Chapter X: Part 10

LIP GLUE.--Take of isinglass and parchment glue, of each one ounce; sugar-candy and gum tragacanth, each two drachms. Boil them in an ounce of water, till the mixture is of the consistence of thick glue. When cold, roll it between your hands, till you get it into the form of small sticks, like sealing-wax.

By wetting it with your tongue, and rubbing the moistened end of the stick on the edges of the paper that you wish to unite, it will, when dry, form a firm cement. A stick of lip-glue is very convenient to take with you when travelling, in case you should have occasion for some sort of paste.

PERPETUAL PASTE.--Buy, at a druggist’s, an ounce of the best gum tragacanth, (sometimes called gum dragon,) and six cents’ worth of powdered corrosive sublimate. Pick the gum tragacanth clean, and put it into a wide-mouthed glass or white-ware vessel, that will hold a quart. Add as much corrosive sublimate as will lie on a five-cent piece. Pour on a pint and a half of clear cold, soft water. Cover the vessel, and let it stand till next day. The gum tragacanth will then be much swelled, and nearly to the top of the vessel. Stir it down to the bottom with a stick, as the corrosive sublimate will blacken a metal spoon. Stir it several times during that day; but afterwards, do not stir it at all; leaving it to form a smooth white mass, like a very thick jelly. Then cover it closely, and set it away for use; taking care to keep it out of the way of children, as the corrosive sublimate will render it poisonous if swallowed.

This paste will keep to an indefinite period, if the air is carefully excluded from it, and if it is not transferred to a vessel made of any sort of metal. It forms a strong, colourless, and firm cement for paper, &c.; and when once made, may be kept always at hand; and is most convenient for all sorts of pasting; particularly little things, for which it would seem scarcely worth while to take the trouble of boiling flour-paste. It only spoils when kept in metal, or from long exposure to the air.

We can certify to its superiority over all other paste, having the experience of using it continually. The advantage of its being always ready is an important recommendation. Try it, and you will be induced to keep it constantly in the house.

GUM-ARABIC PASTE.--Take a common-sized tea-cup of cold, soft water, and dissolve in it a large tea-spoonful of the best and cleanest powdered gum-arabic. When the gum is entirely melted, stir in, by degrees, a table-spoonful of fine wheat flour; carefully pressing out all the lumps, and making it as smooth as possible. Keep it closely covered, and in a cool place. If, after a few days, it should appear spotted or mouldy on the top, remove the surface, and the paste beneath will still be fit for use. This is a good cement for artificial flowers, and for ornamental pasteboard work.

CEMENT FOR JARS AND BOTTLES.--According to the quantity of cement required, take one-third bees-wax and two-thirds rosin. Pound the rosin to a fine powder, and then put it, with the bees-wax, into any sauce-pan or skillet suited to the purpose, and set them over the fire to melt. When it becomes thoroughly liquid, take it off the fire, and stir in some finely-powdered brickdust, till the mixture becomes as thick as melted sealing-wax. Then plaster it, warm, round the covers of your preserve or pickle-jars. If you use it for bottles, first cork them tightly, and then dip their tops into the cement. It will dry in a few minutes. This cement is very strong and very cheap, and especially useful for articles that are to be carried to sea.

COVERING FOR CORKS.--The odour of a cologne bottle, or of any other scented liquid, may be prevented from escaping by keeping the cork and the neck of the bottle covered with the finger-end or thumb of an old kid glove, cut off, for the purpose, at a suitable length and breadth, and stretched or drawn down closely and tightly. This is more convenient than the usual kid-leather covers, that must be untied and tied again whenever the bottles are opened.

MILK OF ROSES.--Mix together a pint of rose-water, and an ounce of oil of sweet almonds. Then add ten drops of oil of tartar. Bottle it, and shake it well. It is good for the hands.

EXCELLENT POMATUM.--Melt some beef’s marrow on a slow fire, being careful not to let it burn; then strain it several times over, that it may be well purified. When partially cool, beat in some _castor_ oil, a table-spoonful at a time. The proportion should be two-thirds of melted marrow to one-third of oil. Perfume it by stirring in, as you proceed, any sort of essential oil that is not too pungent. You may give it a fine red colouring by putting in, after the marrow has melted, some chips of alkanet tied in a very thin muslin bag, letting it remain till the tint is thoroughly infused. Keep it in covered gallicups. A little rubbed every day, or twice or three times a week, with the finger among the roots of the hair, will greatly improve its growth and softness.

AN EXCELLENT WAY OF IMPROVING THE HAIR.--Once in three days take some rich _unskimmed_ milk that has been made sour by standing in the sun. Stir it up, so as to mix all through it the cream that has collected on the surface. Wash the hair with this, rubbing it well into the roots. Let it remain on the hair about a quarter of an hour or more. Then wash it off, with a lather of white soap and warm water; rinsing the hair, afterwards, with fresh water, either warm or cold, according to the season. This is an Asiatic process; and if continued every third day, seldom fails to render the hair of young people thick, soft, and glossy.

TO HAVE GOOD HAIR.--The women of Germany have remarkably fine and luxuriant hair. The following is their most usual method of managing it. About once a fortnight, boil for half an hour or more, a large handful of bran in a quart of soft water. Strain it into a basin, and let it cool till it is merely tepid or milk-warm. Rub into it a little white soap; then dip in the corner of a soft linen towel, and wash your head with it, thoroughly; dividing or parting aside the hair all over; so as to reach the roots. Next take the yolk of an egg, (slightly beaten in a saucer,) and with your fingers rub it well into the roots of the hair. Let it rest a few minutes; and then wash it off entirely, with a cloth dipped in pure water; and rinse your hair well, till all the yolk of egg has disappeared from it. Afterwards, wipe and rub it dry with a towel, and comb the hair up from your head, parting it with your fingers. In winter it is best to do all this near the fire.

