Chapter M: E. James: ‘How to Decorate our Ceilings, Walls, and Floors.’ (36)

Ouzum Yaprac Dolmassi (dolmas with vine leaves).--During the spring in Turkey large quantities of the young vine leaves are gathered. They are then carefully placed in layers in large earthenware jars or pans that are not porous. The leaves for winter use have layers of salt placed between them, but those for summer use do not require it. Place a good handful of salt over each layer of leaves, and press them down tightly. When the jars are within 2 in. of being full fill them with water. Then place a piece of wood across the top, and put a stone on it to keep out the air. The Dolmas are made in the following way: Take 1 lb. veal, with a little of the fat, mince the meat very finely, and add salt, pepper, and a pennyworth of raw rice, and a large onion chopped very small. Mix it all together into a dough. Put an iron saucepan full of water on the fire; when it begins to boil throw into it 30-100 leaves, as you may require, and let them boil 5 minutes, stirring them well; then turn them out on a dish to cool; when cold break off the stalks, and roll a small quantity of the meat into each, taking care to close the leaf well. Place them carefully in layers in a saucepan without water, and closely, one over the other. Then take a good-sized piece of butter, brown it in the frying pan, and pour it over the dolmas. Half fill the saucepan with hot water, cover it and put it on a stove, to boil slowly until the dolmas are done. Care must be taken not to let them mix together. To get them well out without breaking, the saucepan must be turned upside down on a dish. Beat up an egg and mix it with a little flour, then put a small quantity of the water in which the dolmas were boiled into a smaller saucepan, and stir the egg into it. Pour this sauce over the meat.

Pilau.--Take 3 or 4 large tomatoes and boil them. When they are quite soft mash them well, adding a little salt, and put them back in the same water in which they were boiled, and add ½ lb. rice. When the rice has absorbed all the water, and is well done, take the saucepan off the fire, and put it to stand near, so as not to cool; then put a good-sized piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is well browned mix it up well with the rice, and serve it hot.

Pouf Burek.--The Arab takes ½ lb. flour and 2 eggs, and makes a paste; then rolls it out thin; then grates some new cheese, chops some parsley very finely, mixes them, and spreads the mixture over the paste. She then doubles up the paste, or folds it once, and cuts out small round cakes with a coffee cup. She then puts a good-sized piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is nicely browned she fries the little cakes in it, and serves them hot.

Prassas (leeks with oil).--Take 2 doz. leeks and wash them well, cut them in two, leaving only a small part of the white end, and throw away the rest; then cut them into pieces the size of dice, and throw them into water to wash them. Put a breakfastcupful of the best Lucca oil in a saucepan, and brown it slightly; then have ready 3 large onions cut up small, and throw them into the oil to brown a little. Mince a little parsley and mix it with the leeks, and then put them into the oil, adding 2 or 3 glasses hot water. Cover it well; season well; let it boil slowly until the leeks are done. Serve it cold.

Suburek.--Take 1 lb. flour and add a little water and salt, so as to make a thick paste, roll and divide it into 3 portions, then roll out 2 portions and put them aside to serve for rolling up the third portion. Then take 8 eggs, mix them with the third portion, roll it out very thin, cut it into 8 portions and throw them into boiling water on the fire, one after the other. When they are half-boiled or nearly done, spread one of the uncooked portions in a pie dish that is not very deep, and put 4 of the 8 boiled portions in it. Then take some minced beef or mutton, well seasoned and slightly browned in a frying pan with butter, mix a little minced parsley with it, and put it in the dish, then put the remaining 4 _boiled_ portions over it and cover the whole with the remaining large portion, then brown a little butter in the frying pan and put it over the paste. Bake it in the oven. A very good dish.

Tauf--Ghezon.--Draw 2 fowls, and put them to boil slowly; when they are half done take off all the white meat and put it into another saucepan to boil in milk, adding a small quantity of the water in which the fowls were first boiled. When the meat is reduced to a pulp mix it well with pounded white sugar, so as to make it quite sweet. Serve cold on a dish sprinkled with pounded cinnamon. This is a strengthening dish for an invalid.

Tauk Dolmas.--After drawing a fowl, chop the liver, gizzard, and heart very finely and add seasoning; boil some rice and mix it with a small piece of butter, then mix all together and stuff the fowl with it; make a little gravy with the neck and head, and serve with it. This dish should be stewed slowly.

Tuginar (ragoût with artichokes).--Take 1 lb. mutton or veal, and cut it in small pieces. Take 8-10 artichokes and wash them well, stripping off all the leaves, then cut the bottoms in 4 quarters; cut up 2 onions and mince a little parsley, and mix them. Then put a ¼ lb. butter into a stewpan, and put the meat in; when it is a little browned, throw in 2 or 3 tumblers of water, cover it, and let it stew gently for ¼ hour. Add a little seasoning, according to taste, with the onion and parsley; then put in the artichokes to cook until they are done, and then serve the dish. Other vegetables, such as broccoli or Brussels sprouts, may be substituted.

_West Indian._--Cavershed Fish.--Cut a sole into 3 or 4 pieces, according to size; flour each piece, have ready a frying-pan with some good frying oil, put it on the fire, and when the oil boils lay the fish in it, and fry a light brown; drain each piece well, and, when cold, lay them on a dish. Boil ½ pint vinegar, with a little allspice, ginger, and pepper, and throw it over the fish.

