Mi 9 9 OR, mu il* ' Mfl j &t >»., WRIGHT’S STEAM PRESS. '•* *y VALUABLE RECEIPTS: BY J. Q. JACKSON, A. M. BOSTON: WRIGHT’S STEAM POWER PRESS. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by J. L. Smith, in the Clerk? Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. P REFAC E. As we are determined to give the purchasers of this Work the full value of its cost, we will not waste room with prefatory remarks, which may be more usefully occupied. The very valuable and use¬ ful receipts which it contains, will cause the work to speak its own merits, much better than we can set them forth. Let every one possess the work as a valuable Companion and this shall answer for our Preface. * CONTENTS. DOMESTIC ECONOMY. Page. Good Advice v . 3 Puddings—various kinds. 3—4 Pies.5 Cakes, a great variety.5—9 Iceing for cakes. 9 Bread, various kinds. 9—10 Snow Cream. 10 Marmalade. 10 Macaroni. 10 Y east . 11 Apple Molasses. 11 Potato Balls . 11 Blancmange. 12 Tarts of Preserved fruits. 11 Raspberry, Strawberry and Peach Jam.. 12 Black Butter. 12 Baked Pears. 12 How to preserve Pumpkins. 13 Lemon and Orange Custards. 13 Ice Cream. 13 About Potatoes. 14 Jelly... 14 Soups.i4 How to make Bologna Sausages. 14 Coffee and Cocoa Shell s. 15 Substitutes for Tea. 15 Tomato Ketchup... 15 Pickling in Brine. 16 DOMESTIC WINES. Currant and Grape. 16 FAMILY BEER. Cottage — Spruce— Ginger—Hop—Pea- Shell..... 17—18 To cleanse foul Casks. 18 DYEING, CLEANSING, &c. Wool, Woolens, Ac.18—19 Change the color of Hair. 19 How to clean Veils. 20 To eradicate stains, grease and ink spots 20 How to clean gold lace. 21 To clean gloves. 21 To make colors fast. 21 To cleanse Paper Hangings.21 To bleach wool, silks strawbonnets, Ac. 22 FARRIERY, &c. To cure Worms—Stop Bleeding—Plaster— Bandages—Sores and Bruises—Ointment — The Staggers—Bots—Symptoms of Worms—Remedies—To make a sick horse drink—Foundered Feet — Hoof Bound — Sore Backs—Strains—Thrush, Ac. 22—26 To prevent the feet of horses being balled with snow. 26 To prevent horses being teazed by fiies 27 To bring horses from a stable on fire.... 27 To prevent sheep from catching cold.... 27 INK, PAINT, POLISH, &c. Ink of various colors.27—28 Paint and White Wash.28 Polish Stoves, Ac.29 Pomade for polishing furniture.29 Blacking, Ac. 29—30 How to make Oil Soap.30 REMEDIES FOR VARIOUS COMPLAINTS. Inflammation and bleeding at lungs.... 30 Blows and Bruises. 31 Canker—Cholera Morbus—Cholera In¬ fantum . 31—32 Consumption. 32 Whooping Cough. 33 Children troubled with Worms. 33 Ear Ache --Heart Burn—Hydrophobia 33—34 Sore Throat—Sore Mouth—Ointment for weak joints—Cure for Tooth Ache —Jaundice.34—35 Making Composition Powders and Hot Drops.35—36 How to cure Corns—Warts. 36 Strengthening Plaster—Good Salve.36 Nose Bleed—Sore Eyes—Sour Stomach— Cuts and Wounds—Stomach Bitters.... 37 Recovery of Drowned Persons. 38 Nourishment for the Sick.39 List of Medicinal Preparations.40 List of Herbs.41 MISCELLANEOUS. Sundry Receipts and Hints.43—18 SECRETS REVEALED. DOMESTIC ECONOMY. Good Advice. The mistress of a family should have fixed hours for all the meals, arranged to suit the taste of her husband and the common customs of society. She should take care to have them always punctually prepared, and all pleasant means should be resorted to, to cause punctu¬ ality in all the members of the family, from the husband down. But an occasional irregularity on the part of the husband, is to be patiently borne, and on no account should he be charged with being always late to dinner. Miss Edgeworth says no man’s temper can bear that trial. PUDDINGS, PIES, CAKES, SALADS, AND OTHER COOKERY Marlborough Pudding. Take nine apples, sliced thin and stew them. When they are tender, rub them through a sieve into a pan where you have put eight ounces of butter. The heat of the apples will melt the butter, which must, be stirred together with the apples. Grate in the outside of two large lemons, and squeeze in the juice of one. Add a pound of powdered sugar and nine eggs well beaten. Stir it all well together, put a lining of puff paste upon a deep dish, pour in the pudding and bake it in a quick oven. Amber Pudding. Put a pound of butter into a saucepan, with three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, finely pounded; melt the butter and mix well with it. Then add the yolks of fifteen eggs well beaten, and some fresh candied orange, first beaten to a paste. Or, it is very good to 2a 4 SECRETS REVEALED. diminish the quantity of sugar and butter, and to nine yolks of eggs add a cracker and a half finely beaten in a mortar, the peel of a lemon shred fine, and the juice squeezed into the pudding. When baked, the pudding is transparent and of the color of amber. Potato Pudding. Boil three large mealy potatoes, mash them very smoothly, with one ounce of butter, and two or three table-spoonfuls of thick cream; add three well beaten eggs, a little salt, grated nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of brown sugar. Beat all well together, and bake it in a buttered dish, for half or three quarters of an hour, in a Dutch oven. A few currants may be added to the pudding. Sweet Potato Pudding. Boil the potatoes and mash them very smooth. To two cupsful of potato add one cup of sugar, one of but¬ ter, one glass of wine, five eggs, one nutmeg, and the grated rind of lemon. Bake with an under crust. Indian Fruit Pudding. Take a pint of hot milk and stir in sifted Indian meal till the batter is stiff; add a tea-spoonful of salt and a little molasses; then stir in a pint of whortleberries, or the same quantity of chopped sweet apple. Tie it in a cloth that has been wet, and leave room for it to swell, or put it in a pudding pan, and tie a cloth over—boil it three hours. The water must boil when it is put in. You can use cranberries, and eat it with sweet sauce. A Cheap and Quick Pudding. Beat up four eggs, add a pint of milk, and a little salt, and stir in four large spoonsful of flour, a little nutmeg and sugar to your taste. Beat it well, and pour it into buttered tea-cups, filling them rather more than half full. They will bake in a stove or Dutch oven in fifteen minutes; and if you have company un¬ expectedly to dinner, and wish to add a little dish, this is a good and cheap one. SECRETS REVEALED. 5 Chicken Pie. Parboil and cut up neatly two young chickens. Take the water in which they have been boiled to make a gravy, put into it pepper and salt and a thick¬ ening of flour and butter. Make a rich pie crust, put it in an earthen dish that has a broad rim. Boil six eggs hard, and put the yolks, cut in two, into the pie, along with the chickens; thpse who are fond of oys¬ ters, like a few laid round among the pieces of chicken. Fill the dish with the made gravy, and cover with a thick rich crust. It will require about an hour and a hal f to bake. Plain Mince Pies. A Take two pounds of lean beef boiled, and one pound •of suet, chop fine; three pounds of apples ; two pounds of raisins or currants, one pound of sugar, a little salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and one nutmeg; moisten with new cider or sweet cream. Make a good paste, and bake about an hour. The currants must be washed and dried at the fire; raisins stoned and chopped. Little Turin Cakes . Put into a pan twelve spoonsful of flour, and six spoonsful of powdered sugar, two eggs, the grating of one lemon, two ounces of nice butter, mix it all well to¬ gether with a wooden spoon, till it forms a manageable and firm paste. If the eggs do not moisten it suffi¬ ciently, add a third, or if it is too moist add a little more flour and sugar. Put your paste upon a board, and knead it until you can form it easily with the hand. Then make it into all kinds of forms, and little cakes of a finger length. Place them upon a tin sheet. Then take the yolk of an egg beaten, and with a feather mark the top of the cakes, in imitation of gilding. Place the cakes in an oven, which should be hotter than for common biscuit. Chesnut Cakes. Take a hundred chesnuts, roast them nicely, take them from the shells, and pound them with two little 3a 6 SECRETS REVEALED. cakes of butter and some thick cream. When they are pounded fine, pass them through a hair sieve, taking care that the mixture is not too moist; you can pound over again what will not go through the sieve. Weigh the paste, and to a pound put half a pound of pow¬ dered sugar, adding a little vanilla and two ounces of flour, make them into the form of chestnuts, and arrange them in order on a tin she«t, butter the sheets well, gild the tops with the beaten yolk of an egg, and bake them in a very hot oven. Tea Cakes. With a pound of flour rub a quarter of a pound of butter; add the beaten yolks of two, and the white of one egg, a quarter of a pound of pounded loaf sugar, and a few caraway seeds ; mix it to a paste with a lit- * tie warm milk, cover it with a cloth, and let it stand before the fire for nearly an hour; roll out the paste, and cut it in'to round cakes with the top of a glass, and bake them upon floured tins. Wedding Cake. Good common wedding cake may be made thus :— Four pounds of flour, three pounds of butter, three pounds of sugar,’four pounds of currants, two pounds of raisins, twenty-four eggs, half a pint of brandy, or lemon-brandy, one ounce of mace/and three nutmegs. A little molasses makes it dark colored, which is desir¬ able. Half a pound of citron improves it; but it is not necessary. To be baked two hours and a half, or three hours. After the oven is cleared, it is well to shut the door for eight or ten minutes, to let the violence of the heat subside, before cake or bread is put in. To make iceing for your wedding cake, beat the whites of eggs to an entire froth, and to each egg add five tea-spoonsful of sifted loaf sugar, gradually; beat it a great while. Put it on when your cake is hot or cold, as is most convenient. It will dry in a warm room, a short distance from a gentle fire, or in a warm oven. SECRETS REVEALED. 