Have ready some soft pomatum, made of fresh beef-marrow, boiled with a little almond oil or olive oil, stirring it all the time till it is well amalgamated, and as thick as an ointment. When you take it from the fire (and not before) stir into it a little mild perfume; such as rose-water, orange-flower water, extract of roses, oil of carnations, or essence of violets. Put it into gallicups that have lids, and keep it for use; always well-covered. Take a very small quantity of this pomatum, and rub it among your hair on the skin of your head, after it has been washed as above.

At any time you may make your hair curl more easily by rubbing into it some beaten yolk of egg, (washed off, afterwards with clear water,) and then putting on a little pomatum before you pin up your curls. It is well always to go through this process when you resume curls after having worn your hair plain.

All hair should be combed every morning with a fine-toothed comb, to remove the dust which insensibly gets into it during the preceding day, and to keep the skin of the head always clean.

To prevent your bonnet being injured by any oiliness about your hair, baste a piece of white or yellow oiled silk inside of that part of the bonnet where the crown unites with the brim, carrying the silk some distance up into the crown, and some distance down into the brim or front.

Clean your head-brushes by washing them thoroughly with a bit of soft sponge tied on the end of a stick, and dipped into a warm solution of pearlash, prepared by dissolving a large table-spoonful of pearlash in a pint of boiling water. When the bristles have thus been made quite clean, rinse the brushes in hot water; letting them remain in it till it becomes cool, or cold. Afterwards, drain the brushes; wipe them with a clean cloth; and set them upright before the fire to dry.

The most convenient way of cleaning combs is with a strong silk thread, made fast to the handle of a bureau-drawer--in front of which, seat yourself with a towel spread over your lap to catch whatever impurities may fall from the comb. Holding the comb in your left hand, and the thread in your right, pass the thread hard between each of the comb-teeth. Afterwards wash the comb in soap-suds, rinse it in cold water, and dry it with a clean cloth.

SALT OF LEMON OR STAIN POWDER.--This powder, which is erroneously called salt of lemon, is in reality composed simply of equal portions of finely pulverized salt of sorrel and cream of tartar, (for instance an ounce of each,) mixed together in a mortar, and afterwards put into small covered boxes, or gallipots. It will immediately remove ink spots, fruit stains, &c., from the hands or from any articles of _white_ linen or muslin; first wetting the place with water (warm water is best) and then with your finger rubbing on the powder, till the stain disappears. Immediately afterwards wash it off with soap-suds. If applied to a _coloured_ article that has been inked or stained, the powder in removing the stain will take out the colour. But the colour (particularly if black) may in most cases be restored by rubbing the place with hartshorn; which if very strong should be somewhat diluted with water, or it will leave a tinge of its own. If the hartshorn fails to restore the colour, it is on account of some peculiarity in the dye. It is always worth trying. We have seen a large splash of ink taken out of a carpet by first wetting it with warm water and rubbing on some of the above-mentioned stain powder. The colours were all restored to their former brightness by afterwards applying hartshorn. Next day, the place where the ink had been spilled on the carpet could not be distinguished. We have also known the same experiment tried with perfect success on a mousseline de laine dress on which an ink-stand had been overset.

Ink spots can be removed from _white_ clothes by the simple application of a bit of clean tallow picked from the bottom of a mould candle, rubbed on the ink spot, and left sticking there when the article goes into the wash-tub. It will come out of the wash freed from the ink stain.

This stain powder should be kept out of the way of children, as if swallowed it is poisonous.

Fresh lemon-juice mixed with a little salt is excellent for removing stains of ink, iron mould, &c.

TO MAKE GREASE BALLS.--Shave down half a pound of white soap, and mix it with three ounces of fuller’s earth, powdered. Then mix together three ounces of ox-gall, and two ounces of spirits of turpentine. With this, moisten the soap and fuller’s earth, till you have a stiff paste. Mix it thoroughly, and beat it well. Make it into balls with your hands, and place the balls where they will dry slowly. To use it, scrape down a sufficiency, and spread it on the grease spot. Let it rest awhile; then brush it off, and scrape and apply some more. A few applications will generally remove the grease.

TO EXTRACT GREASE WITH CAMPHINE OIL.--Grease of the very worst sort (for instance whale oil) may be extracted successfully even from silks, ribbons, and other delicate articles, by means of camphine oil, which can always be procured at the lamp-stores. As this oil is best when fresh, get but a small quantity at a time. Pour some camphine into a clean cup, and dip lightly into it a bit of clean, soft, white rag. With this rub the grease spot. Then take a fresh rag dipped in the camphine, and continue rubbing till the grease is extracted, which will be very soon. You will find the colour of the article uninjured. To remove the turpentine odour of the camphine, rub the place with cologne water or strong spirits of wine, and expose it to the open air. If any of the camphine-scent remains, repeat the cologne. We have known lamp oil removed from white satin by this process.