Coconut Cakes.--Break a coconut, remove the brown skin and cut it up into quite small pieces (somewhat larger than grains of rice). Put 1 lb. coarse brown sugar into a saucepan, with a teacupful of water; when it boils, skim off the scum, or strain through muslin, add the coconut and a little ginger, and boil (stirring constantly) till the sugar begins to thicken; then drop a little of the mixture from a spoon on to a board or dish which has been well damped with cold water; if it sets so that it can be raised with a knife without breaking, drop all the mixture in like manner in little cakes. Grated coconut can be done in the same way.

Crab Backs.--This dish is truly delicious; once eaten as prepared by a black cook, it is one never to be forgotten. The crabs must be caught and brought in alive; the cook must kill them herself, and divide the claws and bodies from the backs; when doing so she must be careful not to break the gall in the body, which would cause the whole of the meat in the crab to taste bitter. Boil these sufficiently, and, when cold, pick all the meat from the claws and bodies; the fat, which is of a very dark colouring, must be well mixed with the meat and stirred; add pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and lime juice to taste, also bread or biscuit crumbs; have the backs nicely cleaned, fill them with the above mixture, sprinkle breadcrumbs over them, and bake for about 10 minutes. Some people prefer crab backs without the addition of the fat, when they are not nearly so rich, and are of a much lighter colour.

Eater Drink.--An Indian drink. Take 3 doz. ripe fruit of the eater (ita) palm, place them in a jar, and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand until they are sufficiently soft to allow the rind to come off easily. Scrape the fruit, and when cool sweeten, and it is ready for use. This palm is as light as cork, and grows abundantly in the interior of Guiana.

Fly.--Grate 3 or 4 sweet potatoes (the white sort), place them in a stone jar, with 3 gal. boiling water, 1 doz. cloves, clear sugar to taste, and clarify with the white shell of an egg. Let it stand 24 hours, then strain, bottle and cork tightly; it is fit for use in a week.

Fou-fou Soup.--Peel 1 doz. plaintains, wash and boil them, place them in a dish till cooked, then pound them in a wooden mortar, occasionally moistening the pestle with cold water, to prevent it sticking, until they become one solid lump. Moisten a spoon with water, and after carefully separating the fou-fou from the mortar place it in a dish and serve with soup. The spoon should always be first moistened with soup before cutting the fou-fou, or it would be most difficult to cut it at all. The soup can be made of plantains, tannias, ochras, pigeon peas, black-eyed peas, pumpkin, or any vegetable. When made of ochras procure a good-sized dish of ochras, cut off the heads, wash and cut in slices, place them in a pot with as much water as you require soup, with ½ lb. salt beef, ½ lb. salt pork, cold, or fresh meat, 2 or 3 fresh fish, a small piece of salt fish, a few shrimps, 2 fresh peppers, one chopped onion, and seasoning. When most thoroughly boiled, or rather simmered, serve hot in a tureen, and the fou-fou served separately at the same time. When fou-fou soup is made of dry peas they must be well soaked, and then boiled for some time before the meat, &c., is added. When made of plaintains only these must be mashed when sufficiently cooked. A favourite way with the negroes is to cut the plaintains in slices, and boil a great many of them in soup without making them into fou-fou; when done in this way they call it “cutty-cutty.”

Groundnut Cakes.--Put 2 lb. these nuts (they can be bought in any small greengrocer’s shop, and are sometimes called monkey nuts) in the oven on a tin, and let them bake until you can remove the red skin of the kernel quite easily; then shell them all, take off all the skins and divide them in halves; make them into little cakes, as in recipe for coconut cakes.

Mawbery.--Get fourpennyworth mawbery bark from a chemist, boil it with a little water, and let it stand till cool. Add sufficient water to fill 12 bottles, and sweeten to taste, strain, and brew it for some time. Bottle and let it stand 24 hours, when it is fit for use, and it is a pleasant drink, slightly bitter. The bottles must never be corked and the froth which works up must be taken off. Never let it stand more than 2 days after it is fit for use.

Pepper-pot.--Pepper-pot cannot be prepared without cassaripe, and it may be interesting here to describe the mode of manufacture of that very excellent sauce, which is also used to great advantage in soups and sauces. It is made from the cassava root, bitter cassava, which is thus prepared: Peel and grate the roots on a large grater, which must be placed in a tub to receive it, put the pulp that has been grated into a mataube (a mataube is a long tube-like squeezer made of reed, by the Buck Indians, the lower end has a handle, the upper part is hung up on a tree, or some such convenient place). Hang up the mataube when quite full of cassava pulp, and pull the lower handle until all the juice is expressed. This juice must be allowed to settle in a tub; it is then to be strained; the settlement of the cassava juice is often converted into a very inferior kind of starch. Now place the strained juice into a large pot, and reduce it by repeated boiling greatly, and keep constantly skimming while boiling it; it will be found that the colour will change from white milky-looking juice to yellow, and lastly to black. During the boiling a small quantity of sugar and a few bird peppers (from which cayenne pepper is ground) should be added; then let the juice cool, bottle and cork it, and it is ready for pepper-pot, and for colouring soups and gravies. Good cassaripe is very thick and black. The cassava pulp, which is left dry, when all the juice is expressed, makes very delicious bread; it is placed in hoops in an oven, without the addition of any liquid, merely pressed together in a thin round wafer form, baked in an oven, and then taken out while still quite pale in colour, and exposed for some time to the burning West Indian sun. This bread is very delicious when toasted and buttered, served hot.

