70 files changed, 17 insertions, 44421 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7b82bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+*.txt text eol=lf
+*.htm text eol=lf
+*.html text eol=lf
+*.md text eol=lf
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ed8fdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #55734 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55734)
diff --git a/old/55734-0.txt b/old/55734-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 8b11398..0000000
--- a/old/55734-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21004 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper, by 
-Catharine E. Beecher
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper
-       Containing Five Hundred Receipes for Economical and
-       Healthful Cooking; also, Many Directions for Securing
-       Health and Happiness
-
-Author: Catharine E. Beecher
-
-Release Date: October 12, 2017 [EBook #55734]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS BEECHER'S HOUSEKEEPER ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Larry B. Harrison, les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                            MISS BEECHER’S
-
-                              HOUSEKEEPER
-
-                                  AND
-
-                             HEALTHKEEPER:
-
-                              CONTAINING
-
-                         FIVE HUNDRED RECIPES
-
-                                  FOR
-
-                   ECONOMICAL AND HEALTHFUL COOKING;
-
-                                 ALSO,
-
-          MANY DIRECTIONS FOR SECURING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
-
-               _APPROVED BY PHYSICIANS OF ALL CLASSES._
-
-                              [Colophon]
-
-                               NEW YORK:
-
-                    HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
-
-                           FRANKLIN SQUARE.
-
-                                 1873.
-
-
-
-
-      Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by
-
-                          HARPER & BROTHERS,
-
-      In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-PART FIRST.
-
-  CHAPTER I.
-
-  HEALTH, ECONOMY, AND PLEASURE IN FOOD.
-
-  Rules of Health in regard to Food and Drink—Measures used in
-  Cooking                                                        Page 15
-
-
-  CHAPTER II.
-
-  MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.
-
-  Marketing—Beef—Different “Cuts,” etc.—Veal—Mutton—Pork—Poultry—Fish
-  —Shell-fish—Care of Meats—To salt down Beef—To cleanse Calf’s Head
-  and Feet—To prepare Rennet—To salt down Fish—To try out
-  Lard—Molasses-cured Hams—Brine for coming Hams, Beef, Pork,
-  etc.—Another—Brine by Measure—To salt down Pork—To prepare Cases for
-  Sausages—Sausage Meat—Another Recipe—Bologna Sausages—To smoke Hams 18
-
-
-  CHAPTER III.
-
-  STEWS AND SOUPS.
-
-  New Soup and Stew Kettle—General Directions—Stews: of Beef and Potato;
-  Mutton and Turnip, (French;) Simple Mutton; Beef, with vegetable
-  flavors; Fowl, with Celery or Tomatoes—Irish Stew—Veal
-  Stew—Another—Pilaff (Turkish)—Rice or Hominy Stew—English Beef
-  Stew—Pot au Feu (French)—Olla Podrida (Spanish)—French Mutton
-  Stew—French Modes of Cooking—Flavors—Soup Powder                    28
-
-
-  CHAPTER IV.
-
-  SOUPS.
-
-  General Directions—Soup Stock—Soup of Potato—Plain Beef—Rich Beef—Green
-  Pea—Dried Bean or Pea—Clam—Vegetable and Meat for Summer—Dried
-  Pea, with salt Pork—Dried Bean or Pea, with Meat stock—Mutton—Vegetable
-  (French)—Plain Calf’s Head—Simple Mutton                            35
-
-
-  CHAPTER V.
-
-  HASHES.
-
-  Four Ways of spoiling Hashes—Hashes: of Fresh Meats, seasoned; Cold
-  fresh Meats and Potatoes; Meat, with Eggs; Meat, with Tomatoes; Beef;
-  Veal; Rice and cold Meats; Bread-crumbs and cold Meats; Another;
-  Cold Beefsteak; Same, with Potatoes and Turnips; Cold Mutton or
-  Venison; Corned Beef; Cold Ham—Meats warmed over—To Cook cold
-  Meats—Cold meat Hash—Souse—Tripe                                    39
-
-
-  CHAPTER VI.
-
-  BOILED MEATS.
-
-  To Cook tough Beef—Boiled Ham—Beef—Fowls—Fricasseed Fowls—To
-  boil Leg or Shoulder of Veal, Mutton, or Lamb—Calf’s Feet—Calf’s Liver
-  and Sweet-breads—Kidneys—Pillau—Smoked Tongue—Corned Beef—Partridges
-  or Pigeons—Ducks—Turkey                                             43
-
-
-  CHAPTER VII.
-
-  ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.
-
-  The best Beef—Brown Flour for Gravies—Roast Beef—To roast in a
-  Cook-stove—Roast Pork; Mutton; Veal; Poultry—Pot-pie of Beef, Veal, or
-  Chicken—Mutton and Beef Pie—Chicken-pie—Rice
-  Chicken-pie—Potato-pie—Calf’s Head                                  46
-
-
-  CHAPTER VIII.
-
-  BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.
-
-  Boiled Mutton or Lamb Chops; Beefsteak; Fresh Pork; Ham; Sweet-breads;
-  Veal—Pork Relish—Frying—Calf’s or Pig’s Liver—Beef Liver—Egg
-  Omelet—Frizzled Beef—Veal Cheese—Codfish Relish—Another—Salt
-  Herrings                                                            50
-
-
-  CHAPTER IX.
-
-  PICKLES.
-
-  General Directions—Sweet Pickles—To pickle Tomatoes; Peaches; Peppers;
-  Nasturtions; Onions; Gherkins; Mushrooms; Cucumbers; Walnuts;
-  Mangoes; Cabbage—To prepare Tomatoes for eating—Martinoes—Spiced
-  Cucumber Pickles—Indiana Pickles—Cauliflower or Broccoli            52
-
-
-  CHAPTER X.
-
-  SAUCES AND SALADS.
-
-  Milk and Egg Sauce—Drawn Butter—Mint Sauce—Cranberry Sauce—Apple
-  Sauce—Walnut or Butternut Catsup—Mock Capers—Salad Dressing—Turkey
-  or Chicken Salad—Lettuce Salad—Tomato Catsup                        56
-
-
-  CHAPTER XI.
-
-  FISH.
-
-  Oysters, Stewed; Fried; Scalloped; Broiled—Oyster Fritters—Oyster
-  Omelet—Pickled Oysters—Roast Oysters—Scallops—Clams—Clam
-  Chowder—Fish, Boiled; Broiled; Baked—Pickle for cold Fish           58
-
-
-  CHAPTER XII.
-
-  VEGETABLES.
-
-  General Remarks—Potatoes—Old Potatoes—Potato Puffs—Sweet
-  Potatoes—Green Corn—Succotash—Oyster-plant or Salsify—Egg-plant
-  —Carrots—Beets—Parsnips—Pumpkin and Squash—Celery—Radishes—Onions
-  —Tomatoes—Cucumbers—Cabbage and Cauliflower—Asparagus—Macaroni
-  —Eggs 60
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIII.
-
-  FAMILY BREAD.
-
-  General Remarks—Fine and unbolted Flour—Middlings—Kneading—Yeast:
-  Hop and Potato; Potato; Hard—Bread: of fine Flour; of middling
-  or unbolted Flour; raised with Water; Rye and Indian; Third; Rye;
-  Oat-meal; Pumpkin; Apple; Corn-meal—Sweet Rolls of Corn-meal—Soda
-  Biscuit—Yeast Biscuit—Potato Biscuit—Buns                           64
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIV.
-
-  BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.
-
-  General Supplies—Receipts for Corn-meal—Hominy—Rice—Economical
-  Breakfast Dish—Biscuits of sour Milk and Flour—Pearl or cracked
-  Wheat—Rye and Corn Meal—Oat-meal—Wheat Muffins—Sally Lunn,
-  improved—Cream Griddle-cakes—Royal Crumpets—Muffins—Waffles—Drop
-  -cakes—Sachem’s Head Corn-cake—Rice Waffles—A Rice Dish—To use cold
-  Rice—Buckwheat Cakes—Cottage Cheese                                 70
-
-
-  CHAPTER XV.
-
-  PUDDINGS AND PIES.
-
-  Sweet Food, Remarks—Queen of all Puddings—Flour Pudding—Flour and
-  Fruit Pudding—Rusk and Milk—Rusk Pudding—Meat and Rusk Pudding—A
-  good Pudding—Pan Dowdy—Corn-meal Pop-over—Best Apple-pie—Puddings:
-  of Rice; Bread and Fruit; Boiled Fruit—Curds (English)—Common
-  Apple-pie—Plain Custard—Another—Mush or Hasty Pudding—Stale Bread
-  Pudding—Rennet Wine—Rennet Custard—Bird’snest Pudding—Minute Pudding
-  of Potato Starch—Tapioca Pudding—Cocoa-nut Pudding—New-England Squash
-  or Pumpkin Pie—Ripe-fruit Pies: Peach, Cherry, Plum, Currants, and
-  Strawberry—Mock Cream—Pudding of Bread-crumbs and Fruit—Bread and
-  Apple Dumplings—Indian Pudding without Eggs—Boiled Indian and Suet
-  Pudding—Dessert of Rice and Fruit—Another—Cold Rice and stewed or
-  grated Apple—Rich Flour Pudding—Apple-pie—Spiced Apple-tarts—Baked
-  Indian Pudding—Apple Custard—Macaroni or Vermicelli Pudding—Green-corn
-  Pudding—Bread Pudding for Invalids or young Children—A good
-  Pudding—Loaf Pudding—Lemon Pudding—Green-corn Patties—Cracker
-  Plum-pudding—Sauces for Puddings, Liquid—Hard—Another—A healthful
-  Sauce—Universal Sauce—Paste for Puddings and Pies—Pie-crusts without
-  Fats; made with Butter, very rich                                   74
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVI.
-
-  CAKE.
-
-  General Directions.—_Cake raised with Powders_—One, two, three, four
-  Cake—Chocolate; Jelly; Orange; Almond and Cocoa-nut.—_Cake raised with
-  Eggs_—Pound Cake; Plain; Fruit; Huckleberry; Gold and Silver; Rich
-  Sponge; Plain Sponge—Gingerbread, etc.—Aunt Esther’s
-  Gingerbread—Sponge Gingerbread—Ginger Snaps—Seed Cookies—Fried
-  Cakes.—_Cakes raised with Yeast_—Plain Loaf-cake—Rich
-  Loaf-cake—Dough-cake—Icing for Cake                                 85
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVII.
-
-  PRESERVES AND JELLIES.
-
-  General Directions—Canned Fruit—To clarify Sirups for
-  Sweetmeats—Brandy Peaches—Peaches (not rich)—Peaches (elegant)—To
-  preserve Quinces whole—Quince Jelly—Calf-foot Jelly—To preserve
-  Apples—Pears—Pine-apples—Purple Plums, No. 1 and No. 2—White or green
-  Plums—Citron Melons—Strawberries—Blackberry Jam—Currants to eat
-  with Meat—Cherries-Currants—Raspberry Jam, No. 1 and No. 2—Currant
-  Jelly—Quince Marmalade—Water-melon Rinds—Preserved Pumpkin          90
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-  DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES.
-
-  Ice-cream—Strawberry Ice-cream—Ice-cream without Cream—Fruit
-  Ice-cream—A Cream for stewed Fruit—Currant, Raspberry, or Strawberry
-  Whisk—Lemonade—Ice and other Ices—Charlotte Russe—Flummery—Chicken
-  Salad—Wine Jelly—Apple-lemon Pudding—Wheat-flour Blanc-mange—Orange
-  Marmalade—Simple Lemon Jelly—Cranberry—Apple Ice—Whip
-  Syllabub—Apple-snow—Iced Fruit—Ornamental Froth—To clarify
-  Isinglass—Blanc-mange—Apple Jelly—Orange Jelly—Floating Island—A Dish
-  of Snow—To clarify Sugar—Candied Fruits—Another way—Ornamental
-  Pyramid                                                             95
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIX.
-
-  DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.
-
-  Tea—Coffee—Fish-skin for Coffee—Cocoa—Cream for Coffee and
-  Tea—Chocolate—Milk Lemonade—Strawberry and Raspberry Vinegar—White
-  Tea and Boys’ Coffee—Dangerous use of Milk—Simple Drinks—Simple
-  Wine Whey—Toast and Cider—Panada—Water-gruel—Beef-tea—Tomato
-  Sirup—Sassafras Jelly—Egg-tea, Egg-coffee, and Egg-milk—Oat-meal
-  Gruel—Pearl Barley-water—Cream-tartar Beverage—Rennet Whey—A
-  fever Drink—Food, etc., for Infants                                100
-
-
-  CHAPTER XX.
-
-  THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.
-
-  The Art of keeping a good Table—Successive Variety—Doing every
-  thing in the best Manner—Stores and Store-rooms—Flour—Unbolted
-  Flour—Indian-meal—Rye—Buckwheat—Rice—Hominy—Arrow-root—Tapioca,
-  etc.—Sugars—Butter—Lard and Drippings—Salt—Vinegar—Oil—Molasses—Hard
-  Soap—Starch—Indigo—Coffee—Tea—Soda—Raisins—Currants—Lemon and Orange
-  Peel—Spices—Sweet Herbs—Cream-tartar—Acids—Essences, etc.—Preserves
-  and Jellies—Hams—Cheese—Bread—Cake—Codfish—Salted Provisions       103
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXI.
-
-  SETTING TABLES, PREPARATION OF FOOD.
-
-  Table-cloth—Napkins—Table Furniture—Bread—Butter—Dishes—Soiled
-  Spots—Plates to be warmed in Winter—Certain Dishes served
-  together—Strong flavored Meats—Boiled Poultry—Jelly—Fresh Pork—Drawn
-  Butter—Pickles—Garnishing Dishes—Boiled Ham or Veal—Greens and
-  Asparagus—Hashes—Curled Parsley—Mode of setting Table              109
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXII.
-
-  WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.
-
-  Modes of economizing the Wash—Good Washing depends on
-  Conveniences—Articles needed—Common mode of Washing—Fine Clothes—White
-  Articles—Colored Articles—Flannels—Bedding—Calicoes—Waters,
-  etc.—To cleanse Broadcloth—To make Lye—Soft Soap—Potash Soap—To
-  prepare Starch—Beef’s Gall—To do up Laces—Articles needed for
-  Ironing—Sprinkling, Folding, and Ironing—To whiten Articles and remove
-  Stains—Mildew—Stain-mixture—Another—To remove Grease, Tar, Pitch,
-  Turpentine, Lamp-oil, Oil-paint, Ink-stains, Stains on varnished
-  Articles—To clean silk Handkerchiefs and Ribbons—To clean silk Hose or
-  Gloves                                                             112
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXIII.
-
-  MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.
-
-  How to keep Cool in hot Weather—Indelible Ink—To keep Eggs—To prevent
-  Earthen, Glass, and Iron ware from breaking easily—Cement for broken
-  Ware—To keep Knives from Rust—To cleanse or renovate Furniture—To
-  clean Silver—To cleanse Wall-paper—To purify a Well—To take care
-  of Roses and other Plants—To keep Grapes—Snow for Eggs—Paper
-  to keep Preserves—To cool Butter in hot Weather—To stop Cracks
-  in Iron—To stop creaking Hinges—To stop creaking Doors and make
-  Drawers slide easily—To renovate black Silk—To clean Kid Gloves—To
-  remove grease Spots—To get rid of Rats and Mice—Odds and ends for
-  Housekeepers—Additional Recipes                                    122
-
-
-PART SECOND.
-
-
-  CHAPTER I.
-
-  NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.
-
-  Women need both scientific and practical Training even more than
-  Men—Woman’s Duties as important as difficult, and much greater in
-  Variety—The business of a Housekeeper includes all connected with the
-  Construction and Care of a House, Yard, and Garden; the Selection
-  of Furniture; the Ornamentation of a Home; its Cleansing, Neatness,
-  and Order; the Selection and Cooking of proper Food; the providing
-  of family Furniture and Clothing; the Care of Health; the Charge
-  of family Expenses; the Training of Servants, and, as Wife and
-  Mother, the Supervision of Nursery, the Educator of Children, and
-  the religious Minister of the family State—Evils consequent on not
-  training Women for these Duties                                    127
-
-
-  CHAPTER II.
-
-  A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOME.
-
-  Advantages of close Packing of Conveniences—Plan of a model Cottage to
-  economize Time, Labor, and Expense, with Estimates of Cost—Advantages
-  described                                                          133
-
-
-  CHAPTER III.
-
-  ON HOME VENTILATION.
-
-  Mode in which the Body is nourished by the Air—Construction of the
-  Lungs and Heart—Description of Evils consequent on Neglect of a proper
-  Supply of pure Air                                                 150
-
-
-  CHAPTER IV.
-
-  ON WARMING A HOUSE.
-
-  Principles of Heat, viz., Conduction, Convection, Radiation, and
-  Reflection—Best Mode of warming a House illustrated—Importance of
-  Moisture in the Air                                                164
-
-
-  CHAPTER V.
-
-  ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.
-
-  The general Properties of Heat, Conduction, Convection, Radiation,
-  Reflection—Cooking done by Radiation the simplest but most
-  wasteful Mode: by Convection (as in Stoves and Furnaces) the
-  cheapest—The Range—The model Cooking-stove—Interior Arrangements and
-  Principles—Contrivances for economizing Heat, Labor, Time, Fuel,
-  Trouble, and Expense—Its Durability, Simplicity, etc.—Chimneys: why
-  they smoke, and how to cure them—Furnaces: the Dryness of their
-  Heat—Necessity of Moisture in warm Air—How to obtain
-  and regulate it                                                     182
-
-
-  CHAPTER VI.
-
-  ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.
-
-  Educating Influence of natural and artistic Beauty—On Curtains—Sketch
-  of a Parlor with cheap and beautiful Ornaments—On the tasteful
-  Combination of Colors                                              192
-
-
-  CHAPTER VII.
-
-  ON THE CARE OF HEALTH.
-
-  Importance of some Knowledge of the Body and its Needs—Fearful
-  Responsibility of entering upon domestic Duties in Ignorance—The
-  fundamental vital Principle—Cell-life—Wonders of the
-  Microscope—Cell-multiplication—Constant interplay of Decay and Growth
-  necessary to Life—The red and white Cells of the Blood—Secreting
-  and converting Power—The nervous System—The Brain and the
-  Nerves—Structural Arrangement and Functions—The ganglionic System—The
-  nervous Fluid—Necessity of properly apportioned Exercise to Nerves
-  of Sensation and of Motion—Evils of excessive or insufficient
-  Exercise—Equal Development of the Whole                            199
-
-
-  CHAPTER VIII.
-
-  DOMESTIC EXERCISE.
-
-  Connection of Muscles and Nerves—Microscopic cellular muscular
-  Fibre—Its Mode of Action—Dependence on the Nerves of voluntary and
-  involuntary Motion—How Exercise of Muscles quickens Circulation of
-  the Blood, which maintains all the Processes of Life—Dependence of
-  Equilibrium upon proper muscular Activity—Importance of securing
-  Exercise that will interest the Mind                               208
-
-
-  CHAPTER IX.
-
-  HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.
-
-  Construction of the Body in Relation to Food—The Construction of a
-  Kernel of Wheat as proportioned to the Body—Construction and Action of
-  the Stomach—Advice as to Food, Drinks, and Stimulants—Opinions of
-  Physicians                                                         214
-
-
-  CHAPTER X.
-
-  ON CLEANLINESS.
-
-
-  Construction of the Skin—The secreting Organs—Care of the Skin     235
-
-
-  CHAPTER XI.
-
-  CLOTHING.
-
-  Construction of the Bones—Influence of Dress—Description of two
-  Modes of Breathing, and the Effects of Weight and Tightness of
-  Clothing—Proper Mode of sustaining the Clothing                    243
-
-
-  CHAPTER XII.
-
-  EARLY RISING.
-
-  A Virtue peculiarly American and democratic—In aristocratic Countries,
-  Labor considered degrading—The Hours of Sunlight generally devoted
-  to Labor by the working Classes, and to Sleep by the indolent and
-  wealthy—Sunlight necessary to Health and Growth, whether of Vegetables
-  or Animals—Particularly needful for the Sick—Substitution of
-  artificial Light and Heat by Night a great Waste of Money—Eight hours’
-  Sleep enough—Excessive Sleep debilitating—Early Rising necessary to
-  a well-regulated Family, to the Amount of Work to be done to the
-  Community, to Schools, and to all Classes in American Society      254
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIII.
-
-  DOMESTIC MANNERS.
-
-  Good Manners the Expression of Benevolence in personal
-  Intercourse—Serious Defects in Manners of the Americans—Causes
-  of peculiar Manners to be found in American Life—Want of clear
-  Discrimination—Necessity for Distinctions of Superiority and
-  Subordination—Importance that young Mothers should seriously endeavor
-  to remedy this Defect while educating their Children—Democratic
-  Principle of Equal Rights to be applied, not to our own Interests,
-  but to those of others—The same Courtesy to be extended to all
-  Classes—Necessary Distinctions arising from mutual Relations to be
-  observed—The Strong to defer to the Weak—Precedence yielded by Men to
-  Women in America—Good Manners must be cultivated in early Life—Mutual
-  Relations of Husband and Wife—Parents and Children—The Rearing of
-  Children to Courtesy—De Tocqueville on American Manners            260
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIV.
-
-  THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.
-
-  Easier for a Household under the Guidance of an equable Temper
-  in the Mistress—Dissatisfied Looks and sharp Tones destroy the
-  Comfort of System, Neatness, and Economy—Considerations to aid the
-  Housekeeper—Importance and Dignity of her Duties—Difficulties to be
-  overcome—Good Policy to calculate beforehand upon the Derangement
-  of well-arranged Plans—Object of Housekeeping, the Comfort and
-  well-being of the Family—The End should not be sacrificed to secure
-  the Means—Possible to refrain from angry Tones—Mild Speech most
-  effective—Exemplification—Allowances to be made for Servants and
-  Children—Power of Religion to impart Dignity and Importance to the
-  ordinary and petty Details of domestic Life                        274
-
-
-  CHAPTER XV.
-
-  HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
-
-  Relative Importance and Difficulty of the Duties a Woman is called
-  to perform—Her Duties not trivial—A Habit of System and Order
-  necessary—Right Apportionment of Time—General Principles—Christianity
-  to be the Foundation—Intellectual and social Interests to be
-  preferred to Gratification of Taste or Appetite—Neglect of Health
-  a Sin in the Sight of God—Regular Season of Rest appointed by the
-  Creator—Divisions of Time—Systematic Arrangement of house Articles
-  and other Conveniences—Regular Employment for each Member of a
-  Family—Children—Family Work—Forming Habits of System—Early Rising a
-  very great Aid—Due Apportionment of Time to the several Duties     280
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVI.
-
-  HEALTH OF MIND.
-
-  Intimate Connection between the Body and Mind—Brain excited by
-  improper Stimulants taken into the Stomach—Mental Faculties then
-  affected—Causes of mental Disease—Want of oxygenized Blood—Fresh
-  Air absolutely necessary—Excessive Exercise of the Intellect or
-  Feelings—Such Attention to Religion as prevents the Performance of
-  other Duties wrong—Unusual Precocity in Children usually the Result
-  of a diseased Brain—Idiocy often the Result, or the precocious Child
-  sinks below the Average of Mankind—This Evil yet prevalent in Colleges
-  and other Seminaries—A medical Man necessary in every Seminary—Some
-  Pupils always needing Restraint in regard to Study—A third Cause
-  of mental Disease, the Want of appropriate Exercise of the various
-  Faculties of the Mind—Extract from Dr. Combe—Beneficial Results of
-  active intellectual Employments—Indications of a diseased Mind     293
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVII.
-
-  CARE OF THE AGED.
-
-  Preservation of the Aged, designed to give Opportunity for Self-denial
-  and loving Care—Patience, Sympathy, and Labor for them to be regarded
-  as Privileges in a Family—The Young should respect and minister unto
-  the Aged—Treating them as valued Members of the Family—Engaging them
-  in domestic Games and Sports—Reading aloud—Courteous Attention to
-  their Opinions—Assistance in retarding Decay of Faculties by helping
-  them to Exercise—Keeping up Interest of the Infirm in domestic
-  Affairs—Great Care to preserve animal Heat—Ingratitude to the Aged:
-  its baseness—Chinese Regard for old Age                            301
-
-
-  CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-  CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
-
-  Interesting Association of Animals with Man, from
-  Childhood to Age—Domestic Animals apt to catch the
-  Spirit of their Masters—Important Necessities—Good
-  Feeding—Shelter—Cleanliness—Destruction of parasitic Vermin—Salt
-  and Water—Light—Exercise—Rule for Breeding—Care of Horses: Feeding,
-  Grooming, special Treatment—Cows: Stabling, Feed, Calving, Milking,
-  Tethering—Swine: naturally cleanly, Breeding, fresh Water, Charcoal,
-  Feeding—Sheep: winter Treatment—Diet—Sorting—Use of Sheep in clearing
-  Land—Pasture—Hedges and Fences—Poultry—Turkeys—Geese—Ducks—Fowls—Dairy
-  Work generally—Bees—Care of domestic Animals, Occupation for Women  305
-
-
-  CHAPTER XIX.
-
-  CARE OF THE SICK.
-
-  Prominence given to Care and Cure of the Sick by our Saviour—Every
-  Woman should know what to do in the Case of Illness—Simple Remedies
-  best—Fasting and Perspiration—Evils of Constipation—Modes of
-  relieving it—Remedies for Colds—Unwise to tempt the Appetite
-  of the Sick—Suggestion for the Sick-room—Ventilation—Needful
-  Articles—The Room, Bed, and Person of the Patient to be kept
-  neat—Care to preserve animal Warmth—The Sick, the Delicate, the
-  Aged—Food always to be carefully prepared and neatly served—Little
-  Modes of Refreshment—Implicit Obedience to the Physician—Care
-  in purchasing Medicines—Exhibition of Cheerfulness, Gentleness,
-  and Sympathy—Knowledge and Experience of Mind—Lack of competent
-  Nurses—Failings of Nurses—Sensitiveness of the Sick—“Sisters of
-  Charity,” the Reason why they are such excellent Nurses—Illness in the
-  Family a providential Opportunity of training Children to Love and
-  Usefulness                                                         313
-
-
-  CHAPTER XX.
-
-  FIRES AND LIGHTS.
-
-  Management of Lamps and Candles                                    324
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXI.
-
-  CARE OF ROOMS.
-
-  Miscellaneous Advice as to Furniture, setting Tables, Packing, and
-  Stowing—Rules for Washing, Carving, and Helping—Care of Chambers,
-  Kitchen, and Cellar                                                330
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXII.
-
-  CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.
-
-  Preparation of Soil—Making a Hot-bed—Re-potting—Laying
-  out Yards and Gardens—Care of house Plants—Propagation of
-  Plants—Ingrafting—Cultivation of Fruit by Women Page               349
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXIII.
-
-  SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.
-
-  How to instruct in these Arts in common Schools                    361
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXIV.
-
-  ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.
-
-  Treatment of the Drowned—Antidotes for Poisons—Conduct in
-  Thunder-storms and Fires                                           366
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXV.
-
-  RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.
-
-  Meaning of the Word Right—How do Men decide what is wise, best, and
-  right?—What is an intuitive Principle in all rational Minds—Who are
-  called righteous and virtuous Men in all Nations and Ages—Effect
-  of Danger in deciding what is right—The Law of Rectitude or
-  Right—Distinction between emotive Love and voluntary Love illustrated
-  by Christ’s Teachings and Example—Explanation of “Faith,” “Love,”
-  and “Repentance,” as taught by Jesus Christ—The proportion of
-  Time and Property required of the Jews—Illustrations of Christian
-  Benevolence—Self-denying Benevolence happifying, and can be
-  cultivated—Consideration of various Modes of Charity               370
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXVI.
-
-  CARE OF INFANTS.
-
-  Remarks of Herbert Spencer and Dr. Combe—Advice of medical
-  Writers—Best Remedy for Fevers                                     390
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXVII.
-
-  MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
-
-  Physical Care—Intellectual Training—On cultivating Benevolence in
-  Children—Sympathy with Little Ones important—Gentle tones best     401
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXVIII.
-
-  FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
-
-  Woman’s Responsibility as chief Educator of the Family—The meaning of
-  the Word _Right_—The End, or Object, for which all Things are made,
-  and how learned—Difficulties in interpreting Revelation—Distinctive
-  principle of Protestantism—_Danger_ in the future Life, and different
-  Views—Influence of Belief in Danger illustrated—Rule of Interpretation
-  used in common Life, and to be applied to the Bible—What we must do to
-  be saved—Theories differ, but an agreement in _facts_ revealed—How a
-  Woman must decide for herself and for those she controls           414
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXIX.
-
-  CARE OF SERVANTS.
-
-  Distinction between emotional and voluntary Love to others—This the
-  Principle to guide in the Care of Servants—Ladies who do their own
-  Work—Intelligence saves Labor—Benefits of domestic Labor—The Training
-  of Servants a prime Duty of American Housekeepers—Modes of avoiding
-  Difficulties—Rewards of benevolent Care here and in the Life to come
-                                                                     424
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXX.
-
-  DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.
-
-  The only proper Object of Amusement—Various kinds that are safe, and
-  others that are wrong, either in Quality or Excess—Hospitality     440
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXXI.
-
-  LAWS OF HEALTH.
-
-  The Laws of Health are Laws of God, and should be taught to all
-  Children—Laws of Health for the Bones, Muscles, Lungs, Digestive
-  Organs, Skin, Brain and Nerves, Teeth, Eyes, Hair, etc.            454
-
-
-  CHAPTER XXXII.
-
-  COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.
-
-  Some of the great Trials of American Housekeepers enumerated—How to
-  meet them with Comfort and Success                                 459
-
-
-  NOTE A                                                             466
-
-
-  INDEX                                                              473
-
-
-
-
-                                  THE
-
-                     HOUSEKEEPER AND HEALTHKEEPER.
-
-                              PART FIRST.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR TO AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS.
-
-
-My dear Friends,—This volume embraces, in a concise form, many valuable
-portions of my other works on Domestic Economy, both those published by
-Harper and Brothers and those published by J. B. Ford and Co., together
-with other new and interesting matter. It is designed to be a complete
-encyclopædia of all that relates to a woman’s duties as housekeeper,
-wife, mother, and nurse.
-
-The First Part embraces a large variety of recipes for food that is
-both healthful and economical, put in clear, concise language, with
-many methods for saving labor, time, and money, not found in any
-other works of the kind. It also gives more specific directions as
-to _seasonings_ and _flavors_ than the common one of “Season to the
-Taste,” which leaves all to the judgment of the careless or ignorant.
-The recipes have been tested by some of the best housekeepers, and all
-relating to health has been approved by distinguished physicians of all
-schools.
-
-The Second Part contains interesting information as to the construction
-of the body, in a concise form, omitting all details, except such as
-have an immediate connection with a housekeeper’s practical duties.
-These are so simplified and illustrated, that by aid of this, both
-servants and children can be made so to understand the _reasons_
-for the laws of health, as to render that willing and intelligent
-obedience which can be gained in no other way.
-
-It is my most earnest desire to save you and your household from
-the sad consequences I have suffered from ignorance of the _laws of
-health_, especially those which women peculiarly need to understand and
-obey.
-
-God made woman to do the work of the family, and to train those under
-her care to the same labor. And her body is so formed that family
-labor and care tend not only to good health, but to the _highest
-culture of mind_. Read all that is included in our “profession,” as
-detailed in the Second Part of this work, and see how much there is to
-cultivate every mental faculty, as well as our higher moral powers.
-Domestic labor with the muscles of the arms and trunk, with intervals
-of sedentary work, are exactly what keep all the functions of the body
-in perfect order, especially those which, at the present day, are most
-out of order in our sex. And so the women of a former generation, while
-they read and studied books far less than women of the present time,
-were better developed both in mind and body.
-
-It was my good fortune to be trained by poverty and good mothers and
-aunts to do every kind of domestic labor, and so, until one-and-twenty,
-I was in full enjoyment of health and happiness. Then I gave up all
-domestic employments for study and teaching, and in ten years I ruined
-my health, while my younger sisters and friends suffered in the same
-mistaken course. And my experience has been repeated all over the
-land, until there is such decay of female constitutions and health, as
-alarms, and justly alarms, every well-informed person.
-
-After twenty years of invalidism, I have been restored to perfect
-health of body and mind, and _wholly_ by a strict obedience to the
-_laws of health and happiness_, which I now commend to your especial
-attention, with the hope and prayer that by obedience to them you may
-save yourselves and households from unspeakable future miseries.
-
-I wish I could give you all the evidence that I have gained to prove
-that woman’s work in the household _might_ be so conducted as to be
-agreeable, tasteful, and promotive of both grace and beauty of person.
-But this never can be generally credited till women of high culture
-set the example of training their sons and daughters, instead of hired
-servants alone, to be their domestic helpers.
-
-According to the present tendency of wealth and culture, it is women of
-moderate or humble means who will train their own children to health
-and happiness, and rear prosperous families. Meantime, the rich women
-will have large houses, many servants, poor health, and little domestic
-comfort, while they train the children of foreigners to do family
-work, and in a way that will satisfy neither mistress nor servant; for
-a woman who does not work herself is rarely able to properly teach
-others. Choose wisely, then, O youthful mother and housekeeper! train
-yourself to wholesome labor and intelligent direction, and be prepared
-to educate a cheerful and healthful flock of your own children.
-
-  Your friend and well-wisher,
-
-  CATHARINE E. BEECHER.
-
-NEW YORK, _April 2, 1873_.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.
-
-
-Every young woman, at some period of her life, may need the
-instructions of this chapter. Thousands will have the immediate care
-of buying meats for the family; and even those who are not themselves
-obliged to go to market, should have the knowledge which will enable
-them to direct their servants what and how to buy, and to judge whether
-the household, under their management, is properly served or not.
-Nothing so thoroughly insures the intelligent obedience of orders, as
-evidence that the person ordering knows exactly what is wanted.
-
-The directions given in this and the ensuing chapters on meats,
-were carefully written, first in Cincinnati, with the counsel and
-advice of business men practically engaged in such matters. They have
-been recently rewritten in Hartford, Conn., after consultation with
-intelligent butchers and grocers.
-
-
-MARKETING.
-
-BEEF.
-
-The animal, when slaughtered, should be bled very thoroughly. The care
-taken by the Jews in this and other points draws custom from other
-sects to their markets. The skin is tanned for leather, and the fat
-is used for candles and other purposes. The tail is used for soups,
-and the liver, heart, and tripe are also used for cooking. The body is
-split into two parts, through the backbone, and each half is divided
-as marked in the drawing on following page. There are diverse modes of
-cutting and naming the parts, butchers in New England, in New York, in
-the South, and in the West, all making some slight differences; but the
-following is the most common method.
-
- [Illustration: Fig. 1.
-
- 1. The _head_: frequently used for mince-pies; sometimes it is tried
- out for oil, and then the bones are used for fertilizers. The horns
- are used to make buttons and combs, and various other things. 2. The
- _neck_; used for soups and stews. 3. The _chuck-rib_, or _shoulder_,
- having four ribs. It is used for corning, stews, and soup, and
- some say the best steaks are from this piece. 4. The _front of the
- shoulder_, or the _shoulder-clod_, which is sometimes called the
- _brisket_. 5. The _back of the shoulder_; used for corning, soups,
- and stews. 6. The _fore-shin_, or _leg_; used for soups. 7, 7. The
- _plate-pieces_; the front one is called the brisket, (as is also 4,)
- and is used for corning, soups, and stews. The back plate-piece is
- called the _flank_, and is divided into the _thick flank_, or upper
- _sirloin_, and the _lower flank_. These are for roasting and corning.
- 8. The _standing ribs_, divided into _first_, _second_, and _third
- cuts_; used for roasting. The second cut is the best of the three.
- 9. The _sirloin_, which is the best roasting piece. 10. The _sirloin
- steak_ and the _porter-house steak_; used for broiling. 11. The
- _rump_, or _aitch-bone_; used for soup or corning, or to cook _à la
- mode_. 12. The _round_, or _buttock_; used for corning, or for _à la
- mode_; also for dried beef. 13. The _hock_, or _hind shank_; used for
- soups.]
-
-In selecting _Beef_, choose that which has a loose grain, easily
-yielding to pressure, of a clear red, with whitish fat. If the lean is
-purplish, and the fat yellow, it is poor beef. Beef long kept turns a
-darker color than fresh killed. Stall-fed beef has a lighter color than
-grass-fed.
-
-Ox beef is the best, and next, that of a heifer.
-
-In cold weather, it is economical to buy a hind quarter; have it cut
-up, and what is not wanted immediately, pack with snow in a barrel. All
-meats grow tender by keeping. Do not let meats freeze; if they do, thaw
-them in cold water, and do not cook them till fully thawed. A piece
-weighing ten pounds requires ten or twelve hours to thaw.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 2. VEAL.]
-
-The calf should not be slaughtered until it is six weeks old. Spring is
-the best time for veal. It is divided as marked in the drawing.
-
- 1. The _head_, sold with the _pluck_, which includes the _heart_,
- _liver_, and _sweet-breads_. 2. The _rack_, including the neck; used
- for stews, pot-pies, and broths; also for chops and roasting. 3. The
- _shoulder_. This, and also half the rack and ribs of the fore-quarter,
- are sometimes roasted, and sometimes used for stews, broths, and
- cutlets. 4. The _fore-shank_, or _knuckle_; used for broths. 5. The
- _breast_; used for stews and soups; also to stuff and bake. 6. The
- _loin_; used for roasting. 7. The _fillet_, or _leg_, including the
- hind flank; used for cutlets, or to stuff and boil, or to stuff and
- roast, or bake. 8. The _hind shank_, or _hock_, or _knuckle_; used for
- soups. The _feet_ are used for jelly.
-
-In selecting _Veal_, take that which is firm and dry, and the joints
-stiff, having the lean a delicate red, the kidney covered with fat, and
-the fat very white. If you buy the head, see that the eyes are plump
-and lively, and not dull and sunk in the head. If you buy the legs, get
-those which are not skinned, as the skin is good for jelly or soup.
-
- [Illustration: Fig. 3. MUTTON.
-
- 1. The _shoulder_; for boiling or corning. 2, 2. The _neck_ and
- _rack_; for boiling or corning. 3. The _loin_; is roasted, or broiled
- as chops. 4. The _leg_; is boiled, or broiled, or stuffed and roasted.
- Many salt and smoke the leg, and call it smoked venison. 5. The
- _breast_; for boiling or corning.]
-
-In choosing _Mutton_, take that which is bright red and close-grained,
-with firm and white fat. The meat should feel tender and springy on
-pressure. Notice the vein on the neck of the fore-quarter, which should
-be a fine blue.
-
-
- [Illustration: Fig. 4. PORK.
-
- 1. The _leg_, or _ham_; used for smoking. 2. The _hind loin_. 3. The
- _fore loin_. 4. The _spare-rib_; for roasting; sometimes including
- all the ribs. 5. The _hand_, or _shoulder_; sometimes smoked, and
- sometimes corned and boiled. 6. The _belly_, or _spring_, for corning
- or salting down. The _feet_ are used for jelly, head-cheese, and
- souse.]
-
-In selecting _Pork_, if young, the lean can easily be broken when
-pinched, and the skin can be indented by nipping with the fingers. The
-fat also will be white and soft. _Thin_ rind is best.
-
-In selecting _Hams_, run a knife along the bone, and if it comes out
-clean, the ham is good; but if it comes out smeared, it is spoiled.
-Good bacon has white fat, and the lean adheres closely to the bone. If
-the bacon has yellow streaks, it is rusty, and not fit to use.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In selecting _Poultry_, choose those that are full grown, but not old.
-When young and fresh-killed, the skin is thin and tender, the joints
-not very stiff, and the eyes full and bright. The breast-bone shows
-the age, as it easily yields to pressure if young, and is tough when
-old. If young, you can with a pin easily tear the skin. A goose, when
-old, has red and hairy legs; but when young, they are yellow, and have
-few hairs. The pin-feathers are the roots of feathers, which break off
-and remain in the skin, and always indicate a _young_ bird. When very
-neatly dressed, they are pulled out.
-
-Poultry and birds ought to be killed by having the head cut off, and
-then hung up by the legs to bleed freely. This makes the flesh white
-and more healthful.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In selecting _Fish_, take those that are firm and thick, having stiff
-fins and bright scales, the gills bright red, and the eyes full and
-prominent. When fish are long out of water, they grow soft, the fins
-bend easily, the scales are dim, the gills grow dark, and the eyes sink
-and shrink away. Be sure and have them dressed immediately; sprinkle
-them with salt, and use them, if possible, the same day. In warm
-weather, put them in ice, or corning, for the next day.
-
-Shell-fish can be decided upon only by the smell. Lobsters are not good
-unless alive, or else boiled before offered for sale. They are black
-when alive, and red when boiled. When to be boiled, they are to be put
-alive into boiling water, which is the quickest and least cruel way to
-end their life.
-
-
-THE CARE OF MEATS.
-
-In hot weather, if there is no refrigerator, then wipe meat dry,
-sprinkle on a little salt and pepper, and hang in the cellar. Or,
-still better, wrap it, thus prepared, in a dry cloth, and cover it
-with charcoal or with wood-ashes. Mutton, wrapped in a cloth wet with
-vinegar, and laid on the ground of a _dry_ cellar, keeps well and
-improves in tenderness.
-
-Hang meat a day or two after it is killed before corning it.
-
-In winter, meat is kept finely if well packed in snow, without salting;
-but some say it lessens the sweetness.
-
-Frozen meat must be thawed in cold water, and not cooked till entirely
-thawed.
-
-Beef and mutton are improved by keeping as long as they remain sweet.
-If meat begins to taint, wash it, and rub it with powdered charcoal,
-which often removes the taint. Sometimes rubbing with salt will cure
-it. Soda water is good also.
-
-Take all the kernels out that you will find in the round and thick end
-of the flank of beef, and in the fat, and fill the holes with salt.
-This will preserve it longer.
-
-Salt your meat, in summer, as soon as you receive it.
-
-A pound and a half of salt rubbed into twenty-five pounds of beef, will
-corn it so as to last several days in ordinary warm weather; or put it
-in strong brine.
-
-In most books of recipes there are several different ones for corning,
-for curing pork hams, and for other uses, while an inexperienced
-person is at a loss to know which is best. The recipes here given are
-decided to be _the best_, after an examination of quite a variety, by
-the writer, who has resided where they were used; and she knows that
-the very best results are secured by these directions. These also are
-pronounced the best by business men of large experience.
-
-
- =To Salt down Beef to keep the Year round.=—One hundred pounds
- of beef; four quarts of rock-salt, pounded fine; four ounces of
- saltpetre, pounded fine; four pounds of brown sugar. Mix well. Put a
- layer of meat on the bottom of the barrel, with a thin layer of this
- mixture under it. Pack the meat in layers, and between each put equal
- proportions of this mixture, allowing a little more to the top layers.
- Then pour in brine till the barrel is full.
-
-
- =To cleanse Calf’s Head and Feet.=—Wash clean, and sprinkle pounded
- resin over the hair; dip in boiling water and take out immediately,
- and then scrape them clean; then soak them in water for four days,
- changing the water every day.
-
-
- =To prepare Rennet.=—Take the stomach of a new-killed calf, and do
- not wash it, as it weakens the gastric juice. Hang it in a cool and
- dry place five days or so; then turn the inside out, and slip off the
- curds with the hand. Then fill it with salt, with a little saltpetre
- mixed in, and lay it in a stone pot, pouring on a tea-spoonful of
- vinegar, and sprinkling on a handful of salt. Cover it closely, and
- keep for use. After six weeks, take a piece four inches square and put
- it in a bottle with five gills of cold water and two gills of rose
- brandy; stop it close, and shake it when you use it. A table-spoonful
- is enough for a quart of milk.
-
-
- =To Salt down Fish.=—Scale, cut off the heads, open down the back, and
- remove most of the spine, to have them keep better. Lay them in salt
- water two hours, to extract blood. Sprinkle with fine salt, and let
- them lie over night. Then mix one peck of coarse and fine salt, one
- ounce of saltpetre, (or half an ounce of saltpetre and half an ounce
- of saleratus,) and one pound of sugar. Then pack in a firkin. Begin
- with a layer of salt, then a layer of fish, skin downward. A peck of
- salt will answer for twenty-five shad, and other fish in proportion.
-
-As in most country families, when meat is salted for the year’s
-use, pork is the meat most generally and most largely relied upon,
-considerable space is devoted to its proper preparation. Special
-attention is given to various modes of curing and preserving it.
-
-
- =To try out Lard.=—Take what is called _the leaves_, and take off all
- the skin, cut it into pieces an inch square, put it into a clean pot
- over a slow fire, and try it till the scraps look a reddish-brown;
- take great care not to let it burn, which would spoil the whole. Then
- strain it through a strong cloth, into a stone pot, and set it away
- for use.
-
- Take the fat to which the smaller intestines are attached, (not the
- large ones,) and the flabby pieces of pork not fit for salting, try
- these in the same way, and set the fat thus obtained where it will
- freeze, and by spring the strong taste will be gone, and then it can
- be used for frying. A tea-cup of water prevents burning while trying.
-
-Corn-fed pork is best. Pork made by still-house slops is almost
-poisonous, and hogs that live on offal never furnish healthful food. If
-hogs are properly fed, the pork is not unhealthful.
-
-Pork with kernels in it is measly, and is unwholesome.
-
-A thick skin shows that the pork is old, and that it requires more time
-to boil. If bought pork is very salt, soak it some hours. Do not let
-pork freeze, if you intend to salt it.
-
-The gentleman who uses the following recipe for curing pork hams, says
-it has these advantages over all others he has tried or heard of,
-namely, the hams thus cured are sweeter than by any other method; they
-are more solid and tender, and are cured in less than half the time.
-Moreover, they do not attract flies so much as other methods:
-
-
- =Recipe for Molasses-cured Hams.=—Moisten every part of the ham with
- molasses, and then for every hundred pounds use one quart of fine
- salt, and four ounces of saltpetre, rubbing them in very thoroughly at
- every point. Put the hams thus prepared in a tight cask for four days.
- Then rub again with molasses and one quart of salt, and return the
- hams to the cask for four days. Repeat this the third and the fourth
- time, and then smoke the hams. This process takes only sixteen days,
- while other methods require five or six weeks.
-
-The following is the best recipe for the ordinary mode of curing hams;
-and the brine or pickle thus prepared is equally good for corning and
-all other purposes for which brine is used. Some persons use saleratus
-instead of the saltpetre, and others use half and half of each, and say
-it is an improvement:
-
-
- =Brine or Pickle for corning Hams, Beef, Pork, and Hung Beef.=—Four
- gallons of water; two pounds of rock-salt, and a little more of common
- salt; two ounces of saltpetre; one quart of molasses. Mix, but do not
- boil. Put the hams in a barrel and pour this over them, and keep them
- covered with it for six weeks. If more brine is needed, make it in the
- same proportions.
-
-
- =Brine for Beef, Pork, Tongues, and Hung Beef.=—Four gallons of water;
- one and a half pounds of sugar; one ounce of saltpetre; one ounce of
- saleratus. Add salt; and if it is for use only a month or two, use
- six pounds of salt; if for all the year, use _nine_ pounds. In hot
- weather, rub the meat with salt before putting it in, and let it lie
- for three hours, to extract the blood. When tongues and hung beef are
- taken out, wash the pieces, and, when smoked, put them in paper bags,
- and hang in a dry place.
-
-
- =Brine by Measure, easily made.=—One gallon of cold water; one quart
- of rock-salt; and two of blown salt; one heaping table-spoonful of
- saltpetre, (or half as much of saleratus, with half a table-spoonful
- of saltpetre;) six heaping table-spoonfuls of brown sugar. Mix, but
- not boil. Keep it as long as salt remains undissolved at bottom. When
- scum rises, add more salt, sugar, saltpetre, and soda.
-
-
- =To Salt down Pork.=—Allow a peck of salt for sixty pounds. Cover
- the bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep. Put down one layer
- of pork, and cover that with salt half an inch thick. Continue thus
- till the barrel is full. Then pour in as much strong brine as the
- barrel will receive. Keep coarse salt between all pieces, so that the
- brine can circulate. When a white scum or bloody-looking matter rises
- on the top, scald the brine and add more salt. Leave out bloody and
- lean pieces for sausages. Pack as tight as possible, the rind next
- the barrel; and let it be _always_ kept _under_ the brine. Some use
- a stone for this purpose. In salting down a new supply, take the old
- brine, boil it down and remove all the scum, and then use it to pour
- over the pork. The pork may be used in six weeks after salting.
-
-
- =To prepare Cases for Sausages.=—Empty the cases, taking care not to
- tear them. Wash them thoroughly, and cut into lengths of two yards
- each. Then take a candle-rod, and fastening one end of a case to the
- top of it, turn the case inside outward. When all are turned, wash
- very thoroughly, and scrape them with a scraper made for the purpose,
- keeping them in warm water till ready to scrape. Throw them into salt
- and water to soak till used. It is a very difficult job to scrape them
- clean without tearing them. When finished, they look transparent and
- very thin.
-
-
- =Sausage-Meat.=—Take one third fat and two thirds lean pork, and chop
- it; and then to every twelve pounds of meat add twelve large even
- spoonfuls of pounded salt, nine of sifted sage, and six of sifted
- black pepper. Some like a little summer-savory. Keep it in a cool and
- dry place.
-
-
- =Another Recipe.=—To twenty-five pounds of chopped meat, which should
- be one third fat and two thirds lean, put twenty spoonfuls of sage,
- twenty-five of salt, ten of pepper, and four of summer-savory.
-
-
- =Bologna Sausages.=—Take equal portions of veal, pork, and ham; chop
- them fine; season with sweet herbs _and_ pepper; put them in cases;
- boil them till tender, and then dry them.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 5. Smoke house]
-
-
- =To smoke Hams.=—Make a small building of boards, nailing strips over
- the cracks to confine the smoke. Have within cross-sticks, on which to
- hang the hams. Have only one opening at top, at the end farthest from
- the fire. Set it up so high that a small stove can be set under or
- very near it, with the smoke-pipe entering the floor at the opposite
- end from the slide. These directions are for a wooden house, and it
- is better thus than to have a fire _within_ a brick house, because too
- much warmth lessens the flavor and tenderness of the hams. Change the
- position of the hams once or twice, that all may be treated alike.
- When this can not be done, use an inverted barrel or hogshead, with a
- hole for the smoke to escape, and resting on stones; and keep a small,
- smouldering fire. Cobs are best, as giving a better flavor; and brands
- or chips of walnut wood are next best. Keeping a small fire a longer
- time is better than quicker smoking, as too much heat gives the hams a
- strong taste, and they are less sweet.
-
- The house and barrel are shown in Fig. 5, on preceding page.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-STEWS AND SOUPS.
-
-
-In using salt and pepper, diversities of strength make a difficulty in
-giving very exact directions; so also do inequalities in the size of
-spoons and tumblers. But so much can be done, that a housekeeper, after
-one trial, can give exact directions to her cook, or with a pencil
-alter the recipe.
-
-It is a great convenience to have recipes that employ measures which
-all families have on hand, so as not to use steelyards and balances.
-The following will be found the most convenient:
-
-  A medium size tea-spoon, even full, equals 60 drops, or one eighth of
-  an ounce.
-
-  A medium size table-spoon, even full, equals two tea-spoonfuls.
-
-  One ounce equals eight even tea-spoonfuls, or four table-spoonfuls.
-
-  One gill equals eight even table-spoonfuls.
-
-  Half a gill equals four even table-spoonfuls.
-
-  Two gills equal half a pint, and four gills equal one pint.
-
-  One common size tumbler equals half a pint, or two gills.
-
-  One pint equals two tumblerfuls, or four gills.
-
-  One quart equals four tumblerfuls, or eight gills.
-
-  Four quarts equal one gallon.
-
-  Four gallons equal one peck.
-
-  Four pecks equal one bushel.
-
-  A quart of sifted flour, heaped, a sifted quart of sugar, and a
-  softened quart of butter each weigh about a pound, and so nearly that
-  measuring is as good as weighing.
-
-  Water is heavier, and a pint of water weighs nearly a pound.
-
-  Ten eggs weigh about one pound.
-
-The most economical modes of cooking, as to _time_, _care_, and
-_labor_, are stews, soups, and hashes; and when properly seasoned, they
-are great favorites, especially with children.
-
-Below is a drawing of a stew and soup-kettle that any tinman can easily
-make. Its advantages are, that, after the meat is put in, there is no
-danger of scorching, and no watching is required, except to keep up the
-fire aright, so as to have a steady simmering. Another advantage is,
-that, by the tight cover, the steam and flavors are confined, and the
-cooking thus improved. Then, in taking up the stew, it offers several
-conveniences, as will be found on trial.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 6. Stew  kettle]
-
-This stew-kettle consists of two pans, the inner one not fastened, but
-fitting tight to the outer, with holes the size of a large pin-head
-commencing half an inch from the bottom and continuing to within two
-inches of the top of the under pan. It has a flat lid, on which may be
-placed a weight, to confine steam and flavors. The holes may be an inch
-apart. The size of the kettle must depend on the size of the family: it
-may be of any desired size.
-
-_General Directions._
-
-Generally, in making stews, use soft water; but when only hard is at
-hand, put in half a tea-spoonful of soda to every two quarts of water.
-Put in all the bones and gristle first, breaking the bones thoroughly.
-
-Rub fresh meat with salt, and put it in _cold_ water, for soups, as
-this extracts the juices.
-
-As soon as water begins to boil, skim repeatedly till no more scum
-rises.
-
-Never let water boil hard for soups or stews; for
-
-  “Meat fast boiled
-  Is meat half spoiled.”
-
-Let the water _simmer gently_ and not stop simmering long, as this
-injures both looks and flavor.
-
-Keep in water enough to cover the meat, or it becomes hard and dark.
-
-In preparing for soups, it is best to make a good deal of broth at one
-time; cool it slowly, first removing sediment by straining through a
-colander. When cold, remove the fat from the top, and keep the liquor
-for soups and gravies. This is called _stock_, and as such should have
-no other seasoning than salt. The other seasoning is to be put in when
-heated and combined with other material for soup.
-
-In hot weather, stock will keep only a day or two; but in cool weather,
-three or four days. If vegetables were boiled in it, it would turn sour
-sooner.
-
-Remnants of cooked meats may be used together for soup; but take care
-that none is tainted, thus spoiling all. Liquor in which corned beef is
-boiled should be saved to mix with stock of fresh meat, and then little
-or no salt is needed. The recipes for stews that follow will make good
-soups by adding more water.
-
-
- =Beef and Potato Stew.=—Cut up four pounds of beef into strips three
- inches by two, and put them into two quarts of water, with one onion
- sliced very fine. Let this _simmer_ four hours. Add in half a cup of
- warm water, six even tea-spoonfuls of salt, three of sugar, three of
- vinegar, a tea-spoonful of black pepper, and six heaping tea-spoonfuls
- of flower, lumps rubbed out. Pour these upon the meat; cut up, slice,
- and add six potatoes, and let all stew till the meat is very tender,
- and the potatoes are soft. If potatoes are omitted, leave out half a
- tea-spoonful of salt and a pinch of the pepper.
-
- Be sure and skim very thoroughly when boiling commences, and do not
- allow hard boiling, but only a gentle simmer.
-
-
- =French Mutton and Turnip Stew.=—Cut up two pounds of mutton,
- with a little of the fat, into two-inch squares. Rub two heaping
- table-spoonfuls of butter into two table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir
- it into the meat, with water just enough to cover it. Add three _even_
- tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one of pepper, four of sugar, a sprig
- of parsley, and a small onion, sliced very fine. Skim as soon as it
- begins to boil, and then add thirty pieces of turnips, each an inch
- square, that have been fried brown. Let all stew till meat and turnips
- are tender; throw out the parsley, and serve with the turnips in the
- centre, and the meat around it.
-
-
- =A Simple Mutton Stew.=—Cut four pounds of mutton into two-inch
- squares, add four _even_ tea-spoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, half
- a one of pepper, and a small onion, sliced fine. Stew three hours,
- in two quarts of water, and then thicken with five tea-spoonfuls of
- flour, lumps rubbed out. Six tomatoes, or some tomato catsup, improves
- this.
-
-
- =A Beef Stew, with Vegetable Flavors.=—Cut up four pounds of beef into
- two-inch squares, and add two quarts of water. Let it stew one hour.
- Then add one sliced onion, two sliced turnips, two sliced carrots,
- four sliced tomatoes, four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one small
- tea-spoonful of pepper, four tea-spoonfuls of sugar, and five cloves.
- Let it stew till there is only about a tea-cupful of gravy, and
- thicken this with a little flour.
-
- The above may be cooked without cutting up the meat, and it is good
- eaten cold. Pressing it under a weight improves it, and so does
- putting it in an oven for half an hour.
-
-
- =A Stew of Chicken, Duck, or Turkey, with Celery or Tomatoes.=—Take a
- quart of lukewarm water, and add two heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt,
- two of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Cut up a large head
- of celery, or four large tomatoes. Cut the fowl into eight or more
- pieces, and let all simmer together two hours, or till the meat is
- very tender. Then add two table-spoonfuls of butter, worked into as
- much flour, and let it simmer fifteen minutes.
-
-
- =A Favorite Irish Stew.=—Cut two pounds of mutton into pieces two
- inches square; add a little of the chopped fat, three tea-spoonfuls
- of salt, half a one of black pepper, two of sugar, two sliced onions,
- and a quart of water. Let them simmer half an hour, and then add six
- peeled potatoes, cut in quarters, that have soaked in cold water an
- hour. Let the whole stew an hour longer, or rather till the meat is
- very tender. Skim it at first and just before taking up.
-
-
- =Veal Stew.=—Put a knuckle of veal into two quarts of boiling water,
- with three tea-spoonfuls of salt and half a tea-spoonful of ground
- pepper. Then chop fine and tie in a muslin rag one carrot, two small
- onions, a small bunch of summer savory, and another of parsley; put
- them in the water, and let them stew three or four hours, till the
- meat is very tender. There should only be about half a pint of gravy
- at the bottom. Pour in _boiling_ water, if needed. Strain the gravy,
- and thicken with four spoonfuls of flour or potato-starch, and let
- it boil up a minute only. This is improved by adding at first half a
- pound of salt pork or ham, cut in strips. When this is done, no salt
- is to be used, or only one tea-spoonful. Tomatoes improve it.
-
-
- =Another.=—Cut four pounds of veal into strips one inch thick and
- three inches long, and peel and soak twelve potatoes cut into slices
- half an inch thick. Then put a layer of pork at the bottom, and
- alternate layers of potatoes and veal, with a layer of salt pork on
- the top. Put three tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one of pepper, four
- of sugar, and six tea-spoonfuls of flour, with lumps rubbed out, into
- two quarts of water. Pour all upon the veal and potatoes, and let
- them stew till the veal is very tender. Add twelve peeled and sliced
- tomatoes, which will improve this.
-
-
- =A Favorite Turkish Stew, (called Pilaff.)=—Take some rich broth,
- seasoned to the taste with pepper, salt, and tomato catsup. Add two
- tea-cups of rice, and let it simmer till the rice absorbs as much as
- it will take up without losing its form—say about fifteen minutes.
- Cut up a chicken, and season it with salt and pepper, and fry it in
- sweet butter or cream. Then put the chicken in the centre of the rice,
- and cover it entirely with rice. Then pour on half a pound of melted
- butter, and let it stand where it is hot, and yet will not fry, for
- fifteen minutes. To be served hot.
-
-
- =A Rice or Hominy Stew.=—Take four pounds of any kind of fresh meat,
- cut into pieces two inches square, and put in the stew-pan with one
- pint of hominy. Then put into two quarts of warm water five heaping
- tea-spoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, half a one of pepper, and three
- of vinegar. Let them simmer four or five hours, till the meat is very
- tender. A tea-cup of rice may be used instead of hominy. A little salt
- pork improves this, as well as all other stews.
-
-
- =A Favorite English Beef Stew.=—Simmer a shank or hock of beef in four
- quarts of water, with four heaping table-spoonfuls of salt, until
- the beef is soft and the water reduced to about two quarts. Then add
- peeled and soaked potatoes cut into thick slices, two tea-spoonfuls
- of pepper, two of sweet marjoram, and two of either thyme or summer
- savory. Stew till the potatoes are soft, add bread-crumbs and more
- salt if needful. One or two onions cut fine, and put in at first,
- improve it for most persons.
-
-
- =French Stew, or Pot au Feu.=—Put three pounds of fresh meat into
- three quarts of cold water, with two tea-spoonfuls of salt. When it
- begins to simmer, add a gill of cold water, and skim thoroughly. Then
- add a quarter of a pound of liver, a medium-sized carrot sliced, two
- small turnips, two middle-sized leeks, half a head of celery, one
- sprig of parsley, a bay leaf, one onion with two cloves stuck in it,
- and two cloves of garlic. Simmer five hours. Strain the broth into a
- soup-dish, and serve the meat and vegetables on a platter. If more
- water is needed, add that which is boiling.
-
- When the dish is served all together, it is called _Pot au Feu_, and
- the vessel in which it is cooked has the same name. It is the common
- dish of the French peasantry.
-
-The following is the receipe for the favorite Spanish dish. A superior
-housekeeper tried it, and it was so much liked that several of her
-family were harmed _by eating too much_:
-
-
- =Spanish Olla Podrida.=—Fry four ounces of salt pork in the pot, and,
- when partly done, add two pounds of fresh beef and a quarter of a
- pound of ham. Add two tea-spoonfuls of salt in cold water, and only
- enough just to cover the meat. Skim carefully the first half-hour, and
- then add a gill of peas, (if dried, soak them an hour first,) half a
- head of cabbage, one carrot, one turnip, two leeks, three stalks of
- celery, three stalks of parsley, two stalks of thyme, two cloves, two
- onions sliced, two cloves of garlic, ten pepper-corns, and a pinch
- of powdered mace or nutmeg. Simmer steadily for five hours. When
- the water is too low, add that which is boiling. Put the meat on a
- platter, and the vegetables around it. Strain the liquor on to toasted
- bread in a soup-dish.
-
- All these articles can be obtained at grocers’ or markets in our large
- cities, and of course can be procured in the country.
-
-
- =French Mutton Stew.=—Take a leg of mutton and remove the large bone,
- leaving the bone at the small end as a handle; cut off also the bone
- below the knuckle, and fix it with skewers.
-
- Put it in a stew-pan with a pinch of allspice, four onions, two
- cloves, two carrots, each cut in four pieces, a small bunch of
- parsley, two bay leaves, three sprigs of thyme, and _salt and pepper
- to the taste_. Add two ounces of bacon cut in slices, a quarter of a
- pint of broth, and cold water enough to cover it. After one hour of
- simmering, add a wine-glass of French brandy.
-
- Let them simmer five hours longer, and then dish it; strain the sauce
- on it, and serve.
-
-The American housekeeper by experiments can modify these foreign
-recipes to meet the taste of her family, and will find them
-_economical_ modes of cooking, as well as healthful to most persons.
-
-
-FRENCH MODES OF COOKING SOUPS AND STEWS.
-
-The writer has examined the recipes of Gouffee, the chief French cook
-of the Queen of England, set forth in the expensive Royal Cook-Book;
-also those of Soyer and Professor Blot. She and her friends also have
-tested many of their recipes.
-
-The following are most of the flavors used by them in cooking soups,
-stews, hashes, etc. Combination of these is recommended by those
-authors in these proportions:
-
-  One fourth of an ounce of thyme.
-
-  One fourth of an ounce of bay leaf.
-
-  One eighth of an ounce of marjoram.
-
-  One eighth of an ounce of rosemary.
-
-  Dry the above when fresh, mix in a mortar, and keep them corked tight
-  in glass bottle.
-
-Also the following in these proportions:
-
-  Half an ounce of nutmeg.
-
-  Half an ounce of cloves.
-
-  One fourth of an ounce of black pepper.
-
-  One eighth of an ounce of Cayenne pepper.
-
-  Pound, mix, and keep corked tight in glass. In using these with salt,
-  put one ounce of the last recipe to four ounces of salt. In making
-  force-meat and hashes, use at the rate of one ounce of this spiced
-  salt to three pounds of meat.
-
-  =Soup Powder.=—Two ounces of parsley.
-  Two ounces of winter savory.
-  Two ounces of sweet marjoram.
-  Two ounces of lemon-thyme.
-  One ounce of lemon-peel.
-  One ounce of sweet basil.
-  Dry, pound, sift, and keep in a tight-corked bottle.
-
-Let the housekeeper add these flavors so that they will _not be
-strong_, but quite delicate, and then _make a rule for the cook_.
-
-The peculiar excellence of French cooking is the combination of
-flavors, so that no one is predominant, and all are delicate in force
-and quantity.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-SOUPS.
-
-
-_General Directions._
-
-Most of the preceding stews will serve also fairly as soups, by adding
-more water. Rub salt into meat for soups, but not for stews, as the
-salt extracts the juices; and in stews the meat is to be eaten, while
-in soups properly so called it is only the liquor that is served. Put
-meat into cold water for soups, as _slowly_ heating also extracts the
-juices. For this same reason, meat that is boiled for eating should be
-put into boiling water to keep the juices in it.
-
-Always _skim often_, as soon as the water begins to simmer; and do not
-add the salt and other seasoning till the scum ceases to rise.
-
-Do not boil after the juices are extracted, as too much boiling injures
-the flavor.
-
-Never cool soup in metal, as there may be poison in the soldering or
-other parts.
-
-If you flavor your soup by vegetables, do not boil them in the soup,
-but in _very little_ water, which is to be added to the soup with them,
-as it contains much of their flavor.
-
-When onion is used for flavor, slice and fry it, and dredge on a little
-flour; add the water in which the vegetables for soup were boiled, or
-some meat broth, and then pour it into the soup. If you flavor with
-wine, soy, or catsup, put them into the tureen, and pour the soup upon
-them, as the flavor is lessened by putting them into the soup-kettle.
-Bread-crumbs, toast, or crackers also must be put in the tureen. Keep
-soup covered tight while boiling, to keep in flavors. If water is
-added, it must be boiling. The rule to guide in using salt and pepper
-is a heaping tea-spoonful of salt to a quart of water, and one-sixth as
-much pepper. But as tastes are different, and the salt and pepper vary
-in strength, the housekeeper can, on trial, change the recipe with a
-pencil.
-
-_Soup stock_ is broth of any kind of meat prepared in large quantity,
-to keep on hand for gravies and soups. Beef and veal make the best
-stock. One hind shin of beef makes five quarts of stock, and one hind
-shin of veal makes three quarts. Wash and put into twice as much water
-as you wish to, to have soup, and simmer five or six hours.
-
-All kinds of bones should be mashed and boiled five or six hours, to
-take out all the nutriment, the liquor then strained, and kept in
-earthenware or stone, not in tin. Take off the fat when cool.
-
-Cool broth quickly, and it keeps longer.
-
-Use a flat-bottom kettle, as less likely to scorch.
-
-Soft water is best for soups; a little soda improves hard water.
-
-Stock will keep three or four days in cool weather; not so long in
-warm. Keep it in a cool place. When used, heat to boiling point, and
-then take up and flavor.
-
-Put in the salt and pepper when the meat is thoroughly done.
-
-Meat soups are best the second day, if warmed slowly and taken up as
-soon as heated. If heated too long, they become insipid.
-
-Thin soups must be strained. If to be made very clear, stir in one or
-two well beaten eggs, with the shells, and let it boil half an hour.
-
-Use the meat of the soup for a hash, warmed together with a little fat,
-and well seasoned.
-
-Be _very_ careful, in using bones and cold meats for soups, that none
-is _tainted_, for the soup may be ruined by a single bit of tainted
-meat or bone.
-
-
- =Potato Soup.=—Take six large mealy potatoes, sliced and soaked an
- hour. Add one onion, sliced and tied in a rag, a quart of milk, and
- a quarter of a pound of salt pork cut in slices. Boil three quarters
- of an hour, and then add a table-spoonful of melted butter and a
- well-beaten egg, mixed in a cup of milk. This is a favorite soup with
- many, and easily made. Some omit the pork, and use salt and pepper to
- flavor it, and add one well beaten egg.
-
-
- =Green Corn Soup.=—This is very nice made with sweet corn put into
- seasoned soup stock.
-
-
- =Plain Beef Soup.=—Put three pounds of beef and one chopped onion,
- tied in a rag, to three quarts of cold water. Simmer till the meat
- is very soft—say four hours; then add three tea-spoonfuls of salt,
- as much sugar, and half a tea-spoonful of pepper. Any other flavors
- may be added to suit the taste. Strain the soup, and save the meat
- for mince-meat or hash. Half a dozen sliced tomatoes will much
- improve this. Some would thicken with three or four tea-spoonfuls of
- potato-starch or flour.
-
-
- =Rich Beef Soup.=—The following is a specimen of soups that are most
- stylish, rich, and demand most care in preparation:
-
- Simmer six pounds of beef for six hours in six quarts of water, using
- the bones, broken in small pieces. Cool it, and take off the fat.
- Next day, an hour before dinner, take out the meat to use for hash or
- mince-meat, heat the liquor, throw in some salt to raise the scum, and
- skim it well. Then slice small, and boil in very little water, these
- vegetables: two turnips, two carrots, one head of celery, one quart of
- tomatoes, half a head of small white cabbage, one pint of green corn
- or Shaker corn, soaked over night. Cook the cabbage in two waters,
- throwing away the first. Boil the soup half an hour after these are
- put in. Season with salt, pepper, mace, and wine to suit the taste.
-
-
- =Green Pea Soup.=—Boil the pods an hour in a gallon of water. Strain
- the liquor, and put into it four pounds of beef or mutton, and simmer
- one hour. Then add half the peas contained in half a peck of pods, and
- boil half an hour; then thicken with two great spoonfuls of flour, and
- season with salt and pepper. Three tomatoes, sliced, improve this.
-
-
- =Dried Bean Soup or Pea Soup.=—Soak the beans, if dry, over night, and
- then boil till soft. Then strain them through a colander; and to each
- quart of liquor add a tea-spoonful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt,
- and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Add a beaten egg, a tea-cup of milk,
- and two spoonfuls of butter. A sliced onion improves it for some, and
- not for others; also, half the juice of a lemon when taken up. Canned
- sweet-corn, or common corn with sugar added, makes good _succotash_
- for winter.
-
-
- =Clam Soup.=—Wash and boil the clams till they come out of their
- shells easily; then chop them, and put them back into the liquor,
- which should first be strained. Add a tea-cup of milk for each quart
- of soup; thicken with a little flour, into which has been worked as
- much butter as it will hold, and season with salt and pepper to suit
- the taste.
-
-
- =A Vegetable and Meat Soup for Summer.=—Take three quarts of stock
- that is duly seasoned with sugar, salt, and pepper. Add two small
- onions, chopped fine, three small carrots, three small turnips, one
- stalk of celery, and a pint of green peas—all chopped fine. Let it
- simmer two hours, and then serve it.
-
-
- =Dried Pea Soup with Salt Pork.=—Soak a quart of split peas over night
- in soft water. Next morning wash them and put them in four quarts of
- water, with a tea-spoonful of sugar, two carrots, two small onions,
- and one stalk of celery—all cut in small pieces. Let them boil three
- hours. Boil a pound of salt pork in another pot for one hour; take off
- the skin, and put the pork in the soup, and then boil one hour longer.
-
-
- =Dried Bean or Pea Soup with Meat Stock.=—Soak a pint of beans or
- split peas over night in soft water. Then boil them in three quarts of
- soup-stock, duly seasoned with salt and pepper, with one small onion,
- one turnip, one stalk of celery, and six cloves—all cut in small
- pieces. Let it boil four or five hours. Strain through a colander.
-
- =Mutton Soup.=—Boil four pounds of mutton in four quarts of water,
- with four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one even tea-spoonful of
- pepper, two tea-spoonfuls of sugar, one small onion, two carrots, and
- two turnips—all cut fine—and one tea-cup of rice or broken macaroni.
- Boil the meat alone two hours; then add the rest, and boil one hour
- and a half longer.
-
- =French Vegetable Soup.=—Take a leg of lamb, of moderate size, and
- four quarts of water. Of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and
- turnips, take a tea-cupful of each, chopped fine. Salt and black
- pepper at the rate of one heaping tea-spoonful of salt to each quart
- of water, and one sixth as much black pepper.
-
- Wash the lamb, and put it into the four quarts of cold water. When the
- scum rises, take it off carefully with a skimmer. After having pared
- and chopped the vegetables, put them into the soup. Carrots require
- the most boiling, and should be put in first. This soup requires about
- three hours to boil.
-
- =Plain Calf’s Head Soup.=—Boil the head and feet in just water enough
- to cover them; when tender, take out the bones, cut in small pieces,
- and season with marjoram, thyme, cloves, salt, and pepper.
-
- Put all into a pot, with the liquor, and four spoonfuls of butter;
- stew gently an hour; then, just as you take it up, add two or three
- glasses of port-wine, and the yelks of three eggs boiled hard.
-
- =An Excellent Simple Mutton Soup.=—Put a piece of the fore-quarter of
- mutton into salted water, enough to more than cover it, and simmer it
- slowly two hours. Then peel a dozen turnips, and six tomatoes, and
- quarter them, and boil them with the mutton till just tender enough
- to eat. Thicken the soup with pearl barley. Some use, instead of
- tomatoes, the juice and rind of a lemon. Use half a tea-cup of rice,
- if you have no pearl barley.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-HASHES.
-
-
-These are the common ways of spoiling hashes: 1. by frying, instead
-of merely heating them. Melted butter and oils are good and healthful
-when only heated, but are unhealthful when fried. 2. Dredging in flour,
-which, not being well cooked, imparts a raw taste of dough. 3. Using
-too much water, making them vapid; or too much fat or gravy, making
-them gross. 4. Using too much or too little salt and other seasoning.
-The following recipes will save from these mistakes, if exactly
-followed. When water is recommended in these recipes, _cold gravy_ will
-be better, in which case the _butter_ may be omitted:
-
- =A Seasoned Hash of any Fresh Meats.=—Chop, but not very fine, any
- kinds of fresh meat, but be sure not to put in any that is tainted.
- To a common tumblerful of chopped meat put three table-spoonfuls of
- water, a tea-spoonful of sugar, a heaping tea-spoonful of salt, a
- salt-spoonful of pepper, and butter the size of half an egg. Warm, but
- do not fry; and when hot, break in three eggs, and stir till they are
- hardened a little; then serve. Bread-crumbs may be added. This may
- be put on buttered toast or served alone. This and all the following
- hashes may be varied in flavor, by adding, in delicate proportions,
- the mixed flavors on another page.
-
- =A Hash of Cold Fresh Meats and Potatoes.=—Take two tumblerfuls of
- meat of any kind, chopped. Add as much cold potatoes, also chopped,
- two table-spoonfuls of sweet butter in six table-spoonfuls of hot
- water, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt. Sprinkle half a tea-spoonful of
- pepper over the meat, and also a spoonful of sugar; mix all, and warm
- about twenty minutes, but not so as to boil or fry. Tomatoes improve
- this.
-
- =Meat Hash with Eggs=, (very nice.)—To a tumblerful of fresh cold
- meat cut in pieces about the size of peas, put three table-spoonfuls
- of hot water, two spoonfuls of butter, a tea-spoonful of sugar, two
- tea-spoonfuls of salt, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Mix all, warm
- but not fry; and when hot, break in four eggs, and stir till they are
- hardened. Spread on buttered toast or serve alone. When eggs are used,
- the meat should not be chopped fine.
-
- =A Meat Hash with Tomatoes.=—Cut up a pint of tomatoes into a
- saucepan, and when boiling-hot, add the cold meat in thin slices,
- with a table-spoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper, at the rate of
- a tea-spoonful of salt and half a tea-spoonful of pepper to each
- tumblerful of meat.
-
- =A Nice Beef Hash.=—Make a gravy of melted butter, or take cold gravy;
- season with salt, pepper, and currant jelly or vinegar. Cut cold roast
- beef or the remnants of cold steak into mouthfuls, and put into the
- gravy till heated, but not to fry.
-
- Or, season this gravy with the crushed juice of fresh tomatoes or
- tomato catsup.
-
-
- =A Simple and Excellent Veal Hash.=—Chop cold veal very fine; butter a
- pudding-dish, and make alternate layers of veal and powdered crackers
- till the dish is full, the first layer of meat being at the bottom.
- Then beat up two eggs, and add a pint or less of milk, seasoned well
- with salt and pepper, and two or three spoonfuls of melted butter.
- Pour this over the meat and crackers; cover with a plate, and bake
- about half an hour. Remove the plate awhile, and let the top brown a
- little. This is the best way to cook veal, and children are very fond
- of it.
-
-
- =Rice and Cold Meats.=—Chop remnants of fresh meats with salt pork, or
- cold ham. Season with salt and pepper and a little sugar; add two eggs
- and a little butter. Then make alternate layers with this and slices
- of cold boiled rice, and bake it half an hour.
-
-
- =Bread-Crumbs and Cold Meats.=—Take any remnants of cooked fresh
- meats, and chop them fine with bits of ham or salt pork. Season with
- salt and pepper; add three eggs and a little milk, and then thicken
- with pounded bread-crumbs. Bake it as a pudding, or warm it for a
- hash, or cook it in flat cakes on a griddle.
-
-
- =A Meat Hash with Bread-Crumbs.=—One tea-spoonful of flour, (or potato
- or corn-starch,) wet in four tea-spoonfuls of cold water. Stir it
- into a tea-cupful of boiling water, and put in a salt-spoonful of
- pepper, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, a tea-spoonful of sugar, and two
- table-spoonfuls of sweet butter. Use cold gravy instead of butter, if
- you have it. Set this in a stew-pan where it will be kept hot, but not
- fry. Chop the meat very fine, and mix with it while chopping half as
- much dried bread-crumbs. Put this into the gravy, and let it heat only
- ten minutes, and then serve it on buttered toast. Tomatoes, one or
- two, improve this.
-
-
- =A Hash of Cold Beefsteak alone or with Potatoes and Turnips.=—Make
- a paste with a heaping tea-spoonful of flour in two tea-spoonfuls
- of water. Stir it into a tea-cup and a half of boiling water, with
- a salt-spoonful of black pepper, a half tea-spoonful of sugar, and
- two tea-spoonfuls of salt. Let it stand where it will be hot but not
- boil. Cut the beef into mouthfuls, and also as much cold boiled
- potatoes and half as much boiled turnips. Mix all, and then add two
- table-spoonfuls of butter, (or some cold gravy,) and a table-spoonful
- of tomato catsup, or two sliced tomatoes. Warm, but do not fry, for
- ten minutes.
-
- When beef gravy is used, take less salt and pepper.
-
- This is a good recipe for cold beef without vegetables.
-
-
- =A Hash of Cold Mutton (or Venison) and Vegetables.=—Prepare as in the
- preceding recipe, but add one onion sliced fine, to hide the strong
- mutton taste. If onion is left out, put in a wine-glass of grape or
- currant jelly. If the vegetables are left out, put in a little less
- pepper and salt.
-
-
- =A Hash of Corned Beef.=—Chop the meat very fine, fat and lean
- together; add twice as much cold potatoes chopped fine. For each
- tumblerful of this add butter half the size of a hen’s egg melted in
- half a tea-cup of hot water, a salt-spoonful of pepper and another of
- salt. Heat very hot, but do not let it fry. Some would add parsley or
- other sweet herb.
-
-
- =A Hash of Cold Ham.=—Chop, not very fine, fat and lean together.
- Add twice the quantity of bread-crumbs chopped, but not fine. Heat
- it hot, then break in two eggs for every tumblerful of the hash. A
- tea-spoonful of sugar improves it, and a salt-spoonful of pepper.
-
-
- =Meats warmed over.=—Veal is best made into hashes. If it is liked
- more simply cooked, chop it fine, put in water just enough to moisten
- it, butter, salt, pepper, and a little juice of a lemon. Some like a
- little lemon-rind grated in. Heat it through, but do not let it fry.
- Put it on buttered toast, and garnish it with slices of lemon.
-
- Cold salted or fresh beef is good chopped fine with pepper, salt,
- and catsup, and water enough to moisten a little. Add some butter
- just before taking it up, and do not let it fry, only heat it hot. It
- injures cooked meat to cook it again. Cold fowls make a nice dish to
- have them cut up in mouthfuls; add some of the gravy and giblet sauce,
- a little butter and pepper, and then heat them through.
-
-
- =A nice Way of Cooking Cold Meats.=—Chop the meat fine, add salt,
- pepper, a little onion, or else tomato catsup; fill a tin bread-pan
- one third full, cover it over with boiled potatoes salted and mashed
- with cream or milk, lay bits of butter on the top, and set it into a
- Dutch or stove oven for fifteen or twenty minutes.
-
-
- =A Hash of Cold Meat for Dinner=, (very good.)—Peel six large tomatoes
- and one onion, and slice them. Add a spoonful of sugar, salt and
- pepper, and a bit of butter the size of a hen’s egg, and half a pint
- of cold water. Shave up the meat into small bits, as thin as thick
- pasteboard. Dredge flour over it, say two tea-spoonfuls, or a little
- less. Simmer the meat with all the rest for _half an hour_ and then
- serve it, and it is very fine.
-
- Dried tomatoes can be used. When you have no tomatoes, make a gravy
- with water, pepper, salt, and butter, or cold gravy; slice an onion in
- it, add tomato catsup, (two or three spoonfuls,) and then prepare the
- meat as above, and simmer it in this gravy _half an hour_.
-
-
- =Souse.=—Cleanse pigs’ ears and feet and soak them a week in salt and
- water, changing the water every other day. Boil eight or ten hours
- till tender. When cold, put on salt, and pour on hot spiced vinegar.
- Warm them in lard or butter.
-
-
- =Tripe.=—Scrape and scour it thoroughly, soak it in salt and water a
- week, changing it every other day. Boil it eight or ten hours, till
- tender; then pour on spiced hot vinegar and broil it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-BOILED MEATS.
-
-
- =An Excellent Way to cook Tough Beef.=—To eight pounds of beef put
- four quarts of water, two table-spoonfuls of salt, half a tea-spoonful
- of pepper, three tea-spoonfuls of vinegar, and four tea-spoonfuls of
- sugar. Put it on at eight in the morning, and let it simmer slowly
- till the water is more than half gone; then skim off the grease,
- and set it in the stove-oven till the water is all gone but about a
- tea-cupful, which is for gravy, and may be thickened a little. Add
- _boiling_ water, if it goes too fast, (for in some kinds of weather
- it will evaporate much faster than in other days). This dish should
- be _very_ tender, and is excellent cold, especially if it is pressed
- under a heavy weight. This was a favorite soldier’s dish; and tough
- meat is as good as it is tender, when thus cooked.
-
-
- =Boiled Ham.=—The best way to cook a ham is first to wash it; then
- take off the skin and bake it in a pan, with a little water in it, in
- a stove or brick oven, till tender, which is found by a fork piercing
- easily. Allow twenty minutes for each pound.
-
- To boil a ham, soak it over night; then wash in two waters, using a
- brush. Boil slowly, and allow fifteen minutes for each pound. When
- cold, take off the skin, and ornament with dots of pepper and fringed
- paper tied around the shank.
-
- A nice way to treat a cold boiled ham is, after removing the skin, to
- rub it over with beaten egg, and then spread over powdered cracker,
- wet with milk, and let it brown in the oven. Boiled ham is much
- improved by setting it in the oven half an hour, making it sweeter,
- while the fat that tries out is useful for cooking.
-
-
- =Boiled Beef.=—Put it in salted water, (a tea-spoonful for each
- quart;) have enough to cover it. Skim well just before it begins to
- boil, and as long as the scum rises. Allow about fifteen minutes to
- each pound, or more for beef. Drain well, and serve with vegetables
- boiled separately.
-
-
- =Boiled Fowls.=—Wash the inside carefully with soda water, to remove
- any taint. Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, or cracker, wet up with
- eggs, and sew up the openings. Put them in _boiling_ water, enough to
- cover, and let them simmer gently till tender. It is a good plan to
- wrap in a cloth dredged with flour.
-
-
- =Fricasseed Fowls.=—Cut them up, and put in a pot, with cold water
- enough to cover. Put some salt pork over, and let them simmer slowly
- till very tender and the water mostly gone. When done, stir in a cup
- of milk, mixed with two well-beaten eggs, first mixing slowly some of
- the hot liquor with the milk and eggs.
-
- Some fry the pork first, thus increasing the flavor, and others leave
- it out.
-
-
- =To Boil a Leg or Shoulder of Veal, or Mutton, or Lamb.=—Mutton should
- be cooked more rare than any other meat. Make a stuffing of chopped
- bread, seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with one or two
- eggs. Make deep gashes in the meat, (or, better, take out the bone;)
- fill the openings with stuffing and sew them up. Wrap it tight in a
- cloth, and put it so as to be covered with water, salted at the rate
- of a tea-spoonful to each quart. Let it simmer slowly about two or
- three hours. Skim thoroughly just before it comes to boiling heat. If
- needful, add _boiling_ water. Save the water for broth for next day.
- If you pour cold water on the cloth before removing it, and let it
- stand two minutes, it improves the looks.
-
-
- =Calf’s Feet.=—Wash and scrape till very clean. Boil three hours
- in four quarts of water salted with four even tea-spoonfuls of
- salt. Take out the bones, and put the rest into a saucepan, with
- three table-spoonfuls of butter, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, a
- great-spoonful of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Add three
- tea-cups of the liquor in which the feet were boiled; dredge in some
- flour, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Garnish with sliced lemon.
- (Save the liquor to make calf’s-foot jelly.)
-
-
- =Calf’s Liver and Sweet-breads.=—These are best split open, boiled,
- and then dressed with pepper, salt, and butter.
-
-
- =To cook Kidneys.=—Wash them clean, and split them. Heat them half an
- hour in a saucepan, without water. Then wash them again, and cover
- them with a pint of water, having in it a tea-spoonful of salt and a
- salt-spoonful of pepper. Boil one hour, and then take off the skin.
- Cut them in mouthfuls; add two great-spoonfuls of butter, more salt
- and hot water, if needed, and let them simmer fifteen minutes.
-
-
- =Pillau, a Favorite Dish in the South.=—Fricassee a chicken with
- slices of salt pork, or with sweet butter or sweet cream. Put the
- chicken, when cooked, in a bake-dish, and cover it with boiled rice,
- seasoned with salt, pepper, and one dozen allspice. Pile the rice,
- pour on some melted butter, smooth it, and cover with yelk of an egg.
- Bake half an hour.
-
-
- =To boil Smoked Tongues.=—Soak in cold water only two hours, as long
- soaking lessens sweetness. Wash them, and boil four or five hours,
- according to the size. When done, take off the skin and garnish with
- parsley. A table-spoonful of sugar for each tongue, put in the water,
- improves them.
-
-
- =To boil Corned Beef.=—Do not soak it, but wash it, and put it in
- _hot_ water, to keep in the juices; allow a pint for each pound.
- Skim just before it begins to boil. Let it simmer slowly, and allow
- twenty-five minutes for every pound. Keep it covered with water,
- adding boiling hot water, if needed. It is much improved for eating
- cold by pressing it with a board and heavy stone. It is an excellent
- piece of economy to save the water to use for soup.
-
- Some think it an improvement to put on a little sugar, and pour a
- little vinegar on before boiling. Some like to boil turnips, potatoes,
- and cabbage with it. In that case, they must be peeled, and the
- potatoes soaked two hours.
-
-
- =To boil Partridges or Pigeons.=—Cleanse and rinse the insides with
- soda-water, and then with pure water. Wrap them in a damp floured
- cloth; put them into boiling water which is salted at the rate of a
- heaping tea-spoonful to a quart; also, two tea-spoonfuls of sugar and
- a salt-spoonful of pepper. Simmer them twenty minutes to half an hour.
- When done, make a sauce of butter rubbed into flour and half a cup of
- milk; put the birds into a dish and pour on this sauce. Some would add
- cut parsley, or other flavors.
-
-
- =To boil Ducks.=—Let them lie in hot water two hours. Then wrap in a
- cloth dredged with flour; put them in cold water, salted at the rate
- of half a tea-spoonful for each pint. Add a tea-spoonful of sugar
- for each pint. Let them simmer half an hour; then take them up, and
- pour over them a sauce made of melted butter rubbed into flour, and
- seasoned with lemon-juice, salt, and pepper, and thinned with gravy or
- hot water.
-
- Wild ducks must be soaked in salt and water the night previous, to
- remove the fishy taste, and then in the morning put in fresh water,
- which should be changed once or twice.
-
-
- =To boil a Turkey.=—Make a stuffing for the craw of chopped bread
- and butter, cream, oysters, and the yelks of eggs. Sew it in, and
- dredge flour over the turkey, and put it in hot water to boil, with
- a spoonful of salt in it, and enough water to cover it well. Let it
- simmer for two hours and a half, or, if small, less time. Skim it
- while boiling. It will look nicer if wrapped in a cloth dredged with
- flour while cooking.
-
- Serve it with drawn butter, in which are put some oysters.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.
-
-
-The beef of an ox is best, and the next best is that of a heifer. The
-best pieces for roasting are the second cut of the sirloin, the second
-cut of the ribs, and the back part of the rump.
-
-The art of roasting well consists in turning the meat often, to prevent
-burning, and basting often, to make it juicy.
-
-Never dredge flour into gravies, as it makes lumps. Strain all gravies.
-
-
- =Brown Flour for Meat Gravies.=—This is used to thicken meat gravies,
- to give a good color. It is prepared by putting flour on a tin plate
- in a hot oven, stirring it often until well browned; it must be kept,
- corked, in a jar, and shaken occasionally.
-
-
- =Roast Beef.=—A piece of beef weighing ten pounds requires about two
- hours to roast in a tin oven before a fire. Allow ten minutes for each
- pound over or under this weight. Have the spit and oven clean and
- bright. They should have been washed before they grew cold from the
- last roasting.
-
- Put the meat on the spit so that it will be evenly balanced; set the
- bony side toward the fire; let it roast slowly at first, turning it
- often; and when all sides are partly cooked, move it nearer the fire.
- If allowed to scorch at first, it will not cook in the middle without
- burning the outside.
-
- Baste often with the drippings and with salted water, (about half a
- pint of water with half a tea-spoonful of salt,) which has been put in
- the oven bottom. Just before taking up, dredge on some flour, mixed
- with a little salt; then baste and set it near the fire, turning it so
- as to brown it all over alike. Half an hour before it is done, pour
- off the gravy, season it with salt and pepper, and thicken with corn
- or potato-starch, or flour.
-
-
- =To roast in a Cook Stove.=—Put the meat in an iron pan, with three or
- four gills of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Turn it occasionally,
- that it may cook evenly, and baste often. When done, dredge on some
- salted flour, baste again, and set it back till browned.
-
-
- =Roast Pork.=—Cover a spare-rib with greased paper, till half done;
- then dredge with flour, and baste with the gravy. Just before taking
- it up, cover the surface with cracker or bread-crumbs, wet up with
- pepper, salt, and powdered sage; let it cook ten minutes longer,
- and then baste again. Skim the gravy, thicken it with brown flour,
- season with a little powdered sage and lemon-juice, or vinegar; strain
- it, and pour over the meat. Pork must be cooked slowly and very
- thoroughly, and served with apple-sauce. Tomato catsup improves the
- gravy.
-
-
- =Roast Mutton.=—The leg of mutton may be boiled. The shoulder and loin
- should always be roasted.
-
- Put the meat in the oven or roaster, and then pour boiling hot water
- over it, to keep in the juices. Baste often with salt and water at
- first and then with the gravy. With a hot fire, allow ten minutes for
- each pound. If there is danger of burning, cover the outside with
- oiled white paper. Skim the gravy; strain it and thicken with brown
- flour. Serve with acid jelly. Lamb requires less time in roasting;
- but mutton should be rare. Make a brown gravy, and serve with currant
- jelly.
-
-
- =Roast Veal.=—Follow the above directions for roasting mutton, except
- to allow more time, as veal should be cooked more than mutton. Allow
- twenty minutes to each pound, and baste often. Too much roasting and
- little basting spoils veal. To be served with apple-sauce. It much
- improves roast veal to cut slits in it, and insert bits of salt pork.
-
-
- =Roast Poultry.=—No fowl should be bought when the entrails are not
- drawn; and the insides should always be washed with soda-water—a
- tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water. Rinse out with fair water.
- Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, wet up with eggs. Sew and tie the
- stuffing in thoroughly. Allow about ten minutes’ cooking for each
- pound, more or less, according to the fire and size of the fowl.
-
- Put a grate in the bake-pan, with a tea-cup of salted water. Dredge
- the fowl with flour at first, and baste often. Strain the gravy, and
- add the giblets, chopped fine. Many dislike the liver, and so leave
- it out. If fowls are bought with the intestines in, or if they have
- been kept too long, the use of soda-water, and then rinsing with pure
- water, will often prevent the tainted taste; so it is well to do
- this, except when it is certain that the fowl is just killed. Put a
- tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water.
-
-
- =Pot-Pie, of Beef, Veal, or Chicken.=—The best way to make the
- crust is as follows: Peel, boil, and mash a dozen potatoes; add a
- tea-spoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of butter, and half a cup of
- milk, or cream. Then stiffen it with flour, till you can roll it. Be
- sure to get all the lumps out of the potatoes. Some persons leave out
- the butter.
-
- Some roll butter into the dough of bread; others make a raised
- biscuit, with but little shortening; others make a plain soda
- pie-crust. But none are so good and healthful as the potato crust; so
- choose what is best for all.
-
- To prepare the meat, first fry half a dozen slices of salt pork, and
- then cut up the meat and pork, and boil them in just water enough
- to cover them, till the meat is nearly cooked. Then peel a dozen
- potatoes, and slice them thin. Roll the crust half an inch thick,
- and cut it into oblong pieces. Then put alternate layers of crust,
- potatoes, and meat, till all is used. The top and bottom layer must be
- crust. Divide the pork so as to have some in each layer.
-
- Lastly, pour on the liquor in which the meat was boiled, until it
- just covers the whole, and let it simmer till the top crust is well
- cooked—say half or three quarters of an hour. Season the liquor with
- salt, at the rate of a tea-spoonful for each quart, and one sixth as
- much pepper. If you have occasion to add more liquor, or water, it
- must be _boiling hot_, or the crust will be spoiled.
-
- The excellence of this pie depends on having light crust, and
- therefore the meat must first be _nearly cooked_ before putting it in
- the pie; and the crust must be in only just long enough to cook, or it
- will be clammy and hard.
-
-
- =Mutton and Beef Pie.=—Line a dish with a crust made of potatoes, as
- directed in the Chicken Pot-Pie. Broil the meat ten minutes, after
- pounding it till the fibres are broken. Cut the meat thin, and put it
- in layers, with thin slices of broiled salt pork; season with butter,
- the size of a hens egg, salt, pepper, (and either wine or catsup, if
- liked;) put in water till it nearly covers the meat, and dredge in
- considerable flour; cover it with the paste, and bake it an hour and a
- half, if quite thick. Cold meats are good cooked over in this way. Cut
- a slit in the centre of the cover.
-
-
- =Chicken-Pie.=—Joint and boil two chickens in salted water, just
- enough to cover them, and simmer slowly for half an hour. Line a dish
- with potato crust, as directed in the recipe for pot-pie; then, when
- cold, put the chicken in layers, with thin slices of broiled pork,
- butter, the size of a goose egg, cut in small pieces. Put in enough
- of liquor, in which the meat was boiled, to reach the surface; salt
- and pepper each layer; dredge in a little flour, and cover all with a
- light, thick crust. Ornament the top with the crust, and bake about
- one hour in a hot oven. Make a small slit in the centre of the crust.
- If it begins to scorch, lay a paper over a short time.
-
-
- =Rice Chicken-Pie.=—Line a pudding-dish with slices of broiled ham;
- cut up a boiled chicken, and nearly fill the dish, filling in with
- gravy or melted butter; add minced onions, if you like, or a little
- curry powder.
-
- Then pile boiled rice to fill all interstices, and cover the top quite
- thick. Bake it for half or three quarters of an hour.
-
-
- =Potato-Pie.=—Take mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, butter, and
- milk, and line a baking-dish. Lay upon it slices of cold meats of any
- kind, with salt, pepper, catsup, and butter or gravy. Put on another
- layer of potatoes, and then another of cold meat, as before. Lastly,
- on the top put a cover of potatoes.
-
- Bake it till it is thoroughly warmed through, and serve it in the dish
- in which it is baked, setting it in or upon another.
-
-
- =Calf’s Head.=—Take out the brains and boil the head, feet, and
- lights in salted water, just enough to cover them, about two hours.
- When they have boiled nearly an hour and a half, tie the brains in a
- cloth and put them in to boil with the rest. They should be skinned,
- and soaked half an hour in cold water. When the two hours have
- expired, take up the whole, mash the brains fine, and season them
- with bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, and a glass of port or claret, and
- use them for sauce. Let the liquor remain for a soup the next day. It
- serves more handsomely to remove all the bones. Serve with a gravy of
- drawn butter.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.
-
-
- =Broiled Mutton or Lamb Chops.=—Cut off the skinny part, which only
- turns black and can not be eaten. Put a little pepper and salt on each
- one, and broil by a quick fire. Mutton chops should be rare.
-
-
- =Broiled Beefsteak.=—Have the steak cut three quarters of an inch to
- an inch in thickness. The sirloin and porter-house are the best. The
- art of cooking steak will depend on a good fire and turning often
- after it begins to drip. When done, lay it on a hot platter, season
- with butter, pepper, and salt; cover with another hot platter, and
- send to the table. Use beef-tongs, as pricking lets out the juices.
- =Slow= cooking and =much= cooking spoils a steak.
-
-
- =Broiled Fresh Pork.=—Cut in thin slices, broil quickly and very
- thoroughly; then season with salt, pepper, and powdered sage.
-
-
- =Broiled Ham.=—Cut in _thin_ slices, and soak fifteen minutes in hot
- water. Pour off this and soak again as long. Wipe dry and broil over
- a quick fire, and then pepper it. Ham that is already cooked rare is
- best for broiling.
-
-
- =Broiled Sweet-breads.=—The best way to cook sweet-breads is to broil
- them thus: Parboil them, and then put them on a clean gridiron for
- broiling. When delicately browned, take them off and roll in melted
- butter on a plate, to prevent their being dry and hard. Some cook them
- on a griddle well buttered, turning frequently; and some put narrow
- strips of fat salt pork on them while cooking.
-
-
- =Broiled Veal.=—Cut it thin, and put thin slices of salt pork on the
- top after it is laid on the gridiron, and broil both together. When
- turning, put the pork again on the top. When the veal is thoroughly
- cooked, brown the pork a little by itself, while the veal stands on a
- hot dish.
-
-
- =A good Pork Relish.=—Broil thin slices of fresh pork, first pouring
- on boiling water to lessen saltness. Cut them in small mouthfuls, and
- add butter, pepper, and salt.
-
-
-FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.
-
-The most slovenly and unhealthful mode of cooking is frying, as it
-usually is done. If the fat is very hot, and the articles are put in
-and taken out exactly at the right time, it is well enough. But fried
-fat is hard to digest, and most fried food is soaked with it, so that
-only a strong stomach can digest it. Almost every thing that is fried
-might be better cooked on a griddle slightly oiled. A griddle should
-always be oiled only just enough to keep from sticking. It is best to
-fry in lard not salted, and this is better than butter. Mutton and beef
-suet are good for frying. When the lard seems hot, try it by throwing
-in a bit of bread. When taking up fried articles, drain off the fat on
-a wire sieve.
-
-
- =A nice Way of Cooking Calf’s or Pig’s Liver.=—Cut in slices half an
- inch thick, pour on boiling water, and then pour if off _entirely_;
- then let the liver brown in its own juices, turning it till it looks
- brown on both sides. Take it up, and pour into the frying-pan enough
- cold water to make as much gravy as you wish; then sliver in a _very_
- little onion; add a little salt and nutmeg, and a bit of butter to
- season it; let it boil up once, then put back the liver for a minute
- longer.
-
-
- =Beef Liver.=—Cut it in slices half an inch thick, pour boiling water
- on it, broil it with thin slices of pork dipped in flour, cut it in
- mouthfuls, and heat it with butter, pepper, and salt for three or four
- minutes.
-
-
- =Egg Omelet.=—Beat the yolks of six eggs, and add a cup of milk,
- half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour into hot
- fat, and cook till just stiffened. Turn it on to a platter brown
- side uppermost. Some add minced cooked ham, or cold meat chopped and
- salted. Others put in chopped cauliflower or asparagus cooked and cold.
-
-
- =Frizzled Beef.=—Sliver smoked beef, pour on boiling water to freshen
- it, then pour off the water, and frizzle the beef in butter.
-
-
- =Veal Cheese.=—Prepare equal quantities of sliced boiled veal and
- boiled smoked tongue, or ham sliced. Pound each separately in a
- mortar, moistening with butter as you proceed. Then take a stone
- jar, or tin can, and mix them in it, so that it will, when cut, look
- mottled and variegated. Press it hard, and pour on melted butter. Keep
- it covered in a dry place. To be used at tea in slices.
-
-
- =A Codfish Relish.=—Take thin slivers of codfish, lay them on hot
- coals, and when done to a yellowish brown, set them on the table.
-
-
- =Another Way.=—Sliver the codfish fine, pour on boiling water, drain
- it off, and add butter and a very little pepper, and heat them three
- or four minutes, but do not let them fry.
-
-
- =Salt Herrings.=—Heat them on a gridiron, remove the skin, and then
- set them on the table.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-PICKLES.
-
-
-Do not keep pickles in common earthenware, as the glazing contains
-lead, and combines with the vinegar.
-
-Vinegar for pickling should be sharp, but not the sharpest kind,
-as it injures the pickles. Wine or cider vinegar is reliable. Much
-manufactured vinegar is sold that ruins pickles and is unhealthful.
-If you use copper, bell-metal, or brass vessels for pickling, never
-allow the vinegar to cool in them, as it then is poisonous. Add a
-table-spoonful of alum and a tea-cup of salt to each three gallons
-of vinegar, and tie up a bag with pepper, ginger-root, and spices of
-all sorts in it, and you have vinegar prepared for any kind of common
-pickling, and in many cases all that is needed is to throw the fruit in
-and keep it in till wanted.
-
-Keep pickles only in wood or stone ware.
-
-Any thing that has held grease will spoil pickles.
-
-Stir pickles occasionally, and if there are soft ones, take them out,
-scald the vinegar, and pour it hot over the pickles. Keep enough
-vinegar to cover them well. If it is weak, take fresh vinegar, and pour
-on hot. Do not boil vinegar or spice over five minutes.
-
-
- =Sweet Pickles=, (a great favorite.)—One pound of sugar, one quart of
- vinegar, two pounds of fruit. Boil fifteen minutes, skim well, put in
- the fruit and let it boil till half cooked. For peaches, flavor with
- cinnamon and mace; for plums and all dark fruit, use allspice and
- cloves.
-
-
- =To pickle Tomatoes.=—As you gather them, leave an inch or more of
- stem; throw them into cold vinegar. When you have enough, take them
- out, and scald some spices, tied in a bag, in good vinegar; add a
- little sugar, and pour it hot over them.
-
-
- =To pickle Peaches.=—Take ripe but hard peaches, wipe off the down,
- stick a few cloves into them, and lay them in _cold_ spiced vinegar.
- In three months they will be sufficiently pickled, and also retain
- much of their natural flavor.
-
-
- =To pickle Peppers.=—Take green peppers, take the seeds out carefully
- so as not to mangle them, soak them nine days in salt and water,
- changing it every day, and keep them in a warm place. Stuff them with
- chopped cabbage, seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, and mace; put them in
- cold spiced vinegar.
-
-
- =To pickle Nasturtions.=—Soak them three days in salt and water as
- you collect them, changing it once in three days; and when you have
- enough, pour off the brine, and pour on scalding hot vinegar.
-
-
- =To pickle Onions.=—Peel, and boil in milk and water ten minutes,
- drain off the milk and water, and pour scalding spiced vinegar on to
- them.
-
-
- =To pickle Gherkins.=—Keep them in strong brine till they are yellow,
- then take them out and turn on hot spiced vinegar, and keep them in
- it, in a warm place, till they turn green. Then turn off the vinegar,
- and add a fresh supply of hot spiced vinegar.
-
-
- =To pickle Mushrooms.=—Stew them in salted water, just enough to keep
- them from sticking. When tender, pour off the water, and pour on hot
- spiced vinegar. Then cork them tight, if you wish to keep them long.
- Poison ones will turn black if an onion is stewed with them, and then
- all must be thrown away.
-
-
- =To pickle Cucumbers.=—Wash the cucumbers in cold water, being careful
- not to bruise or break them. Make a brine of rock or blown salt (rock
- is the best), strong enough to bear up an egg or potato, and of
- sufficient quantity to cover the cucumbers.
-
- Put them into an oaken tub, or stone-ware jar, and pour the brine over
- them. In twenty-four hours, they should be stirred up from the bottom
- with the hand. The third day pour off the brine, scald it, and pour it
- over the cucumbers. Let them stand in the brine nine days, scalding
- it every third day, as described above. Then take the cucumbers into
- a tub, rinse them in cold water, and if they are too salt, let them
- stand in it a few hours. Drain them from the water, put them back
- into the tub or jar, which must be washed clean from the brine. Scald
- vinegar sufficient to cover them, and pour it upon them. Cover them
- tight, and in a week they will be ready for use. If spice is wanted,
- it may be tied in a linen cloth and put into the jar with the pickles,
- or scalded with the vinegar, and the bag thrown into the pickle-jar.
- If a white scum rises, take it off and scald the vinegar, and pour it
- back. A small lump of alum added to the vinegar improves the hardness
- of the cucumbers.
-
-
- =Pickled Walnuts.=—Take a hundred nuts, an ounce of cloves, an ounce
- of allspice, an ounce of nutmeg, an ounce of whole pepper, an ounce of
- race ginger, an ounce of horse-radish, half pint of mustard-seed, and
- four cloves of garlic, tied in a bag.
-
- Wipe the nuts, prick with a pin, and put them in a pot, sprinkling
- the spice as you lay them in; then add two table-spoonfuls of salt;
- boil sufficient vinegar to fill the pot, and pour it over the nuts and
- spice. Cover the jar close, and keep it for a year, when the pickles
- will be ready for use.
-
- Butternuts may be made in the same manner, if they are taken when
- green, and soft enough to be stuck through with the head of a pin. Put
- them for a week or two in weak brine, changing it occasionally. Before
- putting in the brine, rub them about with a broom in brine, to cleanse
- the skins. Then proceed as for the walnuts.
-
- The vinegar makes an excellent catsup.
-
-
- =Mangoes.=—Take the latest growth of young musk-melons, cut out a
- small piece from one side and empty them. Scrape the outside smooth,
- and soak them four days in strong salt and water. If you wish to green
- them, put vine leaves over and under, with bits of alum, and steam
- them awhile. Then powder cloves, pepper, and nutmeg in equal portions,
- and sprinkle on the inside, and fill them with strips of horse-radish,
- small bits of calamus, bits of cinnamon and mace, a clove or two, a
- very small onion, nasturtions, and then American mustard-seed to fill
- the crevices. Put back the piece cut out, and sew it on, and then sew
- the mango in cotton cloth. Lay all in a stone jar, the cut side upward.
-
- Boil sharp vinegar a few minutes with half a tea-cup of salt, and a
- table-spoonful of alum to three gallons of vinegar, and turn it on
- to the melons. Keep dried barberries for garnishes, and when you use
- them, turn a little of the above vinegar of the mangoes heated boiling
- hot on to them, and let them swell a few hours. Sliced and salted
- cabbage with this vinegar poured on hot is very good.
-
-
- =Fine pickled Cabbage.=—Shred red and white cabbage, spread it in
- layers in a stone jar, with salt over each layer. Put two spoonfuls
- of whole black pepper, and the same quantity of allspice, cloves, and
- cinnamon, in a bag, and scald them in two quarts of vinegar, and pour
- the vinegar over the cabbage, and cover it tight. Use it in two days
- after.
-
-
- =An excellent Way of preparing Tomatoes to eat with Meat.=—Peel and
- slice ripe tomatoes, sprinkling on a little salt as you proceed. Drain
- off the juice, and pour on hot spiced vinegar.
-
-
- =To pickle Martinoes.=—Gather them when you can run a pin-head into
- them, and after wiping them, keep them ten days in weak brine,
- changing it every other day. Then wipe them, and pour over boiling
- spiced vinegar. In four weeks they will be ready for use. It is a fine
- pickle.
-
-
- =A convenient Way to pickle Cucumbers.=—Put some spiced vinegar in
- a jar, with a little salt in it. Every time you gather a mess, pour
- boiling vinegar on them, with a little alum in it. Then put them in
- the spiced vinegar. Keep the same vinegar for scalding all. When you
- have enough, take all from the spiced vinegar, and scald in the alum
- vinegar two or three minutes, till green, and then put them back in
- the spiced vinegar.
-
-
- =Indiana Pickles.=—Take green tomatoes, and slice them. Put them in
- a basket to drain in layers, with salt scattered over them, say a
- tea-cupful to each gallon. Next day, slice one quarter the quantity of
- onions, and lay the onions and tomatoes in alternate layers in a jar,
- with spice intervening. Then fill the jar with cold vinegar. Tomatoes
- picked as they ripen, and just thrown into cold spiced vinegar, are a
- fine pickle, and made with very little trouble.
-
-
- =To pickle Cauliflower, or Broccoli.=—Keep them twenty-four hours in
- strong brine, and then take them out and heat the brine, and pour it
- on scalding hot, and let them stand till next day. Drain them, and
- throw them into spiced vinegar.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-SAUCES AND SALADS.
-
-
-Success in preparing savory meats and salads depends greatly on the
-different sauces, and these demand extra care in preparation and in
-flavoring. The following is a sauce that is a great favorite, and
-serves for some meats, for fish, for macaroni, and for some salads:
-
-
- =Milk and Egg Sauce=, (excellent.)—Take eight table-spoonfuls of
- butter and mix it with a table-spoonful of flour, add a pint of milk
- and heat it, stirring constantly till it thickens a little. Then beat
- the yelk of an egg in a table-spoonful of water and mix it well with
- the sauce, taking care that it does not boil, but only be very hot.
- For fish, add to the above a table-spoonful of vinegar or lemon-juice
- and a little of the peel grated. Some add parsley chopped; and for
- boiled fowls, add chopped oysters. Fine bread-crumbs are better than
- flour for thickening. For macaroni, make in the dish alternate layers
- with that and grated cheese, and then pour on this sauce before
- baking, and it is very fine. Some omit the cheese.
-
-
- =Drawn Butter.=—Take six table-spoonfuls of butter, half a
- tea-spoonful of salt, two tea-spoonfuls of flour or of fine
- bread-crumbs worked into the butter, and one tea-cup of hot water.
- Heat very hot, but do not let it boil. Two hard-boiled and chopped
- eggs improve it much. For fish, add a table-spoonful of vinegar and
- chopped capers or green nasturtion seeds.
-
-
- =Mint Sauce for Roast Lamb.=—Chop three table-spoonfuls of green mint,
- and add a heaping table-spoonful of sugar and half a coffee-cup of
- vinegar. Stir them while heating, and cool before using.
-
-
- =Cranberry Sauce.=—Wash well and put a tea-cup of water to every quart
- of cranberries. Let them stew about an hour and a half, then take up
- and sweeten abundantly. Some strain them through a colander, then
- sweeten largely and then put into moulds. To be eaten with fowls.
-
-
- =Apple Sauce.=—Core and slice the best apples you can get, cook till
- soft, then add sugar and a little butter. Serve it with fresh pork and
- veal.
-
-
- =Walnut or Butternut Catsup.=—Gather the nuts when they can be pierced
- with a pin. Beat them to a soft pulp and let them lie for two weeks in
- quite salt water, say a small handful of salt to every twenty, and
- water enough to cover them. Drain off this liquor, and pour on a pint
- of boiling vinegar and mix with the nuts, and then strain it out. To
- each quart of this liquor put three table-spoonfuls of pepper, one
- of ginger, two spoonfuls of powdered cloves, and three spoonfuls of
- grated nutmeg. Boil an hour, and bottle when cold. See that the spice
- is equally mixed. Do not use mushroom catsup, as the above is as good
- and not so dangerous.
-
-
- =Mock Capers.=—Dry the green but full-grown nasturtion seeds for a day
- in the sun, then put them in jars and pour on spiced vinegar. These
- are good for fish sauce, in drawn butter.
-
-
- =Salad Dressing.=—Mash fine two boiled potatoes, and add a
- tea-spoonful of mustard, two of salt, four of sweet-oil, three of
- sharp vinegar, and the yelks of two well-boiled eggs rubbed fine. Mix
- first the egg and potatoes, add the mustard and salt, and gradually
- mix in the oil, stirring vigorously the while. Stir in the vinegar
- last. Melted butter may be used in place of sweet-oil. The more a
- salad dressing is stirred, the better it will be.
-
-
- =Turkey or Chicken Salad, also a Lettuce Salad.=—Take one quarter
- chopped meat (the white meat of the fowl is the best for this purpose)
- and three quarters chopped celery, well mixed, and pour over it
- a sauce containing the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs chopped, a
- tea-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful of black pepper, half
- a tea-spoonful of mustard, three tea-spoonfuls of sugar, half a
- tea-cupful of vinegar, and three tea-spoonfuls of sweet-oil or of
- melted butter. Mix the salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard thoroughly,
- whip a raw egg and add slowly, stir in the sweet-oil or melted butter,
- mixing it well and very slowly, and lastly add the vinegar. Garnish
- with rings of whites of eggs boiled hard. Chopped pickles may be
- added, and white cabbage in place of the celery.
-
-
- =Tomato Catsup.=—Boil a peck of tomatoes, strain through a colander,
- and then add four great-spoonfuls of salt, one of pounded mace,
- half a table-spoonful of black pepper, a table-spoonful of powdered
- cloves, two table-spoonfuls of ground mustard, and a table-spoonful of
- celery seed tied in a muslin rag. Mix all and boil five or six hours,
- stirring frequently and constantly the last hour. Let it cool in a
- stone jar, take out the celery seed, add a pint of vinegar, bottle it,
- and keep it in a dark, cool place.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-FISH.
-
-
- =Stewed Oysters.=—Strain off all the oyster liquor, and then add half
- as much water as you have oysters. Some of the best housekeepers say
- this is better than using the liquor. Add a salt-spoonful of salt for
- each pint of oysters, and half as much pepper; and when they begin to
- simmer, add half a small tea-cup of milk for each pint of oysters.
- When the edges begin to “ruffle,” add some butter, and do not let them
- stand, but serve immediately. Oysters should not simmer more than five
- minutes in the whole. When cooked too long, they become hard, dark,
- and tasteless.
-
-
- =Fried Oysters.=—Lay them on a cloth to absorb the liquor; then dip
- first in beaten egg, and afterward in powdered cracker, and fry in
- hot lard or butter to a light brown. If fresh lard is used, put in a
- little salt. Cook quickly in very hot fat, or they will absorb too
- much grease.
-
-
- =Oyster Fritters.=—Drain off the liquor, and to each pint of oysters
- take a pint of milk, a salt-spoonful of salt, half as much pepper, and
- flour enough for a thin batter. Chop the oysters and stir in, and then
- fry in hot lard, a little salted, or in butter. Drop in one spoonful
- at a time. Some make the batter thicker, so as to put in one oyster at
- a time surrounded by the batter.
-
-
- =Scalloped Oysters.=—Make alternate layers of oysters and crushed
- crackers wet with oyster liquor, and milk warmed. Sprinkle each layer
- with salt and pepper, (some add a _very_ little nutmeg or cloves;) let
- the top and bottom layer be crackers. Put bits of butter on the top,
- pour on some milk with a beaten egg in it, and bake half an hour.
-
-
- =Broiled Oysters.=—Dip in fine cracker crumbs, broil very quick, and
- put a small bit of butter on each when ready to serve.
-
-
- =Oyster Omelet=, (very fine.)—Take twelve large oysters chopped fine.
- Mix the beaten yelks of six eggs into a tea-cupful of milk, and add
- the oysters. Then put in a spoonful of melted butter, and lastly add
- the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Fry this in hot butter
- or salted lard, and do not stir it while cooking. Slip a knife around
- the edges while cooking, that the centre may cook equally, and turn it
- out so that the brown side be uppermost.
-
-
- =Pickled Oysters.=—Take for fifty large oysters half a pint of
- vinegar, six blades of mace, twelve black pepper-corns, and twelve
- whole cloves. Heat the oysters with the liquor, but not to boil; take
- out the oysters, and then put the vinegar and spices into the liquor,
- boil it, and when the oysters are nearly cold, pour on the mixture
- scalding hot. Next day cork the oysters tight in glass jars, and keep
- them in a dark and cool place. Vinegar is sometimes made of sulphuric
- or pyroligneous acid, and this destroys the pickles. Use cider or wine
- vinegar.
-
-
- =Roast Oysters.=—Put oysters in the shell, after washing them, upon
- the coals so that the flat side is uppermost, to save the liquor; and
- take them up when they begin to gape a little.
-
-
- =Scallops.=—Dip them in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, and fry or stew
- them like oysters.
-
-
- =Clams.=—Wash them and roast them; or stew or fry them like oysters;
- or make omelets or fritters by the recipe for oysters.
-
-
- =Clam Chowder.=—Make alternate layers of crackers wet in milk, and
- clams with their liquor, and thin slices of fried salt pork. Season
- with black pepper and salt. Boil three quarters of an hour. Put this
- into a tureen, having drained off some liquor which is to be thickened
- with flour or pounded crackers, seasoned with catsup and wine, and
- then poured into the tureen. Serve with pickles.
-
-
- =Boiled Fish.=—Wrap in a cloth wet with vinegar, floured inside. Boil
- in cold salted water till the bones will slip out easily; drain and
- serve with egg sauce, or drawn butter, or a sauce of milk, butter,
- and egg. Try boiling fish with a fork, and if that goes in easily, it
- probably is done.
-
-
- =Broiled Fish.=—Split so that the backbone is in the middle; sprinkle
- with salt; lay the inside down at first till it begins to brown, then
- turn and broil the other side. Dress with butter, pepper, and salt. It
- is best to take out the backbone.
-
-
- =Baked Fish.=—Wash and wipe, and rub with salt and pepper outside and
- inside. Set it on a grate over a baking-pan, and baste with butter and
- the drippings; if it browns too fast, cover with white paper. Thicken
- the gravy, and season to the taste, using lemon-juice or tomato
- catsup. Some put in wine.
-
-
- =Pickle for cold Fish.=—To two quarts of vinegar add a pint of the
- liquor in which the fish was boiled, a dozen black pepper-corns, a
- dozen cloves, three sticks of cinnamon, and a tea-spoonful of mustard.
- Let them boil up, and then skim so as not to take out the spice.
-
- Cut the fish into inch squares, and when the liquor boils, put them
- into it till just heated through. Pack tight in a glass jar, and then
- pour on the pickle; cook it till air-tight. This will keep a long
- time. It is a great convenience for a supper relish.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-VEGETABLES.
-
-
-Fresh-gathered vegetables are much the best. Soaking in cold water
-improves all. Always boil in _salted_ water, a tea-spoonful for each
-quart of water. Do not let them stop boiling, or they will thus become
-watery.
-
-
-POTATOES.
-
-The excellence of potatoes depends greatly on the _species_ and on the
-_age_. Much also depends on the cooking, and here there are diversities
-of modes and opinions. Peeling potatoes before cooking saves labor at
-the time of taking up dinner, which is a matter of consequence. They
-should, after peeling, soak an hour in cold water; then boil them in
-salted water, putting them in when the water boils. Have them equal
-in size, that all may be done alike. Try with a fork, and when tender
-drain off the water, sprinkle on a little fine salt, and set them in
-the oven, or keep them hot in the pot till wanted.
-
-Some boil with skins on; in this case, pare off a small ring, or cut
-off a little at each end for the water within to escape, as this makes
-them more mealy.
-
-Some make a wire basket and put in the potatoes peeled and of equal
-size; and when done, take them up and set in the oven a short time.
-This is the surest and easiest method.
-
-Old potatoes should be boiled in salted water, then mashed with salt,
-pepper, and cream or butter.
-
-New potatoes boil in salted water, and rub off the tender skins with a
-coarse towel.
-
-
- =A good Way for old Potatoes.=—Peel and soak in cold water half an
- hour, then slice them into salted water that is boiling; when soft,
- pour off the water, add cream, or milk and butter, with salt and
- pepper, also dredge in a very little flour.
-
- Another way is to chop the cold boiled potatoes, and then mix in milk,
- butter, salt, and pepper.
-
- Some cold potatoes are nice cooked on a gridiron. A favorite relish
- for supper is cold potatoes sliced and dressed with a salad dressing
- of boiled eggs, salt, mustard, oil, and vinegar.
-
-
- =Cold Potato Puffs.=—Take cold mashed or chopped potatoes and stir
- in milk and melted butter. Beat two eggs and mix, and then bake till
- browned. It is very nice, and the children love it as well as their
- elders. This may be baked in patties for a pretty variety.
-
-
- =To cook Sweet Potatoes.=—The best way is to parboil with the skins
- on, and then bake in a stove oven.
-
-
- =Green Corn.=—Husk it; boil in salted water, and eat from the cob;
- or cut off the corn and season it with butter or cream and salt and
- pepper. If green corn is to be roasted, open it and take off the silk,
- and then cook it with husks on, buried in hot ashes; or if before the
- fire, turn it often.
-
-
- =Succotash.=—Boil white beans by themselves. Cut the corn from the
- cob and let the cobs boil ten minutes, then take them out and put in
- the corn. Have only just water enough to cover the corn when cut. If
- there is more than a tea-cupful when the corn is boiled about half
- an hour, lessen it to that quantity, and add as much milk, and let
- the boiling continue till, on trial, the corn is soft, and then stir
- in a table-spoonful of flour wet in cold water. Then let it boil
- three or four minutes, take up the corn, and add the beans, with
- butter, pepper, and salt. Have twice as much corn as beans. Some use
- string-beans cut up.
-
- If you have boiled corn left on the cob, cut it off for breakfast, and
- add milk and eggs, salt and pepper, and bake it. Some say this is the
- best way of all to cook sweet corn.
-
-
- =Salsify, or Oyster Plant.=—Scrape, cut into inch pieces, and throw
- into cold water awhile; put into salted boiling water, just enough to
- cover them, and when tender turn off the water and add milk, butter,
- salt, and pepper, and thicken with a very little flour; then serve.
- Or, mash fine, and add a beaten egg and a little flour; make round,
- flat cakes, and cook on a griddle.
-
-
- =Egg Plant.=—Cut into slices an inch thick and peel. Lay these
- in salted water an hour; then dip into egg, and rub in bread or
- cracker-crumbs, and cook on a griddle.
-
-
- =Carrots.=—Boil in salted water till tender, take off the skin, slice
- and butter them. They are improved by cooking in broth. Some add
- chopped onion and parsley.
-
-
- =Beets.=—Wash, but do not cut them before boiling; boil till tender,
- take off the skin, slice and season with salt, pepper, vinegar, and
- melted butter. If any are left, slice them into vinegar, for a pickle.
-
-
- =Parsnips.=—Boil in salted water, take off the skins, cut in slices
- lengthwise, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. When cold, chop
- fine, add salt, pepper, egg, and flour, make small cakes, and cook on
- a griddle.
-
-
- =Pumpkin and Squash.=—Cut in slices, boil in salted water till tender,
- drain, and season with salt, pepper, and butter. Baked pumpkin, cut in
- slices, is very good.
-
-
- =Celery.=—Cut off the roots and green leaves, wash, and keep in cold
- water till wanted.
-
-
- =Radishes.=—Wash, cut off tops, and lay in cold water till wanted.
-
-
- =Onions.=—Many can not eat onions without consequent discomfort;
- though to most others they are a healthful and desirable vegetable.
- The disagreeable effect on the breath, it is said, may be prevented by
- afterward chewing and swallowing three or four roasted coffee-beans.
- Those who indulge in this vegetable should, as a matter of politeness
- and benevolence, try this precaution.
-
- The best way to cook onions is to peel, cut off top and tail, put in
- cold water for awhile, and then into boiling salted water. When nearly
- done, pour off the water, except a little, then add milk, butter,
- pepper, and salt. When onions are old and strong, boil in two or three
- waters; have each time _boiling_ water.
-
-
- =Tomatoes.=—Pour on scalding water, then remove the skins, cut them
- up, and boil about half an hour. Add salt, butter or cream, and sugar.
- Adding green corn cut from the cob is a good variety. Some use pounded
- or grated stale bread-crumbs to thicken. Some slice without peeling,
- broil on a gridiron, and then season with pepper, salt, and butter.
- Some peel, slice, and put in layers, with seasoning and bread-crumbs
- between, and bake in an oven. If eaten raw, the skins should be
- removed by a knife, as scalding lessens flavor and crispness. Ice
- improves them much. The acid is so sharp that many are injured by
- eating too many.
-
-
- =Cucumbers.=—Peel and slice into cold water, and in half an hour drain
- and season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Some slice them quarter of
- an inch thick into boiling water, enough to cover them, and in fifteen
- minutes drain through a colander, and season with butter, salt,
- pepper, and vinegar.
-
-
- =Cabbage and Cauliflower.=—Take off the outer leaves and look for
- any insects to be removed, and let it stand in cold water awhile. It
- should be cut twice transversely through the hardest part, that all
- may cook alike. It is more delicate if boiled awhile in one water,
- then changed to another boiling hot water, in the same or another
- vessel. If you are cooking corned beef, use for the second water some
- of the meat liquor, and it improves the flavor. Drain it through a
- colander. Some chop the cabbage before serving, and add butter, salt,
- pepper, and vinegar. Others omit the vinegar, and add two beaten eggs
- and a little milk, then bake it like a pudding. This is the favorite
- mode in some families. Cauliflower is to be treated like cabbage.
-
-
- =Asparagus.=—The best way to cook it is to cut it into inch pieces,
- leave out the hardest parts, boil in salted water, drain with a
- colander, and add pepper, salt, melted butter or cream, when taken up.
- Some beat up eggs and add to this; stir till hardened a little, and
- then serve.
-
-
- =Macaroni.=—Break into inch pieces and put into salted boiling water,
- and stew till soft—say twenty minutes. Drain it and put it in layers
- in a pudding-dish, with grated cheese between each layer. Add a little
- salted milk or cream, and bake about half an hour. Many can not eat
- this with cheese. In this case it is better to pour cold soup or gravy
- upon it, and bake without cheese.
-
-
- =Various Ways of cooking Eggs.=—Put eggs into boiling water from three
- to five minutes, according to taste. A hard-boiled egg is perfectly
- healthy if well masticated. Another way is to put them in a bowl or an
- egg-boiler, and pour on boiling water for two or three minutes, then
- pour off the water and add boiling water, and in five or six minutes
- the eggs will be cooked enough.
-
- To make a _plain omelet_, beat the yelks of six eggs, add a cup of
- milk, season with salt and pepper, and then stir in the whites cut to
- a stiff froth. Cook in a frying-pan or griddle, with as little butter
- or fat as possible. Let it cook about ten minutes, and then take up
- with a spad, or lay a hot dish over and turn the omelet on to it. This
- is improved by mixing in chopped ham or fowl. Some put sugar in, but
- it is more apt to burn.
-
- A _bread omelet_ is made as above, with bread-crumbs added, and is
- very good.
-
- An _apple omelet_ is made as above, with mashed apple-sauce added, and
- this also is very good. Jelly may be used instead of apple.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-FAMILY BREAD.
-
-
-The most important article of food is good family bread, and the most
-healthful kind of bread is that made of coarse flour and raised with
-yeast. All that is written against the healthfulness of yeast is owing
-to sheer ignorance, as the most learned physicians and chemists will
-affirm.
-
-Certain recent writers on hygiene are ultra and indiscriminating in
-regard to the use of unbolted flour. The simple facts about it are
-these: Every kernel of wheat contains nutriment for different parts
-of the body, and in about the right proportions. Thus, the outside
-part contains that which nourishes the bones, teeth, hair, nails,
-and the muscles. The germ, or eye, contains what nourishes the brain
-and nerves; and the central part (of which fine flour is chiefly
-made) consists of that which forms fat, and furnishes fuel to produce
-animal heat, while in gentle combustion it unites with oxygen in the
-capillaries. When first ground, the flour contains all the ingredients
-as in the kernel. The first bolting alters the proportions but very
-little, forming what is called _middlings_. The second bolting
-increases the carbonaceous proportion, making _fine_ flour. The third
-bolting makes the superfine flour, and removes nearly all except the
-carbonaceous portion, which is fitted only to form fat and generate
-animal heat. No animal could live on superfine flour alone but for a
-short time, as has been proved by experiments on dogs.
-
-But meats, vegetables, fruit, eggs, milk, and several other articles
-in family diet contain the same elements as wheat, though in different
-proportions; so that it is only an _exclusive_ use of fine flour that
-is positively dangerous. Still there is no doubt that a large portion
-of young children using white bread for common food, especially if
-butter, sugar, and molasses are added, have their teeth, bones, and
-muscles not properly nourished. And it is a most unwise, uneconomical,
-and unhealthful practice to use flour deprived of its most important
-elements because it is white and is fashionable. It would be much
-cheaper, as well as more healthful, to use the _middlings_, instead
-of fine or superfine flour. It would be still better to use unbolted
-flour, except where delicate stomachs can not bear it, and in that case
-the middlings would serve nearly as well for nutrition and give no
-trouble.
-
-Some suppose that bread wet with milk is better than if wet with water,
-in the making. Many experienced housekeepers say that a little butter
-or lard in warm water makes bread that looks and tastes exactly like
-that wet with milk, and that it does not spoil so soon.
-
-Experienced housekeepers say also that bread, _if thoroughly kneaded_,
-may be put in the pans, and then baked as soon as light enough, without
-the second or third kneading, which is often practiced. This saves care
-and trouble, especially in training new cooks, who thus have only one
-chance to make mistakes, instead of two or three.
-
-It is not well to use yeast powders instead of yeast, because it is a
-daily taking of medicinal articles not needed, and often injurious.
-Cream tartar is supertartrate of potash, and soda is a supercarbonate
-of soda. These two, when united in dough, form tartrate of potash,
-tartrate of soda, and carbonate of soda; while some one of the three
-tends to act chemically and injuriously on the digestive fluids.
-Professor Hosford’s method is objectionable for the same reason,
-especially when his medical articles are mixed with flour; for
-thus poor flour is sold more readily than in ordinary cases. These
-statements the best-informed medical men and chemists will verify.
-
-Flour loses its sweetness by keeping, and this is the reason why sugar
-is put in the recipes for bread. The best kind of flour, when new and
-fresh ground, has eight per cent. of sugar; and when such flour is
-used, the sugar may be omitted.
-
-Some people make bread by mixing it so that it can be stirred with a
-spoon. But the nicest kind of bread can be made only with a good deal
-of kneading.
-
-
-RECIPES FOR YEAST AND BREAD.
-
-The best yeast is brewers’ or distillery, as this raises bread much
-sooner than home-brewed. The following is the best kind of home-made
-yeast, and will keep good two or three weeks:
-
- =Hop and Potato Yeast.=—Pare and slice five large potatoes, and boil
- them in one quart of water with a large handful of common hops (or a
- square inch of pressed hops), tied in a muslin rag. When soft, take
- out the hops and press the potatoes through a colander, and add a
- small cup of white sugar, a tea-spoonful of ginger, two tea-spoonfuls
- of salt, and two tea-cups of common yeast, or half as much distillery.
- Add the yeast when the rest is only blood-warm. White sugar keeps
- better than brown, and the salt and ginger help to preserve the yeast.
-
- Do not boil in iron or use an iron spoon, as it colors the yeast. Keep
- yeast in a stone or earthenware jar, with a plate fitting well to the
- rim. This is better than a jug, as easier to fill and to cleanse.
- Scald the jar before making new yeast.
-
- The rule for _quantity_ is, one table-spoonful of brewers’ or
- distillery yeast to every quart of flour; or twice as much home-made
- yeast.
-
-
- =Potato Yeast= is made by the above rule, omitting the hops. It can be
- used in large quantities without giving a bitter taste, and so raises
- bread sooner. But it has to be renewed much oftener than hop yeast,
- and the bread loses the flavor of hop yeast.
-
-
- =Hard Yeast= is made with home-brewed yeast (not brewers’ or
- distillery), thickened with Indian meal and fine flour in equal parts,
- and then made into cakes an inch thick and three inches by two in
- size, dried in the wind but not in the sun. Keep them tied in a bag
- in a dry, cool place, where they will not freeze. One cake soaked in
- a pint of warm water (not hot) is enough for four quarts of flour.
- It is a good plan to work in mashed potatoes into this yeast, and
- let it rise well before using it. This makes the nicest bread. Some
- housekeepers say pour boiling water on one third of the flour, and
- then mix the rest in immediately, and it has the same effect as using
- potatoes.
-
- When there is no yeast to start with, it can be made with one pint
- of new milk, one tea-spoonful of fine salt, and a table-spoonful of
- flour. When it is worked, use twice as much as common yeast. This is
- called Milk Yeast or Salt Risings, and bread made of it is poor, and
- soon spoils.
-
- When yeast ceases to look foamy, and becomes watery, with sediment at
- the bottom, it must be renewed. When good, the smell is pungent, but
- not sour. If sour, nothing can restore it.
-
-
- =Bread of Fine Flour.=—Take four quarts of sifted flour, one quart of
- lukewarm water, in which are dissolved two tea-spoonfuls of salt, two
- tea-spoonfuls of sugar, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and one
- cup of yeast. Mix and knead _very thoroughly_, and have it as soft as
- can be molded, using as little flour as possible. Make it into small
- loaves, put it in buttered pans, prick it with a fork, and when light
- enough to crack on the top, bake it. Nothing but experience will show
- when bread is just at the right point of lightness.
-
- If bread rises too long, it becomes sour. This is discovered by
- making a sudden opening and applying the nose, and the sourness
- will be noticed as different from the odor of proper lightness.
- Practice is needed in this. If bread is light too soon for the oven,
- knead it awhile, and set it in a cool place. Sour bread can be
- remedied somewhat by working in soda dissolved in water—about half a
- tea-spoonful for each quart of flour. Many spoil bread by too much
- flour, others by not kneading enough, and others by allowing it to
- rise too much.
-
- The goodness of bread depends on the quality of the flour. Some
- flour will not make good bread in any way. New and good flour has a
- yellowish tinge, and when pressed in the hand is adhesive. Poor flour
- is dry, and will not retain form when pressed. Poor flour is bad
- economy, for it does not make as nutritious bread as does good flour.
-
- Bread made with milk sometimes causes indigestion to invalids and to
- children with weak digestion.
-
- Take loaves out of the pans, and set them sidewise, and not flat, on a
- table. Wrapping in a cloth makes the bread clammy.
-
- Bread is better in small loaves. Let your pans be of tin (or better,
- of iron), eight inches long, three inches high, three inches wide at
- the bottom, and flaring so as to be four inches wide at the top. This
- size makes more tender crust, and cuts more neatly than larger loaves.
-
- Oil the pans with a swab and sweet butter or lard. They should be well
- washed and dried, or black and rancid oil will gather.
-
- All these kinds of bread can be baked in biscuit-form; and, by adding
- water and eggs, made into griddle-cakes. Bread having potatoes in it
- keeps moist longest, but turns sour soonest.
-
-
- =Bread of Middlings or Unbolted Flour.=—Take four quarts of coarse
- flour, one quart of warm water, one cup of yeast, two tea-spoonfuls
- of salt, one spoonful of melted lard or butter, two cups of sugar or
- molasses, and half a tea-spoonful of soda. Mix thoroughly, and bake in
- pans the same as the bread of fine flour. It is better to be kneaded
- rather than made soft with a spoon.
-
-
- =Bread raised with Water only.=—Many persons like bread made either of
- fine or coarse flour, and raised with water only. Success in making
- this kind depends on the proper quantity of water, quick beating, the
- heating of very small pans, and very quick baking. There are cast-iron
- patties made for this purpose, and also small, coarse earthen cups.
- The following is the rule, but it must be modified by trying:
-
- _Recipe._—To one quart of unbolted flour put about one quart, or a
- little less, of hot water. Beat it very quickly, put it in hot pans,
- and bake in a hot oven. White flour may be used in place of coarse,
- and the quantity ascertained by trial. When right, there is after
- baking little except a crust, which is sweet and crisp.
-
-
- =Rye and Indian Bread.=—The Boston or Eastern Brown Bread is made
- thus: One quart of rye, one quart of corn-meal, one cup of molasses,
- half a cup of distillery yeast, or twice as much home-brewed; one
- tea-spoonful of soda, and one tea-spoonful of salt. Wet with hot water
- till it is stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. This is put in a
- large brown pan and baked four or five hours. It is good toasted, and
- improved by adding boiled squash.
-
-
- =Third Bread.=—This is made with equal parts of rye, corn-meal, and
- unbolted flour. To one quart of warm water add one tea-spoonful of
- salt, half a cup of distillery or twice as much home-brewed yeast, and
- half a cup of molasses, and thicken with equal parts of these three
- kinds of flour. It is very good for a variety.
-
-
- =Rye Bread.=—Take a quart of warm water, a tea-spoonful of salt, half
- a cup of molasses, and a cup of home-brewed yeast, or half as much of
- distillery. Add flour till you can knead it, and do it very thoroughly.
-
-
- =Oat-meal Bread.=—Oat-meal is sometimes bitter from want of care in
- preparing. When good, it makes excellent and healthful bread.
-
- Take one pint of boiling water, one great-spoonful of sweet lard or
- butter, two great-spoonfuls of sugar; melt them together, and thicken
- with two-thirds Oat-meal and one-third fine flour. When blood-warm,
- add half a cup of home-brewed yeast and two well-beaten eggs. Mold
- into small cakes, and bake on buttered tins, or make two loaves.
-
-
- =Pumpkin Bread and Apple Bread.=—These are very good for a variety.
- Stew and strain pumpkins or apples, and then work in either corn-meal
- or unbolted flour, or both. To each quart of the fruit add two
- table-spoonfuls of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a cup of home-brewed
- yeast. If the apples are quite sour, add more sugar. Make it as stiff
- as can be stirred with a spoon, and bake in patties or small loaves.
- Children like it for a change.
-
-
- =Corn-Meal Bread.=—Always scald corn-meal. Melt two table-spoonfuls of
- butter or sweet lard in one quart of hot water; add a tea-spoonful of
- salt and a tea-cup of sugar. Thicken with corn-meal, and one-third as
- much fine flour, or unbolted flour, or middlings. Two well-beaten eggs
- improve it. Make it as stiff as can be easily stirred with a spoon,
- or, as some would advise, knead it like bread of white flour.
-
- If raised with yeast, put in a tea-cup of home-brewed yeast, or half
- as much of distillery. If raised with powders, mix two tea-spoonfuls
- of cream tartar _thoroughly_ with the meal, and one tea-spoonful of
- soda in the water.
-
-
- =Sweet Rolls of Corn-Meal.=—Mix half corn-meal and half fine or
- unbolted flour; add a little salt, and then wet it up with sweetened
- water, raise it with yeast, and bake in small patties or cups in a
- very quick oven.
-
-
- =Soda Biscuit.=—In one quart of flour mix _very thoroughly_ two
- tea-spoonfuls of cream tartar, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Dissolve in
- a pint of warm water one tea-spoonful of soda and one table-spoonful
- of melted butter or lard. _Mix quickly_; add flour till you can roll,
- but let it be as soft as possible. Bake in a quick oven, and as soon
- as possible after mixing.
-
-
- =Yeast Biscuit.=—Take a pint of raised dough of fine flour: pick it in
- small pieces; add one well-beaten egg, two great-spoonfuls of butter
- or lard, and two great-spoonfuls of sugar. Work thoroughly for ten
- minutes; add flour to roll, and then cut in round cakes and bake on
- tins, or mold into biscuits. Let them stand till light, and then bake
- in a quick oven.
-
- If you have no dough raised, make biscuit as you would bread, except
- adding more shortening.
-
-
- =Potato Biscuit.=—Boil and press through a colander twelve _mealy_
- potatoes; any others are not good. While warm, add one cup of butter,
- one tea-spoonful of salt, four great-spoonfuls of sugar, and half
- a cup of yeast. Mix in white or coarse flour till it can be well
- kneaded. Mold into small cakes; let them stand till light, and bake in
- a quick oven. These are the best kind, especially if made of coarse
- flour.
-
-
- =Buns.=—These are best made by the rule for potato biscuit, adding
- twice as much sugar. When done, rub over a mixture of half milk and
- half molasses, and it improves looks and taste.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.
-
-
-What shall we have for breakfast to-morrow? is the constant question
-of trial to a housekeeper, and it is the aim of the present chapter to
-meet this want by presenting a good and successive variety of articles
-healthful, economical, and easily prepared.
-
-Some of the best housekeepers have taken this method: they provide a
-good supply of the following articles, to be used in succession—rice,
-corn-meal, rye flour, wheat grits, unbolted wheat, cracked wheat, pearl
-wheat, oat grits, Oat-meal, and hominy, with which they make a new
-article for every day in the week. Some one of these is selected for
-either a dinner vegetable or dessert, or for a dish at tea, and the
-remainder used for the next morning’s breakfast.
-
-The following will indicate the methods:
-
- =Corn-Meal.=—Take four large cups of corn-meal, and scald it. In _all_
- cases, scald corn-meal before using it. Add half a cup of fine flour,
- three table-spoonfuls of sugar or molasses, one tea-spoonful of soda,
- and one of salt. Make a batter, and boil an hour or more, stirring
- often; or, better, cook in a tin pail set in boiling water. Use it as
- mush, with butter, sugar, and milk for supper. Next morning, thin it
- with hot water: add two or three eggs, and bake either as muffins or
- griddle-cakes.
-
-
- =Hominy.=—Soak and then boil a quart of hominy with two heaping
- tea-spoonfuls of salt. Use it for dinner as a vegetable, or for supper
- with sugar and milk or cream. Next morning use the remainder, soaked
- in water or milk, with two eggs and a salt-spoonful of salt. Bake as
- muffins or griddle-cakes, or cut in slices, dipped in flour and fried.
- Farina may be used in the same way.
-
-
- =Rice.=—Pick over one pint of rice; add two tea-spoonfuls of salt
- and three quarts of _boiling_ water. Then boil fifteen minutes; then
- uncover; let it steam fifteen minutes. This to be used for a vegetable
- at dinner, or for a tea-dish, with butter and sugar. At night, soak
- the remainder in as much milk or water, and next morning add as much
- fine or unbolted flour as there was rice, three eggs, a tea-spoonful
- of salt, and half a tea-spoonful of soda. Thin with water or milk, and
- bake as muffins or griddle-cakes.
-
-
- =The most economical Breakfast Dish=, (healthful also).—Keep a jar for
- remnants of bread, both coarse and fine, for potatoes, remnants of
- hominy, rice, grits, cracked wheat, Oat-meal, and all other articles
- used on table. Add all remnants of milk, whether sour or sweet, and
- water enough to soak all, so as to be soft, but not thin. When enough
- is collected, add enough water to make a batter for griddle-cakes, and
- put in enough soda to sweeten it. Add two spoonfuls of sugar, and half
- a tea-spoonful of salt, and two eggs for each quart, and you make an
- excellent dish of material, most of it usually wasted. Thicken it a
- little with fine flour, and it makes fine waffles.
-
-
- =Biscuits of sour Milk and white or unbolted Flour.=—One pint unbolted
- flour.
-
- One spoonful of sugar.
-
- One tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- Melt a spoonful of butter in a little of the sour milk; then mix all,
- and just before setting in the oven, add very _quickly_ and very
- _thoroughly_ a tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in half a tea-cup of
- water. This should be done last and quickly, so that the carbonic
- acid gas produced by the union of the soda and the acid of the milk
- (lactic) may not escape. Use half a tea-cup of fine flour when molding
- into biscuits.
-
-
- =Pearl Wheat or Cracked Wheat.=—Boil one pint in a pail set in
- boiling water till quite soft, but so as not to lose its form. Add a
- tea-spoonful of sugar, and as much salt; also water, when needed. It
- must boil a long time. Eat a part for supper, with sugar and cream,
- and next morning add two eggs, a great-spoonful of sugar, and fine
- flour enough to make it suitable for muffin-rings or drop-cakes.
-
-
- =Rye and Corn-Meal.=—Put into a pint and a half of boiling water one
- tea-spoonful of salt, two great-spoonfuls of sugar, two well-beaten
- eggs, three great-spoonfuls of corn-meal or unbolted wheat.
- Thicken with rye flour, and then add two well-beaten eggs. Bake in
- muffin-rings or as drop-cakes.
-
-
- =Oat-meal.=—Take one pint of boiling water, and pour it on to one pint
- of Oat-meal. Add a great-spoonful of butter, half a tea-spoonful of
- salt, and two great-spoonfuls of sugar. Stir fast and thoroughly; then
- add two well-beaten eggs, and boil twenty minutes. To be eaten as mush
- for supper; and next morning thin it, and bake in muffin-rings.
-
-Several of the above articles are good with only salt and water; and
-many persons would like them better with the butter, sugar, and eggs
-omitted.
-
-
- =Wheat Muffins.=—One pint of milk, and two eggs.
-
- One table-spoonful of yeast, and a salt-spoonful of salt. One
- table-spoonful of butter.
-
- Mix these ingredients with sufficient flour to make a thick batter.
- Let it rise four or five hours, and bake in muffin-rings. This can
- be made of unbolted flour or grits, adding two great-spoonfuls of
- molasses, and it is very fine. Make it so thick that a table-spoon
- will stand erect in it.
-
-
- =Sally Lunn, improved.=—Seven tea-cups of unbolted flour, or fine
- flour.
-
- One pint of water.
-
- Half a cup of melted butter, and half a cup of sugar.
-
- One pinch of salt.
-
- Three well-beaten eggs.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of brewers’ yeast, or twice as much of home-brewed.
-
- Pour into square buttered pans, and let it rise two or three hours
- with brewers’ yeast; with home-brewed, five hours are required. It is
- still better baked in patties.
-
-
- =Cream Griddle-Cakes.=—One pint of thick cream.
-
- One tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- One table-spoonful of sugar.
-
- Three well-beaten eggs.
-
- Make a thin batter of unbolted or of fine flour, and bake on a griddle.
-
-
- =Royal Crumpets.=—Three tea-cups of raised dough.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of melted butter.
-
- Half a tea-cup of white sugar, mixed with three well-beaten eggs.
-
- Bake in two buttered pans for half an hour.
-
-
- =Muffins of fine Flour or unbolted Flour.=—One pint of milk or water.
-
- One pinch of salt.
-
- Two well-beaten eggs.
-
- One table-spoonful of yeast.
-
- Make a thick batter of fine flour or unbolted flour, and let it rise
- four or five hours. Bake in muffin-rings.
-
-
- =Unbolted Flour Waffles.=—One pint of unbolted flour.
-
- One pint of sour milk, or buttermilk, or water.
-
- Half a tea-spoonful of soda, or more if needed, to sweeten the milk.
-
- Three well-beaten eggs.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of sugar.
-
-
- =Drop-Cakes of fine Wheat or of Rye.=—One pint of milk or water.
-
- One pinch of salt.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of sugar.
-
- Three well-beaten eggs.
-
- Stir in rye, or fine or unbolted flour to a thick batter, and bake in
- cups or patties half an hour.
-
-
- =Sachem’s Head Corn-Cake.=—One quart of sifted corn-meal, scalded.
-
- One tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- Three pints of scalded sweet milk or water.
-
- Half a tea-spoonful of soda in two great-spoonfuls of warm water.
-
- Half a tea-cup of sugar.
-
- Eight eggs, the whites beaten separately, and added the last thing.
-
- Make the cakes an inch thick in buttered pans before baking, and,
- if baked right, they will puff up to double the thickness, like
- sponge-cake, and are very fine.
-
-
- =Rice Waffles.=—One pint of milk. Half a tea-cup of solid boiled rice,
- soaked three hours in the milk.
-
- Two cups of wheat flour or rice flour.
-
- Three well-beaten eggs. Bake in waffle-irons.
-
- The rice must be salted enough when boiled.
-
-
- =Another Rice Dish.=—One pint of rice, well cleaned.
-
- Three quarts of cold water.
-
- Three tea-spoonfuls of salt.
-
- Boil it twenty minutes; then pour off the water, add milk or cream,
- and let it boil ten minutes longer, till quite soft. Let it stand till
- cold, and then cut it in slices and fry it on a griddle. It can also
- be made into griddle-cakes or muffins by the preceding recipe.
-
- =A good and easy Way to use cold Rice.=—Heat a pint of boiled rice in
- milk; add two well-beaten eggs, a little salt, butter, and sugar; let
- it boil up once, and then grate on nutmeg.
-
-
- =Buckwheat-Cakes.=—One quart of buckwheat.
-
- One tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of distillery yeast, or four of home-brewed.
-
- Two table-spoonfuls of molasses.
-
- Wet the flour with warm water, and then add the other articles. Keep
- this warm through the night. If it sours, add half a tea-spoonful of
- soda in warm water. These cakes have a handsomer brown if wet with
- milk or part milk.
-
-
- =Fine Cottage Cheese.=—Let the milk be turned by rennet, or by setting
- it in a warm place. It must not be _heated_, as the oily parts will
- then pass off, and the richness is lost. When fully turned, put in a
- coarse linen bag, and hang it to drain several hours, till all the
- whey is out. Then mash it fine, salt it to the taste, and thin it with
- good cream, or add but little cream, and roll it into balls. When
- thin, it is very fine with preserves or sugared fruit.
-
- It also makes a fine pudding, by thinning it with milk, and adding
- eggs and sugar, and spice to the taste, and baking it. Many persons
- use milk when turned to _bonny-clabber_ for a dessert, putting on
- sugar and spice. Children are fond of it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-PUDDINGS AND PIES.
-
-
-Where sugar is made by slaves, the little children feed constantly
-on it, and grow fat and healthy. But they are nearly naked, live
-out-of-doors, exercise constantly, and have nothing to do but play.
-Thus their lungs and skin gain the healthful and purifying action of
-the air and the sun, and the excess of carbonaceous food is rendered
-harmless. But for those whose skin never meets the sun, rarely meets
-the air, and only now and then some water, a very different regimen is
-needful. Sugar, molasses, butter, and fats are chiefly carbonaceous,
-and therefore demand a large supply of oxygen through lungs and skin.
-And yet our custom is to use fine flour, which is chiefly carbon;
-butter and cream, chiefly carbon; sweet cakes, chiefly carbon;
-sweetmeats and candy, chiefly carbon; and worst of all, pie-crusts,
-chiefly carbon, and the most difficult of all food for digestion.
-
-But the love for sweet food is common to all, and demands
-gratification. All that is required is moderation and temperance. For
-these reasons, a large supply is here provided of cakes and puddings,
-which are not rich, and yet are as highly relished as richer food. As
-pies are the most unhealthful of all food, some instruction and but few
-recipes are given, lest, if entirely omitted, the book would not be
-read so widely, and other more unhealthful ones be used.
-
-The puddings here offered afford a great variety for desserts, are
-made with far less labor than pies, and are both more economical and
-more healthful. They also can be made more ornamental and attractive
-in appearance, and equally good to the taste. It is hoped, therefore,
-that the conscientious housekeeper will not tempt her family to eat
-unhealthful food when such an abundance is offered that is at once
-economical of labor, time, expense, and health. The first recipe for
-pudding can be varied in many ways, and has the advantage which
-heretofore has recommended pies, namely, that several can be made at
-once, and kept on hand as equally good either cold or warmed over. It
-is also economical and convenient, as not requiring eggs or milk.
-
- =The Queen of all Puddings.=—Soak a tea-cup of tapioca and a
- tea-spoonful of salt in three tumblerfuls of warm, not hot, water
- for an hour or two, till softened. Take away the skins and cores of
- apples without dividing them, put them in the dish with sugar in the
- holes, and spice if the apples are without flavor: not otherwise. Add
- a cup of water, and bake till the apples are softened, turning them
- to prevent drying, and then pour over the tapioca, and bake _a long
- time_, till all looks A BROWNISH YELLOW. Eat with a hard sauce. Do not
- fail to bake a long time.
-
- This can be extensively varied by mixing chopped apples, or quinces,
- or oranges, or peaches, or any kind of berries with the tapioca; and
- then sugar must be added according to the acid of the fruit, though
- some would prefer it omitted when the sauce is used.
-
- The beauty may be increased by a cover of sugar beaten into the
- whites of eggs, and then turned to a yellow in the oven. Several such
- puddings can be made at once, kept in a cool place, and when wanted
- warmed over; many relish it better when very cold. Sago can be used
- instead of tapioca. When no sago or tapioca are at hand, the following
- recipe for flour pudding may be used, baking a long time.
-
-
- =Flour Puddings.=—Take four table-spoonfuls of flour, half a
- tea-spoonful of salt, a pint of water or milk, three eggs, and a
- salt-spoonful of soda. Mix and beat very thoroughly, and bake as soon
- as done, or it will not be light. It must bake till the middle is not
- lower than the rest. Eat with liquid sauce. This can be cooked in a
- covered tin pan set in boiling water. This is enough for a family of
- five. Change the quantity according to the family.
-
- This may be made richer by a spoonful of butter, more sugar, and some
- flavoring.
-
- It will be lighter not to beat the eggs separately. If a bag is used
- to boil, rub flour or butter on the inside, to prevent sticking.
-
-
- =Flour and Fruit Puddings.=—Add to the above, chopped apples or any
- kind of berries. Chopped apples and quinces together are fine when
- dried. When berries are used, a third more flour is needed for those
- very juicy, and less for cherries. Put in fruit the last thing.
-
-
- =Rusk and Milk.=—Keep all bits of bread, dry in the oven, and pound
- them, putting half a salt-spoonful of salt to a pint. This eaten with
- good milk is what is especially relished by children, and named “rusk
- and milk.”
-
-
- =Rusk Puddings.=—Mix equal quantities of rusk-crumbs with stewed fruit
- or berries, then add a _very sweet_ custard, made with four or five
- eggs to a quart of milk. Eaten with sweet sauce. This may be made
- without fruit, and is good with sauce.
-
-
- =Meat and Rusk Puddings.=—Chop any kind of cold meat with salt pork
- or ham, season it well with butter, pepper, and salt, and add two or
- three beaten eggs. Then make alternate layers of wet rusk-crumbs, with
- milk or cold boiled hominy or rice, and bake half or three quarters of
- an hour. Let the upper layer be crumbs, and cover with a plate while
- baking, and, when nearly done, take it off to brown the top.
-
-
- =A handsome and good Pudding easily made.=—Put a pint of scalded milk
- (water will do as well) to a pint of bread-crumbs, and add the yelks
- of four eggs, well beaten, a tea-cup of sugar, butter the size of an
- egg, and the grated rind of one lemon. Bake, and, when cool, cover
- with stewed fruit of any kind. Then beat the whites of the eggs into
- five table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar and the juice of one lemon.
- Cover the pudding with it, and set in the oven till it is a brownish
- yellow. Puddings covered with sugar and eggs in this way are called
- Meringue Puddings.
-
-
- =Pan Dowdy.=—Put apples pared and sliced into a large pan, and put in
- an abundance of molasses or sugar, and some spice if the apples have
- little flavor; not otherwise. Cover with bread-dough, rolled thin, or
- a potato pie-crust. Bake a long time, and then break the crust into
- the fruit in small pieces. Children are very fond of this, especially
- if well sweetened and baked a long time.
-
-
- =Corn-Meal Pop-overs.=—Two tumblers of scalded corn-meal fresh ground,
- three well-beaten eggs, a cup of milk or water, a tea-spoonful of
- salt, and three of sugar, two spoonfuls of melted butter. Bake in hot
- patties, and eat with sweet sauce.
-
-
- =Best Apple-Pie.=—Take a deep dish, the size of a soup-plate, fill it
- heaping with peeled tart apples, cored and quartered; pour over it one
- tea-cup of molasses, and three great-spoonfuls of sugar, dredge over
- this a considerable quantity of flour, enough to thicken the sirup a
- good deal. Cover it with a crust made of cream, if you have it; if
- not, common dough, with butter worked in, or plain pie-crust, lapping
- the edge over the dish, and pinching it down tight, to keep the sirup
- from running out. Bake about an hour and a half. Make several at once,
- as they keep well.
-
-
- =Rice Pudding.=—One tea-cup of rice.
-
- One tea-cup of sugar.
-
- One half tea-cup of butter.
-
- One quart of milk.
-
- Nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt to the taste.
-
- Put the butter in melted, mix all in a pudding-dish, and bake it two
- hours, stirring it frequently, until the rice is swollen. It is good
- made without butter.
-
-
- =Bread and Fruit Pudding=.—Butter a deep dish, and lay in slices of
- bread and butter, wet with milk, and upon these sliced tart apples,
- sweetened and spiced. Then lay on another layer of bread and butter
- and apples, and continue thus till the dish is filled. Let the top
- layer be bread and butter, and dip it in milk, turning the buttered
- side down. Any other kind of fruit will answer as well. Put a plate on
- the top, and bake two hours, then take it off and bake another hour.
-
-
- =Boiled Fruit Pudding=.—Take light dough and work in a little butter,
- roll it out into a very thin large layer, not a quarter of an inch
- thick. Cover it thick with berries or stewed fruit, and put on sugar,
- roll it up tight, double it once or twice, and fasten up the ends. Tie
- it up in a bag, giving it room to swell. Eat it with butter, or sauce
- not very sweet.
-
- Blackberries, whortleberries, raspberries, apples, and peaches, all
- make excellent puddings in the same way.
-
-
- =English Curd Pudding.=—One quart of milk.
-
- A bit of rennet to curdle it.
-
- Press out the whey, and put into the curds three eggs, a nutmeg, and a
- table-spoonful of brandy. Bake it like custard.
-
-
- =Common Apple-Pie.=—Pare your apples, and cut them from the core. Line
- your dishes with paste, and put in the apple; cover and bake until
- the fruit is tender. Then take them from the oven, remove the upper
- crust, and put in sugar and nutmeg, cinnamon or rose-water, to your
- taste. A bit of sweet butter improves them. Also, to put in a little
- orange-peel before they are baked, makes a pleasant variety. Common
- apple-pies are very good, to stew, sweeten, and flavor the apple
- before they are put into the oven. Many prefer the seasoning baked in.
- All apple-pies are much nicer if the apple is grated and then seasoned.
-
-
- =Plain Custard.=—Boil half a dozen peach-leaves, or the rind of a
- lemon, or a vanilla bean in a quart of milk; when it is flavored, pour
- into it a paste made by a table-spoonful of rice flour, or common
- flour, wet up with two spoonfuls of cold milk and a half tea-spoonful
- of salt, and stir it till it boils again. Then beat up four eggs and
- put in, and sweeten it to your taste, and pour it out for pies or
- pudding. More eggs make it a rich custard.
-
- Bake as pudding, or boil in a tin pail set in boiling water, stirring
- often, and pour into cups.
-
-
- =Another Custard.=—Boil six peach-leaves, or a lemon-peel, in a quart
- of milk, till it is flavored; cool it, add three spoonfuls of sugar, a
- tea-spoonful of salt, and five eggs beaten to a froth. Put the custard
- into a tin pail, set it in boiling water, and stir it till cooked
- enough. Then turn it into cups; if preferred, it can be baked.
-
-
- =Mush, or Hasty Pudding.=—Wet up the Indian-meal in cold water, till
- there are no lumps, stir it gradually into boiling water which has a
- little sugar and more salt added; boil till so thick that the stick
- will stand in it. Boil slowly, and so as not to burn, stirring often.
- Two or three hours’ boiling is needed. Pour it into a broad, deep
- dish, let it grow cold, cut it into slices half an inch thick, flour
- them, and fry them on a griddle with a little lard, or bake them in a
- stove oven.
-
-
- =Stale Bread Pudding=, (fine.)—Cut stale bread in thick slices, and
- put it to soak for several hours in cold milk.
-
- Then cook on a griddle, with some salt, and eat it with sugar, or
- molasses, or a sweet sauce. To make it more delicate, take off the
- crusts. It is still better to soak it in uncooked custard. Baker’s
- bread is best.
-
-
- =To prepare Rennet Wine.=—Put three inches square of calf’s rennet to
- a pint of wine, and set it away for use. Three table-spoonfuls will
- serve to curdle a quart of milk.
-
- _Rennet Custard._—Put three table-spoonfuls of rennet wine to a quart
- of milk, and add four or five great-spoonfuls of white sugar and a
- salt-spoonful of salt. Flavor it with wine, or lemon, or rose-water.
- It must be eaten in an hour, or it will turn to curds.
-
-
- =Bird’snest Pudding.=—Pare tart, well-flavored apples, scoop out
- the cores without dividing the apple, put them in a deep dish with
- a small bit of mace, and a spoonful of sugar in the opening of each
- apple. Pour in water enough to cook them. When soft, pour over them an
- unbaked custard, so as just to cover them, and bake till the custard
- is done.
-
-
- =A Minute Pudding of Potato Starch.=—Take four heaped table-spoonfuls
- of potato flour, three eggs, and a tea-spoonful of salt, and one quart
- of milk. Boil the milk, reserving a little to moisten the flour. Stir
- the flour to a paste, perfectly smooth, with the reserved milk, and
- put it into the boiling milk. Add the eggs well beaten, let it boil
- till very thick, which will be in two or three minutes, then pour into
- a dish and serve with liquid sauce. After the milk boils, the pudding
- must be stirred every moment till done.
-
-
- =Tapioca Pudding.=—Soak eight table-spoonfuls of tapioca in a quart
- of warm milk and tea-spoonful of sugar, till soft, then add two
- table-spoonfuls of melted sweet lard or butter, five eggs well beaten,
- spice, sugar, and wine to your taste. Bake in a buttered dish, without
- any lining. Sago may be used in place of tapioca.
-
-
- =Cocoa-Nut Pudding= (plain).—Take one quart of milk, five eggs, and
- one cocoa-nut, grated. The eggs and sugar are beaten together, and
- stirred into the milk when hot. Strain the milk and eggs, and add the
- cocoa-nut, with nutmeg to the taste. Bake about twenty minutes like
- puddings.
-
-
- =New-England Squash or Pumpkin-Pie.=—Take a pumpkin or winter-squash,
- cut in pieces, take off the rind and remove the seeds, and boil it
- until tender, then rub it through a sieve. When cold, add to it milk
- to thin it, and to each quart of milk five well-beaten eggs. Sugar,
- cinnamon, and ginger to your taste. The quantity of milk must depend
- upon the size and quality of the squash.
-
- These pies require a moderate heat, and must be baked until the centre
- is firm.
-
-
- =Ripe Fruit Pies—Peach, Cherry, Plum, Currant, and Strawberry.=—Line
- your dish with paste. After picking over and washing the fruit
- carefully (peaches must be pared, and the rest picked from the stem),
- place a layer of fruit and a layer of sugar in your dish, until it
- is well filled, then cover it with paste, and trim the edge neatly,
- and prick the cover. Fruit-pies require about an hour to bake in a
- thoroughly-heated oven.
-
-
- =Mock Cream.=—Beat three eggs well, and add three heaping
- tea-spoonfuls of sifted flour. Stir it into a pint and a half of
- boiling milk, add a salt-spoon of salt, and sugar to your taste.
- Flavor with rose-water or essence of lemon.
-
- This can be used for cream-cakes or pastry.
-
-
- =A Pudding of Fruit and Bread Crumbs.=—Mix a pint of dried and pounded
- bread-crumbs with an equal quantity of any kind of berries, or of
- dried and chopped sour apples. Add three eggs, half a pint of milk,
- three spoonfuls of fine flour, and half a tea-spoonful of salt. Bake
- on a griddle or in an oven in muffin-rings, or, when made thinner, as
- griddle-cakes. If dried fruit is used, more milk is needed than for
- fresh berries.
-
- This may also be boiled for a pudding. Flour the pudding-cloth and tie
- tight, as it will not swell in cooking.
-
-
- =Bread and Apple Dumplings.=—Mix half a pint of dried bread-crumbs and
- half a pint of fine flour. Wet it with water and two eggs thick enough
- to roll. Then put it around large apples peeled and cored whole, and
- boil for dumplings in several small floured cloths, or put all into
- one large floured cloth, tied tight, as they will not swell. Try with
- a fork, and when the apples are soft, take up and serve with a sweet
- sauce.
-
-
- =An excellent Indian Pudding without Eggs.=—Take seven heaping
- spoonfuls of scalded Indian meal, half a tea-spoonful of salt, two
- spoonfuls of butter or sweet lard, a tea-cup of molasses, and two
- tea-spoonfuls of ginger or cinnamon, to the taste. Pour into these a
- quart of milk while boiling hot. Mix well and put in a buttered dish.
- Just as you set in the oven, stir in a tea-cup of cold water, which
- will produce the same effect as eggs. Bake three-quarters of an hour
- in a dish that will not spread it out thin.
-
-
- =Boiled Indian and Suet Pudding.=—Three pints of milk, ten heaping
- table-spoonfuls of sifted Indian meal, a tumblerful of molasses,
- two eggs. Scald the meal with the milk, add the molasses and a
- tea-spoonful of salt. Put in the eggs when it is cool enough not to
- scald them. Put in a table-spoonful of ginger. Tie the bag so that it
- will be about two-thirds full of the pudding in order to give room to
- swell. The longer it is boiled the better. Some like a little chopped
- suet with the above.
-
-
- =A Dessert of Rice and Fruit.=—Pick over and wash the rice, and boil
- it fifteen minutes in water, with salt at the rate of a heaping
- tea-spoonful to a quart. Rice is much improved by having the salt
- put in while cooking. Pour out the water in fifteen minutes after it
- begins to boil. Then pour in rich milk and boil till of a pudding
- thickness. Then pour it into cups to harden, when it is to be turned
- out inverted upon a platter in small mounds. Make an opening on the
- top of each, and put in a pile of jelly or fruit. Lastly, pour over
- all a custard made of three eggs, a pint of milk, and a tea-spoonful
- of salt boiled in a tin pail set in boiling water. This looks very
- prettily. Sweet cream with a little salt can be used instead of
- custard. This can be modified by having the whole put in a bowl and
- hardened, and then inverted and several openings made for the fruit.
-
-
- =Another Dessert of Rice and Fruit.=—Boil the rice in salt and
- water, a tea-spoonful to a quart of water. When cooked to a pudding
- consistency, cool it, and then cut it in slices. Then put a thin layer
- of rice at the bottom of a pudding-dish, cover it with a thin layer of
- jelly or stewed fruit half an inch thick. Continue to add alternate
- layers of rice and jelly or fruit, smooth it at top, grate on sugar,
- and then cut the edges to show stripes of fruit and rice. Help it in
- saucers, and have cream or a thin custard to pour on it. Make the
- custard with two eggs, half a pint of milk, and half a tea-spoonful of
- salt. Boil it in a pail set in boiling water.
-
-
- =Dessert of cold Rice and stewed or grated Apple.=—Cut cold boiled
- rice in slices, and then lay in a buttered pudding-dish alternate
- layers of rice and grated or stewed apples. Add sugar and spice to
- each layer of apples. Cover with the rice, smooth with a spoon dipped
- in cold water or milk, and bake three-quarters of an hour if the
- apples are raw. To be served with a sweet sauce.
-
-
- =A rich Flour Pudding.=—Six eggs.
-
- Three spoonfuls of flour.
-
- One pint of milk.
-
- A tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- Beat the yelks well and mix them smoothly with the flour, then add the
- milk. Lastly, whip the whites to a stiff froth; work them in, and bake
- immediately.
-
- To be eaten with a liquid sauce.
-
-
- =Apple-Pie.=—Take fair apples; pare, core, and quarter them.
-
- Take four table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar to a pie.
-
- Put into a preserving-pan, with the sugar; water enough to make a thin
- sirup; throw in a few blades of mace; boil the apple in the sirup
- until tender, a little at a time, so as not to break the pieces. Take
- them out with care, and lay them in soup-dishes.
-
- When you have preserved apple enough for your number of pies, add
- to the remainder of the sirup cinnamon and rose-water, or any other
- spice, enough to flavor it well, and divide it among the pies. Make
- a good paste, and line the rim of the dishes, and then cover them,
- leaving the pies without an under crust. Bake them a light brown.
-
-
- =Spiced Apple Tarts.=—Rub stewed or baked apples through a sieve;
- sweeten them, and add powdered mace and cinnamon enough to flavor
- them. If the apples are not very tart, squeeze in the juice of a
- lemon. Some persons like the peel of the lemon grated into it. Line
- soup-dishes with a light crust, double on the rim, and fill them and
- bake them until the crust is done. Little bars of crust, a quarter of
- an inch in width, crossed on the top of the tart before it is baked,
- are ornamental.
-
-
- =Baked Indian Pudding.=—Three pints of milk.
-
- Ten heaping table-spoonfuls of Indian meal.
-
- Three gills of molasses.
-
- A piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg.
-
- Scald the meal with the milk, and stir in the butter and molasses, and
- bake four or five hours. Some add a little chopped suet in place of
- the butter. This can be boiled.
-
-
- =Apple Custard.=—Take half a dozen very tart apples, and take off
- the skin and cores. Cook them till they begin to be soft, in half a
- tea-cup of water. Then put them in a pudding-dish, and sugar them.
- Then beat six eggs with four spoonfuls of sugar; mix it with three
- pints of milk, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt; pour it over the apples,
- and bake for about half an hour.
-
-
- =Plain Macaroni or Vermicelli Puddings.=—Put two ounces of macaroni
- or vermicelli into a pint of milk, and simmer until tender. Flavor it
- by putting in two or three sticks of cinnamon while boiling, or some
- other spice when done. Then beat up three eggs, mix in an ounce of
- sugar, half a pint of milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a glass of
- wine. Add these to the broken macaroni or vermicelli, and bake in a
- slow oven.
-
-
- =Green Corn Pudding.=—Twelve ears of corn, grated. Sweet-corn is best.
- One pint and a half of milk. Four well-beaten eggs. One tea-cup and a
- half of sugar.
-
- Mix the above, and bake it three hours in a buttered dish. More sugar
- is needed if common corn is used.
-
-
- =Bread Pudding for Invalids or young Children.=—Grate half a pound
- of stale bread; add a pinch of salt, and pour on a pint of hot milk,
- and let it soak half an hour. Add two well-beaten eggs, put it in a
- covered basin just large enough to hold it, tie it in a pudding-cloth,
- and boil it half an hour; or put it in a buttered pan in an oven, and
- bake it that time. Make a sauce of thin sweet cream, sweetened with
- sugar, and flavored with rose-water or nutmeg.
-
-
- =A good Pudding.=—Line a buttered dish with slices of wheat bread,
- first dipped in milk. Fill the dish with sliced apple, and add sugar
- and spice. Cover with slices of bread soaked in milk; cover close with
- a plate, and bake three hours.
-
-
- =Loaf Pudding.=—When bread is too stale, put a loaf in a pudding-bag
- and boil it in salted water an hour and a half, and eat it with hard
- pudding-sauce.
-
-
- =A Lemon Pudding.=—Nine spoonfuls of grated apple, one grated lemon,
- (peel and pulp,) one spoonful of butter, and three eggs. Mix and bake,
- with or without a crust, about an hour. Cream improves it.
-
-
- =Green Corn Patties=, (like oysters.)—Twelve ears of sweet-corn
- grated. (Yellow corn will do, but not so well.)
-
- One tea-spoonful of salt, and one of pepper.
-
- One egg beaten into two table-spoonfuls of flour.
-
- Mix, make into small cakes, and cook on a griddle.
-
-
- =Cracker Plum Pudding=, (excellent.)—Make a very sweet custard, and
- put into it a tea-spoonful of salt.
-
- Take soda crackers, split them, and butter them very thick.
-
- Put a layer of raisins on the bottom of a large pudding-dish, and then
- a layer of crackers, and pour on a little of the custard when warm,
- and after soaking a little, put on a thick layer of raisins, pressing
- them into the crackers with a knife. Then put on another layer of
- crackers, custard and fruit, and proceed thus till you have four
- layers. Then pour over the whole enough custard to rise even with the
- crackers. It is best made over night, so that the crackers may soak.
- Bake from an hour and a half to two hours. During the first half-hour,
- pour on, at three different times, a little of the custard, thinned
- with milk, to prevent the top from being hard and dry. If it browns
- fast, cover with paper.
-
- Bread and butter pudding is made in a similar manner.
-
-
-SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.
-
-
- =Liquid Sauce.=—Six table-spoonfuls of sugar. Ten table-spoonfuls of
- water. Four table-spoonfuls of butter. Two table-spoonfuls of wine.
- Nutmeg, or lemon, or orange-peel, or rose-water, to flavor.
-
- Heat the water and sugar very hot. Stir in the butter till it is
- melted, but be careful not to let it boil. Add the wine and nutmeg,
- just before it is used.
-
-
- =Hard Sauce.=—Two table-spoonfuls of butter.
-
- Ten table-spoonfuls of sugar.
-
- Work this till white, then add wine or grated lemon-peel, and spice to
- your taste.
-
-
- =Another Hard Sauce.=—Mix half as much butter as sugar, and heat it
- fifteen minutes in a bowl set in hot water. Stir till it foams. Flavor
- with wine or grated lemon-peel.
-
-
- =A Healthful Pudding Sauce.=—Boil, in half a pint of water, some
- orange or lemon-peel, or peach-leaves. Take them out and pour in a
- thin paste, made with two spoonfuls of flour, and boil five minutes.
- Then put in a pint of sugar, and let it boil. Then put in two
- spoonfuls of butter, add a glass of wine, and take it up before it
- boils.
-
-
- =An excellent Sauce for any Kind of Pudding.=—Beat the yelks of three
- eggs into sugar enough to make it quite sweet. Add a tea-cup of cream,
- or milk, and a little butter, and the grated peel and juice of two
- lemons. When lemons can not be had, use dried lemon-peel, and a little
- tartaric acid. This is a good sauce for puddings, especially for the
- Starch Minute Pudding. Good cider in place of wine is sometimes used.
-
-
-PASTE FOR PUDDINGS AND PIES.
-
-This is an article which, if the laws of health were obeyed, would be
-banished from every table; for it unites the three evils—animal fat,
-_cooked_ animal fat, and heavy bread. Nothing in the whole range of
-cooking is more indigestible than rich pie-crust, especially when, as
-bottom crust, it is made still worse by being soaked, or slack-baked.
-Still, as this work does not profess to leave out unwholesome dishes,
-but only to set forth an abundance of healthful ones, and the reasons
-for preferring them, the best directions will be given for making the
-best kinds of paste.
-
-
- =Pie-Crusts without Fats.=—Good crusts for plain pies are made by
- wetting up the crust with rich milk turned sour, and sweetened with
- saleratus. Still better crusts are made of sour cream, sweetened with
- saleratus.
-
- Mealy potatoes boiled in salt water and mixed with the same quantity
- of flour, and wet with sour milk sweetened with saleratus, make a good
- crust.
-
- Good light bread rolled thin makes a good crust for Pan-Dowdy, or
- pan-pie, and also for the upper crust of fruit-pies, to be made
- without bottom crusts.
-
-
- =Pie-Crust made with Butter.=—Very plain paste is made by taking a
- quarter of a pound of butter for every pound of flour. Still richer,
- allow three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound of flour.
-
-
- =Directions for making rich Pie-Crust.=—Take a quarter of the butter
- to be used, rub it thoroughly into the flour, and wet it with _cold_
- water to a stiff paste.
-
- Next dredge the board thick with flour, cut up the remainder of the
- butter into thin slices, lay them upon the flour, dredge flour over
- thick, and then roll out the butter into thin sheets, and lay it aside.
-
- Then roll out the paste thin, cover it with a sheet of this rolled
- butter; dredge on more flour, fold it up and roll it out, and repeat
- the process till all the butter is used up.
-
- Paste should be made as quick and as cold as possible. Some use a
- marble table in order to keep it cold. Roll _from_ you every time.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-CAKE.
-
-
-The multiplication of recipes for cakes, pies, puddings, and desserts
-is troublesome and needless, inasmuch as a little generalization will
-reduce them to a comparatively small compass, and yet afford a large
-variety.
-
-Cake is of three classes, as raised either by eggs, or by yeast, or by
-powders; and different proportions of flour, sugar, shortening, and
-wetting make the variety, as it appears in what follows.
-
-
-_General Directions_.
-
-Sift flour, roll sugar, sift spices, and prepare fruit beforehand.
-Break eggs that are to be whipped, one at a time, in a cup, and let
-none of the yelk go in. Have them _cold_, and you will get on faster.
-
-Excepting dough-cake, never use the hand in making cake, but a wooden
-spoon, and in an earthen vessel.
-
-The goodness of cake depends greatly on baking. If too hot at bottom,
-set the pan on a brick; if too hot at top, cover with paper. If
-top-crust is formed suddenly, it prevents what is below from rising
-properly; and so, when the oven is very hot, cover with paper.
-
-When fruit is used, sprinkle the fruit with a little flour to keep
-it from sinking when baking. Some put fruit in in layers, one in the
-middle and another near the top, as this spreads it evenly. Put in the
-flour just before baking.
-
-When using whites beaten to a froth separately, put in the last thing,
-so that the bubbles of air which make the lightness may be retained
-more perfectly. Bake as soon as the cake is ready.
-
-Water is as good as milk for most cakes as well as for bread; a mixture
-of new and stale milk injures the cake.
-
-Streaks in cake are made either by imperfect mixing, or unequal
-baking, or by sudden decrease of heat before the cake is done. Try when
-cake is done, by inserting a splinter or straw; if it comes out clean,
-the cake is done.
-
-The best way to keep cake is in a tin box or stone jar.
-
-Do not wrap cake or bread in a cloth.
-
-In baking, move cake _gently_ if you change its place, or it will fall
-in streaks. Cake is more nicely baked when the pan is lined with oiled
-paper, especially in old pans, which often give a bad taste to the
-bottom and sides of the cake.
-
-
-CAKE RAISED WITH POWDERS.
-
-Although it is unhealthful to use powders in bread for daily food, the
-small quantity used for cake will do no harm.
-
-The cake most easily made is raised with soda and cream tartar or other
-baking powders, and many varieties can be made by the following recipes:
-
- =One, Two, Three, Four Cake.=—Take one cup of butter, (half a cup is
- better,) two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs. Mix
- butter, sugar, and yelks. Then add the flour very thoroughly, and
- lastly the whites in a stiff froth. Bake immediately, and the cake
- will be light, with nothing added. But it is equally light to omit
- the eggs and work two tea-spoonfuls of cream tartar into the flour,
- and then mix well first the butter and sugar, and then the flour.
- When ready to bake, mix very thoroughly and quickly a tea-spoonful of
- soda, or a bit of sal volatile dissolved in a cup of warm (not hot)
- water. This makes two loaves. The following are varieties made by this
- recipe, using raising either with eggs or powders:
-
-
- =Chocolate-Cake.=—Bake the above in thin layers, only a little thicker
- than carpeting. When nearly cool, spread over the cake a paste made of
- equal parts of scraped chocolate and sugar wet with water. Place the
- cake in layers one over another, frost the top, and then cut in oblong
- pieces for the cake-basket.
-
-
- =Jelly-Cake.=—Proceed as above, only using jelly instead of chocolate.
-
-
- =Orange-Cake.=—Proceed as for jelly-cake, having flavored the cake
- when making with a little grated orange-peel. The oranges must be
- peeled, chopped fine, and sweetened.
-
-
- =Almond and Cocoa-nut Cake.=—Blanch three ounces of almonds, (that is,
- pour on boiling water and take off the skins.) Chop or pound them with
- an equal quantity of sugar, make a thin paste with water, and use this
- instead of the jelly. Cocoa-nut, chopped fine, can be used instead of
- almonds. _Straw__berries_, _Peaches_, _Cranberries_, and _Quinces_,
- and any other fruit, mashed or cooked, can be used in place of the
- jelly, being first sweetened.
-
- This cake can be made richer by adding spices and fruit before baking.
- Cream can be used in place of butter. Chopped almonds, citron, or
- cocoa-nut may be put in the cake for baking, making still another
- variety.
-
-
-CAKES RAISED WITH EGGS.
-
-
- =Pound-Cake=, (very rich.)—One pound of flour, one pound of sugar,
- half a pound of butter, nine eggs, a glass of brandy, one nutmeg, one
- tea-spoonful of pounded cinnamon. Mix half the flour with the butter,
- brandy, and spice; add the yelks of eggs beaten well into the sugar.
- Beat the whites to a stiff froth, and add them in alternate spoonfuls
- with the rest of the flour: then beat a long time, and bake as soon as
- done.
-
-
- =Plain Cake raised with Eggs.=—Take a pound or quart of flour, half
- as much sugar, half as much butter as sugar, four or five eggs, one
- nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon. Mix well the sugar, butter,
- yelks, and spice; then the flour, and last the whites as stiff froth.
-
- These two cakes are varied by adding citron, fruit, or other spices,
- making them more or less rich.
-
-
- =Fruit-Cake.=—This to be made either like pound-cake, with fruit
- added; or like plain cake, raised with eggs or yeast, adding fruit.
-
- _Walnut-meats_ or _Almonds_ may be chopped and put in the cake instead
- of fruit, making another variety.
-
-
- =Huckleberry-Cake.=—One quart of huckleberries, three cups of sugar,
- three cups of flour, six eggs, one cup of sweet milk, and one
- tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water. Cream the butter
- and sugar, and add the beaten yelks. Then add the milk, flour, and two
- grated nutmegs. Then add the whites, whipped to a stiff froth, and the
- berries, gently, so as not to mash them. An excellent cake.
-
- Currants and other berries may be used in the same way. If very sour,
- add more sugar. If doubtful of raising it enough, add a tea-spoonful
- of soda; or, more surely, a bit of sal volatile the size of a
- hickory-nut.
-
-
- =Gold and Silver Cake.=—This makes a pretty variety when cut and
- placed together in a cake-dish. For each, take one cup of sugar (for
- the silver, white; and for the gold, brown), half a cup of butter,
- half a cup of milk, two cups of flour, one tea-spoonful of cream
- tartar, and half as much soda. For the one, use the yelk of three
- eggs; and the white, as stiff froth, for the other. Mix the cream
- tartar very thoroughly in the flour, and put in the soda last. Bake
- immediately. This makes one loaf of each kind, in flat pans, and is to
- be frosted. If more is wanted, double the quantity of each ingredient.
-
-
- =Rich Sponge-Cake.=—Take twelve eggs, and the weight of ten in sugar,
- and six in flour. Beat the sugar into the yelks, add the juice and
- grated peel of one lemon, then the flour, and then the whites cut to a
- stiff froth, and bake as soon as possible. Bake in brick-shaped pans,
- and line them with buttered paper.
-
-
- =Plain Sponge-Cake=, (easily made.)—Mix thoroughly two cups of sifted
- flour and two cups of white sugar with one tea-spoonful of cream
- tartar. Beat four eggs to a froth, not separating the whites, and add
- some grated lemon-peel, or nutmeg, or rose-water. Just before baking,
- add half a tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in three great-spoonfuls of
- warm water. Beat quick, and set in the oven immediately.
-
-
-GINGERBREAD, FRIED CAKES, COOKIES, AND OTHER CAKES.
-
-
- =Aunt Esther’s Gingerbread.=—Take half a pint of molasses, a small cup
- of soft butter, a gill and a half of water, a heaping tea-spoonful
- of soda dissolved in a table-spoonful of hot water, and one even
- table-spoonful of strong ginger, or two if weak. Rub butter and ginger
- into the flour, add the water, soda, and molasses, and while doing it,
- put in two table-spoonfuls of vinegar. Roll it in cards an inch thick,
- and bake half an hour in a quick oven.
-
-
- =Sponge Gingerbread.=—Add to the above two beaten eggs, and water to
- make it thin as pound-cake, and bake as soon as well mixed.
-
-
- =Ginger-Snaps and Seed-Cookies.=—One cup of butter, two cups of sugar
- or molasses, one cup of water, one table-spoonful of ginger, one
- heaping tea-spoonful of cinnamon and one of cloves, one tea-spoonful
- of soda dissolved in a small cup of hot water. Mix and add flour for
- a stiff dough, roll and cut in small round cakes. Omit the spices,
- and put in four or five table-spoonfuls of caraway seeds, and you
- have _seed-cakes_. Leave out all spice and seeds, and you have plain
- cookies.
-
-
- =Fried Cakes=.—For _Doughnuts_, use the recipe for Plain Sponge-Cake,
- adding flour enough to roll. Or take Plain Cake raised with eggs, and
- add flour enough to roll. Or take Dough-Cake, or Plain Loaf-Cake, and
- thicken so as to roll. Roll about half an inch thick and cut into
- oblong pieces. For _Crullers_, take plain cake raised with eggs, and
- thicken stiff with flour; roll it thin, and cut into strips, and
- form twisted cakes. More sugar and butter make it richer, but less
- healthful.
-
- Have plenty of lard, or, better, strained beef-fat, quite hot; try
- with a small piece first, and, if right, there will be a bubbling.
- Turn two or three times to cook all alike, break open one to try if
- done, and when done, take up with a skimmer and drain well. If the fat
- is too hot, it will brown too quick; if not hot enough, the fat will
- soak into the cake. Remember that frying is the most unhealthful mode
- of cooking food, and the one most likely to be done amiss.
-
-
-CAKE RAISED WITH YEAST.
-
-
- =Plain Loaf-Cake.=—Two pounds of dried and sifted flour, a pint of
- warm water in which is melted a quarter of a pound of butter, half a
- tea-spoonful of salt, three eggs without beating, and three quarters
- of a pound of sugar, well mixed; and then add two nutmegs, two
- tea-spoonfuls of cinnamon, and two gills of home-brewed or half as
- much distillery yeast. When light, add two or three pounds of fruit,
- and let it stand half an hour.
-
-
- =Rich Loaf-Cake= is made like the above, only adding more butter and
- sugar. The following are specimens of the diverse proportions: Four
- pounds of flour, three of sugar, two of butter, a quart of water or
- milk, ten unbeaten eggs, half a pint of wine, three nutmegs, three
- tea-spoonfuls of cinnamon, and two cloves; two gills of distillery
- yeast, or twice as much home-brewed. This is what in New-England would
- be called Election or Commencement-Cake. Two or three risings used to
- be practiced, but one is as good if the mixing is thorough.
-
-
- =Dough-Cake.=—Three cups of raised dough, half a cup of butter, two
- cups of sugar, two eggs, fruit and spice to the taste. When light,
- bake in loaves. This can be made more or less sweet, and shortened by
- lessening or increasing the quantity of dough. It must be mixed with
- the hands.
-
-
- =Icing for Cake.=—Put the whites of eggs into a dish, and for each
- egg use about a quarter of a pound of sugar. Beat the whites, slowly
- adding the sugar. This is better than beating the whites first, and
- then adding sugar. A little lemon-juice or tartaric acid makes it
- whiter and better. Spread the icing, after pouring it upon the centre,
- with a knife dipped in water. If you can, dry in an open, sunny
- window. Otherwise, harden it in the oven. It improves it by mixing,
- when adding sugar, some almonds pounded to a thin paste.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-PRESERVES AND JELLIES.
-
-
-_General Directions_.
-
-Gather fruit when it is dry.
-
-Long boiling hardens the fruit.
-
-Pour boiling water over the sieves used, and wring out jelly-bags in
-hot water the moment you are to use them.
-
-Do not squeeze while straining through jelly-bags.
-
-Let the pots and jars containing sweetmeats just made remain uncovered
-three days.
-
-For permanent covering, lay brandy papers over the top, cover them
-tight, and seal them; or, what is best of all, soak a split bladder and
-tie it tight over them. In drying, it will shrink so as to be perfectly
-air-tight.
-
-Keep them in a dry but not warm place.
-
-A thick, leathery mold helps to preserve fruit, but when mold appears
-in specks, the preserves must be scalded in a warm oven, or the jars
-containing them are to be set into hot water, which must then boil till
-the preserves are scalded.
-
-Always keep watch of preserves which are not sealed, especially in warm
-and damp weather. The only sure way to keep them without risk or care
-is to make them with enough sugar and seal them or tie bladder covers
-over.
-
-The best kettle is iron lined with porcelain. If brass is used, it must
-be bright, or acids will make a poison.
-
-The chief art is to boil continuously, slowly, and gently, and take
-up as soon as done; too long boiling makes the fruit hard and dark.
-Jellies will not harden well if the boiling stops for some minutes.
-Try jellies with a spoon, and as soon as they harden around the edge
-quickly, they are done. In making, the sugar should be heated, and not
-added till the juice boils.
-
-Keep preserves in small glass jars, as frequent opening injures them.
-
-
- =Canned Fruit.=—This is far more economical than to preserve in sugar.
- Some can be canned without any sugar, and very nice sugar demands only
- one fourth sugar to three fourths fruit. The best cans are glass with
- metal tops. Those of Wilcox are the best known to the author. The
- W. L. Imlay’s, of Philadelphia, are recommended as best of any.
-
- _Directions._—Set the jars in a large boiler, and then fill it with
- cold water and heat to boiling. Having filled the jars to within
- an inch of the top with alternate layers of fruit and sugar, (in
- proportion of one half or one fourth of a pound of sugar to a pound of
- fruit, according as it is more or less acid,) set them in cold water.
- As soon as the fruit has risen to the top of the jar, screw on the
- cover and take from the water. Peaches and pears may be canned without
- sugar.
-
-
- =To clarify Sirup for Sweetmeats.=—For each pound of sugar allow half
- a pint of water. For every three pounds of sugar allow the white of
- one egg. Mix when cold, boil a few minutes, and skim it. Let it stand
- ten minutes and skim it again, then strain it.
-
-
- =Brandy Peaches.=—Prick the peaches with a needle, put them into a
- kettle with cold water, heat the water, scald them until sufficiently
- soft to be penetrated with a straw. Take half a pound of sugar to
- every pound of peaches; make the sirup with the sugar, and while it is
- a little warm mix two thirds as much of white brandy with it, put the
- fruit into jars and pour the sirup over it. The late white clingstones
- are the best to use.
-
-
- =Peaches=, (not very rich.)—To six pounds of fruit put five of sugar.
- Make the sirup. Boil the fruit in the sirup till it is clear. If the
- fruit is ripe, half an hour will cook it sufficiently.
-
-
- =Peaches=, (very elegant.)—First take out the stones, then pare them.
- To every pound of peaches allow one third of a pound of sugar. Make a
- thin sirup, boil the peaches in the sirup till tender, but not till
- they break. Put them into a bowl and pour the sirup over them. Put
- them in a dry, cool place, and let them stand two days. Then make a
- new, rich sirup, allowing three quarters of a pound of sugar to one
- of fruit. Drain the peaches from the first sirup, and boil them until
- they are clear in the last sirup. The first sirup must not be added,
- but may be used for any other purpose you please, as it is somewhat
- bitter. The large white clingstones are the best.
-
-
- =To preserve Quinces whole.=—Select the largest and fairest quinces,
- (as the poorer ones will answer for jelly.) Take out the cores and
- pare them. Boil the quinces in water till tender. Take them out
- separately on a platter. To each pound of quince allow a pound of
- sugar. Make the sirup, then boil the quinces in the sirup until clear.
-
-
- =Quince Jelly.=—Rub the quinces with a cloth until perfectly smooth.
- Remove the cores, cut them into small pieces, pack them tight in your
- kettle, pour cold water on them until it is on a level with the
- fruit, but not to cover it; boil till very soft, but not till they
- break. Dip off all the liquor you can, then put the fruit into a sieve
- and press it, and drain off all the remaining liquor. Then to a pint
- of the liquor add a pound of sugar and boil it fifteen minutes. Pour
- it, as soon as cool, into small jars or tumblers. Let it stand in the
- sun a few days, till it begins to dry on the top. It will continue to
- harden after it is put up.
-
-
- =Calf’s-Foot Jelly.=—To four nicely cleaned calf’s feet put four
- quarts of water; let it simmer gently till reduced to two quarts, then
- strain it and let it stand all night. Then take off all the fat and
- sediment, melt it, add the juice, and put in the peel of three lemons
- and a pint of wine, the whites of four eggs, three sticks of cinnamon,
- and sugar to your taste. Boil ten minutes, then skim out the spice and
- lemon-peel and strain it.
-
- The American gelatine, now very common, makes a good jelly, with far
- less trouble; and in using it, you only need to dissolve it in hot
- water, and then sweeten and flavor it.
-
-
- =To preserve Apples.=—Take only tart and well-flavored apples; peel
- and take out the cores without dividing them, and then parboil
- them. Make the sirup with the apple water, allowing three quarters
- of a pound of white sugar to every pound of apples, and boil some
- lemon-peel and juice in the sirup. Pour the sirup, while boiling, upon
- the apples, turn them gently while cooking, and only let the sirup
- simmer, as hard boiling breaks the fruit. Take it out when the apple
- is tender through. At the end of a week, boil them once more in the
- sirup.
-
-
- =Pears.=—Take out the cores, cut off the stems, and pare them. Boil
- the pears in water till they are tender. Watch them that they do not
- break. Lay them separately on a platter as you take them out. To each
- pound of fruit take a pound of sugar. Make the sirup, and boil the
- fruit in the sirup till clear.
-
-
- =Pine-Apples=, (very fine.)—Pare and _grate_ the pine-apple. Take an
- equal quantity of fruit and sugar. Boil them slowly in a saucepan for
- half an hour.
-
-
- =Purple Plums, No. 1.=—Make a rich sirup. Boil the plums in the sirup
- very gently till they begin to crack open. Then take them from the
- sirup into a jar, and pour the sirup over them. Let them stand a few
- days, and then boil them a second time very gently.
-
-
- =Purple Plums, No. 2.=—Take an equal weight of fruit and nice brown
- sugar. Take a clean stone jar, put in a layer of fruit and a layer of
- sugar till all is in. Cover them tightly with dough, or other tight
- cover, and put them in a brick oven after you have baked in it. If
- you bake in the morning, put the plums in the oven at evening, and
- let them remain till the next morning. When you bake again, set them
- in the oven as before. Uncover them and stir them carefully with a
- spoon, and so as not to break them. Set them in the oven thus _the
- third_ time, and they will be sufficiently cooked.
-
-
- =White or Green Plums.=—Put each one into boiling water and rub off
- the skin. Allow a pound of fruit to a pound of sugar. Make a sirup of
- sugar and water. Boil the fruit in the sirup until clear—about twenty
- minutes. Let the sirup be cold before you pour it over the fruit. They
- can be preserved without taking off the skins by pricking them. Some
- of the kernels of the stones boiled in give a pleasant flavor.
-
-
- =Citron Melons.=—Two fresh lemons to a pound of melon. Let the sugar
- be equal in weight to the lemon and melon. Take out the pulp of the
- melon and cut it in thin slices, and boil it in fair water till
- tender. Take it out and boil the lemon in the same water about twenty
- minutes. Take out the lemon, add the sugar, and, if necessary, a
- little more water. Let it boil. When clear, add the melon and let it
- boil a few minutes.
-
-
- =Strawberries.=—Look over them with care. Weigh a pound of sugar
- to each pound of fruit. Put a layer of fruit on the bottom of the
- preserving-kettle, then a layer of sugar, and so on till all is in
- the pan. Boil them about fifteen minutes. Put them in bottles, hot,
- and seal them. Then put them in a box and fill it in with dry sand.
- The flavor of the fruit is preserved more perfectly by simply packing
- the fruit and sugar in alternate layers, and sealing the jar, without
- cooking; but the preserves do not look so well.
-
-
- =Blackberry Jam.=—Allow three quarters of a pound of brown sugar to a
- pound of fruit. Boil the fruit half an hour, then add the sugar and
- boil all together ten minutes.
-
-
- =To preserve Currants to eat with Meat.=—Strip them from the stem.
- Boil them an hour, and then to a pound of the fruit add a pound of
- brown sugar. Boil all together fifteen or twenty minutes.
-
-
- =Cherries.=—Take out the stones. To a pound of fruit allow a pound of
- sugar. Put a layer of fruit on the bottom of the preserving-kettle,
- then a layer of sugar, and continue thus till all are put in. Boil
- till clear. Put them in bottles hot and seal them. Keep them in dry
- sand.
-
-
- =Currants.=—Strip them from the stems. Allow a pound of sugar to a
- pound of currants. Boil them together ten minutes. Take them from the
- sirup and let the sirup boil twenty minutes, and pour it on the fruit.
- Put them in small jars or tumblers, and let them stand in the sun a
- few days.
-
-
- =Raspberry Jam, No. 1.=—Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit.
- Press them with a spoon in an earthen dish. Add the sugar, and boil
- all together fifteen minutes.
-
- =Raspberry Jam, No. 2.=—Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit.
- Boil the fruit half an hour, or till the seeds are soft. Strain one
- quarter of the fruit, and throw away the seeds. Add the sugar, and
- boil the whole ten minutes. A little currant-juice gives it a pleasant
- flavor, and when that is used, an equal quantity of sugar must be
- added.
-
-
- =Currant Jelly.=—Pick over the currants with care. Put them in a stone
- jar, and set it into a kettle of boiling water. Let it boil till the
- fruit is very soft. Strain it through a sieve. Then run the juice
- through a jelly-bag. Put a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, and boil
- it together five minutes. Set it in the sun a few days. If it stops
- boiling, it is less likely to turn to jelly.
-
-
- =Quince Marmalade.=—Rub the quinces with a cloth, cut them in
- quarters. Put them on the fire with a little water, and stew them
- till they are sufficiently tender to rub them through a sieve. When
- strained, put a pound of sugar to a pound of the pulp. Set it on the
- fire, and let it cook slowly. To ascertain when it is done, take out a
- little and let it get cold, and if it cuts smoothly, it is done.
-
- Crab-apple marmalade is made in the same way.
-
- Crab-apple jelly is made like quince jelly.
-
- Most other fruits are preserved so much like the preceding that it
- is needless to give any more particular directions than to say that
- a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is the general rule for all
- preserves that are to be kept through warm weather and a long time.
-
-
- =Preserved Water-melon Rinds.=—This a fine article to keep well
- without trouble for a long time. Peel the melon, and boil it in just
- enough water to cover it till it is soft, trying with a fork. (If you
- wish it green, put green vine-leaves above and below each layer, and
- scatter powdered alum, less than half a tea-spoonful to each pound.)
-
- Allow a pound of sugar to each pound of rind, and clarify it as
- directed previously.
-
- Simmer the rinds two hours in this sirup, and flavor it with
- lemon-peel grated and tied in a bag. Then put the melon in a tureen,
- and boil the sirup till it looks thick, and pour it over. Next day,
- give the sirup another boiling, and put the juice of one lemon to each
- quart of sirup. Take care not to make it bitter by too much of the
- peel.
-
- Citrons are preserved in the same manner. Both these keep through hot
- weather with very little care in sealing and keeping.
-
-
- =Preserved Pumpkin.=—Cut a thick yellow pumpkin, peeled, into strips
- two inches wide and five or six long.
-
- Take a pound of white sugar for each pound of fruit, and scatter it
- over the fruit, and pour on two wine-glasses of lemon-juice for each
- pound of pumpkin.
-
- Next day, put the parings of one or two lemons with the fruit and
- sugar, and boil the whole three quarters of an hour, or long enough to
- make it tender and clear without breaking. Lay the pumpkin to cool,
- strain the sirup, and then pour it on to the pumpkin.
-
- If there is too much lemon-peel, it will be bitter.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES.
-
-
- =Ice-Cream.=—One quart of milk. One and a half table-spoonfuls of
- arrow-root. The grated peel of two lemons. One quart of thick cream.
-
- Wet the arrow-root with a little cold milk, and add it to the quart of
- milk when boiling hot; sweeten it very sweet with white sugar, put in
- the grated lemon-peel, boil the whole, and strain it into the quart
- of cream. When partly frozen, add the juice of the two lemons. Twice
- this quantity is enough for thirty-five persons. Find the quantity of
- sugar that suits you by measure, and then you can use this every time,
- without tasting. Some add whites of eggs; others think it just as good
- without. It must be made _very_ sweet, as it loses much by freezing.
-
- If you have no apparatus for freezing, (which is _almost_
- indispensable), put the cream into a tin pail with a very tight cover,
- mix equal quantities of snow and blown salt, (not the coarse salt), or
- of pounded ice and salt, in a tub, and put it as _high as the pail,
- or freezer_; turn the pail or freezer half round and back again with
- one hand, for half an hour, or longer, if you want it very nice. Three
- quarters of an hour steadily will make it good enough. While doing
- this, stop four or five times, and mix the frozen part with the rest,
- the last time very thoroughly, and then the lemon-juice must be put
- in. Then cover the freezer tight with snow and salt till it is wanted.
- The mixture must be perfectly cool before being put in the freezer.
- Renew the snow and salt while shaking, so as to have it kept tight
- to the sides of the freezer. A hole in the tub holding the freezing
- mixture, to let off the water, is a great advantage. In a tin pail it
- would take much longer to freeze than in the freezer, probably nearly
- twice as long. A long stick, like a coffee-stick, should be used in
- scraping the ice from the sides. Iron spoons will be affected by the
- lemon-juice, and give a bad taste.
-
- In taking it out for use, first wipe off every particle of the
- freezing mixture dry, then with a knife loosen the sides, then invert
- the freezer upon the dish in which the ice is to be served, and apply
- two towels wrung out of hot water to the bottom part, and the whole
- will slide out in the shape of a cylinder. Freezers are now sold quite
- cheap, and such as freeze in a short time.
-
-
- =Strawberry Ice-Cream.=—Rub a pint of ripe strawberries through a
- sieve, add a pint of cream, and four ounces of powdered sugar, and
- freeze it. Other fruits may be used thus.
-
-
- =Ice-Cream without Cream.=—A vanilla bean or a lemon rind is first
- boiled in a quart of milk. Take out the bean or peel, and add the
- yelks of four eggs, beaten well. Heat it scalding hot, but do not
- boil it, stirring in white sugar till _very_ sweet. When cold, freeze
- it.
-
-
- =Fruit Ice-Cream.=—Make rich boiled custard, and mash into it the soft
- ripe fruit, or the grated or cooked hard fruit, or grated pine-apples.
- Rub all through a sieve, sweeten it very sweet, and freeze it. Quince,
- apple, pear, peach, strawberry, and raspberry are all very good for
- this purpose.
-
-
- =A Cream for stewed Fruit.=—Boil two or three peach leaves, or a
- vanilla bean, in a quart of cream, or milk, till flavored. Strain and
- sweeten it, mix it with the yelks of four eggs, well beaten; then,
- while heating it, add the whites cut to a froth. When it thickens take
- it up. When cool, pour it over the fruit or preserves.
-
-
- =Currant, Raspberry, or Strawberry Whisk.=—Put three gills of the
- juice of the fruit to ten ounces of crushed sugar, add the juice of a
- lemon, and a pint and a half of cream. Whisk it till quite thick, and
- serve it in jelly-glasses or a glass dish.
-
-
- =Lemonade Ice, and other Ices.=—To a quart of lemonade, add the whites
- of six eggs, cut to a froth, and freeze it. The juices of any fruit,
- sweetened and watered, may be prepared in the same way, and are very
- fine.
-
-
- =Charlotte Russe.=—One ounce of gelatine simmered in half a pint of
- milk or water, four ounces of sugar beat into the yelks of four eggs,
- and added to the gelatine when dissolved. Then add a pint of cream or
- new milk. Lastly, add the whites beat to a stiff froth, and beat all
- together. Line a mold with slices of sponge-cake and set it on ice,
- and when the cream is a little thickened, fill the mold; let it stand
- five or six hours, and then turn it into a dish.
-
-
- =Flummery.=—Cut sponge-cake into thin slices, and line a deep dish.
- Make it moist with white wine; make a rich custard, using only the
- yelks of the eggs. When cool, turn it into the dish, and cut the
- whites to a stiff froth, and put on the top.
-
-
- =Chicken Salad.=—Cut the white meat of chickens into small bits the
- size of peas. Chop the white parts of celery nearly as small.
-
- Prepare a dressing thus: rub the yelks of hard-boiled eggs smooth, to
- each yelk put half a tea-spoonful of liquid mustard, the same quantity
- of salt, a table-spoonful of oil mixed in very slowly and thoroughly,
- and half a wine-glass of vinegar. Mix the chicken and celery in a
- large bowl, and pour over this dressing.
-
- The dressing must not be put on till just before it is used. Bread and
- butter and crackers are served with it.
-
-
- =Wine Jelly.=—Two ounces of American isinglass or gelatine. One quart
- of boiling water. A pint and a half of white wine. The whites of three
- eggs.
-
- Soak the gelatine in cold water half an hour. Then take it from the
- water, and pour on the quart of boiling water. When cooled, add the
- grated rind of one lemon, and the juice of two, and a pound and a half
- of loaf-sugar. Then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and
- stir them in, and let the whole boil till the egg is well mixed, but
- do not stir while it boils. Strain through a jelly-bag, and then add
- the wine.
-
- In cold weather, a pint more of water may be added. This jelly can be
- colored by beet-juice, saffron, or indigo, for fancy dishes.
-
-
- =An Apple Lemon Pudding.=—Six spoonfuls of grated, or of cooked and
- strained, apple. Three lemons, pulp, rind, and juice, all grated. Half
- a pound of melted butter. Sugar to the taste. Seven eggs well beaten.
-
- Mix, and bake with or without paste. It can be made still plainer by
- using nine spoonfuls of apple, one lemon, two thirds of a cup full of
- butter, and three eggs.
-
-
- =Wheat Flour Blanc-Mange.=—Wet up six table-spoonfuls of flour to a
- thin paste with cold milk, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk.
- Flavor with lemon-peel or peach-leaves boiled in the milk. Add a
- pinch of salt, cool it in a mold, and eat with sweetened cream and
- sweetmeats.
-
-
- =Orange Marmalade.=—Take two lemons and a dozen oranges; grate the
- yellow rinds of all the oranges but five, and set it aside. Make a
- clear sirup of an equal weight of sugar. Clear the oranges of rind and
- seeds, put them with the grated rinds into the sirup, and boil about
- twenty minutes till it is a transparent mass.
-
-
- =A simple Lemon Jelly=, (easily made.)—One ounce of gelatine. A pound
- and a half of loaf-sugar. Three lemons, pulp, skin, and juice, grated.
-
- Pour a quart of boiling water upon the isinglass, add the rest, mix
- and strain it, then add a glass of wine, and pour it to cool in some
- regular form. If the lemons are not fresh, add a little cream of
- tartar or tartaric acid.
-
-
- =Cranberry.=—Pour boiling water on them, and then you can easily
- separate the good and the bad. Boil them in a very little water till
- soft, then sweeten to your taste. If you wish a jelly, take a portion
- and strain through a fine sieve.
-
-
- =Apple Ice=, (very fine.)—Take finely-flavored apples, grate them
- fine, and then make them _very_ sweet, and freeze them. It is very
- delicious.
-
- Pears, peaches, or quinces also are nice, either grated fine or stewed
- and run through a sieve, then sweetened _very_ sweet, and frozen. The
- flavor is much better preserved when grated than when cooked.
-
-
- =Whip Syllabub.=—One pint of cream. Sifted white sugar to your taste.
- Half a tumbler of white wine. The grated rind and juice of one lemon.
- Beat all to a stiff froth.
-
-
- =Apple Snow.=—Put six very tart apples in cold water over a slow
- fire. When soft, take away the skins and cores and mix in a pint of
- sifted white sugar; beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff froth, and
- then add them to the apples and sugar. Put it in a dessert-dish and
- ornament with myrtle and box.
-
-
- =Iced Fruit.=—Take fine bunches of currants on the stalk, dip them in
- well-beaten whites of eggs, lay them on a sieve and sift white sugar
- over them, and set them in a warm place to dry.
-
-
- =Ornamental Froth.=—The whites of four eggs in a stiff froth, put
- into the sirup of preserved raspberries or strawberries, beaten well
- together, and turned over ice-cream or blanc-mange. Make white froth
- to combine with the colored in fanciful ways. It can be put on the top
- of boiling milk, and hardened to keep its form.
-
-
- =To clarify Isinglass.=—Dissolve an ounce of isinglass in a cup of
- boiling water, take off the scum, and drain through a coarse cloth.
- Jellies, candies, and blanc-mange should be done in brass and stirred
- with silver.
-
-
- =Blanc-Mange.=—Two and a half sheets of gelatine broken into one quart
- of milk; put in a warm place and stir till it dissolves. An ounce and
- a half of clarified isinglass stirred into the milk. Sugar to your
- taste. A tea-spoonful of fine salt. Flavor with lemon, or orange, or
- rose-water. Let it boil, stirring it well, then strain it into molds.
-
- Three ounces of almonds pounded to a paste and added while boiling is
- an improvement. Or filberts or hickory-nuts can be skinned and used
- thus. It can be flavored by boiling in it a vanilla bean or a stick of
- cinnamon. (Save the bean to use again.)
-
-
- =Apple Jelly.=—Boil tart peeled apples in a little water till
- glutinous; strain out the juice, and put a pound of white sugar to a
- pint of the juice. Flavor to your taste, boil till a good jelly, and
- then put it into molds.
-
-
- =Orange Jelly.=—The juice of nine oranges and three lemons. The grated
- rind of one lemon, and one orange, pared thin. Two quarts of water,
- and four ounces of gelatine broken up and boiled in it to a jelly. Add
- the above, and sweeten to your taste. Then add the whites of eight
- eggs, well beaten to a stiff froth, and boil ten minutes; strain and
- put into molds, first dipped in cold water. When perfectly cold, dip
- the mold in warm water, and turn on to a glass dish.
-
-
- =Floating Island.=—Beat the yelks of six eggs with the juice of four
- lemons, sweeten it to your taste, and stir it into a quart of boiling
- milk till it thickens, then pour it into a dish. Whip the whites of
- the eggs to a stiff froth, and put it on the top of the cream.
-
-
- =A Dish of Snow.=—Grate the white part of cocoa-nut, put it in a glass
- dish, and serve with oranges sliced and sugared, or with currant or
- cranberry jellies.
-
-
- =To clarify Sugar.=—Take four pounds of sugar, and break it up. Whisk
- the white of an egg, and put it with a tumblerful of water into a
- preserving-pan, and add water gradually till you have two quarts,
- stirring well. When there is a good frothing, throw in the sugar, boil
- moderately, and skim it. If the sugar rises to run over, throw in a
- little cold water, and then skim it, as it is then still. Repeat this,
- and when no more scum rises, strain the sugar for use.
-
-
- =Candied Fruits.=—Preserve the fruit, then dip it in sugar boiled to
- candy thickness, and then dry it. Grapes and some other fruits may be
- dipped in uncooked, and then dried, and they are fine.
-
-
- =Another Way.=—Take it from the sirup, when preserved, dip it in
- powdered sugar, and set it on a sieve in an oven to dry.
-
-
- =To make an Ornamental Pyramid for a Table.=—Boil loaf-sugar as for
- candy, and rub it over a stiff form made for the purpose, of stiff
- paper or pasteboard, which must be well buttered. Set it on a table,
- and begin at the bottom, and stick on to this frame with the sugar, a
- row of macaroons, kisses, or other ornamental articles, and continue
- till the whole is covered. When cold, draw out the pasteboard form,
- and set the pyramid in the centre of the table with a small bit of
- wax-candle burning with it, and it looks very beautifully.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.
-
-
-Drinks made of the juice of fruits and water are good for all who are
-in health. Various preparations of cocoa-nuts are so also. Tea is
-often made or adulterated with unhealthful articles. Coffee is usually
-drank so strong as to injure children and grown persons of delicate
-constitution. All alcoholic drinks are dangerous, because they are so
-generally mixed with harmful matter, and because they so often lead
-to excess, and then to ruin. The common-sense maxim is, when there is
-danger, choose the safest course. The Christian maxim is, “We that are
-strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please
-ourselves.”
-
-Obedience to these two maxims would save thousands of young children
-and delicate persons from following the dangerous example of those
-“that are strong.”
-
- =To make Tea.=—The safest tea is the black, as less stimulating
- than green; both excite the brain and nerves when strong. The chief
- direction is to have water _boiling_ hot. First soak the tea in a very
- little hot water, and then add boiling water.
-
-
- =To make Coffee.=—Roast it slowly in a tight vessel, and so it can be
- stirred often. To roast all equally a dark brown and have none burned,
- is the main thing. Keep it in a tight box, or, better, grind it fresh
- when used. Clear it by putting into it, when making, a fresh egg-shell
- crushed, or the white of an egg, or a small bit of fish-skin. Some
- filter, and some boil; and there are coffee-pots made for each method,
- and some that require nothing put in to clear the coffee. The aroma
- is retained just in proportion as the coffee is confined, both before
- making and also while making.
-
-
- =Fish-skin for Coffee.=—Take it from codfish before cooking; have it
- nice and dry. Cut in inch squares, and take one for two quarts of
- coffee.
-
-
- =Cocoa.=—The cracked is best. Put two table-spoonfuls of it into three
- pints of cold water. Boil an hour for first use, save the remnants and
- boil it again, as it is very strong. Do this several times. For ground
- cocoa use two table-spoonfuls to a quart, and boil half an hour. Boil
- the milk by itself, and add it liberally when taken up. For the
- _shells_ of cocoa, use a heaping tea-cupful for a quart of water. Put
- them in over night and boil a long time.
-
-
- =Cream for Coffee and Tea.=—Heat new milk, and let it stand till cool
- and all the cream rises; this is the best way for common use. To every
- pint of this add a pound and a quarter of loaf-sugar, and it will keep
- good a month or more, if corked tight in glass.
-
-
- =Chocolate.=—Put three table-spoonfuls when scraped to each pint, boil
- half an hour, and add boiled milk when used.
-
-
- =Delicious Milk-Lemonade.=—Half a pint of sherry wine and as much
- lemon-juice, six ounces loaf-sugar, and a pint of water poured in when
- boiling. Add not quite a pint of cold milk, and strain the whole.
-
-
- =Strawberry and Raspberry Vinegar.=—Mix four pounds of the fruit with
- three quarts of cider or wine vinegar, and let them stand three days.
- Drain the vinegar through a jelly-bag and add four more pounds of
- fruit, and in three days do the same. Then strain out the vinegar for
- summer drinks, effervescing with soda or only with water.
-
-
- =White Tea, and Boys’ Coffee for Children.=—Children never love tea
- and coffee till they are trained to it. They always like these drinks.
- Put two tea-spoonfuls of sugar to half a cup of hot water, and add as
- much good milk. Or crumb toast or dry bread into a bowl with plenty of
- sugar, and add half milk to half boiling water.
-
-
- =Dangerous Use of Milk.=—Milk is not only drink, but rich food. It
- therefore should not be used as drink with other food, as is water
- or tea and coffee. Persons often cause bilious difficulties by
- using milk in addition to ordinary food as the chief drink. It is
- a well-established fact that some grown persons as well as young
- children can not drink milk, and in some cases can not eat bread wet
- with milk, without trouble from it.
-
-
- =Simple Drinks.=—Pour boiling water on mashed cranberries, or grated
- apples, or tamarinds, or mashed currants or raspberries, pour off the
- water, sweeten, and in summer cool with ice.
-
- Pour boiling water on to bread toasted quite brown, or on to pounded
- parched corn, boil a minute, strain, and add sugar and cream, or milk.
-
-
- =Simple Wine Whey.=—Mix equal quantities of milk and boiling water,
- add wine and sweeten.
-
-
- =Toast and Cider.=—Take one third brisk cider and two thirds cold
- water, sweeten it, crumb in toasted bread, and grate on a little
- nutmeg. Acid jelly will do when cider is not at hand.
-
-
- =Panada.=—Toast two or three crackers, pour on boiling water and let
- it simmer two or three minutes, add a well-beaten egg, sweeten and
- flavor with nutmeg.
-
-
- =Water-Gruel.=—Scald half a tumblerful of fresh ground corn-meal, add
- a table-spoonful of flour made into a paste, boil twenty minutes or
- more, and add salt, sugar, and nutmeg. Oat-meal gruel is excellent
- made thus.
-
-
- =Beef-Tea.=—Pepper and salt some good beef cut into small pieces, pour
- on boiling water and steep half an hour. A better way is to put the
- meat thus prepared into a bottle kept in boiling water for four or
- five hours.
-
-
- =Tomato Sirup.=—Put a pound of sugar to a quart of juice, bottle it,
- and use for a beverage with water.
-
-
- =Sassafras Jelly.=—Soak the pith of sassafras till a jelly, and add a
- little sugar.
-
-
- =Egg Tea, Egg Coffee, and Egg Milk.=—Beat the yelk of an egg in some
- sugar and a little salt; add either cold tea or coffee or milk. Then
- beat the whites to a stiff froth and add. Flavor the milk with wine.
- Some do not like the taste of raw egg, and so the other articles may
- first be made boiling hot before the white is put in.
-
-
- =Oat-meal Gruel.=—Four table-spoonfuls of _grits_, (unbolted
- Oat-meal,) a pinch of salt and a pint of boiling water. Skim, sweeten,
- and flavor. Or make a thin batter of fine Oat-meal, and pour into
- boiling water; then sweeten and flavor it.
-
-
- =Pearl Barley-Water.=—Boil two and a half ounces of pearl barley ten
- minutes in half a-pint of water, strain it, add a quart of boiling
- water, boil it down to half the quantity, strain, sweeten, and flavor
- with sliced lemon or nutmeg.
-
- _Cream Tartar Beverage._—Put two even tea-spoonfuls cream tartar to a
- pint of boiling water, sweeten and flavor with lemon-peel.
-
-
- =Rennet Whey=, (good for a weak stomach after severe illness.)—Soak
- rennet two inches square one hour, add half a gill of water and a
- pinch of salt; then pour it into a pint of warm (not hot) milk. Let
- it stand half an hour, then cut it, and after an hour drain off the
- liquid. Let it stand awhile, and drain off more whey.
-
-
- =Refreshing Drink for a Fever.=—Mix sprigs of sage, balm, and sorrel
- with half a sliced lemon, the skin on. Pour on boiling water, sweeten
- and cork it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.
-
-
-The art of keeping a good table consists not in loading on a variety
-at each meal, but rather in securing a _successive_ variety, a table
-neatly and tastefully set, and every thing that is on it cooked in the
-best manner.
-
-There are some families who provide an abundance of the most expensive
-and choice articles, and spare no expense in any respect, yet who have
-every thing cooked in such a miserable way, and a table set in so
-slovenly a manner, that a person accustomed to a _really_ good table
-can scarcely taste a morsel with any enjoyment.
-
-On the contrary, there are many tables where the closest economy is
-practiced; and yet the table-cloth is so white and smooth, the dishes,
-silver, glass, and other table articles so bright, and arranged with
-such propriety; the bread so light and sweet; the butter so beautiful,
-and every other article of food so well cooked, and so neatly and
-tastefully served, that every thing seems good, and pleases both the
-eye and the palate.
-
-A habit of _doing every thing in the best manner_ is of unspeakable
-importance to a housekeeper, and every woman ought to _aim_ at it,
-however great the difficulties she may have to meet. If a young
-housekeeper commences with a determination to _try_ to do _every thing_
-in the best manner, and perseveres in the effort, meeting all obstacles
-with patient cheerfulness, not only the moral but the intellectual tone
-of her mind is elevated by the attempt. Although she may meet many
-insuperable difficulties, and may never reach the standard at which
-she aims, the simple effort, _persevered_ in, will have an elevating
-influence on her character; while, at the same time, she actually will
-reach a point of excellence far ahead of those who, discouraged by many
-obstacles, give up in despair, and resolve to make no more efforts, and
-let things go as they will. The grand distinction between a noble and
-an ignoble mind is, that one _will_ control circumstances; the other
-yields, and allows circumstances to control her.
-
-It should be borne in mind that the constitution of man demands _a
-variety_ of food, and that it is just as cheap to keep on hand a good
-variety of materials in the store-closet, so as to make a frequent
-change, as it is to buy one or two articles at once, and live on them
-exclusively, till every person is tired of them, and then buy two or
-three more of another kind.
-
-It is too frequently the case that families fall into a very limited
-round of articles, and continue the same course from one year to
-another, when there is a much greater variety within reach of articles
-which are just as cheap and as easily obtained, and yet remain
-unthought of and untouched.
-
-A thrifty and generous provider will see that her store-closet is
-furnished with such a variety of articles that successive changes can
-be made, and for a good length of time. To aid in this, a slight sketch
-of a well-provided store-closet will be given, with a description of
-the manner in which each article should be stored and kept, in order
-to avoid waste and injury. To this will be added modes of securing a
-_successive variety_ within the reach of all in moderate circumstances.
-
-It is best to have a store-closet open from the kitchen, because the
-kitchen fire keeps the atmosphere dry, and this prevents the articles
-stored from molding, and other injury from dampness. Yet it must not be
-kept warm, as there are many articles which are injured by warmth.
-
-A _cool_ and _dry_ place is indispensable for a store-room, and a
-small window over the door, and another opening outdoors, give a great
-advantage, by securing coolness and circulation of fresh air.
-
-_Flour_ should be kept in a barrel, with a flour-scoop to dip it, a
-sieve to sift it, and a pan to hold the sifted flour, either in the
-barrel or close at hand. The barrel should have a tight cover to keep
-out mice and vermin. It is best to find, by trial, a lot of first-rate
-flour, and then buy a year’s supply. But this should not be done
-unless there are accommodations for keeping it dry and cool, and
-protecting it from vermin.
-
-_Unbolted flour_ should be stored in kegs or covered tubs, and always
-be kept on hand as regularly as fine flour. It should be bought only
-when freshly ground, and only in moderate quantities, as it loses
-sweetness by keeping.
-
-_Indian meal_ should be purchased in small quantities, say fifteen or
-twenty pounds at a time, and be kept in a covered tub or keg. It is
-always improved by scalding. It must be kept very cool and dry, and if
-occasionally stirred, is preserved more surely from growing sour or
-musty. Fresh ground is best.
-
-_Rye_ should be bought in small quantities, say forty or fifty pounds
-at a time, and be kept in a keg or half-barrel, with a cover.
-
-_Buckwheat_, _Rice_, _Hominy_, and _Ground Rice_ must be purchased in
-small quantities, and kept in covered kegs or tubs. Several of these
-articles are infested with small black insects, and examination must
-occasionally be made for them.
-
-_Arrow-root_, _Tapioca_, _Sago_, _Pearl Barley_, _Pearl Wheat_,
-_Cracked Wheat_, _American Isinglass_, _Macaroni_, _Vermicelli_, and
-_Oat-meal_ are all articles which help to make an agreeable variety,
-and it is just as cheap to buy a small quantity of each as it is to
-buy a larger quantity of two or three articles. Eight or ten pounds of
-each of these articles of food can be stored in covered jars or covered
-wood boxes, and then they are always at hand to help to make a variety.
-All of them are very healthful food, and help to form many delightful
-dishes for desserts. Some of the most healthful puddings are those made
-of rice, tapioca, sago, and macaroni; while isinglass, or American
-gelatine, forms elegant articles for desserts, and is also excellent
-for the sick.
-
-_Sugars_ should not be bought by the barrel, as the brown is apt to
-turn to molasses, and run out on to the floor. Refined loaf for tea,
-crushed sugar for the nicest preserves and to use with fruit, nice
-brown sugar for coffee, and common brown for more common use. The loaf
-can be stored in the paper, on a shelf. The others should be kept in
-close covered kegs, or covered wooden articles made for the purpose.
-
-_Butter_ must be kept in the dryest and coldest place you can find, in
-vessels of either stone, earthen, or wood, and never in tin.
-
-_Lard and Drippings_ must be kept in a dry, cold place, and should not
-be salted. Usually the cellar is the best place for them. Earthen or
-stone jars are the best to store them in.
-
-_Salt_ must be kept in the _dryest_ place that can be found. _Rock
-salt_ is the best for table-salt. It should be washed, dried, pounded,
-sifted, and stored in a glass jar, and covered close. It is common to
-find it growing damp in the _salt-stands_ for the table. It should then
-be set by the fire to dry, and afterward be reduced to fine powder
-again. Few things are more disagreeable than coarse or damp salt on a
-table.
-
-_Vinegar_ is best made of wine or cider. Buy a keg or half-barrel of
-it, set it in the cellar, and then keep a supply for the casters in
-a bottle in the kitchen. If too strong, it _eats_ the pickles. Much
-manufactured vinegar is sold that ruins pickles, and is unhealthful.
-
-_Pickles_ never must be kept in glazed ware, as the vinegar forms a
-poisonous compound with the glazing.
-
-_Oil_ must be kept in the cellar. _Winter-strained_ must be got
-in cold weather, as the _summer-strained_ will not burn except in
-warm weather. Those who use kerosene oil should never trust it with
-heedless servants or children. Never fill lamps with it at night, nor
-allow servants to kindle fire with it, or to fill a lamp with it when
-lighted. Inquire for the safest pattern of lamps, and learn all the
-dangers to be avoided, and the cautions needful in the use of this most
-dangerous explosive oil. Neglect this caution, and you probably will be
-a sorrowful mourner all your life for the sufferings or death of some
-dear friend.
-
-_Molasses_, if bought by the barrel or half-barrel, should be kept
-in the cellar. If bought in small quantities, it should be kept in
-a demijohn. No vessel should be corked or bunged, if filled with
-molasses, as it will swell and burst the vessel, or run over.
-
-_Hard Soap_ should be bought by large quantity, and laid to harden on a
-shelf in a very dry place. It is much more economical to buy hard than
-soft soap, as those who use soft soap are very apt to waste it in using
-it, as they can not do with hard soap.
-
-_Starch_ it is best to buy by a large quantity. It comes very nicely
-put up in papers, a pound or two in each paper, and packed in a box.
-The high-priced starch is cheapest in the end.
-
-_Indigo_ is not always good. When a good lot is found by trial, it is
-best to get enough for a year or two, and store it in a tight tin box.
-
-_Coffee_ it is best to buy by the bag, as it improves by keeping. Let
-it hang in the bag in a dry place, and it loses its rank smell and
-taste. It is poor economy to buy ground coffee, as it often has other
-articles mixed, and loses flavor by keeping after it is ground.
-
-_Tea_, if bought by the box, is several cents a pound cheaper than by
-small quantities. If well put up in boxes lined with lead, it keeps
-perfectly; but put up in paper, it soon loses its flavor. It therefore
-should, if in small quantities, be put up in glass or tin, and shut
-tight.
-
-_Soda_ should be bought in small quantities, then powdered, sifted,
-and kept tight corked in a large-mouth glass bottle. It grows damp if
-exposed to the air, and then can not be used properly.
-
-_Raisins_ should not be bought in large quantities, as they are injured
-by time. It is best to buy the small boxes.
-
-_Currants_ for cake should be prepared, and set by for use in a jar.
-
-_Lemon_ and _Orange Peel_ should be dried, pounded, and set up in
-corked glass jars.
-
-_Nutmeg_, _Cinnamon_, _Cloves_, _Mace_, and _Allspice_ should be
-pounded fine, and corked tight in small glass bottles, with mouths
-large enough for a junk-bottle cork, and then put in a tight tin box,
-made for the purpose. Or they can be put in small tin boxes with tight
-covers. Essences are as good as spices.
