A COLLECTION OF 
 
 VALUABLE 
 
 IB IS V IB a IP SP 89 
 
 IN VARIOUS BRANCHES OF 
 
 DOMESTIC ECONOMY, 
 
 SELECTED FROM 
 
 ["HE WORKS OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN WRITERS 
 
 OF UNQUESTIONABLE AUTHORITY AND 
 
 EXPERIENCE. 
 
 BY HENRY PARNELL, 
 
 of Lincoln's inn field*. 
 
 Sontan: 
 
 WILLIAM DARTON, JUN. 58, HOLBORN HILL. 
 Sold by the Bookseller* in Town and Country. 
 
 1819, 
 
A COLLECTION 
 
 Valuable Receipts* 
 
 To detect Dampness in a Bed. 
 
 Let your bed be first well warmed, and immedi- 
 ately as the warming-pan is taken out, introduce be- 
 tween the sheets, in an inverted direction, a clear 
 glass goblet; after it has remained in that situation a 
 few minutes, examine it; if found dry, and not tar- 
 nished with drops of wet, for there will often appear 
 a slight cloud of steam, the hed is safe; but if drops 
 of wot or damp adhere to the inside of the glass, it is 
 a certain sign of a damp hed. Even wearing apparel, 
 when on the person, will, in most parts of England, 
 by the application of a warming-pan, stain glass with 
 a slight steam, but not drops of wet. Or take oft* the 
 sheets and sleep iu the blankets. 
 
 Easy method of preserving Animal Food sweet for 
 several days in the height of Hummer. 
 
 Veal, mutton, beef, or venison, may be kept for 
 nine or ten days perfectly sweet and good in the heat 
 of summer, by lightly covering the same with bran,' 
 and hanging it in a high and windy room; therefore 
 a cupboard full of small holes, or a wire safe, so as 
 the wind may have a passage through, is recommend- 
 ed to be placed in such a room, to keep away the flies. 
 A 2 
 
4 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Useful method of preserving Bees, as lately adopted 
 in America. 
 
 Instead of destroying whole swarms in their hives, 
 to get the honey when the hives are full, they clear 
 them out into a fresh hive, while they take the combs 
 out of the old one; and they prevent their perishing 
 in winter by putting a great quantity of honey into a 
 very wide earthen vessel, covering its surface with 
 paper, exactly fitted on, and pricked full of holes with 
 a large pin ; this- being pressed by the weight of the 
 bees keeps a fresh supply continually arising. Their 
 most fatal destruction by severe cold they prevent, 
 by taking as many large tubs as they have hives, and 
 knocking out the heads, they set the other end in the 
 ground, laying a bed of dry earth or chopped hay in 
 it, of six inches deep ; over this they place the head 
 knocked out, and then make a small wooden trough 
 for the passage of the bees ; this is transfixed through 
 a hole cut through each side of the tub, at such a 
 height as to lay on the false bottom, on which is 
 placed the covered dish of honey for the food of the 
 bees, leaving a proper space over this, covered with 
 strong matting; they then fill up the tub with more 
 dry earth, or chopped hay, heaping it up in the form 
 of a cone, to keep out the rain, and wreathing it over 
 with straw on account of the warmth. This method 
 is so secure, that out of a hundred tubs, a few win- 
 ters since, when this experiment was tried, not one 
 of them was known to fail. The quantity of honey 
 this way obtained has been amazing, and besides, 
 must every year increase, Avherever the example is 
 followed. 
 
 To make Artificial or Potatoe Bread, 
 
 Put a pound of potatoes in a net, into a skillet with 
 cold water, and, lest the skin break and let in the 
 water, hang it at a distance, so as not to boil, over 
 the fire till they become soft ; then skin, mash, and 
 rub them so as to be well mixed with a pound of flour, 
 a very large spoonful of salt, and two large spoonfuls 
 of yeast ; but less of the yeast is better. Theu add a 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 little warm water, and knead it up as other dough ; 
 lav it a little while before the fire to ferment or rise, 
 then bake it in a very hot oven. Bread made in this 
 manner has been frequently tried, and found to be 
 well-lasted, wholesome, and of good consistence. 
 
 Method for taking the Rankness and disagreeable 
 Taste from Irish Salt Butter. 
 
 The quantity proposed to be made use of, either 
 for toasts or melting, must be put into a bowl filled 
 wiih boiling water, and when the butter is melted, 
 skim it quite off; by this method it is so seperated 
 from any gross particles, that it may require a small 
 addition of salt, which may he put into the cold wa- 
 ter that is made use of in melting butter for sauce; 
 and I hough the butter is oiled by hot water, it be- 
 comes a fine cream in the boiling for sauce. 
 
 Method of making Stilton Cheese. 
 
 Take the night's cream, and put it to the morning's 
 new milk, with the rennet ; when the curd is come it 
 is not to be broken, as is done with other cheeses 
 but take it out with a soil dish altogether, and place 
 it on a sieve to drain gradually, and as it drains, keep 
 gradually pressing it till it becomes firm and dry; 
 then place it in a wooden hoop; afterwards to be kept 
 dry on boards, turned frequently, with cloth-binders 
 round it, which are to be tightened as occasion re- 
 quires. 
 
 In some dairies, the cheeses, after being taken out 
 of the wooden hoop, are bound tight round with a 
 cloth, which cloth is changed every day until the 
 cheese becomes firm enough to support itself; after 
 the cloth is taken away, they are rubbed every day 
 all over, for two or three months, with a brush; and 
 if the weather is damp or moist, twice a day; and 
 even before the cloth is taken off, the top and bot- 
 tom are well rubbed every day. 
 
 N. B. — The dairy-maid must not be disheartened 
 if she does not succeed perfectly hi her first attempt- 
 A3 
 
6 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Method of expeditiously Fattening Chickens. 
 
 Take for that purpose a quantity of rice, and grind 
 or pound it into a fine flour ; mix sufficient for pre- 
 sent use with milk and a little coarse sugar ; stir the 
 whole well over the fire, till it makes a thick pasle ; 
 and feed the chickens in the daytime only, hy putting 
 as much of it as they can eat, hut no more, into the 
 troughs belonging to their coops. It must be eaten 
 while warm ; and if they have also beer to drink, they 
 will soon grow very fat. A mixture of oatmeal and 
 treacle, combined till it crumbles, is said to form a 
 food for chickens, of which they are so fond, and 
 with which they thrive so rapidly, that at the end of 
 two months they become as large as the generality of 
 full grown fowls fed in the common way. 
 
 Method of Fattening Geese and Ducks. 
 
 Geese, the more quiet and undisturbed they arc 
 kept, the faster and better they fatten. 
 
 I shall begin with what are usually called green 
 geese : — Let these young geese be put in a place that 
 is almost dark, and be fed with some ground malt 
 mixed up with milk, and they will very soon, and at 
 very little expence be fit to kill ; the method has 
 often been tried, and the flesh has been found to eat 
 very delicate. 
 
 I sometimes fat them in a still cheaper way, espe- 
 cially when milk is scarce : I mix up some barley 
 meal pretty thick with water, which they constantly 
 have by them to eat as they chuse; in another part 
 of the shed, where they are kept in a pan with some 
 boiled oats, and water for them to resort to when they 
 are inclined to change their food. This variety is 
 agreeable to them, and they thrive apace, being so 
 fatted at less expence than in any other manner I 
 know of. 
 
 The manner in which I manage my Michaelmas or 
 stubble geese, is not very different from that above 
 described. Immediately after harvest I turn them 
 on the wheat eddishes, where they pick up flesh 
 apace ; but when 1 take them up to fatten, I feed 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 7 
 
 them with ground malt mixed up with water, and give 
 them with it boiled oats, boiled malt, or boiled bar- 
 ley, and sometimes for change, even boiled vvbeat and 
 water. Thus managed, they grow fatter and acquire 
 a finer flavour than would at first be imagined, and 
 greatly superior to those in the London markets. 
 
 1 fatten my ducks in the same manner, only allow- 
 ing them a larger pan to dabble in, which answers 
 extremely well. 
 
 I keep a very considerable number of ducks for 
 breeders, having near my house the convenience of 
 several ponds, and 1 annually set in the spring a great 
 number of duck eggs under hens ; it is therefore na- 
 tural that I should chuse such a breed as will lay me 
 a large store of eggs, and I have always found such 
 as have their bills turn up rather more than ordinary 
 to answer this purpose best. 
 
 To Purify Water for Domestic and other purposes. 
 
 This method is extremely simple, and consists in 
 placing horizontally in the midst of a common water 
 butt, a false bottom, perforated with a great number 
 of small holes. The butt being thus divided into two 
 equal parts, the upper is filled with pieces of char- 
 coal, which must be neither too large nor too small, 
 thoroughly burned, light, and well washed. Imme- 
 diately under the cock by which the water enter'- the 
 butt, must be placed a small hollow cylinder, being 
 merely to brake the force of the water, and prevent 
 it from falling upon the charcoal with such violence 
 as to detach Irom it any particles of dirt, and wash 
 them through into the lower receptacle; it is of little 
 consequence of what material it is made. M. Siauve 
 thinks that this contrivance might be made subservi- 
 ent to the interests of agriculture as well as domestic 
 economy ; and that it would be highly advantageous 
 to provide water thus filtered for the cattle, during 
 the whole of the dog-days, and particularly when the 
 ponds and streams are infected by the rotting of hemp 
 and flax. 
 
 Remark. — A very good filtre may be made of char- 
 coal, but it is comparatively expensive j and there is 
 
S VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 a patent for the only way in which the fillre can be 
 made to last. In the above receipt, if the charcoal is 
 not in very fine powder, it will have little effect in 
 purifying the water; if it be, the charcoal will very 
 soon choke from the quantity of mud deposited in it 
 by the water, and the frequent renewals of the char- 
 coal, which would be necessary from the choking, 
 would be found expensive. The contrivance could 
 only be useful as a temporary means of ascertaining 
 the power of the charcoal on the particular kind of 
 water, with a view afterwards to procure a proper 
 fillre. 
 
 To Preserve Apples, 
 
 Dry a glazed jar perfectly well, put a few pebbles 
 in the bottom ; fill the jar with apples, and cover it 
 with a bit of wood made to fit exactly ; and over that 
 put a little fresh mortar. The pebbles attract the 
 damp of the apples. The mortar draws the air from 
 the jar, and leaves the apples free from its pressure, 
 which together with the principle of putrefaction 
 which the air contains, are the causes of decay. Ap- 
 ples kept thus have been found quite sound, fair, and. 
 juicy, in July. 
 
 To preserve Potatoes from the Frost. 
 
 If you have not a convenient store-place for them*, 
 dig a trench three or four feet deep, into which they 
 are to be laid as they are taken up, and then covered 
 with the earth taken out of the trench, raised up in 
 the middle like the roof of a house, and covered witb 
 straw to carry off the rain. They will be thus pre- 
 served from the frost, and can be taken up as they 
 are wanted. 
 
 Manner of preserving Eggs perfectly fresh, for 
 Twelve Months. 
 
 Having provided small casks like oyster barrels, 
 fill them with fresh laid eggs ; then pour into eacb 
 cask, the head of which is supposed to have been first 
 taken out, as much cold thick lime-water as will fill 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. & 
 
 up all the void spaces between the eggs, and likewise 
 completely cover them. The thicker the lime- 
 water is the better, provided it will fill up all the in- 
 terstices, and be liquid at the top of the cask ; this 
 done, lay on the head of the cask lightly. No farther 
 care is necessary, than merely to prevent the lime 
 from growing too hard, by adding occasionally a little 
 common water on the surface, should it seem so dis- 
 posed, and keeping the casks from heat and frost. 
 The eggs when taken out for use, are to be washed 
 from the adhering lime with a little cold water, when 
 they will have both the appearance and qualities of 
 fresh laid eggs, the lime preserving them from shrink- 
 ing or putridity. 
 
 To prevent Lamps from being pernicious to Asthmatic 
 Persons, or others, liable to Complaints of the Chest. 
 
 Let a sponge three or four inches in diameter, be 
 moistened with pure water, and in that state be sus- 
 pended by a string or wire, exactly over the flame of 
 the lamp, at the distance of a few inches ; this sub- 
 stance will absord all the smoke emitted during the 
 evening or night ; after which it should be rinsed in 
 warm water, by which means it will be again render- 
 ed fit for use. 
 
 To prevent the Freezing of Water in Pipes, in the. 
 Winter Time. 
 
 By tying up the ball-cock during the frost, the 
 freezing of pipes will often be prevented; in fact, it 
 will always be prevented where the main pipe is 
 higher than the cistern or other reservoir, and the 
 pipe is laid in a regular inclination from one to the 
 other, for then no water can remain in the pipe ; or 
 if the main is lower tl>an the cistern, and the pipe re- 
 gularly inclines^ upon the supplies ceasing, the pipe 
 will immediately exhaust itself into the main. Where 
 water is in the pipes, if each cock is left a little 
 dripping, this circulation of the water will frequently 
 prevent the pipes from being frozen. 
 
10 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Proper method of making Toast and Water, and the 
 advantages resulting therefrom. 
 
 Take a slice of fine and stale loaf-bread, cut very 
 thin, (as thin as toast is ever cut) and let it be care- 
 fully toasted on both sides, until it be completely 
 browned all over, but not blacked or burned in any 
 way. Put this into a common deep stone or china 
 jug, and pour over it from the tea-kettle as much 
 clean boiling water as you wish to make into drink. 
 Much depends on the water being actually in a boil- 
 ing state. Cover the jug with a saucer or plate, and 
 let the drink cool until it be quite cold ; it is then fit 
 to b' used : the fre.-dier it is made the better, and of 
 course the more agreeable. The above will be found 
 a pleasant, light, and highly diuretic drink. It is pe- 
 culiarly grateful to the stomach, and excellent for 
 carrying oft' the effects of any excess in drinking. It 
 is also a most excellent drink at meals, and may be 
 used in the summer time, if more agreeable to the 
 
 drinkM". 
 
 To prevent inconvenience from Perspiration of the 
 Hands. 
 
 Ladies who work lace or embroidery, sometimes 
 suffer inconvenience from the perspiration on their 
 hands, which may be remedied by rubbing the hands 
 frequently with a little dry wheaten bran. 
 
 Method of cleaning and polishing Rusty Steel. 
 
 After well oiling the rusty parts of the steel, let 
 it remain two or three days in that state ; then wipe 
 it dry with clean rags, and polish with emery or pu- 
 mice stone, on hard wood. Frequently however, a 
 little unslacked lime finely powdered, will be sufhei- 
 ent after the oil is cleaned off. Where a very high 
 degree of polish is requisite, it will be most effectually 
 obtained by using a paste composed of finely levi- 
 gated blood-stone and spirits of wine. Bright bars, 
 however, are admirably cleaned in a few minutes, by 
 using a small portion of fine corned emery, and af- 
 terwards finislunji with flour of emery or rotten stone, 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 11 
 
 all of which may be had at any ironmonger's. This 
 last very simple method will perhaps render any other 
 superfluous. 
 
 To clean Marble. 
 
 Take a bullock's gall, a gill of soap lees, half a gill 
 of turpentine, and make it into a paste with pipe 
 clay; then apply it to the marble, and let it dry a 
 day or two; then rub it off, and if not clean, apply it 
 a second or third time until it is clean. 
 
 Best method of cleaning fine Block tin Dish Covers, 
 Patent Pewter, Sfc. 
 
 Where the polish is gone off, let the articles be first 
 rubbed over the outside with a little sweet oil on a 
 piece of soft linen cloth ; then clear it off with dry 
 pure whitening, quite free from sand, on linen cloths, 
 which will make them look as well as when new. The 
 insides should be rubbed with rags moistened in wet 
 whitening, but without a drop of oil. Always wiping 
 these articles dry when brought from table, and keep- 
 ing them free from steam or other damp, greatly fa- 
 cilitates the trouble of cleaning them. 
 
 Mixture for cleaning Stone Stairs, Hall Pavements, 
 S?c. Sfc. 
 
 Boil together half a pint each of size and stone 
 blue water, with two table spoonfuls of whiting, and 
 two cakes of pipemaker's clay, in about two quarts 
 of water. Wash the stones over with a flannel slightly 
 wetted in this mixture, and when dry, rub them with 
 flannel and a brush. Some persons recommend beer, 
 but water is much better for the purpose. 
 