Place a sufficient quantity of meat--whether pork, beef, or mutton--to fill the earthen pot you possess (the Demerarians usually use a black earthen open pot, made by the Buck Indians) in a pot of boiling water; let it boil a few minutes. Then take out the meat, and cut it up in pieces, as you would for a stew; place these in the buckpot, and fill to the top with boiling water; put in with the meat sufficient cassaripe to make the sauce a rich colour, 6 fresh peppers, or a spoonful of cayenne, tied up in a bit of muslin; boil this for an hour; remove it then from the fire, and boil it up every day once whether it is used or not. It should be served hot in the buckpot in which it is cooked, which should be placed on a clean plate and so brought to table. On no account serve the pepper-pot in a dish other than it has been cooked in, and that dish should always be earthen. Cold meat without gravy or onions can be added, in fact any meat that is not seasoned or stuffed.

Pepper Punch.--Pound one pennyworth of dry ginger in a mortar, with 12 bird peppers, and boil this for a short time in a little water, place this in a stone jar, adding ¼ pint lime juice, strained, ¼ pint white rum, ¼ pint gin, ½ pint brandy, and sugar to taste, with 10 qt. cold water; stir the whole well together, cut a white lemon in two and throw in, tie the jar down, and place in the sun for 2 days, then bottle off, cork very tightly, and use when ripe; if this is to be kept any time, the corks should be tied with twine, or wired, or they will fly like champagne corks. This quantity is sufficient to fill 12 quart bottles.

Pinaree.--An Indian drink. Grate the bitter cassava and express the juice; sift the pulp and take all the coarse remains from the sifter, say 2 pints, moisten with fresh boiled cassaripe, grate 2 sweet potatoes, put all in a jar, cover with a leaf, and leave for 3 days, when a small quantity can be drunk with water. If allowed to stand many days, this becomes a most intoxicating drink, and is much used by the Buck Indians.

Pine Drink.--The rind of 1 pineapple to a quart bottle. Pare off the rind rather thickly, place it in a stone jar, with a few cloves, and 1 qt. boiling water; let it stand 24 hours, strain and sweeten to taste, bottle and cork tightly. It is ready for use in 2-3 days.

Salmagundy.--Wash a Dutch herring, remove the flesh from the bones, and lay it in a dish; put a few slices of onion on it. Boil ½ pint vinegar, with a little allspice, ginger, and pepper; when cold, pour it over the herring.

Slip and Dip.--This is a Barbadian dish. Procure some eddoes, boil them till they will slip out of the skin readily by slightly pressing. Stew some tchad (a kind of salted herring) with butter, seasoning, &c., and eat the boiled eddoes with the stew. The two together are called “Slip and Dip,” just as with us fried salt beef and fried greens and potatoes rejoice in the name of “Bubble and Squeak.” Eddoes boiled, with butter sauce and lime juice poured over them, or with anchovy sauce, are used as vegetables.

Sorrel Drink.--This fruit grows almost wild at two seasons of the year in Demerara, and is of a very rich claret colour, and makes a delicious drink or preserve. The tops are useless, also the seeds. Sometimes the above is boiled into a thick syrup, and mixed with rum, when it is called sorrel bounce.

Sous.--Take the head of a young pig, tie it up in a very clean and thin cloth, and boil it in strong salt and water till sufficiently cooked. Then take it up and place it in an open vessel, cover it with slightly salted water. Let it remain in this for 2 hours, then take the head and remove the cloth, cut it up into delicate pieces, together with the tongue, ears, and trotters. Place all these on a large dish, with several rings of large onions, and some slices of fresh peppers; squeeze some limes till you have enough juice to fill ⅓ teacup, stir a little salt into this, fill up the cup with water, strain it, and pour over the pieces of pork; garnish with parsley, and serve cold either for breakfast or luncheon. Calf’s head treated in the same manner is equally good.

Spacha, or Conserve of Spices.--Shell and peel 25 walnuts, 1 lb. monkey nuts, a few cobnuts, and a few sweet almonds, pound them in a mortar, but not too finely; put 1½ lb. coarse brown sugar in a saucepan with 1 breakfastcupful water, let it boil, then strain through muslin, return it to the saucepan with the nuts, and 1 teaspoonful each ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper, and rather less of ground allspice all mixed together; boil for ½ hour, stirring constantly, thicken it slightly with 2 luncheon biscuits finely pounded, boil for another ¼ hour, then with a spoon put the mixture into custard glasses, and sprinkle a little ground cinnamon on the top of each glass. To be eaten cold.

Swizzle.--Fill a wine glass ⅔ full with brandy, and the other third with Angostura bitters; put this into a jug, with 2 wineglasses of water, and another of finely crushed ice, with a spoonful of sugar (not lump), and swizzle with a swizzle stick until a thick froth rises; then pour into glasses, and drink immediately; the above is enough for 2 men. A well-beaten egg is often added to the above, but the swizzle is then not so refreshing.

SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE.