-
-_Sweet Herbs_ should be dried, the stalks thrown away, and the rest be
-kept in corked large-mouth bottles, or small tin boxes.
-
-_Cream Tartar_, _Citric_ and _Tartaric Acids_, _Bicarbonate of Soda_,
-and _Essences_ should be kept in corked glass jars. _Sal volatile_ must
-be kept in a large-mouth bottle, with a ground-glass stopper to make it
-air-tight. Use cold water in dissolving it. It must be powdered.
-
-_Preserves_ and _Jellies_ should be kept in glass or stone, in a cool,
-dry place, well sealed, or tied with bladder covers. If properly made
-and thus put up, they never will ferment. If it is difficult to find a
-cool, dry place, pack the jars in a box, and fill the interstices with
-sand, very thoroughly dried. It is best to put jellies in tumblers, or
-small glass jars, so as to open only a small quantity at a time.
-
-The most easy way of keeping _Hams_ perfectly is to wrap and tie them
-in paper, and pack them in boxes or barrels with ashes. The ashes must
-fill all interstices, but must not touch the hams, as it absorbs the
-fat. It keeps them sweet, and protects from all kinds of insects.
-
-After smoked beef or hams are cut, hang them in a coarse linen bag in
-the cellar, and tie it up to keep out flies.
-
-Keep _Cheese_ in a cool, dry place, and after it is cut, wrap it in a
-linen cloth, and keep it in a tight tin box.
-
-Keep _Bread_ in a tin covered box, and it will keep fresh and good
-longer than if left exposed to the air.
-
-_Cake_ also should be kept in a tight tin box. Tin boxes made with
-covers like trunks, with handles at the ends, are best for bread and
-cake.
-
-_Smoked herring_ keep in the cellar.
-
-_Codfish_ is improved by changing it, once in a while, back and forth
-from garret to cellar. Some dislike to have it in the house anywhere.
-
-All _salted provision_ must be watched, and kept under the brine. When
-the brine looks bloody, or smells badly, it must be scalded, and more
-salt put to it, and poured over the meat.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI.
-
-ON SETTING TABLES, AND PREPARING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD FOR THE TABLE.
-
-
-To a person accustomed to a good table, the manner in which the table
-is set, and the mode in which food is prepared and set on, has a great
-influence, not only on the eye, but the appetite. A housekeeper ought,
-therefore, to attend carefully to these particulars.
-
-The table-cloth should always be _white_, and well washed and ironed.
-When taken from the table, it should be folded in the ironed creases,
-and some heavy article laid on it. A heavy bit of plank, smoothed and
-kept for the purpose, is useful. By this method, the table-cloth looks
-tidy much longer than when it is less carefully laid aside.
-
-When table-napkins are used, care should be taken to keep the same one
-to each person; and in laying them aside, they should be folded so as
-to hide the soiled places, and laid under pressure. It is best to use
-napkin-rings.
-
-The table-cloth should always be put on _square_, and right side
-upward. The articles of table furniture should be placed with order and
-symmetry.
-
-The bread for breakfast and tea should be cut in even, regular slices,
-not over a fourth of an inch thick, and all crumbs removed from the
-bread-plate. They should be piled in a regular form, and if the slices
-are large they should be divided.
-
-The butter should be cooled in cold water, if not already hard, and
-then cut into a smooth and regular form, and a butter-knife be laid by
-the plate, to be used for no other purpose but to help the butter.
-
-A small plate should be placed at each plate for butter, and a small
-salt-cup set by each breakfast or dinner-plate. This saves butter and
-salt.
-
-All the flour should be wiped from small cakes, and the crumbs be kept
-from the bread-plate.
-
-In preparing dishes for the dinner-table, all water should be carefully
-drained from the vegetables, and the edges of the platters and dishes
-should be made perfectly clean and neat.
-
-All soiled spots should be removed from the outside of pitchers,
-gravy-boats, and every article used on the table; the handles of the
-knives and forks must be clean, and the knives bright and sharp.
-
-In winter, the plates and all the dishes used, both for meat and
-vegetables, should be set to the fire to warm, when the table is being
-set, as cold plates and dishes cool the vegetables, gravy, and meats,
-which by many is deemed a great injury.
-
-Cucumbers, when prepared for table, should be laid in cold water for an
-hour or two to cool, and then be peeled and cut into fresh cold water.
-Then they should be drained, and brought to the table, and seasoned the
-last thing.
-
-The water should be drained thoroughly from all greens and salads.
-
-There are certain articles which are usually set on together, because
-it is _the fashion_, or because they are _suited_ to each other.
-
-Thus, with _strong-flavored meats_, like mutton, goose, and duck, it is
-customary to serve the strong-flavored vegetables, such as onions and
-turnips. Thus, turnips are put in mutton broth, and served with mutton,
-and onions are used to stuff geese and ducks. But onions are usually
-banished from the table and from cooking on account of the disagreeable
-flavor they impart to the atmosphere and breath.
-
-_Boiled Poultry_ should be accompanied with boiled ham or tongue.
-
-_Boiled Rice_ is served with poultry as a vegetable.
-
-_Jelly_ is served with mutton, venison, and roasted meats, and is used
-in the gravies for hashes.
-
-_Fresh Pork_ requires some acid sauce, such as cranberry, or tart
-apple-sauce. _ Drawn Butter_, prepared as in the recipe, with eggs in
-it, is used with boiled fowls and boiled fish.
-
-_Pickles_ are served especially with fish, and _Soy_ is a fashionable
-sauce for fish, which is mixed on the plate with drawn butter.
-
-There are modes of _garnishing dishes_, and preparing them for table,
-which give an air of taste and refinement that pleases the eye. Thus,
-in preparing a dish of fricasseed fowls, or stewed fowls, or cold fowls
-warmed over, small cups of boiled rice can be laid inverted around the
-edge of the platter, to eat with the meat.
-
-On _Broiled Ham_ or _Veal_, eggs boiled or fried, and laid one on each
-piece, look well.
-
-_Greens_ and _Asparagus_ should be well drained, and laid on buttered
-toast, and then slices of boiled eggs be laid on the top and around.
-
-_Hashes_ and preparations of pigs’ and calves’ head and feet should be
-laid on toast, and garnished with round slices of lemon.
-
-_Curled Parsley_, or _Common Parsley_, is a pretty garnish, to be
-fastened to the shank of a ham, to conceal the bone, and laid around
-the dish holding it. It looks well laid around any dish of cold slices
-of tongue, ham, or meat of any kind.
-
-In setting a tea-table, small-sized plates are set around, with a
-knife, napkin, and butter-plate laid by each in a regular manner,
-while the articles of food are to be set, also, in regular order. On
-the waiter are placed tea-cups and saucers, sugar-bowl, slop-bowl,
-cream-cup, and two or three articles for tea, coffee, and hot water, as
-the case may be. On the dinner-table, by each plate, is a knife, fork,
-napkin, and tumbler; and a small butter-plate and salt-cup should also
-be placed by each plate.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII.
-
-WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.
-
-
-Many a woman without servants, or with those untrained, must do her own
-washing and ironing, or train others to do it, and this is the most
-trying department of housekeeping. The following may aid in lessening
-labor and care.
-
-It saves washing and is more healthful to use flannel shirts. Farmers,
-sailors, and soldiers have found by experience that they are more
-comfortable than cotton or linen, even in the hottest days. Many
-gentlemen use them for common wear, changing to a cotton-flannel
-night-gown for sleeping. So young children can have a flannel jacket
-and flannel drawers sewed to the jacket in front, and buttoned behind,
-and change them at night for cotton-flannel made in the same way. The
-under-garments for women may be made of the same material and pattern,
-and this will save washing and promote health.
-
-Some ladies economize time and labor by wearing three-cornered lace
-articles for the neck, trimmed with imitation Valenciennes lace, wash
-them in their wash-bowl, whiten in soap-suds in a tumbler or bowl in
-their window, stiffen with gum-arabic, and after stretching, press
-under weights between clean papers. This is a happy contrivance when
-on a journey or without servants. Those who wish to save all needless
-labor in washes should have under-garments and night-gowns made in sack
-forms or other fashions that save in both material and labor. They also
-should omit ruffles and other trimmings that increase the labor of
-ironing.
-
-There is nothing which tends more effectually to secure good washing
-than a full supply of all conveniences. A plenty of soft water is a
-very important item. When this can not be had, lye or soda can be put
-in hard water, to soften it. Borax is safer than soda, which turns
-white clothes yellow, and injures texture. Buy crude borax, and for a
-common washing use half an ounce. A _borax soap_ is thus made: To a
-pound of bar-soap, cut in small pieces, put a quart of hot water and an
-ounce of powdered borax. Heat and mix, but do not boil, cool and cut
-into cakes, and use like hard soap. Soak the white clothes in a suds
-made of this soap over night, and it saves much rubbing. Two wash-forms
-are needed; one for the two tubs in which to put the suds, and the
-other for bluing and starching-tubs. Four tubs, of different sizes, are
-necessary; also, a large _wooden_ dipper, (as metal is apt to rust;)
-two or three pails; a grooved washboard; a clothes-line, (sea-grass or
-horse-hair is best;) a wash-stick to move clothes when boiling, and a
-wooden fork to take them out. Soap-dishes, made to hook on the tubs,
-save soap and time. Provide, also, a clothes-bag, in which to boil
-clothes; an indigo-bag, of double flannel; a starch-strainer, of coarse
-linen; a bottle of ox-gall for calicoes; a supply of starch, neither
-sour nor musty; several dozens of clothes-pins, which are cleft sticks,
-used to fasten clothes on the line; a bottle of dissolved gum-arabic;
-two clothes-baskets; and a brass or copper kettle, for boiling clothes,
-as iron is apt to rust. A closet for keeping all these things is a
-great convenience. Tubs, pails, and all hooped wooden ware, should be
-kept out of the sun, and in a cool place, or they will fall to pieces.
-
-
-COMMON MODE OF WASHING.
-
-Assort the clothes, and put those most soiled in soak the night before.
-Never pour hot water on them, as it sets the dirt. In assorting
-clothes, put the flannels in one lot, the colored clothes in another,
-the coarse white ones in a third, and the fine clothes in a fourth
-lot. Wash the fine clothes in one tub of suds. When clothes are
-very much soiled, a second suds is needful, turning them wrong side
-out. Put them in the boiling-bag, and boil them in strong suds for
-half an hour, and not much more. Move them, while boiling, with the
-clothes-stick. Take them out of the boiling-bag, and put them into a
-tub of water, and rub the dirtiest places again, if need be. Throw them
-into the rinsing-water, and then wring them out, and put them into the
-bluing-water. Put the articles to be stiffened into a clothes-basket
-by themselves, and, just before hanging out, dip them in starch,
-clapping it in, so as to have them equally stiff in all parts. Hang
-white clothes in the sun, and colored ones (wrong side out) in the
-shade. Fasten them with clothes-pins. Then wash the coarser white
-articles in the same manner. Then wash the colored clothes. These must
-not be soaked, nor have lye or soda put in the water, and they ought
-not to lie wet long before hanging out, as it injures their colors.
-Beef’s-gall, one spoonful to two pailfuls of suds, improves calicoes.
-Lastly, wash the flannels in suds as hot as the hand can bear. Never
-rub on soap, as this shrinks them in spots. Wring them out of the first
-suds, and throw them into another tub of hot suds, turning them wrong
-side out. Then throw them into hot bluing-water. Do not put bluing into
-suds, as it makes specks in the flannel. Never leave flannels long in
-water, nor put them in cold or lukewarm water. Before hanging them out,
-shake and stretch them. Some housekeepers have a close closet, made
-with slats across the top. On these slats, they put their flannels,
-when ready to hang out, and then burn brimstone under them, for ten
-minutes. It is but little trouble, and keeps the flannels as white as
-new. Wash the colored flannels and hose after the white, adding more
-hot water. Some persons dry woolen hose on stocking-boards, shaped like
-a foot and leg, with strings to tie them on the line. This keeps them
-from shrinking, and makes them look better than if ironed. It is also
-less work than to iron them properly.
-
-Bedding should be washed in long days, and in hot weather. Empty straw
-beds once a year.
-
-The following cautions in regard to calicoes are useful. Never wash
-them in very warm water; and change the water when it appears dingy,
-or the light parts will look dirty. Never rub on soap; but remove
-grease with French chalk, starch, magnesia, or Wilmington clay. Make
-starch for black calicoes with coffee-water, to prevent any whitish
-appearance. Glue is good for stiffening calicoes. When laid aside, not
-to be used, all stiffening should be washed out, or they will often
-be injured. Never let calicoes freeze in drying. Some persons use
-bran-water (four quarts of wheat-bran to two pails of water), and no
-soap, for calicoes; washing and rinsing in the bran-water. Potato-water
-is equally good. Take eight peeled and grated potatoes to one gallon of
-water.
-
-_To cleanse Gentlemen’s Broadcloths._—The best way, which the writer
-has repeatedly tried with unfailing success, is the following: Take one
-beef’s-gall, half a pound of saleratus, and four gallons of warm water.
-Lay the article on a table, and scour it thoroughly, in every part,
-with a clothes-brush dipped in this mixture. The collar of a coat, and
-the grease-spots, (previously marked by stitches of white thread,)
-must be repeatedly brushed. Then take the article and rinse it up and
-down in the mixture. Then rinse it up and down in a tub of soft cold
-water. Then, without wringing or pressing, hang it to drain and dry.
-Fasten a coat up by the collar. When perfectly dry, it is sometimes the
-case, with coats, that nothing more is needed. In other cases, it is
-necessary to dampen with a sponge the parts which look wrinkled, and
-either pull them smooth with the fingers, or press them with an iron,
-having a piece of bombazine or thin woolen cloth between the iron and
-the article.
-
-
-TO MANUFACTURE LYE, SOAP, STARCH, AND OTHER ARTICLES USED IN WASHING.
-
-_To make Lye._—Provide a large tub, made of pine or ash, and set it on
-a form, so high that a tub can stand under it. Make a hole, an inch in
-diameter, near the bottom, on one side. Lay bricks inside about this
-hole, and straw over them. To every seven bushels of ashes add two
-gallons of unslacked lime, and throw in the ashes and lime in alternate
-layers. While putting in the ashes and lime, pour on boiling water,
-using three or four pailfuls. After this, add a pailful of cold soft
-water once an hour, till all the ashes appear to be well soaked. Catch
-the drippings in a tub and try its strength with an egg. If the egg
-rise so as to show a circle as large as a ten-cent piece, the strength
-is right; if it rise higher, the lye must be weakened by water; if
-not so high, the ashes are not good, and the whole process must be
-repeated, putting in fresh ashes, and running the weak lye through
-the new ashes, with some additional water. _Quick-lye_ is made by
-pouring one gallon of boiling soft water on three quarts of ashes, and
-straining it. Oak ashes are best.
-
-_To make Soft Soap._—Save all drippings and fat, melt them, and set
-them away in cakes. Some persons keep, for soap-grease, a half-barrel,
-with weak lye in it, and a cover over it. To make soft soap, take the
-proportion of one pailful of lye to three pounds of fat. Melt the fat,
-and pour in the lye, by degrees. Boil it steadily, through the day,
-till it is ropy. If not boiled enough, on cooling it will turn to lye
-and sediment. While boiling, there should always be a little oil on the
-surface. If this does not appear, add more grease. If there is too much
-grease, on cooling, it will rise, and can be skimmed off. Try it, by
-cooling a small quantity. When it appears like jelly on becoming cold,
-it is done. It must then be put in a cool place and often stirred.
-
-_To make cold Soft Soap_, melt thirty pounds of grease, put it in a
-barrel, add four pailfuls of strong lye, and stir it up thoroughly.
-Then gradually add more lye, till the barrel is nearly full, and the
-soap looks _about right_.
-
-_To make Potash-Soap_, melt thirty-nine pounds of grease, and put it
-in a barrel. Take twenty-nine pounds of light ash-colored potash, (the
-_reddish_-colored will spoil the soap,) and pour hot water on it; then
-pour it off into the grease, stirring it well. Continue thus till all
-the potash is melted. Add one pailful of cold water, stirring it a
-great deal every day, till the barrel be full, and then it is done.
-This is the cheapest and best kind of soap. It is best to sell ashes
-and buy potash. The soap is better, if it stand a year before it is
-used; therefore make two barrels at once.
-
-_To prepare Starch._—Take four table-spoonfuls of starch; put in as
-much water, and rub it, till all lumps are removed. Then add half a cup
-of cold water. Pour this into a quart of boiling water, and boil it for
-half an hour, adding a piece of spermaceti, or a lump of salt or sugar,
-as large as a hazelnut. Strain it, and put in a very little bluing.
-Thin it with hot water.
-
-_Beef’s-Gall._—Send a junk-bottle to the butcher, and have several
-gall-bladders emptied into it. Keep it salted, and in a cool place.
-Some persons perfume it; but fresh air removes the unpleasant smell
-which it gives, when used for clothes.
-
-
-DIRECTIONS FOR STARCHING MUSLINS AND LACES.
-
-Many ladies clap muslins, then dry them, and afterward sprinkle them.
-This saves time. Others clap them till nearly dry, then fold and cover,
-and then iron them. Iron wrought muslins on soft flannel, and on the
-wrong side.
-
-_To do up Laces nicely_, sew a clean piece of muslin around a long
-bottle, and roll the lace on it; pulling out the edge, and rolling
-it so that the edge will turn in, and be covered as you roll. Fill
-the bottle with water, and then boil it for an hour in a suds made
-with white soap. Rinse it in fair water, a little blue; dry it in the
-sun; and, if any stiffening is wished, use thin starch or gum-arabic.
-When dry, fold and press it between white papers in a large book. It
-improves the lace to wet it with sweet-oil, after it is rolled on the
-bottle, and before boiling in the suds. _Blonde laces_ can be whitened
-by rolling them on a bottle in this way, and then setting the bottle
-in the sun, in a dish of cold suds made with white soap, wetting it
-thoroughly, and changing the suds every day. Do this for a week or
-more; then rinse in fair water; dry it on the bottle in the sun, and
-stiffen it with white gum-arabic. Lay it away in loose folds. _Lace
-veils_ can be whitened by laying them in flat dishes, in suds made
-with white soap; then rinsing, and stiffening them with gum-arabic,
-stretching them, and pinning them on a sheet to dry.
-
-
-ARTICLES TO BE PROVIDED FOR IRONING.
-
-Provide the following articles: A woolen ironing-blanket, and a linen
-or cotton sheet to spread over it; a large fire, of charcoal and hard
-wood, (unless furnaces or stoves are used;) a hearth free from cinders
-and ashes, a piece of sheet-iron in front of the fire, on which to
-set the irons while heating; (this last saves many black spots from
-careless ironers;) three or four holders, made of woolen, and covered
-with old silk, as these do not easily take fire; two iron-rings or
-iron-stands, on which to set the irons, and small pieces of board
-to put under them, to prevent scorching the sheet; linen or cotton
-wipers; and a piece of bees-wax, to rub on the irons when they are
-smoked. There should be at least three irons for each person ironing,
-and a small and large clothes-frame, on which to air the fine and
-coarse clothes. It is a great saving of space as well as labor to have
-a clothes-frame made with a large number of slats, on which to hang
-clothes. Then have it fastened to the wall, and, when not used, pushed
-flat against the wall. Any carpenter can understand how to make this.
-
-A bosom-board, on which to iron shirt-bosoms, should be made, one foot
-and a half long and nine inches wide, and covered with white flannel.
-A skirt-board, on which to iron frock-skirts, should be made, five
-feet long and two feet wide at one end, tapering to one foot and three
-inches wide at the other end. This should be covered with flannel,
-and will save much trouble in ironing nice dresses. The large end may
-be put on the table, and the other on the back of a chair. Both these
-boards should have cotton covers made to fit them, and these should
-be changed and washed when dirty. These boards are often useful when
-articles are to be ironed or pressed in a chamber or parlor, and where
-economy of space is needful, they may be hung to a wall or door by
-loops on the covers. Provide, also, a press-board, for broadcloth, two
-feet long and four inches wide at one end, tapering to three inches
-wide at the other.
-
-If the lady of the house will provide all these articles, see that the
-fires are properly made, the ironing-sheets evenly put on and properly
-pinned, the clothes-frames dusted, and all articles kept in their
-places, she will do much toward securing good ironing.
-
-
-ON SPRINKLING, FOLDING, AND IRONING.
-
-Wipe the dust from the ironing-board, and lay it down, to receive the
-clothes, which should be sprinkled with clear and warm water, and laid
-in separate piles, one of colored, one of common, and one of fine
-articles, and one of flannels. Fold the fine things, and roll them in a
-towel, and then fold the rest, turning them all right side outward. The
-colored clothes should be laid separate from the rest, and ought not
-to lie long damp, as it injures the colors. The sheets and table-linen
-should be shaken, stretched, and folded by two persons.
-
-Iron lace and needle work on the wrong side, and carry them away as
-soon as dry. Iron calicoes with irons which are not very hot, and
-generally on the right side, as they thus keep clean for a longer
-time. In ironing a frock, first do the waist, then the sleeves, then
-the skirt. Keep the skirt rolled while ironing the other parts, and
-set a chair, to hold the sleeves while ironing the skirt, unless a
-skirt-board be used. In ironing a shirt, first do the back, then the
-sleeves, then the collar and bosom, and then the front. Iron silk on
-the wrong side, when quite damp, with an iron which is not very hot,
-as light colors are apt to change and fade. Iron velvet by turning up
-the face of the iron, and after dampening the wrong side of the velvet,
-draw it over the face of the iron, holding it straight and not biased.
-
-
-TO WHITEN ARTICLES, AND REMOVE STAINS FROM THEM.
-
-Wet white clothes in suds, and lay them on the grass, in the sun. It
-will save from grass stain, to have a clean white cloth under the
-articles to be whitened. Lay muslins in suds made with white soap, in
-a flat dish; set this in the sun, changing the suds every day. Whiten
-tow-cloth or brown linen by keeping it in lye through the night, laying
-it out in the sun, and wetting it with fair water, as fast as it dries.
-
-Scorched articles can often be whitened again by laying them in the
-sun, wet with suds. Where this does not answer, put a pound of white
-soap in a gallon of milk, and boil the article in it. Another method
-is, to chop and extract the juice from two onions, and boil this with
-half a pint of vinegar, an ounce of white soap, and two ounces of
-fuller’s earth. Spread this, when cool, on the scorched part, and, when
-dry, wash it off in fair water. _Mildew_ may be removed by dipping the
-article in sour buttermilk, laying it in the sun, and, after it is
-white, rinsing it in fair water. Soap and chalk are also good; also,
-soap and starch, adding half as much salt as there is starch, together
-with the juice of a lemon. Stains in linen can often be removed by
-rubbing on soft soap, then putting on a starch paste and drying in the
-sun, renewing it several times. Wash off all the soap and starch in
-cold fair water.
-
-
-MIXTURES FOR REMOVING STAINS AND GREASE.
-
- =Stain Mixture.=—Half an ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of soft water.
- This can be kept in a corked bottle and is infallible in removing
- iron-rust and ink-stains. It is very poisonous. The article must be
- spread with this mixture over the steam of hot water, and wet several
- times. This will also remove indelible ink. The article must be
- washed, or the mixture will injure it.
-
- =Another Stain-Mixture= is made by mixing one ounce of sal ammoniac,
- one ounce of salt of tartar, and one pint of soft water.
-
-
- =To remove Grease.=—Mix four ounces of fullers earth, half an ounce
- of pearlash, and lemon-juice enough to make a stiff paste, which can
- be dried in balls, and kept for use. Wet the greased spot with cold
- water, rub it with the ball, dry it, and then rinse it with fair cold
- water. This is for _white_ articles. For silks and worsteds use French
- chalk, which can be procured of the apothecaries. That which is soft
- and white is best. Scrape it on the greased spot, under side, and
- let it lie for a day and night. Then brush off that used, and renew
- it till the spot disappears. Wilmington clay-balls are equally good.
- Ink-spots can often be removed from white clothes by rubbing on common
- tallow, leaving it for a day or two, and then washing as usual. Grease
- can be taken out of wall-paper by making a paste of potter’s clay,
- water, and ox-gall, and spreading it on the paper. When dry, renew it,
- till the spot disappears.
-
- Stains on floors, from _soot_ or _stove-pipes_, can be removed by
- washing the spot in sulphuric acid and water. Stains in colored silk
- dresses can often be removed by pure water. Those made by acids, tea,
- wine, and fruits can often be removed by spirits of hartshorn, diluted
- with an equal quantity of water. Sometimes it must be repeated several
- times.
-
-
- =Tar=, =Pitch=, and =Turpentine= can be removed by putting the spot
- in sweet-oil, or by spreading tallow on it, and letting it remain for
- twenty-four hours. Then, if the article be linen or cotton, wash it as
- usual; if it be silk or worsted, rub it with ether or spirits of wine.
-
-
- =Lamp-Oil= can be removed from floors, carpets, and other articles by
- spreading upon the stain a paste made of fuller’s earth or potter’s
- clay, brushing off and renewing it, when dry, till the stain is
- removed. If gall be put into the paste, it will preserve the colors
- from injury. When the stain has been removed, carefully brush off the
- paste with a soft brush.
-
-
- =Oil-Paint= can be removed by rubbing it with _very pure_ spirits
- of turpentine. The impure spirits leave a grease-spot. _Wax_ can be
- removed by scraping it off, and then holding a red hot poker near the
- spot. _Spermaceti_ may be removed by scraping it off, then putting
- a paper over the spot, and applying a warm iron. If this does not
- answer, rub on spirits of wine.
-
-
- =Ink-Stains= in carpets and woolen table-covers can be removed by
- washing the spot in a liquid composed of one tea-spoonful of oxalic
- acid dissolved in a tea-cupful of warm (not hot) water, and then
- rinsing in cold water. When ink is first spilled on a woolen carpet,
- pour on water immediately, and sop it up several times, and no stain
- will be made. Often on other articles, a stream of cold water poured
- on the _under side_ of the ink-spot will so dilute the ink that it can
- be rubbed out in cold water.
-
-
- =Stains on Varnished Articles=, which are caused by cups of hot water,
- can be removed by rubbing them with lamp-oil, and then with alcohol.
- Ink-stains can be taken out of mahogany by one tea-spoonful of oil of
- vitriol mixed with one table-spoonful of water, or by oxalic acid and
- water. These must be brushed over quickly, and then washed off with
- milk.
-
-
- =Silk Handkerchiefs= and =Ribbons= can be cleansed by using French
- chalk to take out the grease, and then sponging them on both sides
- with lukewarm fair water. Stiffen them with gum-arabic, and press them
- between white paper, with an iron not very hot. A table-spoonful of
- spirits of wine to three quarts of water improves it.
-
-
- =Silk Hose= or =Silk Gloves= should be washed in warm suds made with
- white soap, and rinsed in cold water; they should then be stretched
- and rubbed with a hard-rolled flannel, till they are quite dry.
- Ironing them very much injures their looks. _Wash-leather_ articles
- should have the grease removed from them by French chalk or magnesia;
- they should then be washed in warm suds, and rinsed in cold water.
- _Light Kid Gloves_ should have the grease removed from them, and
- then wash them on the hands with borax water and soft flannel—a
- tea-spoonful to a tumbler of water. Then stretch and press them. Dark
- Kid Gloves wash in the same way.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIII
-
-MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.
-
-
- =How to keep cool in Hot Weather.=—Sit in a room covered with matting
- or without any carpet, and keep the floor wet with pure water and a
- watering-pot. In hot nights, place a double wet sheet on the bed and
- a woolen blanket over it, and it will cool the bed which is heated
- through the day, and does not cool as fast as the evening air. A hot
- bed is often the cause of sleeplessness. Wear wristlets and anklets of
- wet flannel. Shut all doors and windows early in the morning to keep
- in cool air, and let in air only through windows that are on the shady
- side of the house. If chambers open upon the hot roofs of piazzas or
- porticoes, cover them with clean straw or hay, and wet them with a
- watering-pot. In all these cases, the heat is taken from the air and
- from all surrounding things by the absorption of heat as the water
- changes to vapor.
-
-
- =Indelible Ink.=—Put six cents’ worth of lunar caustic in a small
- phial, and fill with rain-water. To prepare the cloth, put a
- great-spoonful of gum-arabic into a larger bottle, with a drachm of
- salt of tartar, fill with water, and, when dissolved, wet the cloth,
- and press it smooth with a warm (not hot) iron. Put the articles, when
- marked, in the sun.
-
-
- =To preserve Eggs.=—Pack eggs in a jar small end downward, and then
- pour in a mixture of four quarts of slacked lime, two table-spoonfuls
- of cream tartar, and two of salt. This will cover about nine dozen for
- several months.
-
-
- =To prevent Earthen, Glass, and Iron Ware from being easily
- broken.=—Put them in cold water, and heat till boiling, and cool
- gradually.
-
-
- =A good Cement for broken Earthen and Glass.=—Mix Russian isinglass in
- white brandy, forming a thick jelly when cool. Strain and cork. When
- using it, rub it on the broken edges, and hold them together three or
- four minutes.
-
-
- =To keep Knives from Rust and other Injury.=—Rub bright, and wrap in
- thick brown paper. Never let knife-handles lie in water, and do not
- let their blades stay in _very hot_ water, as the heat expands the
- iron, and makes handles crack.
-
-
- =To cleanse or renovate Furniture.=—White spots on furniture remove
- by camphene, or sometimes by oil or spirits of turpentine. Remove
- mortarspots with warm vinegar, and paint-spots with camphene or
- burning-fluid. Powdered pumice-stone is better than sand to clean
- paint. To polish _unvarnished_ furniture, rub on two ounces of
- bees-wax, half an ounce of alconet root, melted together, and, when
- cooled, two ounces of spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of
- turpentine.
-
-
- =To clean Silver.=—Wet whiting with liquid hartshorn, and this will
- remove black spots. Or boil half an ounce of pulverized hartshorn in
- a pint of water, and pour it into rags, dry them, and use to cleanse
- silver. Polish with wash-leather.
-
-
- =To cleanse Wall-Paper.=—Wipe with a clean pillow-case on a broom, and
- brush gently. Rub bad spots with soft bread-crumbs gently.
-
-
- =To Purify a Well.=—Get out the water, and then put in three or four
- quarts of quick-lime. Any well long unused should be thus cleansed.
-
-
- =How to treat Roses and other Plants.=—Water them daily with water
- steeped in wood-ashes. To destroy slugs, scatter ashes over the plant
- at night before the dew falls, or before a coming shower. Water all
- plants with washing-day suds, and it makes them flourish. Scatter salt
- in gravel-walks to get out grass and weeds. Use old brine for this
- purpose. Use sawdust to manure plants; also wood-ashes; even that used
- to make lye is good.
-
-
- =Easy Way to keep Grapes.=—When not dead ripe, have them free from
- dampness, take out the decayed, and wrap each bunch in cotton, putting
- only two layers in a box. Keep in a dry, cool room, where they will
- not freeze.
-
-
- =Snow for Eggs.=—Two table-spoonfuls of snow strewed in quickly, and
- baked immediately, is equal to one egg in puddings or pan-cakes.
-
-
- =Paper to keep Preserves.=—Soft paper dipped in the white of an egg is
- the best cover for jellies and pickles. Turn it over the rim.
-
-
- =To make Butter cool in hot Weather.=—Set it on a bit of brick,
- cover with a flower-pot, and wrap a wet cloth around the pot. The
- evaporation cools it as well as ice.
-
-
- =To stop Cracks in Iron.=—Mix ashes and common salt and a little
- water, and fill the cracks.
-
-
- =To stop Creaking Hinges.=—Put on oil.
-
-
- =To stop Creaking Doors and make Drawers slide easily=.—Rub on hard
- soap.
-
-
- =To renovate Black Silk.=—Wash in cold tea or coffee, with a little
- sugar in them. Put in a little ink if very rusty. Drain and do not
- wring, and iron on the wrong side.
-
-
- =Another Way to clean Kid Gloves.=—Rub them lightly with benzine, and,
- as they dry, with pearl-powder. Expose to the air to remove the smell.
-
-
- =To remove Grease-Spots.=—Put an ounce of powdered borax to a quart of
- boiling water. Wash with this, and keep it corked for further use.
-
-
- =To get rid of Rats and Mice.=—A cat is the best remedy. Another is to
- half fill a tub with water, and sprinkle oats and meal on the top. For
- a while they will be deceived, jump in, and be drowned or caught.
-
-
-ODDS AND ENDS.
-
-There are certain _odds and ends_ where every housekeeper will gain
-much by having a _regular time_ to attend them. Let this time be
-the last Saturday forenoon in every month, or any other time more
-agreeable; but let there be a _regular fixed time_ once a month in
-which the housekeeper will attend to the following things:
-
-First. Go around to every room, drawer, and closet in the house,
-and see what is out of order, and what needs to be done, and make
-arrangements as to time and manner of doing it.
-
-Second. Examine the store-closet, and see if there is a proper supply
-of all articles needed there.
-
-Third. Go to the cellar, and see if the salted provision, vegetables,
-pickles, vinegar, and all other articles stored in the cellar are in
-proper order, and examine all the preserves and jellies.
-
-Fourth. Examine the trunk or closet of family linen, and see what needs
-to be repaired and renewed.
-
-Fifth. See if there is a supply of dish-towels, dish-cloths, bags,
-holders, floor-cloths, dust-cloths, wrapping-paper, twine, lamp-wicks,
-and all other articles needed in kitchen work.
-
-Sixth. Count over the spoons, knives, and forks, and examine all the
-various household utensils, to see what need replacing, and what should
-be repaired.
-
-Seventh. Have in a box a hammer, tacks, pincers, gimlets, nails,
-screws, screw-driver, small saw, and two sizes of chisels for
-emergencies when no regular workman is at hand. Also be prepared to set
-glass. Every lady should be able in emergency to do such jobs herself.
-
-A housekeeper who will have _a regular time_ for attending to these
-particulars will find her whole family machinery moving easily and
-well; but one who does not will constantly be finding something out of
-joint, and an unquiet, secret apprehension of duties left undone or
-forgotten, which no other method will so effectually remove.
-
-A housekeeper will often be much annoyed by the accumulation of
-articles not immediately needed, that must be saved for future use. The
-following method, adopted by a thrifty housekeeper, may be imitated
-with advantage. She bought some cheap calico, and made bags of various
-sizes, and wrote the following labels with indelible ink on a bit of
-broad tape, and sewed them on one side of the bags: _Old Linens, Old
-Cottons, Old black Silks, Old colored Silks, Old Stockings, Old colored
-Woolens, Old Flannels, New Linen, New Cotton, New Woolens, New Silks,
-Pieces of Dresses, Pieces of Boys' Clothes_, etc. These bags were hung
-around a closet, and filled with the above articles, and then it was
-known where to look for each, and where to put each when not in use.
-
-Another excellent plan, for the table, is for a housekeeper once a
-month to make out a _bill of fare_ for the four weeks to come. To do
-this, let her look over this book, and find out what kind of dishes the
-season of the year and her own stores will enable her to provide, and
-then make out a list of the dishes she will provide through the month,
-so as to have an agreeable variety for breakfast, dinners, and suppers.
-Some systematic arrangement of this kind at regular periods will secure
-great comfort and enjoyment to a family, and prevent that monotonous
-round so common in many families.
-
-
-
-
-PART SECOND.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.
-
-
-That women need as much and even more scientific and practical training
-for their appropriate business than men, arises from the fact that
-they must perform duties quite as difficult and important, and a much
-greater variety of them. A man usually selects only one branch of
-business for a profession, and, after his school education, secures
-an apprenticeship of years to perfect his practical skill; and thus
-a success is attained which would be impossible were he to practice
-various trades and professions.
-
-Now let us notice what science and training are needed for the various
-and difficult duties that are demanded of woman in her ordinary
-relations as wife, mother, housekeeper, and the mistress of servants.
-
-First, the department of a housekeeper demands some knowledge of all
-the arts and sciences connected with the proper _construction_ of a
-family dwelling.
-
-In communities destitute of intelligent artisans, a widow, or a woman
-whose husband has not time or ability to direct, on building a house,
-would need for guidance the leading principles of architecture,
-pneumatics, hydrostatics, calorification, and several other connected
-sciences, in order to secure architectural beauty, healthful heating
-and ventilation, and the economical and convenient arrangements
-for labor and comfort. A housekeeper properly instructed in these
-principles would know how to secure chimneys that will not smoke, the
-most economical furnaces and stoves, and those that will be sure to
-“draw.” She would know how dampers and air-boxes should be placed and
-regulated, how to prevent or remedy gas escapes, leaking water-pipes,
-poisonous recession of sewers, slamming shutters, bells that will not
-ring, blinds that will not fasten, and doors that will not lock or
-catch. She will understand about ball-cocks, and high and low pressure
-on water-pipes and boilers, and many other mysteries which make a woman
-the helpless victim of plumbers and other jobbers often as blundering
-and ignorant as herself. She would know what kind of wood-work saves
-labor, how to prevent its shrinkage, when to use paint, and what kind
-is best, and many other details of knowledge needed in circumstances
-to which any daughter of wealth is liable: knowledge which could be
-gained with less time and labor than is now given in public schools to
-geometry and algebra.
-
-On supposition of a _yard_ and _garden_, with young boys and domestic
-animals under her care, she would need the first principles of
-landscape gardening, floriculture, horticulture, fruit culture, and
-agriculture; also, the fitting and furnishing of accommodations and
-provision for domestic animals. And to gain this knowledge would demand
-less time than young girls often give to picking pretty flowers to
-pieces and saying hard names over them, or storing them in herbariums
-never used. And yet botany might be so taught as to be practically
-useful.
-
-Next, in _selecting furniture_, a woman so instructed would know when
-glue and nails are improperly used instead of the needed dovetailing
-and mortising. She would know when drawers, tables, and chairs were
-properly made, and when brooms, pots, saucepans, and coal-scuttles
-would last well and do proper service. She would know the best colors
-and materials for carpets, curtains, bed and house linen, and numerous
-other practical details as easily learned as the construction of
-“bivalves” and “multivalves,” and other particulars in natural history
-now studied, and, being of no practical use, speedily forgotten.
-
-Next, in the _ornamentation_ of a house, she will need the general
-principles that guide in the making or selection of pictures, statuary,
-in drawing, painting, music, and all the fine arts that render a home
-so beautiful and attractive.
-
-Next comes all involved in the _cleansing_, _neatness_, and _order_
-of houses filled with sofas, ottomans, curtains, pictures, musical
-instruments, and all the varied collection of beautiful and frail
-ornaments or curiosities so common. Every girl should be taught to know
-the right and the wrong way of protecting or cleansing every article,
-from the rich picture-frames and frescoes to the humblest crockery and
-stew-pan. And this would include much scientific knowledge as well as
-practical training.
-
-Next comes the selection of _healthful food_, the proper care of
-it, and the most economical and suitable modes of cooking. Here are
-demanded the first principles of physiology, animal chemistry, and
-domestic hygiene, with the practical applications. Thus instructed, the
-housekeeper will know the good or bad condition of meats, milk, bread,
-butter, and all groceries. And a class could be taken to a market or
-grocery for illustration, as easily as to a museum or the field for
-illustrations of mineralogy or botany. All this should be done before a
-young girl has the heavy responsibilities of housekeeper, wife, mother,
-and nurse. The art of cookery, in all its departments, has received
-more attention than any other domestic duty in former days; but at the
-present time no systematic mode is devised for training a young girl to
-superintend and instruct servants in this complicated duty, on which
-the health and comfort of a family so much depend.
-
-Next, in providing _family clothing_ and in the care of household
-stuffs, she will know how to do and to teach in the best manner plain
-sewing, hemming, darning, mending, and the use of a sewing-machine,
-thus cultivating ingenuity, dexterity, and common sense in judging the
-best way of doing things and deciding what is worth doing and what
-is not. She will exercise good taste and good judgment in dress for
-herself and family, in the selection of materials, in the adaptation of
-colors and fashion to age, shape, and employments, and in the avoidance
-of unhealthful and absurd fashions; and she will have such knowledge
-of domestic chemistry as is needed in the cleansing, dyeing, and
-preservation of household clothing and stuffs.
-
-Next comes all involved in the _care of health_. This again involves
-the first principles of animal and domestic chemistry, hydrostatics,
-pneumatics, caloric, light, electricity, and especially hygiene
-and therapeutics. A housekeeper instructed in these will have pure
-water, pure air, much sunlight, beds and clothes well cleansed, every
-arrangement for cleanliness and comfort, and all that tends to prevent
-disease or retard its first approaches. And her knowledge and skill she
-will transmit to the children and servants under her care, while the
-dumb animals of her establishment will share in the blessings secured
-by her scientific knowledge and trained skill.
-
-Next comes the care of _family expenses_ in all departments of economy,
-and in which science and training are also demanded: to this add the
-enforcement of system and order, hospitalities to relatives, friends,
-and the homeless, the claims of society as to calls, social gatherings,
-the sick, the poor, benevolent associations, school and religious
-duties.
-
-Not the least of the onerous duties of a housekeeper is the training
-and government of _servants_ of all kinds of dispositions, habits,
-nationalities, and religions.
-
-All these multiplied and diverse duties are demanded of every woman,
-whether married or single, who becomes mistress of a house.
-
-The distinctive duties of _wife and mother_ are such that both science
-and training are of the greatest consequence, and a dreadful amount of
-suffering has resulted from want of such proper instruction. One of
-the most important of these duties is the care of new-born infants and
-their mothers. Thousands of young infants perish and young mothers are
-made sufferers for life for want of science and training in the mothers
-and monthly nurses.
-
-Then the _helpers in the nursery_ have a daily control of the safety,
-health, temper, and morals of young children; and a conscientious,
-careful, affectionate woman, instructed in the care of health and
-remedies for sudden accidents, is a rare treasure. These arduous duties
-are now extensively given to the inexperienced and the ignorant. It is
-a mournful fact that more science and care are given by professional
-trainers to the offspring of horses, cows, sheep, and hogs, than to the
-larger portion of children of the American people. Thus comes the fact
-that the mortality of the human offspring greatly exceeds that of the
-lower animals.
-
-The most difficult and important duties of a woman are those of an
-_educator_ in the family and the school. In the nursery, children are
-taught the care of their bodies, the use of language, the nature and
-properties of the world around them, and many social and moral duties,
-all before books are used. Then it is a mother’s duty to select the
-school-teacher, and so to supervise, that health and intellectual
-training shall be duly secured. To this add the duties of training
-and controlling the helpers in the nursery and kitchen, and to a
-housekeeper and mother the duties of an _educator_ stand first on the
-roll of responsibilities.
-
-But the most weighty of all human responsibilities that rest upon every
-housekeeper, whether mother or only mistress of servants, are those
-which are consequent on the distinctive teachings of Jesus Christ; for,
-as the general rule, it is the mistress who is the chief minister of
-religion in the family state.
-
-And this is the age above all the past, when all the foundations of
-religious faith are being undermined, and all the most important
-principles of morals assailed. What is the conscientious woman to do,
-when the truth and authority of the Bible, the doctrine of immortality
-after death, and even the existence of a God, are attacked, not only
-in newspapers and books, but even in respectable pulpit ministries?
-Surely, if she is to be prepared by culture, argument, and reflection
-for any of her many responsibilities, it is for those she is to bear
-as the _religious educator of the family state_. This topic will be
-referred to more definitely in the chapters on the Training of Children
-and Care of Servants, and in a note at the close of this volume.
-
-It is for want of facilities for the proper scientific training of
-women for these multiform duties that they are so generally not
-educated to be healthy, or economical, or industrious, or properly
-qualified to be happy wives, or to train children and servants, or to
-preserve health in families and schools, or to practice a wise economy
-in the various departments of the family state. It is for want of such
-scientific training that the most important duties of the family,
-being disgraced and undervalued, are forsaken by the cultivated and
-refined, and, passing to the unskilled and vulgar, secure neither
-honorable social position nor liberal rewards. The poorest teacher of
-music, drawing, or French has higher position and reward than those who
-perform the most scientific, sacred, and difficult duties of the family
-state.
-
-The true remedy for this state of things is to provide as liberally
-for the scientific training of woman for her profession as men have
-provided for theirs. A wide-spread attempt is organizing for the
-establishment of institutions to cover this very ground of educating
-woman for the specific duties of her profession. But there are many
-thousands who are already beyond the reach of such instruction, and
-thousands of others who could never avail themselves of it; and certain
-it is, that a gathering together, in a compact volume like the present
-one, of many facts and ideas bearing upon these all-important topics,
-will be of great advantage to readers, especially in remote districts,
-far from the conveniences of cities.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOUSE.
-
-
-At the head of this chapter is a sketch of what may be properly called
-a _Christian_ house; that is, a house contrived for the express purpose
-of enabling every member of a family to labor with the hands for the
-common good, and by modes at once healthful, economical, and tasteful.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 7.]
-
-In the following drawings are presented modes of economizing time,
-labor, and expense by the _close packing of conveniences_. By such
-methods, small and economical houses can be made to secure most of
-the comforts and many of the refinements of large and expensive ones.
-The cottage at the head of this chapter is projected on a plan which
-can be adapted to a warm or cold climate with little change. By adding
-another story, it would serve a large family.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 8.]
-
-Fig. 7 shows the ground-plan of the first floor, the proportions being
-marked in the drawing. The piazzas each side of the front projection
-have sliding-windows to the floor, and can, by glazed sashes, be made
-greenhouses in winter. In a warm climate, piazzas can be made at the
-back side also.
-
-The leading aim is to show how time, labor, and expense are saved,
-not only in the building, but in furniture and its arrangement. The
-conservatories are appendages not necessary to housekeeping, but useful
-in many ways.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 9.]
-
-The entry has arched recesses behind the front doors, (Fig. 8,)
-furnished with hooks for over-clothes in both—a box for overshoes in
-one, and a stand for umbrellas in the other. The roof of the recess is
-for statuettes, busts, or flowers. The stairs turn twice with broad
-steps, making a recess at the lower landing, where a table is set with
-a vase of flowers, (Fig. 9.)
-
-On one side of the recess is a closet, arched to correspond with the
-arch over the stairs. A bracket over the first broad stair, with
-flowers or statuettes, is visible from the entrance, and pictures can
-be hung as in the drawing.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 10.]
-
-The large room on the left can be made to serve the purpose of several
-rooms by means of a _movable screen_. By shifting this rolling screen
-from one part of the room to another, two apartments are always
-available, of any desired size within the limits of the large room.
-One side of the screen fronts what may be used for the parlor or
-sitting-room; the other side is arranged for bedroom conveniences. Of
-this, Fig. 10 shows the front side; covered first with strong canvas,
-stretched and nailed on. Over this is pasted panel-paper, and the
-upper part is made to resemble an ornamental cornice by fresco-paper.
-Pictures can be hung in the panels, or be pasted on and varnished with
-white varnish. To prevent the absorption of the varnish, a wash of gum
-isinglass (fish-glue) must be applied twice.
-
-Fig. 11 shows the back or inside of the movable screen, toward the
-part of the room used as the bedroom. On one side, and at the top and
-bottom, it has shelves with _shelf-boxes_, which are cheaper and
-better than drawers, and much preferred by those using them. Handles
-are cut in the front and back side, as seen in Fig. 12. Half an inch
-space must be between the box and the shelf over it, and as much each
-side, so that it can be taken out and put in easily. The central part
-of the screen’s interior is a wardrobe.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 11.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 12.]
-
-This screen must be so high as nearly to reach the ceiling, in order
-to prevent it from overturning. It is to fill the width of the room,
-except two feet on each side. A projecting cleat or strip, reaching
-nearly to the top of the screen, three inches wide, is to be screwed
-to the front sides, on which light frame doors are to be hung, covered
-with canvas and panel-paper like the front of the screen. The inside
-of these doors is furnished with hook for clothing, for which the
-projection makes room. The whole screen is to be eighteen inches deep
-at the top and two feet deep at the base, giving a solid foundation.
-It is moved on four wooden rollers, one foot long and four inches
-in diameter. The pivots of the rollers and the parts where there is
-friction must be rubbed with hard soap, and then a child can move the
-whole easily.
-
-A curtain is to be hung across the whole interior of the screen by
-rings, on a strong wire. The curtain should be in three parts, with
-lead or large nails in the hems to keep it in place. The wood-work must
-be put together with screws, as the screen is too large to pass through
-a door.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 13.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 14.]
-
-At the end of the room, behind the screen, are two couches, to be run
-one under the other, as in Fig. 13. The upper one is made with four
-posts, each three feet high and three inches square, set on casters two
-inches high. The frame is to be fourteen inches from the floor, seven
-feet long, two feet four inches wide, and three inches in thickness.
-At the head and at the foot is to be screwed a notched two-inch board,
-three inches wide, as in Fig. 14. The mortises are to be one inch wide
-and deep, and one inch apart, to receive slats made of ash, oak, or
-spruce, one inch square, placed lengthwise of the couch. The slats
-being small, and so near together, and running lengthwise, make a
-better spring frame than wire coils. If they warp, they can be turned.
-They must not be fastened at the ends, except by insertion in the
-notches. Across the posts, and of equal height with them, are to be
-screwed head and foot boards.
-
-The under couch is like the upper, except these dimensions: posts,
-nine inches high, including casters; frame, six feet two inches long,
-two feet four inches wide. The frame should be as near the floor as
-possible, resting on the casters.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 15.]
-
-The most healthful and comfortable mattress is made by a case, open in
-the centre and fastened together with buttons, as in Fig. 15; to be
-filled with oat straw, which is softer than wheat or rye. This can be
-adjusted to the figure, and often renewed.
-
-Fig. 16 represents the upper couch when covered, and the under couch
-put beneath it. The cover-lid should match the curtain of the screen;
-and the pillows, by day, should have a case of the same.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 16.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 17.]
-
-Fig. 17 is an ottoman, made as a box, with a lid on hinges. A cushion
-is fastened to this lid by strings at each corner, passing through
-holes in the box lid and tied inside. The cushion to be cut square,
-with side pieces; stuffed with hair, and stitched through like a
-mattress. Side handles are made by cords fastened inside with knots.
-The box must be two inches larger at the bottom than at the top, and
-the lid and cushion the same size as the bottom, to give it a tasteful
-shape. This ottoman is set on casters, and is a great convenience for
-holding articles, while serving also as a seat.
-
-The expense of the screen, where lumber averages four dollars a
-hundred, and carpenter labor three dollars a day, would be about thirty
-dollars, and the two couches about six dollars. The material for
-covering might be cheap and yet pretty. A woman with these directions,
-and a son or husband who would use plane and saw, could thus secure
-much additional room, and also what amounts to two bureaus, two large
-trunks, one large wardrobe, and a wash-stand, for less than twenty
-dollars—the mere cost of materials. The screen and couches can be
-so arranged as to have one room serve first as a large and airy
-sleeping-room; then, in the morning, it may be used as sitting-room one
-side of the screen, and breakfast-room the other; and lastly, through
-the day it can be made a large parlor on the front side, and a sewing
-or retiring-room the other side. The needless spaces usually devoted
-to kitchen, entries, halls, back-stairs, pantries, store-rooms, and
-closets, by this method would be used in adding to the size of the
-large room, so variously used by day and by night.
-
-Fig. 18 is an enlarged plan of the kitchen and stove-room. The chimney
-and stove-room are contrived to ventilate the whole house.
-
-Between the two rooms glazed sliding-doors, passing each other,
-serve to shut out heat and smells from the kitchen. The sides of the
-stove-room must be lined with shelves; those on the side by the cellar
-stairs, to be one foot wide and eighteen inches apart; on the other
-side, shelves may be narrower, eight inches wide and nine inches apart.
-Boxes with lids, to receive stove utensils, must be placed near the
-stove.
-
-On these shelves, and in the closet and boxes, can be placed every
-material used for cooking, all the table and cooking utensils, and all
-the articles used in house-work, and yet much spare room will be left.
-The cook’s galley in a steamship has every article and utensil used
-in cooking for two hundred persons, in a space not larger than this
-stove-room, and so arranged that with one or two steps the cook can
-reach all he uses.
-
-In contrast to this, in most large houses, the table furniture, the
-cooking materials and utensils, the sink, and the eating-room, are at
-such distances apart, that half the time and strength is employed in
-walking back and forth to collect and return the articles used.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 18.]
-
-Fig. 19 is an enlarged plan of the sink and cooking-form. Two windows
-make a better circulation of air in warm weather, by having one open at
-top and the other at the bottom, while the light is better adjusted for
-working, in case of weak eyes.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 19.]
-
-The flour-barrel just fills the closet, which has a door for admission,
-and a lid to raise when used. Beside it is the form for cooking, with
-a molding-board laid on it; one side used for preparing vegetables and
-meat, and the other for molding bread. The sink has two pumps, for well
-and for rain-water—one having a forcing power to throw water into the
-reservoir in the garret, which supplies the water-closet and bath-room.
-On the other side of the sink is the dish-drainer, with a ledge on
-the edge next the sink, to hold the dishes, and grooves cut to let the
-water drain into the sink. It has hinges, so that it can either rest
-on the cook-form or be turned over and cover the sink. Under the sink
-are shelf-boxes placed on two shelves run into grooves, with other
-grooves above and below, so that one may move the shelves and increase
-or diminish the spaces between. The shelf-boxes can be used for
-scouring-materials, dish-towels, and dish-cloths; also to hold bowls
-for bits of butter, fats, etc. Under these two shelves is room for two
-pails, and a jar for soap-grease.
-
-Under the cook-form are shelves and shelf-boxes for unbolted wheat,
-corn-meal, rye, etc. Beneath these, for white and brown sugar, are
-wooden can-pails, which are the best articles in which to keep these
-constant necessities. Beside them is the tin molasses-can with a tight,
-movable cover, and a cork in the spout. This is much better than a jug
-for molasses, and also for vinegar and oil, being easier to clean and
-to handle. Other articles and implements for cooking can be arranged
-on or under the shelves at the side and front. A small cooking-tray,
-holding pepper, salt, dredging-box, knife, and spoon, should stand
-close at hand by the stove, (Fig. 20.)
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 20.]
-
-The articles used for setting tables are to be placed on the shelves at
-the front and side of the sink. Two tumbler-trays, made of pasteboard,
-covered with varnished fancy papers and divided by wires, (as shown in
-Fig. 21,) save many steps in setting and clearing table. Similar trays,
-(Fig. 22,) for knives and forks and spoons, serve the same purpose.
-The sink should be three feet long and three inches deep, its width
-matching the cook-form.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 21.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 22.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 23.]
-
-Fig. 23 is the second or attic story. The main objection to attic
-rooms is their warmth in summer, owing to the heated roof. This is
-prevented by so enlarging the closets each side that their walls meet
-the ceiling under the garret floor, thus excluding all or most of the
-roof. In the bedchambers, corner dressing-tables, as Fig. 24, instead
-of projecting bureaus, save much space for use, and give a handsome
-form and finish to the room. In the bath-room must be the opening to
-the garret, and a step-ladder to reach it. A reservoir in the garret,
-supplied by a forcing-pump in the cellar or at the sink, must be well
-supported by timbers, and the plumbing must be well done, or much
-annoyance will ensue.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 24.]
-
-The large chambers are to be lighted by large windows or glazed
-sliding-doors, opening upon the balcony. A roof can be put over the
-balcony and its sides inclosed by windows, and the chamber extend into
-it, and be thus much enlarged.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 25.]
-
-The water-closets must have the latest improvements for safe discharge,
-and there will be no trouble. They will cost no more than an outdoor
-building, and they relieve one from the most disagreeable house-labor.
-
-A great improvement, called _earth-closets_, will probably take the
-place of water-closets to some extent; though at present the water is
-the more convenient.
-
-The method of ventilating all the chambers, and also the cellar, will
-be described in another place. Fig. 25 represents a shoe-bag, that can
-be fastened to the side of a closet or closet-door.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 26.]
-
-Fig. 26 represents a piece-bag, and is a very great labor and
-space-saving invention. It is made of calico, and fastened to the side
-of a closet or a door, to hold all the bundles that are usually stowed
-in trunks and drawers. India-rubber or elastic tape drawn into hems
-to hold the contents of the bag is better than tape-strings. Each bag
-should be labeled with the name of its contents, written with indelible
-ink on white tape sewed on to the bag. Such systematic arrangement
-saves much time and annoyance. Drawers or trunks to hold these articles
-can not be kept so easily in good order, and moreover, occupy spaces
-saved by this contrivance.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 27.]
-
-Fig. 27 is the basement. It has the floor and sides plastered, and is
-lighted with glazed doors. A form is raised close by the cellar stairs,
-for baskets, pails, and tubs. Here, also, the refrigerator can be
-placed, or, what is better, an ice-closet can be made, as designated in
-the illustration. The floor of the basement must be an inclined plane
-toward a drain, and be plastered with water-lime. The wash-tubs have
-plugs in the bottom to let off water, and cocks and pipes over them
-bringing cold water from the reservoir in the garret and hot water from
-the laundry stove. This saves much heavy labor of emptying tubs and
-carrying water.
-
-The laundry closet has a stove for heating irons, and also a kettle
-on top for heating water. Slides or clothes-frames are made to draw
-out to receive wet clothes, and then run into the closet to dry. This
-saves health as well as time and money, and the clothes are as white as
-when dried outdoors. The entrance to the kitchen is either through the
-basement or through the eating-room windows, made to slide.
-
-The wood-work of the house, for doors, windows, etc., should be _oiled_
-chestnut, butternut, whitewood, and pine. This is cheaper, handsomer,
-and more easy to keep clean than painted wood.
-
-In Fig. 7 are planned two conservatories, and few understand their
-value in the training of the young. They provide soil, in which
-children, through the winter months, can be starting seeds and plants
-for their gardens and raising valuable, tender plants. Every child
-should cultivate flowers and fruits to sell and to give away, and thus
-be taught to learn the value of money, and to practice both economy and
-benevolence.
-
-According to the calculation of a house-carpenter, in a place where
-the _average_ price of lumber is four dollars a hundred, and carpenter
-work three dollars a day, such a house can be built for sixteen hundred
-dollars. For those practicing the closest economy, two small families
-could occupy it, by dividing the kitchen, and yet have room enough. Or
-one large room and the chamber over it can be left till increase of
-family and means require enlargement.
-
-A strong horse and carry-all, with a cow, garden, vineyard, and
-orchard, on a few acres, would secure all the substantial comforts
-found in great establishments, without the trouble of ill-qualified
-servants.
-
-And if the parents and children were united in the daily labors of the
-house, garden, and fruit culture, such thrift, health, and happiness
-would be secured as is but rarely found among the rich.
-
-Let us suppose a colony of cultivated and Christian people, having
-abundant wealth, who now are living as the wealthy usually do,
-emigrating to some of the beautiful Southern uplands, where are rocks,
-hills, valleys, and mountains as picturesque as those of New-England,
-where the thermometer but rarely reaches 90° in summer, and in winter
-as rarely sinks below freezing-point, so that outdoor labor goes on all
-the year, where the fertile soil is easily worked, where rich tropical
-fruits and flowers abound, where cotton and silk can be raised by
-children around their home, where the produce of vineyards and orchards
-finds steady markets by railroads ready-made; suppose such a colony,
-with a central church and school-room, library, hall for sports, and
-a common laundry, (taking the most trying part of domestic labor from
-each house)—suppose each family to train the children to labor with
-the hands as a healthful and honorable duty; suppose all this, which
-is perfectly practicable, would not the enjoyment of this life be
-increased, and also abundant treasures be laid up in heaven, by using
-the wealth thus economized in diffusing similar enjoyments and culture
-among the poor, ignorant, and neglected ones in desolated sections
-where many now are perishing for want of such Christian example and
-influences?
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-ON HOME VENTILATION.
-
-
-When “the wise woman buildeth her house,” the first consideration
-will be the health of the inmates. The first and most indispensable
-requisite for health is pure air, both by day and night.
-
-If the parents of a family should daily withhold from their children
-a large portion of food needful to growth and health, and every night
-should administer to each a small dose of poison, it would be called
-murder of the most hideous character. But it is probable that more
-than one half of this nation are doing that very thing. The murderous
-operation is perpetrated daily and nightly, in our parlors, our
-bedrooms, our kitchens, our school-rooms; and even our churches are no
-asylum from the barbarity. Nor can we escape by our railroads, for even
-there the same dreadful work is going on.
-
-The only palliating circumstance is the ignorance of those who commit
-these wholesale murders. As saith the Scripture, “The people do perish
-for lack of knowledge.” And it is this lack of knowledge which it is
-woman’s special business to supply.
-
-The above statements will be illustrated by some account of the manner
-in which the body is supplied with healthful nutriment. There are two
-modes of nourishing the body, one is by food and the other by air.
-In the stomach the food is dissolved, and the nutritious portion is
-absorbed by the blood, and then is carried by blood-vessels to the
-lungs, where it receives oxygen from the air we breathe. This oxygen is
-as necessary to the nourishment of the body as the food of the stomach.
-In a full-grown man weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds, one
-hundred and eleven pounds consists of oxygen, obtained chiefly from the
-air we breathe. Thus the lungs feed the body with oxygen, as really as
-the stomach supplies the other food required.
-
-The lungs occupy the upper portion of the body from the collarbone to
-the lower ribs, and between their two lobes is placed the heart.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 28.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 29.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 30.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 31.]
-
-Fig. 28 shows the position of the lungs, though not the exact shape.
-On the right hand is the exterior of one of the lobes, and on the left
-hand are seen the branching tubes of the interior, through which the
-air we breathe passes to the exceedingly minute air-cells of which
-the lungs chiefly consist. Fig. 29 shows the outside of a cluster of
-these air-cells, and Fig. 30 is the inside view. The lining membrane of
-each air-cell is covered by a net-work of minute blood-vessels called
-_capillaries_, which, magnified several hundred times, appear in the
-microscope as at Fig. 31. Every air-cell has a blood-vessel that brings
-blood from the heart, which meanders through its capillaries till it
-reaches another blood-vessel that carries it back to the heart, as seen
-in Fig. 32. In this passage of the blood through these capillaries,
-the air in the air-cell imparts its oxygen to the blood, and receives
-in exchange carbonic acid and watery vapor which are expired at every
-breath into the atmosphere.
-
-By calculating the number of air-cells in a small portion of the lungs,
-under a microscope, it is ascertained that there are no less than
-eighteen millions of these wonderful little purifiers and feeders of
-the body. By their ceaseless ministries, every grown person receives,
-each day, thirty-three hogsheads of air into the lungs to nourish and
-vitalize every part of the body, and also to carry off its impurities.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 32.]
-
-But the heart has a most important agency in this operation. Fig. 33 is
-a diagram of the heart, which is placed between the two lobes of the
-lungs. The right side of the heart receives the dark and impure blood,
-which is loaded with carbonic acid. It is brought from every point of
-the body by branching veins that unite in the upper and the lower _vena
-cava_, which discharge into the right side of the heart. This impure
-blood passes to the capillaries of the air-cells in the lungs, where it
-gives off carbonic acid, and, taking oxygen from the air, then returns
-to the left side of the heart, from whence it is sent out through the
-_aorta_ and its myriad branching arteries to every part of the body.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 33.]
-
-When the upper portion of the heart contracts, it forces both the pure
-blood from the lungs, and the impure blood from the body, through
-the valves marked V, V, into the lower part. When the lower portion
-contracts, it closes the valves and forces the impure blood into the
-lungs on one side, and also on the other side forces the purified blood
-through the aorta and arteries to all parts of the body.
-
-As before stated, the lungs consist chiefly of air-cells, the walls of
-which are lined with minute blood-vessels; and we know that in every
-man these air-cells number _eighteen millions_.
-
-Now every beat of the heart sends two ounces of blood into the minute,
-hair-like blood-vessels, called capillaries, that line these air-cells,
-where the air in the air-cells gives its oxygen to the blood, and in
-its place receives carbonic acid. This gas is then expired by the lungs
-into the surrounding atmosphere.
-
-Thus, by this powerful little organ, the heart, no less than
-twenty-eight pounds of blood, in a common-sized man, is sent three
-times every hour through the lungs, giving out carbonic acid and watery
-vapor, and receiving the life-inspiring oxygen.
-
-Whether all this blood shall convey the nourishing and invigorating
-oxygen to every part of the body, or return unrelieved of carbonic
-acid, depends entirely on the pureness of the atmosphere that is
-breathed.
-
-Every time we think or feel, this mental action dissolves some
-particles of the brain and nerves, which pass into the blood to be
-thrown out of the body through the lungs and skin. In like manner,
-whenever we move any muscle, some of its particles decay and pass
-away. It is in the capillaries, which are all over the body, that this
-change takes place. The blood-vessels that convey the pure blood from
-the heart divide into myriads of little branches that terminate in
-capillary vessels like those lining the air-cells of the lungs. The
-blood meanders through these minute capillaries, depositing the oxygen
-taken from the lungs and the food of the stomach, and receiving in
-return the decayed matter, which is chiefly carbonic acid.
-
-This carbonic acid is formed by the union of oxygen with _carbon_ or
-_charcoal_, which forms a large portion of the food. Watery vapor
-is also formed in the capillaries by the union of oxygen with the
-hydrogen contained in the food and drink.
-
-During this process in the capillaries, the bright red blood of the
-arteries changes to the purple blood of the veins, which is carried
-back to the heart, to be sent to be purified in the lungs as before
-described. A portion of the oxygen received in the lungs unites with
-the dissolved food sent from the stomach into the blood, and no food
-can nourish the body till it has received a proper supply of oxygen in
-the lungs. At every breath a half-pint of blood receives its needed
-oxygen in the lungs, and at the same time gives out an equal amount of
-carbonic acid and water.
-
-Now this carbonic acid, if received into the lungs undiluted by
-sufficient air, is a fatal poison, causing certain death. When it is
-mixed with only a small portion of air, it is a slow poison, which
-imperceptibly undermines the constitution.
-
-We now can understand how it is that all who live in houses where the
-breathing of inmates has deprived the air of oxygen, and loaded it with
-carbonic acid, may truly be said to be poisoned and starved; poisoned
-with carbonic acid, and starved for want of oxygen.
-
-Whenever oxygen unites with carbon to form carbonic acid, or with
-hydrogen to form water, heat is generated. Thus it is that a kind of
-combustion is constantly going on in the capillaries all over the body.
-It is this burning of the decaying portions of the body that causes
-animal heat. It is a process similar to that which takes place when
-lamps and candles are burning. The oil and tallow, which are chiefly
-carbon and hydrogen, unite with the oxygen of the air and form carbonic
-acid and watery vapor, producing heat during the process. So in the
-capillaries all over the body, the carbon and hydrogen supplied to the
-blood by the food unite with the oxygen gained in the lungs, and cause
-the heat which is diffused all over the body.
-
-The skin also performs an office similar to that of the lungs. In
-the skin of every adult there are no less than seven million minute
-perspirating tubes, each one-fourth of an inch long. If all these
-were united in one length, they would extend twenty-eight miles.
-These minute tubes are lined with capillary blood-vessels, which are
-constantly sending out not only carbonic acid, but other gases and
-particles of decayed matter. The skin and lungs together, in one day
-and night, throw out three-quarters of a pound of charcoal as carbonic
-acid, besides other gases and water.
-
-While the bodies of men and animals are filling the air with the
-poisonous carbonic acid, and using up the life-giving oxygen, the
-trees and plants are performing an exactly contrary process; for
-they are absorbing carbonic acid and giving out oxygen. Thus, by a
-wonderful arrangement of the beneficent Creator, a constant equilibrium
-is preserved. What animals use is provided by vegetables, and what
-vegetables require is furnished by animals; and all goes on, day and
-night, without care or thought of man.
-
-The human race in its infancy was placed in a mild and genial clime,
-where each separate family dwelt in tents, and breathed, both day and
-night, the pure air of heaven. And when they became scattered abroad to
-colder climes, the open fire-place secured a full supply of pure air.
-But civilization has increased economies and conveniences far ahead
-of the knowledge needed by the common people for their healthful use.
-Tight sleeping-rooms, and close, air-tight stoves, are now starving
-and poisoning more than one half of this nation. It seems impossible
-to make people know their danger. And the remedy for this is the light
-of knowledge and intelligence which it is woman’s special mission to
-bestow, as she controls and regulates the ministries of a home.
-
-The poisoning process is thus exhibited in Mrs. Stowe’s “House and Home
-Papers,” and can not be recalled too often:
-
-“No other gift of God, so precious, so inspiring, is treated with such
-utter irreverence and contempt in the calculations of us mortals as
-this same air of heaven. A sermon on oxygen, if we had a preacher who
-understood the subject, might do more to repress sin than the most
-orthodox discourse to show when and how and why sin came. A minister
-gets up in a crowded lecture-room, where the mephitic air almost makes
-the candles burn blue, and bewails the deadness of the church—the
-church the while, drugged by the poisoned air, growing sleepier and
-sleepier, though they feel dreadfully wicked for being so.
-
-“Little Jim, who, fresh from his afternoon’s ramble in the fields, last
-evening said his prayers dutifully, and lay down to sleep in a most
-Christian frame, this morning sits up in bed with his hair bristling
-with crossness, strikes at his nurse, and declares he won’t say his
-prayers—that he don’t want to be good. The difference is, that the
-child, having slept in a close box of a room, his brain all night
-fed by poison, is in a mild state of moral insanity. Delicate women
-remark that it takes them till eleven or twelve o’clock to get up their
-strength in the morning. Query, Do they sleep with closed windows and
-doors, and with heavy bed-curtains?
-
-“The houses built by our ancestors were better ventilated in certain
-respects than modern ones, with all their improvements. The great
-central chimney, with its open fire-places in the different rooms,
-created a constant current which carried off foul and vitiated air.
-In these days, how common is it to provide rooms with only a flue for
-a stove! This flue is kept shut in summer, and in winter opened only
-to admit a close stove, which burns away the vital portion of the
-air quite as fast as the occupants breathe it away. The sealing up
-of fire-places and introduction of air-tight stoves may, doubtless,
-be a saving of fuel; it saves, too, more than that; in thousands and
-thousands of cases it has saved people from all further human wants,
-and put an end forever to any needs short of the six feet of narrow
-earth which are man’s only inalienable property. In other words, since
-the invention of air-tight stoves, thousands have died of slow poison.
-
-“It is a terrible thing to reflect upon, that our northern winters
-last from November to May, six long months, in which many families
-confine themselves to one room, of which every window-crack has been
-carefully calked to make it air-tight, where an air-tight stove
-keeps the atmosphere at a temperature between eighty and ninety; and
-the inmates, sitting there with all their winter clothes on, become
-enervated both by the heat and by the poisoned air, for which there is
-no escape but the occasional opening of a door.
-
-“It is no wonder that the first result of all this is such a delicacy
-of skin and lungs that about half the inmates are obliged to give
-up going into the open air during the six cold months, because they
-invariably catch cold if they do so. It is no wonder that the cold
-caught about the first of December has by the first of March become a
-fixed consumption, and that the opening of the spring, which ought to
-bring life and health, in so many cases brings death.
-
-“We hear of the lean condition in which the poor bears emerge from
-their six months’ wintering, during which they subsist on the fat which
-they have acquired the previous summer. Even so, in our long winters,
-multitudes of delicate people subsist on the daily waning strength
-which they acquired in the season when windows and doors were open, and
-fresh air was a constant luxury. No wonder we hear of spring fever and
-spring biliousness, and have thousands of nostrums for clearing the
-blood in the spring. All these things are the pantings and palpitations
-of a system run down under slow poison, unable to get a step farther.
-
-“Better, far better, the old houses of the olden time, with their
-great roaring fires, and their bedrooms where the snow came in and the
-wintry winds whistled. Then, to be sure, you froze your back while you
-burned your face, your water froze nightly in your pitcher, your breath
-congealed in ice-wreaths on the blankets, and you could write your name
-on the pretty snow-wreath that had sifted in through the window-cracks.
-But you woke full of life and vigor, you looked out into the whirling
-snow-storms without a shiver, and thought nothing of plunging through
-drifts as high as your head on your daily way to school. You jingled
-in sleighs, you snow-balled, you lived in snow like a snow-bird, and
-your blood coursed and tingled, in full tide of good, merry, real life,
-through your veins—none of the slow-creeping, black blood which clogs
-the brain and lies like a weight on the vital wheels!”
-
-It is ascertained by experiments that breathing bad air tends so to
-reduce all the processes of the body, that less oxygen is demanded and
-less carbonic acid sent out. This, of course, lessens the vitality and
-weakens the constitution; and it accounts for the fact that a person
-of full health, accustomed to pure air, suffers from bad air far more
-than those who are accustomed to it. The body of strong and healthy
-persons demands more oxygen, and throws off more carbonic acid, and is
-distressed when the supply fails. But the one reduced by bad air feels
-little inconvenience, because all the functions of life are so slow
-that less oxygen is needed, and less carbonic acid thrown out. And the
-sensibilities being deadened, the evil is not felt. This provision of
-nature prolongs many lives, though it turns vigorous constitutions into
-feeble ones. Were it not for this change in the constitution, thousands
-in badly ventilated rooms and houses would come to a speedy death.
-
-One of the results of unventilated rooms is _scrofula_. A distinguished
-French physician, M. Baudeloque, states that
-
-“The repeated respiration of the same atmosphere is _the_ cause of
-scrofula. If there be entirely pure air, there may be bad food, bad
-clothing, and want of personal cleanliness, but scrofulous disease will
-not exist. This disease _never_ attacks persons who pass their lives
-in the open air, and _always_ manifests itself when they abide in air
-which is unrenewed.”
-
-This writer illustrates this by the history of a French village where
-the inhabitants all slept in close, unventilated houses. Nearly all
-were seized with scrofula, and many families became wholly extinct,
-their last members dying “rotten with scrofula.” A fire destroyed a
-large part of this village. Houses were then built to secure pure air,
-and scrofula disappeared from the part thus rebuilt.
-
-We are informed by medical writers that defective ventilation is one
-great cause of diseased joints, as well as of diseases of the eyes,
-ears, and skin.
-
-Foul air is the leading cause of tubercular and scrofulous consumption,
-so very common in our country. Dr. Guy, in his examination before
-public health commissioners in Great Britain, says: “Deficient
-ventilation I believe to be more fatal than _all other causes_ put
-together.” He states that consumption is twice as common among
-tradesmen as among the gentry, owing to the bad ventilation of their
-stores and dwellings.
-
-Says Dr. Dio Lewis, whose labors in the cause of health are well known:
-
-“As a medical man I have visited thousands of sick-rooms, and have not
-found in _one in a hundred_ of them a pure atmosphere. I have often
-returned from church doubting whether I had not committed a sin in
-exposing myself so long to its poisonous air. There are in our great
-cities churches costing fifty thousand dollars, in the construction of
-which not fifty cents were expended in providing means for ventilation.
-Ten thousand dollars for ornament, but not ten cents for pure air!
-
-“Unventilated parlors, with gas-burners, (each consuming as much oxygen
-as several men,) made as tight as possible, and a party of ladies
-and gentlemen spending half the night in them! In 1861, I visited a
-legislative hall, the legislature being in session. I remained half
-an hour in the most impure air I ever breathed. Our school-houses
-are, some of them, so vile in this respect, that I would prefer
-to have my son remain in utter ignorance of books rather than to
-breathe, six hours every day, such a poisonous atmosphere. Theatres
-and concert-rooms are so foul that only reckless people continue to
-visit them. Twelve hours in a railway-car exhausts one, not by the
-journeying, but because of the devitalized air. While crossing the
-ocean in a Cunard steamer, I was amazed that men who knew enough
-to construct such ships did not know enough to furnish air to the
-passengers. The distress of sea-sickness is greatly intensified by the
-sickening air of the ship. Were carbonic acid _only black_, what a
-contrast there would be between our hotels in their elaborate ornament!
-
-“Some time since I visited an establishment where one hundred and fifty
-girls, in a single room, were engaged in needle-work. Pale-faced, and
-with low vitality and feeble circulation, they were unconscious that
-they were breathing air that at once produced in me dizziness and a
-sense of suffocation. If I had remained a week with them, I should, by
-reduced vitality, have become unconscious of the vileness of the air!”
-
-There is a prevailing prejudice against _night air_ as unhealthful
-to be admitted into sleeping-rooms, which is owing wholly to sheer
-ignorance. In the night every body necessarily breathes night air
-and no other. When admitted from without into a sleeping-room, it is
-colder, and therefore heavier, than the air within, so it sinks to
-the bottom of the room and forces out an equal quantity of the impure
-air, warmed and vitiated by passing through the lungs of inmates. Thus
-the question is, Shall we shut up a chamber and breathe night air
-vitiated with carbonic acid or night air that is pure? The only real
-difficulty about night air is, that usually it is damper, and therefore
-colder and more likely to chill. This is easily remedied by sufficient
-bed-clothing.
-
-One other very prevalent mistake is found even in books written by
-learned men. It is often thought that carbonic acid, being heavier
-than common air, sinks to the floor of sleeping-rooms, so that the low
-trundle-beds for children should not be used. This is all a mistake;
-for, as a fact, in close sleeping-rooms the purest air is below and the
-most impure above. It is true that carbonic acid is heavier than common
-air, when pure; but this it rarely is except in chemical experiments.
-It is the property of all gases, as well as of the two (oxygen and
-nitrogen) composing the atmosphere, that when brought together they
-always are entirely mixed, each being equally diffused. Thus the
-carbonic acid from the skin and lungs, being warmed in the body,
-rises, as does the common air, with which it mixes, toward the top of
-a room; so that usually there is more carbonic acid at the top than at
-the bottom of a room.[1] Both common air and carbonic acid expand and
-become lighter in the same proportions; that is, for every degree of
-added heat they expand at the rate of 1/480 of their bulk.
-
-[1] Professor Brewer, of the Yale Scientific School, says: “As a fact,
-often demonstrated by analysis, there is generally more carbonic acid
-near the ceiling than near the floor.”
-
-Here, let it be remembered, that in ill-ventilated rooms the carbonic
-acid is not the only cause of disease. Experiments seem to prove that
-other matter thrown out of the body, through the lungs and skin, is
-as truly excrement and in a state of decay as that ejected from the
-bowels, and as poisonous to the animal system. Carbonic acid has
-no odor; but we are warned by the disagreeable effluvia of close
-sleeping-rooms of the other poison thus thrown into the air from
-the skin and lungs. There is one provision of nature that is little
-understood, which saves the lives of thousands living in unventilated
-houses; and that is, the passage of pure air inward and impure air
-outward through the pores of bricks, wood, stone, and mortar. Were such
-dwellings changed to tin, which is not thus porous, in less than a week
-thousands and tens of thousands would be in danger of perishing by
-suffocation.
-
-There are some recent scientific discoveries that relate to impure air
-which may properly be introduced here. It is shown by the microscope
-that _fermentation_ is a process which generates extremely minute
-plants, that gradually increase till the whole mass is pervaded by this
-vegetation. The microscope also has revealed the fact that, in certain
-diseases, these microscopic plants are generated in the blood and
-other fluids of the body, in a mode similar to the ordinary process of
-fermentation.
-
-And, what is very curious, each of these peculiar diseases generates
-diverse kinds of plants. Thus, in the typhoid fever, the microscope
-reveals in the fluids of the patient a plant that resembles in form
-some kinds of sea-weed. In chills and fever, the microscopic plant
-has another form, and in small-pox still another. A work has recently
-been published in Europe, in which representations of these various
-microscopic plants generated in the fluids of the diseased persons
-are exhibited, enlarged several hundred times by the microscope. All
-diseases that exhibit these microscopic plants are classed together,
-and are called _Zymotic_, from a Greek word signifying _to ferment_.
-
-It is now regarded as probable that most of these diseases are
-generated by the microscopic plants which float in an impure or
-miasmatic atmosphere, and are taken into the blood by breathing.
-
-Recent scientific investigations in Great Britain and other countries
-prove that the _power of resisting_ these diseases depends upon the
-purity of the air which has been _habitually_ inspired. The human
-body gradually accommodates itself to unhealthful circumstances, so
-that people can live a long time in bad air. But the “reserve power”
-of the body—that is, the power of resisting disease—is under such
-circumstances gradually destroyed, and then an epidemic easily sweeps
-away those thus enfeebled. The plague of London, that destroyed
-thousands every day, came immediately after a long period of damp, warm
-days, when there was no wind to carry off the miasma thus generated;
-while the people, by long breathing of bad air, were all prepared, from
-having sunk into a low vitality, to fall before the pestilence.
-
-Multitudes of public documents show that the fatality of epidemics is
-always proportioned to the degree in which impure air has previously
-been respired. Sickness and death are therefore regulated by the degree
-in which air is kept pure, especially in case of diseases in which
-medical treatment is most uncertain, as in cholera and malignant fevers.
-
-Investigations made by governmental authority, and by boards of health
-in this country and in Great Britain, prove that zymotic diseases
-ordinarily result from impure air generated by vegetable or animal
-decay, and that in almost all cases they can be prevented by keeping
-the air pure. The decayed animal matter sent off from the skin and
-lungs in a close, unventilated bedroom is one thing that generates
-these zymotic diseases. The decay of animal and vegetable matter in
-cellars, sinks, drains, and marshy districts is another cause; and the
-decayed vegetable matter thrown up by plowing up of decayed vegetable
-matter in the rich soil in new countries is another.
-
-In the investigations made in certain parts of Great Britain, it
-appeared that in districts where the air is pure the deaths average
-eleven in one thousand each year; while in localities most exposed to
-impure miasma the mortality was forty-five in every thousand. At this
-rate, thirty-four persons in every thousand died from poisoned air,
-who would have preserved health and life by well-ventilated homes in
-a pure atmosphere. And, out of all who died, the proportion who owed
-their deaths to foul air was more than three-fourths. Similar facts
-have been obtained by boards of health in our own country.
-
-Mr. Lewis Leeds gives statistics showing that in Philadelphia, by
-improved modes of ventilation and other sanitary methods, there was
-a saving of three thousand two hundred and thirty-seven lives in two
-years; and a saving of three-fourths of a million of dollars, which
-would pay the whole expense of the public schools. Philadelphia being
-previously an unusually cleanly and well-ventilated city, what would
-be the saving of life, health, and wealth were such a city as New York
-perfectly cleansed and ventilated?
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-ON WARMING A HOME.
-
-
-The laws that regulate the generation, diffusion, and preservation
-of heat as yet are a sealed mystery to thousands of young women
-who imagine they are completing a suitable education in courses of
-instruction from which most that is practical in future domestic life
-is wholly excluded. We therefore give a brief outline of some of the
-leading scientific principles which every housekeeper should understand
-and employ, in order to perform successfully one of her most important
-duties.
-
-Concerning the essential nature of heat, and its intimate relations
-with the other great natural forces, light, electricity, etc., we shall
-not attempt to treat, but shall, for practical purposes, assume it to
-be a separate and independent force.
-
-Heat or caloric, then, has certain powers or principles. Let us
-consider them:
-
-First, we find _Conduction_, by which heat passes from one particle to
-another next to it; as when one end of a poker is warmed by placing the
-other end in the fire. The bodies which allow this power free course
-are called conductors, and those which do not are named non-conductors.
-Metals are good conductors; feathers, wool, and furs are poor
-conductors; and water, air, and gases are non-conductors.
-
-Another principle of heat is _Convection_, by which water, air, and
-gases are warmed. This is, literally, the process of _conveying_ heat
-from one portion of a fluid body to another by currents resulting from
-changes of temperature. It is secured by bringing one portion of a
-liquid or gas into contact with a heated surface, and thus it becomes
-lighter and expanded in volume. In consequence, the cooler and heavier
-particles above pressing downward, the lighter ones rise upward. Thus a
-constant motion of currents and interchange of particles is produced,
-until, as in a vessel of water, the whole body comes to an equal
-temperature. Air is heated in the same way. In case of a hot stove, the
-air that touches it is heated, becomes lighter, and rises, giving place
-to cooler and heavier particles, which, when heated, also ascend. It is
-owing to this process that the air of a room is warmest at the top and
-coolest at the bottom.
-
-It is owing to this principle, also, that water and air can not be
-heated by fire from above. For the particles of these bodies, being
-non-conductors, do not impart heat to each other; and when the warmest
-are at the top, they can not take the place of cooler and heavier ones
-below.
-
-Another principle of heat (which it shares with light) is _Radiation_,
-by which all things send out heat to surrounding cooler bodies. Some
-bodies will absorb radiated heat, others will reflect it, and others
-allow it to pass through them without either absorbing or reflecting.
-Thus, black and rough substances absorb heat, (or light,) colored and
-smooth articles reflect it, while air allows it to pass through without
-either absorbing or reflecting. It is owing to this that rough and
-black vessels boil water sooner than smooth and light-colored ones.
-
-Another principle is _Reflection_, by which heat radiated to a surface
-is turned back from it when not absorbed or allowed to pass through;
-just as a ball rebounds from a wall; just as sound is thrown back from
-a hill, making echo; just as rays of light are reflected from a mirror.
-
-There is no department of science, as applied to practical matters,
-which has so often baffled experimenters as the healthful mode of
-warming and ventilating houses. The British nation spent over a million
-on the House of Parliament for this end, and failed. Our own Government
-has spent half a million on the Capitol, with worse failure; and now
-it is proposed to spend a million more. The reason is, that the old
-open fire-place has been supplanted by less expensive modes of heating,
-destructive to health; and science has but just begun experiments to
-secure a remedy for the evil.
-
-The open fire warms the person, the walls, the floors, and the
-furniture by radiation, and these, together with the fire, warm the air
-by convection; for the air resting on the heated surfaces is warmed
-by convection, rises and gives place to cooler particles, causing a
-constant heating of its particles by movement. Thus, in a room with
-an open fire, the person is warmed in part by radiation from the fire
-and the surrounding walls and furniture, and in part by the warm air
-surrounding the body.
-
-In regard to the warmth of air, the thermometer is not an exact index
-of its temperature. For all bodies are constantly radiating their heat
-to cooler adjacent surfaces until all come to the same temperature.
-This being so, the thermometer is radiating its heat to walls and
-surrounding objects, in addition to what is subtracted by the air that
-surrounds it, and thus the air is really several degrees warmer than
-the thermometer indicates. A room at 70° by the thermometer is usually
-filled with air five or more degrees warmer than this.
-
-Now, the cold air is denser than warm, and therefore contains more
-oxygen. Consequently, the cooler the air inspired, the larger the
-supply of oxygen and of the vitality and vigor which it imparts. Thus,
-the great problem for economy of health is to warm the person as much
-as possible by radiated heat, and supply the lungs with cool air. For
-when we breathe air at from 16° to 20°, we take double the amount of
-oxygen that we do when we inhale it at 80° to 90°, and consequently can
-do a far greater amount of muscle and brain work.
-
-Warming by an open fire is nearest to the natural mode of the Creator,
-who heats the earth and its furniture by the great central fire of
-heaven, and sends cool breezes for our lungs. But open fires involve
-great destruction of fuel and expenditure of money, and in consequence
-economic methods have been introduced, to the great destruction of
-health and life.
-
-Whenever a family-room is heated by an open fire, it is duly
-ventilated, as the impure air is constantly passing off through the
-heated chimney, while, to supply the vacated space, the pure air
-presses in through the cracks of doors, windows, and floors. No such
-supply is gained for rooms warmed by stoves. And yet, from mistaken
-motives of economy, as well as from ignorance of the resulting evils,
-multitudes of householders are thus destroying health and shortening
-life, especially in regard to women and children who spend most of
-their time within doors. This is especially the case where air-tight
-stoves are used.
-
-A common mode of warming is by heated air from a furnace. The chief
-objection to this is the loss of moisture and of all radiated heat, and
-the consequent necessity of breathing air which is debilitating, both
-from its heat and also from being usually deprived of the requisite
-moisture provided by the Creator in all outdoor air. Another objection
-is the fact that it is important to health to preserve an equal
-circulation of the blood, and the greatest impediment to this is a
-mode of heating which keeps the head in warmer air than the feet. This
-is especially deleterious in an age and country where active brains
-are constantly drawing blood from the extremities to the head. All
-furnace-heated rooms have coldest air at the feet, and warmest around
-the head.
-
-What follows illustrates the principles on which several modes of
-ventilation are practiced.
-
-It is the common property of both air and water to expand, become
-lighter and rise, just in proportion as they are heated; and therefore
-it is the invariable law that cool air sinks, thus replacing the
-warmer air below. Thus, whenever cool air enters a warm room, it sinks
-downward and takes the place of an equal amount of the warmer air,
-which is constantly tending upward and outward. This principle of all
-fluids is illustrated by the following experiment:
-
-Take a glass jar about a foot high and three inches in diameter, and
-with a wire to aid in placing it aright, sink a small bit of lighted
-candle so as to stand in the centre at the bottom. (Fig. 34.) The
-candle will heat the air of the jar, which will rise a little on one
-side, while the colder air without will begin falling on the other
-side. These two currents will so conflict as finally to cease, and then
-the candle, having no supply of oxygen from fresh air, will begin to
-go out. Insert a bit of stiff paper so as to divide the mouth of the
-jar, and instantly the cold and warm air are not in conflict as before,
-because a current is formed each side of the paper; the cold air
-descending on one side and the warm air ascending the other side, as
-indicated by the arrows. As long as the paper remains, the candle will
-burn, and as soon as it is removed, it will begin to go out, and can be
-restored by again inserting the paper.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 34.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 35.]
-
-This illustrates the mode by which coal-mines are ventilated when
-filled with carbonic acid. A shaft divided into two passages, (Figure
-35,) is let down into the mine, where the air is warmer than the
-outside air. Immediately the colder air outside presses down into the
-mine, through the passage which is highest, being admitted by the
-escape of an equal quantity of the warmer air, which rises through the
-lower passage of the shaft, this being the first available opening
-for it to rise through. A current is thus created, which continues as
-long as the inside air is warmer than that without the mine, and no
-longer. Sometimes a fire is kindled in the mine, in order to continue
-or increase the warmth, and consequent upward current of its air.
-
-It is on this plan that many school-houses and manufactories have
-been ventilated. Its grand defect is, that it fails altogether
-when the air outside the house is at the same temperature as that
-within. This illustrates one of the cases where a “wise woman that
-buildeth her house” is greatly needed. For, owing to the ignorance of
-architects, house-builders, and men in general, they have been building
-school-houses, dwelling-houses, churches, and colleges, with the most
-absurd and senseless contrivances for ventilation, and all from not
-applying this principle of science. On this point, Professor Brewer, of
-the Scientific School of Yale College, writes thus:
-
-“I have been in public buildings, (I have one in mind now, filled
-with dormitories,) which cost half a million, where they attempted to
-ventilate every room by a single flue, long and narrow, built into
-partition walls, and extending up into the capacious garret of the
-fifth story. Every room in the building had one such flue, with an
-opening into it at the floor and at the ceiling. It is needless to say
-that the whole concern was entirely useless. Had these flues been of
-proper proportions, and properly divided, the desired ventilation would
-have been secured.” And this piece of ignorant folly was perpetrated in
-the midst of learned professors, teaching the laws of fluids and the
-laws of health!
-
-In a cold climate and wintry weather, the grand impediment to
-ventilating rooms by opening doors or windows is the dangerous currents
-thus produced, which are so injurious to the delicate ones that for
-their sake it can not be done. Then, also, as a matter of economy, the
-poor can not afford to practice a method which carries off the heat
-generated by their stinted store of fuel. Even in a warm season and
-climate, there are frequent periods when the air without is damp and
-chilly, and yet at nearly the same temperature as that in the house.
-At such times even the opening of windows often has little effect in
-emptying a room of vitiated air.
-
-The most successful mode of ventilating a house is by creating a
-current of warm air in a flue, into which an opening is made at both
-the top and the bottom of a room, to carry off the impure air, while
-a similar opening to admit outside air is made at the opposite side
-of the room. This is the mode employed in chemical laboratories for
-removing smells and injurious gases.
-
-These statements give some idea of the evils to be remedied. But
-the most difficult point is _how_ to secure the remedy; for often
-the attempt to secure pure air by one class of persons brings
-chills, colds, and disease on another class, from mere ignorance or
-mismanagement.
-
-To illustrate this, it must be borne in mind that those who live in
-warm, close, and unventilated rooms are much more liable to take cold
-from exposure to draughts and cold air than those of vigorous vitality
-accustomed to breathe pure air.
-
-Thus the strong and healthy husband, feeling the want of pure air in
-the night, and knowing its importance, keeps windows open, and makes
-such draughts that the wife, who lives all day in a close room and thus
-is low in vitality, can not bear the change, has colds, and sometimes
-perishes a victim to wrong modes of ventilation.
-
-So, even in health-establishments, the patients will pass most of their
-days and nights in badly-ventilated rooms. But at times the physician,
-or some earnest patient, insists on a mode of ventilation that brings
-more evil than good to the delicate inmates.
-
-The grand art of ventilating houses is by some method that will empty
-rooms of the vitiated air and bring in a supply of pure air _by small
-and imperceptible currents_.
-
-But this important duty of a Christian woman is one that demands
-more science, care, and attention than almost any other; and yet, to
-prepare her for this duty has never been any part of female education.
-Young women are taught to draw mathematical diagrams and to solve
-astronomical problems; but few, if any, of them are taught to solve the
-problem of a house constructed to secure pure and moist air by day and
-night for all its inmates by safe methods.
-
-We have seen the process through which the air is rendered unhealthful
-by close rooms and want of ventilation. Every person inspires air
-about twenty times each minute, using half a pint each time. At this
-rate, every pair of lungs vitiates one hogshead of air every hour. The
-membrane that lines the multitudinous air-cells of the lungs in which
-the capillaries are, should it be united in one sheet, would cover
-the floor of a room twelve feet square. Every breath brings a surface
-of air in contact with this extent of capillaries, by which the air
-inspired gives up most of its oxygen and receives carbonic acid in its
-stead. These facts furnish a guide for the proper ventilation of rooms.
-Just in proportion to the number of persons in a room or a house should
-be the amount of air brought in and carried out by arrangements for
-ventilation. But how rarely is this rule regarded in building houses or
-in the care of families by housekeepers!
-
-As a guide to proportioning the air admitted and discharged to the
-number of persons, we have the following calculation: On an average,
-every adult vitiates about half a pint of air at each inspiration, and
-inspires twenty times a minute. This would amount to one hogshead of
-air vitiated every hour by every grown person. To keep the air pure,
-this amount should enter and be carried out every hour for each person.
-If, then, ten persons assemble in a dining-room, ten hogsheads of air
-should enter and ten be discharged each hour. By the same rule, a
-gathering of five hundred persons demands the entrance and discharge
-of five hundred hogsheads of air every hour, and a thousand persons
-require a thousand hogsheads of air every hour.
-
-Therefore in calculating the size of registers and conductors, we must
-have reference to the number of persons who are to abide in a dwelling;
-while for rooms or halls intended for large gatherings a far greater
-allowance must be made.
-
-The most successful arrangement for both warming and ventilation, is
-that employed by Lewis Leeds to ventilate the military hospitals,
-and also the treasury building at Washington. It is modeled strictly
-after the mode adopted by the Creator in warming and ventilating the
-earth, the home of his great earthly family. It aims to have a passage
-of pure air through every room, as the breezes pass over the hills,
-and to have a method of warming chiefly by radiation, as the earth is
-warmed by the sun. In addition to this, the air is to be provided with
-moisture, as it is supplied outdoors by exhalations from the earth and
-its trees and plants.
-
-The mode of accomplishing this is by placing coils of steam, or
-hot-water pipes, under windows, which warm the parlor walls and
-furniture, partly by radiation, and partly by the air warmed on
-the heated surfaces of the coils. At the same time, by regulating
-registers, or by simply opening the lower part of the window, the
-pure air, guarded from immediate entrance into the room, is admitted
-directly upon the coils, so that it is partially warmed before it
-spreads through the room; and thus cold draughts are prevented. Then
-the vitiated air is drawn off through registers both at the top and
-bottom of the room, opening into a heated exhausting-flue, through
-which the constantly ascending current of warm air carries it off.
-These heated coils are often used for warming houses without any
-arrangement for carrying off the vitiated air, when, of course, their
-usefulness is gone.
-
-The moisture may be supplied by a broad vessel placed on or close to
-the heated coils, giving a large surface for evaporation. When rooms
-are warmed chiefly by radiated heat, the air can be borne much cooler
-than in rooms warmed by hot-air furnaces, just as a person in the
-radiating sun can bear much cooler air than in the shade. A time will
-come when walls and floors will be contrived to radiate heat instead of
-absorbing it from the occupants of houses, as is generally the case at
-the present time, and then all can breathe pure and cool air.
-
-We are now prepared to examine more in detail the modes of warming and
-ventilation employed in the dwellings planned for this work.
-
-In doing this, it should be remembered that the aim is not to give
-plans of houses to suit the architectural taste or the domestic
-convenience of persons who intend to keep several servants, and care
-little whether they breathe pure or bad air, nor of persons who do not
-wish to educate their children to manual industry or to habits of close
-economy.
-
-On the contrary, the aim is, first, to secure a house in which every
-room shall be perfectly ventilated both day and night, and that too
-without the watchful care and constant attention and intelligence
-needful in houses not provided with a proper and successful mode of
-ventilation.
-
-The next aim is, to arrange the conveniences of domestic labor so as to
-save time, and also to render such work less repulsive than it is made
-by common methods, so that children can be trained to love house-work.
-And lastly, economy of expense in house-building is sought. These
-things should be borne in mind in examining the plans of this work.
-
-In the dwelling-house, chap, ii., part ii., Fig. 7, a cast-iron pipe
-is made in sections, which are to be united, and the whole fastened at
-top and bottom in the centre of the warm-air flue by ears extending
-to the bricks, and fastened when the flue is in process of building.
-Projecting openings to receive the pipes of the furnace, the laundry
-stove, and two stoves in each story, should be provided in this
-cast-iron pipe, which must be closed when not in use. A large opening
-is to be made into the warm-air flue, and through this the kitchen
-stove-pipe is to pass, and be joined to the cast-iron chimney-pipe.
-Thus the smoke of the kitchen stove will warm the iron chimney-pipe,
-and this will warm the air of the flue, causing a current upward,
-and this current will draw the heat and smells of cooking out of the
-kitchen into the opening of the warm-air flue. Every room surrounding
-the chimney has an opening at the top and bottom into the warm-air flue
-for ventilation, as also have the bath-room and water-closets.
-
-The pure air for rooms on the ground-floor is to be introduced by a
-wooden conductor one foot square, running under the floor from the
-front door to the stove-room, with cross branches to the two large
-rooms. The pure air passes through this, protected outside by wire
-netting, and delivered inside through registers in each room, as
-indicated in Fig. 7.
-
-In case open Franklin stoves are used in the large rooms, the pure air
-from the conductor should enter behind them, and thus be partially
-warmed. The vitiated air is carried off at the bottom of the room
-through the open stoves, and also at the top by a register opening
-into a conductor to the exhausting warm-air shaft, which, it will be
-remembered, is the square chimney, containing the iron pipe which
-receives the kitchen stove-pipe. The stove-room receives pure air from
-the conductor, and sends off impure air and the smells of cooking by a
-register opening directly into the exhausting shaft; while its hot air
-and smoke, passing through the iron pipe, heat the air of the shaft,
-and produce the exhausting current.
-
-The large chambers on the second floor (Fig. 18) have pure air
-conducted from the stove-room through registers that can be closed if
-the heat or smells of cooking are unpleasant. The air in the stove-room
-will always be moist from the water of the stove boiler.
-
-The small chambers have pure air admitted from windows sunk at top half
-an inch; and the warm, vitiated air is conducted by a register in the
-ceiling which opens into a conductor to the exhausting warm-air shaft
-at the centre of the house, as shown in Fig. 23.
-
-The basement or cellar is ventilated by an opening into the exhausting
-air-shaft, to remove impure air, and a small opening over each glazed
-door to admit pure air. The doors open out into a “well,” or recess,
-excavated in the earth before the cellar, for the admission of light
-and air, neatly bricked up and whitewashed. The doors are to be made
-entirely of strong, thick glass sashes, and this will give light enough
-for laundry work—the tubs and ironing-table being placed closed to the
-glazed door. The floor must be plastered with water-lime, and the walls
-and ceiling be whitewashed, which will add reflected light to the room.
-There will thus be no need of other windows, and the house need not be
-raised above the ground. Several cottages have been built thus, so that
-the ground-floors and conservatories are nearly on the same level; and
-all agree that they are pleasanter than when raised higher.
-
-When a window in any room is sunk at the top, it should have a narrow
-shelf in front inclined to the opening, so as to keep out the rain. In
-small chambers for one person, an inch opening is sufficient, and in
-larger rooms for two persons a two-inch opening is needed. The openings
-into the exhausting-air flue should vary from eight inches to twelve
-inches square, or more, according to the number of persons who are to
-sleep in the room.
-
-The time when ventilation is most difficult is the medium weather in
-spring and fall, when the air, though damp, is similar in temperature
-outside and in. Then the warm-air flue is indispensable to proper
-ventilation. This is especially needed in a room used for school or
-church purposes.
-
-Every room should have its air regulated not only as to its warmth and
-purity, but also as to its supply of moisture; and for this purpose
-will be found very convenient the instrument called the hygrodeik,[2]
-which shows at once the temperature and the moisture.
-
-[2] It is manufactured by N. M. Lowe, Boston, and sold by him and J.
-Queen & Co., Philadelphia.
-
-The preceding remarks illustrate the advantages of the cottage plan in
-respect to healthful ventilation. The economy of the mode of warming
-next demands attention. In the first place, it should be noted that
-the chimney being at the centre of the house, no heat is lost by its
-radiation through outside walls into open air, as is the case with all
-fire-places and grates that have their backs and flues joined to an
-outside wall.
-
-In this plan all the radiated heat from the stove serves to warm the
-walls of adjacent rooms in cold weather; while in the warm season
-the non-conducting summer casings of the stove described in the next
-chapter send all the heat either into the exhausting warm-air shaft or
-into the central cast-iron pipe. In addition, the sliding doors of the
-stove-room (which should be only six feet high, meeting the partition
-coming from the ceiling), can be opened in cool days, and then the
-heat from the stove would temper the rooms each side of the kitchen.
-In hot weather they could be kept closed, except when the stove is
-used, and then opened only for a short time. The Franklin stoves in
-the large room would give the radiating warmth and cheerful blaze of
-an open fire, while radiating heat also from all their surfaces.
-In cold weather the air of the larger chambers could be tempered by
-registers admitting warm air from the stove-room, which would always be
-sufficiently moistened by evaporation from the stationary boiler. The
-conservatories in winter, protected from frost by double sashes, would
-contribute agreeable moisture to the larger rooms. In case the size of
-a family required more rooms, another story could be ventilated and
-warmed by the same mode, with little additional expense.
-
-We will next notice the economy of time, labor, and expense secured by
-this cottage plan. The laundry work being done in the basement, all the
-cooking, dish-washing, etc., can be done in the kitchen and stove-room
-on the ground-floor. But in case a larger kitchen is needed, the
-lounges can be put in the front part of the large room, and the movable
-screen placed so as to give a work-room adjacent to the kitchen, and
-the front side of the same be used for the eating-room. Where the
-movable screen is used, the floor should be oiled wood. A square piece
-of carpet can be put in the centre of the front part of the room, to
-keep the feet warm when sitting around the table, and small rugs can be
-placed before the lounges or other sitting-places, for the same purpose.
-
-Most cottages are so divided by entries, stairs, closets, etc., that
-there can be no large rooms. But in this plan, by the use of the
-movable screen, two fine large rooms can be secured whenever the family
-work is over, while the conveniences for work will very much lessen the
-time required.
-
-In certain cases, where the closest economy is needful, two small
-families can occupy the cottage, by having a movable screen in both
-rooms, and using the kitchen in common, or divide it and have two
-smaller stoves. Each kitchen will then have a window, and as much room
-as is given to the kitchen in great steamers that provide for several
-hundred.
-
-Whoever plans a house with a view to economy must arrange rooms around
-a central chimney, and avoid all projecting appendages. Dormer-windows
-are far more expensive than common ones, and are less pleasant. Every
-addition projecting from a main building greatly increases expense of
-building, and still more of warming and ventilating.
-
-It should be introduced, as one school exercise in every female
-seminary, to plan houses with reference to economy of time, labor,
-and expense, and also with reference to good architectural taste;
-and the teacher should be qualified to point out faults and give the
-instruction needed to prevent such mistakes in practical life. Every
-girl should be trained to be “a wise woman” that “buildeth her house”
-aright.
-
-There is but one mode of ventilation yet tried that will, at all
-seasons of the year and all hours of the day and night, secure pure air
-without dangerous draughts, and that is by an exhausting warm-air flue.
-This is always secured by an open fire-place, so long as its chimney is
-kept warm by any fire. And in many cases, a fire-place with a flue of
-a certain dimension and height will secure good ventilation, _except_
-when the air without and within is at the same temperature.
-
-When no exhausting warm-air flue can be used, the opening of doors and
-windows is the only resort. Every sleeping-room _without a fire-place
-that draws smoke well_ should have a window raised at the bottom or
-sunk at the top at least an inch, with an inclined shelf outside or
-in, to keep out rain, and then it is properly ventilated, provided
-the air outside is colder than the inside air—but not otherwise. Or a
-door should be kept opened into a hall with an open window. Let the
-bed-clothing be increased, so as to keep warm in bed, and protect the
-head also, and then the more air comes into a sleeping-room the better
-for health.
-
-In reference to the warming of rooms and houses already built, there
-is no doubt that stoves are the most economical mode, as they radiate
-heat and also warm by convection. The grand objection to their use is
-the difficulty of securing proper ventilation. If a room is well warmed
-by a stove, and then several small openings made for the entrance of a
-good supply of outdoor air, and by a mode that will prevent dangerous
-draughts, all is right as to pure air. But in this case the feet are
-always on cold floors, surrounded by the coldest air, while the head is
-in air of much higher temperature.
-
-The writer believes that ere long the common mode of warming by
-furnaces will be banished as most pernicious to health, and constant
-sources of discomfort and economic waste. The reasons for this demand
-reference to some of the principles of pneumatics.
-
-It has been shown how the air is heated by _convection_, or changing
-contact. It is thus the atmosphere is warmed, not by the rays of the
-sun passing through it, but by contact with the earth and other objects
-which have been warmed by radiated heat from the sun. The lower stratum
-of air being thus warmed, becomes lighter, and ascends, giving place to
-the cooler and heavier air. This process continues, so that the warmest
-air is always nearest the earth, and grows cooler as height increases.
-
-The air has a strong attraction for water, and always holds a certain
-quantity as an invisible vapor. The warmer the air the more water it
-demands, and will draw it from all objects it can reach. When air
-cools, it deposits its invisible moisture as dew. When the air has all
-the water it can hold, it is said to be _saturated_; and when it cools
-so as to begin to deposit moisture, it is called the _dew point_.
-
-When air holds all the moisture it can sustain, its moisture is said
-to be at 100 per cent.; when it holds only one-half as much as its
-temperature demands, it is said to be at 50 per cent.; and when it
-holds three-fourths of what its temperature requires, it is at 75 per
-cent.; and when only one-fourth, it holds 25 per cent.
-
-In summer, outdoor air rarely holds less than half its _volume_ of
-water; that is, a quart of air usually holds as much as a pint of
-invisible vapor. In 1838, at Harvard and Yale, at 70° Fahrenheit, the
-air held 80 per cent. of moisture; at New Orleans it often holds 90
-per cent.; at the North, in fogs, the air often holds all it can, or
-is saturated—that is, holding 100 per cent. Thus it appears that the
-hotter the air, the more water is demanded by it for invisible vapor,
-and this it takes from all around.
-
-Professor Bremer, of Yale College, states that 40 per cent. of moisture
-is needed to make air healthful. Now furnaces receive cold air
-containing little invisible moisture, and by heating it a demand is
-created for much more. This is sucked up, as by a sponge, from walls
-and furniture, and especially from the lungs and capillaries of our
-bodies, thus causing dryness and sometimes inflammation of lips, nose,
-eyes, throat, and lungs. Experiments prove that while 40 per cent. of
-moisture is needed for health, furnace-heated air rarely has as much
-as 20 per cent., even when a few quarts of water are evaporated in the
-furnace chamber. Thus the inmates of the house breathe dryer air than
-is ever breathed in the hottest deserts of Sahara.
-
-Thus, for want of proper instruction, most American housekeepers who
-use stoves and furnaces not only poison their families with carbonic
-acid and carbonic oxide, and starve them for want of oxygen, but also
-diminish health and comfort for want of a due supply of moisture in
-the air. And often when a remedy is sought, by evaporating water in
-the furnace, or on the stove, it is without knowing that the amount
-evaporated depends, not on the quantity of water in the vessel, but on
-the extent of evaporating surface exposed to the air. A quart of water
-in a wide shallow pan will give more moisture than two gallons with a
-small surface exposed to heat.
-
-There is also no little wise economy in keeping a proper supply of
-moisture in the air. For it is found that the body radiates its heat
-less in moist than in dry air, so that a person feels as warm at a
-lower temperature when the air has a proper supply of moisture, as in
-a much higher temperature of dry air. Of course, less fuel is needed
-to warm a house when water is evaporated in stove and furnace-heated
-rooms. It is said by those who have experimented, that the saving in
-fuel is twenty per cent. when the air is duly supplied with moisture.
-
-There are other difficulties connected with furnaces which should be
-considered.
-
-The human body is constantly radiating its heat to walls, floors, and
-cooler bodies around. At the same time, a thermometer is affected in
-the same way, radiating its heat to cooler bodies around, so that it
-always marks a lower degree of heat than actually exists in the warm
-air around it. Owing to these facts, the injected air of a furnace is
-always warmer than is good for the lungs, and much warmer than is ever
-needed in rooms warmed by radiation from fires or heated surfaces. The
-cooler the air we inspire, the more oxygen is received, the faster
-the blood circulates, and the greater is the vigor imparted to brain,
-nerves, and muscles.
-
-Every woman ought to know all the dangers connected with furnaces and
-how to remedy them. The following may aid in this duty:
-
-When a furnace does not draw well, it often is owing to the stoppage
-by fine ashes or soot, and then the smoke-flues must be cleaned. The
-fewer and more simple the smoke-flues the less this trouble will occur.
-Sometimes the shaking of a furnace makes cracks in joints, and this
-causes outflow of gas and also diminishes the draught.
-
-When iron is very hot, it burns the particles floating in the air,
-making an unpleasant smell and dryness. A large furnace, therefore, is
-better than a small one that must be kept very hot.
-
-Water should be evaporated in large surfaces, and so as to deposit dew
-on windows.
-
-Heated air passes off by the shortest courses, and it is often the case
-that the more distant rooms thus warmed have no ventilation and little
-renewal from the furnace air, and this is often shown by a fetid smell.
-
-Furnaces where air is heated in the furnace-chamber by coils of steam
-or by hot water, though costing more at first, require much less fuel,
-and do not involve the evils of warming by hot iron.
-
-The safest and pleasantest way of warming a dwelling is by steam-coils,
-provided there are fire-places or hot-air flues to carry off bad air.
-Without these, this is the most unhealthful mode of all, as there is
-no fresh air brought in, and what is heated is breathed over and over,
-till it is poisonous.
-
-The want of care in regulating the dampers of the airbox often makes a
-house cold, however great the furnace fire. A strong wind requires the
-dampers nearly closed, especially when it is on the side where the air
-enters from without. Every furnace should be supplied, not by cellar
-air, but by air taken through a shaft from a height, and so more pure.
-
-Remember that an open fire, or an opening into a hot-air flue, will
-ventilate properly in all seasons and all weathers. The opening should
-be at both the top and bottom of the room.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.
-
-
-The simplest mode of warming a house and cooking food is by radiated
-heat from fires; but this is the most wasteful method, as respects
-time, labor, and expense. The most convenient, economical, and
-labor-saving mode of employing heat is by _convection_, as applied
-in stoves and furnaces; but for want of proper care and scientific
-knowledge this method has proved very destructive to health. When
-warming and cooking were done by open fires, houses were well supplied
-with pure air, as is rarely the case in rooms heated by stoves; for
-such is the prevailing ignorance on this subject, that as long as
-stoves save labor and warm the air, the great majority of people,
-especially among the ignorant, will use them in ways that involve
-debilitated constitutions and frequent disease.
-
-The most common modes of cooking, where open fires are relinquished,
-are by the range and the cooking-stove. The range is inferior to the
-stove in these respects: it is less economical, demanding much more
-fuel; it endangers the dress of the cook while standing near for
-various operations; it requires more stooping than the stove while
-cooking; it will not keep a fire all night, as do the best stoves; it
-will not burn wood and coal equally well; and lastly, if it warms the
-kitchen sufficiently in winter, it is too warm for summer. Some prefer
-it because the fumes of cooking can be carried off; but stoves properly
-arranged accomplish this equally well.
-
-After extensive inquiry and many personal experiments, the author has
-found a cooking-stove constructed on true scientific principles, which
-unites convenience, comfort, and economy, in a remarkable manner; and
-this is the one referred to in the kitchen of the cottage described in
-Chapter IV. Of this stove drawings and descriptions will now be given,
-as the best mode of illustrating the practical applications of these
-principles to the art of cooking, and to show how much American women
-have suffered, and how much they have been imposed upon for want of
-proper knowledge in this branch of their profession. And every woman
-can understand what follows with much less effort than young girls at
-high-schools give to the first problems of Geometry—for which they will
-never have any practical use, while attention to this problem of home
-affairs will cultivate the intellect quite as much as the abstract
-reasonings of Algebra and Geometry.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 36.]
-
-Fig. 36 represents a portion of the interior of this cooking-stove.
-First, notice the fire-box, which has corrugated (literally, wrinkled)
-sides, by which space is economized, so that as much heating surface is
-secured as if they were one-third larger; for the heat radiates from
-every part of the undulating surface, which is one-third greater in
-superficial extent than if it were plane. The shape of the fire-box
-also secures more heat by having oblique sides—which radiate more
-effectively into the oven beneath than if they were perpendicular, as
-illustrated by Figs. 37 and 38. It is also sunk into the oven, so as
-to radiate from three instead of from two sides. In most other stoves,
-the front of the fire-boxes with their grates are built so as to be the
-front of the stove itself, and radiate outward chiefly.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 37. Model Stove.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 38. Ordinary Stove.]
-
-The oven is the space under and around the back and front sides of the
-fire-box. The oven-bottom is not introduced in the diagram, but it is
-a horizontal plate between the fire-box and what is represented as the
-“flue-plate,” which separates the oven from the bottom of the stove.
-The top of the oven is the horizontal corrugated plate passing from
-the rear edge of the fire-box to the back flues. These flues are three
-in number—the back centre-flue, which is closed to the heat and smoke
-coming over the oven from the fire-box by a damper, and the two back
-corner-flues. Down these two corner-flues passes the current of hot
-air and smoke, having first drawn across the corrugated oven-top. The
-arrows show its descent through these flues, from which it obliquely
-strikes and passes over the flue-plate, then under it, and then out
-through the centre back-flue, which is open at the bottom, up into the
-smoke-pipe.
-
-The flue-plate is placed obliquely, to accumulate heat by forcing
-and compression; for the back space where the smoke enters from the
-corner-flues is largest, and decreases toward the front, so that the
-hot current is compressed in a narrow space, between the oven-bottom
-and the flue-plate at the place where the bent arrows are seen. Here
-again it enters a wider space, under the flue-plate, and proceeds to
-another narrow one, between the flue-plate and the bottom of the stove,
-and thus is compressed and retained longer than if not impeded by
-these various contrivances. The heat and smoke also strike the plate
-obliquely, and thus, by reflection from its surface, impart more heat
-than if the passage was a horizontal one.
-
-The external radiation is regulated by the use of non-conducting
-plaster applied to the flue-plate and to the sides of the corner-flues,
-so that the heat is prevented from radiating in any direction except
-toward the oven. The doors, sides, and bottom of the stove are lined
-with tin casings, which hold a stratum of air which is a non-conductor.
-These casings are so arranged as to be removed whenever the weather
-becomes cold, so that the heat may then radiate into the kitchen. The
-outer edges of the oven are also similarly protected from loss of heat
-by tin casings and air-spaces, and the oven doors opening at the front
-of the stove are provided with the same economical savers of heat. High
-tin covers placed on the top prevent the heat from radiating from the
-top of the stove. These are exceedingly useful, as the space under them
-is well heated and arranged for baking, for heating irons, and many
-other incidental necessities. Cake and pies can be baked on the top,
-while the oven is used for bread or for meats. When all the casings
-and covers are on, almost all the heat is confined within the stove;
-and whenever heat for the room is wanted, opening the front oven doors
-turns it out into the kitchen.
-
-Another contrivance is that of ventilating-holes in the front doors,
-through which fresh air is brought into the oven. This secures several
-purposes: it carries off the fumes of cooking meats, and prevents the
-mixing of flavors when different articles are cooked in the oven; it
-drives the heat that accumulates between the fire-box and front doors
-down around the oven, and equalizes its heat, so that articles need not
-be moved while baking; and lastly, as the air passes through the holes
-of the fire-box, it causes the burning of gases in the smoke, and thus
-increases heat. When wood or bituminous coal is used, perforated metal
-linings are put in the fire-box, and the result is the burning of smoke
-and gases that otherwise would pass into the chimney. This is a great
-discovery in the economy of fuel, which can be applied in many ways.
-
-Heretofore most cooking-stoves have had dumping-grates, which are
-inconvenient from the dust produced, are uneconomical in the use of
-fuel, and disadvantageous from too many or too loose joints. But
-recently this stove has been provided with a dumping-grate which
-also will sift ashes, and can be cleaned without dust and the other
-objectionable features of most dumping-grates.
-
-Those who are taught to manage the stove properly keep the fire going
-all night, and equally well with wood or coal, thus saving the expense
-of kindling and the trouble of starting a new fire. When the fuel is
-of good quality, all that is needed in the morning is to draw the
-back-damper, shake the grate, and add more fuel.
-
-Another remarkable feature of this stove is the extension-top, on
-which is placed a water reservoir, constantly heated by the smoke as
-it passes from the stove, through one or two uniting passages, to the
-smoke-pipe. Under this is placed a closet for warming and keeping hot
-the dishes, vegetables, meats, etc., while preparing for dinner. It is
-also very useful in drying fruit; and when large baking is required, a
-small appended pot for charcoal turns it into a fine large oven, that
-bakes as nicely as a brick oven.
-
-Another useful appendage is a common tin oven, in which roasting can
-be done in front of the stove, the oven doors being removed for the
-purpose. The roast will be done as perfectly as by an open fire.
-
-This stove is furnished with pipes for heating water, like the
-water-back of ranges, and these can be taken or left out at pleasure.
-So also the top covers, the baking stool and pot, and the summer-back,
-bottom, and side-casings can be used or omitted as preferred.
-
-Fig. 39 exhibits the stove completed, with all its appendages, as they
-might be employed in cooking for a large family.
-
-Its capacity, convenience, and economy as a stove may be estimated
-by the following fact: With proper management of dampers, one
-ordinary-sized coal-hod of anthracite coal will, for twenty-four hours,
-keep the stove running, keep seventeen gallons of water hot at all
-hours, bake pies and puddings in the warm closet, heat flat-irons under
-the back cover, boil tea-kettle and one pot under the front cover,
-bake bread in the oven, and cook a turkey in the tin roaster in front.
-The author has numerous friends who, after trying the best ranges, have
-dismissed them for this stove, and in two or three years cleared the
-whole expense by the saving of fuel.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 39.]
-
-The remarkable durability of this stove is another economic feature;
-for, in addition to its fine castings and nice-fitting workmanship, all
-the parts liable to burn out are so protected by linings, and other
-contrivances easily renewed, that the stove itself may pass from one
-generation to another, as do ordinary chimneys. The writer has visited
-in families where this stove had been in constant use for eighteen and
-twenty years, and was still as good as new. In most other families the
-stoves are broken, burned out, or thrown aside for improved patterns
-every four, five, or six years, and sometimes, to the knowledge of the
-writer, still oftener.
-
-Another excellent point is that, although it is so complicated in its
-various contrivances as to demand intelligent management in order to
-secure all its advantages, it also can be used satisfactorily even
-when the mistress and maid are equally careless and ignorant of its
-distinctive merits. To such it offers all the advantages of ordinary
-good stoves, and is extensively used by those who take no pains to
-understand and apply its peculiar advantages.
-
-But the writer has managed the stove herself in all the details of
-cooking, and is confident that any housekeeper of common sense who is
-instructed properly, and who also aims to have her kitchen affairs
-managed with strict economy, can easily train any servant who is
-willing to learn, so as to gain the full advantages offered. And even
-without any instructions at all except the printed directions sent
-with the stove, an intelligent woman can, by due attention, though
-not without, both manage it, and teach her children and servants to
-do likewise. And whenever this stove has failed to give the highest
-satisfaction, it has been either because the draught of the chimney was
-poor, or because the housekeeper was not apprised of its peculiarities,
-or because she did not give sufficient attention to the matter, or was
-not able or willing to superintend and direct its management.
-
-The consequence has been that, in families where this stove has been
-understood and managed aright, it has saved nearly one-half of the
-fuel that would be used in ordinary stoves, constructed with the usual
-disregard of scientific and economic laws. And it is because we know
-this particular stove to be convenient, reliable, and economically
-efficient beyond ordinary experience, in the important housekeeping
-element of kitchen labor, that we devote to it so much space and pains
-to describe its advantageous points.[3]
-
-[3] A letter to the author, inclosing twenty-five cents for expense of
-time and correspondence, will secure a circular with further account
-and directions for using this stove. Direct—Care of Dr. G. H. Taylor,
-New York city.
-
-
-CHIMNEYS.
-
-One of the most serious evils in domestic life is often found in
-chimneys that will not properly draw the smoke of a fire or stove.
-Although chimneys have been building for a thousand years, the
-artisans of the present day seem strangely ignorant of the true method
-of constructing them so as always to carry smoke upward instead of
-downward. It is rarely the case that a large house is built in which
-there is not some flue or chimney which “will not draw.” One of the
-reasons why the stove described as excelling all others is sometimes
-cast aside for a poorer one is, that it requires a properly constructed
-chimney, and multitudes of women do not know how to secure it. The
-writer in early life shed many a bitter tear, drawn forth by smoke from
-an ill-constructed kitchen-chimney, and thousands all over the land can
-report the same experience.
-
-The following are some of the causes and the remedies for this evil:
-
-The most common cause of poor chimney draughts is too large an opening
-for the fire-place, either too wide or too high in front, or having too
-large a throat for the smoke. In a lower story, the fire-place should
-not be larger than thirty inches wide, twenty-five inches high, and
-fifteen deep. In the story above, it should be eighteen inches square
-and fifteen inches deep.
-
-Another cause is too short a flue, and the remedy is to lengthen it. As
-a general rule, the longer the flue the stronger the draught; but in
-calculating the length of a flue, reference must be had to side-flues,
-if any open into it. Where this is the case, the length of the main
-flue is to be considered as extending only from the bottom to the point
-where the upper flue joins it, and where the lower flue will receive
-air from the upper side flue. If a smoky flue can not be increased in
-length, either by closing an upper flue or lengthening the chimney, the
-fire-place must be contracted so that all the air near the fire will be
-heated and thus pressed upward.
-
-If a flue has more than one opening, in some cases it is impossible to
-secure a good draught. Sometimes it will work well, and sometimes it
-will not. The only safe rule is to have a separate flue to each fire.
-
-Another cause of poor draughts is too tight a room, so that the cold
-air from without can not enter to press the warm air up the chimney.
-The remedy is to admit a small current of air from without.
-
-Another cause is two chimneys in one room, or in rooms opening
-together, in which the draught in one is much stronger than in the
-other. In this case the stronger draught will draw away from the
-weaker. The remedy is, for each room to have a proper supply of outside
-air; or, in a single room, to stop one of the chimneys.
-
-Another cause is the too close vicinity of a hill or buildings higher
-than the top of the chimney, and the remedy for this is to raise the
-chimney.
-
-Another cause is the descent into unused fire-places of smoke from
-other chimneys near. The remedy is to close the throat of the unused
-chimney.
-
-Another cause is a door opening toward the fire-place on the same side
-of the room, so that its draught passes along the wall and makes a
-current that draws out the smoke. The remedy is to change the hanging
-of the door, so as to open another way.
-
-Another cause is strong winds. The remedy is a turn-cap on top of the
-chimney.
-
-Another cause is the roughness of the inside of a chimney, or
-projections which impede the passage of the smoke. Every chimney should
-be built of equal dimensions from bottom to top, with no projections
-into it, with as few bends as possible, and with the surface of the
-inside as smooth as possible.
-
-Another cause of poor draughts is openings into the chimney of chambers
-for stove-pipes. The remedy is to close them, or insert stove-pipes
-that are in use.
-
-Another cause is the falling out of brick in some part of the chimney
-so that outer air is admitted. The remedy is to close the opening.
-
-The draught of a stove may be affected by most of these causes. It
-also demands that the fire-place have a tight fire-board, or that the
-throat be carefully filled. For neglecting this, many a good stove has
-been thrown aside and a poor one taken in its place.
-
-If all young women had committed to memory these causes of evil and
-their remedies, many a badly-built chimney might have been cured,
-and many smoke-drawn tears, sighs, ill tempers, and irritating words
-avoided.
-
-But there are dangers in this direction which demand special attention.
-Where one flue has two stoves or fire-places, in rooms one above the
-other, in certain states of the atmosphere, the lower room being the
-warmer, the colder air and carbonic acid in the room above will pass
-down into the lower room through the opening for the stove or the
-fire-place.
-
-This occurred not long since in a boarding-school, when the gas in a
-room above flowed into a lower one, and suffocated several to death.
-This room had no mode of ventilation, and several persons slept in
-it, and were thus stifled. Professor Brewer states a similar case in
-the family of a relative. An anthracite stove was used in the upper
-room; and on one still, close night, the gas from this stove descended
-through the flue and the opening into a room below, and stifled the
-sleepers.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.
-
-
-The educating influence of works of natural beauty and of art can
-hardly be overestimated. Surrounded by such suggestions of the
-beautiful, and such reminders of history and art, children are
-constantly trained to correctness of taste and refinement of thought,
-and stimulated—sometimes to efforts at artistic imitation, always to
-the eager and intelligent inquiry about the scenes, the places, the
-incidents represented.
-
-Just here, perhaps, we are met by some who impatiently exclaim, “But I
-have _no_ money to spare for any thing of this sort. I am condemned to
-an absolute bareness, and beauty in my case is not to be thought of.”
-It is for such that some economic modes of beautifying a home are here
-suggested.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 40.]
-
-The cornices to your windows can be simply strips of wood covered with
-paper to match the bordering of your room, and the lambrequins, made
-of chintz like the lounge, could be trimmed with fringe or gimp of the
-same color. The patterns of these can be varied according to fancy,
-but simple designs are usually the prettiest. A tassel at the lowest
-point greatly improves the appearance of the entire curtain.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 41.]
-
-The curtains can be made of plain white muslin, or some of the many
-styles that come for this purpose. If plain muslin is used, you can
-ornament them with hems an inch in width, in which insert a strip of
-gingham or chambray of the same color as your chintz. This will wash
-with the curtains without losing its color, or, should it fade, it can
-easily be drawn out and replaced.
-
-The influence of white-muslin curtains in giving an air of grace and
-elegance to a room is astonishing. White curtains really create a room
-out of nothing. No matter how coarse the muslin, so it be white and
-hang in graceful folds, there is a charm in it that supplies the want
-of multitudes of other things.
-
-The following is a sketch of a most attractive parlor, the owners
-being persons of taste and culture, and visited by the most wealthy
-and refined class, who are always delighted with its light, comfort,
-and beauty. In this parlor is the window, Fig. 40, page 192, with its
-lambrequins, and the window covered with flowers and greens, Fig. 41.
-
-A straw matting, used six years, and still good.
-
-Cheap drab-colored rugs, bordered with green, in front of the fire and
-under the centre-table. The cheap wall-paper is drab and green, with
-heavy green border for cornice. On one side is this window adorned with
-creepers, brackets with flower-pots, and hanging-baskets, as at Fig.
-41, page 193. The other (see Fig. 40) window has lambrequins made of
-an old green worsted dress lined with coarse unbleached cotton trimmed
-with green gimp, and the tassels home-made from remnants of the old
-green dress. Cheap white lace with broad hems, in which strips of the
-green dress are drawn, complete the window outfit.
-
-On one side of the fire-place is a lounge made as illustrated by Fig.
-16, page 139; and ottomans around are also made as illustrated in the
-same chapter. All are covered with drab cotton cloth, and trimmed with
-green.
-
-Six chairs bought unpainted, and by the mistress of the house painted
-drab and green. Chromos and engravings in cheap and tasteful frames,
-as illustrated in Figs. 42 and 43, adorn the walls, and German ivy and
-hanging-baskets of greens and flowers are in all tasteful arrangements.
-In cool weather a bright fire of dried walnut invites to a social
-gathering around its hospitable gleams, the fire-place being an open
-Franklin stove, so placed that its hearth is on a level with the floor,
-that there may be no cold feet. Such a stove unites economy with beauty
-and comfort. A prime charm of this room is its southern exposure,
-securing sunshine all the year, never shut out with shades or blinds
-except in the hottest days.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 42.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 43.]
-
-This lovely parlor was furnished with pictures and every other article
-for less than a hundred dollars, and was more beautiful and enjoyable
-than many of those which have demanded thousands for their outfit.
-
-As a means of educating the ingenuity and the taste, you can make for
-yourselves pretty rustic frames in various modes. Take a very thin
-board, of the right size and shape, for the foundation or “mat;” saw
-out the inner oval or rectangular form to suit the picture. Nail on
-the edge a rustic frame made of branches of hard, seasoned wood, and
-garnish the corners with some pretty device; such, for instance, as a
-cluster of acorns; or, in place of the branches of trees, fasten on
-with glue small pine cones, with larger ones for corner ornaments. Or
-use the mosses of the wood or ocean shells for this purpose. It may be
-more convenient to get the mat or inner molding from a framer, or have
-it made by your carpenter, with a groove behind to hold a glass.
-
-If you have in the house any broken-down arm-chair reposing in the
-oblivion of the garret, draw it out—drive a nail here and there to
-hold it firm—stuff and pad, and stitch the padding through with a long
-upholsterer’s needle, and cover it with the chintz like your other
-furniture and you create an easy-chair.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 44.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 45.]
-
-An ox-muzzle, flattened on one side and nailed to a board, as in
-Fig. 44, filled with spongy moss and feathery ferns, makes a lovely
-ornament; while suspended baskets holding cups or bowls of soil filled
-with drooping plants is another cheap ornament. A Ward case, which any
-ingenious boy can make of pine and common glass, is shown on the table
-at Fig. 41, page 193. It is a great source of enjoyment to children and
-invalids. The box at the bottom is to be lined with zinc, and have a
-hole for drainage covered with an inverted saucer, and there must be a
-door at one end. The soil must consist of broken charcoal at bottom,
-two inches deep, and over this some soil made of one-fourth fine sand,
-one-fourth meadow soil from under fresh turf, and two-fourths wood soil
-from under forest-trees. In this plant all sorts of ferns and swamp
-grasses, and make a border of money-plant or periwinkle. A bit of
-looking-glass, some shells, and bits of rock with a variety of mosses,
-flowers, and ferns that grow in the shade, can lend variety and beauty.
-When watering, set a pail under for it to drip into. It needs only to
-keep this moss always damp, and to sprinkle these ferns occasionally
-with a whisk-broom, to have a most lovely ornament for your room or
-hall.
-
-An old tin pan, painted green, with holes in the bottom, thus supplied
-with soil and ferns, makes a pretty parlor ornament. Or, take a
-salt-box or fig-box, and fill them with soil and plants, and use
-for hanging-baskets. The Ward case needs watering only once in two
-weeks, and most of these plants grow without sun in north windows.
-The fuchsias flourish also in the shade, as do striped spider-wort,
-smilax, saxifrage, and samentosa or Wandering Jew. German ivy growing
-in suspended bottles of water is a cheap ornament, and slips of
-nasturtions and verbenas will grow in north windows all winter. A
-sponge filled with flax-seed, hung by a cord and kept wet, is another
-cheap ornament, as is also a carrot scooped out, after the small part
-is cut out and hung up, till its tall, graceful shoots will mingle with
-flowers placed in it. A sweet-potato in a bowl of water, or suspended
-by a knitting-needle run through it and laid in a bowl half full of
-water, makes a verdant ornament. The flowers for a Ward case, in a
-room without sun, are, ground pine, prince’s pine, trailing arbutus,
-partridge-berry, eye-brights, mosses. Fig. 45 is a stand for flowers,
-made of roots scraped and varnished.
-
-Much of the beauty of furniture is secured by the tasteful combination
-of colors. There usually should be only two colors in addition to the
-white of the ceiling. Blue unites well with buff or corn color, or
-a yellow brown. Green combines well with drab, or white, or yellow.
-Scarlet or crimson unites well with gray or drab.
-
-Those who cultivate parlor plants need these cautions: Too much water
-and want of fresh air make plants grow pale and spindling; so give
-fresh air every day. Wash leaves when covered with dust. Change soil
-once a year, or water with liquid manure. Pluck faded flowers, as much
-strength of a plant goes to make seed. Pick off fading green leaves.
-If flowers are wanted, use small pots. Do not shut out the sun, which
-human beings need as much as flowers. Use oil-cloth similar to the
-carpet, where flowers and sun abound. Shut out flies with wire netting
-in open windows, and also doors of the same. It costs much less than
-ill health and mournfully darkened rooms.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-CARE OF HEALTH.
-
-
-There is no point where a woman is more liable to suffer from a want of
-knowledge and experience than in reference to the health of a family
-committed to her care. Many a young lady who never had any charge of
-the sick; who never took any care of an infant; who never obtained
-information on these subjects from books, or from the experience of
-others; in short, with little or no preparation, has found herself the
-principal attendant in dangerous sickness, the chief nurse of a feeble
-infant, and the responsible guardian of the health of a whole family.
-
-The care, the fear, the perplexity of a woman suddenly called to these
-unwonted duties, none can realize till they themselves feel it, or
-till they see some young and anxious novice first attempting to meet
-such responsibilities. To a woman of age and experience these duties
-often involve a measure of trial and difficulty at times deemed almost
-insupportable; how hard, then, must they press on the heart of the
-young and inexperienced!
-
-There is no really efficacious mode of preparing a woman to take a
-rational care of the health of a family, except by communicating that
-knowledge in regard to the construction of the body and the laws of
-health which is the basis of the medical profession. Not that a woman
-should undertake the minute and extensive investigation requisite for a
-physician; but she should gain a general knowledge of first principles,
-as a guide to her judgment in emergencies when she can rely on no other
-aid.
-
-With this end in view, in the preceding chapters some portions of the
-organs and functions of the human body have been presented, and others
-will now follow in connection with the practical duties which result
-from them.
-
-On the general subject of health, one recent discovery of science may
-here be introduced as having an important relation to every organ and
-function of the body, and as being one to which frequent reference will
-be made; and that is, the nature and operation of _cell-life_.
-
-By the aid of the microscope, we can examine the minute construction of
-plants and animals, in which we discover contrivances and operations,
-if not so sublime, yet more wonderful and interesting, than the vast
-systems of worlds revealed by the telescope.
-
-By this instrument it is now seen that the first formation, as well as
-future changes and actions, of all plants and animals are accomplished
-by means of small cells or bags containing various kinds of liquids.
-These cells are so minute that, of the smallest, some hundreds would
-not cover the dot of a printed _i_ on this page. They are of diverse
-shapes and contents, and perform various different operations.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 46.]
-
-The first formation of every animal is accomplished by the agency of
-cells, and may be illustrated by the egg of any bird or fowl. The
-exterior consists of a hard shell for protection, and this is lined
-with a tough skin, to which is fastened the yelk, (which means the
-_yellow_,) by fibrous strings, as seen at _a_, _a_, in the diagram.
-In the yelk floats the germ-cell, _b_, which is the point where the
-formation of the future animal commences. The yelk, being lighter than
-the white, rises upward, and the germ being still lighter, rises in
-the yelk. This is to bring both nearer to the vitalizing warmth of the
-brooding mother.
-
-New cells are gradually formed from the nourishing yelk around the
-germ, each being at first roundish in shape, and having a spot near the
-centre, called the nucleus. The reason why cells increase must remain
-a mystery until we can penetrate the secrets of vital force—probably
-forever. But the mode in which they multiply is as follows: The first
-change noticed in a cell, when warmed into vital activity, is the
-appearance of a second nucleus within it, while the cell gradually
-becomes oval in form, and then is drawn inward at the middle, like an
-hour-glass, till the two sides meet. The two portions then divide, and
-two cells appear, each containing its own germinal nucleus. These both
-divide again in the same manner, proceeding in the ratio of 2, 4, 8,
-16, and so on, until most of the yelk becomes a mass of cells.
-
-The central point of this mass, where the animal itself commences to
-appear, shows, first, a round-shaped figure, which soon assumes form
-like a pear, and then like a violin. Gradually the busy little cells
-arrange themselves to build up heart, lungs, brain, stomach, and limbs,
-for which the yelk and white furnish nutriment. There is a small bag
-of air fastened to one end inside of the shell; and when the animal is
-complete, this air is taken into its lungs, life begins, and out walks
-little chick, all its powers prepared, and ready to run, eat, and enjoy
-existence. Then, as soon as the animal uses its brain to think and
-feel, and its muscles to move, the cells which have been made up into
-these parts begin to decay, while new cells are formed from the blood
-to take their place. Thus with life commences the constant process of
-decay and renewal all over the body.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 47.]
-
-The liquid portion of the blood consists of material formed from food,
-air, and water. From this material the cells of the blood are formed:
-first, the white cells, which are incomplete in formation; and then
-the red cells, which are completed by the addition of the oxygen
-received from air in the lungs. Fig. 47 represents part of a magnified
-blood-vessel, _a_, _a_, in which the round cells are the white, and
-the oblong the red cells, floating in the blood. Surrounding the
-blood-vessels are the cells forming the adjacent membrane, _b b_, each
-having a nucleus in its centre.
-
-Cells have different powers of selecting and secreting diverse
-materials from the blood. Thus, some secrete bile to carry to the
-liver, others secrete saliva for the mouth, others take up the tears,
-and still others take material for the brain, muscles, and all other
-organs. Cells also have a converting power—of taking one kind of matter
-from the blood, and changing it to another kind. They are minute
-chemical laboratories all over the body, changing materials of one kind
-to another form in which they can be made useful.
-
-Both animal and vegetable substances are formed of cells. But the
-vegetable cells take up and use unorganized, or simple, natural matter;
-whereas the animal cell only takes substances already organized into
-vegetable or animal life, and then changes one compound into another of
-different proportions and nature.
-
-These curious facts in regard to cell-life have important relations
-to the general subject of the care of health, and also to the cure of
-disease, as will be noticed in following chapters.
-
-
-THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
-
-There is another portion of the body which is so intimately connected
-with every other, that it is placed in this chapter as also having
-reference to every department in the general subject of the care of
-health.
-
-The body has no power to move itself, but is a collection of
-instruments to be used by the mind in securing various kinds of
-knowledge and enjoyment. The organs through which the mind thus
-operates are the _brain_ and _nerves_. The opposite drawing (Fig. 48)
-represents them.
-
-The brain lies in the skull, and is divided into the large or upper
-brain, marked 1, and the small or lower brain, marked 2. From the brain
-runs the spinal marrow through the spine or backbone. From each side of
-the spine the large nerves run out into innumerable smaller branches to
-every portion of the body. The drawing shows only some of the larger
-branches. Those marked 3 run to the neck and organs of the chest; those
-marked 4 go to the arms; those below the arms, marked 3, go to the
-trunk; those marked 5 go to the legs; and the lowest of all go to the
-pelvic organs.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 48.]
-
-The brain and nerves consist of two kinds of nervous matter—the _gray_,
-which is supposed to be the portion that originates and controls a
-nervous fluid which imparts power of action; and the _white_, which
-seems to conduct this fluid to every part of the body.
-
-The brain and nervous system are divided into distinct portions, each
-having different offices to perform, and each acting independently
-of the others; as, for example, one portion is employed by the mind
-in thinking, and in feeling pleasurable or painful mental emotions;
-another in moving the muscles; while the nerves that run to the nose,
-ears, eyes, tongue, hands, and surface generally, are employed in
-seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling all physical sensations.
-
-The _back_ portion of the spinal marrow and the nerves that run from it
-are employed in _sensation_, or the _sense of feeling_. These nerves
-extend over the whole body, but are largely developed in the net-work
-of nerves in the skin. The _front_ portion of the spinal marrow and its
-branches are employed in moving those muscles in all parts of the body
-which are controlled by the _will_ or _choice_ of the mind. These are
-called the _nerves of motion_.
-
-The nerves of sensation and nerves of motion, although they start from
-different portions of the spine, are united in the same _sheath_ or
-_cover_, till they terminate in the muscles. Thus, every muscle is
-moved by nerves of motion; while alongside of this nerve, in the same
-sheath, is a nerve of sensation. All the nerves of motion and sensation
-are connected with those portions of the brain used when we think,
-feel, and choose. By this arrangement the mind _knows_ what is wanted
-in all parts of the body by means of the nerves of sensation, and then
-it _acts_ by means of the nerves of motion.
-
-For example, when we feel the cold air on the skin, the nerves of
-sensation report to the brain, and thus to the mind, that the body is
-growing cold. The mind thus knows that more clothing is needed, and
-_wills_ to have the eyes look for it, and the hands and feet move to
-get it. This is done by the nerves of sight and of motion.
-
-Next are the nerves of _involuntary motion_, which move all those parts
-of the head, face, and body that are used in breathing, and in other
-operations connected with it. By these we continue to breathe when
-asleep, and whether we will to do so or not. There are also some of the
-nerves of voluntary motion that are mixed with these, which enable the
-mind to stop respiration, or to regulate it to a certain extent. But
-the mind has no power to stop it for any great length of time.
-
-There is another large and important system of nerves called the
-_sympathetic_ or _ganglionic_ system. It consists of small masses of
-gray and white nervous matter, that seem to be small brains with nerves
-running from them. These are called _ganglia_, and are arranged on
-each side of the spine, while small nerves from the spinal marrow run
-into them, thus uniting the sympathetic system with the nerves of the
-spine. These ganglia are also distributed around in various parts of
-the interior of the body, especially in the intestines, and all the
-different ganglia are connected with each other by nerves, thus making
-one system. It is the ganglionic system that carries on the circulation
-of the blood, the action of the capillaries, lymphatics, arteries, and
-veins, together with the work of secretion, absorption, and most of the
-internal working of the body, which goes forward without any knowledge
-or control of the mind.
-
-Every portion of the body has nerves of sensation coming from the
-spine, and also branches of the sympathetic or ganglionic system. The
-object of this is to form a sympathetic communication between the
-several parts of the body, and also to enable the mind to receive,
-through the brain, some general knowledge of the state of the whole
-system. It is owing to this that, when one portion of the body is
-affected, other portions sympathize. For example, if one part of the
-body is diseased, the stomach may so sympathize as to lose all appetite
-until the disease is removed.
-
-All the operations of the nervous system are performed by the influence
-of the nervous fluid, which is generated in the gray portions of the
-brain and ganglia. Whenever a nerve is cut off from its connection with
-these nervous centres, its power is gone, and the part to which it
-ministered becomes lifeless and incapable of motion.
-
-The brain and nerves can be overworked, and can also suffer for want
-of exercise, just as the muscles do. It is necessary for the perfect
-health of the brain and nerves that the several portions be exercised
-sufficiently, and that no part be exhausted by overaction. For example,
-the nerves of sensation may be very much exercised, and the nerves of
-motion have but little exercise. In this case, one will be weakened by
-excess of work, and the other by the want of it.
-
-It is found by experience that the proper exercise of the nerves of
-motion tends to reduce any extreme susceptibility of the nerves of
-sensation. On the contrary, the neglect of such exercise tends to
-produce an excessive sensibility in the nerves of sensation.
-
-Whenever that part of the brain which is employed in thinking, feeling,
-and willing, is greatly exercised by hard study, or by excessive care
-or emotion, the blood tends to the brain to supply it with increased
-nourishment, just as it flows to the muscles when they are exercised.
-Over-exercise of this portion of the brain causes engorgement of the
-blood-vessels. This is sometimes indicated by pain, or by a sense of
-fullness in the head; but oftener the result is a debilitating drain on
-the nervous system, which depends for its supply on the healthful state
-of the brain.
-
-The brain has, as it were, a fountain of supply for the nervous fluid,
-which flows to all the nerves, and stimulates them to action. Some
-brains have a larger, and some a smaller fountain; so that a degree of
-mental activity that would entirely exhaust one, would make only a
-small and healthful drain upon another.
-
-The excessive use of certain portions of the brain tends to withdraw
-the nervous energy from other portions; so that when one part is
-debilitated by excess, another fails by neglect. For example, a person
-may so exhaust the brainpower in the excessive use of the nerves of
-motion by hard work, as to leave little for any other faculty. On
-the other hand, the nerves of feeling and thinking may be so used as
-to withdraw the nervous fluid from the nerves of motion, and thus
-debilitate the muscles.
-
-Some animal propensities may be indulged to such excess as to produce a
-constant tendency of the blood to a certain portion of the brain and to
-the organs connected with it, and thus cause a constant and excessive
-excitement, which finally becomes a disease. Sometimes a paralysis of
-this portion of the brain results from such an entire exhaustion of the
-nervous fountain and of the overworked nerves.
-
-Thus, also, the thinking portion of the brain may be so overworked
-as to drain the nervous fluid from other portions, which become
-debilitated by the loss. And in this way, also, the overworked portion
-may be diseased or paralyzed by the excess.
-
-Sometimes the intellect and feelings may be confined to one subject so
-exclusively as to cause mental derangement on that subject when sane in
-all other respects. This is called a monomania.
-
-The necessity for the _equal development_ of all portions of the brain
-by an appropriate exercise of _all_ the faculties of mind and body, and
-the influence of this upon happiness, is the most important portion of
-this subject, and will be more directly exhibited in another chapter.
-
-The chief causes of debility of nerves, neuralgia, sciatica, and other
-diseases of the nerves, are exhaustion of the nervous fountain by
-excess of study, or of labor, or of mental excitement of _any_ kind.
-All excess of feeling, or of intellectual or physical labor, decreases
-the nerve centres or fountains of nervous supply. Diseases also, and
-often medicines, have the same effect.
-
-When the nerves are thus weakened their minute capillaries are not able
-to send forward the blood, and thus become swollen or congested, and
-then a change in the nerve substance follows.
-
-The remedy for this is to withdraw the blood from the congested nerves,
-and this is secured by exercising the muscles, thus drawing the blood
-from nerves to muscles. When the patient is much debilitated this
-exercise should be done by an operator, as in the passive exercises
-of the movement cure; for in such cases the nerves and brain would be
-still more weakened by _voluntary_ exercise of the patient. This shows
-the great mistake often made by attempts to remedy weak nerves and
-brain that need rest, by voluntary exercise of the muscles. It also
-shows the mischief often done in schools where to high intellectual
-excitement is added vigorous gymnastic exercises.
-
-The chief benefit of the movement cure, especially as conducted by Dr.
-George Taylor, of New York City, consists in various apparatus invented
-by him, by which various parts of the body can be exercised while the
-brain and nerves of the patient are at rest. By these contrivances the
-congested blood of the capillaries is drawn from the diseased part and
-all the healthful functions restored, while the patient is at rest as
-to any voluntary exertion of brain and nerves. When the strength will
-permit, voluntary exercises adapted to each case are combined with the
-passive movement effected by an operator:
-
-The following are the effects of the mechanical and involuntary
-movements by machinery or by an operator:
-
-They produce increased motion of particles, and so increase of
-absorption and nutrition.
-
-They increase contractile power in the capillaries, and thus remedy
-congestion.
-
-They direct nervous energy to defective parts and remove obstructions.
-
-They increase respiration, and thus increase the life-giving oxygen and
-animal heat, while they repress excess in other congested parts.
-
-They increase nutrition, and also the secretion and discharge of morbid
-matter from diseased or weakened parts.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-DOMESTIC EXERCISE.
-
-
-In a work which aims to influence women to train the young to honor
-domestic labor and to seek healthful exercise in home pursuits, there
-is special reason for explaining the construction of the muscles and
-their connection with the nerves, these being the chief organs of
-motion.
-
-The muscles, as seen by the naked eye, consist of very fine fibres or
-strings, bound up in smooth, silky casings of thin membrane. But each
-of these visible fibres or strings the microscope shows to be made up
-of still finer strings, numbering from five to eight hundred in each
-fibre. And each of these microscopic fibres is a series or chain of
-elastic cells, which are so minute that one hundred thousand would
-scarcely cover a capital O on this page.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 49.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 50].
-
-The peculiar property of the cells which compose the muscles is their
-elasticity, no other cells of the body having this property. At Fig. 49
-is a diagram representing a microscopic muscular fibre, in which the
-cells are relaxed, as in the natural state of rest. But when the muscle
-contracts, each of its numberless cells in all its small fibres becomes
-widened, making each fibre of the muscle shorter and thicker, as at
-Fig. 50. This explains the cause of the swelling out of muscles when
-they act.
-
-Every motion in every part of the body has a special muscle to produce
-it, and many have other muscles to restore the part moved to its
-natural state. The muscles that move or bend any part are called
-_flexors_, and those that restore the natural position are called
-_extensors_.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 51.]
-
-Fig. 51 represents the muscles of the arm after the skin and flesh are
-removed. They are all in smooth, silky cases, laid over each other, and
-separated both by the smooth membranes that encase them and by layers
-of fat, so as to move easily without interfering with each other. They
-are fastened to the bones by strong tendons and cartilages; and around
-the wrist, in the drawing, is shown a band of cartilage to confine
-them in place. The muscle marked 8 is the extensor that straightens
-the fingers after they have been closed by a flexor on the other side
-of the arm. In like manner, each motion of the arm and fingers has one
-muscle to produce it and another to restore to the natural position.
-
-The muscles are dependent on the brain and nerves for power to move.
-It has been shown that the gray matter of the brain and spinal marrow
-furnishes the stimulating power that moves the muscles, and causes
-sensations of touch on the skin, and the other sensations of the
-several senses. The white part of the brain and spinal marrow consists
-solely of conducting tubes to transmit this influence. Each of the
-minute fibrils of the muscles has a small conducting nerve connecting
-it with the brain or spinal marrow, and in this respect each muscular
-fibril is separate from every other.
-
-When, therefore, the mind wills to move a flexor muscle of the arm, the
-gray matter sends out the stimulus through the nerves to the cells of
-each individual fibre of that muscle, and they contract. When this is
-done, the nerve of sensation reports it to the brain and mind. If the
-mind desires to return the arm to its former position, then follows
-the willing, and consequent stimulus sent through the nerves to the
-corresponding muscle; its cells contract, and the limb is restored.
-
-When the motion is a compound one, involving the action of several
-muscles at the same time, a multitude of impressions are sent back and
-forth to and from the brain through the nerves. But the person acting
-thus is unconscious of all this delicate and wonderful mechanism.
-He wills the movement, and instantly the requisite nervous power is
-sent to the required cells and fibres, and they perform the motions
-required. Many of the muscles are moved by the sympathetic system, over
-which the mind has but little control.
-
-Among the muscles and nerves so intimately connected run the minute
-capillaries of the blood, which furnish nourishment to all.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 52.]
-
-Fig. 52 represents an artery at _a_, which brings pure blood to a
-muscle from the heart. After meandering through the capillaries at
-_c_, to distribute oxygen and food from the stomach, the blood enters
-the vein, _b_, loaded with carbonic acid and water taken up in the
-capillaries, to be carried to the lungs or skin, and thrown out into
-the air.
-
-The manner in which the exercise of the muscles quickens the
-circulation of the blood will now be explained. The veins abound in
-every part of every muscle, and the large veins have _valves_ which
-prevent the blood from flowing backward. If the wrist is grasped
-tightly, the veins of the hand are immediately swollen. This is owing
-to the fact that the blood is prevented from flowing toward the heart
-by this pressure, and by the vein-valves from returning into the
-arteries; while the arteries themselves, being placed deeper down,
-are not so compressed, and continue to send the blood into the hand,
-and thus it accumulates. As soon as this pressure is removed, the
-blood springs onward from the restraint with accelerated motion. This
-same process takes place when any of the muscles are exercised. The
-contraction of any muscle presses some of the veins, so that the blood
-can not flow the natural way, while the valves in the veins prevent
-its flowing backward. Meantime the arteries continue to press the
-blood along until the veins become swollen. Then, as soon as the muscle
-ceases its contraction, the blood flows faster from the previous
-accumulation.
-
-If, then, we use a number of muscles, and use them strongly and
-quickly, there are so many veins affected in this way as to quicken the
-whole circulation. The heart receives blood faster, and sends it to
-the lungs faster. Then the lungs work quicker, to furnish the oxygen
-required by the greater amount of blood. The blood returns with greater
-speed to the heart, and the heart sends it out with quicker action
-through the arteries to the capillaries. In the capillaries, too, the
-decayed matter is carried off faster, and then the stomach calls for
-more food to furnish new and pure blood. Thus it is that exercise gives
-new life and nourishment to every part of the body.
-
-It is the universal law of the human frame that _exercise_ is
-indispensable to the health of the several parts. Thus, if a
-blood-vessel be tied up, so as not to be used, it shrinks, and becomes
-a useless string; if a muscle be condemned to inaction, it shrinks
-in size and diminishes in power; and thus it is also with the bones.
-Inactivity produces softness, debility, and unfitness for the functions
-they are designed to perform.
-
-Now, the nerves, like all other parts of the body, gain and lose
-strength according as they are exercised. If they have too much or
-too little exercise, they lose strength; if they are exercised to
-a proper degree, they gain strength. When the mind is continuously
-excited, by business, study, or the imagination, the nerves of emotion
-and sensation are kept in constant action, while the nerves of motion
-are unemployed. If this is continued for a long time, the nerves of
-sensation lose their strength from overaction, and the nerves of motion
-lose their power from inactivity. In consequence, there is a morbid
-excitability of the nervous, and a debility of the muscular system,
-which make all exertion irksome and wearisome.
-
-The only mode of preserving the health of these systems is to keep
-up in them an equilibrium of action. For this purpose, occupations
-must be sought which exercise the muscles and interest the mind; and
-thus the equal action of both kinds of nerves is secured. This shows
-why exercise is so much more healthful and invigorating when the mind
-is interested than when it is not. As an illustration, let a person
-go shopping with a friend, and have nothing to do but look on. How
-soon do the continuous walking and standing weary! But, suppose one,
-thus wearied, hears of the arrival of a very dear friend: she can
-instantly walk off a mile or two to meet her, without the least feeling
-of fatigue. By this is shown the importance of furnishing, for young
-persons, exercise in which they will take an interest. Long and formal
-walks, merely for exercise, though they do some good, in securing fresh
-air and some exercise of the muscles, would be of triple benefit if
-changed to amusing sports, or to the cultivation of fruits and flowers,
-in which it is impossible to engage without acquiring a great interest.
-
-It shows, also, why it is far better to trust to useful domestic
-exercise at home than to send a young person out to walk for the
-mere purpose of exercise. Young girls can seldom be made to realize
-the value of health, and the need of exercise to secure it, so as to
-feel much interest in walking abroad, when they have no other object.
-But if they are brought up to minister to the comfort and enjoyment
-of themselves and others by performing domestic duties, they will
-constantly be interested and cheered in their exercise by the feeling
-of usefulness and the consciousness of having performed their duty.
-
-There are few young persons, it is hoped, who are brought up with such
-miserable habits of selfishness and indolence that they can not be made
-to feel happier by the consciousness of being usefully employed. And
-those who have never been accustomed to think or care for any one but
-themselves, and who seem to feel little pleasure in making themselves
-useful, by wise and proper influences can often be gradually awakened
-to the new pleasure of benevolent exertion to promote the comfort
-and enjoyment of others. And the more this sacred and elevating kind
-of enjoyment is tasted, the greater is the relish induced. Other
-enjoyments often cloy; but the heavenly pleasure secured by virtuous
-industry and benevolence, while it satisfies at the time, awakens fresh
-desires for the continuance of so ennobling a good.
-
-It is an interesting illustration of the benevolence and wisdom of our
-Maker, that the appropriate duties of the family, uniting intellectual,
-social, and moral with both sedentary and active pursuits, are exactly
-fitted to employ every faculty in a healthful proportion. And it is a
-sad violation of the laws of health to so divide family employments
-that one class use muscle too much, and the other the brain to excess.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.
-
-
-The person who decides what shall be the food and drink of a family,
-and the modes of its preparation, is the one who decides, to a greater
-or less extent, what shall be the health of that family. It is the
-opinion of most medical men that intemperance in eating is one of the
-most fruitful of all causes of disease and death. If this be so, the
-woman who wisely adapts the food and cooking of her family to the
-laws of health removes one of the greatest risks which threatens the
-lives of those under her care. But, unfortunately, there is no other
-duty that has been involved in more doubt and perplexity. Were one to
-believe all that is said and written on this subject, the conclusion
-probably would be, that there is not one solitary article of food on
-God’s earth which it is healthful to eat. Happily, however, there are
-general principles on this subject which, if understood and applied,
-will prove a safe guide to any woman of common sense; and it is the
-object of the present chapter to set forth these principles.
-
-All material things on earth, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, can be
-resolved into sixty-two simple substances, only fourteen of which are
-in the human body; and these, in certain proportions, in all mankind.
-
-Thus, in a man weighing 154 lbs. are found 111 lbs. oxygen gas and 14
-lbs. hydrogen gas, which, united, form water; 21 lbs. carbon; 3 lbs.
-8 oz. nitrogen gas; 1 lb. 12 oz. 190 grs. phosphorus; 2 lbs. calcium,
-the chief ingredient of bones; 2 oz. fluorine; 2 oz. 219 grs. sulphur;
-2 oz. 47 grs. chlorine; 2 oz. 116 grs. sodium; 100 grs. iron; 290 grs.
-potassium; 12 grs. magnesium; and 2 grs. silicon.
-
-These simple substances are constantly passing out of the body through
-the lungs, skin, and other excreting organs.
-
-It is found that certain of these simple elements are used for one
-part of the body and others for other parts, and this in certain
-regular proportions. Thus, carbon is the chief element of fat, and
-also supplies the fuel that combines with oxygen in the capillaries to
-produce animal heat. The nitrogen which we gain from our food and the
-air is the chief element of muscle; phosphorus is the chief element of
-brain and nerves; and calcium or lime is the hard portion of the bones.
-Iron is an important element of blood; and silicon supplies the hardest
-parts of the teeth, nails, and hair.
-
-Water, which is composed of the two gases oxygen and hydrogen, is the
-largest portion of the body, forming its fluids; there is four times as
-much of carbon as there is of nitrogen in the body; while there is only
-two per cent. as much phosphorus as carbon. A man weighing one hundred
-and fifty-four pounds, who leads an active life, takes into his stomach
-daily from two to three pounds of solid food, and from five to six
-pounds of liquid. At the same time he takes into his lungs, daily, four
-or five thousand gallons of air. This amounts to three thousand pounds
-of nutriment received through stomach and lungs, and then expelled from
-the body, in one year; or about twenty times the man’s own weight.
-
-It is found that the simple elements will not nourish the body in their
-natural state, but only when organized, either as vegetable or animal
-food; and, to the dismay of the Grahamite or vegetarian school, it is
-now established by chemists that animal and vegetable food contain the
-same elements, and in nearly the same proportions.
-
-Thus, in animal food, carbon predominates in fats, while in vegetable
-food it shows itself in sugar, starch, and vegetable oils. Nitrogen is
-found in animal food in the albumen, fibrine, and caseine; while in
-vegetables it is in gluten, albumen, and caseine.
-
-It is also a curious fact that, in all articles of food, the elements
-that nourish diverse parts of the body are divided into separable
-portions, and also that the proportions correspond in a great degree to
-the wants of the body. For example, a kernel of wheat contains all the
-articles demanded for every part of the body. Fig. 53 represents, upon
-an enlarged scale, the position and proportions of the chief elements
-required. The white central part is the largest in quantity, and is
-chiefly carbon in the form of starch, which supplies fat and fuel for
-the capillaries. The shaded outer portion is chiefly nitrogen, which
-nourishes the muscles; and the dark spot at the bottom is principally
-phosphorus, which nourishes the brain and nerves. And these elements
-are in due proportion to the demands of the body. A portion of the
-outer covering of a wheat-kernel holds lime, silica, and iron, which
-are needed by the body, and which are found in no other part of the
-grain. The woody fibre is not digested, but serves, by its bulk and
-stimulating action, to facilitate digestion. It is, therefore, evident
-that bread made of unbolted flour is more healthful than that made
-of superfine flour. For the process of bolting removes all the woody
-fibre; the lime needed for the bones; the silica for hair, nails, and
-teeth; the iron for the blood; and most of the nitrogen and phosphorus
-needed for muscles, brain, and nerves.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 53.]
-
-Experiments on animals prove that fine flour alone, which is chiefly
-carbon, will not sustain life more than a month, while unbolted flour
-furnishes all that is needed for every part of the body. There are
-cases where persons can not use such coarse bread, on account of its
-irritating action on inflamed coats of the stomach. For such, a kind
-of wheaten grit is provided, containing all the kernel of the wheat,
-except the outside woody fibre.
-
-From these statements it may be seen that one of the chief mistakes
-in providing food for families has been in changing the proportions
-of the elements nature has fitted for our food. Thus, fine wheat is
-deprived by bolting of some of the most important of its nourishing
-elements, leaving carbon chiefly, which, after supplying fuel for
-the capillaries, must, if in excess, be sent out of the body; thus
-needlessly taxing all the excreting organs. So milk, which contains
-all the elements needed by the body, has the cream taken out and used
-for butter, which again is chiefly carbon. Then, sugar and molasses,
-cakes and candies, are chiefly carbon, and supply but very little of
-other nourishing elements, while, to make them safe, much exercise in
-cold and pure air is necessary. And yet it is the children of the rich,
-housed in chambers and school-rooms most of their time, who are fed
-with these dangerous dainties, thus weakening their constitutions, and
-inducing fevers, colds, and many other diseases.
-
-The proper digestion of food depends on the wants of the body, and on
-its power of appropriating the aliment supplied. The best of food can
-not be properly digested when it is not needed. All that the system
-requires will be used, and the rest will be thrown out by the several
-excreting organs, which thus are frequently overtaxed, and vital forces
-are wasted. Even food of poor quality may digest well if the demands
-of the system are urgent. The way to increase digestive power is to
-increase the demand for food by pure air and exercise of the muscles,
-quickening the blood, and arousing the whole system to a more rapid and
-vigorous rate of life.
-
-We are now ready to consider intelligently the following general
-principles in regard to the proper selection of food:
-
-Vegetable and animal food are equally healthful if apportioned to the
-given circumstances.
-
-In cold weather, carbonaceous food, such as butter, fats, sugar,
-molasses, etc., can be used more safely than in warm weather. And they
-can be used more safely by those who exercise in the open air than by
-those of confined and sedentary habits.
-
-Students who need food with little carbon, and women who live in the
-house, should always seek coarse bread, fruits, and lean meats, and
-avoid butter, oils, sugar, and molasses, and articles containing them.
-
-Many students and women using little exercise in the open air grow thin
-and weak, because the vital powers are exhausted in throwing off excess
-of food, especially of the carbonaceous. The liver is especially taxed
-in such cases, being unable to remove all the excess of carbonaceous
-matter from the blood, and thus “biliousness” ensues, particularly on
-the approach of warm weather, when the air brings less oxygen than in
-cold.
-
-It is found, by experiment, that the supply of gastric juice, furnished
-from the blood by the arteries of the stomach, is proportioned, not to
-the amount of food put into the stomach, but to the wants of the body;
-so that it is possible to put much more into the stomach than can be
-digested. To guide and regulate in this matter, the sensation called
-_hunger_ is provided. In a healthy state of the body, as soon as the
-blood has lost its nutritive supplies, the craving of hunger is felt,
-and then, if the food is suitable, and is taken in the proper manner,
-this sensation ceases as soon as the stomach has received enough to
-supply the wants of the system. But our benevolent Creator, in this as
-in our other duties, has connected enjoyment with the operation needful
-to sustain our bodies. In addition to the allaying of hunger, the
-gratification of the palate is secured by the immense variety of food,
-some articles of which are far more agreeable than others.
-
-This arrangement of Providence, designed for our happiness, has become,
-either through ignorance or want of self-control, the chief cause of
-the many diseases and sufferings which afflict those classes who have
-the means of seeking a variety to gratify the palate. If mankind had
-only one article of food, and only water to drink, though they would
-have less enjoyment in eating, they would never be tempted to put any
-more into the stomach than the calls of hunger require. But the customs
-of society, which present an incessant change, and a great variety of
-food, with those various condiments which stimulate appetite, lead
-almost every person very frequently to eat merely to gratify the
-palate, after the stomach has been abundantly supplied, so that hunger
-has ceased.
-
-When too great a supply of food is put into the stomach, the gastric
-juice dissolves only that portion which the wants of the system
-demand. Most of the remainder is ejected in an unprepared state; the
-absorbents take portions of it into the system; and all the various
-functions of the body, which depend on the ministries of the blood, are
-thus gradually and imperceptibly injured. Very often, intemperance in
-eating produces immediate results, such as colic, headaches, pains of
-indigestion, and vertigo.
-
-But the more general result is a gradual undermining of all parts of
-the human frame; thus imperceptibly shortening life, by so weakening
-the constitution that it is ready to yield, at every point, to any
-uncommon risk or exposure. Thousands and thousands are passing out
-of the world, from diseases occasioned by exposures which a healthy
-constitution could meet without any danger. It is owing to these
-considerations that it becomes the duty of every woman who has the
-responsibility of providing food for a family to avoid a variety of
-tempting dishes. It is a much safer guide to have only one kind of
-healthy food for each meal, rather than the too abundant variety which
-is often met at the tables of almost all classes in this country. When
-there is to be any variety of dishes, they ought not to be successive,
-but so arranged as to give the opportunity of selection. How often is
-it the case that persons, by the appearance of a favorite article,
-are tempted to eat merely to gratify the palate, when the stomach
-is already adequately supplied. All such intemperance wears on the
-constitution, and shortens life. It not unfrequently happens that
-excess in eating produces a morbid appetite, which must constantly be
-denied.
-
-But the organization of the digestive organs demands not only that food
-should be taken in proper quantities, but that it be taken at proper
-times.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 54.]
-
-Fig. 54 shows one important feature of the digestive organs relating to
-this point. The part marked LM shows the muscles of the inner coat of
-the stomach, which run in one direction, and CM shows the muscles of
-the outer coat, running in another direction.
-
-As soon as the food enters the stomach, the muscles are excited by the
-nerves, and the _peristaltic motion_ commences: this is a powerful and
-constant exercise of the muscles of the stomach, which continues until
-the process of digestion is complete. During this time the blood is
-withdrawn from other parts of the system, to supply the demands of the
-stomach, which is laboring hard with all its muscles. When this motion
-ceases, and the digested food has gradually passed out, nature requires
-that the stomach should have a period of repose. And if another meal
-be eaten immediately after one is digested, the stomach is set to work
-again before it has had time to rest, and before a sufficient supply of
-gastric juice is provided.
-
-The general rule, then, is, that three hours be given to the stomach
-for labor, and two for rest; and in obedience to this, five hours,
-at least, ought to elapse between every two regular meals. In cases
-where exercise produces a flow of perspiration, more food is needed to
-supply the loss; and strong laboring men may safely eat as often as
-they feel the want of food. So, young and healthy children, who gambol
-and exercise much, and whose bodies grow fast, may have a more frequent
-supply of food. But, as a general rule, meals should be five hours
-apart, and eating between meals avoided. There is nothing more unsafe
-and wearing to the constitution than a habit of eating at any time
-merely to gratify the palate. When a tempting article is presented,
-every person should exercise sufficient self-denial to wait till the
-proper time for eating arrives. Children, as well as grown persons, are
-often injured by eating between their regular meals, thus weakening the
-stomach by not affording it any time for rest.
-
-As a general rule, the quantity of food actually needed by the body
-depends on the amount of muscular exercise taken. A laboring man in the
-open fields probably throws off from his skin and lungs a much larger
-amount than a person of sedentary pursuits. In consequence of this, he
-demands a greater amount of food and drink.
-
-Those persons who keep their bodies in a state of health by sufficient
-exercise can always be guided by the calls of hunger. They can eat
-when they feel hungry, and stop when hunger ceases; and thus they will
-calculate exactly right. But the difficulty is, that a large part of
-the community, especially women, are so inactive in their habits that
-they seldom feel the calls of hunger. They habitually eat, merely to
-gratify the palate. This produces such a state of the system that they
-lose the guide which Nature has provided. They are not called to eat by
-hunger, nor admonished, by its cessation, when to stop. In consequence
-of this, such persons eat what pleases the palate, till they feel no
-more inclination for the article. It is probable that three-fourths of
-the women in the wealthier circles sit down to each meal without any
-feeling of hunger, and eat merely on account of the gratification thus
-afforded them. Such persons find their appetite to depend almost solely
-upon the kind of food on the table. This is not the case with those who
-take the exercise which Nature demands. They approach their meals in
-such a state that almost any kind of food is acceptable.
-
-Persons who have a strong constitution, and take much exercise, may
-eat almost any thing with apparent impunity; but young children who
-are forming their constitutions, and persons who are delicate and who
-take but little exercise, are very dependent for health on a proper
-selection of food.
-
-It is found that there are some kinds of food which afford nutriment
-to the blood, and do not produce any other effect on the system. There
-are other kinds which are not only nourishing, but _stimulating_, so
-that they quicken the functions of the organs on which they operate.
-The condiments used in cookery, such as pepper, mustard, and spices,
-are of this nature. There are certain states of the system when these
-stimulants may be beneficial; such cases can only be pointed out by
-medical men.
-
-Persons in perfect health, and especially young children, never
-receive any benefit from such kind of food; and just in proportion
-as condiments operate to quicken the labors of the internal organs,
-they tend to wear down their powers. A person who thus keeps the body
-working under an unnatural excitement _lives faster_ than Nature
-designed, and the constitution is worn out just so much the sooner. A
-woman, therefore, should provide dishes for her family which are free
-from these stimulating condiments.
-
-In regard to articles which are the most easily digested, only general
-rules can be given. Tender meats are digested more readily than those
-which are tough, or than many kinds of vegetable food. The farinaceous
-articles, such as rice, flour, corn, potatoes, and the like, are the
-most nutritious, and most easily digested. The popular notion, that
-meat is more nourishing than bread, is a great mistake. Good bread
-contains more nourishment than butcher’s meat. The meat is more
-_stimulating_, and for this reason is more readily digested.
-
-A perfectly healthy stomach can digest almost any healthful food;
-but when the digestive powers are weak, every stomach has its
-peculiarities, and what is good for one is hurtful to another. In
-such cases, experiment alone can decide which are the most digestible
-articles of food. A person whose food troubles him must deduct one
-article after another, till he learns by experience which is the best
-for digestion. Much evil has been done by assuming that the powers of
-one stomach are to be made the rule in regulating every other.
-
-The most unhealthful kinds of food are those which are made so by bad
-cooking; such as sour and heavy bread, cakes, pie-crust, and other
-dishes consisting of fat mixed and cooked with flour. Rancid butter and
-high-seasoned food are equally unwholesome. The fewer mixtures there
-are in cooking, the more healthful is the food likely to be.
-
-There is one caution as to the _mode_ of eating which seems peculiarly
-needful to Americans. It is indispensable to good digestion that food
-be well chewed and taken slowly. It needs to be thoroughly chewed and
-mixed with saliva, in order to prepare it for the action of the gastric
-juice, which, by the peristaltic motion, will be thus brought into
-contact with every one of the minute portions. It has been found that a
-solid lump of food requires much more time and labor of the stomach for
-digestion than divided substances.
-
-It has also been found that as each bolus, or mouthful, enters the
-stomach, the latter closes, until the portion received has had some
-time to move around and combine with the gastric juice, and that the
-orifice of the stomach resists the entrance of any more till this
-is accomplished. But, if the eater persists in swallowing fast, the
-stomach yields; the food is then poured in more rapidly than the organ
-can perform its duty of preparative digestion, and evil results are
-sooner or later developed. This exhibits the folly of those hasty meals
-so common to travelers and to men of business, and shows why children
-should be taught to eat slowly.
-
-After taking a full meal, it is very important to health that no great
-bodily or mental exertion be made till the labor of the stomach is
-over. Intense mental effort draws the blood to the head, and muscular
-exertions draw it to the muscles; and in consequence of this, the
-stomach loses the supply which it requires when performing its office.
-When the blood with its stimulating effects is thus withdrawn from the
-stomach, the adequate supply of gastric juice is not afforded, and
-indigestion is the result. The heaviness which follows a full meal
-is the indication which Nature gives of the need of quiet. When the
-meal is moderate, a sufficient quantity of gastric juice is exuded in
-an hour, or hour and a half; after which, labor of body and mind may
-safely be resumed.
-
-Extremes of heat or cold are injurious to the process of digestion.
-Taking hot food or drink habitually, tends to debilitate all the
-organs thus needlessly excited. In using cold substances, it is found
-that a certain degree of warmth in the stomach is indispensable to
-their digestion; so that when the gastric juice is cooled below this
-temperature it ceases to act. Indulging in large quantities of cold
-drinks, or eating ice-creams, after a meal, tends to reduce the
-temperature of the stomach, and thus to stop digestion. This shows
-the folly of those refreshments, in convivial meetings, where the
-guests are tempted to load the stomach with a variety such as would
-require the stomach of a stout farmer to digest; and then to wind up
-with ice-creams, thus lessening whatever ability might otherwise have
-existed to digest the heavy load. The fittest temperature for drinks,
-if taken when the food is in the digesting process, is blood-heat. Cool
-drinks, and even ice, can be safely taken at other times, if not in
-excessive quantity. When the thirst is excessive, or the body weakened
-by fatigue, or when in a state of perspiration, large quantities of
-cold drinks are injurious.
-
-Fluids taken into the stomach are not subject to the slow process of
-digestion, but are immediately absorbed and carried into the blood.
-This is the reason why liquid nourishment, more speedily than solid
-food, restores from exhaustion. The minute vessels of the stomach
-absorb its fluids, which are carried into the blood, just as the minute
-extremities of the arteries open upon the inner surface of the stomach,
-and there exude the gastric juice from the blood.
-
-Highly-concentrated food, having much nourishment in a small bulk, is
-not favorable to digestion, because it can not be properly acted on
-by the muscular contractions of the stomach, and is not so minutely
-divided as to enable the gastric juice to act properly. This is the
-reason why a certain _bulk_ of food is needful to good digestion; and
-why those people who live on whale-oil and other highly nourishing
-food, in cold climates, mix vegetables and even sawdust with it, to
-make it more acceptable and digestible. So in civilized lands, fruits
-and vegetables are mixed with more highly concentrated nourishment. For
-this reason, also, soups, jellies, and arrow-root should have bread or
-crackers mixed with them. This affords another reason why coarse bread,
-of unbolted wheat, so often proves beneficial. Where, from inactive
-habits or other causes, the bowels become constipated and sluggish,
-this kind of food proves the appropriate remedy.
-
-One fact on this subject is worthy of notice. In England, under the
-administration of William Pitt, for two years or more there was such a
-scarcity of wheat that, to make it hold out longer, Parliament passed a
-law that the army should have all their bread made of unbolted flour.
-The result was, that the health of the soldiers improved so much as
-to be a subject of surprise to themselves, the officers, and the
-physicians. These last came out publicly and declared that the soldiers
-never before were so robust and healthy; and that disease had nearly
-disappeared from the army. The civic physicians joined and pronounced
-it the healthiest bread; and for a time schools, families, and public
-institutions used it almost exclusively. Even the nobility, convinced
-by these facts, adopted it for their common diet, and the fashion
-continued a long time after the scarcity ceased, until more luxurious
-habits resumed their sway.
-
-We thus see why children should not have cakes and candies allowed them
-between meals. Besides being largely carbonaceous, these are highly
-concentrated nourishments, and should be eaten with more bulky and
-less nourishing substances. The most indigestible of all kinds of food
-are fatty and oily substances, if heated. It is on this account that
-pie-crust and articles boiled and fried in fat or butter are deemed not
-so healthful as other food.
-
-The following, then, may be put down as the causes of a debilitated
-constitution from the misuse of food: Eating _too much_, eating _too
-often_, eating _too fast_, eating food and condiments that are _too
-stimulating_, eating food that is _too warm_ or _too cold_, eating
-food that is _highly concentrated_, without a proper admixture of less
-nourishing matter, and eating hot food that is _difficult of digestion_.
-
-It is a point fully established by experience that the full development
-of the human body and the vigorous exercise of all its functions can
-be secured without the use of stimulating drinks. It is, therefore,
-perfectly safe to bring up children never to use them, no hazard being
-incurred by such a course.
-
-It is also found by experience that there are two evils incurred by the
-use of stimulating drinks. The first is, their positive effect on the
-human system. Their peculiarity consists in so exciting the nervous
-system that all the functions of the body are accelerated, and the
-fluids are caused to move quicker than at their natural speed. This
-increased motion of the animal fluids always produces an agreeable
-effect on the mind. The intellect is invigorated, the imagination is
-excited, the spirits are enlivened; and these effects are so agreeable
-that all mankind, after having once experienced them, feel a great
-desire for their repetition.
-
-But this temporary invigoration of the system is always followed by
-a diminution of the powers of the stimulated organs; so that, though
-in all cases this reaction may not be perceptible, it is invariably
-the result. It may be set down as the unchangeable rule of physiology,
-that stimulating drinks deduct from the powers of the constitution
-in exactly the proportion in which they operate to produce temporary
-invigoration.
-
-The second evil is the temptation which always attends the use of
-stimulants. Their effect on the system is so agreeable, and the evils
-resulting are so imperceptible and distant, that there is a constant
-tendency to increase such excitement, both in frequency and power;
-and the more the system is thus reduced in strength, the more craving
-is the desire for that which imparts a temporary invigoration. This
-process of increasing debility and increasing craving for the stimulus
-that removes it, often goes to such an extreme that the passion is
-perfectly uncontrollable, and mind and body perish under this baleful
-habit.
-
-In this country there are three forms in which the use of such
-stimulants is common; namely, _alcoholic drinks_, _opium mixtures_, and
-_tobacco_. These are all alike in the main peculiarity of imparting
-that extra stimulus to the system which tends to exhaust its powers.
-
-Multitudes in this nation are in the habitual use of some one of these
-stimulants; and each person defends the indulgence by certain arguments:
-
-First, that the desire for stimulants is a natural propensity implanted
-in man’s nature, as is manifest from the universal tendency to such
-indulgences in every nation. From this it is inferred that it is an
-innocent desire, which ought to be gratified to some extent, and that
-the aim should be to keep it within the limits of temperance, instead
-of attempting to exterminate a natural propensity.
-
-This is an argument which, if true, makes it equally proper for not
-only men, but women and children, to use opium, brandy, or tobacco
-as stimulating principles, provided they are used temperately. But
-if it be granted that perfect health and strength can be gained and
-secured without these stimulants, and that their peculiar effect is to
-diminish the power of the system in exactly the same proportion as they
-stimulate it, then there is no such thing as a temperate use, unless
-they are so diluted as to destroy any stimulating power; and in this
-form they are seldom desired.
-
-The other argument for their use is, that they are among the good
-things provided by the Creator for our gratification; that, like all
-other blessings, they are exposed to abuse and excess; and that we
-should rather seek to regulate their use than to banish them entirely.
-
-This argument is based on the assumption that they are, like healthful
-foods and drinks, necessary to life and health, and injurious only by
-excess. But this is not true; for whenever they are used in any such
-strength as to be a gratification, they operate to a greater or less
-extent as stimulants, and to just such extent they wear out the powers
-of the constitution; and it is abundantly proved that they are not,
-like food and drink, necessary to health. Such articles are designed
-for medicine, and not for common use. There can be no argument framed
-to defend the use of one of them which will not justify women and
-children in most dangerous indulgences.
-
-There are some facts recently revealed by the microscope in regard to
-alcoholic drinks which every woman should understand and regard. It
-has been shown in a previous chapter that every act of mind, either by
-thought, feeling, or choice, causes the destruction of certain cells
-in the brain and nerves. It now is proved by microscopic science[4]
-that the kind of nutrition furnished to the brain by the blood to a
-certain extent decides future feelings, thoughts, and volitions. The
-cells of the brain not only abstract from the blood the healthful
-nutrition, but also are affected in shape, size, color, and action by
-unsuitable elements in the blood. This is especially the case when
-alcohol is taken into the stomach, from whence it is always carried to
-the brain. The consequence is, that it affects the nature and action of
-the brain-cells, until a habit is formed which is _automatic_; that is,
-the mind loses the power of controlling the brain in its development of
-thoughts, feelings, and choices as it would in the natural state, and
-is itself controlled by the brain. In this condition a real disease of
-the brain is created, called =oino-mania=, and the only remedy is total
-abstinence, and that for a long period, from the alcoholic poison.
-And what makes the danger more fearful is, that the brain-cells never
-are so renewed but that this pernicious stimulus will bring back the
-disease in full force, so that a man once subject to it is never safe
-except by maintaining perpetual and total abstinence from every kind
-of alcoholic drink. Dr. Day, who for many years has had charge of an
-inebriate asylum, states that he witnessed the dissection of the brain
-of a man once an inebriate, but for many years in practice of total
-abstinence, and found its cells still in the weak and unnatural state
-produced by earlier indulgences.
-
-[4] For these statements the writer is indebted to Maudsley, a recent
-writer on Microscopic Physiology.
-
-There has unfortunately been a difference of opinion among medical
-men as to the use of alcohol. Liebig, the celebrated writer on animal
-chemistry, having found that both sugar and alcohol were heat-producing
-articles of food, framed a theory that alcohol is burned in the lungs,
-giving off carbonic acid and water, and thus serving to warm the body.
-But modern science has proved that it is in the capillaries that animal
-heat is generated, and it is believed that alcohol lessens instead of
-increasing the power of the body to bear the cold. Sir John Ross, in
-his Arctic voyage, proved by his own experience and that of his men
-that cold-water drinkers could bear cold longer and were stronger than
-any who used alcohol.
-
-Carpenter, a standard writer on physiology, says the objection to a
-habitual use of even small quantities of alcoholic drinks is, that
-“they are universally admitted to possess a poisonous character,” and
-“tend to produce a morbid condition of body;” while “the capacity for
-enduring extremes of heat and cold, or of mental or bodily labor, is
-diminished rather than increased by their habitual employment.”
-
-Professor J. Bigelow, of Harvard University, says: “Alcohol is highly
-stimulating, heating, and intoxicating, and its effects are so
-fascinating that when once experienced there is danger that the desire
-for them may be perpetuated.”
-
-Dr. Bell and Dr. Churchill, both high medical authorities, especially
-in lung disease, for which whisky is often recommended, come to the
-conclusion that “the opinion that alcoholic liquors have influence in
-preventing the deposition of tubercle is destitute of any foundation;
-on the contrary, their use predisposes to tubercular deposition.” And
-“where tubercle exists, alcohol has no effect in modifying the usual
-course, neither does it modify the morbid effects on the system.”
-
-Professor Youmans, of New York, says: “It has been demonstrated that
-alcoholic drinks prevent the natural changes in the blood, and obstruct
-the nutritive and reparative functions.” He adds: “Chemical experiments
-have demonstrated that the action of alcohol on the digestive fluid
-is to destroy its active principle, the _pepsin_, thus confirming the
-observations of physiologists, that its use gives rise to serious
-disorders of the stomach, and malignant aberration of the whole
-economy.” It is true that some scientific men teach that alcohol,
-tobacco, and opium are safe, and even useful, in certain quantities,
-though there is no way to know what is the safe and useful point.
-Usually it is men who habitually use some of these dangerous articles
-who hold this view.
-
-We are now prepared to consider the great principles of science, common
-sense, and religion, which should guide every woman who has any kind of
-influence or responsibility on this subject.
-
-It is allowed by all medical men that pure water is perfectly
-healthful, and supplies all the liquid needed by the body; and also
-that by proper means, which ordinarily are in the reach of all, water
-can be made sufficiently pure.
-
-It is allowed by all that milk, and the juices of fruits, when taken
-into the stomach, furnish water that is always pure, and that our
-bread and vegetable food also supply it in large quantities. There are
-besides a great variety of agreeable and healthful beverages, made from
-the juices of fruit, containing no alcohol; and agreeable drinks, such
-as milk, cocoa, and chocolate, that contain no stimulating principles,
-and which are nourishing and healthful.
-
-As one course, then, is perfectly safe, and another involves great
-danger, it is wrong and sinful to choose the path of danger. There
-is no peril in drinking pure water, milk, the juices of fruits, and
-infusions that are nourishing and harmless. But there is great danger
-to the young, and to the commonwealth, in patronizing the sale and
-use of alcoholic drinks. The religion of Christ, in its distinctive
-feature, involves generous self-denial for the good of others,
-especially for the weaker members of society. It is on this principle
-that St. Paul sets forth his own example: “If meat make my brother to
-offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my
-brother to offend.” And again he teaches, “We, then, that are strong
-ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
-
-This Christian principle also applies to the common drinks of the
-family, tea and coffee. It has been shown that the great end for which
-Jesus Christ came, and for which he instituted the family state, is
-the training of our whole race to virtue and happiness, with chief
-reference to an immortal existence. In this mission, of which woman
-is chief minister, the distinctive feature is self-sacrifice of the
-wiser and stronger members to save and to elevate the weaker ones. The
-children and the servants are these weaker members, who by ignorance
-and want of habits of self-control are in most danger. It is in this
-aspect that we are to consider the expediency of using tea and coffee
-in a family.
-
-These drinks are a most extensive cause of much of the nervous debility
-and suffering endured by American women; and relinquishing them would
-save an immense amount of such suffering. Moreover, all housekeepers
-will allow that they can not regulate these drinks in their kitchens,
-where the ignorant use them to excess. There is little probability that
-the present generation will make so decided a change in their habits
-as to give up these beverages; but the subject is presented rather in
-reference to forming the habits of children.
-
-It is a fact that tea and coffee are at first seldom or never agreeable
-to children. It is the mixture of milk, sugar, and water, that
-reconciles them to a taste which in this manner gradually becomes
-agreeable. Now, suppose that those who provide for a family conclude
-that it is not _their_ duty to give up entirely the use of stimulating
-drinks, may not the case appear different in regard to teaching their
-children to love such drinks? Let the matter be regarded thus: The
-experiments of physiologists all prove that stimulants are not needful
-to health, and that, as the general rule, they tend to debilitate
-the constitution. Is it right, then, for a parent to tempt a child
-to drink what is not needful, when there is a probability that it
-will prove, to some extent, an undermining drain on the constitution?
-Some constitutions can bear much less excitement than others; and in
-every family of children there is usually one or more of delicate
-organization, and consequently peculiarly exposed to dangers from
-this source. It is this child who ordinarily becomes the victim to
-stimulating drinks. The tea and coffee which the parents and the
-healthier children can use without immediate injury gradually sap the
-energies of the feebler child, who proves either an early victim or a
-living martyr to all the sufferings that debilitated nerves inflict.
-Can it be right to lead children where all allow that there is some
-danger, and where in many cases disease and death are met, when another
-path is known to be perfectly safe?
-
-The impression common in this country, that _warm drinks_, especially
-in winter, are more healthful than cold, is not warranted by any
-experience, nor by the laws of the physical system. At dinner cold
-drinks are universal, and no one deems them injurious. It is only at
-the other two meals that they are supposed to be hurtful.
-
-“_Water_ is a safe drink for all constitutions, provided it be resorted
-to in obedience to the dictates of natural thirst only, and not of
-habit. Unless the desire for it is felt, there is no occasion for its
-use during a meal.
-
-“The primary effect of all distilled and fermented liquors is to
-_stimulate the nervous system and quicken the circulation_. In infancy
-and childhood the circulation is rapid and easily excited, and the
-nervous system is strongly acted upon even by the slightest external
-impressions. Hence, slight causes of irritation readily excite febrile
-and convulsive disorders. In youth, the natural tendency of the
-constitution is still to excitement, and consequently, as a general
-rule, the stimulus of fermented liquors is injurious.”
-
-These remarks by Dr. Combe show that parents, who find that stimulating
-drinks are not injurious to themselves, may mistake in inferring from
-this that they will not be injurious to their children.
-
-He continues thus: “In mature age, when digestion is good, and the
-system in full vigor, if the mode of life be not too exhausting, the
-nervous functions and general circulation are in their best condition,
-and require no stimulus for their support. The bodily energy is
-then easily sustained by nutritious food and a regular regimen, and
-consequently artificial excitement only increases the wasting of the
-natural strength.”
-
-It may be asked, in this connection, why the stimulus of animal food
-is not to be regarded in the same light as that of stimulating drinks.
-In reply, a very essential difference may be pointed out. Animal food
-furnishes nutriment to the organs which it stimulates, but stimulating
-drinks excite the organs to quickened action without affording any
-nourishment.
-
-It has been supposed by some that tea and coffee have at least a degree
-of nourishing power. But it is proved that it is the milk and sugar,
-and not the main portion of the drink, which imparts the nourishment.
-Tea has not one particle of nourishing properties; and what little
-exists in the coffee-berry is lost by roasting it in the usual mode.
-All that these articles do is simply to _stimulate without nourishing_.
-
-Although there is little hope of banishing these drinks, there is still
-a chance that something may be gained in attempts to regulate their use
-by the rules of temperance. If, then, a housekeeper can not banish tea
-and coffee entirely, she may use her influence to prevent excess, both
-by her instructions, and by the power of control committed more or less
-to her hands.
-
-It is important for every housekeeper to know that the health of a
-family very much depends on the _purity_ of water used for cooking and
-drinking. There are three causes of impure and unhealthful water.
-One is, the existence in it of vegetable or animal matter, which can
-be remedied by filtering through sand and charcoal. Another cause is,
-the existence of mineral matter, especially in limestone countries,
-producing diseases of the bladder. This is remedied, in a measure,
-by boiling, which secures a deposit of the lime on the vessel used.
-The third cause is, the corroding of zinc and lead used in pipes and
-reservoirs, producing oxides that are slow poisons. The only remedy is
-prevention, by having supply-pipes made of iron, like gas-pipe, instead
-of zinc and lead; or the lately invented lead pipe lined with tin,
-which metal is not corrosive. The obstacle to this is, that the trade
-of the plumbers would be greatly diminished by the use of reliable
-pipes. When water must be used from supply-pipes of lead or zinc, it is
-well to let the water run some time before drinking it, and to use as
-little as possible, taking milk instead; and being further satisfied
-for inner necessities by the water supplied by fruits and vegetables.
-The water in these is always pure. But in using milk as a drink, it
-must be remembered that it is also rich food, and that less of other
-food must be taken when milk is thus used, or bilious troubles will
-result from excess of food.
-
-The use of opium, especially by women, is usually caused at first by
-medical prescriptions containing it. All that has been stated as to
-the effect of alcohol in the brain is true of opium, while to break a
-habit thus induced is almost hopeless. Every woman who takes or who
-administers this drug is dealing as with poisoned arrows, whose wounds
-are without cure.
-
-The use of tobacco in this country, and especially among young boys,
-is increasing at a fearful rate. On this subject we have the unanimous
-opinion of all medical men, the following being specimens.
-
-A distinguished medical writer thus states the case: “Every physician
-knows that the agreeable sensations that tempt to the use of tobacco
-are caused by _nicotine_, which is a rank poison, as much so as prussic
-acid or arsenic. When smoked, the poison is absorbed by the blood
-of the mouth, and carried to the brain. When chewed, the nicotine
-passes to the blood through the mouth and stomach. In both cases, the
-whole nervous system is thrown into abnormal excitement to expel the
-poison, and it is this excitement that causes agreeable sensations.
-The excitement thus caused is invariably followed by a diminution of
-nervous power, in exact proportion to the preceding excitement to expel
-the evil from the system.”
-
-Few will dispute the general truth and effect of the above statement,
-so that the question is one to be settled on the same principle as
-applies to the use of alcoholic drinks. Is it, then, according to the
-generous principles of Christ’s religion, for those who are strong and
-able to bear this poison, to tempt the young, the ignorant, and the
-weak to a practice not needful to any healthful enjoyment, and which
-leads multitudes to disease, and often to vice? For the use of tobacco
-tends always to lessen nerve-power, and probably every one out of
-five that indulges in its use awakens a morbid craving for increased
-stimulus, lessens the power of self-control, diminishes the strength of
-the constitution, and sets an example that influences the weak to the
-path of danger and of frequent ruin.
-
-The great danger of this age is an increasing, intense worldliness,
-and disbelief in the foundation principle of the religion of Christ,
-that we are to reap through everlasting ages the consequences of habits
-formed in this life. In the light of his Word, they only who are
-truly wise “shall shine as the firmament, and they that turn many to
-righteousness, as the stars, forever and ever.”
-
-It is increased _faith_ or _belief_ in the teachings of Christ’s
-religion, as to the influence of this life upon the _life to come_,
-which alone can save our country and the world from that inrushing tide
-of sensualism and worldliness now seeming to threaten the best hopes
-and prospects of our race.
-
-And woman, as the chief educator of our race, and the prime minister of
-the family state, is bound, in the use of meats and drinks, to employ
-the powerful and distinctive motives of the religion of Christ in
-forming habits of temperance and benevolent self-sacrifice for the good
-of others.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-CLEANLINESS.
-
-
-Both the health and comfort of a family depend, to a great extent, on
-cleanliness of the person and the family surroundings. True cleanliness
-of person involves the scientific treatment of the skin. This is the
-most complicated organ of the body, and one through which the health is
-affected more than through any other; and no persons can or will be so
-likely to take proper care of it as those by whom its construction and
-functions are understood.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 55.]
-
-Fig. 55 is a very highly magnified portion of the skin. The layer
-marked 1 is the outside, very thin skin, called the _cuticle_ or _scarf
-skin_. This consists of transparent layers of minute cells, which are
-constantly decaying and being renewed, and the white scurf that passes
-from the skin to the clothing is a decayed portion of these cells. This
-part of the skin has neither nerves nor blood-vessels.
-
-The dark layer, marked 2, 7, 8, is that portion of the true skin which
-gives the external color marking diverse races. In the portion of the
-dark layer marked 3, 4, is seen a net-work of nerves which run from two
-branches of the nervous trunks coming from the spinal marrow. These
-are nerves of sensation, by which the sense of touch or feeling is
-performed. Fig. 56 represents the blood-vessels, (intermingled with
-the nerves of the skin,) which divide into minute capillaries, that
-act like the capillaries of the lungs, taking oxygen from the air, and
-giving out carbonic acid. At _a_ and _b_ are seen the roots of two
-hairs, which abound in certain parts of the skin, and are nourished by
-the blood of the capillaries.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 56.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 57.]
-
-At Fig. 57 is a magnified view of another set of vessels, called the
-_lymphatics_ or _absorbents_. These are extremely minute vessels that
-interlace with the nerves and blood-vessels of the skin. Their office
-is to aid in collecting the useless, injurious, or decayed matter,
-and carry it to certain reservoirs, from which it passes into some of
-the large veins, to be thrown out through the lungs, bowels, kidneys,
-or skin. These _absorbent_ or _lymphatic vessels_ have mouths opening
-on the surface of the true skin, and, though covered by the cuticle,
-they can absorb both liquids and solids that are placed in close
-contact with the skin. In proof of this, one of the main trunks of the
-lymphatics in the hand can be cut off from all communication with other
-portions, and tied up; and if the hand is immersed in milk a given
-time, it will be found that the milk has been absorbed through the
-cuticle and fills the lymphatics. In this way long-continued blisters
-on the skin will introduce the blistering matter into the blood through
-the absorbents, and then the kidneys will take it up from the blood
-passing through them to carry it out of the body, and thus become
-irritated and inflamed by it.
-
-There are also oil-tubes, imbedded in the skin, that draw off oil from
-the blood. This issues on the surface, and spreads over the cuticle to
-keep it soft and moist.
-
-But the most curious part of the skin is the system of innumerable
-minute perspiration-tubes. Fig. 58 is a drawing of one very greatly
-magnified. These tubes open on the cuticle, and the openings are
-called pores of the skin. They descend into the true skin, and there
-form a coil, as is seen in the drawing. These tubes are hollow, like
-a pipe-stem, and their inner surface consists of wonderfully minute
-capillaries filled with the impure venous blood. And in these small
-tubes the same process is going on as takes place when the carbonic
-acid and water of the blood are exhaled from the lungs. The capillaries
-of these tubes through the whole skin of the body are thus constantly
-exhaling the noxious and decayed particles of the body, just as the
-lungs pour them out through the mouth and nose.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 58.]
-
-It has been shown that the perspiration-tubes are coiled up into a ball
-at their base. The number and extent of these tubes are astonishing.
-In a square inch on the palm of the hand have been counted, through a
-microscope, thirty-five hundred of these tubes. Each one of them is
-about a quarter of an inch in length, including its coils. This makes
-the united lengths of these little tubes to be seventy-three feet to a
-square inch. Their united length over the whole body is thus calculated
-to be equal to _twenty-eight miles_. What a wonderful apparatus this!
-And what mischiefs must ensue when the drainage from the body of such
-an extent as this becomes obstructed!
-
-But the inside of the body also has a skin, as have all its organs. The
-interior of the head, the throat, the gullet, the lungs, the stomach,
-and all the intestines, are lined with a skin. This is called the
-_mucous membrane_, because it is constantly secreting from the blood a
-slimy substance called _mucus_. When it accumulates in the lungs, it
-is called _phlegm_. This inner skin also has nerves, blood-vessels,
-and lymphatics. The outer skin joins to the inner at the mouth, the
-nose, and other openings of the body, and there is a constant sympathy
-between the two skins, and thus between the inner organs and the
-surface of the body.
-
-
-SECRETING ORGANS.
-
-Those vessels of the body which draw off certain portions of the blood
-and change it into a new form, to be employed for service or to be
-thrown out of the body, are called _secreting organs_. The skin in
-this sense is a secreting organ, as its perspiration-tubes secrete or
-separate the bad portions of the blood, and send them off.
-
-Of the internal secreting organs, the _liver_ is the largest. Its chief
-office is to secrete from the blood all matter not properly supplied
-with oxygen. For this purpose, a set of veins carries the blood of
-all the lower intestines to the liver, where the imperfectly oxidized
-matter is drawn off in the form of _bile_, and accumulated in a
-reservoir called the _gallbladder_. Thence it passes to the place where
-the smaller intestines receive the food from the stomach, and there it
-mixes with this food. Then it passes through the long intestines, and
-is thrown out of the body through the rectum. This shows how it is that
-want of pure and cool air and exercise causes excess of bile, from lack
-of oxygen. The liver also has arterial blood sent to nourish it, and
-corresponding veins to return this blood to the heart. So there are two
-sets of blood-vessels for the liver—one to secrete the bile, and the
-other to nourish the organ itself.
-
-The kidneys secrete from the arteries that pass through them all excess
-of water in the blood, and certain injurious substances. These are
-carried through small tubes to the bladder, and thence thrown out of
-the body.
-
-The _pancreas_, a whitish gland situated in the abdomen below the
-stomach, secretes from the arteries that pass through it the pancreatic
-juice, which unites with the bile from the liver, in preparing the food
-for nourishing the body.
-
-There are certain little glands near the eyes that secrete the tears,
-and others near the mouth that secrete the saliva, or spittle.
-
-These organs all have arteries sent to them to nourish them, and also
-veins to carry away the impure blood. At the same time, they secrete
-from the arterial blood the peculiar fluid which it is their office to
-supply.
-
-All the food that passes through the lower intestines which is not
-drawn off by the lacteals or by some of these secreting organs, passes
-from the body through a passage called the rectum.
-
-Learned men have made very curious experiments to ascertain how much
-the several organs throw out of the body. It is found that the skin
-throws off five out of eight pounds of the food and drink, or probably
-about three or four pounds a day. The lungs throw off one quarter as
-much as the skin, or about a pound a day. The remainder is carried off
-by the kidneys and lower intestines.
-
-There is such a sympathy and connection between all the organs of the
-body, that when one of them is unable to work, the others perform the
-office of the feeble one. Thus, if the skin has its perspiration-tubes
-closed up by a chill, then all the poisonous matter that would have
-been thrown out through them must be emptied out either by the lungs,
-kidneys, or bowels.
-
-When all these organs are strong and healthy, they can bear this
-increased labor without injury. But if the lungs are weak, the blood
-sent from the skin by the chill engorges the weak blood-vessels, and
-produces an inflammation of the lungs. Or it increases the discharge of
-a slimy mucous substance, that exudes from the skin of the lungs. This
-fills up the air-vessels, and would very soon end life, were it not
-for the spasms of the lungs, called _coughing_, which throw off this
-substance.
-
-If, on the other hand, the bowels are weak, a chill of the skin
-sends the blood into all the blood-vessels of the intestines, and
-produces inflammation there, or else an excessive secretion of the
-mucous substance, which is called a _diarrhea_. Or if the kidneys are
-weak, there is an increased secretion and discharge from them, to an
-unhealthy and injurious extent.
-
-This connection between the skin and internal organs is shown, not
-only by the internal effects of a chill on the skin, but by the
-sympathetic effect on the skin when these internal organs suffer. For
-example, there are some kinds of food that will irritate and influence
-the stomach or the bowels; and this, by sympathy, will produce an
-immediate eruption on the skin. Some persons, on eating strawberries,
-will immediately be affected with a nettle-rash. Others can not eat
-certain shell-fish without being affected in this way. Many humors on
-the face are caused by a diseased state of the internal organs with
-which the skin sympathizes.
-
-This short account of the construction of the skin, and of its intimate
-connection with the internal organs, shows the philosophy of those
-modes of medical treatment that are addressed to this portion of the
-body.
-
-It is on this powerful agency that the steam-doctors rely,
-when, by moisture and heat, they stimulate all the innumerable
-perspiration-tubes and lymphatics to force out from the body a flood
-of unnaturally excited secretions; while it is “kill or cure,” just as
-the chance may meet or oppose the demands of the case. It is the skin,
-also, that is the chief basis of medical treatment in the Water Cure,
-whose slow processes are as much safer as they are slower.
-
-At the same time, it is the ill-treatment or neglect of the skin which,
-probably, is the cause of disease and decay to an incredible extent.
-The various particulars in which this may be seen will now be pointed
-out. In the management and care of this wonderful and complex part of
-the body many mistakes have been made.
-
-The most common one is the misuse of the bath, especially since
-cold-water cures have come into use. This mode of medical treatment
-originated with an ignorant peasant, amidst a population where outdoor
-labor had strengthened nerves and muscles and imparted rugged powers to
-every part of the body. It was then introduced into England and America
-without due consideration or knowledge of the diseases, habits, or real
-condition of patients, especially of women. The consequence was a mode
-of treatment too severe and exhausting; and many practices were spread
-abroad not warranted by true medical science.
-
-But, in spite of these mistakes and abuses, the treatment of the skin
-for disease by the use of cold water has become an accepted doctrine
-of the most learned medical practitioners. It is now held by all such
-that fevers can be detected in their distinctive features by the
-thermometer, and that all fevers can be reduced by cold baths and
-packing in the wet sheet, in the mode employed in all water cures.
-
-It has been supposed that large bath-tubs for immersing the whole
-person are indispensable to the proper cleaning of the skin. This is
-not so. A wet towel, applied every morning to the skin, followed by
-friction in pure air, is all that is absolutely needed; although a full
-bath is a great luxury. Access of air to every part of the skin, when
-its perspiratory tubes are cleared and its blood-vessels are filled by
-friction, is the best ordinary bath.
-
-Children should be washed all over, every night or morning, to remove
-impurities from the skin. But in this process careful regard should be
-paid to the peculiar constitution of a child. Very nervous children
-sometimes revolt from cold water, and like a tepid bath; others prefer
-a cold bath; and nature should be the guide. It must be remembered that
-the skin is the great organ of sensation, and in close connection with
-brain, spine, and nerve-centres: so that what a strong nervous system
-can bear with advantage is too powerful and exhausting for another. As
-age advances, or as disease debilitates the body, great care should
-be taken not to overtax the nervous system by sudden shocks, or to
-diminish its powers by withdrawing animal heat to excess. Persons
-lacking robustness should bathe or use friction in a warm room; and if
-very delicate, should expose only a portion of the body at once to cold
-air. But an evening or morning washing and friction of the skin will
-save from colds and many other evils.
-
-Johnson, a celebrated writer on agricultural chemistry, tells of an
-experiment by friction on the skin of pigs, whose skins are like that
-of the human race. He treated six of these animals with a curry-comb
-seven weeks, and left three other pigs untouched. The result was a gain
-of thirty-three pounds more of weight, with the use of five bushels
-less of food for those curried, than for the neglected ones. This
-result was owing to the fact that all the functions of the body were
-more perfectly performed when, by friction, the skin was kept free from
-filth and the blood in it exposed to the air. The same will be true of
-the human skin. A calculation has been made on this fact, by which it
-is estimated that a man, by proper care of his skin, would save over
-thirty-one dollars in food yearly, which at 6 per cent. is the interest
-on over five hundred dollars. If men will give as much care to their
-own skin as they give to currying a horse, they will gain both health
-and wealth.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-CLOTHING.
-
-
-There is no duty of those persons having control of a family where
-principle and practice are more at variance than in regulating the
-dress of young girls, especially at the most important and critical
-period of life. It is a difficult duty for parents and teachers to
-contend with the power of fashion, which at this time of a young
-girl’s life is frequently the ruling thought, and when to be out of
-the fashion, to be odd and not dress as all her companions do, is a
-mortification and grief that no argument or instructions can relieve.
-The mother is often so overborne that, in spite of her better wishes,
-the daughter adopts modes of dress alike ruinous to health and to
-beauty.
-
-The greatest protection against such an emergency is to train a
-child to understand the construction of her own body, and to impress
-upon her, in early days, her obligations to the invisible Friend and
-Guardian of her life, the “Former of her body and the Father of her
-spirit,” who has committed to her care so precious and beautiful a
-casket. And the more she can be made to realize the skill and beauty
-of construction shown in her earthly frame, the more will she feel the
-obligation to protect it from injury and abuse.
-
-It is a singular fact that the war of fashion has attacked most fatally
-what seems to be the strongest foundation and defense of the body, the
-bones. For this reason, the construction and functions of this part of
-the body will now receive attention.
-
-The bones are composed of two substances, one animal, and the other
-mineral. The animal part is a very fine net-work, called _cellular
-membrane_. In this are deposited the harder mineral substances, which
-are composed principally of carbonate and phosphate of lime. In very
-early life, the bones consist chiefly of the animal part, and are then
-soft and pliant. As the child advances in age, the bones grow harder,
-by the gradual deposition of the phosphate of lime, which is supplied
-by the food, and carried to the bones by the blood. In old age, the
-hardest material preponderates; making the bones more brittle than in
-earlier life.
-
-The bones are covered with a thin skin or membrane, filled with small
-blood-vessels which convey nourishment to them.
-
-Where the bones unite with others to form joints, they are covered with
-_cartilage_, which is a smooth, white, elastic substance. This enables
-the joints to move smoothly, while its elasticity prevents injuries
-from sudden jars.
-
-The joints are bound together by strong, elastic bands called
-_ligaments_, which hold them firmly and prevent dislocation.
-
-Between the ends of the bones that unite to form joints are small sacks
-or bags, that contain a soft lubricating fluid. This answers the same
-purpose for the joints as oil in making machinery work smoothly, while
-the supply is constant and always in exact proportion to the demand.
-
-If you will examine the leg of some fowl, you can see the cartilage
-that covers the ends of the bones at the joints, and the strong white
-ligaments that bind the joints together.
-
-The health of the bones depends on the proper nourishment and exercise
-of the body as much as that of any other part. When a child is feeble
-and unhealthy, or when it grows up without exercise, the bones do not
-become firm and hard as they are when the body is healthfully developed
-by exercise. The size as well as the strength of the bones, to a
-certain extent, also depend upon exercise and good health. So also they
-depend on the food, for fine flour is deprived of the materials that
-form bone, and growing children often have weak bones from having this
-for common food.
-
-The chief supporter of the body is the spine, which consists of
-twenty-four small bones, interlocked or hooked into each other, while
-between them are elastic cushions of cartilage which aid in preserving
-the upright, natural position. Fig. 59 shows three of the spinal bones,
-hooked into each other, the dark spaces showing the disks or flat
-circular plates of cartilage between them.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 59.]
-
-The spine is held in its proper position, partly by the ribs, partly by
-muscles, partly by aid of the elastic disks, and partly by the close
-packing of the intestines in front of it.
-
-The upper part of the spine is often thrown out of its proper position
-by constant stooping of the head over books or work. This affects the
-elastic disks so that they grow thick at the back side and thinner at
-the front side by such constant pressure. The result is the awkward
-projection of the head forward which is often seen in schools and
-colleges.
-
-Another distortion of the spine is produced by tight dress around the
-waist. The liver occupies the right side of the body and is a solid
-mass, while on the other side is the larger part of the stomach, which
-is often empty. The consequence of tight dress around the waist is
-a constant pressure of the spine toward the unsupported part where
-the stomach lies. Thus the elastic disks again are compressed, till
-they become thinner on one side than the other, and harden into that
-condition. This produces what is called the _lateral curvature of the
-spine_, making one shoulder higher than the other.
-
-The evils consequent on modes of dress can never be remedied until the
-process of _breathing_ is understood and its influence in preserving
-the position and healthful action of the pelvic organs in both sexes,
-but especially those of woman. And this has never been explained in any
-of our popular works on physiology.
-
-In the diagram, Figs. 60, 61, D represents the diaphragm, which
-resembles an inverted bowl. Above it are the heart and lungs, marked
-H and L, and these are held up by blood-vessels and other supports
-above them. In this position of the diaphragm the air-vessels of the
-lungs are only partially filled with air, and there are two modes of
-increasing this supply. One is by _chest_ breathing, when the ribs are
-lifted upward and outward, making a vacuum in the air-vessels of the
-lungs. At the same time, the diaphragm is flattened by this expansion
-of the chest, as shown by the dotted lines. Then the air presses in
-through the nose and windpipe and fills the air-vessels, giving up its
-oxygen to the blood, and receiving carbonic acid and water, which are
-expired when the ribs and diaphragm return to their natural position.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 60.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 61.]
-
-The other mode of filling the lungs is by _abdominal_ breathing, as
-illustrated by Fig. 61.
-
-At D is a side view of the diaphragm in its natural position, and
-the dotted lines show its position when it is contracted and thus
-flattened. When the diaphragm contracts or flattens, a vacant space is
-left above it, and then the air rushes in to fill the vacuum, as it
-does when the ribs are raised. This flattening of the diaphragm presses
-all the viscera beneath it downward, and thus causes the abdomen to
-swell outward, as is represented by the dotted lines at A. Then, when
-the diaphragm returns to its natural state, a vacant space is made
-beneath it, and in consequence the viscera below rises to fill the
-vacuum, owing to the pressure of the atmosphere around the body; for
-it is said that “nature abhors a vacuum,” by which is expressed a law
-of pneumatics in a popular adage. This law is, that when a vacuum is
-made in either air or water, the surrounding fluid presses from all
-sides, and from the bottom as strongly as from above. And thus, when a
-vacuum is made by the raising of the diaphragm, there is a pressure on
-all sides of the body, forcing the intestines upward to fill the vacuum
-thus made.
-
-This enables us to explain that most curious and wonderful mode by
-which the upper viscera are prevented from sinking on to the lower, as
-secured chiefly by abdominal breathing.
-
-The _pelvis_ is the bony basin supporting the spine, to which the bones
-of the legs are fastened.
-
-This basin holds the pelvic organs, consisting in one sex of the
-bladder and rectum, and in the other sex of the bladder, vagina,
-uterus, and rectum. These pelvic organs must enlarge by use, and so
-are placed in a spongy, yielding substance called _cellular membrane_.
-Now the liver, stomach, and all the intestines below the diaphragm,
-have _no support from above_, and so the question is, what sustains
-these organs, weighing from six to twelve pounds, so that they do not
-sink down on to the delicate pelvic organs below? The answer is, they
-are held up chiefly by _abdominal breathing_, as above explained. For
-at every rise of the diaphragm a vacuum is made above the abdominal
-viscera, lifting them upward, and this is done at every breath, and we
-breathe about twenty times each minute.
-
-By this constant upward and downward movement of the abdominal viscera,
-the healthful and quickened circulation of the blood in all the myriad
-capillaries of both the abdominal and also the pelvic organs is
-promoted; for it has been shown on page 152 how alternate compression
-and relaxation of the veins promotes quickened circulation in all the
-veins and capillaries. Of course, any thing that impedes abdominal
-breathing interrupts this lifting operation, so that the upper
-intestines are left to gravitate on the pelvic organs. This stops the
-healthful flow of blood through the capillaries, and tends to produce
-congestion, inflammation, and cancerous accumulations in the pelvic
-organs.
-
-All natural and healthful breathing unites both chest and abdominal
-breathing, as may be seen by watching a sleeping child. Clothing
-resting on the hips and abdomen, unsupported from the shoulders, is
-sure to impede abdominal breathing, and if heavy, to stop it entirely.
-In the present style of dress, when the clothing rests on hips and
-abdomen, and is unsupported by shoulder-straps, through most of the
-day this most healthful movement is interrupted, and thus the most
-efficient mode is taken of bringing on terrible suffering, both
-physical and mental.
-
-Many a school-girl, whose waist was originally of a proper and
-healthful size, has gradually pressed the soft bones of youth until
-the lower ribs, that should rise and fall with every breath, become
-entirely unused, while heavy clothing or stiff corset-bones stop the
-abdominal breathing.
-
-The pressure of the upper interior organs upon the lower ones by tight
-dress, is increased by the weight of clothing resting on the hips and
-abdomen. Corsets, as usually worn, have no support from the shoulders,
-and consequently all the weight of dress resting upon or above them
-presses upon the hips and abdomen, and this in such a way as to throw
-out of use, and thus weaken, the supporting muscles of the abdomen, and
-impede abdominal breathing.
-
-Then the _stomach_ begins to draw from above, instead of resting on
-the viscera beneath it. This in some cases causes dull and wandering
-pains, a sense of pulling at the centre of the chest, and a drawing
-downward at the pit of the stomach. Then, as the natural mode of
-support is really _gone_, there is what is often called “a feeling of
-_goneness_.” This is sometimes relieved by food, which, so long as it
-remains in a solid form, helps to hold up the falling superstructure.
-This displacement of the stomach, liver, and spleen interrupts their
-healthful functions, and dyspepsia and biliary difficulties not
-unfrequently are the result.
-
-As the stomach and its appendages fall downward, the breathing
-sometimes thus becomes quicker and shorter, on account of the elongated
-or debilitated condition of the assisting organs. Consumption not
-unfrequently results from this cause.
-
-The _heart_ also feels the evil. “Palpitations,” “flutterings,”
-“sinking feelings,” all show that, in the language of Scripture, “the
-heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place.”
-
-Having the weight of all the unsupported organs above pressing them
-into unnatural and distorted positions, the passage of the food is
-interrupted, and inflammations, indurations, and constipation are the
-frequent result. Dreadful ulcers and cancers in the bowels may be
-traced in some instances to this cause.
-
-Although these internal displacements are most common among women,
-some foolish members of the other sex are adopting customs of dress, in
-girding the central portion of the body, that tend to similar results.
-
-But this distortion brings upon woman peculiar distresses. The pressure
-of the whole superincumbent mass on the pelvic or lower organs induces
-sufferings proportioned in acuteness to the extreme delicacy and
-sensitiveness of the parts thus crushed. And the intimate connection of
-these organs with the brain and whole nervous system renders injuries
-thus inflicted the causes of the most extreme anguish, both of body and
-mind. This evil is becoming so common, not only among married women but
-among young girls, as to be a just cause for universal alarm.
-
-How very common these sufferings are few but the medical profession
-can realize, because they are troubles that must be concealed. Many
-a woman is moving about in uncomplaining agony who, with any other
-trouble involving equal suffering, would be on her bed surrounded by
-sympathizing friends.
-
-The terrible sufferings that are sometimes thus induced can never be
-conceived of, or at all appreciated from any use of language. Nothing
-that the public can be made to believe on this subject will ever equal
-the reality. Not only mature persons and mothers, but fair young girls
-sometimes, are shut up for months and years as helpless and suffering
-invalids from this cause. This may be found all over the land. And
-there frequently is a horrible extremity of suffering in certain forms
-of this evil, which no woman of feeble constitution dressing in present
-fashion can ever be certain may not be her doom. Not that in all cases
-this extremity is involved, but none can say who will escape it.
-
-In regard to this, if one must choose for a friend or a child, on the
-one hand, the horrible torments inflicted by savage Indians or cruel
-inquisitors on their victims, or, on the other, the protracted agonies
-that result from such deformities and displacements, sometimes the
-former would be a merciful exchange. And yet this is the fate that is
-coming to meet the young as well as the mature in every direction.
-And tender parents are unconsciously leading their lovely and hapless
-daughters to this awful doom.
-
-There is no excitement of the imagination in what is here indicated. If
-the facts and details could be presented, they would send a groan of
-terror all over the land. For it is not one class, or one section, that
-is endangered. In every part of our country the evil is progressing.
-
-And, as if these dreadful ills were not enough, there have been added
-methods of medical treatment at once useless, torturing to the mind,
-and involving great liability to immoralities.[5]
-
-[5] Some extracts from medical writers in Note A will give the views of
-the most respected physicians all over the land on this point.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 62.]
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 63.]
-
-In hope of abating these evils, drawings are given (Fig. 62 and Fig.
-63) of the front and back of a jacket that will preserve the advantages
-of the corset without its evils. This jacket may at first be fitted to
-the figure with corsets underneath it, just like the waist of a dress.
-Then delicate whalebones can be used to stiffen the jacket, so that
-it will take the proper shape, when the corset may be dispensed with.
-The buttons below are to hold all articles of dress below the waist
-by button-holes. By this method the bust is supported as well as by
-corsets, while the shoulders support from above, as they should do, the
-weight of the dress below. No stiff bone should be allowed to press
-in front, and the jacket should be so loose that a full breath can be
-inspired with ease while in a sitting position.
-
-The proper way to dress a young girl is to have a cotton or flannel
-close-fitting jacket next the body, to which the drawers should be
-buttoned. Over this place the chemise; and over that, such a jacket as
-the one here drawn, to which should be buttoned the hoops and other
-skirts. Thus every article of dress will be supported by the shoulders.
-The sleeves of the jacket can be omitted, and in that case a strong
-lining, and also a tape binding, must surround the arm-hole, which
-should be loose.
-
-It is hoped that increase of intelligence and moral power among
-mothers, and a combination among them to regulate fashions, may banish
-the pernicious practices that have prevailed. If a _school-girl dress_
-without corsets and without tight belts could be established as a
-fashion, it would be one step gained in the right direction. Then, if
-mothers could secure to their daughters daily domestic exercise in
-chambers, eating-rooms, and parlors in loose dresses, a still further
-advance would be secured.
-
-A friend of the writer informs her that her daughter had her wedding
-outfit made up by a fashionable milliner in Paris, and every dress was
-beautifully fitted to the form, and yet was not compressing to any
-part. This was done too without the use of corsets, the stiffening
-being delicate and yielding whalebones.
-
-Not only parents but all having the care of young girls, especially
-those at boarding-schools, have a fearful responsibility resting upon
-them in regard to this important duty.
-
-In regard to the dressing of young children, much discretion is needed
-to adapt dress to circumstances and peculiar constitutions. The leading
-fact must be borne in mind, that the skin is made strong and healthful
-by exposure to light and pure air, while cold air, if not excessive,
-has a tonic influence. If the skin of infants is rubbed with the
-hand till red with blood, and then exposed naked to sun and air in a
-well-ventilated room, it will be favorable to health.
-
-There is a constitutional difference in the skin of different children
-in regard to retaining the animal heat manufactured within, so that
-some need more clothing than others for comfort. Nature is a safe
-guide to a careful nurse and mother, and will indicate, by the looks
-and actions of a child, when more clothing is needful. As a general
-rule, it is safe for a healthful child to wear as little clothing as
-suffices to keep it from complaining of cold. Fifty years ago, it
-was not common for children to wear as much under-clothing as they
-now do. The writer well remembers how girls, though not of strong
-constitutions, used to play for hours in the snow-drifts without the
-protection of drawers, kept warm by exercise and occasional runs to an
-open fire. And multitudes of children grew to vigorous maturity through
-similar exposures to cold-air baths, and without the frequent colds and
-sicknesses so common among children of the present day, who are more
-carefully housed and warmly dressed. But care was taken that the feet
-should be kept dry and warmly clad, because, circulation being feebler
-in the extremities, this precaution was important.
-
-It must also be considered that age brings with it decrease in vigor
-of circulation, and diminished generation of heat, so that more warmth
-of air and clothing is needed at an advanced period of life than is
-suitable for the young.
-
-These are the general principles which must be applied with
-modification to each individual case. A child of delicate constitution
-must have more careful protection from cold air than is desirable for
-one more vigorous, while the leading general principle is retained that
-cold air is a healthful tonic for the skin whenever it does not produce
-an uncomfortable chilliness.
-
-Sometimes it is asked, Why are women, especially young girls, so much
-more delicate and sickly than in former days? The true reply would be,
-it is because parents and teachers are doing every thing they can do to
-produce such mischiefs.
-
-Sleeping in unventilated chambers; living in school-rooms and parlors
-heated to excess, and charged with poisonous gases; exposed to sudden
-variations of temperature from mismanagement; eating unhealthful food
-at irregular hours and to a dangerous excess; supplied with unhealthful
-confectionary to eat at any hour; indulging in exciting amusements,
-with late hours for sleep; the brain stimulated by a multitude of
-school duties and studies unrelieved by sufficient sleep or by
-muscular exercise; the dress contrived to impede vital functions, so as
-to force the upper organs on to the lower, generating the most cruel
-displacements and mental and bodily diseases; overheating the parts
-most injured by such treatment, and exposing the parts most important
-to keep warm; compressing feet and ankles so as to impede circulation,
-with high heels throwing all the muscles out of natural play, so as to
-increase all the dangerous tendencies to internal displacement; these
-are only one portion of the many contrivances adopted or allowed by
-parents and teachers to destroy the health of women and young girls.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-EARLY RISING.
-
-
-There is no practice which has been more extensively eulogized in all
-ages than early rising; and this universal impression is an indication
-that it is founded on true philosophy. For it is rarely the case that
-the common sense of mankind fastens on a practice as really beneficial,
-especially one that demands self-denial, without some substantial
-reason.
-
-This practice, which may justly be called a domestic virtue, is one
-which has a peculiar claim to be styled American and democratic. The
-distinctive mark of aristocratic nations is a disregard of the great
-mass, and a disproportionate regard for the interests of certain
-privileged orders. All the customs and habits of such a nation are, to
-a greater or less extent, regulated by this principle. Now the mass
-of any nation must always consist of persons who labor at occupations
-which demand the light of day. But in aristocratic countries,
-especially in England, labor is regarded as the mark of the lower
-classes, and indolence is considered as one mark of a gentleman.
-This impression has gradually and imperceptibly, to a great extent,
-regulated their customs, so that, even in their hours of meals and
-repose, the higher orders aim at being different and distinct from
-those who, by laborious pursuits, are placed below them. From this
-circumstance, while the lower orders labor by day and sleep at night,
-the rich, the noble, and the honored sleep by day, and follow their
-pursuits and pleasures by night.
-
-It will be found that the aristocracy of London breakfast near midday,
-dine after dark, visit and go to Parliament between ten and twelve at
-night, and retire to sleep toward morning. In consequence of this, the
-subordinate classes who aim at gentility gradually fall into the same
-practice. The influence of this custom extends across the ocean, and
-here, in this democratic land, we find many who measure their grade of
-gentility by the late hour at which they arrive at a party. And this
-aristocratic folly is growing upon us, so that throughout the nation
-the hours for visiting and retiring are constantly becoming later,
-while the hours for rising correspond in lateness.
-
-The question, then, is one which appeals to American women as a matter
-of patriotism, and as having a bearing on those great principles
-of democracy which we conceive to be equally the principles of
-Christianity. Shall we form our customs on the assumption that labor
-is degrading and indolence genteel? Shall we assume, by our practice,
-that the interests of the great mass are to be sacrificed for the
-pleasures and honors of a privileged few? Shall we ape the customs
-of aristocratic lands, in those very practices which result from
-principles and institutions that we condemn? Shall we not rather
-take the place to which we are entitled, as the leaders, rather than
-the followers, in the customs of society, turn back the tide of
-aristocratic inroads, and carry through the whole, not only of civil
-and political but of social and domestic life, the true principles of
-democratic freedom and equality? The following considerations may serve
-to strengthen an affirmative decision:
-
-The first relates to the health of a family. It is a universal law
-of physiology, that all living things flourish best in the light.
-Vegetables, in a dark cellar, grow pale and spindling. Children brought
-up in mines are always wan and stunted, while men become pale and
-cadaverous who live under ground. This indicates the folly of losing
-the genial influence which the light of day produces on all animated
-creation.
-
-Sir James Wylie, of the Russian imperial service, states that in
-the soldiers’ barracks three times as many were taken sick on the
-shaded side as on the sunny side; though both sides communicated, and
-discipline, diet, and treatment were the same. The eminent French
-surgeon, Dupuytren, cured a lady, whose complicated diseases baffled
-for years his own and all other medical skill, by taking her from a
-dark room to an abundance of daylight.
-
-Florence Nightingale writes: “Second only to fresh air in importance
-for the sick is _light_. Not only daylight but direct sunlight is
-necessary to speedy recovery, except in a small number of cases.
-Instances, almost endless, could be given where, in dark wards, or
-wards with only northern exposure, or wards with borrowed light, even
-when properly ventilated, the sick could not be, by any means, made
-speedily to recover.”
-
-In the prevalence of cholera, it was invariably the case that deaths
-were more numerous in shaded streets, or in houses having only northern
-exposures, than in those having sunlight. Several physicians have
-stated to the writer that, in sunny exposures, women after childbirth
-gained strength much faster than those excluded from sunlight. In the
-writer’s experience, great nervous debility has been always immediately
-lessened by sitting in the sun, and still more by lying on the earth
-and in open air, a blanket beneath, and head and eyes protected, under
-the direct rays of the sun.
-
-Some facts in physiology and natural philosophy have a bearing on this
-subject. It seems to be settled that the red color of blood is owing
-to iron contained in the red blood-cells, while it is established as a
-fact that the sun’s rays are metallic, having “vapor of iron” as one
-element. It is also true that want of light causes a diminution of the
-red and an increase of the imperfect white blood-cells, and that this
-sometimes results in a disease called _leucoemia_, while all who live
-in the dark have pale and waxy skins, and flabby, weak muscles. Thus
-it would seem that it is the sun that imparts the iron and color to
-the blood. These things being so, the customs of society that bring
-sleeping hours into daylight, and working and study hours into the
-night, are direct violations of the laws of health. The laws of health
-are the laws of God, and “sin is the transgression of law.”
