rubbed with a piece of linen rag dipped in ammonia from gas-tar; the patient should take a little sulphur and molasses, or some other gentle aperient, every morning ; brushes and combs should be washed every day, and the ammonia kept tightly corked. Directions for Making Good Sausages.—Take thirty pounds of meat, chopped fine ; eight ounces of fine salt; two and a half ounces of pepper; two tea-cups of sage; and one and a half cup of sweet marjoram, passed through a fine sieve. For the latter, thyme or summer savory can be substituted, if preferred. To Drive away Cockroaches.—A respectable professional gentleman says he has discovered that spirits of turpentine is an effectual remedy against the depredations of cockroaches. Thus, put a little of it upon the shelves and sides of your book-cases, bureaux, or other furniture, in which they take shelter; which may be done with a feather, and these troublesome insects will soon quit, not only the furniture, but the room. The remedy is simple, and easily obtained by every person who wishes vt. It is not unpleasant to the smell, soon evaporates, and does no injury to the furniture or clothing. This is a valuable discovery, if it proves in all cases as our informant assures us it did in his house. Moths, (to get rid of them,)—Procure shavings of cedar-wood, and inclose in muslin bags, which should be distributed freely among the clothes. Procure shavings of camphor-woocl, and inclose in bags. Sprinkle pimento (allspice) berries among the clothes. Sprinkle the clothes with the seeds of the musk-plant. To destroy the eggs when deposited in woolen cloth, etc., use a solution of acetate of potash in spirits of rosemary, fifteen grains to the pint. To Destroy Slugs.—Slugs are very voracious, and their ravages often do considerable damage, not only to the kitchen garden, but to the flowerbeds also. If, now and then, a few slices of turnip be put about the beds, on a summer or autumnal evening, the slugs will congregate thereon, and may be destroyed. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 89 Preserving Eggs,—The several modes recommended for preserving eggs any length of time are not always successful. The egg, to be preserved well, should be kept at a temperature so low that the air and fluids within its shell shall not be brought into a decomposing condition ; and, at the same time, the air outside of its shell should be excluded, in order to prevent its action in any way upon the egg. The following mixture was patented several years ago by a Mr. Jayne. He alleged that by means of it he could keep eggs two years. A part of his composition is often made use of—perhaps the whole of it would be better: put into a tub or vessel one bushel of quick-lime, two pounds of salt, half a pound of cream of tartar, and mix the same together, with as much water as will reduce the composition or mixture to that consistence that it will cause an egg put into it to swim with its top just above the liquid; then put and keep the eggs therein. An Improvement in Making Candles,—Let the wick be steeped in limewater, in which has also been dissolved a quantity of common nitre or saltpetre. By this means a purer flame and a superior light is obtained. A more perfect combustion is also insured; snuffing is rendered nearly superfluous, as in wax candles; and the candles with wicks thus prepared will not melt and run down. To Save Expense in Clothing.—Purchase that which is at once decent and the most durable ; and wear your garment, despite the frequent changes of fashion, till it becomes too defaced to appear decent; then turn it, and wear it thenceforth as long as it protects the body. A blue coat is as warm after fashion requires a green one as it ever was. A red shawl, in fashion to-day, is as warm as a black one, which fashion requires to-morrow. A few years hence your fame will not depend upon the style, color, or quality of the garments you wore in early life ; the width of the brim to your father's hat; or the size and color of your mother's bonnet. Composition to Make Colored Drawings and Prints Resemble Paintings in Oil.—Take of Canada balsam, one ounce; spirits of turpentine, two ounces; mix them together. Before this composition is applied, the drawing or print should be sized with a solution of isinglass in water, and when dry, apply the varnish with a camel's-hair brush. A Varnish to Color Baskets,—Take either red, black, or white sealingwax, whichever color you wish to make; to every two ounces of sealing-wax add one ounce of spirits of wine; pound the wax fine, then sift it through a fine lawn sieve, till you have made it extremely fine ; put it into a large phial with the spirits of wine ; shake it, let it stand near the fire forty-eight hours, shaking it often; then brush the baskets all over with it; let them dry, and do them over a second time. \ To Stain Harps, Violins, or any other Musical Instrument.—^. Crimson Stain.—Take one pound of ground Brazil and boil it in three quarts of water for an hour; stain it, and add half an ounce of cochineal ; boil it again for half an hour gently, and it will be fit for use. If you would have it of the scarlet tint, boil half an ounce of saifron in a quart of water, and pass over the work previous to the red stain. Observe, the work must be very clean, and of fir-wood or good sycamore, without blemish. When varnished it will look very rich. 4* 1 90 THE FAMILY. For a Purple Stain.—Take a pound of chip-logwood, to which put three quarts of water; boil it well for an hour; add four ounces of pearlash and two ounces of indigo pounded, and you will have a good purple. Blue Stain.—Take a pound of oil of vitriol in a glass bottle, in which put four ounces of indigo, and proceed as before directed in dyeing. Green Stain.—Take three pints of strong vinegar, to which put four ounces of the best verdigris, ground fine, half an ounce of sap-green, and half an ounce of indigo. T Polish Mahogany Furniture,—Rub it with cold-drawn linseed oil, O and polish by rubbing with a clean, dry cloth, after wiping the oil from the furniture. Do this once a week, and your mahogany tables will be so finely polished that hot water will not injure them. The reason is this—linseed oil hardens when exposed to the air, and when it has filled all the pores of the wood, the surface becomes hard and smooth like glass. To Clean Paillt that is Not Tarnished,—Take a flannel and squeeze nearly dry out of warm water, and dip in a little whiting; apply to the paint, and with a little rubbing it will instantly remove grease, smoke, or other soil. Wash with warm water, and rub dry with a soft cloth. It will not injure the most delicate color, and makes it look as well as new; besides, it preserves the paint much longer than if cleaned with soap and water. To Take Smell from Fresh Paint—Let tubs of water be placed in the room newly painted, near the wainscot, and an ounce of vitriolic acid put into the water, and in a few days this water will absorb and retain the effluvia from the paint, but the water should be renewed with a fresh supply once or twice; or, to get rid of the smell of oil-paint, plunge a handful of hay into a pailful of water and let it stand in the room newly painted. Where painted wainscot, or other wood-work, requires cleaning, fuller's-earth will be found cheap and useful; and, on wood not painted, it forms an excellent substitute for soap. To Extract Paint from Goods.—Saturate the spot with pure spirits of turpentine, and let it remain several hours, then rub it between the hands. It will crumble away without injuring either the color or texture of the article. The Best Season for Painting Houses.—The outside of buildings should be painted during autumn or winter. Hot weather injures the paint by drying in the oil too quickly ; then the paint will easily rub off. But when the paint is laid on during cold weather it hardens in drying and is firmly set. Hard Cement for Seams,—A very excellent cement for seams in the roofs of houses, or for any other exposed places, is made with white-lead, dry white sand, and as much oil as will make it into the consistency of putty. This cement gets as hard as any stone in the course of a few weeks. The lead forms a kind of flux with the sand ; it is excellent for filling up cracks in exposed parts of brick buildings ; it is also a good cement for pointing up the joints about chimneys, etc. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 91 Fire and Water Proof Cement—To half a pint of milk put an equal quantity of vinegar, in order to curdle it; then separate the curd and the whey, and mix the whey with four or five eggs, beating the whole well together. When it is well mixed, add a little quick-lime through the sieve until it has acquired the consistence of paste. With this cement, broken vessels and cracks of all kinds may be mended. It dries quickly, and resists the action of the water as well as of a considerable degree of fire. To Remove Marks from a Table.—If a whitish mark is left on a table by carelessly setting on a pitcher of boiling water, or a hot dish, pour some lamp oil on the spot, and rub it hard with a soft cloth. Then pour on a little spirits of wine or cologne-water, and rub it dry with another cloth. The white mark will thus disappear and the table look as well as ever. INKS,—Dr. lire's Ink,—For one gallon of ink, take one pound of bruised galls, five ounces of gum-arabic, five ounces green vitriol, and one gallon of rain-water. Boil the galls in the water for three hours, adding fresh water to supply that lost in vapor. Let the decoction settle, and turn off the clear liquor; add to it the gum, previously dissolved in a pint of water; dissolve the green vitriol separately in a pint of water, and mix the whole. The above makes a very superior ink, and it can be made in any family at a very trifling cost. Illk-Powder is formed of the dry ingredients for ink powdered and mixed. Powdered galls, two pounds; powdered green vitriol, one pound; powdered gum, eight ounces. This should be put up into two-ounce packets, each of which will make one pint of ink. Red Writing-ink.—Best ground Brazil-wood, four ounces; diluted acetic acid, one pint; alum, half an ounce. Boil them slowly in an enameled vessel for one hour; strain, and add an ounce of gum. Marking-Ink Without Preparation.—There are several receipts for this ink, but the following of Mr. Redwood is rapidly superseding all the others: dissolve separately one ounce of nitrate of silver, and one and a half ounces of subcarbonate soda (best washing soda) in distilled or rain water. Mix the solutions, and collect and wash the precipitate in a filter; while still moist, rub it up, in a marble or W^edgewood mortar, with three drachms of tartaric acid; add two ounces of distilled water, mix six drachms of white sugar, and ten drachms of powdered gum arabic, half an ounce of archil and water to make up six ounces in measure. Ink for Zinc Garden-Labels,—Verdigris, one ounce; sal ammoniac, one ounce; lampblack, half an ounce ; water, half a pint. Mix in an earthenware mortar, without using a metal spatula. Should be put up in small (one-ounce) bottles for sale. Directions.—To be shaken before use, and used with a clean quill pen, on bright, freshly-cleaned zinc. Note.—Another kind of ink for zinc is also used, made of chloride of platinum, five grains, dissolved in one ounce of distilled or rain-water; but the first, which is much less expensive, answers perfectly, if used as directed, on clean, bright zinc. Root-Beer,—A handful each of yellow dock, dandelion, and sarsaparilla 92 THE FAMILY. roots, sassafras bark, bops, and a little boneset; boil until the strength is extracted. To three gallons of this liquor, after straining, add one quart of molasses, and when cool enough, three yeast-cakes. Let it stand in a warm place eight or ten hours, strain and bottle. Theological Beer,—To three gallons of water, lukewarm, add a small teaspoonful of each of the oils of spruce, sassafras, and winter-green, one quart of molasses, and three yeast-cakes. Proceed as with the former. It will till fifteen bottles. Family Soda Water,—Three pounds of sugar, and three ounces tartaric acid; pour on them one quart of boiling water, Beat together the whites of three eggs; three tablespoonfuls of flour; which stir into the mixture when cool enough; boil for five minutes; do not skim but stir in the skuro when it rises. One bottle extract of lemon. Bottle for future use. To use, take two tablespoonfuls to a tumbler of cold water, and half a teaspoonful of soda. To Prevent the Smoking Of a Lamp.—Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it well before you use it; it will then burn both sweet and pleasant, and give much satisfaction for the trifling trouble taken in preparing it. Eeraedy for Blistered Feet from Long Walking.—Rub the feet at going to bed with spirits mixed with tallow dropped from a lighted candle into the palm of the hand. Phosphorus Paste for Destroying Rats and lice.—Melt one pound of lard, with a very gentle heat, in a bottle or glass flask plunged into warm water; then add half an ounce of phosphorus, and one pint of proof spirit; cork the bottle securely, and as it cools shake it frequently, so as to mix the phosphorus uniformly; when cold, pour off the spirit (which may be preserved for the same purpose), and thicken the mixture with flour. Small portions of this mixture maybe placed near the ratholes, and being luminous in the dark, it attracts them, is eaten greedily, and is certainly fatal N. B.—There is no danger of fire from its use. An Easy Method of Exterminating Eats and Mice.—Mix powdered nux vomica with oat-meal, and lay it in their haunts, observing proper precaution to prevent accidents. Another method is, to mix oat-meal with a little powdered phosphorus. Cure for Burns,—Of all applications for a burn we believe that there are none equal to a sample covering of common wheat flour. This is always at hand; and while it requires no skill in using, it produces most astonishing effects. The moisture produced upon the surface of a slight or deep burn is at once absorbed by the flour and forms a paste which shuts out the air. As long as the fluid matters continue flowing, they are absorbed and prevented from producing irritation, as they would do if kept from passing off by oily or resinous applications, while the greater the amount of those absorbed by the flour, the thicker the protective covering. Another advantage of the flour covering is, that next to the surface it is kept moist and flexible. It can also be readily washed off, without further irritation in removing* It may occasionally be washed off very carefully, when it has become matted and dry, and a new covering be sprinkled on. Corns.—Boil a potato in its skin, and after it is boiled take the skin and put the inside of it to the corn, and leave it on for about twelve MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 93 hours; at the end of that period the corn will be much better. The above useful and simple receipt has been tried and found effectual. Take two ounces of gum ammoniac, two ounces of yellow wax, and six drachms of verdigris, melt them together, and spread the composition on soft leather. Cut away as much of the corn as you can, then apply the plaster, and renew it every fortnight till the corn is away. Take white-pine turpentine, spread a plaster, apply it to the corn, and let it stay on till it comes off of itself. Eepeat this three times. It is also good for wounds. Method of Curing the Stings of Bees and Wasps—The sting of a bee is generally more virulent than that of a wasp, and with some people attended with very violent effects. The sting of a bee is barbed at the end, and consequently always left in the wound; that of a wasp is pointed only, so that they can sting more than once, which a bee cannot do. When any person is stung by a bee, let the sting, in the first place, be instantly pulled out, for the longer it remains in the wound the deeper it will pierce, owing to its peculiar form, and emit more of the poison. The sting is hollow, and the poison flows through it, which is the sole cause of the pain and inflammation. The pulling out of the sting should be done carefully and with a steady hand, for if any part of it breaks in, all remedies then, in a great measure, will be ineffectual. When the sting is extracted, suck the wounded part, if possible, and very little inflammation, if any, will ensue. If hartshorn drops are immediately afterward rubbed on the part the cure will be more complete. All notions of the efficacy of sweet oil, bruised parsley, burnet, tobacco, etc., appear, on various trials, to be totally groundless. On some people the sting of bees and wasps has no effect; it is therefore of little consequence what remedy they apply to the wound. However, the effect of stings greatly depends on the habit of body a person is of; at one time a sting shall take little or no effect though no remedy is used, which at another time will be very virulent on the same person. We have had occasion to test this remedy several times, and can safely avouch its efficacy. The exposure to which persons are subjected during the hot .summer months will no doubt render this advice very useful; its very simplicity making it more acceptable. H W to Get Sleep.—How to get sleep is to many persons a matter of O high importance. Nervous persons, who are troubled with wakefulness and excitability, usually have a strong tendency of blood on the brain, with cold extremities. The pressure of the blood on the brain keeps it in a stimulated or wakeful state, and the pulsations in the head are often painful. Let such rise and chafe the body and extremities with a brush or towel, or rub smartly with the hands to promote circulation, and withdraw the excessive amount of blood from the brain, and 'they will fall asleep in a few moments. A cold bath, or a sponge-bath and rubbing, or a good run, or a rapid walk in the open air, or going up or down stairs a few times just before retiring, will aid in equalizing circulation and promoting sleep. These rules are simple and easy of application in castle or cabin, and may minister to the comfort of thousands who would freely expend money for an anodyne to promote " Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." 94 THE FAMILY. Charcoal.—All sorts of glass vessels and other utensils may be purified from long-retained smells of every kind, in the easiest and most perfect manner, by rinsing them out well with charcoal-powder, after the grosser impurities have been scoured off with sand and potash. Rubbing the teeth, and washing out the mouth with fine charcoal-powder, will render the teeth beautifully white, and the breath perfectly sweet, where an offensive breath has been owing to a scorbutic disposition of the gums. Putrid water is immediately deprived of its bad smell by charcoal. When meat, fish, etc., from intense heat, or long keeping, are likely to pass into a state of corruption, a simple and pure mode of keeping them sound and healthful is, by putting a few pieces of charcoal, each the size of an egg, into the pot or sauce-pan wherein the fish or flesh is to be boiled. Among others, an experiment of this kind was tried upon a turbot, which appeared to be too far gone to be eatable; the cook, as advised, put three or four pieces of charcoal, each the size of an egg, under the strainer, in the fish-kettle; after boiling the proper time, the turbot came to the table sweet and firm. To Preserve Milk,—Provide bottles, which must be perfectly clean, sweet, and dry; draw the milk from the cow into the bottles, and as they are filled, immediately cork them well up, and fasten the corks with pack-thread or wire. Then spread a little straw at the bottom of a boiler, on which place bottles with straw between them, until the boiler contains a sufficient quantity. Fill it up with cold water; heat the water, and as soon as it begins to boil, draw the fire, and let the whole gradually cool. When quite cold, take out the bottles and pack them in saw-dust, in hampers, and stow them in the coolest part of the house. Milk preserved in this manner, and allowed to remain even eighteen months in the bottles, will be as sweet as when first milked from the cow. For the Cure O Felon.—Take a piece of rock-salt, about the size of f a butternut or English walnut, and wrap it up closely in a green cabbage-leaf, but if not to be had, in a piece of brown paper, well moistened with water. Lay it on embers, and cover it np so as to roast; when it has been in about twenty minutes, take it out and powder it as finely as possible. Then take some hard soap, and mix the powdered salt with it, so as to make it a salve. If the soap should contain but little turpentine, none need be added. Apply the salve to the part affected, and in a short time it will totally destroy it, and remove the pain. Another.—As soon as the pain is felt, take the thin white skin of an egg, which is found inside of the shell; put it round the end of the finger or thumb affected, and keep it there until the pain subsides. As soon as the skin becomes dry it will be very painful, and likely to continue for half an hour or more, but be not alarmed. If it grows painful, bear it; it will be of short duration, compared to what the disease would be. A cure will be certain. To lake Clothes Water-Proof,—Take thirty ounces of alum to thirty quarts of water ; then dissolve in another vessel thirty ounces of acetate of lead in an equal quantity of water; mix the two liquids, turn off the liquid which retains in solution the acetate of alum, and plunge into it the fabric desired to be made impermeable to water or other fluid. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. m The cloth should be thoroughly saturated with the fluid, when it should be dried. Goods rendered impermeable by this process retain no unpleasant odor after exposure for a time to the atmosphere. To Clean Glass.—Common newspaper is one of the best articles. The chemical effect of some ingredient in the printing ink gives a beautiful polish. Slightly moisten a piece of paper, roll it up and rub the glass; 4ake a dry soft piece and repeat the process. No lint will remain, as in the use of cloth. Family Tool-ChestS,—Much inconvenience and considerable expense might be saved, if it was the general custom to keep in every house certain tools for the purpose of performing at home what are called small jobs, instead of being alwayssobliged to send for a mechanic, and pay him for executing little things that, in most cases, could be suffi ciently well done by a man or boy belonging to the family, provided that the proper instruments were at hand. The cost of these articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them always in the house are far beyond the expense. For instance, there should be an axe, a hatchet, a saw (a large woodsaw, also, with a buck or stand, if wood is burned,) a claw-hammer, a mallet, two gimlets, of different sizes, two serew-clrivers, a chisel, a small plane, one or two jack-knives, a pair of large scissors or shears, and a carpet-fork or stretcher. Also an assortment of nails of various sizes, from large spikes down to small tacks, not forgetting brass-headed nails, some larger and some smaller. Screws, likewise, will be found very convenient, and hooks on which to hang things. The nails and screws should be kept in a wooden box, made with divisions to separate the various sorts, for it is very troublesome to have them mixed. And let care be taken to keep up the supply, lest it should run out unexpectedly, and the deficiency cause delay and inconvenience at a time when their use is wanted. It is well to have somewhere in the lower part of the house a deep, light closet, appropriated entirely to tools and things of equal utility, for executing promptly such little repairs as convenience may require, without the delay or expense of procuring an artisan. This closet should have at least one large shelf, and that about three feet from the floor. Beneath this shelf may be a deep drawer, divided into two compart ments. This drawer may contain cakes of glue, pieces of chalk, and balls of twine of different size and quality. There may be shelves at the sides of the closet for glue-pots, pastepots, and brushes, pots for black, white, green, and red paints, cans of painting oil, paint-brushes, etc. Against the wall, above the large shelf, let the tools be suspended, or laid across nails or hooks of proper size to support them. This is much better than keeping them in a box, where they may be injured by rubbing against each other, and the hand may be hurt in feeling among them to find the thing that is wanted. 96 THE FAMILY. But when hung up against the back wall of the closet, of course each tool can be seen at a glance. We have been shown an excellent and simple contrivance for designating the exact places allotted to all these articles in a very complete tool-closet. On the closet wall, directly under the large nails* that support the tools, is drawn, with a small brush dipped in black paint or ink, an out line representation of the tool or instrument belonging to that particular place. For instance, under each saw is sketched the outline of that saw, under each gimlet a sketch of that gimlet; under the screw-drivers are slight drawings of screw-drivers. So that, when bringing back any tool that has been taken away for use, the exact spot to which it belongs can be found in a moment; and all confusion in putting them up and finding them again is thus prevented. To Preserve Hams in Summer.—Before hot weather commences, cut up hams and shoulders, and fully cook them, so that when warmed they are at any time ready for the table; cover the bottom of a stone jar with the gravy, then put in a layer of ham, covering it with gravy, and thus proceed with alternate layers of ham and gravy. To form gravy sufficient to cover the ham, considerable lard should be used in cooking it, that it may thus be seasoned, and not simply melted and poured upon it, as some recommend. Hams thus prepared are as good the second year as the first. Sausages may be preserved in a similar manner. To Keep Grapes Fresh,—Away with your saw-dust, cotton, sealingwax, etc. Pick your grapes carefully without bruising, and put them into quarter or half barrels, the bottoms and sides of which are bored full of holes; place these casks in a cool, well-ventilated place, but where no currents of air can pass over them, and where they will not freeze. Fully matured and carefully picked grapes thus stored will be fresh in March. Bird-Lime.—Take any quantity of linseed oil, say half a pint; put it into an old pot, or any vessel that will stand the fire without breaking; the vessel must not be more than one>4hird full; put it on a slow fire, and stir it occasionally until it thickens as much as required; this will be known by cooling the stick in water, and trying it with the fingers. It is best to make it rather harder than for use. Then pour it into cold water. It can be brought back to the consistency required with a little Archangel tar. Liquid Glue.—Dissolve one ounce of borax in a pint of boiling water; add two ounces of shellac, and boil in a covered vessel until the lac is dissolved. This forms a very useful and cheap cement; it answers well for pasting labels on tin, and withstands damp much better than the common glue. The liquid glue made by dissolving shellac in naptha is dearer, soon dries up, and has an unpleasant smell. Best Blacking for Boots and Shoes.—Ivory-black, one and a half ounce ; treacle, one and a half ounce; sperm oil, three drachms; strong oil of vitriol, three drachms; common vinegar, half a pint. Mix the MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 97 ivory-black, treacle, and vinegar together, then mix the sperm oil and oil of vitriol separately, and add them to the other mixture. To Clean Hair-Brushes.—As hot water and soap very soon soften the hairs, and rubbing completes their destruction, use soda, dissolved in cold water, instead; soda having an affinity for grease, it cleans the brush with little friction. Do not set them near the fire, nor in the sun, to dry, but after shaking them well, set them on the point of the handle in a shady place. Scurf in the Head,—A simple and effectual remedy: into a pint of water drop a lump of fresh quick-lime, the size of a walnut; let it stand all night, then pour the water off clear from the sediment or deposit; add a quarter of a pint of the best vinegar, and wash the head with the mixture. It is perfectly harmless; only wet the roots of the hair. A Very Good Microscope may be made by dropping a little balsam of fir, or Canada balsam, on the under side of a thin piece of glass. It may be used both before and after it is dry. Disinfecting Lipid,—In a wine-bottle of cold water, dissolve two ounces of acetate of lead (sugar of lead); and then add two (fluid) ounces of strong nitric acid (aquafortis.) Shake the mixture, and it will be ready for use. A very small quantity of the liquid, in its strongest form, should be used for cleansing all kinds of chamber utensils. For removing offensive odors, clean cloths, thoroughly moistened with the liquid, diluted with eight or ten parts of water, should be suspended at various parts of the room. In this case the offensive and deleterious gases are neutralized by chemical action. Fumigation in the usual way is only the substitution of one odor for another. In using the above, or any other disinfectent, let it never be forgotten that fresh air—and plenty of it—is cheaper and more effective than any other material. To Dry Sweet Corn for Winter Use.—Pick the corn when fit for present use, clean of husks and silk; put it into hot water to scald the milk; do not let it boil, but remain just long enough to cook the milk, and which very much facilitates the drying. Cut the corn from the cob, and dry it in the sun on papers or cloths. One bright day will place it out of danger, though, before being put up, it should be very thoroughly dried. A Simple Cure for the Croup.—The Journal of Health says, when a child is taken with croup, instantly apply cold water, ice-water, if possible, suddenly and freely to the neck and chest with a sponge. The breathing will almost instantly be relieved. So soon as possible, let the sufferer drink as much as it can; then wipe it dry, cover it warm, and soon a quiet slumber will relieve all anxiety. To Prevent the Spreading of Contagion.—It cannot be too widely known, that nitrous acid possesses the properties of destroying the contagion of typhus fevers, and other malignant diseases. By the following simple process the gas may be procured with but little expense and trouble. Place a little saltpetre on a saucer, and pour on it as much oil of vitriol as will just cover it; a copious discharge of acid gas will instantly take place. The quantity may be regulated by the ingredients. This is very important in preserving health, and preventing the spread of contagion. 5 THE FAMILY. Scald Head in Infants.—This complaint begins in brownish spots on the head, and in a few days forms a scab and discharges a thick, gluey matter that sticks upon the hair. The sores gradually increase, until the whole head is covered with a scab, discharging this matter, which is very offensive. The hair is to be cut off as close as possible, and the head washed every night and morning with lime-water. This is easily prepared by slacking a piece of quick-lime, of the size of a hen's egg,, in a quart of water, and when settled, it is to be put into a bottle and corked for use. Cure for the Piks.—The following simple application will certainly cure this most distressing complaint. It has been tried by many and found successful. Take three ounces of pulverized alum and place in a belt made of cotton drilling, two inches in width, and wear the belt around the body above the loins. It should be worn next the skin. Its operation is slow but certain. Sweet oil is an excellent application for the parts affected. Carrot poultices give great relief. FIG. 1.* FIG. 2.* R a STRAINING O FILTERING WATER—The following simple and efficient method of straining and filtering water, and for which we are indebted to the " American Agriculturist," we earnestly commend to all who are building cisterns, or who would have sweet, pure, and wholesome water. * This can be done almost perfectly by passing it through a few layers of closely-woven flannel, ori^vpn'c'ottoh cloth. But the operation would be tedious if performed *dSily with all water used for drinking and cook Jug. We present two very convenient and easily-constructed waterfilterers, the first of which we have used for years. Fig. 1 is a large barrel or cask. A lower false-head, Z, is fitted in, say six or eight inches from the bottom. This is perforated with very ^rnall gimlet-holes, over which is placed a layer, s, of coarse, clean sand, previously washed upon a fine sieve, to remove the finer particles which would otherwise wash through the gimlet-holes. Over this sand is a layer, c, of broken charcoal; above the charcoal is another layer of the prepared sand, upon the top of which is another false-head, u. The space above is filled-with water, w, which gradually filters down into the vacant space, p, entirely free from its impurities. We should add, * " American Agriculturist," vol. xvii., page 89. MISCELLANEOUS PBACTICAL KECEIPTS. 9£ that when it is impracticable to wash the sand, a white flannel cloth may be placed upon the false-head, Z, under the sand. Upon the right of the filter-barrel, a glazed stone-ware jar, r, holding one or two pailfuls, is set its whole depth into the ground or cement of the cellarbottom. This keeps cool at all times. When water is desired for use, it is dipped out of the jar, and the stop-cock is then turned to fill it up again, that the water may be cooled before it is needed. Such an apparatus can be fitted up in a few hours, and it serves admirably for purifying water, however brackish or bad previously. Dark-colbred swamp-water, on passing through it, comes out clear, limpid,,and agreeable. Try it, you who are so unfortunate as not to have good wellwater. The upper layer of sand will need occasional renewing, and where much bad water is passed through, it will be well to frequently renew both sand and charcoal. Fig. 2 represents a still better filtering apparatus, though one not quite so easily constructed. B is a board fitted lightly from top to bottom, say six inches to the right of the middle, a half-circle, o, is cut out at the bottom of the board, B. Another board, c, say fifteen inches high, is fitted in six inches to the left of the middle. A bottom-piece, pierced with very small gimlet-holes, is placed below the two upright boards, say three inches above the bottom of the cask. Upon this are placed layers of sand, s, s, and coal, c, just as described in fig. 1, with a punctured board over them. Water, m, is then poured in, and it passes through the opening, o, up through, the sand and coal and into n. Such an apparatus will last a long time, since the sediment, separated from the impure water, will fall down, leaving the filter free; while in fig. 1 this sediment would require frequent removal. A stone-ware side vessel for cooling the water may be provided for Hg. 2, the same as in fig. 1. Fig. 2 illustrates an excellent mode of constructing cisterns to have the water always pure. The division may be made of brick-work laid in water-lime (hydraulic cement). The filtering layers need occupy but a small space in the center on one side of the division-cell. The water from the roof, conducted into m, will filter through into n, gradually, and except immediately after a heavy fall of rain, or after large drafts on the purified portion, the water will stand upon a level in both compartments. We hardly need dilate upon the advantages of such an arrangement. Rain-water usually washes down considerable quantities of dust lodged upon the roofs of buildings. The filtered water will be found admirable for drinking, cooking, and for washing and rinsing clothes clean, H W to Dig Wells in ft«ick-Sand.—As soon as the water is reached, O have ready a circle of good plank, sufficiently large on the outside for the extreme diameter of the wall—the inner circle to be about four feet, so that a man can work in it. This circle should be made double by pinning sections together. Lay this circle evenly upon the quick-sand, and commence upon it a wall of hard brick laid in hydraulic cement, and so as to be water-tight; the bricks may be laid with the ends inward, the crevices filled with small stones or broken brick mixed with the cement. This wall should be carried up four or five feet—the well-hole, as before stated, to be at least four feet in diameter. Let this 100 THE FAMILY. wall stand and fix for four or five days if the flow of water will permit; a man then dips out the quick-sand, and the wall settles as the sand is taken out. The outside of the wall should of course be free from contact with the earth, so that it can settle freely. In this way, the well can be settled to any desired depth, and the wall raised as the work progresses. One foot of clean gravel should be pounded upon the bottom of the well, and the work is effectually done. To Clean Teeth,—Take of good soft water, one quart; juice of lemon, two ounces; burnt alum, six grains; common salt, six grains. Mix; boil them a minute in a cup; then strain and bottle for use; rub the teeth with a small bit of sponge tied to a stick once a week. To Prevent Wounds from Mortifying,—Sprinkle sugar on them. The Turks wash fresh wounds with wine, and sprinkle sugar on them. Obstinate ulcers may be cured with sugar dissolved in a strong decoction of wTalnut leaves. A Simple Cure for Dysentery,—Take some butter off the churn, immediately after being churned, just as it is, without being salted or washed; clarify it over the fire like honey. Skim off all the milky particles when melted over a clear fire. Let the patient (if an adult) take two tablespoonfuls of the clarified remainder, twice or three times within the day. This has never failed to effect a cure, and in many cases it has been almost instantaneous. Extract of Arnica for Bruises, Sprains, Burns, etc—Take one ounce of arnica flowers, dried—that prepared by the Shakers is considered the best—and put them in a wide-mouthed bottle ; pour just enough scalding water over them to moisten them, and afterward about a pint or a pint and a half of spirits of wine. In case of a burn or bruise, etc., wet a cloth in the arnica, and lay it on the part affected. Renew the application occasionally, and the pain will soon be removed. To Destroy Ants.—Dissolve a teaspoon of cobalt or common fly-poison in three tablespoons of warm water, and "sweeten to their taste;" place it where ants frequent; and, after taking one supper, they will never take another; and, after a short time, if thus fed, none will be left "to tell the tale." A Good Adhesive Plaster.—Three ounces of white rosin; four ounces of bees'-wax; four ounces of mutton-tallow; melt and mix well. Let it cool partially; then add to it one ounce of spirits of turpentine, one ounce of British oil, half a bottle of Harlem oil, and one ounce of balsam of fir; work like shoemakers' wax. PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK,—Egg-Gruel,—Boil a pint of new milk; beat two new-laid eggs to a light froth, and pour in while the milk boils ; stir them together thoroughly, bat do not let them boil; sweeten it with the best of loaf-sugar, and grate in a whole nutmeg; add a little salt, if you like it. Drink half of it while it is warm, and the other half in two hours. It is said to be good for dysentery, as well as nourishing. Apple-Water.—Take one tart apple of ordinary size, well baked; let it be well mashed ; pour on it one pint of boiling water; beat them well together; let it stand to cool, and strain it off for use. Add loaf-sugar, if the patient desire it. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 101 Arrow-Boot.—Put two teaspoonfuls of the powder into a basin; mix them smooth with a few teaspoonfuls of cold water, and let another person pour boiling water over the mixture while you continue to stir it, until it forms a kind of starchy-looking substance. Thus prepared, it may be used in the same manner as gruel. It is well adapted for the food of infants, because it is less liable to ferment than either gruel or barley-water; and, for the same reason, it is the best fluid nourish ment for those who are afflicted with indigestion. A little milk or wine may be added, to improve the flavor. A Nourishing Jelly.—Put into a stone jar or jug a set of calves'-feet, cut in pieces, a quart of milk, five pints of water, a little mace, half an ounce of isinglass, and a handful of hartshorn shavings. Tie some brown paper over the jug, and put it into the oven with household bread. When done, strain it through a sieve; and when cold, take off the fat. Some of it may occasionally be warmed up with wine and sugar. It is good taken as broth, with herbs. Beef-Tea.—Cut a pound of lean beef in thin slices; put it into a quart and half a pint of cold water; set it over a gentle fire, where it will become gradually warm; when the scum rises, let it continue to simmer gently for about an hour; then stri.in it through a sieve or a napkin, let it stand ten minutes to settle, and then pour off the clear tea. This is one of the common restoratives given to persons who are recovering from sickness. Toast and Water.—Toast thin slices of bread on both sides carefully; then pour cold water over the bread, and cover it tight for one hour; or use boiling water, and let it cool. Waters Yor Cooling Draughts of Preserved or Fresh Fruits—Apple-Water, lemon-Water, etc.—Pour boiling water on the preserved or fresh fruits, sliced; or squeeze out the juice, boil it with sugar, and add water. Water-Gruel.—Mix two tablespoonfuls of Indian or oat-meal with three tablespoonfuls of water. Have ready a pint and a half of boiling water in a sauce-pan or skillet, perfectly clean; pour this by degrees into the mixture in the bowl; then return it back into the skillet, and place it on the fire to boil. Stir it, and let it boil half an hour. Skim it, and season it with a little salt. If it is admissible, a little sugar and nutmeg lenders it more palatable. Also, if milk is not forbidden, a small teacupful added to a pint of gruel, and boiled up once, makes a nice dish for an invalid. Milk-Porridge.—This is made nearly in the same way as gruel, only using half flour and half meal, and half milk instead of water. It should be cooked before the milk is added, and only boiled up once afterward, Wine-Whey.—Take half a pint of new milk; put it on the fire, and the moment it boils, pour in that instant two glasses of wine and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar, previously mixed. The curd will soon form, and, after it has boiled, set it aside until the curd settles. Pour the whey off, and add a pint of boiling water, and loaf-sugar to sweeten to the taste. This may be drank in typhus and other fevers, debility, etc. Chicken, Beef, or Veal Broth.—This is made by cutting up the chicken, or the lean of veal or beef, and putting in two spoonfuls of washed 102 THE FAMILY. rice, and boiling until tender. It may be used, if needed in haste, after boiling in less water about fifteen minutes, then filling it up and finishing. It should be put by in a bowl or pitcher, covered, to keep for use. Warm it, and add crumbs of crackers or bread a day or two old, with a little salt, and there is nothing more palatable for the sick. Hot Lemonade.—Cut up the whole of a lemon, rind and all, add one teacupful of white sugar, and pour on boiling water. This is good for colds, and is a pleasant drink for the sick. Rice-Gmel,—Take one spoonful of rice, a pint and a half of water, a stick of cinnamon or lemon-peel; mix, and boil it soft, and add a pint of new milk; strain it, and season it with a little salt. If you make it of rice flour, mix one spoonful with a little cold water smoothly, and stir it into a quart of boiling water. Let it boil five or six minutes, stirring it constantly. Season it with salt, nutmeg, and sugar, and, if admissible, a little butter. If the patient bears stimulants, a little wine may be added. Egg-Cream.—To the yolks of three eggs, and a dessertspoonful of good new milk or cream, add two drops of oil of cinnamon. This is a very nourishing mixture. The oil of cinnamon is cordial and tonic, and the above has been recommended in lung complaints, where respiration has been attended with pain, and a dry cough, especially after eating or exercise. It is also excellent in cases of hectic toward the evening, and of profuse night-sweats. Caudle.—Make a fine, smooth gruel of half grits; when boiled, strain it; stir it at times till cold; when wanted for use, add sugar, wine, and lemon-peel, with some nutmeg, according to taste ; you may add, if you please, besides the wine, a spoonful of brandy or lemon-juice. POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES.—First ascertain, if possible, what poison the person has taken, and then a resort may be had to the following remedies, if on hand, while a person goes for the doctor. It should be remembered that the ordinary calcined magnesia, mixed in water, is considered a certain antidote to numerous poisons of metallic origin, such as arsenic, corrosive sublimate, sulphate of zinc, etc. These cause v Acids.—Such are oil of vitriol, aqua fortis, oxalic acid. great heat, and sensation of burning pain, from the mouth down to the stomach. Remedies—magnesia, soda, pearlash, soap dissolved in water, or flaxseed-tea ; then use a stomach-pump, or emetics. Alcohol.—First cleanse the stomach by an emetic, then dash cold water on the head, and give ammonia (spirits of hartshorn). Alkalies,—Such are caustic potash, caustic soda, and volatile alkali. Take vinegar or lime-juice. Afterward large quantities of sugar and water. Ammonia.—Remedy, lemon-juice or vinegar; afterward milk and water, or flaxseed-tea. Arsenic.—The symptoms are the same in mercurial poisons. Remedies—in the first place, evacuate the stomach ; then give the white of eggs, lime-water, or chalk and water, charcoal, and the preparations of iron, particularly hydrate. Belladonna, or Night-Henbane.—Give emetics, and then plenty of vin< gar and water, or lemonade. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 1($ Charcoal,—In poisons by carbonic gas, remove the patient to open air, dash cold water on the head and body, and stimulate the nostrils and lungs by hartshorn, at the same time rubbing the chest briskly. Corrosive Sublimate.—Constriction, with great pain in the throat, stomach, and bowels. Give white of eggs freshly mixed with water; or give wheat flour and water, or soap and water, freely. Creosote*—White of eggs, and the emetics. Lead.—Sugar of lead, extract of saturn, white lead, litharge, minium. A sweet, astringent taste in the mouth, constriction of the throat, pain in the stomach, bloody vomiting, etc. Dissolve a handful of Epsom or Glauber salts in a pint of water, and give it at once; when it has vomited him, use sweetened water. If the symptoms continue, act as directed for acids. Mushrooms—Give emetics, and then plenty of vinegar and water, with a dose of ether, if handy. Nitrate O Silfer (lunar Caustic)*—Give a strong solution of common f salt, and then emetics. Nitrate O P#ta$h, or Saltpetre.—Give emetics, then copious draughts f of flaxseed-tea, milk and water, and other soothing drinks. Opium, or Laudanum.—Stupor, inclination to sleep, delirium, convulsions. First give a strong emetic of mustard and water, then strong coffee and acid drinks; dash cold water on the head* Oxalic Acid,—Frequently mistaken for Epsom salts. Remedies, chalk, magnesia, or soap and water, freely; then emetics. Prussk Aeid.—When there is time, administer chlorine, in the shape of soda or lime; hot brandy and water, hartshorn, and turpentine are also useful. Snake-Bites, ete.—Apply immediately strong hartshorn, and take it internally; also, give sweet oil and stimulants freely. Apply a ligature tight above the part bitten, and then apply a cupping-glass. Stings from Bees.—In stings from bees and other insects, bathe with salt and vinegar, or sal-ammoniac and vinegar. Tartar Emetic.—Give large doses of tea made of galls, Peruvian bark, or white oak bark. Tobacco, Hemlock, Nightshade, Spurred-Rye, etc.—An emetic, as directed for opium. If the poison has been swallowed some time, purge with castor-oil After vomiting and purging, if still drowsy, bleed, and give vinegar and water. White Vitriol.—Give the patient plenty of milk and water. In almost all cases of poisoning emetics are highly useful; and of these, one of the very best, because most prompt and ready, is the common mustard flour or powder, a spoonful of which, stirred up in warm water, may be given every five or ten minutes until free vomiting can be obtained. Emetics and warm, demulcent drinks, such as milk and water, flaxseed^ or slippery-elm tea, chalk-water, etc., should be administered without delay. The subsequent management of the case will of course be left to a physician. When poisoned by dogwood, ivy, or swamp sumac, dissolve a quarter of an ounce of copperas (sulphate of iron) in a pint of water, and bathe the part affected* a% T H E FAMILY. ACCIDENTS.—Always send off for a surgeon immediately an accident occurs, but treat as directed until he arrives. Bums,—If the skin is much injured, spread some linen pretty thickly with chalk ointment, and lay over the part, and give the patient some brandy and water if much exhausted ; then send for a medical man. If not much injured and very painful, use the same ointment, or apply carded cotton dipped in lime-water and linseed oil. If you please you may lay cloths dipped in ether over the parts, or cold lotions. Scalds.—Treat the same as burns, or cover with scraped raw potato; but the chalk ointment is the best. In the absence of all these, cover the parts with treacle, and dust on plenty of flour. Body ill Flames.—Lay the person down on the floor of the room and throw the table-cloth, rug, or other large cloth over him, and roll him on the floor. Dirt in the Eye.—Place your fore-finger upon the cheek-bone, having the patient before you; then draw up the finger and you will probably be able to remove the dirt; but if this will not enable you to get at it, repeat this operation while you have a netting-needle or bodkin placed over the eyelid ; this will turn it inside out, and enable you to remove the sand, or eyelash, etc., with the corner of a fine silk handkerchief. As soon as the substance is removed, bathe the eye with cold water and exclude the light for a day. If the inflammation is severe, take a purgative and use a refrigerant lotion. lime ill the Eye.—Syringe it well with warm vinegar and water (one ounce to eight ounces of water) ; take a purgative and exclude light. Iron or Steel Spicule in the Eye.—This occurs while turning iron or steel in a lathe. Drop a solution of sulphate of copper (from one to three grains of the salt to one ounce of water) into the eye, or keep the eye open in a wineglassful of the solution. Take a purgative, bathe with cold lotion, and exclude light to keep down inflammation. Dislocated Thumb*—This is frequently produced by a fall. Make a clove-hitch, by passing two loops of cord over the thumb, placing a piece of rag under the cord to prevent it cutting the thumb; then pull in the same line as the thumb. Afterward apply a cold lotion. Cuts and Wounds.—Cut thin strips of sticking-plaster, and bring the parts together; or if large and deep, cut two broad pieces so as to look like the teeth of a comb, and place one on each side of the wound, which must be cleaned previously. These pieces must be arranged so that they shall interlace one another; then by laying hold of the pieces on the right-hand side with one hand, and those on the other side with the other hand, and pulling them from one another, the edges of the wound are brought together, and without any difficulty. Ordinary Cut& are dressed by thin strips applied by pressing down the plaster on one side of the wound, and keeping it there and pulling in the opposite direction; then suddenly depressing the hand when the edges of the wound are brought together. Contusions.—When they are very severe, lay a cloth over the part, and suspend a basin over it filled with cold lotion. Put a piece of cotton into the basin, so that it shall allow the lotion to drop on the cloth, and thus keep it always wet. MISCELLANEOUS PRACTICAL RECEIPTS. 105 \ Hemorrhage, when caused by an artery being divided or torn, may be known by the blood jumping out of the wound, and being of a bright scarlet color. If a vein is injured, the blood is darker, and flows continuously. To stop the latter, apply pressure by means of a compress and bandage. To arrest arterial bleeding, get a piece of wood (part of a mop-handle will do), and tie a piece of tape to one end of it; then tie a piece of tape loosely over the arm, and pass the other end of the wood under it; twist the stick round and round until the tape compresses the arm sufficiently to arrest the bleeding, and then confine the other end by tying the string round the arm. If the bleeding is very obstinate, and it occurs in the arm, place a cork underneath the string, on the inside of the fleshy part, where the artery may be felt beating by any one ; if in the leg, place a cork in the direction of a line drawn from the inner part of the knee a little to the outside of the groin. It is an excellent thing to accustom yourself to find out the position of these arteries, or, indeed, any that are superficial, and to explain to every one in your house where they are, and how to stop bleeding. If a stick cannot be got, take a handkerchief, make a cord bandage of it, and tie a knot in the middle; the knot acts as a compress, and should be placed over the artery, while the two ends are to be tied around the thumb. Observe always to place the ligature between the wound and the heart. Putting your finger into a bleeding wound, and making pressure until a surgeon arrives, will generally stop violent bleeding. Bleeding from the Nose, from whatever cause, may generally be stopped by putting a plug of lint into the nostrils; if this does not do, apply a cold lotion to the forehead, raise the head, and place both arms over the head, so that it will rest on both hands; dip the lint plug, slightly moistened, into some powdered gum-arabic, and plug the nostrils again; or dip the plug into equal parts of powdered gum-arabic and alum, and plug the nose. If the bowels are confined, take a purgative. Violent Shocks will sometimes stun a person, and he will remain unconscious. Untie strings, collars, etc.; loosen any thing that is tight and interferes with the breathing; raise the head; see if there is bleeding from any part; apply smelling-salts to the r^ose, and hot bottles to the feet. Ill Concussion, the surface of the body 'Is cold and pale, and the pulse weak and small, the breathing slow and gentle, and the pupil of the eye generally contracted or small. You can get an answer by speaking loud, so as to arouse the patient. Give a little brandy and water, keep the place quiet, apply warmth, and do not raise the head too high. If you tickle the feet, the patient feels it. In Compression O the Brain, from any cause, such as apoplexy, or a f piece of fractured bone pressing on it, there is loss of sensation. If you tickle the feet, he does not feel it. You cannot arouse him so as to get an answer. The pulse is slow, and labored; the breathing slow, labored, and snoring; the pupils enlarged. Raise the head, unloose strings or tight things, and send for a surgeon. If one cannot be got at once, apply mustard-poultices to the feet, and leeches to the temples. Choking.—When a person has a fish-bone in the throat, insert tho fore-finger, press upon the root of the tongue, so as to induce vomiting; 5* 8 106 THE FAMILY. if this does not do, let him swallow a large piece of potato or soft bread; and if these fail, give a mustard emetic. Fainting* Hysterics, etc.—Loosen the garments, bathe the temples with water or eau de Cologne : fresh air; avoid bustle, and excessive sympathy. Drowning.—Attend to the following essential rules : 1. Lose no time. 2. Handle the body gently. 3. Carry the body with the head gently raised, and never hold it up by the feet. 4. Send for medical assistance immediately, and in the mean time act as follows: First. Strip the body, rub it dry, and then rub it in hot blankets, and place it in a warm bed in a warm room. Second. Cleanse away the froth and mucus from the nose and mouth. Third. Apply warm bricks, bottles, bags of sand, etc., to the arm-pits, between the thighs and soles of the feet. Fourth. Rub the surface of the body with the hands inclosed in warm dry worsted socks. Fifth. If possible, put the body into a warm bath. Sixth. To restore breathing, put the pipe of a common bellows into one nostril, carefully closing the other and the mouth; at the same time drawing downward, and pushing gently backward, the upper part of the windpipe, to allow a more free admission of air; blow the bellows gently, in order to inflate the lungs, till the breast be raised a little; then set the mouth and nostrils free, and press gently on the chest; repeat this until signs of life appear. When the patient revives, apply smelling-salts to the nose, and give warm wine or brandy and water. Cautions.—1. Never rub the body with salt or spirits. 2. Never roll the body on casks. 3. Continue the remedies for twelve hours without ceasing. Hanging*—Loose the cord, or whatever suspended the person, and proceed as for drowning, taking the additional precaution to apply eight or ten leeches to the temples. Apparent Death from Drunkenness,—Raise the head, unloose the clothes, maintain warmth of surface, and give a mustard emetic as soon as the person can swallow. Apoplexy and Fits generally.—Raise the head; unloose all tight clothes, strings, etc.; apply cold lotions to the head, which should be shaved; apply leeches to the temples, and send for a surgeon. Suffocation from Noxious Gases, etc.—Remove to the fresh air; dash cold vinegar and water in the face, neck and breast; keep up the warmth of the body; if necessary, apply mustard-poultices to the soles of the feet, and try artificial respirations as in drowning. Lightning and Sun-Stroke.