The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families (part 3 of 5)

The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families (part 3 of 5)

GOOSE PIE. Quarter a goose, season it well, put it in a baking dish, and lay pieces of butter over it. Put on a raised crust, and bake it in a moderate oven. To make a richer pie, forcemeat may be added, and slices of tongue. Duck pie is made in the same manner.

GOOSE SAUCE. Put into melted butter a spoonful of sorrel juice, a little sugar, and some scalded gooseberries. Pour it into boats, and send it hot to table.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL. Put the fruit into a stone jar, with some good Lisbon sugar. Set the jar on a stove, or in a saucepan of water over the fire: if the former, a large spoonful of water should be added to the fruit. When it is done enough to pulp, press it through a cullender. Have ready a sufficient quantity of new milk, and a tea-cupful of raw cream, boiled together, or an egg instead of the latter. When cold, sweeten it pretty well with fine Lisbon sugar, and mix the pulp with it by degrees.

GOOSEBERRY HOPS. Gather the largest green gooseberries of the walnut kind, and slit the tops into four quarters, leaving the stalk end whole. Pick out the seeds, and with a strong needle and thread fasten five or six together, by running the thread through the bottoms, till they are of the size of a hop. Lay vine leaves at the bottom of a tin preserving-pan, cover them with the hops, then a layer of leaves, and so on: lay a good many on the top, and fill the pan with water. Stop it down so close that no steam can escape, set it by a slow fire till scalding hot, and then take it off to cool. Repeat the operation till the gooseberries, on being opened, are found to be of a good green. Then drain them on sieves, and make a thin syrup of a pound of sugar to a pint of water, well boiled and skimmed. When the syrup is half cold, put in the fruit; give it a boil up, and repeat it thrice. Gooseberry hops look well and eat best dried, and in this case they may be set to dry in a week. But if to be kept moist, make a syrup in the above proportions, adding a slice of ginger in the boiling. When skimmed and clear, give the gooseberries one boil, and pour the syrup cold over them. If found too sour, a little sugar may be added, before the hops that are for drying receive their last boil. The extra syrup will serve for pies, or go towards other sweetmeats.

GOOSEBERRY JAM. Gather some ripe gooseberries, of the clear white or green sort, pick them clean and weigh them. Allow three quarters of a pound of lump sugar to a pound of fruit, and half a pint of water. Boil and skim the sugar and water, then put in the fruit, and boil it gently till it is quite clear. Break the gooseberries into jam, and put into small pots.--Another. Gather some ripe gooseberries in dry weather, of the red hairy sort, and pick off the heads and tails. Put twelve pounds of them into a preserving pan, with a pint of currant juice, drawn as for jelly. Boil them pretty quick, and beat them with a spoon; when they begin to break, add six pounds of white Lisbon sugar, and simmer them slowly to a jam. They require long boiling, or they will not keep; but they make an excellent jam for tarts and puffs. When the jam is put into jars, examine it after two or three days; and if the syrup and fruit separate, the whole must be boiled again. In making white gooseberry jam, clarified sugar should be used; and in all cases great care must be taken to prevent the fruit from burning to the bottom of the pan.

GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Stew some gooseberries in a jar over a hot hearth, or in a saucepan of water, till reduced to a pulp. Take a pint of the juice pressed through a coarse sieve, and mix it with three eggs beaten and strained. Add an ounce and a half of butter, sweeten it well, put a crust round the dish, and bake it. A few crumbs of roll should be mixed with the above to give it a little consistence, or four ounces of Naples biscuits.

GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE. Scald as much fruit as when pulped through a sieve, will cover the bottom of a dish intended to be used. Mix with it the rind of half a lemon grated fine, sweetened with sugar. Put any quantity of common custard over it, and a whip on the top, as for other trifles.

GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR. Boil some spring water; and when cold, put to every three quarts, a quart of bruised gooseberries in a large tub. Let them remain two or three days, stirring often; then strain through a hair bag, and to each gallon of liquor add a pound of the coarsest sugar. Put it into a barrel, with yeast spread upon a toast, and cover the bung hole with a piece of slate. The greater the quantity of sugar and fruit, the stronger the vinegar.

GOOSEBERRY WINE. When the weather is dry, gather gooseberries about the time they are half ripe. Pick them clean as much as a peck into a convenient vessel, and bruise them with a piece of wood, taking as much care as possible to keep the seeds whole. Now having put the pulp into a canvas bag, press out all the juice; and to every gallon of the gooseberries, add about three pounds of fine loaf sugar. Mix the whole together by stirring it with a stick, and as soon as the sugar is quite dissolved, pour it into a cask which will exactly hold it. If the quantity be about eight or nine gallons, let it stand a fortnight: if twenty gallons, forty days, and so on in proportion. Set it in a cool place; and after standing the proper time, draw it off from the lees. Put it into another clean vessel of equal size, or into the same, after pouring out the lees and making it clean. Let a cask of ten or twelve gallons stand for about three months, and twenty gallons for five months, after which it will be fit for bottling off.

GOOSEBERRIES PRESERVED. Gather some dry gooseberries of the hairy sort, before the seeds become large, and take care not to cut them in taking off the stalks and buds. If gathered in the damp, or the gooseberry skins are the least broken in the preparation, the fruit will mould. Fill some jars or wide-mouthed bottles, put the corks loosely in, and set the bottles up to the neck in a kettle of water. When the fruit looks scalded, take them out; and when perfectly cold, cork them down close, and rosin the top. Dig a trench sufficiently deep to receive all the bottles, and cover them with the earth a foot and a half. When a frost comes on, a little fresh litter from the stable will prevent the ground from hardening, so that the fruit may more easily be dug up.--Green gooseberries may also be preserved for winter use, without bedding them in the earth. Scald them as above, and when cold, fill the bottles up with cold water. Cork and rosin them down, and keep them in a dry place.--Another way. Having prepared the gooseberries as above, prepare a kettle of boiling water, and put into it as much roche alum as will harden the water, or give it a little roughness when dissolved: but if there be too much it will spoil the fruit. Cover the bottom of a large sieve with gooseberries, without laying one upon another; and hold the sieve in the water till the fruit begins to look scalded on the outside. Turn them gently out of the sieve on a cloth on the dresser, cover them with another cloth, putting some more to be scalded, till the whole are finished. Observe not to put one quantity upon another, or they will become too soft. The next day pick out any bad or broken ones, bottle the rest, and fill up the bottles with the alum water in which they were scalded. If the water be left in the kettle, or in a glazed pan, it will spoil; it must therefore be quickly put into the bottles. Gooseberries prepared in this way, and stopped down close, will make as fine tarts as when fresh from the trees.--Another way. In dry weather pick some full grown but unripe gooseberries, top and tail them, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles. Stop them lightly with new velvet corks, put them into the oven after the bread is drawn, and let them stand till they are shrunk one fourth. Take them out of the oven, fasten the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and rosin them down close. Set them in a dry place; and if well secured from the air, they will keep the year round. Currants and damsons may be preserved in the same way.

GOOSEGRASS OINTMENT. Melt some hog's lard, add as much clivers or goosegrass as the lard will moisten, and boil them together over a slow fire. Keep the mixture stirring till it becomes a little brown, and then strain it through a cloth. When cold, take the ointment from the water, and put it up in gallipots.

GOUT. Gouty patients are required to abstain from all fermented and spirituous liquors, and to use wine very moderately; carefully to avoid all fat, rancid, and salted provisions, and high seasoned dishes of every description. The constant use of barley bread is recommended, with large doses of powdered ginger boiled in milk for breakfast. Absorbent powders of two scruples of magnesia, and three or four grains each of rhubarb and purified kali, should be taken during the intervals of gouty fits, and repeated every other morning for several weeks. The feet should be kept warm, sinapisms frequently applied to them, and the part affected should be covered with flannel.

GOUT CORDIAL. Take four pounds of sun raisins sliced and stoned, two ounces of senna, one ounce of fennel seed, one of coriander, half an ounce of cochineal, half an ounce of saffron, half an ounce of stick liquorice, and half a pound of rhubarb: infuse them all in two gallons of brandy, and let it stand for ten days. Stir it occasionally, then strain it off, and bottle it. Take a small wine-glass full, when the gout is in the head or stomach; and if the pain be not removed, take two large spoonfuls more.--Or take six drams of opium, half an ounce of soap of tartar, half an ounce of castile soap, one dram of grated nutmeg, three drams of camphor, two scruples of saffron, and nine ounces of sweet spirit of sal-ammoniac. Put them all into a wine flask in a sand-heat for ten days, shaking it occasionally till the last day or two: then pour it off clear, and keep it stopped up close for use. Take thirty or forty drops in a glass of peppermint two hours after eating; it may also be taken two or three times in the day or night if required.

GRANARIES. These depositaries are very liable to be infested with weasels, and various kinds of insects. To prevent their depredations, the floors of granaries should be laid with poplars of Lombardy.

GRAPES. To preserve this valuable fruit, prepare a cask or barrel, by carefully closing up its crevices to prevent access of the external air. Place a layer of bran, which has been well dried in an oven; upon this place a layer of bunches of grapes, well cleaned, and gathered in the afternoon of a dry day, before they are perfectly ripe. Proceed then with alternate layers of bran and grapes till the barrel is full, taking care that the bunches of grapes do not touch each other, and to let the last layer be of bran; then close the barrel so that the air may not be able to penetrate. Grapes thus packed will keep for a twelvemonth. To restore their freshness, cut the end of each bunch, and put that of white grapes into white wine, and that of black grapes into red wine, as flowers are put into water to keep them fresh. It is customary in France to pack grapes for the London market in saw dust, but it must be carefully dried with a gentle heat, or the turpentine and other odours of the wood will not fail to injure the fruit. Oak saw dust will answer the purpose best.

GRAPE WINE. To every gallon of ripe grapes put a gallon of soft water, bruise the grapes, let them stand a week without stirring, and draw the liquor off fine. To every gallon of liquor allow three pounds of lump sugar, put the whole into a vessel, but do not stop it till it has done hissing; then stop it close, and in six months it will be fit for bottling.--A better wine, though smaller in quantity, will be made by leaving out the water, and diminishing the quantity of sugar. Water is necessary only where the juice is so scanty, or so thick, as in cowslip, balm, or black currant wine, that it could not be used without it.

GRAVEL. The gout or rheumatism has a tendency to produce this disorder; it is also promoted by the use of sour liquor, indigestible food, especially cheese, and by a sedentary life. Perspiration should be assisted by gentle means, particularly by rubbing with a warm flannel; the diet regulated by the strictest temperance, and moderate exercise is not to be neglected. For medicine, take the juice of a horseradish, made into a thin syrup by mixing it with sugar; a spoonful or two to be taken every three or four hours.

GRAVEL WALKS. To preserve garden walks from moss and weeds, water them frequently with brine, or salt and water, both in the spring and in autumn. Worms may be destroyed by an infusion of walnut-tree leaves, or by pouring into the holes a ley made of wood ashes and lime. If fruit trees are sprinkled with it, the ravages of insects will be greatly prevented.

GRAVIES. A few general observations are necessary on the subject of soups and gravies. When there is any fear of gravy meat being spoiled before it be wanted, it should be well seasoned, and lightly fried, in order to its keeping a day or two longer; but the gravy is best when the juices are fresh. When soups or gravies are to be put by, let them be changed every day into fresh scalded pans. Whatever liquor has vegetables boiled in it, is apt to turn sour much sooner than the juices of meat, and gravy should never be kept in any kind of metal. When fat remains on any soup, a tea-cupful of flour and water mixed quite smooth, and boiled in, will take it off. If richness or greater consistence be required, a good lump of butter mixed with flour, and boiled in the soup or gravy, will impart either of these qualities. Long boiling is necessary to obtain the full flavour; and gravies and soups are best made the day before they are wanted. They are also much better when the meat is laid in the bottom of the pan, and stewed with herbs, roots, and butter, than when water is put to the meat at first; and the gravy that is drawn from the meat, should almost be dried up before the water is added. The sediment of gravies that have stood to be cold, should not be used in cooking. When onions are strong, boil a turnip with them, if for sauce; and this will make them mild and pleasant. If soups or gravies are too weak, do not cover them in boiling, that the watery particles may evaporate. A clear jelly of cow heels is very useful to keep in the house, being a great improvement to soups and gravies. Truffles and morels thicken soups and sauces, and give them a fine flavour. The way is to wash half an ounce of each carefully, then simmer them a few minutes in water, and add them with the liquor to boil in the sauce till quite tender. As to the materials of which gravy is to be made, beef skirts will make as good as any other meat. Beef kidney, or milt, cut into small pieces, will answer the purpose very well; and so will the shank end of mutton that has been dressed, if much be wanted. The shank bones of mutton, if well soaked and cleaned, are a great improvement to the richness of the gravy. Taragon gives the flavour of French cookery, and in high gravies it is a great improvement; but it should be added only a short time before serving. To draw gravy that will keep for a week, cut some lean beef thin, put it into a fryingpan without any butter, cover it up, and set it on the fire, taking care that it does not burn. Keep it on the fire till all the gravy that comes out of the meat is absorbed, then add as much water as will cover the meat, and keep it stewing. Put in some herbs, onions, spice, and a piece of lean ham. Let it simmer till it is quite rich, and keep it in a cool place; but do not remove the fat till the gravy is to be used.

GRAVY FOR FOWL. When there is no meat to make gravy of, wash the feet of the fowl nicely, and cut them and the neck small. Simmer them with a little bread browned, a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley and thyme, some salt and pepper, and the liver and gizzard, in a quarter of a pint of water, till half wasted. Take out the liver, bruise it, and strain the liquor to it. Then thicken it with flour and butter, and a tea-spoonful of mushroom ketchup will make the gravy very good.

GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL. Set on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy, adding half a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange or lemon peel. Let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put to the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, half a teaspoonful of salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine. Shalot and cayenne may be added. This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild water-fowl, and should be sent up hot in a boat, as some persons like wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce. The common way of gashing the breast, and squeezing in a lemon, cools and hardens the flesh, and compels every one to eat it that way, whether they approve of it or not.

GRAVY FOR MUTTON. To make mutton taste like venison, provide for it the following gravy. Pick a very stale woodcock or snipe, and cut it to pieces, after having removed the bag from the entrails. Simmer it in some meat gravy, without seasoning; then strain it, and serve it with the mutton.

GRAVY SOUP. Wash and soak a leg of beef; break the bone, and set it on the fire with a gallon of water, a large bunch of sweet herbs, two large onions sliced and fried to a fine brown, but not burnt; add two blades of mace, three cloves, twenty berries of allspice, and forty black peppers. Stew the soup till it is rich, and then take out the meat, which may be eaten at the kitchen table, with a little of the gravy. Next day take off the fat, which will serve for basting, or for common pie crust. Slice some carrots, turnips, and celery, and simmer them till tender. If not approved, they can be taken out before the soup is sent to table, but the flavour will be a considerable addition. Boil vermicelli a quarter of an hour, and add to it a large spoonful of soy, and one of mushroom ketchup. A French roll should be made hot, then soaked in the soup, and served in the tureen.

GRAVY WITHOUT MEAT. Put into a bason a glass of small beer, a glass of water, some pepper and salt, grated lemon peel, a bruised clove or two, and a spoonful of walnut pickle, or mushroom ketchup. Slice an onion, flour and fry it in a piece of butter till it is brown. Then turn all the above into a small tosser, with the onion, and simmer it covered for twenty minutes. Strain it off for use, and when cold take off the fat.

GRAYLINE. Having scaled and washed the fish, then dry them. Dust them over with flour, and lay them separately on a board before the fire. Fry them of a fine colour with fresh dripping; serve them with crimp parsley, and plain butter. Perch and tench may be done the same way.

GREASE EXTRACTED. The ashes of burnt bones finely powdered, or calcined hartshorn, heated over the fire in a clean vessel, and laid on each side of the grease spot, if on books or paper, with a weight laid upon it to assist the effect, will completely remove it; or the powder may be wrapped in thin muslin, and applied in the same manner. When prints get foul and dirty, they may readily be cleaned in the same manner as linen is bleached, by being exposed to the sun and air, and frequently wetted with clean water. If this do not fully succeed, the print may be soaked in hot water; and if pasted on canvas, it should first be taken off by dipping it in boiling water, which will loosen it from the canvas. The dirt occasioned by flies, may be gently taken off with a wet sponge, after the print has been well soaked. Spots of white-wash may be removed by spirit of sea salt diluted with water.--If grease spots appear in leather, a different process must be pursued. A paste made of mealy potatoes, dry mustard, and spirits of turpentine, mixed together, and applied to the spot, will extract the grease from leather, if rubbed off after it has been allowed sufficient time to dry. A little vinegar may be added, to render the application more effectual.

GREEN FRUIT. Green peaches, plums, or other fruit, should be put into a preserving pan of spring water, covered with vine leaves, and set over a clear fire. When they begin to simmer take them off, and take the fruit out carefully with a slice. Peel and preserve them as other fruit.

GREEN GAGES. In order to preserve them for pies and tarts, choose the largest when they begin to soften. Split them without paring; and having weighed an equal quantity of sugar, strew a part of it over the fruit. Blanch the kernels with a small sharp knife. Next day pour the syrup from the fruit, and boil it gently six or eight minutes with the other sugar; skim it, and add the plums and kernels. Simmer it till clear, taking off any scum that rises; put the fruit singly into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels to it. If the fruit is to be candied, the syrup must not be added: for the sake of variety, it may be proper to do some each way.

GREEN GOOSE PIE. Bone two young green geese, of a good size; but first take away every plug, and singe them nicely. Wash them clean, and season them well with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice. Put one inside the other, and press them quite close, drawing the legs inward. Put a good deal of butter over them, and bake them either with or without a crust: if the latter, a cover to the dish must fit close to keep in the steam.

GREEN PEAS. Peas should not be shelled till they are wanted, nor boiled in much water. Put them in when the water boils, with a little salt, and a lump of sugar. When they begin to dent in the middle, they are done enough. Strain them through a cullender, put a piece of butter in the dish, and stir them till it is melted. Garnish with boiled mint.

GREEN PEAS PRESERVED. If it be wished to keep them for winter use, shell the peas, and put them into a kettle of water when it boils. Warm them well, without boiling, and pour them into a cullender. When the water drains off, turn them out on a dresser covered with a cloth, and put over another cloth to dry them perfectly. Deposit them in wide-mouth bottles, leaving only room to pour clarified mutton suet upon them an inch thick, and also for the cork. Rosin it down, and keep it in the cellar or in the earth, the same as other green fruit. When the peas are to be used, boil them tender, with a piece of butter, a spoonful of sugar, and a little mint.--Another way. Shell the peas, scald and dry them as above. Put them on tins or earthen dishes in a cool oven once or twice to harden, and keep them in paper bags hung up in the kitchen. When they are to be used, let them be an hour in water; then set them on with cold water, a piece of butter, and a sprig of dried mint, and boil them.

GREEN PEAS SOUP. In shelling the peas, divide the old from the young. Stew the old ones to a pulp, with an ounce of butter, a pint of water, a leaf or two of lettuce, two onions, pepper and salt. Put to the liquor that stewed them some more water, the hearts and tender stalks of the lettuces, the young peas, a handful of spinach cut small, salt and pepper to relish, and boil them till quite soft. If the soup be too thin, or not rich enough, add an ounce or two of butter, mixed with a spoonful of rice or flour, and boil it half an hour longer. Before serving, boil in the soup some green mint shred fine. When the peas first come in, or are very young, the stock may be made of the shells washed and boiled, till they are capable of being pulped. More thickening will then be wanted.

GREEN PEAS STEWED. Put into a stewpan a quart of peas, a lettuce and an onion both sliced, and no more water than hangs about the lettuce from washing. Add a piece of butter, a little pepper and salt, and stew them very gently for two hours. When to be served, beat up an egg, and stir it into them, or a bit of flour and butter. Chop a little mint, and stew in them. Gravy may be added, or a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar; but the flavour of the peas themselves is much better.

GREEN SAUCE. Mix a quarter of a pint of sorrel juice, a glass of white wine, and some scalded gooseberries. Add sugar, and a bit of butter, and boil them up, to serve with green geese or ducklings.

GRIDIRON. The bars of a gridiron should be made concave, and terminate in a trough to catch the gravy, and keep the fat from dropping into the fire and making a smoke, which will spoil the broiling. Upright gridirons are the best, as they can be used at any fire, without fear of smoke, and the gravy is preserved in the trough under them. The business of the gridiron may be done by a Dutch oven, when occasion requires.

GRIEF. In considering what is conducive to health or otherwise, it is impossible to overlook this destructive passion, which like envy is 'the rottenness of the bones.' Anger and fear are more violent, but this is more fixed: it sinks deep into the mind, and often proves fatal. It may generally be conquered at the beginning of any calamity; but when it has gained strength, all attempts to remove it are ineffectual. Life may be dragged out for a few years, but it is impossible that any one should enjoy health, whose mind is bowed down with grief and trouble. In this case some betake themselves to drinking, but here the remedy only aggravates the disease. The best relief, besides what the consolations of religion may afford, is to associate with the kind and cheerful, to shift the scene as much as possible, to keep up a succession of new ideas, apply to the study of some art or science, and to read and write on such subjects as deeply engage the attention. These will sooner expel grief than the most sprightly amusements, which only aggravate instead of relieving the anguish of a wounded heart.

GRILL SAUCE. To half a pint of gravy add an ounce of fresh butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, previously well rubbed together; the same of mushroom or walnut ketchup, two tea-spoonfuls of lemon juice, one of made mustard, one of caper, half a one of black pepper, a little lemon peel grated fine, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies, a very small piece of minced shalot, and a little chili vinegar, or a few grains of cayenne. Simmer them all together for a few minutes, pour a little of it over the grill, and send up the rest in a sauce tureen.

GRILLED MUTTON. Cut a breast of mutton into diamonds, rub it over with egg, and strew on some crumbs of bread and chopped parsley. Broil it in a Dutch oven, baste it with butter, and pour caper sauce or gravy into the dish.

GROUND RICE MILK. Boil one spoonful of ground rice, rubbed down smooth, with three half pints of milk, a little cinnamon, lemon peel, and nutmeg. Sweeten it when nearly done.

GROUND RICE PUDDING. Boil a large spoonful of ground rice in a pint of new milk, with lemon peel and cinnamon. When cold, add sugar, nutmeg, and two eggs well beaten. Bake it with a crust round the dish. A pudding of Russian seed is made in the same manner.

GROUSE. Twist the head under the wing, and roast them like fowls, but they must not be overdone. Serve with a rich gravy in the dish, and bread sauce. The sauce recommended for wild fowl, may be used instead of gravy.

GRUBS. Various kinds of grubs or maggots, hatched from beetles, are destructive of vegetation, and require to be exterminated. In a garden they may be taken and destroyed by cutting a turf, and laying it near the plant which is attacked, with the grass side downwards. But the most effectual way is to visit these depredators at midnight, when they may be easily found and destroyed.

GUDGEONS. These delicate fish are taken in running streams, where the water is clear. They come in about midsummer, and are to be had for five or six months. They require to be dressed much the same as smelts, being considered as a species of fresh-water smelts.

GUINEA FOWL. Pea and guinea fowl eat much like pheasants, and require to be dressed in the same way.

GUINEA HENS. These birds lay a great number of eggs; and if their nest can be discovered, it is best to put them under common hens, which are better nurses. They require great warmth, quiet, and careful feeding with rice swelled in milk, or bread soaked in it. Put two peppercorns down their throat when first hatched.

GUNPOWDER. Reduce to powder separately, five drams of nitrate of potass, one dram of sulphur, and one of new-burnt charcoal. Mix them together in a mortar with a little water, so as to make the compound into a dough, which roll out into round pieces of the thickness of a pin, upon a slab. This must be done by moving a board backwards and forwards until the dough is of a proper size. When three or four of these strings or pieces are ready, put them together, and with a knife cut the whole off in small grains. Place these grains on a sheet of paper in a warm place, and they will soon dry. During granulation, the dough must be prevented from sticking, by using a little of the dry compound powder. This mode of granulation, though tedious, is the only one to be used for so small a quantity, for the sake of experiment. In a large way, gunpowder is granulated by passing the composition through sieves.

H.

HADDOCKS. These fish may be had the greater part of the year, but are most in season during the first three months. In choosing, see that the flesh is firm, the eyes bright, and the gills fresh and red. Clean them well, dry them in a cloth, and rub them with vinegar to prevent the skin from breaking. Dredge them with flour, rub the gridiron with suet, and let it be hot when the fish is laid on. Turn them while broiling, and serve them up with melted butter, or shrimp sauce.

HAIR. Frequent cutting of the hair is highly beneficial to the whole body; and if the head be daily washed with cold water, rubbed dry, and exposed to the air, it will be found an excellent preventive of periodical headachs. Pomatums and general perfumery are very injurious; but a mixture of olive oil and spirits of rosemary, with a few drops of oil of nutmeg, may be used with safety. If a lead comb be sometimes passed through the hair, it will assume a darker colour, but for health it cannot be recommended.

HAIR POWDER. To know whether this article be adulterated with lime, as is too frequently the case, put a little of the powder of sal-ammoniac into it, and stir it up with warm water. If the hair powder has been adulterated with lime, a strong smell of alkali will arise from the mixture.

HAIR WATER. To thicken the hair, and prevent its falling off, an excellent water may be prepared in the following manner. Put four pounds of pure honey into a still, with twelve handfuls of the tendrils of vines, and the same quantity of rosemary tops. Distil as cool and as slowly as possible, and the liquor may be allowed to drop till it begins to taste sour.

HAMS. When a ham is to be dressed, put it into water all night, if it has hung long; and let it lie either in a hole dug in the earth, or on damp stones sprinkled with water, two or three days, to mellow it. Wash it well, and put it into a boiler with plenty of water; let it simmer four, five, or six hours, according to the size. When done enough, if before the time of serving, cover it with a clean cloth doubled, and keep the dish hot over some boiling water. Take off the skin, and rasp some bread over the ham. Preserve the skin as whole as possible, to cover the ham when cold, in order to prevent its drying. Garnish the dish with carrot when sent to table. If a dried ham is to be purchased, judge of its goodness by sticking a sharp knife under the bone. If it comes out with a pleasant smell, the ham is good: but if the knife be daubed, and has a bad scent, do not buy it. Hams short in the hock are best, and long-legged pigs are not fit to be pickled.

HAM SAUCE. When a ham is almost done with, pick all the meat clean from the bone, leaving out any rusty part. Beat the meat and the bone to a mash, put it into a saucepan with three spoonfuls of gravy, set it over a slow fire, and stir it all the time, or it will stick to the bottom. When it has been on some time, put to it a small bundle of sweet herbs, some pepper, and half a pint of beef gravy. Cover it up, and let it stew over a gentle fire. When it has a good flavour of the herbs, strain off the gravy. A little of this sauce will be found an improvement to all gravies.

HANDS. When the hands or feet are severely affected with the cold, they should not immediately be exposed to the fire, but restored to their usual tone and feeling, by immersing them in cold water, and afterwards applying warmth in the most careful and gradual manner. Persons subject to chopped hands in the winter time, should be careful to rub them quite dry after every washing; and to prevent their being injured by the weather, rub them with a mixture of fresh lard, honey, and the yolks of eggs; or a little goose fat will answer the purpose.

HARD DUMPLINGS. Make a paste of flour and water, with a little salt, and roll it into balls. Dust them with flour, and boil them nearly an hour. They are best boiled with a good piece of meat, and for variety, a few currants may be added.

HARES. If hung up in a dry cool place, they will keep a great time; and when imagined to be past eating, they are often in the highest perfection. They are never good if eaten when fresh killed. A hare will keep longer and eat better, if not opened for four or five days, or according to the state of the weather. If paunched when it comes from the field, it should be wiped quite dry, the heart and liver taken out, and the liver scalded to keep for stuffing. Repeat this wiping every day, rub a mixture of pepper and ginger on the inside, and put a large piece of charcoal into it. If the spice be applied early, it will prevent that musty taste which long keeping in the damp occasions, and which also affects the stuffing. If an old hare is to be roasted, it should be kept as long as possible, and well soaked. This may be judged of, in the following manner. If the claws are blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, and the haunch thick, it is old. But if the claws are smooth and sharp, the ears easily tear, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is young. If fresh and newly killed, the body will be stiff, and the flesh pale. To know a real leveret, it is necessary to look for a knob or small bone near the foot on its fore leg: if there be none, it is a hare.

HARE PIE. Cut up the hare, and season it; bake it with eggs and forcemeat, in a dish or raised crust. When cold take off the lid, and cover the meat with Savoury Jelly: see the article.

HARE SAUCE. This usually consists of currant jelly warmed up; or it may be made of half a pint of port, and a quarter of a pound of sugar, simmered together over a clear fire for about five minutes. It may also be made of half a pint of vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of sugar, reduced to a syrup.

HARE SOUP. Take an old hare unfit for other purposes, cut it into pieces, and put it into a jar; add a pound and a half of lean beef, two or three shank bones of mutton well cleaned, a slice of lean bacon or ham, an onion, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Pour on two quarts of boiling water, cover the jar close with bladder and paper, and set it in a kettle of water. Simmer till the hare is stewed to pieces, strain off the liquor, boil it up once, with a chopped anchovy, and add a spoonful of soy, a little cayenne, and salt. A few fine forcemeat balls, fried of a good brown, should be served in the tureen.

HARRICO OF MUTTON. Remove some of the fat, and cut the middle or best end of the neck into rather thin steaks. Flour and fry them in their own fat, of a fine light brown, but not enough for eating. Then put them into a dish while you fry the carrots, turnips, and onions; the carrots and turnips in dice, the onions sliced. They must only be warmed, and not browned. Then lay the steaks at the bottom of a stewpan, the vegetables over them, and pour on as much boiling water as will just cover them. Give them one boil, skim them well, and then set the pan on the side of the fire to simmer gently till all is tender. In three or four hours skim them; add pepper and salt, and a spoonful of ketchup.

HARRICO OF VEAL. Take the best end of a small neck, cut the bones short, but leave it whole. Then put it into a stewpan, just covered with brown gravy; and when it is nearly done, have ready a pint of boiled peas, six cucumbers pared and sliced, and two cabbage-lettuces cut into quarters, all stewed in a little good broth. Add them to the veal, and let them simmer ten minutes. When the veal is in the dish, pour the sauce and vegetables over it, and lay the lettuce with forcemeat balls round it.

HARTSHORN JELLY. Simmer eight ounces of hartshorn shavings with two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Strain and boil it with the rinds of four China oranges, and two lemons pared thin. When cool, add the juice of both, half a pound of sugar, and the whites of six eggs beaten to a froth. Let the jelly have three or four boils without stirring, and strain it through a jelly bag.

HASHED BEEF. Put into a stewpan, a pint and a half of broth or water, a large table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, with the gravy saved from the beef. Add a quarter of an ounce of onion sliced very fine, and boil it about ten minutes. Put a large table-spoonful of flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water, mix it well together, then stir it into the broth, and boil it five or ten minutes. Rub it through a sieve, return it to the stewpan, put in the hash, and let it stand by the side of the fire till the meat is warm. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped very fine, and put in five minutes before it is served up, will be an agreeable addition; or to give a higher relish, a glass of port wine, and a spoonful of currant jelly. Hashes and meats dressed a second time, should only simmer gently, till just warmed through.

HASHED DUCK. Cut a cold duck into joints, and warm it in gravy, without boiling, and add a glass of port wine.

HASHED HARE. Season the legs and wings first, and then broil them, which will greatly improve the flavour. Rub them with cold butter and serve them quite hot. The other parts, warmed with gravy, and a little stuffing, may be served separately.

HASHED MUTTON. Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean, and flour them. Have ready a little onion boiled in two or three spoonfuls of water; add to it a little gravy, season the meat, and make it hot, but not to boil. Serve up the hash in a covered dish. Instead of onion, a clove, a spoonful of currant jelly, and half a glass of port wine, will give an agreeable venison flavour, if the meat be fine. For a change, the hash may be warmed up with pickled cucumber or walnut cut small.

HASHED VENISON. Warm it with its own gravy, or some of it without seasoning; but it should only be warmed through, and not boiled. If no fat be left, cut some slices of mutton fat, set it on the fire with a little port wine and sugar, and simmer it dry. Then put it to the hash, and it will eat as well as the fat of venison.

HASTY DISH OF EGGS. Beat up six eggs, pour them into a saucepan, hold it over the fire till they begin to thicken, and keep stirring from the bottom all the time. Then add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, stir it about till the eggs and water are thoroughly mixed, and the eggs quite dry. Put it on a plate, and serve it hot.

HASTY FRITTERS. Melt some butter in a saucepan, put in half a pint of good ale, and stir a little flour into it by degrees. Add a few currants, or chopped apples; beat them up quick, and drop a large spoonful at a time into the pan, till the bottom is nearly covered. Keep them separate, turn them with a slice; and when of a fine brown, serve them up hot, with grated sugar over them.

HASTY PUDDING. Boil some milk over a clear fire, and take it off. Keep putting in flour with one hand, and stirring it with the other, till it becomes quite thick. Boil it a few minutes, pour it into a dish, and garnish with pieces of butter. To make a better pudding, beat up an egg and flour into a stiff paste, and mince it fine. Put the mince into a quart of boiling milk, with a little butter and salt, cinnamon and sugar, and stir them carefully together. When sufficiently thickened, pour it into a dish, and stick bits of butter on the top. Or shred some suet, add grated bread, a few currants, the yolks of four eggs and the whites of two, with some grated lemon peel and ginger. Mix the whole together, and make it into balls the size and shape of an egg, with a little flour. Throw them into a skillet of boiling water, and boil them twenty minutes; but when sufficiently done, they will rise to the top. Serve with cold butter, or pudding sauce.

HATS. Gentlemen's hats are often damaged by a shower of rain, which takes off the gloss, and leaves them spotted. To prevent this, shake out the wet as much as possible, wipe the hat carefully with a clean handkerchief, observing to lay the beaver smooth. Then fix the hat in its original shape, and hang it to dry at a distance from the fire. Next morning, brush it several times with a soft brush in the proper direction, and the hat will have sustained but little injury. A flat iron moderately heated, and passed two or three times gently over the hat, will raise the gloss, and give the hat its former good appearance.

HAUNCH OF MUTTON. Keep it as long as it can be preserved sweet, and wash it with warm milk and water, or vinegar if necessary. When to be dressed especially, observe to wash it well, lest the outside should contract a bad flavour from keeping. Lay a paste of coarse flour on strong paper, and fold the haunch in it; set it a great distance from the fire, and allow proportionate time for the paste. Do not remove it till nearly forty minutes before serving, and then baste it continually. Bring the haunch nearer the fire before the paste is taken off, and froth it up the same as venison. A gravy must be made of a pound and a half of a loin of old mutton, simmered in a pint of water to half the quantity, and no seasoning but salt. Brown it with a little burnt sugar, and send it up in the dish. Care should be taken to retain a good deal of gravy in the meat, for though long at the fire, the distance and covering will prevent its roasting out. Serve with currant-jelly sauce.

HAUNCH OF VENISON. If it be the haunch of a buck, it will take full three hours and a half roasting; if a doe, about half an hour less. Venison should be rather under than overdone. Sprinkle some salt on a sheet of white paper, spread it over with butter, and cover the fat with it. Then lay a coarse paste on strong white paper, and cover the haunch; tie it with fine packthread, and set it at a distance from a good fire. Baste it often: ten minutes before serving take off the paste, draw the meat nearer the fire, and baste it with butter and a good deal of flour, to make it froth up well. Gravy for it should be put into a boat, and not into the dish, unless there is none in the venison. To make the gravy, cut off the fat from two or three pounds of a loin of old mutton, and set it in steaks on a gridiron for a few minutes just to brown one side. Put them into a saucepan with a quart of water, keep it closely covered for an hour, and simmer it gently. Then uncover it, stew it till the gravy is reduced to a pint, and season it with salt only. Currant-jelly sauce must be served in a boat. Beat up the jelly with a spoonful or two of port wine, and melt it over the fire. Where jelly runs short, a little more wine must be added, and a few lumps of sugar. Serve with French beans. If the old bread sauce be still preferred, grate some white bread, and boil it with port wine and water, and a large stick of cinnamon. When quite smooth, take out the cinnamon, and add some sugar.

HAY STACKS. In making stacks of new hay, care should be taken to prevent its heating and taking fire, by forming a tunnel completely through the centre. This may be done by stuffing a sack full of straw, and tying up the mouth with a cord; then make the rick round the sack, drawing it up as the rick advances, and taking it out when finished.

HEAD ACHE. This disorder generally arises from some internal cause, and is the symptom of a disease which requires first to be attended to; but where it is a local affection only, it may be relieved by bathing the part affected with spirits of hartshorn, or applying a poultice of elder flowers. In some cases the most obstinate pain is removed by the use of vervain, both internally in the form of a decoction, and also by suspending the herb round the neck. Persons afflicted with headache should beware of costiveness: their drink should be diluting, and their feet and legs kept warm. It is very obvious, that as many disorders arise from taking cold in the head, children should be inured to a light and loose covering in their infancy, by which means violent headaches might be prevented in mature age: and the maxim of keeping the feet warm and the head cool, should be strictly attended to.

HEAD AND PLUCK. Whether of lamb or mutton, wash the head clean, take the black part from the eyes, and the gall from the liver. Lay the head in warm water; boil the lights, heart, and part of the liver; chop them small, and add a little flour. Put it into a saucepan with some gravy, or a little of the liquor it was boiled in, a spoonful of ketchup, a small quantity of lemon juice, cream, pepper, and salt. Boil the head very white and tender, lay it in the middle of the dish, and the mince meat round it. Fry the other part of the liver with some small bits of bacon, lay them on the mince meat, boil the brains the same as for a calf's head, beat up an egg and mix with them, fry them in small cakes, and lay them on the rim of the dish. Garnish with lemon and parsley.

HEART BURN. Persons subject to this disorder, ought to drink no stale liquors, and to abstain from flatulent food. Take an infusion of bark, or any other stomachic bitter; or a tea-spoonful of the powder of gum arabic dissolved in a little water, or chew a few sweet almonds blanched. An infusion of anise seeds, or ginger, have sometimes produced the desired effect.

HEDGE HOG. Make a cake of any description, and bake it in a mould the shape of a hedge hog. Turn it out of the mould, and let it stand a day or two. Prick it with a fork, and let it remain all night in a dish full of sweet wine. Slit some blanched almonds, and stick about it, and pour boiled custard in the dish round it.

HERB PIE. Pick two handfuls of parsley from the stems, half the quantity of spinach, two lettuces, some mustard and cresses, a few leaves of borage, and white beet leaves. Wash and boil them a little, drain and press out the water, cut them small; mix a batter of flour, two eggs well beaten, a pint of cream, and half a pint of milk, and pour it on the herbs. Cover with a good crust, and bake it.

HERB TEA. If betony be gathered and dried before it begins to flower, it will be found to have the taste of tea, and all its good qualities, without any of its bad ones: it is also considered as a remedy for the headache. Hawthorn leaves dried, and one third of balm and sage, mixed together, will make a wholesome and strengthening drink. An infusion of ground ivy, mixed with a few flowers of lavender, and flavoured with a drop of lemon juice, will make an agreeable substitute for common tea. Various other vegetables might also be employed for this purpose; such as sage, balm, peppermint, and similar spicy plants; the flowers of the sweet woodroof, those of the burnet, or pimpernel rose; the leaves of peach and almond trees, the young and tender leaves of bilberry, and common raspberry; and the blossoms of the blackthorn, or sloe tree. Most of these when carefully gathered and dried in the shade, especially if they be managed like Indian tea-leaves, bear a great resemblance to the foreign teas, and are at the same time of superior flavour and salubrity.

HERBS FOR WINTER. Take any sort of sweet herbs, with three times the quantity of parsley, and dry them in the air, without exposing them to the sun. When quite dry, rub them through a hair sieve, put them in canisters or bottles, and keep them in a dry place: they will be useful for seasoning in the winter. Mint, sage, thyme, and such kind of herbs, may be tied in small bunches, and dried in the air: then put each sort separately into a bag, and hang it up in the kitchen. Parsley should be picked from the stalks as soon as gathered, and dried in the shade to preserve the colour. Cowslips and marigolds should be gathered dry, picked clean, dried in a cloth, and kept in paper bags.

HESSIAN SOUP. Clean the root of a neat's tongue very nicely, and half an ox's head, with salt and water, and soak them afterwards in water only. Then stew them in five or six quarts of water, till tolerably tender. Let the soup stand to be cold, take off the fat, which will do for basting, or to make good paste for hot meat pies. Put to the soup a pint of split peas, or a quart of whole ones, twelve carrots, six turnips, six potatoes, six large onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two heads of celery. Simmer them without the meat, till the vegetables are done enough to pulp with the peas through a sieve; and the soup will then be about the thickness of cream. Season it with pepper, salt, mace, allspice, a clove or two, and a little cayenne, all in fine powder. If the peas are bad, and the soup not thick enough, boil in it a slice of roll, and pass it through the cullender; or add a little rice flour, mixing it by degrees.--To make a ragout with the above, cut the nicest part of the head, the kernels, and part of the fat from the root of the tongue, into small thick pieces. Rub these with some of the above seasoning, putting them into a quart of the liquor reserved for that purpose before the vegetables were added; flour them well, and simmer till they are nicely tender. Then add a little mushroom and walnut ketchup, a little soy, a glass of port wine, and a tea-spoonful of made mustard, and boil all up together. Serve with small eggs and forcemeat balls. This furnishes an excellent soup and a ragout at a small expense.

HICCOUGH. A few small draughts of water in quick succession, or a tea-spoonful of vinegar, will often afford immediate relief. Peppermint water mixed with a few drops of vitriolic acid may be taken; and sometimes sneezing, or the stench of an extinguished tallow candle, has been found sufficient.

HIND QUARTER OF LAMB. Boil the leg in a floured cloth an hour and a quarter; cut the loin into chops, fry them, lay them round the leg, with a bit of parsley on each, and serve it up with spinach or brocoli.

HIND QUARTER OF PIG. To dress this joint lamb fashion, take off the skin, roast it, and serve it up with mint sauce. A leg of lamb stuffed like a leg of pork, and roasted, with drawn gravy, is very good. A loin of mutton also, stuffed like a hare, and basted with milk. Put gravy in the dish, served with currant jelly, or any other sauce.

HIVING OF BEES. When it is intended to introduce a swarm of bees into a new hive, it must be thoroughly cleaned, and the inside rubbed with virgin wax. A piece of nice honeycomb, made of very white wax, and about nine inches long, should be hung on the cross bars near the top of the hive, to form a kind of nest for the bees, and excite them to continue their work. The new hive being thus prepared, is then to be placed under an old one, before the bees begin to swarm, in such a manner as to be quite close, and to leave the bees no passage except into the new hive. As these insects generally work downwards, they will soon get into their new habitation; and when it is occupied by one half of the swarm, some holes must be made in the top of the old hive, and kept covered till the proper time of making use of them. Preparation being thus made, take the opportunity of a fine morning, about eight or nine o'clock, at which time most of the bees are out, gathering their harvest. The comb is to be cut through by means of a piece of iron wire, and the old hive separated from the new one. An assistant must immediately place the cover, which should be previously fitted, upon the top of the new one. The old hive is then to be taken to the distance of twenty or thirty yards, and placed firm upon a bench or table, but so as to leave a free space both above and below. The holes at the top being opened, one of the new boxes is to be placed on the top of the old hive, having the cover loosely fastened on it; and is to be done in such a manner, by closing the intervals between them with linen cloths, that the bees on going out by the holes on the top of the old hive can only go into the new one. But in order to drive the bees into the new hive, some live coals must be placed under the old one, upon which some linen may be thrown, to produce a volume of smoke; and the bees feeling the annoyance, will ascend to the top of the old hive, and at length will go through the holes into the new one. When they have nearly all entered, it is to be removed gently from the old hive, and placed under the box already mentioned, the top or cover having been taken off. If it should appear the next morning that the two boxes, of which the new hive is now composed, do not afford sufficient room for the bees, a third or fourth box may be added, under the others, as their work goes on, changing them from time to time so long as the season permits the bees to gather wax and honey. When a new swarm is to be hived, the boxes prepared as above and proportioned to the size of the swarm, are to be brought near the place where the bees have settled. The upper box with the cover upon it, must be taken from the others. The cross bars at the top should be smeared with honey and water, the doors must be closed, the box turned upside down, and held under the swarm, which is then to be shaken into it as into a common hive. When the whole swarm is in the box, it is to be carried to the other boxes, previously placed in their destined situation, and carefully put upon them. The interstices are to be closed with cement, and all the little doors closed, except the lowest, through which the bees are to pass. The hive should be shaded from the sun for a few days, that the bees may not be tempted to leave their new habitation. It is more advantageous however to form artificial swarms, than to collect those which abandon their native hives; and the hive here recommended is more particularly adapted to that purpose. By this mode of treatment, we not only avoid the inconveniences which attend the procuring of swarms in the common way, but obtain the advantage of having the hives always well stocked, which is of greater consequence than merely to increase their number; for it has been observed, that if a hive of four thousand bees give six pounds of honey, one of eight thousand will give twenty-four pounds. On this principle it is proper to unite two or more hives, when they happen to be thickly stocked. This may be done by scattering a few handfuls of balm in those hives which are to be united, which by giving them the same smell, they will be unable to distinguish one another. After this preparation, the hives are to be joined by placing them one upon the other, in the evening when they are at rest, and taking away those boxes which are nearly empty. All the little doors must be closed, except the lowest.----If bees are kept in single straw hives in the usual way, the manner of hiving them is somewhat different. They are first allowed to swarm, and having settled, they are then taken to the hive. If they fix on the lower branch of a tree, it may be cut off and laid on a cloth, and the hive placed over it, so as to leave room for the bees to ascend into it. If the queen can be found, and put into the hive, the rest will soon follow. But if it be difficult to reach them, let them remain where they have settled till the evening, when there will be less danger of escaping. After this the hive is to be placed in the apiary, cemented round the bottom, and covered from the wet at top. The usual method of uniting swarms, is by spreading a cloth at night upon the ground close to the hive, in which the hive with the new swarm is to be placed. By giving a smart stroke on the top of the hive, all the bees will drop into a cluster upon the cloth. Then take another hive from the beehouse, and place it over the bees, when they will ascend into it, and mix with those already there. Another way is to invert the hive in which the united swarms are to live, and strike the bees of the other hive into it as before. One of the queens is generally slain on this occasion, together with a considerable number of the working bees. To prevent this destruction, one of the queens should be sought for and taken, when the bees are beaten out of the hive upon the cloth, before the union is effected. Bees never swarm till the hive is too much crowded by the young brood, which happens in May or June, according to the warmth of the season. A good swarm should weigh five or six pounds; those that are under four pounds weight, should be strengthened by a small additional swarm. The size of the hive ought to be proportionate to the number of the bees, and should be rather too small than too large, as they require to be kept dry and warm in winter. In performing these several operations, it will be necessary to defend the hands and face from the sting of the bees. The best way of doing this is to cover the whole head and neck with a coarse cloth or canvas, which may be brought down and fastened round the waist. Through this cloth the motion of the bees may be observed, without fearing their stings; and the hands may be protected by a thick pair of gloves.

HODGE PODGE. Boil some slices of coarse beef in three quarts of water, and one of small beer. Skim it well, put in onions, carrots, turnips, celery, pepper and salt. When the meat is tender, take it out, strain off the soup, put a little butter and flour into the saucepan, and stir it well, to prevent burning. Take off the fat, put the soup into a stewpan, and stew the beef in it till it is quite tender. Serve up the soup with turnips and carrots, spinage or celery. A leg of beef cut in pieces, and stewed five or six hours, will make good soup; and any kind of roots or spices may be added or omitted at pleasure. Or stew some peas, lettuce, and onions, in a very little water, with a bone of beef or ham. While these are doing, season some mutton or lamb steaks, and fry them of a nice brown. Three quarters of an hour before serving, put the steaks into a stewpan, and the vegetables over them. Stew them, and serve all together in a tureen. Another way of making a good hodge podge, is to stew a knuckle of veal and a scrag of mutton, with some vegetables, adding a bit of butter rolled in flour.

HOG'S CHEEKS. If to be dried as usual, cut out the snout, remove the brains, and split the head, taking off the upper bone to make the chawl a good shape. Rub it well with salt, and next day take away the brine. On the following day cover the head with half an ounce of saltpetre, two ounces of bay salt, a little common salt, and four ounces of coarse sugar. Let the head be often turned, and after ten days smoke it for a week like bacon.

HOG'S EARS FORCED. Parboil two pair of ears, or take some that have been soused. Make a forcemeat of an anchovy, some sage and parsley, a quarter of a pound of chopped suet, bread crumbs, and only a little salt. Mix all these with the yolks of two eggs, raise the skin of the upper side of the ears, and stuff them with the mixture. Fry the ears in fresh butter, of a fine colour; then pour away the fat, and drain them. Prepare half a pint of rich gravy, with a glass of fine sherry, three tea-spoonfuls of made mustard, a little butter and flour, a small onion whole, and a little pepper or cayenne. Put this with the ears into a stewpan, and cover it close; stew it gently for half an hour, shaking the pan often. When done enough, take out the onion, place the ears carefully in a dish, and pour the sauce over them. If a larger dish is wanted, the meat from two feet may be added to the above.

HOG'S HEAD. To make some excellent meat of a hog's head, split it, take out the brains, cut off the ears, and sprinkle it with salt for a day. Then drain it, salt it again with common salt and saltpetre for three days, and afterwards lay the whole in a small quantity of water for two days. Wash it, and boil it till all the bones will come out. Skin the tongue, and take the skin carefully off the head, to put under and over. Chop the head as quick as possible, season it with pepper and salt, and a little mace or allspice berries. Put the skin into a small pan, with the chopped head between, and press it down. When cold it will turn out, and make a kind of brawn. If too fat, a few bits of lean pork may be prepared in the same way, and added to it. Add salt and vinegar, and boil these with some of the liquor for a pickle to keep it.

HOG'S LARD. This should be carefully melted in a jar placed in a kettle of water, and boiled with a sprig of rosemary. After it has been prepared, run it into bladders that have been extremely well cleaned. The smaller they are, the better the lard will keep: if the air reaches it, it becomes rank. Lard being a most useful article for frying fish, it should be prepared with care. Mixed with butter, it makes fine crust.

HOLLOW BISCUITS. Mix a pound and a quarter of butter with three pounds and a half of flour, adding a pint of warm water. Cut out the paste with a wine glass, or a small tin, and set them in a brisk oven, after the white bread is drawn.

HONES. For joining them together, or cementing them to their frames, melt a little common glue without water, with half its weight of rosin, and a small quantity of red ochre.

HONEY. The honey produced by young bees, and which flows spontaneously, is purer than that expressed from the comb; and hence it is called virgin honey. The best sort is of a thick consistence, and of a whitish colour, inclining to yellow: it possesses an agreeable smell, and a pleasant taste. When the combs are removed from the hive, they are taken by the hand into a sieve, and left to drain into a vessel sufficiently wide for the purpose. After it has stood a proper time to settle, the pure honey is poured into earthen jars, tied down close to exclude the air.

HONEY VINEGAR. When honey is extracted from the combs, by means of pressure, take the whole mass, break and separate it, and into each tub or vessel put one part of combs, and two of water. Set them in the sun, or in a warm place, and cover them with cloths. Fermentation takes place in a few days, and continues from eight to twelve days, according to the temperature of the situation in which the operation is carried on. During the fermentation, stir the matter from time to time, and press it down with the hand, that it may be perfectly soaked. When the fermentation is over, put the matter to drain on sieves or strainers. At the bottom of the vessels will be found a yellow liquor, which must be thrown away, because it would soon contract a disagreeable smell, which it would communicate to the vinegar. Then wash the tubs, put into them the water separated from the other matter, and it will immediately begin to turn sour. The tubs must then be covered again with cloths, and kept moderately warm. A pellicle or skin is formed on the surface, beneath which the vinegar acquires strength. In a month's time it begins to be sharp, but must be suffered to stand a little longer, and then put into a cask, of which the bunghole is to be left open. It may then be used like any other vinegar. All kinds of vinegar may be strengthened by suffering it to be repeatedly frozen, and then separating the upper cake of ice or water from it.

HOOPING COUGH. This disorder generally attacks children, to whom it often proves fatal for want of proper management. Those who breathe an impure air, live upon poor sustenance, drink much warm tea, and do not take sufficient exercise, are most subject to this convulsive cough. In the beginning of the disorder, the child should be removed to a change of air, and the juice of onions or horseradish applied to the soles of the feet. The diet light and nourishing, and taken in small quantities; the drink must be lukewarm, consisting chiefly of toast and water, mixed with a little white wine. If the cough be attended with feverish symptoms, a gentle emetic must be taken, of camomile flowers, and afterwards the following liniment applied to the pit of the stomach. Dissolve one scruple of tartar emetic in two ounces of spring water, and add half an ounce of the tincture of cantharides: rub a tea-spoonful of it every hour on the lower region of the stomach with a warm piece of flannel, and let the wetted part be kept warm with flannel. This will be found to be the best remedy for the hooping cough.

HOPS. The quality of this article is generally determined by the price; yet hops may be strong, and not good. They should be bright, of a pleasant flavour, and have no foreign leaves or bits of branches among them. The hop is the husk or seed pod of the hop vine, as the cone is that of the fir tree; and the seeds themselves are deposited, like those of the fir, round a little soft stalk, enveloped by the several folds of this pod or cone. If in the gathering, leaves or tendrils of the vine are mixed with the hops, they may help to increase the weight, but will give a bad taste to the beer; and if they abound, they will spoil it. Great attention therefore must be paid to see that they are free from any foreign mixture. There are also numerous sorts of hops, varying in size, in form, and quality. Those that are best for brewing are generally known by the absence of a brown colour, which indicates perished hops; a colour between green and yellow, a great quantity of the yellow farina, seeds not too large or hard, a clamminess when rubbed between the fingers, and a lively pleasant smell, are the general indications of good hops. At almost any age they retain the power of preserving beer, but not of imparting a pleasant flavour; and therefore new hops are to be preferred. Supposing them to be of a good quality, a pound of hops may be allowed to a bushel of malt, when the beer is strong, or brewed in warm weather; but under other circumstances, half the quantity will be sufficient.

HOP-TOP SOUP. Take a quantity of hop-tops when they are in the greatest perfection, tie them in small bunches, soak them in water, and put them to some thin peas-soup. Boil them up, add three spoonfuls of onion juice, with salt and pepper. When done enough, serve them up in a tureen, with sippets of toasted bread at the bottom.

HORSERADISH POWDER. In November or December, slice some horseradish the thickness of a shilling, and lay it to dry very gradually in a Dutch oven, for a strong heat would very soon evaporate its flavour. When quite dry, pound it fine, and bottle it.

HORSERADISH VINEGAR. Pour a quart of the best vinegar on three ounces of scraped horseradish, an ounce of minced shalot, and a dram of cayenne. Let it stand a week, and it will give an excellent relish to cold beef, or other articles. A little black pepper and mustard, celery or cress seed, may be added to the above.

HOUSE DRAINS. The smell of house drains is oftentimes exceedingly offensive, but may be completely prevented by pouring down them a mixture of lime water, and the ley of wood ashes, or suds that have been used in washing. An article known by the name of a sink trap may be had at the ironmongers, which is a cheap and simple apparatus, for carrying off the waste water and other offensive matter from sinks and drains. But as the diffusion of any collection of filth tends to produce disease and mortality, it should not be suffered to settle and stagnate near our dwellings, and every possible care should be taken to render them sweet and wholesome.

HOUSE TAX. As the present system of taxation involves so important a part of the annual expenditure, and is in many instances attended with so much vexation and trouble, it concerns every housekeeper to be acquainted with the extent of his own liability, and of course to regulate his conveniences accordingly. It appears then, that every inhabited dwellinghouse, containing not more than six windows or lights, is subject to the yearly sum of six shillings and six-pence, if under the value of five pounds a year. But every dwellinghouse worth five pounds and under twenty pounds rent by the year, pays the yearly sum of one shilling and six-pence in the pound; every house worth twenty pounds and under forty pounds a year, two shillings and three-pence in the pound; and for every house worth forty pounds and upwards, the yearly sum of two shillings and ten-pence in the pound. These rents however are to be taken from the rates in which they are charged, and not from the rents which are actually paid.

HOUSEHOLD BREAD. Four ounces of salt are dissolved in three quarts of water, and mixed with a pint of yeast. This mixture is poured into a cavity made in a peck of second flour, placed in a large pan or trough. When properly kneaded and fermented, it is divided into pieces of a certain weight, and baked. Sometimes, in farm houses, a portion of rice flour, boiled potatoes, or rye meal, is mixed with the flour, previous to kneading the dough. The rye and rice serve to bind the bread, but the potatoes render it light and spongy.--Or, for a larger quantity, put a bushel of flour into a trough, two thirds wheat and one of rye. Mix a quart of yeast with nine quarts of warm water, and work it into the flour till it becomes tough. Leave it to rise about an hour; and as soon as it rises, add a pound of salt, and as much warm water as before. Work it well, and cover it with flannel. Make the loaves a quarter of an hour before the oven is ready; and if they weigh five pounds each, they will require to be baked two hours and a half.

HUNG BEEF. Make a strong brine with bay salt, common salt, and saltpetre, and put in ribs of beef for nine days. Then dry it, or smoke it in a chimney. Or rub the meat with salt and saltpetre, and repeat it for a fortnight, and dry it in wood smoke.

HUNGARY WATER. To one pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, put an ounce of the oil of rosemary, and two drams of the essence of ambergris. Shake the bottle well several times, and let the cork remain out twenty-four hours. Shake it daily for a whole month, and then put the water into small bottles for use.

HUNTER'S BEEF. To a round of beef that weighs twenty-five pounds, allow three ounces of saltpetre, three ounces of the coarsest sugar, an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of allspice, a nutmeg, and three handfuls of common salt, all in the finest powder. The beef should hang two or three days; then rub the above mixture well into it, and turn and rub it every day for two or three weeks. The bone must be taken out first. When to be dressed, dip it into cold water, to take off the loose spice; bind it up tight with tape, and put it into a pan with a tea-cupful of water at the bottom. Cover the top of the meat with shred suet, and the pan with a brown crust and paper, and bake it five or six hours. When cold, take off the paste and tape. The gravy is very fine, and a little of it is a great improvement to any kind of hash or soup. Both the gravy and the meat will keep some time. The meat should be cut with a very sharp knife, and quite smooth, to prevent waste.