7 Common Batter Cakes. Six eggs well beaten, two and a half pints of milk, one tea-spoonful of 'salt, stir in three pints of meal that has been thrice sifted through a common sifter. Keep the batter well stirred while frying, otherwise the meal will settle at the bottom. Superior Jonny-cake. Take one quart of milk, three eggs, one tea-spoonful salseratus, one tea cup of wheat flour, and Indian meal sufficient to make a batter of the consistency of pan- /cakes. Bake quick, in pans previously buttered, and eat warm with butter or milk. Cider Cake. Cider cake is very good, to be baked in small loaves. One pound and a half of flour, half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, half a pint of cider, one tea-spoonful of pearlash ; spice to your taste. Bake till it turns easily in the pans : I should tmnk about half an hour. Sponge Cake. Take one pound of finely pulverized loaf sugar, nine eggs, and twelve ounces of dried and sifted flour. Beat the eggs, yolks and whites separately, nearly half an hour: then beat the sugar with the eggs till the whole is of a foam, have the oven ready, and stir in the flour lightly, adding a grated nutmeg and a little cinnamon or mace, then put the mixture in buttered tins filled only half full, and bake about half an hour; if in one large cake it will require one hour. The oven should be quick—that is, just heated, but not so hot as to scorch. Rice Cakes with Butter. Beat, till extremely light, the yolks of nine eggs; add half a pound of sifted loaf sugar, and the same quantity of sifted rice flour ; melt half a pound of fresh butter, and mix it with the eggs, sugar, and flour, along with a few pounded bitter almonds; half fill small buttered tins, and bake in a quick oven. 4a 8 SECRETS REVEALED. Caraway Cakes. One pound of flour, half a pound of butter well M rubbed into it, half a pound of sifted loaf sugar, and half a teacup of caraway seeds ; make them into a stiff paste with a little cold water, roll It out two or three times, cut it into round cakes, prick them and bake them upon floured tins, in a slow oven. Currants may be used instead of caraway seeds, if preferred. Tea Cake. T© make a cheap tea cake, take three cups of sugar, three eggs, one cup of butter, one cup of milk, a spoon¬ ful of dissolved pearlash, and four cups of flour, well beat up. If it is so stiff it will not stir easily, add a lit¬ tle more milk. A Light Cake to bake in Cups. Take a pound and a half of sugar, half a pound of butter rubbed in two pounds of flour, one glass of rose water, eight eggs well beaten, and half a nutmeg. Heart Cakes. * Beat one pound of butter to cream, with some rose water, one pound of flour dried, one pound of sifted sugar, twelve eggs, beat all well together; add a few currants washed and dried; butter small pans of a size for the purpose, heart-shaped, pour in the mixture; grate sugar over them; they are soon baked. They may be done in a Dutch oven. Composition Cake. Take one pound of flour, one pound of sugar, half a- pound of butter, seven eggs, half a pint of cream, and spices to your taste. Beat all well together, and bake in a buttered tin, or in cups. Buckwheat Cakes. Take one quart of buckwheat meal, a handful of In¬ dian meal, and a tea-spoonful of salt, mix them with two large spoonsful of yeast and sufficient cold water to make a thick batter. Put it in a warm place to rise, SECRETS REVEALED. 9 which will take three'or four hours ; or if you mix it at night, let it stand where it is rather cool. When it is light, bake it on a griddle, or in a pan. The griddle must be well buttered, and the cakes are better to be small and thin. Breakfast Cake. Put into a quart of flour four ounces of butter, and, if you use new milk, put in three large spoonsful of yeast; make it into biscuits and prick them with a fork. If you have sour milk, omit the yeast, and put a tea- spoonful of pearlash in the sour milk; pour it while effervescing into the flour. These biscuits are less likely to injure the health, than if raised with yeast. Iceing for Cakes. Put one pound of fine sifted, treble refined sugar into a basin, and the whites of three new laid eggs; beat the sugar and eggs up well with a silver spoon, until it becomes very white and thick : dust the cake over with flour, and then brush it ofT, by way of taking the grease from the outside, which prevents the iceing from run- ing; put it on smooth with a palette knife, and garnish according to fancy; any ornaments should be put on immediately, for if the iceing get dry, it will not stick on. . W Apple Bread. Peel and quarter sweet apples, put them into a pan, cover it with paste, bake till quite soft, rub them through a coarse sieve, take the pulp thus obtained, knead in flour to a proper temper, putting in yeast and shortening sufficient; then bake. Bight Corn Bread. Stir four pints meal into three pints tepid water; add one large tea-spoonful salt; let it rise five or six hours; then stir it up with the hand, and bake it in a brisk oven. Another method is to make mush, and before it grows cold, &tir in half a pint of meal. Let it rise and bake as the first. 5a 10 SECRETS REVEALED. To make a Short Crust. Put six ounces of butter to eight ounces of flour, and * work them well together ; then mix it up with as little water as possible, so as to have it a stiffish paste; then roll it out thin for use. , ' To make Potato Bread. Boil the potatoes not quite so soft as common, then dry them a short time on the fire, peal them while hot, and pound them as fine as possible, next put a small quantity of pearlash to new yeast; whilst it is work¬ ing briskly, add as much rye-meal, or flour, as can be worked in. Mix the whole well together, but do not add any water to it. After the dough is thus prepared, let it stand an hour and a half, or two hours, before it is put into the oven ; observe it will not require so long baking as regular flour bread. Snow Cream. To a quart of cream, add the whites of three eggs well beaten, a little sweet wine, and sugar to taste; whip it to a froth, and serve in a dish. Peach Marmalade. Take the ripest soft peaches, (the yellow ones make the prettiest marmalade,) pare them and take out the stones; put them in the pari with one pound of dry, light colored brown sugar to two of peaches. When they are juicy they do not require water; with a silver or wooden spoon chop them with the sugar; continue to do this, and let them boil gently till they are a trans¬ parent pulp, that will be a jelly when cold. Puffs made of this marmalade are very delicious. ✓ ». jdj - Macaroni. Lay strips of toasted bread about the dish, as near each other as possible, boil the macaroni for three quar¬ ters of an hour, and place it inside the bread, sprinkle over it crumbs of bread, then grated cheese a pretty thick layer, pour a few drops of butter over, and give it a color by holding over it the hot shovel. SECRETS REVEALED. 11 Yeast. Good housewives, who take pride in setting sweet and light bread before their families, feel vexed at nothing more than bad yeast. And they are sometimes put to a great deal of trouble in procuring a good arti- I cle. The following is said to be a good receipt for making it: Boil one pound of good flour and a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, and a little salt, in two gallons of water for an hour. When milk-warm, bottle it and cork it close and it will be fit for use in 24 hours. One pint of the yeast will make 18 pounds of bread. Apple Molasses. Place a number of bushels of sweet apples in two large brass kettles, with water just sufficient to steam them; when they have boiled soft, turn them into a new splinter basket, containing some straw, and place on them a barrel head, and a heavy weight. The juice may be caught in a tub. Repeat this until you have juice enough to fill the kettles ; commence boiling it down, and attend to it strictly, skimming it, till it becomes of the consistency of cane molasses. The na¬ tive acids of the fruit impart a peculiar flavor, other¬ wise it could hardly be distinguished from the syrup of the cane. To make Potato Balls. Mix mashed potatoes with the yolk of an egg, roll them into balls, flour them, or egg and bread crumb them, and fry them in clean drippings,—or brown them in a Dutch oven. , Tarts of Preserved Fruits. Cover patty-pans, or shallow tins or dishes, with light puff paste, and lay the preserve in them, cover with light cross bars of puff paste, or with paste stars, leaves, or flowers. For the most delicate preserves, the best way is to bake the paste first, then put in the preserves, and ornament with leaves, baked for the purpose, on tins. 6a 12 SECRETS REVEALED, Arrow Root Blancmange. Dissolve a teacupful of arrow root in a little cold wa¬ ter, take one pint of new milk, and one pint cream, boil it for a few minutes with six blades of mace, a nutmeg and lemon-peel pounded, then add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and boil all together for ten minutes. Strain ! it over the arrow root, and stir it till it is cool. Raspberry Jam. Weigh equal proportions of pounded loaf (or lump) sugar and raspberries; put the fruit in a preserving pan, and with a silver spoon or flat wooden stick, bruise and mash it well; let it boil up, then add the sugar, stirring it well with the fruit; when it boils skim it, and then boil fifteen or twenty minutes. /Strawberry Jam Is made in the same way. Peach Jam. Gather the peaches when quite ripe, peel and stone them, put them into a preserving pan, and mash them over the fire till hot; rub them through a sieve, and add to a pound of pulp the same weight of pounded loaf su¬ gar, and half an ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded ; let it boil ten or twelve minutes, stir and skim it well. Black Butler. This is a very nice preserve to spread on bread for children, and much healthier in the winter than salt butter. Take any kind of berries, currants, or cherries (the latter must be stoned)—to every pound of fruit allow half a pound of sugar, and boil till it is reduced one-fourth. Baked Pears. Take a pound of fine pears; peel, cut them in halves, and take out the cores; put them into a pan with a few cloves, half a pound of sugar, and some water. Set them in a moderate oven till tender, then put them on a slow fire to stew gently; add grated lemon peel. SECRETS REVEALED. 