 To clean Mahogany Furniture. 
 Three pennyworth of alkanet root, one pint of cold 
 drawn linseed oil, two pennyworth of rose pink ; put 
 these into a pan and let them stand all night : then 
 take some of this mixture, rub it over the tables or 
 chairs, and let it remain one hour ; then take a linen 
 cloth and rub it well off, and it will leave a beautiful 
 gloss on the furniture. 
 
12 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 If the pinky shade occasioned by the alkanet root 
 and pink is disagreeable, they may be omitted in part 
 or entirely. 
 
 To preserve Lemon Juice during a long voyage. 
 
 Care must be taken to squeeze only sound fruit, as a 
 tainted lemon will endanger the spoiling of the whole: 
 the expressed juice must be depurated, by standing a 
 few days, adding one ounce of cream of tartar to 
 every quart of lemon juice; filter it pretty clear; 
 then it is to be put into small bottles, none of them 
 containing more than a pint of juice ; in the neck of 
 the bottle a little of the best oil of olives is to be 
 poured, and the cork well sealed over. 
 
 Elder Wine* 
 
 Pick the elder berries when full ripe ; put them 
 into a stone jar, and set them in the oven, or a kettle 
 of boiling water, till the jar is hot through; then take 
 them out and strain them through a coarse cloth, 
 wringing the berries, and put the juices into a clean 
 kettle; to every quart of juice put a pound of fine 
 Lisbon sugar ; let it boil, and skim it well; when it is 
 clear and fine pour it into ajar; when cold cover it 
 close, and keep it till you make raisin wine ; and to 
 every gallon of wine put half a pint of elder syrup. 
 
 The Virtues of Sage. 
 
 This valuable herb was held in such high esteem 
 among the ancients, that they have left us a Latin 
 verse, which signifies, 
 
 " Why should a man die whilst he has Sage in his 
 Garden ?" 
 
 It is reckoned admirable as a cordial, and to sweet- 
 en and cleause the blood. It is good in nervous 
 cases, and is given in fevers with a view to promote 
 perspiration. With the addition of a little lemon 
 juice it is very grateful and cooling : some choose to 
 take it dry, alleging that the surface of the leaves of 
 green sage abound with animalcule, which are very 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 13 
 
 visible through a microscope, and so there are in 
 many articles of common food ; but we may be as- 
 sured, even if this is the case, that as they are nou- 
 rished with the sage, they are of no harm, and at all 
 events a little hot water will destroy them. 
 To destroy Bugs. 
 
 The risk of bugs in a large city is inevitable ; the 
 clothes-boxes of servants, the going to a public place 
 or in a public carriage, or the insect being blown 
 against the apparel while walking the streets, may 
 introduce it into the house. But to cleanly people, 
 whose beds are examined, and the joints oiled with, 
 pure sweet oil three or four times a year, they cannot 
 become troublesome ; except what no person can be 
 secure against, they should succeed in the occupa- 
 tion of a house, a filthy, though perhaps a very fine 
 predecessor, who has permitted the animal to en- 
 trench itself in the walls and the ceiling. 
 
 In such a situation the chimney and the windows 
 were pasted up air-tight, and after a mixture of pow- 
 der of brimstone and saltpetre (as used by the makers 
 of vitriolic acid) was set fire to with proper precau- 
 tion, in an earthen pan and sand, thedoors were shut, 
 and the joints pasted up. The remedy, and in such a 
 case it was thought proper to fumigate all the rooms, 
 was effectual. Coloured hangings, &c. which the 
 gas might hurt, were removed to the bedding, and to 
 wood it does no injury. 
 
 There is however some difficulty in forming such a 
 quantity of vitriolic acid gas, which is heavy and not 
 very expansible, as completely to penetrate the cre- 
 vices of the room in which the insects harbour. As 
 the oxymuriatic gas is at least as strong a poison to 
 animals as the vitriolic, there is no reason to antici- 
 pate that it is not equally so to the bug, and it is 
 much more easily applied and more expansible. It 
 is likely to answer, but there has been no similar op- 
 portunity of trying it. Coloured hangings should be 
 removed, as though that gas will not affect complete- 
 ly oxidated metallic dyes, it will bleach or whiten the 
 vegetable colours. After some hours' fumigation, the 
 
 B 
 
14 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 doors and windows should be thrown open, without 
 breathing, or as little as possible the air of the rooms. 
 The remaining gas will then be dissipated more 
 quickly than the vitriolic. 
 
 Plate Powder. 
 
 In most of the articles sold as plate powders under 
 a variety of names, there is an injurious mixture of 
 quicksilver, which is said sometimes so far to pene- 
 trate and render silver brittle, that it will even break 
 with a fall. Whitening, properly purified from sand, 
 applied wet, and rubbed till dry, is one of the easiest, 
 safest, and certainly the cheapest of all plate pow» 
 ders ; jewellers and silversmiths, for small articles, 
 seldom use any thing else. If, however, the plate be 
 boiled a little in water, with an ounce of calcined 
 hartshorn in powder to about three pints of water, 
 then drained over the vessel in which it was boiled, 
 and afterwards dryed by the fire, while some soft 
 linen rags are boiled in the liquid till they have wholly 
 imbibed it; these rags will, when dry, not only assist 
 to clean the plate, which must afterwards be rubbed 
 bright with leather, but also serve admirably for 
 cleaning brass locks, finger plates, &c. 
 
 Essence of Soap for Shaving or Washing Hands. 
 
 Take a pound and a half of fine white soap in thin 
 slices, and add thereto two ounces of salt of tartar ; 
 mix them well together, and put this mixture into a 
 quart of spirits of wine, in a bottle which will hold 
 double the quantity of the ingredients ; tie a bladder 
 over the mouth of the bottle, and prick a pin through 
 the bladder; set it to digest in a gentle heat, aud 
 shake the contents from time to time, taking care to 
 take out the pin at such times to allow passage for 
 the air from within ; when the soap is dissolved, filter 
 the liquor through paper, to free it from impurities ; 
 then scent it with a little bergamot or essence of le- 
 mon. It will have the appearance of fine oil, and a 
 small quantity will lather with water like soap, and 
 is much superior in use for washing or shaving. 
 
VA LUAfcLE RECEIPTS. TB 
 
 To prevent Steel or Iron from Rust. 
 
 Take one pound of hog's lard free from salt, one 
 •unce of camphor, two drachms of black lead pow- 
 der, and two drachms of dragon's blood in fine pow- 
 der; melt the same on a slow fire until it is dissolved, 
 and let it cool for use. 
 
 Swedish method for preserving from Rust Iron work 
 exposed to Air. 
 
 They take such a quantity of pitch and tar as they 
 think they have occasion for, and mix up with it such 
 a quantity of the best sort of soot as not to make it 
 too thick for use ; with this composition they paint 
 or besmear all the parts of the iron work, for which 
 purpose they make use of short hard brushes, be- 
 cause they must press pretty strongly upon the iron 
 in order to give it a sufficient quantity, and they 
 always choose to perform this operation in the spring 
 time of the year, because the moderate heat of the 
 season hardens the pitch so much, that it is never 
 melted by the succeeding heats of the summer, but 
 on the contrary, acquires such a gloss as to look like 
 varnish This has been found by experience, to pre- 
 serve iron from rust much better than any sort of 
 paint, and is as cheap as any that can be made use of. 
 
 To preserve Turnips from Frost. 
 
 The best way is to stack them up in straw in the 
 following manner: — One load of any sort of dry straw 
 is sufficient for an acre of fifty tons weight. Pull up 
 the turnips, top and tail them, then throw them in a 
 sort of windrow, and let them lie a few da\s to dry. 
 
 First, lay a layer of straw next the ground, and 
 upon it a layer of turnips about half a yard thick; 
 then another layer of straw; so go on alternately with 
 a layer of straw and a layer of turnips ; every layer 
 grows narrower, till it conies to a point at the top, 
 like a sugar loaf. I he last layer must be straw, which 
 serves to keep all dry. You must observe always, 
 when you have laid a layer of turnips, to stroke or 
 lap over the ends of the under layer of straw, in or- 
 is 2 
 
16 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 der to keep them close or from tumbling out. The 
 heap should be as large as a haycock ; the tops may 
 ke given to sheep or cattle as they are cut oti*. 
 
 To preserve Corn in Sacks. 
 
 Provide a reed cane or other hollow stick, made so 
 by gluing together two grooved sticks j let it be about 
 three feet nine inches long ; and that it may be the ea- 
 sier thrust down to the bottom of the com in the sack, 
 its end to be made to taper to a point, by a wooden 
 plug that is fixed in, and stops the orifice. About 
 one hundred and fifty small holes, of one eighth of an 
 inch in diameter, are to be bored on all sides of the 
 stick, from its bottom for about two ft et ten inches 
 of its length ; but no nearer to the surface of the corn, 
 lest too great a proportion of the air should escape 
 there. By winding a packthread in a spiral form 
 round the stick, the boring of the holes may be the 
 better regulated, so as to have them about half an 
 inch distant towards the bottom, but gradually at 
 wider distances, so as to bo an inch asunder at the up- 
 per part, by which means the lower part of the corn 
 will have its due proportion of fresh air. To the top 
 of the stick let there be fixed a leathern pipe ten 
 inches long ; which pipe is to be distended by two 
 yards of spiral wire, coiled up within it. At the 
 upper part of the pipe is fixed a taper wooden fasset, 
 into which the nose of a common household bellows 
 is to be put, in order to ventilate the corn. 
 
 If corn, when first put into sacks, be thus aired, 
 every other or third day, for ten or fifteen minutes, 
 its damp sweats which would hurt it, will in a few 
 weeks be carried oflf to such a degree, that it will af- 
 terwards keep sweet with very little airing, as ha* 
 been found by experience. 
 
 By the same means other kinds of seeds, as well as 
 corn, may be kept sweet either in sacks or small 
 bins. 
 
 Proper Soil for the culture of Turnips. 
 Sandy loams, in good heart, are most favourable t* 
 their growth, though they will thrive well oh strong 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 17 
 
 loams, if they are not wet ; but on clayey, thin, or 
 wet soils, they are not worth cultivating ; tor though 
 a good crop may be raised on such ground, when well 
 prepared and dunged, more damage is done hy taking 
 oft' the turnips in winter, in poaching the soil, than 
 the value of the crop will repay. 
 
 Great utility of sowing Buck Wheat. 
 
 In light lands buck wheat may be raised to great 
 advantage, as a lucrative crop. When green, it is a 
 xine feed for milch kine ; and when ploughed, is a hue 
 preparation for the land. It fattens pigs with great! 
 economy, and passed through the mill, is with carrot, 
 a capital feed for work horses. The seed is excellent 
 food for pouilry, and when ground makes good bread ; 
 
 To prevent the Smut in Wheat. 
 
 The means to prevent smut are simple ; and no 
 other than immersing the seed in pure water, and 
 repeatedly scouring it therein, just hefore it is sown 
 or dihhled in. Whether well, spring, or river water 
 be used, is indifferent : but repeated stirring and 
 change of water is essential to remove the possible 
 particles of infection that may have imperceptibly 
 adhered to the seed ; thus purified, the subsequent 
 crop will be perfect in itself, and seed successively so 
 likewise, if there be no adjacent fields from whence 
 this contamination may be wafted. 
 
 The addition of any alkaline or earthy salt, by in- 
 creasing the specific gravity of the water, is of ad- 
 vantage in floating off the unsound grains, and after 
 the seed is washed, it should be dried immediately, 
 by rubbing it with newly slacked lime. 
 
 To prevent Haystacks from taking Fire. 
 
 When there is any reason to fear that the hay which 
 is intended to be housed or stacked is not sufficiently 
 dry, it is only necessary to scatter a few handfuls of 
 common salt (muriate of soda) between each layer. It 
 would be very ill judged to regret this trifling ex- 
 pence ; for the salt by absorbing the humidity of the 
 u 3 
 
18 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 hay, not only prevents the fermentation and conse- 
 quent inflammation of it, hut it also adds a taste to 
 this forage, which stimulates the appetites of cattle, 
 assists their digestion, and preserves them from many- 
 diseases. 
 
 Remark. — The cattle like a little salt, but it has 
 little effect in preventing inflammation. 
 
 Utility of Pigeon's Dung as a Manure. 
 
 Pigeon's dung will improve moist meadows very 
 much, by extirpating had kinds of grasses, bringing 
 white clover in its stead, and augmenting the crop. 
 
 To make a Quickset Hedge or Fence. 
 
 ' Quick fences often become open in many places at 
 bottom, notwithstanding the utmost attention, and 
 more especially if neglected. The barberry shruh on 
 the contrary will make an impenetrable fence, and 
 always close at the bottom, because it puts up nume- 
 rous suckers from the roots, which fill every vacancy. 
 It may as easily be raised from the berries as quick 
 or hawthorn, and it grows faster. The suckers also 
 will strike root easily, especially if planted early. 
 These shrubs may be had at most nurseries. The 
 barberry, however, can never make so strong a fence 
 as a good well trained hawthorn hedge. But there 
 are situations where it may be preferable ; on the top 
 of a high bank (for it is comparatively a light shruh) 
 as in the Devonshire hedges, for mixing with other 
 plants in a hedge, or stopping gaps in an old hedge. 
 For the last purpose the common sweet briar (the 
 seedlings of which may be laised in almost any situ- 
 ation for 10s. a thousand) is also excellent. 
 
 Easy method of obtaining Water in almost any 
 Situation. 
 
 The ground must be perforated by a borer. In 
 the perforation is placed a wooden pipe, which is 
 driven down with a mallet, after which the boring is 
 continued, that the pipe may be driven still farther. 
 In proportion as the cavity of the borer becomes 
 
VALUABLE RGCETPTS. 18> 
 
 loaded, it is drawn up and emptied ; and in time, by 
 llic addition of new portions of wooden pipe, the 
 boring is carried to any depth, and water is generally 
 obtained. 
 
 The. use. of Tar Wafer in expanding the Lungs of 
 Pub Vic Speakers, Sfc. 
 
 It ha 4 been {bund by the experience of many, that 
 ({linking tar water very ouch deterges and opens the 
 lungs, and thereby gives a very sensibly greater ease 
 in speaking. A quart of tar is to be stirred six mi- 
 nutes in a gallon of water; but if there be somewhat 
 less tar it may do as well, especially at first, to try 
 bow it sits on the stomach. Take about one fourth 
 of a pint, at four several times, at a due distance from 
 meals. ISegin taking it in the spring for about four- 
 teen days, and continue it for a greater length of 
 time, as occasion may require. 
 
 To Fumigate Foul Rooms. 
 
 To one table-spoonful of common salt and a little 
 )>o\vdered manganese in a glass cup, add at four or 
 live different times a quarter of a wine glass of strong 
 vitriolic acid. At every addition of the acid, the 
 vapour will come in contact with the malignant 
 miasmata, and destroy them. 
 
 To hardeJi Quills. 
 
 In order to harden a quill that is soft, thrust the 
 barrel into hot ashes stirring it till it is soft; and 
 then taking it out press it almost flat upon your knee 
 with the back of a penknife, and afterwards reduce it 
 to a roundnes with your fingers. Another method to 
 harden quills is by setting water and alum over the 
 fire, and while it is boiling put in a handful of quills, 
 the barrels only, for a minute, and then lay them by. 
 
 To repair Roads near to Coal Mines. 
 
 The roads to and from coal mines are usually in 
 bad condition from the heavy loads passing in carts 
 over them. The late Duke of Bridgewater, to repair 
 them, adopted with great success the following plan, 
 
20 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 at Worsley in Lancashire. The stones, clay, and 
 rubbish, first raised from the shaft, were laid in a 
 large heap above ground ; then such inferior coal, 
 pyrites, or shale, as was unlit for sale, and usually 
 thrown away, was laid in another near it ; a third 
 heap was raised from a mixture made by laying re- 
 peated layers from the above two heaps, stratum, su- 
 per stratum, and this heap, set on fire in such a di- 
 rection that the wind would assist the fire to pene- 
 trate it throughout. The mass when burnt formed a 
 compound of half vitrified substances, and abundantly 
 supplied good materials for his drag-paths along the 
 canal, and enabled him to sell the surplus advantage* 
 ously for the repair of the turnpike roads in that 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Method of extracting Starch from Horse Chesnuts. 
 