-
-To this we must add the great neglect of economy as well as health in
-substituting unhealthful gas-light and poisonous, anthracite warmth,
-for the life-giving light and warmth of the sun. Millions and millions
-would be saved to this nation in fuel and light, as well as in health,
-by returning to the good old ways of our forefathers, to rise with the
-sun, and retire to rest “when the bell rings for nine o’clock.”
-
-The observations of medical men, whose inquiries have been directed to
-this point, have decided that from six to eight hours is the amount
-of sleep demanded by persons in health. Some constitutions require as
-much as eight, and others no more than six hours of repose. But eight
-hours is the maximum for all persons in ordinary health, with ordinary
-occupations. In cases of extra physical exertions, or the debility of
-disease, or a decayed constitution, more than this is required. Let
-eight hours, then, be regarded as the ordinary period required for
-sleep by an industrious people like the Americans.
-
-It thus appears that the laws of our political condition, the laws of
-the natural world, and the constitution of our bodies, alike demand
-that we rise with the light of day to prosecute our employments, and
-that we retire in time for the requisite amount of sleep.
-
-In regard to the effects of protracting the time spent in repose, many
-extensive and satisfactory investigations have been made. It has been
-shown that during sleep the body perspires most freely, while yet
-neither food nor exercise are ministering to its wants. Of course,
-if we continue our slumbers beyond the time required to restore the
-body to its usual vigor, there is an unperceived undermining of the
-constitution by this protracted and debilitating exhalation. This
-process, in a course of years, renders the body delicate and less
-able to withstand disease, and in the result shortens life. Sir John
-Sinclair, who has written a large work on the Causes of Longevity,
-states, as one result of his extensive investigations, that he has
-never yet heard or read of a single case of great longevity where the
-individual was not an early riser. He says that he has found cases in
-which the individual has violated some one of all the other laws of
-health, and yet lived to great age; but never a single instance in
-which any constitution has withstood that undermining consequent on
-protracting the hours of repose beyond the demands of the system.
-
-Another reason for early rising is, that it is indispensable to a
-systematic and well-regulated family. At whatever hour the parents
-retire, children and domestics, wearied by play or labor, must retire
-early. Children usually awake with the dawn of light and commence their
-play, while domestics usually prefer the freshness of morning for their
-labors. If, then, the parents rise at a late hour, they either induce a
-habit of protracting sleep in their children and domestics, or else the
-family are up, and at their pursuits, while their supervisors are in
-bed.
-
-Any woman who asserts that her children and domestics, in the first
-hours of day, when their spirits are freshest, will be as well
-regulated without her presence as with it, confesses that which surely
-is little for her credit. It is believed that any candid woman,
-whatever may be her excuse for late rising, will concede that if she
-could rise early it would be for the advantage of her family. A late
-breakfast puts back the work, through the whole day, for every member
-of a family; and if the parents thus occasion the loss of an hour or
-two to each individual, who, but for their delay in the morning, would
-be usefully employed, they alone are responsible for all this waste of
-time.
-
-But the practice of early rising has a relation to the general
-interests of the social community, as well as to that of each distinct
-family. All that great portion of the community who are employed
-in business and labor find it needful to rise early; and all their
-hours of meals, and their appointments for business or pleasure,
-must be accommodated to these arrangements. Now, if a small portion
-of the community establish very different hours, it makes a kind of
-jostling in all the concerns and interests of society. The various
-appointments for the public, such as meetings, schools, and business
-hours, must be accommodated to the mass, and not to individuals.
-The few, then, who establish domestic habits at variance with the
-majority, are either constantly interrupted in their own arrangements,
-or else are interfering with the rights and interests of others. This
-is exemplified in the case of schools. In families where late rising
-is practiced, either hurry, irregularity, and neglect are engendered
-in the family, or else the interests of the school, and thus of the
-community, are sacrificed. In this and many other matters, it can be
-shown that the well-being of the bulk of the people is, to a greater or
-less extent, impaired by this self-indulgent practice. Let any teacher
-select the unpunctual scholars—a class who most seriously interfere
-with the interests of the school—and let men of business select those
-who cause them most waste of time and vexation, by unpunctuality; and
-it will be found that they are generally among the late risers, and
-rarely among those who rise early. Thus, late rising not only injures
-the person and family which indulge in it, but interferes with the
-rights and convenience of the community; while early rising imparts
-corresponding benefits of health, promptitude, vigor of action, economy
-of time, and general effectiveness, both to the individuals who
-practice it and to the families and community of which they are a part.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-DOMESTIC MANNERS.
-
-
-Good manners are the expressions of benevolence in personal
-intercourse, by which we endeavor to promote the comfort and enjoyment
-of others, and to avoid all that gives needless uneasiness. It is the
-exterior exhibition of the divine precept, which requires us to do to
-others as we would that they should do to us. It is saying, by our
-deportment, to all around, that we consider their feelings, tastes, and
-conveniences, as equal in value to our own.
-
-Good manners lead us to avoid all practices which offend the taste
-of others; all unnecessary violations of the conventional rules of
-propriety; all rude and disrespectful language and deportment; and all
-remarks which would tend to wound the feelings of others.
-
-There is a serious defect in the manners of the American people,
-especially among the descendants of the Puritan settlers of New
-England, which can never be efficiently remedied, except in the
-domestic circle, and during early life. It is a deficiency in the free
-expression of kindly feelings and sympathetic emotions, and a want of
-courtesy in deportment. The causes which have led to this result may
-easily be traced.
-
-The forefathers of this nation, to a wide extent, were men who were
-driven from their native land by laws and customs which they believed
-to be opposed both to civil and religious freedom. The sufferings they
-were called to endure, the subduing of those gentler feelings which
-bind us to country, kindred, and home; and the constant subordination
-of the passions to stern principle, induced characters of great
-firmness and self-control. They gave up the comforts and refinements of
-a civilized country, and came as pilgrims to a hard soil, a cold clime,
-and a heathen shore. They were continually forced to encounter danger,
-privation, sickness, loneliness, and death; and all these their
-religion taught them to meet with calmness, fortitude, and submission.
-And thus it became the custom and habit of the whole mass to repress
-rather than to encourage the expression of feeling.
-
-Persons who are called to constant and protracted suffering and
-privation are forced to subdue and conceal emotion; for the free
-expression of it would double their own suffering, and increase the
-sufferings of others. Those only who are free from care and anxiety,
-and whose minds are mainly occupied by cheerful emotions, are at full
-liberty to unveil their feelings.
-
-It was under such stern and rigorous discipline that the first children
-in New-England were reared; and the manners and habits of parents are
-usually to a great extent transmitted to children. Thus it comes to
-pass that the descendants of the Puritans, now scattered over every
-part of the nation, are predisposed to conceal the gentler emotions,
-while their manners are calm, decided, and cold, rather than free
-and impulsive. Of course, there are very many exceptions to these
-predominating characteristics.
-
-Other causes, to which we may attribute a general want of courtesy in
-manners, are certain incidental results of our domestic institutions.
-Our ancestors and their descendants have constantly been combating
-the aristocratic principle, which would exalt one class of men at the
-expense of another. They have had to contend with this principle,
-not only in civil but in social life. Almost every American, in his
-own person as well as in behalf of his class, has had to assume and
-defend the main principle of democracy—that every man’s feelings and
-interests are equal in value to those of every other man. But, in
-doing this, there has been some want of clear discrimination. Because
-claims based on distinctions of mere birth, fortune, or position were
-found to be injurious, many have gone to the extreme of inferring that
-all distinctions involving subordinations are useless. Such would
-wrongfully regard children as equals to parents, pupils to teachers,
-domestics to their employers, and subjects to magistrates—and that,
-too, in all respects.
-
-The fact that certain grades of superiority and subordination are
-needful, both for individual and public benefit, has not been clearly
-discerned; and there has been a gradual tendency to an extreme of
-the opposite view which has sensibly affected our manners. All the
-proprieties and courtesies which depend on the recognition of the
-relative duties of superior and subordinate have been warred upon;
-and thus we see, to an increasing extent, disrespectful treatment
-of parents, by children; of teachers, by pupils; of employers, by
-domestics; and of the aged, by the young. In all classes and circles
-there is a gradual decay in courtesy of address.
-
-In cases, too, where kindness is rendered, it is often accompanied with
-a cold, unsympathizing manner, which greatly lessens its value; while
-kindness or politeness is received in a similar style of coolness, as
-if it were but the payment of a just due.
-
-It is owing to these causes that the American people, especially the
-descendants of the Puritans, do not do themselves justice. For, while
-those who are near enough to learn their real character and feelings
-can discern the most generous impulses and the most kindly sympathies,
-they are often so veiled behind a composed and indifferent demeanor as
-to be almost entirely concealed from strangers.
-
-These defects in our national manners it especially falls to the care
-of mothers, and all who have charge of the young, to rectify; and if
-they seriously undertake the matter, and wisely adapt means to ends,
-these defects will be remedied. With reference to this object, the
-following ideas are suggested:
-
-The law of Christianity and of democracy, which teaches that all men
-are born equal in rights, and that their interests and feelings should
-be regarded as of equal value, seems to be adopted in aristocratic
-circles, with exclusive reference to the class in which the individual
-moves. The courtly gentleman addresses all of his own class with
-politeness and respect, and in all his actions seems to allow that the
-feelings and convenience of these others are to be regarded the same as
-his own. But his demeanor to those of inferior station is not based on
-the same rule.
-
-Among those who make up aristocratic circles, such as are above them
-are deemed of superior, and such as are below of inferior, value. Thus,
-if a young, ignorant, and vicious coxcomb happens to have been born a
-lord, the aged, the virtuous, the learned, and the well-bred of another
-class must give his convenience the precedence, and must address him
-in terms of respect. So, sometimes, when a man of “noble birth” is
-thrown among the lower classes, he demeans himself in a style which, to
-persons of his own class, would be deemed the height of assumption and
-rudeness.
-
-Now, the principles of democracy require that the same courtesy which
-we accord to our own circle shall be extended to every class and
-condition; and that distinctions of superiority and subordination
-shall depend, not on accidents of birth, fortune, or occupation, but
-solely on those mutual relations which the good of all classes equally
-require. The distinctions demanded in a democratic state are simply
-those which result from relations that are common to every class, and
-are for the benefit of all.
-
-It is for the benefit of every class that children be subordinate to
-parents, pupils to teachers, the employed to their employers, and
-subjects to magistrates. In addition to this, it is for the general
-well-being that the comfort or convenience of the delicate and feeble
-should be preferred to that of the strong and healthy, who would suffer
-less by any deprivation; that precedence should be given to their
-elders by the young; and that reverence should be given to the hoary
-head.
-
-The rules of good-breeding, in a democratic state, must be founded on
-these principles. It is indeed assumed that the value of the happiness
-of each individual is the same as that of every other; but as there
-must be occasions where there are advantages which all can not enjoy,
-there must be general rules for regulating a selection. Otherwise,
-there would be constant scrambling among those of equal claims, and
-brute force must be the final resort; in which case the strongest would
-have the best of every thing. The democratic rule, then, is, that
-superiors in age, station, or office, have precedence of subordinates;
-age and feebleness, of youth and strength; and the feebler sex, of
-more vigorous man.[6]
-
-[6] The universal practice of this nation, in thus giving precedence
-to woman has been severely commented on by foreigners, and by some who
-would transfer all the business of the other sex to women, and then
-have them treated like men. But we hope this evidence of our superior
-civilization and Christianity may increase rather than diminish.
-
-There is, also, a style of deportment and address which is appropriate
-to these different relations. It is suitable for a superior to
-secure compliance with his wishes from those subordinate to him by
-commands; but a subordinate must secure compliance with his wishes
-from a superior by request. (Although the kind and considerate manner
-to subordinates will always be found the most effective as well as
-the pleasantest, by those in superior station.) It is suitable for a
-parent, teacher, or employer, to admonish for neglect of duty; but
-not for an inferior to adopt such a course toward a superior. It is
-suitable for a superior to take precedence of a subordinate without
-any remark; but not for an inferior without previously asking leave,
-or offering an apology. It is proper for a superior to use language
-and manners of freedom and familiarity which would be improper from a
-subordinate to a superior.
-
-The want of due regard to these proprieties occasions a great defect
-in American manners. It is very common to hear children talk to their
-parents in a style proper only between companions and equals; so, also,
-the young address their elders; those employed, their employers; and
-domestics, the members of the family and their visitors in a style
-which is inappropriate to their relative positions. But courteous
-address is required not merely toward superiors; every person desires
-to be thus treated, and therefore the law of benevolence demands such
-demeanor toward all whom we meet in the social intercourse of life.
-“Be ye courteous,” is the direction of the apostle in reference to our
-treatment of _all_.
-
-Good manners can be successfully cultivated only in early life and
-in the domestic circle. There is nothing which depends so much upon
-_habit_ as the constantly recurring proprieties of good-breeding; and
-if a child grows up without forming such habits, it is very rarely the
-case that they can be formed at a later period. The feeling that it is
-of little consequence how we behave at home if we conduct ourselves
-properly abroad, is a very fallacious one. Persons who are careless and
-ill-bred at home may imagine that they can assume good manners abroad;
-but they mistake. Fixed habits of tone, manner, language, and movements
-can not be suddenly altered; and those who are ill-bred at home, even
-when they try to hide their bad habits, are sure to violate many of the
-obvious rules of propriety, and yet be unconscious of it.
-
-And there is nothing which would so effectually remove prejudice
-against our democratic institutions as the general cultivation of
-good-breeding in the domestic circle. Good manners are the exterior
-of benevolence, the minute and constant exhibitions of “peace and
-good-will;” and the nation, as well as the individual, which most
-excels in the external demonstration, as well as the internal
-principle, will be most respected and beloved.
-
-It is only the training of the family state according to its true end
-and aim that is to secure to woman her true position and rights. When
-the family is instituted by marriage, it is man who is the head and
-chief magistrate by the force of his physical power and requirement of
-the chief responsibility; not less is he so according to the Christian
-law, by which, when differences arise, the husband has the deciding
-control, and the wife is to obey. Where love is, there is no law;” but
-where love is not, the only dignified and peaceful course is for the
-wife, however much the man’s superior, to “submit, as to God and not to
-man.”
-
-But this power of nature and of religion, given to man as the
-controlling head, involves to him especially the distinctive duty of
-the family state, _self-sacrificing love_. The husband is to “honor”
-the wife, to love her as himself, and thus to account her wishes and
-happiness as of equal value with his own. But more than this, he is to
-love her “as Christ loved the Church;” that is, he is to “suffer” for
-her, if need be, in order to support and elevate and ennoble her.
-
-The father, then, is to set the example of self-sacrificing love and
-devotion; and the mother, of Christian obedience, when it is required.
-Every boy is to be trained for his future domestic position by labor
-and sacrifices for his mother and sisters. It is the brother who is
-to do the hardest and most disagreeable work, to face the storms, and
-perform the most laborious drudgeries. In the family circle, too, he is
-to give his mother and sister precedence in all the conveniences and
-comforts of home life.
-
-It is only in those nations where the teachings and example of Christ
-have had most influence that man has ever assumed his obligations of
-self-sacrificing benevolence in the family. And even in Christian
-communities, the duty of wives to obey their husbands has been more
-strenuously urged, than the obligations of the husband to love his wife
-“as Christ loved the Church.”
-
-Here it is needful to notice that the distinctive duty of obedience to
-man does not rest on women who do not enter the relations of married
-life. A woman who inherits property, or who earns her own livelihood,
-can institute the family state, adopt orphan children, and employ
-suitable helpers in training them; and then to her will appertain the
-authority and rights that belong to man as the head of a family. And
-when every woman is trained to some self-supporting business, she will
-not be tempted to enter the family state as a subordinate, except by
-that love for which there is no need of law.
-
-These general principles being stated, some details in regard to
-domestic manners will be enumerated.
-
-In the first place, there should be required in the family a strict
-attention to the rules of precedence, and those modes of address
-appropriate to the various relations to be sustained. Children should
-always be required to offer their superiors in age or station the
-precedence in all comforts and conveniences, and always address them
-in a respectful tone and manner. The custom of adding, “Sir,” or
-“Ma’am,” to “Yes,” or “No,” is valuable, as a perpetual indication
-of a respectful recognition of superiority. It is now going out of
-fashion, even among the most well-bred people; probably from a want of
-consideration of its importance. Every remnant of courtesy of address
-in our customs should be carefully cherished by all who feel a value
-for the proprieties of good-breeding.
-
-If parents allow their children to talk to them, and to the grown
-persons in the family, in the same style in which they address each
-other, it will be in vain to hope for the courtesy of manner and tone
-which good-breeding demands in the general intercourse of society. In
-a large family, where the elder children are grown up and the younger
-are small, it is important to require the latter to treat the elder in
-some sense as superiors. There are none so ready as young children to
-assume airs of equality; and if they are allowed to treat one class of
-superiors in age and character disrespectfully, they will soon use the
-privilege universally. This is the reason why the youngest children of
-a family are most apt to be pert, forward, and unmannerly.
-
-Another point to be aimed at is, to require children always to
-acknowledge every act of kindness and attention, either by words
-or manner. If they are so trained as always to make grateful
-acknowledgments when receiving favors, one of the objectionable
-features in American manners will be avoided.
-
-Again, children should be required to ask leave, whenever they wish
-to gratify curiosity, or use an article which belongs to another.
-And if cases occur when they can not comply with the rules of
-good-breeding—as, for instance, when they must step between a person
-and the fire, or take the chair of an older person—they should be
-taught either to ask leave or to offer an apology.
-
-There is another point of good-breeding which can not, in all cases,
-be understood and applied by children in its widest extent. It is
-that which requires us to avoid all remarks which tend to embarrass,
-vex, mortify, or in any way wound the feelings of another. To notice
-personal defects; to allude to others’ faults, or the faults of
-their friends; to speak disparagingly of the sect or party to which
-a person belongs; to be inattentive when addressed in conversation;
-to contradict flatly; to speak in contemptuous tones of opinions
-expressed by another; all these are violations of the rules of
-good-breeding, which children should be taught to regard. Under this
-head comes the practice of whispering and staring about when a teacher,
-or lecturer, or clergyman is addressing a class or audience. Such
-inattention is practically saying that what the person is uttering
-is not worth attending to; and persons of real good-breeding always
-avoid it. Loud talking and laughing in a large assembly, even when
-no exercises are going on; yawning and gaping in company; and not
-looking in the face a person who is addressing you, are deemed marks of
-ill-breeding.
-
-Another branch of good manners relates to the duties of hospitality.
-Politeness requires us to welcome visitors with cordiality; to offer
-them the best accommodations; to address conversation to them; and to
-express, by tone and manner, kindness and respect. Offering the hand to
-all visitors at one’s own house is a courteous and hospitable custom;
-and a cordial shake of the hand, when friends meet, would abate much of
-the coldness of manner ascribed to Americans.
-
-Another point of good-breeding refers to the conventional rules of
-propriety and good taste. Of these, the first class relates to the
-avoidance of all disgusting or offensive personal habits: such as
-fingering the hair; obtrusively using a tooth-pick, or carrying one
-in the mouth after the needful use of it; cleaning the nails in
-presence of others; picking the nose; spitting on carpets; snuffing
-instead of using a handkerchief, or using the article in an offensive
-manner; lifting up the boots or shoes, as some men do, to tend them on
-the knee, or to finger them: all these tricks, either at home or in
-society, children should be taught to avoid.
-
-Another topic, under this head, may be called _table manners_. To
-persons of good-breeding nothing is more annoying than violations
-of the conventional proprieties of the table. Reaching over another
-person’s plate; standing up to reach distant articles, instead of
-asking to have them passed; using one’s own knife and spoon for butter,
-salt, or sugar, when it is the custom of the family to provide separate
-utensils for the purpose; setting cups with the tea dripping from them
-on the table-cloth, instead of the mats or small plates furnished;
-using the table-cloth instead of the napkins; eating fast, and in a
-noisy manner; putting large pieces in the mouth; looking and eating
-as if very hungry, or as if anxious to get at certain dishes; sitting
-at too great a distance from the table, and dropping food; laying the
-knife and fork on the table-cloth, instead of on the edge of the plate;
-picking the teeth at the table: all these particulars children should
-be taught to avoid.
-
-It is always desirable, too, to train children, when at table with
-grown persons, to be silent, except when addressed by others; or else
-their chattering will interrupt the conversation and comfort of their
-elders. They should always be required, too, to wait in silence till
-all the older persons are helped.
-
-When children are alone with their parents, it is desirable to lead
-them to converse and to take this as an opportunity to form proper
-conversational habits. But it should be a fixed rule that, when
-strangers are present, the children are to listen in silence, and only
-reply when addressed. Unless this is secured, visitors will often be
-condemned to listen to puerile chattering, with small chance of the
-proper attention due to guests and superiors in age and station.
-
-Children should be trained, in preparing themselves for the table or
-for appearance among the family, not only to put their hair, face, and
-hands in neat order, but also their nails, and to habitually attend to
-this latter whenever they wash their hands.
-
-There are some very disagreeable tricks which many children practice
-even in families counted well-bred. Such, for example, are drumming
-with the fingers on some piece of furniture, or humming a tune while
-others are talking, or interrupting conversation by pertinacious
-questions, or whistling in the house instead of outdoors, or speaking
-several at once and in loud voices to gain attention. All these are
-violations of good-breeding, which children should be trained to avoid,
-lest they should not only annoy as children, but practice the same
-kind of ill manners when mature. In all assemblies for public debate,
-a chairman or moderator is appointed whose business it is to see that
-only one person speaks at a time, that no one interrupts a person when
-speaking, that no needless noises are made, and that all indecorums are
-avoided. Such an officer is sometimes greatly needed in family circles.
-
-Children should be encouraged freely to use lungs and limbs outdoors,
-or in hours for sport in the house. But at other times, in the domestic
-circle, gentle tones and manners should be cultivated. The words
-_gentleman_ and _gentlewoman_ came originally from the fact that the
-uncultivated and ignorant classes used coarse and loud tones, and rough
-words and movements; while only the refined circles habitually used
-gentle tones and gentle manners. For the same reason, those born in
-the higher circles were called “of gentle blood.” Thus it came that a
-coarse and loud voice, and rough, ungentle manners, are regarded as
-vulgar and plebeian.
-
-All these things should be taught to children gradually, and with
-great patience and gentleness. Some parents, with whom good manners
-are a great object, are in danger of making their children perpetually
-uncomfortable, by suddenly surrounding them with so many rules that
-they must inevitably violate some one or other a great part of the
-time. It is much better to begin with a few rules, and be steady
-and persevering with these till a habit is formed, and then take a
-few more, thus making the process easy and gradual. Otherwise, the
-temper of children will be injured; or, hopeless of fulfilling so many
-requisitions, they will become reckless and indifferent to all.
-
-If a few brief, well-considered, and sensible rules of good manners
-could be suspended in every school-room, and the children all required
-to commit them to memory, it probably would do more to remedy the
-defects of American manners, and to advance universal good-breeding,
-than any other mode that could be so easily adopted.
-
-But, in reference to those who have enjoyed advantages for the
-cultivation of good manners, and who duly estimate its importance,
-one caution is necessary. Those who never have had such habits formed
-in youth are under disadvantages which no benevolence of temper can
-altogether remedy. They may often violate the tastes and feelings of
-others, not from a want of proper regard for them, but from ignorance
-of custom, or want of habit, or abstraction of mind, or from other
-causes which demand forbearance and sympathy, rather than displeasure.
-An ability to bear patiently with defects in manners, and to make
-candid and considerate allowance for a want of advantages, or for
-peculiarities in mental habits, is one mark of the benevolence of real
-good-breeding.
-
-The advocates of monarchical and aristocratic institutions have always
-had great plausibility given to their views, by the seeming tendencies
-of our institutions to insubordination and bad manners. And it has been
-too indiscriminately conceded by the defenders of the latter that such
-are these tendencies, and that the offensive points in American manners
-are the necessary result of democratic principles.
-
-But it is believed that both facts and reasoning are in opposition to
-this opinion. The following extract from the work of De Tocqueville,
-the great political philosopher of France, exhibits the opinion of an
-impartial observer, when comparing American manners with those of the
-English, who are confessedly the most aristocratic of all people.
-
-He previously remarks on the tendency of aristocracy to make men more
-sympathizing with persons of their own peculiar class, and less so
-toward those of lower degree; and he then contrasts American manners
-with the English, claiming that the Americans are much the more
-affable, mild, and social. “In America, where the privileges of birth
-never existed, and where riches confer no peculiar rights on their
-possessors, men acquainted with each other are very ready to frequent
-the same places, and find neither peril nor disadvantage in the free
-interchange of their thoughts. If they meet by accident, they neither
-seek nor avoid intercourse; their manner is therefore natural, frank,
-and open.” “If their demeanor is often cold and serious, it is never
-haughty nor constrained.” But an “aristocratic pride is still extremely
-great among the English; and as the limits of aristocracy are still
-ill-defined, every body lives in constant dread lest advantage should
-be taken of his familiarity. Unable to judge at once of the social
-position of those he meets, an Englishman prudently avoids all contact
-with them. Men are afraid lest some slight service rendered should draw
-them into an unsuitable acquaintance; they dread civilities, and they
-avoid the obtrusive gratitude of a stranger as much as his hatred.”
-
-Thus, _facts_ seem to show that when the most aristocratic nation in
-the world is compared, as to manners, with the most democratic, the
-judgment of strangers is in favor of the latter. And if good manners
-are the outward exhibition of the democratic principle of impartial
-benevolence and equal rights, surely the nation which adopts this
-rule, both in social and civil life, is the most likely to secure the
-desirable exterior. The aristocrat, by his principles, extends the
-exterior of impartial benevolence to his own class only; the democratic
-principle requires it to be extended _to all_.
-
-There is reason, therefore, to hope and expect more refined and
-polished manners in America than in any other land; while all the
-developments of taste and refinement, such as poetry, music, painting,
-sculpture, and architecture, it may be expected, will come to as high a
-state of perfection here as in any other nation.
-
-If this country increases in virtue and intelligence as it may, there
-is no end to the wealth which will pour in as the result of our
-resources of climate, soil, and navigation, and the skill, industry,
-energy, and enterprise of our countrymen. This wealth, if used as
-intelligence and virtue dictate, will furnish the means for a superior
-education to all classes, and every facility for the refinement of
-taste, intellect, and feeling.
-
-Moreover, in this country, labor is ceasing to be the badge of a
-lower class; so that already it is disreputable for a man to be “a
-lazy gentleman.” And this feeling must increase, till there is such
-an equalization of labor as will afford all the time needful for
-every class to improve the many advantages offered to them. Already,
-through the munificence of some of our citizens, there are literary
-and scientific advantages offered to all classes, rarely enjoyed
-elsewhere. In most of our large cities and towns the advantages of
-education now offered to the poorest classes, often without charge,
-surpass what, some years ago, most wealthy men could purchase for any
-price; and it is believed that a time will come when the poorest boy
-in America can secure advantages which will equal what the heir of the
-proudest peerage can now command.
-
-The records of the courts of France and Germany, (as detailed by the
-Duchess of Orleans,) in and succeeding the brilliant reign of Louis
-the Fourteenth—a period which was deemed the acme of elegance and
-refinement—exhibit a grossness, a vulgarity, and a coarseness, not
-to be found among the very lowest of our respectable poor. And the
-biography of the English Beau Nash, who attempted to reform the manners
-of the gentry in the times of Queen Anne, exhibits violations of the
-rules of decency among the aristocracy which the commonest yeoman of
-this land would feel disgraced in perpetrating.
-
-This shows that our lowest classes, at this period, are more refined
-than were the highest in aristocratic lands a hundred years ago; and
-another century may show the lowest classes in wealth, in this country,
-attaining as high a polish as adorns those who now are leaders of good
-manners in the courts of kings.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.
-
-
-There is nothing which has a more abiding influence on the happiness of
-a family than the preservation of equable and cheerful temper and tones
-in the housekeeper. A woman who is habitually gentle, sympathizing,
-forbearing, and cheerful, carries an atmosphere about her which imparts
-a soothing and sustaining influence, and renders it easier for all to
-do right, under her administration, than in any other situation.
-
-The writer has known families where the mother’s presence seemed the
-sunshine of the circle around her—imparting a cheering and vivifying
-power, scarcely realized till it was withdrawn. Every one, without
-thinking of it, or knowing why it was so, experienced a peaceful and
-invigorating influence as soon as he entered the sphere illumined by
-her smile and sustained by her cheering kindness and sympathy. On the
-contrary, many a good housekeeper, (good in every respect but this,) by
-wearing a countenance of anxiety and dissatisfaction, and by indulging
-in the frequent use of sharp and reprehensive tones, more than destroys
-all the comfort which otherwise would result from her system, neatness,
-and economy.
-
-There is a secret, social sympathy which every mind, to a greater or
-less degree, experiences with the feelings of those around, as they are
-manifested by the countenance and voice. A sorrowful, a discontented,
-or an angry countenance produces a silent, sympathetic influence,
-imparting a sombre shade to the mind, while tones of anger or complaint
-still more effectually jar the spirits.
-
-No person can maintain a quiet and cheerful frame of mind while tones
-of discontent and displeasure are sounding on the ear. We may gradually
-accustom ourselves to the evil till it is partially diminished; but
-it always is an evil which greatly interferes with the enjoyment of
-the family state. There are sometimes cases where the entrance of the
-mistress of a family seems to awaken a slight apprehension in every
-mind around, as if each felt in danger of a reproof, for something
-either perpetrated or neglected. A woman who should go around her house
-with a small stinging snapper, which she habitually applied to those
-whom she met, would be encountered with feelings very much like those
-which are experienced by the inmates of a family where the mistress
-often uses her countenance and voice to inflict similar penalties for
-duties neglected.
-
-Yet there are many allowances to be made for housekeepers who sometimes
-imperceptibly and unconsciously fall into such habits. A woman who
-attempts to carry out any plans of system, order, and economy, and who
-has her feelings and habits conformed to certain rules, is constantly
-liable to have her plans crossed, and her taste violated, by the
-inexperience or inattention of those about her. And no housekeeper,
-whatever may be her habits, can escape the frequent recurrence of
-negligence or mistake which interferes with her plans.
-
-It is probable that there is no class of persons in the world who
-have such incessant trials of temper, and temptations to be fretful,
-as American housekeepers; for a housekeeper’s business is not, like
-that of the other sex, limited to a particular department, for which
-previous preparation is made. It consists of ten thousand little
-disconnected items, which can never be so systematically arranged
-that there is no daily jostling somewhere. And in the best-regulated
-families it is not unfrequently the case that some act of forgetfulness
-or carelessness from some member will disarrange the business of
-the whole day, so that every hour will bring renewed occasion for
-annoyance. And the more strongly a woman realizes the value of time,
-and the importance of system and order, the more will she be tempted to
-irritability and complaint.
-
-The following considerations may aid in preparing a woman to meet such
-daily crosses with even a cheerful temper and tones.
-
-In the first place, a woman who has charge of a large household should
-regard her duties as dignified, important, and difficult. The mind
-is so made as to be elevated and cheered by a sense of far-reaching
-influence and usefulness. A woman who feels that she is a cipher, and
-that it makes little difference how she performs her duties, has far
-less to sustain and invigorate her than one who truly estimates the
-importance of her station. A man who feels that the destinies of a
-nation are turning on the judgment and skill with which he plans and
-executes, has a pressure of motive and an elevation of feeling which
-are great safeguards against all that is low, trivial, and degrading.
-
-So, an American mother and housekeeper who rightly estimates the long
-train of influence which will pass down to thousands whose destinies,
-from generation to generation, will be modified by those decisions
-of her will which regulate the temper, principles, and habits of her
-family, must be elevated above petty temptations which would otherwise
-assail her.
-
-Again, a housekeeper should feel that she really has great difficulties
-to meet and overcome. A person who wrongly thinks there is little
-danger, can never maintain so faithful a guard as one who rightly
-estimates the temptations which beset her. Nor can one who thinks that
-they are trifling difficulties which she has to encounter, and trivial
-temptations to which she must yield, so much enjoy the just reward of
-conscious virtue and self-control as one who takes an opposite view of
-the subject.
-
-A third method is, for a woman deliberately to calculate on having
-her best-arranged plans interfered with very often, and to be in
-such a state of preparation that the evil will not come unawares. So
-complicated are the pursuits, and so diverse the habits of the various
-members of a family, that it is almost impossible for every one to
-avoid interfering with the plans and taste of a housekeeper in some one
-point or another. It is, therefore, most wise for a woman to keep the
-loins of her mind ever girt, to meet such collisions with a cheerful
-and quiet spirit.
-
-Another important rule is, to form all plans and arrangements in
-consistency with the means at command, and the character of those
-around. A woman who has a heedless husband, and young children, and
-incompetent domestics, ought not to make such plans as one may properly
-form who will not, in so many directions, meet embarrassment. She must
-aim at just as much as she can probably attain, and no more; and thus
-she will usually escape much temptation, and much of the irritation of
-disappointment.
-
-The fifth, and a very important consideration, is, that system,
-economy, and neatness, are valuable only so far as they tend to promote
-the comfort and well-being of those affected. Some women seem to act
-under the impression that these advantages _must_ be secured, at all
-events, even if the comfort of the family be the sacrifice. True, it
-is very important that children grow up in habits of system, neatness,
-and order; and it is very desirable that the mother give them every
-incentive, both by precept and example; but it is still more important
-that they grow up with amiable tempers, that they learn to meet the
-crosses of life with patience and cheerfulness; and nothing has a
-greater influence to secure this than a mother’s example. Whenever,
-therefore, a woman can not accomplish her plans of neatness and order
-without injury to her own temper or to the temper of others, she ought
-to modify and reduce them until she can.
-
-The sixth method relates to the government of the tones of voice. In
-many cases, when a woman’s domestic arrangements are suddenly and
-seriously crossed, it is impossible not to feel some irritation. But it
-_is_ always possible to refrain from angry tones. A woman can resolve
-that, whatever happens, she will not speak till she can do it in a
-calm and gentle manner. _Perfect silence_ is a safe resort, when such
-control can not be attained as enables a person to speak calmly; and
-this determination, persevered in, will eventually be crowned with
-success.
-
-Many persons seem to imagine that tones of anger are needful, in
-order to secure prompt obedience. But observation has convinced the
-writer that they are _never_ necessary; that _in all cases_ reproof
-administered in calm tones would be better. A case will be given in
-illustration.
-
-A young girl had been repeatedly charged to avoid a certain arrangement
-in cooking. On one day, when company was invited to dine, the direction
-was forgotten, and the consequence was an accident which disarranged
-every thing, seriously injured the principal dish, and delayed dinner
-for an hour. The mistress of the family entered the kitchen just as it
-occurred, and at a glance saw the extent of the mischief. For a moment
-her eyes flashed and her cheeks glowed; but she held her peace. After
-a minute or so, she gave directions in a calm voice as to the best
-mode of retrieving the evil, and then left, without a word said to the
-offender.
-
-After the company left, she sent for the girl, alone, and in a calm and
-kind manner pointed out the aggravations of the case, and described
-the trouble which had been caused to her husband, her visitors, and
-herself. She then portrayed the future evils which would result from
-such habits of neglect and inattention, and the modes of attempting to
-overcome them; and then offered a reward for the future, if, in a given
-time, she succeeded in improving in this respect. Not a tone of anger
-was uttered; and yet the severest scolding of a practiced Xantippe
-could not have secured such contrition, and determination to reform, as
-were gained by this method.
-
-But similar negligence is often visited by a continuous stream of
-complaint and reproof, which, in most cases, is met either by sullen
-silence or impertinent retort, while anger prevents any contrition or
-any resolution of future amendment.
-
-It is very certain that some ladies do carry forward a most efficient
-government, both of children and domestics, without employing tones of
-anger; and therefore they are not indispensable, nor on any account
-desirable.
-
-Though some ladies of intelligence and refinement do fall unconsciously
-into such a practice, it is certainly very unlady-like, and in very bad
-taste, to _scold_; and the further a woman departs from all approach to
-it, the more perfectly she sustains her character as a lady.
-
-Another method of securing equanimity amidst the trials of
-domestic life is, to cultivate a habit of making allowances for the
-difficulties, ignorance, or temptations of those who violate rule
-or neglect duty. It is vain, and most unreasonable, to expect the
-consideration and care of a mature mind in childhood and youth; or
-that persons of such limited advantages as most domestics have enjoyed
-should practice proper self-control, and possess proper habits and
-principles.
-
-Every parent and every employer needs daily to cultivate the spirit
-expressed in the divine prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we
-forgive those who trespass against us.” The same allowances and
-forbearance which we supplicate from our Heavenly Father, and desire
-from our fellow-men in reference to our own deficiencies, we should
-constantly aim to extend to all who cross our feelings and interfere
-with our plans.
-
-The last and most important mode of securing a placid and cheerful
-temper and tones is, by a constant belief in the influence of a
-superintending Providence. All persons are too much in the habit of
-regarding the more important events of life exclusively as under the
-control of Perfect Wisdom; but the fall of a sparrow, or the loss of
-a hair, they do not feel to be equally the result of his directing
-agency. In consequence of this, Christian persons who aim at perfect
-and cheerful submission to heavy afflictions, and who succeed to the
-edification of all about them, are sometimes sadly deficient under
-petty crosses. If a beloved child be laid in the grave, even if its
-death resulted from the carelessness of a domestic or of a physician,
-the eye is turned from the subordinate agent to the Supreme Guardian of
-all; and to him they bow, without murmur or complaint. But if a pudding
-be burned, or a room badly swept, or an errand forgotten, then vexation
-and complaint are allowed, just as if these events were not appointed
-by Perfect Wisdom as much as the sorer chastisement.
-
-A woman, therefore, needs to cultivate the _habitual_ feeling that
-all the events of her nursery and kitchen are brought about by the
-permission of our Heavenly Father; and that fretfulness or complaint
-in regard to these is, in fact, complaining at the appointments of
-God, and is really as sinful as unsubmissive murmurs amidst the sorer
-chastisements of his hand. And a woman who cultivates this habit of
-referring all the minor trials of life to the wise and benevolent
-agency of a heavenly Parent, and daily seeks his sympathy and aid to
-enable her to meet them with a quiet and cheerful spirit, will soon
-find it the perennial spring of abiding peace and content.
-
-The power of religion to impart dignity and importance to the ordinary
-and seemingly petty details of domestic life greatly depends upon the
-degree of faith in the reality of a life to come, and of its eternal
-results. A woman who is training a family simply with reference to
-this life may find exalted motives as she looks forward to unborn
-generations, whose temporal prosperity and happiness are depending upon
-her fidelity and skill. But one who truly and firmly believes that this
-life is but the beginning of an eternal career to every immortal inmate
-of her home, and that the formation of tastes, habits, and character,
-under her care, will bring forth fruits of good or ill, not only
-through earthly generations, but through everlasting ages—such a woman
-secures a calm and exalted principle of action, and a source of peace
-which no earthly motives can impart.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
-
-
-Any discussion of the equality of the sexes as to intellectual capacity
-seems frivolous and useless, both because it can never be decided,
-and because there would be no possible advantage in the decision. But
-one topic, which is often drawn into this discussion, is of far more
-consequence; and that is, the relative importance and difficulty of the
-duties a woman is called to perform.
-
-It is generally assumed, and almost as generally conceded, that a
-housekeeper’s business and cares are contracted and trivial; and that
-the proper discharge of her duties demands far less expansion of mind
-and vigor of intellect than the pursuits of the other sex. This idea
-has prevailed because women, as a mass, have never been educated with
-reference to their most important duties; while that portion of their
-employments which is of least value has been regarded as the chief,
-if not the sole, concern of a woman. The covering of the body, the
-convenience of residences, and the gratification of the appetite, have
-been too much regarded as the chief objects on which her intellectual
-powers are to be exercised.
-
-But as society gradually shakes off the remnants of barbarism and the
-intellectual and moral interests of man rise, in estimation, above the
-merely sensual, a truer estimate is formed of woman’s duties, and of
-the measure of intellect requisite for the proper discharge of them.
-Let any man of sense and discernment become the member of a large
-household, in which a well-educated and pious woman is endeavoring
-systematically to discharge her multiform duties; let him fully
-comprehend all her cares, difficulties, and perplexities; and it is
-probable he would coincide in the opinion that no statesman at the head
-of a nation’s affairs had more frequent calls for wisdom, firmness,
-tact, discrimination, prudence, and versatility of talent, than such a
-woman.
-
-She has a husband, to whose peculiar tastes and habits she must
-accommodate herself; she has children, whose health she must guard,
-whose physical constitutions she must study and develop, whose temper
-and habits she must regulate, whose principles she must form, whose
-pursuits she must guide. She has constantly changing domestics, with
-all varieties of temper and habits, whom she must govern, instruct, and
-direct; she is required to regulate the finances of the domestic state,
-and constantly to adapt expenditures to the means and to the relative
-claims of each department. She has the direction of the kitchen, where
-ignorance, forgetfulness, and awkwardness, are to be so regulated that
-the various operations shall each start at the right time, and all be
-in completeness at the same given hour. She has the claims of society
-to meet, visits to receive and return, and the duties of hospitality to
-sustain. She has the poor to relieve; benevolent societies to aid; the
-schools of her children to inquire and decide about; the care of the
-sick and the aged; the nursing of infancy; and the endless miscellany
-of odd items constantly recurring in a large family.
-
-Surely it is a pernicious and mistaken idea that the duties which
-tax a woman’s mind are petty, trivial, or unworthy of the highest
-grade of intellect and moral worth. Instead of allowing this feeling,
-every woman should imbibe, from early youth, the impression that she
-is in training for the discharge of the most important, the most
-difficult, and the most sacred and interesting duties that can possibly
-employ the highest intellect. She ought to feel that her station and
-responsibilities in the great drama of life are second to none, either
-as viewed by her Maker or in the estimation of all minds whose judgment
-is most worthy of respect.
-
-She who is the mother and housekeeper in a large family is the
-sovereign of an empire, demanding more varied cares, and involving more
-difficult duties, than are really exacted of her who wears a crown and
-professedly regulates the interests of the greatest nation on earth.
-
-There is no one thing more necessary to a housekeeper, in performing
-her varied duties, than _a habit of system and order_; and yet
-the peculiarly desultory nature of women’s pursuits, and the
-embarrassments resulting from the state of domestic service in this
-country, render it very difficult to form such a habit. But it is
-sometimes the case that women who could and would carry forward a
-systematic plan of domestic economy do not attempt it, simply from a
-want of knowledge of the various modes of introducing it. It is with
-reference to such that various modes of securing system and order,
-which the writer has seen adopted, will be pointed out.
-
-A wise economy is nowhere more conspicuous than in a systematic
-_apportionment of time_ to different pursuits. There are duties of
-a religious, intellectual, social, and domestic nature, each having
-different relative claims on attention. Unless a person has some
-general plan of apportioning these claims, some will intrench on
-others, and some, it is probable, will be entirely excluded. Thus some
-find religious, social, and domestic duties so numerous, that no time
-is given to intellectual improvement. Others find either social, or
-benevolent, or religious interests excluded by the extent and variety
-of other engagements.
-
-It is wise, therefore, for all persons to devise a systematic plan
-which they will at least keep in view and aim to accomplish, and by
-which a proper proportion of time shall be secured for all the duties
-of life.
-
-In forming such a plan, every woman must accommodate herself to the
-peculiarities of her situation. If she has a large family and a small
-income, she must devote far more time to the simple duty of providing
-food and raiment than would be right were she in affluence, and with
-a small family. It is impossible, therefore, to draw out any general
-plan which all can adopt. But there are some _general principles_,
-which ought to be the guiding rules, when a woman arranges her domestic
-employments. These principles are to be based on Christianity, which
-teaches us to “seek first the kingdom of God,” and to deem food,
-raiment, and the conveniences of life as of secondary account. Every
-woman, then, ought to start with the assumption that the moral and
-religious interests of her family are of more consequence than any
-worldly concern, and that, whatever else may be sacrificed, these
-shall be the leading object, in all her arrangements, in respect to
-time, money, and attention.
-
-It is also one of the plainest requisitions of Christianity, that we
-devote some of our time and efforts to the comfort and improvement
-of others. There is no duty so constantly enforced, both in the Old
-and New Testament, as that of charity, in dispensing to those who are
-destitute of the blessings we enjoy. In selecting objects of charity,
-the same rule applies to others as to ourselves; their moral and
-religious interests are of the highest moment, and for them, as well as
-for ourselves, we are to “seek first the kingdom of God.”
-
-Another general principle is, that our intellectual and social
-interests are to be preferred to the mere gratification of taste
-or appetite. A portion of time, therefore, must be devoted to the
-cultivation of the intellect and the social affections.
-
-Another is, that the mere gratification of appetite is to be placed
-last in our estimate; so that when a question arises as to which shall
-be sacrificed, some intellectual, moral, or social advantage, or some
-gratification of sense, we should invariably sacrifice the last.
-
-As health is indispensable to the discharge of every duty, nothing
-which sacrifices that blessing is to be allowed in order to gain any
-other advantage or enjoyment. There are emergencies when it is right
-to risk health and life to save ourselves and others from greater
-evils; but these are exceptions, which do not militate against the
-general rule. Many persons imagine that if they violate the laws of
-health in order to attend to religious or domestic duties, they are
-guiltless before God. But such greatly mistake. We directly violate
-the law, “Thou shalt not kill,” when we do what tends to risk or
-shorten our own life. The life and happiness of all his creatures are
-dear to our Creator; and he is as much displeased when we injure our
-own interests as when we injure those of others. The idea, therefore,
-that we are excusable if we harm no one but ourselves, is false and
-pernicious. These, then, are some general principles to guide a woman
-in systematizing her duties and pursuits.
-
-The Creator of all things is a Being of perfect system and order; and,
-to aid us in our duty in this respect, he has divided our time by a
-regularly returning day of rest from worldly business. In following
-this example, the intervening six days may be subdivided to secure
-similar benefits. In doing this, a certain portion of time must be
-given to procure the means of livelihood, and for preparing food,
-raiment, and dwellings. To these objects some must devote more, and
-others less, attention. The remainder of time not necessarily thus
-employed might be divided somewhat in this manner: The leisure of two
-afternoons and evenings could be devoted to religious and benevolent
-objects, such as religious meetings, charitable associations, school
-visiting, and attention to the sick and poor. The leisure of two other
-days might be devoted to intellectual improvement and the pursuits
-of taste. The leisure of another day might be devoted to social
-enjoyments, in making or receiving visits; and that of another, to
-miscellaneous domestic pursuits, not included in the other particulars.
-
-It is probable that few persons could carry out such an arrangement
-very strictly; but every one can make a systematic apportionment of
-time, and at least _aim_ at accomplishing it; and they can also compare
-with such a general outline the time which they actually devote to
-these different objects, for the purpose of modifying any mistaken
-proportions.
-
-Without attempting any such systematic employment of time, and carrying
-it out, so far as they can control circumstances, most women are rather
-driven along by the daily occurrences of life; so that, instead of
-being the intelligent regulators of their own time, they are the mere
-sport of circumstances. There is nothing which so distinctly marks the
-difference between wreak and strong minds as the question whether they
-control circumstances or circumstances control them.
-
-It is very much to be feared that the apportionment of time actually
-made by most women exactly inverts the order required by reason and
-Christianity. Thus the furnishing a needless variety of food, the
-conveniences of dwellings, and the adornments of dress, often take a
-larger portion of time than is given to any other object. Next after
-this comes intellectual improvement; and last of all, benevolence and
-religion.
-
-It may be urged that it is indispensable for most persons to give more
-time to earn a livelihood, and to prepare food, raiment, and dwellings,
-than to any other object. But it may be asked, how much of the time
-devoted to these objects is employed in preparing varieties of food
-not necessary, but rather injurious, and how much is spent for those
-parts of dress and furniture not indispensable, and merely ornamental?
-Let a woman subtract from her domestic employments all the time given
-to pursuits which are of no use, except as they gratify a taste for
-ornament, or minister increased varieties to tempt the appetite, and
-she will find that much which she calls “domestic duty,” and which
-prevents her attention to intellectual, benevolent, and religious
-objects, should be called by a very different name.
-
-No woman has a right to give up attention to the higher interests of
-herself and others for the ornaments of person or the gratification
-of the palate. To a certain extent, these lower objects are lawful
-and desirable; but when they intrude on nobler interests, they become
-selfish and degrading. Every woman, then, when employing her hands in
-ornamenting her person, her children, or her house, ought to calculate
-whether she has devoted _as much_ time to the really more important
-wants of herself and others. If she has not, she may know that she is
-doing wrong, and that her system or apportioning her time and pursuits
-should be altered.
-
-Some persons endeavor to systematize their pursuits by apportioning
-them to particular hours of each day. For example, a certain period
-before breakfast is given to devotional duties; after breakfast,
-certain hours are devoted to exercise and domestic employments; other
-hours, to sewing, or reading, or visiting; and others, to benevolent
-duties. But in most cases it is more difficult to systematize the hours
-of each day than it is to secure some regular division of the week.
-
-In regard to the minutiæ of family work, the writer has known the
-following methods to be adopted. Monday, with some of the best
-housekeepers, is devoted to preparing for the labors of the week.
-Any extra cooking, the purchasing of articles to be used during the
-week, the assorting of clothes for the wash, and mending such as would
-otherwise be injured—these, and similar items, belong to this day.
-Tuesday is devoted to washing, and Wednesday to ironing. On Thursday,
-the ironing is finished off, the clothes are folded and put away,
-and all articles which need mending are put in the mending-basket
-and attended to. Friday is devoted to sweeping and house-cleaning.
-On Saturday, and especially the last Saturday of every month, every
-department is put in order; the casters and table furniture are
-regulated, the pantry and cellar inspected, the trunks, drawers, and
-closets arranged, and every thing about the house put in order for
-Sunday. By this regular recurrence of a particular time for inspecting
-every thing, nothing is forgotten till ruined by neglect.
-
-Another mode of systematizing relates to providing proper supplies
-of conveniences, and proper places in which to keep them. Thus, some
-ladies keep a large closet, in which are placed the tubs, pails,
-dippers, soap-dishes, starch, bluing, clothes-lines, clothes-pins,
-and every other article used in washing; and in the same, or another
-place, is kept every convenience for ironing. In the sewing department,
-a trunk, with suitable partitions, is provided, in which are placed,
-each in its proper place, white thread of all sizes, colored thread,
-yarns for mending, colored and black sewing-silks and twist, tapes and
-bobbins of all sizes, white and colored welting-cords, silk braids and
-cords, needles of all sizes, papers of pins, remnants of linen and
-colored cambric, a supply of all kinds of buttons used in the family,
-black and white hooks and eyes, a yard-measure, and all the patterns
-used in cutting and fitting. These are done up in separate parcels,
-and labeled. In another trunk, or in a piece-bag, such as has been
-previously described, are kept all pieces used in mending, arranged
-in order. A trunk like the first mentioned will save many steps, and
-often much time and perplexity; while by purchasing articles thus by
-the quantity, they come much cheaper than if bought in little portions
-as they are wanted. Such a trunk should be kept locked, and a smaller
-supply for current use retained in a work-basket.
-
-A full supply of all conveniences in the kitchen and cellar, and a
-place appointed for each article, very much facilitate domestic labor.
-For want of this, much vexation and loss of time is occasioned while
-seeking vessels in use, or in cleansing those employed by different
-persons for various purposes. It would be far better for a lady to
-give up some expensive article in the parlor, and apply the money thus
-saved for kitchen conveniences, than to have a stinted supply where the
-most labor is to be performed. If our countrywomen would devote more
-attention to comfort and convenience, and less to show, it would be a
-great improvement. Expensive mirrors and pier-tables in the parlor, and
-an unpainted, gloomy, ill-furnished kitchen, not unfrequently are found
-under the same roof.
-
-Another important item in systematic economy is, the apportioning
-of _regular_ employment to the various members of a family. If a
-housekeeper can secure the co-operation of _all_ her family, she will
-find that “many hands make light work.” There is no greater mistake
-than in bringing up children to feel that they must be taken care of
-and waited on by others, without any corresponding obligations on their
-part. The extent to which young children can be made useful in a family
-would seem surprising to those who have never seen a _systematic_ and
-_regular_ plan for utilizing their services. The writer has been in a
-family where a little girl of eight or nine years of age washed and
-dressed herself and young brother, and made their small beds, before
-breakfast; set and cleared all the tables for meals, with a little help
-from a grown person in moving tables and spreading cloths; while all
-the dusting of parlors and chambers was also neatly performed by her.
-A brother of ten years old brought in and piled all the wood used in
-the kitchen and parlor, brushed the boots and shoes, went on errands,
-and took all the care of the poultry. They were children whose parents
-could afford to hire servants to do this, but who chose to have their
-children grow up healthy and industrious, while proper instruction,
-system, and encouragement, made these services rather a pleasure than
-otherwise to the children.
-
-Some parents pay their children for such services; but this is
-hazardous, as tending to make them feel that they are not bound to
-be helpful without pay, and also as tending to produce a hoarding,
-money-making spirit. But where children have no hoarding propensities,
-and need to acquire a sense of the value of property, it may be well
-to let them earn money for some extra services rather as a favor. When
-this is done, they should be taught to spend it for others as well as
-for themselves; and in this way a generous and liberal spirit will be
-cultivated.
-
-There are some mothers who take pains to teach their boys most of the
-domestic arts which their sisters learn. The writer has seen boys
-mending their own garments, and aiding their mother or sisters in the
-kitchen, with great skill and adroitness; and at an early age they
-usually very much relish joining in such occupations. The sons of such
-mothers, in their college life, or in roaming about the world, or in
-nursing a sick wife or infant, find occasion to bless the forethought
-and kindness which prepared them for such emergencies. Few things are
-in worse taste than for a man needlessly to busy himself in women’s
-work; and yet a man never appears in a more interesting attitude than
-when, by skill in such matters, he can save a mother or wife from care
-and suffering. The more a boy is taught to use his hands in every
-variety of domestic employment, the more his faculties, both of mind
-and body, are developed; for mechanical pursuits exercise the intellect
-as well as the hands. The early training of New-England boys, in which
-they turn their hand to almost every thing, is one great reason of the
-quick perceptions, versatility of mind, and mechanical skill, for which
-that portion of our countrymen is distinguished.
-
-It is equally important that young girls should be taught to do some
-species of handicraft that generally is done by men, and especially
-with reference to the frequent emigration to new territories where
-well-trained mechanics are scarce. To hang wall-paper, repair locks,
-glaze windows, and mend various household articles, require a skill
-in the use of tools which every young girl should acquire. If she
-never has any occasion to apply this knowledge and skill by her own
-hands, she will often find it needful in directing and superintending
-incompetent workmen.
-
-The writer has known one mode of systematizing the aid of the older
-children in a family, which, in some cases of very large families,
-it may be well to imitate. In the case referred to, when the oldest
-daughter was eight or nine years old, an infant sister was given to
-her as her special charge. She tended it, made and mended its clothes,
-taught it to read, and was its nurse and guardian through all its
-childhood. Another infant was given to the next daughter, and thus the
-children were all paired in this interesting relation. In addition to
-the relief thus afforded to the mother, the elder children were in
-this way qualified for their future domestic relations, and both older
-and younger bound to each other by peculiar ties of tenderness and
-gratitude.
-
-In offering these examples of various modes of systematizing, one
-suggestion may be worthy of attention. It is not unfrequently the
-case that ladies who find themselves cumbered with oppressive cares,
-after reading remarks on the benefits of system, immediately commence
-the task of arranging their pursuits with great vigor and hope. They
-divide the day into regular periods, and give each hour its duty;
-they systematize their work, and endeavor to bring every thing into
-a regular routine. But in a short time they find themselves baffled,
-discouraged, and disheartened, and finally relapse into their former
-desultory ways, in a sort of resigned despair.
-
-The difficulty in such cases is, that they attempt too much at a time.
-There is nothing which so much depends upon _habit_ as a systematic
-mode of performing duty; and where no such habit has been formed, it
-is impossible for a novice to start at once into a universal mode of
-systematizing, which none but an adept could carry through. The only
-way for such persons is to begin with a little at a time. Let them
-select some three or four things, and resolutely attempt to conquer at
-these points. In time, a habit will be formed of doing a few things at
-regular periods, and in a systematic way. Then it will be easy to add
-a few more; and thus, by a gradual process, the object can be secured,
-which would be vain to attempt by a more summary course.
-
-Early rising is almost an indispensable condition to success in such
-an effort; but where a woman lacks either the health or the energy to
-secure a period for devotional duties before breakfast, let her select
-that hour of the day in which she will be least liable to interruption,
-and let her then seek strength and wisdom from the only true Source.
-At this time let her take a pen, and make a list of all the things
-which she considers as duties. Then let calculation be made whether
-there be time enough, in the day or the week, for all these duties. If
-there be not, let the least important be stricken from the list, as not
-being duties, and therefore to be omitted. In doing this, let a woman
-remember that, though “what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and
-wherewithal we shall be clothed,” are matters requiring due attention,
-they are very apt to obtain a wrong relative importance, while
-intellectual, social, and moral interests receive too little regard.
-
-In this country, eating, dressing, and household furniture and
-ornaments, take far too large a place in the estimate of relative
-importance; and it is probable that most women could modify their views
-and practice so as to come nearer to the Saviour’s requirements. No
-woman has a right to put a stitch of ornament on any article of dress
-or furniture, or to provide one superfluity in food, until she is sure
-she can secure time for all her social, intellectual, benevolent, and
-religious duties. If a woman will take the trouble to make such a
-calculation as this, she will usually find that she has time enough to
-perform all her duties easily and well.
-
-It is impossible for a conscientious woman to secure that peaceful mind
-and cheerful enjoyment of life which all should seek, who is constantly
-finding her duties jarring with each other, and much remaining undone
-which she feels that she ought to do. In consequence of this, there
-will be a secret uneasiness which will throw a shade over the whole
-current of life, never to be removed till she so efficiently defines
-and regulates her duties that she can fulfill them all.
-
-And here the writer would urge upon young ladies the importance of
-forming habits of system while unembarrassed with those multiplied
-cares which will make the task so much more difficult and hopeless.
-Every young lady can systematize her pursuits, to a certain extent. She
-can have a particular day for mending her wardrobe, and for arranging
-her trunks, closets, and drawers. She can keep her work-basket, her
-desk at school, and all her other conveniences, in their proper places
-and in regular order. She can have regular periods for reading,
-walking, visiting, study, and domestic pursuits. And by following this
-method in youth, she will form a taste for regularity and a habit of
-system which will prove a blessing to her through life.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-HEALTH OF MIND.
-
-
-There is such an intimate connection between the body and mind, that
-the health of one can not be preserved without a proper care of the
-other. And it is from a neglect of this principle that some of the most
-exemplary and conscientious persons in the world suffer a thousand
-mental agonies from a diseased state of body, while others ruin the
-health of the body by neglecting the proper care of the mind.
-
-When the mind is excited by earnest intellectual effort, or by strong
-passions, the blood rushes to the head and the brain is excited. Sir
-Astley Cooper records that, in examining the brain of a young man who
-had lost a portion of his skull, whenever “he was agitated by some
-opposition to his wishes,” “the blood was sent with increased force
-to his brain,” and the pulsations “became frequent and violent.” The
-same effect was produced by any intellectual effort; and the flushed
-countenance which attends earnest study or strong emotions of interest
-of any kind, is an external indication of the suffused state of the
-brain from such causes.
-
-In exhibiting the causes which injure the health of the mind, we shall
-find them to be partly physical, partly intellectual, and partly moral.
-
-The first cause of mental disease and suffering is not unfrequently in
-the want of a proper supply of duly oxygenized blood. It has been shown
-that the blood, in passing through the lungs, is purified by the oxygen
-of the air combining with the superabundant hydrogen and carbon of the
-venous blood, thus forming carbonic acid and water, which are expired
-into the atmosphere. Every pair of lungs is constantly withdrawing from
-the surrounding atmosphere its healthful principle, and returning one
-which is injurious to human life.
-
-When, by confinement and this process, the air is deprived of its
-appropriate supply of oxygen, the purification of the blood is
-interrupted, and it passes, without being properly prepared, into the
-brain, producing languor, restlessness, and inability to exercise
-the intellect and feelings. Whenever, therefore, persons sleep in
-a close apartment, or remain for a length of time in a crowded or
-ill-ventilated room, a most pernicious influence is exerted on the
-brain, and, through this, on the mind. A person who is often exposed
-to such influences can never enjoy that elasticity and vigor of mind
-which is one of the chief indications of its health. This is the reason
-why all rooms for religious meetings, and all school-rooms and sleeping
-apartments, should be so contrived as to secure a constant supply
-of fresh air from without. The minister who preaches in a crowded
-and ill-ventilated apartment loses much of his power to feel and to
-speak, while the audience are equally reduced in their capability of
-attending. The teacher who confines children in a close apartment
-diminishes their ability to study, or to attend to instructions. And
-the person who habitually sleeps in a close room impairs mental energy
-in a similar degree. It is not unfrequently the case that depression of
-spirits and stupor of intellect are occasioned solely by inattention to
-this subject.
-
-Another cause of mental disease is the excessive exercise of the
-intellect or feelings. If the eye is taxed beyond its strength by
-protracted use, its blood-vessels become gorged, and the bloodshot
-appearance warns of the excess and the need of rest. The brain is
-affected in a similar manner by excessive use, though the suffering
-and inflamed organ can not make its appeal to the eye. But there are
-some indications which ought never to be misunderstood or disregarded.
-In cases of pupils at school or at college, a diseased state, from
-overaction, is often manifested by increased clearness of mind, and
-temporary ease and vigor of mental action. In one instance, known to
-the writer, a most exemplary and industrious pupil, anxious to improve
-every hour, and ignorant or unmindful of the laws of health, first
-manifested the diseased state of her brain and mind by demands for
-more studies, and a sudden and earnest activity in planning modes of
-improvement for herself and others. When warned of her danger, she
-protested that she never was better in her life; that she took regular
-exercise in the open air, went to bed in season, slept soundly, and
-felt perfectly well; that her mind was never before so bright and
-clear, and study never so easy and delightful. And at this time she was
-on the verge of derangement, from which she was saved only by an entire
-cessation of all intellectual efforts.
-
-A similar case occurred, under the eye of the writer, from overexcited
-feelings. It was during a time of unusual religious interest in the
-community, and the mental disease was first manifested by the pupil
-bringing her hymn-book or Bible to the class-room, and making it her
-constant resort in every interval of school duty. It finally became
-impossible to convince her that it was her duty to attend to any
-thing else; her conscience became morbidly sensitive, her perceptions
-indistinct, her deductions unreasonable; and nothing but entire change
-of scene and exercise, and occupation of her mind by amusement, saved
-her. When the health of the brain was restored, she found that she
-could attend to the “one thing needful,” not only without interruption
-of duty or injury to health, but rather so as to promote both.
-Clergymen and teachers need most carefully to notice and guard against
-the dangers here alluded to.
-
-Any such attention to religion as prevents the performance of daily
-duties and needful relaxation is dangerous, and tends to produce such a
-state of the brain as makes it impossible to feel or judge correctly.
-And when any morbid and unreasonable pertinacity appears, much exercise
-and engagement in other interesting pursuits should be urged, as the
-only mode of securing the religious benefits aimed at. And whenever
-any mind is oppressed with care, anxiety, or sorrow, the amount of
-active exercise in the fresh air should be greatly increased, that the
-action of the muscles may withdraw the blood which, in such seasons, is
-constantly tending too much to the brain. At the same time, innocent
-and healthful amusement should be urged as a duty.
-
-There has been a most appalling amount of suffering, derangement,
-disease, and death, occasioned by a want of attention to this subject,
-in teachers and parents. Uncommon precocity in children is usually the
-result of an unhealthy state of the brain; and in such cases medical
-men would now direct that the wonderful child should be deprived of
-all books and study, and turned to play out in the fresh air. Instead
-of this, parents frequently add fuel to the fever of the brain, by
-supplying constant mental stimulus, until the victim finds refuge in
-idiocy or an early grave. Where such fatal results do not occur, the
-brain in many cases is so weakened that the prodigy of infancy sinks
-below the medium of intellectual powers in after-life.
-
-In our colleges, too, many of the most promising minds sink to an early
-grave, or drag out a miserable existence, from this same cause. And it
-is an evil as yet little alleviated by the increase of physiological
-knowledge. Every college and professional school, and every seminary
-for young ladies, needs a medical man or woman, not only to lecture
-on physiology and the laws of health, but empowered by official
-capacity to investigate the case of every pupil, and, by authority, to
-enforce such a course of study, exercise, and repose as the physical
-system requires. The writer has found by experience that in a large
-institution there is one class of pupils who need to be restrained by
-penalties from late hours and excessive study, as much as another class
-need stimulus to industry.
-
-Under the head of excessive mental action must be placed the indulgence
-of the imagination in novel-reading and “castle-building.” This kind of
-stimulus, unless counter-balanced by physical exercise, not only wastes
-time and energies, but undermines the vigor of the nervous system. The
-imagination was designed by our wise Creator as a charm and stimulus to
-animate to benevolent activity, and its perverted exercise seldom fails
-to bring a penalty.
-
-Another cause of mental disease is the want of the appropriate exercise
-of the various faculties of the mind. On this point Dr. Combe remarks:
-“We have seen that, by disuse, muscles become emaciated, bone softens,
-blood-vessels are obliterated, and nerves lose their characteristic
-structure. The brain is no exception to this general rule. The tone of
-it is also impaired by permanent inactivity, and it becomes less fit
-to manifest the mental powers with readiness and energy.” It is “the
-withdrawal of the stimulus necessary for its healthy exercise which
-renders solitary confinement so severe a punishment, even to the most
-daring minds. It is a lower degree of the same cause which renders
-continuous seclusion from society so injurious to both mental and
-bodily health.”
-
-“Inactivity of intellect and of feeling is a very frequent predisposing
-cause of every form of nervous disease. For demonstrative evidence
-of this position, we have only to look at the numerous victims to be
-found among persons who have no call to exertion in gaining the means
-of subsistence, and no objects of interest on which to exercise their
-mental faculties, and who consequently sink into a state of mental
-sloth and nervous weakness.” “If we look abroad upon society, we shall
-find innumerable examples of mental and nervous debility from this
-cause. When a person of some mental capacity is confined for a long
-time to an unvarying round of employment which affords neither scope
-nor stimulus for one half of the faculties, and, from want of education
-or society, has no external resources; the mental powers, for want of
-exercise, become blunted, and the perceptions slow and dull.” “The
-intellect and feelings, not being provided with interests external
-to themselves, must either become inactive and weak, or work upon
-themselves and become diseased.”
-
-“The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition are females
-of the middle and higher ranks, especially those of a nervous
-constitution and good natural abilities; but who, from an ill-directed
-education, possess nothing more solid than mere accomplishments, and
-have no materials for thought,” and no “occupation to excite interest
-or demand attention.” “The liability of such persons to melancholy,
-hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other varieties of mental distress,
-really depends on a state of irritability of the brain, induced by its
-imperfect exercise.”
-
-These remarks of a medical man illustrate the principles before
-indicated—namely, that the demand of Christianity, that we live to save
-from eternal evils and promote the highest and eternal happiness of
-our race, has for its aim not only the general good, but the highest
-happiness of the individual in offering abundant exercise for all the
-noblest faculties.
-
-A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble to engage
-attention than seeking personal enjoyment, subjects the mental powers
-and moral feelings to a degree of inactivity utterly at war with
-health and mind. And the greater the capacities, the greater are the
-sufferings which result from this cause. Any one who has read the
-misanthropic wailings of Lord Byron has seen the necessary result of
-great and noble powers bereft of their appropriate exercise, and, in
-consequence, becoming sources of the keenest suffering.
-
-It is this view of the subject which has often awakened feelings of
-sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer, while aiding in the
-development and education of superior feminine minds in the wealthier
-circles. Not because there are not noble objects for interest
-and effort abundant, and within reach of such minds, but because
-long-established custom has made it seem so quixotic to the majority,
-even of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of wealth to
-practice any great self-denial, that few have independence of mind
-and Christian principle sufficient to overcome such an influence. The
-more a mind has its powers developed, the more does it aspire and pine
-after some object worthy of its energies and affections; and they are
-commonplace and phlegmatic characters who are most free from such
-deep-seated wants. Many a young woman, of fine genius and elevated
-sentiment, finds a charm in Lord Byron’s writings, because they present
-a glowing picture of what, to a certain extent, must be felt by every
-well-developed mind which has no nobler object in life than the pursuit
-of self-gratification.
-
-If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education under the full
-conviction that the increase of their powers and advantages increased
-their obligations to use all for the great and sublime end for which
-our Saviour toiled and suffered, and with some plan of benevolent
-enterprise in view, what new motives of interest would be added to
-their daily pursuits! And what blessed results would follow to our
-beloved country if all well-educated women carried out the principles
-of Christianity in the exercise of their developed powers!
-
-The benevolent activities called forth in our late dreadful war
-illustrate the blessed influence on character and happiness in having a
-noble object for which to labor and suffer. In illustration of this may
-be mentioned the experience of one of the noble women who, in a sickly
-climate and fervid season, devoted herself to the ministries of a
-military hospital. Separated from an adored husband, deprived of wonted
-comforts and luxuries, and toiling in humble and unwonted labors,
-she yet recalls this as one of the happiest periods of her life. And
-it was not the mere exercise of benevolence and piety in ministering
-comfort and relieving suffering. It was, still more, the elevated
-enjoyment which only an enlarged and cultivated mind can attain, in
-the inspirations of grand and far-reaching results purchased by such
-sacrifice and suffering. It was in aiding to save her well-loved
-country from impending ruin, and to preserve to coming generations the
-blessings of true liberty, self-government, and the Christian life by
-which toils and suffering became triumphant joys.
-
-Every Christian woman who “walks by faith and not by sight,” who looks
-forward to the results of self-sacrificing labor for the ignorant and
-sinful as they will enlarge and expand through everlasting ages, may
-rise to the same elevated sphere of experience and happiness.
-
-On the contrary, the more highly cultivated the mind devoted to mere
-selfish enjoyment, the more are the sources of true happiness closed,
-and the soul left to helpless emptiness and unrest.
-
-The indications of a diseased mind, owing to the want of the proper
-exercise of its powers, are apathy, discontent, a restless longing for
-excitement, a craving for unattainable good, a diseased and morbid
-action of the imagination, dissatisfaction with the world, and
-factitious interest in trifles which the mind feels to be unworthy
-of its powers. Such minds sometimes seek alleviation in exciting
-amusements; others resort to the grosser enjoyments of sense. Oppressed
-with the extremes of languor, or over-excitement, or apathy, the body
-fails under the wearing process, and adds new causes of suffering to
-the mind. Such the compassionate Saviour calls to his service, in the
-appropriate terms, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
-me,” “and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-CARE OF THE AGED.
-
-
-One of the most interesting and instructive illustrations of the
-design of our Creator, in the institution of the family state, is the
-preservation of the aged after their faculties decay and usefulness
-in ordinary modes seems to be ended. By most persons this period
-of infirmities and uselessness is anticipated with apprehension,
-especially in the case of those who have lived an active, useful life,
-giving largely of service to others, and dependent for most resources
-of enjoyment on their own energies.
-
-To lose the resources of sight or hearing, to become feeble in body,
-so as to depend on the ministries of others, and finally to gradually
-decay in mental force and intelligence, to many seems far worse than
-death. Multitudes have prayed to be taken from this life when their
-usefulness is thus ended.
-
-But a true view of the design of the family state, and of the ministry
-of the aged and helpless in carrying out this design, would greatly
-lessen such apprehensions, and might be made a source of pure and
-elevated enjoyment.
-
-The Christian virtues of patience with the unreasonable, of
-self-denying labor for the weak, and of sympathy with the afflicted,
-are dependent, to a great degree, on cultivation and habit, and these
-can be gained only in circumstances demanding the daily exercise of
-these graces. In this aspect, continued life in the aged and infirm
-should be regarded as a blessing and privilege to a family, especially
-to the young, and the cultivation of the graces that are demanded by
-that relation should be made a definite and interesting part of their
-education. A few of the methods to be attempted for this end will be
-suggested.
-
-In the first place, the object for which the aged are preserved
-in life, when in many cases they would rejoice to depart, should
-be definitely kept in recollection, and a sense of gratitude and
-obligation be cultivated. They should be looked up to and treated as
-ministers sustained by our Heavenly Father in a painful experience,
-expressly for the good of those around them. This appreciation of their
-ministry and usefulness will greatly lessen their trials, and impart
-consolation. If, in hours of weariness and infirmity, they wonder why
-they are kept in a useless and helpless state to burden others around,
-they should be assured that they are not useless; and this not only by
-word, but, better still, by the manifestation of those virtues which
-such opportunities alone can secure.
-
-Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in the domestic
-games and sports which unite the old and the young in amusement. Many
-a weary hour may thus be enlivened for the benefit of all concerned.
-And here will often occur opportunities of self-denying benevolence in
-relinquishing personal pursuits and gratification thus to promote the
-enjoyment of the infirm and dependent. Reading aloud is often a great
-source of enjoyment to those who by age are deprived of reading for
-themselves. So the effort to gather news of the neighborhood and impart
-it, is another mode of relieving those deprived of social gatherings.
-
-There is no period in life when those courtesies of good-breeding
-which recognize the relations of superior and inferior should be more
-carefully cherished than when there is need of showing them toward
-those of advancing age. To those who have controlled a household, and
-still more to those who in public life have been honored and admired,
-the decay of mental powers is peculiarly trying, and every effort
-should be made to lessen the trial by courteous attention to their
-opinions, and by avoiding all attempts to controvert them, or to make
-evident any weakness or fallacy in their conversation.
-
-In regard to the decay of bodily or mental faculties, much more can
-be done to prevent or retard them than is generally supposed, and
-some methods for this end which have been gained by observation or
-experience will be presented.
-
-As the exercise of all our faculties tends to increase their power,
-unless it be carried to excess, it is very important that the aged
-should be provided with useful employment suited to their strength and
-capacity. Nothing hastens decay so fast as to remove the _stimulus_
-of useful activity. It should become a study with those who have the
-care of the aged to interest them in some useful pursuit, and to
-convince them that they are in some measure actively contributing to
-the general welfare. In the country and in families where the larger
-part of the domestic labor is done without servants, it is very easy
-to keep up an interest in domestic industrial employments. The tending
-of a small garden in summer, the preparation of fuel and food, the
-mending of household utensils—these and many other occupations of the
-hands will keep alive activity and interest in a man; while for women
-there are still more varied resources. There is nothing that so soon
-hastens decay and lends acerbity to age as giving up all business and
-responsibility, and every mode possible should be devised to prevent
-this result.
-
-As age advances, all the bodily functions move more slowly, and
-consequently the generation of animal heat, by the union of oxygen and
-carbon in the capillaries, is in smaller proportion than in the midday
-of life. For this reason some practices, safe for the vigorous, must be
-relinquished by the aged; and one of these is the use of the cold bath.
-It has often been the case that rheumatism has been caused by neglect
-of this caution. More than ordinary care should be taken to preserve
-animal heat in the aged, especially in the hands and the feet.
-
-In many families will be found an aged brother, or sister, or other
-relative who has no home, and no claim to a refuge in the family circle
-but that of kindred. Sometimes they are poor and homeless; for want
-of a faculty for self-supporting business; and sometimes they have
-peculiarities of person or disposition which render their society
-undesirable. These are cases where the pitying tenderness of the
-Saviour should be remembered, and for his sake patient kindness and
-tender care be given, and he will graciously accept it as an offering
-of love and duty to himself. “Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least
-of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.”
-
-It is sometimes the case that even parents in old age have had occasion
-to say, with the forsaken King Lear, “How sharper than a serpent’s
-tooth it is to have a thankless child!” It is right training in early
-life alone that will save from this.
-
-In the opening of China and the probable influx of its people, there is
-one cause for congratulation to a nation that is failing in the virtue
-of reverence. The Chinese are distinguished above all other nations
-for their respect for the aged, and especially for their reverence for
-aged parents and conformity to their authority, even to the last. This
-virtue is cultivated to a degree that is remarkable, and has produced
-singular and favorable results on the national character, which it is
-hoped may be imparted to the land to which they are flocking in such
-multitudes. For with all their peculiarities of pagan philosophy and
-their Oriental eccentricities of custom and practical life, they are
-everywhere renowned for their uniform and elegant courtesy—a most
-commendable virtue, and one arising from habitual deference to the aged
-more than from any other source.
-
-But every person, in approaching the trials and helplessness of age,
-needs to consider that the very performance of these duties toward
-one’s self by all around may tend to induce a selfish and exacting
-spirit, or querulous complaints at forgetfulness or neglect. And
-constant service and petting may tempt to self-indulgent uselessness.
-Approaching age sometimes leads to the relinquishment of active
-life; and this tends to induce imbecility of body and mind, which,
-like all instruments, are kept bright by use. The course of wisdom
-is to redouble exertions in cultivating self-denying regard for
-the convenience and comfort of others, and perpetuating, as far as
-possible, useful labors.
-
-One of the most lovely and beautiful features in a family circle is
-the aged father or mother sympathizing in the joys and sorrows of the
-young, and watching for occasions to please and serve all around.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
-
-
-One of the most interesting illustrations of the design of our
-benevolent Creator in establishing the family state is the nature of
-the domestic animals connected with it. At the very dawn of life, the
-infant watches with delight the graceful gambols of the kitten, and
-soon makes it a playmate. Meantime, its outcries when hurt appeal to
-kindly sympathy, and its sharp claws to fear; while the child’s mother
-has a constant opportunity to inculcate kindness and care for weak
-and ignorant creatures. Then the dog becomes the outdoor playmate and
-guardian of early childhood, and he also guards himself by cries of
-pain, and protects himself by his teeth. At the same time, his faithful
-loving nature and caresses awaken corresponding tenderness and care;
-while the parent, again, has a daily opportunity to inculcate these
-virtues toward the helpless and dependent. As the child increases in
-knowledge and reason, the horse, cows, poultry, and other domestic
-animals come under his notice. These do not ordinarily express their
-hunger or other sufferings by cries of distress, but depend more on the
-developed reason and humanity of man. And here the parent is called
-upon to instruct a child in the nature and wants of each, that he may
-intelligently provide for their sustenance and for their protection
-from injury and disease.
-
-To assist in this important duty of home life, which so often falls
-to the supervision of woman, the following information is prepared
-through the kindness of one of the editors of a prominent, widely known
-agricultural paper.
-
-Domestic animals are very apt to catch the spirit and temper of their
-masters. A surly man will be very likely to have a cross dog and a
-biting horse. A passionate man will keep all his animals in moral fear
-of him, making them snappish, and liable to hurt those of whom they
-are not afraid.
-
-It is, therefore, most important that all animals should be treated
-uniformly with kindness. They are all capable of returning affection,
-and will show it very pleasantly if we manifest affection for them.
-They also have intuitive perceptions of our emotions which we can not
-conceal. A sharp, ugly dog will rarely bite a person who has no fear of
-him. A horse knows, the moment a man mounts or takes the reins, whether
-he is afraid or not; and so it is with other animals.
-
-If live stock can not be well fed, they ought not to be kept. One
-well-wintered horse is worth as much as two that drag through on
-straw, and by browsing the hedgerows. The same is true of oxen, and
-emphatically so of cows. The owner of a half-starved dog loses the use
-of him almost altogether; for at the very time—the night—when he is
-most needed as a guard, he must be off scouring the country for food.
-
-_Shelter_ in winter is most important for cows. They should have good
-tight stables or byres, well ventilated, and so warm that water in a
-pail will only freeze a little on the top the severest nights. Oxen
-should have the same stabling, though they bear cold better. Horses in
-stables will bear almost any degree of cold, if they have all they can
-eat. Sheep, except young lambs, are well enough sheltered in dry sheds,
-with one end open. Cattle, sheep, and dogs do not sweat as horses do,
-they “loll;” that is, water or slabber runs from their tongues; hence
-they are not liable to take cold as the horse is. Hogs bear cold pretty
-well; but they eat enough to convince any one that true economy lies in
-giving them warm styes in winter, for the colder they are the more they
-eat. Fowls will not lay in cold weather unless they have light and warm
-quarters.
-
-_Cleanliness_ is indispensable, if one would keep his animals healthy.
-In their wild state all our domestic animals are very clean, and, at
-the same time, very healthy. The hog is not naturally a dirty animal,
-but quite the reverse. He enjoys currying as much as a horse or cow,
-and would be as careful of his litter as a cat if he had a fair chance.
-
-Horses ought to be groomed daily; cows and oxen as often as twice a
-week; dogs should be washed with soap-suds frequently. Stables should
-be cleaned out daily. Absorbents of liquid in stables should be removed
-as often as they become wet. Dry earth is one of the best absorbents,
-and is especially useful in the fowl-house. Hogs in pens should have
-straw for their rests or lairs, and it should be often renewed.
-
-_Parasitic Vermin._—These are lice, fleas, ticks, the scale insects,
-and other pests which afflict our live stock. There are many ways of
-destroying them; the best and safest is a free use of _carbolic acid
-soap_. The larger animals, as well as hogs, dogs, and sheep, may be
-washed in strong suds of this soap without fear, and the application
-repeated after a week. This generally destroys both the creatures
-and their eggs. Hen lice are best destroyed by greasing the fowls,
-and dusting them with flower of sulphur. Sitting hens must never be
-greased, but the sulphur may be dusted freely in their nests, and it is
-well to put it in all hens’ nests.
-
-_Salt and Water._—All animals except poultry require salt, and all free
-supplies of fresh water.
-
-_Light._—Stables, or places where any kind of animals are confined,
-should have plenty of light. Windows are not more important in a house
-than in a barn. The _sun_ should come in freely; and if it shines
-directly upon the stock, all the better. When beeves and sheep are
-fattening very rapidly, the exclusion of the light makes them more
-quiet, and fatten faster; but their state is an unnatural and hardly a
-healthy one.
-
-_Exercise_ in the open air is important for breeding animals. It is
-especially necessary for horses of all kinds. Cows need very little,
-and swine none, unless kept for breeding.
-
-_Breeding._—Always use thorough-bred males, and improvement is certain.
-
-_Horses._—The care which horses require varies with the circumstances
-in which the owner is placed, and the uses to which they are put. In
-general, if kept stabled, they should be fed with good upland hay,
-almost as much as they will eat; and if absent from the stable, and
-at work most of the day, they should have all they will eat of hay,
-together with four to eight quarts of oats or an equal weight of other
-grain or meal. Barley is good for horses, and so is dry corn. Corn-meal
-put upon cut hay, wet and well mixed, is good, steady feed, if not in
-too large quantities. Four quarts a day may be fed unmixed with other
-grain; but if the horse be hard worked and needs more, mix the meal
-with wheat bran, or linseed-oil-cake meal, or use corn and oats ground
-together; carrots are especially wholesome. A quart of linseed-oil-cake
-meal, daily, is an excellent occasional addition to a horse’s feed,
-when carrots can not be had. It gives lustre to his coat, and brings
-the new coat of hair out in the spring. A stabled horse needs daily
-exercise, as much as to trot three miles. Where a horse is traveling,
-it is well to give him six quarts of oats in the morning, four at noon,
-and six at night.
-
-Thorough grooming is indispensable to the health of horses. Especial
-care should be taken of the legs and fetlocks, that no dirt remain to
-cause that distressing disease, _grease_ or _scratches_, which results
-from filthy fetlocks and standing in dirty stables. When a horse comes
-in from work on muddy roads with dirty legs, they should be immediately
-cleaned, the dirt brushed off, then rubbed with straw; then, if very
-dirty, washed clean and rubbed dry with a piece of sacking. A horse
-should never stand in a draught of cold air, if he can not turn and put
-his back to it. If sweaty or warm from work, he should be blanketed,
-if he is to stand a minute in the winter air. If put at once into the
-stable, he should be stripped and rubbed down with straw actively for
-five minutes or more, and then blanketed. The blanket must be removed
-in an hour, and the horse given water and feed, if it is the usual
-time. It will not hurt him to eat hay when hot, unless he be thoroughly
-exhausted, when all food should be withheld for a while.
-
-It is very comforting to a tired horse, when he is too hot to drink,
-to sponge out his mouth with cool water. A horse should never drink
-when very hot, nor be turned into a yard to “cool off,” even in summer,
-neither should he be turned out to pasture before he is quite cool.
-
-_Cows._—Gentle but firm treatment will make a cow easy to milk and to
-handle in every way. If stabled or yarded, cows should have access
-to water at all times, or have it frequently offered to them. Clover
-hay is probably the best steady food for milch cows. Cornstalks cut
-up, thoroughly soaked with water for half a day, and then sprinkled
-with corn or oil-cake meal, is perhaps unsurpassed as good winter food
-for milch cows. The amount of meal may vary. With plenty of oil-meal,
-there is little danger of feeding too much, as that is loosening to
-the bowels, and a safe, nutritious article. Corn-meal alone, in large
-quantities, is too heating. Roots should, if possible, form part of the
-diet of a milch cow, especially before and soon after calving; feed
-well before this period, yet not to make the cow very fat; but it is
-better to err in that way than to have her “come in” thin. Take the
-calf away from the mother as soon as it stands up, and the separation
-will worry neither dam nor young. This is always best, unless the calf
-is to be kept with the cow. The calf will soon learn to drink its food,
-if two fingers be held in its mouth. Let it have all the first drawn
-milk for three days as soon as milked; after this, skimmed milk warmed
-to blood heat. Soon a little fine scalded meal may be mixed with the
-milk; and it will, at three to five weeks old, nibble hay and grass. It
-is well, also, to keep a box containing some dry wheat-bran and fine
-corn-meal mixed in the calf-pen, so that calves may take as much as
-they like.
-
-In milking, put the fingers around the teat close to the bag; then
-firmly close the forefingers of each hand alternately, immediately
-squeezing with the other fingers. The forefingers prevent the milk
-flowing back into the bag, while the others press it out. Sit with the
-left knee close to the right hind leg of the cow, the head pressed
-against her flank, the left hand always ready to ward off a blow from
-her feet, which the gentlest cow may give almost without knowing it, if
-her tender teats be cut by long nails, or if a wart be hurt, or her bag
-be tender. She must be stripped _dry_ every time she is milked, or she
-will dry up; and if she gives much milk, it pays to milk three times a
-day, as nearly eight hours apart as possible. Never stop while milking
-till done, as this will cause the cow to stop giving milk.
-
-To tether a cow, tie her by one hind leg, making the rope fast above
-the fetlock joint, and protecting the limb with a piece of an old
-boot-leg or similar thing. The knot must be one that will not slip;
-regular fetters of iron bound with leather are much better.
-
-A cow should go unmilked two months before calving, and her milk should
-not be used by the family till four days after that time.
-
-_Swine._—The filthy state of hog-pens is allowed on account of the
-amount of manure they will make by working over all sorts of vegetable
-matter, spoiled hay, weeds, etc., etc. This is unhealthy for the
-family near and also for the animal. The hog is, naturally, a cleanly
-animal, and if given a chance he will keep himself very neat and
-clean. Breeding sows should have the range of a small pasture, and be
-regularly fed. They need fresh water constantly, and often suffer for
-lack of it when they have liquid swill which they do not like to drink.
-All hogs should have a warm, dry, well-littered pen to lie in, away
-from flies and disturbance of any kind. They are fond of charcoal, and
-it is worth while frequently to throw a few handfuls where they can
-get at it. It has a very beneficial effect on the appetite, regulates
-the tone of the stomach and digestive organs, and can not do any harm.
-Pigs ought always to be well fed and kept growing fast; and when being
-fattened, they should be penned always, the herd being sorted so that
-all may have an equal chance. It is well to feed soft corn in the ear;
-but hard corn should always be ground and cooked for pigs.
-
-_Sheep._—In the winter, sheep need deep, well-littered, dry sheds,
-dry yards, and hay, wheat, or oat straw, as much as they will eat.
-They should be kept gaining by grain regularly fed to them, and so
-distributed that each gets its share. Corn, either whole or ground,
-or oil-cake meal, or both, are used for fattening sheep. They will
-easily surfeit themselves on any grain except oil-meal, which is very
-safe feed for them, and usually economical. Strong sheep will often
-drive the weaker ones away, and so get more than their share of food
-and make themselves sick. This must be guarded against, and the flock
-sorted, keeping the weaker and stronger apart.
-
-Sheep are very useful in clearing land of brush and certain weeds,
-which they gnaw down and kill. To accomplish this, the land must be
-overstocked, and it is best not to keep sheep on short pasturage more
-than a few weeks at a time; but if they are returned after a few days,
-it will serve as good a purpose as if they were to be kept on all the
-time. Sheep at pasture must be restrained by good fences, or they will
-be a great nuisance. Dog-proof hedge fences of Osage orange are to be
-highly recommended, wherever this plant will grow. Mutton sheep will
-generally pay better to raise than merinos, but they need more care.
-
-_Poultry._—Few objects of labor are more remunerative than poultry,
-raised on a moderate scale. _Turkeys_, when young, need great care;
-some animal food, dry, warm quarters, and must be kept out of the wet
-grass, and kept in when it rains. As soon as fledged they become very
-hardy, and, with free range, will almost take care of themselves.
-_Geese_ need water and good grass pasture. _Ducks_ do very well without
-water to swim in, if they have all they need to drink. They will lay a
-great many eggs if kept shut in a pen until say eight o’clock in the
-morning. If let out earlier, they wander away, and will hide their
-nests, and lay only about as many eggs as they can cover. It is best
-to set ducks’ eggs under hens, and to keep young ducks shut up in a
-dry roomy pen for four weeks, at least. _Fowls_ need light, warm, dry
-quarters in winter, plenty of feed, but not too much. They relish
-animal food, and ought to have some frequently to make them lay. Pork
-or beef scrap-cake can be bought for two to three cents a pound, and is
-very good for them. Any kind of grain is good for poultry. Nothing is
-better than wheat screenings. Early-hatched chickens must be kept in a
-warm, dry, sunny room, with plenty of gravel, and the hen should have
-no more than eight or nine chickens to brood; though in summer one hen
-will take good care of fifteen. Little chickens, turkeys, and ducks
-need frequent feeding, and must have their water changed often. It is
-well to grease the body of the hen and the heads of the chicks with
-lard, in order to prevent their becoming lousy.
-
-Hens set about twenty days, and should be well fed and watered. Cold or
-damp weather is bad for young fowls, and when they have been chilled,
-pepper-corns are a good remedy, in addition to the warmth of an
-inclosed dry place.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The most absorbing part of the “Woman’s question” of the present time
-is the remedy for the varied sufferings of women who are widows or
-unmarried, and without means of support. As yet, few are aware how
-many sources of lucrative enterprise and industry lie open to woman in
-the employments directly connected with the family state. A woman can
-invest capital in the dairy and qualify herself to superintend a dairy
-farm as well as a man. And if she has no capital of her own, if well
-trained for this business, she can find those who have capital ready to
-furnish—an investment that, well managed, will become profitable. And,
-too, the raising of poultry, of hogs, and of sheep are all within the
-reach of a woman with proper abilities and training for this business.
-So that, if a woman chooses, she can find employment both interesting
-and profitable in studying the care of domestic animals.
-
-_Bees._—But one of the most profitable as well as interesting kinds
-of business for a woman is the care of bees. In a recent agricultural
-report it is stated that one lady bought four hives for ten dollars,
-and in five years she was offered one thousand five hundred dollars for
-her stock, and refused it as not enough. In addition to this increase
-of her capital, in one of these five years she sold twenty-two hives
-and four hundred and twenty pounds of honey. It is also stated that in
-five years one man, from six colonies of bees to start with, cleared
-eight thousand pounds of honey and one hundred and fifty-four colonies
-of bees.
-
-It is hoped a time is at hand when every woman will be trained to some
-employment by which she can secure to herself an independent home and
-means to support a family, in case she does not marry, or is left a
-widow, with herself and a family to maintain.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-CARE OF THE SICK.
-
-
-It is interesting to notice in the histories of our Lord the prominent
-place given to the care of the sick. When he first sent out the
-apostles, it was to heal the sick as well as to preach. Again, when he
-sent out the seventy, their first command was to “heal the sick,” and
-next to say, “the kingdom of God has come nigh unto you.” The body was
-to be healed first, in order to attend to the kingdom of God, even when
-it was “brought nigh.”
-
-Jesus Christ spent more time and labor in the cure of men’s bodies than
-in preaching, even if we subtract those labors with his earthly father
-by which family homes were provided. When he ascended to the heavens,
-his last recorded words to his followers, as given by Mark, were, that
-his disciples should “lay hands on the sick,” that they might recover.
-Still more directly is the duty of care for the sick exhibited in
-the solemn allegorical description of the last day. It was those who
-visited the sick that were the blessed; it was those who did not visit
-the sick who were told to “depart.” Thus are we abundantly taught that
-one of the most sacred duties of the Christian family is the training
-of its inmates to care and kind attention to the sick.
-
-Every woman who has the care of young children, or of a large family,
-is frequently called upon to advise what shall be done for some one who
-is indisposed, and often in circumstances where she must trust solely
-to her own judgment. In such cases, some err by neglecting to do any
-thing at all till the patient is quite sick; but a still greater number
-err from excessive and injurious dosing.
-
-The two great causes of the ordinary slight attacks of illness in a
-family are, sudden chills, which close the pores of the skin, and thus
-affect the throat, lungs, or bowels; and the excessive or improper use
-of food. In most cases of illness from the first cause, bathing the
-feet, retiring to a warm bed, and some hot aperient drink to induce
-perspiration, are suitable remedies.
-
-In case of illness from improper food, or excess in eating, _fasting_
-for one or two meals, to give the system time and chance to relieve
-itself, is the safest remedy. Sometimes a gentle cathartic of
-castor-oil may be needful; but it is best first to try fasting. A safe
-relief from injurious articles in the stomach is an emetic of warm
-water; but to be effective, several tumblerfuls must be given in quick
-succession, and till the stomach can receive no more.
-
-The following extract from a discourse of Dr. Burne, before the
-London Medical Society, contains important information: “In civilized
-life, the causes which are most generally and continually operating
-in the production of diseases are, affections of the mind, improper
-diet, and retention of the intestinal excretions. The undue retention
-of excrementitious matter allows of the absorption of its more
-liquid parts, which is a cause of great impurity to the blood,
-and the excretions, thus rendered hard and knotty, act more or
-less as extraneous substances, and, by their irritation, produce
-a determination of blood to the intestines and to the neighboring
-viscera, which ultimately ends in inflammation. It also has a great
-effect on the whole system; causes a determination of blood to the
-head, which oppresses the brain and dejects the mind; deranges the
-functions of the stomach; causes flatulency; and produces a general
-state of discomfort.”
-
-Dr. Combe remarks on this subject: “In the natural and healthy state,
-under a proper system of diet, and with sufficient exercise, the
-bowels are relieved regularly once every day.” _Habit_ “is powerful
-in modifying the result, and in sustaining healthy action when once
-fairly established. Hence the obvious advantage of observing as much
-regularity in relieving the system, as in taking our meals.” It is
-often the case that soliciting nature at a regular period, once a
-day, will remedy constipation without medicine, and induce a regular
-and healthy state of the bowels. “When, however, as most frequently
-happens, the constipation arises from the absence of all assistance
-from the abdominal and respiratory muscles, the first step to be taken
-is, again to solicit their aid; first, by removing all impediments to
-free respiration, such as stays, waistbands, and belts; secondly, by
-resorting to such active exercise as shall call the muscles into full
-and regular action;[7] and lastly, by proportioning the quantity of
-food to the wants of the system, and the condition of the digestive
-organs.
-
-[7] The most effective mode of exercising the abdominal and respiratory
-muscles, in order to remedy constipation, is by a continuous alternate
-contraction of the muscles of the abdomen and diaphragm. By contracting
-the muscles of the abdomen, the intestines are pressed inward and
-upward, and then the muscles of the diaphragm above contract and press
-them downward and outward. Thus the blood is drawn to the torpid parts
-to stimulate to the healthful action, while the agitation moves their
-contents downward. An invalid can thus exercise the abdominal muscles
-in bed. The proper time is just after a meal. This exercise, continued
-ten minutes a day, including short intervals of rest, and persevered
-in for a week or two, will cure most ordinary cases of constipation,
-provided proper food is taken. Coarse bread and fruit are needed for
-this purpose in most cases.
-
-“If we employ these means systematically and perseveringly, we shall
-rarely fail in at last restoring the healthy action of the bowels,
-with little aid from medicine. But if we neglect these modes, we may
-go on for years, adding pill to pill, and dose to dose, without ever
-attaining the end at which we aim.
-
-“There is no point in which a woman needs more knowledge and discretion
-than in administering remedies for what seem slight attacks, which are
-not supposed to require the attention of a physician. It is little
-realized that purgative drugs are unnatural modes of stimulating the
-internal organs, tending to exhaust them of their secretions, and to
-debilitate and disturb the animal economy. For this reason, they should
-be used as little as possible; and fasting, and perspiration, and the
-other methods pointed out, should always be first resorted to.”
-
-When medicine must be given, it should be borne in mind that there are
-various classes of purgatives, which produce very diverse effects.
-Some, like salts, operate to thin the blood, and reduce the system;
-others are stimulating; and others have a peculiar operation on certain
-organs. Of course, great discrimination and knowledge are needed, in
-order to select the kind which is suitable to the particular disease,
-or to the particular constitution of the invalid. This shows the folly
-of using the many kinds of pills, and other quack medicines, where no
-knowledge can be had of their composition. Pills which are good for one
-kind of disease might operate as poison in another state of the system.
-
-It is very common in cases of colds, which affect the lungs or throat,
-to continue to try one dose after another for relief. It will be well
-to bear in mind at such times, that all which goes into the stomach
-must be first absorbed into the blood before it can reach the diseased
-part; and that there is some danger of injuring the stomach, or other
-parts of the system, by such a variety of doses, many of which, it is
-probable, will be directly contradictory in their nature, and thus
-neutralize any supposed benefit they might separately impart.
-
-When a cold affects the head and eyes, and also impedes breathing
-through the nose, great relief is gained by a wet napkin spread over
-the upper part of the face, covering the nose except an opening for
-breath. This is to be covered by folds of flannel fastened over the
-napkin with a handkerchief. So also a wet towel over the throat and
-whole chest, covered with folds of flannel, often relieves oppressed
-lungs.
-
-Ordinarily, a cold can be arrested on its first symptoms by coverings
-in bed and a bottle of hot water, securing free perspiration. Often,
-at its first appearance, it can be stopped by a spoonful or two of hot
-whisky, or any alcoholic liquor, in hot water, taken on going to bed.
-Warm covering to induce perspiration will assist the process. These
-simple remedies are safest. Perspiration should always be followed by a
-towel-bath of cool water in a warm room or by a fire.
-
-It is very unwise to tempt the appetite of a person who is indisposed.
-The cessation of appetite is the warning of nature that the system is
-in such a state that food can not be easily digested. When food is to
-be given to one who has no desire for it, beef-tea is the best in most
-cases.
-
-The following suggestions may be found useful in regard to nursing
-the sick: As nothing contributes more to the restoration of health
-than pure air, it should be a primary object to keep a sick-room well
-ventilated. At least twice in the twenty-four hours, the patient should
-be well covered, and fresh air freely admitted from out-of-doors. After
-this, if need be, the room should be restored to a proper temperature
-by the aid of an open fire. Bedding and clothing should also be well
-aired, and frequently changed, as the exhalations from the body, in
-sickness, are peculiarly deleterious. Frequent ablutions of the whole
-body, if possible, are very useful; and for these warm water may be
-employed, when cold water is disagreeable.
-
-A sick-room should always be kept very neat and in perfect order; and
-all haste, noise, and bustle should be avoided. In order to secure
-neatness, order, and quiet, in case of long illness, the following
-arrangements should be made: Keep a large box for fuel, which will need
-to be filled only twice in twenty-four hours. Provide also and keep
-in the room or an adjacent closet, a small tea-kettle, a saucepan, a
-pail of water for drinks and ablutions, a pitcher, a covered porringer,
-two pint bowls, two tumblers, two cups and saucers, two wine-glasses,
-two large and two small spoons; also a dish in which to wash these
-articles; a good supply of towels, and a broom. Keep a slop-bucket near
-by to receive the wash of the room. Procuring all these articles at
-once will save much noise and confusion.
-
-Whenever medicine or food is given, spread a clean towel over the
-person or bed-clothing, and get a clean handkerchief, as nothing
-is more annoying to a weak stomach than the stickiness and soiling
-produced by medicine and food.
-
-Keep the fire-place neat, and always wash all articles and put them in
-order as soon as they are out of use. A sick person has nothing to do
-but look about the room; and when every thing is neat and in order, a
-feeling of comfort is induced, while disorder, filth, and neglect are
-constant objects of annoyance which, if not complained of, are yet felt.
-
-One very important particular in the case of those who are delicate in
-constitution, as well as in the case of the sick, is the preservation
-of warmth, especially in the hands and the feet. The _equal_
-circulation of the blood is an important element for good health, and
-this is impossible when the extremities are habitually or frequently
-cold. It is owing to this fact that the coldness caused by wetting the
-feet is so injurious. In cases where disease or a weak constitution
-causes a feeble or imperfect circulation, great pains should be taken
-to dress the feet and hands warmly, especially around the wrists and
-ankles, where the blood-vessels are nearest to the surface and thus
-most exposed to cold. Warm elastic wristlets and anklets would save
-many a feeble person from increasing decay or disease.
-
-When the circulation is feeble from debility or disease, the union of
-carbon and oxygen in the capillaries is slower than in health, and
-therefore care should be taken to preserve the heat thus generated by
-warm clothing and protection from cold draughts. In nervous debility it
-is peculiarly important to preserve the animal heat, for its excessive
-loss especially affects weak nerves. Many an invalid is carelessly and
-habitually suffering cold feet, who would recover health by proper
-care to preserve animal heat, especially in the extremities. Hot
-fomentations in most cases will be as good as a blister, less painful,
-and safer.
-
-Always prepare food for the sick in the neatest and most careful
-manner. It is in sickness that the senses of smell and taste are most
-susceptible of annoyance; and often, little mistakes or negligences in
-preparing food will take away all appetite.
-
-Food for the sick should be cooked on coals, that no smoke may have
-access to it; and great care must be taken to prevent, by stirring, any
-adherence to the bottom of the cooking vessel, as this always gives a
-disagreeable taste.
-
-Keeping clean handkerchiefs and towels at hand, cooling the pillows,
-sponging the hands with water, (with care to dry them thoroughly,)
-swabbing the mouth with a clean linen rag on the end of a stick, are
-modes of increasing the comfort of the sick. Always throw a shawl over
-a sick person when raised up.
-
-Be careful to understand a physician’s directions, and _to obey them
-implicitly_. If it be supposed that any other person knows better about
-the case than the physician, dismiss the physician, and employ that
-person in his stead.
-
-It is always best to consult the physician as to where medicines
-shall be purchased, and to show the articles to him before using
-them, as great impositions are practiced in selling old, useless, and
-adulterated drugs. Always put labels on phials of medicine, and keep
-them out of the reach of children.
-
-Be careful to label all powders, and particularly all _white powders_,
-as many poisonous medicines in this form are easily mistaken for others
-which are harmless.
-
-In nursing the sick, always speak gently and cheeringly; and, while
-you express sympathy for their pain and trials, stimulate them to
-bear all with fortitude, and with resignation to the Heavenly Father,
-who “doth not willingly afflict,” and “who causeth all things to work
-together for good to them that love him.” Offer to read the Bible or
-other devotional books, whenever it is suitable, and will not be deemed
-obtrusive.
-
-Every woman should be trained for the office of nurse to the sick, and
-some who have special traits that fit them for it should make it their
-daily professional business. The indispensable qualities in a good
-nurse are common sense, conscientiousness, and sympathetic benevolence.
-
-Persons may be conscientious and benevolent, and possess good judgment
-in many respects, and yet be miserable nurses of the sick for want of
-training and right knowledge.
-
-“_Knowledge_, the assurance that one knows what to do, always gives
-_presence of mind_—and presence of mind is important not only in
-a sick-room but in every home. Who has not known consternation in
-a family when some one has fainted, or been burned, or cut, while
-none were present who knew how to stop the flowing blood, or revive
-the fainting, or apply the saving application to the burn? And yet
-knowledge and efficiency in such cases would save many a life, and be a
-most fitting and desirable accomplishment in every woman.”
-
-“We are slow to learn the mighty influence of common agencies, and
-the greatness of little things, in their bearing upon life and health.
-The woman who believes it takes no strength to bear a little noise or
-some disagreeable announcements, and loses patience with the weak,
-nervous invalid who is agonized with creaking doors or shoes, or loud,
-shrill voices, or rustling papers, or sharp, fidgety motions, or the
-whispering so common in sick-rooms and often so acutely distressing
-to the sufferer, will soon correct such misapprehensions by herself
-experiencing a nervous fever.”
-
-Here the writer would put in a plea for the increasing multitudes of
-nervous sufferers not confined to a sick-room, and yet exposed to all
-the varied sources of pain incident to an exhausted nervous system,
-which often cause more intolerable and also more wearing pain than
-other kinds of suffering.
-
-“An exceeding acuteness of the senses is the result of many forms of
-nervous disease. A heavy breath, an unwashed hand, a noise that would
-not have been noticed in health, a crooked table-cover or bed-spread,
-may disturb or oppress; and more than one invalid has spoken in my
-hearing of the sickening effect produced by the nurse tasting her food,
-or blowing in her drinks to make them cool. One woman, and a sensible
-woman too, told me her nurse had turned a large cushion upon her bureau
-with the back part in front. She determined not to be disturbed nor to
-speak of such a trifle, but after struggling _three hours_ in vain to
-banish the annoyance, she was forced to ask to have the cushion placed
-right.”
-
-In this place should be mentioned the suffering caused to persons of
-reduced nervous power not only by the smoke of tobacco, but by the
-fetid effluvium of it from the breath and clothing of persons who
-smoke. Many such are sickened in society and in car-traveling, and to
-a degree little imagined by those who gain a dangerous pleasure at the
-frequent expense of the feeble and suffering.
-
-“It is often exceedingly important to the very weak, who can take but
-very little nutriment, to have that little whenever they want it. I
-have known invalids sustain great injury and suffering; when exhausted
-for want of food, they have had to wait and wait, feeling as if every
-minute was an hour, while some well-fed nurse delayed its coming. Said
-a lady, ‘It makes me hungry now to think of the meals she brought me
-upon that little waiter when I was sick—such brown thin toast, such
-good broiled beef, such fragrant tea, and every thing looking so
-exquisitely nice! If at any time I did not think of any thing I wanted,
-nor ask for food, she did not annoy me with questions, but brought some
-little delicacy at the proper time, and when it came I could take it.’
-
-“If there is one purpose of a personal kind for which it is especially
-desirable to lay up means, it is for being well nursed in sickness; yet
-in the present state of society this is absolutely impossible, even to
-the wealthy, because of the scarcity of competent nurses. Families worn
-down with the long and extreme illness of a member require relief from
-one whose feelings will be less taxed, and who can better endure the
-labor.
-
-“But, alas! how often is it impossible, for love or money, to obtain
-one capable of taking the burden from the exhausted sister or mother
-or daughter, and how often in consequence they have died prematurely
-or struggled through weary years with a broken constitution. Appeal
-to those who have made the trial, and you will find that very seldom
-have they been able to have those who by nature or by training were
-competent for their duties. Ignorant, unscrupulous, inattentive—how
-often they disturb and injure the patient! A physician told me that
-one of his patients had died because the nurse, contrary to orders,
-had at a critical period washed her with cold water. One is known
-who, by stealth, quieted a fretful child with laudanum, and of others
-who exhausted the sick by incessant talking. One lady said that when,
-to escape this distressing garrulity, she closed her eyes, the nurse
-exclaimed, aloud, ‘Why, she is going to sleep while I am talking to
-her.’
-
-“A few only of the sensible, quiet, and loving women, whose presence
-everywhere is a blessing, have qualified themselves and followed
-nursing as a business. Heaven bless that few! What a sense of relief
-pervades a family when such an one has been procured; and what a
-treasure seemed found!
-
-“There is very commonly an extreme susceptibility in the sick to the
-_moral atmosphere_ about them. They feel the healthful influence of
-the presence of a true-hearted attendant and repose in it, though they
-may not be able to define the cause; while dissimulation, falsehood,
-recklessness, coarseness, jar terribly and injuriously on their
-heightened sensibilities. ‘Are the Sisters of Charity really better
-nurses than most other women?’ asked an intelligent lady who had
-seen much of our military hospitals. ‘Yes, they are,’ was the reply.
-‘Why should it be so?’ 'I think it is because with them it is a work
-of self-abnegation, and of duty to God; and they are so quiet and
-self-forgetful in its exercise that they do it better, while many other
-women show such self-consciousness and are so fussy!”
-
-Is there any reason why every Protestant woman should not be trained
-for this self-denying office as _a duty owed to God_?
-
-We can not better close this chapter than by one more quotation from an
-intelligent and attractive writer: “The good nurse is an artist. Oh the
-pillowy, soothing softness of her touch, the neatness of her simple,
-unrustling dress, the music of her assured yet gentle voice and tread,
-the sense of security and rest inspired by her kind and hopeful face,
-the promptness and attention to every want, the repose that like an
-atmosphere encircles her, the evidence of heavenly goodness and love
-that she diffuses!” Is not such an art as this worth much to attain?
-
-In training children to the Christian life, one very important
-opportunity occurs whenever sickness appears in the family or
-neighborhood. The repression of disturbing noises, the speaking in
-tones of gentleness and sympathy, the small offices of service or
-nursing in which children can aid, should be inculcated as ministering
-to the Lord and Elder Brother of man, who has said, “Inasmuch as ye
-have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done
-it to me.”
-
-One of the blessed opportunities for such ministries is given to
-children in the cultivation of flowers. The entrance into a sick-room
-of a smiling, healthful child, bringing an offering of flowers raised
-by its own labor, is like an angel of comfort and love, “and alike it
-blesseth him who gives and him who takes.”
-
-A time is coming when the visitation of the sick, as a part of the
-Christian life, will hold a higher consideration than is now generally
-accorded, especially in the cases of uninteresting sufferers who have
-nothing to attract kind attentions, except that they are suffering
-children of our Father in heaven, and “one of the least” of the
-brethren of Jesus Christ.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-FIRES AND LIGHTS.
-
-
-A shallow fire-place saves wood, and gives out more heat than a deeper
-one. A false back of brick may be put up in a deep fire-place. Hooks
-for holding up the shovel and tongs, a hearth-brush and bellows, and
-brass knobs to hang them on, should be furnished to every fire-place.
-An iron bar across the andirons aids in keeping the fire safe and in
-good order. Steel furniture is neater, handsomer, and more easily kept
-in order than that made of brass.
-
-Use green wood for logs, and mix green and dry wood for the fire; and
-then the wood-pile will last much longer. Walnut, maple, hickory, and
-oak wood are best; chestnut or hemlock is bad, because it snaps. Do not
-buy a load in which there are many crooked sticks. Learn how to measure
-and calculate the solid contents of a load, so as not to be cheated. A
-cord of wood should be equivalent to a pile eight feet long, four feet
-wide and four feet high; that is, it contains (8 x 4 x 4 = 128) one
-hundred and twenty-eight cubic or solid feet. A city “load” is usually
-one third of a cord. Have all your wood split and piled under cover
-for winter. Have the green-wood logs in one pile, dry-wood in another,
-oven-wood in another, kindlings and chips in another, and a supply of
-charcoal to use for broiling and ironing in another place. Have a brick
-bin for ashes, and never allow them to be put in wood. When quitting
-fires at night, never leave a burning stick across the andirons, nor on
-its end, without quenching it. See that no fire adheres to the broom
-or brush; remove all articles from the fire, and have two pails filled
-with water in the kitchen where they will not freeze.
-
-
-STOVES AND GRATES.
-
-Rooms heated by stoves should always have some opening for the
-admission of fresh air, or they will be injurious to health. The
-dryness of the air which they occasion should be remedied by placing a
-vessel filled with water on the stove, otherwise the lungs or eyes will
-be injured. A large number of plants in a room prevents this dryness
-of the air. Where stove-pipes pass through fire-boards, the hole in
-the wood should be much larger than the pipe, so that there may be no
-danger of the wood taking fire. The unsightly opening thus occasioned
-should be covered with tin. When pipes are carried through floors or
-partitions, they should always pass either through earthen crocks, or
-what are known as tin stove-pipe thimbles, which may be found in any
-stove store or tinsmith’s. Lengthening a pipe will increase its draught.
-
-For those who use _anthracite coal_, that which is broken or screened
-is best for grates, and the nut-coal for small stoves. Three tons are
-sufficient in the Middle States, and four tons in the Northern, to keep
-one fire through the winter. That which is bright, hard, and clean, is
-best; and that which is soft, porous, and covered with damp dust, is
-poor. It will be well to provide two barrels of charcoal for kindling
-to every ton of anthracite coal. Grates for _bituminous coal_ should
-have a flue nearly as deep as the grate; and the bars should be round
-and not close together. The better draught there is, the less coal-dust
-is made. Every grate should be furnished with a poker, shovel, tongs,
-blower, coal-scuttle, and holder for the blower. The latter may be made
-of woolen, covered with old silk, and hung near the fire.
-
-Coal-stoves should be carefully put up, as cracks in the pipe,
-especially in sleeping-rooms, are dangerous.
-
-
-LIGHTS.
-
-Professor Phin, of the _Manufacturer and Builder_, has kindly given
-us some late information on this important topic, which will be found
-valuable.
-
-In choosing the source of our light, the great points to be considered
-are, first, the influence on the eyes; and secondly, economy. It is
-poor economy to use a bad light. Modern houses in cities, and even
-in large villages, are furnished with gas; where gas is not used,
-sperm-oil, kerosene or coaloil, and candles are employed. Gas is the
-cheapest, (or ought to be;) and if properly used, is as good as any.
-Good sperm-oil burned in an Argand lamp—that is, a lamp with a circular
-wick, like the astral lamp and others—is perhaps the best; but it is
-expensive and attended with many inconveniences. Good kerosene-oil
-gives a light which leaves little to be desired. Candles are used only
-on rare occasions, though many families prefer to manufacture into
-candles the waste grease that accumulates in the household. The economy
-of any source of light will depend so much upon local circumstances
-that no absolute directions can be given.
-
-The effect produced by light on the eyes depends upon the following
-points: First, _Steadiness_. Nothing is more injurious to the eyes than
-a flickering, unsteady flame. Hence, all flames used for light-giving
-purposes ought to be surrounded with glass chimneys or small shades. No
-naked flame can ever be steady. Second, _Color_. This depends greatly
-upon the temperature of the flame. A hot flame gives a bright, white
-light; a flame which has not a high temperature gives a dull, yellow
-light, which is very injurious to the eyes. In the naked gas-jet a
-large portion of the flame burns at a low temperature, and the same is
-the case with the flame of the kerosene lamp when the height of the
-chimney is not properly proportioned to the amount of oil consumed; a
-high wick needs a high chimney. In the case of a well-trimmed Argand
-oil-lamp, or an Argand burner for gas, the flame is in general most
-intensely hot, and the light is of a clear white character.
-
-The third point which demands attention is the _amount of heat_
-transmitted from the flame to the eyes. It often happens that people,
-in order to economize light, bring the lamp quite close to the face.
-This is a very bad habit. The heat is more injurious than the light.
-Better burn a larger flame, and keep it at a greater distance.
-
-It is also well that various-sized lamps should be provided to serve
-the varying necessities of the household in regard to quantity of
-light. One of the very best forms of lamp is that known as the
-“student’s reading-lamp,” which is, in the burner, an Argand. Provide
-small lamps with handles for carrying about, and broad-bottomed lamps
-for the kitchen, as these are not easily upset. Hand and kitchen lamps
-are best made of metal, unless they are to be used by very careful
-persons.
-
-Sperm-oil, lard, tallow, etc., have been superseded to such an extent
-by kerosene that it is scarcely worth while to give any special
-directions in regard to them. In the choice of kerosene, attention
-should be paid to two points: its _safety_, and its _light-giving
-qualities_. Kerosene is not a simple fluid, like water; but is
-a mixture of several liquids, all of which boil at different
-temperatures. Good kerosene-oil should be purified from all that
-portion which boils or evaporates at a low temperature; for it is the
-production of this vapor, and its mixture with atmospheric air, that
-gives rise to those terrible explosions which sometimes occur when
-a light is brought near a can of poor oil. To test the oil in this
-respect, pour a little into an iron spoon, and heat it over a lamp
-until it is moderately warm to the touch. If the oil produces vapor
-which can be set on fire by means of a flame held a short distance
-above the surface of the liquid, it is bad. Good oil poured into a
-tea-cup or on the floor does not easily take fire when a light is
-brought in contact with it. Poor oil will instantly ignite under the
-same circumstances, and hence the breaking of a lamp filled with poor
-oil is always attended by great peril of a conflagration. Not only the
-safety but also the light-giving qualities of kerosene are greatly
-enhanced by the removal of these volatile and dangerous oils. Hence,
-while good kerosene should be clear in color, and free from all matters
-which can gum up the wick and thus interfere with free circulation and
-combustion, it should also be perfectly safe. It ought to be kept in a
-cool, dark place, and carefully excluded from the air.
-
-The care of lamps requires so much attention and discretion, that many
-ladies choose to do this work themselves, rather than trust it with
-domestics. To do it properly, provide the following things: an old
-waiter to hold all the articles used; a lamp-filler, with a spout,
-small at the end, and turned up to prevent oil from dripping; proper
-wicks, and a basket or box to hold them; a lamp-trimmer made for the
-purpose, or a pair of _sharp_ scissors; a small soap-cup and soap; some
-washing soda in a broad-mouthed bottle; and several soft cloths to wash
-the articles and towels to wipe them. If every thing, after being used,
-is cleansed from oil and then kept neatly, it will not be so unpleasant
-a task as it usually is to take care of lamps.
-
-The inside of lamps and oil-cans should be cleansed with soda dissolved
-in water. Be careful to drain them well, and not to let any gilding
-or bronze be injured by the soda coming in contact with it. Put one
-table-spoonful of soda to one quart of water. Take the lamp to pieces
-and clean it as often as necessary. Wipe the chimney at least once
-a day, and wash it whenever mere wiping fails to cleanse it. Some
-persons, owing to the dirty state of their chimneys, lose half the
-light which is produced. Keep dry fingers in trimming lamps. Renew the
-wicks before they get too short. They should never be allowed to burn
-shorter than an inch and a half.
-
-In regard to _shades_, which are always well to use on lamps or gas,
-those made of glass or porcelain are now so cheap that we can recommend
-them as the best without any reservation. Plain shades, making the
-light soft and even, do not injure the eyes. Lamps should be lighted
-with a strip of folded or rolled paper, of which a quantity should be
-kept on the mantel-piece. Weak eyes should always be especially shaded
-from the lights. Small screens, made for the purpose, should be kept at
-hand. A person with weak eyes can use them safely much longer when they
-are protected from the glare of the light. Fill the entry-lamp every
-day, and cleanse and fill night-lanterns twice a week, if used often. A
-good night-lamp is made with a small one-wicked lamp and a roll of tin
-to set over it. Have some holes made in the bottom of this cover, and
-it can then be used to heat articles. Very cheap floating tapers can be
-bought to burn in a tea-cup of oil through the night.
-
-
-TO MAKE CANDLES.
-
-The nicest candles are those run in molds. For this purpose, melt
-together one quarter of a pound of white wax, one quarter of an
-ounce of camphor, two ounces of alum, and ten ounces of suet or
-mutton-tallow. Soak the wicks in lime-water and saltpetre, and when
-dry, fix them in the molds and pour in the melted tallow. Let them
-remain one night to cool; then warm them a little to loosen them, draw
-them out, and when they are hard, put them in a box in a dry and cool
-place.
-
-To make dipped candles, cut the wicks of the right length, double them
-over rods, and twist them. They should first be dipped in lime-water
-or vinegar, and dried. Melt the tallow in a large kettle, filling it
-to the top with hot water, when the tallow is melted. Put in wax and
-powdered alum, to harden them. Keep the tallow hot over a portable
-furnace, and fill the kettle with hot water as fast as the tallow is
-used up. Lay two long strips of narrow board on which to hang the
-rods; and set flat pans under, on the floor, to catch the grease. Take
-several rods at once, and wet the wicks in the tallow; straighten
-and smooth them when cool. Then dip them as fast as they cool,
-until they become of the proper size. Plunge them obliquely and not
-perpendicularly; and when the bottoms are too large, hold them in the
-hot grease till a part melts off. Let them remain one night to cool;
-then cut off the bottoms, and keep them in a dry, cool place. Cheap
-lights are made by dipping rushes in tallow, the rushes being first
-stripped of nearly the whole of the hard outer covering, and the pith
-alone being retained with just enough of the tough bark to keep it
-stiff.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI.
-
-ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.
-
-
-In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should be had to
-correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains should be darker than the
-walls; and, if the walls and carpets be light, the chairs should be
-dark, and _vicè versa_. Pictures always look best on light walls.
-
-In selecting carpets for rooms much used, it is poor economy to buy
-cheap ones. _Ingrain_ carpets, of close texture, and the _three-ply_
-carpets, are best for common use. _Brussels_ carpets do not wear so
-long as the three-ply ones, because they can not be turned. _Wilton_
-carpets wear badly, and _Venetians_ are good only for halls and stairs.
-
-In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any black threads;
-as they are usually rotten. The most tasteful carpets are those which
-are made of various shades of the same color, or of all shades of only
-two colors; such as brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and
-green, or all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades should
-be brown or green, but not black.
-
-In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw under them,
-as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw matting, laid under
-carpets, makes them last much longer, as it is smooth and even, and the
-dust sifts through it. In buying carpets, always get a few yards over,
-to allow for waste in matching figures.
-
-In cutting carpets, make them three or four inches shorter than the
-room, to allow for stretching. Begin to cut _in the middle_ of a
-figure, and it will usually match better. Many carpets match in two
-different ways, and care must be taken to get the right one. Sew a
-carpet on the wrong side, with double waxed thread, and with the
-_ball-stitch_. This is done by taking a stitch on the breadth next you,
-pointing the needle toward you; and then taking a stitch on the other
-breadth, pointing the needle from you. Draw the thread tightly, but not
-so as to pucker. In fitting a breadth to the hearth, cut slits in the
-right place, and turn the piece under. Bind _the whole_ of the carpet
-with carpet-binding, nail it with tacks, having bits of leather under
-the heads. To stretch the carpet, use a carpet-fork, which is a long
-stick, ending with notched tin, like saw-teeth. This is put in the edge
-of the carpet, and pushed by one person, while the nail is driven by
-another. Cover blocks or bricks with carpeting like that of the room,
-and put them behind tables, doors, sofas, etc., to preserve the walls
-from injury by knocking, or by the dusting-cloth.
-
-Cheap footstools, made of a square plank, covered with tow-cloth,
-stuffed, and then covered with carpeting, with worsted handles, look
-very well. Sweep carpets as seldom as possible, as it wears them out.
-To shake them often is good economy. In cleaning carpets, use damp tea
-leaves, or wet Indian meal, throwing it about, and rubbing it over with
-the broom. The latter is very good for cleansing carpets made dingy by
-coal-dust. In brushing carpets in ordinary use, it will be found very
-convenient to use a large flat dust-pan, with a perpendicular handle a
-yard high, put on so that the pan will stand alone, This can be carried
-about and used without stooping, brushing dust into it with a common or
-small whisk broom. The pan must be very large, or it will be upset.
-
-When carpets are taken up, they should be hung on a line, or laid on
-long grass, and whipped, first on one side, and then on the other, with
-pliant whips. If laid aside, they should be sewed up tight in linen,
-having snuff or tobacco put along all the crevices where moths could
-enter. Shaking pepper, from a pepper-box, round the edge of the floor,
-under a carpet, prevents the access of moths.
-
-Carpets can be best washed on the floor, thus: First shake them; and
-then, after cleaning the floor, stretch and nail them upon it. Then
-scrub them in cold soap-suds, having half a tea-cupful of ox-gall to
-a bucket of water. Then wash off the suds with a cloth in fair water.
-Set open the doors and windows for two days or more. Imperial Brussels,
-Venetian, ingrain, and three-ply carpets can be washed thus; but
-Wilton and other plush carpets can not. Before washing them, take out
-grease with a paste made of potter’s clay, ox-gall, and water.
-
-Straw matting is the best for chambers and summer parlors. The checked,
-of two colors, is not so good to wear. The best is the cheapest in the
-end. When washed, it should be done with salt water, wiping it dry;
-but frequent washing injures it. Bind matting with cotton binding. Sew
-breadths together like carpeting. In joining the ends of pieces, ravel
-out a part, and tie the threads together, turning under a little of
-each piece, and then, laying the ends close, nail them down, with nails
-having kid under their heads.
-
-In hanging pictures, put them so that the lower part shall be opposite
-the eye. Cleanse the glass of pictures with whiting, as water endangers
-the pictures. Gilt frames can be much better preserved by putting on
-a coat of copal varnish, which, with proper brushes, can be bought of
-carriage or cabinet makers. When dry, it can be washed with fair water.
-Wash the brush in spirits of turpentine.
-
-Curtains, ottomans, and sofas covered with worsted, can be cleansed by
-wheat bran rubbed on with flannel. Dust Venetian blinds with feather
-brushes. Buy light-colored ones, as the green are going of fashion.
-Strips of linen or cotton, on rollers and pulleys, are much in use, to
-shut out the sun from curtains and carpets. Paper curtains, pasted on
-old cotton, are good for chambers. Put them on rollers having cords
-nailed to them, so that when the curtain falls the cord will be wound
-up. Then, by pulling the cord, the curtain will be rolled up.
-
-_House-cleaning_ should be done in dry, warm weather. Several friends
-of the writer maintain that cleaning paint, and windows, and floors in
-_hard_, _cold_ water, without any soap, using a flannel wash-cloth,
-is much better than using warm suds. It is worth trying. In cleaning
-in the common way, sponges are best for windows, and clean water only
-should be used. They should be first wiped with linen, and then with
-old silk. The outside of windows should be washed with a long brush
-made for the purpose; and they should be rinsed, by throwing upon them
-water containing a little saltpetre.
-
-When inviting company, mention in the note the day of the month and
-week, and the hour for coming. Provide a place for ladies to dress
-their hair, with a glass, pins, and combs. A pitcher of cold water and
-a tumbler should be added. When the company is small, it is becoming
-a common method for the table to be set at one end of the room, the
-lady of the house to pour out tea, and the gentlemen of the party to
-wait on the ladies and themselves. When tea is sent round, always send
-a tea-pot of hot water to weaken it, and a slop-bowl, or else many
-persons will drink their tea much stronger than they wish.
-
-Let it ever be remembered that the burning of lights and the breath of
-guests are constantly exhausting the air of its healthful principle;
-therefore avoid crowding many guests into one room. Do not tempt the
-palate by a great variety of unhealthful dainties. Have a warm room for
-departing guests, that they may not become chilled before they go out.
-
-A parlor should be furnished with candle and fire screens, for those
-who have weak eyes; and if, at table, a person sits with the back near
-the fire, a screen should be hung on the back of the chair, as it is
-very injurious to the whole system to have the back heated.
-
-Pretty baskets, for flowers or fruits, on centre-tables, can be made
-thus: Knit, with coarse needles, all the various shades of green and
-brown, into a square piece. Press it with a hot iron, and then ravel it
-out. Buy a pretty-shaped wicker-basket, or make one of stiff millinet,
-or thin pasteboard, cut the worsted into bunches, and sew them on, to
-resemble moss. Then line the basket, and set a cup or dish of water in
-it, to hold flowers, or use it for a fruit-basket. Handsome fire-boards
-are made by nailing black foundation-muslin to a frame the size of the
-fire-place, and then cutting out flowers from wall-paper and pasting
-them on the muslin, according to the fancy.
-
-Mahogany furniture should be made in the spring, and stand some
-months before it is used, or it will shrink and warp. Varnished
-furniture should be rubbed only with silk, except occasionally, when a
-little sweet-oil should be rubbed over, and wiped off carefully. For
-unvarnished furniture, use bees-wax, a little softened with sweet-oil;
-rub it in with a hard brush, and polish with woolen and silk rags.
-Some persons rub in linseed-oil; others mix bees-wax with a little
-spirits of turpentine and rosin, making it so that it can be put on
-with a sponge, and wiped off with a soft rag. Others keep in a bottle
-the following mixture: two ounces of spirits of turpentine, four
-table-spoonfuls of sweet-oil, and one quart of milk. This is applied
-with a sponge, and wiped off with a linen rag.
-
-Hearths and jambs, of brick, look best painted over with black-lead,
-mixed with soft soap. Wash the bricks which are nearest the fire with
-redding and milk, using a painter’s brush. A sheet of zinc, covering
-the whole hearth, is cheap, saves work, and looks very well. A tinman
-can fit it properly.
-
-Stone hearths should be rubbed with a paste of powdered stone, (to be
-procured of the stone-cutters,) and then brushed with a stiff brush.
-Kitchen-hearths, of stone, are improved by rubbing in lamp-oil.
-
-Stains can be removed from marble by oxalic acid and water, or oil of
-vitriol and water, left on fifteen minutes, and then rubbed dry. Gray
-marble is improved by linseed-oil. Grease can be taken from marble by
-ox-gall and potter’s clay wet with soap-suds, (a gill of each). It is
-better to add, also, a gill of spirits of turpentine. It improves the
-looks of marble to cover it with this mixture, leaving it two days, and
-then rubbing it off.
-
-Unless a parlor is in constant use, it is best to sweep it only once a
-week, and at other times use a whisk-broom and dust-pan. When a parlor
-with handsome furniture is to be swept, cover the sofas, centre-table,
-piano, books, and mantel-piece, with old cottons, kept for the purpose.
-Remove the rugs, and shake them, and clean the jambs, hearth, and
-fire-furniture. Then sweep the room, moving every article. Dust the
-furniture with a dust-brush and a piece of old silk. A painter’s
-brush should be kept to remove dust from ledges and crevices. The
-dust-cloths should be often shaken and washed, or else they will soil
-the walls and furniture when they are used. Dust ornaments, and fine
-books, with feather brushes, kept for the purpose.
-
-
-ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING ROOMS.
-
-An eating-room should have in it a large closet, with drawers and
-shelves, in which should be kept all the articles used at meals. This,
-if possible, should communicate with the kitchen by a sliding window,
-or by a door, and have in it a window, and also a small sink, made
-of marble or lined with zinc, which will be a great convenience for
-washing nice articles. If there be a dumb-waiter, it is best to have it
-connected with such a closet. It may be so contrived, that, when it is
-down, it shall form part of the closet floor.
-
-A table-rug, or crumb-cloth, is useful to save carpets from injury.
-Bocking, or baize, is best. Always spread the same side up, or the
-carpet will be soiled by the rug. Table-mats are needful, to prevent
-injury to the table from the warm dishes. Tea-cup-mats, or small
-plates, are useful to save the table-cloths from dripping tea or
-coffee. Butter-knives for the butter-plate, and salt-spoons for salt
-dishes, are designed to prevent those disgusting marks which are made
-when persons use their own knives to take salt or butter. A sugar-spoon
-should be kept in or by the sugar-dish, for the same purpose.
-Table-napkins, of diaper, are often laid by each person’s plate, for
-use during the meal, to save the table-cloth and pocket-handkerchief.
-To preserve the same napkin for the same person, each member of the
-family has a given number, and the napkins are numbered to correspond,
-or else are slipped into ivory rings, which are numbered. A stranger
-has a clean one at each meal. Table-cloths should be well starched, and
-ironed on the right side, and always, when taken off, folded in the
-ironed creases. _Doilies_ are colored napkins, which, when fruit is
-offered, should always be furnished, to prevent a person from staining
-a nice handkerchief, or permitting the fruit-juice to dry on the
-fingers.
-
-Casters and salt-stands should be put in order, every morning, when
-washing the breakfast things. Always, if possible, provide _fine_ and
-_dry_ table-salt, as many persons are much disgusted with that which is
-dark, damp, and coarse. Be careful to keep salad-oil closely corked, or
-it will grow rancid. Never leave the salt-spoons in the salt, nor the
-mustard-spoon in the mustard, as they are thereby injured. Wipe them
-immediately after the meal.
-
-For table-furniture, French china is deemed the nicest, but it is
-liable to the objection of having plates so made that salt, butter,
-and similar articles, will not lodge on the edge, but slip into the
-centre. Select knives and forks which have weights in the handles, so
-that, when laid down, they will not touch the table. Those with riveted
-handles last longer than any others. Horn handles (except buck-horn)
-are very poor. The best are cheapest in the end. Knives should be
-sharpened once a month, unless they are kept sharp by the mode of
-scouring.
-
-
-ON SETTING TABLES.
-
-Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table is set more than
-any thing else; and, to a person of good taste, few things are more
-annoying than to see the table placed askew; the table-cloth soiled,
-rumpled, and put on awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown about
-without any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes
-within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the butter pitched
-on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt coarse, damp, and dark;
-the bread cut in a mixture of junks and slices; the dishes of food
-set on at random, and without mats; the knives dark or rusty, and
-their handles greasy; the tea-furniture all out of order, and every
-thing in similar style. And yet, many of these negligences will be met
-with at the tables of persons who call themselves well bred, and who
-have wealth enough to make much outside show. One reason for this is,
-the great difficulty of finding domestics who will attend to these
-things in a proper manner, and who, after they have been repeatedly
-instructed, will not neglect nor forget what has been said to them.
-The writer has known cases where much has been gained by placing the
-following rules in plain sight, in the place where the articles for
-setting tables are kept.
-
-
-RULES FOR SETTING A TABLE.
-
-1. Lay the rug square with the room, and also smooth and even; then set
-the table also square with the room, and see that the _legs_ are in the
-right position to support the leaves.
-
-2. Lay the table-cloth square with the table, _right side up_, smooth
-and even.
-
-3. Put on the tea-tray (for breakfast or tea) square with the table;
-set the cups and saucers at the front side of the tea-tray, and the
-sugar, slop-bowls, and cream-cup at the back side. Lay the sugar-spoon
-or tongs on the sugar-bowl.
-
-4. Lay the plates around the table at equal intervals, and the knives
-and forks at regular distances, each in the same particular manner,
-with a cup-mat or cup-plate to each, and a napkin at the right side of
-each person.
-
-5. If meat be used, set the caster and salt-cellars in the centre of
-the table; then lay mats for the dishes, and place the carving-knife,
-and fork and steel by the master of the house. Set the butter on two
-plates, one on either side, with a butter-knife by each.
-
-6. Set the tea or coffee-pot on a mat, at the right hand of the
-tea-tray, (if there be not room upon it.) Then place the chairs around
-the table, and call the family.
-
-
-FOR DINNER.
-
-1. Place the rug, table, table-cloth, plates, knives and forks, and
-napkins, as before directed, with a tumbler by each plate. In cold
-weather, set the plates where they will be warmed.
-
-2. Put the caster in the centre, and the salt-stands at two oblique
-corners, of the table, the latter between two large spoons crossed. If
-more spoons be needed, lay them on each side of the caster crossed.
-Set the pitcher on a mat, either at a side-table, or, when there is no
-waiter, on the dining-table. Water looks best in glass decanters.
-
-3. Set the bread on the table, when there is no waiter. Some take a
-fork and lay a piece on the napkin or tumbler by each plate. Others
-keep it in a tray, covered with a white napkin to keep off flies. Bread
-for dinner is often cut in small junks, and not in slices.
-
-4. Set the principal dish before the master of the house, and the other
-dishes in a regular manner. Put the carving-knife, fork, and steel by
-the principal dish, and also a knife-rest, if one be used.
-
-5. Put a small knife and fork by the pickles, and also by any other
-dishes which need them. Then place the chairs.
-
-
-ON WAITING AT TABLE.
-
-A domestic who waits on the table should be required to keep the hair
-and hands in neat order, and have on a clean apron. A small tea-tray
-should be used to carry cups and plates. The waiter should announce
-the meal (when ready) to the mistress of the family, then stand by
-the eating-room door till all are in, then close the door, and step
-to the left side of the lady of the house. When all are seated, the
-waiter should remove the covers, taking care first to invert them, so
-as not to drop the steam on the table-cloth or guests. In presenting
-articles, go to the left side of the person. In pouring water, never
-entirely fill the tumbler. The waiter should notice when bread or water
-is wanting, and hand it without being called. When plates are changed,
-be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs, with a
-crumb-brush, into a small waiter.
-
-When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be set at the
-left side of the mistress of the house, on which the bread, water, and
-other articles not in immediate use can be placed.
-
-
-ON CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE.
-
-It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know how to carve
-well at her own table. It is not proper to stand in carving. The
-carving-knife should be sharp and thin. To carve fowls (which should
-always be laid with the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the
-breast, and take off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then
-cut out the merry-thought, cut slices from the breast, take out the
-collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carcass in two.
-Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey.
-
-In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a piece of
-both the white and dark meat, with some of the stuffing. Inquire
-whether the guest will be helped to each kind of vegetable, and put the
-gravy on the plate, and not on any article of food.
-
-In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you, (it
-must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;) then turn it,
-and cut from the tenderloin. Help the guest to both kinds.
-
-In carving a leg of mutton or a ham, begin by cutting across the middle
-to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and not lengthwise, and help from the
-middle part.
-
-Carve a fore-quarter of lamb by separating the shoulder from the ribs,
-and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the
-smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of the
-kidney and its fat. Carve pork and mutton in the same way.
-
-To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the stuffing
-with each slice. In a breast of veal, separate the breast and brisket,
-and then cut them up, asking which part is preferred. In carving a pig,
-it is customary to divide it, and take off the head, before it comes to
-the table; as, to many persons, the head is very revolting. Cut off the
-limbs, and divide the ribs. In carving venison, make a deep incision
-down to the bone, to let out the juices; then turn the broad end of
-the haunch toward you, cutting deep, in thin slices. For a saddle of
-venison, cut from the tail toward the other end, on each side, in thin
-slices. Warm plates are very necessary with venison and mutton, and in
-winter are desirable for all meats.
-
-
-ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS.
-
-Every mistress of a family should see not only that all sleeping-rooms
-in her house _can be_ well ventilated at night, but that they actually
-are so. Where there is no open fire-place to admit the pure air from
-the exterior, a door should be left open into an entry, or room where
-fresh air is admitted; or else a small opening should be made in
-the top and bottom of a window, taking care not to allow a draught
-of air to cross the bed. The debility of childhood, the lassitude
-of domestics, and the ill health of families, are often caused by
-neglecting to provide a supply of pure air. Straw matting is best
-for a chamber carpet, and strips of woolen carpeting may be laid by
-the side of the bed. Where chambers have no closets, a _wardrobe_ is
-indispensable. A low square box, set on casters, with a cushion on the
-top, and a drawer on one side to put shoes in, is a great convenience
-in dressing the feet. An old Champagne basket, fitted up with a cushion
-on the lid, and a valance fastened to it to cover the sides, can be
-used for the same purpose.
-
-Another convenience, for a room where sewing is done in summer, is
-a fancy jar, set in one corner, to receive clippings, and any other
-rubbish. It can be covered with prints or paintings, and varnished, and
-then looks very prettily.
-
-The trunks in a chamber can be improved in looks and comfort by making
-cushions of the same size and shape, stuffed with hay and covered with
-chintz, with a frill reaching nearly to the floor.
-
-Every bed-chamber should have a wash-stand, bowl, pitcher, and tumbler,
-with a wash-bucket under the stand, to receive slops. A light screen,
-made like a clothes-frame, and covered with paper or chintz, should
-be furnished for bedrooms occupied by two persons, so that ablutions
-can be performed in privacy. It can be ornamented, so as to look well
-anywhere. A little frame, or towel-horse, by the wash-stand, on which
-to dry towels, is a convenience. A wash-stand should be furnished with
-a sponge or wash-cloth, and a small towel, for wiping the basin after
-using it. This should be hung on the wash-stand or towel-horse, for
-constant use. A soap-dish, and a dish for tooth-brushes, are neat and
-convenient, and each person should be furnished with two towels; one
-for the feet, and one for other purposes.
-
-It is in good taste to have the curtains, bed-quilt, valance, and
-window-curtains of similar materials. In making feather-beds,
-side-pieces should be put in, like those of mattresses, and the
-bed should be well filled, so that a person will not be buried in
-a hollow, which is not healthful, save in extremely cold weather.
-Feather-beds should never be used except in cold weather. At other
-times, a thin mattress of hair, cotton and moss, or straw, should be
-put over them. A simple strip of broad straw matting, spread over a
-feather-bed, answers the same purpose. Nothing is more debilitating
-than, in warm weather, to sleep with a feather-bed pressing round the
-greater part of the body. Pillows stuffed with papers an inch square
-are good for summer, especially for young children, whose heads should
-be kept cool. The cheapest and best covering of a bed, for winter, is
-a _cotton comforter_, made to contain three or four pounds of cotton,
-laid in bats or sheets, between covers tacked together at regular
-intervals. They should be three yards square, and less cotton should
-be put at the sides that are tucked in. It is better to have two thin
-comforters to each bed, than one thick one; as then the covering can be
-regulated according to the weather.
-
-Few domestics will make a bed properly without much attention from the
-mistress of the family. The following directions should be given to
-those who do this work:
-
-Open the windows, and lay off the bed-covering, on two chairs, at the
-foot of the bed. After the bed is well aired, shake the feathers, from
-each corner to the middle; then take up the middle, and shake it well,
-and turn the bed over. Then push the feathers in place, making the head
-higher than the foot, and the sides even, and as high as the middle
-part. Then put on the bolster and the under sheet, so that the wrong
-side of the sheet shall go next the bed, and the _marking_ come at the
-head, tucking in all around. Then put on the pillows, even, so that
-the open ends shall come to the sides of the bed, and then spread on
-the upper sheet, so that the wrong side shall be next the blankets and
-the marked end at the head. This arrangement of sheets is to prevent
-the part where the feet lie from being reversed, so as to come to the
-face, and also to prevent the parts soiled by the body from coming
-to the bed-tick and blankets. Then put on the other covering, except
-the outer one, tucking in all around, and then turn over the upper
-sheet, at the head, so as to show a part of the pillows. When the
-pillow-cases are clean and smooth, they look best outside of the cover,
-but not otherwise. Then draw the hand along the side of the pillows, to
-make an even indentation, and then smooth and shape the whole outside.
-A nice housekeeper always notices the manner in which a bed is made;
-and in some parts of the country it is rare to see this work properly
-performed.
-
-The writer would here urge every mistress of a family who keeps more
-than one domestic to provide them with single beds, that they may not
-be obliged to sleep with all the changing domestics, who come and go so
-often. Where the room is too small for two beds, a narrow truckle-bed
-under another will answer. Domestics should be furnished with washing
-conveniences in their chambers, and be encouraged to keep their persons
-and rooms neat and in order.
-
-
-ON PACKING AND STORING ARTICLES.
-
-Fold a gentleman’s coat thus: Lay it on a table or bed, the inside
-downward, and unroll the collar. Double each sleeve once, making the
-crease at the elbow, and laying them so as to make the fewest wrinkles,
-and parallel with the skirts. Turn the fronts over the back and
-sleeves, and then turn up the skirts, making all as smooth as possible.
-
-Fold a shirt thus: One that has a bosom-piece inserted, lay on a bed,
-bosom downward. Fold each sleeve twice, and lay it parallel with the
-sides of the shirt. Turn the two sides, with the sleeves, over the
-middle part, and then turn up the bottom, with two folds. This makes
-the collar and bosom lie, unpressed, on the outside.
-
-Fold a frock thus: Lay its front downward, so as to make the first
-creases in folding come in the side breadths. To do this, find the
-middle of the side breadths by first putting the middle of the front
-and back breadths together. Next, fold over the side creases so as
-just to meet the slit behind. Then fold the skirt again, so as to make
-the backs lie together within and the fronts without. Then arrange the
-waist and sleeves, and fold the skirt around them.
-
-In packing trunks for traveling, put all heavy articles at the bottom,
-covered with paper, which should not be printed, as the ink rubs off.
-Put coats and pantaloons into linen cases, made for the purpose, and
-furnished with strings. Fill all crevices with small articles; as, if
-a trunk is not full, nor tightly packed, its contents will be shaken
-about and get injured. Under-clothing packs closer by being rolled
-tightly, instead of being folded.
-
-Bonnet-boxes, made of light wood, with a lock and key, are better
-than the paper bandboxes so annoying to travelers. Carpet-bags are
-very useful, to carry the articles to be used on a journey. The best
-ones have sides inserted, iron rims, and a lock and key. A large silk
-traveling-bag, with a double linen lining, in which are stitched
-receptacles for tooth-brush, combs, and other small articles, is a very
-convenient article for use when traveling.
-
-A bonnet-cover, made of some thin material, like a large hood with a
-cape, is useful to draw over the bonnet and neck, to keep off dust,
-sun, and sparks from a steam-engine. Green veils are very apt to stain
-bonnets when damp.
-
-In packing household furniture for moving, have each box numbered, and
-then have a book, in which, as each box is packed, note down the number
-of the box, and the order in which its contents are packed, as this
-will save much labor and perplexity when unpacking. In packing china
-and glass, wrap each article separately in paper, and put soft hay or
-straw at bottom and all around each. Put the heaviest articles at the
-bottom, and on the top of the box write, “This side up.”
-
-
-ON THE CARE OF THE KITCHEN, CELLAR, AND STORE-ROOM.
-
-If parents wish their daughters to grow up with good domestic habits,
-they should have, as one means of securing this result, a neat and
-cheerful kitchen. A kitchen should always, if possible, be entirely
-above-ground, and well lighted. It should have a large sink, with a
-drain running under-ground, so that all the premises may be kept sweet
-and clean. If flowers and shrubs be cultivated around the doors and
-windows, and the yard near them be kept well turfed, it will add very
-much to their agreeable appearance. The walls should often be cleaned
-and whitewashed, to promote a neat look and pure air. The floor of
-a kitchen should be painted, or, which is better, covered with an
-oil-cloth. To procure a kitchen oil-cloth as cheaply as possible, buy
-cheap tow cloth, and fit it to the size and shape of the kitchen. Then
-have it stretched, and nailed to the south side of the barn, and with a
-brush cover it with a coat of thin rye paste. When this is dry, put on
-a coat of yellow paint, and let it dry for a fortnight. It is safest to
-first try the paint, and see if it dries well, as some paint never will
-dry. Then put on a second coat, and, at the end of another fortnight, a
-third coat. Then let it hang two months, and it will last, uninjured,
-for many years. The longer the paint is left to dry, the better. If
-varnished, it will last much longer.
-
-A sink should be scalded out every day, and occasionally with hot ley.
-On nails, over the sink, should be hung three good dish-cloths, hemmed,
-and furnished with loops—one for dishes not greasy, one for greasy
-dishes, and one for washing pots and kettles. These should be put in
-the wash every week. The lady who insists upon this will not be annoyed
-by having her dishes washed with dark, musty, and greasy rags, as is
-too frequently the case.
-
-Under the sink should be kept a slop-pail; and, on a shelf by it, a
-soap-dish and two water-pails. A large boiler, of warm soft water,
-should always be kept over the fire, well covered, and a hearth-broom
-and bellows be hung near the fire. A clock is a very important article
-in the kitchen, in order to secure regularity at meals.
-
-
-ON WASHING DISHES.
-
-No item of domestic labor is so frequently done in a negligent manner
-by domestics as this. A full supply of conveniences will do much toward
-a remedy of this evil. A swab, made of strips of linen, tied to a
-stick, is useful to wash nice dishes, especially small, deep articles.
-Two or three towels, and three dish-cloths, should be used. Two large
-tin tubs, painted on the outside, should be provided; one for washing,
-and one for rinsing; also, a large old waiter, on which to drain the
-dishes. A soap-dish, with hard soap, and a fork, with which to use
-it, a slop-pail, and two pails for water, should also be furnished.
-Then, if there be danger of neglect, the following rules for washing
-dishes, legibly written, may be hung up by the sink, and it will aid in
-promoting the desired care and neatness.
-
-
-RULES FOR WASHING DISHES.
-
-1. Scrape the dishes, putting away any food which may remain on them,
-and which it may be proper to save for future use. Put grease into the
-grease-pot, and whatever else may be on the plates, into the slop-pail.
-Save tealeaves, for sweeping. Set all the dishes, when scraped, in
-regular piles; the smallest at the top.
-
-2. Put the nicest articles in the wash-dish, and wash them in hot suds,
-with the swab or nicest dish-cloth. Wipe all metal articles as soon as
-they are washed. Put all the rest into the rinsing-dish, which should
-be filled with hot water. When they are taken out, lay them to drain on
-the waiter. Then rinse the dish-cloth and hang it up, wipe the articles
-washed, and put them in their places.
-
-3. Pour in more hot water, wash the greasy dishes with the dish-cloth
-made for them; rinse them, and set them to drain. Wipe them, and set
-them away. Wash the knives and forks, _being careful that the handles
-are never put in water_; wipe them, and then lay them in a knife-dish
-to be scoured.
-
-4. Take a fresh supply of clean suds, in which wash the milk-pans,
-buckets, and tins. Then rinse and hang up this dish-cloth, and take the
-other; with which wash the roaster, gridiron, pots, and kettles. Then
-wash and rinse the dish-cloth, and hang it up. Empty the slop-bucket
-and scald it. Dry metal tea-pots and tins before the fire. Then put the
-fire-place in order, and sweep and dust the kitchen.
-
-Some persons keep a deep and narrow vessel, in which to wash knives
-with a swab, so that a careless domestic _can not_ lay them in the
-water while washing them. This article can be carried into the
-eating-room, to receive the knives and forks when they are taken from
-the table.
-
-
-KITCHEN FURNITURE.
-
-_Crockery._—Brown earthen pans are said to be best for milk and for
-cooking. Tin pans are lighter, and more convenient, but are too cold
-for many purposes. Tall earthen jars with covers are good to hold
-butter, salt, lard, etc. Acids should never be put into the red
-earthenware, as there is a poisonous ingredient in the glazing which
-the acid takes off. Stone ware is better and stronger, and safer every
-way than any other kind.
-
-_Iron Ware._—Many kitchens are very imperfectly supplied with the
-requisite conveniences for cooking. When a person has sufficient
-means, the following articles are all desirable: A nest of iron pots,
-of different sizes, (they should be slowly heated when new;) a long
-iron fork, to take out articles from boiling water; an iron hook with
-a handle, to lift pots from the crane; a large and small gridiron,
-with grooved bars, and a trench to catch the grease; a Dutch oven,
-called also a bake-pan; two skillets, of different sizes, and a spider,
-or flat skillet, for frying; a griddle, a waffle-iron, tin and iron
-bake and bread pans; two ladles, of different sizes; a skimmer; iron
-skewers; a toasting-iron; two tea-kettles, one small and one large one;
-two brass kettles, of different sizes, for soap-boiling, etc. Iron
-kettles lined with porcelain are better for preserves. The German are
-the best. Too hot a fire will crack them, but with care in this respect
-they will last for many years.
-
-Portable charcoal furnaces, of iron or clay, are very useful in summer,
-in washing, ironing, and stewing, or making preserves. If used in
-the house, a strong draught must be made, to prevent the deleterious
-effects of the charcoal. A box and mill, for spice, pepper, and coffee,
-are needful to those who use these articles. Strong knives and forks, a
-sharp carving-knife, an iron cleaver and board, a fine saw, steelyards,
-chopping-tray and knife, an apple-parer, steel for sharpening knives,
-sugar-nippers, a dozen iron spoons, also a large iron one with a
-long handle, six or eight flat-irons, one of them very small, two
-iron-stands, a ruffle-iron, a crimping-iron, are also desirable.
-
-_Tin Ware._—Bread-pans; large and small patty-pans; cakepans,
-with a centre tube to insure their baking well; pie-dishes, (of
-block-tin;) a covered butter-kettle; covered kettles to hold berries;
-two saucepans; a large oil-can, (with a cock;) a lamp-filler; a
-lantern; broad-bottomed candlesticks for the kitchen; a candle-box; a
-funnel; a reflector for baking warm cakes; an oven or tin-kitchen; an
-apple-corer; an apple-roaster; an egg-boiler; two sugar-scoops, and
-flour and meal scoop; a set of mugs; three dippers; a pint, quart,
-and gallon measure; a set of scales and weights; three or four pails,
-painted on the outside; a slop-bucket with a tight cover, painted
-on the outside; a milk-strainer; a gravy-strainer; a colander; a
-dredging-box; a pepper-box; a large and small grater; a cheese-box;
-also a large box for cake, and a still larger one for bread, with tight
-covers. Bread, cake, and cheese, shut up in this way, will not grow dry
-as in the open air.
-
-_Wooden Ware._—A nest of tubs; a set of pails and bowls; a large
-and small sieve; a beetle for mashing potatoes; a spade or stick
-for stirring butter and sugar; a bread-board, for molding bread and
-making pie-crust; a coffee-stick; a clothes-stick; a mush-stick; a
-meat-beetle, to pound tough meat; an egg-beater; a ladle, for working
-butter; a bread-trough, (for a large family;) flour-buckets, with lids,
-to hold sifted flour and Indian meal; salt-boxes; sugar-boxes; starch
-and indigo boxes; spice-boxes; a bosom-board; a skirt-board; a large
-ironing-board; two or three clothes-frames; and six dozen clothes-pins.
-
-_Basket Ware._—Baskets of all sizes, for eggs, fruit, marketing,
-clothes, etc.; also chip-baskets. When often used, they should be
-washed in hot suds.
-
-_Other Articles._—Every kitchen needs a box containing balls of brown
-thread and twine, a large and small darning-needle, rolls of waste
-paper and old linen and cotton, and a supply of common holders. There
-should also be another box, containing a hammer, carpet-tacks, and
-nails of all sizes, a carpet-claw, screws and a screw-driver, pincers,
-gimlets of several sizes, a bed-screw, a small saw, two chisels, (one
-to use for button-holes in broadcloth,) two awls, and two files.
-
-In a drawer or cupboard should be placed cotton table-cloths for
-kitchen use; nice crash towels for tumblers, marked T T; coarser
-towels for dishes marked T; six large roller-towels; a dozen
-hand-towels, marked H T; and a dozen hemmed dish-cloths with loops.
-Also two thick linen pudding or dumpling cloths, a jelly-bag made
-of white flannel, to strain jelly, a starch-strainer, and a bag for
-boiling clothes.
-
-In a closet should be kept, arranged in order, the following articles:
-the dust-pan, dust-brush, and dusting-cloths, old flannel and cotton
-for scouring and rubbing, large sponges for washing windows and
-looking-glasses, a long brush for cobwebs, and another for washing the
-outside of windows, whisk-brooms, common brooms, a coat-broom or brush,
-a whitewash-brush, a stove-brush, shoe-brushes and blacking, articles
-for cleaning tin and silver, leather for cleaning metals, bottles
-containing stain-mixtures and other articles used in cleansing.
-
-
-CARE OF THE CELLAR.
-
-A cellar should often be whitewashed, to keep it sweet. It should
-have a drain to keep it perfectly dry, as standing water in a cellar
-is a sure cause of disease in a family. It is very dangerous to
-leave decayed vegetables in a cellar. Many a fever has been caused
-by the poisonous miasm thus generated. The following articles are
-desirable in a cellar: a safe, or movable closet, with sides of wire or
-perforated tin, in which cold meats, cream, and other articles should
-be kept; (if ants be troublesome, set the legs in tin cups of water;)
-a refrigerator, or a large wooden box, on feet, with a lining of tin
-or zinc, and a space between the tin and wood filled with powdered
-charcoal, having at the bottom a place for ice, a drain to carry off
-the water, and also movable shelves and partitions. In this articles
-are kept cool. It should be cleaned once a week. Filtering-jars, to
-purify water, should also be kept in the cellar. Fish and cabbages in a
-cellar are apt to scent a house, and give a bad taste to other articles.
-
-
-STORE-ROOM.
-
-Every house needs a store-room, in which to keep tea, coffee, sugar,
-rice, candles, etc. It should be furnished with jars having labels, a
-large spoon, a fork, sugar and flour scoops, a towel, and a dish-cloth.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII.
-
-THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.
-
-
-First, let us say a few words on the _Preparation of Soil_. If the
-garden soil be clayey and adhesive, put on a covering of sand, three
-inches thick, and the same depth of well-rotted manure. Spade it in
-as deep as possible, and mix it well. If the soil be sandy and loose,
-spade in clay and ashes. Ashes are good for all kinds of soil, as they
-loosen those which are close, hold moisture in those which are sandy,
-and destroy insects. The best kind of soil is that which will hold
-water the longest without becoming hard when dry.
-
-_To prepare Soil for Pot-plants_, take one fourth part of common soil,
-one fourth part of well-decayed manure, and one half of vegetable mold,
-from the woods or from a chip-yard. Break up the manure fine, and sift
-it through a lime-screen, (or coarse wire sieve.) These materials must
-be thoroughly mixed. When the common soil which is used is adhesive,
-and indeed in most other cases, it is necessary to add sand, the
-proportion of which must depend on the nature of the soil.
-
-_To prepare a Hot-Bed_, dig a pit six feet long, five feet wide, and
-thirty inches deep. Make a frame of the same size, with the back two
-feet high, the front fifteen inches, and the sides sloped from the back
-to the front. Make two sashes, each three feet by five, with the panes
-of glass lapping like shingles instead of having cross-bars. Set the
-frame over the pit, which should then be filled with fresh horse-dung
-which has not lain long nor been sodden by water. Tread it down hard;
-then put into the frame light and very rich soil, six or eight inches
-deep, and cover it with the sashes for two or three days. Then stir
-the soil, and sow the seeds in shallow drills, placing sticks by them,
-to mark the different kinds. Keep the frame covered with the glass
-whenever it is cold enough to chill the plants; but at all other times
-admit fresh air, which is indispensable to their health. When the sun
-is quite warm, raise the glasses enough to admit air, and cover them
-with matting or blankets, or else the sun may kill the young plants.
-Water the bed at evening with water which has stood all day, or, if it
-be fresh drawn, add a little warm water. If there be too much heat in
-the bed, so as to scorch or wither the plants, lift the sashes, water
-freely, shade by day; make deep holes with stakes, and fill them up
-when the heat is reduced. In very cold nights, cover the sashes and
-frame with straw-mats.
-
-_For Planting Flower Seeds_.—Break up the soil till it is very soft,
-and free from lumps. Rub that nearest the surface between the hands, to
-make it fine. Make a circular drill a foot in diameter. Seeds are to be
-planted either deeper or nearer the surface, according to their size.
-For seeds as large as sweet peas, the drill should be half an inch
-deep. The smallest seeds must be planted very near the surface, and a
-very little fine earth be sifted over them. After covering them with
-soil, beat them down with a trowel, so as to make the earth as compact
-as it is after a heavy shower. Set up a stick in the middle of the
-circle, with the name of the plant heavily written upon it with a dark
-lead-pencil. This remains more permanent if white-lead be first rubbed
-over the surface. Never plant when the soil is very wet. In very dry
-times, water the seeds at night. Never use very cold water. When the
-seeds are small, many should be planted together, that they may assist
-each other in breaking the soil. When the plants are an inch high, thin
-them out, leaving only one or two, if the plant be a large one like
-the balsam; five or six, when it is of a medium size; and eighteen or
-twenty of the smaller size. Transplanting, unless the plant be lifted
-with a ball of earth, retards the growth about a fortnight. It is best
-to plant at two different times, lest the first planting should fail,
-owing to wet or cold weather.
-
-_To plant Garden Seeds_, make the beds from one to three yards wide;
-lay across them a board a foot wide, and with a stick make a furrow
-on each side of it, one inch deep. Scatter the seeds in this furrow,
-and cover them. Then lay the board over them, and step on it, to
-press down the earth. When the plants are an inch high, thin them out,
-leaving spaces proportioned to their sizes. Seeds of similar species,
-such as melons and squashes, should not be planted very near to each
-other, as this causes them to degenerate. The same kinds of vegetables
-should not be planted in the same place for two years in succession.
-The longer the rows are, the easier is the after-culture.
-
-_Transplanting_ should be done at evening, or, which is better, just
-before a shower. Take a round stick sharpened at the point, and make
-openings to receive the plants. Set them a very little deeper than they
-were before, and press the soil firmly round them. Then water them,
-and cover them for three or four days, taking care that sufficient air
-be admitted. If the plant can be removed without disturbing the soil
-around the root, it will not be at all retarded by transplanting. Never
-remove leaves and branches, unless a part of the roots be lost.
-
-_To Re-pot House Plants_, renew the soil every year, soon after the
-time of blossoming. Prepare soil as previously directed. Loosen the
-earth from the pot by passing a knife around the sides. Turn the plant
-upside down, and remove the pot. Then remove all the matted fibres at
-the bottom, and all the earth, except that which adheres to the roots.
-From woody plants, like roses, shake off all the earth. Take the new
-pot, and put a piece of broken earthenware over the hole at the bottom,
-and then, holding the plant in the proper position, shake in the earth
-around it. Then pour in water to settle the earth, and heap on fresh
-soil till the pot is even full. Small pots are considered better than
-large ones, as the roots are not so likely to rot from excess of
-moisture. _ In the Laying out of Yards and Gardens_, there is room for
-much judgment and taste. In planting trees in a yard, they should be
-arranged in groups, and never planted in straight lines, nor sprinkled
-about as solitary trees. The object of this arrangement is to imitate
-Nature, and secure some spots of dense shade and some of clear turf.
-In yards which are covered with turf, beds can be cut out of it, and
-raised for flowers. A trench should be made around, to prevent the
-grass from running on them. These beds can be made in the shape of
-crescents, ovals, or other fanciful forms.
-
-In laying out beds in gardens and yards, a very pretty bordering can
-be made by planting them with common flax-seed, in a line about three
-inches from the edge. This can be trimmed with shears, when it grows
-too high.
-
-_For transplanting Trees_, the autumn is the best time. Take as much of
-the root as possible, especially the little fibres, which should never
-become dry. If kept long before they are set out, put wet moss around
-them and water them. Dig holes larger than the extent of the roots; let
-one person hold the tree in its former position, and another place the
-roots carefully as they were before, cutting off any broken or wounded
-root. _Be careful not to let the tree be more than an inch deeper than
-it was before._ Let the soil be soft and well manured; shake the tree
-as the soil is shaken in, that it may mix well among the small fibres.
-Do not tread the earth down, while filling the hole; but, when it is
-full, raise a slight mound of say four inches deep around the stem to
-hold water, and fill it. Never cut off leaves nor branches, unless some
-of the roots are lost. Tie the trees to a stake, and they will be more
-likely to live. Water them often.
-
-_The Care of House Plants_ is a matter of daily attention, and well
-repays all labor expended upon it. The soil of house plants should be
-renewed every year, as previously directed. In winter, they should
-be kept as dry as they can be without wilting. Many house plants are
-injured by giving them too much water, when they have little light and
-fresh air. This makes them grow spindling. The more fresh air, warmth,
-and light they have, the more water is needed. They ought not to be
-kept very warm in winter, nor exposed to great changes of atmosphere.
-Forty degrees is a proper temperature for plants in winter, when they
-have little sun and air. When plants have become spindling, cut off
-their heads entirely, and cover the pot in the earth, where it has the
-morning sun only. A new and flourishing head will spring out. Few
-house plants can bear the sun at noon. When insects infest plants, set
-them in a closet or under a barrel, and burn tobacco under them. The
-smoke kills any insect enveloped in it. When plants are frozen, cold
-water and a gradual restoration of warmth are the best remedies. Never
-use very cold water for plants at any season.
-
-
-THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.
-
-This is an occupation requiring much attention and constant care.
-Bulbous roots are propagated by offsets; some growing on the top,
-others around the sides. Many plants are propagated by cutting off
-twigs, and setting them in earth, so that two or three eyes are
-covered. To do this, select a side shoot, ten inches long, two inches
-of it being of the preceding year’s growth, and the rest the growth of
-the season when it is set. Do this when the sap is running, and put a
-piece of crockery at the bottom of the shoot when it is buried. One
-eye, at least, must be under the soil. Water it, and shade it in hot
-weather.
-
-Plants are also propagated by layers. To do this, take a shoot which
-comes up near the root, bend it down so as to bring several eyes under
-the soil, leaving the top above-ground. If the shoot be cut half
-through, in a slanting direction, at one of these eyes, before burying
-it, the result is more certain. Roses, honeysuckles, and many other
-shrubs are readily propagated thus. They will generally take root by
-being simply buried; but cutting them as here directed is the best
-method. Layers are more certain than cuttings.
-
-_Budding and Grafting_, for all woody plants, are favorite methods of
-propagation. In all such plants there is an outer and inner bark, the
-latter containing the sap vessels, in which the nourishment of the tree
-ascends. The success of grafting or inoculating consists in so placing
-the bud or graft that the sap vessels of the inner bark shall exactly
-join those of the plant into which they are grafted, so that the sap
-may pass from one into the other.
-
-The following are directions for _budding_; which may be performed at
-any time from July to September:
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 64.]
-
-Select a smooth place on the stock into which you are to insert the
-bud. Make a horizontal cut across the rind through to the firm wood;
-and from the middle of this, make a slit downward perpendicularly, an
-inch or more long, through to the wood. Raise the bark of the stock on
-each side of the perpendicular cut, for the admission of the bud, as is
-shown in the annexed cut, (Figure 64). Then take a shoot of this year’s
-growth, and slice from it a bud, taking an inch below and an inch above
-it, and some portion of the wood under it. Then carefully slip off the
-woody part under the bud. Examine whether the eye or germ of the bud
-be perfect. If a little hole appear in that part, the bud has lost its
-root, and another must be selected. Insert the bud, so that _a_, of the
-bud, shall pass to a, of the stock; then _b_, of the bud, must be cut
-off, to match the cut b, in the stock, and fitted exactly to it, as it
-is this alone which insures success. Bind the parts with fresh bass or
-woolen yarn, beginning a little below the bottom of the perpendicular
-slit, and winding it closely around every part, except just over the
-eye of the bud, until you arrive above the horizontal cut. Do not bind
-it too tightly, but just sufficient to exclude air, sun, and wet. This
-is to be removed after the bud is firmly fixed and begins to grow.
-
-Seed-fruit can be budded into any other seed fruit, and stone-fruit
-into any other stone-fruit; but stone and seed fruits can not be thus
-mingled.
-
-Rose-bushes can have a variety of kinds budded into the same stock.
-Hardy roots are the best stocks. The branch above the bud must be cut
-off the next March or April after the bud is put in. Apples and pears
-are more easily propagated by ingrafting than by budding.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 65.]
-
-_Ingrafting_ is a similar process to budding, with this advantage, that
-it can be performed on large trees; whereas budding can be applied only
-on small ones. The two common kinds of ingrafting are whip-grafting and
-split-grafting. The first kind is for young trees, and the other for
-large ones.
-
-The time for ingrafting is from May to October. The cuttings must be
-taken from horizontal shoots, between Christmas and March, and kept
-in a damp cellar. In performing the operation, cut off in a sloping
-direction (as seen in Fig. 65) the tree or limb to be grafted. Then
-cut off in a corresponding slant the slip to be grafted on. Then put
-them together, so that the inner bark of each shall match exactly on
-one side, and tie them firmly together with yellow yarn. It is not
-essential that both be of equal size; if the bark of each meet together
-exactly on _one_ side, it answers the purpose. But the two must not
-differ much in size. The slope should be an inch and a half, or more,
-in length. After they are tied together, the place should be covered
-with a salve or composition of bees-wax and rosin. A mixture of clay
-and cow-dung will answer the same purpose. This last must be tied on
-with a cloth. Grafting is more convenient than budding, as grafts can
-be sent from a great distance; whereas buds must be taken in July or
-August, from a shoot of the present year’s growth, and can not be sent
-to any great distance.
-
-The next cut (Fig. 66) exhibits the mode called stock-grafting; _a_
-being the limb of a large tree, which is sawed off and split, and is
-to be held open by a small wedge till the grafts are put in. A graft
-inserted in the limb is shown at _b_, and at _c_ is one not inserted,
-but designed to be put in at _d_, as two grafts can be put into a large
-stock. In inserting the graft, be careful to make the edge of the inner
-bark of the graft meet exactly the edge of the inner bark of the stock;
-for on this success depends. After the grafts are put in, the wedge
-must be withdrawn, and the whole of the stock be covered with the thick
-salve or composition before mentioned, reaching from where the grafts
-are inserted to the bottom of the slit. Be careful not to knock or move
-the grafts after they are put in.
-
-[Illustration: Fig. 66.]
-
-_Pruning_ is an operation of constant exercise, for keeping plants and
-trees in good condition. The following rules are from a distinguished
-horticulturist: Prune off all dead wood, and all the little twigs on
-the main limbs. Retrench branches, so as to give light and ventilation
-to the interior of the tree. Cut out the straight and perpendicular
-shoots which give little or no fruit; while those which are most nearly
-horizontal, and somewhat curving, give fruit abundantly and of good
-quality, and should be sustained. Superfluous and ill-placed buds may
-be rubbed off at any time; and no buds pushing out after midsummer
-should be spared. In choosing between shoots to be retained, preserve
-the lowest placed, and on lateral shoots those which are nearest the
-origin. When branches cross each other so as to rub, remove one or the
-other. Remove all suckers from the roots of trees or shrubs. Prune
-after the sap is in full circulation, (except in the case of grapes,)
-as the wounds then heal best. Some think it best to prune before the
-sap begins to run. Pruning-shears, and a pruning-pole, with a chisel at
-the end, can be procured of those who deal in agricultural utensils.
-
-_Thinning_ is also an important but very delicate operation. As it is
-the office of the leaves to absorb nourishment from the atmosphere,
-they should never be removed, except to mature the wood or fruit. In
-doing this, remove such leaves as shade the fruit, as soon as it is
-ready to ripen. To do it earlier impairs the growth. Do it gradually
-at two different times. Thinning the fruit is important, as tending
-to increase its size and flavor, and also to promote the longevity of
-the tree. If the fruit be thickly set, take off one half at the time
-of setting. Revise in June, and then in July, taking off all that may
-be spared. One _very large_ apple to every square foot is a rule that
-may be a sort of guide in other cases. According to this, two hundred
-large apples would be allowed to a tree whose extent is fifteen feet by
-twelve. If any person think this thinning excessive, let him try two
-similar trees, and thin one as directed and leave the other unthinned.
-It will be found that the thinned tree will produce an equal weight,
-and fruit of much finer flavor.
-
-
-THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.
-
-By a little attention to this matter, a lady with the help of her
-children can obtain a rich abundance of all kinds of fruit. The writer
-has resided in families where little boys of eight, ten, and twelve
-years old amused themselves, under the direction of their mother, in
-planting walnuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts, for future time; as well
-as in planting and inoculating young fruit-trees of all descriptions.
-A mother who will take pains to inspire a love for such pursuits in
-her children, and who will aid and superintend them, will save them
-from many temptations, and at a trifling expense secure to them and
-herself a rich reward in the choicest fruits. The information given in
-this work on this subject may be relied on as sanctioned by the most
-experienced nurserymen.
-
-The soil for a nursery should be rich, well dug, dressed with
-well-decayed manure, free from weeds, and protected from cold winds.
-Fruit-seeds should be planted in the autumn, an inch and a half or two
-inches deep, in ridges four or five feet apart, pressing the earth
-firmly over the seeds. While growing, they should be thinned out,
-leaving the best ones a foot and a half apart. The soil should be
-kept loose, soft, and free from weeds. They should be inoculated or
-ingrafted when of the size of a pipe-stem; and in a year after this may
-be transplanted to their permanent stand. Peach-trees sometimes bear
-in two years from budding, and in four years from planting if well kept.
-
-In a year after transplanting, take pains to train the head aright.
-Straight upright branches produce _gourmands_, or twigs bearing only
-leaves. The side branches, which are angular or curved, yield the most
-fruit. For this reason, the limbs should be trained in curves, and
-perpendicular twigs should be cut off if there be need of pruning.
-The last of June is the time for this. Grass should never be allowed
-to grow within four feet of a large tree, and the soil should be
-kept loose to admit air to the roots. Trees in orchards should be
-twenty-five feet apart. The soil _under_ the top soil has much to do
-with the health of the trees. If it be what is called _hard-pan_, the
-trees will deteriorate. Trees need to be manured and to have the soil
-kept open and free from weeds.
-
-_Filberts_ can be raised in any part of this country.
-
-_Figs_ can be raised in the Middle, Western, and Southern States. For
-this purpose, in the autumn loosen the roots on one side, and bend the
-tree down to the earth on the other; then cover it with a mound of
-straw, earth, and boards, and early in the spring raise it up and cover
-the roots.
-
-_Currants_ grow well in any but a wet soil. They are propagated by
-cuttings. The old wood should be thinned in the fall and manure be put
-on. They can be trained into small trees.
-
-_Gooseberries_ are propagated by layers and cuttings. They are best
-when kept from suckers and trained like trees. One-third of the old
-wood should be removed every autumn.
-
-_Raspberries_ do best when shaded during a part of the day. They are
-propagated by layers, slips, and suckers. There is one kind which bears
-monthly; but the varieties of this and all other fruits are now so
-numerous that we can easily find those which are adapted to the special
-circumstances of the case.
-
-_Strawberries_ require a light soil and vegetable manure. They should
-be transplanted in April or September, and be set eight inches apart,
-in rows nine inches asunder, and in beds which are two feet wide, with
-narrow alleys between them. A part of these plants are _non-bearers_.
-These have large flowers with showy stamens and high black anthers.
-The _bearers_ have short stamens, a great number of pistils, and the
-flowers are every way less showy. In blossom-time, pull out all the
-non-bearers. Some think it best to leave one non-bearer to every twelve
-bearers, and others pull them all out. Many beds never produce any
-fruit, because all the plants in them are non-bearers. Weeds should be
-kept from the vines. When the vines are matted with young plants, the
-best way is to dig over the beds in cross lines, so as to leave some of
-the plants standing in little squares, while the rest are turned under
-the soil. This should be done over a second time in the same year.
-
-_To raise Grapes_, manure the soil, and keep it soft and free from
-weeds. A gravelly or sandy soil and a south exposure are best.
-Transplant the vines in the early spring, or better in the fall. Prune
-them the first year, so as to have only two main branches, taking off
-all other shoots as fast as they come. In November, cut off all of
-these two branches except four eyes. The second year, in the spring,
-loosen the earth around the roots, and allow only two branches to grow,
-and every month take off all side shoots. When they are very strong,
-preserve only a part, and cut off the rest in the fall. In November,
-cut off all the two main stems except eight eyes. After the second
-year, no more pruning is needed, except to reduce the side shoots, for
-the purpose of increasing the fruit. All the pruning of grapes (except
-nipping side shoots) must be done when the sap is not running, or
-they will bleed to death. Train them on poles, or lattices, to expose
-them to the air and sun. Cover tender vines in the autumn. Grapes are
-propagated by cuttings, layers, and seeds. For cuttings, select in the
-autumn well-ripened wood of the former year, and take five joints for
-each. Bury them till April; then soak them for some hours, and set them
-out _aslant_, so that all the eyes but one shall be covered.
-
-Apples, grapes, and such like fruit can be preserved in their natural
-state by packing them when dry and solid in dry sand or sawdust,
-putting alternate layers of fruit and cotton, sawdust or sand. Some
-sawdust gives a bad flavor to the fruit.
-
-_Modes of preserving Fruit-Trees._—Heaps of ashes or tanner’s bark
-around peach-trees prevent the attack of the worm. The _yellows_ is a
-disease of peach-trees, which is spread by the pollen of the blossom.
-When a tree begins to turn yellow, take it away with all its roots,
-before it blossoms again, or it will infect other trees. Planting tansy
-around the roots of fruit-trees is a sure protection against worms,
-as it prevents the moth from depositing her egg. Equal quantities of
-salt and saltpetre, put around the trunk of a peach-tree, half a pound
-to a tree, improve the size and flavor of the fruit. Apply this about
-the first of April; and if any trees have worms already in them, put
-on half the quantity in addition in June. To young trees just set out,
-apply one ounce in April, and another in June, close to the stem. Sandy
-soil is best for peaches.
-
-Apple-trees are preserved from insects by a wash of strong lye to the
-body and limbs, which, if old, should be first scraped. Caterpillars
-should be removed by cutting down their nests in a damp day. Boring a
-hole in a tree infested with worms, and filling it with sulphur, will
-often drive them off immediately.
-
-The _fire-blight_ or _brûlure_ in pear-trees can be stopped by cutting
-off all the blighted branches. It is supposed by some to be owing to an
-excess of sap, which is remedied by diminishing the roots.
-
-The _curculio_, which destroys plums and other stone-fruit, can be
-checked only by gathering up all the fruit that falls, (which contains
-their eggs,) and destroying it. The _canker-worm_ can be checked by
-applying a bandage around the body of the tree, and every evening
-smearing it with fresh tar.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIII.
-
-SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.
-
-
-The customs of the American people are more conformed to those
-principles of the Christian family state which demand protecting care
-for the weaker members, than those of any other nation. Nowhere is this
-fact more apparent than in the division of labor to the boys and girls
-of one family. The outdoor work, all that is most disagreeable, and
-the heaviest labor, is taken by the boys, while the indoor family-work
-is reserved for the girls. Of this indoor labor a part is sedentary,
-such as sewing, and a part is light labor, such as dish-washing,
-cooking, sweeping, dusting, and general care of the house. The laundry
-gives the hardest woman’s work; but this is not daily, nor so severe
-as the outdoor employments of men, while it can be so divided among
-several women, or be so regulated in various ways, as never to involve
-excessive labor. Young women wash and iron, as a daily business, six
-and eight hours a day, and yet continue healthful and cheerful. Such
-is the distinctive construction of woman’s form, that labor with the
-muscles of the arms and trunk, such as is demanded in washing and
-ironing, is peculiarly favorable to the perfect development and support
-of the most delicate and most important portion of her body.
-
-But while the general arrangements of family labor have been conformed
-to the true Christian principle, there have been certain extremes in
-our customs which it is important to remedy. This is often exhibited
-in houses when the members of a family assemble in an evening, and the
-girls all have some useful employment of the hands, while the boys look
-on and do nothing.
-
-Again, at other times, we see broken locks, windows unglazed, and
-furniture needing repair, all making necessary a kind of work women
-could easily perform, and yet left neglected because the men do not
-find time or are unskilled for the performance. In a country like ours,
-the emergencies of the family state often demand the exchange of the
-ordinary labor of men and women. Frequently, in newer settlements,
-no servants can be found, while the wife and mother is confined by
-sickness. In such emergencies, skill in performing woman’s work is
-a great blessing to a man and his family. So the soldiers, sailors,
-engineers, and all roving men need the skill of the needle that
-preserves clothing from waste. In our late war, millions would have
-been saved had all the soldiers been taught to sew in their boyhood.
-
-In this view of the case, industrial schools, to teach both boys
-and girls all the economic skill of the family state, are of great
-importance, and a department for this purpose should be connected with
-every school, especially the public schools, where most of the children
-will earn their own livelihood and be exposed to many chances of a
-roving life.
-
-Attempts have been made to introduce sewing into public schools, and
-usually with little or no success, from many combining difficulties.
-One of them arises from the increased number of classes for this
-purpose; which would be relieved by having boys taught to sew in the
-same class with girls. Another difficulty has been the providing of
-materials for sewing and the previous cutting and fitting needed, which
-the parents refuse to supply. A method which meets these and other
-difficulties, and which has been successfully tried in industrial
-schools in England, will now be described.
-
-Let a fund be provided by school officers, or by contribution, to
-provide needles, thread, scissors, and thimbles of various sizes, and
-place them in the care of the teacher. Let two half-days of the week be
-devoted to this and other industrial employments, giving, as a reward
-for success in careful, neat, and quick accomplishment of the duties,
-the time left beyond that used in the task as holiday hours.
-
-Let the first lesson be the use of scissors, in cutting straight slips
-of newspaper, thus training the eye and fingers to expert measurement
-and motion. Whoever excels in the performance of the allotted task
-in less than the allotted time is to be rewarded with the time, thus
-gained, for play.
-
-Next, let the class cut broad strips of paper, and practice doubling
-them in a _hem_, first narrow and then broad. This also cultivates the
-eyes and trains the fingers.
-
-Then give a lesson to teach the use of the thimble, using a needle
-without thread, and paper slips to set the needle through.
-
-Let the class now have pieces of cheap and thin unbleached cotton, and
-cut off from it strips two inches wide, being directed to _cut by a
-thread_, At first a thread may be drawn to guide the eye. Then, these
-strips are to be cut into pieces five or six inches long, _turned down
-and pinched_ to prepare for oversewing, and then put together and
-_basted_ with a needle and thread, the teacher setting the example.
-
-This last operation is intended to prepare two strips to be sewed
-together by _oversewing_. In this operation _colored_ thread should be
-used in order to make the stitches show more distinctly. Meantime, the
-pupil is trained to make the stitches _equal in depth_, and also at
-_equal distances_.
-
-The teacher is to be provided with a blank book for each pupil, and
-on the first page is to be inscribed, _Oversewing_. Beneath this word
-is to be fastened a specimen of the stitch, as soon as the pupil has
-attained the degree of excellence and accuracy required.
-
-The next lesson is _Hemming_. To prepare for this, let the scholars
-first cut, out of newspaper, pieces three inches square, and fold a hem
-on each side till it is even and smooth.
-
-Then the unbleached cotton is to be given to be cut and prepared in
-the same way. Finally, the hemming-stitch is to be taught, and the
-child be required to practice till the stitches are _equal_ in size and
-_regular_ in both _slant_ and _distances_. When this is well executed,
-the specimen is to be fastened to another page of the child’s book,
-under the word _Hemming_. In the same way, the various stitches used
-for running up seams, for felling, darning, whipping, buttonholing,
-stitching, and gathering, should be taught on small pieces of white or
-unbleached cotton, using colored thread.
-
-The books in which are fastened the finished specimens of sewing should
-be preserved by the teacher and exhibited at the school examinations,
-as an encouragement to excellence. In England, the ladies of wealth
-and rank take pains to establish and superintend, among the poor,
-industrial schools in which are taught other domestic work as well
-as sewing; and, as the consequence, their servants and dependents
-are well trained for the duties of their station. It is hoped that
-American ladies will make similar efforts for the children of the
-poorer classes, and employ all their influence to promote industrial
-training in our common schools; and also, to see that instruction in
-these important matters be given to their own daughters, who may become
-mistresses and directors of future homes, or who, in the constantly
-changing fortunes of our land, may need to perform as well as to guide
-the doing of these homely duties.
-
-It is a mistake to suppose that sewing-machines lessen the importance
-of hand-sewing. All the mending for a family, and much of the altering
-of clothing and house furniture, must be done only by the hand. In
-all poor families that own no machine, and in all cases where persons
-travel, the whole sewing needed must be done by hand.
-
-It is especially for the benefit of the poor who can not have machines,
-that all the children of our common schools should be taught not only
-to sew, but to mend and to cut and fit common garments. Hard-working
-mothers can not teach this art, and the school-teacher is the proper
-person to do it. Nor should this be added to the ordinary severe and
-wearing labor of a teacher, but other less important branches should
-give place to this. It is the constant complaint of all who are seeking
-to help the destitute, that women are not trained properly to do any
-kind of domestic work, and there is no way in which philanthropy can
-be more wisely exerted than in urging the establishment of industrial
-schools.
-
-It is the hope of the writer that a day is coming when _all_ women
-will be made truly independent, by being trained in early life to
-employments by which they can secure a home and income for themselves,
-if they do not marry or if they become widows. This is what is done
-for daughters in European countries, and should be done in our own.
-
-Institutions for training women to employments suitable for their sex
-should be established and _endowed_, the same as agricultural and
-other professional schools for men. When this is done, there will be
-a _liberal profession_ for women of culture and refinement, securing
-to widows and unmarried women such advantages as have hitherto been
-enjoyed only by the more favored sex.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIV.
-
-ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.
-
-
-Children should be taught the following modes of saving life, health,
-and limbs in cases of sudden emergency, before a medical adviser can be
-summoned.
-
-In case of a common cut, bind the lips of the wound together with
-a rag, and put on nothing else. If it is large, lay narrow strips
-of sticking-plaster obliquely across the wound. In some cases it is
-needful to draw a needle and thread through the lips of the wound, and
-tie the two sides together.
-
-If an artery be cut, it must be tied as quickly as possible, or the
-person will soon bleed to death. The blood from an artery is a brighter
-red than that from the veins, and spirts out in jets at each beat of
-the heart. Take hold of the end of the artery and tie it or hold it
-tight till a surgeon comes. In this case, and in all cases of bad
-wounds that bleed much, tie a tight bandage near and above the wound,
-inserting a stick into the bandage and twisting as tight as can be
-borne, to stop the immediate effusion of blood.
-
-Bathe bad bruises in hot water. Arnica-water hastens a cure, but is
-injurious and weakening to the parts when used too long and too freely.
-
-A sprain is relieved from the first pains by hot fomentations, or
-the application of very hot bandages, but entire rest is the chief
-permanent remedy. The more the limb is used, especially at first, the
-longer the time required for the small broken fibres to knit together.
-The sprained leg should be kept in a horizontal position. When a leg is
-broken, tie it to the other leg, to keep it still till a surgeon comes.
-Tie a broken arm to a piece of thin wood, to keep it still till set.
-
-In the case of bad burns that take off the skin, creosote-water is the
-best remedy. If this is not at hand, wood-soot (not coal,) pounded,
-sifted, and mixed with lard, is nearly as good, as such soot contains
-creosote. When a dressing is put on, do not remove it till a skin is
-formed under it. If nothing else is at hand for a bad burn, sprinkle
-flour over the place where the skin is off, and then let it remain,
-protected by a bandage. The chief aim is to keep the part without skin
-from the air.
-
-In case of drowning, the aim should be to clear the throat, mouth, and
-nostrils, and then produce the natural action of the lungs in breathing
-as soon as possible, at the same time removing wet clothes and applying
-warmth and friction to the skin, especially the hands and feet, to
-start the circulation. The best mode of cleansing the throat and mouth
-of choking water is to lay the person on the face, and raise the head a
-little, clearing the mouth and nostrils with the finger, and then apply
-hartshorn or camphor to the nose. This is safer and surer than a common
-mode of lifting the body by the feet, or rolling on a barrel to empty
-out the water.
-
-To start the action of the lungs, first lay the person on the face
-and press the back along the spine to expel all air from the lungs.
-Then turn the body nearly, but not quite over on to the back, thus
-opening the chest so that the air will rush in if the mouth is kept
-open. Then turn the body to the face again and expel the air, and then
-again nearly over on to the back; and so continue for a long time.
-Friction, dry and warm clothing, and warm applications, should be used
-in connection with this process. This is a much better mode than using
-bellows, which sometimes will close the opening to the windpipe. The
-above is the mode recommended by Dr. Marshall Hall, and is approved by
-the best medical authorities.
-
-Certain articles are often kept in the house for cooking or medical
-purposes, and sometimes by mistake are taken in quantities that are
-poisonous.
-
-_Soda_, _Saleratus_, _Potash_, or any other alkali, can be rendered
-harmless in the stomach by vinegar, tomato-juice, or any other acid. If
-sulphuric or oxalic acid are taken, pounded chalk in water is the best
-antidote. If those are not at hand, strong soap-suds have been found
-effective. Large quantities of tepid water should be drank after these
-antidotes are taken, so as to produce vomiting.
-
-_Lime_ or _baryta_ and its compounds demand a solution of glauber salts
-or of sulphuric acid.
-
-_Iodine_ or _Iodide of Potassium_ demands large draughts of wheat flour
-or starch in water, and then vinegar and water. The stomach should then
-be emptied by vomiting with as much tepid water as the stomach can hold.
-
-_Prussic Acid_, a violent poison, is sometimes taken by children in
-eating the pits of stone-fruits or bitter almonds which contain it.
-The antidote is to empty the stomach by an emetic, and give water of
-ammonia or chloric water. Affusions of cold water all over the body,
-followed by warm hand friction, is often a remedy alone, but the above
-should be added if at command. _Antimony_ and its compounds demand
-drinks of oak bark, or gall-nuts, or very strong green tea.
-
-_Arsenic_ demands oil or melted fat, with magnesia or lime water in
-large quantities, till vomiting occurs.
-
-_Corrosive Sublimate_, (often used to kill vermin,) and any other form
-of mercury, requires milk or whites of eggs in large quantities. The
-whites of twelve eggs in two quarts of water, given in the largest
-possible draughts every three minutes till free vomiting occurs, is a
-good remedy. Flour and water will answer, though not so surely as the
-above. Warm water will help, if nothing else is in reach. The same
-remedy answers when any form of copper, or tin, or zinc poison is
-taken, and also for creosote.
-
-_Lead_ and its compounds require a dilution of Epsom or Glauber salts,
-or some strong acid drink, as lemon or tomatoes.
-
-_Nitrate of Silver_ demands salt water drank till vomiting occurs.
-
-_Phosphorus_ (sometimes taken by children from matches) needs magnesia
-and copious drinks of gum Arabic, or gum-water of any sort.
-
-_Alcohol_, in dangerous quantities, demands vomiting with warm water.
-
-When one is violently sick from excessive use of _tobacco_, vomiting
-is a relief, if it arise spontaneously. After that, or in case it
-does not occur, the juice of a lemon and perfect rest, in a horizontal
-position on the back, will relieve the nausea and faintness, generally
-soothing the foolish and overwrought patient into a sleep.
-
-_Opium_ demands a quick emetic. The best is a heaping table-spoonful of
-powdered mustard, in a tumblerful of warm water; or powdered alum in
-half-ounce doses and strong coffee alternately in warm water. Give acid
-drinks after vomiting. If vomiting is not elicited thus, a stomach-pump
-is demanded. Dash cold water on the head, apply friction, and use all
-means to keep the person awake and in motion.
-
-_Strychnia_ demands also quick emetics.
-
-The stomach should be emptied always after taking any of these
-antidotes, by a warm-water emetic.
-
-In case of bleeding at the lungs, or stomach, or throat, give a
-tea-spoonful of dry salt, and repeat it often. For bleeding at the
-nose, put ice or pour cold water on the back of the neck, keeping the
-head elevated.
-
-If a person be struck with lightning, throw pailfuls of cold water on
-the head and body, and apply mustard poultices on the stomach, with
-friction of the whole body and inflation of the lungs, as in the case
-of drowning. The same mode is to be used when persons are stupefied by
-fumes of coal or bad air.
-
-In thunder-storms, shut the doors and windows. The safest part of a
-room is its centre; and when there is a feather-bed in the apartment,
-that will be found the most secure resting-place.
-
-A lightning-rod, if it be well pointed, and run deep into the earth,
-is a certain protection to a circle around it whose diameter equals
-the height of the rod above the highest chimney. But it protects _no
-farther_ than this extent.
-
-In case of fire, wrap about you a blanket, a shawl, a piece of carpet,
-or any other woolen cloth, to serve as protection. Never read in bed,
-lest you fall asleep, and the bed be set on fire. If your clothes get
-on fire, never run, but lie down, and roll about till you can reach
-a bed or carpet to wrap yourself in, and thus put out the fire. Keep
-young children in woolen dresses, to save them from the risk of fire.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXV.
-
-ON THE RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.
-
-
-It is probable that there is no one direction in which conscientious
-persons suffer so much doubt and perplexity as on the right
-apportionment of time and property. Clear views of duty on this subject
-can be gained only by reference to certain facts and principles of mind
-in connection with certain facts revealed by Jesus Christ.
-
-It is a fact that whenever men notice any method which will _best_
-secure any end aimed at, they call it _right_. And so the word _right_,
-as men ordinarily use the term, signifies the method or rule for
-securing an end designed.
-
-It is also a fact that all rational minds are so made as intuitively to
-feel or perceive that the end for which all things are made is, _not_
-to produce enjoyment or happiness of any sort or degree, but to produce
-the _best_ good for all concerned both as to quality and amount.
-
-In proof of this, we find that when any plan or action is proposed,
-and it is shown that on one alternative the _best_ good of both the
-individual and society is secured, all rational minds decide that it
-is wise and right, and that the opposite alternative is foolish and
-wrong. There are endless diversities of opinion as to what _is_ for the
-best good of individuals and society; but all agree that whatever is
-for the _best_ good of all concerned is _right_. We therefore assume
-that it is an intuitive principle or belief in all rational minds, that
-_happiness-making on the best and largest scale is the end or purpose
-for which all things are made_.
-
-We also find ourselves placed in a system of physical, intellectual,
-and social laws, by obedience to which happiness is gained, and that
-by disobedience to them happiness is destroyed. At the same time, the
-controlling principle of every mind is to gain happiness and escape
-pain or loss of happiness. This being so, we may assume that to gain
-the end for which we are made, or, in other words, _to act right_, we
-must obey these laws.
-
-Again, we find every rational mind so made that it may be controlled
-by some leading desire of ruling purpose to which all other desires
-and purposes are subordinate, and that it is the nature of this ruling
-purpose which constitutes _moral character_. By moral character is
-meant that which results from our own choice instead of that which
-consists in qualities and propensities created by God. This ruling
-purpose that controls the mind sometimes, by a figure of speech is
-called the _heart_, which literally is the organ that controls the body.
-
-Again, we find that in all ages and nations there are some men whose
-ruling purpose and chief desire is to do right, and that these persons
-are called the righteous or the virtuous men.
-
-Again, we find that all decisions as to what is best and right are
-regulated by the _dangers_ involved. If one course, with equal
-advantages, is free from danger, and the opposite involves danger, all
-men decide the former to be the right one. Thus, all questions of duty
-as to any course of action are regulated by the dangers which threaten
-ourselves or society. As an illustration of this fact, when the life
-of our nation was imperiled, privations, risks, and even death, were
-sometimes a duty, when in times of peace and prosperity such sacrifices
-would not be right but highly sinful.
-
-The general principle thus illustrated is, that the standard of right
-and wrong in all practical affairs is regulated by the amount of danger
-to be met in alternate courses, one of which must be chosen. And thus
-it appears that every question of rectitude and duty is modified by
-circumstances; so that what would be a sin in one case would be a
-solemn duty in another.
-
-Again, we find that the character of a righteous man is dependent on
-experience and instruction. For a child is born in utter ignorance
-of God’s laws, and of his obligation to obey them; and it is only by
-the slow and gradual process of experience and training that he gains
-this knowledge. Still more is he dependent on educators for motives to
-excite to obedience. The great want of humanity is right instruction
-as to the laws by which the best good of all is secured, and powerful
-motives to induce obedience to these laws.
-
-We are now prepared to notice the connection of these principles and
-facts with the facts revealed by Jesus Christ. The great and central
-fact thus made known is, that this life is only the beginning of an
-eternal existence, involving liability to dreadful dangers after
-death, and that, in estimating what is right and wise in character and
-conduct, we are to take into account these dangers, as regulating all
-questions of duty to ourselves and to our fellow-men. Of the nature
-of these dangers, we are informed that those who become righteous in
-this life will secure perpetuity of that character, and thus perfect
-and endless happiness; but that some will so fail that they never
-will attain this character, either in this life or the life to come,
-and so will forever reap the consequences of perpetuate and voluntary
-selfishness and sin. Still more momentous is the fact, that the number
-who are to be saved depends upon the self-denying labors of Christ’s
-followers, and that so dreadful are the hazards of the life to come,
-that all consideration of earthly enjoyment should be made subordinate
-to the great end of escape for ourselves and for our fellow-men, whom
-we are to love and care for as we do for ourselves.
-
-These facts and principles enable us clearly to comprehend the great
-law of rectitude and happiness given by God through Moses, and then
-more clearly explained and illustrated by Jesus Christ. All men are
-conscious of that _instinctive love_ which we share in common with
-the brutes. This consists in pleasurable emotions in view of certain
-persons or things which afford us pleasure, attended by a desire to
-please those who cause such enjoyment to ourselves, or to those we
-love. Thus the mother, whether human or brute, feels instinctive love
-to her offspring; and thus all men feel this instinctive love to those
-who confer pleasure on themselves.
-
-But Jesus Christ expressly discriminates, and explains that the great
-law of love (which, he says, it is the chief end of “the law and
-the prophets” to inculcate) is the _voluntary love_ which consists
-in choosing to do right—that is, to make happiness on the best and
-largest scale. For the law is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
-all thy heart, and thy neighbor _as thyself_.” Now self-love consists
-not in pleasurable emotions in our own agreeable qualities, but in an
-instinctive, an all-controlling desire to make self happy.
-
-This is the principle of mind which gives its true meaning to the great
-law of love, which in this aspect reads thus:
-
-Thou shalt choose, for the chief end or controlling purpose, to make
-happiness on the greatest scale by obeying God’s laws, and as the way
-to make him and all his creatures happy in the highest degree. And for
-this end you are to regard and treat the happiness of all in your reach
-as equal in value to your own.
-
-This exposition of the great law of love is verified repeatedly in the
-New Testament: “This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments.”
-
-“He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
-me.”
-
-“If a man love me, he will keep my words;”—“he that loveth me not,
-keepeth not my sayings.”
-
-“That the world may know that I love the Father, as the Father gave me
-commandment, even so I do.”
-
-We now are prepared to appreciate the new and most wonderful revelation
-ever made to the human race, and one which the wisest heathen
-philosophers never even conjectured.
-
-Jesus Christ first revealed to mankind that our Creator is a loving
-Father to the whole human race; and that such is the eternal nature of
-things, that our highest possible happiness and escape from endless
-evil can be accomplished only by self-denying sacrifice and suffering,
-to save ourselves and others; and that our heavenly Father himself so
-loves us as to encounter such suffering to save us. For whatever views
-men form as to the divinity of Jesus Christ, or how his sufferings
-avail to save from danger in the life to come, all will concede that he
-teaches that God is represented as having made such a painful sacrifice
-as a father suffers in seeing a dear and lovely and only son subjected
-to long years of humiliation, of painful toils, and to a disgraceful
-and torturing death. And whatever opinions men form as to the nature
-and duration of future retributions, it is clear that Jesus Christ
-teaches that so great are our dangers, that every consideration of
-earthly enjoyment should be subordinate, and that our first interest
-and aim should be to secure escape to ourselves and our fellow-men.
-
-And here we should notice that most comforting doctrine revealed by
-Jesus Christ, and that is, that our eternal welfare does not depend
-on our judging correctly as to what _is_ for the best good of all
-concerned, both for this life and the life to come. On the contrary, we
-are assured that it is having our _heart_, or _chief desire_, set to
-do right by obeying all God’s laws as fast as we learn what they are.
-“Sin is the transgression of law,” and all men have sinned, and will
-continue to sin, sometimes from ignorance, sometimes from the force of
-temptation swaying from the prevailing desire and controlling purpose.
-And so the righteous men of olden times, though they committed heinous
-sins, were “men after God’s own heart,” because their “heart” was set
-to obey him in all things. And thus their failures were pardoned, and
-their eternal safety secured.
-
-The same comforting assurance lessens the anxieties of those whose
-chief aim and desire is to obey Jesus Christ under the new obligations
-imposed by him. For the “_faith_” which saves our fellow-men both
-before and after Christ, is not the mere intellectual conviction; for
-the “devils thus believe and tremble.” It is rather that faith which
-includes intellectual belief in his teachings, and the voluntary
-conformity of purpose and action to that belief.
-
-So the “_repentance_” required is not mere sorrow for wrong-doing,
-but it consists in such sorrow as includes “ceasing to do evil, and
-learning to do well.”
-
-We now have the general principle which should regulate all
-expenditures both of time and property. And whenever any number of
-persons consistently and practically adopt this principle, they will
-become “a peculiar people.”
-
-The principle is this: The use of property and the use of time must be
-so regulated as to accomplish _all in our power_, _to save as many
-as possible_ from ignorance of God’s laws, and from disobedience to
-them. It must, in many cases, be difficult to decide as to the most
-successful way by which our time and property will avail to this end.
-But that this should be the first and chief object in all our plans,
-must be conceded by all who accept Jesus Christ as the only authorized
-teacher of truth and duty. He is the only man who has died and returned
-from the invisible world to tell us of our prospects there, and his
-authority is established by the highest evidence of which we can
-conceive. He is the only being authorized by God fully to explain his
-laws, both as to our highest happiness while on earth and our future
-eternal welfare. “There is no other name (or person) given under
-Heaven” to do this but Jesus Christ.
-
-Having thus gained the main general principle, we may notice some
-rules to guide us as to the right apportionment of time and property.
-In employing our time, we are to make suitable allowance for sleep,
-for preparing and taking food, for securing the means of a livelihood,
-for intellectual improvement, for exercise and amusement, for social
-enjoyments, and for benevolent and religious duties. And it is the
-_right apportionment_ of time to these various duties which constitutes
-its true economy.
-
-In deciding respecting the rectitude of our pursuits, we are bound to
-aim at _the most_ practical good as the ultimate object. With every
-duty of this life our benevolent Creator has connected some species
-of enjoyment, to draw us to perform it. Thus the palate is gratified
-by performing the duty of nourishing our bodies; the principle of
-curiosity is gratified in pursuing useful knowledge; the desire of
-approbation is gratified when we perform general social duties; and
-every other duty has an alluring enjoyment connected with it. But
-the great mistake of mankind has consisted in seeking the pleasures
-connected with these duties as the sole aim, without reference to the
-main end that should be held in view, and to which the enjoyment should
-be made subservient. Thus, men gratify the palate without reference to
-the question whether the body is properly nourished; and follow after
-knowledge without inquiring whether it ministers to good or evil; and
-seek amusements without reference to the great end to which they should
-minister.
-
-In gratifying the implanted desires of our nature, we are bound so to
-restrain ourselves, by reason and conscience, as always to seek the
-main objects of existence—the _highest_ good of ourselves and others;
-and never to sacrifice this for the mere gratification of our desires.
-We are to gratify appetite just so far as is consistent with health and
-usefulness, and the desire for knowledge just so far as will enable us
-to do most good by our influence and efforts, and no further. We are to
-seek social intercourse to that extent which will best promote domestic
-enjoyment and kindly feelings among neighbors and friends; and we are
-to pursue exercise and amusement only so far as will best sustain the
-vigor of body and mind.
-
-The laws of the Supreme Ruler, when he became the civil as well as
-the religious Head of the Jewish theocracy, furnish an example which
-it would be well for all attentively to consider when forming plans
-for the apportionment of time and property. To properly estimate this
-example, it must be borne in mind that the main object of God was to
-set an example of the _temporal_ rewards that follow obedience to the
-laws of the Creator, and at the same time to prepare religious teachers
-to extend the more enlarged views and duties resulting from the dangers
-of the future life revealed by Jesus Christ.
-
-Before Christ came, the Jews were not required to go forth to other
-nations as teachers of religion, nor were the Jewish nation led to
-obedience by motives of a life to come. To them God was revealed both
-as a Father and a civil ruler, and obedience to laws relating solely to
-this life was all that was required. So low were they in the scale of
-civilization and mental development, that a system which confined them
-to one spot as an agricultural people, and prevented their growing very
-rich or having extensive commerce with other nations, was indispensable
-to prevent their relapsing into the low idolatries and vices of the
-nations around them, while temporal rewards and penalties were more
-effective than those of a life to come. Such faith in God, his laws,
-and those temporal rewards and penalties as secured habitual obedience,
-were all that was required.
-
-The proportion of time and property which every Jew was required to
-devote to intellectual, benevolent, and religious purposes, was as
-follows:
-
-In regard to property, they were required to give one-tenth of all
-their yearly income to support the Levites, the priests, and the
-religious service. Next, they were required to give the first-fruits
-of all their corn, wine, oil, and fruits, and the first-born of all
-their cattle, for the Lord’s treasury, to be employed for the priests,
-the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger. The first-born, also, of
-their children, were the Lord’s, and were to be redeemed by a specified
-sum paid into the sacred treasury. Besides this, they were required to
-bring a free-will offering to God every time they went up to the three
-great yearly festivals. In addition to this, regular yearly sacrifices
-of cattle and fowls were required of each family, and occasional
-sacrifices for certain sins or ceremonial impurities. In reaping their
-fields, they were required to leave the corners unreaped for the poor;
-not to glean their fields, olive-yards, or vineyards; and if a sheaf
-was left by mistake, they were not to return for it but leave it for
-the poor.
-
-One-twelfth of the people were set apart, having no landed property, to
-be priests and teachers; and the other tribes were required to support
-them liberally.
-
-In regard to the time taken from secular pursuits for the support of
-education and religion, an equally liberal amount was demanded. In the
-first place, one-seventh part of their time was taken for the weekly
-Sabbath, when no kind of work was to be done. Then the whole nation
-were required to meet at the appointed place three times a year, which,
-including their journeys and stay there, occupied about eight weeks, or
-another seventh part of their time. Then the Sabbatical year, when no
-agricultural labor was to be done, took another seventh of their time
-from their regular pursuits, as they were an agricultural people. This
-was the amount of time and property demanded by God, simply to sustain
-education, religion, and morality within the bounds of one nation.
-
-It was promised to this nation, and fulfilled by constant miraculous
-interpositions, that in this life obedience to God’s laws should secure
-health, peace, prosperity, and long life; while for disobedience was
-threatened war, pestilence, famine, and all temporal evils. These
-promises were constantly verified; and in the day of Solomon, when this
-nation was most obedient, the whole world was moved with wonder at its
-wealth and prosperity. But up to this time, no attempt was made by God
-to enlarge the obligations and motives by revelations as to the future
-life.
-
-But “when the fullness of time had come,” and the race of man was
-prepared to receive higher responsibilities, Jesus Christ came and
-“brought life and immortality to light” with a clearness never before
-revealed, and new and heavy responsibilities consequent on the dangers
-of the life to come. At the same time was revealed the fatherhood
-of God, not to the Jews alone, but to the whole human race, and the
-consequent brotherhood of man; and these revelations in many respects
-changed the whole standard of duty and obligation.
-
-Christ came as “God manifest in the flesh,” to set an example of
-self-sacrificing love, in rescuing the whole family of man from the
-dangers of the unseen world, and also to teach and train his disciples
-through all time to follow his example. And those who conform the most
-consistently to his teachings and example will aim at a standard of
-labor and self-denial far beyond that demanded of the Jews.
-
-It is not always that men understand the economy of Providence in that
-unequal distribution of property which, even under the most perfect
-form of government, will always exist. Many, looking at the present
-state of things, imagine that the rich, if they acted in strict
-conformity to the law of benevolence, would share all their property
-with their suffering fellow-men. But such do not take into account
-the inspired declaration that “a man’s life consisteth not in the
-abundance of the things which he possesseth;” or, in other words, life
-is made valuable not by great possessions, but by such a _character_
-as prepares a man to enjoy what he holds. God perceives that human
-character can be most improved by that kind of discipline which
-exists when there is something valuable to be gained by industrious
-efforts. This stimulus to industry could never exist in a community
-where all are just alike, as it does in a state of society where
-every man sees possessed by others enjoyments which he desires, and
-may secure by effort and industry. So, in a community where all are
-alike as to property, there would be no chance to gain that noblest
-of all attainments, a habit of self-denying benevolence which toils
-for the good of others, and takes from one’s own store to increase the
-enjoyments of another.
-
-Instead, then, of the stagnation, both of industry and of benevolence,
-which would follow the universal and equable distribution of property,
-some men, by superior advantages of birth, or intellect, or patronage,
-come into possession of a great amount of capital. With these means
-they are enabled, by study, reading, and travel, to secure expansion
-of mind, and just views of the relative advantages of moral,
-intellectual, and physical enjoyments. At the same time, Christianity
-imposes obligations corresponding with the increase of advantages and
-means. The rich are not at liberty to spend their treasures chiefly
-for themselves. Their wealth is given by God, to be employed for the
-best good of mankind; and their intellectual advantages are designed,
-primarily, to enable them to judge correctly in employing their means
-most wisely for the general good.
-
-Now suppose a man of wealth inherits ten thousand acres of real estate;
-it is not his duty to divide it among his poor neighbors and tenants.
-If he took this course, it is probable that most of them would spend
-all in thriftless waste and indolence, or in mere physical enjoyments.
-Instead, then, of thus putting his capital out of his hands, he is
-bound to retain and so to employ it as to raise his family and his
-neighbors to such a state of virtue and intelligence that they can
-secure far more, by their own efforts and industry, than he, by
-dividing his capital, could bestow upon them.
-
-In this view of the subject, it is manifest that the unequal
-distribution of property is no evil. The great difficulty is, that so
-large a portion of those who hold much capital, instead of using their
-various advantages for the greatest good of those around them, employ
-them chiefly for selfish indulgences—thus inflicting as much mischief
-on themselves as results to others from their culpable neglect. A great
-portion of the rich seem to be acting on the principle that the more
-God bestows on them the less are they under obligation to practice any
-self-denial in fulfilling his benevolent plan of raising our race to
-intelligence and virtue, and thus to eternal happiness after death.
-
-But there are cheering examples of the contrary spirit and prejudice,
-some of which will be here recorded, to influence and encourage others.
-
-A lady of great wealth, high position, and elegant culture, in one of
-our large cities, hired and furnished a house adjacent to her own,
-and, securing the aid of another benevolent and cultivated woman, took
-twelve orphan girls of different ages, and educated them under their
-joint care. Not only time and money were given, but love and labor,
-just as if these were their own children; and as fast as one was
-provided for, another was taken.
-
-In another city, a young lady, with property of her own, hired a house,
-and made it a home for homeless and unprotected women, who paid board
-when they could earn it, and found a refuge when out of employment.
-
-In another city, the wife of one of its richest merchants took two
-young girls from the certain road to ruin among the vicious poor. She
-boarded them with a respectable farmer, and sent them to school; and
-every week went out, not only to supervise them, but to aid in training
-them to habits of neatness, industry, and obedience, just as if they
-were her own children.
-
-Next she hired a large house near the most degraded part of the city,
-furnished it neatly, and with all suitable conveniences to work, and
-then rented to those among the most degraded whom she could bring to
-conform to a few simple rules of decency, industry, and benevolence—one
-of these rules being that they should pay her the rent every Saturday
-night. To this motley gathering she became chief counselor and friend,
-quieted their brawls, taught them to aid each other in trouble or
-sickness, and strove to introduce among them that law of patient love
-and kindness illustrated by her own example. The young girls in this
-tenement she assembled every Saturday at her own house, taught them to
-sing, heard them recite their Sunday-school lessons, to be sure these
-were properly learned; taught them to make and mend their own clothing,
-trimmed their bonnets, and took charge of their Sunday dress, that it
-might always be in order.
-
-Of course, such benevolence drew a stream of ignorance and misery to
-her door; and so successful was her labor, that she hired a second
-house, and managed it on the same plan. One hot day in August a friend
-found her combing the head of a poor, ungainly, foreign girl. She had
-persuaded a friend to take her from compassion, and she was returned
-because her head was in such a state. Finding no one else to do it, the
-lady herself bravely met the difficulty, and persevered in this daily
-ministry till the evil was remedied, and the poor girl thus secured a
-comfortable home and wages.
-
-A young lady of wealth and position, with great musical culture and
-taste, found among the poor two young girls with fine voices and great
-musical talent. Gaining her parents' consent, the young lady took one
-of them home, trained her in music, and saw that her school education
-was secured; so that, when expensive masters and instruments were
-needed, the girl herself earned the money required, as a governess in
-a family of wealthy friends. Then she aided the sister; and, as the
-result, one of them is married happily to a man of great wealth, and
-the other is receiving a large income as a popular musical artist.
-
-Another young girl, educated as a fine musician by her wealthy parents,
-at the age of sixteen was afflicted with weak eyes and a heart
-complaint. She strove to solace herself by benevolent ministries. By
-teaching music to children of wealthy friends, she earned the means to
-relieve and instruct the suffering, ignorant, and poor.
-
-These examples may suffice to show that, even among the most wealthy,
-abundant modes of self-denying benevolence may be found where there is
-a heart to seek them.
-
-There is no direction in which a true Christian economy of time and
-money is more conspicuous than in the style of living adopted in the
-family state.
-
-Those who build stately mansions, and lay out extensive grounds, and
-multiply the elegancies of life, to be enjoyed by themselves and a
-select few, “have their reward” in the enjoyments that end in this
-life. But those who, with equal means, adopt a style that enables them
-largely to devote time and wealth to the eternal welfare of their
-fellow-men, are laying up never-failing treasures in heaven, in the
-everlasting virtue, gratitude, and happiness of those they have thus
-saved and blessed.
-
-By taking Christ as the example, by communion with him, and by daily
-striving to imitate his character and conduct, we may form such a
-temper of mind that “doing good” on that highest scale revealed by our
-Lord will become the chief and highest source of enjoyment. And this
-heavenly principle will grow stronger and stronger, until self-denial
-loses the more painful part of its character; and then, to save men
-from sin, and guide them to eternal happiness, will be so delightful
-and absorbing a pursuit, that all exertions regarded as the means to
-this end will be like the joyous efforts of men when they strive for a
-prize or a crown with the full hope of success.
-
-In this view of the subject, efforts and self-denial for the good of
-others are to be regarded not merely as duties enjoined for the benefit
-of others, but as the moral training indispensable to the formation of
-that character on which depends our own happiness. This view exhibits
-the full meaning of the Saviour’s declaration, “How hardly shall
-they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” He had before
-taught that the kingdom of heaven consisted not in such enjoyments as
-the worldly seek, but in the temper of self-denying benevolence like
-his own; and as the rich have far greater temptations to indolent
-self-indulgence, they are far less likely to acquire this temper than
-those who, by limited means, are inured to some degree of self-denial.
-
-But on this point one important distinction needs to be made; and
-that is, between the self-denial which has no other aim than mere
-self-mortification, and that which is exercised to secure greater good
-to ourselves and others. The first is the foundation of monasticism,
-penances, and all other forms of asceticism; the latter only is that
-which Christianity requires.
-
-A second consideration, which may give definiteness to this subject,
-is, that aiming at a perfect character for ourselves and for others
-involves not the extermination of any principles of our nature, but
-rather the regulating of them, according to the rules of reason
-and religion; so that the lower propensities shall always be kept
-subordinate to nobler principles. Thus we are not to aim at destroying
-our appetites, or at needlessly denying them, but rather so to regulate
-them that they shall best secure the objects for which they were
-implanted. We are not to annihilate the love of praise and admiration,
-but so to control it that the favor of God shall be regarded more
-than the estimation of men. We are not to extirpate the principle
-of curiosity, which leads us to acquire knowledge, but so to direct
-it that all our acquisitions shall be useful, and not frivolous or
-injurious. And thus with all the principles of the mind. God has
-implanted no desires in our constitution which are evil and pernicious.
-On the contrary, all our constitutional propensities, either of mind
-or body, he designed we should gratify, whenever no evils would
-thence result either to ourselves or others. Such passions as envy,
-selfish ambition, contemptuous pride, revenge, and hatred, are to be
-exterminated; for they are either excesses or excrescences, not created
-by God, but rather the result of our own neglect to form habits of
-benevolence and self-control.
-
-A third consideration is that, though the means for sustaining life
-and health are to be regarded as necessaries, without which no other
-duties can be performed, yet a very large portion of the time spent by
-most persons in easy circumstances for food, raiment, and dwellings,
-is for mere _superfluities_; which are right when they do not involve
-the sacrifice of higher interests, and wrong when they do. Life and
-health can be sustained in the humblest dwellings, with the plainest
-dress and the simplest food; and after taking from our means what is
-necessary for life and health, the remainder is to be so divided that
-the larger portion shall be given to supply the moral and intellectual
-wants of ourselves and others.
-
-There are many so dependent on parents or husbands, as to suffer
-perplexity as to their own duty on this account. In reference to these
-difficulties, the first remark is, that we are never under obligations
-to do what is entirely out of our power; so that those persons who can
-not regulate their expenses or their charities are under no sort of
-obligation to do so. The second remark is, that, when a rule of duty is
-discovered, if we can not fully attain to it, we are bound to _aim_ at
-it, and to fulfill it just so far as we can. We have no right to throw
-it aside because we shall find some difficult cases when we come to
-apply it. The third remark is, that no person can tell how much can be
-done till a faithful trial has been made. If a woman has never kept any
-accounts, nor attempted to regulate her expenditures by the right rule,
-nor used her influence with those that control her plans, to secure
-this object, she has no right to say how much she can or can not do
-till after a fair trial has been made.
-
-Is it objected, How can we decide between superfluities and
-necessities? It is replied, that we are not required to judge exactly
-in all cases. Our duty is to use the means in our power to assist us
-in forming a correct judgment; to seek the Divine aid in freeing our
-minds from indolence and selfishness; and then to judge as well as we
-can in our endeavors rightly to apportion and regulate our expenses.
-Many persons seem to feel that they are bound to do better than they
-know how. But God is not so hard a master; and after we have used all
-proper means to learn the right way, if we then follow it according to
-our ability, we do wrong to feel misgivings, or to blame ourselves, if
-results come out differently from what seems desirable.
-
-The results of our actions alone can never prove us deserving of blame.
-For men are often so placed that, owing to lack of intellect or means,
-it is impossible for them to decide correctly. To use all the means of
-knowledge within our reach, to seek Divine guidance by prayer, and
-then to judge with a candid and conscientious spirit, is all that God
-requires; and when we have done this, and the event seems to come out
-so as to seem unfortunate, we should never wish that we had decided
-otherwise; for this would be the same as wishing that we had not
-followed the dictates of judgment and conscience. As this is a world
-designed for discipline and trial, what seem untoward events are never
-to be construed as indications of the obliquity of our past decisions.
-
-In making an examination on this subject, it is sometimes the case that
-a woman will count among the _necessaries_ of life all the various
-modes of adorning the person or house practiced in the circle in
-which she moves; and after enumerating the many _duties_ which demand
-attention, counting these as a part, she will come to the conclusion
-that she has no time, and but little money, to devote to personal
-improvement or to benevolent enterprises. This surely is not in
-agreement with the requirements of the Saviour, who calls on us to seek
-for others as well as ourselves, _first of all_, “the kingdom of God
-and his righteousness.”
-
-In order to act in accordance with the rule here presented, it is true
-that many would be obliged to give up the idea of conforming to the
-notions and customs of those with whom they associate, and compelled
-to adopt the maxim, “Be not conformed to this world.” In many cases it
-would involve an entire change in the style of living. And the writer
-has the happiness of knowing more cases than one where persons who have
-come to similar views on this subject have given up large and expensive
-establishments, that they might keep a pure conscience, and regulate
-their charities more according to the requirements of Christianity.
-
-In deciding what particular objects shall receive our benefactions,
-there are also general principles to guide us. The first is that
-presented by our Saviour, when, after urging the great law of
-benevolence, he was asked, “And who is my neighbor?” His reply, in the
-parable of “the Good Samaritan,” teaches us that any human being whose
-wants are brought to our knowledge is our neighbor. The wounded man
-in that parable was not only a stranger, but he belonged to a foreign
-nation, peculiarly hated; and he had no claim, except that his wants
-were brought to the knowledge of the wayfaring man. From this we learn
-that the destitute of all nations become our neighbors as soon as their
-wants are brought to our knowledge.
-
-Another general principle is this: that those who are most in need
-must be relieved in preference to those who are less destitute. On
-this principle it is that we think the followers of Christ should
-give more to supply those who are suffering for want of the bread of
-eternal life, than for those who are deprived of physical enjoyments.
-And another reason for this preference is the fact that many who give
-in charity have made such imperfect advances in civilization and
-Christianity, that the intellectual and moral wants of our race make
-but a feeble impression on the mind. Relate a pitiful tale of a family
-reduced to live for weeks on potatoes only, and many a mind would awake
-to deep sympathy, and stretch forth the hand of charity. But describe
-cases where the immortal mind is pining in stupidity and ignorance, or
-racked with the fever of baleful passions, and how small the number so
-elevated in sentiment and so enlarged in their views as to appreciate
-and sympathize in these far greater misfortunes! The intellectual and
-moral wants of our fellow-men, therefore, should claim the first place
-in Christian attention, both because they are most important, and
-because they are most neglected; while it should not be forgotten, in
-giving personal attention to the wants of the poor, that the relief of
-immediate physical distress is often the easiest way of touching the
-moral sensibilities of the destitute.
-
-Another consideration to be borne in mind is, that in this country
-there is much less real need of charity in supplying physical
-necessities than is generally supposed by those who have not learned
-the more excellent way. This land is so abundant in supplies, and labor
-is in such demand, that every healthy person can earn a comfortable
-support; and if all the poor were instantly made virtuous, it is
-probable that there would be few physical wants which could not
-readily be supplied by the immediate friends of each sufferer. The
-sick, the aged, and the orphan would be the only objects of charity.
-In this view of the case, the primary effort in relieving the poor
-should be to furnish them the means of earning their own support, and
-to supply them with those moral influences which are most effectual in
-securing virtue and industry.
-
-Another point to be attended to is the importance of maintaining a
-system of _associated_ charities. There is no point in which the
-economy of charity has more improved, than in the present mode of
-combining many small contributions for sustaining enlarged and
-systematic plans of charity. If all the half-dollars which are now
-contributed to aid in organized systems of charity were returned to the
-donors, to be applied by the agency and discretion of each, thousands
-and thousands of the treasures now employed to promote the moral and
-intellectual wants of mankind would become entirely useless. In a
-democracy like ours, where few are very rich and the majority are in
-comfortable circumstances, this collecting and dispensing of drops
-and rills is the mode by which, in imitation of nature, the dews and
-showers are to distill on parched and desert lands. And every person,
-while earning a pittance to unite with many more, may be cheered with
-the consciousness of sustaining a grand system of operations which must
-have the most decided influence in raising all mankind to that perfect
-state of society which Christianity is designed to accomplish.
-
-Another consideration relates to the indiscriminate bestowal of
-charity. Persons who have taken pains to inform themselves, and who
-devote their whole time to dispensing charities, unite in declaring
-that this is one of the most fruitful sources of indolence, vice,
-and poverty. From several of these the writer has learned that, by
-their own personal investigations, they have ascertained that there
-are large establishments of idle and wicked persons in most of our
-cities, who associate together to support themselves by every species
-of imposition. They hire large houses, and live in constant rioting
-on the means thus obtained. Among them are women who have or who hire
-the use of infant children; others, who are blind, or maimed, or
-deformed, or who can adroitly feign such infirmities; and by these
-means of exciting pity, and by artful tales of woe, they collect alms,
-both in city and country, to spend in all manner of gross and guilty
-indulgences. Meantime many persons, finding themselves often duped
-by impostors, refuse to give at all; and thus many benefactions are
-withdrawn, which a wise economy in charity would have secured. For this
-and other reasons, it is wise and merciful to adopt the general rule,
-never to give alms till we have had some opportunity of knowing how
-they will be spent. There are exceptions to this, as to every general
-rule, which a person of discretion can determine. But the practice so
-common among benevolent persons of giving at least a trifle to all who
-ask, lest perchance they may turn away some who are really sufferers,
-is one which causes more sin and misery than it cures.
-
-The writer has never known any system for dispensing charity more
-successful than the one by which a town or city is divided into
-districts, and each district is committed to the care of two ladies,
-whose duty it is to call on each family and leave a book for a child,
-or do some other deed of neighborly kindness, and make that the
-occasion for entering into conversation and learning the situation
-of all residents in the district. By this method the ignorant, the
-vicious, and the poor are discovered, and their physical, intellectual,
-and moral wants are investigated. In some places where the writer
-has known this mode pursued, each person retained the same district
-year after year; so that every poor family in the place was under
-the watch and care of some intelligent and benevolent lady, who used
-all her influence to secure a proper education for the children, to
-furnish them with suitable reading, to encourage habits of industry
-and economy, and to secure regular attendance on public religious
-instruction. Thus the rich and the poor were brought in contact in
-a way advantageous to both parties; and if such a system could be
-universally adopted, more would be done for the prevention of poverty
-and vice than all the wealth of the nation could avail for their
-relief. But this plan can not be successfully carried out in this
-manner, unless there is a large proportion of intelligent, benevolent,
-and self-denying persons who unite in a systematic plan.
-
-But there is one species of “charity” which needs especial
-consideration. It is that spirit of kindly love which induces us to
-refrain from judging of the means and the relative charities of other
-persons. There have been such indistinct notions, and so many different
-standards of duty on this subject, that it is rare for two persons to
-think exactly alike in regard to the rule of duty. Each person is bound
-to inquire and judge for himself as to his own duty or deficiencies;
-but as both the resources and the amount of the actual charities of
-others are beyond our ken, it is as indecorous as it is uncharitable to
-sit in judgment on their decisions.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVI.
-
-THE CARE OF INFANTS.
-
-
-The topic of this chapter may well be prefaced by an extract from
-Herbert Spencer on the treatment of offspring. He first supposes that
-some future philosophic speculator, examining the course of education
-of the present period, should find nothing relating to the training of
-children, and that his natural inference would be that our schools were
-all for monastic orders, who have no charge of infancy and childhood.
-He then remarks, “Is it not an astonishing fact that, though on the
-treatment of offspring depend their lives or deaths and their moral
-welfare or ruin, yet that so little instruction on the treatment of
-offspring is ever given to those who will hereafter be parents? Is
-it not monstrous that the fate of a new generation should be left
-to the chances of unreasoning custom, or impulse, or fancy, joined
-with the suggestions of ignorant nurses and the prejudiced counsel of
-grandmothers?
-
-“If a merchant should commence business without any knowledge of
-arithmetic or book-keeping, we should exclaim at his folly, and look
-for disastrous consequences. Or if, without studying anatomy, a man
-set up as a surgeon, we should wonder at his audacity, and pity his
-patients. But that parents should commence the difficult work of
-rearing children without giving earnest attention to the principles,
-physical, moral, or intellectual, which ought to guide them, excites
-neither surprise at the actors nor pity for the victims.
-
-“To tens of thousands that are killed add hundreds of thousands that
-survive with feeble constitutions, and millions not so strong as they
-should be; and you will have some idea of the curse inflicted on their
-offspring by parents ignorant of the laws of life. Do but consider for
-a moment that the regimen to which children are subject is hourly
-telling upon them to their life-long injury or benefit, and that there
-are twenty ways of going wrong to one way of going right, and you
-will get some idea of the enormous mischief that is almost everywhere
-inflicted by the thoughtless, hap-hazard system in common use.
-
-“When sons and daughters grow up sickly and feeble, parents commonly
-regard the event as a visitation of Providence. They assume that these
-evils come without cause, or that the cause is supernatural. Nothing
-of the kind. In some cases causes are inherited, but in most cases
-foolish management is the cause. Very generally parents themselves are
-responsible for this pain, this debility, this depression, this misery.
-They have undertaken to control the lives of their offspring, and with
-cruel carelessness have neglected to learn those vital processes which
-they are daily affecting by their commands and prohibitions. In utter
-ignorance of the simplest physiological laws, they have been, year by
-year, undermining the constitutions of their children, and so have
-inflicted disease and premature death, not only on them but also on
-their descendants.
