Chapter XI: Part 11

For ring-worms there is no remedy so good as mercurial ointment, rubbed on it at night, and not washed off till morning. It causes no pain, and by repetition will _always_ effect a cure.

TO APPLY AN EYE-STONE.--Eye-stones are frequently used to extract motes from the eye, sparks from steam-engines, and other extraneous substances. They are to be procured at the druggists’. They cost but two or three cents a piece; and it is well to get several, that in case one fails you may try another. To give an eye-stone activity, lay it for about five minutes in a saucer of vinegar and water; and if it is a good one it will soon begin to move or swim round in the liquid. Then wipe it dry, and let it be introduced beneath the eye-lid, binding a handkerchief closely round the eye. The eye-stone will make the circuit of the eye, and in its progress take up the mote, which it will bring with it, when on the pain ceasing, the handkerchief is removed. Eye-stones are the eyes of lobsters.

When a mote or spark gets into your eye, immediately pull down the lower eye-lash; and, at the same moment with a handkerchief in your hand, blow your nose violently. This will frequently expel the mote without further trouble. A mote will sometimes come out by merely holding your eye wide open in a cup or glass filled to the brim with clear cold water. Or, take a pin, and wrapping its head in the corner of a soft cambric handkerchief, sweep carefully round the eye with it, above and below, inserting it under the lid. This should be done with a firm and steady hand, and will often bring out the mote. Another way is to take a long clean bristle from a brush, tie the ends together with a bit of thread so as to form a loop, and sweep round the eye with it, so that the loop may catch the mote and bring it out.

A particle of iron or steel, has, _we know_, been extracted from the eye, by holding near it a powerful magnet.

Rail-road sparks, &c., have frequently been removed from the eye by introducing the feather-end of a quill, and sweeping it round beneath the edge of the lid. If done with care and dexterity it will generally succeed.

CURE FOR THE TETTER.--Obtain at a druggist’s an ounce of sulphur_et_ of potash. Be careful to ask for this article _precisely_. It is a preparation of sulphur and potash. Put the sulphuret into a large glass jar; pour on it a quart of cold soft water; and leave it to dissolve, having first corked it tightly. Afterwards add to it a wine-glass of rose-water. It may be more convenient afterwards to transfer it to smaller bottles, taking care to leave them closely corked. Pour into each a table-spoonful or more of rose-water. To use it, pour a little into a saucer, and dipping in a soft sponge, bathe the eruption five or six times a day. Persist, and, in most cases, it will very soon effect a cure. It is, indeed, a safe and most excellent remedy. Should the tetter re-appear with the return of cold weather, immediately resume the use of this solution. A bath in which sulphuret of potash was dissolved in water (in the above proportions) has succeeded in curing the tetter after the eruption had spread all over the body of a child.

CURE FOR EXCORIATED NOSTRILS.--If, after a severe cold in the head, the inside of the nostrils continue sore and inflamed, rub them lightly with a little kreosote ointment, applied to the interior of your nose with the finger. Do this at night, and several times during the day. It will very soon effect a cure; often in twenty-four hours.

FOR A CHAFED UPPER LIP.--For a chafed upper lip and soreness of the end of the nose, such as generally accompanies a cold in the head or influenza, much relief may be found from the homely remedy of greasing the excoriation, at night on going to bed, with a bit of mutton tallow (that of a candle will do) held to the fire to soften. Extend the application over all the nose and even between the eyes. It is well to keep always in the house some nice tallow, prepared by boiling and skimming a sufficient quantity of fresh mutton fat, (there must not be a particle of salt about it,) and then pouring it warm into gallicups, which should be closely covered as soon as the liquid has congealed.

CURE FOR PRICKLY HEAT.--Mix a _large_ portion of wheat bran with either cold or lukewarm water, and use it as a bath twice or thrice a day. Children who are covered with prickly heat in warm weather will be thus effectually relieved from that tormenting eruption. As soon as it begins to appear on the neck, face, or arms, commence using the bran-water on these parts repeatedly through the day, and it may probably spread no farther. If it does, the bran-water bath will certainly cure it, if persisted in.

BROWN MIXTURE FOR A COUGH.--Mix in a large bottle, half an ounce of liquorice; a quarter of an ounce of gum-arabic; two tea-spoonfuls of antimonial wine; sixty drops of laudanum; and half a pint of water. Shake it well, and when the ingredients are thoroughly amalgamated it will be fit for use. For a cold and cough, take a dessert-spoonful three or four times a day, shaking or stirring it first.

RED LIP SALVE.--Mix together equal portions of the best suet and the best lard. There must be no salt about them. Boil slowly, and skim and stir the mixture. Then add a small thin bag of alkanet chips; and when it has coloured the mixture of a fine deep red, take it out. While cooling, stir in, very hard, sufficient rose or orange-flower water to give it a fine perfume. A few drops of oil of rhodium will impart to it a very agreeable rose-scent.

Cold cream for excoriated nostrils, chafed upper lips, or chapped hands may be made nearly as above, but with one-third suet, and two-thirds lard, and no alkanet. When it has boiled thoroughly, remove it from the fire, and stir in, gradually, a large portion of rose-water, or a little oil of rhodium, beating very hard. Put it into small gallicups, with close covers.

