Chapter XXXI: Part XII: The Family at Home (2)

3771. _An Excellent Tooth Powder._--Cuttle-fish, prepared chalk, and orris-root, commingled together in equal quantities, which any one may procure separately from any respectable chemist, and mix himself.

3772. _To remove Tartar from the Teeth._--Strawberries, ripe, or dried and powdered, are excellent to clean the teeth.

3773. _To drive away Rats._--Potash strewn around rat holes, will drive the vermin away.

3774. _To kill Flies._--Cobalt in powder, moistened with hot water, and covered with a little sugar.

3775. _Gum Water._--It is a fact not generally known that gum should be dissolved in vinegar instead of water, especially when it is wanted for immediate use.

3776. _To remove Water-stains from Black Crape._--When a drop of water falls on a black crape vail or collar, it leaves a conspicuous white mark. To obliterate this, spread the crape on a table (laying on it a large book or a paper weight to keep it steady), and place underneath the stain a piece of old black silk. With a large camel's hair brush dipped in common ink, go over the stain; and then wipe off the ink with a little bit of old soft silk. It will dry immediately, and the white mark will be seen no more.

3777. _Copper in liquids_ maybe detected by spirits of hartshorn, which turns them blue.

3778. _Arsenic_ may be detected by a solution of blue vitriol dropped into the suspected liquid, which will turn green, if arsenic be present.

3779. _To remove Ink Stains from Silver._--The tops and other portions of silver inkstands frequently become discolored with ink, which is difficult to remove by ordinary means. It may, however, be completely eradicated by making a little chlorid of lime into a paste with water, and rubbing it upon the stains.

3780. _To remove Ink Stains from Wood, &c._--As much oxalic acid as will lay on a sixpence, dissolved in a tablespoonful of hot water; lay some on the wood, and rub hard with a cork until the stain disappears; then wash and repolish. The above will remove the stain, without injury to the color of the wood, mahogany or any other kind. It also cleans the brass-work.

3781. _To Clean Plate._--Take of cream of tartar, alum, and common salt, each an ounce, and boil in a gallon of water, throw the plate in and boil; when taken out and rubbed dry it will look beautiful. Plate, when laid aside, will generally tarnish, but if cleaned by this method, at stated periods, it will always look well.

3782. _Washing Paint._--The best method to wash paint is to rub some Bath-brick fine, and when you have rubbed some soap on the flannel, dip it in the brick. This will remove the grease and dirt speedily, without injury.

3783. _Glue Paste._--Instead of pure water for mixing the flour, use glue-water, to which add some alum and resin to keep it from turning. It must be made very thick.

3784. _Whenever oil is used_ for the purpose of artificial light, it should be kept free from all exposure to atmospheric air; as it is apt to absorb considerable quantities of oxygen. If oil is very coarse or tenacious, a very small quantity of oil of turpentine may be added.

3785. _Bugs._--Spirits of naphtha rubbed with a small painter's brush into every part of a bedstead is a certain way of getting rid of bugs.--(See p. 87.)

3786. _Calcareous Deposits in Boilers._--In a common tea-kettle, potatoes boiled a few times, will remove the calcareous deposits, and a few oyster-shells, kept constantly in the kettle, will prevent future accumulations.

3787. _To remove the Stoppers of Glass Bottles._--Dip a piece of linen or cloth in hot water, and wrap it tightly round the neck of the bottle. In a few minutes the stopper will probably be loosened; if not, repeat the application. I have never found this method to fail.

3788. _How to get a Tight Ring off a Finger._--Thread a needle, flat in the eye, with a strong thread, pass the head of the needle with care under the ring, and pull the thread through a few inches toward the hand; wrap the long end of the thread tightly round the finger, regularly all down to the nail, to reduce its size. Then lay hold of the short end, and unwind it.

3789. The thread repassing against the ring, will gradually remove it from the finger. This never-failing method will remove the tightest ring without difficulty, however much swollen the finger may be.

3790. _Cleaning Knives._--Mutton fat made hot, and put on a leather or buff-board, with emery-dust--not powder, as that is too sharp--well rubbed in with an old brush, is the best way of giving a knife as good a polish and edge as any razor.

3791. _To restore the Color to Mahogany._--Wash well with soap and water, and then polish daily with the following oil: Take half an ounce of alkanet root, cut small, and add to a pint of linseed oil; when this has stood for a week, add half an ounce of powdered gum-arabic, and an ounce of shellac varnish; let them stand in a bottle by the fire for a week, then strain. Rub well in.

3792. _Rice Flour Cement._--An excellent cement may be made from rice flour, which is at present used for that purpose in China and Japan. It is only necessary to mix the rice flour intimately with cold water, and gently simmer it over a fire, when it readily forms a delicate and durable cement, not only answering all the purposes of common paste, but admirably adapted for joining together paper, cards, &c., in forming the various beautiful and tasteful ornaments which affords much employment and amusement to the ladies.

3793. When made of the consistence of plaster-clay, models, busts, bas-relievos, &c. may be formed of it, and the articles, when dry, are susceptible of high polish, and very durable.--(See p. 70.)

3794. _Oil of Lavender._--A few drops in a library will keep the books from moulding. A single drop of the same will prevent a pint of ink from mouldiness for any length of time. Paste may be kept from mould entirely by this addition; and leather is also effectually secured from injury by the same agency.

3795. _Ink._--To make five gallons of good ink, costing but twelve-and-a-half cents, take half a pound of extract of logwood, and dissolve it in five gallons of hot water, and add half an ounce of bichromate potash. Strain and bottle it.