FINE YELLOW COLOURING FOR WALLS.--Procure from a paint-shop one pound of chrome yellow, and three pounds of whiting. Mix and grind them thoroughly together; and then add a quart of boiling water, and stir it well in. Next boil a quarter of a pound of glue in a quart of water, and when completely dissolved, add it immediately to the mixture, and stir the whole very hard. Thin it with more water till you get it of the desired consistence. It will be a beautiful yellow, approaching to lemon colour.

BLUE WASH FOR WALLS.--Get a pound of blue vitriol from a drug or paint store, and have it powdered very finely in a mortar. Provide also two quarts of lime. Take six cents’ worth of glue, and boil it in a quart of soft water till thoroughly dissolved. Put the powdered vitriol into a wooden bucket, and when the glue-water is cold, pour it on the vitriol, and mix and stir it well. When the vitriol is dissolved in the glue-water, stir in by degrees the two quarts of lime. Then try the tint of the mixture by dipping a piece of white paper into it; and when it dries, you can judge if it is the colour you want. It should be a clear light beautiful blue. If you think it too dark, add some more lime. If too pale, stir in a little more of the powdered vitriol. It is well to provide an extra quantity of each of the articles, in case a little more of one or the other should be required on trial of the colour.

TO CLEAN WHITEWASH BRUSHES.--Wash off, with cold water, the lime from the bristles of the brush; and scrub well with a hard scrubbing-brush the part where the bristles are fixed into the wood. This should be done at once, as soon as the whitewashing for that day is finished. It is far better than to let them soak all night.

AN EASY WAY TO MAKE INK.--Take two ounces of the best and most perfect nut-galls, and bruise them to pieces with a hammer. Put them into a large mug, with half an ounce of copperas, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered gum-arabic. Pour on a pint of boiling water. Cover the vessel, and let it stand in a warm place for a week; frequently stirring the contents with a stick. Afterwards leave it one day undisturbed; and then pour off the liquid through a funnel into a bottle; in the bottom of which you have put half a dozen cloves or a spoonful of brandy, either of which will prevent the ink from moulding. Keep the bottle closely corked.

TO USE DURABLE INK.--It is an error (rectified by experience) to wash as soon as possible articles that have been marked with durable ink. On the contrary, they should be kept _without washing_ for at least a week. If washed too soon, the soap and water will disturb the ink before it is thoroughly dried in, causing the letters to spread and look rough. Also, it will not be so good a black. Every time, before using it, set the little bottle with the marking liquid in the sun, or before a bright fire; and then stir it up from the bottom. This will increase its blackness. After putting the wash or gum-liquid on the place to be marked, dry it by the fire or in the hot sun, and then iron it smoothly. Do not write the name till next day, and then, as above mentioned, set the marking ink in the sun, and stir it up from the bottom. When the name is written, dry it as soon as possible, and then iron it again.

Durable ink may be extracted by wetting the writing with hot water, and then rubbing on a little sal-ammonia.

After making durable ink, set the marking liquid or lunar caustic preparation for three or four days in the hot sun; otherwise it will not become black.

SUMACH INK.--The milk or gum that exudes from the sumach is a good substitute for durable ink. Break off the stalks that support the leaves. Squeeze them into a cup, and write with the liquid. Expose it to the sun and it will become a fine black.

VERY FINE INK.--Into a large jar or pitcher put half a pound of the best Aleppo galls, broken up with a hammer or flat-iron; but not pounded. Pour on two quarts of soft water, nearly of boiling heat. Cover the vessel; and let it stand on a warm hearth or in the hot sun for a fortnight; stirring it to the bottom twice a day, with a stick. At the end of the fortnight, add two ounces of green copperas; two ounces of logwood chips; two ounces of gum-arabic; half an ounce of alum; and half an ounce of sugar-candy. Let the whole remain in a moderate heat a fortnight longer; stirring it twice a day. Keep the mouth of the vessel covered with paper only, tied down over it. On the last day, do not stir it, but pour the ink through a strainer into another vessel, and then with a funnel transfer it to bottles. Pour a small tea-spoonful or more of brandy into the top of each bottle, if small. To a pint bottle there should be a table-spoonful of brandy. This will preserve the ink from moulding. Cork the bottles well, and seal the corks. Keep them in a place of temperate heat.

In buying Aleppo galls get those that are dark coloured, heavy, and free from holes.

GOOD INK.--Bruise two ounces of Aleppo galls; put them into a pitcher with half an ounce of copperas, and a quarter of an ounce of gum arabic. Pour on a pint of soft water at boiling heat. Cover it, and let it stand a week; stirring it several times a day, except on the last day. Then pour it through a funnel into a bottle that has half a dozen cloves in it. In pouring, see that you do not disturb the sediment at the bottom of the pitcher. Cork the bottle tightly.

TO SOFTEN SPONGES.--A sponge, when first purchased, is frequently hard, stiff, and gritty. To soften it, and dislodge the particles of sea-sand from its crevices, (having first soaked and squeezed it through several cold waters,) put the sponge into a clean tin sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and boil it a quarter of an hour. Then take it out, put it into a bowl of cold water, and squeeze it well. Wash out the sauce-pan, and return the sponge to it, filling up with clean cold water, and boil it another quarter of an hour. Repeat the process, giving it three boils in fresh water; or more than three if you find it still gritty. Take care not to boil it too long, or it will become tender, and drop to pieces. You may bleach it by adding to the water a few drops of oil of vitriol.

The Mediterranean sponges are the best.

After using a sponge, always wash it immediately in clean water, squeeze it out, and put it to dry.