MUSTARD PLASTERS.--Mustard plasters are frequently very efficacious in rheumatic or other pains occasioned by cold. It is best to make them entirely of mustard and vinegar without any mixture of flour. They should be spread between two pieces of thin muslin, and bound on the part affected. As soon as the irritation or burning becomes uncomfortable, take off the plaster. They should never remain on longer than twenty minutes; as by that time the beneficial effect will be produced, if at all. When a mustard plaster has been taken off, wash the part tenderly with a sponge and warm water. If the irritation on the skin continues troublesome, apply successive poultices of grated bread-crumbs wetted with lead water.

A mustard plaster behind the ear will often remove a toothache, earache, or a rheumatic pain in the head. Applied to the wrists they will frequently check an ague-fit, if put on as soon as the first symptoms of chill evince themselves.

OPODELDOC.--Take an ounce of gum camphor; half a drachm of oil of rosemary; half a drachm of oil of origanum; two ounces of castile soap cut small; and half a pint of spirits of wine. Boil these all together for half an hour after the boiling has commenced. Let the mixture cool in the vessel, and then bottle it for use. It is a good embrocation for bruises, sprains, stiffness of the neck and shoulder, and for rheumatic pains.

CAMPHOR SPIRITS.--Break up into small bits an ounce of gum camphor, and put it into a pint glass bottle. Then fill up with spirits of wine, cork it, and leave the camphor to dissolve, shaking it occasionally. This will be found quite as good as the camphor spirits obtained at the druggist’s, and the cost will be far less. It is well to keep a bottle of it always in the house. When taken to remove faintness or nervous affections, pour a few drops into a wine-glass of water. Camphor kept for external use is best when dissolved in whisky, as it produces less irritation of the skin than when melted in alcohol.

The pain of a fly-blister will be much alleviated by sprinkling powdered gum camphor thickly over the surface of the plaster before it is put on. This should always be done.

REMEDY FOR ARSENIC.--Dissolve a few scruples of sulphuret of potash in half a pint, or a pint of water, and administer it a little at a time, as the patient can bear it; having first given the white of an egg.

Another remedy is to mix two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard with sufficient warm water to thin it, so as to make it easy to swallow. It acts as an emetic, and is good for any poison.

ANTIDOTE TO CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE.--If corrosive sublimate (one of the worst poisons) has been swallowed, immediately drink a large quantity of olive oil, even the whole contents of a flask; or more, indeed, if that is not found sufficient. This remedy, if taken in time, is always efficacious. If it cannot be _immediately_ obtained, try white of egg.

REMEDY FOR AN OVER-DOSE OF LAUDANUM.--A cup of the _strongest possible_ coffee has been known to keep the patient awake, and effect a positive cure when all other means have failed. After the fatal sleep has been thus prevented, and the patient is thoroughly roused and excited, let an emetic be administered.

MEDICATED PRUNES.--Take a quarter of an ounce of senna and manna (obtained ready mixed from the druggists’) and pour on it not quite a pint of boiling water. Cover it; set it by the fire; and let it infuse for an hour. If the vessel in which you prepare it has a spout, stop up the spout with a roll or wad of soft paper. This should always be done in making herb teas, or other decoctions; as a portion of the strength evaporates at the spout. When the infusion of senna and manna has thus stood an hour at the fire, strain it into a skillet or sauce-pan (one lined with porcelain will be best) and stir in a large wine-glass or a small teacup-full of West India molasses. Add about half a pound or more of the best prunes; putting in sufficient prunes to absorb all the liquid during the process of stewing. Then cover the vessel closely, and let it stew (stirring it up occasionally) for an hour; or till you find the stones of the prunes are all loose. If stewed too long, the prunes will taste weak and insipid. When done, put it into a dish to cool; and pick out all the stones. If properly prepared there will be no perceptible taste of the senna and manna. It may be given to children at their lunch or supper.

FINE HOARHOUND CANDY.--Take a large bunch of the herb hoarhound, as green and fresh as you can get it. Having picked it clean, and washed it, cut it up (leaves and stalks) with scissors. Scald, twice, a china tea-pot or a covered pitcher; then empty it of the hot water. Put in the hoarhound, pressing it down with your hands. The pot should be about two-thirds full of the herb. Then fill it up with boiling water; cover it closely, and wedge a small roll of paper tightly into the mouth of the spout, to prevent any of the strength escaping with the steam. Set it close to the fire to infuse, and keep it there till it begins to boil. Then immediately take it away, and strain it into another vessel. Mix with the liquid sufficient powdered loaf-sugar to make it a very thick paste. When the sugar is in, set it over the fire, and give it a boil, stirring and skimming it well. Take a shallow, square tin pan, grease it slightly with sweet oil, and put into it the candy, as soon as it is well boiled; smoothing the surface with a wet knife-blade. Sift over it some powdered sugar. Set it away to cool; and when nearly congealed, score it in squares. It is a well-known remedy for coughs and hoarseness.

If you find it too thin, you may stir in, while boiling, a spoonful of flour, of arrow-root, or of finely-powdered starch.