13 To Pres&'ve Pumpkins. Choose a thick yellow pumpkin which is sweet; pare, take out the seeds, and cut the thick part into any form you choose, round, square, egg-shaped, stars, wheels, &c., weigh it, put it into a stone jar or deep dish, and place in a pot of water to boil till the pumpkin is so soft that you can pass a fork through it. The pot may be kept uncovered, and be sure that no water boils into the jar. Take the weight of the pumpkin in good loaf su¬ gar, clarify it and boil to syrup with the juice of one lemon to every pound of sugar, and the peel cut in lit¬ tle squares. When the pumpkin is soft, put it into the syrup and simmer gently about an hour or till the liquor is thick and rich, then let it cool and put it in glass jars well secured from air. It is a very rich sweetmeat. Lemon Custard. Put the juice of four lemons with three ounces of pounded loaf sugar into a deep dish. Boil the grated peel of one lemon and two ounces of sugar in a quart of cream, and pour it over the sugar and juice. Stir it well. It will keep several days. Orange Custard May be made in the same manner. Ice Cream. Sweeten thick rich cream with powdered white sugar; make it very sweet. Essence of lemon, the juice of strawberries, or pine apples are nice to flavor the cream with. The juice should be sweetened before mixing it with the cream. Put it in an ice cream form. If a form cannot be had, a kettle with a tight cover may be substituted. Set the kettle in the centre of a tub that is large enough to leave a space of five inches from the kettle to the outside of the tub. Fill the space round the kettle with alternate layers of finely cracked ice and rock salt, leaving a layer of ice last, and the whole should be just as high as the kettle. Care should 2 14 SECRETS REVEALED. be taken to keep the salt from the cream. The tub should be covered with a thick cloth while the cream is freezing, and the kettle should be constantly shaken. To Boil Potatoes Mealy. When the water nearly boils, pour it out and put in cold salted water; it makes them mealy without crack¬ ing them. q To keep Potatoes for Sea Provisions. Slice them and bake them slowly, and they will keep and form good flour for years. Currant Jelly. Take the juice of red currants, 1 lb., sugar 6 oz. Boil down. Another method. Take the juice of red currants, add white sugar, equal quantities. Stir it gently and smoothly for three hours, put it into glasses, and in three days it will concrete into a firmjelly. A cheap Rice and Meat Soup. Put a pound of rice and a little pepper and broth herbs into two quarts of water: cover them close, and simmer very softly; put in a little cinnamon, two pounds of good ox-cheek, and boil the whole till the goodness is incorporated by the liquor. Another cheap Soup. Take an ox-cheek, two pecks of potatoes, a quarter of a peck of onions, three quarters of a pound of salt, and an ounce and a half of pepper—to be boiled in ninety pints of water, on a slow fire until reduced to sixty. A pint of this soup, with a small piece of meat, is a good meal for a hearty working man. Some of every vegetable, with a few herbs, may be added. To make Bologna Sausages. Take a pound of beef suet, a pound of pork, a pound of bacon fat and lean, and a pound of beef and veal. SECRETS REVEALED. 15 Cut them very small. Take a handful of sage leaves chopped fine, with a few sweet herbs. Season pretty- high with pepper and salt, take a large well cleaned gut and fill it. Set on a sauce-pan of water, and when it boils, put it in, first pricking it to prevent its bursting. Boil it 1 hour. To make Coffee. Take fresh-roasted coffee, (a quarter of a pound for three persons is the rule, but less will do;) allow two table-spoonsful for each person, grind it just before making, put it in a basin and break into it an egg, yolk, white, shell and all. Mix it up with the spoon to the consistence of mortar, put in warm not boiling water in the coffee pot; let it boil up and break three times, then stand a few minutes, and it will be as clear as amber, and the egg will give it a rich taste. Cocoa Shells. These should be soaked over night, then boil them in the same water in the morning. They are considera¬ bly nutritious, and allowed to be healthy, and are cheap. Substitutes for Tea. The fine green leaves of the red raspberry, gathered in a fair day, and cured in an open, airy room, are not inferior to the ordinary teas of China, and far more healthy. They should be gathered in the months of September and October. Another. The first young leaves of the common currant bush, gathered as soon as they put out, and dried on tin, can hardly be distinguished from green tea. Tomato Catchup. Sprinkle upon half a peck of tomatoes, eight table¬ spoonfuls of salt, let them remain a day or two, then boil them until the skins will separate easily; pour them into a cullender or coarse sieve, and press them through, leaving the skins behind. Add eight table¬ spoonfuls of black pepper, one spoonful of allspice, six- 16 SECRETS REVEALED. teen red peppers, six spoonfuls of mustard, the whole ground fine, and one pint of good vinegar. Simmer the whole together until it has wasted one third. Bottle tight. A portion intended to be kept long, may be boiled down to one third, the corks sealed; it will be much richer, and will keep for years. To Pickle in Brine. A good brine is made of bay salt and water, thoroughly saturated, so that some of the salt remains undissolved; into this brine the substances to be pre¬ served are plunged, and kept covered with it. Among vegetables, French beans, artichokes, olives, and the different sorts of samphire may be thus preserved, and among animals, herrings. To Ball by another method. Mix brown sugar, bay salt, common salt, each 2 lbs., salt petre, 8 oz., water 2 gallons; this pickle gives meats a fine red color, while the sugar renders them mild and of excellent flavor. Large quantities are to be managed by the above proportions. DOMESTIC WINES* Currant Wine. Put together the same measurement, of good ripe currants, and pure water; mash the currants till re¬ duced to a pulp; strain through a thick woollen bag. Put it in a barrel, with 4 pounds of sugar to every gal¬ lon of juice, leaving sufficient space in the barrel for the liquor to ferment. Bung it close, and set it away in a cool place to ferment. Rack it off in November following, bottle it up, when it is fit for use—improves with age. Grape Wine. Bruise good ripe grapes. To each gallon of grapes, add one gallon of water, and let the whole remain a week without stirring. Then draw off the liquor care¬ fully, and put to each gallon 3 pounds of lump sugar. Let it ferment in a temperate situation. When fer¬ mented stop it up tight. Bottle it six months. SECRETS REVEALED. 17 FAMILY BEER. Cottage Beer. Take a peck of fresh wheat-bran, put into 10 gallons water, with three handsful of hops; boil the whole togeth¬ er in a brass or copper kettle, until the bran and hops sink to the bottom. Then strain it through a hair sieve or a thin sheet into a cooler, and when lukewarm, add two quarts molasses. As soon as the molasses is melted, pour the whole into a 10 gallon cask, with 2 table spoonsful of yeast. When the fermentation has sub¬ sided, bung it close. Tap in 4 days. Spruce Beer. Take, if white is to be made, 6 pounds of sugar—if brown, as much molasses; and a pint of spruce, with 10 gallons of water. Ginger Beer Quickly Made. A gallon of boiling water is poured over three quar¬ ters of a pound of loaf sugar, one ounce of ginger, and the peel of one lemon; when milk-warm, the juice of the lemon and a spoonful of yeast are added. It should be made in the evening, and bottled next morning, in stone bottles, and the cork tied down with twine. Good brown sugar will answer, and the lemon may be omitted, if cheapness is required. To make Hop Beer. For a half brrrel of beer, take half a pound of hops ! and a teacupful of ginger; boil it in a pailful and a hall of water. When brewed, put it warm into a clean cask, with two quarts of molasses; shake it well, and fill the cask with water, leaving the bung open. Fill the cask when it works over. To make Beer and Ale from Pea Shells. No production of this country abounds so much with vegetable saccharine matter as the shells of green peas. A strong decoction of them so much resembles, in odour and taste, an infusion of malt (termed wort) as to de- 2 * 18 SECRETS REVEALED. ceive a brewer. This decoction, rendered slightly bitter with the wood sage, and afterwards fermented with yeast, affords a very excellent beverage. The method employed is as follows: Fill a boiler with the green shells of peas, pour on water till it rises half an inch above the shells, and simmer for three hours. Strain off the liquor, and add a strong decoction of the wood sage, or the hop, so as to render it pleasantly bitter, then ferment in the usual manner. The wood sage is the best substitute for hops, and being free from any anodyne property, is entitled to a preference. By boiling a fresh quantity of shells in the decoction before it becomes cold, it may be so thoroughly impregnated with saccharine matter, as to afford a liquor, when fermented, as strong as ale. To Cleanse Foul Casks. Fill them with meal or bran and water, and let them stand till fermentation takes place; it will entirely cleanse them without expense, as the mixture is after¬ wards as good food for swine as before. DYEING, CLEANSING, &C. To dye Wool and Woollen Cloths a Blue Color. Dissolve one part of indigo in four parts of concen¬ trated sulphuric acid; to the solution, add one part of dry carbonate of potass, and then dilute it with eight times its weight of water. The cloth must be boiled for an hour in a solution, containing 5 parts of alum, and 3 of tartar, for every 32 parts of cloth. It is then to be thrown into a water hath previously prepared, containing a greater or smaller proportion of diluted sulphate of indigo, according to the shade which the cloth is intended to receive. In this bath it must be boiled till it has acquired the wished-for color. To dye Woollens Black. . Wool is dyed black by the following process. It is boiled for two hours in a decoction of nut-galls, and afterwards kept, for two hours more, in a bath, com- SECRETS REVEALED. 