TO REMOVE THE ODOUR FROM A VIAL.--The odour of its last contents may be removed from a vial by filling it with cold water, and letting it stand in any airy place uncorked for three days; changing the water every day.

TO LOOSEN A GLASS STOPPER.--The manner in which apothecaries loosen glass stoppers when there is difficulty in getting them out, is to press the thumb of the right hand very hard against the lower part of the stopper, and then give the stopper a twist the other way, with the thumb and fore-finger of the left hand; keeping the bottle stiff in a steady position.

TO GET A BROKEN CORK OUT OF A BOTTLE.--If in drawing a cork it breaks, and the lower part falls down into the liquid, tie a long loop in a bit of twine, or small cord, and put it in; holding the bottle so as to bring the piece of cork near to the lower part of the neck. Catch it in the loop, so as to hold it stationary. You can then easily extract it with a cork-screw.

TO PURIFY THE ATMOSPHERE OF A ROOM.--Mix, in a cup, some brown sugar, with sufficient water to make it a thick liquid. Put a hot coal on a shovel; pour on the coal a tea-spoonful, or more, of the sugar, and carry it carefully about the room. The smoke will entirely remove any disagreeable odour. If the sugar is thrown dry upon the hot coal, it will blaze up, and burn out immediately, without effecting the desired purpose; but if mixed with a little water, it will not blaze at all, but the vapour arising from it will continue to smoke, till the unpleasant smell is entirely dispelled.

A few sprigs of lavender, laid on hot coals, and carried round the room, on a shovel, is a good remedy for a disagreeable odour.

Chloride of lime, sprinkled on dry, will, _unfailingly_, dispel the effluvia of any ill-scented substance. It is very cheap. A jar of it should be kept in every house; as, for this purpose, there is nothing more effectual.

TO CLEAN JARS.--There is frequently much trouble in cleaning the inside of jars that have contained sweet-meats, pickles, mince-meat, &c., so as entirely to remove all the odour of their former contents, before they can be used for another purpose. If the jars are of stone, fill them up with scalding water, and let them stand awhile. If of white-ware, or glass, the water must be merely warm; for if hot, it will crack them. Then stir in a large tea-spoonful, or more, of pearlash. Whatever of the former contents has remained sticking about, and adhering to the sides and bottom, will immediately disengage itself, and float loose through the water. Afterwards empty the jar, and if any odour lingers about its inside, fill it again with warm water and a spoonful of pearlash, and let it stand, undisturbed, a few hours, or till next day. Then empty it again, and rinse it with cold water. Wash phials in the same manner. Also, the inside of tea, coffee, and chocolate-pots. If you cannot, conveniently, obtain pearlash, the same purpose may be answered, nearly as well, by filling the vessels with strong lye, poured off clear from the wood-ashes. For kegs, buckets, crocks, or other large vessels, lye may always be used.

TO CLEAN LOOKING-GLASSES.--Take a newspaper, or a part of one, according to the size of the glass. Fold it small, and dip it into a basin of clean, cold water. When thoroughly wetted, squeeze it out in your hand, as you would a sponge; and then rub it, hard, all over the face of the glass; taking care that it is not so wet that the moisture will stream down the glass. Also, if any drops get beneath the frame, and behind the glass, they will remain there, in bubbles, and cannot be dislodged, without removing the board at the back. There is no danger of any such accidents, if the newspaper is merely moistened, or damped throughout; without being so wet as to drip. After the glass has been well rubbed, with the damp paper, let it rest a minute. Then go over it with a fresh newspaper, (folded small in your hand,) till it looks clear and bright; which it will, almost immediately. Finish with a fresh piece of newspaper, thoroughly dry.

This method, simple as it is, will be found, on trial, the best and most expeditious way of cleaning mirrors, or any plate-glass; giving a clearness and polish, that cannot be so soon produced by any other process. The inside of window-panes may be cleaned in this manner; the windows having been first washed on the _outside_. Also, the glasses of spectacles, &c. The glass globe of a lamp may thus be cleaned with newspapers.

The efficacy is attributed to the materials used in making the printing-ink.

TO REMOVE DARK STAINS FROM SILVER.--There are many substances that communicate a dark, inky stain to silver spoons, forks, &c.; a stain sometimes so inveterate as to resist all common applications. A certain remedy is, to pour a little sulphuric acid into a saucer; wet with it a soft linen rag; and rub it on the blackened silver, till the stain disappears. Then brighten the article with whiting, finely powdered and sifted, and moistened with spirits of wine. When the whiting has dried on, and rested a quarter of an hour, or more, wipe it off with a silk handkerchief, and polish with a soft buckskin.

TO CLEAN RINGS, BROOCHES, AND OTHER JEWELRY.--Put a little hartshorn into a saucer; dip into it a clean, soft rag, from an old cambric handkerchief. With the rag, go carefully over the jewelry, on both sides. Then dry and polish, with another bit of soft rag; and, finally, with a soft piece of old silk. Precious stones, mosaics and cameos may be cleaned in this manner. To brighten pearls, tear off a small bit of pin-paper, (such as rows of pins are stuck in,) roll it up, and, with the end of the roll, rub each pearl, separately; renewing the paper frequently.

The application of hartshorn, rubbed on with the finger, will generally remove the stain-spots that are sometimes found on new silk, and on new kid gloves. There are few stains, indeed, that may not be obliterated by hartshorn. If too strong, dilute it with a little water. Pour out, into your saucer, but very little hartshorn, at a time, as it evaporates almost immediately.