 First take off the outward green prickly husks, and 
 then either by hand, with a knife, or other tool, or 
 else with a mill adapted for that purpose, very care- 
 fully pare off the brown rind, being particular not to 
 leave the smallest speck, and to entirely eradicate the 
 sprout or growth. Next take the nuts and rasp, grate, 
 or grind them fine into water, either by hand or by a 
 mill adapted for that purpose. The pulp, which is 
 thereby formed in this water, must be washed as clean 
 as possible through a coarse horse-hair sieve, then 
 again through a finer sieve, and again through a still 
 finer, constantly adding clean water to prevent any 
 starch adhering to the pulp. The last process is to 
 put it with a large quantity of water (about four gal- 
 lons to a pound of slarch) through a fine gauze, mus- 
 lin, or lawn, so as entirely to clean it of all bran or 
 other impurities ; as soon as it settles pour off the 
 water; then mix it up with clean water, repeating this 
 operation till it no longer imparts any green, yellow, 
 or other colour to the water; then drain it off till 
 nearly dry, and set it to bake either in the usual mode 
 of baking starch, or else spread out before a brisk 
 fire, being very attentive to stir it frequently to pre- 
 vent its horning, that is to say, turning to a paste or 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 21 
 
 jelly, which on being dried turns hard like Iiorn. The 
 whole process should be conducted as quickly as 
 possible. 
 
 Method of making the best sort of Bird Lime, and 
 manner of using it. 
 
 Take at midsummer the bark of holly, and peel 
 from the tree so much of it as will fill a moderately 
 large vessel ; then put to it running water, and set it 
 over the fire and boil it till ihe grey and white bark 
 rise from the green, which will take up sixteen hours ; 
 then separate the barks after the water is well drain- 
 ed away ; then take all the green bark and lay it on 
 the ground in a close place and moist floor, and cover 
 it over with green weeds, as hemlocks, docks, thistles 
 and the like ; thus let it lie ten or twelve days, in 
 which time it will rot, and turn to a filthy slimy mat- 
 ter ; then put it into a mortar, and beat it till it comes 
 universally thick and tough, without the discerning 
 of any part of the bark or substance; then take it 
 out of the mortar, and carry it to a running stream, 
 and there wash it well, not leaving any foulness about 
 it; then put it up in a very close earthen pot, and 
 let it stand and purge for divers days together, scum- 
 ming it as often as any foulness arises lor four or five 
 days; when you perceive no more scum, then take it 
 out of that pot and put it in another clean earthen 
 vessel, cover it close, and keep it for use. 
 
 When you want to use your lime, take what quan- 
 tity you think fit, and put it into a pipkin, adding a 
 third part of goose or capon's grease finely clarified, 
 and set them over a gentle fire ; let them melt toge- 
 ther, and stir them continually till they are well in- 
 corporated ; then take it from the fire, and stir it till 
 it be cold. 
 
 V\ hen your lime is cold, take your rods and warm 
 tin in a little over the fire; then take your lime and 
 wind it about the tops of your rods, then draw your 
 rods asunder one from the other, and close them 
 again, continually plying and working them together, 
 Vtli bv smearing one upon another, \ou have equaJly 
 
22 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 bestowed upon each rod a sufficient proportion of 
 the lime. 
 
 If you lime any strings, do it when the lime is very 
 hot and at the thinnest, besmearing the strings on all 
 sides, by folding them together and unfolding them 
 again. 
 
 If you lime straws, it must be done likewise whew 
 the lime is very hot, doing a great quantity together, 
 as many as you can well grasp in your hand, tossing 
 them and working them before the fire tdl they are 
 all besmeared, every straw having its due proportion 
 of lime. Having so done, put them in cases of leather 
 till you have occasion to use them. 
 
 To prevent the freezing of your lime either on twig?, 
 bushes or straws, you must add a quarter as much of 
 the oil of petroleum as of capon's grease, mixing them 
 well together, and then work it on your rods, &c; 
 and so it will ever keep supple, tough, and gentle, 
 and will not be prejudiced shotild the weather freeze 
 ever so hard. 
 
 Experienced method of Catching Larks. 
 
 The common way of taking larks, of which so 
 many are used at our tables, is in the night, with 
 those nets which are called trammels. These are 
 usually made thirty six yards in length, and about 
 six yards over, with six ribs of packthread, which at 
 the ends are put upon two poles of about sixteen feet 
 long, and made lesser at each end. These are to be 
 drawn over the ground by two men, and every five 
 or six steps the net is made to touch the ground, 
 otherwise it will pass over the birds without touch- 
 ing them, and they will escape. When they are felt 
 to fly up against the net, it is clapped down, and then 
 all are safe that are under it. The darkest nights 
 are properest for this sport; and the net will not only 
 take larks, but all other birds that roost on the ground, 
 among which are woodcocks, snipes, partridges,quails, 
 fieldfares, and several others. 
 
 For taking Grease out of the Leaves of Books. 
 
 Fold up in two small bags made of fine open mus- 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 33 
 
 lin, some aslics of burnt bones finely powdered, or of 
 calcined hartshorn, which is always ready prepared 
 at the shops of the druggists ; lay the Lags of muslin 
 containing the powder, one on each side of the greasy 
 leaf; and having heated a pair of fire tongs, or hair 
 drisser's pinching tongs, of a moderate warmth, press 
 with them the two bags against the greasy spot, and 
 hold them some time in that situation. Repeat the 
 process if uecessary. 
 
 When the irons cannot be conveniently used, the 
 powder may be heated over the lire in a clean earthen 
 vessel, and whilst hot applied, without any muslins, 
 on each side of the grease spot, and a weight laid on 
 it to assist its effect. 
 
 To Marbh Books or Paper. 
 
 "Marbling of books or paper is performed thus : — 
 Dissolve four ounces of gum Arabic in two quarts of 
 fair water; theu provide several colours mixed with 
 water in pots or shells, and with pencils peculiar to 
 each colour; sprinkle them by way of intermixture 
 upon the gum water, which must be put into a trough 
 or some broad vessel ; then with a stick, curl thein or 
 draw them out in streaks to as much variety as may 
 be done. Having done this, hold your book or books 
 close together, and only dip the edges in on the top 
 of the water and colours very lightly; which done, 
 take them off, and the plain impression of the colours 
 in mixture will he upon the leaves ; doing as well the 
 ends as the front of the book in the like manner, and 
 afterwards glazing the colours.. 
 
 Method of extracting the Virtue of Hops in Brewing. 
 
 The usual method is to put in hops without any 
 preparation, into the strong beer or ale wort ; the 
 consequence is, the richer and better the wort is, the 
 less it will partake of the essence of the hops. The 
 rich fat wort sheathes up the pores of the hop, and as 
 it were, embalms the leaves, so that the beer or ale 
 wort can extract scarcely any part of the necessary 
 quality of the hop ; but when it is put into the smajl 
 
24 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 beer wort, a fluid of a more thin nature, there the 
 pores are unsheathed, and the small beer is rendered 
 too bitter; therefore the hops before they are put 
 into the strong drink, should be previously soaked in 
 a pail of hot water. 
 
 To confirm the truth of this observation, take a 
 quarter of an ounce of the best green tea, and instead 
 of pouring on it simple boiling water, let the water 
 have the same quantity of sugar boiled in it that 
 would be necessary to sweeten so much tea when 
 made, and you will find that the sweetness of the 
 water wiH prevent its extracting the grateful bitter ot 
 the tea. 
 
 Cheap and easy method of Brewing. 
 
 One bushel of malt and three quarters of a pound 
 of hops will, on an average, brew twenty gallons of 
 good beer. 
 
 For this quantity of malt boil twenty four gallons 
 of water; and having dashed it in the copper with 
 cold water to stop the boiling, steep the malt (proper- 
 ly covered up) for three hours; then tic up the hops 
 in a hair cloth, and boil malt, hops, and wort altoge- 
 ther for three (punters of an hour, which will reduce 
 it to about twenty gallons. Strain it off, and set it 
 to work when lukewarm. 
 
 In large brewings this process perhaps would not 
 answer; but in small ones, where the waste is not so 
 great, and where the malt can be boiled, the essence 
 is sure to be extracted. 
 
 To make excellent and wholesome Table Beer. 
 
 To eight quarts of boiling water put a pound of 
 treacle, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, and two buy 
 leaves; let this boil for a quarter of an hour, then 
 cool, and work it with yeast, the same as other beer. 
 
 To make Ginger Beer. 
 
 To every gallon of spring water add one ounce of 
 sliced white ginger, one pound of common loaf sugar, 
 and two ounces of lemon juice, or three larjje table 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 25 
 
 spoonfuls; boil it near an hour and take off the scum; 
 t hen run it through a hair sieve into a tub, and when 
 cool. (viz 70 •) add yeast in proportion of half a pint 
 to nine gallons ; keep it in a temperate situation two 
 days, during which it may be stirred six or eight 
 times; then put it into a cask, which must be kept 
 full, and the yeast taken off at the bung hole with a 
 spoon. In a fortnight add half a pint of fining (isin- 
 glass picked and steeped in beer) to nine gallous, 
 which will, if it has been properly fermented, clear it 
 by assent. The cask must be kept full, and the 
 rising particles taken off at the bung hole. When 
 fine (which may be expected in twenty-four hours) 
 bottle it, cork it well, and in summer it will be ripe 
 and fit to drink in a fortnight. 
 
 Easy Method of preserving Yeast. 
 
 Yeast may be preserved for a considerable time by 
 coating a board with a whiting brush, allowing the 
 coat to dry ; then putting on another, which is in like 
 manner to dry ; and so a third, and any number of 
 successive coatings, which when perfectly dry, will 
 keep vigorous for a longtime. Another method is to 
 whisk the yeast until it becomes thin, and then to 
 lay it upon a dry platter or dish repeatedly, with a 
 soft brush as above mentioned. The top is then to 
 be turned downwards to keep out the dust, but not 
 the air which is to dry it. By this method it may be 
 continued till it be two or three inches thick, when 
 it may be preserved in dry tin cannisters for a long 
 time good. When used for baking, a piece is to be 
 cut off, and laid in warm water to diffuse or dissolve, 
 when it will be fit for use. 
 
 To prevent Beer from growing Flat. 
 
 In a cask containing eighteen gallons of beer be- 
 coming vapid, put a pint of ground malt, suspend- 
 ed in a bag, and close the bung perfectly : the beer 
 will be improved during the whole time of drawing it 
 for use. 
 
 To cure Damp Walls. 
 Boil two quarts of tar with two ounces of kitchcH 
 c 
 
3G VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 grease for a quarter of an hour in an iron pot. Add 
 some of this tar to a mixture of slacked lime and 
 powdered glass, which have passed through a flour 
 sieve, and heen completely dried over the fire in an 
 iron pot, in the proportion of two parts of lime and 
 one of glass, till the mixture becomes of the consis- 
 tence of thin plaister. The cement must be used 
 immediately after being mixed, and therefore it is 
 proper not to mix more of it than will coat one square 
 foot of wall, since it quickly becomes too hard for 
 use; and care must be taken to prevent any moisture 
 from mixing with the cement. For a wall merely 
 damp, a coating one-eighth of an inch thick is suffi- 
 cient; but if the wall is wet, there must be a second 
 coat. Plaster made of lime, hair, and plaster of Pa- 
 ris, may afterwards be laid on as a cement. The 
 cement above described will unite the parts of Port- 
 land stone or marble, so as to make them as durable 
 as they were prior to the fracture. 
 
 To cure Smoky Chimnies. 
 
 Put on the top of the chimney a box, in each of 
 whose sides is a door hanging on hinges, and kept 
 open by a thin iron rod running from one to the other, 
 and fastened by a ring in each end to a staple. When 
 there is no wind these doors are at rest, and each 
 forms an angle of 45°, which is decreased on the 
 windward side in proportion to the force of the wind, 
 and increased in the same ratio on the leeward side, 
 if the wind be very strong, the door opposed to the 
 wind becomes close, while the opposite one is opened 
 as wide as it can be. — If the wind strikes tlie corner 
 of the box, it shuts two doors, and opens their oppo- 
 sites. This scheme has been tried with success in a 
 chimney which always filled the room with smoke ; 
 but which, since adopted, has never smoked the room 
 at all. The expence is trifling, and the apparatus 
 simple. 
 
 Scotch Kale, excellent Food for Cattle. 
 
 Scotch kale planted out in June in good land, will 
 grow very large before winter, and would give an 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 27 
 
 abundant supply for cattle where no other juicy food 
 is to be had. As it grows upwards, it may he planted 
 close, and a vast deal will stand upon an acre. 
 
 To prevent Cows from contracting Bad Habits while 
 Milking. 
 
 Cows should always he treated with great gentle- 
 ness, and soothed by mild usage, especially when 
 young and ticklish, or when the paps are tender; in 
 which case the udder ought to be fomented with 
 warm water before milking, and touched with the 
 greatest gentleness, otherwise the cow will be in dan- 
 ger of contracting bad habits, becoming stubborn and 
 unruly, and retaining her milk ever after. A cow 
 never lets down her milk pleasantly to the person she 
 dreads or dislikes. The udder and paps should always 
 be washed with clean water before milking ; but care 
 should be taken that none of that water be admitted 
 into the milking pai). 
 
 To improve the Wool of Sheep by Smearing. 
 
 Immediately after the sheep are shorn, soak the 
 roots of the wool that remain, all over with oil, or 
 butter and brimstone, and three or four days after- 
 wards wash them with salt and water : the wool of 
 next season will not only be much liner, but the quan- 
 tity will be in greater abundance. It may be depended 
 upon, that the sheep will not be troubled with the 
 scab or vermin that year. Salt water is a safe and 
 effectual remedy against maggots. 
 
 Cure of the Rot in Sheep. 
 
 Take a quantity of rue leaves, bruise them well, 
 express the juice, and add an equal weight of salt; 
 when any of the sheep are in great danger of being 
 rotten, give them a table-spoonful of this once a week, 
 and if they are not so bad, once in ten or twelve days. 
 This will be found an excellent preservative, and in 
 fact should always be given to sheep newly brought 
 in, as it may preserve them in health, and can do then* 
 no harm, lei them be ever so well. 
 c2 
 
28 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Easy method of charting Boots and Shoes in the Win- 
 ter time, so as to prevent soiling the Person, the 
 Clothes, or the House. 
 
 When t he boots or shoes are covered with dirt, 
 tiike them off, am! with the back of a case-knife, or 
 a piece of wood cut thin at the edges like a station- 
 er's paper knife, scrape the dirt off with t he same as 
 clean as possible, which will be very easily done while 
 the boots and shoes are wet. Then with a small piece 
 of wet sponge or flannel, wipe off the remaining dirt 
 which the pressure of the knife cannot effect. Then 
 place them in a dry room, or at a convenient distance 
 from the fire, for a few hours, and they will take the 
 blacking remarkably well, and bear as fine a polish 
 as they did before wetting. If proper attention is 
 paid to this process, the fingers will scarcely be soil- 
 ed, and much trouble will be saved by the extra 
 brushing -required when the dirt is suffered to dry on. 
 
 To clean Boot Tops, or any Tanned Leathtr. 
 
 Boil one quart of milk, let it stand till cold ; then 
 take one ounce of oil of vitriol, one ounce of spirits 
 of salts; shake them well together and add one ounce 
 of red lavender. You may put half a pint of vinegar 
 with the white of an egg beat to froth. 
 
 To prevent Gentlemen's Hats from being Spotted 
 after a Shower of Bain. 
 
 If your hat is wet from rain or any other cause, 
 shake it out as much as possible, then with a clean 
 linen cloth or handkerchief wipe the hat very care- 
 fully as well as you can, observing that in so doing 
 you keep the beaver flat and smooth, in the same di- 
 rection as it was first placed ; then with your hands 
 fix it in the original shape, and hang it at a distance 
 from the tire to dry. A few hours after, or the next 
 morning, lay the ha I on a table, and brush it round 
 and round several times with a soft brush in the pro- 
 per direction, and you will find your hat not in the 
 least injured by the rain. 
 