19 rosed of logwood and sulphate of iron; kept, during he whole time, at a scalding heat, but not boiling. During the operation, it must be frequently exposed to i he ahr; because the green oxide of iron, of which the lulphate is composed, must be converted into red oxide )y absorbing oxygen, before the cloth can acquire a >roper color. The common proportions are five parts >f galls, five of sulphate of iron, and thirty of logwood, or every hundred of cloth. A little acetate of copper s commonly added to the sulphate of iron, because it is hought to improve the color. To dye Silks Black. Silk is dyed nearly in the same manner. It is capa- »le of combining with a great deal of tan; the quantity pven is varied at the pleasure of the artist, by allowing he silk to remain a longer or shorter time in the decoc- ion. To dye Cottons and Linens Black. The cloth, previously dyed blue , is steeped for 24 Lours in a decoction of nut-galls. A bath is prepared ontaining acetate of iron, formed by saturating acetous icid with brown oxide of iron: into this bath the cloth |3 put in small quantities at a time, wrought with the and for a quarter of an hour; then wrung out, and ired again; wrought in a fresh quantity of the bath, nd afterwards aired. These alternate processes are apeated till the color wanted is given: a decoction of lder bark is usually mixed with the liquor containing 1 re nut-galls. To turn Red Hair Black. , j Take a pint of the liquor of pickled herrings, half a \ ound of lamp-black, and two ounces of the rust of iron, lix and boil them for twenty minutes, then strain and ab the liquid well into the roots of the hair. To change the Color of Hair. ' Hair may be changed from a red, grey, or other dis- greeable color, to a brown or deep black, by a solution f silver. The liquors, sold under the name of hair 20 SECRETS REVEALED. waters , are, in faGt, no more than solutions of silver in aqua-fortis, largely diluted with water, with the ad¬ dition of ingredients, which contribute nothing to their efficacy. The solution should be fully saturated with the silver, that there may be no more acid in it than is necessary for holding the metal dissolved; and besides dilution with water, a little spirit of wine may be added for the further decomposition of the acid. For diluting the solution, distilled water, or pure rain water, must be used; the common spring waters turning it milky, and precipitating a part of the dissolved silver. It is to be observed also, that if the liquor touches the skin, it has the same effect on it as on the matter to be stained, changing the part moistened with it to an indelible black. Hair may also be dyed of any color in the same manner as wool. To clean Black Veils. Pass them through a warm liquor of bullock’s gall and water; rinse in cold water; then take a small piece of glue, pour boiling water on it, and pass the veil through it; clap it, and frame it to dry. To clean White Veils. Put the veil in a solution of white soap, and let it simmer a quarter of an hour. Squeeze it in some warm water and soap, till quite clean. Rinse it from soap, and then in clean cold water, in which is a drop of liquid blue. Then pour boiling water upon a tea- spoonful of starch, run the veil through this, and clear it well, by clapping it. Afterwards pin it out, keeping the edges straight and even. To take Stains out of Silk. Mix together in a phial 2 oz. of essence of lemon, 1 oz. of oil of turpentine. Grease and other spots in silks, are to be rubbed gently with a linen rag dipped in the above com¬ position. To take out Spots of Ink. As soon as the accident happens, wet the place with 21 SECRETS REVEALED. 1 the juice of sorrel or lemon, or with vinegar, and the • best hard white soap. To clean gold Lace. s Gold lace is easily cleansed and restored to its ojrigi- ! nal brightness by rubbing it with a soft brush dipped [ in roche alum burnt, sifted to a very fine powder. To remove Grease Spots. Rub magnesia on the spot, and cover it with clean paper, and apply above it a warm flat-iron. Repeat until the spot is removed. To clean White Kid and other Gloves. White leather gloves may be cleaned very well, by putting on one at a time r and going over them thoroughly with a shaving brush and lather. Then wipe them off with a clean sponge, and dry them on the hands by the fire or in the sun. To make Colors Fast. If a calico is likely to fade, wash it in a gallon of warm water, to which is added a large spoonful of beefs gall; wash it without soap. This will take out spots from bombazine, bombazett, &c. It will set any color, silk, cotton, or woollen. To clean Paper Hangings. Cut into eight half quarters a stale quartern loaf; with one of these pieces, after having blown off all the dust from the paper to be cleaned by means of a good pair of bellows, begin at the top of the room, holding the crust in the hand, and wiping lightly downward with the crumb, about half a yard at each stroke, till the upper part of the hangings is completely cleansed all round; then go again rouud with the like sweeping stroke downward, always commencing each successive course a little higher than the upper stroke had ex¬ tended, till the bottom be finished. This operation, if carefully performed, will frequently make very old paper look almost equal to new. Great caution must be used not by any means to rub the paper hard, nor to 22 SECRETS REVEALED. attempt cleansing it the cross or horizontal way. The dirty part of the bread too must be each time cut away, and the pieces renewed as soon as at all necessary. To Bleach Wool , Silks, Straic Bonnets, fyc. Put a pan of lighted charcoal into a barrel, strew an ounce or two of crushed brimstone upon them. Suspend the article in the top of the barrel, and cover it over very closely. To take spots of Paint from Cotton, Silks, fyc. Dip a pen in spirit of turpentine, and transfer it to the paint spot, in sufficient quantity to discharge the oil and gluten. Let it stand some hours, then rub it. For large or numerous spots, apply the spirit of tur¬ pentine with a sponge, if possible before it is become dry. To extract Grease Spots from Silks and Colored Muslins, &pc. Scrape French chalk, put it on the grease-spot, and hold it near the fire, or over a warm iron, or water- plate, filled with boiling water. The grease will melt, and the French chalk absord it, brush or rub it off. Repeat if necessary. INJURIES TO CATTLE, &C. To cure Wounds in Cattle. When horses, cattle, or any of our domestic animals are wounded, the treatment may be very simple, and much the same as in the human race. It is extremely improper to follow a practice that is common in many parts of the country among farriers, cow doctors, and even shepherds—that of applying to the wound, or put¬ ting into the sore part, common salt, powder of blue vitriol, or tar, or cloths dipped in spirits, as brandy, rum, &c. or turpentine, or any other stimulant articles; for all such very much increase the pain, and by irri¬ tating the sore, may increase the inflammation even to the length of inducing mortification. Though the SECRETS REVEALED. 23 treatment may be varied according to circumstances, yet, in most cases, it may be sufficient to take notice of the following particulars:—It will be proper to wash away any foulness or dirt about the part, and to exam¬ ine particularly its condition. To stop the Bleeding. Should any large blood-vessel be cut, and discharg¬ ing copiously, it will be right to stop it, by some lint or sponge, with moderate compression, or bandaging, at the same time, and not taking it off for two or three days. Should the pressure fail of effect, caustic appli¬ cations, such as the lunar caustic, or even the actual cautery, the point of a thick wire, sufficiently heated, may be tried ; or, if a surgeon be at hand, the vessel may be taken up by the crooked needle, with waxed thread, and then tied. Adhesive Plaster, and Sewing. When there is no danger of excessive bleeding, and a mere division of the parts, or a deep gash or cut, it will be right to adjust the parts, and keep them together by a strip of any common adhesive plaster; or, when this will not do by itself, the lips of the wound, especially if it be.a clean cut, maybe closed by one or more stitches, with a moderately coarse needle and thread, which in each stitch may be tied, and the ends left of a proper length, so that they can be afterwards removed when the parts adhere. It is advised.to tie the threads, be¬ cause sometimes the wounded part swells so much that it is difficult to get them cut and drawn out, without giving pain, and doing some mischief. Bandages. If the part will allow a roller or bandage to be used, to keep the lips of it together, this may likewise be em¬ ployed; for by supporting the sides of the wound, it would lessen any pain which the stitches occasion. With this treatment the wound heals often in a short time, or in a few days, rarely exceeding five or six, and sooner in the young and healthy, than in the old and 4 24 SECRETS REVEALED. relaxed, and sooner in the quiet and motionless, than in the restless and active. Sores and Bruises. The following has been found useful as a common poultice. “ Fine bran, 1 quart; pour on it a sufficient quantity of boiling water to make a thin paste; to this add of linseed powder enough to give it a proper con¬ sistence.” The poultice may be kept on for a week or ten days, or even longer, if necessary, changing it once or twice a day; and cleansing the wound, when the poultice is removed, by washing it by means of a Soft rag or linen cloth, with water not more, than blood warm, (some sponges are too rough for this purpose) ; or, where the wound is deep, the water may be injected into it by a syringe, in order to clean it from the bottom. Ointment. In the course of a few days, when the wound, by care and proper management with the poultices, begins to put on a healthy appearance, and seems to be clean and of a reddish color, not black or bloody, then there may be applied an ointment made of tallow, linseed oil, beeswax, and hogs lard, in such proportion as to make it of a consistence somewhat firmer than butter. The ointment should be spread on some soft clean tow, and when applied to the sore, it ought never to be tied hard upon it. This application may be changed once a day; or when nearly well, and discharging but little, once in two days. The Staggers. Bleed the animal copiously, (the disease is a true apoplexy,) 2h quarts at once; then give him half a pint of linseed oil, the same of castor oil, 40 grains of calomel, 60 grains of jalap, and two ounces of tincture of aloes. Give him twice a day warm bran mashes. The Bots. Three kinds of worms infest the bowels of horses, called by the Farriers, bots, truncheons, and maw- SECRETS REVEALED. 