3796. _Blue Tracing Ink._--Indigo tied in a flannel bag, moistened with water. Put a lump of white sugar into an egg-cup, and squeeze out the blue on it; the sugar stiffens it, so as to prevent its running, and the color depends on the quantity of water used. Use a quill pen.

3797. _Marking Linen, preparation._--The preparation used for wetting linen, previous to marking it with ink, is a drachm of salt of tartar in one and a half ounces of water.

3798. _Economy in Candles._--If you would burn a candle all night, unless you use the following precaution, it is ten to one an ordinary candle will gutter away in an hour or two, sometimes to the endangering the safety of a house. This may be avoided by placing as much common salt, finely powdered, as will reach from the tallow to the bottom of the black part of the wick of a partly-burnt candle, when, if the same be lit, it will burn very slowly, yielding sufficient light for a bed-chamber; the salt will gradually sink as the tallow is consumed, the melted tallow being drawn through the salt, and consumed in the wick.

3799. _Deafness._--Take three drops of a sheep's gall, warm, and drop it into the ear on going to bed. The ear must be thoroughly syringed with warm soap and water in the morning.

3800. _Times of Application._--The gall must be applied for three successive nights. It is only efficacious when the deafness is produced by cold. The most convenient way of warming the gall is by holding it in a silver spoon over the flame of a candle.--(See p. 95.)

3801. _For Heartburn, &c._--Orange juice (of one orange), water and lump sugar to flavor, and in proportion to acidity of orange, bicarbonate of soda, about half a teaspoonful. Mix orange juice, water and sugar together in a tumbler, then put in the soda, stir, and the effervescence ensues.

3802. _Remedy for Rheumatism, Lumbago, Sprains, Chilblains, (before they are broken) Bruises, and Bites of Insects._--One raw egg well beaten, half a pint of vinegar, one ounce of spirits of turpentine, a quarter of an ounce of spirits of wine, a quarter of an ounce of camphor. These ingredients to be beaten well together, then put in a bottle and shaken for ten minutes, after which, to be corked down tightly to exclude the air. In half an hour it is fit for use.

3803. _How to use it._--To be well rubbed in, two, three, or four times a day.--For rheumatism in the head, to be rubbed at the back of the neck and behind the ears.--(See page 101.)

3804. _Asthma._--The following is recommended as a relief.--Two ounces of the best honey, and one ounce of castor oil mixed. A teaspoonful to be taken night and morning.--(See page 103.)

3805. _For Scurf in the Heads of Infants._--Lard, two ounces; sulphuric acid, diluted, two drachms; rub them together, and anoint the head once a day.

3806. _For Moth on the Skin._--These unpleasant discolorations may be entirely removed by a wash made of borax and vinegar.

3807. _Sunburn._--A little scraped horseradish mixed in warm milk and rubbed on the face and hands will whiten the skin.

3808. _Cold Cream._--A piece of sperm candle two inches long, a small cake of white wax, three table-spoonsful of fresh sweet oil; just melt it on the fire, stirring it, and take it off stirring it till it is cold. Before it is quite cold stir in any perfume you prefer.--(See page 136.)

3809. _A New Method for the Hair._--Carefully avoid all lotions and pomades.

3810. Keep the hair and scalp clean by the use of the brush and comb.

3811. Twice a day, at least, comb it out in such a manner that the air may pass through it freely; then, with the fingers, moisten the roots with soft water, at the same time gently rubbing the scalp.

3812. This will not only fasten and renovate the old hair, but actually bring out a fine new suit; the length of time for this purpose varying with the health and constitution of the patient.

3813. Should the hair become too dry, lessen the quantity of water employed, and use a very little cocoanut or perfumed castor oil.

This receipt is also invaluable as a remedy for headache or neuralgia.

3814. _Headache--A Sure Remedy._--Wet paper, white or brown, bound tightly on the forehead with a bandage or kerchief, the part pressing over the forehead to be also made wet with cold water, though not dripping. This process, if followed nightly, will entirely prevent headaches, and also keep the forehead free from wrinkles. Try it.

3815. _To Promote the Growth of Whiskers, Mustaches, &c._--The best method to force the growth of whiskers and mustaches, is to shave the parts frequently. Use as a stimulant the ashes of burned tobacco, and bay-water.

3816. _Cosmetics generally._--(See page 152 and on.)

3817. _The Complexion_ can only be preserved in freshness, softness and beauty, by cleanliness, regular exercise, temperance, a plain diet and pure air, and a cheerful temper.

3818. _Offensive Breath._--Use the concentrated solution of chlorid of soda. From two to five drops of it in a wine-glass full of pure spring water, taken immediately after the operations of the morning are completed.

3819. In some cases the odor arising from carious teeth is combined with that of the stomach. If the mouth be well rinsed with a teaspoonful of the solution of the chlorid in a tumbler of water, the bad odor of the teeth will be removed.

3820. _Breath tainted by Onions._--Leaves of parsley, eaten with vinegar, will prevent the disagreeable consequences of eating onions.

3821. _Toothache._--Put a small piece of the inside of a nut-gall into the hollow tooth, and replace by another bit every half-hour, as long as white matter comes away with the piece taken out.

3822. _Black eyes_ may be cured by a lotion made of equal parts of gin, vinegar, and cold water mixed. Bathe the eye for ten or fifteen minutes, and repeat in an hour if the pain continues.