 If the gloss is not quite so high as you wish, 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 29 
 
 lake a flat iron moderately heated, and pass the same 
 two or three times gently over the hat ; brush it af- 
 terwards, and it will be nearly as handsome as when 
 first sent home from the shop. 
 
 To stop the rapidity of Flames when the Female Dress 
 happens accidentally to take Fire. 
 
 If a woollen cloth was constantly kept in nurseries 
 and sitting rooms, especially when there are fires, laid 
 loose upon the table, or other piece of furniture, this 
 being always at hand, might be easily resorted to in 
 case of accident, and being wrapt tight round the 
 flames, or strongly pressed against them, would, by 
 excluding the air, in many instances, soon extinguish' 
 the lire. A green baize cloth being very pliable, and 
 likewise a neat cover to furniture, is recommended 
 for this purpose; and if such were known in the fa- 
 mily by the name of the Stifling Cloth, it probably 
 would as readily be used when there was occasion for 
 il, as tire engines and buckets are now. Care must 
 be taken to procure baize of a close texture. Where 
 the convenience of baize cloth cannot be easily pro- 
 cured, as in cottages, &c. a cloth cloak, riding-coat, 
 or blanket, will answer much the same purpose. A 
 man's coat will always be useful, and the first mam 
 that arrives ought to apply it. 
 
 Rules for collecting Cui'iosities on Sea Voyages. 
 
 Set apart a small cask of spirits, into which put 
 every uncommon sea production you may meet with 
 during the voyage, and wrap every article separate 
 in a rag, or a little oakum. 
 
 Method of making excellent Butter from the Milk of 
 Cows fed upon Turnips. 
 
 Let the bowls, either lead or wood, be kept con- 
 stantly clean, and well scalded with boiling water,, 
 before using. When the milk is brought into the 
 dairy, to every eight quarts mix one quart of boiling 
 water; then put up the milk into the bowls to stand 
 lor cream. By keeping strictly to this method, you. 
 c 3 
 
30 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 will have during the winter, constantly sweet and 
 well-tasted butter from the milk of cows fed upon 
 turnips. 
 
 To judge of the quality of Wheat Flour. 
 
 As the state of wheat is ascertained by the quan- 
 tity and quality of the glutinous matter it contains, 
 the following method is made use of for extracting 
 that matter from it. 
 
 Take four ounces of the flour of wheat separated 
 from the bran ; let it be mixed with water so as to 
 form a thick paste, which must be thoroughly knead- 
 ed for a quarter of an hour. The paste is allerwards 
 to be well washed, continually kneading it with the 
 hands under the water, and changing the water from 
 lime to time. This washing and kneading are to be 
 continued until the water no longer becomes white 
 by the operation ; the glutinous matter, which is of 
 a whitish grey colour, then remains in the hands. If 
 the wheat was sound the matter is glutinous and elas- 
 tic, if the wheat was heated the matter will be brittle, 
 if the wheat was in a state of fermentation no glutin- 
 ous matter will be obtained from it. 
 
 To discover if Bread is adulterated with Alum, 
 
 Make a solution of lime in aquafortis, and put a 
 little of this solution into water, in which you have 
 steeped the bread suspected to contain alum. If 
 such should be the case, the acid which was com- 
 bined with the alum, will form a precipitate or chalky 
 concretion at the bottom of the vessel. 
 
 To prevent Children from eating their Food too 
 quickly. 
 
 Children when very young, get into the habit of 
 eating their food too quickly, particularly fruit, and 
 other substances of which they are fond. To pre- 
 vent their acquiring this habit, amusing devices might 
 be employed, as cutting an apple, a pear, a piece of 
 cake, or any other article of the same sort into a 
 number of pieces, arranging them in lines like an 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 31 
 
 army, with one as an officer in the centre, and telling 
 them the whole army must be devoured piece by piece, 
 and in a regular manner ! This interests little chil- 
 dren so much, that they soon prefer it to a more 
 speedy mode of consumption. 
 
 The danger of Children eating Gilt Gingerbread, or 
 any Article covered with such a Composition. 
 
 There are frequently sold eatable things, as images 
 of sugar, &e. having on them what people imagine to 
 be gold leaf, but which is in reality leaves of copper, 
 beat out in imitation of it, which is so dangerous a 
 poison as to demand the interference of government 
 to prevent the sale of such articles; irreparable mis- 
 chief having been occasioned without suspicion of 
 the cause. 
 
 To Fatten Poultry. 
 Poultry should be fattened in coops, and kept very 
 clean. They should be furnished with gravel, but 
 with no water. Their only food barley-meal, mixed 
 so thin with water as to serve them for drink. Their 
 thirst makes them eat more than they woidd, in order 
 to extract the water that is among the food. This 
 should not be put in troughs, but laid upon a board, 
 which should be clean washed every time fresh food 
 is put upon it. It is foul and heated water which is 
 the sole cause of the pip. 
 
 Important uses of the Leaves of the. Vine. 
 
 From experiments made by Sir James Hall, it has 
 been found that the leaves of the vine dried in the 
 shade, make an excellent and extremely wholesome 
 tea, though differing in taste and flavour from that 
 commonly used ; besides also being admirably calcu- 
 lated for making vinegar. The prunings of % \he vine 
 on being bruised and put into a vat or mashing tub, 
 and boiling water poured on them in the same way 
 as is done with malt, will produce a liquor of a fine 
 vinous quality ; which being fermented, forms a sub- 
 stitute for beer; and which on being distilled, pro- 
 duces a good spirit of the nature of brandy. 
 
32 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Paste or Food for Singing Birds, superior to the 
 German Paste in common Use. 
 
 Well mix or knead together three pounds of split 
 peas ground or beat to flour, one pound and a halt 
 each of fine crumbs of bread and coarse sugar, the 
 fes.li yolks of six raw eggs, and six ounces of uncall- 
 ed butter. Put about a third part of the mixture at 
 a lime in a frying pan over a gentle fire, and continu- 
 ally stir it till it be a little browned, but by no means 
 burnt. When the other two parts are thus done, and 
 all are become cold, add to the entire quantity six 
 ounces of maw seed, with six pounds of good bruised 
 hemp seeds separated from the hu>ks. Mix the whole 
 well together, and it will be found an excellent food 
 for thrushes, red robins, larks, linnets, canary birds, 
 finches of the different sorts, and most other singing 
 birds, admirably preserving I hem in song and feather. 
 
 To preserve Lemon Juice during a Long Voyage. 
 
 Care must be taken to squeeze only sound fruit, as 
 a tainted lemon will endanger the spoiling of the 
 whole : the expressed juice must be depurated, by 
 standing a few days, adding one ounce of cream of 
 tartar to every quart of lemon juice; filter it pretty 
 clear, and then put it into small bottles, none of them 
 containing more than a pint of juice. In the neck 
 of the bottle a little of the best oil of olives is to be 
 poured, and the cork well sealed over. 
 
 To keep Oranges and Lemons. 
 
 Take small sand and make it very dry ; after it is 
 cold put a quantity of it iuto a clean vessel ; then 
 take your orauges and set a laying of them in the 
 same stalk-end downwards, so that they do not touch 
 each oilier, and strew in some of the sand, as much 
 as will cover them two inches deep; then set your 
 vessel in a cold place, and you will find your fruit 
 in high preservation at the end of several months. 
 
 To make excellent Punch. 
 One tea-spoonful of Cox-well's acid salt of lemons, 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 33 
 
 a quarter of a pound of sugar, a quart of water near- 
 ly boiling, half a pint of ruin, and a quarter of a pint 
 of brandy ; a little lemon peel may be added, or in 
 place tbereof, a few drops of the essence of lemon. 
 
 To Cure the Disease in Apple Trees. 
 
 Brush off the white down, clear oft* the red stain 
 underneath it, and anoint the places infected with a 
 liquid mixture of train oil and Scotch snuff". 
 
 To cure the Canker in Trees. 
 
 Cut them oft' to the quick, and apply a piece of 
 sound bark from any other tree, and bind it on with 
 a flannel roller. Cut oft" the canker, and a new shoot 
 will grow strong, but in a year or two you will find it 
 cankered. 
 
 Method of rendtr in g Assistance to Persons in Dan- 
 ger of Drotcning. 
 
 This desirable object appears attainable by the 
 proper use of a man's hat and pocket handkerchief, 
 (which being all the apparatus necessary,) is to be 
 used thus: — Spread the handkerchief on the ground, 
 and place a hat with the brim downwards on the mid- 
 dle of the handkerchief; and then tie the handker- 
 chief round the hat as you would tie up a bundle, 
 keeping the knots as near the centre of the crown as 
 may be. Now by seizing the knots in one hand, and 
 keeping the opening of the hat upwards, a person, 
 without knowing how to swim, may fearlessly plunge 
 into the water with what may be necessary to save 
 the life of a fellow creature. 
 
 If a person should fall out of a boat, or the boat 
 upset by going foul of a cable, &c. or should he fall 
 oft" the quays, or indeed fall into any water from which 
 he could not extricate himself, but must wait some 
 little time for assistance, had he presence of mind 
 enough to whip oft" his hat, and hold it by the brim, 
 placing his finger within side the crown, and hold it 
 so, top (downwards) he would be able by this method 
 to keep his mouth well above water till assistance 
 should reach him. It often happens that danger is 
 descried long before we are involved in the peril, 
 
34 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 and time enough to prepare the above method ; and 
 a courageous person would, ia seven instances out of 
 ten, apply 1o them with success; and travellers, in 
 fording rivers at unknown fords, or where shallows 
 an; deceitful, might make use of these methods with 
 advantage. 
 
 Method of Recovering persons Apparently Drowned, 
 as recommended by the Humane Society. 
 
 Let those who first discover an unfortunate object 
 in this situation remove it to some house near, place 
 it by the fire, and begin by rubbing it with salt, vo- 
 la tiles, &c. and warm flannels, the head a little ele- 
 vated ; never attempting giving any thing by the 
 mouth till signs of recovery strongly appear, and let 
 the person be kept from a crowd of people around 
 him. The idea that the stomach is full of water, and 
 thus obviates recovery, is very erroneous and pre- 
 judicial, as it is now fully and clearly established, 
 that the respiration being impeded is the sole cause 
 of the suspension of life; and which being restored, 
 the vital functions soon recover their tone : and men 
 are frequently lost from the absurd custom of rolling 
 on casks, lifting the feet over the shoulders, and the 
 head falling on the ground. 
 
 Method to escape from Fire. 
 
 The following simple machine ought always be 
 kept in an upper apartment. It is nothing more than 
 a shilling or eighteen-penny rope, one end of which 
 should always be made fast to something in the cham- 
 ber, and at the other end should be a noose to let 
 down children or infirm persons in case of fire. Along 
 the rope there should be several knots, to serve as 
 resting places for the hands and feet of the person 
 who drops down by it. No family occupying high 
 houses should ever be without a contrivance of this 
 kind. 
 
 To Extinguish Fires Speedily. 
 Much mischief arises from want of a little presence 
 of mind on these alarming occasions : a small qua a- 
 
VALUABLE UECEIPTS. 35 
 
 tity of water well and immediately applied, will fre- 
 quently obviate great danger. Tlie moment an alarm 
 of tire is given, wet some blankets well in a bucket 
 of water, and spread then upon the floor of the room 
 where the fire is, and afterwards beat out the other 
 flames with a blanket thus wet: two or three buckets 
 of water thus used early, will answer better than 
 hundreds applied at a later period. Linen thus wet 
 will be useful, but will noi answer so well as woollen. 
 
 To extricate Horses from Fire. 
 
 If the harness be thrown over a draught, or the 
 saddle placed on the back of a saddle horse, they 
 may be led out of the stable as easily as on common 
 occasions. Should there be time to substitute the 
 bridle for the halter, the difficulty towards saving 
 them will be still further diminished. 
 
 To stop the Progress of Fire on board of Skips. 
 
 From the great confusion occasioned by the alarm 
 of fire on board a ship, with t lie dificulty often of 
 ascertaining the precise spot where it is, it appears 
 almost impossible to devise any means to prevent the 
 progress of such an accident when once it has got 
 head. 
 
 The only means that seems to promise success is, 
 to convey water to any part of the ship according to 
 the following method : — To place strong pipes through 
 the decks, close to the sides of the vessel ; those 
 going to the hold must be cased, to prevent their 
 being damaged by moving stores between the decks. 
 These may be so distributed that every part between 
 the decks may he within the reach of a stream of 
 water issuing from them. The magazine and place 
 where spirits and inflammable stores are kept, ought 
 to have the greatest number of pipes about them, to 
 prevent the fire reaching those parts. 
 
 Streams of water to the part on fire may be direct- 
 ed by a lever fixed on the top of the pipe, the end of 
 which corresponding with the aperture below, the 
 same vertical plane will pass through Jhe lever and 
 the stream. 
 
yC VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Small engines, such as those used for watering 
 gardens, will be sufficient tor the purpose. Two men 
 only will be required for the service of each pipe ; 
 one to supply it, and the other to direct the stream. 
 
 Improved method of making Cork Floats for Fishing 
 
 Take a cork, firm and free from flaws, and with a 
 small red hot iron, bore a hole lengthways through 
 the centre; with a sharp knife cut it across the grain 
 about two-thirds of the length, tapering to the end 
 where the hole is bored, and the remaining third 
 rounded with it, (which is the top of the float) in the 
 shape of an egg, the lower end tapering more gradu- 
 ally, resembling in shape the small peg tops children 
 play with. 
 
 To prevent Fishing Lines from Rotting. 
 Never wind your lines on your reel wet; at least 
 when you <jet home wrap them round the back of a 
 chair, and let them be thoroughly dried, otherwise 
 they will soon rot, and cannot be depended on ; with 
 this care they will last a considerable time. 
 
 To Intoxicate and lake Fish. 
 
 Make a paste in the following manner : — Takecoc- 
 culus indicus, cummin seeds, fenugreek seeds, and 
 coriander seeds, equal parts: reduce them to pow- 
 der, and make them into a paste with rice flour and 
 water; reduce this paste into small balls of the size 
 of peas, and throw it into such ponds or rivers where 
 there are fish, which after eating thereof, will rise to 
 the surface of the water almost motionless, and will 
 allow themselves to be taken out by the hand. 
 
 To Bronze Plaister Figures. 
 Lay the figure over with isinglass size till it holds 
 out, or without any part of its surface becoming dry 
 or spotted ; then with a-hrustr, such as is termed by 
 painters a sash tool, go over the whole, observing 
 carefully to remove any of the size (while it is yet 
 soft) that may lodge on the delicate or sharp places, 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 37 
 
 and set it aside to dry ; when it has become so, take 
 a little very thin oil gold size, and with as much of it 
 as just damps the brush, go over the figure, allowing 
 no more of this size to remain than what causes it to 
 shine. Set it apart in a dry place, free from smoke ; 
 and after it has remained there forty-eight hours, the 
 figure is prepared for hronzing. 
 
 The bronze, which is almost an impalpable pow- 
 der, (and may be had at the colour shops of all me- 
 tallic colours) should be dabbed on with a little cot- 
 ton wool ; after having touched over the whole figure, 
 let it stand another day ; then with a soft dry brush 
 rub off all the loose powder, and the figure will re- 
 semble the metal it is intended to represent, and 
 possess the qualky of resisting the weather. 
 
 Improved method of taking off Impressions of Leaves, 
 Plants, fyc. 
 
 Take half a sheet of fine wove paper, and oil it 
 well with sweet oil ; after it has stood a minute or 
 two to let it soak through, rub off the superfluous oil 
 with a piece of paper, and let it hang in the air to 
 dry; after the oil is pretty well dried in, take alight- 
 ed candle or lamp, and move the paper slowly over 
 it in an horizontal direction, so as to touch the 
 flame, till it is perfectly black. When you wish to 
 take off impressions of plants, lay your plant care- 
 fully on the oiled paper, and lay a piece of clean paper 
 over it, and rub it with your finger equally in all 
 parts for about half a minute; then take up your 
 plaut, and be careful not to disturb the order of the 
 leaves, and place it on the book or paper on which 
 you wish to have the impression ; then cover it with 
 a piece of blotting-paper, and rub it with your finger 
 for a short time, and you will have an impression su- 
 perior to the finest engraving. The same piece of 
 black paper will serve to take off a great number of 
 impressions, so that when you have once got through 
 the process of blacking it, you may make an impres- 
 sion in a very short time. 
 