Reddish stains, on black silk, or worsted, can, almost always, be removed by hartshorn; and the original black colour will immediately re-appear.

TO KEEP SILVER ALWAYS BRIGHT.--Silver, in constant use, should be washed every day in a pan of suds made of good white soap and warm water; drying it with old soft linen cloths. Twice a week, (after this washing,) give it a thorough brightening with finely-powdered whiting, mixed to a thin paste with alcohol; rubbing longer and harder where there are stains. Then wipe this off, and polish with clean soft old linen. Silver is cleaned in this manner at the best hotels.

PLATE POWDER.--Buy, at a druggist’s, an ounce of levigated oxide of iron, and four ounces of prepared chalk, finely pulverized. Mix them well together, and put the mixture into small boxes. Rub it, dry, on the silver, and then polish with a clean buckskin; finishing with an old silk handkerchief. This is the composition usually sold as plate powder. Its colour is a reddish brown.

POWDER FOR CLEANING GOLD LACE.--Of burnt roche-alum, powdered as fine as possible, take two ounces and a half. Mix, thoroughly, with it, half an ounce of finely-powdered chalk. Take a small, clean, dry brush; dip it into the mixture, and rub it, carefully, on gold lace, or gold embroidery, that has become tarnished. Finish with a clean piece of new canton flannel. Keep a box or bottle of this mixture, that it may be ready to use on occasion. It is equally good for silver lace, and for jewelry.

TO KEEP BRITANNIA-METAL BRIGHT.--Dip a clean woollen cloth into the best and cleanest lamp oil, and rub it, hard, all over the outside of your Britannia-ware. Then wash it well in strong soap-suds, and afterwards polish with finely-powdered whiting and a buckskin. The inside of Britannia vessels should be washed with warm water, in which a little pearlash has been dissolved. They should then be set, open, to dry in the sun and air. If not kept very nice, this metal will communicate a disagreeable taste. There is so much copper in its composition, that tea-pots or coffee-pots of china, or white-ware, are far preferable to Britannia-metal.

TO CLEAN SILVER EXPEDITIOUSLY.--Put some powdered magnesia into a saucer. Have ready a few bits of new canton flannel. It is well, in cutting out canton flannel, to save the small shavings, or clippings, for this purpose. Dip a bit of the flannel into the magnesia, and with it rub the silver, very hard. It will brighten, immediately, if there are no black stains on it. Finish, by polishing with a clean piece of the flannel, without magnesia.

Dark stains on silver are best removed by rubbing them with flannel, dipped in sulphuric acid. This should be done before any brightening substance is applied.

PASTE FOR CLEANING KNIVES.--Make a mixture, one part emery, and three parts crocus martis, in very fine powder. Mix them to a thick paste, with a little lard or sweet oil. Have your knife-board covered with a thick buff-leather. Spread this paste on your leather, to about the thickness of a quarter-dollar. Rub your knives in it, and it will make them much sharper and brighter, and will wear them out less, than the common method of cleaning with brick-dust, on a bare board.

A GOOD WAY OF CLEANING SILVER.--Mix in a cup or saucer a paste of powdered magnesia, and the best and clearest lamp oil, (whale oil,) and cover with this paste the silver that is to be cleaned. Let it rest a quarter of an hour or more; applying the paste to all the articles you intend cleaning before you begin to remove it from any one of them. Afterwards wipe it off, entirely, with a soft linen rag, and then proceed to polish the plate with a soft buckskin, and some dry magnesia. Finish with a silk handkerchief. The longer you rub, the brighter will be the silver, but you must change frequently to clean parts of the buckskin. If the silver has much chasing or ornamental frost-work, it may be necessary to take a small soft brush to clean out all the hollows and crevices. But, if possible, avoid using a brush, as it wears the silver thin.

Silver may be kept continually bright with very little trouble, by cleaning it three times a-week, or every day, with dry magnesia rubbed on with a bit of clean shaggy canton flannel that has never been washed. Scraps and clippings of woollen flannel should never be used for cleaning plate, as its roughness may scratch it.

Dark stains on silver or gold may be immediately removed (however bad) by the application of a little sulphuric acid poured into a saucer and rubbed on with a soft rag. Then polish with magnesia and canton flannel.

The colour of silver will always be injured by keeping it in a room where there is a coal fire.

The cases of gold or silver watches may be cleaned, as above, with powdered magnesia and canton flannel.

TO TAKE WHITE MARKS FROM MAHOGANY.--If a white mark has been left on a mahogany table by carelessly setting down on it a vessel of hot water, rub the place hard with a rag dipped in lamp oil; and afterwards pour on a little cologne water, or a little alcohol, and rub it dry with a clean rag.

The dish-marks left on a dining-table can of course be taken off in the same manner.

If brandy is spilt on mahogany, and leaves a whitish mark, that mark can be removed by rubbing it hard with a rag dipped in more brandy. Try it.

TO TAKE SPERMACETI OUT OF A HEARTH OR FLOOR.--First scrape off the drops of spermaceti with a knife. Then take a live coal in the tongs and hold it carefully and closely over the place. Afterwards wipe it with a rag, and then wash it with hot soap-suds.

TO REMOVE GREASE FROM A STOVE HEARTH.--When oil or any other grease has been dropped on a stove hearth, immediately cover the place with _very hot_ ashes. Afterwhile, clear away the ashes; and if the grease has not quite disappeared, repeat the process.