3823. _Bilious Disorders._--If a person is bilious, it is generally owing to errors in regimen. Let these be reformed, and the complaints will cease. But if a person would be always bilious, let him be often taking calomel, or blue pill, or active purges. Lee's antibilious, &c., and he will certainly succeed: the soundest liver will not be proof against such remedies for bile.

3824. _Remedy for Bile._--The yolks of eggs taken fasting. If required, beat up the egg with a little sugar and lemon-juice.

3825. _Household Hints, etc._--(See page 210.)

3826. _Hard Water._--When water is hard, and will not readily unite with soap, it will always be proper to boil it before use.--(See pages 42, 43; also "General Washing," pages 46, 47.)

3827. _Materials for Washing._--The meal of many kinds of seed may be used for washing, as well as various kinds of bran. That of almonds, which, on account of its oil, is remarkably soft, is employed at present for washing the hands, by those who are desirous of having a white delicate skin. Cloth, the colors of which easily fade, and which will neither endure soap nor hard rubbing, may be washed extremely well with bran. Our fullers, therefore, and stocking-manufacturers, use oats, barley, and bran meal, especially when they wish the cloth to be slowly milled.

3828. _To Wash White Lace._--Cover a glass bottle with calico or linen, and then tack the lace or collar smoothly upon it, rub it with soap, and cover it with calico. Boil it for twenty minutes in soft water; let all dry together, and the lace will be found to be ready for use.

3829. A long piece of lace must be wound round and round the bottle, the edge of each round a little above the last, and a few stitches to keep it firm at the beginning and end will be found sufficient, but a collar will require more tacking to keep it in its place.--(See page 53.)

3830. _Bleaching Liquid._--Take one pound of chlorid of lime, empty it into a stone jar, and pour on it one gallon of water; stir it well with a stick for fifteen minutes; then let it settle, and pour off the clear liquor into clean bottles, and cork them up. A tumblerful of this preparation, added to a tubful of water, in which the clothes are rinsed, will add very much to their whiteness.

3831. _Washing Windows._--The nicest article for washing windows is deer skin, as no particles come off to adhere to the glass and make it look as if washed with feathers.

3832. Wash-leather and a bowl of suds are all that are necessary. Wipe the glass first with the wet cloth or leather, and after it has become dry, with the clean cloth; and it will look clear, and far more so than if rinsed in a dozen pails of water.

3833. _Cleaning Kid Gloves._--Lay the gloves flat on a towel, and wash them with a piece of clean flannel and the best _yellow_ soap, being careful to squeeze the flannel as dry as it is possible to use it. When the dirt is removed, with another piece of flannel wash them lightly with plain milk.--(See page 53.)

3834. _Stains_ may be removed from the hands by washing them in a small quantity of oil of vitriol and cold water without soap.

3835. _Cleaning Velvets._--A very simple method of cleaning velvets is to procure a small square of pipe-clay (such as the soldiers use to clean their uniforms with) and scrape a little off upon the velvet; then take a brush, made of the same material as the carpet-whisk, and lightly brush it off. This raises the pile, and restores the bloom.

3836. _Silk articles_ should not be kept folded in white papers, as the chlorid of lime used in bleaching the paper will impair the color of the silk.

3837. _Papier-Mache_ articles should be washed with a sponge and cold water without soap, dredged with flour while damp, and polished with a flannel.

3838. _Worsted and Lambs'-Wool Stockings_ should never be mended with worsted or lambs'-wool, because the latter being new it shrinks more than the stockings, and draws them up till the toes become short and narrow, and the heels have no shape left.

3839. _In choosing Paper for a room_, avoid that which has a variety of colors, or a large, showy figure, as no furniture can appear to advantage with such. Large figured papering makes a small room look smaller.

3840. _Bright green colors_ are dangerous when first put on, because poisons are used in the coloring matter.

3841. _Gilt frames_ may be protected from flies and dust by oiled tarlatan pinned over them. Tarlatan already prepared, may be purchased at the upholsterers'. If it cannot be procured, it is easily made by brushing boiled oil over cheap tarlatan. It is an excellent material for keeping dust from books, vases, woodwork, and every description of household ornament.--(See page 18.)

3842. _To Pack Glass or China._--Procure some soft straw or hay to pack them in, and if they are to be sent a long way, and are heavy, the hay or straw should be a little damp, which will prevent them slipping about. Let the largest and heaviest things be always put undermost, in the box or hamper.

3843. Let there be plenty of straw, and pack the articles tight; but never attempt to pack up glass or china which is of much consequence, till it has been seen done by some one used to the job. The expense will be but trifling to have a person to do it who understands it, and the loss may be great if articles of such value are packed up in an improper manner.

3844. _To Polish Enameled Leather._--Two pints of the best cream, one pint of linseed oil; make them each lukewarm, and then mix them well together.

DIETETIC MAXIMS.

3845. A healthy appetite is to be acquired by early rising, regular exercise in the open air, a cheerful mind, and abstinence from intoxicating liquors.

3846. The food should be eaten slowly, so that it be well masticated and mixed with the saliva.

3847. Animal food is sooner digested in the stomach than vegetable; but it is more stimulating or heating to the system. Flesh that has been long salted, dried hams, beef, &c., are less easily digested and less nutritive than fresh meat.

3848. Farinaceous and vegetable food, generally, is slower of digestion than animal, but it is less heating; many kinds of vegetable food are very nutritive.