—-Treat the same as apoplexy. T H E M E A N S OF PRESERVING HEALTH. HEALTH is indispensable to happiness and success. The capacity either to act or to enjoy, is dependent upon the measure of health which each individual possesses. A healthy family, other things being equal, has a decided advantage, in the race of life, over one the health THK MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 107 of whose members is feeble. Hence it is of the first importance to know, and to practice, the means for its preservation. Were proper attention given to this subject in our families, a vast sum of suffering and misery would be avoided, many valuable lives prolonged, and the anxieties, cares, loss of time and expense, resulting from unnecessary sicknesses, wrould be saved. The object of the following pages is to place within the reach of American families plain rules, easy of comprehension and practice, for the preservation of their health and vigor to the latest period of life. In a matter so important as human health, which also involves human happiness and life, it is scarcely necessary to apologize for the space we devote to it, or to urge attention to it as of the highest interest. If it be important to know and to practice the rules by which domestic animals can be reared with the greatest vigor and health, it is certainly quite as important that we should be equally well informed as to the means best calculated to rear properly our own offspring! This department of our work has been prepared by a distinguished physician, and will be found entirely reliable and worthy of the fullest confidence of the reader. Health is that state of the human body in which the structure of all the parts is sound, and their functions regularly and actively performed, rendering the individual fit for all the duties and enjoyments of life. When a person has received a sound constitution from nature, his health is to be preserved by a proper regulation of the various circumstances, internal and external, on which animal life is dependent. These are principally, air and exercise, clothing, food and drink, the excretions and discharges, sleep and waking, and management of the passions of the mind. Air is that invisible, transparent, compressible, and elastic fluid which everywhere surrounds our globe, generally denominated the atmosphere. It is the medium in which we live and breathe, and without which wc could not for a moment exist. Air is not a simple but a compound body consisting at least of four distinct substances, viz., oxygen, azote, carbonic acid, and aqueous vapor. The two former substances, however, constitute almost the whole of the atmospheric air near the surface of the earth; the other two are variable in their proportions; the first exists only in minute quantities which it is difficult to appreciate. Vital air, or oxygen, which forms one-fourth of the atmosphere, is necessary to respiration and combustion, and an animal immersed in it will live much longer than in the same quantity of common air. The remaining three-fourths, called azote or mephitic air, is totally incapable of supporting combustion or respiration for an instant. If a candle be included in a given quantity of atmospheric air it will burn only for a certain time and then be extinguished as the oxygen is all consumed, and that which remains is incapable of supporting Same. If an animal be put in a given quantity of common air, it will live only a certain time, at the end of which the air will be found diminished about one-fourth, and the remainder will neither support flame nor life. 108 THIS FAMILY. The oxygen which is received into the lungs of animals from the atmosphere communicates the red color to the blood, and is the principal agent which imparts heat and activity to the system. When animals die for want of vital air their blood is always found black. Independently of its destruction by the respiration of men and other animals, there is a constant consumption of the oxygenous portion of atmospheric air by the burning of combustible bodies, by the fermentation and putrefaction of vegetable substances, and by the calcination of metals. A diminished proportion, therefore, of the oxygen of our atmosphere, and an increased amount of carbonic acid, and other deleterious gases, is undoubtedly produced from the innumerable processes of combustion, putrefaction, and respiration of men and animals, particularly in populous cities, the atmosphere of which is almost constantly prejudicial to health. The atmospheric air is never absolutely pure and salubrious in any situation, but is always mixed with heterogeneous particles, and these different states and changes produce very perceptible effects on the constitution. In the open country there are few causes to contaminate the atmosphere, and the vegetable productions continually tend to make it more pure. The winds which agitate the atmosphere, and constantly occasion its change of place, waft the pure country air to the inhabitants of the cities, and dissipate that from which the oxygen has been in a great measure extracted. Were it not for this wise provision ot the author of nature, from the daily combustion of an immense quantity of fuel, the numerous substances constantly undergoing putrefaction, the respiration and exhalations of a large number of men and animals, the air in populous towns would soon become unfit for the purposes of life. The air of any place where a numerous body of people is assembled together, especially if to the breath of the crowd there be added the vapor of a great number of candles or lamps, is rendered extremely prejudicial, as these circumstances occasion a great consumption of oxygen. The practice of burning lamps with long wicks, and thereby filling the room with smoke, is very detrimental to health; and it is not a little surprising that common sense is so devoid of all philosophy as not to detect and avoid a vapor so pernicious and poisonous when received into the lungs. The fact is well known, that when air has been long confined and stagnated in mines, wells, and cellars, it becomes so extremely poisonous as to prove immediately fatal to those who imprudently attempt to enter such places. No person should descend into a well or cellar which has been long closed, without first letting down a lighted candle; if it burns clear there is no danger, but if it ceases to burn, we may be sure that no one can enter without the utmost danger of immediate suffocation. It sometimes happens, also, that when air is suffered to stagnate in rooms, hospitals, jails, ships, etc., it partakes of the same unwholesome or pernicious quality, and is a source of disease. It is obvious, therefore, that in all confined or crowded places the correcting of vitiated air, by means of cleanliness and frequent ventilation, is of the highest importance to health, and the most effectual preservative from THE AtEANS 01 PRESERVING HEALTH. 109 disease. No accumulation, therefore, of filth about our houses, clothes, or in the public streets, should on any pretense be suffered to continue, especially during the heat of summer. It is a very injurious custom for a number of persons to occupy or sleep in a small apartment, and if it be very close and a fire be kept in it the danger is increased. The vapor of charcoal, when burnt in a close apartment, produces the most dangerous effects. Our houses, which are made close and almost air-tight, should be ventilated daily, by admitting a free circulation of air to pass through opposite windows; and even our beds ought to be frequently exposed to the influence of the open air. Houses situated in low marshy situations, or near lakes or ponds of stagnant water, are constantly exposed to the influence of damp and noxious exhalations. Among the most powerful means furnished by nature for correcting air which has become unfit for respiration, is the growth and vegetation of plants. The generality of plants possess the property of correcting the most corrupt air within a few hours, when they are exposed to the light of the sun; during the night or in the shade, however, they destroy the purity of the air, which renders it a dangerous practice to allow plants to vegetate in apartments occupied for sleeping. Marshes.—The neighborhood of marshes is peculiarly unwholesome, especially towards the decline of summer and during autumn, and more particularly after sunset. The air of marshy districts is loaded with an excess of dampness, and with the various gases given out during the putrefaction of the vegetable matters contained in the wraters of the marsh. Persons exposed to this air are liable to various diseases, but especially ague, bilious fevers, diarrhoeas, and dysenteries. They who breathe it habitually exhibit a pallid countenance, a bloated appearance of the abdomen and limbs, and are affected with loss of appetite and indigestion. Health is best preserved in marshy districts by a regular and temperate life—exercise in the open air during the middle of the day, and by retiring, as soon as the sun sets, within the house, and closing all the doors and windows. The sleeping apartment should be in the upper story, and rendered perfectly dry by a fire, lit a few hours before going to bed, and then extinguished. Exposure to the open air should, if possible, not take place in the morning before the sun has had time to dispel the fog, which, at its rising, covers the surface of the marsh. Night Air,—Many diseases are brought on by imprudent exposure of the body to the night air; and this, at all seasons, in every climate, and variety of temperature. The causes of this bad property of the night air, it is not difficult to assign. The heat is almost universally several degrees lower than in the day-time; the air deposits dew and other moisture; the pores of the skin are open, from the exercise and fatigues of the day; the evening feverishness leaves the body in some degree debilitated and susceptible of external impressions; and from all these concurrent causes are produced the various effects of cold acting as a check to perspiration; such as catarrhs, sore throats, coughs, consumptions, rheumatisms, asthmas, fevers, and dysenteries. In warm 110 THE FAMILY. climates, the night air and night dews, with their tainted impregnations, act with much malignancy on the unwary European, who too often, after an imprudent debauch, or in a state of fatigue, absurdly lays himself down in the woods or verandas, to receive the full effects of the morbific powers, then unusually active. In civilized life, and in crowded towns, how many fall victims to their own imprudence, in exposing themselves to the cold, the damp, and the frostiness of the night air! Issuing from warm apartments with blazing fires, or from crowded churches, theaters, or ball-rooms, with exhausted strength, profuse perspiration, thin dresses, and much of the person uncovered, how many are attacked with a benumbing cold and universal shivering, which prove the forerunners of dangerous inflammations of the brain, of the lungs, or of the bowels, which either cut them off in a few days, or lay the foundation of consumption or other lingering illness. Such being the dangers of exposure to the night air, it ought to be inculcated on all, both young and old, to guard against them, by avoiding all rash and hasty changes of place and temperature, by hardening the frame by due exercise and walking in the open air in the daytime; and on occasions where the night air must be braved, taking care to be sufficiently clothed; and to avoid drawing in the cold air too strong or hastily with the mouth open. Sea Air,—The air upon the sea and in its neighborhood is generally distinguished by its greater coldness, purity, and sharpness; and is, therefore, in many cases directed to patients, whose complaints do not affect their respiration, and who have vigor of constitution enough to derive benefit from the stimulus which such air occasions. A residence by the sea-side is beneficial to persons of a scrofulous habit and debilitated constitution, provided they take care not to expose themselves to cold and damp; and in the fine season, when there is no reason against it, they ought to bathe. In complaints of the chest, the use of sea-bathing, and a residence near the sea, are more questionable; and by such an inland rural situation, in a mild equable climate, is to be preferred. A sea voyage has long been famous for its good effects at the commencement of consumptive complaints; and these good effects may be ascribed partly to the good air at sea, partly to the affection of the stomach and skin induced by sea-sickness, and to the excitement of the mind, caused by change of scene and occupation. Ventilation.—The air, as we have already remarked, cannot become stagnant or unchanged for even a short period without its becoming unfit for respiration, and destructive to the health of those who breathe it. The greater number of persons by whom an apartment or any given place is occupied, the more quickly the air becomes deteriorated, and the greater the necessity of a free ventilation. The streets of a city should, therefore, be so laid out as to insure a constant and free circulation of air; hence the unwholesomeness of a residence in narrow alleys, courts, and passages. Not less important is the continued renewal of the air of our apartments—the ventilation of which, however, should be so conducted as to prevent a current of air from blowing directly upon the persons within them. Our bed-chambers, in particular, should be freely ventilated during the day; and even at night, when the THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. Ill windows are closed, the chimney should be left open, or, if the room is small, and the weather sultry, a door, opening into another room. No consideration of economy should prevent the most constant attention being paid to proper ventilation, so essential is the latter to health and comfort. Cellars.—It is important that cellars should be perfectly dry, kept strictly clean and freely ventilated. The damp and foul air so frequently generated in cellars where dryness, cleanliness, and ventilation are not properly attended to, is often the cause of disease, not only in the persons who inhabit the house to which the cellar is attached, but in others residing in the immediate neighborhood. No house can be considered a healthy residence, in the cellar of which water is allowed to stagnate. This may easily be obviated, in most situations, by a sink dug to gravel. The air of cellars can be preserved sufficiently dry and wholesome by free ventilation, the removal of all filth and corruptible materials, and frequently whitewashing the walls. Cellars, especially when entirely underground, are improper places of residence; appropriating^ them as places of residence for the poor, or as workshops, should be prohibited by law. Heat.—The temperature of the human body, that is, of its internal organs, is about 98° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. This degree of heat is maintained independent of that of the surrounding medium, by the evolution of caloric within the body itself.. Under ordinary circumstances, the human body is surrounded by an atmosphere many degrees colder than itself, and hence transmits constantly heat to the air; its energies are therefore tasked to evolve a sufficient amount of caloric to supply the loss thus occasioned. Nevertheless, when the temperature of the surrounding air greatly exceeds that of the body, and the latter is continually receiving heat from the former, its temperature is not raised in proportion. This arises in consequence of a diminished evolution of heat within, and of the increased transpiration from the surface, causing the loss of a large amount of the caloric it receives. Hence, at first sight it might be inferred, that the animal system is capable of being little influenced by the temperature of the atmosphere. This, however, is not strictly true; the changes in the temperature of the air cause in the body the sensation of heat or cold, according as they are to a higher or lower degree, and produce other important effects upon its various organs. Habitually subjected to an average temperature many degrees below its own, the body, when exposed to a heat^of 98°, notwithstanding it can receive no increase of caloric from the air, experiences, nevertheless, a decided sensation of heat, and the skin and other organs are unduly stimulated. This arises from the^animal heat being accumulated in the system. So, likewise, when suddenly exposed to a temperature many degrees below that to which we have been accustomed, but one, nevertheless, to which the term temperate may be applied, we experience a very considerable sensation of cold, and all the functions of the system suffer from its sedative effects—the caloric being extracted from the body more rapidly than it is evolved within. Every circumstance, likewise, by which the vital energies of the body are increased or diminished, will occasion the sensation of heat or cold to bo 112 THE FAMILY. experienced to a different extent, from the same degrees of atmospheric temperature. All degrees of heat beyond that of temperate produce a stimulant effect upon the skin, and through it upon the different internal organs. If the elevation of temperature occur gradually, and is confined to only a few degrees, its effects are often beneficial; but if it occur suddenly, or is considerable, either the stimulation of the skin or of some one or more of the internal organs, is carried to the extent of producing disease, and we have inflammation either of the skin, brain, stomach, or bowels, of a more or less violent grade; or the over-stimulated organs fall into a state of indirect debility. In consequence of this, and the excessive perspiration which ensues, the vital powers of the system become exhausted, and are unable to resist the impression of any morbific cause, however slight, to which it may be exposed—as cold and damp, errors in diet, fatigue, or a renewed excitation from subsequent exposure to heat. It is in this manner that high degrees of atmospheric temperature become a source of disease. Heat is likewise an indirect cause of disease, by its action upon various putreflable materials, causing the evolution of certain gaseous substances by which the purity of the air we breathe is destroyed. Cold,—Whenever the air or other medium, in which the body is immersed, is of such a temperature as to abstract from the latter its heat more rapidly than by the internal action of the system it is generated, the sensation of cold will be produced; and the intensity of this sensation will always be in proportion to the rapidity with which the heat of the body is carried off, and to the feebleness of the heat-generating powers of the system. Cold, or the abstraction of heat from the system, in a degree disproportionate to its powers of generating it, produces a sedative influence upon nearly all the organs. That is, it reduces their activity and diminishes or suspends their functions. It causes a diminution in the action of the blood-vessels and exhalants of the surface; hence, under its influence, the skin becomes pale, shrunk, and dry. It diminishes the action of the heart and arteries, as is evinced by the smallness, weakness, and diminished frequency of the pulse. The sensibility, first of the external parts of the body, and subsequently of the internal organs, is likewise diminished by the action of cold. Hence the numbness of the hands, fingers, and entire surface, as well as the diminished activity of the functions of the brain and nervous system generally, and the feebleness of the muscular action. It is by this sedative impression upon the nervous system of intense cold, that the almost irresistible inclination to deep sleep is produced in those exposed to very low degrees of temperature. The sudden application of cold occasions a hurried and irregular action of the respiratory organs; and when intense or long-continued, it materially impedes, or prevents entirely, the action of these organs, so that the respiration is so imperfectly performed, that the change of the venous into arterial blood no longer takes place, and the lips, tongue, and external surface of the body assume a livid or leaden hue. The moderate and transient application of cold to persons in robust health, and of considerable energy of constitution, is generally followed by phenomena which have misled many into the belief that cold acts upon the animal system as a stimulant. THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 113 Every one in health has experienced the bracing and invigorating influence of a bright winter's day, and has felt from it a healthful glow in his frame, and a degree of increased vigor throughout every organ. These effects, however, are not, strictly speaking, the immediate consequence of the low temperature to which the body is exposed, but they result from the reaction of the vital energies, after the first temporary reduction of their activity by the cold. The excitement of the surface and of the internal organs being reduced by the sedative influence of the reduced temperature, their susceptibility to the action of the ordinary stimuli is increased; hence, subsequent exposure to a slight augmentation of temperature, exercise, the friction and warmth of the clothing, even the stimulus of the blood, as the heart renews its activity on the withdrawal of the sedative agent, will induce an augmented excitement on the internal and external surfaces. Hence the agreeable glow of the skin, the augmented vigor and increased activity of the system, the improved appetite, and feeling of cheerfulness consequent upon a transient and moderate reduction of the temperature of the body. That these phenomena are solely to be referred to the reaction of the system, after a temporary diminution of excitement, is sufficiently established by the fact, that unless the system be endowed with a considerable degree of energy and activity, no such favorable effects will follow the action of cold. Upon the weak and exhausted, cold acts as a permanent debilitant; or, if reaction takes place, it is only partial, being confined to some one or a few organs, in which it causes not a healthy activity but disease. There is not, indeed a more frequent exciter of disease than cold when applied to the body under certain circumstances. Were we to enumerate all the diseases to which cold gives rise, we should give a list of nearly all to which, in our variable climate, the human body is subject. The numerous inflammations of various parts, as the eyes, the throat, the chest, the lungs, the bowels; the inflammation of tendinous and membraneous parts, constituting rheumatism; catarrh, called by way of eminence, a cold ; the rose, fevers of various kinds, consumption ; these and many more, closely follow the application of cold; and whatever may be the distinction we make between predisposing and exciting causes, the plain, practical inference to be drawn, is the necessity of guarding against cold, and all those circumstances in its application'on which depends its power of affecting the body with disease. The circumstances which enable the human body to resist the morbific effects of cold, are a certain vigor of constitution, exercise, activity of mind, and the being occupied with some exciting passion. Cordials also, as wine, spirits, or other stimulants, prevent the body from suffering from the immediate effects of cold; but it is to be noted, that they who are in the habit of dram-drinking, are not those who are best able to resist the action of cold. The temporary stimulus of spirituous liquors is always succeeded by great weakness, and susceptibility to external impressions; and the unhappy drunkard, from the combined effects of his debility and exposure, is very frequently destroyed by disease induced by the sedative effects of cold. CLOTHING,—One of the safest rules in the regulation of dress, is to ad- 114 THE FAMILY. just it to the vicissitudes or fluctuations of the season; and thij rule should be carefully attended to by the valetudinarian, the delicate, the infirm, and the old. The winter clothing\should not be left off too early in the spring, noi the summer clothing worn too late in the autumn. Neither should this rule be disregarded by the young, and those in the enjoyment of perfect health ; for, though strong and robust persons may, with impunity, endure many changes of temperature without any change in dress, yet they should not be too slightly clothed; and all diminution in the amount of their dress should be made with extreme caution. Such persons, however, relying too much on the strength of their constitutions, often expose themselves imprudently; and, as the violence of their diseases is generally in proportion to the vigor of their vital powers, so are they frequently rapid in their progress and fatal in their termination. The grand rule is, so to regulate the clothing, that, when exposed to the external air, the difference of temperature experienced shall not be such as to produce any dangerous impression, whatever may be the inclemency of the weather, when we go abroad. Hence, the necessity of a thinner clothing within doors than without, and of a greater warmth of clothing after night, and during cold, damp weather, than during the day, and when the air is perfectly dry. Persons of delicate and irritable constitutions, whose powers of life are feeble, and whose circulation is languid and irregular, are very apt to suffer severely by a very slight diminution of the temperature of their skin. This is also the case with invalids. All such persons, therefore, ought rather to exceed, than be deficient in, the quantity and warmth of their clothing. But while clothing should not be too light, or too small in amount, jaeither should it be too heavy, or too much in quantity. The effects are equally mischievous. By overclothing, too much perspiration is drawn out of the body, by which the frame is greatly weakened, and coldness and numbness of the extremities are occasioned. Dress is often injurious in consequence of its being made fashionable, in compliance with the modes and customs of the times; frequently occasioning innumerable maladies, either by compressing the muscles or viscera, stopping the access and retreat of the blood to and from the head, or from circulating through the veins, or preventing the free expansion of the chest or the unconstrained action of the limbs. Tight clothes are invariably detrimental to the health, comfort, and symmetry of the body. By the pressure they make upon the muscles, and the impediment they offer to their free exercise, they produce in them an emaciation and debility which prevent them from supporting properly the natural and graceful position of the body, or of effecting its active movements with sufficient vigor. They prevent, also, the free circulation of the blood, and cause it to accumulate in the veins of the head, lungs, or abdomen. When the pressure of the clothes, or any part of them, is around the neck, it is apt to produce headache, discoloration of the face, vertigo, and apoplexy, or other diseases of the brain; -when upon the chest and waist, it prevents the full development of the lungs, impedes respiration, and interferes with the proper action of the heart, in consequence of which, the health of the whole system suffers; when THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 115 around the abdomen, the stomach, liver, and intestines are affected, and indigestion is produced, or the nutrition of the whole body is rendered imperfect. The clothes, therefore, should be perfectly loose, leaving to every part the fullest liberty, and to all their natural and unconstrained motions. This is all-important at every period of life, but particularly so during infancy and childhood. Another practice, equally pernicious to health, is that of going about all the morning and first part of the day, the men muffled up in great coats, and the women with furs and flannels, while, in the afternoon and evening, they sit at home, or brave the external air in a much thinner dress, which but imperfectly covers, or leaves bare, parts of the body which in the previous portion of the day were closely enveloped in the warmest clothing. Flannel.—Flannel worn next the skin, in addition to the ordinary clothing, is of very great service in preserving the health of the inhabitants of all cold and temperate climates, more especially where the vicissitudes of temperature are frequent and considerable, as well as during the seasons of spring, autumn, and winter, in our own climate. It produces a moderate warmth of the surface, promotes perspiration, readily absorbs the perspired fluids, and easily parts with them again by evaporation, on account of the porous nature of its texture. These important advantages render the use of flannel at all seasons of inestimable service to the valetudinary and the aged, and all those subject to disorders of the chest, bowels, etc. Hufeland has justly remarked, that it is the very best dress for those who have begun to decline in years'; for all who lead a sedentary life; for individuals subject to cough o* frequent colds, gout, diarrhoea, and the like; for all nervous patients, and convalescents from severe chronic disorders; to persons who are too susceptible of the impressions of the atmosphere; and lastly, in such climates and pursuits of life where exposure to sudden changes of temperature, and to wet or moisture, is unavoidable. Flannel is also well adapted for infants and young children, especially in autumn, winter, and spring. Older children do not require it, excepting during the seasons of greatest cold, and all persons under forty, in good health, should reserve it as a resource for their declining years, during which it becomes every year more and more useful and necessary. Flannel ought not to be habitually worn at night. By far the best practice is, to throw it off in bed, unless, from great debility or age, sufficient warmth cannot be insured by a moderate quantity of bed-clothes. The necessity of frequently changing the flannel, in order to preserve it strictly clean, need scarcely be urged, as it must be apparent to all. Cotton.—Cotton, as an article of clothing, especially when worn in contact with the skin, is far better adapted for general use than linen. It is much better adapted for preserving the equable warmth of the surface, and guarding it from sudden vicissitudes of temperature; but it is inferior in these respects to flannel. In warm weather, and- in hot climates, it is, in every respect, the most comfortable and wholesome article for an inner dress. It is cooler than linen, inasmuch as it conducts more slowly the excess of external heat to our bodies, and when a sud- 116 THE FAMILY. den reduction of atmospherical temperature occurs, on the other hand, it abstracts more slowly the heat from the body, and thus preserves the surface of a more steady and uniform temperature. For children and young persons of robust and healthy constitutions, it should constitute the material of the inner garment throughout the year. linen.—Whatever may be said in favor of the comforts of linen, and the greater ease with which it is kept clean, it is by no means a substance well adapted for the dress worn next to the skin at any season of the year nor by any class of persons. In the winter it is altogether insufficient to preserve the surface of a proper temperature or to guard it against sudden changes. For children, and the laboring classes generally, as well as by all delicate persons, muslin should be preferred for summer wear, and soft flannel for winter. The chief objections to linen are, that it is too good a conductor of caloric, and hence causes the body to feel the influence of very high or low degrees of atmospheric temperature ; it imbibes readily the matter of perspiration, and when wet, communicates a disagreeable chilliness to the surface with which it is in contact. Head-Dress.—Whatever covering is worn upon the head should be light, sufficiently large, and adapted in its form to the shape of the head. Too heavy or warm a covering, or one which compresses unduly the head, is productive of pain and inconvenience. In summer, the color of the hat or bonnet should be white, or at least some shade approaching to white, in consequence of the tendency of all dark colors to absorb and transmit the rays of heat. The brim of the hat should also be sufficiently broad to protect the face and the eyes from the sun. Although the nature of a head-dress may appear to be a subject of very little importance in regard to health or comfort, yet every one has perhaps experienced more or less of the pain and inconvenience occasioned by wearing a new hat too small in the crown and unfitted in shape to the head, and the almost immediate relief which results from exchanging it for one of more ample dimensions; while we are assured by physicians, that disgusting, painful, and even dangerous affections of the head are caused by the warm, thick coverings constantly worn upon the head by the peasants in the different parts of the north of Europe. Caps.—The head, excepting perhaps in the first months of infancy, is sufficiently protected from cold and other external agents, by its natural covering of hair; hence, every kind of artificial covering is, to say the least of it, unnecessary—even during exposure to the open air. Caps are particularly objectionable in children; by keeping the head too warm, and by the roughness of their texture when richly worked, producing an irritation of the parts with which they are in contact, they cause too much blood to be sent to the vessels of the head, and thus increase the danger of diseases of the brain, eruptions, and sores about the scalp, the forehead, and the ears being produced; while the broad border of lace with which they are so often ostentatiously decked, interfering with the motiorjs of the eyes, produces often a permanent squint. In adults caps shouldr|8lpr be worn, excepting when the head has become prematurely bald, as tfte cooler the head is kept when possessed of its natural covering, the hair, the less danger there is of affections of the brain or of the THE MEANS OF PBESERYING HEALTH. 117 ears and eyes. Wearing caps at night is likewise always an objectionable practice, excepting when the individual is accustomed to them during the day. Cravat,—The neck might be left entirely uncovered from the period of birth without injury, probably with advantage to health. But sc long as the imperious laws of custom and fashion require the use of a covering to this part of the body in the male sex, it is important that of whatever it is composed it be very light and loosely applied. When the neck is kept too warmly covered it becomes peculiarly liable to the impression of slight degrees of cold ; the throwing off of the cravat for a few moments, or exchanging it for one of lighter materials, will often give rise to a violent inflammation of the throat. When the cravat girts too tightly the neck, it prevents the free return of the blood from the head, causing a constant pain and sense of over-fullness. Corsets,—Of all the whims of fashion no one is more absurd or more mischievous in its effects than that which condemns the female, under the pretense of improving the grace and beauty of her shape, to the torture of a tightly-laced corset. Equally detrimental to comfort and to health, this portion of female attire cannot be too severely censured by the physician. It is productive of not the least advantage, real or imaginary, to compensate for the injury it produces, nor to excuse the folly of females in persisting in its use. The immediate effect of the corset is, by compressing firmly the chest, to prevent its free expansion in the act of breathing, and hence to impede materially the function of respiration ; a less amount of air is taken into the lungs in inspiration, and, as a consequence, the blood is less perfectly changed. The impediment to respiration is increased when the corset extends so low as to compress the abdomen; by the bowels being then forced upward against the diaphragm, the latter is prevented from descending, and the dimensions of the chest are thus contracted from below. A sense of oppression and weight is always experienced about the breast when the corset is drawn very tight around the body; the breathing is short, quick, and panting; and not only is the blood prevented, in a great measure, from undergoing that change in the lungs by which it is adapted for the healthy nourishment of the various organs, but the actions of the heart are also impeded ; violent palpitation of the latter is not unfrequently produced, accompanied with a sense of vertigo, and occasionally fainting. When the corset is worn constantly from early youth, the growth of the ribs is prevented, and the whole capacity of the chest is permanently contracted; and hence spitting of blood, difficulty of breathing, or even more dangerous and fatal diseases of the lungs and heart are induced. Consumption is a very common complaint, the production or aggravation of which may be traced to tight lacing. But it is not merely to the chest that the injurious effects of the corset are confined; it likewise compresses the whole of the upper portion of the abdomen, and by the yielding nature of this portion of the body, the pressure upon the organs within is even more considerable than that experienced by the heart and lungs. The liver, the stomach, and the intestines in particular, experience this pressure to a very great extent; in consequence, the free and healthy secretions of the liver are prevented from 118 THE FAMILY. taking place, the stomach and the bowels can no longer perform their functions with proper vigor and regularity; the digestion of the food is impeded, and the bowels become costive and distended with wind. In this manner, in connection with the injury inflicted upon the lungs, the vigor of the whole system becomes prostrated from the use of corsets; the skin assumes a sallow hue, the countenance a haggard and wrinkled appearance, and all the functions of life are performed imperfectly. It is a fact, that nothing is better adapted to produce the premature decay of beauty, and the early appearance of old age, than the use of the corset. There are two other effects produced by this article of dress, which would be sufficient of themselves to induce every prudent and sensible female to abandon it. The first is the injury inflicted upon the breasts, by which their proper development is prevented, and the nipple is almost entirely obliterated, so that, when called upon to fulfil the sacred office of nurse toward her offspring, the mother finds, to her sorrow, that, from her folly, she has totally incapacitated herself from performing its duties, or experiencing its pleasures. The second effect is that produced by the pressure of the corset upon the pelvis and the womb, more especially when worn in early youth, or during the first stages of pregnancy. From this cause barrenness, miscarriages, or a stunted and deformed offspring may result, or the pains, the difficulties, and the dangers of child-birth, may be increased to a frightful degree. Serious as are the injuries we have thus detailed, they are far from being all to which tight lacing gives rise. The firm pressure of the corset upon the muscles of the back and of the chest preventing these from performing freely their several motions, and their vessels from receiving a due supply of blood for their nourishment, cause them to become pale and diminished in bulk and in strength. Hence, when attempted to be called into action by the exercise of the arms and upper part of the body, fatigue and exhaustion are quickly induced. Upon the proper tone or strength of the muscles of the back depends principally the upright position of the back-bone, and of course of the whole trunk: when therefore these muscles are debilitated by the long-continued pressure of the corset, an ungraceful curvature of the body to one or other side results, amounting often to very striking deformity. This is frequently increased by the voluntary twisting of the body, or of the shoulders, in order to escape from the constraint experienced, as well as from the uneasy sensations occasioned by the pressure of the corset upon some particular point. In a very large number of instances it will be found that, in the female who has worn a corset from her youth, the shoulders are thrown more or less out of their natural position—an ungraceful elevation of one, and an undue depression of the other, is a very common occurrence. Garters.—The best garters are made of elastic webbing, and fastened round the leg with a flat buckle. Tight garters are injurious by impeding the circulation of the blood in the leg, particularly by preventing the free return of the blood from below the part on which they are fastened toward the heart. Swelling and numbness of the leg, and permanent enlargement of the superficial veins of that limb, are eon* sequences of wearing tight garters. THE MEAHS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 110 EXERCISE,—The body of man is evidently formed for activity and exertion. By labor or exercise man preserves his health, augments his strength, and improves his t mental faculties, besides procuring the means of his subsistence, and the conveniences of life. In regard to health, none of the various processes connected with the important functions of digestion, circulation, and nutrition could be properly of adequately performed unless the body were stimulated for that purpose by labor or exercise. The health of all the parts, and the soundness of their structure, depend on a free supply of blood, and the perpetual absorption and perpetual renovation of the atoms of which they are composed; and exercise, by promoting at once circulation, absorption, and secretion, invigorates life without hurrying it; renovates all the parts and organs, augments their strength and vigor, and preserves them apt and fit for every office they have to perform. By this means disease may often be prevented, and not unfrequently cured, even when it has taken a very strong hold upon the constitution. Generally speaking, a slothful and sedentary life is the source of all those diseases which are termed slow or chronic, the number of which is in our day very considerable. Among these, scrofula, indigestion, bilious and liver complaints, lowness of spirits and nervous irritability, and pulmonary consumption, stand foremost; and there may be added to them jaundice, various deformities, as twisting of the shoulders and curved spine, palsy, apoplexy, etc. The neglect of exercise likewise occasions either an emaciation, or, when conjoined with luxurious living, a bloating and over-fatness of the body. For these, exercise is one of the most effectual as well as the most agreeable remedies; it strengthens every organ, preserves the fluids in a healthy state, augments the appetite, facilitates the secretions, invigorates the spirits, and excites pleasing sensations throughout the whole system. The exercise which is necessary to the maintenance of the health, vigor, and the perfect and full development of the human frame, is such as will bring into action every limb and muscle; this is termed active exercise, and is produced by the exertions of the body in walking, run ning, dancing, and various species of labor. Passive exercise, or that in which the motion is communicated to the body from without, can never be adopted as a substitute for the former, as it calls into action but imperfectly the powers dependent upon the will, and therefore leaves a large portion of the muscular system entirely inactive; at the same time, the motion itself is generally so slight, that it can contribute but little to correct the evils arising from the long-continued sedentary habits and the full diet of those who most generally resort to it. Passive exercise, under certain circumstances, however, is of advantage; but whenever active exercise can be pursued, it should always receive a decided preference. The chief kinds of passive exercise are riding, swinging, and sailing. To derive all the advantage resulting from exercise, it must be regular ; several hours daily should be devoted to it. Little benefit need be expected, when, to occasional exercise of the muscles, a long period of inaction succeeds. Exercise, to be beneficial, must also be in the open air, and should never be carried to the length of inducing undue 120 THE FAMILY. fatigue. The other general rules in regard to exercise may be laid down as follows: 1. The effect of exercise should be as general as possible, and not confined to any particular limb or part of the body. Those kinds of exercise, therefore, which give action to the greatest number of the bodily organs, as walking, running, riding on horseback, etc., are much to be preferred. 2. Little benefit is to be expected from exercise unless it be performed in a pure air; and hence it is that many manufacturers and artificers, who perform all their labors under cover, and are often exposed to unwholesome effluvia from the materials they work upon, are more unhealthy than almost any other class of men. 3. The higher and drier the situation, and the more varied the air in which exercise is performed, the more beneficial will be its effects. 4. On commencing any exercise, we should always begin with the more gentle, and then proceed to the more laborious; and as sudden transitions are always wrong, the same rule should be followed when exercise is given up. 5. A good appetite after exercise is a proof that it has not been carried to any improper excess. 6. After having taken exercise, we should not venture to expose ourselves to a current of air, or rest out of doors in a cool or exposed place, or lie down upon the ground. A sudden change of temperature thus induced, by suppressing perspiration, may be extremely injurious. V. It is a good rule frequently to vary the exercise. 8. Lord Bacon correctly observes, it is requisite to long life that the body should never abide long in one posture, but every half hour at least should change it, saving only during sleep. 9. Muscular motion is most agreeable and healthful when the stomach is neither too empty nor too much distended. Active exercise is improper, therefore, immediately after a meal or after long fasting. 10. Nothing can be more injudicious than to sit down to a sub stantial dinner or supper immediately after a fatiguing walk, ride, or other violent exertion. When the body is heated, or in a state of perspiration, to devour quantities of solid food can never be wholesome. Every man, therefore, should rest for some time after exercise before he sits down either to dinner or to supper. 11. In taking exercise the dress should be free and easy, particularly about the neck and joints. 12. In violent exercises, a flannel waistcoat ought to be worn next the skin, to obviate the possibility of injury from a sudden chilling of the surface of the body. 13. It will always be found very refreshing, after fatiguing exercise, to wash the feet in warm water before going to bed. 14. Serious thinking when we are walking or taking other exercise soon fatigues us; but if we give ourselves up to amusing thoughts, or the conversation of agreeable and intelligent friends, the good effects resulting from exercise are increased. 15. It is very desirable to have a certain object or spot by which the exertion is to be bounded, as to call at the house of a friend, to see some THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 121 delightful prospect, and the like. Exercise undertaken merely as a task, or without being connected with some purpose by which the mind is agreeably occupied and excited, is seldom productive of much advantage. Walking,—There is no exercise so natural to us, or in every respect so conducive to health, as walking. It is the most perfect kind of exercise in which the human body can be employed; for by it every limb is put in motion, and the circulation of the blood is effectually carried on throughout the minutest veins and arteries of the system, while both the body and the mind are amused and enlivened. This salutary and most excellent exercise is in the power of all persons having the use of their limbs, and can be adapted, in degree and duration, to the various circumstances and wishes of each individual. Walking is of two kinds, either on plain ground or where there are ascents. The latter is in every respect greatly preferable, as by it the lungs are exercised, and the ascent and descent agitates the body, unless it be in a weak state, with a useful variety. Walking against a high wind is very severe exercise and not to be recommended. As, from various circumstances, persons residing in large towns, and engaged in sedentary occupations, cannot take all that exercise abroad which is necessary for their health, they ought, at least as much as possible, to accustom themselves to walk about even in their own houses instead of sitting constantly at a desk or table, as is usually the case. This rule is peculiarly necessary to be attended to by literary men; and though such practice does not make up for the want of exercise abroad, yet it is, to a certain extent, a substitute for it. The following rules are recommended to the attention of those who make use of this excellent species of exercise : 1. The most proper walk, for health, is in a pure and dry air, and in rather an elevated situation, avoiding marshy and damp plains. 2. In the summer season the walk should be taken morning and evening, but by no means during the middle of the day, unless the person be guarded from the oppressive heat of the sun, under the shade of woods or trees; in winter, the best period of the day for walking is usually after breakfast, or from ten to one o'clock. 3. It is advisable occasionally to change the direction of the walk; for, the same road constantly gone over, may excite as many disagreeable and painful sensations as the closet or the study. 4. We ought to accustom ourselves to a very steady and regular but not to a very quick pace ; in setting out it should be rather slower than what we afterward indulge in. 5. An agreeable companion during a walk contributes much to serenity of mind ; but unless the manner of walking of both is similar, as well as the taste and character congenial, it is better to walk alone, as either the one or the other of the two companions must be subjected to some constraint. 6. To read during a walk is an improper action, highly detrimental to the eyes, and destroys almost all the good effects that can be derived from the exercise. BaiiCing.—Dancing, under proper limitations, is a wholesome exer6 9 122 THE FAMILY. cise, and well adapted to young persons, especially in winter; violent and too long continued exertion in dancing is however injurious. Dancing should be performed in a large, well-ventilated apartment, and the dress worn by those who engage in it should be such as not to bind or constrain any part of the body, especially the chest, upper part of the abdomen and limbs. Dancing for the greater part of the night in overheated and crowded apartments has not unfrequently laid the seeds of fatal disease, by which the young and gay have been hurried in a few weeks to the grave. The injury done to the constitution by over-exercise at the midnight ball is most generally augmented by improper food and drinks, and by subsequent exposure to the night air when the body is unduly excited and fatigued by the exercise and other stimulating agents to which it has been subjected. SwilMlillg,—For the young, the robust, and healthy, swimming is an excellent recreation. It combines all the advantages to be derived from bathing with active exercise of nearly every part of the body. It possesses another important recommendation, which should cause it to be taught to, and practiced by every one; its presenting, namely, a means of safety in cases of accidental submersion to the individual himself who has acquired the art of swimming, while it may enable him to save the lives of others, under similar circumstances, who are unacquainted with it. Swimming, however, as well from the powerful and constant exertion it demands, and the coldness of the water in which the body is immersed, is improper for the debilitated, or those exhausted at the time from fatigue, profuse perspiration, or any other cause. Though adapted to a larger class of persons than the cold-bath, all the remarks made in reference to the latter are applicable to swimming, nor should those which refer to the state of the body at the time ever be neglected. Gestation.—Gestation is that species of exercise which is communicated to the body by foreign means, with but little or only partial exertion of the muscles. The principal modes of gestation are, riding in a carriage or on horseback, being carried in a litter, sailing, or swinging, either in a suspended seat or on an elastic board. Gestation does not afford sufficient exercise for the demands of the system during a state f health; it is, nevertheless, occasionally proper, and in certain disuses, or for persons in a state of considerable debility, it is the only species of exercise that can with propriety be resorted to, and under &uch circumstances its effects are very beneficial. Biding,—Next to walking, riding on horseback is the most salutary and useful species of exercise, especially for invalids. Riding may be varied according to the strength of each individual and the state of his health, by walking, pacing, trotting, or cantering. Persons laboring under ill-health, whether occasioned by too longcontinued sedentary habits, or from defective digestion, as well as those predisposed to consumption, will experience from the exercise of riding the most decided advantage. In riding to preserve health, eight or ten miles a day are sufficient to answer all the purposes we would wish for; but, in riding to restore health, these little excursions will avail nothing. To attain the latter object, the mind, as well as the body, must be roused from its languor. THE MEANS OF FKESEWTSTG HEALTH. 123 In taking an airing, as it is called, we ride over the same ground, for the most part, every day. We see no new objects to divert us; and the very consideration of riding for health sinks our spirits so much, that we receive more harm than good from it. Upon this account, long journeys are recommended to such people, in order, by the variety or novelty of the scenes through which the invalid passes, to awaken or divert the mind, Many have* by these means, been surprised into health. Riding in a carriage has but few advantages; it communicates but little motion to the body, and when the blinds are closed, the persons using it are excluded from the benefit of fresh air, upon the free exposure to which the success of all kinds of exercise in a great measure depends. It should be used only by such persons as are unable to walk or to ride on horseback, and with the blinds open. It is to be lamented that those people use this mode of exercise most who stand in the greatest need of a more violent species. Riding in a gig or chair, if the individual himself drives, is a far better exercise than that of a carriage. The less gentle the motion of the vehicle in which we ride, and the rougher the road, the greater is the amount of exercise communicated to the body. Riding, however, except on horseback, if long continued, causes a feeling of soreness and stiffness in the limbs; and in the aged and debilitated, a swelling and numbness of the feet and legs. Sailing.—Sailing upon the water is generally described as being the most advantageous of the passive kinds of exercise. Much, however, of what has been said in regard to it, whether as a means of promoting health or removing disease, is extremely vague and unsatisfactory. The influence of an hour's sailing upon the system, in a pleasure-boat, is very different from that which would result from an East India voyage, or a cruise with an Anson or a Cook around the world. The effects will also differ, according as the individual is placed in the situation of a mere passenger on board the vessel, or is obliged to partake of the homely fare, the broken rest, and the fatiguing labors of the sailor. Rowing a boat, to those who are not daily accustomed to the task, may be ranked among the most active species of exercise. To the robust, and those in perfect health, this exercise, when not carried to the extent of producing very considerable fatigue, is one admirably calculated to impart strength to the arms, and breadth and development to the chest. When, however, it is too frequently repeated, to the neglect of other species of exercise, it is very apt to produce a partial and ungraceful expansion of the frame. The management of a sail-boat is a more attractive and far more gentle exercise than rowing. As a means of preserving health, it is, in every respect, however, inferior to either walking or riding—but affording to many an agreeable and useful variety in the means of exercise, it may be occasionally resorted to with no little advantage. A trip in one of our steamboats has no claims to the title*of exercise. The good effects which the infirm or convalescent derive from it, are to be attributed solely to the agreeable occupation of their minds by change of scene, and to the pure atmosphere they are enabled to 124 THE FAMILY. breathe. During the summer months, short daily trips in a steamboat afford, however, an admirable means of counteracting the deleterious influence of the heated air of the city upon infants and young children —it is, indeed, almost the only manner, when a removal to the country cannot be effected, in which the occurrence of the dreaded summer-complaint Can be prevented, or, when present, its violence mitigated. Friction.—Friction of the surface, in conjunction with regular bathing, forms a very important means of preserving and improving the health of the body. It removes thoroughly from the surface every species of impurity which may accidentally adhere to it—promotes the freedom of the blood's circulation in the minute vessels of the skin, and insures the regular and perfect performance of the important functions of that organ. It promotes the growth and development of the muscles—invigorates the digestive organs, and imparts a comfortable glow and an increased energy to the whole system, by which it is rendered less liable, during cold and changeable weather, to become affected with disease. The ancients, it is said, had the art of rendering fat people lean, and those that were emaciated fleshy, partly by means of a proper course of active exercise generally, but more especially by the diligent use of frictions of the skin. Though useful to all, frictions are peculiarly adapted to increase the health and vigor of persons of debilitated habits, who lead a sedentary life, are subject to dyspepsia, gout, and rheumatism, or who are particularly liable to be affected by cold or slight variations of atmospheric temperature. Their whole bodies, more particularly their limbs and the anterior part of the trunk, should be rubbed for half an hour at least, morning and evening, with a flesh-brush or coarse towel, until the surface begins to grow red, and assumes an agreeable glow. In many cases, promising the use of the warm bath, or sponging the body with cool or tepid water, will be found to increase the good effects to be derived from the practice. Frictions are highly useful in the case of delicate females; and in children they promote their growth and activity, and prevent many of the diseases to which they are liable. The best time for using friction is in the morning and evening, but especially the former, when the stomach is not distended with food. They who are subject to wakefulness and disturbed sleep, will find, in addition to a properly-regulated diet and active exercise in the open air, that sponging the body with tepid water, followed by brisk frictions of the surface, will more effectually induce quiet repose than any other means. Gymnastics.—By gymnastics is meant a series of regular exercises cal ctiiated to call all the muscles into action, and properly graduated, accoiumg to the age, strength, health, and other circumstances of different, individuals. Whether gymnastics be considered as a means of active exercise, well adapted to the condition and wants of the inhabitants of large cities—as making a part of the physical education of students and o/ youth generally—or as a remedy in certain diseased states of the human body, their importance is confessedly great, and the advantage to be derived from them, under either point of view, has been strangely overlooked or underrated, in this country in particular. Every large THE MEANS OF PEESEEVIKG HEALTH. 125 city should possess its public gymnasium, open to all classes of its citizens. The languor and lassitude induced in the sedentary artisan, in the clerk, and in the shopkeeper, by their daily occupations, will be effectually dissipated by an hour devoted to the varied exercises of the gymnasium; while the mechanic, some of whose muscles are called by his labors into constant and active exertion, while others are allowed to remain totally inactive, will find at the gymnasium the means of restoring that harmony in the strength and development of the different parts of his body, by calling all into equal action, which his ordinary pursuits tend so powerfully to destroy. We know of nothing which would so effectually prevent the occurrence of diseases of the stomach, or improve the health of mechanics generally. Calisthenics,—By calisthenics is meant a regular and methodical series of bodily exercises, adapted to call into equal and sufficient action the various muscles of females, in order to promote the general health and development of their systems, to prevent deformity, and to remove that languor and inertness of various functions produced by the confinement and sedentary habits to which the female sex is so generally and improperly subjected. Of the importance and beneficial effects of calisthenic exercises in civil life, there cannot be a doubt. By the ridiculous prejudices of fashionable society, girls are debarred from participating in the active sports of childhood, and during the period of their education, as well as in after life, for the greater part of the day, they are forced to breathe a confined atmosphere, and to remain in a state of comparative inaction. The effects of this mode of life upon the health can only be counteracted by exercise in the open air; and in the present state of society in this country, calisthenics present almost alone the plan of exercises adapted for general use. APPETITE.