TO MAKE SHOES OR BOOTS WATER-PROOF.--Melt together, in a pipkin, equal quantities of bees-wax and mutton suet. While liquid, rub it over the leather, including the soles.

TO EXTRACT OIL FROM THE FLOOR OR HEARTH.--Mix together two heaped table-spoonfuls on powdered fuller’s earth; one large table-spoonful of potash or pearlash; and one large table-spoonful of soft soap. Add sufficient boiling water to make it into a thick paste. Spread it hot on the oil spot, with a broad flat stick; let it remain an hour or two. Then brush it off, and renew the application. When the grease has disappeared, scrub the place with soap and water.

This mixture is equally good for boards, stone, or marble.

TO TAKE OFF WALL PAPER.--To clear a wall from paper previous to painting or white-washing it, wet the old paper thoroughly with a long-handled brush dipped in a bucket of water, (warm water is best.) Let it rest till the water has penetrated it, and the paper blisters and loosens, so that you can peel it off with your hands. Do not wet too much at a time. If any small bits are found still adhering, wet them afresh, and scrape them off with a strong knife.

TO REMOVE PAINT FROM THE WALL OF A ROOM.--If you intend papering a painted wall, you must first get off the paint, otherwise the paper will not stick. To do this mix in a bucket with warm water a sufficient quantity of pearlash, or potash, so as to make a strong solution. Dip a brush into this, and with it scour off all the paint, finishing with cold water and a flannel.

DUSTING FURNITURE.--If a hand-brush is employed for dusting furniture it should always be followed by a cloth; and the cloth should be so used as to _wipe up_ the dust; and not merely flirted about it, so as to drive the particles from one place to another. The cloth in wiping up the dust should hold it _in_, and then be shaken frequently out of a back window. A brush or a bunch of feathers will keep the dust floating about the room; dislodging but not absorbing it; and only removing it from one article to settle it on another. Therefore a cloth is indispensable in _really_ freeing the furniture from dust. A yard of sixpenny calico, or of strong unbleached muslin, will make two small dusters or one large one. They should be hemmed or whipped over the edges, that servants may have no pretext for regarding them as mere rags, to be thrown away or torn up when dirty. It is difficult to dust well with a ragged dusting-cloth.

TO TAKE FRUIT STAINS FROM WHITE DOILIES OR NAPKINS.--The use of coloured doilies for wiping the fingers after eating fruit being nearly exploded, and small white napkins being now substituted for that purpose, let them, as soon as taken from table, be thrown _immediately_ into a large vessel of clean water. If hot water is at hand it will be better than cold. Leave them to soak during the remainder of the day. Then take them out, put them where they will dry; and you will generally find that the fruit stains have disappeared. If any remain, wet the stains with hot water, and then rub on some lemon-juice, or salt-of-lemon stain-powder; washing it off as soon as it has removed the stain. Cream of tartar will sometimes produce this effect. It is scarcely possible to get a stain out of any sort of linen after it has been previously washed with soap.

TO CLEAR CLOSETS FROM COCKROACHES.--Remove every article from the closet, scrub the shelves with lye, and then whitewash the closet walls. Next take a sufficiency of _black_ wadding, and soak it in spirits of turpentine or camphor, or a mixture of both. Then with a fork or the point of a knife, stuff it close and hard into every crevice, crack, and hole, however small. United with the copperas dye of the black wadding, the camphor and turpentine will destroy or expel the cockroaches, so that for a long time you will see no more of them. If they return, repeat the remedy; which of course will be as effective if applied to the crevices about the kitchen walls or floors. Let the closet remain empty for several days. Then place on each shelf a small plate with dry chloride of lime to dissipate the smell of the turpentine.

The preparation of phosphorus called Levy’s Exterminator, and which is to be had at the druggists’, is very destructive to cockroaches, rats, and mice. Cover with it a slice of bread and butter, then sprinkle on some brown sugar, and lay it in places where these vermin have been seen.

A mixture in the proportion of three table-spoonfuls of meal, and one table-spoonful of red lead, wetted to a thin paste with West India molasses, if laid on old plates, and set about their haunts, is very efficacious in expelling cockroaches.

These remedies are all good; and if used perseveringly and always resumed, as soon as the cockroaches begin to appear again, there will be but little trouble with these detestable insects. Nothing has yet been found that can banish them from a house so effectually as to preclude all danger of their ever returning. But much comfort is gained by even a temporary relief from them.

If an insect gets into the ear it may be destroyed by pouring in a little sweet oil. They have been sometimes enticed out, by applying to the ear a piece of ripe peach or apple.

SMALL COCKROACHES.--Many houses are much infested with small brown cockroaches, which are especially troublesome and disgusting from their disposition to get into bureaus, wardrobes, trunks, and even band-boxes. They will soon depart, if bunches of pennyroyal (as fresh as you can get it, and frequently renewed) are laid in all the places where they have appeared, or are likely to come. Pennyroyal is to be generally bought in market at the very trifling cost of one cent a bunch. At any season it can be had at the druggists’, and at the garden stores. Rags dipped in oil of pennyroyal, and laid about their haunts, will frequently expel these cockroaches. But every one that is seen should be immediately killed, and not merely brushed off, to run to another place. There is little difficulty in keeping a house free from cockroaches and all other vermin, if the remedies are applied in time, and with perseverance.