3849. Solid food, or food of a certain fibrous or pulpy consistence, is more fitted for digestion in the stomach than rich soups, jellies, and all highly concentrated sauces. The latter are rendered more digestible by the addition of bread.

3850. Fish are not so nourishing as the flesh of land animals, and with many stomachs entirely disagree. The white fish, when in season, are generally lighter, and less apt to disagree with the stomach than the red.

3851. In summer the food should consist principally of vegetables; in winter, a larger amount of animal matter may be taken, especially by the laborer.

3852. Boiling renders food more tender and digestible, but it deprives it of a considerable portion of its nutritive principle.

3853. Animal food should not be over boiled; vegetables should be boiled until perfectly tender.

3854. Roasting dissipates less of the nutritive parts of the meat. Roasted meat is, therefore, more nourishing than boiled, but much more stimulating.

3855. Bread constitutes a wholesome addition to all our meals. It should be perfectly raised, fully baked, and one day old.

3856. All excess in eating should be avoided, but the quantity of food proper to be taken at one time depends entirely on the constitution, age, habits, degree of health, season of the year, climate, &c. The best guide is to be found in the calls of a healthy appetite.

3857. Health, and strength of body, depend upon the health of the stomach, and consequent perfection of the digestive powers, much more than upon the quantity or even quality of the food taken.

3858. Water is the most wholesome drink. Toast and water, sweetened water, or water with a slight addition of a vegetable acid, are useful diluents during the summer.

3859. Distilled and fermented liquors impede digestion; and, when drank to any great extent, invariably destroy the tone of the stomach, and of the system generally.

3860. The stomach ought not to be over distended with fluids during, immediately preceding, nor after a meal.

3861. When the stomach is very weak, very little fluid should be taken during or after eating. Dry solid food requires more dilution than that which is juicy or fluid.

3862. Exercise should be used in the intervals between meals, but not immediately before or after them.

HINTS TO MECHANICS AND WORKMEN.

3863. If you would avoid the diseases which your particular trades and work are liable to produce, attend to the following hints:

3864. Keep, if possible, regular hours. Never suppose that you have done extra work, when you sit up till midnight, and do not rise till eight or nine in the morning.

3865. Abstain from ardent spirits, cordials, and malt liquors. Let your drink be, like that of Franklin, when he was a printer--pure water.

3866. Never use tobacco in any form. By chewing, smoking, or snuffing, you spend money which would help to clothe you, or would enable you, if single, to make a useful present to an aged mother or dependent sister; or, if married, to buy your wife a frock, or get books for your children. You also, by any of these filthy practices, injure your health--bringing on headache, gnawing at the stomach, low spirits, trembling of the limbs, and, at times, sleeplessness.

3867. Be particular in preserving your skin clean, by regular washing of your hands, and face, and mouth, before each meal, and of your whole body at least once a week, and by combing and brushing the hair daily.

3868. Always have fresh air in the room in which you work, but so that you shall not be in a draft.

3869. Take a short time in the morning, if possible, and always in the evening, or toward sundown, for placing your body in a natural posture, by standing erect, and exercising your chest and limbs by a walk where the air is the purest.

3870. _The Fireside._--Admit no rival here. Let your chief joys be shared by her who has forsaken all other hearts and hopes for you; by those who must inherit honor or disgrace from your course of life. Shun the bar-room and the purlieus of intoxication. They are, to thousands, the avenues to infamy.

3871. _The rivals_ of our Home are many and fearful. Among the direst is the drinking-place, whether known as porter-house, grog-shop, or tavern. The man who spends his evenings in these Stygian fumes, soon grovels and wallows away half his civilization.

3872. _The tavern-haunter_ drinks till he feels himself half-ruined; he is wretched; he drinks to drown his wretchedness; he does drown it, and his soul along with it!

3873. _Home!_--It marks the sacred spot to which the cares and tumult of the world do not reach; and where, except in cases of extreme depravity, its vices do not intrude.

MAXIMS AND MORALS FOR ALL MEN.

3874. The world estimates men by their success in life; and, by general consent, success is evidence of superiority.

3875. Never, under any circumstances, assume a responsibility you can avoid consistently with your duty to yourselves and others.

3876. Base all your actions upon a principle of right; preserve your integrity of character in doing this; never reckon the cost.

3877. Remember that self-interest is more likely to warp your judgment than all other circumstances combined; therefore look well to your duty when your duty is concerned.

3878. Never make money at the expense of your reputation.

3879. Be neither lavish nor niggardly; of the two avoid the latter. A mean man is universally despised; but public favor is a stepping-stone to preferment--therefore generous feelings should be cultivated.

3880. Let your expenses be such as to leave a balance in your pocket. Ready money is a friend in need.

3881. Keep clear of the law; for when you gain your case, you are generally a loser of money.

3882. Never relate your misfortunes, and never grieve over what you cannot prevent.

3883. No man who owes as much as he can pay, has any moral right to endorse for another.

3884. No moneyed man has the moral right to enter on engagements or speculations, hazarding his estate, without the consent of his wife.

3885. Knowing that the end of life is death, every right-minded man ought to pursue that which is connected with happiness and ultimate bliss.

3886. _Family Tool Chests, Papers, etc._--Much inconvenience and considerable expense might be saved, if it was the general custom to keep in every house certain tools for the purpose of performing at home what are called small jobs, instead of being always obliged to send for a mechanic, and pay him for executing little things that, in most cases, could be sufficiently well done by a man or boy belonging to the family, provided that the proper instruments were at hand.

3887. The cost of these articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them always in the house are far beyond the expense.