—Appetite is that instinctive sensation which warns man of the necessity of partaking of food for the support of his system. The indulgence of the appetite is attended with pleasure ; neglecting its calls is productive of painful feelings, more or less intense. There are three kinds of appetite: 1 st. The natural or healthy appetite, which is stimulated and satisfied with the most simple food, as certainly as with the most palatable ; 2d. The artificial appetite, or that excited by condiments, liqueurs, pickles, high-seasoned dishes, variety of food, wine, etc., and which remains only so long as the operation of these stimulants continues; 3d. The appetite of habit, or that by which persons enjoying no inconsiderable health, accustom themselves to take food at stated hours, but frequently without relishing it. The true and healthy appetite alone can ascertain the quantity of aliment proper for the individual. If we were seldom to trespass the due limits of temperance, our natural appetite would be able accurately to determine how much food we may consume with satisfaction and benefit; but the usual physical education of children is now so loose and badly conducted, rmd the temptations to eat of improper food, and at improper times, are rendered so powerful by the refinements of cookery and the artificial habits of society, that we rarely meet with a natural and healthy ap petite at any period of life. If, after a meal, we feel ourselves refreshed, and as cheerful as before it, or more so, we may be assured that we 126 THE FAMILY. have taken no more than a proper quantity of food; for, if the right measure be exceeded, torpor, heaviness, and relaxation, are the necessary consequences; our faculty of digestion will be impaired, and a variety of complaints gradually induced. The celebrated Cornaro used to speak with delight of the cheerfulness and serenity he felt after partaking of the small portion of plain food which he was accustomed to enjoy. Before he determined on adopting a spare diet, he was much afflicted with lowness of spirits, heaviness, and debility, and severe bowel complaints were the torment of his life; but his careful and abstemious diet perfectly cured him of these and other evils. There can be no doubt that the majority of persons in this country, in easy circumstances, eat and drink considerably more than is either necessary or beneficial. It is a remarkable fact, that almost all those who have lived to a great age, have uniformly observed a very temperate diet; and in numerous instances of longevity it has been scanty and coarse. Abstinence.—By abstinence is meant either the refraining entirely from food, or for a certain period, or from some particular species of food habitually. In a more limited sense, however, abstinence implies extreme moderation and temperance; the sustaining life upon the smallest possible amount of food, and that of the simplest kind. Entire abstinence from food cannot be endured for any great length of time by persons in health without its producing the most distressing sensations; and if food be still withheld, or the individual is enabled to control the desire to partake of it, a diseased condition of the body is induced, terr minating quickly in death. The effects of prolonged abstinence are, general and excessive emaciation, a diminished size and colorless state of the muscles, extreme debility, the blood becomes deficient in quantity, and altered in its qualities, and the other fluids undergo a similar change. The functions of the brain often become deranged, and death is preceded by delirium. The length of time an individual may survive under entire abstinence from food varies according to his age, constitution, habits, and a variety of other circumstances. Many instances of long-continued abstinence being endured with perfect impunity are recorded ; but in general it will be found that these have occurred in persons laboring under disease, who were in a state resembling somewhat that of torpid animals, or that while they abstained from solid food they drank various fluids, more or less nutritive. Abstinence from food for a limited period is often, during health, of very great importance; it is one of the most powerful means of obviating the effects of any accidental excess, of warding off an impending attack of disease, and of removing those disorders of the stomach incident upon the introduction into it of aliment of an improper kind. Occasional abstinence from food, by omitting a meal or two, or substituting for an animal diet a bowl of gruel, or a slice of bread and tea, restores the force of the digestive organs, by diminishing their action, and giving them rest and time to resume their healthful energies; while, at the same time, when the system is rapidly verging into disease, or the vessels are overloaded with blood, it removes from the first a stimulus which might increase its deviation from health, and upon the second it acts as an evacuant, by allowing the secretions time to remove from them their excessive amount of THE MEANS OF PEESERVINO HEALTH. 127 fluids. The studious, as well as they who lead sedentary lives, are especially benefited by occasional abstinence, as such persons, from the want of sufficient exercise, are generally the severest sufferers from diseases of repletion, and from a disordered state of the digestive organs. Diseases of the most violent character, may often be prevented by the observance of an abstemious diet during the period of their prevalence; and they have often been cut short by rigid abstinence from food from the moment the symptoms are experienced which threaten their attack. Abstinence, says Dr. Miller, is one of the most convenient means of curing disease. No confinement is necessary, no interference with the ordinary occupations of life. If the apprehensions which give rise to it prove groundless, no trouble nor injury is sustained, but the system, treed from unnecessary excitement, feels a lucid interval not often experienced by the votaries of luxury, and afterward returns to a more substantial diet with redoubled satisfaction. If the disease about to attack be of a moderate kind, abstinence alone will often be sufficient to strangle it in the birth ; if more violent, and our easy precaution should prove insufficient, some advantage, and of no trifling amount, will at least have been gained. The stomach will certainly be in a better condition for the reception of other remedies. Surfeit,—By a surfeit is meant an overloading of the stomach with too great a quantity or mixture of food, or by indulging in food of a very rich or indigestible quality. The effects of this, if it be not got rid of at once by the vomiting which sometimes spontaneously occurs, are nausea, acid or acrid eructations, pain of the head, flatulency, disinclination to food, a sense of chilliness, alternating with flushes of heat; pains in the stomach and bowels, and disturbed sleep. These symptoms often continue for many days, and then produce a looseness of the bowels, or even profuse and obstinate diarrhoea. The prudent will always carefully avoid a surfeit, it being one of the most certain means of destroying the tone and inducing disease of the stomach. When intemperance of this kind has been committed, a gentle emetic should be given, followed by a dose of calcined magnesia, and for some time the diet should be of the lightest kind, as thin gruel or p&nado, toast and water, or crackers with milk. Food,—A sufficient supply of food, of a wholesome and nourishing quality, is essential for the support of the system in health, and to enable it to undergo that amount of labor to which each individual is subjected. Excess of food, even of the lightest and most wholesome kind, interrupts digestion, oppresses and irritates the stomach, produces a feverish heat of the surface, loads the vessels with an excess of blood, and, when sufficient exercise is not taken, renders the body unwieldy, by the accumulation of fat beneath the skin and around the abdominal and thoracic organs. The action of the heart becomes sluggish, muscular exertion is performed with difficulty, the mind is rendered dull and torpid, and the body is predisposed to various acute and rapidly fatal diseases, from very slight causes. Equally injurious is a deficiency of food. The energies of the body and of the mind suffer, and disease is as certainly induced by inanition as by repletion. The just medium must be left to the instinct and reason of each individual, in whom the quantity required 128 THE FAMILY. will vary considerably, according to his age, constitution, occupation, and degree of health. It may be safely inferred, however, that a per son in health has not transgressed the bounds of moderation, if, on rising from his meals, he feels light and cheerful, with a stomach unoppressed, and a capability of applying himself at once to study or to labor; while, on the other hand, if he experience giddiness, heaviness, lassitude, uneasiness, distension of the stomach, or an inclination to sleep, he has exceeded the bounds of prudence, and should be on his guard in future. Partaking of a great variety of food at one meal, is injurious; it causes more to be eaten than is proper, impedes the digestive powers of the stomach, and inflicts serious injury on the latter organ, and through it, on the system generally. With respect to the solid or fluid nature of our food, we may remark, that a certain degree of solidity assists its digestibility, and hence, soups, jellies, gravies, and the like, are more readily digested when bread or other solid substance is added to them than when they are eaten alone. A sufficient bulk of food in the stomach to give it a gentle stimulus and distension is absolutely necessary for healthy digestion : it is on this account that all such articles as contain much nutriment in a very small space are unwholesome. In regard to the concentration of aliment, very erroneous and injurious opinions generally prevail. It is supposed by most persons, that by extracting and insulating what they conceive to be the nutritious principle or principles of any given alimentary substance, they are able, with greater certainty and effect, to nourish the body of the sick and delicate; thus, we continually hear of strong beef-tea, pure arrow-root jelly, and the like, being prepared with great care for such persons. JBut many of our readers will be much surprised to hear, that dogs and other carnivorous animals fed on the strongest beef-tea, or pure jelly alone, rapidly emaciate, and die within a short period, and that precisely the same consequences would ensue were the strongest man confined to the same food. A certain bulk, therefore, of food taken into the stomach is essential to nutrition; and all attempts to combine too much nutrition in too small a mass, materially impair the wholesomeness of our food. Aliments,—Whatever is capable of being used as food, and of supplying the waste of the animal body, is called aliment. The great variety of nutritive substances may be classed and arranged in various ways, as animal or vegetable; fish, fowl, or flesh; solid or liquid, etc.; or they may be classed according to the particular principles, as they are called by chemists, on which the nutritive qualities depend. Some of these principles are fibrin, albumen, gelatine, oil and fat, gluten, fecula or starch, mucilage, sugar, acids, etc. On this plan, Dr. Paris classes aliments in the following way: Class I. Fibrinous aliments. Comprehending the flesh and blood of various animals, especially such as have arrived at puberty—venison, beef, mutton, hare. II. Albuminous aliments. Eggs; coagulable animal matter. III. Gelatinous aliments. The flesh of young animals, veal, chicken, calves* feet, certain fishes. IY. Fatty and oily aliments. Animal fat, oils, and butter, cocoa, etc., ducks, pork, geese, eels, etc. V. Caseous aliments. The different kinds of milk, cheese, etc. VI. Farinaceous aliments. Wheat, barley, oats, THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 129 rice, rye, potato, sago, arrow-root, etc. VII. Mucilaginous aliments. Carrots, turnips, asparagus, cabbage, etc. VIII. Sweet aliments. The different kinds of sugar, figs, dates, etc., carrots. IX. Acidulous aliments. Oranges, apples, and other acescent fruits. The numerous substances classed above vary much, both in their nutritive and digestible properties. When we talk of a substance being nutritive, we mean that it has the power to supply more or less nourishment to the body, without saying whether the stomach and the other assimilating organs find much or little difficulty in conducting the process; and when we say that a substance is digestible, we mean that the stomach and its coadjutors separate with ease the nutritive portion from it. Thus a substance may be very nutritive but not very digestible; and the reverse may also be true. Fat, oily aliment is very nutritive, but of difficult digestion. This is what people mean when they say such an article of diet is heavy, though oil is specifically light, and often floats on the other contents of the stomach. The digestibility of food, considered without reference to the stomach, depends on a variety of circumstances, particularly the state of the food, with regard to texture and consistence; and this texture in animal food depends on the time that has elapsed since the animal was killed, on its age, feeding, and mode of killing; and above all, on the operations of cookery. In a matter which varies so much in different individuals, it is not easy to lay down any general maxims with regard to the digestibility of different kinds of food ; but it is found pretty generally to be the case, that tender mutton is the most digestible food. Beef is not quite so easily digested; but it is equally nutritious. Soups, oils, and jellies are digested with some difficulty, both on account of their tenacity, and because they are not so easily acted upon by the mechanical and solvent powers of the stomach. Vegetable Pood.—That man is capable of sustaining the health, vigor, and strength of his system upon a diet purely vegetable, is established by so many proofs, as to place the fact beyond the possibility of a doubt. The Hindoo lives almost exclusively upon rice and water. A great proportion of the Irish peasantry subsist on potatoes, with the occasional addition of bread and milk; and the laboring classes in many districts of Scotland and the north of England are nourished upon little else than oat-meal and potatoes; while in various other countries of Europe, the poor are restricted almost exclusively to a vegetable diet, even less nourishing than either of these. When the food just referred to is in sufficient quantity and of a good quality, more robust, active, and vigorous frames, and a greater amount of general health than are presented by the individuals who make use of it can scarcely be met with in the inhabitants of any other country, or among any other classes of society, whatever may be the nature of their diet. Although vegetable aliment requires a longer time to digest in the stomach than that from the animal kingdom, and notwithstanding the latter presents a larger amount of nutritive matter in a smaller bulk than the former; yet it is indisputable that the human system can derive from vegetable food as great a quantity of suitable nourishment as from animal, while the former produces much less excitement and heat, and is far less liable to 6* 130 THE FAMILY. produce overfuUness of the blood-vessels, or to predispose the organs to disease. As a general rule, it will be found that they who make use of a diet consisting chiefly of vegetable substances, properly cooked, more especially the farinaceous seeds and roots, have a manifest advantage in looks, strength, and spirits over those who partake largely of animal food; they are remarkable for the firm, healthy plumpness of their muscles, and the transparency of their skins. This statement, though at variance with popular opinion, is amply supported by experience. The diet of children, and young persons generally, should consist almost exclusively of farinaceous aliment and milk. In summer, and in warm climates, a greater proportion of vegetable food is required than in winter and in cold climates. They who, with a sufficiency of daily exercise in the open air to preserve the activity of the digestive organs, nevertheless spend ordinarily a life of ease and comparative inaction, will find their health and comfort better promoted by a diet principally vegetable, than by one in which animal food abounds. Toward the decline of life, also, the amount of animal food should be gradually diminished, and that of wholesome vegetable aliment increased. Animal Pood,—It is evident, as well from the structure of the digestive organs in man as from experience, that he is destined to live upon both animal and vegetable food, and that a proper combination of both constitutes the aliment which, generally speaking, is best adapted to his taste, and the one by which the health and vigor of his system is under most circumstances best sustained. It is nevertheless true, that whole tribes of people subsist almost entirely upon the flesh of animals, without apparently its producing any striking influence upon their bodily strength, or inducing disease; while, on the other hand, we know, that by a diet almost exclusively vegetable, the growth and development of the body is in no manner curtailed, and its muscular strength and freedom from disease are as fully maintained as it can be by any other species of food. The nourishment communicated by both animal and vegetable food is much the same ; but the animal product is the most easily separated by the digestive organs, and is afforded in the greatest amount. The blood of the individual who partakes largely of animal food is hence richer, more elaborated and stimulating, and produces a much greater excitement of the different organs of the system than the blood of those fed principally upon a vegetable aliment. The first gives, likewise, a greater tendency to inflammatory affections than the latter. For those who are accustomed to active and laborious employments a greater amount of animal food will be proper than for the sedentary and inactive. Infants require less animal food than children, children than adults, and women than men. In summer, the quantity of animal food should always be diminished, whatever maybe the habits or occupations of the individual. In winter, and in the more northern climates, a more permanent and stimulating nourishment is required than under opposite circumstances; this is best afforded by animal food; and hence the propriety of the latter being increased to a certain extent during the cold season and in cold climates. The different kinds of animal food THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH, 131 differ in the degree of nourishment they afford, as well as in the ease with which they are digested. Thus, the flesh of full-grown animals is much more digestible and nutritious than that of their young; and as it respects the larger animals, this rule is without exception. Beef and mutton, for example, are more easily digested, and more wholesome than veal and lamb. The sex of animals, too, influences the nature of the food; the flesh of the female being more delicate than that of the male. The mode of killing, too, gives a tenderness to the flesh. Hunted animals are hence tenderer than those that are killed on the spot. The flesh of animals which are allowed to range freely in the open air is .more wholesome and nutritious than of such as are stall-fed. In general, the flesh which is dark-colored, and which contains a large proportion of fibrin, is more digestible and nutritious than the white flesh of animals. Thus, the white flesh of domestic fowls is not so readily dissolved in the stomach as that of the different kinds of game. By cooking, animal food is changed in its texture, being generally rendered softer and easier of digestion; but by certain modes of cooking a reverse effect is produced, the food being rendered indigestible, unnutritious, and unwholesome. VARIETIES OF ANIMAL FOOD,—Gelatine, or animal jelly, is highly nutritious; but in its separate or concentrated state it is difficult of digestion ; hence, the impropriety of the dyspeptic, and persons of weak stomachs generally, being fed upon strong soups, calves'-feet jelly, and similar articles of food. Gelatine O Bones,—Bones have been found, by careful analysis, to f contain in every one hundred parts sixty of an earthy matter, and thirty of a nutritive jelly, a portion of the residue being pure fat. By a process lately invented by Mr. Darcet, of Paris, the whole of the nutritive ,part of bones can be extracted from the other substances contained in them, and, with the addition of proper seasoning, and such vegetables as ordinarily enter into the composition of good soups, it constitutes a highly palatable and nutritious food, which, from its cheapness, is well adapted for the use of the poor; and is now extensively employed in several of the public charitable institutions of France. In preparing the jelly from bones, it is only the spongy extremities, and the soft cellular portions of them, that are made use of. The hard, compact bones are still, therefore, reserved for the various purposes to which they are now so extensively applied in the arts. JSTot only does the jelly procured from bones deserve attention by its affording a palatable and economical soup for the supply of the poor; but from the facility with which it can be converted into dry cakes, and in that form kept, without undergoing the least change, for years. The crews of ships, destined for long voyages, can, by this means, be constantly supplied with wholesome fresh food; all that is required to convert the cakes of dry jelly into soup, being to dissolve them in boiling water, and to add the proper seasoning, with biscuits, rice, potatoes, or any other vegetable aliment that can be obtained. Biscuits are also made with the jelly, combined with flour. These biscuits have been introduced as an article of diet on board the French national vessels, with decided advantage to the health and comfort of their crews. 132 THE FAMILY. Calves'-Feet Jelly.—A jelly obtained by boiling calves' feet in water for a length of time. The decoction being properly strained and clarified, is allowed to cool, in the form of a pure jelly; or, previously to its cooling, sugar, wine, spices, etc., are added to it. Plain calves'-feet jelly, or that which is sweetened, is grateful to the palate, very nutritious, and not very difficult of digestion; hence it is, sometimes, a useful article of diet for convalescents; it may be taken cold, or dissolved in warm water, according to circumstances. It should, however, only be given occasionally, or in moderation; for jelly, like all other concentrated aliment, is not so readily converted into chyle as many other articles which contain a less amount of nutriment. Dyspeptics, especially, wiil find it to disagree very generally with their stomachs. The addition of wine and spices to the jelly renders it an improper article of diet under most circumstances. Albumen.—The purest example of albumen is that presented by the white of the egg; it, nevertheless, enters largely into the composition of'many of the animal fluids and solids. As an article of, food, it is at once readily assimilated in the stomach, it being taken up by the absorbent vessels, without its being required to undergo digestion, while at the same time it is highly nutritious. It was once supposed, that when coagulated by heat, its digestibility was, in a great measure, destroyed ; this, however, has been proved by late experiments not to be true; the white of a boiled egg being converted into chyme without difficulty. The injurious effects resulting from the eating of hard-boiled eggs are occasioned in a great measure by the effects of the heat upon the oily matter of the yolk. Milk,—Milk is confessedly one of the most valuable presents which a bountiful Providence has bestowed upon man. To the healthy and active it affords far more strength and support than is generally supposed. In many instances, either alone, or in combination with the farinaceous seeds or roots, it has formed the sole sustenance of life—maintaining fully the health and robustness of the system, without any of the disadvantages which result from an excess of animal food on the one hand, or the diminished strength and vigor which have been supposed to be the effect of a purely vegetable diet, on the other. Incalculable would be the benefits which would result to the working and laboring classes of our country were they to substitute this wholesome and nourishing food in their families, for the expensive and unnutritious slops which, under the name of tea or coffee, constitute the chief of their morning and evening meals; or, at least, were they, in order to support their system under labor, and to defend it from the effects of cold, heat, or fatigue, to substitute a tumbler of milk for the pernicious dram of ardent spirits, or the too often deleterious preparations presented to them in the form of beer, porter, or ale. For children, milk with bread, or a simple preparation of milk with rice, or with eggs and sugar, is perhaps the best and most wholesome food that can be devised: it should, at least, form the principal part of their nourishment for the first twelve or fifteen years of their life. In place of being weakly or stinted in their growth upon such food, they will be found stronger, stouter, more healthy, and of a more rosy and THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 133 pleasing complexion than children who are fed upon meat, and pampered with the delicacies of a well-filled table. Milk, to be perfectly wholesome, should be drawn from sound, young animals, supplied with a sufficiency of their natural food, and allowed free exercise in the open air. The best mode of using it is undoubtedly in its raw state, and when it has stood about two hours after being drawn. It may be eaten with bread or mush. Milk enters, also, into the composition of various dishes, which it is not necessary here to enumerate, they being well known to every skillful housewife. Largely diluted with water, milk furnishes also a very palatable and wholesome drink during warm weather. Cream.—That portion of the milk which rises to the surface, when it has stood for some hours, and may be skimmed off and separated from it. It has many of the properties of oil; when allowed to stand for some days, it becomes thicker, the flavor of cream is lost, and is succeeded by that of cheese. When cream is agitated by churning, it separates into butter, and a fluid like skimmed milk. With sdme stomachs cream disagrees in the same manner as a small quantity of oil or butter would do; with many dyspeptics, pure cream, however, agrees better than milk. When taken in moderate quantity, as an accompaniment to tea, coffee, fruits, etc., it seldom gives inconvenience to any one. EggS.—Eggs contain a great deal of nourishment in a small bulk; and when perfectly fresh, and soft-boiled, they constitute a species of food of very easy digestion. When hard-boiled, and especially when fried, they are indigestible and stimulating, and produce very considerable disturbance to weak stomachs. Cheese.—All kinds of cheese are of difficult digestion; and, as an article of food, are suited only to the healthy, strong, and laborious. Such persons would, in fact, appear to require an aliment which, while sufficiently nourishing, is not rapidly digested. We have now reference to cheese in its recent state, or which has been preserved in such a manner as to undergo but little change. With age, cheese, in general, acquires new properties, becoming more stimulating and less nutritious. This arises from a spontaneous decomposition which takes place in it, by which a certain amount of ammonia, and of other salts, is developed. It is this which gives to it its peculiar sharpness, and, in some measure, its taste and smell. In this state, cheese can with safety be made use of, only in very small quantities, as a condiment along with other food. By persons of delicate stomach, it should be eaten with great caution. The idea entertained by many, that a portion of old cheese taken with the dessert aids digestion, is perfectly absurd. When cheese has advanced very near to a state of putrefaction, though eaten by certain epicures, and by some of the nations of the north of Europe, it is at once disgusting to the senses and injurious to the stomach. Certain changes which cheese occasionally undergoes, impart to it poisonous properties. Koasted, or cooked cheese, is very indigestible, and liable to occasion painful sensations in the stomach, headache, acrid eructations, feverish heat of the skin, and disturbed sleep. A few persons have a decided aversion to cheese, so that it can neither be seen, smelt, m THE FAMILY. or tasted by them, without exciting nausea, or vomiting. Cheese is an article of diet not well suited to children; it is very apt, in their excitable systems, to give rise to unpleasant symptoms of longer or shorter duration. When eaten by adults, it should always be combined with a 'arge portion of bread. Butter.—An unctuous substance obtained from the milk of animals, and most plentifully from that of the cow. It is got by long-continued agitation, which operation is called churning. It is universally used as an article of diet; and, when perfectly fresh and thinly spread upon bread, there are few stomachs with which it disagrees. Butter is used as a sauce to many articles of food, and is frequently added to flour to be baked into cakes and pastry, and it is in both these forms injurious, for, though it does not produce effects that are immediately apparent, it lays the foundation of stomach complaints of the greatest obstinacy. Its use in this form is also very apt to give rise to diseases of the skin, very difficult to cure. Persons laboring under stomach complaints should not use much butter in any form. It is also very unwholesome when heated. It is a bad part of the management of children to pamper their palates by frequently indulging them with butter, as it is apt to give rise to a gross and unhealthy habit of body, characterized by the frequent appearance of boils and other sores, discharges from behind the ears, etc., or eruptions on the head and other parts of the skin. Its immoderate use also occasions too great fullness of the system. Butter, when rancid, is peculiarly unwholesome and disagreeable. Fat affords a rich nutriment, requiring, however, strong powers of digestion, and hence, adapted only to the healthy and laborious; it is more wholesome, however, when eaten with a proper quantity of lean, or with a considerable addition of farinaceous aliment in the form of potatoes, bread, rice, etc. To persons with weak stomachs, fat is too heavy and stimulating, and is apt with them to turn rancid, and to produce uneasiness and disease of the digestive organs. When partly burned, as in roasting, or frying, fat is decidedly unwholesome. Children and invalids, especially, should be extremely cautious in the use of fat meats. Beef.—Beef affords a strong, easily-digested, and wholesome nourish ment; it should be tender, fat, and well mixed; and taken from a bullock of middle age. Beef is more generally acceptable to the taste than most other species of animal food; it is good at all seasons, and we continue longer to relish it without disgust than any other kind of meat. The particular flavor and delicacy of beef depend much upon the feed on which the animal is reared. Beef furnishes proper food for the strong and laborious; when eaten to excess, however, it predisposes to inflammation, and an over-fullness of habit. Of its different parts, the fat is less easily digested than the lean; the tongue, and also the tripe, being of a more dense texture than the other parts, are more indigestible, and therefore an unfit aliment for weak stomachs. The best mode of preparing beef is by roasting or boiling. Beef-steaks appear to be the form, however, in which its nutritious qualities are best retained. The excessive body of fat which is accumulated upon what is called THE MEANS OP PRESERVING HEALTH. 135 prize beef, adds nothing to its goodness, but, on the contrary, renders it less wholesome and nutritious. Beef-tea is an important restorative for persons recovering from sickness, and in many cases of actual sickness. The following is the best mode of preparing it: cut a pound of lean beef into thin slices, put it into a quart and a half of cold water, set it over a gentle fire, so that the water shall become gradually warmed. When a scum arises, skim it off. Let it simmer gently for about an hour, then strain it through a fine sieve, or napkin. After it has stood about ten minutes to settle, pour off the clear liquor. Mutton,—Mutton is a highly nutritious and wholesome meat. It appears to be the most digestible of all animal food, and is perhaps more universally used than any other. The flesh of the male animal, however, has in general so strong and disagreeable a taste, and is, besides, so exceedingly coarse, and difficult of digestion, that it is only adapted to persons of strong digestive powers. Ewe-mutton, if it is more than between three and four years old, is likewise tough and coarse. Wethermutton, or the flesh of the castrated animal, is most esteemed, and is by far the sweetest and most digestible. Lamb being less heating, and less dense than mutton, is better suited to persons convalescent from acute diseases; but by the majority of patients laboring under indigestion, or any other severe affection of the stomach, it is not found so digestible or proper a diet as wether-mutton. It is, however, to persons in health a light and wholesome food, especially when the lamb is not killed too young. A lamb that has been allowed to suck five or six months, is fatter and more muscular, and in every respect better than one which has been killed when two months old, and before it has had time to attain its proper consistency. Houselamb is a dish esteemed chiefly because it is unseasonable. Like all animals raised in an unnatural manner, its flesh is depraved and unwholesome. Venison.—The flesh of the deer is reckoned a great delicacy; it is nutritious, savory, and easy of digestion. The animal being commonly killed in the chase, its flesh, like most species of game, is more tender than that of tame beasts slaughtered in the usual mode. Veal.—The flesh of the calf, like that of all young animals, abounds in gelatinous matter; it is far less easy of digestion than the flesh of the ox or beef. For persons in health, the most proper mode of 'cooking veal is by roasting or baking. Veal-broth produces a laxative effect upon the bowels, and is hence a very suitable food for persons troubled with costiveness. Pork.—Good pork is unquestionably a very savory food, and affords strong nourishment, well suited, as an occasional diet, to persons who lead an active or laborious life, but it is not easily digested, nor can it be considered so wholesome as beef or mutton. The too frequent and long-continued use of this meat favors obesity, and is #pt to disorder the stomach and bowels, and occasions eruptions upon the skin. When salted, or dried and smoked, pork is still more indigestible, and less nourishing, as well as less wholesome ; with some delicate people it immediately affects the bowels in rather a violent manner. The flesh of 136 THE FAMILY. the sucking pig is reckoned a great delicacy; but it is digested with much difficulty. It produces very considerable disorder of the digestive organs of such individuals as are weak or sickly. Pork should be avoided by the dyspeptic, by the sedentary generally, and by all those who are liable to affections of the skin and bowels, or who are inclined to excess of fat. Bacon.—Pork salted, dried, and sometimes smoked. Bacon is in general prepared from the flesh of the flanks and sides of the full-grown hog. It is a strong, very indigestible, and stimulating food, adapted only to persons of a robust frame, and accustomed to laborious occupations. The best mode of cooking bacon is by boiling it with vegetables. When fried with eggs it is decidedly unwholesome. flam.—The thigh of the hog salted, dried, and smoked. When properly cured, and when boiled, ham is a very palatable and wholesome food. It is, however, stimulating and difficult of digestion, and hence only suited to such persons as are in full health and exercise much in the open air. Fried ham is still more indigestible than that which is boiled ; it should be carefully avoided by dyspeptics, and weakly and sedentary persons generally. Sausages.—A very common article of food, prepared in this country chiefly from pork, chopped fine, with the addition of pepper and various other spices, and often highly flavored with garlic. They are sometimes eaten fresh, at others they are dried and smoked. The sausages imported from the north and south of Europe are prepared from the flesh of various animals boiled. In whatever form they are eaten, sausages are an indigestible and unwholesome food, fitted only for the stomach of the most robust. Sedentary persons and dyspeptics should avoid them entirely. When sausages have been long kept, particularly in a damp place, they are apt to undergo certain changes, in consequence of which they become poisonous. Game.—Game, or such birds and beasts, adapted for food, as are allowed to enjoy their natural habits and modes of living, and are killed by fowling or hunting, are in general wholesome. When plainly cooked, they are more readily digested than the same species of animals domesticated and killed in the ordinary manner. Poultry,—Poultry, in the common acceptation of the term, includes all the domesticated birds used as food, as the common fowl, turkey, duck, and goose. In point of digestibility they rank nearly in the order we have enumerated them. The domestic fowl and turkey are also the lightest and most wholesome. The duck and goose are the most difficult of digestion, the most stimulating, and hence the most apt to disagree with persons of weak stomachs and irritable habits. Chicken soup.—Chicken soup, when properly prepared, is a light food, adapted to many invalids, and to persons convalescent from fevers. For their use it should be prepared from the fleshy or lean parts of the chicken well boiled in water, with a little salt, the scum and fat being taken off as it -rises. The addition of broken crackers, or of rice or barley, may be made, according to circumstances. To many palates the peculiar flavor given to the soup, by plunging in it a slice of toasted THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 137 bread, is extremely agreeable. Highly-spiced chicken soup is liable to the same objections as all high-seasoned food. Fish.—Fish are less nutritious than the flesh of warm-blooded animals, while to most stomachs they are more difficult of digestion. That they afford, however, sufficient nourishment to support the general health and vigor of the constitution, is proved by the condition of entire communities that subsist upon little else. Fish, however, especially some particular kinds, and in certain constitutions and states of the stomach, produce very considerable uneasiness, some febrile excitement, and a rash or eruption on the skin. When used habitually, there can be little doubt that they are apt to induce diseases of the skin and disorders of the bowels. The fat of fish is still more indigestible than that of other animals, and readily turns rancid on the stomach. In certain climates fish possesses a poisonous property at particular seasons, and when not in season, all kinds of fish everywhere are very indigestible and unwholesome. The best mode of cooking fish is by boiling; stewed or fried fish are very indigestible. Salted and dried fish are a still more unwholesome food than such as are eaten fresh, and should therefore be avoided by all excepting the healthful and laborious, and even by them should be taken with great moderation. Butter and the acid fruits form improper sauces for fish, causing it almost always to oppress and irritate the stomach; nor should fish and milk ever be taken at the same meal; this combination has frequently occasioned severe bowel complaints. Salt-water fish are the best, as their flesh is more solid, more agreeable, less liable to putrescency, and less viscid. They possess these desirable qualities when fresh; when salted, they have all the properties of other salt fish, and consequently its disadvantages. Those fish which have scales are in general the most easily digested and the best; and of all these the fresh herring, shad, trout, perch, whiting, sole, cod, turbot, and flounder are perhaps the most wholesome. Salmon, mackerel, skate, and sturgeon, with lobster, and most other kinds of shell-fish, are digested with difficulty, and are, generally speaking, unwholesome. Salted Meat.—Salted meat is more difficult of digestion than that which is eaten fresh, from the increased firmness of its texture; it is also less nutritious, both from the pickle in which it is immersed washing out, as it were, a considerable amount of its nutritive parts, and from the chemical change which it always undergoes to a greater or less extent. When used as food, salted meat should always be well boiled, and eaten with a large quantity of vegetable aliment. Crabs and lobsters.—Crabs and lobsters, in whatever manner cooked, are indigestible and decidedly unwholesome. In certain persons they produce effects which might lead a person who is unaware of the fact, to believe that poison had been administered. Thus they sometimes cause a burning sensation in the throat, pain in the stomach, and eruptions on the skin. In other instances, violent vomiting and purging have followed the eating of them. When taken in excess, they have caused stupor, insensibility, and all the other phenomena of apoplexy. Turtle.—The flesh of the turtle, when plainly cooked, is a wholesome, palatable, and nourishing food—when, however, it is converted into 10 138 THE FAMILY. soup, with an excess of spices, force-meat balls, and other pernicious articles, it is productive of not a little injury to the stomach and to health generally. Mussels,—The mussel—mytilus edulis—a shell-fish often used as food, is highly indigestible and unwholesome. It is apt, in certain individuals, to occasion violent affections of the stomach and bowels, restlessness, and agitation, and an insupportable itching, with eruptions on the skin ; at some seasons of the year, and under particular circumstances, these effects are produced in all who eat of themOysters,—Oysters, when taken raw or after being slightly cooked by roasting, are a light, nutritious, and easily-digested food. The hard white part, or eye, as it is sometimes termed, should always be rejected. When thoroughly cooked, however, particularly when stewed or fried, oysters constitute on the other hand, one of the most indigestible and pernicious articles of food in ordinary use. Eaten to excess in this form, they give rise frequently to the most violent and dangerous symptoms. When out of season, oysters are always unwholesome. To some stomachs, oysters invariably prove injurious, causing the same train of symptoms as were noticed when speaking of mussels. The juice of the oyster, thickened with grated biscuit and warmed, is sometimes an excellent diet for persons laboring under great delicacy of stomach. Salt-water oysters should always be preferred to such as breed in rivers. Soups.—For the laboring classes general!}7, there is scarcely a more wholesome and economical article of diet than soup. We allude now to the ordinary domestic soups, prepared from beef, mutton, or veal, with the addition of various vegetables. The more fashionable dishes, served at table under the name of soups, are merely refinements in cookery, adapted to render the articles of which they are composed as indigestible and stimulating as possible. They can be received, therefore, in no other light than as provocatives to appetite, and inducements to partake of food beyond the powers of the stomach and the wants of the system. In the preparation of soup, the meat and vegetables should be well boiled, and whatever seasoning is added to increase the flavor, care should be taken that it be not thereby rendered too stimulating. Potatoes, rice, and barley, as well as broken crackers or stale bread, form a wholesome addition to soup. The combinations of flour and butter, which are sometimes met with in soups, under the denomination of dumplings, are highly indigestible and improper. Soup should always be eaten with bread; this gives it that degree of consistency which, in all our food, appears to cause it to be the most readily acted upon by the stomach. Many suppose that soups generally are calculated only for those whose powers of digestion are weak; but this is a mistake, the reverse being generally the case. When the digestive powers are weak or deranged, it w7ill almost always be found that solid aliment agrees the best, particularly solid animal food; this the stomach seems to digest with ease and in a very short time; whereas, liquid food is apt, in such cases, unduly to distend the stomach, and to require a greater strength of digestive power tor its perfect assimilation. Broth.—-A. term generally applied to the fluid in which meat has been THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 1,39 boiled for a long time, with a slight addition of salt—this, with bread, forms often an excellent diet for persons to whom we wish to communicate nourishment, without exciting to any extent the digestive organs, or increasing the heat of the system. VARIETIES OF VEGETABLE POOD,—Vegetable Gluten.—This is one of the proximate principles of vegetables; it is contained in all the farinaceous seeds, and in many of the fruits, leaves, and roots of various plants. It is the principle which imparts to flour the property of fermenting and making bread. Of the nutritive properties of gluten, dis^ tinct from its other vegetable principles, we know but little. The superior nutritious powers of wheat flour, which contains a greater abundance of gluten than all the other farinaceous substances, sufficiently prove, however, that in combination with starch it is highly nourishing. Starch,—Another of the proximate principles of vegetables; it is obtained from all the farinaceous seeds and roots. Of its nutritive properties there can be no doubt, though it is seldom used in a separate state as food. It is often administered boiled in water, as an article of diet during sickness, and is one of our best demulcents in various diseases of the bowels. Gum.—The vegetable gum obtained from the Egyptian acacia, the gum-arabic of the shops, and from the plum, cherry, and other fruittrees, is highly nutritious. Whole caravans passing through the deserts have subsisted upon it alone, preserving at the same time a sufficient degree of vigor and strength. Gum is seldom, however, made use of as an aliment. Dissolved in water, it is largely used as a demulcent drink for patients laboring under irritation and inflammation of the stomach, and in all the febrile affections and diseases of the bowels it is almost the only drink or diet that should be allowed. AlTOW-Root,—The root of a tree—Maranta arundinacea—cultivated in the West Indies. It derives its name from being used by the Indians to produce the poison communicated to arrows, though it is not easy to believe it possessed of that power. A starch is obtained from this plant by the following process: the roots, when a year old, are beaten to a pulp in a large wooden mortar; this pulp is well stirred in a large tub of clean water, and the fibrous part is wrung out, and thrown away. The milky liquor being passed through a hair-sieve or coarse cloth, is allowed to settle, and the clear water is drained off. The white mass is again mixed with clean water, and drained; it is next dried in the sun, and is then a pure starch, as it is sold in the shops. The arrowroot contains in a small bulk a great proportion of nourishment. Boiled in water, it forms an excellent nutritious jelly, well adapted for invalids and for children. The following is the method of preparing it: Take a dessertspoonful of the powder, and add as much cold water as will make it into a paste; to this add eight ounces of boiling water, stir it briskly, and boil it for a few minutes, when it will become a clear, smooth jelly. To this may be added a little milk and sugar, with a little nutmeg to make it sit light on the stomach; or for children a little of the sugar of anise, or a few drops of the essence of carawayseeds, or of cinnamon. Sugar.—Sugar is a peculiar and well-known vegetable substance, pro- 140 THE FAMILY. cured chiefly from the saccharum officinarum, or sugar-cane, but yielded abundantly by various other vegetables, and contained in the greater part of the fruits in their ripe state. Sugar is highly nutritive, and, when eaten in moderate quantities, is perfectly wholesome. It is apt, however, when eaten by itself in excess, to become quickly sour, or to produce sickness and nausea. Combined with other alimentary substances, it forms a useful and important article of food to all classes— so much so, that it may now be ranked as one of the chief necessaries of life. The idea entertained by many of its injuring the teeth, is unfounded. Molasses has, as an article of diet, nearly the same properties as sugar. It is merely a syrup, in which the sugar is mixed with a quantity of mucilage and other vegetable matter, and more or less water. Sugar-plums.—We merely notice these articles in order to point out to parents the fact, that in common with most of the sugar toys sold to children, they often contain a quantity of plaster of Paris, which, being insoluble, must be dangerous, if it accumulates in the bowels. Many of them are also covered with preparations of arsenic, copper, lead, and other poisonous paints, which, though in very minute quantities, nevertheless produce more or less of an injurious effect upon the stomach. Honey.—Honey very much resembles sugar in its alimentary properties; it is very nutritious, and when eaten in moderation with bread, is perfectly wholesome. Like sugar, however, it readily ferments, and when the stomach is delicate, it is apt to occasion griping and irritation of that organ and of the bowels, accompanied with considerable looseness. Oil.—That obtained from the olive, by expression, is the only vegetable oil used in this country as food. It is highly nutritious, but being difficult of digestion, is oppressive and irritating to a weak stomach. When used in cooking other articles of food, it becomes extremely unwholesome. In moderation, provided it be perfectly free from rancidity, pure olive oil, combined with vegetables, may be taken without injury by persons in health and of active habits. Wheat.—Wheat, the triticum hybemum (and other species), of botanists, has been cultivated from time immemorial in^Europe, in Asia, and in the northern parts of Africa, and the seeds employed as one of the most important and wholesome articles of food. Indeed wheat flour is the only substance known from which good loaf bread can bo made. In its nutritive properties and wholesomeness, it stands before almost all other of the vegetable substances used as food. The seeds of the wheat, when ripe, are ground to a fine powder, and by passing this powder through cloth sieves of various degrees of fineness, it is separated into distinct portions. The fine flour constitutes the greatest portion ; and the bran, which consists of the outer coat of the seed, the next greatest portion. Bran.—The husks or shells of wheat, which remain in the bolting machine. It contains a portion of the mealy matter; and a decoction of it is used as a drink in febrile diseases. This decoction is made by boiling a pint of water with two ounces of bran, till only three-quarters THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 141 vf a pint remain, and then straining it. It is thought to have something of a laxative quality. Bice.—The seeds of the oryza saliva, an excellent grain much used in the East, and answering with them the same purposes as bread with us. When mixed with other food, it furnishes a wholesome article of diet, as it is not disposed to become sour, or to ferment in the stomach; but if it be taken in too great a quantity, as it is not very stimulating, it is apt to remain long in the stomach, especially if it has been much boiled. Rice, simply boiled, is an excellent vegetable to be eaten with roasted or baked meats. Baked or boiled with milk, eggs, and sugar, it affords also a very light, wholesome, and palatable food. Bice is supposed to be in some degree astringent; and in looseness of the bowels, the water in which it has been boiled forms an excellent drink. By its mild mucilaginous properties it aids greatly also in allaying irritation in all diseases of the bowels. Oats.—The avena sativa of botanists. The meal obtained by grinding the grain of oats affords a wholesome and nutritious food, upon which many persons almost entirely subsist in Scotland, Ireland, and the north of England. It is generally used boiled with water, in the form of gruel, or made into thin cakes, which are baked or roasted without their undergoing fermentation. Bread made from oat-meal fermented in the usual way, is neither palatable nor easily digested. Gruel.—By gruel is generally understood oat-meal boiled in water. It may be made thin or thick, according to the circumstances under which it is resorted to as a diet, by the addition of a smaller or larger quantity of the meal. It is a wholesome and nutritious food for children and delicate persons, and is better adapted as an article for the supper of such than either tea or coffee. When desirable, it may be rendered more nutritious by the addition of milk and sugar; and its flavor may be heightened by the addition of a little grated nutmeg. Thin plain oat-meal gruel, or a gruel made in the same way from Indian meal, is a useful diet for convalescents from febrile diseases, and for those who have committed an excess in eating. Rye.—The rye (secale) affords a meal, the food prepared from which, though less nutritious than wheat, is nevertheless wholesome and sufficiently nourishing. Eye bread is more difficult, however, of digestion, and being apt to turn sour in the stomach and to irritate the bowels, it is not so well adapted as wheat for the use of sedentary and delicate persons. The grains of rye are occasionally subject to a peculiar disease termed ergyt. When in this state, eaten in any quantities, or for any length of time, it is peculiarly unwholesome, and apt to occasion diseases of a very serious nature. Bread made of a mixture of rye and wheat is more palatable, and in other respects better than when made entirely of rye. Barley.—The hordeum distichum of botanists. An annual plant, cultivated in almost every country of Europe. Pearl barley is prepared by grinding off the husks of the grain, and forming the latter into little round pellets of a pearly whiteness. Barley forms an excellent article of nourishment when boiled in water or made into cakes. Barley bread is not, however, a very pleasant or wholesome food. 113 THE FAMILY. £arley-water.-~The water in which barley is well boiled forms one of our best drinks in various febrile and other diseases. We annex two receipts for its preparation. 1. Take a couple of ounces of shelled barley, wash it clean with cold water, put it into half a pint of boiling water, and let it boil for five minutes; pour off this water, and add to it two quarts of boiling water; simmer to two pints, and then strain. 2. The above is simple barley-water; to a quart of this is frequently added two ounces of figs, sliced; the same quantity of raisins, stoned; half an ounce of liquorice, sliced and bruised ; and a pint of water. Boil till it is reduced to a quart, and strain. These drinks are intended to assuage thirst in fevers and inflammatory disorders, for which plenty of a mild diluting liquid is one of the chief remedies demanded by honest instinct in terms too plain to be misunderstood. Maize, or Indian Corn,—The meal made by grinding Indian corn, prepared in various ways, but especially when made into mush, or with the addition of wheat flour baked into bread, furnishes a most wholesome, nourishing, and palatable food, and one well adapted for the support of the active and laborious generally. Indian bread, properly prepared, were it not from habit and fashion, would recommend itself to every palate by its agreeable flavor, and the beauty of its appearance; it is far preferable to the ordinary bread made from wheat alone. To make this bread a mush should be made of the Indian meal in the usual way ; into this, when cold, with the addition of a very small quantity of warm water, and a little salt and yeast, is to be kneaded a sufficiency of wheat flour to make it into a paste ; when sufficiently raised, it is to be again kneaded, and baked in the same manner as bread. Buckwheat,—The flour, or meal, furnished by the seeds of the buckwheat is incapable of being converted into a wholesome, palatable bread. As an article of food, it is generally used in the form of cakes, made by baking the meal, made into a thin pasfe with water, and properly fermented. Buckwheat cakes, though extremely palatable, afford little nourishment, and are apt to disagree with delicate stomachs, in consequence of the large amount of melted butter which is eaten with them. They should be avoided, at least by invalids and dyspeptics. Eread,—Bread is that most important article of diet, made from the farina of various plants. This farina consists of different principles, a mucilaginous saccharine matter, starch, and gluten, which is a peculiar substance, having many of the properties of animal matter. This latter ingredient is most abundant in wheat flour, and gives it its great superiority, as an article of diet and for the manufacture of bread, over that of barley, rye, oats, and other grain. In the making of bread, flour is formed into a paste by mixing it with water, in the average proportion of two parts of water to three of flour; and the older and better the flour, the greater the quantity of water required. If this paste be allowed to remain for some time, a fermentation takes place; and by the action of the ingredients on one another, important chemical changes take place, and alcohol, carbonic acid, and acetic acid, or vinegar, are formed. This paste is what is called leaven; and if a portion of it be added to new-made paste, the fermentation begins more speedily, car- THE MEATSTS OF PKE&EBYJTO HEALTH, 143 bonic acid is given off, but the gluten hinders its escape? and, expanding like a membrane, forms numerous little cavities in a light and spongy mass. If there be too much leaven put into the paste, the bread has an unpleasant flavor; and if there is too little, it is compact and heavy. Yeast, or the head that collects on the surface of fermenting beer, being added to the dough, makes a bread superior to what is made with leaven; and is in this country generally employed for raising bread. After the dough has been properly raised, it is put into the oven, heated to about the temperature of 448°, and is there baked. Bread is very different from the flour of which it was made ; the ingredients of the flour cannot be discovered in i t ; it mixes more easily with water, and is incomparably more digestible—that is, provided the bread has been properly fermented, and sufficiently baked. There are three different kinds of bread used in this country,—the fine, the wheaten, and the household bread. Fine bread is made of flour only; wheaten bread, of flour and a mixture of fine bran; and household bread of the whole grain, including both the coarse bran and the fine flour. The finer bread, from its greater quantity of starch, is apt to induce a degree of costiveness, which the coarse bread is enabled to counteract by its admixture of bran. Brown bread, or that made with a mixture of wheat and rye flour, is often usefully prescribed with a view to its laxative effect. As an article of diet, bread is of very great importance, in consequence of its nutritive qualities, and its utility, when joined with other food, both to correct the bad effects of too much animal diet, and to divide the aliment more completely by being intimately mixed with it. The best observations seem to prove that a certain degree of distension of the stomach is necessary to proper digestion; and, consequently, that we could not conveniently feed on essences and jellies, in which the nourishing parts of the food are concentrated into the smallest possible bulk; and that even very rich and nutritive soups are much more readily acted upon by the stomach, when a proper proportion of bread is taken along with them. New bread is particularly unwholesome and indigestible, and should always be avoided, especially by patients troubled with indigestion. The only apparent exception is in the case of new rolls, which healthy stomachs manage to digest pretty well, provided they be well baked, and the crust bears a considerable proportion to the whole. Toasted bread is a very useful article of diet for tender stomachs, and for the diet of invalids. Bread, in some constitutions and diseases, is apt to sour on the stomach, especially in young children, in whom it often produces flatulence and costiveness. Where acidity occurs, biscuit, without butter, should be substituted, or the bread should be toasted. In the foregoing remarks on bread, we have had principally in view leavened bread from wheat flour; though bread may be made of rye, barley, maize, potatoes, rice, and other substances; and notwithstanding, strictly speaking, biscuits, cakes, and other unleavened mixtures, are entitled to the appellation of bread. Most of the articles last mentioned are sufficiently nutritive, but difficult of digestion, though they are excellently adapted for the powerful stomachs of healthy individuals engaged in laborious and rustic occupations. The addition of butter to 144 THE FAMILY. such articles before they are baked, causes them to disagree with the stomach, and to make them turn sour or rancid. A good deal has been said about bread being frequently adulterated. In large communities, some dishonest persons will probably adulterate bread, as well as other articles of food; but the evils of such practices have been much exaggerated. Bean-flour, or potato-flour, have occasionally been mixed with wheat-flour in the making of bread; and alum is very frequently added, to increase its whiteness. Toast.