Another way of making this candy is, to boil the hoarhound in barely as much water as will cover it, and till all the juice is extracted. Then squeeze it through a cloth, and give the strained liquid another boil, stirring in, gradually, sugar enough to make it very thick and stiff. Afterwards sift sugar over a shallow tin pan, fill it with the paste, and leave it to congeal; scoring it in squares before it is quite hard.

Any herb-candy may be made as above.

FINE LAVENDER COMPOUND.--For this purpose, use lavender buds, gathered just before they are ready to blow. As soon as the blossom expands into a flower, a portion of its strength and fragrance immediately evaporates. This is also the case with roses; which, for rose-water, should always be gathered, not after they are blown, but when just about to open.

Having stripped the lavender buds from the stalks, measure a pint of the buds, and mix with them half an ounce of whole mace; half an ounce of whole cloves; two nutmegs broken up, but not grated; and half an ounce of powdered cochineal. Put the whole into a large glass jar, and pour in a quart of the best French brandy. Cover the jar closely; making it completely air-tight by the addition of strong paper, pasted down over the cover. Set it away, and leave the ingredients to infuse, undisturbed, for a month. Then strain it into a pitcher; and from the pitcher pour it through a funnel into bottles; corking them tightly. It is a well-known remedy for flatulence, and pains and sickness of the stomach. To use it, put some loaf-sugar into a spoon, and pour on sufficient lavender to soften the sugar; then eat it.

Instead of cochineal, you may give a fine red colour to lavender compound by tying up a quarter of an ounce of alkanet in a thin muslin bag, (seeing that the alkanet is free from dust,) and putting the bag into the jar while the other ingredients are infusing in the brandy.

BLACKBERRY SYRUP.--Take a sufficient quantity of fine, ripe, sweet blackberries. Put them into a sieve placed over a large broad pan; and with a clean potatoe-masher, (or something similar,) mash the blackberries, and press out all their juice. Or (having bruised them first) put the blackberries into a linen bag, and squeeze out all the juice into a vessel placed beneath. Measure it; and to every quart of the strained juice allow half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar; a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon; the same of powdered cloves; and a large nutmeg grated. Mix the spices with the juice and sugar, and boil all together in a porcelain preserving-kettle; skimming it well. When cold, stir into each quart of the syrup half a pint of fourth-proof brandy. Then bottle it for use. This is a good family medicine; and is beneficial in complaints incident to summer. It should be administered, (at proper intervals,) from a tea-spoonful to a wine-glassful, according to the age of the patient.

RHUBARB BITTERS.--Take two ounces of rhubarb root; half an ounce of cardamom seeds; one drachm of Virginia snake-root; and half a drachm of gentian root. Put these articles into a large bottle, and pour on it a quart of good brandy.

It is excellent for children in complaints incident to summer weather.

TO PREVENT A JUG OF MOLASSES FROM RUNNING OVER.--A jug or bottle of molasses frequently causes inconvenience by working over at the top, after coming from the grocer’s, and being set in a room or closet that is warmer than the place from which it was brought. To prevent this--as soon as you receive it, pour out a portion into another vessel; for instance, into a pitcher or bowl. Then set the jug of molasses into a deep pan or basin, and leave it _uncorked_ till next day. By that time, all danger from fermentation will have subsided. Then cork it tightly, and set it away. Keep always under the bottom of the jug an old plate, or a double piece of thick paper to receive any drippings that may run down the sides. Never bring molasses to table without a plate or saucer under the vessel that contains it.

West India molasses is far more wholesome and nourishing than any other, and is decidedly the best for gingerbread, molasses-candy, indian-puddings, &c. Sugar-house molasses, if used for those articles, will render them hard and tough.

TO EXTINGUISH A COAL FIRE.--Many persons who burn anthracite coal in their chambers, have suffered great inconvenience from not knowing how to extinguish it before they go to bed. The process is very simple, and always successful. Lift off with the tongs any large coals that may lie on the top, and lay them on the iron hearth of the grate; they will make good cinders to burn next day in a close-stove or furnace. Then shut up the tongs, and with them make a hollow or deep cavity just in the centre of the fire, heaping up the coals like a hill on each side, and making the tongs go down to the bottom of the grate. If there are not many coals, you may do this with the poker. The fire will immediately begin to fade and deaden; and in less than ten minutes, it will be entirely out, without farther trouble; unless it has been very large, and then it may require a second stirring.

In the morning, let the grate be cleared _entirely_ of all the cinders and ashes, and swept out clean with a brush. Cover the bottom of the grate with a sort of flooring of small fresh coal, before you put in the kindlings; otherwise, after the kindlings (wood or charcoal) are lighted, they will burn away immediately, and fall through the bottom bars of the grate, before they have had time to ignite the coal that has been laid above them; so that the grate will have to be again cleared out, fresh kindlings brought, and the fire built up anew, before it can possibly succeed.

The above way of extinguishing a coal-fire answers equally well for a close-stove or a furnace.

The heat of a grate may be considerably diminished by standing up the blower against it; the bottom of the blower resting on the hearth. To lessen the heat of a close-stove, leave open the large door of the stove. In the same manner diminish the heat of a furnace.

LAUNDRY-WORK, NEEDLE-WORK, ETC.