‘The _Queen_ Recipes.’ London. 6_d._

Mary Hooper: ‘Cookery for Invalids, persons of delicate digestion, and for children.’ London, 1883. 3_s._ 6_d._

Mary Hooper: ‘Little Dinners; how to serve them with elegance and economy.’ London, 1875. 5_s._

Mary Hooper: ‘Everyday Meals, being economic and wholesome recipes for breakfast, luncheon and supper.’ London, 1883. 5_s._

H. L. S. Lear: ‘Maigre Cookery.’ London, 1884. 2_s._

A. G. Payne: ‘Choice Dishes at small Cost.’ London, 1883. 3_s._ 6_d._

Susan Anna Brown: ‘Mrs. Gilpin’s Frugalities; remnants, and 200 ways of using them.’ New York, 1883. 5_s._

‘The Vegetist’s Dietary, and Manual of Vegetable Cookery.’ London, 1877. 6_d._

Catherine Ryan: ‘Convalescent Cookery; a family handbook.’ London, 1881. 2_s._ 6_d._

Lady Sarah Lindsay: ‘A Few Choice Recipes.’ London, 1883. 4_s._ 6_d._

Susan Anna Brown: ‘The Book of 40 Puddings.’ New York, 1882. 2_s._ 6_d._

Mrs. Matthew Clark: ‘366 Menus and 1200 Recipes of the Baron Brisse, in French and English.’ London, 1882. 5_s._

Charles Elmé Francatelli: ‘The Modern Cook; a practical guide to the culinary art in all its branches; comprising, in addition to English cookery, the most approved and recherché systems of French, Italian, and German cookery, adapted as well for the largest establishments as for the use of private families.’ London, 1881. 12_s._

Mrs. Henry Reeve: ‘Cookery and House-keeping; a manual of domestic economy for large and small families.’ London, 1882. 7_s._ 6_d._

Jules Gouffé: ‘The Royal Cookery Book.’ London, 1880. 10_s._ 6_d._

The _Queen_. London, weekly. 6_d._

_THE HOUSEWIFE’S ROOM._

This apartment should represent in the household the important place occupied by the laboratory in a manufactory. In it should be found the necessary means of examining the qualities of the various articles consumed in the household, and of combating the evils which surround the inmates. This statement presupposes a wide knowledge on the part of the housewife, who, indeed, is often expected to know more than many professors--hence the value of a book like the present as a guide. For facility of reference, the main facts useful to the housewife in her daily duties, i.e. facts which she is particularly called upon to know outside the ordinary routine of cooking and housework, will be grouped together in sections.

=Testing.=--Chemistry is a valuable science, and more fully appreciated every day in its application to home matters; but the average housewife cannot be expected to qualify herself as an analyst. At the same time there are many simple tests for the purity of air, water, and foods that can easily be brought within the range of an ordinarily intelligent woman, and will be found of great service.

_Air._--Apart from poisonous gases due to sewers, &c., there is a constituent of air, which, in excess, becomes poisonous also. This is carbonic acid. Wholesome air does not contain more than 5 volumes of carbonic acid in 10,000; as the proportion increases, the quality of the air deteriorates till it becomes actively poisonous. The simplest method of estimating approximately the proportion of carbonic acid present in the air of a room is by shaking up a small quantity of lime water with a certain amount of the air to be tested. The lime water is prepared by shaking slaked lime with distilled water, allowing it to settle, and then carefully drawing off the clear liquid by a siphon, so as not to disturb the sediment. It can be obtained from any druggist, but should be freshly made.

When this lime water is shaken up in a bottle of air containing carbonic acid, the acid combines with the lime, forming an insoluble powder of carbonate of lime, and when this is in sufficient quantity it makes the water turbid, or milky, so that it can be recognised by the eye. By having a series of bottles of various sizes, filling them with the air to be tested, placing in each bottle a large tablespoonful of lime water, and then shaking them vigorously for 3 or 4 minutes, so that all the air in the bottle shall be brought in contact with the lime water, and all the carbonic acid be taken up by the lime, we shall find that in one bottle of the series the turbidity is just perceptible, while in bottles of less size the fluid remains clear, and in those of greater size it is dense.

The following table is given by Dr. Smart as expressing the relation between the size of the bottle in which turbidity occurs and the volume of carbonic acid in the air:--

+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+
| Size of | Carbonic Acid || Size of | Carbonic Acid |
| Bottle in | in volumes per || Bottle in | in volumes per |
| fluid ounces.| 10,000 air. || fluid ounces.| 10,000 air. |
+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+
| 20.6 | 3 || 5.5 | 12 |
| 15.6 | 4 || 5.1 | 13 |
| 12.5 | 5 || 4.8 | 14 |
| 10.5 | 6 || 4.5 | 15 |
| 9.1 | 7 || 3.5 | 20 |
| 8.0 | 8 || 2.9 | 25 |
| 7.2 | 9 || 2.5 | 30 |
| 6.5 | 10 || 2.0 | 40 |
| 6.0 | 11 || | |
+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+

If an 8 oz. bottle shows turbidity, the presence of more than 8 volumes per 10,000 is indicated; how much more must be determined by a second experiment. Taking a 6½ oz. bottle, the air is known to contain less than 10 volumes if no precipitate is developed. The carbonic acid can then be stated as constituting from 8 to 10 volumes per 10,000 of the air. But a third experiment with a bottle intermediate in size will correspondingly reduce the limits of uncertainty regarding the carbonic acid figure. There is no test-paper which can be made practically useful as a quantitative test for carbonic acid. (_Sanitary Engineer._)

_Water._--The tests for water embrace impurities which affect the character of water for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes. Drinking-water should not be too soft, as it provides much of the lime required in building up the bones of the body; the chief evil in drinking-water is the presence of organic ferments. For cooking and washing purposes, water cannot be too soft, and, if used boiled, the presence of organic matters is practically neutralised.

Drinking-water.--In 1871, Dr. Hager published a valuable and simple test for the presence of fermentable poisonous matter. He proposed a tablespoonful of a clear solution of tannin to be added to a tumblerful of water. If no gelatinous turbidity occurs within 5 hours, the water may be considered good. If turbidity occurs within the first hour, the water is unwholesome. If turbidity is displayed within the second hour, the water is not to be recommended. Previously, in 1866, Dr. Hager had recommended for travellers, as a precaution in cholera times, the addition of the following solution (20 drops to 1 pint) to any water they might be about to drink:--Tannic acid, 5 parts; syrup, 4 parts; distilled water, 6 parts; spirit of wine, 12½ parts.