-
-“Equally great are the ignorance and consequent injury, when we
-turn from the physical to the moral training. Consider the young,
-untaught mother and her nursery legislation. A short time ago she
-was at school, where her memory was crammed with words and names
-and dates, and her reflective faculties scarcely in the slightest
-degree exercised—where not one idea was given her respecting the
-methods of dealing with the opening mind of childhood, and where her
-discipline did not in the least fit her for thinking out methods of
-her own. The intervening years have been spent in practicing music,
-fancy-work, novel-reading, and party-going, no thought having been
-given to the grave responsibilities of maternity, and scarcely any of
-that solid intellectual culture obtained which would fit her for such
-responsibilities; and now see her with an unfolding human character
-committed to her charge, see her profoundly ignorant of the phenomena
-with which she has to deal, undertaking to do that which can be done
-but imperfectly even with the aid of the profoundest knowledge!”
-
-In view of such considerations, every young lady ought to learn how
-to take proper care of an infant; for, even if she is never to become
-the responsible guardian of a nursery, she will often be in situations
-where she can render benevolent aid to others in this most fatiguing
-and anxious duty.
-
-The writer has known instances in which young ladies, who had been
-trained by their mothers properly to perform this duty, were in some
-cases the means of saving the lives of infants, and in others, of
-relieving sick mothers from intolerable care and anguish by their
-benevolent aid.
-
-On this point Dr. Combe remarks: “All women are not destined, in the
-course of nature, to become mothers; but how very small is the number
-of those who are unconnected, by family ties, friendship, or sympathy,
-with the children of others! How very few are there who, at some time
-or other of their lives, would not find their usefulness and happiness
-increased, by the possession of a kind of knowledge intimately allied
-to their best feelings and affections! And how important is it to the
-mother herself, that her efforts should be seconded by intelligent
-instead of ignorant assistants!”
-
-In order to be prepared for such benevolent ministries, every young
-lady should improve the opportunity, whenever it is afforded her, for
-learning how to wash, dress, and tend a young infant; and whenever she
-meets with such a work as Dr. Combe’s, on the management of infants,
-she ought to read it, and _remember_ its contents.
-
-The directions that follow have been taken from standard medical
-writers, or have been examined and approved by the highest class of
-physicians, and also by judicious and experienced mothers.
-
-Says Dr. Combe: “Nearly one half of the deaths occurring during
-the first two years of existence are ascribable to mismanagement,
-and to errors in diet. At birth, the stomach is feeble, and as yet
-unaccustomed to food; its cravings are consequently easily satisfied,
-and frequently renewed.” “At that early age, there ought to be no fixed
-time for giving nourishment. The stomach can not be thus satisfied.”
-“The active call of the infant is a sign, which needs never be
-mistaken.”
-
-“But care must be taken to determine between the crying of pain or
-uneasiness, and the call for food; and the practice of giving an infant
-food to stop its cries is often the means of increasing its sufferings.
-After a child has satisfied its hunger, from two to four hours,
-according to the age, should intervene before another supply is given.
-
-“At birth, the stomach and bowels, never having been used, contain a
-quantity of mucous secretion, which requires to be removed. To effect
-this, Nature has rendered the first portions of the mother’s milk
-purposely watery and laxative. Nurses, however, distrusting Nature,
-often hasten to administer some active purgative; and the consequence
-often is, irritation in the stomach and bowels, not easily subdued.” It
-is only where the child is deprived of its mother’s milk, as the first
-food, that some gentle laxative should be given.
-
-“It is a common mistake to suppose that because a woman is nursing,
-she ought to live very fully, and to add an allowance of wine, porter,
-or other fermented liquor, to her usual diet. The only result of this
-plan is, to cause an unnatural fullness in the system, which places
-the nurse on the brink of disease, and retards rather than increases
-the food of the infant. More will be gained by the observance of the
-ordinary laws of health than by any foolish deviation, founded on
-ignorance.”
-
-There is no point on which medical men so emphatically lift the voice
-of warning as in reference to administering medicines to infants. It
-is so difficult to discover what is the matter with an infant, its
-frame is so delicate and so susceptible, and slight causes have such a
-powerful influence, that it requires the utmost skill and judgment to
-ascertain what would be proper medicines, and the proper quantity to be
-given.
-
-Says Dr, Combe: “That there are cases in which active means must be
-promptly used to save the child, is perfectly true. But it is not
-less certain that these are cases of which no mother or nurse ought
-to attempt the treatment. As a general rule, where the child is well
-managed, medicine of any kind is very rarely required; and if disease
-were more generally regarded in its true light, not as something
-thrust into the system, which requires to be expelled by force, but as
-an aberration from a natural mode of action, produced by some external
-cause, we should be in less haste to attack it by medicine, and more
-watchful in its prevention. Accordingly, where a constant demand for
-medicine exists in a nursery, the mother may rest assured that there is
-something essentially wrong in the treatment of her children.
-
-“Much havoc is made among infants by the abuse of medicines, which
-procure momentary relief but end by producing incurable disease; and
-it has often excited my astonishment to see how recklessly remedies
-of this kind are had recourse to, on the most trifling occasions, by
-mothers and nurses, who would be horrified if they knew the nature
-of the power they are wielding, and the extent of injury they are
-inflicting.”
-
-Instead, then, of depending on medicine for the preservation of the
-health and life of an infant, the following precautions and preventives
-should be adopted:
-
-“Take particular care of the _food_ of an infant. If it is nourished by
-the mother, her own diet should be simple, nourishing, and temperate.
-If the child be brought up ‘by hand,’ the milk of a new milch-cow,
-mixed with one-third water, and sweetened a little with _white_
-sugar, should be the only food given, until the teeth come. This
-is more suitable than any preparations of flour or arrow-root, the
-nourishment of which is too highly concentrated. Never give a child
-_bread_, _cake_, or _meat_, before the teeth appear. If the food appear
-to distress the child after eating, first ascertain if the milk be
-really from a new milch-cow, as it may otherwise be too old. Learn,
-also, whether the cow lives on proper food. Cows that are fed on
-_still-slops_, as is often the case in cities, furnish milk which is
-very unhealthful.”
-
-Be sure and keep a good supply of pure and fresh air in the nursery.
-On this point Dr. Bell remarks, respecting rooms constructed without
-fire-places and without doors or windows to let in pure air from
-without, “The sufferings of children of feeble constitutions are
-increased beyond measure by such lodgings as these. An action, brought
-by the commonwealth, ought to lie against those persons who build
-houses for sale or rent, in which rooms are so constructed as not to
-allow of free ventilation; and a writ of lunacy taken out against those
-who, with the common-sense experience which all have on this head,
-should spend any portion of their time, still more, should sleep, in
-rooms thus nearly air-tight.”
-
-After it is a month or two old, take an infant out to walk, or ride,
-in a little wagon, every fair and warm day; but be very careful that
-its feet, and every part of its body, are kept warm; and be sure that
-its eyes are well protected from the light. Weak eyes, and sometimes
-blindness, are caused by neglecting this precaution. Keep the head of
-an infant cool, never allowing too warm bonnets, nor permitting it to
-sink into soft pillows when asleep. Keeping an infant’s head too warm
-very much increases nervous irritability, and this is the reason why
-medical men forbid the use of caps for infants. But the head of an
-infant should, especially while sleeping, be protected from draughts of
-air, and from getting cold.
-
-Be very careful of the skin of an infant, as nothing tends so
-effectually to prevent disease. For this end, it should be washed all
-over every morning, and then gentle friction should be applied with
-the hand, to the back, stomach, bowels, and limbs. The head should be
-thoroughly washed every day, and then brushed with a soft hair-brush,
-or combed with a fine comb. If, by neglect, dirt accumulates under the
-hair, apply with the finger the yelk of an egg, and then the fine comb
-will remove it all without any trouble.
-
-Dress the infant so that it will be always warm, but not so as to
-cause perspiration. Be sure and keep its feet always warm; and for
-this often warm them at a fire, and use long dresses. Keep the neck
-and arms covered. For this purpose, wrappers, open in front, made high
-in the neck, with long sleeves, to put on over the frock, are now very
-fashionable.
-
-It is better for both mother and child, that it should not sleep on
-the mother’s arm at night, unless the weather be extremely cold. This
-practice keeps the child too warm, and leads it to seek food too
-frequently. A child should ordinarily take nourishment but once or
-twice in the night. A crib beside the mother, with plenty of warm and
-light covering, is best for the child; but the mother must be sure that
-it is always kept warm.
-
-Never cover a child’s head so that it will inhale the air of its own
-lungs. In very warm weather, especially in cities, great pains should
-be taken to find fresh and cool air by rides and sailing. Walks in
-a public square in the cool of the morning, and frequent excursions
-in ferry or steamboats, would often save a long bill for medical
-attendance. In hot nights, the windows should be kept open, and the
-infant laid on a mattress, or on folded blankets. A bit of straw
-matting, laid over a feather-bed and covered with the under sheet,
-makes a very cool bed for an infant.
-
-Cool bathing, in hot weather, is very useful; but the water should be
-very little cooler than the skin of the child. When the constitution
-is delicate, the water should be slightly warmed. Simply sponging the
-body freely in a tub, answers the same purpose as a regular bath. In
-very warm weather this should be done two or three times a day, always
-waiting two or three hours after food has been given.
-
-“When the stomach is peculiarly irritable, (from teething,) it is of
-paramount necessity to withhold all the nostrums which have been so
-falsely lauded as ‘sovereign cures for _cholera infantum_.’ The true
-restoratives for a child threatened with disease are cool air, cool
-bathing, and cool drinks of simple water, in addition to _proper_ food,
-at stated intervals.”
-
-In many cases, change of air from sea to mountain, or the reverse,
-has an immediate healthful influence and is superior to every other
-treatment. Do not take the advice of mothers who tell of this, that,
-and the other thing, which have proved excellent remedies in their
-experience. Children have different constitutions, and there are
-multitudes of different causes for their sickness; and what might
-cure one child, might kill another which _appeared_ to have the same
-complaint. A mother should go on the general rule of giving an infant
-very little medicine, and then only by the direction of a discreet
-and experienced physician. And there are cases when, according to the
-views of the most distinguished and competent practitioners, physicians
-themselves are much too free in using medicines, instead of adopting
-preventive measures.
-
-Do not allow a child to form such habits that it will not be quiet
-unless tended and amused. A healthy child should be accustomed to lie
-or sit in its cradle much of the time; but it should occasionally be
-taken up and tossed, or carried about for exercise and amusement.
-An infant should be encouraged to _creep_, as an exercise very
-strengthening and useful. If the mother fears the soiling of its nice
-dresses, she can keep a long slip or apron which will entirely cover
-the dress, and can be removed when the child is taken in the arms. A
-child should not be allowed, when quite young, to bear its weight on
-its feet very long at a time, as this tends to weaken and distort the
-limbs.
-
-Many mothers, with a little painstaking, succeed in putting their
-infants into their cradle while awake, at regular hours for sleep; and
-induce regularity in other habits, which saves much trouble. During
-this training process a child may cry, at first, a great deal; but,
-for a healthy child, this use of the lungs does no harm, and tends
-rather to strengthen than to injure them, unless it becomes exceedingly
-violent. A child who is trained to lie or sit and amuse itself, is
-happier than one who is carried and tended a great deal, and thus
-rendered restless and uneasy when not so indulged.
-
-The most critical period in the life of an infant is that of dentition
-or teething, especially at the early stages. An adult has thirty-two
-teeth, but young children have only twenty, which gradually loosen
-and are followed by the permanent teeth. When the child has ten teeth
-on each jaw, all that are added are the permanent set, which should
-be carefully preserved; this caution is needful, as sometimes decay
-in the first double teeth of the second set are supposed to be of the
-transient set, and are so neglected, or are removed instead of being
-preserved by plugging. When the first teeth rise so as to press against
-the gums, there is always more or less inflammation, causing nervous
-fretfulness, and the impulse to put every thing into the mouth.
-Usually there is disturbed sleep, a slight fever, and greater flow of
-saliva; this is often relieved by letting the child have ice to bite,
-tied in a rag.
-
-Sometimes the disorder of the mouth extends to the whole system. In
-difficult teething, one symptom is the jerking back of the head when
-taking the breath, as if in pain, owing to the extreme soreness of the
-gums. This is, in extreme cases, attended with increased saliva and
-a gummy secretion in the corners of the eyes, itching of the nose,
-redness of cheeks, rash, convulsive twitching of lips and the muscles
-generally, fever, constipation, and sometimes by a diarrhea, which
-last is favorable if slight; difficulty of breathing, dilation of the
-pupils of the eyes, restless motion and moaning; and finally, if not
-relieved, convulsions and death. The most effective relief is gained
-by lancing the gums. Every woman, and especially every mother, should
-know the time and order in which the infant teeth come, and, when any
-of the above symptoms appear, should examine the mouth, and if a gum
-is swollen and inflamed, should either have a physician lance it, or
-if this can not be done, should perform the operation herself. A sharp
-pen-knife and steady hand, making an incision to touch the rising
-tooth, will cause no more pain than a simple scratch of the gum, and
-usually will give speedy relief.
-
-The temporary teeth should not be removed until the new ones appear,
-as it injures the jaw and coming teeth; but as soon as a new tooth is
-seen pressing upward, the temporary tooth should be removed, or the new
-tooth will come out of its proper place. If there is not room where the
-new tooth appears, the next temporary tooth must be taken out. Great
-mischief has been done by removing the first teeth before the second
-appear, thus making a contraction of the jaw.
-
-Most trouble with the teeth of young children comes from neglect to use
-the brush to remove the tartar that accumulates near the gum, causing
-disease and decay. This disease is sometimes called _scurvy_, and is
-shown by an accumulation around the teeth and by inflamed gums that
-bleed easily. Removal of the tartar by a dentist and cleaning the
-teeth after every meal with a brush will usually cure this evil, which
-causes loosening of the teeth and a bad breath.
-
-Much injury is often done to teeth by using improper tooth-powder. The
-tooth-brush should be used after every meal, and floss silk pressed
-between the teeth to remove food lodged there. This method will usually
-save the teeth from decay till old age, and there is no need of
-tooth-powder.
-
-When an infant seems ill during the period of dentition, the following
-directions from an experienced physician may be of service. It is
-now an accepted principle of the medical world that fevers are to
-be reduced by cold applications; but an infant demands careful and
-judicious treatment in this direction; some have extremely sensitive
-nerves, and cold is painful. For such, tepid sponging should be used
-near a fire, and the coldness increased gradually. The sensations of
-the child should be the guide. Usually, but not always, children that
-are healthy will learn by degrees to prefer cold water, and then it may
-safely be used.
-
-When an infant becomes feverish, wrapping its body in a towel wrung out
-in tepid or cold water, and then keeping it warm in a woolen blanket,
-is a very safe and soothing remedy.
-
-In case of constipation, this preparation of food is useful:
-
-One table-spoonful of unbolted flour wet with cold water. Add one pint
-of hot water, and boil twenty minutes. Add, when taken up, one pint of
-milk. If the stomach seems delicate and irritable, strain out the bran,
-but in most cases retain it.
-
-Where the mother’s milk fails, and good cow’s milk can not be insured,
-there are preparations of Oat-meal and barley-meal that are next best.
-These may be used when the mother’s milk is injured by ill health. A
-trial must be made to see which is best. Make a thin gruel, and add
-half a tea-spoonful of condensed milk, or four great spoonfuls of milk
-to a coffee-cup of the gruel for a young infant, and a full one for an
-older child.
-
-In case of diarrhea, walk with the child in arms a great deal in the
-open air, and give it rice-water to drink.
-
-The warmth and vital influences of the nurse are very important, and
-make this mode of exercise both more soothing and more efficacious,
-especially in the open air, the infant being warmly clad.
-
-In case of feverishness from teething or from any other cause, wrap
-the infant in a towel wrung out in tepid water, and then wrap it in a
-woolen blanket. The water may be cooler according as the child is older
-and stronger. The evaporation of the water draws off the heat, while
-the moisture soothes the nerves, and usually the child will fall into a
-quiet sleep. As soon as it becomes restless, change the wet towel and
-proceed as before.
-
-The leading physicians of Europe and of this country, in all cases
-of fevers, use cool water to reduce them, by this and other modes of
-application. This method is more soothing than any other, and is as
-effective for adults as for infants.
-
-Some of the most distinguished physicians of New York who have examined
-this chapter give their full approval of the advice given. If there is
-still distrust as to this mode of using water to reduce fevers, it will
-be advantageous to read an address on the use of cold applications in
-fevers, delivered by Dr. William Neftel, before the New York Academy
-of Medicine, published in the _New York Medical Record_ for November,
-1868; this can be obtained by inclosing twenty cents to the editor,
-with the post-office address of the applicant.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVII.
-
-THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
-
-
-In regard to the physical education of children, Dr. Clark, Physician
-in Ordinary to the Queen of England, expresses views on one point in
-which most physicians would coincide. He says: “There is no greater
-error in the management of children than that of giving them animal
-diet very early. By persevering in the use of an over-stimulating
-diet, the digestive organs become irritated, and the various
-secretions immediately connected with digestion, and necessary to it,
-are diminished, especially the _biliary secretion_. Children so fed
-become very liable to attacks of fever and inflammation, affecting
-particularly the mucous membranes; and measles and other diseases
-incident to childhood are generally severe in their attacks.”
-
-The result of the treatment of the inmates of the Orphan Asylum at
-Albany is one which all who have the care of young children should
-deeply ponder. During the first six years of the existence of this
-institution, its average number of children was eighty. For the first
-three years, their diet was meat once a day, bread of fine flour, rice,
-Indian puddings, vegetables, fruit, and milk. Considerable attention
-was given to clothing, fresh air, and exercise; and they were bathed
-once in three weeks. During these three years, from four to six
-children, and sometimes more, were continually on the sick-list; one
-or two assistant nurses were necessary; a physician was called two or
-three times a week; and during this time there were between thirty and
-forty deaths. At the end of this period, the management was changed
-in these respects: daily ablutions of the whole body were practiced;
-bread of unbolted flour was substituted for that of fine wheat; and all
-animal food was banished. More attention, also, was paid to clothing,
-bedding, fresh air, and exercise.
-
-The result was, that the nursery was vacated; the nurse and physician
-were no longer needed; and for two years not a single case of sickness
-or death occurred. The third year, also, there were no deaths, except
-those of two idiots and one other child, all of whom were new inmates,
-who had not been subjected to this treatment. The teachers of the
-children also testified there was a manifest increase of intellectual
-vigor and activity, while there was much less irritability of temper.
-
-Let parents, nurses, and teachers reflect on the above statement, and
-bear in mind that stupidity of intellect, and irritability of temper,
-as well as ill health, are often caused by the mismanagement of the
-nursery in regard to the physical training of children.
-
-There is probably no practice more deleterious than that of allowing
-children to eat at short intervals through the day. As the stomach is
-thus kept constantly at work, with no time for repose, its functions
-are deranged, and a weak or disordered stomach is the frequent result.
-Children should be required to keep cakes, nuts, and other good things,
-which should be sparingly given, till just before a meal, and then they
-will form a part of their regular supply. This is better than to wait
-till after their hunger is satisfied by food, when they will eat the
-niceties merely to gratify the palate, and thus overload the stomach
-and interrupt digestion.
-
-In regard to the intellectual training of young children, some
-modification in the common practice is necessary, with reference
-to their physical well-being. More care is needful in providing
-_well-ventilated_ school-rooms, and in securing more time for sports in
-the open air during school hours. It is very important to most mothers
-that their young children should be removed from their care during
-certain school hours; and it is very useful for quite young children
-to be subjected to the discipline of a school, and to intercourse with
-other children of their own age. And, with a suitable teacher, it is
-no matter how early children are sent to school, provided their health
-is not endangered by impure air, too much confinement, and too great
-mental stimulus, which is the chief danger of the present age.
-
-In regard to the formation of the moral character, it has been too
-much the case that the discipline of the nursery has consisted of
-disconnected efforts to make children either do, or refrain from doing,
-certain particular acts. Do this, and be rewarded; do that, and be
-punished; is the ordinary routine of family government.
-
-But children can be very early taught that their happiness, both now
-and hereafter, depends on the formation of _habits_ of submission,
-self-denial, and benevolence. And all the discipline of the nursery
-can be conducted by parents, not only with this general aim in their
-own minds, but also with the same object daily set before the minds
-of the children. Whenever their wishes are crossed, or their wills
-subdued, they can be taught that all this is done, not merely to please
-the parent, or to secure some good to themselves or to others; but
-as a part of that merciful training which is designed to form such a
-character, and such habits, that they can hereafter find their chief
-happiness in giving up their will to God, and in living to do good to
-others, instead of living merely to please themselves.
-
-It can be pointed out to them, that they must always submit their will
-to the will of God, or else be continually miserable. It can be shown
-how, in the nursery, and in the school, and through all future days,
-a child must practice the giving up of his will and wishes, when they
-interfere with the rights and comfort of others; and how important it
-is early to learn to do this, so that it will, by habit, become easy
-and agreeable. It can be shown how children who are indulged in all
-their wishes, and who are never accustomed to any self-denial, always
-find it hard to refrain from what injures themselves and others. It
-can be shown, also, how important it is for every person to form such
-habits of benevolence toward others that self-denial in doing good will
-become easy.
-
-Parents have learned, by experience, that children can be constrained
-by authority and penalties to exercise self-denial, for _their own_
-good, till a habit is formed which makes the duty comparatively easy.
-For example, well-trained children can be accustomed to deny themselves
-tempting articles of food which are injurious, until the practice
-ceases to be painful and difficult; whereas an indulged child would be
-thrown into fits of anger or discontent when its wishes were crossed by
-restraints of this kind.
-
-But it has not been so readily discerned that the same method is
-needful in order to form a habit of self-denial in doing good to
-others. It has been supposed that while children must be forced, by
-_authority_, to be self-denying and prudent in regard to their own
-happiness, it may properly be left to their own discretion whether they
-will practice any self-denial in doing good to others. But the more
-difficult a duty is, the greater is the need of parental authority in
-forming a habit which will make that duty easy.
-
-In order to secure this, some parents turn their earliest efforts to
-this object. They require the young child always to offer to others
-a part of every thing which it receives; always to comply with all
-reasonable requests of others for service; and often to practice little
-acts of self-denial, in order to secure some enjoyment for others. If
-one child receives a present of some nicety, he is required to share
-it with all his brothers and sisters. If one asks his brother to help
-him in some study or sport, and is met with a denial, the parent
-requires the unwilling child to act benevolently, and give up some of
-his time to increase his brother’s enjoyment. Of course, in such an
-effort as this discretion must be used as to the frequency and extent
-of the exercise of authority, to induce a habit of benevolence. But
-where parents deliberately aim at such an object, and wisely conduct
-their instructions and discipline to secure it, very much will be
-accomplished.
-
-In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been two extremes,
-both of which need to be shunned. One is, a stern and unsympathizing
-maintenance of parental authority, demanding perfect and constant
-obedience, without any attempt to convince a child of the propriety
-and benevolence of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of
-sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which are to be
-met. Under such discipline, children grow up to fear their parents,
-rather than to love and trust them; while some of the most valuable
-principles of character are chilled, or forever blasted.
-
-In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite extreme.
-They put themselves too much on the footing of equals with their
-children, as if little were due to superiority of relation, age, and
-experience. Nothing is exacted, without the implied concession that
-the child is to be a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and
-reason and persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience
-would be far better. This system produces a most pernicious influence.
-Children soon perceive the position thus allowed them, and take every
-advantage of it. They soon learn to dispute parental requirements,
-acquire habits of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful
-manners and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and yield
-to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their rights were
-infringed upon.
-
-The medium course is for the parent to take the attitude of a superior
-in age, knowledge, and relation, who has a perfect _right_ to control
-every action of the child, and that, too, without giving any reason for
-the requisitions. “Obey _because your parent commands_,” is always a
-proper and sufficient reason: though not always the best to give.
-
-But care should be taken to convince the child that the parent is
-conducting a course of discipline designed to make him happy; and in
-forming habits of implicit obedience, self-denial, and benevolence,
-the child should have the reasons for most requisitions kindly stated;
-never, however, on the demand of it from the child, as a right, but as
-an act of kindness from the parent.
-
-It is impossible to govern children properly, especially those of
-strong and sensitive feelings, without a constant effort to appreciate
-the value which they attach to their enjoyments and pursuits. A lady
-of great strength of mind and sensibility once told the writer that
-one of the most acute periods of suffering in her whole life was
-occasioned by the burning up of some milkweed-silk by her mother. The
-child had found, for the first time, some of this shining and beautiful
-substance; was filled with delight at her discovery; was arranging it
-in parcels; planning its future use, and her pleasure in showing it to
-her companions—when her mother, finding it strewed over the carpet,
-hastily swept it into the fire, and that, too, with so indifferent
-an air, that the child fled away, almost distracted with grief and
-disappointment. The mother little realized the pain she had inflicted,
-but the child felt the unkindness so severely that for several days
-her mother was an object almost of aversion. While, therefore, the
-parent needs to carry on a steady course, which will oblige the child
-always to give up its will, whenever its own good or the greater claims
-of others require it, this should be constantly connected with the
-expression of a tender sympathy for the trials and disappointments thus
-inflicted.
-
-Those, again, who will join with children and help them in their
-sports, will learn by this mode to understand the feelings and
-interests of childhood; while, at the same time, they secure a degree
-of confidence and affection which can not be gained so easily in any
-other way. And it is to be regretted that parents so often relinquish
-this most powerful mode of influence to domestics and playmates, who
-often use it in the most pernicious manner. In joining in such sports,
-older persons should never yield entirely the attitude of superiors,
-or allow disrespectful manners or address. And respectful deportment
-is never more cheerfully accorded, than in seasons when young hearts
-are pleased and made grateful by having their tastes and enjoyments so
-efficiently promoted.
-
-Next to the want of all government, the two most fruitful sources
-of evil to children are, _unsteadiness_ in government and
-_over-government_. Most of the cases in which the children of sensible
-and conscientious parents turn out badly, result from one or the other
-of these causes. In cases of unsteady government, either one parent
-is very strict, severe, and unbending, and the other excessively
-indulgent, or else the parents are sometimes very strict and decided,
-and at other times allow disobedience to go unpunished. In such cases,
-children, never knowing exactly when they can escape with impunity, are
-constantly tempted to make the trial.
-
-The bad effects of this can be better appreciated by reference to one
-important principle of the mind. It is found to be universally true
-that, when any object of desire is put entirely beyond the reach of
-hope or expectation, the mind very soon ceases to long for it, and
-turns to other objects of pursuit. But so long as the mind is hoping
-for some good, and making efforts to obtain it, any opposition excites
-irritable feelings. Let the object be put entirely beyond all hope, and
-this irritation soon ceases.
-
-In consequence of this principle, those children who are under the
-care of persons of steady and decided government know that, whenever
-a thing is forbidden or denied, it is out of the reach of hope; the
-desire, therefore, soon ceases, and they turn to other objects. But
-the children of undecided, or of over-indulgent parents, never enjoy
-this preserving aid. When a thing is denied, they never know but
-either coaxing may win it, or disobedience secure it without any
-penalty, and so they are kept in that state of hope and anxiety which
-produces irritation and tempts to insubordination. The children of
-very indulgent parents, and of those who are undecided and unsteady in
-government, are very apt to become fretful, irritable, and fractious.
-
-Another class of persons, in shunning this evil, go to the other
-extreme, and are very strict and pertinacious in regard to every
-requisition. With them, fault-finding and penalties abound, until
-the children are either hardened into indifference of feeling and
-obtuseness of conscience, or else become excessively irritable or
-misanthropic.
-
-It demands great wisdom, patience, and self-control, to escape these
-two extremes. In aiming at this, there are parents who have found the
-following maxims of very great value:
-
-First: Avoid, as much as possible, the multiplication of rules and
-absolute commands. Instead of this, take the attitude of advisers.
-“My child, this is improper, I wish you would remember not to do it.”
-This mode of address answers for all the little acts of heedlessness,
-awkwardness, or ill-manners so frequently occurring with children.
-There are cases when direct and distinct commands are needful, and
-in such cases a penalty for disobedience should be as steady and sure
-as the laws of nature. A barrel in the nursery, with a seat in it
-for the child, serves for a gentle and yet very effective solitary
-imprisonment, and is a most salutary penalty. Where such steadiness and
-certainty of penalty attend disobedience, children no more think of
-disobeying than they do of putting their fingers into a burning candle.
-
-The next maxim is, Govern by rewards more than by penalties. Such
-faults as willful disobedience, lying, dishonesty, and indecent or
-profane language, should be punished with severe penalties, after a
-child has been fully instructed in the evil of such practices. But all
-the constantly recurring faults of the nursery, such as ill-humor,
-quarreling, carelessness, and ill-manners, may, in a great many cases,
-be regulated by gentle and kind remonstrances, and by the offer of
-some reward for persevering efforts to form a good habit. It is very
-injurious and degrading to any mind to be kept under the constant fear
-of penalties. _Love_ and _hope_ are the principles that should be
-mainly relied on in forming the habits of childhood.
-
-Another maxim, and perhaps the most difficult, is, Do not govern by
-the aid of severe and angry tones. A single example will be given to
-illustrate this maxim. A child is disposed to talk and amuse itself
-at table. The mother requests it to be silent, except when needing to
-ask for food, or when spoken to by its older friends. It constantly
-forgets. The mother, instead of rebuking in an impatient tone, says,
-“My child, you must remember not to talk. I will remind you of it
-four times more, and after that, whenever you forget, you must leave
-the table and wait till we are done.” If the mother is steady in her
-government, it is not probable that she will have to apply this slight
-penalty more than once or twice. This method is far more effectual
-than the use of sharp and severe tones, to secure attention and
-recollection, and often answers the purpose as well as offering some
-reward.
-
-The writer has been in some families where the most efficient and
-steady government has been sustained without the use of a cross or
-angry tone; and in others, where a far less efficient discipline was
-kept up, by frequent severe rebukes and angry remonstrances. In the
-first case, the children followed the example set them, and seldom used
-severe tones to each other; in the latter, the method employed by the
-parents was imitated by the children, and cross words and angry tones
-resounded from morning till night in every portion of the household.
-
-Another important maxim is, Try to keep children in a happy state of
-mind. Every one knows, by experience, that it is easier to do right
-and submit to rule when cheerful and happy, than when irritated. This
-is peculiarly true of children; and a wise mother, when she finds her
-child fretful and impatient, and thus constantly doing wrong, will
-often remedy the whole difficulty by telling some amusing story, or by
-getting the child engaged in some amusing sport. This strongly shows
-the importance of learning to govern children without the employment of
-angry tones, which always produce irritation.
-
-Children of active, heedless temperament, or those who are odd,
-awkward, or unsuitable in their remarks and deportment, are often
-essentially injured by a want of patience and self-control in those
-who govern them. Such children often possess a morbid sensibility
-which they strive to conceal, or a desire of love and approbation,
-which preys like a famine on the soul. And yet they become objects
-of ridicule and rebuke to almost every member of the family, until
-their sensibilities are tortured into obtuseness or misanthropy. Such
-children, above all others, need tenderness and sympathy. A thousand
-instances of mistake or forgetfulness should be passed over in silence,
-while opportunities for commendation and encouragement should be
-diligently sought.
-
-In regard to the formation of habits of self-denial in childhood, it
-is astonishing to see how parents who are very sensible often seem to
-regard this matter. Instead of inuring their children to this duty
-in early life, so that by habit it may be made easy in after-days,
-they seem to be studiously seeking to cut them off from every chance
-to secure such a preparation. Every wish of the child is studiously
-gratified; and, where a necessity exists of crossing its wishes, some
-compensating pleasure is offered in return. Such parents often maintain
-that nothing shall be put on their table which their children may not
-join them in eating. But where, so easily and surely as at the daily
-meal, can that habit of self-denial be formed which is so needful
-in governing the appetites, and which children must acquire, or be
-ruined? The food which is proper for grown persons is often unsuitable
-for children; and this is a sufficient reason for accustoming them
-to see others partake of delicacies which they must not share.
-Requiring children to wait till others are helped, and to refrain
-from conversation at table, except when addressed by their elders,
-is another mode of forming habits of self-denial and self-control.
-Requiring them to help others first, and to offer the best to others,
-has a similar influence.
-
-In forming the moral habits of children, it is wise to take into
-account the peculiar temptations to which they are to be exposed. The
-people of this nation are eminently a trafficking people; and the
-present standard of honesty, as to trade and debts, is very low, and
-every year seems sinking still lower. It is, therefore, pre-eminently
-important that children should be trained to strict _honesty_, both in
-word and deed. It is not merely teaching children to avoid absolute
-lying, which is needed: _all kinds of deceit_ should be guarded
-against, and all kinds of little dishonest practices be strenuously
-opposed. A child should be brought up with the determined principle
-never to _run in debt_, but to be content to live in a humbler way,
-in order to secure that true independence which should be the noblest
-distinction of an American citizen.
-
-Quite as important in family and school training is enforcing the _law
-that protects character_, which is more precious than gold, while
-the most cruel sufferings result from want of honor and care in this
-respect. Especially is the enforcement of this law important at this
-period, when there are such constant and destructive examples of its
-violation both by the press and by general practice.
-
-This law of benevolence and rectitude is this: every person who has
-established a fair character in any direction should have it upheld
-by _all_, as a protection against unproved rumors that impeach this
-character. Such rumors should _always_ be met with the question, Is it
-_proved_ by _proper_ evidence? If it is not, then it is a slander, and
-whoever aids to circulate it should be treated as an abettor of slander.
-
-To illustrate this, take a not uncommon case: A lady, who for thirty
-years held the highest character for purity, propriety, and good
-principles, was accused by a man of high position of following him
-with repeated solicitations for marriage. He offered no proof but
-his assertion, which was nullified by her denial. In this case, the
-man should have been treated as a slanderer, and those who aided in
-circulating his story as abettors of slander.
-
-Every woman is especially interested in sustaining this law, for it is
-a dreadful mortification and disgrace to a delicate and refined woman
-to have certain questions even connected with her name. Not less so
-is it to a clergyman of keen sensibilities. And it is an insult to
-ask a person thus abused to furnish denials and defense. _Established
-character_ should protect both the person thus maligned and also their
-nearest friends from hearing, much less from noticing, such mean and
-disgraceful assaults.
-
-There is no more important duty devolving upon an educator than the
-cultivation of habits of modesty and propriety in young children. All
-indecorous words or deportment should be carefully restrained, and
-delicacy and reserve studiously cherished. It is a common notion, that
-it is important to secure these virtues to one sex more than to the
-other; and, by a strange inconsistency, the sex most exposed to danger
-is the one selected as least needing care. Yet a wise mother will be
-especially careful that her sons are trained to modesty and purity of
-mind.
-
-The rule which should guide on this subject is this: Whenever health,
-life, or duty demand it, all connected with such topics and duties
-should be spoken of and done without embarrassment or restraint; but in
-no other circumstances. Thus in the Bible, instruction on the dangers
-and duties connected with our bodily organization are set forth in
-plain and simple language, to be read in public worship and in private
-by all. So, in medical, surgical, and nursing duties, the same freedom
-is demanded, and disapproval or opposition are deemed false modesty and
-foolish fastidiousness. But where there are no such demands for health
-and safety, then conversation, poetry, pictures, jokes, and coarse
-allusions are vulgar, indecent, and sinful.
-
-Few mothers are sufficiently aware of the dreadful penalties which
-often result from indulged impurity of thought. If children, in
-_future_ life, can be preserved from licentious associates, it is
-supposed that their safety is secured. But the records of our insane
-retreats, and the pages of medical writers, teach that even in
-solitude, and without being aware of the sin or the danger, children
-may inflict evils on themselves which not unfrequently terminate in
-disease, delirium, and death.
-
-There is no necessity for explanations on this point any further than
-this, that certain parts of the body are not to be touched except for
-purposes of cleanliness, and that the most dreadful suffering comes
-from disobeying these commands. So in regard to practices and sins
-of which a young child will sometimes inquire, the wise parent will
-say, that this is what children can not understand, and about which
-they must not talk or ask questions. And they should be told that it
-is always a bad sign when children talk on matters which parents call
-vulgar and indecent, and that the company of such children should
-be avoided. Disclosing details of wrong-doing to young and curious
-children, often leads to the very evils feared. But parents and
-teachers, in this age of danger, should be well informed and watchful;
-for it is not unfrequently the case that servants and school-mates will
-teach young children practices which exhaust the nervous system, and
-bring on paralysis, mania, and death.
-
-But there are social dangers during and after childhood which demand
-from mothers and teachers such instructions as are rarely given; and
-yet, for the want of it, the most dreadful vices and sufferings ensue.
-
-The evils and dangers here indicated can never be understood or
-appreciated till mothers and teachers gain that knowledge of the
-construction of the body, and the dangers connected with duties of the
-family state, which is now confined almost entirely to the medical
-profession, while physicians, by false customs and false modesty on the
-part of women, are constrained to a reticence which is dangerous and
-often fatal. The difficulty can be wisely met, not by public lectures
-or by pulpit ministries. It is in the privacy of the nursery and the
-school-room that well-instructed mothers and teachers must train the
-young to meet these dangers, by all needful knowledge and habits of
-intelligent self-control.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVIII.
-
-FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
-
-
-There are few women who have charge of servants or of children, in
-the family and school, who do not suffer anxiety and perplexity, and
-sometimes remorse, in attempts to perform their duty as chief ministers
-of religion in the family state. The following suggestions may aid in
-diminishing these difficulties:
-
-The main foundation of these troubles is the endless diversities
-of instruction as to what is right in character and conduct, and
-especially as to what is taught in the Bible on these points. For there
-are few practical questions on which persons of equal intelligence
-and moral worth are not in antagonism as to what _is_ the right; and
-all the Christian sects are in equal controversy as to what are the
-teachings of the Bible. And yet every housekeeper, every mother, and
-every teacher, practically, must decide these questions for herself
-and her dependants, when, in the kitchen, nursery, and school-room
-she teaches what actions and feelings are right or wrong, or when
-she decides to what religious denomination she, and those she can
-influence, shall belong.
-
-There is one consoling consideration in view of these conflicting
-opinions, and that is, that nothing tends more directly to cultivate
-both the intellect and moral feelings, than the study, reflection,
-and discussion resulting from this trying dilemma. For, were every
-human being infallibly directed by a superior mind as to every step
-and every decision, it would greatly diminish mental effort, and the
-moral discipline of life. All would remain as mere children, guided and
-upheld at every step. Instead of this, the whole moral and intellectual
-world is kept vigorous, earnest, and bright by conflict and discussion,
-while many moral virtues are cultivated by this turmoil.
-
-The difficulties thus encountered may be much reduced by gaining clear
-ideas as to _what it is_ which constitutes voluntary action _right_.
-To settle this more clearly, we introduce again a portion of Chapter
-XXV., with additional considerations. The definition of _right_, in its
-widest use, is “any rule or method which will _best_ accomplish any
-plan or design.” It is a fact, also, that there is a created intuitive
-belief in all rational minds that happiness-making on the largest scale
-possible is the end or purpose for which all things are made.
-
-This is proved by the fact that whenever men perceive that a given
-course will secure the most and the best good for both the individual
-and for society, all decide that it is _right_. The main difficulty is
-in discovering what _is_ the best for all concerned.
-
-There are two ways in which mankind learn this. The first is, by the
-trial of experience. Man learns “to know good and evil” by good lost
-or gained, and evil suffered. This experimenting has been going on in
-all ages, each generation gaining by the experience of the past. The
-other mode is, by revelations from God made in human language, and to
-be interpreted by the common rules of the language employed.
-
-But one distinction is very important, and that is, the two relations
-in which an action is to be judged as right, viz., first, with
-reference to the action as best for all concerned, and next in
-reference to the motive or intention of the actor. For it is best and
-right that every mind should choose what it believes to be right; and
-thus it often happens that the same action is right as to motive or
-intention, and wrong as to actual result. So, also, an action may be
-right in tendency and result, while it is wrong as to motive. There is
-often much confusion from not recognizing this distinction.
-
-There are many cases where experience will not avail in deciding what
-is best for all, especially in reference to our prospects after death,
-and our relations and duties toward our Creator. For all this we are
-dependent on revelations made in human language, to be interpreted
-by the rules of language. And as almost all words have more than
-one literal meaning, and are also used sometimes in a literal, and
-sometimes in a figurative sense, the chief labor in gaining God’s
-teaching is in applying rightly the laws of language.
-
-One difficulty in this attempt is the fact that the true interpretation
-of language depends greatly on the habits of thought, the prejudices
-of education, and the influence of excited feelings and wishes. So
-strong are these influences in the common affairs of life, that it has
-been a maxim of courts that a man is not qualified to testify where
-his own interests are concerned. And in all daily affairs, men always
-make allowances for deviation from a true judgment in what greatly
-interests the feelings. This accounts for the fact that such a variety
-of interpretations are put on the plain and natural meaning of the
-Bible, when such a meaning controverts favorite opinions or interferes
-with important plans or hopes. It is not because it is difficult to
-interpret the Bible correctly by the proper use of those rules men
-employ in daily life; it is because men’s feelings, prejudices, and
-wishes interfere. No less is it the case that the bias of feeling
-constantly sways the judgment of men in deciding what is right and
-best, where experience and reason are the chief guides.
-
-Another embarrassment in gaining the true teachings of the Bible is
-the fact that the doctrines of churches and creeds have consisted
-extensively of philosophical theories to explain the _how_ and the
-_why_ of the facts made known by revelation; and men have been educated
-to believe that these theories should be accepted as authoritative, the
-same as the revealed facts, and thus feeling and prejudice interfere.
-For example, that the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ was needful
-to secure redemption to our race from sin and its penalties, is the
-revealed fact. _Why_ it was needed, and _how_ it avails to save men,
-is a question which men have invented various theories to answer and
-explain, and belief in these theories has been deemed as sacred and
-obligatory as if they were matters of revelation.
-
-Another, and the chief difficulty, is the fact that the great mass,
-even of educated minds, have never been trained to use the rules of
-language in the interpretation of the Bible as they do in common life.
-Although it is the great and distinctive principle of Protestantism
-that every man is to form his own creed, and to interpret the Bible for
-himself, responsible not to man but to God alone, the common people
-have not been trained properly to use this right and privilege. And
-this is not because it is not as easy and practical a matter as any
-other duty requiring intellectual culture, practical exercises, and an
-honest desire for the truth. In consequence of this, much that is only
-figurative in the Bible has been received as literal, and repellent
-doctrines thus established.
-
-It is probable that no one thing could so effectually promote unity
-of opinion among churches, and consequent harmony of action, as the
-proper training of the common people in the nursery and school-room
-to use the laws of language with the Bible as they do in common life.
-Such training would also bring confidence and peace to minds so
-extensively perplexed by supposed contradictions as to its teachings.
-It was by this method that the writer overcame difficulties, and gained
-such confidence and peace as can be secured in no other way. Without
-stating the results of her own efforts in interpreting the Bible, a
-few examples will follow, to illustrate the position that any woman of
-ordinary capacity can find relief and comfort by the same method.
-
-We will take, first, the great question of this life. What are our
-dangers in the future life, and what must we do to be saved from them?
-
-The following is a brief statement of the views of mankind on this
-question. Among the heathen, especially among the wisest and best,
-it was held that the virtuous would fare better after death than the
-wicked. The seventy-third Psalm shows in most terrific language the
-misery of the wicked, and as clearly the blessedness of the righteous
-at death, as believed by the Jews in all ages.
-
-Among Christian nations, a large class have no definite opinions on
-this question, but by their practice assume that there is no danger at
-all, and so give all their thoughts and aims to the things of this life.
-
-A large class who profess to obtain their opinions from the Bible hold
-that, either at death or at some period after, all mankind will be
-forever good and happy in heaven.
-
-Another large class hold that a portion of mankind will, at death, go
-to everlasting misery, to be tormented with literal fire and brimstone,
-and that all the rest will finally go to heaven; but previously the
-good must suffer temporary punishment for sins committed here—this
-period of suffering being more or less diminished by penances, and by
-the sacrifices and good works of Jesus Christ and the good on earth.
-
-Another class believe that at death every human being passes directly
-to perfect happiness in heaven, or to dreadful sufferings in hell which
-are never to end. One part of this class hold that the punishment
-is literally existing forever in fire and brimstone, and the other
-part hold that the suffering will be the natural result of an endless
-character that insures misery, and that the language of the Bible
-expresses this figuratively.
-
-Finally, another class hold that, in the life to come, happiness and
-misery depend on _character_; that a portion of our race in this life
-forms one that insures immediate and endless happiness at death; that
-another portion form a character that involves great suffering after
-death; and that in _some_ cases this character is perpetuated forever,
-involving consequent endless suffering. But they claim that the Bible
-nowhere teaches that with _all_ mankind character is fixed at death.
-Instead of this, what intervenes between death and the final day, when
-the righteous and wicked are to be reclothed in bodies and forever
-separated, is left in wise darkness.
-
-But the most striking fact in these diverse opinions is, that Christian
-sects all agree that the number who will escape from whatever dangers
-there may be, depends upon the self-denying labor and sacrifices of the
-followers of Jesus Christ.
-
-In view of these facts, the first duty of every housekeeper, of every
-mother, and of every teacher, is to decide which of these views as to
-the dangers awaiting us all at death are taught by Jesus Christ and his
-apostles. For if it be true that scholars, children, and servants must
-be trained to self-sacrifice and self-denying labor, in order to save
-themselves and their fellow-men from dreadful risks and dangers in the
-life to come, all the practical duties of daily life will be diverse
-from the methods pursued by those who believe in no such dangers.
-
-To illustrate this, suppose several families recently settled near a
-deep, unexplored wood in a new country. The children ramble in its
-shades, and every day find new beauties and curiosities to attract
-them farther into its reserves. On a certain day a man arrives from a
-distant place, all torn and bleeding in efforts to reach them. He tells
-them that there is a frightful ravine in the unexplored depths; that
-pleasant but slippery paths lead to it; that it is the resort of fierce
-and cruel animals, which come forth and roam through its beautiful
-shades, and that there is no safety but in keeping the children from
-entering these dangerous woods.
-
-Now these points would be clear to common sense: first, that the man,
-though an entire stranger, is a benevolent person, because he evidently
-has suffered severely to save; next, that he tells what he believes is
-the truth, or he would not encounter this suffering; and lastly, as he
-says he has long lived in that vicinity, that he has had the means of
-knowing the truth, and his representations are to be received as true.
-
-Suppose, then, one family have perfect faith in this messenger, they
-will use every possible precaution to avoid the dangers revealed.
-Suppose another family is skeptical about the danger, and yet has
-some fear it may be true, they would use some care, and yet not be so
-anxious and earnest as the family which had perfect faith. Suppose
-another family to have no belief at all as to the danger, they would
-allow their children to roam as before, and give no care or thought
-to the matter. This illustrates the position that belief in danger
-modifies all rules of duty, and that faith is proved by men’s conduct
-or works.
-
-In like manner faith in Jesus Christ, who came in suffering and sorrow
-to tell of dangers in the unseen world, is proved by the way men live.
-If they have perfect faith in the dangers he reveals, then the most
-earnest efforts to save themselves and their fellow-men from ignorance
-and sin will follow. If they have little faith, they will make less
-exertions; if they have no fears for the future life, all their plans
-will terminate in gaining the good things of this life for themselves
-and those they love, sure that all the rest of mankind will be happy
-when they die, and that their troubles here will only serve to make
-rest and enjoyment the greater in the coming life.
-
-The following is the method by which any woman may decide what is truth
-on this great question, so as to be at rest.
-
-It is first assumed that the Bible is written for the common people,
-and is to be interpreted by the rules of language men employ in common
-life, which, briefly, are these:
-
-The first is, all expressions are literal when they do not contradict
-the known nature of things, or known facts, or the known opinions of
-the writer; in which latter case they usually are figurative, but have
-as definite a meaning as if literal. For example, “everlasting” and
-“forever” mean “time without end,” unless contrary to known facts, or
-the known nature of things, or the known opinions of the writer. So
-“punishment” _always_ signifies “pain consequent either on violating a
-natural or some instituted law.”
-
-The second rule is, when any expression has several significations,
-that is to be taken as the right one which has _the most_ evidence in
-its favor. Let any woman of ordinary ability and education apply these
-rules to the texts on this subject, and she will find little difficulty
-in deciding what the Bible teaches as the dangers of the future life.
-
-Another example will be given on a subject which causes great anxiety
-and perplexity, and which may be relieved by the same method. The
-question is, Why does a Being of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness
-allow the dreadful miseries that oppress mankind, and, still more, why
-will he allow sin and suffering to reach through eternal ages? Many
-suppose that revelation gives no reply to this longing inquiry.
-
-But when we take the language of the Bible in its common and literal
-sense, we find a satisfactory answer. For _perfect wisdom_ is “that
-which chooses the _best_ means for the _best_ ends,” and _perfect
-benevolence_ is “that which seeks to make the most possible happiness
-with the least possible suffering.” Therefore, when God reveals
-himself as perfect in wisdom and goodness, it is the same as saying
-that he has done, and will do, _all in his power_ to save from sin and
-suffering. Almighty power does not signify power to work contradictions
-or absurdities; and all theologians teach that there is a limitation
-of power in the _nature of things_. Thus some say God can not forgive
-sin without an atonement; others, that he can not lie; others, that he
-“can not govern the stars by the ten commandments, nor free agents by
-the attraction of gravity.” And God says of his people Israel, “What
-_could_ I have done that I have not done” to secure their obedience.
-
-God’s inability to save _all_ is expressly stated when he declares that
-he is “not willing that any should perish.” The only proof of want of
-power to do something is to _will_ it done, and yet it remains undone.
-And God declares that he is not willing to have any one perish. Still
-more effectively is this proved by his suffering and that of his dear
-Son, when Christ came. No sane mind ever suffers pain to gain an end
-when it could be gained without suffering; and the revelation of God
-as having suffered so greatly, is the highest proof that can be given
-that his power is limited in controlling free agents by the very nature
-of free agency. In his hour of extremity, our Lord prayed, “_If it
-be possible_, remove this cup;” thus indicating that almighty power
-signifies power to do all possible things, and that some things are
-_not_ possible even to God.
-
-The first question being settled, that there are _dangers_ to be met
-after death, the next is, “What must we do to be saved?”
-
-Here the Christian churches are divided, and on a fundamental point,
-which briefly is this: One class claims that God has the power to
-create minds so that, without any previous knowledge or training, they
-shall not only know what is right, but have a controlling principle
-that in all cases will secure right choice, and that the minds of all
-angels and of our first parents were made on this pattern. But owing to
-Adam’s sin, all infants are born without this perfect organization,
-and so depraved that eternal sin and suffering in hell is the portion
-of all who are not regenerated before they die, while there is no
-_certain_ way revealed by which parents can insure this boon for all
-their offspring.
-
-The other class claim that the assumption that God can, or ever did,
-create minds on this pattern, is a theological theory for which no
-evidence exists in revelation or in nature; that it destroys the
-evidence of the benevolence of God, making him prefer the sin and
-suffering of infants, when he has power to make them with such minds.
-They claim also that if a holy mind consists in a controlling purpose
-or choice to do right, that it is a contradiction in terms to say that
-a free agent can be created with such a purpose or choice. For the
-distinctive feature of a free agent is intellect to perceive right and
-wrong, and power to choose in either of two courses; and choice can
-not be created. It is also objected that by this theory the chief aim
-of an educator is not so much to teach what is right and wrong, and
-secure motives and training to induce such habits of obedience to God’s
-laws as eventually will secure a controlling purpose of obedience, but
-rather to employ means by which God shall regenerate the depraved mind.
-
-Let it be particularly noticed that these two classes do not differ
-as to the _facts_ revealed. Both recognize the fact taught, as much
-by experience as by revelation, that every child has such a nature as
-insures the constant violation of natural law, while it is entirely
-destitute of a controlling principle of love to God and man. They
-differ mainly as to a theory of accounting for this fact. One teaches
-that it is because the mind at birth is ignorant, undeveloped,
-and untrained; the other teaches that it is owing to an imperfect
-constitutional nature, for which God or Adam, or both, are responsible.
-
-Every woman must examine and decide for herself on which of these
-systems she will train her family. In this attempt women have one
-advantage, and that is, they are not so liable to embarrassment and
-prejudice as they would be were they, as are most of their religious
-teachers, trained in systematic theology.
-
-The writer has had an experience in both methods, which may have
-some influence in regard to belief in the teachings of the Bible as
-to the dreadful dangers to be met in the life to come. This was the
-mainspring of feeling and effort in her father, who trained a large
-family to believe and to feel that the great object of life should be
-_to save as many as possible from eternal ruin_. Wealth, honor, power,
-and every earthly good, in his mind, was as the dust of the balance
-compared with this overmastering passion. It was this dreadful danger
-to herself, and to those she loved best, that changed a frolicsome,
-hopeful, light-hearted girl to a serious, hard-working woman as nothing
-else could have done. It was this that stimulated a mind whose natural
-tendency was to works of taste, light literature, and fun, to anxious
-investigation in theology, metaphysics, and Biblical science.
-
-And the results in family and personal training are equally manifest
-in the history of Christian sects. It is those which are most deeply
-convinced of dreadful dangers in the life to come which have been
-most advanced in mental development, and in benevolent labor and
-self-sacrifice. Such heroic suffering and devotion to the best
-interests of humanity have never been witnessed on a large scale,
-except in denominations whose fundamental and motive power is belief in
-dreadful dangers to be encountered after death. The great difficulty
-in many of these denominations has been a theological theory as to the
-created constitution of mind, which tended to lessen hope and exertion
-in that training by which escape from these dangers is most readily and
-happily secured.
-
-The course here suggested does not imply independent investigation,
-without aid from men of learning and piety. Every doctrine of theology,
-and every antagonistic mode of Biblical interpretation, has been
-sustained by such men. But with a reference Bible and Concordance, any
-woman of ordinary capacity can collect all that the Bible contains on a
-given topic, and form a decision as to which view has the most evidence
-in its favor. Then she can learn what has been offered both for and
-against this view. This having been done with a prayerful spirit, the
-result will rarely fail in bringing satisfaction and peace; while
-both intellectually and morally such exercises will have an elevating
-tendency.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIX.
-
-THE CARE OF SERVANTS.
-
-
-In the chapter on the _Right Use of Time and Property_, the important
-explanation was made of the great law of love to God and to our
-neighbor, which includes in its aim and spirit all other laws. The
-distinction is there exhibited between instinctive _emotional_
-love, caused by agreeable qualities in persons and things, and the
-_voluntary_ love which is “good-will” toward God and man on the best
-and most extensive scale. This love is identified in the great command
-itself by the expression “as thyself.” For the love of self is not
-pleasure created by our own agreeable qualities. It rather is the
-all-controlling desire to make self happy. For this end we are required
-to obey the laws of God, and thus secure the best and highest happiness
-both to ourselves and to our neighbors.
-
-In addition to this supreme law, made clear both by the intuitive
-principle of mind and in the revealed laws of the Old Testament, we
-have the teachings of Jesus Christ as to the character of God as
-a loving Father to all his creatures. And, what is especially to
-be regarded in estimating the obligations of a housekeeper to her
-servants, we are taught that our heavenly Father feels the most care
-and interest in those of his children who are the most ignorant, the
-most neglected, and the most sinful. As the loving parent gives the
-most thought and tender care to the most feeble and imperfect child, so
-the Father of All most anxiously cares for the weak, the ignorant, and
-the wandering of mankind.
-
-Few of Christ’s professed followers at the present day realize
-what obligations they assume when they prepare large houses and
-establishments, which bring the most neglected members of society under
-their care as members of the family state.
-
-Did they understand the sacred obligations thus assumed to train the
-humble members of their family with the care and Christian love taught
-by both the precept and example of our Divine Lord, it is probable most
-would reduce their style of living, so that their own children, with
-one or two of God’s most neglected ones, would embrace all for whom
-they would dare to assume such obligations.
-
-The preceding presents the general principles to guide a housekeeper
-as to her duty in the care of servants. The following will suggest
-important details and considerations. Those in quotation-marks are from
-Mrs. Stowe’s “House and Home Papers.”
-
-“Although in earlier ages the highest-born, wealthiest, and proudest
-ladies were skilled in the simple labors of the household, the advance
-of society toward luxury has changed all this, especially in lands
-of aristocracy and classes; and at the present time America is the
-only country where there is a class of women who may be described as
-_ladies_ who do their own work. By a lady we mean a woman of education,
-cultivation, and refinement, of liberal tastes and ideas, who, without
-any very material additions or changes, would be recognized as a lady
-in any circle of the Old World or the New.
-
-“The existence of such a class is a fact peculiar to American society,
-a plain result of the new principles involved in the doctrine of
-universal equality.
-
-“When the colonists first came to this country, of however mixed
-ingredients their ranks might have been composed, and however imbued
-with the spirit of feudal and aristocratic ideas, the discipline of
-the wilderness soon brought them to a democratic level; the gentleman
-felled the wood for his log-cabin side by side with the plowman, and
-thews and sinews rose in the market. ‘A man was deemed honorable in
-proportion as he lifted his hand upon the high trees of the forest.’
-So in the interior domestic circle, mistress and maid, living in a
-log-cabin together, became companions, and sometimes the maid, as the
-one well trained in domestic labor, took precedence of the mistress. It
-also became natural and unavoidable that children should begin to work
-as early as they were capable of it.
-
-“The result was a generation of intelligent people brought up to labor
-from necessity, but devoting to the problem of labor the acuteness of
-a disciplined brain. The mistress, outdone in sinews and muscles by
-her maid, kept her superiority by skill and contrivance. If she could
-not lift a pail of water, she could invent methods which made lifting
-the pail unnecessary; if she could not take a hundred steps without
-weariness, she could make twenty answer the purpose of a hundred.
-
-“Then were to be seen families of daughters, handsome, strong women,
-rising each day to their indoor work with cheerful alertness—one to
-sweep the room, another to make the fire, while a third prepared the
-breakfast for the father and brothers who were going out to manly
-labor: and they chatted meanwhile of books, studies, embroidery;
-discussed the last new poem, or some historical topic started by graver
-reading, or perhaps a rural ball that was to come off next week. They
-spun with the book tied to the distaff; they wove; they did all manner
-of fine needle-work; they made lace, painted flowers, and, in short, in
-the boundless consciousness of activity, invention, and perfect health,
-set themselves to any work of which they had ever read or thought. A
-bride in those days was married with sheets and table-cloths of her
-own weaving, with counterpanes and toilet-covers wrought in divers
-embroidery by her own and her sisters’ hands. The amount of fancy-work
-done in our days by girls who have nothing else to do will not equal
-what was done by those who performed, in addition, the whole work of
-the family.
-
-“In those former days most women were in good health, debility and
-disease being the exception. Then, too, was seen the economy of
-daylight and its pleasures. They were used to early rising, and would
-not lie in bed if they could. Long years of practice made them familiar
-with the shortest, neatest, most expeditious method of doing every
-household office, so that really, for the greater part of the time in
-the house, there seemed, to a looker-on, to be nothing to do. They rose
-in the morning and dispatched husband, father, and brothers to the farm
-or wood-lot; went sociably about, chatting with each other, skimmed the
-milk, made the butter, and turned the cheeses. The forenoon was long;
-all the so-called morning work over, they had leisure for an hour’s
-sewing or reading before it was time to start the dinner preparations.
-By two o’clock the house-work was done, and they had the long afternoon
-for books, needle-work, or drawing—for perhaps there was one with a
-gift at her pencil. Perhaps one read aloud while others sewed, and
-managed in that way to keep up a great deal of reading.
-
-“It has been remarked in our armies that the men of cultivation, though
-bred in delicate and refined spheres, can bear up under the hardships
-of camp-life better and longer than rough laborers. The reason is, that
-an educated mind knows how to use and save its body, to work it and
-spare it, as an uneducated mind can not; and so the college-bred youth
-brings himself safely through fatigues which kill the unreflective
-laborer.
-
-“Cultivated, intelligent women, who are brought up to do the work of
-their own families, are labor-saving institutions. They make the head
-save the wear of the muscles. By forethought, contrivance, system, and
-arrangement, they lessen the amount to be done, and do it with less
-expense of time and strength than others. The old New England motto,
-_Get your work done up in the forenoon_, applied to an amount of work
-which would keep the most common Irish servant toiling from daylight to
-sunset.
-
-“Those remarkable women of old, in a measure, were made by
-circumstances. There were, comparatively speaking, no servants to be
-had, and so children were trained to habits of industry and mechanical
-adroitness from the cradle, and every household process was reduced
-to the very minimum of labor. Every step required in a process was
-counted, every movement calculated; and she who took ten steps when
-one would do, lost her reputation for ‘faculty.’ Certainly such an
-early drill was of use in developing the health and the bodily powers,
-as well as in giving precision to the practical mental faculties.
-All household economies were arranged with equal niceness in those
-thoughtful minds. A trained housekeeper knew just how many sticks of
-hickory of a certain size were required to heat her oven, and how many
-of each different kind of wood. She knew by a sort of intuition just
-what kinds of food would yield the most palatable nutriment with the
-least outlay of accessories in cooking. She knew to a minute the time
-when each article must go into and be withdrawn from her oven; and
-if she could only lie in her chamber and direct, she could guide an
-intelligent child through the processes with mathematical certainty.
-
-“Now, if every young woman learned to do house-work, and cultivated
-her practical faculties in early life, she would, in the first place,
-be much more likely to keep her servants; and, in the second place,
-if she lost them temporarily, would avoid all that wear and tear of
-the nervous system which comes from constant ill-success in those
-departments on which family health and temper mainly depend. This is
-one of the peculiarities of our American life which require a peculiar
-training. Why not face it sensibly?
-
-“Our land abounds in motorpathic institutions, to which women are sent,
-at a great expense, to have hired operators stretch and exercise their
-inactive muscles. They lie for hours to have their feet twigged, their
-arms flexed, and all the different muscles of the body worked for them,
-because they are so flaccid and torpid that the powers of life do not
-go on. Would it not be quite as cheerful, and a less expensive process,
-if young girls from early life developed the muscles in sweeping,
-dusting, starching, ironing, and all the multiplied domestic processes
-which our grandmothers knew of? Does it not seem poor economy to pay
-servants for letting our muscles grow feeble, and then to pay operators
-to exercise them for us? I will venture to say that our grandmothers in
-a week went over every movement that any gymnast has invented, and went
-over them to some productive purpose too.
-
-“The first business of a housekeeper in America is that of a teacher.
-She can have a good table only by having practical knowledge, and
-tact in imparting it. If she understands her business practically and
-experimentally, her eye detects at once the weak spot; it requires only
-a little tact, some patience, some clearness in giving directions, and
-all comes right.
-
-“If we carry a watch to a watch-maker, and undertake to show him how
-to regulate the machinery, he laughs and goes on his own way; but if a
-brother-machinist makes suggestions, he listens respectfully. So, when
-a woman who knows nothing of woman’s work undertakes to instruct one
-who knows more than she does, she makes no impression; but a woman who
-has been trained experimentally, and shows she understands the matter
-thoroughly, is listened to with respect.
-
-“Let a woman make her own bread for one month, and, simple as the
-process seems, it will take as long as that to get a thorough knowledge
-of all the possibilities in the case; but after that, she will be able
-to command good bread by the aid of all sorts of servants; in other
-words, will be a thoroughly-prepared teacher of bread-making.
-
-“Good servants do not often come to us; they must be _made_ by patience
-and training; and if a girl has a good disposition, and a reasonable
-degree of handiness, and the housekeeper understands her profession,
-a good servant may be made out of an indifferent one. Some of the
-best girls have been those who came directly from the ship, with no
-preparation but docility and some natural quickness. The hardest
-cases to be managed are not of those who have been taught nothing,
-but of those who have been taught wrongly—who come self-opinionated,
-with ways which are distasteful, and contrary to the genius of one’s
-housekeeping. Such require that their mistress shall understand at
-least so much of the actual conduct of affairs as to prove to the
-servant that there are better ways than those in which she has been
-trained.
-
-“Domestic service is the great problem of life here in America; the
-happiness of families, their thrift, well-being, and comfort, are more
-affected by this than by any one thing else. The modern girls, as they
-have been brought up, can not perform the labor of their own families
-as in those simpler, old-fashioned days; and what is worse, they have
-no practical skill with which to instruct servants, who come to us, as
-a class, raw and untrained. In the present state of prices, the board
-of a domestic costs as much as her wages, and the waste she makes is a
-more serious matter still.”
-
-It is sometimes urged against domestics that they exact exorbitant
-wages. But what is the rule of rectitude on this subject? Is it not the
-universal law of labor and of trade that an article is to be valued
-according to its scarcity and the demand? When wheat is scarce, the
-farmer raises his price; and when a mechanic offers services difficult
-to be obtained, he makes a corresponding increase of price. And why
-is it not right for domestics to act according to a rule allowed to
-be correct in reference to all other trades and professions? It is a
-fact that really good domestic service must continue to increase in
-value just in proportion as this country waxes rich and prosperous;
-thus making the proportion of those who wish to hire labor relatively
-greater, and the number of those willing to go to service less.
-
-Money enables the rich to gain many advantages which those of more
-limited circumstances can not secure. One of these is, securing good
-servants by offering high wages; and this, as the scarcity of this
-class increases, will serve constantly to raise the price of service.
-It is right for domestics to charge the market value, and this value
-is always decided by the scarcity of the article and the amount of
-demand. Right views of this subject will sometimes serve to diminish
-hard feelings toward those who would otherwise be wrongfully regarded
-as unreasonable and exacting.
-
-Another complaint against servants is that of instability and
-discontent, leading to perpetual change. But in reference to this,
-let a mother or daughter conceive of their own circumstances as so
-changed that the daughter must go out to service. Suppose a place is
-engaged, and it is then found that she must sleep in a comfortless
-garret; and that, when a new domestic comes—perhaps a coarse and dirty
-foreigner—she must share her bed with her. Another place is offered,
-where she can have a comfortable room and an agreeable room-mate; in
-such a case, would not both mother and daughter think it right to
-change?
-
-Or suppose, on trial, it was found that the lady of the house was
-fretful or exacting, and hard to please, or that her children were so
-ungoverned as to be perpetual vexations; or that the work was so heavy
-that no time was allowed for relaxation and the care of a wardrobe;
-and another place offers where these evils can be escaped, would not
-mother and daughter here think it right to change? And is it not right
-for domestics, as well as their employers, to seek places where they
-can be most comfortable?
-
-In some cases, this instability and love of change would be remedied
-if employers would take more pains to make a residence with them
-agreeable, and to attach servants to the family by feelings of
-gratitude and affection. There are ladies, even where well-qualified
-domestics are most rare, who seldom find any trouble in keeping good
-and steady ones. And the reason is that their servants know they can
-not better their condition by any change within reach. It is not merely
-by giving them comfortable rooms, and good food, and presents, and
-privileges, that the attachment of domestic servants is secured; it is
-by the manifestation of a friendly and benevolent interest in their
-comfort and improvement. This is exhibited in bearing patiently with
-their faults; in kindly teaching them how to improve; in showing them
-how to make and take proper care of their clothes; in guarding their
-health; in teaching them to read, if necessary, and supplying them
-with proper books; and, in short, by endeavoring, so far as may be,
-to supply the place of parents. It is seldom that such a course would
-fail to secure steady service, and such affection and gratitude that
-even higher wages would be ineffectual to tempt them away. There would
-probably be some cases of ungrateful returns, but there is no doubt
-that the course indicated, if generally pursued, would very much lessen
-the evil in question.
-
-When servants are forward and bold in manners and disrespectful in
-address, they may be considerately taught that those who are among
-the best-bred and genteel have courteous and respectful manners and
-language to all they meet; while many who have wealth are regarded
-as vulgar, because they exhibit rude and disrespectful manners. The
-very terms _gentleman_ and _gentlewoman_ indicate the refinement and
-delicacy of address which distinguishes the high-bred from the coarse
-and vulgar.
-
-In regard to appropriate dress, in most cases it is difficult for
-an employer to interfere _directly_ with comments or advice. The
-most successful mode is to offer some service in mending or making a
-wardrobe, and when a confidence in the kindness of feeling is thus
-gained, remarks and suggestions will generally be properly received,
-and new views of propriety and economy can be imparted. The knowledge
-which is so important to every woman, contained in the chapter on
-_Clothing_, is as much needed in the kitchen as in the parlor. In some
-cases it may be well for an employer who, from appearances, anticipates
-difficulty of this kind, in making the preliminary contract or
-agreement, to state that she wishes to have the room, person, and dress
-of her servants kept neat and in order, and that she expects to remind
-them of their duty in this particular if it is neglected. Domestic
-servants are very apt to neglect the care of their own chambers and
-clothing; and such habits have a most pernicious influence on their
-well-being, and on that of their children, in future domestic life. An
-employer, then, is bound to exercise a parental care over them in these
-respects.
-
-There is one great mistake, not unfrequently made, in the management
-both of domestics and of children, and that is, in supposing that the
-way to cure defects is by finding fault as each failing occurs. But
-instead of this being true, in many cases the directly opposite course
-is the best; while in all instances much good judgment is required
-in order to decide when to notice faults and when to let them pass
-unnoticed. There are some minds very sensitive, easily discouraged,
-and infirm of purpose. Such persons, when they have formed habits
-of negligence, haste, and awkwardness, often need expressions of
-sympathy and encouragement rather than reproof. They have usually been
-found fault with so much that they have become either hardened or
-desponding; and it is often the case that a few words of commendation
-will awaken fresh efforts and renewed hope. In almost every case, words
-of kindness, confidence, and encouragement should be mingled with the
-needful admonitions or reproof.
-
-It is a good rule, in reference to this point, to _forewarn_ instead
-of finding fault. Thus, when a thing has been done wrong, let it pass
-unnoticed till it is to be done again; and then a simple request to
-have it done in the right way will secure quite as much, and probably
-more, willing effort, than a reproof administered for neglect. Some
-persons seem to take it for granted that young and inexperienced
-minds are bound to have all the forethought and discretion of mature
-persons, and freely express wonder and disgust when mishaps occur for
-want of these traits. But it would be far better to save from mistake
-or forgetfulness by previous caution and care on the part of those who
-have gained experience and forethought; and thus many occasions of
-complaint and ill-humor will be avoided.
-
-Those who fill the places of heads of families are not very apt to
-think how painful it is to be chided for neglect of duty, or for
-faults of character. If they would sometimes imagine themselves in the
-place of those whom they control, with some person daily administering
-reproof to them in the same _tone and style_ as they employ to those
-who are under them, it might serve as a useful check to their chidings.
-It is often the case that persons who are most strict and exacting, and
-least able to make allowances and receive palliations, are themselves
-peculiarly sensitive to any thing which implies that they are in
-fault. By such, the spirit implied in the Divine petition, “Forgive
-us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” needs
-especially to be cherished.
-
-One other consideration is very important. There is no duty more
-binding on Christians than that of patience and meekness under
-provocations and disappointment. Now the tendency of every sensitive
-mind, when thwarted in its wishes, is to complain and find fault, and
-that often in tones of fretfulness or anger. But there are few servants
-who have not heard enough of the Bible to know that angry or fretful
-fault-finding from the mistress of a family, when her work is not done
-to suit her, is not in agreement with the precepts of Christ. They
-notice and feel the inconsistency; and every woman, when she gives way
-to feelings of anger and impatience at the faults of those around her,
-lowers herself in their respect; while her own conscience, unless very
-much blinded, can not but suffer a wound.
-
-“We can not in this country maintain to any great extent large
-retinues of servants. Even with ample fortunes, they are forbidden by
-the general character of society here, which makes them cumbrous and
-difficult to manage. Every mistress of a family knows that her cares
-increase with every additional servant. Trained housekeepers, such as
-regulate the complicated establishments of the Old World, form a class
-that are not, and from the nature of the case never will be, found in
-any great numbers in this country. All such women, as a general thing,
-are keeping, and prefer to keep, houses of their own.
-
-“A moderate style of housekeeping, small, compact, and simple domestic
-establishments, must necessarily be the general order of life in
-America. So many openings of profit are to be found in this country,
-that domestic service necessarily wants the permanence which forms so
-agreeable a feature of it in the Old World.
-
-“Again, American women must not try with three servants to carry on
-life in the style which in the Old World requires sixteen. They must
-thoroughly understand, and be prepared _to teach_, every branch of
-housekeeping; they must study to make domestic service desirable, by
-treating their servants in a way to lead them to respect themselves,
-and to feel themselves respected; and there will gradually be evolved
-from the present confusion a solution of the domestic problem which
-shall be adapted to the life of a new and growing world.”
-
-It is sometimes the case that the constant change of domestics, and the
-liability thus to have dishonest ones, makes it needful to keep stores
-under lock and key. This measure is often very offensive to those who
-are hired, as it is regarded by them as an evidence both of _closeness_
-and of _suspicion_ of their honesty.
-
-In such cases it is a good plan, when first making an agreement with a
-domestic, to state the case in this way: that you have had dishonest
-persons in the family, and that when theft is committed, it is always
-a cause of disquiet to _honest_ persons, because it exposes them to
-suspicion. You can then state your reasons as twofold: one to protect
-yourself from pilfering when you take entire strangers, and the other
-is to protect honest persons from being suspected. When the matter
-is thus presented at first hiring a person, no offense will be taken
-afterward.
-
-There is one rule which every housekeeper will find of incalculable
-value, not only in the case of domestics, but in the management of
-children, and that is, never to find fault _at the time that a wrong
-thing is done_. Wait until you are unexcited yourself, and until the
-vexation of the offender is also past, and then, when there is danger
-of a similar offense, _forewarn_, and point out the evils already done
-for want of proper care in this respect.
-
-Success in the management of domestics very much depends upon the
-_manners_ of a housekeeper toward them. And here two extremes are to
-be avoided. One is a severe and imperious mode of giving orders and
-finding fault, which is inconsistent both with lady-like good breeding
-and with a truly amiable character. Few domestics, especially American
-domestics, will long submit to it, and many a good one has been
-lost, simply by the influence of this unfortunate manner. The other
-extreme is apt to result from the great difficulty of retaining good
-domestics. In cases where this is experienced, there is a liability of
-becoming so fearful of displeasing one who is found to be good, that,
-imperceptibly, the relation is changed, and the domestic becomes the
-mistress. A housekeeper thus described this change in one whom she
-hired: “The first year she was an excellent servant; the second year
-she was a kind mistress; the third year she was an intolerable tyrant!”
-
-There is no domestic so good that she will not be injured by perceiving
-that, through dependence upon her, and a fear of losing her services,
-the mistress of the family gives up her proper authority and control.
-
-The happy medium is secured by a course of real kindness in manner and
-treatment, attended with the manifestation of a calm determination that
-the plans and will of the housekeeper, and not of the domestic, shall
-control the family arrangements.
-
-When a good domestic first begins to insist that her views and notions
-shall be regarded rather than those of the housekeeper, a kind but firm
-stand must be taken. A frank conversation should be sought at a time
-when nothing has occurred to ruffle the temper on either side. Then the
-housekeeper can inquire what would be the view taken of this matter
-in case the domestic herself should become a housekeeper and hire a
-person to help her; and when the matter is set before her mind in this
-light, let the “golden rule” be applied, and ask her whether she is not
-disposed to render to her present employer what she herself would ask
-from a domestic in similar circumstances.
-
-Much trouble of this kind is saved by hiring persons on trial, in order
-to ascertain whether they are willing and able to do the work of the
-family in the manner which the housekeeper wishes; and in this case
-some member of the family can go around for a day or two, and show how
-every thing is to be done.
-
-There is no department of domestic life where a woman’s temper and
-patience are so sorely tried as in the incompetence and constant
-changes of domestics; and therefore there is no place where a
-reasonable and Christian woman will be more watchful, careful, and
-conscientious.
-
-The cultivation of _patience_ will be much promoted by keeping in
-mind these considerations in reference to the incompetence and other
-failings of those who are hired.
-
-In the first place, consider that the great object of life to us is
-not enjoyment, but the formation of a right character; that such
-a character can not be formed except by discipline, and that the
-trials and difficulties of domestic life, if met in a proper spirit
-and manner, will in the end prove blessings rather than evils, by
-securing a measure of elevation, dignity, patience, self-control, and
-benevolence, that could be gained by no other methods. The comfort
-gained by these virtues, and the rewards they bring, both in this and
-in a future life, are a thousand-fold richer than the easy, indolent
-life of indulgence which we should choose for ourselves.
-
-In the next place, instead of allowing the mind to dwell on the faults
-of those who minister to our comfort and convenience, cultivate a habit
-of making every possible benevolent allowance and palliation. Say to
-yourself, “Poor girl! she has never been instructed either by parents
-or employers. Nobody has felt any interest in the formation of her
-habits, or kindly sought to rectify her faults. Why should I expect her
-to do those things well which no one has taken any care to teach her?
-She has no parent or friend now to aid her but myself. Let me bear her
-faults patiently, and kindly try to cure them.”
-
-If a woman will cultivate the spirit expressed in such language, if she
-will benevolently seek the best good of those she employs, if she will
-interest herself in giving them instruction if they need it, and good
-books to read if they are already qualified to understand them, if she
-will manifest a desire to have them made comfortable in the kitchen
-and in their chambers, she certainly will receive her reward, and that
-in many ways. She will be improving her own character, she will set a
-good example to her family, and, in the end, she will do something,
-and in some cases much, to improve the character and services of those
-whom she hires. And the good done in this way goes down from generation
-to generation, and goes also into the eternal world, to be known and
-rejoiced in when every earthly good has come to an end.
-
-In some portions of our country, the great influx of foreigners of
-another language and another faith, and the ready entrance they find as
-domestics into American families, impose peculiar trials and peculiar
-duties on American housekeepers. In reference to such, it is no less
-our interest than our duty to cultivate a spirit of kindness, patience,
-and sympathy.
-
-Especially should this be manifested in reference to their religion.
-However wrong, or however pernicious we may regard their system of
-faith, we should remember that they have been trained to believe that
-it is what God commands them to obey; and so long as they do believe
-this, we should respect them for their conscientious scruples, and not
-try to tempt them to do what they suppose to be wrong. If we lead an
-ignorant and feeble mind to do what it believes to be wrong in regard
-to the most sacred of all duties, those owed to God, how can we expect
-them to be faithful to us?
-
-The only lawful way to benefit those whom we regard as in an error is,
-not to tempt them to do what they believe to be wrong, but to give
-them the light of knowledge, so that they may be qualified to judge
-for themselves. And the way to make them willing to receive this light
-is to be kind to them. We should take care that their feelings and
-prejudices should in no way be abused, and that they be treated as we
-should wish to be if thrown as strangers into a strange land, among a
-people of different customs and faith, and away from parents, home, and
-friends.
-
-Remember that our Master who is in heaven especially claims to be
-the God of the widow, the fatherless, and _the stranger_, and has
-commanded, “If a stranger sojourn with you in your land, ye shall not
-vex him; but the stranger that dwelleth among you shall be unto you as
-one born among you, and _thou shalt love him as thyself_.”
-
-Mrs. Stowe says: “We are far from recommending any controversial
-interference with the religious faith of our servants. It is far
-better to incite them to be good Christians in their own way, than to
-run the risk of shaking their faith in all religion by pointing out
-to them what seem to us the errors of that in which they have been
-educated. The general purity of life and propriety of demeanor of so
-many thousands of undefended young girls cast yearly upon our shores,
-with no home but their church, and no shield but their religion, are a
-sufficient proof that this religion exerts an influence over them not
-to be lightly trifled with. But there is a real unity even in opposite
-Christian forms; and the Roman Catholic servant and the Protestant
-mistress, if alike possessed by the spirit of Christ, and striving to
-conform to the Golden Rule, can not help being one in heart, though one
-go to mass and the other to meeting.”
-
-To this testimony of her sister the author adds some results of her
-observations as a resident or visitor among a wide circle of personal
-and family friends. The Christian care exercised by the Catholic
-priesthood over family servants deserves grateful notice, while the
-pure and wise instructions contained in the manuals of devotion used
-at public and private worship by this class, in many respects, are
-a model of excellence. As one illustration of the good fruits, the
-author, for a portion of each of the last ten years, has boarded in the
-family of her physician, Dr. G. H. Taylor. Here not less than twelve
-Irish Catholic girls usually frequent the Sunday early mass when most
-people are asleep. In this family neither her trunk, drawers, or door
-were ever locked, and yet never an article has been lost or stolen.
-And among her many friends it is this class who, with occasional
-exceptions, have been unsurpassed in faithful and affectionate service.
-
-True, much has been owing to the happy management and wise care of
-Christian housekeepers, who in the life to come will reap the rewards
-of their faithful labors. A time is coming when American housekeepers
-will better understand their high privileges as chief ministers of the
-family state. Then it will no longer be a cause of discontent that a
-well-trained and faithful servant is withdrawn to bless another family,
-or to rear one of her own. Rather it will be seen that the Christian
-woman’s kitchen is a training-school of good servants, where ignorant
-heathen come to be guided heavenward, and prepared to rear healthful
-and Christian families of their own. Then the young daughters will
-aid the mother in this Home Mission, and, by imparting their acquired
-advantages to Christ’s neglected ones, will learn with thankfulness how
-much “more blessed it is to give than to receive.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXX.
-
-DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.
-
-
-Whenever the laws of body and mind are properly understood, it will be
-allowed that every person needs some kind of recreation; and that, by
-seeking it, the body is strengthened, the mind is invigorated, and all
-our duties are more cheerfully and successfully performed.
-
-Children, whose bodies are rapidly growing and whose nervous system is
-tender and excitable, need much more amusement than persons of mature
-age. Persons, also, who are oppressed with great responsibilities and
-duties, or who are taxed by great intellectual or moral excitement,
-need recreations which physically exercise and draw off the mind from
-absorbing interests. Unfortunately, such persons are those who least
-resort to amusements; while the idle, gay, and thoughtless seek those
-which are not needed, and for which useful occupation would be a most
-beneficial substitute.
-
-As the only legitimate object of amusement is to prepare mind and body
-for the proper discharge of duty, the protracting of such as interfere
-with regular employments, or induce excessive fatigue, or weary the
-mind, or invade the proper hours for repose, must be sinful.
-
-In deciding what should be selected, and what avoided, the following
-are guiding principles: In the first place, no amusements which inflict
-needless pain should ever be allowed. All tricks which cause fright or
-vexation, and all sports which involve suffering to animals, should be
-utterly forbidden. Hunting and fishing, for mere sport, can never be
-justified. If a man can convince his children that he follows these
-pursuits to gain food or health, and not for amusement, his example may
-not be very injurious. But when children see grown persons kill and
-frighten animals for sport, habits of cruelty, rather than feelings of
-tenderness and benevolence, are cultivated.
-
-In the next place, we should seek no recreations which endanger life,
-or interfere with important duties. As the legitimate object of
-amusements is to promote health and prepare for some serious duties,
-selecting those which have a directly opposite tendency can not be
-justified. Of course, if a person feels that the previous day’s
-diversion has shortened the hours of needful repose, or induced a
-lassitude of mind or body, instead of invigorating them, it is certain
-that an evil has been done which should never be repeated.
-
-Another rule which has been extensively adopted in the religious world
-is, to avoid those amusements which experience has shown to be so
-exciting, and connected with so many temptations, as to be pernicious
-in tendency, both to the individual and to the community. It is on this
-ground that horse-racing and circus-riding have been excluded. Not
-because there is any thing positively wrong in having men and horses
-run and perform feats of agility, or in persons looking on for the
-diversion; but because experience has shown so many evils connected
-with these recreations, that they should be relinquished until properly
-regulated. So with theatres. The enacting of characters and the
-amusement thus afforded in themselves may be harmless, and possibly, in
-certain cases, might be useful; but experience has shown so many evils
-to result from this source, that it has been deemed wrong to patronize
-it till these evils are removed.
-
-Under the same head comes dancing, in the estimation of the great
-majority of the religious world. Still, there are many intelligent,
-excellent, and conscientious persons who hold a contrary opinion. Such
-maintain that it is an innocent and healthful amusement, tending to
-promote ease of manners, cheerfulness, social affection, and health
-of mind and body; that evils are involved only in its excess; that,
-like food, study, or religious excitement, it is only wrong when not
-properly regulated; and that if serious and intelligent people would
-strive to regulate, rather than banish, this amusement, much more good
-would be secured.
-
-On the other side, it is objected, not that dancing is a sin, in
-itself considered, for it was once a part of sacred worship; not that
-it would be objectionable, if it were properly regulated; not that it
-does not tend, when used in a proper manner, to health of body and
-mind, to grace of manners, and to social enjoyment: all these things
-are conceded. But it is objected to, on the same ground as horse-racing
-and theatrical entertainments; that we are to look at amusements as
-they are, and not as they might be. Horse-races might be so managed as
-not to involve cruelty, gambling, drunkenness, and other vices. And so
-might theatres. And if serious and intelligent persons undertook to
-regulate them, perhaps they would be somewhat raised from the depths
-to which they have sunk. But with the weak sense of moral obligation
-existing in the mass of society, and the imperfect ideas mankind have
-of the proper use of amusements, and the little self-control which
-men or women or children practice, these will not, in fact, be thus
-regulated.
-
-And dancing is believed to be liable to the same objections. As this
-recreation is actually conducted, it does not tend to produce health
-of body or mind, but directly the contrary. If young and old went out
-to dance together in open air, as the French peasants do, it would be
-a very different sort of amusement from that which often is witnessed
-in a room furnished with many lights and filled with guests—both
-destroying the healthful part of the atmosphere, where the young
-collect, in their tightest dresses, to protract for several hours a
-kind of physical exertion which is not habitual to them. During this
-process, the blood is made to circulate more swiftly than usual,
-in circumstances where it is less perfectly oxygenized than health
-requires; the pores of the skin are excited by heat and exercise; the
-stomach is loaded with indigestible articles, and the quiet needful to
-digestion withheld; the diversion is protracted beyond the usual hour
-for repose; and then, when the skin is made the most highly susceptible
-to damps and miasms, the company pass from a warm room to the cold
-night-air. It is probable that no single amusement can be pointed out
-combining so many injurious particulars as this, which is so often
-defended as a healthful one. Even if parents who train their children
-to dance can keep them from public balls, (which is seldom the case,)
-dancing, as ordinarily conducted in private parlors, in most cases is
-subject to nearly the same mischievous influences.
-
-The spirit of Christ is that of self-denying benevolence; and his great
-aim, by his teachings and example, was to train his followers to avoid
-all that should lead to sin, especially in regard to the weaker ones
-of his family. Yet he made wine at a wedding, attended a social feast
-on the Sabbath,[8] reproved excess of strictness in Sabbath-keeping
-generally, and forbade no safe and innocent enjoyment. In following
-his example, the rulers of the family, then, will introduce the most
-highly exciting amusements only in circumstances where there are such
-strong principles and habits of self-control that the enjoyment will
-not involve sin in the actor or needless temptation to the weak.
-
-[8] Luke xvi. In reading this passage, please notice what kind of
-guests are to be invited to the feast that Jesus Christ recommends.
-
-The course pursued by our Puritan ancestors, in the period succeeding
-their first perils amidst sickness and savages, is an example that may
-safely be practiced at the present day. The young of both sexes were
-educated together in the higher branches, in country academies; and
-very often the closing exercises were theatricals, in which the pupils
-were performers, and their pastors, elders, and parents, the audience.
-So at social gatherings, the dance was introduced before minister and
-wife, with smiling approval. The roaring fires and broad chimneys
-provided pure air, and the nine o’clock bell ended the festivities that
-gave new vigor and zest to life, while the dawn of the next day’s light
-saw all at their posts of duty, with heartier strength and blither
-spirits.
-
-No indecent or unhealthful costumes offended the eye, no half-naked
-dancers of dubious morality were sustained in a life of dangerous
-excitement, by the money of Christian people, for the mere amusement
-of their night hours. No shivering drivers were deprived of comfort
-and sleep, to carry home the midnight followers of fashion; nor was
-the quiet and comfort of servants in hundreds of dwellings invaded
-for the mere amusement of their superiors in education and advantages.
-The command “we that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the
-weak, and not to please ourselves,” was in those days not reversed.
-Had the drama and the dance continued to be regulated by the rules of
-temperance, health, and Christian benevolence, as in the days of our
-forefathers, they would not have been so generally banished from the
-religious world. And the question is now being discussed, whether they
-can be so regulated at the present time as not to violate the laws
-either of health or benevolence.[9]
-
-In regard to home amusements, card-playing is now indulged in by many
-conscientious families from which it formerly was excluded, and for
-these reasons: it is claimed that this is a quiet home amusement, which
-unites pleasantly the aged with the young; that it is not now employed
-in respectable society for gambling, as it formerly was; that to some
-young minds it is a peculiarly fascinating game, and should be first
-practiced under the parental care, till the excitement of novelty is
-passed, thus rendering the danger to children less when going into
-the world; and, finally, that habits of self-control in exciting
-circumstances may and should be thus cultivated in the safety of home.
-Many parents who have taken this course with their sons in early life
-believe that it has proved rather a course of safety than of danger.
-Still, as there is great diversity of opinion among persons of equal
-worth and intelligence, a mutual spirit of candor and courtesy should
-be practiced. The sneer at bigotry and narrowness of views, on one
-side, and the uncharitable implication of want of piety, or sense, on
-the other, are equally ill-bred and unchristian. Truth on this subject
-is best promoted, not by ill-natured crimination and rebuke, but by
-calm reason, generous candor, forbearance, and kindness.
-
-[9] Fanny Kemble Butler remarked to the writer that she regarded
-theatres wrong, chiefly because of the injury involved to the actors.
-Can a Christian mother contribute money to support young women in a
-profession from which she would protect her own daughter, as from
-degradation, and that, too, simply for the amusement of herself and
-family? Would this be following the self-sacrificing benevolence of
-Christ and his apostles?
-
-There is another species of amusement, which a large portion of the
-religious world formerly put under the same condemnation as the
-preceding. This is novel-reading. The confusion and difference of
-opinion on this subject have arisen from a want of clear and definite
-distinctions. Now, as it is impossible to define what are novels and
-what are not, so as to include one class of fictitious writings and
-exclude every other, it is impossible to lay down any rule respecting
-them. The discussion, in fact, turns on the use of those works of
-imagination which belong to the class of fictitious narratives. That
-this species of reading is not only lawful, but necessary and useful,
-is settled by divine examples, in the parables and allegories of
-Scripture. Of course, the question must be, what kind of fabulous
-writings must be avoided, and what allowed.
-
-In deciding this, no specific rules can be given: but it must be a
-matter to be regulated by the nature and circumstances of each case.
-No works of fiction which tend to throw the allurements of taste and
-genius around vice and crime should ever be tolerated; and all that
-tend to give false views of life and duty should also be banished.
-Of those which are written for mere amusement, presenting scenes and
-events that are interesting, and exciting and having no bad moral
-influence, much must depend on the character and circumstances of
-the reader. Some minds are torpid and phlegmatic, and need to have
-the imagination stimulated: such would be benefited by this kind of
-reading. Others have quick and active imaginations, and would be as
-much injured by excess. Some persons are often so engaged in absorbing
-interest, that any thing innocent, which will for a short time draw off
-the mind, is of the nature of a medicine; and in such cases this kind
-of reading is useful.
-
-There is need, also, that some men should keep a supervision of the
-current literature of the day, as guardians, to warn others of danger.
-For this purpose, it is more suitable for editors, clergymen, and
-teachers to read indiscriminately, than for any other class of persons;
-for they are the guardians of the public weal in matters of literature,
-and should be prepared to advise parents and young persons of the
-evils in one direction, and of the good in another. In doing this,
-however, they are bound to go on the same principles which regulate
-physicians when they visit infected districts—using every precaution to
-prevent injury to themselves; having as little to do with pernicious
-exposures as a benevolent regard to others will allow; and faithfully
-employing all the knowledge and opportunities thus gained for warning
-and preserving others. There is much danger, in taking this course,
-that men will seek the excitement of the imagination for the mere
-pleasure it affords, under the plea of preparing to serve the public,
-when this is neither the aim nor the result.
-
-In regard to the use of such works by the young, as a general rule,
-they ought not to be allowed to any except those of a dull and
-phlegmatic temperament, until the solid parts of education are secured
-and a taste for more elevated reading is acquired. If these stimulating
-condiments in literature be freely used in youth, all relish for more
-solid reading will in a majority of cases be destroyed. If parents
-succeed in securing habits of cheerful and implicit obedience, it will
-be very easy to regulate this matter, by prohibiting the reading of any
-story-book until the consent of the parent is obtained.
-
-The most successful mode of forming a taste for suitable reading, is
-for parents to select interesting works of history and travels, with
-maps and pictures suited to the age and attainments of the young, and
-spend an hour or two each day or evening in aiming to make truth as
-interesting as fiction. Whoever has once tried this method will find
-that the uninjured mind of childhood is better satisfied with what
-they know is true, when wisely presented, than with the most exciting
-novels, which they know are false.
-
-Perhaps there has been some just ground of objection to the course
-often pursued by parents in neglecting to provide suitable and
-agreeable substitutes for the amusements denied. But there is a great
-abundance of safe, healthful, and delightful recreations, which all
-parents may secure for their children. Some of these will here be
-pointed out.
-
-One of the most useful and important is the cultivation of flowers
-and fruits. This, especially for the daughters of a family, is greatly
-promotive of health and amusement. Many young ladies, whose habits are
-now so formed that they can never be induced to a course of active
-domestic exercise so long as their parents are able to hire domestic
-service, may yet be led to an employment which will tend to secure
-health and vigor of constitution, by fruits and flowers.
-
-It would be a most desirable improvement, if all schools for young
-women could be furnished with suitable grounds and instruments for the
-cultivation of fruits and flowers, and every inducement offered to
-engage the pupils in this pursuit. No father who wishes to have his
-daughters grow up to be healthful women can take a surer method to
-secure this end. Let him set apart a portion of his ground for fruits
-and flowers, and see that the soil is well prepared and dug over, and
-all the rest may be committed to the care of the children. These would
-need to be provided with a light hoe and rake, a dibble or garden
-trowel, a watering-pot, and means and opportunities for securing seeds,
-roots, bulbs, buds, and grafts, all which might be done at a trifling
-expense. Then, with proper encouragement and by the aid of a few
-intelligible and practical directions, every man who has even half an
-acre could secure a small Eden around his premises.
-
-In pursuing this amusement children can also be led to acquire many
-useful habits. Early rising would, in many cases, be thus secured; and
-if they were required to keep their walks and borders free from weeds
-and rubbish, habits of order and neatness would be induced. Benevolent
-and social feelings could also be cultivated, by influencing children
-to share their fruits and flowers with friends and neighbors, as well
-as to distribute roots and seeds to those who have not the means of
-procuring them. A woman or a child, by giving seeds or slips or roots
-to a washerwoman, or a farmer’s boy, thus inciting them to love and
-cultivate fruits and flowers, awakens a new and refining source of
-enjoyment in minds which have few resources more elevated than mere
-physical enjoyments. Our Saviour directs us, in making feasts, to
-call, not the rich, who can recompense again, but the poor, who can
-make no returns. So children should be taught to dispense their little
-treasures not alone to companions and friends, who will probably return
-similar favors, but to those who have no means of making any return.
-If the rich, who acquire a love for the enjoyments of taste and have
-the means to gratify it, would aim to extend among the poor the cheap
-and simple enjoyment of fruits and flowers, our country would soon
-literally “blossom as the rose.”
-
-If the ladies of a neighborhood would unite small contributions, and
-send a list of flower-seeds and roots to some respectable and honest
-florist, who would not be likely to turn them off with trash, they
-could divide these among themselves and their poor neighbors, so
-as to secure an abundant variety at a very small expense. A bag of
-flower-seeds, which can be obtained at wholesale for four cents, would
-abundantly supply a whole neighborhood; and, by the gathering of seeds
-in the autumn, could be perpetuated.
-
-Another very elevating and delightful recreation for the young is
-found in _music_. Here the writer would protest against the practice,
-common in many families, of having the daughters learn to play on the
-piano, whether they have a taste and an ear for music or not. A young
-lady who does not sing well, and has no great fondness for music, does
-nothing but waste time, money, and patience in learning to play on the
-piano. But all children can be taught to sing in early childhood, if
-the scientific mode of teaching music in schools could be more widely
-introduced, as it is in Prussia, Germany, and Switzerland. Then young
-children could read and sing music as easily as they can read language;
-and might take any tune, dividing themselves into bands, and sing off
-at sight the endless variety of music which is prepared. And if parents
-of wealth would take pains to have teachers qualified for the purpose,
-who should teach all the young children in the community, much would
-be done for the happiness and elevation of the rising generation.
-This is an element of education which we are glad to know is, year by
-year, more extensively and carefully cultivated; and it is not only a
-means of culture, but also an amusement, which children relish in the
-highest degree; and which they can enjoy at home, in the fields, and in
-visits abroad.
-
-Another domestic amusement is the collecting of shells, plants, and
-specimens in geology and mineralogy, for the formation of cabinets.
-If intelligent parents would procure the simpler works which have
-been prepared for the young, and study them with their children, a
-taste for such recreations would soon be developed. The writer has
-seen young boys of eight and ten years of age gathering and cleaning
-shells from rivers, and collecting plants and mineralogical specimens,
-with a delight bordering on ecstasy; and there are few, if any, who by
-proper influences would not find this a source of ceaseless delight and
-improvement.
-
-Another resource for family diversion is to be found in the various
-games played by children, and in which the joining of older members
-of the family is always a great advantage to both parties, especially
-those in the open air.
-
-All medical men unite in declaring that nothing is more beneficial
-to health than hearty laughter; and surely our benevolent Creator
-would not have provided risibles, and made it a source of health and
-enjoyment to use them, if it were a sin so to do. There has been a
-tendency to asceticism on this subject, which needs to be removed. Such
-commands as forbid _foolish_ laughing and jesting, “_which are not
-convenient_,” and which forbid all idle words and vain conversation,
-can not apply to any thing except what is foolish, vain, and useless.
-But jokes, laughter, and sports, when used in such a degree as tends
-only to promote health and happiness, are neither vain, foolish,
-or “not convenient.” It is the excess of these things, and not the
-moderate use of them, which Scripture forbids. The prevailing temper
-of the mind should be serious, yet cheerful; and there are times when
-relaxation and laughter are not only proper, but necessary and right
-for all. There is nothing better for this end than that parents and
-older persons should join in the sports of childhood. Mature minds can
-always make such diversions more entertaining to children, and can
-exert a healthful moral influence over their minds; and at the same
-time can gain exercise and amusement for themselves. How lamentable
-that so many fathers, who could be thus useful and happy with their
-children, throw away such opportunities, and wear out soul and body in
-the pursuit of gain or fame!
-
-Another resource for children is the exercise of mechanical skill.
-Fathers, by providing tools for their boys, and showing them how to
-make wheelbarrows, carts, sleds, and various other articles, contribute
-both to the physical, moral, and social improvement of their children.
-And in regard to little daughters, much more can be done in this way
-than many would imagine. The writer, blessed with the example of a most
-ingenious and industrious mother, had not only learned before the age
-of twelve to make dolls, of various sorts and sizes, but to cut and fit
-and sew every article that belongs to a doll’s wardrobe. This, which
-was done for mere amusement, secured such a facility in mechanical
-pursuits, that ever afterward the cutting and fitting of any article of
-dress, for either sex, was accomplished with entire ease.
-
-When a little girl begins to sew, her mother can promise her a small
-bed and pillow, as soon as she has sewed a patch quilt for them; and
-then a bedstead, as soon as she has sewed the sheets and cases for
-pillows; and then a large doll to dress, as soon as she has made
-the under-garments; and thus go on till the whole contents of the
-baby-house are earned by the needle and skill of its little owner. Thus
-the task of learning to sew will become a pleasure; and every new toy
-will be earned by useful exertion. A little girl can be taught, by the
-aid of patterns prepared for the purpose, to cut and fit all articles
-necessary for her doll. She can also be provided with a little wash-tub
-and irons, and thus keep in proper order a complete miniature domestic
-establishment.
-
-Besides these recreations, there are the enjoyments secured in walking,
-riding, visiting, and many other employments which need not be
-recounted. Children, if trained to be healthful and industrious, will
-never fail to discover resources of amusement; while their guardians
-should lend their aid to guide and restrain them from excess.
-
-There is need of a very great change of opinion and practice in this
-nation, in regard to the subject of social and domestic duties. Many
-sensible and conscientious men spend all their time abroad in business,
-except perhaps an hour or so at night, when they are so fatigued as to
-be unfitted for any social or intellectual enjoyment. And some of the
-most conscientious men in the country will add to their professional
-business public or benevolent enterprises, which demand time, effort,
-and money; and then excuse themselves for neglecting all care of their
-children, and efforts for their own intellectual improvement, or for
-the improvement of their families, by the plea that they have no time
-for it.
-
-All this arises from the want of correct notions of the binding
-obligation of our social and domestic duties. The main object of life
-is not to secure the various gratifications of appetite or taste, but
-to form such a character, for ourselves and others, as will secure
-the greatest amount of present and future happiness. It is of far
-more consequence, then, that parents should be intelligent, social,
-affectionate, and agreeable at home and to their friends, than that
-they should earn money enough to live in a large house and have
-handsome furniture. It is far more needful for children that a father
-should attend to the formation of their character and habits, and aid
-in developing their social, intellectual, and moral nature, than it is
-that he should earn money to furnish them with handsome clothes and a
-variety of tempting food.
-
-It will be wise for those parents who find little time to attend to
-their children, or to seek amusement and enjoyment in the domestic
-and social circle, because their time is so much occupied with public
-cares or benevolent objects, to inquire whether their first duty is
-not to train up their own families to be useful members of society. A
-man who neglects the mind and morals of his children to take care of
-the public, is in great danger of coming under a similar condemnation
-to that of him who, neglecting to provide for his own household, has
-“denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
-
-There are husbands and fathers who conscientiously subtract time
-from their business to spend at home, in reading with their wives
-and children, and in domestic amusements which at once refresh and
-improve. The children of such parents will grow up with a love of
-home and kindred which will be the greatest safeguard against future
-temptations, as well as the purest source of earthly enjoyment.
-
-There are families, also, who make it a definite object to keep up
-family attachments after the children are scattered abroad, and in
-some cases secure the means for doing this by saving money which
-would otherwise have been spent for superfluities of food or dress.
-Some families have adopted, for this end, a practice which, if widely
-imitated, would be productive of much enjoyment. The method is this:
-On the first day of each month, some member of the family, at each
-extreme point of dispersion, takes a folio sheet, and fills a part of
-a page. This is sealed and mailed to the next family, who read it, add
-another contribution, and then mail it to the next. Thus the family
-circular, once a month, goes from each extreme to all the members of
-a widely-dispersed family, and each member becomes a sharer in the
-joys, sorrows, plans, and pursuits of all the rest. At the same time,
-frequent family meetings are sought; and the expense thus incurred is
-cheerfully met by retrenchments in other directions. The sacrifice of
-some unnecessary physical indulgence will often purchase many social
-and domestic enjoyments, a thousand times more elevating and delightful
-than the retrenched luxury.
-
-There is no social duty which the Supreme Lawgiver more strenuously
-urges than hospitality and kindness to strangers, who are classed
-with the widow and the fatherless as the special objects of Divine
-tenderness. There are some reasons why this duty peculiarly demands
-attention from the American people.
-
-Reverses of fortune, in this land, are so frequent and unexpected, and
-the habits of the people are so migratory, that there are very many in
-every part of the country who, having seen all their temporal plans
-and hopes crushed, are now pining among strangers, bereft of wonted
-comforts, without friends, and without the sympathy and society so
-needful to wounded spirits. Such, too frequently, sojourn long and
-lonely, with no comforter but Him who “knoweth the heart of a stranger.”
-
-Whenever, therefore, new-comers enter a community, inquiry should
-immediately be made as to whether they have friends or associates,
-to render sympathy and kind attentions; and, when there is any need
-for it, the ministries of kind neighborliness should immediately
-be offered. And it should be remembered that the first days of a
-stranger’s sojourn are the most dreary, and that civility and kindness
-are doubled in value by being offered at an early period.
-
-In social gatherings the claims of the stranger are too apt to be
-forgotten; especially in cases where there are no peculiar attractions
-of personal appearance, or talents, or high standing. Such an one
-should be treated with attention, _because_ he is a stranger; and when
-communities learn to act more from principle, and less from selfish
-impulse, on this subject, the sacred claims of the stranger will be
-less frequently forgotten.
-
-The most agreeable hospitality to visitors who become intimates of a
-family, is that which puts them entirely at ease. This can never be the
-case where the guest perceives that the order of family arrangement
-is essentially altered, and that time, comfort, and convenience are
-sacrificed for his accommodation.
-
-Offering the best to visitors, showing a polite regard to every wish
-expressed, and giving precedence to them, in all matters of comfort
-and convenience, can be easily combined with the easy freedom which
-makes the stranger feel as if at home; and this is the perfection of
-hospitable entertainment.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXI.
-
-LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
-
-
-It is hoped a day will come when these laws of God will be put on
-tablets in school-rooms and houses, as are the ten commandments in our
-churches, and that all children will be trained fully to understand
-them, and then to commit them to memory.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Bones._
-
-Exercise daily in pure air, because it nourishes and gives strength
-to the bones. Do not habitually keep the spine out of its natural
-position, either when sleeping or sitting, because deformity and
-disease are thus induced. Never compress the chest or ribs, because
-it diminishes chest breathing, and thus lessens the needful amount of
-nourishing oxygen; and for the same reason, support all clothing from
-the shoulders, because any pressure on the hips and abdomen lessens
-abdominal breathing.
-
-Never wear high heels, because it tends to produce internal
-displacement, to distort the foot, the spine, and the ankles, causes
-corns and bunions, and makes a graceful walk impossible. An unfailing
-cure for corns and bunions is once a week to soak the foot half an hour
-in four quarts of quite warm water, in which is dissolved a bit of
-soda the size of a large walnut. Three or four times will relieve and
-probably cure.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Muscles._
-
-Supply pure blood and healthful food, because these are indispensable
-to their health and strength. Exercise all the muscles, so as to
-secure the healthful development of all, and avoid weakening them by
-excessive exercise. Change inactive habits not suddenly, but by a
-gradual increase of exercise. When too weak to exercise, employ an
-operator to increase the flow of blood to the muscles by pressure and
-rubbing. Never compress any of the muscles by tight clothing, because
-it diminishes the flow of blood and thus of nutriment. As pure air and
-light cause increase of strength, let all exercise be by daylight.
-Avoid increase of exercise when the air is impure, as it usually is in
-night-gatherings.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Lungs._
-
-It is proved by many experiments that a full-grown person vitiates a
-hogshead of air every hour; therefore, so ventilate every room that
-each inmate shall have the needful pure air at this rate, especially
-by night. Take care so to dress, to sit, and to lie, that the lungs
-shall not be compressed, and thus be deprived of the needful nourishing
-oxygen.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Digestive Organs._
-
-Supply every part of the body with its peculiar nutriment; nitrogen
-for muscle, phosphorus for brain and nerves, carbon for the lungs, and
-silica, iron, etc., for other parts. Let the proportions follow the
-example given in wheat, milk, and eggs, which have all the elements
-needed and in proper proportions. According to this rule, use unbolted
-flour rather than superfine. In selecting food, have reference to age,
-climate, and state of the health. Meals should be at least five hours
-apart, that the stomach may rest. Do not eat between meals, as it mixes
-partly digested food with the new supply, and impedes digestion. Do not
-eat too much, because it impedes digestion, and overtaxes, and thus
-weakens, the organs that must throw off the excess. Eat only to satisfy
-hunger, and not to qualify the palate after hunger is satisfied. Do not
-eat a great variety, because digestion is easier and more perfect with
-but few articles. Let there be a variety which is successive, and not
-at one meal.
-
-Do not require children to eat what they do not love, because food
-which is relished is better digested and more healthful. If very
-thirsty, drink water abundantly before eating, but sparingly at
-meals—only one tumbler or cup. Very hot food or drink debilitates the
-nerves of the teeth and stomach. Very cold water, or ice, after a full
-meal, interferes with digestion.
-
-Avoid stimulating drinks, or use them very weak. A _gradual_ diminution
-of strength will modify the taste, so that a weak dilution will be
-relished as much, or more, than a strong. Drink only pure water; filter
-impure water through sand and powdered charcoal. Free drinking of pure
-cold water between meals tends to purify the blood and strengthen the
-nervous system.
-
-All the yeast-powders for raising bread are not so healthful as
-hop-yeast; and those recommended by Liebig & Hosford _do not_ restore
-several important elements lost by bolting.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Skin._
-
-Wash the whole body either morning or night; because its capillaries
-contain more blood and nerve matter than all the rest of the body;
-because air and light cleanse and nourish them; and because when in
-full health the skin throws off more than half the refuse of the body,
-which, if not thus expelled, goes to the lungs, or bowels, or kidneys
-to be expelled, often causing disease. Bath-rooms are a luxury; but a
-wet towel, and a screen for privacy, are equally useful. Chilling the
-skin closes its pores, causing colds, diarrhœa, or catarrh. Immediate
-and free perspiration is the safest remedy. Rely on bathing, exercise,
-pure air, and proper food, rather than on warm clothing and warm rooms.
-But persons weakened by age or nervous debility must wear more clothing
-than others, and bathe in a warm room, or, better, by an open fire. Any
-diminution of clothing should be made in the morning, when the body is
-most vigorous. As the body radiates its heat to adjacent cold walls, be
-careful to avoid sitting near them, except when well protected. Many
-take colds or rheumatism by sitting near church or other cold walls.
-Taking air and sun baths tend to strengthen the nerves, and thus the
-whole body. Avoid a continuous current of air on any part of the body,
-as the withdrawal of heat causes disease in the part thus chilled.
-
-Expose bed-clothing and garments worn next the skin to fresh air,
-which removes the exhalations of the skin that otherwise would be
-re-absorbed. Straw and hair mattresses, and cotton comforters, should
-also be aired occasionally. The white dust thrown out by beating them
-is the scales and other refuse matter from the skin.
-
-In epidemics, nourishing food and cleansing the skin lessens danger.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Brain and Nerves._
-
-Healthful food, a clean skin, and daily exercise in the open air, are
-indispensable. Take seven or eight hours of sleep by night, and not by
-day; and when taxed by great care, labor, or sorrow, sleep as much as
-you can, for thus the brain and nerves recover strength.
-
-Always have some time each day devoted to some amusement, and this
-out-of-doors if practicable. Laughter is a very healthful exercise.
-
-Have system and order in your employments, and let there be variety, so
-that no one set of nerves be wearied and another set unemployed.
-
-Let the intellect and feelings be engaged in safe and worthy objects,
-and so exercise all the faculties as to secure a well-balanced mind in
-a healthful body. In all cases of disease, trust more to obedience to
-these rules than to medicines, which should be rarely used.
-
-
-_Laws of Health for the Teeth, Eyes, and Hair._
-
-Never sleep till the teeth are cleaned with pure water, a brush, and
-a piece of thread or a tooth-pick to remove what lodges between the
-teeth. It would be well to do this after each meal. Avoid very hot food
-as causing decayed teeth. No tooth-powder is needed if these directions
-are obeyed.
-
-Accustom the eyes _gradually_ to as much light as they can bear without
-pain. Light is healthful, especially to the eyes, and dark rooms make
-weak eyes. If the eyes are weak from excessive use, continue to use
-them, but only a little at a time, with intervals of rest; for eyes,
-like all the rest of the body, grow weak by disuse. Always shade weak
-eyes from brilliant lights, especially when reading. For inflamed eyes
-or eyelids, do not use what others recommend, but consult a physician;
-as a remedy for one may be injurious for another case. Gentle rubbing
-around and over the eyes draws the blood there, and tends to increase
-strength. Do it only for two minutes at a time, three or four times a
-day. Bathing the eyes in cold water strengthens their nerves.
-
-Never use hair mixtures until some chemist has tested them and assures
-you there is no _lead_ in them. Many persons have had paralysis and
-other evils by using hair mixtures containing lead to restore the
-color. Brushing and washing the skin of the hair, and thus bringing
-the blood to nourish its roots, is a safe and sure method, and those
-mixtures that seem to do good are efficacious chiefly because the
-directions always require rubbing and cleansing the skin of the hair.
-
-Remember that these laws of health are laws of God, and that when you
-disobey them you sin against your heavenly Father, who loves you, and
-is grieved when you injure your own soul and body. Therefore pray to be
-enabled to obey yourselves, and to teach these his laws to all under
-your care, both by precept and example.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXXII.
-
-COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.
-
-
-There is no doubt of the fact, that American housekeepers have far
-greater trials and difficulties to meet than those of any other nation.
-And it is probable that many of those who may read over the methods
-of thrift and economy adopted by some of the best housekeepers in our
-land, and detailed in this work, will with a sigh exclaim, that it is
-_impossible_ for them even to attempt any such plans.
-
-Others may be stimulated by the advice and examples presented, and may
-start off with much hope and courage, to carry out a plan of great
-excellence and appropriateness, and, after trying a while, will become
-discouraged by the thousand obstacles in their way, and give up in
-despair.
-
-A still greater number will like their own way best, and think it is
-folly to attempt to change.
-
-For those who wish they _could_ become systematic, neat, and thorough
-housekeepers, and would like to follow out successfully the suggestions
-found in this work, and for those who have tried, or will try, and find
-themselves baffled and discouraged, these words of comfort are offered.
-
-Perhaps you find yourself encompassed by such sort of trials as these:
-Your house is inconvenient, or destitute of those facilities for doing
-work well which you need, and you can not command the means to supply
-these deficiencies. Your domestics are so imperfectly qualified that
-they never can do any thing _just right_, unless you stand by and
-attend to every thing yourself, and you can not be present in parlor,
-nursery, and kitchen all at once. Perhaps you are frequently left
-without any cook, or without a chamber-maid, and sometimes without any
-hands but your own to do the work, and there is constant jostling and
-change from this cause. And perhaps you can not get supplies, either
-from garden or market, such as you need, and all your calculations
-fail in that direction.
-
-And perhaps your children are sickly, and rob you of rest by night,
-or your health is so poor that you feel no energy or spirits to make
-exertions. And perhaps you never have had any training in domestic
-affairs, and can not understand how to work yourself, nor how to
-direct others. And when you go for aid to experienced housekeepers,
-or cookery-books, you are met by such sort of directions as these:
-“Take a _pinch_ of this, and a _little_ of that, and _considerable_
-of the other, and cook them till they are done _about right_.” And
-when you can not succeed in following such indefinite instructions,
-you find your neighbors and husband wondering how it is that, when you
-have one, two, or three domestics, there should be so much difficulty
-about housekeeping, and such constant trouble, and miscalculation, and
-mistake. And then, perhaps, you lose your patience and your temper, and
-blame others, and others blame you, and so every thing seems to be in a
-snarl.
-
-Now the first thing to be said for your comfort is, that you _really
-have_ great trials to meet; trials that entitle you to pity and
-sympathy, while it is the fault of others more than your own that you
-are in this very painful and difficult situation. You have been as
-cruelly treated as the Israelites were by Pharaoh, when he demanded
-bricks without furnishing the means to make them.
-
-You are like a young, inexperienced lad who is required to superintend
-all the complicated machinery of a manufactory which he never was
-trained to understand, and on penalty of losing reputation, health, and
-all he values most.
-
-Neither your parents, teachers, or husband have _trained_ you for the
-place you fill, nor furnished you with the knowledge or assistance
-needed to enable you to meet all the complicated and untried duties
-of your lot. A young woman who has never had the care of a child,
-never done house-work, never learned the numberless processes that are
-indispensable to keep domestic affairs in regular order, never done any
-thing but attend to books, drawing, and music at school, and visiting
-and company after she left school—such an one is as unprepared to take
-charge of a nursery, kitchen, and family establishment, as she is to
-take charge of a _man-of-war_. And the chief blame rests with those who
-placed her _so unprepared_ in such trying circumstances. Therefore,
-you have a right to feel that a large part of these evils are more
-your misfortune than your fault, and that they entitle you to sympathy
-rather than blame.
-
-The next word of comfort is, the assurance that you _can_ do _every
-one_ of your duties, and do them well, and the following is the method
-by which you can do it. In the first place, make up your mind that
-it never is your duty to do any thing more than you _can_, or in any
-better manner than the best you can. And whenever you have done the
-best you can, you have done _well_; and it is all that man _should_
-require, and certainly all that your heavenly Father _does_ require.
-
-The next thing is, for you to make out an inventory of all the things
-that need to be done in your whole establishment. Then calculate what
-things you find you _can not_ do, and strike them off the list, as what
-are not among your _duties_. Of those that remain, select a certain
-number that you think you can do _exactly as they need to be done_, and
-among these be sure that you put the making of _good bread_. This every
-housekeeper can do, if she will only determine to do it.
-
-Make a selection of certain things that you will _persevere_ in having
-done _as well as they can be done_, and let these be only so many as
-you feel sure you can succeed in attempting. Then make up your mind
-that all the rest must go along as they do, until you get more time,
-strength, and experience, to increase the list of things that you
-determine shall always be well done.
-
-By this course you will have the comfort of feeling that in _some_
-respects you are as good a housekeeper as you can be, while there will
-be a cheering progress in gaining on all that portion of your affairs
-that are left at loose ends. You will be able to measure a gradual
-advance, and be encouraged by success. Many housekeepers fail entirely
-by expecting to do _every thing well at first_, when neither their
-knowledge or strength is adequate, and so they fail everywhere, and
-finally give up in despair.
-
-Are you not only a housekeeper, but a _mother_? Oh, sacred and
-beautiful name! how many cares and responsibilities are associated
-with it! And how many elevating and sublime anticipations and hopes
-are given to inspire and to cheer! You are training young minds whose
-plastic texture will receive and retain every impression you make; who
-will imitate your feelings, tastes, habits, and opinions; and who will
-transmit what they receive from you to their children, to pass again to
-the next generation, and then to the next, until _a whole nation_ may
-possibly receive its character and destiny from your hands! No imperial
-queen ever stood in a more sublime and responsible position than you
-now occupy in the eye of Him who reads the end from the beginning, and
-who is appointing all the trials and discipline of your lot, not for
-purposes which are visible to your limited ken, but in view of all the
-consequences that are to result from the character which you form, and
-are to transmit to your posterity!
-
-And you who never are to bear a mother’s name, but must toil for the
-children of others with little earthly honor or reward, remember that
-the blessed Lord “took upon himself the form of a servant;” that
-he came “not to be ministered to, but to minister;” that those who
-voluntarily take the lowest place are most likely to stand highest at
-last; that all sincere service is accepted and precious; and that our
-labors in this life are to bear their fruits through everlasting ages.
-
-Remember that you have a Father in heaven who sympathizes in all your
-cares, pities your griefs, makes allowances for your defects, and is
-endeavoring by trials, as well as by blessings, to fit you for the
-right fulfillment of your high and holy calling.
-
-But the heaviest care and sorrow that ever oppress a woman who,
-as housekeeper, has the control of children and servants, are her
-responsibilities as to the eternal destiny of those guided by her
-teachings and example. Our cruel war took thousands of our noblest
-youth to terrible sufferings in prisons and battle-fields, and to a
-torturing death. Multitudes of these sacrificed their all to save
-their country as really as did our Lord when he suffered for the whole
-world. And yet many of these martyred heroes gave no evidence of that
-change which their bereaved parents were trained to believe could alone
-save their beloved ones from everlasting misery. How many mothers have
-hid in silent anguish this never-healed wound—this crushing sorrow!
-
-The most available remedy for such distress is much that is suggested
-in Chapters XXV. and XXVIII.; and the following queries may aid in
-obtaining the true teachings of the Bible on these momentous questions:
-
-Are the definitions given in those chapters of the words _right_,
-_righteous_, _love_, _faith_, and _repentance_, in reference to future
-eternal safety, sustained by common use and by our dictionaries? What
-texts illustrate the distinction between _right_ as to motives, or
-intention and _right_ as to resulting consequences?
-
-What texts show that wrong actions, owing to mistaken opinions as to
-what is right, do not necessarily destroy evidence of a righteous or
-virtuous character?
-
-What texts show that the righteous character which secures eternal
-safety consists, not chiefly in emotional love to God, but rather in a
-controlling principle of obedience to his will, as manifested in both
-his natural and revealed laws?
-
-What texts show that at some future period (it may be millions of ages
-hence) there will be a final separation of the righteous and the wicked?
-
-Are there any texts which show that in the intervening ages there will
-be no improvement of character for those who fail in this life? and are
-there any which show that there may be for some, if not for all?
-
-Are there any texts which show that the character of every human being
-is fixed at death?
-
-Are there any texts which show that some of mankind will be forever
-sinful, and forever separated from the righteous?
-
-Are there any texts which show that all mankind will finally become
-righteous, and thus forever happy?
-
-When all the texts in the Bible on these questions are collected
-and arranged, when applying the rules of interpretation, these
-considerations are to be noticed:
-
-1. That the word “Hades,” in many cases, is translated “Hell,” when
-its proper translation is “the place of departed spirits.” The story
-of Dives and Lazarus, and of the repentant thief, can be properly
-explained only by ascertaining the meaning the Jews attached to the
-words Hades and Paradise; for Christ, of course, expected them to be
-thus understood.
-
-Again, the meaning of many texts depends on the subject before the mind
-of the speaker. Thus when Christ replied to the question, “Are there
-few that be saved?” did he refer to all beings in the whole universe,
-or to the present world, and to that present time when “the righteous”
-were comparatively a small portion of mankind?
-
-Again much that relates to the spirit-world can not be fully taught or
-comprehended. St. Paul says that, when caught up into the third heaven,
-he saw, not, as in our translation, things not “lawful” to utter, but,
-in the original Greek, “impossible” to utter.
-
-Again, the results thus gained from the Bible should be considered in
-connection with the analogies of nature and God’s providence in regard
-to the continued development of mind and character, which in this life
-has so short and imperfect a period, and in most cases so many and
-great disadvantages.
-
-In completing such an investigation, much time and mental effort may
-be required, but is there any employment of time and intellect so
-important as this end?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In offering these suggestions, the author may refer to her own extended
-observation of the results of _religious_ educational training in the
-family, as witnessed in the diverse sects with which she has mingled,
-whether Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish; for she counts excellent and
-intelligent friends in _all_.
-
-She finds all united in the belief of _a future life_ in which the
-character formed in this life controls the eternal well-being; so that
-those who are trained to truth, justice, and mercy will be forever
-happier than those who grow up in sin and wickedness.
-
-She finds that the right education of children and servants is more and
-more an object of care and effort; and that, as the consequence, the
-world is growing better rather than worse.
-
-And finally, she rejoices in the increasingly open avenues to useful
-and remunerating occupations for women, enabling them to establish
-_homes of their own_, where, if not as the natural mother, yet as
-a Christ-mother, they may take in neglected ones, and train future
-mothers, teachers, and missionaries for the world.
-
-
-
-
-NOTE A.
-
-VIEWS OF MEDICAL WRITERS
-
-
-The American Woman’s Educational Association has for its object
-“the establishment of institutions having _endowed_ departments
-supporting ladies of superior character and education who shall
-add to a collegiate course both scientific and practical training,
-in all relating to the distinctive duties of woman as housekeeper,
-wife, mother, nurse of infants and the sick, trainer of servants, and
-chief religious minister of the family state.” As Secretary of this
-Association, the author requested the views of Mrs. Dr. Gleason, of
-the Elmira Water-cure, on the topics that follow. This lady, as wife,
-mother, and highly-educated physician, during over twenty years has had
-patients of her own sex, probably counting by thousands, and has often,
-by request, lectured to graduating classes in the Ingham University,
-the Elmira College, and other popular institutions for women. The
-following are extracts from her reply:
-
-
-_Treatment of Pelvic Diseases._
-
- “The pelvic organs, when diseased, all have so many symptoms in
- common, that it requires not only good anatomical, pathological, and
- physiological knowledge, but close and well-cultivated diagnostic
- powers to decide _which_ organ is diseased, and _how_ it is diseased.
- For example, sometimes a displacement of the uterus will cause a sense
- of weight, dragging, and throbbing, accompanied by pain in the back
- and in front of the hips. But inflammation, ulceration, and induration
- of this organ will produce precisely the same results; and sometimes
- _mere nervous debility_ in these parts will induce these symptoms,
- especially when the imagination is excited in reference to the
- subject. It also is often the case that extreme prolapsus occurs _in
- which there is no pain at all_.
-
- “So also disease of the urinary cyst is indicated by symptoms
- precisely similar to those which mark the disease of the adjacent
- organ. These organs lying in close proximity, and supplied with nerves
- from the same source, would necessarily sympathize, and show disease
- by similar symptoms. Just as in the toothache, many a one has been
- unable to point out the diseased tooth. How much more difficulty
- exists in a case where most women are profoundly ignorant on the
- subject!
-
- “It has become a very common notion that when any local displacement
- of the pelvic organs occurs, a woman must cease to use her arms,
- cease to exercise vigorously, and keep herself on the bed much of her
- time. All which, in most cases, is exactly the three things which she
- ought not to do. And thus it is that, when from want of fresh air
- and exercise, and from the many pernicious practices that debilitate
- the female constitution, the pelvic organs indicate debility, and
- these nerves begin to ache. Immediately a harness is put on for
- local support, and the bed becomes the constant resort; and thus the
- muscular debility and nervous irritability are increased. And yet,
- all that is needed is fresh air, exercise, simple diet, and _proper_
- mental occupation.
-
- “In this condition, perhaps, resort is had to some ignorant or
- inexperienced practitioner, who has some patent supporter to sell, or
- who has some secret and wonderful method of curing such diseases. Then
- commences, in many cases, a kind of local treatment most trying to the
- feelings, _which is but seldom required_, and which, in a majority of
- cases, results in no benefit.
-
- “Many a one has recited to me the mental and physical suffering she
- has endured for months in such a course of treatment, and all to no
- purpose. A touching case of this kind recently occurred, in the case
- of a beautiful young lady who was a listener to a course of lectures
- on the pelvis and its diseases, given by me to the graduating class of
- a female seminary. At the close she came to me, and, with tearful eyes
- and a quivering lip, said, ‘I see now why all I have suffered, in body
- and mind is worse than useless. I see now that I have never had the
- disease for which I have been treated.’
-
- “Woman’s trusting, confiding nature is beautiful; but oh, how much
- it needs to be protected by an intelligence on such subjects that
- will enable her properly to exercise her own judgment! And surely, in
- such cases, above all others, a woman should be sure that her medical
- adviser has had a proper education, and possesses a well-established
- moral character.
-
-
-_Effects of Imagination in Reference to these Diseases._
-
- “Besides the evils of misunderstanding and mistreating these
- affections, we have a host of evils from the effects of imagination.
- Multitudes of women, who hear terrific accounts of the nature of
- these complaints, and of the treatment that is inevitable, have their
- imagination so excited that aches and pains that are really trifling
- become magnified into all the symptoms of the dreaded evil. They
- betake themselves to bed, become more and more nervous as they give
- up air, exercise, and occupation, and thus drag out a useless life,
- a burden to themselves and to their families. Again and again I have
- had such cases brought to me, where for years they could not leave
- their beds or walk at all, when I had nothing to do _but make them
- understand their own organism_, and convince them that they needed
- little else except to get up and _go to work_, in order to be healthy
- women. It is such cases that furnish a large portion of the ‘wonderful
- cures’ that attract patients into the hands of poorly-qualified
- practitioners.
-
- “It is probable that thousands of women who are suffering from pain
- in the back and pelvic evils, and who either will soon be invalids or
- imagine themselves so, could be relieved entirely by obeying these
- directions:
-
- “Wash the whole person, on rising, in cool water, and, if nervous
- or debilitated, by a fire; dress loosely, and let _all_ the weight
- of clothing rest on the shoulders; sleep in a well-ventilated room;
- exercise the muscles a great deal, especially those of the arms and
- trunk, taking care to lie down and rest as soon as fatigue is felt;
- eat simple food, at regular hours; pursue useful employments, with
- intervals of social and healthful amusement; sleep enough, and at the
- proper hours; and sit often in the sun.
-
-
-_Peculiar Instruction needed by Young Children._
-
- “Through information gained from my husband, from other physicians,
- from teachers, from medical writers, and from the reports of insane
- hospitals, it has become clear to my mind that there are secret and
- terrific causes preying extensively upon the health and nervous energy
- of childhood and youth of both sexes such as did not formerly exist,
- and such as demand new efforts to eradicate and prevent.
-
- “Parents and teachers all over the land need to be made aware that a
- secret vice is becoming frequent among children of both sexes that is
- taught by servants and communicated by children at school. Indeed, it
- may result from accident or disease, with an innocent unconsciousness
- of the evil done, on the part of the child, while the practice may
- thus ignorantly be perpetuated to maturity. This practice leads to
- diseases of the most horrible description, to mania, and to fatuity.
- Death and the mad-house are the last resort of these most miserable
- victims.
-
- “To protect childhood and youth from this, it is not only needful
- to cultivate purity of mind and personal modesty, but to teach them
- while quite young that any fingering of the parts referred to involves
- terrible penalties. No such explicit information should be given as
- would tempt the incautious curiosity of childhood, but the child
- should be impressed with a sense of guilt and awful punishment as
- connected with _any thing_ of this kind, that would instantly recur to
- mind, if led by accident or instruction to this vice.
-
- “In regard to those who have already become victims, to a greater or
- less degree, to this vice, one caution is very important. Medical
- writers and others who have attempted to guard the young in this
- direction have painted not only the danger but the wickedness of
- this practice in such strong colors that, when a young person first
- discovers the nature of a practice that has been indulged with little
- conception of the danger or wrong, overaction on the fears and the
- conscience is not unfrequently the result. Such horror and despair
- sometimes ensue as almost paralyze any effort on the part of medical
- advisers to remedy the evil.
-
- “In all such cases, it is safest and best to assume that the sin
- is one of ignorance, and that the cure is almost certain, if the
- directions given are strictly obeyed. Unstimulating diet, a great
- deal of exercise in the open air, daily ablution of the whole
- person, control of the imagination, and occupation of the mind in
- useful pursuits, will usually remedy the evil, after its nature is
- understood.”
-
-
- [A lady, after reading the above, stated that within the last year
- a little boy under her care, of very delicate mind and susceptible
- temperament, was sent to the country to a private boarding-school,
- under the care of a most excellent gentleman and his wife, who were
- eminently faithful, so far as they knew how to be. The child staid
- only six weeks, and returned sick, depressed, and with a burden on his
- mind that could not be discovered. After learning that he would not be
- sent back, he revealed the shocking story, and also the fact that the
- boys had threatened to kill him if he ever told any one.
-
- Another lady, after reading this article, related a similar story of a
- large and highly respected boarding-school for boys, and gave several
- mournful incidents to show the effects of such evils on the health of
- the pupils. Parents whose young sons are at boarding-school _can not_
- be too much alarmed on this subject.]
-
-
-_Instructions at a more Mature Age._
-
- “You wish my views and experience in reference to instructions that
- should be communicated to the young, on such topics, at a more mature
- age.
-
- “The terrible effects I have seen from _simple ignorance_, both on
- individual and domestic happiness, convince me that a great work is to
- be attempted in this direction. More than half the cases of extreme
- suffering which have come under my care could have been saved, had
- the course that is aimed at by you and your associates have been
- secured by them. I have been called repeatedly to lecture to young
- ladies, near the close of a school education, on subjects so important
- to their future health and happiness, and I never found the least
- difficulty, either on their part or my own.
-
- “When the proper discriminations are made between _true_ delicacy and
- propriety, and a fastidious and mawkish imitation of them, there is no
- difficulty in making them understood and appreciated. I have found, on
- such occasions, if a person was present known to be wanting in purity
- and delicacy, it was such only who made very offensive protestations
- against the course pursued in such instructions.
-
- “In reference to _social_ as well as secret vices of this description,
- it seems to me the protection of ignorance should be preserved as long
- as possible, and yet so that, when such knowledge dawns, there shall
- immediately recur the needful impression of danger and sin. These
- duties belong especially to parents and teachers; and the circulation
- of books and papers with the gross and pernicious information that
- many have recommended and practiced involves, as it seems to me, most
- hazardous results.
-
- “The implanted principles which establish the family state are
- connected with the highest rewards when rightly regulated, and with
- most dreadful penalties when perverted or abused. And the prosperity
- of individuals, of families, and of nations, for this life and the
- life to come, depends more on the proper control and regulation of
- these principles than on any other social or moral duty.
-
- “And yet there is no point of morals and religion so widely abused
- and so fruitful of misery and sin as much that is connected with
- these principles. Instead of being regulated by correct knowledge
- and well-formed habits of thought and action, all seems left to the
- mistakes of ignorance or the control of worldly fashion.
-
- “One cause of this state of things is want of consistent rules
- and customs as to what constitutes _true modesty_. These are
- all dependent on a general principle of physiology either rarely
- recognized or inconsistently regarded. The principle is this:
-
- “When the mind directs thought and volition toward any organ of the
- body the blood and nervous fluid tend to that organ. Thus, when
- the brain is used, or the eye, or the hand, the nervous fluid and
- blood tend to the organ to stimulate its action. If this stimulation
- is too frequent, or too long continued, or produced by unnatural
- methods, then debility or disease are the result. The capillaries of
- the misused organ become engorged, producing temporary or chronic
- inflammation or congestion.
-
- “The same is true of those organs consecrated to marriage. Excess or
- unnatural abuse causes an engorgement of the capillaries, and then
- a resulting increase of excitement, and to a degree that sometimes
- baffles all efforts at self-control.
-
- “It is owing to this physiological principle that the rules of
- personal modesty, of decorum, and of propriety in social intercourse
- have been established.
-
- “On the principle above stated these sensibilities demand the control
- of the _thoughts_. For this reason it is that certain topics which
- lead to such thoughts are excluded from general conversation, or, if
- they are alluded to, are veiled in expressions that children do not
- understand. It is for this cause that novels, poetry, and pictures
- which direct the imagination to such topics are deemed objectionable,
- especially for the young.
-
- “It is owing to this physiological fact that Jesus Christ declares
- that the guilt of adultery commences in the indulgence of the thoughts.
-
- “Marriage is not allowable until there has been due instruction and a
- habit formed of regulating these sensibilities by rules of modesty,
- decency, and propriety, and also _knowledge_ imparted as to the
- dangers consequent on neglecting these rules. And here is the place
- where the customs and practices of society are most inconsistent,
- false, and destructive to health and morals. For in one direction
- there is excessive and dangerous laxness, and in another false and
- dangerous strictness and fastidiousness.
-
- “The rule to guide is this, that whenever health, life, or duty
- demand it, all connected with these topics should be spoken of and
- done without restraint or embarrassment; but when there are no such
- demands, they are to be excluded. Thus all these topics are spoken of
- plainly in the Bible and read in public worship, and also in medical,
- surgical, and hospital practice; and it is deemed false modesty and
- false delicacy to express opposition or disapproval. But when there
- are no such demands to serve health or life, or to protect from future
- dangers, conversation, poetry, jokes, or coarse expressions on such
- topics are vulgar, indecent, and sinful.
-
- “Direct violation of these rules are now pervading not only our
- popular amusements, our poetry, and novels, but extensively the weekly
- and daily press is every day drawing attention to topics dangerous
- and forbidden except for necessary instruction and wanting. The Bible
- as read in families and churches comes with solemn simplicity as
- instruction from God, and sins of all kinds are made known for warning
- and instruction. Very different in style and influence are the
- details of vices and crimes presented daily in newspapers, magazines,
- poetry, and novels.
-
- “It would seem as if the Prince of Darkness had sent forth his minions
- to hide all that knowledge that would save from sin and suffering, and
- to expose all that tempts to danger and sin.
-
- “In addition to the dangers of our popular literature, there is a
- wide-spread assumption that such is the constitution of man, that
- the unsullied purity of thought and conduct demanded of the weaker
- sex is not to be expected or scarcely required of the stronger. This
- pernicious opinion is not unfrequently implied in medical writers,
- especially those residing in the centres of European licentiousness.
-
- “Therefore it is very important for parents to know, in the first
- place, that constitutional diversities exist, involving more
- temptations to some than to others; and in the next place, that
- _every_ child is so organized, that strict obedience to the laws
- of health, knowledge of danger from uncontrolled thoughts, useful
- occupation, and suitable moral and religious training, will secure
- the regulation of ordinary temptations, and self-control under
- extraordinary ones. Where in maturity this has not been the case, it
- has been owing to excess either in forbidden or in legal indulgence.
-
- “There is nothing more difficult than to change customs and
- prejudices, especially in matters of delicacy and propriety. And it is
- woman more than man who has controlling influence in these respects.
- Whatever the cultivated and conscientious women of our country decide
- _ought_ to be done, and will _use their influence_ to have done, will
- surely be accomplished.
-
- “The evils here indicated can never be appreciated until mothers and
- teachers gain that knowledge of the construction of the body and the
- dangers connected with the duties of the family state, which now is
- confined to the medical profession, while physicians, by the false
- customs and false modesty of women, are constrained to a dangerous
- reticence.
-
- “I believe that the method proposed by your Association, of securing
- by endowments well-qualified ladies whose _official_ duty it shall be
- to train the young to be healthy, and to communicate all the knowledge
- that will fit them to fulfill healthfully and happily all their future
- duties and relations, will, so far as it is carried out, effectually
- remedy the evils, and secure the benefits designed.
-
- “Oh, that all parents and teachers who are to train the _next_
- generation could be made to understand these intimations, and save
- their daughters from the abounding anguish which has come upon such
- multitudes of those now upon the stage! Very truly yours,
-
-  R. B. GLEASON.”
-
-These views of Mrs. Dr. Gleason are in accordance with those of the
-most influential, learned, and benevolent medical men.
-
- Dr. George T. Elliott, late President of the New York County Medical
- Society, says of _muscular exercise_ (or, as Mrs. Gleason would say,
- “getting up and going to work”): “If this were properly carried out,
- the local treatment now so much in vogue, and the ever-ready resort to
- the speculum, might commonly be dispensed with.”
-
- Dr. Thomas suggests similar views in an address before the Medical
- Society of New York County, in which he speaks of “the wonderful
- improvement exerted on cases _which have long resisted local means_,
- by sea-bathing, or a few months passed in the country. He also says:
- “The fact is notorious that the local treatment of these diseases is
- not as successful as we could wish;” and of uterine injections he
- says: “My impression is, they have done, and are going to do, _a great
- deal of harm. I see no necessity for them_.”
-
- Dr. Peasely, of New York City, says: “Medical applications to the
- uterus are _often_ used in conditions not justifying them.”
-
- The senior editor of the _Pacific Medical Journal_ says: “It is hoped
- that the fashion of women having recourse to local treatment has
- passed to its culmination. The highest authorities have taken the back
- course, and condemn their own uterine surgery in some respects.”
-
- The editor of the _Medical Record_, of New York City, says: “In a
- majority of cases the speculum is used only because it is the fashion.
- The natural tendency of this is certainly _demoralizing_.”
-
- Dr. George H. Taylor, author of an original work on diseases of
- women, says: “A large portion of the women treated by me for pelvic
- disease would, in certain stages, be cured by loose dresses supported
- from the shoulders, domestic exercise, and proper diet. And the
- _Movement Cure_, to a great extent, consists of exercises that would
- in many cases be as successful, and more useful, if performed in
- domestic labor. Moreover, in my experience, not more than one case
- in twenty of cures by movements requires either local examination or
- local treatment. A large portion of my patients could, by obeying my
- directions, cure themselves at home.”
-
-Most medical men now agree that the modes of dress, and the excessive
-mental taxation of schools, unaccompanied by the healthful domestic
-labor of former days, largely account for the prevalence of diseases
-among young girls which formerly were confined to married women, and
-also for the alarming increase of such diseases.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX.
-
-
-  Accidents and antidotes, 366.
-
-  Acids, how to be kept, 108.
-
-  Address of the author to readers, 15.
-
-  Aged, care of the, 301.
-
-  Air-cells, number in human lungs, 153.
-
-  Alcoholic drinks, 100;
-    the microscope, 228.
-
-  Alcoholic poisoning, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Almond and cocoa-nut cake, 86.
-
-  Amusements and social duties, 440, _et seq._
-
-  Angry tones avoidable, 277.
-
-  Antidotes for some poisons, 367.
-
-  Apple and bread dumplings, 79.
-
-  Apple-bread, 68.
-
-  Apple-custard, 68.
-
-  Apple-omelet, to make an, 63.
-
-  Apple-pie, 76.
-
-  Apple-sauce, 56.
-
-  Apple-tarts, spiced, 81.
-
-  Apple-trees, to preserve from insects, 360.
-
-  Apple-ice, 97.
-
-  Apple-jelly, 98.
-
-  Apple lemon-pudding, 97.
-
-  Apple-snow, 98.
-
-  Apples, to preserve, 92.
-
-  Apportionment of time, proper, 283.
-
-  Arrow-root, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Arsenic, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Asparagus, how to cook, 63;
-    how dished, 111.
-
-  Associated charities, a system of, 387.
-
-  Attic story of a house, plan for, 144.
-
-
-  Bacon, the fat of good, 21.
-
-  Baked fish, 59.
-
-  Baked meats. See _Roasts_, 46.
-
-  Basement, plan for a, 147.
-
-  Basket-ware for kitchen, 347.
-
-  Baskets for flowers, 196;
-    and fruits, 333.
-
-  Bath, use and misuse of the, 240.
-
-  Baudeloque, M., on foul air, 158.
-
-  Beautifying a home, 192, _et seq._
-
-  Beds, arranging, 341.
-
-  Beef, selection of, 18;
-    different cuts of, 19;
-    economy in purchase of, 19;
-    stew, 30;
-    soups, 37;
-    hash, 40;
-    boiled, 43;
-    roast, 46;
-    pot-pie of, 47;
-    pie of cold, 48;
-    frizzled, 51.
-
-  Beef-tea, 102.
-
-  Beef’s-gall, to keep, 116.
-
-  Beefsteak, broiled, 50.
-
-  Bees, care of, 312.
-
-  Beets, how to cook, 61.
-
-  Biliousness, cause of, 217.
-
-  Bill of fare four weeks ahead, 125.
-
-  Bird’snest pudding, 78.
-
-  Biscuits—soda, yeast, potato, 69;
-    of sour milk and flour, 71.
-
-  Blackberry jam, 93.
-
-  Blanc-mange, 98;
-    of wheat flour, 97.
-
-  Bleeding from the lungs, throat, etc., 369.
-
-  Blood, the human, 150, _et seq._
-
-  Body, composition of the human, 214.
-
-  Boiled fish, 59.
-
-  Boiled meats—to cook tough beef, ham, beef, fowls, 43;
-    a leg or shoulder of veal, mutton, or lamb, calf’s liver and
-    sweet-breads, kidneys, pillau, smoked tongues, corned beef, 44;
-    partridges or pigeons, ducks, turkeys, 45.
-
-  Bologna sausages, to make, 26.
-
-  Bones, composition of, 243;
-    laws of health for the, 454.
-
-  Borax, for washing, 112.
-
-  Brain and nerves, 203.
-
-  Brain, laws of health for the, 457.
-
-  Brandy peaches, 91.
-
-  Bread, remarks regarding family, 64;
-    fine flour, 66;
-    middlings, or unbolted flour, raised with water only, 67;
-    rye and indian, third, rye, Oat-meal, pumpkin and apple,
-    corn-meal, 68;
-    sweet rolls of corn-meal, soda biscuit, yeast biscuit, potato
-    biscuit, buns, 69;
-    how to keep, 108.
-
-  Bread and apple dumplings, 79.
-
-  Bread and fruit pudding, 77.
-
-  Bread omelet, to make, 63.
-
-  Bread-crumbs and meat hash, 40.
-
-  Bread pudding, stale, 78;
-    for invalids, 81.
-
-  Breakfast dishes, 70-73.
-
-  Breakfast-rooms, care of, 335.
-
-  Breathing, the action in, 245.
-
-  Breeding of animals, 307.
-
-  Brewer, Professor, of Yale College, on ventilation, 169.
-
-  Brine or pickle for beef, pork, etc., 25.
-
-  Broccoli, to pickle, 55.
-
-  Broiled fish, 59.
-
-  Broiled mutton or lamb chops, beefsteak, fresh pork, ham,
-  sweet-breads, veal, pork relish, 50.
-
-  Broiled oysters, 58.
-
-  Bruises, remedies for, 366.
-
-  Brûlure, or fire-blight, 360.
-
-  Buckwheat, how produced and kept, 105.
-
-  Buckwheat cakes, 73.
-
-  Budding and grafting, 353.
-
-  Buns, to make, 69.
-
-  Burns, remedies for, 366.
-
-  Butler, Fanny Kemble, on theatre-going, 444.
-
-  Butter, to keep, 106; in hot weather, 123.
-
-  Butternut catsup, 56.
-
-
-  Cabbage, fine, pickled, 54.
-
-  Cabbage and cauliflower, to cook, 62.
-
-  Cake, general directions for making, 85;
-    one, two, three, four cake; chocolate, jelly, orange, almond, and
-    cocoa-nut, 86;
-    pound-cake, plain-cake, fruit, huckleberry, gold and silver,
-    rich sponge-cake, 87;
-    plain sponge-cake, gingerbread, fried cakes, cookies, etc., 88;
-    plain loaf-cake, rich loaf-cake, dough-cake, icing for cake, 89;
-    how to keep, 108.
-
-  Calf’s-foot, to cleanse, 23;
-    jelly, 44, 92;
-    to cook, 44.
-
-  Calf’s head and feet, to cleanse, 23;
-    soup, 38;
-    to cook, 48.
-
-  Calf’s liver and sweet-breads, to cook, 44.
-
-  Candied fruits, 99.
-
-  Candles, to make, 328.
-
-  Canker-worm, to check, 360.
-
-  Canned fruits, 91.
-
-  Capers, sauce of, mock, 57.
-
-  Capitol, ventilation and warming of the, 165.
-
-  Carbonaceous food, 217.
-
-  Carbonic acid, 153.
-
-  Card-playing as an amusement, 444.
-
-  Care of meats, 18, 22;
-    of the aged, 301;
-    of domestic animals, 305;
-    of the sick, 313;
-    of servants, 424.
-
-  Carpets, selection of, 330;
-    cutting and fitting, 330.
-
-  Carrots, how to cook, 61.
-
-  Carving, directions for, 338.
-
-  Castle-building, 296.
-
-  Catholic priests, care for servants, 438.
-
-  Catsup, walnut or butternut, 56;
-    tomato, 57.
-
-  Cauliflower, to pickle, 55;
-    to cook, 62.
-
-  Celery, to prepare, 62.
-
-  Cell-life, 200;
-    curious facts, 201;
-    important relations to health, 202.
-
-  Cellar, care of a, 348.
-
-  Cement, a good, 122.
-
-  Chairs, a use for old, 195.
-
-  Chambers and bedrooms, care of, 339.
-
-  Character, protection to, 410.
-
-  Charities, associated, 387, _et seq._
-
-  Charlotte russe, 96.
-
-  Cheese, how to keep, 108.
-
-  Cheese of veal, 51.
-
-  Cherries, to preserve, 93.
-
-  Cherry-pie, 79.
-
-  Chickens, etc., stew, 31;
-    roast, 47;
-    pot-pie and rice-pie, 48.
-
-  Chicken salad, 57, 96.
-
-  Children talking to parents, 264, _et seq._;
-    the bath for, 241;
-    training the manners of, 269, _et seq._
-    See, also, _Young Children_.
-
-  Chimney, a central, 176.
-
-  Chimneys, 189, _et seq._
-
-  Chinese, respect for age, 304.
-
-  Chocolate, as a beverage, 101.
-
-  Chocolate-cake, 86.
-
-  Cholera, in the shade, 256.
-
-  Chowder, clam, 59.
-
-  Cider and toast, 101.
-
-  Circus-riding, about, 441.
-
-  Citron melons, to preserve, 93.
-
-  Clam soup, 37;
-    chowder, 59.
-
-  Clarify sugar, to, 99.
-
-  Clark, Dr. James, on physical education of children, 401.
-
-  Cleaning furniture, 332.
-
-  Cleanliness, 235, _et seq._;
-    for animals, 306.
-
-  Clothing, 243, _et seq._;
-    selection of family, 129.
-
-  Cloths, table, 109.
-
-  Coal, anthracite and bituminous, 325.
-
-  Coal mines, principle of ventilating, 168.
-
-  Cocoa, to make, 100.
-
-  Cocoa-nut pudding (plain), 78;
-    cake, 86.
-
-  Codfish, a relish, 51;
-    where to keep, 108.
-
-  Coffee, fish-skin for, 100;
-    cream for, 101;
-    to purchase, 107;
-    for children, 230;
-    as a beverage, 231.
-
-  Cold-meat hash, 39;
-    nice way of cooking, 41.
-
-  Colds, treatment of, 316.
-
-  Combe on the management of infants, 392.
-
-  Comfort for a discouraged housekeeper, 459.
-
-  Company, reception of, 333.
-
-  Conductors of heat, 164.
-
-  Constipation, cure for (_in note_), 315.
-
-  Convection, a principle of heat, 164.
-
-  Cookies, 88.
-
-  Cook-stove, to roast in, 46.
-
-  Cooking-stoves and ranges, 182, _et seq._
-
-  Cool, how to keep, 122.
-
-  Corn (green) soup, 36;
-    pudding, 81.
-
-  Corn-cake, sachem’s head, 73.
-
-  Corn-meal bread, 68;
-    sweet rolls of, 69;
-    pop-overs, 76;
-    for breakfast and supper, 70.
-
-  Corned-beef hash, 41;
-    boiled, 44.
-
-  Corrosive sublimate, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Cottage cheese, fine, 73.
-
-  Cows, care of, 309.
-
-  Crab-apple marmalade and jelly. See _Quince Marmalade_.
-
-  Cracked wheat, 71;
-    how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Cracker plum-pudding, 82.
-
-  Cranberry, 97;
-    sauce, 56.
-
-  Creaking hinges, to stop, 123.
-
-  Cream for coffee and tea, 101.
-
-  Cream tartar, beverage, 102.
-
-  Crockery for a kitchen, 346.
-
-  Crumpets, royal, 72.
-
-  Cucumbers, pickled, 53;
-    convenient way to pickle, 54;
-    to prepare, 62;
-    prepared for table, 110.
-
-  _Curculio_, the, in plum-trees, 360.
-
-  Curd pudding, English, 77.
-
-  Currant and raspberry pie, 79.
-
-  Currant jelly, 94;
-    whisk, 96.
-
-  Currants, to preserve, 93;
-    for cake, 107;
-    raised in a wet soil, 358.
-
-  Custard, plain, 77.
-
-  Cuts, remedies for, 366.
-
-  Cutting dresses, hints on, 361.
-
-
-  Dancing as an amusement, 441.
-
-  Death-rates, average of, 162, 163.
-
-  Decay, results of animal or vegetable, 162.
-
-  Dessert of rice and fruit, 80.
-
-  Desserts and evening parties, 95.
-
-  Diaphragm, the human, 246.
-
-  Digestion of food, 217.
-
-  Digestive organs, the, 219;
-    the laws of health for, 455.
-
-  Dining-rooms, care of, 335.
-
-  Discouraged housekeeper, comfort for, 459.
-
-  Domestic amusements and social duties, 440, _et seq._
-
-  Domestic animals, care of, 305, _et seq._
-
-  Domestic exercise, 208, _et seq._
-
-  Domestic manners, 260, _et seq._
-
-  Domestic service a great problem, 429.
-
-  Domestics’ rooms, 342.
-
-  Dormer-windows, 176.
-
-  Dough-cake, 89.
-
-  Doughnuts, 88.
-
-  Drawn butter, 110;
-    sauce, 56.
-
-  Dress appropriate to servants, 431.
-
-  Dress—fashion ruinous to health, 243.
-
-  Dressing a young girl, proper mode of, 251.
-
-  Drinks, etc., for the sick, 100.
-
-  Drop-cakes of fine wheat or rye, 72.
-
-  Drowning, in cases of, 367.
-
-  Ducks, to boil, 45.
-
-  Dumplings of bread and apples, 79.
-
-  Dwelling, construction of a family, 127;
-    ornamentation of furniture of, 128.
-
-
-  Early rising, 254;
-    recommended, 447.
-
-  Earth-closets, 145.
-
-  Eating too much, 214;
-    too fast, 222.
-
-  Economical breakfast-dish, 71.
-
-  Egg-plant, how to cook, 61.
-
-  Eggs, with meat-hash, 39;
-    omelet, 51;
-    with milk as sauce, 56;
-    modes of cooking, 63;
-    to preserve, 122.
-
-  Egg tea, egg coffee, and egg milk, 102.
-
-  English curd-pudding, 77.
-
-  Essences, how to be kept, 108.
-
-  Evening parties and desserts, 95.
-
-  Exercise indispensable to health, 211;
-    for animals, 307.
-
-  Expenses, family, 130.
-
-  Eyes, laws of health for the, 457.
-
-
-  Family attachments, 452.
-
-  Family religious training, 414, _et seq._
-
-  Fasting, a remedy for sickness, 314.
-
-  Fault-finding, mistakes of, 432.
-
-  Fever, drink for a, 102.
-
-  Figs, where raised, 358.
-
-  Filberts, where raised, 358.
-
-  Fine-flour bread, 66.
-
-  Fire, in case of, 369.
-
-  Fire-blight in pear-trees, 360.
-
-  Fire-places, the advantages of open, 166.
-
-  Fires and lights, 324.
-
-  Fish, selection of, 22;
-    to salt down, 23;
-    directions for cooking, 58.
-
-  Fishing as a sport, 440.
-
-  Fitting dresses, hints on, 361.
-
-  Flannel shirts save washing, 112.
-
-  Flavoring powders, 33.
-
-  Floating island, 98.
-
-  Flour, how it should be kept, 104.
-
-  Flour puddings, flour and fruit puddings, 75;
-    a rich, 80.
-
-  Flower-seeds, planting, 350.
-
-  Flowers, appropriate for baskets, 197;
-    in a room, to cultivate, 197.
-
-  Fluids as food, 224.
-
-  Flummery, 96.
-
-  Folding, sprinkling, and ironing, 118.
-
-  Folding clothing, directions for, 342.
-
-  Food, on the conversion of, into nourishment, 214;
-    responsibility as to, in a family, 214;
-    on taking too much, 214;
-    proportion of nutritive elements in, 215;
-    on one kind of, for each meal, 217;
-    quantity of, to be graduated by exercise, 217;
-    on the quality of, 221;
-    stimulating, 221;
-    animal and vegetable, 221;
-    kinds of,most easily digested, 222;
-    injurious, from bad cooking, 222;
-    on eating too fast, 222;
-    on exercise, after taking, 223;
-    on hot and cold, 223;
-    highly concentrated, 224;
-    for the sick, 318.
-
-  Forewarn instead of find fault, 432.
-
-  Foul air, the evils of, 158, _et seq._
-
-  Fowls, boiled, 43;
-    fricasseed, 43.
-
-  Fragile ware, to preserve, 122.
-
-  French cooking, the peculiar excellence of, 34.
-
-  French vegetable soup, 38.
-
-  Fresh-meat hash, 39.
-
-  Fricasseed fowl, 43.
-
-  Fried meats and relishes, 50.
-
-  Fried oysters, 58.
-
-  Fritters of oysters, 58.
-
-  Frizzled beef, 51.
-
-  Fruit, cultivation of, 357.
-
-  Fruit and bread-crumb pudding, 79.
-
-  Fruit and rice dessert, 80.
-
-  Fruit-cake, 87.
-
-  Fruit pudding, boiled, 77.
-
-  Frying, unhealthful mode of cooking, 50.
-
-  Fuel saved by cottage stove, 188.
-
-  Furnace-heat pernicious, 178, _et seq._
-
-  Furniture, to cleanse or renovate, 122;
-    the selection of, 128, 330.
-
-
-  Games of skill for children, 449.
-
-  Garden seeds, planting, 350.
-
-  Gardening a recreation for the young, 447.
-
-  Gardens and yard, care of, 349.
-
-  Ganglionic system, the, 204.
-
-  Garnishing dishes, modes of, 111.
-
-  Gastric juice, supply of, 218.
-
-  Gherkins, pickled, 53.
-
-  Gingerbread, 88.
-
-  Ginger-snaps and seed cookies, 88.
-
-  Gold and silver cake, 87.
-
-  Good breeding, principles of, 260.
-
-  Gooseberries, how propagated, 358.
-
-  Gouffee’s recipes, 33.
-
-  Grafting and budding, 353.
-
-  Grapes, easy way to keep, 125;
-    to raise, 359.
-
-  Grates and stoves, 324.
-
-  Gravies, always to be strained, 46;
-    brown flour for meat, 46.
-
-  Grease and stains, mixtures for removing, 120, 124.
-
-  Grease-spots, to remove, 124.
-
-  Greens, how prepared, 111.
-
-  Green corn, how to cook, 61;
-    pudding, 81;
-    patties, 82.
-
-  Ground-plan of a house, 134.
-
-  Gruels, water and Oat-meal, 102.
-
-
-  Habits of system and order, 281, _et seq._
-
-  Hair, laws of health for the, 457.
-
-  Ham, selection of, 21;
-    recipe for molasses-cured, 24;
-    brine for pickling, 25;
-    to smoke, 26;
-    hash of cold, 41;
-    boiled, 43;
-    how to keep, 108;
-    broiled eggs for, 111.
-
-  Hard yeast, 66.
-
-  Hashes, common way of spoiling, 39;
-    fresh meat, cold meat and potatoes, with eggs, 39;
-    with tomatoes, nice beef, veal, rice and cold meat, bread-crumbs
-    and cold meat, cold beefsteak, 40;
-    cold mutton or venison, corned beef, cold ham, meats warmed over,
-    cold meats, 41;
-    souse, tripe, 42;
-    how to dish, 111.
-
-  Hasty pudding or mush, 77.
-
-  Health, the care of, 129, 199.
-
-  Healthful food, selection of, 129.
-
-  Health of mind, 293, _et seq._
-
-  Heart, the human, 152.
-
-  Heat, or caloric, explained, 164.
-
-  Helping at table, 338.
-
-  Hemming, hints on, 363.
-
-  Herrings, salt, 51;
-    smoked, 108.
-
-  Hominy for breakfast or supper, 70;
-    how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Hominy, or rice stew, 32.
-
-  Hop and potato yeast, 66.
-
-  Horses, care of, 307.
-
-  Horse-racing, about, 441.
-
-  Hosford’s method of making flour, 65.
-
-  Hospitality, the most agreeable, 453.
-
-  Hot-beds, to prepare, 349.
-
-  “House and Home Papers,” by Mrs. Stowe, 155, 425.
-
-  House-cleaning, 332.
-
-  House plants, care of, 352.
-
-  Houses, on the construction of, 133-149.
-
-  Huckleberry cake, 87.
-
-  Hunting as a sport, 440.
-
-  Hygrodeik, the, 175.
-
-  Hypochondriasis, 297.
-
-  Hysteria, 297.
-
-
-  Ice-cream, general directions for, 95;
-    strawberry ice, ice-cream without cream, 95;
-    fruit ice-cream, 96;
-    lemonade and other ices, 96.
-
-  Iced fruit, 98.
-
-  Icing for cake, 89.
-
-  Indian meal, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Indian pudding boiled, without eggs, 79;
-    baked, 81.
-
-  Indiana pickles, 55.
-
-  Indigo, to purchase and keep, 107.
-
-  Industrial schools, 362.
-
-  Infants, pure air for, 268;
-    mortality among, 390;
-    on giving to the older children, 391;
-    ignorance of parents concerning, 391;
-    importance of knowing how to take care of, 392;
-    Combe and Bell cited, 393, _et seq._;
-    food for, 394;
-    medicines for, 394;
-    keeping warm, 395;
-    keeping their heads cool, 396;
-    bathing, 396;
-    to creep, 397;
-    habits, 397;
-    teething, 398;
-    constipation, 399;
-    diarrhœa, 399;
-    use of water in fever, 400.
-
-  Ingrafting, 355.
-
-  Ink, indelible, how to make, 122.
-
-  Ink-stains, to remove, 121.
-
-  Instinctive love, 372.
-
-  Intemperance in eating, 214, 218.
-
-  Involuntary motion, nerves of, 204.
-
-  Iodide of potassium, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Irish stew, 31.
-
-  Ironing, articles to be provided for, 117;
-    general directions for, 119.
-
-  Iron, to stop cracks in, 123.
-
-  Iron-ware for kitchen, 346.
-
-  Isinglass, to clarify, 98;
-    American, 105.
-
-
-  Jellies and preserves, to prepare, 90.
-
-  Jelly, white wine, 96;
-    apple, orange, 93;
-    what served with, 110.
-
-  Jelly-cake, 86.
-
-
-  Kid gloves, to clean, 121;
-    another way, 124.
-
-  Kidneys, function of the human, 238.
-
-  Kidneys, to cook, 44.
-
-  Kitchen, care of a, 343;
-    furniture for a, 346;
-    plan for a, 141.
-
-
-  Laces, to do up, 117.
-
-  Lamb chops, broiled, 50.
-
-  Lamb, to boil a shoulder or leg, 44.
-
-  Lamp-oil, to remove stains of, 121.
-
-  Lamps, oil and kerosene, 326.
-
-  Lard and drippings, to keep, 106.
-
-  Lard, to try out, 24.
-
-  Laughter is healthy, 449.
-
-  Laws of health, for the bones, for the muscles, 454;
-    for the lungs, for the digestive organs, 455;
-    for the skin, 456;
-    for the brain and nerves, for the teeth, eyes, and hair, 457.
-
-  Laying out yards and gardens, 351.
-
-  Lazy gentleman, a, 272.
-
-  Lead, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Leeds’s method of ventilation, 171.
-
-  Lemon pudding, 82;
-    jelly, 97;
-    peel, 107.
-
-  Lemonade ice, 96.
-
-  Lettuce salad, 57.
-
-  _Leucoemia_, 256.
-
-  Lewis, Dr. Dio, on ventilation, 159.
-
-  Light essential to health, 256.
-
-  Light for animals, 307.
-
-  Lightning, struck by, 369.
-
-  Lights for a house, 326.
-
-  Lime or baryta, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Liver, calf or pig, beef, to cook, 51.
-
-  Liver, use of the human, 238.
-
-  Loaf pudding, 82;
-    cake, 89.
-
-  Longevity, Sir John Sinclair on, 257.
-
-  Lungs, the human, 151;
-    laws of health for, 455.
-
-  Lye, to make, 115.
-
-
-  Macaroni, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Macaroni pudding, 81.
-
-  Mahogany furniture, 333.
-
-  Mangoes, pickled, 54.
-
-  Manners at home and in society, 260, _et seq._
-
-  Manners to servants, 435.
-
-  Marketing, 18.
-
-  Marmalade, quince, 94;
-    orange, 97.
-
-  Martinoes, to pickle, 54.
-
-  Mattresses, 139, 341.
-
-  Measures of quantity, 28.
-
-  Meat and rusk puddings, 76.
-
-  Mechanical skill developed in children, 450.
-
-  Medicines, the use of, 314, _et seq._
-
-  Melancholy, condition of, 297.
-
-  Mental health and disease, 294, _et seq._
-
-  Metal dishes, never cool soup in, 35.
-
-  Mice and rats, to get rid of, 124.
-
-  Mildew, to remove, 119.
-
-  Milk and egg sauce, 56.
-
-  Milk, dangerous use of, 101;
-    as a drink, 233.
-
-  Milk lemonade, 101.
-
-  Mint sauce for lamb, 56.
-
-  Minute pudding of potato starch, 78.
-
-  Mock cream, 79.
-
-  Model ventilation, 172, _et seq._
-
-  Moisture in air necessary, 178.
-
-  Molasses, to purchase and keep, 106.
-
-  Moral character, what constitutes, 371.
-
-  Mucous membrane, the, 237.
-
-  Muffins, wheat, of flour, fine or unbolted, 72.
-
-  Muscles, laws of health for the, 454.
-
-  Muscular exercise, 208, _et seq._
-
-  Mush or hasty pudding, 77.
-
-  Mushrooms, pickled, 53.
-
-  Music, considered as a recreation, 448.
-
-  Muslin curtains, 194.
-
-  Muslins, to starch, 117.
-
-  Mutton—division of a sheep, 20;
-    selection of, 21;
-    and turnip stew, 30;
-    soup, 38;
-    hash, 41;
-    boiled leg or shoulder of, 44;
-    roast, 47;
-    pie, 48.
-
-  Mutton chops, broiled, 50.
-
-
-  Napkins, table, 109.
-
-  Nasturtions, pickled, 53.
-
-  Nerves, laws of health for the, 467.
-
-  Nervous system, the, described, 202.
-
-  Nervousness in sick people, 320.
-
-  Nettle-rash caused by food, 240.
-
-  Night air, prejudice against, 160.
-
-  Nitrate of silver, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Novel-reading, 296, 445.
-
-  Nursery, selection of helpers in the, 130.
-
-  Nursing the sick, 319.
-
-
-  Oat-meal bread, 68;
-    for breakfast or supper, 71;
-    how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Odds and ends, advice about, 124.
-
-  Oil, to purchase and keep, 106.
-
-  Oil-paint, to remove spots of, 151.
-
-  _Oino-mania_, disease of the brain, 228.
-
-  Olla podrida, recipe for, 32.
-
-  Omelet of eggs, 51;
-    plain, bread, apple, 63;
-    oysters, 58.
-
-  One, two, three, four cake, 86.
-
-  Onions, used as flavoring, 35;
-    pickled, 53;
-    to cook, 62.
-
-  Open fire-places, 165;
-    the advantages of, 166.
-
-  Opium, the use of, 233;
-    antidote for, 369.
-
-  Orange-cake, 86;
-    marmalade, 97;
-    jelly, 98;
-    peel, 107.
-
-  Ornamental froth, 98.
-
-  Ornamentation of a house, 128.
-
-  Orphan asylum at Albany, treatment of children in the, 401.
-
-  Oyster plant, or salsify, to cook, 61.
-
-  Oysters, stewed, fried, fritters, scalloped, broiled, omelet,
-    pickled, 58;
-    roast, 59.
-
-  Ox-muzzle made into an ornament, 196.
-
-  Oxygen, amount of in full-grown man, 150.
-
-
-  Packing and storing articles, 342.
-
-  Panada, 102.
-
-  Pancreas gland, the, 238.
-
-  Pan dowdy, 76.
-
-  Paper to keep preserves, 123.
-
-  Paralysis of portion of the brain, 206.
-
-  Parlor cheaply furnished, 195.
-
-  Parsley, as a garnish, 111.
-
-  Parsnips, how to cook, 62.
-
-  Partridges, to boil, 45.
-
-  Paste for puddings and pies should be banished from every table, 83;
-    pie-crusts, 83;
-    directions for making rich pie-crusts, 84
-
-  Patties of green corn, like oysters, 82.
-
-  Pea (green or dried) soup, 37.
-
-  Peaches, pickled, 52;
-    in pie, 79;
-    how to preserve, 91.
-
-  Pearl barley-water, 102.
-
-  Pearl barley and pearl wheat, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Pearl wheat or cracked wheat, 71.
-
-  Pears, to preserve, 92.
-
-  Peppers, pickled, 53.
-
-  Perspiration tubes, length of, 237.
-
-  Philadelphia, death-rate of, 163.
-
-  Philanthropy, instances of true, 380.
-
-  Phin, Professor, on lighting houses, 326.
-
-  Phosphorus, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Pickle for cold fish, 59.
-
-  Pickled oysters, 58.
-
-  Pickles, general directions, 52, 110;
-    sweet, tomatoes, peaches, 52;
-    peppers, nasturtions, onions, gherkins, mushrooms, cucumbers,
-    walnuts, 53;
-    mangoes, cabbage, martinoes, cucumbers, 54;
-    Indiana, cauliflower, or broccoli, 55;
-    never keep in glazed ware, 106.
-
-  Pictures, the hanging of, 332.
-
-  Pie, potato, 48.
-
-  Pie-crusts, 83, 84.
-
-  Piece-bag, a, 146.
-
-  Pies—meat, mutton, beef, chicken, rice-chicken, 48.
-
-  Pigeons, to boil, 45.
-
-  Pigs, benefited by cleanliness, 241.
-
-  Pilaff, or Turkish stew, 32.
-
-  Pillau, a favorite dish in the South, 44.
-
-  Pine-apples, to preserve, 92.
-
-  Pitch, to remove spots of, 120.
-
-  Plain cake, raised with eggs, 87.
-
-  Planting flower and garden seeds, 350.
-
-  Plum pie, 79.
-
-  Plum pudding, cracker, 82.
-
-  Plums, to preserve, 92.
-
-  Poisons, antidotes for certain, 367.
-
-  Pop-overs, of corn-meal, 76.
-
-  Pork, divisions of a hog, 21;
-    selection of, 21;
-    to salt, 24, 25;
-    broiled, 50;
-    fresh, 110.
-
-  Potash soap, to make, 115.
-
-  Potato, various modes of cooking, 60;
-    soup, 36;
-    pie, 48;
-    biscuit, 69;
-    yeast, 66;
-    starch pudding, 78.
-
-  _Pot au feu_, or French stew, 32.
-
-  Pot-pie—beef, veal, or chicken, 47.
-
-  Poultry, selection of, 21;
-    when and how to be killed, 22;
-    boiled, 110;
-    care of, 311.
-
-  Pound-cake, 87.
-
-  Precocity, juvenile, 295.
-
-  Preserves and jellies, general directions, 90;
-    how to keep, 108.
-
-  Preserving fruit-trees, 360.
-
-  Propagation of plants, 353.
-
-  Property, on using properly, 378.
-
-  Pruning, 356.
-
-  Prussic acid, antidote for, 368.
-
-  Puddings and pies, 74;
-    queen of all puddings, 75;
-    flour puddings, flour and fruit, rusk and milk, rusk, 75;
-    meat and rusk (one easily made), pan dowdy, corn-meal, pop-overs,
-    best apple-pie, rice pudding, 76;
-    bread and fruit pudding, boiled-fruit pudding, English curd pudding,
-    common apple-pie, plain custard, mush or hasty pudding, 77;
-    stale bread, rennet custard, bird’s nest pudding, minute pudding of
-    potato starch, tapioca pudding, cocoa-nut pudding, 78;
-    pumpkin-pie, ripe-fruit pies, mock cream, pudding of fruit and
-    bread-crumbs, bread and apple dumplings, Indian pudding without
-    eggs, boiled Indian and suet puddings, 79;
-    dessert of rice and fruit, rice and apple, rich flour pudding, 80;
-    apple-pie, 80;
-    spiced apple-tarts, baked Indian pudding, apple custard, macaroni
-    or vermicelli puddings, green-corn pudding, bread pudding for
-    invalids, 81;
-    a good pudding, loaf pudding, lemon pudding, green-corn patties,
-    cracker plum pudding, bread-and-butter pudding, 82;
-    sauces for puddings, 82;
-    paste for puddings and pies, 83.
-
-  Pumpkin and squash, how to cook, 62;
-    bread, 68;
-    pie, 79;
-    preserved, 94.
-
-  Puritans, descendants of the, 262.
-
-  Pyramid for a table, 99.
-
-
-  Quantity, measures of, 28.
-
-  Queen of all puddings, 75.
-
-  Quinces, to preserve, 91;
-    jelly, 91;
-    marmalade, 94.
-
-
-  Radiation of heat, 165.
-
-  Radishes, to prepare, 62.
-
-  Raisins, to purchase and keep, 107.
-
-  Ranges, cooking, 182, _et seq_.
-
-  Raspberries, how grown, 358.
-
-  Raspberry jam, 93;
-    whisk, 96;
-    vinegar, 101.
-
-  Rats and mice, to get rid of, 124.
-
-  Reading for the young, suitable, 446.
-
-  Reflection of heat, 165.
-
-  Relief, bestowing, 385.
-
-  Religion, power of, in the household, 280;
-    of servants, 438.
-
-  Religious training in the family, 414, _et seq._
-
-  Rennet, to prepare, 23;
-    custard, 78;
-    wine, 78;
-    whey, 102.
-
-  _Reserve power_ of the body, 162.
-
-  Rice, modes of using, 73;
-    as stew, 32;
-    with cold-meat hash, 39, 41;
-    for breakfast and supper, 70;
-    waffles, 73;
-    pudding, 76;
-    and fruit dessert, 80;
-    how to purchase and keep, 105;
-    plain boiled, 110.
-
-  Right use of time and property, 370, _et seq._
-
-  Roast oysters, 59.
-
-  Roast and baked meats—beef, to roast, in a cook-stove, pork, 46;
-    mutton, veal, poultry, pot-pie of beef, veal, or chicken, 47;
-    mutton and beef pie, chicken-pie, rice chicken-pie, potato-pie,
-    calf’s head, 48.
-
-  Rolls, of corn-meal, 69.
-
-  Rooms, the care of, 330.
-
-  Rose-bushes, budding, 355.
-
-  Roses and other plants, how to treat, 123.
-
-  Royal crumpets, 72.
-
-  Rules for setting a table, 337.
-
-  Rusk puddings, 75.
-
-  Rusk and milk, 75.
-
-  Rusk and meat puddings, 76.
-
-  Rust from knives, to keep, 122.
-
-  Rye, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Rye and indian bread, 68.
-
-  Rye or corn meal for breakfast or supper, 70.
-
-
-  Sachem’s head corn-cake, 73.
-
-  Sago, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Salad, chicken, 96;
-    a dressing for, 57.
-
-  Sally Lunn, improved, 72.
-
-  Salsify, or oyster-plant, 61.
-
-  Salt, to purchase and keep, 106.
-
-  Salt, to meats, 22; to beef, 23;
-    to fish, 23;
-    for animals, 307.
-
-  Salt herrings, 51.
-
-  Salted provisions must be watched, 108.
-
-  Sal volatile, how preserved, 108.
-
-  Sassafras jelly, 102.
-
-  Sauces—milk and egg, drawn butter, mint, cranberry, apple, walnut or
-    butternut catsup, 56;
-    mock capers, salad dressing, 57;
-    tomato catsup, 57;
-    for puddings, liquid, 82;
-    hard, a healthful, an excellent, 83.
-
-  Sausages, to prepare cases, 26;
-    meat, 26;
-    bologna, 26.
-
-  Scalloped oysters, 58.
-
-  Scallops, to cook, 59.
-
-  Science and training needful to women, 127.
-
-  Scissors, lessons in use of, 362.
-
-  Scorched articles, how to whiten, 119.
-
-  Screws, movable, 136.
-
-  Scrofula, produced by foul air, 158.
-
-  Sea-sickness aggravated by bad air, 159.
-
-  Seasoning, difficulty of directing as to, 28.
-
-  Secreting organs, the, 238.
-
-  Selection of meats, poultry, and fish, 18-22.
-
-  Servants, training and government of, 130;
-    the care of, 424, _et seq._
-
-  Sewing, hints on, 361;
-    in public schools, 362.
-
-  Sewing-machines, 364.
-
-  Sheep, care of, 310.
-
-  Shelter for animals, 306.
-
-  Sick, drinks and articles for the, 100;
-    care of, 313, _et seq._
-
-  Silk, directions for ironing, 119;
-    to renovate black, 123.
-
-  Silk kerchiefs and ribbons, to clean 121;
-    silk hose and gloves, to clean, 121.
-
-  Silver, to clean, 123.
-
-  Simple drinks, 101.
-
-  Sirup for sweetmeats, 91.
-
-  Sisters of Charity, 322.
-
-  Skin, the human, 235;
-    functions of, 154;
-    laws of health for, 456.
-
-  Sleeping-rooms, ventilation in, 177.
-
-  Smoke hams, how to, 26.
-
-  Smoked tongues, to boil, 44.
-
-  Smoky chimneys, cause and remedy, 190.
-
-  Snow, a dish of, 99.
-
-  Snow for eggs, 123.
-
-  Soap, to purchase and keep, 107;
-    to make soft soap, 116.
-
-  Social duties and amusements, 440, _et seq._
-
-  Soda, to purchase and keep, 107.
-
-  Soda biscuits, 69.
-
-  Soft soap, to make, 116.
-
-  Soil for pot-plants, to prepare, 349.
-
-  Soups—general directions for making, 35;
-    potato, green corn, 36;
-    plain beef, rich beef, green pea, dried bean or pea, clam,
-  37;
-    mutton, French vegetable, plain calf’s head, 38.
-
-  Souse, 42.
-
-  Soy, a fashionable sauce, 110.
-
-  Spanish olla podrida, recipe for, 32.
-
-  Spencer (Herbert), on treatment of offspring, 390.
-
-  Spermaceti, to remove spots of, 121.
-
-  Spiced apple-tarts, 81.
-
-  Spices, how purchased and kept, 107.
-
-  Spine, the human, 244.
-
-  Split-grafting, 355.
-
-  Sponge-cake, rich, 87;
-    plain, 88.
-
-  Sprains, remedies for, 366.
-
-  Sprinkling, folding, and ironing, 118.
-
-  Squash and pumpkin, how to cook, 62;
-    pie, 79.
-
-  Stains and grease, mixtures for removing, 119, 120.
-
-  Stale-bread pudding, 78.
-
-  Starch, to purchase and keep, 107;
-    to prepare, 116.
-
-  Starching muslins and laces, 117.
-
-  Steam-coils for warming dwellings, 180.
-
-  Steam-doctors, 240.
-
-  Stew or soup kettle, 28.
-
-  Stewed oysters, 58.
-
-  Stews, general directions for, 29;
-    varieties of, 30.
-
-  Stimulants unnecessary, 225.
-
-  Stimulating food, 221.
-
-  Stock for soap, 36.
-
-  Store-room, cool and dry place indispensable, 104;
-    plan for a, 141;
-    the care of, 348.
-
-  Stores, providing and care of family, 103.
-
-  Stoves and grates, 324.
-
-  Stoves are economical, 177;
-    for cooking, 182;
-    durability of the cottage-stove, 187.
-
-  Stowe’s, Mrs., “House and Home Papers,” 155, 425.
-
-  Strawberries, to preserve, 93;
-    the proper soil for, 358.
-
-  Strawberry-ice, 96;
-    whisk, 96;
-    vinegar, 101.
-
-  Straw-matting for chambers, 332.
-
-  Strong-flavored meats, 110.
-
-  Strychnine, antidote for, 369.
-
-  Succotash, how to cook, 61.
-
-  Suffocation through defective flues, 191.
-
-  Sugar an unwholesome diet, 74.
-
-  Sugars, how purchased and kept, 105.
-
-  Suitable meats and vegetables, 110.
-
-  Supper-dishes, 70-73.
-
-  Sweet herbs, how preserved, 107.
-
-  Sweet potatoes, to cook, 61.
-
-  Sweet-breads, calf’s, 44;
-    broiled, 50.
-
-  Swine, care of, 310.
-
-  System and order, habits of, 281, _et seq._
-
-
-  Table furniture, 336.
-
-  Table manners, 268.
-
-  Tables, art of setting, 109, 336;
-    rules for setting, 337;
-    for dinners, 337;
-    waiting on, 338.
-
-  Tapioca, how purchased and kept, 105;
-    as a pudding, 78.
-
-  Tar, to remove spots of, 120.
-
-  Taylor’s, Dr. George, movement cure, 207.
-
-  Tea, to make, 100;
-    cream for, 101;
-    the purchase of, 107;
-    for children, 230;
-    as a beverage, 231.
-
-  Teeth, laws of health for the, 457.
-
-  Temper, preservation of good, 274, _et seq._
-
-  Theatres, regarding, 443.
-
-  Thinning fruit on trees, 356.
-
-  Third bread, 68.
-
-  Tight-lacing, the evils of, 247, _et seq._
-
-  Time and property, right use of, 370, _et seq._
-
-  Time, on apportioning, 375;
-    on saving, 376;
-    devoted by Jews to religion, 377.
-
-  Tin ware for kitchen, 346.
-
-  Toast and cider, 101.
-
-  Tobacco, the use of, 233.
-
-  Tomatoes, with meat-hash, 40;
-    pickled, 52;
-    excellent way of preparing, 54;
-    to cook, 62;
-    sirup, 102.
-
-  Tongues, to boil smoked, 44.
-
-  Tortures inflicted by fashion, 249.
-
-  Tough beef, how to boil, 43.
-
-  Training necessary for women, 127.
-
-  Transplanting, directions for, 351;
-    for trees, 352.
-
-  Trials of a housekeeper, 275, _et seq._
-
-  Tripe, 42.
-
-  Turkeys, to boil, 45;
-    salad, 57.
-
-  Turkish stew, or pilaff, 32.
-
-  Turpentine, to remove spots of, 120.
-
-  Typhoid fever and the microscope, 161.
-
-  Tyranny of servants, 435.
-
-
-  Unbolted flour to be kept in kegs, 105.
-
-
-  Variety at meals, 219.
-
-  Variety of food necessary, 104.
-
-  Varnished articles, to remove stains on, 121.
-
-  Veal, season for use, 20;
-    divisions of, 20;
-    selection of, 20;
-    hash, 40;
-    boiled, 44;
-    roast, 47;
-    pot-pie of, 47;
-    broiled, 50;
-    veal cheese, 51;
-    broiled with eggs, 111.
-
-  Vegetable food, 217.
-
-  Vegetables—potatoes, 60;
-    sweet potatoes, green corn, succotash, salsify, or oyster plant,
-    egg plant, carrots, beets, 61;
-    parsnips, pumpkins, and squash, celery, radishes, onions, tomatoes,
-    cucumbers, cabbage, and cauliflower, 62;
-    asparagus, macaroni, 63.
-
-  Vegetables should not be boiled in soup, 35.
-
-  Velvet, directions for ironing, 119.
-
-  Venison or mutton hash, 41.
-
-  Ventilation, importance of, 150, _et seq._
-
-  Vermicelli pudding, 81;
-    the purchase of, 105.
-
-  Vermin in animals, 307.
-
-
-  Waffles of unbolted flour, 72;
-    of rice, 73.
-
-  Waiting at table, 338.
-
-  Wall-paper, to cleanse, 123.
-
-  Walnut catsup, 56.
-
-  Walnuts, pickled, 53.
-
-  Ward cases, 196.
-
-  Warmed-over meats made into hash, 41.
-
-  Warming a home, 164.
-
-  Warm plates, 110.
-
-  Washing dishes, 344;
-    rules for, 345.
-
-  Washing, ironing, and cleansing, necessaries for, 112;
-    common mode of washing, 113;
-    flannels, bedding, calicoes, 114;
-    use of bran water, 114;
-    use of potato-water, 115;
-    to cleanse broadcloth, 115.
-
-  Wash-leather articles, to clean, 121.
-
-  Water-cure, the, 240.
-
-  Water-gruel, 102.
-
-  Water-melon rinds, to preserve, 94.
-
-  Wax, to remove spots of, 121.
-
-  Weekly apportionment of work, 287.
-
-  Well, to purify a, 123.
-
-  Wheat muffins, 72.
-
-  Whiten articles, to, 119.
-
-  White tea, and boys’ coffee, 101.
-
-  Whip-grafting, 355.
-
-  Whip syllabub, 97.
-
-  Wine jelly, 96.
-
-  Wine whey, 101.
-
-  Women, courtesy to, 264.
-
-  Wood, a cord and a load of, 324.
-
-  Wooden ware for kitchen, 347.
-
-  Wood-work of a house, 148.
-
-
-  Yeast, brewers’ or distillers', the best, hop and potato yeast,
-    hard yeast, 66.
-
-  Young children, management of, in the Orphan Asylum at Albany, 401;
-    effects of eating too often, 402;
-    the intellectual training of, 402;
-    habits of submission, 403;
-    self-denial, 404;
-    sensitiveness, 405;
-    unsteadiness in, and over-government, 406;
-    multiplication of rules, 407;
-    govern by rewards, avoid angry tones, 408;
-    moral habits, 410;
-    cultivation of habits of modesty, 411;
-    treatment of forbidden topics, 411;
-    purity of thought, 412;
-    warning to parents, 413.
-
-  Young girl, dressing properly a, 251.
-
-
-  Zymotic diseases, 161.
-
-
-
-
-                        VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS
-
-                   FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES,
-
-               PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
-
-
- ☛ _For a full List of Books suitable for Libraries, see HARPER &
- BROTHERS’ TRADE-LIST and CATALOGUE, which may be had gratuitously on
- application to the Publishers personally, or by letter enclosing Five
- Cents._
-
- ☛ _HARPER & BROTHERS will send any of the following works by mail,
- postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the
- price._
-
-
-MOTLEY’S DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. By JOHN
-LOTHROP MOTLEY, LL.D., D.C.L. With a Portrait of William of Orange. 3
-vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.
-
-MOTLEY’S UNITED NETHERLANDS. History of the United Netherlands: from
-the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years’ Truce—1609. With
-a full View of the English-Dutch Struggle against Spain, and of the
-Origin and Destruction of the Spanish Armada. By JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY,
-LL.D., D.C.L. Portraits. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00.
-
-NAPOLEON’S LIFE OF CÆSAR. The History of Julius Cæsar. By His Imperial
-Majesty NAPOLEON III. Two Volumes ready. Library Edition, 8vo, Cloth,
-$3 50 per vol.
-
-_Maps to Vols. I. and II. sold separately._ _Price_ $1 50 _each_, NET.
-
-HAYDN’S DICTIONARY OF DATES, relating to all Ages and Nations. For
-Universal Reference. Edited by BENJAMIN VINCENT, Assistant Secretary
-and Keeper of the Library of the Royal Institution of Great Britain;
-and Revised for the Use of American Readers. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Sheep,
-$6 00.
-
-MACGREGOR’S ROB ROY ON THE JORDAN. The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile,
-Red Sea, and Gennesareth, &c. A Canoe Cruise in Palestine and Egypt,
-and the Waters of Damascus. By J. MACGREGOR, M.A. With Maps and
-Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
-
-WALLACE’S MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. The Malay Archipelago: the Land of the
-Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, 1854-1862.
-With Studies of Man and Nature. By ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE. With Ten Maps
-and Fifty-one Elegant Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-WHYMPER’S ALASKA. Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska,
-formerly Russian America—now Ceded to the United States—and in various
-other parts of the North Pacific. By FREDERICK WHYMPER. With Map and
-Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
-
-ORTON’S ANDES AND THE AMAZON. The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across the
-Continent of South America. By JAMES ORTON, M.A., Professor of Natural
-History in Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and Corresponding
-Member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. With a New Map
-of Equatorial America and numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2
-00.
-
-WINCHELL’S SKETCHES OF CREATION. Sketches of Creation: a Popular
-View of some of the Grand Conclusions of the Sciences in reference
-to the History of Matter and of Life. Together with a Statement of
-the Intimations of Science respecting the Primordial Condition and
-the Ultimate Destiny of the Earth and the Solar System. By ALEXANDER
-WINCHELL, LL.D., Professor of Geology, Zoology, and Botany in the
-University of Michigan, and Director of the State Geological Survey.
-With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-
-WHITE’S MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew:
-Preceded by a History of the Religious Wars in the Reign of Charles IX.
-By HENRY WHITE, M.A. With Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 75.
-
-LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Pictorial Field-Book of the
-Revolution; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History,
-Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence.
-By BENSON J. LOSSING. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half
-Calf, $18 00; Full Turkey Morocco, $22 00.
-
-LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812. Pictorial Field-Book of the
-War of 1812; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History,
-Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the Last War for American
-Independence. By BENSON J. LOSSING. With several hundred Engravings on
-Wood, by Lossing and Barritt, chiefly from Original Sketches by the
-Author. 1088 pages, 8vo, Cloth, $7 00; Sheep, $8 50; Half Calf, $10 00.
-
-ALFORD’S GREEK TESTAMENT. The Greek Testament: with a critically
-revised Text; a Digest of Various Readings; Marginal References to
-Verbal and Idiomatic Usage; Prolegomena; and a Critical and Exegetical
-Commentary. For the Use of Theological Students and Ministers. By HENRY
-ALFORD, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. Vol. I., containing the Four Gospels.
-944 pages, 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, $6 50.
-
-ABBOTT’S FREDERICK THE GREAT. The History of Frederick the Second,
-called Frederick the Great. By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. Elegantly
-Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-ABBOTT’S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. The French Revolution of
-1789, as viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions. By JOHN S. C.
-ABBOTT. With 100 Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-ABBOTT’S NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. The History of Napoleon Bonaparte. By JOHN
-S. C. ABBOTT. With Maps, Woodcuts, and Portraits on Steel. 2 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $10 00.
-
-ABBOTT’S NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA; or, Interesting Anecdotes and
-Remarkable Conversations of the Emperor during the Five and a Half
-Years of his Captivity. Collected from the Memorials of Las Casas,
-O’Meara, Montholon, Antommarchi, and others. By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. With
-Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-ADDISON’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Joseph Addison, embracing the
-whole of the “Spectator.” Complete in 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.
-
-ALCOCK’S JAPAN. The Capital of the Tycoon: a Narrative of a Three
-Years' Residence in Japan. By Sir RUTHERFORD ALCOCK, K.C.B., Her
-Majesty’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan.
-With Maps and Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-ALISON’S HISTORY OF EUROPE. FIRST SERIES: From the Commencement of the
-French Revolution, in 1789, to the Restoration of the Bourbons, in
-1815. [In addition to the Notes on Chapter LXXVI., which correct the
-errors of the original work concerning the United States, a copious
-Analytical Index has been appended to this American edition.] SECOND
-SERIES: From the Fall of Napoleon, in 1815, to the Accession of Louis
-Napoleon, in 1852. 8 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $16 00.
-
-BALDWIN’S PRE-HISTORIC NATIONS. Pre-Historic Nations; or, Inquiries
-concerning some of the Great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity,
-and their Probable Relation to a still Older Civilization of the
-Ethiopians or Cushites of Arabia. By JOHN D. BALDWIN, Member of the
-American Oriental Society. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
-
-BARTH’S NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA. Travels and Discoveries in North and
-Central Africa: being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the
-Auspices of H. B. M.'s Government, in the Years 1849-1855. By HENRY
-BARTH, PH.D., D.C.L. Illustrated. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $12 00.
-
-HENRY WARD BEECHER’S SERMONS. Sermons by HENRY WARD BEECHER, Plymouth
-Church, Brooklyn. Selected from Published and Unpublished Discourses,
-and Revised by their Author. With Steel Portrait. Complete in 2 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-LYMAN BEECHER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, &c. Autobiography, Correspondence, &c.,
-of Lyman Beecher, D.D. Edited by his Son, CHARLES BEECHER. With Three
-Steel Portraits, and Engravings on Wood. In 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-BOSWELL’S JOHNSON. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Including a
-Journey to the Hebrides. By JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. A New Edition, with
-numerous Additions and Notes. By JOHN WILSON CROKER, LL.D., F.R.S.
-Portrait of Boswell. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
-
-DRAPER’S CIVIL WAR. History of the American Civil War. By JOHN W.
-DRAPER, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in the
-University of New York. In Three Vols. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50 per vol.
-
-DRAPER’S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE. A History of the
-Intellectual Development of Europe. By JOHN W. DRAPER, M.D., LL.D.,
-Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York.
-8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-DRAPER’S AMERICAN CIVIL POLICY. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of
-America. By JOHN W. DRAPER, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Chemistry and
-Physiology in the University of New York. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
-
-DU CHAILLU’S AFRICA. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa,
-with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the
-Chase of the Gorilla, the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus,
-and other Animals. By PAUL B. DU CHAILLU. Numerous Illustrations. 8vo,
-Cloth, $5 00.
-
-BELLOWS’S OLD WORLD. The Old World in its New Face: Impressions of
-Europe in 1867-1868. By HENRY W. BELLOWS. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-BRODHEAD’S HISTORY OF NEW YORK. History of the State of New York. By
-JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD. 1609-1691. 2 vols. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00 per vol.
-
-BROUGHAM’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Life and Times of HENRY, LORD BROUGHAM.
-Written by Himself. In Three Volumes. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per vol.
-
-BULWER’S PROSE WORKS. Miscellaneous Prose Works of Edward Bulwer, Lord
-Lytton. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-BULWER’S HORACE. The Odes and Epodes of Horace. A Metrical Translation
-into English. With Introduction and Commentaries. By LORD LYTTON. With
-Latin Text from the Editions of Orelli, Macleane, and Yonge. 12mo,
-Cloth, $1 75.
-
-BULWER’S KING ARTHUR. A Poem. By EARL LYTTON. New Edition. 12mo, Cloth,
-$1 75.
-
-BURNS’S LIFE AND WORKS. The Life and Works of Robert Burns. Edited by
-ROBERT CHAMBERS. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.
-
-REINDEER, DOGS, AND SNOW-SHOES. A Journal of Siberian Travel and
-Explorations made in the Years 1865-'67. By RICHARD J. BUSH, late of
-the Russo-American Telegraph Expedition. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
-$3 00.
-
-CARLYLE’S FREDERICK THE GREAT. History of Friedrich II., called
-Frederick the Great. By THOMAS CARLYLE. Portraits, Maps, Plans, &c. 6
-vols., 12mo, Cloth, $12 00.
-
-CARLYLE’S FRENCH REVOLUTION. History of the French Revolution. Newly
-Revised by the Author, with Index, &c. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-CARLYLE’S OLIVER CROMWELL. Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell.
-With Elucidations and Connecting Narrative. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-CHALMERS’S POSTHUMOUS WORKS. The Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers.
-Edited by his Son-in-Law, Rev. WILLIAM HANNA, LL.D. Complete in 9
-vols., 12mo, Cloth, $13 50.
-
-COLERIDGE’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor
-Coleridge. With an Introductory Essay upon his Philosophical and
-Theological Opinions. Edited by Professor SHEDD. Complete in Seven
-Vols. With a fine Portrait. Small 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.
-
-DOOLITTLE’S CHINA. Social Life of the Chinese: with some Account of
-their Religious, Governmental, Educational, and Business Customs and
-Opinions. With special but not exclusive Reference to Fuhchau. By
-Rev. JUSTUS DOOLITTLE, Fourteen Years Member of the Fuhchau Mission
-of the American Board. Illustrated with more than 150 characteristic
-Engravings on Wood. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-GIBBON’S ROME. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By
-EDWARD GIBBON. With Notes by Rev. H. H. MILMAN and M. GUIZOT. A new
-cheap Edition. To which is added a complete Index of the whole Work,
-and a Portrait of the Author. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.
-
-HAZEN’S SCHOOL AND ARMY IN GERMANY AND FRANCE. The School and the Army
-in Germany and France, with a Diary of Siege Life at Versailles. By
-Brevet Major-General W. B. HAZEN, U.S.A., Colonel Sixth Infantry. Crown
-8vo, Cloth, $2 50.
-
-HARPER’S NEW CLASSICAL LIBRARY. Literal Translations.
-
-The following Volumes are now ready. Portraits. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50 each.
-
- CÆSAR.—VIRGIL.—SALLUST.—HORACE.—CICERO’S ORATIONS.—CICERO’S
- OFFICES, &c.—CICERO ON ORATORY AND ORATORS.—TACITUS (2
- vols.).—TERENCE.—SOPHOCLES.—JUVENAL.—XENOPHON.—HOMER’S ILIAD.—HOMER’S
- ODYSSEY.—HERODOTUS.—DEMOSTHENES.—THUCYDIDES.—ÆSCHYLUS.—EURIPIDES (2
- vols.).—LIVY (2 vols.).
-
-DAVIS’S CARTHAGE. Carthage and her Remains: being an Account of the
-Excavations and Researches on the Site of the Phœnician Metropolis in
-Africa and other adjacent Places. Conducted under the Auspices of Her
-Majesty’s Government. By Dr. DAVIS, F.R.G.S. Profusely Illustrated with
-Maps, Woodcuts, Chromo-Lithographs, &c. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
-
-EDGEWORTH’S (MISS) NOVELS. With Engravings. 10 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $15
-00.
-
-GROTE’S HISTORY OF GREECE. 12 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $18 00.
-
-HELPS’S SPANISH CONQUEST. The Spanish Conquest in America, and its
-Relation to the History of Slavery and to the Government of Colonies.
-By ARTHUR HELPS. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.
-
-HALE’S (MRS.) WOMAN’S RECORD. Woman’s Record; or, Biographical Sketches
-of all Distinguished Women, from the Creation to the Present Time.
-Arranged in Four Eras, with Selections from Female Writers of each Era.
-By Mrs. SARAH JOSEPHA HALE. Illustrated with more than 200 Portraits.
-8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-HALL’S ARCTIC RESEARCHES. Arctic Researches and Life among the
-Esquimaux: being the Narrative of an Expedition in Search of Sir John
-Franklin, in the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862. By CHARLES FRANCIS HALL.
-With Maps and 100 Illustrations. The Illustrations are from Original
-Drawings by Charles Parsons, Henry L. Stephens, Solomon Eytinge,
-W. S. L. Jewett, and Granville Perkins, after Sketches by Captain Hall.
-8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-HALLAM’S CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of Henry
-VII. to the Death of George II. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.
-
-HALLAM’S LITERATURE. Introduction to the Literature of Europe during
-the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. By HENRY HALLAM. 2
-vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
-
-HALLAM’S MIDDLE AGES. State of Europe during the Middle Ages. By HENRY
-HALLAM. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.
-
-HILDRETH’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. FIRST SERIES: From the First
-Settlement of the Country to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution.
-SECOND SERIES: From the Adoption of the Federal Constitution to the End
-of the Sixteenth Congress. 6 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $18 00.
-
-HUME’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. History of England, from the Invasion of
-Julius Cæsar to the Abdication of James II., 1688. By DAVID HUME. A new
-Edition, with the Author’s last Corrections and Improvements. To which
-is Prefixed a short Account of his Life, written by Himself. With a
-Portrait of the Author. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.
-
-JAY’S WORKS. Complete Works of Rev. William Jay: comprising his
-Sermons, Family Discourses, Morning and Evening Exercises for every Day
-in the Year, Family Prayers, &c. Author’s enlarged Edition, revised. 3
-vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.
-
-JEFFERSON’S DOMESTIC LIFE. The Domestic Life of Thomas
-Jefferson: compiled from Family Letters and Reminiscences by his
-Great-Granddaughter, SARAH N. RANDOLPH. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo,
-Illuminated Cloth, Beveled Edges, $2 50.
-
-JOHNSON’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. With
-an Essay on his Life and Genius, by ARTHUR MURPHY, Esq. Portrait of
-Johnson. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
-
-KINGLAKE’S CRIMEAN WAR. The Invasion of the Crimea, and an Account of
-its Progress down to the Death of Lord Raglan. By ALEXANDER WILLIAM
-KINGLAKE. With Maps and Plans. Two Vols. ready. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per
-vol.
-
-KINGSLEY’S WEST INDIES. At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. By
-CHARLES KINGSLEY. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
-
-KRUMMACHER’S DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL. David, the King of Israel: a
-Portrait drawn from Bible History and the Book of Psalms. By FREDERICK
-WILLIAM KRUMMACHER, D.D., Author of “Elijah the Tishbite,” &c.
-Translated under the express Sanction of the Author by the Rev. M. G.
-EASTON, M.A. With a Letter from Dr. Krummacher to his American Readers,
-and a Portrait. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
-
-LAMB’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Charles Lamb. Comprising his
-Letters, Poems, Essays of Elia, Essays upon Shakspeare, Hogarth,
-&c., and a Sketch of his Life, with the Final Memorials, by T. NOON
-TALFOURD. Portrait. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.
-
-LIVINGSTONE’S SOUTH AFRICA. Missionary Travels and Researches in South
-Africa; including a Sketch of Sixteen Years’ Residence in the Interior
-of Africa, and a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the
-West Coast; thence across the Continent, down the River Zambesi, to the
-Eastern Ocean. By DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L. With Portrait, Maps
-by Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.
-
-LIVINGSTONES’ ZAMBESI. Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi
-and its Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and
-Nyassa. 1858-1864. By DAVID and CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. With Map and
-Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-M’CLINTOCK & STRONG’S CYCLOPÆDIA. Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological,
-and Ecclesiastical Literature. Prepared by the Rev. JOHN M’CLINTOCK,
-D.D., and JAMES STRONG, S.T.D. _4 vols. now ready._ Royal 8vo. Price
-per vol., Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00; Half Morocco, $8 00.
-
-MARCY’S ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. Thirty Years of Army Life on the
-Border. Comprising Descriptions of the Indian Nomads of the Plains;
-Explorations of New Territory; a Trip across the Rocky Mountains in
-the Winter; Descriptions of the Habits of Different Animals found
-in the West, and the Methods of Hunting them; with Incidents in the
-Life of Different Frontier Men, &c., &c. By Brevet Brigadier-General
-R. B. MARCY, U.S.A., Author of “The Prairie Traveller.” With numerous
-Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $3 00.
-
-MACAULAY’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. The History of England from the
-Accession of James II. By THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. With an Original
-Portrait of the Author. 5 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; 12mo, Cloth, $7 50.
-
-MOSHEIM’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern; in which the
-Rise, Progress, and Variation of Church Power are considered in their
-Connection with the State of Learning and Philosophy, and the Political
-History of Europe during that Period. Translated, with Notes, &c., by
-A. MACLAINE, D.D. A new Edition, continued to 1826, by C. COOTE, LL.D.
-2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
-
-NEVIUS’S CHINA. China and the Chinese: a General Description of the
-Country and its Inhabitants; its Civilization and Form of Government;
-its Religious and Social Institutions; its Intercourse with other
-Nations; and its Present Condition and Prospects. By the Rev. JOHN L.
-NEVIUS, Ten Years a Missionary in China. With a Map and Illustrations.
-12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
-
-THE DESERT OF THE EXODUS. Journeys on Foot in the Wilderness of
-the Forty Years’ Wanderings; undertaken in connection with the
-Ordnance Survey of Sinai and the Palestine Exploration Fund. By E. H.
-PALMER, M.A., Lord Almoner’s Professor of Arabic, and Fellow of St.
-John’s College, Cambridge. With Maps and numerous Illustrations
-from Photographs and Drawings taken on the spot by the Sinai Survey
-Expedition and C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.
-
-OLIPHANT’S CHINA AND JAPAN. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin’s Mission
-to China and Japan, in the Years 1857, '58, '59. By LAURENCE OLIPHANT,
-Private Secretary to Lord Elgin. Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
-
-OLIPHANT’S (MRS.) LIFE OF EDWARD IRVING. The Life of Edward Irving,
-Minister of the National Scotch Church, London. Illustrated by his
-Journals and Correspondence. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. Portrait. 8vo, Cloth, $3
-50.
-
-RAWLINSON’S MANUAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A Manual of Ancient History,
-from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising
-the History of Chaldæa, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phœnicia,
-Syria, Judæa, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and
-Rome. By GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., Camden Professor of Ancient History in
-the University of Oxford. 12mo, Cloth, $2 50.
-
-RECLUS’S THE EARTH. The Earth: a Descriptive History of the Phenomena
-and Life of the Globe. By ELISÉE RECLUS. Translated by the late
-B. B. Woodward, and Edited by Henry Woodward. With 234 Maps and
-Illustrations, and 23 Page Maps printed in Colors. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
-
-POETS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The Poets of the Nineteenth Century.
-Selected and Edited by the Rev. ROBERT ARIS WILLMOTT. With English
-and American Additions, arranged by EVERT A. DUYCKINCK, Editor of
-“Cyclopædia of American Literature.” Comprising Selections from the
-Greatest Authors of the Age. Superbly Illustrated with 141 Engravings
-from Designs by the most Eminent Artists. In elegant small 4to form,
-printed on Superfine Tinted Paper, richly bound in extra Cloth,
-Beveled, Gilt Edges, $5 00; Half Calf, $5 50; Full Turkey Morocco, $9
-00.
-
-SHAKSPEARE. The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, with the
-Corrections and Illustrations of Dr. JOHNSON, G. STEEVENS, and others.
-Revised by ISAAC REED. Engravings. 6 vols., Royal 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.
-SMILES’S LIFE OF THE STEPHENSONS. The Life of George Stephenson,
-and of his Son, Robert Stephenson; comprising, also, a History of
-the Invention and Introduction of the Railway Locomotive. By SAMUEL
-SMILES, Author of “Self-Help,” &c. With Steel Portraits and numerous
-Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.
-
-SMILES’S HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots: their Settlements,
-Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland. By SAMUEL SMILES. With
-an Appendix relating to the Huguenots in America. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $1
-75.
-
-SPEKE’S AFRICA. Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. By
-Captain JOHN HANNING SPEKE, Captain H. M. Indian Army, Fellow and Gold
-Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society, Hon. Corresponding Member
-and Gold Medalist of the French Geographical Society, &c. With Maps and
-Portraits and numerous Illustrations, chiefly from Drawings by Captain
-GRANT. 8vo, Cloth, uniform with Livingstone, Barth, Burton, &c., $4 00.
-
-STRICKLAND’S (MISS) QUEENS OF SCOTLAND. Lives of the Queens of Scotland
-and English Princesses connected with the Regal Succession of Great
-Britain. By AGNES STRICKLAND. 8 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $12 00.
-
-THE STUDENT’S SERIES.
-
-  France. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Gibbon. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Greece. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Hume. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Rome. By Liddell. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Old Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  New Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Strickland’s Queens of England. Abridged. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Ancient History of the East. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Hallam’s Middle Ages. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-  Lyell’s Elements of Geology. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.
-
-TENNYSON’S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poems of Alfred Tennyson, Poet
-Laureate. With numerous Illustrations by Eminent Artists, and Three
-Characteristic Portraits. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents; Cloth, $1 25.
-
-THOMSON’S LAND AND THE BOOK. The Land and the Book; or, Biblical
-Illustrations drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and the
-Scenery of the Holy Land. By W. M. THOMSON, D.D., Twenty-five Years a
-Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. With two elaborate
-Maps of Palestine, an accurate Plan of Jerusalem, and several hundred
-Engravings, representing the Scenery, Topography, and Productions of
-the Holy Land, and the Costumes, Manners, and Habits of the People. 2
-large 12mo vols., Cloth, $5 00.
-
-TYERMAN’S WESLEY. The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A.,
-Founder of the Methodists. By the Rev. LUKE TYERMAN, Author of “The
-Life of Rev. Samuel Wesley.” Portraits. 3 vols., Crown 8vo, Cloth, $7
-50.
-
-VÁMBÉRY’S CENTRAL ASIA. Travels in Central Asia. Being the Account of a
-Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, on the Eastern Shore
-of the Caspian, to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in the Year
-1863. By ARMINIUS VÁMBÉRY, Member of the Hungarian Academy of Pesth,
-by whom he was sent on this Scientific Mission. With Map and Woodcuts.
-8vo, Cloth, $4 50.
-
-WOOD’S HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. Homes Without Hands: being a Description
-of the Habitations of Animals, classed according to their Principle of
-Construction. By J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S. With about 140 Illustrations.
-8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $4 50.
-
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-
-Transcriber's Notes
-
-Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
-in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and
-punctuation remains unchanged.
-
-
-Italics are represented thus _italic_ and bold thus =bold=.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and
-Healthkeeper, by Catharine E. Beecher
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS BEECHER'S HOUSEKEEPER ***
-
-***** This file should be named 55734-0.txt or 55734-0.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/7/3/55734/
-
-Produced by Larry B. Harrison, les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
-  are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
diff --git a/old/55734-0.zip b/old/55734-0.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index df2793e..0000000
--- a/old/55734-0.zip
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h.zip b/old/55734-h.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index e7f1f7f..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h.zip
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/55734-h.htm b/old/55734-h/55734-h.htm
deleted file mode 100644
index 2b18569..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/55734-h.htm
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23417 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
-    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
-  <head>
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
-    <title>
-      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Miss Beecher’s House Keeper and Healthkeeper, by Miss Beecher.
-    </title>
-    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />
-    <style type="text/css">
-
-body {
-    margin-left: 10%;
-    margin-right: 10%;
-}
-
-/* Headings*/
-
-h1
-{
-  margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;
-  text-align: center;
-  font-size: x-large;
-  font-weight: normal;
-  line-height: 1.6;
-}
-
-    h2,h3,h4{
-    text-align: center;
-    clear: both;
-  }
-
-div.chapter {page-break-before: always;}
-
-.half-title {
-  margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;
-  text-align: center;
-  font-size: x-large;
-  font-weight: normal;
-  line-height: 1.6;
-  }
-
-/* Paragraphs */
-
-p  {text-indent: 1em;
-  margin-top: .75em;
-  text-align: justify;
-  margin-bottom: .75em;
-  }
-
-.pchap {text-align: center; margin-top: .5em;}
-.psig  {text-align: right; margin-right: 1em;}
-.rght     {float: right;}
-.spaced      {margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;}
-.space-above {margin-top: 6em;}
-
-.hang        {
-  text-align: justify;
-  padding-left: 1.75em;
-  text-indent: -1.75em;
-  }
-
-
-hr.tb   {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;}
-hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;}
-hr.small {width: 25%; margin-left: 37.5%; margin-right: 37.5%;}
-
-/* Lists */
-ul.recipe { list-style-type: none; margin-left: -5%;}
-ul.index { list-style-type: none; }
-li.ifrst { margin-top: 1.5em; }
-li.indx  { margin-top: .5em; }
-li.isub1 {text-indent: 1em;}
-
-.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
-    /*  visibility: hidden;  */
-    position: absolute;
-    left: 92%;
-    font-size: smaller;
-    text-align: right;
-} /* page numbers */
-
-.blockquote {
-    margin-left: 5%;
-    margin-right: 10%;
-}
-
-.gap3     {padding: 1.5em;}
-.gap25   {padding-left: 25%;}
-.gap40    {padding-left: 40%;}
-
-.center   {text-align: center;}
-
-.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
-
-.xxs      {font-size: xx-small;}
-.xs       {font-size: x-small;}
-.small    {font-size: small;}
-
-/* Images */
-
-img       {border: none; max-width: 100%}
-.caption {font-size: smaller; font-weight: bold;}
-
-.figcenter {
-  margin: 1em auto;
-  text-align: center;
-  }
-
-.figleft {
-  float: left;
-  clear: left;
-  margin-left: 0;
-  margin-bottom: 1em;
-  margin-top: 1em;
-  margin-right: 1em;
-  padding: 0;
-  text-align: center;
-}
-
-.figright {
-  float: right;
-  clear: right;
-  margin-left: 1em;
-  margin-bottom: 1em;
-  margin-top: 1em;
-  margin-right: 0;
-  padding: 0;
-  text-align: center;
-  }
-
-
-/* Footnotes */
-
- .footnotes  {border: dashed 1px;}
-
- .footnote   {
-  margin-left: 10%;
-  margin-right: 10%;
-  font-size: 0.9em;
-  }
-
-.footnote .label  {
-  position: absolute;
-  right: 84%;
-  text-align: right;
-  }
-
-.fnanchor {
-  vertical-align: super;
-  font-size: .8em;
-  text-decoration: none;
-  white-space: nowrap
-  }
-
-/* Poetry */
-
- .poetry-container  {
-  text-align: center;
-  margin: -1em 0;
-  }
-
- .poetry  {
-  display: inline-block;
-  text-align: left;
-  }
-
-.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
-
-.poetry .verse  {
-  text-indent: -3em;
-  padding-left: 3em;
-  }
-
-
-@media handheld  {
- .poetry  {
-  display: block;
-  margin-left: 1em;
-  }
-  }
-
-/* Transcriber's notes */
-
-.transnote {
-  background-color: #E6E6FA;
-  color: black;
-  font-size:smaller;
-  padding:0.5em;
-  margin-bottom:5em;
-  font-family:sans-serif, serif;
- }
-     </style>
-  </head>
-<body>
-
-
-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper, by 
-Catharine E. Beecher
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and Healthkeeper
-       Containing Five Hundred Receipes for Economical and
-              Healthful Cooking; also, Many Directions for Securing
-              Health and Happiness
-
-Author: Catharine E. Beecher
-
-Release Date: October 12, 2017 [EBook #55734]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS BEECHER'S HOUSEKEEPER ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Larry B. Harrison, les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-
-
-<h1>
-<small>MISS BEECHER’S</small><br />
-
-HOUSEKEEPER<br />
-
-<span class="xxs">AND</span><br />
-
-HEALTHKEEPER:</h1>
-
-<p class="center"><span class="xs">CONTAINING</span><br />
-
-<small>FIVE HUNDRED RECIPES</small><br />
-
-<span class="xs">FOR</span><br />
-
-ECONOMICAL AND HEALTHFUL COOKING;</p>
-
-<p class="center"><span class="xs">ALSO,</span><br />
-
-<small>MANY DIRECTIONS FOR SECURING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS</small>.</p>
-
-<p class="center"><span class="xs"><i>APPROVED BY PHYSICIANS OF ALL CLASSES.</i></span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/colophon.jpg"  alt="Colphon" />
-</div>
-
-<p class="center">NEW YORK:<br />
-
-<small>HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS</small>,<br />
-
-<span class="xs">FRANKLIN SQUARE.</span><br />
-
-<small>1873.</small>
-</p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="center xs spaced">
-Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by<br />
-
-<span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span>,<br />
-
-In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
-
-<div class="small">
-<p class="center"><big>PART FIRST</big>.</p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER I.</p>
-
-<p class="center">HEALTH, ECONOMY, AND PLEASURE IN FOOD.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Rules of Health in regard to Food and Drink—Measures used in Cooking     <span class="rght">Page <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER II.</p>
-
-<p class="center">MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Marketing—Beef—Different “Cuts,” etc.—Veal—Mutton—Pork—Poultry—Fish—Shell-fish—Care
-of Meats—To salt down Beef—To cleanse Calf’s
-Head and Feet—To prepare Rennet—To salt down Fish—To try out
-Lard—Molasses-cured Hams—Brine for coming Hams, Beef, Pork, etc.—Another—Brine
-by Measure—To salt down Pork—To prepare Cases
-for Sausages—Sausage Meat—Another Recipe—Bologna Sausages—To
-smoke Hams     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER III.</p>
-
-<p class="center">STEWS AND SOUPS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">New Soup and Stew Kettle—General Directions—Stews: of Beef and Potato;
-Mutton and Turnip, (French;) Simple Mutton; Beef, with vegetable
-flavors; Fowl, with Celery or Tomatoes—Irish Stew—Veal Stew—Another—Pilaff
-(Turkish)—Rice or Hominy Stew—English Beef Stew—Pot
-au Feu (French)—Olla Podrida (Spanish)—French Mutton Stew—French
-Modes of Cooking—Flavors—Soup Powder     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER IV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">SOUPS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Directions—Soup Stock—Soup of Potato—Plain Beef—Rich Beef—Green
-Pea—Dried Bean or Pea—Clam—Vegetable and Meat for Summer—Dried
-Pea, with salt Pork—Dried Bean or Pea, with Meat stock—Mutton—Vegetable
-(French)—Plain Calf’s Head—Simple Mutton     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER V.</p>
-
-<p class="center">HASHES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Four Ways of spoiling Hashes—Hashes: of Fresh Meats, seasoned; Cold
-fresh Meats and Potatoes; Meat, with Eggs; Meat, with Tomatoes; Beef;
-Veal; Rice and cold Meats; Bread-crumbs and cold Meats; Another;
-Cold Beefsteak; Same, with Potatoes and Turnips; Cold Mutton or Venison;
-Corned Beef; Cold Ham—Meats warmed over—To Cook cold
-Meats—Cold meat Hash—Souse—Tripe       <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">BOILED MEATS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">To Cook tough Beef—Boiled Ham—Beef—Fowls—Fricasseed Fowls—To
-boil Leg or Shoulder of Veal, Mutton, or Lamb—Calf’s Feet—Calf’s Liver
-and Sweet-breads—Kidneys—Pillau—Smoked Tongue—Corned Beef—Partridges
-or Pigeons—Ducks—Turkey     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">The best Beef—Brown Flour for Gravies—Roast Beef—To roast in a Cook-stove—Roast
-Pork; Mutton; Veal; Poultry—Pot-pie of Beef, Veal, or
-Chicken—Mutton and Beef Pie—Chicken-pie—Rice Chicken-pie—Potato-pie—Calf’s
-Head     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Boiled Mutton or Lamb Chops; Beefsteak; Fresh Pork; Ham; Sweet-breads;
-Veal—Pork Relish—Frying—Calf’s or Pig’s Liver—Beef Liver—Egg
-Omelet—Frizzled Beef—Veal Cheese—Codfish Relish—Another—Salt
-Herrings     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER IX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">PICKLES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Directions—Sweet Pickles—To pickle Tomatoes; Peaches; Peppers;
-Nasturtions; Onions; Gherkins; Mushrooms; Cucumbers; Walnuts;
-Mangoes; Cabbage—To prepare Tomatoes for eating—Martinoes—Spiced
-Cucumber Pickles—Indiana Pickles—Cauliflower or Broccoli     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER X.</p>
-
-<p class="center">SAUCES AND SALADS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Milk and Egg Sauce—Drawn Butter—Mint Sauce—Cranberry Sauce—Apple
-Sauce—Walnut or Butternut Catsup—Mock Capers—Salad Dressing—Turkey
-or Chicken Salad—Lettuce Salad—Tomato Catsup     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span></p>
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">FISH.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Oysters, Stewed; Fried; Scalloped; Broiled—Oyster Fritters—Oyster Omelet—Pickled
-Oysters—Roast Oysters—Scallops—Clams—Clam Chowder—Fish,
-Boiled; Broiled; Baked—Pickle for cold Fish     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">VEGETABLES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Remarks—Potatoes—Old Potatoes—Potato Puffs—Sweet Potatoes—Green
-Corn—Succotash—Oyster-plant or Salsify—Egg-plant—Carrots—Beets—Parsnips—Pumpkin
-and Squash—Celery—Radishes—Onions—Tomatoes—Cucumbers—Cabbage
-and Cauliflower—Asparagus—Macaroni—Eggs        <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">FAMILY BREAD.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Remarks—Fine and unbolted Flour—Middlings—Kneading—Yeast:
-Hop and Potato; Potato; Hard—Bread: of fine Flour; of middling
-or unbolted Flour; raised with Water; Rye and Indian; Third; Rye;
-Oat-meal; Pumpkin; Apple; Corn-meal—Sweet Rolls of Corn-meal—Soda
-Biscuit—Yeast Biscuit—Potato Biscuit—Buns     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Supplies—Receipts for Corn-meal—Hominy—Rice—Economical
-Breakfast Dish—Biscuits of sour Milk and Flour—Pearl or cracked Wheat—Rye
-and Corn Meal—Oat-meal—Wheat Muffins—Sally Lunn, improved—Cream
-Griddle-cakes—Royal Crumpets—Muffins—Waffles—Drop-cakes—Sachem’s
-Head Corn-cake—Rice Waffles—A Rice Dish—To use cold
-Rice—Buckwheat Cakes—Cottage Cheese <span class="gap3"><span class="rght">&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="#Page_70">70</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">PUDDINGS AND PIES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Sweet Food, Remarks—Queen of all Puddings—Flour Pudding—Flour and
-Fruit Pudding—Rusk and Milk—Rusk Pudding—Meat and Rusk Pudding—A
-good Pudding—Pan Dowdy—Corn-meal Pop-over—Best Apple-pie—Puddings:
-of Rice; Bread and Fruit; Boiled Fruit—Curds (English)—Common
-Apple-pie—Plain Custard—Another—Mush or Hasty
-Pudding—Stale Bread Pudding—Rennet Wine—Rennet Custard—Bird’snest
-Pudding—Minute Pudding of Potato Starch—Tapioca Pudding—Cocoa-nut
-Pudding—New-England Squash or Pumpkin Pie—Ripe-fruit
-Pies: Peach, Cherry, Plum, Currants, and Strawberry—Mock Cream—Pudding
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span>
-of Bread-crumbs and Fruit—Bread and Apple Dumplings—Indian
-Pudding without Eggs—Boiled Indian and Suet Pudding—Dessert of Rice
-and Fruit—Another—Cold Rice and stewed or grated Apple—Rich Flour
-Pudding—Apple-pie—Spiced Apple-tarts—Baked Indian Pudding—Apple
-Custard—Macaroni or Vermicelli Pudding—Green-corn Pudding—Bread
-Pudding for Invalids or young Children—A good Pudding—Loaf
-Pudding—Lemon Pudding—Green-corn Patties—Cracker Plum-pudding—Sauces
-for Puddings, Liquid—Hard—Another—A healthful Sauce—Universal
-Sauce—Paste for Puddings and Pies—Pie-crusts without Fats;
-made with Butter, very rich     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CAKE.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Directions.—<em>Cake raised with Powders</em>—One, two, three, four Cake—Chocolate;
-Jelly; Orange; Almond and Cocoa-nut.—<em>Cake raised with
-Eggs</em>—Pound Cake; Plain; Fruit; Huckleberry; Gold and Silver; Rich
-Sponge; Plain Sponge—Gingerbread, etc.—Aunt Esther’s Gingerbread—Sponge
-Gingerbread—Ginger Snaps—Seed Cookies—Fried Cakes.—<em>Cakes
-raised with Yeast</em>—Plain Loaf-cake—Rich Loaf-cake—Dough-cake—Icing
-for Cake     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">PRESERVES AND JELLIES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">General Directions—Canned Fruit—To clarify Sirups for Sweetmeats—Brandy
-Peaches—Peaches (not rich)—Peaches (elegant)—To preserve
-Quinces whole—Quince Jelly—Calf-foot Jelly—To preserve Apples—Pears—Pine-apples—Purple
-Plums, No. 1 and No. 2—White or green Plums—Citron
-Melons—Strawberries—Blackberry Jam—Currants to eat with
-Meat—Cherries-Currants—Raspberry Jam, No. 1 and No. 2—Currant
-Jelly—Quince Marmalade—Water-melon Rinds—Preserved Pumpkin     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Ice-cream—Strawberry Ice-cream—Ice-cream without Cream—Fruit Ice-cream—A
-Cream for stewed Fruit—Currant, Raspberry, or Strawberry
-Whisk—Lemonade—Ice and other Ices—Charlotte Russe—Flummery—Chicken
-Salad—Wine Jelly—Apple-lemon Pudding—Wheat-flour Blanc-mange—Orange
-Marmalade—Simple Lemon Jelly—Cranberry—Apple
-Ice—Whip Syllabub—Apple-snow—Iced Fruit—Ornamental Froth—To
-clarify Isinglass—Blanc-mange—Apple Jelly—Orange Jelly—Floating
-Island—A Dish of Snow—To clarify Sugar—Candied Fruits—Another
-way—Ornamental Pyramid     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.</p>
-
-<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span>
-Tea—Coffee—Fish-skin for Coffee—Cocoa—Cream for Coffee and
-Tea—Chocolate—Milk Lemonade—Strawberry and Raspberry Vinegar—White
-Tea and Boys’ Coffee—Dangerous use of Milk—Simple Drinks—Simple
-Wine Whey—Toast and Cider—Panada—Water-gruel—Beef-tea—Tomato
-Sirup—Sassafras Jelly—Egg-tea, Egg-coffee, and Egg-milk—Oat-meal
-Gruel—Pearl Barley-water—Cream-tartar Beverage—Rennet Whey—A
-fever Drink—Food, etc., for Infants       <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">The Art of keeping a good Table—Successive Variety—Doing every thing
-in the best Manner—Stores and Store-rooms—Flour—Unbolted Flour—Indian-meal—Rye—Buckwheat—Rice—Hominy—Arrow-root—Tapioca,
-etc.—Sugars—Butter—Lard and Drippings—Salt—Vinegar—Oil—Molasses—Hard
-Soap—Starch—Indigo—Coffee—Tea—Soda—Raisins—Currants—Lemon
-and Orange Peel—Spices—Sweet Herbs—Cream-tartar—Acids—Essences,
-etc.—Preserves and Jellies—Hams—Cheese—Bread—Cake—Codfish—Salted
-Provisions     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">SETTING TABLES, PREPARATION OF FOOD.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Table-cloth—Napkins—Table Furniture—Bread—Butter—Dishes—Soiled
-Spots—Plates to be warmed in Winter—Certain Dishes served together—Strong
-flavored Meats—Boiled Poultry—Jelly—Fresh Pork—Drawn Butter—Pickles—Garnishing
-Dishes—Boiled Ham or Veal—Greens and Asparagus—Hashes—Curled
-Parsley—Mode of setting Table     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Modes of economizing the Wash—Good Washing depends on Conveniences—Articles
-needed—Common mode of Washing—Fine Clothes—White Articles—Colored
-Articles—Flannels—Bedding—Calicoes—Waters, etc.—To
-cleanse Broadcloth—To make Lye—Soft Soap—Potash Soap—To prepare
-Starch—Beef’s Gall—To do up Laces—Articles needed for Ironing—Sprinkling,
-Folding, and Ironing—To whiten Articles and remove Stains—Mildew—Stain-mixture—Another—To
-remove Grease, Tar, Pitch, Turpentine,
-Lamp-oil, Oil-paint, Ink-stains, Stains on varnished Articles—To
-clean silk Handkerchiefs and Ribbons—To clean silk Hose or Gloves     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">How to keep Cool in hot Weather—Indelible Ink—To keep Eggs—To prevent
-Earthen, Glass, and Iron ware from breaking easily—Cement for
-broken Ware—To keep Knives from Rust—To cleanse or renovate Furniture—To
-clean Silver—To cleanse Wall-paper—To purify a Well—To
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span>
-take care of Roses and other Plants—To keep Grapes—Snow for
-Eggs—Paper to keep Preserves—To cool Butter in hot Weather—To stop Cracks
-in Iron—To stop creaking Hinges—To stop creaking Doors and make
-Drawers slide easily—To renovate black Silk—To clean Kid Gloves—To
-remove grease Spots—To get rid of Rats and Mice—Odds and ends for
-Housekeepers—Additional Recipes        <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="center space-above"><big>PART SECOND</big>.</p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER I.</p>
-
-<p class="center">NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">
-Women need both scientific and practical Training even more than Men—Woman’s
-Duties as important as difficult, and much greater in Variety—The
-business of a Housekeeper includes all connected with the Construction
-and Care of a House, Yard, and Garden; the Selection of Furniture;
-the Ornamentation of a Home; its Cleansing, Neatness, and Order; the
-Selection and Cooking of proper Food; the providing of family Furniture
-and Clothing; the Care of Health; the Charge of family Expenses; the
-Training of Servants, and, as Wife and Mother, the Supervision of Nursery,
-the Educator of Children, and the religious Minister of the family State—Evils
-consequent on not training Women for these Duties     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER II.</p>
-
-<p class="center">A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOME.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Advantages of close Packing of Conveniences—Plan of a model Cottage to
-economize Time, Labor, and Expense, with Estimates of Cost—Advantages
-described     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER III.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ON HOME VENTILATION.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Mode in which the Body is nourished by the Air—Construction of the Lungs
-and Heart—Description of Evils consequent on Neglect of a proper Supply
-of pure Air     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER IV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ON WARMING A HOUSE.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Principles of Heat, viz., Conduction, Convection, Radiation, and Reflection—Best
-Mode of warming a House illustrated—Importance of Moisture in
-the Air     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER V.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">The general Properties of Heat, Conduction, Convection, Radiation, Reflection—Cooking
-done by Radiation the simplest but most wasteful Mode:
-by Convection (as in Stoves and Furnaces) the cheapest—The Range—The
-model Cooking-stove—Interior Arrangements and Principles—Contrivances
-for economizing Heat, Labor, Time, Fuel, Trouble, and Expense—Its
-Durability, Simplicity, etc.—Chimneys: why they smoke, and how
-to cure them—Furnaces: the Dryness of their Heat—Necessity of Moisture
-in warm Air—How to obtain and regulate it     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Educating Influence of natural and artistic Beauty—On Curtains—Sketch of
-a Parlor with cheap and beautiful Ornaments—On the tasteful Combination
-of Colors     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ON THE CARE OF HEALTH.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Importance of some Knowledge of the Body and its Needs—Fearful Responsibility
-of entering upon domestic Duties in Ignorance—The fundamental
-vital Principle—Cell-life—Wonders of the Microscope—Cell-multiplication—Constant
-interplay of Decay and Growth necessary to Life—The red
-and white Cells of the Blood—Secreting and converting Power—The nervous
-System—The Brain and the Nerves—Structural Arrangement and
-Functions—The ganglionic System—The nervous Fluid—Necessity of
-properly apportioned Exercise to Nerves of Sensation and of Motion—Evils
-of excessive or insufficient Exercise—Equal Development of the
-Whole     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">DOMESTIC EXERCISE.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Connection of Muscles and Nerves—Microscopic cellular muscular Fibre—Its
-Mode of Action—Dependence on the Nerves of voluntary and involuntary
-Motion—How Exercise of Muscles quickens Circulation of the Blood,
-which maintains all the Processes of Life—Dependence of Equilibrium
-upon proper muscular Activity—Importance of securing Exercise that will
-interest the Mind     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER IX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Construction of the Body in Relation to Food—The Construction of a Kernel
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span>
-of Wheat as proportioned to the Body—Construction and Action of the
-
-Stomach—Advice as to Food, Drinks, and Stimulants—Opinions of Physicians       <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER X.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ON CLEANLINESS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">
-Construction of the Skin—The secreting Organs—Care of the Skin     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CLOTHING.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Construction of the Bones—Influence of Dress—Description of two Modes
-of Breathing, and the Effects of Weight and Tightness of Clothing—Proper
-Mode of sustaining the Clothing     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_243">243</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">EARLY RISING.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">A Virtue peculiarly American and democratic—In aristocratic Countries,
-Labor considered degrading—The Hours of Sunlight generally devoted to
-Labor by the working Classes, and to Sleep by the indolent and wealthy—Sunlight
-necessary to Health and Growth, whether of Vegetables or Animals—Particularly
-needful for the Sick—Substitution of artificial Light
-and Heat by Night a great Waste of Money—Eight hours’ Sleep enough—Excessive
-Sleep debilitating—Early Rising necessary to a well-regulated
-Family, to the Amount of Work to be done to the Community, to Schools,
-and to all Classes in American Society     <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">DOMESTIC MANNERS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Good Manners the Expression of Benevolence in personal Intercourse—Serious
-Defects in Manners of the Americans—Causes of peculiar Manners
-to be found in American Life—Want of clear Discrimination—Necessity
-for Distinctions of Superiority and Subordination—Importance
-that young Mothers should seriously endeavor to remedy this Defect while
-educating their Children—Democratic Principle of Equal Rights to be applied,
-not to our own Interests, but to those of others—The same Courtesy
-to be extended to all Classes—Necessary Distinctions arising from
-mutual Relations to be observed—The Strong to defer to the Weak—Precedence
-yielded by Men to Women in America—Good Manners must be
-cultivated in early Life—Mutual Relations of Husband and Wife—Parents
-and Children—The Rearing of Children to Courtesy—De Tocqueville on
-American Manners      <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.</p>
-
-<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span>
-Easier for a Household under the Guidance of an equable Temper in the
-Mistress—Dissatisfied Looks and sharp Tones destroy the Comfort of System,
-Neatness, and Economy—Considerations to aid the Housekeeper—Importance
-and Dignity of her Duties—Difficulties to be overcome—Good
-Policy to calculate beforehand upon the Derangement of well-arranged
-Plans—Object of Housekeeping, the Comfort and well-being of the Family—The
-End should not be sacrificed to secure the Means—Possible to refrain
-from angry Tones—Mild Speech most effective—Exemplification—Allowances
-to be made for Servants and Children—Power of Religion to
-impart Dignity and Importance to the ordinary and petty Details of domestic
-Life                 <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_274">274</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Relative Importance and Difficulty of the Duties a Woman is called to perform—Her
-Duties not trivial—A Habit of System and Order necessary—Right
-Apportionment of Time—General Principles—Christianity to be the
-Foundation—Intellectual and social Interests to be preferred to Gratification
-of Taste or Appetite—Neglect of Health a Sin in the Sight of God—Regular
-Season of Rest appointed by the Creator—Divisions of Time—Systematic
-Arrangement of house Articles and other Conveniences—Regular
-Employment for each Member of a Family—Children—Family Work—Forming
-Habits of System—Early Rising a very great Aid—Due Apportionment
-of Time to the several Duties            <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">HEALTH OF MIND.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Intimate Connection between the Body and Mind—Brain excited by improper
-Stimulants taken into the Stomach—Mental Faculties then affected—Causes
-of mental Disease—Want of oxygenized Blood—Fresh Air absolutely
-necessary—Excessive Exercise of the Intellect or Feelings—Such
-Attention to Religion as prevents the Performance of other Duties wrong—Unusual
-Precocity in Children usually the Result of a diseased Brain—Idiocy
-often the Result, or the precocious Child sinks below the Average of
-Mankind—This Evil yet prevalent in Colleges and other Seminaries—A
-medical Man necessary in every Seminary—Some Pupils always needing
-Restraint in regard to Study—A third Cause of mental Disease, the Want
-of appropriate Exercise of the various Faculties of the Mind—Extract from
-Dr. Combe—Beneficial Results of active intellectual Employments—Indications
-of a diseased Mind                <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF THE AGED.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Preservation of the Aged, designed to give Opportunity for Self-denial and
-loving Care—Patience, Sympathy, and Labor for them to be regarded as
-Privileges in a Family—The Young should respect and minister unto the
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span>
-Aged—Treating them as valued Members of the Family—Engaging them
-in domestic Games and Sports—Reading aloud—Courteous Attention to
-their Opinions—Assistance in retarding Decay of Faculties by helping
-them to Exercise—Keeping up Interest of the Infirm in domestic Affairs—Great
-Care to preserve animal Heat—Ingratitude to the Aged: its baseness—Chinese
-Regard for old Age                <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XVIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Interesting Association of Animals with Man, from Childhood to Age—Domestic
-Animals apt to catch the Spirit of their Masters—Important Necessities—Good
-Feeding—Shelter—Cleanliness—Destruction of parasitic Vermin—Salt
-and Water—Light—Exercise—Rule for Breeding—Care of
-Horses: Feeding, Grooming, special Treatment—Cows: Stabling, Feed,
-Calving, Milking, Tethering—Swine: naturally cleanly, Breeding, fresh
-Water, Charcoal, Feeding—Sheep: winter Treatment—Diet—Sorting—Use
-of Sheep in clearing Land—Pasture—Hedges and Fences—Poultry—Turkeys—Geese—Ducks—Fowls—Dairy
-Work generally—Bees—Care of
-domestic Animals, Occupation for Women              <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XIX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF THE SICK.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Prominence given to Care and Cure of the Sick by our Saviour—Every
-Woman should know what to do in the Case of Illness—Simple Remedies
-best—Fasting and Perspiration—Evils of Constipation—Modes of relieving
-it—Remedies for Colds—Unwise to tempt the Appetite of the Sick—Suggestion
-for the Sick-room—Ventilation—Needful Articles—The Room,
-Bed, and Person of the Patient to be kept neat—Care to preserve animal
-Warmth—The Sick, the Delicate, the Aged—Food always to be carefully
-prepared and neatly served—Little Modes of Refreshment—Implicit Obedience
-to the Physician—Care in purchasing Medicines—Exhibition of
-Cheerfulness, Gentleness, and Sympathy—Knowledge and Experience of
-Mind—Lack of competent Nurses—Failings of Nurses—Sensitiveness of
-the Sick—“Sisters of Charity,” the Reason why they are such excellent
-Nurses—Illness in the Family a providential Opportunity of training Children
-to Love and Usefulness                   <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">FIRES AND LIGHTS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Management of Lamps and Candles               <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF ROOMS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Miscellaneous Advice as to Furniture, setting Tables, Packing, and Stowing—Rules
-for Washing, Carving, and Helping—Care of Chambers, Kitchen,
-and Cellar                            <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_330">330</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Preparation of Soil—Making a Hot-bed—Re-potting—Laying out Yards and
-Gardens—Care of house Plants—Propagation of Plants—Ingrafting—Cultivation
-of Fruit by Women                   <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">How to instruct in these Arts in common Schools             <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_361">361</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXIV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Treatment of the Drowned—Antidotes for Poisons—Conduct in Thunder-storms
-and Fires                       <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_366">366</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXV.</p>
-
-<p class="center">RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Meaning of the Word Right—How do Men decide what is wise, best, and
-right?—What is an intuitive Principle in all rational Minds—Who are
-called righteous and virtuous Men in all Nations and Ages—Effect of Danger
-in deciding what is right—The Law of Rectitude or Right—Distinction
-between emotive Love and voluntary Love illustrated by Christ’s
-Teachings and Example—Explanation of “Faith,” “Love,” and “Repentance,”
-as taught by Jesus Christ—The proportion of Time and Property
-required of the Jews—Illustrations of Christian Benevolence—Self-denying
-Benevolence happifying, and can be cultivated—Consideration of various
-Modes of Charity                       <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_370">370</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXVI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF INFANTS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Remarks of Herbert Spencer and Dr. Combe—Advice of medical Writers—Best
-Remedy for Fevers                      <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXVII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Physical Care—Intellectual Training—On cultivating Benevolence in Children—Sympathy
-with Little Ones important—Gentle tones best         <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_401">401</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXVIII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.</p>
-
-<p class="hang"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
-Woman’s Responsibility as chief Educator of the Family—The meaning of
-the Word <em>Right</em>—The End, or Object, for which all Things are made, and
-how learned—Difficulties in interpreting Revelation—Distinctive principle
-of Protestantism—<em>Danger</em> in the future Life, and different Views—Influence
-of Belief in Danger illustrated—Rule of Interpretation used in common
-Life, and to be applied to the Bible—What we must do to be saved—Theories
-differ, but an agreement in <em>facts</em> revealed—How a Woman must
-decide for herself and for those she controls          <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_414">414</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXIX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">CARE OF SERVANTS.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Distinction between emotional and voluntary Love to others—This the Principle
-to guide in the Care of Servants—Ladies who do their own Work—Intelligence
-saves Labor—Benefits of domestic Labor—The Training of
-Servants a prime Duty of American Housekeepers—Modes of avoiding Difficulties—Rewards
-of benevolent Care here and in the Life to come          <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_424">424</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXX.</p>
-
-<p class="center">DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">The only proper Object of Amusement—Various kinds that are safe, and
-others that are wrong, either in Quality or Excess—Hospitality      <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_440">440</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXXI.</p>
-
-<p class="center">LAWS OF HEALTH.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">The Laws of Health are Laws of God, and should be taught to all Children—Laws
-of Health for the Bones, Muscles, Lungs, Digestive Organs, Skin,
-Brain and Nerves, Teeth, Eyes, Hair, etc.        <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_454">454</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="pchap">CHAPTER XXXII.</p>
-
-<p class="center">COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.</p>
-
-<p class="hang">Some of the great Trials of American Housekeepers enumerated—How to
-meet them with Comfort and Success                <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_459">459</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang">NOTE A                                                <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_466">466</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang">INDEX                                                 <span class="gap3"><span class="rght"><a href="#Page_473">473</a></span></span></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p class="half-title">THE<br />
-
-HOUSEKEEPER AND HEALTHKEEPER.</p>
-
-<h2>PART FIRST.</h2>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h3>CHAPTER I.<br />
-
-<small>ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR TO AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>My dear Friends,—This volume embraces, in a concise
-form, many valuable portions of my other works on Domestic
-Economy, both those published by Harper and Brothers
-and those published by J. B. Ford and Co., together with
-other new and interesting matter. It is designed to be a
-complete encyclopædia of all that relates to a woman’s duties
-as housekeeper, wife, mother, and nurse.</p>
-
-<p>The First Part embraces a large variety of recipes for food
-that is both healthful and economical, put in clear, concise
-language, with many methods for saving labor, time, and
-money, not found in any other works of the kind. It also
-gives more specific directions as to <em>seasonings</em> and <em>flavors</em>
-than the common one of “Season to the Taste,” which leaves
-all to the judgment of the careless or ignorant. The recipes
-have been tested by some of the best housekeepers, and all
-relating to health has been approved by distinguished physicians
-of all schools.</p>
-
-<p>The Second Part contains interesting information as to the
-construction of the body, in a concise form, omitting all details,
-except such as have an immediate connection with a
-housekeeper’s practical duties. These are so simplified and
-illustrated, that by aid of this, both servants and children can
-be made so to understand the <em>reasons</em> for the laws of health,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span>
-as to render that willing and intelligent obedience which
-can be gained in no other way.</p>
-
-<p>It is my most earnest desire to save you and your household
-from the sad consequences I have suffered from ignorance
-of the <em>laws of health</em>, especially those which women
-peculiarly need to understand and obey.</p>
-
-<p>God made woman to do the work of the family, and to
-train those under her care to the same labor. And her body
-is so formed that family labor and care tend not only to good
-health, but to the <em>highest culture of mind</em>. Read all that is
-included in our “profession,” as detailed in the Second Part
-of this work, and see how much there is to cultivate every
-mental faculty, as well as our higher moral powers. Domestic
-labor with the muscles of the arms and trunk, with intervals
-of sedentary work, are exactly what keep all the functions
-of the body in perfect order, especially those which, at
-the present day, are most out of order in our sex. And so
-the women of a former generation, while they read and
-studied books far less than women of the present time, were
-better developed both in mind and body.</p>
-
-<p>It was my good fortune to be trained by poverty and good
-mothers and aunts to do every kind of domestic labor, and
-so, until one-and-twenty, I was in full enjoyment of health
-and happiness. Then I gave up all domestic employments
-for study and teaching, and in ten years I ruined my health,
-while my younger sisters and friends suffered in the same
-mistaken course. And my experience has been repeated all
-over the land, until there is such decay of female constitutions
-and health, as alarms, and justly alarms, every well-informed
-person.</p>
-
-<p>After twenty years of invalidism, I have been restored to
-perfect health of body and mind, and <em>wholly</em> by a strict obedience
-to the <em>laws of health and happiness</em>, which I now commend
-to your especial attention, with the hope and prayer
-that by obedience to them you may save yourselves and
-households from unspeakable future miseries.</p>
-
-<p>I wish I could give you all the evidence that I have gained
-to prove that woman’s work in the household <em>might</em> be so
-conducted as to be agreeable, tasteful, and promotive of both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>
-grace and beauty of person. But this never can be generally
-credited till women of high culture set the example of
-training their sons and daughters, instead of hired servants
-alone, to be their domestic helpers.</p>
-
-<p>According to the present tendency of wealth and culture,
-it is women of moderate or humble means who will train
-their own children to health and happiness, and rear prosperous
-families. Meantime, the rich women will have large
-houses, many servants, poor health, and little domestic comfort,
-while they train the children of foreigners to do family
-work, and in a way that will satisfy neither mistress nor
-servant; for a woman who does not work herself is rarely
-able to properly teach others. Choose wisely, then, O youthful
-mother and housekeeper! train yourself to wholesome
-labor and intelligent direction, and be prepared to educate
-a cheerful and healthful flock of your own children.</p>
-
-<p class="center">
-Your friend and well-wisher,</p>
-<p class="psig">
-<span class="smcap">Catharine E. Beecher</span>.</p>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>April 2, 1873</i>.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER II.<br />
-
-<small>MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Every young woman, at some period of her life, may need
-the instructions of this chapter. Thousands will have the
-immediate care of buying meats for the family; and even
-those who are not themselves obliged to go to market,
-should have the knowledge which will enable them to direct
-their servants what and how to buy, and to judge whether
-the household, under their management, is properly served
-or not. Nothing so thoroughly insures the intelligent obedience
-of orders, as evidence that the person ordering knows
-exactly what is wanted.</p>
-
-<p>The directions given in this and the ensuing chapters on
-meats, were carefully written, first in Cincinnati, with the
-counsel and advice of business men practically engaged in
-such matters. They have been recently rewritten in Hartford,
-Conn., after consultation with intelligent butchers and
-grocers.</p>
-
-
-<h4>MARKETING.</h4>
-
-<p class="center">BEEF.</p>
-
-<p>The animal, when slaughtered, should be bled very thoroughly.