—Bread slightly toasted, but not burned, is a wholesome diet, especially for persons upon whose stomachs most articles of vegetable food, including bread in its ordinary state, are apt to turn sour. In eating toast, the butter should not be spread upon it until it is cold; the heat of the toast will otherwise produce a change in the butter, rendering it indigestible, and very irritating to the stomach. Panado.—The crumb of wheaten bread softened with boiling water. It forms an excellent diet for children ; for those affected with febrile diseases, and for women during the first days after delivery. It should be sweetened with sugar, and for children, an addition of fresh milk will very generally be proper. Biscuit.—Bread which is much or doubly baked, as its name imports. It is not fermented, and is not much disposed to become acid in the stomach. Biscuits are, therefore, useful as an article of diet for children, and for those who are liable to acidity of the stomach. Biscuits keep a long time without spoiling; hence, their utility as a part of sea provisions. Those made with butter have all the inconveniences of pastry, and should not be used by such persons as have diseased or weak stomachs. Gingerbread.—A bread or cake prepared of flour, molasses, and powdered ginger. When well baked, and eaten in moderation, it affords, under many circumstances, a useful stimulus to the stomach. It is an excellent article for individuals going to sea; it being frequently, in cases of sea-sickness, retained on the stomach when every other article is immediately rejected. Travelers, also, on setting out early in the morning, will find that eating a small portion of it will afford a grateful stimulus to the stomach, when they have been obliged to commence their journey without breakfasting. Children, and young, healthy individuals generally, should, however, eat it seldom, and very sparingly; all spices, and other stimulants, save that of a moderate quantity of wholesome food, are to their stomachs unnecessary and injurious. Pastry.—Pastry, or dough mixed with butter, is used in a great variety of forms, and, though grateful to the taste, is highly indigestible, and injurious to health. Its use is a fertile cause of stomach complaints ; it is apt also to occasion an overfullness of blood, convulsions, and diseases of the skin in children; and a tendency to apoplexy and fever in adults. At dinner, in the shape of pies and tarts, pastry is. thrown into the already loaded stomach, and the overtaxed powers of that organ are unable to digest what is 'difficult to manage when they are the most vigorous. To children, pastry is peculiarly unsuitable. Its taste is pleasant, and injudicious fondness is apt to indulge them in it to excess; but those children who use it much, are subject to runnings THE MEANS CXF PKESEBVING HEALTH, 145 from the ears, disorders of the bowels, eruptions on the skin, and inr flammatory complaints of various kinds. Pastry should be entirely excluded from the nursery-table. The same remarks are true of nearly all kinds of cakes containing butter or lard. Puddings.—This is a term applied to various preparations of the farinaceous seeds, or vegetables. When composed of flour, or crumbs of bread, combined with suet and dried fruit, they are extremely indigestible, and constitute one of the most unwholesome dishes served at meals. Such puddings should be avoided entirely by sedentary and delicate persons: to the dyspeptic they will prove in the highest degree injurious. Puddings made of batter, baked or boiled, are also indigestible, and unwholesome. Bread-and-milk pudding, as well as ricepudding, is readily digested, and may be eaten in moderation, without injury. Pudding is also the name given to a kind of sausage made of the liver, or blood of animals, with the addition of fat and certain vegetables and spices. This article is extremely indigestible, and is a suitable food only for the most robust individuals, whose days are passed in laborious occupations in the open air. Pancakes and fritters.—Cakes made by frying a paste formed of wheat flour and the yolks of eggs, in lard. Although, in persons who have* active and strong powers of digestion, these cakes may produce little inconvenience, to all others, they will prove indigestible and injurious. By the sedentary and dyspeptic, they should be carefully avoided. SagO.—Sago is an alimentary substance, prepared from a species of palm. Boiled with water, or milk, sago furnishes an agreeable and nourishing jelly; it is easy of digestion, and excites but little the system; and is, hence, an excellent article of diet for convalescents and for children. Salep.—Salep is a nutritious substance, obtained from two species of the orchis. Boiled in water, or milk, it forms a food which is light, nourishing, and easy of digestion, and, like the arrowroot and sago, adapted for the diet of children and invalids. Potato.—The root of the solanum tuberosum. This vegetable, which was unknown in Europe as an article of food, until about the commencement of the seventeenth century, constitutes an article of diet, which, whether we have reference to the nourishment it affords, the agreeableness of its flavor, its wholesome qualities, and the extent to which it is consumed in this country, as well as in many parts of Europe, is certainly of the greatest importance to man. It is difficult, indeed, to conceive how the poor and laboring classes could have subsisted, or maintained the health of their systems without it. To thousands of them, it at this day supplies the place of bread and of other vegetables, and to an equal number it affords almost their entire sustenance. Potatoes are the lightest and most nutritious of those vegetables which are served at table in their natural state; and, next to bread, the very best accompaniment to every kind of animal food. The dry, mealy kinds are the best, and should always be preferred to those which ard hard and waxy. The best manner of cooking the potato, is by boiling, or by roasting. Finely mashed or fried potatoes are indigestible, and 146 THE FAMILY. oppressive to the stomach. Combined with flour, potatoes are often made into bread, and in this manner, also, afford a cheap and wholesome food. Sweet potato,—The root of the convolvulus batata. The sweet potato, besides a considerable amount of farinaceous matter, contains a portion of a saccharine substance. It is unquestionably highly nutritious; and when simply roasted, or properly boiled, forms a very palatable and wholesome article of food. It does not appear, however, to be so ready of digestion as the common potato. It should, therefore, be eaten in very moderate quantities by persons of weak stomachs. Yam.—An esculent root, obtained principally from three species of dioscorea, the alata, bulbifera, and sativa. They grow spontaneously in both Indies, and the roots are eaten as the potato is with us, which they somewhat resemble in taste; but their flavor- is more luscious. When boiled, or roasted, they are nutritious, and easy of digestion; and are preferred by many to wheaten bread. They are sometimes ground into flour, and made into bread and puddings. They might doubtless be raised in perfection in many parts of the United States; and we are convinced, that on many accounts, they are a preferable food to the potato. Cabbage.—The several varieties of cabbage constitute an article of food, than which few are more generally and extensively made use of in this country. For the healthy, robust, and laboring part of the community, cabbage forms an excellent addition to their usual meat diet; and, when eaten in moderation, appears to agree very well with their stomach. But, after all, cabbage affords but little nutriment, is very flatulent, and where the stomach is delicate or irritable, it is very apt to produce uneasy sensations, colic, or even a tolerably severe attack of vomiting and purging. For the invalid, therefore, or persons who lead sedentary and inactive lives, cabbage is a very improper food. The only proper mode of cooking cabbage is by boiling it, until such time as it is perfectly tender. Boiling it in two waters deprives it, in a great degree, of that unpleasant taste and smell, which are so disagreeable to many palates. Sourcrout, or cabbage prepared in a particular manner, and allowed to undergo fermentation to a certain extent, forms an excellent and wholesome vegetable food for the crews of ships destined for long ravages; and for all persons so situated as to be deprived of a sufficient supply of fresh vegetables. In regard to its effects upon individuals whose powers of digestion are impaired, the same remarks will apply as to cabbage in its recent state. Brocoli,—Brassica italica,—A species of cabbage which furnishes a very agreeable article of food. Though sweeter, and of a more tendei texture than the other varieties of cabbage, it is still apt to disagree with weak stomachs, producing flatulence, and often colicky pains. By the sedentary and dyspeptic, it should therefore be carefully ah* stained from. Cauliflower is perhaps the species of cabbage which is the most readily digested by persons in ordinary health. It is liable, however* to THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 147 the same objections, as an article of food for the sedentary and inactive, as cabbage in general. Artichoke.—Cinara scolymus.—A kind of thistle, cultivated for the table. The only alimentary part of the plant is the receptacle of the flower. The whole of this receptacle, even in its recent state, possesses very little of the acrimony peculiar to the other portions of the plant; and, when well boiled, it is perfectly mild, of a tender texture, somewhat sweet and mucilaginous, and, therefore, tolerably nourishing. It is sometimes, however, rendered unwholesome by being eaten with a large quantity of melted butter. The Jerusalem artichoke, helianthus tuberosus, is a species of sunflower, having fleshy tuberculated roots somewhat resembling small potatoes. These tubercles are sometimes eaten as food; and when roasted or boiled, they acquire a mealy texture, like the potato, but with a sweet taste, resembling yam. As an article of diet, they may be ranked with the potato, though they are very apt to be more watery and flatulent then the latter, when of a good quality. Spinage.—The spinacia oleracia, of botanists. The tender leaves of the spinage well boiled, constitute one of the best and most wholesome of the green vegetables in common use. They act gently upon the bowels, and are particularly useful to persons habitually costive. Asparagus.—The asparagus officinalis of botanists. The asparagus has a creeping root, throwing up numerous scaly erect stems, the tender ends of which, on their first appearance above the ground, are the parts used as food. These shoots are, when sufficiently boiled, readily dissolved in the stomach, and are not disposed to create flatulence and acidity. Asparagus is wholesome only when in its early state; when old, it is remarkably acrid. Poke.—The tender shoots given off in the spring from the roots of the poke, (the phytolacca decandria) cooked in the same manner as the asparagus, is esteemed by many an equally delicious and wholesome vegetable. It is difficult, indeed, to distinguish it, so far as regards its flavor, from the latter. * > Beet,—The beta vulgaris.—The root of the plant is of a sweet taste, and a beautiful red color. In some parts of Europe a considerable quantity of sugar is extracted from it; and hence it must evidently possess considerable nutriment. When well boiled, it affords an excellent vegetable for the table. "When eaten with vinegar, it will not, however, be found to agree with such stomachs as possess but feeble powers of digestion. Carrot—The daucus carota.—The root of the carrot, like that of the beet, contains a considerable amount of saccharine matter; it contains also a quantity of mucilage. It may be presumed, therefore, to be nutritive in no small degree. When young, and sufficiently boiled, the carrot forms an excellent vegetable for the table. It is liable, however, to cause flatulence in persons of a delicate stomach. When too old, the fibrous matter it then contains diminishes greatly its digestibility. Parsnip.—The pastinaca sativa.—The root of the parsnip, when well boiled, affords a wholesome and very nourishing food, and one not diflS- 148 THE FAMILY. cult of digestion. Its nutritive properties depend on the large amount of mucilaginous and saccharine matter which it contains. The peculiar flavor of the parsnip renders it, however, offensive to some stomachs. Turnip,—The brassica rapa.—-The root of the turnip forms a veryagreeable article of diet, to be taken along with animal food. It affords an excellent, mild nourishment, when there is nothing in the state of the stomach and bowels to forbid vegetable diet. Turnips should be well boiled, and have the water well pressed out of them. Onion,—The root of the allium cepa; it is used both as a condiment and as an article of food. Eaten raw, onions, in general, are much too stimulating for the generality of stomachs; they produce, also, a disagreeable fetor of the breath, and perspiration; and when the stomach is weak and irritable, they cause a sense of oppression, and heat, and sometimes griping. They are most wholesome when boiled or roasted. In this state, they contain a large portion of a mucilaginous matter, combined with a decided sweetness, and may be considered a nutritious and wholesome vegetable for persons in health. Leek.—The allium porrum is eaten as a condiment in its raw state; and when boiled, as a vegetable aliment. It is a common ingredient in soups and various sauces. When boiled, it is sufficiently nutritious and wholesome for those in health ; but it is apt to prove flatulent upon delicate stomachs. Garlic—The allium sativum.—In this country, the root of the garlic is used chiefly as a condiment; when taken in moderation with certain kinds of food, it is not unwholesome. It no doubt contains a nutritive principle; but its taste being offensive to most stomachs, causes it to be used by few as an article of food. Legimien, or Pulse,—Beans and pease, which are included under the general name of legumens, or pulse, afford a species of farinaceous aliment, containing a good deal of nourishment; but they are very difficult of digestion, particularly in their dried state. They are apt to lie heavy on the stomach, and to occasion flatulence. Hence, as a diet, they are only proper for persons having strong powers of digestion. By the sedentary and dyspeptic, they ought on no account to be used. The symptoms of uneasiness which they cause in such are often very violent. The green pods of certain beans, previously to the full development of the seeds within, when well boiled, afford a pleasant vegetable food, by no means difficult of solution in the stomach. Salads.—Vegetables eaten in their raw state, with the addition of vinegar, spices, and oil, have received the general name of salads. Few of the salads in common use afford much nourishment, and, like all raw vegetables, are, to a certain extent, indigestible; their indigestibility is likewise often increased by the manner in which they are prepared at table; while the large addition of pepper and other spices combined with them, renders them not unfrequently decidedly injurious to the stomach, by over-exciting it. To the very class of persons by whom they are most freely partaken, the luxurious and inactive, they prove always the most prejudicial. The propriety of eating any vegetable, with the exception of some fruits, without cooking, is, as a general rule, THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 149 at least doubtful. To those, however, who from any cause are restricted to a diet of salted and smoked meat, raw vegetables, rendered more palatable by the addition of a moderate quantity of vinegar and spices, are supposed to be beneficial; but even then, when a sufficient supply of wholesome cooked vegetables can be procured, we apprehend that the latter will be found most conducive to health. Celery.—Apium graveolens.—The long leaf-stalks of the celery, when blanched by being covered, during their growth, in trenches from the sun, are eaten raw as a salad, with the addition of vinegar and pepper^ and sometimes olive-oil. In this manner they are not, however, very digestible; and, like all salads, will disagree with delicate stomachs. Cresses.—Sisymbrium nasturtium.-^-A plant growing plentifully in brooks and stagnant waters. The leaves have a pungent taste, and a penetrating smell like that of mustard-seed, and are eaten as a salad in their raw state, with oil and spices. Used in moderation, they form an excellent addition to animal food for persons in health; when the digestive powers of the stomach are weak, they are, however, apt to cause more or less disturbance. Lettuce.—Lactuca sativa.—The leaves of the common garden, and other species of lettuce, eaten raw, with oil, or vinegar and spices, is one of the most common salads in ordinary use. It can neither be considered nutritive nor digestible, and as it contains a considerable amount of a narcotic principle, we must consider it as the most exceptionable salad for the general class of persons living in our cities. When used, the leaves should be young, perfectly white, and tender. Cucumber.—The fruit of the cucumis sativa.—It is eaten raw, and in its unripe state. Possessing very little or no nutritive properties, and extremely difficult of digestion, few vegetables of which the inhabitants of this country partake so largely, is so pernicious as the cucumber. We would advise the dyspeptic, and those whose powers of digestion are in any degree enfeebled, to avoid it as they would poison. Radishes.—The root of the raphanus sativus, is eaten raw, with salt. It contains only a very small amount of nutritious matter, and being very difficult of digestion, is an improper article to be taken by persons of delicate stomachs; in such, it is apt to occasion considerable uneasiness, flatulence and pain. Mushroom.—The mushroom is a very indigestible and unwholesome article of food, affording little or no nourishment. It ought never to be eaten by persons of delicate stomachs. The mushroom is frequently poisonous, and occasions, when taken into the stomach, the most violent vomiting and purging, and other unpleasant symptoms. Fruits.—Fruits are much used as an article of luxury; and from the bad effects they too frequently produce, they would ,seem to be by no means of a salutary nature. Looseness, vomiting, indigestion, and even inflammation of the bowels, have been known evidently to proceed from their use in certain cases. Yet it is pretty certain that the fault has lain not with the fruit, but with the consumer. When fruit is eaten in large quantity, and in an unripe state, when it is forced into the stomach, already loaded with a plentiful dinner of soup, meat, pudding, and all the items of a luxurious table; it is not at all wonderful that it 150 THE FAMILY. should produce disorder of the digestive organs. But when fruit is taken in moderation, of a proper quality, and at proper seasons, no bad effects are to be dreaded. Fruits are evidently useful, and they are kindly sent at the very season when the system, heated and excited by the warmth of summer, stands in need of something cooling and laxative to be taken with the food. The fruits in most common use may be classed under the heads of stone-fruits, the apple kind, berries, (without affecting botanical accuracy in the use of this term,) and farinaceous fruits. The stone-fruits are those which are of most difficult digestion. Plums and cherries are particularly so. The ripe peach is both delicate in its flavor and easily digestible; the apricot is also very wholesome; but the nectarine is liable to disagree with some stomachs. The fruits of the apple kind are somewhat firm in their texture, and therefore rather indigestible, and liable to be detained in the stomach. Pears are rather more wholesome, as their texture is softer. The white skin of the orange should be carefully rejected, but the inner pulp is grateful to most stomachs, whether in health or sickness. The fruits of the berry kind are the most wholesome of all. The strawberry and raspberry are particularly good ; the grape is cooling and laxative, but the husks and seeds are to be rejected ; the gooseberry is not so digestible, especially if the skin be swallowed. It is only the pulp of these fruits that is digested; the seeds always pass through the body unchanged, unless they be chewed. Other berries are generally baked in pies, but the pastry should be sparingly used. The melon, a farinaceous fruit, is almost certain to disagree with weak stomachs; especially when eaten after dinner. Many fruits, otherwise unsafe, are much improved by cooking. Baked apples are an excellent article of food, and may even be of benefit to dyspeptic patients. Dried fruits are generally esteemed very safe, but they are apt to run into fermentation in the stomachs of children and delicate persons, from the quantity of sugar which they contain. Apples.—Of this fruit there are several varieties. All of them, when perfectly ripe and mellow, may be considered as wholesome. Though not so liable to run into fermentation as some of the other fruits, yet being of a firm texture they are somewhat difficult of digestion, and remain long in the stomach. Hence they should be avoided by such persons as have weak digestive powers. Stewed or baked with sugar, they are rendered more soluble and wholesome, and in this form prove gently laxative. Dried apples stewed, form an excellent sauce for various species of animal food. Cherries.—There are several varieties of the cherry. Some contain much water and sugar, others a large proportion of acid; others again present a soft, mucilaginous pulp. The last, when fully ripe, are the most wholesome for eating. In weak stomachs, and when taken in immoderate quantities, cherries, especially the two first varieties, are apt to occasion flatulence and colic. This fruit is, in general, more wholesome when cooked with sugar. In eating cherries, care should be taken to reject the stones; when these are incautiously swallowed, they are occasionally retained in the bowels, producing alarming .and even fatal symptoms. THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 151 Currants, perfectly ripe, are an agreeable fruit, and perfectly wholesome when eaten in moderation; they have less of a laxative effect upon the bowels than strawberries or gooseberries. The skin and seeds are in a great measure indigestible, and as they constitute a large portion of the dried currants that are imported, these are very apt to cause more or less irritation of the stomaeh and bowels—this indicates the necessity of great caution in their use. The plumpest and sweetest should be preferred. Cranberry.—The berries of the oxycoccus. It is a plant which grows extensively in many parts of the United States, in uncultivated wet or marshy ground. The fruit, or berries, when ripe, are of a bright scarlet color, and an agreeable acid taste. They are employed in great quantities, stewed with sugar, as a sauce to various species of poultry, and for tarts. In this form they possess a rich and delicious flavor, and are sufficiently wholesome when eaten in moderation. For ducks, geese, and other species of poultry abounding in fat, they form a very appropriate sauce. Dates*—The fruit of the phoenix daetylifera, a species of palm. It is in its dried state that the date is met with in this country. This fruit abounds in sugar, and is highly nutritious. Like most saccharine substances, it is very liable to oppress and disorder persons of weak stomachs, and by them should be eaten with caution. Figs.—The fruit of the ficus carica. The dried fig contains a large portion of sugar, considerable mucilage, and a small quantity of oil. When eaten in moderation, they are grateful to the stomach, and more easy of digestion than most of the dried fruits. When eaten alone, however, they are apt to occasion flatulency, and to disagree with feeble stomachs. The fig acts as a gentle laxative, and may be eaten occa •sionally with great advantage by persons habitually costive. Gooseberry*—The fruit of the ribes grossularia. When perfectly ripe, they are a delicious and wholesome fruit. In eating them, the skin should always be rejected. Grapes.—The ripe grape, especially of the rich saccharine species, is among the most luscious and wholesome of our summer fruits. It is the pulp only, however, divested of the seeds, that should be eaten. The large portion of sugar, and mucilage contained in grapes renders them nutritive, while their slight amount of acidity facilitates their easy digestion. Raisins, or grapes in a dried state, are equally nourishing and wholesome to healthy persons with the fruit in its recent state. The skins, however, which can scarcely be rejected in eating them, being rendered tougher by drying, cause raisins to be more indigestible than fresh grapes. They are also more apt to disagree with weak stomachs, in consequence of a portion of their acid being lost in the process of drying, while, at the same time, a larger amount of sugar is developed. The more purple and plump the raisins, the more wholesome they are. They should always be eaten with bread, and never in large quantities, otherwise they are apt to produce flatulence and griping pains. Lemon.—The fruit of the citrus acida and the lime, the fruit of the citrus limomum^ which do not differ the least in their qualities, are 152 THE FAMILY. never eaten as food, from their extreme acidity. The juice of both enters as a condiment in various made dishes. The juice also, diffused in boiling water, and sweetened with sugar, constitutes a very pleasant beverage for quenching the thirst, and allaying heat during the summer season. The lemonade thus made may be drank occasionally, without injury; but it is not proper as an habitual beverage, as it is very apt to disorder the digestion, andlio produce irritation and pain of the bowels. Preserved limes are indigestible, and one of the least wholesome of the ordinary sweetmeats served at table. Oranges,—The fruit of the citrus aurantium* The juice of the orange is gratefully acid, and, taken in summer, is well adapted to allay thirst, and take off that sense of dryness in the mouth and throat experienced by persons who perspire much during exercise. For the same reason, it is often allowed to patients laboring under fever. The pulp, however, in which the juice is contained is indigestible, and should not be eaten; neither should the seeds nor white tough rind. The best mode of using the orange, to prevent injury to the stomach and digestive organs, is to squeeze out the juice, and drink it diluted with water, and with the addition, if necessary, of sugar. The yellow rind of oranges is frequently used to communicate an agreeable flavor to various dishes; in moderation it is not injurious. Pear.—The fruit of the pyrus communis.—There are several species of pear, some of which, from the firmness of their texture and the acerbity of their juices, are improper for eating, unless well cooked with sugar. Others, however, when perfectly ripe, present a soft juicy pulp, of an agreeable flavor, and readily digested by a healthy stomach. Peach.—The fruit of the amygdalus persica.—The peach is unquestionably one of the most wholesome as well as most delicious of the stone-fruits. When perfectly ripe and mellow, it may be eaten in moderation, without inconvenience. The outer skin should, however be rejected. Neither peaches, nor any other kind of fruit, should be eaten after a copious dinner. They will then be very apt to oppress the stomach, and to cause acidity and flatulence. Pine-apple.—The fruit of the bromelia ananas.—A delicious fruit of tropical climates; but however delicious in flavor, the pine-apple, as we obtain it in this country, is very indigestible, and, when eaten freely, de cidedly injurious to the stomach and bowels. Plums should never be eaten, unless perfectly ripe and mellow. The skin and stones should ^always be rejected. In their ripe state, or cooked, plums are wholesome and readily digested. But when unripe, 01 sour, they cause disorder of the stomach and bowels, with flatulence and griping. Prunes.—Plums, when dried, are denominated prunes. Eaten uncooked, they are difficult of digestion, and unwholesome. When stewed, they have a laxative effect, and freely used in this form, are an excellent means for obtaining a free state of the bowels in persons troubled with costiveness. Raspberry.—The berries of the rubus idceus are a very wholesome and grateful fruit. Next to strawberries, they are perhaps one of ou? very best summer fruits of the berry kind. THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 153 Strawbet ry.—The fruit of the fragaria vesca.—In point of flavor, in the ease with which they are digested by most stomachs, and their general wholesomeness, perfectly ripe strawberries rank first upon the list of summer fruits. Eaten in moderation, at a period when the stomach is not actively engaged in the digestion of other food, they are seldom found to produce the least unpleasant effect on persons in the enjoyment of ordinary health. Tamarinds.—The fruit of the tamarindus indica, preserved in sugar. Tamarinds contain too large an amount of acid, and act too powerfully upon the bowels, to permit their being eaten as food. They form, however, a very agreeable and effectual laxative; and a drink made by pouring boiling water upon them is well adapted for quenching thirst, especially in patients laboring under fever. Melons.—The cantaloupe and water-melon are the only ones eaten in this country. They both contain a saccharine juice, which may be presumed to afford some nutriment, but they are both very indigestible, and the pulp of the water-melon more especially is apt to oppress and irritate delicate stomachs. They should be eaten, therefore, with great caution; and by the dyspeptic, and those subject to affections of the bowels, abstained from entirely. Nuts.—The kernels of oily nuts contain a farinaceous substance, combined with a large quantity of bland oil. They are all extremely nutritions, but difficult of digestion, and irritating to the stomach, upon which they are apt to turn rancid, causing heartburn, acid eructation, feverish heat of the skin, pain in the head, and restlessness or disturbed sleep. They are suited only to such persons as are in health and possess active digestive powers. They should never be eaten by the dyspeptic, nor by any one when the stomach is already loaded with other food. They should always be perfectly fresh, and taken with a little salt and with bread, and well chewed before they are swallowed. When taken to excess, or in certain conditions of the stomach, they often occasion difficulty of breathing, and sometimes very violent and dangerous complaints of the bowels. Almonds.—A well known nut, the product of the amygdalus communis.—There are two varieties of almonds, the sweet and the bitter. The bitter almonds are now seldom eaten ; they contain an active poison, in consequence of which they are liable to produce injurious effects. Sweet almonds possess little nourishment, and are difficult of digestion, unless thoroughly triturated. In consequence of the oil they contain, they are very apt to produce disagreeable symptoms when eaten by persons the digestive powers of whose stomachs are impaired. By ge they often become rancid, and are then highly acrid, and should on no account be eaten. Chestnuts contain a considerable amount of nutritious matter. They indeed form a considerable part of the food eaten by the peasantry, in many parts of the south of Europe. The raw fruit, however, is not readily dissolved in the stomach; it is also very flatulent, and apt to occasion colicky pains and bowel complaints. When kept for some time, they evolve a greater amount of saccharine matter, becoming sweeter and more digestible. When roasted, the chestnut becomes still mom 1* 11 154 THE FAMILY. light and nutritive; they are still, however, as well as when boiled, flatulent, and should be avoided by persons of delicate stomachs, and by dyspeptics generally. From the chestnut may be obtained a farinaceous matter, fit to be made into bread; this bread, however, is neither palatable nor wholesome. Cocoa-nut.—The fruit of a species of palm, cocos nucifera. Withit the hard woody shell of the cocoa-nut is a thick layer of a solid white substance of a sweet and agreeable taste, which no doubt contains a considerable amount of nutritive matter; it is, however, extremely difficult of digestion, and very apt to disagree with delicate stomachs. The interior of the nut is filled with a fluid resembling milk, which is made use of in the West Indies as an agreeable beverage to quench thirst. Condiments.—Condiments, or seasonings, are those substances which, though not nutritive themselves, are taken into the stomach along with the food, to promote its digestion, and to correct any injurious properties it may possess. Some such assistance would seem to be necessary to all animals; and the lower animals instinctively seek after bitters, salt, etc., to take with their food. Condiments are of various kinds, as salt, acids, aromatics, oils. Some of those in most frequent use are sea-salt, vinegar, lemon-juice, pepper, cinnamon, nutmegs, cloves, ginger, allspice, garlic, onions, leeks, horse-radish, and mustard. A small proportion of these condiments may be used with propriety. While they give an additional relish to the food, there can be little doubt that they aid its digestion. But the misfortune is, that in the use of condiments man kind are prone to excess. They are used as stimulants to induce the stomach to partake of food, when already loaded to repletion, or exhausted by habits of intemperance. Condiments also are injurious to the stomachs of those who indulge in the constant use of animal food. They furnish a temptation to excessive indulgence, and ultimately occasion organic disease of the stomach or liver, and permanent injury of the digestive functions. Oils and butter are also to be regarded as condiments ; their use ought to be sparing. All kinds of seasoning, with the exception of salt, are improper for children and young persons generally. Acids,—Vinegar, and a number of acid fruits and vegetables, or their juices, are often used as condiments to our food, and from experience we should judge, that, during a healthy state of the stomach, and wThen used in moderation, they are, generally speaking, a very useful addition to an animal diet; especially such as is rich in fat or gelatine. They appear to render it less liable to disturb the stomach, and to cause it to be more readily digested. The addition of lemon-juice to rich and glutinous soup, and the custom of eating apple-sauce with pork, or cranberry-sauce with ducks and geese, may be viewed, therefore, in a favorable light. Vinegar.—A vegetable acid, the product of the acetous fermentation. For commerce it is procured either by allowing the fermentation of wines, or of cider, to progress until the liquor becomes completely acid. Vinegar is a grateful acid, much used as a condiment with food. In small quantities, it is a grateful and wholesome stimulant; it also checks the fermentation of certain species of aliment in the stomach, and pre- THE MEANS OP PKESEEVINO HEALTH. 155 v^nts raw vegetables from inducing flatulence;. it -seems, also, to render fatty and gelatinous substances more easy of digestion, and less liable to offend the stomach. Taken in too large quantities, it, however, produces serious injury to the stomach. Various fruits preserved in vinegar are served at table as condiments, under the name of pickles. Prepared in general from firm, unripe fruits, they are extremely indigestible, and when taken in any quantity, disturb the stomach, interfere with the digestion of the food, and often cause griping or colicky pains, and other disagreeable or even dangerous effects. Anchovy.—A small fish of the herring kind, imported from the coast of the Mediterranean sea, in a pickled state. Anchovies are either eaten as a condiment, or are formed into sauce for other fish. They possess little nutriment, and in consequence of the spices with which they are generally prepared, not only act as provocatives of the appetite, causing too much food to be eaten, but of themselves act injuriously upon the stomach. They should be ranked among those luxuries of the table from which it is better to abstain. Ginger is the root of the amomum zingiber. Its properties are those of a stimulating aromatic, and in moderation it forms a useful and very wholesome condiment. A weak infusion of ginger in boiling water forms an excellent drink for persons the tone of whose stomachs and bowels has been weakened by excess in eating or drinking. Persons who have adopted the commendable resolution of abandoning at once the habitual use of intoxicating drinks, in which they had for many years indulged, will find in the ginger tea a useful beverage, the use of which will remove that sense of sinking at the stomach, caused by the sudden suspension of its accustomed stimulus. Horse-radish.—The root of the cocklearia armoracea. It has a strong, pungent smell; and a penetrating acrid taste. Grated or scraped, with the addition of vinegar, the horse-radish is much used at table as a condiment for various kinds of animal food. In moderation it is wholesome; but with many persons it will be found in any quantity to produce irritation of the stomach and colic. Mustard.—The flour made by grinding the seeds of the sinapis nigra; it is used as a condiment. In moderation, generally speaking, it is not unwholesome; but with many persons the smallest quantity of mustard causes great irritation and heat of the stomach and griping. Nutmeg.—The fruit of the myristica moschata, a native of the Molucca Islands. It is chiefly used to communicate an agreeable flavor to various articles of food ; when in moderation, it constitutes a pleasant and harmless condiment. It is too much the custom, however, to add nutmeg to the gruel and pan ado used as the diet of lying-in women and convalescent patients; here it is injurious by increasing too much the stimulating properties of the food. Olives.—Pickled olives are eaten chiefly as a condiment. They are decidedly nauseous to most palates wThen first eaten, but habit soon renders their taste not only pleasant, but a peculiar relish for them is created. Olives, however, are indigestible and irritating to the stomach. They who have gained from active exercise a keen healthy 156 THE FAMILY. appetite, need them not; and they whose appetite is weak, or entirely lost, will receive injury from their use. Pepper,—An aromatic and stimulating production of several plants of warm countries, constituting the most common of the stimulating condiments eaten with our food. When used in very moderate quantities, it is not injurious, in some instances decidedly wholesome; but when resorted to in excess, or as a stimulant to spur on the jaded appetite to new efforts, it is destructive to health. Cayenne-pepper, capsicum annuum.—The pods of this plant constitute one of the most heating and stimulating of the various condiments employed in cookery. In moderation, it forms a very proper addition to some kinds of food, but when used in excess it produces all the injurious effects which arise from the immoderate use of condiments in general. Salt appears to be a natural and necessary stimulant to the digestive organs of all warm-blooded animals; hence they are led instinctively to immense distances in pursuit of it. In man, it seems not only necessary, to render his diet sufficiently sapid, but to a certain extent to be absolutely essential to health. "When entirely deprived of it, the digestive organs become diseased, and nutrition imperfect. The excessive use of salt is, however, in the highest degree injurious. Preserves are different kinds of fruits, boiled or stewed in sugar or molasses. When eaten in moderation, with milk or bread, preserves constitute an innocent if not advantageous addition to our meals; provided always, they are prepared of fruit tolerably ripe and not too sour. With the stomach of the dyspeptic, however, preserves will seldom agree. Many of the foreign preserves being prepared of vegetables of a very tough consistence, and containing a large amount of woody fiber, are altogether indigestible, and invariably disturb the stomach and bowels of those who partake of them. Preserves should never be kept in glazed earthen-ware vessels. The oxyd of lead contained in the glazing being acted upon by the vegetable acids, renders the fruit and its syrup to a certain extent poisonous. MEALS.—The quantity of food taken at regular intervals, is commonly understood by the term meal. Regularity in the number of meals, and the periods at which they are taken, is of the first importance ; on it much of the equable and pleasant enjoyment of health depends. Some medical writers have considered one, others two, three, and even four meals a day necessary. But it may be laid down as an incontestable rule, that the number of meals should be regulated by the degrees of exhaustion, and diurnal habits of life to which every individual is subjected. In general, three frugal meals, in the course of the day, seem the most desirable, and the best adapted to the wants and constitution of the human frame, while, at the same time, this number is best suited to the powers of the digestive organs. In the adoption of this salutary rule of diet, Fashion, all-powerful as she is, has at length, on most occasions, yielded to Reason. The periods at which meals should be taken, and the intervals that should elapse between them, deserve attention. The practice which leaves the great bulk of the da) without a meal, and then crowds two THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 157 or three together, is manifestly bad, as it produces in the body a state of exhaustion and fatigue, which strongly tends to enfeeble the powers of digestion. To confirm and preserve health, whatever may be the number of meals taken, they should be eaten at regular times and stated periods; and they should be regulated by the strength or debility of the stomach, and the quantity and quality of the food taken, or to be taken, at the preceding or following meal. Breakfast,—breakfast is the first meal taken in the morning. This meal is of considerable importance, as many hours have passed since the stomach was supplied with food; and because the food then taken is that which is to give strength to the system for the most active part of the day. ' Its time, its materials, and accompaniments, are therefore worthy of being well adjusted ; although, from the endless varieties of habits, constitutions, and employments, no fixed rules on any of these particulars can be given. During sleep, the whole of the food taken the night before has probably been digested; and, consequently, in healthy persons it is generally found that the appetite is for the most part peculiarly keen in the morning, in consequence, as well of the emptiness of the stomach, as from its digestive powers having been refreshed by rest, and in this manner prepared to resume with vigor their functions; but, in general, it is proper to interpose some time between rising and taking breakfast; though many feel so much inanition and feebleness, that they are unfit for any of the duties of the day until they have taken some food. In regard to this, every one must decide for himself. The quality of the food to be eaten at breakfast is to be regulated by the exercise and labor to be taken, and by the time that is to elapse 'before dinner. The physician would be much inclined to interdict luncheons; and, therefore, to recommend a considerable proportion of solid food at breakfast. Cold mutton or beef, rice or eggs, may be taken at breakfast. Copious breakfasts, however, are apt to be heav}^ to many stomachs, and to occasion heartburn, especially when a great deal of liquid has been taken along with them; but this does not militate against a proper quantity of diluting drink being taken at breakfast. The expenditure of fluid by insensible perspiration, which has taken place during the night, with the greater acrimony of all the secretions in the morning, point out the propriety of a considerable quantity of diluting fluid at the breakfast meal; and the choice of this fluid must be left, in general, to each person's experience of what agrees best with him. Weak tea agrees well with most people; but with many it occasions heartburn and acidity; perhaps the fault may not be in the tea, but in the quantity of new bread, or of butter, taken along with it. Trials must be made, by omitting one or more of the articles taken, till it be ascertained which of them is in fault. If tea or coffee is found to disagree, milk or gruel may be substituted. luncheon.—By luncheon is generally meant that food taken during the morning between breakfast and dinner. Generally speaking, when the former meal has been sufficiently hearty, and composed partly of solid aliment, the luncheon will be unnecessary; and the habit of partaking of it should, as much as possible, be avoided. But to a healthy person, whose digestion is good, who is accustomed to a great deal of 158 THE FAMILY active exercise, and who, in the early part of the morning, has taken no very substantial or copious repast, the luncheon will probably be a matter of indispensable necessity. It should, however, consist of a very moderate quantity of light and easily digested food. Many of those, however, who take luncheon, find it to spoil the digestion of their dinner ; much more will this be experienced by the dyspeptic patient, who needs his stomach to be undisturbed during the digestion of his regular meals, and who should not exhaust its powers by calling them too frequently into action. If additional food be taken before the former portions are assimilated, the process of digestion will be disturbed; and however plausible may be the maxim, that the stomach will be best managed, and the strength improved, by taking small quantities of food very frequently, yet this is not found to be true; in fact, the invalid thrives much better by regular meals, at proper intervals, than by that constant throwing in of a supply as fast as a morbid craving calls for it, or as a false theory says it should be taken. Dinner.—Dinner, in this country, is the principal meal of the day, and is, in general, taken at the close of the morning, or during the first hours of the afternoon. This period for dining appears to be well chosen for the active classes of society more especially. Several hours having elapsed since the morning meal, the stomach may be expected to have disposed of the food then taken, and to demand a new supply, while a sufficient period will elapse between dinner and the evening repast to allow of uninterrupted and complete digestion. Dinner is, in general, composed of meat and vegetables, variously cooked, or of soups. Attention is seldom paid to the character of the food taken at this meal, or to the proper rules of diet; and hence it is at dinner that the greatest errors are generally committed in regard to the quantity and quality of the food taken. Dinner should always consist of one dish of meat, plainly cooked. Variety of food, like too much seasoning, keeps up the appetite after the wants of the system are satisfied; and hence the stomach is oppressed by too great a quantity of aliment, and digestion is impeded even to a greater extent than were the same amount to be eaten of a single dish. Let it be recollected, also, that dishes compounded of a number of ingredients, the natural qualities of which are completely disguised by the refinements of cookery, are altogether unwholesome: many of them are little better than poisons. It is all-important that sufficient time should be allowed for this meal, in order that the food may be properly chewed, without which its digestion will be greatly retarded. In regard to the necessity of drinking at table, but little need be said. If the food be sufficiently plain and juicy, thirst will seldom be experienced ; but when a desire to drink is experienced, a moderate draught of water will be proper. But no other liquor should be taken—water is the only natural diluent of our food, every other liquor impedes its digestion. Hence the custom in use among some people of taking drams before dinner, for the purpose, as they allege, of whetting the appetite, is highly pernicious, and has quite a contrary tendency to that designed, as it relaxes the stomach, and consequently enfeebles it for the operations it has to perform. For the same reason, the practice of taking brandy or liquors with goose, pig, THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 159 etc., is objectionable. Nor is the fashion of taking wine, or brandy and water, during dinner, less reprehensible. The use of bottled cider, porter, or beverage, during this meal, is also injurious, as it unnecessarily distends the stomach, and thus prevents its muscular contractions at the very time when it is necessary they should be brought into action, and preserved in their full vigor. To say the least of all these vulgar errors in diet, they check the process of digestion, and paralyze the powers of the stomach. Coffee may, however, be safely and advantageously taken after dinner, as it accelerates the operations of the stomach, and assists digestion, provided it does not exceed a small cup or two, and is taken without sugar or milk. Supper.—Supper is the meal taken late in the evening, or just before going to bed. As the powers of the body, and digestion among the rest, are diminished in their activity during sleep, it is an unsafe measure to load the stomach at bed-time with a large quantity of various kinds of food. When this is done, there is great distention, both from the load thrown in, and from flatulence; hence the person is liable to be disturbed with restlessness, or nightmare, and frightful dreams. If tea has been taken in the early part of the evening, no food will be required until the next morning. When a sensation of hungei is felt, however, before bed-time, a slight and moderate repast only is allowable, such as an egg, or some preparation of milk, or oat-meal gruel, which last, however, is apt to become sour on some stomachs. For dyspeptics, suppers and late hours are peculiarly unsuitable. Under no circumstance should food be taken for two or three hours before retiring to rest. Drinks.—We are warned by the appetite of thirst to take in a cert'in quantity of liquid to dilute our solid food, and to supply the waste of the fluids of the body, which are continually expended during the continuance of life. So urgent is this necessity, that we are able to bear hunger more quietly than thirst, and to live longer when deprived of food, than when deprived of drink. The quantity of drink requhed will vary according to the season and climate, the mode of life, the nature of the food, and the peculiarity of each individual. When the body is exposed to a high degree of atmospherical temperature, a much greater quantity of drink is demanded, than when the atmosphere is temperate or cold. This arises from the stimulating effects of heat upon the system; but chiefly by the waste of the fluid portion of the blood, occasioned by the increased perspiration. For the same reasons, active exercise or labor augments the thirst. Salted, high-seasoned, and all stimulating food increase the demand for drink, by stimulating the lining membrane of the mouth, throat and digestive organs, and increasing the viscidity and exciting properties of the blood. The same effects are produced by wine and ardent spirits. Dry food necessarily requires more dilution than that which is moist and juicy; and hence, the greater necessity of drinking, during meals principally composed of the former. In regard to the fluid best adapted for an ordinary drink, there can be no hesitation in stating, that it is water, and water alone —no other can answer so well as a diluent for our food, and for the preservation of that degree of fluidity in the blood, by which it is best 160 TH15 FAMILY. adapted for the nourishment and support of the system. No fluid whatever can be used as a drink, excepting in consequence of the water it contains; and in proportion to its freedom from foreign admixture, or any active ingredient, will it best answer the purpose of a diluent in the animal body. When the taste of man has not been vitiated by the customs of an artificial life, his thirst can be satisfied only by pure water; and even under ordinary circumstances, when the sensation of thirst is intense, every other fluid is loathed. While pure water constitutes the best drink for habitual use—the addition to it occasionally of farinaceous substances, or of some of the vegetable acids, or rendering it slightly aromatic, by infusing into it the leaves of certain heios, is not injurious, and, under certain circumstances, may be advisable. The effects of simple fluids on the body vary considerably, according to their temperature, their volume, and the time when they are drank. Persons in good health, generally take a great portion of their drinks, especially at dinner, of the temperature of the atmosphere; but in weaker stomachs, the drinks may be required to be a little warmed, though it is seldom safe to take them habitually very hot; and far less is it proper to chill the energies of the stomach, by cold or iced drinks. The quantity of drink taken, is also of much consequence to good digestion; a large volume of fluid will prevent the food from being properly acted upon by the stomach; and if there be too little, the mass will be dry and hard. Different kinds of food require different quantities of liquid; animal food requires more than vegetable; roasted, more than boiled ; and baked meat, more still than roasted. The time of drinking may be generally left to the individual. To load the stomach with drink before a meal, is unwise; but to drink more or less, during a meal, according to the nature of the food, assists digestion. Toast-water, is water impregnated with the soluble part of toasted bread, it is perfectly wholesome, and agrees frequently with persons whose stomachs do not relish pure water. Hard biscuit, reduced by fire to a coffee-color, has been recommended as the best for making toast-water. It should be drank as soon as it has cooled, as it acquires an unpleasant flavor by keeping. Toast-water has a slightly nutritive quality, and may be allowed in all the feverish and other cases, where diluents are proper. Cajnllaire.—A syrup made from a docoction of the leaves of the maiden-hair, adiantum pedatum, with the addition of sugar; when mixed with water, it forms an excellent and very pleasing drink to allay thirst in warm weather. Artificial Mineral Waters.—The artificial mineral waters of the shops, with or without syrup, form a grateful and very wholesome drink in warm weather. They consist merely of water, surcharged with carbonic acid gas. Mineral waters should not be drank immediately before a meal, as the gas they contain, by unduly distending the stomach, may prevent the proper digestion of the food about to be taken, neither should they be drank immediately after eating. Whey.—When milk is curdled by the addition of rennet, or spontaneously, it separates into two parts, the curd, or solid white portion, THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH, 181 and the whey, or the thin watery portion, of a yellowish green color, a pleasant sweetish taste, and retaining the flavor of the milk. Whey affords a bland, easily assimilated nourishment, increasing the secretions, and tending to produce a beneficial change in the fluids of the body. It contains a considerable amount of sugar, which renders it sufficiently nutritious. As a drink, whey, in point of salubrity, is inferior only to water; and it is, therefore, admirably adapted to allay the thirst of laborers in hot weather. Buttermilk.—The fluid which remains in the churn after the butter is extracted from the milk contains but little nutritious matter; but, in warm weather, it forms an excellent cooling drink, and, with bread, may constitute a considerable part of the diet of children. Tea.—Thea.