25 worms. The bot infests the great gut near the anus ; it is a small worm with a large head, and may be frequently observed in the dung. The truncheon is short and thick, with a blackish head, and is found in the maw, where, if suffered to remain, it sometimes pierces through, and thus is many a fine horse destroyed. The maw-worm is of ft pale red color, resembling an earth worm, from two to three inches long, occupying, also, the maw. For Bots in Horses. Take of beeswax, mutton tallow, and loaf sugar, each eight ounces, put it into one quart of new milk, and warm it until all is melted. Then put it into a bottle, and give it just before the wax, &c., begins to harden. About two hours after give physic. The effect is that the bots are discharged in large numbers, each piece of wax having from one to six or eight of them sticking to it, some by the head, but most by their legs or hooks. Symptoms of Worms in Horses. Stamping forcibly on the ground with either of his fore-feet, and frequently striking at his belly with his hind ones. Belly projecting and hard—looking fre¬ quently behind him, and groaning as if in great pain. Remedies for Worms. Keep the horse from all kinds of food for one day; at night, give him a small quantity of warm bran mash, made as usual, and directly after, a ball made of 1 scruple of calomel, 1 scruple of turpeth mineral, and as much crumb of bread and honey as will form the mass. Next evening give, him a pint of castor, and half a pint of linseed oil. The animal is then to be fed as usual for two or three days, and the same plan again to be employed. To make a Sick Horse Drink Freely. A horse has a very sweet tooth,—when he is unwell and wont drink, mix molasses or coarse brown sugar in the water: he will then drink freely. 3 26 SECRETS REVEALED. Foundered Feet. This is known by the contraction of the hoof, which will appear considerably smaller than the sound one. The horse just touches the ground with the toe of the foundered foot on account of pain, and stands in such a tottering way that you may shove him over with your hand. * Cure. —Take off the shoe, bleed freely from the thigh vein, and purge two or three times. Keep the hair close trimmed and the parts clean. Hoof Bound. Cut down several lines from the coronet down to the toe all round the hoof, and fill the cuts with tallow and soap mixed. Take off the shoes and (if you can spare him,) turn the animal into a wet meadow, where his feet will be kept moist. Never remove the sole nor burn the lines down, as this increases the evil. A cure for sore backs of Horses. TheT)est method of curing sore backs, is to dissolve half an ounce of blue vitriol in a pint of water, and bathe the injured parts with it four or five times a day. Strains. In whatever part of the body, this accident occurs, the treatment should be perfect rest, moderate bleeding and purging till the inflammation is reduced, when any stimulating embrocation may be used. To cure the Thrush in Horses’ Feet. Simmer over the fire, till it turns brown, equal parts of honey, vinegar, and verdigris, and apply it with a feather or brush occasionally to the feet. The horse at the same time should stand hard, and all soft dung and straw be removed. To prevent the feet of Horses from Balling with Snow. If the frog in the hoofs of horses and the fetlock- be cleansed, and well rubbed with soft soap, previously to their going out in snowy weather, it will effectually SECRETS REVEALED. 27 prevent their falling, from what is termed balling the snow. A number of accidents might be prevented by this simple precaution. To prevent Horses being Teased by Flies. Boil three or four handfuls of walnut leaves in a gallon of water, and before the horse goes out in the morning, bathe with it. • To bring Horses out of a Stable on Fire. Throw the harness or saddle to which they may have been accustomed, over the backs of the horses in this predicament, and they will come out of the stable as tractably as usual. To prevent Sheep from catching cold after being Shorn. Sheep are sometimes exposed to cold winds and rains immediately after shearing, which exposure frequently hurts them. Those farmers who have access to the sea, should plunge them into the salt water, those who have not that opportunity, and whose flocks are not very large, may mix salt with water and rub them all over, which will in a great measure prevent any mis¬ hap befalling the animal, after having been stript of its coat. INK, PAINT, POLISH, AC. To make Black Ink. Take two gallons of soft water, a pound and a half of bruised galls, keep near a gentle heat for two or three weeks, stirring often ; then add half a pound each of copperas, logwood chips, and gum arabic, some loaf sugar, lemon-peel, and a gill of brandy. Blue Ink. In half a pint of water, dissolve half an ounce of gum arabic. Grind* some Prussian blue very fine, and add 'it in proportion as you wish depth of color. Green Ink. Cream of tartar, one part; verdigris two parts ; water eight parts. Boil until reduced to a proper color. 28 SECRETS REVEALED. Red Ink, Grind very fine, vermillion three parts, and carmine one part; dissolve in the gum water as for blue ink. Cheap White House Paint. Take skim-milk, two quarts, eight ounces fresh slacked lime, six ounces linseed oil, two ounces white Burgundy pitch, three pounds Spanish white. Slack the lime in water, expose it to the air, and mix in about one fourth of the milk; the oil in which the pitch is previously dissolved, to be added a little at a time; then the rest of the milk, and afterwards the Spanish white. This quantity is sufficient for thirty square yards, two coats, and costs but a few cents. If other colors are wanted, use instead of Spanish white, other coloring matter. A brilliant White Wash. Take half a bushel of nice unslacked lime, slack it with boiling water, covering it during the process, to keep in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it a peck of clean salt, previously well dissolved in warm water; three pounds of ground rice, boiled to a thin paste, and stirred in boiling hot; half a pound powdered Spanish whiting, and a pound of clean glue, which has been previously dissolved by first soaking it well, and then hanging it over a slow fire, in a small kettle, within a large one filled with water. Add five gallons of hot water to the whole mixture; stir it well, and let it stand a few days covered from the dirt. It should be put on quite hot ; for this purpose, it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. It is said that about one pint of this mixture will cover a square yard upon the outside of a house if properly applied. Brushes more or less small may be used according to the neatness of the job required. It answers as well as oil paint, for wood, brick, or stone, and is cheaper. It retains its brilliancy for many years. Colouring matter may be put in and made of every shade you like ; lamp black in moderate quanti¬ ties makes a slate color—Spanish brown stirred in, SECRETS REVEALED. 29 will red, or pink, more or less deep; yellow ochre stirred in, makes a yellow wash ; but chrome, goes fur¬ ther, and makes a color generally esteemed prettier. To polish Stoves. Mix powder of black lead with a little common gin or alcohol, and lay it on the stove with a piece of linen rag; then take a dry but not hard brush, dip it in some of the dry black lead powder, and rub it to a beautiful brightness. To preserve Iron f rom Rust. . Heat the iron to redness, just perceptible in the dark, then cool it in tallow. To Mend Cracks in Stoves. Take equal parts of wood ashes and common salt, and mix them with water, to the consistence of mortar; with this fill the cracks. Pomade for Waxing Furniture. Melt over a moderate fire, in a very clean vessel, two ounces of white or yellow wax; and when liquefied, add four ounces of good essence of turpentine. Stir the whole until it is entirely cool, and the result will be a kind of pomade fit for waxing furniture, and which must be rubbed over them according to the usual method. The essence of turpentine is soon dissipated : but the wax, which by its mixture is reduced to a state of very great division, may be extended with more ease, and in a more uniform manner. The essence soon penetrates the pores of the wood, calls forth the color of it, causes the wax to adhere better, and the lus¬ tre which thence results is equal to that of varnish, without having any of its inconveniences. Good Blacking. Take ivory black and molasses each twelve ounces, spermaceti oil four ounces, white wine vinegar two quarts, mix together. Water-proof Blacking. Take three ounces of spermaceti, melt in an earthen 30 SECRETS REVEALED. vessel over a slow fire; add six drachms India-rubber, cut into thin slices, let it dissolve; then add eight ounces tallow, two ounces hog’s lard, and four ounces amber varnish; mix, and it will be fit for use. To 'prepare Water Proof Boots. Boots and shoes may be rendered impervious to water by the following composition.—Take 3 oz. of spermaceti, and melt it in a pipkin, or other earthen vessel, over a slow fire: add thereto six drachms of India rubber, cut into slices, and these will presently dissolve. Then add, seriatim , of tallow, 8 ounces; hog’s lard, 2 ounces; amber varnish, 4 ounces. Mix, and it will be fit for use immediately. The boots or other material to be treated, are to receive two or three coats, with a common blacking brush, and a fine polish is the result. Oil of Soap , for removing Paint , Grease Spots , Spc. Take one half pint of spirits of hartshorn, one half pint of alcohol, one half pint of urine, and a table¬ spoonful of salt. Put it into a bottle, and shake it well; apply with a sponge. REMEDIES FOR VARIOUS COM¬ PLAINTS WHICH AFFLICT THE HUMAN BODY. A New and Valuable Remedy to check Inflammation of the Lungs. Take a small Garlic and boil in half a pint of milk, into which infuse a piece of Saltpetre as big as a com¬ mon pea. Drink this warm before going to bed. Con¬ tinue the use of it every night as long as you please. It is so pimple and easy of preparation, and has already afforded so much relief to a friend, that we can confi¬ dently recommend it. Bleeding at the Lungs , or Spitting Blood. To check the bleeding, let the patient eat freely of raw table salt. Loaf sugar and rosin, equal parts pow- SECRETS REVEALED. 