The very bad practice of using old bricks for cellar-walls and back-buildings, is the chief cause of new houses becoming immediately infested with cockroaches, &c. They have in this way been introduced at once into some very elegant mansions in Philadelphia, where old bricks have been used for the cellars; these bricks having originally belonged to old almshouses, long since pulled down. To buy such bricks, however cheap, is a miserable economy.

TO DESTROY CRICKETS.--Mix some powdered arsenic with roasted apple, and put it into the cracks and holes whence the crickets issue. It will effectually destroy them. And cockroaches also.

TO EXPEL FLEAS.--Get some pennyroyal. Having stripped the leaves from the stalks, stuff them into little bags, made of muslin or thin calico, and sewed up all round. Lay these bags among the bedding, and the pennyroyal will send away the fleas. If more convenient, sprinkle the bedding with oil or essence of pennyroyal. When travelling, it is well to take with you some little bags of pennyroyal, in case you should have to sleep in a bed infested with fleas.

Camphor is also a good remedy against fleas.

Pennyroyal will generally expel the small brown cockroaches, if bunches of it are kept constantly in the closets, wardrobes, bureaus, &c. It is likewise an excellent remedy against wood-ticks; keeping some of it about you, if obliged to go into places where these intolerable insects abound. When the wood-ticks fasten on the skin, brush them with a bunch of pennyroyal, and they will fall off immediately.

TO DESTROY BED-BUGS.--Among the numerous ways of destroying bugs, there is none better than to wash carefully, with a solution of corrosive sublimate in spirits of wine, all the cracks and crevices of the bedstead, at least once a week; taking care to throw out directly whatever may remain in the bowl or saucer, which should at once be washed clean in hot water. Corrosive sublimate is a most deadly poison, if even a small quantity is swallowed. One of the best remedies for it, is to take _immediately_ a large quantity of sweet oil.

Mercurial ointment, rubbed once a week into all the joints and crevices of the bedstead, is an excellent destroyer of bugs. It can best be rubbed in with the finger. Leave it on the bedstead without wiping off; and do not put on the bedding till evening.

TO DESTROY FLIES.--Get, at a druggist’s, some Egyptian or Fly-killing paper. Lay a piece of it on an old plate, and keep it moist by wetting it frequently with water. It will soon be found covered with dead flies. Shake them off, and wet the paper again.

Or mix together a table-spoonful of powdered black pepper, the same quantity of brown sugar, and as much milk as will make it into a thin paste. Set it about on saucers. It will attract the flies, and they will die on eating it.

TO DESTROY GARDEN ANTS.--Mix together half a pound of flour of brimstone, and four ounces of potash. Put them into an iron pot or pan, and stir it over the fire till they are dissolved, and well incorporated. Then pound them to a powder. Put the powder into a glass jar, with a cover, and keep it for use. Infuse some of this powder in a cup of water, and sprinkle with it the places that are infested by ants. They will soon disappear.

TO EXPEL SMALL ANTS.--Mix a tea-spoonful of tartar emetic in two table-spoonfuls of molasses. Stir this into a small saucer of water, and set it where you have seen the ants. Let it remain all night; and in the morning you will find a great number of ants lying dead on the surface of the water, and the others will have been frightened away. Skim off the dead ants, and set the saucer in any other place where these insects have appeared. This we know, by experience, to be an excellent remedy for the little ants with which so many houses are infested, and which swarm over sweet things.

MICE.--An excellent preparation for expelling mice and rats is Levy’s Exterminator, spread upon bread or cheese, and laid about the places they frequent. It is a preparation of phosphorus; and after one mouse has eaten it and (of course) died, the others will disappear. It is to be had of most druggists; and will also destroy cockroaches, by spreading it on bits of cake or something similar, and laying it at night on the kitchen hearth, and in the closets. We highly recommend it.

If you propose to destroy a mouse by arsenic spread on bread and butter, sprinkle on the arsenic a drop or two of oil of rhodium, and the mouse will unfailingly be attracted to the poison. Place beside it a saucer of water, and as soon as he has eaten of the poisoned bread and butter, he will drink, and then die on the spot.

Oil of aniseed, spread on the bait, will attract them into a trap.

TO DESTROY CATERPILLARS.--Mix together twelve ounces of powdered quick-lime, two ounces of snuff, two ounces of fine salt, and two ounces of powdered sulphur. Strew this mixture over the caterpillars, or dissolve it in five gallons of water; keep it in a convenient vessel, and sprinkle with it places where they abound.

Any garden insects may be destroyed in this manner.

TO DESTROY WORMS IN GARDEN WALKS.--Pour into the worm-holes a strong lye, made of wood-ashes, lime, and water. Or, if more convenient, use, for this purpose, strong salt and water.

TO DESTROY THE BEE-MILLER.--This insect, whose night-visits are so destructive to bees, may be destroyed by mixing a large wine-glass of vinegar with a pint of water, that has been made very sweet with honey. Set it in a bowl on the top of the hive, or beside it. It will attract the miller, and then drown him.

TO MAKE THE HANDS SMOOTH AND SOFT.--For this purpose there is nothing nicer than the beautiful, fragrant, and delicate composition called Almond Cream, (Crême d’Amandes.) This almond cream (which must not be confounded with another preparation called Amandine) is, when fresh, very soft and white, and resembles ice-cream in appearance. To use it--first dip your hands into a basin of water, and then put on one of the palms a very small portion of the almond cream, (not larger than a grain of indian corn,) and with the other hand rub it to a lather. Rub it well into your hands and all over them before you wash it off. We know, by experience, that this is the best of all preparations for keeping the hands in nice order. If used every day, it will effectually prevent the skin from chapping in cold weather; and will remove any roughness caused by incidental employments, or by putting the hands into salt water. We earnestly recommend it. Keep it closely covered. If you live where it can be easily procured, do not get more than one gallicup at a time, as almond cream is always best when freshly made. Exposure to the air hardens and discolours it.