—A plant of various species, which grows in China and Japan, of which great quantities of the dried leaves are imported annually from China. In many parts of Europe, and in America, the infusion of these leaves has become one of the necessaries of life ; and from its fragrant and agreeable properties, it is likely forever to remain in universal estimation. The principal kinds of tea used in this country, are the green and bohea; of which there are three kinds of the first, and five of the second. The green tea is the most remarkable for its sleep-repelling properties. The bohea is that in most general use. The properties of tea seem to be those of an astringent and narcotic; but like some other narcotics, in small quantity, its first effect is that of a very gentle stimulant, and certain kinds of it, when taken pretty strong, and near the usual time of going to rest, have the effect of keeping off sleep; but when weak, and taken moderately, and tempered with cream and sugar, it acts merely as a grateful diluent, and produces a slight exhilaration. On its first introduction, and for more than fifty years afterward, tea was violently assailed, and many frightful disorders were attributed to its use; it was said to produce indigestion, lassitude, melancholy, and a long train of nervous complaints. When drank very strong, or in excess, by the sedentary and inactive, there can be no doubt of its injurious effects upon the stomach, and through it upon the system generally. The green and high-flavored teas are those which are the least wholesome. Tea should not be taken too soon after dinner, as it may interfere with digestion from its distending the stomach, and from its astringent and narcotic properties; but when taken three or four hours after the principal meal, it assists the latter stages of digestion, and promotes the insensible perspiration ; more, however, from the warmth^ of the water in which it is infused, than from any beneficial effects 01 the tea itself. A strong infusion of green tea especially, under such circumstances, would rather impede than promote digestion. There are some peculiarities of constitution which render the use of tea very hurtful; but the same is true of many substances, used both in diet and medicine. They who are fixed down to a sedentary employment, who must work at night, and who take tea to keep themselves awake—who, from the want - of exercise, are unable properly to digest animal food, will, no 162 THE FAMILY, doubt, exhibit many symptoms of indigestion, and that feeble tremtilousness, known by the epithet nervous, from its use; but the tea ought not to bear all the blame of producing those disorders, which are more justly to be ascribed to the confinement and inactivity of the patient. Nevertheless, that under such circumstances, the use of tea is absolutely injurious, and aids in the destruction of health, there can be little doubt. We do not object to a cup or two of tea of a moderate strength, as an evening repast for the mechanic; but we must be allowed to say, that for breakfast his health will be better supported by something more substantial and nourishing than the ordinary meal of bread and tea, or bread and coffee. The following rules, respecting the use of tea, will be found useful: 1. Carefully avoid the high-priced and high-flavored teas, more especially if green, which generally owe their flavor to pernicious ingredients, and abound most with those active principles from whence the noxious effects of the article arise. 2. Take with it, at all times, a good proportion of milk, and some sugar, as correctives to any possible noxious qualities present. 3. Let the quantity of tea used at each infusion be very moderate. 4. Make the infusion properly, with water, soft, and otherwise of a good quality, and in a boiling state. 5. Take less tea in the morning than in the evening. Coffee.—The seeds of the coffea arabica.—The seeds, when torrefied, ground, and infused in boiling water, afford the well known beverage, the use of which, at breakfast, has become almost universal among the more opulent classes of society throughout the United States, and in our principal cities, among almost every class. The infusion of coffee acts as a stimulant upon the stomach, the heart, and the nervous system, increasing the circulation of the blood, augmenting the heat of the skin, and exhilarating the mind ; these, its immediate effects, are followed, however, by an equal degree of depression in the functions of those several organs: the excitement and subsequent depression being in proportion always to the strength of the infusion, and the quantity drank. Hence, coffee bears a strong analogy, in its effects upon the system, to wine, ardent spirits, and opium; from the latter, its effects, however, are very different in degree. Coffee, therefore, when drunk very strong, or indulged in to excess, is unquestionably injurious; it seldom fails to disorder the stomach, impair its digestive powers, and in delicate habits it often occasions watchfulness, tremors, headache, and many of those complaints vaguely denominated nervous. To the dyspeptic and sedentary especially it forms a very improper article of die£. When taken weak, and with plenty of cream or milk, and sugar, it may, however, be indulged in to the extent of a few cups a day, by persons in health, and who lead active lives, without much inconvenience; and when drunk soon after dinner, in the quantity of about a cupful of the plain infusion, it is said to assist digestion. Coffee should never be taken late in the evening, in consequence of its tendency to prevent sleep. Chocolate,—The nut of the theobroma cocao, divested of its envelop, and well triturated, forms, when boiled in water, or in milk, a rich nutritious diet, well adapted for robust and laboring persons. With the stomach of the feeble and sedentary, it is apt, however, to disagree, un- THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 163 less made very weak. For such, however, the shells of the cocao-nut, boiled in water, with the addition of sugar and milk, will afford a very pleasant and excellent article of diet. During the winter season, chocolate, of a good quality, would form undoubtedly, for the generality of persons, a far preferable breakfast to either coffee or tea, both in respect to the nourishment which it communicates to the system, and the stimulus or temporary strength afforded by it; thereby enabling the individual to perform with ease a greater amount of labor. The common kinds of chocolate sold in the stores are too often sophisticated by the addition of flour and suet, and should, therefore, be avoided as unwholesome. Spruce-Beer,—A drink made by fermenting molasses, diluted with water, with the addition of yeast or porter, and the essence of spruce. Before the fermentation is completed, it is bottled. Spruce-beer can scarcely be considered as intoxicating; the fermentation being never allowed to go on so far as to produce any great amount of alcohol. It is not, however, a suitable drink for persons with weak digestive powers. The carbonic acid gas with which it is so copiously impregnated, and which gives to it its foaming and brisk appearance, unduly distends the stomach, and impedes digestion; while the saccharine matter of the beer becomes quickly acid, producing pain and irritation. Cider.—The fermented juice of apples. As an habitual drink, cider is not to be recommended. When new, or imperfectly fermented, it is apt to turn acid upon the stomach, and to occasion flatulency and colic. "When rendered more stimulating by a more complete fermentation, boiling, and age, it produces the same injurious effects as the weaker wines, while it intoxicates much more rapidly. The weakest kinds of cider contain 5.21 per cent, of alcohol, and the stronger nearly 10. Whether it be from the acids contained in cider, or from some unknown cause, we cannot say; but it is certain that few drinks used habitually are so apt to disorder the stomach and bowels. Cider is sometimes rendered pernicious by impregnations of lead, and most generally by a considerable amount of ardent spirits being added to it, to increase its strength, and prevent it from spoiling by age. Malt Lipors.—Malt liquors, under which title we include all kinds of beer, porter, and ale, produce, when taken in excess, the worst species of drunkenness; as, in addition to the intoxicating principle, some noxious ingredients are too generally added to them, for the purpose of preserving them and to give to them their bitter flavor. The hop of these fluids is highly narcotic, and brewers often add other substances, to heighten its effect, such as hyoscyamus, opium, belladonna, cocculus Indicus, laurocerasus, etc. Malt liquors, therefore, in whatever quantity they are used, act in two ways upon the body, partly by the alcohol they contain, and partly by the narcotic principle. In addition to this, the fermentation which they undergo is much less perfect than that of spirits or wine. After being swallowed, this process is continued in the stomach, by which fixed air is copiously liberated, and the digestion of delicate stomachs materially impaired. Cider, spruce, ginger, and table beers also, in consequence of their imperfect fermentation, often produce the same bad effects, long after their first briskness has vanished. 164 THE FAMILY. Persons addicted to the use of malt liquors increase enormously in bulk. They become loaded with fat; their chin gets double or triple, the eye prominent, and the whole face bloated and stupid. Their circulation is clogged, while the pulse feels like a cord, and is full and laboring, but not quick. During sleep, the breathing is stertorous. Every thing indicates an excess of blood ; and when a pound or two is taken away, immense relief is obtained. The blood, in such cases, is more dark and sizy than in other persons. In seven cases out of ten, they who indulge to excess in the use of malt liquors, die of apoplexy or palsy. If they escape this hazard, swelled liver, or dropsy, carries them off. The abdomen seldom loses its prominency, but the lower extremities get ultimately emaciated. Profuse bleedings frequently ensue from the nose, and save life, by emptying the blood-vessels of the brain. The effects of malt liquors on the body, if not so immediately rapid as those of ardent spirits, are more stupefying, more lasting, and less easily removed. The latter are particularly prone to produce levity and mirth, but the first have a stunning influence upon the brain, and in a short time render dull and sluggish the gayest disposition. They also produce sickness and vomiting more readily than either spirits or wine. Both wine and malt liquors have a greater tendency to swell the body than ardent spirits. They form blood with greater rapidity, and are altogether more nourishing. The most dreadful effects, upon the whole, are brought on by spirits, but intemperance in the use of malt liquors is the most speedily fatal. The former break down the body by degrees; the latter destroy life by causing some instantaneous apoplexy, or rapid inflammation. Wins.—Wine is the produce of the fermentation of the juice of the grape, but the term is frequently applied to the product of the fermentation of any subacid fruit. The grape is remarkable for containing within itself all the substances necessary for the production of wine; but the juices of other fruits must have the addition of sugar and other ingredients, and in the proportions and management of these additions consists the art of making home wines. Another circumstance in which the juice of the grape differs from other vegetable juices, is its containing a large proportion of tartar; while the others have more of the malic acid, or that acid which abounds in apples; and hence, many of the wines of this country partake of the properties of cider, and are apt to become sour. The characteristic ingredient of all wines is alcohol, or spirit of wine; on this depend their stimulating properties, and the quantity and state of combination in which it exists in wines, are the most interesting points for the consideration of the physician Under the article alcohol we shall mention its highly stimulating and intoxicating properties; and when we know, by the experiments of modern chemistry, that many wines in common use contain from a fourth to a fifth of their bulk of alcohol, we can easily understand the stimulating and intoxicating effects produced by such wines. But, besides the alcohol naturally contained in wines, the stronger wines of Spain and Portugal are rendered marketable in this country by the addition of brandy; and it is to this additional spirit, in a free THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 165 state, as chemists call it, as well as to the combined alcohol, that the injurious effects of these wines are to be ascribed. There is a distinction of wines, arising from their color, into white and red. This color is derived not from the juice, but from the husk of the grapes. It is, in general, highly astringent, and abounds most in the red wines. Notwithstanding the quantity of astringent matter in the red wines is very small, yet delicate stomachs are much affected by it. The flavor peculiar to different wines depends on some very delicate principle, which chemists have not been able to detect; in some wines it produces a remarkable effect on the nervous system, as in Burgundy; the excitement produced by this wine being very peculiar, and not at all in proportion to the alcohol contained in it. Some wines have an artificial flavor imparted to them by the introduction of foreign ingredients, as almonds and turpentine. Wines also contain a small portion of acid, but so very small, in general, as to be in all likelihood incapable of causing any bad effects to those who drink them. Acidity of stomach may unquestionably follow the drinking of wine, but from other causes than the mere portion of uncombined acid which they contain. This same acid has also been blamed, with equal injustice, for giving rise to attacks of gout. Claret has been particularly suspected of this bad tendency; but when a person is predisposed to gout, excess of any kind, either in diet, exercise, or wine, will produce the paroxysm. The general effect of wine on the healthy body, when taken in mod eration, is to excite for a time the powers of life, to assist digestion, to quicken the circulation, to exhilarate the spirits, and to increase the mental energies. But at the same time, it must be recollected that these exhilarating effects are of the most insidious nature, and in place of remaining permanently, or allowing the actions of the several organs to sink, when the stimulus is withdrawn, to their healthy standard, they are succeeded by a depression of the vital energies, in direct proportion to the extent of the preceding excitement. When the use of wine, therefore, is habitually indulged in, or when carried beyond moderation, it perverts the faculties, degrades the rational powers, creates a morbid craving for the repetition of the indulgence, and lays the foundation for a long train of sufferings and diseases. The wine-bibber has usually an ominous rotundity of face, and not unfrequently of corporation. His nose is well studded over with carbuncles of the claret complexion; and the red of his cheeks resembles very closely the hue of that wine. The drunkard from ardent spirits is apt to be a poor, miserable, emaciated figure, broken in mind and in fortune; but the votary of the juice of the grape may usually boast the "paunch well-lined with capon," and calls to recollection the bluff figure of Sir John Falstaff over his potations of sack. Burgundy,—A wine classed among those which are called dry and light. It is possessed of stimulating properties greater than can be explained from the proportion of alcohol which it contains, that being only about eleven and a half per cent. Burgundy is, therefore, thought to hold dissolved some unknown principle of great activity. A few 166 THE FAMILY. glasses of this wine will induce headache and heat of the system, with Bushed face, and hardness of the pulse. In many constitutions this excitement may be very unsafe, especially^ in sanguine constitutions, and where there is any degree of overfullness of the system. Claret.—A wine brought from Bordeaux, of a delicate flavor, and distinguished by a perceptible combination of the acid with the resinous flavor. It is less heating, and more aperient than other wines. When taken i n excess, claret produces acidity and indigestion, often rather from the quantity taken, and the state of the stomach, than from the quality of the liquor. But the clarets of wine-merchants are often very, substantial wines, compounded in various ways for the domestic market. They are thus often mixed with hermitage, and with raspberry brandy; and if procured through doubtful channels, as we find them in the hands of the ordinary dealers in wine, they are too frequently acescent, and apparently composed of some claret, mixed with faded port, or some other spoiled wines, or of cider with some coloring and astringent materials; and they are often compounded of still more pernicious ingredients. Claret contains from 13 to 17.11 per cent, of alcohol. Champagne.—A species of wine containing a large amount of car-, bonic acid gas, which gives to it its sparkling and effervescing appearance. It contains between 11 and 13 per cent, of alcohol. Champagne wine produces speedy intoxication. Lisbon wine contains nearly nineteen per cent, of alcohol, hence its unfitness for a common drink. Madeira wine is still stronger than Lisbon, containing nearly twentyfour and a half per cent, of alcohol. Port.—A wine made in Portugal, from grapes cultivated in the vineyards along the shore of the Douro. It has received its name from being exported principally from Oporto. Port wine possesses considerable astringency, and a strong odor and flavor of brandy; a quantity of the latter being invariably added to the wine, previous to its exportation. Port wine is very stimulating, and intoxicates quickly. It contains nearly twenty-six per cent, of alcohol. Its effect*1 on health are similar to those of the strong wines generally. The port wine in common use in this country, is an artificial compound of other wines, brandy, logwood and alum, and is extremely pernicious in its effects upon the stomach. The fact is, that the amount of wine annually exported from Oporto, is barely sufficient for the supply of England and her dependencies; but few casks of it, in its original state at least, ever find their way to this country. Sherry.—A Spanish wine, of that kind which has been termed dry, manufactured at a place called Xeres, in Andalusia; hence the name of the wine, adopting in our orthography Sh for the Spanish X. This wine has sometimes a peculiar nutty flavor, which is caused by infusing in it bitter almonds. Sherry contains 19.81 per cent, of alcohol. Alcohol.—Alcohol, in strictness, signifies the pure spirit obtained by distillation and subsequent rectifying, from liquids that have undergone the vinous fermentation. But the term is commonly applied to the spirit, even when imperfectly freed from water, and other foreign matter. Alcohol is obtained in the greatest quantity from the wines of THE MEANS OF PKESERYING HEALTH. . 167 warm countries, some of which yield a third of brandy. The stimulating and intoxicating properties of wines, and all fermented liquors, depend on the alcohol they contain. A very curious and interesting table has been constructed by Mr. Brande and other chemists of Europe, showing the quantity of pure alcohol contained in a variety of wines and other intoxicating liquors, and by which it is shown, that when an individual drinks a bottle of port, or strong Madeira, he introduces into his stomach about one pint of ardent spirit, of the ordinary strength of the purest brandy, or gin; and even if he drink a pint of currant wine, he will swallow half a pint of ardent spirit, of the strength of that generally met with in the stores. Alcohol differs slightly in some of its properties, according to the substance from which it is procured. "When obtained from an infusion of malt, without rectification, it constitutes whisky; when from sugar, rum ; when from an infusion of rice, arrack; and when it is distilled from wine, it constitutes the brandy of commerce. Gin is alcohol liavored with the essential oil of juniper. Other intoxicating drinks are obtained by distillation from peaches, apples, Indian corn, potatoes, the fermented milk of animals, etc.; as ordinarily drunk, ardent spirits contain, besides other foreign ingredients, fifty per cent, of water. Ardent Spirits,—Ardent spirits is a general name for the spirituous product of distillation, from various vegetable substances. The prin cipal of these are brandy, rum, gin and whiskey, obtained respectively from wine, the juice of peaches and apples, sugar, barley, rye, Indian corn, juniper berries, etc. Ardent spirits, of every description, are in their nature and ordinary eifects, extremely unfriendly to the human constitution; and the art of distillation is beyond all doubt, the most fatal discovery, in respect to the health of the community, which the ingenuity of man ever devised. Ardent spirits should never be taken in any quantity by those who are desirous of preserving good health, enjoying the full vigor of their systems, and prolonging their lives. When taken as a drink, they stimulate the stomach and neighboring viscera, as well as the heart and brain, to an excessive and unnatural action, impair the appetite, impede digestion, and lay the foundation of serious disease in the most important organs. These effects are as certainly produced by the frequent use of spirits diluted with water, as when they are taken pure; hence, weak brandy and water is a very exceptionable beverage far common use, notwithstanding its being frequently recommended by some medical men, under the erroneous impression that it affords a beneficial stimulus to the stomach. The habitual use of ardent spirits predisposes the system to the attack of every form of acute disease; and excites diseases in persons predisposed to them from other causes. This has been remarked in all the yellow fevers, and other epidemics, which have visited the cities of the United States. Hard drinkers seldom escape, and rarely recover from them. The following diseases are the usual consequences of the habitual use of ardent spirits, viz: slow inflammation of the stomach, indicated 168 THE FAMILY. by a decay of appetite, nausea and sickness, a puking of bile, or a discharge in the morning, of a frothy and viscid phlegm by hawking, fetk. breath, frequent and disgusting belchings; enlargement and disorganization of the liver; jaundice, and dropsy of the belly and limbs, and, finally, of every cavity of the body; chronic inflammation of the windpipe and lungs, marked by hoarseness and a husky cough, which often terminates in consumption, and sometimes in more acute and fatal diseases of the lungs; diabetes, that is, a frequent and copious discharge of pale, or sweetish urine; redness and eruptions on different parts of the body; they generally begin on the nose, and, after gradually extending all over the face, sometimes descend to the limbs, in the form of leprosy. In persons who have occasionally survived these effects of ardent spirits on the skin, the face after a while becomes bloated, and its redness is succeeded by a death-like paleness. Epilepsy; gout, in all its various forms; colic; palsy, and apoplexy; and lastly, delirium or madness, are also frequently induced by the habitual use of ardent spirits. Most of the diseases which have been enumerated, are of a mortal nature. They are more certainly induced, and terminate more speedily in death, when spirits are taken in such quantities, and at such times, as to produce frequent intoxication; but it may serve to remove an error, with which some intemperate people console themselves, to remark, that ardent spirits often bring on fatal diseases without ever producing drunkenness. Many persons are every year destroyed by ardent spirits, who were never completely intoxicated during the whole course of their lives. The solitary instances of longevity, which are now and then met with in hard drinkers, no more disprove the deadly effects of ardent spirits, than the solitary instances of recoveries from apparent death by drowning prove that there is no danger to life when a human body lies an hour or two under water. Not less destructive are the effects of ardent spirits upon the human mind. They impair the memory, debilitate the understanding, and pervert the moral faculties. They produce not only falsehood, but fraud, theft, uncleanness and murder. Like the demoniac mentioned in the New Testament, their name is u Legion ;" for they convey into the soul a host of vices and of crimes. Certain occasions and circumstances are supposed to render the use of ardent spirits necessary. The arguments in favor of their use in such cases, are, however, founded in error. In each of them, ardent spirits, instead of affording strength to the body, increase the evils they are intended to avert or to relieve. They are saftl to be necessary in very cold weather. This is very far from being true; for the temporary warmth they produce is always succeeded by a greater disposition in the body to be affected by cold; and by weakening the energies of the system, they render it more susceptible to a trifling decrease of temperature. Persons habitually addicted to the use of ardent spirits, even such as are not, strictly speaking, drunkards, are known to be much more liable to suffer from the effects of cold, than they who confine themselves to water alone. Ardent spirits are said to be necessary in very warm weather. Ex- THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 169 perience, however, proves that they increase, instead of lessening the effects of heat upon the body, and thereby dispose to diseases of all kinds. Even in the warm climate of the West Indies, Dr. Bell asserts this to be true. "Rum," says that author, "whether used habitually, moderately, or in excessive quantities, in the West Indies, always diminishes the strength of the body, and renders men more susceptible of disease, and unfit for any service in which vigor or activity is required." And the same statement is made by nearly every subsequent writer who has treated of the diseases of warm climates. Nor do ardent spirits lessen the effects of hard labor upon the body. Look at the horse, with every muscle of his body swelled from morning till night, in the plow, or team ; does he make signs for a draught of toddy, or a glass of spirits, to enable him to cleave the ground, or to climb a hill ? No. He requires nothing but cool water, and substantial tood; and the same is equally true in regard to man. There is no nourishment in ardent spirits; they communicate no support to the system. The fictitious strength they produce in labor, is of a transient nature, and is always followed by an augmented degree of weakness and fatigue. Ardent spirits are taken by many immediately before a meal, to create an appetite, and improve digestion; but, instead of strengthening the stomach, and promoting the digestion of the food, ardent spirits, whether taken before or during a meal, produce invariably an injurious impression upon the digestive organs, and retard the proper solution and change of the aliment which is eaten. Brandy,—An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from wine. Brandy contains nearly fifty-nine and a half per cent, of pure alcohol. Cherry brandy.—A mixture of brandy, or rum, with the juice of cherries—by some, it is called cherry-bounce, and when sweetened and spiced, it constitutes cherry cordial. Its use, as a drinlf, is attended with even more pernicious effects than plain brandy, rum, or spirits. It is often made use of by females as a cordial, and besides destroying the health of their digestive organs, too often has lead to habits of confirmed drunkenness. Hum.—An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from fermented juice of the sugar-cane. Rum contains nearly fifty-four per cent, of pure alcohol. Gin.—-An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from fermented grain, with the addition of juniper-berries. It contains upwards of fifty-one and a half per cent of pure alcohol. Whisky.—An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from fermented grain, and the juice of apples and other fruits. It contains ordinarily about the same amount of alcohol as gin. Genuine Scotch whisky contains, however, fifty-four and one-third per cent., and Irish whisky nearly fifty-four per cent, of alcohol. Punch.—Notwithstanding the general belief that punch is an innocent drink, we know of few the use of which is more injurious to the stomach. Independent of its stimulating and intoxicating properties from the ardent spirit which it contains, the acid and sugar produce effects the more pernicious, in proportion to the extent to which the 8 12 170 THE FAMILY. stomach has been weakened by previous excesses. After a night spent in punch drinking, a disordered condition of the digestive organs is more generally experienced, and to a greater extent, than after a debauch with any other intoxicating drink. To the sedentary, and to dyspeptics generally, punch will prove a most dangerous beverage. Cordials, or liqueurs as they are termed by the French, are formed of distilled spirits, with the addition of sugar or syrup, and some vegetable aromatic, as the oil of cloves, cinnamon, roses, anise, and the like, or they are flavored by the addition of bitter almonds, bay leaves, peach kernels, and other articles containing a small quantity of prussic acid. When drank in moderation, they are apt to disorder the stomach, as well by their stimulating effects, as by the rapidity with which they turn sour after being taken; used habitually, or drank to excess, they produce all the mischief which follows th«> use of ardent spirits. They have very properly been styled by a witty writer, " disguised poisons." INTEMPERANCE,—" Living fast" is a metaphorical phrase which, more accurately perhaps than is generally imagined, expresses a literal fact. Whatever hurries the action of the corporeal functions, must tend to abridge the period of their probable duration. Extraordinary longevity has seldom been known to occur excepting in persons whose existence has been tranquil, and their vital energies seldom excited, either by physical or moral agents, beyond the healthy medium. But if intemperance curtailed merely the number of our days, many would have perhaps comparatively little reason to find fault with its effects. The idea of " a short life and a merry one" is plausible enough, if it could be realized. But, unfortunately, what shortens existence is calculated also to make it melancholy and miserable. There is no process by which we can distil life, so as to separate from it all foul or heterogeneous matter, and leave nothing behind but drops of refined and perfect enjoyments and happiness. It is seldom that debauchery breaks at once the thread of life. There occurs, for the most part, a wearisome and painful interval between the first loss of a capacity for enjoying life and the period of its ultimate and entire extinction. This circumstance, it is to be presumed, is overlooked by those persons who, with a prodigality more extravagant than that of Cleopatra, dissolve the pearl of health in the goblet of intemperance. The slope toward the grave is found, by these victims of indiscretion, to be no easy descent. The scene is darkened long before the curtain falls. Having exhausted all that is fine and delightful in the cup of life, they are obliged to swallow afterward the bitter dregs. Death is the last, but not the worst result of intemperance. Punishment, in some instances, treads almost instantly upon the heels of transgression; at others, it follows with a more tardy, although with an equally certain step, the commission of moral irregularity. During the period of a long protracted career of excess, the malignant power of intemperate enjoyment, slow and insidious in its operation, is gnawing incessantly at the root, and often without spoiling the bloom, or seeming to impair the vigor of the frame, is secretly but surely hastening the period of its inevitable destruction. There is no imprudence with regard to health THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. m that does not tell; and they are not unfrequently found to suffer in the event most essentially, who do not appear to suffer immediately from every individual act of indiscretion. The work of decay is, in such instances, constantly going on, although it never loudly indicates its advance by any forcible impression upon the senses. The distinction, although incalculably important, is not sufficiently recognized betwixt stimulation and nutrition; repairing the expenditure of the fuel by a supply of substantial matter, and urging unreasonably, or to an inordinate degree, the violence of the heat and the brilliancy of the flame. The strongest liquors are the most weakening, and in proportion to the power which the draught itself possesses, is the amount of healthful vigor which it deducts from the person into whose stomach it is habitually received. In a state of ordinary health, and in msaij cases of disease, a generous diet may be safely and even advantageously recommended. But, in diet, the generous ought to be carefully distinguished from the stimulating, which latter is, unfortunately, most frequently used to denominate good living. The indigent wretch, whose scanty food is hardly sufficient to supply the materials of existence, and the no less wretched debauchee, whose luxurious indulgence daily accelerates the period of its destruction, may both be said, with equal propriety, to live hard. Hilarity is not health, more especially when it has been roused by artificial means. The fire of intemperance often illuminates at the very time it is consuming its victim, and it is not until after the blaze of the electric coruscation that its depredations are exposed. Stimuli sometimes produce an artificial genius, as well as vivacity. They lift a man's intellectual faculties, as well as his feelings of enjoyment for a moment, above their ordinary level; and if by the same means they could be kept for any length of time in that state of exaltation, it might constitute something like a specious apology for having recourse to them. But unfortunately the excitement of the system can in no instance be urged above its accustomed and natural pitch, without this being succeeded by a correspondent degree of depression. Like the fabulous stone of Sisyphus, it invariably begins to fall as soon as it has reached the summit, and the rapidity of its descent is almost invariably in proportion to the degree of its previous elevation. Genius, in this manner, forcibly raised, may be compared to those fire-works which, after having made a brilliant figure in the sky for a very short time, fall to the ground, and expose a miserable fragment, as the only relic of their preceding splendor. Drunkenness.—The baneful effects produced upon the constitution by the habitual and excessive use of intoxicating drinks, are very fully detailed in the articles, Ardent spirits, Malt liquors and Wine. These, one should suppose, would be sufficient to deter all from indulging in the use of such drinks, or, at least, that the destruction of the moral, physical and intellectual faculties of man, and the beastly excesses into which he is led by intoxication, would be a sufficient warning to prevent every rational being from falling into so degrading a condition. That infatuation which induces so many, for a momentary and insufficient gratification, to risk the destruction of character, credit and 172 THE FAMILY. happiness, and to entail upon themselves and families the extreme of wretchedness and misery, can be viewed as little else than a species of insanity; to control the effects of which is unquestionably a legitimate subject for legislative interference. Habits of intoxication very often creep on almost imperceptibly, and the individual is lost even before he has passed the limits of moderation. The elevation of spirits and excited state of the heart and other organs, produced by the stimulation of alcohol, indulged in to a certain extent, are followed by a corresponding depression and languor, to relieve which a renewal of stimulation is demanded, until the very cravings and appetites of the system are enlisted in favor of excess. To avoid drunkenness, therefore, the only certain means is to abstain entirely from drinks of an intoxicating quality, and to seek the pleasurable stimulation, to induce w7hich they are always, in the first instance, resorted to, in wholesome food, fresh air and exercise, cheerful company, the offices of benevolence, and such other physical and moral species of excitement as are friendly to the health of the system, and to the vigor and serenity of the mind, and are never followed by undue depression, nor by regret. Various means have been proposed to wean an individual from habits of drunkenness, particularly by adding to the liquor, drunk by him, certain nauseating or disgusting drugs ; but little good has, however, been in this manner effected-—moral means, particularly the influence of society, as soon as this can be enlisted in favor of entire abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks, are calculated to produce much more decided, extensive and permanent effects in preventing drunkenness, and reclaiming those already addicted to it. A fit of intoxication, closely resembles that of incipient apoplexy, or palsy. The drunkard staggers, his tongue loses its power of speech, he stammers, sees double, or objects appear to him to revolve, or move in a circular direction. His feelings and perceptions are blunted, and at length a state of insensibility and fatuity is produced. All these symptoms result from an overfullness of blood in the vessels of the brain. If intoxication is still more complete, there is no perceptible difference between it and genuine apoplexy. We have the same lividity and bloatedness of countenance, the same deep comatose sleep, the same complete insensibility, the same stertor of breathing, the same fixedness of the eyes, and dilatation of the pupils, and the same slowness and fullness of the pulse. A person in this state, should be carried, without delay, into a room of moderate temperature, and placed in bed, with his head raised. Care should be taken to remove all ligatures from about his neck and limbs, and to prevent his neck from becoming twisted, or his breathing suspended, by any covering on the face. Cold water may be applied to his head, and if he is desirous of drinking, the simplest beverages, as tea or toast-and-water, should be allowed him. It is said that a drachm or two of a solution of the acetate of ammonia will almost immediately remove all the phenomena of intoxication. CLEANLINESS.—Among the means which tend most to the perservation of health, and to the promotion of comfortable feelings, is cleanliness. The neglect of it is in fact the immediate cause of some of the THE MEANS OP PRESERVING HEALTH. 173 most disgusting and fatal diseases to which the human body is liable. Personal cleanliness consists in the careful removal of every impurity from the surface of the body, whether generated by itself, and attached to the clothing in immediate contact with it, or contracted from the air and other matters with which the body is accidentally or constantly surrounded. Allowing impurities to accumulate upon the surface not only gives rise to disgusting effluvia, by which the air the individual breathes is contaminated, but, besides occasioning various eruptive diseases of the skin, it prevents the due performance of the functions of the latter, and in this manner causes disorder of those internal organs which most readily sympathize with it. None of the bodily sympathies are more intimate than that which exists between the stomach and the skin, or between the latter and the alimentary canal, the lungs, the liver, and the kidneys; whatever* therefore, suspends or impedes the functions of the surface, whether cold or filth, a derangement to a greater or less extent of the internal organs invariably results. The skin is not to be considered merely as the covering of the body to defend it from the influence of external agents, but as one of our most important organs, without the continued health and activity of which there can neither be health, comfort, nor long life. By the action of the numerous blood-vessels of the skin, there is removed from out the system, in the form of an insensible perspiration, an immense amount of excrementitious matter, the retention of which would be productive of uncomfortable feelings or disease. The skin is likewise the seat of the sense of feeling; upon it external impressions are first made, and from it conveyed to the brain and other internal parts. We can easily comprehend, therefore, in what manner personal cleanliness, by allowing the functions of the skin to be carried on with perfect regularity and freedom, contributes to our health and comfort. The means of preserving the purity of the skin is, frequent ablutions with water, with the addition occasionally of soap and frictions. The ablution of the body should be frequent and general, and not confined simply to those parts that are exposed. Bathing or washing the entire surface in water of a proper temperature, and at short intervals, would sensibly increase the strength, health, and pleasurable feelings of all, whatever may be their sex, age, or condition in life. Frequent change of clothing is equally necessary to the maintenance of personal cleanliness as frequent ablutions of the surface. When the matter exhaled in the form of perspir ation from the skin is retained in contact with it by the clothing, it undergoes quickly a decomposition, and causes diseases of the skin; and by impeding its functions, as well as by contaminating the air we breathe, causes often fevers, and various diseases of a very malignant character. Domestic cleanliness is of scarcely less importance to the preservation of health than that of the person and clothing. From every apartment of our dwellings, as well as from the yards, cellars, vaults, and outhouses attached to them, should every species of filth, every thing which by its decomposition is liable to contaminate the air, be immediately removed, while all the other means for the preservation of domestic purity should be put in constant requisition. But the consequences that result from want of cleanliness are not confined to indi- 174 THE FAMILY. viduals or to families. From the same baneful source a whole neighborhood or community may become infected with disease of the most violent and deadly nature. Hence the necessity of pre7enting all accumulations of filth and stagnant water in the streets, courts, and alleys of towns; hence the utility of draining marshes and improving and cultivating the surface of a country, and hence the unhealthiness of houses situated near sinks, privies, and docks, or rivers, the fiat muddy shores of which a e left bare by the receding tide. If cleanliness be essential to the preservation of health, it is no less so to the comfort and ease of the sick. Unless their debility be very great, and unless it be productive of much pain and suffering to move them, the bed and body linen of the sick should be kept very clean, and frequently changed; their apartment should be cleaned and well aired, and all offensive discharges should be very carefully and speedily removed. Bathing.—The preservation of the skin constantly free from every species of impurity, and in a condition best adapted to the performance of its important functions, being one of the most certain means for preserving the health and promoting the comfort of the system generally, the means for effecting this important end press themselves forcibly upon the attention of all classes of society. In no manner can strict personal cleanliness be so effectually maintained as by frequent bathing. The indifference exhibited by the inhabitants of this country in respect to bathing, whether considered as a luxury, or as a means of prolonging life and preventing disease, is surprising. The frequent use of the bath was enjoined by the Mosaic laws; baths were erected at the public expense in Egypt: by the Greeks and Eomans bathing was held in the greatest estimation, and even among the Celtic tribes it was in general use; in the employment of the warm bath the latter were, in fact, earlier than either the Greeks or Eomans. At the present day, the habitual and general use of the bath is confined almost exclusively to the Eastern nations, and to a few of those in the more northern parts of Europe. It is much to be regretted, particularly when we consider the general unanimity of opinion among medical men in regard to its salutary effects, that bathing is not at the present day more generally resorted to, and that the means for bathing should not, ere this, have been universally introduced into all our larger cities. To every person, bathing, in water of a proper temperature, is decidedly beneficial; by preserving the cleanliness of the surface, it promotes the functions of the skin and the proper and equal circulation of the fluids; it invigorates every organ of the body, and causes the whole system to feel refreshed. Cheerfulness, activity, and ease, are its invariable effects when properly resorted to. Gold Bath.—When the body is immersed in water of a temperature ranging from a few degrees above the freezing point up to seventy degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, it experiences the sensation of cold, which is more or less intense, according as the temperature of the bath sinks toward forty degrees, or approaches seventy degrees, and in proportion to the debility or vigor of the bather's system and other circumstances. The cold bath was no doubt the one first resorted to as a means of re- THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 175 freshment and recreation, especially in warm and temperate climates, and during the summer season, in the more northern. It is the one also which is the most generally adopted by savage nations, whose bathing-place is the nearest river, or, when convenient, the sea. There are few subjects in respect to which more erroneous and dangerous opinions have been entertained, than in regard to the effects produced upon the human system by the frequent use of the cold bath. The latter was at one period very generally considered as a tonic, communicating to the body immersed in it additional health and vigor, and a similar idea is still entertained by many persons. We need not wonder, therefore, that it should be so often resorted to as a means of strengthening the constitution of the feeble and valetudinary, and made to constitute an important item in the physical education of youth. The supposition of the tonic and invigorating effects of the cold bath is, however, altogether unfounded, and the practices which have grown out of it have been productive of very serious mischief. The cold-bath, so far from increasing the strength and energies of the system, on the contrary diminishes both. It is not, therefore, a tonic, but a very powerful sedative; its depressing effects being always in direct ratio with the feebleness or exhaustion of the individual subjected to its influence. The effects upon the surface of the body, and through it upon the internal organs, of water of a reduced temperature, are precisely the same as those produced by cold air (see Cold,) with this exception, that as water is a better conductor of caloric than air, the heat of the skin will be carried off by the former much more rapidly than by the latter, and consequently the sedative effects of the cold bath will be more quickly and intensely experienced than those of an equally Cold atmosphere. Although immersion in water, between forty and seventy degrees of temperature, will be readily borne by an individual in the full vigor of health, and who is not, at the time, laboring under exhaustion from fatigue, profuse perspiration, intemperance, or exposure to intense solar heat; although such a one will feel, on emerging from the water, if the immersion has not been too long continued, an agreeable glow over the whole body, and a feeling of increased vigor and Lightness, yet, to those differently situated, the cold bath is not only mischievous in its effects, but may occasion a very rapid cessation of life. It should, therefore, be avoided by the weak and the valetudinary, and by all who are already chilled or laboring under temporary exhaustion from any cause. For young children especially, the cold bath is decidedly improper. The morning and evening are the most proper periods for the use of the oold bath; nevertheless, the strong and robust, who bathe for pleasure, may choose their own time, provided it be not soon after a hearty dinner, nor while the stomach is actively engaged in the business of digestion. A cold bath in the evening usually procures tranquil sleep, a circumstance well known to the Romans. But bathing at this time is only fitted for those who are accustomed to eat temperately at an early hour, who are not weakened by the fatigues of the day, and who perspire with difficulty. It would be the height of imprudence for those to use the cold bath in the evening, who are fotigued and exhausted with the 176 THE FAMILY. exertions of the day, who dine late and banquet sumptuously, and who are prone to perspire when asleep. There is no opinion more generally diffused, and at the same time more erroneous, than that which forbids the use of the cold bath when the system is heated. Dr. Currie has clearly proved that all the inconveniences attributed to immersion in cold water, after the body has been heated by violent exercise, depend not on the preceding heat, but on the debility and exhaustion of the bather at the time, from fatigue or profuse perspiration. In such cases, the salutary reaction and glow that ought always to succeed the bath cannot be produced, owing to the loss of that vigor and energy upon which they depend. The most favorable moment, indeed, for the use of the cold bath is during the greatest heat produced by moderate exercise, and when the body is yet in possession of its full strength. Immediately after running, wrestling, or other gymnastic exercises, by which the Roman youth were inured to the fatigues of war, they darted from the Campus Martius into the Tiber, and swam across it once or twice. The Russians and Finlanders, on issuing from their sudatories, or vapor-baths, in which the thermometer rises to 161° Fah., roll themselves in the snow at a temperature of 13° to 35° below zero; and so far from this transition rendering the impression of cold more hurtful, the good effects of it, on the contrary, are thereby insured. We cannot, in fact, too strongly urge on bathers the propriety of taking moderate exercise before immersion. The body should not be undressed until the moment of immersion; or, when undressed, it should be closely enveloped in a flannel gown, which may be laid aside at the time of going into the water, and resumed immediately on coming out. Immersion in the water during the whole time of bathing, is far preferable to the person's coming out and plunging in again at intervals, which last practice is apt to produce a chill, and prevent the glow of the surface from following. Immediately on coming out of the bath, it is proper for the person to dress himself quickly, and it is of the greatest advantage for him to wrap himself up in a flannel gown destined for the purpose. After this a short walk may be recommended—avoiding, however, that degree of exertion which would produce perspiration or fatigue. If the heat be slow in returning, a bowl of warm tea may be taken, or, if the stomach be empty, it will be well to take some light food. It is a bat custom to go to bed after the bath, unless the sensation of cold amount to shivering, and be accompanied with great weakness, in which case the person may be put to bed, and a bladder filled with warm water appliec to the stomach. Warm Bath.—Water of a temperature of about 95° of Fahrenheit* thermometer constitutes a warm bath. This bath is the one bes» adapted for general use, both as a means for insuring personal clean liness and for promoting the health and functions of the skin. Persons in whom the vital actions of the surface of the body are habitually inert, whose skins are pale and of a diminished temperature, and theii hands and feet often cold, as well as such as have been accidentally exposed to cold and wet> will find more decided advantage from a bath THE MEANS OF PEESEBYING HEALTH. 177 even a few degrees warmer, while for those of a more robot constitution, with an active circulation and hot skin, as well as for those who have been excited and heated from exercise, water a few degrees lowei in temperature is to be preferred. In many parts of Asia, particularly in those under the Turkish domiiton, the warm bath is constantly resorted to, not only as an object of luxury, but as an effectual means of restoring strength and comfortable feelings to the body, when exhausted by labor, or fatigue of any kind. In this country, as well as in England, a very general opinion is entertained, on the other hand, that immersion in warm water, especially when continued for any length of time, invariably weakens and diminishes the force and action of tho muscles and of the other organs. This opinion, however, is totally unfounded. So far from relaxing the body, diminishing its strength or exhausting its energies, a bath of from ninety-two to ninety-eight degrees, when used even by persons of a delicate frame, or whose system has been reduced by disease, will be found to impart a feeling of refreshment, to improve the strength, and to render their spirits lighter and more cheerful. Although, on immersion in a warm bath, the sensation experienced is that of warmth, yet when the temperature of the water is below that of the body, it must necessarily rob it of a portion of its caloric, and thus reduce the heat of the skin. The warm bath also diminishes the frequency of the pulse, renders the breathing freer and more slow, removes all impurities from the skin, softens its texture, and facilitates the circulation of the blood through its vessels, *while it produces upon the whole nervous system a soothing or tranquilizing effect. The internal organs are beneficially affected by the action of the warm bath upon the skin. The healthful actions of the stomach and bowels in particular, and the regular and perfect nutrition of the whole body, are powerfully promoted by its effects in equalizing the circulation on the surface of the body, and in causing the functions of the cutaneous exhalants to be performed with greater regularity and freedom. In promoting the growth and development of the body during infancy and childhood; in preserving the skin at that age free from disease, and the stomach and bowels in the proper discharge of their functions, the warm bath will be found to be admirably adapted. The uncomfortable sensations of increased heat, thirst, lassitude; the accelerated circulation and excited senses experienced after laborious exercise or a long journey in warm weather, are all allayed or removed by a warm bath; while, under such circumstances, the cold bath would be attended with hazard at least, and often with decided injury. After exposure to cold and wet, also, the warm bath, with frictions to the surace, will remove all unpleasant feelings, and prevent any subsequent uffering to the health. The habitually feeble and infirm, the nervous and excitable—they who are readily heated and as readily cooled—or who, in the enjoyment of a tolerable state of bodily health, have their vital energies, nevertheless, readily depressed by trifling causes of a debilitating character, ought all to use the warm in preference to the cold bath. The aged likewise will experience a great increase of comfort and renewed activity in their various functions by the frequent employment of warm bathing. The time for using the warm bath is when the 8* 178 THE FAMILY. stomach is free from food—or when the body has been fatigued by exercise or labor. The period during which immersion may continue is from half an hour to an hour. Hot Bath.—This variety of bath is only adapted to cases of disease; its effects will therefore be considered in that part of our work which treats of remedies. Sea-bathing.—Nearly all the remarks which were made when speaking of the cold bath, will apply to sea-bathing. The effects of seabathing are, however, somewhat modified by the circumstances under which it is made use of, and the effects on the skin of the salts with which the water is impregnated. Bathing in the sea is usually preceded by some degree of exercise, in walking or riding to the beach, and is accompanied with considerable muscular exercise in struggling against the waves or in attempts to swim. The dread which many experience on entering the sea, affects powerfully the nervous system, causing hurried respiration and acceleration of the heart's action. To these may be added, the effects from exposure often to a cool and keen wind from the ocean, which on our Atlantic coast must of course be easterly. The slower evaporation of sea than of fresh water, causes the skin to become encrusted with saline particles, which, in consequence of the friction produced bj the clothing, excites a gentle stimulation of the whole surface. Hence, persons possessed of much less energy of frame may in general safely venture upon sea-bathing, than can with propriety use the cold bath. Sea-bathing cannot with propriety be resorted to, however, by the delicate and valetudinary, before the middle of June, nor later than the beginning or middle of September. The air of the sea-coast is too damp and cold to be endured with impunity by them at other seasons. The proper time for using the sea-bath is before meals; never should immersion be attempted when the stomach is actively engaged in the process of digestion. The early hours of the morning may be safely appropriated to sea-bathing, provided the individual rises from his bed and reaches the beach with a warm or hot and dry skin. Sea-bathing is always injurious when the skin is cool, chilled, or perspiring, or when the body is exhausted by fatigue, late hours, or intemperance in eating and drinking. Soap.—Personal cleanliness cannot be effectually secured without the use of soap. A few remarks will render this evident to every one. In addition to the perspiration which is thrown out by the skin, a portion of which always remains upon the surface, the latter is constantly lubricated by an oily fluid. It is this that occasions, after bathing, the water, with which it does not unite, to collect in minute drops upon the body, and which gives to the skin of those in whom it is furnished in large quantities, an habitually greasy and dirty appearance; while of those in whom it is deficient, the skin has a harsh, dry, and scaly aspect. This oily exudation greases the linen when it is worn for too long a time—catches the dust floating in the air, and causes it to adhere to the skin, and likewise retains in contact with our bodies, a portion of the excrementitious matter, which it is the office of the skin to discharge from the system. The removal of this deposit, which is constantly accumulating, is absolutely necessary, as well for personal comfort as for THE MEANS OF PftESEKVING HEALTH. 179 the preservation of health. Now the oily matter referred to, with the foreign substances accidentally combined with it, is not readily nor completely soluble in simple water; it cannot, therefore, be effectually removed without the occasional use of soap, with which it combines without difficulty. The frequency with which it is necessary to wash with soap will depend, in a great measure, upon the occupation and exposure of individuals. If these be such as do not subject them to an atmosphere loaded with dust, or to the frequent contact of such substances as have a tendency to soil the skin, washing the face, hands, and arms, once a day, with soap and water, will be sufficient, particularly if the water be warm or tepid, and its application be followed by brisk friction with a somewhat coarse towel. But mechanics, and they who, from any cause, are peculiarly liable to have deposited upon their skin, dust, dirt, or any foreign matters, will find that washing several times a day, especially before each meal, and previously to retiring to bed, in addition to a frequent use of the bath, will be demanded, as well for the preservation of the skin as of their health generally. The ordinary brown and yellow kinds of soap are altogether unfitted for cleansing the skin, as they invariably irritate it, and when frequently used, most generally cause it to become rough, chapped, or covered with painful and unsightly pimples. These effects arise as well from the strength of these soaps as from the yellow rosin which enters so largely into their composition. Most, if not all, of the colored and variegated soaps, prepared expressly for the toilet, are equally objectionable, in consequence of the action on the skin of the coloring matter, which is most commonly some metallic salt. From the occasional use, however, of pure white soap, particularly that manufactured solely from soda and olive oil, which is entirely without smell, hard, and brittle, the fracture presenting a pearly and granulated or crystalline appearance, not the least injury to the skin need be apprehended; while it will be found to cleanse it more effectually from all impurities than any of the substitutes for soaps which females, in particular, are too much in the habit of resorting t o ; many of which have a decidedly prejudicial effect. Pure white soap ought, therefore, to be invariably used in ablutions of the face and hands, or of the surface generally. Cosmetics.