HUNTER'S PUDDING. Mix together a pound of suet, a pound of flour, a pound of currants, and a pound of raisins stoned and cut. Add the rind of half a lemon finely shred, six peppercorns in fine powder, four eggs, a glass of brandy, a little salt, and as much milk as will make it of a proper consistence. Boil it in a floured cloth, or a melon mould, eight or nine hours. A spoonful of peach water may sometimes be added to change the flavour. This pudding will keep six months after it is boiled, if tied up in the same cloth when cold, and hung up, folded in writing paper to preserve it from the dust. When to be eaten, it must be boiled a full hour, and served with sweet sauce.

HYSTERICS. The sudden effusion of water on the face and hands, while the fit is on, and especially immersing the feet in cold water, will afford relief. Fetid smells are also proper; such as the burning of feathers, leather, or the smoke of sulphur, and the application of strong volatile alkali, or other pungent matters to the nostrils. To effect a radical cure, the cold bath, mineral waters, and other tonics are necessary. In Germany however, they cure hysteric affections by eating carraway seeds finely powdered, with a little ginger and salt, spread on bread and butter every morning.

I.

ICE FOR ICEING. To prepare artificial ice for articles of confectionary, procure a few pounds of real ice, reduce it nearly to powder, and throw a large handful or more of salt amongst it. This should be done in as cool a place as possible. The ice and salt being put into a pail, pour some cream into an ice pot, and cover it down. Then immerse it in the ice, and draw that round the pot, so as to enclose every part of it. In a few minutes stir it well with a spoon or spatula, removing to the centre those parts which have iced round the edges. If the ice cream or water be in a a form, shut the bottom close, and move the whole in the ice, as a spoon cannot be used for that purpose without danger of waste. There should be holes in the pail, to let off the ice as it thaws. When any fluid tends towards cold, moving it quickly will encrease that tendency; and likewise, when any fluid is tending to heat, stirring it will facilitate its boiling.

ICE CREAMS. Mix the juice of the fruits with as much sugar as will be wanted, before the cream is added, and let the cream be of a middling richness.

ICE WATERS. Rub some fine sugar on lemon or orange, to give the colour and flavour; then squeeze the juice of either on its respective peel. Add water and sugar to make a fine sherbet, and strain it before it be put into the ice-pot. If orange, the greater proportion should be of the china juice, and only a little of seville, and a small bit of the peel grated by the sugar. The juice of currants or raspberries, or any other sort of fruit, being squeezed out, sweetened, and mixed with water, may be prepared for iceing in the same way.

ICEING FOR CAKES. Beat and sift half a pound of fine sugar, put it into a mortar with four spoonfuls of rose water, and the whites of two eggs beaten and strained. Whisk it well, and when the cake is almost cold, dip a feather in the iceing, and cover the cake well. Set it in the oven to harden, but suffer it not to remain to be discoloured, and then keep it in a dry place.--For a very large cake, beat up the whites of twenty fresh eggs, and reduce to powder a pound of double refined sugar, sifted through a lawn sieve. Mix these well in a deep earthen pan, add orange flower water, barely sufficient to give it a flavour, and a piece of fresh lemon peel. Whisk it for three hours till the mixture is thick and white, then with a thin broad piece of board spread it all over the top and sides, and set it in a cool oven, and an hour will harden it.

ICEING FOR TARTS. Beat well together the yolk of an egg and some melted butter, smear the tarts with a feather, and sift sugar over them as they are put into the oven. Or beat up the white of an egg, wash the paste with it, and sift over some white sugar.

ILIAC PASSION. This dangerous malady, in which the motion of the bowels is totally impeded or inverted, arises from spasms, violent exertions of the body, eating of unripe fruit, drinking of sour liquors, worms, obstinate costiveness, and various other causes, which produce the most excruciating pain in the region of the abdomen. Large blisters applied to the most painful part, emollient clysters, fomentations, and the warm bath, are amongst the most likely means; but in many instances, this disorder is not to be controuled by medicine. No remedy however can be applied with greater safety or advantage, than frequent doses of castor oil: and if this fail, quicksilver in a natural state is the only medicine on which any reliance can be placed.

IMPERIAL. Put into a stone jar two ounces of cream of tartar, and the juice and paring of two lemons. Pour on them seven quarts of boiling water, stir it well, and cover it close. When cold, sweeten it with loaf sugar; strain, bottle, and cork it tight. This makes a very pleasant and wholesome liquor; but if drunk too freely, it becomes injurious. In bottling it off, add half a pint of rum to the whole quantity.

IMPERIAL CREAM. Boil a quart of cream with the thin rind of a lemon, and stir it till nearly cold. Have ready in a dish or bowl, in which it is to be served, the juice of three lemons strained, mixed with as much sugar as will sweeten the cream. Pour this into the dish from a large tea-pot, holding it high, and moving it about to mix with the juice. It should be made at least six hours before it is used; and if the day before, it would be still better.

IMPERIAL WATER. Put into an earthen pan, four ounces of sugar, and the rind of three lemons. Boil an ounce of cream of tartar in three quarts of water, and pour it on the sugar and lemon. Let it stand all night, clear it through a bag, and bottle it.

INCENSE. Compound in a marble mortar, a large quantity of lignum rhodium, and anise, with a little powder of dried orange peel, and gum benzoin. Add some gum dragon dissolved in rose water, and a little civet. Beat the whole together, form the mixture into small cakes, and place them on paper to dry. One of these cakes being burnt, will diffuse an agreeable odour throughout the largest apartment.

INDELIBLE INK. Gum arabic dissolved in water, and well mixed with fine ivory black, will make writing indelible. If the writing be afterwards varnished over with the white of an egg clarified, it will preserve it to any length of time.

INDIAN PICKLE. Lay a pound of white ginger in water one night; then scrape, slice, and lay it in salt in a pan, till the other ingredients are prepared. Peel and slice a pound of garlic, lay it in salt three days, and afterwards dry it in the sun. Salt and dry some long pepper in the same way: then prepare various sorts of vegetables in the following manner. Quarter some small white cabbages, salt them three days, then squeeze and lay them in the sun to dry. Cut some cauliflowers into branches, take off the green part of radishes, cut celery into lengths of about three inches, put in young French beans whole, and the shoots of elder, which will look like bamboo. Choose apples and cucumbers of a sort the least seedy, quarter them, or cut them in slices. All must be salted, drained, and dried in the sun, except the latter, over which some boiling vinegar must be poured. In twelve hours drain them, but use no salt. Put the spice into a large stone jar, adding the garlic, a quarter of a pound of mustard seed, an ounce of turmeric, and vinegar sufficient for the quantity of pickle. When the vegetables are dried and ready, the following directions must be observed. Put some of them into a half-gallon stone jar, and pour over them a quart of boiling vinegar. Next day take out those vegetables; and when drained, put them into a large stock jar. Boil the vinegar, pour it over some more of the vegetables, let them lie all night, and complete the operation as before. Thus proceed till each set is cleansed from the dust they may have contracted. Then to every gallon of vinegar, put two ounces of flour of mustard, gradually mixing in a little of it boiling hot, and stop the jar tight. The whole of the vinegar should be previously scalded, and set to cool before it is put to the spice. This pickle will not be ready for a year, but a small quantity may be got ready for eating in a fortnight, by only giving the cauliflower one scald in water, after salting and drying as above, but without the preparative vinegar: then pour the vinegar, which has the spice and garlic, boiling hot over it. If at any time it be found that the vegetables have not swelled properly, boiling the pickle, and pouring it hot over them, will make them plump.--Another way. Cut the heads of some good cauliflowers into pieces, and add some slices of the inside of the stalk. Put to them a white cabbage cut in pieces, with inside slices of carrot, turnips, and onions. Boil a strong brine of salt and water, simmer the vegetables in it one minute, drain them, and dry them on tins over an oven till they are shriveled up; then put them into a jar, and prepare the following pickle. To two quarts of good vinegar, put an ounce of the flour of mustard, one of ginger, one of long pepper, four of cloves, a few shalots, and a little horseradish. Boil the vinegar, put the vegetables into a jar, and pour it hot over them. When cold, tie them down, and add more vinegar afterwards, if necessary. In the course of a week or two, the pickle will be fit for use.

INDIGESTION. Persons of weak delicate habits, particularly the sedentary and studious, are frequently subject to indigestion. The liberal use of cold water alone, in drinking, washing, and bathing, is often sufficient to effect a cure. Drinking of sea water, gentle purgatives, with bark and bitters, light and nourishing food, early rising, and gentle exercise in the open air, are also of great importance.

INFECTION. During the prevalence of any infectious disease, every thing requires to be kept perfectly clean, and the sick room to be freely ventilated. The door or window should generally be open, the bed curtains only drawn to shade the light, clothes frequently changed and washed in cold water, all discharges from the patient instantly removed, and the floor near the bed rubbed every day with a wet cloth. Take also a hot brick, lay it in an earthen pan, and pour pickle vinegar upon it. This will refresh the patient, as well as purify the surrounding atmosphere. Those who are obliged to attend the patients, should not approach them fasting, nor inhale their breath; and while in their apartment, should avoid eating and drinking, and swallowing their own saliva. It will also be of considerable service to smell vinegar and camphor, to fumigate the room with tobacco, and to chew myrrh and cinnamon, which promote a plentiful discharge from the mouth. As soon as a person has returned from visiting an infected patient, he ought immediately to wash his mouth and hands with vinegar, to change his clothes, and expose them to the fresh air; and to drink an infusion of sage, or other aromatic herbs. After the disorder has subsided, the walls of the room should be washed with hot lime, which will render it perfectly sweet.

INFLAMMATIONS. In external inflammations, attended with heat and swelling of the part affected, cooling applications and a little opening medicine are the best adapted; and in some cases, cataplasms of warm emollient herbs may be used with advantage.

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. In this case leeches should be applied to the temples; and after the bleeding has ceased, a small blister may be tried, with a little opening medicine. Much benefit has been derived from shaving the head, cutting the hair, and bathing the feet in warm water. If the inflammation has arisen from particles of iron or steel falling into the eyes, the offending matter is best extracted by the application of the loadstone. If eyes are blood-shotten, the necessary rules are, an exclusion from light, cold fomentations, and abstinence from animal food and stimulating liquors. For a bruise in the eye, occasioned by any accident, the best remedy is a rotten apple, and some conserve of roses. Fold them in a piece of thin cambric, apply it to the part affected, and it will take out the bruise.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. This is a complaint that requires great care. If the belly be swelled, and painful to the touch, apply flannels to it, dipped in hot water and wrung out, or use a warm bath. A blister should be employed as soon as possible, and mild emollient injections of gruel or barley water, till stools be obtained. The patient should be placed between blankets, and supplied with light gruel; and when the violence of the disorder is somewhat abated, the pain may be removed by opiate clysters. A common bread and milk poultice, applied as warm as possible to the part affected, has also been attended with great success: but as this disorder is very dangerous, it would be proper to call in medical assistance without delay.

INK. To make an excellent writing 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 the galls and beat the other ingredients fine, and infuse them together in three quarts of rain water. Let the mixture stand by the fire three or four days, and then boil it gently over a slow fire; or if infused in cold water, and afterwards well strained, it will nearly answer the same purpose. Care must be taken to obtain good materials, and to mix them in due proportion. To preserve the ink from mouldiness, it should be put into a large glass bottle with a ground stopper, and frequently shaked; but if a crust be formed, it should be carefully taken out, and not mixed with the ink. A little more gum and sugar candy may be added, to render the ink more black and glossy; but too much will make it sticky, and unfit for use.--Another method is to bruise a pound of good galls, black and heavy, and put them into a stone jar. Then pour on a gallon of rain water, nearly of a boiling heat, and let it stand by the fire about a fortnight. Afterwards add four ounces of green copperas or sulphate of iron, four ounces of logwood shavings, one ounce of alum, one of sugar candy, and four of gum arabic. Let the whole remain about two days longer in a moderate heat, stir the ingredients together once or twice a day, and keep the jar slightly covered. The ink is then to be strained through a flannel, put into a bottle with a little brandy at the top, well corked, and set by for use in a temperate place. A few cloves bruised with gum arabic, and put into the bottle, will prevent the ink from getting mouldy; and if some of superior quality be required, white wine or vinegar must be used instead of water.

INK POWDER. For the convenience of travellers by sea or by land, ink powders have been invented, which consist of nothing else than the substances employed in the composition of common ink, pounded and pulverized, so that it be instantaneously converted into ink by mixing it up with a little water. Walkden's ink powder is by far the best.

INK STAINS. The stains of ink, on cloth, paper, or wood, may be removed by almost all acids; but those acids are to be preferred, which are least likely to injure the texture of the stained substance. The muriatic acid, diluted with five or six times its weight of water, may be applied to the spot; and after a minute or two, may be washed off, repeating the application as often as it is found necessary. But the vegetable acids are attended with less risk, and are equally effectual. A solution of lemon or tartareous acid, in water, may be applied to the most delicate fabrics, without any danger of injuring them: and the same solution will discharge writing, but not printing ink. Hence they may be employed in cleaning books which have been defaced by writing on the margin, without impairing the text. Lemon juice and the juice of sorrel will also remove ink stains, but not so easily as the concrete acid of lemons, or citric acid. On some occasions it will be found sufficient, only to dip the spotted part in the fine melted tallow of a mould candle, and afterwards wash it in the usual way.

INSECTS. The most effectual remedy against the whole tribe of insects, which prey upon plants and vegetables, is the frequent use of sulphur, which should be dusted upon the leaves through a muslin rag or dredging box, or fumed on a chaffing dish of burning charcoal. This application will also improve the healthiness of plants, as well as destroy their numerous enemies. Another way is to boil together an equal quantity of rue, wormwood, and tobacco, in common water, so as to make the liquor strong, and then to sprinkle it on the leaves every morning and evening. By pouring boiling water on some tobacco and the tender shoots of elder, a strong decoction may also be made for this purpose, and shed upon fruit trees with a brush: the quantity, about an ounce of tobacco and two handfuls of elder to a gallon of water. Elder water sprinkled on honeysuckles and roses, will prevent insects from lodging on them. If a quantity of wool happen to be infected with insects, it may be cleansed in the following manner. Dissolve a pound of alum, and as much cream of tartar, in a quart of boiling water, and add two full gallons of cold water to it. The wool is then to be soaked in it for several days, and afterwards to be washed and dried.

INSIDE OF A SIRLOIN. Cut out all the meat and a little fat, of the inside of a cold sirloin of beef, and divide it into pieces of a finger's size and length. Dredge the meat with flour, and fry it in butter, of a nice brown. Drain the butter from the meat, and toss it up in a rich gravy, seasoned with pepper, salt, anchovy, and shalot. It must not be suffered to boil; and before serving, add two spoonfuls of vinegar. Garnish with crimped parsley.

INVISIBLE INK. Boil half an ounce of gold litharge well pounded, with a little vinegar in a brass vessel for half an hour. Filter the liquid through paper, and preserve it in a bottle closely corked. This ink is to be used with a clean pen, and the writing when dry will become invisible. But if at any time it be washed over with the following mixture, it will instantly become black and legible. Put some quicklime and red orpiment in water, place some warm ashes under it for a whole day, filter the liquor, and cork it down. Whenever applied in the slightest degree, it will render the writing visible.

IRISH BEEF. To twenty pounds of beef, put one ounce of allspice, a quarter of an ounce of mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and half an ounce each of pepper and saltpetre. Mix all together, and add some common salt. Put the meat into a salting pan, turn it every day, and rub it with the seasoning. After a month take out the bone, and boil the meat in the liquor it was pickled in, with a proper quantity of water. It may be stuffed with herbs, and eaten cold.

IRISH PANCAKES. Beat eight yolks and four whites of eggs, strain them into a pint of cream, sweeten with sugar, and add a grated nutmeg. Stir three ounces of butter over the fire, and as it melts pour it to the cream, which should be warm when the eggs are put to it. Mix it smooth with nearly half a pint of flour, and fry the pancakes very thin; the first with a bit of butter, but not the others. Serve up several at a time, one upon another.

IRISH STEW. Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or loin; four pounds of potatoes, peeled and divided; and half a pound of onions, peeled and sliced. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, then a couple of chops, and some of the onions, and so on till the pan is quite full. Add a small spoonful of white pepper, about one and a half of salt, and three quarters of a pint of broth or gravy. Cover all close down, so as to prevent the escape of steam, and let them stew two hours on a very slow fire. It must not be suffered to burn, nor be done too fast: a small slice of ham will be an agreeable addition.

IRON MOULDS. Wet the injured part, rub on a little of the essential salt of lemons, and lay it on a hot waterplate. If the linen becomes dry, wet it and renew the process, observing that the plate is kept boiling hot. Much of the powder sold under the name of salt of lemons is a spurious preparation, and therefore it is necessary to dip the linen in a good deal of water, and to wash it as soon as the stain is removed, in order to prevent the part from being worn into holes by the acid.

IRON POTS. To cure cracks or fissures in iron pots or pans, mix some finely sifted lime with whites of eggs well beaten, till reduced to a paste. Add some iron file dust, and apply the composition to the injured part, and it will soon become hard and fit for use.

IRON AND STEEL. Various kinds of polished articles, in iron and steel, are in danger of being rusted and spoiled, by an exposure to air and moisture. A mixture of nearly equal quantities of fat, oil varnish, and the rectified spirits of turpentine, applied with a sponge, will give a varnish to those articles, which prevents their contracting any spots of rust, and preserves their brilliancy, even though exposed to air and water. Common articles of steel or iron may be preserved from injury by a composition of one pound of fresh lard, an ounce of camphor, two drams of black lead powder, and two drams of dragon's blood in fine powder, melted over a slow fire, and rubbed on with a brush or sponge, after it has been left to cool.

ISINGLASS JELLY. Boil an ounce of isinglass in a quart of water, with a few cloves, lemon peel, or wine, till it is reduced to half the quantity. Then strain it, and add a little sugar and lemon juice.

ISSUE OINTMENT. For dressing blisters, in order to keep them open, make an ointment of half an ounce of Spanish flies finely powdered, mixed with six ounces of yellow basilicon ointment.

ITALIAN BEEF STEAKS. Cut a fine large steak from a rump that has been well kept, or from any tender part. Beat it, and season with pepper, salt, and onion. Lay it in an iron stewpan that has a cover to fit it quite close, and set it by the side of the fire without water. It must have a strong heat, but care must be taken that it does not burn: in two or three hours it will be quite tender, and then serve with its own gravy.

ITCH. Rub the parts affected with the ointment of sulphur, and keep the body gently open by taking every day a small dose of sulphur and treacle. When the cure is effected, let the clothes be carefully fumigated with sulphur, or the contagion will again be communicated. The dry itch requires a vegetable diet, and the liberal use of anti-scorbutics: the parts affected may be rubbed with a strong decoction of tobacco.

IVORY. Bones and ivory may be turned to almost any use, by being softened in the following manner. Boil some sage in strong vinegar, strain the liquor through a piece of cloth, and put in the articles. In proportion to the time they are steeped in the liquor, ivory or bones will be capable of receiving any new impression.

J.

JAPAN BLACKING. Take three ounces of ivory black, two ounces of coarse sugar, one ounce of sulphuric acid, one ounce of muriatic acid, a lemon, a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and a pint of vinegar. First mix the ivory black and sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar, with a little vinegar to qualify the blacking; then add both the acids, and mix them all well together. The sugar, oil, and vinegar prevent the acids from injuring the leather, and add to the lustre of the blacking.--A cheap method is to take two ounces of ivory black, an ounce and a half of brown sugar, and half a table-spoonful of sweet oil. Mix them well, and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.--Or take a quarter of a pound of ivory black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a table-spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut, and a small piece of gum arabic. Make a paste of the flour, and whilst hot, put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole well together in a quart of water.

JARGANEL PEARS. These may be preserved in a fine state, in the following manner. Pare them very thin, simmer in a thin syrup, and let them lie a day or two. Make the syrup richer, and simmer them again. Repeat this till they are clear; then drain, and dry them in the sun or a cool oven a very little time. They may also be kept in syrup, and dried as wanted, which makes them more moist and rich.

JAUNDICE. The diet of persons affected with the jaundice ought to be light and cooling, consisting chiefly of ripe fruits, and mild vegetables. Many have been effectually cured, by living for several days on raw eggs. Buttermilk whey sweetened with honey, or an infusion of marshmallow roots, ought to constitute the whole of the patient's drink. Honey, anti-scorbutics, bitters, and blisters applied to the region of the liver, have all been found serviceable in the cure of the jaundice.

JELLY FOR COLD FISH. Clean a maid, and put it into three quarts of water, with a calf's foot, or cow heel. Add a stick of horseradish, an onion, three blades of mace, some white pepper, a piece of lemon peel, and a good slice of lean gammon. Stew it to a jelly, and strain it off. When cold, remove every particle of fat, take it up from the sediment, and boil it with a glass of sherry, the whites of four or five eggs, and a piece of lemon. Boil without stirring; after a few minutes set it by to stand half an hour, and strain it through a bag or sieve, with a cloth in it. Cover the fish with it when cold.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. These must be taken up the moment they are boiled enough, or they will be too soft. They may be served plain, or with fricassee sauce.

JUGGED HARE. After cleaning and skinning an old hare, cut it up, and season it with pepper, salt, allspice, pounded mace, and a little nutmeg. Put it into a jar with an onion, a clove or two, a bunch of sweet herbs, a piece of coarse beef, and the carcase bones over all. Tie the jar down with a bladder and strong paper, and put it into a saucepan of water up to the neck, but no higher. Keep the water boiling five hours. When it is to be served, boil up the gravy with flour and butter; and if the meat get cold, warm it up in the gravy, but do not boil it.

JUGGED VEAL. Cut some slices of veal, and put them into an earthen jug, with a blade of mace, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Add a sprig of sweet herbs, and a bit of lemon peel. Cover the jug close, that the steam may not escape; set it in a pot of boiling water, and about three hours will do it. Half an hour before it is done, put in a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a little lemon juice, or lemon pickle. Turn it out of the jug into a dish, take out the herbs and lemon peel, and send it to table garnished with lemon.

JUMBLES. Powder and sift half a pound of fine lump sugar, and mix it with half a pound of dried flour. Beat up two eggs in a table-spoonful of orange or rose water, shred the peel of half a lemon very fine, mix the whole together, and make it into a paste. Cut the paste into fancy shapes, bake them slightly on tins, and take them out of the oven as soon as the edges begin to brown.

K.

KETCHUP. The liquor obtained from mushrooms, approaches the nearest to meat gravy, in flavour and quality, of any other vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it, in any of those savoury dishes intended to please the palate. But in order to have it wholesome and good, it must be made at home, the mushrooms employed in preparing ketchup for sale being generally in a state of putrefaction; and in a few days after the mushrooms are gathered, they become the habitation of myriads of insects. In order to procure and preserve the flavour of the vegetable for any considerable time, the mushrooms should be sought from the beginning of September, and care taken to select only the right sort, and such as are fresh gathered. Full grown flaps are the best for ketchup. Place a layer of these at the bottom of a deep earthen pan, and sprinkle them with salt; then another layer of mushrooms, and some more salt on them, and so on alternately. Let them remain two or three hours, by which time the salt will have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered them easy to break. Then pound them in a mortar, or mash them with the hand, and let them remain two days longer, stirring them up, and mashing them well each day. Then pour them into a stone jar, and to each quart add an ounce of whole black pepper. Stop the jar very close, set it in a stewpan of boiling water, and keep it boiling at least for two hours. Take out the jar, pour the juice clear from the settlings through a hair sieve into a clean stewpan, and let it boil very gently for half an hour. If intended to be exquisitely fine, it may be boiled till reduced to half the quantity. It will keep much better in this concentrated state, and only half the quantity be required. Skim it well in boiling, and pour it into a clean dry jar; cover it close, let it stand in a cool place till the next day, and then pour it off as gently as possible, so as not to disturb the settlings. If a table-spoonful of brandy be added to each pint of ketchup, after standing a while, a fresh sediment will be deposited, from which the liquor is quietly to be poured off, and bottled into half pints, as it is best preserved in small quantities, which are soon used. It must be closely corked and sealed down, or dipped in bottle cement, that the air may be entirely excluded. If kept in a cool dry place, it may be preserved for a long time; but if it be badly corked, and kept in a damp place, it will soon spoil. Examine it from time to time, by placing a strong light behind the neck of the bottle; and if any pellicle appears about it, it must be boiled up again with a few peppercorns. No more spice is required than what is necessary to feed the ketchup, and keep it from fermenting. Brandy is the best preservative to all preparations of this kind.

KEEPING PROVISIONS. When articles of food are procured, the next thing to be considered is, how they may be best preserved, in order to their being dressed. More waste is oftentimes occasioned by the want of judgment or of necessary care in this particular, than by any other means; and what was procured with expense and difficulty is rendered unwholesome, or given to the dogs. Very few houses have a proper place to keep provisions in; the best substitute is a hanging-safe, suspended in an airy situation. A well-ventilated larder, dry and shady, would be better for meat and poultry, which require to be kept a proper time to be ripe and tender. The most consummate skill in culinary matters, will not compensate the want of attention to this particular. Though animal food should be hung up in the open air, till its fibres have lost some degree of their toughness; yet if kept till it loses its natural sweetness, it is as detrimental to health as it is disagreeable to the taste and smell. As soon therefore as you can detect the slightest trace of putrescence, it has reached its highest degree of tenderness, and should be dressed immediately. Much of course will depend on the state of the atmosphere: if it be warm and humid, care must be taken to dry the meat with a cloth, night and morning, to keep it from damp and mustiness. During the sultry months of summer, it is difficult to procure meat that is not either tough or tainted. It should therefore be well examined when it comes in; and if flies have touched it, the part must be cut off, and then well washed. Meat that is to be salted should lie an hour in cold water, rubbing well any part likely to have been fly-blown. When taken out of the water, wipe it quite dry, then rub it thoroughly with salt, and throw a handful over it besides. Turn it every day, and rub in the pickle, which will make it ready for the table in three or four days. If to be very much corned, wrap it in a well-floured cloth, after rubbing it with salt. This last method will corn fresh beef fit for the table the day it comes in, but it must be put into the pot when the water boils. If the weather permit, meat eats much better for hanging two or three days before it is salted. In very cold weather, meat and vegetables touched by the frost should be brought into the kitchen early in the morning, and soaked in cold water. Putting them into hot water, or near the fire, till thawed, makes it impossible for any heat to dress them properly afterwards. In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and edgebones of beef when bruised, should not be purchased. To preserve venison, wash it well with milk and water, then dry it with clean cloths till not the least damp remains, and dust it all over with pounded ginger, which will protect it against the fly. By thus managing and watching, it will hang a fortnight. When to be used, wash it with a little lukewarm water, and dry it. Pepper is likewise good to keep it.

KIDNEY PUDDING. Split and soak the kidney, and season it. Make a paste of suet, flour, and milk; roll it, and line a bason with some of it. Put in the kidney, cover the paste over, and pinch it round the edge. Tie up the bason in a cloth, and boil it a considerable time. A steak pudding is made in the same way.

KITCHEN ECONOMY. Many articles thrown away, or suffered to be wasted in the kitchen, might by proper management be turned to a good account. The shank bones of mutton, so little esteemed in general, would be found to give richness to soups or gravies, if well soaked and brushed, before they are added to the boiling. They are also particularly nourishing for sick persons. Roast beef-bones, or shank bones of ham, make fine peas-soup; and should be boiled with the peas the day before the soup is to be eaten, that the fat may be taken off. The liquor in which meat has been boiled makes an excellent soup for the poor, by adding to it vegetables, oatmeal, or peas. When whites of eggs are used for jelly, or other purposes, a pudding or a custard should be made to employ the yolks. If not immediately wanted, they should be beat up with a little water, and put in a cool place, or they will soon harden, and become useless. It is a great mistake to imagine that the whites of eggs make cakes and puddings heavy: on the contrary, if beaten long and separately, they contribute greatly to give lightness. They are also an advantage to paste, and make a pretty dish beaten with fruit, to set in cream. All things likely to be wanted should be in readiness; sugars of different sorts, currants washed, picked, and perfectly dry; spices pounded, and kept in very small bottles closely corked, but not more than are likely to be used in the course of a month. Much waste may be prevented by keeping every article in the place best suited to it. Vegetables will keep best on a stone floor, if the air be excluded. Meat in a cold dry place. Salt, sugar, and sweetmeats require to be kept dry; candles cold, but not damp. Dried meats and hams the same. Rice, and all sorts of seeds for puddings and saloops, should be close covered to preserve from insects; but that will not prevent it, if long kept.

KITCHEN GARDEN. Here a little attention will be requisite every month in the year, as no garden can be long neglected, without producing weeds which exhaust the soil, as well as give a very slovenly appearance.--JANUARY. Throw up a heap of new dung to heat, that it may be ready to make hotbeds for early cucumbers, and raising of annuals for the flower garden. Dig up the ground that is to be sown with the spring crops, that it may lie and mellow. Nurse the cauliflower plants kept under glasses, carefully shut out the frost, but in the middle of milder days let in a little air. Pick up the dead leaves, and gather up the mould about the stalks. Make a slight hotbed in the open ground for young sallads, and place hoops over it, that it may be covered in very cold weather. Sow a few beans and peas, and seek and destroy snails and other vermin.--FEBRUARY. Dig and level beds for sowing radishes, onions, carrots, parsnips, and Dutch lettuce. Leeks and spinage should also be sown in this month, likewise beets, celery, sorrel, and marigolds, with any other of the hardy kinds. The best way with beans and peas, is to sow a new crop every fortnight, that if one succeeds and another fails, as will often be the case, there still may be a constant supply of these useful articles for the table. Plant kidney beans upon a hotbed for an early crop; the dwarf, the white and Battersea beans, are the best sorts. They must have air in the middle of mild days when they are up, and once in two days they should be gently watered. Transplant cabbages, plant out Silesia and Cos lettuce from the beds where they grew in winter, and plant potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes.--MARCH. Sow more carrots, and also some large peas, rouncevals and gray. In better ground sow cabbages, savoys, and parsnips for a second crop; and towards the end of the month, put in a larger quantity of peas and beans. Sow parsley, and plant mint. Sow Cos and imperial lettuce, and transplant the finer kinds. In the beginning of the month, sow Dutch parsley for the roots. The last week take advantage of the time, or the dry days, to make beds for asparagus. Clear up the artichoke roots, slip off the weakest, and plant them out for a new crop, leaving four on each good root to bear, and on such as are weaker two. Dig up a warm border, and sow some French beans; let them have a dry soil, and give them no water till they appear above ground.--APRIL. On a dry warm border, plant a large crop of French beans. Plant cuttings of sage, and other aromatics. Sow marrowfat peas, and plant some beans for a late crop. Sow thyme, sweet marjoram, and savoury. Sow young sallads once in ten days, and some Cos and Silesia lettuces. The seeds of all kinds being now in the ground, look to the growing crops, clear away the weeds every where among them, dig up the earth between the rows of beans, peas, and all other kinds that are distantly planted. This gives them a strong growth, and brings them much sooner to perfection than can be done in any other way. Draw up the mould to the stalks of the cabbage and cauliflower plants, and in cold nights cover the glasses over the early cucumbers and melons.--MAY. Once in two days water the peas, beans, and other large growing plants. Destroy the weeds in all parts of the ground, dig up the earth between the rows, and about the stems of all large kinds. Sow small sallads once in two days, as in the former month: at the same time choose a warm border, and sow some purslain. Sow also some endive, plant peas and beans for a large crop, and French beans to succeed the others. The principal object with these kinds of vegetables, is to have them fresh and young throughout the season. Choose a moist day, and an hour before sunset plant out some savoys, cabbages, and red cabbages. Draw the earth carefully up to their stems, and give them a few gentle waterings.--JUNE. Transplant the cauliflowers sown in May, give them a rich bed, and frequent waterings. Plant out thyme, and other savoury herbs sown before, and in the same manner shade and water them. Take advantage of cloudy weather to sow turnips; and if there be no showers, water the ground once in two days. Sow brocoli upon a rich warm border, and plant out celery, for blanching. This must be planted in trenches a foot and a half deep, and the plants must be set half a foot asunder in the rows. Endive should also be planted out for blanching, but the plants should be set fifteen inches asunder, and at the same time some endive seed should be sown for a second crop. Pick up snails, and in the damp evenings kill the naked slugs.--JULY. Sow a crop of French beans to come in late, when they will be very acceptable. Clear all the ground from weeds, dig between the rows of beans and peas, hoe the ground about the artichokes, and every thing of the cabbage kind. Water the crops in dry weather, and the cucumbers more freely. Watch the melons as they ripen, but give them very little water. Clear away the stalks of beans and peas that have done bearing. Spinach seed will now be ready for gathering, as also that of the Welch onion, and some others: take them carefully off, and dry them in the shade. Take up large onions, and spread them upon mats to dry for the winter.--AUGUST. Spinach and onions should be sowed on rich borders, prepared for that purpose. These two crops will live through the winter, unless very severe, and be valuable in the spring. The second week in this month sow cabbage seed of the early kind, and in the third week sow cauliflower seed. This will provide plants to be nursed up under bell glasses in the winter. Some of these may also be planted in the open ground in a well defended situation. The last week of this month sow another crop, to supply the place of these in case of accidents; for if the season be very severe, they may be lost; and if very mild, they will run to seed in the spring. These last crops must be defended by a hotbed frame, and they will stand out and supply deficiencies. Sow cabbage lettuces, and the brown Dutch kinds, in a warm and well sheltered border. Take up garlic, and spread it on a mat to harden. In the same manner take up onions and rocambole, and shalots at the latter end of the month.--SEPTEMBER. Sow various kinds of lettuces, Silesia, Cos, and Dutch, and when they come up, shelter them carefully. The common practice is to keep them under hand-glasses, but they will thrive better under a reed fence, placed sloping over them. Make up fresh warm beds with the dung that has lain a month in the heap. Plant the spawn in these beds, upon pasture mould, and raise the top of the bed to a ridge, to throw off the wet. Look to the turnip beds and thin them, leaving the plants six inches apart from each other. Weed the spinach, onions, and other new-sown plants. Earth up the celery, and sow young sallads upon warm and well-sheltered borders. Clean asparagus beds, cut down the stalks, pare off the earth from the surface of the alleys, throw it upon the beds half an inch thick, and sprinkle over it a little dung from an old melon bed. Dig up the ground where summer crops have ripened, and lay it in ridges for the winter. The ridges should be disposed east and west, and turned once in two months, to give them the advantage of a fallow. Sow some beans and peas on warm and well-sheltered borders, to stand out the winter.--OCTOBER. Set out cauliflower plants, where they can be sheltered; and if glasses are used, put two under each, for fear of one failing. Sow another crop of peas, and plant more beans; choose a dry spot for them, where they can be sheltered from the winter's cold. Transplant the lettuces sown last month, where they can be defended by a reed fence, or under a wall. Transplant cabbage plants and coleworts, where they are to remain. Take great care of the cauliflower plants sown early in summer; and as they now begin to show their heads, break in the leaves upon them to keep off the sun and rain; it will both harden and whiten them.--NOVEMBER. Weed the crops of spinach, and others that were sown late, or the wild growth will smother and starve the crop. Dig up a border under a warm wall, and sow some carrots for spring; sow radishes in a similar situation, and let the ground be dug deep for both. Turn the mould that was trenched and laid up for fallowing; this will destroy the weeds, and enrich the soil by exposing it to the air. Prepare some hotbeds for salading, cover them five inches with mould, and sow them with lettuces, mustard, rape, cresses, and radish. Plant another crop of beans, and sow more peas for a succession. Trench the ground between the artichokes, and throw a thick ridge of earth over the roots: this will preserve them from the frost, and prevent their shooting at an improper time. Make a hotbed for asparagus. Take up carrots and parsnips, and put them in sand to be ready for use. Give air occasionally to the plants under hand-glasses and on hotbeds, or they will suffer as much for want of it, as they would have done by an exposure to the cold.--DECEMBER. Plant cabbages and savoys for seed: this requires to be done carefully. Dig up a dry border, and break the mould well; then take up some of the stoutest cabbage and savoy plants, hang them up by the stalks four or five days, and afterwards plant them half way up the stalks into the ground. Draw up a good quantity of mould about the stalk that is above ground, make it into a kind of hill round each, and leave them to nature. Sow another crop of peas, and plant some more beans, to take their chance for succeeding the other. Make another hotbed for asparagus, to yield a supply when the former is exhausted. Continue to earth up celery, and cover some endive with a good quantity of peas straw, as it is growing, that it may be taken up when wanted, and be preserved from the winter's frost.

KITCHEN PEPPER. Mix in the finest powder, one ounce of ginger, half an ounce each of cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, and Jamaica pepper; ten cloves, and six ounces of salt. Keep it in a bottle, and it will be found an agreeable addition to any brown sauces or soups. Spice in powder, kept in small bottles close stopped, goes much farther than when used whole. It must be dried before it is pounded, and should be done in quantities that may be used in three or four months. Nutmeg need not be done, but the others should be kept in separate bottles, with a label on each.

KITCHEN UTENSILS. Continual attention must be paid to the condition of the boilers, saucepans, stewpans, and other kitchen requisites, which ought to be examined every time they are used. Their covers also must be kept perfectly clean, and well tinned. Stewpans in particular should be cleaned, not only on the inside, but about a couple of inches on the outside, or the broths and soups will look green and dirty, and taste bitter and poisonous. Not only health but even life depends on the perfectly clean and wholesome state of culinary utensils. If the tinning of a pan happens to be scorched or blistered, it is best to send it directly to be repaired, to prevent any possible danger arising from the solution of the metal. Stewpans and soup pots should be made with thick round bottoms, similar to those of copper saucepans; they will then wear twice as long, and may be cleaned with half the trouble. The covers should be made to fit as close as possible, that the broth or soup may not waste by evaporation. They are good for nothing, unless they fit tight enough to keep the steam in, and the smoke out. Stewpans and saucepans should always be bright on the upper rim, where the fire does not burn them; but it is not necessary to scour them all over, which would wear out the vessels. Soup pots and kettles should be washed immediately after being used, and carefully dried by the fire, before they are put by. They must also be kept in a dry place, or damp and rust will soon destroy them. Copper utensils should never be used in the kitchen; or if they be, the utmost care should be taken not to let the tin be rubbed off, and to have them fresh done when the least defect appears. Neither soup nor gravy should at any time be suffered to remain in them longer than is absolutely necessary for the purposes of cookery, as the fat and acid employed in the operation, are capable of dissolving the metal, and so of poisoning what is intended to be eaten. Stone and earthen vessels should be provided for soups and gravies intended to be set by, as likewise plenty of common dishes, that the table-set may not be used for such purposes. Vegetables soon turn sour, and corrode metals and glazed red ware, by which a strong poison is produced. Vinegar, by its acidity, does the same, the glazing being of lead or arsenic. Care should be taken of sieves, jelly bags, and tapes for collared articles, to have them well scalded and kept dry, or they will impart an unpleasant flavour when next used. Stewpans especially, should never be used without first washing them out with boiling water, and rubbing them well with a dry cloth and a little bran, to clean them from grease and sand, or any bad smell they may have contracted since they were last used. In short, cleanliness is the cardinal virtue of the kitchen; and next to this, economy.

KNIFE BOARD. Common knife boards with brick dust, soon wear out the knives that are sharpened upon them. To avoid this, cover the board with thick buff leather, and spread over it a thin paste of crocus martis, with a little emery finely powdered, and mixed up with lard or sweet oil. This will give a superior edge and polish to the knives, and make them wear much longer than in the usual way of cleaning them.

KNUCKLE OF VEAL. As few persons are fond of boiled veal, it may be well to cut the knuckle small, and take off some cutlets or collops before it is dressed; but as the knuckle will keep longer than the fillet, it is best not to cut off the slices till wanted. Break the bones to make it take less room, wash the joint well, and put it into a saucepan with three onions, a blade or two of mace, and a few peppercorns. Cover it with water, and simmer it till quite done. In the mean time some macaroni should be boiled with it if approved, or rice, or a little rice flour, to give it a small degree of thickness; but avoid putting in too much. Before it is served, add half a pint of milk and cream, and let it go to table either with or without the meat.--A knuckle of veal may also be fried with sliced onion and butter, to a good brown. Prepare some peas, lettuce, onion, and a cucumber or two, stewed in a small quantity of water for an hour. Add these to the veal, and stew it till the meat is tender enough to eat, but not overdone. Put in pepper, salt, and a little shred mint, and serve all together.

L.

LAMB. In purchasing this meat, observe particularly the neck of a fore-quarter. If the vein is bluish, it is fresh: if it has a green or yellow cast, it is stale. In the hind-quarter, if there is a faint smell under the kidney, and the knuckle is limp, the meat is stale. If the eyes are sunk, the head is not fresh. Grass lamb comes into season in April or May, and continues till August. House lamb may be had in large towns almost all the year, but it is in highest perfection in December and January.

LAMB CHOPS. Cut up a neck or loin, rub the chops with egg, and sprinkle them over with grated bread, mixed with a little parsley, thyme, marjoram, and lemon peel, chopped fine. Fry them in butter till they are of a light brown, put them in a warm dish, garnished with crisped parsley. Or make a gravy in the pan with a little water, and butter rolled in flour, and pour it over them.

LAMB CUTLETS. Cut some steaks from the loin, and fry them. Stew some spinach, put it into a dish, and lay the cutlets round it.

LAMB'S FRY. Serve it fried of a beautiful colour, and with a good deal of dried or fried parsley over it.

LAMB'S HEAD. A house-lamb's head is the best; but any other may be made white by soaking it in cold water. Boil the head separately till it is very tender. Have ready the liver and lights three parts boiled and cut small: stew them in a little of the water in which they were boiled, season and thicken with flour and butter, and serve the mince round the head.

LAMB PIE. Make it of the loin, neck, or breast; the breast of house-lamb especially, is very delicate and fine. It should be lightly seasoned with pepper and salt, the bone taken out, but not the gristle. A small quantity of jelly gravy is to be put in hot, but the pie should not be cut till cold. Put in two spoonfuls of water before baking. Grass lamb makes an excellent pie, and should only be seasoned with pepper and salt. Put in two spoonfuls of water before baking, and as much gravy when it comes from the oven. It may generally be remarked, that meat pies being fat, it is best to let out the gravy on one side, and put it in again by a funnel, at the centre, when a little may be added.

LAMB STEAKS. Quarter some cucumbers, and lay them into a deep dish; sprinkle them with salt, and pour vinegar over them. Fry the steaks of a fine brown, and put them into a stewpan; drain the cucumbers, and put them over the steaks. Add some sliced onions, pepper and salt; pour hot water or weak broth on them, and stew and skim them well.

LAMB STEAKS BROWN. Season some house-lamb steaks with pepper, salt, nutmeg, grated lemon peel, and chopped parsley: but dip them first into egg, and fry them quick. Thicken some good gravy with a little flour and butter, and add to it a spoonful of port wine, and some oysters. Boil up the liquor, put in the steaks warm, and serve them up hot. Palates, balls, or eggs, may be added, if approved.

LAMB STEAKS WHITE. Steaks of house-lamb should be stewed in milk and water till very tender, with a bit of lemon peel, a little salt, mace, and pepper. Have ready some veal gravy, and put the steaks into it; mix some mushroom powder, a cup of cream, and a dust of flour; shake the steaks in this liquor, stir it, and make it quite hot. Just before taking up the steaks, put in a few white mushrooms. When poultry is very dear, this dish will be found a good substitute.

LAMB'S SWEETBREADS. Blanch them, and put them a little while into cold water. Stew them with a ladleful of broth, some pepper and salt, a few small onions, and a blade of mace. Stir in a bit of butter and flour, and stew them half an hour. Prepare two or three eggs well beaten in cream, with a little minced parsley, and a dust of grated nutmeg. Add a few tops of boiled asparagus, stir it well over the fire, but let it not boil after the cream is in, and take great care that it does not curdle. Young French beans or peas may be added, but should first be boiled of a beautiful colour.

LAMBSTONES FRICASSEED. Skin and wash, dry and flour them; then fry them of a beautiful brown in hog's lard. Lay them on a sieve before the fire, till the following sauce is prepared. Thicken nearly half a pint of veal gravy with flour and butter, and then add to it a slice of lemon, a large spoonful of mushroom ketchup, a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a taste of nutmeg, and the yolk of an egg well beaten in two large spoonfuls of thick cream. Put this over the fire, stir it well till it is hot, and looks white; but do not let it boil, or it will curdle. Then put in the fry, shake it about near the fire for a minute or two, and serve it in a very hot dish and cover.--A fricassee of lambstones and sweetbreads may be prepared another way. Have ready some lambstones blanched, parboiled, and sliced. Flour two or three sweetbreads: if very thick, cut them in two. Fry all together, with a few large oysters, of a fine yellow brown. Pour off the butter, add a pint of good gravy, some asparagus tops about an inch long, a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt, two shalots shred fine, and a glass of white wine. Simmer them ten minutes, put a little of the gravy to the yolks of three eggs well beaten, and mix the whole together by degrees. Turn the gravy back into the pan, stir it till of a fine thickness without boiling, and garnish with lemon.

LAMENESS. Much lameness, as well as deformity, might certainly be prevented, if stricter attention were paid to the early treatment of children. Weakness of the hips, accompanied with a lameness of both sides of the body, is frequently occasioned by inducing them to walk without any assistance, before they have strength sufficient to support themselves. Such debility may in some measure be counteracted, by tying a girdle round the waist, and bracing up the hips; but it requires to be attended to at an early period, or the infirmity will continue for life. It will also be advisable to bathe such weak limbs in cold water, or astringent decoctions, for several months. If the lameness arise from contraction, rather than from weakness, the best means will be frequent rubbing of the part affected. If this be not sufficient, beat up the yolk of a new laid egg, mix it well with three ounces of water, and rub it gently on the part. Perseverance in the use of this simple remedy, has been successful in a great number of instances.

LAMPREY. To stew lamprey as at Worcester, clean the fish carefully, and remove the cartilage which runs down the back. Season with a small quantity of cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper, and allspice. Put it into a small stewpot, with beef gravy, port, and sherry. Cover it close, stew it till tender, take out the lamprey, and keep it hot. Boil up the liquor with two or three anchovies chopped, and some butter rolled in flour. Strain the gravy through a sieve, add some lemon juice, and ready-made mustard. Serve with sippets of bread and horseradish. When there is spawn, it must be fried and laid round. Eels done the same way, are a good deal like the lamprey.

LARKS. To dress larks and other small birds, draw and spit them on a bird spit. Tie this on another spit, and roast them. Baste gently with butter, and strew bread crumbs upon them till half done. Brown them in dressing, and serve with bread crumbs round.

LAVENDER WATER. To a pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, add an ounce of the essential oil of lavender, and two drams of the essence of ambergris. Put the whole into a quart bottle, shake it frequently, and decant it into small bottles for use.

LAVER. This is a plant that grows on the rocks near the sea in the west of England, and is sent in pots prepared for eating. Place some of it on a dish over the lamp, with a bit of butter, and the squeeze of a Seville orange. Stir it till it is hot. It is eaten with roast meat, and tends to sweeten the blood. It is seldom liked at first, but habit renders it highly agreeable.

LEAF IMPRESSIONS. To take impressions of leaves and plants, oil a sheet of fine paper, dry it in the sun, and rub off the superfluous moisture with another piece of paper. After the oil is pretty well dried in, black the sheet by passing it over a lighted lamp or candle. Lay the leaf or plant on the black surface, with a small piece of paper over it, and rub it carefully till the leaf is thoroughly coloured. Then take it up undisturbed, lay it on the book or paper which is to receive the impression, cover it with a piece of blotting paper, and rub it on the back a short time with the finger as before. Impressions of the minutest veins and fibres of a plant may be taken in this way, superior to any engraving, and which may afterwards be coloured according to nature. A printer's ball laid upon a leaf, which is afterwards pressed on wet paper, will also produce a fine impression; or if the leaf be touched with printing ink, and pressed with a rolling pin, nearly the same effect will be produced.

LEATHER. To discharge grease from articles made of leather, apply the white of an egg; let it dry in the sun, and then rub it off. A paste made of dry mustard, potatoe meal, and two spoonfuls of the spirits of turpentine, applied to the spot and rubbed off dry, will also be found to answer the purpose. If not, cleanse it with a little vinegar. Tanned leather is best cleaned with nitrous acid and salts of lemon diluted with water, and afterwards mixed with skimmed milk. The surface of the leather should first be cleaned with a brush and soft water, adding a little free sand, and then repeatedly scoured with a brush dipped in the nitrous mixture. It is afterwards to be cleaned with a sponge and water, and left to dry.

LEAVENED BREAD. Take two pounds of dough from the last baking, and keep it in flour. Put the dough or leaven into a peck of flour the night before it is baked, and work them well together in warm water. Cover it up warm in a wooden vessel, and the next morning it will be sufficiently fermented to mix with two or three bushels of flour: then work it up with warm water, and a pound of salt to each bushel. Cover it with flannel till it rises, knead it well, work it into broad flat loaves or bricks, and bake them as other bread.

LEEK MILK. Wash a large handful of leeks, cut them small, and boil them in a gallon of milk till it become as thick as cream. Then strain it, and drink a small bason full twice a day. This is good for the jaundice.

LEEK SOUP. Chop a quantity of leeks into some mutton broth or liquor, with a seasoning of salt and pepper. Simmer them an hour in a saucepan; mix some oatmeal with a little cold water quite smooth, and pour it into the soup. Simmer it gently over a slow fire, and take care that it does not burn to the bottom. This is a Scotch dish.

LEG OF LAMB. To make it look as white as possible, it should be boiled in a cloth. At the same time the loin should be fried in steaks, and served with it, garnished with dried or fried parsley. Spinach to eat with it. The leg may be roasted, or dressed separately.

LEG OF MUTTON. If roasted, serve it up with onion or currant-jelly sauce. If boiled, with caper sauce and vegetables.

LEG OF PORK. Salt it, and let it lie six or seven days in the pickle, turn and rub it with the brine every day. Put it into boiling water, if not too salt; use a good quantity of water, and let it boil all the time it is on the fire. Send it to table with peas pudding, melted butter, turnips, carrots, or greens. If it is wanted to be dressed sooner, it may be hastened by putting a little fresh salt on it every day. It will then be ready in half the time, but it will not be quite so tender.--To dress a leg of pork like goose, first parboil it, then take off the skin, and roast it. Baste it with butter, and make a savoury powder of finely minced or dried and powdered sage, ground black pepper, and bread crumbs rubbed together through a cullender; to which may be added an onion, very finely minced. Sprinkle the joint with this mixture when it is almost roasted, put half a pint of made gravy into the dish, and goose stuffing under the knuckle skin, or garnish with balls of it, either fried or boiled.

LEG OF VEAL. Let the fillet be cut large or small, as best suits the size of the company. Take out the bone, fill the space with a fine stuffing, skewer it quite round, and send it to table with the large side uppermost. When half roasted, or before, put a paper over the fat, and take care to allow sufficient time: as the meat is very solid, place it at a good distance from the fire, that it may be gradually heated through. Serve it up with melted butter poured over it. Some of it would be good for potting.

LEMON BRANDY. Pare two dozen of lemons, and steep the peels in a gallon of brandy. Squeeze the lemons on two pounds of fine sugar, and add six quarts of water. The next day put the ingredients together, pour on three pints of boiling milk, let it stand two days, and strain it off.

LEMON CAKE. Beat up the whites of ten eggs, with three spoonfuls of orange flower water; put in a pound of sifted sugar, and the rind of a lemon grated. When it is well mixed, add the juice of half a lemon, and the yolks of ten eggs beaten smooth. Stir in three quarters of a pound of flour, put the cake into a buttered pan, and bake it an hour carefully.

LEMON CHEESECAKES. Mix four ounces of fine sifted sugar and four ounces of butter, and melt it gently. Then add the yolks of two and the white of one egg, the rind of three lemons shred fine, and the juice of one and a half; also one savoy biscuit, some blanched almonds pounded, and three spoonfuls of brandy. Mix them well together, and put in the following paste. Eight ounces of flour, six ounces of butter, two thirds of which must first be mixed with the flour; then wet it with six spoonfuls of water, and roll in the remainder.--Another way. Boil two large lemons, or three small ones, and after squeezing, pound them well together in a mortar, with four ounces of loaf sugar, the yolks of six eggs, and eight ounces of fresh butter. Fill the pattipans half full. Orange cheesecakes are done in the same way, only the peel must be boiled in two or three waters to take out the bitterness: or make them of orange marmalade well beaten in a mortar.

LEMON CREAM. Put to a pint of thick cream, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, four ounces of fine sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon. Boil it up, and stir it till nearly cold. Put the juice of a lemon into a bowl, and pour the cream upon it, stirring it till quite cold. White lemon cream is made in the same way, only put the whites of the eggs instead of the yolks, whisking it extremely well to a froth.

LEMON CUSTARDS. Beat the yolks of eight eggs till they are as white as milk; then put to them a pint of boiling water, the rinds of two lemons grated, and the juice sweetened to taste. Stir it on the fire till it thickens; then add a large glass of rich wine, and half a glass of brandy. Give the whole one scald, and put it in cups to be eaten cold.

LEMON DROPS. Grate three large lemons, with a large piece of double-refined sugar. Then scrape the sugar into a plate, add half a tea-spoonful of flour, mix well, and beat it into a light paste with the white of an egg. Drop it upon white paper, and put the drops into a moderate oven on a tin plate.

LEMON HONEYCOMB. Sweeten the juice of a lemon to your taste, and put it in the dish that you intend to serve it in. Mix the white of an egg well beaten, with a pint of rich cream, and a little sugar. Whisk it; and as the froth rises, put it on the lemon juice. Prepare it the day before it is to be used.

LEMON JUICE. In order to keep this article ready for use, the best way is to buy the fruit when it is cheap, and lay it two or three days in a cool place. If too unripe to squeeze immediately, cut the peel off some of them, and roll them under the hand, to make them part with the juice more freely. Others may be left unpared for grating, when the pulp is taken out, and they are dried. Squeeze the juice into a china bason, and strain it through some muslin which will not permit any of the pulp to pass. Having prepared some small phials, perfectly dry, fill them with the juice so near the top as only to admit half a tea-spoonful of sweet oil into each. Cork the bottles tight, and set them upright in a cool place. When the lemon juice is wanted, open only such a sized bottle as will be used in two or three days. Wind some clean cotton round a skewer, and dipping it in, the oil will be attracted; and when all of it is removed, the juice will be as fine as when first bottled. Hang the peels up to dry, and keep them from the dust.

LEMON MINCE PIES. Squeeze a large lemon, boil the outside till tender enough to beat to a mash. Add to it three large apples chopped, four ounces of suet, half a pound of washed currants, and four ounces of sugar. Put in the juice of a lemon, and candied fruit, as for other pies. Make a short crust, and fill the pattipans as usual.

LEMON PICKLE. Wipe six lemons, and cut each into eight pieces. Put on them a pound of salt, six large cloves of garlic, two ounces of horseradish sliced thin; likewise of cloves, mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, a quarter of an ounce of each, and two ounces of flour of mustard. To these add two quarts of vinegar, and boil it a quarter of an hour in a well-tinned saucepan; or, which is better, do it in a jar, placed in a kettle of boiling water, or set the jar on a hot hearth till done. Then set the jar by closely covered, stirring it daily for six weeks, and afterwards put the pickle into small bottles.

LEMON PUDDING. Beat the yolks of four eggs; add four ounces of white sugar, the rind of a lemon being rubbed with some lumps of it to take the essence. Then peel and beat it into a paste, with the juice of a large lemon, and mix all together with four or five ounces of warmed butter. Put a crust into a shallow dish, nick the edges, and put the above into it. When sent to table, turn the pudding out of the dish.

LEMON PUFFS. Beat and sift a pound and a quarter of double-refined sugar; grate the rind of two large lemons, and mix it well with the sugar. Then beat the whites of three new-laid eggs a great while; add them to the sugar and peel, and beat it together for an hour. Make it up into any shape, put it on paper laid on tin plates, and bake in a moderate oven. Oiling the paper will make it come off with ease, but it should not be removed till quite cold.

LEMON SAUCE. Cut thin slices of lemon into very small dice, and put them into melted butter. Give it one boil, and pour it over boiled fowls.

LEMON AND LIVER SAUCE. Pare off as thin as possible the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, so as not to cut off any of the white with it. Then peel off all the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as two half crowns. Pick out the peps, and divide the slices into small squares. Prepare the liver as for Liver and Parsley Sauce, and add to it the slices of lemon, and a little of the peel finely minced. Warm up the sauce in melted butter, but do not let it boil.

LEMON SYRUP. Put a pint of fresh lemon juice to a pound and three quarters of lump sugar. Dissolve it by a gentle heat, skim it till the surface is quite clear, and add an ounce of lemon peel cut very thin. Let them simmer very gently for a few minutes, and run the syrup through a flannel. When cold, bottle and cork it closely, and keep it in a cool place.

LEMON WATER. A delightful drink may be made of two slices of lemon, thinly pared into a teapot, with a little sugar, or a large spoonful of capillaire. Pour in a pint of boiling water, and stop it close two hours.

LEMON WHEY. Pour into boiling milk as much lemon juice as will make a small quantity quite clear; dilute it with hot water to an agreeable smart acid, and add a bit or two of sugar. This is less heating than if made of wine; and if intended only to excite perspiration, will answer the purpose as well. Vinegar whey is made in the same manner, by using vinegar only, instead of lemon juice.

LEMON WHITE SAUCE. Cut the peel of a small lemon very thin, and put it into a pint of sweet rich cream, with a sprig of lemon thyme, and ten white peppercorns. Simmer gently till it tastes well of the lemon, then strain and thicken it with a quarter of a pound of butter, and a dessert-spoonful of flour rubbed in it. Boil it up, stir it well, and pour the juice of the lemon strained into it. Dish up the chickens, and mix with the cream a little white gravy quite hot, but do not boil them together: add a little salt to flavour.

LEMONS FOR PUDDINGS. To keep oranges or lemons for puddings, squeeze out the pulp, and put the outsides into water for a fortnight. Then boil them in the same water till they are quite tender, strain the liquor from them, and when they are tolerably dry, put them into any jar of candy that happens to be left from old sweetmeats. Or boil a small quantity of syrup of lump sugar and water, and put over them. In a week or ten days boil them gently in it till they look clear, and cover them with it in the jar. If the fruit be cut in halves, they will occupy less space.