SODA SOAP.--Take six pounds of the best brown soap, and cut it into pieces. Put it into a large wash-kettle, and pour on seven gallons and a half of clear soft water. Next stir in six pounds of washing-soda, (sub-carbonate,) set it over the fire, and let it boil two hours after it has come to a boil. Then strain it into stone jars; cover it, and put it away. It must be used for _white clothes only_, as it will fade coloured things. Put the clothes in soak the night before, in tubs of cold water; having first rubbed the grease spots with wet fuller’s earth, (scraped fine,) and the stains with wet cream of tartar. Allow a pound of the soda soap to a bucket of water, and put it over the fire in a wash-kettle. When the water is warm, put in as many white clothes as convenient; seeing that there is water enough to cover them well. Boil them an hour; occasionally moving them up and down with the clothes-stick. Then take them out, and finish washing them in the usual way. The soda soap will whiten them very much; but if used in a larger quantity than the above proportion, it will injure them greatly. We do not recommend any soda preparation for washing, unless it can be used under the immediate inspection of a good housekeeper; most servants and washerwomen being very apt to employ it too freely, if left to themselves.

SOFT SOAP MADE WITH POTASH.--Put twelve pounds of potash into a barrel, and then pour in water till the barrel is half full. Stir the potash several times, while it is dissolving in the water. Have ready twelve pounds of good soap-fat, and melt it over the fire in a large kettle. Then stir it, gradually, into the barrel with the dissolved potash. After standing a quarter of an hour, fill up the barrel with cold water; and stir it hard. This process will form an excellent soft soap.

COLD STARCH FOR LINEN.--Take a quarter of a pint, or as much of the best raw starch as will half fill a common-sized tumbler. Fill it nearly up with very clear cold water. Mix it well with a spoon, pressing out all the lumps, till you get it thoroughly dissolved, and very smooth. Next add a tea-spoonful of salt to prevent its sticking. Then pour it into a broad earthen pan; add, gradually, a pint of clear cold water; and stir and mix it well. Do not boil it.

The shirts having been washed and dried, dip the collars and wristbands into this starch, and then squeeze them out. Between each dipping, stir it up from the bottom with a spoon. Then sprinkle the shirts, and fold or roll them up, with the collars and wristbands folded evenly inside. They will be ready to iron in an hour.

This quantity of cold starch is amply sufficient for the collars and wristbands of half a dozen shirts. Any article of cambric muslin may be done up with cold starch made as above.

Poland starch is better than any other. It is to be had at most grocery stores.

Cold starch will not do for thin muslin, or for any thing that is to be clapped and cleared. It is very convenient for linen, &c., in summer, as it requires no boiling over the fire. Also, it goes farther than boiled starch.

TO WASH WHITE SATIN RIBBON.--Make a strong lather of clear cold water and the best white soap. Squeeze and press the ribbon through this, till it looks quite clean; but do not rub it, as that will cause it to fray. Then make a fresh lather of white soap and cold water, and squeeze the ribbon through that. Do not rinse it, as the suds remaining in the ribbon will give it the proper stiffness. Pull and stretch it evenly; and then iron it on the wrong side while it is still damp. When quite dry, roll it on a ribbon-block; wrap it closely in coarse brown paper; and put it away till you want to use it. None but plain unfigured white satin ribbon of very good quality, can be washed to advantage. The day before washing it, rub some magnesia upon any grease that may be on the ribbon, and some cream of tartar on the stains.

In winding several pieces of ribbon on the same block, always put the end of each successive piece _under_ that of the last, instead of _over_ it; and wind the whole tight and smoothly. Secure the last end with two very small minikin pins; as large pins will make conspicuous holes all through, and probably leave a brassy or greenish stain. The ribbon-block should on no account be narrower than the ribbon.

A small white silk handkerchief may be washed as above, if thick and unfigured.

TO CLEAN SILK SHAWLS OR SCARFS.--Mix together a quarter of a pound of soft soap; a tea-spoonful of brandy; and a pint of whisky or gin; stirring them hard. Spread the shawl on a clean _linen_ cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the mixture, go carefully over it on both sides. The shawl should be kept even, by placing weights along the edges. Dry it in the shade. Then wash (or rather squeeze it) in two or three cold waters without soap; stretch it, and hang it out again; and when almost dry, iron it.

TO CLEAN A SILK DRESS.--Rip the dress entirely apart. Take large raw potatoes, and allow a pint of cold water to each potatoe. Having pared the potatoes, grate them into the basin of water. Cover it; and let it stand three hours, or more. Then pour it carefully off, into a broad pan; leaving the sediment or coarse part of the grated potatoes at the bottom of the basin. Having spread a clean linen cloth on a large ironing table, and put some irons down to the fire, lay the silk (a breadth at a time) upon the cloth, and with a clean sponge dipped in the potatoe-water, go all over it, on the wrong side. Then hang that breadth out upon a line; stretch it evenly, and leave it to dry. Take another breadth; sponge it with the potatoe-water; hang it out; and proceed in the same manner till all the silk is done. By the time the whole has been sponged and hung out, the first breadths will in all probability be dry enough to iron. It must be ironed on the wrong side.