A very simple test for the purity of water is given by Heisch. He observes that good water should be free from colour, and unpleasant odour and flavour, and should quickly afford a good lather with a small proportion of soap. If ½ pint of water be placed in a clean colourless glass-stoppered bottle, a few grains of the best white lump sugar added, and the bottle freely exposed to the daylight in the window of a warm room, the liquid should not become turbid, even after exposure for a week or 10 days. If, while the stopper remains secure, the water becomes turbid, it is open to grave suspicion of sewage contamination; but if it remains clear, it is almost certainly safe for drinking and all domestic purposes.

Hard or Soft Water.--Dissolve a small quantity of good soap in alcohol. Let a few drops fall into a glass of water. If it turns milky, it is hard; if not, it is soft.

Earthy Matters or Alkali.--Take litmus paper dipped in vinegar, and if, on immersion, the paper returns to its true shade, the water does not contain earthy matter or alkali. If a few drops of syrup be added to a water containing an earthy matter, it will turn green.

Carbonic Acid.--Take equal parts of water and clear lime water. If combined or free carbonic acid is present, a precipitate is seen, in which, if a few drops of muriatic acid be added, an effervescence commences.

Magnesia.--Boil the water to 1/20 part of its weight, and then drop a few grains of neutral carbonate of ammonia into a glass of it, and a few drops of phosphate of soda. If magnesia be present, it will fall to the bottom.

Iron.--(_a_) Boil a little nut-gall, and add to the water. If it turns grey or slate colour, iron is present. (_b_) Dissolve a little prussiate of potash, and if iron is present, it will turn blue.

Lime.--Into a glass of the water put 2 drops oxalic acid, and blow upon it; if it gets milky, lime is present.

Acid.--Take a piece of litmus paper. If it turns red, there must be acid. If it precipitates on adding lime water, it is carbonic acid. If a blue sugar-paper is turned red, it is a mineral acid, and there would be reason to suspect poisonous metallic salts.

_Foods._--Foods are adulterated in three principal ways, viz.:--(1) By replacing a superior article or ingredient by an inferior or cheaper substitute, (2) by adding foreign matters capable of giving an appearance of superiority, (3) by adding water to increase the weight, this being often accompanied by incorporating foreign materials which absorb much water though perhaps otherwise harmless.

Bread.--Pure flour (wheaten) may be replaced by various meals of inferior nutritive value and lower price; if done on a scale to repay the baker, their presence can be at once detected under the microscope. This kind of adulteration is nearly always accompanied by the use of alum, which improves the appearance of bread made from inferior flour, and enables it to hold much more water. The presence of alum can be ascertained easily and rapidly by the logwood test: soak some crumbs of bread for 6 or 7 minutes in an alcoholic solution of logwood containing an excess of carbonate of ammonia, and squeeze it--a more or less deep blue colour is produced. Alum is often used too to hide the employment of damaged flour, containing perhaps only 7 per cent. of gluten instead of 12. The presence of mineral adulterants, which seldom occurs, is proved by burning a sample of the bread and weighing the ash, which should not exceed 7 parts in 1000. Bread is sometimes made of the flour from wheat which has “sprouted” or germinated, and is then inferior. This can only be ascertained by examining the flour: if it has a musty odour and flavour and an acid reaction, the flour has probably been damp for some time; if there is no mustiness but only an acid reaction, sprouted wheat has been employed. The acid reaction is best discovered by stirring some of the flour in water, filtering, and testing with a solution of corallin rendered red with a trace of alkali; if the flour is acid it turns yellow.

Butter.--Cheap butters largely consist of admixtures with other animal fats, especially that known as “butterine” or “bosch.” Analysis of suspected butter could hardly be undertaken by the housewife, but the presence of butterine is probable if the butter breaks in a crumbly manner and loses its colour on being kept melted for a short time at the temperature of boiling water (212° F.).

Milk.--Adulteration chiefly consists in adding water to skim milk and in mixing skim milk with that sold as new. Analysis is possible only to the skilled chemist, but a rough test may be made. The lactoscope devised by Dr. Bond, of Gloucester, is based on the principle of that of Prof. Feser, of Munich, in which the opacity of fresh milk is taken as proportionate to the amount of butter fat. It is useful as providing a ready means of determining with approximate accuracy the richness of milk, and is therefore a rough but sufficient test where adulteration is suspected. As supplied by the Sanitary and Œconomic Association of Gloucester, it consists of a little glass dish with some black horizontal lines on the base, a small measure, and a sort of pipette. The measure is filled with water and emptied into the dish; the pipette is filled with the milk to be tested, which is then dropped into the water, the drops being counted. The mixture of water and milk is stirred, and when the horizontal lines can no longer be seen, say, from a height of 2 ft., the number of drops of milk used are compared with a table supplied, and the approximate amount of butter-fat is read off. This instrument must not be confounded with the various lactometers, which aim at estimating the quality of a milk by its density (specific gravity)--an utterly erroneous proceeding, seeing that a poor milk will often show a higher density than a rich one.