LEMONADE. To prepare lemonade a day before it is wanted for use, pare two dozen lemons as thin as possible. Put eight of the rinds into three quarts of hot water, not boiling, and cover it over for three or four hours. Rub some fine loaf sugar on the lemons to attract the essence, and put it into a china bowl, into which the juice of the lemons is to be squeezed. Add a pound and a half of fine sugar, then put the water to the above, and three quarts of boiling milk. Pour the mixture through a jelly bag, till it is perfectly clear.--Another way. Pare a quantity of lemons, and pour some hot water on the peels. While infusing, boil some sugar and water to a good syrup, with the white of an egg whipt up. When it boils, pour a little cold water into it. Set it on again, and when it boils take off the pan, and let it stand by to settle. If there be any scum, take it off, and pour it clear from the sediment, to the water in which the peels were infused, and the lemon juice. Stir and taste it, and add as much more water as shall be necessary to make a very rich lemonade. Wet a jelly bag, and squeeze it dry; then strain the liquor, and it will be very fine.--To make a lemonade which has the appearance of jelly, pare two Seville oranges and six lemons very thin, and steep them four hours in a quart of hot water. Boil a pound and a quarter of loaf sugar in three pints of water, and skim it clean. Add the two liquors to the juice of six China oranges, and twelve lemons; stir the whole well, and run it through a jelly bag till it is quite clear. Then add a little orange water, if approved, and more sugar if necessary. Let it be well corked, and it will keep.--Lemonade may be prepared in a minute, by pounding a quarter of an ounce of citric or crystalised lemon acid, with a few drops of quintessence of lemon peel, and mixing it by degrees with a pint of clarified syrup or capillaire.

LENT POTATOES. Beat three or four ounces of almonds, and three or four bitter ones when blanched, putting a little orange flower water to prevent oiling. Add eight ounces of butter, four eggs well beaten and strained, half a glass of raisin wine, and sugar to taste. Beat all together till quite smooth, and grate in three Savoy biscuits. Make balls of the above with a little flour, the size of a chesnut; throw them into a stewpan of boiling lard, and boil them of a beautiful yellow brown. Drain them on a sieve, and serve with sweet sauce in a boat.

LETHARGY. This species of apoplexy discovers itself by an invincible drowsiness, or inclination to sleep; and is frequently attended with a degree of fever, and coldness of the extremities. Blisters and emetics have often procured relief. The affusion of cold water upon the head, and the burning of feathers or other fetid substances, held near the nostrils, are also attended with advantage.

LICE. Want of cleanliness, immoderate warmth, violent perspiration, and a corrupted state of the fluids, tend to promote the generation of this kind of vermin. The most simple remedy is the seed of parsley, reduced to a fine powder and rubbed to the roots of the hair, or to rub the parts affected with garlic and mustard. To clean the heads of children, take half an ounce of honey, half an ounce of sulphur, an ounce of vinegar, and two ounces of sweet oil. Mix the whole into a liniment, and rub a little of it on the head repeatedly. Lice which infest clothes, may be destroyed by fumigating the articles of dress with the vapour of sulphur. Garden lice may be treated in the same way as for destroying insects.

LIGHT CAKE. Mix a pound of flour, half a pound of currants, and a little nutmeg, sugar, and salt. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter in a quarter of a pint of milk, and strain into it two spoonfuls of yeast and two eggs. Stir it well together, set it before the fire to rise, and bake it in a quick oven.

LIGHT PASTE. For tarts and cheesecakes, beat up the white of an egg to a strong froth, and mix it with as much water as will make three quarters of a pound of fine flour into a very stiff paste. Roll it out thin, lay two or three ounces of butter upon it in little bits, dredge it with a little flour, and roll it up tight. Roll it out again, and add the same proportion of butter, and so proceed till the whole is worked up.

LIGHT PUFFS. Mix two spoonfuls of flour, a little grated lemon peel, some nutmeg, half a spoonful of brandy, a little loaf-sugar, and one egg. Fry it enough, but not brown; beat it in a mortar with five eggs, whites and yolks. Put a quantity of lard in a fryingpan; and when quite hot, drop a dessert-spoonful of batter at a time, and turn them as they brown. Send the puffs to table quickly, with sweet sauce.

LIME WATER. Pour two gallons of water upon a pound of fresh-burnt lime; and when the ebullition ceases, stir it up well, and let it stand till the lime is settled. Filter the liquor through paper, and keep it for use closely stopped. It is chiefly used for the gravel, in which case a pint or more may be drunk daily. For the itch, or other diseases of the skin, it is to be applied externally.

LINEN. Linen in every form is liable to all the accidents of mildew, iron moulds, ink spots, and various other stains, which prove highly injurious, if not speedily removed. In case of mildew, rub the part well with soap, then scrape and rub on some fine chalk, and lay the linen out to bleach. Wet it a little now and then, and repeat the operation if necessary. Ink spots and iron moulds may be removed, by rubbing them with the salt of sorrel, or weak muriatic acid, and laying the part over a teapot or kettle of boiling water, so that it may be affected by the steam. Or some crystals of tartar powdered, and half the quantity of alum, applied in the same manner, will be found to extract the spots. The spirits of salts diluted with water, will remove iron moulds from linen; and sal ammoniac with lime, will take out the stains of wine. Fruit stains may generally be removed by wetting the part with water, and exposing it to the fumes of brimstone. When ink has been suddenly spilled on linen, wet the place immediately with the juice of sorrel or lemon, or with vinegar, and rub it with hard white soap. Or add to the juice a little salts, steam the linen over boiling water, and wash it afterwards in ley. If ink be spilled on a green tablecloth or carpet, the readiest way is to take it up immediately with a spoon, and by pouring on fresh water, while the spoon is constantly applied, the stains will soon be removed. Scorched linen may be restored by means of the following application. Boil two ounces of fuller's earth, an ounce of hen's dung, half an ounce of soap, and the juice of two onions, in half a pint of vinegar, till reduced to a good consistency. Spread the composition over the damaged part, let it dry on, and then wash it well once or twice. If the threads be not actually consumed by the scorch, the linen will soon be restored to its former whiteness.

LIP SALVE. Put into a small jar two ounces of white wax, half an ounce of spermaceti, and a quarter of a pint of oil of sweet almonds. Tie it down close, and put the jar into a small saucepan, with as much water as will nearly reach the top of the jar, but not so as to boil over it, and let it simmer till the wax is melted. Then put in a pennyworth of alkanet root tied up in a rag, with the jar closed, and boil it till it becomes red. Take out the alkanet root, and put in two pennyworth of essence of lemon, and a few drops of bergamot. Pour some into small boxes for present use, and the remainder into a gallipot tied down with a bladder.--Another. An ounce of white wax and ox marrow, with three ounces of white pomatum, melted together over a slow fire, will make an agreeable lip salve, which may be coloured with a dram of alkanet, and stirred till it becomes a fine red.

LITTLE BREAD PUDDINGS. Steep the crumb of a penny loaf grated, in about a pint of warm milk. When sufficiently soaked, beat up six eggs, whites and yolks, and mix with the bread. Add two ounces of warmed butter, some sugar, orange flower water, a spoonful of brandy, a little nutmeg, and a tea-cupful of cream. Beat all well together, bake in buttered teacups, and serve with pudding sauce. A quarter of a pound of currants may be added, but the puddings are good without. Orange or lemon will be an agreeable addition.

LIVER AND HERBS. Clean and drain a good quantity of spinach, two large handfuls of parsley, and a handful of green onions. Chop the parsley and onions, and sprinkle them among the spinach. Stew them together with a little salt and butter, shake the pan when it begins to grow warm, and cover it close till done enough over a slow fire. Lay on slices of liver, fried of a nice brown and slices of bacon just warmed at the fire. On the outside part of the herbs lay some eggs nicely fried, and trimmed round. Or the eggs may be served on the herbs, and the liver garnished with the bacon separately.

LIVER SAUCE. Chop some liver of rabbits or fowls, and do it the same as for lemon sauce, with a very little pepper and salt, and some parsley.

LIVER AND PARSLEY SAUCE. Wash the fresh liver of a fowl or rabbit, and boil it five minutes in a quarter of a pint of water. Chop it fine, or pound or bruise it in a little of the liquor it was boiled in, and rub it through a sieve. Wash about one third the bulk of parsley leaves, put them into boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt, and let them boil. Then lay the parsley on a hair sieve, mince it very fine, and mix it with the liver. Warm up the sauce in a quarter of a pint of melted butter, but do not let it boil.

LOBSTERS. If they have not been long taken, the claws will have a strong motion, when the finger is pressed upon the eyes. The heaviest are the best, and it is preferable to boil them at home. If purchased ready boiled, try whether their tails are stiff, and pull up with a spring; otherwise that part will be flabby. The male lobster is known by the narrow back part of his tail, and the two uppermost fins within it are stiff and hard: those of the hen are soft, and the tail broader. The male, though generally smaller, has the highest flavour, the flesh is firmer, and the colour when boiled is a deeper red.

LOBSTER PATTIES. To be made as oyster patties, gently stewed and seasoned, and put into paste baked in pattipans, with the addition of a little cream, and a very small piece of butter.

LOBSTER PIE. Boil two or three small lobsters, take out the tails, and cut them in two. Take out the gut, cut each into four pieces, and lay them in a small dish. Put in the meat of the claws, and that picked out of the body; pick off the furry parts of the latter, and take out the lady; beat the spawn in a mortar, and likewise all the shells. Stew them with some water, two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, salt, and some pounded mace. A large piece of butter rolled in flour must be added, when the goodness of the shells is obtained. Give it a boil or two, and pour it into a dish strained; strew some crumbs, and put a paste over all. Bake it slowly, and only till the paste is done.

LOBSTER SALAD. Make a salad, cut some of the red part of the lobster, and add to it. This will form a pleasing contrast to the white and green of the vegetables. Be careful not to put in too much oil, as shell-fish absorbs the sharpness of the vinegar. Serve it up in a dish, not in a bowl.

LOBSTER SAUCE. Pound the spawn with two anchovies, pour on two spoonfuls of gravy, and strain all into some melted butter. Then put in the meat of the lobster, give it all one boil, and add the squeeze of a lemon. Or leave out the anchovies and gravy, and do it as above, either with or without salt and ketchup, as may be most approved. Many persons prefer the flavour of the lobster and salt only.

LOBSTER SOUP. Take the meat from the claws, bodies, and tails, of six small lobsters. Remove the brown fur, and the bag in the head; beat the fins in a mortar, the chine, and the small claws. Boil it very gently in two quarts of water, with the crumb of a French roll, some white pepper, salt, two anchovies, a large onion, sweet herbs, and a bit of lemon peel, till all the goodness is extracted, and then strain it off. Beat the spawn in a mortar with a bit of butter, a quarter of a nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of flour, and then mix it with a quart of cream. Cut the tails into pieces, and give them a boil up with the cream and soup. Serve with forcemeat balls made of the remainder of the lobster, mace, pepper, salt, a few crumbs, and an egg or two. Let the balls be made up with a little flour, and heated in the soup.

LODGINGS. The tenure on which the generality of houses are held, does not warrant a tenant to let, or a lodger to take apartments by the year. To do this, the tenant ought himself to be the proprietor of the premises, or to hold possession by lease for an unexpired term of several years, which would invest him with the right of a landlord to give or receive half a year's notice, or proceed as in other cases of landlord and tenant. Unfurnished lodgings are generally let by the week, month, or quarter; and if ever they be let by the year, it is a deviation from a general custom, and attended with inconvenience. If a lodger should contend that he agreed for a whole year, he must produce some evidence of the fact; such as a written agreement, or the annual payment of rent; otherwise he must submit to the general usage of being denominated a quarterly lodger. In the case of weekly tenants, the rent must be paid weekly; for if once allowed to go to a quarter, and the landlord accept it as a quarter's rent, he breaks the agreement; the inmate then becomes a quarterly lodger, and must receive a quarter's notice to quit. More care however is still required in letting lodgings that are ready furnished, as the law does not regard them in the same light as other tenements. Such apartments are generally let by the week, on payment of a certain sum, part of which is for the room, and part for the use of the furniture which is attended with some difficulty. Properly considered, the payment is not rent, nor are the same remedies lawful as in unfurnished lodgings. The best way to let furnished lodgings is to have a written agreement, with a catalogue of all the goods, and to let the apartments and the furniture for separate sums: in which case, if the rent be not paid, distress may be made for it, though not for the furniture. Persons renting furnished apartments frequently absent themselves, without apprising the housekeeper, and as often leave the rent in arrear. In such a case, the housekeeper should send for a constable, after the expiration of the first week, and in his presence enter the apartment, take out the lodger's property and secure it, until a request be made for it. If after fourteen days' public notice in the gazette, the lodger do not come and pay the arrears, the housekeeper may sell the property for the sum due. When a housekeeper is troubled with a disagreeable character, the best way to recover possession of the apartment is to deliver a written notice by a person that can be witness, stating that if the lodger did not quit that day week, the landlord would insist on his paying an advance of so much per week; and if he did not quit after such notice, he would make the same advance after every following week. In the city of London, payment may be procured by summoning to the Court of Requests at Guildhall, for any sum not exceeding five pounds. In other parts of the kingdom there are similar Courts of Conscience, where payment may be enforced to the amount of forty shillings.

LOIN OF MUTTON. If roasted, it is better to cut it lengthways as a saddle; or if for steaks, pies, or broth. If there be more fat on the loin than is agreeable, take off a part of it before it is dressed; it will make an excellent suet pudding, or crust for a meat pie, if cut very fine.

LONDON BREAD. According to the method practised by the London bakers, a sack of flour is sifted into the kneading trough, to make it lie loose. Six pounds of salt, and two pounds of alum, are separately dissolved in hot water; and the whole being cooled to about ninety degrees, is mixed with two quarts of yeast. When this mixture has been well stirred, it is strained through a cloth or sieve, and is then poured into a cavity made in the flour. The whole is now mixed up into a dough, and a small quantity of flour being sprinkled over it, it is covered up with cloths, and the lid of the trough is shut down, the better to retain the heat. The fermentation now goes on, and the mass becomes enlarged in bulk. In the course of two or three hours, another pailful of warm water is well mixed with the sponge, and it is again covered up for about four hours. At the end of this time, it is to be kneaded for more than an hour, with three pailfuls of warm water. It is now returned to the trough in pieces, sprinkled with dry flour, and at the end of four hours more, it is again kneaded for half an hour, and divided into quartern and half-quartern loaves. The weight of a quartern loaf, before baking, should be four pounds fifteen ounces; after baking, four pounds six ounces, avoirdupois. When the dough has received its proper shape for loaves, it is put into the oven, at a heat that will scorch flour without burning, where it is baked two hours and a half, or three hours.

LONDON PORTER. A late writer has given considerable information respecting the brewing of porter. His intention being to exhibit the advantages derived from domestic brewing, he has annexed the price of each article of the composition, though it will be seen that the expense on some of the principal articles has been considerably reduced since that estimate was given.

£ s. d.

One quarter of malt 2 2 0 8lb. of hops 0 12 0 6lb. of treacle 0 2 0 8lb. of liquorice root bruised 0 8 0 8lb. of essentia bina 0 4 8 8lb. of colouring 0 4 8 Capsicum half an ounce 0 0 2 Spanish liquorice two ounces 0 0 2 India berries one ounce 0 0 2 Salt of tartar two drams 0 0 1 Heading a quarter of an ounce 0 0 1 Ginger three ounces 0 0 3 Lime four ounces 0 0 1 Linseed one ounce 0 0 1 Cinnamon bark two drams 0 0 2 --------- 3 14 7 Coals 0 3 0 --------- Total expense £ 3 17 7

This will produce ninety gallons of good porter, and fifty gallons of table beer; the cost of the porter at the large breweries being £7 10_s._ and that of the beer £1 7_s._ leaves a profit of £5 to the brewer.--The 'essentia bina' is composed of eight pounds of moist sugar, boiled in an iron vessel, for no copper one could withstand the heat sufficiently, till it becomes of a thick syrupy consistence, perfectly black, and extremely bitter. The 'colouring' is composed of eight pounds of moist sugar, boiled till it attains a middle state, between bitter and sweet. It gives that fine mellow colour usually so much admired in good porter. These ingredients are added to the first wort, and boiled with it. The 'heading' is a mixture of half alum, and half copperas, ground to a fine powder. It is so called, from its giving to porter that beautiful head or froth, which constitutes one of the peculiar properties of porter, and which publicans are so anxious to raise to gratify their customers. The linseed, ginger, limewater, cinnamon, and several other small articles, are added or withheld according to the taste or practice of the brewer, which accounts for the different flavours so observable in London porter. Of the articles here enumerated, it is sufficient to observe, that however much they may surprise, however pernicious or disagreeable they may appear, they have always been deemed necessary in the brewing of porter. They must invariably be used by those who wish to continue the taste, the flavour and appearance, to which they have been accustomed.--Omitting however those ingredients which are deemed pernicious, it will be seen by the following estimate how much more advantageous it is to provide even a small quantity of home-brewed porter, where this kind of liquor is preferred.

Ingredients necessary for brewing five gallons of porter.

s. d. One peck of malt 2 6 Quarter of a pound of liquorice bruised 0 3 Spanish liquorice 0 6 Essentia 0 2 Colour 0 2 Treacle 0 2 Hops 0 6 Capsicum and ginger 0 1 Coals 0 10 ------- Total expense 4 8 ------- This will produce five gallons of good porter, which if bought of the brewer would cost 8 4

But being brewed at home, for 4 8 ------- Leaves a clear gain of 3 8

This saving is quite enough to pay for time and trouble, besides the advantage of having a wholesome liquor, free from all poisonous ingredients. Porter thus brewed will be fit for use in a week, and may be drunk with pleasure. To do ample justice to the subject however, it may be proper briefly to notice the specific properties of the various ingredients which enter into the composition of London porter. It is evident that some porter is more heady than others, and this arises from the greater or less quantity of stupefying ingredients intermixed with it. Malt itself, to produce intoxication, must be used in such large quantities as would very much diminish the brewer's profit. Of the wholesomeness of malt there can be no doubt; pale malt especially is highly nutritive, containing more balsamic qualities than the brown malt, which being subject to a greater degree of fire in the kiln, is sometimes so crusted and burnt, that the mealy part loses some of its best qualities. Amber malt is that which is dried in a middling degree, between pale and brown, and is now much in use, being the most pleasant, and free from either extreme. Hops are an aromatic grateful bitter, very wholesome, and undoubtedly efficacious in giving both flavour and strength to the beer. Yeast is necessary to give the liquor that portion of elastic air, of which the boiling deprives it. Without fermentation, or working, no worts, however rich, can inebriate. Liquorice root is pleasant, wholesome, and aperient; and opposes the astringent qualities of some of the other ingredients; it ought therefore to be used, as should Spanish liquorice, which possesses the same properties. Capsicum disperses wind, and when properly used, cannot be unwholesome: it leaves a glow of warmth on the stomach, which is perceptible in drinking some beers. Ginger has the same effect as capsicum, and it also cleanses and flavours the beer. But capsicum being cheaper is more used, and by its tasteless though extremely hot quality, cannot be so readily discovered in beer as ginger. Treacle partakes of many of the properties of liquorice; and by promoting the natural secretions, it renders porter and beer in general very wholesome. Treacle also is a cheaper article than sugar, and answers the purpose of colour, where the beer is intended for immediate consumption; but in summer, when a body is required to withstand the temperature of the air, and the draught is not quick, sugar alone can give body to porter. Treacle therefore is a discretionary article. Coriander seed, used principally in ale, is warm and stomachic; but when used in great quantity, it is pernicious. Coculus Indicus, the India berry, is poisonous and stupefying, when taken in any considerable quantity. When ground into fine powder it is undiscoverable in the liquor, and is but too much used to the prejudice of the public health. What is called heading, should be made of the salt of steel; but a mixture of alum and copperas being much cheaper, is more frequently used. Alum is a great drier, and causes that thirst which some beer occasions; so that the more you drink of it, the more you want. Alum likewise gives a taste of age to the beer, and is penetrating to the palate. Copperas is well known to be poisonous, and may be seen in the blackness which some beer discovers. Salt is highly useful in all beers; it gives a pleasing relish, and also fines the liquor.--These remarks are sufficient to show the propriety of manufacturing at home a good wholesome article for family use, instead of resorting to a public house for every pint of beer which nature demands, and which when procured is both expensive and pernicious. And lest any objection should be made, as to the difficulty and inconvenience of brewing, a few additional observations will here be given, in order to facilitate this very important part of domestic economy. Be careful then to procure malt and hops of the very best quality, and let the brewing vessels be closely inspected; the least taint may spoil a whole brewing of beer. The mash tub should be particularly attended to, and a whisp of clean hay or straw is to be spread over the bottom of the vessel in the inside, to prevent the flour of the malt running off with the liquor. The malt being emptied into the mash tub, and the water brought to boil, dash the boiling water in the copper with cold water sufficient to stop the boiling, and leave it just hot enough to scald the finger, always remembering to draw off the second mash somewhat hotter than the first. The water being thus brought to a proper temperature by the addition of cold water, lade it out of the copper over the malt till it becomes thoroughly wet, stirring it well to prevent the malt from clotting. When the water is poured on too hot, it sets the malt, and closes the body of the grain, instead of opening it so as to dissolve in the liquor. Cover up the mash tub close to compress the steam, and prevent the liquid from evaporating. Let the wort stand an hour and a half or two hours after mashing, and then let the liquor run off into a vessel prepared to receive it. If at first it runs thick and discoloured, draw off a pailful or two, and pour it back again into the mash tub till it runs clear. In summer it will be necessary to put a few hops into the vessel which receives the liquor out of the mash tub, to prevent its turning sour, which the heat of the weather will sometimes endanger. Let the second mash run out as before, and let the liquor stand an hour and a half, but never let the malt be dry: keep lading fresh liquor over it till the quantity of wort to be obtained is extracted, always allowing for waste in the boiling. The next consideration is boiling the wort when obtained. The first copperful must be boiled an hour; and whilst boiling, add the ingredients specified above, in the second estimate. The hops are now to be boiled in the wort, but are to be carefully strained from the first wort, in order to be boiled again in the second. Eight pounds is the common proportion to a quarter of malt; but in summer the quantity must be varied from eight to twelve pounds, according to the heat of the atmosphere. After the wort has boiled an hour, lade it out of the copper and cool it. In summer it should be quite cold before it is set to work; in winter it should be kept till a slight degree of warmth is perceptible by the finger. When properly cooled set it to work, by adding yeast in proportion to the quantity. If considerable, and if wanted to work quick, add from one to two gallons. Porter requires to be brought forward quicker than other malt liquor: let it work till it comes to a good deep head, then cleanse it by adding the ginger. The liquor is now fit for tunning: fill the barrels full, and let the yeast work out, adding fresh liquor to fill them up till they have done working. Now bung the barrels, but keep a watchful eye upon them for some time, lest the beer should suddenly ferment again and burst them, which is no uncommon accident where due care is not taken. The heat of summer, or a sudden change of weather, will occasion the same misfortune, if the barrels are not watched, and eased when they require it, by drawing the peg. The only part which remains to complete the brewing, is fining the beer. To understand this, it is necessary to remark, that London porter is composed of three different sorts of malt; pale, brown, and amber. The reason for using these three sorts, is to attain a peculiar flavour and colour. Amber is the most wholesome, and for home brewing it is recommended to use none else. In consequence of the subtleness of the essentia, which keeps continually swimming in the beer, porter requires a considerable body of finings; but should any one choose to brew without the essentia, with amber malt, and with colour only, the porter will soon refine of itself. The finings however are composed of isinglass dissolved in stale beer, till the whole becomes of a thin gluey consistence like size. One pint is the usual proportion to a barrel, but sometimes two, and even three are found necessary. Particular care must be taken that the beer in which the isinglass is dissolved, be perfectly clear, and thoroughly stale.--By attending to these directions, any person may brew as good, if not better porter, than they can be supplied with from the public houses. Many notions have been artfully raised, that porter requires to be brewed in large quantities, and to be long stored, to render it sound and strong; but experience will prove the falsehood of these prejudices, which have their origin with the ignorant, and are cherished by the interested. One brewing under another will afford ample time for porter to refine for use, and every person can best judge of the extent of his own consumption. Porter is not the better for being brewed in large quantities, except that the same trouble which brews a peck, will brew a bushel. This mode of practice will be found simple and easy in its operation, and extremely moderate in point of trouble and expense.

LONDON SYLLABUB. Put a pint and a half of port or white wine into a bowl, nutmeg grated, and a good deal of sugar. Then milk into it near two quarts of milk, frothed up. If the wine be rather sharp, it will require more for this quantity of milk. In Devonshire, clouted cream is put on the top, with pounded cinnamon and sugar.

LOOKING GLASSES. In order to clean them from the spots of flies and other stains, rub them over with a fine damp cloth. Then polish with a soft woollen cloth, and powder blue.

LOVE. As health is materially affected by the passions, it is of some consequence to observe their separate influence, in order to obviate some of their ill effects. Love is unquestionably the most powerful, and is less under the controul of the understanding than any of the rest. It has a kind of omnipotence ascribed to it, which belongs not to any other. 'Love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown it.' Other passions are necessary for the preservation of the individual, but this is necessary for the continuation of the species: it was proper therefore that it should be deeply rooted in the human breast. There is no trifling with this passion: when love has risen to a certain height, it admits of no other cure but the possession of its object, which in this case ought always if possible to be obtained. The ruinous consequences arising from disappointment, which happen almost every day, are dreadful to relate; and no punishment can be too great for those whose wilful conduct becomes the occasion of such catastrophes. Parents are deeply laden with guilt, who by this means plunge their children into irretrievable ruin; and lovers are deserving of no forgiveness, whose treacherous conduct annihilates the hopes and even the existence of their friends.

M.

MACARONI. The usual way of preparing macaroni is to boil it in milk, or weak veal broth, flavoured with salt. When tender, put it into a dish without the liquor. Add to it some bits of butter and grated cheese; over the top grate more, and add a little more butter. Set the dish into a Dutch oven a quarter of an hour, but do not let the top become hard.--Another way. Wash it well, and simmer in half milk and half broth, of veal or mutton, till it is tender. To a spoonful of this liquor, put the yolk of an egg beaten in a spoonful of cream; just make it hot to thicken, but not to boil. Spread it on the macaroni, and then grate fine old cheese all over, with bits of butter. Brown the whole with a salamander.--Another. Wash the macaroni, then simmer it in a little broth, with a little salt and pounded mace. When quite tender, take it out of the liquor, lay it in a dish, grate a good deal of cheese over, and cover it with fine grated bread. Warm some butter without oiling, and pour it from a boat through a small earthen cullender all over the crumbs; then put the dish into a Dutch oven to roast the cheese, and brown the bread of a fine colour. The bread should be in separate crumbs, and look light.

MACARONI PUDDING. Simmer in a pint of milk, an ounce or two of the pipe sort of macaroni, and a bit of lemon and cinnamon. When quite tender, put it into a dish with milk, two or three eggs, but only one white. Add some sugar, nutmeg, a spoonful of peach water, and the same of raisin wine. Bake with a paste round the edges. A layer of orange marmalade, or raspberry jam, in a macaroni pudding, is a great improvement. In this case omit the almond water, or ratifia, which would otherwise be wanted to give it a flavour.

MACARONI SOUP. Boil a pound of the best macaroni in a quart of good stock, till it is quite tender. Then take out half, and put it into another stewpot. Add some more stock to the remainder, and boil it till all the macaroni will pulp through a fine sieve. Then add together the two liquors, a pint or more of boiling cream, the macaroni that was first taken out, and half a pound of grated parmesan cheese. Make it hot, but do not let it boil. Serve it with the crust of a French roll, cut into the size of a shilling.

MACAROONS. Blanch four ounces of almonds, and pound them with four spoonfuls of orange water. Whisk the whites of four eggs to a froth, mix it with the almonds, and a pound of sifted sugar, till reduced to a paste. Lay a sheet of wafer paper on a tin, and put on the paste in little cakes, the shape of macaroons.

MACKAREL. Their season is generally May, June, and July; but may sometimes be had at an earlier period. When green gooseberries are ready, their appearance may at all times be expected. They are so tender a fish that they carry and keep worse than any other: choose those that are firm and bright, and sweet scented. After gutting and cleaning, boil them gently, and serve with butter and fennel, or gooseberry sauce. To broil them, split and sprinkle with herbs, pepper and salt; or stuff with the same, adding crumbs and chopped fennel.

MAGNUM BONUM PLUMS. Though very indifferent when eaten raw, this fruit makes an excellent sweetmeat, or is fine in the form of tarts. Prick them with a needle to prevent bursting, simmer them very gently in a thin syrup, put them in a china bowl, and when cold pour the syrup over. Let them lie three days, then make a syrup of three pounds of sugar to five pounds of fruit, with no more water than hangs to large lumps of the sugar dipped quickly, and instantly brought out. Boil the plums in this fresh syrup, after draining the first from them. Do them very gently till they are clear, and the syrup adheres to them. Put them one by one into small pots, and pour the liquor over. Reserve a little syrup in the pan for those intended to be dried, warm up the fruit in it, drain them out, and put them on plates to dry in a cool oven. These plums are apt to ferment, if not boiled in two syrups; the former will sweeten pies, but will have too much acid to keep. A part may be reserved, with the addition of a little sugar, to do those that are dry, for they will not require to be so sweet as if kept wet, and will eat very nicely if boiled like the rest. One parcel may be done after another, and save much sugar, but care must be taken not to break the fruit.

MAHOGANY. To give a fine colour to mahogany, let the furniture be washed perfectly clean with vinegar, having first taken out any ink stains there may be, with spirits of salt, taking the greatest care to touch the stained part very slightly, and then the spirits must be instantly washed off. Use the following liquid. Put into a pint of cold-drawn linseed oil, four pennyworth of alkanet root, and two pennyworth of rose pink. Let it remain all night in an earthen vessel, then stirring it well, rub some of it all over the mahogany with a linen rag; and when it has lain some time, rub it bright with linen cloths. Dining tables should be covered with mat, oil cloth, or baize, to prevent staining; and should be instantly rubbed when the dishes are removed, while the board is still warm.

MAIDS. This kind of fish, as well as skate, requires to be hung up a day before it is dressed, to prevent its eating tough. Maids may either be broiled or fried; or if a tolerable size, the middle part may be boiled, and the fins fried. They should be dipped in egg, and covered with crumbs.

MALT. This article varies very much in value, according to the quality of the barley, and the mode of manufacture. When good it is full of flour, and in biting a grain asunder it will easily separate; the shell will appear thin, and well filled up with flour. If it bite hard and steely, the malt is bad. The difference of pale and brown malt arises merely from the different degrees of heat employed in the drying: the main object is the quantity of flour. If the barley was light and thin, whether from unripeness, blight, or any other cause, it will not malt so well; but instead of sending out its roots in due time, a part of it will still be barley. This will appear by putting a handful of unground malt in cold water, and stirring it about till every grain is wetted; the good will swim, and the unmalted barley sink to the bottom. But if the barley be well malted, there is still a variety in the quality: for a bushel of malt from fine, plump, heavy barley, will be better than the same quantity from thin and light barley. Weight therefore here is the criterion of quality; and a bushel of malt weighing forty-five pounds is cheaper than any other at almost any price, supposing it to be free from unmalted barley, for the barley itself is heavier than the malt. The practice of mixing barley with the malt on a principle of economy, is not to be approved; for though it may add a little to the strength of the wort, it makes the beer flat and insipid, and of course unwholesome.

MARBLE. Chimney pieces, or marble slabs, may be cleaned with muriatic acid, either diluted or in a pure state. If too strong, it will deprive the marble of its polish, but may be restored by using a piece of felt and a little putty powdered, rubbing it on with clean water. Another method is, making a paste of a bullock's gall, a gill of soap lees, half a gill of turpentine, and a little pipe clay. The paste is then applied to the marble, and suffered to remain a day or two. It is afterwards rubbed off, and applied a second or third time, to render the marble perfectly clean, and give it the finest polish.

MARBLE CEMENT. If by any accident, marble or alabaster happen to be broken, it may be strongly cemented together in the following manner. Melt two pounds of bees' wax, and one pound of rosin. Take about the same quantity of marble or other stones that require to be joined, and reduce it to a powder; stir it well together with the melted mixture, and knead the mass in water, till the powder is thoroughly incorporated with the wax and rosin. The parts to be joined must be heated and made quite dry, and the cement applied quite hot. Melted sulphur, laid on fragments of stone previously heated, will make a firm and durable cement. Little deficiencies in stones or corners that have been stripped or broken off, may be supplied with some of the stone powdered and mixed with melted sulphur: but care must be taken to have both parts properly heated.

MARBLE PAPER. For marbling books or paper, dissolve four ounces of gum arabac in two quarts of water, and pour it into a broad vessel. Mix several colours with water in separate shells: with small brushes peculiar to each colour, sprinkle and intermix them on the surface of the gum water, and curl them with a stick so as to form a variety of streaks. The edges of a book pressed close may then be slightly dipped in the colours on the surface of the water, and they will take the impression of the mixture. The edges may then be glazed with the white of an egg, and the colours will remain. A sheet of paper may be marbled in the same way.

MARBLE STAINS. To take stains out of marble, make a tolerably thick mixture of unslaked lime finely powdered, with some strong soap-ley. Spread it instantly over the marble with a painter's brush, and in two month's time wash it off perfectly clean. Prepare a fine thick lather of soft soap, boiled in soft water; dip a brush in it, and scour the marble well with powder. Clear off the soap, and finish with a smooth hard brush till the stains are all removed. After a very good rubbing, the marble will acquire a beautiful polish. If the marble has been injured by iron stains, take an equal quantity of fresh spirits of vitriol and lemon juice. Mix them in a bottle, shake it well, and wet the spots. Rub with a soft linen cloth, and in a few minutes they will disappear.

MARBLE VEAL. The meat is prepared in the same way as potted beef or veal. Then beat up a boiled tongue, or slices of ham, with butter, white pepper, and pounded mace. Put a layer of veal in the pot, then stick in pieces of tongue or ham, fill up the spaces with veal, and pour clarified butter over it.

MARKING INK. Mix two drams of the tincture of galls with one dram of lunar caustic, and for marking of linen, use it with a pen as common ink. The cloth must first be wetted in a strong solution of salt of tartar, and afterwards dried, before any attempt be made to write upon it. A beautiful red ink may also be prepared for this purpose by mixing half an ounce of vermillion, and a dram of the salt of steel, with as much linseed oil as will make it of a proper consistency, either to use with a pen or a hair pencil. Other colours may be made in the same way, by substituting the proper ingredients instead of vermillion.

MANGOES. Cut off the tops of some large green cucumbers, take out the seeds, and wipe them dry. Fill them with mustard-seed, horseradish, sliced onion, ginger, and whole pepper. Sow on the tops, put the mangoes into a jar, cover them with boiling vinegar, and do them the same as any other pickle. Melons are done in the same way.

MARIGOLD WINE. Boil three pounds and a half of lump sugar in a gallon of water, put in a gallon of marigold flowers, gathered dry and picked from the stalks, and then make it as for cowslip wine. If the flowers be gathered only a few at a time, measure them when they are picked, and turn and dry them in the shade. When a sufficient quantity is prepared, put them into a barrel, and pour the sugar and water upon them. Put a little brandy into the bottles, when the wine is drawn off.

MARMALADE. For a cough or cold, take six ounces of Malaga raisins, and beat them to a fine paste, with the same quantity of sugarcandy. Add an ounce of the conserve of roses, twenty-five drops of oil of vitriol, and twenty drops of oil of sulphur. Mix them well together, and take a small tea-spoonful night and morning.

MARROW BONES. Cover the top of them with a floured cloth, boil and serve them with dry toast.

MARSHMALLOW OINTMENT. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fenugreek seed; bruise and boil them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts of sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated, and strain off the oil. Add a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of yellow rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together over a slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.

MASHED PARSNIPS. Boil the roots tender, after they have been wiped clean. Scrape them, and mash them in a stewpan with a little cream, a good piece of butter, pepper and salt.

MASHED POTATOES. Boil the potatoes, peel them, and reduce them to paste. Add a quarter of a pint of milk to two pounds weight, a little salt, and two ounces of butter, and stir it all well together over the fire. They may either be served up in this state, or in scallops, or put on the dish in a form, and the top browned with a salamander.

MATTRASSES. Cushions, mattrasses, and bed clothes stuffed with wool, are particularly liable to be impregnated with what is offensive and injurious, from persons who have experienced putrid and inflammatory fevers, and cannot therefore be too carefully cleaned, carded, and washed. It would also be proper frequently to fumigate them with vinegar or muriatic gas. If these articles be infested with insects, dissolve a pound and a half of alum, and as much cream of tartar, in three pints of boiling water. Mix this solution in three gallons of cold water, immerse the wool in it for several days, and then let it be washed and dried. This operation will prevent the insects from attacking it in future.

MEAD. Dissolve thirty pounds of honey in thirteen gallons of water; boil and skim it well. Then add of rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and sweetbriar, about a handful altogether. Boil the whole for an hour, and put it into a tub, with two or three handfuls of ground malt. Stir it till it is about blood warm, then strain it through a cloth, and return it into the tub. Cut a toast, spread it over with good ale yeast, and put it into the tub. When the liquor has sufficiently fermented, put it into a cask. Take an ounce and a half each of cloves, mace, and nutmegs, and an ounce of sliced ginger. Bruise the spices; tie them up in a cloth, and hang it in the vessel, which must be stopped up close for use.--Another way. Put four or five pounds of honey into a gallon of boiling water, and let it continue to boil an hour and a half. Skim it quite clean, put in the rinds of three or four lemons, and two ounces of hops sewed up in a bag. When cold, put the liquor into a cask, stop it up close, and let it stand eight or nine months.

MEASLES. In general, all that is needful in the treatment of this complaint is to keep the body open by means of tamarinds, manna, or other gentle laxatives; and to supply the patient frequently with barley water, or linseed tea sweetened with honey. Bathe the feet in warm water; and if there be a disposition to vomit, it ought to be promoted by drinking a little camomile tea. If the disorder appear to strike inward, the danger may be averted by applying blisters to the arms and legs, and briskly rubbing the whole body with warm flannels.

MEAT. In all sorts of provisions, the best of the kind goes the farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment. Round of beef, fillet of veal, and leg of mutton, are joints that bear a higher price; but as they have more solid meat, they deserve the preference. Those joints however which are inferior, may be dressed as palatably; and being cheaper, they should be bought in turn; for when weighed with the prime pieces, it makes the price of these come lower. In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and edgebones of beef are often bruised by the blows which the drovers give the beasts, and the part that has been struck always taints; these joints therefore when bruised should not be purchased. And as great loss is often sustained by the spoiling of meat, after it is purchased, the best way to prevent this is to examine it well, wipe it every day, and put some pieces of charcoal over it. If meat is brought from a distance in warm weather, the butcher should be desired to cover it close, and bring it early in the morning, to prevent its being fly-blown.--All meat should be washed before it is dressed. If for boiling, the colour will be better for the soaking; but if for roasting, it should afterwards be dried. Particular care must be taken that the pot be well skimmed the moment it boils, otherwise the foulness will be dispersed over the meat. The more soups or broth are skimmed, the better and cleaner they will be. Boiled meat should first be well floured, and then put in while the water is cold. Meat boiled quick is sure to be hard; but care must be taken, that in boiling slow it does not stop, or the meat will be underdone. If the steam be kept in, the water will not be much reduced; but if this be desirable, the cover must be removed. As to the length of time required for roasting and boiling, the size of the joint must direct, as also the strength of the fire, and the nearness of the meat to it. In boiling, attention must be paid to the progress it makes, which should be regular and slow. For every pound of meat, a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes is generally allowed, according as persons choose to have it well or underdone. In preparing a joint for roasting, care must be taken not to run the spit through the best parts of the meat, and that no black stains appear upon it at the time of serving.

MEAT SAUCE. Put to a clean anchovy, a glass of port wine, a little strong broth, a sliced shalot, some nutmeg, and the juice of a Seville orange. Stew them together, and mix it with the gravy that runs from the meat.

MEAT SCREEN. This is a great saver of coals, and should be sufficiently large to guard what is roasting from currents of air. It should be placed on wheels, have a flat top, and not be less than about three feet and a half wide, with shelves in it, about one foot deep. It will then answer all the purposes of a large Dutch oven, a plate warmer, and a hot hearth. Some are made with a door behind, which is convenient; but the great heat to which they are exposed soon shrinks the materials, and the currents of air through the cracks cannot be prevented. Those without a door are therefore best.

MEDLEY PIE. Cut into small pieces some fat pork, or other meat underdone, and season it with salt and pepper. Cover the sides of the dish with common crust, put in a layer of sliced apples with a little sugar, then a layer of meat, and a layer of sliced onions, till the dish is full. Put a thick crust over it, and bake it in a slow oven. Currants or scalded gooseberries may be used instead of apples, and the onions omitted.

MELON FLUMMERY. Put plenty of bitter almonds into some stiff flummery, and make it of a pale green with spinach juice. When it becomes as thick as cream, wet the melon mould, and put the flummery into it. Put a pint of calf's foot jelly into a bason, and let it stand till the next day: then turn out the melon, and lay it in the midst of the bason of jelly. Fill up the bason with jelly beginning to set, and let it stand all night. Turn it out the next day, the same as for fruit in jelly: make a garland of flowers, and place it on the jelly.

MELON MANGOES. There is a particular sort for preserving, which must be carefully distinguished. Cut a square small piece out of one side, and through that take out the seeds, and mix with them mustard-seed and shred garlic. Stuff the melon as full as the space will allow, replace the square piece, and bind it up with fine packthread, boil a good quantity of vinegar, to allow for wasting, with peppercorns, salt, and ginger. Pour the liquor boiling hot over the mangoes four successive days; and on the last day put flour of mustard, and scraped horseradish into the vinegar just as it boils up. Observe that there is plenty of vinegar before it is stopped down, for pickles are soon spoiled if not well covered. Also the greater number of times that boiling vinegar is poured over them, the sooner they will be ready for eating. Mangoes should be pickled soon after they are gathered. Large cucumbers, called green turley, prepared as mangoes, are very excellent, and come sooner to table.

MELTED BUTTER. Though a very essential article for the table, it is seldom well prepared. Mix on a trencher, in the proportion of a tea-spoonful of flour to four ounces of the best butter. Put it into a saucepan, and two or three table-spoonfuls of hot water; boil it quick for a minute, and shake it all the time. Milk used instead of water, requires rather less butter, and looks whiter.

MICE. The poisonous substances generally prepared for the destruction of mice are attended with danger, and the use of them should by all means be avoided. Besides the common traps, baited with cheese, the following remedy will be found both safe and efficacious. Take a few handfuls of wheat flour, or malt meal, and knead it into a dough. Let it grow sour in a warm place, mix with it some fine iron filings, form the mass into small balls, and put them into the holes frequented by the mice. On eating this preparation, they are inevitably killed. Cats, owls, or hedgehogs, would be highly serviceable in places infested with mice. An effectual mousetrap may be made in the following manner. Take a plain four square trencher, and put into the two contrary corners of it a large pin, or piece of knitting needle. Then take two sticks about a yard long, and lay them on the dresser, with a notch cut at each end of the sticks, placing the two pins on the notches, so that one corner of the trencher may lie about an inch on the dresser or shelf that the mice come to. The opposite corner must be baited with some butter and oatmeal plastered on the trencher; and when the mice run towards the butter, it will tip them into a glazed earthen vessel full of water, which should be placed underneath for that purpose. To prevent the trencher from tipping over so as to lose its balance, it may be fastened to the shelf or dresser with a thread and a little sealing wax, to restore it to its proper position. To prevent their devastations in barns, care should be taken to lay beneath the floor a stratum of sharp flints, fragments of glass mixed with sand, or broken cinders. If the floors were raised on piers of brick, about fifteen inches above the ground, so that dogs or cats might have a free passage beneath the building, it would prevent the vermin from harbouring there, and tend greatly to preserve the grain. Field mice are also very destructive in the fields and gardens, burrowing under the ground, and digging up the earth when newly sown. Their habitations may be discovered by the small mounds of earth that are raised near the entrance, or by the passages leading to their nests; and by following these, the vermin may easily be destroyed. To prevent early peas being eaten by the mice, soak the seed a day or two in train oil before it is sown, which will promote its vegetation, and render the peas so obnoxious to the mice, that they will not eat them. The tops of furze, chopped and thrown into the drills, when the peas are sown, will be an effectual preventive. Sea sand strewed thick on the surface of the ground, round the plants liable to be attacked by the mice, will have the same effect.

MILDEW. To remove stains in linen occasioned by mildew, mix some soft soap and powdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon. Lay it on the part on both sides with a painter's brush, and let it lie on the grass day and night till the stain disappears.

MILK BUTTER. This article is principally made in Cheshire, where the whole of the milk is churned without being skimmed. In the summer time, immediately after milking, the meal is put to cool in earthen jars till it become sufficiently coagulated, and has acquired a slight degree of acidity, enough to undergo the operation of churning. During the summer, this is usually performed in the course of one or two days. In order to forward the coagulation in the winter, the milk is placed near the fire; but in summer, if it has not been sufficiently cooled before it is added to the former meal, or if it has been kept too close, and be not churned shortly after it has acquired the necessary degree of consistence, a fermentation will ensue; in which case the butter becomes rancid, and the milk does not yield that quantity which it would, if churned in proper time. This also is the case in winter, when the jars have been placed too near the fire, and the milk runs entirely to whey. Milk butter is in other respects made like the common butter.

MILK AND CREAM. In hot weather, when it is difficult to preserve milk from becoming sour, and spoiling the cream, it may be kept perfectly sweet by scalding the new milk very gently, without boiling, and setting it by in the earthen dish or pan that it is done in. This method is pursued in Devonshire, for making of butter, and for eating; and it would answer equally well in small quantities for the use of the tea table. Cream already skimmed may be kept twenty-four hours if scalded, without sugar; and by adding as much pounded lump sugar as shall make it pretty sweet, it will be good two days, by keeping it in a cool place.

MILK PORRIDGE. Make a fine gruel of half grits well boiled, strain it off, add warm or cold milk, and serve with toasted bread.

MILK PUNCH. Pare six oranges and six lemons as thin as possible, and grate them afterwards with sugar to extract the flavour. Steep the peels in a bottle of rum or brandy, stopped close twenty-four hours. Squeeze the fruit on two pounds of sugar, add to it four quarts of water, and one of new milk boiling hot. Stir the rum into the above, and run it through a jelly bag till perfectly clear. Bottle and cork it close immediately.

MILK OF ROSES. Mix an ounce of oil of almonds with a pint of rose water, and then add ten drops of the oil of tartar.

MILK SOUP. Boil a pint of milk with a little salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Lay thin slices of bread in a dish, pour over them a little of the milk, and keep them hot over a stove without burning. When the soup is ready, beat up the yolks of five or six eggs, and add them to the milk. Stir it over the fire till it thickens, take it off before it curdles, and pour it upon the bread in the dish.

MILKING. Cows should be milked three times a day in the summer, if duly fed, and twice in the winter. Great care should be taken to drain the milk completely from the udder; for if any be suffered to remain, the cow will give less every meal, till at length she becomes dry before her proper time, and the next season she will scarcely give a sufficient quantity of milk to pay the expences of her keeping. The first milk drawn from a cow is also thinner, and of an inferior quality to that which is afterwards obtained: and this richness increases progressively, to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder. If a cow's teats be scratched or wounded, her milk will be foul, and should not be mixed with that of other cows, but given to the pigs. In warm weather, the milk should remain in the pail till nearly cold, before it is strained; but in frosty weather this should be done immediately, and a small quantity of boiling water mixed with it. This will produce plenty of cream, especially in trays of a large surface. As cows are sometimes troublesome to milk, and in danger of contracting bad habits, they always require to be treated with great gentleness, especially when young, or while their teats are tender. In this case the udder ought to be fomented with warm water before milking, and the cow soothed with mild treatment; otherwise she will be apt to become stubborn and unruly, and retain her milk ever after. A cow will never let down her milk freely to the person she dreads or dislikes.

MILLET PUDDING. Wash three spoonfuls of the seed, put it into a dish with a crust round the edge, pour over it as much new milk as will nearly fill the dish, two ounces of butter warmed with it, sugar, shred lemon peel, and a dust of ginger and nutmeg. As you put it in the oven, stir in two beaten eggs, and a spoonful of shred suet.

MINCE PIES. Of scraped beef, free from skin and strings, weigh two pounds, of suet picked and chopped four pounds, and of currants nicely cleaned and perfectly dry, six pounds. Then add three pounds of chopped apples, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint of sweet wine, a nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of mace, and pimento, in the finest powder. Mix the whole well together, press it into a deep pan, and keep it covered in a dry cool place. A little citron, orange, and lemon peel, should be put into each pie when made. The above quantity of mince meat may of course be reduced, in equal proportions, for small families.--Mince pies without meat, are made in the following manner. Pare, core, and mince six pounds of apples; shred three pounds of fresh suet, and stone three pounds of raisins minced. Add to these, a quarter of an ounce each of mace and cinnamon, and eight cloves, all finely powdered. Then three pounds of the finest powder sugar, three quarters of an ounce of salt, the rinds of four and the juice of two lemons, half a pint of port, and half a pint of brandy. Mix well together, and put the ingredients into a deep pan. Prepare four pounds of currants, well washed and dried, and add them when the pies are made, with some candied fruit.

MINCED BEEF. Shred fine the underdone part, with some of the fat. Put it into a small stewpan with some onion, or a very small quantity of shalot, a little water, pepper and salt. Boil it till the onion is quite soft; then put some of the gravy of the meat to it, and the mince, but do not let it boil. Prepare a small hot dish with sippets of bread, mix a large spoonful of vinegar with the mince, and pour it into the dish. If shalot vinegar is used, the raw onion and shalot may be dispensed with.

MINCED COLLOPS. Chop and mince some beef very small, and season it with pepper and salt. Put it, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When to be used, put the clarified butter into a fryingpan, and fry some sliced onions. Add a little water to it, put in the minced meat, and it will be done in a few minutes. This is a favourite Scotch dish, and few families are without it. It keeps well, and is always ready for an extra dish.

MINCED VEAL. Cut some cold veal as fine as possible, but do not chop it. Put to it a very little lemon-peel shred, two grates of nutmeg, some salt, and four or five spoonfuls either of weak broth, milk, or water. Simmer these gently with the meat, adding a bit of butter rubbed in flour, but take care not to let it boil. Put sippets of thin toasted bread, cut into a three-cornered shape, round the dish.

MINT SAUCE. Pick and wash the mint clean, and chop it fine. Put it into a small bason, and mix it with sugar and vinegar.

MINT VINEGAR. As fresh mint is not at all times to be had, a welcome substitute will be found in the preparation of mint vinegar. Dry and pound half an ounce of mint seed, pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, let it steep ten days, and shake it up every day. This will be useful in the early season of house lamb.

MITES. Though they principally affect cheese, there are several species of this insect which breed in flour and other eatables, and do considerable injury. The most effectual method of expelling them is to place a few nutmegs in the sack or bin containing the flour, the odour of which is insupportable to mites; and they will quickly be removed, without the meal acquiring any unpleasant flavour. Thick branches of the lilac, or the elder tree, peeled and put into the flour, will have the same effect. Quantities of the largest sized ants, scattered about cheese-rooms and granaries, would presently devour all the mites, without doing any injury.

MIXED WINE. Take an equal quantity of white, red, and black currants, cherries, and raspberries; mash them, and press the juice through a strainer. Boil three pounds of moist sugar in three quarts of water, and skim it clean. When cold, mix a quart of juice with it, and put it into a barrel that will just hold it. Put in the bung, and after it has stood a week, close it up, and let it stand three or four months. When the wine is put into the barrel, add a little brandy to it.

MOCK BRAWN. Boil two pair of neat's feet quite tender, and pick all the flesh off the bone. Boil the belly piece of a porker nearly enough, and bone it. Roll the meat of the feet up in the pork, tie it up in a cloth with tape round it, and boil it till it becomes very tender. Hang it up in the cloth till it is quite cold, put it into some souse, and keep it for use.

MOCK TURTLE. Divide a calf's head with the skin on, and clean it well. Half boil it, take all the meat off in square pieces, break the bones of the head, and boil them in some veal and beef broth, to add to the richness. Fry some shalot in butter, and dredge in flower enough to thicken the gravy; stir this into the browning, and give it one or two boils. Skim it carefully, and then put in the head; add a pint of Madeira, and simmer till the meat is quite tender. About ten minutes before serving, put in some basil, tarragon, chives, parsley, cayenne pepper, and salt; also two spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup, and one of soy. Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the tureen, and pour the soup upon it. Serve with forcemeat balls, and small eggs.--A cheaper way. Prepare half a calf's head as above, but without the skin. When the meat is cut off, break the bones, and put them into a saucepan with some gravy made of beef and veal bones, and seasoned with fried onions, herbs, mace, and pepper. Have ready prepared two or three ox-palates boiled so tender as to blanch, and cut into small pieces; to which a cow heel, likewise cut into pieces, is a great improvement. Brown some butter, flour, and onion, and pour the gravy to it; then add the meats as above, and stew them together. Add half a pint of sherry, an anchovy, two spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, the same of mushroom ketchup, and some chopped herbs as before. The same sauce as before.--Another way. Put into a pan a knuckle of veal, two fine cow heels, two onions, a few cloves, peppercorns, berries of allspice, mace, and sweet herbs. Cover them with water, tie a thick paper over the pan, and set it in an oven for three hours. When cold, take off the fat very nicely, cut the meat and feet into bits an inch and a half square, remove the bones and coarse parts, and then put the rest on to warm, with a large spoonful of walnut and one of mushroom ketchup, half a pint of sherry or Madeira, a little mushroom powder, and the jelly of the meat. If it want any more seasoning, add some when hot, and serve with hard eggs, forcemeat balls, a squeeze of lemon, and a spoonful of soy. This is a very easy way of making an excellent dish of mock turtle.--Another. Stew a pound and a half of scrag of mutton, with three pints of water till reduced to a quart. Set on the broth, with a calf's foot and a cow heel; cover the stewpan tight, and let it simmer till the meat can be separated from the bones in proper pieces. Set it on again with the broth, adding a quarter of a pint of sherry or Madeira, a large onion, half a tea-spoonful of cayenne, a bit of lemon peel, two anchovies, some sweet herbs, eighteen oysters chopped fine, a tea-spoonful of salt, a little nutmeg, and the liquor of the oysters. Cover it close, and simmer it three quarters, of an hour. Serve with forcemeat balls, and hard eggs in the tureen.--An excellent and very cheap mock turtle may be made of two or three cow heels, baked with two pounds and a half of gravy beef, herbs, and other ingredients as above.

MOLES. As these little animals live entirely on worms and insects, of which they consume incalculable numbers, they may be considered as harmless, and even useful, rather than otherwise; and it has been observed in fields and gardens where the moles had been caught, that they afterwards abounded with vermin and insects. But when the moles become too numerous, they are hurtful to vegetation, and require to be destroyed. Besides the common method of setting traps in their subterraneous passages, many might be dug out of the earth by carefully watching their situation and motions before the rising of the sun, and striking in a spade behind them to cut off their retreat. The smell of garlic is so offensive to them, that if a few heads of that plant were thrust into their runs, it would expel them from the place.

MOONSHINE PUDDING. Put into a baking dish a layer of very thin bread and butter, strewed over with currants and sweetmeats, and so on till the dish is full. Mix together a pint and a half of cream, the yolks of six eggs, half a grated nutmeg, and some sugar. Pour the mixture on the top of the pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour.

MOOR FOWL. To dress moor fowl with red cabbage, truss the game as for boiling. Set them on the fire with a little soup, and let them stew for half an hour. Cut a red cabbage into quarters, add it to the moor fowl, season with salt and white pepper, and a little piece of butter rolled in flour. A glass of port may be added, if approved. Lift out the cabbage, and place it neatly in the dish, with the moor fowl on it. Pour the sauce over them, and garnish with small slices of fried bacon.

MORELLA CHERRIES. When the fruit is quite ripe, take off the stalks, prick them with a pin, and allow a pound and a half of lump sugar to every pound of cherries. Reduce part of the sugar to powder, and strew it over them. Next day dissolve the remainder in half a pint of currant juice, set it over a slow fire, put in the cherries with the sugar, and give them a gentle boil. Take out the cherries carefully, boil the syrup till it is thick, pour it upon the cherries, and tie them down.--Any other kind of fruit may be treated in the same way, only using such kind of juice to boil in the syrup as is most suitable to the fruit to be preserved. It is proper to put apple jelly over jam or preserved fruit, or to sift sugar over the tops of the jars; and when cold, cover them with brandy paper. If the air be admitted, they will not keep.

MORELLA WINE. Cleanse from the stalks sixty pounds of morella cherries, and bruise them as to break the stones. Press out the juice, mix it with six gallons of sherry wine, and four gallons of warm water. Powder separately an ounce of nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace, and hang them separately in small bags, in the cask containing the liquor. Bung it down; and in a few weeks it will become a deliciously flavoured wine.

MORELS. In their green state they have a very rich, high flavour, and are delicious additions to some dishes, or sent up as a stew by themselves, when they are fresh and fine. When dried they are of very little use, and serve only to soak up good gravy, from which they take more flavour than they give.

MOSS. To destroy moss on trees, remove it with a hard brush early in the spring of the year, and wash the trees afterwards with urine or soap suds, and plaster them with cow dung. When a sort of white down appears on apple trees, clear off the red stain underneath it, and anoint the infected parts with a mixture of train oil and Scotch snuff, which will effectually cure the disease.

MOTHS. One of the most speedy remedies for their complete extirpation, is the smell of turpentine, whether it be by sprinkling it on woollen stuffs, or placing sheets of paper moistened with it between pieces of cloth. It is remarkable that moths are never known to infest wool unwashed, or in its natural state, but always abandon the place where such raw material is kept. Those persons therefore to whom the smell of turpentine is offensive, may avail themselves of this circumstance, and place layers of undressed wool between pieces of cloth, or put small quantities in the corners of shelves and drawers containing drapery of that description. This, or shavings of the cedar, small slips of Russia leather, or bits of camphor, laid in boxes or drawers where furs or woollen clothes are kept, will effectually preserve them from the ravages of the moth and other insects.

MUFFINS. Stir together a pint of yeast with a pint and half of warm milk and water, and a little salt. Strain it into a quarter of a peck of fine flour, knead it well, and set it an hour to rise. Pull it into small pieces, roll it into balls with the hand, and keep them covered up warm. Then spread them into muffins, lay them on tins, and bake them; and as the bottoms begin to change colour, turn them on the other side. A better sort may be made by adding two eggs, and two ounces of butter melted in half a pint of milk. Muffins should not be cut, but pulled open.