The sleeves must be taken out and ripped open, before sponging them. Each piece of the body must, of course, be done separately.

FRENCH METHOD OF WASHING COLOURED SILK CRAVATS, SCARFS, SHAWLS, &c.--Make a mixture of the following articles in a large flat dish. A large table-spoonful of soft soap, or of hard _brown_ soap shaved fine, (white soap will not do,) a small tea-spoonful of strained honey, and a pint of spirits of wine. Have ready a large brush (for instance a clothes-brush) made perfectly clean. Lay the silk on a board or on an ironing-table; stretching the article evenly, and securing it in its place by weights set round upon its edges. Then dip the brush into the mixture, and with it go all over the silk, lengthways of the texture; beginning at that part of the silk which is least seen when worn; and trying a little at a time till you have ascertained the effect. If you find the colour of the silk changed by the liquid, weaken it by adding a little more spirits of wine. Brocaded silks cannot be washed this way.

Having gone carefully over the whole of the article, dip it, up and down, in a bucket of clean water, but do not squeeze or wring it. Repeat this through another clean water, and then through a third. Afterwards spread it on a line to dry, but without any squeezing or wringing. Let it dry slowly. While still damp, take it down; pull it, and stretch it even; then roll or fold it up; and let it rest a few minutes. Have irons ready, and iron the silk; taking care that the iron is not so hot as to change the colour.

The above quantity of the washing-mixture is sufficient for about half a dozen silk handkerchiefs; for a silk apron; or for one shawl; or for two scarfs, if not very long. If there is fringe on the scarfs it is best to take it off and replace it with new; or else to gather the ends of the scarfs, and finish them with a tassel or ball.

Gentlemen’s silk or chaly cravats may be made to look very well washed in this manner. Ribbons also, if thick and rich. Indeed whatever is washed by this process should be of excellent quality. A dress must be previously taken apart.

This is also a good method for washing a white blond veil or scarf; using a soft sponge instead of a brush, and making the mixture with rather less soap and honey. When dry, lay the blond in smooth even folds, within a large sheet of smooth nankeen paper. Press it for a few days in a large quarto or folio book. Do not iron it.

TO MAKE THREAD LACE LOOK ALWAYS NEW.--Thread lace should never be sewed fast, or washed upon the article of which it forms the trimming. It should be merely run on, or basted with short stitches; so as to draw out the thread easily, when the lace is taken off for washing. The trouble is nothing in comparison to the advantage. In the first place, thread lace, to look well and last long, should never be touched with starch. Starching thread lace injures the texture, (causing the threads to break,) and gives it a hard, stiff appearance. If sewed fast, and washed and done up with the muslin collar or pelerine, it shrinks and thickens up among the gathers, and partakes of the starch that has been used for the muslin; and, of course, can have no resemblance to new lace that has never been washed at all. Again, it will not last half so long, as if always taken off, and done up separately from the muslin.

Every lady should have at least two lace bottles, as it is not well to wind more than three or four yards of lace upon one bottle. They should be straight black bottles of the largest size, and it is well to buy them new for the purpose; otherwise something of their former contents may come out when boiling, and injure the lace. Also there may be remains of wax, rosin, or some other cement, lingering about the place where the cork was; and this will melt in the water, and cause the lace to look streaked. The bottles being perfectly clean, (inside and out,) cover them with thick, strong, new white linen, sewed on tightly and smoothly, with coarse thread. When not in use, keep them wrapped up in clean paper.

Having taken off the lace from the article on which it was basted, begin near the bottom of the bottle; tack one end of the lace with a needle and strong thread to the linen; and wind it smoothly round with the edge downward; and all the scollops smooth, so that none may be creased or curled inward. Wind the lace on the bottle in such a manner as to leave the scolloped or pattern-edge visible all round; and finish just below the neck of the bottle. Then tack down with the needle and thread the last or terminating end of the lace. Early in the evening put the bottle with the lace into a clean _earthen_ or white-ware vessel, filled with clear cold water, and let it soak till bed-time. Then change the water, and let it soak all night.

In the morning, fill a clean porcelain kettle, or a deep earthen pipkin, with a strong suds of clear soft water and the best white soap. Into this, put the bottle with the lace on it; having tied a twine string round the neck of the bottle so as to make it fast to the handles or the rim of the vessel, that it may be kept as steady as possible while boiling. It must on no account be boiled in a tin or iron vessel, as the lace will then certainly be discoloured. Set the vessel over hot coals or in a stove; and keep it boiling regularly till the lace looks quite white. If very dirty, it will be necessary to change the water for a clean fresh suds. It may boil from an hour to an hour and a half; but take it out as soon as it looks clean and white. Then turn up the bottle to drain off the suds, and set it (without rinsing) in the sun. Keep it in the sun till the lace dries on the bottle. When _quite_ dry, take it off; stretch or pull down each scollop separately with your thumb and finger; and then wind the lace evenly and smoothly on a ribbon-block of somewhat broader width. You can get ribbon-blocks at the stores where ribbons are sold, and you will find them very useful. Wrap the block with the lace on it in soft _brown_ paper, and put it away till you want it for use. If you have no ribbon-block, fold or roll up a piece of smooth clean paper, and roll the lace round it. Never wrap any thing in printed paper.