3888. For instance there should be an axe, a hatchet, a saw (a large wood saw, also, with a buck or stand, if wood is burned), a claw-hammer, a mallet, two gimlets of different sizes, two screw-drivers, a chisel, a small plane, one or two jack-knives, a pair of large scissors or shears, and a carpet-fork or stretcher.

3389. Also an assortment of nails of various sizes from large spikes down to small tacks, not forgetting brass-headed nails, some larger and some smaller.

3890. Screws and likewise, will be found to be very convenient, and hooks on which to hang things.

3891. The nails and screws should be kept in a wooden box, made with division to separate the various sorts, for it is very troublesome to have them mixed.

3892. And let care be taken to keep up the supply, lest it should ran out unexpectedly, and the deficiency cause delay and inconvenience at a time when their use is wanted.

3893. It is well to have somewhere, in the lower part of the house, a deep, light closet, appropriated entirely to tools and things of equal utility, for executing promptly such little repairs as convenience may require, without the delay or expense of procuring an artisan. This closet should have at least one large shelf, and that about three feet from the floor.

3894. Beneath this shelf may be a deep drawer, divided into two compartments. This drawer may contain cakes of glue, pieces of chalk, and balls of twine of different size and quality.

3895. There may be shelves at the sides of the closet for glue-pots, paste-pots, and brushes, pots for black, white, green, and red paints, cans of painting oil, paint-brushes, &c.

3896. Against the wall, above the large shelf, let the tools be suspended, or laid across nails or hooks of proper size to support them.

3897. This is much better than keeping them in a box, where they may be injured by rubbing against each other, and the hand may be hurt in feeling among them to find the thing that is wanted.

3898. But when hung up against the back wall of the closet, of course each tool can be seen at a glance.

3899. Wrapping paper may be piled on the floor under the large shelf. It can be bought very low by the ream, at the large paper warehouses; and every house should keep a supply of it in several varieties.

3900. For instance, coarse brown paper for common purposes, that denominated ironmonger's paper, which is strong, thick, and in large sheets, is useful for packing heavy articles; and equally so for keeping silks, ribbons, blondes, &c., as it preserves their colors.

3901. Printed papers are unfit for wrapping any thing, as the printing ink rubs off on the articles enclosed in them and also soils the gloves of the person who carries the parcel.

3902. When shopping, if the person at the counter proceeds to wrap up your purchase in a newspaper (a thing rarely attempted in a genteel shop), refuse to take it in such a cover.

3903. It is the business of every respectable shopkeeper to provide proper paper for this purpose; and printed paper is not proper.

3904. Waste newspapers had best be used for lighting fires and singing poultry.

3905. Waste paper that has been written on, cut into slips, and creased and folded, makes very good alumettes or lamp-lighters. These matters may appear of trifling importance, but order and regularity are necessary to happiness.

3906. _A Miniature Tool Box_ for little boys is one of the best playthings which can be given them. These can be found at the toy-shops.

HOME INDUSTRY FOR YOUNG LADIES.

3907. _Dress-making._--When you are about to commence a dress, have the following things in a basket or box at your hand, viz: sewing silk the color of the dress, one or two reels of cotton, fine and coarse, a pair of scissors, not small, a penny inch measure--you can procure one at a trimming shop.

3908. Do not cut without a measure, and always measure all that you have bought or have given you for a dress, before you begin to cut.

3909. The number of yards required depend on the width of the material. Ten yards of any material, eighteen inches wide, will make a dress for a moderate-sized person, with full body, but no trimming on the skirt.

3910. Cut your plain skirt off the piece first, body and sleeves after; leave your trimmings to the last; large turnings are bad and waste the stuff; measure carefully and cut exact.

3911. Six yards of French merino, or any other material of that width, will be found sufficient.

3912. In cutting off the skirt, if the length, we will suppose, should be forty-two or forty-six inches long, leave four inches more for the hem and turnings at the top.

3913. Cut the lining for the skirt exact to the material, and mind it fits when finished.

3914. Supposing you to have run the seams of the skirt and the seams of your lining, lay the lining on the table, placing the skirt on top, and then tack the seams of your skirt to the lining.

3915. Begin at the first seam, and gradually go on to the last seam; stitch up three pieces together, and fell over the fourth; having done this, hem the bottom. Unless your hem is tacked or pinned, it will be sure to be on the twist and set badly.

3916. Having done this, run on your braid, which must be put on easy or rather full. Attend to this, or you will spoil the set of the skirt. If the skirt is to have flounces, they must be put on before you gauge the top; and while the skirt is on the table, put a white tacking thread round the skirt where each flounce is to be fixed.

3917. _Waist or Body._--All thin figures ought to wear full bodies; with stout persons it is a matter of taste. Plain bodies require more care in making than full ones. Every small imperfection is seen in plain bodies.

3918. Care and judgment are necessary in fitting the back of the dress over the shoulders; or you will look round-shouldered.

3919. The fault is, usually, in cutting the back of the dress too long; in fitting, pull the fore-body over the shoulder, and shorten the back at the top, till it fits neatly.

3920. If you have no paper pattern that fits, unpick half an old body that suits you; lay your new lining on your cutting board (the top of a candle-box, or any smooth board of sufficient width, will answer to hold in your lap, and is more convenient than standing over a bed or table), put the old body on top of it, and, with the sharp point of a pair of scissors, prick through both, in the old seams of the pattern.