 The principal excellence of this method is, that 
 the paper receives the impression of the most minute 
 D 
 
38 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 veins and hairs ; so that you may take the general 
 character of most flowers much superior to any en- 
 graving. The impressions may afterwards be coloured 
 according to nature. 
 
 Method of Cleaning dirty Prints or Boohs. 
 
 If the print should be pasted upon canvas, put it 
 into a copper or kettle of water just boiling, and in 
 three or four minutes it will easily separate from the 
 canvass ; next expose it to the sun, by placing it on 
 a grass platt, and to prevent the wind from having 
 any effect upon it, so as to tear it or blow it away, 
 fix four scewers into the ground near the corners, and 
 tie a string to each of the skewers, crossed from cor- 
 ner to corner, so as to confine it completely ; when 
 it becomes dry, wet it again thoroughly ; and so on 
 for several days if necessary, in the same manner as 
 you bleach linen ; in which operation, as well as in 
 bleaching prints, a hot sun is best. If the foulness 
 of the print should settle in spots, soak those spots 
 •well, by putting wet linen rags doubled upon them 
 for a considerable time. If soaking in this manner 
 does not get the spots out, put the print into hot 
 water, gently boiling, or very near it, and let it con- 
 tinue for twenty-four hours ; but if the paper be 
 spongy, or very thin, it will not bear soaking so long. 
 Soaking in this manner is seldom necessary. The 
 foulness from flies may be gently brushed off with a 
 wet sponge, when the print is thoroughly soaked. 
 Spirit of sea salt much diluted will get white-wash off 
 prints: take care not to hold your nose over the va- 
 pour of the spirit. Do not leave your prints on the 
 grass-platt at night, for fear of the worms. 
 
 To improve Chimney Fire Places, and increase the 
 Heat, by a proper attention to the setting of Stoves, 
 Grates, tyc. 
 
 The best materials for setting stoves or grate* are 
 fire-stone and common bricks and mortar. Both ma- 
 terials are fortunately very cheap. When bricks are 
 used, they should be covered with a thin coating of 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 39 
 
 minister, which when it is drv should be white-washed. 
 The tire-stone should likewise be white-washed when 
 that is used ; and every part of the fire-place which 
 is not exposed to being soiled and made black by the 
 smoke, should be kept as white and clear as possible. 
 As white reflects more heat as well as more light than 
 any other colour, it ought always to be preferred for 
 the inside of a chimney fire-place; and black, which 
 reflects neither light nor heat, should be most avoided. 
 
 Chtap and excellent Composition for preserving Wea- 
 ther Boarding, Paling, and all other Works liable 
 to be injured by the Weather. 
 
 Well burnt lime will soon become slacked by ex- 
 posure in the open air, or even if confined in a situ- 
 ation not remarkably dry, so as to crumble of itself 
 into powder. This is called air-slacked lime, in con- 
 tradistinction to that which is slacked in the usual 
 way, by being mixed with water. For the purpose 
 of making the present composition to preserve all 
 sorts of wood work exposed to the vicissitudes of the 
 weather, take three parts of this air-slacked lime, two 
 of wood ashes, and one of fine sand ; pass them 
 through a fine sieve, and add as much linseed oil to 
 the composition as will bring it to a proper consist- 
 ence for working with a painter's brush. As parti- 
 cular care must be taken to mix it perfectly, it should 
 be ground on a stone slab with a proper muller, in 
 the same manner as painters grind their white lead, 
 &c; but where these conveniences are not at hand, 
 the ingredients may be mixed in a large pan, and well 
 beat up with a wooden spatula. Two coats of this 
 composition being necessary, the first may be rather 
 thin, but the second should be as thick as it can 
 conveniently be worked. This most excellent com- 
 position for preserving wood when exposed to the 
 injuries of the weather, is highly preferable to the 
 customary method of laying on tar and ochre. 
 
 To make Red Coral Branches for embellishing Grot- 
 tos, and the method of Building a Grotto at a very 
 little ex pence. 
 
 Dissolve clear rosin in a brass pan ; to one ounce 
 ft 2 
 
40 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 thereof add two drachms of the finest vermillion ; and 
 when you have stirred them well together, and have 
 chose your twigs and branches, peeled and dried, 
 take a pencil and paint these twigs all over whilst 
 the composition is warm, and shape them in imitation 
 of natural coral of black thorn : when done, hold it 
 oveV a gentle coal fire, turn the branches about with 
 your hand, and it will make it all over smooth and 
 even as if polished. In the same manner you may, 
 with white lead prepare white ; and with lamp black 
 black coral. 
 
 A beautiful grotto may be built at a very little ex- 
 pence with glass cinders, which may easily be had, 
 pebbles, or pieces of large flint, and embellish it with 
 such counterfeit coral, amber, pieces of looking-glass, 
 oyster, muscle, and snail shells, moss, pieces of chalk, 
 ore, &c. The cement to bind them together is as 
 follows : — Take two parts of white rosin, melt it clear, 
 add to it four parts of bees' wax ; when mixed to- 
 gether, add stone-flour of the stone you design to 
 cement, two or three parts, or so mueh as will give 
 the cement the colour of the stone; to this add one 
 part of flour of sulphur. First incorporate all to- 
 gether ever a gentle fire, and afterwards knead it 
 with your hands in warm water; with this cement 
 the stones after they are well directed, and have been 
 warmed before the fire, in order to receive the ce- 
 ment the better. 
 
 Vulgar Error respecting the. ptttting of Spirits- into 
 Boots or Shoes to prevent the FJfects of Cold. 
 
 The custom of pouring brandy into the boots or 
 shoes when the feet have got wet, with a view to pic- 
 vent the effects of cold, is a practice which (though 
 very common) is founded in prejudice and miscon- 
 ception, and often proves fatal, by bringing on in- 
 flammation and consequent obstruction in the bowels. 
 This practice is adopted upon the supposition that 
 because spirits when swallowed excite an universal 
 warmth, and restore the circulation in the extremi- 
 ties, they must do the same when applied to the ex- 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 41 
 
 tremilies themselves. But the reverse happens. 
 Fluids, when evaporating, produce cold ; and the 
 lighter or more spirituous the fluid, the more quickly 
 it evaporates, and the greater is ihe degree of cold 
 generated. This may be proved by a very simple 
 experiment. If one hand be wetted with spirit and 
 the other with water, and both are held up to dry in 
 t'he air, the hand wetted with spirit will feel infinitely 
 colder than the other ; or if the bulbs of two ther- 
 mometers be so treated, the mercury will be observed 
 to fall much more rapidly and extensively in the one 
 case than in the other. Whatever danger therefore 
 arises from cold or damp feet, it is generally enhanced 
 by the practice alluded to. If such a remedy is to- 
 be at all employed, it ought undoubtedly to be taken 
 into the stomach. 
 
 Substitute for Soap, easily prepared in small quart* 
 tilies, by private Families in the Country. 
 Collect before the time of seeding, thistles, nettles. 
 fern, and such other weeds as usually infest the bor- 
 ders of high roads and hedges, and bum them in a 
 large heap, gradually, till the whole are consumed, 
 and carefully preserve the ashes in a dry place ready 
 to make the ley wanted for the purpose of making 
 a substitute for soap. 
 
 The requisite materials and utensils should be 
 prepared, which are but few in number. They con- 
 sist 1st, Of a small tub of white wood, nine inches in 
 width, and as many in height. This tub should be 
 perforated near the bottom; its use is for mixing the 
 leys. (Were it made of oak it would colour the leys.) 
 2d, A small copper basin with a round bottom, a 
 foot in diameter, and seven or eight inches in depth: 
 or where this cannot be procured, an iron pot or 
 earthen vessel that can bear the fire, may be used. 
 This vessel is intended for boiling the mixture. 3d, 
 For this small manufacture are finally required a 
 skimmer, a spatula of white wood, and two earthen 
 pans. 
 
 The materials necessary are, 1, some good ashes*, 
 2, lime ; and 3, oil, tallow, or kitchen fat. 
 
42 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Method of Preparing the Leys. 
 
 Take three pounds of ashes and one pound of lime. 
 First, moisten the lime with a small quantity of water, 
 in order to slake it ; and after it has completely 
 crumbled down, mix with it the ashes, and put this 
 mixture into the tub, having previously spread a piece 
 of canvas at the bottom ; carefully close the hole at 
 the bottom of the tub; after winch pour upon the 
 materials a quantity of water sufficient to soak it well 
 through, and rise above it in the vessel, to the height 
 of about three finger breadths. Then stir it well with 
 a stick, and suffer it to stand for some hours ; then 
 open the hole in order to let the ley run off, which 
 is collected and kept by itself. This is the first ley. 
 Then again put fresh water in the tub, stir the mate- 
 rials with a stick, let them stand for some hours, and 
 then draw off' the second ley, which is also kept se- 
 parate. The third ley is obtained in the same man- 
 ner, by pouring fresh water upon the remainder of 
 flie ashes, which will now have been sufficiently ex- 
 hausted of its saline particles. 
 
 Take equal quantities of the first ley, and of kit- 
 chen fat, tallow, or oil, and melt them together in 
 your copper basin, over a gentle fire, till they are 
 •well incorporated, by constantly agitating them with 
 your wooden spatula. When the ley and grease are 
 well united, you may add more ley of the second 
 quality, and digest them for some time with a gentle 
 heat, till the mixture is completed, taking care to 
 stir it well all the time ; then pour it into your earth- 
 en pans to cool and preserve for use. A few trials 
 will enable you to make it in a perfect manner ; and 
 a little of this composition will be found to answer 
 all the purposes of soap for family use. The surplus 
 ley of the stronger kinds may be preserved for future 
 use, and the weaker ley will serve to put upon fresh 
 ashes on a future occasion ; or a little of any of these 
 leys will form a useful steep, with a considerable 
 quantity of warm water, far the dirty plain linen in- 
 tended to be washed, but will be too strong for print- 
 ed calicos or dyed articles. 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 43 
 
 To loosen the Glass Stopples of Smelling Bottles and 
 Decanters. 
 
 With a feather rub a drop or two of olive oil round 
 the stopple, close to the mouth of the bottle or de- 
 canter, which must be then placed before the fire, at 
 the distance of a foot or eighteen inches; in which 
 position the heat will cause the oil to spread down- 
 ward between the stopple and the neck. When the 
 bottle or decanter has grown warm, gently strike 
 the stopple on one side and on the other, with any 
 light wooden instrument ; then try it with the han'j- 
 If it will not yet move, place it again before the fire, 
 adding, if you choose, another drop of oil. After a 
 while strike again as before, and by persevering in 
 this process, however tightly the stopple may be fast- 
 ened in, you will at length succeed iu loosening it. 
 
 To take Mildew out of Linen. 
 
 Take soap, and rub it well ; then scrape some fine 
 chalk, and rub that also in the linen ; lay it on the 
 grass ; as it dries wet it a little, and it will come out 
 at twice doing. 
 
 To improve the Down of Geese. 
 
 The nature of the food contributes very much to 
 the value of the down, and to the strength of fea- 
 thers ; the particular care taken of geese has no less 
 influence. It has been remarked, that in places where 
 these birds find a great deal of water, they are not 
 so much subject to vermin, and furnish feathers of a 
 better quality. 
 
 To prevent Accidents from having a Poker in the 
 Fire. 
 
 The following invention is equally simple and se- 
 cure. Immediately above that square part of the 
 poker, by blacksmiths called the bit, let a small cross 
 of iron, about an inch and a half each way, be weld- 
 ed in. 
 
 The good consequences of this simple contrivance 
 will be — 1st, If the poker, by the lire giving way, 
 
44 VALUABLB RECEIPTS. 
 
 should slip out, it will probably catch on the edge of 
 the fender. 
 
 2d, If it should not, it cannot injure the hearth or 
 carpet, as the hot part of the pokef will be borne up 
 some inches. 
 
 And 3d, The poker cannot he run into the fire 
 further than the bit, which in regard to a polished 
 poker, is also of some consequence. 
 
 Wash for preserving Drawings made with a Black 
 Lead Pencil, or with Hard Black Chalk. 
 
 A thin wash of isinglass will fix either black lead 
 or hard black chalk, &c. as to prevent their rubbing 
 out ; or the same effect may be produced by the 
 simple application of skimmed milk. The best way 
 of using the latter is, to lay the drawing flat upon 
 the surface of the milk : and then, taking it up ex- 
 peditiously, to hang it by one corner till it drains and 
 dries. The milk must be perfectly free from cream, 
 or it will grease the paper. 
 
 To make a Liquid for Staining Bone or Wood of 
 different Colours. 
 
 Take strong white wine vinegar in a glass vessel, 
 and put to it filings of copper, with some Roman vi- 
 triol, roach allurn, and verdigris, and leave it thus 
 infused for seven days ; then boil it in some vessel, 
 and by putting into it bone, ivory, or wood, it will 
 penetrate, and give it a green colour. If any other 
 colour is required, as red, blue, or yellow, put Brazil 
 wood, indigo, French berries, or any other such co- 
 lours, to infuse in the vinegar, with a little roach 
 allam. 
 
 To stain Horn to imitate Tortoise Shell. 
 
 The horn to be stained must first be pressed into 
 proper plates or scales, or other fiat form, the fol- 
 lowing mixture must then be used. : — 
 
 Take of quicklime two parts, of litharge one, and 
 temper them to the consistence of a soft paste with 
 a soap lye. Put this paste over all the parts of the 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 45 
 
 horn, except such as are proper to be left transpa- 
 rent, in order to the greater resemblance of the tor- 
 toise shell. The horn must then remain thus covered 
 with the paste till it be thoroughly dry : when the 
 paste being brushed off, the horn will be found partly 
 opake and partly transparent in the manner of tor- 
 toise shell: and when put over a foil, will be scarcely 
 distinguishable from it. It requires seme degree of 
 fancy and judgment to dispose of the paste in such a 
 manner as to form a variety of transparent parts, of 
 different magnitude and figure, to look like nature. 
 This may bo done by mixing whitening with some 
 of the paste to weaken its operation in particular 
 places, by which spots of a reddish brown will be 
 produced ; that if properly interspersed, especially 
 on the edges of the dark parts, will greatly increase 
 as well the beauty of the work as its similitude to the 
 real tortoise shell. 
 
 A cheap and simple process for Painting on Glass> 
 sufficient for the purpose of making a Magic Lan- 
 thorn. 
 
 Take good clear rosin, any quantity, melt it in an 
 iron pot; when melted entirely, let it cool a little, 
 and before it begins to harden, pour in oil of turpen- 
 tine sufficient to keep it liquid when cold. In order 
 to paint with it, let it be used with colours ground 
 with oil, such as are commonly sold in colour shops* 
 
 Distemper in Dogs. 
 
 Dr. Blaine has described the disease called the 
 Distemper in Dogs with accuracy, and his medicines 
 in general are successful : but a gentleman had ad- 
 ministered Dr. Blaine's medicines to a favorite pointer 
 in the decease called The Distemper, but with no 
 avail: the unvarying symptoms had come on, when 
 the poor animal crawled into the field and fell among 
 some grass, attempting, but in vain, to eat it.. The 
 gentleman followed this suggestion of nature, and 
 ordered a handful of grass to be cut in shreds of 
 about half an inch long, aud when mixed with butter, 
 
40 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 to be put down the animal's throat ; the dose was 
 repeated three times in every twenty ibur hours, and 
 a visible amendment almost immediately took place, 
 which terminated in recovery. 
 
 Proper Situation for a Green-house or Room. 
 
 The aspect of a green-bouse may be at any point 
 from east to west, following the course of the sun ; 
 or it may be a little to the north of east or west ; but 
 only a little, and the less the better, otherwise the 
 plants will not generally thrive in it, nor will the 
 flowers acquire their natural colours. 
 
 Easy method of discovering whether or not Seeds are 
 sufficiently Ripe. 
 