The above method of cleaning thread lace, (without rubbing, squeezing, rinsing, starching, or ironing,) as it is the most simple and easy, is also the most certain of success. In fact we can confidently assert that there is no other so good; and we only ask a trial of its efficacy; well-assured that every lady who has once had her lace washed in this manner will continue it; as it makes it look always new. Of course, it should be done on a clear bright day, and the hotter the sun the better. If you have more than one lace bottle to boil, they may be put into a brass or bell-metal wash-kettle, (previously made very clean,) but remember that no tin or iron must be used for this purpose. If the coating or lining of an enamelled or porcelain kettle is the least cracked or scaled off, do not boil the lace in it, or it will be stained with iron mould.

Thread lace done _exactly_ according to these directions, has the look, feel, transparency, and consistence of new lace that has never been washed at all; and may easily be mistaken for it. Drying in the soap-suds gives it just the right stiffness, and it will last much longer than if washed in the old manner with squeezing, rinsing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

Before your lace is sewed on the bottle, look over it, and see if it requires any mending. There is a lace-stitch done with _very fine_ thread, that, when neatly executed, renders a mended place imperceptible. It may be learned in a few minutes by seeing it done, but cannot be described intelligibly. Those who have had no opportunity of learning this stitch may mend lace very neatly by darning it with the finest possible thread; taking care not to make the darn too thick, or close, but imitating as nearly as possible the open texture of the lace. In quilling or setting on the lace, endeavour to conceal the darns under the pleats.

Cotton lace cannot be cleaned in the foregoing manner, as it is too soft and fuzzy, and shrinks up too much. It requires squeezing, starching, clapping, and ironing.

WASHING BLACK LACE.--Every description of black _silk_ lace (or of black Scotch blond) may be made to look extremely well by the following process; either veils, shawls, scarfs, capes, sleeves, or trimming-lace. A black lace dress, must be previously taken apart, and all the loose threads or stitches carefully picked out. We will suppose the article that requires washing to be a veil that has been worn long enough to look soiled and rusty. By exactly observing the following directions, it may be made to appear fresh, new, and of an excellent black; provided always that it was originally of good quality, with no mixture of cotton in it. All lace articles of that brownish black, falsely called jet, are now mixed with cotton; and frequently have no silk at all about them.

In a large clean earthen pan, or a small tub, make a strong lather of white soap and clear soft water, warm but not hot. Mix with the suds a large table-spoonful of ox-gall. No family should be without a bottle of ox-gall, which can always be obtained from the butcher at a very trifling cost. The gall as soon as brought home should be opened, its liquid poured through a funnel into a clean black bottle, and tightly corked. You may perfume it by putting in a grain of musk. It is useful in washing all sorts of coloured things, as it materially assists in preventing them from fading. Having stirred the gall well into the suds, put in the black lace veil, and work and squeeze it up and down through the lather for five minutes or more; taking care not to rub it. Then squeeze it out well, open it loose, and shake it a little. Next, transfer it to a second suds of clean warm water and white soap; adding a tea-spoonful of gall. Into this second lather infuse _a large quantity_ of blue, pressed into the water from the indigo bag, and well stirred in. Having worked the veil up and down through this second suds for about ten minutes, alternately loosening it out, and squeezing it up, but not rubbing it. Squeeze it finally as dry as you can, and then open it out widely.

Have ready in another pan some glue-stiffening, made as follows: On a bit of glue about the size of a shilling pour two jills, or a half-pint, of boiling water, and let it dissolve. After the glue is entirely melted, add to it a quart of _cold_ water; and then make it _very blue_ by squeezing into it a large portion of indigo from the blue-bag. Stir it well, and then put in the veil, rinsing and squeezing it up and down through the stiffening water. Having done this sufficiently, squeeze out the veil as dry as you can get it; then open it, stretch it, and clap it all over. Next, fold it evenly; roll it up in a thick clean towel; and let it rest for a quarter of an hour or more.

Spread a large clean _linen_ cloth on your clothes-line, and hang the veil (well spread out) upon the cloth. When nearly, but not quite dry, take down the veil, and clap and stretch it again. Have warm irons ready. Lay a clean linen cloth over your blanket, and press the veil smoothly on the wrong side; first trying the irons on an old piece of thin black silk, crape, or gauze; lest they should be too hot for the lace, and scorch or discolour it.

The foregoing process (followed exactly) will restore to any article of _good_ black silk lace that has become brown and soft by wearing, the deep black colour and consistence it had when new.

Be careful not to have too much glue, and to put plenty of indigo-blue into the second suds and into the stiffening water.

Before washing the veil, rip open the casing at the top, and remove the string. Afterwards, make a new case, and draw it with a new ribbon.