MULBERRY SYRUP. Put the mulberries into a kettle of water, and simmer them over the fire till the juice runs from them. Squeeze out the juice, and add twice the weight of sugar. Set it over a slow fire, skim it clean, and simmer it till the sugar is quite dissolved.

MULBERRY WINE. Gather mulberries on a dry day, when they are just changed from redness to a shining black. Spread them thinly on a fine cloth, or on a floor or table, for twenty-four hours, and then press them. Boil a gallon of water with each gallon of juice, putting to every gallon of water an ounce of cinnamon bark, and six ounces of sugarcandy finely powdered. Skim and strain the water when it is taken off and settled, and put it to the mulberry juice. Now add to every gallon of the mixture, a pint of white or Rhenish wine. Let the whole stand in a cask to ferment, for five or six days. When settled draw it off into bottles, and keep it cool.

MULLED ALE. Boil a pint of good sound ale with a little grated nutmeg and sugar, beat up three eggs, and mix them with a little cold ale. Then pour the hot ale to it, and return it several times to prevent its curdling. Warm and stir it till it is thickened, add a piece of butter or a glass of brandy, and serve it up with dry toast.

MULLED WINE. Boil some spice in a little water till the flavour is gained, then add an equal quantity of port, with sugar and nutmeg. Boil all together, and serve with toast.--Another way. Boil a blade of cinnamon and some grated nutmeg a few minutes, in a large tea-cupful of water. Pour to it a pint of port wine, add a little sugar, beat it up, and it will be ready. Good home-made wine may be substituted instead of port.

MUMBLED HARE. Boil the hare, but not too much; take off the flesh, and shred it very fine. Add a little salt, nutmeg, lemon peel, and the juice of a lemon. Put it into a stewpan with a dozen eggs, and a pound of butter, and keep it stirring.

MUSCLE PLUM CHEESE. Weigh six pounds of the fruit, bake it in a stone jar, remove the stones, and put in the kernels after they are broken and picked. Pour half the juice on two pounds and a half of Lisbon sugar; when melted and simmered a few minutes, skim it, and add the fruit. Keep it doing very gently till the juice is much reduced, but take care to stir it constantly, to prevent its burning. Pour it into small moulds, pattipans, or saucers. The remaining juice may serve to colour creams, or be added to a pie.

MUSHROOMS. Before these are prepared for eating, great care must be taken to ascertain that they are genuine, as death in many instances has been occasioned by using a poisonous kind of fungus, resembling mushrooms. The eatable mushrooms first appear very small, of a round form, and on a little stalk. They grow very fast, and both the stalk and the upper part are white. As the size increases, the under part gradually opens, and shows a kind of fringed fur, of a very fine salmon colour; which continues more or less till the mushroom has gained some size, and then it turns to a dark brown. These marks should be attended to, and likewise whether the skin can be easily parted from the edges and middle. Those that have a white or yellow fur should be carefully avoided, though many of them have a similar smell, but not so strong and fragrant, as the genuine mushroom. Great numbers of these may be produced, by strewing on an old hotbed the broken pieces of mushrooms; or if the water in which they have been washed be poured on the bed, it will nearly answer the same purpose.

MUSHROOMS DRIED. Wipe them clean, take out the brown part of the large ones, and peel off the skin. Lay them on paper to dry in a cool oven, and keep them in paper bags in a dry place. When used, simmer them in the gravy, and they will swell to nearly their former size. Or before they are made into powder, it is a good way to simmer them in their own liquor till it dry up into them, shaking the pan all the time, and afterwards drying them on tin plates. Spice may be added or not. Tie the mushrooms down close in a bottle, and keep it in a dry place.

MUSHROOM KETCHUP. Take the largest broad mushrooms, break them into an earthen pan, strew salt over, and stir them occasionally for three days. Then let them stand twelve days, till there is a thick scum over. Strain and boil the liquor with Jamaica and black peppers, mace, ginger, a clove or two, and some mustard seed. When cold, bottle it, and tie a bladder over the cork. In three months boil it again with fresh spice, and it will then keep a twelvemonth.--Another way. Fill a stewpan with large flap mushrooms, that are not worm-eaten, and the skins and fringe of such as have been pickled. Throw a handful of salt among them, and set them by a slow fire. They will produce a great deal of liquor, which must be strained; then add four ounces of shalots, two cloves of garlic, a good deal of whole pepper, ginger, mace, cloves, and a few bay leaves. Boil and skim it well, and when cold, cork it up close. In two months boil it up again with a little fresh spice, and a stick of horseradish. It will then keep a year, which mushroom ketchup rarely does, if not boiled a second time.

MUSHROOM POWDER. Wash half a peck of large mushrooms while quite fresh, and free them from grit and dirt with flannel. Scrape out the black part clean, and do not use any that are worm-eaten. Put them into a stewpan over the fire without any water, with two large onions, some cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two spoonfuls of white pepper, all in powder. Simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but be careful they do not burn. Lay them on tins or sieves in a slow oven till they are dry enough to beat to powder; then put the powder into small bottles, corked, and tied closely, and kept in a dry place. A tea-spoonful of this powder will give a very fine flavour to any soup or gravy, or any sauce; and it is to be added just before serving, and one boil given to it after it is put in.

MUSHROOM SAUCE. Melt some butter with flour, in a little milk or cream. Put in some mushrooms, a little salt and nutmeg, and boil it up together in a saucepan. Or put the mushrooms into melted butter, with veal gravy, salt, and nutmeg.

MUSLIN PATTERNS. In order to copy muslin patterns, the drawing is to be placed on a sheet of white paper, and the outline pricked through with a pin. The white sheet may then be laid on a second clear one, and a muslin bag of powdered charcoal sifted or rubbed over it. The pierced paper being removed, a perfect copy may be traced on the other; and in this way, patterns may be multiplied very expeditiously.

MUSTARD. Mix by degrees, the best Durham flour of mustard with boiling water, rubbing it perfectly smooth, till it comes to a proper thickness. Add a little salt, keep it in a small jar close covered, and put only as much into the glass as will be used soon. The glass should be wiped daily round the edges. If for immediate use, mix the mustard with new milk by degrees, till it is quite smooth, and a little raw cream. It is much softer this way, does not taste bitter, and will keep well. A tea-spoonful of sugar, to half a pint of mustard, is a great improvement, and tends much to soften it. Patent mustard is nearly as cheap as any other, and is generally preferred.

MUSTY FLOUR. When flour has acquired a musty smell and taste, from dampness and other causes, it may be recovered by the simple use of magnesia, allowing thirty grains of the carbonate to one pound of flour. It is to be leavened and baked in the usual way of making bread. The loaves will be found to rise well in the oven, to be more light and spongy, and also whiter than bread in the common way. It will likewise have an excellent taste, and will keep well. The use of magnesia in bread making is well worthy of attention, for if it improves musty flour, and renders it palatable, it would much more improve bread in general, and be the interest of families to adopt it. The use of magnesia in bread, independent of its improving qualities, is as much superior to that of alum as one substance can be to another.

MUTTON. In cutting up mutton, in order to its being dressed, attention should be paid to the different joints. The pipe that runs along the bone of the inside of a chine must be removed, and if the meat is to be kept some time, the part close round the tail should be rubbed with salt, after first cutting out the kernel. A leg is apt to be first tainted in the fat on the thick part, where the kernel is lodged, and this therefore should be removed, or the meat cannot be expected to keep well. The chine and rib bones should be wiped every day, and the bloody part of the neck be cut off to preserve it. The brisket changes first in the breast; and if it is to be kept, it is best to rub it with a little salt, should the weather be hot. Every kernel should be taken out of all sorts of meat as soon as it is brought in, and then wiped dry. For roasting, it should hang as long as it will keep, the hind quarter especially, but not so long as to taint; for whatever may be authorised by the prevailing fashion, putrid juices certainly ought not to be taken into the stomach. Great care should be taken to preserve by paper the fat of what is roasted. Mutton for boiling will not look of a good colour, if it has hung long.--In purchasing this meat, choose it by the fineness of the grain, the goodness of its colour, and see that the fat be firm and white. It is not the better for being young: if it be wether mutton, of a good breed and well fed, it is best for age. The flesh of ewe mutton is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong flavoured, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy: wether mutton is the best.

MUTTON BROTH. Soak a neck of mutton in water for an hour, cut off the scrag, and put it into a stewpot, with two quarts of water. As soon as it boils, skim it well, and simmer it an hour and a half. Cut the best end of the mutton into pieces, two bones in each, and take off some of the fat. Prepare four or five carrots, as many turnips, and three onions, all sliced, but not cut small. Put them soon enough to get quite tender, and add four large spoonfuls of Scotch barley, first wetted with cold water. Twenty minutes before serving, put in some chopped parsley, add a little salt, and send up all together. This is a Scotch dish, and esteemed very excellent in the winter.

MUTTON CHOPS. Cut them from the loin or neck, broil them on a clear fire, and turn them often, or the fat dropping into the fire will smoke them. When done, put them into a warm dish, rub them with butter, slice a shalot in a spoonful of boiling water, with a little salt and ketchup, and pour it over the chops. The ketchup may be omitted, and plain butter used instead.

MUTTON CHOPS IN DISGUISE. Prepare a seasoning of chopped parsley and thyme, grated bread, pepper and salt. Smear the chops over with egg, strew the seasoning on them, and roll each in buttered paper. Close the ends, put them in a Dutch oven or fryingpan, and let them broil slowly. When done, send them to table in the paper, with gravy in a boat.

MUTTON COLLOPS. From a loin of mutton that has been well kept, cut some thin collops nearest to the leg. Take out the sinews, season the collops with salt, pepper, and mace; and strew over them shred parsley, thyme, and two or three shalots. Fry them in butter till half done; add half a pint of gravy, a little lemon juice, and a piece of butter rubbed in flour. Simmer them together very gently for five minutes, and let the collops be served up immediately, or they will become hard.

MUTTON CUTLETS. To do them in the Portuguese way, half fry the chops with sliced shalot or onion, chopped parsley, and two bay leaves. Season with pepper and salt; then lay a forcemeat on a piece of white paper, put the chop on it, and twist the paper up, leaving a hole for the end of the bones to go through. Broil the cutlets on a gentle fire, serve them with a little gravy, or with sauce Robart.

MUTTON HAM. Choose a fine-grained leg of wether mutton, of twelve or fourteen pounds weight; cut it ham shape, and let it hang two days. Then put into a stewpan half a pound of bay salt, the same of common salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of coarse sugar, all in powder. Mix, and make it quite hot; then rub it well into the ham. Let it be turned in the liquor every day; at the end of four days add two ounces more of common salt; in twelve days take it out, dry it, and hang it up a week in wood smoke. It is to be used in slices, with stewed cabbage, mashed potatoes, or eggs.

MUTTON HASHED. Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean, and flour them. Boil the bones with a little onion, season the meat, and warm it up with the gravy, but it should not boil. Instead of onion, a clove, a spoonful of currant jelly, and a glass of port wine, will make it taste like venison.

MUTTON KEBOBBED. Take all the fat out of a loin of mutton, and that on the outside also if too fat, and remove the skin. Joint it at every bone, mix a small nutmeg grated with a little salt and pepper, crumbs of bread, and herbs. Dip the steaks into the yolks of three eggs, and sprinkle the above mixture all over them. Then place the steaks together as they were before they were cut asunder, tie and fasten them on a small spit. Roast them before a quick fire; set a dish under, and baste them with a good piece of butter, and the liquor that comes from the meat, but throw some more of the above seasoning over. When done enough, lay the meat in a dish. Prepare an additional half pint of good gravy, put into it two spoonfuls of ketchup, and rub down a tea-spoonful of flour with it. Give it a boil, skim off all the fat, and pour it over the mutton. Be careful to keep the meat hot, till the gravy is quite ready.

MUTTON PIE. Cut steaks from a loin or neck of mutton that has hung some time; beat them, and remove some of the fat. Season with salt, pepper, and a little onion. Put a little water at the bottom of the dish, and a little paste on the edge; then cover it with a tolerably thick paste. Or raise small pies, breaking each bone in two to shorten it; cover it over, and pinch the edges together. When the pies come from the oven, pour into each a spoonful of good mutton gravy.

MUTTON PUDDING. Season some chops with salt and pepper, and a taste of onion. Place a layer of meat at the bottom of the dish, pour over them a batter of potatoes boiled and pressed through a cullender, and mixed with an egg and milk. Put in the rest of the chops, and the batter, and bake it. Batter made of flour eats very well, but requires more egg, and is not so good as potatoe. Another way is to cut slices off a leg that has been underdone, and put them into a bason lined with a fine suet crust. Season with pepper and salt, and finely shred onion or shalot.

MUTTON RUMPS AND KIDNEYS. Stew six rumps in some good mutton gravy half an hour; then take them up, and let them stand to cool. Clear the gravy from the fat, and put into it four ounces of boiled rice, an onion stuck with cloves, and a blade of mace. Boil them till the rice is thick. Wash the rumps with yolks of eggs well beaten, and strew over them crumbs of bread, a little pepper and salt, chopped parsley and thyme, and grated lemon peel, fried in butter, of a fine brown. While the rumps are stewing, lard the kidneys, and set them to roast in a Dutch oven. When the rumps are ready, the grease must be drained from them before they are put in the dish; the pan being cleared likewise from the fat, warm up the rice in it. Lay the latter on the dish, place the rumps round upon the rice, the narrow ends towards the middle, and the kidneys between. Garnish with hard eggs cut in halves, the white being left on, or with different coloured pickles.

MUTTON SAUCE. Two spoonfuls of the liquor in which the mutton is boiled, the same quantity of vinegar, two or three shalots finely shred, with a little salt, put into a saucepan with a bit of butter rolled in flour, stirred together and boiled once, will make good sauce for boiled mutton.

MUTTON SAUSAGES. Take a pound of the rawest part of a leg of mutton that has been either roasted or boiled; chop it quite small, and season it with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Add to it six ounces of beef suet, some sweet herbs, two anchovies, and a pint of oysters, all chopped very small; a quarter of a pound of grated bread, some of the anchovy liquor, and two eggs well beaten. When well mixed together, put it into a small pot; and use it by rolling it into balls or sausages, and fry them. If approved, a little shalot may be added, or garlick, which is a great improvement.

MUTTON STEAKS. These should be cut from a loin or neck that has been well kept; if a neck, the bones should not be long. Broil them on a clear fire, season them when half done, and let them be often turned. Take them up into a very hot dish, rub a bit of butter on each, and serve them up hot and hot the moment they are done.--To do them Maintenon, half fry them first, then stew them while hot, with herbs, crumbs, and seasoning. Rub a bit of butter on some writing paper, to prevent its catching the fire, wrap the steaks in it, and finish them on the gridiron.

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NANKEEN DYE. The article generally sold under this title, and which produces a fine buff colour so much in use, is made of equal parts of arnetto and common potash, dissolved and boiled in water. The yellow colour called Dutch Pink, is made from a decoction of weld or dyer's weed; and if blue cloths be dipped in this liquid, they will take the colour of a fine green.

NASTURTIONS, if intended for capers, should be kept a few days after they are gathered. Then pour boiling vinegar over them, and cover them close when cold. They will not be fit to eat for some months; but are then finely flavoured, and by many are preferred to capers.

NEAT'S TONGUE. If intended to be stewed, it should be simmered for two hours, and peeled. Then return it to the same liquor, with pepper, salt, mace, and cloves, tied up in a piece of cloth. Add a few chopped capers, carrots and turnips sliced, half a pint of beef gravy, a little white wine, and sweet herbs. Stew it gently till it is tender, take out the herbs and spices, and thicken the gravy with butter rolled in flour.

NECK OF MUTTON. This joint is particularly useful, because so many dishes may be made of it; but it is not esteemed advantageous for a family. The bones should be cut short, which the butchers will not do unless particularly desired. The best end of the neck may be boiled, and served with turnips; or roasted, or dressed in steaks, in pies, or harrico. The scrags may be stewed in broth; or with a small quantity of water, some small onions, a few peppercorns, and a little rice, and served together. When a boiled neck is to look particularly nice, saw down the chine bone, strip the ribs halfway down, and chop off the ends of the bones about four inches. The skin should not be taken off till boiled, and then the fat will look the whiter. When there is more fat than is agreeable, it makes a very good suet pudding, or crust for a meat pie if cut very fine.

NECK OF PORK. A loin or neck of pork should be roasted. Cut the skin across with a sharp penknife, at distances of half an inch. Serve with vegetables and apple sauce.

NECK OF VEAL. Cut off the scrag to boil, and cover it with onion sauce. It should be boiled in milk and water. Parsley and butter may be served with it, instead of onion sauce. Or it may be stewed with whole rice, small onions, and peppercorns, with a very little water. It may also be boiled and eaten with bacon and greens. The best end of the neck may either be roasted, broiled as steaks, or made into a pie.

NECK OF VENISON. Rub it with salt, and let it lie four or five days. Flour it, and boil it in a cloth, allowing to every pound a quarter of an hour. Cauliflower, turnips, and cabbages, are eaten with it, and melted butter. Garnish the dish with some of the vegetables.

NELSON PUDDINGS. Put into a Dutch oven six small cakes, called Nelson balls or rice cakes, made in small teacups. When quite hot, pour over them boiling melted butter, white wine, and sugar.

NEW CASKS. If not properly prepared before they are used, new casks are apt to give beer and other liquor a bad taste. They must therefore be well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are used, and frequently filled with fresh water. The best way however is to boil two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it hot into the cask; then stop it up close, let it stand two days, wash it out clean, and let the cask be well dried.

NEWCASTLE PUDDING. Butter a half melon mould or quart basin, stick it all round with dried cherries or fine raisins, and fill it up with custard and layers of thin bread and butter. Boil or steam it an hour and a half.

NEWMARKET PUDDING. Put on to boil a pint of good milk, with half a lemon peel, a little cinnamon, and a bay leaf. Boil it gently for five or ten minutes, sweeten with loaf sugar, break the yolks of five and the whites of three eggs into a basin, beat them well, and add the milk. Beat it all up well together, and strain it through a tammis, or fine hair sieve. Prepare some bread and butter cut thin, place a layer of it in a pie dish, and then a layer of currants, and so on till the dish is nearly full. Pour the custard over it, and bake it half an hour.

NORFOLK DUMPLINS. Make a thick batter with half a pint of milk and flour, two eggs, and a little salt. Take a spoonful of the batter, and drop it gently into boiling water; and if the water boil fast, they will be ready in a few minutes. Take them out with a wooden spoon, and put them into a dish with a piece of butter. These are often called drop dumplins, or spoon dumplins.

NORFOLK PUNCH. To make a relishing liquor that will keep many years, and improve by age, put the peels of thirty lemons and thirty oranges into twenty quarts of French brandy. The fruit must be pared so thin and carefully, that not the least of the white is left. Let it infuse twelve hours. Prepare thirty quarts of cold water that has been boiled, put to it fifteen pounds of double-refined sugar, and when well incorporated, pour it upon the brandy and peels, adding the juice of the oranges and of twenty-four lemons. Mix them well, strain the liquor through a fine hair sieve, into a very clean cask, that has held spirits, and add two quarts of new milk. Stir the liquor, then bung it down close, and let it stand six weeks in a warm cellar. Bottle off the liquor, but take care that the bottles be perfectly clean and dry, the corks of the best quality, and well put in. Of course a smaller quantity of this punch may be made, by observing only the above proportions.--Another way. Pare six lemons and three Seville oranges very thin, squeeze the juice into a large teapot, put to it three quarts of brandy, one of white wine, one of milk, and a pound and a quarter of lump sugar. Let it be well mixed, and then covered for twenty-four hours. Strain it through a jelly bag till quite clear, and then bottle it off.

NORTHUMBERLAND PUDDING. Make a hasty pudding with a pint of milk and flour, put it into a bason, and let it stand till the next day. Then mash it with a spoon, add a quarter of a pound of clarified butter, as many currants picked and washed, two ounces of candied peel cut small, and a little sugar and brandy. Bake it in teacups, turn them out on a dish, and pour wine sauce over them.

NOSE BLEEDING. Violent bleeding at the nose may sometimes be prevented by applying lint dipped in vinegar, or a strong solution of white vitriol, with fomentations of the temples and forehead made of nitre dissolved in water. But as bleeding at the nose is often beneficial, it should not be suddenly stopped.

NOTICE TO QUIT. The usual mode of letting houses is by the year, at a certain annual rent to be paid quarterly: therefore unless a written agreement can be produced, to show that the premises were engaged for a shorter period, the law considers the tenant as entered for one whole year, provided the rent exceeds forty shillings per annum, and this consideration must govern the notice to quit. Every tenant who holds from year to year, which is presumed to be the case in every instance where proof is not given to the contrary, is entitled to half a year's notice, which must be given in such a manner that the tenant must quit the premises at the same quarter day on which he took possession: so that if his rent commenced at Michaelmas, the notice must be served at or before Lady-day, that he may quit at Michaelmas. If a tenant come in after any of the regular quarter days, and pay a certain sum for the remainder of the quarter, he does not commence annual tenant until the remainder of the quarter is expired; but if he pay rent for the whole quarter, he is to be considered as yearly tenant from the commencement of his rent, and his notice to quit must be regulated accordingly. Should it happen that the landlord cannot ascertain the precise time when the tenancy commenced, he may enquire of the tenant, who must be served with notice to quit at the time he mentions, and must obey the warning agreeably to his own words, whether it be the true time or not. If he refuse to give the desired information, the landlord, instead of 'on or before midsummer next,' must give in his notice, 'at the end and expiration of the current year of your tenancy, which shall expire next after the end of one half year from the date hereof.' If notice be given up to a wrong time, or a quarter instead of half a year, such warning will be sufficient, if the party make no objection at the time he receives it. When premises are held by lease, the expiration of the term is sufficient notice to quit, without giving any other warning for that purpose. The following is the form of a landlord's notice to his tenant:--'I do hereby give you notice to quit the house and premises you hold of me, situate in the parish of ------ in the county of ------ on or before midsummer next. Dated the ------ day of ------ in the year ------ R. C.'--The following is a tenant's notice to his landlord:--'Sir, I hereby give you warning of my intention to quit your house in the parish of ------ on or before Michaelmas next. Dated the ------ day of ------ in the year ------ C. R.'--These forms will also serve for housekeepers and lodgers, if 'apartment' be added instead of house or premises. Care however must be taken to give the address correctly: 'R. C. landlord of the said premises, to C. R. the tenant thereof.' Or, 'To Mr. R. C. the landlord of the said premises.'

NOTTINGHAM PUDDING. Peel six large apples, take out the core with the point of a small knife or an apple scoop, but the fruit must be left whole. Fill up the centre with sugar, place the fruit in a pie dish, and pour over a nice light batter, prepared as for batter pudding, and bake it an hour in a moderate oven.

NUTMEG GRATERS. Those made with a trough, and sold by the ironmongers, are by far the best, especially for grating fine and fast.

NUTS. Hazel nuts may be preserved in great perfection for several months, by burying them in earthen pots well closed, a foot or two in the ground, especially in a dry or sandy place.

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OAT CAKES. These may be made the same as muffins, only using fine Yorkshire oatmeal instead of flour. Another sort is made of fine oatmeal, warm water, yeast and salt, beat to a thick batter, and set to rise in a warm place. Pour some of the batter on a baking stone, to any size you please, about as thick as a pancake. Pull them open to butter them, and set them before the fire. If muffins or oat cakes get stale, dip them in cold water, and crisp them in a Dutch oven.

OATMEAL. This article has undergone a very considerable improvement, since the introduction of what are termed Embden Groats, manufactured in England it is true, out of Dutch oats, but of a quality superior to any thing before known in this country under the name of oatmeal, and which may now be had of almost all retailers at a moderate price.

OATMEAL FLUMMERY. Put three large handfuls of fine oatmeal into two quarts of spring water, and let it steep a day and a night. Pour off the clear water, put in the same quantity of fresh water, and strain the oatmeal through a fine sieve. Boil it till it is as thick as hasty pudding, keep it stirring all the time, that it may be smooth and fine. When first strained, a spoonful of sugar should be added, two spoonfuls of orange flower-water, two or three spoonfuls of cream, a blade of mace, and a bit of lemon peel. When boiled enough, pour the flummery into a shallow dish, and serve it up.

OATMEAL PUDDING. Pour a quart of boiling milk over a pint of the best oatmeal, and let it soak all night. Next day beat two eggs, and mix a little salt. Butter a bason that will just hold it, cover it tight with a floured cloth, and boil it an hour and a half. Eat it with cold butter and salt. When cold, slice and toast it, and eat it as oat-cake, buttered.

OLD WRITINGS. When old deeds or writings are so much defaced that they can scarcely be deciphered, bruise and boil a few nut galls in white wine; or if it be a cold infusion, expose it to the sun for two or three days. Then dip a sponge into the infusion, pass it over the writing that is sunk, and it will instantly be revived, if the infusion be strong enough of the galls. Vitriolic or nitrous acid a little diluted with water, will also render the writing legible; but care must be taken that the solution be not too strong, or it will destroy the paper or the parchment which contains the writing.

OINTMENTS. An excellent ointment for burns, scalds, chilblains, and dressing blisters, may be made in the following manner. Take eight ounces of hog's lard quite fresh, one ounce of bees' wax, and one of honey. Put them into a kettle over the fire, and stir it together till it is all melted. Pour it into a jar for keeping, add a large spoonful of rose water, and keep stirring it till it is cold.--Bad scalds and burns should first have a poultice of grated potatoes applied to them for several hours, and then a plaster of the ointment, which must be renewed morning and evening.--For blisters, a plaster of this should be spread rather longer than the blister, and put on over the blister plaster when it has been on twenty-four hours, or sooner if it feel uneasy. By this means the blister plaster will slip off when it has done drawing, without any pain or trouble.--For chilblains, it has never been known to fail of a cure, if the feet have been kept clean, dry, and warm.--An emollient ointment, for anointing any external inflammations, may be made as follows. Take two pounds of palm oil, a pint and a half of olive oil, half a pound of yellow wax, and a quarter of a pound of Venice turpentine. Melt the wax in the oil over the fire, mix in the turpentine, and strain off the ointment.

OINTMENT FOR BURNS. Scrape two ounces of bees' wax into half a pint of sallad oil, and let it simmer gently over the fire till the whole is incorporated. Take it off the fire, beat up the yolks of three eggs with a spoonful of oil, and stir up all together till it is quite cold.

OINTMENT FOR THE EYES. This is made of four ounces of fresh lard, two drams of white wax, and one ounce of prepared tutty. Melt the wax with the lard over a gentle fire, and sprinkle in the tutty, continually stirring them till the ointment is cold.

OINTMENT OF LEAD. This should consist of half a pint of olive oil, two ounces of white wax, and three drams of the sugar of lead finely powdered. Rub the sugar of lead with some of the oil, add to it the other ingredients, which should be previously melted together, and stir them till the ointment is quite cold. This cooling ointment may be used in all cases where the intention is to dry and skin over the wound, as in burns and scalds.

OINTMENT OF MARSHMALLOWS. Take half a pound of marshmallow roots, three ounces of linseed, and three ounces of fennugreek seed. Bruise and boil them gently half an hour in a quart of water, and then add two quarts of sweet oil. Boil them together till the water is all evaporated: then strain off the oil, and add to it a pound of bees' wax, half a pound of yellow rosin, and two ounces of common turpentine. Melt them together over a slow fire, and keep stirring till the ointment is cold.

OINTMENT OF SULPHUR. This is the safest and best application for the itch, and will have no disagreeable smell, if made in the following manner. Take four ounces of fresh lard, an ounce and a half of flour of sulphur, two drams of crude sal-ammoniac, and ten or a dozen drops of lemon essence. When made into an ointment, rub it on the parts affected.

OLIVES. This foreign article, sent over in a state of preservation, requires only to be kept from the air. Olives are of three kinds, Italian, Spanish, and French, of different sizes and flavour. Each should be firm, though some are most fleshy.

OMLET. Make a batter of eggs and milk, and a very little flour. Add chopped parsley, green onions, or chives, or a very small quantity of shalot, a little pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Boil some butter in a small frying-pan, and pour the above batter into it. When one side is of a fine yellow brown, turn it and do the other: double it when served. Some lean ham scraped, or grated tongue, put in at first, is a very pleasant addition. Four eggs will make a pretty omlet, but some will use eight or ten, and only a small proportion of flour, but a good deal of parsley. If the taste be approved, a little tarragon will give a fine flavour. Ramakins and omlet, though usually served in the course, would be much better if they were sent up after, that they might be eaten as hot as possible.

ONION GRAVY. Peel and slice some onions into a small stewpan, with an ounce of butter, adding cucumber or celery if approved. Set it on a slow fire, and turn the onion about till it is lightly browned; then stir in half an ounce of flour, a little broth, a little pepper and salt, and boil it up for a few minutes. Add a table-spoonful of port wine, the same of mushroom ketchup, and rub it through a fine sieve. It may be sharpened with a little lemon juice or vinegar. The flavour of this sauce may be varied by adding tarragon, or burnt vinegar.

ONION SAUCE. Peel the onions and boil them tender. Squeeze the water from them, chop and add them to butter that has been melted rich and smooth, with a little good milk instead of water. Boil it up once, and serve it for boiled rabbits, partridges, scrag or knuckle of veal or roast mutton. A turnip boiled with the onions makes them milder.

ONION SOUP. Put some carrots, turnips, and a shank bone, into the liquor in which a leg or neck of mutton has been boiled, and simmer them together two hours. Strain it on six onions, sliced and fried of a light brown; simmer the soup three hours, and skim it carefully. Put a small roll into it, or fried bread, and serve it up hot.

ONIONS. In order to obtain a good crop of onions, it is proper to sow at different seasons. On light soils sow in August, January, or early in February: on heavy wet soils in March, or early in April. Onions however should not be sown so soon as January, unless the ground be in a dry state, which is not often the case at that time of the year: otherwise, advantage should be taken of it. As this valuable root is known frequently to fail by the common method of culture, the best way is to sow the seed successively, that advantage may be taken of the seasons as they happen.

ORANGE BISCUITS. Boil whole Seville oranges in two or three waters, till most of the bitterness is gone. Cut them, and take out the pulp and juice; then beat the outside very fine in a mortar, and put to it an equal weight of double-refined sugar beaten and sifted. When extremely well mixed to a paste, spread it thin on china dishes, and set them in the sun, or before the fire. When half dry, cut it into what form you please, and turn the other side up to dry. Keep the biscuits in a box, with layers of paper. They are intended for desserts, and are also useful as a stomachic, to carry in the pocket on journeys, and for gouty stomachs.

ORANGE BRANDY. Steep the peels of twenty Seville oranges in three quarts of brandy, and let it stand a fortnight in a stone bottle. Boil two quarts of water with a pound and a half of loaf sugar nearly an hour, clarify,it with the white of an egg, strain it, and boil it till reduced nearly one half. When cold, strain the brandy into the syrup.

ORANGE BUTTER. Boil six hard eggs, beat them in a mortar with two ounces of fine sugar, three ounces of butter, and two ounces of blanched almonds beaten to a paste. Moisten with orange-flower water; and when all is mixed, rub it through a cullender on a dish, and serve with sweet biscuits between.

ORANGE CHEESECAKES. Blanch half a pound of almonds, beat them very fine, with orange-flower water, half a pound of fine sugar beaten and sifted, a pound of butter that has been melted carefully without oiling, and which must be nearly cold before it is used. Then beat the yolks of ten and the whites of four eggs. Pound in a mortar two candied oranges, and a fresh one with the bitterness boiled out, till they are as tender as marmalade, without any lumps. Beat the whole together, and put it into pattipans.

ORANGE CHIPS. Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve, and soak the peels in water. Next day boil them in the same till tender; then drain and slice the peels, add them to the juice, weigh as much sugar, and put all together into a broad earthen dish. Place the dish at a moderate distance from the fire, often stirring till the chips candy, and then set them in a cool room to dry, which commonly requires about three weeks.

ORANGE CREAM. Boil the rind of a Seville orange very tender, and beat it fine in a mortar. Add to it a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of a Seville orange, four ounces of loaf sugar, and the yolks of four eggs. Beat them all together for ten minutes; then by gentle degrees, pour in a pint of boiling cream, and beat it up till cold. Set some custard cups into a deep dish of boiling water, pour the cream into the cups, and let it stand again till cold. Put at the top some small strips of orange paring cut thin, or some preserved chips.

ORANGE-FLOWER CAKES. Soak four ounces of the leaves of the flowers in cold water for an hour; drain, and put them between napkins, and roll with a rolling-pin till they are bruised. Have ready boiled a pound of sugar to add to it in a thick syrup, give them a simmer until the syrup adheres to the sides of the pan, drop it in little cakes on a plate, and dry them in a cool room.

ORANGE FOOL. Mix the juice of three Seville oranges, three eggs well beaten, a pint of cream, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, and sweeten it to taste. Set the whole over a slow fire, and stir it till it becomes as thick as good melted butter, but it must not be boiled. Then pour it into a dish for eating cold.

ORANGE JAM. Lay half a dozen oranges in water four or five days, changing the water once or twice every day. Take out the oranges, and wipe them dry. Tie them up in separate cloths, and boil them four hours in a large kettle, changing the water once or twice. Peel off the rinds and pound them well in a marble mortar, with two pounds of fine sugar to one pound of orange. Then beat all together, and cover the jam down in a pot.

ORANGE JELLY. Grate the rind of two Seville and two China oranges, and two lemons. Squeeze the juice of three of each, and strain it; add a quarter of a pound of lump sugar dissolved in a quarter of a pint of water, and boil it till it nearly candies. Prepare a quart of jelly, made of two ounces of isinglass; add to it the syrup, and boil it once up. Strain off the jelly, and let it stand to settle before it is put into the mould.

ORANGE JUICE. When the fresh juice cannot be procured, a very useful article for fevers may be made in the following manner. Squeeze from the finest fruit, a pint of juice strained through fine muslin. Simmer it gently with three quarters of a pound of double-refined sugar twenty minutes, and when cold put it into small bottles.

ORANGE MARMALADE. Rasp the oranges, cut out the pulp, then boil the rinds very tender, and beat them fine in a marble mortar. Boil three pounds of loaf sugar in a pint of water, skim it, and add a pound of the rind; boil it fast till the syrup is very thick, but stir it carefully. Then add a pint of the pulp and juice, the seeds having been removed, and a pint of apple liquor; boil it all gently about half an hour, until it is well jellied, and put it into small pots. Lemon marmalade may be made in the same way, and both of them are very good and elegant sweetmeats.

ORANGE PEEL. Scrape out all the pulp, soak the peels in water, and stir them every day. In a week's time put them in fresh water, and repeat it till all the bitterness is extracted. Boil the peels in fresh water over a slow fire till they are quite tender, and reduce the liquor to a quantity sufficient to boil it to a thick syrup. Put the peels into the syrup, simmer them gently, take them out of the syrup, and let them cool. Lay them to dry in the sun, and the peel will be nicely candied.

ORANGE PUDDING. Grate the rind of a Seville orange, put to it six ounces of fresh butter, and six or eight ounces of lump sugar pounded. Beat them all in a marble mortar, and add at the same time the whole of eight eggs well beaten and strained. Scrape a raw apple, and mix it with the rest. Put a paste round the bottom and sides of the dish, and over the orange mixture lay cross bars of paste. Half an hour will bake it.--Another. Mix two full spoonfuls of orange paste with six eggs, four ounces of fine sugar, and four ounces of warm butter. Put the whole into a shallow dish, with a paste lining, and bake it twenty minutes.--Another. Rather more than two table-spoonfuls of the orange paste, mixed with six eggs, four ounces of sugar, and four ounces of butter melted, will make a good pudding, with a paste at the bottom of the dish. Twenty minutes will bake it.--Or, boil the rind of a Seville orange very soft, and beat it up with the juice. Then add half a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of sugar, two grated biscuits, and the yolks of six eggs. Mix all together, lay a puff paste round the edge of the dish, and bake it half an hour.

ORANGE TART. Squeeze, pulp, and boil two Seville oranges quite tender. Weigh them, add double the quantity of sugar, and beat them together to a paste. Add the juice and pulp of the fruit, and a little bit of fresh butter the size of a walnut, and beat all together. Choose a very shallow dish, line it with a light puff-crust, lay the orange paste in it, and ice it over. Or line a tart pan with a thin puff-paste, and put into it orange marmalade made with apple jelly. Lay bars of paste, or a croquant cover over, and bake it in a moderate oven.--Another. Squeeze some Seville oranges into a dish, grate off the outside rind, throw the peel into water, and change it often for two days. Boil a saucepan of water, put in the oranges, and change the water three or four times to take out the bitterness: when they are quite tender, dry and beat them fine in a mortar. Take their weight in double refined sugar, boil it to a syrup, and skim it clean: then put in the pulp, and boil it till it is quite clear. Put it cold into the tarts, and the juice which was squeezed out, and bake them in a quick oven. Lemon tarts are made in the same way.

ORANGE WINE. To six gallons of water put fifteen pounds of soft sugar: before it boils, add the whites of six eggs well beaten, and take off the scum as it rises. When cold, add the juice of fifty oranges, and two thirds of the peels cut very thin; and immerse a toast covered with yeast. In a month after it has been in the cask, add a pint of brandy, and two quarts of Rhenish wine. It will be fit to bottle in three or four months, but it should remain in bottles for twelve months before it is drunk.

ORANGES. If intended to be kept for future use, the best way is to dry and bake some clean sand; and when it is cold, put it into a vessel. Place on it a layer of oranges or lemons with the stalk end downwards, so that they do not touch each other, and cover them with the sand two inches deep. This will keep them in a good state of preservation for several months. Another way is to freeze the fruit, and keep them in an ice-house. When used they are to be thawed in cold water, and will be good at any time of the year. If oranges or lemons are designed to be used for juice, they should first be pared to preserve the peel dry. Some should be halved, and when squeezed, the pulp cut out, and the outsides dried for grating. If for boiling in any liquid, the first way is the best.

ORANGES CARVED. With a penknife cut on the rinds any shape you please, then cut off a piece near and round the stalk, and take all the pulp out carefully with an apple scoop. Put the rinds into salt and water two days, and change the water daily. Boil them an hour or more in fresh salt and water, and drain them quite dry. Let them stand a night in plain water, and then another night in a thin syrup, in which boil them the next day a few minutes. This must be repeated four days successively. Then let them stand six or seven weeks, observing often whether they keep well; otherwise the syrup must be boiled again. Then make a rich syrup for the oranges.

ORANGES IN JELLY. Cut a hole in the stalk part, the size of a shilling, and with a blunt knife scrape out the pulp quite clear without cutting the rind. Tie each part separately in muslin, and lay them in spring water two days, changing the water twice a day. In the last water boil them over a slow fire till they are quite tender. Observe that there is enough at first to allow for wasting, as they must be kept covered till the last. To every pound of fruit, allow two pounds of double-refined sugar, and one pint of water. Boil the two latter, with the juice of the orange, till reduced to a syrup. Clarify it, skim it well, and let it stand to be cold. Then boil the fruit in the syrup half an hour; and if not clear, repeat it daily till they are done.--Lemons are preserved in a similar way. Pare and core some green pippins, and boil them in water till it is strongly flavoured with them. The fruit should not be broken, only gently pressed with the back of a spoon, and the water strained through a jelly bag till it is quite clear. To every pint of liquor put a pound of double-refined sugar, the peel and juice of a lemon, and boil the whole to a strong syrup. Drain off the syrup from the fruit, and turning each lemon with the hole upwards in the jar, pour the apple jelly over it. The bits cut out must undergo the same process with the fruit, and the whole covered down with brandy paper.

ORANGES PRESERVED. To fill preserved oranges for a corner dish, take a pound of Naples biscuits, some blanched almonds, the yolks of four eggs beaten, four ounces of butter warmed, and sugar to taste. Grate the biscuits, mix them with the above, and some orange-flower water. Fill the preserved oranges, and bake them in a very slow oven. If to be frosted, sift some fine sugar over them, as soon as they are filled; otherwise they should be wiped. Or they may be filled with custard, and then the fruit need not be baked, but the custard should be put in cold.

ORANGEADE. Squeeze out the juice of an orange, pour boiling water on a little of the peel, and cover it close. Boil water and sugar to a thin syrup, and skim it. When all are cold, mix the juice, the infusion, and the syrup, with as much more water as will make a rich sherbet. Strain the whole through a jelly bag; or squeeze the juice and strain it, and water and capillaire.

ORCHARD. Fruit trees, whether in orchards, or espaliers, or against walls, require attention, in planting, pruning, or other management, almost every month in the year, to render them productive, and to preserve the fruit in a good state.--JANUARY. Cut out dead wood and irregular branches, clean the stumps and boughs from the moss with a hollow iron. Repair espaliers by fastening the stakes and poles with nails and wire, and tying the shoots down with twigs of osier. Put down some stakes by all the new-planted trees. Cut grafts to be ready, and lay them in the earth under a warm wall.--FEBRUARY. Most kinds of trees may be pruned this month, though it is generally better to do it in autumn; but whatever was omitted at that season, should be done now. The hardiest kinds are to be pruned first; and such as are more tender, at the latter end of the month, when there will be less danger of their suffering in the wounded part from the frost. Transplant fruit trees to places where they are wanted. Open a large hole, set the earth carefully about the roots, and nail them at once to the wall, or fasten them to strong stakes. Sow the kernels of apples and pears, and the stones of plums for stocks. Endeavour to keep off the birds that eat the buds of fruit trees at this season of the year.--MARCH. The grafts which were cut off early and laid in the ground, are now to be brought into use; the earliest kinds first, and the apples last of all. When this is done, take off the heads of the stocks that were inoculated the preceding year. A hand's breadth of the head should be left, for tying the bud securely to it, and that the sap may rise more freely for its nourishment. The fruit trees that were planted in October should also be headed, and cut down to about four eyes, that the sap may flow more freely.--APRIL. Examine the fruit trees against the walls and espaliers, take off all the shoots that project in front, and train such as rise kindly. Thin apricots upon the trees, for there are usually more than can ripen; and the sooner this is done, the better will the rest succeed. Water new-planted trees, plant the vine cuttings, and inspect the grown ones. Nip off improper shoots; and when two rise from the same eye, take off the weakest of them. Weed strawberry beds, cut off the strings, stir the earth between them, and water them once in two or three days. Dig up the borders near the fruit trees, and never plant any large kind of flowers or vegetables upon them. Any thing planted or sown near the trees, has a tendency to impoverish the fruit.--MAY. If any fresh shoots have sprouted upon the fruit trees, in espaliers, or against walls, take them off. Train the proper ones to the walls or poles, at due distances, and in a regular manner. Look over vines, and stop every shoot that has fruit upon it, to three eyes beyond the fruit. Then train the branches regularly to the wall, and let such as are designed for the next year's fruiting grow some time longer, as their leaves will afford a suitable shade to the fruit. Water the trees newly planted, keep the borders about the old ones clear, and pick off the snails and other vermin.--JUNE. Renew the operation of removing from wall trees and espaliers, all the shoots that project in front. Train proper branches to their situations, where they are wanted. Once more thin the wall fruit: leave the nectarines four inches apart, and the peaches five, but none nearer: the fruit will be finer, and the next year the tree will be stronger, if this precaution be adopted. Inoculate the apricots, and choose for this purpose a cloudy evening. Water trees lately planted, and pick up snails and vermin.--JULY. Inoculate peaches and nectarines, and take off all projecting shoots in espaliers and wall fruit-trees. Hang phials of honey and water upon fruit-trees, to protect them from the depredations of insects, and look carefully for snails, which also will destroy the fruit. Keep the borders clear from weeds, and stir the earth about the roots of the trees; this will hasten the ripening of the fruit. Examine the fruit trees that were grafted and budded the last season, to see that there are no shoots from the stocks. Whenever they rise, take them off, or they will deprive the intended growth of its nourishment. Attend to the trees lately planted, and water them often; and whatever good shoots they make, fasten them to the wall or espalier. Repeat the care of the vines, take off improper or irregular shoots, and nail up the loose branches. Let no weeds rise in the ground about them, for they will exhaust the nourishment, and impoverish the fruit.--AUGUST. Watch the fruit on the wall trees, and keep off the devourers, of which there will be numberless kinds swarming about them during this month. Send away the birds, pick up snails, and hang bottles of sweet water for flies and wasps. Fasten loose branches, and gather the fruit carefully as it ripens. Examine the vines all round, and remove those trailing branches which are produced so luxuriantly at this season of the year. Suffer not the fruit to be shaded by loose and unprofitable branches, and keep the ground clear of weeds, which otherwise will impoverish the fruit.--SEPTEMBER. The fruit must now be gathered carefully every day, and the best time for this purpose is an hour after sun-rise: such as is gathered in the middle of the day is always flabby and inferior. The fruit should afterwards be laid in a cool place till wanted. Grapes as they begin to ripen will be in continual danger from the birds, if not properly watched and guarded. Transplant gooseberries and currants, and plant strawberries and raspberries: they will then be rooted before winter, and flourish the succeeding season.--OCTOBER. It is a useful practice to prime the peach and nectarine trees, and also the vines, as it invigorates the buds in the spring of the year. Cut grapes for preserving, with a joint of the vine to each bunch. For winter keeping, gather fruits as they ripen. Transplant all garden trees for flowering, prune currant bushes, and preserve the stones of the fruit for sowing.--NOVEMBER. Stake up all trees planted for standards, or the winds will rock them at the bottom, and the frost will be let in and destroy them. Throw a good quantity of peas straw about them, and lay on it some brick bats or pebbles to keep it fast: this will mellow the ground, and keep the frost from the roots. Continue to prune wall fruit-trees, and prune also at this time the apple and pear kinds. Pull off the late fruit of figs, or it will decay the branches.--DECEMBER. Prepare for planting trees where they will be wanted in the spring, by digging the ground deep and turning it well, in the place intended for planting. Scatter over the borders some fresh mould and rotted dung, and in a mild day dig it in with a three-pronged fork. Look over the orchard trees, and cut away superfluous wood and dead branches. Let the boughs and shoots stand clear of each other, that the air may pass between, and the fruit will be better flavoured. This management is required for old trees: those that are newly planted are to be preserved by covering the ground about their roots.

ORGEAT. Boil a quart of new milk with a stick of cinnamon, sweeten it to taste, and let it cool. Then pour it gradually over three ounces of almonds, and twenty bitter almonds that have been blanched and beaten to a paste, with a little water to prevent oiling. Boil all together, and stir it till cold, then add half a glass of brandy.--Another way. Blanch and pound three quarters of a pound of almonds, and thirty bitter ones, with a spoonful of water. Stir in by degrees two pints of water, and three pints of milk, and strain the whole through a cloth. Dissolve half a pound of fine sugar in a pint of water, boil and skim it well; mix it with the other, adding two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and a teacupful of the best brandy.

ORGEAT FOR THE SICK. Beat two ounces of almonds with a tea-spoonful of orange-flower water, and a bitter almond or two; then pour a quart of milk and water to the paste. Sweeten with sugar, or capillaire. This is a fine drink for those who feel a weakness in the chest. In the gout also it is highly useful, and with the addition of half an ounce of gum arabic, it has been found to allay the painfulness of the attendant heat. Half a glass of brandy may be added, if thought too cooling in the latter complaint, and the glass of orgeat may be put into a basin of warm water.

ORTOLANS. Pick and singe, but do not draw them. Tie them on a bird spit, and roast them. Some persons like slices of bacon tied between them, but the taste of it spoils the flavour of the ortolan. Cover them with crumbs of bread.

OX CHEEK. Soak half a head three hours, and clean it in plenty of water. Take off all the meat, and put it into a stewpan with an onion, a sprig of sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and allspice. Lay the bones on the top, pour on two or three quarts of water, and close it down. Let it stand eight or ten hours in a slow oven, or simmer it on a hot hearth. When tender skim off the fat, and put in celery, or any other vegetable. Slices of fried onion may be put into it a little before it is taken from the fire.

OX CHEEK SOUP. Break the bones of the cheek, wash it clean, put it into a stewpan, with a piece of butter at the bottom. Add half a pound of lean ham sliced, one parsnip, two carrots, three onions, four heads of celery, cut small, and three blades of mace. Set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, then add a gallon of water, and simmer it gently till reduced to half the quantity. If intended as soup only, strain it off, and put in a head of sliced celery, with a little browning, to give it a fine colour. Warm two ounces of vermicelli and put into it; boil it ten minutes, and pour it into a tureen, with the crust of a French roll. If to be used as stew, take up the cheek as whole as possible; put in a boiled carrot cut in small pieces, a slice of toasted bread, and some cayenne pepper. Strain the soup through a hair sieve upon the meat, and serve it up.

OX FEET. These are very nutricious, in whatever way they are dressed. If to be eaten warm, boil them, and serve them up in a napkin. Melted butter for sauce, with mustard, and a large spoonful of vinegar. Or broil them very tender, and serve them as a brown fricassee. The liquor will do to make jelly sweet or relishing, and likewise to give richness to soups or gravies. They may also be fried, after being cut into four parts, dipped in egg, and properly floured. Fried onions may be served round the dish, with sauce as above. Or they may be baked for mock turtle. If to be eaten cold, they only require mustard, pepper, and vinegar.--Another way. Extract the bones from the feet, and boil the meat quite tender; then put it into a fryingpan with a little butter. After a few minutes, add some chopped mint and parsley, the yolks of two eggs beat up fine, half a pint of gravy, the juice of a lemon, and a little salt and nutmeg. Put the meat into a dish, and pour the sauce over it.

OX FEET JELLY. Take a heel that has been only scalded, not boiled, slit it in two, and remove the fat from between the claws. Simmer it gently for eight hours in a quart of water, till reduced to a pint and half, and skim it clean while it is doing. This strong jelly is useful in making calves' feet jelly, or may be added to mock turtle, and other soups.

OX PALATES. Boil them tender, blanch and scrape them. Rub them with pepper, salt, and bread, and fry them brown on both sides. Pour off the fat, put beef or mutton gravy into the stewpan for sauce, with an anchovy, a little lemon juice, grated nutmeg and salt. Thicken it with butter rolled in flour: when these have simmered a quarter of an hour, dish them up, and garnish with slices of lemon.

OXFORD DUMPLINS. Mix together two ounces of grated bread, four ounces of currants, the same of shred suet, a bit of lump sugar, a little powdered pimento, and plenty of grated lemon peel. Add two eggs and a little milk; then divide the whole into five dumplins, and fry them of a fine yellow brown. Made with half the quantity of flour, instead of bread, they are very excellent. Serve them up with sweet sauce.

OXFORD SAUSAGES. Chop a pound and a half of pork, and the same of veal, cleared of skin and sinews. Add three quarters of a pound of beef suet, mince and mix them together. Steep the crumb of a penny loaf in water, and mix it with the meat; add also a little dried sage, pepper and salt.

OYSTER LOAVES. Open a quart of fresh oysters, wash and stew them in their own liquor, with two anchovies, a bunch of sweet herbs, a blade of mace, and a bit of lemon peel. Drain off the liquor, boil up a quarter of a pound of butter till it turns brown; add half a spoonful of flour, and boil it up again. Put in some of the oyster liquor, with a little gravy, white wine, mace, nutmeg, a few cloves, and a small piece of shalot. Stew all together till it becomes as thick as cream; then put in the oysters, and stew them a few minutes. Fry some bread crumbs in butter or sweet dripping till they are crisp and brown, drain them well, put in the oysters, and dish them up.--Another. Open the oysters, and save the liquor; wash them in it, and strain it through a sieve. Put a little of the liquor into a tosser, with a bit of butter and flour, white pepper, a scrape of nutmeg, and a little cream. Stew the oysters in the liquor, cut them into dice, and then put them into rolls sold for the purpose.

OYSTER PATTIES. Put a fine puff-crust into small pattipans, and cover with paste, with a bit of bread in each. While they are baking, take off the beard of the oysters, cut the oysters small, put them in a small tosser, with a dust of grated nutmeg, white pepper and salt, a taste of lemon peel, shred as fine as possible, a spoonful of cream, and a little of the oyster liquor. Simmer them together a few minutes, and fill the pattipans as soon as they are baked, first taking out the bread. A bread crust should be put into all patties, to keep them hollow while baking.

OYSTER PIE. Open the oysters, take off the beards, parboil the oysters, and strain off the liquor. Parboil some sweetbreads, cut them in slices, place them in layers with the oysters, and season very lightly with salt, pepper and mace. Then add half a teacup of liquor, and the same of gravy. Bake in a slow oven; and before the pie is sent to table, put in a teacup of cream, a little more oyster liquor, and a cup of white gravy, all warmed together, but not boiled.

OYSTER SAUCE. Save the liquor in opening the oysters, boil it with the beards, a bit of mace and lemon peel. In the mean time, throw the oysters into cold water, and drain it off. Strain the liquor, put it into a saucepan with the oysters, and as much butter, mixed with a little milk, as will make sauce enough; but first rub a little flour with it. Set them over the fire, and keep stirring all the time. When the butter has boiled once or twice, take them off, and keep the saucepan near the fire, but not on it; for if done too much, the oysters will be hard. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, and serve it up. If for company, a little cream is a great improvement. Observe, the oysters will thin the sauce, and therefore allow butter accordingly.

OYSTER SOUP. Beat the yolks of ten hard eggs, and the hard part of two quarts of oysters, in a mortar, and put them to two quarts of fish stock. Simmer all together for half an hour, and strain it off. Having cleared the oysters of the beards, and washed them well, put them into the soup, and let it simmer five minutes. Beat up the yolks of six raw eggs, and add them to the soup. Stir it all well together one way, by the side of the fire, till it is thick and smooth, but do not let it boil. Serve up all together.

OYSTER MOUTH SOUP. Make a rich mutton broth, with two large onions, three blades of mace, and a little black pepper. When strained, pour it on a hundred and fifty oysters, without the beards, and a bit of butter rolled in flour. Simmer it gently a quarter of an hour, and serve up the soup.

OYSTERS. Of the several kinds of oysters, the Pyfleet, Colchester, and Milford, are much the best. The native Milton are fine, being white and fleshy; but others may be made to possess both these qualities in some degree, by proper feeding. Colchester oysters come to market early in August, the Milton in October, and are in the highest perfection about Christmas, but continue in season till the middle of May. When alive and good, the shell closes on the knife; but if an oyster opens its mouth, it will soon be good for nothing. Oysters should be eaten the minute they are opened, with their own liquor in the under shell, or the delicious flavour will be lost. The rock oyster is the largest, but if eaten raw it tastes coarse and brackish, but may be improved by feeding. In order to do this, cover the oysters with clean water, and allow a pint of salt to about two gallons; this will cleanse them from the mud and sand contracted in the bed. After they have lain twelve hours, change it for fresh salt and water; and in twelve hours more they will be fit to eat, and will continue in a good state for two or three days. At the time of high water in the place from whence they were taken, they will open their shells, in expectation of receiving their usual food. The real Colchester or Pyfleet barrelled oysters, that are packed at the beds, are better without being put into water; they are carefully and tightly packed, and must not be disturbed till wanted for the table. In temperate weather these will keep good for a week or ten days. To preserve barrelled oysters however, the best way is to remove the upper hoop, so that the head may fall down upon the oysters, and then to place a weight upon it. This will compress the oysters, keep in the liquor, and preserve them for several days.

P.

PAIN IN THE EAR. This complaint is sometimes so prevalent as to resemble an epidemic, particularly amongst children. The most effectual remedy yet discovered has been a clove of garlic, steeped for a few minutes in warm sallad oil, and put into the ear, rolled up in muslin or fine linen. When the garlic has accomplished its object, and is removed from the ear, it should be replaced with cotton, to prevent the patient taking cold.

PAINT. Painted doors and windows may be made to look well for a considerable time, if properly cleaned. A cloth should never be used, for it leaves some lint behind; but take off the dust with a painter's brush, or a pair of bellows. When the painting is soiled or stained, dip a sponge or a bit of flannel in soda water, wash it off quickly, and dry it immediately, or the strength of the soda will eat off the colour. When wainscot requires scouring, it should be done from the top downwards, and the soda be prevented from running on the uncleaned part as much as possible, or marks will appear after the whole is finished. One person should dry the board with old linen, as fast as the other has scoured off the dirt, and washed away the soda.

PAINT FOR IRON. For preserving palisadoes and other kinds of iron work exposed to the weather, heat some common litharge in a shovel over the fire. Then scatter over it a small quantity of sulphur, and grind it in oil. This lead will reduce it to a good lead colour, which will dry very quickly, get remarkably hard, and resist the weather better than any other common paint.

PAINTINGS. Oil paintings frequently become smoked or dirty, and in order to their being properly cleaned, require to be treated with the greatest care. Dissolve a little common salt in some stale urine, dip a woollen cloth in the liquid, and rub the paintings over with it till they are quite clean. Then wash them with a sponge and clean water, dry them gradually, and rub them over with a clean cloth.

PALING PRESERVED. The following cheap and valuable composition will preserve all sorts of wood work exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather. Take some well-burnt lime, and expose it to the air till it falls to powder, without putting any water to it, and mix with it two thirds of wood ashes, and one third of fine sand. Sift the whole through a fine sieve, and work it up with linseed oil to the consistence of common paint, taking care to grind it fine, and mix it well together. The composition may be improved by the addition of an equal quantity of coal tar with the linseed oil; and two coats of it laid on any kind of weather boards, will be found superior to any kind of paint used for that purpose.

PALPITATION OF THE HEART. Persons of a full habit may find relief in bleeding; but where it is accompanied with nervous affections, as is generally the case, bleeding must by all means be avoided. Frequent bathing the feet in warm water, a stimulating plaster applied to the left side, and gentle exercise, are the most proper.

PALSY. The luxurious, the sedentary, and those who have suffered great anxiety and distress of mind, are the most subject to this disorder, which generally attacks the left side, and is attended with numbness and drowsiness. The parts affected ought to be frequently rubbed with a flesh brush, or with the hand. Blisters, warm plasters, volatile liniments, and electricity should likewise be employed. The following electuary is also recommended. Mix an ounce of flour of mustard, and an ounce of the conserve of roses, in some syrup of ginger; and take a tea-spoonful of it three or four times a day.

PANADA. To make panada in five minutes, set a little water on the fire with a glass of white wine, some sugar, and a scrape of nutmeg and lemon peel, grating meanwhile some crumbs of bread. The moment the mixture boils up, keeping it still on the fire, put in the crumbs, and let it boil as fast as it can. When of a proper thickness just to drink, take it off.--Another way. Make the panada as above, but instead of a glass of wine, put in a tea-spoonful of rum, a little butter and sugar. This makes a very pleasant article for the sick.--Another. Put into the water a bit of lemon peel, and mix in the crumbs: when nearly boiled enough, add some lemon or orange syrup. Observe to boil all the ingredients; for if any be added after, the panada will break, and not turn to jelly.