31 dered, take a tea-spoonful four or five times a day; it will be found of great use. A tea made of Yarrow, is very useful in this complaint. Choose a light diet, chiefly of milk and vegetables, and avoid all hot and stimulating drinks. A plaster compounded of tar and hemlock gum should be worn upon the side and breast, if the patient suffers pain. Blows and Bruises. An ointment made of fresh winter-green (checker- berry) leaves, simmered in lard, and a little turpentine added to it, is excellent for blows and bruises. Worm¬ wood, macerated in boiling water, and repeatedly ap¬ plied, will speedily remove pain, prevent swelling, dis¬ coloration, &c. Likewise, a poultice made of elder flowers and crumbs of bread, boiled in equal parts of vinegar and water, and renewed in its application twice a day, will be found an excellent remedy. The above ointment may be used after discontinuing the use of poultices. Canker. A tea made of equal parts of the inside of hemlock bark, sumach bark or the berries, raspberry leaves and bayberry bark, is very useful in this complaint. It may be drank at pleasure. Either of these articles taken separately is very good.—Blue Yiolet flowers or leaves are also excellent. Cholera Morbus. The Cholera Morbus is a violent vomiting and purg¬ ing of bile, attended also with severe pain in the stom¬ ach and bowels. It is a dangerous disease, resulting in death frequently in a few hours. Apply flannel cloths, wrung out in hot water or spir¬ its, over the whole surface of the stomach. Immerse the feet in warm water, or, if the patient be in bed, bottles filled with hot water, and kept to the feet, will answer. Drink freely of warm pennyroyal tea and composition powders. If these means fail, give 60 drops of paregoric, and put a strong poultice of mus- 32 SECRETS REVEALED, tard upon the stomach. When the pain subsides, give a dose of castor oil, to caary off the remaining bile. Those subject to this disease should always wear a flannel next their body, be cautious of their diet, and avoid exposure to the damp, cold air. Cholera Infantum. This disease prevails during the summer, and attacks children from a week after birth till two or three years old. It is attended with vomiting—purging of green or yellow matter, of slime, or of blood—attended with pain, swelling of the belly, and heat of the skin, grow¬ ing worse towards evening. It is generally attributed to hot weather, and it is aggravated by teething, or ex¬ cessive use of fruit. In this disease the stomach and bowels must be evac¬ uated, and afterwards give charcoal and magnesia, or the latter alone. When there is much irritability, clys¬ ters of flaxseed tea, mutton broth, and starch, with a little laudanum in them, will give ease. Fomentations to the bowels and abdomen are useful. After the vio¬ lence of the symptoms is over, give the peruvian bark in powder or decoction, adding a little nutmeg. Or use a tea of avens, or bay berry root, or the leaves of red raspberry. The removal of children to the country, abstaining from fruit, the use of flannel, and the cold bath, are means prescribed for prevention. Consumption. If the disease is taken early, much good may be done by a change of climate, a milk diet, exercise on horseback. A voyage on the salt water or removal to the high table lands of some western-prairie, is the most sure remedy for this complaint; it is in fact the only' course that will prove effectual. Rice and milk, barley and milk, boiled with a little sugar, is very proper food. Also, ripe fruits roasted or boiled ; shell fish, especially oysters eaten raw, drinking the juice with them. Chicken broths, and jellies of calves’ feet, and the like, are very nourishing. 33 . SECRETS REVEALED. Hooping Cough. The principal danger to be guarded against in this complaint, is an inflammation of the lungs. It will be proper therefore to give slight emetics frequently, of wine of ipecac, or tincture of lobelia, to keep the lungs free. Let the diet be light and easy of digestion, and the drink pennyroyal, or life everlasting, steeped, and sweetened with honey or molasses. Keep the bowels open with rhubarb tincture—a tea-spoonful may be given to an infant twice a day, as it may need. Let the feet be rubbed two or three times a day with an ointment made by beating an onion , and mixing it with an equal portion of hog’s lard. Apply a strength¬ ening plaster between the shoulders. In pleasant weather let the child have fresh air. A change of air is very desirable. Children troubled with worms. Take the leaves of sage, powdered fine and mixed with a little honey, tea-spoonful for a dose; or flour of sulphur mixed with honey, is good for worms. Sweet¬ ened milk, with a little alum added to it, is good to turn worms. Croup. As this is a desperate disease, and one which, if neglected, will surely result in death, active measures should be immediately pursued. Let no time be lost in giving an emetic—immerse the feet in warm water, and put a poultice of yellow snuff, mixed with goose oil, upon the stomach. Sweet oil will answer. Apply a number of thicknesses of flannel wet in hot water over the wind-pipe, as hot as it can be borne. Change as often as it cools. Place onion poultices upon the feet when taken from the water. Ear Ache. If the pain be occasioned by any hard substance in the ear, a few drops of olive oil will relax the mem¬ brane ; if followed soon after by a few drops of sweet oil and paregoric, it will relieve the pain. If the pain be occasioned by a sudden cold, let some warm tobacco 4 34 SECRETS REVEALED. smoke, drawn through a pfpe, be infused into the ear. Let the patient’s feet be immersed in hot or warm wa¬ ter, and the heart of a roasted onion be placed in the ear, and bound up, and a warm brick be constantly { applied. When the feet are taken from the water, bind roasted onions upon the feet. This will seldom fail to give relief. Heartburn. This is not a disease of the heart, but an uneasy sensation of heat or acrimony about the pit of the stomach, attended with belching, nausea, aud vomit¬ ing. When occasioned by a sour stomach, a teaspoon¬ ful of magnesia, or carbonate of soda, in a little water, will relieve. When owing to wind, use anise, corian¬ der, or caraway seeds. When indigestion is the cause, a dose of sweet tincture of rhubarb will give relief. When troubled with hot fumes, and vomiting after meals, three parts of saleratus, and one of rhubarb, finely powdered, and a tea-spoonful taken daily, in a tumbler of cold water, sipped up in the course of the day, is pretty certain to give relief. It may be tinc¬ tured with peppermint or- winter-green. Rhubarb, magnesia, or soda lozenges, are convenient to carry in the pocket for this disorder. Hydrophobia. . When a person has been bitten by a mad dog, if it be in a fleshy part, and where there is no danger of hurting any large blood-vessel, the parts adjacent to the wound may be cut away. But if this be not done soon after the bite has been received, it will be better to omit it. The wound may be dressed with salt and water, or vinegar and salt, and afterwards dressed twice a day with yellow basilicon mixed with red pre¬ cipitate of mercury. The blue skull-cap herb has been regarded as a specific for this disorder. ' Ointment for Weak Joints. Boil together sweet apple-tree and white oak bark with a piece of codfish skin till you obtain an extract. SECRETS REVEALED. 35 Make a plaster of this, and wear it on the affected part. It seldom fails of a cure. Another simple remedy, and perhaps the most sure, is, to spread a plaster'of common soft soap on a piece of cloth and bandage it around the weak joint on going • to bed; repeat it a few nights and it will cure the weakness. Sore Throat and Sore Mouth. Dr. Rush recommends the following: Cayenne pep¬ per six ounces, common salt four drachms, boiling wa¬ ter a pint and a half. Uet it remain in a close vessel for an hour, then strain it through a fine cloth. Take a table-spoonful every hour or two. Or take a tea¬ spoonful of cayenne, put it to two table-spoonsful of hot vinegar, stir it awhile, then strain, and sweeten. Take a tea-spoonful every half-hour till relieved. A draught of cayenne pepper sauce will often cure the disorder. Crane’s-bill root chewed, or made into a tea, is excellent for the above complaints. A Radical Cure for the Toothache. Use as a tooth powder the Spanish snuff called si- bella, and it will clean the teeth as well as any other powder, and totally prevent the tooth-ache : and make a regular practice of washing behind the ears with cold water every morning; the remedy is infallible. For Jaundice. Take the white of an egg in a tumbler of cold spring water, (beat well together,) every morning before breakfast. It cools the lungs, promotes perspiration, invigorates the animal spirits, promotes digestion, and creates an appetite. For making Composition Powders. Take of barberry bark 2 lbs, of hemlock bark 1 lb, ginger 1 lb, cloves 2 oz, cayenne pepper 2 oz. Pulver¬ ize in a mortar, and it is fit for use. Dose, a tea-spoon¬ ful to a large coffee cup of hot water. Sweeten and cream to your liking—good in colds, chiliness, &c. 30 SECRETS REVEALED. For making Hot Drops. Take of the best gum myrrh, pulverized, 6 ounces, African cayenne \ an ounce, put it into two quarts of alcohol, or fourth proof brandy. Cure for Burns. Take a table spoonful of lard, half a table spoonful of spirits of turpentine, and a piece of rosin as big as a hickory-nut, and simmer them together till melted. It makes a salve, which, when cold, may be applied to a linen cloth and laid over the burn.* If immediately wanted, spread it on the cloth as soon as melted—it will very soon cool. I have seen it applied after the corroding effects of chemical poisons, after a foot has been burnt by boiling sugar, and after severe scalds, and in every case the sufferer obtained perfect ease in ten or fifteen minutes after it was used.