TO WASH A WHITE LACE SCARF.--Fold up the scarf, and lay it in a thin cambric handkerchief, folded over so as to enclose the scarf, and secured by basting it slightly with a needle and thread. Dip it in cold water. Make a strong lather with white soap and warm water; put the scarf, &c., into it, and let it rest all day. In the evening, make a fresh lather, and leave the scarf in it all night, (having first squeezed it well.) Next morning, make some thin starch. Shave small a quarter of a cake of white wax, and put it into two quarts of soft water; adding six lumps of loaf-sugar, and a table-spoonful of thin-made starch. Put these articles into an earthen pipkin or a porcelain kettle, and set it over the fire. On no account use, for this purpose, a vessel of any sort of metal, as it will discolour the lace. When the mixture has come to a boil, put in the scarf, (still folded in the handkerchief,) and boil it ten minutes. Then take it out, open the handkerchief, and if you do not find it perfectly white, return it to the pipkin, and boil it longer. Afterwards, take it out of the handkerchief, and throw the scarf into cold water. Squeeze and press it, till it drips no longer. Then open it out; stretch it even; and hang it in the sun. When almost dry, take it in, and iron it carefully on a linen cloth.

A veil, a shawl, or a pelerine of white lace may be washed in this manner.

TO CLEAN GOLD OR SILVER EMBROIDERY.--Warm some spirits of wine, and apply it with a bit of clean sponge. Then dry it, by rubbing it with soft, new canton flannel. Gold or silver lace may be cleaned thus. Also, jewelry.

WASHING AMERICAN CHINTZES.--American chintzes, of good quality, (such as are sold at twelve or fourteen cents per yard,) can be washed so as to retain their colours, and look as bright as when quite new. The water must be quite clean, and merely warm, but by no means hot. Rub the soap into the water, so as to form a strong lather, before you put in the dress. Add to the lather a handful of fine salt. Wash the chintz through two warm waters, making a lather in the second also, and adding salt. The salt will keep the colours from running. Then rinse it through two cold waters; putting a table-spoonful of vinegar into each, before the dress goes in. This will brighten the colours. Immediately, wring out the dress, and hang it up to dry; but not in the sun. When nearly dry, (so as to be just damp enough to iron,) have irons ready heated; bring in the dress; stretch it well, and iron it on the wrong side. If allowed to become _quite_ dry on the line, and then sprinkled and rolled up, and laid aside to be ironed next day, the colours may run from remaining damp all night.

An imported chintz, a gingham, or a mousseline de laine, may be washed in the above manner; which _we know_ to be excellent; substituting, for the salt, a table-spoonful of ox-gall in each water. All sorts of coloured dresses should be washed and ironed as quickly as possible, when once begun. It is well to allot a day purposely to coloured dresses, rather than to do them with all the other things on the regular washing-day. If washed in half-dirty suds, and left soaking in the rinsing-water, the colours will _most assuredly_ run and fade, and the dress look dingy all over.

Of course, nothing that has any colour about it should be either scalded, or boiled, or washed in _hot_ water. Scalding, boiling, and hot-water washing are only for things _entirely_ white.

PRESERVING THE COLOURS OF DRESSES.--Before washing a new dress, try a small piece of the material, and see if the colours are likely to stand of themselves. They are generally fast, if the article is so well printed that the wrong side is difficult to distinguish from the right. If you obtain from the store a small slip for testing the durability of the colours, give it a fair trial, by washing it through two warm waters with soap, and then rinsing it through two cold waters. No colours whatever will stand, if washed in _hot_ water. Some colours, (very bright pinks and light greens particularly,) though they may bear washing perfectly well, will change as soon as a warm iron is applied to them; the pink turning purplish, and the green bluish.

The colours of merinoes, mousselines de laine, ginghams, chintzes, printed lawns, &c., may be preserved in washing by mixing a table-spoonful of ox-gall in the first and second waters, (which should not be more than lukewarm,) and making a lather of the soap and water _before_ you put in the dress, instead of rubbing the soap on it afterwards. At the last, to brighten the colours, stir into the second rinsing-water a _small_ tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, if the dress is that of a grown person; for a child’s dress, half a tea-spoonful will suffice. If washed at home, one of the ladies of the family should herself put in the vitriol, as, if left to the servants, they may injure the dress by carelessly putting in too much. Vitriol is excellent for preserving light or delicate colours.

The colours of a common calico or mousseline de laine may be set by putting into each of the two warm waters a large handful of salt, and into each rinsing water a tea-spoonful of vinegar.

No coloured articles should be allowed to remain in the water, as soaking will cause the colours to run in streaks. As soon as the dress is washed and rinsed, let it be immediately wrung out, hung in the shade, and, as soon as dry enough, taken in and ironed at once. Each dress should be washed separately. The washing of dresses should only be undertaken in fine weather.

PUTTING AWAY WOOLLENS.--The introduction of furnaces, for the purpose of warming houses, is supposed to be one cause of the great increase of moths, cockroaches, and other insects that now, more than ever, infest our dwellings. For moths, particularly, the usual remedies of camphor, tobacco, pepper, cedar-shavings, &c., seem no longer sufficiently powerful; perhaps because their odour so soon evaporates. Still it is well to try them when nothing better can be done; and they are sometimes successful. Camphor and tobacco-shreds will be found much more efficacious if (after interspersing them among the furs or woollens) each fur or woollen article is carefully and closely pinned up in newspapers; so closely as to leave no aperture or opening, however small. The printing-ink has a tendency to keep off moths and other small insects. The papers used for this purpose should be those that are printed with ink of a good quality, not liable to rub off, and soil the things enclosed. We highly recommend this mode of preserving furs and woollens.