PANCAKES. Make a light batter of eggs, flour, and milk. Fry it in a small pan, in hot dripping or lard. Salt, nutmeg, or ginger, may be added. Sugar and lemon should be served, to eat with them. When eggs are very scarce, the batter may be made of flour and small beer, with the addition of a little ginger; or clean snow, with flour, and a very little milk, will serve instead of egg. Fine pancakes, fried without butter or lard, are made as follows. Beat six fresh eggs extremely well, strain and mix them with a pint of cream, four ounces of sugar, a glass of wine, half a nutmeg grated, and as much flour as will make it almost as thick as ordinary pancake batter, but not quite. Heat the fryingpan tolerably hot, wipe it with a clean cloth, and pour in the batter so as to make the pancakes thin.--New England pancakes are made of a pint of cream, mixed with five spoonfuls of fine flour, seven yolks and four whites of eggs, and a very little salt. They are then fried very thin in fresh butter, and sent to table six or eight at once, with sugar and cinnamon strewed between them.--Another way to make cream pancakes. Stir a pint of cream gradually into three spoonfuls of flour, and beat them very smooth. Add to this six eggs, half a pound of melted butter, and a little sugar. These pancakes will fry from their own richness, without either butter or lard. Run the batter over the pan as thin as possible, and when the pancakes are just coloured they are done enough.

PAP BREAD. To prepare a light nourishing food for young children, pour scalding water on some thin slices of good white bread, and let it stand uncovered till it cools. Then drain off the water, bruise the bread fine, and mix it with as much new milk as will make a pap of a moderate thickness. It will be warm enough for use, without setting it on the fire. It is common to add sugar, but the pap is better without it, as is almost all food intended for children; and the taste will not require it, till habit makes it familiar.

PAPER. All sorts of paper improve by keeping, if laid in a dry place, and preserved from mould and damp. It is bought much cheaper by the ream, than by the quire. The expense of this article is chiefly occasioned by the enormous duty laid upon it, and the necessity of importing foreign rags to supply the consumption. If more care were taken in families generally, to preserve the rags and cuttings of linen from being wasted, there would be less need of foreign imports, and paper might be manufactured a little cheaper.

PAPER HANGINGS. To clean these properly, first blow off the dust with the bellows, and then wipe the paper downwards in the slightest manner with the crumb of a stale white loaf. Do not cross the paper, nor go upwards, but begin at the top, and the dirt of the paper and the crumbs will fall together. Observe not to wipe more than half a yard at a stroke, and after doing all the upper part, go round again, beginning a little above where you left off. If it be not done very lightly, the dirt will adhere to the paper; but if properly attended to, the paper will look fresh and new.

PAPER PASTE. To make a strong paste for paper, take two large spoonfuls of fine flour, and as much pounded rosin as will lie upon a shilling. Mix them up with as much strong beer as will make the paste of a due consistence, and boil it half an hour. It is best used cold.

PARSLEY. To preserve parsley through the winter, gather some fine fresh sprigs in May, June, or July. Pick and wash them clean, set on a stewpan half full of water, put a little salt in it, boil and scum it clean. Then add the parsley, let it boil for two minutes, and take it out and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried as quick as possible. Put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry place. When wanted, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water for a few minutes before you use it.

PARSLEY AND BUTTER. Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf. Put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water, boil the parsley in it about ten minutes, drain it on a sieve, mince it quite fine, and then, bruise it to a pulp. Put it into a sauce boat, and mix with it by degrees about half a pint of good melted butter, only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will be sure to add to its thickness. Parsley and butter should not be poured over boiled dishes, but be sent up in a boat. The delicacy of this elegant and innocent relish, depends upon the parsley being minced very fine. With the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a little allspice and vinegar, it is made into Dutch sauce.

PARSLEY PIE. Lay a fowl, or a few bones of the scrag of veal, seasoned, into a dish. Scald a cullenderful of picked parsley in milk; season it, and add it to the fowl or meat, with a tea-cupful of any sort of good broth or gravy. When baked, pour into it a quarter of a pint of cream scalded, with a little bit of butter and flour. Shake it round, and mix it with the gravy in the dish. Lettuces, white mustard leaves, or spinach, well scalded, may be added to the parsley.

PARSLEY SAUCE. When no parsley leaves are to be had, tie up a little parsley seed in a piece of clean muslin, and boil it in water ten minutes. Use this water to melt the butter, and throw into it a little boiled spinach minced, to look like parsley.

PARSNIPS. Carrots and parsnips, when laid up for the winter, should have the tops cut off close, be cleared of the rough earth, and kept in a dry place. Lay a bed of dry sand on the floor, two or three inches thick, put the roots upon it close together, with the top of one to the bottom of the next, and so on. Cover the first layer with sand two inches thick, and then place another layer of roots, and go on thus till the whole store are laid up. Cover the heap with dry straw, laid on tolerably thick. Beet roots, salsify, Hamburgh parsley roots, horseradish, and turnips, should all be laid up in the same manner, as a supply against frosty weather, when they cannot be got out of the ground.

PARSNIPS BOILED. These require to be done very tender, and may be served whole with melted butter, or beaten smooth in a bowl, warmed up with a little cream, butter, flour, and salt. Parsnips are highly nutricious, and make an agreeable sauce to salt fish.

PARSNIPS FRICASSEED. Boil them in milk till they are soft. Then cut them lengthways into bits, two or three inches long, and simmer them in a white sauce, made of two spoonfuls of broth. Add a bit of mace, half a cupful of cream, a little flour and butter, pepper and salt.

PARSNIP WINE. To twelve pounds of sliced parsnips, add four gallons of water, and boil them till they become soft. Squeeze the liquor well out of them, run it through a sieve, and add to every gallon three pounds of lump sugar. Boil the whole three quarters of an hour, and when it is nearly cold, add a little yeast. Let it stand in a tub for ten days, stirring it from the bottom every day, and then put it into a cask for twelve months. As it works over, fill it up every day.

PARTRIDGE BOILED. This species of game is in season in the autumn. If the birds be young, the bill is of a dark colour, and the legs inclined to yellow. When fresh and good, the vent will be firm; but when stale, this part will look greenish. Boiled partridges require to be trussed the same as chickens: from twenty to twenty-five minutes will do them sufficiently. Serve them up with either white or brown mushroom sauce, or with rice stewed in gravy, made pretty thick, and seasoned with pepper and salt. Pour the sauce over them, or serve them up with celery sauce. A boiled pheasant is dressed in the same manner, allowing three quarters of an hour for the cooking.

PARTRIDGE PIE. Pick and singe four partridges, cut off the legs at the knee, season with pepper, salt, chopped parsley, thyme, and mushrooms. Lay a veal steak and a slice of ham at the bottom of the dish, put in the partridge, and half a pint of good broth. Lay puff paste on the edge of the dish, and cover with the same; brush it over with egg, and bake it an hour.

PARTRIDGE SOUP. Skin two old partridges, and cut them into pieces, with three or four slices of ham, a stick of celery, and three large onions sliced. Fry them all in butter till brown, but take care not to burn them. Then put them into a stewpan, with five pints of boiling water, a few peppercorns, a shank or two of mutton, and a little salt. Stew it gently two hours, strain it through a sieve, and put it again into a stewpan, with some stewed celery and fried bread. When it is near boiling, skim it, pour it into a tureen, and send it up hot.

PASTE PUDDINGS. Make a paste of butter and flour, roll it out thin, and spread any kind of jam, or currants over it, with some suet chopped fine. Roll it up together, close the paste at both ends, and boil it in a cloth.

PASTRY. An adept in pastry never leaves any part of it adhering to the board or dish, used in making it. It is best when rolled on marble, or a very large slate. In very hot weather, the butter should be put into cold water to make it as firm as possible; and if made early in the morning, and preserved from the air until it is to be baked, the pastry will be found much better. An expert hand will use much less butter and produce lighter crust than others. Good salt butter well washed, will make a fine flaky crust. When preserved fruits are used in pastry, they should not be baked long; and those that have been done with their full proportion of sugar, require no baking at all. The crust should be baked in a tin shape, and the fruit be added afterwards; or it may be put into a small dish or tart pans, and the covers be baked on a tin cut out into any form.

PATTIES. Slice some chicken, turkey, or veal, with dressed ham, or sirloin of beef. Add some parsley, thyme, and lemon peel, chopped very fine. Pound all together in a mortar, and season with salt and white pepper. Line the pattipans with puff paste, fill them with meat, lay on the paste, close the edges, cut the paste round, brush it over with egg, and bake the patties twenty minutes.

PAVEMENTS. For cleaning stone stairs, and hall pavements, boil together half a pint each of size and stone-blue water, with two table-spoonfuls of whiting, and two cakes of pipe-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 a flannel and brush.

PAYMENT OF RENT. Rent due for tenements let from year to year, is commonly paid on the four quarter days; and when the payments are regularly made at the quarter, the tenant cannot be deprived of possession at any other time than at the end of a complete year from the commencement of his tenancy. If therefore he took possession at Midsummer, he must quit at Midsummer, and notice thereof must be sent at or before the preceding Christmas. A similar notice is also required from the tenant to the landlord, when it is intended to leave the premises.--Every quarter's rent is deemed a separate debt, for which the landlord can bring a separate action, or distress for nonpayment. The landlord himself is the proper person to demand rent: if he employs another person, he must be duly authorised by power of attorney, clearly specifying the person from whom, and the premises for which the rent is due: or the demand will be insufficient, if the tenant should be inclined to evade payment. The following is the form of a receipt for rent:--'Received of R. C. February 13, 1823, the sum of ten pounds twelve shillings for a quarter's rent, due at Christmas last.'

'£10 12 0 J. W. M.'

PEA FOWL. These require to be fed the same as turkeys. They are generally so shy, that they are seldom to be found for some days after hatching; and it is very wrong to pursue them, as many ignorant people do, under the idea of bringing them home. It only causes the hen to carry the young ones through dangerous places, and by hurrying she is apt to tread upon them. The cock bird kills all the young chickens he can get at, by one blow on the centre of the head with his bill, and he does the same by his own brood, before the feathers of the crown come out. Nature therefore directs the hen to hide and keep them out of his way, till the feathers rise.

PEA POWDER. Pound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of dried mint and sage, a dram of celery seed, and a quarter of a dram of cayenne, and rub them through a fine sieve. This gives a very savoury relish to pea soup, and to water gruel. A dram of allspice, or black pepper, may be pounded with the above, as an addition, or instead of the cayenne.

PEACH WINE. Take peaches, apricots, and nectarines, when they are full of juice, pare them, and take out the stones. Then slice them thin, pour over them from one to two gallons of water, and a quart of white wine. Simmer the whole gently for a considerable time, till the sliced fruit becomes soft. Pour off the liquid part into another vessel, containing more peaches that have been sliced but not heated; let them stand for twelve hours, then pour out the liquid part, and press what remains through a fine hair bag. Let the whole be now put into a cask to ferment, and add a pound and a half of loaf sugar to each gallon. Boil an ounce of beaten cloves in a quart of white wine, and put it into the cask; the morella wine will have a delicious flavour. Wine may be made of apricots by only bruising, and pouring the hot water upon them: this wine does not require so much sweetening. To give it a curious flavour, boil an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of nutmegs, in a quart of white wine; and when the wine is fermenting, pour the liquid in hot. In about twenty days or a month, these wines will be fit for bottling.

PEARL BARLEY PUDDING. Cleanse a pound of pearl barley, and put to it three quarts of milk, half a pound of sugar, and a grated nutmeg. Bake it in a deep pan, take it out of the oven, and beat up six eggs with it. Then butter a dish, pour in the pudding, and bake it again an hour.

PEARLS. To make artificial pearls, take the blay or bleak fish, which is very common in the rivers near London, and scrape off the fine silvery scales from the belly. Wash and rub them in water; let the water settle, and a sediment will be found of an oily consistence. A little of this is to be dropped into a hollow glass bead of a bluish tint, and shaken about, so as to cover all the internal surface. After this the bead is filled up with melted white wax, to give it weight and solidity.

PEARS. Large ones, when intended to be kept, should be tied and hung up by the stalk.

PEAS. Young green peas, well dressed, are one of the greatest delicacies of the vegetable kingdom. They must be quite young; it is equally indispensable that they be fresh gathered, and cooked as soon as they are shelled, for they soon lose both their colour and sweetness. Of course they should never be purchased ready shelled. To have them in perfection, they must be gathered the same day that they are dressed, and be put on to boil within half an hour after they are shelled. As large and small peas cannot be boiled together, the small ones should be separated from the rest, by being passed through a riddle or coarse sieve. For a peck of young peas, which will not be more than sufficient for two or three persons, after they are shelled, set on a saucepan with a gallon of water. When it boils, put in the peas with a table-spoonful of salt. Skim it well, keep them quickly boiling from twenty to thirty minutes, according to their age and size. To judge whether they are done enough, take some out with a spoon and taste them, but be careful not to boil them beyond the point of perfection. When slightly indented, and done enough, drain them on a hair sieve. Put them into a pie dish, and lay some small bits of butter on the peas; put another dish over them, and turn them over and over, in order to diffuse the butter equally among them. Or send them to table plain from the saucepan, with melted butter in a sauce tureen. Garnish the dish with a few sprigs of mint, boiled by themselves.

PEAS AND BACON. Cut a piece of nice streaked bacon, lay it in water to take out some of the salt, and boil it with some dried peas, in a little water. Add two carrots or parsnips, two onions, and a bunch of sweet herbs. When the peas are done enough, pulp them through a cullender or sieve, and serve them over the bacon.

PEAS CULTIVATED. Instead of sowing peas in straight rows, they should be formed into circles of three or four feet diameter, with a space of two feet between each circle. By this means they will blossom nearer the ground, than when enclosed in long rows, and will ripen much sooner. Or if set in straight rows, a bed of ten or twelve feet wide should be left between, for onions and carrots, or any crops which do not grow tall. The peas will not be drawn up so much, but will grow stronger, and be more productive. Scarlet beans should be treated in the same manner.

PEAS AND PORK. Two pounds of the belly part of pickled pork will make very good broth for peas soup, if the pork be not too salt. If it has been in salt several days, it must be laid in water the night before it is used. Put on three quarts of soft water, or liquor in which meat has been boiled, with a quart of peas, and let it boil gently for two hours. Then put in the pork, and let it simmer for an hour or more, till it is quite tender. When done, wash the pork clean in hot water, send it up in a dish, or cut into small pieces and put with the soup into the tureen.

PEAS PORRIDGE. Boil the peas, and pulp them through a cullender. Heat them up in a saucepan with some butter, chopped parsley and chives, and season with pepper and salt.

PEAS PUDDING. Soak the peas an hour or two before they are boiled; and when nearly done, beat them up with salt and pepper, an egg, and a bit of butter. Tie it up in a cloth, and boil it half an hour.

PEAS SOUP. Save the liquor of boiled pork or beef: if too salt, dilute it with water, or use fresh water only, adding the bones of roast beef, a ham or gammon bone, or an anchovy or two. Simmer these with some good whole or split peas; the smaller the quantity of water at first the better. Continue to simmer till the peas will pulp through a cullender; then set on the pulp to stew, with more of the liquor that boiled the peas, two carrots, a turnip, a leek, and a stick of chopped celery, till all is quite tender. The last requires less time, an hour will do it. When ready, put into a tureen some fried bread cut into dice, dried mint rubbed fine, pepper and salt if needed, and pour in the soup. When there is plenty of vegetables, no meat is necessary; but if meat be preferred, a pig's foot or ham bone may be boiled with the peas, which is called the stock. More butter than is above mentioned will be necessary, if the soup is required to be very rich.

PENCIL DRAWINGS. To prevent chalk or pencil drawings from rubbing out, it is only necessary to lay them on the surface of some skim milk, free from cream and grease; and then taking off the drawing expeditiously, and hanging it up by one corner to dry. A thin wash of isinglass will also answer the same purpose.

PEPPER POT. To three quarts of water, put any approved vegetables; in summer, peas, lettuce, spinach, and two or three onions; in winter, carrot, turnip, onions, and celery. Cut them very small, and stew them with two pounds of neck of mutton, and a pound of pickled pork. Half an hour before serving, clear a lobster or crab from the shell, and put it into the stew, adding a little salt and cayenne. Some people choose very small suet dumplings, boiled in the above, or fowl may be used instead of mutton. A pepper pot may indeed be made of various things, and is understood to consist of a proper mixture of fish, flesh, fowl, vegetables, and pulse. A small quantity of rice should be boiled with the whole.

PEPPERMINT DROPS. Pound and sift four ounces of double-refined sugar, and beat it with the whites of two eggs till perfectly smooth. Then add sixty drops of oil of peppermint; beat it well, drop it on white paper, and dry it at a distance from the fire.

PERCH. When of a good size, as in Holland, they are a remarkably fine fresh-water fish, though not so delicate as carp or tench. Clean them carefully, and if to be boiled, put them into a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring water as will cover them, and add a handful of salt. Set them on a quick fire till they boil, and then place them on one side to boil gently for about ten minutes, according to their size. If to be fried, wipe them on a dry cloth, after they have been well cleaned and washed, and flour them lightly all over. Fry them about ten minutes in hot lard or dripping, lay them on a hair sieve to drain, and send them up on a hot dish. Garnish with sprigs of green parsley, and serve them with anchovy sauce.

PERFUMERY. Oil of lavender and other essences are frequently adulterated with a mixture of the oil of turpentine, which may be discovered by dipping a piece of paper or rag into the oil to be tried, and holding it to the fire. The fine scented oil will quickly evaporate, and leave the smell of the turpentine distinguishable, if the essence has been adulterated with this ingredient.

PERMANENT INK. This useful article for marking linen is composed of nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic, and the tincture or infusion of galls; in the proportion of one dram of the former in a dry state, to two drams of the latter. The linen, cotton, or other fabric, must be first wetted with the following liquid; namely, an ounce of the salt of tartar, dissolved in an ounce and a half of water; and must be perfectly dry before any attempt is made to write upon it.

PETTITOES. Boil them very gently in a small quantity of water, along with the liver and the heart. Then cut the meat fine, split the feet, and simmer them till they are quite tender. Thicken with a bit of butter, a little flour, a spoonful of cream, and a little pepper and salt. Give it a boil up, pour the liquor over a sippets of bread, and place the feet on the mince.

PEWTER AND TIN. Dish covers and pewter requisites should be wiped dry immediately after being used, and kept free from steam or damp, which would prevent much of the trouble in cleaning them. Where the polish is gone off, let the articles be first rubbed on the outside with a little sweet oil laid on a piece of soft linen cloth. Then clear it off with pure whitening on linen cloths, which will restore the polish.

PHEASANTS. The cock bird is reckoned the best, except when the hen is with egg. If young, its spurs are short and blunt; but if old, they are long and sharp. A large pheasant will require three quarters of an hour to boil; if small, half an hour. If for roasting, it should be done the same as a turkey. Serve it up with a fine gravy, including a very small piece of garlic, and bread sauce or fried bread crumbs instead. When cold the meat may be made into excellent patties, but its flavour should not be overpowered with lemon. For the manner of trussing a pheasant or partridge, see Plate.

PHOSPHORIC MATCH BOTTLE. Two thirds of calcined oyster shells, and one third of sulphur, put into a hot crucible for an hour, and afterwards exposed to the air for half an hour, become phosphorus. This is put into a bottle, and when used to procure a light, a very small quantity is taken out on the point of a common match, and rubbed upon a cork, which produces an immediate flame. If a small piece of phosphorus be put into a vial, and a little boiling oil poured upon it, a luminous bottle will be formed; for on taking out the cork, to admit the atmospheric air, the empty space in the vial will become luminous; and if the bottle be well closed, it will preserve its illuminative power for several months.

PICKLE. For hams, tongues, or beef, a pickle may be made that will keep for years, if boiled and skimmed as often as it is used. Provide a deep earthen glazed pan that will hold four gallons, having a cover that will fit close. Put into it two gallons of spring water, two pounds of coarse sugar, two pounds of bay salt, two pounds and a half of common salt, and half a pound of salt petre. Keep the beef or hams as long as they will bear, before they are put into the pickle; sprinkle them with coarse sugar in a pan, and let them drain. Then rub them well with the pickle, and pack them in close, putting as much as the pan will hold, so that the pickle may cover them. The pickle is not to be boiled at first. A small ham may be fourteen days, a large one three weeks, a tongue twelve days, and beef in proportion to its size. They will eat well out of the pickle without drying. When they are to be dried, let each be drained over the pan; and when it will drop no longer, take a clean sponge and dry it thoroughly. Six or eight hours will smoke them, and there should be only a little saw-dust and wet straw used for this purpose; but if put into a baker's chimney, they should be sown up in a coarse cloth, and hang a week.

PICKLES. The free or frequent use of pickles is by no means to be recommended, where any regard is paid to health. In general they are the mere vehicles for taking a certain portion of vinegar and spice, and in the crisp state in which they are most admired are often indigestible, and of course pernicious. The pickle made to preserve cucumbers and mangoes, is generally so strongly impregnated with garlic, mustard, and spice, that the original flavour of the vegetable, is quite overpowered, and the vegetable itself becomes the mere absorbent of these foreign ingredients. But if pickles must still be regarded for the sake of the palate, whatever becomes of the stomach, it will be necessary to watch carefully the proper season for gathering and preparing the various articles intended to be preserved. Frequently it happens, after the first week that walnuts come in season, that they become hard and shelled, especially if the weather be hot and dry; it is therefore necessary to purchase them as soon as they first appear at market; or in the course of a few months after being pickled, the nuts may be found incased in an impenetrable shell. The middle of July is generally the proper time to look for green walnuts. Nasturtiums are to be had about the same. Garlic and shalots, from Midsummer to Michaelmas. Onions of various kinds for pickling, are in season by the middle of July, and for a month after. Gherkins, cucumbers, melons, and mangoes, are to be had by the middle of July, and for a month after. Green, red, and yellow capsicums, the end of July, and following month. Chilies, tomatas, cauliflowers, and artichokes, towards the end of July, and throughout August. Jerusalem artichokes for pickling, July and August, and for three months after. French beans and radish pods, in July. Mushrooms, for pickling and for ketchup, in September. Red cabbage, and samphire, in August. White cabbage, in September and October. Horseradish, November and December.--Pickles, when put down, require to be kept with great care, closely covered. When wanted for use they should be taken out of the jar with a wooden spoon, pierced with holes, the use of metal in this case being highly improper. Pickles should be well kept from the air, and seldom opened. Small jars should be kept for those more frequently in use, that what is not eaten may be returned into the jar, and the top kept closely covered. In preparing vinegar for pickles, it should not be boiled in metal saucepans, but in a stone jar, on a hot hearth, as the acid will dissolve or corrode the metal, and infuse into the pickle an unwholesome ingredient. For the same reason pickles should never be put into glazed jars, as salt and vinegar will penetrate the glaze, and render it poisonous.

PICKLED ASPARAGUS. Cut some asparagus, and lay it in an earthen pot. Make a brine of salt and water, strong enough to bear an egg; pour it hot on the asparagus, and let it be closely covered. When it is to be used, lay it for two hours in cold water; boil and serve it up on a toast, with melted butter over it. If to be used as a pickle, boil it as it comes out of the brine, and lay it in vinegar.

PICKLED BACON. For two tolerable flitches, dry a stone of salt over the fire, till it is scalding hot. Beat fine two ounces of saltpetre, and two pounds of bay salt well dried, and mix them with some of the heated salt. Rub the bacon first with that, and then with the rest; put it into a tub, and keep it close from the air.

PICKLED BEET ROOT. Boil the roots till three parts done, or set them into a cool oven till they are softened. Cut them into slices of an inch thick, cover them with vinegar, adding some allspice, a few cloves, a little mace, black pepper, horseradish sliced, some onions, shalots, a little pounded ginger, and some salt. Boil these ingredients together twenty minutes, and when cold, add to them a little bruised cochineal. Put the slices of beet into jars, pour the pickle upon them, and tie the jars down close.

PICKLED CABBAGE. Slice a hard red cabbage into a cullender, and sprinkle each layer with salt. Let it drain two days, then put it into a jar, cover it with boiling vinegar, and add a few slices of red beet-root. The purple red cabbage makes the finest colour. Those who like the flavour of spice, will boil some with the vinegar. Cauliflower cut in branches, and thrown in after being salted, will look of a beautiful red.

PICKLED CARROTS. Half boil some middle sized yellowish carrots, cut them into any shape, and let them cool. Take as much vinegar as will cover them, boil it with a little salt, and a pennyworth of saffron tied in a piece of muslin. Put the carrots into a jar; when the pickle is cold, pour it upon them, and cover the jar close. Let it stand all night, then pour off the pickle, and boil it with Jamaica pepper, mace, cloves, and a little salt. When cold, pour it upon the carrots, and tie them up for use.

PICKLED CUCUMBERS. Cut them into thick slices, and sprinkle salt over them. Next day drain them for five or six hours, then put them into a stone jar, pour boiling vinegar over them, and keep them in a warm place. Repeat the boiling vinegar, and stop them up again instantly, and so on till quite green. Then add peppercorns and ginger, and keep them in small stone jars. Cucumbers are best pickled with sliced onions.

PICKLED GHERKINS. Select some sound young cucumbers, spread them on dishes, salt and let them lie a week. Drain and put them in a jar, pouring boiling vinegar over them. Set them near the fire, covered with plenty of vine leaves. If they do not come to a tolerably good green, pour the vinegar into another jar, set it on a hot hearth, and when the vinegar boils, pour it over them again, and cover them with fresh leaves. Repeat this operation as often as is necessary, to bring the pickle to a good colour. Too many persons have made pickles of a very fine green, by using brass or bellmetal kettles; but as this is highly poisonous, the practice ought never to be attempted.

PICKLED HAM. After it has been a week in the pickle, boil a pint of vinegar, with two ounces of bay salt. Pour it hot on the ham, and baste it every day; it may then remain in the brine two or three weeks.

PICKLED HERRING. Procure them as fresh as possible, split them open, take off the heads, and trim off all the thin parts. Put them into salt and water for one hour, drain and wipe the fish, and put them into jars, with the following preparation, which is enough for six dozen herrings. Take salt and bay salt one pound each, saltpetre and lump sugar two ounces each, and powder and mix the whole together. Put a layer of the mixture at the bottom of the jar, then a layer of fish with the skin side downwards; so continue alternately till the jar is full. Press it down, and cover it close: in two or three months they will be fit for use.

PICKLED LEMONS. They should be small, and with thick rinds. Rub them with a piece of flannel, and slit them half down in four quarters, but not through to the pulp. Fill the openings with salt hard pressed in, set them upright in a pan for four or five days, until the salt melts, and turn them thrice a day in their own liquor till quite tender. Make enough pickle to cover them, of rape vinegar, the brine of the lemons, peppercorns, and ginger. Boil and skim it; when cold put it to the lemons, with two ounces of mustard seed, and two cloves of garlic to six lemons. When the lemons are to be used, the pickle will be useful in fish or other sauces.

PICKLED MACKAREL. Clean and divide the fish, and cut each side into three; or leave them undivided, and cut each side into five or six pieces. To six large mackarel, take nearly an ounce of pepper, two nutmegs, a little mace, four cloves, and a handful of salt, all finely powdered. Mix them together, make holes in each bit of fish, put the seasoning into them, and rub some of it over each piece. Fry them brown in oil, and when cold put them into a stone jar, and cover them with vinegar. Thus prepared, they will keep for months; and if to be kept longer, pour oil on the top. Mackarel preserved this way are called Caveach. A more common way is to boil the mackarel after they are cleaned, and then to boil up some of the liquor with a few peppercorns, bay leaves, and a little vinegar; and when the fish is cold, the liquor is poured over them. Collared mackarel are prepared the same way as collared eel.

PICKLED MELONS. Take six melons, cut a slice out of them, and scrape out the seeds and pulp quite clean. Put them into a tin stewpan with as much water as will cover them; add a small handful of salt, and boil them over a quick fire. When they boil take them off the fire, put them into an earthen pan with the water, and let them stand till the next day. The melons must then be taken out and wiped dry, both within and without. Put two small cloves of garlic into each, a little bit of ginger, and bruised mustard seed, enough to fill them. Replace the slice that was cut out, and tie it on with a thread. Boil some cloves, mace, ginger, pepper, and mustard seed, all bruised, and some garlic, in as much vinegar as will cover them. After a little boiling, pour the whole, boiling-hot, upon the melons. They must be quite covered with the pickle, and tied down close, when cold, with a bladder and leather. They will not be fit for use in less than three or four months, and will keep two or three years.

PICKLED MUSHROOMS. Rub the buttons with a piece of flannel, and salt. Take out the red inside of the larger ones, and when old and black they will do for pickling. Throw some salt over, and put them into a stewpan with mace and pepper. As the liquor comes out, shake them well, and keep them over a gentle fire till all of it be dried into them again. Then put as much vinegar into the pan as will cover them, give it one warm, and turn all into a glass or stone jar. Mushrooms pickled in this way will preserve their flavour, and keep for two years.

PICKLED NASTURTIUM. Take the buds fresh off the plants when they are pretty large, but before they grow hard, and put them into some of the best white wine vinegar, boiled up with such spices as are most agreeable. Keep them in a bottle closely stopped, and they will be fit for use in a week or ten days.

PICKLED ONIONS. In the month of September, choose the small white round onions, take off the brown skin, have ready a very nice tin stewpan of boiling water, and throw in as many onions as will cover the top. As soon as they look clear on the outside, take them up with a slice as quick as possible, and lay them on a clean cloth. Cover them close with another cloth, and scald some more, and so on. Let them lie to be cold, then put them in a jar or wide-mouthed glass bottles, and pour over them the best white-wine vinegar, just hot, but not boiling, and cover them when cold. They must look quite clear; and if the outer skin be shriveled, peel it off.

PICKLED OYSTERS. Open four dozen large oysters, wash them in their own liquor, wipe them dry, and strain off the liquor. Add a dessert-spoonful of pepper, two blades of mace, a table-spoonful of salt, if the liquor require it; then add three spoonfuls of white wine, and four of vinegar. Simmer the oysters a few minutes in the liquor, then put them into small jars, boil up the pickle, and skim it. When cold, pour the liquor over the oysters, and cover them close.--Another way. Open the oysters, put them into a saucepan with their own liquor for ten minutes, and simmer them very gently. Put them into a jar one by one, that none of the grit may stick to them; and when cold, cover them with the pickle thus made. Boil the liquor with a bit of mace, lemon peel, and black peppers; and to every hundred of these corns, put two spoonfuls of the best undistilled vinegar. The pickle should be kept in small jars, and tied close with bladder, for the air will spoil them.

PICKLED PIGEONS. Bone them, turn the inside out, and lard it. Season with a little salt and allspice in fine powder; then turn them again, and tie the neck and rump with thread. Put them into boiling water; when they have boiled a minute or two to make them plump, take them out and dry them well. Then put them boiling hot into the pickle, which must be made of equal quantities of white wine and white-wine vinegar, with white pepper and allspice, sliced ginger and nutmeg, and two or three bay leaves. When it boils up, put in the pigeons. If they are small, a quarter of an hour will do them; if large, twenty minutes. Then take them out, wipe them, and let them cool. When the pickle is cold, take the fat from it, and put them in again. Keep them in a stone jar, tied down with a bladder to keep out the air. Instead of larding, put into some a stuffing made of yolks of eggs boiled hard, and marrow in equal quantities, with sweet herbs, pepper, salt, and mace.

PICKLED PORK. The hams and shoulders being cut off, take for pickling the quantities proportioned to the middlings of a pretty large hog. Mix and pound fine, four ounces of salt petre, a pound of coarse sugar, an ounce of salprunel, and a little common salt. Sprinkle the pork with salt, drain it twenty four hours, and then rub it with the above mixture. Pack the pieces tight in a small deep tub, filling up the spaces with common salt. Place large pebbles on the pork, to prevent it from swimming in the pickle which the salt will produce. If kept from the air it will continue very fine for two years.

PICKLED ROSES. Take two pecks of damask rose buds, pick off the green part, and strew in the bottom of a jar a handful of large bay salt. Put in half the roses, and strew a little more bay salt upon them. Strip from the stalk a handful of knotted marjoram, a handful of lemon thyme, and as much common thyme. Take six pennyworth of benjamin, as much of storax, six orris roots, and a little suet; beat and bruise them all together, and mix them with the stripped herbs. Add twenty cloves, a grated nutmeg, the peel of two Seville oranges pared thin, and of one lemon shred fine. Mix them with the herbs and spices, strew all on the roses, and stir them once in two days till the jar is full. More sweets need not be added, but only roses, orange flowers, or single pinks.

PICKLED SALMON. After scaling and cleaning, split the salmon, and divide it into convenient pieces. Lay it in the kettle to fill the bottom, and as much water as will cover it. To three quarts add a pint of vinegar, a handful of salt, twelve bay-leaves, six blades of mace, and a quarter of an ounce of black pepper. When the salmon is boiled enough, drain and lay it on a clean cloth; then put more salmon into the kettle, and pour the liquor upon it, and so on till all is done. After this, if the pickle be not smartly flavoured with the vinegar and salt, add more, and boil it quick three quarters of an hour. When all is cold, pack the dish in a deep pot, well covered with the pickle, and kept from the air. The liquor must be drained from the fish, and occasionally boiled and skimmed.

PICKLED SAMPHIRE. Clear the branches of the samphire from the dead leaves, and lay them into a large jar, or small cask. Make a strong brine of white or bay salt, skim it clean while it is boiling, and when done let it cool. Take the samphire out of the water, and put it into a bottle with a broad mouth. Add some strong white-wine vinegar, and keep it well covered down.

PICKLED STURGEON. The following is an excellent imitation of pickled sturgeon. Take a fine large turkey, but not old; pick it very nicely, singe, and make it extremely clean. Bone and wash it, and tie it across and across with a piece of mat string washed clean. Put into a very nice tin saucepan a quart of water, a quart of vinegar, a quart of white wine, not sweet, and a large handful of salt. Boil and skim it well, and then boil the turkey. When done enough, tighten the strings, and lay upon it a dish with a weight of two pounds over it. Boil the liquor half an hour; and when both are cold, put the turkey into it. This will keep some months, and eats more delicately than sturgeon. Vinegar, oil, and sugar, are usually eaten with it. If more vinegar or salt should be wanted, add them when cold. Garnish with fennel.

PICKLED TONGUES. To prepare neats' tongues for boiling, cut off the roots, but leave a little of the kernel and fat. Sprinkle some salt, and let it drain from the slime till next day. Then for each tongue mix a large spoonful of common salt, the same of coarse sugar and about half as much of salt petre; rub it in well, and do so every day. In a week add another spoonful of salt. If rubbed every day, a tongue will be ready in a fortnight; but if only turned in the pickle daily, it will keep four or five weeks without being too salt. When tongues are to be dried, write the date on a parchment, and tie it on. Tongues may either be smoked, or dried plain. When a tongue is to be dressed, boil it five hours till it is quite tender. If done sooner, it is easily kept hot for the table. The longer it is kept after drying, the higher it will be; and if hard, it may require soaking three or four hours.--Another way. Clean and prepare as above; and for two tongues allow an ounce of salt petre, and an ounce of salprunella, and rub them in well. In two days after well rubbing, cover them with common salt, turn them every day for three weeks, then dry them, rub bran over, and smoke them. Keep them in a cool dry place, and in ten days they will be fit to eat.

PICKLED WALNUTS. When they will bear a pin to go into them, boil a brine of salt and water, strong enough to swim an egg, and skim it well. When the brine is quite cold, pour it on the walnuts, and let them soak for six days. Change the brine, and let them stand six more; then drain and put them into a jar, pouring over them a sufficient quantity of the best vinegar. Add plenty of black pepper, pimento, ginger, mace, cloves, mustard seed, and horseradish, all boiled together, but put on cold. To every hundred of walnuts put six spoonfuls of mustard seed, and two or three heads of garlic or shalot, but the latter is the mildest. The walnuts will be fit for use in about six months; but if closely covered, they will be good for several years: the air will soften them. The pickle will be equal to ketchup, when the walnuts are used.--Another way. Put the walnuts into a jar, cover them with the best vinegar cold, and let them stand four months. Then, pour off the pickle, and boil as much fresh vinegar as will cover the walnuts, adding to every three quarts of vinegar a quarter of a pound of the best mustard, a stick of horseradish sliced, half an ounce of black pepper, half an ounce of allspice, and a good handful of salt. Pour the whole boiling hot upon the walnuts, and cover them close: they will be fit for use in three or four months. Two ounces of garlic or shalot may be added, but must not be boiled in the vinegar. The pickle in which the walnuts stood the first four months, may be used as ketchup.

PICTURES. The following simple method of preventing flies from sitting on pictures, or any other furniture, is well experienced, and if generally adopted, would prevent much trouble and damage. Soak a large bunch of leeks five or six days in a pail of water, and wash the pictures with it, or any other piece of furniture. The flies will never come near any thing that is so washed.

PIE SAUCE. Mix some gravy with an anchovy, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, and a little mushroom liquor. Boil and thicken it with butter rolled in flour, add a little red wine, and pour the sauce into the pie. This serves for mutton, lamb, veal, or beef pies, when such an addition is required.

PIES AND TARTS. Attention should be paid to the heat of the oven for all kinds of pies and tarts. Light paste should be put into a moderate oven: if too hot the crust will not rise, but burn: if too slack, the paste will be heavy, and not of a good colour. Raised paste should have a quick oven, and well closed. Iced tarts should be done in a slack oven, or the iceing will become brown before the tarts are baked.

PIGEONS. In order to breed pigeons, it is best to take two young ones at a time; and if well looked after, and plentifully fed, they will breed every month. They should be kept very clean, and the bottom of the dove-cote be strewed with sand once a month or oftener. Tares and white peas are their proper food, and they should be provided with plenty of fresh water. Starlings and other birds are apt to come among them, and suck the eggs. Vermin likewise are their enemies, and frequently destroy them. If the brood should be too small, put among them a few tame pigeons of their own colour. Observe not to have too large a proportion of cock birds, for they are quarrelsome, and will soon thin the dove-cote. Pigeons are fond of salt, and it keeps them in health. Lay a large piece of clay near their dwelling, and pour upon it any of the salt brine that may be useless in the family. Bay salt and cummin seeds mixed together, is a universal remedy for the diseases of pigeons. The backs and breasts are sometimes scabby, but may be cured in the following manner. Take a quarter of a pound of bay salt, and as much common salt; a pound of fennel seed, a pound of dill seed, as much cummin seed, and an ounce of assafoetida; mix all with a little wheat flour, and some fine wrought clay. When all are well beaten together, put it into two earthen pots, and bake them in the oven. When the pots are cold, put them on the table in the dove-cote; the pigeons will eat the mixture and get well.

PIGEONS DRESSED. These birds are particularly useful, as they may be dressed in so many ways. The good flavour of them depends very much on their being cropped and drawn as soon as killed. No other bird requires so much washing. Pigeons left from dinner the day before may be stewed, or made into a pie. In either case, care must be taken not to overdo them, which will make them stringy. They need only be heated up in gravy ready prepared; and forcemeat balls may be fried and added, instead of putting a stuffing into them. If for a pie, let beef steaks be stewed in a little water, and put cold under them. Cover each pigeon with a piece of fat bacon to keep them moist, season as usual, and put in some eggs.--In purchasing pigeons, be careful to see that they are quite fresh: if they look flabby about the vent, and that part is discoloured, they are stale. The feet should be supple: if old the feet are harsh. The tame ones are larger than the wild, and by some they are thought to be the best. They should be fat and tender; but many are deceived in their size, because a full crop is as large as the whole body of a small pigeon. The wood-pigeon is large, and the flesh dark coloured: if properly kept, and not over roasted, the flavour is equal to teal.

PIGEONS IN DISGUISE. Draw the pigeons, take out the craw very carefully, wash them clean, cut off the pinions, and turn their legs under their wings. Season them with pepper and salt, roll each pigeon in a puff paste, close them well, tie them in separate cloths, and boil them an hour and a half. When they are untied be careful they do not break; put them in a dish, and pour a little good gravy over them.

PIGEONS IN A HOLE. Truss four young pigeons, as for boiling, and season them with pepper, salt, and mace. Put into the belly of each a small piece of butter, lay them in a pie dish, and pour batter over them, made of three eggs, two spoonfuls of flour, and half a pint of milk. Bake them in a moderate oven, and send them to table in the same dish.

PIGEONS IN JELLY. Save some of the liquor in which a knuckle of veal has been boiled, or boil a calf's or a neat's foot; put the broth into a pan with a blade of mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, some white pepper, lemon peel, a slice of lean bacon, and the pigeons. Bake them, and let them stand to be cold; but season them before baking. When done, take them out of the liquor, cover them close to preserve the colour, and clear the jelly by boiling it with the whites of two eggs. Strain it through a thick cloth dipped in boiling water, and put into a sieve. The fat must be all removed, before it be cleared. Put the jelly roughly over and round the pigeons.--A beautiful dish may be made in the following manner. Pick two very nice pigeons, and make them look as well as possible by singeing, washing, and cleaning the heads well. Leave the heads and the feet on, but the nails must be clipped close to the claws. Roast them of a very nice brown; and when done, put a small sprig of myrtle into the bill of each. Prepare a savoury jelly, and with it half fill a bowl of such a size as shall be proper to turn down on the dish intended for serving in. When the jelly and the birds are cold, see that no gravy hangs to the birds, and then lay them upside down in the jelly. Before the rest of it begins to set, pour it over the birds, so as to be three inches above the feet. This should be done full twenty four hours before serving. The dish thus prepared will have a very handsome appearance in the mid range of a second coarse; or when served with the jelly roughed large, it makes a side or corner dish, being then of a smaller size. The head of the pigeons should be kept up, as if alive, by tying the neck with some thread, and the legs bent as if the birds sat upon them.

PIGEON PIE. Rub the pigeons with pepper and salt, inside and out. Put in a bit of butter, and if approved, some parsley chopped with the livers, and a little of the same seasoning. Lay a beef steak at the bottom of the dish, and the birds on it; between every two, a hard egg. Put a cup of water in the dish; and if a thin slice or two of ham be added, it will greatly improve the flavour. When ham is cut for gravy or pies, the under part should be taken, rather than the prime. Season the gizzards, and two joints of the wings, and place them in the centre of the pie. Over them, in a hole made in the crust, put three of the feet nicely cleaned, to show what pie it is.

PIG'S CHEEK. To prepare a pig's cheek for boiling, cut off the snout, and clean the head. Divide it, take out the eyes and the brains, sprinkle the head with salt, and let it drain twenty-four hours. Salt it with common salt and saltpetre; and if to be dressed without being stewed with peas, let it lie eight or ten days, but less if to be dressed with peas. It must first be washed, and then simmered till all is tender.

PIG'S FEET AND EARS. Clean them carefully, soak them some hours, and boil them quite tender. Then take them out, and boil a little salt and vinegar with some of the liquor, and pour it over them when cold. When to be dressed, dry them, cut the feet in two, and slice the ears. Fry them, and serve with butter, mustard, and vinegar. They may be either done in batter, or only floured.

PIG'S FEET AND EARS FRICASSEED. If to be dressed with cream, put no vinegar into the pickle. Cut the feet and ears into neat bits, and boil them in a little milk. Pour the liquor from them, and simmer in a little veal broth, with a bit of onion, mace, and lemon peel. Before the dish is served up, add a little cream, flour, butter, and salt.

PIG'S FEET JELLY. Clean the feet and ears very carefully, and soak them some hours. Then boil them in a very small quantity of water, till every bone can be taken out. Throw in half a handful of chopped sage, the same of parsley, and a seasoning of pepper, salt, and mace in fine powder. Simmer till the herbs are scalded, and then pour the whole into a melon form.

PIG'S HARSLET. Wash and dry some liver, sweetbreads, and fat and lean bits of pork, beating the latter with a rolling-pin to make it tender. Season with pepper, salt, sage, and a little onion shred fine. When mixed, put all into a cawl, and fasten it up tight with a needle and thread. Roast it on a hanging jack, or by a string. Serve with a sauce of port wine and water, and mustard, just boiled up, and put into the dish. Or serve it in slices with parsley for a fry.

PIG'S HEAD COLLARED. Scour the head and ears nicely, take off the hair and snout, and remove the eyes and the brain. Lay the head into water one night, then drain it, salt it extremely well with common salt and saltpetre, and let it lie five days. Boil it enough to take out the bones, then lay it on a dresser, turning the thick end of one side of the head towards the thin end of the other, to make the roll of equal size. Sprinkle it well with salt and white pepper, and roll it with the ears. The pig's feet may also be placed round the outside when boned, or the thin parts of two cow heels, if approved. Put it in a cloth, bind it with a broad tape, and boil it till quite tender. Place a good weight upon it, and do not remove the covering till the meat is cold. If the collar is to be more like brawn, salt it longer, add a larger proportion of saltpetre, and put in also some pieces of lean pork. Then cover it with cow heel to make it look like the horn. This may be kept in a pickle of boiled salt and water, or out of pickle with vinegar: it will be found a very convenient article to have in the house. If likely to spoil, slice and fry it, either with or without batter.

PIG SAUCE. Take a tea-spoonful of white gravy, a small piece of anchovy, with the gravy from the roasting of the pig, and mix the brains with it when chopped. Add a quarter of a pound of butter, a little flour to thicken it, a slice of lemon, and a little salt. Shake it over the fire, and put it hot into the dish. Good sauce may also be made by putting some of the bread and sage, which has been roasted in the pig, into good beef gravy, and adding the brains to it.

PILAU. Stew a pound of rice in white gravy till it is tender. Half boil a well grown fowl, then lay it into a baking dish with some pepper and salt strewed over it. Lay truffles, morels, mushrooms, hard eggs, or forcemeat balls, any or all of them round it at pleasure; put a little gravy into the dish, and spread the rice over the whole like a paste. Bake it gently, till the fowl is done enough. If it seem dry, cut a hole carefully at the top, and pour in some white gravy, made pretty warm, before it is sent to table. Partridges or pheasants are very nice, dressed the same way.

PILCHARD PIE. Soak two or three salted pilchards for some hours, the day before they are to be dressed. Clean and skin the white part of some large leeks, scald them in milk and water, and put them in layers into a dish, with the pilchards. Cover the whole with a good plain crust. When the pie is taken out of the oven, lift up the side crust with a knife, and empty out all the liquor: then pour in half a pint of scalded cream.

PILE OINTMENT. Cut some green shoots of elder early in the spring, clear away the bark, and put two good handfuls into a quart of thick cream. Boil it till it comes to an ointment, and as it rises take it off with a spoon, and be careful to prevent its burning. Strain the ointment through a fine cloth, and keep it for use.

PILES. If this complaint be occasioned by costiveness, proper attention must be paid to that circumstance; but if it originate from weakness, strong purgatives must be avoided. The part affected should be bathed twice a day with a sponge dipped in cold water, and the bowels regulated by the mildest laxatives. An electuary, consisting of one ounce of sulphur, and half an ounce of cream of tartar, mixed with a sufficient quantity of treacle, may be taken three or four times a day. The patient would also find relief by sitting over the steam of warm water. A useful liniment for this disorder may be made of two ounces of emollient ointment, and half an ounce of laudanum. Mix them with the yolk of an egg, and work them well together.

PILLS. Opening pills may be made of two drams of Castile soap, and two drams of succotrine aloes, mixed with a sufficient quantity of common syrup. Or when aloes will not agree with the patient, take two drams of the extract of jalap, two drams of vitriolated tartar, and as much syrup of ginger as will form them of a proper consistence for pills. Four or five of these pills will generally prove a sufficient purge; and for keeping the body gently open, one may be taken night and morning.--Composing pills may consist of ten grains of purified opium, and half a dram of Castile soap, beaten together, and formed into twenty parts. When a quieting draught will not sit upon the stomach, one or two of these pills may be taken to great advantage.--Pills for the jaundice may be made of one dram each of Castile soap, succotrine aloes, and rhubarb, mixed up with a sufficient quantity of syrup. Five or six of these pills taken twice a day, more or less, to keep the body open, with the assistance of a proper diet, will often effect a cure.

PIPERS. Boil or bake them with a pudding well seasoned. If baked, put a large cup of rich broth into the dish; and when done, boil up together for sauce, the broth, some essence of anchovy, and a squeeze of lemon.

PIPPIN PUDDING. Coddle six pippins in vine leaves covered with water, very gently, that the inside may be done without breaking the skins. When soft, take off the skin, and with a tea-spoon take the pulp from the core. Press it through a cullender, add two spoonfuls of orange-flower water, three eggs beaten, a glass of raisin wine, a pint of scalding cream, sugar and nutmeg to taste. Lay a thin puff paste at the bottom and sides of the dish; shred some very thin lemon peel as fine as possible, and put it into the dish; likewise lemon, orange, and citron, in small slices, but not so thin as to dissolve in the baking.

PIPPIN TARTS. Pare two seville or china oranges quite thin, boil the peel tender and shred it fine. Pare and core twenty pippins, put them in a stewpan, with as little water as possible. When half done, add half a pound of sugar, the orange peel and juice, and boil all together till it is pretty thick. When cold, put it in a shallow dish, or pattipans lined with paste, to turn out, and be eaten cold.

PISTACHIO CREAM. Blanch four ounces of pistachio nuts, beat them fine with a little rose-water, and add the paste to a pint of cream. Sweeten it, let it just boil, and then put it into glasses.

PISTACHIO TART. Shell and peel half a pound of pistachio nuts, beat them very fine in a marble mortar, and work into them a piece of fresh butter. Add to this a quarter of a pint of cream, or of the juice of beet leaves, extracted by pounding them in a marble mortar, and then draining off the juice through a piece of muslin. Grate in two macarones, add the yolks of two eggs, a little salt, and sugar to the taste. Bake it lightly with a puff crust under it, and some little ornaments on the top. Sift some fine sugar over, before it is sent to table.

PLAICE. The following is an excellent way of dressing a large plaice, especially if there be a roe. Sprinkle it with salt, and keep it twenty four hours. Then wash, and wipe it dry, smear it over with egg, and cover it with crumbs of bread. Boil up some lard or fine dripping, with two large spoonfuls of vinegar; lay in the fish, and fry it of a fine colour. Drain off the fat, serve it with fried parsley laid round, and anchovy sauce. The fish may be dipped in vinegar, instead of putting vinegar in the pan.

PLAIN BREAD PUDDING. Prepare five ounces of bread crumbs, put them in a basin, pour three quarters of a pint of boiling milk over them, put a plate over the top to keep in the steam, and let it stand twenty minutes. Then beat it up quite smooth, with two ounces of sugar, and a little nutmeg. Break four eggs on a plate, leaving out one white, beat them well, and add them to the pudding. Stir it all well together, put it into a mould that has been well buttered and floured, tie a cloth tight over it, and boil it an hour.

PLAIN CHEESECAKES. Three quarters of a pound of cheese curd, and a quarter of a pound of butter, beat together in a mortar. Add a quarter of a pound of fine bread soaked in milk, three eggs, six ounces of currants well washed and picked, sugar to the taste, a little candied orange peel, and a little sack. Bake them in a puff crust in a quick oven.

PLAIN FRITTERS. Grate a fine penny loaf into a pint of milk, beat it smooth, add the yolks of five eggs, three ounces of fine sugar, and a little nutmeg. Fry them in hog's lard, and serve them up with melted butter and sugar.

PLAIN PEAS SOUP. The receipts too generally given for peas are so much crowded with ingredients, that they entirely overpower the flavour of the peas. Nothing more is necessary to plain good soup, than a quart of split peas, two heads of celery, and an onion. Boil all together in three quarts of broth or soft water; let them simmer gently on a trivet over a slow fire for three hours, and keep them stirring, to prevent burning at the bottom of the kettle. If the water boils away, and the soup gets too thick, add some boiling water to it. When the peas are well softened, work them through a coarse sieve, and then through a tammis. Wash out the stewpan, return the soup into it, and give it a boil up; take off any scum that rises, and the soup is ready. Prepare some fried bread and dried mint, and send them up with it on two side dishes. This is an excellent family soup, produced with very little trouble or expense, the two quarts not exceeding the charge of one shilling. Half a dram of bruised celery seed, and a little sugar, added just before finishing the soup, will give it as much flavour as two heads of the fresh vegetable.

PLAIN RICE PUDDING. Wash and pick some rice, scatter among it some pimento finely powdered, but not too much. Tie up the rice in a cloth, and leave plenty of room for it to swell. Boil it in a good quantity of water for an hour or two, and serve it with butter and sugar, or milk. Lemon peel may be added to the pudding, but it is very good without spice, and may be eaten with butter and salt.

PLANTING. In rendering swampy ground useful, nothing is so well adapted as planting it with birch or alder, which grows spontaneously on bogs and swamps, a kind of soil which otherwise would produce nothing but weeds and rushes. The wood of the alder is particularly useful for all kinds of machinery, for pipes, drains, and pump trees, as it possesses the peculiar quality of resisting injury from wet and weather. The bark is also highly valuable to black dyers, who purchase it at a good price; and it is much to be lamented that the properties of this useful tree are not duly appreciated.

PLANTATIONS. Young plantations are liable to great injury, by being barked in the winter season. To prevent this, take a quantity of grease, scent it with a little tar, and mix them well together. Brush it round the stems of young trees, as high at least as hares and rabbits can reach, and it will effectually prevent their being barked by these animals. Tar must not be used alone, for when exposed to the sun and air, it becomes hard and binding, and hinders the growth of the plantation. Grease will not have this effect, and the scent of the tar is highly obnoxious to hares and rabbits.

PLASTERS. Common plaster is made of six pints of olive oil, and two pounds and a half of litharge finely powdered. A smaller quantity may of course be made of equal proportions. Boil them together over a gentle fire, in about a gallon of water, and keep the ingredients constantly stirring. After they have boiled about three hours, a little of the salve may be taken out, and put into cold water. When of a proper consistence, the whole may be suffered to cool, and the water pressed out of it with the hands. This will serve as a basis for other plasters, and is generally applied in slight wounds and excoriations of the skin. It keeps the part warm and supple, and defends it from the air, which is all that is necessary in such cases.--Adhesive plaster, which is principally used for keeping on other dressings, consists of half a pound of common plaster, and a quarter of a pound of Burgundy pitch melted together.--Anodyne plaster is as follows. Melt an ounce of the adhesive, and when cooling, mix with it a dram of powdered opium, and the same of camphor, previously rubbing with a little oil. This plaster generally gives ease in acute pains, especially of the nervous kind.--Blistering plaster is made in a variety of ways, but seldom of a proper consistence. When compounded of oils, and other greasy substances, its effects are lessened, and it is apt to run, while pitch and rosin render it hard and inconvenient. The following will be found the best method. Take six ounces of venice turpentine, two ounces of yellow wax, three ounces of spanish flies finely powdered, and one ounce of the flour of mustard. Melt the wax, and while it is warm, add the turpentine to it, taking care not to evaporate it by too much heat. After the turpentine and wax are sufficiently incorporated, sprinkle in the powders, and stir the mass till it is cold. When the blistering plaster is not at hand, mix with any soft ointment a sufficient quantity of powdered flies, or form them into a plaster with flour and vinegar.

PLATE. The best way to clean plate, is to boil an ounce of prepared hartshorn powder in a quart of water; and while on the fire, put in as much plate as the vessel will hold. Let it boil a little, then take it out, drain it over the saucepan, and dry it before the fire. Put in more, and serve it the same, till all is done. Then soak some clean rags in the water, and when dry they will serve to clean the plate. Cloths thus saturated with hartshorn powder, are also the best things for cleaning brass locks, and the finger plates of doors. When the plate is quite dry, it must be rubbed bright with soft leather. In many plate powders there is a mixture of quicksilver, which is very injurious; and among other disadvantages, it makes silver so brittle that it will break with a fall. In common cases, whitening, properly purified from sand, applied wet, and rubbed till dry, is one of the cheapest and best of all plate powders.

PLATING OF GLASS. Pour some mercury on a tin foil, smoothly laid on a flat table, and rub it gently with a hare's foot. It soon unites itself to the tin, which then becomes very splendid, or is what they call quickened. A plate of glass is then cautiously, passed upon the tin leaf, in such a manner as to sweep off the redundant mercury, which is not incorporated with the tin. Leaden weights are then to be placed on the glass; and in a little time the quicksilvered tin foil adheres, so firmly to the glass, that the weights may be removed without any danger of its falling off. The glass thus coated is a common looking-glass. About two ounces of mercury are sufficient for covering three square feet of glass.

PLOVERS. In purchasing plovers, choose those that feel hard at the vent, which shows they are fat. In other respects, choose them by the same marks as other fowl. When stale, the feet are harsh and dry. They will keep a long time. There are three sorts of these birds, the grey, the green, and the bastard plover, or lapwing. Green plovers are roasted in the same way as snipes and woodcocks, without drawing, and are served on toast. The grey ones may be roasted, or stewed with gravy, herbs, and spice.

PLOVERS' EGGS. Boil them ten minutes, and serve them either hot or cold on a napkin. These make a nice and fashionable dish.