For new milk a capital test is to pour a small quantity into an ordinary glass test-tube graduated from 0 at the top to 100 at the bottom; on allowing the sample to stand, cream will form, and its proportion can be read off at a glance, always allowing 20 hours’ rest. Good new milk should show an average of 11½ per cent. of cream, and will sometimes reach 80 per cent. The quality of skim milk is less easy to estimate by ready means. It should average not less than 1 part of fat in 1000.

As a precaution against possible infection by diseased milk, it is advisable to let all milk be boiled before use, as the boiling temperature is fatal to the disease germs. Such milk, however, is not so digestible or palatable to many people.

Tea.--The present low prices of tea do not afford much scope for profitable adulteration in this country. The chief falsifications to be on the look out for are the artificial colouring of green teas, which, naturally, are hardly distinguishable from black; and the substitution of re-rolled exhausted leaves for genuine fresh leaves. There is also in cheap teas often a considerable proportion of mineral matter, i.e. added dirt. This last can be readily detected by chewing a small quantity of the leaf, when dirt will be felt in the mouth. The presence of exhausted leaves will be manifested by the increased weight of solid matters left on boiling a sample repeatedly and drying the residue. With genuine teas, the average weight of leaves (dried) remaining after exhaustion is 65 per cent.; therefore 1 oz. of tea thoroughly boiled should not give more than ⅔ oz. of exhausted leaves weighed after drying. If the figure is higher, the addition of exhausted leaves to the original tea may be suspected.

Coffee.--Coffee-berries can scarcely be adulterated without easy detection, therefore the best safeguard is to buy the berries and grind them at home. Ground coffee is nearly always adulterated with chicory: in fact a certain proportion is allowed by law, and the chicory is itself often largely mixed with various rubbish which by roasting gives a brown colour to water. The simplest plan for detecting the sophistication of ground coffee is to sprinkle some in a glass of cold water: pure coffee will not colour the water for some time, while chicory and its substitutes will do so immediately.

Cocoa.--This is never sold in the pure state, and no two preparations are alike. The only safeguard is to buy it in packets bearing the name of one of the well-known makers, whose preparations are wholesome and adapted to the demands of the palate.

Pickles.--Pickles and preserved vegetables are often coloured highly by the addition of copper or by boiling the articles in copper vessels. The presence of copper, even in very small proportion, can be easily and rapidly detected by plunging a bright knife-blade into the vessel for a few moments, when, if copper be present, it will coat the knife. Another evil in cheap pickles is the adulteration of the vinegar by means of sulphuric and other acids, generally sulphuric, that being one of the cheapest. A very small addition of sulphuric acid can be detected by pouring a few drops of the vinegar on a small piece of lump sugar and then evaporating the vinegar away on a water bath; the residue will become more or less blackened (carbonised) according to the amount of free mineral acid present. (Hassall.) A water bath can be extemporised out of a china tea-saucer placed on a small saucepan in which water is boiling. A further risk in vinegar containing sulphuric acid is that the acid has been made from pyrites and is contaminated with arsenic.

Pepper.--Pepper-corns may readily be judged by tasting; they cannot easily be replaced by other seeds, but may have been damaged by sea water and retain but little pungency. Ground pepper is often adulterated with flour or starch, whose presence is at once revealed by the microscope. The same may be said of most spices.

Obviously the housewife cannot conduct a critical chemical analysis of any article coming into her household; the most she can do is to detect the presence of inferior or injurious goods. Where analyses are desired, the author will provide them on the terms stated below, on samples being sent to the publishers of this volume, with the necessary instructions:--

1. Chemical and microscopical examination of water,
each sample £2 2 0

2. Chemical examination of bread, flour, lard, butter,
jam, marmalade, sauces, ale, wine, spirits, for
adulteration only, each sample 1 1 0

3. Chemical examination of milk, coffee, tea, spices,
pickles, and sweetmeats, for adulteration only,
each sample 0 10 6

=Cleaning and Renovating.=--This is a wide and important subject, embracing not only the person and personal attire, but also the furniture and fittings of the dwelling and the various utensils of the household. Classification is adopted as far as possible.

_Chip or Straw Goods._--To Clean.--Wash in warm soap liquor, well brushing them both inside and out; then rinse in cold water, and they are ready for bleaching.

To Bleach.--(_a_) Put a small quantity of salts of sorrel (oxalic acid) into a clean pan, and pour on it sufficient scalding water to cover the bonnet or hat. Put the bonnet or hat into this liquor, and let it remain in it for about 5 minutes; to keep it covered, hold it down with a clean stick. Dry in the sun or before a clear fire. (_b_) Having first dried the bonnet or hat, put it, together with a saucer of burning sulphur, into a box with a tight-closing lid. Cover it over to keep it in the fumes, and let it remain for a few hours. The disadvantage of bleaching with sulphur is that the articles so bleached soon become yellow, which does not happen to them when they are bleached by oxalic acid.

To Finish or Stiffen.--After cleaning and bleaching, white bonnets should be stiffened with parchment size. Black or coloured bonnets are finished with a size made from the best glue.

Straw or chip plaits, or leghorn hats and bonnets, may also be cleaned, bleached, and finished as above.