3921. Prick them _well_, as the marks are apt to rub out. Tack all the body well in the holes round it, before you begin, and be very careful to stitch your body to the tacking thread.

3922. Plain bodies require more care in making than full ones; any small imperfection is seen in plain bodies.

3923. Five out of six persons have their dresses made too tight across the chest; it is a sad fault. Any lady once wearing an easy dress, would never go back to a tight one; to say nothing of its being healthy and beautiful.

3924. Do not select a very stout body lining; it is a common mistake. A stout lining prevents the dress giving or setting to the figure, and is no stronger than one of moderate quality. French dressmakers exclaim at the bad shapes so commonly seen in this country, and charge them to this cause in a great measure. For a white dress, lawn, cambric, chintz, or silk--bleached muslin, at twelve and a half cents a yard, is good enough. For dark merinos, or cashmeres, some prefer dark twilled stuffs.

3925. A yard of lining is the proper quantity for a close dress, a yard and a half for a basque or jacket. Sleeve linings should always be of a thin material.

3926. Great care must be taken with the armholes; do not make them too large or too small; thirteen inches is a nice size for a person not more than twenty-four inches in the waist; fourteen inches is a large size, only required for stout persons.

3927. If you have to alter the armhole, never do it under the arm; in nine cases out of ten it will spoil the dress, and it takes away the free use of the arm; a very small piece cut off round the armhole, excepting underneath, will be all that is necessary.

3928. Do not forget your sleeves must be larger than the armhole an inch and a half; when put in, it never looks the least full, and sets better. The seam of your sleeve must not be even with the seam of your body, but half an inch in front of it.

3929. In cording the neck, do not stretch it; hold the cord tight. The waist must, on the contrary, be pulled well when the cord is put on, or it will never fit; it requires much stretching. The fit of the body often depends on the finishing.

3930. All full bodies are made with quite a straight piece of material, twenty inches long, and eighteen wide; this is half the front; gather it straight at the bottom, and then place it on your tight lining; fix it firmly, and then gather it at the shoulder; but mind and do the bottom gauging first.

3931. To make a body with folds, still have your material twenty inches long, and nineteen wide; the selvage must reach from waist to shoulder.

3932. In putting folds on a body, let it be on the straight, or a good cross; don't let it be neither one nor the other, which is too frequently the case, and always will, as a matter of course, set badly. It makes the folds set better to cover over half the body lining with a plain piece of the dress, as you would wear a stomacher, and then place your folds to meet it, so that a folded body will be in two pieces, the plain part put on first, and the folds after.

3933. A French dressmaker uses _little or no bone_--that is, the splints are so thin as to bend and give to the outline, and to every motion of the figure. The fit should not be made to depend on a stiff fencing of whalebone, the thickness of an old-fashioned busk. If it does not fit nicely without any bone, it never will fit with. This is true of low-bodied evening dresses in particular, the only dresses which at present have long points to the bodice.

3934. The _basque_, properly speaking, is the short skirt or flap, of the body. They require a paper pattern, which can be furnished to any distance by those establishments who make patterns a business. There are several such in New York and Philadelphia.

3935. It is a good plan to fit the jacket lining to the figure first, before you cut into the material. They should always be left loose to the figure; the whole effect being destroyed if any seams are drawn tight.

3936. _Flounces._--It will take the same quantity of material if cut either on the straight or the cross. It is a common error to suppose they take more on the cross.

3937. For the fullness of a flounce allow one width on the cross to one width on the straight of your skirt; so that if you have six widths in your skirts, you will have six widths in your flounces on the cross.

3938. If there are three flounces of different widths, let the bottom and widest one have the most fullness; three inches more fullness will be sufficient. If the flounces are on the straight, allow eight widths in the flounce to six widths in the skirt.

3939. A small cord run in at the top of the flounce makes it look neat. Before running the cord in your flounce, join it round the exact size of the skirt; join round likewise your flounces, and full them on the cord as you go on.

3940. Halve and quarter your flounces and also the skirt, and you will find them no trouble to put on.

3941. _Sleeves._--In making sleeves, with one good pattern, strange as it may seem, you can very easily make six different fashions by cutting your sleeve a little longer or a little shorter, and putting on different trimmings, by making some in a band at the wrist, or leaving them loose, by trimming the loose sleeves on the back or fore part of the arm.

3942. The same shape is, by a dressmaker, altered in the manner I describe, and with a little observation, I think, can be done.

3943. Try and procure a good pattern at first. With taste, one pattern can be made to look like six.

3944. A trimming on the top of the sleeve is a great improvement to thin persons. It should match the bottom part of the sleeve and body-trimming.

3945. Two out of every three American women have one shoulder larger than the other, from stooping in the school-room, or the early care of children.

3946. A light layer of cotton on the lining of the opposite shoulder, and covered with the same material, will often conceal, or at least soften this unpleasant defect.

3947. Trimmings down the front of a dress when on the cross, should be cut the same as flounces. In trimming the front of a skirt, it is a good plan to cut a paper the length of the skirt, and pin it on the way you intend to trim, and then tack a tacking thread by it.

3948. Put tackings wherever you mean to trim, before you begin trimming, and lay your skirt on a table to do it; put on all trimmings with a light hand; do not sew them as you would a shirt, it gives them a puckered look. Now mind, a good cross; no attempts at making pieces do, unless they are good corner pieces, that will join well; _you are more sure of making a trimming well if cut all from one piece_.

3949. Before cutting a skirt off that you wish to put tucks in, have a piece of lining or calico at hand, pin the tucks in it as you wish to put them in your skirt.