PLUM CAKE. This is such a favourite article in most families, and is made in so many different ways, that it will be necessary to give a variety of receipts, in order that a selection may be made agreeably to the taste of the reader, or the quality of the article to be preferred.--For a good common plum cake, mix five ounces of butter in three pounds of fine dry flour, and five ounces of the best moist sugar. Add six ounces of currants, washed and dried, and some pimento finely powdered. Put three spoonfuls of yeast into a pint of new milk warmed, and mix it with the above into a light dough.--A cake of a better sort. Mix thoroughly a quarter of a peck of fine flour well dried, with a pound of dry and sifted loaf sugar, three pounds of currants washed and very dry, half a pound of raisins stoned and chopped, a quarter of an ounce of mace and cloves, twenty peppercorns, a grated nutmeg, the peel of a lemon cut as fine as possible, and half a pound of almonds blanched and beaten with orange-flower water. Melt two pounds of butter in a pint and a quarter of cream, but not too hot; add a pint of sweet wine, a glass of brandy, the whites and yolks of twelve eggs beaten apart, and half a pint of good yeast. Strain this liquid by degrees into the dry ingredients, beating them together a full hour; then butter the hoop or pan, and bake it. When the batter is put into the pan, throw in plenty of citron, lemon, and orange candy. If the cake is to be iced, take half a pound of double refined sugar sifted, and put a little with the white of an egg; beat it well, and by degrees pour in the remainder. It must be whisked nearly an hour, with the addition of a little orange-flower water, but not too much. When the cake is done, pour the iceing over it, and return it to the oven for fifteen minutes. But if the oven be quite warm, keep it near the mouth, and the door open, lest the colour be spoiled.--Another. Dried flour, currants washed and picked, four pounds; sugar pounded and sifted, a pound and a half; six orange, lemon, and citron peels, cut in slices. These are to be mixed together. Beat ten eggs, yolks and whites separately. Melt a pound and a half of butter in a pint of cream; when cold, put to it half a pint of yeast, near half a pint of sweet wine, and the eggs. Then strain the liquid to the dry ingredients, beat them well, and add of cloves, mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg, half an ounce each. Butter the pan, and put it into a quick oven. Three hours will bake it.--Another. Mix with a pound of well-dried flour, a pound of loaf sugar, and the eighth of an ounce of mace, well beaten. Beat up five eggs with half the whites, a gill of rose water, and a quarter of a pint of yeast, and strain them. Melt half a pound of butter in a quarter of a pint of cream, and when cool, mix all together. Beat up the batter with a light hand, and set it to rise half an hour. Before it is put into the oven, mix in a pound and a half of currants, well washed and dried, and bake it an hour and a quarter.--For a rich cake, take three pounds of well-dried flour, three pounds of fresh butter, a pound and a half of fine sugar dried and sifted, five pounds of currants carefully cleaned and dried, twenty-four eggs, three grated nutmegs, a little pounded mace and cloves, half a pound of almonds, a glass of sack, and a pound of citron or orange peel. Pound the almonds in rose water, work up the butter to a thin cream, put in the sugar, and work it well; then the yolks of the eggs, the spices, the almonds, and orange peel. Beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, and put them into the batter as it rises. Keep working it with the hand till the oven is ready, and the scorching subsided; put it into a hoop, but not full, and two hours will bake it. The almonds should be blanched in cold water. This will make a large rich plum cake.--A small common cake may be made of a pound of dough, a quarter of a pound of butter, two eggs, a quarter of a pound of lump sugar, a quarter of a pound of currants, and a little nutmeg.--Another. Take a pound and a half of fine white dough, roll into it a pound of butter, as for pie crust, and set it by the fire. Beat up the yolks of four eggs, with half a pound of fine powdered sugar; pour it upon the mass, and work it well by the fire. Add half a pound of currants, well picked and washed, and send it to the oven. Half the quantity of sugar, eggs, and butter, will make a very pleasant cake.--Another. A pound and a half of well-dried flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, and a pound of currants, picked and washed. Beat up eight eggs, warm the butter, mix all together, and beat it up for an hour.--For little plum cakes, intended to keep for some time, dry a pound of fine flour, and mix it with six ounces of finely pounded sugar. Beat six ounces of butter to a cream, and add to three eggs well beaten, half a pound of currants nicely washed and dried, together with the sugar and flour. Beat all for some time, then dredge some flour on tin plates, and drop the batter on them the size of a walnut. If properly mixed, it will be a stiff paste. Bake in a brisk oven. To make a rich plum cake, take four pounds of flour well dried, mix with it a pound and a half of fine sugar powdered, a grated nutmeg, and an ounce of mace pounded fine. When they are well mixed, make a hole in the middle, and pour in fifteen eggs, but seven whites, well beaten, with a pint of good yeast, half a quarter of a pint of orange-flower water, and the same quantity of sack, or any other rich sweet wine. Then melt two pounds and a half of butter in a pint and a half of cream; and when it is about the warmth of new milk, pour it into the middle of the batter. Throw a little of the flour over the liquids, but do not mix the whole together till it is ready to go into the oven. Let it stand before the fire an hour to rise, laying a cloth over it; then have ready six pounds of currants well washed, picked, and dried; a pound of citron and a pound of orange peel sliced, with a pound of blanched almonds, half cut in slices lengthways, and half finely pounded. Mix all well together, butter the tin well, and bake it two hours and a half. This will make a large cake.--Another, not quite so rich. Three pounds of flour well dried, half a pound of sugar, and half an ounce of spice, nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon, well pounded. Add ten eggs, but only half the whites, beaten with a pint of good yeast. Melt a pound of butter in a pint of cream, add it to the yeast, and let it stand an hour to rise before the fire. Then add three pounds of currants well washed, picked and dried. Butter the tin, and bake it an hour.--A common plum cake is made of three pounds and a half of flour, half a pound of sugar, a grated nutmeg, eight eggs, a glass of brandy, half a pint of yeast, a pound of butter melted in a pint and half of milk, put lukewarm to the other ingredients. Let it rise an hour before the fire, then mix it well together, add two pounds of currants carefully cleaned, butter the tin, and bake it.

PLUM JAM. Cut some ripe plums to pieces, put them into a preserving pan, bruise them with a spoon, warm them over the fire till they are soft, and press them through a cullender. Boil the jam an hour, stir it well, add six ounces of fine powdered sugar to every pound of jam, and take it off the fire to mix it. Then heat it ten minutes, put it into jars, and sift some fine sugar over it.

PLUM PUDDING. Take six ounces of suet chopped fine, six ounces of malaga raisins stoned, eight ounces of currants nicely washed and picked, three ounces of bread crumbs, three ounces of flour, and three eggs. Add the sixth part of a grated nutmeg, a small blade of mace, the same quantity of cinnamon, pounded as fine as possible; half a tea-spoonful of salt, nearly half a pint of milk, four ounces of sugar, an ounce of candied lemon, and half an ounce of citron. Beat the eggs and spice well together, mix the milk with them by degrees, and then the rest of the ingredients. Dip a fine close linen cloth into boiling water, and put it in a hair sieve, flour it a little, and tie the pudding up close. Put it into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling water; keep a kettle of boiling water near it, to fill up the pot as it wastes, and keep it boiling six hours. If the water ceases to boil, the pudding will become heavy, and be spoiled. Plum puddings are best when mixed an hour or two before they are boiled, as the various ingredients by that means incorporate, and the whole becomes richer and fuller of flavour, especially if the various ingredients be thoroughly well stirred together. A table-spoonful of treacle will give the pudding a rich brown colour.--Another. Beat up the yolks and whites of three eggs, strain them through a sieve, gradually add to them a quarter of a pint of milk, and stir it well together. Rub in a mortar two ounces of moist sugar, with as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a six-pence, and stir these into the eggs and milk. Then put in four ounces of flour, and beat it into a smooth batter; by degrees stir into it seven ounces of suet, minced as fine as possible, and three ounces of bread crumbs. Mix all thoroughly together, at least half an hour before the pudding is put into the pot. Put it into an earthenware pudding mould, well buttered, tie a pudding cloth tight over it, put it into boiling water, and boil it three hours. Half a pound of raisins cut in halves, and added to the above, will make a most admirable plum pudding. This pudding may also be baked, or put under roast meat, like a Yorkshire pudding. In the latter case, half a pint more milk must be added, and the batter should be an inch and a quarter in thickness. It will take full two hours, and require careful watching; for if the top get burned, an unpleasant flavour will pervade the whole pudding. Or butter some saucers, and fill them with batter; in a dutch oven they will bake in about an hour.--Another. To three quarters of a pound of flour, add the same weight of stoned raisins, half a pound of suet or marrow, cut small, a pint of milk, two eggs, three spoonfuls of moist sugar, and a little salt. Boil the pudding five hours.--To make a small rich plum pudding, take three quarters of a pound of suet finely shred, half a pound of stoned raisins a little chopped, three spoonfuls of flour, three spoonfuls of moist sugar, a little salt and nutmeg, three yolks of eggs, and two whites. Boil the pudding four hours in a basin of tin mould, well buttered. Serve it up with melted butter, white wine and sugar, poured over it.--For a large rich pudding, take three pounds of suet chopped small, a pound and a half of raisins stoned and chopped, a pound and a half of currants, three pounds of flour, sixteen eggs, and a quart of milk. Boil it in a cloth seven hours. If for baking, put in only a pint of milk, with two additional eggs, and an hour and a half will bake it.--A plum pudding without eggs may be made of three quarters of a pound of flour, three quarters of a pound of suet chopped fine, three quarters of a pound of stoned raisins, three quarters of a pound of currants well washed and dried, a tea-spoonful of ground ginger, and rather more of salt. Stir all well together, and add as little milk as will just mix it up quite stiff. Boil the pudding four hours in a buttered basin.--Another. The same proportions of flour and suet, and half the quantity of fruit, with spice, lemon, a glass of white wine, an egg and milk, will make an excellent pudding, but it must be well boiled.

POACHED EGGS. Set a stewpan of water on the fire; when boiling, slip an egg, previously broken into a cup, into the water. When the white looks done enough, slide an egg-slice under the egg, and lay it on toast and butter, or boiled spinach. As soon as done enough, serve them up hot. If the eggs be not fresh laid, they will not poach well, nor without breaking. Trim the ragged parts of the whites, and make them look round.

POISON. Whenever a quantity of arsenic has been swallowed, by design or mistake, its effects may be counteracted by immediately drinking plenty of milk. The patient should afterwards take a dram of the liver of sulphur, in a pint of warm water, a little at a time as he can bear it; or he may substitute some soap water, a quantity of common ink, or any other acid, if other things cannot be readily procured.--To obviate the ill effects of opium, taken either in a liquid or solid form, emetics should be given as speedily as possible. These should consist of an ounce each of oxymel squills and spearmint water, and half a scruple of ipecacuanha, accompanied with frequent draughts of water gruel to assist the operation.--Those poisons which may be called culinary, are generally the most destructive, because the least suspected; no vessels therefore made of copper or brass should be used in cooking. In cases where the poison of virdigris has been recently swallowed, emetics should first be given, and then the patient should drink abundance of cold water.--If any one has eaten of the deadly nightshade, he should take an emetic as soon as possible, and drink a pint of vinegar or lemon juice in an equal quantity of water, a little at a time; and as sleep would prove fatal, he should keep walking about to prevent it.--For the bite of the mad dog, or other venomous animals, nothing is to be depended on for a cure but immediately cutting out the bitten part with a lancet, or burning it out with a red-hot iron.--To prevent the baneful effects of burning charcoal, set an open vessel of boiling water upon the pan containing the charcoal, and keep it boiling. The steam arising from the water will counteract the effects of the charcoal. Painters, glaziers, and other artificers, should be careful to avoid the poisonous effects of lead, by washing their hands and face clean before meals, and by never eating in the place where they work, nor suffering any food or drink to remain exposed to the fumes or dust of the metal. Every business of this sort should be performed as far as possible with gloves on the hands, to prevent the metal from working into the pores of the skin, which is highly injurious, and lead should never be touched when it is hot.

POIVRADE SAUCE. Pick the skins of twelve shalots, chop them small, mix with them a table-spoonful of veal gravy, a gill and a half of vinegar, half an anchovy pressed through a fine sieve, and a little salt and cayenne. If it is to be eaten with hot game, serve it up boiling: if with cold, the sauce is to be cold likewise.--Another way. Put a piece of butter the size of half an egg into a saucepan, with two or three sliced onions, some of the red outward part, of carrots, and of the part answering to it of parsnip, a clove of garlic, two shalots, two cloves, a bay leaf, with basil and thyme. Shake the whole over the fire till it begins to colour, then add a good pinch of flour, a glass of red wine, a glass of water, and a spoonful of vinegar. Boil it half an hour, take off the fat, pass the sauce through a tammis, add some salt and pepper, and use it with any thing that requires a relishing sauce.

POLISHED STOVES. Steel or polished stoves may be well cleaned in a few minutes, by using a piece of fine-corned emery stone, and afterwards polishing with flour of emery or rottenstone. If stoves or fire irons have acquired any rust, pound some glass to fine powder; and having nailed some strong woollen cloth upon a board, lay upon it a thick coat of gum water, and sift the powdered glass upon it, and let it dry. This may be repeated as often as is necessary to form a sharp surface, and with this the rust may easily be rubbed off; but care must be taken to have the glass finely powdered, and the gum well dried, or the polish on the irons will be injured. Fire arms, or similar articles, may be kept clean for several months, if rubbed with a mixture consisting of one ounce of camphor dissolved in two pounds of hog's lard, boiled and skimmed, and coloured with a little black lead. The mixture should be left on twenty four hours to dry, and then rubbed off with a linen cloth.

POMADE DIVINE. Clear a pound and a half of beef marrow from the strings and bone, put it into an earthen pan of fresh water from the spring, and change the water night and morning for ten days. Then steep it in rose water twenty four hours, and drain it in a cloth till quite dry. Take an ounce of each of the following articles, namely, storax, gum benjamin, odoriferous cypress powder, or of florence; half an ounce of cinnamon, two drams of cloves, and two drams of nutmeg, all finely powdered. Mix them with the marrow above prepared, and put all the ingredients into a pewter pot that holds three quarts. Make a paste of flour and the white of an egg, and lay it upon a piece of rag. Over that must be another piece of linen, to cover the top of the pot very close, that none of the steam may evaporate. Set the pot into a large copper pot of water, observing to keep it steady, that it may not reach to the covering of the pot that holds the marrow. As the water shrinks add more, boiling hot, for it must boil incessantly for four hours. Strain the ointment through a linen cloth into small pots, and cover them when cold. Do not touch it with any thing but silver, and it will keep many years. A fine pomatum may also be made by putting half a pound of fresh marrow prepared as above, and two ounces of fresh hog's lard, on the ingredients; and then observing the same process as above.

POMATUM. To make soft pomatum, beat half a pound of unsalted fresh lard in common water, then soak and beat in two different rose-waters. Drain it, and beat it, with two spoonfuls of brandy. Let it drain from this, then add some essence of lemon, and keep it in small pots. Or soak half a pound of clear beef marrow, and a pound of unsalted fresh lard, in water two of three days, changing and beating it every day. Put it into a sieve; and when dry, into a jar, and the jar, into a saucepan of water. When melted, pour it into a bason, and beat it with two spoonfuls of brandy. Drain off the brandy, and add essence of lemon, bergamot, or any other scent that is preferred.--For hard pomatum, prepare as before equal quantities of beef marrow and mutton suet, using the brandy to preserve it, and adding the scent. Then pour it into moulds, or phials, of the size intended for the rolls. When cold break the bottles, clear away the glass carefully, and put paper round the balls.

PONDS. Stagnant or running water is often infected with weeds, which become troublesome and injurious to the occupier, but which might easily be prevented by suffering geese, or particularly swans, to feed upon the surface. These water fowls, by nibbling the young shoots as fast as they arise, will prevent their growth and appearance on the surface of the water, and all the expense which might otherwise be incurred in clearing them away.

POOR MAN'S SAUCE. Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, and strew over a little salt. Shred fine half a dozen young green onions, add these to the parsley, and put them into a sauce boat, with three table-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar. Add some ground black pepper and salt, stir them together, and it is ready. Pickled French beans or gherkins cut fine, may be added, or a little grated horseradish. This sauce is much esteemed in France, where people of taste, weary of rich dishes, occasionally order the fare of the peasant.

PORK. This is a strong fat meat, and unless very nicely fed, it is fit only for hard working people. Young pigs, like lamb and veal, are fat and luscious, but afford very little nutriment. Pork fed by butchers, or at distilleries, is very inferior, and scarcely wholesome; it is fat and spongy, and utterly unfit for curing. Dairy fed pork is the best. To judge of pork, pinch the lean; and if young and good, it will easily part. If the rind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be impressed with the finger, it is old. A thin rind denotes a good quality in general. When fresh, the meat will be smooth and cool: if clammy, it is tainted. What is called in some places measly pork, is very unwholesome; and may be known by the fat being full of kernels, which in good pork is never the case. Bacon hogs and porkers are differently cut up. Hogs are kept to a larger size; the chine or backbone is cut down on each side, the whole length, and is a prime part either boiled or roasted. The sides of the hog are made into bacon, and the inside is cut out with very little meat to the bone. On each side there is a large sparerib, which is usually divided into two, a sweet bone and a blade bone. The bacon is the whole outside, and contains a fore leg and a ham; the last of these is the hind leg, but if left with the bacon it is called a gammon. Hog's lard is the inner fat of the bacon hog, melted down. Pickled pork is made of the flesh of the hog, but more frequently of smaller and younger meat. Porkers are not so large as hogs, and are generally divided into four quarters. The fore quarter has the spring or fore leg, the fore loin or neck, the sparerib, and the griskin. The hind quarter has the leg and the loin. Pig's feet and ears make various good dishes, and should be cut off before the legs and cheeks are cured. The bacon hog is sometimes scalded, to take off the hair, and sometimes singed. The porker is always scalded.

PORK CHOPS. Cut the chops nearly half an inch thick, trim them neatly, and beat them flat. Put a piece of butter into the fryingpan; as soon as it is hot, put in the chops, turn them often, and they will be nicely browned in fifteen minutes. Take one upon a plate and try it; if done, season it with a little finely minced onion, powdered sage, pepper and salt. Or prepare some sweet herbs, sage and onion chopped fine, and put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter. Give them one fry, beat two eggs on a plate with a little salt, and the minced herbs, and mix it all well together. Dip the chops in one at a time, then cover them with bread crumbs, and fry them in hot lard or drippings, till they are of a light brown. Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in the same manner.

PORK GRISKIN. As this joint is usually very hard, the best way is to cover it with cold water, and let it boil up. Then take it out, rub it over with butter, and set it before the fire in a Dutch oven; a few minutes will do it.

PORK JELLY. Take a leg of well-fed pork, just as cut up, beat it, and break the bone. Set it over a gentle fire, with three gallons of water, and simmer it down to one. Stew with it half an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of nutmegs, and strain it through a fine sieve. When cold, take off the fat, and flavour it with salt. This jelly is reckoned a fine restorative in consumptive cases, and nervous debility, a chocolate-cupful to be taken three times a day.

PORK AS LAMB. To dress pork like lamb, kill a young pig four or five months old, cut up the fore-quarter for roasting as you do lamb, and truss the shank close. The other parts will make delicate pickled pork, steaks, or pies.

PORK PIES. Raise some boiled crust into a round or oval form, and have ready the trimming and small bits of pork when a hog is killed. If these be not sufficient, take the meat of a sweet bone. Beat it well with a rolling-pin, season with pepper and salt, and keep the fat and lean separate. Put it in layers, quite up to the top; lay on the lid, cut the edge smooth round, and pinch it together. As the meat is very solid, it must be baked in a slow soaking oven. The pork may be put into a common dish, with a very plain crust, and be quite as good. Observe to put no bone or water into pork pie: the outside pieces will be hard, unless they are cut small, and pressed close. Pork pies in a raised crust, are intended to be eaten cold.

PORK SAUCE. Take two ounces of the leaves of green sage, an ounce of lemon peel thinly pared, an ounce of minced shalot, an ounce of salt, half a dram of cayenne, and half a dram of citric acid. Steep them for a fortnight in a pint of claret, shake it often, and let it stand a day to settle. Decant the clear liquor, and cork it up close. When wanted, mix a table-spoonful in a quarter of a pint of gravy, or melted butter. This will give a fine relish to roast pork, or roast goose.

PORK SAUSAGES. Chop fat and lean pork together, season it with pepper, salt, and sage. Fill hogs' guts that have been thoroughly soaked and cleaned, and tie up the ends carefully. Or the minced meat may be kept in a very small pan, closely covered, and so rolled and dusted with flour before it is fried. Serve them up with stewed red cabbage, mashed potatoes, or poached eggs. The sausages should be pricked with a pin, before they are boiled or fried, or they will be liable to burst.

PORK STEAKS. Cut them from a loin or neck, and of middling thickness. Pepper and broil them, and keep them turning. When nearly done, put on salt, rub a bit of butter over, and serve the moment they are taken off the fire, a few at a time.

PORKER'S HEAD. Choose a fine young head of pork, clean it well, and put bread and sage as for pig. Sow it up tight, roast it as a young pig, on the hanging jack, and serve it with the same kind of sauce.

PORTABLE SOUP. Boil one or two knuckles of veal, one or two shins of beef, and three pounds of beef, in as much water only as will cover them. Take the marrow out of the bones, put in any kind of spice, and three large onions. When the meat is done to rags, strain it off, and set it in a very cold place. Take off the cake of fat, which will do for common pie crusts, and put the soup into a double-bottomed tin saucepan. Set it on a pretty quick fire, but do not let it burn. It must boil fast and uncovered, and be stirred constantly for eight hours. Put it into a pan, and let it stand in a cold place a day; then pour it into a round soup-dish, and set the dish into a stewpan of boiling water on a stove, and let it boil. Stir it now and then, till the soup is thick and ropy; then it is enough. Pour it into the little round part at the bottom of cups and basons turned upside down, to form it into cakes; and when cold, turn them out on flannel to dry. Keep them in tin canisters; and when to be used, dissolve them in boiling water. The flavour of herbs may be added, by first boiling and straining off the liquor, and melting the soup in it. This preparation is convenient in travelling, or at sea, where fresh meat is not readily obtained, as by this means a bason of soup may be made in five minutes.

PORTER. This pleasant beverage may be made with eight bushels of malt to the hogshead, and eight pounds of hops. While it is boiling in the copper, add to it three pounds of liquorice root bruised, a pound of Spanish liquorice, and twelve pounds of coarse sugar or treacle.

PORTUGAL CAKES. Take a pound of well-dried flour, a pound of loaf sugar, a pound of butter well washed in orange-flower water, and a large blade of mace. Take half the flour, and fifteen eggs, leaving out two of the whites, and work them well together with the butter for half an hour, shaking in the rest of the flour with a dredger. Put the cakes into a cool oven, strewing over them a little sugar and flour, and let them bake gently half an hour.

PORTUGUESE SOLES. If the fish be large, cut it in two: if small, they need only be split open. The bones being taken out, put the fish into a pan with a bit of butter, and some lemon juice. Fry it lightly, lay it on a dish, spread a forcemeat over each piece, and roll it round, fastening the roll with a few small skewers. Lay the rolls into a small earthen pan, beat up an egg and smear them, and strew some crumbs over. Put the remainder of the egg into the bottom of the pan, with a little meat gravy, a spoonful of caper liquor, an anchovy chopped fine, and some minced parsley. Cover the pan close, and bake in a slow oven till the fish is done enough. Place the rolls in a dish for serving, and cover it to keep them hot till the baked gravy is skimmed. If not enough, a little fresh gravy must be prepared, flavoured as above, and added to the fish. This is the Portuguese way of dressing soles.

PORTUGUESE STUFFING. Pound lightly some cold beef, veal, or mutton. Add some fat bacon lightly fried and cut small, some onions, a little garlic or shalot, some parsley, anchovy, pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Pound all fine with a few crumbs, and bind it with two or three yolks of eggs. This stuffing is for baked soles, the heads of which are to be left on one side of the split part, and kept on the outer side of the roll; and when served, the heads are to be turned towards each other in the dish. Garnish with fried or dried parsley.

POT HERBS. As some of these are very pungent, they require to be used with discretion, particularly basil, savoury, thyme, or knotted marjoram. The other sorts are milder, and may be used more freely.

POT POURRI. Put into a large china jar the following ingredients in layers, with bay salt strewed between. Two pecks of damask roses, part in buds and part blown; violets, orange flowers and jasmine, a handful of each; orris root sliced, benjamin and storax, two ounces of each; a quarter of an ounce of musk, a quarter of a pound of angelica root sliced, a quart of the red parts of clove gilliflowers, two handfuls of lavender flowers, half a handful of rosemary flowers, bay and laurel leaves, half a handful of each; three Seville oranges, stuck as full of cloves as possible, dried in a cool oven and pounded, and two handfuls of balm of gilead dried. Cover all quite close, and when the pot is uncovered the perfume is very fine.

POTATOE BALLS. Mix some mashed potatoes with the yolk of an egg, roll the mass into balls, flour them, or put on egg and bread crumbs, and fry them in clean drippings, or brown them in a Dutch oven.--Potatoe balls ragout are made by adding to a pound of potatoes, a quarter of a pound of grated ham, or some chopped parsley, or sweet herbs; adding an onion or shalot, salt and pepper, a little grated nutmeg or other spice, and the yolks of two eggs. They are then to be dressed as potatoe balls.

POTATOE BREAD. Weigh half a pound of mealy potatoes after they are boiled or steamed, and rub them while warm into a pound and a half of fine flour, dried a little before the fire. When thoroughly mixed, put in a spoonful of good yeast, a little salt, and warm milk and water sufficient to work into dough. Let it stand by the fire to rise for an hour and a half, then make it into a loaf, and bake it in a tolerably brisk oven. If baked in a tin the crust will be more delicate, but the bread dries sooner.--Another. To two pounds of well-boiled mealy potatoes, rubbed between the hands till they are as fine as flour, mix in thoroughly two large double handfuls of wheat flour, three good spoonfuls of yeast, a little salt, and warm milk enough to make it the usual stiffness of dough. Let it stand three or four hours to rise, then mould it, make it up, and bake it like common bread.

POTATOE CHEESECAKES. Boil six ounces of potatoes, and four ounces of lemon peel; beat the latter in a marble mortar, with four ounces of sugar. Then add the potatoes, beaten, and four ounces of butter melted in a little cream. When well mixed, let it stand to grow cold. Put crust in pattipans, and rather more than half fill them. This quantity will make a dozen cheesecakes, which are to be baked half an hour in a quick oven, with some fine powdered sugar sifted over them.

POTATOE FRITTERS. Boil two large potatoes, scrape them fine; beat up four yolks and three whites of eggs, and add a large spoonful of cream, another of sweet wine, a squeeze of lemon, and a little nutmeg. Beat this batter at least half an hour, till it be extremely light. Put a good quantity of fine lard into a stewpan, and drop a spoonful of the batter at a time into it, and fry the fritters. Serve for sauce a glass of white wine, the juice of a lemon, one dessert spoonful of peach leaf or almond water, and some white sugar. Warm them together, but do not put the sauce into the dish.--Another way. Slice some potatoes thin, dip them in a fine batter, and fry them. Lemon peel, and a spoonful of orange-flower water, should be added to the batter. Serve up the fritters with white sugar sifted over them.

POTATOE PASTE. Pound some boiled potatoes very fine, and while warm, add butter sufficient to make the mash hold together. Or mix it with an egg; and before it gets cold, flour the board pretty well to prevent it from sticking, and roll the paste to the thickness wanted. If suffered to get quite cold before it be put on the dish, it will be apt to crack.

POTATOE PASTY. Boil, peel, and mash some potatoes as fine as possible. Mix in some salt, pepper, and a good piece of butter. Make a paste, roll it out thin like a large puff, and put in the potatoe. Fold over one half, pinching the edges, and bake it in a moderate oven.

POTATOE PIE. Skin some potatoes, cut them into slices, and season them. Add some mutton, beef, pork, or veal, and put in alternate layers of meat and potatoes.

POTATOE PUDDING. To make a plain potatoe pudding, take eight ounces of boiled potatoes, two ounces of butter, the yolks and whites of two eggs, a quarter of a pint of cream, a spoonful of white wine, the juice and rind of a lemon, and a little salt. Beat all to a froth, sweeten it to taste, make a crust to it, or not, and bake it. If the pudding is required to be richer, add three ounces more of butter, another egg, with sweetmeats and almonds. If the pudding is to be baked with meat, boil the potatoes and mash them. Rub the mass through a cullender, and make it into a thick batter with milk and two eggs. Lay some seasoned steaks in a dish, then some batter; and over the last layer of meat pour the remainder of the batter, and bake it of a fine brown.--Another. Mash some boiled potatoes with a little milk, season it with pepper and salt, and cut some fat meat into small pieces. Put a layer of meat at the bottom of the dish, and then a layer of potatoe till the dish is full. Smooth the potatoes on the top, shake a little suet over it, and bake it to a fine brown. Mashed potatoes may also be baked as a pudding under meat, or placed under meat while roasting, or they may be mixed with batter instead of flour.

POTATOE ROLLS. Boil three pounds of potatoes, bruise and work them with two ounces of butter, and as much milk as will make them pass through a cullender. Take nearly three quarters of a pint of yeast, and half a pint of warm water; mix them with the potatoes, pour the whole upon five pounds of flour, and add some salt. Knead it well: if not of a proper consistence, add a little more warm milk and water. Let it stand before the fire an hour to rise; work it well, and make it into rolls. Bake them about half an hour, in an oven not quite so hot as for bread. The rolls will eat well, toasted and buttered.

POTATOE SNOW. The whitest sort of potatoes must be selected, and free from spots. Set them over the fire in cold water; when they begin to crack, strain off the water, and put them into a clean stewpan by the side of the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces. Rub them through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not disturb them afterwards.

POTATOE SOUP. Cut a pound and a half of gravy beef into thin slices, chop a pound of potatoes, and an onion or two, and put them into a kettle with three quarts of water, half a pint of blue peas, and two ounces of rice. Stew these till the gravy is quite drawn from the meat, strain it off, take out the beef, and pulp the other ingredients through a coarse sieve. Add the pulp to the soup, cut in two or three roots of celery, simmer in a clean saucepan till this is tender, season with pepper and salt, and serve it up with fried bread cut into it.

POTATOE STARCH. Raw potatoes, in whatever condition, constantly afford starch, differing only in quality. The round grey or red produce the most, affording about two ounces of starch to a pound of pulp. The process is perfectly easy. Peel and wash a pound of full grown potatoes, grate them on a bread grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of clear water. Stir it well up, then pour it through a hair sieve, and leave it ten minutes to settle, till the water is quite clear. Then pour off the water, and put a quart of fresh water to it; stir it up, let it settle, and repeat this till the water is quite clear. A fine white powder will at last be found at the bottom of the vessel. The criterion of this process being completed, is the purity of the water that comes from it after stirring it up. Lay the powder on a sheet of paper in a hair sieve to dry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready for use. Put into a well stopped bottle, it will keep good for many months. If this be well made, a table-spoonful of it mixed with twice the quantity of cold water, and stirred into a soup or sauce, just before it is taken up, will thicken a pint of it to the consistence of cream. This preparation much resembles the Indian Arrow Root, and is a good substitute for it. It gives a fulness on the palate to gravies and sauces at hardly any expense, and is often used to thicken melted butter instead of flour. Being perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of the most delicate broth or gruel.

POTATOES. The following is allowed to be a superior method of raising potatoes, and of obtaining a larger and finer growth. Dig the earth twelve inches deep, if the soil will admit, and afterwards open a hole about six inches deep, and twelve wide. Fill it with horse dung, or long litter, about three inches thick, and plant a whole potatoe upon it; shake a little more dung over it, and mould up the earth. In this way the whole plot of ground should be planted, placing the potatoes at least sixteen inches apart. When the young shoots make their appearance, they should have fresh mould drawn round them with a hoe; and if the tender shoots are covered, it will prevent the frost from injuring them. They should again be earthed, when the roots make a second appearance, but not covered, as in all probability the season will be less severe. A plentiful supply of mould should be given them, and the person who performs this business should never tread upon the plant, or the hillock that is raised round it, as the lighter the earth is the more room the potatoe will have to expand. In Holland, the potatoes are strangely cultivated, though there are persons who give the preference to Dutch potatoes, supposing them to be of a finer grain than others. They are generally planted in the fields, in rows, nearly as thick as beans or peas, and are suffered to grow up wild and uncultivated, the object being to raise potatoes as small as possible, while the large ones, if such there happen to be, are thrown out and given to the pigs. The mode of cultivation in Ireland, where potatoes are found in the greatest perfection, is far different, and probably the best of all. The round rough red are generally preferred, and are esteemed the most genuine. These are planted in rows, and only just put in beneath the soil. These rows are divided into beds about six feet wide, a path or trench is left between the beds, and as the plants vegetate the earth is dug out of the trench, and thrown lightly over the potatoes. This practice is continued all the summer, the plants are thus nourished by the repeated accession of fresh soil, and the trench as it deepens serves the purpose of keeping the beds dry, and of carrying off the superfluous water. The potatoes are always rich and mealy, containing an unusual quantity of wholesome flour.

POTATOES BOILED. The vegetable kingdom scarcely affords any food more wholesome, more easily procured, easily prepared, or less expensive than the potatoe; yet although this most useful vegetable is dressed almost every day, in almost every family,--for one plate of potatoes that comes to table as it should, ten are spoiled. There is however a great diversity in the colour, size, shape, and quality of the potatoe, and some are of a very inferior description. The yellow are better than the white, but the rough red are the most mealy and nutritive. Choose those of a moderate size, free from blemishes, and fresh. It is best to buy them in the mould, as they come from the bed, and they should not be wetted till they are cleaned for cooking. Protect them from the air and frost, by laying in heaps in a dry place, covering them with mats, or burying them in dry sand. If the frost affects them, the life of the vegetable is destroyed, and the potatoe speedily rots. When they are to be dressed, wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large. Fill a saucepan half full of potatoes of an equal size, and add as much cold water as will cover them about an inch. Most boiled things are spoiled by having too little water, but potatoes are often spoiled by too much: they should merely be covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling. Set them on a moderate fire till they boil, then take them off, and place them on the side of the fire to simmer slowly, till they are soft enough to admit a fork. The usual test of their skin cracking is not to be depended on, for if they are boiled fast this will happen when the potatoes are not half done, and the inside is quite hard. Pour off the water the minute the potatoes are done, or they will become watery and sad; uncover the saucepan, and set it at such a distance from the fire as will prevent its burning; the superfluous moisture will then evaporate, and the potatoes become perfectly dry and mealy. This method is in every respect equal to steaming, and the potatoes are dressed in half the time.

POTATOES BROILED. Parboil, then slice and broil them. Or parboil, and set them whole on the gridiron over a very slow fire. When thoroughly done, send them up with their skins on. This method is practised in many Irish families.

POTATOES IN CREAM. Half boil some potatoes, drain and peel them nicely, and cut into neat pieces. Put them into a stewpan with some cream, fresh butter, and salt, of each a proportion to the quantity of potatoes; or instead of cream, put some good gravy, with pepper and salt. Stew them very gently, and be careful to prevent their breaking.

POTATOES FRIED. If they are whole potatoes, first boil them nearly enough, and then put them into a stewpan with a bit of butter, or some nice clean beef drippings. To prevent their burning, shake them about till they are brown and crisp, and then drain them from the fat. It would be an elegant improvement, to flour and dip them in the yolk of an egg previous to frying, and then roll them in fine sifted bread crumbs: they would then deserve to be called potatoes full dressed.--If to be fried in slices or shavings, peel some large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as in peeling a lemon. Dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that the fat and the fryingpan are both perfectly clean. Put the pan on a quick fire; as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the potatoe slices, and keep moving them till they are crisp. Take them up and lay them to drain on a sieve, and then send them to table with a very little salt sprinkled over.--To fry cold potatoes, put a bit of clean dripping into a fryingpan. When melted, slice in the potatoes with a little pepper and salt; set them on the fire, and keep them stirring. When quite hot, they are ready. This is a good way of re-dressing potatoes, and making them palatable.

POTATOES MASHED. When the potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry them well, and pick out every speck. Rub them through a cullender into a clean stewpan: to a pound of potatoes allow half an ounce of butter, and a spoonful of milk. Mix it up well, but do not make it too moist. After Lady day, when potatoes are getting old and specked, and also in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them. If potatoes are to be mashed with onions, boil the onions, and pass them through a sieve. Mix them with the potatoes, in such a proportion as is most approved.

POTATOES PRESERVED. To keep potatoes from the frost, lay them up in a dry store room, and cover them with straw, or a linen cloth. If this be not convenient, dig a trench three or four feet deep, and put them in as they are taken up. Cover them with the earth taken out of the trench, raise it up in the middle like the roof of a house, and cover it with straw so as to carry off the rain. Better still if laid above ground, and covered with a sufficient quantity of mould to protect them from the frost, as in this case they are less likely to be injured by the wet. Potatoes may also be preserved by suffering them to remain in the ground, and digging them up in the spring of the year, as they are wanted.

POTATOES ROASTED. Choose them nearly of a size, wash and dry the potatoes, and put them in a Dutch oven, or cheese toaster. Take care not to place them too near the fire, or they will burn on the outside before they are warmed through. Large potatoes will require two hours to roast them properly, unless they are previously half boiled. When potatoes are to be roasted under meat, they should first be half boiled, drained from the water, and placed in the pan under the meat. Baste them with some of the dripping, and when they are browned on one side, turn and brown them on the other. Send them up round the meat, or in a small dish.

POTATOES SCALLOPED. Having boiled and mashed the potatoes, butter some clean scallop shells, or pattipans, and put in the potatoes. Smooth them on the top, cross a knife over them, strew on a few fine bread crumbs, sprinkle them a little with melted butter from a paste brush, and then set them in a Dutch oven. When they are browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells, and brown the other side.

POTATOES STEAMED. The potatoes must be well washed, but not pared, and put into the steamer when the water boils. Moderate sized potatoes will require three quarters of an hour to do them properly. They should be taken up as soon as they are done enough, or they will become watery: peel them afterwards.

POTTED BEEF. Take two pounds of lean beef, rub it with saltpetre, and let it lie one night. Then lay on common salt, and cover it with water four days in a small pan. Dry it with a cloth, season it with black pepper, lay it into as small a pan as will hold it, cover it with coarse paste, but put in no liquor, and bake it five hours in a very cool oven. When cold, pick out the strings and fat. Beat the meat very fine, with a quarter of a pound of fine butter just warm, but not oiled, and as much of the gravy as will make it into a paste. Put it into very small pots, and cover them with clarified butter.--Another way. Take beef that has been dressed, either boiled or roasted; beat it in a mortar with some pepper and salt, a few cloves, grated nutmeg, and a little fine butter just warm. This eats as well as the former, but the colour is not so fine. It is however a good way for using the remains of a large joint.

POTTED BIRDS. Having cleaned them nicely, rub every part well with a seasoning of white pepper and salt, mace and allspice in fine powder. Put them in a pan, lay on some butter, cover it with a paste of coarse flour, and a paper tied closely over. When baked and grown cold, cut them into pieces proper for helping, pack them close into a large potting-pan, and leave as little space as possible to receive the butter. Cover them with butter, and one third less will be wanted than when the birds are done whole.

POTTED CHEESE. Cut and pound four ounces of Cheshire cheese, one ounce and a half of fine butter, a tea-spoonful of white powdered sugar, a little bit of mace, and a glass of white wine. Press it down in a deep pot.

POTTED DAMSONS. Weigh the damsons, and wipe them dry one by one, allowing one pound of fine sugar to three pounds of fruit. Spread a little of the sugar at the bottom of the jar, then a layer of fruit, and so on till the jar is full. Then add three or four spoonfuls of water, tie it down close, and put it several times into a cool oven.

POTTED DRIPPING. Boil six pounds of good beef dripping in soft water, strain it into a pan, and let it stand to cool. Take off the hard fat, scrape off the gravy, and repeat it several times. When the fat is cold and hard, put it into a saucepan with six bay leaves, six cloves, half a pound of salt, and a quarter of a pound of whole pepper. Let the fat be entirely melted; and when it has cooled a little, strain it through a sieve into the pot, and tie it down. Turn the pot upside down, that no rats or mice may get at it, and it will keep a long time, and make good puff paste, or crust for puddings.

POTTED HARE. An old hare will do well for this purpose, likewise for soup and pie. After seasoning it, bake it with butter. When cold, take the meat from the bones, and beat it in a mortar. If not high enough, add salt, mace, pepper, and a piece of fresh butter melted in a spoonful or two of gravy that came from the hare. When well mixed, put it into small pots, and cover it with butter. The legs and back should be baked at the bottom of the jar, to keep them moist, and the bones be put over them.

POTTED HERRINGS. Scale, clean, and season them well. Bake them in a pan with spice, bay leaves, and some butter. When cold, lay them in a potting pot, and cover them over with butter. They are very fine for a supper dish.

POTTED LOBSTERS. Half boil them, pick out the meat, cut it into small pieces, season with mace, white pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Press it close into a pot, and cover it with butter; bake it half an hour, and then put in the spawn. When cold take out the lobster, and put it into pots with a little of the butter. Beat the rest of the butter in a mortar, with some of the spawn, mix the coloured butter with as much as will be sufficient to cover the pots, and strain it. Cayenne may be added, if approved.--Another way. Take out the meat as whole as possible, split the tail, and remove the gut; and if the inside be not watery, it may be added. Season with mace, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, and a clove or two, in the finest powder. Lay a little fine butter at the bottom of the pan, and the lobster smooth over it, with bay leaves between; cover it with butter, and bake it gently. When done, pour the whole on the bottom of a sieve; and with a fork lay the pieces into potting pots, some of each sort, with the seasoning about it. When cold, pour clarified butter over, but not hot. It will be good the next day; but if highly seasoned, and well covered with butter, it will keep some time. Potted lobster may be used cold, or as a fricassee, with a cream sauce. It then looks very nicely, and eats well, especially if there is spawn. Mackarel, herrings, and trout, are good potted in the same way.

POTTED MACKEREL. Clean, season, and bake them in a pan with spice, bay leaves, and some butter. When cold, lay them in a pot for potting, and cover them over with butter.

POTTED MOOR GAME. Pick, singe, and wash the birds nicely. Dry and season them pretty high, inside and out, with pepper, mace, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Pack them in as small a pot as will hold them, cover them with butter, and bake in a very slow oven. When cold, take off the butter, dry them from the gravy, and put one bird into each pot, which should just fit. Add as much more butter as will cover them, but take care that it be not oiled. The best way to melt it is, by warming it in a bason placed in a bowl of hot water.

POTTED PARTRIDGE. Clean them nicely, and season with mace, allspice, white pepper, and salt, all in fine powder. Rub every part well, then lay the breast downwards in a pan, and pack the birds as close as possible. Put a good deal of butter on them, cover the pan with a paste of coarse flour and a paper over, tie it close and bake it. When cold, put the birds into pots, and cover them with butter. The butter that has covered potted things will serve for basting, or for paste for meat pies.

POTTED PIGEONS. Let them be quite fresh, clean them carefully, and season them with salt and pepper. Lay them close in a small deep pan; for the smaller the surface, and the closer they are packed, the less butter will be wanted. Cover them with butter, then with very thick paper tied down, and bake them. When cold, put them dry into pots that will hold two or three in each, and pour butter over them, using that which was baked in part. If they are to be kept, the butter should be laid pretty thick over them. If pigeons were boned, and then put in an oval form into the pot, they would lie closer, and require less butter. They may be stuffed with a fine forcemeat made with veal, bacon, and the other ingredients, and then they will eat very fine. If a high flavour is preferred, add mace, allspice, and a little cayenne, before baking.

POTTED RABBITS. Cut up two or three young but full-grown rabbits, and take off the leg bones at the thigh. Pack them as closely as possible in a small pan, after seasoning them with pepper, salt, mace, allspice, and cayenne, all in very fine powder. Make the top as smooth as possible. Keep out the heads and the carcase bones, but take off the meat about the neck. Put in a good deal of butter, and bake the whole gently. Keep it two days in the pan, then shift it into small pots, with some additional butter. When a rabbit is to be blanched, set it on the fire with a small quantity of cold water, and let it boil. It is then to be taken out immediately, and put into cold water for a few minutes.

POTTED SALMON. Scale and wipe a large piece of salmon, but do not wash it. Salt it, and let it lie till the salt is melted and drained from it; then season it with pounded mace, cloves, and whole pepper. Lay in a few bay leaves, put it close into a pan, cover it over with butter, and bake it. When well done, drain it from the gravy, put it into pots to keep, and when cold cover it with clarified butter. Any kind of firm fish may be potted in the same manner.

POTTED SHRIMPS. When boiled, take them out of the skins, and season them with salt, white pepper, and a very little mace and cloves. Press them into a pot, set it in the oven ten minutes, and when cold lay on butter.

POTTED TROUT. Scale and draw out the entrails of the fish without opening the belly, give them a wash, and let them drain from the water. Season the fish well with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and ginger. Lay them into a broad pan in two layers, cover them with butter, and then with paper. Lay some sticks across the pan to keep the paper up. Bake them moderately, then take them out and drain them. Put them into pots in two layers, and fill up the pots with clarified butter, as cool as it can be to run properly. Any other fish may be potted in the same way.

POTTED VEAL. Cold fillet makes the finest potted veal, or it may be done as follows. Season a large slice of the fillet before it is dressed, with some mace, peppercorns, and two or three cloves. Lay it close into a potting pan that will but just hold it, fill the pan up with water, and bake it three hours. Then pound it in a mortar, and flavour it with salt. In pounding, put to it a little of the baked gravy, if the meat is to be eaten soon; otherwise only a little butter just melted. When done, cover it over with butter. To pot veal or chicken with ham, pound some cold veal or the white of a chicken, seasoned as above, and place layers of it with layers of ham pounded, or rather shred. Press down each, and cover the whole with clarified butter.

POTTED VENISON. If the venison be stale, rub it with vinegar, dry it with a cloth, and rub it well with red wine. Season it with pepper, salt, and mace, and put it into a jar. Pour over it half a pint of red wine, lay in a pound of butter, and bake it tender. When it is done, clean it from the bones and skin, and beat it in a marble mortar with the fat and gravy. Press it hard into the pots, and pour clarified butter over it.

POULTICES. Common poultice is best made of white bread, put into boiling water till it is of a proper thickness. Then let it boil, and add a bit of lard, or a little sweet oil. Water answers the purpose better than milk, as the poultice thus made will retain the moisture longer.--A poultice to ripen tumours or swellings, should consist of two ounces of white lily roots, half a pound of figs, and two ounces of meal or bean flour. These are to be boiled in water till it comes to a proper consistence; the poultice is then spread on a thick cloth, applied warm, and shifted as often as it grows dry.--Carrot poultice is made of clean grated carrots mixed with water, so as to form a soft pulp. This is an excellent poultice to ease pain arising from a sore; it not only cleanses it, but takes off the offensive smell which generally attends such complaints. It also affords great relief in cancers, and should be changed twice a day.

POULTRY. Previously to their being dressed, every description of game and poultry requires to be carefully picked, and neatly trussed; every plug should be removed, and the hair nicely singed with white paper. In drawing poultry, care must be taken not to break the gall bag, for no washing will take off the bitter where it has touched. In dressing wild fowl, a brisk clear fire must be kept up, that they may be done of a fine yellow brown, but so as to leave the gravy in: the fine flavour is lost if done too much. Tame fowls require more roasting, and are longer in heating through than others. All sorts should be continually basted, that they may be served up with a froth, and appear of a fine colour. A large fowl will take three quarters of an hour, a middling one half an hour, and a small one, or a chicken, twenty minutes. The fire must be very quick and clear, before any fowls are put down. A capon will take from half an hour to thirty-five minutes, a goose an hour, wild ducks a quarter of an hour, pheasants twenty minutes, a small stuffed turkey an hour and a quarter, turkey poults twenty minutes, grouse a quarter of an hour, quails ten minutes, and partridges about twenty-five minutes. A hare will take nearly an hour, and the hind part requires most heat. Pigs and geese require a brisk fire, and quick turning. Hares and rabbits must be well attended to, and the extremities brought to the quick part of the fire, to be done equally with the backs.

POULTRY YARD. In the rearing of poultry, care should be taken to choose a fine large breed, or the ends of good management may be defeated. The Dartford sort is generally approved, but it is difficult to say which is to be preferred, if they be but healthy and vigorous. The black sort are very juicy, but as their legs are so much discoloured, they are not well adapted for boiling. Those hens are usually preferred for setting, which have tufts of feathers on their head; those that crow are not considered so profitable. Some fine young fowls should be reared every year, to keep up a stock of good breeders, and bad layers and careless nurses should be excluded. The best age for a setting hen is from two to five years, and it is necessary to remark which among them are the best breeders. Hens set twenty days, and convenient places should be provided for their laying, which will also serve for setting and hatching. A hen house should be large and high, should be frequently cleaned out, and well secured from the approach of vermin, or the eggs will be sucked, and the fowls destroyed. Hens must not be disturbed while sitting, for if frightened, they are apt to forsake their nests. Wormwood and rue should be planted about their houses; some of the former should occasionally be boiled, and sprinkled about the floor, which should not be paved, but formed of smooth earth. The windows of the house should be open to the rising sun, and a hole left at the door to let in the smaller fowls; the larger may be let in and out by opening the door. There should be a small sliding board to shut down when the fowls are gone to roost, to prevent the ravages of vermin, and a strong door and lock should be added, to secure the poultry from thieves and robbers. Let the hens lay some time before they are allowed to set, the proper time for which will be from the end of February to the beginning of May. Broods of chickens are hatched all through the summer, but those that come out very late require care till they have gained sufficient strength. Feed the hens well during the time of laying, and give them oats occasionally. If the eggs of any other sort are put under a hen with some of her own, observe to add her own as many days after the others as there is a difference in the length of their setting. A turkey and duck set thirty days, the hen only twenty. Choose large clear eggs to put her upon, and such a number as she can properly cover; about ten or twelve are quite sufficient. If the eggs be very large, they sometimes contain a double yolk, and in that case neither will be productive. When some of the chickens are hatched, long before the others, it may be necessary to keep them in a basket of wool till the others come forth. The day after they are hatched, give them some crumbs of white bread or grots soaked in milk, which are very nourishing. As soon as they have gained a little strength, feed them with curd, cheese parings cut small, or any soft food, but nothing that is sour, and provide them with clean water twice a day. Keep the hen under a pen till the young have strength to follow her about, which will be in two or three weeks; and be sure to feed the hen well. Poultry in general should be fed as nearly as possible at the same hour of the day, and in the same place, as this will be the surest way of collecting them together. Potatoes boiled in a little water, so as to be dry and mealy, and then cut, and wetted with skim milk that is not sour, will form an agreeable food for poultry, and young turkies will thrive much on it. Grain should however be given occasionally, or the constant use of potatoe food will make their flesh soft and insipid. The food of fowls goes first into the crop, which softens it; it then passes into the gizzard, which by constant friction macerates it; this is facilitated by small stones which are generally found there, and which help to digest the food. If a setting hen be troubled with vermin, let her be well washed with a decoction of white lupins. The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking dirty water, or taking filthy food. The general symptom is a white thin scale on the tongue, which should be pulled off with the finger; afterwards rub the tongue with a little salt, and the disorder will be removed.--GEESE require a somewhat different management. They generally breed once in a year; but if well kept, they will frequently hatch twice within that period. Three of these birds are usually allotted to a gander; if there were more, the eggs would be rendered abortive. The quantity of eggs to be placed under each goose while setting, is about a dozen or thirteen. While brooding, they should be well fed with corn and water, which must be placed near them, so that they may eat at pleasure. The ganders should never be excluded from their company, because they are then instinctively anxious to watch over and guard their own geese. The nests of geese should be made of straw, and so confined that the eggs may not roll out, as the geese turn them every day. When they are nearly hatched, it is proper to break the shell near the back of the young gosling, as well for the purpose of admitting the air, as to enable it to make its escape at the proper time. To fatten young geese, the best way is to coop them up in a dark narrow place, where they are to be fed with ground malt mixed with milk; or if milk be scarce, with barley meal mashed up with water. A less expensive way will be to give them boiled oats, with either duck's meat or boiled carrots; and as they are very fond of variety, these may be given them alternately. They will then become fat in a few weeks, and their flesh will acquire a fine flavour. In order to fatten stubble geese at Michaelmas time, the way is to turn them out on the wheat stubble, or those pastures that grow after wheat has been harvested. They are afterwards to be pent up, and fed with ground malt mixed with water. Boiled oats or wheat may occasionally be substituted.--DUCKS are fattened in the same manner, only they must be allowed a large pan of water to dabble in. Those kept for breeders, should have the convenience of a large pond; and such as have their bills a little turned up will generally be found the most prolific. In the spring of the year, an additional number of ducks may be reared by putting the eggs under the care of the hen, who will hatch them as her own brood.--TURKIES, early in the spring, will often wander to a distance in order to construct their nest, where the hen deposits from fourteen to seventeen eggs, but seldom produces more than one brood in a season. Great numbers are reared in the northern counties, and driven by hundreds to the London market by means of a shred of scarlet cloth fastened to the end of a pole, which from their antipathy to this colour serves as a whip. Turkies being extremely delicate fowls, are soon injured by the cold: hence it is necessary, soon after they are hatched, to force them to swallow one whole peppercorn each, and then restore them to the parent bird. They are also liable to a peculiar disorder, which often proves fatal in a little time. On inspecting the rump feathers, two or three of their quills will be found to contain blood; but on drawing them out, the chickens soon recover, and afterwards require no other care than common poultry. Young turkies should be fed with crumbs of bread and milk, eggs boiled hard and chopped, or with common dock leaves cut fine, and mixed with fresh butter-milk. They also require to be kept in the sunshine or a warm place, and guarded from the rain, or from running among the nettles. They are very fond of the common garden peppercress, or cut-leaved cress, and should be supplied with as much of it as they will eat, or allowed to pick it off the bed. In Norfolk they are fed with curds and chopped onions, also with buck wheat, and are literally crammed with boluses of barley meal till their crops are full, which perhaps may account for the superior excellence of the turkies in that part of the kingdom.

POUNCE. This article, used in writing, is made of gum sandaric, powdered and sifted very fine; or an equal quantity of rosin, burnt alum, and cuttle fishbone well dried, and mixed together. This last is of a superior quality.

POUND CAKE. Beat a pound of butter to a cream, and mix with it the whites and yolks of eight eggs beaten apart. Have ready warm by the fire, a pound of flour, and the same of sifted sugar. Mix them and a few cloves, a little nutmeg and cinnamon, in fine powder together; then by degrees work the dry ingredients into the butter and eggs. It must be well beaten for a full hour, adding a glass of wine, and some carraway seeds. Butter a pan, and bake it a full hour in a quick oven. The above proportions, leaving out four ounces of the butter, and the same of sugar, make a less luscious cake, but a very pleasant one.

POUNDED CHEESE. Cut a pound of good mellow cheese into thin slices, add to it two or three ounces of fresh butter, rub them well together in a mortar till quite smooth. When cheese is dry, and for those whose digestion is feeble, this is the best way of eating it; and spread on bread, it makes an excellent supper. The flavour of this dish may be encreased by pounding it with curry powder, ground spice, black cayenne, and a little made mustard; or it may be moistened with a glass of sherry. If pressed down hard in a jar, and covered with clarified butter, it will keep for several days in cool weather.

PRAWNS AND SHRIMPS. When fresh they have a sweet flavour, are firm and stiff, and of a bright colour. Shrimps are of the prawn kind, and may be judged by the same rules.

PRAWN SOUP. Boil six whitings and a large eel, in as much water as will cover them, after being well cleaned. Skim them clean, and put in whole pepper, mace, ginger, parsley, or onion, a little thyme, and three cloves, and boil the whole to a mash. Pick fifty crawfish, or a hundred prawns; pound the shells, and a small roll. But first boil them with a little water, vinegar, salt, and herbs. Put this liquor over the shells in a sieve, and then pour the soup, clear from the sediment. Chop a lobster, and add this to it, with a quart of good beef gravy. Add also the tails of the crawfish, or the prawns, with some flour and butter. The seasoning may be heightened, if approved.

PRESERVES. These can never be done to perfection, without plenty of good sugar. Fruits may be kept with small quantities of sugar, but then they must boil so long that there is as much waste in the boiling away, as some more sugar added at first would have cost, and the quality of the preserve will neither be so proper for use, nor of so good an appearance, as with a larger proportion of sugar, and moderate boiling. Fruits are often put up without any sugar at all, but if they do not ferment and spoil, which is very common, they must have a good deal of sugar added to them when used, and thus the risk of spoiling seems hardly compensated by any saving. The only real economy that can be exercised in this case is, not to make any preserves at all. The most perfect state in which fruits in general can be taken for preserving is, just when they are full ripe. Sooner than this they have not acquired their best qualities, and if they hang long after it they begin to lose them. Some persons will delay the doing them, under an idea that the longer they hang the less sugar they require. But it is a false economy that would lose the perfection of the fruit to save some of the sugar, and probably quite unfounded in fact, as all things will naturally keep the best that are taken at their highest perfection, and hence do with as little sugar then as at any time.

PRESERVED CUCUMBERS. Choose such as are most free from seed; some should be small to preserve whole, and others large to cut in pieces. Put them into a jar, with strong salt and water, and a cabbage leaf to keep them down, and set them in a warm place till they turn yellow. Then wash and set them over the fire in fresh water, with a little salt, and a fresh cabbage leaf over them; cover the pan close, but they must not be boiled. If not of a fine green, change the water, cover them as before, and make them hot; when of a good green, take them off the fire, and let them stand till cold. Cut the large cucumbers in quarters, and take out the seeds and pulp; put them into cold water for two days, and change the water twice each day. Place on the fire a pound of refined sugar, with half a pint of water; skim it clean, put in the rind of a lemon, and an ounce of ginger with the outside scraped off. When the syrup is pretty thick take it off, and when cold wipe the cucumbers dry, and put them in. Boil the syrup every two or three days, continuing to do so for three weeks, and make it stronger if necessary. Be sure to put the syrup to the cucumbers quite cold, cover them close, and keep them in a dry place.

PRESERVED OYSTERS. Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them, except in dividing the gristle which attaches the shells. Put them into a mortar, and add about two drams of salt to a dozen oysters. Pound and then rub them through the back of a hair sieve, and put them into the mortar again, with as much well-dried flour as will make them into a paste. Roll it out several times, and at last flour and roll it out the thickness of a half crown, and divide it into pieces about an inch square. Lay them in a Dutch oven, that they may dry gently without being burnt; turn them every half hour, and when they begin to dry, crumble them. They will take about four hours to dry, then pound them fine, sift and put them into bottles, and seal them down. To make half a pint of oyster sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stewpan, with three drams of oyster powder, and six spoonfuls of milk. Set it on a slow fire, stir it till it boils, and season it with salt. This powder, if made of plump juicy natives, will abound with the flavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place, will remain good for some time. It is also an agreeable substitute when oysters are out of season, and is a valuable addition to the list of fish sauces. It is equally good with boiled fowl, or rump steak; and sprinkled on bread and butter, it makes a very good sandwich.

PRESERVED WALNUTS. Put the walnuts into cold water, let them boil five minutes, strain off the water, and change it three times. Dry the nuts in a cloth, and weigh them; to every pound of nuts allow a pound of sugar, and stick a clove in each. Put them into a jar with some rose vinegar; boil up a syrup, with a pint of water and half a pound of sugar, and pour over them. Let them stand three or four days, and boil up the syrup again. Repeat this three times, and at last give the walnuts a good scald, and let them remain in the syrup.