-The care taken by the Jews in this and other points
-draws custom from other sects to their markets. The skin
-is tanned for leather, and the fat is used for candles and
-other purposes. The tail is used for soups, and the liver,
-heart, and tripe are also used for cooking. The body is split
-into two parts, through the backbone, and each half is divided
-as marked in the drawing on following page. There
-are diverse modes of cutting and naming the parts, butchers
-in New England, in New York, in the South, and in the
-West, all making some slight differences; but the following
-is the most common method.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_019.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 1.</div>
-</div>
-<blockquote>
-<p>1. The <em>head</em>: frequently used for mince-pies; sometimes it is tried out for
-oil, and then the bones are used for fertilizers. The horns are used to make
-buttons and combs, and various other things. 2. The <em>neck</em>; used for soups
-and stews. 3. The <em>chuck-rib</em>, or <em>shoulder</em>, having four ribs. It is used for
-corning, stews, and soup, and some say the best steaks are from this piece.
-4. The <em>front of the shoulder</em>, or the <em>shoulder-clod</em>, which is sometimes called
-the <em>brisket</em>. 5. The <em>back of the shoulder</em>; used for corning, soups, and stews.
-6. The <em>fore-shin</em>, or <em>leg</em>; used for soups. 7, 7. The <em>plate-pieces</em>; the front
-one is called the brisket, (as is also 4,) and is used for corning, soups, and
-stews. The back plate-piece is called the <em>flank</em>, and is divided into the <em>thick
-flank</em>, or upper <em>sirloin</em>, and the <em>lower flank</em>. These are for roasting and
-corning. 8. The <em>standing ribs</em>, divided into <em>first</em>, <em>second</em>, and <em>third cuts</em>;
-used for roasting. The second cut is the best of the three. 9. The <em>sirloin</em>,
-which is the best roasting piece. 10. The <em>sirloin steak</em> and the <em>porter-house
-steak</em>; used for broiling. 11. The <em>rump</em>, or <em>aitch-bone</em>; used for soup or
-corning, or to cook <em>à la mode</em>. 12. The <em>round</em>, or <em>buttock</em>; used for corning,
-or for <em>à la mode</em>; also for dried beef. 13. The <em>hock</em>, or <em>hind shank</em>; used
-for soups.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Beef</em>, choose that which has a loose grain,
-easily yielding to pressure, of a clear red, with whitish fat.
-If the lean is purplish, and the fat yellow, it is poor beef.
-Beef long kept turns a darker color than fresh killed. Stall-fed
-beef has a lighter color than grass-fed.</p>
-
-<p>Ox beef is the best, and next, that of a heifer.</p>
-
-<p>In cold weather, it is economical to buy a hind quarter;
-have it cut up, and what is not wanted immediately, pack
-with snow in a barrel. All meats grow tender by keeping.
-Do not let meats freeze; if they do, thaw them in cold water,
-and do not cook them till fully thawed. A piece weighing
-ten pounds requires ten or twelve hours to thaw.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_020a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 2. <br />VEAL.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The calf should not be slaughtered until it is six weeks
-old. Spring is the best time for veal. It is divided as marked
-in the drawing.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>1. The <em>head</em>, sold with the <em>pluck</em>, which includes the <em>heart</em>, <em>liver</em>, and
-<em>sweet-breads</em>. 2. The <em>rack</em>, including the neck; used for stews, pot-pies, and
-broths; also for chops and roasting. 3. The <em>shoulder</em>. This, and also half
-the rack and ribs of the fore-quarter, are sometimes roasted, and sometimes
-used for stews, broths, and cutlets. 4. The <em>fore-shank</em>, or <em>knuckle</em>; used for
-broths. 5. The <em>breast</em>; used for stews and soups; also to stuff and bake.
-6. The <em>loin</em>; used for roasting. 7. The <em>fillet</em>, or <em>leg</em>, including the hind
-flank; used for cutlets, or to stuff and boil, or to stuff and roast, or bake.
-8. The <em>hind shank</em>, or <em>hock</em>, or <em>knuckle</em>; used for soups. The <em>feet</em> are used
-for jelly.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Veal</em>, take that which is firm and dry, and the
-joints stiff, having the lean a delicate red, the kidney covered
-with fat, and the fat very white. If you buy the head, see
-that the eyes are plump and lively, and not dull and sunk
-in the head. If you buy the legs, get those which are not
-skinned, as the skin is good for jelly or soup.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_020b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 3. <br />MUTTON.</div>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-<p>1. The <em>shoulder</em>; for boiling or corning. 2, 2. The <em>neck</em> and <em>rack</em>; for
-boiling or corning. 3. The <em>loin</em>; is roasted, or broiled as chops. 4. The
-<em>leg</em>; is boiled, or broiled, or stuffed and roasted. Many salt and smoke the
-leg, and call it smoked venison. 5. The <em>breast</em>; for boiling or corning.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span></p>
-
-<p>In choosing <em>Mutton</em>, take that which is bright red and
-close-grained, with firm and white fat. The meat should feel
-tender and springy on pressure. Notice the vein on the
-neck of the fore-quarter, which should be a fine blue.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_021.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 4.<br /> PORK.</div>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>1. The <em>leg</em>, or <em>ham</em>; used for smoking. 2. The <em>hind loin</em>. 3. The <em>fore
-loin</em>. 4. The <em>spare-rib</em>; for roasting; sometimes including all the ribs. 5.
-The <em>hand</em>, or <em>shoulder</em>; sometimes smoked, and sometimes corned and boiled.
-6. The <em>belly</em>, or <em>spring</em>, for corning or salting down. The <em>feet</em> are used for
-jelly, head-cheese, and souse.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Pork</em>, if young, the lean can easily be broken
-when pinched, and the skin can be indented by nipping with
-the fingers. The fat also will be white and soft. <em>Thin</em> rind
-is best.</p>
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Hams</em>, run a knife along the bone, and if it
-comes out clean, the ham is good; but if it comes out smeared,
-it is spoiled. Good bacon has white fat, and the lean adheres
-closely to the bone. If the bacon has yellow streaks,
-it is rusty, and not fit to use.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Poultry</em>, choose those that are full grown, but
-not old. When young and fresh-killed, the skin is thin and
-tender, the joints not very stiff, and the eyes full and bright.
-The breast-bone shows the age, as it easily yields to pressure
-if young, and is tough when old. If young, you can with
-a pin easily tear the skin. A goose, when old, has red and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span>
-hairy legs; but when young, they are yellow, and have few
-hairs. The pin-feathers are the roots of feathers, which break
-off and remain in the skin, and always indicate a <em>young</em> bird.
-When very neatly dressed, they are pulled out.</p>
-
-<p>Poultry and birds ought to be killed by having the head
-cut off, and then hung up by the legs to bleed freely. This
-makes the flesh white and more healthful.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In selecting <em>Fish</em>, take those that are firm and thick, having
-stiff fins and bright scales, the gills bright red, and the
-eyes full and prominent. When fish are long out of water,
-they grow soft, the fins bend easily, the scales are dim, the
-gills grow dark, and the eyes sink and shrink away. Be sure
-and have them dressed immediately; sprinkle them with salt,
-and use them, if possible, the same day. In warm weather,
-put them in ice, or corning, for the next day.</p>
-
-<p>Shell-fish can be decided upon only by the smell. Lobsters
-are not good unless alive, or else boiled before offered
-for sale. They are black when alive, and red when boiled.
-When to be boiled, they are to be put alive into boiling
-water, which is the quickest and least cruel way to end their
-life.</p>
-
-
-<h4>THE CARE OF MEATS.</h4>
-
-<p>In hot weather, if there is no refrigerator, then wipe meat
-dry, sprinkle on a little salt and pepper, and hang in the cellar.
-Or, still better, wrap it, thus prepared, in a dry cloth,
-and cover it with charcoal or with wood-ashes. Mutton,
-wrapped in a cloth wet with vinegar, and laid on the ground
-of a <em>dry</em> cellar, keeps well and improves in tenderness.</p>
-
-<p>Hang meat a day or two after it is killed before corning it.</p>
-
-<p>In winter, meat is kept finely if well packed in snow, without
-salting; but some say it lessens the sweetness.</p>
-
-<p>Frozen meat must be thawed in cold water, and not cooked
-till entirely thawed.</p>
-
-<p>Beef and mutton are improved by keeping as long as they
-remain sweet. If meat begins to taint, wash it, and rub it
-with powdered charcoal, which often removes the taint.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span>
-Sometimes rubbing with salt will cure it. Soda water is
-good also.</p>
-
-<p>Take all the kernels out that you will find in the round
-and thick end of the flank of beef, and in the fat, and fill the
-holes with salt. This will preserve it longer.</p>
-
-<p>Salt your meat, in summer, as soon as you receive it.</p>
-
-<p>A pound and a half of salt rubbed into twenty-five pounds
-of beef, will corn it so as to last several days in ordinary
-warm weather; or put it in strong brine.</p>
-
-<p>In most books of recipes there are several different ones for
-corning, for curing pork hams, and for other uses, while an inexperienced
-person is at a loss to know which is best. The
-recipes here given are decided to be <em>the best</em>, after an examination
-of quite a variety, by the writer, who has resided where
-they were used; and she knows that the very best results
-are secured by these directions. These also are pronounced
-the best by business men of large experience.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>To Salt down Beef to keep the Year round.</b>—One hundred pounds of
-beef; four quarts of rock-salt, pounded fine; four ounces of saltpetre, pounded
-fine; four pounds of brown sugar. Mix well. Put a layer of meat on
-the bottom of the barrel, with a thin layer of this mixture under it. Pack
-the meat in layers, and between each put equal proportions of this mixture,
-allowing a little more to the top layers. Then pour in brine till the barrel is
-full.</p>
-
-<p><b>To cleanse Calf’s Head and Feet.</b>—Wash clean, and sprinkle pounded resin
-over the hair; dip in boiling water and take out immediately, and then
-scrape them clean; then soak them in water for four days, changing the
-water every day.</p>
-
-<p><b>To prepare Rennet.</b>—Take the stomach of a new-killed calf, and do not
-wash it, as it weakens the gastric juice. Hang it in a cool and dry place
-five days or so; then turn the inside out, and slip off the curds with the
-hand. Then fill it with salt, with a little saltpetre mixed in, and lay it in a
-stone pot, pouring on a tea-spoonful of vinegar, and sprinkling on a handful
-of salt. Cover it closely, and keep for use. After six weeks, take a piece
-four inches square and put it in a bottle with five gills of cold water and two
-gills of rose brandy; stop it close, and shake it when you use it. A table-spoonful
-is enough for a quart of milk.</p>
-
-<p><b>To Salt down Fish.</b>—Scale, cut off the heads, open down the back, and remove
-most of the spine, to have them keep better. Lay them in salt water<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span>
-two hours, to extract blood. Sprinkle with fine salt, and let them lie over
-night. Then mix one peck of coarse and fine salt, one ounce of saltpetre,
-(or half an ounce of saltpetre and half an ounce of saleratus,) and one pound
-of sugar. Then pack in a firkin. Begin with a layer of salt, then a layer
-of fish, skin downward. A peck of salt will answer for twenty-five shad,
-and other fish in proportion.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>As in most country families, when meat is salted for the
-year’s use, pork is the meat most generally and most largely
-relied upon, considerable space is devoted to its proper preparation.
-Special attention is given to various modes of curing
-and preserving it.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>To try out Lard.</b>—Take what is called <em>the leaves</em>, and take off all the skin,
-cut it into pieces an inch square, put it into a clean pot over a slow fire, and
-try it till the scraps look a reddish-brown; take great care not to let it burn,
-which would spoil the whole. Then strain it through a strong cloth, into a
-stone pot, and set it away for use.</p>
-
-<p>Take the fat to which the smaller intestines are attached, (not the large
-ones,) and the flabby pieces of pork not fit for salting, try these in the same
-way, and set the fat thus obtained where it will freeze, and by spring the
-strong taste will be gone, and then it can be used for frying. A tea-cup of
-water prevents burning while trying.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Corn-fed pork is best. Pork made by still-house slops is
-almost poisonous, and hogs that live on offal never furnish
-healthful food. If hogs are properly fed, the pork is not unhealthful.</p>
-
-<p>Pork with kernels in it is measly, and is unwholesome.</p>
-
-<p>A thick skin shows that the pork is old, and that it requires
-more time to boil. If bought pork is very salt, soak
-it some hours. Do not let pork freeze, if you intend to salt it.</p>
-
-<p>The gentleman who uses the following recipe for curing
-pork hams, says it has these advantages over all others he
-has tried or heard of, namely, the hams thus cured are sweeter
-than by any other method; they are more solid and tender,
-and are cured in less than half the time. Moreover, they
-do not attract flies so much as other methods:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Recipe for Molasses-cured Hams.</b>—Moisten every part of the ham with
-molasses, and then for every hundred pounds use one quart of fine salt, and
-four ounces of saltpetre, rubbing them in very thoroughly at every point.
-Put the hams thus prepared in a tight cask for four days. Then rub again<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span>
-with molasses and one quart of salt, and return the hams to the cask for four
-days. Repeat this the third and the fourth time, and then smoke the hams.
-This process takes only sixteen days, while other methods require five or six
-weeks.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The following is the best recipe for the ordinary mode of
-curing hams; and the brine or pickle thus prepared is equally
-good for corning and all other purposes for which brine is
-used. Some persons use saleratus instead of the saltpetre,
-and others use half and half of each, and say it is an improvement:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Brine or Pickle for corning Hams, Beef, Pork, and Hung Beef.</b>—Four gallons
-of water; two pounds of rock-salt, and a little more of common salt; two
-ounces of saltpetre; one quart of molasses. Mix, but do not boil. Put the
-hams in a barrel and pour this over them, and keep them covered with it for
-six weeks. If more brine is needed, make it in the same proportions.</p>
-
-<p><b>Brine for Beef, Pork, Tongues, and Hung Beef.</b>—Four gallons of water;
-one and a half pounds of sugar; one ounce of saltpetre; one ounce of saleratus.
-Add salt; and if it is for use only a month or two, use six pounds of
-salt; if for all the year, use <em>nine</em> pounds. In hot weather, rub the meat with
-salt before putting it in, and let it lie for three hours, to extract the blood.
-When tongues and hung beef are taken out, wash the pieces, and, when
-smoked, put them in paper bags, and hang in a dry place.</p>
-
-<p><b>Brine by Measure, easily made.</b>—One gallon of cold water; one quart of
-rock-salt; and two of blown salt; one heaping table-spoonful of saltpetre, (or
-half as much of saleratus, with half a table-spoonful of saltpetre;) six heaping
-table-spoonfuls of brown sugar. Mix, but not boil. Keep it as long as salt
-remains undissolved at bottom. When scum rises, add more salt, sugar, saltpetre,
-and soda.</p>
-
-<p><b>To Salt down Pork.</b>—Allow a peck of salt for sixty pounds. Cover the
-bottom of the barrel with salt an inch deep. Put down one layer of pork,
-and cover that with salt half an inch thick. Continue thus till the barrel is
-full. Then pour in as much strong brine as the barrel will receive. Keep
-coarse salt between all pieces, so that the brine can circulate. When a white
-scum or bloody-looking matter rises on the top, scald the brine and add more
-salt. Leave out bloody and lean pieces for sausages. Pack as tight as possible,
-the rind next the barrel; and let it be <em>always</em> kept <em>under</em> the brine.
-Some use a stone for this purpose. In salting down a new supply, take the
-old brine, boil it down and remove all the scum, and then use it to pour over
-the pork. The pork may be used in six weeks after salting.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span></p>
-<p><b>To prepare Cases for Sausages.</b>—Empty the cases, taking care not to tear
-them. Wash them thoroughly, and cut into lengths of two yards each.
-Then take a candle-rod, and fastening one end of a case to the top of it, turn
-the case inside outward. When all are turned, wash very thoroughly, and
-scrape them with a scraper made for the purpose, keeping them in warm water
-till ready to scrape. Throw them into salt and water to soak till used.
-It is a very difficult job to scrape them clean without tearing them. When
-finished, they look transparent and very thin.</p>
-
-<p><b>Sausage-Meat.</b>—Take one third fat and two thirds lean pork, and chop it;
-and then to every twelve pounds of meat add twelve large even spoonfuls of
-pounded salt, nine of sifted sage, and six of sifted black pepper. Some like
-a little summer-savory. Keep it in a cool and dry place.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Recipe.</b>—To twenty-five pounds of chopped meat, which should
-be one third fat and two thirds lean, put twenty spoonfuls of sage, twenty-five
-of salt, ten of pepper, and four of summer-savory.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bologna Sausages.</b>—Take equal portions of veal, pork, and ham; chop
-them fine; season with sweet herbs <em>and</em> pepper; put them in cases; boil them
-till tender, and then dry them.</p></blockquote>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_026.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 5.</div>
-</div>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>To smoke Hams.</b>—Make a small building of boards, nailing strips over the
-cracks to confine the smoke. Have within cross-sticks, on which to hang the
-hams. Have only one opening at top, at the end farthest from the fire. Set
-it up so high that a small stove can be set under or very near it, with the
-smoke-pipe entering the floor at the opposite end from the slide. These di<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span>rections
-are for a wooden house, and it is better thus than to have a fire <em>within</em>
-a brick house, because too much warmth lessens the flavor and tenderness
-of the hams. Change the position of the hams once or twice, that all may
-be treated alike. When this can not be done, use an inverted barrel or hogshead,
-with a hole for the smoke to escape, and resting on stones; and keep a
-small, smouldering fire. Cobs are best, as giving a better flavor; and brands
-or chips of walnut wood are next best. Keeping a small fire a longer time is
-better than quicker smoking, as too much heat gives the hams a strong taste,
-and they are less sweet.</p>
-
-<p>The house and barrel are shown in Fig. 5, on preceding page.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER III.<br />
-
-<small>STEWS AND SOUPS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>In using salt and pepper, diversities of strength make a
-difficulty in giving very exact directions; so also do inequalities
-in the size of spoons and tumblers. But so much can
-be done, that a housekeeper, after one trial, can give exact
-directions to her cook, or with a pencil alter the recipe.</p>
-
-<p>It is a great convenience to have recipes that employ measures
-which all families have on hand, so as not to use steelyards
-and balances. The following will be found the most
-convenient:</p>
-
-
-<ul class="index"><li>A medium size tea-spoon, even full, equals 60 drops, or one eighth of an
-ounce.</li>
-
-<li>A medium size table-spoon, even full, equals two tea-spoonfuls.</li>
-
-<li>One ounce equals eight even tea-spoonfuls, or four table-spoonfuls.</li>
-
-<li>One gill equals eight even table-spoonfuls.</li>
-
-<li>Half a gill equals four even table-spoonfuls.</li>
-
-<li>Two gills equal half a pint, and four gills equal one pint.</li>
-
-<li>One common size tumbler equals half a pint, or two gills.</li>
-
-<li>One pint equals two tumblerfuls, or four gills.</li>
-
-<li>One quart equals four tumblerfuls, or eight gills.</li>
-
-<li>Four quarts equal one gallon.</li>
-
-<li>Four gallons equal one peck.</li>
-
-<li>Four pecks equal one bushel.</li>
-
-<li>A quart of sifted flour, heaped, a sifted quart of sugar, and a softened
-quart of butter each weigh about a pound, and so nearly that measuring is
-as good as weighing.</li>
-
-<li>Water is heavier, and a pint of water weighs nearly a pound.</li>
-
-<li>Ten eggs weigh about one pound.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-<p>The most economical modes of cooking, as to <em>time</em>, <em>care</em>,
-and <em>labor</em>, are stews, soups, and hashes; and when properly
-seasoned, they are great favorites, especially with children.</p>
-
-<p>Below is a drawing of a stew and soup-kettle that any tinman
-can easily make. Its advantages are, that, after the
-meat is put in, there is no danger of scorching, and no watching
-is required, except to keep up the fire aright, so as to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>
-have a steady simmering. Another advantage is, that, by
-the tight cover, the steam and flavors are confined, and the
-cooking thus improved. Then, in taking up the stew, it offers
-several conveniences, as will be found on trial.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_029.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 6.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This stew-kettle consists of two pans, the inner one not
-fastened, but fitting tight to the outer, with holes the size of
-a large pin-head commencing half an inch from the bottom
-and continuing to within two inches of the top of the under
-pan. It has a flat lid, on which may be placed a weight, to
-confine steam and flavors. The holes may be an inch apart.
-The size of the kettle must depend on the size of the family:
-it may be of any desired size.</p>
-
-<p class="center"><i>General Directions.</i></p>
-
-<p>Generally, in making stews, use soft water; but when only
-hard is at hand, put in half a tea-spoonful of soda to every
-two quarts of water. Put in all the bones and gristle first,
-breaking the bones thoroughly.</p>
-
-<p>Rub fresh meat with salt, and put it in <em>cold</em> water, for
-soups, as this extracts the juices.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as water begins to boil, skim repeatedly till no
-more scum rises.</p>
-
-<p>Never let water boil hard for soups or stews; for</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">“Meat fast boiled</div>
- <div class="verse">Is meat half spoiled.”</div>
-</div></div></div>
-
-<p>Let the water <em>simmer gently</em> and not stop simmering long,
-as this injures both looks and flavor.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span></p>
-
-<p>Keep in water enough to cover the meat, or it becomes
-hard and dark.</p>
-
-<p>In preparing for soups, it is best to make a good deal of
-broth at one time; cool it slowly, first removing sediment
-by straining through a colander. When cold, remove the
-fat from the top, and keep the liquor for soups and gravies.
-This is called <em>stock</em>, and as such should have no other seasoning
-than salt. The other seasoning is to be put in when
-heated and combined with other material for soup.</p>
-
-<p>In hot weather, stock will keep only a day or two; but in
-cool weather, three or four days. If vegetables were boiled
-in it, it would turn sour sooner.</p>
-
-<p>Remnants of cooked meats may be used together for soup;
-but take care that none is tainted, thus spoiling all. Liquor
-in which corned beef is boiled should be saved to mix with
-stock of fresh meat, and then little or no salt is needed. The
-recipes for stews that follow will make good soups by adding
-more water.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Beef and Potato Stew.</b>—Cut up four pounds of beef into strips three inches
-by two, and put them into two quarts of water, with one onion sliced very
-fine. Let this <em>simmer</em> four hours. Add in half a cup of warm water, six
-even tea-spoonfuls of salt, three of sugar, three of vinegar, a tea-spoonful of
-black pepper, and six heaping tea-spoonfuls of flower, lumps rubbed out.
-Pour these upon the meat; cut up, slice, and add six potatoes, and let all
-stew till the meat is very tender, and the potatoes are soft. If potatoes are
-omitted, leave out half a tea-spoonful of salt and a pinch of the pepper.</p>
-
-<p>Be sure and skim very thoroughly when boiling commences, and do not
-allow hard boiling, but only a gentle simmer.</p>
-
-<p><b>French Mutton and Turnip Stew.</b>—Cut up two pounds of mutton, with a
-little of the fat, into two-inch squares. Rub two heaping table-spoonfuls of
-butter into two table-spoonfuls of flour, and stir it into the meat, with water
-just enough to cover it. Add three <em>even</em> tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one of
-pepper, four of sugar, a sprig of parsley, and a small onion, sliced very fine.
-Skim as soon as it begins to boil, and then add thirty pieces of turnips, each
-an inch square, that have been fried brown. Let all stew till meat and turnips
-are tender; throw out the parsley, and serve with the turnips in the
-centre, and the meat around it.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Simple Mutton Stew.</b>—Cut four pounds of mutton into two-inch squares,
-add four <em>even</em> tea-spoonfuls of salt, four of sugar, half a one of pepper, and a
-small onion, sliced fine. Stew three hours, in two quarts of water, and then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span>
-thicken with five tea-spoonfuls of flour, lumps rubbed out. Six tomatoes, or
-some tomato catsup, improves this.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Beef Stew, with Vegetable Flavors.</b>—Cut up four pounds of beef into
-two-inch squares, and add two quarts of water. Let it stew one hour. Then
-add one sliced onion, two sliced turnips, two sliced carrots, four sliced tomatoes,
-four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one small tea-spoonful of pepper, four
-tea-spoonfuls of sugar, and five cloves. Let it stew till there is only about
-a tea-cupful of gravy, and thicken this with a little flour.</p>
-
-<p>The above may be cooked without cutting up the meat, and it is good
-eaten cold. Pressing it under a weight improves it, and so does putting it
-in an oven for half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Stew of Chicken, Duck, or Turkey, with Celery or Tomatoes.</b>—Take a
-quart of lukewarm water, and add two heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, two of
-sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Cut up a large head of celery, or four
-large tomatoes. Cut the fowl into eight or more pieces, and let all simmer
-together two hours, or till the meat is very tender. Then add two table-spoonfuls
-of butter, worked into as much flour, and let it simmer fifteen minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Favorite Irish Stew.</b>—Cut two pounds of mutton into pieces two inches
-square; add a little of the chopped fat, three tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a one
-of black pepper, two of sugar, two sliced onions, and a quart of water. Let
-them simmer half an hour, and then add six peeled potatoes, cut in quarters,
-that have soaked in cold water an hour. Let the whole stew an hour
-longer, or rather till the meat is very tender. Skim it at first and just
-before taking up.</p>
-
-<p><b>Veal Stew.</b>—Put a knuckle of veal into two quarts of boiling water, with
-three tea-spoonfuls of salt and half a tea-spoonful of ground pepper. Then
-chop fine and tie in a muslin rag one carrot, two small onions, a small
-bunch of summer savory, and another of parsley; put them in the water,
-and let them stew three or four hours, till the meat is very tender. There
-should only be about half a pint of gravy at the bottom. Pour in <em>boiling</em>
-water, if needed. Strain the gravy, and thicken with four spoonfuls of flour
-or potato-starch, and let it boil up a minute only. This is improved by adding
-at first half a pound of salt pork or ham, cut in strips. When this is
-done, no salt is to be used, or only one tea-spoonful. Tomatoes improve it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another.</b>—Cut four pounds of veal into strips one inch thick and three
-inches long, and peel and soak twelve potatoes cut into slices half an inch
-thick. Then put a layer of pork at the bottom, and alternate layers of potatoes
-and veal, with a layer of salt pork on the top. Put three tea-spoonfuls
-of salt, half a one of pepper, four of sugar, and six tea-spoonfuls of flour,
-with lumps rubbed out, into two quarts of water. Pour all upon the veal and
-potatoes, and let them stew till the veal is very tender. Add twelve peeled
-and sliced tomatoes, which will improve this.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span></p>
-<p><b>A Favorite Turkish Stew, (called Pilaff.)</b>—Take some rich broth, seasoned
-to the taste with pepper, salt, and tomato catsup. Add two tea-cups
-of rice, and let it simmer till the rice absorbs as much as it will take up without
-losing its form—say about fifteen minutes. Cut up a chicken, and season
-it with salt and pepper, and fry it in sweet butter or cream. Then put
-the chicken in the centre of the rice, and cover it entirely with rice. Then
-pour on half a pound of melted butter, and let it stand where it is hot, and
-yet will not fry, for fifteen minutes. To be served hot.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Rice or Hominy Stew.</b>—Take four pounds of any kind of fresh meat,
-cut into pieces two inches square, and put in the stew-pan with one pint of
-hominy. Then put into two quarts of warm water five heaping tea-spoonfuls
-of salt, four of sugar, half a one of pepper, and three of vinegar. Let
-them simmer four or five hours, till the meat is very tender. A tea-cup of
-rice may be used instead of hominy. A little salt pork improves this, as well
-as all other stews.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Favorite English Beef Stew.</b>—Simmer a shank or hock of beef in four
-quarts of water, with four heaping table-spoonfuls of salt, until the beef is
-soft and the water reduced to about two quarts. Then add peeled and soaked
-potatoes cut into thick slices, two tea-spoonfuls of pepper, two of sweet marjoram,
-and two of either thyme or summer savory. Stew till the potatoes
-are soft, add bread-crumbs and more salt if needful. One or two onions cut
-fine, and put in at first, improve it for most persons.</p>
-
-<p><b>French Stew, or Pot au Feu.</b>—Put three pounds of fresh meat into three
-quarts of cold water, with two tea-spoonfuls of salt. When it begins to simmer,
-add a gill of cold water, and skim thoroughly. Then add a quarter of a
-pound of liver, a medium-sized carrot sliced, two small turnips, two middle-sized
-leeks, half a head of celery, one sprig of parsley, a bay leaf, one onion
-with two cloves stuck in it, and two cloves of garlic. Simmer five hours.
-Strain the broth into a soup-dish, and serve the meat and vegetables on a
-platter. If more water is needed, add that which is boiling.</p>
-
-<p>When the dish is served all together, it is called <i lang="fr">Pot au Feu</i>, and the vessel
-in which it is cooked has the same name. It is the common dish of the
-French peasantry.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The following is the receipe for the favorite Spanish dish.
-A superior housekeeper tried it, and it was so much liked
-that several of her family were harmed <em>by eating too much</em>:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Spanish Olla Podrida.</b>—Fry four ounces of salt pork in the pot, and, when
-partly done, add two pounds of fresh beef and a quarter of a pound of ham.
-Add two tea-spoonfuls of salt in cold water, and only enough just to cover
-the meat. Skim carefully the first half-hour, and then add a gill of peas, (if
-dried, soak them an hour first,) half a head of cabbage, one carrot, one turnip,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span>
-two leeks, three stalks of celery, three stalks of parsley, two stalks of thyme,
-two cloves, two onions sliced, two cloves of garlic, ten pepper-corns, and a
-pinch of powdered mace or nutmeg. Simmer steadily for five hours. When
-the water is too low, add that which is boiling. Put the meat on a platter,
-and the vegetables around it. Strain the liquor on to toasted bread in a
-soup-dish.</p>
-
-<p>All these articles can be obtained at grocers’ or markets in our large cities,
-and of course can be procured in the country.</p>
-
-<p><b>French Mutton Stew.</b>—Take a leg of mutton and remove the large bone,
-leaving the bone at the small end as a handle; cut off also the bone below the
-knuckle, and fix it with skewers.</p>
-
-<p>Put it in a stew-pan with a pinch of allspice, four onions, two cloves, two
-carrots, each cut in four pieces, a small bunch of parsley, two bay leaves, three
-sprigs of thyme, and <em>salt and pepper to the taste</em>. Add two ounces of bacon
-cut in slices, a quarter of a pint of broth, and cold water enough to cover it.
-After one hour of simmering, add a wine-glass of French brandy.</p>
-
-<p>Let them simmer five hours longer, and then dish it; strain the sauce on
-it, and serve.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>The American housekeeper by experiments can modify
-these foreign recipes to meet the taste of her family, and will
-find them <em>economical</em> modes of cooking, as well as healthful
-to most persons.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center">FRENCH MODES OF COOKING SOUPS AND STEWS.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has examined the recipes of Gouffee, the chief
-French cook of the Queen of England, set forth in the expensive
-Royal Cook-Book; also those of Soyer and Professor
-Blot. She and her friends also have tested many of their
-recipes.</p>
-
-<p>The following are most of the flavors used by them in
-cooking soups, stews, hashes, etc. Combination of these is
-recommended by those authors in these proportions:</p>
-
-<ul class="index">
-<li>One fourth of an ounce of thyme.</li>
-
-<li>One fourth of an ounce of bay leaf.</li>
-
-<li>One eighth of an ounce of marjoram.</li>
-
-<li>One eighth of an ounce of rosemary.</li>
-
-<li>Dry the above when fresh, mix in a mortar, and keep them corked tight in
-glass bottle.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-<p>Also the following in these proportions:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span></p>
-
-<ul class="index">
-<li>Half an ounce of nutmeg.</li>
-
-<li>Half an ounce of cloves.</li>
-
-<li>One fourth of an ounce of black pepper.</li>
-
-<li>One eighth of an ounce of Cayenne pepper.</li>
-
-<li>Pound, mix, and keep corked tight in glass. In using these with salt, put
-one ounce of the last recipe to four ounces of salt. In making force-meat
-and hashes, use at the rate of one ounce of this spiced salt to three pounds
-of meat.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<ul class="index"><li><b>Soup Powder.</b>—Two ounces of parsley.</li>
-<li>Two ounces of winter savory.</li>
-<li>Two ounces of sweet marjoram.</li>
-<li>Two ounces of lemon-thyme.</li>
-<li>One ounce of lemon-peel.</li>
-<li>One ounce of sweet basil.</li>
-<li>Dry, pound, sift, and keep in a tight-corked bottle.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-<p>Let the housekeeper add these flavors so that they will
-<em>not be strong</em>, but quite delicate, and then <em>make a rule for
-the cook</em>.</p>
-
-<p>The peculiar excellence of French cooking is the combination
-of flavors, so that no one is predominant, and all are delicate
-in force and quantity.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER IV.<br />
-
-<small>SOUPS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>General Directions.</i></p>
-
-<p>Most of the preceding stews will serve also fairly as soups,
-by adding more water. Rub salt into meat for soups, but
-not for stews, as the salt extracts the juices; and in stews
-the meat is to be eaten, while in soups properly so called it
-is only the liquor that is served. Put meat into cold water
-for soups, as <em>slowly</em> heating also extracts the juices. For this
-same reason, meat that is boiled for eating should be put
-into boiling water to keep the juices in it.</p>
-
-<p>Always <em>skim often</em>, as soon as the water begins to simmer;
-and do not add the salt and other seasoning till the scum
-ceases to rise.</p>
-
-<p>Do not boil after the juices are extracted, as too much
-boiling injures the flavor.</p>
-
-<p>Never cool soup in metal, as there may be poison in the
-soldering or other parts.</p>
-
-<p>If you flavor your soup by vegetables, do not boil them
-in the soup, but in <em>very little</em> water, which is to be added to
-the soup with them, as it contains much of their flavor.</p>
-
-<p>When onion is used for flavor, slice and fry it, and dredge
-on a little flour; add the water in which the vegetables for
-soup were boiled, or some meat broth, and then pour it into
-the soup. If you flavor with wine, soy, or catsup, put them
-into the tureen, and pour the soup upon them, as the flavor
-is lessened by putting them into the soup-kettle. Bread-crumbs,
-toast, or crackers also must be put in the tureen.
-Keep soup covered tight while boiling, to keep in flavors.
-If water is added, it must be boiling. The rule to guide in
-using salt and pepper is a heaping tea-spoonful of salt to a
-quart of water, and one-sixth as much pepper. But as tastes
-are different, and the salt and pepper vary in strength, the
-housekeeper can, on trial, change the recipe with a pencil.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span></p>
-
-<p><em>Soup stock</em> is broth of any kind of meat prepared in large
-quantity, to keep on hand for gravies and soups. Beef and
-veal make the best stock. One hind shin of beef makes five
-quarts of stock, and one hind shin of veal makes three quarts.
-Wash and put into twice as much water as you wish to, to
-have soup, and simmer five or six hours.</p>
-
-<p>All kinds of bones should be mashed and boiled five or six
-hours, to take out all the nutriment, the liquor then strained,
-and kept in earthenware or stone, not in tin. Take off the
-fat when cool.</p>
-
-<p>Cool broth quickly, and it keeps longer.</p>
-
-<p>Use a flat-bottom kettle, as less likely to scorch.</p>
-
-<p>Soft water is best for soups; a little soda improves hard
-water.</p>
-
-<p>Stock will keep three or four days in cool weather; not so
-long in warm. Keep it in a cool place. When used, heat
-to boiling point, and then take up and flavor.</p>
-
-<p>Put in the salt and pepper when the meat is thoroughly
-done.</p>
-
-<p>Meat soups are best the second day, if warmed slowly and
-taken up as soon as heated. If heated too long, they become
-insipid.</p>
-
-<p>Thin soups must be strained. If to be made very clear, stir
-in one or two well beaten eggs, with the shells, and let it
-boil half an hour.</p>
-
-<p>Use the meat of the soup for a hash, warmed together with
-a little fat, and well seasoned.</p>
-
-<p>Be <em>very</em> careful, in using bones and cold meats for soups,
-that none is <em>tainted</em>, for the soup may be ruined by a single
-bit of tainted meat or bone.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Potato Soup.</b>—Take six large mealy potatoes, sliced and soaked an hour.
-Add one onion, sliced and tied in a rag, a quart of milk, and a quarter of a
-pound of salt pork cut in slices. Boil three quarters of an hour, and then
-add a table-spoonful of melted butter and a well-beaten egg, mixed in a cup
-of milk. This is a favorite soup with many, and easily made. Some omit
-the pork, and use salt and pepper to flavor it, and add one well beaten egg.</p>
-
-<p><b>Green Corn Soup.</b>—This is very nice made with sweet corn put into seasoned
-soup stock.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span></p>
-<p><b>Plain Beef Soup.</b>—Put three pounds of beef and one chopped onion, tied
-in a rag, to three quarts of cold water. Simmer till the meat is very soft—say
-four hours; then add three tea-spoonfuls of salt, as much sugar, and
-half a tea-spoonful of pepper. Any other flavors may be added to suit the
-taste. Strain the soup, and save the meat for mince-meat or hash. Half a
-dozen sliced tomatoes will much improve this. Some would thicken with
-three or four tea-spoonfuls of potato-starch or flour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rich Beef Soup.</b>—The following is a specimen of soups that are most stylish,
-rich, and demand most care in preparation:</p>
-
-<p>Simmer six pounds of beef for six hours in six quarts of water, using the
-bones, broken in small pieces. Cool it, and take off the fat. Next day, an
-hour before dinner, take out the meat to use for hash or mince-meat, heat the
-liquor, throw in some salt to raise the scum, and skim it well. Then slice
-small, and boil in very little water, these vegetables: two turnips, two carrots,
-one head of celery, one quart of tomatoes, half a head of small white
-cabbage, one pint of green corn or Shaker corn, soaked over night. Cook
-the cabbage in two waters, throwing away the first. Boil the soup half an
-hour after these are put in. Season with salt, pepper, mace, and wine to
-suit the taste.</p>
-
-<p><b>Green Pea Soup.</b>—Boil the pods an hour in a gallon of water. Strain the
-liquor, and put into it four pounds of beef or mutton, and simmer one hour.
-Then add half the peas contained in half a peck of pods, and boil half an
-hour; then thicken with two great spoonfuls of flour, and season with salt
-and pepper. Three tomatoes, sliced, improve this.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dried Bean Soup or Pea Soup.</b>—Soak the beans, if dry, over night, and
-then boil till soft. Then strain them through a colander; and to each quart
-of liquor add a tea-spoonful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a salt-spoonful
-of pepper. Add a beaten egg, a tea-cup of milk, and two spoonfuls of
-butter. A sliced onion improves it for some, and not for others; also, half
-the juice of a lemon when taken up. Canned sweet-corn, or common corn
-with sugar added, makes good <i>succotash</i> for winter.</p>
-
-<p><b>Clam Soup.</b>—Wash and boil the clams till they come out of their shells easily;
-then chop them, and put them back into the liquor, which should first be
-strained. Add a tea-cup of milk for each quart of soup; thicken with a little
-flour, into which has been worked as much butter as it will hold, and season
-with salt and pepper to suit the taste.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Vegetable and Meat Soup for Summer.</b>—Take three quarts of stock that
-is duly seasoned with sugar, salt, and pepper. Add two small onions, chopped
-fine, three small carrots, three small turnips, one stalk of celery, and a pint
-of green peas—all chopped fine. Let it simmer two hours, and then serve it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dried Pea Soup with Salt Pork.</b>—Soak a quart of split peas over night in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span>
-soft water. Next morning wash them and put them in four quarts of water,
-with a tea-spoonful of sugar, two carrots, two small onions, and one stalk of
-celery—all cut in small pieces. Let them boil three hours. Boil a pound of
-salt pork in another pot for one hour; take off the skin, and put the pork in
-the soup, and then boil one hour longer.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dried Bean or Pea Soup with Meat Stock.</b>—Soak a pint of beans or split
-peas over night in soft water. Then boil them in three quarts of soup-stock,
-duly seasoned with salt and pepper, with one small onion, one turnip, one
-stalk of celery, and six cloves—all cut in small pieces. Let it boil four or
-five hours. Strain through a colander.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mutton Soup.</b>—Boil four pounds of mutton in four quarts of water, with
-four heaping tea-spoonfuls of salt, one even tea-spoonful of pepper, two tea-spoonfuls
-of sugar, one small onion, two carrots, and two turnips—all cut fine—and
-one tea-cup of rice or broken macaroni. Boil the meat alone two
-hours; then add the rest, and boil one hour and a half longer.</p>
-
-<p><b>French Vegetable Soup.</b>—Take a leg of lamb, of moderate size, and four
-quarts of water. Of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and turnips, take a
-tea-cupful of each, chopped fine. Salt and black pepper at the rate of one
-heaping tea-spoonful of salt to each quart of water, and one sixth as much
-black pepper.</p>
-
-<p>Wash the lamb, and put it into the four quarts of cold water. When the
-scum rises, take it off carefully with a skimmer. After having pared and
-chopped the vegetables, put them into the soup. Carrots require the most
-boiling, and should be put in first. This soup requires about three hours to
-boil.</p>
-
-<p><b>Plain Calf’s Head Soup.</b>—Boil the head and feet in just water enough to
-cover them; when tender, take out the bones, cut in small pieces, and season
-with marjoram, thyme, cloves, salt, and pepper.</p>
-
-<p>Put all into a pot, with the liquor, and four spoonfuls of butter; stew gently
-an hour; then, just as you take it up, add two or three glasses of port-wine,
-and the yelks of three eggs boiled hard.</p>
-
-<p><b>An Excellent Simple Mutton Soup.</b>—Put a piece of the fore-quarter of
-mutton into salted water, enough to more than cover it, and simmer it slowly
-two hours. Then peel a dozen turnips, and six tomatoes, and quarter
-them, and boil them with the mutton till just tender enough to eat. Thicken
-the soup with pearl barley. Some use, instead of tomatoes, the juice and
-rind of a lemon. Use half a tea-cup of rice, if you have no pearl barley.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER V.<br />
-
-<small>HASHES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>These are the common ways of spoiling hashes: 1. by frying,
-instead of merely heating them. Melted butter and oils
-are good and healthful when only heated, but are unhealthful
-when fried. 2. Dredging in flour, which, not being well
-cooked, imparts a raw taste of dough. 3. Using too much
-water, making them vapid; or too much fat or gravy, making
-them gross. 4. Using too much or too little salt and other
-seasoning. The following recipes will save from these mistakes,
-if exactly followed. When water is recommended in
-these recipes, <em>cold gravy</em> will be better, in which case the
-<em>butter</em> may be omitted:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>A Seasoned Hash of any Fresh Meats.</b>—Chop, but not very fine, any kinds
-of fresh meat, but be sure not to put in any that is tainted. To a common
-tumblerful of chopped meat put three table-spoonfuls of water, a tea-spoonful
-of sugar, a heaping tea-spoonful of salt, a salt-spoonful of pepper, and butter
-the size of half an egg. Warm, but do not fry; and when hot, break in
-three eggs, and stir till they are hardened a little; then serve. Bread-crumbs
-may be added. This may be put on buttered toast or served alone.
-This and all the following hashes may be varied in flavor, by adding, in delicate
-proportions, the mixed flavors on another page.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Cold Fresh Meats and Potatoes.</b>—Take two tumblerfuls of meat
-of any kind, chopped. Add as much cold potatoes, also chopped, two table-spoonfuls
-of sweet butter in six table-spoonfuls of hot water, and two tea-spoonfuls
-of salt. Sprinkle half a tea-spoonful of pepper over the meat, and
-also a spoonful of sugar; mix all, and warm about twenty minutes, but not
-so as to boil or fry. Tomatoes improve this.</p>
-
-<p><b>Meat Hash with Eggs</b>, (very nice.)—To a tumblerful of fresh cold meat
-cut in pieces about the size of peas, put three table-spoonfuls of hot water,
-two spoonfuls of butter, a tea-spoonful of sugar, two tea-spoonfuls of salt,
-and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Mix all, warm but not fry; and when hot,
-break in four eggs, and stir till they are hardened. Spread on buttered toast
-or serve alone. When eggs are used, the meat should not be chopped fine.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span></p>
-<p><b>A Meat Hash with Tomatoes.</b>—Cut up a pint of tomatoes into a saucepan,
-and when boiling-hot, add the cold meat in thin slices, with a table-spoonful
-of sugar, and salt and pepper, at the rate of a tea-spoonful of salt
-and half a tea-spoonful of pepper to each tumblerful of meat.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Nice Beef Hash.</b>—Make a gravy of melted butter, or take cold gravy;
-season with salt, pepper, and currant jelly or vinegar. Cut cold roast beef
-or the remnants of cold steak into mouthfuls, and put into the gravy till
-heated, but not to fry.</p>
-
-<p>Or, season this gravy with the crushed juice of fresh tomatoes or tomato
-catsup.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Simple and Excellent Veal Hash.</b>—Chop cold veal very fine; butter a
-pudding-dish, and make alternate layers of veal and powdered crackers till
-the dish is full, the first layer of meat being at the bottom. Then beat up
-two eggs, and add a pint or less of milk, seasoned well with salt and pepper,
-and two or three spoonfuls of melted butter. Pour this over the meat and
-crackers; cover with a plate, and bake about half an hour. Remove the
-plate awhile, and let the top brown a little. This is the best way to cook
-veal, and children are very fond of it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rice and Cold Meats.</b>—Chop remnants of fresh meats with salt pork, or
-cold ham. Season with salt and pepper and a little sugar; add two eggs
-and a little butter. Then make alternate layers with this and slices of cold
-boiled rice, and bake it half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread-Crumbs and Cold Meats.</b>—Take any remnants of cooked fresh
-meats, and chop them fine with bits of ham or salt pork. Season with salt
-and pepper; add three eggs and a little milk, and then thicken with pounded
-bread-crumbs. Bake it as a pudding, or warm it for a hash, or cook it in
-flat cakes on a griddle.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Meat Hash with Bread-Crumbs.</b>—One tea-spoonful of flour, (or potato
-or corn-starch,) wet in four tea-spoonfuls of cold water. Stir it into a tea-cupful
-of boiling water, and put in a salt-spoonful of pepper, two tea-spoonfuls
-of salt, a tea-spoonful of sugar, and two table-spoonfuls of sweet butter. Use
-cold gravy instead of butter, if you have it. Set this in a stew-pan where it
-will be kept hot, but not fry. Chop the meat very fine, and mix with it
-while chopping half as much dried bread-crumbs. Put this into the gravy,
-and let it heat only ten minutes, and then serve it on buttered toast. Tomatoes,
-one or two, improve this.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Cold Beefsteak alone or with Potatoes and Turnips.</b>—Make a
-paste with a heaping tea-spoonful of flour in two tea-spoonfuls of water.
-Stir it into a tea-cup and a half of boiling water, with a salt-spoonful of black
-pepper, a half tea-spoonful of sugar, and two tea-spoonfuls of salt. Let it
-stand where it will be hot but not boil. Cut the beef into mouthfuls, and also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span>
-as much cold boiled potatoes and half as much boiled turnips. Mix all, and
-then add two table-spoonfuls of butter, (or some cold gravy,) and a table-spoonful
-of tomato catsup, or two sliced tomatoes. Warm, but do not fry,
-for ten minutes.</p>
-
-<p>When beef gravy is used, take less salt and pepper.</p>
-
-<p>This is a good recipe for cold beef without vegetables.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Cold Mutton (or Venison) and Vegetables.</b>—Prepare as in the
-preceding recipe, but add one onion sliced fine, to hide the strong mutton
-taste. If onion is left out, put in a wine-glass of grape or currant jelly. If
-the vegetables are left out, put in a little less pepper and salt.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Corned Beef.</b>—Chop the meat very fine, fat and lean together;
-add twice as much cold potatoes chopped fine. For each tumblerful of this
-add butter half the size of a hen’s egg melted in half a tea-cup of hot water,
-a salt-spoonful of pepper and another of salt. Heat very hot, but do not let
-it fry. Some would add parsley or other sweet herb.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Cold Ham.</b>—Chop, not very fine, fat and lean together. Add
-twice the quantity of bread-crumbs chopped, but not fine. Heat it hot, then
-break in two eggs for every tumblerful of the hash. A tea-spoonful of sugar
-improves it, and a salt-spoonful of pepper.</p>
-
-<p><b>Meats warmed over.</b>—Veal is best made into hashes. If it is liked more
-simply cooked, chop it fine, put in water just enough to moisten it, butter,
-salt, pepper, and a little juice of a lemon. Some like a little lemon-rind
-grated in. Heat it through, but do not let it fry. Put it on buttered toast,
-and garnish it with slices of lemon.</p>
-
-<p>Cold salted or fresh beef is good chopped fine with pepper, salt, and catsup,
-and water enough to moisten a little. Add some butter just before taking
-it up, and do not let it fry, only heat it hot. It injures cooked meat to
-cook it again. Cold fowls make a nice dish to have them cut up in mouthfuls;
-add some of the gravy and giblet sauce, a little butter and pepper, and
-then heat them through.</p>
-
-<p><b>A nice Way of Cooking Cold Meats.</b>—Chop the meat fine, add salt, pepper,
-a little onion, or else tomato catsup; fill a tin bread-pan one third full, cover
-it over with boiled potatoes salted and mashed with cream or milk, lay bits
-of butter on the top, and set it into a Dutch or stove oven for fifteen or twenty
-minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Hash of Cold Meat for Dinner</b>, (very good.)—Peel six large tomatoes
-and one onion, and slice them. Add a spoonful of sugar, salt and pepper,
-and a bit of butter the size of a hen’s egg, and half a pint of cold water.
-Shave up the meat into small bits, as thin as thick pasteboard. Dredge
-flour over it, say two tea-spoonfuls, or a little less. Simmer the meat with
-all the rest for <em>half an hour</em> and then serve it, and it is very fine.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span></p>
-<p>Dried tomatoes can be used. When you have no tomatoes, make a gravy
-with water, pepper, salt, and butter, or cold gravy; slice an onion in it, add
-tomato catsup, (two or three spoonfuls,) and then prepare the meat as above,
-and simmer it in this gravy <em>half an hour</em>.</p>
-
-<p><b>Souse.</b>—Cleanse pigs’ ears and feet and soak them a week in salt and water,
-changing the water every other day. Boil eight or ten hours till tender.
-When cold, put on salt, and pour on hot spiced vinegar. Warm them in
-lard or butter.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tripe.</b>—Scrape and scour it thoroughly, soak it in salt and water a week,
-changing it every other day. Boil it eight or ten hours, till tender; then
-pour on spiced hot vinegar and broil it.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VI.<br />
-
-<small>BOILED MEATS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>An Excellent Way to cook Tough Beef.</b>—To eight pounds of beef put four
-quarts of water, two table-spoonfuls of salt, half a tea-spoonful of pepper, three
-tea-spoonfuls of vinegar, and four tea-spoonfuls of sugar. Put it on at eight
-in the morning, and let it simmer slowly till the water is more than half gone;
-then skim off the grease, and set it in the stove-oven till the water is all gone
-but about a tea-cupful, which is for gravy, and may be thickened a little.
-Add <em>boiling</em> water, if it goes too fast, (for in some kinds of weather it will
-evaporate much faster than in other days). This dish should be <em>very</em> tender,
-and is excellent cold, especially if it is pressed under a heavy weight. This
-was a favorite soldier’s dish; and tough meat is as good as it is tender, when
-thus cooked.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Boiled Ham.</b>—The best way to cook a ham is first to wash it; then take
-off the skin and bake it in a pan, with a little water in it, in a stove or brick
-oven, till tender, which is found by a fork piercing easily. Allow twenty
-minutes for each pound.</p>
-
-<p>To boil a ham, soak it over night; then wash in two waters, using a brush.
-Boil slowly, and allow fifteen minutes for each pound. When cold, take off
-the skin, and ornament with dots of pepper and fringed paper tied around
-the shank.</p>
-
-<p>A nice way to treat a cold boiled ham is, after removing the skin, to rub
-it over with beaten egg, and then spread over powdered cracker, wet with
-milk, and let it brown in the oven. Boiled ham is much improved by setting
-it in the oven half an hour, making it sweeter, while the fat that tries
-out is useful for cooking.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Boiled Beef.</b>—Put it in salted water, (a tea-spoonful for each quart;) have
-enough to cover it. Skim well just before it begins to boil, and as long as
-the scum rises. Allow about fifteen minutes to each pound, or more for
-beef. Drain well, and serve with vegetables boiled separately.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Boiled Fowls.</b>—Wash the inside carefully with soda water, to remove any
-taint. Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, or cracker, wet up with eggs, and
-sew up the openings. Put them in <em>boiling</em> water, enough to cover, and
-let them simmer gently till tender. It is a good plan to wrap in a cloth
-dredged with flour.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Fricasseed Fowls.</b>—Cut them up, and put in a pot, with cold water enough<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span>
-to cover. Put some salt pork over, and let them simmer slowly till very tender
-and the water mostly gone. When done, stir in a cup of milk, mixed
-with two well-beaten eggs, first mixing slowly some of the hot liquor with
-the milk and eggs.</p>
-
-<p>Some fry the pork first, thus increasing the flavor, and others leave it out.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To Boil a Leg or Shoulder of Veal, or Mutton, or Lamb.</b>—Mutton should
-be cooked more rare than any other meat. Make a stuffing of chopped
-bread, seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with one or two eggs.
-Make deep gashes in the meat, (or, better, take out the bone;) fill the openings
-with stuffing and sew them up. Wrap it tight in a cloth, and put it so
-as to be covered with water, salted at the rate of a tea-spoonful to each quart.
-Let it simmer slowly about two or three hours. Skim thoroughly just before
-it comes to boiling heat. If needful, add <em>boiling</em> water. Save the water for
-broth for next day. If you pour cold water on the cloth before removing it,
-and let it stand two minutes, it improves the looks.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Calf’s Feet.</b>—Wash and scrape till very clean. Boil three hours in four
-quarts of water salted with four even tea-spoonfuls of salt. Take out the
-bones, and put the rest into a saucepan, with three table-spoonfuls of butter,
-two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, a great-spoonful of sugar, and a salt-spoonful
-of pepper. Add three tea-cups of the liquor in which the feet were boiled;
-dredge in some flour, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Garnish with sliced
-lemon. (Save the liquor to make calf’s-foot jelly.)</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Calf’s Liver and Sweet-breads.</b>—These are best split open, boiled, and then
-dressed with pepper, salt, and butter.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To cook Kidneys.</b>—Wash them clean, and split them. Heat them half an
-hour in a saucepan, without water. Then wash them again, and cover them
-with a pint of water, having in it a tea-spoonful of salt and a salt-spoonful of
-pepper. Boil one hour, and then take off the skin. Cut them in mouthfuls;
-add two great-spoonfuls of butter, more salt and hot water, if needed, and let
-them simmer fifteen minutes.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Pillau, a Favorite Dish in the South.</b>—Fricassee a chicken with slices
-of salt pork, or with sweet butter or sweet cream. Put the chicken, when
-cooked, in a bake-dish, and cover it with boiled rice, seasoned with salt,
-pepper, and one dozen allspice. Pile the rice, pour on some melted butter,
-smooth it, and cover with yelk of an egg. Bake half an hour.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To boil Smoked Tongues.</b>—Soak in cold water only two hours, as long
-soaking lessens sweetness. Wash them, and boil four or five hours, according
-to the size. When done, take off the skin and garnish with parsley.
-A table-spoonful of sugar for each tongue, put in the water, improves them.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To boil Corned Beef.</b>—Do not soak it, but wash it, and put it in <em>hot</em> water,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span>
-to keep in the juices; allow a pint for each pound. Skim just before it begins
-to boil. Let it simmer slowly, and allow twenty-five minutes for every pound.
-Keep it covered with water, adding boiling hot water, if needed. It is much
-improved for eating cold by pressing it with a board and heavy stone. It is
-an excellent piece of economy to save the water to use for soup.</p>
-
-<p>Some think it an improvement to put on a little sugar, and pour a little
-vinegar on before boiling. Some like to boil turnips, potatoes, and cabbage
-with it. In that case, they must be peeled, and the potatoes soaked two
-hours.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To boil Partridges or Pigeons.</b>—Cleanse and rinse the insides with soda-water,
-and then with pure water. Wrap them in a damp floured cloth; put
-them into boiling water which is salted at the rate of a heaping tea-spoonful
-to a quart; also, two tea-spoonfuls of sugar and a salt-spoonful of pepper.
-Simmer them twenty minutes to half an hour. When done, make a sauce of
-butter rubbed into flour and half a cup of milk; put the birds into a dish and
-pour on this sauce. Some would add cut parsley, or other flavors.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To boil Ducks.</b>—Let them lie in hot water two hours. Then wrap in a
-cloth dredged with flour; put them in cold water, salted at the rate of half
-a tea-spoonful for each pint. Add a tea-spoonful of sugar for each pint. Let
-them simmer half an hour; then take them up, and pour over them a sauce
-made of melted butter rubbed into flour, and seasoned with lemon-juice, salt,
-and pepper, and thinned with gravy or hot water.</p>
-
-<p>Wild ducks must be soaked in salt and water the night previous, to remove
-the fishy taste, and then in the morning put in fresh water, which should be
-changed once or twice.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To boil a Turkey.</b>—Make a stuffing for the craw of chopped bread and butter,
-cream, oysters, and the yelks of eggs. Sew it in, and dredge flour over
-the turkey, and put it in hot water to boil, with a spoonful of salt in it, and
-enough water to cover it well. Let it simmer for two hours and a half, or,
-if small, less time. Skim it while boiling. It will look nicer if wrapped in
-a cloth dredged with flour while cooking.</p>
-
-<p>Serve it with drawn butter, in which are put some oysters.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VII.<br />
-
-<small>ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The beef of an ox is best, and the next best is that of a
-heifer. The best pieces for roasting are the second cut of
-the sirloin, the second cut of the ribs, and the back part of
-the rump.</p>
-
-<p>The art of roasting well consists in turning the meat often,
-to prevent burning, and basting often, to make it juicy.</p>
-
-<p>Never dredge flour into gravies, as it makes lumps. Strain
-all gravies.</p>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Brown Flour for Meat Gravies.</b>—This is used to thicken meat gravies, to
-give a good color. It is prepared by putting flour on a tin plate in a hot oven,
-stirring it often until well browned; it must be kept, corked, in a jar, and
-shaken occasionally.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Roast Beef.</b>—A piece of beef weighing ten pounds requires about two hours
-to roast in a tin oven before a fire. Allow ten minutes for each pound over
-or under this weight. Have the spit and oven clean and bright. They should
-have been washed before they grew cold from the last roasting.</p>
-
-<p>Put the meat on the spit so that it will be evenly balanced; set the bony
-side toward the fire; let it roast slowly at first, turning it often; and when all
-sides are partly cooked, move it nearer the fire. If allowed to scorch at first,
-it will not cook in the middle without burning the outside.</p>
-
-<p>Baste often with the drippings and with salted water, (about half a pint of
-water with half a tea-spoonful of salt,) which has been put in the oven bottom.
-Just before taking up, dredge on some flour, mixed with a little salt; then
-baste and set it near the fire, turning it so as to brown it all over alike. Half
-an hour before it is done, pour off the gravy, season it with salt and pepper,
-and thicken with corn or potato-starch, or flour.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>To roast in a Cook Stove.</b>—Put the meat in an iron pan, with three or four
-gills of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Turn it occasionally, that it may
-cook evenly, and baste often. When done, dredge on some salted flour,
-baste again, and set it back till browned.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Roast Pork.</b>—Cover a spare-rib with greased paper, till half done; then
-dredge with flour, and baste with the gravy. Just before taking it up, cover
-the surface with cracker or bread-crumbs, wet up with pepper, salt, and pow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span>dered
-sage; let it cook ten minutes longer, and then baste again. Skim the
-gravy, thicken it with brown flour, season with a little powdered sage and
-lemon-juice, or vinegar; strain it, and pour over the meat. Pork must be
-cooked slowly and very thoroughly, and served with apple-sauce. Tomato
-catsup improves the gravy.</p>
-
-<p><b>Roast Mutton.</b>—The leg of mutton may be boiled. The shoulder and loin
-should always be roasted.</p>
-
-<p>Put the meat in the oven or roaster, and then pour boiling hot water over
-it, to keep in the juices. Baste often with salt and water at first and then
-with the gravy. With a hot fire, allow ten minutes for each pound. If
-there is danger of burning, cover the outside with oiled white paper. Skim
-the gravy; strain it and thicken with brown flour. Serve with acid jelly.
-Lamb requires less time in roasting; but mutton should be rare. Make a
-brown gravy, and serve with currant jelly.</p>
-
-<p><b>Roast Veal.</b>—Follow the above directions for roasting mutton, except to
-allow more time, as veal should be cooked more than mutton. Allow twenty
-minutes to each pound, and baste often. Too much roasting and little basting
-spoils veal. To be served with apple-sauce. It much improves roast
-veal to cut slits in it, and insert bits of salt pork.</p>
-
-<p><b>Roast Poultry.</b>—No fowl should be bought when the entrails are not drawn;
-and the insides should always be washed with soda-water—a tea-spoonful of
-soda to a pint of water. Rinse out with fair water. Stuff with seasoned
-bread-crumbs, wet up with eggs. Sew and tie the stuffing in thoroughly.
-Allow about ten minutes’ cooking for each pound, more or less, according to
-the fire and size of the fowl.</p>
-
-<p>Put a grate in the bake-pan, with a tea-cup of salted water. Dredge the
-fowl with flour at first, and baste often. Strain the gravy, and add the giblets,
-chopped fine. Many dislike the liver, and so leave it out. If fowls are
-bought with the intestines in, or if they have been kept too long, the use of
-soda-water, and then rinsing with pure water, will often prevent the tainted
-taste; so it is well to do this, except when it is certain that the fowl is just
-killed. Put a tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pot-Pie, of Beef, Veal, or Chicken.</b>—The best way to make the crust is as
-follows: Peel, boil, and mash a dozen potatoes; add a tea-spoonful of salt,
-two table-spoonfuls of butter, and half a cup of milk, or cream. Then stiffen
-it with flour, till you can roll it. Be sure to get all the lumps out of the potatoes.
-Some persons leave out the butter.</p>
-
-<p>Some roll butter into the dough of bread; others make a raised biscuit,
-with but little shortening; others make a plain soda pie-crust. But none
-are so good and healthful as the potato crust; so choose what is best for all.</p>
-
-<p>To prepare the meat, first fry half a dozen slices of salt pork, and then cut
-up the meat and pork, and boil them in just water enough to cover them, till
-the meat is nearly cooked. Then peel a dozen potatoes, and slice them thin.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span>
-Roll the crust half an inch thick, and cut it into oblong pieces. Then put
-alternate layers of crust, potatoes, and meat, till all is used. The top and
-bottom layer must be crust. Divide the pork so as to have some in each
-layer.</p>
-
-<p>Lastly, pour on the liquor in which the meat was boiled, until it just covers
-the whole, and let it simmer till the top crust is well cooked—say half or three
-quarters of an hour. Season the liquor with salt, at the rate of a tea-spoonful
-for each quart, and one sixth as much pepper. If you have occasion to
-add more liquor, or water, it must be <em>boiling hot</em>, or the crust will be spoiled.</p>
-
-<p>The excellence of this pie depends on having light crust, and therefore the
-meat must first be <em>nearly cooked</em> before putting it in the pie; and the crust
-must be in only just long enough to cook, or it will be clammy and hard.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mutton and Beef Pie.</b>—Line a dish with a crust made of potatoes, as directed
-in the Chicken Pot-Pie. Broil the meat ten minutes, after pounding
-it till the fibres are broken. Cut the meat thin, and put it in layers, with thin
-slices of broiled salt pork; season with butter, the size of a hens egg, salt,
-pepper, (and either wine or catsup, if liked;) put in water till it nearly covers
-the meat, and dredge in considerable flour; cover it with the paste, and bake
-it an hour and a half, if quite thick. Cold meats are good cooked over in
-this way. Cut a slit in the centre of the cover.</p>
-
-<p><b>Chicken-Pie.</b>—Joint and boil two chickens in salted water, just enough to
-cover them, and simmer slowly for half an hour. Line a dish with potato
-crust, as directed in the recipe for pot-pie; then, when cold, put the chicken
-in layers, with thin slices of broiled pork, butter, the size of a goose egg, cut
-in small pieces. Put in enough of liquor, in which the meat was boiled, to
-reach the surface; salt and pepper each layer; dredge in a little flour, and
-cover all with a light, thick crust. Ornament the top with the crust, and
-bake about one hour in a hot oven. Make a small slit in the centre of the
-crust. If it begins to scorch, lay a paper over a short time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rice Chicken-Pie.</b>—Line a pudding-dish with slices of broiled ham; cut up
-a boiled chicken, and nearly fill the dish, filling in with gravy or melted butter;
-add minced onions, if you like, or a little curry powder.</p>
-
-<p>Then pile boiled rice to fill all interstices, and cover the top quite thick.
-Bake it for half or three quarters of an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Potato-Pie.</b>—Take mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, butter, and milk,
-and line a baking-dish. Lay upon it slices of cold meats of any kind, with
-salt, pepper, catsup, and butter or gravy. Put on another layer of potatoes,
-and then another of cold meat, as before. Lastly, on the top put a cover of
-potatoes.</p>
-
-<p>Bake it till it is thoroughly warmed through, and serve it in the dish in
-which it is baked, setting it in or upon another.</p>
-
-<p><b>Calf’s Head.</b>—Take out the brains and boil the head, feet, and lights in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span>
-salted water, just enough to cover them, about two hours. When they have
-boiled nearly an hour and a half, tie the brains in a cloth and put them in
-to boil with the rest. They should be skinned, and soaked half an hour in
-cold water. When the two hours have expired, take up the whole, mash
-the brains fine, and season them with bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, and a glass
-of port or claret, and use them for sauce. Let the liquor remain for a soup
-the next day. It serves more handsomely to remove all the bones. Serve
-with a gravy of drawn butter.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
-
-<small>BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Mutton or Lamb Chops.</b>—Cut off the skinny part, which only turns
-black and can not be eaten. Put a little pepper and salt on each one, and
-broil by a quick fire. Mutton chops should be rare.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Beefsteak.</b>—Have the steak cut three quarters of an inch to an
-inch in thickness. The sirloin and porter-house are the best. The art of
-cooking steak will depend on a good fire and turning often after it begins to
-drip. When done, lay it on a hot platter, season with butter, pepper, and
-salt; cover with another hot platter, and send to the table. Use beef-tongs,
-as pricking lets out the juices. <b>Slow</b> cooking and <b>much</b> cooking spoils a steak.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Fresh Pork.</b>—Cut in thin slices, broil quickly and very thoroughly;
-then season with salt, pepper, and powdered sage.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Ham.</b>—Cut in <em>thin</em> slices, and soak fifteen minutes in hot water.
-Pour off this and soak again as long. Wipe dry and broil over a quick fire,
-and then pepper it. Ham that is already cooked rare is best for broiling.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Sweet-breads.</b>—The best way to cook sweet-breads is to broil them
-thus: Parboil them, and then put them on a clean gridiron for broiling.
-When delicately browned, take them off and roll in melted butter on a plate,
-to prevent their being dry and hard. Some cook them on a griddle well
-buttered, turning frequently; and some put narrow strips of fat salt pork on
-them while cooking.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Veal.</b>—Cut it thin, and put thin slices of salt pork on the top after
-it is laid on the gridiron, and broil both together. When turning, put the
-pork again on the top. When the veal is thoroughly cooked, brown the pork
-a little by itself, while the veal stands on a hot dish.</p>
-
-<p><b>A good Pork Relish.</b>—Broil thin slices of fresh pork, first pouring on boiling
-water to lessen saltness. Cut them in small mouthfuls, and add butter,
-pepper, and salt.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.</h4>
-
-<p>The most slovenly and unhealthful mode of cooking is frying,
-as it usually is done. If the fat is very hot, and the
-articles are put in and taken out exactly at the right time, it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>
-is well enough. But fried fat is hard to digest, and most
-fried food is soaked with it, so that only a strong stomach
-can digest it. Almost every thing that is fried might be
-better cooked on a griddle slightly oiled. A griddle should
-always be oiled only just enough to keep from sticking. It
-is best to fry in lard not salted, and this is better than butter.
-Mutton and beef suet are good for frying. When the
-lard seems hot, try it by throwing in a bit of bread. When
-taking up fried articles, drain off the fat on a wire sieve.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>A nice Way of Cooking Calf’s or Pig’s Liver.</b>—Cut in slices half an inch
-thick, pour on boiling water, and then pour if off <em>entirely</em>; then let the liver
-brown in its own juices, turning it till it looks brown on both sides. Take it
-up, and pour into the frying-pan enough cold water to make as much gravy
-as you wish; then sliver in a <em>very</em> little onion; add a little salt and nutmeg,
-and a bit of butter to season it; let it boil up once, then put back the liver
-for a minute longer.</p>
-
-<p><b>Beef Liver.</b>—Cut it in slices half an inch thick, pour boiling water on it,
-broil it with thin slices of pork dipped in flour, cut it in mouthfuls, and heat
-it with butter, pepper, and salt for three or four minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Egg Omelet.</b>—Beat the yolks of six eggs, and add a cup of milk, half a tea-spoonful
-of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour into hot fat, and cook till just
-stiffened. Turn it on to a platter brown side uppermost. Some add minced
-cooked ham, or cold meat chopped and salted. Others put in chopped cauliflower
-or asparagus cooked and cold.</p>
-
-<p><b>Frizzled Beef.</b>—Sliver smoked beef, pour on boiling water to freshen it,
-then pour off the water, and frizzle the beef in butter.</p>
-
-<p><b>Veal Cheese.</b>—Prepare equal quantities of sliced boiled veal and boiled
-smoked tongue, or ham sliced. Pound each separately in a mortar, moistening
-with butter as you proceed. Then take a stone jar, or tin can, and mix
-them in it, so that it will, when cut, look mottled and variegated. Press it
-hard, and pour on melted butter. Keep it covered in a dry place. To be
-used at tea in slices.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Codfish Relish.</b>—Take thin slivers of codfish, lay them on hot coals, and
-when done to a yellowish brown, set them on the table.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Way.</b>—Sliver the codfish fine, pour on boiling water, drain it off,
-and add butter and a very little pepper, and heat them three or four minutes,
-but do not let them fry.</p>
-
-<p><b>Salt Herrings.</b>—Heat them on a gridiron, remove the skin, and then set
-them on the table.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER IX.<br />
-
-<small>PICKLES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Do not keep pickles in common earthenware, as the glazing
-contains lead, and combines with the vinegar.</p>
-
-<p>Vinegar for pickling should be sharp, but not the sharpest
-kind, as it injures the pickles. Wine or cider vinegar is reliable.
-Much manufactured vinegar is sold that ruins pickles
-and is unhealthful. If you use copper, bell-metal, or brass
-vessels for pickling, never allow the vinegar to cool in them,
-as it then is poisonous. Add a table-spoonful of alum and
-a tea-cup of salt to each three gallons of vinegar, and tie up a
-bag with pepper, ginger-root, and spices of all sorts in it, and
-you have vinegar prepared for any kind of common pickling,
-and in many cases all that is needed is to throw the fruit in
-and keep it in till wanted.</p>
-
-<p>Keep pickles only in wood or stone ware.</p>
-
-<p>Any thing that has held grease will spoil pickles.</p>
-
-<p>Stir pickles occasionally, and if there are soft ones, take
-them out, scald the vinegar, and pour it hot over the pickles.
-Keep enough vinegar to cover them well. If it is weak, take
-fresh vinegar, and pour on hot. Do not boil vinegar or spice
-over five minutes.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Sweet Pickles</b>, (a great favorite.)—One pound of sugar, one quart of vinegar,
-two pounds of fruit. Boil fifteen minutes, skim well, put in the fruit and
-let it boil till half cooked. For peaches, flavor with cinnamon and mace;
-for plums and all dark fruit, use allspice and cloves.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Tomatoes.</b>—As you gather them, leave an inch or more of stem;
-throw them into cold vinegar. When you have enough, take them out, and
-scald some spices, tied in a bag, in good vinegar; add a little sugar, and
-pour it hot over them.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Peaches.</b>—Take ripe but hard peaches, wipe off the down, stick
-a few cloves into them, and lay them in <em>cold</em> spiced vinegar. In three
-months they will be sufficiently pickled, and also retain much of their natural
-flavor.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span></p>
-<p><b>To pickle Peppers.</b>—Take green peppers, take the seeds out carefully so
-as not to mangle them, soak them nine days in salt and water, changing it
-every day, and keep them in a warm place. Stuff them with chopped cabbage,
-seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, and mace; put them in cold spiced
-vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Nasturtions.</b>—Soak them three days in salt and water as you
-collect them, changing it once in three days; and when you have enough,
-pour off the brine, and pour on scalding hot vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Onions.</b>—Peel, and boil in milk and water ten minutes, drain off
-the milk and water, and pour scalding spiced vinegar on to them.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Gherkins.</b>—Keep them in strong brine till they are yellow, then
-take them out and turn on hot spiced vinegar, and keep them in it, in a
-warm place, till they turn green. Then turn off the vinegar, and add a fresh
-supply of hot spiced vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Mushrooms.</b>—Stew them in salted water, just enough to keep
-them from sticking. When tender, pour off the water, and pour on hot
-spiced vinegar. Then cork them tight, if you wish to keep them long.
-Poison ones will turn black if an onion is stewed with them, and then all
-must be thrown away.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Cucumbers.</b>—Wash the cucumbers in cold water, being careful
-not to bruise or break them. Make a brine of rock or blown salt (rock is
-the best), strong enough to bear up an egg or potato, and of sufficient quantity
-to cover the cucumbers.</p>
-
-<p>Put them into an oaken tub, or stone-ware jar, and pour the brine over
-them. In twenty-four hours, they should be stirred up from the bottom
-with the hand. The third day pour off the brine, scald it, and pour it over
-the cucumbers. Let them stand in the brine nine days, scalding it every
-third day, as described above. Then take the cucumbers into a tub, rinse
-them in cold water, and if they are too salt, let them stand in it a few hours.
-Drain them from the water, put them back into the tub or jar, which must
-be washed clean from the brine. Scald vinegar sufficient to cover them,
-and pour it upon them. Cover them tight, and in a week they will be ready
-for use. If spice is wanted, it may be tied in a linen cloth and put into the
-jar with the pickles, or scalded with the vinegar, and the bag thrown into
-the pickle-jar. If a white scum rises, take it off and scald the vinegar, and
-pour it back. A small lump of alum added to the vinegar improves the
-hardness of the cucumbers.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pickled Walnuts.</b>—Take a hundred nuts, an ounce of cloves, an ounce of
-allspice, an ounce of nutmeg, an ounce of whole pepper, an ounce of race
-ginger, an ounce of horse-radish, half pint of mustard-seed, and four cloves
-of garlic, tied in a bag.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span></p>
-<p>Wipe the nuts, prick with a pin, and put them in a pot, sprinkling the spice
-as you lay them in; then add two table-spoonfuls of salt; boil sufficient vinegar
-to fill the pot, and pour it over the nuts and spice. Cover the jar close,
-and keep it for a year, when the pickles will be ready for use.</p>
-
-<p>Butternuts may be made in the same manner, if they are taken when
-green, and soft enough to be stuck through with the head of a pin. Put
-them for a week or two in weak brine, changing it occasionally. Before
-putting in the brine, rub them about with a broom in brine, to cleanse the
-skins. Then proceed as for the walnuts.</p>
-
-<p>The vinegar makes an excellent catsup.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mangoes.</b>—Take the latest growth of young musk-melons, cut out a small
-piece from one side and empty them. Scrape the outside smooth, and soak
-them four days in strong salt and water. If you wish to green them, put
-vine leaves over and under, with bits of alum, and steam them awhile. Then
-powder cloves, pepper, and nutmeg in equal portions, and sprinkle on the inside,
-and fill them with strips of horse-radish, small bits of calamus, bits of
-cinnamon and mace, a clove or two, a very small onion, nasturtions, and
-then American mustard-seed to fill the crevices. Put back the piece cut
-out, and sew it on, and then sew the mango in cotton cloth. Lay all in a
-stone jar, the cut side upward.</p>
-
-<p>Boil sharp vinegar a few minutes with half a tea-cup of salt, and a table-spoonful
-of alum to three gallons of vinegar, and turn it on to the melons.
-Keep dried barberries for garnishes, and when you use them, turn a little of
-the above vinegar of the mangoes heated boiling hot on to them, and let
-them swell a few hours. Sliced and salted cabbage with this vinegar poured
-on hot is very good.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fine pickled Cabbage.</b>—Shred red and white cabbage, spread it in layers
-in a stone jar, with salt over each layer. Put two spoonfuls of whole black
-pepper, and the same quantity of allspice, cloves, and cinnamon, in a bag,
-and scald them in two quarts of vinegar, and pour the vinegar over the cabbage,
-and cover it tight. Use it in two days after.</p>
-
-<p><b>An excellent Way of preparing Tomatoes to eat with Meat.</b>—Peel and
-slice ripe tomatoes, sprinkling on a little salt as you proceed. Drain off the
-juice, and pour on hot spiced vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Martinoes.</b>—Gather them when you can run a pin-head into
-them, and after wiping them, keep them ten days in weak brine, changing it
-every other day. Then wipe them, and pour over boiling spiced vinegar.
-In four weeks they will be ready for use. It is a fine pickle.</p>
-
-<p><b>A convenient Way to pickle Cucumbers.</b>—Put some spiced vinegar in a
-jar, with a little salt in it. Every time you gather a mess, pour boiling vinegar
-on them, with a little alum in it. Then put them in the spiced vinegar.
-Keep the same vinegar for scalding all. When you have enough, take all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span>
-from the spiced vinegar, and scald in the alum vinegar two or three minutes,
-till green, and then put them back in the spiced vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>Indiana Pickles.</b>—Take green tomatoes, and slice them. Put them in a
-basket to drain in layers, with salt scattered over them, say a tea-cupful to
-each gallon. Next day, slice one quarter the quantity of onions, and lay the
-onions and tomatoes in alternate layers in a jar, with spice intervening.
-Then fill the jar with cold vinegar. Tomatoes picked as they ripen, and just
-thrown into cold spiced vinegar, are a fine pickle, and made with very little
-trouble.</p>
-
-<p><b>To pickle Cauliflower, or Broccoli.</b>—Keep them twenty-four hours in strong
-brine, and then take them out and heat the brine, and pour it on scalding hot,
-and let them stand till next day. Drain them, and throw them into spiced
-vinegar.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER X.<br />
-
-<small>SAUCES AND SALADS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Success in preparing savory meats and salads depends
-greatly on the different sauces, and these demand extra care
-in preparation and in flavoring. The following is a sauce
-that is a great favorite, and serves for some meats, for fish,
-for macaroni, and for some salads:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Milk and Egg Sauce</b>, (excellent.)—Take eight table-spoonfuls of butter and
-mix it with a table-spoonful of flour, add a pint of milk and heat it, stirring
-constantly till it thickens a little. Then beat the yelk of an egg in a table-spoonful
-of water and mix it well with the sauce, taking care that it does not
-boil, but only be very hot. For fish, add to the above a table-spoonful of
-vinegar or lemon-juice and a little of the peel grated. Some add parsley
-chopped; and for boiled fowls, add chopped oysters. Fine bread-crumbs are
-better than flour for thickening. For macaroni, make in the dish alternate
-layers with that and grated cheese, and then pour on this sauce before baking,
-and it is very fine. Some omit the cheese.</p>
-
-<p><b>Drawn Butter.</b>—Take six table-spoonfuls of butter, half a tea-spoonful of
-salt, two tea-spoonfuls of flour or of fine bread-crumbs worked into the butter,
-and one tea-cup of hot water. Heat very hot, but do not let it boil. Two
-hard-boiled and chopped eggs improve it much. For fish, add a table-spoonful
-of vinegar and chopped capers or green nasturtion seeds.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mint Sauce for Roast Lamb.</b>—Chop three table-spoonfuls of green mint,
-and add a heaping table-spoonful of sugar and half a coffee-cup of vinegar.
-Stir them while heating, and cool before using.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cranberry Sauce.</b>—Wash well and put a tea-cup of water to every quart
-of cranberries. Let them stew about an hour and a half, then take up and
-sweeten abundantly. Some strain them through a colander, then sweeten
-largely and then put into moulds. To be eaten with fowls.</p>
-
-<p><b>Apple Sauce.</b>—Core and slice the best apples you can get, cook till soft,
-then add sugar and a little butter. Serve it with fresh pork and veal.</p>
-
-<p><b>Walnut or Butternut Catsup.</b>—Gather the nuts when they can be pierced
-with a pin. Beat them to a soft pulp and let them lie for two weeks in quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span>
-salt water, say a small handful of salt to every twenty, and water enough to
-cover them. Drain off this liquor, and pour on a pint of boiling vinegar and
-mix with the nuts, and then strain it out. To each quart of this liquor put
-three table-spoonfuls of pepper, one of ginger, two spoonfuls of powdered
-cloves, and three spoonfuls of grated nutmeg. Boil an hour, and bottle when
-cold. See that the spice is equally mixed. Do not use mushroom catsup, as
-the above is as good and not so dangerous.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mock Capers.</b>—Dry the green but full-grown nasturtion seeds for a day in
-the sun, then put them in jars and pour on spiced vinegar. These are good
-for fish sauce, in drawn butter.</p>
-
-<p><b>Salad Dressing.</b>—Mash fine two boiled potatoes, and add a tea-spoonful
-of mustard, two of salt, four of sweet-oil, three of sharp vinegar, and the yelks
-of two well-boiled eggs rubbed fine. Mix first the egg and potatoes, add the
-mustard and salt, and gradually mix in the oil, stirring vigorously the while.
-Stir in the vinegar last. Melted butter may be used in place of sweet-oil.
-The more a salad dressing is stirred, the better it will be.</p>
-
-<p><b>Turkey or Chicken Salad, also a Lettuce Salad.</b>—Take one quarter chopped
-meat (the white meat of the fowl is the best for this purpose) and three quarters
-chopped celery, well mixed, and pour over it a sauce containing the yelks
-of two hard-boiled eggs chopped, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful
-of black pepper, half a tea-spoonful of mustard, three tea-spoonfuls of sugar,
-half a tea-cupful of vinegar, and three tea-spoonfuls of sweet-oil or of melted
-butter. Mix the salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard thoroughly, whip a raw
-egg and add slowly, stir in the sweet-oil or melted butter, mixing it well and
-very slowly, and lastly add the vinegar. Garnish with rings of whites of eggs
-boiled hard. Chopped pickles may be added, and white cabbage in place of
-the celery.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tomato Catsup.</b>—Boil a peck of tomatoes, strain through a colander, and
-then add four great-spoonfuls of salt, one of pounded mace, half a table-spoonful
-of black pepper, a table-spoonful of powdered cloves, two table-spoonfuls
-of ground mustard, and a table-spoonful of celery seed tied in a muslin rag.
-Mix all and boil five or six hours, stirring frequently and constantly the last
-hour. Let it cool in a stone jar, take out the celery seed, add a pint of vinegar,
-bottle it, and keep it in a dark, cool place.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XI.<br />
-
-<small>FISH.</small></h3>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Stewed Oysters.</b>—Strain off all the oyster liquor, and then add half as
-much water as you have oysters. Some of the best housekeepers say this is
-better than using the liquor. Add a salt-spoonful of salt for each pint of
-oysters, and half as much pepper; and when they begin to simmer, add half
-a small tea-cup of milk for each pint of oysters. When the edges begin to
-“ruffle,” add some butter, and do not let them stand, but serve immediately.
-Oysters should not simmer more than five minutes in the whole. When
-cooked too long, they become hard, dark, and tasteless.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fried Oysters.</b>—Lay them on a cloth to absorb the liquor; then dip first
-in beaten egg, and afterward in powdered cracker, and fry in hot lard or butter
-to a light brown. If fresh lard is used, put in a little salt. Cook quickly
-in very hot fat, or they will absorb too much grease.</p>
-
-<p><b>Oyster Fritters.</b>—Drain off the liquor, and to each pint of oysters take a
-pint of milk, a salt-spoonful of salt, half as much pepper, and flour enough
-for a thin batter. Chop the oysters and stir in, and then fry in hot lard, a
-little salted, or in butter. Drop in one spoonful at a time. Some make the
-batter thicker, so as to put in one oyster at a time surrounded by the batter.</p>
-
-<p><b>Scalloped Oysters.</b>—Make alternate layers of oysters and crushed crackers
-wet with oyster liquor, and milk warmed. Sprinkle each layer with salt and
-pepper, (some add a <em>very</em> little nutmeg or cloves;) let the top and bottom
-layer be crackers. Put bits of butter on the top, pour on some milk with a
-beaten egg in it, and bake half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Oysters.</b>—Dip in fine cracker crumbs, broil very quick, and put a
-small bit of butter on each when ready to serve.</p>
-
-<p><b>Oyster Omelet</b>, (very fine.)—Take twelve large oysters chopped fine. Mix
-the beaten yelks of six eggs into a tea-cupful of milk, and add the oysters.
-Then put in a spoonful of melted butter, and lastly add the whites of the eggs
-beaten to a stiff froth. Fry this in hot butter or salted lard, and do not stir
-it while cooking. Slip a knife around the edges while cooking, that the centre
-may cook equally, and turn it out so that the brown side be uppermost.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pickled Oysters.</b>—Take for fifty large oysters half a pint of vinegar, six
-blades of mace, twelve black pepper-corns, and twelve whole cloves. Heat
-the oysters with the liquor, but not to boil; take out the oysters, and then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span>
-put the vinegar and spices into the liquor, boil it, and when the oysters are
-nearly cold, pour on the mixture scalding hot. Next day cork the oysters
-tight in glass jars, and keep them in a dark and cool place. Vinegar is
-sometimes made of sulphuric or pyroligneous acid, and this destroys the
-pickles. Use cider or wine vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>Roast Oysters.</b>—Put oysters in the shell, after washing them, upon the
-coals so that the flat side is uppermost, to save the liquor; and take them up
-when they begin to gape a little.</p>
-
-<p><b>Scallops.</b>—Dip them in beaten egg and cracker crumbs, and fry or stew
-them like oysters.</p>
-
-<p><b>Clams.</b>—Wash them and roast them; or stew or fry them like oysters; or
-make omelets or fritters by the recipe for oysters.</p>
-
-<p><b>Clam Chowder.</b>—Make alternate layers of crackers wet in milk, and clams
-with their liquor, and thin slices of fried salt pork. Season with black pepper
-and salt. Boil three quarters of an hour. Put this into a tureen, having
-drained off some liquor which is to be thickened with flour or pounded
-crackers, seasoned with catsup and wine, and then poured into the tureen.
-Serve with pickles.</p>
-
-<p><b>Boiled Fish.</b>—Wrap in a cloth wet with vinegar, floured inside. Boil in
-cold salted water till the bones will slip out easily; drain and serve with egg
-sauce, or drawn butter, or a sauce of milk, butter, and egg. Try boiling fish
-with a fork, and if that goes in easily, it probably is done.</p>
-
-<p><b>Broiled Fish.</b>—Split so that the backbone is in the middle; sprinkle with
-salt; lay the inside down at first till it begins to brown, then turn and broil
-the other side. Dress with butter, pepper, and salt. It is best to take out
-the backbone.</p>
-
-<p><b>Baked Fish.</b>—Wash and wipe, and rub with salt and pepper outside and
-inside. Set it on a grate over a baking-pan, and baste with butter and the
-drippings; if it browns too fast, cover with white paper. Thicken the gravy,
-and season to the taste, using lemon-juice or tomato catsup. Some put in
-wine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pickle for cold Fish.</b>—To two quarts of vinegar add a pint of the liquor in
-which the fish was boiled, a dozen black pepper-corns, a dozen cloves, three
-sticks of cinnamon, and a tea-spoonful of mustard. Let them boil up, and
-then skim so as not to take out the spice.</p>
-
-<p>Cut the fish into inch squares, and when the liquor boils, put them into it
-till just heated through. Pack tight in a glass jar, and then pour on the
-pickle; cook it till air-tight. This will keep a long time. It is a great convenience
-for a supper relish.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XII.<br />
-
-<small>VEGETABLES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Fresh-gathered vegetables are much the best. Soaking
-in cold water improves all. Always boil in <em>salted</em> water,
-a tea-spoonful for each quart of water. Do not let them
-stop boiling, or they will thus become watery.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center">POTATOES.</p>
-
-<p>The excellence of potatoes depends greatly on the <em>species</em>
-and on the <em>age</em>. Much also depends on the cooking, and
-here there are diversities of modes and opinions. Peeling
-potatoes before cooking saves labor at the time of taking up
-dinner, which is a matter of consequence. They should, after
-peeling, soak an hour in cold water; then boil them in
-salted water, putting them in when the water boils. Have
-them equal in size, that all may be done alike. Try with a
-fork, and when tender drain off the water, sprinkle on a little
-fine salt, and set them in the oven, or keep them hot in
-the pot till wanted.</p>
-
-<p>Some boil with skins on; in this case, pare off a small ring,
-or cut off a little at each end for the water within to escape,
-as this makes them more mealy.</p>
-
-<p>Some make a wire basket and put in the potatoes peeled
-and of equal size; and when done, take them up and set in
-the oven a short time. This is the surest and easiest method.</p>
-
-<p>Old potatoes should be boiled in salted water, then mashed
-with salt, pepper, and cream or butter.</p>
-
-<p>New potatoes boil in salted water, and rub off the tender
-skins with a coarse towel.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>A good Way for old Potatoes.</b>—Peel and soak in cold water half an hour,
-then slice them into salted water that is boiling; when soft, pour off the water,
-add cream, or milk and butter, with salt and pepper, also dredge in a very
-little flour.</p>
-
-<p>Another way is to chop the cold boiled potatoes, and then mix in milk,
-butter, salt, and pepper.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span></p>
-<p>Some cold potatoes are nice cooked on a gridiron. A favorite relish for
-supper is cold potatoes sliced and dressed with a salad dressing of boiled eggs,
-salt, mustard, oil, and vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cold Potato Puffs.</b>—Take cold mashed or chopped potatoes and stir in milk
-and melted butter. Beat two eggs and mix, and then bake till browned. It
-is very nice, and the children love it as well as their elders. This may be
-baked in patties for a pretty variety.</p>
-
-<p><b>To cook Sweet Potatoes.</b>—The best way is to parboil with the skins on,
-and then bake in a stove oven.</p>
-
-<p><b>Green Corn.</b>—Husk it; boil in salted water, and eat from the cob; or cut
-off the corn and season it with butter or cream and salt and pepper. If green
-corn is to be roasted, open it and take off the silk, and then cook it with husks
-on, buried in hot ashes; or if before the fire, turn it often.</p>
-
-<p><b>Succotash.</b>—Boil white beans by themselves. Cut the corn from the cob
-and let the cobs boil ten minutes, then take them out and put in the corn.
-Have only just water enough to cover the corn when cut. If there is more
-than a tea-cupful when the corn is boiled about half an hour, lessen it to that
-quantity, and add as much milk, and let the boiling continue till, on trial, the
-corn is soft, and then stir in a table-spoonful of flour wet in cold water.
-Then let it boil three or four minutes, take up the corn, and add the beans,
-with butter, pepper, and salt. Have twice as much corn as beans. Some
-use string-beans cut up.</p>
-
-<p>If you have boiled corn left on the cob, cut it off for breakfast, and add
-milk and eggs, salt and pepper, and bake it. Some say this is the best way
-of all to cook sweet corn.</p>
-
-<p><b>Salsify, or Oyster Plant.</b>—Scrape, cut into inch pieces, and throw into cold
-water awhile; put into salted boiling water, just enough to cover them, and
-when tender turn off the water and add milk, butter, salt, and pepper, and
-thicken with a very little flour; then serve. Or, mash fine, and add a beaten
-egg and a little flour; make round, flat cakes, and cook on a griddle.</p>
-
-<p><b>Egg Plant.</b>—Cut into slices an inch thick and peel. Lay these in salted
-water an hour; then dip into egg, and rub in bread or cracker-crumbs, and
-cook on a griddle.</p>
-
-<p><b>Carrots.</b>—Boil in salted water till tender, take off the skin, slice and butter
-them. They are improved by cooking in broth. Some add chopped onion
-and parsley.</p>
-
-<p><b>Beets.</b>—Wash, but do not cut them before boiling; boil till tender, take
-off the skin, slice and season with salt, pepper, vinegar, and melted butter.
-If any are left, slice them into vinegar, for a pickle.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span></p>
-<p><b>Parsnips.</b>—Boil in salted water, take off the skins, cut in slices lengthwise,
-and season with salt, pepper, and butter. When cold, chop fine, add salt,
-pepper, egg, and flour, make small cakes, and cook on a griddle.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pumpkin and Squash.</b>—Cut in slices, boil in salted water till tender, drain,
-and season with salt, pepper, and butter. Baked pumpkin, cut in slices, is
-very good.</p>
-
-<p><b>Celery.</b>—Cut off the roots and green leaves, wash, and keep in cold water
-till wanted.</p>
-
-<p><b>Radishes.</b>—Wash, cut off tops, and lay in cold water till wanted.</p>
-
-<p><b>Onions.</b>—Many can not eat onions without consequent discomfort; though
-to most others they are a healthful and desirable vegetable. The disagreeable
-effect on the breath, it is said, may be prevented by afterward chewing
-and swallowing three or four roasted coffee-beans. Those who indulge in
-this vegetable should, as a matter of politeness and benevolence, try this precaution.</p>
-
-<p>The best way to cook onions is to peel, cut off top and tail, put in cold water
-for awhile, and then into boiling salted water. When nearly done, pour
-off the water, except a little, then add milk, butter, pepper, and salt. When
-onions are old and strong, boil in two or three waters; have each time <em>boiling</em>
-water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tomatoes.</b>—Pour on scalding water, then remove the skins, cut them up,
-and boil about half an hour. Add salt, butter or cream, and sugar. Adding
-green corn cut from the cob is a good variety. Some use pounded or grated
-stale bread-crumbs to thicken. Some slice without peeling, broil on a gridiron,
-and then season with pepper, salt, and butter. Some peel, slice, and put
-in layers, with seasoning and bread-crumbs between, and bake in an oven.
-If eaten raw, the skins should be removed by a knife, as scalding lessens flavor
-and crispness. Ice improves them much. The acid is so sharp that
-many are injured by eating too many.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cucumbers.</b>—Peel and slice into cold water, and in half an hour drain and
-season with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Some slice them quarter of an inch
-thick into boiling water, enough to cover them, and in fifteen minutes drain
-through a colander, and season with butter, salt, pepper, and vinegar.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cabbage and Cauliflower.</b>—Take off the outer leaves and look for any insects
-to be removed, and let it stand in cold water awhile. It should be cut
-twice transversely through the hardest part, that all may cook alike. It is
-more delicate if boiled awhile in one water, then changed to another boiling
-hot water, in the same or another vessel. If you are cooking corned beef, use
-for the second water some of the meat liquor, and it improves the flavor.
-Drain it through a colander. Some chop the cabbage before serving, and add<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span>
-butter, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Others omit the vinegar, and add two beaten
-eggs and a little milk, then bake it like a pudding. This is the favorite
-mode in some families. Cauliflower is to be treated like cabbage.</p>
-
-<p><b>Asparagus.</b>—The best way to cook it is to cut it into inch pieces, leave out
-the hardest parts, boil in salted water, drain with a colander, and add pepper,
-salt, melted butter or cream, when taken up. Some beat up eggs and add to
-this; stir till hardened a little, and then serve.</p>
-
-<p><b>Macaroni.</b>—Break into inch pieces and put into salted boiling water, and
-stew till soft—say twenty minutes. Drain it and put it in layers in a pudding-dish,
-with grated cheese between each layer. Add a little salted milk
-or cream, and bake about half an hour. Many can not eat this with cheese.
-In this case it is better to pour cold soup or gravy upon it, and bake without
-cheese.</p>
-
-<p><b>Various Ways of cooking Eggs.</b>—Put eggs into boiling water from three
-to five minutes, according to taste. A hard-boiled egg is perfectly healthy if
-well masticated. Another way is to put them in a bowl or an egg-boiler,
-and pour on boiling water for two or three minutes, then pour off the water
-and add boiling water, and in five or six minutes the eggs will be cooked
-enough.</p>
-
-<p>To make a <em>plain omelet</em>, beat the yelks of six eggs, add a cup of milk,
-season with salt and pepper, and then stir in the whites cut to a stiff froth.
-Cook in a frying-pan or griddle, with as little butter or fat as possible. Let
-it cook about ten minutes, and then take up with a spad, or lay a hot dish
-over and turn the omelet on to it. This is improved by mixing in chopped
-ham or fowl. Some put sugar in, but it is more apt to burn.</p>
-
-<p>A <em>bread omelet</em> is made as above, with bread-crumbs added, and is very
-good.</p>
-
-<p>An <em>apple omelet</em> is made as above, with mashed apple-sauce added, and
-this also is very good. Jelly may be used instead of apple.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
-
-<small>FAMILY BREAD.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The most important article of food is good family bread,
-and the most healthful kind of bread is that made of coarse
-flour and raised with yeast. All that is written against the
-healthfulness of yeast is owing to sheer ignorance, as the
-most learned physicians and chemists will affirm.</p>
-
-<p>Certain recent writers on hygiene are ultra and indiscriminating
-in regard to the use of unbolted flour. The simple
-facts about it are these: Every kernel of wheat contains
-nutriment for different parts of the body, and in about the
-right proportions. Thus, the outside part contains that which
-nourishes the bones, teeth, hair, nails, and the muscles. The
-germ, or eye, contains what nourishes the brain and nerves;
-and the central part (of which fine flour is chiefly made) consists
-of that which forms fat, and furnishes fuel to produce
-animal heat, while in gentle combustion it unites with oxygen
-in the capillaries. When first ground, the flour contains
-all the ingredients as in the kernel. The first bolting
-alters the proportions but very little, forming what is called
-<em>middlings</em>. The second bolting increases the carbonaceous
-proportion, making <em>fine</em> flour. The third bolting makes the
-superfine flour, and removes nearly all except the carbonaceous
-portion, which is fitted only to form fat and generate
-animal heat. No animal could live on superfine flour alone
-but for a short time, as has been proved by experiments on
-dogs.</p>
-
-<p>But meats, vegetables, fruit, eggs, milk, and several other
-articles in family diet contain the same elements as wheat,
-though in different proportions; so that it is only an <em>exclusive</em>
-use of fine flour that is positively dangerous. Still there
-is no doubt that a large portion of young children using
-white bread for common food, especially if butter, sugar,
-and molasses are added, have their teeth, bones, and muscles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span>
-not properly nourished. And it is a most unwise, uneconomical,
-and unhealthful practice to use flour deprived of its
-most important elements because it is white and is fashionable.
-It would be much cheaper, as well as more healthful,
-to use the <em>middlings</em>, instead of fine or superfine flour. It
-would be still better to use unbolted flour, except where
-delicate stomachs can not bear it, and in that case the middlings
-would serve nearly as well for nutrition and give no
-trouble.</p>
-
-<p>Some suppose that bread wet with milk is better than if
-wet with water, in the making. Many experienced housekeepers
-say that a little butter or lard in warm water makes
-bread that looks and tastes exactly like that wet with milk,
-and that it does not spoil so soon.</p>
-
-<p>Experienced housekeepers say also that bread, <em>if thoroughly
-kneaded</em>, may be put in the pans, and then baked as soon as
-light enough, without the second or third kneading, which is
-often practiced. This saves care and trouble, especially in
-training new cooks, who thus have only one chance to make
-mistakes, instead of two or three.</p>
-
-<p>It is not well to use yeast powders instead of yeast, because
-it is a daily taking of medicinal articles not needed,
-and often injurious. Cream tartar is supertartrate of potash,
-and soda is a supercarbonate of soda. These two, when united
-in dough, form tartrate of potash, tartrate of soda, and
-carbonate of soda; while some one of the three tends to act
-chemically and injuriously on the digestive fluids. Professor
-Hosford’s method is objectionable for the same reason, especially
-when his medical articles are mixed with flour; for
-thus poor flour is sold more readily than in ordinary cases.
-These statements the best-informed medical men and chemists
-will verify.</p>
-
-<p>Flour loses its sweetness by keeping, and this is the reason
-why sugar is put in the recipes for bread. The best kind of
-flour, when new and fresh ground, has eight per cent. of sugar;
-and when such flour is used, the sugar may be omitted.</p>
-
-<p>Some people make bread by mixing it so that it can be
-stirred with a spoon. But the nicest kind of bread can be
-made only with a good deal of kneading.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="center">RECIPES FOR YEAST AND BREAD.</p>
-
-<p>The best yeast is brewers’ or distillery, as this raises bread
-much sooner than home-brewed. The following is the best
-kind of home-made yeast, and will keep good two or three
-weeks:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Hop and Potato Yeast.</b>—Pare and slice five large potatoes, and boil them
-in one quart of water with a large handful of common hops (or a square inch
-of pressed hops), tied in a muslin rag. When soft, take out the hops and
-press the potatoes through a colander, and add a small cup of white sugar, a
-tea-spoonful of ginger, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, and two tea-cups of common
-yeast, or half as much distillery. Add the yeast when the rest is only blood-warm.
-White sugar keeps better than brown, and the salt and ginger help
-to preserve the yeast.</p>
-
-<p>Do not boil in iron or use an iron spoon, as it colors the yeast. Keep
-yeast in a stone or earthenware jar, with a plate fitting well to the rim. This
-is better than a jug, as easier to fill and to cleanse. Scald the jar before
-making new yeast.</p>
-
-<p>The rule for <em>quantity</em> is, one table-spoonful of brewers’ or distillery yeast
-to every quart of flour; or twice as much home-made yeast.</p>
-
-<p><b>Potato Yeast</b> is made by the above rule, omitting the hops. It can be
-used in large quantities without giving a bitter taste, and so raises bread
-sooner. But it has to be renewed much oftener than hop yeast, and the
-bread loses the flavor of hop yeast.</p>
-
-<p><b>Hard Yeast</b> is made with home-brewed yeast (not brewers’ or distillery),
-thickened with Indian meal and fine flour in equal parts, and then made into
-cakes an inch thick and three inches by two in size, dried in the wind but
-not in the sun. Keep them tied in a bag in a dry, cool place, where they
-will not freeze. One cake soaked in a pint of warm water (not hot) is
-enough for four quarts of flour. It is a good plan to work in mashed potatoes
-into this yeast, and let it rise well before using it. This makes the
-nicest bread. Some housekeepers say pour boiling water on one third of the
-flour, and then mix the rest in immediately, and it has the same effect as
-using potatoes.</p>
-
-<p>When there is no yeast to start with, it can be made with one pint of new
-milk, one tea-spoonful of fine salt, and a table-spoonful of flour. When it is
-worked, use twice as much as common yeast. This is called Milk Yeast or
-Salt Risings, and bread made of it is poor, and soon spoils.</p>
-
-<p>When yeast ceases to look foamy, and becomes watery, with sediment at
-the bottom, it must be renewed. When good, the smell is pungent, but not
-sour. If sour, nothing can restore it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread of Fine Flour.</b>—Take four quarts of sifted flour, one quart of luke<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span>warm
-water, in which are dissolved two tea-spoonfuls of salt, two tea-spoonfuls
-of sugar, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and one cup of yeast. Mix
-and knead <em>very thoroughly</em>, and have it as soft as can be molded, using as
-little flour as possible. Make it into small loaves, put it in buttered pans,
-prick it with a fork, and when light enough to crack on the top, bake it.
-Nothing but experience will show when bread is just at the right point of
-lightness.</p>
-
-<p>If bread rises too long, it becomes sour. This is discovered by making a
-sudden opening and applying the nose, and the sourness will be noticed as
-different from the odor of proper lightness. Practice is needed in this. If
-bread is light too soon for the oven, knead it awhile, and set it in a cool place.
-Sour bread can be remedied somewhat by working in soda dissolved in water—about
-half a tea-spoonful for each quart of flour. Many spoil bread by
-too much flour, others by not kneading enough, and others by allowing it to
-rise too much.</p>
-
-<p>The goodness of bread depends on the quality of the flour. Some flour will
-not make good bread in any way. New and good flour has a yellowish tinge,
-and when pressed in the hand is adhesive. Poor flour is dry, and will not
-retain form when pressed. Poor flour is bad economy, for it does not make
-as nutritious bread as does good flour.</p>
-
-<p>Bread made with milk sometimes causes indigestion to invalids and to children
-with weak digestion.</p>
-
-<p>Take loaves out of the pans, and set them sidewise, and not flat, on a table.
-Wrapping in a cloth makes the bread clammy.</p>
-
-<p>Bread is better in small loaves. Let your pans be of tin (or better, of iron),
-eight inches long, three inches high, three inches wide at the bottom, and
-flaring so as to be four inches wide at the top. This size makes more tender
-crust, and cuts more neatly than larger loaves.</p>
-
-<p>Oil the pans with a swab and sweet butter or lard. They should be well
-washed and dried, or black and rancid oil will gather.</p>
-
-<p>All these kinds of bread can be baked in biscuit-form; and, by adding water
-and eggs, made into griddle-cakes. Bread having potatoes in it keeps
-moist longest, but turns sour soonest.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread of Middlings or Unbolted Flour.</b>—Take four quarts of coarse flour,
-one quart of warm water, one cup of yeast, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, one
-spoonful of melted lard or butter, two cups of sugar or molasses, and half a
-tea-spoonful of soda. Mix thoroughly, and bake in pans the same as the
-bread of fine flour. It is better to be kneaded rather than made soft with a
-spoon.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread raised with Water only.</b>—Many persons like bread made either of
-fine or coarse flour, and raised with water only. Success in making this kind
-depends on the proper quantity of water, quick beating, the heating of very
-small pans, and very quick baking. There are cast-iron patties made for this
-purpose, and also small, coarse earthen cups. The following is the rule, but
-it must be modified by trying:</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span></p>
-<p><i>Recipe.</i>—To one quart of unbolted flour put about one quart, or a little
-less, of hot water. Beat it very quickly, put it in hot pans, and bake in a hot
-oven. White flour may be used in place of coarse, and the quantity ascertained
-by trial. When right, there is after baking little except a crust, which
-is sweet and crisp.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rye and Indian Bread.</b>—The Boston or Eastern Brown Bread is made
-thus: One quart of rye, one quart of corn-meal, one cup of molasses, half a
-cup of distillery yeast, or twice as much home-brewed; one tea-spoonful of
-soda, and one tea-spoonful of salt. Wet with hot water till it is stiff as can
-be stirred with a spoon. This is put in a large brown pan and baked four or
-five hours. It is good toasted, and improved by adding boiled squash.</p>
-
-<p><b>Third Bread.</b>—This is made with equal parts of rye, corn-meal, and unbolted
-flour. To one quart of warm water add one tea-spoonful of salt, half
-a cup of distillery or twice as much home-brewed yeast, and half a cup of molasses,
-and thicken with equal parts of these three kinds of flour. It is very
-good for a variety.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rye Bread.</b>—Take a quart of warm water, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a cup
-of molasses, and a cup of home-brewed yeast, or half as much of distillery.
-Add flour till you can knead it, and do it very thoroughly.</p>
-
-<p><b>Oat-meal Bread.</b>—Oat-meal is sometimes bitter from want of care in preparing.
-When good, it makes excellent and healthful bread.</p>
-
-<p>Take one pint of boiling water, one great-spoonful of sweet lard or butter,
-two great-spoonfuls of sugar; melt them together, and thicken with two-thirds
-Oat-meal and one-third fine flour. When blood-warm, add half a cup
-of home-brewed yeast and two well-beaten eggs. Mold into small cakes, and
-bake on buttered tins, or make two loaves.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pumpkin Bread and Apple Bread.</b>—These are very good for a variety.
-Stew and strain pumpkins or apples, and then work in either corn-meal or
-unbolted flour, or both. To each quart of the fruit add two table-spoonfuls
-of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a cup of home-brewed yeast. If the apples are
-quite sour, add more sugar. Make it as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon,
-and bake in patties or small loaves. Children like it for a change.</p>
-
-<p><b>Corn-Meal Bread.</b>—Always scald corn-meal. Melt two table-spoonfuls of
-butter or sweet lard in one quart of hot water; add a tea-spoonful of salt and
-a tea-cup of sugar. Thicken with corn-meal, and one-third as much fine
-flour, or unbolted flour, or middlings. Two well-beaten eggs improve it.
-Make it as stiff as can be easily stirred with a spoon, or, as some would advise,
-knead it like bread of white flour.</p>
-
-<p>If raised with yeast, put in a tea-cup of home-brewed yeast, or half as
-much of distillery. If raised with powders, mix two tea-spoonfuls of cream
-tartar <em>thoroughly</em> with the meal, and one tea-spoonful of soda in the water.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span></p>
-<p><b>Sweet Rolls of Corn-Meal.</b>—Mix half corn-meal and half fine or unbolted
-flour; add a little salt, and then wet it up with sweetened water, raise it with
-yeast, and bake in small patties or cups in a very quick oven.</p>
-
-<p><b>Soda Biscuit.</b>—In one quart of flour mix <em>very thoroughly</em> two tea-spoonfuls
-of cream tartar, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Dissolve in a pint of warm water
-one tea-spoonful of soda and one table-spoonful of melted butter or lard.
-<em>Mix quickly</em>; add flour till you can roll, but let it be as soft as possible.
-Bake in a quick oven, and as soon as possible after mixing.</p>
-
-<p><b>Yeast Biscuit.</b>—Take a pint of raised dough of fine flour: pick it in small
-pieces; add one well-beaten egg, two great-spoonfuls of butter or lard, and
-two great-spoonfuls of sugar. Work thoroughly for ten minutes; add flour
-to roll, and then cut in round cakes and bake on tins, or mold into biscuits.
-Let them stand till light, and then bake in a quick oven.</p>
-
-<p>If you have no dough raised, make biscuit as you would bread, except adding
-more shortening.</p>
-
-<p><b>Potato Biscuit.</b>—Boil and press through a colander twelve <em>mealy</em> potatoes;
-any others are not good. While warm, add one cup of butter, one tea-spoonful
-of salt, four great-spoonfuls of sugar, and half a cup of yeast. Mix in
-white or coarse flour till it can be well kneaded. Mold into small cakes;
-let them stand till light, and bake in a quick oven. These are the best kind,
-especially if made of coarse flour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Buns.</b>—These are best made by the rule for potato biscuit, adding twice
-as much sugar. When done, rub over a mixture of half milk and half molasses,
-and it improves looks and taste.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIV.<br />
-
-<small>BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>What shall we have for breakfast to-morrow? is the constant
-question of trial to a housekeeper, and it is the aim of
-the present chapter to meet this want by presenting a good
-and successive variety of articles healthful, economical, and
-easily prepared.</p>
-
-<p>Some of the best housekeepers have taken this method:
-they provide a good supply of the following articles, to be
-used in succession—rice, corn-meal, rye flour, wheat grits,
-unbolted wheat, cracked wheat, pearl wheat, oat grits, Oat-meal,
-and hominy, with which they make a new article for
-every day in the week. Some one of these is selected for
-either a dinner vegetable or dessert, or for a dish at tea, and
-the remainder used for the next morning’s breakfast.</p>
-
-<p>The following will indicate the methods:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Corn-Meal.</b>—Take four large cups of corn-meal, and scald it. In <em>all</em> cases,
-scald corn-meal before using it. Add half a cup of fine flour, three table-spoonfuls
-of sugar or molasses, one tea-spoonful of soda, and one of salt.
-Make a batter, and boil an hour or more, stirring often; or, better, cook in
-a tin pail set in boiling water. Use it as mush, with butter, sugar, and milk
-for supper. Next morning, thin it with hot water: add two or three eggs,
-and bake either as muffins or griddle-cakes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Hominy.</b>—Soak and then boil a quart of hominy with two heaping tea-spoonfuls
-of salt. Use it for dinner as a vegetable, or for supper with sugar
-and milk or cream. Next morning use the remainder, soaked in water or
-milk, with two eggs and a salt-spoonful of salt. Bake as muffins or griddle-cakes,
-or cut in slices, dipped in flour and fried. Farina may be used in the
-same way.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rice.</b>—Pick over one pint of rice; add two tea-spoonfuls of salt and three
-quarts of <em>boiling</em> water. Then boil fifteen minutes; then uncover; let it
-steam fifteen minutes. This to be used for a vegetable at dinner, or for a
-tea-dish, with butter and sugar. At night, soak the remainder in as much
-milk or water, and next morning add as much fine or unbolted flour as there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span>
-was rice, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half a tea-spoonful of soda.
-Thin with water or milk, and bake as muffins or griddle-cakes.</p>
-
-<p><b>The most economical Breakfast Dish</b>, (healthful also).—Keep a jar for remnants
-of bread, both coarse and fine, for potatoes, remnants of hominy, rice,
-grits, cracked wheat, Oat-meal, and all other articles used on table. Add all
-remnants of milk, whether sour or sweet, and water enough to soak all, so
-as to be soft, but not thin. When enough is collected, add enough water to
-make a batter for griddle-cakes, and put in enough soda to sweeten it. Add
-two spoonfuls of sugar, and half a tea-spoonful of salt, and two eggs for each
-quart, and you make an excellent dish of material, most of it usually wasted.
-Thicken it a little with fine flour, and it makes fine waffles.</p>
-
-<p><b>Biscuits of sour Milk and white or unbolted Flour.</b>—One pint unbolted
-flour.</p>
-
-<p>One spoonful of sugar.</p>
-
-<p>One tea-spoonful of salt.</p>
-
-<p>Melt a spoonful of butter in a little of the sour milk; then mix all, and
-just before setting in the oven, add very <em>quickly</em> and very <em>thoroughly</em> a tea-spoonful
-of soda dissolved in half a tea-cup of water. This should be done
-last and quickly, so that the carbonic acid gas produced by the union of the
-soda and the acid of the milk (lactic) may not escape. Use half a tea-cup of
-fine flour when molding into biscuits.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pearl Wheat or Cracked Wheat.</b>—Boil one pint in a pail set in boiling water
-till quite soft, but so as not to lose its form. Add a tea-spoonful of sugar,
-and as much salt; also water, when needed. It must boil a long time.
-Eat a part for supper, with sugar and cream, and next morning add two eggs,
-a great-spoonful of sugar, and fine flour enough to make it suitable for muffin-rings
-or drop-cakes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rye and Corn-Meal.</b>—Put into a pint and a half of boiling water one tea-spoonful
-of salt, two great-spoonfuls of sugar, two well-beaten eggs, three great-spoonfuls
-of corn-meal or unbolted wheat. Thicken with rye flour, and then
-add two well-beaten eggs. Bake in muffin-rings or as drop-cakes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Oat-meal.</b>—Take one pint of boiling water, and pour it on to one pint of
-Oat-meal. Add a great-spoonful of butter, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and two
-great-spoonfuls of sugar. Stir fast and thoroughly; then add two well-beaten
-eggs, and boil twenty minutes. To be eaten as mush for supper; and next
-morning thin it, and bake in muffin-rings.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Several of the above articles are good with only salt and
-water; and many persons would like them better with the
-butter, sugar, and eggs omitted.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Wheat Muffins.</b>—One pint of milk, and two eggs.</p>
-
-<p>One table-spoonful of yeast, and a salt-spoonful of salt. One table-spoonful
-of butter.</p>
-
-<p>Mix these ingredients with sufficient flour to make a thick batter. Let it
-rise four or five hours, and bake in muffin-rings. This can be made of unbolted
-flour or grits, adding two great-spoonfuls of molasses, and it is very
-fine. Make it so thick that a table-spoon will stand erect in it.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li><b>Sally Lunn, improved.</b>—Seven tea-cups of unbolted flour, or fine flour.</li>
-
-<li>One pint of water.</li>
-
-<li>Half a cup of melted butter, and half a cup of sugar.</li>
-
-<li>One pinch of salt.</li>
-
-<li>Three well-beaten eggs.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of brewers’ yeast, or twice as much of home-brewed.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Pour into square buttered pans, and let it rise two or three hours with
-brewers’ yeast; with home-brewed, five hours are required. It is still better
-baked in patties.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cream Griddle-Cakes.</b>—One pint of thick cream.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One tea-spoonful of salt.</li>
-
-<li>One table-spoonful of sugar.</li>
-
-<li>Three well-beaten eggs.</li>
-
-<li>Make a thin batter of unbolted or of fine flour, and bake on a griddle.</li>
-
-<li><b>Royal Crumpets.</b>—Three tea-cups of raised dough.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of melted butter.</li>
-
-<li>Half a tea-cup of white sugar, mixed with three well-beaten eggs.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Bake in two buttered pans for half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Muffins of fine Flour or unbolted Flour.</b>—One pint of milk or water.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One pinch of salt.</li>
-
-<li>Two well-beaten eggs.</li>
-
-<li>One table-spoonful of yeast.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Make a thick batter of fine flour or unbolted flour, and let it rise four or
-five hours. Bake in muffin-rings.</p>
-
-<p><b>Unbolted Flour Waffles.</b>—One pint of unbolted flour.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One pint of sour milk, or buttermilk, or water.</li>
-
-<li>Half a tea-spoonful of soda, or more if needed, to sweeten the milk.</li>
-
-<li>Three well-beaten eggs.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of sugar.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p><b>Drop-Cakes of fine Wheat or of Rye.</b>—One pint of milk or water.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One pinch of salt.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of sugar.</li>
-
-<li>Three well-beaten eggs.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Stir in rye, or fine or unbolted flour to a thick batter, and bake in cups or
-patties half an hour.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span></p>
-<p><b>Sachem’s Head Corn-Cake.</b>—One quart of sifted corn-meal, scalded.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One tea-spoonful of salt.</li>
-
-<li>Three pints of scalded sweet milk or water.</li>
-
-<li>Half a tea-spoonful of soda in two great-spoonfuls of warm water.</li>
-
-<li>Half a tea-cup of sugar.</li>
-
-<li>Eight eggs, the whites beaten separately, and added the last thing.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Make the cakes an inch thick in buttered pans before baking, and, if baked
-right, they will puff up to double the thickness, like sponge-cake, and are very
-fine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rice Waffles.</b>—One pint of milk. Half a tea-cup of solid boiled rice, soaked
-three hours in the milk.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>Two cups of wheat flour or rice flour.</li>
-
-<li>Three well-beaten eggs. Bake in waffle-irons.</li>
-
-<li>The rice must be salted enough when boiled.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p><b>Another Rice Dish.</b>—One pint of rice, well cleaned.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>Three quarts of cold water.</li>
-
-<li>Three tea-spoonfuls of salt.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Boil it twenty minutes; then pour off the water, add milk or cream, and
-let it boil ten minutes longer, till quite soft. Let it stand till cold, and then
-cut it in slices and fry it on a griddle. It can also be made into griddle-cakes
-or muffins by the preceding recipe.</p>
-
-<p><b>A good and easy Way to use cold Rice.</b>—Heat a pint of boiled rice in milk;
-add two well-beaten eggs, a little salt, butter, and sugar; let it boil up once,
-and then grate on nutmeg.</p>
-
-<p><b>Buckwheat-Cakes.</b>—One quart of buckwheat.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One tea-spoonful of salt.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of distillery yeast, or four of home-brewed.</li>
-
-<li>Two table-spoonfuls of molasses.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Wet the flour with warm water, and then add the other articles. Keep this
-warm through the night. If it sours, add half a tea-spoonful of soda in warm
-water. These cakes have a handsomer brown if wet with milk or part milk.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fine Cottage Cheese.</b>—Let the milk be turned by rennet, or by setting it in
-a warm place. It must not be <em>heated</em>, as the oily parts will then pass off, and
-the richness is lost. When fully turned, put in a coarse linen bag, and hang
-it to drain several hours, till all the whey is out. Then mash it fine, salt it
-to the taste, and thin it with good cream, or add but little cream, and roll it
-into balls. When thin, it is very fine with preserves or sugared fruit.</p>
-
-<p>It also makes a fine pudding, by thinning it with milk, and adding eggs and
-sugar, and spice to the taste, and baking it. Many persons use milk when
-turned to <i>bonny-clabber</i> for a dessert, putting on sugar and spice. Children
-are fond of it.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XV.<br />
-
-<small>PUDDINGS AND PIES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Where sugar is made by slaves, the little children feed
-constantly on it, and grow fat and healthy. But they are
-nearly naked, live out-of-doors, exercise constantly, and have
-nothing to do but play. Thus their lungs and skin gain the
-healthful and purifying action of the air and the sun, and the
-excess of carbonaceous food is rendered harmless. But for
-those whose skin never meets the sun, rarely meets the air,
-and only now and then some water, a very different regimen
-is needful. Sugar, molasses, butter, and fats are chiefly carbonaceous,
-and therefore demand a large supply of oxygen
-through lungs and skin. And yet our custom is to use fine
-flour, which is chiefly carbon; butter and cream, chiefly carbon;
-sweet cakes, chiefly carbon; sweetmeats and candy,
-chiefly carbon; and worst of all, pie-crusts, chiefly carbon,
-and the most difficult of all food for digestion.</p>
-
-<p>But the love for sweet food is common to all, and demands
-gratification. All that is required is moderation and
-temperance. For these reasons, a large supply is here provided
-of cakes and puddings, which are not rich, and yet are
-as highly relished as richer food. As pies are the most unhealthful
-of all food, some instruction and but few recipes
-are given, lest, if entirely omitted, the book would not be
-read so widely, and other more unhealthful ones be used.</p>
-
-<p>The puddings here offered afford a great variety for desserts,
-are made with far less labor than pies, and are both
-more economical and more healthful. They also can be made
-more ornamental and attractive in appearance, and equally
-good to the taste. It is hoped, therefore, that the conscientious
-housekeeper will not tempt her family to eat unhealthful
-food when such an abundance is offered that is at once
-economical of labor, time, expense, and health. The first recipe
-for pudding can be varied in many ways, and has the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span>
-advantage which heretofore has recommended pies, namely,
-that several can be made at once, and kept on hand as equally
-good either cold or warmed over. It is also economical
-and convenient, as not requiring eggs or milk.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>The Queen of all Puddings.</b>—Soak a tea-cup of tapioca and a tea-spoonful
-of salt in three tumblerfuls of warm, not hot, water for an hour or two, till
-softened. Take away the skins and cores of apples without dividing them,
-put them in the dish with sugar in the holes, and spice if the apples are without
-flavor: not otherwise. Add a cup of water, and bake till the apples are
-softened, turning them to prevent drying, and then pour over the tapioca,
-and bake <em>a long time</em>, till all looks <span class="smcap">A BROWNISH YELLOW</span>. Eat with a hard
-sauce. Do not fail to bake a long time.</p>
-
-<p>This can be extensively varied by mixing chopped apples, or quinces, or
-oranges, or peaches, or any kind of berries with the tapioca; and then sugar
-must be added according to the acid of the fruit, though some would prefer
-it omitted when the sauce is used.</p>
-
-<p>The beauty may be increased by a cover of sugar beaten into the whites of
-eggs, and then turned to a yellow in the oven. Several such puddings can be
-made at once, kept in a cool place, and when wanted warmed over; many
-relish it better when very cold. Sago can be used instead of tapioca. When
-no sago or tapioca are at hand, the following recipe for flour pudding may
-be used, baking a long time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Flour Puddings.</b>—Take four table-spoonfuls of flour, half a tea-spoonful
-of salt, a pint of water or milk, three eggs, and a salt-spoonful of soda. Mix
-and beat very thoroughly, and bake as soon as done, or it will not be light.
-It must bake till the middle is not lower than the rest. Eat with liquid
-sauce. This can be cooked in a covered tin pan set in boiling water. This
-is enough for a family of five. Change the quantity according to the family.</p>
-
-<p>This may be made richer by a spoonful of butter, more sugar, and some
-flavoring.</p>
-
-<p>It will be lighter not to beat the eggs separately. If a bag is used to boil,
-rub flour or butter on the inside, to prevent sticking.</p>
-
-<p><b>Flour and Fruit Puddings.</b>—Add to the above, chopped apples or any kind
-of berries. Chopped apples and quinces together are fine when dried. When
-berries are used, a third more flour is needed for those very juicy, and less
-for cherries. Put in fruit the last thing.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rusk and Milk.</b>—Keep all bits of bread, dry in the oven, and pound them,
-putting half a salt-spoonful of salt to a pint. This eaten with good milk is
-what is especially relished by children, and named “rusk and milk.”</p>
-
-<p><b>Rusk Puddings.</b>—Mix equal quantities of rusk-crumbs with stewed fruit
-or berries, then add a <em>very sweet</em> custard, made with four or five eggs to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span>
-quart of milk. Eaten with sweet sauce. This may be made without fruit,
-and is good with sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>Meat and Rusk Puddings.</b>—Chop any kind of cold meat with salt pork or
-ham, season it well with butter, pepper, and salt, and add two or three beaten
-eggs. Then make alternate layers of wet rusk-crumbs, with milk or cold
-boiled hominy or rice, and bake half or three quarters of an hour. Let the
-upper layer be crumbs, and cover with a plate while baking, and, when nearly
-done, take it off to brown the top.</p>
-
-<p><b>A handsome and good Pudding easily made.</b>—Put a pint of scalded milk
-(water will do as well) to a pint of bread-crumbs, and add the yelks of four
-eggs, well beaten, a tea-cup of sugar, butter the size of an egg, and the grated
-rind of one lemon. Bake, and, when cool, cover with stewed fruit of any
-kind. Then beat the whites of the eggs into five table-spoonfuls of powdered
-sugar and the juice of one lemon. Cover the pudding with it, and set in the
-oven till it is a brownish yellow. Puddings covered with sugar and eggs in
-this way are called Meringue Puddings.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pan Dowdy.</b>—Put apples pared and sliced into a large pan, and put in an
-abundance of molasses or sugar, and some spice if the apples have little flavor;
-not otherwise. Cover with bread-dough, rolled thin, or a potato pie-crust.
-Bake a long time, and then break the crust into the fruit in small
-pieces. Children are very fond of this, especially if well sweetened and baked
-a long time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Corn-Meal Pop-overs.</b>—Two tumblers of scalded corn-meal fresh ground,
-three well-beaten eggs, a cup of milk or water, a tea-spoonful of salt, and
-three of sugar, two spoonfuls of melted butter. Bake in hot patties, and eat
-with sweet sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>Best Apple-Pie.</b>—Take a deep dish, the size of a soup-plate, fill it heaping
-with peeled tart apples, cored and quartered; pour over it one tea-cup of
-molasses, and three great-spoonfuls of sugar, dredge over this a considerable
-quantity of flour, enough to thicken the sirup a good deal. Cover it with a
-crust made of cream, if you have it; if not, common dough, with butter worked
-in, or plain pie-crust, lapping the edge over the dish, and pinching it down
-tight, to keep the sirup from running out. Bake about an hour and a half.
-Make several at once, as they keep well.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rice Pudding.</b>—One tea-cup of rice.</p>
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One tea-cup of sugar.</li>
-
-<li>One half tea-cup of butter.</li>
-
-<li>One quart of milk.</li>
-
-<li>Nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt to the taste.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Put the butter in melted, mix all in a pudding-dish, and bake it two hours,
-stirring it frequently, until the rice is swollen. It is good made without butter.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span></p>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Bread and Fruit Pudding</b>.—Butter a deep dish, and lay in slices of bread
-and butter, wet with milk, and upon these sliced tart apples, sweetened and
-spiced. Then lay on another layer of bread and butter and apples, and continue
-thus till the dish is filled. Let the top layer be bread and butter, and
-dip it in milk, turning the buttered side down. Any other kind of fruit will
-answer as well. Put a plate on the top, and bake two hours, then take it off
-and bake another hour.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Boiled Fruit Pudding</b>.—Take light dough and work in a little butter, roll
-it out into a very thin large layer, not a quarter of an inch thick. Cover it
-thick with berries or stewed fruit, and put on sugar, roll it up tight, double it
-once or twice, and fasten up the ends. Tie it up in a bag, giving it room to
-swell. Eat it with butter, or sauce not very sweet.</p>
-
-<p>Blackberries, whortleberries, raspberries, apples, and peaches, all make excellent
-puddings in the same way.</p>
-
-<p><b>English Curd Pudding.</b>—One quart of milk.</p>
-
-<p>A bit of rennet to curdle it.</p>
-
-<p>Press out the whey, and put into the curds three eggs, a nutmeg, and a table-spoonful
-of brandy. Bake it like custard.</p>
-
-<p><b>Common Apple-Pie.</b>—Pare your apples, and cut them from the core. Line
-your dishes with paste, and put in the apple; cover and bake until the fruit is
-tender. Then take them from the oven, remove the upper crust, and put in
-sugar and nutmeg, cinnamon or rose-water, to your taste. A bit of sweet
-butter improves them. Also, to put in a little orange-peel before they are
-baked, makes a pleasant variety. Common apple-pies are very good, to stew,
-sweeten, and flavor the apple before they are put into the oven. Many prefer
-the seasoning baked in. All apple-pies are much nicer if the apple is grated
-and then seasoned.</p>
-
-<p><b>Plain Custard.</b>—Boil half a dozen peach-leaves, or the rind of a lemon, or
-a vanilla bean in a quart of milk; when it is flavored, pour into it a paste
-made by a table-spoonful of rice flour, or common flour, wet up with two
-spoonfuls of cold milk and a half tea-spoonful of salt, and stir it till it boils
-again. Then beat up four eggs and put in, and sweeten it to your taste, and
-pour it out for pies or pudding. More eggs make it a rich custard.</p>
-
-<p>Bake as pudding, or boil in a tin pail set in boiling water, stirring often,
-and pour into cups.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Custard.</b>—Boil six peach-leaves, or a lemon-peel, in a quart of
-milk, till it is flavored; cool it, add three spoonfuls of sugar, a tea-spoonful
-of salt, and five eggs beaten to a froth. Put the custard into a tin pail, set
-it in boiling water, and stir it till cooked enough. Then turn it into cups; if
-preferred, it can be baked.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mush, or Hasty Pudding.</b>—Wet up the Indian-meal in cold water, till<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span>
-there are no lumps, stir it gradually into boiling water which has a little sugar
-and more salt added; boil till so thick that the stick will stand in it.
-Boil slowly, and so as not to burn, stirring often. Two or three hours’ boiling
-is needed. Pour it into a broad, deep dish, let it grow cold, cut it into slices
-half an inch thick, flour them, and fry them on a griddle with a little lard, or
-bake them in a stove oven.</p>
-
-<p><b>Stale Bread Pudding</b>, (fine.)—Cut stale bread in thick slices, and put it to
-soak for several hours in cold milk.</p>
-
-<p>Then cook on a griddle, with some salt, and eat it with sugar, or molasses,
-or a sweet sauce. To make it more delicate, take off the crusts. It is still
-better to soak it in uncooked custard. Baker’s bread is best.</p>
-
-<p><b>To prepare Rennet Wine.</b>—Put three inches square of calf’s rennet to a pint
-of wine, and set it away for use. Three table-spoonfuls will serve to curdle a
-quart of milk.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rennet Custard.</b>—Put three table-spoonfuls of rennet wine to a quart of
-milk, and add four or five great-spoonfuls of white sugar and a salt-spoonful
-of salt. Flavor it with wine, or lemon, or rose-water. It must be eaten in
-an hour, or it will turn to curds.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bird’snest Pudding.</b>—Pare tart, well-flavored apples, scoop out the cores
-without dividing the apple, put them in a deep dish with a small bit of mace,
-and a spoonful of sugar in the opening of each apple. Pour in water enough
-to cook them. When soft, pour over them an unbaked custard, so as just to
-cover them, and bake till the custard is done.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Minute Pudding of Potato Starch.</b>—Take four heaped table-spoonfuls of
-potato flour, three eggs, and a tea-spoonful of salt, and one quart of milk.
-Boil the milk, reserving a little to moisten the flour. Stir the flour to a paste,
-perfectly smooth, with the reserved milk, and put it into the boiling milk.
-Add the eggs well beaten, let it boil till very thick, which will be in two or
-three minutes, then pour into a dish and serve with liquid sauce. After the
-milk boils, the pudding must be stirred every moment till done.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tapioca Pudding.</b>—Soak eight table-spoonfuls of tapioca in a quart of
-warm milk and tea-spoonful of sugar, till soft, then add two table-spoonfuls
-of melted sweet lard or butter, five eggs well beaten, spice, sugar, and wine
-to your taste. Bake in a buttered dish, without any lining. Sago may be
-used in place of tapioca.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cocoa-Nut Pudding</b> (plain).—Take one quart of milk, five eggs, and one
-cocoa-nut, grated. The eggs and sugar are beaten together, and stirred into
-the milk when hot. Strain the milk and eggs, and add the cocoa-nut, with
-nutmeg to the taste. Bake about twenty minutes like puddings.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p>
-<p><b>New-England Squash or Pumpkin-Pie.</b>—Take a pumpkin or winter-squash,
-cut in pieces, take off the rind and remove the seeds, and boil it until tender,
-then rub it through a sieve. When cold, add to it milk to thin it, and
-to each quart of milk five well-beaten eggs. Sugar, cinnamon, and ginger to
-your taste. The quantity of milk must depend upon the size and quality of
-the squash.</p>
-
-<p>These pies require a moderate heat, and must be baked until the centre is
-firm.</p>
-
-<p><b>Ripe Fruit Pies—Peach, Cherry, Plum, Currant, and Strawberry.</b>—Line
-your dish with paste. After picking over and washing the fruit carefully
-(peaches must be pared, and the rest picked from the stem), place a layer of
-fruit and a layer of sugar in your dish, until it is well filled, then cover it with
-paste, and trim the edge neatly, and prick the cover. Fruit-pies require about
-an hour to bake in a thoroughly-heated oven.</p>
-
-<p><b>Mock Cream.</b>—Beat three eggs well, and add three heaping tea-spoonfuls
-of sifted flour. Stir it into a pint and a half of boiling milk, add a salt-spoon
-of salt, and sugar to your taste. Flavor with rose-water or essence of lemon.</p>
-
-<p>This can be used for cream-cakes or pastry.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Pudding of Fruit and Bread Crumbs.</b>—Mix a pint of dried and pounded
-bread-crumbs with an equal quantity of any kind of berries, or of dried and
-chopped sour apples. Add three eggs, half a pint of milk, three spoonfuls of
-fine flour, and half a tea-spoonful of salt. Bake on a griddle or in an oven in
-muffin-rings, or, when made thinner, as griddle-cakes. If dried fruit is used,
-more milk is needed than for fresh berries.</p>
-
-<p>This may also be boiled for a pudding. Flour the pudding-cloth and tie
-tight, as it will not swell in cooking.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread and Apple Dumplings.</b>—Mix half a pint of dried bread-crumbs and
-half a pint of fine flour. Wet it with water and two eggs thick enough to
-roll. Then put it around large apples peeled and cored whole, and boil for
-dumplings in several small floured cloths, or put all into one large floured
-cloth, tied tight, as they will not swell. Try with a fork, and when the apples
-are soft, take up and serve with a sweet sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>An excellent Indian Pudding without Eggs.</b>—Take seven heaping spoonfuls
-of scalded Indian meal, half a tea-spoonful of salt, two spoonfuls of butter
-or sweet lard, a tea-cup of molasses, and two tea-spoonfuls of ginger or cinnamon,
-to the taste. Pour into these a quart of milk while boiling hot. Mix
-well and put in a buttered dish. Just as you set in the oven, stir in a tea-cup
-of cold water, which will produce the same effect as eggs. Bake three-quarters
-of an hour in a dish that will not spread it out thin.</p>
-
-<p><b>Boiled Indian and Suet Pudding.</b>—Three pints of milk, ten heaping table-spoonfuls
-of sifted Indian meal, a tumblerful of molasses, two eggs. Scald<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span>
-the meal with the milk, add the molasses and a tea-spoonful of salt. Put in
-the eggs when it is cool enough not to scald them. Put in a table-spoonful
-of ginger. Tie the bag so that it will be about two-thirds full of the pudding
-in order to give room to swell. The longer it is boiled the better. Some
-like a little chopped suet with the above.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Dessert of Rice and Fruit.</b>—Pick over and wash the rice, and boil it fifteen
-minutes in water, with salt at the rate of a heaping tea-spoonful to a
-quart. Rice is much improved by having the salt put in while cooking.
-Pour out the water in fifteen minutes after it begins to boil. Then pour in
-rich milk and boil till of a pudding thickness. Then pour it into cups to
-harden, when it is to be turned out inverted upon a platter in small mounds.
-Make an opening on the top of each, and put in a pile of jelly or fruit. Lastly,
-pour over all a custard made of three eggs, a pint of milk, and a tea-spoonful of
-salt boiled in a tin pail set in boiling water. This looks very prettily. Sweet
-cream with a little salt can be used instead of custard. This can be modified
-by having the whole put in a bowl and hardened, and then inverted and several
-openings made for the fruit.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Dessert of Rice and Fruit.</b>—Boil the rice in salt and water, a tea-spoonful
-to a quart of water. When cooked to a pudding consistency, cool it,
-and then cut it in slices. Then put a thin layer of rice at the bottom of a
-pudding-dish, cover it with a thin layer of jelly or stewed fruit half an inch
-thick. Continue to add alternate layers of rice and jelly or fruit, smooth it at
-top, grate on sugar, and then cut the edges to show stripes of fruit and rice.
-Help it in saucers, and have cream or a thin custard to pour on it. Make the
-custard with two eggs, half a pint of milk, and half a tea-spoonful of salt.
-Boil it in a pail set in boiling water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dessert of cold Rice and stewed or grated Apple.</b>—Cut cold boiled rice in
-slices, and then lay in a buttered pudding-dish alternate layers of rice and
-grated or stewed apples. Add sugar and spice to each layer of apples. Cover
-with the rice, smooth with a spoon dipped in cold water or milk, and bake
-three-quarters of an hour if the apples are raw. To be served with a sweet
-sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>A rich Flour Pudding.</b>—Six eggs.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>Three spoonfuls of flour.</li>
-
-<li>One pint of milk.</li>
-
-<li>A tea-spoonful of salt.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Beat the yelks well and mix them smoothly with the flour, then add the
-milk. Lastly, whip the whites to a stiff froth; work them in, and bake immediately.</p>
-
-<p>To be eaten with a liquid sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>Apple-Pie.</b>—Take fair apples; pare, core, and quarter them.</p>
-
-<p>Take four table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar to a pie.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span></p>
-<p>Put into a preserving-pan, with the sugar; water enough to make a thin
-sirup; throw in a few blades of mace; boil the apple in the sirup until tender,
-a little at a time, so as not to break the pieces. Take them out with
-care, and lay them in soup-dishes.</p>
-
-<p>When you have preserved apple enough for your number of pies, add to
-the remainder of the sirup cinnamon and rose-water, or any other spice,
-enough to flavor it well, and divide it among the pies. Make a good paste,
-and line the rim of the dishes, and then cover them, leaving the pies without
-an under crust. Bake them a light brown.</p>
-
-<p><b>Spiced Apple Tarts.</b>—Rub stewed or baked apples through a sieve; sweeten
-them, and add powdered mace and cinnamon enough to flavor them. If
-the apples are not very tart, squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Some persons
-like the peel of the lemon grated into it. Line soup-dishes with a light crust,
-double on the rim, and fill them and bake them until the crust is done. Little
-bars of crust, a quarter of an inch in width, crossed on the top of the tart
-before it is baked, are ornamental.</p>
-
-<p><b>Baked Indian Pudding.</b>—Three pints of milk.</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>Ten heaping table-spoonfuls of Indian meal.</li>
-
-<li>Three gills of molasses.</li>
-
-<li>A piece of butter as large as a hen’s egg.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Scald the meal with the milk, and stir in the butter and molasses, and bake
-four or five hours. Some add a little chopped suet in place of the butter.
-This can be boiled.</p>
-
-<p><b>Apple Custard.</b>—Take half a dozen very tart apples, and take off the skin
-and cores. Cook them till they begin to be soft, in half a tea-cup of water.
-Then put them in a pudding-dish, and sugar them. Then beat six eggs with
-four spoonfuls of sugar; mix it with three pints of milk, and two tea-spoonfuls
-of salt; pour it over the apples, and bake for about half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Plain Macaroni or Vermicelli Puddings.</b>—Put two ounces of macaroni or
-vermicelli into a pint of milk, and simmer until tender. Flavor it by putting
-in two or three sticks of cinnamon while boiling, or some other spice when
-done. Then beat up three eggs, mix in an ounce of sugar, half a pint of
-milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a glass of wine. Add these to the broken
-macaroni or vermicelli, and bake in a slow oven.</p>
-
-<p><b>Green Corn Pudding.</b>—Twelve ears of corn, grated. Sweet-corn is best.
-One pint and a half of milk. Four well-beaten eggs. One tea-cup and a
-half of sugar.</p>
-
-<p>Mix the above, and bake it three hours in a buttered dish. More sugar is
-needed if common corn is used.</p>
-
-<p><b>Bread Pudding for Invalids or young Children.</b>—Grate half a pound of
-stale bread; add a pinch of salt, and pour on a pint of hot milk, and let it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span>
-soak half an hour. Add two well-beaten eggs, put it in a covered basin just
-large enough to hold it, tie it in a pudding-cloth, and boil it half an hour; or
-put it in a buttered pan in an oven, and bake it that time. Make a sauce of
-thin sweet cream, sweetened with sugar, and flavored with rose-water or nutmeg.</p>
-
-<p><b>A good Pudding.</b>—Line a buttered dish with slices of wheat bread, first
-dipped in milk. Fill the dish with sliced apple, and add sugar and spice.
-Cover with slices of bread soaked in milk; cover close with a plate, and bake
-three hours.</p>
-
-<p><b>Loaf Pudding.</b>—When bread is too stale, put a loaf in a pudding-bag and
-boil it in salted water an hour and a half, and eat it with hard pudding-sauce.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Lemon Pudding.</b>—Nine spoonfuls of grated apple, one grated lemon,
-(peel and pulp,) one spoonful of butter, and three eggs. Mix and bake, with
-or without a crust, about an hour. Cream improves it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Green Corn Patties</b>, (like oysters.)—Twelve ears of sweet-corn grated.
-(Yellow corn will do, but not so well.)</p>
-
-<ul class="recipe"><li>One tea-spoonful of salt, and one of pepper.</li>
-
-<li>One egg beaten into two table-spoonfuls of flour.</li>
-</ul>
-
-<p>Mix, make into small cakes, and cook on a griddle.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cracker Plum Pudding</b>, (excellent.)—Make a very sweet custard, and put
-into it a tea-spoonful of salt.</p>
-
-<p>Take soda crackers, split them, and butter them very thick.</p>
-
-<p>Put a layer of raisins on the bottom of a large pudding-dish, and then a
-layer of crackers, and pour on a little of the custard when warm, and after
-soaking a little, put on a thick layer of raisins, pressing them into the crackers
-with a knife. Then put on another layer of crackers, custard and fruit,
-and proceed thus till you have four layers. Then pour over the whole enough
-custard to rise even with the crackers. It is best made over night, so that
-the crackers may soak. Bake from an hour and a half to two hours. During
-the first half-hour, pour on, at three different times, a little of the custard,
-thinned with milk, to prevent the top from being hard and dry. If it
-browns fast, cover with paper.</p>
-
-<p>Bread and butter pudding is made in a similar manner.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.</h4>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Liquid Sauce.</b>—Six table-spoonfuls of sugar. Ten table-spoonfuls of water.
-Four table-spoonfuls of butter. Two table-spoonfuls of wine. Nutmeg,
-or lemon, or orange-peel, or rose-water, to flavor.</p>
-
-<p>Heat the water and sugar very hot. Stir in the butter till it is melted, but
-be careful not to let it boil. Add the wine and nutmeg, just before it is
-used.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span></p>
-<p><b>Hard Sauce.</b>—Two table-spoonfuls of butter.</p>
-
-<p>Ten table-spoonfuls of sugar.</p>
-
-<p>Work this till white, then add wine or grated lemon-peel, and spice to
-your taste.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Hard Sauce.</b>—Mix half as much butter as sugar, and heat it fifteen
-minutes in a bowl set in hot water. Stir till it foams. Flavor with
-wine or grated lemon-peel.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Healthful Pudding Sauce.</b>—Boil, in half a pint of water, some orange
-or lemon-peel, or peach-leaves. Take them out and pour in a thin paste,
-made with two spoonfuls of flour, and boil five minutes. Then put in a pint
-of sugar, and let it boil. Then put in two spoonfuls of butter, add a glass of
-wine, and take it up before it boils.</p>
-
-<p><b>An excellent Sauce for any Kind of Pudding.</b>—Beat the yelks of three
-eggs into sugar enough to make it quite sweet. Add a tea-cup of cream, or
-milk, and a little butter, and the grated peel and juice of two lemons. When
-lemons can not be had, use dried lemon-peel, and a little tartaric acid. This
-is a good sauce for puddings, especially for the Starch Minute Pudding.
-Good cider in place of wine is sometimes used.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>PASTE FOR PUDDINGS AND PIES.</h4>
-
-<p>This is an article which, if the laws of health were obeyed,
-would be banished from every table; for it unites the three
-evils—animal fat, <em>cooked</em> animal fat, and heavy bread. Nothing
-in the whole range of cooking is more indigestible
-than rich pie-crust, especially when, as bottom crust, it is
-made still worse by being soaked, or slack-baked. Still, as
-this work does not profess to leave out unwholesome dishes,
-but only to set forth an abundance of healthful ones, and
-the reasons for preferring them, the best directions will be
-given for making the best kinds of paste.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Pie-Crusts without Fats.</b>—Good crusts for plain pies are made by wetting
-up the crust with rich milk turned sour, and sweetened with saleratus. Still
-better crusts are made of sour cream, sweetened with saleratus.</p>
-
-<p>Mealy potatoes boiled in salt water and mixed with the same quantity of
-flour, and wet with sour milk sweetened with saleratus, make a good crust.</p>
-
-<p>Good light bread rolled thin makes a good crust for Pan-Dowdy, or pan-pie,
-and also for the upper crust of fruit-pies, to be made without bottom
-crusts.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pie-Crust made with Butter.</b>—Very plain paste is made by taking a quar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span>ter
-of a pound of butter for every pound of flour. Still richer, allow three
-quarters of a pound of butter to a pound of flour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Directions for making rich Pie-Crust.</b>—Take a quarter of the butter to
-be used, rub it thoroughly into the flour, and wet it with <em>cold</em> water to a stiff
-paste.</p>
-
-<p>Next dredge the board thick with flour, cut up the remainder of the butter
-into thin slices, lay them upon the flour, dredge flour over thick, and then
-roll out the butter into thin sheets, and lay it aside.</p>
-
-<p>Then roll out the paste thin, cover it with a sheet of this rolled butter;
-dredge on more flour, fold it up and roll it out, and repeat the process till all
-the butter is used up.</p>
-
-<p>Paste should be made as quick and as cold as possible. Some use a marble
-table in order to keep it cold. Roll <em>from</em> you every time.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVI.<br />
-
-<small>CAKE.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The multiplication of recipes for cakes, pies, puddings, and
-desserts is troublesome and needless, inasmuch as a little
-generalization will reduce them to a comparatively small
-compass, and yet afford a large variety.</p>
-
-<p>Cake is of three classes, as raised either by eggs, or by
-yeast, or by powders; and different proportions of flour, sugar,
-shortening, and wetting make the variety, as it appears
-in what follows.</p>
-
-
-<p class ="center"><i>General Directions</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Sift flour, roll sugar, sift spices, and prepare fruit beforehand.
-Break eggs that are to be whipped, one at a time, in
-a cup, and let none of the yelk go in. Have them <em>cold</em>, and
-you will get on faster.</p>
-
-<p>Excepting dough-cake, never use the hand in making
-cake, but a wooden spoon, and in an earthen vessel.</p>
-
-<p>The goodness of cake depends greatly on baking. If too
-hot at bottom, set the pan on a brick; if too hot at top, cover
-with paper. If top-crust is formed suddenly, it prevents
-what is below from rising properly; and so, when the oven
-is very hot, cover with paper.</p>
-
-<p>When fruit is used, sprinkle the fruit with a little flour to
-keep it from sinking when baking. Some put fruit in in layers,
-one in the middle and another near the top, as this
-spreads it evenly. Put in the flour just before baking.</p>
-
-<p>When using whites beaten to a froth separately, put in
-the last thing, so that the bubbles of air which make the
-lightness may be retained more perfectly. Bake as soon as
-the cake is ready.</p>
-
-<p>Water is as good as milk for most cakes as well as for
-bread; a mixture of new and stale milk injures the cake.</p>
-
-<p>Streaks in cake are made either by imperfect mixing, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span>
-unequal baking, or by sudden decrease of heat before the
-cake is done. Try when cake is done, by inserting a splinter
-or straw; if it comes out clean, the cake is done.</p>
-
-<p>The best way to keep cake is in a tin box or stone jar.</p>
-
-<p>Do not wrap cake or bread in a cloth.</p>
-
-<p>In baking, move cake <em>gently</em> if you change its place, or it
-will fall in streaks. Cake is more nicely baked when the
-pan is lined with oiled paper, especially in old pans, which
-often give a bad taste to the bottom and sides of the cake.</p>
-
-
-<h4>CAKE RAISED WITH POWDERS.</h4>
-
-<p>Although it is unhealthful to use powders in bread for
-daily food, the small quantity used for cake will do no harm.</p>
-
-<p>The cake most easily made is raised with soda and cream
-tartar or other baking powders, and many varieties can be
-made by the following recipes:</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>One, Two, Three, Four Cake.</b>—Take one cup of butter, (half a cup is better,)
-two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs. Mix butter,
-sugar, and yelks. Then add the flour very thoroughly, and lastly the whites
-in a stiff froth. Bake immediately, and the cake will be light, with nothing
-added. But it is equally light to omit the eggs and work two tea-spoonfuls
-of cream tartar into the flour, and then mix well first the butter and sugar,
-and then the flour. When ready to bake, mix very thoroughly and quickly
-a tea-spoonful of soda, or a bit of sal volatile dissolved in a cup of warm (not
-hot) water. This makes two loaves. The following are varieties made by
-this recipe, using raising either with eggs or powders:</p>
-
-<p><b>Chocolate-Cake.</b>—Bake the above in thin layers, only a little thicker than
-carpeting. When nearly cool, spread over the cake a paste made of equal
-parts of scraped chocolate and sugar wet with water. Place the cake in
-layers one over another, frost the top, and then cut in oblong pieces for the
-cake-basket.</p>
-
-<p><b>Jelly-Cake.</b>—Proceed as above, only using jelly instead of chocolate.</p>
-
-<p><b>Orange-Cake.</b>—Proceed as for jelly-cake, having flavored the cake when
-making with a little grated orange-peel. The oranges must be peeled, chopped
-fine, and sweetened.</p>
-
-<p><b>Almond and Cocoa-nut Cake.</b>—Blanch three ounces of almonds, (that is,
-pour on boiling water and take off the skins.) Chop or pound them with an
-equal quantity of sugar, make a thin paste with water, and use this instead
-of the jelly. Cocoa-nut, chopped fine, can be used instead of almonds. <em>Straw</em><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span><em>berries</em>,
-<em>Peaches</em>, <em>Cranberries</em>, and <em>Quinces</em>, and any other fruit, mashed or
-cooked, can be used in place of the jelly, being first sweetened.</p>
-
-<p>This cake can be made richer by adding spices and fruit before baking.
-Cream can be used in place of butter. Chopped almonds, citron, or cocoa-nut
-may be put in the cake for baking, making still another variety.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>CAKES RAISED WITH EGGS.</h4>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Pound-Cake</b>, (very rich.)—One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, half a
-pound of butter, nine eggs, a glass of brandy, one nutmeg, one tea-spoonful
-of pounded cinnamon. Mix half the flour with the butter, brandy, and
-spice; add the yelks of eggs beaten well into the sugar. Beat the whites to
-a stiff froth, and add them in alternate spoonfuls with the rest of the flour:
-then beat a long time, and bake as soon as done.</p>
-
-<p><b>Plain Cake raised with Eggs.</b>—Take a pound or quart of flour, half as
-much sugar, half as much butter as sugar, four or five eggs, one nutmeg, and
-a tea-spoonful of cinnamon. Mix well the sugar, butter, yelks, and spice;
-then the flour, and last the whites as stiff froth.</p>
-
-<p>These two cakes are varied by adding citron, fruit, or other spices, making
-them more or less rich.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fruit-Cake.</b>—This to be made either like pound-cake, with fruit added;
-or like plain cake, raised with eggs or yeast, adding fruit.</p>
-
-<p><em>Walnut-meats</em> or <em>Almonds</em> may be chopped and put in the cake instead of
-fruit, making another variety.</p>
-
-<p><b>Huckleberry-Cake.</b>—One quart of huckleberries, three cups of sugar, three
-cups of flour, six eggs, one cup of sweet milk, and one tea-spoonful of soda
-dissolved in a little hot water. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the
-beaten yelks. Then add the milk, flour, and two grated nutmegs. Then add
-the whites, whipped to a stiff froth, and the berries, gently, so as not to mash
-them. An excellent cake.</p>
-
-<p>Currants and other berries may be used in the same way. If very sour,
-add more sugar. If doubtful of raising it enough, add a tea-spoonful of
-soda; or, more surely, a bit of sal volatile the size of a hickory-nut.</p>
-
-<p><b>Gold and Silver Cake.</b>—This makes a pretty variety when cut and placed
-together in a cake-dish. For each, take one cup of sugar (for the silver,
-white; and for the gold, brown), half a cup of butter, half a cup of milk, two
-cups of flour, one tea-spoonful of cream tartar, and half as much soda. For
-the one, use the yelk of three eggs; and the white, as stiff froth, for the other.
-Mix the cream tartar very thoroughly in the flour, and put in the soda
-last. Bake immediately. This makes one loaf of each kind, in flat pans, and
-is to be frosted. If more is wanted, double the quantity of each ingredient.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rich Sponge-Cake.</b>—Take twelve eggs, and the weight of ten in sugar, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span>
-six in flour. Beat the sugar into the yelks, add the juice and grated peel of
-one lemon, then the flour, and then the whites cut to a stiff froth, and bake
-as soon as possible. Bake in brick-shaped pans, and line them with buttered
-paper.</p>
-
-<p><b>Plain Sponge-Cake</b>, (easily made.)—Mix thoroughly two cups of sifted flour
-and two cups of white sugar with one tea-spoonful of cream tartar. Beat
-four eggs to a froth, not separating the whites, and add some grated lemon-peel,
-or nutmeg, or rose-water. Just before baking, add half a tea-spoonful
-of soda dissolved in three great-spoonfuls of warm water. Beat quick, and
-set in the oven immediately.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>GINGERBREAD, FRIED CAKES, COOKIES, AND OTHER CAKES.</h4>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Aunt Esther’s Gingerbread.</b>—Take half a pint of molasses, a small cup of
-soft butter, a gill and a half of water, a heaping tea-spoonful of soda dissolved
-in a table-spoonful of hot water, and one even table-spoonful of strong ginger,
-or two if weak. Rub butter and ginger into the flour, add the water,
-soda, and molasses, and while doing it, put in two table-spoonfuls of vinegar.
-Roll it in cards an inch thick, and bake half an hour in a quick oven.</p>
-
-
-<p><b>Sponge Gingerbread.</b>—Add to the above two beaten eggs, and water to
-make it thin as pound-cake, and bake as soon as well mixed.</p>
-
-<p><b>Ginger-Snaps and Seed-Cookies.</b>—One cup of butter, two cups of sugar or
-molasses, one cup of water, one table-spoonful of ginger, one heaping tea-spoonful
-of cinnamon and one of cloves, one tea-spoonful of soda dissolved
-in a small cup of hot water. Mix and add flour for a stiff dough, roll and
-cut in small round cakes. Omit the spices, and put in four or five table-spoonfuls
-of caraway seeds, and you have <em>seed-cakes</em>. Leave out all spice
-and seeds, and you have plain cookies.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fried Cakes</b>.—For <em>Doughnuts</em>, use the recipe for Plain Sponge-Cake, adding
-flour enough to roll. Or take Plain Cake raised with eggs, and add flour
-enough to roll. Or take Dough-Cake, or Plain Loaf-Cake, and thicken so
-as to roll. Roll about half an inch thick and cut into oblong pieces. For
-<em>Crullers</em>, take plain cake raised with eggs, and thicken stiff with flour; roll it
-thin, and cut into strips, and form twisted cakes. More sugar and butter
-make it richer, but less healthful.</p>
-
-<p>Have plenty of lard, or, better, strained beef-fat, quite hot; try with a
-small piece first, and, if right, there will be a bubbling. Turn two or three
-times to cook all alike, break open one to try if done, and when done, take
-up with a skimmer and drain well. If the fat is too hot, it will brown too
-quick; if not hot enough, the fat will soak into the cake. Remember that
-frying is the most unhealthful mode of cooking food, and the one most likely
-to be done amiss.</p></blockquote>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span></p>
-
-
-<h4>CAKE RAISED WITH YEAST.</h4>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Plain Loaf-Cake.</b>—Two pounds of dried and sifted flour, a pint of warm
-water in which is melted a quarter of a pound of butter, half a tea-spoonful
-of salt, three eggs without beating, and three quarters of a pound of sugar,
-well mixed; and then add two nutmegs, two tea-spoonfuls of cinnamon, and
-two gills of home-brewed or half as much distillery yeast. When light, add
-two or three pounds of fruit, and let it stand half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rich Loaf-Cake</b> is made like the above, only adding more butter and sugar.
-The following are specimens of the diverse proportions: Four pounds of
-flour, three of sugar, two of butter, a quart of water or milk, ten unbeaten
-eggs, half a pint of wine, three nutmegs, three tea-spoonfuls of cinnamon,
-and two cloves; two gills of distillery yeast, or twice as much home-brewed.
-This is what in New-England would be called Election or Commencement-Cake.
-Two or three risings used to be practiced, but one is as good if the
-mixing is thorough.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dough-Cake.</b>—Three cups of raised dough, half a cup of butter, two cups
-of sugar, two eggs, fruit and spice to the taste. When light, bake in loaves.
-This can be made more or less sweet, and shortened by lessening or increasing
-the quantity of dough. It must be mixed with the hands.</p>
-
-<p><b>Icing for Cake.</b>—Put the whites of eggs into a dish, and for each egg use
-about a quarter of a pound of sugar. Beat the whites, slowly adding the
-sugar. This is better than beating the whites first, and then adding sugar.
-A little lemon-juice or tartaric acid makes it whiter and better. Spread the
-icing, after pouring it upon the centre, with a knife dipped in water. If you
-can, dry in an open, sunny window. Otherwise, harden it in the oven. It
-improves it by mixing, when adding sugar, some almonds pounded to a thin
-paste.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVII.<br />
-
-<small>PRESERVES AND JELLIES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>General Directions</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Gather fruit when it is dry.</p>
-
-<p>Long boiling hardens the fruit.</p>
-
-<p>Pour boiling water over the sieves used, and wring out
-jelly-bags in hot water the moment you are to use them.</p>
-
-<p>Do not squeeze while straining through jelly-bags.</p>
-
-<p>Let the pots and jars containing sweetmeats just made
-remain uncovered three days.</p>
-
-<p>For permanent covering, lay brandy papers over the top,
-cover them tight, and seal them; or, what is best of all,
-soak a split bladder and tie it tight over them. In drying,
-it will shrink so as to be perfectly air-tight.</p>
-
-<p>Keep them in a dry but not warm place.</p>
-
-<p>A thick, leathery mold helps to preserve fruit, but when
-mold appears in specks, the preserves must be scalded in a
-warm oven, or the jars containing them are to be set into
-hot water, which must then boil till the preserves are
-scalded.</p>
-
-<p>Always keep watch of preserves which are not sealed,
-especially in warm and damp weather. The only sure way
-to keep them without risk or care is to make them with
-enough sugar and seal them or tie bladder covers over.</p>
-
-<p>The best kettle is iron lined with porcelain. If brass is
-used, it must be bright, or acids will make a poison.</p>
-
-<p>The chief art is to boil continuously, slowly, and gently,
-and take up as soon as done; too long boiling makes the
-fruit hard and dark. Jellies will not harden well if the
-boiling stops for some minutes. Try jellies with a spoon,
-and as soon as they harden around the edge quickly, they
-are done. In making, the sugar should be heated, and not
-added till the juice boils.</p>
-
-<p>Keep preserves in small glass jars, as frequent opening injures
-them.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Canned Fruit.</b>—This is far more economical than to preserve in sugar.
-Some can be canned without any sugar, and very nice sugar demands only
-one fourth sugar to three fourths fruit. The best cans are glass with metal
-tops. Those of Wilcox are the best known to the author. The W. L. Imlay’s,
-of Philadelphia, are recommended as best of any.</p>
-
-<p><i>Directions.</i>—Set the jars in a large boiler, and then fill it with cold water
-and heat to boiling. Having filled the jars to within an inch of the top with
-alternate layers of fruit and sugar, (in proportion of one half or one fourth of
-a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, according as it is more or less acid,) set
-them in cold water. As soon as the fruit has risen to the top of the jar, screw
-on the cover and take from the water. Peaches and pears may be canned
-without sugar.</p>
-
-<p><b>To clarify Sirup for Sweetmeats.</b>—For each pound of sugar allow half a
-pint of water. For every three pounds of sugar allow the white of one egg.
-Mix when cold, boil a few minutes, and skim it. Let it stand ten minutes
-and skim it again, then strain it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Brandy Peaches.</b>—Prick the peaches with a needle, put them into a kettle
-with cold water, heat the water, scald them until sufficiently soft to be penetrated
-with a straw. Take half a pound of sugar to every pound of peaches;
-make the sirup with the sugar, and while it is a little warm mix two thirds as
-much of white brandy with it, put the fruit into jars and pour the sirup over
-it. The late white clingstones are the best to use.</p>
-
-<p><b>Peaches</b>, (not very rich.)—To six pounds of fruit put five of sugar. Make
-the sirup. Boil the fruit in the sirup till it is clear. If the fruit is ripe, half
-an hour will cook it sufficiently.</p>
-
-<p><b>Peaches</b>, (very elegant.)—First take out the stones, then pare them. To
-every pound of peaches allow one third of a pound of sugar. Make a thin
-sirup, boil the peaches in the sirup till tender, but not till they break. Put
-them into a bowl and pour the sirup over them. Put them in a dry, cool
-place, and let them stand two days. Then make a new, rich sirup, allowing
-three quarters of a pound of sugar to one of fruit. Drain the peaches from
-the first sirup, and boil them until they are clear in the last sirup. The first
-sirup must not be added, but may be used for any other purpose you please,
-as it is somewhat bitter. The large white clingstones are the best.</p>
-
-<p><b>To preserve Quinces whole.</b>—Select the largest and fairest quinces, (as the
-poorer ones will answer for jelly.) Take out the cores and pare them. Boil
-the quinces in water till tender. Take them out separately on a platter. To
-each pound of quince allow a pound of sugar. Make the sirup, then boil the
-quinces in the sirup until clear.</p>
-
-<p><b>Quince Jelly.</b>—Rub the quinces with a cloth until perfectly smooth. Remove
-the cores, cut them into small pieces, pack them tight in your kettle,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span>
-pour cold water on them until it is on a level with the fruit, but not to cover
-it; boil till very soft, but not till they break. Dip off all the liquor you can,
-then put the fruit into a sieve and press it, and drain off all the remaining
-liquor. Then to a pint of the liquor add a pound of sugar and boil it fifteen
-minutes. Pour it, as soon as cool, into small jars or tumblers. Let it stand
-in the sun a few days, till it begins to dry on the top. It will continue to
-harden after it is put up.</p>
-
-<p><b>Calf’s-Foot Jelly.</b>—To four nicely cleaned calf’s feet put four quarts of water;
-let it simmer gently till reduced to two quarts, then strain it and let it
-stand all night. Then take off all the fat and sediment, melt it, add the juice,
-and put in the peel of three lemons and a pint of wine, the whites of four eggs,
-three sticks of cinnamon, and sugar to your taste. Boil ten minutes, then
-skim out the spice and lemon-peel and strain it.</p>
-
-<p>The American gelatine, now very common, makes a good jelly, with far less
-trouble; and in using it, you only need to dissolve it in hot water, and then
-sweeten and flavor it.</p>
-
-<p><b>To preserve Apples.</b>—Take only tart and well-flavored apples; peel and
-take out the cores without dividing them, and then parboil them. Make the
-sirup with the apple water, allowing three quarters of a pound of white sugar
-to every pound of apples, and boil some lemon-peel and juice in the sirup.
-Pour the sirup, while boiling, upon the apples, turn them gently while cooking,
-and only let the sirup simmer, as hard boiling breaks the fruit. Take it
-out when the apple is tender through. At the end of a week, boil them once
-more in the sirup.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pears.</b>—Take out the cores, cut off the stems, and pare them. Boil the
-pears in water till they are tender. Watch them that they do not break. Lay
-them separately on a platter as you take them out. To each pound of fruit
-take a pound of sugar. Make the sirup, and boil the fruit in the sirup till
-clear.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pine-Apples</b>, (very fine.)—Pare and <em>grate</em> the pine-apple. Take an equal
-quantity of fruit and sugar. Boil them slowly in a saucepan for half an hour.</p>
-
-<p><b>Purple Plums, No. 1.</b>—Make a rich sirup. Boil the plums in the sirup
-very gently till they begin to crack open. Then take them from the sirup into
-a jar, and pour the sirup over them. Let them stand a few days, and then
-boil them a second time very gently.</p>
-
-<p><b>Purple Plums, No. 2.</b>—Take an equal weight of fruit and nice brown sugar.
-Take a clean stone jar, put in a layer of fruit and a layer of sugar till
-all is in. Cover them tightly with dough, or other tight cover, and put them
-in a brick oven after you have baked in it. If you bake in the morning, put
-the plums in the oven at evening, and let them remain till the next morning.
-When you bake again, set them in the oven as before. Uncover them and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span>
-stir them carefully with a spoon, and so as not to break them. Set them in
-the oven thus <em>the third</em> time, and they will be sufficiently cooked.</p>
-
-<p><b>White or Green Plums.</b>—Put each one into boiling water and rub off the
-skin. Allow a pound of fruit to a pound of sugar. Make a sirup of sugar
-and water. Boil the fruit in the sirup until clear—about twenty minutes.
-Let the sirup be cold before you pour it over the fruit. They can be preserved
-without taking off the skins by pricking them. Some of the kernels
-of the stones boiled in give a pleasant flavor.</p>
-
-<p><b>Citron Melons.</b>—Two fresh lemons to a pound of melon. Let the sugar
-be equal in weight to the lemon and melon. Take out the pulp of the melon
-and cut it in thin slices, and boil it in fair water till tender. Take it out and
-boil the lemon in the same water about twenty minutes. Take out the lemon,
-add the sugar, and, if necessary, a little more water. Let it boil. When
-clear, add the melon and let it boil a few minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Strawberries.</b>—Look over them with care. Weigh a pound of sugar to
-each pound of fruit. Put a layer of fruit on the bottom of the preserving-kettle,
-then a layer of sugar, and so on till all is in the pan. Boil them about
-fifteen minutes. Put them in bottles, hot, and seal them. Then put them
-in a box and fill it in with dry sand. The flavor of the fruit is preserved
-more perfectly by simply packing the fruit and sugar in alternate layers, and
-sealing the jar, without cooking; but the preserves do not look so well.</p>
-
-<p><b>Blackberry Jam.</b>—Allow three quarters of a pound of brown sugar to a
-pound of fruit. Boil the fruit half an hour, then add the sugar and boil all
-together ten minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>To preserve Currants to eat with Meat.</b>—Strip them from the stem.
-Boil them an hour, and then to a pound of the fruit add a pound of brown
-sugar. Boil all together fifteen or twenty minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cherries.</b>—Take out the stones. To a pound of fruit allow a pound of
-sugar. Put a layer of fruit on the bottom of the preserving-kettle, then a
-layer of sugar, and continue thus till all are put in. Boil till clear. Put
-them in bottles hot and seal them. Keep them in dry sand.</p>
-
-<p><b>Currants.</b>—Strip them from the stems. Allow a pound of sugar to a
-pound of currants. Boil them together ten minutes. Take them from the
-sirup and let the sirup boil twenty minutes, and pour it on the fruit. Put
-them in small jars or tumblers, and let them stand in the sun a few days.</p>
-
-<p><b>Raspberry Jam, No. 1.</b>—Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Press
-them with a spoon in an earthen dish. Add the sugar, and boil all together
-fifteen minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Raspberry Jam, No. 2.</b>—Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Boil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span>
-the fruit half an hour, or till the seeds are soft. Strain one quarter of the
-fruit, and throw away the seeds. Add the sugar, and boil the whole ten minutes.
-A little currant-juice gives it a pleasant flavor, and when that is used,
-an equal quantity of sugar must be added.</p>
-
-<p><b>Currant Jelly.</b>—Pick over the currants with care. Put them in a stone
-jar, and set it into a kettle of boiling water. Let it boil till the fruit is very
-soft. Strain it through a sieve. Then run the juice through a jelly-bag.
-Put a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, and boil it together five minutes.
-Set it in the sun a few days. If it stops boiling, it is less likely to turn to jelly.</p>
-
-<p><b>Quince Marmalade.</b>—Rub the quinces with a cloth, cut them in quarters.
-Put them on the fire with a little water, and stew them till they are sufficiently
-tender to rub them through a sieve. When strained, put a pound of sugar
-to a pound of the pulp. Set it on the fire, and let it cook slowly. To ascertain
-when it is done, take out a little and let it get cold, and if it cuts smoothly,
-it is done.</p>
-
-<p>Crab-apple marmalade is made in the same way.</p>
-
-<p>Crab-apple jelly is made like quince jelly.</p>
-
-<p>Most other fruits are preserved so much like the preceding that it is needless
-to give any more particular directions than to say that a pound of sugar
-to a pound of fruit is the general rule for all preserves that are to be kept
-through warm weather and a long time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Preserved Water-melon Rinds.</b>—This a fine article to keep well without
-trouble for a long time. Peel the melon, and boil it in just enough water to
-cover it till it is soft, trying with a fork. (If you wish it green, put green
-vine-leaves above and below each layer, and scatter powdered alum, less than
-half a tea-spoonful to each pound.)</p>
-
-<p>Allow a pound of sugar to each pound of rind, and clarify it as directed
-previously.</p>
-
-<p>Simmer the rinds two hours in this sirup, and flavor it with lemon-peel
-grated and tied in a bag. Then put the melon in a tureen, and boil the sirup
-till it looks thick, and pour it over. Next day, give the sirup another boiling,
-and put the juice of one lemon to each quart of sirup. Take care not to
-make it bitter by too much of the peel.</p>
-
-<p>Citrons are preserved in the same manner. Both these keep through hot
-weather with very little care in sealing and keeping.</p>
-
-<p><b>Preserved Pumpkin.</b>—Cut a thick yellow pumpkin, peeled, into strips two
-inches wide and five or six long.</p>
-
-<p>Take a pound of white sugar for each pound of fruit, and scatter it over the
-fruit, and pour on two wine-glasses of lemon-juice for each pound of pumpkin.</p>
-
-<p>Next day, put the parings of one or two lemons with the fruit and sugar,
-and boil the whole three quarters of an hour, or long enough to make it tender
-and clear without breaking. Lay the pumpkin to cool, strain the sirup,
-and then pour it on to the pumpkin.</p>
-
-<p>If there is too much lemon-peel, it will be bitter.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
-
-
-<small>DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES</small>.</h3>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Ice-Cream.</b>—One quart of milk. One and a half table-spoonfuls of arrow-root.
-The grated peel of two lemons. One quart of thick cream.</p>
-
-<p>Wet the arrow-root with a little cold milk, and add it to the quart of milk
-when boiling hot; sweeten it very sweet with white sugar, put in the grated
-lemon-peel, boil the whole, and strain it into the quart of cream. When
-partly frozen, add the juice of the two lemons. Twice this quantity is enough
-for thirty-five persons. Find the quantity of sugar that suits you by measure,
-and then you can use this every time, without tasting. Some add whites of
-eggs; others think it just as good without. It must be made <em>very</em> sweet, as
-it loses much by freezing.</p>
-
-<p>If you have no apparatus for freezing, (which is <em>almost</em> indispensable), put
-the cream into a tin pail with a very tight cover, mix equal quantities of snow
-and blown salt, (not the coarse salt), or of pounded ice and salt, in a tub, and
-put it as <em>high as the pail, or freezer</em>; turn the pail or freezer half round and
-back again with one hand, for half an hour, or longer, if you want it very
-nice. Three quarters of an hour steadily will make it good enough. While
-doing this, stop four or five times, and mix the frozen part with the rest, the
-last time very thoroughly, and then the lemon-juice must be put in. Then
-cover the freezer tight with snow and salt till it is wanted. The mixture
-must be perfectly cool before being put in the freezer. Renew the snow and
-salt while shaking, so as to have it kept tight to the sides of the freezer. A
-hole in the tub holding the freezing mixture, to let off the water, is a great
-advantage. In a tin pail it would take much longer to freeze than in the
-freezer, probably nearly twice as long. A long stick, like a coffee-stick,
-should be used in scraping the ice from the sides. Iron spoons will be affected
-by the lemon-juice, and give a bad taste.</p>
-
-<p>In taking it out for use, first wipe off every particle of the freezing mixture
-dry, then with a knife loosen the sides, then invert the freezer upon the dish
-in which the ice is to be served, and apply two towels wrung out of hot water
-to the bottom part, and the whole will slide out in the shape of a cylinder.
-Freezers are now sold quite cheap, and such as freeze in a short time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Strawberry Ice-Cream.</b>—Rub a pint of ripe strawberries through a sieve,
-add a pint of cream, and four ounces of powdered sugar, and freeze it. Other
-fruits may be used thus.</p>
-
-<p><b>Ice-Cream without Cream.</b>—A vanilla bean or a lemon rind is first boiled
-in a quart of milk. Take out the bean or peel, and add the yelks of four<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span>
-eggs, beaten well. Heat it scalding hot, but do not boil it, stirring in white
-sugar till <em>very</em> sweet. When cold, freeze it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fruit Ice-Cream.</b>—Make rich boiled custard, and mash into it the soft ripe
-fruit, or the grated or cooked hard fruit, or grated pine-apples. Rub all
-through a sieve, sweeten it very sweet, and freeze it. Quince, apple, pear,
-peach, strawberry, and raspberry are all very good for this purpose.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Cream for stewed Fruit.</b>—Boil two or three peach leaves, or a vanilla
-bean, in a quart of cream, or milk, till flavored. Strain and sweeten it, mix
-it with the yelks of four eggs, well beaten; then, while heating it, add the
-whites cut to a froth. When it thickens take it up. When cool, pour it
-over the fruit or preserves.</p>
-
-<p><b>Currant, Raspberry, or Strawberry Whisk.</b>—Put three gills of the juice
-of the fruit to ten ounces of crushed sugar, add the juice of a lemon, and a
-pint and a half of cream. Whisk it till quite thick, and serve it in jelly-glasses
-or a glass dish.</p>
-
-<p><b>Lemonade Ice, and other Ices.</b>—To a quart of lemonade, add the whites
-of six eggs, cut to a froth, and freeze it. The juices of any fruit, sweetened
-and watered, may be prepared in the same way, and are very fine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Charlotte Russe.</b>—One ounce of gelatine simmered in half a pint of milk
-or water, four ounces of sugar beat into the yelks of four eggs, and added to
-the gelatine when dissolved. Then add a pint of cream or new milk. Lastly,
-add the whites beat to a stiff froth, and beat all together. Line a mold with
-slices of sponge-cake and set it on ice, and when the cream is a little thickened,
-fill the mold; let it stand five or six hours, and then turn it into a dish.</p>
-
-<p><b>Flummery.</b>—Cut sponge-cake into thin slices, and line a deep dish. Make
-it moist with white wine; make a rich custard, using only the yelks of the
-eggs. When cool, turn it into the dish, and cut the whites to a stiff froth,
-and put on the top.</p>
-
-<p><b>Chicken Salad.</b>—Cut the white meat of chickens into small bits the size
-of peas. Chop the white parts of celery nearly as small.</p>
-
-<p>Prepare a dressing thus: rub the yelks of hard-boiled eggs smooth, to
-each yelk put half a tea-spoonful of liquid mustard, the same quantity of salt,
-a table-spoonful of oil mixed in very slowly and thoroughly, and half a wine-glass
-of vinegar. Mix the chicken and celery in a large bowl, and pour over
-this dressing.</p>
-
-<p>The dressing must not be put on till just before it is used. Bread and butter
-and crackers are served with it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Wine Jelly.</b>—Two ounces of American isinglass or gelatine. One quart of
-boiling water. A pint and a half of white wine. The whites of three eggs.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span></p>
-<p>Soak the gelatine in cold water half an hour. Then take it from the water,
-and pour on the quart of boiling water. When cooled, add the grated rind
-of one lemon, and the juice of two, and a pound and a half of loaf-sugar.
-Then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir them in, and let the
-whole boil till the egg is well mixed, but do not stir while it boils. Strain
-through a jelly-bag, and then add the wine.</p>
-
-<p>In cold weather, a pint more of water may be added. This jelly can be
-colored by beet-juice, saffron, or indigo, for fancy dishes.</p>
-
-<p><b>An Apple Lemon Pudding.</b>—Six spoonfuls of grated, or of cooked and
-strained, apple. Three lemons, pulp, rind, and juice, all grated. Half a
-pound of melted butter. Sugar to the taste. Seven eggs well beaten.</p>
-
-<p>Mix, and bake with or without paste. It can be made still plainer by
-using nine spoonfuls of apple, one lemon, two thirds of a cup full of butter,
-and three eggs.</p>
-
-<p><b>Wheat Flour Blanc-Mange.</b>—Wet up six table-spoonfuls of flour to a thin
-paste with cold milk, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk. Flavor with
-lemon-peel or peach-leaves boiled in the milk. Add a pinch of salt, cool it in
-a mold, and eat with sweetened cream and sweetmeats.</p>
-
-<p><b>Orange Marmalade.</b>—Take two lemons and a dozen oranges; grate the
-yellow rinds of all the oranges but five, and set it aside. Make a clear sirup
-of an equal weight of sugar. Clear the oranges of rind and seeds, put them
-with the grated rinds into the sirup, and boil about twenty minutes till it is a
-transparent mass.</p>
-
-<p><b>A simple Lemon Jelly</b>, (easily made.)—One ounce of gelatine. A pound
-and a half of loaf-sugar. Three lemons, pulp, skin, and juice, grated.</p>
-
-<p>Pour a quart of boiling water upon the isinglass, add the rest, mix and
-strain it, then add a glass of wine, and pour it to cool in some regular form.
-If the lemons are not fresh, add a little cream of tartar or tartaric acid.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cranberry.</b>—Pour boiling water on them, and then you can easily separate
-the good and the bad. Boil them in a very little water till soft, then sweeten
-to your taste. If you wish a jelly, take a portion and strain through a fine
-sieve.</p>
-
-<p><b>Apple Ice</b>, (very fine.)—Take finely-flavored apples, grate them fine, and
-then make them <em>very</em> sweet, and freeze them. It is very delicious.</p>
-
-<p>Pears, peaches, or quinces also are nice, either grated fine or stewed and
-run through a sieve, then sweetened <em>very</em> sweet, and frozen. The flavor is
-much better preserved when grated than when cooked.</p>
-
-<p><b>Whip Syllabub.</b>—One pint of cream. Sifted white sugar to your taste.
-Half a tumbler of white wine. The grated rind and juice of one lemon.
-Beat all to a stiff froth.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span></p>
-<p><b>Apple Snow.</b>—Put six very tart apples in cold water over a slow fire.
-When soft, take away the skins and cores and mix in a pint of sifted white
-sugar; beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff froth, and then add them to the
-apples and sugar. Put it in a dessert-dish and ornament with myrtle and
-box.</p>
-
-<p><b>Iced Fruit.</b>—Take fine bunches of currants on the stalk, dip them in well-beaten
-whites of eggs, lay them on a sieve and sift white sugar over them, and
-set them in a warm place to dry.</p>
-
-<p><b>Ornamental Froth.</b>—The whites of four eggs in a stiff froth, put into the
-sirup of preserved raspberries or strawberries, beaten well together, and turned
-over ice-cream or blanc-mange. Make white froth to combine with the colored
-in fanciful ways. It can be put on the top of boiling milk, and hardened
-to keep its form.</p>
-
-<p><b>To clarify Isinglass.</b>—Dissolve an ounce of isinglass in a cup of boiling
-water, take off the scum, and drain through a coarse cloth. Jellies, candies,
-and blanc-mange should be done in brass and stirred with silver.</p>
-
-<p><b>Blanc-Mange.</b>—Two and a half sheets of gelatine broken into one quart of
-milk; put in a warm place and stir till it dissolves. An ounce and a half of
-clarified isinglass stirred into the milk. Sugar to your taste. A tea-spoonful
-of fine salt. Flavor with lemon, or orange, or rose-water. Let it boil,
-stirring it well, then strain it into molds.</p>
-
-<p>Three ounces of almonds pounded to a paste and added while boiling is
-an improvement. Or filberts or hickory-nuts can be skinned and used thus.
-It can be flavored by boiling in it a vanilla bean or a stick of cinnamon. (Save
-the bean to use again.)</p>
-
-<p><b>Apple Jelly.</b>—Boil tart peeled apples in a little water till glutinous; strain
-out the juice, and put a pound of white sugar to a pint of the juice. Flavor
-to your taste, boil till a good jelly, and then put it into molds.</p>
-
-<p><b>Orange Jelly.</b>—The juice of nine oranges and three lemons. The grated
-rind of one lemon, and one orange, pared thin. Two quarts of water, and
-four ounces of gelatine broken up and boiled in it to a jelly. Add the above,
-and sweeten to your taste. Then add the whites of eight eggs, well beaten
-to a stiff froth, and boil ten minutes; strain and put into molds, first dipped
-in cold water. When perfectly cold, dip the mold in warm water, and turn
-on to a glass dish.</p>
-
-<p><b>Floating Island.</b>—Beat the yelks of six eggs with the juice of four lemons,
-sweeten it to your taste, and stir it into a quart of boiling milk till it thickens,
-then pour it into a dish. Whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and
-put it on the top of the cream.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span></p>
-<p><b>A Dish of Snow.</b>—Grate the white part of cocoa-nut, put it in a glass dish,
-and serve with oranges sliced and sugared, or with currant or cranberry jellies.</p>
-
-<p><b>To clarify Sugar.</b>—Take four pounds of sugar, and break it up. Whisk
-the white of an egg, and put it with a tumblerful of water into a preserving-pan,
-and add water gradually till you have two quarts, stirring well. When
-there is a good frothing, throw in the sugar, boil moderately, and skim it.
-If the sugar rises to run over, throw in a little cold water, and then skim it,
-as it is then still. Repeat this, and when no more scum rises, strain the sugar
-for use.</p>
-
-<p><b>Candied Fruits.</b>—Preserve the fruit, then dip it in sugar boiled to candy
-thickness, and then dry it. Grapes and some other fruits may be dipped in
-uncooked, and then dried, and they are fine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Way.</b>—Take it from the sirup, when preserved, dip it in powdered
-sugar, and set it on a sieve in an oven to dry.</p>
-
-<p><b>To make an Ornamental Pyramid for a Table.</b>—Boil loaf-sugar as for candy,
-and rub it over a stiff form made for the purpose, of stiff paper or pasteboard,
-which must be well buttered. Set it on a table, and begin at the bottom,
-and stick on to this frame with the sugar, a row of macaroons, kisses, or
-other ornamental articles, and continue till the whole is covered. When cold,
-draw out the pasteboard form, and set the pyramid in the centre of the table
-with a small bit of wax-candle burning with it, and it looks very beautifully.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIX.<br />
-
-<small>DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Drinks made of the juice of fruits and water are good for
-all who are in health. Various preparations of cocoa-nuts
-are so also. Tea is often made or adulterated with unhealthful
-articles. Coffee is usually drank so strong as to
-injure children and grown persons of delicate constitution.
-All alcoholic drinks are dangerous, because they are so generally
-mixed with harmful matter, and because they so often
-lead to excess, and then to ruin. The common-sense maxim
-is, when there is danger, choose the safest course. The
-Christian maxim is, “We that are strong ought to bear the
-infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”</p>
-
-<p>Obedience to these two maxims would save thousands of
-young children and delicate persons from following the dangerous
-example of those “that are strong.”</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>To make Tea.</b>—The safest tea is the black, as less stimulating than green;
-both excite the brain and nerves when strong. The chief direction is to have
-water <em>boiling</em> hot. First soak the tea in a very little hot water, and then add
-boiling water.</p>
-
-<p><b>To make Coffee.</b>—Roast it slowly in a tight vessel, and so it can be stirred
-often. To roast all equally a dark brown and have none burned, is the main
-thing. Keep it in a tight box, or, better, grind it fresh when used. Clear
-it by putting into it, when making, a fresh egg-shell crushed, or the white of
-an egg, or a small bit of fish-skin. Some filter, and some boil; and there
-are coffee-pots made for each method, and some that require nothing put in
-to clear the coffee. The aroma is retained just in proportion as the coffee is
-confined, both before making and also while making.</p>
-
-<p><b>Fish-skin for Coffee.</b>—Take it from codfish before cooking; have it nice
-and dry. Cut in inch squares, and take one for two quarts of coffee.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cocoa.</b>—The cracked is best. Put two table-spoonfuls of it into three pints
-of cold water. Boil an hour for first use, save the remnants and boil it again,
-as it is very strong. Do this several times. For ground cocoa use two table-spoonfuls
-to a quart, and boil half an hour. Boil the milk by itself, and add<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span>
-it liberally when taken up. For the <em>shells</em> of cocoa, use a heaping tea-cupful
-for a quart of water. Put them in over night and boil a long time.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cream for Coffee and Tea.</b>—Heat new milk, and let it stand till cool and
-all the cream rises; this is the best way for common use. To every pint of
-this add a pound and a quarter of loaf-sugar, and it will keep good a month
-or more, if corked tight in glass.</p>
-
-<p><b>Chocolate.</b>—Put three table-spoonfuls when scraped to each pint, boil half
-an hour, and add boiled milk when used.</p>
-
-<p><b>Delicious Milk-Lemonade.</b>—Half a pint of sherry wine and as much lemon-juice,
-six ounces loaf-sugar, and a pint of water poured in when boiling.
-Add not quite a pint of cold milk, and strain the whole.</p>
-
-<p><b>Strawberry and Raspberry Vinegar.</b>—Mix four pounds of the fruit with
-three quarts of cider or wine vinegar, and let them stand three days. Drain
-the vinegar through a jelly-bag and add four more pounds of fruit, and in three
-days do the same. Then strain out the vinegar for summer drinks, effervescing
-with soda or only with water.</p>
-
-<p><b>White Tea, and Boys’ Coffee for Children.</b>—Children never love tea and
-coffee till they are trained to it. They always like these drinks. Put two
-tea-spoonfuls of sugar to half a cup of hot water, and add as much good milk.
-Or crumb toast or dry bread into a bowl with plenty of sugar, and add half
-milk to half boiling water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Dangerous Use of Milk.</b>—Milk is not only drink, but rich food. It therefore
-should not be used as drink with other food, as is water or tea and coffee.
-Persons often cause bilious difficulties by using milk in addition to ordinary
-food as the chief drink. It is a well-established fact that some grown
-persons as well as young children can not drink milk, and in some cases can
-not eat bread wet with milk, without trouble from it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Simple Drinks.</b>—Pour boiling water on mashed cranberries, or grated apples,
-or tamarinds, or mashed currants or raspberries, pour off the water,
-sweeten, and in summer cool with ice.</p>
-
-<p>Pour boiling water on to bread toasted quite brown, or on to pounded
-parched corn, boil a minute, strain, and add sugar and cream, or milk.</p>
-
-<p><b>Simple Wine Whey.</b>—Mix equal quantities of milk and boiling water, add
-wine and sweeten.</p>
-
-<p><b>Toast and Cider.</b>—Take one third brisk cider and two thirds cold water,
-sweeten it, crumb in toasted bread, and grate on a little nutmeg. Acid jelly
-will do when cider is not at hand.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span></p>
-<p><b>Panada.</b>—Toast two or three crackers, pour on boiling water and let it
-simmer two or three minutes, add a well-beaten egg, sweeten and flavor with
-nutmeg.</p>
-
-<p><b>Water-Gruel.</b>—Scald half a tumblerful of fresh ground corn-meal, add a
-table-spoonful of flour made into a paste, boil twenty minutes or more, and
-add salt, sugar, and nutmeg. Oat-meal gruel is excellent made thus.</p>
-
-<p><b>Beef-Tea.</b>—Pepper and salt some good beef cut into small pieces, pour on
-boiling water and steep half an hour. A better way is to put the meat thus
-prepared into a bottle kept in boiling water for four or five hours.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tomato Sirup.</b>—Put a pound of sugar to a quart of juice, bottle it, and use
-for a beverage with water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Sassafras Jelly.</b>—Soak the pith of sassafras till a jelly, and add a little
-sugar.</p>
-
-<p><b>Egg Tea, Egg Coffee, and Egg Milk.</b>—Beat the yelk of an egg in some sugar
-and a little salt; add either cold tea or coffee or milk. Then beat the
-whites to a stiff froth and add. Flavor the milk with wine. Some do not
-like the taste of raw egg, and so the other articles may first be made boiling
-hot before the white is put in.</p>
-
-<p><b>Oat-meal Gruel.</b>—Four table-spoonfuls of <em>grits</em>, (unbolted Oat-meal,) a
-pinch of salt and a pint of boiling water. Skim, sweeten, and flavor. Or
-make a thin batter of fine Oat-meal, and pour into boiling water; then
-sweeten and flavor it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Pearl Barley-Water.</b>—Boil two and a half ounces of pearl barley ten minutes
-in half a-pint of water, strain it, add a quart of boiling water, boil it
-down to half the quantity, strain, sweeten, and flavor with sliced lemon or
-nutmeg.</p>
-
-<p><b>Cream Tartar Beverage.</b>—Put two even tea-spoonfuls cream tartar to a
-pint of boiling water, sweeten and flavor with lemon-peel.</p>
-
-<p><b>Rennet Whey</b>, (good for a weak stomach after severe illness.)—Soak
-rennet two inches square one hour, add half a gill of water and a pinch of
-salt; then pour it into a pint of warm (not hot) milk. Let it stand half an
-hour, then cut it, and after an hour drain off the liquid. Let it stand awhile,
-and drain off more whey.</p>
-
-<p><b>Refreshing Drink for a Fever.</b>—Mix sprigs of sage, balm, and sorrel with
-half a sliced lemon, the skin on. Pour on boiling water, sweeten and cork it.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XX.<br />
-
-<small>THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The art of keeping a good table consists not in loading on
-a variety at each meal, but rather in securing a <i>successive</i>
-variety, a table neatly and tastefully set, and every thing
-that is on it cooked in the best manner.</p>
-
-<p>There are some families who provide an abundance of the
-most expensive and choice articles, and spare no expense in
-any respect, yet who have every thing cooked in such a miserable
-way, and a table set in so slovenly a manner, that a person
-accustomed to a <i>really</i> good table can scarcely taste a
-morsel with any enjoyment.</p>
-
-<p>On the contrary, there are many tables where the closest
-economy is practiced; and yet the table-cloth is so white and
-smooth, the dishes, silver, glass, and other table articles so
-bright, and arranged with such propriety; the bread so light
-and sweet; the butter so beautiful, and every other article
-of food so well cooked, and so neatly and tastefully served,
-that every thing seems good, and pleases both the eye and
-the palate.</p>
-
-<p>A habit of <em>doing every thing in the best manner</em> is of unspeakable
-importance to a housekeeper, and every woman
-ought to <em>aim</em> at it, however great the difficulties she may
-have to meet. If a young housekeeper commences with a determination
-to <em>try</em> to do <em>every thing</em> in the best manner, and
-perseveres in the effort, meeting all obstacles with patient
-cheerfulness, not only the moral but the intellectual tone of
-her mind is elevated by the attempt. Although she may
-meet many insuperable difficulties, and may never reach the
-standard at which she aims, the simple effort, <em>persevered</em> in,
-will have an elevating influence on her character; while, at
-the same time, she actually will reach a point of excellence
-far ahead of those who, discouraged by many obstacles, give
-up in despair, and resolve to make no more efforts, and let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span>
-things go as they will. The grand distinction between a
-noble and an ignoble mind is, that one <em>will</em> control circumstances;
-the other yields, and allows circumstances to control
-her.</p>
-
-<p>It should be borne in mind that the constitution of man
-demands <em>a variety</em> of food, and that it is just as cheap to
-keep on hand a good variety of materials in the store-closet,
-so as to make a frequent change, as it is to buy one or two
-articles at once, and live on them exclusively, till every person
-is tired of them, and then buy two or three more of another
-kind.</p>
-
-<p>It is too frequently the case that families fall into a very
-limited round of articles, and continue the same course from
-one year to another, when there is a much greater variety
-within reach of articles which are just as cheap and as easily
-obtained, and yet remain unthought of and untouched.</p>
-
-<p>A thrifty and generous provider will see that her store-closet
-is furnished with such a variety of articles that successive
-changes can be made, and for a good length of time.
-To aid in this, a slight sketch of a well-provided store-closet
-will be given, with a description of the manner in which
-each article should be stored and kept, in order to avoid
-waste and injury. To this will be added modes of securing
-a <em>successive variety</em> within the reach of all in moderate circumstances.</p>
-
-<p>It is best to have a store-closet open from the kitchen, because
-the kitchen fire keeps the atmosphere dry, and this
-prevents the articles stored from molding, and other injury
-from dampness. Yet it must not be kept warm, as there are
-many articles which are injured by warmth.</p>
-
-<p>A <em>cool</em> and <em>dry</em> place is indispensable for a store-room, and
-a small window over the door, and another opening outdoors,
-give a great advantage, by securing coolness and circulation
-of fresh air.</p>
-
-<p><i>Flour</i> should be kept in a barrel, with a flour-scoop to dip
-it, a sieve to sift it, and a pan to hold the sifted flour, either
-in the barrel or close at hand. The barrel should have a
-tight cover to keep out mice and vermin. It is best to find,
-by trial, a lot of first-rate flour, and then buy a year’s sup<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span>ply.
-But this should not be done unless there are accommodations
-for keeping it dry and cool, and protecting it
-from vermin.</p>
-
-<p><i>Unbolted flour</i> should be stored in kegs or covered tubs,
-and always be kept on hand as regularly as fine flour. It
-should be bought only when freshly ground, and only in
-moderate quantities, as it loses sweetness by keeping.</p>
-
-<p><i>Indian meal</i> should be purchased in small quantities, say
-fifteen or twenty pounds at a time, and be kept in a covered
-tub or keg. It is always improved by scalding. It must
-be kept very cool and dry, and if occasionally stirred, is preserved
-more surely from growing sour or musty. Fresh
-ground is best.</p>
-
-<p><i>Rye</i> should be bought in small quantities, say forty or
-fifty pounds at a time, and be kept in a keg or half-barrel,
-with a cover.</p>
-
-<p><i>Buckwheat</i>, <i>Rice</i>, <i>Hominy</i>, and <i>Ground Rice</i> must be purchased
-in small quantities, and kept in covered kegs or tubs.
-Several of these articles are infested with small black insects,
-and examination must occasionally be made for them.</p>
-
-<p><i>Arrow-root</i>, <i>Tapioca</i>, <i>Sago</i>, <i>Pearl Barley</i>, <i>Pearl Wheat</i>,
-<i>Cracked Wheat</i>, <i>American Isinglass</i>, <i>Macaroni</i>, <i>Vermicelli</i>,
-and <i>Oat-meal</i> are all articles which help to make an agreeable
-variety, and it is just as cheap to buy a small quantity
-of each as it is to buy a larger quantity of two or three articles.
-Eight or ten pounds of each of these articles of food
-can be stored in covered jars or covered wood boxes, and
-then they are always at hand to help to make a variety.
-All of them are very healthful food, and help to form many
-delightful dishes for desserts. Some of the most healthful
-puddings are those made of rice, tapioca, sago, and macaroni;
-while isinglass, or American gelatine, forms elegant articles
-for desserts, and is also excellent for the sick.</p>
-
-<p><i>Sugars</i> should not be bought by the barrel, as the brown
-is apt to turn to molasses, and run out on to the floor. Refined
-loaf for tea, crushed sugar for the nicest preserves and
-to use with fruit, nice brown sugar for coffee, and common
-brown for more common use. The loaf can be stored in the
-paper, on a shelf. The others should be kept in close cov<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span>ered
-kegs, or covered wooden articles made for the purpose.</p>
-
-<p><i>Butter</i> must be kept in the dryest and coldest place you
-can find, in vessels of either stone, earthen, or wood, and
-never in tin.</p>
-
-<p><i>Lard and Drippings</i> must be kept in a dry, cold place,
-and should not be salted. Usually the cellar is the best
-place for them. Earthen or stone jars are the best to store
-them in.</p>
-
-<p><i>Salt</i> must be kept in the <em>dryest</em> place that can be found.
-<em>Rock salt</em> is the best for table-salt. It should be washed,
-dried, pounded, sifted, and stored in a glass jar, and covered
-close. It is common to find it growing damp in the <em>salt-stands</em>
-for the table. It should then be set by the fire to dry,
-and afterward be reduced to fine powder again. Few things
-are more disagreeable than coarse or damp salt on a table.</p>
-
-<p><i>Vinegar</i> is best made of wine or cider. Buy a keg or half-barrel
-of it, set it in the cellar, and then keep a supply
-for the casters in a bottle in the kitchen. If too strong, it
-<i>eats</i> the pickles. Much manufactured vinegar is sold that
-ruins pickles, and is unhealthful.</p>
-
-<p><i>Pickles</i> never must be kept in glazed ware, as the vinegar
-forms a poisonous compound with the glazing.</p>
-
-<p><i>Oil</i> must be kept in the cellar. <em>Winter-strained</em> must be
-got in cold weather, as the <em>summer-strained</em> will not burn
-except in warm weather. Those who use kerosene oil should
-never trust it with heedless servants or children. Never fill
-lamps with it at night, nor allow servants to kindle fire with
-it, or to fill a lamp with it when lighted. Inquire for the
-safest pattern of lamps, and learn all the dangers to be
-avoided, and the cautions needful in the use of this most
-dangerous explosive oil. Neglect this caution, and you
-probably will be a sorrowful mourner all your life for the
-sufferings or death of some dear friend.</p>
-
-<p><i>Molasses</i>, if bought by the barrel or half-barrel, should be
-kept in the cellar. If bought in small quantities, it should
-be kept in a demijohn. No vessel should be corked or
-bunged, if filled with molasses, as it will swell and burst the
-vessel, or run over.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Hard Soap</i> should be bought by large quantity, and laid
-to harden on a shelf in a very dry place. It is much more
-economical to buy hard than soft soap, as those who use
-soft soap are very apt to waste it in using it, as they can not
-do with hard soap.</p>
-
-<p><i>Starch</i> it is best to buy by a large quantity. It comes
-very nicely put up in papers, a pound or two in each paper,
-and packed in a box. The high-priced starch is cheapest in
-the end.</p>
-
-<p><i>Indigo</i> is not always good. When a good lot is found by
-trial, it is best to get enough for a year or two, and store it
-in a tight tin box.</p>
-
-<p><i>Coffee</i> it is best to buy by the bag, as it improves by
-keeping. Let it hang in the bag in a dry place, and it loses
-its rank smell and taste. It is poor economy to buy ground
-coffee, as it often has other articles mixed, and loses flavor
-by keeping after it is ground.</p>
-
-<p><i>Tea</i>, if bought by the box, is several cents a pound cheaper
-than by small quantities. If well put up in boxes lined
-with lead, it keeps perfectly; but put up in paper, it soon
-loses its flavor. It therefore should, if in small quantities, be
-put up in glass or tin, and shut tight.</p>
-
-<p><i>Soda</i> should be bought in small quantities, then powdered,
-sifted, and kept tight corked in a large-mouth glass bottle.
-It grows damp if exposed to the air, and then can not be
-used properly.</p>
-
-<p><i>Raisins</i> should not be bought in large quantities, as they
-are injured by time. It is best to buy the small boxes.</p>
-
-<p><i>Currants</i> for cake should be prepared, and set by for use
-in a jar.</p>
-
-<p><i>Lemon</i> and <i>Orange Peel</i> should be dried, pounded, and set
-up in corked glass jars.</p>
-
-<p><i>Nutmeg</i>, <i>Cinnamon</i>, <i>Cloves</i>, <i>Mace</i>, and <i>Allspice</i> should be
-pounded fine, and corked tight in small glass bottles, with
-mouths large enough for a junk-bottle cork, and then put in
-a tight tin box, made for the purpose. Or they can be put
-in small tin boxes with tight covers. Essences are as good
-as spices.</p>
-
-<p><i>Sweet Herbs</i> should be dried, the stalks thrown away, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span>
-the rest be kept in corked large-mouth bottles, or small tin
-boxes.</p>
-
-<p><i>Cream Tartar</i>, <i>Citric</i> and <i>Tartaric Acids</i>, <i>Bicarbonate of
-Soda</i>, and <i>Essences</i> should be kept in corked glass jars. <i>Sal
-volatile</i> must be kept in a large-mouth bottle, with a ground-glass
-stopper to make it air-tight. Use cold water in dissolving
-it. It must be powdered.</p>
-
-<p><i>Preserves</i> and <i>Jellies</i> should be kept in glass or stone, in a
-cool, dry place, well sealed, or tied with bladder covers. If
-properly made and thus put up, they never will ferment. If
-it is difficult to find a cool, dry place, pack the jars in a box,
-and fill the interstices with sand, very thoroughly dried. It
-is best to put jellies in tumblers, or small glass jars, so as to
-open only a small quantity at a time.</p>
-
-<p>The most easy way of keeping <i>Hams</i> perfectly is to wrap
-and tie them in paper, and pack them in boxes or barrels
-with ashes. The ashes must fill all interstices, but must not
-touch the hams, as it absorbs the fat. It keeps them sweet,
-and protects from all kinds of insects.</p>
-
-<p>After smoked beef or hams are cut, hang them in a coarse
-linen bag in the cellar, and tie it up to keep out flies.</p>
-
-<p>Keep <i>Cheese</i> in a cool, dry place, and after it is cut, wrap
-it in a linen cloth, and keep it in a tight tin box.</p>
-
-<p>Keep <i>Bread</i> in a tin covered box, and it will keep fresh
-and good longer than if left exposed to the air.</p>
-
-<p><i>Cake</i> also should be kept in a tight tin box. Tin boxes
-made with covers like trunks, with handles at the ends, are
-best for bread and cake.</p>
-
-<p><i>Smoked herring</i> keep in the cellar.</p>
-
-<p><i>Codfish</i> is improved by changing it, once in a while, back
-and forth from garret to cellar. Some dislike to have it in
-the house anywhere.</p>
-
-<p>All <i>salted provision</i> must be watched, and kept under the
-brine. When the brine looks bloody, or smells badly, it
-must be scalded, and more salt put to it, and poured over
-the meat.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXI.<br />
-
-<small>ON SETTING TABLES, AND PREPARING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF
-FOOD FOR THE TABLE.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>To a person accustomed to a good table, the manner in
-which the table is set, and the mode in which food is prepared
-and set on, has a great influence, not only on the eye,
-but the appetite. A housekeeper ought, therefore, to attend
-carefully to these particulars.</p>
-
-<p>The table-cloth should always be <em>white</em>, and well washed
-and ironed. When taken from the table, it should be folded
-in the ironed creases, and some heavy article laid on it. A
-heavy bit of plank, smoothed and kept for the purpose, is useful.
-By this method, the table-cloth looks tidy much longer
-than when it is less carefully laid aside.</p>
-
-<p>When table-napkins are used, care should be taken to keep
-the same one to each person; and in laying them aside, they
-should be folded so as to hide the soiled places, and laid under
-pressure. It is best to use napkin-rings.</p>
-
-<p>The table-cloth should always be put on <em>square</em>, and right
-side upward. The articles of table furniture should be placed
-with order and symmetry.</p>
-
-<p>The bread for breakfast and tea should be cut in even, regular
-slices, not over a fourth of an inch thick, and all crumbs
-removed from the bread-plate. They should be piled in a regular
-form, and if the slices are large they should be divided.</p>
-
-<p>The butter should be cooled in cold water, if not already
-hard, and then cut into a smooth and regular form, and a
-butter-knife be laid by the plate, to be used for no other purpose
-but to help the butter.</p>
-
-<p>A small plate should be placed at each plate for butter,
-and a small salt-cup set by each breakfast or dinner-plate.
-This saves butter and salt.</p>
-
-<p>All the flour should be wiped from small cakes, and the
-crumbs be kept from the bread-plate.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span></p>
-
-<p>In preparing dishes for the dinner-table, all water should
-be carefully drained from the vegetables, and the edges of
-the platters and dishes should be made perfectly clean and
-neat.</p>
-
-<p>All soiled spots should be removed from the outside of
-pitchers, gravy-boats, and every article used on the table;
-the handles of the knives and forks must be clean, and the
-knives bright and sharp.</p>
-
-<p>In winter, the plates and all the dishes used, both for meat
-and vegetables, should be set to the fire to warm, when the
-table is being set, as cold plates and dishes cool the vegetables,
-gravy, and meats, which by many is deemed a great
-injury.</p>
-
-<p>Cucumbers, when prepared for table, should be laid in
-cold water for an hour or two to cool, and then be peeled
-and cut into fresh cold water. Then they should be drained,
-and brought to the table, and seasoned the last thing.</p>
-
-<p>The water should be drained thoroughly from all greens
-and salads.</p>
-
-<p>There are certain articles which are usually set on together,
-because it is <em>the fashion</em>, or because they are <em>suited</em>
-to each other.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, with <em>strong-flavored meats</em>, like mutton, goose, and
-duck, it is customary to serve the strong-flavored vegetables,
-such as onions and turnips. Thus, turnips are put in mutton
-broth, and served with mutton, and onions are used to
-stuff geese and ducks. But onions are usually banished
-from the table and from cooking on account of the disagreeable
-flavor they impart to the atmosphere and breath.</p>
-
-<p><i>Boiled Poultry</i> should be accompanied with boiled ham
-or tongue.</p>
-
-<p><i>Boiled Rice</i> is served with poultry as a vegetable.</p>
-
-<p><i>Jelly</i> is served with mutton, venison, and roasted meats,
-and is used in the gravies for hashes.</p>
-
-<p><i>Fresh Pork</i> requires some acid sauce, such as cranberry,
-or tart apple-sauce.
-<i>
-Drawn Butter</i>, prepared as in the recipe, with eggs in it,
-is used with boiled fowls and boiled fish.</p>
-
-<p><i>Pickles</i> are served especially with fish, and <i>Soy</i> is a fash<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span>ionable
-sauce for fish, which is mixed on the plate with
-drawn butter.</p>
-
-<p>There are modes of <i>garnishing dishes</i>, and preparing them
-for table, which give an air of taste and refinement that
-pleases the eye. Thus, in preparing a dish of fricasseed fowls,
-or stewed fowls, or cold fowls warmed over, small cups of
-boiled rice can be laid inverted around the edge of the platter,
-to eat with the meat.</p>
-
-<p>On <i>Broiled Ham</i> or <i>Veal</i>, eggs boiled or fried, and laid
-one on each piece, look well.</p>
-
-<p><i>Greens</i> and <i>Asparagus</i> should be well drained, and laid
-on buttered toast, and then slices of boiled eggs be laid on
-the top and around.</p>
-
-<p><i>Hashes</i> and preparations of pigs’ and calves’ head and
-feet should be laid on toast, and garnished with round slices
-of lemon.</p>
-
-<p><i>Curled Parsley</i>, or <i>Common Parsley</i>, is a pretty garnish,
-to be fastened to the shank of a ham, to conceal the bone,
-and laid around the dish holding it. It looks well laid
-around any dish of cold slices of tongue, ham, or meat of
-any kind.</p>
-
-<p>In setting a tea-table, small-sized plates are set around,
-with a knife, napkin, and butter-plate laid by each in a regular
-manner, while the articles of food are to be set, also, in
-regular order. On the waiter are placed tea-cups and saucers,
-sugar-bowl, slop-bowl, cream-cup, and two or three
-articles for tea, coffee, and hot water, as the case may be.
-On the dinner-table, by each plate, is a knife, fork, napkin,
-and tumbler; and a small butter-plate and salt-cup should
-also be placed by each plate.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXII.<br />
-
-<small>WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Many a woman without servants, or with those untrained,
-must do her own washing and ironing, or train others to do
-it, and this is the most trying department of housekeeping.
-The following may aid in lessening labor and care.</p>
-
-<p>It saves washing and is more healthful to use flannel shirts.
-Farmers, sailors, and soldiers have found by experience that
-they are more comfortable than cotton or linen, even in the
-hottest days. Many gentlemen use them for common wear,
-changing to a cotton-flannel night-gown for sleeping. So
-young children can have a flannel jacket and flannel drawers
-sewed to the jacket in front, and buttoned behind, and change
-them at night for cotton-flannel made in the same way. The
-under-garments for women may be made of the same material
-and pattern, and this will save washing and promote
-health.</p>
-
-<p>Some ladies economize time and labor by wearing three-cornered
-lace articles for the neck, trimmed with imitation
-Valenciennes lace, wash them in their wash-bowl, whiten
-in soap-suds in a tumbler or bowl in their window, stiffen
-with gum-arabic, and after stretching, press under weights
-between clean papers. This is a happy contrivance when on
-a journey or without servants. Those who wish to save all
-needless labor in washes should have under-garments and
-night-gowns made in sack forms or other fashions that save
-in both material and labor. They also should omit ruffles
-and other trimmings that increase the labor of ironing.</p>
-
-<p>There is nothing which tends more effectually to secure
-good washing than a full supply of all conveniences. A
-plenty of soft water is a very important item. When this
-can not be had, lye or soda can be put in hard water, to soften
-it. Borax is safer than soda, which turns white clothes yellow,
-and injures texture. Buy crude borax, and for a com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span>mon
-washing use half an ounce. A <i>borax soap</i> is thus made:
-To a pound of bar-soap, cut in small pieces, put a quart of
-hot water and an ounce of powdered borax. Heat and mix,
-but do not boil, cool and cut into cakes, and use like hard
-soap. Soak the white clothes in a suds made of this soap
-over night, and it saves much rubbing. Two wash-forms are
-needed; one for the two tubs in which to put the suds, and
-the other for bluing and starching-tubs. Four tubs, of different
-sizes, are necessary; also, a large <em>wooden</em> dipper, (as
-metal is apt to rust;) two or three pails; a grooved washboard;
-a clothes-line, (sea-grass or horse-hair is best;) a wash-stick
-to move clothes when boiling, and a wooden fork to
-take them out. Soap-dishes, made to hook on the tubs, save
-soap and time. Provide, also, a clothes-bag, in which to boil
-clothes; an indigo-bag, of double flannel; a starch-strainer,
-of coarse linen; a bottle of ox-gall for calicoes; a supply of
-starch, neither sour nor musty; several dozens of clothes-pins,
-which are cleft sticks, used to fasten clothes on the line; a
-bottle of dissolved gum-arabic; two clothes-baskets; and a
-brass or copper kettle, for boiling clothes, as iron is apt to rust.