But the following method of putting away all the woollen, worsted, and fur articles of the house, will be found an _infallible_ preservative against moths; and the cost is trifling, in comparison with the security it affords of finding the things in good order when opened for use on the return of cold weather. Procure at a distiller’s, or elsewhere, a tight empty hogshead that has held whisky. Have it well cleaned, (_without washing_,) and see that it is quite dry. Let it be placed in some part of the house that is little used in the summer, where there is no damp, and where it can be shut up in entire darkness.

After the carpets have been taken up, and well shaken and beaten, and the grease spots all removed, let them be folded and packed closely down in the cask, which can be reached by means of a step-ladder. Put in, also, the blankets; having first washed all that were not clean; also the woollen table-covers. If you have worsted or cloth curtains and cushion-covers, pack them in likewise, after they have been thoroughly freed from dust. Also, flannels, merinos, cloaks, coats, furs, and, in short, every thing that is liable to be attacked by the moths. It is well to rip the cloaks from the collars, and the skirts of pelisses from the bodies, before packing, as they can be folded more smoothly, and so as to occupy less space. Fold and pack all the articles closely, and arrange them to advantage, so as to fit in well, and fill up all hollows and vacancies evenly. If well-packed, one hogshead will generally hold all the woollen and fur articles belonging to a house of moderate size, and to a moderate-sized family. But if _one_ is not enough, it is easy to get another. When the cask is filled, nail the head on tightly, and let the whole remain undisturbed till the warm weather is over. If the house is shut up, and the family out of town in the summer, you may safely leave your woollens, &c., put away in this manner. Choose a clear, dry day for unpacking them in the autumn; and, when open, expose them all separately to the air, till the odour of the whisky is gone off. If they have been put away clean, and free from dust, it will be found that the whisky-atmosphere has brightened their colours. As soon as the things are all out of the cask, head it up again _immediately_, and keep it for the same use next summer. If more convenient, you may have the cask sawed in two before you pack it. In this case, you must get an extra head for one of the halves.

In putting away woollens for the season, always keep out a blanket for each bed, and some flannel for each member of the family, in case of occasional cold days, or easterly rains in the summer.

Have no _hair_ trunks about the house; they always produce moths.

TO CLEAN WHITE FUR.--Take a sufficiency of dry starch, very finely powdered, and sift it, through a fine sieve, into a broad, clean, tin pan. Set the pan near enough the fire for the powdered starch to get warm, stirring it frequently. Then roll and tumble about the white fur among the powdered starch, till it is well saturated. Shut it up closely in a bandbox, and let it remain unopened for a fortnight. It will then look clean.

When you put away white fur in the spring, proceed as above, (using a very large quantity of the pulverized starch,) and put into the box some lumps of camphor tied up in thin white papers. Keep the box closely shut through the summer, and do not open it to look at the fur till you want it for cold weather. It will then be found a good clean white.

In joining pieces of fur or swans-down, lay the two edges together, and pass the needle and thread back and forward on the wrong side, (in the way that carpet-seams are sewed,) so as to unite the edges evenly and flat without making a ridge. Then line every seam by sewing or running strong tape along it, of course on the wrong side. Unless they are strengthened in this manner with tape, the stitches are liable, after a while, to give way, and the seams or joins to gape open, making rents inside that are very difficult to repair.

TO KEEP A MUFF. Always when returning a muff to its box, give it several hard twirls round. This will smooth the fur, and make all the hairs lie the same way. To prevent the wadding inside the muff from sinking downwards, and falling into clods, keep the muff-box always lying on the side, instead of standing it upright. When you put it away till next winter, place within it some lumps of camphor wrapped in papers, and sprinkle the outside of the fur with powdered camphor. Then enclose the muff, completely, in one or two large newspapers, sewing or pinning them entirely over it, sides and ends, so that nothing can possibly get in. Do the same with all your furs; and after putting them away with these precautions, open them no more till the return of cold weather. The printing ink on the papers will assist in keeping out moths.

TAKING CARE OF PICTURES.--An excellent way to preserve an oil-picture from the injuries of damp, mould, and mildew, is to take the precaution of covering the _back_ of the canvas (before nailing it on the straining frame) with a coating of common white lead paint; and when that is dry, give it a second coat. If you buy a picture that has been framed without this precaution, do not neglect having the back of it coated as above, before you hang it up.

The simplest way of cleaning an oil-picture, is to mix some whisky and water _very weak_. If the mixture is too strong of the liquid, it may take off the paint, or otherwise injure it. Dip into the mixture a very soft and very clean sponge, which you must first ascertain to be perfectly free from sand, grit, or any extraneous object. A good way to soften and clean a sponge, is to boil it in several successive waters, till there is no longer any appearance of sand at the bottom of the vessel. Having carefully washed the picture with the sponge and whisky-water, dry it by going over it with a clean soft _silk_ handkerchief. This is all that can be safely attempted by any one who is not a regular picture cleaner. Therefore, if the picture is smoked or much soiled, it is best to send it to a person who makes picture-cleaning his profession. Many a good picture has been destroyed by injudicious cleaning.