As a general rule, a tucked skirt takes more than a flounced one, and makes less show for the quantity of material used.

PETS.

_Canaries_, (see p. 175) _and other Birds_.

3950. _Canaries_ become delicate and feeble from improper treatment. Their docility, beautiful plumage, and sweetness of notes render them general favorites. When young, feed on a paste made by bruising rape-seed, blowing the chaff away, mixed with pieces of bread powdered. Give a teaspoonful with a little hard egg and a few drops of water, when turning sour, mix fresh. Add, as they grow older, scalded rape-seed without bruising, chopped almond and chickweed, in hot weather, twice a day.

3951. If sick, give milk of hemp-seed, made by bruising clean seed and straining it through linen into water, taking the water-glass away from the sick. As they advance in age, give rape and canary, and occasionally bruised hemp-seed, taking the soft food away by degrees. Cuttle-fish bone is preferable to loaf-sugar. Cakes, apples, berries, bread soaked, the water squeezed out and milk added, are good, and cabbage occasionally, when in season, is excellent.

3952. _Perches_ should be round and strong without crevices or shoulders for insects to breed or harbor, and every corner of the cage should be brushed out and kept thoroughly clean.

3953. _The claws_ are sometimes so long as to occasion accidents by catching in the wires; in which case trim them.

_Mortar_ placed in the cage facilitates the production of eggs.

3954. _Teach_ singing by separating the bird from the others, so that he may hear no singing, cover his cage for a few days with a thin cloth, then play your flageolet or bird organ several times each day, without harshness. At the end of fifteen days, change the thin cloth for a thick green or red serge, and keep covered till perfect in the air you wish to teach. Feed once a day and night. It is better to teach one good tune well than several imperfectly. The bird will copy all imperfections. _Bad_ or dull singers are improved by hearing the more spirited and perfect.

3955. _Surfeit_ indicated by swelling of lower part of body, and occasioned by too much chickweed, salad, or soft food. Put alum in the water for three or four days, or put a rusty nail in the water, or common salt. Put the bird, if bad, in lukewarm milk a few minutes, then wash with water, wipe and dry gently.

3956. _Sick birds_ may have boiled bread and milk with canary seed boiled in it; lettuce seed; and when moulting, or renewing its feathers, indicated by drooping, putting its head under its wing, dropping small feathers, give nourishing food, as hemp-seed, sponge, biscuit, &c., keep warm and quiet, and keep much in the sun. A cold air or draft is injurious. Put in the water a little refined liquorice.

3957. _American Yellow Bird._--Beautiful plumage and fine song. They are hardy, and the cage should be often hung out. Give plenty of water, gravel, rich oily seeds, with occasional sunflower and lettuce seeds; leaves of beet, salad, apples, and other fruits.

_Gold Finch._--Treat similar to American yellow bird.

3958. _Bullfinches._--Old birds should be fed with German Paste, No. 2, and occasionally rape-seed. The Germans occasionally give them a little poppy-seed, and a grain or two of rice, steeped in canary wine, when teaching them to pipe, as a reward for the progress they make. Bird organs or flageolets, are used to teach them.

3959. _Cardinal Grosbeak._--Of splendid plumage and exquisite song. They are hardy and may be kept without fire in a room most of the winter, except in the northern States. Allow frequent air and sun. Feed on rough unhulled rice and hemp, wheat, brown gravel, cracked corn, and millet occasionally, with plenty of water for bathing. These birds are long lived; the Philadelphia Museum having one which died when twenty-one years old.

3960. _Java Sparrow._--Very delicate, with pretty plumage, but little music. Feed on unhulled rice and canary seed, with plenty of brown gravel.

3961. _Purple Finch or Linnet._--A delightful songster. Give canary, hemp, millet, and sunflower seeds, with juniper and cedar-berries through the winter, salad and beet-tops in summer. Any other of the Finch tribe may be fed on seeds generally, as the preceding. Perfect cleanliness of the cage, and a constant supply of fresh water and gravel are essential.

3962. _Baltimore Oriole._--A bird of delightful plumage, and rich brilliant music, well repaying the utmost care. They eat fruit of all kinds, seeds, insects, &c. Give them a large cage, protection from frost, and an abundance of insects. Rear same as mocking bird.

_East India Oriole._--Possesses greater musical powers, and is to be treated same as the Baltimore.

3963. _American Mocking Bird._--The sweet "bird of many voices," imitating almost every variety of notes and sounds imaginable. Feed regularly every morning with Indian meal mixed with milk, not very stiff. Give wild cherries, cedar, elder, poke, and whortleberries. An occasional egg, boiled hard and grated; a little raw minced beef; water for washing as well as drink, with plenty of insects, grasshoppers, spiders, particularly during moulting, when they should be kept quiet and away from cold drafts of air.

3964. _Regular feeding_ is important. Adopt a regular hour, say eight o'clock in the morning for feeding and watering, and strictly adhere to it.

_If sickly_, treat kindly, give spiders daily, and meal-worms; gravel the bottom of the cage and keep very quiet.

_The male_ has a regular line of white feathers in the wing, forming almost a regular curve from tip to shoulder.

3965. _American Robin._--Sprightly, beautiful, and musical. Treat similar to mocking bird.

3966. _Reed Bird or Bob-o-link._--Is apt to die in November, if too well fed. Give oats, buckwheat, and canary seed, and abundant water for bathing. At other seasons feed same indiscriminately, as the Finch tribe.