_Feathers._--(_a_) To clean feathers from their own animal oil, steep them in 1 gal. water mixed with 1 lb. lime, stir them well, then pour off the water, and rinse the feathers in cold spring water. To clean feathers from dirt, simply wash them in hot water with soap. Rinse them in hot water. (_b_) To clean white ostrich feathers: 4 oz. white curd soap cut small, dissolved in 4 pints water, rather hot, in a basin. Make the solution into a lather by beating it with birch rods, or wires. Introduce the feathers and rub well with the hands for 5 or 6 minutes. After the soaping, wash in clean water as hot as the hand can bear. Shake until dry. (_c_) Slightly soften the soiled feathers with warm water, using a camel’s-hair brush. Next raise each feather with a flat piece of wood or paper-knife, and clean them with spirits of wine. Dry with plaster-of-Paris, and afterwards brush them carefully with a dry camel’s-hair brush. (_d_) Make a strong solution of salt in water, saturate a large and thick cloth with it. Wrap the bird up in the damp cloth in as many folds as you can, not disarranging the plumage. Look at the bird in 6 hours, and if not long dried on the blood will be soft; if not soft, keep it in the cloth longer, and re-wet it. When soft, rub out with gentle pressure, putting something hard under each feather with blood on, and rubbing with the back of a knife. Of course each feather must be done separately. (_e_) Col. Wragge treated the soiled plumage of albatrosses, Cape petrel, &c., by simply washing the feathers in rain water, after the process of skinning, and then laying a thick mixture of starch and water over the portion to be cleansed. Next he laid the birds aside, and left them till the plastering of starch had become thoroughly dry. He then removed the dry plaster by tapping it, and found that the feathers had become much cleaner. Old specimens may be cleaned in this way. Feathers may be “set” by just arranging them naturally with a needle or any pointed instrument. (_f_) White.--Dissolve 4 oz. white soap in 2 qt. boiling water; put it into a large basin or small pan, and beat to a strong lather with a wire egg-beater or a small bundle of birch twigs; use while warm. Hold the feather by the quill with the left hand, dip it into the soap liquor and squeeze it through the right hand, using a moderate degree of pressure. Continue this operation until the feather is perfectly clean and white, using a second lot of soap liquor if necessary. Rinse in clean hot water to take out the soap, and afterwards in cold water in which a small quantity of blue has been dissolved. Shake well, and dry before a moderate fire, shaking it occasionally that it may look full and soft when dried. Before it is quite dry, curl each fibre separately with a blunt knife or ivory paper-folder.

Coloured.--These are to be cleaned, and rinsed in warm and cold water, as above, but not rinsed in blue water. Coloured feathers may also be cleaned in a mixture of 1 part fresh gall and 3 of lukewarm water, washing them in this mixture in the same manner as in the soap liquor. But they will require more rinsing when done by this method, in order to take off all smell of the gall. Dry and curl as before.

Grebe.--Carefully take out the lining, and wash with warm water and soap, as directed for white ostrich feathers, but do not shake them until they are quite dry. Before re-making, carefully repair any rents there may be in the skin.

To Purify Feathers for Beds, Pillows, &c.--Prepare a quantity of lime water in the following manner: Well mix 1 lb. quicklime in each gal. of water required, and let it stand until all the undissolved lime is precipitated, as a fine powder, to the bottom of the tub or pan, then pour off the clear liquor for use. The number of gallons to be prepared will, of course, depend on the quantity of feathers to be cleaned. Put the feathers into a clean tub, pour the lime water on them, and well stir them in it until they all sink to the bottom. There should then be sufficient of the lime water to cover them to a depth of 3 in. Let them stand in this for 3 or 4 days, then take them out, drain them in a sieve, and afterwards well wash and rinse them in clean water. Dry on nets having a mesh about the same size as a cabbage net; shake the net occasionally, and the dry feathers will fall through. When they are dried, beat them well to get rid of the dust. It will take about 3 weeks to clean and dry a sufficient quantity for a bed. This process was awarded the prize offered by the Society of Arts.

_Fenders._--(_a_) Have your bright steel fenders and fire-irons well rubbed with mercurial ointment, and leave all bright parts smeared over with it; they will not rust while left all winter. (_b_) Rub them well with sperm oil; after which some people put unslaked lime. Wrap the fenders in paper to keep off dust. (_c_) Take a piece of raw mutton fat (the loin fat is best) and melt it in front of the fire, and rub it thickly all over the bright fenders and fire-irons, and then do them up in several thicknesses of brown paper; you will find them free from rust in the spring. The fat must be raw, not cooked, and melted just enough to rub on.

_Firearms._--(_a_) A good and simple way of cleaning and recolouring the barrels and other metal parts of a double-barrel shot gun which are quite rusty. Take the barrels from the stock, and put them in clean cold water free from gritty matters. Attach the brush to the washing-rod, and get out all adhering powder and residues; next take tow and wash until the barrels are quite clean. If the parts have rusted it will be necessary to use a little emery flour. Dry the barrels with clean cotton rags, rubbing until the metal feels warm. Plug the ports and muzzles securely, then cleanse the outside parts with a strong alcoholic solution of caustic potash, aided, if necessary, with a little emery flour and a soft rag. Rinse thoroughly in water, dry thoroughly, warm, and while warm rub over every part with the following preparation: pure (dry) zinc chloride, 1 oz.; antimony nitrate, ¼ oz.; olive oil, 2 oz.; well rubbed down into a smooth uniform paste. After ½ hour’s exposure, rub off excess of this paste, and polish with clean soft rags. In warming the metal, avoid overheating it so as to injure the temper.

(_b_) In the Volunteer service there are several fluids used, which are composed of either turpentine, naphtha, petroleum, benzine, or gasoline, about one-third, or according to fancy, with Rangoon oil. But the instructions to the troops are--a damp rag, flannel or tow, is all that is required to clean the barrel out; if much water is used, it is liable to run into the action. The butt should be raised when washing out. After washing out and drying, an oily rag or flannel to be used. On many occasions the oily material will be found to be efficacious, without the previous use of water.