PRESERVATION OF BUTTER. Butter, as it is generally cured, does not keep well for any length of time, without spoiling or becoming rancid. The following method of preserving butter, supposing it to have been previously well made, is recommended as the best at present known. Reduce separately to fine powder in a dry mortar, two pounds of the whitest common salt, one pound of saltpetre, and one pound of lump sugar. Sift these ingredients one above another, on two sheets of paper joined together, and then mix them well with the hands, or with a spatula. Preserve the whole in a covered jar, placed in a dry situation. When required to be used, one ounce of this composition is to be proportioned to every pound of butter, and the whole is to be well worked into the mass: the butter is then to be packed in casks in the usual way. Butter cured with this mixture will be of a rich marrowy consistence, and will never acquire that brittle hardness so common to salt butter. It has been known to keep for three years, as sweet as it was at first; but it must be observed, that butter thus cured requires to stand at least three weeks or a month before it is used. If it be opened sooner, the salts are not sufficiently blended with it, and sometimes the coolness of the nitre will then be perceived, which totally disappears afterwards. Cleanliness in this article is indispensable, but it is not generally suspected, that butter made or kept in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or put into glazed earthenware pans, is too apt to be contaminated with particles of that deleterious metal. If the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can hardly fail to take place; and it cannot be doubted, that during the decomposition of the salts, the glazing is acted upon. It is better therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the butter, and to pack it either in wooden vessels, or in stone jars which are vitrified throughout, and do not require any inside glazing.

PRESSED BEEF. Salt a piece of the brisket, a thin part of the flank, or the tops of the ribs, with salt and saltpetre five days. Boil it gently till extremely tender, put it under a great weight, or in a cheesepress, and let it remain till perfectly cold. It is excellent for sandwiches, or a cold dish.

PRIMROSE VINEGAR. Boil four pounds of moist sugar in ten quarts of water for about a quarter of an hour, and take off the scum. Then pour the liquor on six pints of primroses, add some fresh yeast before it is quite cold, and let it work all night in a warm place. When the fermentation is over, close up the barrel, and still keep it in a warm place.

PRINCE OF WALES'S PUDDING. Put half a pound of loaf sugar, and half a pound of fresh butter, into a saucepan; set it over the fire till both are melted, stirring it well, as it is very liable to burn, but do not let it boil. Pour this into an earthen pan, grate the rind of a lemon into it, and leave it to cool. Have ready two sponge biscuits soaked in a quarter of a pint of cream, bruise them fine and stir them into the sugar and butter. Beat the yolks of ten, and the whites of five eggs well with a little salt; squeeze and strain the juice of the lemon into them, and mix these well in with the other ingredients. Lay a puff paste into the dish, strew it with pieces of candied lemon peel, put in the pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Sift fine sugar over it, before it is sent to the table.

PROVISIONS. The first of all requisites for human sustenance is Bread, which with great propriety is denominated 'the staff of life.' The next to this is Meat, which though not alike essential, is of great importance in strengthening and invigorating the human frame. The former of these constituting the principal food of great numbers, and a part of the sustenance of all people, it is highly necessary to attend carefully to the ingredients of which it is composed, and to the manner in which it is prepared. A person's health must inevitably be injured by bad corn and flour, and even by what is good, when improperly prepared. The best flour is often made into bad bread by not suffering it to rise sufficiently; by not kneading it well, by not baking it enough, and by keeping it too long. Mixing other substances with the flour also injures the quality of the bread in a very high degree. These faults have a bad effect on those who generally eat such bread, but the injury is still more serious to children and weakly persons. Where the flour is corrupted, the use of it in every other article of food, will of course be as unwholesome as in that of bread. The mere exposure to the air will evaporate and deaden all flour, though the grain may never have passed through any fermentation or digestion; as in the instance of wheat flour, the strongest and the best of any other. For this reason, flour which has been ground five or six weeks, or longer, though it be kept close in sacks or barrels, will not make so sweet a loaf, nor one so moist and pleasant, as that which is newly ground. Hence all bread made in London eats drier and harsher than bread in the country, which is made within a few days after the grinding of the wheat. All grains which are ground, ought therefore to be used as soon afterwards as possible. But this is not the most profitable to the dealers in meal, as meal newly ground will not part so freely from the bran, nor consequently yield so much flour, as when it lies a certain time after the grinding; for this disposes the branny and floury parts to give way from each other, and thus they separate easier and more completely than when dressed immediately. The flour also then looks finer, but the bread made of such meal is not of so good a quality as that made of meal fresh ground. All sorts of grain kept entire, will remain sound and good for a long time: but flour will in a comparatively short time, corrupt, and generate worms. This therefore requires peculiar attention, or much loss and injury may be sustained. The health of mankind depends in great measure on the good or bad preparation of food, and on the purity of all sorts of provisions: and grain being the most essential article of sustenance, very much depends on the conduct of millers, bakers, and mealmen. Those who acquit themselves honestly in these vocations are entitled to a fair profit, and the goodwill of their fellow-men: but such as betray the confidence reposed in them, by corrupting or withholding it when needed, are undoubtedly amongst the worst enemies of mankind. So far as health is concerned, bread made with leaven is preferable to that made with yeast; the sour quality of leaven is more agreeable to the ferment of the stomach than yeast; it is also easier of digestion, and more cleansing. It opens the vessels, and gives a healthy appetite; and a little use will make it familiar and pleasant to the eater. This bread however seldom agrees with weak stomachs, especially such as are liable to acidity and heartburn. One of the best kinds of bread for sickly people, is made of wheaten flour, the coarse or husky bran being taken out, but not finely dressed; otherwise it would be dry, and obstructing to the stomach. The inner skin or branny parts of wheat contain a moisty quality, which is opening and cleansing, while the fine floury parts afford more nourishment. Bread therefore of a middling quality is the wholesomest, and the best. Mixing in much salt is injurious, from the change it occasions in bread of every description. Finding no matter liable to putrefaction to work on, it acts upon the best qualities of the flour, which it alters and corrupts. Hence, when bread is intended to be kept a considerable time, as biscuits for a long voyage, no salt is put into it. But bread for common use will admit of a moderate portion of salt. It may be remarked however, that bread, notwithstanding it is so excellent with meat, milk, and vegetables, is not so substantial and nourishing as flour, when prepared in porridges and other articles. To have good bread, it should not be baked in too close an oven, but a free passage should be left for the air. The best way is to make it into thin cakes, and bake them on a stone, which many in the northern counties use for that purpose, making a wood fire under it. This sort of bread is sweeter, of a more innocent taste, and far easier of digestion, than bread baked the common way in ovens. In the same manner cakes may be made of any kind of grain, such as rye, oats, or barley, and will be found more wholesome and nourishing, and more agreeable to nature, than bread made in the usual manner. Oat cakes are often preferred to those made of wheat flour, as they tend to open the body, and are rather warmer, to cold and weak stomachs. Barley is not so nourishing, and requires more preparation to render it digestible, than the other kinds of grain. Cakes, biscuits, muffins, buns, crumpets, and small bread, made with eggs, butter, or sugar, seldom agree with delicate persons. Biscuits made without leaven, yeast, butter, or sugar, are more difficult of digestion, than bread when it is fermented. Where bread is fixed to a standard weight and price, bakers are very apt to mix alum and pearlash with it, for the purpose of hastening its rising, and of encreasing its weight, by causing it to retain its moisture. If a piece of bread be soaked in water, and turns the juice of a red cabbage into a green colour, it is a proof that it contains an alkali or earthy substance, which is most probably pearlash. It is said that a compound salt is clandestinely sold in London, under the name of baker's salt, and is composed of the above ingredients. When there is reason to suspect that bread is adulterated with alum, it may be detected thus. Cut about a pound of bread into an earthen vessel, pour upon it a quart of boiling water, and let it stand till cold. Strain the liquor off gently through a piece of fine linen, boil it down to about a wine glass full, and set it by to cool. If there be a mixture of alum, it will form itself into crystals. The observance of the following rules may be considered as essential to the making of good bread. The corn must be sound and clean, and newly ground, and not contaminated with any extraneous mixtures. To make it easy of digestion it should be leavened, and moderately seasoned with salt. Let it rise for several hours, and be well wrought and kneaded with the hands. It must be well baked, but neither over nor under-done. If baked too little, the bread will be heavy, clammy, and unwholesome: if too much, its strength and goodness will be consumed. In general, bread should not be eaten hot; it is then more viscid, and harder of digestion. Bread is in its best state the first and second day after it is baked. Economical bread, or bread of an inferior quality, depraved by other mixtures, has frequently been recommended to poor people in times of scarcity; but except where absolute necessity exists, this is a kind of policy that cannot be too severely condemned. The labouring classes, whose dependence is almost entirely upon bread, ought to be provided with what is of the purest and most nutricious quality, and at a reasonable price. They might then live upon their labour, and in health and activity would feel that labour itself was sweet. If potatoes, rice, or any other ingredients are to be mixed with the bread, to lower its nutricious qualities, let it not be offered to the labourer; but if economy of this kind be required, let it be exercised by those whose eyes are standing out with fatness, and to whom a sparer diet might be beneficial.--MEAT in general, as well as all other kinds of food, is nourishing or otherwise, according to its quality, and the manner in which it is prepared. There are peculiar constitutions, or particular diseases and periods of life, when animal food is highly detrimental; and others again, when it is essentially necessary; but it is the general use of it, and not these exceptions, that will be the subject of the following observations. As a part of our habitual diet, the main points to be attended to are, the kinds of animal food, and the modes of dressing it, which are most to be recommended. A choice of meat is desirable, but if the animals subject to this choice be neither sound nor healthy, it is of little consequence which kind is preferred, for they, are alike unwholesome. It is proper therefore to avoid the flesh of all such as are fatted in confinement, or upon pernicious substances, which can never make wholesome food. Oil cakes and rank vegetables, with want of air and exercise, will produce such sort of meat as will shew immediately from its appearance, that it must be unwholesome. Animals may eat rancid fulsome food, and grow fat upon it, and yet the meat they produce may be highly offensive. Hunger and custom will induce the eating of revolting substances, both in the brute and human species; and growing fat is by no means a certain sign of health. On the contrary, it is frequently the symptom of a gross habit, and a tendency to disease. The distinct effects of various kinds of food upon animals, are very obvious in the instance of milch cows. Grass, hay, straw, grains, turnips, and oil cakes, produce milk of such different qualities as must be at once distinguished; and the preference to that where cows are fed upon grass or hay, and next to them straw, appears very decided. The inference would be fair, that it must be the same with respect to flesh, even if it were less obvious than it is. It is an unwise economy, in the management of cows, that withholds from them a sufficient quantity of the best and most nourishing food. If duly appreciated, the quality of milk is even of superior importance to that of flesh, from its general excellence and utility as an article of food. If milk was plentiful and good, the want of meat would in many instances not be felt, and in others, the consumption of it might be lessened with great advantage. To confine cows with a view to increase their supply of milk, is as injurious to the quality of it, as the confinement of animals is in other instances. The over feeding them also with a similar view, is an injurious practice. Cleanliness too is no less essential to keeping them in a wholesome state, than to animals intended to be slaughtered. It is no uncommon effect of confining and cramming animals, that they become diseased in the liver, besides acquiring a general tendency to putridity in their juices and muscular substances, from want of air and exercise, excess of feeding and bad food, and the dirt in which they live. A brute, no more than a human being, can digest above a certain quantity of food, to convert it into actual nourishment; and good chyle can only be produced from wholesome food, cleanliness, air, and exercise. To be well fleshed rather than fat, is the desirable state of animals destined for slaughter. There will always be with this a sufficient proportion of fat; and labouring by artificial means to produce more, is only encreasing that part of animal substance, which from its gross indigestible nature is not proper for human diet, unless in a very limited degree. Venison, which in its domestic state is never fatted like other animals; game, and every wild animal proper for food; possess superior qualities to the tame, from the total contrast in their habits, more than from the food they eat. They have an extensive range in the open air, take much exercise, and choose their own sustenance, the good effects of which are very evident in a short delicate texture of flesh found only in them. Their juices and flavour are more pure, and their fat is far more delicious than that of home-bred animals. The superiority of Welch mutton and Scotch beef is owing to a similar cause, and is still more in point than the former, as a contrast between animals of the same species under different management. The preferences just mentioned are not a mere matter of taste, which might readily be dispensed with, but are founded on more important considerations. A short delicate texture renders the meat more digestible, in a very high degree, than the coarse, heavy, stringy kind of substance produced by the misapplied art of man. A pure animal juice too, is something more than a luxury; for if what we use as food is not pure, neither can our blood nor our juices be so. If we would but be content with unadulterated luxuries, we have them at our command; and provided they are not indulged to excess, are of decided advantage to our health. Supposing all animal flesh to be good of its kind, there is still abundant room for selection and choice. Mutton, beef, venison, game, wild rabbits, fowls, turkies, and various small birds, are preferable to lamb, veal, pork, young pigs, ducks, geese, and tame rabbits. Beef and mutton are much easier of digestion and more nutricious than veal and lamb, especially if not slaughtered before they come to proper maturity. Nothing arrives at perfection under a stated period of growth, and till this is attained it will afford only inferior nutriment. If the flesh of mutton and lamb, beef and veal, are compared, they will be found of a different texture, and the two young meats of a more stringy indivisible nature than the others, which makes them harder of digestion. Neither are their juices so nourishing when digested; as any one at all in the habit of observing what is passing within and about them will readily perceive from their own experience. Lamb and veal leave a craving nausea in the stomach, not perceived after taking other kinds of animal food. Veal broth soon turns sour by standing, owing to the sugar of milk contained in the blood of a calf; and the same change takes place in a weak stomach. Persons in the habit of drinking strong liquors with their meals, cannot competently judge of such an effect; as these liquors harden all kinds of animal food, and therefore little distinction can be perceived amongst them. Pork and young pigs are liable to the same objections as lamb and veal, but in a greater degree; they are fat and luscious, but afford no nutriment. Ducks and geese are of a coarse oily nature, and only fit for very strong stomachs. Tame rabbits are of a closer heavier texture than wild ones, and hence of inferior quality. Pigeons are of a hot nature, and should therefore be used sparingly. Fowls and turkies are of a mild proper nature for food, but the fattening them in confinement is equally prejudicial, as to other animals already mentioned. If left at large, well fed with good barley, and with clean water to drink, they will be little inferior to game. Barley is preferable to barley meal, as retaining all the natural qualities of the grain in greater perfection than when ground; and as these birds are provided with grinders in the gizzard, the concocting their own food is more nourishing and wholesome for them. These, like other animals, should be suffered to attain their full growth, in order to have them in the best state for nutriment. Some parts of birds, and other animals, are hard and viscid, as the head, neck, feet, and tail; the parts about the wings, back, and breast of birds, are in general the most tender, and of the finest flavour. In four-footed animals, the upper part of the leg and shoulder, the back, breast, and long bones of the neck, are generally superior to the rest. The heart and other viscera are nutricious, but hard of digestion, and improper for weak stomachs. The larger an animal is of its kind, the flesh of it will be stronger, and more difficult to digest; the juices also will be more rank than those of smaller ones of the same species, supposing them to have arrived at the same maturity. Animals which abound with fat and oily substances are harder to digest, than those of a drier and more fleshy nature; and to persons who use but little exercise, or have weak stomachs, this kind of food is very improper. Its tendency is to weaken the tone and force of the stomach, the fat and oil being enclosed in little bladders, which are with difficulty broken and separated. Hence fat meat is not so digestible as that of well fed animals, which do not abound with fat. The flesh of very old animals is unwholesome, being hard, dry, sinewy, innutricious, and difficult to digest. Those which are the longest in coming to maturity have the coarsest juices, such as oxen, cows, and boars. These are less tender and digestible than sheep, venison, hares, rabbits, poultry, game, and other birds. In almost all cases, the strong and pungent in flavour are harder to digest than those of a milder nature. The flesh of birds is lighter, drier, and easier of digestion, than that of four-footed animals. A difference also arises from the place of pasturage, from food and exercise. Animals living in high places, refreshed with wholesome winds, and cherished with the warm beams of the sun, where there are no marshes, lakes, or standing waters, are preferable to those living in pools, as ducks and geese, and other kinds of fowl.--FISH is less nourishing than flesh, because it is gross, phlegmatic, cold, and full of watery superfluities: but under certain restrictions, it may be safely used as a part of our general diet. It is unsuitable to cold phlegmatic constitutions, but very well adapted to such as are hot and choleric. The white kinds of fish, which contain neither fat nor oil, are preferable to the rest; such as whitings, turbot, soles, skate, haddock, flounders, smelts, trout, and graylings. These are easier of digestion than salmon, mackarel, eels, lampreys, herrings, or sprats, and therefore more wholesome. Shell-fish, such as oysters, muscles, cockles, crabs, and lobsters, are very far from being easy of digestion, and are particularly improper for invalids, though too commonly imagined to be suitable in such cases. In general it may be observed, that those kinds of fish which are well grown, nourish better than the young and immature. Sea-fish are wholesomer than fresh-water fish: they are of a hotter nature, not so moist, and more approaching to flesh meat. Of all sea and river fish, those are the best which live in rocky places. Next to these, in gravelly or sandy places, in sweet, clear, running water, where there is nothing offensive. Those which live in pools, muddy lakes, marshes, or stagnant water, are bad. Whether sea or river fish, those are the best which are not too large, whose flesh is not hard and dry, but crisp and tender; which taste and smell well, and have many fins and scales. All fresh fish should be eaten hot, and less in quantity than fresh meat. Fish should not be eaten very often, and never after great labour and exercise, nor after eating other solid food. Fish and milk are not proper to be eaten at the same meal, nor should eggs be used with fish, except with salt fish, and that should be well soaked in water before it is dressed. It may be eaten with carrots or parsnips, instead of egg sauce. If salt fish be eaten too often, or without this precaution, it produces gross humours and bad juices in the body; occasions thirst, hoarseness, sharpness in the blood, and other unfavourable symptoms. It is therefore a kind of food which should be used very sparingly, and given only to persons of a strong constitution. All kinds of salted and dried fish are innutricious and unwholesome, and their injurious effects are often visible in the habits of seafaring people. Even prawns and shrimps, if eaten too freely, are known to produce surfeits, which end in St. Anthony's fire.--If proper attention be paid to health, every kind of sustenance intended for the use of man, must be provided in its SEASON; for to every thing there is both time and season, which the wisdom and goodness of providence have pointed out. Every production is the most pure in quality, and of course the most wholesome, when nature has perfected her work, and prepared it for human sustenance. To anticipate her seasons, or to prolong them, is a misapplication of labour, and a perversion of the bounties of providence into secret poisons, to indulge the wanton cravings of a depraved appetite. The properties of animal food in general seem not to restrict the use of it to any particular season, but rather to admit its common use at all times. The only period in which it is less seasonable than at any other, appears to be in hot weather, when animal substances of all kinds are very liable to taint. The profuse supply of vegetables too in the warmer months, seems to lessen the occasion for animal food. Attention should be paid however at all times to the proper season for using the different kinds of animal food, and to the various circumstances that may contribute to its being more or less wholesome. The killing of animals by the easiest means, and not previously abusing them by over-driving, or in any other way, materially affects their fitness for food, and ought therefore to be carefully attended to. The high flavour, or taint in meat, which so many English palates prefer, is in fact the commencement of putrefaction; and of course meat in this state is very improper for food, particularly for persons with any tendency to putrid disorders. At a time when bad fevers prevail, food of this description ought to be generally avoided, as it disposes the blood and juices to receive infection. With respect to grain, its adaptedness to keep the whole year round, evidently denotes that it was intended for constant use. But the recurrence of an annual supply seems to be the voice of nature, forbidding its being kept in ordinary cases to a longer period, especially as new corn is generally preferred to the old. All other vegetables, including fruits, seem designed only for a transient season. Roots, and a few late fruits, have indeed the property of keeping for some months, and may thus provide a store for the winter, when fresh vegetables are less plentiful. Other kinds will not keep without undergoing a culinary process, by which they are rendered less wholesome, however palatable they may be considered. Provisions of almost every description may be preserved from putrefaction by being partially dressed and then closely stopped down, as has been fully demonstrated by Messrs. Donkin and Gamble of Bermondsey, who by means of air-tight canisters are in the habit of preparing all kinds of meat, which will keep perfectly sweet and fresh for a considerable length of time in any climate, and are incomparably better than those preserved in the ordinary way by salting or drying. But however applicable these preserves may be to the purposes of a long voyage, or a foreign expedition, where no fresh supplies can be obtained, they are by no means to be recommended to private families, who enjoy the superior advantages of going to market for fresh provisions. Time, which devours all things, cannot fail to impair, though not immediately, the flavour and other properties of whatever is preserved, in defiance of every precaution against its influence. The appearance and flavour of such articles may not be revolting to us, but if compared with the same things when fresh and well dressed, their inferiority is sufficiently obvious. Pickled salmon is a familiar instance of this kind. It is very generally relished, and often preferred to fresh salmon; yet if brought into comparison, the substance of the one is heavy, that of the other light and elastic. The flavour of the pickled salmon is sophisticated and deadened, if not vapid; that of the other is natural, fresh, and delicate, the pure volatile spirit not being destroyed by improper cookery, or long keeping. Instances of violent surfeits often occur from eating pickled salmon, soused mackarel, and other rich preserves, not from their being in a state of decay, but from the unwholesomeness of their preparation. People acquire tastes indeed, that reconcile them to any thing; that even make them fond of corrupted flavours, such as decayed cheese, tainted meat, and other things of a similar description. Our taste therefore is very likely to betray us into error; and to guard against it, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between what is really wholesome and what is otherwise, for this is rather a matter of judgment than of taste.--A few brief remarks may very properly be added on the important article of MILK, which forms, or ought to form, an essential part of the food of every family, in one shape or another. As far as regards the general properties of milk, it is in season at all times; and by judicious management it might always be supplied in sufficient quantities to become a plentiful source of human sustenance. It is of the best quality however, five or six months after a cow has calved. When she becomes with calf again, her milk will of course fall off, both in quantity and in quality. The impatient greediness of cow-keepers would have calves and milk at the same time, and on this account they seldom allow their dairies a fair interval for keeping up a successive supply of the best milk. To keep cows in the healthiest condition, and their milk consequently in the purest state, they should not be confined in houses, nor in yards, but suffered to go at large in the open fields. They should also be well fed with wholesome provender, and have access to good water. If kept quite clean, by occasionally rubbing them down, and washing their bag, and legs and feet, their health would be promoted, and of course the nutricious quality of the milk. If the comfort and welfare of society were consulted, the higher classes would not slight their dairies for studs of horses, kept more for ostentation than for use. In reference to the same subject, the breaking up of small farms is deeply to be regretted, not only as ruinous to a numerous class of deserving persons, but as depriving the markets and the neighbourhoods of those articles of necessity which their industry produced. It was an object to a small farmer to make the most of his dairy and poultry yard, which to an occupier on a larger scale is regarded as a matter of indifference. The consequence is, there is neither so plentiful a supply of these things, nor are they so good in quality as formerly. The wife of a small farmer attended to her own business, her poultry was brought up at the barn door, and killed when it was sweet and wholesome, while the produce of her dairy redounded to her credit, and afforded ample satisfaction to her customers.--The most judicious choice of food however will avail but little, if the manner of preparing it is not equally judicious. The principal error in cooking lies in overdoing what is intended for the table; the qualities of the meat are then so entirely changed, that it ceases to be nourishing, and becomes hard of digestion. It is literally put into the stomach only to be pressed out of it again by some unnatural exertion, which at last throws the oppressive load into the rest of the system, from whence it will not pass off without leaving some injury behind it. This, frequently repeated, ends at last in acute or chronic diseases, no less certainly than constant friction upon a stone will at length wear it away, though it may be a long time before any impression upon it is perceived. Similar effects arise from drinking, but generally with a more rapid progress, from the extension and collapse of the vessels being more sudden and violent. Plain cookery, in the exact medium between under and over doing, is the point to be attained to render our food salutary. The mixture of a great variety of ingredients should be avoided, for if good in themselves separately, they are often rendered indigestible by being compounded one with another. As we must eat every day, there is opportunity enough for all things in turn, without attempting any unwholesome composition. Much seasoning with spices, contributes to make animal food indigestible. They are much safer when used just before serving up the dish, or by adding them at the time of eating it. Beef and pork long salted, and hams, bacon, tongues, and hung beef, are very indigestible, and particularly improper for weak stomachs, though they will often crave them. Boiled meat is generally preferable to roast meat, for nourishment and digestion. Boiling extracts more of the rank strong juices, and renders it lighter and more diluted. Roasting leaves it fuller of gravy, but it adds to the rigidity of the fibres. The flesh of young animals is best roasted. Fried and broiled meats are difficult to be digested, though they are very nourishing: weak stomachs had better avoid them. Meat pies and puddings cannot be recommended, but strong stomachs may sustain but little inconvenience from them. It is a confined mode of cookery, and the meat therefore is not at all purified of its grossness. When meat pies and puddings are used, they should be moderately seasoned. Baking meat, instead of roasting it, is a worse manner of dressing it, from the closeness of the oven, and the great variety of things often baking at the same time. Stewing is not a good way of dressing meat, unless it is done very carefully. If it is stewed till all the juices are drawn from the meat, the latter becomes quite unfit for food: and if the stewpan be kept close covered, there are the same objections to it as meat pies and puddings. Hashing is a very bad mode of cooking. It is doing over again what has already been done enough, and makes the meat vapid and hard. What would have been good nourishment in the cold meat, is thus totally lost, as the juices, which are all drawn into the gravy, are spoiled by this second cookery, which exposes them too long to the fire.

PRUNE PUDDING. Mix four spoonfuls of flour in a quart of milk; add six eggs, two tea-spoonfuls of powdered ginger, a little salt, and a pound of prunes. Tie it in a cloth, and boil it an hour.

PRUNE TART. Scald some prunes, take out the stones and break them. Put the kernels into a little cranberry juice, with the prunes and sugar; simmer them together, and when cold, make a tart of the sweetmeat.

PRUNING. In pruning wall fruit, care should be taken to cut off all fresh shoots that will not readily bind to the wall; for if any be twisted or bruised in the binding, they will in time decay, and the sap will issue from the place. Vines should not be cut too close to please the eye, as by that means they have sometimes been rendered barren of fruit. Two knots should generally be left on new shoots, which will produce two bunches of grapes, and which are to be cut off at the next pruning. New branches are to be left every year, and some of the old ones must be removed, which will increase the quantity of fruit.

PUDDINGS. The only puddings which can with propriety be recommended, as really wholesome diet, are those of the simplest kind, such as are seldom met with except in families in the middle ranks of life. The poor unfortunately cannot get them, and the rich prefer those of a more complex kind, of which the best that can be hoped is, that they will not do much harm. The principal ingredients of common puddings are so mild and salutary, that unless they are over-cooked, or too many of them mixed together, such puddings are generally wholesome. To make them of the best and most nutricious quality, the materials should all be fresh and good of their kind; such as, flour newly ground, new milk, fresh laid eggs, and fresh suet. Millet, sago, tapioca, whole rice, will all keep a considerable time, if put into a dry place. When rice, millet, or sago, are wanted to be used ground, they had better be ground at home for the sake of having them fresh, and the certainty of having them pure. Such a mill as is used for grinding coffee, will grind them extremely well. The whites of eggs should never be used in puddings for children, or persons of weak stomachs, or for those who are any way indisposed, on account of their being indigestible. Omitting them altogether would indeed be attended with no disadvantage. The yolk of an egg alone answers the same purpose, as when the white is used with it. To prove this, let two cups of batter pudding be made, one with the yolk of an egg only, the other with the yolk and white together, and the result will be, that the pudding with the yolk only is quite as light, if not lighter, than the one with the whole egg. In other instances also, of several kinds of puddings, where the whites of eggs have been totally omitted, without at all encreasing the number of eggs, the result has been the same. There is a species of economy practised by good housewives, of making compositions on purpose to use up the whites of eggs which have been left out of any preparation made with eggs. But this is a false economy; for surely it is far better to reject as food what is known to be injurious, and to find other uses for it, than to make the human stomach the receptacle for offal. Economy would be much more judiciously exerted in retrenching superfluities, than exercised in this manner. Two or three good dishes of their kind, and well cooked, are infinitely preferable to a whole course of indigestible compositions. A soup might as well be made of cabbage stalks and pea shells, as any preparation of food with whites of eggs, when there is no doubt of their being positively prejudicial. As cabbage stalks then go to the dunghill, and pea shells to the pigs, so let whites of eggs go to the book-binder, or find some other destination. There are also various kinds of fruit that require to be used with great caution. Currants, raisins, prunes, French plums, figs, and all kinds of preserves, are prepared either by the heat of the sun, or by cookery to the full extent that they will bear, and beyond which any application of heat gives them a tendency to putridity. They are therefore certainly prejudicial to weak stomachs when used in puddings, and cannot be good for any; though strong stomachs may not perceive an immediate ill effect from them. Eaten without any farther preparation, and especially with bread, these things may be used in moderation. For the reasons just given, spices are better not put into puddings, they are already in a sufficiently high state of preparation. The warm climates in which they grow, brings them to a state of far greater maturity than the general productions of our northern latitude. When they are used, it is better to add them ground, at the time of eating what is to be seasoned, or put in the last thing before serving up the dish. These are also better ground at home, both to have them fresh, and free from adulteration. Almonds used in puddings are liable to the same objection. The danger of using laurel leaves in cooking, cannot be too frequently repeated. Bay leaves, bitter almonds, and fruit kernels, if not equally dangerous, are pernicious enough to make it very advisable not to use them. Fresh fruits often become more unwholesome from being cooked in puddings and tarts, yet will in many cases agree then with stomachs that cannot take them raw; but unripe fruits are not good, either dressed or in any other state.--To prepare puddings in the best manner, they should boil briskly over a clear fire, with the pot lid partly if not entirely off, as the access of fresh air makes every thing dress sweeter. As butter is generally an expensive article, dripping, nicely prepared, may on many occasions be used as a substitute. It will answer the purpose of rubbing basins with, quite as well as butter, and never gives any unpleasant flavour to the pudding. It is also very proper to dredge a basin with flour, after it is rubbed with butter or dripping. Economy in eggs is both rational and useful, as puddings with a moderate number of eggs are more wholesome, than when used extravagantly or with profusion. Pudding cloths, and every utensil in making puddings, should be quite clean, or the food cannot be wholesome. The outside of a boiled pudding often tastes disagreeably, which arises from the cloth not being nicely washed, and kept in a dry place. It should be dipt in boiling water, squeezed dry, and floured, when to be used. A bread pudding should be loosely tied, and a batter pudding tight over. The water should boil quick when the pudding is put in, and it should be moved about for a minute, lest the ingredients should not mix. Batter pudding should be strained through a coarse sieve, when all is mixed: in others, the eggs should be strained separately. Pans and basins in which puddings are to be boiled, should always be buttered, or rubbed with clean dripping. A pan of cold water should be prepared, and the pudding dipped in as soon as it comes out of the pot, to prevent its adhering to the cloth. Good puddings may be made without eggs; but they must have as little milk as is sufficient to mix the batter, and must boil three or four hours. A few spoonfuls of fresh small beer, or one of yeast, will answer instead of eggs. Snow is also an excellent substitute for eggs, either in puddings or pancakes. Two large spoonfuls will supply the place of one egg, and the article it is used in will be equally good. This is a useful piece of information, especially as snow often falls when eggs are scarce and dear. Fresh small beer, or bottled malt liquors, will likewise serve instead of eggs. The yolks and whites beaten long and separately, make the article they are put into much lighter.

PUDDING CAKES. Put four yolks and two whites of eggs to a pint of milk; mix with it half a pint of bread crumbs grated fine, half a nutmeg, six ounces of currants washed and dried, a quarter of a pound of beef suet chopped small, a little salt, and flour sufficient to make it of a moderate thickness. Fry these cakes in lard, of about the usual size of a fritter.

PUDDING KETCHUP. Steep an ounce of thin-pared lemon peel, and half an ounce of mace, in half a pint of brandy, or a pint of sherry, for fourteen days. Then strain it, and add a quarter of a pint of capillaire. This will keep for years, and being mixed with melted butter, it is a delicious relish to puddings and sweet dishes.

PUDDING WITH MEAT. Make a batter with flour, milk, and eggs. Pour a little into the bottom of a pudding-dish; then put seasoned meat of any kind into it, and a little shred onion. Pour the remainder of the batter over, and bake it in a slow oven. A loin of mutton baked in batter, being first cleared of most of the fat, makes a good dish.

PUFFS. They should be made of light puff crust, rolled out and cut into shapes according to the fancy. Then bake them, and lay some sweetmeat in the middle. Or roll out the crust, cut it into pieces of any shape, lay sweetmeats over one half, and turn the other half of the crust over; press them together round the edge, and bake them.

PUFF CRUST. Take a pound and a half of flour, put it upon a pie board with a little salt, and mix in gradually just water sufficient to make it into a paste, taking care that it be neither too thin nor too stiff. Mould it lightly together, and let it lie for two hours before it is finished. Roll out the paste, put a pound of butter into the middle of it, fold the two ends of the paste over it, and roll it out; then fold it together, and roll it out again. Repeat this six times in the winter, and five in the summer. It should be rolled rather less than half an inch in thickness, dusting a little flour lightly over and under it, to prevent its sticking to the rolling-pin. When finished, roll it out for use as occasion requires. This makes a very nice and delicate crust.--Another. To a pound and a half of flour, allow a pound of butter, and three quarters of an ounce of salt. Put the flour on a clean pie board, make a hole in the middle, and put in the salt with the butter cut into small pieces. Pour in the water carefully, as it is of great importance that the crust should not be made too thin; there should only be water enough just to make it hold well together, and to roll it out smooth. Work the butter and water up well together with the hand, and then by degrees mix in the flour. When the flour is all mixed in, mould the paste till it is quite smooth and free from lumps, and then let it lie two hours before it be used. This is a very nice crust for putting round the dish for baked puddings, tarts, or pies.

PUFF PASTE. Puffs may be made of any sort of fruit, but it should be prepared first with sugar. To make a rich paste, weigh an equal quantity of butter with as much fine flour as is necessary. Mix a little of the former with the latter, and wet it with as little water as will make it into a stiff paste. Roll it out, and put all the butter over it in slices; turn in the ends, and roll it thin. Do this twice, and tough it no more than can be avoided. The butter may be added at two different times; and to those who are not accustomed to make paste, it may be better to do so. The oven must be rather quicker than for a short crust.--A less rich paste may be made of a pound of flour, and a quarter of a pound of butter, rubbed together. Mix it into a paste with a little water, and an egg well beaten; of the former as little as will suffice, or the paste will be tough. Roll it out, and fold it three or four times. Or rub extremely fine, six ounces of butter in one pound of dried flour, with a spoonful of white sugar. Work up the whole into a stiff paste, with as little hot water as possible.

PUITS D' AMOUR. Cut a fine rich puff paste rolled thin, with tin shapes made on purpose, one size less than another, in a pyramidal form, and lay them so. Then bake in a moderate form, that the paste may be done sufficiently, but very pale. Lay different coloured sweetmeats on the edges.

PULLED CHICKENS. Take off the skin, and pull the flesh off the bones of a cold fowl, in large pieces. Dredge it with flour, and fry it of a nice brown in butter. Drain the butter from it, simmer the flesh in a good well-seasoned gravy, thickened with a little butter and flour, adding the juice of half a lemon.--Another way. Cut off the legs, and the whole back, of an underdone chicken. Pull all the white part into little flakes free from skin, toss it up with a little cream thickened with a piece of butter rolled in flour, half a blade of powdered mace, some white pepper, salt, and the squeeze of a lemon. Cut off the neck end of the chicken, broil the back and sidesmen in one piece, and the two legs seasoned. Put the hash in the middle of the dish, with the back on it, and the two legs at the end.

PULLED TURKEY. Divide the meat of the breast by pulling instead of cutting. Then warm in a spoonful or two of white gravy, and a little cream, grated nutmeg, salt, and a little flour and butter, but do not let it boil. The leg should be seasoned, scored, and broiled, and put into the dish with the above round it. Cold chicken may be treated in the same manner.

PUNCH. In preparing this favourite liquor, it is impossible to take too much pains in the process of mixing, that all the different articles may be thoroughly incorporated together. Take then two large fresh lemons with rough skins, quite ripe, and some lumps of double-refined sugar. Rub the sugar over the lemons, till it has absorbed all the yellow part of the rinds. Put these lumps into a bowl, and as much more as the juice of the lemons may be supposed to require: no certain weight or quantity can be mentioned, as the acidity of a lemon cannot be known till tried, and therefore this must be determined by the taste. Then squeeze the lemon juice upon the sugar, and with a bruiser press the sugar and the juice particularly well together, for a great deal of the richness and fine flavour of the punch depends on this rubbing and mixing being thoroughly performed. Having well incorporated the juice and the sugar, mix it up with boiling soft water, and let it stand a little to cool. When this mixture, which is now called the sherbet, is made of a pleasant flavour, take equal quantities of rum and brandy and put into it, mixing the whole well together. The quantity of liquor must be according to taste: two good lemons are generally enough to make four quarts of punch, including a quart of liquor, with half a pound of sugar: but this depends much on taste, and on the strength of the spirit. As the pulp of the lemon is disagreeable to some persons, the sherbet may be strained before the liquor is put in. Some strain the lemon before they put it to the sugar, which is improper; as when the pulp and sugar are well mixed together, it adds much to the richness of the punch. When only rum is used, about half a pint of porter will soften the punch; and even when both rum and brandy are used, the porter gives a richness, and also a very pleasant flavour. A shorter way is to keep ready prepared a quarter of an ounce of citric or crystallized lemon acid, pounded with a few drops of the essence of lemon peel, gradually mixed with a pint of clarified syrup or capillaire. Brandy or rum flavoured with this mixture, will produce good punch in a minute.

PUNCH ROYAL. Take thirty Seville oranges and thirty lemons quite sound, pare them very thin, and put the parings into an earthen pan, with as much rum or brandy as will cover them. Take ten gallons of water, and twelve pounds of lump sugar, and boil them. When nearly cold, put in the whites of thirty eggs well beaten, stir it and boil it a quarter of an hour, then strain it through a hair sieve into an earthen pan, and let it stand till the next day. Then put it into a cask, strain the spirit from the parings, and add as much more as will make it up five gallons. Put it into the cask with five quarts of Seville orange juice, and three quarts of lemon juice. Stir it all together with a cleft stick, and repeat the same once a day for three successive days; then stop it down close, and in six weeks it will be fit to drink.

PURPLE GLOVES. To dye white gloves of a beautiful purple, boil four ounces of logwood, and two ounces of roche alum, in three pints of soft water, till half wasted. Strain off the liquid, and let it stand to be cold. Mend the gloves neatly, brush them over with the dye, and when dry repeat it. Twice is sufficient, unless the colour is to be very dark. When quite dry, rub off the loose dye with a coarse cloth. Beat up the white of an egg, and with a sponge rub it over the leather. The dye will stain the hands, but wetting them with vinegar will take it off before they are washed.

Q.

QUAILS. These are dressed in the same manner as snipes and woodcocks. They should be roasted without drawing, served on toast, and eaten with butter only.

QUAKING PUDDING. Scald a quart of cream; when almost cold, put to it four eggs well beaten, a spoonful and a half of flour, with nutmeg and sugar. Tie it close in a buttered cloth, boil it an hour, and turn it out carefully, without cracking it. Serve it with melted butter, a little wine, and sugar.

QUARTER OF LAMB. A fore-quarter may either be roasted whole, or in separate parts. If left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled over it. The neck and breast together are called a scoven.

QUEEN CAKES. Mix a pound of dried flour, a pound of sifted sugar, and a pound of currants, picked and cleaned. Wash a pound of butter in rose water, beat it well, and mix with it eight eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately. Put in the dry ingredients by degrees, beat the whole an hour, butter little tins, teacups or saucers, fill them half full of batter, and bake them. Sift over them a little fine sugar, just before they are put into the oven.--Another way. Beat eight ounces of butter, and mix it with two eggs, well beaten and strained. Mix eight ounces of dried flour, the same of lump sugar, and the grated rind of a lemon. Put the whole together, and beat it full half an hour with a silver spoon. Butter small pattipans, half fill them, and bake twenty minutes in a quick oven.

QUEEN ANNE'S BISCUITS. A pound of flour well dried, half a pound of fine sugar powdered and sifted, a pound of currants well washed and picked, and half a pound of butter. Rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the sugar and currants; add ten spoonfuls of cream, the yolks of three eggs, three spoonfuls of sack, and a little mace finely pounded. When the paste is well worked up, set it in a dish before the fire till it be thoroughly warm. Make it up into cakes, place them on a tin well buttered, prick them full of holes on the top, and bake them in a quick oven.

QUEEN ANNE'S KITCHEN. The economy of the royal kitchen a century ago, though not equal perhaps to the refinement of modern times, was sufficiently sumptuous; and what it wanted in delicacies, was abundantly compensated by a profusion of more substantial dishes of truly English fare. The following are only a few specimens of the stile of cooking approved by queen Anne, sufficient to show in what manner royalty was provided for in the days of our forefathers. Under the article of Roasting, a few particulars will occur. When a turkey, capon, or fowl was to be dressed, it was laid down to the fire, at a proper distance, till it became thoroughly hot. It was then basted all over with fresh butter, and afterwards dredged thinly with flour. The heat of the fire converted this into a thin crust, to keep in the gravy; and no more basting was allowed till the roasting was nearly done, when it was once more basted all over with butter. As the meat began to brown, it was sprinkled a little with large salt, and the outside finished with a fine brown. It was sometimes the custom to baste such meats with the yolks of fresh eggs beaten thin, which was continued during the time of roasting. The following directions were given for roast Veal. Chop some parsley and thyme very small. Beat up the yolks of five or six eggs with some cream, add the chopped herbs, some grated bread, a few cloves, a little mace and nutmeg, some currants and sugar. Mix these well together, raise the skin of the breast of veal, put the stuffing under it, and skewer it down close. Lay the veal before the fire, and baste it with butter. When sufficiently roasted, squeeze on the juice of a lemon, and serve it up. For roast Pig, chop up some sage, and sow it up in the belly of the pig. Roast and baste it with butter, sprinkled with a little salt. When roasted fine and crisp, serve it upon a sauce made of chopped sage and currants, well boiled in vinegar and water, the gravy and brains of the pig, a little grated bread, some barberries and sugar, all well mixed together, and heated over the fire. Another way. Fill the belly of the pig with a pudding made of grated bread, a little minced beef suet, the yolks of two or three raw eggs, three or four spoonfuls of good cream, and a little salt. Sow it up in the belly of the pig, lay it down to roast, and baste it with yolks of eggs beat thin. A few minutes before it is taken up, squeeze on the juice of a lemon, and strew it over with bread crumbs, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Make a sauce with vinegar, butter, and the yolks of eggs boiled hard and minced. Boil the whole together, with the gravy of the pig, and then serve it up in this sauce. When a Hare is to be dressed, wash it well, and dry it in a cloth. Sow up a pudding in the belly, truss the hare as if it were running, and roast it. Make a sauce of claret wine, grated bread, sugar, ginger, barberries, and butter, boiled all together, and serve it up with the hare.--Boiled dishes were prepared in the following manner. If a capon, pullet, or chicken, boil it in good mutton broth. Put in some mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, a little sage, spinage, marigold leaves and flowers, white or green endive, borage, bugloss, parsley, and sorrel. Serve it up on sippets of white bread. If to be dressed with cauliflower, cut the vegetable into small heads, with about an inch and a half of stalk to them. Boil them in milk with a little mace, till they are very tender, and beat up the yolks of two eggs with a quarter of a pint of sack. Melt some butter very thick, with a little vinegar and sliced lemon. Pour this and the eggs to and fro till they are well mixed, then take the cauliflower out of the milk, and put it into the sauce. Having boiled the chicken tender, serve it upon sippets of white bread, finely carved, and pour the sauce over it. Pigeons are to be put into a skillet with some strong broth, or spring water. Boil and skim them, put in some mace, a bunch of sweet herbs, some white endive, marigold flowers, and salt. When finely boiled, serve them upon sippets of white bread, and garnish the dish with mace and white endive. Small birds, such as woodcocks, snipes, blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares, rails, quails, wheatears, larks, martins, and sparrows, are to be boiled in strong broth, or in salt and water. When boiled, take out the trails, and chop them and the livers small. Add some crumb of grated bread, a little of the liquor in which the birds were boiled, some mace, and stew them all together in some gravy. Beat up the yolks of two eggs, with a little white wine vinegar and grated nutmeg; and when ready to serve, stir these into the sauce with a small piece of butter. Dish up the birds upon sippets of white bread, and pour the sauce over them with some capers, lemon finely minced, and barberries, or pickled grapes, whole. Carrots and onions boiled together in broth, separately from the sauce, are sometimes added to it. When no onion is put in, rub the bottom of the dish with a clove or two of garlic. A Goose, before it is boiled, is to be salted for a day or two. Steep some oatmeal in warm milk, or some other liquor, and mix it with some shred beef suet, minced apples and onions, sweet herbs chopped, and a seasoning of cloves, mace, and pepper. Fill the belly of the goose with this stuffing, and tie it close at the neck and vent. Boil and serve it on slices of bread, dipped in any kind of broth, with cauliflowers, cabbage, turnips, and barberries. Pour melted butter over it. A Wild Duck, being first drawn and trussed, must be parboiled, and then half roasted. Having carved it, put the gravy into a pipkin with plenty of onion and parsley, sliced ginger, mace, some washed currants, barberries, and a quart of claret. Boil all together, skim it clean, add some butter and sugar, and serve up the duck with the sauce poured over it. A Rabbit is to be boiled in salt and water. Chop some parsley and thyme together, a handful of each, and boil it in a little of the liquor in which the rabbit is boiling. Then add to it three or four spoonfuls of verjuice, a piece of butter, and two or three eggs well beaten. Stir the whole together, thicken it over the fire, and serve up the rabbit with this sauce poured over it.--In the royal kitchen, a Florentine Pie was made of a leg of veal or mutton, cut into thin slices, and seasoned with sweet marjoram, thyme, savory, parsley, rosemary, an onion and a clove of garlic, all cut small. To these were added, nutmeg and pepper beaten fine, some grated manchet, a little salt, and the yolks of three or four raw eggs, to mix and make them adhere together. The meat is laid in a dish, with a crust under it, intermixed with some thin slices of streaked bacon. A few bay leaves and some oyster liquor are added, the dish covered with a crust, and baked. For a Veal Pie, cut a fillet into pieces, about the size of walnuts, and season them with cinnamon, ginger, sugar, and salt. Use a raised crust or dish, at pleasure, lay in the meat with roasted chesnuts peeled and quartered, dates sliced, and the marrow from two beef bones. Put on the top crust, bake the pie; and when done, serve it up with the following sauce poured into it. Beat up the yolk of an egg with some white wine, cinnamon, ginger, and sugar. Heat it over the fire till it thickens a little, taking care not to let the egg curdle. Sauce for a loin of veal was made of all kinds of sweet herbs, with the yolks of two or three hard eggs minced very fine. They were then boiled up with some currants, a little grated bread, pounded cinnamon, sugar, and two whole cloves. The sauce was poured into the dish intended for the veal, with two or three slices of an orange. A Cod's Head was directed to be dressed in the following manner. Cut the head large, and a good piece of the shoulder with it, and boil it in salt and water. Have prepared a quart of cockles, with the shelled meat of two or three crabs. Put these into a pipkin with nearly half a pint of white wine, a bunch of sweet herbs, two onions, a little mace, a little grated nutmeg, and some oyster liquor. Boil these till the liquor is wasted, then add three or four large spoonfuls of melted butter. Drain the cod's head well over a chafing-dish of coals, and serve it up with the above sauce, taking out the bunch of herbs, and adding more butter, if required. Serve up the liver and roe on the sides of the dish.

QUICK HEDGES. A great variety of different sorts of plants is employed in forming and constructing these hedges, as those of the hawthorn, the black-thorn, the crab-tree, the hazel, the willow, the beech, the elder, the poplar, the alder, and several other kinds, according to particular circumstances and situations. Whatever sort of plants may be employed for this purpose, the work should constantly be well performed in the first instance, and the hedges and plants be afterwards kept in due order and regularity by suitable pruning, cutting in, and other proper management. Excellent hawthorn hedges are raised by planting one row only at six inches asunder, rather than two rows nine inches or a foot apart. Those planted six inches apart do not require to be cut down to thicken them at the bottom, and will form a complete protection against hogs, and in other respects form a beautiful and effectual fence.

QUICKSILVER, when rubbed down and blended with unctuous matters, forms a sort of ointment, which is useful in the curing of different diseases of the skin, as well as in destroying lice and other vermin that infest animals of different kinds, which form the live stock of the farmer. It has also been found useful in its crude state in destroying insects on fruit trees. Take a small awl, and pierce sloping, through the rind, and into part of the wood of the branch, but not to the heart or pith of it; and pour in a small drop or two of the quicksilver, and stop it up with a small wooden plug made to fit the orifice, and the insects will drop off from that very branch the next day; and in a day or two more, from the other branches of the trees without any other puncture, and the tree will continue in full vigour and thrive well through the summer. Honeysuckles and other shrubs may be cleared of insects, by scraping away the top of the ground with a trowel, and running an awl in the same sloping manner, into the main stem just above the roots; but with the same caution as above, not quite to the inner pith, and then applying the quicksilver. The insects will drop off the day after the experiment.

QUILLS. To harden and prepare them for use, dip them for a minute in some boiling water in which alum has been dissolved; or thrust them into hot ashes till they become soft, and afterwards press and scrape them with the back of a knife. When they are to be clarified, the barrels must be scraped and cut at the end, and then put into boiling water for a quarter of an hour, with a quantity of alum and salt. Afterwards they are dried in an oven, or in a pan of hot sand.

QUIN'S FISH SAUCE. Half a pint of walnut pickle, the same of mushroom pickle, six anchovies pounded, six anchovies whole, and half a tea-spoonful of cayenne. Shake it up well, when it is to be used.

QUINCE. The fruit of the quince is astringent and stomachic; and its expressed juice, in small quantities, as a spoonful or two, is of considerable service in nausea, vomitings, eructations, &c. Quince trees are very apt to have rough bark, and to be bark-bound; in these cases it will be necessary to shave off the rough bark with a draw-knife, and to scarify them when bark-bound, brushing them over with the composition. It is also advised to plant quince trees at a proper distance from apple and pears, as bees and the wind may mix the farina, and occasion the apples and pears to degenerate. These trees may be raised from the kernels of the fruit sown in autumn; but there is no depending on having the same sort of good fruit from seedlings, nor will they soon become bearers. But the several varieties may be continued the same by cuttings and layers; also by suckers from such trees as grow upon their own roots, and likewise be increased by grafting and budding upon their own pear-stocks raised from the kernels in the same manner as for apples. Standard quinces, designed as fruit trees, may be stationed in the garden or orchard, and some by the sides of any water, pond, watery ditch, &c. as they delight in moisture.

QUINCE JELLY. When quinces have been boiled for marmalade, take the first liquor and pass it through a jelly bag. To every pint allow a pound of fine loaf sugar, and boil it till it is quite clear and comes to a jelly. The quince seeds should be tied in a piece of muslin, and boiled in it.

QUINCE MARMALADE. Pare and quarter some quinces, and weigh an equal quantity of sugar. To four pounds of the latter put a quart of water, boil and skim it well, by the time the quinces are prepared. Lay the fruit in a stone jar, with a teacupful of water at the bottom, and pack them with a little sugar strewed between. Cover the jar close, set it in a cool oven, or on a stove, and let the quinces soften till they become red. Then pour the syrup and a quart of quince juice into a preserving pan, and boil all together till the marmalade be completed, breaking the lumps of fruit with the ladle; otherwise the fruit is so hard, that it will require a great deal of time. Stewing quinces in a jar, and then squeezing them through a cheese cloth, is the best method of obtaining the juice; and in this case the cloth should first be dipped in boiling water, and then wrung out.

QUINCE PUDDING. Scald six large quinces very tender, pare off the thin rind, and scrape them to a pulp. Add powdered sugar enough to make them very sweet, and a little pounded ginger and cinnamon. Beat up the yolks of four eggs with some salt, and stir in a pint of cream. Mix these with the quince, and bake it in a dish, with a puff crust round the edge. In a moderate oven, three quarters of an hour will be sufficient. Sift powdered sugar over the pudding before it is sent to table.

QUINCE WINE. Gather the quinces in a dry day, when they are tolerably ripe; rub off the down with a linen cloth, and lay them in hay or straw for ten days to perspire. Cut them in quarters, take out the cores, and bruise them well in a mashing tub with a wooden pestle. Squeeze out the liquid part by degrees, by pressing them in a hair bag in a cider press. Strain the liquor through a fine sieve, then warm it gently over a fire, and skim it, but do not suffer it to boil. Now sprinkle into it some loaf sugar reduced to powder, and boil a dozen or fourteen quinces thinly sliced, in a gallon of water mixed with a quart of white wine. Add two pounds of fine sugar, strain off the liquor, and mingle it with the natural juice of the quinces. Put this into a cask, but do not fill it, and mix them well together. Let it stand to settle, put in two or three whites of eggs, and draw it off. If it be not sweet enough, add more sugar, and a quart of the best malmsey. To make it still better, boil a quarter of a pound of stone raisins, and half an ounce of cinnamon bark, in a quart of the liquor, till a third part is reduced. Then strain it, and put it into the cask when the wine is fermenting.

QUINCES PRESERVED. Wipe clean a quantity of golden pippins, not pared but sliced, and put them into two quarts of boiling water. Boil them very quick, and closely covered, till the water is reduced to a thick jelly, and then scald the quinces, either whole or cut in halves. To every pint of pippin jelly add a pound of the finest sugar, boil and skim it clear. Put those quinces that are to be done whole into the syrup at once, and let it boil very fast; and those that are to be in halves by themselves. Skim it carefully, and when the fruit is clear, put some of the syrup into a glass, to try whether it jellies, before taking it off the fire. A pound of quinces is to be allowed to a pound of sugar, and a pound of jelly already boiled with the sugar.

QUINSEY. For a quinsey, or inflammation of the throat, make a volatile liniment, by shaking together an ounce of Florence oil, and half an ounce of the spirit of hartshorn; or an equal quantity of each, if the patient be able to bear it. Moisten a piece of flannel with the liniment, and apply it to the throat every four or five hours. After bleeding, it will seldom fail to lessen or carry off the complaint.

R.

RABBITS. Wild ones have the finest flavour, and are by far the best. Tame rabbits are scarcely eatable, unless kept delicately clean. The doe brings forth every month, and must be allowed to go with the buck as soon as she has kindled. The sweetest hay, oats, beans, sow-thistle, parsley, carrot tops, cabbage leaves, and bran, should be given to the rabbits, fresh and fresh. If not carefully attended, their own stench will destroy them, and be very unwholesome to those who live near them. Constant care is requisite to prevent this inconvenience.--When rabbits are to be dressed, they may have gravy and stuffing like hare; or they may be larded, and roasted without stuffing. For the manner of trussing a rabbit, either for roasting or boiling, see the Plate. If boiled, it should be smothered with onion sauce, the butter to be melted with milk instead of water. If fried in joints, it must be dressed with dried or fried parsley, and liver sauce made for it, the same as for roasting. Chop up the liver with parsley, and put it into melted butter, with pepper and salt. If fricasseed, the same as for chickens. Young rabbits are good in a pie, with forcemeat as for chicken pie.--When rabbits are to be purchased for cooking, the following things must be observed. If the claws are blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, and the haunch thick, it is old. But if the claws are smooth and sharp, the ears easily tear, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is young. If fresh and newly killed, the body will be stiff, and in hares the flesh is pale. They keep a good while by proper care, and are best when rather beginning to turn, if the inside is preserved from being musty. To distinguish a real leveret from a hare, a knob or small bone will be discovered near the foot on its fore leg.----Tame rabbits may be bred with much success and ornamental effect in a small artificial warren, in a lawn in the garden, made in the following manner. Pare off the turf of a circle about forty feet diameter, and lay it on the outside; then dig a ditch within this circle, the outside perpendicular, the inner sloping, and throw earth sufficient into the middle to form a little hill, two or three feet higher than the level of the lawn; the rest must be carried away. Then lay down the turf on the hill, and beat it well to settle. The ditch at bottom should be about three feet wide, and three and a half deep, with two or three drains at the bottom, covered with an iron grate, or a stone with holes, to carry off the hasty rains, in order to keep the rabbits dry. In the outside bank should be six alcoves, the sides and top supported, either by boards or brick-work, to give the rabbits their dry food in; by their different situations some will always be dry; six boxes or old tea-chests, let into the bank will do very well. If the ground be very light, the outside circle should have a wall built round it, or some stakes driven into the ground, and boards or hurdles nailed to them, within a foot of the bottom, to prevent the bank from falling in. The entrance must either be by a board to turn occasionally across the ditch, or by a ladder. The turf being settled, and the grass beginning to grow, turn in the rabbits, and they will immediately go to work to make themselves burrows in the sides, and in the hill. By way of inducing them rather to build in the sides, to keep the turf the neater, make a score of holes about a foot deep, and they will finish them to their own mind; and if there be a brick wall round it, it should be built on pillars, with an arch from each, to leave a vacancy for a burrow. Lucern, parsley and carrots are very proper food for them; and they should also be fed upon some of the best upland pasture hay. Rabbits are subject to several diseases, as the rot, which is caused by giving them too large a quantity of green food, or the giving it fresh gathered, with the dew or rain hanging in fresh drops upon it, as it is over-moisture that always causes the disease; the green food should therefore always be given dry, and a sufficient quantity of hay, or other dry food, intermixed with it, to counteract the bad effects of it. And a sort of madness often seizes them: this may be known by their tumbling about; their heels upwards, and hopping in an odd manner into the boxes. This distemper is supposed to be owing to the rankness of their feeding; and the general cure is the keeping them low and giving them the prickly herb called tare-thistle to eat as much as possible. They are also subject to a sort of scabby eruption, which is seldom removed. These should, however, be directly separated from the rest of the stock.

RABBIT LIKE HARE. Choose a full-grown young rabbit, and hang it up three or four days. Then skin it, and without washing, lay it in a seasoning of black pepper and allspice, in very fine powder. Add a glass of port wine, and the same quantity of vinegar. Baste it occasionally for forty hours, then stuff and roast it as hare, and with the same sauce. Do not wash off the liquor that it was soaked in.