—Cosmetics are certain washes, sold under different names, which ladies are induced to use, with the hope of beautifying the skin and adorning the person. No regular practitioner will give any encouragement to the use of these, as they always do harm, and frequently cause the occurrence of very dangerous accidents. The most noted are some of the preparations of mercury, or solutions of sugar of lead or of the nitrate of silver; and from the use of this last in particular, effects the very reverse of beautiful take place. Ladies have gone into the bath with a fine white skin, and have come out brown or black, from the chemical action of the water or its gases on the cosmetic. Gowlard's Lotion, a noted cosmetic, is a solution of corrosive sublimate in an emulsion of bitter almonds; and whoever is desirous of escaping the disagreeable consequences resulting from the action of a poison on 180 THE) FAMILY. the skin, or its introduction into the blood, should cautiously avoid all such dangerous compositions. The only cosmetic wash from which no injury need be apprehended* and the effects of which, when conjoined with temperance, regular exercise, and serenity of mind, will never disappoint those who may be induced to use it, is that composed of pure spring water, of a proper degree of warmth. Cologne-Water.—This fluid is an aromatic tincture, of great fragrance and pungency, much used at the female toilet. It receives its name from the city where it has been manufactured for more than a century* by the members of a family of the name of Farina. The Farinas, of course, loudly vaunt their Cologne-water, as superior to all the imitations of it made in Paris, London, and elsewhere, though the latter are in general so well prepared as to deceive the most suspicious. The following recipe is given to make a tincture which some persons prefer even to the genuine eau de Cologne :— Take of spirits of wine, half a pound ; lavender water, one pound; balsam of Peru, fifteen drops; essence of lemons, six drachms; camphor, fifteen grains; spirit of rosemary, half a drachm ; bergamot, half a drachm ; digest for seven days, and strain. Excepting for its agreeable flavor, we know of no useful purpose to which this tincture can be applied. # Many females are in the habit of using Cologne-water as a wash for the face, in order to preserve the skin smooth and free from pimples* and to prevent it from chapping. These latter effects will, however, be much more liable to result from the stimulation of the skin, caused by the alcohol in the Cologne-water, than when simple soft water is used. It cannot be too often repeated, that the objections to the frequent application of water to the skin are altogether founded in error. The brilliancy of the complexion, and the beauty and delicacy of the skin* can in no way be so well preserved as when frequent ablutions with warm water are resorted to. Dentifrices.—Substances used for cleaning the teeth; most commonly those which are in the form of powder are so called. Of these there is a great variety, as almost every dentist has his own favorite toothpowder. Charcoal is much esteemed by some, as it not only cleans the teeth, but is supposed to improve the breath, and to assist in removing any smell from the mouth. In the East Indies, the betel-nut is burned to procure a very fine powdered charcoal. It has, however, the disadvantage of producing a bluish discoloration of the gum, which is indelible. Charcoal seems to act too severely on the enamel; for we have seen many cases where, after the continued use of it and of hard brushes, the enamel has been cut into grooves, as with a file; and it is well known that, from its triturating power, charcoal is used by blacksmiths in polishing steel, to take out the file marks. Magnesia, prepared chalk, powder of cuttle-fish bones, orris-root, and similar substances, are also used, either singly or combined, as dentifrices. As a general rule, all hard and gritty powders, and all acid washes, are injurious to the teeth. When, from childhood, a life of temperance and active exercise has been pursued, every species of dentifrice appears; THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 181 to be useless; all the care that the teeth then demand, to preserve them white and to prevent their decay, is carefully removing, with a quill or splinter of wood, any portions of food which may have lodged during meals between them, and then to rinse the mouth fully with tepid water, and to rub the teeth and gums well once a day, in the morning, with a soft brush. Most of the accumulations about the teeth, as well as their discoloration and decay, are produced by a diseased condition of the digestive organs. SLEEP.—Sound, refreshing sleep is of the utmost consequence to the health of the body and the vigor of the mental and corporeal faculties. Indeed, so great is its value, and so peculiar are its effects, that no substitute can be found for it; and if it does not pay its accustomed visit* every individual, without exception, feels his whole frame sensibly exhausted. His appetite ceases, his strength fails, his spirits become oppressed and dejected, or irritable and capricious, and, if the deprivation is long continued, he is soon reduced to a state of the utmost misery. Bodily and mental disease are the usual effects of too long protracted wakefulness. By regular and sound sleep the exhausted constitution is refreshed, and the vital energies restored; the process of assimilation, or of nourishment, goes on more perfectly; the vigor of the mental faculties is renewed, and the body attains its proper and regular growth. Sleep also contributes to the prolongation of life, and, in many cases, to the restoration of health and the cure of disease. During the day, the irritability or excitability natural to the human frame in an ordinary state of health is exhausted by light, heat, sound, and, above all, by bodily exercise and mental exertion; and sleep is the method which nature has provided for the reaccumulation of this excitability, and the consequent restoration of the vital energy which the body had lost in the performance of its daily functions. Among the marks and symptoms of longevity, that of being naturally a regular and sound sleeper is justly considered to be one of the surest indications. This appears to be owing to the physical effects of sleep; to its retarding all the vital movements, collecting the vital power, and restoring to every organ its appropriate degree of energy. Indeed, if great watchfulness, by accelerating the consumption of the fluids and solids, abridges life, a proper quantity of repose must tend to its prolongation. The^preceding observations, of course, refer only to a proper quantity of sleep, as few things are more pernicious than too great an indulgence m it. This excess brings on a sluggishness and dullness of all the animal functions, and materially tends to weaken the whole body. It blunts and destroys the senses, and renders both the body and mind unfit for action. From the slowness of the circulation which it occasions, there necessarily follows great corpulency, a bloated habit of body, and a tendency to dropsy, apoplexy, and other disorders. It will be proper, therefore, to consider—1. The number of hours necessary to be passed in sleep; 2. The period best calculated for repose; and 3. The means of promoting it when wanted. Quantity of sleep,—What number of hours are necessary to be passed 182 THU FAMILY* in sleep is a question that has occasioned much discussion. The opinion generally entertained by the ablest physicians is, that although the quantity of sleep must necessarily vary somewhat according to the age and strength, and occupation of individuals, yet from seven to eight hours in the four-and-twenty constitute, generally speaking, the proper time, and that this period should scarcely ever be exceeded by adults in the enjoyment of health. It is indisputable, that the delicate require more than the vigorous, women more than men, and very young children more than either; but it is worthy of particular remark, that the sick and weakly seldom require more than eight hours, or, at the most, nine hours, and will rarely, if ever, fail to be injured by a longer indulgence. Every one, therefore, should endeavor to ascertain what quantity of sleep he requires; that is, by what quantity he is rendered most comfortable and vigorous throughout the day; this all may readily ascertain by experiment. Nothing can be more absurd than for any individual, who wishes to enjoy health and to accomplish great things, to deny himself the advantages either of sleep or of exercise. Many studious men fall into a great and pernicious error in abridging their proper time for repose, in order that they may have the longer period for study. This is highly detrimental both to the mind and body; for the mind that has been much exercised throughout the day not only seeks to recruit its strength in sound and refreshing sleep, but cannot regain its utmost energy without i t ; so that, instead of any advantage being gained by passing the greater part of the night in study or other occupations, it must necessarily be detrimental. It has been justly observed, that most persons will be able to perform very effectually their ordinary tasks, whether mental or corporeal, by strict and uniform application during eight, or at farthest ten hours out of the twenty-four, which will leave abundance of time for sleep and exercise. It is proper to add, that the opposite extreme of indulging in too much sleep should be carefully avoided. By lying for nine, ten, or eleven hours in a warm bed, the flesh becomes soft and flabby, the strength of the digestive organs impaired, and the nervous system relaxed and enervated. Time proper for repose.—Nature certainly intended exercise for the day and rest for the night. This is proved by experience. For they who, in opposition to $he dictates of nature, keep up during the night, whether in exercise, riot, or in study, the activity of the various ^organs of the system, and endeavor to seek repose for them by sleeping during the day, disturb the whole economy of their bodies by which their health is ultimately more or less impaired. Another point to be considered is, that by the custom of sitting up late at night, the eyes suffer severely, daylight being much more favorable to those delicate organs, than any artificial light whatever. Valangin relates a circumstance that satisfactorily proves the advantage of sleeping in the night instead of the day. It is an experiment made by two colonels of horse in the French army, who had much disputed which period of the day was fittest for marching, and for repose. As it was an interesting subject, in a military point of view, to THE MEAKS OF PEfeSERYING HEALTH. 183 have it ascertained, they obtained leave from the commanding officer to try the experiment. One of them, although it was in the heat of summer, marched in the day, and rested at night, and arrived at the end of a march of six hundred miles, without the loss of either men or horses; but the other, who thought it would be less fatiguing to march in the cool of the evening, and part of the night, than in the heat of the day, at the end of the same march, had lost most of his horses, and some of his men. In hot climates, more especially in the neighborhood of swampy ground, persons cannot too sedulously avoid being out after sunset, on account of the extremely deleterious qualities of the air at that period; indeed, in many places, to breathe the night air is certain death, and in most it is powerfully influential in the production of dysentery, and some of the worst fevers that prevail in those regions. The plan of going to bed early, and rising betimes, has been called the golden rule for the preservation of health and the attainment of long life, and it is a maxim sanctioned by various proverbial expressions. It is an undoubted fact, that when old people have been examined regarding the causes of their long life, they have uniformly agreed in one particular, that they went to bed early and rose early. Indulging in sleep during the daytime, and more especially after dinner, is always productive of more or less injury to health, while it is never found to produce even that temporary feeling of refreshment which results from the same amount of repose taken after night. It should be remarked, that although many persons, who have enjoyed good health, have been in the habit of sleeping a little in the afternoon, yet, upon the whole, the practice is not to be recommended, as a far greater number suffer from the habit more or less inconvenience. When individuals in the possession of a good measure of health and strength find an inclination to sleep after dinner, it is very commonly owing to their having eaten too much. They who take no more food than is required for the growth and nourishment of the body, find themselves even lighter and more cheerful after a substantial meal than before it. Best means of promoting sleep.—Sleep is so natural to man, that in almost every instance, where the individual is in tolerable health, it must be his own fault if he does not enjoy it to that extent which is so essential for his comfort and happiness. The principal circumstances to be attended to in order to procure refreshing sleep are the nature and quantity of our food and exercise, the size and ventilation of the bed-chamber, the quality of the bed and of its coverings, and the state of the mind. It is certain that a full stomach almost invariably occasions restless nights, and it is, therefore, an important rule to make a very light supper, and not to take any food whatever later than an hour, or an hour and a half, before bed-time. Toward evening, the digestive organs seek for repose, in conjunction with every other part of the body; they are then fatigued and enervated by the labors of the day, and, consequently, to give them much to do at that period cannot fail to irritate and disorder them, which irritation, from the stomach being the grand center of sympathies, is quickly propagated, through the medium of the nerv- 184 'THE FAMIL1 ous system, to every part of the body, hence it is that triey who eat late suppers experience a general restlessness, instead of a disposition to sleep, tt is worthy of observation also that the stomach will sometimes be much irritated by a small quantity of indigestible food taken at night, and by this sleep may be prevented as certainly as if the organ were overloaded with food. A sufficient quantity of exercise or muscular exertion powerfully contributes to sleep, and a principal reason why sedentary persons, and students generally, are so distressed for want of it is from neglecting to take active exercise in the day. With some persons, the most effectual methods of procuring sleep will fail, unless exercise be resorted to in the open air. Pure air has of itself an exhilarating and soothing effect on the mind, conducive to-sound repose. It is an excellent plan, when the exercise of the day has been limited, to walk up and down a large room or passage for half an hour, or more, before going to bed, and the use of the dumb-bells for a part of the time will augment its good effects. The size, free ventilation, and coolness of the bed-chamber, and the nature of our bedding, deserve much attention. If notwithstanding an adherence to the preceding rules, sleep is still found to be unsound and unrefreshing, a brisk use of the flesh-brush, before going to bed or rising from the bed, and freely ventilating it, will often produce a very favorable change. Another excellent practice, in case you have gone to bed and cannot sleep, is to rise, shake the bed well, draw the upper clothes down to the feet, and walk about the room, warmly clad, till both you and the bed are aired. Exercise, temperance, early rising, and regular hours of retiring to rest, are, however, the best means for procuring sound repose, and if duly persevered in, will never fail of the desired object. Opiates and sleeping draughts should never be resorted to, to procure rest—once resorted to, their habitual use will become necessary, as sleep will not occur without their aid; while by their prejudicial influence upon the stomach and other organs, their employment will never fail gradually to undermine the health of the system. The following miscellaneous rules respecting sleep deserve to be recorded in this place : 1. Many real or imaginary invalids lie long in bed in the morning, to make up for a deficiency of sleep in the night time; but this ought not to be permitted, for the body must necessarily be enervated by long continuance in a hot and foul air. A little resolution will enable invalids to surmount this destructive habit. By rising early, and going to bed in due time, their sleep will become sound and refreshing, which otherwise they cannot expect to be the case. 2. It is an indispensable rule, that fat people should avoid soft beds, and should sleep little and rise early, this being the only chance they have of keeping their bulk within due bounds. 3. It often happens that if a person has not slept well, he feels a weariness in the morning: this will be best removed by rising and taking gentle exercise. 4. Such persons as are subject to cold feet, ought to have their legs better covered than the rest of the body when they are in bed. 5. We should never suffer ourselves to doze or fall asleep before we go THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 185 to be J, as it must greatly diminish the probability of sound repose when we wish for sleep. 6. Reading in bed at night is a most pernicious custom; it strains the eyes, prevents sleep, and injures the health. *7. At large schools, where great numbers of children sleep together, the utmost attention ought to be paid to the nature of the beds, the bedding, the airiness of the apartment, and every thing that can prevent the bad effects of crowding numbers together, and compelling them to breathe a confined and vitiated atmosphere. 8. Eemember sleep is sound, sweet, and refreshing, according as the mind is free from uneasiness, and the alimentary organs are easy, quiet, and clear. Beds.—The materials on which we sleep are of much consequence, both as it regards our health, and the soundness of our repose. The use of feather-beds is almost universal in this country, yet there can be no doubt that they are highly injurious to health, and have a tendency to prevent sleep, especially in the summer. To the invalid, and to young persons who are disposed to distortion of the spine and shoulder, they are particularly hurtful. Such as consider them a necessary luxury in the winter, should invariably exchange them for a mattress in the spring and summer. The injury resulting from feather-beds is occasioned, principally, by their accumulating too much heat about the body, and in this manner causing a profuse and debilitating perspiration, and predisposing the system to the influence of slight changes of temperature. By yielding unequally to the pressure of the body, the latter is thrown into a distorted position, which being resumed regularly almost every night, is liable to cause in the young and weakly a permanent deformity. Hair mattresses are superior to every other kind of bed for this country, and it is highly desirable they should be generally adopted. By those whose means will not permit the purchase of hair mattresses, those of moss or straw, or what are still better, those made from the leaves which surround the ear of Indian corn, properly prepared and thoroughly dried, will be found an excellent substitute. Feather-beds a,re more injurious to the health of children, than even of adults, and especially if they are weakly. In very cold climates feather-beds are often necessary, and in the United States the aged may often require them, in order to preserve or increase their heat, which is sometimes inconsiderable, and if lessened would prevent their sleeping. The bed-clothes should also be as light and as cool as possible in the spring and summer; and in the winter they should be just sufficient to preserve a comfortable degree of warmth. Young people and invalids, in particular, ought to avoid many and heavy bed-clothes. The head should be only lightly, or rather not at all covered. The use of curtains to the bed should be avoided; at least, they ought not to hang down low, nor be drawn in any degree around the bedstead. It is impossible, indeed, to conceive what possible advantage can result from curtains to a bed; they cannot with propriety be used to exclude light or cold, because the former should be excluded by window-blinds, or curtains; and as it respects the latter, it is far better guarded against by a sufficiency of bed-clothing. Curtains are injurious, by preventing the proper circulation of the air breathed by those who occupy the 13 186 THE FAMILY. bed, and by accumulating dust, cause it to be inhaled into and irritate the lungs. The bed, as well as the bed-clothes, should be kept strictly clean, and carefully guarded against damp. Beds are apt to become damp for want of proper airing when not constantly used; from the dampness of the room, and from the coverings not being perfectly dry when laid on the bed. Colds, rheumatism, and even more fatal complaints, may be caused by occupying a damp bed. It would be, in general, a more judicious practice if beds, instead of being made up soon after the persons rise from them, were turned down, or their coverings were thrown separately over the backs of chairs, and thus exposed to the fresh air from the open windows during the day. Bed-Chambers.—A bed-chamber ought not to be situated on the ground floor; and an elevated apartment is particularly recommended to literary and sedentary people. It should be airy, large, and lofty, and never a small confined room. Nothing can be more imprudent or absurd than the conduct of those who have splendid houses, preferring to sleep in small apartments. The more airy a bed-room is, the better; and it will be still better if it be also exposed to the influence of the sun. A bed-room ought to be well ventilated in the daytime, as it is principally occupied in the night, when all the doors and windows are shut. The windows should be kept open as much as the season will admit of, during the day; and sleep will probably be more beneficial, in proportion as this rule is practiced. Indeed, nothing is more material, not only tor invalids but for persons in health, than the admission of pure air into their bed-rooms by various ways, and in different degrees, according to circumstances. Keeping open the windows of bed-rooms during the night, ought never, however, to be attempted, but with the greatest caution. It is imprudent to sleep in a very warm room, as it makes one faint, and relaxes too much the whole system. Unless there is an apprehension of damp, a bed-room should rarely have a fire in it, as it has a tendency to vitiate the air, often fills the room with dust and ashes, and sometimes may be the means of setting the apartment on fire. If a fire is kept in a bed-chamber, the danger arising from a confined room becomes still greater; numbers have been stifled when asleep, by having a fire in a small close apartment. They who live in hot countries ought to be very particular regarding the place they sleep in. The apartment should be roomy, dark, shaded from the rays of the sun and moon; temperate as to heat and cold, and rather inclined to coolness than heat; while a free admission of air is allowed during the daytime, the windows should be carefully closed as soon as the night sets in. It is a good rule for those who are obliged, on account of business, to spend the day in crowded cities, to sleep, if possible, in the country. Breathing fresh air in the night-time will, in some measure, make up for the want of it through the day. This practice would have a greater effect in preserving the health of those who reside in cities, than is commonly imagined. It is hardly necessary to observe, that in consequence of the chilly air of the first, and the noxious exhalations which THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 187 fill the second, damp and filthy bed-rooms ought to be particularly avoided, as they are in the highest degree injurious to those who occupy them. Dreaming.—Dreaming indicates an imperfect state of sleep, insufficient to produce that degree of refreshment which is essential to the maintenance of health. Many dreams, also, are of a peculiarly painful, disagreeable, or disgusting character; on these accounts, therefore, dreaming should as much as possible be avoided. Dreams, especially those of a harassing and disagreeable kind, are most generally experienced by persons laboring under a state of nervous excitement, produced by indolent and luxurious living—by intemperance, or by the undue indulgence of the passions and other mental emotions. As a general rule, dreaming may be prevented by whatever causes perfect and uninterrupted sleep; such as sufficient exercise during the day, temperance in eating and drinking, a cheerful and contented mind, and the avoidance of late or heavy suppers, or of strong tea or coffee during the evening. It is very generally the individual who retires to bed with his stomach overloaded with food, or laboring under irritation from its contents, even when these are moderate in quantity, if they be of a very stimulating or indigestible nature, that suffers from attacks of the nightmare, which, independent of the agony they produce, are by no means unattended with danger. It has been presumed, and not without strong probability of truth, that many of the sudden deaths which take place during the night, of persons apparently in the full enjoyment of health, are to be attributed to nightmare. The nightmare is a certain uneasy feeling during sleep, as of great anxiety and difficulty of breathing, and a strong but ineffectual effort to shake off some incumbent pressure, or to relieve one's self from great inconvenience. The imagination is generally at work to find some cause for the unpleasant feeling, and pictures some monstrous shape as the author of the mischief. It commonly arises from an imperfect and unhealthy digestion, from flatulence, from heavy suppers, and from a constrained uneasy posture of the body. Such persons as are .subject to nightmare should take no food whatever in the evening, should pay attention to the state of their bowels, and should sleep upon a mattress with the head and shoulders raised. THE PASSIONS.—The passions are a natural and necessary part of the human constitution, and were implanted in it by the great Creator for wise and useful purposes. Without them we could have no motive to action, the mind would become utterly torpid, and, there being no foundation for morality or religion, virtue and vice would be nothing more than indiscriminate and unintelligible terms. The passions are only prejudicial when allowed to exceed their proper bounds, or are excited by improper objects; and to preserve them within their just limits, and to give them their proper direction we are furnished, not only with reason and the light of nature, but likewise with that more certain guide, the light of revelation. From the intimate though mysterious connection between the mind and body, they reciprocally affect each other, and hence the passions exert a powerfiil influence over health and in the production and euro 188 THE FAMILY. of disease. The two great sources of the passions respectively are desire and aversion; those of the former class tending in general to excite, and of the second to repress, the powers of the animal system. The chief passions which arise from desire are joy, hope, and love; and the most eminent in the train of aversion are fear, grief, and anger. Joy is a passion in which the mind feels a sudden and extraordinary pleasure; the eyes sparkle, a flood of animation overspreads the countenance, the action of the heart and arteries is increased, and the circulation of the blood becomes more vigorous. Instances are not wanting in which this passion, when unexpectedly excited and violent, has produced disease, or even immediate death; but when moderate, and existing only in the form of cheerfulness, it has a beneficial effect in preserving health, as well as in the cure of disease. Hope,—Of all the passions hope is the mildest; and, though it operates without any visible commotion of the mind or of the body, it has a most powerful influence on the health of the one and the serenity of the other. It contributes, indeed, so much to the welfare of both, that if it were extinguished, we'could neither enjoy any pleasure in this life nor any prospect of happiness in the life to come; but, by the beneficent will of Providence, it is the last of the passions that forsakes us. love is one of the strongest and most absorbing passions with which the mind is affected, and has at its commencement, when happy and properly guided by reason, a favorable influence on all the functions of the body; but being often in its progress attended with other passions, such as fear and jealousy, it is liable to become the source of infinite disquietude. No passion undermines the constitution so insidiously as violent and unreasonable or misplaced love. While the whole soul is occupied with the thoughts of a pleasing attachment, both the mind and body become languid from the continuance of vehement desire; and should there arise any prospect, real or imaginary, of being frustrated in its gratification, the person is agitated with all the horrors and pernicious effects of despair. Love, when violent and unsuccessful, frequently produces a wasting of the body, terminating sooner or later in death. Fear has its origin in the apprehension of danger or evil, and is placed, as it were, a sentinel for the purpose of self-preservation. When intense or habitually indulged in, it destroys the energies of both mind and body, retards the motion of the blood, obstructs digestion, and prevents the proper nutrition of the body. Violent terror has been known, in an instant, to turn the hair perfectly white, and in other instances to produce fatuity of mind or even instantaneous death. By weakening the energies of the system, this passion disposes greatly to disease during the prevalence of epidemics. Grief,—There is no passion more injurious to health than grief) when it sinks deep into the mind. By enfeebling the whole nervous system, it depresses the motion of the heart and retards the circulation of the blood, with that of all the other fluids; it disorders the stomach and bowels, and ultimately every other organ of the body, producing indigestion, consumption, and other chronic diseases; obstinate watchfulness is a very common effect of grief. It preys upon the mind as THE MEANS OF PRESEBVING HEALTH. 189 well as the body, and is nourished by indulgence to the utmost degree of excess. During the violence of its earlier period it spurns at all the consolations either of philosophy or religion ; but, if life can subsist till the passion be alleviated by time, and submit to the cheering influence of company, exercise, and amusements, there is a prospect of recovery, though grief long continued often gives a shock to the constitution that nothing can retrieve. Grief, like fear, predisposes to an attack of epidemical diseases. Anger is a passion suddenly excited, and which often no less suddenly subsides. Equally furious and ungovernable in its nature, it may justly be considered as a transient fit of madness. The face, for the most part, becomes red, the eyes sparkle with fury, a violent commotion is visible in the countenance and pervades the whole body. The nerves are unduly excited; the pulsation of the heart and arteries, and with them the motion of the blood, are sometimes so much increased as to occasion the bursting of some of the minute vessels of the brain or lungs. The stomach, liver, and bowels are often violently affected by intense anger; digestion is always disordered, a violent colic is sometimes produced, and very often all the symptoms of jaundice. Thus it is often the immediate agent in the production of fevers, inflammations, spitting of blood, apoplexy, and other acute disorders. As anger is liable to be spent by its own violence, it is commonly of short duration; but when existing in a more moderate degree, and combined with sadness or regret, it gives rise to fretting, which is extremely pernicious to the health. All the passions, but more especially anger and fear, are increased in intensity, and caused to exert a more frequent influence over the mind, by a life of luxury and intemperance. Hence, an essential means for their subjection is a regular, active mode of life, a mild and moderate diet, and the abandonment of all intense excite ment and stimulating drinks. Anxiety of Mind.—A state of mind altogether adverse to health; when constantly indulged in it destroys the digestive powers of the stomach, impairs the functions of the lungs, disturbs the regular circulation of the blood, and impedes the nutrition of the system. It is a fruitful source, in civil life, of chronic affections of the stomach, liver, heart, lungs, and brain. Even the anxiety induced in a sensitive mind by the ill-humor, caprice, and unkind treatment of others, is deeply felt, and proves highly injurious to health. CARE OF THE HAIR.—Under the ordinary circumstances of health, in conjunction with temperance and regular exercise, the only safe and effectual means of preserving the hair and of promoting its growth and beauty are the frequent use of the comb and brush and regular ablution. Whatever has a tendency to impede the passage of the fluids by which the hair is nourished, from the root along the cavity which exists in the center of each hair, must necessarily prevent its proper growth, render it thin, and deprive it of its soft and glossy appearance. There can be little doubt that this is the effect, to a certain extent, of the practice of twisting the hair from its natural position, and of plaiting or firmly braiding it, pursued in obedience to the dictates of fashion by 190 THE FAMILY. most females. The injurious consequences of such modes of dressing the hair can only be obviated by a daily resort to the comb and a hard brush, which, by disentangling, restores it to its natural direction, and freeing it from every restraint, enables it to receive a due supply of its appropriate fluids. The growth of the hair is not, however, always impeded by artificial means; this may result, also, from allowing it from neglect to become entangled and matted together—a condition to which it is extremely liable from its peculiar structure. Hence, under all circumstances, frequently combing and brushing it through its whole length is absolutely necessary to its proper preservation. Independent of the good effects of these operations in rendering the hair pervious to the fluids which rise from its roots, they facilitate its development also by freeing the scalp from accidental impurities, facilitating the circulation through its vessels, and thus enabling it to perform freely its functions. Another means of promoting the growth of the hair and insuring its permanency is by frequently cutting it. It must be very obvious that when kept short its fluids are less liable to be obstructed in their passage than when the hair is long, it being difficult in the latter case to preserve it straight, and to permit it to have its natural flow. It is in early life particularly that frequent cutting will be found highly advantageous. Whenever the hair becomes thin and irregular, or its beauty is otherwise impaired, nothing is better calculated to restore its proper growth than cutting it short. Frequently cutting the hair also prevents it from splitting at the ends and growing forked—the occurrence of which, so common in young persons, gives it an extremely inelegant and ungraceful appearance. In children, keeping the hair short is a circumstance of no little importance, and should not from any light consideration be neglected. Their health, and in some respect their beauty also, is prejudiced by a contrary practice. Nothing is more common than to see a luxuriant head of hair accompanied in children by paleness of complexion, weak eyes, and frequent complaints of headache. Upon this subject we find the following excellent remarks in a little work entitled "Advice to Young Mothers, by a Grandmother." We recommend their attentive perusal to every parent. " The hair in children should be cut short until they are eight or nine years old, as the cooler the head can be kept the less danger there is of many maladies peculiar to that part of the body, especially wTater on the brain. Besides, there is good reason for believing that children who have a great quantity of hair are those most liable to eruptions, as scald-head, &c. It is, at least, certain that in them eruptions are very difficult to remove. The trouble, also, of keeping long hair sufficiently clean, and the length of time necessary for this purpose, is often a cause of much ill-humor and many cross words between children and their attendants, which it would be better to avoid. "Mothers whose vanity may be alarmed lest repeated cutting the hair for so many years should make it coarse,may be assured they have no cause for this apprehension, provided the hair be kept constantly THE MEA1STS OF P R E S E R Y m G HEALTH. 191 brushed. I have never seen softer, finer hair, than on girls who have had it kept short, like that of school-boys, until they were in their tenth year." When there is any tendency to sores or eruptions on the head of children, fine combs are very apt to promote them. There is no doubt that the heads of young persons which are never touched by such combs may be preserved much cleaner, by strict attention otherwise, than such as are scratched and scraped every day. If any dirt appears on a child's head which a brush will not remove, that particular part should be rubbed with a towel and soap and water; but, in general, the brush will be found quite sufficient to keep it perfectly clean. The seldomer, indeed, a fine comb is applied to the head of an infant the better. When, however, those of ivory, tortoise-shell, or bone are used, the greatest care is necessary lest they wound the skin and produce a sore7 or by unduly irritating it augment the production of the scurf they are often intended to remove. Preservation O the Sight.—The following are the general rules for f preserving the sight unimpaired for the longest possible period : 1. All sudden changes from darkness to light and the contrary should be avoided as much as possible. 2. Avoid looking attentively at minute objects, either at dawn or twilight, and in dark places. 3. Avoid sitting near a dazzling or intense light, as of a lamp or candle, and facing a hot fire. 4. Avoid reading or sewing much by an imperfect light, as well as by artificial lights of any kind. 5. Avoid all dazzling and glaring sunshine, especially when it is reflected from sn§w, white sand, or other light-colored bodies. 6. Avoid dust, smoke, and vapors of every kind, which excite pain or uneasiness of the eyes. 7. Avoid rubbing or fretting the eyes in any manner, and wiping them with cotton handkerchiefs. 8. Avoid much exposure to cold northwest or easterly winds. 9. Avoid all spirituous and heating liquors, rich and highly-seasoned food, and every species of intemperance, all of which invariably injure the eyes and impair their sight. 10. Some persons living in cities who have weak eyes find permanent relief only by a change of residence to the country. Persons of this description will find an advantage in wearing some defense before their eyes, especially when exposed to heat, sunshine, or glaring lights. This will be best if of a green color. Spectacles that do not magnify, of the same hue, are well suited for this purpose. Care Of the Bowels.—Regularity of the bowels in reference to their natural discharges is of very great importance to health and comfort. An evacuation once in the twenty-four hours is the best standard of frequency; this, in general, takes place whenever the digestive organs are in a state of health. Some persons, it is true, are naturally inclined to costiveness, and without feeling any inconvenience pass several days or even weeks without a stool. In general, however, a costive state of the bowels arises from errors in diet, want of exercise, intemperance, or, 192 THE FAMILY. in fact, from whatever reduces the tone of the system generally, and of course that of the digestive organs. Confinement to a diet composed chiefly of dry animal food or of food highly seasoned, the use of fresh bread, and of warm rolls and cakes, very generally induces a costive state of the bowels. Costiveness is very common also in persons who use little exercise or who pass the greater part of the day within doors in occupations of a sedentary character. Hence females are much more subject to it than males. Lying in bed to a late hour in the morning is unfavorable to a regular condition of the bowels. It causes costiveness, not only by increasing perspiration, but also by creating an inactive condition of the system generally. Early risers, who pass several hours of the morning in walking abroad in the open air, if they be temperate withal, seldom complain of any want of regularity" in their stools. The daily use of wine, especially the red or astringent varieties, retards very materially the natural discharges from the bowels. The same effect takes place in persons who pass the greater part of their time in company, and who, from a false delicacy, resist the calls of nature. They who ride much on horseback, or in a carriage, and persons at sea, are said also to have a habitually sluggish state of the bowels. The means of obtaining a regular condition of the bowels will be readily perceived from the foregoing enumeration of the causes by which costiveness is induced. In addition to early rising, daily exercise of the body in the open air, and abstinence from wine and ardent spirits; the diet should be composed principally of vegetable food. Plain soups, especially of veal and mutton, with the addition of the ordinary culinary vegetables, well boiled and not too highly seasoned, will be found a very excellent diet for those inclined to costiveness. Fresh fruits, perfectly ripe, or fruit cooked, with or without the addition of sugar or molasses, are gently laxative, and hence very proper articles to be eaten by such individuals. Spinach, when in season, and properly boiled, is also a very pleasant and wholesome vegetable for persons of costive habits. The same is true also of well-boiled cabbage and sour-crout, when these agree perfectly with the stomach. Bran-bread, or wheaten bread, with an admixture of rye or Indian meal, is better suited to the habitually costive than bread composed entirely of fine wheat flour. For drink, those troubled with costiveness should make use of water, either alone, or with the addition of a small quantity of sugar or molasses, or water slightly acidulated with gome of the vegetable acids. A very pleasant drink is made by dissolving currant-jelly in water, or by pouring boiling water upon sliced apples or peaches, and allowing it to stand until cold. This acts gently upon the bowels, and hence tends to obviate costiveness. Buttermilk, or sweet whey, may likewise be occasionally drunk with advantage by those whose fecal discharges are defective; all ardent spirits and wines, especially those of an astringent nature, should be carefully avoided. The method recommended by the celebrated Locke for procuring a regular discharge from the bowels, is founded on correct principles, and should not be neglected; it is, *4to solicit nature, by going regularly THE MEANS OF PRESERVING HEALTH. 193 to stool every morning, whether one has a call or not." Such a practice will very often induce a habit which in time becomes natural. To remove costiveness, individuals should be extremely cautious in resorting to purgatives, or those medicines, under whatever name they may be sold, which have the effect of inducing evacuations from the bowels. The frequent use of these articles, however mild their operation may appear to be, tends to disturb the stomach and bowels; and consequently to vitiate or retard digestion. As a consequence, the costive habit, to obviate which they are resorted to, is in fact increased, and with it the necessity for repeating the medicine more frequently, or of increasing its activity; and finally, a stool can never be procured without its use. In a very short time, from their use, the habitually costive experience invariably more injury than from the original complaint. It is always, therefore, more safe to remove costiveness by a proper diet and regimen than by medicine; and unless the costiveness is dependent upon deep-seated disease of the bowels, stomach, liver, or some other organ, by a proper attention to these measures, and perseverance in their use, it may very generally be overcome. The Feet,—The proper care of the feet consists in defending them from cold and wet, by stockings and shoes of a proper texture and thickness, and so adapted in shape and size as to allow perfect freedom to the motions of the feet in walking, while they do not press unnecessarily on any part. The feet are extremely subject to the impression of cold, and when chilled, in consequence of the close sympathy between them and other parts of the body, disease is apt to be occasioned in some one of the internal organs. Hence, not only should they be protected always from cold and damp, but when accidentally wet, the shoes and stockings should be immediately changed, and the feet bathed in warm water, or rubbed perfectly dry with a coarse cloth. Tight and misshapen shoes are injurious, as well by preventing the individual from walking securely and with sufficient ease, as by causing a thickening of the cuticle over the joints of the toes, forming what are called corns, and which, by pressing upon the parts beneath them, are the cause of very considerable pain whenever walking is attempted. It is essential that the feet, as well as every other part of the body, should be kept perfectly clean by frequent ablutions. Use of Tobacco,—Tobacco, nicotiana tabacum.—A well-known plant, which derives its generic name from Nicot, a French ambassador, and its specific name from the island of Tobago, whence it was introduced into Europe in 1560. When tobacco is first taken into the mouth and chewed, it excites nausea and disgust, and, if swallowed, the most violent sickness, faintness, and other distressing effects. In one or other of its forms, it has, nevertheless, become one of the most generally used articles of luxury, exhibiting thus a remarkable illustration of the wonderful power of custom, in reconciling us to those things which are at first the most disagreeable. Tobacco has fascinated all ranks of men, and the natives of every climate. The attractions of tobacco seem to be owing to its narcotic properties* by which irritability is soothed, and serenity induced, as by opium and some other substances. In large quantities, and in those who are un0 194 THE FAMILY. accustomed to it, stupor, giddiness, nausea, vomiting, and even death, are produced. The effects of tobacco, though they resemble, in many respects, are considerably different from those of any other inebriating agent. Instead of quickening it lowers the pulse, and when used to excess, produces languor, depression of the system, giddiness, confusion of ideas, violent pain in the stomach, vomiting, convulsions, and death. Its essential oil is so intensely powerful that two or three drops inserted into a raw wound, prove almost instantly fatal. But when used in moderation, tobacco has a soothing effect upon the mind, disposing to placid enjoyment, and mellowing every passion into repose. Its effects, therefore, are inebriating; and they who habitually indulge in it may with propriety be denominated, in a certain sense, drunkards. In whatever form it is used, it produces sickness, stupor, bewilderment, and staggering, in those unaccustomed to i t ; and in those who habitually indulge in it, the digestive powers and tone of the stomach are always more or less impaired. There is no form in which it can be taken that it is not decidedly injurious and disgusting. In the form of snuff, although a moderate quantity, taken now and then, may do no harm, yet when used daily, particularly in the extent to which habitual snuffers carry it, it is positively pernicious. By the habitual use of snuff, the membrane which lines the nose becomes thickened, the olfactory nerves blunted, and the sense of smell consequently impaired, if not destroyed. Nor is this all, for, by the strong inspirations which are made when the powder is drawn into the nostrils, some of it is pretty sure to escape into the stomach. The latter organ is hence directly subjected to a powerful medicine, which not only acts as a narcotic, but produces heartburn, and every other symptom of indigestion. If it were attended with no other inconvenience, the black, loathsome discharge from the nose, and swelling and rubicundity of this organ, with other circumstances equally disagreeable and disgusting, which it produces, ought to deter every individual from becoming a snuffer. The smoker, while engaged at his occupation, experiences a much greater degree of enjoyment than the snuffer. An air of peculiar satisfaction beams upon his countenance; and as he puffs forth volumes of fragrance, he seems to dwell in an atmosphere of contented happiness. Smoking, nevertheless, pollutes the breath, blackens the teeth, wastes the saliva which is essential to perfect digestion, and injures the complexion. In addition to this, it is apt to produce dyspepsia, and other disorders of the stomach; and, in corpulent subjects, it disposes to apoplexy. The observations made upon the effects of snuffing and smoking, apply, in a still stronger degree, to chewing. This is the worst way for ihe health in which tobacco can be used. The waste of saliva is greater than even in smoking, and as a portion of the active principle of the tobacco is invariably introduced into the stomach, serious derangements of the digestive organs are invariably produced. All confirmed chewers are peculiarly subject to dyspepsia and hypochondriasis; and many of them are afflicted with liver complaints, brought on by their imprudent habit. THE MEANS OF PRESiERYING HEALTH. 195 TRAINING.—Among the nations of antiquity distinguished by their genius and political sagacity, it was a great object with their lawgivers and statesmen, to direct the education of youth, so as to prodtice in them the greatest possible aptitude for war, by increasing the development, health and vigor of their bodies. To this end, most of their celebrated games were directed; and the youth who participated in these, while they afforded to the moral philosopher examples of patriotic and generous emulation, furnished also to the painter and the statuary the finest models of the human form, and to the natural historian some curious results of the effect of external agents in promoting the growth and activity of the animal economy. It may be stated, in general terms, that the efforts of the athletm were directed so to regulate their diet, exercise and sleep, as to produce the greatest possible strength of action and power of endurance; and we have the testimony of an inspired writer, that they who were ambitious of a crown of victory in the Grecian games, " were temperate in all things." In our own time, this art of bringing up the human constitution* to its highest pitch of muscular vigor, and capability of enduring fatigue, pain and hardship, has been brought almost to a science; and though the ends to which it is commonly directed are far from sublime or virtuous, being principally those of prize-fighting, or walking for a wager, the whole process, and its results, present some curious facts in physiology, and illustrate in a very striking manner the importance of a well-regulate diet and regimen as a means of preserving health and increasing the vigor of the constitution under all circumstances; and the important service a well-directed system of training would render to the dyspeptic, and others laboring under chronic affections, or under a general reducr tion of the powers of life, produced by irregular or sedentary lives. In a course of training, the great point is to regulate carefully the diet, and to give such food, as is at once nutritive and easily digested. As we have repeatedly stated in different parts of this work, animal food is the most nourishing, but requires a due proportion of vegetable aliment* to prevent bad effects from it on the constitution. Beef, mutton and venison are the most easily digested kinds of meat, and hence are almost the only kinds of animal food allowed to those who are under a course of training; the young of animals, as veal and lamb, and fat or oily food, as pork, are deficient either in their powers of nutrition or digestibility, and consequently are entirely forbidden. The vegetables allowed are potatoes, brocoli or turnips, and stale bread or crackers* Pastry, pies and puddings are to be avoided, and all the varieties of spices and sauces. Vinegar and salt are the only condiments allowed. The/Quantity of food cannot be specified; it must vary with the constitution of each individual. The drink allowed in training is pure soft water. If wine is taken, it should be only in very moderate quantity, largely diluted with water, and white is preferred to red. Spirits in any shape, either plain 01 o'hited, are never allowed, under any circumstances whatever. The most essential particular in the art of training, is to regulate the exercise, and to take plenty of it. Both within and without doors, active exercise of various kinds must be taken. Walking, riding, fenc- 196 THE FAMILY. ing, quoits, tennis-ball, the dumb-bells, may all be practiced. As long as the perspiration is moderate and not debilitating, exercise may be persevered in from four to six hours a day, with the most decided increase of general health and muscular vigor. A free exposure to pure air is an essential requisite. The novitiate in training is recommended to go to bed early, and to sleep from seven to eight hours. The above precepts contain the principal means for raising the body to its highest degree of health and perfection; and the diligent practice of them must, as experience testifies, have the best effects on the expansion and motions of the chest, on the development of the muscles, on the function of digestion, and on all the secretions of the body. Bleeding.—The artificial abstraction of blood is often resorted to by persons in health, either to prevent the formation of too much blood in the system, or more generally with the pretense of preventing disease. But such a practice is in the highest degree improper; it can answer neither end; on the contrary, it is attended, if it be statedly or repeatedly resorted to, with the most injurious effects. Persons so constituted as to make much blood, should carefully avoid all those causes which tend to augment it, especially an indulgence in animal food, wine and malt liquors: and when they are sensible of a considerable increase in the quantity, they should confine themselves to a light, frugal diet, consisting principally of vegetables, or for a time solely of bread and water—should sleep but very moderately, and take much active exercise. Nothing can be more opposed to reason and experience, than for such individuals to have recourse occasionally to the abstraction of blood by the use of the lancet, or cupping-glasses, in order to prevent too considerable a formation of this fluid; for habitual blood-letting invariably begets, under such circumstances, an habitual overfullness of the vessels, which calls incessantly for a repetition of the same supposed remedy. Some persons are in the habit of being bled every spring or fall, or at both these seasons; but, however robust the constitution, this is not a practice to be recommended, since, like all other periodical or repeated bleedings, it proves only a palliative remedy, which sooner or later greatly enervates the body, deranges its functions, induces a premature old age, and calls for a more frequent resort to the operation. Habit,—This term, when applied to corporeal subjects, signifies the effect of frequent repetition in facilitating the performance of certain motions or trains of actions. A conspicuous illustration of the power of habit, is seen in the practice of musicians on various instruments. To play on any of these, required at first the closest attention of the mind, to exert the power of volition in directing the various muscular motions required; but by habit, those motions return in their proper order, without the slightest apparent effort; and even while the performer can think and talk on other subjects. When a child begins to learn the art of reading, the form of every letter, and the power of every syllable, demand his attention; but in maturer years, the eye glances over the page with the rapidity and certainty of instinct, and seizes the words before it, without the consciousness of an effort. The effects of custom or habit on the mind and body, are interesting in a IBE MEANS OF PBESERVING HEALTH. 197 metaphysical, ethical and physiological point of view. We are all the creatures of habit, and our circles of action, as Dr. Darwin calls them, return with astonishing and noiseless regularity. When the time of meals or of sleep arrives, though the stomach be not empty, nor the limbs fatigued, though the mind be occupied with other things, the usual sensation of hunger or drowsiness comes on, and we feel the want of something to which we have been accustomed. The repetition of certain motions, renders the muscles that perform them quick and strong, or prompt and steady in their action ; hence the dexterity and skill of the watch-maker or philosophical instrument maker ; hence the ease of the mechanical part of their art to the painter or sculptor ; and the steadiness of the limbs and acuteness of vision of the mason and sailor, in the execution of their perilous occupations. Good habits, early begun, contribute much to the preservation of the •health. Early rising, temperate meals, and regularity in the alvine discharges, when early practiced and diligently persevered in, will give a degree of comfort and vigor unknown to the irregular and careless liver. Infants can very soon be taught the habit of feeding and of performing the usual evacuations at regular times. The action of medicines on the living body is much influenced by habit. A person who is accustomed to take emetics or purgatives requires, after a time, to have their quantity increased, and the opium-taker and dram-drinker require their poison to be either augmented in quantity or activity to produce the usual effects. By habit the most nauseous substances lose their disagreeable effects, and even infectious principles lose, to a certain extent, their power. Thus, the use of tobacco becomes a luxury, and prisoners have been known to occasion fevers in others by bringing an infectious miasm from their cells, where they themselves- had been in the habit of inhaling it with impunity. Idiosyncrasy is a peculiarity of constitution, rendering a person liable to be affected by certain agents differently from the generality of mankind. Thus, some persons are incapable of using butter or cheese; some are purged by honey; others cannot wear flannel without intolerable irritation of the skin ; some have a violent fever and eruption, produced by the use of certain kinds of fish, or certain fruits, or malt liquors. Some people have idiosyncrasies with respect to medicines. Thus, opium and calomel have such very distressing or violent effects on some patients that they cannot be used by them as by others. Idiosyncrasies are to be discovered only by experience in each individual case, and where they are matters of indifference, it is needless to waste time in combating them; but where they may lead to disease, or interfere with methods of cure, a prudent physician will endeavor, if possible, to correct them. im THE FAMILY. FURNITURE AND RURA& STRUCTURES OF IRON. THERE are several large manufactories of these articles in various parts of the county, and among the largest of them is that of Hutchinson & Wickersham, 312 Broadway, New York, who furnish all the articles nere named, and, for the convenience of our readers, we have procured and appended the prices at this establishment, as the knowledge of the cost is an important desideratum to those who wish to procure them.