-A closet for keeping all these things is a great convenience.
-Tubs, pails, and all hooped wooden ware, should be kept out
-of the sun, and in a cool place, or they will fall to pieces.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center">COMMON MODE OF WASHING.</p>
-
-<p>Assort the clothes, and put those most soiled in soak the
-night before. Never pour hot water on them, as it sets the
-dirt. In assorting clothes, put the flannels in one lot, the
-colored clothes in another, the coarse white ones in a third,
-and the fine clothes in a fourth lot. Wash the fine clothes
-in one tub of suds. When clothes are very much soiled, a
-second suds is needful, turning them wrong side out. Put
-them in the boiling-bag, and boil them in strong suds for
-half an hour, and not much more. Move them, while boiling,
-with the clothes-stick. Take them out of the boiling-bag,
-and put them into a tub of water, and rub the dirtiest
-places again, if need be. Throw them into the rinsing-water,
-and then wring them out, and put them into the bluing-water.
-Put the articles to be stiffened into a clothes-basket<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span>
-by themselves, and, just before hanging out, dip them in
-starch, clapping it in, so as to have them equally stiff in all
-parts. Hang white clothes in the sun, and colored ones
-(wrong side out) in the shade. Fasten them with clothes-pins.
-Then wash the coarser white articles in the same manner.
-Then wash the colored clothes. These must not be
-soaked, nor have lye or soda put in the water, and they
-ought not to lie wet long before hanging out, as it injures
-their colors. Beef’s-gall, one spoonful to two pailfuls of suds,
-improves calicoes. Lastly, wash the flannels in suds as hot
-as the hand can bear. Never rub on soap, as this shrinks
-them in spots. Wring them out of the first suds, and throw
-them into another tub of hot suds, turning them wrong side
-out. Then throw them into hot bluing-water. Do not put
-bluing into suds, as it makes specks in the flannel. Never
-leave flannels long in water, nor put them in cold or lukewarm
-water. Before hanging them out, shake and stretch
-them. Some housekeepers have a close closet, made with
-slats across the top. On these slats, they put their flannels,
-when ready to hang out, and then burn brimstone under
-them, for ten minutes. It is but little trouble, and keeps the
-flannels as white as new. Wash the colored flannels and
-hose after the white, adding more hot water. Some persons
-dry woolen hose on stocking-boards, shaped like a foot and
-leg, with strings to tie them on the line. This keeps them
-from shrinking, and makes them look better than if ironed.
-It is also less work than to iron them properly.</p>
-
-<p>Bedding should be washed in long days, and in hot weather.
-Empty straw beds once a year.</p>
-
-<p>The following cautions in regard to calicoes are useful.
-Never wash them in very warm water; and change the water
-when it appears dingy, or the light parts will look dirty.
-Never rub on soap; but remove grease with French chalk,
-starch, magnesia, or Wilmington clay. Make starch for black
-calicoes with coffee-water, to prevent any whitish appearance.
-Glue is good for stiffening calicoes. When laid aside, not to
-be used, all stiffening should be washed out, or they will often
-be injured. Never let calicoes freeze in drying. Some
-persons use bran-water (four quarts of wheat-bran to two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span>
-pails of water), and no soap, for calicoes; washing and rinsing
-in the bran-water. Potato-water is equally good. Take
-eight peeled and grated potatoes to one gallon of water.</p>
-
-<p><i>To cleanse Gentlemen’s Broadcloths.</i>—The best way, which
-the writer has repeatedly tried with unfailing success, is the
-following: Take one beef’s-gall, half a pound of saleratus,
-and four gallons of warm water. Lay the article on a table,
-and scour it thoroughly, in every part, with a clothes-brush
-dipped in this mixture. The collar of a coat, and the grease-spots,
-(previously marked by stitches of white thread,) must
-be repeatedly brushed. Then take the article and rinse it
-up and down in the mixture. Then rinse it up and down in
-a tub of soft cold water. Then, without wringing or pressing,
-hang it to drain and dry. Fasten a coat up by the
-collar. When perfectly dry, it is sometimes the case, with
-coats, that nothing more is needed. In other cases, it is necessary
-to dampen with a sponge the parts which look wrinkled,
-and either pull them smooth with the fingers, or press
-them with an iron, having a piece of bombazine or thin woolen
-cloth between the iron and the article.</p>
-
-
-<h4>TO MANUFACTURE LYE, SOAP, STARCH, AND OTHER ARTICLES
-USED IN WASHING.</h4>
-
-<p><i>To make Lye.</i>—Provide a large tub, made of pine or ash,
-and set it on a form, so high that a tub can stand under it.
-Make a hole, an inch in diameter, near the bottom, on one
-side. Lay bricks inside about this hole, and straw over them.
-To every seven bushels of ashes add two gallons of unslacked
-lime, and throw in the ashes and lime in alternate layers.
-While putting in the ashes and lime, pour on boiling water,
-using three or four pailfuls. After this, add a pailful of cold
-soft water once an hour, till all the ashes appear to be well
-soaked. Catch the drippings in a tub and try its strength
-with an egg. If the egg rise so as to show a circle as large
-as a ten-cent piece, the strength is right; if it rise higher, the
-lye must be weakened by water; if not so high, the ashes
-are not good, and the whole process must be repeated, putting
-in fresh ashes, and running the weak lye through the
-new ashes, with some additional water. <i>Quick-lye</i> is made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span>
-by pouring one gallon of boiling soft water on three quarts
-of ashes, and straining it. Oak ashes are best.</p>
-
-<p><i>To make Soft Soap.</i>—Save all drippings and fat, melt
-them, and set them away in cakes. Some persons keep, for
-soap-grease, a half-barrel, with weak lye in it, and a cover
-over it. To make soft soap, take the proportion of one pailful
-of lye to three pounds of fat. Melt the fat, and pour in
-the lye, by degrees. Boil it steadily, through the day, till it
-is ropy. If not boiled enough, on cooling it will turn to lye
-and sediment. While boiling, there should always be a little
-oil on the surface. If this does not appear, add more
-grease. If there is too much grease, on cooling, it will rise,
-and can be skimmed off. Try it, by cooling a small quantity.
-When it appears like jelly on becoming cold, it is done. It
-must then be put in a cool place and often stirred.</p>
-
-<p><i>To make cold Soft Soap</i>, melt thirty pounds of grease, put
-it in a barrel, add four pailfuls of strong lye, and stir it up
-thoroughly. Then gradually add more lye, till the barrel is
-nearly full, and the soap looks <em>about right</em>.</p>
-
-<p><i>To make Potash-Soap</i>, melt thirty-nine pounds of grease,
-and put it in a barrel. Take twenty-nine pounds of light
-ash-colored potash, (the <i>reddish</i>-colored will spoil the soap,)
-and pour hot water on it; then pour it off into the grease,
-stirring it well. Continue thus till all the potash is melted.
-Add one pailful of cold water, stirring it a great deal every
-day, till the barrel be full, and then it is done. This is the
-cheapest and best kind of soap. It is best to sell ashes and
-buy potash. The soap is better, if it stand a year before it
-is used; therefore make two barrels at once.</p>
-
-<p><i>To prepare Starch.</i>—Take four table-spoonfuls of starch;
-put in as much water, and rub it, till all lumps are removed.
-Then add half a cup of cold water. Pour this into a quart
-of boiling water, and boil it for half an hour, adding a piece
-of spermaceti, or a lump of salt or sugar, as large as a hazelnut.
-Strain it, and put in a very little bluing. Thin it
-with hot water.</p>
-
-<p><i>Beef’s-Gall.</i>—Send a junk-bottle to the butcher, and have
-several gall-bladders emptied into it. Keep it salted, and in
-a cool place. Some persons perfume it; but fresh air re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span>moves
-the unpleasant smell which it gives, when used for
-clothes.</p>
-
-
-<h4>DIRECTIONS FOR STARCHING MUSLINS AND LACES.</h4>
-
-<p>Many ladies clap muslins, then dry them, and afterward
-sprinkle them. This saves time. Others clap them till
-nearly dry, then fold and cover, and then iron them. Iron
-wrought muslins on soft flannel, and on the wrong side.</p>
-
-<p><i>To do up Laces nicely</i>, sew a clean piece of muslin around
-a long bottle, and roll the lace on it; pulling out the edge,
-and rolling it so that the edge will turn in, and be covered
-as you roll. Fill the bottle with water, and then boil it for
-an hour in a suds made with white soap. Rinse it in fair
-water, a little blue; dry it in the sun; and, if any stiffening
-is wished, use thin starch or gum-arabic. When dry, fold
-and press it between white papers in a large book. It improves
-the lace to wet it with sweet-oil, after it is rolled on
-the bottle, and before boiling in the suds. <i>Blonde laces</i> can
-be whitened by rolling them on a bottle in this way, and
-then setting the bottle in the sun, in a dish of cold suds
-made with white soap, wetting it thoroughly, and changing
-the suds every day. Do this for a week or more; then
-rinse in fair water; dry it on the bottle in the sun, and stiffen
-it with white gum-arabic. Lay it away in loose folds.
-<i>Lace veils</i> can be whitened by laying them in flat dishes, in
-suds made with white soap; then rinsing, and stiffening
-them with gum-arabic, stretching them, and pinning them on
-a sheet to dry.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ARTICLES TO BE PROVIDED FOR IRONING.</h4>
-
-<p>Provide the following articles: A woolen ironing-blanket,
-and a linen or cotton sheet to spread over it; a large fire, of
-charcoal and hard wood, (unless furnaces or stoves are used;)
-a hearth free from cinders and ashes, a piece of sheet-iron in
-front of the fire, on which to set the irons while heating;
-(this last saves many black spots from careless ironers;)
-three or four holders, made of woolen, and covered with old
-silk, as these do not easily take fire; two iron-rings or iron-stands,
-on which to set the irons, and small pieces of board<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span>
-to put under them, to prevent scorching the sheet; linen or
-cotton wipers; and a piece of bees-wax, to rub on the irons
-when they are smoked. There should be at least three
-irons for each person ironing, and a small and large clothes-frame,
-on which to air the fine and coarse clothes. It is a
-great saving of space as well as labor to have a clothes-frame
-made with a large number of slats, on which to hang clothes.
-Then have it fastened to the wall, and, when not used, pushed
-flat against the wall. Any carpenter can understand
-how to make this.</p>
-
-<p>A bosom-board, on which to iron shirt-bosoms, should be
-made, one foot and a half long and nine inches wide, and covered
-with white flannel. A skirt-board, on which to iron
-frock-skirts, should be made, five feet long and two feet wide
-at one end, tapering to one foot and three inches wide at the
-other end. This should be covered with flannel, and will
-save much trouble in ironing nice dresses. The large end
-may be put on the table, and the other on the back of a
-chair. Both these boards should have cotton covers made
-to fit them, and these should be changed and washed when
-dirty. These boards are often useful when articles are to
-be ironed or pressed in a chamber or parlor, and where
-economy of space is needful, they may be hung to a wall or
-door by loops on the covers. Provide, also, a press-board,
-for broadcloth, two feet long and four inches wide at one
-end, tapering to three inches wide at the other.</p>
-
-<p>If the lady of the house will provide all these articles, see
-that the fires are properly made, the ironing-sheets evenly
-put on and properly pinned, the clothes-frames dusted, and
-all articles kept in their places, she will do much toward securing
-good ironing.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON SPRINKLING, FOLDING, AND IRONING.</h4>
-
-<p>Wipe the dust from the ironing-board, and lay it down, to
-receive the clothes, which should be sprinkled with clear
-and warm water, and laid in separate piles, one of colored,
-one of common, and one of fine articles, and one of flannels.
-Fold the fine things, and roll them in a towel, and then fold
-the rest, turning them all right side outward. The colored<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span>
-clothes should be laid separate from the rest, and ought not
-to lie long damp, as it injures the colors. The sheets and
-table-linen should be shaken, stretched, and folded by two
-persons.</p>
-
-<p>Iron lace and needle work on the wrong side, and carry
-them away as soon as dry. Iron calicoes with irons which
-are not very hot, and generally on the right side, as they
-thus keep clean for a longer time. In ironing a frock, first
-do the waist, then the sleeves, then the skirt. Keep the
-skirt rolled while ironing the other parts, and set a chair,
-to hold the sleeves while ironing the skirt, unless a skirt-board
-be used. In ironing a shirt, first do the back, then
-the sleeves, then the collar and bosom, and then the front.
-Iron silk on the wrong side, when quite damp, with an iron
-which is not very hot, as light colors are apt to change and
-fade. Iron velvet by turning up the face of the iron, and
-after dampening the wrong side of the velvet, draw it over
-the face of the iron, holding it straight and not biased.</p>
-
-
-<h4>TO WHITEN ARTICLES, AND REMOVE STAINS FROM THEM.</h4>
-
-<p>Wet white clothes in suds, and lay them on the grass, in
-the sun. It will save from grass stain, to have a clean
-white cloth under the articles to be whitened. Lay muslins
-in suds made with white soap, in a flat dish; set this in the
-sun, changing the suds every day. Whiten tow-cloth or
-brown linen by keeping it in lye through the night, laying
-it out in the sun, and wetting it with fair water, as fast as
-it dries.</p>
-
-<p>Scorched articles can often be whitened again by laying
-them in the sun, wet with suds. Where this does not answer,
-put a pound of white soap in a gallon of milk, and boil
-the article in it. Another method is, to chop and extract
-the juice from two onions, and boil this with half a pint of
-vinegar, an ounce of white soap, and two ounces of fuller’s
-earth. Spread this, when cool, on the scorched part, and,
-when dry, wash it off in fair water. <i>Mildew</i> may be removed
-by dipping the article in sour buttermilk, laying it
-in the sun, and, after it is white, rinsing it in fair water.
-Soap and chalk are also good; also, soap and starch, adding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span>
-half as much salt as there is starch, together with the juice
-of a lemon. Stains in linen can often be removed by rubbing
-on soft soap, then putting on a starch paste and drying
-in the sun, renewing it several times. Wash off all the soap
-and starch in cold fair water.</p>
-
-
-<h4>MIXTURES FOR REMOVING STAINS AND GREASE.</h4>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>Stain Mixture.</b>—Half an ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of soft water. This
-can be kept in a corked bottle and is infallible in removing iron-rust and ink-stains.
-It is very poisonous. The article must be spread with this mixture
-over the steam of hot water, and wet several times. This will also remove
-indelible ink. The article must be washed, or the mixture will injure it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Another Stain-Mixture</b> is made by mixing one ounce of sal ammoniac,
-one ounce of salt of tartar, and one pint of soft water.</p>
-
-<p><b>To remove Grease.</b>—Mix four ounces of fullers earth, half an ounce of
-pearlash, and lemon-juice enough to make a stiff paste, which can be dried
-in balls, and kept for use. Wet the greased spot with cold water, rub it with
-the ball, dry it, and then rinse it with fair cold water. This is for <em>white</em> articles.
-For silks and worsteds use French chalk, which can be procured of
-the apothecaries. That which is soft and white is best. Scrape it on the
-greased spot, under side, and let it lie for a day and night. Then brush off
-that used, and renew it till the spot disappears. Wilmington clay-balls are
-equally good. Ink-spots can often be removed from white clothes by rubbing
-on common tallow, leaving it for a day or two, and then washing as usual.
-Grease can be taken out of wall-paper by making a paste of potter’s clay, water,
-and ox-gall, and spreading it on the paper. When dry, renew it, till the
-spot disappears.</p>
-
-<p>Stains on floors, from <i>soot</i> or <i>stove-pipes</i>, can be removed by washing the
-spot in sulphuric acid and water. Stains in colored silk dresses can often be
-removed by pure water. Those made by acids, tea, wine, and fruits can often
-be removed by spirits of hartshorn, diluted with an equal quantity of water.
-Sometimes it must be repeated several times.</p>
-
-<p><b>Tar</b>, <b>Pitch</b>, and <b>Turpentine</b> can be removed by putting the spot in sweet-oil,
-or by spreading tallow on it, and letting it remain for twenty-four hours.
-Then, if the article be linen or cotton, wash it as usual; if it be silk or worsted,
-rub it with ether or spirits of wine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Lamp-Oil</b> can be removed from floors, carpets, and other articles by spreading
-upon the stain a paste made of fuller’s earth or potter’s clay, brushing off
-and renewing it, when dry, till the stain is removed. If gall be put into the
-paste, it will preserve the colors from injury. When the stain has been removed,
-carefully brush off the paste with a soft brush.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p>
-<p><b>Oil-Paint</b> can be removed by rubbing it with <em>very pure</em> spirits of turpentine.
-The impure spirits leave a grease-spot. <i>Wax</i> can be removed by scraping it
-off, and then holding a red hot poker near the spot. <i>Spermaceti</i> may be removed
-by scraping it off, then putting a paper over the spot, and applying a
-warm iron. If this does not answer, rub on spirits of wine.</p>
-
-<p><b>Ink-Stains</b> in carpets and woolen table-covers can be removed by washing
-the spot in a liquid composed of one tea-spoonful of oxalic acid dissolved in a
-tea-cupful of warm (not hot) water, and then rinsing in cold water. When
-ink is first spilled on a woolen carpet, pour on water immediately, and sop it
-up several times, and no stain will be made. Often on other articles, a stream
-of cold water poured on the <em>under side</em> of the ink-spot will so dilute the ink
-that it can be rubbed out in cold water.</p>
-
-<p><b>Stains on Varnished Articles</b>, which are caused by cups of hot water, can
-be removed by rubbing them with lamp-oil, and then with alcohol. Ink-stains
-can be taken out of mahogany by one tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol mixed with
-one table-spoonful of water, or by oxalic acid and water. These must be
-brushed over quickly, and then washed off with milk.</p>
-
-<p><b>Silk Handkerchiefs</b> and <b>Ribbons</b> can be cleansed by using French chalk
-to take out the grease, and then sponging them on both sides with lukewarm
-fair water. Stiffen them with gum-arabic, and press them between white paper,
-with an iron not very hot. A table-spoonful of spirits of wine to three
-quarts of water improves it.</p>
-
-<p><b>Silk Hose</b> or <b>Silk Gloves</b> should be washed in warm suds made with white
-soap, and rinsed in cold water; they should then be stretched and rubbed
-with a hard-rolled flannel, till they are quite dry. Ironing them very much
-injures their looks. <i>Wash-leather</i> articles should have the grease removed
-from them by French chalk or magnesia; they should then be washed in
-warm suds, and rinsed in cold water. <i>Light Kid Gloves</i> should have the
-grease removed from them, and then wash them on the hands with borax water
-and soft flannel—a tea-spoonful to a tumbler of water. Then stretch and
-press them. Dark Kid Gloves wash in the same way.</p></blockquote>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.<br />
-
-<small>MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p><b>How to keep cool in Hot Weather.</b>—Sit in a room covered with matting
-or without any carpet, and keep the floor wet with pure water and a watering-pot.
-In hot nights, place a double wet sheet on the bed and a woolen
-blanket over it, and it will cool the bed which is heated through the day, and
-does not cool as fast as the evening air. A hot bed is often the cause of
-sleeplessness. Wear wristlets and anklets of wet flannel. Shut all doors
-and windows early in the morning to keep in cool air, and let in air only
-through windows that are on the shady side of the house. If chambers open
-upon the hot roofs of piazzas or porticoes, cover them with clean straw or hay,
-and wet them with a watering-pot. In all these cases, the heat is taken from
-the air and from all surrounding things by the absorption of heat as the water
-changes to vapor.</p>
-
-<p><b>Indelible Ink.</b>—Put six cents’ worth of lunar caustic in a small phial, and
-fill with rain-water. To prepare the cloth, put a great-spoonful of gum-arabic
-into a larger bottle, with a drachm of salt of tartar, fill with water, and,
-when dissolved, wet the cloth, and press it smooth with a warm (not hot) iron.
-Put the articles, when marked, in the sun.</p>
-
-<p><b>To preserve Eggs.</b>—Pack eggs in a jar small end downward, and then pour
-in a mixture of four quarts of slacked lime, two table-spoonfuls of cream tartar,
-and two of salt. This will cover about nine dozen for several months.</p>
-
-<p><b>To prevent Earthen, Glass, and Iron Ware from being easily broken.</b>—Put
-them in cold water, and heat till boiling, and cool gradually.</p>
-
-<p><b>A good Cement for broken Earthen and Glass.</b>—Mix Russian isinglass in
-white brandy, forming a thick jelly when cool. Strain and cork. When using
-it, rub it on the broken edges, and hold them together three or four minutes.</p>
-
-<p><b>To keep Knives from Rust and other Injury.</b>—Rub bright, and wrap in
-thick brown paper. Never let knife-handles lie in water, and do not let their
-blades stay in <em>very hot</em> water, as the heat expands the iron, and makes handles
-crack.</p>
-
-<p><b>To cleanse or renovate Furniture.</b>—White spots on furniture remove by
-camphene, or sometimes by oil or spirits of turpentine. Remove mortar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span>spots
-with warm vinegar, and paint-spots with camphene or burning-fluid.
-Powdered pumice-stone is better than sand to clean paint. To polish <i>unvarnished</i>
-furniture, rub on two ounces of bees-wax, half an ounce of alconet
-root, melted together, and, when cooled, two ounces of spirits of wine, and
-half a pint of spirits of turpentine.</p>
-
-<p><b>To clean Silver.</b>—Wet whiting with liquid hartshorn, and this will remove
-black spots. Or boil half an ounce of pulverized hartshorn in a pint of water,
-and pour it into rags, dry them, and use to cleanse silver. Polish with wash-leather.</p>
-
-<p><b>To cleanse Wall-Paper.</b>—Wipe with a clean pillow-case on a broom, and
-brush gently. Rub bad spots with soft bread-crumbs gently.</p>
-
-<p><b>To Purify a Well.</b>—Get out the water, and then put in three or four quarts
-of quick-lime. Any well long unused should be thus cleansed.</p>
-
-<p><b>How to treat Roses and other Plants.</b>—Water them daily with water steeped
-in wood-ashes. To destroy slugs, scatter ashes over the plant at night
-before the dew falls, or before a coming shower. Water all plants with washing-day
-suds, and it makes them flourish. Scatter salt in gravel-walks to
-get out grass and weeds. Use old brine for this purpose. Use sawdust to
-manure plants; also wood-ashes; even that used to make lye is good.</p>
-
-<p><b>Easy Way to keep Grapes.</b>—When not dead ripe, have them free from
-dampness, take out the decayed, and wrap each bunch in cotton, putting only
-two layers in a box. Keep in a dry, cool room, where they will not freeze.</p>
-
-<p><b>Snow for Eggs.</b>—Two table-spoonfuls of snow strewed in quickly, and baked
-immediately, is equal to one egg in puddings or pan-cakes.</p>
-
-<p><b>Paper to keep Preserves.</b>—Soft paper dipped in the white of an egg is the
-best cover for jellies and pickles. Turn it over the rim.</p>
-
-<p><b>To make Butter cool in hot Weather.</b>—Set it on a bit of brick, cover with a
-flower-pot, and wrap a wet cloth around the pot. The evaporation cools it as
-well as ice.</p>
-
-<p><b>To stop Cracks in Iron.</b>—Mix ashes and common salt and a little water,
-and fill the cracks.</p>
-
-<p><b>To stop Creaking Hinges.</b>—Put on oil.</p>
-
-<p><b>To stop Creaking Doors and make Drawers slide easily</b>.—Rub on hard
-soap.</p>
-
-<p><b>To renovate Black Silk.</b>—Wash in cold tea or coffee, with a little sugar in
-them. Put in a little ink if very rusty. Drain and do not wring, and iron
-on the wrong side.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span></p>
-<p><b>Another Way to clean Kid Gloves.</b>—Rub them lightly with benzine, and, as
-they dry, with pearl-powder. Expose to the air to remove the smell.</p>
-
-<p><b>To remove Grease-Spots.</b>—Put an ounce of powdered borax to a quart of
-boiling water. Wash with this, and keep it corked for further use.</p>
-
-<p><b>To get rid of Rats and Mice.</b>—A cat is the best remedy. Another is to
-half fill a tub with water, and sprinkle oats and meal on the top. For a while
-they will be deceived, jump in, and be drowned or caught.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<h4>ODDS AND ENDS.</h4>
-
-<p>There are certain <i>odds and ends</i> where every housekeeper
-will gain much by having a <em>regular time</em> to attend them. Let
-this time be the last Saturday forenoon in every month, or
-any other time more agreeable; but let there be a <em>regular
-fixed time</em> once a month in which the housekeeper will attend
-to the following things:</p>
-
-<p>First. Go around to every room, drawer, and closet in the
-house, and see what is out of order, and what needs to be
-done, and make arrangements as to time and manner of
-doing it.</p>
-
-<p>Second. Examine the store-closet, and see if there is a proper
-supply of all articles needed there.</p>
-
-<p>Third. Go to the cellar, and see if the salted provision,
-vegetables, pickles, vinegar, and all other articles stored in
-the cellar are in proper order, and examine all the preserves
-and jellies.</p>
-
-<p>Fourth. Examine the trunk or closet of family linen, and
-see what needs to be repaired and renewed.</p>
-
-<p>Fifth. See if there is a supply of dish-towels, dish-cloths,
-bags, holders, floor-cloths, dust-cloths, wrapping-paper, twine,
-lamp-wicks, and all other articles needed in kitchen work.</p>
-
-<p>Sixth. Count over the spoons, knives, and forks, and examine
-all the various household utensils, to see what need replacing,
-and what should be repaired.</p>
-
-<p>Seventh. Have in a box a hammer, tacks, pincers, gimlets,
-nails, screws, screw-driver, small saw, and two sizes of chisels
-for emergencies when no regular workman is at hand. Also
-be prepared to set glass. Every lady should be able in emergency
-to do such jobs herself.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span></p>
-
-<p>A housekeeper who will have <em>a regular time</em> for attending
-to these particulars will find her whole family machinery
-moving easily and well; but one who does not will constantly
-be finding something out of joint, and an unquiet,
-secret apprehension of duties left undone or forgotten, which
-no other method will so effectually remove.</p>
-
-<p>A housekeeper will often be much annoyed by the accumulation
-of articles not immediately needed, that must be saved
-for future use. The following method, adopted by a thrifty
-housekeeper, may be imitated with advantage. She bought
-some cheap calico, and made bags of various sizes, and wrote
-the following labels with indelible ink on a bit of broad tape,
-and sewed them on one side of the bags: <i>Old Linens, Old
-Cottons, Old black Silks, Old colored Silks, Old Stockings,
-Old colored Woolens, Old Flannels, New Linen, New Cotton,
-New Woolens, New Silks, Pieces of Dresses, Pieces of Boys'
-Clothes</i>, etc. These bags were hung around a closet, and
-filled with the above articles, and then it was known where
-to look for each, and where to put each when not in use.</p>
-
-<p>Another excellent plan, for the table, is for a housekeeper
-once a month to make out a <em>bill of fare</em> for the four weeks
-to come. To do this, let her look over this book, and find out
-what kind of dishes the season of the year and her own stores
-will enable her to provide, and then make out a list of the
-dishes she will provide through the month, so as to have an
-agreeable variety for breakfast, dinners, and suppers. Some
-systematic arrangement of this kind at regular periods will
-secure great comfort and enjoyment to a family, and prevent
-that monotonous round so common in many families.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span></p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h2 id="PART_SECOND">PART SECOND.</h2>
-
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<h3>CHAPTER I.<br />
-
-<small>NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>That women need as much and even more scientific and
-practical training for their appropriate business than men,
-arises from the fact that they must perform duties quite as
-difficult and important, and a much greater variety of them.
-A man usually selects only one branch of business for a profession,
-and, after his school education, secures an apprenticeship
-of years to perfect his practical skill; and thus a success
-is attained which would be impossible were he to practice
-various trades and professions.</p>
-
-<p>Now let us notice what science and training are needed
-for the various and difficult duties that are demanded of
-woman in her ordinary relations as wife, mother, housekeeper,
-and the mistress of servants.</p>
-
-<p>First, the department of a housekeeper demands some
-knowledge of all the arts and sciences connected with the
-proper <em>construction</em> of a family dwelling.</p>
-
-<p>In communities destitute of intelligent artisans, a widow,
-or a woman whose husband has not time or ability to direct,
-on building a house, would need for guidance the leading
-principles of architecture, pneumatics, hydrostatics, calorification,
-and several other connected sciences, in order to secure
-architectural beauty, healthful heating and ventilation, and
-the economical and convenient arrangements for labor and
-comfort. A housekeeper properly instructed in these principles
-would know how to secure chimneys that will not
-smoke, the most economical furnaces and stoves, and those
-that will be sure to “draw.” She would know how dampers
-and air-boxes should be placed and regulated, how to prevent
-or remedy gas escapes, leaking water-pipes, poisonous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span>
-recession of sewers, slamming shutters, bells that will not
-ring, blinds that will not fasten, and doors that will not lock
-or catch. She will understand about ball-cocks, and high
-and low pressure on water-pipes and boilers, and many other
-mysteries which make a woman the helpless victim of
-plumbers and other jobbers often as blundering and ignorant
-as herself. She would know what kind of wood-work saves
-labor, how to prevent its shrinkage, when to use paint, and
-what kind is best, and many other details of knowledge needed
-in circumstances to which any daughter of wealth is liable:
-knowledge which could be gained with less time and
-labor than is now given in public schools to geometry and
-algebra.</p>
-
-<p>On supposition of a <i>yard</i> and <i>garden</i>, with young boys
-and domestic animals under her care, she would need the
-first principles of landscape gardening, floriculture, horticulture,
-fruit culture, and agriculture; also, the fitting and furnishing
-of accommodations and provision for domestic animals.
-And to gain this knowledge would demand less time
-than young girls often give to picking pretty flowers to
-pieces and saying hard names over them, or storing them in
-herbariums never used. And yet botany might be so taught
-as to be practically useful.</p>
-
-<p>Next, in <i>selecting furniture</i>, a woman so instructed would
-know when glue and nails are improperly used instead of
-the needed dovetailing and mortising. She would know
-when drawers, tables, and chairs were properly made, and
-when brooms, pots, saucepans, and coal-scuttles would last
-well and do proper service. She would know the best colors
-and materials for carpets, curtains, bed and house linen,
-and numerous other practical details as easily learned as the
-construction of “bivalves” and “multivalves,” and other
-particulars in natural history now studied, and, being of no
-practical use, speedily forgotten.</p>
-
-<p>Next, in the <i>ornamentation</i> of a house, she will need the
-general principles that guide in the making or selection of
-pictures, statuary, in drawing, painting, music, and all the
-fine arts that render a home so beautiful and attractive.</p>
-
-<p>Next comes all involved in the <i>cleansing</i>, <i>neatness</i>, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span>
-<i>order</i> of houses filled with sofas, ottomans, curtains, pictures,
-musical instruments, and all the varied collection of beautiful
-and frail ornaments or curiosities so common. Every
-girl should be taught to know the right and the wrong way
-of protecting or cleansing every article, from the rich picture-frames
-and frescoes to the humblest crockery and stew-pan.
-And this would include much scientific knowledge as well
-as practical training.</p>
-
-<p>Next comes the selection of <i>healthful food</i>, the proper care
-of it, and the most economical and suitable modes of cooking.
-Here are demanded the first principles of physiology,
-animal chemistry, and domestic hygiene, with the practical
-applications. Thus instructed, the housekeeper will know
-the good or bad condition of meats, milk, bread, butter, and
-all groceries. And a class could be taken to a market or
-grocery for illustration, as easily as to a museum or the field
-for illustrations of mineralogy or botany. All this should
-be done before a young girl has the heavy responsibilities of
-housekeeper, wife, mother, and nurse. The art of cookery,
-in all its departments, has received more attention than any
-other domestic duty in former days; but at the present time
-no systematic mode is devised for training a young girl to
-superintend and instruct servants in this complicated duty,
-on which the health and comfort of a family so much depend.</p>
-
-<p>Next, in providing <i>family clothing</i> and in the care of
-household stuffs, she will know how to do and to teach in
-the best manner plain sewing, hemming, darning, mending,
-and the use of a sewing-machine, thus cultivating ingenuity,
-dexterity, and common sense in judging the best way of doing
-things and deciding what is worth doing and what is
-not. She will exercise good taste and good judgment in
-dress for herself and family, in the selection of materials, in
-the adaptation of colors and fashion to age, shape, and employments,
-and in the avoidance of unhealthful and absurd
-fashions; and she will have such knowledge of domestic
-chemistry as is needed in the cleansing, dyeing, and preservation
-of household clothing and stuffs.</p>
-
-<p>Next comes all involved in the <i>care of health</i>. This again
-involves the first principles of animal and domestic chemis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span>try,
-hydrostatics, pneumatics, caloric, light, electricity, and
-especially hygiene and therapeutics. A housekeeper instructed
-in these will have pure water, pure air, much sunlight,
-beds and clothes well cleansed, every arrangement for
-cleanliness and comfort, and all that tends to prevent disease
-or retard its first approaches. And her knowledge and skill
-she will transmit to the children and servants under her
-care, while the dumb animals of her establishment will share
-in the blessings secured by her scientific knowledge and
-trained skill.</p>
-
-<p>Next comes the care of <i>family expenses</i> in all departments
-of economy, and in which science and training are also demanded:
-to this add the enforcement of system and order,
-hospitalities to relatives, friends, and the homeless, the claims
-of society as to calls, social gatherings, the sick, the poor, benevolent
-associations, school and religious duties.</p>
-
-<p>Not the least of the onerous duties of a housekeeper is
-the training and government of <i>servants</i> of all kinds of dispositions,
-habits, nationalities, and religions.</p>
-
-<p>All these multiplied and diverse duties are demanded of
-every woman, whether married or single, who becomes mistress
-of a house.</p>
-
-<p>The distinctive duties of <i>wife and mother</i> are such that
-both science and training are of the greatest consequence,
-and a dreadful amount of suffering has resulted from want
-of such proper instruction. One of the most important of
-these duties is the care of new-born infants and their mothers.
-Thousands of young infants perish and young mothers
-are made sufferers for life for want of science and training
-in the mothers and monthly nurses.</p>
-
-<p>Then the <i>helpers in the nursery</i> have a daily control of
-the safety, health, temper, and morals of young children;
-and a conscientious, careful, affectionate woman, instructed
-in the care of health and remedies for sudden accidents, is
-a rare treasure. These arduous duties are now extensively
-given to the inexperienced and the ignorant. It is a mournful
-fact that more science and care are given by professional
-trainers to the offspring of horses, cows, sheep, and hogs,
-than to the larger portion of children of the American peo<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span>ple.
-Thus comes the fact that the mortality of the human
-offspring greatly exceeds that of the lower animals.</p>
-
-<p>The most difficult and important duties of a woman are
-those of an <i>educator</i> in the family and the school. In the
-nursery, children are taught the care of their bodies, the use
-of language, the nature and properties of the world around
-them, and many social and moral duties, all before books
-are used. Then it is a mother’s duty to select the school-teacher,
-and so to supervise, that health and intellectual
-training shall be duly secured. To this add the duties of
-training and controlling the helpers in the nursery and
-kitchen, and to a housekeeper and mother the duties of an
-<i>educator</i> stand first on the roll of responsibilities.</p>
-
-<p>But the most weighty of all human responsibilities that
-rest upon every housekeeper, whether mother or only mistress
-of servants, are those which are consequent on the distinctive
-teachings of Jesus Christ; for, as the general rule,
-it is the mistress who is the chief minister of religion in the
-family state.</p>
-
-<p>And this is the age above all the past, when all the foundations
-of religious faith are being undermined, and all the
-most important principles of morals assailed. What is the
-conscientious woman to do, when the truth and authority of
-the Bible, the doctrine of immortality after death, and even
-the existence of a God, are attacked, not only in newspapers
-and books, but even in respectable pulpit ministries? Surely,
-if she is to be prepared by culture, argument, and reflection
-for any of her many responsibilities, it is for those she
-is to bear as the <i>religious educator of the family state</i>. This
-topic will be referred to more definitely in the chapters on
-the Training of Children and Care of Servants, and in a note
-at the close of this volume.</p>
-
-<p>It is for want of facilities for the proper scientific training
-of women for these multiform duties that they are so generally
-not educated to be healthy, or economical, or industrious,
-or properly qualified to be happy wives, or to train children
-and servants, or to preserve health in families and
-schools, or to practice a wise economy in the various departments
-of the family state. It is for want of such scientific<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span>
-training that the most important duties of the family, being
-disgraced and undervalued, are forsaken by the cultivated
-and refined, and, passing to the unskilled and vulgar, secure
-neither honorable social position nor liberal rewards. The
-poorest teacher of music, drawing, or French has higher position
-and reward than those who perform the most scientific,
-sacred, and difficult duties of the family state.</p>
-
-<p>The true remedy for this state of things is to provide as
-liberally for the scientific training of woman for her profession
-as men have provided for theirs. A wide-spread attempt
-is organizing for the establishment of institutions to
-cover this very ground of educating woman for the specific
-duties of her profession. But there are many thousands who
-are already beyond the reach of such instruction, and thousands
-of others who could never avail themselves of it; and
-certain it is, that a gathering together, in a compact volume
-like the present one, of many facts and ideas bearing upon
-these all-important topics, will be of great advantage to readers,
-especially in remote districts, far from the conveniences
-of cities.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span></p>
-
-
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_133.jpg"  alt="The Beautiful House" />
-</div>
-
-<h3><small>CHAPTER II.</small><br />
-
-<small>A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOUSE.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>At the head of this chapter is a sketch of what may be
-properly called a <em>Christian</em> house; that is, a house contrived
-for the express purpose of enabling every member of a family
-to labor with the hands for the common good, and by
-modes at once healthful, economical, and tasteful.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_134.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 7.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In the following drawings are presented modes of economizing
-time, labor, and expense by the <em>close packing of conveniences</em>.
-By such methods, small and economical houses
-can be made to secure most of the comforts and many of
-the refinements of large and expensive ones. The cottage
-at the head of this chapter is projected on a plan which can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span>
-be adapted to a warm or cold climate
-with little change. By adding another
-story, it would serve a large family.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_135a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 8.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 7 shows the ground-plan of the
-first floor, the proportions being marked
-in the drawing. The piazzas each side
-of the front projection have sliding-windows
-to the floor, and can, by glazed
-sashes, be made greenhouses in winter.
-In a warm climate, piazzas can be made
-at the back side also.</p>
-
-<p>The leading aim is to show how time,
-labor, and expense are saved, not only
-in the building, but in furniture and its
-arrangement. The conservatories are
-appendages not necessary to housekeeping,
-but useful in many ways.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_135b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 9.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The entry has arched recesses behind the front doors, (Fig.
-8,) furnished with hooks for over-clothes in both—a box for
-overshoes in one,
-and a stand for umbrellas
-in the other.
-The roof of the recess
-is for statuettes,
-busts, or flowers.
-The stairs turn
-twice with broad
-steps, making a recess
-at the lower
-landing, where a table
-is set with a vase
-of flowers, (Fig. 9.)</p>
-
-<p>On one side of the
-recess is a closet,
-arched to correspond
-with the arch
-over the stairs. A
-bracket over the
-first broad stair,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span>
-with flowers or statuettes, is visible from the entrance, and
-pictures can be hung as in the drawing.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_136.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 10.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The large room on the left can be made to serve the purpose
-of several rooms by means of a <em>movable screen</em>. By
-shifting this rolling screen from one part of the room to another,
-two apartments are always available, of any desired
-size within the limits of the large room. One side of the
-screen fronts what may be used for the parlor or sitting-room;
-the other side is arranged for bedroom conveniences. Of
-this, Fig. 10 shows the front side; covered first with strong
-canvas, stretched and nailed on. Over this is pasted panel-paper,
-and the upper part is made to resemble an ornamental
-cornice by fresco-paper. Pictures can be hung in the
-panels, or be pasted on and varnished with white varnish.
-To prevent the absorption of the varnish, a wash of gum
-isinglass (fish-glue) must be applied twice.</p>
-
-<p>Fig. 11 shows the back or inside of the movable screen,
-toward the part of the room used as the bedroom. On one
-side, and at the top and bottom, it has shelves with <i>shelf-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span>boxes</i>,
-which are cheaper and better than drawers, and much
-preferred by those using them. Handles are cut in the
-front and back side, as seen in Fig. 12. Half an inch space
-must be between the box and the
-shelf over it, and as much each
-side, so that it can be taken out
-and put in easily. The central
-part of the screen’s interior is a
-wardrobe.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_137.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 11.</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/137b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 12.</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p>This screen must be so high as nearly to reach the ceiling,
-in order to prevent it from overturning. It is to fill the
-width of the room, except two feet on each side. A projecting
-cleat or strip, reaching nearly to the top of the screen,
-three inches wide, is to be screwed to the front sides, on
-which light frame doors are to be hung, covered with canvas
-and panel-paper like the front of the screen. The inside of
-these doors is furnished with hook for clothing, for which
-the projection makes room. The whole screen is to be eight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span>een
-inches deep at the top and two feet deep at the base,
-giving a solid foundation. It is moved on four wooden rollers,
-one foot long and four inches in diameter. The pivots
-of the rollers and the parts where there is friction must be
-rubbed with hard soap, and then a child can move the whole
-easily.</p>
-
-<p>A curtain is to be hung across the whole interior of the
-screen by rings, on a strong wire. The curtain should be
-in three parts, with lead or large nails in the hems to keep
-it in place. The wood-work must be put together with
-screws, as the screen is too large to pass through a door.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_138.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 13.</div>
-</div>
-
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/138b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 14.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>At the end of the room, behind the screen, are two couches,
-to be run one under the other, as in Fig. 13. The upper one
-is made with four posts, each three feet high and three inches
-square, set on casters two inches high. The frame is to
-be fourteen inches from the floor, seven feet long, two feet
-four inches wide, and three inches in thickness. At the head
-and at the foot is to be screwed a
-notched two-inch board, three inches
-wide, as in Fig. 14. The mortises are
-to be one inch wide and deep, and one
-inch apart, to receive slats made of ash, oak, or spruce, one
-inch square, placed lengthwise of the couch. The slats being
-small, and so near together, and running lengthwise, make a
-better spring frame than wire coils. If they warp, they can
-be turned. They must not be fastened at the ends, except<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span>
-by insertion in the notches. Across the posts, and of equal
-height with them, are to be screwed head and foot boards.</p>
-
-<p>The under couch is like the upper, except these dimensions:
-posts, nine inches high, including casters; frame, six
-feet two inches long, two feet four inches wide. The frame
-should be as near the floor as possible, resting on the casters.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_139a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 15.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The most healthful and comfortable mattress is made by
-a case, open in the
-centre and fastened
-together with buttons,
-as in Fig. 15;
-to be filled with oat
-straw, which is softer
-than wheat or rye. This can be adjusted to the figure,
-and often renewed.</p>
-
-<p>Fig. 16 represents the upper couch when covered, and the
-under couch put beneath it. The cover-lid should match the
-curtain of the screen; and the pillows, by day, should have a
-case of the same.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_139b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 16.</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_139c.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 17.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 17 is an ottoman, made as a box, with a lid on hinges.
-A cushion is fastened to this lid by strings at each corner,
-passing through holes in the box lid and tied inside. The
-cushion to be cut square, with side pieces; stuffed with hair,
-and stitched through like a mattress. Side handles are
-made by cords fastened inside with knots. The box must
-be two inches larger at the bottom than at the top, and the
-lid and cushion the same size as the bottom, to give it a
-tasteful shape. This ottoman is set on casters, and is a great
-convenience for holding articles, while serving also as a seat.</p>
-
-<p>The expense of the screen, where lumber averages four
-dollars a hundred, and carpenter labor three dollars a day,
-would be about thirty dollars, and the two couches about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span>
-six dollars. The material for covering might be cheap and
-yet pretty. A woman with these directions, and a son or
-husband who would use plane and saw, could thus secure
-much additional room, and also what amounts to two bureaus,
-two large trunks, one large wardrobe, and a wash-stand,
-for less than twenty dollars—the mere cost of materials.
-The screen and couches can be so arranged as to have
-one room serve first as a large and airy sleeping-room; then,
-in the morning, it may be used as sitting-room one side of
-the screen, and breakfast-room the other; and lastly, through
-the day it can be made a large parlor on the front side, and
-a sewing or retiring-room the other side. The needless spaces
-usually devoted to kitchen, entries, halls, back-stairs, pantries,
-store-rooms, and closets, by this method would be used
-in adding to the size of the large room, so variously used by
-day and by night.</p>
-
-<p>Fig. 18 is an enlarged plan of the kitchen and stove-room.
-The chimney and stove-room are contrived to ventilate the
-whole house.</p>
-
-<p>Between the two rooms glazed sliding-doors, passing each
-other, serve to shut out heat and smells from the kitchen.
-The sides of the stove-room must be lined with shelves;
-those on the side by the cellar stairs, to be one foot wide and
-eighteen inches apart; on the other side, shelves may be narrower,
-eight inches wide and nine inches apart. Boxes with
-lids, to receive stove utensils, must be placed near the stove.</p>
-
-<p>On these shelves, and in the closet and boxes, can be
-placed every material used for cooking, all the table and
-cooking utensils, and all the articles used in house-work, and
-yet much spare room will be left. The cook’s galley in a
-steamship has every article and utensil used in cooking for
-two hundred persons, in a space not larger than this stove-room,
-and so arranged that with one or two steps the cook
-can reach all he uses.</p>
-
-<p>In contrast to this, in most large houses, the table furniture,
-the cooking materials and utensils, the sink, and the
-eating-room, are at such distances apart, that half the time
-and strength is employed in walking back and forth to collect
-and return the articles used.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_141.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 18.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span></p>
-
-<p>Fig. 19 is an enlarged plan of the sink and cooking-form.
-Two windows make a better circulation of air in warm
-weather, by having one open at top and the other at the
-bottom, while the light is better adjusted for working, in
-case of weak eyes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_142.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 19.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The flour-barrel just fills the closet, which has a door for
-admission, and a lid to raise when used. Beside it is the
-form for cooking, with a molding-board laid on it; one
-side used for preparing vegetables and meat, and the other
-for molding bread. The sink has two pumps, for well and
-for rain-water—one having a forcing power to throw water
-into the reservoir in the garret, which supplies the water-closet
-and bath-room. On the other side of the sink is the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span>
-dish-drainer, with a ledge on the edge next the sink, to hold
-the dishes, and grooves cut to let the water drain into the
-sink. It has hinges, so that it can either rest on the cook-form
-or be turned over and cover the sink. Under the sink
-are shelf-boxes placed on two shelves run into grooves, with
-other grooves above and below, so that one may move the
-shelves and increase or diminish the spaces between. The
-shelf-boxes can be used for scouring-materials, dish-towels,
-and dish-cloths; also to hold bowls for bits of butter, fats,
-etc. Under these two shelves is room for two pails, and a
-jar for soap-grease.</p>
-
-<p>Under the cook-form are shelves and shelf-boxes for unbolted
-wheat, corn-meal, rye, etc. Beneath these, for white
-and brown sugar, are wooden can-pails, which are the best
-articles in which to keep these constant necessities. Beside
-them is the tin molasses-can with a tight, movable cover,
-and a cork in the spout. This is much better than a jug for
-molasses, and also for vinegar and oil, being easier to clean
-and to handle. Other articles and implements for cooking
-can be arranged on or under the shelves at the side and
-front. A small cooking-tray, holding pepper, salt, dredging-box,
-knife, and spoon, should stand
-close at hand by the stove, (Fig. 20.)</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_143a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 20.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The articles used for setting tables
-are to be placed on the shelves
-at the front and side of the sink.
-Two tumbler-trays, made of pasteboard, covered with varnished
-fancy papers and divided by wires, (as shown in Fig.
-21,) save many steps in setting and clearing table. Similar
-trays, (Fig. 22,) for knives and forks and spoons, serve the
-same purpose. The sink should be three feet long and three
-inches deep, its width matching the cook-form.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_143.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 21.<span class="gap40">Fig. 22.</span></div>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_144.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 23.</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span></p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_145.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 24.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 23 is the second or attic story. The main objection
-to attic rooms is their warmth in summer, owing to the
-heated roof. This is prevented by so enlarging the closets
-each side that their walls meet
-the ceiling under the garret
-floor, thus excluding all or
-most of the roof. In the bedchambers,
-corner dressing-tables,
-as Fig. 24, instead of
-projecting bureaus, save much
-space for use, and give a handsome
-form and finish to the
-room. In the bath-room must
-be the opening to the garret,
-and a step-ladder to reach it.
-A reservoir in the garret, supplied
-by a forcing-pump in the
-cellar or at the sink, must be
-well supported by timbers, and
-the plumbing must be well
-done, or much annoyance will ensue.</p>
-
-<p>The large chambers are to be lighted by large windows or
-glazed sliding-doors, opening upon the balcony. A roof can
-be put over the balcony and its sides inclosed by windows,
-and the chamber extend into it, and be thus much enlarged.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_145b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption"> Fig. 25.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The water-closets must have the latest improvements for
-safe discharge, and there will be no
-trouble. They will cost no more than
-an outdoor building, and they relieve
-one from the most disagreeable house-labor.</p>
-
-<p>A great improvement, called <i>earth-closets</i>,
-will probably take the place
-of water-closets to some extent;
-though at present the water is the
-more convenient.</p>
-
-<p>The method of ventilating all the
-chambers, and also the cellar, will be
-described in another place.
-Fig. 25 represents a shoe-bag, that
-can be fastened to the side of a closet
-or closet-door.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_146.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 26.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 26 represents a piece-bag, and is a very great labor
-and space-saving invention. It is made of calico, and fastened
-to the side of a closet or a door, to hold all the bundles
-that are usually stowed in trunks and drawers. India-rubber
-or elastic tape drawn into hems to hold the contents
-of the bag is better than tape-strings. Each bag should be
-labeled with the name of its contents, written with indelible
-ink on white tape sewed on to the bag. Such systematic
-arrangement saves much time and annoyance. Drawers or
-trunks to hold these articles can not be kept so easily in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span>
-good order, and moreover, occupy spaces saved by this contrivance.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_147.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 27.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 27 is the basement. It has the floor and sides plastered,
-and is lighted with glazed doors. A form is raised
-close by the cellar stairs, for baskets, pails, and tubs. Here,
-also, the refrigerator can be placed, or, what is better, an ice-closet
-can be made, as designated in the illustration. The
-floor of the basement must be an inclined plane toward a
-drain, and be plastered with water-lime. The wash-tubs
-have plugs in the bottom to let off water, and cocks and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span>
-pipes over them bringing cold water from the reservoir in the
-garret and hot water from the laundry stove. This saves
-much heavy labor of emptying tubs and carrying water.</p>
-
-<p>The laundry closet has a stove for heating irons, and also
-a kettle on top for heating water. Slides or clothes-frames
-are made to draw out to receive wet clothes, and then run
-into the closet to dry. This saves health as well as time
-and money, and the clothes are as white as when dried outdoors.
-The entrance to the kitchen is either through the
-basement or through the eating-room windows, made to
-slide.</p>
-
-<p>The wood-work of the house, for doors, windows, etc.,
-should be <em>oiled</em> chestnut, butternut, whitewood, and pine.
-This is cheaper, handsomer, and more easy to keep clean
-than painted wood.</p>
-
-<p>In Fig. 7 are planned two conservatories, and few understand
-their value in the training of the young. They provide
-soil, in which children, through the winter months, can
-be starting seeds and plants for their gardens and raising
-valuable, tender plants. Every child should cultivate flowers
-and fruits to sell and to give away, and thus be taught to
-learn the value of money, and to practice both economy and
-benevolence.</p>
-
-<p>According to the calculation of a house-carpenter, in a
-place where the <em>average</em> price of lumber is four dollars a
-hundred, and carpenter work three dollars a day, such a
-house can be built for sixteen hundred dollars. For those
-practicing the closest economy, two small families could occupy
-it, by dividing the kitchen, and yet have room enough.
-Or one large room and the chamber over it can be left till
-increase of family and means require enlargement.</p>
-
-<p>A strong horse and carry-all, with a cow, garden, vineyard,
-and orchard, on a few acres, would secure all the substantial
-comforts found in great establishments, without the trouble
-of ill-qualified servants.</p>
-
-<p>And if the parents and children were united in the daily
-labors of the house, garden, and fruit culture, such thrift,
-health, and happiness would be secured as is but rarely found
-among the rich.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span></p>
-
-<p>Let us suppose a colony of cultivated and Christian people,
-having abundant wealth, who now are living as the
-wealthy usually do, emigrating to some of the beautiful
-Southern uplands, where are rocks, hills, valleys, and mountains
-as picturesque as those of New-England, where the
-thermometer but rarely reaches 90° in summer, and in winter
-as rarely sinks below freezing-point, so that outdoor labor
-goes on all the year, where the fertile soil is easily worked,
-where rich tropical fruits and flowers abound, where cotton
-and silk can be raised by children around their home, where
-the produce of vineyards and orchards finds steady markets
-by railroads ready-made; suppose such a colony, with a
-central church and school-room, library, hall for sports, and
-a common laundry, (taking the most trying part of domestic
-labor from each house)—suppose each family to train the
-children to labor with the hands as a healthful and honorable
-duty; suppose all this, which is perfectly practicable, would
-not the enjoyment of this life be increased, and also abundant
-treasures be laid up in heaven, by using the wealth thus
-economized in diffusing similar enjoyments and culture among
-the poor, ignorant, and neglected ones in desolated sections
-where many now are perishing for want of such Christian
-example and influences?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER III.<br />
-
-<small>ON HOME VENTILATION.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>When “the wise woman buildeth her house,” the first
-consideration will be the health of the inmates. The first
-and most indispensable requisite for health is pure air, both
-by day and night.</p>
-
-<p>If the parents of a family should daily withhold from their
-children a large portion of food needful to growth and health,
-and every night should administer to each a small dose of
-poison, it would be called murder of the most hideous character.
-But it is probable that more than one half of this nation
-are doing that very thing. The murderous operation is
-perpetrated daily and nightly, in our parlors, our bedrooms,
-our kitchens, our school-rooms; and even our churches are
-no asylum from the barbarity. Nor can we escape by our
-railroads, for even there the same dreadful work is going on.</p>
-
-<p>The only palliating circumstance is the ignorance of those
-who commit these wholesale murders. As saith the Scripture,
-“The people do perish for lack of knowledge.” And it
-is this lack of knowledge which it is woman’s special business
-to supply.</p>
-
-<p>The above statements will be illustrated by some account
-of the manner in which the body is supplied with healthful
-nutriment. There are two modes of nourishing the body,
-one is by food and the other by air. In the stomach the
-food is dissolved, and the nutritious portion is absorbed by
-the blood, and then is carried by blood-vessels to the lungs,
-where it receives oxygen from the air we breathe. This
-oxygen is as necessary to the nourishment of the body as the
-food of the stomach. In a full-grown man weighing one
-hundred and fifty-four pounds, one hundred and eleven pounds
-consists of oxygen, obtained chiefly from the air we breathe.
-Thus the lungs feed the body with oxygen, as really as the
-stomach supplies the other food required.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span></p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_151a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 28.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The lungs occupy the upper portion
-of the body from the collarbone
-to the lower ribs, and between
-their two lobes is placed the heart.</p>
-
-<p>Fig. 28 shows the position of the
-lungs, though not the exact shape.
-On the right hand is the exterior of
-one of the lobes, and on the left hand
-are seen the branching tubes of the
-interior, through which the air we
-breathe passes to the exceedingly
-minute air-cells of which the lungs
-chiefly consist. Fig. 29 shows the
-outside of a cluster of these air-cells,
-and Fig. 30 is the inside view. The
-lining membrane of each air-cell is
-covered by a net-work of minute
-blood-vessels called <i>capillaries</i>,
-which, magnified several hundred times, appear in the microscope
-as at Fig. 31. Every air-cell has a blood-vessel
-that brings blood from the heart, which meanders through
-its capillaries till it reaches another blood-vessel that carries
-it back to the heart, as seen in Fig. 32. In this passage of
-the blood through these capillaries, the air in the air-cell imparts
-its oxygen to the blood, and receives in exchange carbonic
-acid and watery vapor which are expired at every
-breath into the atmosphere.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_151b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 29.<span class="gap25">Fig. 30.</span> <span class="gap25">Fig. 31.</span></div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_152a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 32.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>By calculating the number of air-cells in a small portion
-of the lungs, under a microscope, it is ascertained that there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span>
-are no less than eighteen millions of
-these wonderful little purifiers and feeders
-of the body. By their ceaseless ministries,
-every grown person receives, each
-day, thirty-three hogsheads of air into the
-lungs to nourish and vitalize every part
-of the body, and also to carry off its impurities.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_152b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 33.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>But the heart has a most important
-agency in this operation. Fig. 33 is a
-diagram of the heart, which is placed between
-the two lobes of the lungs. The
-right side of the heart receives the dark
-and impure blood, which is loaded with
-carbonic acid. It is brought from every
-point of the body by branching veins
-that unite in the upper and the lower
-<i lang ="la">vena cava</i>, which discharge into the right
-side of the heart. This impure blood passes to the capillaries
-of the air-cells in the lungs, where it gives off carbonic acid,
-and, taking oxygen from the air, then returns to the left side
-of the heart, from
-whence it is sent
-out through the <i>aorta</i>
-and its myriad
-branching arteries to
-every part of the
-body.</p>
-
-<p>When the upper
-portion of the heart
-contracts, it forces
-both the pure blood
-from the lungs, and
-the impure blood
-from the body,
-through the valves
-marked V, V, into
-the lower part.
-When the lower por<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span>tion
-contracts, it closes the valves and forces the impure
-blood into the lungs on one side, and also on the other side
-forces the purified blood through the aorta and arteries to
-all parts of the body.</p>
-
-<p>As before stated, the lungs consist chiefly of air-cells, the
-walls of which are lined with minute blood-vessels; and we
-know that in every man these air-cells number <em>eighteen millions</em>.</p>
-
-<p>Now every beat of the heart sends two ounces of blood
-into the minute, hair-like blood-vessels, called capillaries,
-that line these air-cells, where the air in the air-cells gives
-its oxygen to the blood, and in its place receives carbonic
-acid. This gas is then expired by the lungs into the surrounding
-atmosphere.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, by this powerful little organ, the heart, no less than
-twenty-eight pounds of blood, in a common-sized man, is
-sent three times every hour through the lungs, giving out
-carbonic acid and watery vapor, and receiving the life-inspiring
-oxygen.</p>
-
-<p>Whether all this blood shall convey the nourishing and
-invigorating oxygen to every part of the body, or return
-unrelieved of carbonic acid, depends entirely on the pureness
-of the atmosphere that is breathed.</p>
-
-<p>Every time we think or feel, this mental action dissolves
-some particles of the brain and nerves, which pass into the
-blood to be thrown out of the body through the lungs and
-skin. In like manner, whenever we move any muscle, some
-of its particles decay and pass away. It is in the capillaries,
-which are all over the body, that this change takes place.
-The blood-vessels that convey the pure blood from the heart
-divide into myriads of little branches that terminate in
-capillary vessels like those lining the air-cells of the lungs.
-The blood meanders through these minute capillaries, depositing
-the oxygen taken from the lungs and the food of
-the stomach, and receiving in return the decayed matter,
-which is chiefly carbonic acid.</p>
-
-<p>This carbonic acid is formed by the union of oxygen with
-<i>carbon</i> or <i>charcoal</i>, which forms a large portion of the food.
-Watery vapor is also formed in the capillaries by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span>
-union of oxygen with the hydrogen contained in the food
-and drink.</p>
-
-<p>During this process in the capillaries, the bright red blood
-of the arteries changes to the purple blood of the veins,
-which is carried back to the heart, to be sent to be purified
-in the lungs as before described. A portion of the oxygen
-received in the lungs unites with the dissolved food sent
-from the stomach into the blood, and no food can nourish
-the body till it has received a proper supply of oxygen in
-the lungs. At every breath a half-pint of blood receives its
-needed oxygen in the lungs, and at the same time gives out
-an equal amount of carbonic acid and water.</p>
-
-<p>Now this carbonic acid, if received into the lungs undiluted
-by sufficient air, is a fatal poison, causing certain death.
-When it is mixed with only a small portion of air, it is a
-slow poison, which imperceptibly undermines the constitution.</p>
-
-<p>We now can understand how it is that all who live in
-houses where the breathing of inmates has deprived the air
-of oxygen, and loaded it with carbonic acid, may truly be
-said to be poisoned and starved; poisoned with carbonic
-acid, and starved for want of oxygen.</p>
-
-<p>Whenever oxygen unites with carbon to form carbonic
-acid, or with hydrogen to form water, heat is generated.
-Thus it is that a kind of combustion is constantly going on
-in the capillaries all over the body. It is this burning of the
-decaying portions of the body that causes animal heat. It is
-a process similar to that which takes place when lamps and
-candles are burning. The oil and tallow, which are chiefly
-carbon and hydrogen, unite with the oxygen of the air and
-form carbonic acid and watery vapor, producing heat during
-the process. So in the capillaries all over the body, the carbon
-and hydrogen supplied to the blood by the food unite
-with the oxygen gained in the lungs, and cause the heat
-which is diffused all over the body.</p>
-
-<p>The skin also performs an office similar to that of the
-lungs. In the skin of every adult there are no less than seven
-million minute perspirating tubes, each one-fourth of an inch
-long. If all these were united in one length, they would ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span>tend
-twenty-eight miles. These minute tubes are lined with
-capillary blood-vessels, which are constantly sending out not
-only carbonic acid, but other gases and particles of decayed
-matter. The skin and lungs together, in one day and night,
-throw out three-quarters of a pound of charcoal as carbonic
-acid, besides other gases and water.</p>
-
-<p>While the bodies of men and animals are filling the air
-with the poisonous carbonic acid, and using up the life-giving
-oxygen, the trees and plants are performing an exactly
-contrary process; for they are absorbing carbonic acid and
-giving out oxygen. Thus, by a wonderful arrangement of
-the beneficent Creator, a constant equilibrium is preserved.
-What animals use is provided by vegetables, and what vegetables
-require is furnished by animals; and all goes on, day
-and night, without care or thought of man.</p>
-
-<p>The human race in its infancy was placed in a mild and
-genial clime, where each separate family dwelt in tents, and
-breathed, both day and night, the pure air of heaven. And
-when they became scattered abroad to colder climes, the
-open fire-place secured a full supply of pure air. But civilization
-has increased economies and conveniences far ahead
-of the knowledge needed by the common people for their
-healthful use. Tight sleeping-rooms, and close, air-tight
-stoves, are now starving and poisoning more than one half
-of this nation. It seems impossible to make people know
-their danger. And the remedy for this is the light of knowledge
-and intelligence which it is woman’s special mission to
-bestow, as she controls and regulates the ministries of a
-home.</p>
-
-<p>The poisoning process is thus exhibited in Mrs. Stowe’s
-“House and Home Papers,” and can not be recalled too
-often:</p>
-
-<p>“No other gift of God, so precious, so inspiring, is treated
-with such utter irreverence and contempt in the calculations
-of us mortals as this same air of heaven. A sermon on oxygen,
-if we had a preacher who understood the subject, might
-do more to repress sin than the most orthodox discourse to
-show when and how and why sin came. A minister gets
-up in a crowded lecture-room, where the mephitic air almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span>
-makes the candles burn blue, and bewails the deadness of
-the church—the church the while, drugged by the poisoned
-air, growing sleepier and sleepier, though they feel dreadfully
-wicked for being so.</p>
-
-<p>“Little Jim, who, fresh from his afternoon’s ramble in the
-fields, last evening said his prayers dutifully, and lay down
-to sleep in a most Christian frame, this morning sits up in
-bed with his hair bristling with crossness, strikes at his
-nurse, and declares he won’t say his prayers—that he don’t
-want to be good. The difference is, that the child, having
-slept in a close box of a room, his brain all night fed by poison,
-is in a mild state of moral insanity. Delicate women
-remark that it takes them till eleven or twelve o’clock to
-get up their strength in the morning. Query, Do they sleep
-with closed windows and doors, and with heavy bed-curtains?</p>
-
-<p>“The houses built by our ancestors were better ventilated
-in certain respects than modern ones, with all their improvements.
-The great central chimney, with its open fire-places
-in the different rooms, created a constant current which carried
-off foul and vitiated air. In these days, how common
-is it to provide rooms with only a flue for a stove! This
-flue is kept shut in summer, and in winter opened only to
-admit a close stove, which burns away the vital portion of
-the air quite as fast as the occupants breathe it away. The
-sealing up of fire-places and introduction of air-tight stoves
-may, doubtless, be a saving of fuel; it saves, too, more than
-that; in thousands and thousands of cases it has saved people
-from all further human wants, and put an end forever to
-any needs short of the six feet of narrow earth which are
-man’s only inalienable property. In other words, since the
-invention of air-tight stoves, thousands have died of slow
-poison.</p>
-
-<p>“It is a terrible thing to reflect upon, that our northern
-winters last from November to May, six long months, in
-which many families confine themselves to one room, of
-which every window-crack has been carefully calked to
-make it air-tight, where an air-tight stove keeps the atmosphere
-at a temperature between eighty and ninety; and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span>
-inmates, sitting there with all their winter clothes on, become
-enervated both by the heat and by the poisoned air,
-for which there is no escape but the occasional opening of a
-door.</p>
-
-<p>“It is no wonder that the first result of all this is such a
-delicacy of skin and lungs that about half the inmates are
-obliged to give up going into the open air during the six
-cold months, because they invariably catch cold if they do
-so. It is no wonder that the cold caught about the first of
-December has by the first of March become a fixed consumption,
-and that the opening of the spring, which ought
-to bring life and health, in so many cases brings death.</p>
-
-<p>“We hear of the lean condition in which the poor bears
-emerge from their six months’ wintering, during which they
-subsist on the fat which they have acquired the previous
-summer. Even so, in our long winters, multitudes of delicate
-people subsist on the daily waning strength which they
-acquired in the season when windows and doors were open,
-and fresh air was a constant luxury. No wonder we hear
-of spring fever and spring biliousness, and have thousands
-of nostrums for clearing the blood in the spring. All these
-things are the pantings and palpitations of a system run
-down under slow poison, unable to get a step farther.</p>
-
-<p>“Better, far better, the old houses of the olden time, with
-their great roaring fires, and their bedrooms where the
-snow came in and the wintry winds whistled. Then, to be
-sure, you froze your back while you burned your face, your
-water froze nightly in your pitcher, your breath congealed
-in ice-wreaths on the blankets, and you could write your
-name on the pretty snow-wreath that had sifted in through
-the window-cracks. But you woke full of life and vigor,
-you looked out into the whirling snow-storms without a
-shiver, and thought nothing of plunging through drifts as
-high as your head on your daily way to school. You jingled
-in sleighs, you snow-balled, you lived in snow like a
-snow-bird, and your blood coursed and tingled, in full tide
-of good, merry, real life, through your veins—none of the
-slow-creeping, black blood which clogs the brain and lies
-like a weight on the vital wheels!”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span></p>
-
-<p>It is ascertained by experiments that breathing bad air
-tends so to reduce all the processes of the body, that less
-oxygen is demanded and less carbonic acid sent out. This,
-of course, lessens the vitality and weakens the constitution;
-and it accounts for the fact that a person of full health,
-accustomed to pure air, suffers from bad air far more than
-those who are accustomed to it. The body of strong and
-healthy persons demands more oxygen, and throws off more
-carbonic acid, and is distressed when the supply fails. But
-the one reduced by bad air feels little inconvenience, because
-all the functions of life are so slow that less oxygen is
-needed, and less carbonic acid thrown out. And the sensibilities
-being deadened, the evil is not felt. This provision
-of nature prolongs many lives, though it turns vigorous constitutions
-into feeble ones. Were it not for this change in
-the constitution, thousands in badly ventilated rooms and
-houses would come to a speedy death.</p>
-
-<p>One of the results of unventilated rooms is <i>scrofula</i>. A
-distinguished French physician, M. Baudeloque, states that</p>
-
-<p>“The repeated respiration of the same atmosphere is <em>the</em>
-cause of scrofula. If there be entirely pure air, there may
-be bad food, bad clothing, and want of personal cleanliness,
-but scrofulous disease will not exist. This disease <em>never</em>
-attacks persons who pass their lives in the open air, and
-<em>always</em> manifests itself when they abide in air which is unrenewed.”</p>
-
-<p>This writer illustrates this by the history of a French village
-where the inhabitants all slept in close, unventilated
-houses. Nearly all were seized with scrofula, and many
-families became wholly extinct, their last members dying
-“rotten with scrofula.” A fire destroyed a large part of
-this village. Houses were then built to secure pure air, and
-scrofula disappeared from the part thus rebuilt.</p>
-
-<p>We are informed by medical writers that defective ventilation
-is one great cause of diseased joints, as well as of
-diseases of the eyes, ears, and skin.</p>
-
-<p>Foul air is the leading cause of tubercular and scrofulous
-consumption, so very common in our country. Dr. Guy, in
-his examination before public health commissioners in Great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span>
-Britain, says: “Deficient ventilation I believe to be more
-fatal than <em>all other causes</em> put together.” He states that
-consumption is twice as common among tradesmen as
-among the gentry, owing to the bad ventilation of their
-stores and dwellings.</p>
-
-<p>Says Dr. Dio Lewis, whose labors in the cause of health
-are well known:</p>
-
-<p>“As a medical man I have visited thousands of sick-rooms,
-and have not found in <em>one in a hundred</em> of them a pure atmosphere.
-I have often returned from church doubting
-whether I had not committed a sin in exposing myself so
-long to its poisonous air. There are in our great cities
-churches costing fifty thousand dollars, in the construction
-of which not fifty cents were expended in providing means
-for ventilation. Ten thousand dollars for ornament, but not
-ten cents for pure air!</p>
-
-<p>“Unventilated parlors, with gas-burners, (each consuming
-as much oxygen as several men,) made as tight as possible,
-and a party of ladies and gentlemen spending half the night
-in them! In 1861, I visited a legislative hall, the legislature
-being in session. I remained half an hour in the most impure
-air I ever breathed. Our school-houses are, some of
-them, so vile in this respect, that I would prefer to have
-my son remain in utter ignorance of books rather than to
-breathe, six hours every day, such a poisonous atmosphere.
-Theatres and concert-rooms are so foul that only reckless
-people continue to visit them. Twelve hours in a railway-car
-exhausts one, not by the journeying, but because of the
-devitalized air. While crossing the ocean in a Cunard steamer,
-I was amazed that men who knew enough to construct
-such ships did not know enough to furnish air to the passengers.
-The distress of sea-sickness is greatly intensified by
-the sickening air of the ship. Were carbonic acid <em>only black</em>,
-what a contrast there would be between our hotels in their
-elaborate ornament!</p>
-
-<p>“Some time since I visited an establishment where one
-hundred and fifty girls, in a single room, were engaged in
-needle-work. Pale-faced, and with low vitality and feeble
-circulation, they were unconscious that they were breathing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span>
-air that at once produced in me dizziness and a sense of suffocation.
-If I had remained a week with them, I should, by
-reduced vitality, have become unconscious of the vileness of
-the air!”</p>
-
-<p>There is a prevailing prejudice against <i>night air</i> as unhealthful
-to be admitted into sleeping-rooms, which is owing
-wholly to sheer ignorance. In the night every body necessarily
-breathes night air and no other. When admitted
-from without into a sleeping-room, it is colder, and therefore
-heavier, than the air within, so it sinks to the bottom of the
-room and forces out an equal quantity of the impure air,
-warmed and vitiated by passing through the lungs of inmates.
-Thus the question is, Shall we shut up a chamber
-and breathe night air vitiated with carbonic acid or night
-air that is pure? The only real difficulty about night air is,
-that usually it is damper, and therefore colder and more likely
-to chill. This is easily remedied by sufficient bed-clothing.</p>
-
-<p>One other very prevalent mistake is found even in books
-written by learned men. It is often thought that carbonic
-acid, being heavier than common air, sinks to the floor of
-sleeping-rooms, so that the low trundle-beds for children
-should not be used. This is all a mistake; for, as a fact, in
-close sleeping-rooms the purest air is below and the most
-impure above. It is true that carbonic acid is heavier than
-common air, when pure; but this it rarely is except in chemical
-experiments. It is the property of all gases, as well as
-of the two (oxygen and nitrogen) composing the atmosphere,
-that when brought together they always are entirely mixed,
-each being equally diffused. Thus the carbonic acid from
-the skin and lungs, being warmed in the body, rises, as does
-the common air, with which it mixes, toward the top of a
-room; so that usually there is more carbonic acid at the top
-than at the bottom of a room.<a id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> Both common air and carbonic
-acid expand and become lighter in the same proportions;
-that is, for every degree of added heat they expand
-at the rate of 1/480 of their bulk.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span></p>
-<p>Here, let it be remembered, that in ill-ventilated rooms
-the carbonic acid is not the only cause of disease. Experiments
-seem to prove that other matter thrown out of the
-body, through the lungs and skin, is as truly excrement and
-in a state of decay as that ejected from the bowels, and as
-poisonous to the animal system. Carbonic acid has no odor;
-but we are warned by the disagreeable effluvia of close sleeping-rooms
-of the other poison thus thrown into the air from
-the skin and lungs. There is one provision of nature that is
-little understood, which saves the lives of thousands living
-in unventilated houses; and that is, the passage of pure air
-inward and impure air outward through the pores of bricks,
-wood, stone, and mortar. Were such dwellings changed to
-tin, which is not thus porous, in less than a week thousands
-and tens of thousands would be in danger of perishing by
-suffocation.</p>
-
-<p>There are some recent scientific discoveries that relate to
-impure air which may properly be introduced here. It is
-shown by the microscope that <i>fermentation</i> is a process
-which generates extremely minute plants, that gradually
-increase till the whole mass is pervaded by this vegetation.
-The microscope also has revealed the fact that, in certain
-diseases, these microscopic plants are generated in the blood
-and other fluids of the body, in a mode similar to the ordinary
-process of fermentation.</p>
-
-<p>And, what is very curious, each of these peculiar diseases
-generates diverse kinds of plants. Thus, in the typhoid
-fever, the microscope reveals in the fluids of the patient a
-plant that resembles in form some kinds of sea-weed. In
-chills and fever, the microscopic plant has another form, and
-in small-pox still another. A work has recently been published
-in Europe, in which representations of these various
-microscopic plants generated in the fluids of the diseased
-persons are exhibited, enlarged several hundred times by
-the microscope. All diseases that exhibit these microscopic
-plants are classed together, and are called <i>Zymotic</i>, from a
-Greek word signifying <i>to ferment</i>.</p>
-
-<p>It is now regarded as probable that most of these diseases
-are generated by the microscopic plants which float in an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span>
-impure or miasmatic atmosphere, and are taken into the
-blood by breathing.</p>
-
-<p>Recent scientific investigations in Great Britain and other
-countries prove that the <em>power of resisting</em> these diseases depends
-upon the purity of the air which has been <em>habitually</em>
-inspired. The human body gradually accommodates itself
-to unhealthful circumstances, so that people can live a long
-time in bad air. But the “reserve power” of the body—that
-is, the power of resisting disease—is under such circumstances
-gradually destroyed, and then an epidemic easily
-sweeps away those thus enfeebled. The plague of London,
-that destroyed thousands every day, came immediately after
-a long period of damp, warm days, when there was no wind
-to carry off the miasma thus generated; while the people,
-by long breathing of bad air, were all prepared, from having
-sunk into a low vitality, to fall before the pestilence.</p>
-
-<p>Multitudes of public documents show that the fatality of
-epidemics is always proportioned to the degree in which impure
-air has previously been respired. Sickness and death
-are therefore regulated by the degree in which air is kept
-pure, especially in case of diseases in which medical treatment
-is most uncertain, as in cholera and malignant fevers.</p>
-
-<p>Investigations made by governmental authority, and by
-boards of health in this country and in Great Britain, prove
-that zymotic diseases ordinarily result from impure air generated
-by vegetable or animal decay, and that in almost all
-cases they can be prevented by keeping the air pure. The
-decayed animal matter sent off from the skin and lungs in
-a close, unventilated bedroom is one thing that generates
-these zymotic diseases. The decay of animal and vegetable
-matter in cellars, sinks, drains, and marshy districts is another
-cause; and the decayed vegetable matter thrown up
-by plowing up of decayed vegetable matter in the rich soil
-in new countries is another.</p>
-
-<p>In the investigations made in certain parts of Great Britain,
-it appeared that in districts where the air is pure the
-deaths average eleven in one thousand each year; while in
-localities most exposed to impure miasma the mortality was
-forty-five in every thousand. At this rate, thirty-four per<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span>sons
-in every thousand died from poisoned air, who would
-have preserved health and life by well-ventilated homes in
-a pure atmosphere. And, out of all who died, the proportion
-who owed their deaths to foul air was more than three-fourths.
-Similar facts have been obtained by boards of
-health in our own country.</p>
-
-<p>Mr. Lewis Leeds gives statistics showing that in Philadelphia,
-by improved modes of ventilation and other sanitary
-methods, there was a saving of three thousand two hundred
-and thirty-seven lives in two years; and a saving of
-three-fourths of a million of dollars, which would pay the
-whole expense of the public schools. Philadelphia being
-previously an unusually cleanly and well-ventilated city,
-what would be the saving of life, health, and wealth were
-such a city as New York perfectly cleansed and ventilated?</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER IV.<br />
-
-<small>ON WARMING A HOME.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The laws that regulate the generation, diffusion, and preservation
-of heat as yet are a sealed mystery to thousands of
-young women who imagine they are completing a suitable
-education in courses of instruction from which most that is
-practical in future domestic life is wholly excluded. We
-therefore give a brief outline of some of the leading scientific
-principles which every housekeeper should understand and
-employ, in order to perform successfully one of her most important
-duties.</p>
-
-<p>Concerning the essential nature of heat, and its intimate
-relations with the other great natural forces, light, electricity,
-etc., we shall not attempt to treat, but shall, for practical
-purposes, assume it to be a separate and independent
-force.</p>
-
-<p>Heat or caloric, then, has certain powers or principles. Let
-us consider them:</p>
-
-<p>First, we find <i>Conduction</i>, by which heat passes from one
-particle to another next to it; as when one end of a poker is
-warmed by placing the other end in the fire. The bodies
-which allow this power free course are called conductors,
-and those which do not are named non-conductors. Metals
-are good conductors; feathers, wool, and furs are poor conductors;
-and water, air, and gases are non-conductors.</p>
-
-<p>Another principle of heat is <i>Convection</i>, by which water,
-air, and gases are warmed. This is, literally, the process of
-<em>conveying</em> heat from one portion of a fluid body to another
-by currents resulting from changes of temperature. It is
-secured by bringing one portion of a liquid or gas into contact
-with a heated surface, and thus it becomes lighter and
-expanded in volume. In consequence, the cooler and heavier
-particles above pressing downward, the lighter ones rise
-upward. Thus a constant motion of currents and inter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span>change
-of particles is produced, until, as in a vessel of water,
-the whole body comes to an equal temperature. Air is heated
-in the same way. In case of a hot stove, the air that
-touches it is heated, becomes lighter, and rises, giving place
-to cooler and heavier particles, which, when heated, also ascend.
-It is owing to this process that the air of a room is
-warmest at the top and coolest at the bottom.</p>
-
-<p>It is owing to this principle, also, that water and air can
-not be heated by fire from above. For the particles of these
-bodies, being non-conductors, do not impart heat to each
-other; and when the warmest are at the top, they can not
-take the place of cooler and heavier ones below.</p>
-
-<p>Another principle of heat (which it shares with light) is
-<i>Radiation</i>, by which all things send out heat to surrounding
-cooler bodies. Some bodies will absorb radiated heat, others
-will reflect it, and others allow it to pass through them without
-either absorbing or reflecting. Thus, black and rough
-substances absorb heat, (or light,) colored and smooth articles
-reflect it, while air allows it to pass through without
-either absorbing or reflecting. It is owing to this that rough
-and black vessels boil water sooner than smooth and light-colored
-ones.</p>
-
-<p>Another principle is <i>Reflection</i>, by which heat radiated to
-a surface is turned back from it when not absorbed or allowed
-to pass through; just as a ball rebounds from a wall;
-just as sound is thrown back from a hill, making echo; just
-as rays of light are reflected from a mirror.</p>
-
-<p>There is no department of science, as applied to practical
-matters, which has so often baffled experimenters as the
-healthful mode of warming and ventilating houses. The
-British nation spent over a million on the House of Parliament
-for this end, and failed. Our own Government has
-spent half a million on the Capitol, with worse failure; and
-now it is proposed to spend a million more. The reason is,
-that the old open fire-place has been supplanted by less expensive
-modes of heating, destructive to health; and science
-has but just begun experiments to secure a remedy for the
-evil.</p>
-
-<p>The open fire warms the person, the walls, the floors, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span>
-the furniture by radiation, and these, together with the fire,
-warm the air by convection; for the air resting on the
-heated surfaces is warmed by convection, rises and gives
-place to cooler particles, causing a constant heating of its
-particles by movement. Thus, in a room with an open fire,
-the person is warmed in part by radiation from the fire and
-the surrounding walls and furniture, and in part by the
-warm air surrounding the body.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the warmth of air, the thermometer is not an
-exact index of its temperature. For all bodies are constantly
-radiating their heat to cooler adjacent surfaces until
-all come to the same temperature. This being so, the thermometer
-is radiating its heat to walls and surrounding objects,
-in addition to what is subtracted by the air that surrounds
-it, and thus the air is really several degrees warmer
-than the thermometer indicates. A room at 70° by the thermometer
-is usually filled with air five or more degrees
-warmer than this.</p>
-
-<p>Now, the cold air is denser than warm, and therefore contains
-more oxygen. Consequently, the cooler the air inspired,
-the larger the supply of oxygen and of the vitality
-and vigor which it imparts. Thus, the great problem for
-economy of health is to warm the person as much as possible
-by radiated heat, and supply the lungs with cool air.
-For when we breathe air at from 16° to 20°, we take double
-the amount of oxygen that we do when we inhale it at 80°
-to 90°, and consequently can do a far greater amount of
-muscle and brain work.</p>
-
-<p>Warming by an open fire is nearest to the natural mode
-of the Creator, who heats the earth and its furniture by the
-great central fire of heaven, and sends cool breezes for our
-lungs. But open fires involve great destruction of fuel and
-expenditure of money, and in consequence economic methods
-have been introduced, to the great destruction of health
-and life.</p>
-
-<p>Whenever a family-room is heated by an open fire, it is
-duly ventilated, as the impure air is constantly passing off
-through the heated chimney, while, to supply the vacated
-space, the pure air presses in through the cracks of doors,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span>
-windows, and floors. No such supply is gained for rooms
-warmed by stoves. And yet, from mistaken motives of
-economy, as well as from ignorance of the resulting evils,
-multitudes of householders are thus destroying health and
-shortening life, especially in regard to women and children
-who spend most of their time within doors. This is especially
-the case where air-tight stoves are used.</p>
-
-<p>A common mode of warming is by heated air from a furnace.
-The chief objection to this is the loss of moisture and
-of all radiated heat, and the consequent necessity of breathing
-air which is debilitating, both from its heat and also
-from being usually deprived of the requisite moisture provided
-by the Creator in all outdoor air. Another objection
-is the fact that it is important to health to preserve an
-equal circulation of the blood, and the greatest impediment
-to this is a mode of heating which keeps the head in warmer
-air than the feet. This is especially deleterious in an age and
-country where active brains are constantly drawing blood
-from the extremities to the head. All furnace-heated rooms
-have coldest air at the feet, and warmest around the head.</p>
-
-<p>What follows illustrates the principles on which several
-modes of ventilation are practiced.</p>
-
-<p>It is the common property of both air and water to expand,
-become lighter and rise, just in proportion as they are
-heated; and therefore it is the invariable law that cool air
-sinks, thus replacing the warmer air below. Thus, whenever
-cool air enters a warm room, it sinks downward and takes
-the place of an equal amount of the warmer air, which is
-constantly tending upward and outward. This principle of
-all fluids is illustrated by the following experiment:</p>
-
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_168a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 34.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Take a glass jar about a foot high and three inches in diameter,
-and with a wire to aid in placing it aright, sink a
-small bit of lighted candle so as to stand in the centre at
-the bottom. (Fig. 34.) The candle will heat the air of the
-jar, which will rise a little on one side, while the colder air
-without will begin falling on the other side. These two
-currents will so conflict as finally to cease, and then the
-candle, having no supply of oxygen from fresh air, will begin
-to go out. Insert a bit of stiff paper so as to divide the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span>
-mouth of the jar, and instantly
-the cold and warm air are not in
-conflict as before, because a current
-is formed each side of the
-paper; the cold air descending
-on one side and the warm air
-ascending the other side, as indicated
-by the arrows. As long as the paper
-remains, the candle will burn, and as
-soon as it is removed, it will begin to
-go out, and can be restored by again inserting
-the paper.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_168b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 35.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This illustrates
-the mode by which
-coal-mines are ventilated
-when filled
-with carbonic acid.
-A shaft divided
-into two passages,
-(Figure 35,) is let
-down into the
-mine, where the air is warmer than
-the outside air. Immediately the
-colder air outside presses down into
-the mine, through the passage which
-is highest, being admitted by the escape
-of an equal quantity of the warmer
-air, which rises through the lower
-passage of the shaft, this being the
-first available opening for it to rise
-through. A current is thus created,
-which continues as long as the inside
-air is warmer than that without the
-mine, and no longer. Sometimes a fire
-is kindled in the mine, in order to continue
-or increase the warmth, and consequent
-upward current of its air.</p>
-
-<p>It is on this plan that many school-houses
-and manufactories have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span>
-ventilated. Its grand defect is, that it fails altogether when
-the air outside the house is at the same temperature as that
-within. This illustrates one of the cases where a “wise
-woman that buildeth her house” is greatly needed. For,
-owing to the ignorance of architects, house-builders, and
-men in general, they have been building school-houses,
-dwelling-houses, churches, and colleges, with the most absurd
-and senseless contrivances for ventilation, and all from
-not applying this principle of science. On this point, Professor
-Brewer, of the Scientific School of Yale College, writes
-thus:</p>
-
-<p>“I have been in public buildings, (I have one in mind
-now, filled with dormitories,) which cost half a million,
-where they attempted to ventilate every room by a single
-flue, long and narrow, built into partition walls, and extending
-up into the capacious garret of the fifth story. Every
-room in the building had one such flue, with an opening
-into it at the floor and at the ceiling. It is needless to say
-that the whole concern was entirely useless. Had these flues
-been of proper proportions, and properly divided, the desired
-ventilation would have been secured.” And this piece
-of ignorant folly was perpetrated in the midst of learned
-professors, teaching the laws of fluids and the laws of
-health!</p>
-
-<p>In a cold climate and wintry weather, the grand impediment
-to ventilating rooms by opening doors or windows is
-the dangerous currents thus produced, which are so injurious
-to the delicate ones that for their sake it can not be
-done. Then, also, as a matter of economy, the poor can not
-afford to practice a method which carries off the heat generated
-by their stinted store of fuel. Even in a warm season
-and climate, there are frequent periods when the air without
-is damp and chilly, and yet at nearly the same temperature as
-that in the house. At such times even the opening of windows
-often has little effect in emptying a room of vitiated
-air.</p>
-
-<p>The most successful mode of ventilating a house is by
-creating a current of warm air in a flue, into which an opening
-is made at both the top and the bottom of a room, to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span>
-carry off the impure air, while a similar opening to admit
-outside air is made at the opposite side of the room. This
-is the mode employed in chemical laboratories for removing
-smells and injurious gases.</p>
-
-<p>These statements give some idea of the evils to be remedied.
-But the most difficult point is <em>how</em> to secure the remedy;
-for often the attempt to secure pure air by one class
-of persons brings chills, colds, and disease on another class,
-from mere ignorance or mismanagement.</p>
-
-<p>To illustrate this, it must be borne in mind that those
-who live in warm, close, and unventilated rooms are much
-more liable to take cold from exposure to draughts and cold
-air than those of vigorous vitality accustomed to breathe
-pure air.</p>
-
-<p>Thus the strong and healthy husband, feeling the want of
-pure air in the night, and knowing its importance, keeps windows
-open, and makes such draughts that the wife, who lives
-all day in a close room and thus is low in vitality, can not
-bear the change, has colds, and sometimes perishes a victim
-to wrong modes of ventilation.</p>
-
-<p>So, even in health-establishments, the patients will pass
-most of their days and nights in badly-ventilated rooms.
-But at times the physician, or some earnest patient, insists
-on a mode of ventilation that brings more evil than good to
-the delicate inmates.</p>
-
-<p>The grand art of ventilating houses is by some method
-that will empty rooms of the vitiated air and bring in a supply
-of pure air <em>by small and imperceptible currents</em>.</p>
-
-<p>But this important duty of a Christian woman is one that
-demands more science, care, and attention than almost any
-other; and yet, to prepare her for this duty has never been
-any part of female education. Young women are taught to
-draw mathematical diagrams and to solve astronomical problems;
-but few, if any, of them are taught to solve the problem
-of a house constructed to secure pure and moist air by
-day and night for all its inmates by safe methods.</p>
-
-<p>We have seen the process through which the air is rendered
-unhealthful by close rooms and want of ventilation. Every
-person inspires air about twenty times each minute, using<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span>
-half a pint each time. At this rate, every pair of lungs vitiates
-one hogshead of air every hour. The membrane that
-lines the multitudinous air-cells of the lungs in which the
-capillaries are, should it be united in one sheet, would cover
-the floor of a room twelve feet square. Every breath brings
-a surface of air in contact with this extent of capillaries,
-by which the air inspired gives up most of its oxygen and
-receives carbonic acid in its stead. These facts furnish a
-guide for the proper ventilation of rooms. Just in proportion
-to the number of persons in a room or a house should
-be the amount of air brought in and carried out by arrangements
-for ventilation. But how rarely is this rule regarded
-in building houses or in the care of families by housekeepers!</p>
-
-<p>As a guide to proportioning the air admitted and discharged
-to the number of persons, we have the following
-calculation: On an average, every adult vitiates about half
-a pint of air at each inspiration, and inspires twenty times
-a minute. This would amount to one hogshead of air vitiated
-every hour by every grown person. To keep the air
-pure, this amount should enter and be carried out every
-hour for each person. If, then, ten persons assemble in a
-dining-room, ten hogsheads of air should enter and ten be
-discharged each hour. By the same rule, a gathering of
-five hundred persons demands the entrance and discharge
-of five hundred hogsheads of air every hour, and a thousand
-persons require a thousand hogsheads of air every hour.</p>
-
-<p>Therefore in calculating the size of registers and conductors,
-we must have reference to the number of persons who
-are to abide in a dwelling; while for rooms or halls intended
-for large gatherings a far greater allowance must be
-made.</p>
-
-<p>The most successful arrangement for both warming and
-ventilation, is that employed by Lewis Leeds to ventilate the
-military hospitals, and also the treasury building at Washington.
-It is modeled strictly after the mode adopted by the
-Creator in warming and ventilating the earth, the home of
-his great earthly family. It aims to have a passage of pure
-air through every room, as the breezes pass over the hills,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span>
-and to have a method of warming chiefly by radiation, as
-the earth is warmed by the sun. In addition to this, the air
-is to be provided with moisture, as it is supplied outdoors
-by exhalations from the earth and its trees and plants.</p>
-
-<p>The mode of accomplishing this is by placing coils of
-steam, or hot-water pipes, under windows, which warm the
-parlor walls and furniture, partly by radiation, and partly
-by the air warmed on the heated surfaces of the coils. At
-the same time, by regulating registers, or by simply opening
-the lower part of the window, the pure air, guarded from immediate
-entrance into the room, is admitted directly upon
-the coils, so that it is partially warmed before it spreads
-through the room; and thus cold draughts are prevented.
-Then the vitiated air is drawn off through registers both at
-the top and bottom of the room, opening into a heated exhausting-flue,
-through which the constantly ascending current
-of warm air carries it off. These heated coils are often
-used for warming houses without any arrangement for carrying
-off the vitiated air, when, of course, their usefulness is
-gone.</p>
-
-<p>The moisture may be supplied by a broad vessel placed
-on or close to the heated coils, giving a large surface for
-evaporation. When rooms are warmed chiefly by radiated
-heat, the air can be borne much cooler than in rooms warmed
-by hot-air furnaces, just as a person in the radiating sun can
-bear much cooler air than in the shade. A time will come
-when walls and floors will be contrived to radiate heat instead
-of absorbing it from the occupants of houses, as is generally
-the case at the present time, and then all can breathe
-pure and cool air.</p>
-
-<p>We are now prepared to examine more in detail the modes
-of warming and ventilation employed in the dwellings planned
-for this work.</p>
-
-<p>In doing this, it should be remembered that the aim is not
-to give plans of houses to suit the architectural taste or the
-domestic convenience of persons who intend to keep several
-servants, and care little whether they breathe pure or bad
-air, nor of persons who do not wish to educate their children
-to manual industry or to habits of close economy.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span></p>
-
-<p>On the contrary, the aim is, first, to secure a house in
-which every room shall be perfectly ventilated both day and
-night, and that too without the watchful care and constant
-attention and intelligence needful in houses not provided
-with a proper and successful mode of ventilation.</p>
-
-<p>The next aim is, to arrange the conveniences of domestic
-labor so as to save time, and also to render such work less
-repulsive than it is made by common methods, so that children
-can be trained to love house-work. And lastly, economy
-of expense in house-building is sought. These things
-should be borne in mind in examining the plans of this
-work.</p>
-
-<p>In the dwelling-house, chap, ii., part ii., Fig. 7, a cast-iron
-pipe is made in sections, which are to be united, and the
-whole fastened at top and bottom in the centre of the
-warm-air flue by ears extending to the bricks, and fastened
-when the flue is in process of building. Projecting openings
-to receive the pipes of the furnace, the laundry stove,
-and two stoves in each story, should be provided in this
-cast-iron pipe, which must be closed when not in use. A
-large opening is to be made into the warm-air flue, and
-through this the kitchen stove-pipe is to pass, and be joined
-to the cast-iron chimney-pipe. Thus the smoke of the
-kitchen stove will warm the iron chimney-pipe, and this
-will warm the air of the flue, causing a current upward, and
-this current will draw the heat and smells of cooking out of
-the kitchen into the opening of the warm-air flue. Every
-room surrounding the chimney has an opening at the top
-and bottom into the warm-air flue for ventilation, as also
-have the bath-room and water-closets.</p>
-
-<p>The pure air for rooms on the ground-floor is to be introduced
-by a wooden conductor one foot square, running under
-the floor from the front door to the stove-room, with
-cross branches to the two large rooms. The pure air passes
-through this, protected outside by wire netting, and delivered
-inside through registers in each room, as indicated in
-Fig. 7.</p>
-
-<p>In case open Franklin stoves are used in the large rooms,
-the pure air from the conductor should enter behind them,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span>
-and thus be partially warmed. The vitiated air is carried
-off at the bottom of the room through the open stoves, and
-also at the top by a register opening into a conductor to the
-exhausting warm-air shaft, which, it will be remembered, is
-the square chimney, containing the iron pipe which receives
-the kitchen stove-pipe. The stove-room receives pure air
-from the conductor, and sends off impure air and the smells
-of cooking by a register opening directly into the exhausting
-shaft; while its hot air and smoke, passing through the
-iron pipe, heat the air of the shaft, and produce the exhausting
-current.</p>
-
-<p>The large chambers on the second floor (Fig. 18) have
-pure air conducted from the stove-room through registers
-that can be closed if the heat or smells of cooking are unpleasant.
-The air in the stove-room will always be moist
-from the water of the stove boiler.</p>
-
-<p>The small chambers have pure air admitted from windows
-sunk at top half an inch; and the warm, vitiated air is conducted
-by a register in the ceiling which opens into a conductor
-to the exhausting warm-air shaft at the centre of the
-house, as shown in Fig. 23.</p>
-
-<p>The basement or cellar is ventilated by an opening into
-the exhausting air-shaft, to remove impure air, and a small
-opening over each glazed door to admit pure air. The doors
-open out into a “well,” or recess, excavated in the earth before
-the cellar, for the admission of light and air, neatly
-bricked up and whitewashed. The doors are to be made entirely
-of strong, thick glass sashes, and this will give light
-enough for laundry work—the tubs and ironing-table being
-placed closed to the glazed door. The floor must be plastered
-with water-lime, and the walls and ceiling be whitewashed,
-which will add reflected light to the room. There
-will thus be no need of other windows, and the house need
-not be raised above the ground. Several cottages have been
-built thus, so that the ground-floors and conservatories are
-nearly on the same level; and all agree that they are pleasanter
-than when raised higher.</p>
-
-<p>When a window in any room is sunk at the top, it should
-have a narrow shelf in front inclined to the opening, so as to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span>
-keep out the rain. In small chambers for one person, an
-inch opening is sufficient, and in larger rooms for two persons
-a two-inch opening is needed. The openings into the
-exhausting-air flue should vary from eight inches to twelve
-inches square, or more, according to the number of persons
-who are to sleep in the room.</p>
-
-<p>The time when ventilation is most difficult is the medium
-weather in spring and fall, when the air, though damp, is
-similar in temperature outside and in. Then the warm-air
-flue is indispensable to proper ventilation. This is especially
-needed in a room used for school or church purposes.</p>
-
-<p>Every room should have its air regulated not only as to
-its warmth and purity, but also as to its supply of moisture;
-and for this purpose will be found very convenient the instrument
-called the hygrodeik,<a id="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> which shows at once the
-temperature and the moisture.</p>
-
-<p>The preceding remarks illustrate the advantages of the
-cottage plan in respect to healthful ventilation. The economy
-of the mode of warming next demands attention. In the
-first place, it should be noted that the chimney being at the
-centre of the house, no heat is lost by its radiation through
-outside walls into open air, as is the case with all fire-places
-and grates that have their backs and flues joined to an outside
-wall.</p>
-
-<p>In this plan all the radiated heat from the stove serves
-to warm the walls of adjacent rooms in cold weather; while
-in the warm season the non-conducting summer casings of
-the stove described in the next chapter send all the heat
-either into the exhausting warm-air shaft or into the central
-cast-iron pipe. In addition, the sliding doors of the stove-room
-(which should be only six feet high, meeting the partition
-coming from the ceiling), can be opened in cool days,
-and then the heat from the stove would temper the rooms
-each side of the kitchen. In hot weather they could be kept
-closed, except when the stove is used, and then opened only
-for a short time. The Franklin stoves in the large room
-would give the radiating warmth and cheerful blaze of an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span>
-open fire, while radiating heat also from all their surfaces.
-In cold weather the air of the larger chambers could be
-tempered by registers admitting warm air from the stove-room,
-which would always be sufficiently moistened by
-evaporation from the stationary boiler. The conservatories
-in winter, protected from frost by double sashes, would contribute
-agreeable moisture to the larger rooms. In case the
-size of a family required more rooms, another story could be
-ventilated and warmed by the same mode, with little additional
-expense.</p>
-
-<p>We will next notice the economy of time, labor, and expense
-secured by this cottage plan. The laundry work being
-done in the basement, all the cooking, dish-washing, etc.,
-can be done in the kitchen and stove-room on the ground-floor.
-But in case a larger kitchen is needed, the lounges
-can be put in the front part of the large room, and the movable
-screen placed so as to give a work-room adjacent to
-the kitchen, and the front side of the same be used for the
-eating-room. Where the movable screen is used, the floor
-should be oiled wood. A square piece of carpet can be put
-in the centre of the front part of the room, to keep the feet
-warm when sitting around the table, and small rugs can be
-placed before the lounges or other sitting-places, for the
-same purpose.</p>
-
-<p>Most cottages are so divided by entries, stairs, closets,
-etc., that there can be no large rooms. But in this plan, by
-the use of the movable screen, two fine large rooms can be
-secured whenever the family work is over, while the conveniences
-for work will very much lessen the time required.</p>
-
-<p>In certain cases, where the closest economy is needful,
-two small families can occupy the cottage, by having a
-movable screen in both rooms, and using the kitchen in
-common, or divide it and have two smaller stoves. Each
-kitchen will then have a window, and as much room as is
-given to the kitchen in great steamers that provide for several
-hundred.</p>
-
-<p>Whoever plans a house with a view to economy must arrange
-rooms around a central chimney, and avoid all projecting
-appendages. Dormer-windows are far more expensive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span>
-than common ones, and are less pleasant. Every addition
-projecting from a main building greatly increases expense
-of building, and still more of warming and ventilating.</p>
-
-<p>It should be introduced, as one school exercise in every
-female seminary, to plan houses with reference to economy
-of time, labor, and expense, and also with reference to good
-architectural taste; and the teacher should be qualified to
-point out faults and give the instruction needed to prevent
-such mistakes in practical life. Every girl should be
-trained to be “a wise woman” that “buildeth her house”
-aright.</p>
-
-<p>There is but one mode of ventilation yet tried that will,
-at all seasons of the year and all hours of the day and night,
-secure pure air without dangerous draughts, and that is by
-an exhausting warm-air flue. This is always secured by an
-open fire-place, so long as its chimney is kept warm by any
-fire. And in many cases, a fire-place with a flue of a certain
-dimension and height will secure good ventilation, <em>except</em>
-when the air without and within is at the same temperature.</p>
-
-<p>When no exhausting warm-air flue can be used, the opening
-of doors and windows is the only resort. Every sleeping-room
-<em>without a fire-place that draws smoke well</em> should
-have a window raised at the bottom or sunk at the top at
-least an inch, with an inclined shelf outside or in, to keep
-out rain, and then it is properly ventilated, provided the air
-outside is colder than the inside air—but not otherwise.
-Or a door should be kept opened into a hall with an open
-window. Let the bed-clothing be increased, so as to keep
-warm in bed, and protect the head also, and then the more
-air comes into a sleeping-room the better for health.</p>
-
-<p>In reference to the warming of rooms and houses already
-built, there is no doubt that stoves are the most economical
-mode, as they radiate heat and also warm by convection.
-The grand objection to their use is the difficulty of securing
-proper ventilation. If a room is well warmed by a stove,
-and then several small openings made for the entrance of a
-good supply of outdoor air, and by a mode that will prevent
-dangerous draughts, all is right as to pure air. But in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span>
-case the feet are always on cold floors, surrounded by the
-coldest air, while the head is in air of much higher temperature.</p>
-
-<p>The writer believes that ere long the common mode of
-warming by furnaces will be banished as most pernicious
-to health, and constant sources of discomfort and economic
-waste. The reasons for this demand reference to some of
-the principles of pneumatics.</p>
-
-<p>It has been shown how the air is heated by <i>convection</i>, or
-changing contact. It is thus the atmosphere is warmed, not
-by the rays of the sun passing through it, but by contact
-with the earth and other objects which have been warmed
-by radiated heat from the sun. The lower stratum of air
-being thus warmed, becomes lighter, and ascends, giving
-place to the cooler and heavier air. This process continues,
-so that the warmest air is always nearest the earth, and
-grows cooler as height increases.</p>
-
-<p>The air has a strong attraction for water, and always holds
-a certain quantity as an invisible vapor. The warmer the
-air the more water it demands, and will draw it from all
-objects it can reach. When air cools, it deposits its invisible
-moisture as dew. When the air has all the water it can
-hold, it is said to be <i>saturated</i>; and when it cools so as to begin
-to deposit moisture, it is called the <i>dew point</i>.</p>
-
-<p>When air holds all the moisture it can sustain, its moisture
-is said to be at 100 per cent.; when it holds only one-half as
-much as its temperature demands, it is said to be at 50 per
-cent.; and when it holds three-fourths of what its temperature
-requires, it is at 75 per cent.; and when only one-fourth,
-it holds 25 per cent.</p>
-
-<p>In summer, outdoor air rarely holds less than half its <i>volume</i>
-of water; that is, a quart of air usually holds as much
-as a pint of invisible vapor. In 1838, at Harvard and Yale,
-at 70° Fahrenheit, the air held 80 per cent. of moisture; at
-New Orleans it often holds 90 per cent.; at the North, in
-fogs, the air often holds all it can, or is saturated—that is,
-holding 100 per cent. Thus it appears that the hotter the
-air, the more water is demanded by it for invisible vapor, and
-this it takes from all around.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span></p>
-
-<p>Professor Bremer, of Yale College, states that 40 per cent.
-of moisture is needed to make air healthful. Now furnaces
-receive cold air containing little invisible moisture, and by
-heating it a demand is created for much more. This is
-sucked up, as by a sponge, from walls and furniture, and especially
-from the lungs and capillaries of our bodies, thus
-causing dryness and sometimes inflammation of lips, nose,
-eyes, throat, and lungs. Experiments prove that while 40
-per cent. of moisture is needed for health, furnace-heated air
-rarely has as much as 20 per cent., even when a few quarts of
-water are evaporated in the furnace chamber. Thus the inmates
-of the house breathe dryer air than is ever breathed
-in the hottest deserts of Sahara.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, for want of proper instruction, most American housekeepers
-who use stoves and furnaces not only poison their
-families with carbonic acid and carbonic oxide, and starve
-them for want of oxygen, but also diminish health and comfort
-for want of a due supply of moisture in the air. And
-often when a remedy is sought, by evaporating water in
-the furnace, or on the stove, it is without knowing that the
-amount evaporated depends, not on the quantity of water in
-the vessel, but on the extent of evaporating surface exposed
-to the air. A quart of water in a wide shallow pan will give
-more moisture than two gallons with a small surface exposed
-to heat.</p>
-
-<p>There is also no little wise economy in keeping a proper
-supply of moisture in the air. For it is found that the body
-radiates its heat less in moist than in dry air, so that a person
-feels as warm at a lower temperature when the air has
-a proper supply of moisture, as in a much higher temperature
-of dry air. Of course, less fuel is needed to warm a
-house when water is evaporated in stove and furnace-heated
-rooms. It is said by those who have experimented, that the
-saving in fuel is twenty per cent. when the air is duly supplied
-with moisture.</p>
-
-<p>There are other difficulties connected with furnaces which
-should be considered.</p>
-
-<p>The human body is constantly radiating its heat to walls,
-floors, and cooler bodies around. At the same time, a ther<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span>mometer
-is affected in the same way, radiating its heat to
-cooler bodies around, so that it always marks a lower degree
-of heat than actually exists in the warm air around it. Owing
-to these facts, the injected air of a furnace is always
-warmer than is good for the lungs, and much warmer than
-is ever needed in rooms warmed by radiation from fires or
-heated surfaces. The cooler the air we inspire, the more
-oxygen is received, the faster the blood circulates, and the
-greater is the vigor imparted to brain, nerves, and muscles.</p>
-
-<p>Every woman ought to know all the dangers connected
-with furnaces and how to remedy them. The following may
-aid in this duty:</p>
-
-<p>When a furnace does not draw well, it often is owing to
-the stoppage by fine ashes or soot, and then the smoke-flues
-must be cleaned. The fewer and more simple the smoke-flues
-the less this trouble will occur. Sometimes the shaking
-of a furnace makes cracks in joints, and this causes outflow
-of gas and also diminishes the draught.</p>
-
-<p>When iron is very hot, it burns the particles floating in
-the air, making an unpleasant smell and dryness. A large
-furnace, therefore, is better than a small one that must be
-kept very hot.</p>
-
-<p>Water should be evaporated in large surfaces, and so as
-to deposit dew on windows.</p>
-
-<p>Heated air passes off by the shortest courses, and it is often
-the case that the more distant rooms thus warmed have
-no ventilation and little renewal from the furnace air, and
-this is often shown by a fetid smell.</p>
-
-<p>Furnaces where air is heated in the furnace-chamber by
-coils of steam or by hot water, though costing more at first,
-require much less fuel, and do not involve the evils of warming
-by hot iron.</p>
-
-<p>The safest and pleasantest way of warming a dwelling is
-by steam-coils, provided there are fire-places or hot-air flues
-to carry off bad air. Without these, this is the most unhealthful
-mode of all, as there is no fresh air brought in, and
-what is heated is breathed over and over, till it is poisonous.</p>
-
-<p>The want of care in regulating the dampers of the airbox
-often makes a house cold, however great the furnace<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span>
-fire. A strong wind requires the dampers nearly closed,
-especially when it is on the side where the air enters from
-without. Every furnace should be supplied, not by cellar
-air, but by air taken through a shaft from a height, and so
-more pure.</p>
-
-<p>Remember that an open fire, or an opening into a hot-air
-flue, will ventilate properly in all seasons and all weathers.
-The opening should be at both the top and bottom of the
-room.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER V.<br />
-
-<small>ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The simplest mode of warming a house and cooking food
-is by radiated heat from fires; but this is the most wasteful
-method, as respects time, labor, and expense. The most
-convenient, economical, and labor-saving mode of employing
-heat is by <i>convection</i>, as applied in stoves and furnaces;
-but for want of proper care and scientific knowledge this
-method has proved very destructive to health. When
-warming and cooking were done by open fires, houses were
-well supplied with pure air, as is rarely the case in rooms
-heated by stoves; for such is the prevailing ignorance on
-this subject, that as long as stoves save labor and warm the
-air, the great majority of people, especially among the ignorant,
-will use them in ways that involve debilitated constitutions
-and frequent disease.</p>
-
-<p>The most common modes of cooking, where open fires are
-relinquished, are by the range and the cooking-stove. The
-range is inferior to the stove in these respects: it is less
-economical, demanding much more fuel; it endangers the
-dress of the cook while standing near for various operations;
-it requires more stooping than the stove while cooking;
-it will not keep a fire all night, as do the best stoves;
-it will not burn wood and coal equally well; and lastly, if it
-warms the kitchen sufficiently in winter, it is too warm for
-summer. Some prefer it because the fumes of cooking can
-be carried off; but stoves properly arranged accomplish
-this equally well.</p>
-
-<p>After extensive inquiry and many personal experiments,
-the author has found a cooking-stove constructed on true
-scientific principles, which unites convenience, comfort, and
-economy, in a remarkable manner; and this is the one referred
-to in the kitchen of the cottage described in Chapter
-IV. Of this stove drawings and descriptions will now be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span>
-given, as the best mode of illustrating the practical applications
-of these principles to the art of cooking, and to show
-how much American women have suffered, and how much
-they have been imposed upon for want of proper knowledge
-in this branch of their profession. And every woman can
-understand what follows with much less effort than young
-girls at high-schools give to the first problems of Geometry—for
-which they will never have any practical use, while attention
-to this problem of home affairs will cultivate the intellect
-quite as much as the abstract reasonings of Algebra
-and Geometry.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_183.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 36.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 36 represents a portion of the interior of this cooking-stove.
-First, notice the fire-box, which has corrugated
-(literally, wrinkled) sides, by which space is economized, so
-that as much heating surface is secured as if they were one-third
-larger; for the heat radiates from every part of the
-undulating surface, which is one-third greater in superficial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span>
-extent than if it were plane. The shape of the fire-box also
-secures more heat by having oblique sides—which radiate
-more effectively into the oven beneath than if they were
-perpendicular, as illustrated by Figs. 37 and 38. It is also
-sunk into the oven, so as to radiate from three instead of
-from two sides. In most other stoves, the front of the fire-boxes
-with their grates are
-built so as to be the front of
-the stove itself, and radiate
-outward chiefly.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_184a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 37.
-Model Stove.</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_184b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 38.
- Ordinary Stove.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The oven is the space under
-and around the back and
-front sides of the fire-box. The
-oven-bottom is not introduced
-in the diagram, but it is a horizontal plate between the
-fire-box and what is represented as the “flue-plate,” which
-separates the oven from the bottom of the stove. The top
-of the oven is the horizontal corrugated plate passing from
-the rear edge of the fire-box to the back flues. These flues
-are three in number—the back centre-flue, which is closed to
-the heat and smoke coming over the oven from the fire-box
-by a damper, and the two back corner-flues. Down these
-two corner-flues passes the current of hot air and smoke, having
-first drawn across the corrugated oven-top. The arrows
-show its descent through these flues, from which it obliquely
-strikes and passes over the flue-plate, then under it, and then
-out through the centre back-flue, which is open at the bottom,
-up into the smoke-pipe.</p>
-
-<p>The flue-plate is placed obliquely, to accumulate heat by
-forcing and compression; for the back space where the
-smoke enters from the corner-flues is largest, and decreases
-toward the front, so that the hot current is compressed in a
-narrow space, between the oven-bottom and the flue-plate
-at the place where the bent arrows are seen. Here again it
-enters a wider space, under the flue-plate, and proceeds to
-another narrow one, between the flue-plate and the bottom
-of the stove, and thus is compressed and retained longer
-than if not impeded by these various contrivances. The
-heat and smoke also strike the plate obliquely, and thus, by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span>
-reflection from its surface, impart more heat than if the passage
-was a horizontal one.</p>
-
-<p>The external radiation is regulated by the use of non-conducting
-plaster applied to the flue-plate and to the sides of
-the corner-flues, so that the heat is prevented from radiating
-in any direction except toward the oven. The doors, sides,
-and bottom of the stove are lined with tin casings, which
-hold a stratum of air which is a non-conductor. These casings
-are so arranged as to be removed whenever the weather
-becomes cold, so that the heat may then radiate into the
-kitchen. The outer edges of the oven are also similarly protected
-from loss of heat by tin casings and air-spaces, and
-the oven doors opening at the front of the stove are provided
-with the same economical savers of heat. High tin covers
-placed on the top prevent the heat from radiating from the
-top of the stove. These are exceedingly useful, as the space
-under them is well heated and arranged for baking, for heating
-irons, and many other incidental necessities. Cake and
-pies can be baked on the top, while the oven is used for
-bread or for meats. When all the casings and covers are on,
-almost all the heat is confined within the stove; and whenever
-heat for the room is wanted, opening the front oven
-doors turns it out into the kitchen.</p>
-
-<p>Another contrivance is that of ventilating-holes in the
-front doors, through which fresh air is brought into the oven.
-This secures several purposes: it carries off the fumes of
-cooking meats, and prevents the mixing of flavors when different
-articles are cooked in the oven; it drives the heat that
-accumulates between the fire-box and front doors down
-around the oven, and equalizes its heat, so that articles need
-not be moved while baking; and lastly, as the air passes
-through the holes of the fire-box, it causes the burning of
-gases in the smoke, and thus increases heat. When wood
-or bituminous coal is used, perforated metal linings are put
-in the fire-box, and the result is the burning of smoke and
-gases that otherwise would pass into the chimney. This is
-a great discovery in the economy of fuel, which can be applied
-in many ways.</p>
-
-<p>Heretofore most cooking-stoves have had dumping-grates,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span>
-which are inconvenient from the dust produced, are uneconomical
-in the use of fuel, and disadvantageous from too
-many or too loose joints. But recently this stove has been
-provided with a dumping-grate which also will sift ashes,
-and can be cleaned without dust and the other objectionable
-features of most dumping-grates.</p>
-
-<p>Those who are taught to manage the stove properly keep
-the fire going all night, and equally well with wood or coal,
-thus saving the expense of kindling and the trouble of starting
-a new fire. When the fuel is of good quality, all that is
-needed in the morning is to draw the back-damper, shake the
-grate, and add more fuel.</p>
-
-<p>Another remarkable feature of this stove is the extension-top,
-on which is placed a water reservoir, constantly heated
-by the smoke as it passes from the stove, through one or two
-uniting passages, to the smoke-pipe. Under this is placed a
-closet for warming and keeping hot the dishes, vegetables,
-meats, etc., while preparing for dinner. It is also very useful
-in drying fruit; and when large baking is required, a
-small appended pot for charcoal turns it into a fine large
-oven, that bakes as nicely as a brick oven.</p>
-
-<p>Another useful appendage is a common tin oven, in which
-roasting can be done in front of the stove, the oven doors
-being removed for the purpose. The roast will be done as
-perfectly as by an open fire.</p>
-
-<p>This stove is furnished with pipes for heating water, like
-the water-back of ranges, and these can be taken or left out
-at pleasure. So also the top covers, the baking stool and
-pot, and the summer-back, bottom, and side-casings can be
-used or omitted as preferred.</p>
-
-<p>Fig. 39 exhibits the stove completed, with all its appendages,
-as they might be employed in cooking for a large
-family.</p>
-
-<p>Its capacity, convenience, and economy as a stove may be
-estimated by the following fact: With proper management
-of dampers, one ordinary-sized coal-hod of anthracite coal
-will, for twenty-four hours, keep the stove running, keep
-seventeen gallons of water hot at all hours, bake pies and
-puddings in the warm closet, heat flat-irons under the back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span>
-cover, boil tea-kettle and one pot under the front cover, bake
-bread in the oven, and cook a turkey in the tin roaster in
-front. The author has numerous friends who, after trying
-the best ranges, have dismissed them for this stove, and in
-two or three years cleared the whole expense by the saving
-of fuel.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_187.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 39.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The remarkable durability of this stove is another economic
-feature; for, in addition to its fine castings and nice-fitting
-workmanship, all the parts liable to burn out are so
-protected by linings, and other contrivances easily renewed,
-that the stove itself may pass from one generation to another,
-as do ordinary chimneys. The writer has visited in
-families where this stove had been in constant use for eighteen
-and twenty years, and was still as good as new. In
-most other families the stoves are broken, burned out, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span>
-thrown aside for improved patterns every four, five, or six
-years, and sometimes, to the knowledge of the writer, still
-oftener.</p>
-
-<p>Another excellent point is that, although it is so complicated
-in its various contrivances as to demand intelligent
-management in order to secure all its advantages, it also can
-be used satisfactorily even when the mistress and maid are
-equally careless and ignorant of its distinctive merits. To
-such it offers all the advantages of ordinary good stoves, and
-is extensively used by those who take no pains to understand
-and apply its peculiar advantages.</p>
-
-<p>But the writer has managed the stove herself in all the
-details of cooking, and is confident that any housekeeper of
-common sense who is instructed properly, and who also aims
-to have her kitchen affairs managed with strict economy,
-can easily train any servant who is willing to learn, so as to
-gain the full advantages offered. And even without any instructions
-at all except the printed directions sent with the
-stove, an intelligent woman can, by due attention, though
-not without, both manage it, and teach her children and
-servants to do likewise. And whenever this stove has failed
-to give the highest satisfaction, it has been either because
-the draught of the chimney was poor, or because the
-housekeeper was not apprised of its peculiarities, or because
-she did not give sufficient attention to the matter, or
-was not able or willing to superintend and direct its management.</p>
-
-<p>The consequence has been that, in families where this
-stove has been understood and managed aright, it has saved
-nearly one-half of the fuel that would be used in ordinary
-stoves, constructed with the usual disregard of scientific and
-economic laws. And it is because we know this particular
-stove to be convenient, reliable, and economically efficient
-beyond ordinary experience, in the important housekeeping
-element of kitchen labor, that we devote to it so much space
-and pains to describe its advantageous points.<a id="FNanchor_3_3" href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a></p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span></p>
-
-<h4>CHIMNEYS.</h4>
-
-<p>One of the most serious evils in domestic life is often
-found in chimneys that will not properly draw the smoke of
-a fire or stove. Although chimneys have been building for
-a thousand years, the artisans of the present day seem
-strangely ignorant of the true method of constructing them
-so as always to carry smoke upward instead of downward.
-It is rarely the case that a large house is built in which there
-is not some flue or chimney which “will not draw.” One
-of the reasons why the stove described as excelling all others
-is sometimes cast aside for a poorer one is, that it requires a
-properly constructed chimney, and multitudes of women do
-not know how to secure it. The writer in early life shed
-many a bitter tear, drawn forth by smoke from an ill-constructed
-kitchen-chimney, and thousands all over the land
-can report the same experience.</p>
-
-<p>The following are some of the causes and the remedies for
-this evil:</p>
-
-<p>The most common cause of poor chimney draughts is too
-large an opening for the fire-place, either too wide or too
-high in front, or having too large a throat for the smoke.
-In a lower story, the fire-place should not be larger than
-thirty inches wide, twenty-five inches high, and fifteen deep.
-In the story above, it should be eighteen inches square and
-fifteen inches deep.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is too short a flue, and the remedy is to
-lengthen it. As a general rule, the longer the flue the
-stronger the draught; but in calculating the length of a
-flue, reference must be had to side-flues, if any open into it.
-Where this is the case, the length of the main flue is to be
-considered as extending only from the bottom to the point
-where the upper flue joins it, and where the lower flue will
-receive air from the upper side flue. If a smoky flue can not
-be increased in length, either by closing an upper flue or
-lengthening the chimney, the fire-place must be contracted
-so that all the air near the fire will be heated and thus
-pressed upward.</p>
-
-<p>If a flue has more than one opening, in some cases it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span>
-impossible to secure a good draught. Sometimes it will
-work well, and sometimes it will not. The only safe rule is
-to have a separate flue to each fire.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause of poor draughts is too tight a room, so
-that the cold air from without can not enter to press the
-warm air up the chimney. The remedy is to admit a small
-current of air from without.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is two chimneys in one room, or in rooms
-opening together, in which the draught in one is much
-stronger than in the other. In this case the stronger
-draught will draw away from the weaker. The remedy is,
-for each room to have a proper supply of outside air; or, in
-a single room, to stop one of the chimneys.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is the too close vicinity of a hill or buildings
-higher than the top of the chimney, and the remedy for
-this is to raise the chimney.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is the descent into unused fire-places of
-smoke from other chimneys near. The remedy is to close
-the throat of the unused chimney.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is a door opening toward the fire-place on
-the same side of the room, so that its draught passes along
-the wall and makes a current that draws out the smoke.
-The remedy is to change the hanging of the door, so as to
-open another way.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is strong winds. The remedy is a turn-cap
-on top of the chimney.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is the roughness of the inside of a chimney,
-or projections which impede the passage of the smoke.
-Every chimney should be built of equal dimensions from
-bottom to top, with no projections into it, with as few bends
-as possible, and with the surface of the inside as smooth as
-possible.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause of poor draughts is openings into the chimney
-of chambers for stove-pipes. The remedy is to close
-them, or insert stove-pipes that are in use.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause is the falling out of brick in some part of
-the chimney so that outer air is admitted. The remedy is
-to close the opening.</p>
-
-<p>The draught of a stove may be affected by most of these<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span>
-causes. It also demands that the fire-place have a tight fire-board,
-or that the throat be carefully filled. For neglecting
-this, many a good stove has been thrown aside and a
-poor one taken in its place.</p>
-
-<p>If all young women had committed to memory these
-causes of evil and their remedies, many a badly-built chimney
-might have been cured, and many smoke-drawn tears,
-sighs, ill tempers, and irritating words avoided.</p>
-
-<p>But there are dangers in this direction which demand
-special attention. Where one flue has two stoves or fire-places,
-in rooms one above the other, in certain states of the
-atmosphere, the lower room being the warmer, the colder
-air and carbonic acid in the room above will pass down into
-the lower room through the opening for the stove or the
-fire-place.</p>
-
-<p>This occurred not long since in a boarding-school, when
-the gas in a room above flowed into a lower one, and suffocated
-several to death. This room had no mode of ventilation,
-and several persons slept in it, and were thus stifled.
-Professor Brewer states a similar case in the family of a
-relative. An anthracite stove was used in the upper room;
-and on one still, close night, the gas from this stove descended
-through the flue and the opening into a room below, and
-stifled the sleepers.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VI.<br />
-
-<small>ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The educating influence of works of natural beauty and of
-art can hardly be overestimated. Surrounded by such suggestions
-of the beautiful, and such reminders of history and
-art, children are constantly trained to correctness of taste
-and refinement of thought, and stimulated—sometimes to
-efforts at artistic imitation, always to the eager and intelligent
-inquiry about the scenes, the places, the incidents represented.</p>
-
-<p>Just here, perhaps, we are met by some who impatiently
-exclaim, “But I have <em>no</em> money to spare for any thing of this
-sort. I am condemned to an absolute bareness, and beauty in
-my case is not to be thought of.” It is for such that some
-economic modes of beautifying a home are here suggested.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_192.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 40.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The cornices to
-your windows can
-be simply strips of
-wood covered with
-paper to match the
-bordering of your
-room, and the lambrequins,
-made of
-chintz like the
-lounge, could be
-trimmed with
-fringe or gimp of
-the same color.
-The patterns of
-these can be varied
-according to fancy,
-but simple designs
-are usually the prettiest.
-A tassel at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span>
-the lowest point greatly improves the appearance of the
-entire curtain.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_193.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 41.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span></p>
-<p>The curtains can be made of plain white muslin, or some
-of the many styles that come for this purpose. If plain muslin
-is used, you can ornament them with hems an inch in
-width, in which insert a strip of gingham or chambray of the
-same color as your chintz. This will wash with the curtains
-without losing its color, or, should it fade, it can easily be
-drawn out and replaced.</p>
-
-<p>The influence of white-muslin curtains in giving an air of
-grace and elegance to a room is astonishing. White curtains
-really create a room out of nothing. No matter how
-coarse the muslin, so it be white and hang in graceful folds,
-there is a charm in it that supplies the want of multitudes
-of other things.</p>
-
-<p>The following is a sketch of a most attractive parlor, the
-owners being persons of taste and culture, and visited by the
-most wealthy and refined class, who are always delighted
-with its light, comfort, and beauty. In this parlor is the
-window, Fig. 40, page 192, with its lambrequins, and the window
-covered with flowers and greens, Fig. 41.</p>
-
-<p>A straw matting, used six years, and still good.</p>
-
-<p>Cheap drab-colored rugs, bordered with green, in front of
-the fire and under the centre-table. The cheap wall-paper
-is drab and green, with heavy green border for cornice. On
-one side is this window adorned with creepers, brackets with
-flower-pots, and hanging-baskets, as at Fig. 41, page 193.
-The other (see Fig. 40) window has lambrequins made of an
-old green worsted dress lined with coarse unbleached cotton
-trimmed with green gimp, and the tassels home-made from
-remnants of the old green dress. Cheap white lace with
-broad hems, in which strips of the green dress are drawn,
-complete the window outfit.</p>
-
-<p>On one side of the fire-place is a lounge made as illustrated
-by Fig. 16, page 139; and ottomans around are also
-made as illustrated in the same chapter. All are covered
-with drab cotton cloth, and trimmed with green.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_195a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 42.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Six chairs bought unpainted, and by the mistress of the
-house painted drab and green. Chromos and engravings in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span>
-cheap and tasteful frames, as illustrated
-in Figs. 42 and 43, adorn the
-walls, and German ivy and hanging-baskets
-of greens and flowers are in
-all tasteful arrangements. In cool
-weather a bright fire of dried walnut
-invites to a social gathering
-around its hospitable gleams, the
-fire-place being an open Franklin
-stove, so placed that its hearth is on
-a level with the floor, that there may
-be no cold feet. Such a stove unites
-economy with beauty and comfort. A prime charm of this
-room is its southern exposure, securing
-sunshine all the year, never shut
-out with shades or blinds except in
-the hottest days.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_195b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 43.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>This lovely parlor was furnished
-with pictures and every other article
-for less than a hundred dollars, and
-was more beautiful and enjoyable
-than many of those which have demanded
-thousands for their outfit.</p>
-
-<p>As a means of educating the ingenuity
-and the taste, you can make for
-yourselves pretty rustic frames in various modes. Take a
-very thin board, of the right size and shape, for the foundation
-or “mat;” saw out the inner oval or rectangular form
-to suit the picture. Nail on the edge a rustic frame made
-of branches of hard, seasoned wood, and garnish the corners
-with some pretty device; such, for instance, as a cluster of
-acorns; or, in place of the branches of trees, fasten on with
-glue small pine cones, with larger ones for corner ornaments.
-Or use the mosses of the wood or ocean shells for this purpose.
-It may be more convenient to get the mat or inner
-molding from a framer, or have it made by your carpenter,
-with a groove behind to hold a glass.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_196a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 44.</div>
-</div>
-<p>If you have in the house any broken-down arm-chair reposing
-in the oblivion of the garret, draw it out—drive a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span>
-nail here and there to hold
-it firm—stuff and pad, and
-stitch the padding through
-with a long upholsterer’s
-needle, and cover it with
-the chintz like your other
-furniture and you create an
-easy-chair.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_196b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 45.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>An ox-muzzle, flattened
-on one side and nailed to a
-board, as in Fig. 44, filled
-with spongy moss and feathery
-ferns, makes a lovely
-ornament; while suspended
-baskets holding cups
-or bowls of soil filled with
-drooping plants is another cheap ornament. A Ward case,
-which any ingenious boy can make of pine and common
-glass, is shown on the table at Fig. 41, page 193. It is a
-great source of enjoyment to children and invalids. The
-box at the bottom is to
-be lined with zinc, and
-have a hole for drainage
-covered with an inverted
-saucer, and there must be
-a door at one end. The
-soil must consist of broken
-charcoal at bottom,
-two inches deep, and
-over this some soil made
-of one-fourth fine sand,
-one-fourth meadow soil
-from under fresh turf, and
-two-fourths wood soil
-from under forest-trees.
-In this plant all sorts of
-ferns and swamp grasses,
-and make a border of
-money-plant or periwin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span>kle.
-A bit of looking-glass, some shells, and bits of rock
-with a variety of mosses, flowers, and ferns that grow in the
-shade, can lend variety and beauty. When watering, set a
-pail under for it to drip into. It needs only to keep this
-moss always damp, and to sprinkle these ferns occasionally
-with a whisk-broom, to have a most lovely ornament for
-your room or hall.</p>
-
-<p>An old tin pan, painted green, with holes in the bottom,
-thus supplied with soil and ferns, makes a pretty parlor ornament.
-Or, take a salt-box or fig-box, and fill them with
-soil and plants, and use for hanging-baskets. The Ward
-case needs watering only once in two weeks, and most of
-these plants grow without sun in north windows. The fuchsias
-flourish also in the shade, as do striped spider-wort, smilax,
-saxifrage, and samentosa or Wandering Jew. German
-ivy growing in suspended bottles of water is a cheap ornament,
-and slips of nasturtions and verbenas will grow in north
-windows all winter. A sponge filled with flax-seed, hung by
-a cord and kept wet, is another cheap ornament, as is also
-a carrot scooped out, after the small part is cut out and
-hung up, till its tall, graceful shoots will mingle with flowers
-placed in it. A sweet-potato in a bowl of water, or suspended
-by a knitting-needle run through it and laid in a
-bowl half full of water, makes a verdant ornament. The
-flowers for a Ward case, in a room without sun, are, ground
-pine, prince’s pine, trailing arbutus, partridge-berry, eye-brights,
-mosses. Fig. 45 is a stand for flowers, made of roots
-scraped and varnished.</p>
-
-<p>Much of the beauty of furniture is secured by the tasteful
-combination of colors. There usually should be only two
-colors in addition to the white of the ceiling. Blue unites
-well with buff or corn color, or a yellow brown. Green
-combines well with drab, or white, or yellow. Scarlet or
-crimson unites well with gray or drab.</p>
-
-<p>Those who cultivate parlor plants need these cautions:
-Too much water and want of fresh air make plants grow
-pale and spindling; so give fresh air every day. Wash
-leaves when covered with dust. Change soil once a year,
-or water with liquid manure. Pluck faded flowers, as much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span>
-strength of a plant goes to make seed. Pick off fading
-green leaves. If flowers are wanted, use small pots. Do
-not shut out the sun, which human beings need as much as
-flowers. Use oil-cloth similar to the carpet, where flowers
-and sun abound. Shut out flies with wire netting in open
-windows, and also doors of the same. It costs much less
-than ill health and mournfully darkened rooms.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VII.<br />
-
-<small>CARE OF HEALTH.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is no point where a woman is more liable to suffer
-from a want of knowledge and experience than in reference
-to the health of a family committed to her care. Many a
-young lady who never had any charge of the sick; who
-never took any care of an infant; who never obtained information
-on these subjects from books, or from the experience
-of others; in short, with little or no preparation, has found
-herself the principal attendant in dangerous sickness, the
-chief nurse of a feeble infant, and the responsible guardian
-of the health of a whole family.</p>
-
-<p>The care, the fear, the perplexity of a woman suddenly
-called to these unwonted duties, none can realize till they
-themselves feel it, or till they see some young and anxious
-novice first attempting to meet such responsibilities. To a
-woman of age and experience these duties often involve a
-measure of trial and difficulty at times deemed almost insupportable;
-how hard, then, must they press on the heart
-of the young and inexperienced!</p>
-
-<p>There is no really efficacious mode of preparing a woman
-to take a rational care of the health of a family, except by
-communicating that knowledge in regard to the construction
-of the body and the laws of health which is the basis
-of the medical profession. Not that a woman should undertake
-the minute and extensive investigation requisite for a
-physician; but she should gain a general knowledge of first
-principles, as a guide to her judgment in emergencies when
-she can rely on no other aid.</p>
-
-<p>With this end in view, in the preceding chapters some
-portions of the organs and functions of the human body have
-been presented, and others will now follow in connection
-with the practical duties which result from them.</p>
-
-<p>On the general subject of health, one recent discovery of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span>
-science may here be introduced as having an important relation
-to every organ and function of the body, and as being
-one to which frequent reference will be made; and that is,
-the nature and operation of <i>cell-life</i>.</p>
-
-<p>By the aid of the microscope, we can examine the minute
-construction of plants and animals, in which we discover
-contrivances and operations, if not so sublime, yet more wonderful
-and interesting, than the vast systems of worlds revealed
-by the telescope.</p>
-
-<p>By this instrument it is now seen that the first formation,
-as well as future changes and actions, of all plants and animals
-are accomplished by means of small cells or bags containing
-various kinds of liquids. These cells are so minute
-that, of the smallest, some hundreds would not cover the dot
-of a printed <i>i</i> on this page. They are of diverse shapes and
-contents, and perform various different operations.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_200.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 46.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The first formation of every animal is accomplished by the
-agency of cells, and may be illustrated
-by the egg of any bird or fowl. The
-exterior consists of a hard shell for protection,
-and this is lined with a tough
-skin, to which is fastened the yelk,
-(which means the <i>yellow</i>,) by fibrous
-strings, as seen at <i>a</i>, <i>a</i>, in the diagram.
-In the yelk floats the germ-cell, <i>b</i>, which
-is the point where the formation of the future animal commences.
-The yelk, being lighter than the white, rises upward,
-and the germ being still lighter, rises in the yelk.
-This is to bring both nearer to the vitalizing warmth of the
-brooding mother.</p>
-
-<p>New cells are gradually formed from the nourishing yelk
-around the germ, each being at first roundish in shape, and
-having a spot near the centre, called the nucleus. The reason
-why cells increase must remain a mystery until we can
-penetrate the secrets of vital force—probably forever. But
-the mode in which they multiply is as follows: The first
-change noticed in a cell, when warmed into vital activity, is
-the appearance of a second nucleus within it, while the cell
-gradually becomes oval in form, and then is drawn inward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span>
-at the middle, like an hour-glass, till the two sides meet.
-The two portions then divide, and two cells appear, each containing
-its own germinal nucleus. These both divide again
-in the same manner, proceeding in the ratio of 2, 4, 8, 16,
-and so on, until most of the yelk becomes a mass of cells.</p>
-
-<p>The central point of this mass, where the animal itself
-commences to appear, shows, first, a round-shaped figure,
-which soon assumes form like a pear, and then like a violin.
-Gradually the busy little cells arrange themselves to build
-up heart, lungs, brain, stomach, and limbs, for which the yelk
-and white furnish nutriment. There is a small bag of air fastened
-to one end inside of the shell; and when the animal is
-complete, this air is taken into its lungs, life begins, and out
-walks little chick, all its powers prepared, and ready to run,
-eat, and enjoy existence. Then, as soon as the animal uses
-its brain to think and feel, and its muscles to move, the cells
-which have been made up into these parts begin to decay,
-while new cells are formed from the blood to take their
-place. Thus with life commences the constant process of
-decay and renewal all over the body.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_201.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 47.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The liquid portion of the blood consists of material formed
-from food, air, and water. From this material the cells of
-the blood are formed: first, the
-white cells, which are incomplete
-in formation; and then
-the red cells, which are completed
-by the addition of the
-oxygen received from air in the
-lungs. Fig. 47 represents part
-of a magnified blood-vessel, <i>a</i>,
-<i>a</i>, in which the round cells are
-the white, and the oblong the
-red cells, floating in the blood.
-Surrounding the blood-vessels
-are the cells forming the adjacent
-membrane, <i>b b</i>, each having
-a nucleus in its centre.</p>
-
-<p>Cells have different powers of selecting and secreting diverse
-materials from the blood. Thus, some secrete bile to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span>
-carry to the liver, others secrete saliva for the mouth, others
-take up the tears, and still others take material for the brain,
-muscles, and all other organs. Cells also have a converting
-power—of taking one kind of matter from the blood, and
-changing it to another kind. They are minute chemical
-laboratories all over the body, changing materials of one
-kind to another form in which they can be made useful.</p>
-
-<p>Both animal and vegetable substances are formed of cells.
-But the vegetable cells take up and use unorganized, or simple,
-natural matter; whereas the animal cell only takes substances
-already organized into vegetable or animal life, and
-then changes one compound into another of different proportions
-and nature.</p>
-
-<p>These curious facts in regard to cell-life have important
-relations to the general subject of the care of health, and
-also to the cure of disease, as will be noticed in following
-chapters.</p>
-
-
-<h4>THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.</h4>
-
-<p>There is another portion of the body which is so intimately
-connected with every other, that it is placed in this
-chapter as also having reference to every department in the
-general subject of the care of health.</p>
-
-<p>The body has no power to move itself, but is a collection
-of instruments to be used by the mind in securing various
-kinds of knowledge and enjoyment. The organs through
-which the mind thus operates are the <i>brain</i> and <i>nerves</i>.
-The opposite drawing (Fig. 48) represents them.</p>
-
-<p>The brain lies in the skull, and is divided into the large
-or upper brain, marked 1, and the small or lower brain,
-marked 2. From the brain runs the spinal marrow through
-the spine or backbone. From each side of the spine the
-large nerves run out into innumerable smaller branches to
-every portion of the body. The drawing shows only some
-of the larger branches. Those marked 3 run to the neck
-and organs of the chest; those marked 4 go to the arms;
-those below the arms, marked 3, go to the trunk; those
-marked 5 go to the legs; and the lowest of all go to the
-pelvic organs.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span></p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_203.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 48.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The brain and nerves consist
-of two kinds of nervous
-matter—the <i>gray</i>, which is
-supposed to be the portion
-that originates and controls a
-nervous fluid which imparts
-power of action; and the
-<i>white</i>, which seems to conduct
-this fluid to every part of the
-body.</p>
-
-<p>The brain and nervous system
-are divided into distinct
-portions, each having different
-offices to perform, and
-each acting independently of
-the others; as, for example,
-one portion is employed by
-the mind in thinking, and in
-feeling pleasurable or painful
-mental emotions; another in
-moving the muscles; while
-the nerves that run to the
-nose, ears, eyes, tongue, hands,
-and surface generally, are employed in seeing, hearing, smelling,
-tasting, and feeling all physical sensations.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>back</i> portion of the spinal marrow and the nerves
-that run from it are employed in <i>sensation</i>, or the <i>sense of
-feeling</i>. These nerves extend over the whole body, but are
-largely developed in the net-work of nerves in the skin.
-The <i>front</i> portion of the spinal marrow and its branches are
-employed in moving those muscles in all parts of the body
-which are controlled by the <i>will</i> or <i>choice</i> of the mind.
-These are called the <i>nerves of motion</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The nerves of sensation and nerves of motion, although
-they start from different portions of the spine, are united in
-the same <i>sheath</i> or <i>cover</i>, till they terminate in the muscles.
-Thus, every muscle is moved by nerves of motion; while
-alongside of this nerve, in the same sheath, is a nerve of sensation.
-All the nerves of motion and sensation are connect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span>ed
-with those portions of the brain used when we think, feel,
-and choose. By this arrangement the mind <i>knows</i> what is
-wanted in all parts of the body by means of the nerves of
-sensation, and then it <i>acts</i> by means of the nerves of motion.</p>
-
-<p>For example, when we feel the cold air on the skin, the
-nerves of sensation report to the brain, and thus to the mind,
-that the body is growing cold. The mind thus knows that
-more clothing is needed, and <i>wills</i> to have the eyes look for
-it, and the hands and feet move to get it. This is done by
-the nerves of sight and of motion.</p>
-
-<p>Next are the nerves of <i>involuntary motion</i>, which move
-all those parts of the head, face, and body that are used in
-breathing, and in other operations connected with it. By
-these we continue to breathe when asleep, and whether we
-will to do so or not. There are also some of the nerves of
-voluntary motion that are mixed with these, which enable
-the mind to stop respiration, or to regulate it to a certain
-extent. But the mind has no power to stop it for any great
-length of time.</p>
-
-<p>There is another large and important system of nerves
-called the <i>sympathetic</i> or <i>ganglionic</i> system. It consists of
-small masses of gray and white nervous matter, that seem
-to be small brains with nerves running from them. These
-are called <i>ganglia</i>, and are arranged on each side of the
-spine, while small nerves from the spinal marrow run into
-them, thus uniting the sympathetic system with the nerves
-of the spine. These ganglia are also distributed around in
-various parts of the interior of the body, especially in the
-intestines, and all the different ganglia are connected with
-each other by nerves, thus making one system. It is the
-ganglionic system that carries on the circulation of the
-blood, the action of the capillaries, lymphatics, arteries, and
-veins, together with the work of secretion, absorption, and
-most of the internal working of the body, which goes forward
-without any knowledge or control of the mind.</p>
-
-<p>Every portion of the body has nerves of sensation coming
-from the spine, and also branches of the sympathetic or ganglionic
-system. The object of this is to form a sympathetic
-communication between the several parts of the body, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span>
-also to enable the mind to receive, through the brain, some
-general knowledge of the state of the whole system. It is
-owing to this that, when one portion of the body is affected,
-other portions sympathize. For example, if one part of the
-body is diseased, the stomach may so sympathize as to lose
-all appetite until the disease is removed.</p>
-
-<p>All the operations of the nervous system are performed
-by the influence of the nervous fluid, which is generated in
-the gray portions of the brain and ganglia. Whenever a
-nerve is cut off from its connection with these nervous centres,
-its power is gone, and the part to which it ministered
-becomes lifeless and incapable of motion.</p>
-
-<p>The brain and nerves can be overworked, and can also
-suffer for want of exercise, just as the muscles do. It is
-necessary for the perfect health of the brain and nerves that
-the several portions be exercised sufficiently, and that no
-part be exhausted by overaction. For example, the nerves
-of sensation may be very much exercised, and the nerves
-of motion have but little exercise. In this case, one will be
-weakened by excess of work, and the other by the want of it.</p>
-
-<p>It is found by experience that the proper exercise of the
-nerves of motion tends to reduce any extreme susceptibility
-of the nerves of sensation. On the contrary, the neglect of
-such exercise tends to produce an excessive sensibility in
-the nerves of sensation.</p>
-
-<p>Whenever that part of the brain which is employed in
-thinking, feeling, and willing, is greatly exercised by hard
-study, or by excessive care or emotion, the blood tends to
-the brain to supply it with increased nourishment, just as it
-flows to the muscles when they are exercised. Over-exercise
-of this portion of the brain causes engorgement of the
-blood-vessels. This is sometimes indicated by pain, or by a
-sense of fullness in the head; but oftener the result is a debilitating
-drain on the nervous system, which depends for
-its supply on the healthful state of the brain.</p>
-
-<p>The brain has, as it were, a fountain of supply for the
-nervous fluid, which flows to all the nerves, and stimulates
-them to action. Some brains have a larger, and some a
-smaller fountain; so that a degree of mental activity that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span>
-would entirely exhaust one, would make only a small and
-healthful drain upon another.</p>
-
-<p>The excessive use of certain portions of the brain tends to
-withdraw the nervous energy from other portions; so that
-when one part is debilitated by excess, another fails by
-neglect. For example, a person may so exhaust the brainpower
-in the excessive use of the nerves of motion by hard
-work, as to leave little for any other faculty. On the other
-hand, the nerves of feeling and thinking may be so used as
-to withdraw the nervous fluid from the nerves of motion,
-and thus debilitate the muscles.</p>
-
-<p>Some animal propensities may be indulged to such excess
-as to produce a constant tendency of the blood to a certain
-portion of the brain and to the organs connected with it,
-and thus cause a constant and excessive excitement, which
-finally becomes a disease. Sometimes a paralysis of this
-portion of the brain results from such an entire exhaustion
-of the nervous fountain and of the overworked nerves.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, also, the thinking portion of the brain may be so
-overworked as to drain the nervous fluid from other portions,
-which become debilitated by the loss. And in this
-way, also, the overworked portion may be diseased or paralyzed
-by the excess.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes the intellect and feelings may be confined to
-one subject so exclusively as to cause mental derangement
-on that subject when sane in all other respects. This is
-called a monomania.</p>
-
-<p>The necessity for the <i>equal development</i> of all portions of
-the brain by an appropriate exercise of <em>all</em> the faculties of
-mind and body, and the influence of this upon happiness, is
-the most important portion of this subject, and will be more
-directly exhibited in another chapter.</p>
-
-<p>The chief causes of debility of nerves, neuralgia, sciatica,
-and other diseases of the nerves, are exhaustion of the nervous
-fountain by excess of study, or of labor, or of mental excitement
-of <em>any</em> kind. All excess of feeling, or of intellectual
-or physical labor, decreases the nerve centres or fountains
-of nervous supply. Diseases also, and often medicines,
-have the same effect.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span></p>
-
-<p>When the nerves are thus weakened their minute capillaries
-are not able to send forward the blood, and thus become
-swollen or congested, and then a change in the nerve
-substance follows.</p>
-
-<p>The remedy for this is to withdraw the blood from the
-congested nerves, and this is secured by exercising the muscles,
-thus drawing the blood from nerves to muscles. When
-the patient is much debilitated this exercise should be done
-by an operator, as in the passive exercises of the movement
-cure; for in such cases the nerves and brain would be still
-more weakened by <em>voluntary</em> exercise of the patient. This
-shows the great mistake often made by attempts to remedy
-weak nerves and brain that need rest, by voluntary exercise
-of the muscles. It also shows the mischief often done in
-schools where to high intellectual excitement is added vigorous
-gymnastic exercises.</p>
-
-<p>The chief benefit of the movement cure, especially as conducted
-by Dr. George Taylor, of New York City, consists in
-various apparatus invented by him, by which various parts
-of the body can be exercised while the brain and nerves of
-the patient are at rest. By these contrivances the congested
-blood of the capillaries is drawn from the diseased part and
-all the healthful functions restored, while the patient is at
-rest as to any voluntary exertion of brain and nerves. When
-the strength will permit, voluntary exercises adapted to each
-case are combined with the passive movement effected by
-an operator:</p>
-
-<p>The following are the effects of the mechanical and involuntary
-movements by machinery or by an operator:</p>
-
-<p>They produce increased motion of particles, and so increase
-of absorption and nutrition.</p>
-
-<p>They increase contractile power in the capillaries, and thus
-remedy congestion.</p>
-
-<p>They direct nervous energy to defective parts and remove
-obstructions.</p>
-
-<p>They increase respiration, and thus increase the life-giving
-oxygen and animal heat, while they repress excess in other
-congested parts.</p>
-
-<p>They increase nutrition, and also the secretion and discharge
-of morbid matter from diseased or weakened parts.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER VIII.<br />
-
-<small>DOMESTIC EXERCISE.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>In a work which aims to influence women to train the
-young to honor domestic labor and to seek healthful exercise
-in home pursuits, there is special reason for explaining
-the construction of the muscles and their connection with
-the nerves, these being the chief organs of motion.</p>
-
-<p>The muscles, as seen by the naked eye, consist of very fine
-fibres or strings, bound up in smooth, silky casings of thin
-membrane. But each of these visible fibres or strings the
-microscope shows to be made up of still finer strings, numbering
-from five to eight hundred in each fibre. And each
-of these microscopic fibres is a series or chain of elastic cells,
-which are so minute that one hundred thousand would
-scarcely cover a capital O on this page.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_208.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 49 <span class="gap40"> Fig. 50.</span></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The peculiar property of the cells which compose the muscles
-is their elasticity, no other cells of the body having this
-property. At Fig. 49 is a diagram representing a microscopic
-muscular fibre, in which the cells are relaxed, as in
-the natural state of rest. But when the muscle contracts,
-each of its numberless cells in all its small fibres becomes
-widened, making each fibre of the muscle shorter and thicker,
-as at Fig. 50. This explains the cause of the swelling
-out of muscles when they act.</p>
-
-<p>Every motion in every part of the body has a special muscle
-to produce it, and many have other muscles to restore
-the part moved to its natural state. The muscles that move
-or bend any part are called <i>flexors</i>, and those that restore
-the natural position are called <i>extensors</i>.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span></p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_209.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 51.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 51 represents the muscles of the arm
-after the skin and flesh are removed. They
-are all in smooth, silky cases, laid over each
-other, and separated both by the smooth
-membranes that encase them and by layers
-of fat, so as to move easily without interfering
-with each other. They are fastened to
-the bones by strong tendons and cartilages;
-and around the wrist, in the drawing, is
-shown a band of cartilage to confine them
-in place. The muscle marked 8 is the extensor
-that straightens the fingers after they
-have been closed by a flexor on the other side
-of the arm. In like manner, each motion of
-the arm and fingers has one muscle to produce
-it and another to restore to the natural
-position.</p>
-
-<p>The muscles are dependent on the brain
-and nerves for power to move. It has been
-shown that the gray matter of the brain and
-spinal marrow furnishes the stimulating power
-that moves the muscles, and causes sensations
-of touch on the skin, and the other
-sensations of the several senses. The white
-part of the brain and spinal marrow consists
-solely of conducting tubes to transmit
-this influence. Each of the minute fibrils of the muscles has
-a small conducting nerve connecting it with the brain or
-spinal marrow, and in this respect each muscular fibril is
-separate from every other.</p>
-
-<p>When, therefore, the mind wills to move a flexor muscle
-of the arm, the gray matter sends out the stimulus through
-the nerves to the cells of each individual fibre of that muscle,
-and they contract. When this is done, the nerve of
-sensation reports it to the brain and mind. If the mind desires
-to return the arm to its former position, then follows
-the willing, and consequent stimulus sent through the nerves
-to the corresponding muscle; its cells contract, and the limb
-is restored.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span></p>
-
-<p>When the motion is a compound one, involving the action
-of several muscles at the same time, a multitude of impressions
-are sent back and forth to and from the brain through
-the nerves. But the person acting thus is unconscious of
-all this delicate and wonderful mechanism. He wills the
-movement, and instantly the requisite nervous power is sent
-to the required cells and fibres, and they perform the motions
-required. Many of the muscles are moved by the sympathetic
-system, over which the mind has but little control.</p>
-
-<p>Among the muscles and nerves so intimately connected
-run the minute capillaries of the blood, which furnish nourishment
-to all.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_210.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 52.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 52 represents an artery at <i>a</i>, which brings pure
-blood to a muscle from the heart. After meandering
-through the capillaries at <i>c</i>, to distribute
-oxygen and food from the stomach, the
-blood enters the vein, <i>b</i>, loaded with carbonic
-acid and water taken up in the capillaries,
-to be carried to the lungs or skin, and
-thrown out into the air.</p>
-
-<p>The manner in which the exercise of the
-muscles quickens the circulation of the
-blood will now be explained. The veins
-abound in every part of every muscle, and
-the large veins have <i>valves</i> which prevent
-the blood from flowing backward. If the
-wrist is grasped tightly, the veins of the hand are immediately
-swollen. This is owing to the fact that the blood
-is prevented from flowing toward the heart by this pressure,
-and by the vein-valves from returning into the arteries;
-while the arteries themselves, being placed deeper down,
-are not so compressed, and continue to send the blood into
-the hand, and thus it accumulates. As soon as this pressure
-is removed, the blood springs onward from the restraint
-with accelerated motion. This same process takes
-place when any of the muscles are exercised. The contraction
-of any muscle presses some of the veins, so that the
-blood can not flow the natural way, while the valves in
-the veins prevent its flowing backward. Meantime the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span>
-arteries continue to press the blood along until the veins
-become swollen. Then, as soon as the muscle ceases its contraction,
-the blood flows faster from the previous accumulation.</p>
-
-<p>If, then, we use a number of muscles, and use them strongly
-and quickly, there are so many veins affected in this way
-as to quicken the whole circulation. The heart receives
-blood faster, and sends it to the lungs faster. Then the
-lungs work quicker, to furnish the oxygen required by the
-greater amount of blood. The blood returns with greater
-speed to the heart, and the heart sends it out with quicker
-action through the arteries to the capillaries. In the capillaries,
-too, the decayed matter is carried off faster, and then
-the stomach calls for more food to furnish new and pure
-blood. Thus it is that exercise gives new life and nourishment
-to every part of the body.</p>
-
-<p>It is the universal law of the human frame that <em>exercise</em> is
-indispensable to the health of the several parts. Thus, if a
-blood-vessel be tied up, so as not to be used, it shrinks, and
-becomes a useless string; if a muscle be condemned to inaction,
-it shrinks in size and diminishes in power; and thus
-it is also with the bones. Inactivity produces softness,
-debility, and unfitness for the functions they are designed to
-perform.</p>
-
-<p>Now, the nerves, like all other parts of the body, gain and
-lose strength according as they are exercised. If they have
-too much or too little exercise, they lose strength; if they
-are exercised to a proper degree, they gain strength. When
-the mind is continuously excited, by business, study, or the
-imagination, the nerves of emotion and sensation are kept
-in constant action, while the nerves of motion are unemployed.
-If this is continued for a long time, the nerves of
-sensation lose their strength from overaction, and the nerves
-of motion lose their power from inactivity. In consequence,
-there is a morbid excitability of the nervous, and a debility
-of the muscular system, which make all exertion irksome
-and wearisome.</p>
-
-<p>The only mode of preserving the health of these systems
-is to keep up in them an equilibrium of action. For this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span>
-purpose, occupations must be sought which exercise the
-muscles and interest the mind; and thus the equal action
-of both kinds of nerves is secured. This shows why exercise
-is so much more healthful and invigorating when the
-mind is interested than when it is not. As an illustration,
-let a person go shopping with a friend, and have nothing to
-do but look on. How soon do the continuous walking and
-standing weary! But, suppose one, thus wearied, hears of
-the arrival of a very dear friend: she can instantly walk off
-a mile or two to meet her, without the least feeling of fatigue.
-By this is shown the importance of furnishing, for
-young persons, exercise in which they will take an interest.
-Long and formal walks, merely for exercise, though they do
-some good, in securing fresh air and some exercise of the
-muscles, would be of triple benefit if changed to amusing
-sports, or to the cultivation of fruits and flowers, in which it
-is impossible to engage without acquiring a great interest.</p>
-
-<p>It shows, also, why it is far better to trust to useful domestic
-exercise at home than to send a young person out to
-walk for the mere purpose of exercise. Young girls can
-seldom be made to realize the value of health, and the need
-of exercise to secure it, so as to feel much interest in walking
-abroad, when they have no other object. But if they
-are brought up to minister to the comfort and enjoyment of
-themselves and others by performing domestic duties, they
-will constantly be interested and cheered in their exercise
-by the feeling of usefulness and the consciousness of having
-performed their duty.</p>
-
-<p>There are few young persons, it is hoped, who are brought
-up with such miserable habits of selfishness and indolence
-that they can not be made to feel happier by the consciousness
-of being usefully employed. And those who have
-never been accustomed to think or care for any one but
-themselves, and who seem to feel little pleasure in making
-themselves useful, by wise and proper influences can often
-be gradually awakened to the new pleasure of benevolent
-exertion to promote the comfort and enjoyment of others.
-And the more this sacred and elevating kind of enjoyment
-is tasted, the greater is the relish induced. Other enjoy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span>ments
-often cloy; but the heavenly pleasure secured by
-virtuous industry and benevolence, while it satisfies at the
-time, awakens fresh desires for the continuance of so ennobling
-a good.</p>
-
-<p>It is an interesting illustration of the benevolence and
-wisdom of our Maker, that the appropriate duties of the
-family, uniting intellectual, social, and moral with both sedentary
-and active pursuits, are exactly fitted to employ
-every faculty in a healthful proportion. And it is a sad
-violation of the laws of health to so divide family employments
-that one class use muscle too much, and the other the
-brain to excess.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER IX.<br />
-
-<small>HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The person who decides what shall be the food and drink
-of a family, and the modes of its preparation, is the one who
-decides, to a greater or less extent, what shall be the health
-of that family. It is the opinion of most medical men that
-intemperance in eating is one of the most fruitful of all
-causes of disease and death. If this be so, the woman who
-wisely adapts the food and cooking of her family to the laws
-of health removes one of the greatest risks which threatens
-the lives of those under her care. But, unfortunately, there
-is no other duty that has been involved in more doubt and
-perplexity. Were one to believe all that is said and written
-on this subject, the conclusion probably would be, that there
-is not one solitary article of food on God’s earth which it is
-healthful to eat. Happily, however, there are general principles
-on this subject which, if understood and applied, will
-prove a safe guide to any woman of common sense; and it
-is the object of the present chapter to set forth these principles.</p>
-
-<p>All material things on earth, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous,
-can be resolved into sixty-two simple substances, only
-fourteen of which are in the human body; and these, in certain
-proportions, in all mankind.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, in a man weighing 154 lbs. are found 111 lbs. oxygen
-gas and 14 lbs. hydrogen gas, which, united, form water;
-21 lbs. carbon; 3 lbs. 8 oz. nitrogen gas; 1 lb. 12 oz. 190 grs.
-phosphorus; 2 lbs. calcium, the chief ingredient of bones; 2
-oz. fluorine; 2 oz. 219 grs. sulphur; 2 oz. 47 grs. chlorine; 2
-oz. 116 grs. sodium; 100 grs. iron; 290 grs. potassium; 12
-grs. magnesium; and 2 grs. silicon.</p>
-
-<p>These simple substances are constantly passing out of the
-body through the lungs, skin, and other excreting organs.</p>
-
-<p>It is found that certain of these simple elements are used<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span>
-for one part of the body and others for other parts, and this
-in certain regular proportions. Thus, carbon is the chief element
-of fat, and also supplies the fuel that combines with
-oxygen in the capillaries to produce animal heat. The nitrogen
-which we gain from our food and the air is the chief
-element of muscle; phosphorus is the chief element of brain
-and nerves; and calcium or lime is the hard portion of the
-bones. Iron is an important element of blood; and silicon
-supplies the hardest parts of the teeth, nails, and hair.</p>
-
-<p>Water, which is composed of the two gases oxygen and
-hydrogen, is the largest portion of the body, forming its fluids;
-there is four times as much of carbon as there is of
-nitrogen in the body; while there is only two per cent. as
-much phosphorus as carbon. A man weighing one hundred
-and fifty-four pounds, who leads an active life, takes into his
-stomach daily from two to three pounds of solid food, and
-from five to six pounds of liquid. At the same time he
-takes into his lungs, daily, four or five thousand gallons of
-air. This amounts to three thousand pounds of nutriment
-received through stomach and lungs, and then expelled from
-the body, in one year; or about twenty times the man’s own
-weight.</p>
-
-<p>It is found that the simple elements will not nourish the
-body in their natural state, but only when organized, either
-as vegetable or animal food; and, to the dismay of the Grahamite
-or vegetarian school, it is now established by chemists
-that animal and vegetable food contain the same elements,
-and in nearly the same proportions.</p>
-
-<p>Thus, in animal food, carbon predominates in fats, while in
-vegetable food it shows itself in sugar, starch, and vegetable
-oils. Nitrogen is found in animal food in the albumen,
-fibrine, and caseine; while in vegetables it is in gluten, albumen,
-and caseine.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_216.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 53.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is also a curious fact that, in all articles of food, the elements
-that nourish diverse parts of the body are divided
-into separable portions, and also that the proportions correspond
-in a great degree to the wants of the body. For example,
-a kernel of wheat contains all the articles demanded
-for every part of the body. Fig. 53 represents, upon an en<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span>larged
-scale, the position and proportions of the chief elements
-required. The white central part is the
-largest in quantity, and is chiefly carbon in the
-form of starch, which supplies fat and fuel for the
-capillaries. The shaded outer portion is chiefly
-nitrogen, which nourishes the muscles; and the
-dark spot at the bottom is principally phosphorus,
-which nourishes the brain and nerves. And these
-elements are in due proportion to the demands of
-the body. A portion of the outer covering of a wheat-kernel
-holds lime, silica, and iron, which are needed by the body, and
-which are found in no other part of the grain. The woody
-fibre is not digested, but serves, by its bulk and stimulating
-action, to facilitate digestion. It is, therefore, evident that
-bread made of unbolted flour is more healthful than that
-made of superfine flour. For the process of bolting removes
-all the woody fibre; the lime needed for the bones; the silica
-for hair, nails, and teeth; the iron for the blood; and most
-of the nitrogen and phosphorus needed for muscles, brain, and
-nerves.</p>
-
-<p>Experiments on animals prove that fine flour alone, which
-is chiefly carbon, will not sustain life more than a month,
-while unbolted flour furnishes all that is needed for every
-part of the body. There are cases where persons can not
-use such coarse bread, on account of its irritating action on
-inflamed coats of the stomach. For such, a kind of wheaten
-grit is provided, containing all the kernel of the wheat, except
-the outside woody fibre.</p>
-
-<p>From these statements it may be seen that one of the
-chief mistakes in providing food for families has been in
-changing the proportions of the elements nature has fitted
-for our food. Thus, fine wheat is deprived by bolting of
-some of the most important of its nourishing elements, leaving
-carbon chiefly, which, after supplying fuel for the capillaries,
-must, if in excess, be sent out of the body; thus needlessly
-taxing all the excreting organs. So milk, which contains
-all the elements needed by the body, has the cream
-taken out and used for butter, which again is chiefly carbon.
-Then, sugar and molasses, cakes and candies, are chiefly car<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span>bon,
-and supply but very little of other nourishing elements,
-while, to make them safe, much exercise in cold and pure air
-is necessary. And yet it is the children of the rich, housed
-in chambers and school-rooms most of their time, who are
-fed with these dangerous dainties, thus weakening their constitutions,
-and inducing fevers, colds, and many other diseases.</p>
-
-<p>The proper digestion of food depends on the wants of the
-body, and on its power of appropriating the aliment supplied.
-The best of food can not be properly digested when
-it is not needed. All that the system requires will be used,
-and the rest will be thrown out by the several excreting organs,
-which thus are frequently overtaxed, and vital forces
-are wasted. Even food of poor quality may digest well if
-the demands of the system are urgent. The way to increase
-digestive power is to increase the demand for food by pure
-air and exercise of the muscles, quickening the blood, and
-arousing the whole system to a more rapid and vigorous
-rate of life.</p>
-
-<p>We are now ready to consider intelligently the following
-general principles in regard to the proper selection of food:</p>
-
-<p>Vegetable and animal food are equally healthful if apportioned
-to the given circumstances.</p>
-
-<p>In cold weather, carbonaceous food, such as butter, fats,
-sugar, molasses, etc., can be used more safely than in warm
-weather. And they can be used more safely by those who
-exercise in the open air than by those of confined and sedentary
-habits.</p>
-
-<p>Students who need food with little carbon, and women
-who live in the house, should always seek coarse bread, fruits,
-and lean meats, and avoid butter, oils, sugar, and molasses,
-and articles containing them.</p>
-
-<p>Many students and women using little exercise in the open
-air grow thin and weak, because the vital powers are exhausted
-in throwing off excess of food, especially of the carbonaceous.
-The liver is especially taxed in such cases, being
-unable to remove all the excess of carbonaceous matter
-from the blood, and thus “biliousness” ensues, particularly
-on the approach of warm weather, when the air brings less
-oxygen than in cold.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span></p>
-
-<p>It is found, by experiment, that the supply of gastric juice,
-furnished from the blood by the arteries of the stomach, is
-proportioned, not to the amount of food put into the stomach,
-but to the wants of the body; so that it is possible to
-put much more into the stomach than can be digested. To
-guide and regulate in this matter, the sensation called <i>hunger</i>
-is provided. In a healthy state of the body, as soon as
-the blood has lost its nutritive supplies, the craving of hunger
-is felt, and then, if the food is suitable, and is taken in
-the proper manner, this sensation ceases as soon as the stomach
-has received enough to supply the wants of the system.
-But our benevolent Creator, in this as in our other duties, has
-connected enjoyment with the operation needful to sustain
-our bodies. In addition to the allaying of hunger, the gratification
-of the palate is secured by the immense variety of food,
-some articles of which are far more agreeable than others.</p>
-
-<p>This arrangement of Providence, designed for our happiness,
-has become, either through ignorance or want of self-control,
-the chief cause of the many diseases and sufferings
-which afflict those classes who have the means of seeking a
-variety to gratify the palate. If mankind had only one article
-of food, and only water to drink, though they would
-have less enjoyment in eating, they would never be tempted
-to put any more into the stomach than the calls of hunger
-require. But the customs of society, which present an incessant
-change, and a great variety of food, with those various
-condiments which stimulate appetite, lead almost every person
-very frequently to eat merely to gratify the palate, after
-the stomach has been abundantly supplied, so that hunger
-has ceased.</p>
-
-<p>When too great a supply of food is put into the stomach,
-the gastric juice dissolves only that portion which the wants
-of the system demand. Most of the remainder is ejected in
-an unprepared state; the absorbents take portions of it into
-the system; and all the various functions of the body, which
-depend on the ministries of the blood, are thus gradually
-and imperceptibly injured. Very often, intemperance in
-eating produces immediate results, such as colic, headaches,
-pains of indigestion, and vertigo.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span></p>
-
-<p>But the more general result is a gradual undermining of
-all parts of the human frame; thus imperceptibly shortening
-life, by so weakening the constitution that it is ready to
-yield, at every point, to any uncommon risk or exposure.
-Thousands and thousands are passing out of the world, from
-diseases occasioned by exposures which a healthy constitution
-could meet without any danger. It is owing to these
-considerations that it becomes the duty of every woman who
-has the responsibility of providing food for a family to avoid
-a variety of tempting dishes. It is a much safer guide to
-have only one kind of healthy food for each meal, rather than
-the too abundant variety which is often met at the tables of
-almost all classes in this country. When there is to be any
-variety of dishes, they ought not to be successive, but so arranged
-as to give the opportunity of selection. How often
-is it the case that persons, by the appearance of a favorite
-article, are tempted to eat merely to gratify the palate, when
-the stomach is already adequately supplied. All such intemperance
-wears on the constitution, and shortens life. It not
-unfrequently happens that excess in eating produces a morbid
-appetite, which must constantly be denied.</p>
-
-<p>But the organization of the digestive organs demands not
-only that food should be taken in proper quantities, but that
-it be taken at proper times.</p>
-
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_219.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 54.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 54 shows one important feature of the digestive organs
-relating to this
-point. The part marked
-LM shows the muscles
-of the inner coat
-of the stomach, which
-run in one direction,
-and CM shows the
-muscles of the outer
-coat, running in another
-direction.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as the food
-enters the stomach,
-the muscles are excited by the nerves, and the <i>peristaltic motion</i>
-commences: this is a powerful and constant exercise of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span>
-the muscles of the stomach, which continues until the process
-of digestion is complete. During this time the blood is withdrawn
-from other parts of the system, to supply the demands
-of the stomach, which is laboring hard with all its muscles.
-When this motion ceases, and the digested food has gradually
-passed out, nature requires that the stomach should have a
-period of repose. And if another meal be eaten immediately
-after one is digested, the stomach is set to work again before
-it has had time to rest, and before a sufficient supply of gastric
-juice is provided.</p>
-
-<p>The general rule, then, is, that three hours be given to
-the stomach for labor, and two for rest; and in obedience
-to this, five hours, at least, ought to elapse between every
-two regular meals. In cases where exercise produces a flow
-of perspiration, more food is needed to supply the loss; and
-strong laboring men may safely eat as often as they feel the
-want of food. So, young and healthy children, who gambol
-and exercise much, and whose bodies grow fast, may have a
-more frequent supply of food. But, as a general rule, meals
-should be five hours apart, and eating between meals avoided.
-There is nothing more unsafe and wearing to the constitution
-than a habit of eating at any time merely to gratify
-the palate. When a tempting article is presented, every person
-should exercise sufficient self-denial to wait till the proper
-time for eating arrives. Children, as well as grown persons,
-are often injured by eating between their regular meals,
-thus weakening the stomach by not affording it any time for
-rest.</p>
-
-<p>As a general rule, the quantity of food actually needed by
-the body depends on the amount of muscular exercise taken.
-A laboring man in the open fields probably throws off from
-his skin and lungs a much larger amount than a person of
-sedentary pursuits. In consequence of this, he demands a
-greater amount of food and drink.</p>
-
-<p>Those persons who keep their bodies in a state of health
-by sufficient exercise can always be guided by the calls of
-hunger. They can eat when they feel hungry, and stop
-when hunger ceases; and thus they will calculate exactly
-right. But the difficulty is, that a large part of the com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span>munity,
-especially women, are so inactive in their habits
-that they seldom feel the calls of hunger. They habitually
-eat, merely to gratify the palate. This produces such a
-state of the system that they lose the guide which Nature
-has provided. They are not called to eat by hunger, nor
-admonished, by its cessation, when to stop. In consequence
-of this, such persons eat what pleases the palate, till they
-feel no more inclination for the article. It is probable that
-three-fourths of the women in the wealthier circles sit down
-to each meal without any feeling of hunger, and eat merely
-on account of the gratification thus afforded them. Such
-persons find their appetite to depend almost solely upon the
-kind of food on the table. This is not the case with those
-who take the exercise which Nature demands. They approach
-their meals in such a state that almost any kind of
-food is acceptable.</p>
-
-<p>Persons who have a strong constitution, and take much
-exercise, may eat almost any thing with apparent impunity;
-but young children who are forming their constitutions, and
-persons who are delicate and who take but little exercise,
-are very dependent for health on a proper selection of food.</p>
-
-<p>It is found that there are some kinds of food which afford
-nutriment to the blood, and do not produce any other effect
-on the system. There are other kinds which are not only
-nourishing, but <em>stimulating</em>, so that they quicken the functions
-of the organs on which they operate. The condiments
-used in cookery, such as pepper, mustard, and spices, are of
-this nature. There are certain states of the system when
-these stimulants may be beneficial; such cases can only be
-pointed out by medical men.</p>
-
-<p>Persons in perfect health, and especially young children,
-never receive any benefit from such kind of food; and just
-in proportion as condiments operate to quicken the labors
-of the internal organs, they tend to wear down their powers.
-A person who thus keeps the body working under an unnatural
-excitement <em>lives faster</em> than Nature designed, and
-the constitution is worn out just so much the sooner. A
-woman, therefore, should provide dishes for her family which
-are free from these stimulating condiments.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span></p>
-
-<p>In regard to articles which are the most easily digested,
-only general rules can be given. Tender meats are digested
-more readily than those which are tough, or than many kinds
-of vegetable food. The farinaceous articles, such as rice,
-flour, corn, potatoes, and the like, are the most nutritious,
-and most easily digested. The popular notion, that meat is
-more nourishing than bread, is a great mistake. Good bread
-contains more nourishment than butcher’s meat. The meat
-is more <em>stimulating</em>, and for this reason is more readily digested.</p>
-
-<p>A perfectly healthy stomach can digest almost any healthful
-food; but when the digestive powers are weak, every
-stomach has its peculiarities, and what is good for one is
-hurtful to another. In such cases, experiment alone can
-decide which are the most digestible articles of food. A
-person whose food troubles him must deduct one article after
-another, till he learns by experience which is the best
-for digestion. Much evil has been done by assuming that
-the powers of one stomach are to be made the rule in regulating
-every other.</p>
-
-<p>The most unhealthful kinds of food are those which are
-made so by bad cooking; such as sour and heavy bread,
-cakes, pie-crust, and other dishes consisting of fat mixed and
-cooked with flour. Rancid butter and high-seasoned food
-are equally unwholesome. The fewer mixtures there are in
-cooking, the more healthful is the food likely to be.</p>
-
-<p>There is one caution as to the <em>mode</em> of eating which seems
-peculiarly needful to Americans. It is indispensable to good
-digestion that food be well chewed and taken slowly. It
-needs to be thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva, in
-order to prepare it for the action of the gastric juice, which,
-by the peristaltic motion, will be thus brought into contact
-with every one of the minute portions. It has been found
-that a solid lump of food requires much more time and labor
-of the stomach for digestion than divided substances.</p>
-
-<p>It has also been found that as each bolus, or mouthful,
-enters the stomach, the latter closes, until the portion received
-has had some time to move around and combine with
-the gastric juice, and that the orifice of the stomach resists<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span>
-the entrance of any more till this is accomplished. But, if
-the eater persists in swallowing fast, the stomach yields; the
-food is then poured in more rapidly than the organ can perform
-its duty of preparative digestion, and evil results are
-sooner or later developed. This exhibits the folly of those
-hasty meals so common to travelers and to men of business,
-and shows why children should be taught to eat slowly.</p>
-
-<p>After taking a full meal, it is very important to health
-that no great bodily or mental exertion be made till the labor
-of the stomach is over. Intense mental effort draws the
-blood to the head, and muscular exertions draw it to the
-muscles; and in consequence of this, the stomach loses the
-supply which it requires when performing its office. When
-the blood with its stimulating effects is thus withdrawn
-from the stomach, the adequate supply of gastric juice is
-not afforded, and indigestion is the result. The heaviness
-which follows a full meal is the indication which Nature
-gives of the need of quiet. When the meal is moderate, a
-sufficient quantity of gastric juice is exuded in an hour, or
-hour and a half; after which, labor of body and mind
-may safely be resumed.</p>
-
-<p>Extremes of heat or cold are injurious to the process of
-digestion. Taking hot food or drink habitually, tends to
-debilitate all the organs thus needlessly excited. In using
-cold substances, it is found that a certain degree of warmth
-in the stomach is indispensable to their digestion; so that
-when the gastric juice is cooled below this temperature it
-ceases to act. Indulging in large quantities of cold drinks,
-or eating ice-creams, after a meal, tends to reduce the temperature
-of the stomach, and thus to stop digestion. This
-shows the folly of those refreshments, in convivial meetings,
-where the guests are tempted to load the stomach with a
-variety such as would require the stomach of a stout farmer
-to digest; and then to wind up with ice-creams, thus lessening
-whatever ability might otherwise have existed to digest
-the heavy load. The fittest temperature for drinks, if taken
-when the food is in the digesting process, is blood-heat.
-Cool drinks, and even ice, can be safely taken at other times,
-if not in excessive quantity. When the thirst is excessive,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span>
-or the body weakened by fatigue, or when in a state of perspiration,
-large quantities of cold drinks are injurious.</p>
-
-<p>Fluids taken into the stomach are not subject to the slow
-process of digestion, but are immediately absorbed and carried
-into the blood. This is the reason why liquid nourishment,
-more speedily than solid food, restores from exhaustion.
-The minute vessels of the stomach absorb its fluids,
-which are carried into the blood, just as the minute extremities
-of the arteries open upon the inner surface of the stomach,
-and there exude the gastric juice from the blood.</p>
-
-<p>Highly-concentrated food, having much nourishment in a
-small bulk, is not favorable to digestion, because it can not
-be properly acted on by the muscular contractions of the
-stomach, and is not so minutely divided as to enable the
-gastric juice to act properly. This is the reason why a certain
-<em>bulk</em> of food is needful to good digestion; and why
-those people who live on whale-oil and other highly nourishing
-food, in cold climates, mix vegetables and even sawdust
-with it, to make it more acceptable and digestible. So in
-civilized lands, fruits and vegetables are mixed with more
-highly concentrated nourishment. For this reason, also,
-soups, jellies, and arrow-root should have bread or crackers
-mixed with them. This affords another reason why coarse
-bread, of unbolted wheat, so often proves beneficial. Where,
-from inactive habits or other causes, the bowels become constipated
-and sluggish, this kind of food proves the appropriate
-remedy.</p>
-
-<p>One fact on this subject is worthy of notice. In England,
-under the administration of William Pitt, for two years or
-more there was such a scarcity of wheat that, to make it
-hold out longer, Parliament passed a law that the army
-should have all their bread made of unbolted flour. The
-result was, that the health of the soldiers improved so much
-as to be a subject of surprise to themselves, the officers, and
-the physicians. These last came out publicly and declared
-that the soldiers never before were so robust and healthy;
-and that disease had nearly disappeared from the army.
-The civic physicians joined and pronounced it the healthiest
-bread; and for a time schools, families, and public institu<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span>tions
-used it almost exclusively. Even the nobility, convinced
-by these facts, adopted it for their common diet, and
-the fashion continued a long time after the scarcity ceased,
-until more luxurious habits resumed their sway.</p>
-
-<p>We thus see why children should not have cakes and candies
-allowed them between meals. Besides being largely
-carbonaceous, these are highly concentrated nourishments,
-and should be eaten with more bulky and less nourishing
-substances. The most indigestible of all kinds of food are
-fatty and oily substances, if heated. It is on this account
-that pie-crust and articles boiled and fried in fat or butter
-are deemed not so healthful as other food.</p>
-
-<p>The following, then, may be put down as the causes of a
-debilitated constitution from the misuse of food: Eating
-<em>too much</em>, eating <em>too often</em>, eating <em>too fast</em>, eating food and
-condiments that are <em>too stimulating</em>, eating food that is <em>too
-warm</em> or <em>too cold</em>, eating food that is <em>highly concentrated</em>,
-without a proper admixture of less nourishing matter, and
-eating hot food that is <em>difficult of digestion</em>.</p>
-
-<p>It is a point fully established by experience that the full
-development of the human body and the vigorous exercise
-of all its functions can be secured without the use of stimulating
-drinks. It is, therefore, perfectly safe to bring up
-children never to use them, no hazard being incurred by
-such a course.</p>
-
-<p>It is also found by experience that there are two evils incurred
-by the use of stimulating drinks. The first is, their
-positive effect on the human system. Their peculiarity consists
-in so exciting the nervous system that all the functions
-of the body are accelerated, and the fluids are caused to
-move quicker than at their natural speed. This increased
-motion of the animal fluids always produces an agreeable
-effect on the mind. The intellect is invigorated, the imagination
-is excited, the spirits are enlivened; and these effects
-are so agreeable that all mankind, after having once experienced
-them, feel a great desire for their repetition.</p>
-
-<p>But this temporary invigoration of the system is always
-followed by a diminution of the powers of the stimulated
-organs; so that, though in all cases this reaction may not be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span>
-perceptible, it is invariably the result. It may be set down
-as the unchangeable rule of physiology, that stimulating
-drinks deduct from the powers of the constitution in exactly
-the proportion in which they operate to produce temporary
-invigoration.</p>
-
-<p>The second evil is the temptation which always attends
-the use of stimulants. Their effect on the system is so
-agreeable, and the evils resulting are so imperceptible and
-distant, that there is a constant tendency to increase such
-excitement, both in frequency and power; and the more
-the system is thus reduced in strength, the more craving is
-the desire for that which imparts a temporary invigoration.
-This process of increasing debility and increasing craving
-for the stimulus that removes it, often goes to such an extreme
-that the passion is perfectly uncontrollable, and mind
-and body perish under this baleful habit.</p>
-
-<p>In this country there are three forms in which the use of
-such stimulants is common; namely, <i>alcoholic drinks</i>, <i>opium
-mixtures</i>, and <i>tobacco</i>. These are all alike in the main peculiarity
-of imparting that extra stimulus to the system which
-tends to exhaust its powers.</p>
-
-<p>Multitudes in this nation are in the habitual use of some
-one of these stimulants; and each person defends the indulgence
-by certain arguments:</p>
-
-<p>First, that the desire for stimulants is a natural propensity
-implanted in man’s nature, as is manifest from the universal
-tendency to such indulgences in every nation. From this
-it is inferred that it is an innocent desire, which ought to be
-gratified to some extent, and that the aim should be to keep
-it within the limits of temperance, instead of attempting to
-exterminate a natural propensity.</p>
-
-<p>This is an argument which, if true, makes it equally proper
-for not only men, but women and children, to use opium,
-brandy, or tobacco as stimulating principles, provided they
-are used temperately. But if it be granted that perfect
-health and strength can be gained and secured without these
-stimulants, and that their peculiar effect is to diminish the
-power of the system in exactly the same proportion as they
-stimulate it, then there is no such thing as a temperate use,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span>
-unless they are so diluted as to destroy any stimulating
-power; and in this form they are seldom desired.</p>
-
-<p>The other argument for their use is, that they are among
-the good things provided by the Creator for our gratification;
-that, like all other blessings, they are exposed to abuse
-and excess; and that we should rather seek to regulate their
-use than to banish them entirely.</p>
-
-<p>This argument is based on the assumption that they are,
-like healthful foods and drinks, necessary to life and health,
-and injurious only by excess. But this is not true; for
-whenever they are used in any such strength as to be a
-gratification, they operate to a greater or less extent as stimulants,
-and to just such extent they wear out the powers
-of the constitution; and it is abundantly proved that they
-are not, like food and drink, necessary to health. Such articles
-are designed for medicine, and not for common use.
-There can be no argument framed to defend the use of one
-of them which will not justify women and children in most
-dangerous indulgences.</p>
-
-<p>There are some facts recently revealed by the microscope
-in regard to alcoholic drinks which every woman should
-understand and regard. It has been shown in a previous
-chapter that every act of mind, either by thought, feeling,
-or choice, causes the destruction of certain cells in the brain
-and nerves. It now is proved by microscopic science<a id="FNanchor_4_4" href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> that
-the kind of nutrition furnished to the brain by the blood to
-a certain extent decides future feelings, thoughts, and volitions.
-The cells of the brain not only abstract from the
-blood the healthful nutrition, but also are affected in shape,
-size, color, and action by unsuitable elements in the blood.
-This is especially the case when alcohol is taken into the
-stomach, from whence it is always carried to the brain. The
-consequence is, that it affects the nature and action of the
-brain-cells, until a habit is formed which is <em>automatic</em>; that
-is, the mind loses the power of controlling the brain in its
-development of thoughts, feelings, and choices as it would
-in the natural state, and is itself controlled by the brain.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span>
-In this condition a real disease of the brain is created, called
-<b>oino-mania</b>, and the only remedy is total abstinence, and
-that for a long period, from the alcoholic poison. And what
-makes the danger more fearful is, that the brain-cells never
-are so renewed but that this pernicious stimulus will bring
-back the disease in full force, so that a man once subject to
-it is never safe except by maintaining perpetual and total
-abstinence from every kind of alcoholic drink. Dr. Day, who
-for many years has had charge of an inebriate asylum, states
-that he witnessed the dissection of the brain of a man once
-an inebriate, but for many years in practice of total abstinence,
-and found its cells still in the weak and unnatural
-state produced by earlier indulgences.</p>
-
-<p>There has unfortunately been a difference of opinion
-among medical men as to the use of alcohol. Liebig, the
-celebrated writer on animal chemistry, having found that
-both sugar and alcohol were heat-producing articles of food,
-framed a theory that alcohol is burned in the lungs, giving
-off carbonic acid and water, and thus serving to warm the
-body. But modern science has proved that it is in the capillaries
-that animal heat is generated, and it is believed that
-alcohol lessens instead of increasing the power of the body
-to bear the cold. Sir John Ross, in his Arctic voyage, proved
-by his own experience and that of his men that cold-water
-drinkers could bear cold longer and were stronger than any
-who used alcohol.</p>
-
-<p>Carpenter, a standard writer on physiology, says the objection
-to a habitual use of even small quantities of alcoholic
-drinks is, that “they are universally admitted to possess
-a poisonous character,” and “tend to produce a morbid
-condition of body;” while “the capacity for enduring extremes
-of heat and cold, or of mental or bodily labor, is diminished
-rather than increased by their habitual employment.”</p>
-
-<p>Professor J. Bigelow, of Harvard University, says: “Alcohol
-is highly stimulating, heating, and intoxicating, and its
-effects are so fascinating that when once experienced there
-is danger that the desire for them may be perpetuated.”</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Bell and Dr. Churchill, both high medical authorities,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span>
-especially in lung disease, for which whisky is often recommended,
-come to the conclusion that “the opinion that alcoholic
-liquors have influence in preventing the deposition of
-tubercle is destitute of any foundation; on the contrary,
-their use predisposes to tubercular deposition.” And
-“where tubercle exists, alcohol has no effect in modifying
-the usual course, neither does it modify the morbid effects
-on the system.”</p>
-
-<p>Professor Youmans, of New York, says: “It has been
-demonstrated that alcoholic drinks prevent the natural
-changes in the blood, and obstruct the nutritive and reparative
-functions.” He adds: “Chemical experiments have
-demonstrated that the action of alcohol on the digestive
-fluid is to destroy its active principle, the <i>pepsin</i>, thus confirming
-the observations of physiologists, that its use gives
-rise to serious disorders of the stomach, and malignant aberration
-of the whole economy.” It is true that some scientific
-men teach that alcohol, tobacco, and opium are safe, and
-even useful, in certain quantities, though there is no way to
-know what is the safe and useful point. Usually it is men
-who habitually use some of these dangerous articles who
-hold this view.</p>
-
-<p>We are now prepared to consider the great principles of
-science, common sense, and religion, which should guide every
-woman who has any kind of influence or responsibility
-on this subject.</p>
-
-<p>It is allowed by all medical men that pure water is perfectly
-healthful, and supplies all the liquid needed by the
-body; and also that by proper means, which ordinarily are
-in the reach of all, water can be made sufficiently pure.</p>
-
-<p>It is allowed by all that milk, and the juices of fruits,
-when taken into the stomach, furnish water that is always
-pure, and that our bread and vegetable food also supply it
-in large quantities. There are besides a great variety of
-agreeable and healthful beverages, made from the juices of
-fruit, containing no alcohol; and agreeable drinks, such as
-milk, cocoa, and chocolate, that contain no stimulating principles,
-and which are nourishing and healthful.</p>
-
-<p>As one course, then, is perfectly safe, and another involves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span>
-great danger, it is wrong and sinful to choose the path of
-danger. There is no peril in drinking pure water, milk, the
-juices of fruits, and infusions that are nourishing and harmless.
-But there is great danger to the young, and to the
-commonwealth, in patronizing the sale and use of alcoholic
-drinks. The religion of Christ, in its distinctive feature, involves
-generous self-denial for the good of others, especially
-for the weaker members of society. It is on this principle
-that St. Paul sets forth his own example: “If meat make my
-brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth,
-lest I make my brother to offend.” And again he
-teaches, “We, then, that are strong ought to bear the infirmities
-of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”</p>
-
-<p>This Christian principle also applies to the common drinks
-of the family, tea and coffee. It has been shown that the
-great end for which Jesus Christ came, and for which he instituted
-the family state, is the training of our whole race
-to virtue and happiness, with chief reference to an immortal
-existence. In this mission, of which woman is chief minister,
-the distinctive feature is self-sacrifice of the wiser and
-stronger members to save and to elevate the weaker ones.
-The children and the servants are these weaker members,
-who by ignorance and want of habits of self-control are in
-most danger. It is in this aspect that we are to consider
-the expediency of using tea and coffee in a family.</p>
-
-<p>These drinks are a most extensive cause of much of the
-nervous debility and suffering endured by American women;
-and relinquishing them would save an immense amount
-of such suffering. Moreover, all housekeepers will allow
-that they can not regulate these drinks in their kitchens,
-where the ignorant use them to excess. There is little
-probability that the present generation will make so decided
-a change in their habits as to give up these beverages; but
-the subject is presented rather in reference to forming the
-habits of children.</p>
-
-<p>It is a fact that tea and coffee are at first seldom or never
-agreeable to children. It is the mixture of milk, sugar, and
-water, that reconciles them to a taste which in this manner
-gradually becomes agreeable. Now, suppose that those who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span>
-provide for a family conclude that it is not <em>their</em> duty to
-give up entirely the use of stimulating drinks, may not the
-case appear different in regard to teaching their children to
-love such drinks? Let the matter be regarded thus: The
-experiments of physiologists all prove that stimulants are
-not needful to health, and that, as the general rule, they tend
-to debilitate the constitution. Is it right, then, for a parent
-to tempt a child to drink what is not needful, when there is
-a probability that it will prove, to some extent, an undermining
-drain on the constitution? Some constitutions can
-bear much less excitement than others; and in every family
-of children there is usually one or more of delicate organization,
-and consequently peculiarly exposed to dangers from
-this source. It is this child who ordinarily becomes the victim
-to stimulating drinks. The tea and coffee which the
-parents and the healthier children can use without immediate
-injury gradually sap the energies of the feebler child,
-who proves either an early victim or a living martyr to all
-the sufferings that debilitated nerves inflict. Can it be right
-to lead children where all allow that there is some danger,
-and where in many cases disease and death are met, when
-another path is known to be perfectly safe?</p>
-
-<p>The impression common in this country, that <i>warm drinks</i>,
-especially in winter, are more healthful than cold, is not warranted
-by any experience, nor by the laws of the physical
-system. At dinner cold drinks are universal, and no one
-deems them injurious. It is only at the other two meals
-that they are supposed to be hurtful.</p>
-
-<p>“<i>Water</i> is a safe drink for all constitutions, provided it be
-resorted to in obedience to the dictates of natural thirst only,
-and not of habit. Unless the desire for it is felt, there is no
-occasion for its use during a meal.</p>
-
-<p>“The primary effect of all distilled and fermented liquors
-is to <i>stimulate the nervous system and quicken the circulation</i>.
-In infancy and childhood the circulation is rapid and easily
-excited, and the nervous system is strongly acted upon even
-by the slightest external impressions. Hence, slight causes
-of irritation readily excite febrile and convulsive disorders.
-In youth, the natural tendency of the constitution is still to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span>
-excitement, and consequently, as a general rule, the stimulus
-of fermented liquors is injurious.”</p>
-
-<p>These remarks by Dr. Combe show that parents, who find
-that stimulating drinks are not injurious to themselves, may
-mistake in inferring from this that they will not be injurious
-to their children.</p>
-
-<p>He continues thus: “In mature age, when digestion is
-good, and the system in full vigor, if the mode of life be not
-too exhausting, the nervous functions and general circulation
-are in their best condition, and require no stimulus for
-their support. The bodily energy is then easily sustained
-by nutritious food and a regular regimen, and consequently
-artificial excitement only increases the wasting of the natural
-strength.”</p>
-
-<p>It may be asked, in this connection, why the stimulus of
-animal food is not to be regarded in the same light as that
-of stimulating drinks. In reply, a very essential difference
-may be pointed out. Animal food furnishes nutriment to
-the organs which it stimulates, but stimulating drinks excite
-the organs to quickened action without affording any nourishment.</p>
-
-<p>It has been supposed by some that tea and coffee have at
-least a degree of nourishing power. But it is proved that
-it is the milk and sugar, and not the main portion of the
-drink, which imparts the nourishment. Tea has not one particle
-of nourishing properties; and what little exists in the
-coffee-berry is lost by roasting it in the usual mode. All
-that these articles do is simply to <em>stimulate without nourishing</em>.</p>
-
-<p>Although there is little hope of banishing these drinks,
-there is still a chance that something may be gained in attempts
-to regulate their use by the rules of temperance. If,
-then, a housekeeper can not banish tea and coffee entirely,
-she may use her influence to prevent excess, both by her instructions,
-and by the power of control committed more or
-less to her hands.</p>
-
-<p>It is important for every housekeeper to know that the
-health of a family very much depends on the <em>purity</em> of water
-used for cooking and drinking. There are three causes of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span>
-impure and unhealthful water. One is, the existence in it
-of vegetable or animal matter, which can be remedied by
-filtering through sand and charcoal. Another cause is, the
-existence of mineral matter, especially in limestone countries,
-producing diseases of the bladder. This is remedied,
-in a measure, by boiling, which secures a deposit of the lime
-on the vessel used. The third cause is, the corroding of zinc
-and lead used in pipes and reservoirs, producing oxides that
-are slow poisons. The only remedy is prevention, by having
-supply-pipes made of iron, like gas-pipe, instead of zinc and
-lead; or the lately invented lead pipe lined with tin, which
-metal is not corrosive. The obstacle to this is, that the trade
-of the plumbers would be greatly diminished by the use of
-reliable pipes. When water must be used from supply-pipes
-of lead or zinc, it is well to let the water run some time before
-drinking it, and to use as little as possible, taking milk
-instead; and being further satisfied for inner necessities by
-the water supplied by fruits and vegetables. The water in
-these is always pure. But in using milk as a drink, it must
-be remembered that it is also rich food, and that less of other
-food must be taken when milk is thus used, or bilious troubles
-will result from excess of food.</p>
-
-<p>The use of opium, especially by women, is usually caused
-at first by medical prescriptions containing it. All that has
-been stated as to the effect of alcohol in the brain is true of
-opium, while to break a habit thus induced is almost hopeless.
-Every woman who takes or who administers this drug
-is dealing as with poisoned arrows, whose wounds are without
-cure.</p>
-
-<p>The use of tobacco in this country, and especially among
-young boys, is increasing at a fearful rate. On this subject
-we have the unanimous opinion of all medical men, the following
-being specimens.</p>
-
-<p>A distinguished medical writer thus states the case:
-“Every physician knows that the agreeable sensations that
-tempt to the use of tobacco are caused by <i>nicotine</i>, which is
-a rank poison, as much so as prussic acid or arsenic. When
-smoked, the poison is absorbed by the blood of the mouth,
-and carried to the brain. When chewed, the nicotine passes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span>
-to the blood through the mouth and stomach. In both cases,
-the whole nervous system is thrown into abnormal excitement
-to expel the poison, and it is this excitement that
-causes agreeable sensations. The excitement thus caused is
-invariably followed by a diminution of nervous power, in
-exact proportion to the preceding excitement to expel the
-evil from the system.”</p>
-
-<p>Few will dispute the general truth and effect of the above
-statement, so that the question is one to be settled on the
-same principle as applies to the use of alcoholic drinks. Is
-it, then, according to the generous principles of Christ’s religion,
-for those who are strong and able to bear this poison,
-to tempt the young, the ignorant, and the weak to a practice
-not needful to any healthful enjoyment, and which leads
-multitudes to disease, and often to vice? For the use of
-tobacco tends always to lessen nerve-power, and probably
-every one out of five that indulges in its use awakens a morbid
-craving for increased stimulus, lessens the power of
-self-control, diminishes the strength of the constitution, and
-sets an example that influences the weak to the path of
-danger and of frequent ruin.</p>
-
-<p>The great danger of this age is an increasing, intense
-worldliness, and disbelief in the foundation principle of the
-religion of Christ, that we are to reap through everlasting
-ages the consequences of habits formed in this life. In the
-light of his Word, they only who are truly wise “shall shine
-as the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness,
-as the stars, forever and ever.”</p>
-
-<p>It is increased <em>faith</em> or <em>belief</em> in the teachings of Christ’s
-religion, as to the influence of this life upon the <em>life to come</em>,
-which alone can save our country and the world from that
-inrushing tide of sensualism and worldliness now seeming
-to threaten the best hopes and prospects of our race.</p>
-
-<p>And woman, as the chief educator of our race, and the
-prime minister of the family state, is bound, in the use of
-meats and drinks, to employ the powerful and distinctive
-motives of the religion of Christ in forming habits of temperance
-and benevolent self-sacrifice for the good of others.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER X.<br />
-
-<small>CLEANLINESS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Both the health and comfort of a family depend, to a
-great extent, on cleanliness of the person and the family
-surroundings. True cleanliness of person involves the scientific
-treatment of the skin. This is the most complicated
-organ of the body, and one through which the health is affected
-more than through any other; and no persons can or
-will be so likely to take proper care of it as those by whom
-its construction and functions are understood.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_235.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 55.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Fig. 55 is a very highly magnified portion of the skin.
-The layer marked 1 is the
-outside, very thin skin, called
-the <i>cuticle</i> or <i>scarf skin</i>. This
-consists of transparent layers
-of minute cells, which are
-constantly decaying and being
-renewed, and the white
-scurf that passes from the
-skin to the clothing is a decayed
-portion of these cells.
-This part of the skin has neither
-nerves nor blood-vessels.</p>
-
-<p>The dark layer, marked 2, 7, 8, is that portion of the true
-skin which gives the external color marking diverse races.
-In the portion of the dark layer marked 3, 4, is seen a net-work
-of nerves which run from two branches of the nervous
-trunks coming from the spinal marrow. These are nerves
-of sensation, by which the sense of touch or feeling is performed.
-Fig. 56 represents the blood-vessels, (intermingled
-with the nerves of the skin,) which divide into minute capillaries,
-that act like the capillaries of the lungs, taking oxygen
-from the air, and giving out carbonic acid. At <i>a</i> and
-<i>b</i> are seen the roots of two hairs, which abound in certain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span>
-parts of the skin, and are nourished
-by the blood of the capillaries.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_236a.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 56.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Fig. 57 is a magnified view
-of another set of vessels, called
-the <i>lymphatics</i> or <i>absorbents</i>.
-These are extremely minute vessels
-that interlace with the nerves
-and blood-vessels of the skin.
-Their office is to aid in collecting
-the useless, injurious, or decayed
-matter, and carry it to certain
-reservoirs, from which it passes
-into some of the large veins, to be thrown out through the
-lungs, bowels, kidneys, or skin.
-These <i>absorbent</i> or <i>lymphatic vessels</i>
-have mouths opening on the
-surface of the true skin, and, though
-covered by the cuticle, they can absorb
-both liquids and solids that
-are placed in close contact with
-the skin. In proof of this, one of
-the main trunks of the lymphatics
-in the hand can be cut off from
-all communication with other portions,
-and tied up; and if the hand is immersed in milk a
-given time, it will be found that the milk has been absorbed
-through the cuticle and fills the lymphatics. In this way
-long-continued blisters on the skin will introduce the blistering
-matter into the blood through the absorbents, and then
-the kidneys will take it up from the blood passing through
-them to carry it out of the body, and thus become irritated
-and inflamed by it.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_236b.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 57.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There are also oil-tubes, imbedded in the skin, that draw
-off oil from the blood. This issues on the surface, and spreads
-over the cuticle to keep it soft and moist.</p>
-
-<p>But the most curious part of the skin is the system of innumerable
-minute perspiration-tubes. Fig. 58 is a drawing
-of one very greatly magnified. These tubes open on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span>
-cuticle, and the openings are called pores
-of the skin. They descend into the true
-skin, and there form a coil, as is seen in
-the drawing. These tubes are hollow,
-like a pipe-stem, and their inner surface
-consists of wonderfully minute capillaries
-filled with the impure venous blood. And
-in these small tubes the same process is
-going on as takes place when the carbonic
-acid and water of the blood are exhaled
-from the lungs. The capillaries of these
-tubes through the whole skin of the body
-are thus constantly exhaling the noxious
-and decayed particles of the body, just
-as the lungs pour them out through the
-mouth and nose.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_237.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 58.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>It has been shown that the perspiration-tubes
-are coiled up into a ball at
-their base. The number and extent of these tubes are astonishing.
-In a square inch on the palm of the hand have
-been counted, through a microscope, thirty-five hundred of
-these tubes. Each one of them is about a quarter of an inch
-in length, including its coils. This makes the united lengths
-of these little tubes to be seventy-three feet to a square inch.
-Their united length over the whole body is thus calculated
-to be equal to <i>twenty-eight miles</i>. What a wonderful apparatus
-this! And what mischiefs must ensue when the drainage
-from the body of such an extent as this becomes obstructed!</p>
-
-<p>But the inside of the body also has a skin, as have all its
-organs. The interior of the head, the throat, the gullet, the
-lungs, the stomach, and all the intestines, are lined with a
-skin. This is called the <i>mucous membrane</i>, because it is constantly
-secreting from the blood a slimy substance called <i>mucus</i>.
-When it accumulates in the lungs, it is called <i>phlegm</i>.
-This inner skin also has nerves, blood-vessels, and lymphatics.
-The outer skin joins to the inner at the mouth, the
-nose, and other openings of the body, and there is a constant
-sympathy between the two skins, and thus between
-the inner organs and the surface of the body.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span></p>
-
-
-<h4>SECRETING ORGANS.</h4>
-
-<p>Those vessels of the body which draw off certain portions
-of the blood and change it into a new form, to be employed
-for service or to be thrown out of the body, are called <i>secreting
-organs</i>. The skin in this sense is a secreting organ,
-as its perspiration-tubes secrete or separate the bad portions
-of the blood, and send them off.</p>
-
-<p>Of the internal secreting organs, the <i>liver</i> is the largest.
-Its chief office is to secrete from the blood all matter not
-properly supplied with oxygen. For this purpose, a set of
-veins carries the blood of all the lower intestines to the liver,
-where the imperfectly oxidized matter is drawn off in the
-form of <i>bile</i>, and accumulated in a reservoir called the <i>gallbladder</i>.
-Thence it passes to the place where the smaller
-intestines receive the food from the stomach, and there it
-mixes with this food. Then it passes through the long intestines,
-and is thrown out of the body through the rectum.
-This shows how it is that want of pure and cool air and
-exercise causes excess of bile, from lack of oxygen. The
-liver also has arterial blood sent to nourish it, and corresponding
-veins to return this blood to the heart. So there
-are two sets of blood-vessels for the liver—one to secrete
-the bile, and the other to nourish the organ itself.</p>
-
-<p>The kidneys secrete from the arteries that pass through
-them all excess of water in the blood, and certain injurious
-substances. These are carried through small tubes to the
-bladder, and thence thrown out of the body.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>pancreas</i>, a whitish gland situated in the abdomen below
-the stomach, secretes from the arteries that pass through
-it the pancreatic juice, which unites with the bile from the
-liver, in preparing the food for nourishing the body.</p>
-
-<p>There are certain little glands near the eyes that secrete
-the tears, and others near the mouth that secrete the saliva,
-or spittle.</p>
-
-<p>These organs all have arteries sent to them to nourish
-them, and also veins to carry away the impure blood. At
-the same time, they secrete from the arterial blood the peculiar
-fluid which it is their office to supply.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span></p>
-
-<p>All the food that passes through the lower intestines
-which is not drawn off by the lacteals or by some of these
-secreting organs, passes from the body through a passage
-called the rectum.</p>
-
-<p>Learned men have made very curious experiments to ascertain
-how much the several organs throw out of the body.
-It is found that the skin throws off five out of eight pounds
-of the food and drink, or probably about three or four
-pounds a day. The lungs throw off one quarter as much as
-the skin, or about a pound a day. The remainder is carried
-off by the kidneys and lower intestines.</p>
-
-<p>There is such a sympathy and connection between all the
-organs of the body, that when one of them is unable to
-work, the others perform the office of the feeble one. Thus,
-if the skin has its perspiration-tubes closed up by a chill,
-then all the poisonous matter that would have been thrown
-out through them must be emptied out either by the lungs,
-kidneys, or bowels.</p>
-
-<p>When all these organs are strong and healthy, they can
-bear this increased labor without injury. But if the lungs
-are weak, the blood sent from the skin by the chill engorges
-the weak blood-vessels, and produces an inflammation of the
-lungs. Or it increases the discharge of a slimy mucous substance,
-that exudes from the skin of the lungs. This fills up
-the air-vessels, and would very soon end life, were it not for
-the spasms of the lungs, called <i>coughing</i>, which throw off
-this substance.</p>
-
-<p>If, on the other hand, the bowels are weak, a chill of the
-skin sends the blood into all the blood-vessels of the intestines,
-and produces inflammation there, or else an excessive
-secretion of the mucous substance, which is called a <i>diarrhea</i>.
-Or if the kidneys are weak, there is an increased secretion
-and discharge from them, to an unhealthy and injurious
-extent.</p>
-
-<p>This connection between the skin and internal organs is
-shown, not only by the internal effects of a chill on the skin,
-but by the sympathetic effect on the skin when these internal
-organs suffer. For example, there are some kinds of food
-that will irritate and influence the stomach or the bowels;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span>
-and this, by sympathy, will produce an immediate eruption
-on the skin. Some persons, on eating strawberries, will immediately
-be affected with a nettle-rash. Others can not eat
-certain shell-fish without being affected in this way. Many
-humors on the face are caused by a diseased state of the internal
-organs with which the skin sympathizes.</p>
-
-<p>This short account of the construction of the skin, and of
-its intimate connection with the internal organs, shows the
-philosophy of those modes of medical treatment that are addressed
-to this portion of the body.</p>
-
-<p>It is on this powerful agency that the steam-doctors rely,
-when, by moisture and heat, they stimulate all the innumerable
-perspiration-tubes and lymphatics to force out from the
-body a flood of unnaturally excited secretions; while it is
-“kill or cure,” just as the chance may meet or oppose the
-demands of the case. It is the skin, also, that is the chief
-basis of medical treatment in the Water Cure, whose slow
-processes are as much safer as they are slower.</p>
-
-<p>At the same time, it is the ill-treatment or neglect of the
-skin which, probably, is the cause of disease and decay to an
-incredible extent. The various particulars in which this
-may be seen will now be pointed out. In the management
-and care of this wonderful and complex part of the body
-many mistakes have been made.</p>
-
-<p>The most common one is the misuse of the bath, especially
-since cold-water cures have come into use. This mode of
-medical treatment originated with an ignorant peasant, amidst
-a population where outdoor labor had strengthened nerves
-and muscles and imparted rugged powers to every part of
-the body. It was then introduced into England and America
-without due consideration or knowledge of the diseases,
-habits, or real condition of patients, especially of women.
-The consequence was a mode of treatment too severe and
-exhausting; and many practices were spread abroad not
-warranted by true medical science.</p>
-
-<p>But, in spite of these mistakes and abuses, the treatment
-of the skin for disease by the use of cold water has become
-an accepted doctrine of the most learned medical practitioners.
-It is now held by all such that fevers can be detected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span>
-in their distinctive features by the thermometer, and that all
-fevers can be reduced by cold baths and packing in the wet
-sheet, in the mode employed in all water cures.</p>
-
-<p>It has been supposed that large bath-tubs for immersing
-the whole person are indispensable to the proper cleaning
-of the skin. This is not so. A wet towel, applied every
-morning to the skin, followed by friction in pure air, is all
-that is absolutely needed; although a full bath is a great
-luxury. Access of air to every part of the skin, when its
-perspiratory tubes are cleared and its blood-vessels are
-filled by friction, is the best ordinary bath.</p>
-
-<p>Children should be washed all over, every night or morning,
-to remove impurities from the skin. But in this process
-careful regard should be paid to the peculiar constitution
-of a child. Very nervous children sometimes revolt
-from cold water, and like a tepid bath; others prefer a cold
-bath; and nature should be the guide. It must be remembered
-that the skin is the great organ of sensation, and in
-close connection with brain, spine, and nerve-centres: so
-that what a strong nervous system can bear with advantage
-is too powerful and exhausting for another. As age advances,
-or as disease debilitates the body, great care should
-be taken not to overtax the nervous system by sudden
-shocks, or to diminish its powers by withdrawing animal
-heat to excess. Persons lacking robustness should bathe
-or use friction in a warm room; and if very delicate, should
-expose only a portion of the body at once to cold air. But
-an evening or morning washing and friction of the skin will
-save from colds and many other evils.</p>
-
-<p>Johnson, a celebrated writer on agricultural chemistry,
-tells of an experiment by friction on the skin of pigs, whose
-skins are like that of the human race. He treated six of
-these animals with a curry-comb seven weeks, and left three
-other pigs untouched. The result was a gain of thirty-three
-pounds more of weight, with the use of five bushels less of
-food for those curried, than for the neglected ones. This
-result was owing to the fact that all the functions of the
-body were more perfectly performed when, by friction, the
-skin was kept free from filth and the blood in it exposed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span>
-the air. The same will be true of the human skin. A calculation
-has been made on this fact, by which it is estimated
-that a man, by proper care of his skin, would save over
-thirty-one dollars in food yearly, which at 6 per cent. is the
-interest on over five hundred dollars. If men will give as
-much care to their own skin as they give to currying a
-horse, they will gain both health and wealth.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XI.<br />
-
-<small>CLOTHING.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is no duty of those persons having control of a
-family where principle and practice are more at variance
-than in regulating the dress of young girls, especially at the
-most important and critical period of life. It is a difficult
-duty for parents and teachers to contend with the power of
-fashion, which at this time of a young girl’s life is frequently
-the ruling thought, and when to be out of the fashion, to
-be odd and not dress as all her companions do, is a mortification
-and grief that no argument or instructions can relieve.
-The mother is often so overborne that, in spite of her
-better wishes, the daughter adopts modes of dress alike ruinous
-to health and to beauty.</p>
-
-<p>The greatest protection against such an emergency is to
-train a child to understand the construction of her own
-body, and to impress upon her, in early days, her obligations
-to the invisible Friend and Guardian of her life, the “Former
-of her body and the Father of her spirit,” who has committed
-to her care so precious and beautiful a casket. And the
-more she can be made to realize the skill and beauty of construction
-shown in her earthly frame, the more will she feel
-the obligation to protect it from injury and abuse.</p>
-
-<p>It is a singular fact that the war of fashion has attacked
-most fatally what seems to be the strongest foundation and
-defense of the body, the bones. For this reason, the construction
-and functions of this part of the body will now
-receive attention.</p>
-
-<p>The bones are composed of two substances, one animal,
-and the other mineral. The animal part is a very fine net-work,
-called <i>cellular membrane</i>. In this are deposited the
-harder mineral substances, which are composed principally
-of carbonate and phosphate of lime. In very early life, the
-bones consist chiefly of the animal part, and are then soft<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span>
-and pliant. As the child advances in age, the bones grow
-harder, by the gradual deposition of the phosphate of lime,
-which is supplied by the food, and carried to the bones by
-the blood. In old age, the hardest material preponderates;
-making the bones more brittle than in earlier life.</p>
-
-<p>The bones are covered with a thin skin or membrane, filled
-with small blood-vessels which convey nourishment to
-them.</p>
-
-<p>Where the bones unite with others to form joints, they
-are covered with <i>cartilage</i>, which is a smooth, white, elastic
-substance. This enables the joints to move smoothly, while
-its elasticity prevents injuries from sudden jars.</p>
-
-<p>The joints are bound together by strong, elastic bands
-called <i>ligaments</i>, which hold them firmly and prevent dislocation.</p>
-
-<p>Between the ends of the bones that unite to form joints
-are small sacks or bags, that contain a soft lubricating fluid.
-This answers the same purpose for the joints as oil in making
-machinery work smoothly, while the supply is constant
-and always in exact proportion to the demand.</p>
-
-<p>If you will examine the leg of some fowl, you can see the
-cartilage that covers the ends of the bones at the joints, and
-the strong white ligaments that bind the joints together.</p>
-
-<p>The health of the bones depends on the proper nourishment
-and exercise of the body as much as that of any other
-part. When a child is feeble and unhealthy, or when it
-grows up without exercise, the bones do not become firm
-and hard as they are when the body is healthfully developed
-by exercise. The size as well as the strength of the
-bones, to a certain extent, also depend upon exercise and
-good health. So also they depend on the food, for fine flour
-is deprived of the materials that form bone, and growing
-children often have weak bones from having this for common
-food.</p>
-
-<p>The chief supporter of the body is the spine, which consists
-of twenty-four small bones, interlocked or hooked into
-each other, while between them are elastic cushions of cartilage
-which aid in preserving the upright, natural position.
-Fig. 59 shows three of the spinal bones, hooked into each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span>
-other, the dark spaces showing the
-disks or flat circular plates of cartilage
-between them.</p>
-
-<div class="figright">
-<img src="images/i_245.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 59.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The spine is held in its proper position,
-partly by the ribs, partly by muscles,
-partly by aid of the elastic disks,
-and partly by the close packing of the
-intestines in front of it.</p>
-
-<p>The upper part of the spine is often
-thrown out of its proper position by
-constant stooping of the head over
-books or work. This affects the elastic
-disks so that they grow thick at the back side and thinner
-at the front side by such constant pressure. The result is
-the awkward projection of the head forward which is often
-seen in schools and colleges.</p>
-
-<p>Another distortion of the spine is produced by tight dress
-around the waist. The liver occupies the right side of the
-body and is a solid mass, while on the other side is the
-larger part of the stomach, which is often empty. The consequence
-of tight dress around the waist is a constant pressure
-of the spine toward the unsupported part where the
-stomach lies. Thus the elastic disks again are compressed,
-till they become thinner on one side than the other, and
-harden into that condition. This produces what is called
-the <i>lateral curvature of the spine</i>, making one shoulder higher
-than the other.</p>
-
-<p>The evils consequent on modes of dress can never be remedied
-until the process of <i>breathing</i> is understood and its influence
-in preserving the position and healthful action of the
-pelvic organs in both sexes, but especially those of woman.
-And this has never been explained in any of our popular
-works on physiology.</p>
-
-<p>In the diagram, Figs. 60, 61, D represents the diaphragm,
-which resembles an inverted bowl. Above it are the heart
-and lungs, marked H and L, and these are held up by blood-vessels
-and other supports above them. In this position of
-the diaphragm the air-vessels of the lungs are only partially
-filled with air, and there are two modes of increasing this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span>
-supply. One is by <i>chest</i>
-breathing, when the ribs
-are lifted upward and outward,
-making a vacuum in
-the air-vessels of the lungs.
-At the same time, the diaphragm
-is flattened by this
-expansion of the chest, as
-shown by the dotted lines.
-Then the air presses in
-through the nose and windpipe
-and fills the air-vessels,
-giving up its oxygen to the blood, and receiving carbonic
-acid and water, which are expired when the ribs and diaphragm
-return to their natural position.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_246.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 60. and 61.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The other mode of filling the lungs is by <i>abdominal</i>
-breathing, as illustrated by Fig. 61.</p>
-
-<p>At D is a side view of the diaphragm in its natural position,
-and the dotted lines show its position when it is contracted
-and thus flattened. When the diaphragm contracts or flattens,
-a vacant space is left above it, and then the air rushes
-in to fill the vacuum, as it does when the ribs are raised.
-This flattening of the diaphragm presses all the viscera beneath
-it downward, and thus causes the abdomen to swell
-outward, as is represented by the dotted lines at A. Then,
-when the diaphragm returns to its natural state, a vacant
-space is made beneath it, and in consequence the viscera below
-rises to fill the vacuum, owing to the pressure of the atmosphere
-around the body; for it is said that “nature abhors
-a vacuum,” by which is expressed a law of pneumatics
-in a popular adage. This law is, that when a vacuum is
-made in either air or water, the surrounding fluid presses
-from all sides, and from the bottom as strongly as from
-above. And thus, when a vacuum is made by the raising of
-the diaphragm, there is a pressure on all sides of the body,
-forcing the intestines upward to fill the vacuum thus made.</p>
-
-<p>This enables us to explain that most curious and wonderful
-mode by which the upper viscera are prevented from sinking
-on to the lower, as secured chiefly by abdominal breathing.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span></p>
-
-<p>The <i>pelvis</i> is the bony basin supporting the spine, to
-which the bones of the legs are fastened.</p>
-
-<p>This basin holds the pelvic organs, consisting in one sex
-of the bladder and rectum, and in the other sex of the
-bladder, vagina, uterus, and rectum. These pelvic organs
-must enlarge by use, and so are placed in a spongy, yielding
-substance called <i>cellular membrane</i>. Now the liver, stomach,
-and all the intestines below the diaphragm, have <i>no support
-from above</i>, and so the question is, what sustains these organs,
-weighing from six to twelve pounds, so that they do
-not sink down on to the delicate pelvic organs below? The
-answer is, they are held up chiefly by <i>abdominal breathing</i>,
-as above explained. For at every rise of the diaphragm a
-vacuum is made above the abdominal viscera, lifting them
-upward, and this is done at every breath, and we breathe
-about twenty times each minute.</p>
-
-<p>By this constant upward and downward movement of the
-abdominal viscera, the healthful and quickened circulation
-of the blood in all the myriad capillaries of both the abdominal
-and also the pelvic organs is promoted; for it has
-been shown on page 152 how alternate compression and relaxation
-of the veins promotes quickened circulation in all
-the veins and capillaries. Of course, any thing that impedes
-abdominal breathing interrupts this lifting operation,
-so that the upper intestines are left to gravitate on the pelvic
-organs. This stops the healthful flow of blood through
-the capillaries, and tends to produce congestion, inflammation,
-and cancerous accumulations in the pelvic organs.</p>
-
-<p>All natural and healthful breathing unites both chest and
-abdominal breathing, as may be seen by watching a sleeping
-child. Clothing resting on the hips and abdomen, unsupported
-from the shoulders, is sure to impede abdominal
-breathing, and if heavy, to stop it entirely. In the present
-style of dress, when the clothing rests on hips and abdomen,
-and is unsupported by shoulder-straps, through most of the
-day this most healthful movement is interrupted, and thus
-the most efficient mode is taken of bringing on terrible suffering,
-both physical and mental.</p>
-
-<p>Many a school-girl, whose waist was originally of a proper<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span>
-and healthful size, has gradually pressed the soft bones of
-youth until the lower ribs, that should rise and fall with every
-breath, become entirely unused, while heavy clothing or
-stiff corset-bones stop the abdominal breathing.</p>
-
-<p>The pressure of the upper interior organs upon the lower
-ones by tight dress, is increased by the weight of clothing
-resting on the hips and abdomen. Corsets, as usually worn,
-have no support from the shoulders, and consequently all
-the weight of dress resting upon or above them presses upon
-the hips and abdomen, and this in such a way as to throw
-out of use, and thus weaken, the supporting muscles of the
-abdomen, and impede abdominal breathing.</p>
-
-<p>Then the <i>stomach</i> begins to draw from above, instead of
-resting on the viscera beneath it. This in some cases causes
-dull and wandering pains, a sense of pulling at the centre
-of the chest, and a drawing downward at the pit of the stomach.
-Then, as the natural mode of support is really <i>gone</i>,
-there is what is often called “a feeling of <i>goneness</i>.” This
-is sometimes relieved by food, which, so long as it remains
-in a solid form, helps to hold up the falling superstructure.
-This displacement of the stomach, liver, and spleen interrupts
-their healthful functions, and dyspepsia and biliary difficulties
-not unfrequently are the result.</p>
-
-<p>As the stomach and its appendages fall downward, the
-breathing sometimes thus becomes quicker and shorter, on
-account of the elongated or debilitated condition of the assisting
-organs. Consumption not unfrequently results from
-this cause.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>heart</i> also feels the evil. “Palpitations,” “flutterings,”
-“sinking feelings,” all show that, in the language of
-Scripture, “the heart trembleth, and is moved out of its
-place.”</p>
-
-<p>Having the weight of all the unsupported organs above
-pressing them into unnatural and distorted positions, the
-passage of the food is interrupted, and inflammations, indurations,
-and constipation are the frequent result. Dreadful
-ulcers and cancers in the bowels may be traced in some instances
-to this cause.</p>
-
-<p>Although these internal displacements are most common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span>
-among women, some foolish members of the other sex are
-adopting customs of dress, in girding the central portion of
-the body, that tend to similar results.</p>
-
-<p>But this distortion brings upon woman peculiar distresses.
-The pressure of the whole superincumbent mass on the pelvic
-or lower organs induces sufferings proportioned in acuteness
-to the extreme delicacy and sensitiveness of the parts thus
-crushed. And the intimate connection of these organs with
-the brain and whole nervous system renders injuries thus
-inflicted the causes of the most extreme anguish, both of
-body and mind. This evil is becoming so common, not only
-among married women but among young girls, as to be a
-just cause for universal alarm.</p>
-
-<p>How very common these sufferings are few but the medical
-profession can realize, because they are troubles that
-must be concealed. Many a woman is moving about in uncomplaining
-agony who, with any other trouble involving
-equal suffering, would be on her bed surrounded by sympathizing
-friends.</p>
-
-<p>The terrible sufferings that are sometimes thus induced
-can never be conceived of, or at all appreciated from any
-use of language. Nothing that the public can be made to
-believe on this subject will ever equal the reality. Not
-only mature persons and mothers, but fair young girls sometimes,
-are shut up for months and years as helpless and
-suffering invalids from this cause. This may be found all
-over the land. And there frequently is a horrible extremity
-of suffering in certain forms of this evil, which no woman
-of feeble constitution dressing in present fashion can
-ever be certain may not be her doom. Not that in all cases
-this extremity is involved, but none can say who will escape
-it.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to this, if one must choose for a friend or a
-child, on the one hand, the horrible torments inflicted by
-savage Indians or cruel inquisitors on their victims, or, on
-the other, the protracted agonies that result from such deformities
-and displacements, sometimes the former would be
-a merciful exchange. And yet this is the fate that is coming
-to meet the young as well as the mature in every direction.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span>
-And tender parents are unconsciously leading their lovely
-and hapless daughters to this awful doom.</p>
-
-<p>There is no excitement of the imagination in what is here
-indicated. If the facts and details could be presented, they
-would send a groan of terror all over the land. For it is
-not one class, or one section, that is endangered. In every
-part of our country the evil is progressing.</p>
-
-<p>And, as if these dreadful ills were not enough, there have
-been added methods of medical treatment at once useless,
-torturing to the mind, and involving great liability to immoralities.<a id="FNanchor_5_5" href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_250.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 62. <span class="gap40"> Fig. 63.</span></div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In hope of abating these evils, drawings are given (Fig. 62
-and Fig. 63) of the front and back of a jacket that will preserve
-the advantages of the corset without its evils. This
-jacket may at first be fitted to the figure with corsets underneath
-it, just like the waist of a dress. Then delicate
-whalebones can be used to stiffen the jacket, so that it will
-take the proper shape, when the corset may be dispensed
-with. The buttons below are to hold all articles of dress
-below the waist by button-holes. By this method the bust
-is supported as well as by corsets, while the shoulders support
-from above, as they should do, the weight of the dress
-below. No stiff bone should be allowed to press in front,
-and the jacket should be so loose that a full breath can be
-inspired with ease while in a sitting position.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span></p>
-
-<p>The proper way to dress a young girl is to have a cotton
-or flannel close-fitting jacket next the body, to which the
-drawers should be buttoned. Over this place the chemise;
-and over that, such a jacket as the one here drawn, to which
-should be buttoned the hoops and other skirts. Thus every
-article of dress will be supported by the shoulders. The
-sleeves of the jacket can be omitted, and in that case a
-strong lining, and also a tape binding, must surround the
-arm-hole, which should be loose.</p>
-
-<p>It is hoped that increase of intelligence and moral power
-among mothers, and a combination among them to regulate
-fashions, may banish the pernicious practices that have prevailed.
-If a <i>school-girl dress</i> without corsets and without
-tight belts could be established as a fashion, it would be one
-step gained in the right direction. Then, if mothers could
-secure to their daughters daily domestic exercise in chambers,
-eating-rooms, and parlors in loose dresses, a still further
-advance would be secured.</p>
-
-<p>A friend of the writer informs her that her daughter had
-her wedding outfit made up by a fashionable milliner in
-Paris, and every dress was beautifully fitted to the form,
-and yet was not compressing to any part. This was done
-too without the use of corsets, the stiffening being delicate
-and yielding whalebones.</p>
-
-<p>Not only parents but all having the care of young girls,
-especially those at boarding-schools, have a fearful responsibility
-resting upon them in regard to this important duty.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the dressing of young children, much discretion
-is needed to adapt dress to circumstances and peculiar
-constitutions. The leading fact must be borne in mind, that
-the skin is made strong and healthful by exposure to light
-and pure air, while cold air, if not excessive, has a tonic influence.
-If the skin of infants is rubbed with the hand till
-red with blood, and then exposed naked to sun and air in a
-well-ventilated room, it will be favorable to health.</p>
-
-<p>There is a constitutional difference in the skin of different
-children in regard to retaining the animal heat manufactured
-within, so that some need more clothing than others for
-comfort. Nature is a safe guide to a careful nurse and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span>
-mother, and will indicate, by the looks and actions of a child,
-when more clothing is needful. As a general rule, it is safe
-for a healthful child to wear as little clothing as suffices to
-keep it from complaining of cold. Fifty years ago, it was
-not common for children to wear as much under-clothing as
-they now do. The writer well remembers how girls, though
-not of strong constitutions, used to play for hours in the
-snow-drifts without the protection of drawers, kept warm
-by exercise and occasional runs to an open fire. And multitudes
-of children grew to vigorous maturity through similar
-exposures to cold-air baths, and without the frequent colds
-and sicknesses so common among children of the present
-day, who are more carefully housed and warmly dressed.
-But care was taken that the feet should be kept dry and
-warmly clad, because, circulation being feebler in the extremities,
-this precaution was important.</p>
-
-<p>It must also be considered that age brings with it decrease
-in vigor of circulation, and diminished generation of heat,
-so that more warmth of air and clothing is needed at an advanced
-period of life than is suitable for the young.</p>
-
-<p>These are the general principles which must be applied
-with modification to each individual case. A child of delicate
-constitution must have more careful protection from
-cold air than is desirable for one more vigorous, while the
-leading general principle is retained that cold air is a healthful
-tonic for the skin whenever it does not produce an uncomfortable
-chilliness.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes it is asked, Why are women, especially young
-girls, so much more delicate and sickly than in former days?
-The true reply would be, it is because parents and teachers
-are doing every thing they can do to produce such mischiefs.</p>
-
-<p>Sleeping in unventilated chambers; living in school-rooms
-and parlors heated to excess, and charged with poisonous
-gases; exposed to sudden variations of temperature from
-mismanagement; eating unhealthful food at irregular hours
-and to a dangerous excess; supplied with unhealthful confectionary
-to eat at any hour; indulging in exciting amusements,
-with late hours for sleep; the brain stimulated by a
-multitude of school duties and studies unrelieved by suffi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span>cient
-sleep or by muscular exercise; the dress contrived to
-impede vital functions, so as to force the upper organs on to
-the lower, generating the most cruel displacements and mental
-and bodily diseases; overheating the parts most injured
-by such treatment, and exposing the parts most important
-to keep warm; compressing feet and ankles so as to impede
-circulation, with high heels throwing all the muscles out of
-natural play, so as to increase all the dangerous tendencies
-to internal displacement; these are only one portion of the
-many contrivances adopted or allowed by parents and teachers
-to destroy the health of women and young girls.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XII.<br />
-
-<small>EARLY RISING.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is no practice which has been more extensively
-eulogized in all ages than early rising; and this universal
-impression is an indication that it is founded on true philosophy.
-For it is rarely the case that the common sense of
-mankind fastens on a practice as really beneficial, especially
-one that demands self-denial, without some substantial
-reason.</p>
-
-<p>This practice, which may justly be called a domestic virtue,
-is one which has a peculiar claim to be styled American
-and democratic. The distinctive mark of aristocratic nations
-is a disregard of the great mass, and a disproportionate
-regard for the interests of certain privileged orders. All
-the customs and habits of such a nation are, to a greater or
-less extent, regulated by this principle. Now the mass of
-any nation must always consist of persons who labor at occupations
-which demand the light of day. But in aristocratic
-countries, especially in England, labor is regarded as
-the mark of the lower classes, and indolence is considered as
-one mark of a gentleman. This impression has gradually
-and imperceptibly, to a great extent, regulated their customs,
-so that, even in their hours of meals and repose, the
-higher orders aim at being different and distinct from those
-who, by laborious pursuits, are placed below them. From
-this circumstance, while the lower orders labor by day and
-sleep at night, the rich, the noble, and the honored sleep by
-day, and follow their pursuits and pleasures by night.</p>
-
-<p>It will be found that the aristocracy of London breakfast
-near midday, dine after dark, visit and go to Parliament between
-ten and twelve at night, and retire to sleep toward
-morning. In consequence of this, the subordinate classes
-who aim at gentility gradually fall into the same practice.