—It may be applied two or three times a day, or as often as the cloth becomes stiff. Cure for Corns. It is said, if you bind a lock of unwrought cotton on a corn for a week or two, in an unaccountable manner the corn will be dislodged. Cure for Warts. The bark of a willow tree burnt to ashes, and mixed with strong vinegar and applied to the parts will re¬ move all warts, corns or excrescences on any part of the body. Strengthening Plaster. Common Rosin softened with Spirit of Turpentine and Olive Oil, over a gentle heat is as good an article as can be obtained. Good Satve. I have used a salve for healing burns, wounds, sores, &c., which is composed of equal parts of Spruce Gum and Mutton Tallow, with the addition of a little Olive Oil, to render it the more soft and adhesive. These ar¬ ticles are to be so well ground together that no particle SECRETS REVEALED. 37 or grains of gum can be felt. This> preparation is pecu¬ liarly and preeminently calculated to prevent bad odors arising from sores; indeed the odor of the salve is fra¬ grant and pleasant; besides it seems to me to be the 'most cleansing and healing thing in use. Sore Eyes. Inflammation of the eyes may be subdued by as¬ tringent washes. Use a tea made from raspberry leaves, oak bark, hemlock bark ; or a wash composed of five grains of white vitriol, to a fluid ounce of cold water. * “Tea grounds ” applied as a poultice at night, are often of service. If these things fail, two or three leeches may be applied near the seat of inflammation. Nose Bleed. Children are frequently troubled with bleeding at the nose; and sometimes are kept weak and pale from the loss of blood in this way. Washing the face and neck frequently in cold water will, in such cases, be of great benefit. Syringing the nostrils with strong alum water, four or five times a day, and especially when the child goes to bed, will generally stop all this trouble. Sour Stomach. Small doses of calcined magnesia will obviate sick¬ ness arising from acidity of the stomach. Give a teaspoonful in milk, once, twice, or more as may be necessary. . . Cuts and Wounds. Always do up the wound in its own blood without the application of spirit, oil, or salve. If the wound readily heals, no further attention is necessary. If suppuration takes place, use the spruce gum salve, or simple cerate. Stomach Bitters. An excellent strengthening Bitter is made in the fol¬ lowing manner, viz : Take of Balm Gilead Buds, \ ounce; Gentian, £ ounce; Sarsaparilla, 3 ounces; Sas¬ safras, 1 ounce. Boil the whole in water for two hours ^ 38 SECRETS REVEALED.- leaving a full quart? when strained, add sugar and a little spirit, to preserve from souring. Dose, a wine glass full thrice a day. When this is used for lung complaints, add to the quart thirty grains of sulphate of Iron. For persons of costive habit, an ounce of Rhubarb may be added before boiling. A Cure for a Sore Throat. For children that are troubled with this malady, mothers will find a sure and speedy relief in the use of powdered alum. It should first be burned on a shovel; then powdered and blown through a quill directly upon the inflamed parts. This remedy is certain, and its ap¬ plication in families will be attended with most satisfac¬ tory results. Important Discovery to cure Hydrophobia. Drink a strong decoction made by boiling the bark of the black ash, which is a well known cure for the bite of the rattlesnake, drinking a wine-glass full three times a day for eight days. This is a very simple remedy, and should at least have a trial. Rheumatic Liniment. • Mix 1 ounce olive oil, 1 ounce water of ammonia, I ounce oil of turpentine, 1 ounce oil of peppermint, 1 ounce oil of origanum, and half pint of alcohol; shake the mixture well, rub the part affected, and wrap in flannel. Cure for Sick Headache. Take 10 or 15 drops of ammonia, mix with water, and drink. Recovery of Drowned Persons. As this little work may fall into the hands of some one who may hereafter be present when the recovery of the drowned is attempted, it may be proper here to give an outline of the most successful method of treat¬ ment. The first thing to be done is to get the patient into a warm and dry position, with the head and shoulders a SECRETS REVEALED, 39 little elevated. With warm flannels rub the whole sys¬ tem, especially the hands and feet. If a little ground mustard or tincture of flies, be discreetly used, it will help to warm and stimulate the body. Some warm injections are to be thrown up into the bowels. Harts¬ horn, Aqua Ammonia, and other stimulating substan¬ ces, are to be applied to the temples, nostrils, and region of the heart. Blowing into the mouth while the nostrils are held, and then relieving the mouth and nostrils, while the chest is compressed, so as to get up an artificial breath¬ ing,—administering a little spirit, and perhaps wine of Antimony, are the remedies found to be most success¬ ful ; and in all cases are to be persevered in, for at least two hours, as it is known that persons are frequently restored even after an elapse of four hours. Nourishment for the Sick. Beef Tea. Cut a pound of good beef into thin slices simmer it with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled, and been skimmed; season it if you wish, and add a little salt. Broth. Take two pounds of lean beef, five quarts of water, simmer down to three quarts; add half a cup of rice and a little salt. Veal or mutton prepared the same way. Eggs. Weak persons may take eggs in the follow¬ ing manner: Beat an egg very fine, add some sugar and nutmeg, pour upon it a gill of boiling water and drink it immediately. Gruel. Take one cracker and pound it fine ; then pour one pint of boiling water to it, add a little sugar and salt. Grate some nutmeg upon it. Rice Caudle. Mix some ground rice smooth with a little cold water, then put it into boiling water; when it becomes sufficiently thick add a bit of lemon peel, or cinnamon, and sugar to taste. Milk Porridge. Put a quart of water in a kettle, adding a little salt, and while heating, mix a gill of flour in a bowl of water, made thick, and when the 40 SECRETS REVEALED. water is boiling hot, drop this into it with a spoon; let it be well boiled, then add half a pint of milk. Foreign Bodies in the Throat. Persons are frequently in danger of suffocation from fish bones, pins, &c., which stick in the throat. The moment an accident of this kind occurs, desire the pa¬ tient to be perfectly still, open his mouth and look into it. If you can see the obstruction, endeavor to seize it with your finger and thumb, or a long slender pair of pincers. If it cannot be got up, or is not of a nature to do any injury in the stomach, push it down with the handle of a spoon, or a flexible round piece of whale¬ bone, the end of which is neatly covered with a roll of linen, or any thing that may be at hand. If you can neither get it up nor down, place 6 grains of tartar emetic in the patient’s mouth. As it dissolves, it will make him excessively sick, and in consequence of the relaxation, the bone, or whatever it may be, will de¬ scend into the stomach or be ejected from the mouth. If a pin, button, or other metalic or pointed body has been swallowed (or pushed into the stomach) make the patient eat plentifully of thick rice pudding, and endeavor to prevent him from going to stool for at least twelve hours. A list of such Medical Preparations and Herbs as every family ought to keep on hand. CASTOR OIL—Dose, for a child a year old, a tea¬ spoonful; for an adult, a table-spoonful. SWEET OIL. SYRUP SQUILLS—Dose, for a child, half tea¬ spoonful. PAREGORIC—Dose, for a child, from 5 to 20 drops. WINE IPECAC—Dose, to act as an emetic, 15 drops, repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates'; for an adult, a lea-spoonful repeated as above. SENNA —Dose, for an adult, a table-spoonful of the leaves steeped. CAMPHOR. COMPOSITION—Dose, adult, a tea-spoonful. HOT DROPS—Dose, adult, a tea¬ spoonful. GROUND MUSTARD. RHUBARB— Dose, an adult, a tea-spoonful of the powder. SAGE. THOROUGHWORT. CATNIP. SPEARMINT. SECRETS REVEALED. 41 HORSE-RADISH LEAVES. PENNYROYAL. VALERIAN. LOBELIA—Dose, adult, a tea-spoon- i fill once in fifteen minutes, till it operates. BURDOCK LEAVES. HOARHOUND. YARROW. A list of the most Common Herbs and their Medicinal Properties. ALDER. This is an astringent, useful in bleeding at the lungs, or as a wash for ulcers. BALM GILEAD BUDS. Steeped in spirit, excel¬ lent for bathing wounds. BURDOCK. This is a cathartic; it will produce perspiration. The leaves are good in fevers, to bind upon the'head and feet. BLACKBERRY. This is astringent;—very valu¬ able in the dysentery. BLUEFLAG. Useful in fevers, or to expel humors from the system. Dose—half tea-spoonful three times a day. CAMOMILE FLOWERS. Good for nervous com¬ plaints—equal to Valerian, if not superior. CATNIP. Valuable for injections. In fevers it promotes perspiration without raising the heat of the ! body. GOMFREY. This is mucilaginous; valuable in coughs and all consumptive complaints. COLTSFOOT. A tea of this is good for hoarseness. ENGLISH MALLOWS. Physical—gentle and soothing—good for making an ointment. GOLDENTHREAD. This is useful in bitters; simmered in lard it makes a good ointment for sore lips, hands, &c. GOLDEN SEAL. This corrects the bile, restores i the organs of digestion, and promotes a discharge of | urine. HARDHACK. This is astringent; useful in the diarrhoea, and dysentery. HOARHOUND. This is valuable, combined with Thoroughwort, for coughs, colds, and all lung com¬ plaints. 42 SECRETS REVEALED. LIFE EVERLASTING. This is the most effica¬ cious of all herbs, in breaking up a long standing cough, drank in the form of tea and sweetened with molosses. MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY. Very useful in bleed¬ ing at the lungs. MOTHERWORT. This will ease the pain in the nervous headache. MULLEN. This is physical; good, simmered in lard, for the piles. PEPPERMINT. Valuable for the colic; to prevent sickness at the stomach, &c. PLANTAIN. Good, combined with lard, for the salt rheum ; its juice will cure the bite of snakes. PENNYROYAL. This is a stimulant; it should always be given to assist the operation of the Lobelia emetic. POPLAR BARK. This is tonic; used in bitters. SKUNK C ABB AG E. Promotes expectoration, quiets the nerves, very useful in asthma. SASSAFRAS. Steeped in water, it is an excellent wash for all kinds of humors. SAGE. Useful in fevers and for worms in children. SAFFRON. Makes a valuable tea for children afflict¬ ed with the measles, chicken-pox, and all eruptive diseases. SPEARMINT. Prevents, or will turn sickness at' stomach—cooling—good in fevers. THOROUGH WORT. This herb is both physical and emetic; very valuable in fevers, colds, coughs, &c.; good in bitters. VALERIAN. Good in all nervous complaints; a swallow or two taken occasionally will produce the same effect as paregoric, and is every way preferable to it. WORMWOOD. Valuable in sprains and bruises; drank as a tea, it will cleanse the stomach, and create an appetite. WILD CHERRY-TREE BARK. A tea made of this is said to have cured consumption, if taken in season. SECREtS REVEALED. 