(_c_) Easy method of cleaning guns and rifles when leaded.--If a muzzle-loader, stop up the nipple or communication hole with a little wax, or if a breech-loader insert a cork in the breech rather tightly; next pour some quicksilver into the barrel, and put another cork in the muzzle, then proceed to roll it up and down the barrel, shaking it about for a few minutes. The mercury and the lead will form an amalgam, and leave the barrel as clean and free from lead as the first day it came out of the shop. The same quicksilver can be used repeatedly by straining it through wash-leather; for the lead will be left behind in the leather, and the quicksilver will be again fit for use.

(_d_) If the barrels have become leaded, wet the tow on the rod with spirits of turpentine, as the latter enjoys the property of removing any leading almost equally with quicksilver. Newark’s gun-cleaning composition also answers admirably for this purpose, and prevents rust. Paraffin will also be found useful where neither of the foregoing can be obtained. Never touch the grooves of a rifle with emery, as it will dull their edges, and, consequently, affect the shooting power. (_Land and Water._)

(_e_) Fill a stable-bucket one-third full of hot water. The water should not be too hot--not hotter than the finger can bear. If scalding hot, it is likely to cause the rib to start. Dismount barrels from stock, and place breeches in the bucket. Pour some of the water into the muzzles from a jug, and sponge the barrels out with a woollen rag or tow until the water comes out perfectly clear, both at the nipples and when jerked out of the muzzle by action of cleaning-rod. Wipe the water off the exterior of the barrels, then dry the interior with woollen rags; four or five changes of rag are required. When the insides of the barrels are perfectly dry, pass an oiled rag down. Remove fouling from nipples and adjacent parts by means of a stiff brush or woollen rag. Any sharp instrument should on no account be used. Oil out the barrels, being careful not to miss the parts round the nipples, between rib and barrel, and ramrod bands. Remove fouling from hammers in the same way as from the nipples. Rub the hammers, trigger, trigger-guard, &c., clean with a dry woollen rag, then rub them with an oiled one, which should be passed all over the stock. Clean and oil the ramrod. The oil used should be animal, not vegetable. Neat’s-foot oil (of the consistency of grease) is excellent, never rusting the gun in the least. On returning from a day’s shooting, if it is not convenient to clean the gun at once, an oiled rag should be passed outside of the barrels and stock.

_Floorcloths and Carpets._--(_a_) Oilcloths.--In buying an oilcloth for a floor, endeavour to obtain one that was manufactured several years before; as the longer it has been made previous to use, the better it will wear, from the paint becoming hard and durable. An oilcloth that has been made within the year, is scarcely worth buying, as the paint will be defaced in a very little time, it requiring a long while to season. An oilcloth should never be scrubbed with a brush; but, after being first swept, it should be cleaned by washing with a large soft cloth and lukewarm or cold water. On no account use soap, or take water that is hot; as either of them will certainly bring off the paint. When it has dried, you may sponge it over with milk, which will brighten and preserve the colours; and then wipe it with a soft dry cloth. (J. R.)

(_b_) Wash with a large, soft, woollen cloth and lukewarm or cold water, dry thoroughly with a soft cloth, and afterwards polish with milk, or a weak solution of beeswax, in spirits of turpentine.

(_c_) Oilcloth may be improved in appearance by rubbing it with a mixture of ½ oz. beeswax in a saucerful of turpentine. After being applied it must be well rubbed with a dry cloth; otherwise the floor will be quite slippery.

(_d_) Cleaning New Linoleum.--Equal parts of salad oil and vinegar is the best thing for the purpose, as it keeps it clean longer than skim milk, which is commonly used. If dirty, wash the linoleum first with soap-and-water. Soda rapidly destroys it, but soap or grease improves the wear.

(_e_) Oilcloth made from Carpet.--The following recipe is communicated to the _Cultivator and Country Gentleman_ by a correspondent:--Nail the old Brussels carpet loosely to the floor, in a large attic or wood-house chamber not in use. Then paint it over with a thick coat of linseed oil and burnt umber. Let it dry in thoroughly; add a coat of good varnish. Let that dry for a week or two, and it can be washed with milk-and-water like any oilcloth. Paint it on the wrong side, and nail it down closely, for it need not be taken up for many years. As the varnish and paint wear off, renew them, and thus it will last four times as long as common oilcloth. It may be ornamented with a border of scarlet, green, or blue lines.

(_f_) Sweeping Carpets.--Before applying the broom, scatter over the carpet the refuse tea-leaves from the teapot. These should be set apart and saved in a pot kept for the purpose, squeezing the water out thoroughly in the hand. First rub the leaves into the carpet with the broom, and then sweep as usual. This will prevent dust, and brighten the colours. Indian meal (maize flour) is recommended for this purpose by many experienced American housekeepers. A small sweeping machine, with a box to catch the dust, is now often used.

(_g_) Cleansing Carpets.--Put 4 tablespoonfuls ammonia to 1 bucketful of water, with soap, scrubbing-brush, and cloth; scrub and wash the carpet just as you would an unpainted floor, changing the water frequently. Leave the windows open, and the carpet will soon dry. In cities where bituminous coal is used, carpets are scrubbed as regularly as wooden floors, and with happy effects. Instead of taking up a carpet every 6 weeks during the winter, as some in muddy districts think necessary, a careful wiping every week of the carpet with a mop wrung from clean water will remove the dust and brighten the colours. A thorough sweeping should precede this wiping-up.