 Seeds when not sufficiently ripe will swim, but when 
 arrived at full maturity, they will be found uniform- 
 ly to fall to the bottom ; a fact that is said to hold 
 equally true of all seeds, from the cocoa nut to the 
 orchis. 
 
 Method of growing Flowers and Fruits during 
 Winter. 
 
 In order to produce this effect, the trees or shrubs 
 being taken up in the spring, at the time when they 
 are about to bud, with some of their own soil care- 
 fully preserved among the roots, must be placed up- 
 right in a cellar till Michaelmas ; when with the ad- 
 dition of fresh earth, they are to be put into proper 
 tubs or vessels, and placed in a stove or hot house, 
 where they must every morning be moistened or re- 
 freshed with a solution of half an ounce of sal-ammo- 
 niac in a pint of rain water. Thus in the month of 
 February fruits or roses will appear ; and with re- 
 spect to flowers in general, if they are sown in pots 
 at or before Michaelmas, aud watered in a similar 
 manner, they will blow at Christmas. 
 
 To prevent Blossom and Fruit Trees from being 
 damaged by early Spring Frost. 
 
 If a rope (a hempen one it is presumed) be inter- 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 4? 
 
 nixed among the branches of a fruit tree in blossom, 
 md the end of it brought down so as to terminate in 
 i hucket of water, and should a slight frost take 
 place in the night time, in that case the tree will not 
 be effected by the frost, but a film of ice of consi- 
 derable thickness will he formed on the surface of 
 the bucket in which the rope's end is immersed ; 
 although it has often happened that another bucket 
 of water, placed beside it for the sake of experiment, 
 has had no ice at all upon it. 
 
 Bad effects of Iron Kails, SfC. on Fruit Trees, or 
 mischievous effects of Iron Kails in conjunction 
 with Branches of Fruit Trees. 
 
 It often happens that some of the limbs of fruit 
 trees, trained against a wall, are blighted and die, 
 while others remain in a healty and flourishing state. 
 This has heen hitherto erroneously attributed to the 
 effects of lightening ; but from closer observation, 
 and from several experiments, it lias been found to 
 arise from the corroding effects of the rust of the nails 
 and cramps with which trees in this situation are 
 fastened. To avoid this inconvenience therefore, it 
 requires only to be careful in preventing the iron 
 from coming in contact with the hark of the trees. 
 
 A method of curing Fruit Trees infected with an 
 Easterly Blight. 
 
 Where valuable fruit trees are infected with this 
 blight, I hey may with little trouble and expence be 
 in a short time cured, by fumigating them with brim- 
 stone strewed on light charcoal ; this effectually kills 
 them ; but the workman must observe to get to 
 windward of the trees, as the fumes both of brimstone 
 anil charcoal are very offensive and pernicious. 
 
 Mr. Miller recommends washing and sprinkling 
 the blighttd tress from time to time with common 
 water, (that is, such as hath not had any thing steep- 
 ed in it,) and the sooner that is performed, whenever 
 we apprehend danger, the better ; and if th • young 
 and tender shoots seem to be much infected, wash 
 
48 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 them with a woollen cloth so as to clear them, if 
 possible, from all glutinous matter that their respira- 
 tion and perspiration may not he obstructed ; and if 
 some broad flat pans or tubs are placed near the 
 trees, it will keep their tender parts in a ductile state, 
 and greatly keep them ; but whenever this operation 
 of washing the trees is performed, it should be early 
 in the day, that the moisture may be exhaled before 
 the cold of the night comes on, especially if the nights 
 are frosty; nor should it be done when the sun shines 
 very hot upon the wall, which would be subject to 
 scorch up the tender blossom. 
 
 To Prune Wall Fruit. 
 
 Cut oft" all fresh shoots, however fair they may appear 
 to the eye, that will not without much beading be well 
 placed to the wall ; for if any branch happen to be 
 twisted or bruised in the bending or turning (which 
 you may not easily perceive), although it may grow 
 and prosper for the present, yet it will decay in time, 
 and the sap or gum will issue from that place. 
 
 New methol of raising Cucumbers. 
 
 From the best seed that can be got from the com- 
 mon prickly cucumber, raise plants on a moderate 
 hot bed, not hurrying them too much in their growth. 
 In May, when the danger of the frost is nearly over, 
 familiarise the plants by degrees to the air, and to- 
 wards the latter end of the month plant them in the 
 open ground against a south wall. Take care not to 
 give them too much water, as that will injure the 
 fruit. When they have run np about live feet, they 
 will send forth blossoms, and the fruit will begin to 
 shew itself soon after. The flesh of cucumbers 
 raised in this manner will be thicker and firmer, and 
 the flavour vastly more delicious than those raised 
 from the same seed, but planted in the ordinary way, 
 and the runners suffered to trail on the ground. 
 Though a south wall in most gardens is too much 
 appropriated to other things, to give room for cu- 
 cumbers in general, yet in every garden a few plants 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 49 
 
 may be so trained by way of rarity, and to save seed, 
 which is found to be greatly improved by this me- 
 thod, so as to produce much better cucumbers iu 
 the common way of raising them. One or two plants 
 so raised, will supply a sufficient quantity of seed for 
 a large garden. 
 
 Laying a cucumber or melon bed with tiles, is also 
 of particular service in improving the fruit, and 
 giving it a proper flavour. 
 
 To obtain a good crop of Onions. 
 
 In order to obtain a good crop of onions, it is pro- 
 per to sow at different seasons, viz. in light soils, in 
 August, January, or early in February ; and in hea- 
 vy wet soils, in March, or early in April. Onions, 
 however, should not be sown in January, unless the 
 ground be in a dry state, which is not often the case 
 at so early a period of the season; but if so, advan- 
 tage should be takeu of it. 
 
 Method of cultivating Radishes for Salad, so as to 
 have them ready at all Seasons of the Year. 
 
 Take seeds of the common radish, and lay them in 
 rain water to steep for twenty-four hours; then put 
 ihem quite wet into a small linen bag, well tied at 
 the mouth with packthread. If you have steeped a 
 large quantity of seeds, you may divide them into 
 several bags. Then expose the bags in a place where 
 they will receive the greatest heat of the sun, for 
 about twenty-four hours, at the end of which time 
 the seed will begin to grow, and you may then sow 
 it in the usual manner, in earth well exposed to the 
 heat of the sun. Prepare two small tubs to cover 
 each other exactly. These may be easily provided, 
 by sawing a small cask through the middle, and they 
 will serve in winter ; in summer one will be sufficient 
 for each kind of earth that has been sown. As soon 
 as you have sown your seeds you must cover them 
 with your tub, and at the end of three days you will 
 find radishes of the size and thickness of young let- 
 tuces, having at their extremities two small round 
 B 
 
50 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 leaves, rising from the earth, of a reddish colour. 
 These radishes cut or pulled up will he excellent if 
 mixed with salad, and they have a much more deli- 
 cate taste than the common radishes which are eaten 
 with salt. 
 
 By taking the following precautions you may have 
 them in winter, and even during the hardest frosts : 
 After having steeped the seeds in warm water, and 
 exposed them to the sun as already directed, or in a 
 place sufficiently hot to make them shoot forth, warm 
 the two tubs ; fill one of them with earth well dung- 
 ed; sow your seeds thus prepared in one of them, 
 and cover it with the other tub ; you must then be 
 careful to sprinkle it with warm water as often as 
 may be necessary. Then carry the two tubs closely 
 joined, taking care they cover each other, into a 
 warm vault or cellar, and at the end of fifteen days 
 you may gather a fine salad. 
 
 Cautions in visiting Sick Rooms. 
 
 Never venture into a sick room if you are in a 
 violent perspiration, (if circumstances require your 
 continuance there for any time,) for the moment your 
 body becomes cold, it is in a state likely to absord 
 the infection, and give you the disease. Nor visit a 
 sick person (especially if the complaint be of a con- 
 tagious nature) with an empty stomach, as this dis- 
 poses the system more readily to receive the conta- 
 gion. In attending a sick person place yourself where 
 the air 'passes from the door or window to the bed 
 of the diseased, not betwixt the diseased person and 
 any fire that is in the room, as the heat of the fire 
 will diaw the infectious vapour in that direction, and 
 you would run much danger from breathing in it. 
 
 To promote Sleep. 
 
 No fire, candle, rush-light, or lamp, should be kept 
 burning during the night in a bed room, for it not 
 only vitiates the air in a very considerable degree, 
 hiit also disturbs and prevents the rest of those whose 
 sleep is uneasy, particularly the aged. In a dark 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 51 
 
 apartment sleep generally comes on without much 
 invitation ; whereas any light in the apartment sti- 
 mulates the brain, and consequently the whole nervous 
 system, and dispels any tendency to repose. 
 
 General Rules for the choice of Spectacles, and for 
 the Preservation of the Sight. 
 
 [From Mr. Adams's Essay on Vision.] 
 
 The most general and perhaps the best rule that 
 can be given to those who are in want of assistance 
 from glasses, in order so to choose their spectacles 
 that they may suit the state of their eyes, is to prefer 
 those which shew objects nearest their natural state, 
 neither enlarged nor diminished, the glasses being 
 near the eye, and that give a blackness and distinct- 
 ness to the letters of a book, neither straining the eye 
 nor causing any unnatural exertion of the pupil. 
 For no spectacles can be said to be properly ac- 
 commodated to the eyes which do not procure them 
 ease and rest ; if they fatigue the eyes, we may safely 
 conclude either that we have no occasion for them, 
 or that they are ill made, or not proportioned to 
 our sight. 
 
 Though in the choice of spectacles, every one must 
 finally determine for himself, which are the glasses 
 through which he obtains the most distinct vision ; 
 yet some confidence should be placed in the judgment 
 of the artists of whom they are purchased, and some 
 attention paid to his directions. By trying many 
 spectacles, the eye is fatigued as the pupil varies in 
 size with every different glass, and the eye endeavours 
 to accommodate itself to every change that is pro- 
 duced. Hence the purchaser often fixes upon a pair 
 of spectacles not the best adapted to his sight, but 
 those which seem to relieve him most, while his eyes 
 are in a forced and unnatural state, and consequently 
 when lie gets home, and they are returned to their 
 natural state, he finds what he has chosen fatiguing 
 and injurious to the sight. 
 
 E2. 
 
52 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 Comfort for those nearly Blind. 
 
 Inscriptions on dark blue glazed paper, written 
 with white ink, have been found very legible by per- 
 sons afflicted with bad eyes, who have had many 
 things written in a strong plain hand for that purpose. 
 The ink is made with gum water and flake white, 
 finely powdered ; it must be often shaken, even 
 whilst you are writing, as the flake white very soon 
 subsides. A common pen will do very well for the 
 writing. A bright yellow or dark green paper is 
 likewise very easily read. 
 
 To prevent the Mischief arising from the Bite of a 
 Mad Dog. 
 
 Where the excision of the part bitten can be im- 
 mediately performed, it is the best preventive of 
 danger ; or where the part can be burnt out by the 
 application of a red hot iron, little danger is likely 
 to happen. Nothing else is at all to be depended on. 
 
 Cure for the Poison of the Deadly Night-Shade. 
 
 Give the patient an emetic as soon as possible ; 
 then let him drink vinegar or lemon juice, about a 
 pint diluted in an equal quantity of water, in the 
 course of the day, and let him walk about to prevent 
 sleep, which would most certainly prove fatal. 
 
 Tooth Powder. 
 
 To one ounce of fine powder of bark, and one 
 ounce of gum myrrh, add three fourths of an ounce 
 of bole armenick ; mix these ingredients well together 
 and they will produce an excellent tooth powder, 
 valuable in itself, and highly approved of by many 
 gentlemen of the faculty. 
 
 Efficacy of Vinegar in curing Burns and Scalds. 
 
 The application of vinegar to burns and scalds is 
 to be strongly recommended. It possesses active 
 powers, and is a great antiseptic and corrector of 
 putrescence and mortification. The progressive ten- 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 53 
 
 dency of bu^ 18 Q f the unfavorable kiud, or ill f rented, 
 is to putrescent an< | mortification. Where the out- 
 ward skin is not &»<>kon, it may be freely used every 
 hour or two; where .|, e skin is broken, and if it 
 gives pain, it must be gei,| y ^,1. But equal parts 
 of vinegar and water, in a .- >D j ( j state) „ se( t f,cely 
 every three or four hours, are federally n ie best ap- 
 plication, and the best rule to be di.„,. le( j k„ 
 
 House-leek, either applied by itself or -;' ve cl with 
 cream, gives present relief in burns, and otht. ^_ 
 terna) inflammations. 
 
 To kill Earwigs or other Insects which may accident 
 ally have crept into the Ear. 
 
 Let the person under this distressing circumstance 
 lav his bend upon a table, the side upwards that is 
 afflicted ; at the same time let some friend carefully 
 drop into the ear a little sweet oil, or oil of almonds. 
 A drop or two will be sufficient, which will instantly 
 destroy the insect, and remove the pain however 
 violent. 
 
 To prevent Corns jrom growing on the Feet. 
 
 Easy shoes; frequently bathing the feet in luke- 
 warm water, with a little salt or pot-ashes dissolved 
 in it. 
 
 The corn itself will be completely destroyed by 
 rubbing it daily with a little caustic solution of pot 
 ash, till a soft and flexible skin is formed. 
 
 Certain Cure for the Cramp. 
 
 An effectual preventive for the cramp in the calves 
 of the legs, which is a most grievous pain, is to stretch 
 out the heel of the leg as far as possible, at the same 
 time drawing up the toes towards the body. This 
 will frequently stop a fit of the cramp after it has 
 commenced; and a person will, after a few times, be 
 able, in general, to prevent the fit coming on, though 
 its approach be between sleeping and waking. Per- 
 sons subject to this complaint should have a board 
 fixed to the bottom of the bed, against which the 
 foot should be pressed when the pain commences. 
 E 3 
 
54 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 To alleviate the Pain occasioned by * le Sting of 
 Gnats. 
 
 The disagreeable itching r-^asioned by the sting 
 of these insects may be -moved by volatile alkali, 
 or immediately rubbir* and washing the part affected 
 with cold water. ....,, , , , 
 
 At ni<dit «' rul) WItn ^' ers earth and water les- 
 sens tl. "» ,, ^ amiuat ' on - 
 
 To cure the Sting of a Wasp or Bee. 
 
 To the part affected apply oil of tartar or solution 
 of potash, and it will give instant ease ; as also well 
 bruised mallows. 
 
 Remedy for a Sore Throat. 
 
 Take rosemary tops about a handful, put them 
 into a bason and pour a pint of boiling hot verjuice 
 upon it; then cover it over with a tin funnel the 
 broad side downwards, and the steam will come 
 through the nozzle of the funnel ; then hold your 
 mouth over the steam till it has gone down your 
 throat. 
 
 N. B. Be very careful that you do not put your 
 mouth too close to the funnel, as it may scald it ; but 
 let the steam go down your throat as much as possi- 
 ble ; and repeat it as often as necessary. 
 
 A Receipt for a Cough. 
 
 Take a glass of spring water and put into it a 
 spoonful of the syrup of horehound, and mix with it 
 nine or ten drops of the spirit of sulphur. 
 
 To make an improved Tincture, of Bark. 
 
 Red bark grossly powdered one ounce, of snake 
 root in powder six drachms, saffron one drachm and 
 a half, cochineal ten grains, orange peel one ounce 
 and a half. Steep the above articles in one pint of 
 the best brandy, and you will have a tincture equally 
 good as the famous Dr. Huxbam's. 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 55 
 
 To make Indian Ink. 
 
 Put six lighted wicks into a dish of oil ; hang an 
 iron or tin concave cover over it so as to receive all 
 the smoke; when there is a sufficient quantity of 
 soot settled to the cover, then take it oft* gently with 
 a leather upon a sheet of paper, and mix it up with 
 gum tragacanth to a proper consistence. 
 
 N. B. The clearest oil makes the finest soot, con- 
 sequently the best ink. 
 
 Permanent Writing Ink. 
 
 As common writing ink is susceptible of being 
 effaced by oxygenated muriatic acid, and as the 
 knowledge of this fact may be abused to very fraud- 
 ulent purposes, the following composition for inks, 
 absolutely indestructable, is recommended to the 
 notice of the curious. 
 