3967. _Chickweed_ or salad, which in proper season is excellent, are absolutely poison if given too early, before the bitterness is off, and the cold acrid juices are dissipated by the sun.

_Insects from Bird-cages, Drawers, &c._--To keep away insects from birds' eyes, suspend a little bag of sulphur in the cage. This is said to be healthful for birds generally, as well as serving to keep away insects by which they become infested.

3968. _Aviaries._--The aviary must face the south or west; the ground within may be covered with fine turf, and divided by gravel walks. The evergreens planted inside are, phyllerca, holly, laurel, Portugal laurel, lauristinus, yew, box, and furze. The building should be principally wire, and open to the air, but there should be wings on either side, protected by a roof of wood or glass. In putting goldfinches, linnets, and canaries in an aviary for the purpose of breeding, the males of the two former should be put in with hen canaries as the male birds of the wild species will mate only with canaries. Two or three male canaries may be put amongst them, as the young male birds will learn some of the canaries' notes.

3969. _Gold-fish._--Great care must be taken of gold-fish, as they are very susceptible; and hence a loud noise, strong smell, violent or even slight shaking of the vessel, will ofttimes destroy them.

3970. _Food for Gold-fish._--Foreign vermicelli, in minute portions, given at intervals of two or three days, is the very best aliment for gold-fish. A frequent cause of their death is injudicious food, and too much of it; bread kills them, and biscuit is scarcely to be trusted, because the materials of which it is composed are not always pure. Water contains so much nourishment, that if it be changed every day, little food need be given in addition. The most proper situation for a globe of fish is near a window, but not in the direct rays of the sun.

3971. _Squirrels._--In a domestic state these little animals are fed with hazel nuts, or indeed any kind of nuts; and occasionally bread and milk. They should be kept very clean.

3972. _Birdlime._--Take any quantity of linseed oil, say half a pint; put it into an old pot, or any vessel that will stand the fire without breaking; the vessel must not be more than one-third full, put it on a slow fire, stir it occasionally until it thickens as much as required; this will be known by cooling the stick in water, and trying it with the fingers. It is best to make it rather harder than for use. Then pour it into cold water. It can be brought back to the consistency required with a little Archangel tar.

3973. _Pet Dogs_ should never be washed with soap. They should be washed with beaten eggs, and afterward washed with warm water. The best way to keep a dog healthy is to let him have plenty of exercise, and not to over-feed him.

3974. _Drink._--Let them at all times have a plentiful supply of clean water, and encourage them to take to swimming, as it assists their cleanliness.

_Washing._--When you wash them do not use a particle of soap, or you will prevent their licking themselves, and they may become habitually dirty.

3975. _Feeding._--Properly-treated dogs, should be fed only once a day. Meat boiled for dogs and the liquor in which it is boiled, thickened with barley-meal, or oatmeal, forms capital food.

3976. _Sickness._--The distemper is liable to attack dogs from four months to four years old. It prevails most in spring and autumn. The disease is known by dulness of the eye, husky cough, shivering, loss of appetite and spirits, and fits. When fits occur, the dog will most likely die, unless a veterinary surgeon is called in.

3977. _Remedies._--During the distemper, dogs should be allowed to run on the grass; their diet should be spare; and a little sulphur be placed in their water. Chemists who dispense cattle medicines can generally advise with sufficient safety upon the diseases of dogs, and it is best for unskillful persons to abstain from physicking them.

3978. _Hydrophobia._--Hydrophobia is the most dreadful of all diseases. The first symptoms are attended by thirst, fever, and languor. The dog starts convulsively in his sleep, and when awake, though restless, is languid.

3979. _Treatment._--When a dog is suspected, he should be firmly chained in a place where neither children nor dogs nor cats can get near him. Any one going to attend him should wear thick leather gloves, and proceed with great caution. When a dog snaps savagely at an imaginary object, it is almost a certain indication of madness; and when it exhibits a terror of fluids, it is confirmed hydrophobia.

3980. _Music._--Some dogs exhibit a great dislike of musical sounds, and when this is the case they are too frequently made sport of. But it is dangerous sport, as dogs have sometimes been driven mad by it. In many diseases dogs will be benefitted by warm baths.

3981. _Mange._--The mange is a contagious disease, which is difficult to get rid of when once contracted. The best way is to apply to a veterinary chemist for an ointment, and to keep applying it for some time after the disease has disappeared, or it will break out again.

3982. _Cats._--It is generally supposed that cats are more attached to places than to individuals, but this is an error. They obstinately cling to certain places, because it is there they expect to see the persons to whom they are attached. A cat will return to an empty house, and remain in it many weeks. But, when at last she finds that the family does not return, she strays away, and if she chances then to find the family, she will abide with them.

3983. _Rules, &c._--The same rules of feeding which apply to dogs apply also to cats. They should not be over-fed, nor too frequently. Cats are liable to the same diseases as dogs; though they do not become ill so frequently. A little brimstone in their milk occasionally, is a good preventive. The veterinary chemist will also prescribe for the serious diseases of cats.

SWIMMING.

3984. The art of swimming is, in fact, very easy, and those persons who take the few brief hints we are about to offer, will soon find themselves rewarded by complete success.

3985. The first consideration is not to attempt to learn to swim too soon. That is, you must not expect to succeed in your efforts to swim until you have become accustomed to the water, and have overcome your repugnance to the coldness and novelty of bathing. Every attempt will fail until you have acquired a certain confidence in the water, and then the difficulty will soon vanish.