Another very excellent article for the hands is sand-soap, or sand wash-balls,--a preparation of soap mixed with fine sea-sand. There is nothing superior to it for washing the hands of boys, and of all persons whose business obliges them to use much manual exertion. Also, the hands of the most delicate lady will be rendered still softer and smoother by the daily use of sand-soap. Try it--but not for the face or neck.

Sand-soap is made by shaving down and melting some white soap, and then stirring into it, while warm, an equal quantity of fine dry sea-sand. Put it, warm, into square moulds, or roll portions of the mixture between your hands, so as to form balls. Set them in a dark place to dry gradually.

TO REMOVE CORNS FROM BETWEEN THE TOES.--These corns are generally more painful than any others, and are frequently situated as to be almost inaccessible to the usual remedies. Wetting them several times a day with hartshorn will in most cases cure them. Try it.

TO ALLAY PAIN IN THE FEET WHEN CAUSED BY FATIGUE.--If your feet become painful from walking or standing too long, put them as soon as you can into warm salt and water, mixed in the proportion of two large handfuls of salt to a gallon of water. Sea-water made warm is still better, if you can conveniently procure it. Keep your feet and ankles in the salt water till it begins to feel cool, rubbing them well with your hands. Then wipe them dry, and rub them long and hard with a coarse thick towel, or with a hair glove. Where the feet are tender and easily fatigued, it is an excellent practice to go through this process regularly every night, or every morning, or both; also employing it without fail always on coming home from a walk. With perseverance this has cured neuralgia in the feet.

To prevent any roughness that may ensue after taking your hands out of the brine, wash them immediately with soap; or what is still better, with almond cream, first dipping them into cold water, and then rubbing on a little of the above composition till it forms a lather. Almond cream is much used by gentlemen as a shaving soap, but it is also a very pleasant and useful article for a ladies washing-stand, being excellent for smoothing the hands, and preventing their chopping in cold weather. It is well to get but a small box at a time, as exposure to the air somewhat dries and discolours it. It should be kept closely covered.

Chilblains or frost-bitten feet may be cured or prevented by dipping the feet night and morning into _cold_ water. Then taking them out and wiping them dry with a coarse towel. Persevere, and you will find the remedy effectual.

RELIEF FOR RHEUMATIC PAINS.--Bathe the afflicted part at night and morning, and frequently through the day, with warm salt and water, (mixed in the proportion of two handfuls of salt to a quart of water,) rubbing it well into the skin. Do this near the fire, or in a warm room; avoiding exposure to a draught of air. Sea-water heated over the fire will answer the purpose still better.

A table-spoonful of Hopkins’s Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla, taken thrice a day, and persevered in for six or eight weeks, has frequently cured a chronic rheumatism.

Swaim’s Panacea has effected wonderful cures in rheumatism of long standing.

RELIEF FOR A SPRAINED ANKLE.--Wash the ankle very frequently with _cold_ salt and water, which is far better than warm vinegar or decoctions of herbs. Keep your foot as cool as possible to prevent inflammation; and sit with it elevated on a high cushion. Live on very low diet, and take every day some cooling medicine; for instance epsom salts. By observing these directions _only_, a sprained ankle has been cured in a few days.

BATHING THE FEET.--In bathing the feet of a sick person, use at the beginning, tepid or lukewarm water. Have ready in a tea-kettle or covered pitcher, some _hot_ water, of which pour in a little at intervals; so as gradually to increase the temperature of the foot bath, till it becomes as warm as it can be borne with comfort; after which, the feet should be taken out before the water cools. This is a much better way than to put them at first into very warm water, and let it grow cool before they are taken out. Clean stockings, well warmed, should be ready to put on the feet as soon as they are out of the water, and have been rubbed dry with a flannel.

CURE FOR A RUN-ROUND.--That disease of the finger or toe commonly called a _run-round_, may be easily cured by a remedy so simple that persons who have not seen it tried are generally incredulous as to its efficacy. The first symptoms of the complaint are heat, pain, swelling, and redness at the top of the nail. The inflammation, if not checked, will soon go round the whole of the nail, causing intense pain, accompanied by a festering or gathering of yellow matter, and ending in the loss of the nail. To prevent all this, as soon as the first symptoms of swelling and inflammation commence, lay the finger flat on the table, and let the nail be scratched, all over with the sharp point of a pair of scissors, or a penknife. This excoriation must be done first crossways, and then lengthways, so as thoroughly to scratch up the _whole surface_ of the nail, leaving it rough and white. This little operation does not give the slightest pain; and we have never, _in a single instance_, known it fail. By next morning the finger will be well. If done before the festering commences, it is a _certain_ and speedy cure. And it will even succeed at a later stage of the disease, by first opening with a needle that part of the swelling where the yellow matter has begun to appear; and afterwards by scratching up the surface of the nail with scissors or penknife.

Hard horny warts on the hands can be cured _positively_, and without pain, by touching their tops twice a day or more with a clean quill pen, dipped in aquafortis. The wart, after a few applications of the aquafortis, will turn brown, and crumble till it falls off.