 Boil one ounce of Brazil wood and three ounces of 
 nut galls in forty six ounces of water, till they shall 
 be reduced to thirty ounces in all. Pour this decoc- 
 tion while it is yet hot upon half an ounce of sulphate 
 of iron, or martial vitriol, a quarter of an ounce of 
 gum arabic, and a quarter of an ounce of white sugar. 
 After these substances are dissolved, add to the so- 
 lution one ounce and a quarter of indigo finely pul- 
 verized, with three quarters of an ounce of lamp 
 black, very pure of smoke black, previously diluted 
 in one ounce of the best brandy. 
 
 The following receipt is still more simple : — Boil 
 one ounce of Brazil wood with twelve ounces of wa- 
 ter and half an ounce of alum ; continue the ebullition 
 till the liquid mixture shall have been reduced to 
 eight ounces ; then add an ounce of the black oxyde 
 of manganese, which has been reduced by decanta- 
 tion to extreme fineness, and in mixture with it, half 
 an ounce of gum arabic. 
 
 To take off instantly a copy from a Print or Picture. 
 
 Make a water of soap and alum, with which wet a 
 cloth or paper ; lay it either on a print or picture, 
 
50 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 and pass it once under the rolling press, then going 
 round the other side to lake it up, you will have a 
 very fine copy of whatever you shall have laid it 
 upon. 
 
 To make Mezzotinto*. 
 
 Mezzotintos are made in the following manner: — » 
 Take a well polished copper plate, and beginning at 
 the corner, rake or furrow the surface all over with a 
 knife or instrument made for the purpose, first one 
 way and then ihe other, till the whole is of a regular 
 roughness, without the least smooth part to be seen ; 
 in which stale, if a paper was to be worked from it 
 at the copper plate press, it would be all over black. 
 When this is done the plate is rubbed over wilh char- 
 coal or black lead, and then the design is drawn with 
 white chalk ; after which the outlines are traced out, 
 and the plate finished by scraping oft' the roughness, 
 so as to leave the figure on the plate. The outlines 
 and deepest shades are not scraped at all, the next 
 shades are scraped but little, the next more, and so 
 on, till the shades gradually falling oft' leave the paper 
 white, in which places the plate is neatly burnished. 
 
 Lavender Water. 
 
 Put two pounds of lavender pips into two quarts 
 of water, put them into a cold still, and make a slow 
 fire under it ; distil it off very slowly, and put it into 
 a pot till you have distilled all your water : then 
 clean your still well out, put your lavender water 
 into it, and distil it off slowly again; put it into bot- 
 tles and cork it well. 
 
 To make Rose Water. 
 
 Gather roses on a dry day when they arc full 
 blown; pick oft' the leaves, and to a peck put a quart 
 of water; then put them into a cold still, make a 
 slow fire under it, the slover you distil it the better 
 it will be; then bottle it, and in two or three days 
 you may cork it. 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. ©7 
 
 Genuine Windsor Soap. 
 
 To make this famous soap for washing the hands, 
 shaving, &c. nothing more is necessary than to slice 
 the hest white soap as thin as possible, melt it in a 
 new stew pan over a slow fire, scent it well with oil 
 of carraway, and then pour it into a frame or mould 
 made for that purpose, or a small drawer, adapted in 
 size and form to the quantity. When it has stood 
 three or foqr days in a dry situation, cut into square 
 pieces and it is ready for use. By this simple mode, 
 substituting any more favourite scent for that of car- 
 raway, all persons may suit themselves with a good 
 perfumed soap at the most trifling expence. Shaving 
 boxes may be at once filled with the melted soap, 
 instead of a mould. 
 
 To increase the Growth of Hair. 
 
 Hartshorn beat small and mixed with oil being 
 rubbed upon the head of persons who have lost their 
 hair, will cause it to grow again as at first. 
 
 To destroy Hats and other Vermin. 
 
 Sponge, if cut in small pieces, fried or dipped in 
 honey and given to vermin, distends their intestines, 
 and effectually destroys them. The addition of a 
 little oil of rhodium will tempt them to eat. 
 
 A better method would be to feed them regularly 
 two or three weeks in any apartment winch they in- 
 fest. The hole by which they enter being first fitted 
 with a sliding door, to which a long string may be 
 added ; any apartment might thus be turned into a 
 gigantic rat trap. 
 
 Dr. Taylor's cheap and efficacious method of des- 
 troying Rats. 
 
 [Communicated to the Manchester Agricultural 
 Society.] 
 
 In or near the p^ee frequented by these vermin, 
 place on a slate *>r tile one or two table spoonfuls of 
 dry oatinen^ Lay it thin and press it tllat, more 
 
o8 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 easily to ascertain what is taken away. As the rats, 
 if not interrupted, will come regularly there to feed, 
 continue to supply them with fresh oatmeal for two 
 or three days ; and then well mixing in about six table 
 spoonfuls of dry oatmeal three drops only of oil of 
 anniseeds, feed them with this for two or three days 
 more. Afterward, for one day,, give them only halt 
 the quantity of this scented oatmeal which they have 
 before actually eaten, and next day place the follow- 
 ing mixture: — To four ounces of dry oal*..ieal scented 
 with six drops of oil of anniseeds, add half an 
 ounce of carbonated barytes, previously pounded 
 very fine in a mortar, and 6ifted through a little fine 
 muslin or cambric. Mix this intimately with the 
 scented oatmeal, and laying it on the tile or slate, 
 allow the rats to eat it, without the smallest inter- 
 ruption, for twenty four hours, A few hours after 
 eating any of it, they will frequently be seen running 
 about, as if drunk, or paralytic ; but they generally, 
 at last, retire to their haunts and die. As rats are 
 extremely sagacious, it may be proper when they 
 have during the twenty-four hours eaten only a small 
 portion, to leave the remainder of the mixture twen- 
 ty-four hours longer ; after which it will be best to 
 burn what is left, a fresh mixture being prepared at 
 so trifling an expence when wanted. The doors of 
 the place where this mixture is exposed to the rats, 
 should be kept closed ; as well to prevent their 
 beiug disturbed, as to obviate the possibility of ac- 
 cidents to children or domestic animals ; for though 
 it be not so extremely dangerous as the preparations 
 commonly employed for killing rats, and is even used 
 in medicine, it proves fatal if improperly taken, unless 
 timely counteracted by emetics. The oil of anniseeds 
 though it renders the mixture disagreeable to dogs, 
 and many other animals, is alluring when used in 
 small quantities to rata The carbonated barytes, 
 Dr. Taylor adds, may be procured in large quantities 
 at the lead mines belonging to Sir Frank Siandish, 
 Bart, at Anglezark, near Chort*» Y> in Lancashire. 
 The proper sort is tasteless, semi-i«-,nsparent, and 
 effervesce* with acids; it is moderates hard, and 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 59 
 
 striated. It is called aerated barytes — terra ponde- 
 'osa aerata — and sometimes by the miners ponderous 
 spar. It may be purchased at a cheap rate from 
 VIessrs, Brown and Mawe, in Tavistock Street, or 
 >ther collectors of minerals. 
 
 To make Portable Balls, for removing Spots from 
 Clothes hi general. 
 
 Take fullers' earth perfectly dried so that it crum- 
 bles into powder, moisten it with the clear juice of 
 lemons, and add a small quantity of pure pearl ashes ; 
 then work and knead the whole carefully together, 
 till it acquires the consistence of a thick elastic paste; 
 form it into convenient small balls, and expose them 
 to the heat of the sun, in which they ought to be 
 completely dried. In this state they are fit for use 
 in the manner following: — First, moisten the spot 
 an your clothes with water, then rub it with the hall 
 just described, and surfer it again to dry in the sun : 
 after having washed the spot with pure water, it will 
 entirely disappear. 
 
 To take Spots effectually out of Silk, Linen, or 
 Woollen. 
 
 Spirits of turpentine twelve drops, and the same 
 quantity of spirits of wine ; grind these with an ounce 
 af pipe-maker's clay, and rub the spots therewith. 
 Vou are to wet the composition when you do cither 
 silk, linen, or woollen with it; let it remain till dry, 
 then rub it off, and the spot or spots will disappear. 
 
 True spirits of salts diluted with water will re- 
 move iron-mould from linen ; and sal-ammoniac with 
 hue will take out the stains of wine. 
 
 Easy and safe method of discharging Grease Spots 
 from Woollen Cloths. 
 
 Fullers'-earth, or tobacco-pipe clay, being put wet 
 an an oil spot, absorbs the oil as the water evaporates, 
 and leaves the vegetable or animal fibres of cloth 
 clean, on being beaten or brushed out. When the 
 spot is occasioned by tallow or wax, it is necessary 
 
60 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 to heat the part cautiously by an iron or the fire, 
 while the cloth is drying. Iu some kinds of goods, 
 blotting paper, bran, or raw starch may be used with 
 advantage. 
 
 To take out Spots on Silk. 
 
 Rub the spots with spirit of turpentine ; this spirit 
 exhaling, carries off with it the oil that causes the 
 spot. 
 
 To take Iron-mould out of Linen. 
 
 Hold the iron mould on the cover of a tankard of 
 boiling water, and rub on the spot a little juice of 
 sorrel and a little salt, and when the cloth has tho- 
 roughly imbibed the juice, wash it in lee. 
 
 To take Spots out of Cloths, Stuffs, Silk, Cotton, 
 and Linen. 
 
 Take two quarts of spring water, put in it a little 
 fine white pot-ash, about the quantity of a walnut, 
 and a lemon cut in slices ; mix these well together, 
 and let it stand for twenty-four hours in the sun ; 
 then strain it off, and put the clear liquid up for use. 
 This water takes out all spots, whether pitch, grease, 
 or oil, as well in hats, as cloths and stud's, silk or 
 cotton, and linen. As soon as the spot is taken out, 
 wash the place with fair water ; for cloths of a deep 
 colour, add to a spoonful of the mixture as much fair 
 water as to weaken it. 
 
 Grease spots in cloth may be removed by using 
 soap and water with a tooth or nail brush, and after- 
 wards wiping off the lather with the wet corner of a 
 towel- Essence of lemon, or pure spirit of turpentine 
 will remove pitch from cloth, &c. 
 
 In woollen cloth an easier method is to scrape off 
 the hard tallow with the edge of a tea spoon, then 
 rub the part briskly with a clean woollen rag, shift- 
 ing the rag as the part becomes dirty : or place some 
 blotting paper on the spot, press it with a hot iron, 
 .occasionally moving the paper. 
 
TALUABLE RECEIPTS. 61 
 
 Mr. Forsyth's Method of Curing Injuries and De- 
 fects in Fruit and Forest Trees, published by command 
 of his present Majesty. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth directs, in his Treatise on the Ma- 
 nagement and Culture of Fruit Trees, &c. that all 
 the decayed, hollow, loose, rotten, injured, diseased, 
 and dead parts, should he entirely cut away, till the 
 knife extend to the sound or solid wood, so as to 
 leave the surface perfectly smooth. The composition 
 which he has invented, and directed to be then ap- 
 plied, is thus prepared : — To twenty-five gallons of 
 human urine, and a peck of lime, add a sufficient 
 quantity of fresh cow dung to bring it to the con- 
 sistency of paint. This composition should then be 
 laid on with a painter's brush, to the thickness of 
 about an eighth of an inch, and the edges finished off 
 as thin as possible. In the mean time, a tin box, the 
 top of which is perforated with holes, should be filled 
 with a mixture of five parts of dry pulverized wood 
 ashes, and one part bone ashes also reduced to pow- 
 der; from which it is to be scattered or dredged over 
 the surface of the composition ; and when it has been 
 suffered to absord half an hour, an additional portion 
 of the powder is to be gently applied with the hand, 
 till the pluister acquire a smooth and even surface. 
 As the edges of the plaistered wounds grow up, care 
 must be taken t* prevent the new wood from coming 
 in contact with that which is decayed ; and for this 
 purpose it will be proper to cut out the latter, in 
 proportion as the growth of the former advances ; a 
 hollow space being left between the two, that the new 
 wood may have sufficient space to extend and fill up 
 the cavity, thus forming as it were a new tree. In 
 consequence of this process, old and decayed pear 
 trees, in the second summer after its being thus ap- 
 plied, are said to have produced fruit of the best 
 quality and finest flavour ; and in the course of four 
 or five years to have yielded such abundant crops, 
 as young and healthy trees could not have borne in 
 twenty years. By the same method too, large and 
 aged elm-trees, all the parts of which were broken, 
 
 F 
 
62 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 having only a very small portion of bark left on the 
 trunk, shot forth stems from their tops to the height 
 of more than thirty feet, within six or seven years 
 after the composition had been applied. It appears 
 therefore, that both forest and fruit trees, however 
 aged or decayed, may be preserved, and even reno- 
 vated ; while the latter in particular are rendered 
 more fruitful than at any earlier period of their 
 growth. The health and vegetation of trees in ge- 
 neral, Mr. Forsyth remarks, may be greatly promoted 
 by scraping them, by cutting away the cankered parts, 
 and by washing their stems annually in February or 
 March: and he recommends fresh soap suds, and 
 the composition, to be applied to the stems and 
 branches of fruit, forest, or timber trees of any kind, 
 in the same manner as the ceiling of rooms are white 
 washed : which he asserts will not only destroy the 
 eggs of insects that would be hatched during the 
 spring and summer, but also prevent the growth of 
 moss. If therefore, he adds, the same operation be 
 repeated in autumn after the fall of the leaf, it will 
 kill the eggs of those numerous insects which would 
 otherwise be hatched during that season and the en- 
 suing winter. So that this process in fact, not only 
 contributes to the nourishment of the tree, but ac- 
 tually preserves its bark in a tine healthful state. 
 
 For destroying Bugs and Worms in Wood. 
 
 An emiuent physician has discovered that by rub- 
 bing wood with a solution of vitriol, insects and hugs 
 are prevented from harbouring therein. When the 
 strength of this remedy is required to be increased, 
 there need only be boiled some coloquintida apples 
 in water, in which, afterwards, vitriol is dissolved, 
 and the bedstead, with the wood about them and the 
 wainscoting being anointed with the liquor, will be 
 ever after clear of worms or bugs. The wall may be 
 likewise rubbed with the composition, and some of it 
 may be dropped into the holes where these bisects 
 are suspected to be harboured. As to the walls, 
 they require only to be washed over with the vitriol 
 water. 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 63 
 
 For destroying Caterpillars on Gooseberry Bushes. 
 
 Take one Scots pint (two English quarts) of tobac- 
 co liquor, which may be made where it cannot be 
 purchased, by infusing any kind of tobacco in water 
 till all the strength be extracted) which the manu- 
 facturers of tobacco generally sell for destroying 
 bugs, and mix them with about one ounce of alum; 
 and when the alum is sufficiently dissolved, put this 
 mixture into a plate or other vessel, wide and long 
 enough to admit of a brush, like a weaver's brush, 
 being dipped into it ; and as early in the season as 
 you can perceive the leaves of the bushes to be in 
 the least eaten, or the eggs upon the leaves (which 
 generally happens about the end of May) and which 
 will be found in great numbers on the veins of the 
 leaves on their under side; you are then to take the 
 preparation, or liquor, and after dipping the brush 
 into it, and holding the brush towards the underside 
 of the bush, which is to be raised and supported by 
 the hands of another person ; and by drawing your 
 hand gently over the hairs of the brush, the above 
 liquid is sprinkled, and falls in small drops on the 
 leaves ; the consequence of which is, if the eggs are 
 tht re, they never come forward; and if they have 
 already generated worms, in a minute or two after 
 fh« liquor touches them, they either die or sicken, 
 so as to fall of the bush ; at least they do so by giv- 
 ing it a little shake. If upon their thus falling off 
 they shall not appear completely dead, the bush 
 should be held up, and either a little boiling water 
 from a watering pot thrown over them, or a bruise 
 given them by a spade or shovel, or the earth where 
 they lie turned over with a hoe. This preparation 
 does not in the least injure the bushes. 
 
 To destroy Earwigs and Wood Lice. 
 