* GRAPE CHAIR. MORNING-GLORY CHAIR. * HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE.—Among the various kinds of iron chairs, we mayenumerate the "grape chair," $5 to $6, the "morning-glory chair," and the two hall chairs, each $4.50, the preceding being of cast-iron; and the following wire chairs, namely: the folding or traveling chair, $450—one figure representing it as closed for carrying, and the other as open and sti ding for use. The wire arm-chair is sold at $8. Among the settees, the grape pattern, $9 to $15, is an especial favorite; the rustic settee, $10, is of lighter form, and the Gothic settee, $1? to $20, is best adapted to places where Gothic architecture prevails. A neat umbrella-stand is shown, $1.50 to $6, and iron wash-stand, including crockery, $7, with looking-glass. A new and improved hat-tree is exhibited, $16 Many other forms of hat and umbrella stands are manufactured. Iron bedsteads possess two most important advantages over those of wood—first, in their almost endless durability, and secondly in their entire freedom from bugs. They should, however, be substantially made, as the desire for a cheap article often induces a weak and flimsy structure, which does not stand firmly, and is liable to become bent by use. The one we present, when made of stout bars, is the simplest and one of the very best in use, although not so ornamental as some others, $4 to $6. Others of more elaborate patterns are made, $7 to $9. A crib is shown, the sides of which are left out, $10. RURAL ORNAMENTS AND STRUCTURES.—Cast-iron vases are very durable ornaments on the more finished parts of grounds, and require only occasionally a small application of paint. We present a neat vase of this character, with its pedestal. The prices of these vases vary with their size, from $5 to $20, and the pedestals are about $5 each.—Annual Register. BTTENmJEE A2TO E U E A t STETTCTUBES OF EBON. HALL CS1IB&, 199 200 THE FAMILY. GEAPB SETTEE. FURNITURE AND RURAL STRUCTURES OF IRON. IBON WASH-STAND. OBIB. 9* 14 201 202 THE FAMILY. COMMON THINGS. W H E E E OBTAINED, HOW PREPARED, USES, ETC. W E cannot better conclude this part of our work than by giving the following chapter on Common Things—those common articles and substances which, though in common use in our families, and whose names are household words, are still but imperfectly understood; and if questioned as to how prepared or whence procured, few comparatively could give intelligent answers. Hence the importance of the information which follows, and which will answer the many questions that arise in respect to the articles illustrated and explained. TEA.—The leaves of a shrub grown chiefly in China and Japan ; of which countries it is a native. It is an evergreen; grows to the height of from four to six feet, and bears pretty white flowers, resembling wild roses. Those most cultivated are the thea bohea and thea viridis; it was formerly believed that these two plants produced the black and green COMMON THINGS™ 203 teas, and from this belief they derived their names; but it is now proved that the difference arises in the mode of preparation, and either kind of tea can be made from either plant without any difficulty. In China there are great numbers of tea farms, generally of small extent, situated on the upper valleys, and on the sloping sides of the hills, where the soil is light, and rich, and well drained. The plants are raised from seed, and generally allowed to remain three years before a crop of leaves is taken from them, as this operation of course injures their growth; even with care they become stunted, and unprofitable in about eight or ten years. When the crop is ready, the leaves are carefully picked by hand, one by one, and there are usually three or four gatherings in each year, the first crop in the spring being of the most value; a well grown bush, well treated, will produce two or three pounds of tea annually. For green tea the leaves are only allowed to dry for an hour or two* after gathering, before they are thrown into heated roasting-pans, placed over a wood fire; they are stirred quickly with the hands, and allowed to remain for a few minutes; they are next rolled by hand on a table oevered with mats, and afterward roasted and rolled again ; th,e color is by this time set, and the after processes of sorting and refirmg, which, for the finer sorts are repeated several times, may be deferred till a leisure time. In the preparation of black tea the leaves are allowed to remain a long time, say a whole day, drying before they a#e fired; they are tossed about and patted whilst cooling, and are finally dried, over a much slower fire. The Chinese drink it pure; generally a handful of tea is put into a china basin or cup, and boiling water poured over it, which is renewed three or four times, till all the strength is gone; sometimes they add salt and ginger, and sometimes sugar, but not often. Tea-shops are very common by the road sides, and the road in front of them is usually thatched over, that those who stop for a cup of tea may be shaded from the sun. Tea is sent from the farms to the coast for exportation, mostly by coolies, who carry the chests over the mountains till they reach some navigable river or canal, by which it can be conveyed to the coast. It is said to be a curious sight to watch, from the top of a wild mountain pass, long trains of coolies laden with chests of tea, which they carry on their shoulders or balanced at each end of a bamboo, winding along in one direction; and others returning laden with cotton goods and other merchandise received in exchange. Tea has recently been introduced into some parts of North America, and also into the high valleys of the Himalaya range, where ft appears likely to thrive. Tea was first brought to Europe in 1610, by the Dutch East India Company; and it must have been in use in England by the year 1660, as appears from an Act of Parliament passed in that year, in which a tax of Is. 6d. was laid on every gallon of tea sold at the coffee-houses. There is also the following entry in Pepy's Diary, dated September 25th, 1561 : " I did send for a cup of tea (a China drink), of which I had never drunk before." In six years more it had found its way into 204 THE FAMILY. his own house as this entry shows: " Home—-found my wife making O v tea, a drink which Mr. Pelling the potticary tells her is good for her cold," etc. About this time the East India Company ordered "one hundred pounds weight of goode tey" to be sent home on speculation. The price was about fifty or sixty shillings the pound; and two pounds three ounces of the best tea was not deemed an unfitting present from the East India Company to the king. Coffee.—Coffee is the seed of an evergreen shrub, the coffea Arabica, which is said to have been discovered in Abyssinia by the Arabs. It is chiefly cultivated in Arabia, the southern states of North America, Costa Eica, Brazil and other tropical parts of South America, the East and West Indies, Java, and Ceylon; but the climate of Arabia, where it was first cultivated, appears most suited to its growth ; frequent rains and the brilliant, unshaded light of its almost cloudless sky, stimulate vegetation, and cause the secretion of those principles on which depends the delicate aroma. Elevated situations are most suitable for the growth of coffee, and the plantations have much the appearance of English pleasure-grounds; the trees are raised from slips, which are allowed four or fivq,'years to grow before they are cropped; they attain the height of eight or ten feet, and continue in bearing about from thirty to fifty years. The shrub or tree resembles a handsome laurel, and bears a profusion of clusters of fragrant white flowers, which are succeeded by brilliant red Derries, sweet and pulpy, which ripen to a purple color—each contains two coffee seeds or stones. The only care required is the pruning of the trees and picking of the berries; after they are gathered they are pulped in a mill formed for the purpose, by which the beam, as they are called, are deprived of the surrounding pulp and outer skin. In a second mill they are peeled of their inner skin and winnowed; they are then dried in the sun on large open clay floors, picked over by hand, and finally packed in bags or barrels to be exported. The beans are roasted, in a close revolving cylinder, over a clear but moderate fire; they should afterward be cooled quickly by exposure to the air, and then ground in a covered mill; the sooner the infusion is niade after roasting and grinding the finer will be the flavor of the coffee. Coffee was first used in England in the early part of the seventeenth century, probably a little before tea was introduced, as that beverage is first spoken of as being sold at the coffee-houses; it is said that the first coffee-house keeper in London was a Greek servant, named Pasqua, brought to England by a Turkey merchant to make his coffee. It appears to have been first used as a drink at Aden, thence introduced into Egypt, and thence into Turkey, where it is still very much in use. Pr. Livingstone, the African traveler, mentions that the coffee-tree was taken by the Jesuit missionaries to the western coast of Africa, where it has since become naturalized, and covers vast spaces of waste land. Cocoa is the bruised seed of various species of theobroma, a tree which grows wild in the West India Islands, Brazil, and various parts COMMON THINGS. 205 of Central America, where it is generally found growing at the height of six hundred feet above the level of the sea. The cocoa, or, as it should be written, cacao, tree is an evergreen, and it is said to bear some resemblance to a young cherry-tree; the leaves are large and simple, the flowers grow in clusters, the pods are not unlike cucumbers in form, and of a yellowish red color; they contain from twenty to thirty nuts, about the size of large almonds, violet or ash-grey colored, and containing each two lobes of a brownish hue. A wet soil is needful, and the plants also requiring shade, they are generally placed between rows of large trees, which renders the plantations very charming spots in tropical regions; the plants are raised from seed, and are seven or eight years in coming to perfection, but require so little attention that one man can superintend one thousand plants; the usual times of gathering the crop are in June and December, and not more than one pound and a half of seeds is the average produce of each plant. The fruit of the wild plants is frequently gathered. The seeds, after being freed from the pod, are dried either in the sun or by artificial heat; they are then either simply bruised, which makes cocoa-nibs, or crushed between rollers, which makes flake cocoa; or they are ground and made into a paste, in which state they are very often adulterated. Chocolate,—The cacao-beans are gently roasted, shelled, and reduced to a paste, when vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, rice, almonds, or starch, etc., are frequently added to it; it is put into moulds, and always improves by keeping. It is called chocolate from chocolalt, the Mexican name for the cacaotree. The produce of several of the finest kinds is not exported; the best that reaches us is from Caraccas, Guatemala, and Berbice. The chiccory which is used to mix with coffee is the dried root of the cichorium intybus, a smallish plant which bears a beautiful blue flower of the composite form. The root is in form like a carrot, and from the crown spread a number of large succulent leaves. The seed should be sown in April, in rich, light soil; the crop is ready in September; the roots being taken up, washed, and cut into pieces two or three inches long, are dried in a slow oven or kiln; they are afterward cut into much smaller pieces, and roasted and ground just like coffee. It is much esteemed in France and Germany. FOREIGN FRUITS.—TllC Orange-Tree, "citrus aurantium, grows abund antly in almost all the warm soft climates of Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and many temperate parts of Asia and America. Those consumed in England are chiefly imported from Spain, Portugal, and the islands of the Atlantic, and of these St. Michael, one of the Azores, is famed for producing the best kind imported. The orange-trees are usually branched almost, if not quite, from the ground; their leaves are evergreen, and their flowers white and very elegant; they yield a delicious perfume, sweet and almost luscious, yet one that does not cloy. On many trees, the flowers and ripe fruit hang together; and, when thus loaded—the fruit, some of light green color, others of a pale yellow, others of a deep orange, and all set off by the deep glossy green foliage—the trees are superb. 206 THE FAMILY. The fruit is gathered in December, or even earlier, a little while before it is ripe; and large baskets being filled by boys who take them from the gatherers, they are carried away at once to the packers, who most commonly sit in groups on the grass; the oranges are poured out m a heap with as little concern as if they were coals; each orange is wrapped in a husk of Indian corn, these are prepared by children, who hand them to a man, who wraps up the orange and passes it to another, who places it in the chest; this is all done with amazing rapidity. The box is full to overflowing, thin boards are bent over it by a carpenter, and secured with willow bands, and then it is ready to be carried to the port and shipped. The lemon-Tree, citrus medica, is a native of Assyria and Persia, whence it was brought first to Greece, and afterward to Italy, Portugal, and France; it is also frequent in our green-houses. It is a small and beautiful evergreen, with numerous branches and bright shining leaves; the flowers, which are white, and very sweet, are larger than those of the orange, and bloom the greater part of summer; they are succeeded by the pale golden fruit. Lemons are brought from Spain and Portugal, and also from the West Indies; but the latter chiefly supply limes, which are the produce of the citrus aeris. They are smaller than the lemon, of an oval shape, thinner in the rind, and, though as acid, rather milder in flavor. Citrons are the fruit of another tree nearly allied to these; they are less acid, but the rind has a hot and bitter taste, and when candied, it is much/ used for flavoring cakes and puddings. Citrons are imported, both preserved and candied, chiefly from Madeira. Another species of citrus yields the scent known as bergamot, which is an essential oil distilled from the rind of its pear-shaped fruit. FigS,—The fruit of the ficus carica, which is a native of Asia, but was early imported into Europe; it flourishes in France, Spain, and Italy. The figs, when ripe, are dried in ovens, and packed in boxes and small baskets for exportation. The fig-tree seldom grows more than twelve feet high, but is very spreading, and bears large lobed leaves, which are annual in Europe, and perennial between the tropics. Olives are the fruit of the olea JEuropea, which grows abundantly in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. The olive-tree grows upon the most rocky calcareous soils, seldom exceeds twenty feet in height, but is much branched and spreading; it lives to a great age, and increases very much in bulk, so that one tree may easily at a little distance be mistaken for a group. There is an olive-tree at Pescio seven hundred years old, and twenty-five feet in circumference. The leaves are evergreen, stiffish, and pointed; the flowers white, growing in clusters, succeeded by an oval drupe or plum, which is violetcolored when ripe, bitter and nauseous. The preserved olives, common as a table luxury, are the unripe fruit pickled in a strong solution of salt. Salad-oil is made from olives. The ripe fruit is gathered in November, and bruised in a mill, the stones of which are set so wide apart as not to crush the nut or kernel; the pulp is then gently pressed in bags made of rushes; the first oil that flows is of the most value, a second COMMOH THIHGS. 207 quality is obtained by breaking the refuse, mixing it with warm water, and returning it to the press; and after this a third very inferior kind is obtained. The Pomegranate-Tree, punica granatum, is a native of the south of Europe, Asia, and Barbary; but in the West Indies, where it has been introduced from Europe, its fruit is larger and better flavored than in its native climates. Where the tree thrives, it rises twenty feet high, throwing out branches even from the bottom; the leaves are pointed, and of light brilliant green, both the calyx and corolla are of a bright red color, the latter is the most brilliant* The pomegranate is a pulpy, many-seeded berry, of the size of an orange, globular, covered with a thick coriaceous rind, and crowned with the calyx, which is sharply thorned. The red succulent pulp is pleasantly acid, and was made into wine by the ancients. CQCOa-NlltS are the fruit of the cocos nucifera, or cocoa-nut palm, a lofty and elegant palm-tree, which grows abundantly in most tropical countries; it is from fifty to sixty feet in height, its simple column-like stem being crowned with a beautiful plume of feathery leaves from twelve to fourteen feet long. The nuts grow in several long clusters depending from the base of the leaves; they are about the size of a man's head, the thin outer rind covering a large mass of fibers which are used in many countries for making mats, cordage, and coarse sailcloth. Within this fibrous coating is the shell of the nut; which is oval, and very hard, and often serves for a drinking-cup. The kernel is firm, white, and pleasant; the interior hollow, and filled with sweet milky juice; when unripe, it is entirely filled with this juice. The Date is the fruit of a tall and graceful palm, phoenix dactylifera^ abundant in Barbary, Arabia, Persia, and the adjacent countries, particularly on the confines of the deserts and in the oases. The fruit somewhat resembles a plum, but is rather longer in proportion; it contains a long oblong kernel, grooved on one side. The pulp is soft, sweet and slightly a stringent. In many places they form the staple food, and the crop of dates is as anxiously expected as our wheat harvest, or the vintage of southern Europe. The fruit when gathered quite ripe is often pressed into large baskets, and thus forms a hard, solid cake called "adjoue," which is afterward cut up and sold by the pound. Date-stones are soaked in water and given to the cattle. Almonds are imported from Spain and Italy, but they grow spontaneously in many other warm countries. The almond-tree, amygdalus communis, greatly resembles the peach, in growth, leaves, and blossoms; it flowers in the early spring, and produces fruit in August. The fruit is covered with a tough skin and is inclosed in a rough shell. There are two kinds of almonds, the sweet and the bitter; only differing from each other in the flavor of the nut. Valentia almonds are sweet and large ; Italian not either so large or sweet; Jordan almonds come from Malaga, they are long and not very pointed, and are the best kind imported; the bitter almonds cpmg chiefly from Mogadore on the northern coast of Africa. Brazil-Nuts are the produce of the juvia,6erthollera excelsa, a lofty and 208 THE FAMILY. magnificent tree, abounding on the banks of the Orinoco and the northern parts of Brazil. The nuts, which are triangular, and covered with a hard, rough shell, are contained to the number sometimes of fifty in a woody outer shell, which is often as large as a child's head ; it is divided into six compartments. They are highly prized by the natives, and largely exported to Europe. RaisillS are dried grapes; prepared either by cutting the stalk of the bunches half through when they are nearly ripe, and leaving them on the vine till the sun dries and candies them; or else they are gathered when fully ripe, dipped in a ley made of vinewood ashes, and dried in the sun. Inferior kinds are dried in ovens. Raisins are chiefly imported from Spain, Turkey and Italy. Of these, the ones from Smyrna are the least esteemed, and those from Malaga the most. The finest of the Malaga raisins are those made from the Muscatel grape. Fresh grapes are also imported from Spain and Portugal, packed in jars with saw-dust. Prunes and French Plums are dried plums imported from France; in the southern parts of which country all kinds of plums grow abundantly. The common sorts are packed in baskets; but the finer sorts, intended for table fruit, are carefully gathered and dried, and packed in small elegant boxes, which are ornamented in various ways with the characteristic good taste of the French. The preparation of these boxes gives employment to a great number of persons. The Pine-Apple, bromelia ananas, is a tropical fruit of fine flavor and very luscious. The plant consists of a few leaves round a stalk, then the soft, pulpy, juicy pine, covered over with conical excrescences, and surmounted by a crest of stiff prickly leaves. It is often cultivated in our English hot-houses, as well as imported from the West Indies and other tropical countries. Tamarinds are the preserved fruit of the tamarindus Indica, which is a native both of the East and West Indies, and probably of most parts of Arabia and Africa. It is a large forest tree, and affords excellent timber—-hard, heavy, and durable ; the leaves are pinnate, like those of the mountain ash, and of brilliant green. The pods grow in bunches of five or six, they contain from three to six glossy seeds, and are filled with a stringy pulp. In the West Indies the ripe pods are gathered and packed into a cask, which is then filled up with hot syrup; in the East Indies they are preserved without sugar. The pod of the variety which is found in the East are about double the size of those which grow in the new world. THE SPICES,—Cinnamon is the bark of a small tree, the cinnamonum Zeylanicum, which, as its name imports, is a native of Ceylon, and chiefly cultivated there, though it is raised also in Java. The tree is very graceful, the leaves, which are red in spring, become thick, leathery and glossy green as the summer advances; they are netted with raised veins on the under side, and are placed opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are greenish white, and grow in small loose clusters at the termination of the branches. The trees require a rich, light, soil, and also shade; they are, therefore, planted in open glades of the forest, where a few large timber trees remain to shelter them; this greatly contributes to the beauty of the COMMON THINGS. 209 cinnamon harvest, when the natives assemble to strip the bark: their graceful figures and bright-colored clothing forming picturesque groups in the forest glades, and the whole air being loaded with the scent of the spice. Cinnamon peeling begins in May, at the end of the rains, and lasts till November. The peeling simply consists in slitting the bark, and cutting it across, so as to turn it back ; it is then soaked, to remove the outer rind, and rolled up into quills about three feet long, and is then fit for exportation. Cinnamon has a warm, pleasant aromatic taste, and is slightly astringent. Cloves are the flower-buds of a tree, gathered before they open, and dried in the sun ; the round ball is the corolla surrounding the stamens, &c, and the shaft is the calyx tube. The odor of cloves is strong but agreeable—the taste very aromatic and warm; the name is said to be derived from the French " clou," a carpenter's nail, which they are thought to resemble. The tree which produces Cloves is the caryophillus aromaticus, a small evergreen, with long shining leaves, and short terminal bunches of sweet-scented flowers. It is a native of the Moluccas, whence it has been taken to almost every tropical country. A tree twelve years old, will yield from five to twenty pounds of cloves annually; when older, perhaps sixty pounds, and as a single stem may live one hundred and fifty years, the produce is almost incredible. Nutmegs and Mace are the produce of a tree, the myristica moschata, which is a native of the Moluccas, and is cultivated both in those islands and in Java, Sumatra, and the West Indies. The fruit of this tree resembles a peach in size and shape ; when ripe, it readily splits into two parts, showing the kernel or nutmeg surrounded by the mace in the form of a sheath. There are generally three gatherings in a summer, the first in July or August, the last, which yields the best crop, in April. The mace is red when gathered, but in drying becomes yellow; on removing the mace a shell is found, inside which is the nutmeg. The nutmegs when gathered are sorted, and dipped into lime-water to preserve them from insects. Pepper is the fruit of a climbing or creeping plant called pipe?* nigrum, which has alternate leaves, jointed stems, and spikes of naked flowers; the berry is small, round and fleshy. This plant grows abundantly in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula. The pepper vines, as they are called, are trained to trees and shrubs, and are allowed to grow four years without gathering the crop; this takes place while the berries are still green, before they are ripe, and they are dried, quickly on mats in the sun, which turns them black, therefore it is called black pepper. White pepper is produced by soaking the dried berries till the outer skin peels off readily. Long Pepper is the fruit of the piper longum, also a native of the East Indies; in long pepper the spike and half ripe berr es are all dried together, which makes it resemble the catkins of the birch; the flavor is like black pepper. Cayenne Pepper is the dried and ground fruit of the capsicum, a genus of plants related to the woody nightshade. These fruits ara 210 THE FAMILY. fleshy, and bright scarlet or orange, very pungent, and much used in flavoring, both in their unprepared state and ground. There are two principal species, capsicum annuum, a plant which grows wild in South America and the West Indies; and the far hotter capsicum fruiticosum of the East Indies, a shrub which bears much smaller fruit. Capsicums are very useful to the inhabitants of hot climates, rousing the digestive organs when impaired by the great heat; e v en birds and animals have recourse to them, and have been known to die, when deprived of them, for want of the stimulus to which they have been accustomed. Chili Vi&egar is vinegar in which Capsicums have been steeped till it is thoroughly impregnated with their flavor. Ginger is the root stock of the zingiber officinalis, the narrow-leaved or common ginger; a plant with grass-like leaves, and spikes of irregularly formed flowers; it is a native of the East Indies, but grows in most tropical countries. When cuttings are planted out in spring, in three or four months they have acquired a mild aromatic flavor, and are fit to make preserved ginger, but for the ginger of commerce they must be at least one year old. It is prepared either by scalding, peeling, and drying in an oven, in which case it is called black ginger, or by simply peeling and drying in the sun, which is called white ginger. Cardamoms are the aromatic capsules of various species of amomuni, a plant related to the zingiber, all the species of which are splendid plants, remarkable for the beauty and richness of their flowers. Cardamoms come chiefly from Malabar, Madagascar and Sumatra; they are warm aromatics, and are much used in the East to flavor rice and other insipid food; in England they are also used in medicine. Pimento or Jamaica Pepper, otherwise called allspice, is a warm spice grown in the West Indies. Like black pepper., it is a small berry, gathered unripe and dried in the sun; but it grows on a largish tree, the eugenia pimenta. As an aromatic stimulant, pimento stands between pepper and cloves, for the last of which it may often be substituted* being so very much cheaper. Capers are the flower-buds of the capparis spinosa, a native of the south of Europe, where it grows all over the rocks and ruins, decorating them with its showy blossoms, which are large and white, with a long tassel of lilac stamens springing from the center of each. The flower-buds have a sharp acrid taste; their quality depends on their age, the youngest being of the most value; each bush yields about a pound of capers annually. CHINA, PORCELAIN, etc.—China, like all other kinds of earthenware, was originally a lump of clay; it was moulded into various forms, and then baked and glazed afterward. Porcelain.—All kinds of pottery, from the finest to the coarsest, are composed of two ingredients, clay and flint baked together; but in porcelain these are of such kinds, and in such proportions, that the product is a semi-vitrified compound, in which one portion remains unaltered by the intensest heat, while the other vitrifies or becomes glass, and enveloping the particles of the infusible ingredient, produces the COMMON THINGS. 211 smooth, compact, shining, semi-transparent substance we call porcelain. The first part is the preparation of the clay. That from which English porcelain is composed is mostly found in Cornwall, Devonshire and Dorsetshire. The clay from the first named, which is considered the finest, consists of decomposed felspar of granite, which is the rock most abounding in that county. The clay merchants prepare it by the following method, and send it to the potters under the name of china clay. The stone is broken up and laid in running water, the clayey, or, as they are called, argillaceous parts being the lightest, are carried off in suspension, while the quartz and mica, which were united with them in the granite, fall soon to the bottom. At some distance these rivulets end in catch-pools, where the water is arrested, and after time has been allowed for the pure clay with which it was charged to settle and form a deposit, it is drawn off, and the clay dug out in square blocks, which are placed on shelves to dry in the air. It is now a hard, white mass, which can, by crushing, be reduced to an impalpable powder. The lumps of clay are first pounded and mixed with water to the consistence of cream, by means of various beating and cutting implements ; the pulp is then strained through several sieves, each one finer than the last. The next process is preparing the flints, which are first burnt in a kiln and thrown red-hot into cold water, and afterward ground in water to an impalpable powder; the two dilutions of clay and flint are then brought together, stirred very thoroughly and again strained; and so great is the affinity between them, that, even when wet, they unite and form a mortar which no action of the atmosphere can decompose. This fluid mixture is called " slip," and is gradually evaporated in what are called " slip-kilns " to a consistence like dough. It leaves the slip-kiln full of air bubbles, which must be worked out by elaborate treading and kneading, generally with the naked feet, and after this is done it should be left a long while before it is used, that the two elements may the more intimately unite. If placed in a damp cellar the blocks of slip undergo a kind of fermentation, by which all traces of animal or vegetable matter which they may have contained are decomposed and got rid of; and this greatly improves its quality. So sensible are the Chinese of this, that they extend the interval over fifteen or twenty years, and a parent will often provide a sufficient stock for his son's life. In shaping vessels there are three modes in use, throwing, pressing, and casting; throwing is performed on a kind of lathe, which consists in a contrivance by which a small circular board revolves very rapidly, and on this the clay is measured and its intended shape given to it, by the pressure of the fingers and palms of the potter's hands. This instrument is the potter's wheel, which is of the highest antiquity, being apparently as old as the art itself, nor does its form and mode of use seem to have undergone much change during these long ages. In the catacombs of Thebes in Egypt, which have been proved to have existed nineteen hundred years before Christ, there have been discovered paintings representing various processes of the potter's art, and among these is a delineation of a potter's wheel indentical in principle with those 212 THE FAMILY. now in use. The clay vessel thus moulded is then partially dried before transferring it to the turning lathe, where it is reduced by sharp tools to the required thickness, and its form carefully finished off; it next passes to a man who applies handles, spouts, and all other small appendages, these are fastened on with slip; all these small irregular-shaped pieces are made by pressing in moulds formed of plaster of Paris; 'and plates, saucers, and other shallow vessels are formed in a mould which is made to revolve on the block of the lathe, and into which the work man presses the clay with his hand. They are put into a furnace inclosed in deep clay boxes called seggar*, capable of sustaining the most intense heat; these protect the ware from the flame and smoke; the process of baking lasts from forty-eight to fifty hours, the heat gradually increasing; trial pieces are placed where they can easily be abstracted, to see how the process goes on, and when it is finished the fires are put out, and all is left undisturbed twenty or thirty hours to cool. Bisque or biscuit is the name given to the ware after its first baking. It is so called from its resemblance to ship-bread; many small vases, figures, and other articles of ornament are sold in this stage. The ware is afterward glazed by being dipped in a compound of litharge of lead and ground flints, glass, or some similar ingredients mixed with water to the consistency of thin cream. The workman employed stands by a large tub or other reservoir, and, taking up the pieces of ware so that the smallest possible portion shall be covered by the fingers, he dexterously plunges it in, taking care that the glaze is equally distributed all over the article—it then passes to a woman who scrapes off any superfluous glaze adhering to it. A- skillful workman will dip about seven hundred dozen plates in a day. It is worthy of remark that the glaze when applied is perfectly opaque, so that any painting or printing with which the article may have been ornamented is not visible until it has been fired. This second baking is done in a gloss oven, the heat converts the flint, etc., into a thin coating of glass. The next operation is painting, which requires to be done with peculiar metallic colors, united to a flux; these colors are moistened with gum-water or a peculiar oil, which causes them to adhere to the surface of the china until it is subjected to a slight firing sufficient to fuse the glass or flint with which the colors are united; the paintings are thus burnt in, and acquire a gloss equal to the rest of the surface. Professed artists are employed for ornamenting china in this manner, and the most exquisite designs are frequently produced. For the common ware a much simpler process suffices, and this is done before the glazing instead of after it, as is the case with the painting. The pattern is printed from a copper-plate, on a thin paper, and this is transferred to the ware in the state of biscuit, when the color remains and the paper is removed; the glazing then proceeds as already mentioned. Gold is applied to the finer wares in a metallic state, and after burning on, requires burnishing with agate or bloodstone. China derives its name from the country whence specimens of the manufacture were first brought to Europe, and porcelain from porcdlana, COMMON THIKGS. 213 the Portuguese for a little cup; the first traders in the article having been of that nation. In China the earths which they use, kao-lin, a soft substance full of glittering particles, and pe-tun-tse, which is brilliantly white, fine, and soft, bear the same relation to each other that our clay and flint do; indeed the china clay of Cornwall, the most valuable to the potter, is proved to be identical with the kao-lin of the Chinese. They form their vessels as we do, but fire them only once, subjecting them, however, to far more intense heat, as many of their glazes would not vitrify at a lower heat than would suffice to fuse Cornish granite. The manufacture is chiefly carried on in the town of King-te-ching, where immense multitudes are employed in it. Father Entrecolles, a French missionary, who resided in China in the early part of the last century, has given many interesting particulars of this manufacture, which appears to have been quite as large and active then as now; three thousand ovens were then to be seen at work at once, giving to the town the appearance of one great furnace. Some idea of the antiquity of the art in China may be obtained from the fact that small china flasks, with inscriptions in Chinese characters, differing little if at all from those in use in the present day, have been found in some of the tombs of Thebes; thus appearing to prove not only that the Chinese possessed at that early date the art they have been so long celebrated for, but also that they knew and traded with the Egyptians. . It has been shown that the Egyptians were potters themselves; and many little figures, covered with a fine deep blue glaze, are found deposited with their mummies, which may either have been made by themselves or obtained in trade from the Chinese or Phoenicians; nor were these the only nations of antiquity who practiced this art. It seems to have been more widely spread than most others, and there are few nations removed one step from barbarism who have not made for themselves drinking and cooking utensils of rude pottery. Chinese porcelain is ornamented in a very queer style, and the division of labor being great among them, and carried even into their designs, different workmen, without any concert or plan, paint successive parts of the same group or picture, which contributes to the grotesque effect of their work; the effect is also heightened by their ignorance of perspective. They make, beside common china, several others : a black kind, much esteemed in the East; a kind which appears as though it were cracked all over; one in which the colors show only when the vessel is filled with liquid ; and still another variety, in which various figures appear raised upon pure white porcelain, and yet the surface is perfectly smooth. The great durability of Chinese ware is shown by the porcelain tower at Nanking, which is nearly three hundred feet high, and entirely covered with porcelain tiles; and which, though it has now stood four hundred years, appears not to have suffered in the least from the action of the air and weather. The first attempt to make china in Europe is supposed to have been made by the Moors in Spain; then a large manufactory was established in the Balearic Isles, which ware was called Majolica, from Majorca, the "largest of those isles. This manufacture was afterward removed to Italy, where many improvements took place; but these articles were all 214 THE FAMILY. made of coarse, brownish paste, the imperfections of which were hid by an opaque glaze, instead of the material being perfectly white and the glaze transparent, as is the case with good foreign and modern European ware. This Majolica ware was the most esteemed from the middle of the 14th to the middle of the 16th centuries, when came the epoch of Bernard Palissy in France. His long enduring patience under trials and disappointments of every description, till he almost ruined himseh in his attempts to discover a new and more perfect enamel glaze, in which he was finally successful, have almost passed into a proverb. Palissy was a Protestant, and died in the Bastile, where he was imprisoned for publicly advocating his opinions. During all this time only a rough and common earthenware was made in England; but about the latter part of the 17th century began that improvement which has led to the production of our common household china. First it was discovered that salt thrown on the articles heated in the furnace covered them with a rough glaze; then two German brothers of the name of Ellers settled in Staffordshire and discovered there a bed of very superior clay ; and after this a gentleman named Astbury, who was engaged in the manufacture, having occasion to employ some calcined flints as a poultice for his horse's eyes, noticed their fine white opaque substance, and added them to the paste of which he made his china, thus supplying the last needed ingredient for the perfection of the art. The next and greatest improver was Josiah Wedgewood, who was born a poor potter's son, but who raised himself to wealth and eminence by his genius and industry; he devoted himself quite as much to improving the style and ornamentation of his works as to their material, and entirely altered the character of the manufacture. Meanwhile on the continent a similar progress was being made; after many unsuccessful efforts, about the commencement of the 18th century, a German alchymist, named Botticher, made some crucibles which the fire converted into true porcelain ; and afterward discovering a fine white clay, of which some had been sold and used as hair powder, he established a manufactory at Dresden; this was followed by several in France, among the rest by the far-famed works of Sevres, the earlier wares of which factory were actually made entirely of artificial compost, without any of the real ingredients of china represented by the Chinese kao-lin and pe-tun-tse. MRCOTICS,—Tobacco is the leaf of various species of nicotiana, a plant which is a native of tropical America, but which grows readily in many climates. It has been introduced into almost every part of the globe; and it is thought by many to have been indigenous in China and central Asia as well as in the new world. Columbus found the Indian chiefs in the habit of smoking cigars when he first discovered the West India Isles; tobacco was brought to France in 1560; and to England in 1586, by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. At first the use of it was very much discouraged, and James the First published a " Counterblast to Tobacco;" but opposition only increased the desire to try the novelty, and caused it to spread more rapidly. It is related of Sir Walter Raleigh that when he COMMOT THIBTGS. 215 returned &o England, and indulged himself in smoking, which he had learned to like while in America, his servant came in one day, and seeing smoke issuing from his master's mouth, thought he was on fire, ran to give the alarm, and to seek water with which to extinguish the flames, which he momentarily expected to see follow the smoke. The fashionable pipes in his days were of silver, while those who could not afford so expensive an article used a walnut-shell with a reed inserted. Tobacco is a soothing narcotic, producing poisonous effects when indulged in to excess, but otherwise only a dreamy unconsciousness to care and trouble. All nations, whether barbarous or civilized, appear to possess the craving for narcotics; and the plants which have been found to yield them are singularly various. The other narcotics much in use are opium, hemp, and the betel-nut? among the Eastern Asiatics; the coca-leaf and thorn-apple in South America; and the amantia, or narcotic fungus, in Siberia : besides these, the common hop possesses narcotic properties. Opium is the juice of the seed-vessels of the white poppy, papaver somniferum, obtained by making incisions in the seed-vessel before it is quite ripe, when the juice exudes, and is daily collected. The practice of eating and smoking opium is very frequent in the East, the narcotic intoxication it produces being of the most exquisite kind; but, the after-effects of excess are proportion ably horrible, destroying* alft power and energy both of body and mind. It is grown principally in: India, where at least three hundred thousand acres are devoted to its, culture. The Chinese are the largest consumers, importing not less than from four to five millions of pounds' weight annually, at a market value of about twenty-five millions of dollars. Laudanum and morphia, both of which are used as stillers of pain and sleep-producers, are only other forms of opium. Many cordials too are prepared from it, which are given to infants to quiet them, but produce the most baneful effects, often ending in death. The hemp which is used as a narcotic is the same plant—cannabis sativa or Indica—which produces the hemp fiber; it yields in hot climates a resinous extract, which is violently exhilarating and exciting in its effects—so much so that the word assassin is said to be derived from the furious conduct of the Haschiseens, as those who use the haschisch, or hemp-resin, are called. The Betel-Nut grows on all the higher grounds in India, the valleys of the Himalayas, in Ceylon, the Sunda Isles, and the Philippines. This nut, which is about the size of a cherry, slightly pear-shaped and very hard, not much unlike a bad nutmeg, is the seed of one of the most graceful of the palm tribe, the areca catechu. It is chewed ; the buyos, or betel-rolls, are made by the females of the household. The nut is cut into strips, and rolled up in a leaf of the betel pepper, chavica betley which is dusted on the inner side with quick-lime, made from burnt shells. These buyos, or the materials for making them, are the chief luxury and delight of the natives, who take them about with them in little caskets; and, if they can afford it, are seldom without one in their mouths. It is the employment of the women and girls to make 216 THE FAMILY. these buyos, and they may be seen in groups reclining in the shade and filling the little caskets belonging to their fathers, husbands, or brothers; these caskets are often of the most exquisite workmanship, being more highly valued than any other similar possession. The quantity of betel consumed is enormous, as may readily be believed when it is known that the betel-nut is chewed by not less than fifty millions of men! The ErythfOXylon Coca, grows wild in the tropical valleys of the Andes, in Bolivia, and Peru; but the coca which is used is chiefly the produce of cultivated plants. The shrub resembles a blackthorn with ' its small white flowers and bright green leaves. The leaves are gathered when quite mature and dried in the sun, during which operation they smell like newly mown hay. The dried leaves are chewed with quick-lime, or the ashes of some kinds of roots, in the same manner as the betel, and to the dwellers on the Andes they form as much an article of necessity as of luxury. Furnished with his coca pouch the South American Indian can perform the most fatiguing journeys and the most laborious tasks with but little rest and food. The Thorn-Apple, 01' Datura, of which two species are used, the sanguined and the stramonium, seems to possess the most remarkable narcotic property in every part. The intoxication produced by its use gives rise to spectral illusions of the most wild and extravagant kind; which has occasioned the belief among the Indians of South America, that under its influence they are permitted to hold communion with the spirits of their ancestors. In Europe the datura stramonium is often smoked as a remedy for the asthma. MEDICINES, etc,—Camomile Flowers are the dried blossoms of the anthemis nobilis, a plant found in dried pastures. The cultivated plant is however preferred; the flowers are gathered before they are fully blown and are dried for use. From their tonic properties they were formerly much used in fevers, and they have been quaintly termed the ci?ichona of the ancients. Medical men derive many of their most useful medicines from plants. In some cases it is the bark of a tree ; in others a root, a gum, or an oil; whilst in others the whole plant is made into an extract, or otherwise so treated that its medicinal virtue is drawn out in a concentrated form. Many other plants besides the camomile afford useful medicines. There is the tussilago fa.rfara, or common coltsfoot, a plant so often seen by the side of our railways, where the soil is clayey. This plant is one of those whose flowers appear first, and are succeeded by leaves, when the season is more advanced. These leaves, which are large and thick, are boiled down until a strong decoction is obtained. Another is the conium maculatum, or hemlock, the plant with which Socrates was required by his ungrateful countrymen to commit suicide. It is an umbelliferous plant resembling sheep's parsley, but distinguished from it by its spotted stem, from which the specific name is derived ; it is abundant in many parts of the country. The next plant we mention is one of a very different growth, the hyoscyamus niger, or black henbane ; it has a deeply cut leaf, soft, hairy, and of a bluish green color; the flowers, which are pale buff, grow in spikes, they have a dark eye, and are beautifully penciled with dark veins—the scent of the plant is COMMON THINGS. 217 strong and disagreeable. Hemlock and henbane plants are chopped, crushed, and boiled down into extracts of narcotic property. Deadly nightshade is also a narcotic, and a violent poison, as many poor children, when they have eaten its berries, supposing them to be some pleasant wild fruit, have died ; its name is atropa belladonna; it is a shrubby plant from two to three feet in height; its leaves are a dull green, and it has a bell-shaped flower of a dusky purple hue, and bears a berry which is black when ripe; the plant is prepared for use in the same manner as the two last mentioned. In addition to the foregoing the common lettuce, and a poisonous species, the lactuca virosa, are also in some degree narcotic. The root of the common dandelion, leontodon taraxacum, yields a medicinal extract; this plant is allied to the chiccory with which coffee is adulterated. Liquorice is also used as a drug, but may be more properly classed with sweetmeats; it is an extract prepared from the roots of the glycyrrhiza glabra, a leguminous or pod-bearing plant resembling the lucerne with which horses are fed. Liquorice,—Small pieces of the root are planted very deeply in rows in a rich light soil; at the end of three years the roots are fit for use: liquorice is grown extensively near Pontefract, and close to its ancient and ruined castle, whose portcullis is still stamped on that preparation of it known as " Pomfret cakes." It is largely imported from Spain. Poppies are cultivated for the sake of the ripe seed-vessel, which, as well as every other part of the plant, excepting the seed, is narcotic. The species so used is the papaver somniferum, already described as yielding opium in foreign countries. It has beautiful white petals tinged with purple at their base, and is said to be a native of Asia, but was early introduced into Greece, probably for the sake of the seed, which was used as food, and which yields an oil when pressed. The petals of the common scarlet poppy are collected for the sake of the coloring matter they yield. They also are slightly narcotic, and are used for making a syrup. A Kind O Cucumber grown in England for druggists, the momordica f elaterium, a native of the south of Europe, is a perennkl plant with trailing stems, bluish green in color, and bears a fruit like a very small cucumber, only rough and hairy; when ripe-, this falls off, and from the hole left at the foot-stalk the juice and seeds are projected to a considerable distance; this property has given rise to its English name, the squirting cucumber, and appears to be a contrivance for its self-preservation. Its seeds and juice are used when nearly ripe; there is a green sediment thrown down after standing, and this when dried is a powerful medicine. Saffron is the dried stigma and part of the style of the crocus stativus, a beautiful lilac crocus, found growing wild in England, but supposed not to be indigenous to that country. It is largely grown in Essex and Cambridgeshire. Saffron is also brought from Sicily, France and Spain; the English is, however* the besi The flowers are gathered early in the morning, just as they are about to open; they are then spread on a table, and the requisite part taken out. A mass of these stigmata, some inches in thickness, is placed on 10 15 418 THE FAMILY. sheets of paper, over a hair sieve ;• other sheets of paper and weights are placed on the top, and the whole is roasted over a small kiln; this produces a cake of saffron, but that which is not so prepared, but merely dried in the sun, is the finest, and is called hay saffron. The beautiful meadow saffron, colchicum autumhale, which adorns our gardens in the latter part of the summer, is an indigenous plant, and is also used in medicine ; the parts employed for this purpose are its bulb, sliced and dried, and the seeds. Aloes is the inspissated or dried juice of the plant of that name growing in the East Indies, Socotra, Cape of Good Hope, Barbadoes, and Arabia. It is of an intensely bitter taste, and is a very useful medicine, There is another article, called aloes-wood, which is not to be confounded with the drug just mentioned; but is, in all probability, the aloes mentioned in the Psalms, in connection with myrrh and cassia; from which, as well as from its being used by Nicodemus for embalming the body of Christ, we may conclude that it had aromatic properties. Aloes-Wood is the produce of a large forest tree growing in eastern and tropical countries, and appears to be the result of a diseased action on some of the branches. The wood of such trees as are thus diseased is wholly valueless. It is in high repute for fumigations, and as incense in all Hindoo, Mohammedan, and Eoman Catholic countries. Bark is a powerful tonic medicine, first made known to Europeans in 1632 by the Jesuits, who found it in South America. The tree which is said to afford this bark is found on the mountains of Loxa, in the kingdom of Quito; and on those of Santa Fe de Bogota; growing along their skirts, and on the plains under the fourth degree of north latitude, flowering from May to September. It is a spreading tree, rising from fifteen to twenty feet high, with a single erect round stem of no great thickness; and covered with a smooth bark, externally of a brownish gray color. The leaves of this tree are of a beautiful deep red color in spring, so that the valuable trees are easily discovered. It was first called Jesuit's bark, because they brought it over to Europe, then Peruvian bark, and now cinchona bark. Quinine, in which form it is extensively used, is the active principle of this bark, combined with sulphuric acid; which is also, in itself, a powerful tonic. Rhubarb is the root of the rheum or rhubarb plant; several species are supposed to furnish the drug, and it is not accurately known from which of them each variety is derived; it is brought to this country under the names of Eussian, Turkey, and Chinese rhubarb. All that is called by the first two names is reported to grow on the declivities of a chain of mountains in Tartary, extending from the Chinese town of Si-ning to the lake Ko-ko Nor, near Thibet. The soil is light and sandy, and the rhubarb is said to grow best in the shade and on the southern side of the range. In Tartary, the roots are taken up twice in the year, in spring ana autumn, the body of the root is divided transversely into pieces of moderate size, which are dried for several days ; a hole is then bored through each piece, by which it is hung up to finish drying. Part of this rhubarb is conveyed through Natolia to Turkey, and thence obtains the name of Turkey rhubarb, the rest goes to Kussia, and is named after COMMON THINGS. 219 that country. In China the roots are not dug up till winter, and after being cut into slices are dried on stone slabs with a fire underneath them, and afterward hung up and exposed to the greatest heat of the sun. Senna is produced from various species of cassia; they are annual plants, natives of Upper Egypt, Central Africa, and India. The best kind of senna is the dried leaf of the cassia cautifolia, some of which is called Tripoli senna. This species grows about two feet high, and bears a yellow flower; the seed is contained in a legume. Ipecacuanha is the root of a creeping perennial plant, the cephaelis ipecacuanha, which grows in moist, shady places in the forests of Brazil and various other parts of the South American continent. It is a very valuable medicine, and has probably been used as such in its native country from time immemorial, but it was first brought to Europe about the time of Louis XIV., by a French merchant. Its name is said to be derived from epi, the Indian word for root, and cacuanha, the rjlace where it grew most abundantly. Sarsaparilla.—This also is the root of a plant, smilax sarsaparilla; and there are several other species which possess the medicinal quality —officinalis, medica, etc. It grows in America and the West Indies : it is exported in bales, and looks like bundles of long, slender twigs, covered with a brown or reddish wrinkled bark; it is in this bark that the medicinal quality resides. It is usually taken in the form of a decoction. The prepared sarsaparilla which you have seen in bottles, looking almost like treacle, is a very strong decoction of the drug, boiled down with various other things. ', Camphor is'a white crystalline substance, not exactly brittle, though it crumbles easily; it has a strong refreshing smell, and warm, acrid taste; it is so light as to swim on water; it burns readily with a bright white flame; so extremely volatile is it, that it entirely evaporates if left exposed to the air, and no trace remains of its having been there. This property gave rise to an amusing incident in a chemist's shop, where a little boy came in and said his mother sent him for " twopen'orth of nothing;" he could give no clearer account of what was wanted, and, after thinking, the chemist's assistant sent camphor, which answered the description more nearly than any thing else, as it would be nothing in due time if left alone, and it proved to be the article intended ! Camphor is the result of evaporating an essential oil found in two different trees, the cinnamomum camphora, which grows in China and Japan, and the dipterocarpus camphora, of Sumatra and Borneo; from these two trees it is obtained in very different manners. In the cinnamomum it exists in root and branch, stems and leaves, and consequently these are chopped small and put into earthen vessels, which are heated; these vessels are covered with hoods, and rice straw is placed in them; the camphor is volatilized, and rises; it condenses on the straw, from which it is afterward cleared. It exists in the trunk of the other tree, the dipterocarpus, in a solid form, and is obtained by cutting the tree down and splitting it open—it is found in pieces from one to two feet long, and about as thick as a man's arm; and a moder- 220 THE FAMILY. ate-sized tree will yield about.ten pounds of camphor; a large one perhaps twice that quantity. This kind is much more highly esteemed than the other, so that in Japan two hundred pounds of native camphor are valued at one pound of the Bornean. Iodine.