-The influence of this custom extends across the ocean, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span>
-here, in this democratic land, we find many who measure
-their grade of gentility by the late hour at which they arrive
-at a party. And this aristocratic folly is growing upon
-us, so that throughout the nation the hours for visiting and
-retiring are constantly becoming later, while the hours for
-rising correspond in lateness.</p>
-
-<p>The question, then, is one which appeals to American
-women as a matter of patriotism, and as having a bearing
-on those great principles of democracy which we conceive
-to be equally the principles of Christianity. Shall we form
-our customs on the assumption that labor is degrading and
-indolence genteel? Shall we assume, by our practice, that
-the interests of the great mass are to be sacrificed for the
-pleasures and honors of a privileged few? Shall we ape
-the customs of aristocratic lands, in those very practices
-which result from principles and institutions that we condemn?
-Shall we not rather take the place to which we are
-entitled, as the leaders, rather than the followers, in the customs
-of society, turn back the tide of aristocratic inroads,
-and carry through the whole, not only of civil and political
-but of social and domestic life, the true principles of democratic
-freedom and equality? The following considerations
-may serve to strengthen an affirmative decision:</p>
-
-<p>The first relates to the health of a family. It is a universal
-law of physiology, that all living things flourish best
-in the light. Vegetables, in a dark cellar, grow pale and
-spindling. Children brought up in mines are always wan
-and stunted, while men become pale and cadaverous who
-live under ground. This indicates the folly of losing the
-genial influence which the light of day produces on all animated
-creation.</p>
-
-<p>Sir James Wylie, of the Russian imperial service, states
-that in the soldiers’ barracks three times as many were
-taken sick on the shaded side as on the sunny side; though
-both sides communicated, and discipline, diet, and treatment
-were the same. The eminent French surgeon, Dupuytren,
-cured a lady, whose complicated diseases baffled for years
-his own and all other medical skill, by taking her from a
-dark room to an abundance of daylight.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span></p>
-
-<p>Florence Nightingale writes: “Second only to fresh air
-in importance for the sick is <em>light</em>. Not only daylight but
-direct sunlight is necessary to speedy recovery, except in a
-small number of cases. Instances, almost endless, could be
-given where, in dark wards, or wards with only northern exposure,
-or wards with borrowed light, even when properly
-ventilated, the sick could not be, by any means, made speedily
-to recover.”</p>
-
-<p>In the prevalence of cholera, it was invariably the case
-that deaths were more numerous in shaded streets, or in
-houses having only northern exposures, than in those having
-sunlight. Several physicians have stated to the writer that,
-in sunny exposures, women after childbirth gained strength
-much faster than those excluded from sunlight. In the
-writer’s experience, great nervous debility has been always
-immediately lessened by sitting in the sun, and still more
-by lying on the earth and in open air, a blanket beneath,
-and head and eyes protected, under the direct rays of the
-sun.</p>
-
-<p>Some facts in physiology and natural philosophy have a
-bearing on this subject. It seems to be settled that the red
-color of blood is owing to iron contained in the red blood-cells,
-while it is established as a fact that the sun’s rays are
-metallic, having “vapor of iron” as one element. It is also
-true that want of light causes a diminution of the red and
-an increase of the imperfect white blood-cells, and that this
-sometimes results in a disease called <i>leucoemia</i>, while all
-who live in the dark have pale and waxy skins, and flabby,
-weak muscles. Thus it would seem that it is the sun that
-imparts the iron and color to the blood. These things being
-so, the customs of society that bring sleeping hours into
-daylight, and working and study hours into the night, are
-direct violations of the laws of health. The laws of health
-are the laws of God, and “sin is the transgression of law.”</p>
-
-<p>To this we must add the great neglect of economy as well
-as health in substituting unhealthful gas-light and poisonous,
-anthracite warmth, for the life-giving light and warmth
-of the sun. Millions and millions would be saved to this
-nation in fuel and light, as well as in health, by returning to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span>
-the good old ways of our forefathers, to rise with the sun,
-and retire to rest “when the bell rings for nine o’clock.”</p>
-
-<p>The observations of medical men, whose inquiries have
-been directed to this point, have decided that from six to
-eight hours is the amount of sleep demanded by persons in
-health. Some constitutions require as much as eight, and
-others no more than six hours of repose. But eight hours
-is the maximum for all persons in ordinary health, with ordinary
-occupations. In cases of extra physical exertions, or
-the debility of disease, or a decayed constitution, more than
-this is required. Let eight hours, then, be regarded as the
-ordinary period required for sleep by an industrious people
-like the Americans.</p>
-
-<p>It thus appears that the laws of our political condition,
-the laws of the natural world, and the constitution of our
-bodies, alike demand that we rise with the light of day to
-prosecute our employments, and that we retire in time for
-the requisite amount of sleep.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the effects of protracting the time spent in
-repose, many extensive and satisfactory investigations have
-been made. It has been shown that during sleep the body
-perspires most freely, while yet neither food nor exercise are
-ministering to its wants. Of course, if we continue our
-slumbers beyond the time required to restore the body to
-its usual vigor, there is an unperceived undermining of the
-constitution by this protracted and debilitating exhalation.
-This process, in a course of years, renders the body delicate
-and less able to withstand disease, and in the result shortens
-life. Sir John Sinclair, who has written a large work on the
-Causes of Longevity, states, as one result of his extensive
-investigations, that he has never yet heard or read of a single
-case of great longevity where the individual was not an
-early riser. He says that he has found cases in which the
-individual has violated some one of all the other laws of
-health, and yet lived to great age; but never a single instance
-in which any constitution has withstood that undermining
-consequent on protracting the hours of repose beyond
-the demands of the system.</p>
-
-<p>Another reason for early rising is, that it is indispensable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span>
-to a systematic and well-regulated family. At whatever
-hour the parents retire, children and domestics, wearied by
-play or labor, must retire early. Children usually awake
-with the dawn of light and commence their play, while domestics
-usually prefer the freshness of morning for their labors.
-If, then, the parents rise at a late hour, they either
-induce a habit of protracting sleep in their children and
-domestics, or else the family are up, and at their pursuits,
-while their supervisors are in bed.</p>
-
-<p>Any woman who asserts that her children and domestics,
-in the first hours of day, when their spirits are freshest, will
-be as well regulated without her presence as with it, confesses
-that which surely is little for her credit. It is believed
-that any candid woman, whatever may be her excuse for
-late rising, will concede that if she could rise early it would
-be for the advantage of her family. A late breakfast puts
-back the work, through the whole day, for every member
-of a family; and if the parents thus occasion the loss of an
-hour or two to each individual, who, but for their delay in
-the morning, would be usefully employed, they alone are
-responsible for all this waste of time.</p>
-
-<p>But the practice of early rising has a relation to the general
-interests of the social community, as well as to that of
-each distinct family. All that great portion of the community
-who are employed in business and labor find it needful
-to rise early; and all their hours of meals, and their appointments
-for business or pleasure, must be accommodated
-to these arrangements. Now, if a small portion of the community
-establish very different hours, it makes a kind of
-jostling in all the concerns and interests of society. The
-various appointments for the public, such as meetings,
-schools, and business hours, must be accommodated to the
-mass, and not to individuals. The few, then, who establish
-domestic habits at variance with the majority, are either
-constantly interrupted in their own arrangements, or else are
-interfering with the rights and interests of others. This is
-exemplified in the case of schools. In families where late
-rising is practiced, either hurry, irregularity, and neglect are
-engendered in the family, or else the interests of the school,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span>
-and thus of the community, are sacrificed. In this and
-many other matters, it can be shown that the well-being of
-the bulk of the people is, to a greater or less extent, impaired
-by this self-indulgent practice. Let any teacher select
-the unpunctual scholars—a class who most seriously interfere
-with the interests of the school—and let men of business select
-those who cause them most waste of time and vexation,
-by unpunctuality; and it will be found that they are generally
-among the late risers, and rarely among those who rise
-early. Thus, late rising not only injures the person and
-family which indulge in it, but interferes with the rights
-and convenience of the community; while early rising imparts
-corresponding benefits of health, promptitude, vigor of
-action, economy of time, and general effectiveness, both to
-the individuals who practice it and to the families and community
-of which they are a part.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIII.<br />
-
-<small>DOMESTIC MANNERS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Good manners are the expressions of benevolence in
-personal intercourse, by which we endeavor to promote the
-comfort and enjoyment of others, and to avoid all that gives
-needless uneasiness. It is the exterior exhibition of the divine
-precept, which requires us to do to others as we would
-that they should do to us. It is saying, by our deportment,
-to all around, that we consider their feelings, tastes, and
-conveniences, as equal in value to our own.</p>
-
-<p>Good manners lead us to avoid all practices which offend
-the taste of others; all unnecessary violations of the conventional
-rules of propriety; all rude and disrespectful language
-and deportment; and all remarks which would tend
-to wound the feelings of others.</p>
-
-<p>There is a serious defect in the manners of the American
-people, especially among the descendants of the Puritan
-settlers of New England, which can never be efficiently
-remedied, except in the domestic circle, and during early
-life. It is a deficiency in the free expression of kindly feelings
-and sympathetic emotions, and a want of courtesy in
-deportment. The causes which have led to this result may
-easily be traced.</p>
-
-<p>The forefathers of this nation, to a wide extent, were men
-who were driven from their native land by laws and customs
-which they believed to be opposed both to civil and
-religious freedom. The sufferings they were called to endure,
-the subduing of those gentler feelings which bind us
-to country, kindred, and home; and the constant subordination
-of the passions to stern principle, induced characters of
-great firmness and self-control. They gave up the comforts
-and refinements of a civilized country, and came as pilgrims
-to a hard soil, a cold clime, and a heathen shore. They
-were continually forced to encounter danger, privation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span>
-sickness, loneliness, and death; and all these their religion
-taught them to meet with calmness, fortitude, and submission.
-And thus it became the custom and habit of the
-whole mass to repress rather than to encourage the expression
-of feeling.</p>
-
-<p>Persons who are called to constant and protracted suffering
-and privation are forced to subdue and conceal emotion;
-for the free expression of it would double their own suffering,
-and increase the sufferings of others. Those only who
-are free from care and anxiety, and whose minds are mainly
-occupied by cheerful emotions, are at full liberty to unveil
-their feelings.</p>
-
-<p>It was under such stern and rigorous discipline that the
-first children in New-England were reared; and the manners
-and habits of parents are usually to a great extent
-transmitted to children. Thus it comes to pass that the
-descendants of the Puritans, now scattered over every part
-of the nation, are predisposed to conceal the gentler emotions,
-while their manners are calm, decided, and cold, rather
-than free and impulsive. Of course, there are very many
-exceptions to these predominating characteristics.</p>
-
-<p>Other causes, to which we may attribute a general want
-of courtesy in manners, are certain incidental results of our
-domestic institutions. Our ancestors and their descendants
-have constantly been combating the aristocratic principle,
-which would exalt one class of men at the expense of another.
-They have had to contend with this principle, not
-only in civil but in social life. Almost every American, in
-his own person as well as in behalf of his class, has had to
-assume and defend the main principle of democracy—that
-every man’s feelings and interests are equal in value to
-those of every other man. But, in doing this, there has
-been some want of clear discrimination. Because claims
-based on distinctions of mere birth, fortune, or position
-were found to be injurious, many have gone to the extreme
-of inferring that all distinctions involving subordinations are
-useless. Such would wrongfully regard children as equals
-to parents, pupils to teachers, domestics to their employers,
-and subjects to magistrates—and that, too, in all respects.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span></p>
-
-<p>The fact that certain grades of superiority and subordination
-are needful, both for individual and public benefit, has
-not been clearly discerned; and there has been a gradual
-tendency to an extreme of the opposite view which has sensibly
-affected our manners. All the proprieties and courtesies
-which depend on the recognition of the relative duties of
-superior and subordinate have been warred upon; and thus
-we see, to an increasing extent, disrespectful treatment of
-parents, by children; of teachers, by pupils; of employers,
-by domestics; and of the aged, by the young. In all classes
-and circles there is a gradual decay in courtesy of address.</p>
-
-<p>In cases, too, where kindness is rendered, it is often accompanied
-with a cold, unsympathizing manner, which
-greatly lessens its value; while kindness or politeness is received
-in a similar style of coolness, as if it were but the
-payment of a just due.</p>
-
-<p>It is owing to these causes that the American people,
-especially the descendants of the Puritans, do not do themselves
-justice. For, while those who are near enough to
-learn their real character and feelings can discern the most
-generous impulses and the most kindly sympathies, they
-are often so veiled behind a composed and indifferent demeanor
-as to be almost entirely concealed from strangers.</p>
-
-<p>These defects in our national manners it especially falls
-to the care of mothers, and all who have charge of the
-young, to rectify; and if they seriously undertake the matter,
-and wisely adapt means to ends, these defects will be
-remedied. With reference to this object, the following
-ideas are suggested:</p>
-
-<p>The law of Christianity and of democracy, which teaches
-that all men are born equal in rights, and that their interests
-and feelings should be regarded as of equal value, seems to
-be adopted in aristocratic circles, with exclusive reference
-to the class in which the individual moves. The courtly
-gentleman addresses all of his own class with politeness and
-respect, and in all his actions seems to allow that the feelings
-and convenience of these others are to be regarded the
-same as his own. But his demeanor to those of inferior
-station is not based on the same rule.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span></p>
-
-<p>Among those who make up aristocratic circles, such as
-are above them are deemed of superior, and such as are below
-of inferior, value. Thus, if a young, ignorant, and vicious
-coxcomb happens to have been born a lord, the aged,
-the virtuous, the learned, and the well-bred of another class
-must give his convenience the precedence, and must address
-him in terms of respect. So, sometimes, when a man of
-“noble birth” is thrown among the lower classes, he demeans
-himself in a style which, to persons of his own class,
-would be deemed the height of assumption and rudeness.</p>
-
-<p>Now, the principles of democracy require that the same
-courtesy which we accord to our own circle shall be extended
-to every class and condition; and that distinctions of superiority
-and subordination shall depend, not on accidents
-of birth, fortune, or occupation, but solely on those mutual
-relations which the good of all classes equally require. The
-distinctions demanded in a democratic state are simply
-those which result from relations that are common to every
-class, and are for the benefit of all.</p>
-
-<p>It is for the benefit of every class that children be subordinate
-to parents, pupils to teachers, the employed to their
-employers, and subjects to magistrates. In addition to this,
-it is for the general well-being that the comfort or convenience
-of the delicate and feeble should be preferred to that
-of the strong and healthy, who would suffer less by any deprivation;
-that precedence should be given to their elders
-by the young; and that reverence should be given to the
-hoary head.</p>
-
-<p>The rules of good-breeding, in a democratic state, must be
-founded on these principles. It is indeed assumed that the
-value of the happiness of each individual is the same as that
-of every other; but as there must be occasions where there
-are advantages which all can not enjoy, there must be
-general rules for regulating a selection. Otherwise, there
-would be constant scrambling among those of equal claims,
-and brute force must be the final resort; in which case the
-strongest would have the best of every thing. The democratic
-rule, then, is, that superiors in age, station, or office,
-have precedence of subordinates; age and feebleness, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span>
-youth and strength; and the feebler sex, of more vigorous
-man.<a id="FNanchor_6_6" href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p>
-
-<p>There is, also, a style of deportment and address which is
-appropriate to these different relations. It is suitable for a
-superior to secure compliance with his wishes from those
-subordinate to him by commands; but a subordinate must
-secure compliance with his wishes from a superior by request.
-(Although the kind and considerate manner to subordinates
-will always be found the most effective as well as
-the pleasantest, by those in superior station.) It is suitable
-for a parent, teacher, or employer, to admonish for neglect
-of duty; but not for an inferior to adopt such a course toward
-a superior. It is suitable for a superior to take precedence
-of a subordinate without any remark; but not for
-an inferior without previously asking leave, or offering an
-apology. It is proper for a superior to use language and
-manners of freedom and familiarity which would be improper
-from a subordinate to a superior.</p>
-
-<p>The want of due regard to these proprieties occasions a
-great defect in American manners. It is very common to
-hear children talk to their parents in a style proper only
-between companions and equals; so, also, the young address
-their elders; those employed, their employers; and domestics,
-the members of the family and their visitors in a style
-which is inappropriate to their relative positions. But courteous
-address is required not merely toward superiors; every
-person desires to be thus treated, and therefore the law
-of benevolence demands such demeanor toward all whom we
-meet in the social intercourse of life. “Be ye courteous,”
-is the direction of the apostle in reference to our treatment
-of <em>all</em>.</p>
-
-<p>Good manners can be successfully cultivated only in early
-life and in the domestic circle. There is nothing which depends
-so much upon <em>habit</em> as the constantly recurring pro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span>prieties
-of good-breeding; and if a child grows up without
-forming such habits, it is very rarely the case that they can
-be formed at a later period. The feeling that it is of little
-consequence how we behave at home if we conduct ourselves
-properly abroad, is a very fallacious one. Persons who are
-careless and ill-bred at home may imagine that they can assume
-good manners abroad; but they mistake. Fixed habits
-of tone, manner, language, and movements can not be
-suddenly altered; and those who are ill-bred at home, even
-when they try to hide their bad habits, are sure to violate
-many of the obvious rules of propriety, and yet be unconscious
-of it.</p>
-
-<p>And there is nothing which would so effectually remove
-prejudice against our democratic institutions as the general
-cultivation of good-breeding in the domestic circle. Good
-manners are the exterior of benevolence, the minute and constant
-exhibitions of “peace and good-will;” and the nation,
-as well as the individual, which most excels in the external
-demonstration, as well as the internal principle, will be most
-respected and beloved.</p>
-
-<p>It is only the training of the family state according to its
-true end and aim that is to secure to woman her true position
-and rights. When the family is instituted by marriage,
-it is man who is the head and chief magistrate by the force
-of his physical power and requirement of the chief responsibility;
-not less is he so according to the Christian law, by
-which, when differences arise, the husband has the deciding
-control, and the wife is to obey. Where love is, there is
-no law;” but where love is not, the only dignified and peaceful
-course is for the wife, however much the man’s superior,
-to “submit, as to God and not to man.”</p>
-
-<p>But this power of nature and of religion, given to man as
-the controlling head, involves to him especially the distinctive
-duty of the family state, <em>self-sacrificing love</em>. The husband
-is to “honor” the wife, to love her as himself, and
-thus to account her wishes and happiness as of equal value
-with his own. But more than this, he is to love her “as
-Christ loved the Church;” that is, he is to “suffer” for her,
-if need be, in order to support and elevate and ennoble her.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span></p>
-
-<p>The father, then, is to set the example of self-sacrificing
-love and devotion; and the mother, of Christian obedience,
-when it is required. Every boy is to be trained for his future
-domestic position by labor and sacrifices for his mother
-and sisters. It is the brother who is to do the hardest and
-most disagreeable work, to face the storms, and perform the
-most laborious drudgeries. In the family circle, too, he is
-to give his mother and sister precedence in all the conveniences
-and comforts of home life.</p>
-
-<p>It is only in those nations where the teachings and example
-of Christ have had most influence that man has ever
-assumed his obligations of self-sacrificing benevolence in the
-family. And even in Christian communities, the duty of
-wives to obey their husbands has been more strenuously
-urged, than the obligations of the husband to love his wife
-“as Christ loved the Church.”</p>
-
-<p>Here it is needful to notice that the distinctive duty of
-obedience to man does not rest on women who do not enter
-the relations of married life. A woman who inherits property,
-or who earns her own livelihood, can institute the family
-state, adopt orphan children, and employ suitable helpers
-in training them; and then to her will appertain the authority
-and rights that belong to man as the head of a family.
-And when every woman is trained to some self-supporting
-business, she will not be tempted to enter the family state
-as a subordinate, except by that love for which there is no
-need of law.</p>
-
-<p>These general principles being stated, some details in regard
-to domestic manners will be enumerated.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place, there should be required in the family
-a strict attention to the rules of precedence, and those modes
-of address appropriate to the various relations to be sustained.
-Children should always be required to offer their
-superiors in age or station the precedence in all comforts
-and conveniences, and always address them in a respectful
-tone and manner. The custom of adding, “Sir,” or
-“Ma’am,” to “Yes,” or “No,” is valuable, as a perpetual
-indication of a respectful recognition of superiority. It is
-now going out of fashion, even among the most well-bred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span>
-people; probably from a want of consideration of its importance.
-Every remnant of courtesy of address in our customs
-should be carefully cherished by all who feel a value
-for the proprieties of good-breeding.</p>
-
-<p>If parents allow their children to talk to them, and to the
-grown persons in the family, in the same style in which they
-address each other, it will be in vain to hope for the courtesy
-of manner and tone which good-breeding demands in the
-general intercourse of society. In a large family, where the
-elder children are grown up and the younger are small, it is
-important to require the latter to treat the elder in some
-sense as superiors. There are none so ready as young children
-to assume airs of equality; and if they are allowed to
-treat one class of superiors in age and character disrespectfully,
-they will soon use the privilege universally. This is
-the reason why the youngest children of a family are most
-apt to be pert, forward, and unmannerly.</p>
-
-<p>Another point to be aimed at is, to require children always
-to acknowledge every act of kindness and attention,
-either by words or manner. If they are so trained as always
-to make grateful acknowledgments when receiving favors,
-one of the objectionable features in American manners will
-be avoided.</p>
-
-<p>Again, children should be required to ask leave, whenever
-they wish to gratify curiosity, or use an article which belongs
-to another. And if cases occur when they can not
-comply with the rules of good-breeding—as, for instance,
-when they must step between a person and the fire, or take
-the chair of an older person—they should be taught either
-to ask leave or to offer an apology.</p>
-
-<p>There is another point of good-breeding which can not, in
-all cases, be understood and applied by children in its widest
-extent. It is that which requires us to avoid all remarks
-which tend to embarrass, vex, mortify, or in any way wound
-the feelings of another. To notice personal defects; to allude
-to others’ faults, or the faults of their friends; to speak
-disparagingly of the sect or party to which a person belongs;
-to be inattentive when addressed in conversation; to contradict
-flatly; to speak in contemptuous tones of opinions ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span>pressed
-by another; all these are violations of the rules of
-good-breeding, which children should be taught to regard.
-Under this head comes the practice of whispering and staring
-about when a teacher, or lecturer, or clergyman is addressing
-a class or audience. Such inattention is practically
-saying that what the person is uttering is not worth attending
-to; and persons of real good-breeding always avoid it.
-Loud talking and laughing in a large assembly, even when
-no exercises are going on; yawning and gaping in company;
-and not looking in the face a person who is addressing you,
-are deemed marks of ill-breeding.</p>
-
-<p>Another branch of good manners relates to the duties of
-hospitality. Politeness requires us to welcome visitors with
-cordiality; to offer them the best accommodations; to address
-conversation to them; and to express, by tone and
-manner, kindness and respect. Offering the hand to all visitors
-at one’s own house is a courteous and hospitable custom;
-and a cordial shake of the hand, when friends meet,
-would abate much of the coldness of manner ascribed to
-Americans.</p>
-
-<p>Another point of good-breeding refers to the conventional
-rules of propriety and good taste. Of these, the first class
-relates to the avoidance of all disgusting or offensive personal
-habits: such as fingering the hair; obtrusively using a
-tooth-pick, or carrying one in the mouth after the needful use
-of it; cleaning the nails in presence of others; picking the
-nose; spitting on carpets; snuffing instead of using a handkerchief,
-or using the article in an offensive manner; lifting
-up the boots or shoes, as some men do, to tend them on the
-knee, or to finger them: all these tricks, either at home or in
-society, children should be taught to avoid.</p>
-
-<p>Another topic, under this head, may be called <i>table manners</i>.
-To persons of good-breeding nothing is more annoying
-than violations of the conventional proprieties of the table.
-Reaching over another person’s plate; standing up to
-reach distant articles, instead of asking to have them passed;
-using one’s own knife and spoon for butter, salt, or sugar,
-when it is the custom of the family to provide separate utensils
-for the purpose; setting cups with the tea dripping from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span>
-them on the table-cloth, instead of the mats or small plates
-furnished; using the table-cloth instead of the napkins; eating
-fast, and in a noisy manner; putting large pieces in the
-mouth; looking and eating as if very hungry, or as if anxious
-to get at certain dishes; sitting at too great a distance
-from the table, and dropping food; laying the knife and fork
-on the table-cloth, instead of on the edge of the plate; picking
-the teeth at the table: all these particulars children
-should be taught to avoid.</p>
-
-<p>It is always desirable, too, to train children, when at table
-with grown persons, to be silent, except when addressed by
-others; or else their chattering will interrupt the conversation
-and comfort of their elders. They should always be
-required, too, to wait in silence till all the older persons are
-helped.</p>
-
-<p>When children are alone with their parents, it is desirable
-to lead them to converse and to take this as an opportunity
-to form proper conversational habits. But it should be a
-fixed rule that, when strangers are present, the children are
-to listen in silence, and only reply when addressed. Unless
-this is secured, visitors will often be condemned to listen to
-puerile chattering, with small chance of the proper attention
-due to guests and superiors in age and station.</p>
-
-<p>Children should be trained, in preparing themselves for
-the table or for appearance among the family, not only to
-put their hair, face, and hands in neat order, but also their
-nails, and to habitually attend to this latter whenever they
-wash their hands.</p>
-
-<p>There are some very disagreeable tricks which many children
-practice even in families counted well-bred. Such, for
-example, are drumming with the fingers on some piece of
-furniture, or humming a tune while others are talking, or interrupting
-conversation by pertinacious questions, or whistling
-in the house instead of outdoors, or speaking several
-at once and in loud voices to gain attention. All these are
-violations of good-breeding, which children should be trained
-to avoid, lest they should not only annoy as children, but
-practice the same kind of ill manners when mature. In all
-assemblies for public debate, a chairman or moderator is ap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span>pointed
-whose business it is to see that only one person
-speaks at a time, that no one interrupts a person when
-speaking, that no needless noises are made, and that all indecorums
-are avoided. Such an officer is sometimes greatly
-needed in family circles.</p>
-
-<p>Children should be encouraged freely to use lungs and
-limbs outdoors, or in hours for sport in the house. But at
-other times, in the domestic circle, gentle tones and manners
-should be cultivated. The words <em>gentleman</em> and <em>gentlewoman</em>
-came originally from the fact that the uncultivated
-and ignorant classes used coarse and loud tones, and rough
-words and movements; while only the refined circles habitually
-used gentle tones and gentle manners. For the same
-reason, those born in the higher circles were called “of gentle
-blood.” Thus it came that a coarse and loud voice, and
-rough, ungentle manners, are regarded as vulgar and plebeian.</p>
-
-<p>All these things should be taught to children gradually,
-and with great patience and gentleness. Some parents, with
-whom good manners are a great object, are in danger of
-making their children perpetually uncomfortable, by suddenly
-surrounding them with so many rules that they must
-inevitably violate some one or other a great part of the
-time. It is much better to begin with a few rules, and be
-steady and persevering with these till a habit is formed,
-and then take a few more, thus making the process easy and
-gradual. Otherwise, the temper of children will be injured;
-or, hopeless of fulfilling so many requisitions, they will become
-reckless and indifferent to all.</p>
-
-<p>If a few brief, well-considered, and sensible rules of good
-manners could be suspended in every school-room, and the
-children all required to commit them to memory, it probably
-would do more to remedy the defects of American manners,
-and to advance universal good-breeding, than any other
-mode that could be so easily adopted.</p>
-
-<p>But, in reference to those who have enjoyed advantages
-for the cultivation of good manners, and who duly estimate
-its importance, one caution is necessary. Those who never
-have had such habits formed in youth are under disadvan<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span>tages
-which no benevolence of temper can altogether remedy.
-They may often violate the tastes and feelings of
-others, not from a want of proper regard for them, but from
-ignorance of custom, or want of habit, or abstraction of
-mind, or from other causes which demand forbearance and
-sympathy, rather than displeasure. An ability to bear patiently
-with defects in manners, and to make candid and
-considerate allowance for a want of advantages, or for peculiarities
-in mental habits, is one mark of the benevolence of
-real good-breeding.</p>
-
-<p>The advocates of monarchical and aristocratic institutions
-have always had great plausibility given to their views, by
-the seeming tendencies of our institutions to insubordination
-and bad manners. And it has been too indiscriminately
-conceded by the defenders of the latter that such are these
-tendencies, and that the offensive points in American manners
-are the necessary result of democratic principles.</p>
-
-<p>But it is believed that both facts and reasoning are in opposition
-to this opinion. The following extract from the
-work of De Tocqueville, the great political philosopher of
-France, exhibits the opinion of an impartial observer, when
-comparing American manners with those of the English,
-who are confessedly the most aristocratic of all people.</p>
-
-<p>He previously remarks on the tendency of aristocracy to
-make men more sympathizing with persons of their own
-peculiar class, and less so toward those of lower degree;
-and he then contrasts American manners with the English,
-claiming that the Americans are much the more affable,
-mild, and social. “In America, where the privileges of
-birth never existed, and where riches confer no peculiar
-rights on their possessors, men acquainted with each other
-are very ready to frequent the same places, and find neither
-peril nor disadvantage in the free interchange of their
-thoughts. If they meet by accident, they neither seek nor
-avoid intercourse; their manner is therefore natural, frank,
-and open.” “If their demeanor is often cold and serious,
-it is never haughty nor constrained.” But an “aristocratic
-pride is still extremely great among the English; and as
-the limits of aristocracy are still ill-defined, every body<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span>
-lives in constant dread lest advantage should be taken of
-his familiarity. Unable to judge at once of the social position
-of those he meets, an Englishman prudently avoids all
-contact with them. Men are afraid lest some slight service
-rendered should draw them into an unsuitable acquaintance;
-they dread civilities, and they avoid the obtrusive gratitude
-of a stranger as much as his hatred.”</p>
-
-<p>Thus, <em>facts</em> seem to show that when the most aristocratic
-nation in the world is compared, as to manners, with the
-most democratic, the judgment of strangers is in favor of
-the latter. And if good manners are the outward exhibition
-of the democratic principle of impartial benevolence
-and equal rights, surely the nation which adopts this rule,
-both in social and civil life, is the most likely to secure the
-desirable exterior. The aristocrat, by his principles, extends
-the exterior of impartial benevolence to his own class
-only; the democratic principle requires it to be extended
-<em>to all</em>.</p>
-
-<p>There is reason, therefore, to hope and expect more refined
-and polished manners in America than in any other land;
-while all the developments of taste and refinement, such as
-poetry, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture, it may
-be expected, will come to as high a state of perfection here
-as in any other nation.</p>
-
-<p>If this country increases in virtue and intelligence as it
-may, there is no end to the wealth which will pour in as the
-result of our resources of climate, soil, and navigation, and
-the skill, industry, energy, and enterprise of our countrymen.
-This wealth, if used as intelligence and virtue dictate, will
-furnish the means for a superior education to all classes,
-and every facility for the refinement of taste, intellect, and
-feeling.</p>
-
-<p>Moreover, in this country, labor is ceasing to be the badge
-of a lower class; so that already it is disreputable for a man
-to be “a lazy gentleman.” And this feeling must increase,
-till there is such an equalization of labor as will afford all
-the time needful for every class to improve the many advantages
-offered to them. Already, through the munificence
-of some of our citizens, there are literary and scientific ad<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span>vantages
-offered to all classes, rarely enjoyed elsewhere. In
-most of our large cities and towns the advantages of education
-now offered to the poorest classes, often without
-charge, surpass what, some years ago, most wealthy men
-could purchase for any price; and it is believed that a time
-will come when the poorest boy in America can secure advantages
-which will equal what the heir of the proudest peerage
-can now command.</p>
-
-<p>The records of the courts of France and Germany, (as detailed
-by the Duchess of Orleans,) in and succeeding the
-brilliant reign of Louis the Fourteenth—a period which was
-deemed the acme of elegance and refinement—exhibit a
-grossness, a vulgarity, and a coarseness, not to be found
-among the very lowest of our respectable poor. And the
-biography of the English Beau Nash, who attempted to reform
-the manners of the gentry in the times of Queen Anne,
-exhibits violations of the rules of decency among the aristocracy
-which the commonest yeoman of this land would feel
-disgraced in perpetrating.</p>
-
-<p>This shows that our lowest classes, at this period, are more
-refined than were the highest in aristocratic lands a hundred
-years ago; and another century may show the lowest
-classes in wealth, in this country, attaining as high a polish
-as adorns those who now are leaders of good manners in the
-courts of kings.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIV.<br />
-
-<small>THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is nothing which has a more abiding influence on
-the happiness of a family than the preservation of equable
-and cheerful temper and tones in the housekeeper. A woman
-who is habitually gentle, sympathizing, forbearing, and
-cheerful, carries an atmosphere about her which imparts a
-soothing and sustaining influence, and renders it easier for
-all to do right, under her administration, than in any other
-situation.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has known families where the mother’s presence
-seemed the sunshine of the circle around her—imparting
-a cheering and vivifying power, scarcely realized till it
-was withdrawn. Every one, without thinking of it, or
-knowing why it was so, experienced a peaceful and invigorating
-influence as soon as he entered the sphere illumined
-by her smile and sustained by her cheering kindness and
-sympathy. On the contrary, many a good housekeeper,
-(good in every respect but this,) by wearing a countenance
-of anxiety and dissatisfaction, and by indulging in the frequent
-use of sharp and reprehensive tones, more than destroys
-all the comfort which otherwise would result from
-her system, neatness, and economy.</p>
-
-<p>There is a secret, social sympathy which every mind, to
-a greater or less degree, experiences with the feelings of
-those around, as they are manifested by the countenance
-and voice. A sorrowful, a discontented, or an angry countenance
-produces a silent, sympathetic influence, imparting
-a sombre shade to the mind, while tones of anger or complaint
-still more effectually jar the spirits.</p>
-
-<p>No person can maintain a quiet and cheerful frame of
-mind while tones of discontent and displeasure are sounding
-on the ear. We may gradually accustom ourselves to the
-evil till it is partially diminished; but it always is an evil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span>
-which greatly interferes with the enjoyment of the family
-state. There are sometimes cases where the entrance of the
-mistress of a family seems to awaken a slight apprehension
-in every mind around, as if each felt in danger of a reproof,
-for something either perpetrated or neglected. A woman
-who should go around her house with a small stinging snapper,
-which she habitually applied to those whom she met,
-would be encountered with feelings very much like those
-which are experienced by the inmates of a family where the
-mistress often uses her countenance and voice to inflict similar
-penalties for duties neglected.</p>
-
-<p>Yet there are many allowances to be made for housekeepers
-who sometimes imperceptibly and unconsciously fall into
-such habits. A woman who attempts to carry out any plans
-of system, order, and economy, and who has her feelings and
-habits conformed to certain rules, is constantly liable to
-have her plans crossed, and her taste violated, by the inexperience
-or inattention of those about her. And no housekeeper,
-whatever may be her habits, can escape the frequent
-recurrence of negligence or mistake which interferes with
-her plans.</p>
-
-<p>It is probable that there is no class of persons in the
-world who have such incessant trials of temper, and temptations
-to be fretful, as American housekeepers; for a housekeeper’s
-business is not, like that of the other sex, limited to
-a particular department, for which previous preparation is
-made. It consists of ten thousand little disconnected items,
-which can never be so systematically arranged that there is
-no daily jostling somewhere. And in the best-regulated
-families it is not unfrequently the case that some act of forgetfulness
-or carelessness from some member will disarrange
-the business of the whole day, so that every hour will bring
-renewed occasion for annoyance. And the more strongly a
-woman realizes the value of time, and the importance of system
-and order, the more will she be tempted to irritability
-and complaint.</p>
-
-<p>The following considerations may aid in preparing a woman
-to meet such daily crosses with even a cheerful temper
-and tones.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span></p>
-
-<p>In the first place, a woman who has charge of a large
-household should regard her duties as dignified, important,
-and difficult. The mind is so made as to be elevated and
-cheered by a sense of far-reaching influence and usefulness.
-A woman who feels that she is a cipher, and that it makes
-little difference how she performs her duties, has far less to
-sustain and invigorate her than one who truly estimates
-the importance of her station. A man who feels that the
-destinies of a nation are turning on the judgment and skill
-with which he plans and executes, has a pressure of motive
-and an elevation of feeling which are great safeguards
-against all that is low, trivial, and degrading.</p>
-
-<p>So, an American mother and housekeeper who rightly
-estimates the long train of influence which will pass down
-to thousands whose destinies, from generation to generation,
-will be modified by those decisions of her will which regulate
-the temper, principles, and habits of her family, must be
-elevated above petty temptations which would otherwise
-assail her.</p>
-
-<p>Again, a housekeeper should feel that she really has great
-difficulties to meet and overcome. A person who wrongly
-thinks there is little danger, can never maintain so faithful a
-guard as one who rightly estimates the temptations which
-beset her. Nor can one who thinks that they are trifling
-difficulties which she has to encounter, and trivial temptations
-to which she must yield, so much enjoy the just reward
-of conscious virtue and self-control as one who takes an opposite
-view of the subject.</p>
-
-<p>A third method is, for a woman deliberately to calculate
-on having her best-arranged plans interfered with very often,
-and to be in such a state of preparation that the evil
-will not come unawares. So complicated are the pursuits,
-and so diverse the habits of the various members of a family,
-that it is almost impossible for every one to avoid interfering
-with the plans and taste of a housekeeper in some one
-point or another. It is, therefore, most wise for a woman to
-keep the loins of her mind ever girt, to meet such collisions
-with a cheerful and quiet spirit.</p>
-
-<p>Another important rule is, to form all plans and arrange<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span>ments
-in consistency with the means at command, and the
-character of those around. A woman who has a heedless
-husband, and young children, and incompetent domestics,
-ought not to make such plans as one may properly form
-who will not, in so many directions, meet embarrassment.
-She must aim at just as much as she can probably attain,
-and no more; and thus she will usually escape much temptation,
-and much of the irritation of disappointment.</p>
-
-<p>The fifth, and a very important consideration, is, that system,
-economy, and neatness, are valuable only so far as they
-tend to promote the comfort and well-being of those affected.
-Some women seem to act under the impression that
-these advantages <em>must</em> be secured, at all events, even if the
-comfort of the family be the sacrifice. True, it is very important
-that children grow up in habits of system, neatness,
-and order; and it is very desirable that the mother give
-them every incentive, both by precept and example; but it
-is still more important that they grow up with amiable tempers,
-that they learn to meet the crosses of life with patience
-and cheerfulness; and nothing has a greater influence to secure
-this than a mother’s example. Whenever, therefore, a
-woman can not accomplish her plans of neatness and order
-without injury to her own temper or to the temper of others,
-she ought to modify and reduce them until she can.</p>
-
-<p>The sixth method relates to the government of the tones
-of voice. In many cases, when a woman’s domestic arrangements
-are suddenly and seriously crossed, it is impossible
-not to feel some irritation. But it <em>is</em> always possible to refrain
-from angry tones. A woman can resolve that, whatever
-happens, she will not speak till she can do it in a calm
-and gentle manner. <em>Perfect silence</em> is a safe resort, when
-such control can not be attained as enables a person to
-speak calmly; and this determination, persevered in, will
-eventually be crowned with success.</p>
-
-<p>Many persons seem to imagine that tones of anger are
-needful, in order to secure prompt obedience. But observation
-has convinced the writer that they are <em>never</em> necessary;
-that <em>in all cases</em> reproof administered in calm tones would be
-better. A case will be given in illustration.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span></p>
-
-<p>A young girl had been repeatedly charged to avoid a
-certain arrangement in cooking. On one day, when company
-was invited to dine, the direction was forgotten, and
-the consequence was an accident which disarranged every
-thing, seriously injured the principal dish, and delayed dinner
-for an hour. The mistress of the family entered the
-kitchen just as it occurred, and at a glance saw the extent
-of the mischief. For a moment her eyes flashed and her
-cheeks glowed; but she held her peace. After a minute or
-so, she gave directions in a calm voice as to the best mode
-of retrieving the evil, and then left, without a word said to
-the offender.</p>
-
-<p>After the company left, she sent for the girl, alone, and
-in a calm and kind manner pointed out the aggravations of
-the case, and described the trouble which had been caused
-to her husband, her visitors, and herself. She then portrayed
-the future evils which would result from such habits
-of neglect and inattention, and the modes of attempting to
-overcome them; and then offered a reward for the future,
-if, in a given time, she succeeded in improving in this respect.
-Not a tone of anger was uttered; and yet the severest
-scolding of a practiced Xantippe could not have secured
-such contrition, and determination to reform, as were
-gained by this method.</p>
-
-<p>But similar negligence is often visited by a continuous
-stream of complaint and reproof, which, in most cases, is
-met either by sullen silence or impertinent retort, while
-anger prevents any contrition or any resolution of future
-amendment.</p>
-
-<p>It is very certain that some ladies do carry forward a
-most efficient government, both of children and domestics,
-without employing tones of anger; and therefore they are
-not indispensable, nor on any account desirable.</p>
-
-<p>Though some ladies of intelligence and refinement do fall
-unconsciously into such a practice, it is certainly very unlady-like,
-and in very bad taste, to <em>scold</em>; and the further a
-woman departs from all approach to it, the more perfectly
-she sustains her character as a lady.</p>
-
-<p>Another method of securing equanimity amidst the trials<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span>
-of domestic life is, to cultivate a habit of making allowances
-for the difficulties, ignorance, or temptations of those who
-violate rule or neglect duty. It is vain, and most unreasonable,
-to expect the consideration and care of a mature mind
-in childhood and youth; or that persons of such limited advantages
-as most domestics have enjoyed should practice
-proper self-control, and possess proper habits and principles.</p>
-
-<p>Every parent and every employer needs daily to cultivate
-the spirit expressed in the divine prayer, “Forgive us
-our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
-The same allowances and forbearance which we supplicate
-from our Heavenly Father, and desire from our fellow-men
-in reference to our own deficiencies, we should constantly
-aim to extend to all who cross our feelings and interfere
-with our plans.</p>
-
-<p>The last and most important mode of securing a placid
-and cheerful temper and tones is, by a constant belief in the
-influence of a superintending Providence. All persons are
-too much in the habit of regarding the more important
-events of life exclusively as under the control of Perfect
-Wisdom; but the fall of a sparrow, or the loss of a hair,
-they do not feel to be equally the result of his directing
-agency. In consequence of this, Christian persons who aim
-at perfect and cheerful submission to heavy afflictions, and
-who succeed to the edification of all about them, are sometimes
-sadly deficient under petty crosses. If a beloved
-child be laid in the grave, even if its death resulted from
-the carelessness of a domestic or of a physician, the eye is
-turned from the subordinate agent to the Supreme Guardian
-of all; and to him they bow, without murmur or complaint.
-But if a pudding be burned, or a room badly swept, or an
-errand forgotten, then vexation and complaint are allowed,
-just as if these events were not appointed by Perfect Wisdom
-as much as the sorer chastisement.</p>
-
-<p>A woman, therefore, needs to cultivate the <em>habitual</em> feeling
-that all the events of her nursery and kitchen are
-brought about by the permission of our Heavenly Father;
-and that fretfulness or complaint in regard to these is, in
-fact, complaining at the appointments of God, and is really<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span>
-as sinful as unsubmissive murmurs amidst the sorer chastisements
-of his hand. And a woman who cultivates this habit
-of referring all the minor trials of life to the wise and benevolent
-agency of a heavenly Parent, and daily seeks his
-sympathy and aid to enable her to meet them with a quiet
-and cheerful spirit, will soon find it the perennial spring of
-abiding peace and content.</p>
-
-<p>The power of religion to impart dignity and importance
-to the ordinary and seemingly petty details of domestic life
-greatly depends upon the degree of faith in the reality of a
-life to come, and of its eternal results. A woman who is
-training a family simply with reference to this life may find
-exalted motives as she looks forward to unborn generations,
-whose temporal prosperity and happiness are depending
-upon her fidelity and skill. But one who truly and firmly
-believes that this life is but the beginning of an eternal
-career to every immortal inmate of her home, and that the
-formation of tastes, habits, and character, under her care,
-will bring forth fruits of good or ill, not only through earthly
-generations, but through everlasting ages—such a woman
-secures a calm and exalted principle of action, and a source
-of peace which no earthly motives can impart.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XV.<br />
-
-<small>HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Any discussion of the equality of the sexes as to intellectual
-capacity seems frivolous and useless, both because it
-can never be decided, and because there would be no possible
-advantage in the decision. But one topic, which is often
-drawn into this discussion, is of far more consequence;
-and that is, the relative importance and difficulty of the
-duties a woman is called to perform.</p>
-
-<p>It is generally assumed, and almost as generally conceded,
-that a housekeeper’s business and cares are contracted and
-trivial; and that the proper discharge of her duties demands
-far less expansion of mind and vigor of intellect than
-the pursuits of the other sex. This idea has prevailed because
-women, as a mass, have never been educated with reference
-to their most important duties; while that portion
-of their employments which is of least value has been regarded
-as the chief, if not the sole, concern of a woman.
-The covering of the body, the convenience of residences,
-and the gratification of the appetite, have been too much regarded
-as the chief objects on which her intellectual powers
-are to be exercised.</p>
-
-<p>But as society gradually shakes off the remnants of barbarism
-and the intellectual and moral interests of man rise,
-in estimation, above the merely sensual, a truer estimate is
-formed of woman’s duties, and of the measure of intellect
-requisite for the proper discharge of them. Let any man of
-sense and discernment become the member of a large household,
-in which a well-educated and pious woman is endeavoring
-systematically to discharge her multiform duties; let
-him fully comprehend all her cares, difficulties, and perplexities;
-and it is probable he would coincide in the opinion
-that no statesman at the head of a nation’s affairs had more
-frequent calls for wisdom, firmness, tact, discrimination, prudence,
-and versatility of talent, than such a woman.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span></p>
-
-<p>She has a husband, to whose peculiar tastes and habits
-she must accommodate herself; she has children, whose
-health she must guard, whose physical constitutions she
-must study and develop, whose temper and habits she must
-regulate, whose principles she must form, whose pursuits she
-must guide. She has constantly changing domestics, with
-all varieties of temper and habits, whom she must govern,
-instruct, and direct; she is required to regulate the finances
-of the domestic state, and constantly to adapt expenditures
-to the means and to the relative claims of each department.
-She has the direction of the kitchen, where ignorance, forgetfulness,
-and awkwardness, are to be so regulated that the
-various operations shall each start at the right time, and all
-be in completeness at the same given hour. She has the
-claims of society to meet, visits to receive and return, and
-the duties of hospitality to sustain. She has the poor to relieve;
-benevolent societies to aid; the schools of her children
-to inquire and decide about; the care of the sick and
-the aged; the nursing of infancy; and the endless miscellany
-of odd items constantly recurring in a large family.</p>
-
-<p>Surely it is a pernicious and mistaken idea that the duties
-which tax a woman’s mind are petty, trivial, or unworthy of
-the highest grade of intellect and moral worth. Instead of
-allowing this feeling, every woman should imbibe, from early
-youth, the impression that she is in training for the discharge
-of the most important, the most difficult, and the
-most sacred and interesting duties that can possibly employ
-the highest intellect. She ought to feel that her station
-and responsibilities in the great drama of life are second to
-none, either as viewed by her Maker or in the estimation of
-all minds whose judgment is most worthy of respect.</p>
-
-<p>She who is the mother and housekeeper in a large family
-is the sovereign of an empire, demanding more varied cares,
-and involving more difficult duties, than are really exacted
-of her who wears a crown and professedly regulates the interests
-of the greatest nation on earth.</p>
-
-<p>There is no one thing more necessary to a housekeeper,
-in performing her varied duties, than <em>a habit of system and
-order</em>; and yet the peculiarly desultory nature of wome<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span>n’s
-pursuits, and the embarrassments resulting from the state
-of domestic service in this country, render it very difficult
-to form such a habit. But it is sometimes the case that
-women who could and would carry forward a systematic
-plan of domestic economy do not attempt it, simply from a
-want of knowledge of the various modes of introducing it.
-It is with reference to such that various modes of securing
-system and order, which the writer has seen adopted, will be
-pointed out.</p>
-
-<p>A wise economy is nowhere more conspicuous than in a
-systematic <em>apportionment of time</em> to different pursuits.
-There are duties of a religious, intellectual, social, and domestic
-nature, each having different relative claims on attention.
-Unless a person has some general plan of apportioning
-these claims, some will intrench on others, and
-some, it is probable, will be entirely excluded. Thus some
-find religious, social, and domestic duties so numerous, that
-no time is given to intellectual improvement. Others find
-either social, or benevolent, or religious interests excluded
-by the extent and variety of other engagements.</p>
-
-<p>It is wise, therefore, for all persons to devise a systematic
-plan which they will at least keep in view and aim to accomplish,
-and by which a proper proportion of time shall
-be secured for all the duties of life.</p>
-
-<p>In forming such a plan, every woman must accommodate
-herself to the peculiarities of her situation. If she has a
-large family and a small income, she must devote far more
-time to the simple duty of providing food and raiment than
-would be right were she in affluence, and with a small
-family. It is impossible, therefore, to draw out any general
-plan which all can adopt. But there are some <em>general principles</em>,
-which ought to be the guiding rules, when a woman
-arranges her domestic employments. These principles are
-to be based on Christianity, which teaches us to “seek first
-the kingdom of God,” and to deem food, raiment, and the
-conveniences of life as of secondary account. Every woman,
-then, ought to start with the assumption that the moral
-and religious interests of her family are of more consequence
-than any worldly concern, and that, whatever else may be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span>
-sacrificed, these shall be the leading object, in all her arrangements,
-in respect to time, money, and attention.</p>
-
-<p>It is also one of the plainest requisitions of Christianity,
-that we devote some of our time and efforts to the comfort
-and improvement of others. There is no duty so constantly
-enforced, both in the Old and New Testament, as that of
-charity, in dispensing to those who are destitute of the blessings
-we enjoy. In selecting objects of charity, the same
-rule applies to others as to ourselves; their moral and religious
-interests are of the highest moment, and for them, as
-well as for ourselves, we are to “seek first the kingdom of
-God.”</p>
-
-<p>Another general principle is, that our intellectual and
-social interests are to be preferred to the mere gratification
-of taste or appetite. A portion of time, therefore, must be
-devoted to the cultivation of the intellect and the social affections.</p>
-
-<p>Another is, that the mere gratification of appetite is to
-be placed last in our estimate; so that when a question
-arises as to which shall be sacrificed, some intellectual,
-moral, or social advantage, or some gratification of sense, we
-should invariably sacrifice the last.</p>
-
-<p>As health is indispensable to the discharge of every duty,
-nothing which sacrifices that blessing is to be allowed in order
-to gain any other advantage or enjoyment. There are
-emergencies when it is right to risk health and life to save
-ourselves and others from greater evils; but these are exceptions,
-which do not militate against the general rule.
-Many persons imagine that if they violate the laws of health
-in order to attend to religious or domestic duties, they are
-guiltless before God. But such greatly mistake. We directly
-violate the law, “Thou shalt not kill,” when we do
-what tends to risk or shorten our own life. The life and
-happiness of all his creatures are dear to our Creator; and
-he is as much displeased when we injure our own interests
-as when we injure those of others. The idea, therefore, that
-we are excusable if we harm no one but ourselves, is false
-and pernicious. These, then, are some general principles to
-guide a woman in systematizing her duties and pursuits.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span></p>
-
-<p>The Creator of all things is a Being of perfect system and
-order; and, to aid us in our duty in this respect, he has divided
-our time by a regularly returning day of rest from
-worldly business. In following this example, the intervening
-six days may be subdivided to secure similar benefits.
-In doing this, a certain portion of time must be given to
-procure the means of livelihood, and for preparing food, raiment,
-and dwellings. To these objects some must devote
-more, and others less, attention. The remainder of time not
-necessarily thus employed might be divided somewhat in
-this manner: The leisure of two afternoons and evenings
-could be devoted to religious and benevolent objects, such
-as religious meetings, charitable associations, school visiting,
-and attention to the sick and poor. The leisure of two other
-days might be devoted to intellectual improvement and
-the pursuits of taste. The leisure of another day might be
-devoted to social enjoyments, in making or receiving visits;
-and that of another, to miscellaneous domestic pursuits, not
-included in the other particulars.</p>
-
-<p>It is probable that few persons could carry out such an
-arrangement very strictly; but every one can make a systematic
-apportionment of time, and at least <em>aim</em> at accomplishing
-it; and they can also compare with such a general
-outline the time which they actually devote to these different
-objects, for the purpose of modifying any mistaken proportions.</p>
-
-<p>Without attempting any such systematic employment of
-time, and carrying it out, so far as they can control circumstances,
-most women are rather driven along by the daily
-occurrences of life; so that, instead of being the intelligent
-regulators of their own time, they are the mere sport of circumstances.
-There is nothing which so distinctly marks the
-difference between wreak and strong minds as the question
-whether they control circumstances or circumstances control
-them.</p>
-
-<p>It is very much to be feared that the apportionment of
-time actually made by most women exactly inverts the order
-required by reason and Christianity. Thus the furnishing
-a needless variety of food, the conveniences of dwell<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span>ings,
-and the adornments of dress, often take a larger portion
-of time than is given to any other object. Next after
-this comes intellectual improvement; and last of all, benevolence
-and religion.</p>
-
-<p>It may be urged that it is indispensable for most persons
-to give more time to earn a livelihood, and to prepare food,
-raiment, and dwellings, than to any other object. But it
-may be asked, how much of the time devoted to these objects
-is employed in preparing varieties of food not necessary,
-but rather injurious, and how much is spent for those
-parts of dress and furniture not indispensable, and merely
-ornamental? Let a woman subtract from her domestic employments
-all the time given to pursuits which are of no use,
-except as they gratify a taste for ornament, or minister increased
-varieties to tempt the appetite, and she will find
-that much which she calls “domestic duty,” and which prevents
-her attention to intellectual, benevolent, and religious
-objects, should be called by a very different name.</p>
-
-<p>No woman has a right to give up attention to the higher
-interests of herself and others for the ornaments of person
-or the gratification of the palate. To a certain extent, these
-lower objects are lawful and desirable; but when they intrude
-on nobler interests, they become selfish and degrading.
-Every woman, then, when employing her hands in ornamenting
-her person, her children, or her house, ought to calculate
-whether she has devoted <em>as much</em> time to the really
-more important wants of herself and others. If she has not,
-she may know that she is doing wrong, and that her system
-or apportioning her time and pursuits should be altered.</p>
-
-<p>Some persons endeavor to systematize their pursuits by
-apportioning them to particular hours of each day. For example,
-a certain period before breakfast is given to devotional
-duties; after breakfast, certain hours are devoted to
-exercise and domestic employments; other hours, to sewing,
-or reading, or visiting; and others, to benevolent duties.
-But in most cases it is more difficult to systematize the
-hours of each day than it is to secure some regular division
-of the week.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the minutiæ of family work, the writer has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span>
-known the following methods to be adopted. Monday, with
-some of the best housekeepers, is devoted to preparing for
-the labors of the week. Any extra cooking, the purchasing
-of articles to be used during the week, the assorting of
-clothes for the wash, and mending such as would otherwise
-be injured—these, and similar items, belong to this day.
-Tuesday is devoted to washing, and Wednesday to ironing.
-On Thursday, the ironing is finished off, the clothes are folded
-and put away, and all articles which need mending are
-put in the mending-basket and attended to. Friday is devoted
-to sweeping and house-cleaning. On Saturday, and
-especially the last Saturday of every month, every department
-is put in order; the casters and table furniture are
-regulated, the pantry and cellar inspected, the trunks, drawers,
-and closets arranged, and every thing about the house
-put in order for Sunday. By this regular recurrence of a
-particular time for inspecting every thing, nothing is forgotten
-till ruined by neglect.</p>
-
-<p>Another mode of systematizing relates to providing proper
-supplies of conveniences, and proper places in which to
-keep them. Thus, some ladies keep a large closet, in which
-are placed the tubs, pails, dippers, soap-dishes, starch, bluing,
-clothes-lines, clothes-pins, and every other article used
-in washing; and in the same, or another place, is kept every
-convenience for ironing. In the sewing department, a trunk,
-with suitable partitions, is provided, in which are placed,
-each in its proper place, white thread of all sizes, colored
-thread, yarns for mending, colored and black sewing-silks
-and twist, tapes and bobbins of all sizes, white and colored
-welting-cords, silk braids and cords, needles of all sizes, papers
-of pins, remnants of linen and colored cambric, a supply
-of all kinds of buttons used in the family, black and white
-hooks and eyes, a yard-measure, and all the patterns used in
-cutting and fitting. These are done up in separate parcels,
-and labeled. In another trunk, or in a piece-bag, such as
-has been previously described, are kept all pieces used in
-mending, arranged in order. A trunk like the first mentioned
-will save many steps, and often much time and perplexity;
-while by purchasing articles thus by the quantity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span>
-they come much cheaper than if bought in little portions as
-they are wanted. Such a trunk should be kept locked, and
-a smaller supply for current use retained in a work-basket.</p>
-
-<p>A full supply of all conveniences in the kitchen and cellar,
-and a place appointed for each article, very much facilitate
-domestic labor. For want of this, much vexation and
-loss of time is occasioned while seeking vessels in use, or in
-cleansing those employed by different persons for various
-purposes. It would be far better for a lady to give up some
-expensive article in the parlor, and apply the money thus
-saved for kitchen conveniences, than to have a stinted supply
-where the most labor is to be performed. If our countrywomen
-would devote more attention to comfort and convenience,
-and less to show, it would be a great improvement.
-Expensive mirrors and pier-tables in the parlor, and an unpainted,
-gloomy, ill-furnished kitchen, not unfrequently are
-found under the same roof.</p>
-
-<p>Another important item in systematic economy is, the apportioning
-of <em>regular</em> employment to the various members
-of a family. If a housekeeper can secure the co-operation
-of <em>all</em> her family, she will find that “many hands make light
-work.” There is no greater mistake than in bringing up
-children to feel that they must be taken care of and waited
-on by others, without any corresponding obligations on their
-part. The extent to which young children can be made
-useful in a family would seem surprising to those who have
-never seen a <em>systematic</em> and <em>regular</em> plan for utilizing their
-services. The writer has been in a family where a little
-girl of eight or nine years of age washed and dressed herself
-and young brother, and made their small beds, before
-breakfast; set and cleared all the tables for meals, with a
-little help from a grown person in moving tables and spreading
-cloths; while all the dusting of parlors and chambers
-was also neatly performed by her. A brother of ten years
-old brought in and piled all the wood used in the kitchen
-and parlor, brushed the boots and shoes, went on errands,
-and took all the care of the poultry. They were children
-whose parents could afford to hire servants to do this, but
-who chose to have their children grow up healthy and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span>dustrious,
-while proper instruction, system, and encouragement,
-made these services rather a pleasure than otherwise
-to the children.</p>
-
-<p>Some parents pay their children for such services; but
-this is hazardous, as tending to make them feel that they
-are not bound to be helpful without pay, and also as tending
-to produce a hoarding, money-making spirit. But
-where children have no hoarding propensities, and need to
-acquire a sense of the value of property, it may be well to
-let them earn money for some extra services rather as a favor.
-When this is done, they should be taught to spend it
-for others as well as for themselves; and in this way a
-generous and liberal spirit will be cultivated.</p>
-
-<p>There are some mothers who take pains to teach their
-boys most of the domestic arts which their sisters learn.
-The writer has seen boys mending their own garments, and
-aiding their mother or sisters in the kitchen, with great
-skill and adroitness; and at an early age they usually very
-much relish joining in such occupations. The sons of such
-mothers, in their college life, or in roaming about the world,
-or in nursing a sick wife or infant, find occasion to bless the
-forethought and kindness which prepared them for such
-emergencies. Few things are in worse taste than for a man
-needlessly to busy himself in women’s work; and yet a man
-never appears in a more interesting attitude than when, by
-skill in such matters, he can save a mother or wife from care
-and suffering. The more a boy is taught to use his hands
-in every variety of domestic employment, the more his faculties,
-both of mind and body, are developed; for mechanical
-pursuits exercise the intellect as well as the hands.
-The early training of New-England boys, in which they
-turn their hand to almost every thing, is one great reason
-of the quick perceptions, versatility of mind, and mechanical
-skill, for which that portion of our countrymen is distinguished.</p>
-
-<p>It is equally important that young girls should be taught
-to do some species of handicraft that generally is done by
-men, and especially with reference to the frequent emigration
-to new territories where well-trained mechanics are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span>
-scarce. To hang wall-paper, repair locks, glaze windows,
-and mend various household articles, require a skill in the
-use of tools which every young girl should acquire. If she
-never has any occasion to apply this knowledge and skill by
-her own hands, she will often find it needful in directing and
-superintending incompetent workmen.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has known one mode of systematizing the aid
-of the older children in a family, which, in some cases of
-very large families, it may be well to imitate. In the case
-referred to, when the oldest daughter was eight or nine
-years old, an infant sister was given to her as her special
-charge. She tended it, made and mended its clothes, taught
-it to read, and was its nurse and guardian through all its
-childhood. Another infant was given to the next daughter,
-and thus the children were all paired in this interesting relation.
-In addition to the relief thus afforded to the mother,
-the elder children were in this way qualified for their future
-domestic relations, and both older and younger bound
-to each other by peculiar ties of tenderness and gratitude.</p>
-
-<p>In offering these examples of various modes of systematizing,
-one suggestion may be worthy of attention. It is not
-unfrequently the case that ladies who find themselves cumbered
-with oppressive cares, after reading remarks on the
-benefits of system, immediately commence the task of arranging
-their pursuits with great vigor and hope. They divide
-the day into regular periods, and give each hour its
-duty; they systematize their work, and endeavor to bring
-every thing into a regular routine. But in a short time
-they find themselves baffled, discouraged, and disheartened,
-and finally relapse into their former desultory ways, in a
-sort of resigned despair.</p>
-
-<p>The difficulty in such cases is, that they attempt too
-much at a time. There is nothing which so much depends
-upon <em>habit</em> as a systematic mode of performing duty; and
-where no such habit has been formed, it is impossible for a
-novice to start at once into a universal mode of systematizing,
-which none but an adept could carry through. The
-only way for such persons is to begin with a little at a time.
-Let them select some three or four things, and resolutely at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span>tempt
-to conquer at these points. In time, a habit will be
-formed of doing a few things at regular periods, and in a
-systematic way. Then it will be easy to add a few more;
-and thus, by a gradual process, the object can be secured,
-which would be vain to attempt by a more summary course.</p>
-
-<p>Early rising is almost an indispensable condition to success
-in such an effort; but where a woman lacks either the
-health or the energy to secure a period for devotional duties
-before breakfast, let her select that hour of the day in which
-she will be least liable to interruption, and let her then seek
-strength and wisdom from the only true Source. At this
-time let her take a pen, and make a list of all the things
-which she considers as duties. Then let calculation be
-made whether there be time enough, in the day or the week,
-for all these duties. If there be not, let the least important
-be stricken from the list, as not being duties, and therefore
-to be omitted. In doing this, let a woman remember that,
-though “what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and
-wherewithal we shall be clothed,” are matters requiring due
-attention, they are very apt to obtain a wrong relative importance,
-while intellectual, social, and moral interests receive
-too little regard.</p>
-
-<p>In this country, eating, dressing, and household furniture
-and ornaments, take far too large a place in the estimate of
-relative importance; and it is probable that most women
-could modify their views and practice so as to come nearer
-to the Saviour’s requirements. No woman has a right to
-put a stitch of ornament on any article of dress or furniture,
-or to provide one superfluity in food, until she is sure she
-can secure time for all her social, intellectual, benevolent,
-and religious duties. If a woman will take the trouble to
-make such a calculation as this, she will usually find that
-she has time enough to perform all her duties easily and
-well.</p>
-
-<p>It is impossible for a conscientious woman to secure that
-peaceful mind and cheerful enjoyment of life which all
-should seek, who is constantly finding her duties jarring
-with each other, and much remaining undone which she
-feels that she ought to do. In consequence of this, there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span>
-will be a secret uneasiness which will throw a shade over
-the whole current of life, never to be removed till she so
-efficiently defines and regulates her duties that she can fulfill
-them all.</p>
-
-<p>And here the writer would urge upon young ladies the
-importance of forming habits of system while unembarrassed
-with those multiplied cares which will make the task so
-much more difficult and hopeless. Every young lady can
-systematize her pursuits, to a certain extent. She can have
-a particular day for mending her wardrobe, and for arranging
-her trunks, closets, and drawers. She can keep her
-work-basket, her desk at school, and all her other conveniences,
-in their proper places and in regular order. She can
-have regular periods for reading, walking, visiting, study,
-and domestic pursuits. And by following this method in
-youth, she will form a taste for regularity and a habit of
-system which will prove a blessing to her through life.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVI.<br />
-
-<small>HEALTH OF MIND.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is such an intimate connection between the body
-and mind, that the health of one can not be preserved without
-a proper care of the other. And it is from a neglect of
-this principle that some of the most exemplary and conscientious
-persons in the world suffer a thousand mental agonies
-from a diseased state of body, while others ruin the
-health of the body by neglecting the proper care of the
-mind.</p>
-
-<p>When the mind is excited by earnest intellectual effort, or
-by strong passions, the blood rushes to the head and the
-brain is excited. Sir Astley Cooper records that, in examining
-the brain of a young man who had lost a portion of
-his skull, whenever “he was agitated by some opposition to
-his wishes,” “the blood was sent with increased force to his
-brain,” and the pulsations “became frequent and violent.”
-The same effect was produced by any intellectual effort;
-and the flushed countenance which attends earnest study or
-strong emotions of interest of any kind, is an external indication
-of the suffused state of the brain from such causes.</p>
-
-<p>In exhibiting the causes which injure the health of the
-mind, we shall find them to be partly physical, partly intellectual,
-and partly moral.</p>
-
-<p>The first cause of mental disease and suffering is not unfrequently
-in the want of a proper supply of duly oxygenized
-blood. It has been shown that the blood, in passing
-through the lungs, is purified by the oxygen of the air combining
-with the superabundant hydrogen and carbon of the
-venous blood, thus forming carbonic acid and water, which
-are expired into the atmosphere. Every pair of lungs is
-constantly withdrawing from the surrounding atmosphere
-its healthful principle, and returning one which is injurious
-to human life.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span></p>
-
-<p>When, by confinement and this process, the air is deprived
-of its appropriate supply of oxygen, the purification of the
-blood is interrupted, and it passes, without being properly
-prepared, into the brain, producing languor, restlessness, and
-inability to exercise the intellect and feelings. Whenever,
-therefore, persons sleep in a close apartment, or remain for a
-length of time in a crowded or ill-ventilated room, a most
-pernicious influence is exerted on the brain, and, through
-this, on the mind. A person who is often exposed to such
-influences can never enjoy that elasticity and vigor of mind
-which is one of the chief indications of its health. This is
-the reason why all rooms for religious meetings, and all
-school-rooms and sleeping apartments, should be so contrived
-as to secure a constant supply of fresh air from without.
-The minister who preaches in a crowded and ill-ventilated
-apartment loses much of his power to feel and to speak,
-while the audience are equally reduced in their capability of
-attending. The teacher who confines children in a close
-apartment diminishes their ability to study, or to attend to
-instructions. And the person who habitually sleeps in a
-close room impairs mental energy in a similar degree. It is
-not unfrequently the case that depression of spirits and stupor
-of intellect are occasioned solely by inattention to this
-subject.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause of mental disease is the excessive exercise
-of the intellect or feelings. If the eye is taxed beyond its
-strength by protracted use, its blood-vessels become gorged,
-and the bloodshot appearance warns of the excess and the
-need of rest. The brain is affected in a similar manner by
-excessive use, though the suffering and inflamed organ can
-not make its appeal to the eye. But there are some indications
-which ought never to be misunderstood or disregarded.
-In cases of pupils at school or at college, a diseased
-state, from overaction, is often manifested by increased
-clearness of mind, and temporary ease and vigor of mental
-action. In one instance, known to the writer, a most exemplary
-and industrious pupil, anxious to improve every hour,
-and ignorant or unmindful of the laws of health, first manifested
-the diseased state of her brain and mind by demands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span>
-for more studies, and a sudden and earnest activity in planning
-modes of improvement for herself and others. When
-warned of her danger, she protested that she never was better
-in her life; that she took regular exercise in the open air,
-went to bed in season, slept soundly, and felt perfectly well;
-that her mind was never before so bright and clear, and
-study never so easy and delightful. And at this time she
-was on the verge of derangement, from which she was saved
-only by an entire cessation of all intellectual efforts.</p>
-
-<p>A similar case occurred, under the eye of the writer, from
-overexcited feelings. It was during a time of unusual religious
-interest in the community, and the mental disease
-was first manifested by the pupil bringing her hymn-book
-or Bible to the class-room, and making it her constant resort
-in every interval of school duty. It finally became impossible
-to convince her that it was her duty to attend to
-any thing else; her conscience became morbidly sensitive,
-her perceptions indistinct, her deductions unreasonable; and
-nothing but entire change of scene and exercise, and occupation
-of her mind by amusement, saved her. When the
-health of the brain was restored, she found that she could
-attend to the “one thing needful,” not only without interruption
-of duty or injury to health, but rather so as to promote
-both. Clergymen and teachers need most carefully to
-notice and guard against the dangers here alluded to.</p>
-
-<p>Any such attention to religion as prevents the performance
-of daily duties and needful relaxation is dangerous, and
-tends to produce such a state of the brain as makes it impossible
-to feel or judge correctly. And when any morbid
-and unreasonable pertinacity appears, much exercise and
-engagement in other interesting pursuits should be urged,
-as the only mode of securing the religious benefits aimed at.
-And whenever any mind is oppressed with care, anxiety, or
-sorrow, the amount of active exercise in the fresh air should
-be greatly increased, that the action of the muscles may
-withdraw the blood which, in such seasons, is constantly
-tending too much to the brain. At the same time, innocent
-and healthful amusement should be urged as a duty.</p>
-
-<p>There has been a most appalling amount of suffering, de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span>rangement,
-disease, and death, occasioned by a want of attention
-to this subject, in teachers and parents. Uncommon
-precocity in children is usually the result of an unhealthy
-state of the brain; and in such cases medical men would
-now direct that the wonderful child should be deprived of
-all books and study, and turned to play out in the fresh air.
-Instead of this, parents frequently add fuel to the fever of
-the brain, by supplying constant mental stimulus, until the
-victim finds refuge in idiocy or an early grave. Where such
-fatal results do not occur, the brain in many cases is so
-weakened that the prodigy of infancy sinks below the medium
-of intellectual powers in after-life.</p>
-
-<p>In our colleges, too, many of the most promising minds
-sink to an early grave, or drag out a miserable existence,
-from this same cause. And it is an evil as yet little alleviated
-by the increase of physiological knowledge. Every
-college and professional school, and every seminary for
-young ladies, needs a medical man or woman, not only to
-lecture on physiology and the laws of health, but empowered
-by official capacity to investigate the case of every pupil,
-and, by authority, to enforce such a course of study, exercise,
-and repose as the physical system requires. The writer has
-found by experience that in a large institution there is one
-class of pupils who need to be restrained by penalties from
-late hours and excessive study, as much as another class
-need stimulus to industry.</p>
-
-<p>Under the head of excessive mental action must be placed
-the indulgence of the imagination in novel-reading and
-“castle-building.” This kind of stimulus, unless counter-balanced
-by physical exercise, not only wastes time and energies,
-but undermines the vigor of the nervous system.
-The imagination was designed by our wise Creator as a
-charm and stimulus to animate to benevolent activity, and
-its perverted exercise seldom fails to bring a penalty.</p>
-
-<p>Another cause of mental disease is the want of the appropriate
-exercise of the various faculties of the mind. On this
-point Dr. Combe remarks: “We have seen that, by disuse,
-muscles become emaciated, bone softens, blood-vessels are
-obliterated, and nerves lose their characteristic structure.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span>
-The brain is no exception to this general rule. The tone of
-it is also impaired by permanent inactivity, and it becomes
-less fit to manifest the mental powers with readiness and
-energy.” It is “the withdrawal of the stimulus necessary
-for its healthy exercise which renders solitary confinement
-so severe a punishment, even to the most daring minds. It
-is a lower degree of the same cause which renders continuous
-seclusion from society so injurious to both mental and
-bodily health.”</p>
-
-<p>“Inactivity of intellect and of feeling is a very frequent
-predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. For
-demonstrative evidence of this position, we have only to look
-at the numerous victims to be found among persons who
-have no call to exertion in gaining the means of subsistence,
-and no objects of interest on which to exercise their mental
-faculties, and who consequently sink into a state of mental
-sloth and nervous weakness.” “If we look abroad upon society,
-we shall find innumerable examples of mental and
-nervous debility from this cause. When a person of some
-mental capacity is confined for a long time to an unvarying
-round of employment which affords neither scope nor stimulus
-for one half of the faculties, and, from want of education
-or society, has no external resources; the mental powers,
-for want of exercise, become blunted, and the perceptions
-slow and dull.” “The intellect and feelings, not being provided
-with interests external to themselves, must either become
-inactive and weak, or work upon themselves and become
-diseased.”</p>
-
-<p>“The most frequent victims of this kind of predisposition
-are females of the middle and higher ranks, especially those
-of a nervous constitution and good natural abilities; but
-who, from an ill-directed education, possess nothing more
-solid than mere accomplishments, and have no materials for
-thought,” and no “occupation to excite interest or demand
-attention.” “The liability of such persons to melancholy,
-hysteria, hypochondriasis, and other varieties of mental distress,
-really depends on a state of irritability of the brain, induced
-by its imperfect exercise.”</p>
-
-<p>These remarks of a medical man illustrate the principles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span>
-before indicated—namely, that the demand of Christianity,
-that we live to save from eternal evils and promote the
-highest and eternal happiness of our race, has for its aim
-not only the general good, but the highest happiness of the
-individual in offering abundant exercise for all the noblest
-faculties.</p>
-
-<p>A person possessed of wealth, who has nothing more noble
-to engage attention than seeking personal enjoyment,
-subjects the mental powers and moral feelings to a degree
-of inactivity utterly at war with health and mind. And the
-greater the capacities, the greater are the sufferings which
-result from this cause. Any one who has read the misanthropic
-wailings of Lord Byron has seen the necessary result
-of great and noble powers bereft of their appropriate exercise,
-and, in consequence, becoming sources of the keenest
-suffering.</p>
-
-<p>It is this view of the subject which has often awakened
-feelings of sorrow and anxiety in the mind of the writer,
-while aiding in the development and education of superior
-feminine minds in the wealthier circles. Not because there
-are not noble objects for interest and effort abundant, and
-within reach of such minds, but because long-established
-custom has made it seem so quixotic to the majority, even
-of the professed followers of Christ, for a woman of wealth
-to practice any great self-denial, that few have independence
-of mind and Christian principle sufficient to overcome such
-an influence. The more a mind has its powers developed,
-the more does it aspire and pine after some object worthy
-of its energies and affections; and they are commonplace
-and phlegmatic characters who are most free from such
-deep-seated wants. Many a young woman, of fine genius
-and elevated sentiment, finds a charm in Lord Byron’s writings,
-because they present a glowing picture of what, to a
-certain extent, must be felt by every well-developed mind
-which has no nobler object in life than the pursuit of self-gratification.</p>
-
-<p>If young ladies of wealth could pursue their education
-under the full conviction that the increase of their powers
-and advantages increased their obligations to use all for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span>
-great and sublime end for which our Saviour toiled and
-suffered, and with some plan of benevolent enterprise in
-view, what new motives of interest would be added to their
-daily pursuits! And what blessed results would follow to
-our beloved country if all well-educated women carried out
-the principles of Christianity in the exercise of their developed
-powers!</p>
-
-<p>The benevolent activities called forth in our late dreadful
-war illustrate the blessed influence on character and happiness
-in having a noble object for which to labor and suffer.
-In illustration of this may be mentioned the experience of
-one of the noble women who, in a sickly climate and fervid
-season, devoted herself to the ministries of a military hospital.
-Separated from an adored husband, deprived of wonted
-comforts and luxuries, and toiling in humble and unwonted
-labors, she yet recalls this as one of the happiest periods of
-her life. And it was not the mere exercise of benevolence
-and piety in ministering comfort and relieving suffering.
-It was, still more, the elevated enjoyment which only an
-enlarged and cultivated mind can attain, in the inspirations
-of grand and far-reaching results purchased by such sacrifice
-and suffering. It was in aiding to save her well-loved country
-from impending ruin, and to preserve to coming generations
-the blessings of true liberty, self-government, and the
-Christian life by which toils and suffering became triumphant
-joys.</p>
-
-<p>Every Christian woman who “walks by faith and not by
-sight,” who looks forward to the results of self-sacrificing
-labor for the ignorant and sinful as they will enlarge and
-expand through everlasting ages, may rise to the same elevated
-sphere of experience and happiness.</p>
-
-<p>On the contrary, the more highly cultivated the mind
-devoted to mere selfish enjoyment, the more are the sources
-of true happiness closed, and the soul left to helpless emptiness
-and unrest.</p>
-
-<p>The indications of a diseased mind, owing to the want
-of the proper exercise of its powers, are apathy, discontent,
-a restless longing for excitement, a craving for unattainable
-good, a diseased and morbid action of the imagination, dis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span>satisfaction
-with the world, and factitious interest in trifles
-which the mind feels to be unworthy of its powers. Such
-minds sometimes seek alleviation in exciting amusements;
-others resort to the grosser enjoyments of sense. Oppressed
-with the extremes of languor, or over-excitement, or apathy,
-the body fails under the wearing process, and adds new
-causes of suffering to the mind. Such the compassionate
-Saviour calls to his service, in the appropriate terms, “Come
-unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
-give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me,”
-“and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVII.<br />
-
-<small>CARE OF THE AGED.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>One of the most interesting and instructive illustrations
-of the design of our Creator, in the institution of the family
-state, is the preservation of the aged after their faculties decay
-and usefulness in ordinary modes seems to be ended.
-By most persons this period of infirmities and uselessness is
-anticipated with apprehension, especially in the case of
-those who have lived an active, useful life, giving largely
-of service to others, and dependent for most resources of
-enjoyment on their own energies.</p>
-
-<p>To lose the resources of sight or hearing, to become feeble
-in body, so as to depend on the ministries of others, and
-finally to gradually decay in mental force and intelligence,
-to many seems far worse than death. Multitudes have
-prayed to be taken from this life when their usefulness is
-thus ended.</p>
-
-<p>But a true view of the design of the family state, and of
-the ministry of the aged and helpless in carrying out this
-design, would greatly lessen such apprehensions, and might
-be made a source of pure and elevated enjoyment.</p>
-
-<p>The Christian virtues of patience with the unreasonable,
-of self-denying labor for the weak, and of sympathy with
-the afflicted, are dependent, to a great degree, on cultivation
-and habit, and these can be gained only in circumstances demanding
-the daily exercise of these graces. In this aspect,
-continued life in the aged and infirm should be regarded as
-a blessing and privilege to a family, especially to the young,
-and the cultivation of the graces that are demanded by that
-relation should be made a definite and interesting part of
-their education. A few of the methods to be attempted for
-this end will be suggested.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place, the object for which the aged are preserved
-in life, when in many cases they would rejoice to de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span>part,
-should be definitely kept in recollection, and a sense
-of gratitude and obligation be cultivated. They should be
-looked up to and treated as ministers sustained by our
-Heavenly Father in a painful experience, expressly for the
-good of those around them. This appreciation of their ministry
-and usefulness will greatly lessen their trials, and impart
-consolation. If, in hours of weariness and infirmity, they
-wonder why they are kept in a useless and helpless state to
-burden others around, they should be assured that they are
-not useless; and this not only by word, but, better still, by
-the manifestation of those virtues which such opportunities
-alone can secure.</p>
-
-<p>Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in
-the domestic games and sports which unite the old and the
-young in amusement. Many a weary hour may thus be enlivened
-for the benefit of all concerned. And here will often
-occur opportunities of self-denying benevolence in relinquishing
-personal pursuits and gratification thus to promote the
-enjoyment of the infirm and dependent. Reading aloud is
-often a great source of enjoyment to those who by age are
-deprived of reading for themselves. So the effort to gather
-news of the neighborhood and impart it, is another mode of
-relieving those deprived of social gatherings.</p>
-
-<p>There is no period in life when those courtesies of good-breeding
-which recognize the relations of superior and inferior
-should be more carefully cherished than when there is
-need of showing them toward those of advancing age. To
-those who have controlled a household, and still more to
-those who in public life have been honored and admired,
-the decay of mental powers is peculiarly trying, and every
-effort should be made to lessen the trial by courteous attention
-to their opinions, and by avoiding all attempts to controvert
-them, or to make evident any weakness or fallacy in
-their conversation.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the decay of bodily or mental faculties, much
-more can be done to prevent or retard them than is generally
-supposed, and some methods for this end which have
-been gained by observation or experience will be presented.</p>
-
-<p>As the exercise of all our faculties tends to increase their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span>
-power, unless it be carried to excess, it is very important
-that the aged should be provided with useful employment
-suited to their strength and capacity. Nothing hastens decay
-so fast as to remove the <em>stimulus</em> of useful activity. It
-should become a study with those who have the care of the
-aged to interest them in some useful pursuit, and to convince
-them that they are in some measure actively contributing
-to the general welfare. In the country and in families
-where the larger part of the domestic labor is done
-without servants, it is very easy to keep up an interest in
-domestic industrial employments. The tending of a small
-garden in summer, the preparation of fuel and food, the
-mending of household utensils—these and many other occupations
-of the hands will keep alive activity and interest in
-a man; while for women there are still more varied resources.
-There is nothing that so soon hastens decay and
-lends acerbity to age as giving up all business and responsibility,
-and every mode possible should be devised to prevent
-this result.</p>
-
-<p>As age advances, all the bodily functions move more
-slowly, and consequently the generation of animal heat, by
-the union of oxygen and carbon in the capillaries, is in
-smaller proportion than in the midday of life. For this reason
-some practices, safe for the vigorous, must be relinquished
-by the aged; and one of these is the use of the cold
-bath. It has often been the case that rheumatism has been
-caused by neglect of this caution. More than ordinary care
-should be taken to preserve animal heat in the aged, especially
-in the hands and the feet.</p>
-
-<p>In many families will be found an aged brother, or sister,
-or other relative who has no home, and no claim to a refuge
-in the family circle but that of kindred. Sometimes they
-are poor and homeless; for want of a faculty for self-supporting
-business; and sometimes they have peculiarities of person
-or disposition which render their society undesirable.
-These are cases where the pitying tenderness of the Saviour
-should be remembered, and for his sake patient kindness
-and tender care be given, and he will graciously accept it
-as an offering of love and duty to himself. “Inasmuch as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span>
-ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have
-done it to me.”</p>
-
-<p>It is sometimes the case that even parents in old age have
-had occasion to say, with the forsaken King Lear, “How
-sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless
-child!” It is right training in early life alone that will
-save from this.</p>
-
-<p>In the opening of China and the probable influx of its
-people, there is one cause for congratulation to a nation that
-is failing in the virtue of reverence. The Chinese are distinguished
-above all other nations for their respect for the
-aged, and especially for their reverence for aged parents and
-conformity to their authority, even to the last. This virtue
-is cultivated to a degree that is remarkable, and has produced
-singular and favorable results on the national character,
-which it is hoped may be imparted to the land to which
-they are flocking in such multitudes. For with all their
-peculiarities of pagan philosophy and their Oriental eccentricities
-of custom and practical life, they are everywhere
-renowned for their uniform and elegant courtesy—a most
-commendable virtue, and one arising from habitual deference
-to the aged more than from any other source.</p>
-
-<p>But every person, in approaching the trials and helplessness
-of age, needs to consider that the very performance of
-these duties toward one’s self by all around may tend to induce
-a selfish and exacting spirit, or querulous complaints
-at forgetfulness or neglect. And constant service and petting
-may tempt to self-indulgent uselessness. Approaching
-age sometimes leads to the relinquishment of active life; and
-this tends to induce imbecility of body and mind, which, like
-all instruments, are kept bright by use. The course of wisdom
-is to redouble exertions in cultivating self-denying regard
-for the convenience and comfort of others, and perpetuating,
-as far as possible, useful labors.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most lovely and beautiful features in a family
-circle is the aged father or mother sympathizing in the joys
-and sorrows of the young, and watching for occasions to
-please and serve all around.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />
-
-<small>THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>One of the most interesting illustrations of the design of
-our benevolent Creator in establishing the family state is
-the nature of the domestic animals connected with it. At
-the very dawn of life, the infant watches with delight the
-graceful gambols of the kitten, and soon makes it a playmate.
-Meantime, its outcries when hurt appeal to kindly
-sympathy, and its sharp claws to fear; while the child’s
-mother has a constant opportunity to inculcate kindness
-and care for weak and ignorant creatures. Then the dog
-becomes the outdoor playmate and guardian of early childhood,
-and he also guards himself by cries of pain, and protects
-himself by his teeth. At the same time, his faithful
-loving nature and caresses awaken corresponding tenderness
-and care; while the parent, again, has a daily opportunity
-to inculcate these virtues toward the helpless and dependent.
-As the child increases in knowledge and reason,
-the horse, cows, poultry, and other domestic animals come
-under his notice. These do not ordinarily express their
-hunger or other sufferings by cries of distress, but depend
-more on the developed reason and humanity of man. And
-here the parent is called upon to instruct a child in the nature
-and wants of each, that he may intelligently provide
-for their sustenance and for their protection from injury and
-disease.</p>
-
-<p>To assist in this important duty of home life, which so
-often falls to the supervision of woman, the following information
-is prepared through the kindness of one of the editors
-of a prominent, widely known agricultural paper.</p>
-
-<p>Domestic animals are very apt to catch the spirit and
-temper of their masters. A surly man will be very likely
-to have a cross dog and a biting horse. A passionate man
-will keep all his animals in moral fear of him, making them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span>
-snappish, and liable to hurt those of whom they are not
-afraid.</p>
-
-<p>It is, therefore, most important that all animals should be
-treated uniformly with kindness. They are all capable of
-returning affection, and will show it very pleasantly if we
-manifest affection for them. They also have intuitive perceptions
-of our emotions which we can not conceal. A sharp,
-ugly dog will rarely bite a person who has no fear of him. A
-horse knows, the moment a man mounts or takes the reins,
-whether he is afraid or not; and so it is with other animals.</p>
-
-<p>If live stock can not be well fed, they ought not to be
-kept. One well-wintered horse is worth as much as two
-that drag through on straw, and by browsing the hedgerows.
-The same is true of oxen, and emphatically so of
-cows. The owner of a half-starved dog loses the use of him
-almost altogether; for at the very time—the night—when
-he is most needed as a guard, he must be off scouring the
-country for food.</p>
-
-<p><i>Shelter</i> in winter is most important for cows. They
-should have good tight stables or byres, well ventilated,
-and so warm that water in a pail will only freeze a little on
-the top the severest nights. Oxen should have the same
-stabling, though they bear cold better. Horses in stables
-will bear almost any degree of cold, if they have all they
-can eat. Sheep, except young lambs, are well enough sheltered
-in dry sheds, with one end open. Cattle, sheep, and
-dogs do not sweat as horses do, they “loll;” that is, water
-or slabber runs from their tongues; hence they are not liable
-to take cold as the horse is. Hogs bear cold pretty
-well; but they eat enough to convince any one that true
-economy lies in giving them warm styes in winter, for the
-colder they are the more they eat. Fowls will not lay in
-cold weather unless they have light and warm quarters.</p>
-
-<p><i>Cleanliness</i> is indispensable, if one would keep his animals
-healthy. In their wild state all our domestic animals are
-very clean, and, at the same time, very healthy. The hog is
-not naturally a dirty animal, but quite the reverse. He enjoys
-currying as much as a horse or cow, and would be as
-careful of his litter as a cat if he had a fair chance.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span></p>
-
-<p>Horses ought to be groomed daily; cows and oxen as
-often as twice a week; dogs should be washed with soap-suds
-frequently. Stables should be cleaned out daily. Absorbents
-of liquid in stables should be removed as often as
-they become wet. Dry earth is one of the best absorbents,
-and is especially useful in the fowl-house. Hogs in pens
-should have straw for their rests or lairs, and it should be
-often renewed.</p>
-
-<p><i>Parasitic Vermin.</i>—These are lice, fleas, ticks, the scale
-insects, and other pests which afflict our live stock. There
-are many ways of destroying them; the best and safest is a
-free use of <i>carbolic acid soap</i>. The larger animals, as well
-as hogs, dogs, and sheep, may be washed in strong suds of
-this soap without fear, and the application repeated after a
-week. This generally destroys both the creatures and their
-eggs. Hen lice are best destroyed by greasing the fowls,
-and dusting them with flower of sulphur. Sitting hens must
-never be greased, but the sulphur may be dusted freely in
-their nests, and it is well to put it in all hens’ nests.</p>
-
-<p><i>Salt and Water.</i>—All animals except poultry require salt,
-and all free supplies of fresh water.</p>
-
-<p><i>Light.</i>—Stables, or places where any kind of animals are
-confined, should have plenty of light. Windows are not
-more important in a house than in a barn. The <em>sun</em>em should
-come in freely; and if it shines directly upon the stock, all
-the better. When beeves and sheep are fattening very rapidly,
-the exclusion of the light makes them more quiet, and
-fatten faster; but their state is an unnatural and hardly a
-healthy one.</p>
-
-<p><i>Exercise</i> in the open air is important for breeding animals.
-It is especially necessary for horses of all kinds. Cows need
-very little, and swine none, unless kept for breeding.</p>
-
-<p><i>Breeding.</i>—Always use thorough-bred males, and improvement
-is certain.</p>
-
-<p><i>Horses.</i>—The care which horses require varies with the
-circumstances in which the owner is placed, and the uses to
-which they are put. In general, if kept stabled, they should
-be fed with good upland hay, almost as much as they will
-eat; and if absent from the stable, and at work most of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span>
-day, they should have all they will eat of hay, together with
-four to eight quarts of oats or an equal weight of other
-grain or meal. Barley is good for horses, and so is dry
-corn. Corn-meal put upon cut hay, wet and well mixed, is
-good, steady feed, if not in too large quantities. Four
-quarts a day may be fed unmixed with other grain; but if
-the horse be hard worked and needs more, mix the meal
-with wheat bran, or linseed-oil-cake meal, or use corn and
-oats ground together; carrots are especially wholesome. A
-quart of linseed-oil-cake meal, daily, is an excellent occasional
-addition to a horse’s feed, when carrots can not be
-had. It gives lustre to his coat, and brings the new coat of
-hair out in the spring. A stabled horse needs daily exercise,
-as much as to trot three miles. Where a horse is traveling,
-it is well to give him six quarts of oats in the morning,
-four at noon, and six at night.</p>
-
-<p>Thorough grooming is indispensable to the health of
-horses. Especial care should be taken of the legs and fetlocks,
-that no dirt remain to cause that distressing disease,
-<i>grease</i> or <i>scratches</i>, which results from filthy fetlocks and
-standing in dirty stables. When a horse comes in from
-work on muddy roads with dirty legs, they should be immediately
-cleaned, the dirt brushed off, then rubbed with
-straw; then, if very dirty, washed clean and rubbed dry
-with a piece of sacking. A horse should never stand in a
-draught of cold air, if he can not turn and put his back to it.
-If sweaty or warm from work, he should be blanketed, if he
-is to stand a minute in the winter air. If put at once into
-the stable, he should be stripped and rubbed down with
-straw actively for five minutes or more, and then blanketed.
-The blanket must be removed in an hour, and the horse
-given water and feed, if it is the usual time. It will not
-hurt him to eat hay when hot, unless he be thoroughly exhausted,
-when all food should be withheld for a while.</p>
-
-<p>It is very comforting to a tired horse, when he is too hot
-to drink, to sponge out his mouth with cool water. A horse
-should never drink when very hot, nor be turned into a yard
-to “cool off,” even in summer, neither should he be turned
-out to pasture before he is quite cool.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Cows.</i>—Gentle but firm treatment will make a cow easy
-to milk and to handle in every way. If stabled or yarded,
-cows should have access to water at all times, or have it frequently
-offered to them. Clover hay is probably the best
-steady food for milch cows. Cornstalks cut up, thoroughly
-soaked with water for half a day, and then sprinkled with
-corn or oil-cake meal, is perhaps unsurpassed as good winter
-food for milch cows. The amount of meal may vary. With
-plenty of oil-meal, there is little danger of feeding too much,
-as that is loosening to the bowels, and a safe, nutritious article.
-Corn-meal alone, in large quantities, is too heating.
-Roots should, if possible, form part of the diet of a milch
-cow, especially before and soon after calving; feed well before
-this period, yet not to make the cow very fat; but it is
-better to err in that way than to have her “come in” thin.
-Take the calf away from the mother as soon as it stands up,
-and the separation will worry neither dam nor young. This
-is always best, unless the calf is to be kept with the cow.
-The calf will soon learn to drink its food, if two fingers be
-held in its mouth. Let it have all the first drawn milk for
-three days as soon as milked; after this, skimmed milk
-warmed to blood heat. Soon a little fine scalded meal may
-be mixed with the milk; and it will, at three to five weeks
-old, nibble hay and grass. It is well, also, to keep a box
-containing some dry wheat-bran and fine corn-meal mixed
-in the calf-pen, so that calves may take as much as they
-like.</p>
-
-<p>In milking, put the fingers around the teat close to the
-bag; then firmly close the forefingers of each hand alternately,
-immediately squeezing with the other fingers. The
-forefingers prevent the milk flowing back into the bag, while
-the others press it out. Sit with the left knee close to the
-right hind leg of the cow, the head pressed against her flank,
-the left hand always ready to ward off a blow from her feet,
-which the gentlest cow may give almost without knowing
-it, if her tender teats be cut by long nails, or if a wart be
-hurt, or her bag be tender. She must be stripped <i>dry</i> every
-time she is milked, or she will dry up; and if she gives much
-milk, it pays to milk three times a day, as nearly eight hours<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span>
-apart as possible. Never stop while milking till done, as
-this will cause the cow to stop giving milk.</p>
-
-<p>To tether a cow, tie her by one hind leg, making the rope
-fast above the fetlock joint, and protecting the limb with
-a piece of an old boot-leg or similar thing. The knot must
-be one that will not slip; regular fetters of iron bound with
-leather are much better.</p>
-
-<p>A cow should go unmilked two months before calving,
-and her milk should not be used by the family till four days
-after that time.</p>
-
-<p><i>Swine.</i>—The filthy state of hog-pens is allowed on account
-of the amount of manure they will make by working over
-all sorts of vegetable matter, spoiled hay, weeds, etc., etc.
-This is unhealthy for the family near and also for the animal.
-The hog is, naturally, a cleanly animal, and if given a
-chance he will keep himself very neat and clean. Breeding
-sows should have the range of a small pasture, and be regularly
-fed. They need fresh water constantly, and often suffer
-for lack of it when they have liquid swill which they do
-not like to drink. All hogs should have a warm, dry, well-littered
-pen to lie in, away from flies and disturbance of
-any kind. They are fond of charcoal, and it is worth while
-frequently to throw a few handfuls where they can get at
-it. It has a very beneficial effect on the appetite, regulates
-the tone of the stomach and digestive organs, and can not
-do any harm. Pigs ought always to be well fed and kept
-growing fast; and when being fattened, they should be penned
-always, the herd being sorted so that all may have an
-equal chance. It is well to feed soft corn in the ear; but
-hard corn should always be ground and cooked for pigs.</p>
-
-<p><i>Sheep.</i>—In the winter, sheep need deep, well-littered, dry
-sheds, dry yards, and hay, wheat, or oat straw, as much as
-they will eat. They should be kept gaining by grain regularly
-fed to them, and so distributed that each gets its share.
-Corn, either whole or ground, or oil-cake meal, or both, are
-used for fattening sheep. They will easily surfeit themselves
-on any grain except oil-meal, which is very safe feed
-for them, and usually economical. Strong sheep will often
-drive the weaker ones away, and so get more than their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span>
-share of food and make themselves sick. This must be
-guarded against, and the flock sorted, keeping the weaker
-and stronger apart.</p>
-
-<p>Sheep are very useful in clearing land of brush and certain
-weeds, which they gnaw down and kill. To accomplish
-this, the land must be overstocked, and it is best not to keep
-sheep on short pasturage more than a few weeks at a time;
-but if they are returned after a few days, it will serve as
-good a purpose as if they were to be kept on all the time.
-Sheep at pasture must be restrained by good fences, or they
-will be a great nuisance. Dog-proof hedge fences of Osage
-orange are to be highly recommended, wherever this plant
-will grow. Mutton sheep will generally pay better to raise
-than merinos, but they need more care.</p>
-
-<p><i>Poultry.</i>—Few objects of labor are more remunerative
-than poultry, raised on a moderate scale. <i>Turkeys</i>, when
-young, need great care; some animal food, dry, warm quarters,
-and must be kept out of the wet grass, and kept in
-when it rains. As soon as fledged they become very hardy,
-and, with free range, will almost take care of themselves.
-<i>Geese</i> need water and good grass pasture. <i>Ducks</i> do very
-well without water to swim in, if they have all they need to
-drink. They will lay a great many eggs if kept shut in a
-pen until say eight o’clock in the morning. If let out earlier,
-they wander away, and will hide their nests, and lay only
-about as many eggs as they can cover. It is best to set
-ducks’ eggs under hens, and to keep young ducks shut up in
-a dry roomy pen for four weeks, at least. <i>Fowls</i> need light,
-warm, dry quarters in winter, plenty of feed, but not too
-much. They relish animal food, and ought to have some
-frequently to make them lay. Pork or beef scrap-cake can
-be bought for two to three cents a pound, and is very good
-for them. Any kind of grain is good for poultry. Nothing
-is better than wheat screenings. Early-hatched chickens
-must be kept in a warm, dry, sunny room, with plenty of
-gravel, and the hen should have no more than eight or nine
-chickens to brood; though in summer one hen will take
-good care of fifteen. Little chickens, turkeys, and ducks
-need frequent feeding, and must have their water changed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span>
-often. It is well to grease the body of the hen and the
-heads of the chicks with lard, in order to prevent their becoming
-lousy.</p>
-
-<p>Hens set about twenty days, and should be well fed and
-watered. Cold or damp weather is bad for young fowls,
-and when they have been chilled, pepper-corns are a good
-remedy, in addition to the warmth of an inclosed dry place.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The most absorbing part of the “Woman’s question” of
-the present time is the remedy for the varied sufferings of
-women who are widows or unmarried, and without means
-of support. As yet, few are aware how many sources of
-lucrative enterprise and industry lie open to woman in the
-employments directly connected with the family state. A
-woman can invest capital in the dairy and qualify herself to
-superintend a dairy farm as well as a man. And if she has
-no capital of her own, if well trained for this business, she
-can find those who have capital ready to furnish—an investment
-that, well managed, will become profitable. And, too,
-the raising of poultry, of hogs, and of sheep are all within
-the reach of a woman with proper abilities and training for
-this business. So that, if a woman chooses, she can find employment
-both interesting and profitable in studying the
-care of domestic animals.</p>
-
-<p><i>Bees.</i>—But one of the most profitable as well as interesting
-kinds of business for a woman is the care of bees. In a
-recent agricultural report it is stated that one lady bought
-four hives for ten dollars, and in five years she was offered
-one thousand five hundred dollars for her stock, and refused
-it as not enough. In addition to this increase of her capital,
-in one of these five years she sold twenty-two hives and four
-hundred and twenty pounds of honey. It is also stated that
-in five years one man, from six colonies of bees to start with,
-cleared eight thousand pounds of honey and one hundred
-and fifty-four colonies of bees.</p>
-
-<p>It is hoped a time is at hand when every woman will be
-trained to some employment by which she can secure to herself
-an independent home and means to support a family, in
-case she does not marry, or is left a widow, with herself and
-a family to maintain.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIX.<br />
-
-<small>CARE OF THE SICK.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>It is interesting to notice in the histories of our Lord the
-prominent place given to the care of the sick. When he
-first sent out the apostles, it was to heal the sick as well as
-to preach. Again, when he sent out the seventy, their first
-command was to “heal the sick,” and next to say, “the
-kingdom of God has come nigh unto you.” The body was
-to be healed first, in order to attend to the kingdom of God,
-even when it was “brought nigh.”</p>
-
-<p>Jesus Christ spent more time and labor in the cure of
-men’s bodies than in preaching, even if we subtract those
-labors with his earthly father by which family homes were
-provided. When he ascended to the heavens, his last recorded
-words to his followers, as given by Mark, were, that
-his disciples should “lay hands on the sick,” that they
-might recover. Still more directly is the duty of care for
-the sick exhibited in the solemn allegorical description of
-the last day. It was those who visited the sick that were
-the blessed; it was those who did not visit the sick who
-were told to “depart.” Thus are we abundantly taught
-that one of the most sacred duties of the Christian family is
-the training of its inmates to care and kind attention to the
-sick.</p>
-
-<p>Every woman who has the care of young children, or of a
-large family, is frequently called upon to advise what shall
-be done for some one who is indisposed, and often in circumstances
-where she must trust solely to her own judgment.
-In such cases, some err by neglecting to do any thing
-at all till the patient is quite sick; but a still greater number
-err from excessive and injurious dosing.</p>
-
-<p>The two great causes of the ordinary slight attacks of illness
-in a family are, sudden chills, which close the pores of
-the skin, and thus affect the throat, lungs, or bowels; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span>
-the excessive or improper use of food. In most cases of illness
-from the first cause, bathing the feet, retiring to a warm
-bed, and some hot aperient drink to induce perspiration, are
-suitable remedies.</p>
-
-<p>In case of illness from improper food, or excess in eating,
-<i>fasting</i> for one or two meals, to give the system time and
-chance to relieve itself, is the safest remedy. Sometimes a
-gentle cathartic of castor-oil may be needful; but it is best
-first to try fasting. A safe relief from injurious articles in
-the stomach is an emetic of warm water; but to be effective,
-several tumblerfuls must be given in quick succession, and
-till the stomach can receive no more.</p>
-
-<p>The following extract from a discourse of Dr. Burne, before
-the London Medical Society, contains important information: “In
-civilized life, the causes which are most generally
-and continually operating in the production of diseases
-are, affections of the mind, improper diet, and retention
-of the intestinal excretions. The undue retention of excrementitious
-matter allows of the absorption of its more
-liquid parts, which is a cause of great impurity to the blood,
-and the excretions, thus rendered hard and knotty, act more
-or less as extraneous substances, and, by their irritation,
-produce a determination of blood to the intestines and to
-the neighboring viscera, which ultimately ends in inflammation.
-It also has a great effect on the whole system; causes
-a determination of blood to the head, which oppresses the
-brain and dejects the mind; deranges the functions of the
-stomach; causes flatulency; and produces a general state
-of discomfort.”</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Combe remarks on this subject: “In the natural and
-healthy state, under a proper system of diet, and with sufficient
-exercise, the bowels are relieved regularly once every
-day.” <em>Habit</em> “is powerful in modifying the result, and
-in sustaining healthy action when once fairly established.
-Hence the obvious advantage of observing as much regularity
-in relieving the system, as in taking our meals.” It is
-often the case that soliciting nature at a regular period,
-once a day, will remedy constipation without medicine, and
-induce a regular and healthy state of the bowels. “When,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span>
-however, as most frequently happens, the constipation arises
-from the absence of all assistance from the abdominal and
-respiratory muscles, the first step to be taken is, again to
-solicit their aid; first, by removing all impediments to free
-respiration, such as stays, waistbands, and belts; secondly,
-by resorting to such active exercise as shall call the muscles
-into full and regular action;<a id="FNanchor_7_7" href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> and lastly, by proportioning
-the quantity of food to the wants of the system, and the
-condition of the digestive organs.</p>
-
-<p>“If we employ these means systematically and perseveringly,
-we shall rarely fail in at last restoring the healthy
-action of the bowels, with little aid from medicine. But if
-we neglect these modes, we may go on for years, adding pill
-to pill, and dose to dose, without ever attaining the end at
-which we aim.</p>
-
-<p>“There is no point in which a woman needs more knowledge
-and discretion than in administering remedies for what
-seem slight attacks, which are not supposed to require the
-attention of a physician. It is little realized that purgative
-drugs are unnatural modes of stimulating the internal organs,
-tending to exhaust them of their secretions, and to
-debilitate and disturb the animal economy. For this reason,
-they should be used as little as possible; and fasting, and
-perspiration, and the other methods pointed out, should always
-be first resorted to.”</p>
-
-<p>When medicine must be given, it should be borne in mind
-that there are various classes of purgatives, which produce
-very diverse effects. Some, like salts, operate to thin the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span>
-blood, and reduce the system; others are stimulating; and
-others have a peculiar operation on certain organs. Of
-course, great discrimination and knowledge are needed, in
-order to select the kind which is suitable to the particular
-disease, or to the particular constitution of the invalid.
-This shows the folly of using the many kinds of pills, and
-other quack medicines, where no knowledge can be had of
-their composition. Pills which are good for one kind of disease
-might operate as poison in another state of the system.</p>
-
-<p>It is very common in cases of colds, which affect the lungs
-or throat, to continue to try one dose after another for relief.
-It will be well to bear in mind at such times, that all which
-goes into the stomach must be first absorbed into the blood
-before it can reach the diseased part; and that there is some
-danger of injuring the stomach, or other parts of the system,
-by such a variety of doses, many of which, it is probable,
-will be directly contradictory in their nature, and thus neutralize
-any supposed benefit they might separately impart.</p>
-
-<p>When a cold affects the head and eyes, and also impedes
-breathing through the nose, great relief is gained by a wet
-napkin spread over the upper part of the face, covering the
-nose except an opening for breath. This is to be covered
-by folds of flannel fastened over the napkin with a handkerchief.
-So also a wet towel over the throat and whole chest,
-covered with folds of flannel, often relieves oppressed lungs.</p>
-
-<p>Ordinarily, a cold can be arrested on its first symptoms by
-coverings in bed and a bottle of hot water, securing free
-perspiration. Often, at its first appearance, it can be stopped
-by a spoonful or two of hot whisky, or any alcoholic
-liquor, in hot water, taken on going to bed. Warm covering
-to induce perspiration will assist the process. These
-simple remedies are safest. Perspiration should always be
-followed by a towel-bath of cool water in a warm room or
-by a fire.</p>
-
-<p>It is very unwise to tempt the appetite of a person who is
-indisposed. The cessation of appetite is the warning of nature
-that the system is in such a state that food can not be
-easily digested. When food is to be given to one who has
-no desire for it, beef-tea is the best in most cases.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span></p>
-
-<p>The following suggestions may be found useful in regard
-to nursing the sick: As nothing contributes more to the
-restoration of health than pure air, it should be a primary
-object to keep a sick-room well ventilated. At least twice
-in the twenty-four hours, the patient should be well covered,
-and fresh air freely admitted from out-of-doors. After this,
-if need be, the room should be restored to a proper temperature
-by the aid of an open fire. Bedding and clothing
-should also be well aired, and frequently changed, as the
-exhalations from the body, in sickness, are peculiarly deleterious.
-Frequent ablutions of the whole body, if possible,
-are very useful; and for these warm water may be employed,
-when cold water is disagreeable.</p>
-
-<p>A sick-room should always be kept very neat and in perfect
-order; and all haste, noise, and bustle should be avoided.
-In order to secure neatness, order, and quiet, in case of
-long illness, the following arrangements should be made:
-Keep a large box for fuel, which will need to be filled only
-twice in twenty-four hours. Provide also and keep in the
-room or an adjacent closet, a small tea-kettle, a saucepan, a
-pail of water for drinks and ablutions, a pitcher, a covered
-porringer, two pint bowls, two tumblers, two cups and saucers,
-two wine-glasses, two large and two small spoons; also
-a dish in which to wash these articles; a good supply of
-towels, and a broom. Keep a slop-bucket near by to receive
-the wash of the room. Procuring all these articles at once
-will save much noise and confusion.</p>
-
-<p>Whenever medicine or food is given, spread a clean towel
-over the person or bed-clothing, and get a clean handkerchief,
-as nothing is more annoying to a weak stomach than
-the stickiness and soiling produced by medicine and food.</p>
-
-<p>Keep the fire-place neat, and always wash all articles and
-put them in order as soon as they are out of use. A sick
-person has nothing to do but look about the room; and
-when every thing is neat and in order, a feeling of comfort
-is induced, while disorder, filth, and neglect are constant objects
-of annoyance which, if not complained of, are yet felt.</p>
-
-<p>One very important particular in the case of those who
-are delicate in constitution, as well as in the case of the sick,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span>
-is the preservation of warmth, especially in the hands and
-the feet. The <em>equal</em> circulation of the blood is an important
-element for good health, and this is impossible when the extremities
-are habitually or frequently cold. It is owing to
-this fact that the coldness caused by wetting the feet is so
-injurious. In cases where disease or a weak constitution
-causes a feeble or imperfect circulation, great pains should
-be taken to dress the feet and hands warmly, especially
-around the wrists and ankles, where the blood-vessels are
-nearest to the surface and thus most exposed to cold. Warm
-elastic wristlets and anklets would save many a feeble person
-from increasing decay or disease.</p>
-
-<p>When the circulation is feeble from debility or disease,
-the union of carbon and oxygen in the capillaries is slower
-than in health, and therefore care should be taken to preserve
-the heat thus generated by warm clothing and protection
-from cold draughts. In nervous debility it is peculiarly
-important to preserve the animal heat, for its excessive
-loss especially affects weak nerves. Many an invalid is carelessly
-and habitually suffering cold feet, who would recover
-health by proper care to preserve animal heat, especially in
-the extremities. Hot fomentations in most cases will be as
-good as a blister, less painful, and safer.</p>
-
-<p>Always prepare food for the sick in the neatest and most
-careful manner. It is in sickness that the senses of smell
-and taste are most susceptible of annoyance; and often, little
-mistakes or negligences in preparing food will take away
-all appetite.</p>
-
-<p>Food for the sick should be cooked on coals, that no
-smoke may have access to it; and great care must be taken
-to prevent, by stirring, any adherence to the bottom of the
-cooking vessel, as this always gives a disagreeable taste.</p>
-
-<p>Keeping clean handkerchiefs and towels at hand, cooling
-the pillows, sponging the hands with water, (with care to
-dry them thoroughly,) swabbing the mouth with a clean
-linen rag on the end of a stick, are modes of increasing the
-comfort of the sick. Always throw a shawl over a sick person
-when raised up.</p>
-
-<p>Be careful to understand a physician’s directions, and <em>to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span>
-obey them implicitly</em>. If it be supposed that any other person
-knows better about the case than the physician, dismiss
-the physician, and employ that person in his stead.</p>
-
-<p>It is always best to consult the physician as to where
-medicines shall be purchased, and to show the articles to
-him before using them, as great impositions are practiced
-in selling old, useless, and adulterated drugs. Always put
-labels on phials of medicine, and keep them out of the reach
-of children.</p>
-
-<p>Be careful to label all powders, and particularly all <i>white
-powders</i>, as many poisonous medicines in this form are easily
-mistaken for others which are harmless.</p>
-
-<p>In nursing the sick, always speak gently and cheeringly;
-and, while you express sympathy for their pain and trials,
-stimulate them to bear all with fortitude, and with resignation
-to the Heavenly Father, who “doth not willingly afflict,”
-and “who causeth all things to work together for
-good to them that love him.” Offer to read the Bible or
-other devotional books, whenever it is suitable, and will not
-be deemed obtrusive.</p>
-
-<p>Every woman should be trained for the office of nurse to
-the sick, and some who have special traits that fit them for
-it should make it their daily professional business. The indispensable
-qualities in a good nurse are common sense, conscientiousness,
-and sympathetic benevolence.</p>
-
-<p>Persons may be conscientious and benevolent, and possess
-good judgment in many respects, and yet be miserable nurses
-of the sick for want of training and right knowledge.</p>
-
-<p>“<i>Knowledge</i>, the assurance that one knows what to do,
-always gives <em>presence of mind</em>—and presence of mind is important
-not only in a sick-room but in every home. Who
-has not known consternation in a family when some one has
-fainted, or been burned, or cut, while none were present who
-knew how to stop the flowing blood, or revive the fainting,
-or apply the saving application to the burn? And yet
-knowledge and efficiency in such cases would save many a
-life, and be a most fitting and desirable accomplishment in
-every woman.”</p>
-
-<p>“We are slow to learn the mighty influence of common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span>
-agencies, and the greatness of little things, in their bearing
-upon life and health. The woman who believes it takes no
-strength to bear a little noise or some disagreeable announcements,
-and loses patience with the weak, nervous invalid
-who is agonized with creaking doors or shoes, or loud,
-shrill voices, or rustling papers, or sharp, fidgety motions, or
-the whispering so common in sick-rooms and often so acutely
-distressing to the sufferer, will soon correct such misapprehensions
-by herself experiencing a nervous fever.”</p>
-
-<p>Here the writer would put in a plea for the increasing
-multitudes of nervous sufferers not confined to a sick-room,
-and yet exposed to all the varied sources of pain incident to
-an exhausted nervous system, which often cause more intolerable
-and also more wearing pain than other kinds of suffering.</p>
-
-<p>“An exceeding acuteness of the senses is the result of
-many forms of nervous disease. A heavy breath, an unwashed
-hand, a noise that would not have been noticed in
-health, a crooked table-cover or bed-spread, may disturb or
-oppress; and more than one invalid has spoken in my hearing
-of the sickening effect produced by the nurse tasting her
-food, or blowing in her drinks to make them cool. One
-woman, and a sensible woman too, told me her nurse had
-turned a large cushion upon her bureau with the back part
-in front. She determined not to be disturbed nor to speak
-of such a trifle, but after struggling <em>three hours</em> in vain to
-banish the annoyance, she was forced to ask to have the
-cushion placed right.”</p>
-
-<p>In this place should be mentioned the suffering caused to
-persons of reduced nervous power not only by the smoke of
-tobacco, but by the fetid effluvium of it from the breath and
-clothing of persons who smoke. Many such are sickened in
-society and in car-traveling, and to a degree little imagined
-by those who gain a dangerous pleasure at the frequent expense
-of the feeble and suffering.</p>
-
-<p>“It is often exceedingly important to the very weak, who
-can take but very little nutriment, to have that little whenever
-they want it. I have known invalids sustain great injury
-and suffering; when exhausted for want of food, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span>
-have had to wait and wait, feeling as if every minute was an
-hour, while some well-fed nurse delayed its coming. Said a
-lady, ‘It makes me hungry now to think of the meals she
-brought me upon that little waiter when I was sick—such
-brown thin toast, such good broiled beef, such fragrant tea,
-and every thing looking so exquisitely nice! If at any time
-I did not think of any thing I wanted, nor ask for food, she
-did not annoy me with questions, but brought some little
-delicacy at the proper time, and when it came I could take
-it.’</p>
-
-<p>“If there is one purpose of a personal kind for which it is
-especially desirable to lay up means, it is for being well
-nursed in sickness; yet in the present state of society this
-is absolutely impossible, even to the wealthy, because of the
-scarcity of competent nurses. Families worn down with
-the long and extreme illness of a member require relief from
-one whose feelings will be less taxed, and who can better
-endure the labor.</p>
-
-<p>“But, alas! how often is it impossible, for love or money,
-to obtain one capable of taking the burden from the exhausted
-sister or mother or daughter, and how often in consequence
-they have died prematurely or struggled through
-weary years with a broken constitution. Appeal to those
-who have made the trial, and you will find that very seldom
-have they been able to have those who by nature or by
-training were competent for their duties. Ignorant, unscrupulous,
-inattentive—how often they disturb and injure the
-patient! A physician told me that one of his patients had
-died because the nurse, contrary to orders, had at a critical
-period washed her with cold water. One is known who, by
-stealth, quieted a fretful child with laudanum, and of others
-who exhausted the sick by incessant talking. One lady said
-that when, to escape this distressing garrulity, she closed her
-eyes, the nurse exclaimed, aloud, ‘Why, she is going to sleep
-while I am talking to her.’</p>
-
-<p>“A few only of the sensible, quiet, and loving women,
-whose presence everywhere is a blessing, have qualified
-themselves and followed nursing as a business. Heaven
-bless that few! What a sense of relief pervades a family<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span>
-when such an one has been procured; and what a treasure
-seemed found!</p>
-
-<p>“There is very commonly an extreme susceptibility in the
-sick to the <em>moral atmosphere</em> about them. They feel the
-healthful influence of the presence of a true-hearted attendant
-and repose in it, though they may not be able to define
-the cause; while dissimulation, falsehood, recklessness, coarseness,
-jar terribly and injuriously on their heightened sensibilities.
-‘Are the Sisters of Charity really better nurses
-than most other women?’ asked an intelligent lady who had
-seen much of our military hospitals. ‘Yes, they are,’ was
-the reply. ‘Why should it be so?’ 'I think it is because
-with them it is a work of self-abnegation, and of duty to
-God; and they are so quiet and self-forgetful in its exercise
-that they do it better, while many other women show such
-self-consciousness and are so fussy!”</p>
-
-<p>Is there any reason why every Protestant woman should
-not be trained for this self-denying office as <em>a duty owed to
-God</em>?</p>
-
-<p>We can not better close this chapter than by one more
-quotation from an intelligent and attractive writer: “The
-good nurse is an artist. Oh the pillowy, soothing softness
-of her touch, the neatness of her simple, unrustling dress, the
-music of her assured yet gentle voice and tread, the sense
-of security and rest inspired by her kind and hopeful face,
-the promptness and attention to every want, the repose that
-like an atmosphere encircles her, the evidence of heavenly
-goodness and love that she diffuses!” Is not such an art as
-this worth much to attain?</p>
-
-<p>In training children to the Christian life, one very important
-opportunity occurs whenever sickness appears in the
-family or neighborhood. The repression of disturbing noises,
-the speaking in tones of gentleness and sympathy, the small
-offices of service or nursing in which children can aid, should
-be inculcated as ministering to the Lord and Elder Brother
-of man, who has said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
-of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.”</p>
-
-<p>One of the blessed opportunities for such ministries is
-given to children in the cultivation of flowers. The entrance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span>
-into a sick-room of a smiling, healthful child, bringing an offering
-of flowers raised by its own labor, is like an angel of
-comfort and love, “and alike it blesseth him who gives and
-him who takes.”</p>
-
-<p>A time is coming when the visitation of the sick, as a part
-of the Christian life, will hold a higher consideration than
-is now generally accorded, especially in the cases of uninteresting
-sufferers who have nothing to attract kind attentions,
-except that they are suffering children of our Father in
-heaven, and “one of the least” of the brethren of Jesus
-Christ.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XX.<br />
-
-<small>FIRES AND LIGHTS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>A shallow fire-place saves wood, and gives out more heat
-than a deeper one. A false back of brick may be put up
-in a deep fire-place. Hooks for holding up the shovel and
-tongs, a hearth-brush and bellows, and brass knobs to hang
-them on, should be furnished to every fire-place. An iron
-bar across the andirons aids in keeping the fire safe and in
-good order. Steel furniture is neater, handsomer, and more
-easily kept in order than that made of brass.</p>
-
-<p>Use green wood for logs, and mix green and dry wood
-for the fire; and then the wood-pile will last much longer.
-Walnut, maple, hickory, and oak wood are best; chestnut
-or hemlock is bad, because it snaps. Do not buy a load in
-which there are many crooked sticks. Learn how to measure
-and calculate the solid contents of a load, so as not to
-be cheated. A cord of wood should be equivalent to a pile
-eight feet long, four feet wide and four feet high; that is,
-it contains (8 x 4 x 4 = 128) one hundred and twenty-eight
-cubic or solid feet. A city “load” is usually one third of
-a cord. Have all your wood split and piled under cover
-for winter. Have the green-wood logs in one pile, dry-wood
-in another, oven-wood in another, kindlings and chips in another,
-and a supply of charcoal to use for broiling and ironing
-in another place. Have a brick bin for ashes, and never
-allow them to be put in wood. When quitting fires at
-night, never leave a burning stick across the andirons, nor
-on its end, without quenching it. See that no fire adheres
-to the broom or brush; remove all articles from the fire, and
-have two pails filled with water in the kitchen where they
-will not freeze.</p>
-
-
-<h4>STOVES AND GRATES.</h4>
-
-<p>Rooms heated by stoves should always have some opening
-for the admission of fresh air, or they will be injurious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span>
-to health. The dryness of the air which they occasion
-should be remedied by placing a vessel filled with water
-on the stove, otherwise the lungs or eyes will be injured.
-A large number of plants in a room prevents this dryness
-of the air. Where stove-pipes pass through fire-boards, the
-hole in the wood should be much larger than the pipe, so
-that there may be no danger of the wood taking fire. The
-unsightly opening thus occasioned should be covered with
-tin. When pipes are carried through floors or partitions,
-they should always pass either through earthen crocks, or
-what are known as tin stove-pipe thimbles, which may be
-found in any stove store or tinsmith’s. Lengthening a pipe
-will increase its draught.</p>
-
-<p>For those who use <i>anthracite coal</i>, that which is broken
-or screened is best for grates, and the nut-coal for small
-stoves. Three tons are sufficient in the Middle States, and
-four tons in the Northern, to keep one fire through the winter.
-That which is bright, hard, and clean, is best; and that
-which is soft, porous, and covered with damp dust, is poor.
-It will be well to provide two barrels of charcoal for kindling
-to every ton of anthracite coal. Grates for <i>bituminous
-coal</i> should have a flue nearly as deep as the grate; and the
-bars should be round and not close together. The better
-draught there is, the less coal-dust is made. Every grate
-should be furnished with a poker, shovel, tongs, blower, coal-scuttle,
-and holder for the blower. The latter may be made
-of woolen, covered with old silk, and hung near the fire.</p>
-
-<p>Coal-stoves should be carefully put up, as cracks in the
-pipe, especially in sleeping-rooms, are dangerous.</p>
-
-
-<h4>LIGHTS.</h4>
-
-<p>Professor Phin, of the <i>Manufacturer and Builder</i>, has
-kindly given us some late information on this important
-topic, which will be found valuable.</p>
-
-<p>In choosing the source of our light, the great points to be
-considered are, first, the influence on the eyes; and secondly,
-economy. It is poor economy to use a bad light. Modern
-houses in cities, and even in large villages, are furnished
-with gas; where gas is not used, sperm-oil, kerosene or coal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span>oil,
-and candles are employed. Gas is the cheapest, (or
-ought to be;) and if properly used, is as good as any. Good
-sperm-oil burned in an Argand lamp—that is, a lamp with a
-circular wick, like the astral lamp and others—is perhaps
-the best; but it is expensive and attended with many inconveniences.
-Good kerosene-oil gives a light which leaves little
-to be desired. Candles are used only on rare occasions,
-though many families prefer to manufacture into candles the
-waste grease that accumulates in the household. The economy
-of any source of light will depend so much upon local
-circumstances that no absolute directions can be given.</p>
-
-<p>The effect produced by light on the eyes depends upon
-the following points: First, <i>Steadiness</i>. Nothing is more
-injurious to the eyes than a flickering, unsteady flame.
-Hence, all flames used for light-giving purposes ought to be
-surrounded with glass chimneys or small shades. No naked
-flame can ever be steady. Second, <i>Color</i>. This depends
-greatly upon the temperature of the flame. A hot flame
-gives a bright, white light; a flame which has not a high
-temperature gives a dull, yellow light, which is very injurious
-to the eyes. In the naked gas-jet a large portion of the
-flame burns at a low temperature, and the same is the case
-with the flame of the kerosene lamp when the height of the
-chimney is not properly proportioned to the amount of oil
-consumed; a high wick needs a high chimney. In the case
-of a well-trimmed Argand oil-lamp, or an Argand burner for
-gas, the flame is in general most intensely hot, and the light
-is of a clear white character.</p>
-
-<p>The third point which demands attention is the <i>amount
-of heat</i> transmitted from the flame to the eyes. It often
-happens that people, in order to economize light, bring the
-lamp quite close to the face. This is a very bad habit.
-The heat is more injurious than the light. Better burn a
-larger flame, and keep it at a greater distance.</p>
-
-<p>It is also well that various-sized lamps should be provided
-to serve the varying necessities of the household in
-regard to quantity of light. One of the very best forms of
-lamp is that known as the “student’s reading-lamp,” which
-is, in the burner, an Argand. Provide small lamps with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span>
-handles for carrying about, and broad-bottomed lamps for
-the kitchen, as these are not easily upset. Hand and kitchen
-lamps are best made of metal, unless they are to be used
-by very careful persons.</p>
-
-<p>Sperm-oil, lard, tallow, etc., have been superseded to such
-an extent by kerosene that it is scarcely worth while to
-give any special directions in regard to them. In the choice
-of kerosene, attention should be paid to two points: its <i>safety</i>,
-and its <i>light-giving qualities</i>. Kerosene is not a simple
-fluid, like water; but is a mixture of several liquids, all of
-which boil at different temperatures. Good kerosene-oil
-should be purified from all that portion which boils or evaporates
-at a low temperature; for it is the production of this
-vapor, and its mixture with atmospheric air, that gives rise
-to those terrible explosions which sometimes occur when a
-light is brought near a can of poor oil. To test the oil in
-this respect, pour a little into an iron spoon, and heat it over
-a lamp until it is moderately warm to the touch. If the oil
-produces vapor which can be set on fire by means of a flame
-held a short distance above the surface of the liquid, it is
-bad. Good oil poured into a tea-cup or on the floor does not
-easily take fire when a light is brought in contact with it.
-Poor oil will instantly ignite under the same circumstances,
-and hence the breaking of a lamp filled with poor oil is always
-attended by great peril of a conflagration. Not only
-the safety but also the light-giving qualities of kerosene are
-greatly enhanced by the removal of these volatile and dangerous
-oils. Hence, while good kerosene should be clear in
-color, and free from all matters which can gum up the wick
-and thus interfere with free circulation and combustion, it
-should also be perfectly safe. It ought to be kept in a cool,
-dark place, and carefully excluded from the air.</p>
-
-<p>The care of lamps requires so much attention and discretion,
-that many ladies choose to do this work themselves,
-rather than trust it with domestics. To do it properly, provide
-the following things: an old waiter to hold all the articles
-used; a lamp-filler, with a spout, small at the end, and
-turned up to prevent oil from dripping; proper wicks, and a
-basket or box to hold them; a lamp-trimmer made for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span>
-purpose, or a pair of <em>sharp</em> scissors; a small soap-cup and
-soap; some washing soda in a broad-mouthed bottle; and
-several soft cloths to wash the articles and towels to wipe
-them. If every thing, after being used, is cleansed from oil
-and then kept neatly, it will not be so unpleasant a task as
-it usually is to take care of lamps.</p>
-
-<p>The inside of lamps and oil-cans should be cleansed with
-soda dissolved in water. Be careful to drain them well,
-and not to let any gilding or bronze be injured by the soda
-coming in contact with it. Put one table-spoonful of soda
-to one quart of water. Take the lamp to pieces and clean it
-as often as necessary. Wipe the chimney at least once a
-day, and wash it whenever mere wiping fails to cleanse it.
-Some persons, owing to the dirty state of their chimneys,
-lose half the light which is produced. Keep dry fingers in
-trimming lamps. Renew the wicks before they get too
-short. They should never be allowed to burn shorter than
-an inch and a half.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to <i>shades</i>, which are always well to use on
-lamps or gas, those made of glass or porcelain are now so
-cheap that we can recommend them as the best without any
-reservation. Plain shades, making the light soft and even,
-do not injure the eyes. Lamps should be lighted with a
-strip of folded or rolled paper, of which a quantity should be
-kept on the mantel-piece. Weak eyes should always be especially
-shaded from the lights. Small screens, made for
-the purpose, should be kept at hand. A person with weak
-eyes can use them safely much longer when they are protected
-from the glare of the light. Fill the entry-lamp every
-day, and cleanse and fill night-lanterns twice a week, if used
-often. A good night-lamp is made with a small one-wicked
-lamp and a roll of tin to set over it. Have some holes made
-in the bottom of this cover, and it can then be used to heat
-articles. Very cheap floating tapers can be bought to burn
-in a tea-cup of oil through the night.</p>
-
-
-<h4>TO MAKE CANDLES.</h4>
-
-<p>The nicest candles are those run in molds. For this purpose,
-melt together one quarter of a pound of white wax,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span>
-one quarter of an ounce of camphor, two ounces of alum, and
-ten ounces of suet or mutton-tallow. Soak the wicks in
-lime-water and saltpetre, and when dry, fix them in the
-molds and pour in the melted tallow. Let them remain
-one night to cool; then warm them a little to loosen them,
-draw them out, and when they are hard, put them in a box
-in a dry and cool place.</p>
-
-<p>To make dipped candles, cut the wicks of the right length,
-double them over rods, and twist them. They should first
-be dipped in lime-water or vinegar, and dried. Melt the
-tallow in a large kettle, filling it to the top with hot water,
-when the tallow is melted. Put in wax and powdered alum,
-to harden them. Keep the tallow hot over a portable furnace,
-and fill the kettle with hot water as fast as the tallow
-is used up. Lay two long strips of narrow board on which
-to hang the rods; and set flat pans under, on the floor, to
-catch the grease. Take several rods at once, and wet the
-wicks in the tallow; straighten and smooth them when
-cool. Then dip them as fast as they cool, until they become
-of the proper size. Plunge them obliquely and not perpendicularly;
-and when the bottoms are too large, hold them
-in the hot grease till a part melts off. Let them remain one
-night to cool; then cut off the bottoms, and keep them in a
-dry, cool place. Cheap lights are made by dipping rushes
-in tallow, the rushes being first stripped of nearly the whole
-of the hard outer covering, and the pith alone being retained
-with just enough of the tough bark to keep it stiff.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXI.<br />
-
-<small>ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>In selecting the furniture of parlors, some reference should
-be had to correspondence of shades and colors. Curtains
-should be darker than the walls; and, if the walls and carpets
-be light, the chairs should be dark, and <i lang="la">vicè versa</i>. Pictures
-always look best on light walls.</p>
-
-<p>In selecting carpets for rooms much used, it is poor economy
-to buy cheap ones. <i>Ingrain</i> carpets, of close texture,
-and the <i>three-ply</i> carpets, are best for common use. <i>Brussels</i>
-carpets do not wear so long as the three-ply ones, because
-they can not be turned. <i>Wilton</i> carpets wear badly, and
-<i>Venetians</i> are good only for halls and stairs.</p>
-
-<p>In selecting colors, avoid those in which there are any
-black threads; as they are usually rotten. The most tasteful
-carpets are those which are made of various shades of
-the same color, or of all shades of only two colors; such as
-brown and yellow, or blue and buff, or salmon and green, or
-all shades of green, or of brown. All very dark shades
-should be brown or green, but not black.</p>
-
-<p>In laying down carpets, it is a bad practice to put straw
-under them, as this makes them wear out in spots. Straw
-matting, laid under carpets, makes them last much longer,
-as it is smooth and even, and the dust sifts through it. In
-buying carpets, always get a few yards over, to allow for
-waste in matching figures.</p>
-
-<p>In cutting carpets, make them three or four inches shorter
-than the room, to allow for stretching. Begin to cut <em>in the
-middle</em> of a figure, and it will usually match better. Many
-carpets match in two different ways, and care must be taken
-to get the right one. Sew a carpet on the wrong side, with
-double waxed thread, and with the <i>ball-stitch</i>. This is done
-by taking a stitch on the breadth next you, pointing the needle
-toward you; and then taking a stitch on the other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span>
-breadth, pointing the needle from you. Draw the thread
-tightly, but not so as to pucker. In fitting a breadth to the
-hearth, cut slits in the right place, and turn the piece under.
-Bind <em>the whole</em> of the carpet with carpet-binding, nail
-it with tacks, having bits of leather under the heads. To
-stretch the carpet, use a carpet-fork, which is a long stick,
-ending with notched tin, like saw-teeth. This is put in the
-edge of the carpet, and pushed by one person, while the nail
-is driven by another. Cover blocks or bricks with carpeting
-like that of the room, and put them behind tables, doors,
-sofas, etc., to preserve the walls from injury by knocking, or
-by the dusting-cloth.</p>
-
-<p>Cheap footstools, made of a square plank, covered with
-tow-cloth, stuffed, and then covered with carpeting, with
-worsted handles, look very well. Sweep carpets as seldom
-as possible, as it wears them out. To shake them often is
-good economy. In cleaning carpets, use damp tea leaves, or
-wet Indian meal, throwing it about, and rubbing it over
-with the broom. The latter is very good for cleansing carpets
-made dingy by coal-dust. In brushing carpets in ordinary
-use, it will be found very convenient to use a large flat
-dust-pan, with a perpendicular handle a yard high, put on
-so that the pan will stand alone, This can be carried about
-and used without stooping, brushing dust into it with a
-common or small whisk broom. The pan must be very
-large, or it will be upset.</p>
-
-<p>When carpets are taken up, they should be hung on a
-line, or laid on long grass, and whipped, first on one side, and
-then on the other, with pliant whips. If laid aside, they
-should be sewed up tight in linen, having snuff or tobacco
-put along all the crevices where moths could enter. Shaking
-pepper, from a pepper-box, round the edge of the floor,
-under a carpet, prevents the access of moths.</p>
-
-<p>Carpets can be best washed on the floor, thus: First shake
-them; and then, after cleaning the floor, stretch and nail
-them upon it. Then scrub them in cold soap-suds, having
-half a tea-cupful of ox-gall to a bucket of water. Then wash
-off the suds with a cloth in fair water. Set open the doors
-and windows for two days or more. Imperial Brussels, Ve<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span>netian,
-ingrain, and three-ply carpets can be washed thus;
-but Wilton and other plush carpets can not. Before washing
-them, take out grease with a paste made of potter’s
-clay, ox-gall, and water.</p>
-
-<p>Straw matting is the best for chambers and summer parlors.
-The checked, of two colors, is not so good to wear.
-The best is the cheapest in the end. When washed, it
-should be done with salt water, wiping it dry; but frequent
-washing injures it. Bind matting with cotton binding.
-Sew breadths together like carpeting. In joining the ends
-of pieces, ravel out a part, and tie the threads together, turning
-under a little of each piece, and then, laying the ends
-close, nail them down, with nails having kid under their
-heads.</p>
-
-<p>In hanging pictures, put them so that the lower part shall
-be opposite the eye. Cleanse the glass of pictures with
-whiting, as water endangers the pictures. Gilt frames can
-be much better preserved by putting on a coat of copal varnish,
-which, with proper brushes, can be bought of carriage
-or cabinet makers. When dry, it can be washed with fair
-water. Wash the brush in spirits of turpentine.</p>
-
-<p>Curtains, ottomans, and sofas covered with worsted, can
-be cleansed by wheat bran rubbed on with flannel. Dust
-Venetian blinds with feather brushes. Buy light-colored
-ones, as the green are going of fashion. Strips of linen or
-cotton, on rollers and pulleys, are much in use, to shut out
-the sun from curtains and carpets. Paper curtains, pasted
-on old cotton, are good for chambers. Put them on rollers
-having cords nailed to them, so that when the curtain falls
-the cord will be wound up. Then, by pulling the cord, the
-curtain will be rolled up.</p>
-
-<p><i>House-cleaning</i> should be done in dry, warm weather.
-Several friends of the writer maintain that cleaning paint,
-and windows, and floors in <em>hard</em>, <em>cold</em> water, without any
-soap, using a flannel wash-cloth, is much better than using
-warm suds. It is worth trying. In cleaning in the common
-way, sponges are best for windows, and clean water
-only should be used. They should be first wiped with linen,
-and then with old silk. The outside of windows should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span>
-be washed with a long brush made for the purpose; and
-they should be rinsed, by throwing upon them water containing
-a little saltpetre.</p>
-
-<p>When inviting company, mention in the note the day of
-the month and week, and the hour for coming. Provide a
-place for ladies to dress their hair, with a glass, pins, and
-combs. A pitcher of cold water and a tumbler should be
-added. When the company is small, it is becoming a common
-method for the table to be set at one end of the room,
-the lady of the house to pour out tea, and the gentlemen of
-the party to wait on the ladies and themselves. When tea
-is sent round, always send a tea-pot of hot water to weaken
-it, and a slop-bowl, or else many persons will drink their tea
-much stronger than they wish.</p>
-
-<p>Let it ever be remembered that the burning of lights and
-the breath of guests are constantly exhausting the air of its
-healthful principle; therefore avoid crowding many guests
-into one room. Do not tempt the palate by a great variety
-of unhealthful dainties. Have a warm room for departing
-guests, that they may not become chilled before they go out.</p>
-
-<p>A parlor should be furnished with candle and fire screens,
-for those who have weak eyes; and if, at table, a person sits
-with the back near the fire, a screen should be hung on the
-back of the chair, as it is very injurious to the whole system
-to have the back heated.</p>
-
-<p>Pretty baskets, for flowers or fruits, on centre-tables, can
-be made thus: Knit, with coarse needles, all the various
-shades of green and brown, into a square piece. Press it
-with a hot iron, and then ravel it out. Buy a pretty-shaped
-wicker-basket, or make one of stiff millinet, or thin pasteboard,
-cut the worsted into bunches, and sew them on, to
-resemble moss. Then line the basket, and set a cup or dish
-of water in it, to hold flowers, or use it for a fruit-basket.
-Handsome fire-boards are made by nailing black foundation-muslin
-to a frame the size of the fire-place, and then cutting
-out flowers from wall-paper and pasting them on the muslin,
-according to the fancy.</p>
-
-<p>Mahogany furniture should be made in the spring, and
-stand some months before it is used, or it will shrink and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span>
-warp. Varnished furniture should be rubbed only with
-silk, except occasionally, when a little sweet-oil should be
-rubbed over, and wiped off carefully. For unvarnished furniture,
-use bees-wax, a little softened with sweet-oil; rub it
-in with a hard brush, and polish with woolen and silk rags.
-Some persons rub in linseed-oil; others mix bees-wax with a
-little spirits of turpentine and rosin, making it so that it can
-be put on with a sponge, and wiped off with a soft rag.
-Others keep in a bottle the following mixture: two ounces
-of spirits of turpentine, four table-spoonfuls of sweet-oil, and
-one quart of milk. This is applied with a sponge, and wiped
-off with a linen rag.</p>
-
-<p>Hearths and jambs, of brick, look best painted over with
-black-lead, mixed with soft soap. Wash the bricks which
-are nearest the fire with redding and milk, using a painter’s
-brush. A sheet of zinc, covering the whole hearth, is cheap,
-saves work, and looks very well. A tinman can fit it properly.</p>
-
-<p>Stone hearths should be rubbed with a paste of powdered
-stone, (to be procured of the stone-cutters,) and then brushed
-with a stiff brush. Kitchen-hearths, of stone, are improved
-by rubbing in lamp-oil.</p>
-
-<p>Stains can be removed from marble by oxalic acid and
-water, or oil of vitriol and water, left on fifteen minutes, and
-then rubbed dry. Gray marble is improved by linseed-oil.
-Grease can be taken from marble by ox-gall and potter’s
-clay wet with soap-suds, (a gill of each). It is better to add,
-also, a gill of spirits of turpentine. It improves the looks
-of marble to cover it with this mixture, leaving it two days,
-and then rubbing it off.</p>
-
-<p>Unless a parlor is in constant use, it is best to sweep it
-only once a week, and at other times use a whisk-broom and
-dust-pan. When a parlor with handsome furniture is to be
-swept, cover the sofas, centre-table, piano, books, and mantel-piece,
-with old cottons, kept for the purpose. Remove
-the rugs, and shake them, and clean the jambs, hearth, and
-fire-furniture. Then sweep the room, moving every article.
-Dust the furniture with a dust-brush and a piece of old silk.
-A painter’s brush should be kept to remove dust from ledges<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span>
-and crevices. The dust-cloths should be often shaken and
-washed, or else they will soil the walls and furniture when
-they are used. Dust ornaments, and fine books, with feather
-brushes, kept for the purpose.</p>
-
-
-
-<h4>ON THE CARE OF BREAKFAST AND DINING ROOMS.</h4>
-
-<p>An eating-room should have in it a large closet, with
-drawers and shelves, in which should be kept all the articles
-used at meals. This, if possible, should communicate with
-the kitchen by a sliding window, or by a door, and have in
-it a window, and also a small sink, made of marble or lined
-with zinc, which will be a great convenience for washing
-nice articles. If there be a dumb-waiter, it is best to have
-it connected with such a closet. It may be so contrived,
-that, when it is down, it shall form part of the closet floor.</p>
-
-<p>A table-rug, or crumb-cloth, is useful to save carpets from
-injury. Bocking, or baize, is best. Always spread the same
-side up, or the carpet will be soiled by the rug. Table-mats
-are needful, to prevent injury to the table from the warm
-dishes. Tea-cup-mats, or small plates, are useful to save the
-table-cloths from dripping tea or coffee. Butter-knives for
-the butter-plate, and salt-spoons for salt dishes, are designed
-to prevent those disgusting marks which are made when
-persons use their own knives to take salt or butter. A sugar-spoon
-should be kept in or by the sugar-dish, for the same
-purpose. Table-napkins, of diaper, are often laid by each
-person’s plate, for use during the meal, to save the table-cloth
-and pocket-handkerchief. To preserve the same napkin
-for the same person, each member of the family has a
-given number, and the napkins are numbered to correspond,
-or else are slipped into ivory rings, which are numbered. A
-stranger has a clean one at each meal. Table-cloths should
-be well starched, and ironed on the right side, and always,
-when taken off, folded in the ironed creases. <i>Doilies</i> are
-colored napkins, which, when fruit is offered, should always
-be furnished, to prevent a person from staining a nice
-handkerchief, or permitting the fruit-juice to dry on the
-fingers.</p>
-
-<p>Casters and salt-stands should be put in order, every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span>
-morning, when washing the breakfast things. Always, if
-possible, provide <em>fine</em> and <em>dry</em> table-salt, as many persons are
-much disgusted with that which is dark, damp, and coarse.
-Be careful to keep salad-oil closely corked, or it will grow
-rancid. Never leave the salt-spoons in the salt, nor the
-mustard-spoon in the mustard, as they are thereby injured.
-Wipe them immediately after the meal.</p>
-
-<p>For table-furniture, French china is deemed the nicest, but
-it is liable to the objection of having plates so made that
-salt, butter, and similar articles, will not lodge on the edge,
-but slip into the centre. Select knives and forks which
-have weights in the handles, so that, when laid down, they
-will not touch the table. Those with riveted handles last
-longer than any others. Horn handles (except buck-horn)
-are very poor. The best are cheapest in the end. Knives
-should be sharpened once a month, unless they are kept
-sharp by the mode of scouring.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON SETTING TABLES.</h4>
-
-<p>Neat housekeepers observe the manner in which a table
-is set more than any thing else; and, to a person of good
-taste, few things are more annoying than to see the table
-placed askew; the table-cloth soiled, rumpled, and put on
-awry; the plates, knives, and dishes thrown about without
-any order; the pitchers soiled on the outside, and sometimes
-within; the tumblers dim; the caster out of order; the butter
-pitched on the plate, without any symmetry; the salt
-coarse, damp, and dark; the bread cut in a mixture of junks
-and slices; the dishes of food set on at random, and without
-mats; the knives dark or rusty, and their handles greasy;
-the tea-furniture all out of order, and every thing in similar
-style. And yet, many of these negligences will be met with
-at the tables of persons who call themselves well bred, and
-who have wealth enough to make much outside show. One
-reason for this is, the great difficulty of finding domestics
-who will attend to these things in a proper manner, and
-who, after they have been repeatedly instructed, will not
-neglect nor forget what has been said to them. The writer
-has known cases where much has been gained by placing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span>
-the following rules in plain sight, in the place where the articles
-for setting tables are kept.</p>
-
-
-<h4>RULES FOR SETTING A TABLE.</h4>
-
-<p>1. Lay the rug square with the room, and also smooth and
-even; then set the table also square with the room, and see
-that the <em>legs</em> are in the right position to support the leaves.</p>
-
-<p>2. Lay the table-cloth square with the table, <em>right side up</em>,
-smooth and even.</p>
-
-<p>3. Put on the tea-tray (for breakfast or tea) square with
-the table; set the cups and saucers at the front side of the
-tea-tray, and the sugar, slop-bowls, and cream-cup at the
-back side. Lay the sugar-spoon or tongs on the sugar-bowl.</p>
-
-<p>4. Lay the plates around the table at equal intervals, and
-the knives and forks at regular distances, each in the same
-particular manner, with a cup-mat or cup-plate to each, and
-a napkin at the right side of each person.</p>
-
-<p>5. If meat be used, set the caster and salt-cellars in the
-centre of the table; then lay mats for the dishes, and place
-the carving-knife, and fork and steel by the master of the
-house. Set the butter on two plates, one on either side,
-with a butter-knife by each.</p>
-
-<p>6. Set the tea or coffee-pot on a mat, at the right hand of
-the tea-tray, (if there be not room upon it.) Then place the
-chairs around the table, and call the family.</p>
-
-
-<h4>FOR DINNER.</h4>
-
-<p>1. Place the rug, table, table-cloth, plates, knives and
-forks, and napkins, as before directed, with a tumbler by
-each plate. In cold weather, set the plates where they will
-be warmed.</p>
-
-<p>2. Put the caster in the centre, and the salt-stands at two
-oblique corners, of the table, the latter between two large
-spoons crossed. If more spoons be needed, lay them on
-each side of the caster crossed. Set the pitcher on a mat,
-either at a side-table, or, when there is no waiter, on the dining-table.
-Water looks best in glass decanters.</p>
-
-<p>3. Set the bread on the table, when there is no waiter.
-Some take a fork and lay a piece on the napkin or tumbler<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span>
-by each plate. Others keep it in a tray, covered with a
-white napkin to keep off flies. Bread for dinner is often cut
-in small junks, and not in slices.</p>
-
-<p>4. Set the principal dish before the master of the house,
-and the other dishes in a regular manner. Put the carving-knife,
-fork, and steel by the principal dish, and also a knife-rest,
-if one be used.</p>
-
-<p>5. Put a small knife and fork by the pickles, and also by
-any other dishes which need them. Then place the chairs.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON WAITING AT TABLE.</h4>
-
-<p>A domestic who waits on the table should be required to
-keep the hair and hands in neat order, and have on a clean
-apron. A small tea-tray should be used to carry cups and
-plates. The waiter should announce the meal (when ready)
-to the mistress of the family, then stand by the eating-room
-door till all are in, then close the door, and step to the left
-side of the lady of the house. When all are seated, the
-waiter should remove the covers, taking care first to invert
-them, so as not to drop the steam on the table-cloth or
-guests. In presenting articles, go to the left side of the
-person. In pouring water, never entirely fill the tumbler.
-The waiter should notice when bread or water is wanting,
-and hand it without being called. When plates are changed,
-be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs,
-with a crumb-brush, into a small waiter.</p>
-
-<p>When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be
-set at the left side of the mistress of the house, on which the
-bread, water, and other articles not in immediate use can be
-placed.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE.</h4>
-
-<p>It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know
-how to carve well at her own table. It is not proper to
-stand in carving. The carving-knife should be sharp and
-thin. To carve fowls (which should always be laid with
-the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the breast, and take
-off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then cut
-out the merry-thought, cut slices from the breast, take out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span>
-the collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carcass
-in two. Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey.</p>
-
-<p>In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a
-piece of both the white and dark meat, with some of the
-stuffing. Inquire whether the guest will be helped to each
-kind of vegetable, and put the gravy on the plate, and not
-on any article of food.</p>
-
-<p>In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to
-you, (it must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;)
-then turn it, and cut from the tenderloin. Help the
-guest to both kinds.</p>
-
-<p>In carving a leg of mutton or a ham, begin by cutting
-across the middle to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and
-not lengthwise, and help from the middle part.</p>
-
-<p>Carve a fore-quarter of lamb by separating the shoulder
-from the ribs, and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin
-of veal, begin at the smaller end and separate the ribs. Help
-each one to a piece of the kidney and its fat. Carve pork
-and mutton in the same way.</p>
-
-<p>To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the
-stuffing with each slice. In a breast of veal, separate the
-breast and brisket, and then cut them up, asking which part
-is preferred. In carving a pig, it is customary to divide it,
-and take off the head, before it comes to the table; as, to
-many persons, the head is very revolting. Cut off the limbs,
-and divide the ribs. In carving venison, make a deep incision
-down to the bone, to let out the juices; then turn the
-broad end of the haunch toward you, cutting deep, in thin
-slices. For a saddle of venison, cut from the tail toward
-the other end, on each side, in thin slices. Warm plates are
-very necessary with venison and mutton, and in winter are
-desirable for all meats.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON THE CARE OF CHAMBERS AND BEDROOMS.</h4>
-
-<p>Every mistress of a family should see not only that all
-sleeping-rooms in her house <em>can be</em> well ventilated at night,
-but that they actually are so. Where there is no open fire-place
-to admit the pure air from the exterior, a door should
-be left open into an entry, or room where fresh air is admit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span>ted;
-or else a small opening should be made in the top and
-bottom of a window, taking care not to allow a draught of
-air to cross the bed. The debility of childhood, the lassitude
-of domestics, and the ill health of families, are often caused
-by neglecting to provide a supply of pure air. Straw matting
-is best for a chamber carpet, and strips of woolen carpeting
-may be laid by the side of the bed. Where chambers
-have no closets, a <i>wardrobe</i> is indispensable. A low
-square box, set on casters, with a cushion on the top, and a
-drawer on one side to put shoes in, is a great convenience in
-dressing the feet. An old Champagne basket, fitted up with
-a cushion on the lid, and a valance fastened to it to cover
-the sides, can be used for the same purpose.</p>
-
-<p>Another convenience, for a room where sewing is done in
-summer, is a fancy jar, set in one corner, to receive clippings,
-and any other rubbish. It can be covered with prints or
-paintings, and varnished, and then looks very prettily.</p>
-
-<p>The trunks in a chamber can be improved in looks and
-comfort by making cushions of the same size and shape,
-stuffed with hay and covered with chintz, with a frill reaching
-nearly to the floor.</p>
-
-<p>Every bed-chamber should have a wash-stand, bowl, pitcher,
-and tumbler, with a wash-bucket under the stand, to receive
-slops. A light screen, made like a clothes-frame, and
-covered with paper or chintz, should be furnished for bedrooms
-occupied by two persons, so that ablutions can be
-performed in privacy. It can be ornamented, so as to look
-well anywhere. A little frame, or towel-horse, by the wash-stand,
-on which to dry towels, is a convenience. A wash-stand
-should be furnished with a sponge or wash-cloth, and
-a small towel, for wiping the basin after using it. This
-should be hung on the wash-stand or towel-horse, for constant
-use. A soap-dish, and a dish for tooth-brushes, are neat
-and convenient, and each person should be furnished with
-two towels; one for the feet, and one for other purposes.</p>
-
-<p>It is in good taste to have the curtains, bed-quilt, valance,
-and window-curtains of similar materials. In making feather-beds,
-side-pieces should be put in, like those of mattresses,
-and the bed should be well filled, so that a person will not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span>
-be buried in a hollow, which is not healthful, save in extremely
-cold weather. Feather-beds should never be used
-except in cold weather. At other times, a thin mattress of
-hair, cotton and moss, or straw, should be put over them. A
-simple strip of broad straw matting, spread over a feather-bed,
-answers the same purpose. Nothing is more debilitating
-than, in warm weather, to sleep with a feather-bed pressing
-round the greater part of the body. Pillows stuffed
-with papers an inch square are good for summer, especially
-for young children, whose heads should be kept cool. The
-cheapest and best covering of a bed, for winter, is a <i>cotton
-comforter</i>, made to contain three or four pounds of cotton,
-laid in bats or sheets, between covers tacked together at
-regular intervals. They should be three yards square, and
-less cotton should be put at the sides that are tucked in. It
-is better to have two thin comforters to each bed, than one
-thick one; as then the covering can be regulated according
-to the weather.</p>
-
-<p>Few domestics will make a bed properly without much
-attention from the mistress of the family. The following directions
-should be given to those who do this work:</p>
-
-<p>Open the windows, and lay off the bed-covering, on two
-chairs, at the foot of the bed. After the bed is well aired,
-shake the feathers, from each corner to the middle; then
-take up the middle, and shake it well, and turn the bed over.
-Then push the feathers in place, making the head higher
-than the foot, and the sides even, and as high as the middle
-part. Then put on the bolster and the under sheet, so that
-the wrong side of the sheet shall go next the bed, and the
-<em>marking</em> come at the head, tucking in all around. Then put
-on the pillows, even, so that the open ends shall come to the
-sides of the bed, and then spread on the upper sheet, so that
-the wrong side shall be next the blankets and the marked
-end at the head. This arrangement of sheets is to prevent
-the part where the feet lie from being reversed, so as to
-come to the face, and also to prevent the parts soiled by the
-body from coming to the bed-tick and blankets. Then put
-on the other covering, except the outer one, tucking in all
-around, and then turn over the upper sheet, at the head, so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span>
-as to show a part of the pillows. When the pillow-cases
-are clean and smooth, they look best outside of the cover,
-but not otherwise. Then draw the hand along the side of
-the pillows, to make an even indentation, and then smooth
-and shape the whole outside. A nice housekeeper always
-notices the manner in which a bed is made; and in some
-parts of the country it is rare to see this work properly performed.</p>
-
-<p>The writer would here urge every mistress of a family
-who keeps more than one domestic to provide them with
-single beds, that they may not be obliged to sleep with all
-the changing domestics, who come and go so often. Where
-the room is too small for two beds, a narrow truckle-bed
-under another will answer. Domestics should be furnished
-with washing conveniences in their chambers, and be encouraged
-to keep their persons and rooms neat and in order.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON PACKING AND STORING ARTICLES.</h4>
-
-<p>Fold a gentleman’s coat thus: Lay it on a table or bed,
-the inside downward, and unroll the collar. Double each
-sleeve once, making the crease at the elbow, and laying
-them so as to make the fewest wrinkles, and parallel with
-the skirts. Turn the fronts over the back and sleeves, and
-then turn up the skirts, making all as smooth as possible.</p>
-
-<p>Fold a shirt thus: One that has a bosom-piece inserted,
-lay on a bed, bosom downward. Fold each sleeve twice,
-and lay it parallel with the sides of the shirt. Turn the
-two sides, with the sleeves, over the middle part, and then
-turn up the bottom, with two folds. This makes the collar
-and bosom lie, unpressed, on the outside.</p>
-
-<p>Fold a frock thus: Lay its front downward, so as to make
-the first creases in folding come in the side breadths. To
-do this, find the middle of the side breadths by first putting
-the middle of the front and back breadths together. Next,
-fold over the side creases so as just to meet the slit behind.
-Then fold the skirt again, so as to make the backs lie together
-within and the fronts without. Then arrange the
-waist and sleeves, and fold the skirt around them.</p>
-
-<p>In packing trunks for traveling, put all heavy articles at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span>
-the bottom, covered with paper, which should not be printed,
-as the ink rubs off. Put coats and pantaloons into linen
-cases, made for the purpose, and furnished with strings.
-Fill all crevices with small articles; as, if a trunk is not full,
-nor tightly packed, its contents will be shaken about and
-get injured. Under-clothing packs closer by being rolled
-tightly, instead of being folded.</p>
-
-<p>Bonnet-boxes, made of light wood, with a lock and key,
-are better than the paper bandboxes so annoying to travelers.
-Carpet-bags are very useful, to carry the articles to
-be used on a journey. The best ones have sides inserted,
-iron rims, and a lock and key. A large silk traveling-bag,
-with a double linen lining, in which are stitched receptacles
-for tooth-brush, combs, and other small articles, is a very
-convenient article for use when traveling.</p>
-
-<p>A bonnet-cover, made of some thin material, like a large
-hood with a cape, is useful to draw over the bonnet and
-neck, to keep off dust, sun, and sparks from a steam-engine.
-Green veils are very apt to stain bonnets when damp.</p>
-
-<p>In packing household furniture for moving, have each
-box numbered, and then have a book, in which, as each box
-is packed, note down the number of the box, and the order
-in which its contents are packed, as this will save much labor
-and perplexity when unpacking. In packing china and
-glass, wrap each article separately in paper, and put soft
-hay or straw at bottom and all around each. Put the heaviest
-articles at the bottom, and on the top of the box write,
-“This side up.”</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON THE CARE OF THE KITCHEN, CELLAR, AND STORE-ROOM.</h4>
-
-<p>If parents wish their daughters to grow up with good
-domestic habits, they should have, as one means of securing
-this result, a neat and cheerful kitchen. A kitchen should
-always, if possible, be entirely above-ground, and well lighted.
-It should have a large sink, with a drain running under-ground,
-so that all the premises may be kept sweet and
-clean. If flowers and shrubs be cultivated around the doors
-and windows, and the yard near them be kept well turfed,
-it will add very much to their agreeable appearance. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span>
-walls should often be cleaned and whitewashed, to promote
-a neat look and pure air. The floor of a kitchen should be
-painted, or, which is better, covered with an oil-cloth. To
-procure a kitchen oil-cloth as cheaply as possible, buy cheap
-tow cloth, and fit it to the size and shape of the kitchen.
-Then have it stretched, and nailed to the south side of the
-barn, and with a brush cover it with a coat of thin rye
-paste. When this is dry, put on a coat of yellow paint, and
-let it dry for a fortnight. It is safest to first try the paint,
-and see if it dries well, as some paint never will dry. Then
-put on a second coat, and, at the end of another fortnight, a
-third coat. Then let it hang two months, and it will last,
-uninjured, for many years. The longer the paint is left to
-dry, the better. If varnished, it will last much longer.</p>
-
-<p>A sink should be scalded out every day, and occasionally
-with hot ley. On nails, over the sink, should be hung three
-good dish-cloths, hemmed, and furnished with loops—one for
-dishes not greasy, one for greasy dishes, and one for washing
-pots and kettles. These should be put in the wash
-every week. The lady who insists upon this will not be
-annoyed by having her dishes washed with dark, musty, and
-greasy rags, as is too frequently the case.</p>
-
-<p>Under the sink should be kept a slop-pail; and, on a shelf
-by it, a soap-dish and two water-pails. A large boiler, of
-warm soft water, should always be kept over the fire, well
-covered, and a hearth-broom and bellows be hung near the
-fire. A clock is a very important article in the kitchen, in
-order to secure regularity at meals.</p>
-
-
-<h4>ON WASHING DISHES.</h4>
-
-<p>No item of domestic labor is so frequently done in a negligent
-manner by domestics as this. A full supply of conveniences
-will do much toward a remedy of this evil. A
-swab, made of strips of linen, tied to a stick, is useful to
-wash nice dishes, especially small, deep articles. Two or
-three towels, and three dish-cloths, should be used. Two
-large tin tubs, painted on the outside, should be provided;
-one for washing, and one for rinsing; also, a large old
-waiter, on which to drain the dishes. A soap-dish, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span>
-hard soap, and a fork, with which to use it, a slop-pail, and
-two pails for water, should also be furnished. Then, if there
-be danger of neglect, the following rules for washing dishes,
-legibly written, may be hung up by the sink, and it will aid
-in promoting the desired care and neatness.</p>
-
-
-<h4>RULES FOR WASHING DISHES.</h4>
-
-<p>1. Scrape the dishes, putting away any food which may
-remain on them, and which it may be proper to save for future
-use. Put grease into the grease-pot, and whatever
-else may be on the plates, into the slop-pail. Save tealeaves,
-for sweeping. Set all the dishes, when scraped, in
-regular piles; the smallest at the top.</p>
-
-<p>2. Put the nicest articles in the wash-dish, and wash them
-in hot suds, with the swab or nicest dish-cloth. Wipe all
-metal articles as soon as they are washed. Put all the rest
-into the rinsing-dish, which should be filled with hot water.
-When they are taken out, lay them to drain on the waiter.
-Then rinse the dish-cloth and hang it up, wipe the articles
-washed, and put them in their places.</p>
-
-<p>3. Pour in more hot water, wash the greasy dishes with
-the dish-cloth made for them; rinse them, and set them to
-drain. Wipe them, and set them away. Wash the knives
-and forks, <em>being careful that the handles are never put in
-water</em>; wipe them, and then lay them in a knife-dish to be
-scoured.</p>
-
-<p>4. Take a fresh supply of clean suds, in which wash the
-milk-pans, buckets, and tins. Then rinse and hang up this
-dish-cloth, and take the other; with which wash the roaster,
-gridiron, pots, and kettles. Then wash and rinse the dish-cloth,
-and hang it up. Empty the slop-bucket and scald it.
-Dry metal tea-pots and tins before the fire. Then put the
-fire-place in order, and sweep and dust the kitchen.</p>
-
-<p>Some persons keep a deep and narrow vessel, in which to
-wash knives with a swab, so that a careless domestic <em>can not</em>
-lay them in the water while washing them. This article can
-be carried into the eating-room, to receive the knives and
-forks when they are taken from the table.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span></p>
-
-
-<h4>KITCHEN FURNITURE.</h4>
-
-<p><i>Crockery.</i>—Brown earthen pans are said to be best for
-milk and for cooking. Tin pans are lighter, and more convenient,
-but are too cold for many purposes. Tall earthen
-jars with covers are good to hold butter, salt, lard, etc.
-Acids should never be put into the red earthenware, as
-there is a poisonous ingredient in the glazing which the acid
-takes off. Stone ware is better and stronger, and safer every
-way than any other kind.</p>
-
-<p><i>Iron Ware.</i>—Many kitchens are very imperfectly supplied
-with the requisite conveniences for cooking. When a person
-has sufficient means, the following articles are all desirable:
-A nest of iron pots, of different sizes, (they should be
-slowly heated when new;) a long iron fork, to take out articles
-from boiling water; an iron hook with a handle, to
-lift pots from the crane; a large and small gridiron, with
-grooved bars, and a trench to catch the grease; a Dutch
-oven, called also a bake-pan; two skillets, of different sizes,
-and a spider, or flat skillet, for frying; a griddle, a waffle-iron,
-tin and iron bake and bread pans; two ladles, of different
-sizes; a skimmer; iron skewers; a toasting-iron; two
-tea-kettles, one small and one large one; two brass kettles,
-of different sizes, for soap-boiling, etc. Iron kettles lined
-with porcelain are better for preserves. The German are
-the best. Too hot a fire will crack them, but with care in
-this respect they will last for many years.</p>
-
-<p>Portable charcoal furnaces, of iron or clay, are very useful
-in summer, in washing, ironing, and stewing, or making preserves.
-If used in the house, a strong draught must be
-made, to prevent the deleterious effects of the charcoal. A
-box and mill, for spice, pepper, and coffee, are needful to
-those who use these articles. Strong knives and forks, a
-sharp carving-knife, an iron cleaver and board, a fine saw,
-steelyards, chopping-tray and knife, an apple-parer, steel for
-sharpening knives, sugar-nippers, a dozen iron spoons, also a
-large iron one with a long handle, six or eight flat-irons, one
-of them very small, two iron-stands, a ruffle-iron, a crimping-iron,
-are also desirable.</p>
-
-<p><i>Tin Ware.</i>—Bread-pans; large and small patty-pans; cake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span>pans,
-with a centre tube to insure their baking well; pie-dishes,
-(of block-tin;) a covered butter-kettle; covered kettles
-to hold berries; two saucepans; a large oil-can, (with
-a cock;) a lamp-filler; a lantern; broad-bottomed candlesticks
-for the kitchen; a candle-box; a funnel; a reflector
-for baking warm cakes; an oven or tin-kitchen; an apple-corer;
-an apple-roaster; an egg-boiler; two sugar-scoops,
-and flour and meal scoop; a set of mugs; three dippers; a
-pint, quart, and gallon measure; a set of scales and weights;
-three or four pails, painted on the outside; a slop-bucket
-with a tight cover, painted on the outside; a milk-strainer;
-a gravy-strainer; a colander; a dredging-box; a pepper-box;
-a large and small grater; a cheese-box; also a large
-box for cake, and a still larger one for bread, with tight covers.
-Bread, cake, and cheese, shut up in this way, will not
-grow dry as in the open air.</p>
-
-<p><i>Wooden Ware.</i>—A nest of tubs; a set of pails and bowls;
-a large and small sieve; a beetle for mashing potatoes; a
-spade or stick for stirring butter and sugar; a bread-board,
-for molding bread and making pie-crust; a coffee-stick; a
-clothes-stick; a mush-stick; a meat-beetle, to pound tough
-meat; an egg-beater; a ladle, for working butter; a bread-trough,
-(for a large family;) flour-buckets, with lids, to hold
-sifted flour and Indian meal; salt-boxes; sugar-boxes; starch
-and indigo boxes; spice-boxes; a bosom-board; a skirt-board;
-a large ironing-board; two or three clothes-frames;
-and six dozen clothes-pins.</p>
-
-<p><i>Basket Ware.</i>—Baskets of all sizes, for eggs, fruit, marketing,
-clothes, etc.; also chip-baskets. When often used, they
-should be washed in hot suds.</p>
-
-<p><i>Other Articles.</i>—Every kitchen needs a box containing
-balls of brown thread and twine, a large and small darning-needle,
-rolls of waste paper and old linen and cotton, and a
-supply of common holders. There should also be another
-box, containing a hammer, carpet-tacks, and nails of all sizes,
-a carpet-claw, screws and a screw-driver, pincers, gimlets of
-several sizes, a bed-screw, a small saw, two chisels, (one to
-use for button-holes in broadcloth,) two awls, and two files.</p>
-
-<p>In a drawer or cupboard should be placed cotton table-cloths
-for kitchen use; nice crash towels for tumblers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span>
-marked T T; coarser towels for dishes marked T; six large
-roller-towels; a dozen hand-towels, marked H T; and a dozen
-hemmed dish-cloths with loops. Also two thick linen pudding
-or dumpling cloths, a jelly-bag made of white flannel, to
-strain jelly, a starch-strainer, and a bag for boiling clothes.</p>
-
-<p>In a closet should be kept, arranged in order, the following
-articles: the dust-pan, dust-brush, and dusting-cloths,
-old flannel and cotton for scouring and rubbing, large
-sponges for washing windows and looking-glasses, a long
-brush for cobwebs, and another for washing the outside of
-windows, whisk-brooms, common brooms, a coat-broom or
-brush, a whitewash-brush, a stove-brush, shoe-brushes and
-blacking, articles for cleaning tin and silver, leather for cleaning
-metals, bottles containing stain-mixtures and other articles
-used in cleansing.</p>
-
-
-<h4>CARE OF THE CELLAR.</h4>
-
-<p>A cellar should often be whitewashed, to keep it sweet.
-It should have a drain to keep it perfectly dry, as standing
-water in a cellar is a sure cause of disease in a family. It
-is very dangerous to leave decayed vegetables in a cellar.
-Many a fever has been caused by the poisonous miasm thus
-generated. The following articles are desirable in a cellar:
-a safe, or movable closet, with sides of wire or perforated
-tin, in which cold meats, cream, and other articles should be
-kept; (if ants be troublesome, set the legs in tin cups of
-water;) a refrigerator, or a large wooden box, on feet, with
-a lining of tin or zinc, and a space between the tin and wood
-filled with powdered charcoal, having at the bottom a place for
-ice, a drain to carry off the water, and also movable shelves
-and partitions. In this articles are kept cool. It should be
-cleaned once a week. Filtering-jars, to purify water, should
-also be kept in the cellar. Fish and cabbages in a cellar are
-apt to scent a house, and give a bad taste to other articles.</p>
-
-
-<h4>STORE-ROOM.</h4>
-
-<p>Every house needs a store-room, in which to keep tea,
-coffee, sugar, rice, candles, etc. It should be furnished with
-jars having labels, a large spoon, a fork, sugar and flour
-scoops, a towel, and a dish-cloth.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXII.<br />
-
-<small>THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>First, let us say a few words on the <i>Preparation of Soil</i>.
-If the garden soil be clayey and adhesive, put on a covering
-of sand, three inches thick, and the same depth of well-rotted
-manure. Spade it in as deep as possible, and mix it well.
-If the soil be sandy and loose, spade in clay and ashes.
-Ashes are good for all kinds of soil, as they loosen those
-which are close, hold moisture in those which are sandy, and
-destroy insects. The best kind of soil is that which will
-hold water the longest without becoming hard when dry.</p>
-
-<p><i>To prepare Soil for Pot-plants</i>, take one fourth part of
-common soil, one fourth part of well-decayed manure, and
-one half of vegetable mold, from the woods or from a chip-yard.
-Break up the manure fine, and sift it through a lime-screen,
-(or coarse wire sieve.) These materials must be
-thoroughly mixed. When the common soil which is used is
-adhesive, and indeed in most other cases, it is necessary to
-add sand, the proportion of which must depend on the nature
-of the soil.</p>
-
-<p><i>To prepare a Hot-Bed</i>, dig a pit six feet long, five feet
-wide, and thirty inches deep. Make a frame of the same
-size, with the back two feet high, the front fifteen inches, and
-the sides sloped from the back to the front. Make two
-sashes, each three feet by five, with the panes of glass lapping
-like shingles instead of having cross-bars. Set the
-frame over the pit, which should then be filled with fresh
-horse-dung which has not lain long nor been sodden by water.
-Tread it down hard; then put into the frame light and
-very rich soil, six or eight inches deep, and cover it with the
-sashes for two or three days. Then stir the soil, and sow
-the seeds in shallow drills, placing sticks by them, to mark
-the different kinds. Keep the frame covered with the glass
-whenever it is cold enough to chill the plants; but at all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span>
-other times admit fresh air, which is indispensable to their
-health. When the sun is quite warm, raise the glasses
-enough to admit air, and cover them with matting or blankets,
-or else the sun may kill the young plants. Water the
-bed at evening with water which has stood all day, or, if it
-be fresh drawn, add a little warm water. If there be too
-much heat in the bed, so as to scorch or wither the plants,
-lift the sashes, water freely, shade by day; make deep holes
-with stakes, and fill them up when the heat is reduced. In
-very cold nights, cover the sashes and frame with straw-mats.</p>
-
-<p><i>For Planting Flower Seeds</i>.—Break up the soil till it is
-very soft, and free from lumps. Rub that nearest the surface
-between the hands, to make it fine. Make a circular
-drill a foot in diameter. Seeds are to be planted either
-deeper or nearer the surface, according to their size. For
-seeds as large as sweet peas, the drill should be half an inch
-deep. The smallest seeds must be planted very near the
-surface, and a very little fine earth be sifted over them. After
-covering them with soil, beat them down with a trowel,
-so as to make the earth as compact as it is after a heavy
-shower. Set up a stick in the middle of the circle, with the
-name of the plant heavily written upon it with a dark lead-pencil.
-This remains more permanent if white-lead be first
-rubbed over the surface. Never plant when the soil is very
-wet. In very dry times, water the seeds at night. Never use
-very cold water. When the seeds are small, many should
-be planted together, that they may assist each other in
-breaking the soil. When the plants are an inch high, thin
-them out, leaving only one or two, if the plant be a large
-one like the balsam; five or six, when it is of a medium size;
-and eighteen or twenty of the smaller size. Transplanting,
-unless the plant be lifted with a ball of earth, retards the
-growth about a fortnight. It is best to plant at two different
-times, lest the first planting should fail, owing to wet
-or cold weather.</p>
-
-<p><i>To plant Garden Seeds</i>, make the beds from one to three
-yards wide; lay across them a board a foot wide, and with
-a stick make a furrow on each side of it, one inch deep.
-Scatter the seeds in this furrow, and cover them. Then lay<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span>
-the board over them, and step on it, to press down the earth.
-When the plants are an inch high, thin them out, leaving
-spaces proportioned to their sizes. Seeds of similar species,
-such as melons and squashes, should not be planted very
-near to each other, as this causes them to degenerate. The
-same kinds of vegetables should not be planted in the same
-place for two years in succession. The longer the rows are,
-the easier is the after-culture.</p>
-
-<p><i>Transplanting</i> should be done at evening, or, which is better,
-just before a shower. Take a round stick sharpened at
-the point, and make openings to receive the plants. Set
-them a very little deeper than they were before, and press
-the soil firmly round them. Then water them, and cover
-them for three or four days, taking care that sufficient air be
-admitted. If the plant can be removed without disturbing
-the soil around the root, it will not be at all retarded by
-transplanting. Never remove leaves and branches, unless a
-part of the roots be lost.</p>
-
-<p><i>To Re-pot House Plants</i>, renew the soil every year, soon
-after the time of blossoming. Prepare soil as previously directed.
-Loosen the earth from the pot by passing a knife
-around the sides. Turn the plant upside down, and remove
-the pot. Then remove all the matted fibres at the bottom,
-and all the earth, except that which adheres to the roots.
-From woody plants, like roses, shake off all the earth. Take
-the new pot, and put a piece of broken earthenware over
-the hole at the bottom, and then, holding the plant in the
-proper position, shake in the earth around it. Then pour in
-water to settle the earth, and heap on fresh soil till the pot
-is even full. Small pots are considered better than large
-ones, as the roots are not so likely to rot from excess of
-moisture.
-<i>
-In the Laying out of Yards and Gardens</i>, there is room
-for much judgment and taste. In planting trees in a yard,
-they should be arranged in groups, and never planted in
-straight lines, nor sprinkled about as solitary trees. The object
-of this arrangement is to imitate Nature, and secure
-some spots of dense shade and some of clear turf. In yards
-which are covered with turf, beds can be cut out of it, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span>
-raised for flowers. A trench should be made around, to prevent
-the grass from running on them. These beds can be
-made in the shape of crescents, ovals, or other fanciful
-forms.</p>
-
-<p>In laying out beds in gardens and yards, a very pretty
-bordering can be made by planting them with common
-flax-seed, in a line about three inches from the edge. This
-can be trimmed with shears, when it grows too high.</p>
-
-<p><i>For transplanting Trees</i>, the autumn is the best time.
-Take as much of the root as possible, especially the little
-fibres, which should never become dry. If kept long before
-they are set out, put wet moss around them and water them.
-Dig holes larger than the extent of the roots; let one person
-hold the tree in its former position, and another place
-the roots carefully as they were before, cutting off any
-broken or wounded root. <em>Be careful not to let the tree be
-more than an inch deeper than it was before.</em> Let the soil
-be soft and well manured; shake the tree as the soil is
-shaken in, that it may mix well among the small fibres. Do
-not tread the earth down, while filling the hole; but, when
-it is full, raise a slight mound of say four inches deep around
-the stem to hold water, and fill it. Never cut off leaves nor
-branches, unless some of the roots are lost. Tie the trees to
-a stake, and they will be more likely to live. Water them
-often.</p>
-
-<p><i>The Care of House Plants</i> is a matter of daily attention,
-and well repays all labor expended upon it. The soil of
-house plants should be renewed every year, as previously
-directed. In winter, they should be kept as dry as they
-can be without wilting. Many house plants are injured by
-giving them too much water, when they have little light
-and fresh air. This makes them grow spindling. The more
-fresh air, warmth, and light they have, the more water is
-needed. They ought not to be kept very warm in winter,
-nor exposed to great changes of atmosphere. Forty degrees
-is a proper temperature for plants in winter, when they have
-little sun and air. When plants have become spindling, cut
-off their heads entirely, and cover the pot in the earth, where
-it has the morning sun only. A new and flourishing head<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span>
-will spring out. Few house plants can bear the sun at noon.
-When insects infest plants, set them in a closet or under a
-barrel, and burn tobacco under them. The smoke kills any
-insect enveloped in it. When plants are frozen, cold water
-and a gradual restoration of warmth are the best remedies.
-Never use very cold water for plants at any season.</p>
-
-
-<h4>THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.</h4>
-
-<p>This is an occupation requiring much attention and constant
-care. Bulbous roots are propagated by offsets; some
-growing on the top, others around the sides. Many plants
-are propagated by cutting off twigs, and setting them in
-earth, so that two or three eyes are covered. To do this,
-select a side shoot, ten inches long, two inches of it being of
-the preceding year’s growth, and the rest the growth of the
-season when it is set. Do this when the sap is running, and
-put a piece of crockery at the bottom of the shoot when it
-is buried. One eye, at least, must be under the soil. Water
-it, and shade it in hot weather.</p>
-
-<p>Plants are also propagated by layers. To do this, take a
-shoot which comes up near the root, bend it down so as to
-bring several eyes under the soil, leaving the top above-ground.
-If the shoot be cut half through, in a slanting direction,
-at one of these eyes, before burying it, the result is
-more certain. Roses, honeysuckles, and many other shrubs
-are readily propagated thus. They will generally take root
-by being simply buried; but cutting them as here directed
-is the best method. Layers are more certain than cuttings.</p>
-
-<p><i>Budding and Grafting</i>, for all woody plants, are favorite
-methods of propagation. In all such plants there is an outer
-and inner bark, the latter containing the sap vessels, in which
-the nourishment of the tree ascends. The success of grafting
-or inoculating consists in so placing the bud or graft
-that the sap vessels of the inner bark shall exactly join those
-of the plant into which they are grafted, so that the sap
-may pass from one into the other.</p>
-
-<p>The following are directions for <i>budding</i>; which may be
-performed at any time from July to September:</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span></p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_354.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 64.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Select a smooth place on the stock into which you are to
-insert the bud. Make a horizontal cut across the rind
-through to the firm wood; and from the middle of this,
-make a slit downward perpendicularly, an inch or more
-long, through to the wood. Raise the bark of the stock on
-each side of
-the perpendicular
-cut,
-for the admission
-of
-the bud, as
-is shown in
-the annexed
-cut, (Figure
-64). Then
-take a shoot
-of this year’s
-growth, and
-slice from it
-a bud, taking
-an inch below
-and an
-inch above
-it, and some
-portion of the wood under it. Then carefully slip off the
-woody part under the bud. Examine whether the eye or
-germ of the bud be perfect. If a little hole appear in that
-part, the bud has lost its root, and another must be selected.
-Insert the bud, so that <i>a</i>, of the bud, shall pass to a, of the
-stock; then <i>b</i>, of the bud, must be cut off, to match the cut
-b, in the stock, and fitted exactly to it, as it is this alone
-which insures success. Bind the parts with fresh bass or
-woolen yarn, beginning a little below the bottom of the perpendicular
-slit, and winding it closely around every part,
-except just over the eye of the bud, until you arrive above
-the horizontal cut. Do not bind it too tightly, but just sufficient
-to exclude air, sun, and wet. This is to be removed
-after the bud is firmly fixed and begins to grow.</p>
-
-<p>Seed-fruit can be budded into any other seed fruit, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span>
-stone-fruit into any other stone-fruit; but stone and seed
-fruits can not be thus mingled.</p>
-
-<p>Rose-bushes can have a variety of kinds budded into the
-same stock. Hardy roots are the best stocks. The branch
-above the bud must be cut off the next March or April after
-the bud is put in. Apples and pears are more easily
-propagated by ingrafting than by budding.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_355.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 65.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><i>Ingrafting</i> is a similar process to budding, with this advantage,
-that it can be performed on large trees;
-whereas budding can be applied only on small
-ones. The two common kinds of ingrafting are
-whip-grafting and split-grafting. The first kind
-is for young trees, and the other for large ones.</p>
-
-<p>The time for ingrafting is from May to October.
-The cuttings must be taken from horizontal
-shoots, between Christmas and March, and
-kept in a damp cellar. In performing the operation,
-cut off in a sloping direction (as seen in
-Fig. 65) the tree or limb to be grafted. Then
-cut off in a corresponding slant the slip to be
-grafted on. Then put them together, so that
-the inner bark of each shall match exactly on
-one side, and tie them firmly together with yellow
-yarn. It is not essential that both be of
-equal size; if the bark of each meet together exactly
-on <i>one</i> side, it answers the purpose. But
-the two must not differ much in size. The slope
-should be an inch and a half, or more, in length.
-After they are tied together, the place should be
-covered with a salve or composition of bees-wax and rosin.
-A mixture of clay and cow-dung will answer the same purpose.
-This last must be tied on with a cloth. Grafting is
-more convenient than budding, as grafts can be sent from a
-great distance; whereas buds must be taken in July or August,
-from a shoot of the present year’s growth, and can not
-be sent to any great distance.</p>
-
-<p>The next cut (Fig. 66) exhibits the mode called stock-grafting;
-<i>a</i> being the limb of a large tree, which is sawed
-off and split, and is to be held open by a small wedge till<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span>
-the grafts are put in. A graft inserted in the limb is shown
-at <i>b</i>, and at <i>c</i> is one not inserted, but designed to be put in
-at <i>d</i>, as two grafts can be put into a large
-stock. In inserting the graft, be careful
-to make the edge of the inner bark of the
-graft meet exactly the edge of the inner
-bark of the stock; for on this success depends.
-After the grafts are put in, the
-wedge must be withdrawn, and the whole
-of the stock be covered with the thick
-salve or composition before mentioned,
-reaching from where the grafts are inserted
-to the bottom of the slit. Be
-careful not to knock or move the grafts
-after they are put in.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft">
-<img src="images/i_356.jpg"  alt="" />
-<div class="caption">Fig. 66.</div>
-</div>
-
-<p><i>Pruning</i> is an operation of constant exercise,
-for keeping plants and trees in good condition. The
-following rules are from a distinguished horticulturist: Prune
-off all dead wood, and all the little twigs on the main limbs.
-Retrench branches, so as to give light and ventilation to the
-interior of the tree. Cut out the straight and perpendicular
-shoots which give little or no fruit; while those which are
-most nearly horizontal, and somewhat curving, give fruit abundantly
-and of good quality, and should be sustained. Superfluous
-and ill-placed buds may be rubbed off at any time;
-and no buds pushing out after midsummer should be spared.
-In choosing between shoots to be retained, preserve the lowest
-placed, and on lateral shoots those which are nearest the
-origin. When branches cross each other so as to rub, remove
-one or the other. Remove all suckers from the roots
-of trees or shrubs. Prune after the sap is in full circulation,
-(except in the case of grapes,) as the wounds then heal best.
-Some think it best to prune before the sap begins to run.
-Pruning-shears, and a pruning-pole, with a chisel at the end,
-can be procured of those who deal in agricultural utensils.</p>
-
-<p><i>Thinning</i> is also an important but very delicate operation.
-As it is the office of the leaves to absorb nourishment from
-the atmosphere, they should never be removed, except to
-mature the wood or fruit. In doing this, remove such leaves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span>
-as shade the fruit, as soon as it is ready to ripen. To do it
-earlier impairs the growth. Do it gradually at two different
-times. Thinning the fruit is important, as tending to increase
-its size and flavor, and also to promote the longevity
-of the tree. If the fruit be thickly set, take off one half at
-the time of setting. Revise in June, and then in July, taking
-off all that may be spared. One <em>very large</em> apple to every
-square foot is a rule that may be a sort of guide in other
-cases. According to this, two hundred large apples
-would be allowed to a tree whose extent is fifteen feet by
-twelve. If any person think this thinning excessive, let
-him try two similar trees, and thin one as directed and leave
-the other unthinned. It will be found that the thinned tree
-will produce an equal weight, and fruit of much finer flavor.</p>
-
-
-<h4>THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.</h4>
-
-<p>By a little attention to this matter, a lady with the help
-of her children can obtain a rich abundance of all kinds of
-fruit. The writer has resided in families where little boys
-of eight, ten, and twelve years old amused themselves, under
-the direction of their mother, in planting walnuts, chestnuts,
-and hazelnuts, for future time; as well as in planting and
-inoculating young fruit-trees of all descriptions. A mother
-who will take pains to inspire a love for such pursuits in her
-children, and who will aid and superintend them, will save
-them from many temptations, and at a trifling expense secure
-to them and herself a rich reward in the choicest fruits. The
-information given in this work on this subject may be relied
-on as sanctioned by the most experienced nurserymen.</p>
-
-<p>The soil for a nursery should be rich, well dug, dressed
-with well-decayed manure, free from weeds, and protected
-from cold winds. Fruit-seeds should be planted in the autumn,
-an inch and a half or two inches deep, in ridges four
-or five feet apart, pressing the earth firmly over the seeds.
-While growing, they should be thinned out, leaving the best
-ones a foot and a half apart. The soil should be kept loose,
-soft, and free from weeds. They should be inoculated or
-ingrafted when of the size of a pipe-stem; and in a year after
-this may be transplanted to their permanent stand.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">358</span>
-Peach-trees sometimes bear in two years from budding, and
-in four years from planting if well kept.</p>
-
-<p>In a year after transplanting, take pains to train the head
-aright. Straight upright branches produce <i>gourmands</i>, or
-twigs bearing only leaves. The side branches, which are angular
-or curved, yield the most fruit. For this reason, the
-limbs should be trained in curves, and perpendicular twigs
-should be cut off if there be need of pruning. The last of
-June is the time for this. Grass should never be allowed
-to grow within four feet of a large tree, and the soil should
-be kept loose to admit air to the roots. Trees in orchards
-should be twenty-five feet apart. The soil <em>under</em> the top
-soil has much to do with the health of the trees. If it be
-what is called <i>hard-pan</i>, the trees will deteriorate. Trees
-need to be manured and to have the soil kept open and free
-from weeds.</p>
-
-<p><i>Filberts</i> can be raised in any part of this country.</p>
-
-<p><i>Figs</i> can be raised in the Middle, Western, and Southern
-States. For this purpose, in the autumn loosen the roots on
-one side, and bend the tree down to the earth on the other;
-then cover it with a mound of straw, earth, and boards, and
-early in the spring raise it up and cover the roots.</p>
-
-<p><i>Currants</i> grow well in any but a wet soil. They are
-propagated by cuttings. The old wood should be thinned
-in the fall and manure be put on. They can be trained into
-small trees.</p>
-
-<p><i>Gooseberries</i> are propagated by layers and cuttings. They
-are best when kept from suckers and trained like trees. One-third
-of the old wood should be removed every autumn.</p>
-
-<p><i>Raspberries</i> do best when shaded during a part of the day.
-They are propagated by layers, slips, and suckers. There is
-one kind which bears monthly; but the varieties of this and
-all other fruits are now so numerous that we can easily find
-those which are adapted to the special circumstances of the
-case.</p>
-
-<p><i>Strawberries</i> require a light soil and vegetable manure.
-They should be transplanted in April or September, and be
-set eight inches apart, in rows nine inches asunder, and in
-beds which are two feet wide, with narrow alleys between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">359</span>
-them. A part of these plants are <i>non-bearers</i>. These have
-large flowers with showy stamens and high black anthers.
-The <i>bearers</i> have short stamens, a great number of pistils,
-and the flowers are every way less showy. In blossom-time,
-pull out all the non-bearers. Some think it best to leave
-one non-bearer to every twelve bearers, and others pull them
-all out. Many beds never produce any fruit, because all the
-plants in them are non-bearers. Weeds should be kept from
-the vines. When the vines are matted with young plants,
-the best way is to dig over the beds in cross lines, so as to
-leave some of the plants standing in little squares, while the
-rest are turned under the soil. This should be done over
-a second time in the same year.</p>
-
-<p><i>To raise Grapes</i>, manure the soil, and keep it soft and free
-from weeds. A gravelly or sandy soil and a south exposure
-are best. Transplant the vines in the early spring, or
-better in the fall. Prune them the first year, so as to have
-only two main branches, taking off all other shoots as fast
-as they come. In November, cut off all of these two
-branches except four eyes. The second year, in the spring,
-loosen the earth around the roots, and allow only two branches
-to grow, and every month take off all side shoots. When
-they are very strong, preserve only a part, and cut off the
-rest in the fall. In November, cut off all the two main
-stems except eight eyes. After the second year, no more
-pruning is needed, except to reduce the side shoots, for the
-purpose of increasing the fruit. All the pruning of grapes
-(except nipping side shoots) must be done when the sap is
-not running, or they will bleed to death. Train them on
-poles, or lattices, to expose them to the air and sun. Cover
-tender vines in the autumn. Grapes are propagated by cuttings,
-layers, and seeds. For cuttings, select in the autumn
-well-ripened wood of the former year, and take five joints
-for each. Bury them till April; then soak them for some
-hours, and set them out <i>aslant</i>, so that all the eyes but one
-shall be covered.</p>
-
-<p>Apples, grapes, and such like fruit can be preserved in
-their natural state by packing them when dry and solid in
-dry sand or sawdust, putting alternate layers of fruit and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">360</span>
-cotton, sawdust or sand. Some sawdust gives a bad flavor
-to the fruit.</p>
-
-<p><i>Modes of preserving Fruit-Trees.</i>—Heaps of ashes or tanner’s
-bark around peach-trees prevent the attack of the
-worm. The <i>yellows</i> is a disease of peach-trees, which is
-spread by the pollen of the blossom. When a tree begins
-to turn yellow, take it away with all its roots, before it blossoms
-again, or it will infect other trees. Planting tansy
-around the roots of fruit-trees is a sure protection against
-worms, as it prevents the moth from depositing her egg.
-Equal quantities of salt and saltpetre, put around the trunk
-of a peach-tree, half a pound to a tree, improve the size and
-flavor of the fruit. Apply this about the first of April; and
-if any trees have worms already in them, put on half the
-quantity in addition in June. To young trees just set out,
-apply one ounce in April, and another in June, close to the
-stem. Sandy soil is best for peaches.</p>
-
-<p>Apple-trees are preserved from insects by a wash of
-strong lye to the body and limbs, which, if old, should be
-first scraped. Caterpillars should be removed by cutting
-down their nests in a damp day. Boring a hole in a tree
-infested with worms, and filling it with sulphur, will often
-drive them off immediately.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>fire-blight</i> or <i>brûlure</i> in pear-trees can be stopped by
-cutting off all the blighted branches. It is supposed by
-some to be owing to an excess of sap, which is remedied by
-diminishing the roots.</p>
-
-<p>The <i>curculio</i>, which destroys plums and other stone-fruit,
-can be checked only by gathering up all the fruit that
-falls, (which contains their eggs,) and destroying it. The
-<i>canker-worm</i> can be checked by applying a bandage around
-the body of the tree, and every evening smearing it with
-fresh tar.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">361</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.<br />
-
-<small>SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The customs of the American people are more conformed
-to those principles of the Christian family state which demand
-protecting care for the weaker members, than those
-of any other nation. Nowhere is this fact more apparent
-than in the division of labor to the boys and girls of one
-family. The outdoor work, all that is most disagreeable,
-and the heaviest labor, is taken by the boys, while the indoor
-family-work is reserved for the girls. Of this indoor
-labor a part is sedentary, such as sewing, and a part is light
-labor, such as dish-washing, cooking, sweeping, dusting, and
-general care of the house. The laundry gives the hardest
-woman’s work; but this is not daily, nor so severe as the
-outdoor employments of men, while it can be so divided
-among several women, or be so regulated in various ways,
-as never to involve excessive labor. Young women wash
-and iron, as a daily business, six and eight hours a day, and
-yet continue healthful and cheerful. Such is the distinctive
-construction of woman’s form, that labor with the muscles
-of the arms and trunk, such as is demanded in washing and
-ironing, is peculiarly favorable to the perfect development
-and support of the most delicate and most important portion
-of her body.</p>
-
-<p>But while the general arrangements of family labor have
-been conformed to the true Christian principle, there have
-been certain extremes in our customs which it is important
-to remedy. This is often exhibited in houses when the
-members of a family assemble in an evening, and the girls
-all have some useful employment of the hands, while the
-boys look on and do nothing.</p>
-
-<p>Again, at other times, we see broken locks, windows unglazed,
-and furniture needing repair, all making necessary a
-kind of work women could easily perform, and yet left neg<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">362</span>lected
-because the men do not find time or are unskilled for
-the performance. In a country like ours, the emergencies
-of the family state often demand the exchange of the ordinary
-labor of men and women. Frequently, in newer settlements,
-no servants can be found, while the wife and mother
-is confined by sickness. In such emergencies, skill in performing
-woman’s work is a great blessing to a man and his
-family. So the soldiers, sailors, engineers, and all roving
-men need the skill of the needle that preserves clothing
-from waste. In our late war, millions would have been
-saved had all the soldiers been taught to sew in their boyhood.</p>
-
-<p>In this view of the case, industrial schools, to teach both
-boys and girls all the economic skill of the family state, are
-of great importance, and a department for this purpose should
-be connected with every school, especially the public schools,
-where most of the children will earn their own livelihood
-and be exposed to many chances of a roving life.</p>
-
-<p>Attempts have been made to introduce sewing into public
-schools, and usually with little or no success, from many
-combining difficulties. One of them arises from the increased
-number of classes for this purpose; which would be
-relieved by having boys taught to sew in the same class
-with girls. Another difficulty has been the providing of
-materials for sewing and the previous cutting and fitting
-needed, which the parents refuse to supply. A method
-which meets these and other difficulties, and which has been
-successfully tried in industrial schools in England, will now
-be described.</p>
-
-<p>Let a fund be provided by school officers, or by contribution,
-to provide needles, thread, scissors, and thimbles of
-various sizes, and place them in the care of the teacher.
-Let two half-days of the week be devoted to this and other
-industrial employments, giving, as a reward for success in
-careful, neat, and quick accomplishment of the duties, the
-time left beyond that used in the task as holiday hours.</p>
-
-<p>Let the first lesson be the use of scissors, in cutting
-straight slips of newspaper, thus training the eye and fingers
-to expert measurement and motion. Whoever excels in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">363</span>
-the performance of the allotted task in less than the allotted
-time is to be rewarded with the time, thus gained, for play.</p>
-
-<p>Next, let the class cut broad strips of paper, and practice
-doubling them in a <i>hem</i>, first narrow and then broad. This
-also cultivates the eyes and trains the fingers.</p>
-
-<p>Then give a lesson to teach the use of the thimble, using
-a needle without thread, and paper slips to set the needle
-through.</p>
-
-<p>Let the class now have pieces of cheap and thin unbleached
-cotton, and cut off from it strips two inches wide,
-being directed to <i>cut by a thread</i>, At first a thread may be
-drawn to guide the eye. Then, these strips are to be cut
-into pieces five or six inches long, <i>turned down and pinched</i>
-to prepare for oversewing, and then put together and <i>basted</i>
-with a needle and thread, the teacher setting the example.</p>
-
-<p>This last operation is intended to prepare two strips to
-be sewed together by <i>oversewing</i>. In this operation <i>colored</i>
-thread should be used in order to make the stitches show
-more distinctly. Meantime, the pupil is trained to make
-the stitches <i>equal in depth</i>, and also at <i>equal distances</i>.</p>
-
-<p>The teacher is to be provided with a blank book for each
-pupil, and on the first page is to be inscribed, <i>Oversewing</i>.
-Beneath this word is to be fastened a specimen of the stitch,
-as soon as the pupil has attained the degree of excellence
-and accuracy required.</p>
-
-<p>The next lesson is <i>Hemming</i>. To prepare for this, let
-the scholars first cut, out of newspaper, pieces three inches
-square, and fold a hem on each side till it is even and
-smooth.</p>
-
-<p>Then the unbleached cotton is to be given to be cut and
-prepared in the same way. Finally, the hemming-stitch is
-to be taught, and the child be required to practice till the
-stitches are <i>equal</i> in size and <i>regular</i> in both <i>slant</i> and <i>distances</i>.
-When this is well executed, the specimen is to be
-fastened to another page of the child’s book, under the word
-<i>Hemming</i>. In the same way, the various stitches used for
-running up seams, for felling, darning, whipping, buttonholing,
-stitching, and gathering, should be taught on small
-pieces of white or unbleached cotton, using colored thread.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">364</span></p>
-
-<p>The books in which are fastened the finished specimens of
-sewing should be preserved by the teacher and exhibited at
-the school examinations, as an encouragement to excellence.
-In England, the ladies of wealth and rank take pains to establish
-and superintend, among the poor, industrial schools
-in which are taught other domestic work as well as sewing;
-and, as the consequence, their servants and dependents are
-well trained for the duties of their station. It is hoped that
-American ladies will make similar efforts for the children of
-the poorer classes, and employ all their influence to promote
-industrial training in our common schools; and also, to see
-that instruction in these important matters be given to their
-own daughters, who may become mistresses and directors of
-future homes, or who, in the constantly changing fortunes of
-our land, may need to perform as well as to guide the doing
-of these homely duties.</p>
-
-<p>It is a mistake to suppose that sewing-machines lessen
-the importance of hand-sewing. All the mending for a family,
-and much of the altering of clothing and house furniture,
-must be done only by the hand. In all poor families that
-own no machine, and in all cases where persons travel, the
-whole sewing needed must be done by hand.</p>
-
-<p>It is especially for the benefit of the poor who can not
-have machines, that all the children of our common schools
-should be taught not only to sew, but to mend and to cut
-and fit common garments. Hard-working mothers can not
-teach this art, and the school-teacher is the proper person to
-do it. Nor should this be added to the ordinary severe and
-wearing labor of a teacher, but other less important branches
-should give place to this. It is the constant complaint of
-all who are seeking to help the destitute, that women are
-not trained properly to do any kind of domestic work, and
-there is no way in which philanthropy can be more wisely
-exerted than in urging the establishment of industrial
-schools.</p>
-
-<p>It is the hope of the writer that a day is coming when <em>all</em>
-women will be made truly independent, by being trained in
-early life to employments by which they can secure a home
-and income for themselves, if they do not marry or if they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">365</span>
-become widows. This is what is done for daughters in European
-countries, and should be done in our own.</p>
-
-<p>Institutions for training women to employments suitable
-for their sex should be established and <em>endowed</em>, the same as
-agricultural and other professional schools for men. When
-this is done, there will be a <em>liberal profession</em> for women of
-culture and refinement, securing to widows and unmarried
-women such advantages as have hitherto been enjoyed only
-by the more favored sex.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">366</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.<br />
-
-<small>ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Children should be taught the following modes of saving
-life, health, and limbs in cases of sudden emergency, before a
-medical adviser can be summoned.</p>
-
-<p>In case of a common cut, bind the lips of the wound together
-with a rag, and put on nothing else. If it is large,
-lay narrow strips of sticking-plaster obliquely across the
-wound. In some cases it is needful to draw a needle and
-thread through the lips of the wound, and tie the two sides
-together.</p>
-
-<p>If an artery be cut, it must be tied as quickly as possible,
-or the person will soon bleed to death. The blood from an
-artery is a brighter red than that from the veins, and spirts
-out in jets at each beat of the heart. Take hold of the end
-of the artery and tie it or hold it tight till a surgeon comes.
-In this case, and in all cases of bad wounds that bleed much,
-tie a tight bandage near and above the wound, inserting a
-stick into the bandage and twisting as tight as can be borne,
-to stop the immediate effusion of blood.</p>
-
-<p>Bathe bad bruises in hot water. Arnica-water hastens a
-cure, but is injurious and weakening to the parts when used
-too long and too freely.</p>
-
-<p>A sprain is relieved from the first pains by hot fomentations,
-or the application of very hot bandages, but entire
-rest is the chief permanent remedy. The more the limb is
-used, especially at first, the longer the time required for the
-small broken fibres to knit together. The sprained leg
-should be kept in a horizontal position. When a leg is
-broken, tie it to the other leg, to keep it still till a surgeon
-comes. Tie a broken arm to a piece of thin wood, to keep
-it still till set.</p>
-
-<p>In the case of bad burns that take off the skin, creosote-water
-is the best remedy. If this is not at hand, wood-soot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">367</span>
-(not coal,) pounded, sifted, and mixed with lard, is nearly as
-good, as such soot contains creosote. When a dressing is
-put on, do not remove it till a skin is formed under it. If
-nothing else is at hand for a bad burn, sprinkle flour over
-the place where the skin is off, and then let it remain, protected
-by a bandage. The chief aim is to keep the part
-without skin from the air.</p>
-
-<p>In case of drowning, the aim should be to clear the throat,
-mouth, and nostrils, and then produce the natural action of
-the lungs in breathing as soon as possible, at the same time
-removing wet clothes and applying warmth and friction to
-the skin, especially the hands and feet, to start the circulation.
-The best mode of cleansing the throat and mouth of
-choking water is to lay the person on the face, and raise the
-head a little, clearing the mouth and nostrils with the finger,
-and then apply hartshorn or camphor to the nose. This is
-safer and surer than a common mode of lifting the body by
-the feet, or rolling on a barrel to empty out the water.</p>
-
-<p>To start the action of the lungs, first lay the person on
-the face and press the back along the spine to expel all air
-from the lungs. Then turn the body nearly, but not quite
-over on to the back, thus opening the chest so that the air
-will rush in if the mouth is kept open. Then turn the body
-to the face again and expel the air, and then again nearly
-over on to the back; and so continue for a long time. Friction,
-dry and warm clothing, and warm applications, should
-be used in connection with this process. This is a much better
-mode than using bellows, which sometimes will close the
-opening to the windpipe. The above is the mode recommended
-by Dr. Marshall Hall, and is approved by the best
-medical authorities.</p>
-
-<p>Certain articles are often kept in the house for cooking or
-medical purposes, and sometimes by mistake are taken in
-quantities that are poisonous.</p>
-
-<p><i>Soda</i>, <i>Saleratus</i>, <i>Potash</i>, or any other alkali, can be rendered
-harmless in the stomach by vinegar, tomato-juice, or any
-other acid. If sulphuric or oxalic acid are taken, pounded
-chalk in water is the best antidote. If those are not at
-hand, strong soap-suds have been found effective. Large<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">368</span>
-quantities of tepid water should be drank after these antidotes
-are taken, so as to produce vomiting.</p>
-
-<p><i>Lime</i> or <i>baryta</i> and its compounds demand a solution of
-glauber salts or of sulphuric acid.</p>
-
-<p><i>Iodine</i> or <i>Iodide of Potassium</i> demands large draughts
-of wheat flour or starch in water, and then vinegar and water.
-The stomach should then be emptied by vomiting
-with as much tepid water as the stomach can hold.</p>
-
-<p><i>Prussic Acid</i>, a violent poison, is sometimes taken by children
-in eating the pits of stone-fruits or bitter almonds
-which contain it. The antidote is to empty the stomach by
-an emetic, and give water of ammonia or chloric water. Affusions
-of cold water all over the body, followed by warm
-hand friction, is often a remedy alone, but the above should be
-added if at command. <i>Antimony</i> and its compounds demand
-drinks of oak bark, or gall-nuts, or very strong green tea.</p>
-
-<p><i>Arsenic</i> demands oil or melted fat, with magnesia or lime
-water in large quantities, till vomiting occurs.</p>
-
-<p><i>Corrosive Sublimate</i>, (often used to kill vermin,) and any
-other form of mercury, requires milk or whites of eggs in
-large quantities. The whites of twelve eggs in two quarts
-of water, given in the largest possible draughts every three
-minutes till free vomiting occurs, is a good remedy. Flour
-and water will answer, though not so surely as the above.
-Warm water will help, if nothing else is in reach. The
-same remedy answers when any form of copper, or tin, or
-zinc poison is taken, and also for creosote.</p>
-
-<p><i>Lead</i> and its compounds require a dilution of Epsom or
-Glauber salts, or some strong acid drink, as lemon or tomatoes.</p>
-
-<p><i>Nitrate of Silver</i> demands salt water drank till vomiting
-occurs.</p>
-
-<p><i>Phosphorus</i> (sometimes taken by children from matches)
-needs magnesia and copious drinks of gum Arabic, or gum-water
-of any sort.</p>
-
-<p><i>Alcohol</i>, in dangerous quantities, demands vomiting with
-warm water.</p>
-
-<p>When one is violently sick from excessive use of <i>tobacco</i>,
-vomiting is a relief, if it arise spontaneously. After that,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">369</span>
-or in case it does not occur, the juice of a lemon and perfect
-rest, in a horizontal position on the back, will relieve the nausea
-and faintness, generally soothing the foolish and overwrought
-patient into a sleep.</p>
-
-<p><i>Opium</i> demands a quick emetic. The best is a heaping
-table-spoonful of powdered mustard, in a tumblerful of
-warm water; or powdered alum in half-ounce doses and
-strong coffee alternately in warm water. Give acid drinks
-after vomiting. If vomiting is not elicited thus, a stomach-pump
-is demanded. Dash cold water on the head, apply friction,
-and use all means to keep the person awake and in motion.</p>
-
-<p><i>Strychnia</i> demands also quick emetics.</p>
-
-<p>The stomach should be emptied always after taking any
-of these antidotes, by a warm-water emetic.</p>
-
-<p>In case of bleeding at the lungs, or stomach, or throat,
-give a tea-spoonful of dry salt, and repeat it often. For
-bleeding at the nose, put ice or pour cold water on the back
-of the neck, keeping the head elevated.</p>
-
-<p>If a person be struck with lightning, throw pailfuls of cold
-water on the head and body, and apply mustard poultices
-on the stomach, with friction of the whole body and inflation
-of the lungs, as in the case of drowning. The same
-mode is to be used when persons are stupefied by fumes of
-coal or bad air.</p>
-
-<p>In thunder-storms, shut the doors and windows. The
-safest part of a room is its centre; and when there is a feather-bed
-in the apartment, that will be found the most secure
-resting-place.</p>
-
-<p>A lightning-rod, if it be well pointed, and run deep into
-the earth, is a certain protection to a circle around it whose
-diameter equals the height of the rod above the highest
-chimney. But it protects <i>no farther</i> than this extent.</p>
-
-<p>In case of fire, wrap about you a blanket, a shawl, a piece
-of carpet, or any other woolen cloth, to serve as protection.
-Never read in bed, lest you fall asleep, and the bed be set
-on fire. If your clothes get on fire, never run, but lie down,
-and roll about till you can reach a bed or carpet to wrap
-yourself in, and thus put out the fire. Keep young children
-in woolen dresses, to save them from the risk of fire.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">370</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXV.<br />
-
-<small>ON THE RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>It is probable that there is no one direction in which conscientious
-persons suffer so much doubt and perplexity as on
-the right apportionment of time and property. Clear views
-of duty on this subject can be gained only by reference to
-certain facts and principles of mind in connection with certain
-facts revealed by Jesus Christ.</p>
-
-<p>It is a fact that whenever men notice any method which
-will <em>best</em> secure any end aimed at, they call it <em>right</em>. And so
-the word <em>right</em>, as men ordinarily use the term, signifies the
-method or rule for securing an end designed.</p>
-
-<p>It is also a fact that all rational minds are so made as intuitively
-to feel or perceive that the end for which all things
-are made is, <em>not</em> to produce enjoyment or happiness of any
-sort or degree, but to produce the <em>best</em> good for all concerned
-both as to quality and amount.</p>
-
-<p>In proof of this, we find that when any plan or action is
-proposed, and it is shown that on one alternative the <em>best</em>
-good of both the individual and society is secured, all rational
-minds decide that it is wise and right, and that the
-opposite alternative is foolish and wrong. There are endless
-diversities of opinion as to what <em>is</em> for the best good of individuals
-and society; but all agree that whatever is for the
-<em>best</em> good of all concerned is <em>right</em>. We therefore assume
-that it is an intuitive principle or belief in all rational minds,
-that <em>happiness-making on the best and largest scale is the end
-or purpose for which all things are made</em>.</p>
-
-<p>We also find ourselves placed in a system of physical, intellectual,
-and social laws, by obedience to which happiness
-is gained, and that by disobedience to them happiness is destroyed.
-At the same time, the controlling principle of every
-mind is to gain happiness and escape pain or loss of happiness.
-This being so, we may assume that to gain the end<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">371</span>
-for which we are made, or, in other words, <em>to act right</em>, we
-must obey these laws.</p>
-
-<p>Again, we find every rational mind so made that it may
-be controlled by some leading desire of ruling purpose to
-which all other desires and purposes are subordinate, and
-that it is the nature of this ruling purpose which constitutes
-<em>moral character</em>. By moral character is meant that which
-results from our own choice instead of that which consists in
-qualities and propensities created by God. This ruling purpose
-that controls the mind sometimes, by a figure of speech
-is called the <em>heart</em>, which literally is the organ that controls
-the body.</p>
-
-<p>Again, we find that in all ages and nations there are some
-men whose ruling purpose and chief desire is to do right,
-and that these persons are called the righteous or the virtuous
-men.</p>
-
-<p>Again, we find that all decisions as to what is best and
-right are regulated by the <em>dangers</em> involved. If one course,
-with equal advantages, is free from danger, and the opposite
-involves danger, all men decide the former to be the right one.
-Thus, all questions of duty as to any course of action are
-regulated by the dangers which threaten ourselves or society.
-As an illustration of this fact, when the life of our nation
-was imperiled, privations, risks, and even death, were sometimes
-a duty, when in times of peace and prosperity such
-sacrifices would not be right but highly sinful.</p>
-
-<p>The general principle thus illustrated is, that the standard
-of right and wrong in all practical affairs is regulated by
-the amount of danger to be met in alternate courses, one
-of which must be chosen. And thus it appears that every
-question of rectitude and duty is modified by circumstances;
-so that what would be a sin in one case would be a solemn
-duty in another.</p>
-
-<p>Again, we find that the character of a righteous man is
-dependent on experience and instruction. For a child is
-born in utter ignorance of God’s laws, and of his obligation
-to obey them; and it is only by the slow and gradual process
-of experience and training that he gains this knowledge.
-Still more is he dependent on educators for motives to excite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">372</span>
-to obedience. The great want of humanity is right instruction
-as to the laws by which the best good of all is secured,
-and powerful motives to induce obedience to these laws.</p>
-
-<p>We are now prepared to notice the connection of these
-principles and facts with the facts revealed by Jesus Christ.
-The great and central fact thus made known is, that this life
-is only the beginning of an eternal existence, involving liability
-to dreadful dangers after death, and that, in estimating
-what is right and wise in character and conduct, we are to
-take into account these dangers, as regulating all questions
-of duty to ourselves and to our fellow-men. Of the nature
-of these dangers, we are informed that those who become
-righteous in this life will secure perpetuity of that character,
-and thus perfect and endless happiness; but that some will
-so fail that they never will attain this character, either in
-this life or the life to come, and so will forever reap the consequences
-of perpetuate and voluntary selfishness and sin.
-Still more momentous is the fact, that the number who are
-to be saved depends upon the self-denying labors of Christ’s
-followers, and that so dreadful are the hazards of the life to
-come, that all consideration of earthly enjoyment should be
-made subordinate to the great end of escape for ourselves
-and for our fellow-men, whom we are to love and care for as
-we do for ourselves.</p>
-
-<p>These facts and principles enable us clearly to comprehend
-the great law of rectitude and happiness given by God
-through Moses, and then more clearly explained and illustrated
-by Jesus Christ. All men are conscious of that <em>instinctive
-love</em> which we share in common with the brutes.
-This consists in pleasurable emotions in view of certain persons
-or things which afford us pleasure, attended by a desire
-to please those who cause such enjoyment to ourselves, or
-to those we love. Thus the mother, whether human or
-brute, feels instinctive love to her offspring; and thus all
-men feel this instinctive love to those who confer pleasure
-on themselves.</p>
-
-<p>But Jesus Christ expressly discriminates, and explains that
-the great law of love (which, he says, it is the chief end of
-“the law and the prophets” to inculcate) is the <em>voluntary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">373</span>
-love</em> which consists in choosing to do right—that is, to make
-happiness on the best and largest scale. For the law is,
-“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
-thy neighbor <em>as thyself</em>.” Now self-love consists not in
-pleasurable emotions in our own agreeable qualities, but in
-an instinctive, an all-controlling desire to make self happy.</p>
-
-<p>This is the principle of mind which gives its true meaning
-to the great law of love, which in this aspect reads thus:</p>
-
-<p>Thou shalt choose, for the chief end or controlling purpose,
-to make happiness on the greatest scale by obeying
-God’s laws, and as the way to make him and all his creatures
-happy in the highest degree. And for this end you
-are to regard and treat the happiness of all in your reach as
-equal in value to your own.</p>
-
-<p>This exposition of the great law of love is verified repeatedly
-in the New Testament: “This is the love of God, that
-ye keep his commandments.”</p>
-
-<p>“He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he
-it is that loveth me.”</p>
-
-<p>“If a man love me, he will keep my words;”—“he that
-loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.”</p>
-
-<p>“That the world may know that I love the Father, as the
-Father gave me commandment, even so I do.”</p>
-
-<p>We now are prepared to appreciate the new and most
-wonderful revelation ever made to the human race, and one
-which the wisest heathen philosophers never even conjectured.</p>
-
-<p>Jesus Christ first revealed to mankind that our Creator is
-a loving Father to the whole human race; and that such is
-the eternal nature of things, that our highest possible happiness
-and escape from endless evil can be accomplished only
-by self-denying sacrifice and suffering, to save ourselves and
-others; and that our heavenly Father himself so loves us as
-to encounter such suffering to save us. For whatever views
-men form as to the divinity of Jesus Christ, or how his sufferings
-avail to save from danger in the life to come, all will
-concede that he teaches that God is represented as having
-made such a painful sacrifice as a father suffers in seeing a
-dear and lovely and only son subjected to long years of hu<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">374</span>miliation,
-of painful toils, and to a disgraceful and torturing
-death. And whatever opinions men form as to the nature
-and duration of future retributions, it is clear that Jesus
-Christ teaches that so great are our dangers, that every
-consideration of earthly enjoyment should be subordinate,
-and that our first interest and aim should be to secure escape
-to ourselves and our fellow-men.</p>
-
-<p>And here we should notice that most comforting doctrine
-revealed by Jesus Christ, and that is, that our eternal welfare
-does not depend on our judging correctly as to what <em>is</em>
-for the best good of all concerned, both for this life and the
-life to come. On the contrary, we are assured that it is
-having our <em>heart</em>, or <em>chief desire</em>, set to do right by obeying
-all God’s laws as fast as we learn what they are. “Sin is
-the transgression of law,” and all men have sinned, and will
-continue to sin, sometimes from ignorance, sometimes from
-the force of temptation swaying from the prevailing desire
-and controlling purpose. And so the righteous men of olden
-times, though they committed heinous sins, were “men
-after God’s own heart,” because their “heart” was set to
-obey him in all things. And thus their failures were pardoned,
-and their eternal safety secured.</p>
-
-<p>The same comforting assurance lessens the anxieties of
-those whose chief aim and desire is to obey Jesus Christ
-under the new obligations imposed by him. For the “<em>faith</em>”
-which saves our fellow-men both before and after Christ, is
-not the mere intellectual conviction; for the “devils thus
-believe and tremble.” It is rather that faith which includes
-intellectual belief in his teachings, and the voluntary conformity
-of purpose and action to that belief.</p>
-
-<p>So the “<em>repentance</em>” required is not mere sorrow for
-wrong-doing, but it consists in such sorrow as includes
-“ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well.”</p>
-
-<p>We now have the general principle which should regulate
-all expenditures both of time and property. And whenever
-any number of persons consistently and practically adopt
-this principle, they will become “a peculiar people.”</p>
-
-<p>The principle is this: The use of property and the use of
-time must be so regulated as to accomplish <em>all in our power</em>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">375</span>
-<em>to save as many as possible</em> from ignorance of God’s laws,
-and from disobedience to them. It must, in many cases, be
-difficult to decide as to the most successful way by which
-our time and property will avail to this end. But that this
-should be the first and chief object in all our plans, must be
-conceded by all who accept Jesus Christ as the only authorized
-teacher of truth and duty. He is the only man who
-has died and returned from the invisible world to tell us of
-our prospects there, and his authority is established by the
-highest evidence of which we can conceive. He is the only
-being authorized by God fully to explain his laws, both as
-to our highest happiness while on earth and our future eternal
-welfare. “There is no other name (or person) given under
-Heaven” to do this but Jesus Christ.</p>
-
-<p>Having thus gained the main general principle, we may
-notice some rules to guide us as to the right apportionment
-of time and property. In employing our time, we are to
-make suitable allowance for sleep, for preparing and taking
-food, for securing the means of a livelihood, for intellectual
-improvement, for exercise and amusement, for social enjoyments,
-and for benevolent and religious duties. And it is
-the <em>right apportionment</em> of time to these various duties
-which constitutes its true economy.</p>
-
-<p>In deciding respecting the rectitude of our pursuits, we
-are bound to aim at <em>the most</em> practical good as the ultimate
-object. With every duty of this life our benevolent Creator
-has connected some species of enjoyment, to draw us to perform
-it. Thus the palate is gratified by performing the
-duty of nourishing our bodies; the principle of curiosity is
-gratified in pursuing useful knowledge; the desire of approbation
-is gratified when we perform general social duties;
-and every other duty has an alluring enjoyment connected
-with it. But the great mistake of mankind has consisted in
-seeking the pleasures connected with these duties as the
-sole aim, without reference to the main end that should be
-held in view, and to which the enjoyment should be made
-subservient. Thus, men gratify the palate without reference
-to the question whether the body is properly nourished;
-and follow after knowledge without inquiring wheth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">376</span>er
-it ministers to good or evil; and seek amusements without
-reference to the great end to which they should minister.</p>
-
-<p>In gratifying the implanted desires of our nature, we are
-bound so to restrain ourselves, by reason and conscience, as
-always to seek the main objects of existence—the <em>highest</em>
-good of ourselves and others; and never to sacrifice this for
-the mere gratification of our desires. We are to gratify appetite
-just so far as is consistent with health and usefulness,
-and the desire for knowledge just so far as will enable
-us to do most good by our influence and efforts, and
-no further. We are to seek social intercourse to that extent
-which will best promote domestic enjoyment and kindly
-feelings among neighbors and friends; and we are to pursue
-exercise and amusement only so far as will best sustain
-the vigor of body and mind.</p>
-
-<p>The laws of the Supreme Ruler, when he became the civil
-as well as the religious Head of the Jewish theocracy, furnish
-an example which it would be well for all attentively
-to consider when forming plans for the apportionment of
-time and property. To properly estimate this example, it
-must be borne in mind that the main object of God was to
-set an example of the <em>temporal</em> rewards that follow obedience
-to the laws of the Creator, and at the same time to prepare
-religious teachers to extend the more enlarged views
-and duties resulting from the dangers of the future life revealed
-by Jesus Christ.</p>
-
-<p>Before Christ came, the Jews were not required to go forth
-to other nations as teachers of religion, nor were the Jewish
-nation led to obedience by motives of a life to come. To
-them God was revealed both as a Father and a civil ruler,
-and obedience to laws relating solely to this life was all that
-was required. So low were they in the scale of civilization
-and mental development, that a system which confined them
-to one spot as an agricultural people, and prevented their
-growing very rich or having extensive commerce with other
-nations, was indispensable to prevent their relapsing into
-the low idolatries and vices of the nations around them,
-while temporal rewards and penalties were more effective
-than those of a life to come. Such faith in God, his laws,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">377</span>
-and those temporal rewards and penalties as secured habitual
-obedience, were all that was required.</p>
-
-<p>The proportion of time and property which every Jew
-was required to devote to intellectual, benevolent, and religious
-purposes, was as follows:</p>
-
-<p>In regard to property, they were required to give one-tenth
-of all their yearly income to support the Levites, the
-priests, and the religious service. Next, they were required
-to give the first-fruits of all their corn, wine, oil, and fruits,
-and the first-born of all their cattle, for the Lord’s treasury,
-to be employed for the priests, the widow, the fatherless, and
-the stranger. The first-born, also, of their children, were
-the Lord’s, and were to be redeemed by a specified sum
-paid into the sacred treasury. Besides this, they were required
-to bring a free-will offering to God every time they
-went up to the three great yearly festivals. In addition to
-this, regular yearly sacrifices of cattle and fowls were required
-of each family, and occasional sacrifices for certain
-sins or ceremonial impurities. In reaping their fields, they
-were required to leave the corners unreaped for the poor;
-not to glean their fields, olive-yards, or vineyards; and if a
-sheaf was left by mistake, they were not to return for it but
-leave it for the poor.</p>
-
-<p>One-twelfth of the people were set apart, having no landed
-property, to be priests and teachers; and the other tribes
-were required to support them liberally.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the time taken from secular pursuits for the
-support of education and religion, an equally liberal amount
-was demanded. In the first place, one-seventh part of their
-time was taken for the weekly Sabbath, when no kind of
-work was to be done. Then the whole nation were required
-to meet at the appointed place three times a year, which, including
-their journeys and stay there, occupied about eight
-weeks, or another seventh part of their time. Then the Sabbatical
-year, when no agricultural labor was to be done, took
-another seventh of their time from their regular pursuits, as
-they were an agricultural people. This was the amount of
-time and property demanded by God, simply to sustain education,
-religion, and morality within the bounds of one nation.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">378</span></p>
-
-<p>It was promised to this nation, and fulfilled by constant
-miraculous interpositions, that in this life obedience to God’s
-laws should secure health, peace, prosperity, and long life;
-while for disobedience was threatened war, pestilence, famine,
-and all temporal evils. These promises were constantly
-verified; and in the day of Solomon, when this nation was
-most obedient, the whole world was moved with wonder at
-its wealth and prosperity. But up to this time, no attempt
-was made by God to enlarge the obligations and motives
-by revelations as to the future life.</p>
-
-<p>But “when the fullness of time had come,” and the race
-of man was prepared to receive higher responsibilities, Jesus
-Christ came and “brought life and immortality to light”
-with a clearness never before revealed, and new and heavy
-responsibilities consequent on the dangers of the life to
-come. At the same time was revealed the fatherhood of
-God, not to the Jews alone, but to the whole human race,
-and the consequent brotherhood of man; and these revelations
-in many respects changed the whole standard of duty
-and obligation.</p>
-
-<p>Christ came as “God manifest in the flesh,” to set an example
-of self-sacrificing love, in rescuing the whole family
-of man from the dangers of the unseen world, and also to
-teach and train his disciples through all time to follow his
-example. And those who conform the most consistently to
-his teachings and example will aim at a standard of labor
-and self-denial far beyond that demanded of the Jews.</p>
-
-<p>It is not always that men understand the economy of
-Providence in that unequal distribution of property which,
-even under the most perfect form of government, will always
-exist. Many, looking at the present state of things, imagine
-that the rich, if they acted in strict conformity to the law
-of benevolence, would share all their property with their
-suffering fellow-men. But such do not take into account
-the inspired declaration that “a man’s life consisteth not in
-the abundance of the things which he possesseth;” or, in
-other words, life is made valuable not by great possessions,
-but by such a <em>character</em> as prepares a man to enjoy what he
-holds. God perceives that human character can be most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">379</span>
-improved by that kind of discipline which exists when there
-is something valuable to be gained by industrious efforts.
-This stimulus to industry could never exist in a community
-where all are just alike, as it does in a state of society where
-every man sees possessed by others enjoyments which he
-desires, and may secure by effort and industry. So, in a
-community where all are alike as to property, there would
-be no chance to gain that noblest of all attainments, a habit
-of self-denying benevolence which toils for the good of
-others, and takes from one’s own store to increase the enjoyments
-of another.</p>
-
-<p>Instead, then, of the stagnation, both of industry and of
-benevolence, which would follow the universal and equable
-distribution of property, some men, by superior advantages
-of birth, or intellect, or patronage, come into possession of a
-great amount of capital. With these means they are enabled,
-by study, reading, and travel, to secure expansion of
-mind, and just views of the relative advantages of moral,
-intellectual, and physical enjoyments. At the same time,
-Christianity imposes obligations corresponding with the increase
-of advantages and means. The rich are not at liberty
-to spend their treasures chiefly for themselves. Their
-wealth is given by God, to be employed for the best good
-of mankind; and their intellectual advantages are designed,
-primarily, to enable them to judge correctly in employing
-their means most wisely for the general good.</p>
-
-<p>Now suppose a man of wealth inherits ten thousand acres
-of real estate; it is not his duty to divide it among his poor
-neighbors and tenants. If he took this course, it is probable
-that most of them would spend all in thriftless waste and
-indolence, or in mere physical enjoyments. Instead, then,
-of thus putting his capital out of his hands, he is bound to
-retain and so to employ it as to raise his family and his
-neighbors to such a state of virtue and intelligence that they
-can secure far more, by their own efforts and industry, than
-he, by dividing his capital, could bestow upon them.</p>
-
-<p>In this view of the subject, it is manifest that the unequal
-distribution of property is no evil. The great difficulty is,
-that so large a portion of those who hold much capital, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">380</span>stead
-of using their various advantages for the greatest good
-of those around them, employ them chiefly for selfish indulgences—thus
-inflicting as much mischief on themselves as
-results to others from their culpable neglect. A great portion
-of the rich seem to be acting on the principle that the
-more God bestows on them the less are they under obligation
-to practice any self-denial in fulfilling his benevolent
-plan of raising our race to intelligence and virtue, and thus
-to eternal happiness after death.</p>
-
-<p>But there are cheering examples of the contrary spirit and
-prejudice, some of which will be here recorded, to influence
-and encourage others.</p>
-
-<p>A lady of great wealth, high position, and elegant culture,
-in one of our large cities, hired and furnished a house adjacent
-to her own, and, securing the aid of another benevolent
-and cultivated woman, took twelve orphan girls of different
-ages, and educated them under their joint care. Not only
-time and money were given, but love and labor, just as if
-these were their own children; and as fast as one was provided
-for, another was taken.</p>
-
-<p>In another city, a young lady, with property of her own,
-hired a house, and made it a home for homeless and unprotected
-women, who paid board when they could earn it, and
-found a refuge when out of employment.</p>
-
-<p>In another city, the wife of one of its richest merchants
-took two young girls from the certain road to ruin among
-the vicious poor. She boarded them with a respectable
-farmer, and sent them to school; and every week went out,
-not only to supervise them, but to aid in training them to
-habits of neatness, industry, and obedience, just as if they
-were her own children.</p>
-
-<p>Next she hired a large house near the most degraded part
-of the city, furnished it neatly, and with all suitable conveniences
-to work, and then rented to those among the most
-degraded whom she could bring to conform to a few simple
-rules of decency, industry, and benevolence—one of these
-rules being that they should pay her the rent every Saturday
-night. To this motley gathering she became chief counselor
-and friend, quieted their brawls, taught them to aid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">381</span>
-each other in trouble or sickness, and strove to introduce
-among them that law of patient love and kindness illustrated
-by her own example. The young girls in this tenement she
-assembled every Saturday at her own house, taught them
-to sing, heard them recite their Sunday-school lessons, to be
-sure these were properly learned; taught them to make and
-mend their own clothing, trimmed their bonnets, and took
-charge of their Sunday dress, that it might always be in order.</p>
-
-<p>Of course, such benevolence drew a stream of ignorance
-and misery to her door; and so successful was her labor,
-that she hired a second house, and managed it on the same
-plan. One hot day in August a friend found her combing
-the head of a poor, ungainly, foreign girl. She had persuaded
-a friend to take her from compassion, and she was returned
-because her head was in such a state. Finding no
-one else to do it, the lady herself bravely met the difficulty,
-and persevered in this daily ministry till the evil was remedied,
-and the poor girl thus secured a comfortable home and
-wages.</p>
-
-<p>A young lady of wealth and position, with great musical
-culture and taste, found among the poor two young girls
-with fine voices and great musical talent. Gaining her parents'
-consent, the young lady took one of them home, trained
-her in music, and saw that her school education was secured;
-so that, when expensive masters and instruments were needed,
-the girl herself earned the money required, as a governess
-in a family of wealthy friends. Then she aided the sister;
-and, as the result, one of them is married happily to a
-man of great wealth, and the other is receiving a large income
-as a popular musical artist.</p>
-
-<p>Another young girl, educated as a fine musician by her
-wealthy parents, at the age of sixteen was afflicted with
-weak eyes and a heart complaint. She strove to solace herself
-by benevolent ministries. By teaching music to children
-of wealthy friends, she earned the means to relieve and
-instruct the suffering, ignorant, and poor.</p>
-
-<p>These examples may suffice to show that, even among the
-most wealthy, abundant modes of self-denying benevolence
-may be found where there is a heart to seek them.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">382</span></p>
-
-<p>There is no direction in which a true Christian economy
-of time and money is more conspicuous than in the style of
-living adopted in the family state.</p>
-
-<p>Those who build stately mansions, and lay out extensive
-grounds, and multiply the elegancies of life, to be enjoyed
-by themselves and a select few, “have their reward” in the
-enjoyments that end in this life. But those who, with equal
-means, adopt a style that enables them largely to devote
-time and wealth to the eternal welfare of their fellow-men,
-are laying up never-failing treasures in heaven, in the everlasting
-virtue, gratitude, and happiness of those they have
-thus saved and blessed.</p>
-
-<p>By taking Christ as the example, by communion with him,
-and by daily striving to imitate his character and conduct,
-we may form such a temper of mind that “doing good” on
-that highest scale revealed by our Lord will become the
-chief and highest source of enjoyment. And this heavenly
-principle will grow stronger and stronger, until self-denial
-loses the more painful part of its character; and then, to
-save men from sin, and guide them to eternal happiness, will
-be so delightful and absorbing a pursuit, that all exertions
-regarded as the means to this end will be like the joyous
-efforts of men when they strive for a prize or a crown with
-the full hope of success.</p>
-
-<p>In this view of the subject, efforts and self-denial for the
-good of others are to be regarded not merely as duties enjoined
-for the benefit of others, but as the moral training
-indispensable to the formation of that character on which
-depends our own happiness. This view exhibits the full
-meaning of the Saviour’s declaration, “How hardly shall
-they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” He
-had before taught that the kingdom of heaven consisted not
-in such enjoyments as the worldly seek, but in the temper
-of self-denying benevolence like his own; and as the rich
-have far greater temptations to indolent self-indulgence,
-they are far less likely to acquire this temper than those
-who, by limited means, are inured to some degree of self-denial.</p>
-
-<p>But on this point one important distinction needs to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">383</span>
-made; and that is, between the self-denial which has no other
-aim than mere self-mortification, and that which is exercised
-to secure greater good to ourselves and others. The
-first is the foundation of monasticism, penances, and all other
-forms of asceticism; the latter only is that which Christianity
-requires.</p>
-
-<p>A second consideration, which may give definiteness to
-this subject, is, that aiming at a perfect character for ourselves
-and for others involves not the extermination of any
-principles of our nature, but rather the regulating of them,
-according to the rules of reason and religion; so that the
-lower propensities shall always be kept subordinate to nobler
-principles. Thus we are not to aim at destroying our
-appetites, or at needlessly denying them, but rather so to
-regulate them that they shall best secure the objects for
-which they were implanted. We are not to annihilate the
-love of praise and admiration, but so to control it that the
-favor of God shall be regarded more than the estimation of
-men. We are not to extirpate the principle of curiosity,
-which leads us to acquire knowledge, but so to direct it that
-all our acquisitions shall be useful, and not frivolous or injurious.