 A very simple way of ensnaring them and by which 
 they may betaken alive in great quantities, is to place 
 four inch cuts of reeds, bean halm, or strong wheat 
 straw, among the branches, and also lay a number 
 on the ground, at the bottom of the wail, in these 
 F 2 
 
<J4 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 the insects take refuge at day-break, as they depre- 
 date chiefly in the night; and any time through the 
 day they may be blown into a bottle with a little 
 water in it, and so be drowned. Or a cheaper way 
 is to burn the straw, and scatter fresh on the ground. 
 
 To destroy Fleas on Dogs. 
 
 Rub the animal when out of the house with com- 
 mon Scotch snuff", except the nose and eyes. Rub 
 the powder well into the roots of the hair, Clear 
 lime water destroys the whitish flea worm without 
 injuring the skin or hair. Oil of turpentine will like- 
 wise do so ; but if there he any nranginess, or the 
 skin be broken, it will give the animal much pain. 
 
 To prevent Slugs from getting into Fruit Trees. 
 
 If the trees are standards, tie a course horse hair 
 rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. 
 If they are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of 
 coarse horse hair cloth against the wall, about half a 
 foot from the ground, and they will never get over it, 
 for if they attempt it it will kill them, as their bellies 
 are soft, and the horse hair will wound them. 
 
 To destroy Snails. 
 
 Snails are great enemies to wall fruit, and in a 
 dewy morning you may easily find where they most 
 delight to hreed ; hut the best way is to find out their 
 haunts in a hard winter, and then destroy them : they 
 lie much in holes of walls, under thorns, behind old 
 trees, or old and close edges. — If you pluck not the 
 fruit they have begun to devour, hut let it alone, 
 they will finish their repast on this before they begin, 
 another. 
 
 To destroy Insects on Wall Fruit Trees. 
 
 Take an old tin watering pan, or any similar ves* 
 sel, and make a charcoal fire in it ; add a tube or 
 pipe, made of either tin, leather, or stift' paper, to the 
 spout, which may be of any sufficient length ; then 
 strew some brimstone, tobacco dust, fine shreds of 
 

 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. C> 
 
 leal her, &c upon t he fire in the pan, and cover the 
 top ; having a pair of bellows ready, hold the wind- 
 flap over the tube or pipe to receive the smoke, which 
 it will do very effectually when you use the bellows. 
 By this means the suffocating vapour may be directed 
 througjjfctbe bellows to any part of the tree with the 
 greate'sty^ase and facility, and the tree soon cleared 
 of all vermin. This method is much more effectual 
 than the old one, where a chafing dish has been re- 
 commended for this purpose, because the latter me- 
 thod is more troublesome, and requires the wind to 
 blow from a particular quarter right against the trees, 
 which can seldom be obtained. 
 
 Method oj destroying Wasps and Hornets. 
 
 Those that are not unacquainted with natural his- 
 tory, know that all the working wasps die every au- 
 tumn when the cold weather comes on, and that only 
 a lew females survive the winter and keep up the 
 breed. These, which are turgid with eggs and much 
 larger than the workers, come forth about April from 
 their lurking hole*, and being singly each its nest, 
 which in a moderate time becomes very populous. 
 
 It ts therefore of great consequence to kill as many 
 of these as possible, since a whole swarm is destroyed 
 in every single female early in the year. The places to 
 find them are at new posts, pales, melon frames, or any 
 solid timber; for as they make their combs with the 
 shavings of the sound wood, which they rasp off with 
 their fangs, and moisten up with a certain mucus that 
 nature has provided in their bodies, they will readily 
 be found near such materials. 
 
 Hornets must be searched for on decayed posts, 
 rails, &e. for they make their combs with touchwood, 
 and the same kind of natural cement. 
 
 In the very hot summer of 1762, wasps were so 
 numerous and alert, that it looked as if no fruit could 
 have hung till it was fit for the table. They began 
 on the grapes before they were half ripe; and getting 
 into the melon frames, scooped out all the pulp of 
 the irint, leaving oi.lv emptv shells. I tried phials, 
 F3 
 
06 VALUABLE RECEIPTS, 
 
 as usual, filled with- sugared beer, &c. this destroyed 
 some, but did not seem to lessen their swarms ; at 
 last I bethought myself to buy some birdlime, with 
 which I tipped several taper hazel rods of different 
 lengths, and so began catching them by hand, ap- 
 plying the top of the rod as they settled on the fruit. 
 This appeared at first to be a tedious method ; but 
 after a little practice it soon had the desired effect, 
 for a handy person or two would in a few hours en- 
 tangle four or five hundred; and it soon appeared 
 they were not so numerous as we imagined ; and the 
 taking the workers starved the grubs, which are sup- 
 ported by them, and prevented a succession. By this 
 pimple method, ineffectual as it may appear, I saved 
 my fruit entire, which hung till it was ripened to 
 great perfection. 
 
 Hornets, as they are larger and more sluggish, are 
 easily taken : this method of touching them is a sort 
 of angling, and not a bad amusement for half an hour. 
 As fast as they are caught they must be squeezed to 
 death with a flat piece of lath, the tip of the lod re- 
 freshed with birdlime now and then. The reason of 
 providing rods of different lengths, is to suit the dif- 
 ferent heights of the wall. 
 
 While I am speaking of fruit it may not be amiss 
 to add, that this summer I recovered a peach tree 
 that was quite shrivelled up on one side, by a partial 
 watering two or three times a week of the affected 
 part. 
 
 To destroy Worms in Gravel IValks, Sfc. 
 
 Pour into the holes a ley made of wood ashes and 
 lime : this will also destroy insects if trees are 
 sprinkled with it. Salt and water will do as well. 
 
 To make British Champagne. 
 
 Take gooseberries before they grow ripe, crush 
 them with a mallet in a wooden bowl, and to every 
 gallon of fruit put a gallon of water; let it stand two 
 days, stirring it well ; squeeze the mixture well with 
 your hands through a hop sieve ; then measure your 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 6-7 
 
 liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds and a 
 half of'loaf su«ar ; mix it well in the tub, and let it 
 stand one day : put a bottle of the best brandy in 
 the cask ; leave the cask open five or six weeks, 
 taking oft' the scum as it rises ; then make it up, and 
 let it stand one year in the barrel before bottled. 
 
 N. B. One pint of brandy is put to seven gallons 
 of liquor. 
 
 Orange Wine. 
 
 Take the expressed juice of eight Seville oranges, 
 and having one gallon of water wherein three pounds 
 of sugar have been boiled, boil the water and sugar 
 for twenty minutes; skim constantly, and when cool- 
 ed to a proper heat for fermentation, add the juice, 
 and the outer rind of the juice (fruit) shaved oft'. 
 Put all into a barrel, stir it frequently for two or three 
 days, and then closely bung it for six months before 
 it is bottled. 
 
 To preserve Letters from being Opened. 
 
 Various ways have been contrived to open letters 
 sealed with wafers only, but the following composi- 
 tion is perfectly secure: — Take fine powder of bean- 
 flour, add thereto white of egg well whisked to a tine 
 liquid ; make a paste from this mixture, of which put 
 a little under the sealing place; then close the two 
 papers, and hold the part close to the steam arising 
 from the spout of a tea kettle or tea pot of boiling 
 water, which will harden the cement so that it cannot 
 be opened without tearing. 
 
 Method of recovering the Legibility of Decayed 
 Writings. 
 
 The best method of restoring legibility to decayed 
 writings, is found upon experiment to be by covering 
 the letters with phlogislicated alkali, with the addi- 
 tion of a diluted mineral acid ; upon the application 
 of which the letters will change very speedily to a 
 deep blue colour, of great beauty and intensity. A 
 solution of prussiate of potash will also cause the 
 
68 VALUABLE RECEIPT.].. 
 
 letters to appear blue. To prevent the spreading of 
 the colour, which by blotting the parchment detracts 
 greatly from the legibility, the alkali should be put 
 on first, and the diluted acid added upon it. The 
 method found to answer best, has been to spread the 
 alkali thin with a feather over the traces of the let- 
 ters, and then to touch it gently, as near upon or 
 over the letters as can be done with the diluted acid, 
 by means of a feather or bit of stick cut to a blunt 
 poiur. Though the alkali should occasion no sensi- 
 ble change of colour, yet the moment the acid conies 
 upon it, every trace of a letter turns at once to a tine 
 blue, which soon acquires its full intensity, and is 
 beyond comparison stronger than the colour of the 
 original trace had been. If then the coiner of a bit 
 of blotting paper be carefully and dexterously appli- 
 ed near the letters, so as to imbibe the superfluous 
 liquor, the staining of the parchment may be in a 
 great measure avoided ; for it is this superfluous li- 
 quor which absorbing part of the colouring matter 
 from the letters, becomes a dye to whatever it touches. 
 Care must be taken not to bring the blotting paper 
 in contact with the letters, because the colouring 
 matter is soft whilst wet, and may easily be rubbed 
 off. The acid chiefly employed has been the marine, 
 but both the vitriolic and nitrous succeed very well. 
 They should be so far diluted as not to be in danger 
 of corroding the parchment; after which the degree 
 ef strength does not seem to be a matter of much 
 nicety. 
 
 To make Pounce. 
 
 Gum-sandarac powdered and sifted very fine, will 
 produce an excellent preventive to keep ink from 
 sinking in the paper, after you have had occasion to 
 scratch out any part of the writing. 
 
 To make excellent Ink. 
 
 Take a pound of the best Aleppo galls, half a pound 
 of copperas, a quarter of a pound of gum arabic,and 
 a quarter of a pound of white sugar candy. Bruise 
 
VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 69 
 
 the galls, and beat t he other ingredients fine, and 
 infuse them all in three quarts of white wine, or rain 
 ■water. Let this mixture stand hot by the fire three 
 or four days, and then put it on a slow fire so as to 
 boil. Stir it frequently, and let it stand five or six 
 hours, till one quarter of it be evaporated. When 
 cold, strain it through a clean coarse piece of linen; 
 bottle and keep it for use. 
 
 The communicator of this good old receipt is con- 
 vinced that much pains have been taken to ascertain 
 the due proportions of the galls and copperas ; for he 
 has found that on diminishing or increasing their re- 
 lative quantities as above, the ink has always been 
 pale ; but this defect will sometimes happen if the 
 materials be not of the best kind. The quality of the 
 paper written on will also make a difference in the 
 colour of the ink. 
 
 The grand secret in preparing this ink, which will 
 never change its colour if properly attended to, tho' 
 kept never so long, consists in the keeping it free 
 from that mouldiness, which in hot weather particu- 
 larly, is apt to form upon the surface. The best way 
 is to put it into a large glass bottle with a ground 
 stopper, and to shake it frequently. If from sudden 
 heat of the weather or neglect in shaking the moul- 
 diness should appear, either lake it off, if in a very- 
 small quantity and easily removed, or otherwise let 
 it accumulate till a thick crust be formed, and then 
 with a piece of wood, or wire crooked at the end, 
 take it off all at once. It is very usual to put ink 
 into an earthen or stone jar, which is suspended to 
 some door that is frequently opened, in order that 
 the ink may be shaken. But few doors are either 
 regularly or sufficiently agitated for the purpose of 
 preventing the formation of the destructive vegetable 
 substance or mouldiness ; and this being once accu- 
 mulated, and of course not seen in the jar, is shaken 
 together with the ink, and the whole is spoiled. You 
 might just as well put a quantity of rotten mushrooms 
 into a bottle of ink and expect that it should retain 
 its virtue. It has been found that the bruised or 
 powdered materials of this receipt for making ink, if 
 
"70 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 
 
 infused in cold water and well strained, will answer 
 the purpose, where it is difficult or inconvenient, to 
 heat them as before directed. If the ink be required 
 to be more black and glossy than usual, increase with 
 discretion the quantities of gam and sugar candy ; 
 but too much of them will make the ink sticky, and 
 which should not be used where the writing is made 
 in any folding book. 
 
 To try the Purity of Spirits. 
 
 See if the liquor will burn away without leaving 
 any moisture behind. As spirit is much lighter than 
 water, place a hollow ivory ball in it; the deeper the 
 ball sinks, the lighter the liquor, and consequently 
 more spirituous. 
 
 To make Phosphorus. 
 
 Tivo third parts of quicklime (i.e. calcined oyster 
 shells) and one third of flour of brimstone, put into a 
 crucible for an hour, and exposed to the air for an 
 hour, become phosphorus. 
 
 To make the Phosphoric Match Bottle. 
 
 These bottles may be prepared by mixing one part 
 of flour of sulphur with eight of phosphorus. Thift 
 requires caution, and should afterwards be handled 
 with great care, lest any part of the mixture get 
 under the linger nails, a small portion of which might 
 occasion great inconvenience. When used to procure 
 a light, a very minute quantity is taken out of the 
 bottle on the point of a match, and rubbed upon cork 
 or wood, which produces an immediate flame. 
 
 To Stain Wood a fine Black. 
 
 Droj) a little oil of vitriol into a small quantity of 
 water, rub the same on your wood, then hold it to 
 the fire until it becomes a tine black, and when po- 
 lished it will be exceedingly beautiful. 
 
 To Stain Wood a beautiful Red or Mahogany colour. 
 
 Place a square piece of plane tree wood, a line in 
 
, VALUABLE RECEIPTS. 71 
 
 thickness, into pounded dragon's blood, from the 
 Canaries, mixed with oil of turpentine, over the fire, 
 n a glass vessel ; the wood will slowly assume the 
 :<>lour, even before the spirit has volatilised. After 
 more than an hour, lake the vessel from the fire and 
 let it stand the whole night, when the wood will ap- 
 pear as mahogany colour, not merely on the surface, 
 but also in the interior parts. The denser fibres 
 will he somewhat less coloured ; hut this instead of 
 injuring the beauty of the wood will rather add to it. 
 Fhe red dye can be made stronger or weaker, by 
 taking! a greater or less quantity of Dragon's blood, 
 »nd by a greater or less degree of digestion and boil- 
 ing. The wood of the plane-tree is best for this 
 purpose, because it can be easily sawn and polished, 
 because it has a white colour, is neither too hard nor 
 loo soft, has beautiful white spots with veins that 
 :ross each other, and because artists who make inlaid 
 works have long attempted to colour it by staining. 
 The wood when stained can very easily be freed from 
 (he dragon's blood adhering to it, by means of recti- 
 lied spirits of wine. The spirit of turpentine makes 
 I he wood more compact, and renders it more suscep- 
 tible of a fine polish. 
 
 Substitute for Galls in Dyeing, and also in making 
 Ink. 
 
 The excrescences on the roots of young oaks may 
 ie used with advantage as a substitute for galls. Oak 
 lust has been used in this conntry instead of galls to 
 produce a black dye ; so also has a strong decoction 
 »f logwood, copperas, and gum Arabic. 
 
 Easy method of Dyeing Yelloic or Green. 
 
 The plant called weld or dyer's weed, affords a 
 most beautiful yellow dye for cotton, woollen, mo- 
 tiair, silk, and linen, and is that which is most com- 
 monly used by dyers for that purpose, as it gives the 
 brightest dye. Blue cloths dipped in a decoction of 
 it become green. The yellow colour of the paint 
 called Dutch pink is got' from this plant ; the ting- 
 

 VALUABLE RECEIPTS. * 
 
 ing qualify resides in the stems and branches, and i 
 is cultivated in sandy soils, because rich soils areap 
 to lessen its value, by inakiug the stalk hollow. 
 
 To take Impressions on Paper from Designs made o 
 Stone. 
 
 The stone should be close grained, and the draw 
 ing or writing should be made with a pen dipped i 
 ink formed of a solution of lac, in leys of pure sods 
 to which should be added some soap and lamp-blac 
 for colouring ; leave it to harden for a few days, the 
 take impressions in the following manner: — Dip th 
 surface in water, then dab it with printer's ink an 
 printer's balls; the ink sticks to the design and nc 
 to the stone, and the impression may be taken wit 
 wet paper by means of a rolling or screw press, i 
 the ordinary manner. Several hundred copies ma 
 be taken from the same design in this simple mannei 
 
 Transparent Paper. 
 
 "Wet some fine paper with a feather on both side 
 with a thin layer of rosin dissolved in spirits of wine 
 It will then save to put over any thing you wish t 
 take off. 
 
 FINIS.