43 WINTERGREEN. This is cleansing to the blood; may be taken as a tea or as a syrup. YELLOW DOCK. This is physical and bracing; valuable in the piles; it will purify the blood, and ex¬ pel bad humors from the system. YARROW. This is useful in blood-spitting, dysen¬ tery, piles, &c. Most roots should be collected either late in the fall, or early in the spring. Herbs should be gathered while in blossom. They should be dried in the shade and packed up in paper as soon as they are dry. Herb tea, to do any good , should be made very strong. MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. How to save Oil and Candles. Use sunlight two hours in the morning, and dispense with candles and lamps two hours after 9, P. M. The morning sunlight is much cheaper and better than evening lamp light. How to save your Properly , if your House should be consumed by fire. Get insured. No one is entitled to much charity after he suffers loss, if he neglects so easy a method of securing himself. To make Leeches take hold. To make.leeches take hold on the spot required, take a piece of white paper, cut small holes in it where you wish them to bite, lay this over the place, and put the leeches on the paper. Not liking the paper, they will take hold of the skin where it appears through the hole. To prevent Flies injuring Picture and Mirror Frames. Boil three or four leeks in a pint of water, and wash over the frames with a brush. Flies will not go near an article thus washed. 44 SECRETS REVEALED. To Purify Water. Put into a barrel of water, a table spoonful of finely powdered alum ; stir briskly. Let it settle. To 'prevent the Smoking of a Lamp. Soak the wick in very strong vinegar, and dry it well before you use it; it will then burn both sweet and pleasant, and gives much satisfaction for the trifling trouble in preparing it. To stop the ravages of Caterpillars from Shrubs, Plants, and Vegetables. Take a chafing dish with lighted charcoal, and place it under the branches of the tree, or bush, whereon are the caterpillars: then throw a little brim¬ stone on the coals. The vapor of the sulphur, which is mortal to these insects, and the suffocating fixed air arising from the charcoal, will not only destroy all that i are on the tree, but will effectually prevent the shrubs from being, at that season, infested with them. A pound of sulphur will clear as many trees as grow on several acres. Another method of driving these insects off fruit trees, is to boil together a quantity of rue, wormwood, and common tobacco (of each equal parts,) in common water. The liquor should be very strong. Sprinkle this on the leaves and young branches every morning and evening during the time the fruit is ripening. • • To destroy Insects on Plants. Tie up some flowers of sulphur in a piece of muslin or fine linen, and with this the leaves of young shoots of plants should be dusted,£or it may be thrown on them by means of a common swansdown puff, or even by a dredging-box. Fresh assurances have repeatedly been received of the powerful influence of sulphur against the whole tribe of insects and worms which infest and prey on i vegetables Sulphur has also been found to promote the health of plants, on which it was sprinkled; and SECRETS REVEALED. 45 that peach trees in particular were remarkably im¬ proved by it, and seemed to absorb it. It has been likewise observed, that the verdure, and other healthful appearances, were perceptibly increased ; for the quan¬ tity of new shoots and leaves formed subsequently to the operation, and having no^sulphur on their surfaces, served as a kind of comparative index, and pointed out distinctly the accumulation of health. To restore Flowers. Most flowers begin to droop and fade after being kept during twenty-four hours in water; a few may be re¬ vived by substituting fresh water; but all (the most fugacious, such as poppy, and perhaps one or two others excepted,) may be restored by the use of hot water. For this purpose place the flowers in scalding water, deep enough to cover about one-third of the length of the stem ; by the time the water has become cold, the flowers will have become erect and fresh; then cut off the coddled ends of the stems, and put them into cold water. To extinguish a Chimney on Fire. Shut the doors, and windows, throw water on the ' fire in the grate, and then stop up the bottom of the chimney. Another method. The mephitic vapor produced by throwing a handful of flour of sulphur on the burning coals, where a chim¬ ney is on fire, will immediately extinguish the flames. To preserve Clothes. As clothes, when laid up for a time, acquire an un¬ pleasant odour, which requires considerable exposure to the atmospheric air, it will be prevented by laying recently made charcoal between the folds of the gar¬ ments ; and even when the odour has taken place, the charcoal will absorb it. To perfume Clothes. Take cloves, cedar, and rhubarb, each one ounce; 46 SECRETS REVEALED. pulverize, and sprinkle it in the chest or drawer. It will create a beautiful scent, and prevent moths. To destroy Rats and Mice. Take equal quantities of rye meal and unslacked lime, mix them, without adding any water. Put small quantities in places infested by the rats; they will de¬ vour it, become thirsty—and the water they will drink slackens the lime and destroys them. To ged rid of Red Ants. A small quantity of green sage, placed in the closet, will cause red ants to disappear. The flour of sulphur also, sprinkled round the places they frequent, will cause them to disappear. Don’t scald your Poultry. We are informed by several dealers in the article, that the poultry usually brought to this market is much injured by scalding, as it will not keep so well, and turns dark or becomes spotted, which much injures its appearance; it also injures the flavor and destroys the sweetness. The following is the method recommended for preparing poultry, by many who have experience .in this business. Wring the necks of all fowls large or small, then take them by the wings, and pick them while warm. Some dealers observe that the blood will settle in the neck, and what remains in the body will do no injury. An old butcher who stands at our elbow as we are writing this, says that it is the better way to bleed geese, turkeys, and ducks, by sticking them in the neck. To remove Flies from Rooms. Take half a tea-spoonful of black pepper, in powder, one tea-spoonful of brown sugar, and one table-spoonful of cream; mix them well together, and place them in the room, on a plate where the flies are troublesome, and they will soon disappear. To weld Tortoise Shell. Provide a pair of pincers, the tongs of which will reach four inches beyond the rivet. Now file the tor- SECRETS REVEALED. 47 toise shell clean to a lap joint, carefully observing that there be no grease about it. Wet the joint with w$ter; apply the pincers hot, following them with water, and the shell will be found to be joined, as if it were origin¬ ally the same piece. Simple Method of Filtering. Into about a quart of water throw a small pinch of alum, leaving it to stand a few minutes; it becomes as clear as crystal, a considerable sediment being found at the bottom. Moorish Cement. It is composed of two parts of ashes, three of clay, and one of sand; this composition being again mixed with oil, resists the inclemencies of the weather better than marble itself. To Purify the Breath. Put a small lump of chloride of lime or chloride of soda in a glass vessel, with a little water; let it dis¬ solve ; when clear, pour off and rinse the mouth with the liquid. Red Sealing Wax. Take 2 ounces gum shellac, 1 ounce vermillion, and 1 ounce rosin; melt over a gentle fire, and form into rolls. Invisible Writing. Use rice water instead of ink—the writing will be¬ come visible by the application of iodine. Onion juice or milk may be used instead of ink, and the writing will appear on holding it to the fire. To Destroy Roaches. Mix white hellebore with molasses; put into a dish or plate where the roaches can have access to it. Bed Bug Poison. Take one-fourth of an ounce of corrosive sublimate, and mix with one pint of rum. SECRETS REVEALED. 48 ♦ To Promote the Growth of Hair. Take one tea-spoonful of aqua ammonia, and one gill of water; mix together, and rub on the head. To make Wafers. Take white of eggs and flour, equal parts ; mix, color with Vermillion, and cut for use. Soft Soap. Ten pounds of potash mixed in ten gallons of warm water, over night; in the morning "boil it, adding six pounds of grease; then put it in a barrel, adding fif¬ teen gallons of warm water. Shaving Soap. Take four pounds white bar soap, one quart rain wa¬ ter, one half pint beefs gall, one gill spirits turpentine. Cut the soap into thin slices, and boil five minutes after the soap is dissolved, stir while boiling, oolor it with one half paper vermilion, scent with what you like; use the oil instead of essence. To Break or Cut Glass. Take a worsted thread dipped in turpentine, tie it round the part, then set fire to it, and while hot, wet or immerse it in cold water. To Remove Old Putty. In taking out broken window glass, nitric or muri¬ atic acid will soften the putty at once. To render Iron as white and beautiful as Silver. Take ammoniac salt in powder, and mix with an equal quantity of quick lime. Put them all together in cold water and mix well; when done, any pieces of iron, immersed therein at red heat, will become, after steeping awhile, as white as silver. To take out Mildew from Linen. Mix some soft soap with powdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon ; apply on both sides with a brush, and lay it on the grass day and night, till the stain comes out.