The practical housewife: a complete encyclopedia of domestic economy and family medical guide

Front matter

WORKS OF REAL UTILITY.

•TIONARY OF MEDICAL AUD SURGICAL KNOWLEDGE,

(Complete in One Volume, handsomely half-bound, marbled edges, 5s. may be had in Two separate Volumes, crown 8vo., cloth, each 2s. 6d.

Preface

Every Englishman's house is his Castle ; the Husband has to do battle with the struggles and competition of life ; to provide for the wants of his little fortress ; and to keep those formidable enemies Debt, Discontent, and Poverty, from the door. And many and arduous are the battles which he has to brave; frequently testing to their utmost the powers of heart and mind.

At the right hand of the Master of the citadel stands the Housewife, his help-meet, companion, and comforter. Upon her devolves the duty of keeping away the more subtile enemies that attack the dwellers of the citadel within : Disease, Un cleanliness, and Waste, are among the silent but stubborn foes which, unless they are fairly resisted at their fkst approach, destroy the foundation, shatter the walls, and reduce to ruin, both in a moral and a material sense, the Domestic stronghold which it is Man's mission to erect and defend, and Woman's mission to preserve in all its happiness and integrity.

The "Practical Housewife," which we now present to the public in a greatly enlarged and much improved form, is a Hand-book to guide the Wife in the discharge of those duties upon which the well-being of Home depends ; and without the proper fulfilment of which the most earnest efforts of the best Husband will ever fail to secure their reward. In proof that we do not over-estimate the importance of Woman's influence in

• • •

Vlll

PREFACE the household, remember the words of Solomon : " Every wise woman buildeth her house : but the foolish plucketh it down with her * hands."

In the following pages will be found some excellent Thoughts and Maxims upon Housekeeping; Advice upon the Domestic Treatment of the Sick ; the Management of Children, &e. ; a series of very instructive papers upon Domestic Manipulation, together with Directions for Cookery and the Choice of Food, in accordance with the Seasons of the Year; also ample Directions upon Carving, and the Arrangement of Tables, &c, with a large number of tried and approved Receipts in almost every description of Domestic Preparation.

The married lady who carefully studies these pages, cannot fail to become a " Practical- Housewife," one of those wise women who "buildeth her house," increaseth happiness in all around her, and is followed, when she is called heavenward, by the throbbing heart-love of all who felt her blessed influence.

It is obvious that the subject of Needlework, intricate as are its operations, and voluminous as its written descriptions must be, could not be included in the present volume. The subject lias been elaborately treated and profusely illustrated in the ' " Treasures in Needlework," ' containing several hundreds of designs by Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Pullan, and other eminent artists.

Commending our Volume to the Housewives of Great Britain, in the fullest confidence that every page will bear the closest examination, and be found unusually instructive, we pray for the increase of those Domestic Yirfcues which are the proud characteristic of the British Nation.