—This useful medicine, which is a deadly poison, is a peculiar mineral substance, existing in sea-water, sea-weeds, sponges, and many marine productions, as also in many mineral waters. It is obtained by digesting sponge or sea-weed in water, and crystallizing the liquid, then mixing it with sulphuric acid and black oxide of manganese, and distilling the compound; the iodine rises in beautiful violet-colored vapor, which condenses into brilliant blackish scales. Its name is derived from the Greek, and signifies a violet color. Castor-Oil is the produce of the seed of the ricinus communis, or palma-christi, a tree which sometimes attains the height of thirty feet, and in cold climates becomes an annual plant; it grows in Greece, the East and West Indies, South America, and Africa; also on the rock of Gibraltar. The seed is inclosed in a rough spiny nut; this bursts when ripe, and expels its three seeds. The oil was formerly procured by boiling them in water, but is now obtained by pressure: they yield by this operation one-fourth of their weight in oil. Croton Oil, which is an extremely powerful oil, expressed from the seeds of the croton tiglium, a native of the Molucca Isles and the Indian peninsula, is also used as a medicine. It has a woody stem, and a soft, blackish bark; the seeds are oblong, and about the size of a coffee bean. The oil, when rubbed on the skin, is extremely irritating, and has a somewhat similar effect to a blister. Blisters owe their irritating qualities to a kind of fly. This insect, the cantharis vesicatoria, is common on various kinds of trees in Spain, Italy, and the South of France, and, indeed, to some extent all over Europe. Those used in this country are chiefly brought from Astrachan, and possess the irritating quality in a high degree. The insect is about two-thirds of an inch in length, and of a green and gold shining color, with long flexible wing-sheaths covering brown transparent wings. Cantharides are procured by smoking brimstone under the trees on which they are found, and then catching them on a cloth underneath; or they are simply shaken off, killed by the steam of boiling vinegar, and afterward dried. Gum, 01 Gum-AraMc, as it is called, is a clear sticky substance, which exudes from one or two species of acacia growing in Arabia, also in Senegal, and some other parts of North Africa. The trees have a hard, withered aspect, with crooked stems and branches; the secretion of gum appears to be the effect of disease, as the greatest quantity is obtained from the sickliest trees, and during the hottest summers. It is quite liquid when it first exudes, but hardens by exposure to the air, and this without losing its transparency. It is gathered in July or August, when the weather is hot and parching. When stowed away, it has a faint smell; it is also heard to crack spontaneously for many weeks after it is gathered. Gum is useful in medicine, as well as the arts, and its adhesive quality and ready use have made it almost one of the necessaries MISCELLANEOUS. 221 MISCEIAAHTEOUS. Sealing-Wax is a compound of shell-lac and resin, and is colored with vermillion, lampblack, or verditer, according to the hue desired; these ingredients are melted together, and the sealing-wax is afterward formed into sticks by rolling. Lac is a resinous substance produced by a little insect, the chermes lacca, on the leaves and branches of certain trees growing in Bengal, Assam, Pegu, and Siam. This little creature lays its eggs on the bark, and then covers them with a quantity of lac, which is evidently intended to protect them in their early stages, and to feed the young larvae when they come out. It is beautifully formed into cells, with much care and regularity. Lac yields a fine red dye, inferior in color to cochineal, but said to be even more permanent. There are several different kinds of lac, or, at least, different states in which it is brought to market: first, there is a stick-lac, which may be called its natural state, nothing more being done to it than breaking off the incrusted twigs and bringing them to market; seed-lac is the pounded stick-lac after it has been separated from the sticks, and all the coloring matter extracted from it, which makes lac-dye or lake. Shelllac is produced from seed-lac, by melting it and straining through a bag; it thus forms thin, transparent, amber-colored plates, and is used for making sealing-wax, and for varnish also, in making hats. Cochineal is a brilliant red dye, obtained from certain small insects which abound in the tropical parts of America; being found wild in Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, and some of the West India Islands, feeding on the common Indian fig, or prickly pear, cactus opuntia ; in Mexico, and some of the adjoining Spanish settlements; the insect is reared with great care on the cactus cochinilifer, on which it grows much larger than in its wild state, though seldom exceeding a barleycorn in size. The female insect alone is gathered, as it alone yields the dye ; it is wingless, and very stationary, seldom moving from the part of the plant where it has fixed itself. It spins a little web, lays its eggs, and dies. The male has wings. It may seem strange to speak of a crop of insects; but the growers of cochineal treat it like a crop, and make a very profitable trade of it: their first care is to rear the plantation of prickly pears; and, when this is ready, pieces of a plant infested by the cochineals are placed here and there among the others; they soon spread and in time the plants are all covered. The wild cochineals are gathered six times a year, just before they lay their eggs, but the cultivated only three times. The insects are detached from the plant by means of blunt knives, and are put into bags and dipped into boiling water to kill them ; they are afterward dried in the sun, and though they lose two-thirds of their weight by this process, yet 600,000 lbs. are annually exported to Europe. Cochineals look like small oval grains, flat underneath, dark and dusted oyer with a white powder; when crushed, they form a rich darkred powder, and from them all our most beautiful scarlet and crimson dyes are procured. The Kermes is an insect of the same species as the cochineal, found 222 THE FAMILY. upon the evergreen oak; which was much used before the discovery of America, for dyeing scarlet; its name is of Persian origin, and the Moors appear to have been well acquainted with its use, both before and after their settlement in Spain,. Since the introduction of cochineal it has been little used, as the dye it yields is much darker and less brilliant, though it stands better. The scarlet wools dyed with kermes, in some old tapestries in existence at Brussels, retain all the brilliancy of their color, though they are two hundred years old. The lOgWOOd-Tree, hoematoxylon Campechianum, grows in Campeachy, and some other parts of South America and the West India Islands. It is a small tree, seldom more than twenty-four feet high, very crooked in its growth, branching and bushy, and the smaller branches beset with strong spines; it has pinnate leaves and terminal clusters of reddish yellow flowers. Another red or pink dye is obtained 'from the flowers of the dyers' carthamus, carthamus tinetorius, also called safflower; this is an annual plant, growing in Egypt; it has a stout stem, with many pointed leaves full of strong veins, and a flower not much unlike a rich orange or golden-colored thistle, though it is not the same order of plants as the thistle. Madder is the root of a plant cultivated in many parts of France and in Zealand; that which comes from the Levant is thought superior to any other, and the difference is attributed to the roots of this kind being dried in the open air, under so clear a sky. The beautiful bright red, called Turkey red, is also dyed with madder, the different colors being the result of different mordants which are used. The Latin name of the madder is rubia tinctorium. IndigO is a deep-blue dye, obtained by steeping the leaves of a small leguminous shrub, the indigo/era tinctoria, in water; a blue sediment is deposited, which is afterward evaporated to dryness. This dye has been used in India for many ages, but was not known in Europe till the middle ages. One species grows wild in the temperate parts of Asia, and another in tropical America and in central Africa. The greater part of that now used is, however, the result of cultivation. Isinglass is a kind of very fine pure glue, made of the air bladders and sounds of various large fishes. The best is that brought from Kussia, where a great quantity is made from the fish taken in the various large rivers which flow into the North Sea and the Caspian. Isinglass dissolves readily in boiling water, and is used to make jellies, blancmange, and many other pleasant articles of cookery ; it is often used to stiffen silk, to make sticking-plaster, and for various other purposes. A less expensive article of a similar kind, called gelatine, has been introduced of later years, but it is not nearly so good as isinglass. Mlisk is a singular and highly-scented article, obtained from a secretion of the musk deer; a small animal which inhabits the Alpine regions of the Himalayas and other mountains in the east of Asia. The scent of musk is the most powerful and durable that can be imagined j a cork which had stopped a phial containing musk, but which did not touch it, has been known to retain its scent twenty years after being removed; and drawers once scented with musk, scent every thing put into them for years after. MISCELLANEOUS. 223 Sponge is a marine substance of the same class as coral, being in fact the dwelling-place, or rather skeleton of a whole colony of polypes; for these strange little creatures carry the principle of having all things in common so far, that they actually have one household skeleton, on which their separate, tiny, pulpy selves exist, and which they all help to form. In their first stages of existence, sponges are little gelatinous bags, apparently possessing the power of swimming; they finally fix themselves on a rock, their skeletons begin to be formed from some internal secretion of their own; and then they never move again, but grow and grow till the mass is like the sponges we see; only it is always covered with the jelly-like living covering, furnished with pores or mouths which suck in the sea-water for nutriment, and larger holes through which it is expelled. There are a very great number of different sponges, and some variety is found on almost every shore, but those we use for washing are chiefly brought from the Mediterranean Sea, and the Archipelago; these sponges are obtained, some by dredging and some by diving; the latter mode is rendered more easy than it otherwise would be, by the exquisite transparency of the water, which enables the cliverto discern his desired object growing at the bottom of the sea. Indian Rubber, or, as it is sometimes called, caoutchouc, is the dried juice of several Asiatic and American trees. That,which comes from Asia is mostly derived from the ficus elasticus, a large and handsome tree of the fig genus, which towers above the surrounding forest, growing either solitary or in groups of two or three. One trunk which was measured, was found to be seventy-four feet in circumference, and they sometimes attain the height of upward of one hundred feet. It is calculated that, in a belt of forest thirty miles long and eight wide, which exists in one part of Assam, there are more than forty-three thousand of these trees. The South American caoutchouc is the prodlice of the jatropha elastica, and the siphonia elastica. In the cooler part of the year the bark is cut through, when a white milky juice exudes, which in South America is generally applied at once to the outside of clay moulds and dried. After repeated layers have been applied, when quite a thick substance is produced, the mould is crushed, and the fragments are removed through the neck of the flask formed; as this drying process is often performed in the smoke, the juice by this means becomes black. From the East Indies it is imported in lumps or balls, and sometimes the juice itself is brought over in close-stopped vesselsIt was first used for rubbing out pencil-marks on paper. It is extremely elastic, so much so, that a §mall Indian rubber bottle, only a few inches in diameter, can, after being softened in warm water, be inflated with air till it is six or seven feet in diameter, and semi-transparent. This quality makes it very useful for forming bands and straps, and for weaving into a kind of cotton web, which is us6d for similar purposes; children's playing-balls are also made of small globes of Indian rubber inflated with air. This brings us to another of the useful qualities of this curious substance; it is perfectly insoluble in water and impervious to both water and air, hence its use in making waterproof 224 THE FAMILY. fabrics and air-pillows; these are generally made by spreading a thin coating of caoutchouc, dissolved in spirit, between two surfaces of the cloth, which by this means are firmly glued together, and made perfectly waterproof. The uses to which Indian rubber and its congener, gutta percha, a more recently discovered and more solid article are applied, are too numerous to mention; tubes, pipes, straps for machinery, trays, picture-frames, ink-bottles, whips, sticks, combs, boxes, chairs, tables, sofas, and all sorts of furniture are formed of it. Gutta Percha is another substance similar to Indian rubber, being the dried sap of the isonandra gutta, a tree growing in Malacca, Singapore, and some other eastern places. Gutta percha was first brought to England in 1845; it is now imported in immense quantities. The Diamond is a gem or precious stone; pure, clear, and white, so brilliantly reflecting the light, that it shines and sparkles in an almost dark room. It is the hardest substance known, and can only be cut, shaped, and polished by means of its own dust, which is also the best material for polishing all hard, impracticable stones. They were formerly brought from the celebrated mine or mines of Golconda, in India, but these are said to be nearly exhausted. Some of the larger islands of the Indian Archipelago have yielded valuable diamonds, but the greater number now brought to Europe come from the Brazils, in South America. These gems are frequently found in beds of torrents, by which they have been dislodged and conveyed away. Diamonds are generally small, and are hence considered of value in proportion to their size, as well as their clearness; some very large ones being reputed to be worth incredible sums of money. The largest and most valuable diamond now known is the Koh-i-noor, or Mountain of Light, belonging to the Queen of England; it came from India, having formerly belonged to Eunjeet Singh. It was exhibited at the great exhibition in 1851. Diamonds are not found all bright and glittering, but they are covered over with a thin crust, which, however, is readily removed; they are then found to be octahedral crystals. The white diamonds are the most valuable; but there are others which are much admired, these are rose-colored, blue, or even black; light-colored ones, and those which are even in the least degree deficient in transparency, are of less value. This gives rise to the terms used in speaking of the quality of these stones, the finest are called diamonds "of the first water," while inferior ones are said to be of the second water or the third water. Kose diamonds refer to the shape into which they are cut. A rose diamond has one side flat, and the ether raised and cut into a number of flat faces, called facets; a brilliant is much thicker in proportion,'and has both sides raised. The diamond is most nearly allied to coal— black, dull, opaque coal, which is the nearest relation the diamond has in the mineral kingdom. The learned have discovered that the diamond consists of pure carbon, and charcoal is pure carbon also; the only known difference being that one is crystallized and the other not. The names of some other gems are the emerald, ruby, turquoise, amethyst, topaz, garnet, onyx, sapphire, opal; and agate, jasper and MISCELLANEOUS. 225 cornelian, though they do not rank among gems, are often used for ornament. The finest Emeralds come from Peru, and other parts of South America, though they are sometimes brought from the East. They are of a beautiful clear green color, some very dark, others paler, and are much valued and used for ornamental jewelry ; the queen of Spain's emeralds were among the most beautiful jewels shown at the Great Exhibition. Rubies are very striking gems, being, when of the finest sort, of a beautiful dark-red color, and very clear; they are not, however, often of large size, and are not so hard as many other gems, the emerald for instance. There is an inferior kind, of a pale rose-color, which are brought from Balachan in Tartary. The Sapphire is generally called a blue gem, and that is the color intended when people talk of a " sapphire hue," but it varies so very much in color that there are sapphires which resemble and, as it were, counterfeit other gems; these are called oriental emeralds, topazes, or whatever other stone they resemble. The red sapphire, or oriental ruby, is one of the most valuable gems, coming next after the diamond. Some sapphires present when polished a beautiful effect from a six-rayed star of light gleaming in their center. This is the effect of the sixsided form of the crystal. The Opal is only partially clear, and its great beauty consists in the play of colors from its interior; yellow, red and green, the most exquisite tints, flash and gleam from it as it is moved about. The finest opals are as valuable as diamonds; they are brought from Turkey, and sometimes from Hungary, but it is seldom that any are found of large size. The Amethyst is a clear, hard stone, of a beautiful violet color by daylight, but looking brown by candle-light; it is nearly related to the quartz rock-crystal, which is used for making spectacle glasses, and sometimes for false diamonds. We get the finest amethysts from Ceylon, the Brazils, and the southern part of Spain. The turquoise is an opaque stone of a blue color; it is very soft in comparison with most gems, and is therefore often used for engraving upon; it is very easily imitated, and consequently a large proportion of cheap jewelry pretends to be adorned with tnrquoises. The Topaz is of a bright golden yellow, the garnet of a good deep red ; the latter is not very valuable, though very pretty. In some places small garnets are crushed, to use instead of emery; and in Germany, where garnets are very abundant, they are sometimes used as a flux for iron ore. The topaz is found in several parts of the East Indies, in Ethiopia, Arabia, Peru, and Bohemia; the oriental are the most esteemed. They can easily be imitated. The Onyx, the Agate, the Cornelian, the Sard, and Sardonyx, are only differently marked and colored varieties of one stone, which is called chalcedony. This stone in its pure state is colorless, or only tinted bluish gray, but other matters are sometimes present in it, and then it varies in color; the sard is deep red brown; the sardonyx, layers of brown and white chalcedony ; cornelian is usually either red or white, and always clear; the agate is found in various colors, and has many 10* , 226 THE FAMILY. markings, sometimes angular or zigzag, in which case it is called a fortification agate; sometimes straight lines of color give it a banded appearance, it is then called ribbon agate; another kind has markings quite different, and is called a moss agate. The onyx has layers of different colors, and advantage has been taken of this for cutting it into beautiful ornaments. A head or group of figures is carved by the artist from the white layer of stone, leaving the background dark, or else the figures stand up dark and clear, relieved by the snowy background. Gems cut in this manner are called cameos. The Greeks and Romans possessed the art, and many specimens remain of their work, which will never be surpassed in beauty, and which are now valued at enormous sums. Glass imitations of these antiques are now not unfrequent, and are often such beautifully exact copies, both in outline and color, that no one can distinguish the difference between them. Cameos are also made from the lip of the helmet shell, a large thick shell which is formed of layers varying in color like the onyx. Pearls are generally considered jewels; they belong to the animal, and not to the mineral kingdom. These are round bodies, white and shining, with a peculiar and beautiful luster, for which we have no other adjective than pearly. They are supposed to be the effect of disease in the fish inside whose shells they are found, as they are not by any means found in all the shells. Various shell-fish yield pearls, but the finest, and by far the most frequent, are those produced by a peculiar kind of oyster, called from this circumstance, the pearl oyster. The most abundant fisheries are near Ormuz in the Persian Gulf, and on the coasts of Geylon, though they are obtained in many other parts of the East, and indeed of the world. Expert divers go out in pairs or threes in boats or rafts to the fishing ground, and then they cast anchor, and one of the party having fastened to his body a heavy stone to serve as ballast, a net to contain his oysters, and a rope by which to be hauled up again, goes overboard, and sometimes dives to the depth of sixty feet. He immediately commences gathering the oysters, which often adhere 'firmly to the rocks; when his net is full, or he can no longer hold his breath, he pulls the rope, and his comrades above haul him up again; sometimes, alas, this, is not done in sufficient time to save him from the sharks and other voracious creatures which haunt these pearl beds, and he loses life or limb in his perilous undertaking! When the oysters are* taken on shore they are heaped into shallow pits, and covered with sand; they so^n open and die, the fish rots away, and the oearls fall out. They are then cleansed and sifted, and,are valued according to their size ; large round or perfectly pear-shaped pearls are the most highly esteemed, and they should be quite white, not tinged with any other hue. Artificial pearls are made by spreading a silvery substance, obtained from the scales of the bleak, a small fish, inside hollow glass beads, and then filling them with white wax. Asbestos is a curious mineral, which consists of long silvery fibers; there are four or five varieties of it, named after their different appearances. It possesses the remarkable property of being almost inde- MISCELLANEOUS. 227- sfrmctible by fire, and on this account was highly prized by the nations of antiquity, who spun it and wove it into cloth, of which they used to form shrouds, in which the bodies of royal and illustrious persons were arrayed at the funeral pyre; as the asbestos cloth did not consume, the ashes of the departed were thus kept from mingling with those of the wood, etc It is said that the Brahmins sometimes made themselves clothes of it, and also employed it for wicks to their perpetual lamps, etc. In Europe, at the present day, asbestos cloth is considered more as a curiosity than in any other light, but a new use has been found for this curious mineral;; the fibers of it, which appear to burn without being consumed, are employed to fill a newly invented kind of gas stove, the numerous jets of which supply the blaze and heat the asbestos red-hot. Asbestos is found in the silver mines in Saxony, also in Sweden, Corsica, and many other parts of Europe, as well as in America. Talc is a whitish-gray mineral, found in rocks of serpentine, mica schist, and gneiss. It is readily split into plates, which are flexible, transparent, and not elastic. It will bear great heat, and is used for stove windows, where glass would crack. Emery is a mineral of a blackish-gray color, chiefly brought to this country from Naxos, an island in the Archipelago, but found also in Germany, Italy, and Spain. It is reduced to a fine powder by trituration, and is much used in polishing glass, metals, and other hard bodies. Pumice-Stoiie is a kind of light, spongy, vitreous stone, which looks as though formed of glistering threads slightly united. It is found in the vicinity of volcanoes. The Island of Lipari, in the Mediterranean, is said to be the chief source from which Europe is supplied with this useful article, the whole body of the island appearing to be formed of it. There are several different kinds of pumice-stone, but those only are imported which are light and spongy. Pumice-stone is used for polishing metals and marble, for smoothing the surface of wood and pasteboard. House-painters use it for rubbing off old paint before they apply the fresh coat. Mters' Earth is a kind of clay, which is employed to take the grease out of wool and woolen fabrics before the application of soap. It is opaque, soft and greasy to the touch, and falls to powder on being put into cold water. Its remarkable detersive quality is derived from the alumina which it contains, sometimes to the amount of one fourth or one fifth of the whole. The best fullers' earth is found in Buckinghamshire and Surrey. Alum is a white, semi-transparent substance, much used in the arts, especially in dyeing; for it acts the part of a mordant, fixing or brightening many colors which would otherwise be fugitive or very dull. It is astringent, and has a sharp acrid taste; it is soluble in water. Alum is a compound substance, consisting of aluminium, or pure clay, potass, and sulphuric acid. It is sometimes found native, but by far the larger proportion of that which we use is manufactured. The best alum is that which comes from Civita Vecchia, in the Eoman States; it is in irregularly crystallized masses, about the size of a walnut. Rock, or as it should be written roche-alum, is of a pinkish hue; it comes from 228 THE FAMILY. Smyrna; it was formerly made at Roccha, in Syria, whence its name. English alum, for the manufacture of which there are several works in the north of England, is esteemed the least valuable kind. loadstone is a mineral substance, and it is one to the discovery of which, and its application by science to the purposes of common life, we are indebted for perhaps more of our comfort and safety, more advance in civilization, than to any other mineral, unless perhaps we except iron; and even iron need not be excepted, as loadstone is clearly proved to be an ore of iron. This curious substance, which is of a dark color, rough and unattractive in external appearance, has the property of drawing to its surface any piece of iron or steel with which it may come in contact, and holding them fast as by some invisible power. It can also impart this attractive force, which we call magnetism, to iron or steel, so that they also in their turn can attract other pieces. The property in which the chief value of the loadstone consists, is not, however, this magnetic force, but its power of always turning toward the pole, so that by its aid the sailor on the trackless sea, the wanderer over unknown lands, can always discover the direction in which he is traveling. The mariner's compass—consisting of a small round box, marked'with the north and south, and various other points, and a needle of magnetized steel, so balanced that it can turn freely in any direction—is the most useful application of the powers of magnetism. The honor of having discovered this property in magnets, and first using the compass, is attributed to a Neapolitan, named Flavio Giola, who lived in the 13th century, though there are many claimants for this honor, both among the nations of Europe and the East, the Chinese, as usual, being said to have been fully acquainted with its use long before the time of its discovery in Europe, it is well known that the ancient Greeks and Romans were acquainted with the loadstone, and many of its uses, but they do not appear to have discovered its polarity, and consequently all their vessels were afraid to go far out of sight of land, and could only steer their course by observations of the sun and stars. The word magnet is said to be derived from Magnesia, a country in Lydia, where this loadstone or natural magnet was first discovered, and there is the more reason to conclude that this is the case, because it is often called in old manuscripts lapis Heracleus, from Heraclea, the capital of Magnesia. The name loadstone is of northern origin, and signifies leading of leader stone. The magnetic influence is called the magnetic fluid, and it is supposed not merely to exist in loadstone, but to pervade every particle of matter to such a degree as to convert the whole earth into one great magnet, and the poles or points to which the fluid is attracted, so nearly coincide with the poles of the earth's axis, that, with a little allowance for the variation of the needle, which modern science enables us to do very accurately, the direction of the north pole may always be taken to be that indicated by the pointer of the magnet. It has been proved, that if little magnets be placed on a much larger one, their north poles are attracted to its north pole, and deflected from it in just the same manner. MISCELLANEOOS. 229 It is a curious circumstance that the north pole always attracts the south, and the south always attracts the north, repelling all those of the same name. Thus, with a common steel-bar magnet you may attract a needle or group of steel filings with one end, till they all cluster like a swarm of bees around it, and with the other end you may drive them all away Steel is made from iron. Bars of wrought iron are imbedded in pounded charcoal, and exposed to a furnace heat in close vessels; when withdrawn from the furnace, the steel is found to have absorbed some of the charcoal, to be harder and more fusible, and its surface covered with small bubbles; hence it is called blistered steel; when several rods of this kinci are heated together in a box with a flux, and afterward hammered into one piece, it is called shear-steel, because it is the most suitable for making shears, scissors, etc. When this kind of steel is melted and run into ingots, it is termed cast-steel, which is the most perfect form of the metal. In tempering steel, it is plunged, when red-hot, into cold water or oil, by which means it becomes very hard, and can be made brittle and highly elastic; some things, such as a lancet, require the steel to be hard as adamant, but do not need strength, and break immediately; while for others, such as a trowel, the hardness must be associated with a toughness, which shall suffice to prevent its breaking even with the roughest work; these extremes, and all intermediate stages, can be attained by regulating the processes of hardening and tempering. The most wonderful stories are told of the temper of swords and cimitars made at Damascus in the middle ages; and Andrea of Ferrara, who was supposed to possess the secret of the Damascenes, has left his name to blades of matchless temper; these swords would, it is said, curl up, or bend in every possible manner, without breaking; and yet such was their strength and keenness of edge, that not merely muscles and bones but common iron, steel, and brass, were severed by them without difficulty. Toledo, in New Castile, also obtained great celebrity in this manufacture, the secret of which was probably conveyed by the Moors; nor does the art appear to have died out. Toledo blades were shown in the Great Exhibition in 1851, which would bear, uninjured, insertion into a sheath in the form of a coiled serpent. These swords were generally ornamented with a variegated pattern of black and gray, or, as it has been called a damask on their surfaces; this was produced by welding an iron wire round the piece of steel intended for the blade, and afterward twisting it in various directions; or in some cases grooves were filed and the wire let in, in a pattern, and afterward welded; these patterns were rendered visible by the application of diluted acid.. Needles are made of steel wire, which is reduced to the required fineness by being drawn through successive holes, each smaller than the one before; when fine enough, the wire is cut into lengths, and each piece flattened at one end, in which flat part the eye is punched with a sharp steel die; the corners are next smoothed off, a little groove is filed on each side af the head, the point is filed sharp, and all rough- 230 THE FAMILY. ness removed. The unfinished needles are now laid on a piece of iron, to be heated over a charcoal fire, and thrown while hot into water, to temper and harden them ; as this process often renders them crooked, they are obliged to be warmed and hammered straight again, and then require nothing more but polishing. This is done by rolling and rubbing immense numbers of them together, with oil and emery, after which they are well washed in hot water and soap, and dried in hot bran; the points are ground fine, and the needles sorted and-packed. The Spanish Moors are said to have been the inventors of steel needles; before which thorns or fish-bones, with a hole pierced for an eye, or some other contrivance equally clumsy, were generally used, as they are now by the women in the South Seas and some tribes of Indians. The first needles made in London were made by a Moor, in the reign of Henry VIII.; and Stowe tells us that, in Queen Mary's days, steel needles were sold in Cheapside and other busy streets in London. After this time the manufacture increased rapidly, many Germans coming over to England and establishing needle-works in villages in different parts of Warwickshire, and near Sheffield. Tin is made thus: the iron is rolled out into very thin sheets, and these are made perfectly clean with acid from all rust or dirt; they are then dipped into melted tin, which covers them over with a brilliant and immovable pellicle of that metal. Tinned articles, besides their cleanliness and durability, have the advantage of being very light. Block tin is the same material, hammered afterward and planished, that is, beaten on a metal stake with a polished steel hammer, till it is perfectly smooth and bright. Many small articles, such as nails, bits, and common stirrups are first cast in iron and then tinned. Tin itself is a white metal, bright and silvery; it is elastic, and consequently sonorous, ductile, very light, and it fuses at a much lower temperature than is necessary to heat it red-hot. Tin is found in England, in some parts of Germany, and also in the New World, but the largest supply comes from the Malay peninsula and the adjacent islands; this is called Banca tin, from the plaqe of its export. Tin ores are found in veins or fissures, called locally lodes; their direction is mainly from east to west, and they branch out and divide like the boughs of a tree, diminishing till they terminate in mere threads. Tin is also found in a dispersed form in loose stones, which, when found continuously, are called streams. The most common tin ore is very hard and glass-like. Tin mines are now often carried on at a great expense, which arises from the galleries having to be supported with large timber. The most remarkable mine is one which has long been abandoned on account of its danger; this, the Huel-cok, is carried under the bed of the ocean below low-water mark; and, in one place, where the rich vein ran upward, the improvident miners pursued it till only four feet of rock were left between the mine and the bed of the sea, which could be distinctly heard howling and roaring, the rolling of the masses of rock moved by the waves sounding like repeated peals of thunder. Another mine, called the Huel Ferry, is entirely submarine. MIBOELLANEOUS. 231 The rock is blasted with gunpowder, and carried to the stampingmill, where it is pounded small and washed from the mud with which it is mixed. It is next smelted in large furnaces, culm coal being used as a flux: the tin is run from the furnaces into blocks weighing from two to four cwt. each. Beside the use already mentioned of coating vessels made of other metals, to prevent their rusting, which is the principal one, pure tin is used for making dyers' kettles, which are, consequently, very expensive; and it is made into tinfoil, which is an article of great use. This is made by rolling and hammering tin till it is hardly a thousandth part of an inch in thickness. Tin has also an important place in the art of dyeing; solutions of tin in nitric, muriatic, and sulphuric acids being used to give a degree of permanence and brilliancy to several colors not to be obtained without it. Copper, when pure, is of a singularly red color, exceedingly malleable and ductile : it can be hammered when red-hot; it is not so hard as iron, but nearly as tenacious; and is remarkable for not corroding by exposure to the air; immense quantities of it are used in this country for coppering the bottoms of ships, for coinage, and for a multitude of household utensils, etc., as well as for making brass. To obtain the pure copper from the ore, the different ores are well mixed, this being desirable, as one ore often acts as a flux to others : the whole is then calcined, remaining twelve hours in the furnace, from which it is raked out black and powdery. The next process is smelting, during which the slags or earthy parts rise to the surface, and are cleared off, the metal being run out into pits filled with water, which causes it to become granulated. These two processes are repeated twice more, and then the metal is roasted again; which oxidizes the iron and other metals still combined with the copper, Nothing now remains to be done but refining and toughening. The latter is a curious process: the metal in the furnace is covered with charcoal, and a pole of birch-wood is stirred in it; this causes ebullition, and the grain gradually becomes finer, the color a lighter red, and the metal more malleable. Lead generally occurs in limestone; the process of reducing the ore to pure lead is much the same as that employed for tin : stamping, washing, and smelting; only the lead usually passes out of the miner's hands before the smelting, which is performed by the owners of cupolas or smelting-houses. The ore supplied to one charge of the furnace should consist of from five to eight different sorts, on which mixture the perfection of the article much depends. This charge is first roasted, to dissipate the sulphur and arsenic contained in the ore, and then fused, in which state it is covered with a stratum of slag or refuse, swimming on the top of it, to the depth of two or three inches. The slag is first drawn off, and afterward the molten lead is allowed to run into a pan provided for the purpose, where it is skimmed and ladled into moulds. Black-lead, of which pencils are made, is not lead, though formerly considered so. More recently it was supposed to be a carburet of iron; but later experiments appear to have proved that it is only a peculiar form of carbon. Its proper name is plumbago, or graphite. 232 THE FAMILY. The finest quality of this mineral which has ever been discovered is obtained from a mine at Borrowdale, in Cumberland; but it is found in various parts of the world; and an inferior quality has been of late years imported from Mexico and Ceylon in considerable quantities, which is used principally for making crucibles or melting-pots, for diminishing the friction of machinery, and for protecting iron from rusting. The finer qualities suited for pencils being too valuable for these uses. It is sometimes found crystallized, but more generally in detached masses or nodules, some of which weigh four or five pounds each. At Borrowdale, " nests" of these are formed in a greenstone rock, which constitutes a bed in the clay slate. This peculiarity is the cause of its being often " lost," when the miners have to seek at random for a new supply. The age of the Cumberland mines cannot be exactly ascertained, but they have been occasionally worked ever since the reign of Queen Elizabeth. They are private property. There are traditions of the time when the value of this curious mineral was so little understood, that the shepherds used it in large quantities for marking their sheep. After this time came one in which the proprietors made enormous profits, and the quality of the mineral was so good, that a workman could in half an hour obtain as much as would sell for £1,000. It was the practice, at this period, to open the mines only occasionally, thus reducing the supply and raising the price. The modern importations from abroad have very much lessened the monopoly which enabled the proprietors to do this. Formerly, so great was the fear lest any of the precious material should be stolen, that houses were built at the entrances to the mine, in which the workmen were obliged to change their clothes, and were all searched before leaving their work to see that they had none secreted about them. The finest plumbago was also taken from the mine to Kendal, under a strong guard, and from thence conveyed to London by persons who were held responsible for its safe delivery. Zinc is a metal which has been comparatively lately discovered in its pure form, though one of its ores, calamine stone, has long been known and used. It abounds in China, and the Chinese were the first to use it; they also exported it in large quantities to India, whence much was exported to England, until a full supply was found to exist there. The largest proportion of zinc or spelter, as it is frequently called in its metallic form, is obtained from the German states, which, not merely supply the home markets, but have superseded the Chinese in the trade with India. Zinc is a hard bluish-white metal, not malleable when cold, breaking readily under the hammer, and showing particularly brilliant crystalline fracture; but at a moderately high temperature it possesses great malleability and ductility, can easily be drawn into wire and rolled into plates, and worked in other ways. Zinc is well suited for casting figures ; it melts readily, liquifies completely, and therefore copies every line of the mould more accurately than harder metals. A cast can be made in zinc for one-sixth or one-eighth of the cost of bronze, and can afterward be bronzed to look almost as well as that metal. Zinc plates are used for many purposes, and in roofing they are valuable for their lightness, being about one-sixth part the weight of lead ones; they are MISCELLANEOUS. 233 not liable to rust or corrode from exposure to the air. Many vessels are now made of zinc, and for galvanic apparatus this metal is used. Brass is not found in any mine as the metals we have been speaking of are—it is a compound metal, or, as it is properly called, an alloy of copper and zinc; it was well known in the earlier stages of the arts, long before pure zinc was discovered, being made of copper and calamine-stone, which is an ore of zinc. The manufacture of brass is said to have been introduced into England in 1649, by a German, who settled at Esher, in Surrey. Good brass is of a fine yellow color, ductile, and very malleable when cold; when heated, it is brittle; being in this respect a curious contrast to the zinc of which it is partially composed. Brass is the most convenient metal for making large, fine screws, astronomical instruments, microscopes, and many other things requiring great exactness; as, notwithstanding its compactness of texture, it is easily wrought at the lathe. Brass is made thus: the copper intended to be used is poured hot into water, which makes it into little grains, or what is called shot-copper; this is done to increase its surface. The calamine-stone (carbonate of zinc) is heated red-hot, ground to powder, and washed; the ingredients are then fused together in the proportions of about forty-five pounds of copper to sixty pounds of calamine-stone; an equal bulk of charcoal, and some scrap brass, are usually added. The melted brass is cast into plates or bars ; the plates are rolled into sheets, called latten, or beaten into thin leaves, called Dutch-gold, and used for inferior gilding. The bars are used by those who make small brass wares, or who melt it again with different proportions of copper, to make tombac, pinchbeck, and other imitations of gold. These imitations are used to make a great many small articles, such as brooches and all sorts of jewelry, which are very cheap. In former times, watch-cases were frequently made of these metals, but it is not quite so common now. Pins are made of brass wire, and are tinned afterward; the wire is cut into pieces the length of six pins, and the points of a handful are ground at once; a pin's length is then cut off, and the points ground again, and so on, until the wire is all used, and six pins have been made of each piece; the heads used to be a little ball, made with fine wire spun with a wheel, and then fastened on to the pin with a smart blow; but now they are made solid, the top of the wire being pressed in a die to form the head, which prevents its coming off; pins are polished b}r rubbing them in dry bran. Britannia-Metal is composed of block-tin, a small portion of antimony, and less than one-third as much copper or brass. This compound, which is bright and silvery looking, is now extensively used instead of pewter, and for many purposes to which pewter was never applied. It is very easy to work both by rolling, casting, turning, and planing, as well as by stamping in dies; consequently the articles made of it are almost unlimited in variety and very cheaply produced : teapots, candlesticks, and spoons, are among some of the most frequent applications of this metal. Pewter is a dull-looking alloy, used for making plates and dishes, beermeasures, wine-measures, and larger vessels. For the first purpose it ia 16 M4t THE FAMILY. very much gone out of use, being superseded by earthenware; but in former times all houses were supplied with pewter articles, and no small portion of the " plate" belonging to the nobles was of this material. Good hard pewter is made of tin, copper, and antimony; but a very inferior kind, and that most frequently met with, is made chiefly of lead, with a very small proportion of tin and copper in addition. Bell-Metal, Gnu-Metal, and Bronze, are all formed chiefly of copper, with the addition of tin, and in some cases small quantities of other metals. All the metals are solid bodies, except mercury, and this becomes so when cooled to forty degrees below zero. It is the one used in barometers and thermometers to show the changes in the atmosphere; it is also called quicksilver. It is white, rather bluer than silver, and as it is from its great fusibility habitually fluid, it readily unites with many other metals, and imparts to them a degree of its characteristic quality; when these metallic mixtures contain sufficient mercury to render them semifluid at a mean temperature, they are called amalgams. It is likewise employed for silvering looking-glasses, and for gilding, in which latter process the gold and mercury are laid on together in the form of an amalgam, and the mercury afterward dissipated by the action of the heat. It is also employed in the preparation of several powerful medicines, and in the manufacture of vermillion. But by fai the largest quantity of mercury is used for amalgamation with native gold and silver, to facilitate the extraction of the pure metal. The chief mines of mercury, or quicksilver, are in Spain, in the provinces of Asturias and Andalusia; there are mines too at Idria, in Carniola, which are very productive, and others in Tuscany and California. Mercury is found both native and mixed with sulphur, in which state it forms the red ore called cinnabar. The Precious Metals Gold and Silver—the metallic substances first known to mankind, and from the first held in great estimation; the earliest mention on record of gold is in Genesis, where it says of the land of Havilah, " There is gold, and the gold of that land is good." In the time of Abraham it already passed as money by weight; and was used for making ornaments; nor are there lacking proofs that it was manufactured into many household articles. The abundance of gold in ancient times is very remarkable; for example, the treasures of Solomon, when he made so many things of pure gold; " none of them were of silver, for that was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon," for " the king made silver to be as stones in Jerusalem." Nor does this appear to have been by any means a solitary instance; profane authors speak of the large accumulations of treasure both by sovereigns and private individuals. Gold is found not in ores, like other metals, but in a pure or native state; it exhibits many diversities of appearance, being found massive, in scattered particles, in fibers or strings, reticulated or net-like, arbor escent, tree-like, and also crystallized. Gold found in rocks is mingled with many different earthy fossils, and often with ores of other metals, and large quantities have always been found in the beds of rivers, which latter circumstance, joined with its beauty, comparative purity, MISCELLANEOUS. 235 and consequent easy reduction, may account for its always having been the first metal to attract barbarous tribes. It has been found in some parts of every quarter of the globe, as before stated ; it was first found in the East, and there are still mines in India, Japan, the Philippines, Sumatra, and Borneo; to which may be added Siberia. Gold has been found also in Africa, in such large quantities in one part that it has attained the name of the Gold Coast; Europe, too, possesses a little : there are, or more correctly there werey mines in many countries, and even in England; but all these sources were thrown into the shade when the discovery of America laid the treasures of Brazil, Choco, Chili and Mexico, open to the enterprise and cupidity of the Europeans; and in our own days we have seen these again superseded by the discovery of a new El Dorado, in California, and still more recently in Australia; from which two fields our present supply of gold is almost exclusively obtained. In consequence of the pure state in which gold is found, gold mines can hardly be said to exist in the sense in which mines are generally understood; they are usually mere surface works, even though in some cases pits are sunk to the depth of many feet, neither is any smelting required as in the inferior metals; but refining is necessary, to effect which it is submitted to the processes of cupellation and parting, in the first of which it yields up every particle of lead or other common metal, and in the second is separated from any silver with which it may be alloyed. The cupel is a small cup composed of calcined bones or some similar material, slightly moistened and compressed, which has the curious property of not only resisting the fire but of absorbing metallic bodies, when changed by heat into fluid scoria, while it retains them in their metallic form. The gold is put into the cupel in little buttons, and when fused a scum of lead and other metals rises, which running to the sides of the vessel is absorbed. Silver being nearly as difficult of oxdyation as gold, cupellation would not avail to separate it, recourse therefore is had to another process; the gold is rolled out into thin plates, which are cut up and digested in hot diluted nitric acid, this dissolves the silver, and leaves the gold an undissolved porous mass. Gold is the most fixed and incorruptible of all bodies. It is much more widely spread than gold, and differs from it as to the climates where it is found; gold may be called tropical in its habitat, whilst silver abounds most in high latitudes, or at great alitudes. The most celebrated mines of Europe are in Norway and Sweden, and those of Mexico and Peru are in the center of the chain of the Andes, in the most cheerless regions of perpetual snow; there are mines also in the north of Asia, but none have yet been discovered in Africa. The most productive mines in the world are those of South America. Silver is found in ores, and in this it differs from gold, for though it is sometimes found pure it also occurs in various ores; some more and some less frequently met with. One rather remarkable state in which it is found is an amalgamation with mercury, and semi-fluid. Native, or as it is sometimes called, virgin silver, is not only met with in masses, 236 THE FAMILY. but in large patches, beautifully branching out from the central deposit, or sometimes extending into an entangled net. Herrera, the Spanish historian, attributes the discovery of the silver mines of Potosi in Peru to the fact of an Indian hunter having pulled up a shrub, and found its roots entwined with filaments of pure silver, which turned out to be ramifications from an enormous mass of the metal. Silver is frequently met with in lead ore. Silver is extracted from its ores either by the ordinary process of smelting, or by amalgamation; this latter process is carried on in South America, and also largely in Saxony, the chief advantage being the saving of fuel. When the ore contains much sulphur, etc., it is necessary to separate it from these before applying the mercury; this is effected by putting it into a furnace with ten per cent, of common salt, which decomposes the ore; on being cooled it is reduced to an impalpable powder, and is then ready for amalgamation, which is effected in revolving barrels. The charge in each barrel consists of ore, mercury, iron, and water; the barrels are made to revolve for sixteen or eighteen hours, during which time the silver is set free, by the chemical action of the iron, from the combination in which it was held, and then unites with the mercury; whilst the sulphate of soda and other soluble matters resulting from the addition of the salt are dissolved by the water. The amalgam is then filtered, and heat being applied, the mercury flies off and the silver remains. It is afterward subjected to cupellation like gold. The precious metals are very seldom used alone; pure gold would not be hard enough to stand any amount of wear, it is therefore alloyed, even for the gold coinage, with a small portion of either copper or silver, and for trinkets and other small wares, the proportion of alloy is often much greater. Gold vessels and large ornaments are generally of great value; this is enhanced by their being so frequently made from models which are destroyed in the process, and therefore each is unique. A considerable quantity of gold is employed for gilding, for which purpose it is generally used in the form of gold-leaf. A number of small thin plates of gold, about an inch square, are laid two together between pieces of vellum about four times that size, and with twenty thicknesses of the latter on the outside, the whole being inclosed in a parchment envelope; it is then beaten on a block of marble with a heavy hammer, till the gold is spread out to the size of the vellum; the pieces of gold are taken out, cut into four, and replaced with a prepared animal membrane between each, afterward known as goldbeaters' skin; the beating and cutting is repeated several times more, and, when the gold is thin enough, it is trimmed up and carefully placed in little books for sale. Gold being by far the most malleable metal, it is capable, when pure, of being beaten into leaves so thin that 282,000 would be only one inch in thickness; in this state it is translucent, transmitting light of a beautiful green color. Silver is harder than gold, but it, too, is alloyed with copper for coinage. Large quantities of silver are used for making plate; by which term we understand spoons, forks teapots, -salvers, castors, inkstands, and a great variety of other articles, either useful or ornamental, or both; MISCELLANEOUS. 237 these may be either of solid silver, or, as is very common, of copper or steel, plated or covered over with the more precious metal. The common method of plating on copper is the following: an ingot of copper being cast, is filed square and smooth, and a piece of silver is placed upon it, the two surfaces being perfectly clean; a little borax is introduced between the two metals, they are bound together with iron wire, and then heated in a furnace nearly to the melting point ; the < small quantity of borax acts as a flux, and thus they are fused together. When this is effected, the metals are rolled out as thin as required, and this sheet forms the basis of every article of whatever shape or form, and however it is to be ornamented when finished; to produce ornaments, leaf silver is stamped in iron dies representing the ornaments required, which, when removed from the dies, is filled with an alloy of lead and tin. Electro-Plating is a new disco\ ery, and has very much superseded the process we have just described, at least for the better kinds of plated goods. In electro-plating pure silver is precipitated, by the action of a galvanic battery, from a solution in which it is held, on to the articles after they are formed; this process possesses many advantages; among the rest may be mentioned, that, instead of copper, a hard white metal can be used, which wears better; the electro-plating also renders the application of embossed borderings and ornaments more easy, and they are more durable. Platinum is as indestructible as gold, hard as iron, in color resembling silver, and extremely ductile and tenacious. Gold has been drawn into wire of which 550 feet only weighed a grain, and which is l-5000th of an inch in diameter, but platinum has been made into a wire of only one-sixth this diameter. Platinum is a metal but recently discovered, not having been known earlier than the 18th century. The principal supply comes from South America, but Kussia draws large quantities of it from mines in the Ural Mountains. There was a coinage of platinum money in Russia, but it is now called in. The ancients are supposed only to have known the seven principal metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, and mercury; none were added to the list in the dark ages, but in the 15th and 16th centuries, zinc, antimony, and bismuth were discovered; in the 18th, platinum, nickel, arsenic, cobalt, and manganese, with seven or eight others; and in the present century, some twenty more. Antimony, which is very hard, is used as an alloy with tin and lead for various purposes where great hardness and durability are needed; thus type-metal, of which are made the little letters which must be firm enough to bear the pressure of the heavy printing-press, and yet retain all their delicate lines sharp and clear, is composed of lead and antimony. This metal is also used in medicine, and its oxyd in coloring glass. Bismuth is chiefly remarkable on account of its extreme fusibility; to exhibit which quality spoons are sometimes made of it, which, when put into boiling water, or even very hot tea, melt and lose their form. It is used as a flux, and with the addition of tin, lead, or copper, it makes solder. 238 THE FAMILY. Nickel is a hard, white metal, more nearly resembling silver than tin does; it is chiefly brought from Germany to this country, and is much used in the manufacture of German silver. It is not, however, abun-r dant, which remark applies to all these new metals, cobalt excepted. Arsenic is used in many metallic alloys; its various oxyds are ingredients in different dyes; it is used as a flux for glass, and to produce some kinds of coloring in glass. It is likewise put into some composite candles; and, though a virulent poison in all its forms, is employed as a medicine; the arsenic of commerce is a white oxyd of the metal. Cobalt, though rarely used in the metallic form, is invaluable for the beautiful blue pigment which its oxyds afford, and which is the only blue color employed in the manufacture of china and glass. The color known as smalt, is glass colored with cobalt, and ground to an impalpabl * powder. One grain of cobalt will give a full blue to two hundred and forty grains of glass. The Black Oxyd of Manganese, which is the most common form in which this metal is found, is very useful in many chemical preparations; and is employed to give a violet-color to china and glass, and used by glass-makers to bleach out the greenish or yellowish hue glass is sometimes inclined to have. Bold only to Subscribers,—Not for Sale in Book Stores—No Librarjr is complete without it,—It should be in every family. A. 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