-And thus with all the principles of the mind. God
-has implanted no desires in our constitution which are evil
-and pernicious. On the contrary, all our constitutional propensities,
-either of mind or body, he designed we should
-gratify, whenever no evils would thence result either to ourselves
-or others. Such passions as envy, selfish ambition,
-contemptuous pride, revenge, and hatred, are to be exterminated;
-for they are either excesses or excrescences, not created
-by God, but rather the result of our own neglect to
-form habits of benevolence and self-control.</p>
-
-<p>A third consideration is that, though the means for sustaining
-life and health are to be regarded as necessaries,
-without which no other duties can be performed, yet a very
-large portion of the time spent by most persons in easy circumstances
-for food, raiment, and dwellings, is for mere <em>superfluities</em>;
-which are right when they do not involve the
-sacrifice of higher interests, and wrong when they do. Life
-and health can be sustained in the humblest dwellings, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">384</span>
-the plainest dress and the simplest food; and after taking
-from our means what is necessary for life and health, the remainder
-is to be so divided that the larger portion shall be
-given to supply the moral and intellectual wants of ourselves
-and others.</p>
-
-<p>There are many so dependent on parents or husbands, as
-to suffer perplexity as to their own duty on this account.
-In reference to these difficulties, the first remark is, that we
-are never under obligations to do what is entirely out of our
-power; so that those persons who can not regulate their expenses
-or their charities are under no sort of obligation to
-do so. The second remark is, that, when a rule of duty is
-discovered, if we can not fully attain to it, we are bound to
-<em>aim</em> at it, and to fulfill it just so far as we can. We have
-no right to throw it aside because we shall find some difficult
-cases when we come to apply it. The third remark is,
-that no person can tell how much can be done till a faithful
-trial has been made. If a woman has never kept any accounts,
-nor attempted to regulate her expenditures by the
-right rule, nor used her influence with those that control her
-plans, to secure this object, she has no right to say how much
-she can or can not do till after a fair trial has been made.</p>
-
-<p>Is it objected, How can we decide between superfluities
-and necessities? It is replied, that we are not required to
-judge exactly in all cases. Our duty is to use the means in
-our power to assist us in forming a correct judgment; to
-seek the Divine aid in freeing our minds from indolence and
-selfishness; and then to judge as well as we can in our endeavors
-rightly to apportion and regulate our expenses.
-Many persons seem to feel that they are bound to do better
-than they know how. But God is not so hard a master;
-and after we have used all proper means to learn the right
-way, if we then follow it according to our ability, we do
-wrong to feel misgivings, or to blame ourselves, if results
-come out differently from what seems desirable.</p>
-
-<p>The results of our actions alone can never prove us deserving
-of blame. For men are often so placed that, owing
-to lack of intellect or means, it is impossible for them to decide
-correctly. To use all the means of knowledge within<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">385</span>
-our reach, to seek Divine guidance by prayer, and then to
-judge with a candid and conscientious spirit, is all that God
-requires; and when we have done this, and the event seems
-to come out so as to seem unfortunate, we should never wish
-that we had decided otherwise; for this would be the same
-as wishing that we had not followed the dictates of judgment
-and conscience. As this is a world designed for discipline
-and trial, what seem untoward events are never to
-be construed as indications of the obliquity of our past decisions.</p>
-
-<p>In making an examination on this subject, it is sometimes
-the case that a woman will count among the <em>necessaries</em> of
-life all the various modes of adorning the person or house
-practiced in the circle in which she moves; and after enumerating
-the many <em>duties</em> which demand attention, counting
-these as a part, she will come to the conclusion that she has
-no time, and but little money, to devote to personal improvement
-or to benevolent enterprises. This surely is not
-in agreement with the requirements of the Saviour, who calls
-on us to seek for others as well as ourselves, <em>first of all</em>, “the
-kingdom of God and his righteousness.”</p>
-
-<p>In order to act in accordance with the rule here presented,
-it is true that many would be obliged to give up the idea of
-conforming to the notions and customs of those with whom
-they associate, and compelled to adopt the maxim, “Be not
-conformed to this world.” In many cases it would involve
-an entire change in the style of living. And the writer has
-the happiness of knowing more cases than one where persons
-who have come to similar views on this subject have
-given up large and expensive establishments, that they might
-keep a pure conscience, and regulate their charities more according
-to the requirements of Christianity.</p>
-
-<p>In deciding what particular objects shall receive our benefactions,
-there are also general principles to guide us. The
-first is that presented by our Saviour, when, after urging
-the great law of benevolence, he was asked, “And who is
-my neighbor?” His reply, in the parable of “the Good
-Samaritan,” teaches us that any human being whose wants
-are brought to our knowledge is our neighbor. The wound<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">386</span>ed
-man in that parable was not only a stranger, but he belonged
-to a foreign nation, peculiarly hated; and he had no
-claim, except that his wants were brought to the knowledge
-of the wayfaring man. From this we learn that the destitute
-of all nations become our neighbors as soon as their
-wants are brought to our knowledge.</p>
-
-<p>Another general principle is this: that those who are
-most in need must be relieved in preference to those who
-are less destitute. On this principle it is that we think the
-followers of Christ should give more to supply those who
-are suffering for want of the bread of eternal life, than for
-those who are deprived of physical enjoyments. And another
-reason for this preference is the fact that many who
-give in charity have made such imperfect advances in civilization
-and Christianity, that the intellectual and moral
-wants of our race make but a feeble impression on the mind.
-Relate a pitiful tale of a family reduced to live for weeks on
-potatoes only, and many a mind would awake to deep sympathy,
-and stretch forth the hand of charity. But describe
-cases where the immortal mind is pining in stupidity and
-ignorance, or racked with the fever of baleful passions, and
-how small the number so elevated in sentiment and so enlarged
-in their views as to appreciate and sympathize in
-these far greater misfortunes! The intellectual and moral
-wants of our fellow-men, therefore, should claim the first
-place in Christian attention, both because they are most important,
-and because they are most neglected; while it should
-not be forgotten, in giving personal attention to the wants
-of the poor, that the relief of immediate physical distress is
-often the easiest way of touching the moral sensibilities of
-the destitute.</p>
-
-<p>Another consideration to be borne in mind is, that in this
-country there is much less real need of charity in supplying
-physical necessities than is generally supposed by those who
-have not learned the more excellent way. This land is so
-abundant in supplies, and labor is in such demand, that every
-healthy person can earn a comfortable support; and if
-all the poor were instantly made virtuous, it is probable that
-there would be few physical wants which could not readily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">387</span>
-be supplied by the immediate friends of each sufferer. The
-sick, the aged, and the orphan would be the only objects
-of charity. In this view of the case, the primary effort in
-relieving the poor should be to furnish them the means of
-earning their own support, and to supply them with those
-moral influences which are most effectual in securing virtue
-and industry.</p>
-
-<p>Another point to be attended to is the importance of
-maintaining a system of <em>associated</em> charities. There is no
-point in which the economy of charity has more improved,
-than in the present mode of combining many small contributions
-for sustaining enlarged and systematic plans of
-charity. If all the half-dollars which are now contributed
-to aid in organized systems of charity were returned to the
-donors, to be applied by the agency and discretion of each,
-thousands and thousands of the treasures now employed to
-promote the moral and intellectual wants of mankind would
-become entirely useless. In a democracy like ours, where
-few are very rich and the majority are in comfortable circumstances,
-this collecting and dispensing of drops and rills
-is the mode by which, in imitation of nature, the dews and
-showers are to distill on parched and desert lands. And
-every person, while earning a pittance to unite with many
-more, may be cheered with the consciousness of sustaining a
-grand system of operations which must have the most decided
-influence in raising all mankind to that perfect state
-of society which Christianity is designed to accomplish.</p>
-
-<p>Another consideration relates to the indiscriminate bestowal
-of charity. Persons who have taken pains to inform
-themselves, and who devote their whole time to dispensing
-charities, unite in declaring that this is one of the most fruitful
-sources of indolence, vice, and poverty. From several of
-these the writer has learned that, by their own personal investigations,
-they have ascertained that there are large establishments
-of idle and wicked persons in most of our cities,
-who associate together to support themselves by every
-species of imposition. They hire large houses, and live in
-constant rioting on the means thus obtained. Among them
-are women who have or who hire the use of infant children;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">388</span>
-others, who are blind, or maimed, or deformed, or who can
-adroitly feign such infirmities; and by these means of exciting
-pity, and by artful tales of woe, they collect alms,
-both in city and country, to spend in all manner of gross and
-guilty indulgences. Meantime many persons, finding themselves
-often duped by impostors, refuse to give at all; and
-thus many benefactions are withdrawn, which a wise economy
-in charity would have secured. For this and other reasons,
-it is wise and merciful to adopt the general rule, never
-to give alms till we have had some opportunity of knowing
-how they will be spent. There are exceptions to this, as to
-every general rule, which a person of discretion can determine.
-But the practice so common among benevolent persons
-of giving at least a trifle to all who ask, lest perchance
-they may turn away some who are really sufferers, is one
-which causes more sin and misery than it cures.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has never known any system for dispensing
-charity more successful than the one by which a town or
-city is divided into districts, and each district is committed
-to the care of two ladies, whose duty it is to call on each
-family and leave a book for a child, or do some other deed
-of neighborly kindness, and make that the occasion for entering
-into conversation and learning the situation of all residents
-in the district. By this method the ignorant, the vicious,
-and the poor are discovered, and their physical, intellectual,
-and moral wants are investigated. In some places
-where the writer has known this mode pursued, each person
-retained the same district year after year; so that every
-poor family in the place was under the watch and care of
-some intelligent and benevolent lady, who used all her influence
-to secure a proper education for the children, to furnish
-them with suitable reading, to encourage habits of industry
-and economy, and to secure regular attendance on public
-religious instruction. Thus the rich and the poor were
-brought in contact in a way advantageous to both parties;
-and if such a system could be universally adopted, more
-would be done for the prevention of poverty and vice than
-all the wealth of the nation could avail for their relief. But
-this plan can not be successfully carried out in this manner,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">389</span>
-unless there is a large proportion of intelligent, benevolent,
-and self-denying persons who unite in a systematic plan.</p>
-
-<p>But there is one species of “charity” which needs especial
-consideration. It is that spirit of kindly love which induces
-us to refrain from judging of the means and the relative
-charities of other persons. There have been such indistinct
-notions, and so many different standards of duty on this subject,
-that it is rare for two persons to think exactly alike in
-regard to the rule of duty. Each person is bound to inquire
-and judge for himself as to his own duty or deficiencies; but
-as both the resources and the amount of the actual charities
-of others are beyond our ken, it is as indecorous as it is uncharitable
-to sit in judgment on their decisions.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">390</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXVI.<br />
-
-<small>THE CARE OF INFANTS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The topic of this chapter may well be prefaced by an extract
-from Herbert Spencer on the treatment of offspring.
-He first supposes that some future philosophic speculator,
-examining the course of education of the present period,
-should find nothing relating to the training of children, and
-that his natural inference would be that our schools were
-all for monastic orders, who have no charge of infancy and
-childhood. He then remarks, “Is it not an astonishing fact
-that, though on the treatment of offspring depend their lives
-or deaths and their moral welfare or ruin, yet that so little
-instruction on the treatment of offspring is ever given to
-those who will hereafter be parents? Is it not monstrous
-that the fate of a new generation should be left to the
-chances of unreasoning custom, or impulse, or fancy, joined
-with the suggestions of ignorant nurses and the prejudiced
-counsel of grandmothers?</p>
-
-<p>“If a merchant should commence business without any
-knowledge of arithmetic or book-keeping, we should exclaim
-at his folly, and look for disastrous consequences. Or if,
-without studying anatomy, a man set up as a surgeon, we
-should wonder at his audacity, and pity his patients. But
-that parents should commence the difficult work of rearing
-children without giving earnest attention to the principles,
-physical, moral, or intellectual, which ought to guide them,
-excites neither surprise at the actors nor pity for the victims.</p>
-
-<p>“To tens of thousands that are killed add hundreds of
-thousands that survive with feeble constitutions, and millions
-not so strong as they should be; and you will have some
-idea of the curse inflicted on their offspring by parents ignorant
-of the laws of life. Do but consider for a moment
-that the regimen to which children are subject is hourly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">391</span>
-telling upon them to their life-long injury or benefit, and
-that there are twenty ways of going wrong to one way of
-going right, and you will get some idea of the enormous
-mischief that is almost everywhere inflicted by the thoughtless,
-hap-hazard system in common use.</p>
-
-<p>“When sons and daughters grow up sickly and feeble,
-parents commonly regard the event as a visitation of Providence.
-They assume that these evils come without cause,
-or that the cause is supernatural. Nothing of the kind. In
-some cases causes are inherited, but in most cases foolish
-management is the cause. Very generally parents themselves
-are responsible for this pain, this debility, this depression,
-this misery. They have undertaken to control the
-lives of their offspring, and with cruel carelessness have
-neglected to learn those vital processes which they are daily
-affecting by their commands and prohibitions. In utter ignorance
-of the simplest physiological laws, they have been,
-year by year, undermining the constitutions of their children,
-and so have inflicted disease and premature death, not only
-on them but also on their descendants.</p>
-
-<p>“Equally great are the ignorance and consequent injury,
-when we turn from the physical to the moral training. Consider
-the young, untaught mother and her nursery legislation.
-A short time ago she was at school, where her memory
-was crammed with words and names and dates, and her
-reflective faculties scarcely in the slightest degree exercised—where
-not one idea was given her respecting the methods
-of dealing with the opening mind of childhood, and where
-her discipline did not in the least fit her for thinking out
-methods of her own. The intervening years have been spent
-in practicing music, fancy-work, novel-reading, and party-going,
-no thought having been given to the grave responsibilities
-of maternity, and scarcely any of that solid intellectual
-culture obtained which would fit her for such responsibilities;
-and now see her with an unfolding human character
-committed to her charge, see her profoundly ignorant of the
-phenomena with which she has to deal, undertaking to do
-that which can be done but imperfectly even with the aid
-of the profoundest knowledge!”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">392</span></p>
-
-<p>In view of such considerations, every young lady ought
-to learn how to take proper care of an infant; for, even if
-she is never to become the responsible guardian of a nursery,
-she will often be in situations where she can render benevolent
-aid to others in this most fatiguing and anxious duty.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has known instances in which young ladies,
-who had been trained by their mothers properly to perform
-this duty, were in some cases the means of saving the lives
-of infants, and in others, of relieving sick mothers from intolerable
-care and anguish by their benevolent aid.</p>
-
-<p>On this point Dr. Combe remarks: “All women are not
-destined, in the course of nature, to become mothers; but
-how very small is the number of those who are unconnected,
-by family ties, friendship, or sympathy, with the children of
-others! How very few are there who, at some time or other
-of their lives, would not find their usefulness and happiness
-increased, by the possession of a kind of knowledge intimately
-allied to their best feelings and affections! And how
-important is it to the mother herself, that her efforts should
-be seconded by intelligent instead of ignorant assistants!”</p>
-
-<p>In order to be prepared for such benevolent ministries,
-every young lady should improve the opportunity, whenever
-it is afforded her, for learning how to wash, dress, and
-tend a young infant; and whenever she meets with such a
-work as Dr. Combe’s, on the management of infants, she
-ought to read it, and <em>remember</em> its contents.</p>
-
-<p>The directions that follow have been taken from standard
-medical writers, or have been examined and approved by
-the highest class of physicians, and also by judicious and experienced
-mothers.</p>
-
-<p>Says Dr. Combe: “Nearly one half of the deaths occurring
-during the first two years of existence are ascribable
-to mismanagement, and to errors in diet. At birth, the
-stomach is feeble, and as yet unaccustomed to food; its
-cravings are consequently easily satisfied, and frequently renewed.”
-“At that early age, there ought to be no fixed
-time for giving nourishment. The stomach can not be thus
-satisfied.” “The active call of the infant is a sign, which
-needs never be mistaken.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">393</span></p>
-
-<p>“But care must be taken to determine between the crying
-of pain or uneasiness, and the call for food; and the
-practice of giving an infant food to stop its cries is often
-the means of increasing its sufferings. After a child has
-satisfied its hunger, from two to four hours, according to the
-age, should intervene before another supply is given.</p>
-
-<p>“At birth, the stomach and bowels, never having been
-used, contain a quantity of mucous secretion, which requires
-to be removed. To effect this, Nature has rendered the first
-portions of the mother’s milk purposely watery and laxative.
-Nurses, however, distrusting Nature, often hasten to administer
-some active purgative; and the consequence often is,
-irritation in the stomach and bowels, not easily subdued.”
-It is only where the child is deprived of its mother’s milk, as
-the first food, that some gentle laxative should be given.</p>
-
-<p>“It is a common mistake to suppose that because a woman
-is nursing, she ought to live very fully, and to add an allowance
-of wine, porter, or other fermented liquor, to her
-usual diet. The only result of this plan is, to cause an unnatural
-fullness in the system, which places the nurse on the
-brink of disease, and retards rather than increases the food
-of the infant. More will be gained by the observance of
-the ordinary laws of health than by any foolish deviation,
-founded on ignorance.”</p>
-
-<p>There is no point on which medical men so emphatically
-lift the voice of warning as in reference to administering
-medicines to infants. It is so difficult to discover what is
-the matter with an infant, its frame is so delicate and so susceptible,
-and slight causes have such a powerful influence,
-that it requires the utmost skill and judgment to ascertain
-what would be proper medicines, and the proper quantity
-to be given.</p>
-
-<p>Says Dr, Combe: “That there are cases in which active
-means must be promptly used to save the child, is perfectly
-true. But it is not less certain that these are cases of
-which no mother or nurse ought to attempt the treatment.
-As a general rule, where the child is well managed, medicine
-of any kind is very rarely required; and if disease
-were more generally regarded in its true light, not as some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">394</span>thing
-thrust into the system, which requires to be expelled
-by force, but as an aberration from a natural mode of action,
-produced by some external cause, we should be in less haste
-to attack it by medicine, and more watchful in its prevention.
-Accordingly, where a constant demand for medicine
-exists in a nursery, the mother may rest assured that there
-is something essentially wrong in the treatment of her children.</p>
-
-<p>“Much havoc is made among infants by the abuse of
-medicines, which procure momentary relief but end by producing
-incurable disease; and it has often excited my astonishment
-to see how recklessly remedies of this kind are
-had recourse to, on the most trifling occasions, by mothers
-and nurses, who would be horrified if they knew the nature
-of the power they are wielding, and the extent of injury
-they are inflicting.”</p>
-
-<p>Instead, then, of depending on medicine for the preservation
-of the health and life of an infant, the following precautions
-and preventives should be adopted:</p>
-
-<p>“Take particular care of the <i>food</i> of an infant. If it is
-nourished by the mother, her own diet should be simple,
-nourishing, and temperate. If the child be brought up ‘by
-hand,’ the milk of a new milch-cow, mixed with one-third
-water, and sweetened a little with <i>white</i> sugar, should be the
-only food given, until the teeth come. This is more suitable
-than any preparations of flour or arrow-root, the nourishment
-of which is too highly concentrated. Never give a
-child <i>bread</i>, <i>cake</i>, or <i>meat</i>, before the teeth appear. If the
-food appear to distress the child after eating, first ascertain
-if the milk be really from a new milch-cow, as it may otherwise
-be too old. Learn, also, whether the cow lives on
-proper food. Cows that are fed on <i>still-slops</i>, as is often the
-case in cities, furnish milk which is very unhealthful.”</p>
-
-<p>Be sure and keep a good supply of pure and fresh air in
-the nursery. On this point Dr. Bell remarks, respecting
-rooms constructed without fire-places and without doors or
-windows to let in pure air from without, “The sufferings of
-children of feeble constitutions are increased beyond measure
-by such lodgings as these. An action, brought by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">395</span>
-commonwealth, ought to lie against those persons who build
-houses for sale or rent, in which rooms are so constructed as
-not to allow of free ventilation; and a writ of lunacy taken
-out against those who, with the common-sense experience
-which all have on this head, should spend any portion of
-their time, still more, should sleep, in rooms thus nearly air-tight.”</p>
-
-<p>After it is a month or two old, take an infant out to walk,
-or ride, in a little wagon, every fair and warm day; but be
-very careful that its feet, and every part of its body, are
-kept warm; and be sure that its eyes are well protected
-from the light. Weak eyes, and sometimes blindness, are
-caused by neglecting this precaution. Keep the head of an
-infant cool, never allowing too warm bonnets, nor permitting
-it to sink into soft pillows when asleep. Keeping an
-infant’s head too warm very much increases nervous irritability,
-and this is the reason why medical men forbid the
-use of caps for infants. But the head of an infant should,
-especially while sleeping, be protected from draughts of air,
-and from getting cold.</p>
-
-<p>Be very careful of the skin of an infant, as nothing tends
-so effectually to prevent disease. For this end, it should be
-washed all over every morning, and then gentle friction
-should be applied with the hand, to the back, stomach, bowels,
-and limbs. The head should be thoroughly washed every
-day, and then brushed with a soft hair-brush, or combed
-with a fine comb. If, by neglect, dirt accumulates under
-the hair, apply with the finger the yelk of an egg, and then
-the fine comb will remove it all without any trouble.</p>
-
-<p>Dress the infant so that it will be always warm, but not
-so as to cause perspiration. Be sure and keep its feet always
-warm; and for this often warm them at a fire, and use
-long dresses. Keep the neck and arms covered. For this
-purpose, wrappers, open in front, made high in the neck, with
-long sleeves, to put on over the frock, are now very fashionable.</p>
-
-<p>It is better for both mother and child, that it should not
-sleep on the mother’s arm at night, unless the weather be
-extremely cold. This practice keeps the child too warm,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">396</span>
-and leads it to seek food too frequently. A child should
-ordinarily take nourishment but once or twice in the night.
-A crib beside the mother, with plenty of warm and light
-covering, is best for the child; but the mother must be sure
-that it is always kept warm.</p>
-
-<p>Never cover a child’s head so that it will inhale the air
-of its own lungs. In very warm weather, especially in cities,
-great pains should be taken to find fresh and cool air by
-rides and sailing. Walks in a public square in the cool of
-the morning, and frequent excursions in ferry or steamboats,
-would often save a long bill for medical attendance. In hot
-nights, the windows should be kept open, and the infant laid
-on a mattress, or on folded blankets. A bit of straw matting,
-laid over a feather-bed and covered with the under
-sheet, makes a very cool bed for an infant.</p>
-
-<p>Cool bathing, in hot weather, is very useful; but the
-water should be very little cooler than the skin of the child.
-When the constitution is delicate, the water should be
-slightly warmed. Simply sponging the body freely in a
-tub, answers the same purpose as a regular bath. In very
-warm weather this should be done two or three times a day,
-always waiting two or three hours after food has been given.</p>
-
-<p>“When the stomach is peculiarly irritable, (from teething,)
-it is of paramount necessity to withhold all the nostrums
-which have been so falsely lauded as ‘sovereign cures
-for <i>cholera infantum</i>.’ The true restoratives for a child
-threatened with disease are cool air, cool bathing, and cool
-drinks of simple water, in addition to <em>proper</em> food, at stated
-intervals.”</p>
-
-<p>In many cases, change of air from sea to mountain, or the
-reverse, has an immediate healthful influence and is superior
-to every other treatment. Do not take the advice of mothers
-who tell of this, that, and the other thing, which have
-proved excellent remedies in their experience. Children
-have different constitutions, and there are multitudes of different
-causes for their sickness; and what might cure one
-child, might kill another which <em>appeared</em> to have the same
-complaint. A mother should go on the general rule of giving
-an infant very little medicine, and then only by the di<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">397</span>rection
-of a discreet and experienced physician. And there
-are cases when, according to the views of the most distinguished
-and competent practitioners, physicians themselves
-are much too free in using medicines, instead of adopting
-preventive measures.</p>
-
-<p>Do not allow a child to form such habits that it will not
-be quiet unless tended and amused. A healthy child should
-be accustomed to lie or sit in its cradle much of the time;
-but it should occasionally be taken up and tossed, or carried
-about for exercise and amusement. An infant should be
-encouraged to <em>creep</em>, as an exercise very strengthening and
-useful. If the mother fears the soiling of its nice dresses,
-she can keep a long slip or apron which will entirely cover
-the dress, and can be removed when the child is taken in
-the arms. A child should not be allowed, when quite
-young, to bear its weight on its feet very long at a time, as
-this tends to weaken and distort the limbs.</p>
-
-<p>Many mothers, with a little painstaking, succeed in putting
-their infants into their cradle while awake, at regular
-hours for sleep; and induce regularity in other habits, which
-saves much trouble. During this training process a child
-may cry, at first, a great deal; but, for a healthy child, this
-use of the lungs does no harm, and tends rather to strengthen
-than to injure them, unless it becomes exceedingly violent.
-A child who is trained to lie or sit and amuse itself, is happier
-than one who is carried and tended a great deal, and
-thus rendered restless and uneasy when not so indulged.</p>
-
-<p>The most critical period in the life of an infant is that of
-dentition or teething, especially at the early stages. An
-adult has thirty-two teeth, but young children have only
-twenty, which gradually loosen and are followed by the
-permanent teeth. When the child has ten teeth on each
-jaw, all that are added are the permanent set, which should
-be carefully preserved; this caution is needful, as sometimes
-decay in the first double teeth of the second set are supposed
-to be of the transient set, and are so neglected, or are removed
-instead of being preserved by plugging. When the
-first teeth rise so as to press against the gums, there is always
-more or less inflammation, causing nervous fretfulness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">398</span>
-and the impulse to put every thing into the mouth. Usually
-there is disturbed sleep, a slight fever, and greater flow
-of saliva; this is often relieved by letting the child have ice
-to bite, tied in a rag.</p>
-
-<p>Sometimes the disorder of the mouth extends to the whole
-system. In difficult teething, one symptom is the jerking
-back of the head when taking the breath, as if in pain, owing
-to the extreme soreness of the gums. This is, in extreme
-cases, attended with increased saliva and a gummy secretion
-in the corners of the eyes, itching of the nose, redness of
-cheeks, rash, convulsive twitching of lips and the muscles
-generally, fever, constipation, and sometimes by a diarrhea,
-which last is favorable if slight; difficulty of breathing, dilation
-of the pupils of the eyes, restless motion and moaning;
-and finally, if not relieved, convulsions and death. The
-most effective relief is gained by lancing the gums. Every
-woman, and especially every mother, should know the time
-and order in which the infant teeth come, and, when any of
-the above symptoms appear, should examine the mouth, and
-if a gum is swollen and inflamed, should either have a physician
-lance it, or if this can not be done, should perform the
-operation herself. A sharp pen-knife and steady hand, making
-an incision to touch the rising tooth, will cause no more
-pain than a simple scratch of the gum, and usually will give
-speedy relief.</p>
-
-<p>The temporary teeth should not be removed until the new
-ones appear, as it injures the jaw and coming teeth; but as
-soon as a new tooth is seen pressing upward, the temporary
-tooth should be removed, or the new tooth will come out of
-its proper place. If there is not room where the new tooth
-appears, the next temporary tooth must be taken out.
-Great mischief has been done by removing the first teeth
-before the second appear, thus making a contraction of the
-jaw.</p>
-
-<p>Most trouble with the teeth of young children comes from
-neglect to use the brush to remove the tartar that accumulates
-near the gum, causing disease and decay. This disease
-is sometimes called <i>scurvy</i>, and is shown by an accumulation
-around the teeth and by inflamed gums that bleed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">399</span>
-easily. Removal of the tartar by a dentist and cleaning the
-teeth after every meal with a brush will usually cure this
-evil, which causes loosening of the teeth and a bad breath.</p>
-
-<p>Much injury is often done to teeth by using improper
-tooth-powder. The tooth-brush should be used after every
-meal, and floss silk pressed between the teeth to remove food
-lodged there. This method will usually save the teeth from
-decay till old age, and there is no need of tooth-powder.</p>
-
-<p>When an infant seems ill during the period of dentition,
-the following directions from an experienced physician may
-be of service. It is now an accepted principle of the medical
-world that fevers are to be reduced by cold applications;
-but an infant demands careful and judicious treatment
-in this direction; some have extremely sensitive nerves,
-and cold is painful. For such, tepid sponging should be
-used near a fire, and the coldness increased gradually. The
-sensations of the child should be the guide. Usually, but
-not always, children that are healthy will learn by degrees
-to prefer cold water, and then it may safely be used.</p>
-
-<p>When an infant becomes feverish, wrapping its body in a
-towel wrung out in tepid or cold water, and then keeping
-it warm in a woolen blanket, is a very safe and soothing
-remedy.</p>
-
-<p>In case of constipation, this preparation of food is useful:</p>
-
-<p>One table-spoonful of unbolted flour wet with cold water.
-Add one pint of hot water, and boil twenty minutes. Add,
-when taken up, one pint of milk. If the stomach seems delicate
-and irritable, strain out the bran, but in most cases retain
-it.</p>
-
-<p>Where the mother’s milk fails, and good cow’s milk can
-not be insured, there are preparations of Oat-meal and barley-meal
-that are next best. These may be used when the
-mother’s milk is injured by ill health. A trial must be made
-to see which is best. Make a thin gruel, and add half a tea-spoonful
-of condensed milk, or four great spoonfuls of milk
-to a coffee-cup of the gruel for a young infant, and a full
-one for an older child.</p>
-
-<p>In case of diarrhea, walk with the child in arms a great
-deal in the open air, and give it rice-water to drink.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">400</span></p>
-
-<p>The warmth and vital influences of the nurse are very
-important, and make this mode of exercise both more soothing
-and more efficacious, especially in the open air, the infant
-being warmly clad.</p>
-
-<p>In case of feverishness from teething or from any other
-cause, wrap the infant in a towel wrung out in tepid water,
-and then wrap it in a woolen blanket. The water may be
-cooler according as the child is older and stronger. The
-evaporation of the water draws off the heat, while the moisture
-soothes the nerves, and usually the child will fall into a
-quiet sleep. As soon as it becomes restless, change the wet
-towel and proceed as before.</p>
-
-<p>The leading physicians of Europe and of this country, in
-all cases of fevers, use cool water to reduce them, by this
-and other modes of application. This method is more
-soothing than any other, and is as effective for adults as for
-infants.</p>
-
-<p>Some of the most distinguished physicians of New York
-who have examined this chapter give their full approval of
-the advice given. If there is still distrust as to this mode
-of using water to reduce fevers, it will be advantageous to
-read an address on the use of cold applications in fevers, delivered
-by Dr. William Neftel, before the New York Academy
-of Medicine, published in the <cite>New York Medical Record</cite>
-for November, 1868; this can be obtained by inclosing
-twenty cents to the editor, with the post-office address of
-the applicant.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">401</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXVII.<br />
-
-<small>THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>In regard to the physical education of children, Dr.
-Clark, Physician in Ordinary to the Queen of England, expresses
-views on one point in which most physicians would
-coincide. He says: “There is no greater error in the management
-of children than that of giving them animal diet
-very early. By persevering in the use of an over-stimulating
-diet, the digestive organs become irritated, and the various
-secretions immediately connected with digestion, and
-necessary to it, are diminished, especially the <i>biliary secretion</i>.
-Children so fed become very liable to attacks of fever
-and inflammation, affecting particularly the mucous membranes;
-and measles and other diseases incident to childhood
-are generally severe in their attacks.”</p>
-
-<p>The result of the treatment of the inmates of the Orphan
-Asylum at Albany is one which all who have the care of
-young children should deeply ponder. During the first six
-years of the existence of this institution, its average number
-of children was eighty. For the first three years, their diet
-was meat once a day, bread of fine flour, rice, Indian puddings,
-vegetables, fruit, and milk. Considerable attention
-was given to clothing, fresh air, and exercise; and they
-were bathed once in three weeks. During these three
-years, from four to six children, and sometimes more, were
-continually on the sick-list; one or two assistant nurses were
-necessary; a physician was called two or three times a
-week; and during this time there were between thirty and
-forty deaths. At the end of this period, the management
-was changed in these respects: daily ablutions of the whole
-body were practiced; bread of unbolted flour was substituted
-for that of fine wheat; and all animal food was banished.
-More attention, also, was paid to clothing, bedding,
-fresh air, and exercise.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">402</span></p>
-
-<p>The result was, that the nursery was vacated; the nurse
-and physician were no longer needed; and for two years
-not a single case of sickness or death occurred. The third
-year, also, there were no deaths, except those of two idiots
-and one other child, all of whom were new inmates, who had
-not been subjected to this treatment. The teachers of the
-children also testified there was a manifest increase of intellectual
-vigor and activity, while there was much less irritability
-of temper.</p>
-
-<p>Let parents, nurses, and teachers reflect on the above
-statement, and bear in mind that stupidity of intellect, and
-irritability of temper, as well as ill health, are often caused
-by the mismanagement of the nursery in regard to the physical
-training of children.</p>
-
-<p>There is probably no practice more deleterious than that
-of allowing children to eat at short intervals through the
-day. As the stomach is thus kept constantly at work, with
-no time for repose, its functions are deranged, and a weak
-or disordered stomach is the frequent result. Children
-should be required to keep cakes, nuts, and other good
-things, which should be sparingly given, till just before a
-meal, and then they will form a part of their regular supply.
-This is better than to wait till after their hunger is satisfied
-by food, when they will eat the niceties merely to gratify the
-palate, and thus overload the stomach and interrupt digestion.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the intellectual training of young children,
-some modification in the common practice is necessary, with
-reference to their physical well-being. More care is needful
-in providing <em>well-ventilated</em> school-rooms, and in securing
-more time for sports in the open air during school hours.
-It is very important to most mothers that their young children
-should be removed from their care during certain school
-hours; and it is very useful for quite young children to be
-subjected to the discipline of a school, and to intercourse
-with other children of their own age. And, with a suitable
-teacher, it is no matter how early children are sent to school,
-provided their health is not endangered by impure air, too
-much confinement, and too great mental stimulus, which is
-the chief danger of the present age.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">403</span></p>
-
-<p>In regard to the formation of the moral character, it has
-been too much the case that the discipline of the nursery
-has consisted of disconnected efforts to make children either
-do, or refrain from doing, certain particular acts. Do this,
-and be rewarded; do that, and be punished; is the ordinary
-routine of family government.</p>
-
-<p>But children can be very early taught that their happiness,
-both now and hereafter, depends on the formation of
-<em>habits</em> of submission, self-denial, and benevolence. And
-all the discipline of the nursery can be conducted by parents,
-not only with this general aim in their own minds, but
-also with the same object daily set before the minds of the
-children. Whenever their wishes are crossed, or their wills
-subdued, they can be taught that all this is done, not merely
-to please the parent, or to secure some good to themselves
-or to others; but as a part of that merciful training which
-is designed to form such a character, and such habits, that
-they can hereafter find their chief happiness in giving up
-their will to God, and in living to do good to others, instead
-of living merely to please themselves.</p>
-
-<p>It can be pointed out to them, that they must always submit
-their will to the will of God, or else be continually miserable.
-It can be shown how, in the nursery, and in the
-school, and through all future days, a child must practice
-the giving up of his will and wishes, when they interfere
-with the rights and comfort of others; and how important
-it is early to learn to do this, so that it will, by habit, become
-easy and agreeable. It can be shown how children
-who are indulged in all their wishes, and who are never accustomed
-to any self-denial, always find it hard to refrain
-from what injures themselves and others. It can be shown,
-also, how important it is for every person to form such habits
-of benevolence toward others that self-denial in doing
-good will become easy.</p>
-
-<p>Parents have learned, by experience, that children can be
-constrained by authority and penalties to exercise self-denial,
-for <em>their own</em> good, till a habit is formed which makes the
-duty comparatively easy. For example, well-trained children
-can be accustomed to deny themselves tempting arti<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">404</span>cles
-of food which are injurious, until the practice ceases to
-be painful and difficult; whereas an indulged child would be
-thrown into fits of anger or discontent when its wishes were
-crossed by restraints of this kind.</p>
-
-<p>But it has not been so readily discerned that the same
-method is needful in order to form a habit of self-denial in
-doing good to others. It has been supposed that while children
-must be forced, by <em>authority</em>, to be self-denying and
-prudent in regard to their own happiness, it may properly be
-left to their own discretion whether they will practice any
-self-denial in doing good to others. But the more difficult
-a duty is, the greater is the need of parental authority in
-forming a habit which will make that duty easy.</p>
-
-<p>In order to secure this, some parents turn their earliest
-efforts to this object. They require the young child always
-to offer to others a part of every thing which it receives;
-always to comply with all reasonable requests of others for
-service; and often to practice little acts of self-denial, in order
-to secure some enjoyment for others. If one child receives
-a present of some nicety, he is required to share it
-with all his brothers and sisters. If one asks his brother to
-help him in some study or sport, and is met with a denial,
-the parent requires the unwilling child to act benevolently,
-and give up some of his time to increase his brother’s enjoyment.
-Of course, in such an effort as this discretion must
-be used as to the frequency and extent of the exercise of authority,
-to induce a habit of benevolence. But where parents
-deliberately aim at such an object, and wisely conduct
-their instructions and discipline to secure it, very much will
-be accomplished.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been
-two extremes, both of which need to be shunned. One is,
-a stern and unsympathizing maintenance of parental authority,
-demanding perfect and constant obedience, without any
-attempt to convince a child of the propriety and benevolence
-of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of
-sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which
-are to be met. Under such discipline, children grow up to
-fear their parents, rather than to love and trust them; while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">405</span>
-some of the most valuable principles of character are chilled,
-or forever blasted.</p>
-
-<p>In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite
-extreme. They put themselves too much on the footing
-of equals with their children, as if little were due to
-superiority of relation, age, and experience. Nothing is exacted,
-without the implied concession that the child is to be
-a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and reason and
-persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience
-would be far better. This system produces a most
-pernicious influence. Children soon perceive the position
-thus allowed them, and take every advantage of it. They
-soon learn to dispute parental requirements, acquire habits
-of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful manners
-and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and
-yield to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their
-rights were infringed upon.</p>
-
-<p>The medium course is for the parent to take the attitude
-of a superior in age, knowledge, and relation, who has a perfect
-<em>right</em> to control every action of the child, and that, too,
-without giving any reason for the requisitions. “Obey <em>because
-your parent commands</em>,” is always a proper and sufficient
-reason: though not always the best to give.</p>
-
-<p>But care should be taken to convince the child that the
-parent is conducting a course of discipline designed to
-make him happy; and in forming habits of implicit obedience,
-self-denial, and benevolence, the child should have the
-reasons for most requisitions kindly stated; never, however,
-on the demand of it from the child, as a right, but as an act
-of kindness from the parent.</p>
-
-<p>It is impossible to govern children properly, especially
-those of strong and sensitive feelings, without a constant
-effort to appreciate the value which they attach to their enjoyments
-and pursuits. A lady of great strength of mind
-and sensibility once told the writer that one of the most
-acute periods of suffering in her whole life was occasioned
-by the burning up of some milkweed-silk by her mother.
-The child had found, for the first time, some of this shining
-and beautiful substance; was filled with delight at her dis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">406</span>covery;
-was arranging it in parcels; planning its future
-use, and her pleasure in showing it to her companions—when
-her mother, finding it strewed over the carpet, hastily
-swept it into the fire, and that, too, with so indifferent an
-air, that the child fled away, almost distracted with grief
-and disappointment. The mother little realized the pain
-she had inflicted, but the child felt the unkindness so severely
-that for several days her mother was an object almost of
-aversion. While, therefore, the parent needs to carry on a
-steady course, which will oblige the child always to give up
-its will, whenever its own good or the greater claims of others
-require it, this should be constantly connected with the
-expression of a tender sympathy for the trials and disappointments
-thus inflicted.</p>
-
-<p>Those, again, who will join with children and help them
-in their sports, will learn by this mode to understand the
-feelings and interests of childhood; while, at the same time,
-they secure a degree of confidence and affection which can
-not be gained so easily in any other way. And it is to be
-regretted that parents so often relinquish this most powerful
-mode of influence to domestics and playmates, who often
-use it in the most pernicious manner. In joining in such
-sports, older persons should never yield entirely the attitude
-of superiors, or allow disrespectful manners or address.
-And respectful deportment is never more cheerfully accorded,
-than in seasons when young hearts are pleased and
-made grateful by having their tastes and enjoyments so efficiently
-promoted.</p>
-
-<p>Next to the want of all government, the two most fruitful
-sources of evil to children are, <em>unsteadiness</em> in government
-and <em>over-government</em>. Most of the cases in which the
-children of sensible and conscientious parents turn out badly,
-result from one or the other of these causes. In cases
-of unsteady government, either one parent is very strict,
-severe, and unbending, and the other excessively indulgent,
-or else the parents are sometimes very strict and decided,
-and at other times allow disobedience to go unpunished. In
-such cases, children, never knowing exactly when they can escape
-with impunity, are constantly tempted to make the trial.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">407</span></p>
-
-<p>The bad effects of this can be better appreciated by reference
-to one important principle of the mind. It is found
-to be universally true that, when any object of desire is put
-entirely beyond the reach of hope or expectation, the mind
-very soon ceases to long for it, and turns to other objects
-of pursuit. But so long as the mind is hoping for some
-good, and making efforts to obtain it, any opposition excites
-irritable feelings. Let the object be put entirely beyond
-all hope, and this irritation soon ceases.</p>
-
-<p>In consequence of this principle, those children who are
-under the care of persons of steady and decided government
-know that, whenever a thing is forbidden or denied, it is out
-of the reach of hope; the desire, therefore, soon ceases, and
-they turn to other objects. But the children of undecided,
-or of over-indulgent parents, never enjoy this preserving aid.
-When a thing is denied, they never know but either coaxing
-may win it, or disobedience secure it without any penalty,
-and so they are kept in that state of hope and anxiety
-which produces irritation and tempts to insubordination.
-The children of very indulgent parents, and of those who
-are undecided and unsteady in government, are very apt to
-become fretful, irritable, and fractious.</p>
-
-<p>Another class of persons, in shunning this evil, go to the
-other extreme, and are very strict and pertinacious in regard
-to every requisition. With them, fault-finding and penalties
-abound, until the children are either hardened into indifference
-of feeling and obtuseness of conscience, or else become
-excessively irritable or misanthropic.</p>
-
-<p>It demands great wisdom, patience, and self-control, to
-escape these two extremes. In aiming at this, there are
-parents who have found the following maxims of very great
-value:</p>
-
-<p>First: Avoid, as much as possible, the multiplication of
-rules and absolute commands. Instead of this, take the attitude
-of advisers. “My child, this is improper, I wish you
-would remember not to do it.” This mode of address answers
-for all the little acts of heedlessness, awkwardness, or
-ill-manners so frequently occurring with children. There
-are cases when direct and distinct commands are needful,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">408</span>
-and in such cases a penalty for disobedience should be as
-steady and sure as the laws of nature. A barrel in the nursery,
-with a seat in it for the child, serves for a gentle and
-yet very effective solitary imprisonment, and is a most salutary
-penalty. Where such steadiness and certainty of penalty
-attend disobedience, children no more think of disobeying
-than they do of putting their fingers into a burning
-candle.</p>
-
-<p>The next maxim is, Govern by rewards more than by penalties.
-Such faults as willful disobedience, lying, dishonesty,
-and indecent or profane language, should be punished with
-severe penalties, after a child has been fully instructed in
-the evil of such practices. But all the constantly recurring
-faults of the nursery, such as ill-humor, quarreling, carelessness,
-and ill-manners, may, in a great many cases, be regulated
-by gentle and kind remonstrances, and by the offer of
-some reward for persevering efforts to form a good habit.
-It is very injurious and degrading to any mind to be kept
-under the constant fear of penalties. <em>Love</em> and <em>hope</em> are the
-principles that should be mainly relied on in forming the
-habits of childhood.</p>
-
-<p>Another maxim, and perhaps the most difficult, is, Do not
-govern by the aid of severe and angry tones. A single example
-will be given to illustrate this maxim. A child is disposed
-to talk and amuse itself at table. The mother requests
-it to be silent, except when needing to ask for food, or when
-spoken to by its older friends. It constantly forgets. The
-mother, instead of rebuking in an impatient tone, says, “My
-child, you must remember not to talk. I will remind you
-of it four times more, and after that, whenever you forget,
-you must leave the table and wait till we are done.” If the
-mother is steady in her government, it is not probable that
-she will have to apply this slight penalty more than once
-or twice. This method is far more effectual than the use of
-sharp and severe tones, to secure attention and recollection,
-and often answers the purpose as well as offering some
-reward.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has been in some families where the most efficient
-and steady government has been sustained without the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">409</span>
-use of a cross or angry tone; and in others, where a far less
-efficient discipline was kept up, by frequent severe rebukes
-and angry remonstrances. In the first case, the children followed
-the example set them, and seldom used severe tones
-to each other; in the latter, the method employed by the
-parents was imitated by the children, and cross words and
-angry tones resounded from morning till night in every portion
-of the household.</p>
-
-<p>Another important maxim is, Try to keep children in a
-happy state of mind. Every one knows, by experience, that
-it is easier to do right and submit to rule when cheerful and
-happy, than when irritated. This is peculiarly true of children;
-and a wise mother, when she finds her child fretful
-and impatient, and thus constantly doing wrong, will often
-remedy the whole difficulty by telling some amusing story,
-or by getting the child engaged in some amusing sport.
-This strongly shows the importance of learning to govern
-children without the employment of angry tones, which always
-produce irritation.</p>
-
-<p>Children of active, heedless temperament, or those who
-are odd, awkward, or unsuitable in their remarks and deportment,
-are often essentially injured by a want of patience
-and self-control in those who govern them. Such children
-often possess a morbid sensibility which they strive to conceal,
-or a desire of love and approbation, which preys like a
-famine on the soul. And yet they become objects of ridicule
-and rebuke to almost every member of the family, until
-their sensibilities are tortured into obtuseness or misanthropy.
-Such children, above all others, need tenderness and
-sympathy. A thousand instances of mistake or forgetfulness
-should be passed over in silence, while opportunities for commendation
-and encouragement should be diligently sought.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the formation of habits of self-denial in childhood,
-it is astonishing to see how parents who are very sensible
-often seem to regard this matter. Instead of inuring
-their children to this duty in early life, so that by habit it
-may be made easy in after-days, they seem to be studiously
-seeking to cut them off from every chance to secure such
-a preparation. Every wish of the child is studiously grati<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">410</span>fied;
-and, where a necessity exists of crossing its wishes,
-some compensating pleasure is offered in return. Such parents
-often maintain that nothing shall be put on their table
-which their children may not join them in eating. But
-where, so easily and surely as at the daily meal, can that
-habit of self-denial be formed which is so needful in governing
-the appetites, and which children must acquire, or be
-ruined? The food which is proper for grown persons is
-often unsuitable for children; and this is a sufficient reason
-for accustoming them to see others partake of delicacies
-which they must not share. Requiring children to wait till
-others are helped, and to refrain from conversation at table,
-except when addressed by their elders, is another mode of
-forming habits of self-denial and self-control. Requiring
-them to help others first, and to offer the best to others, has
-a similar influence.</p>
-
-<p>In forming the moral habits of children, it is wise to take
-into account the peculiar temptations to which they are to
-be exposed. The people of this nation are eminently a trafficking
-people; and the present standard of honesty, as to
-trade and debts, is very low, and every year seems sinking
-still lower. It is, therefore, pre-eminently important that
-children should be trained to strict <em>honesty</em>, both in word
-and deed. It is not merely teaching children to avoid absolute
-lying, which is needed: <em>all kinds of deceit</em> should be
-guarded against, and all kinds of little dishonest practices
-be strenuously opposed. A child should be brought up with
-the determined principle never to <em>run in debt</em>, but to be content
-to live in a humbler way, in order to secure that true
-independence which should be the noblest distinction of an
-American citizen.</p>
-
-<p>Quite as important in family and school training is enforcing
-the <em>law that protects character</em>, which is more precious
-than gold, while the most cruel sufferings result from want
-of honor and care in this respect. Especially is the enforcement
-of this law important at this period, when there are
-such constant and destructive examples of its violation both
-by the press and by general practice.</p>
-
-<p>This law of benevolence and rectitude is this: every per<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">411</span>son
-who has established a fair character in any direction
-should have it upheld by <em>all</em>, as a protection against unproved
-rumors that impeach this character. Such rumors
-should <em>always</em> be met with the question, Is it <em>proved</em> by
-<em>proper</em> evidence? If it is not, then it is a slander, and whoever
-aids to circulate it should be treated as an abettor of
-slander.</p>
-
-<p>To illustrate this, take a not uncommon case: A lady,
-who for thirty years held the highest character for purity,
-propriety, and good principles, was accused by a man of
-high position of following him with repeated solicitations
-for marriage. He offered no proof but his assertion, which
-was nullified by her denial. In this case, the man should
-have been treated as a slanderer, and those who aided in circulating
-his story as abettors of slander.</p>
-
-<p>Every woman is especially interested in sustaining this
-law, for it is a dreadful mortification and disgrace to a delicate
-and refined woman to have certain questions even connected
-with her name. Not less so is it to a clergyman of
-keen sensibilities. And it is an insult to ask a person thus
-abused to furnish denials and defense. <em>Established character</em>
-should protect both the person thus maligned and also their
-nearest friends from hearing, much less from noticing, such
-mean and disgraceful assaults.</p>
-
-<p>There is no more important duty devolving upon an educator
-than the cultivation of habits of modesty and propriety
-in young children. All indecorous words or deportment
-should be carefully restrained, and delicacy and reserve
-studiously cherished. It is a common notion, that it is important
-to secure these virtues to one sex more than to the
-other; and, by a strange inconsistency, the sex most exposed
-to danger is the one selected as least needing care. Yet a
-wise mother will be especially careful that her sons are
-trained to modesty and purity of mind.</p>
-
-<p>The rule which should guide on this subject is this:
-Whenever health, life, or duty demand it, all connected with
-such topics and duties should be spoken of and done without
-embarrassment or restraint; but in no other circumstances.
-Thus in the Bible, instruction on the dangers and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">412</span>
-duties connected with our bodily organization are set forth
-in plain and simple language, to be read in public worship
-and in private by all. So, in medical, surgical, and nursing
-duties, the same freedom is demanded, and disapproval or
-opposition are deemed false modesty and foolish fastidiousness.
-But where there are no such demands for health and
-safety, then conversation, poetry, pictures, jokes, and coarse
-allusions are vulgar, indecent, and sinful.</p>
-
-<p>Few mothers are sufficiently aware of the dreadful penalties
-which often result from indulged impurity of thought.
-If children, in <em>future</em> life, can be preserved from licentious
-associates, it is supposed that their safety is secured. But
-the records of our insane retreats, and the pages of medical
-writers, teach that even in solitude, and without being aware
-of the sin or the danger, children may inflict evils on themselves
-which not unfrequently terminate in disease, delirium,
-and death.</p>
-
-<p>There is no necessity for explanations on this point any
-further than this, that certain parts of the body are not to
-be touched except for purposes of cleanliness, and that the
-most dreadful suffering comes from disobeying these commands.
-So in regard to practices and sins of which a young
-child will sometimes inquire, the wise parent will say, that
-this is what children can not understand, and about which
-they must not talk or ask questions. And they should be
-told that it is always a bad sign when children talk on matters
-which parents call vulgar and indecent, and that the
-company of such children should be avoided. Disclosing
-details of wrong-doing to young and curious children, often
-leads to the very evils feared. But parents and teachers,
-in this age of danger, should be well informed and watchful;
-for it is not unfrequently the case that servants and
-school-mates will teach young children practices which exhaust
-the nervous system, and bring on paralysis, mania, and
-death.</p>
-
-<p>But there are social dangers during and after childhood
-which demand from mothers and teachers such instructions
-as are rarely given; and yet, for the want of it, the most
-dreadful vices and sufferings ensue.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">413</span></p>
-
-<p>The evils and dangers here indicated can never be understood
-or appreciated till mothers and teachers gain that
-knowledge of the construction of the body, and the dangers
-connected with duties of the family state, which is now confined
-almost entirely to the medical profession, while physicians,
-by false customs and false modesty on the part of
-women, are constrained to a reticence which is dangerous
-and often fatal. The difficulty can be wisely met, not by
-public lectures or by pulpit ministries. It is in the privacy
-of the nursery and the school-room that well-instructed
-mothers and teachers must train the young to meet these
-dangers, by all needful knowledge and habits of intelligent
-self-control.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">414</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br />
-
-<small>FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There are few women who have charge of servants or of
-children, in the family and school, who do not suffer anxiety
-and perplexity, and sometimes remorse, in attempts to
-perform their duty as chief ministers of religion in the family
-state. The following suggestions may aid in diminishing
-these difficulties:</p>
-
-<p>The main foundation of these troubles is the endless diversities
-of instruction as to what is right in character and
-conduct, and especially as to what is taught in the Bible on
-these points. For there are few practical questions on which
-persons of equal intelligence and moral worth are not in antagonism
-as to what <em>is</em> the right; and all the Christian sects
-are in equal controversy as to what are the teachings of the
-Bible. And yet every housekeeper, every mother, and every
-teacher, practically, must decide these questions for herself
-and her dependants, when, in the kitchen, nursery, and
-school-room she teaches what actions and feelings are right
-or wrong, or when she decides to what religious denomination
-she, and those she can influence, shall belong.</p>
-
-<p>There is one consoling consideration in view of these conflicting
-opinions, and that is, that nothing tends more directly
-to cultivate both the intellect and moral feelings, than
-the study, reflection, and discussion resulting from this trying
-dilemma. For, were every human being infallibly directed
-by a superior mind as to every step and every decision,
-it would greatly diminish mental effort, and the moral
-discipline of life. All would remain as mere children, guided
-and upheld at every step. Instead of this, the whole moral
-and intellectual world is kept vigorous, earnest, and bright
-by conflict and discussion, while many moral virtues are cultivated
-by this turmoil.</p>
-
-<p>The difficulties thus encountered may be much reduced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">415</span>
-by gaining clear ideas as to <em>what it is</em> which constitutes
-voluntary action <em>right</em>. To settle this more clearly, we introduce
-again a portion of Chapter XXV., with additional
-considerations. The definition of <em>right</em>, in its widest use, is
-“any rule or method which will <em>best</em> accomplish any plan or
-design.” It is a fact, also, that there is a created intuitive
-belief in all rational minds that happiness-making on the
-largest scale possible is the end or purpose for which all
-things are made.</p>
-
-<p>This is proved by the fact that whenever men perceive
-that a given course will secure the most and the best good
-for both the individual and for society, all decide that it is
-<em>right</em>. The main difficulty is in discovering what <em>is</em> the
-best for all concerned.</p>
-
-<p>There are two ways in which mankind learn this. The
-first is, by the trial of experience. Man learns “to know
-good and evil” by good lost or gained, and evil suffered.
-This experimenting has been going on in all ages, each generation
-gaining by the experience of the past. The other
-mode is, by revelations from God made in human language,
-and to be interpreted by the common rules of the language
-employed.</p>
-
-<p>But one distinction is very important, and that is, the
-two relations in which an action is to be judged as right,
-viz., first, with reference to the action as best for all concerned,
-and next in reference to the motive or intention of
-the actor. For it is best and right that every mind should
-choose what it believes to be right; and thus it often happens
-that the same action is right as to motive or intention,
-and wrong as to actual result. So, also, an action may be
-right in tendency and result, while it is wrong as to motive.
-There is often much confusion from not recognizing
-this distinction.</p>
-
-<p>There are many cases where experience will not avail in
-deciding what is best for all, especially in reference to our
-prospects after death, and our relations and duties toward
-our Creator. For all this we are dependent on revelations
-made in human language, to be interpreted by the rules of
-language. And as almost all words have more than one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">416</span>
-literal meaning, and are also used sometimes in a literal, and
-sometimes in a figurative sense, the chief labor in gaining
-God’s teaching is in applying rightly the laws of language.</p>
-
-<p>One difficulty in this attempt is the fact that the true
-interpretation of language depends greatly on the habits
-of thought, the prejudices of education, and the influence of
-excited feelings and wishes. So strong are these influences
-in the common affairs of life, that it has been a maxim of
-courts that a man is not qualified to testify where his own
-interests are concerned. And in all daily affairs, men always
-make allowances for deviation from a true judgment
-in what greatly interests the feelings. This accounts for the
-fact that such a variety of interpretations are put on the
-plain and natural meaning of the Bible, when such a meaning
-controverts favorite opinions or interferes with important
-plans or hopes. It is not because it is difficult to interpret
-the Bible correctly by the proper use of those rules
-men employ in daily life; it is because men’s feelings, prejudices,
-and wishes interfere. No less is it the case that the
-bias of feeling constantly sways the judgment of men in
-deciding what is right and best, where experience and reason
-are the chief guides.</p>
-
-<p>Another embarrassment in gaining the true teachings of
-the Bible is the fact that the doctrines of churches and
-creeds have consisted extensively of philosophical theories
-to explain the <em>how</em> and the <em>why</em> of the facts made known by
-revelation; and men have been educated to believe that
-these theories should be accepted as authoritative, the same
-as the revealed facts, and thus feeling and prejudice interfere.
-For example, that the sacrifice and death of Jesus
-Christ was needful to secure redemption to our race from
-sin and its penalties, is the revealed fact. <em>Why</em> it was
-needed, and <em>how</em> it avails to save men, is a question which
-men have invented various theories to answer and explain,
-and belief in these theories has been deemed as sacred and
-obligatory as if they were matters of revelation.</p>
-
-<p>Another, and the chief difficulty, is the fact that the great
-mass, even of educated minds, have never been trained to
-use the rules of language in the interpretation of the Bible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">417</span>
-as they do in common life. Although it is the great and
-distinctive principle of Protestantism that every man is to
-form his own creed, and to interpret the Bible for himself,
-responsible not to man but to God alone, the common people
-have not been trained properly to use this right and
-privilege. And this is not because it is not as easy and
-practical a matter as any other duty requiring intellectual
-culture, practical exercises, and an honest desire for the
-truth. In consequence of this, much that is only figurative
-in the Bible has been received as literal, and repellent doctrines
-thus established.</p>
-
-<p>It is probable that no one thing could so effectually promote
-unity of opinion among churches, and consequent harmony
-of action, as the proper training of the common people
-in the nursery and school-room to use the laws of language
-with the Bible as they do in common life. Such
-training would also bring confidence and peace to minds so
-extensively perplexed by supposed contradictions as to its
-teachings. It was by this method that the writer overcame
-difficulties, and gained such confidence and peace as can be
-secured in no other way. Without stating the results of
-her own efforts in interpreting the Bible, a few examples will
-follow, to illustrate the position that any woman of ordinary
-capacity can find relief and comfort by the same method.</p>
-
-<p>We will take, first, the great question of this life. What
-are our dangers in the future life, and what must we do to
-be saved from them?</p>
-
-<p>The following is a brief statement of the views of mankind
-on this question. Among the heathen, especially among
-the wisest and best, it was held that the virtuous would
-fare better after death than the wicked. The seventy-third
-Psalm shows in most terrific language the misery of the
-wicked, and as clearly the blessedness of the righteous at
-death, as believed by the Jews in all ages.</p>
-
-<p>Among Christian nations, a large class have no definite
-opinions on this question, but by their practice assume that
-there is no danger at all, and so give all their thoughts and
-aims to the things of this life.</p>
-
-<p>A large class who profess to obtain their opinions from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">418</span>
-the Bible hold that, either at death or at some period after,
-all mankind will be forever good and happy in heaven.</p>
-
-<p>Another large class hold that a portion of mankind will,
-at death, go to everlasting misery, to be tormented with
-literal fire and brimstone, and that all the rest will finally
-go to heaven; but previously the good must suffer temporary
-punishment for sins committed here—this period of
-suffering being more or less diminished by penances, and by
-the sacrifices and good works of Jesus Christ and the good
-on earth.</p>
-
-<p>Another class believe that at death every human being
-passes directly to perfect happiness in heaven, or to dreadful
-sufferings in hell which are never to end. One part of
-this class hold that the punishment is literally existing forever
-in fire and brimstone, and the other part hold that the
-suffering will be the natural result of an endless character
-that insures misery, and that the language of the Bible expresses
-this figuratively.</p>
-
-<p>Finally, another class hold that, in the life to come, happiness
-and misery depend on <em>character</em>; that a portion of our
-race in this life forms one that insures immediate and endless
-happiness at death; that another portion form a character
-that involves great suffering after death; and that in
-<em>some</em> cases this character is perpetuated forever, involving
-consequent endless suffering. But they claim that the Bible
-nowhere teaches that with <em>all</em> mankind character is fixed at
-death. Instead of this, what intervenes between death and
-the final day, when the righteous and wicked are to be reclothed
-in bodies and forever separated, is left in wise darkness.</p>
-
-<p>But the most striking fact in these diverse opinions is, that
-Christian sects all agree that the number who will escape
-from whatever dangers there may be, depends upon the self-denying
-labor and sacrifices of the followers of Jesus Christ.</p>
-
-<p>In view of these facts, the first duty of every housekeeper,
-of every mother, and of every teacher, is to decide which of
-these views as to the dangers awaiting us all at death are
-taught by Jesus Christ and his apostles. For if it be true
-that scholars, children, and servants must be trained to self<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">419</span>-sacrifice
-and self-denying labor, in order to save themselves
-and their fellow-men from dreadful risks and dangers in the
-life to come, all the practical duties of daily life will be diverse
-from the methods pursued by those who believe in no
-such dangers.</p>
-
-<p>To illustrate this, suppose several families recently settled
-near a deep, unexplored wood in a new country. The children
-ramble in its shades, and every day find new beauties
-and curiosities to attract them farther into its reserves. On
-a certain day a man arrives from a distant place, all torn
-and bleeding in efforts to reach them. He tells them that
-there is a frightful ravine in the unexplored depths; that
-pleasant but slippery paths lead to it; that it is the resort
-of fierce and cruel animals, which come forth and roam
-through its beautiful shades, and that there is no safety but
-in keeping the children from entering these dangerous
-woods.</p>
-
-<p>Now these points would be clear to common sense: first,
-that the man, though an entire stranger, is a benevolent person,
-because he evidently has suffered severely to save;
-next, that he tells what he believes is the truth, or he would
-not encounter this suffering; and lastly, as he says he has
-long lived in that vicinity, that he has had the means of
-knowing the truth, and his representations are to be received
-as true.</p>
-
-<p>Suppose, then, one family have perfect faith in this messenger,
-they will use every possible precaution to avoid the
-dangers revealed. Suppose another family is skeptical about
-the danger, and yet has some fear it may be true, they would
-use some care, and yet not be so anxious and earnest as the
-family which had perfect faith. Suppose another family to
-have no belief at all as to the danger, they would allow their
-children to roam as before, and give no care or thought to
-the matter. This illustrates the position that belief in danger
-modifies all rules of duty, and that faith is proved by
-men’s conduct or works.</p>
-
-<p>In like manner faith in Jesus Christ, who came in suffering
-and sorrow to tell of dangers in the unseen world, is proved
-by the way men live. If they have perfect faith in the dan<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">420</span>gers
-he reveals, then the most earnest efforts to save themselves
-and their fellow-men from ignorance and sin will follow.
-If they have little faith, they will make less exertions;
-if they have no fears for the future life, all their plans will
-terminate in gaining the good things of this life for themselves
-and those they love, sure that all the rest of mankind
-will be happy when they die, and that their troubles here
-will only serve to make rest and enjoyment the greater in
-the coming life.</p>
-
-<p>The following is the method by which any woman may
-decide what is truth on this great question, so as to be at
-rest.</p>
-
-<p>It is first assumed that the Bible is written for the common
-people, and is to be interpreted by the rules of language
-men employ in common life, which, briefly, are these:</p>
-
-<p>The first is, all expressions are literal when they do not
-contradict the known nature of things, or known facts, or the
-known opinions of the writer; in which latter case they usually
-are figurative, but have as definite a meaning as if literal.
-For example, “everlasting” and “forever” mean “time
-without end,” unless contrary to known facts, or the known
-nature of things, or the known opinions of the writer. So
-“punishment” <em>always</em> signifies “pain consequent either on
-violating a natural or some instituted law.”</p>
-
-<p>The second rule is, when any expression has several significations,
-that is to be taken as the right one which has <em>the
-most</em> evidence in its favor. Let any woman of ordinary ability
-and education apply these rules to the texts on this subject,
-and she will find little difficulty in deciding what the
-Bible teaches as the dangers of the future life.</p>
-
-<p>Another example will be given on a subject which causes
-great anxiety and perplexity, and which may be relieved by
-the same method. The question is, Why does a Being of infinite
-power, wisdom, and goodness allow the dreadful miseries
-that oppress mankind, and, still more, why will he allow
-sin and suffering to reach through eternal ages? Many suppose
-that revelation gives no reply to this longing inquiry.</p>
-
-<p>But when we take the language of the Bible in its common
-and literal sense, we find a satisfactory answer. For <em>perfect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">421</span>
-wisdom</em> is “that which chooses the <em>best</em> means for the <em>best</em>
-ends,” and <em>perfect benevolence</em> is “that which seeks to make
-the most possible happiness with the least possible suffering.”
-Therefore, when God reveals himself as perfect in wisdom
-and goodness, it is the same as saying that he has done, and
-will do, <em>all in his power</em> to save from sin and suffering. Almighty
-power does not signify power to work contradictions
-or absurdities; and all theologians teach that there is a limitation
-of power in the <em>nature of things</em>. Thus some say God
-can not forgive sin without an atonement; others, that he
-can not lie; others, that he “can not govern the stars by the
-ten commandments, nor free agents by the attraction of
-gravity.” And God says of his people Israel, “What <em>could</em>
-I have done that I have not done” to secure their obedience.</p>
-
-<p>God’s inability to save <em>all</em> is expressly stated when he declares
-that he is “not willing that any should perish.” The
-only proof of want of power to do something is to <em>will</em> it
-done, and yet it remains undone. And God declares that he
-is not willing to have any one perish. Still more effectively
-is this proved by his suffering and that of his dear Son, when
-Christ came. No sane mind ever suffers pain to gain an end
-when it could be gained without suffering; and the revelation
-of God as having suffered so greatly, is the highest proof
-that can be given that his power is limited in controlling free
-agents by the very nature of free agency. In his hour of extremity,
-our Lord prayed, “<em>If it be possible</em>, remove this cup;”
-thus indicating that almighty power signifies power to do all
-possible things, and that some things are <em>not</em> possible even
-to God.</p>
-
-<p>The first question being settled, that there are <em>dangers</em> to
-be met after death, the next is, “What must we do to be
-saved?”</p>
-
-<p>Here the Christian churches are divided, and on a fundamental
-point, which briefly is this: One class claims that
-God has the power to create minds so that, without any previous
-knowledge or training, they shall not only know what
-is right, but have a controlling principle that in all cases will
-secure right choice, and that the minds of all angels and of
-our first parents were made on this pattern. But owing to
-Adam’s sin, all infants are born without this perfect organ<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">422</span>ization,
-and so depraved that eternal sin and suffering in
-hell is the portion of all who are not regenerated before they
-die, while there is no <em>certain</em> way revealed by which parents
-can insure this boon for all their offspring.</p>
-
-<p>The other class claim that the assumption that God can,
-or ever did, create minds on this pattern, is a theological theory
-for which no evidence exists in revelation or in nature;
-that it destroys the evidence of the benevolence of God,
-making him prefer the sin and suffering of infants, when he
-has power to make them with such minds. They claim also
-that if a holy mind consists in a controlling purpose or choice
-to do right, that it is a contradiction in terms to say that a
-free agent can be created with such a purpose or choice. For
-the distinctive feature of a free agent is intellect to perceive
-right and wrong, and power to choose in either of two courses;
-and choice can not be created. It is also objected that by this
-theory the chief aim of an educator is not so much to teach
-what is right and wrong, and secure motives and training to
-induce such habits of obedience to God’s laws as eventually
-will secure a controlling purpose of obedience, but rather to
-employ means by which God shall regenerate the depraved
-mind.</p>
-
-<p>Let it be particularly noticed that these two classes do
-not differ as to the <em>facts</em> revealed. Both recognize the fact
-taught, as much by experience as by revelation, that every
-child has such a nature as insures the constant violation of
-natural law, while it is entirely destitute of a controlling principle
-of love to God and man. They differ mainly as to a
-theory of accounting for this fact. One teaches that it is
-because the mind at birth is ignorant, undeveloped, and untrained;
-the other teaches that it is owing to an imperfect
-constitutional nature, for which God or Adam, or both, are
-responsible.</p>
-
-<p>Every woman must examine and decide for herself on
-which of these systems she will train her family. In this attempt
-women have one advantage, and that is, they are not
-so liable to embarrassment and prejudice as they would be
-were they, as are most of their religious teachers, trained in
-systematic theology.</p>
-
-<p>The writer has had an experience in both methods, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">423</span>
-may have some influence in regard to belief in the teachings
-of the Bible as to the dreadful dangers to be met in the
-life to come. This was the mainspring of feeling and effort
-in her father, who trained a large family to believe and to
-feel that the great object of life should be <em>to save as many as
-possible from eternal ruin</em>. Wealth, honor, power, and every
-earthly good, in his mind, was as the dust of the balance compared
-with this overmastering passion. It was this dreadful
-danger to herself, and to those she loved best, that changed
-a frolicsome, hopeful, light-hearted girl to a serious, hard-working
-woman as nothing else could have done. It was
-this that stimulated a mind whose natural tendency was to
-works of taste, light literature, and fun, to anxious investigation
-in theology, metaphysics, and Biblical science.</p>
-
-<p>And the results in family and personal training are equally
-manifest in the history of Christian sects. It is those
-which are most deeply convinced of dreadful dangers in the
-life to come which have been most advanced in mental development,
-and in benevolent labor and self-sacrifice. Such
-heroic suffering and devotion to the best interests of humanity
-have never been witnessed on a large scale, except
-in denominations whose fundamental and motive power is
-belief in dreadful dangers to be encountered after death.
-The great difficulty in many of these denominations has been
-a theological theory as to the created constitution of mind,
-which tended to lessen hope and exertion in that training
-by which escape from these dangers is most readily and
-happily secured.</p>
-
-<p>The course here suggested does not imply independent investigation,
-without aid from men of learning and piety. Every
-doctrine of theology, and every antagonistic mode of Biblical
-interpretation, has been sustained by such men. But
-with a reference Bible and Concordance, any woman of ordinary
-capacity can collect all that the Bible contains on a
-given topic, and form a decision as to which view has the
-most evidence in its favor. Then she can learn what has
-been offered both for and against this view. This having
-been done with a prayerful spirit, the result will rarely fail
-in bringing satisfaction and peace; while both intellectually
-and morally such exercises will have an elevating tendency.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">424</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXIX.<br />
-
-<small>THE CARE OF SERVANTS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>In the chapter on the <i>Right Use of Time and Property</i>, the
-important explanation was made of the great law of love to
-God and to our neighbor, which includes in its aim and spirit
-all other laws. The distinction is there exhibited between
-instinctive <em>emotional</em> love, caused by agreeable qualities in
-persons and things, and the <em>voluntary</em> love which is “good-will”
-toward God and man on the best and most extensive
-scale. This love is identified in the great command itself
-by the expression “as thyself.” For the love of self is
-not pleasure created by our own agreeable qualities. It
-rather is the all-controlling desire to make self happy. For
-this end we are required to obey the laws of God, and thus
-secure the best and highest happiness both to ourselves and
-to our neighbors.</p>
-
-<p>In addition to this supreme law, made clear both by the
-intuitive principle of mind and in the revealed laws of the
-Old Testament, we have the teachings of Jesus Christ as to
-the character of God as a loving Father to all his creatures.
-And, what is especially to be regarded in estimating the obligations
-of a housekeeper to her servants, we are taught that
-our heavenly Father feels the most care and interest in those
-of his children who are the most ignorant, the most neglected,
-and the most sinful. As the loving parent gives the
-most thought and tender care to the most feeble and imperfect
-child, so the Father of All most anxiously cares for the
-weak, the ignorant, and the wandering of mankind.</p>
-
-<p>Few of Christ’s professed followers at the present day realize
-what obligations they assume when they prepare large
-houses and establishments, which bring the most neglected
-members of society under their care as members of the family
-state.</p>
-
-<p>Did they understand the sacred obligations thus assumed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">425</span>
-to train the humble members of their family with the care
-and Christian love taught by both the precept and example
-of our Divine Lord, it is probable most would reduce their
-style of living, so that their own children, with one or two
-of God’s most neglected ones, would embrace all for whom
-they would dare to assume such obligations.</p>
-
-<p>The preceding presents the general principles to guide a
-housekeeper as to her duty in the care of servants. The
-following will suggest important details and considerations.
-Those in quotation-marks are from Mrs. Stowe’s “House and
-Home Papers.”</p>
-
-<p>“Although in earlier ages the highest-born, wealthiest,
-and proudest ladies were skilled in the simple labors of the
-household, the advance of society toward luxury has changed
-all this, especially in lands of aristocracy and classes; and at
-the present time America is the only country where there is a
-class of women who may be described as <em>ladies</em> who do their
-own work. By a lady we mean a woman of education, cultivation,
-and refinement, of liberal tastes and ideas, who, without
-any very material additions or changes, would be recognized
-as a lady in any circle of the Old World or the New.</p>
-
-<p>“The existence of such a class is a fact peculiar to American
-society, a plain result of the new principles involved in
-the doctrine of universal equality.</p>
-
-<p>“When the colonists first came to this country, of however
-mixed ingredients their ranks might have been composed,
-and however imbued with the spirit of feudal and aristocratic
-ideas, the discipline of the wilderness soon brought them
-to a democratic level; the gentleman felled the wood for his
-log-cabin side by side with the plowman, and thews and sinews
-rose in the market. ‘A man was deemed honorable in
-proportion as he lifted his hand upon the high trees of the
-forest.’ So in the interior domestic circle, mistress and maid,
-living in a log-cabin together, became companions, and sometimes
-the maid, as the one well trained in domestic labor,
-took precedence of the mistress. It also became natural and
-unavoidable that children should begin to work as early as
-they were capable of it.</p>
-
-<p>“The result was a generation of intelligent people brought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">426</span>
-up to labor from necessity, but devoting to the problem of
-labor the acuteness of a disciplined brain. The mistress,
-outdone in sinews and muscles by her maid, kept her superiority
-by skill and contrivance. If she could not lift a
-pail of water, she could invent methods which made lifting
-the pail unnecessary; if she could not take a hundred steps
-without weariness, she could make twenty answer the purpose
-of a hundred.</p>
-
-<p>“Then were to be seen families of daughters, handsome,
-strong women, rising each day to their indoor work with
-cheerful alertness—one to sweep the room, another to make
-the fire, while a third prepared the breakfast for the father
-and brothers who were going out to manly labor: and they
-chatted meanwhile of books, studies, embroidery; discussed
-the last new poem, or some historical topic started by graver
-reading, or perhaps a rural ball that was to come off next
-week. They spun with the book tied to the distaff; they
-wove; they did all manner of fine needle-work; they made
-lace, painted flowers, and, in short, in the boundless consciousness
-of activity, invention, and perfect health, set themselves
-to any work of which they had ever read or thought.
-A bride in those days was married with sheets and table-cloths
-of her own weaving, with counterpanes and toilet-covers
-wrought in divers embroidery by her own and her
-sisters’ hands. The amount of fancy-work done in our days
-by girls who have nothing else to do will not equal what
-was done by those who performed, in addition, the whole
-work of the family.</p>
-
-<p>“In those former days most women were in good health,
-debility and disease being the exception. Then, too, was
-seen the economy of daylight and its pleasures. They were
-used to early rising, and would not lie in bed if they could.
-Long years of practice made them familiar with the shortest,
-neatest, most expeditious method of doing every household
-office, so that really, for the greater part of the time in
-the house, there seemed, to a looker-on, to be nothing to do.
-They rose in the morning and dispatched husband, father,
-and brothers to the farm or wood-lot; went sociably about,
-chatting with each other, skimmed the milk, made the but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">427</span>ter,
-and turned the cheeses. The forenoon was long; all the
-so-called morning work over, they had leisure for an hour’s
-sewing or reading before it was time to start the dinner preparations.
-By two o’clock the house-work was done, and
-they had the long afternoon for books, needle-work, or drawing—for
-perhaps there was one with a gift at her pencil.
-Perhaps one read aloud while others sewed, and managed in
-that way to keep up a great deal of reading.</p>
-
-<p>“It has been remarked in our armies that the men of cultivation,
-though bred in delicate and refined spheres, can bear
-up under the hardships of camp-life better and longer than
-rough laborers. The reason is, that an educated mind knows
-how to use and save its body, to work it and spare it, as
-an uneducated mind can not; and so the college-bred youth
-brings himself safely through fatigues which kill the unreflective
-laborer.</p>
-
-<p>“Cultivated, intelligent women, who are brought up to do
-the work of their own families, are labor-saving institutions.
-They make the head save the wear of the muscles. By forethought,
-contrivance, system, and arrangement, they lessen
-the amount to be done, and do it with less expense of time
-and strength than others. The old New England motto,
-<em>Get your work done up in the forenoon</em>, applied to an
-amount of work which would keep the most common Irish
-servant toiling from daylight to sunset.</p>
-
-<p>“Those remarkable women of old, in a measure, were made
-by circumstances. There were, comparatively speaking, no
-servants to be had, and so children were trained to habits
-of industry and mechanical adroitness from the cradle, and
-every household process was reduced to the very minimum
-of labor. Every step required in a process was counted,
-every movement calculated; and she who took ten steps
-when one would do, lost her reputation for ‘faculty.’ Certainly
-such an early drill was of use in developing the health
-and the bodily powers, as well as in giving precision to the
-practical mental faculties. All household economies were
-arranged with equal niceness in those thoughtful minds. A
-trained housekeeper knew just how many sticks of hickory
-of a certain size were required to heat her oven, and how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">428</span>
-many of each different kind of wood. She knew by a sort
-of intuition just what kinds of food would yield the most palatable
-nutriment with the least outlay of accessories in cooking.
-She knew to a minute the time when each article must
-go into and be withdrawn from her oven; and if she could
-only lie in her chamber and direct, she could guide an intelligent
-child through the processes with mathematical certainty.</p>
-
-<p>“Now, if every young woman learned to do house-work,
-and cultivated her practical faculties in early life, she would,
-in the first place, be much more likely to keep her servants;
-and, in the second place, if she lost them temporarily, would
-avoid all that wear and tear of the nervous system which
-comes from constant ill-success in those departments on
-which family health and temper mainly depend. This is
-one of the peculiarities of our American life which require a
-peculiar training. Why not face it sensibly?</p>
-
-<p>“Our land abounds in motorpathic institutions, to which
-women are sent, at a great expense, to have hired operators
-stretch and exercise their inactive muscles. They lie for
-hours to have their feet twigged, their arms flexed, and all
-the different muscles of the body worked for them, because
-they are so flaccid and torpid that the powers of life do not
-go on. Would it not be quite as cheerful, and a less expensive
-process, if young girls from early life developed the
-muscles in sweeping, dusting, starching, ironing, and all the
-multiplied domestic processes which our grandmothers knew
-of? Does it not seem poor economy to pay servants for
-letting our muscles grow feeble, and then to pay operators
-to exercise them for us? I will venture to say that our
-grandmothers in a week went over every movement that
-any gymnast has invented, and went over them to some productive
-purpose too.</p>
-
-<p>“The first business of a housekeeper in America is that of
-a teacher. She can have a good table only by having practical
-knowledge, and tact in imparting it. If she understands
-her business practically and experimentally, her eye
-detects at once the weak spot; it requires only a little tact,
-some patience, some clearness in giving directions, and all
-comes right.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">429</span></p>
-
-<p>“If we carry a watch to a watch-maker, and undertake to
-show him how to regulate the machinery, he laughs and
-goes on his own way; but if a brother-machinist makes suggestions,
-he listens respectfully. So, when a woman who
-knows nothing of woman’s work undertakes to instruct one
-who knows more than she does, she makes no impression;
-but a woman who has been trained experimentally, and
-shows she understands the matter thoroughly, is listened to
-with respect.</p>
-
-<p>“Let a woman make her own bread for one month, and,
-simple as the process seems, it will take as long as that to
-get a thorough knowledge of all the possibilities in the case;
-but after that, she will be able to command good bread by
-the aid of all sorts of servants; in other words, will be a
-thoroughly-prepared teacher of bread-making.</p>
-
-<p>“Good servants do not often come to us; they must be
-<em>made</em> by patience and training; and if a girl has a good
-disposition, and a reasonable degree of handiness, and the
-housekeeper understands her profession, a good servant may
-be made out of an indifferent one. Some of the best girls
-have been those who came directly from the ship, with no
-preparation but docility and some natural quickness. The
-hardest cases to be managed are not of those who have been
-taught nothing, but of those who have been taught wrongly—who
-come self-opinionated, with ways which are distasteful,
-and contrary to the genius of one’s housekeeping. Such
-require that their mistress shall understand at least so much
-of the actual conduct of affairs as to prove to the servant that
-there are better ways than those in which she has been trained.</p>
-
-<p>“Domestic service is the great problem of life here in
-America; the happiness of families, their thrift, well-being,
-and comfort, are more affected by this than by any one thing
-else. The modern girls, as they have been brought up, can
-not perform the labor of their own families as in those simpler,
-old-fashioned days; and what is worse, they have no
-practical skill with which to instruct servants, who come to
-us, as a class, raw and untrained. In the present state of
-prices, the board of a domestic costs as much as her wages,
-and the waste she makes is a more serious matter still.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">430</span></p>
-
-<p>It is sometimes urged against domestics that they exact
-exorbitant wages. But what is the rule of rectitude on this
-subject? Is it not the universal law of labor and of trade
-that an article is to be valued according to its scarcity and
-the demand? When wheat is scarce, the farmer raises his
-price; and when a mechanic offers services difficult to be
-obtained, he makes a corresponding increase of price. And
-why is it not right for domestics to act according to a rule
-allowed to be correct in reference to all other trades and
-professions? It is a fact that really good domestic service
-must continue to increase in value just in proportion as this
-country waxes rich and prosperous; thus making the proportion
-of those who wish to hire labor relatively greater,
-and the number of those willing to go to service less.</p>
-
-<p>Money enables the rich to gain many advantages which
-those of more limited circumstances can not secure. One
-of these is, securing good servants by offering high wages;
-and this, as the scarcity of this class increases, will serve
-constantly to raise the price of service. It is right for domestics
-to charge the market value, and this value is always
-decided by the scarcity of the article and the amount of
-demand. Right views of this subject will sometimes serve
-to diminish hard feelings toward those who would otherwise
-be wrongfully regarded as unreasonable and exacting.</p>
-
-<p>Another complaint against servants is that of instability
-and discontent, leading to perpetual change. But in reference
-to this, let a mother or daughter conceive of their own
-circumstances as so changed that the daughter must go out
-to service. Suppose a place is engaged, and it is then found
-that she must sleep in a comfortless garret; and that, when
-a new domestic comes—perhaps a coarse and dirty foreigner—she
-must share her bed with her. Another place is offered,
-where she can have a comfortable room and an agreeable
-room-mate; in such a case, would not both mother and
-daughter think it right to change?</p>
-
-<p>Or suppose, on trial, it was found that the lady of the
-house was fretful or exacting, and hard to please, or that her
-children were so ungoverned as to be perpetual vexations;
-or that the work was so heavy that no time was allowed for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">431</span>
-relaxation and the care of a wardrobe; and another place
-offers where these evils can be escaped, would not mother
-and daughter here think it right to change? And is it not
-right for domestics, as well as their employers, to seek places
-where they can be most comfortable?</p>
-
-<p>In some cases, this instability and love of change would
-be remedied if employers would take more pains to make a
-residence with them agreeable, and to attach servants to the
-family by feelings of gratitude and affection. There are ladies,
-even where well-qualified domestics are most rare, who
-seldom find any trouble in keeping good and steady ones.
-And the reason is that their servants know they can not
-better their condition by any change within reach. It is not
-merely by giving them comfortable rooms, and good food,
-and presents, and privileges, that the attachment of domestic
-servants is secured; it is by the manifestation of a friendly
-and benevolent interest in their comfort and improvement.
-This is exhibited in bearing patiently with their faults; in
-kindly teaching them how to improve; in showing them how
-to make and take proper care of their clothes; in guarding
-their health; in teaching them to read, if necessary, and supplying
-them with proper books; and, in short, by endeavoring,
-so far as may be, to supply the place of parents. It is
-seldom that such a course would fail to secure steady service,
-and such affection and gratitude that even higher wages
-would be ineffectual to tempt them away. There would
-probably be some cases of ungrateful returns, but there is no
-doubt that the course indicated, if generally pursued, would
-very much lessen the evil in question.</p>
-
-<p>When servants are forward and bold in manners and disrespectful
-in address, they may be considerately taught that
-those who are among the best-bred and genteel have courteous
-and respectful manners and language to all they meet;
-while many who have wealth are regarded as vulgar, because
-they exhibit rude and disrespectful manners. The
-very terms <em>gentleman</em> and <em>gentlewoman</em> indicate the refinement
-and delicacy of address which distinguishes the high-bred
-from the coarse and vulgar.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to appropriate dress, in most cases it is difficult<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">432</span>
-for an employer to interfere <em>directly</em> with comments or advice.
-The most successful mode is to offer some service in
-mending or making a wardrobe, and when a confidence in
-the kindness of feeling is thus gained, remarks and suggestions
-will generally be properly received, and new views of
-propriety and economy can be imparted. The knowledge
-which is so important to every woman, contained in the chapter
-on <em>Clothing</em>, is as much needed in the kitchen as in the
-parlor. In some cases it may be well for an employer who,
-from appearances, anticipates difficulty of this kind, in making
-the preliminary contract or agreement, to state that she
-wishes to have the room, person, and dress of her servants
-kept neat and in order, and that she expects to remind them
-of their duty in this particular if it is neglected. Domestic
-servants are very apt to neglect the care of their own
-chambers and clothing; and such habits have a most pernicious
-influence on their well-being, and on that of their children,
-in future domestic life. An employer, then, is bound to
-exercise a parental care over them in these respects.</p>
-
-<p>There is one great mistake, not unfrequently made, in the
-management both of domestics and of children, and that is,
-in supposing that the way to cure defects is by finding fault
-as each failing occurs. But instead of this being true, in
-many cases the directly opposite course is the best; while
-in all instances much good judgment is required in order to
-decide when to notice faults and when to let them pass unnoticed.
-There are some minds very sensitive, easily discouraged,
-and infirm of purpose. Such persons, when they
-have formed habits of negligence, haste, and awkwardness,
-often need expressions of sympathy and encouragement
-rather than reproof. They have usually been found fault
-with so much that they have become either hardened or desponding;
-and it is often the case that a few words of commendation
-will awaken fresh efforts and renewed hope. In
-almost every case, words of kindness, confidence, and encouragement
-should be mingled with the needful admonitions
-or reproof.</p>
-
-<p>It is a good rule, in reference to this point, to <em>forewarn</em>
-instead of finding fault. Thus, when a thing has been done<span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">433</span>
-wrong, let it pass unnoticed till it is to be done again; and
-then a simple request to have it done in the right way will
-secure quite as much, and probably more, willing effort, than
-a reproof administered for neglect. Some persons seem to
-take it for granted that young and inexperienced minds are
-bound to have all the forethought and discretion of mature
-persons, and freely express wonder and disgust when mishaps
-occur for want of these traits. But it would be far
-better to save from mistake or forgetfulness by previous
-caution and care on the part of those who have gained experience
-and forethought; and thus many occasions of complaint
-and ill-humor will be avoided.</p>
-
-<p>Those who fill the places of heads of families are not very
-apt to think how painful it is to be chided for neglect of
-duty, or for faults of character. If they would sometimes
-imagine themselves in the place of those whom they control,
-with some person daily administering reproof to them in the
-same <em>tone and style</em> as they employ to those who are under
-them, it might serve as a useful check to their chidings. It is
-often the case that persons who are most strict and exacting,
-and least able to make allowances and receive palliations, are
-themselves peculiarly sensitive to any thing which implies
-that they are in fault. By such, the spirit implied in the Divine
-petition, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
-who trespass against us,” needs especially to be cherished.</p>
-
-<p>One other consideration is very important. There is no
-duty more binding on Christians than that of patience and
-meekness under provocations and disappointment. Now
-the tendency of every sensitive mind, when thwarted in its
-wishes, is to complain and find fault, and that often in tones
-of fretfulness or anger. But there are few servants who
-have not heard enough of the Bible to know that angry or
-fretful fault-finding from the mistress of a family, when her
-work is not done to suit her, is not in agreement with the
-precepts of Christ. They notice and feel the inconsistency;
-and every woman, when she gives way to feelings of anger
-and impatience at the faults of those around her, lowers herself
-in their respect; while her own conscience, unless very
-much blinded, can not but suffer a wound.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">434</span></p>
-
-<p>“We can not in this country maintain to any great extent
-large retinues of servants. Even with ample fortunes,
-they are forbidden by the general character of society
-here, which makes them cumbrous and difficult to manage.
-Every mistress of a family knows that her cares increase
-with every additional servant. Trained housekeepers,
-such as regulate the complicated establishments of the
-Old World, form a class that are not, and from the nature of
-the case never will be, found in any great numbers in this
-country. All such women, as a general thing, are keeping,
-and prefer to keep, houses of their own.</p>
-
-<p>“A moderate style of housekeeping, small, compact, and
-simple domestic establishments, must necessarily be the general
-order of life in America. So many openings of profit
-are to be found in this country, that domestic service necessarily
-wants the permanence which forms so agreeable a
-feature of it in the Old World.</p>
-
-<p>“Again, American women must not try with three servants
-to carry on life in the style which in the Old World
-requires sixteen. They must thoroughly understand, and be
-prepared <em>to teach</em>, every branch of housekeeping; they must
-study to make domestic service desirable, by treating their
-servants in a way to lead them to respect themselves, and
-to feel themselves respected; and there will gradually be
-evolved from the present confusion a solution of the domestic
-problem which shall be adapted to the life of a new and
-growing world.”</p>
-
-<p>It is sometimes the case that the constant change of domestics,
-and the liability thus to have dishonest ones, makes
-it needful to keep stores under lock and key. This measure
-is often very offensive to those who are hired, as it is regarded
-by them as an evidence both of <em>closeness</em> and of <em>suspicion</em>
-of their honesty.</p>
-
-<p>In such cases it is a good plan, when first making an
-agreement with a domestic, to state the case in this way:
-that you have had dishonest persons in the family, and that
-when theft is committed, it is always a cause of disquiet to
-<em>honest</em> persons, because it exposes them to suspicion. You
-can then state your reasons as twofold: one to protect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">435</span>
-yourself from pilfering when you take entire strangers, and
-the other is to protect honest persons from being suspected.
-When the matter is thus presented at first hiring a person,
-no offense will be taken afterward.</p>
-
-<p>There is one rule which every housekeeper will find of
-incalculable value, not only in the case of domestics, but in
-the management of children, and that is, never to find fault
-<em>at the time that a wrong thing is done</em>. Wait until you are
-unexcited yourself, and until the vexation of the offender is
-also past, and then, when there is danger of a similar offense,
-<em>forewarn</em>, and point out the evils already done for want of
-proper care in this respect.</p>
-
-<p>Success in the management of domestics very much depends
-upon the <em>manners</em> of a housekeeper toward them.
-And here two extremes are to be avoided. One is a severe
-and imperious mode of giving orders and finding fault, which
-is inconsistent both with lady-like good breeding and with
-a truly amiable character. Few domestics, especially American
-domestics, will long submit to it, and many a good one
-has been lost, simply by the influence of this unfortunate
-manner. The other extreme is apt to result from the great
-difficulty of retaining good domestics. In cases where this
-is experienced, there is a liability of becoming so fearful of
-displeasing one who is found to be good, that, imperceptibly,
-the relation is changed, and the domestic becomes the mistress.
-A housekeeper thus described this change in one
-whom she hired: “The first year she was an excellent servant;
-the second year she was a kind mistress; the third
-year she was an intolerable tyrant!”</p>
-
-<p>There is no domestic so good that she will not be injured
-by perceiving that, through dependence upon her, and a fear
-of losing her services, the mistress of the family gives up her
-proper authority and control.</p>
-
-<p>The happy medium is secured by a course of real kindness
-in manner and treatment, attended with the manifestation
-of a calm determination that the plans and will of the
-housekeeper, and not of the domestic, shall control the family
-arrangements.</p>
-
-<p>When a good domestic first begins to insist that her views<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">436</span>
-and notions shall be regarded rather than those of the housekeeper,
-a kind but firm stand must be taken. A frank conversation
-should be sought at a time when nothing has occurred
-to ruffle the temper on either side. Then the housekeeper
-can inquire what would be the view taken of this
-matter in case the domestic herself should become a housekeeper
-and hire a person to help her; and when the matter
-is set before her mind in this light, let the “golden rule” be
-applied, and ask her whether she is not disposed to render
-to her present employer what she herself would ask from a
-domestic in similar circumstances.</p>
-
-<p>Much trouble of this kind is saved by hiring persons on
-trial, in order to ascertain whether they are willing and able
-to do the work of the family in the manner which the housekeeper
-wishes; and in this case some member of the family
-can go around for a day or two, and show how every thing
-is to be done.</p>
-
-<p>There is no department of domestic life where a woman’s
-temper and patience are so sorely tried as in the incompetence
-and constant changes of domestics; and therefore
-there is no place where a reasonable and Christian woman
-will be more watchful, careful, and conscientious.</p>
-
-<p>The cultivation of <em>patience</em> will be much promoted by
-keeping in mind these considerations in reference to the incompetence
-and other failings of those who are hired.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place, consider that the great object of life to
-us is not enjoyment, but the formation of a right character;
-that such a character can not be formed except by discipline,
-and that the trials and difficulties of domestic life, if met in
-a proper spirit and manner, will in the end prove blessings
-rather than evils, by securing a measure of elevation, dignity,
-patience, self-control, and benevolence, that could be
-gained by no other methods. The comfort gained by these
-virtues, and the rewards they bring, both in this and in a
-future life, are a thousand-fold richer than the easy, indolent
-life of indulgence which we should choose for ourselves.</p>
-
-<p>In the next place, instead of allowing the mind to dwell
-on the faults of those who minister to our comfort and convenience,
-cultivate a habit of making every possible benevo<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">437</span>lent
-allowance and palliation. Say to yourself, “Poor girl!
-she has never been instructed either by parents or employers.
-Nobody has felt any interest in the formation of her
-habits, or kindly sought to rectify her faults. Why should
-I expect her to do those things well which no one has taken
-any care to teach her? She has no parent or friend now to
-aid her but myself. Let me bear her faults patiently, and
-kindly try to cure them.”</p>
-
-<p>If a woman will cultivate the spirit expressed in such language,
-if she will benevolently seek the best good of those
-she employs, if she will interest herself in giving them instruction
-if they need it, and good books to read if they are
-already qualified to understand them, if she will manifest a
-desire to have them made comfortable in the kitchen and
-in their chambers, she certainly will receive her reward, and
-that in many ways. She will be improving her own character,
-she will set a good example to her family, and, in the
-end, she will do something, and in some cases much, to improve
-the character and services of those whom she hires.
-And the good done in this way goes down from generation
-to generation, and goes also into the eternal world, to be
-known and rejoiced in when every earthly good has come
-to an end.</p>
-
-<p>In some portions of our country, the great influx of foreigners
-of another language and another faith, and the ready
-entrance they find as domestics into American families, impose
-peculiar trials and peculiar duties on American housekeepers.
-In reference to such, it is no less our interest than
-our duty to cultivate a spirit of kindness, patience, and sympathy.</p>
-
-<p>Especially should this be manifested in reference to their
-religion. However wrong, or however pernicious we may
-regard their system of faith, we should remember that they
-have been trained to believe that it is what God commands
-them to obey; and so long as they do believe this, we should
-respect them for their conscientious scruples, and not try
-to tempt them to do what they suppose to be wrong. If
-we lead an ignorant and feeble mind to do what it believes
-to be wrong in regard to the most sacred of all duties,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">438</span>
-those owed to God, how can we expect them to be faithful
-to us?</p>
-
-<p>The only lawful way to benefit those whom we regard as
-in an error is, not to tempt them to do what they believe to
-be wrong, but to give them the light of knowledge, so that
-they may be qualified to judge for themselves. And the
-way to make them willing to receive this light is to be kind
-to them. We should take care that their feelings and prejudices
-should in no way be abused, and that they be treated
-as we should wish to be if thrown as strangers into a
-strange land, among a people of different customs and faith,
-and away from parents, home, and friends.</p>
-
-<p>Remember that our Master who is in heaven especially
-claims to be the God of the widow, the fatherless, and <em>the
-stranger</em>, and has commanded, “If a stranger sojourn with
-you in your land, ye shall not vex him; but the stranger
-that dwelleth among you shall be unto you as one born
-among you, and <em>thou shalt love him as thyself</em>.”</p>
-
-<p>Mrs. Stowe says: “We are far from recommending any
-controversial interference with the religious faith of our servants.
-It is far better to incite them to be good Christians in
-their own way, than to run the risk of shaking their faith in
-all religion by pointing out to them what seem to us the errors
-of that in which they have been educated. The general
-purity of life and propriety of demeanor of so many thousands
-of undefended young girls cast yearly upon our shores, with
-no home but their church, and no shield but their religion,
-are a sufficient proof that this religion exerts an influence
-over them not to be lightly trifled with. But there is a real
-unity even in opposite Christian forms; and the Roman Catholic
-servant and the Protestant mistress, if alike possessed by
-the spirit of Christ, and striving to conform to the Golden
-Rule, can not help being one in heart, though one go to
-mass and the other to meeting.”</p>
-
-<p>To this testimony of her sister the author adds some results
-of her observations as a resident or visitor among a
-wide circle of personal and family friends. The Christian
-care exercised by the Catholic priesthood over family servants
-deserves grateful notice, while the pure and wise in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">439</span>structions
-contained in the manuals of devotion used at public
-and private worship by this class, in many respects, are a
-model of excellence. As one illustration of the good fruits,
-the author, for a portion of each of the last ten years, has
-boarded in the family of her physician, Dr. G. H. Taylor.
-Here not less than twelve Irish Catholic girls usually frequent
-the Sunday early mass when most people are asleep.
-In this family neither her trunk, drawers, or door were ever
-locked, and yet never an article has been lost or stolen. And
-among her many friends it is this class who, with occasional
-exceptions, have been unsurpassed in faithful and affectionate
-service.</p>
-
-<p>True, much has been owing to the happy management and
-wise care of Christian housekeepers, who in the life to come
-will reap the rewards of their faithful labors. A time is
-coming when American housekeepers will better understand
-their high privileges as chief ministers of the family state.
-Then it will no longer be a cause of discontent that a well-trained
-and faithful servant is withdrawn to bless another
-family, or to rear one of her own. Rather it will be seen
-that the Christian woman’s kitchen is a training-school of
-good servants, where ignorant heathen come to be guided
-heavenward, and prepared to rear healthful and Christian
-families of their own. Then the young daughters will aid
-the mother in this Home Mission, and, by imparting their acquired
-advantages to Christ’s neglected ones, will learn with
-thankfulness how much “more blessed it is to give than to
-receive.”</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">440</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXX.<br />
-
-<small>DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>Whenever the laws of body and mind are properly understood,
-it will be allowed that every person needs some
-kind of recreation; and that, by seeking it, the body is
-strengthened, the mind is invigorated, and all our duties are
-more cheerfully and successfully performed.</p>
-
-<p>Children, whose bodies are rapidly growing and whose
-nervous system is tender and excitable, need much more
-amusement than persons of mature age. Persons, also, who
-are oppressed with great responsibilities and duties, or who
-are taxed by great intellectual or moral excitement, need
-recreations which physically exercise and draw off the mind
-from absorbing interests. Unfortunately, such persons are
-those who least resort to amusements; while the idle, gay,
-and thoughtless seek those which are not needed, and for
-which useful occupation would be a most beneficial substitute.</p>
-
-<p>As the only legitimate object of amusement is to prepare
-mind and body for the proper discharge of duty, the protracting
-of such as interfere with regular employments, or
-induce excessive fatigue, or weary the mind, or invade the
-proper hours for repose, must be sinful.</p>
-
-<p>In deciding what should be selected, and what avoided,
-the following are guiding principles: In the first place, no
-amusements which inflict needless pain should ever be allowed.
-All tricks which cause fright or vexation, and all
-sports which involve suffering to animals, should be utterly
-forbidden. Hunting and fishing, for mere sport, can never
-be justified. If a man can convince his children that he
-follows these pursuits to gain food or health, and not for
-amusement, his example may not be very injurious. But
-when children see grown persons kill and frighten animals<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">441</span>
-for sport, habits of cruelty, rather than feelings of tenderness
-and benevolence, are cultivated.</p>
-
-<p>In the next place, we should seek no recreations which
-endanger life, or interfere with important duties. As the
-legitimate object of amusements is to promote health and
-prepare for some serious duties, selecting those which have a
-directly opposite tendency can not be justified. Of course,
-if a person feels that the previous day’s diversion has shortened
-the hours of needful repose, or induced a lassitude of
-mind or body, instead of invigorating them, it is certain that
-an evil has been done which should never be repeated.</p>
-
-<p>Another rule which has been extensively adopted in the
-religious world is, to avoid those amusements which experience
-has shown to be so exciting, and connected with so
-many temptations, as to be pernicious in tendency, both to
-the individual and to the community. It is on this ground
-that horse-racing and circus-riding have been excluded.
-Not because there is any thing positively wrong in having
-men and horses run and perform feats of agility, or in persons
-looking on for the diversion; but because experience
-has shown so many evils connected with these recreations,
-that they should be relinquished until properly regulated.
-So with theatres. The enacting of characters and the
-amusement thus afforded in themselves may be harmless,
-and possibly, in certain cases, might be useful; but experience
-has shown so many evils to result from this source, that
-it has been deemed wrong to patronize it till these evils are
-removed.</p>
-
-<p>Under the same head comes dancing, in the estimation of
-the great majority of the religious world. Still, there are
-many intelligent, excellent, and conscientious persons who
-hold a contrary opinion. Such maintain that it is an innocent
-and healthful amusement, tending to promote ease of
-manners, cheerfulness, social affection, and health of mind
-and body; that evils are involved only in its excess; that,
-like food, study, or religious excitement, it is only wrong
-when not properly regulated; and that if serious and intelligent
-people would strive to regulate, rather than banish, this
-amusement, much more good would be secured.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">442</span></p>
-
-<p>On the other side, it is objected, not that dancing is a sin,
-in itself considered, for it was once a part of sacred worship;
-not that it would be objectionable, if it were properly regulated;
-not that it does not tend, when used in a proper manner,
-to health of body and mind, to grace of manners, and to
-social enjoyment: all these things are conceded. But it is
-objected to, on the same ground as horse-racing and theatrical
-entertainments; that we are to look at amusements as
-they are, and not as they might be. Horse-races might be
-so managed as not to involve cruelty, gambling, drunkenness,
-and other vices. And so might theatres. And if serious
-and intelligent persons undertook to regulate them, perhaps
-they would be somewhat raised from the depths to
-which they have sunk. But with the weak sense of moral
-obligation existing in the mass of society, and the imperfect
-ideas mankind have of the proper use of amusements, and
-the little self-control which men or women or children practice,
-these will not, in fact, be thus regulated.</p>
-
-<p>And dancing is believed to be liable to the same objections.
-As this recreation is actually conducted, it does not
-tend to produce health of body or mind, but directly the
-contrary. If young and old went out to dance together in
-open air, as the French peasants do, it would be a very different
-sort of amusement from that which often is witnessed
-in a room furnished with many lights and filled with guests—both
-destroying the healthful part of the atmosphere, where
-the young collect, in their tightest dresses, to protract for
-several hours a kind of physical exertion which is not habitual
-to them. During this process, the blood is made to circulate
-more swiftly than usual, in circumstances where it is
-less perfectly oxygenized than health requires; the pores of
-the skin are excited by heat and exercise; the stomach is
-loaded with indigestible articles, and the quiet needful to
-digestion withheld; the diversion is protracted beyond the
-usual hour for repose; and then, when the skin is made the
-most highly susceptible to damps and miasms, the company
-pass from a warm room to the cold night-air. It is probable
-that no single amusement can be pointed out combining
-so many injurious particulars as this, which is so often de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">443</span>fended
-as a healthful one. Even if parents who train their
-children to dance can keep them from public balls, (which is
-seldom the case,) dancing, as ordinarily conducted in private
-parlors, in most cases is subject to nearly the same mischievous
-influences.</p>
-
-<p>The spirit of Christ is that of self-denying benevolence;
-and his great aim, by his teachings and example, was to
-train his followers to avoid all that should lead to sin, especially
-in regard to the weaker ones of his family. Yet he
-made wine at a wedding, attended a social feast on the Sabbath,<a id="FNanchor_8_8" href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a>
-reproved excess of strictness in Sabbath-keeping generally,
-and forbade no safe and innocent enjoyment. In following
-his example, the rulers of the family, then, will introduce
-the most highly exciting amusements only in circumstances
-where there are such strong principles and habits of
-self-control that the enjoyment will not involve sin in the
-actor or needless temptation to the weak.</p>
-
-<p>The course pursued by our Puritan ancestors, in the period
-succeeding their first perils amidst sickness and savages, is
-an example that may safely be practiced at the present day.
-The young of both sexes were educated together in the higher
-branches, in country academies; and very often the closing
-exercises were theatricals, in which the pupils were performers,
-and their pastors, elders, and parents, the audience. So
-at social gatherings, the dance was introduced before minister
-and wife, with smiling approval. The roaring fires and
-broad chimneys provided pure air, and the nine o’clock bell
-ended the festivities that gave new vigor and zest to life,
-while the dawn of the next day’s light saw all at their posts
-of duty, with heartier strength and blither spirits.</p>
-
-<p>No indecent or unhealthful costumes offended the eye, no
-half-naked dancers of dubious morality were sustained in a
-life of dangerous excitement, by the money of Christian people,
-for the mere amusement of their night hours. No shivering
-drivers were deprived of comfort and sleep, to carry
-home the midnight followers of fashion; nor was the quiet
-and comfort of servants in hundreds of dwellings invaded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">444</span>
-for the mere amusement of their superiors in education and
-advantages. The command “we that are strong, ought to
-bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves,”
-was in those days not reversed. Had the drama
-and the dance continued to be regulated by the rules of
-temperance, health, and Christian benevolence, as in the
-days of our forefathers, they would not have been so generally
-banished from the religious world. And the question
-is now being discussed, whether they can be so regulated at
-the present time as not to violate the laws either of health
-or benevolence.<a id="FNanchor_9_9" href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a></p>
-
-<p>In regard to home amusements, card-playing is now indulged
-in by many conscientious families from which it formerly
-was excluded, and for these reasons: it is claimed
-that this is a quiet home amusement, which unites pleasantly
-the aged with the young; that it is not now employed in
-respectable society for gambling, as it formerly was; that
-to some young minds it is a peculiarly fascinating game, and
-should be first practiced under the parental care, till the excitement
-of novelty is passed, thus rendering the danger to
-children less when going into the world; and, finally, that
-habits of self-control in exciting circumstances may and
-should be thus cultivated in the safety of home. Many parents
-who have taken this course with their sons in early life
-believe that it has proved rather a course of safety than of
-danger. Still, as there is great diversity of opinion among
-persons of equal worth and intelligence, a mutual spirit of
-candor and courtesy should be practiced. The sneer at bigotry
-and narrowness of views, on one side, and the uncharitable
-implication of want of piety, or sense, on the other, are
-equally ill-bred and unchristian. Truth on this subject is
-best promoted, not by ill-natured crimination and rebuke, but
-by calm reason, generous candor, forbearance, and kindness.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">445</span></p>
-<p>There is another species of amusement, which a large portion
-of the religious world formerly put under the same condemnation
-as the preceding. This is novel-reading. The
-confusion and difference of opinion on this subject have
-arisen from a want of clear and definite distinctions. Now,
-as it is impossible to define what are novels and what are
-not, so as to include one class of fictitious writings and exclude
-every other, it is impossible to lay down any rule respecting
-them. The discussion, in fact, turns on the use of
-those works of imagination which belong to the class of fictitious
-narratives. That this species of reading is not only
-lawful, but necessary and useful, is settled by divine examples,
-in the parables and allegories of Scripture. Of course,
-the question must be, what kind of fabulous writings must
-be avoided, and what allowed.</p>
-
-<p>In deciding this, no specific rules can be given: but it
-must be a matter to be regulated by the nature and circumstances
-of each case. No works of fiction which tend to
-throw the allurements of taste and genius around vice and
-crime should ever be tolerated; and all that tend to give
-false views of life and duty should also be banished. Of
-those which are written for mere amusement, presenting
-scenes and events that are interesting, and exciting and having
-no bad moral influence, much must depend on the character
-and circumstances of the reader. Some minds are torpid
-and phlegmatic, and need to have the imagination stimulated:
-such would be benefited by this kind of reading.
-Others have quick and active imaginations, and would be as
-much injured by excess. Some persons are often so engaged
-in absorbing interest, that any thing innocent, which will for
-a short time draw off the mind, is of the nature of a medicine;
-and in such cases this kind of reading is useful.</p>
-
-<p>There is need, also, that some men should keep a supervision
-of the current literature of the day, as guardians, to
-warn others of danger. For this purpose, it is more suitable
-for editors, clergymen, and teachers to read indiscriminately,
-than for any other class of persons; for they are the guardians
-of the public weal in matters of literature, and should
-be prepared to advise parents and young persons of the evils<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">446</span>
-in one direction, and of the good in another. In doing this,
-however, they are bound to go on the same principles which
-regulate physicians when they visit infected districts—using
-every precaution to prevent injury to themselves; having as
-little to do with pernicious exposures as a benevolent regard
-to others will allow; and faithfully employing all the
-knowledge and opportunities thus gained for warning and
-preserving others. There is much danger, in taking this
-course, that men will seek the excitement of the imagination
-for the mere pleasure it affords, under the plea of preparing
-to serve the public, when this is neither the aim nor the
-result.</p>
-
-<p>In regard to the use of such works by the young, as a
-general rule, they ought not to be allowed to any except
-those of a dull and phlegmatic temperament, until the solid
-parts of education are secured and a taste for more elevated
-reading is acquired. If these stimulating condiments in literature
-be freely used in youth, all relish for more solid
-reading will in a majority of cases be destroyed. If parents
-succeed in securing habits of cheerful and implicit obedience,
-it will be very easy to regulate this matter, by prohibiting
-the reading of any story-book until the consent of
-the parent is obtained.</p>
-
-<p>The most successful mode of forming a taste for suitable
-reading, is for parents to select interesting works of history
-and travels, with maps and pictures suited to the age and
-attainments of the young, and spend an hour or two each
-day or evening in aiming to make truth as interesting as
-fiction. Whoever has once tried this method will find that
-the uninjured mind of childhood is better satisfied with
-what they know is true, when wisely presented, than with
-the most exciting novels, which they know are false.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps there has been some just ground of objection to
-the course often pursued by parents in neglecting to provide
-suitable and agreeable substitutes for the amusements
-denied. But there is a great abundance of safe, healthful,
-and delightful recreations, which all parents may secure for
-their children. Some of these will here be pointed out.</p>
-
-<p>One of the most useful and important is the cultivation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">447</span>
-of flowers and fruits. This, especially for the daughters of
-a family, is greatly promotive of health and amusement.
-Many young ladies, whose habits are now so formed that
-they can never be induced to a course of active domestic
-exercise so long as their parents are able to hire domestic
-service, may yet be led to an employment which will tend
-to secure health and vigor of constitution, by fruits and
-flowers.</p>
-
-<p>It would be a most desirable improvement, if all schools
-for young women could be furnished with suitable grounds
-and instruments for the cultivation of fruits and flowers,
-and every inducement offered to engage the pupils in this
-pursuit. No father who wishes to have his daughters grow
-up to be healthful women can take a surer method to secure
-this end. Let him set apart a portion of his ground for
-fruits and flowers, and see that the soil is well prepared and
-dug over, and all the rest may be committed to the care of
-the children. These would need to be provided with a light
-hoe and rake, a dibble or garden trowel, a watering-pot, and
-means and opportunities for securing seeds, roots, bulbs,
-buds, and grafts, all which might be done at a trifling expense.
-Then, with proper encouragement and by the aid of
-a few intelligible and practical directions, every man who
-has even half an acre could secure a small Eden around his
-premises.</p>
-
-<p>In pursuing this amusement children can also be led to
-acquire many useful habits. Early rising would, in many
-cases, be thus secured; and if they were required to keep
-their walks and borders free from weeds and rubbish, habits
-of order and neatness would be induced. Benevolent and
-social feelings could also be cultivated, by influencing children
-to share their fruits and flowers with friends and neighbors,
-as well as to distribute roots and seeds to those who
-have not the means of procuring them. A woman or a child,
-by giving seeds or slips or roots to a washerwoman, or a
-farmer’s boy, thus inciting them to love and cultivate fruits
-and flowers, awakens a new and refining source of enjoyment
-in minds which have few resources more elevated than mere
-physical enjoyments. Our Saviour directs us, in making<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">448</span>
-feasts, to call, not the rich, who can recompense again, but
-the poor, who can make no returns. So children should be
-taught to dispense their little treasures not alone to companions
-and friends, who will probably return similar favors,
-but to those who have no means of making any return. If
-the rich, who acquire a love for the enjoyments of taste and
-have the means to gratify it, would aim to extend among
-the poor the cheap and simple enjoyment of fruits and flowers,
-our country would soon literally “blossom as the rose.”</p>
-
-<p>If the ladies of a neighborhood would unite small contributions,
-and send a list of flower-seeds and roots to some respectable
-and honest florist, who would not be likely to turn
-them off with trash, they could divide these among themselves
-and their poor neighbors, so as to secure an abundant
-variety at a very small expense. A bag of flower-seeds,
-which can be obtained at wholesale for four cents, would
-abundantly supply a whole neighborhood; and, by the gathering
-of seeds in the autumn, could be perpetuated.</p>
-
-<p>Another very elevating and delightful recreation for the
-young is found in <em>music</em>. Here the writer would protest
-against the practice, common in many families, of having
-the daughters learn to play on the piano, whether they have
-a taste and an ear for music or not. A young lady who
-does not sing well, and has no great fondness for music, does
-nothing but waste time, money, and patience in learning to
-play on the piano. But all children can be taught to sing
-in early childhood, if the scientific mode of teaching music
-in schools could be more widely introduced, as it is in Prussia,
-Germany, and Switzerland. Then young children could
-read and sing music as easily as they can read language;
-and might take any tune, dividing themselves into bands,
-and sing off at sight the endless variety of music which is
-prepared. And if parents of wealth would take pains to
-have teachers qualified for the purpose, who should teach all
-the young children in the community, much would be done
-for the happiness and elevation of the rising generation.
-This is an element of education which we are glad to know
-is, year by year, more extensively and carefully cultivated;
-and it is not only a means of culture, but also an amusement,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">449</span>
-which children relish in the highest degree; and which they
-can enjoy at home, in the fields, and in visits abroad.</p>
-
-<p>Another domestic amusement is the collecting of shells,
-plants, and specimens in geology and mineralogy, for the
-formation of cabinets. If intelligent parents would procure
-the simpler works which have been prepared for the young,
-and study them with their children, a taste for such recreations
-would soon be developed. The writer has seen young
-boys of eight and ten years of age gathering and cleaning
-shells from rivers, and collecting plants and mineralogical
-specimens, with a delight bordering on ecstasy; and there
-are few, if any, who by proper influences would not find this
-a source of ceaseless delight and improvement.</p>
-
-<p>Another resource for family diversion is to be found in
-the various games played by children, and in which the
-joining of older members of the family is always a great advantage
-to both parties, especially those in the open air.</p>
-
-<p>All medical men unite in declaring that nothing is more
-beneficial to health than hearty laughter; and surely our
-benevolent Creator would not have provided risibles, and
-made it a source of health and enjoyment to use them, if it
-were a sin so to do. There has been a tendency to asceticism
-on this subject, which needs to be removed. Such
-commands as forbid <em>foolish</em> laughing and jesting, “<em>which
-are not convenient</em>,” and which forbid all idle words and
-vain conversation, can not apply to any thing except what
-is foolish, vain, and useless. But jokes, laughter, and sports,
-when used in such a degree as tends only to promote health
-and happiness, are neither vain, foolish, or “not convenient.”
-It is the excess of these things, and not the moderate
-use of them, which Scripture forbids. The prevailing
-temper of the mind should be serious, yet cheerful; and
-there are times when relaxation and laughter are not only
-proper, but necessary and right for all. There is nothing
-better for this end than that parents and older persons
-should join in the sports of childhood. Mature minds can
-always make such diversions more entertaining to children,
-and can exert a healthful moral influence over their minds;
-and at the same time can gain exercise and amusement for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">450</span>
-themselves. How lamentable that so many fathers, who
-could be thus useful and happy with their children, throw
-away such opportunities, and wear out soul and body in the
-pursuit of gain or fame!</p>
-
-<p>Another resource for children is the exercise of mechanical
-skill. Fathers, by providing tools for their boys, and
-showing them how to make wheelbarrows, carts, sleds, and
-various other articles, contribute both to the physical, moral,
-and social improvement of their children. And in regard
-to little daughters, much more can be done in this way than
-many would imagine. The writer, blessed with the example
-of a most ingenious and industrious mother, had not only
-learned before the age of twelve to make dolls, of various
-sorts and sizes, but to cut and fit and sew every article that
-belongs to a doll’s wardrobe. This, which was done for
-mere amusement, secured such a facility in mechanical pursuits,
-that ever afterward the cutting and fitting of any article
-of dress, for either sex, was accomplished with entire
-ease.</p>
-
-<p>When a little girl begins to sew, her mother can promise
-her a small bed and pillow, as soon as she has sewed a patch
-quilt for them; and then a bedstead, as soon as she has
-sewed the sheets and cases for pillows; and then a large
-doll to dress, as soon as she has made the under-garments;
-and thus go on till the whole contents of the baby-house are
-earned by the needle and skill of its little owner. Thus the
-task of learning to sew will become a pleasure; and every
-new toy will be earned by useful exertion. A little girl
-can be taught, by the aid of patterns prepared for the purpose,
-to cut and fit all articles necessary for her doll. She
-can also be provided with a little wash-tub and irons, and
-thus keep in proper order a complete miniature domestic
-establishment.</p>
-
-<p>Besides these recreations, there are the enjoyments secured
-in walking, riding, visiting, and many other employments
-which need not be recounted. Children, if trained to
-be healthful and industrious, will never fail to discover resources
-of amusement; while their guardians should lend
-their aid to guide and restrain them from excess.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">451</span></p>
-
-<p>There is need of a very great change of opinion and practice
-in this nation, in regard to the subject of social and domestic
-duties. Many sensible and conscientious men spend
-all their time abroad in business, except perhaps an hour or
-so at night, when they are so fatigued as to be unfitted for
-any social or intellectual enjoyment. And some of the most
-conscientious men in the country will add to their professional
-business public or benevolent enterprises, which demand
-time, effort, and money; and then excuse themselves
-for neglecting all care of their children, and efforts for their
-own intellectual improvement, or for the improvement of
-their families, by the plea that they have no time for it.</p>
-
-<p>All this arises from the want of correct notions of the
-binding obligation of our social and domestic duties. The
-main object of life is not to secure the various gratifications
-of appetite or taste, but to form such a character, for ourselves
-and others, as will secure the greatest amount of present
-and future happiness. It is of far more consequence,
-then, that parents should be intelligent, social, affectionate,
-and agreeable at home and to their friends, than that they
-should earn money enough to live in a large house and have
-handsome furniture. It is far more needful for children that
-a father should attend to the formation of their character
-and habits, and aid in developing their social, intellectual,
-and moral nature, than it is that he should earn money to
-furnish them with handsome clothes and a variety of tempting
-food.</p>
-
-<p>It will be wise for those parents who find little time to
-attend to their children, or to seek amusement and enjoyment
-in the domestic and social circle, because their time is
-so much occupied with public cares or benevolent objects,
-to inquire whether their first duty is not to train up their
-own families to be useful members of society. A man who
-neglects the mind and morals of his children to take care of
-the public, is in great danger of coming under a similar condemnation
-to that of him who, neglecting to provide for his
-own household, has “denied the faith, and is worse than an
-infidel.”</p>
-
-<p>There are husbands and fathers who conscientiously sub<span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">452</span>tract
-time from their business to spend at home, in reading
-with their wives and children, and in domestic amusements
-which at once refresh and improve. The children of such
-parents will grow up with a love of home and kindred which
-will be the greatest safeguard against future temptations,
-as well as the purest source of earthly enjoyment.</p>
-
-<p>There are families, also, who make it a definite object to
-keep up family attachments after the children are scattered
-abroad, and in some cases secure the means for doing this
-by saving money which would otherwise have been spent
-for superfluities of food or dress. Some families have adopted,
-for this end, a practice which, if widely imitated, would
-be productive of much enjoyment. The method is this: On
-the first day of each month, some member of the family, at
-each extreme point of dispersion, takes a folio sheet, and fills
-a part of a page. This is sealed and mailed to the next
-family, who read it, add another contribution, and then mail
-it to the next. Thus the family circular, once a month, goes
-from each extreme to all the members of a widely-dispersed
-family, and each member becomes a sharer in the joys, sorrows,
-plans, and pursuits of all the rest. At the same time,
-frequent family meetings are sought; and the expense thus
-incurred is cheerfully met by retrenchments in other directions.
-The sacrifice of some unnecessary physical indulgence
-will often purchase many social and domestic enjoyments,
-a thousand times more elevating and delightful than
-the retrenched luxury.</p>
-
-<p>There is no social duty which the Supreme Lawgiver
-more strenuously urges than hospitality and kindness to
-strangers, who are classed with the widow and the fatherless
-as the special objects of Divine tenderness. There are
-some reasons why this duty peculiarly demands attention
-from the American people.</p>
-
-<p>Reverses of fortune, in this land, are so frequent and unexpected,
-and the habits of the people are so migratory, that
-there are very many in every part of the country who, having
-seen all their temporal plans and hopes crushed, are now
-pining among strangers, bereft of wonted comforts, without
-friends, and without the sympathy and society so needful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">453</span>
-to wounded spirits. Such, too frequently, sojourn long and
-lonely, with no comforter but Him who “knoweth the heart
-of a stranger.”</p>
-
-<p>Whenever, therefore, new-comers enter a community, inquiry
-should immediately be made as to whether they have
-friends or associates, to render sympathy and kind attentions;
-and, when there is any need for it, the ministries of
-kind neighborliness should immediately be offered. And it
-should be remembered that the first days of a stranger’s sojourn
-are the most dreary, and that civility and kindness
-are doubled in value by being offered at an early period.</p>
-
-<p>In social gatherings the claims of the stranger are too apt
-to be forgotten; especially in cases where there are no peculiar
-attractions of personal appearance, or talents, or high
-standing. Such an one should be treated with attention, <em>because</em>
-he is a stranger; and when communities learn to act
-more from principle, and less from selfish impulse, on this
-subject, the sacred claims of the stranger will be less frequently
-forgotten.</p>
-
-<p>The most agreeable hospitality to visitors who become
-intimates of a family, is that which puts them entirely at
-ease. This can never be the case where the guest perceives
-that the order of family arrangement is essentially altered,
-and that time, comfort, and convenience are sacrificed for
-his accommodation.</p>
-
-<p>Offering the best to visitors, showing a polite regard to
-every wish expressed, and giving precedence to them, in all
-matters of comfort and convenience, can be easily combined
-with the easy freedom which makes the stranger feel as if at
-home; and this is the perfection of hospitable entertainment.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">454</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXXI.<br />
-
-<small>LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>It is hoped a day will come when these laws of God will
-be put on tablets in school-rooms and houses, as are the ten
-commandments in our churches, and that all children will be
-trained fully to understand them, and then to commit them
-to memory.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Bones.</i></p>
-
-<p>Exercise daily in pure air, because it nourishes and gives
-strength to the bones. Do not habitually keep the spine
-out of its natural position, either when sleeping or sitting,
-because deformity and disease are thus induced. Never
-compress the chest or ribs, because it diminishes chest breathing,
-and thus lessens the needful amount of nourishing oxygen;
-and for the same reason, support all clothing from the
-shoulders, because any pressure on the hips and abdomen
-lessens abdominal breathing.</p>
-
-<p>Never wear high heels, because it tends to produce internal
-displacement, to distort the foot, the spine, and the ankles,
-causes corns and bunions, and makes a graceful walk
-impossible. An unfailing cure for corns and bunions is once
-a week to soak the foot half an hour in four quarts of quite
-warm water, in which is dissolved a bit of soda the size of
-a large walnut. Three or four times will relieve and probably
-cure.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Muscles.</i></p>
-
-<p>Supply pure blood and healthful food, because these are
-indispensable to their health and strength. Exercise all the
-muscles, so as to secure the healthful development of all, and
-avoid weakening them by excessive exercise. Change inactive
-habits not suddenly, but by a gradual increase of exer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">455</span>cise.
-When too weak to exercise, employ an operator to increase
-the flow of blood to the muscles by pressure and rubbing.
-Never compress any of the muscles by tight clothing,
-because it diminishes the flow of blood and thus of nutriment.
-As pure air and light cause increase of strength, let
-all exercise be by daylight. Avoid increase of exercise when
-the air is impure, as it usually is in night-gatherings.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Lungs.</i></p>
-
-<p>It is proved by many experiments that a full-grown person
-vitiates a hogshead of air every hour; therefore, so ventilate
-every room that each inmate shall have the needful pure air
-at this rate, especially by night. Take care so to dress, to
-sit, and to lie, that the lungs shall not be compressed, and
-thus be deprived of the needful nourishing oxygen.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Digestive Organs.</i></p>
-
-<p>Supply every part of the body with its peculiar nutriment;
-nitrogen for muscle, phosphorus for brain and nerves, carbon
-for the lungs, and silica, iron, etc., for other parts. Let the
-proportions follow the example given in wheat, milk, and
-eggs, which have all the elements needed and in proper proportions.
-According to this rule, use unbolted flour rather
-than superfine. In selecting food, have reference to age, climate,
-and state of the health. Meals should be at least five
-hours apart, that the stomach may rest. Do not eat between
-meals, as it mixes partly digested food with the new supply,
-and impedes digestion. Do not eat too much, because it impedes
-digestion, and overtaxes, and thus weakens, the organs
-that must throw off the excess. Eat only to satisfy hunger,
-and not to qualify the palate after hunger is satisfied. Do
-not eat a great variety, because digestion is easier and more
-perfect with but few articles. Let there be a variety which
-is successive, and not at one meal.</p>
-
-<p>Do not require children to eat what they do not love, because
-food which is relished is better digested and more
-healthful. If very thirsty, drink water abundantly before
-eating, but sparingly at meals—only one tumbler or cup.
-Very hot food or drink debilitates the nerves of the teeth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">456</span>
-and stomach. Very cold water, or ice, after a full meal, interferes
-with digestion.</p>
-
-<p>Avoid stimulating drinks, or use them very weak. A
-<em>gradual</em> diminution of strength will modify the taste, so that
-a weak dilution will be relished as much, or more, than a
-strong. Drink only pure water; filter impure water through
-sand and powdered charcoal. Free drinking of pure cold
-water between meals tends to purify the blood and strengthen
-the nervous system.</p>
-
-<p>All the yeast-powders for raising bread are not so healthful
-as hop-yeast; and those recommended by Liebig &amp; Hosford
-<em>do not</em> restore several important elements lost by bolting.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Skin.</i></p>
-
-<p>Wash the whole body either morning or night; because
-its capillaries contain more blood and nerve matter than all
-the rest of the body; because air and light cleanse and nourish
-them; and because when in full health the skin throws
-off more than half the refuse of the body, which, if not thus
-expelled, goes to the lungs, or bowels, or kidneys to be expelled,
-often causing disease. Bath-rooms are a luxury; but
-a wet towel, and a screen for privacy, are equally useful.
-Chilling the skin closes its pores, causing colds, diarrhœa, or
-catarrh. Immediate and free perspiration is the safest remedy.
-Rely on bathing, exercise, pure air, and proper food,
-rather than on warm clothing and warm rooms. But persons
-weakened by age or nervous debility must wear more
-clothing than others, and bathe in a warm room, or, better,
-by an open fire. Any diminution of clothing should be made
-in the morning, when the body is most vigorous. As the
-body radiates its heat to adjacent cold walls, be careful to
-avoid sitting near them, except when well protected. Many
-take colds or rheumatism by sitting near church or other
-cold walls. Taking air and sun baths tend to strengthen
-the nerves, and thus the whole body. Avoid a continuous
-current of air on any part of the body, as the withdrawal of
-heat causes disease in the part thus chilled.</p>
-
-<p>Expose bed-clothing and garments worn next the skin to
-fresh air, which removes the exhalations of the skin that oth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">457</span>erwise
-would be re-absorbed. Straw and hair mattresses,
-and cotton comforters, should also be aired occasionally.
-The white dust thrown out by beating them is the scales
-and other refuse matter from the skin.</p>
-
-<p>In epidemics, nourishing food and cleansing the skin lessens
-danger.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Brain and Nerves.</i></p>
-
-<p>Healthful food, a clean skin, and daily exercise in the open
-air, are indispensable. Take seven or eight hours of sleep
-by night, and not by day; and when taxed by great care, labor,
-or sorrow, sleep as much as you can, for thus the brain
-and nerves recover strength.</p>
-
-<p>Always have some time each day devoted to some amusement,
-and this out-of-doors if practicable. Laughter is a
-very healthful exercise.</p>
-
-<p>Have system and order in your employments, and let
-there be variety, so that no one set of nerves be wearied and
-another set unemployed.</p>
-
-<p>Let the intellect and feelings be engaged in safe and
-worthy objects, and so exercise all the faculties as to secure
-a well-balanced mind in a healthful body. In all cases of
-disease, trust more to obedience to these rules than to medicines,
-which should be rarely used.</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Laws of Health for the Teeth, Eyes, and Hair.</i></p>
-
-<p>Never sleep till the teeth are cleaned with pure water, a
-brush, and a piece of thread or a tooth-pick to remove what
-lodges between the teeth. It would be well to do this after
-each meal. Avoid very hot food as causing decayed teeth.
-No tooth-powder is needed if these directions are obeyed.</p>
-
-<p>Accustom the eyes <em>gradually</em> to as much light as they
-can bear without pain. Light is healthful, especially to the
-eyes, and dark rooms make weak eyes. If the eyes are weak
-from excessive use, continue to use them, but only a little at
-a time, with intervals of rest; for eyes, like all the rest of
-the body, grow weak by disuse. Always shade weak eyes
-from brilliant lights, especially when reading. For inflamed
-eyes or eyelids, do not use what others recommend, but con<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">458</span>sult
-a physician; as a remedy for one may be injurious for
-another case. Gentle rubbing around and over the eyes
-draws the blood there, and tends to increase strength. Do
-it only for two minutes at a time, three or four times a day.
-Bathing the eyes in cold water strengthens their nerves.</p>
-
-<p>Never use hair mixtures until some chemist has tested
-them and assures you there is no <i>lead</i> in them. Many persons
-have had paralysis and other evils by using hair mixtures
-containing lead to restore the color. Brushing and
-washing the skin of the hair, and thus bringing the blood to
-nourish its roots, is a safe and sure method, and those mixtures
-that seem to do good are efficacious chiefly because
-the directions always require rubbing and cleansing the skin
-of the hair.</p>
-
-<p>Remember that these laws of health are laws of God, and
-that when you disobey them you sin against your heavenly
-Father, who loves you, and is grieved when you injure your
-own soul and body. Therefore pray to be enabled to obey
-yourselves, and to teach these his laws to all under your
-care, both by precept and example.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">459</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XXXII.<br />
-
-<small>COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>There is no doubt of the fact, that American housekeepers
-have far greater trials and difficulties to meet than those
-of any other nation. And it is probable that many of those
-who may read over the methods of thrift and economy
-adopted by some of the best housekeepers in our land, and
-detailed in this work, will with a sigh exclaim, that it is <em>impossible</em>
-for them even to attempt any such plans.</p>
-
-<p>Others may be stimulated by the advice and examples
-presented, and may start off with much hope and courage,
-to carry out a plan of great excellence and appropriateness,
-and, after trying a while, will become discouraged by the
-thousand obstacles in their way, and give up in despair.</p>
-
-<p>A still greater number will like their own way best, and
-think it is folly to attempt to change.</p>
-
-<p>For those who wish they <em>could</em> become systematic, neat,
-and thorough housekeepers, and would like to follow out
-successfully the suggestions found in this work, and for those
-who have tried, or will try, and find themselves baffled and
-discouraged, these words of comfort are offered.</p>
-
-<p>Perhaps you find yourself encompassed by such sort of
-trials as these: Your house is inconvenient, or destitute of
-those facilities for doing work well which you need, and you
-can not command the means to supply these deficiencies.
-Your domestics are so imperfectly qualified that they never
-can do any thing <em>just right</em>, unless you stand by and attend
-to every thing yourself, and you can not be present in parlor,
-nursery, and kitchen all at once. Perhaps you are frequently
-left without any cook, or without a chamber-maid,
-and sometimes without any hands but your own to do the
-work, and there is constant jostling and change from this
-cause. And perhaps you can not get supplies, either from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">460</span>
-garden or market, such as you need, and all your calculations
-fail in that direction.</p>
-
-<p>And perhaps your children are sickly, and rob you of rest
-by night, or your health is so poor that you feel no energy
-or spirits to make exertions. And perhaps you never have
-had any training in domestic affairs, and can not understand
-how to work yourself, nor how to direct others. And when
-you go for aid to experienced housekeepers, or cookery-books,
-you are met by such sort of directions as these:
-“Take a <em>pinch</em> of this, and a <em>little</em> of that, and <em>considerable</em>
-of the other, and cook them till they are done <em>about right</em>.”
-And when you can not succeed in following such indefinite
-instructions, you find your neighbors and husband wondering
-how it is that, when you have one, two, or three domestics,
-there should be so much difficulty about housekeeping,
-and such constant trouble, and miscalculation, and mistake.
-And then, perhaps, you lose your patience and your temper,
-and blame others, and others blame you, and so every thing
-seems to be in a snarl.</p>
-
-<p>Now the first thing to be said for your comfort is, that
-you <em>really have</em> great trials to meet; trials that entitle you
-to pity and sympathy, while it is the fault of others more
-than your own that you are in this very painful and difficult
-situation. You have been as cruelly treated as the Israelites
-were by Pharaoh, when he demanded bricks without
-furnishing the means to make them.</p>
-
-<p>You are like a young, inexperienced lad who is required
-to superintend all the complicated machinery of a manufactory
-which he never was trained to understand, and on penalty
-of losing reputation, health, and all he values most.</p>
-
-<p>Neither your parents, teachers, or husband have <em>trained</em>
-you for the place you fill, nor furnished you with the knowledge
-or assistance needed to enable you to meet all the complicated
-and untried duties of your lot. A young woman
-who has never had the care of a child, never done house-work,
-never learned the numberless processes that are indispensable
-to keep domestic affairs in regular order, never
-done any thing but attend to books, drawing, and music at
-school, and visiting and company after she left school—such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">461</span>
-an one is as unprepared to take charge of a nursery, kitchen,
-and family establishment, as she is to take charge of a <em>man-of-war</em>.
-And the chief blame rests with those who placed
-her <em>so unprepared</em> in such trying circumstances. Therefore,
-you have a right to feel that a large part of these evils are
-more your misfortune than your fault, and that they entitle
-you to sympathy rather than blame.</p>
-
-<p>The next word of comfort is, the assurance that you <em>can</em>
-do <em>every one</em> of your duties, and do them well, and the following
-is the method by which you can do it. In the first
-place, make up your mind that it never is your duty to do
-any thing more than you <em>can</em>, or in any better manner than
-the best you can. And whenever you have done the best
-you can, you have done <em>well</em>; and it is all that man <em>should</em>
-require, and certainly all that your heavenly Father <em>does</em>
-require.</p>
-
-<p>The next thing is, for you to make out an inventory of all
-the things that need to be done in your whole establishment.
-Then calculate what things you find you <em>can not</em> do,
-and strike them off the list, as what are not among your <em>duties</em>.
-Of those that remain, select a certain number that you
-think you can do <em>exactly as they need to be done</em>, and among
-these be sure that you put the making of <em>good bread</em>. This
-every housekeeper can do, if she will only determine to
-do it.</p>
-
-<p>Make a selection of certain things that you will <em>persevere</em>
-in having done <em>as well as they can be done</em>, and let these be
-only so many as you feel sure you can succeed in attempting.
-Then make up your mind that all the rest must go
-along as they do, until you get more time, strength, and experience,
-to increase the list of things that you determine
-shall always be well done.</p>
-
-<p>By this course you will have the comfort of feeling that
-in <em>some</em> respects you are as good a housekeeper as you can
-be, while there will be a cheering progress in gaining on all
-that portion of your affairs that are left at loose ends. You
-will be able to measure a gradual advance, and be encouraged
-by success. Many housekeepers fail entirely by expecting
-to do <em>every thing well at first</em>, when neither their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">462</span>
-knowledge or strength is adequate, and so they fail everywhere,
-and finally give up in despair.</p>
-
-<p>Are you not only a housekeeper, but a <em>mother</em>? Oh, sacred
-and beautiful name! how many cares and responsibilities
-are associated with it! And how many elevating and
-sublime anticipations and hopes are given to inspire and to
-cheer! You are training young minds whose plastic texture
-will receive and retain every impression you make; who
-will imitate your feelings, tastes, habits, and opinions; and
-who will transmit what they receive from you to their children,
-to pass again to the next generation, and then to the
-next, until <em>a whole nation</em> may possibly receive its character
-and destiny from your hands! No imperial queen ever
-stood in a more sublime and responsible position than you
-now occupy in the eye of Him who reads the end from the
-beginning, and who is appointing all the trials and discipline
-of your lot, not for purposes which are visible to your limited
-ken, but in view of all the consequences that are to result
-from the character which you form, and are to transmit to
-your posterity!</p>
-
-<p>And you who never are to bear a mother’s name, but must
-toil for the children of others with little earthly honor or reward,
-remember that the blessed Lord “took upon himself
-the form of a servant;” that he came “not to be ministered
-to, but to minister;” that those who voluntarily take the
-lowest place are most likely to stand highest at last; that all
-sincere service is accepted and precious; and that our labors
-in this life are to bear their fruits through everlasting ages.</p>
-
-<p>Remember that you have a Father in heaven who sympathizes
-in all your cares, pities your griefs, makes allowances
-for your defects, and is endeavoring by trials, as well
-as by blessings, to fit you for the right fulfillment of your
-high and holy calling.</p>
-
-<p>But the heaviest care and sorrow that ever oppress a
-woman who, as housekeeper, has the control of children and
-servants, are her responsibilities as to the eternal destiny of
-those guided by her teachings and example. Our cruel war
-took thousands of our noblest youth to terrible sufferings in
-prisons and battle-fields, and to a torturing death. Multi<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">463</span>tudes
-of these sacrificed their all to save their country as
-really as did our Lord when he suffered for the whole world.
-And yet many of these martyred heroes gave no evidence of
-that change which their bereaved parents were trained to
-believe could alone save their beloved ones from everlasting
-misery. How many mothers have hid in silent anguish this
-never-healed wound—this crushing sorrow!</p>
-
-<p>The most available remedy for such distress is much that
-is suggested in Chapters XXV. and XXVIII.; and the following
-queries may aid in obtaining the true teachings of
-the Bible on these momentous questions:</p>
-
-<p>Are the definitions given in those chapters of the words
-<em>right</em>, <em>righteous</em>, <em>love</em>, <em>faith</em>, and <em>repentance</em>, in reference to
-future eternal safety, sustained by common use and by our
-dictionaries? What texts illustrate the distinction between
-<em>right</em> as to motives, or intention and <em>right</em> as to resulting consequences?</p>
-
-<p>What texts show that wrong actions, owing to mistaken
-opinions as to what is right, do not necessarily destroy evidence
-of a righteous or virtuous character?</p>
-
-<p>What texts show that the righteous character which secures
-eternal safety consists, not chiefly in emotional love to
-God, but rather in a controlling principle of obedience to his
-will, as manifested in both his natural and revealed laws?</p>
-
-<p>What texts show that at some future period (it may be
-millions of ages hence) there will be a final separation of the
-righteous and the wicked?</p>
-
-<p>Are there any texts which show that in the intervening
-ages there will be no improvement of character for those
-who fail in this life? and are there any which show that there
-may be for some, if not for all?</p>
-
-<p>Are there any texts which show that the character of every
-human being is fixed at death?</p>
-
-<p>Are there any texts which show that some of mankind
-will be forever sinful, and forever separated from the righteous?</p>
-
-<p>Are there any texts which show that all mankind will
-finally become righteous, and thus forever happy?</p>
-
-<p>When all the texts in the Bible on these questions are col<span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">464</span>lected
-and arranged, when applying the rules of interpretation,
-these considerations are to be noticed:</p>
-
-<p>1. That the word “Hades,” in many cases, is translated
-“Hell,” when its proper translation is “the place of departed
-spirits.” The story of Dives and Lazarus, and of the repentant
-thief, can be properly explained only by ascertaining
-the meaning the Jews attached to the words Hades and Paradise;
-for Christ, of course, expected them to be thus understood.</p>
-
-<p>Again, the meaning of many texts depends on the subject
-before the mind of the speaker. Thus when Christ replied
-to the question, “Are there few that be saved?” did he refer
-to all beings in the whole universe, or to the present world,
-and to that present time when “the righteous” were comparatively
-a small portion of mankind?</p>
-
-<p>Again much that relates to the spirit-world can not be
-fully taught or comprehended. St. Paul says that, when
-caught up into the third heaven, he saw, not, as in our translation,
-things not “lawful” to utter, but, in the original
-Greek, “impossible” to utter.</p>
-
-<p>Again, the results thus gained from the Bible should be
-considered in connection with the analogies of nature and
-God’s providence in regard to the continued development of
-mind and character, which in this life has so short and imperfect
-a period, and in most cases so many and great disadvantages.</p>
-
-<p>In completing such an investigation, much time and mental
-effort may be required, but is there any employment of time
-and intellect so important as this end?</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>In offering these suggestions, the author may refer to her
-own extended observation of the results of <em>religious</em> educational
-training in the family, as witnessed in the diverse sects
-with which she has mingled, whether Catholic, Protestant,
-or Jewish; for she counts excellent and intelligent friends in
-<em>all</em>.</p>
-
-<p>She finds all united in the belief of <em>a future life</em> in which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_465">465</span>
-the character formed in this life controls the eternal well-being;
-so that those who are trained to truth, justice, and
-mercy will be forever happier than those who grow up in sin
-and wickedness.</p>
-
-<p>She finds that the right education of children and servants
-is more and more an object of care and effort; and that, as
-the consequence, the world is growing better rather than
-worse.</p>
-
-<p>And finally, she rejoices in the increasingly open avenues
-to useful and remunerating occupations for women, enabling
-them to establish <em>homes of their own</em>, where, if not as the
-natural mother, yet as a Christ-mother, they may take in
-neglected ones, and train future mothers, teachers, and missionaries
-for the world.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_466">466</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>NOTE A.<br />
-
-<small>VIEWS OF MEDICAL WRITERS</small></h3>
-
-
-<p>The American Woman’s Educational Association has for its object
-“the establishment of institutions having <i>endowed</i> departments supporting
-ladies of superior character and education who shall add
-to a collegiate course both scientific and practical training, in all
-relating to the distinctive duties of woman as housekeeper, wife,
-mother, nurse of infants and the sick, trainer of servants, and chief
-religious minister of the family state.” As Secretary of this Association,
-the author requested the views of Mrs. Dr. Gleason, of the
-Elmira Water-cure, on the topics that follow. This lady, as wife,
-mother, and highly-educated physician, during over twenty years has
-had patients of her own sex, probably counting by thousands, and
-has often, by request, lectured to graduating classes in the Ingham
-University, the Elmira College, and other popular institutions for
-women. The following are extracts from her reply:</p>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Treatment of Pelvic Diseases.</i></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“The pelvic organs, when diseased, all have so many symptoms in common,
-that it requires not only good anatomical, pathological, and physiological
-knowledge, but close and well-cultivated diagnostic powers to decide
-<em>which</em> organ is diseased, and <em>how</em> it is diseased. For example, sometimes a
-displacement of the uterus will cause a sense of weight, dragging, and throbbing,
-accompanied by pain in the back and in front of the hips. But inflammation,
-ulceration, and induration of this organ will produce precisely
-the same results; and sometimes <em>mere nervous debility</em> in these parts will induce
-these symptoms, especially when the imagination is excited in reference
-to the subject. It also is often the case that extreme prolapsus occurs <em>in
-which there is no pain at all</em>.</p>
-
-<p>“So also disease of the urinary cyst is indicated by symptoms precisely
-similar to those which mark the disease of the adjacent organ. These organs
-lying in close proximity, and supplied with nerves from the same source,
-would necessarily sympathize, and show disease by similar symptoms. Just
-as in the toothache, many a one has been unable to point out the diseased
-tooth. How much more difficulty exists in a case where most women are
-profoundly ignorant on the subject!</p>
-
-<p>“It has become a very common notion that when any local displacement of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">467</span>
-the pelvic organs occurs, a woman must cease to use her arms, cease to exercise
-vigorously, and keep herself on the bed much of her time. All which,
-in most cases, is exactly the three things which she ought not to do. And
-thus it is that, when from want of fresh air and exercise, and from the many
-pernicious practices that debilitate the female constitution, the pelvic organs
-indicate debility, and these nerves begin to ache. Immediately a harness is
-put on for local support, and the bed becomes the constant resort; and thus
-the muscular debility and nervous irritability are increased. And yet, all that
-is needed is fresh air, exercise, simple diet, and <em>proper</em> mental occupation.</p>
-
-<p>“In this condition, perhaps, resort is had to some ignorant or inexperienced
-practitioner, who has some patent supporter to sell, or who has some secret
-and wonderful method of curing such diseases. Then commences, in many
-cases, a kind of local treatment most trying to the feelings, <em>which is but seldom
-required</em>, and which, in a majority of cases, results in no benefit.</p>
-
-<p>“Many a one has recited to me the mental and physical suffering she has
-endured for months in such a course of treatment, and all to no purpose. A
-touching case of this kind recently occurred, in the case of a beautiful young
-lady who was a listener to a course of lectures on the pelvis and its diseases,
-given by me to the graduating class of a female seminary. At the close she
-came to me, and, with tearful eyes and a quivering lip, said, ‘I see now why
-all I have suffered, in body and mind is worse than useless. I see now that
-I have never had the disease for which I have been treated.’</p>
-
-<p>“Woman’s trusting, confiding nature is beautiful; but oh, how much it
-needs to be protected by an intelligence on such subjects that will enable her
-properly to exercise her own judgment! And surely, in such cases, above all
-others, a woman should be sure that her medical adviser has had a proper
-education, and possesses a well-established moral character.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Effects of Imagination in Reference to these Diseases.</i></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“Besides the evils of misunderstanding and mistreating these affections, we
-have a host of evils from the effects of imagination. Multitudes of women,
-who hear terrific accounts of the nature of these complaints, and of the treatment
-that is inevitable, have their imagination so excited that aches and pains
-that are really trifling become magnified into all the symptoms of the dreaded
-evil. They betake themselves to bed, become more and more nervous as
-they give up air, exercise, and occupation, and thus drag out a useless life,
-a burden to themselves and to their families. Again and again I have had
-such cases brought to me, where for years they could not leave their beds or
-walk at all, when I had nothing to do <em>but make them understand their own
-organism</em>, and convince them that they needed little else except to get up and
-<em>go to work</em>, in order to be healthy women. It is such cases that furnish a
-large portion of the ‘wonderful cures’ that attract patients into the hands
-of poorly-qualified practitioners.</p>
-
-<p>“It is probable that thousands of women who are suffering from pain in
-the back and pelvic evils, and who either will soon be invalids or imagine
-themselves so, could be relieved entirely by obeying these directions:</p>
-
-<p>“Wash the whole person, on rising, in cool water, and, if nervous or de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_468">468</span>bilitated,
-by a fire; dress loosely, and let <em>all</em> the weight of clothing rest on
-the shoulders; sleep in a well-ventilated room; exercise the muscles a great
-deal, especially those of the arms and trunk, taking care to lie down and rest
-as soon as fatigue is felt; eat simple food, at regular hours; pursue useful
-employments, with intervals of social and healthful amusement; sleep enough,
-and at the proper hours; and sit often in the sun.</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Peculiar Instruction needed by Young Children.</i></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“Through information gained from my husband, from other physicians,
-from teachers, from medical writers, and from the reports of insane hospitals,
-it has become clear to my mind that there are secret and terrific causes preying
-extensively upon the health and nervous energy of childhood and youth
-of both sexes such as did not formerly exist, and such as demand new efforts
-to eradicate and prevent.</p>
-
-<p>“Parents and teachers all over the land need to be made aware that a secret
-vice is becoming frequent among children of both sexes that is taught
-by servants and communicated by children at school. Indeed, it may result
-from accident or disease, with an innocent unconsciousness of the evil done,
-on the part of the child, while the practice may thus ignorantly be perpetuated
-to maturity. This practice leads to diseases of the most horrible description,
-to mania, and to fatuity. Death and the mad-house are the last
-resort of these most miserable victims.</p>
-
-<p>“To protect childhood and youth from this, it is not only needful to cultivate
-purity of mind and personal modesty, but to teach them while quite
-young that any fingering of the parts referred to involves terrible penalties.
-No such explicit information should be given as would tempt the incautious
-curiosity of childhood, but the child should be impressed with a sense of guilt
-and awful punishment as connected with <em>any thing</em> of this kind, that would
-instantly recur to mind, if led by accident or instruction to this vice.</p>
-
-<p>“In regard to those who have already become victims, to a greater or less
-degree, to this vice, one caution is very important. Medical writers and others
-who have attempted to guard the young in this direction have painted
-not only the danger but the wickedness of this practice in such strong colors
-that, when a young person first discovers the nature of a practice that has
-been indulged with little conception of the danger or wrong, overaction on
-the fears and the conscience is not unfrequently the result. Such horror and
-despair sometimes ensue as almost paralyze any effort on the part of medical
-advisers to remedy the evil.</p>
-
-<p>“In all such cases, it is safest and best to assume that the sin is one of ignorance,
-and that the cure is almost certain, if the directions given are strictly
-obeyed. Unstimulating diet, a great deal of exercise in the open air, daily
-ablution of the whole person, control of the imagination, and occupation of
-the mind in useful pursuits, will usually remedy the evil, after its nature is understood.”</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>[A lady, after reading the above, stated that within the last year a little
-boy under her care, of very delicate mind and susceptible temperament, was
-sent to the country to a private boarding-school, under the care of a most ex<span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">469</span>cellent
-gentleman and his wife, who were eminently faithful, so far as they
-knew how to be. The child staid only six weeks, and returned sick, depressed,
-and with a burden on his mind that could not be discovered. After
-learning that he would not be sent back, he revealed the shocking story, and
-also the fact that the boys had threatened to kill him if he ever told any one.</p>
-
-<p>Another lady, after reading this article, related a similar story of a large
-and highly respected boarding-school for boys, and gave several mournful
-incidents to show the effects of such evils on the health of the pupils. Parents
-whose young sons are at boarding-school <em>can not</em> be too much alarmed
-on this subject.]</p></blockquote>
-
-
-<p class="center"><i>Instructions at a more Mature Age.</i></p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>“You wish my views and experience in reference to instructions that
-should be communicated to the young, on such topics, at a more mature age.</p>
-
-<p>“The terrible effects I have seen from <em>simple ignorance</em>, both on individual
-and domestic happiness, convince me that a great work is to be attempted in
-this direction. More than half the cases of extreme suffering which have
-come under my care could have been saved, had the course that is aimed at
-by you and your associates have been secured by them. I have been called
-repeatedly to lecture to young ladies, near the close of a school education, on
-subjects so important to their future health and happiness, and I never found
-the least difficulty, either on their part or my own.</p>
-
-<p>“When the proper discriminations are made between <em>true</em> delicacy and
-propriety, and a fastidious and mawkish imitation of them, there is no difficulty
-in making them understood and appreciated. I have found, on such
-occasions, if a person was present known to be wanting in purity and delicacy,
-it was such only who made very offensive protestations against the course
-pursued in such instructions.</p>
-
-<p>“In reference to <em>social</em> as well as secret vices of this description, it seems to
-me the protection of ignorance should be preserved as long as possible, and
-yet so that, when such knowledge dawns, there shall immediately recur the
-needful impression of danger and sin. These duties belong especially to parents
-and teachers; and the circulation of books and papers with the gross
-and pernicious information that many have recommended and practiced involves,
-as it seems to me, most hazardous results.</p>
-
-<p>“The implanted principles which establish the family state are connected
-with the highest rewards when rightly regulated, and with most dreadful penalties
-when perverted or abused. And the prosperity of individuals, of families,
-and of nations, for this life and the life to come, depends more on the
-proper control and regulation of these principles than on any other social or
-moral duty.</p>
-
-<p>“And yet there is no point of morals and religion so widely abused and
-so fruitful of misery and sin as much that is connected with these principles.
-Instead of being regulated by correct knowledge and well-formed habits of
-thought and action, all seems left to the mistakes of ignorance or the control
-of worldly fashion.</p>
-
-<p>“One cause of this state of things is want of consistent rules and customs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_470">470</span>
-as to what constitutes <em>true modesty</em>. These are all dependent on a general
-principle of physiology either rarely recognized or inconsistently regarded.
-The principle is this:</p>
-
-<p>“When the mind directs thought and volition toward any organ of the
-body the blood and nervous fluid tend to that organ. Thus, when the brain is
-used, or the eye, or the hand, the nervous fluid and blood tend to the organ
-to stimulate its action. If this stimulation is too frequent, or too long continued,
-or produced by unnatural methods, then debility or disease are the
-result. The capillaries of the misused organ become engorged, producing
-temporary or chronic inflammation or congestion.</p>
-
-<p>“The same is true of those organs consecrated to marriage. Excess or
-unnatural abuse causes an engorgement of the capillaries, and then a resulting
-increase of excitement, and to a degree that sometimes baffles all efforts at
-self-control.</p>
-
-<p>“It is owing to this physiological principle that the rules of personal
-modesty, of decorum, and of propriety in social intercourse have been established.</p>
-
-<p>“On the principle above stated these sensibilities demand the control of the
-<em>thoughts</em>. For this reason it is that certain topics which lead to such thoughts
-are excluded from general conversation, or, if they are alluded to, are veiled
-in expressions that children do not understand. It is for this cause that
-novels, poetry, and pictures which direct the imagination to such topics are
-deemed objectionable, especially for the young.</p>
-
-<p>“It is owing to this physiological fact that Jesus Christ declares that the
-guilt of adultery commences in the indulgence of the thoughts.</p>
-
-<p>“Marriage is not allowable until there has been due instruction and a habit
-formed of regulating these sensibilities by rules of modesty, decency, and propriety,
-and also <em>knowledge</em> imparted as to the dangers consequent on neglecting
-these rules. And here is the place where the customs and practices of
-society are most inconsistent, false, and destructive to health and morals.
-For in one direction there is excessive and dangerous laxness, and in another
-false and dangerous strictness and fastidiousness.</p>
-
-<p>“The rule to guide is this, that whenever health, life, or duty demand it,
-all connected with these topics should be spoken of and done without restraint
-or embarrassment; but when there are no such demands, they are to be excluded.
-Thus all these topics are spoken of plainly in the Bible and read in
-public worship, and also in medical, surgical, and hospital practice; and it is
-deemed false modesty and false delicacy to express opposition or disapproval.
-But when there are no such demands to serve health or life, or to protect
-from future dangers, conversation, poetry, jokes, or coarse expressions on
-such topics are vulgar, indecent, and sinful.</p>
-
-<p>“Direct violation of these rules are now pervading not only our popular
-amusements, our poetry, and novels, but extensively the weekly and daily
-press is every day drawing attention to topics dangerous and forbidden except
-for necessary instruction and wanting. The Bible as read in families
-and churches comes with solemn simplicity as instruction from God, and
-sins of all kinds are made known for warning and instruction. Very differ<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">471</span>ent
-in style and influence are the details of vices and crimes presented daily
-in newspapers, magazines, poetry, and novels.</p>
-
-<p>“It would seem as if the Prince of Darkness had sent forth his minions
-to hide all that knowledge that would save from sin and suffering, and to
-expose all that tempts to danger and sin.</p>
-
-<p>“In addition to the dangers of our popular literature, there is a wide-spread
-assumption that such is the constitution of man, that the unsullied purity of
-thought and conduct demanded of the weaker sex is not to be expected or
-scarcely required of the stronger. This pernicious opinion is not unfrequently
-implied in medical writers, especially those residing in the centres of European
-licentiousness.</p>
-
-<p>“Therefore it is very important for parents to know, in the first place,
-that constitutional diversities exist, involving more temptations to some than
-to others; and in the next place, that <em>every</em> child is so organized, that strict
-obedience to the laws of health, knowledge of danger from uncontrolled
-thoughts, useful occupation, and suitable moral and religious training, will secure
-the regulation of ordinary temptations, and self-control under extraordinary
-ones. Where in maturity this has not been the case, it has been owing
-to excess either in forbidden or in legal indulgence.</p>
-
-<p>“There is nothing more difficult than to change customs and prejudices,
-especially in matters of delicacy and propriety. And it is woman more than
-man who has controlling influence in these respects. Whatever the cultivated
-and conscientious women of our country decide <em>ought</em> to be done, and will
-<em>use their influence</em> to have done, will surely be accomplished.</p>
-
-<p>“The evils here indicated can never be appreciated until mothers and
-teachers gain that knowledge of the construction of the body and the dangers
-connected with the duties of the family state, which now is confined to the
-medical profession, while physicians, by the false customs and false modesty
-of women, are constrained to a dangerous reticence.</p>
-
-<p>“I believe that the method proposed by your Association, of securing by
-endowments well-qualified ladies whose <em>official</em> duty it shall be to train the
-young to be healthy, and to communicate all the knowledge that will fit
-them to fulfill healthfully and happily all their future duties and relations,
-will, so far as it is carried out, effectually remedy the evils, and secure the
-benefits designed.</p>
-
-<p>“Oh, that all parents and teachers who are to train the <em>next</em> generation
-could be made to understand these intimations, and save their daughters from
-the abounding anguish which has come upon such multitudes of those now
-upon the stage! Very truly yours,</p>
-
-<p class="psig">
-<span class="smcap">R. B. Gleason</span>.”<br />
-</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>These views of Mrs. Dr. Gleason are in accordance with those of
-the most influential, learned, and benevolent medical men.</p>
-
-<blockquote>
-
-<p>Dr. George T. Elliott, late President of the New York County Medical
-Society, says of <i>muscular exercise</i> (or, as Mrs. Gleason would say, “getting
-up and going to work”): “If this were properly carried out, the local treatment
-now so much in vogue, and the ever-ready resort to the speculum,
-might commonly be dispensed with.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_472">472</span></p>
-
-<p>Dr. Thomas suggests similar views in an address before the Medical Society
-of New York County, in which he speaks of “the wonderful improvement
-exerted on cases <em>which have long resisted local means</em>, by sea-bathing,
-or a few months passed in the country. He also says: “The fact is notorious
-that the local treatment of these diseases is not as successful as we could
-wish;” and of uterine injections he says: “My impression is, they have done,
-and are going to do, <em>a great deal of harm. I see no necessity for them</em>.”</p>
-
-<p>Dr. Peasely, of New York City, says: “Medical applications to the uterus
-are <em>often</em> used in conditions not justifying them.”</p>
-
-<p>The senior editor of the <cite>Pacific Medical Journal</cite> says: “It is hoped that
-the fashion of women having recourse to local treatment has passed to its culmination.
-The highest authorities have taken the back course, and condemn
-their own uterine surgery in some respects.”</p>
-
-<p>The editor of the <cite>Medical Record</cite>, of New York City, says: “In a majority
-of cases the speculum is used only because it is the fashion. The natural
-tendency of this is certainly <em>demoralizing</em>.”</p>
-
-<p>Dr. George H. Taylor, author of an original work on diseases of women,
-says: “A large portion of the women treated by me for pelvic disease would,
-in certain stages, be cured by loose dresses supported from the shoulders, domestic
-exercise, and proper diet. And the <i>Movement Cure</i>, to a great extent,
-consists of exercises that would in many cases be as successful, and more
-useful, if performed in domestic labor. Moreover, in my experience, not
-more than one case in twenty of cures by movements requires either local
-examination or local treatment. A large portion of my patients could, by
-obeying my directions, cure themselves at home.”</p></blockquote>
-
-<p>Most medical men now agree that the modes of dress, and the excessive
-mental taxation of schools, unaccompanied by the healthful domestic
-labor of former days, largely account for the prevalence of diseases
-among young girls which formerly were confined to married
-women, and also for the alarming increase of such diseases.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_473">473</span></p>
-
-
-
-
-<h3>INDEX.</h3>
-
-<div class="index">
-<ul class="index">
-
-<li class="ifrst">Accidents and antidotes, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Acids, how to be kept, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Address of the author to readers, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Aged, care of the, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Air-cells, number in human lungs, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Alcoholic drinks, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the microscope, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Alcoholic poisoning, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Almond and cocoa-nut cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Amusements and social duties, <a href='#Page_440'>440</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Angry tones avoidable, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Antidotes for some poisons, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple and bread dumplings, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-custard, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-omelet, to make an, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-pie, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-sauce, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-tarts, spiced, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-trees, to preserve from insects, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-ice, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-jelly, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple lemon-pudding, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apple-snow, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apples, to preserve, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Apportionment of time, proper, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Arrow-root, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Arsenic, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Asparagus, how to cook, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how dished, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Associated charities, a system of, <a href='#Page_387'>387</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Attic story of a house, plan for, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Bacon, the fat of good, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Baked fish, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Baked meats. See <i>Roasts</i>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Basement, plan for a, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Basket-ware for kitchen, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Baskets for flowers, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">and fruits, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bath, use and misuse of the, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Baudeloque, M., on foul air, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beautifying a home, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beds, arranging, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beef, selection of, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">different cuts of, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">economy in purchase of, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">stew, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">soups, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">hash, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">roast, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pot-pie of, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie of cold, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">frizzled, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beef-tea, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beef’s-gall, to keep, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beefsteak, broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bees, care of, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Beets, how to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Biliousness, cause of, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bill of fare four weeks ahead, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bird’snest pudding, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Biscuits—soda, yeast, potato, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of sour milk and flour, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Blackberry jam, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Blanc-mange, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of wheat flour, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bleeding from the lungs, throat, etc., <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Blood, the human, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Body, composition of the human, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Boiled fish, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Boiled meats—to cook tough beef, ham, beef, fowls, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">a leg or shoulder of veal, mutton, or lamb, calf’s liver and sweet-breads, kidneys, pillau, smoked tongues, corned beef, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">partridges or pigeons, ducks, turkeys, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bologna sausages, to make, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bones, composition of, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_454'>454</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Borax, for washing, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brain and nerves, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brain, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brandy peaches, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread, remarks regarding family, <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">fine flour, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">middlings, or unbolted flour, raised with water only, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">rye and indian, third, rye, Oat-meal, pumpkin and apple, corn-meal, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sweet rolls of corn-meal, soda biscuit, yeast biscuit, potato biscuit, buns, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread and apple dumplings, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread and fruit pudding, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread omelet, to make, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_474">474</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread-crumbs and meat hash, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bread pudding, stale, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for invalids, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Breakfast dishes, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>-73.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Breakfast-rooms, care of, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Breathing, the action in, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Breeding of animals, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brewer, Professor, of Yale College, on ventilation, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brine or pickle for beef, pork, etc., <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Broccoli, to pickle, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Broiled fish, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Broiled mutton or lamb chops, beefsteak, fresh pork, ham, sweet-breads, veal, pork relish, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Broiled oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Bruises, remedies for, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Brûlure, or fire-blight, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Buckwheat, how produced and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Buckwheat cakes, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Budding and grafting, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Buns, to make, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Burns, remedies for, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Butler, Fanny Kemble, on theatre-going, <a href='#Page_444'>444</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Butter, to keep, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>; in hot weather, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Butternut catsup, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Cabbage, fine, pickled, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cabbage and cauliflower, to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cake, general directions for making, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">one, two, three, four cake; chocolate, jelly, orange, almond, and cocoa-nut, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pound-cake, plain-cake, fruit, huckleberry, gold and silver, rich sponge-cake, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plain sponge-cake, gingerbread, fried cakes, cookies, etc., <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plain loaf-cake, rich loaf-cake, dough-cake, icing for cake, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Calf’s-foot, to cleanse, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">jelly, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cook, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Calf’s head and feet, to cleanse, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">soup, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cook, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Calf’s liver and sweet-breads, to cook, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Candied fruits, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Candles, to make, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Canker-worm, to check, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Canned fruits, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Capers, sauce of, mock, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Capitol, ventilation and warming of the, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carbonaceous food, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carbonic acid, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Card-playing as an amusement, <a href='#Page_444'>444</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Care of meats, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of the aged, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of domestic animals, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of the sick, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of servants, <a href='#Page_424'>424</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carpets, selection of, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cutting and fitting, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carrots, how to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Carving, directions for, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Castle-building, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Catholic priests, care for servants, <a href='#Page_438'>438</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Catsup, walnut or butternut, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">tomato, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cauliflower, to pickle, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Celery, to prepare, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cell-life, <a href='#Page_200'>200</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">curious facts, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">important relations to health, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cellar, care of a, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cement, a good, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chairs, a use for old, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chambers and bedrooms, care of, <a href='#Page_339'>339</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Character, protection to, <a href='#Page_410'>410</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Charities, associated, <a href='#Page_387'>387</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Charlotte russe, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cheese, how to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cheese of veal, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cherries, to preserve, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cherry-pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chickens, etc., stew, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">roast, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pot-pie and rice-pie, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chicken salad, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Children talking to parents, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the bath for, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">training the manners of, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
- <li class="isub1">See, also, <i>Young Children</i>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chimney, a central, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chimneys, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chinese, respect for age, <a href='#Page_304'>304</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chocolate, as a beverage, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chocolate-cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cholera, in the shade, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Chowder, clam, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cider and toast, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Circus-riding, about, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Citron melons, to preserve, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Clam soup, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">chowder, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Clarify sugar, to, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Clark, Dr. James, on physical education of children, <a href='#Page_401'>401</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cleaning furniture, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cleanliness, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for animals, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Clothing, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">selection of family, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cloths, table, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Coal, anthracite and bituminous, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Coal mines, principle of ventilating, <a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cocoa, to make, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">475</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cocoa-nut pudding (plain), <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Codfish, a relish, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">where to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Coffee, fish-skin for, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cream for, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to purchase, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for children, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">as a beverage, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cold-meat hash, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">nice way of cooking, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Colds, treatment of, <a href='#Page_316'>316</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Combe on the management of infants, <a href='#Page_392'>392</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Comfort for a discouraged housekeeper, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Company, reception of, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Conductors of heat, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Constipation, cure for (<i>in note</i>), <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Convection, a principle of heat, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cookies, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cook-stove, to roast in, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cooking-stoves and ranges, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cool, how to keep, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Corn (green) soup, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pudding, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Corn-cake, sachem’s head, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Corn-meal bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sweet rolls of, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pop-overs, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for breakfast and supper, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Corned-beef hash, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Corrosive sublimate, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cottage cheese, fine, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cows, care of, <a href='#Page_309'>309</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Crab-apple marmalade and jelly. See <i>Quince Marmalade</i>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cracked wheat, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cracker plum-pudding, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cranberry, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sauce, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Creaking hinges, to stop, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cream for coffee and tea, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cream tartar, beverage, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Crockery for a kitchen, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Crumpets, royal, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cucumbers, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">convenient way to pickle, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to prepare, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">prepared for table, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Curculio</i>, the, in plum-trees, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Curd pudding, English, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Currant and raspberry pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Currant jelly, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">whisk, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Currants, to preserve, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for cake, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">raised in a wet soil, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Custard, plain, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cuts, remedies for, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Cutting dresses, hints on, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Dancing as an amusement, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Death-rates, average of, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Decay, results of animal or vegetable, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dessert of rice and fruit, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Desserts and evening parties, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Diaphragm, the human, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Digestion of food, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Digestive organs, the, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the laws of health for, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dining-rooms, care of, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Discouraged housekeeper, comfort for, <a href='#Page_459'>459</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestic amusements and social duties, <a href='#Page_440'>440</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestic animals, care of, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestic exercise, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestic manners, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestic service a great problem, <a href='#Page_429'>429</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Domestics’ rooms, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dormer-windows, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dough-cake, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Doughnuts, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Drawn butter, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sauce, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dress appropriate to servants, <a href='#Page_431'>431</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dress—fashion ruinous to health, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dressing a young girl, proper mode of, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Drinks, etc., for the sick, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Drop-cakes of fine wheat or rye, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Drowning, in cases of, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ducks, to boil, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dumplings of bread and apples, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Dwelling, construction of a family, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">ornamentation of furniture of, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Early rising, <a href='#Page_254'>254</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">recommended, <a href='#Page_447'>447</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Earth-closets, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Eating too much, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">too fast, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Economical breakfast-dish, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Egg-plant, how to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Eggs, with meat-hash, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">omelet, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">with milk as sauce, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">modes of cooking, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to preserve, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Egg tea, egg coffee, and egg milk, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">English curd-pudding, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Essences, how to be kept, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Evening parties and desserts, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Exercise indispensable to health, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for animals, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Expenses, family, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Eyes, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Family attachments, <a href='#Page_452'>452</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Family religious training, <a href='#Page_414'>414</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fasting, a remedy for sickness, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fault-finding, mistakes of, <a href='#Page_432'>432</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_476">476</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fever, drink for a, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Figs, where raised, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Filberts, where raised, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fine-flour bread, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fire, in case of, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fire-blight in pear-trees, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fire-places, the advantages of open, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fires and lights, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fish, selection of, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to salt down, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">directions for cooking, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fishing as a sport, <a href='#Page_440'>440</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fitting dresses, hints on, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flannel shirts save washing, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flavoring powders, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Floating island, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flour, how it should be kept, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flour puddings, flour and fruit puddings, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">a rich, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flower-seeds, planting, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flowers, appropriate for baskets, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">in a room, to cultivate, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fluids as food, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Flummery, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Folding, sprinkling, and ironing, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Folding clothing, directions for, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Food, on the conversion of, into nourishment, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">responsibility as to, in a family, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on taking too much, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">proportion of nutritive elements in, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on one kind of, for each meal, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">quantity of, to be graduated by exercise, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on the quality of, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">stimulating, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">animal and vegetable, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">kinds of,most easily digested, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">injurious, from bad cooking, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on eating too fast, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on exercise, after taking, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on hot and cold, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">highly concentrated, <a href='#Page_224'>224</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for the sick, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Forewarn instead of find fault, <a href='#Page_432'>432</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Foul air, the evils of, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fowls, boiled, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">fricasseed, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fragile ware, to preserve, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">French cooking, the peculiar excellence of, <a href='#Page_34'>34</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">French vegetable soup, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fresh-meat hash, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fricasseed fowl, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fried meats and relishes, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fried oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fritters of oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Frizzled beef, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fruit, cultivation of, <a href='#Page_357'>357</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fruit and bread-crumb pudding, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fruit and rice dessert, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fruit-cake, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fruit pudding, boiled, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Frying, unhealthful mode of cooking, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Fuel saved by cottage stove, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Furnace-heat pernicious, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Furniture, to cleanse or renovate, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the selection of, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Games of skill for children, <a href='#Page_449'>449</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Garden seeds, planting, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gardening a recreation for the young, <a href='#Page_447'>447</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gardens and yard, care of, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ganglionic system, the, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Garnishing dishes, modes of, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gastric juice, supply of, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gherkins, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gingerbread, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ginger-snaps and seed cookies, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gold and silver cake, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Good breeding, principles of, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gooseberries, how propagated, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gouffee’s recipes, <a href='#Page_33'>33</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Grafting and budding, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Grapes, easy way to keep, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to raise, <a href='#Page_359'>359</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Grates and stoves, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gravies, always to be strained, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">brown flour for meat, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Grease and stains, mixtures for removing, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Grease-spots, to remove, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Greens, how prepared, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Green corn, how to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pudding, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">patties, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ground-plan of a house, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Gruels, water and Oat-meal, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Habits of system and order, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hair, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ham, selection of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">recipe for molasses-cured, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">brine for pickling, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to smoke, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">hash of cold, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">broiled eggs for, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hard yeast, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hashes, common way of spoiling, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">fresh meat, cold meat and potatoes, with eggs, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">with tomatoes, nice beef, veal, rice and cold meat, bread-crumbs and cold meat, cold beefsteak, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cold mutton or venison, corned beef, cold ham, meats warmed over, cold meats, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">souse, tripe, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to dish, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hasty pudding or mush, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Health, the care of, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_477">477</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Healthful food, selection of, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Health of mind, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Heart, the human, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Heat, or caloric, explained, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Helping at table, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hemming, hints on, <a href='#Page_363'>363</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Herrings, salt, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">smoked, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hominy for breakfast or supper, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hominy, or rice stew, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hop and potato yeast, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Horses, care of, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Horse-racing, about, <a href='#Page_441'>441</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hosford’s method of making flour, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hospitality, the most agreeable, <a href='#Page_453'>453</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hot-beds, to prepare, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">“House and Home Papers,” by Mrs. Stowe, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_425'>425</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">House-cleaning, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">House plants, care of, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Houses, on the construction of, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>-149.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Huckleberry cake, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hunting as a sport, <a href='#Page_440'>440</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hygrodeik, the, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hypochondriasis, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Hysteria, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Ice-cream, general directions for, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">strawberry ice, ice-cream without cream, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">fruit ice-cream, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">lemonade and other ices, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Iced fruit, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Icing for cake, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Indian meal, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Indian pudding boiled, without eggs, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">baked, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Indiana pickles, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Indigo, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Industrial schools, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Infants, pure air for, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mortality among, <a href='#Page_390'>390</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on giving to the older children, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">ignorance of parents concerning, <a href='#Page_391'>391</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">importance of knowing how to take care of, <a href='#Page_392'>392</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">Combe and Bell cited, <a href='#Page_393'>393</a>, <i>et seq.</i>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">food for, <a href='#Page_394'>394</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">medicines for, <a href='#Page_394'>394</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">keeping warm, <a href='#Page_395'>395</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">keeping their heads cool, <a href='#Page_396'>396</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">bathing, <a href='#Page_396'>396</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to creep, <a href='#Page_397'>397</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">habits, <a href='#Page_397'>397</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">teething, <a href='#Page_398'>398</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">constipation, <a href='#Page_399'>399</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">diarrhœa, <a href='#Page_399'>399</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">use of water in fever, <a href='#Page_400'>400</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ingrafting, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ink, indelible, how to make, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ink-stains, to remove, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Instinctive love, <a href='#Page_372'>372</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Intemperance in eating, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Involuntary motion, nerves of, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Iodide of potassium, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Irish stew, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ironing, articles to be provided for, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">general directions for, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Iron, to stop cracks in, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Iron-ware for kitchen, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Isinglass, to clarify, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">American, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Jellies and preserves, to prepare, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Jelly, white wine, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">apple, orange, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">what served with, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Jelly-cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Kid gloves, to clean, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">another way, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Kidneys, function of the human, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Kidneys, to cook, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Kitchen, care of a, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">furniture for a, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plan for a, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Laces, to do up, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lamb chops, broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lamb, to boil a shoulder or leg, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lamp-oil, to remove stains of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lamps, oil and kerosene, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lard and drippings, to keep, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lard, to try out, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Laughter is healthy, <a href='#Page_449'>449</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Laws of health, for the bones, for the muscles, <a href='#Page_454'>454</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for the lungs, for the digestive organs, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for the skin, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for the brain and nerves, for the teeth, eyes, and hair, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Laying out yards and gardens, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lazy gentleman, a, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lead, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Leeds’s method of ventilation, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lemon pudding, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">jelly, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">peel, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lemonade ice, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lettuce salad, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Leucoemia</i>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lewis, Dr. Dio, on ventilation, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Light essential to health, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Light for animals, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lightning, struck by, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lights for a house, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lime or baryta, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Liver, calf or pig, beef, to cook, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Liver, use of the human, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Loaf pudding, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cake, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Longevity, Sir John Sinclair on, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_478">478</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lungs, the human, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">laws of health for, <a href='#Page_455'>455</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Lye, to make, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Macaroni, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Macaroni pudding, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mahogany furniture, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mangoes, pickled, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Manners at home and in society, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Manners to servants, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Marketing, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Marmalade, quince, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">orange, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Martinoes, to pickle, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mattresses, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_341'>341</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Measures of quantity, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Meat and rusk puddings, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mechanical skill developed in children, <a href='#Page_450'>450</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Medicines, the use of, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Melancholy, condition of, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mental health and disease, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Metal dishes, never cool soup in, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mice and rats, to get rid of, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mildew, to remove, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Milk and egg sauce, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Milk, dangerous use of, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">as a drink, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Milk lemonade, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mint sauce for lamb, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Minute pudding of potato starch, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mock cream, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Model ventilation, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Moisture in air necessary, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Molasses, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Moral character, what constitutes, <a href='#Page_371'>371</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mucous membrane, the, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Muffins, wheat, of flour, fine or unbolted, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Muscles, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_454'>454</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Muscular exercise, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mush or hasty pudding, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mushrooms, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Music, considered as a recreation, <a href='#Page_448'>448</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Muslin curtains, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Muslins, to starch, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mutton—division of a sheep, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">selection of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">and turnip stew, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">soup, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">hash, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled leg or shoulder of, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">roast, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Mutton chops, broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Napkins, table, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nasturtions, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nerves, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_467'>467</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nervous system, the, described, <a href='#Page_202'>202</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nervousness in sick people, <a href='#Page_320'>320</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nettle-rash caused by food, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Night air, prejudice against, <a href='#Page_160'>160</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nitrate of silver, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Novel-reading, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>, <a href='#Page_445'>445</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nursery, selection of helpers in the, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Nursing the sick, <a href='#Page_319'>319</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="indx">Oat-meal bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for breakfast or supper, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Odds and ends, advice about, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Oil, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Oil-paint, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Oino-mania</i>, disease of the brain, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Olla podrida, recipe for, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Omelet of eggs, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plain, bread, apple, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">One, two, three, four cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Onions, used as flavoring, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Open fire-places, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the advantages of, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Opium, the use of, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">antidote for, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Orange-cake, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">marmalade, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">jelly, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">peel, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ornamental froth, <a href='#Page_98'>98</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ornamentation of a house, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Orphan asylum at Albany, treatment of children in the, <a href='#Page_401'>401</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Oyster plant, or salsify, to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Oysters, stewed, fried, fritters, scalloped, broiled, omelet, pickled, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">roast, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ox-muzzle made into an ornament, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Oxygen, amount of in full-grown man, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Packing and storing articles, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Panada, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pancreas gland, the, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pan dowdy, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Paper to keep preserves, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Paralysis of portion of the brain, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Parlor cheaply furnished, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Parsley, as a garnish, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Parsnips, how to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Partridges, to boil, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Paste for puddings and pies should be banished from every table, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie-crusts, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">directions for making rich pie-crusts, <a href='#Page_84'>84.</a></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Patties of green corn, like oysters, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_479">479</span></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pea (green or dried) soup, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Peaches, pickled, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">in pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to preserve, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pearl barley-water, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pearl barley and pearl wheat, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pearl wheat or cracked wheat, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pears, to preserve, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Peppers, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Perspiration tubes, length of, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Philadelphia, death-rate of, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Philanthropy, instances of true, <a href='#Page_380'>380</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Phin, Professor, on lighting houses, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Phosphorus, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pickle for cold fish, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pickled oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pickles, general directions, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sweet, tomatoes, peaches, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">peppers, nasturtions, onions, gherkins, mushrooms, cucumbers, walnuts, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mangoes, cabbage, martinoes, cucumbers, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">Indiana, cauliflower, or broccoli, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">never keep in glazed ware, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pictures, the hanging of, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pie, potato, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pie-crusts, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Piece-bag, a, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pies—meat, mutton, beef, chicken, rice-chicken, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pigeons, to boil, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pigs, benefited by cleanliness, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pilaff, or Turkish stew, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pillau, a favorite dish in the South, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pine-apples, to preserve, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pitch, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Plain cake, raised with eggs, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Planting flower and garden seeds, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Plum pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Plum pudding, cracker, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Plums, to preserve, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Poisons, antidotes for certain, <a href='#Page_367'>367</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pop-overs, of corn-meal, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pork, divisions of a hog, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">selection of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to salt, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">fresh, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Potash soap, to make, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Potato, various modes of cooking, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">soup, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">biscuit, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">yeast, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">starch pudding, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Pot au feu</i>, or French stew, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pot-pie—beef, veal, or chicken, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Poultry, selection of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">when and how to be killed, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">care of, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pound-cake, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Precocity, juvenile, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Preserves and jellies, general directions, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to keep, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Preserving fruit-trees, <a href='#Page_360'>360</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Propagation of plants, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Property, on using properly, <a href='#Page_378'>378</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pruning, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Prussic acid, antidote for, <a href='#Page_368'>368</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Puddings and pies, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">queen of all puddings, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">flour puddings, flour and fruit, rusk and milk, rusk, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">meat and rusk (one easily made), pan dowdy, corn-meal, pop-overs, best apple-pie, rice pudding, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">bread and fruit pudding, boiled-fruit pudding, English curd pudding, common apple-pie, plain custard, mush or hasty pudding, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">stale bread, rennet custard, bird’s nest pudding, minute pudding of potato starch, tapioca pudding, cocoa-nut pudding, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pumpkin-pie, ripe-fruit pies, mock cream, pudding of fruit and bread-crumbs, bread and apple dumplings, Indian pudding without eggs, boiled Indian and suet puddings, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">dessert of rice and fruit, rice and apple, rich flour pudding, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">apple-pie, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">spiced apple-tarts, baked Indian pudding, apple custard, macaroni or vermicelli puddings, green-corn pudding, bread pudding for invalids, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">a good pudding, loaf pudding, lemon pudding, green-corn patties, cracker plum pudding, bread-and-butter pudding, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sauces for puddings, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">paste for puddings and pies, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pumpkin and squash, how to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">preserved, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Puritans, descendants of the, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Pyramid for a table, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Quantity, measures of, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Queen of all puddings, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Quinces, to preserve, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">jelly, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">marmalade, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Radiation of heat, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Radishes, to prepare, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Raisins, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ranges, cooking, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <i>et seq</i>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Raspberries, how grown, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Raspberry jam, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">whisk, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">vinegar, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rats and mice, to get rid of, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_480">480</span></li>
-
-
-<li class="indx">Reading for the young, suitable, <a href='#Page_446'>446</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Reflection of heat, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Relief, bestowing, <a href='#Page_385'>385</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Religion, power of, in the household, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of servants, <a href='#Page_438'>438</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Religious training in the family, <a href='#Page_414'>414</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rennet, to prepare, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">custard, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">wine, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">whey, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx"><i>Reserve power</i> of the body, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rice, modes of using, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">as stew, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">with cold-meat hash, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for breakfast and supper, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">waffles, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pudding, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">and fruit dessert, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">how to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plain boiled, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Right use of time and property, <a href='#Page_370'>370</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Roast oysters, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Roast and baked meats—beef, to roast, in a cook-stove, pork, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mutton, veal, poultry, pot-pie of beef, veal, or chicken, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mutton and beef pie, chicken-pie, rice chicken-pie, potato-pie, calf’s head, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rolls, of corn-meal, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rooms, the care of, <a href='#Page_330'>330</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rose-bushes, budding, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Roses and other plants, how to treat, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Royal crumpets, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rules for setting a table, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rusk puddings, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rusk and milk, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rusk and meat puddings, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rust from knives, to keep, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rye, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rye and indian bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Rye or corn meal for breakfast or supper, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Sachem’s head corn-cake, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sago, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salad, chicken, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">a dressing for, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sally Lunn, improved, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salsify, or oyster-plant, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salt, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salt, to meats, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>; to beef, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to fish, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for animals, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salt herrings, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Salted provisions must be watched, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sal volatile, how preserved, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sassafras jelly, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sauces—milk and egg, drawn butter, mint, cranberry, apple, walnut or butternut catsup, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mock capers, salad dressing,</li>
-<li class="indx">57;</li>
- <li class="isub1">tomato catsup, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for puddings, liquid, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">hard, a healthful, an excellent, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sausages, to prepare cases, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">meat, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">bologna, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scalloped oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scallops, to cook, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Science and training needful to women, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scissors, lessons in use of, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scorched articles, how to whiten, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Screws, movable, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Scrofula, produced by foul air, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sea-sickness aggravated by bad air, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Seasoning, difficulty of directing as to, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Secreting organs, the, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Selection of meats, poultry, and fish, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>-22.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Servants, training and government of, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the care of, <a href='#Page_424'>424</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sewing, hints on, <a href='#Page_361'>361</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">in public schools, <a href='#Page_362'>362</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sewing-machines, <a href='#Page_364'>364</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sheep, care of, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Shelter for animals, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sick, drinks and articles for the, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">care of, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Silk, directions for ironing, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to renovate black, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Silk kerchiefs and ribbons, to clean <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">silk hose and gloves, to clean, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Silver, to clean, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Simple drinks, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sirup for sweetmeats, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sisters of Charity, <a href='#Page_322'>322</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Skin, the human, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">functions of, <a href='#Page_154'>154</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">laws of health for, <a href='#Page_456'>456</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sleeping-rooms, ventilation in, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Smoke hams, how to, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Smoked tongues, to boil, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Smoky chimneys, cause and remedy, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Snow, a dish of, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Snow for eggs, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soap, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to make soft soap, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Social duties and amusements, <a href='#Page_440'>440</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soda, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soda biscuits, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soft soap, to make, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soil for pot-plants, to prepare, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soups—general directions for making, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">potato, green corn, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_481">481</span>
-plain beef, rich beef, green pea, dried bean or pea, clam, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">mutton, French vegetable, plain calf’s head, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Souse, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Soy, a fashionable sauce, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spanish olla podrida, recipe for, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spencer (Herbert), on treatment of offspring, <a href='#Page_390'>390</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spermaceti, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spiced apple-tarts, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spices, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Spine, the human, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Split-grafting, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sponge-cake, rich, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plain, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sprains, remedies for, <a href='#Page_366'>366</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sprinkling, folding, and ironing, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Squash and pumpkin, how to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pie, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stains and grease, mixtures for removing, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stale-bread pudding, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Starch, to purchase and keep, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to prepare, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Starching muslins and laces, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Steam-coils for warming dwellings, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Steam-doctors, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stew or soup kettle, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stewed oysters, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stews, general directions for, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">varieties of, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stimulants unnecessary, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stimulating food, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stock for soap, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Store-room, cool and dry place indispensable, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">plan for a, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the care of, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stores, providing and care of family, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stoves and grates, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stoves are economical, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for cooking, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">durability of the cottage-stove, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Stowe’s, Mrs., “House and Home Papers,” <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>, <a href='#Page_425'>425</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Strawberries, to preserve, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the proper soil for, <a href='#Page_358'>358</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Strawberry-ice, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">whisk, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">vinegar, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Straw-matting for chambers, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Strong-flavored meats, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Strychnine, antidote for, <a href='#Page_369'>369</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Succotash, how to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Suffocation through defective flues, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sugar an unwholesome diet, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sugars, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Suitable meats and vegetables, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Supper-dishes, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>-73.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sweet herbs, how preserved, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sweet potatoes, to cook, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Sweet-breads, calf’s, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Swine, care of, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">System and order, habits of, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Table furniture, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Table manners, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tables, art of setting, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">rules for setting, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for dinners, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">waiting on, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tapioca, how purchased and kept, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">as a pudding, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tar, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Taylor’s, Dr. George, movement cure, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tea, to make, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cream for, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the purchase of, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for children, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">as a beverage, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Teeth, laws of health for the, <a href='#Page_457'>457</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Temper, preservation of good, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Theatres, regarding, <a href='#Page_443'>443</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Thinning fruit on trees, <a href='#Page_356'>356</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Third bread, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tight-lacing, the evils of, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Time and property, right use of, <a href='#Page_370'>370</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Time, on apportioning, <a href='#Page_375'>375</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">on saving, <a href='#Page_376'>376</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">devoted by Jews to religion, <a href='#Page_377'>377</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tin ware for kitchen, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Toast and cider, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tobacco, the use of, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tomatoes, with meat-hash, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pickled, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">excellent way of preparing, <a href='#Page_54'>54</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cook, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sirup, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tongues, to boil smoked, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tortures inflicted by fashion, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tough beef, how to boil, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Training necessary for women, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Transplanting, directions for, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">for trees, <a href='#Page_352'>352</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Trials of a housekeeper, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tripe, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Turkeys, to boil, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">salad, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Turkish stew, or pilaff, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Turpentine, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_120'>120</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Typhoid fever and the microscope, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Tyranny of servants, <a href='#Page_435'>435</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Unbolted flour to be kept in kegs, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Variety at meals, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Variety of food necessary, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Varnished articles, to remove stains on, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_482">482</span></li>
-
-
-<li class="indx">Veal, season for use, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">divisions of, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">selection of, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">hash, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">boiled, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">roast, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">pot-pie of, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">broiled, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">veal cheese, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">broiled with eggs, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vegetable food, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vegetables—potatoes, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sweet potatoes, green corn, succotash, salsify, or oyster plant, egg plant, carrots, beets, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">parsnips, pumpkins, and squash, celery, radishes, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, and cauliflower, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">asparagus, macaroni, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vegetables should not be boiled in soup, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Velvet, directions for ironing, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Venison or mutton hash, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ventilation, importance of, <a href='#Page_150'>150</a>, <i>et seq.</i></li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vermicelli pudding, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the purchase of, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Vermin in animals, <a href='#Page_307'>307</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Waffles of unbolted flour, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">of rice, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Waiting at table, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wall-paper, to cleanse, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Walnut catsup, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Walnuts, pickled, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Ward cases, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Warmed-over meats made into hash, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Warming a home, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Warm plates, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Washing dishes, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">rules for, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Washing, ironing, and cleansing, necessaries for, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">common mode of washing, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">flannels, bedding, calicoes, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">use of bran water, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">use of potato-water, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">to cleanse broadcloth, <a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wash-leather articles, to clean, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Water-cure, the, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Water-gruel, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Water-melon rinds, to preserve, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wax, to remove spots of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Weekly apportionment of work, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Well, to purify a, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wheat muffins, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Whiten articles, to, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">White tea, and boys’ coffee, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Whip-grafting, <a href='#Page_355'>355</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Whip syllabub, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wine jelly, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wine whey, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Women, courtesy to, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wood, a cord and a load of, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wooden ware for kitchen, <a href='#Page_347'>347</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Wood-work of a house, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Yeast, brewers’ or distillers', the best, hop and potato yeast, hard yeast, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Young children, management of, in the Orphan Asylum at Albany, <a href='#Page_401'>401</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">effects of eating too often, <a href='#Page_402'>402</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">the intellectual training of, <a href='#Page_402'>402</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">habits of submission, <a href='#Page_403'>403</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">self-denial, <a href='#Page_404'>404</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">sensitiveness, <a href='#Page_405'>405</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">unsteadiness in, and over-government, <a href='#Page_406'>406</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">multiplication of rules, <a href='#Page_407'>407</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">govern by rewards, avoid angry tones, <a href='#Page_408'>408</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">moral habits, <a href='#Page_410'>410</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">cultivation of habits of modesty, <a href='#Page_411'>411</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">treatment of forbidden topics, <a href='#Page_411'>411</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">purity of thought, <a href='#Page_412'>412</a>;</li>
- <li class="isub1">warning to parents, <a href='#Page_413'>413</a>.</li>
-
-<li class="indx">Young girl, dressing properly a, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</li>
-
-
-<li class="ifrst">Zymotic diseases, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</li>
-</ul></div>
-
-
-
-<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
-<div class="footnotes">
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">1</a>
-Professor Brewer, of the Yale Scientific School, says: “As a fact, often
-demonstrated by analysis, there is generally more carbonic acid near the ceiling
-than near the floor.”</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_2_2" href="#FNanchor_2_2" class="label">2</a>
-It is manufactured by N. M. Lowe, Boston, and sold by him and J.
-Queen &amp; Co., Philadelphia.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_3_3" href="#FNanchor_3_3" class="label">3</a>
-A letter to the author, inclosing twenty-five cents for expense of time and
-correspondence, will secure a circular with further account and directions for
-using this stove. Direct—Care of Dr. G. H. Taylor, New York city.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_4_4" href="#FNanchor_4_4" class="label">4</a>
-For these statements the writer is indebted to Maudsley, a recent writer
-on Microscopic Physiology.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_5_5" href="#FNanchor_5_5" class="label">5</a>
-Some extracts from medical writers in Note A will give the views of the
-most respected physicians all over the land on this point.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_6_6" href="#FNanchor_6_6" class="label">6</a>
-The universal practice of this nation, in thus giving precedence to woman
-has been severely commented on by foreigners, and by some who would
-transfer all the business of the other sex to women, and then have them
-treated like men. But we hope this evidence of our superior civilization and
-Christianity may increase rather than diminish.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_7_7" href="#FNanchor_7_7" class="label">7</a>
-The most effective mode of exercising the abdominal and respiratory
-muscles, in order to remedy constipation, is by a continuous alternate contraction
-of the muscles of the abdomen and diaphragm. By contracting the
-muscles of the abdomen, the intestines are pressed inward and upward, and
-then the muscles of the diaphragm above contract and press them downward
-and outward. Thus the blood is drawn to the torpid parts to stimulate to
-the healthful action, while the agitation moves their contents downward.
-An invalid can thus exercise the abdominal muscles in bed. The proper
-time is just after a meal. This exercise, continued ten minutes a day, including
-short intervals of rest, and persevered in for a week or two, will
-cure most ordinary cases of constipation, provided proper food is taken.
-Coarse bread and fruit are needed for this purpose in most cases.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_8_8" href="#FNanchor_8_8" class="label">8</a>
-Luke xvi. In reading this passage, please notice what kind of guests
-are to be invited to the feast that Jesus Christ recommends.</p></div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_9_9" href="#FNanchor_9_9" class="label">9</a>
-Fanny Kemble Butler remarked to the writer that she regarded theatres
-wrong, chiefly because of the injury involved to the actors. Can a Christian
-mother contribute money to support young women in a profession from which
-she would protect her own daughter, as from degradation, and that, too, simply
-for the amusement of herself and family? Would this be following the
-self-sacrificing benevolence of Christ and his apostles?</p></div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"></div>
-
-
-<h3>VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS<br />
-
-<small>FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES,</small></h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap center">Published by HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, New York</span>.</p>
-
-<hr />
-<div class="hang">
-
-<p>☛ <i>For a full List of Books suitable for Libraries, see <span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers’ Trade-List</span>
-and <span class="smcap">Catalogue</span>, which may be had gratuitously on application to the Publishers
-personally, or by letter enclosing Five Cents.</i></p>
-
-<p>☛ <i><span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span> will send any of the following works by mail, postage prepaid,
-to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price.</i></p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p>MOTLEY’S DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. By <span class="smcap">John Lothrop
-Motley, LL.D., D.C.L.</span> With a Portrait of William of Orange. 3 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $10 50.</p>
-
-<p>MOTLEY’S UNITED NETHERLANDS. History of the United Netherlands: from
-the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Years’ Truce—1609. With a full
-View of the English-Dutch Struggle against Spain, and of the Origin and Destruction
-of the Spanish Armada. By <span class="smcap">John Lothrop Motley, LL.D., D.C.L.</span>
-Portraits. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00.</p>
-
-<p>NAPOLEON’S LIFE OF CÆSAR. The History of Julius Cæsar. By His Imperial
-Majesty <span class="smcap">Napoleon III.</span> Two Volumes ready. Library Edition, 8vo, Cloth, $3 50
-per vol.</p>
-
-<p class="center"><i>Maps to Vols. I. and II. sold separately.</i> <i>Price</i> $1 50 <i>each</i>, <span class="smcap">NET</span>.</p>
-
-<p>HAYDN’S DICTIONARY OF DATES, relating to all Ages and Nations. For Universal
-Reference. Edited by <span class="smcap">Benjamin Vincent</span>, Assistant Secretary and Keeper
-of the Library of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; and Revised for the
-Use of American Readers. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00.</p>
-
-<p>MACGREGOR’S ROB ROY ON THE JORDAN. The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile,
-Red Sea, and Gennesareth, &amp;c. A Canoe Cruise in Palestine and Egypt, and the
-Waters of Damascus. By <span class="smcap">J. Macgregor, M.A.</span> With Maps and Illustrations.
-Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>WALLACE’S MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. The Malay Archipelago: the Land of the
-Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, 1854-1862. With
-Studies of Man and Nature. By <span class="smcap">Alfred Russel Wallace</span>. With Ten Maps
-and Fifty-one Elegant Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>WHYMPER’S ALASKA. Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska, formerly
-Russian America—now Ceded to the United States—and in various other parts of
-the North Pacific. By <span class="smcap">Frederick Whymper</span>. With Map and Illustrations. Crown
-8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>ORTON’S ANDES AND THE AMAZON. The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across
-the Continent of South America. By <span class="smcap">James Orton, M.A.</span>, Professor of Natural
-History in Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and Corresponding Member of the
-Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. With a New Map of Equatorial
-America and numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p>
-
-<p>WINCHELL’S SKETCHES OF CREATION. Sketches of Creation: a Popular View
-of some of the Grand Conclusions of the Sciences in reference to the History of
-Matter and of Life. Together with a Statement of the Intimations of Science
-respecting the Primordial Condition and the Ultimate Destiny of the Earth and
-the Solar System. By <span class="smcap">Alexander Winchell, LL.D.</span>, Professor of Geology,
-Zoology, and Botany in the University of Michigan, and Director of the State
-Geological Survey. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</p>
-
-<p>WHITE’S MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew:
-Preceded by a History of the Religious Wars in the Reign of Charles IX.
-By <span class="smcap">Henry White, M.A.</span> With Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Pictorial Field-Book of the
-Revolution; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography,
-Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence. By <span class="smcap">Benson J.
-Lossing</span>. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half Calf, $18 00; Full
-Turkey Morocco, $22 00.</p>
-
-<p>LOSSING’S FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812. Pictorial Field-Book of the
-War of 1812; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography,
-Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the Last War for American Independence. By
-<span class="smcap">Benson J. Lossing</span>. With several hundred Engravings on Wood, by Lossing and
-Barritt, chiefly from Original Sketches by the Author. 1088 pages, 8vo, Cloth,
-$7 00; Sheep, $8 50; Half Calf, $10 00.</p>
-
-<p>ALFORD’S GREEK TESTAMENT. The Greek Testament: with a critically revised
-Text; a Digest of Various Readings; Marginal References to Verbal and Idiomatic
-Usage; Prolegomena; and a Critical and Exegetical Commentary. For
-the Use of Theological Students and Ministers. By <span class="smcap">Henry Alford, D.D.</span>, Dean
-of Canterbury. Vol. I., containing the Four Gospels. 944 pages, 8vo, Cloth,
-$6 00; Sheep, $6 50.</p>
-
-<p>ABBOTT’S FREDERICK THE GREAT. The History of Frederick the Second,
-called Frederick the Great. By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. Elegantly Illustrated. 8vo,
-Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>ABBOTT’S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. The French Revolution
-of 1789, as viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions. By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>.
-With 100 Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>ABBOTT’S NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. The History of Napoleon Bonaparte. By
-<span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. With Maps, Woodcuts, and Portraits on Steel. 2 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $10 00.</p>
-
-<p>ABBOTT’S NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA; or, Interesting Anecdotes and Remarkable
-Conversations of the Emperor during the Five and a Half Years of his
-Captivity. Collected from the Memorials of Las Casas, O’Meara, Montholon,
-Antommarchi, and others. By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. With Illustrations. 8vo,
-Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>ADDISON’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Joseph Addison, embracing the
-whole of the “Spectator.” Complete in 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.</p>
-
-<p>ALCOCK’S JAPAN. The Capital of the Tycoon: a Narrative of a Three Years'
-Residence in Japan. By Sir <span class="smcap">Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B.</span>, Her Majesty’s Envoy
-Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan. With Maps and Engravings.
-2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>ALISON’S HISTORY OF EUROPE. <span class="smcap">First Series</span>: From the Commencement of
-the French Revolution, in 1789, to the Restoration of the Bourbons, in 1815. [In
-addition to the Notes on Chapter LXXVI., which correct the errors of the
-original work concerning the United States, a copious Analytical Index has been
-appended to this American edition.] <span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: From the Fall of Napoleon,
-in 1815, to the Accession of Louis Napoleon, in 1852. 8 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $16 00.</p>
-
-<p>BALDWIN’S PRE-HISTORIC NATIONS. Pre-Historic Nations; or, Inquiries concerning
-some of the Great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity, and their
-Probable Relation to a still Older Civilization of the Ethiopians or Cushites of
-Arabia. By <span class="smcap">John D. Baldwin</span>, Member of the American Oriental Society.
-12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>BARTH’S NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA. Travels and Discoveries in North
-and Central Africa: being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the
-Auspices of H. B. M.'s Government, in the Years 1849-1855. By <span class="smcap">Henry Barth,
-Ph.D., D.C.L.</span> Illustrated. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $12 00.</p>
-
-<p>HENRY WARD BEECHER’S SERMONS. Sermons by <span class="smcap">Henry Ward Beecher</span>,
-Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. Selected from Published and Unpublished Discourses,
-and Revised by their Author. With Steel Portrait. Complete in 2 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>LYMAN BEECHER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, &amp;c. Autobiography, Correspondence,
-&amp;c., of Lyman Beecher, D.D. Edited by his Son, <span class="smcap">Charles Beecher</span>. With Three
-Steel Portraits, and Engravings on Wood. In 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>BOSWELL’S JOHNSON. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Including a Journey
-to the Hebrides. By <span class="smcap">James Boswell</span>, Esq. A New Edition, with numerous
-Additions and Notes. By <span class="smcap">John Wilson Croker, LL.D., F.R.S.</span> Portrait of
-Boswell. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>DRAPER’S CIVIL WAR. History of the American Civil War. By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper,
-M.D., LL.D.</span>, Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of
-New York. In Three Vols. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50 per vol.</p>
-
-<p>DRAPER’S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE. A History of the
-Intellectual Development of Europe. By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper, M.D., LL.D.</span>, Professor
-of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>DRAPER’S AMERICAN CIVIL POLICY. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of
-America. By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper, M.D., LL.D.</span>, Professor of Chemistry and Physiology
-in the University of New York. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>DU CHAILLU’S AFRICA. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, with
-Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla,
-the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other Animals. By
-<span class="smcap">Paul B. Du Chaillu</span>. Numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>BELLOWS’S OLD WORLD. The Old World in its New Face: Impressions of Europe
-in 1867-1868. By <span class="smcap">Henry W. Bellows</span>. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>BRODHEAD’S HISTORY OF NEW YORK. History of the State of New York.
-By <span class="smcap">John Romeyn Brodhead</span>. 1609-1691. 2 vols. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00 per vol.</p>
-
-<p>BROUGHAM’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Life and Times of <span class="smcap">Henry, Lord Brougham</span>.
-Written by Himself. In Three Volumes. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per vol.</p>
-
-<p>BULWER’S PROSE WORKS. Miscellaneous Prose Works of Edward Bulwer,
-Lord Lytton. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>BULWER’S HORACE. The Odes and Epodes of Horace. A Metrical Translation
-into English. With Introduction and Commentaries. By <span class="smcap">Lord Lytton</span>. With
-Latin Text from the Editions of Orelli, Macleane, and Yonge. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>BULWER’S KING ARTHUR. A Poem. By <span class="smcap">Earl Lytton</span>. New Edition. 12mo,
-Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>BURNS’S LIFE AND WORKS. The Life and Works of Robert Burns. Edited
-by <span class="smcap">Robert Chambers</span>. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.</p>
-
-<p>REINDEER, DOGS, AND SNOW-SHOES. A Journal of Siberian Travel and Explorations
-made in the Years 1865-'67. By <span class="smcap">Richard J. Bush</span>, late of the Russo-American
-Telegraph Expedition. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p>
-
-<p>CARLYLE’S FREDERICK THE GREAT. History of Friedrich II., called Frederick
-the Great. By <span class="smcap">Thomas Carlyle</span>. Portraits, Maps, Plans, &amp;c. 6 vols., 12mo,
-Cloth, $12 00.</p>
-
-<p>CARLYLE’S FRENCH REVOLUTION. History of the French Revolution. Newly
-Revised by the Author, with Index, &amp;c. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>CARLYLE’S OLIVER CROMWELL. Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell.
-With Elucidations and Connecting Narrative. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>CHALMERS’S POSTHUMOUS WORKS. The Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers.
-Edited by his Son-in-Law, Rev. <span class="smcap">William Hanna, LL.D.</span> Complete in 9 vols.,
-12mo, Cloth, $13 50.</p>
-
-<p>COLERIDGE’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor
-Coleridge. With an Introductory Essay upon his Philosophical and Theological
-Opinions. Edited by Professor <span class="smcap">Shedd</span>. Complete in Seven Vols. With a fine
-Portrait. Small 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.</p>
-
-<p>DOOLITTLE’S CHINA. Social Life of the Chinese: with some Account of their Religious,
-Governmental, Educational, and Business Customs and Opinions. With
-special but not exclusive Reference to Fuhchau. By Rev. <span class="smcap">Justus Doolittle</span>,
-Fourteen Years Member of the Fuhchau Mission of the American Board. Illustrated
-with more than 150 characteristic Engravings on Wood. 2 vols., 12mo,
-Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>GIBBON’S ROME. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By <span class="smcap">Edward
-Gibbon</span>. With Notes by Rev. <span class="smcap">H. H. Milman</span> and <span class="smcap">M. Guizot</span>. A new cheap
-Edition. To which is added a complete Index of the whole Work, and a Portrait
-of the Author. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p>
-
-<p>HAZEN’S SCHOOL AND ARMY IN GERMANY AND FRANCE. The School
-and the Army in Germany and France, with a Diary of Siege Life at Versailles.
-By Brevet Major-General <span class="smcap">W. B. Hazen, U.S.A.</span>, Colonel Sixth Infantry. Crown
-8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>HARPER’S NEW CLASSICAL LIBRARY. Literal Translations.</p>
-
-<p>The following Volumes are now ready. Portraits. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50 each.</p>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">CÆSAR.</span>—<span class="smcap">Virgil.</span>—<span class="smcap">Sallust.</span>—<span class="smcap">Horace.</span>—<span class="smcap">Cicero’s Orations.</span>—<span class="smcap">Cicero’s Offices</span>,
-&amp;c.—<span class="smcap">Cicero on Oratory and Orators.</span>—<span class="smcap">Tacitus</span> (2 vols.).—<span class="smcap">Terence.</span>—<span class="smcap">Sophocles.</span>—<span class="smcap">Juvenal.</span>—<span class="smcap">Xenophon.</span>—<span class="smcap">Homer’s
-Iliad.</span>—<span class="smcap">Homer’s Odyssey.</span>—<span class="smcap">Herodotus.</span>—<span class="smcap">Demosthenes.</span>—<span class="smcap">Thucydides.</span>—<span class="smcap">Æschylus.</span>—<span class="smcap">Euripides</span>
-(2 vols.).—<span class="smcap">Livy</span> (2 vols.).</p>
-
-<p>DAVIS’S CARTHAGE. Carthage and her Remains: being an Account of the Excavations
-and Researches on the Site of the Phœnician Metropolis in Africa and other
-adjacent Places. Conducted under the Auspices of Her Majesty’s Government.
-By Dr. <span class="smcap">Davis, F.R.G.S.</span> Profusely Illustrated with Maps, Woodcuts, Chromo-Lithographs,
-&amp;c. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>EDGEWORTH’S (<span class="smcap">Miss</span>) NOVELS. With Engravings. 10 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $15 00.</p>
-
-<p>GROTE’S HISTORY OF GREECE. 12 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $18 00.</p>
-
-<p>HELPS’S SPANISH CONQUEST. The Spanish Conquest in America, and its Relation
-to the History of Slavery and to the Government of Colonies. By <span class="smcap">Arthur
-Helps</span>. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.</p>
-
-<p>HALE’S (<span class="smcap">Mrs.</span>) WOMAN’S RECORD. Woman’s Record; or, Biographical Sketches
-of all Distinguished Women, from the Creation to the Present Time. Arranged
-in Four Eras, with Selections from Female Writers of each Era. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Sarah
-Josepha Hale</span>. Illustrated with more than 200 Portraits. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>HALL’S ARCTIC RESEARCHES. Arctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux:
-being the Narrative of an Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, in
-the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862. By <span class="smcap">Charles Francis Hall</span>. With Maps and 100
-Illustrations. The Illustrations are from Original Drawings by Charles Parsons,
-Henry L. Stephens, Solomon Eytinge, W. S. L. Jewett, and Granville Perkins,
-after Sketches by Captain Hall. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>HALLAM’S CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of
-Henry VII. to the Death of George II. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p>
-
-<p>HALLAM’S LITERATURE. Introduction to the Literature of Europe during the
-Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. By <span class="smcap">Henry Hallam</span>. 2 vols.,
-8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>HALLAM’S MIDDLE AGES. State of Europe during the Middle Ages. By <span class="smcap">Henry
-Hallam</span>. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p>
-
-<p>HILDRETH’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. <span class="smcap">First Series</span>: From the
-First Settlement of the Country to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution.
-<span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: From the Adoption of the Federal Constitution to the End of
-the Sixteenth Congress. 6 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $18 00.</p>
-
-<p>HUME’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. History of England, from the Invasion of Julius
-Cæsar to the Abdication of James II., 1688. By <span class="smcap">David Hume</span>. A new Edition,
-with the Author’s last Corrections and Improvements. To which is Prefixed
-a short Account of his Life, written by Himself. With a Portrait of the Author.
-6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p>
-
-<p>JAY’S WORKS. Complete Works of Rev. William Jay: comprising his Sermons,
-Family Discourses, Morning and Evening Exercises for every Day in the Year,
-Family Prayers, &amp;c. Author’s enlarged Edition, revised. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth,
-$6 00.</p>
-
-<p>JEFFERSON’S DOMESTIC LIFE. The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson: compiled
-from Family Letters and Reminiscences by his Great-Granddaughter,
-<span class="smcap">Sarah N. Randolph</span>. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Illuminated Cloth, Beveled
-Edges, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>JOHNSON’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. With
-an Essay on his Life and Genius, by <span class="smcap">Arthur Murphy</span>, Esq. Portrait of Johnson.
-2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>KINGLAKE’S CRIMEAN WAR. The Invasion of the Crimea, and an Account of
-its Progress down to the Death of Lord Raglan. By <span class="smcap">Alexander William Kinglake</span>.
-With Maps and Plans. Two Vols. ready. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per vol.</p>
-
-<p>KINGSLEY’S WEST INDIES. At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies. By
-<span class="smcap">Charles Kingsley</span>. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.</p>
-
-<p>KRUMMACHER’S DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL. David, the King of Israel: a Portrait
-drawn from Bible History and the Book of Psalms. By <span class="smcap">Frederick William
-Krummacher, D.D.</span>, Author of “Elijah the Tishbite,” &amp;c. Translated under the
-express Sanction of the Author by the Rev. <span class="smcap">M. G. Easton, M.A.</span> With a Letter
-from Dr. Krummacher to his American Readers, and a Portrait. 12mo, Cloth,
-$1 75.</p>
-
-<p>LAMB’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Charles Lamb. Comprising his Letters,
-Poems, Essays of Elia, Essays upon Shakspeare, Hogarth, &amp;c., and a Sketch
-of his Life, with the Final Memorials, by <span class="smcap">T. Noon Talfourd</span>. Portrait. 2 vols.,
-12mo, Cloth, $3 00.</p>
-
-<p>LIVINGSTONE’S SOUTH AFRICA. Missionary Travels and Researches in South
-Africa; including a Sketch of Sixteen Years’ Residence in the Interior of Africa,
-and a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the West Coast; thence
-across the Continent, down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. By <span class="smcap">David
-Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L.</span> With Portrait, Maps by Arrowsmith, and numerous
-Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.</p>
-
-<p>LIVINGSTONES’ ZAMBESI. Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its
-Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864.
-By <span class="smcap">David</span> and <span class="smcap">Charles Livingstone</span>. With Map and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth,
-$5 00.</p>
-
-<p>M’CLINTOCK &amp; STRONG’S CYCLOPÆDIA. Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological,
-and Ecclesiastical Literature. Prepared by the Rev. <span class="smcap">John M’Clintock, D.D.</span>,
-and <span class="smcap">James Strong, S.T.D.</span> <i>4 vols. now ready.</i> Royal 8vo. Price per vol., Cloth,
-$5 00; Sheep, $6 00; Half Morocco, $8 00.</p>
-
-<p>MARCY’S ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. Thirty Years of Army Life on the
-Border. Comprising Descriptions of the Indian Nomads of the Plains; Explorations
-of New Territory; a Trip across the Rocky Mountains in the Winter;
-Descriptions of the Habits of Different Animals found in the West, and the Methods
-of Hunting them; with Incidents in the Life of Different Frontier Men, &amp;c.,
-&amp;c. By Brevet Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">R. B. Marcy, U.S.A.</span>, Author of “The Prairie
-Traveller.” With numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $3 00.</p>
-
-<p>MACAULAY’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. The History of England from the Accession
-of James II. By <span class="smcap">Thomas Babington Macaulay</span>. With an Original Portrait
-of the Author. 5 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; 12mo, Cloth, $7 50.</p>
-
-<p>MOSHEIM’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern; in which the
-Rise, Progress, and Variation of Church Power are considered in their Connection
-with the State of Learning and Philosophy, and the Political History of Europe
-during that Period. Translated, with Notes, &amp;c., by <span class="smcap">A. Maclaine, D.D.</span>
-A new Edition, continued to 1826, by <span class="smcap">C. Coote, LL.D.</span> 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>NEVIUS’S CHINA. China and the Chinese: a General Description of the Country
-and its Inhabitants; its Civilization and Form of Government; its Religious and
-Social Institutions; its Intercourse with other Nations; and its Present Condition
-and Prospects. By the Rev. <span class="smcap">John L. Nevius</span>, Ten Years a Missionary in China.
-With a Map and Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>THE DESERT OF THE EXODUS. Journeys on Foot in the Wilderness of the
-Forty Years’ Wanderings; undertaken in connection with the Ordnance Survey
-of Sinai and the Palestine Exploration Fund. By <span class="smcap">E. H. Palmer, M.A.</span>, Lord
-Almoner’s Professor of Arabic, and Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge.
-With Maps and numerous Illustrations from Photographs and Drawings taken
-on the spot by the Sinai Survey Expedition and C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. Crown
-8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p>
-
-<p>OLIPHANT’S CHINA AND JAPAN. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin’s Mission to
-China and Japan, in the Years 1857, '58, '59. By <span class="smcap">Laurence Oliphant</span>, Private
-Secretary to Lord Elgin. Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>OLIPHANT’S (<span class="smcap">Mrs.</span>) LIFE OF EDWARD IRVING. The Life of Edward Irving,
-Minister of the National Scotch Church, London. Illustrated by his Journals and
-Correspondence. By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Oliphant</span>. Portrait. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p>
-
-<p>RAWLINSON’S MANUAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A Manual of Ancient History,
-from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising
-the History of Chaldæa, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phœnicia, Syria, Judæa,
-Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. By
-<span class="smcap">George Rawlinson, M.A.</span>, Camden Professor of Ancient History in the University
-of Oxford. 12mo, Cloth, $2 50.</p>
-
-<p>RECLUS’S THE EARTH. The Earth: a Descriptive History of the Phenomena and
-Life of the Globe. By <span class="smcap">Elisée Reclus</span>. Translated by the late B. B. Woodward,
-and Edited by Henry Woodward. With 234 Maps and Illustrations, and 23 Page
-Maps printed in Colors. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>POETS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The Poets of the Nineteenth Century.
-Selected and Edited by the Rev. <span class="smcap">Robert Aris Willmott</span>. With English
-and American Additions, arranged by <span class="smcap">Evert A. Duyckinck</span>, Editor of “Cyclopædia
-of American Literature.” Comprising Selections from the Greatest Authors
-of the Age. Superbly Illustrated with 141 Engravings from Designs by
-the most Eminent Artists. In elegant small 4to form, printed on Superfine Tinted
-Paper, richly bound in extra Cloth, Beveled, Gilt Edges, $5 00; Half Calf, $5 50;
-Full Turkey Morocco, $9 00.</p>
-
-<p>SHAKSPEARE. The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, with the Corrections
-and Illustrations of Dr. <span class="smcap">Johnson</span>, <span class="smcap">G. Steevens</span>, and others. Revised by <span class="smcap">Isaac
-Reed</span>. Engravings. 6 vols., Royal 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p>
-
-<p>SMILES’S LIFE OF THE STEPHENSONS. The Life of George Stephenson, and
-of his Son, Robert Stephenson; comprising, also, a History of the Invention and
-Introduction of the Railway Locomotive. By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>, Author of “Self-Help,”
-&amp;c. With Steel Portraits and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p>
-
-<p>SMILES’S HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots: their Settlements,
-Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland. By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. With an
-Appendix relating to the Huguenots in America. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $1 75.</p>
-
-<p>SPEKE’S AFRICA. Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. By Captain
-<span class="smcap">John Hanning Speke</span>, Captain H. M. Indian Army, Fellow and Gold Medalist
-of the Royal Geographical Society, Hon. Corresponding Member and Gold
-Medalist of the French Geographical Society, &amp;c. With Maps and Portraits and
-numerous Illustrations, chiefly from Drawings by Captain <span class="smcap">Grant</span>. 8vo, Cloth,
-uniform with Livingstone, Barth, Burton, &amp;c., $4 00.</p>
-
-<p>STRICKLAND’S (<span class="smcap">Miss</span>) QUEENS OF SCOTLAND. Lives of the Queens of Scotland
-and English Princesses connected with the Regal Succession of Great Britain.
-By <span class="smcap">Agnes Strickland</span>. 8 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $12 00.</p>
-
-<p>THE STUDENT’S SERIES.</p>
-
-<p>
-France. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Gibbon. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Greece. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Hume. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Rome. By Liddell. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Old Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-New Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Strickland’s Queens of England. Abridged. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Ancient History of the East. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Hallam’s Middle Ages. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-Lyell’s Elements of Geology. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.<br />
-</p>
-
-<p>TENNYSON’S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poems of Alfred Tennyson,
-Poet Laureate. With numerous Illustrations by Eminent Artists, and Three
-Characteristic Portraits. 8vo, Paper, 75 cents; Cloth, $1 25.</p>
-
-<p>THOMSON’S LAND AND THE BOOK. The Land and the Book; or, Biblical Illustrations
-drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and the Scenery of
-the Holy Land. By <span class="smcap">W. M. Thomson, D.D.</span>, Twenty-five Years a Missionary of the
-A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. With two elaborate Maps of Palestine, an accurate
-Plan of Jerusalem, and several hundred Engravings, representing the Scenery,
-Topography, and Productions of the Holy Land, and the Costumes, Manners,
-and Habits of the People. 2 large 12mo vols., Cloth, $5 00.</p>
-
-<p>TYERMAN’S WESLEY. The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., Founder
-of the Methodists. By the Rev. <span class="smcap">Luke Tyerman</span>, Author of “The Life of Rev.
-Samuel Wesley.” Portraits. 3 vols., Crown 8vo, Cloth, $7 50.</p>
-
-<p>VÁMBÉRY’S CENTRAL ASIA. Travels in Central Asia. Being the Account of a
-Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, on the Eastern Shore of the
-Caspian, to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in the Year 1863. By
-<span class="smcap">Arminius Vámbéry</span>, Member of the Hungarian Academy of Pesth, by whom he
-was sent on this Scientific Mission. With Map and Woodcuts. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.</p>
-
-<p>WOOD’S HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. Homes Without Hands: being a Description
-of the Habitations of Animals, classed according to their Principle of Construction.
-By <span class="smcap">J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S.</span> With about 140 Illustrations. 8vo,
-Cloth, Beveled Edges, $4 50.</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="transnote">
-<h3>Transcriber's Notes</h3>
-
-<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
-in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and
-punctuation remains unchanged.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Beecher's Housekeeper and
-Healthkeeper, by Catharine E. Beecher
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS BEECHER'S HOUSEKEEPER ***
-
-***** This file should be named 55734-h.htm or 55734-h.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/7/3/55734/
-
-Produced by Larry B. Harrison, les Galloway and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
-  are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-</body>
-</html>
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/137b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/137b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3956ffe..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/137b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/138b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/138b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 219d052..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/138b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/colophon.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/colophon.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index f987cbf..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/colophon.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/cover.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 03a1959..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/cover.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_019.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_019.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a69dfc..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_019.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_020a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_020a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index b88db7d..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_020a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_020b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_020b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 7a7ce2a..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_020b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_021.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_021.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 82916b0..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_021.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_026.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_026.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 4208d85..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_026.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_029.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_029.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 7c6bf21..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_029.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_133.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_133.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index d8efc91..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_133.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_134.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_134.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 5f79886..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_134.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_135a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_135a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 41e7127..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_135a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_135b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_135b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 79686f7..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_135b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_136.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_136.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index cb7bc4a..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_136.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_137.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_137.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 0396790..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_137.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_138.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_138.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index b9e2185..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_138.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_139a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_139a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index b2ead21..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_139a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_139b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_139b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 44936ef..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_139b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_139c.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_139c.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 93d5cd5..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_139c.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_141.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_141.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index acc14c1..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_141.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_142.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_142.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index bf99425..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_142.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_143.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_143.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c3070c..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_143.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_143a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_143a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 25f91bb..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_143a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_144.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_144.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index aa1c214..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_144.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_145.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_145.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index c247235..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_145.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_145b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_145b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 78bb57f..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_145b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_146.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_146.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 1effaac..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_146.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_147.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_147.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 8f962eb..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_147.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_151a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_151a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index e0534f4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_151a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_151b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_151b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index be99af4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_151b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_152a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_152a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 32ecedd..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_152a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_152b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_152b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 52cf004..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_152b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_168a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_168a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 9704cf3..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_168a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_168b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_168b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 38341f1..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_168b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_183.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_183.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 0ee010c..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_183.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_184a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_184a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e0b1d1..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_184a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_184b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_184b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 149ec5c..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_184b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_187.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_187.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 0b9c7b4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_187.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_192.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_192.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 32e95be..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_192.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_193.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_193.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 5611846..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_193.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_195a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_195a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index c85db57..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_195a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_195b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_195b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e3fdf4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_195b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_196a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_196a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 83ad0d0..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_196a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_196b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_196b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c5598a..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_196b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_200.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_200.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index e68f146..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_200.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_201.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_201.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 6f6bb9c..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_201.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_203.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_203.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 83351ee..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_203.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_208.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_208.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 2a3ed64..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_208.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_209.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_209.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index e0c51c2..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_209.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_210.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_210.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index ccff01b..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_210.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_216.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_216.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 91994f8..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_216.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_219.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_219.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c0ee6b..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_219.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_235.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_235.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 78898db..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_235.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_236a.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_236a.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index dd2cc6e..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_236a.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_236b.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_236b.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 736ae63..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_236b.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_237.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_237.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 0ae59d4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_237.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_245.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_245.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index aa12ad4..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_245.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_246.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_246.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e3d0a0..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_246.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_250.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_250.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index c7e1b73..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_250.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_354.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_354.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d64024..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_354.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_355.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_355.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index cb298e7..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_355.jpg
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/old/55734-h/images/i_356.jpg b/old/55734-h/images/i_356.jpg
deleted file mode 100644
index de67310..0000000
--- a/old/55734-h/images/i_356.jpg
+++ /dev/null