RADISHES. These are raised from seed by different sowings from the end of October till April, or the following month. They should have a light fine mould, and the more early sowings be made on borders, under warm walls, or other similar places, and in frames covered by glasses. The common spindle-rooted, short-topped sorts are mostly made use of in these early sowings, the seed being sown broadcast over the beds after they have been prepared by digging over and raking the surface even, being covered in with a slight raking. Some sow carrots with the early crops of radishes. It is usual to protect the early sown crops in the borders, during frosty nights and bad weather, by mats or dry wheat straw, which should be carefully removed every mild day. By this means they are brought more forward, as well as form better roots. When mats are used, and supported by pegs or hoops, they are readily applied and removed. A second more general sowing should be made in January or February. When the crops have got their rough leaf; they should be thinned out, where they are too thick, to the distance of two inches, as there will be constantly more thinning by the daily drawing of the young radishes. When the weather is dry in March, or the following month, the crops should be occasionally well watered, which not only forwards the growth of the crops, but increases the size of the roots, and renders them more mild and crisp in eating. And the sowings should be continued at the distance of a fortnight, till the latter end of March, when they should be performed every ten days, until the end of April or beginning of the following month. In sowing these later crops, it is the practice of some gardeners to sow coss-lettuces and spinach with them, in order to have the two crops coming forward at the same time; but the practice is not to be much recommended, where there is sufficient room. But in sowing the main general crops in the open quarters, the market-gardeners generally put them in on the same ground where they plant out their main crops of cauliflowers and cabbages, mixing spinach with the radish-seed as above, sowing the seeds first, and raking them in, then planting the cauliflowers or cabbages; the radishes and spinach come in for use before the other plants begin to spread much, and as soon as those crops are all cleared off for use, hoe the ground all over to kill weeds and loosen the soil, drawing earth about the stems of the cauliflowers and cabbages. The turnip radish should not be sown till the beginning of March, the plants being allowed a greater distance than for the common spindle-rooted sort. The seeds of this sort are apt to degenerate, unless they are set at a distance from that kind. The white and black Spanish radishes are usually sown about the middle of July, or a little earlier, and are fit for the table by the end of August, or the beginning of September, continuing good till frost spoils them. These should be thinned to a greater distance than the common sort, as their roots grow as large as turnips, and should not be left nearer than six inches. To have these roots in winter, they should be drawn before hard frost comes on, and laid in dry sand, as practised for carrots, carefully guarding them from wet and frost; as in this way they may be kept till the spring. In regard to the culture of the general crops, they require very little, except occasional thinning, where they are too thick, when the plants are come into the rough leaf, either by hoeing or drawing them out by hand: though for large quantities, small hoeing is the most expeditious mode of thinning, as well as most beneficial to the crop by loosening the ground; in either method thinning the plants to about two or three inches distance, clearing out the weakest, and leaving the strongest to form the crop. In order to save the seed, about the beginning of May some ground should be prepared by digging and levelling; then drawing some of the straightest and best coloured radishes, plant them in rows three feet distant, and two feet asunder in the rows; observing, if the season be dry, to water them until they have taken root: after which they will only require to have the weeds hoed down between them, until they are advanced so high as to overspread the ground. When the seed begins to ripen, it should be carefully guarded against the birds. When it is ripe, the pods will turn brown: then it must be cut, and spread in the sun to dry; after which it must be thrashed, and laid up for use where no mice can come at it. In order to have the roots early, as in January or the following month, the method of raising them in hot-beds is sometimes practised. They should have eighteen inches depth of dung to bring them up, and six or seven inches depth of light rich mould. The seed should be sown moderately thick, covering it in half an inch thick, and putting on the lights: the plants usually come up in a week or less; and when they appear, the lights should be lifted or taken off occasionally, according to the weather; and in a fortnight thin the plants to the distance of an inch and half or two inches, when in six weeks they will be fit to draw. Where there are no frames to spare, the beds may be covered with mats over hoops, and the sides secured by boards and straw-bands. And when in want of dung, if the beds be covered with frames, and the lights put on at night and in bad weather, the plants may be raised for use a fortnight sooner than in the open borders.--To raise them in constant succession, steep the seed in rain water for twenty-four hours, tie it up in a linen bag, and hang it in the sun all day. The seed beginning to shoot, is then to be sown in fresh earth well exposed to the sun, and covered with a tub. In three days the radishes will be produced fit for salad, and much more delicate than those grown in the common way. In the winter the seeds should be steeped in warm water, and the bag put in a place sufficiently hot to make them sprout. Then fill a tub with rich mould, sow the seeds in it, and cover them over closely with another tub, taking care to sprinkle them now and then with warm water. The two tubs closely joined should be set in a warm place, and in about a fortnight some fine salad will be produced. Radishes may be raised in this manner all the year round, and by the quickness of their growth they will be rendered fine and delicate.

RAGOUT OF EGGS. Boil eight eggs hard, then shell and cut them into quarters. Have ready a pint of good gravy, well seasoned, and thickened over the fire with two ounces of butter rolled in flour. When quite smooth and hot, pour it over the eggs, and serve them up. By using cream instead of gravy, this will make a fricassee.

RAGOUT OF MORELS. Cut them in long slices, then wash and drain them well. Put them into a stewpan with a piece of butter, some chopped parsley, a bunch of herbs, and some gravy. Simmer them over a gentle fire, and when nearly done, add a little pepper, salt, and flour. Set them over the fire, till the sauce is properly thickened. Stewed with a little water and a blade of mace, and thickened with cream, and yolks of eggs, they make a white ragout. Serve them with sippets of bread toasted.

RAGOUT OF TRUFFLES. Peel the truffles, cut them in slices, wash and drain them well. Put them into a saucepan with a little gravy, and stew them gently over a slow fire. When they are nearly done enough, thicken them with a little butter and flour. Stewed in a little water, and thickened with cream and yolk of egg, they make a nice white ragout. Truffles, mushrooms, and morels, are all of them very indigestible, and therefore not to be recommended to general use.

RAISED CRUST. For meat pies or fowls, boil some water with a little fine lard, and an equal quantity of fresh dripping or butter, but not much of either. While hot, mix this with as much fine flour as is necessary, making the paste as stiff as possible, to be smooth. Good kneading will be required for this purpose, and beating it with a rolling-pin. When quite smooth, put a part of it into a cloth, or under a pan, to soak till nearly cold. Those who are not expert in raising a crust, may roll the paste of a proper thickness, and cut out the top and bottom of the pie, then a long piece for the sides. Cement the bottom to the sides with egg, bringing the former rather farther out, and pinching both together. Put egg between the edges of the paste, to make it adhere at the sides. Fill the pie, put on the cover, and pinch it and the side crust together. The same mode of uniting the paste is to be observed, if the sides are pressed into a tin form, in which the paste must be baked, after it is filled and covered; but in the latter case, the tin should be buttered, and carefully taken off when done enough; and as the form usually makes the sides of a lighter colour than is proper, the paste should be put into the oven again for a quarter of an hour. The crust should be egged over at first with a feather.--Another. Put four ounces of butter into a saucepan with water; and when it boils, pour it into a quantity of flour. Knead and beat it quite smooth, cover it with small bits of butter, and work it in. If for custard, put a paper within to keep out the sides till half done. Mix up an egg with a little warm milk, adding sugar, a little peach water, lemon peel, or nutmeg, and fill up the paste.--Another way. To four pounds of flour, allow a pound of butter, and an ounce of salt. Heap the flour on a pie board, and make a hole in the middle of it, and put in the butter and salt. Pour in water nearly boiling, but with caution, that the crust be not too flimsey. Work the butter with the hand till it is melted in the water, then mix in the flour, mould it for a few minutes as quick as possible, that it may be free from lumps, and the stiffer it is the better. Let it be three hours before it is used.

RAISIN WINE. To every gallon of spring water, allow eight pounds of fresh Smyrnas, and put them together in a large tub. Stir it thoroughly every day for a month, then press the raisins in a horse-hair bag as dry as possible, and put the liquor into a cask. When it has done hissing, pour in a bottle of the best brandy, stop it close for twelve months, and then rack it off free from the dregs. Filter the dregs through a bag of flannel of three or four folds, add what is clear to the general quantity, and pour on a quart or two of brandy, according to the size of the vessel. Stop it up, and at the end of three years it may either be bottled, or drank from the cask. If raisin wine be made rich of the fruit, and well kept, the flavour will be much improved.--To make raisin wine with cider, put two hundred-weight of Malagas into a cask, and pour upon them a hogshead of good sound cider that is not rough; stir it well two or three days, stop it up, and let it stand six months. Then rack it into a cask that it will fill, and add a gallon of the best brandy. If raisin wine be much used, it would answer well to keep a cask always for it, and bottle off one year's wine just in time to make the next, which, allowing the six months of infusion, would make the wine to be eighteen months old. In cider counties this way is found to be economical; and if the wine is not thought strong enough, the addition of another stone or two of raisins would be sufficient, and the wine would still be very cheap. When the raisins are pressed through a horse-hair bag, they will either produce a good spirit by distillation, if sent to a chemist, or they will make excellent vinegar.--Raisin wine without cider. On four hundred-weight of Malagas pour a hogshead of spring water, stir it well every day for a fortnight, then squeeze the raisins in a horse-hair bag in a press, and tun the liquor. When it ceases to hiss, stop it close. In six months rack it off into another cask, or into a tub; and after clearing out the sediment, return it into the cask without washing it. Add a gallon of the best brandy, stop it close, and bottle it off in six months. The pressed fruit may be reserved for making vinegar.

RAMAKINS. Scrape a quarter of a pound of Cheshire cheese, and the same of Gloucester cheese, and add them to a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Beat all in a mortar, with the yolks of four eggs, and the inside of a small French roll boiled soft in cream. Mix the paste with the whites of the eggs previously beaten, put it into small paper pans made rather long than square, and bake in a Dutch oven to a fine brown. They should be eaten quite hot. Some like the addition of a glass of white wine. The batter for ramakins is equally good over macaroni, when boiled tender; or on stewed brocoli, celery, or cauliflower, a little of the gravy they have been stewed in being put in the dish with them, but not enough to make the vegetable swim.

RASPBERRY BRANDY. Pick some fine dry fruit, put them into a stone jar, and the jar into a kettle of water, or on a hot hearth, till the juice will run. After straining it, add to every pint of juice, half a pound of sugar; give it one boil, and skim it. When cold, put equal quantities of juice and brandy; shake it well, and bottle it. Some persons prefer it stronger of the brandy.

RASPBERRY CAKES. Pick out some fine ripe raspberries, weigh and boil them. When mashed, and the liquor is wasted, add sugar equal to the first weight of the fruit. Take it off the fire, mix it well, until perfectly dissolved, and then put it on china plates to dry in the sun. As soon as the top part dries, cut the paste into small cakes with the cover of a canister; then turn them on fresh plates, and put them into boxes when dry, with layers of white paper.

RASPBERRY CREAM. Mash the fruit gently, and let them drain; sprinkle some sugar over, and that will produce more juice. Then put the juice to some cream, and sweeten it. After this it may be lowered with milk; but if the milk be put in before the cream, it will curdle it. When fresh fruit cannot be obtained, it is best made of raspberry jelly, instead of jam.--Another way. Boil an ounce of isinglass shavings in three pints of cream and new milk mixed, for fifteen minutes, or till the shavings be melted. Strain it through a hair sieve into a bason; when cool, add about half a pint of raspberry juice or syrup, to the milk and cream. Stir it till it is well incorporated; sweeten, and add a glass of brandy. Whisk it about till three parts cold, and then put it into a mould till it is quite cold. In summer, use the fresh juice; in winter, syrup of raspberries.

RASPBERRY JAM. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar; put the former into a preserving-pan, boil and break it, stir it constantly, and let it boil very quickly. When most of the juice is wasted, add the sugar, and simmer it half an hour. By this mode of management the jam is greatly superior in colour and flavour, to that which is made by putting the sugar in at first.--Another way. Put the fruit in a jar, and the jar in a kettle of water on a hot hearth, and let it remain till the juice will run from it. Then take away a quarter of a pint from every pound of fruit, boil and bruise it half an hour. Put in the weight of the fruit in sugar, add the same quantity of currant juice, and boil it to a strong jelly. The raspberry juice will serve to put into brandy, or may be boiled with its weight in sugar, for making the jelly for raspberry ice or cream.

RASPBERRY TARTS. Roll out some thin puff paste, and lay it in a pattipan. Put in the raspberries, strew some fine sugar over them, cover with a thin lid, and bake the tart. Mix a pint of cream with the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, and a little sugar. Cut open the tart, pour in the mixture, and return it to the oven for five or six minutes.--Another. Line the dish with puff paste, put in sugar and fruit, lay bars across, and bake them. Currant tarts are done in the same way.

RASPBERRY VINEGAR. Put a pound of fine fruit into a china bowl, and pour upon it a quart of the best white wine vinegar. Next day strain the liquor on a pound of fresh raspberries, and the following day do the same; but do not squeeze the fruit, only drain the liquor as dry as possible from it. The last time pass it through a canvas, previously moistened with vinegar, to prevent waste. Put it into a stone jar, with a pound of sugar to every pint of juice, broken into large lumps. Stir it when melted, then put the jar into a saucepan of water, or on a hot hearth; let it simmer, and skim it clean. When cold, bottle it up. This is one of the most useful preparations that can be kept in a house, not only as affording the most refreshing beverage, but being of singular efficacy in complaints of the chest. A large spoonful or two in this case is to be taken in a tumbler of water. No glazed or metal vessel of any kind should be used in this preparation. The fruit, with an equal quantity of sugar, makes excellent Raspberry Cakes, without boiling.

RASPBERRY WINE. To every quart of well-picked raspberries put a quart of water; bruise, and let them stand two days. Strain off the liquor; and to every gallon add three pounds of lump sugar. When dissolved, put the liquor in a barrel; and when fine, which will be in about two months, bottle it off. To each bottle put a spoonful of brandy, or a glass of wine.

RATIFIA. Blanch two ounces of peach and apricot kernels, bruise and put them into a bottle, and fill it nearly up with brandy. Dissolve half a pound of white sugar-candy in a cup of cold water, and add it to the brandy after it has stood a month on the kernels, and they are strained off. Then filter through paper, and bottle it up for use. The leaves of peaches and nectarines, when the trees are cut in the spring, being distilled, are an excellent substitute for ratifia in puddings.

RATIFIA CAKES. Blanch and beat fine in a mortar, four ounces of bitter almonds, and two ounces of sweet almonds. Prepare a pound and a half of loaf sugar, pounded and sifted; beat up the whites of four eggs to a froth, and add the sugar to it a little at a time, till it becomes of the stiffness of dough. Stir and beat it well together, and put in the almonds. Drop the paste on paper or tins, and bake it in a slow oven. Try one of the cakes, and if it rises out of shape, the oven is too hot. The cakes must not be handled in making, but a spoon or a knife must be used.

RATIFIA CREAM. Boil three or four laurel, peach, or nectarine leaves, in a full pint of cream, and strain it. When cold, add the yolks of three eggs beaten and strained, sugar, and a large spoonful of brandy stirred quick into it. Scald and stir it all the time, till it thickens. Or mix half a quarter of a pint of ratifia, the same quantity of mountain wine, the juice of two or three lemons, a pint of rich cream, and agreeably sweetened with sugar. Beat it with a whisk, and put it into glasses. The cream will keep eight or ten days.--Another. Blanch a quarter of an ounce of bitter almonds, and beat them with a tea-spoonful of water in a marble mortar. Rub with the paste two ounces of loaf sugar, simmer it ten minutes with a tea-cupful of cream, and then strain and ice it.

RATIFIA DROPS. Blanch and beat in a mortar four ounces of bitter almonds, and two ounces of sweet almonds, with a small part of a pound of fine sugar sifted. Add the remainder of the sugar, and the whites of two eggs, and make the whole into a paste. Divide the mass into little balls the size of a nutmeg, put them on wafer paper, and bake them gently on tin plates.

RATS. The first step taken by rat-catchers, in order to clear a house, &c. of those vermin, is to allure them all together, to one proper place, before they attempt to destroy them; for there is such an instinctive caution in these animals, accompanied with a surprising sagacity in discovering any cause of danger, that if any of them be hurt, or pursued, in an unusual manner, the rest take the alarm, and become so shy and wary, that they elude all the devices and stratagems of their pursuers for some time after. The place where the rats are to be assembled, should be some closet, or small room, into which all the openings, but one or two, may be secured; and this place should be, as near as may be, in the middle of the house, or buildings. It is the practice, therefore, to attempt to bring them all together in some such place before any attempt be made to take them; and even then to avoid any violence, hurt, or fright to them, before the whole be in the power of the operator. In respect to the means used to allure them to one place, they are various; one of those most easily and efficaciously practised is the trailing some piece of their most favourite food, which should be of the kind that has the strongest scent, such as toasted cheese, or broiled red-herring, from the holes or entrances to their accesses in every part of the house, or contiguous buildings, whence it is intended to allure them. At the extremities, and in different parts of the course of this trailed tract, small quantities of meal, or any other kind of their food, should be laid, to bring the greater number into the tracks, and to encourage them to pursue it to the centre place, where they are intended to be taken; at that place, where time admits of it, a more plentiful repast is laid for them, and the trailing repeated for two or three nights. But besides this trailing, and way-baiting, some of the most expert of the rat-catchers have a shorter, and, perhaps, more effectual method of bringing them together, which is, the calling them, by making such a kind of whistling noise as resembles their own call, and by this means, with the assistance of the way-baits, they call them out of their holes, and lead them to the repast prepared for them at the place designed for taking them. But this is much more difficult to be practised than the art of trailing; for the learning the exact notes, or cries, of any kind of beasts or birds, so as to deceive them, is a peculiar talent, not easily attained to in other cases. And in practising either of these methods, great caution must be used by the operator to suppress, and prevent, the scent of his feet and body from being perceived; which is done by overpowering that scent by others of a stronger nature. In order to this the feet are to be covered with cloths rubbed over with assafoetida, or other strong smelling substances; and even oil of rhodium is sometimes used for this purpose, but sparingly, on account of its dearness, though it has a very alluring, as well as disguising effect. If this caution of avoiding the scent of the operator's feet, near the track, and in the place where the rats are proposed to be collected, be not properly observed, it will very much obstruct the success of the attempt to take them; for they are very shy of coming where the scent of human feet lies very fresh, and intimates, to their sagacious instinct, the presence of human creatures, whom they naturally dread. To the above-mentioned means of alluring by trailing, way-baiting, and calling, is added another of very material efficacy, which is the use of the oil of rhodium, which, like the marum syriacum in the case of cats, has a very extraordinary fascinating power on these animals. The oil is extremely dear, and therefore very sparingly used. It is exhaled in a small quantity in the place, and at the entrance of it, where the rats are intended to be taken, particularly at the time when they are to be last brought together in order to their destruction; and it is used also, by smearing it on the surface of some of the implements used in taking them, by the method before described, and the effect it has in taking off their caution and dread, by the delight they appear to have in it, is very extraordinary. It is usual, likewise, for the operator to disguise his figure as well as scent, which is done by putting on a sort of gown or cloak, of one colour, that hides the natural form, and makes him appear like a post, or such inanimate thing; which habit must likewise be scented as above, to overpower the smell of his person; and besides this he is to avoid all motion, till he has secured his point of having all the rats in his power. When the rats are thus enticed and collected, where time is afforded, and the whole in any house or outbuildings are intended to be cleared away, they are suffered to regale on what they most like, which is ready prepared for them; and then to go away quietly for two or three nights; by which means those which are not allured the first night are brought afterwards, either by their fellows, or the effects of the trailing, &c. and will not fail to come duly again, if they are not disturbed or molested. But many of the rat-catchers make shorter work, and content themselves with what can be brought together in one night or two; but this is never effectual, unless where the building is small and entire, and the rats but few in number. With respect to the means of taking them when they are brought together, they are various. Some entice them into a very large bag, the mouth of which is sufficiently capacious to cover nearly the whole floor of the place where they are collected; which is done by smearing some vessel, placed in the middle of the bag, with oil of rhodium, and laying in the bag baits of proper food. This bag, which before laid flat on the ground, with the mouth spread open, is to be suddenly closed when the rats are all in it. Others drive or frighten them, by slight noises or motions, into a bag of a long form, the mouth of which, after all the rats are come in, is drawn up to the opening of the place by which they entered, all other ways of retreat being secured. Others, again, intoxicate or poison them, by mixing with the repast prepared for them the cocculus indicus, or the nux vomica. A receipt for this purpose has appeared, which directs four ounces of cocculus indicus, with twelve ounces of oatmeal, and two ounces of treacle or honey, to be made up into a moist paste with strong beer; but if the nux vomica be used, a much less proportion will serve than is here given of the cocculus. Any similar composition of these drugs, with that kind of food the rats are most fond of, and which has a strong flavour, to hide that of the drugs, will equally well answer the end. If, indeed, the cocculus indicus be well powdered, and infused in strong beer for some time, at least half the quantity here directed will serve as well as the quantity before mentioned. When the rats appear to be thoroughly intoxicated with the cocculus, or sick with the nux vomica, they may be taken with the hand, and put into a bag or cage, the door of the place being first drawn to, lest those which have strength and sense remaining should escape. By these methods, when well conducted, a very considerable part of the rats in a farm, or other house, and the contiguous buildings, may be taken and destroyed. But various other methods have been practised.--The following compositions are advised for destroying these mischievous creatures, and which are stated to have been attended with great success. First, to a quart of oatmeal, add six drops of oil of rhodium, one grain of musk, and two or three of the nuts of nux vomica finely powdered; make them into pellets, and put them into the rat-holes. This, it is said, was at first greedily eaten, and did great execution; but the wise animals, after a time, ceased to eat it. Secondly; this consisted of three parts of oatmeal and one of stave's-acre, mixed well into a paste with honey. Pieces of this paste were laid in their holes, and again did great execution. Thirdly; this is a method of destroying them by laying a large box down on its front side, with the lid supported open by a string over a pulley; and by trailing toasted cheese and a red-herring from their holes to this box, and placing oatmeal and other food in it, which they are for a few nights to be permitted to eat unmolested; and finally to watch them by moon-light, the inside of the box being painted white; and, when many of them are seen, to let down the lid; by which contrivance sixty of them are stated to have been taken at one time.--But though the usual ways of destroying rats are by traps and poison, it is advised never to use arsenic, or corrosive sublimate, for that purpose, except under particular circumstances, as they are deadly poisons: nux vomica will generally answer the end as well, without the danger. It is a very good plan, to prevent accidents, to enclose the traps in cases, having holes in the ends of them large enough to admit rats, but small enough to exclude dogs, cats, &c. As a bait for rat-traps, the following composition may be made use of with advantage. Take a pound of good flour, three ounces of treacle, and six drops of the oil of carraways: put them all in a dish, and rub them well together till they are properly mixed: then add a pound of crumb of bread. The traps baited with this mixture should be set as near their haunts as possible; but, for two or three days, so as not to fall or strike on the rats going in, but letting them have free liberty to go in and out at pleasure, as this makes them fearless. Some of the bait should also be laid at the rat-holes, and a little of it scattered quite up to the traps, and so on to the bridge of each trap, where a handful may be placed. It may also be proper to scent the traps with the following mixture, for the purpose of enticing the rats into them. Take twenty drops of the oil of rhodium, six or seven grains of musk, and half an ounce of oil of aniseed; put them in a small phial, and shake it well before using; then dip a piece of twisted paper or rag in the mixture, and rub each end of the trap with it, if a box trap, and put two or three drops on the bridge, leaving the paper or rag in the trap. Of whatever kind the trap is, it should be scented; but once in a twelvemonth will be sufficient. Then throw some chaff mixed with a little wheat about the bottom of the trap, in order to deceive the rats; for they are very sagacious, and will not enter a suspicious place. This will be necessary to be done only at the first time of setting the traps; for, after some rats have been caught and have watered and dunged in them, rats will enter boldly when they find others have been there before them: do not, therefore, wash or clean out the trap, as some people do before they set it again, but let the dung and urine remain in it. Keep the places where the traps are set as private as possible; and when they are set for catching, mix no bread with the bait, as the rats will, in that case, be apt to carry it away. And it is useful, when the holes are found quiet, and that no rats use them, to stop them up with the following composition. Take a pint of common tar, half an ounce of pearl-ashes, an ounce of oil of vitriol, and a good handful of common salt, mix them all well together in an old pan or pot. Take some pieces of paper, and lay some of the above mixture very thick on them; then stop the holes well up with them, and build up the mouth of the holes with brick or stone, and mortar; if this be properly done, rats will no more approach these while either smell or taste remains in the composition. But with a view to destroy rats in places where traps cannot be set, it is recommended to take a quart of the above bait, then to rasp into it three nuts of nux vomica, and add a quarter of a pound of crumb of bread, if there was none before; mix them all well together, and lay it into the mouth of their holes, and in different places where they frequent; but first give them of the bait without nux vomica, for three or four succeeding nights; and when they find it agrees with them, they will eat that mixed with the nut with greediness. However, as it is frequently found that rats are very troublesome in sewers and drains, in such cases arsenic may be used with success in the following manner. Take some dead rats, and having put some white arsenic, finely powdered, into an old pepper-box, shake a quantity of it on the foreparts of the dead rats, and put them down the holes, or avenues, by the sides of the sewers at which they come in; this puts a stop to the live ones coming any further; for when they perceive the arsenic, they will retire immediately; whereas, if they were put down without the arsenic, the live ones would eat them. It is by means of arsenic, notwithstanding the above observations, that the most certain method of destroying these troublesome vermin, (provided they can be made to eat it,) takes place; which has been found to answer best when it is prepared by being finely levigated, and mixed up with very strong old cheese and oatmeal. But after all, it is probable that this highly destructive animal, and great pest to the farmer, might be most readily exterminated by parishes uniting for the purpose, and raising certain sums of money to be applied in this way, under the direction of a proper person who is fully acquainted with the business.--In many grain and other districts in the kingdom these animals prevail very much, especially the grey kind, particularly in all those where there are no regular raised staddles or stands for the grain stacks to rest upon, which is the case in a great number. The mischief, injury, and destruction of grain which is produced in this way, is scarcely to be calculated; and they are besides very mischievous, troublesome, and inconvenient in several others; so that they should be every where extirpated as much as possible. And in corn tracts, stands or staddles should every where be provided in order to prevent mischief being done by them.

RAZOR STRAPS. Nothing makes a better razor strap than crocus martis with a little sweet oil, rubbed well on doe skin with a glass bottle; and to keep it in perfect order, it should not be left too long dry.

RED CABBAGE. Slice a red cabbage crossways, put it in an earthen dish, and throw on it a handful of salt. Cover it over till the next day, drain it in a cullender, and put it into a jar. Boil some good vinegar, with cloves and allspice; pour it hot on the cabbage till the jar is full, and when cold tie it down close.

RED HERRINGS. Choose those that are large and moist, cut them open, and pour over them some boiling small beer. Let them soak half an hour, then drain and dry them; make them just hot through before the fire, and rub them over with cold butter. Serve with egg sauce, or buttered eggs; mashed potatoes should also be sent up with them.

RED INK. Infuse a quarter of a pound of Brazil wood, rasped, in two pints of vinegar, for three days. Then boil the liquid and the wood over a gentle fire, for an hour, and strain it off quite hot. Put it again over the fire, and dissolve in it, first, half an ounce of gum arabic, and afterwards, half an ounce of alum, and the same quantity of white sugar. When the alum is dissolved, remove it from the fire, and preserve it for use.

RED MULLET. This sort of fish are in season in August; and to be good, they should be quite firm. Sea mullets are preferred to the river ones, and the red to the grey. This fish is sometimes called the sea woodcock. To dress mullets, clean them, but leave the inside. Fold them in oiled paper, and bake them gently in a small dish. Make a sauce of the liquor that comes from the fish, with a piece of butter, a little flour, a little essence of anchovy, and a glass of sherry. Give it a boil, serve in a boat, and the fish in the paper cases.

REGIMEN. It may be difficult accurately to ascertain the predominant qualities of particular constitutions, or of the food that is best adapted in particular instances; yet it is certain, that health is dependent on regimen and diet, more than on any other cause. There are things so decidedly injurious, and so well known to be so, as to require no admonition; the instincts of nature will teach us to refrain; and generally speaking, the best rule for our practice is to observe by experience, what it is that hurts or does us good, and what our stomachs are best able to digest. We must at the same time keep our judgment unbiassed, and not suffer it to become a pander to the appetite; or the stomach and the health will be betrayed to the mere indulgence of sensuality. The gratification of our taste in the abundant supplies of nature, converted by art to the purposes of wholesome food, is perfectly compatible with the necessary maintenance of health; it is only the indiscriminate or inordinate indulgence of our appetites, regardless of the consequences, that is the proper object of censure. Many of the diseases to which we are subject might be traced to this source; yet we are generally so little aware of it, that we impute them to the state of the weather, to infection, or any other imaginary cause, rather than the true one. The weather has very little serious effect upon a person in health, unless exposed to it in some unusual manner that suddenly checks perspiration, or some of the ordinary evacuations. Infection, though of formidable import, is almost divested of its power over those whose temperance in food and diet keeps the blood and juices pure. The closest attendance upon an infected person has often been found perfectly consistent with personal safety under such circumstances. Even diseases, said to be hereditary, may with great probability be assigned to errors in domestic life, of which the children partake, and fall into the same disorders as their parents, and remote progenitors. But even if this be not exactly so, an originally indifferent constitution may certainly be much amended by proper management. Amongst a variety of causes producing ill health, there can be no doubt but bad air, want of cleanliness, want of exercise, excessive fatigue, and mental uneasiness, must have an unfavourable influence; yet none of these have so immediate an effect as the food we eat, which if not wholesome and nutricious, tends directly to contaminate the system. We derive the renewal of our blood and juices, which are constantly exhausting, from the substances converted into food. As our food therefore is proper or improper, too much or too little, so will our blood and juices be good or bad, overcharged or deficient, and our state of health accordingly good or diseased. It is not only necessary however, that our aliment should be plain and wholesome; it is requisite also that it should contain active principles; such as salts, oils, and spirits, which have the property of stimulating the solids, quickening the circulation, and make the fluids thinner; thus rendering them more suited to undergo the necessary secretions of the body. The art of preserving health, and of prolonging life, consists therefore in the use of a moderate quantity of such diet as shall neither encrease the salts and oils so as to produce disease, nor to diminish them so as to suffer the solids to become relaxed. Eating too little is hurtful, as well as eating too much. Neither excess nor hunger, nor any thing else that passes the bounds of nature, can be good for man. Temperance and moderation in eating and drinking, are nature's great preservatives. 'The throat has destroyed more than the sword.' Some people are apt to think, the more plentifully they eat and drink, the better they thrive, and the stronger they grow. But this is not the case: a little, well digested, will render the body more vigorous than when it is glutted with superfluity, most of which is turned to excrementitious, not alimentary, fluid, and must soon be evacuated, or sickness will follow. It is said of the highly celebrated Dr. Boerhaäve, that having long promised to a friend the secret of preserving health and long life, his friend became impatient to obtain the secret, when he perceived that the physician was dying. To his repeated solicitations, the doctor as frequently replied, 'Do not eat too much--do not eat too much;' and left this advice as his last legacy to his valued friend. By loading the stomach, digestion is impeded; for the natural juice of the stomach, which is the great medium of digestion, has not then room to exert itself. The stomach therefore nauseates its contents, and is troubled with eructations; the spirits are oppressed, obstructions ensue, and disease is the consequence. Besides, when thus overfilled, the stomach presses on the diaphragm, prevents the proper play of the lungs, and occasions difficulty and uneasiness in breathing. Hence arise various bad symptoms and effects, throughout the whole of the animal economy; prostrating the strength, impairing the senses, hastening old age, and shortening life. Though these unhappy consequences may not be immediately perceived, yet they are the certain attendants of intemperance; and it has been generally observed in great eaters, that though from custom, a state of youth, and a strong constitution, they suffer no present inconvenience, but have digested their food, and sustained the surfeit; yet if they have not been unexpectedly cut off, they have found the symptoms of old age come on early in life, attended with pains and innumerable disorders. If health is to be regarded, we must ever make it a rule not to eat to satiety or fulness, but desist while the stomach feels quite easy. Thus we shall be refreshed, light, and cheerful; not dull, heavy, or indisposed. Should we ever be tempted to eat too much at one time, we should eat the less at another: abstinence is the best remedy for repletion. If our dinner has been larger than usual, let our supper be less, or rather, quite omitted. With regard to the times of eating, they must to a certain degree be conformed to family convenience, but ought to be quite independent of the caprice of fashion, instead of being as they are, governed by it. This, and a want of punctuality to the dinner hour, are the cause of more real harm to the constitution than thoughtless people of fashion, and their more thoughtless imitators, are apt to imagine. When a dinner is dressed, nothing can prevent its being injured by standing. It may be kept hot, and this imposes on those who think no farther upon the subject; but the very means made use of for this purpose, only help to spoil it the more. If things boiled are kept in the water after they are done enough, they become sodden, vapid, and heavy. The invention of hot closets for keeping other things hot, dry away the juices, and make them strong and rancid. From such dinners, indigestions will ensue, frequent head-aches, nervousness, and many other uneasy sensations, which finally bring on maladies of a more serious nature. The great points to be guarded against, respecting the times of eating, are either eating too soon after a former meal, or fasting too long. The stomach should always have time to empty itself, before it is filled again. Some stomachs digest their contents sooner than others, and if long empty it may destroy the appetite, and greatly disturb both the head and animal spirits; because from the great profusion of nerves spread over the stomach, there is an immediate sympathy between that and the head. Hence the head is sure to be affected by whatever disorders the stomach, whether from any particular aliment that disagrees with it, or being over filled, or too long empty. Hence also, too frequently, arise apoplexy, or paralytic affections, especially in aged people. Such as feel a gnawing in the stomach, as it is called, should not wait till the stated time of the next meal, but take a small quantity of food, light, and easy of digestion, that the stomach may have something to work on. Children, with craving appetites, do and may eat often, allowing only a proper interval to empty the stomach. Young persons in health, who use much exercise, may eat three times a day. But such as are in years, such as are weak, as do no work, or lead a sedentary life, eating twice in the day is quite sufficient: or if in the present habits of society it is found to be difficult to arrange for two meals only, let them take three very moderate ones. Weak and aged persons may eat often, but then it should be very little at a time. The diseases to which we are liable often require substances of more active principles than what are found in common aliment, and hence the need of medicine, in order to, produce sudden alterations. But where such alterations are not immediately necessary, the same effect may be produced with much greater safety, by a proper attention to diet only. Abstinence is in short, one of the best remedies to which we can resort; and if employed in time, will entirely cure many disorders, and check the violence of such as cannot be entirely carried off by it. In all cases where there is any inflammation, and in stomach complaints, it is particularly necessary, and may be safely continued till the symptoms of disease disappear. Where the digestion is habitually weak, a day of abstinence once a week will always be beneficial. The quality of our food is a subject of greater difficulty than the quantity. Moderation is an invariably safe guide in the latter case; but though always favourable to prevent ill effects from any error in quality, it will not always be effectual. To a person in good health, with a strong stomach, and whose constant beverage is water, or some weak liquor, the niceties in food and cooking are less material, than to persons with naturally weak stomachs, or to those in sickness, or for children. But all persons who would to a certainty preserve their health and faculties, and live out the natural term of life, should use plain food, as all high seasonings and compound mixtures, have an injurious effect, sooner or later, on the strongest constitutions. If a few instances can be shewn to the contrary, these, like other anomalies in nature, cannot constitute an exception to a well established fact. A prevailing error in the diet of this country is a too great use of animal food. The disease called the sea scurvy, often occurs from this cause, in every large town in England; and it is probable that the frequency and fatality of putrid and scarlet fevers may justly be attributed to it also. The prejudices of this country are very strong in favour of animal food, but the evidence of facts is equally strong against its absolute necessity. Instances of this are seen in the natives of Hindostan, who live upon rice, and who by way of opprobrium call the inhabitants of this country 'flesh eaters;' in the poor of Ireland, who live upon potatoes, and in the poor of Scotland, who live upon oatmeal. After all, the medium is in all probability the best; neither animal nor vegetable diet exclusively, but a reasonable proportion of both. Persons of indifferent health should be particularly cautious in their diet, and those labouring under any particular malady should carefully conform to the regimen prescribed for them by their medical advisers.--Our beverage is another very important article, in reference to health. It is essential to moisten and convey more solid food into the stomach, and from thence to the respective parts of the system. Also to allay thirst, to dilute the blood, that it may circulate through the minutest vessels, and to dissolve and carry off by watery secretions the superfluous salts taken in with the food. No liquid is so effectual for this purpose as pure water; with the exception only of a few cases. No other liquid circulates so well, or mixes so immediately with our fluids. Other liquids are impregnated with particles which act strongly upon the solids or fluids, or both; but water being simple, operates only by diluting, moistening, and cooling, which are the great uses of drink pointed out to us by nature. Hence it is evident that water in general is the best and most wholesome drink; but as some constitutions require something to warm and stimulate the stomach, fermented liquors may be proper, if taken in moderation. It is necessary however, that beer, ale, cider, and wine, be taken in a sound state and of proper age, or they will be highly detrimental. Spirituous liquors, taken too freely, or in a raw state, are attended with direful effects, and are the destruction of thousands. From the degree of heat they have undergone in distillation, they acquire a corrosive and burning quality, which makes them dangerous to the constitution. They contract the fibres and smaller vessels, especially where they are tenderest, as in the brain, and thus destroy the intellectual faculties. They injure the coat of the stomach, and so expose the nerves and relax the fibres, till the whole stomach becomes at last soft and flabby. Hence ensues loss of appetite, indigestion, and diseases that generally terminate in premature death. Light wines of a moderate strength, and matured by age, are more wholesome than strong, rich, and heavy wines, and pass off the stomach with less difficulty. Red port is strong and astringent, but white port and Spanish wines are stimulating and attenuating. French wines are lighter, and not so strong as the Portuguese and Spanish wines, which renders them wholesomer for thin and dry constitutions. Rhenish and Moselle wines are the most wholesome of any, where acidity is not hurtful. Home made wines are prejudicial to all constitutions, being very windy and heady. The notion that liquors of any kind assist digestion, is quite erroneous, as wine and all other strong liquors are as hard to digest as strong solid food. Those who drink only water or small beer at their meals, are able to eat and digest almost double the quantity of what they could, if they drank strong liquors. When the stomach is uneasy from too much food, or such as is indigestible, strong liquors produce a deceitful glow in the stomach, which induces a belief of their having the beneficial effect of assisting digestion. The fallacy of this conclusion is sufficiently apparent from the state in which cherries are found, after they have been steeped in brandy: instead of becoming more tender, they are rendered as tough as leather. Similar effects are produced on food in the stomach, as well as out of it. Strong liquors are plainly improper at meals, as by their heat and activity they hurry the food undigested into the habit, and so lay the foundation for various distempers, such as the gout, rheumatism, apoplexy, and palsy.

RENNET. This article, so necessary in making of cheese, is prepared as follows. Take out the stomach of a calf as soon as killed, and scour it inside and out with salt, after it is cleared of the curd always found in it. Let it drain a few hours, then sow it up with two good handfuls of salt in it, or stretch it on a stick well salted, and hang it up to dry.--Another way. Clean the maw as above, and let it drain a day. Then put into two quarts of fresh spring-water a handful of hawthorn tops, a handful of sweet briar, a handful of rose leaves, a stick of cinnamon, forty cloves, four blades of mace, a sprig of knotted marjoram, and two large spoonfuls of salt. Let them boil gently till the liquor is reduced to three pints, and strain it off; when only milk warm, pour it on the maw. Slice a lemon into it, let it stand two days, strain it again, and bottle it for use. It will keep good at least for twelve months, and has a very fine flavour. Sweet aromatic herbs may also be added. The liquor must be pretty salt, but not made into brine: a little of it will turn the milk. Salt the maw again for a week or two, and dry it stretched on cross sticks, and it will be nearly as strong as before. The rennet when dried must be kept in a cool place.

RESENTMENT. This is a dangerous passion, and often fatal to health. Anger disorders the whole frame, hurries on the circulation of the blood, occasions fevers and other acute disorders, and sometimes ends in sudden death. Resentment also preys upon the mind, and occasions the most obstinate disorders, which gradually waste the constitution. Those who value health therefore, will guard against indulging this malignant propensity, and endeavour to preserve a happy degree of tranquillity.

RHEUMATISM. In this complaint the diet should be nourishing, with a little generous wine; costiveness must be carefully avoided. The painful part should be kept warm with flannel, should be frequently rubbed, occasionally electrified, and supplied with the volatile liniment. Blisters, cataplasms of mustard or horseradish, may be applied with advantage. If these be not effectual, take a pint of the spirits of turpentine, and add half an ounce of camphor. Let it stand till the camphor is dissolved, then rub it on the part affected night and morning, and it will seldom fail to afford effectual relief. This mixture is also very proper for sprains and bruises, and should be kept for family use. But several of our own domestic plants as above may be used with advantage in the rheumatism. One of the best is the white mustard. A table-spoonful of the seed of this plant may be taken twice or thrice a day, in a glass of water or small wine. The water trefoil is likewise of great use in this complaint. It may be infused in wine or ale, or drunk in the form of tea. The ground-ivy, camomile, and several other bitters, are also beneficial, and may be used in the same manner. No benefit, however, is to be expected from these, unless they be taken for a considerable time. Cold bathing, especially in salt water, often cures the rheumatism. It is also advisable to take exercise, and wear flannel next the skin. Issues are likewise very proper, especially in chronic cases. If the pain affects the shoulders, an issue may be made in the arm; but if it affects the loins, it should be put into the leg or thigh. Such as are subject to frequent attacks of the rheumatism ought to make choice of a dry, warm situation, to avoid the night air, wet clothes, and wet feet, as much as possible. Their clothing should be warm, and they should wear flannel next their skin, and make frequent use of the flesh brush. One of the best articles of dress, not only for the prevention of rheumatism, but for powerful co-operation in its cure, is fleecy hosiery. In low marshy situations, the introduction of that manufacture has prevented more rheumatisms, colds, and agues, than all the medicines ever used there. Such of the inhabitants of marshy counties as are in easy circumstances, could not, perhaps, direct their charity and humanity to a better object than to the supplying their poor neighbours with so cheap and simple a preservative.

RHUBARB. By proper attention in the growth and preparation of this root, it may be obtained here nearly in equal goodness to the foreign. The plants are all increased by seeds, which should be sown in autumn soon after they are ripe, where the plants are designed to remain, as their roots being large and fleshy when they are removed, they do not recover it soon; nor do the roots of such removed plants ever grow so large and fair as those which remain where they were sown. When the plants appear in the spring, the ground should be well hoed over, to cut up the weeds; and where they are too close, some should be cut up, leaving them at the first hoeing six or eight inches asunder; but at the second they may be separated to a foot and a half distance, and more. When any weeds appear, the ground should be scuffled over with a Dutch hoe in dry weather; but after the plants cover the ground with their broad leaves, they keep down the weeds without any farther trouble. The ground should be cleaned in autumn when the leaves decay, and in the spring, before the plants begin to put up their new leaves, be dug well between them. In the second year, many of the strongest plants will produce flowers and seeds, and in the third year most of them. It is advised, that the seeds be carefully gathered when ripe, and not permitted to scatter, lest they grow and injure the old plants. The roots continue many years without decaying, and the old roots of the true rhubarb are much preferable to the young ones. The roots may be generally taken up after four years, but if they remain longer it is so much the better. These plants delight in a rich soil, which is not too dry nor over moist: and where there is depth in such land for their roots to run down, they attain a great size, both in the leaves and roots.

RHUBARB PIE. Peel the stalks of the plant, cut them about an inch long, put them into a dish with moist sugar, a little water and lemon peel. Put on the crust, and bake it in a moderate oven.

RHUBARB PUDDING. Put four dozen clean sticks of rhubarb into a stewpan, with the peel of a lemon, a bit of cinnamon, two cloves, and as much moist sugar as will sweeten it. Set it over the fire, and reduce it to a marmalade. Pass it through a hair sieve, then add the peel of a lemon, half a nutmeg grated, a quarter of a pound of good butter, the yolks of four eggs, and one white, and mix all well together. Line a pie dish with good puff paste, put in the mixture, and bake it half an hour. This will make a good spring pudding.

RHUBARB SAUCE. To make a mock gooseberry-sauce for mackarel, reduce three dozen sticks of rhubarb to a marmalade, and sweeten it with moist sugar. Pass it through a hair sieve, and serve it up in a boat.--Mock gooseberry-fool is made of rhubarb marmalade, prepared as for a pudding. Add a pint of good thick cream, serve it up in glasses, or in a deep dish. If wanted in a shape, dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a little water, strain it through a tammis, and when nearly cold put it to the cream. Pour it into a jelly mould, and when set, turn it out into a dish, and serve it up plain.

RHUBARB SHERBET. Boil six or eight sticks of clean rhubarb in a quart of water, ten minutes. Strain the liquor through a tammis into a jug, with the peel of a lemon cut very thin, and two table-spoonfuls of clarified sugar. Let it stand five or six hours, and it will be fit to drink.

RHUBARB SOUP. There are various ways of dressing garden rhubarb, which serves as an excellent substitute for spring fruit. Peel and well wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb, blanch it in water three or four minutes, drain it on a sieve, and put it into a stewpan with two sliced onions, a carrot, an ounce of lean ham, and a good bit of butter. Let it stew gently over a slow fire till tender, then put in two quarts of rich soup, to which add two or three ounces of bread crumbs, and boil it about fifteen minutes. Skim off all the fat, season with salt and cayenne, pass it through a tammis, and serve it up with fried bread.

RHUBARB TART. Cut the stalks in lengths of four or five inches, and take off the thin skin. Lay them in a dish, pour on a thin syrup of sugar and water, cover them with another dish, and let it simmer very slowly for an hour on a hot hearth; or put the rhubarb into a block-tin saucepan, and simmer it over the fire. When cold, make it into a tart; the baking of the crust will be sufficient, if the rhubarb be quite tender.

RIBS OF BEEF. The following is an excellent way of dressing this rich and valuable joint. Hang up three ribs three or four days, take out the bones from the whole length, sprinkle it with salt, roll the meat tight, and roast it. If done with spices, and baked as hunter's beef, it is excellent, and nothing can look nicer.

RICE BROTH. Put a quarter of a pound of whole rice into a gallon of water. Let it simmer till it is quite soft, then put in a knuckle of veal, or the scrag end of a leg of mutton, with two or three pounds of gravy beef. Stew this very gently for two hours, then put in turnips, carrots, celery, leeks, or any other vegetables. Continue to stew slowly, and when the whole is sufficiently done, season it with salt, and serve it up.

RICE CAKE. Mix ten ounces of ground rice, three ounces of flour, and eight ounces of pounded sugar. Sift the composition by degrees into eight yolks and six whites of eggs, and the peel of a lemon shred so fine that it is quite mashed. Mix the whole well in a tin stewpan with a whisk, over a very slow fire. Put it immediately into the oven in the same, and bake it forty minutes.--Another. Beat twelve yolks and six whites of eggs, with the peels of two lemons grated. Mix one pound of rice flour, eight ounces of fine flour, and a pound of sugar pounded and sifted. Beat it well with the eggs by degrees, for an hour, with a wooden spoon. Butter a pan well, and put it in at the oven mouth. A gentle oven will bake it in an hour and a half.

RICE CAUDLE. When the water boils, pour into it some grated rice, with a little cold water. When of a proper consistence, add sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon, and a spoonful of brandy, and boil all smooth.--Another way. Soak in water some fine rice for an hour, strain it, and put two spoonfuls of the rice into a pint and a quarter of milk. Simmer till it will pulp through a sieve, then put the pulp and milk into the saucepan, with a bruised clove, and a bit of lump sugar. Simmer all together ten minutes; if too thick, add a spoonful or two of milk, and serve with thin toast.

RICE CHEESECAKES. Boil four ounces of ground rice in milk, with a blade of cinnamon: put it into a pot, and let it stand till the next day. Mash it fine with half a pound of butter; add to it four eggs, half a pint of cream, a grated nutmeg, a glass of brandy, and a little sugar. Or the butter may be stirred and melted in the rice while it is hot, and left in the pot till the next day.

RICE CUSTARD. Boil three pints of new milk with a little cinnamon, lemon peel, and sugar. Mix the yolks of two eggs well beaten, with a large spoonful of rice flour, smothered in a cup of cold milk. Take a basin of the boiling milk, mix it with the cold that has the rice in it, and add it to the remainder of the boiling milk, stirring it one way till it begins to thicken. Pour it into a pan, stir it till it is cool, and add a spoonful of brandy or orange water. This is a good imitation of cream custard, and considerably cheaper.

RICE EDGING. After soaking and picking some fine Carolina rice, boil it in salt and water, until sufficiently tender, but not to mash. Drain, and put it round the inner edge of the dish, to the height of two inches. Smooth it with the back of a spoon, wash it over with the yolk of an egg, and put it into the oven for three or four minutes. This forms an agreeable edging for currie or fricassee, with the meat served in the middle.

RICE FLUMMERY. Boil with a pint of new milk, a bit of lemon peel and cinnamon. Mix with a little cold milk as much rice flour as will make the whole of a good consistence, add a little sugar, and a spoonful of peach water, or a bitter almond beaten. Boil it, but do not let it burn; pour it into a shape or pint basin, taking out the spice. When cold, turn the flummery into a dish, and serve with cream, milk, or custard round. Or put a tea-cupful of cream into half a pint of new milk, a glass of white wine, half a lemon squeezed, and sugar.

RICE MILK. Boil half a pound of rice in a quart of water, with a bit of cinnamon, till the water is wasted. Add three pints of milk, an egg beaten up with a spoonful of flour, and stir it till it boils. Then pour it out, sweeten it, and put in currants and nutmeg.

RICE PANCAKES. Boil half a pound of rice to a jelly in a small quantity of water; when cold, mix it with a pint of cream, eight eggs, a little salt and nutmeg. Stir in eight ounces of butter just warmed, and add flour sufficient to thicken the batter. Fry in as little lard or dripping as possible.

RICE PASTE. To make a rice paste for sweets, boil a quarter of a pound of ground rice in the smallest quantity of water. Strain from it all the moisture possible, beat it in a mortar with half an ounce of butter, and one egg well beaten. It will make an excellent paste for tarts, and other sweet dishes.--To make a rich paste for relishing things, clean some rice, and put it into a saucepan. Add a little milk and water, or milk only, and an onion, and simmer it over the fire till it swells. Put some seasoned chops into a dish, and cover it with the rice. The addition of an egg will make the rice bind the better. Rabbits fricasseed, and covered with rice paste, are very good.

RICE PUDDING. If for family use, swell the rice with a very little milk over the fire. Then add more milk, an egg, some sugar, allspice, and lemon peel; and bake it in a deep dish. Or put into a deep pan half a pound of rice washed and picked, two ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, a little pounded allspice, and two quarts of milk. Less butter will do, or some suet: bake the pudding in a slow oven. Another. Boil a quarter of a pound of rice in a quart of milk, with a stick of cinnamon, till it is thick; stir it often, that it does not burn; pour it into a pan, stir in a quarter of a pound of butter, and grate half a nutmeg; add sugar to your taste, and a small tea-cup of rose-water; stir all together till cold; beat up eight eggs, (leave out half the whites) stir all well together, lay a thin puff paste at the bottom of the dish, and nip the edge; then pour in the pudding and bake it.--Another. To make a plain rice pudding, put half a pound of rice well picked, into three quarts of milk; add half a pound of sugar, a small nutmeg grated, and half a pound of butter; butter the dish with part, and break the rest into the milk and rice; stir all well together, pour it into a dish, and bake it.--Another. To make a boiled rice pudding, take a quarter of a pound of rice well picked and washed, tie it in a cloth, leaving room for it to swell; boil it for an hour; take it up and stir in a quarter of a pound of butter, some nutmeg and sugar; tie it up again very tight, and boil it an hour more. When you send it to table, pour butter and sugar over it.--Another. To make a ground rice pudding. To a pint of milk put four ounces of ground rice; boil it for some time, keeping it stirring, lest it should burn; pour it into a pan, and stir in a quarter of a pound of butter; then beat up six eggs, leaving out half the whites, a little lemon peel finely shred, a little nutmeg grated, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a gill of cream, a little rose-water, and as much salt as you can take up between your thumb and finger; mix all well together, make a puff paste, lay it round the rim of the dish, and bake it.--Lay citron or orange cut very thin, on the top, and strew a few currants on.--Another. To make rice pudding with fruit. Swell half a pound of rice with a very little milk over the fire, and then mix with it any kind of fruit; such as currants, scalded gooseberries, pared and quartered apples, raisins, or black currants. Put an egg into the pudding to bind it, boil it well, and serve it up with sugar.

RICE SAUCE. Steep a quarter of a pound of rice in a pint of milk, with an onion, a dozen pepper corns or allspice, and a little mace. When the rice is quite tender, take out the spice, and rub the rice through a sieve into a clean stewpan: if too thick, put a little milk or cream to it. This makes a very delicate white sauce; and at elegant tables, is frequently used instead of bread sauce.

RICE SOUFFLE. Blanch some Carolina rice, strain and boil it in milk, with lemon peel and a bit of cinnamon. Let it boil till the rice is dry; then cool it, and raise a rim three inches high round the dish, having egged the dish where it is put, to make it stick. Then egg the rice all over. Fill the dish half way up with a marmalade of apples; have ready the whites of four eggs beaten to a fine froth, and put them over the marmalade. Sift fine sugar over, and set it in the oven, which should be warm enough to give it a beautiful colour.

RICE SOUP. Boil a pound of rice with a little cinnamon, in two quarts of water. Take out the cinnamon, add a little sugar and nutmeg, and let it stand to cool. Then beat up the yolks of three eggs in a little white wine, and mix it with the rice. Set it on a slow fire, stir it well, and take it up as soon as it has boiled to a proper thickness.

RICH GIBLET SOUP. Take four pounds of gravy beef, two pounds of scrag of mutton, two pounds of scrag of veal; stew them well down together in a sufficient quantity of water for a strong broth, let it stand till it is quite cold, then skim the fat clean off. Take two pair of giblets well scalded and cleaned, put them into your broth, and let them simmer till they are stewed tender; then take out your giblets, and run the soup through a fine sieve to catch the small bones; then take an ounce of butter and put it into a stew-pan, mixing a proper quantity of flour, which make of a fine light brown. Take a small handful of chives, the same of parsley, a very little penny-royal, and a very little sweet marjoram; chop all these herbs together excessive small, put your soup over a slow fire, put in your giblets, butter and flour, and small herbs; then take a pint of Madeira wine, some cayenne pepper, and salt to your palate. Let them all simmer together, till the herbs are tender, and the soup is finished. Send it to the table with the giblets in it. Let the livers be stewed in a saucepan by themselves, and put in when you dish.

RICH GRAVY. Cut lean beef into small slices, according to the quantity wanted; slice some onions thin, and flour them both. Fry them of a light pale brown, but do not suffer them on any account to get black. Put them into a stewpan, pour boiling water on the browning in the fryingpan, boil it up, and pour it on the meat. Add a bunch of parsley, thyme, and savoury, a small piece of marjoram, the same of taragon, some mace, berries of allspice, whole black pepper, a clove or two, and a bit of ham, or gammon of bacon. Simmer till the juice of the meat is extracted, and skim it the moment it boils. If for a hare, or stewed fish, anchovy should be added.

RICH GRAVY SOUP. Take a pound of lean beef, two pounds of veal, and a pound of mutton cut in pieces; put them into a pot, with six quarts of water, a large faggot of sweet herbs, an onion stuck with cloves, some whole pepper, a little mace, and the upper crust of bread toasted brown. Put in an ox palate well cleaned and blanched whole; set it over a slow fire, and let it stew till half is wasted; strain it off, and put it into a clean saucepan. Take off the ox palate, shred small, some cock's combs blanched, an ounce of morels cut in pieces, four large heads of celery well washed, and cut small, with the heart of four or five savoys, about as big as a turkey's egg, put in whole; cover it close, and let it stew softly for an hour and a half. If it want any more seasoning, add it; cut some French bread toasts thin, and crisp them before the fire. When your soup is ready, lay your bread in the dish, and put in your soup.

RICH HOME-MADE WINE.--Take new cider from the press, mix it with as much honey as will support an egg, boil it gently fifteen minutes, but not in an iron, brass, or copper pot. Skim it well, and tun it when cool, but the cask must not be quite full. Bottle it in the following March, and it will be fit to drink in six weeks, but it will be less sweet if kept longer in the cask. This will make a rich and strong wine, suitable for culinary purposes, where milk or sweet wine is to be employed. Honey, besides its other valuable uses, is a fine ingredient to assist and render palatable, new or harsh cider.

RICH PLUM PUDDING. To make a small, but very rich plum pudding, shred fine three quarters of a pound of suet, and half a pound of stoned raisins, chopped a little. Add three spoonfuls of flour, as much moist sugar, a little salt and nutmeg, the yolks of three, and the whites of two eggs. Let it boil four hours in a basin or tin mould, well buttered. When the pudding is served up, pour over it some melted butter, with white wine and sugar.--For a larger pudding of the same description, shred three pounds of suet; add a pound and a half of raisins stoned and chopped, a pound and a half of currants, three pounds of good flour, sixteen eggs, and a quart of milk. Boil it in a cloth seven hours.

RICH RICE PUDDING. Boil half a pound of rice in water, till it is quite tender, adding a little salt. Drain it dry, mix it with four eggs, a quarter of a pint of cream, and two ounces of fresh butter melted in the cream. Add four ounces of beef suet or marrow, or veal suet taken from the fillet, finely shred; three quarters of a pound of currants, two spoonfuls of brandy, a spoonful of peach water or ratifia, nutmeg, and grated lemon peel. When well mixed, put a paste round the edge, fill the dish, and bake it in a moderate oven. Slices of candied orange, lemon, and citron, may be added.

RICKETS. This disease generally attacks children between the age of nine months and two years; and as it is always attended with evident signs of weakness and relaxation, the chief aim in the cure must be to brace and strengthen the solids, and to promote digestion and the due preparation of the fluids. These important ends will be best answered by wholesome nourishing diet, suited to the age and strength of the patient, open dry air, and sufficient exercise. The limbs should be rubbed frequently with a warm hand, and the child kept as cheerful as possible. Biscuit is generally reckoned the best bread; and pigeons, pullet, veal, rabbits, or mutton roasted or minced, are the most proper meat. If the child be too young for animal food, he may have rice, millet, or pearl barley, boiled with raisins, to which may be added a little wine and spice. His drink may be good claret, mixed with an equal quantity of water. Those who cannot afford claret, may give the child now and then a wine glass of mild ale, or good porter. The disease may often be cured by the nurse, but seldom by the physician. In children of a gross habit, gentle vomits and repeated purges of rhubarb may sometimes be of use, but they will seldom carry off the disease; that must depend chiefly upon such things as brace and strengthen the system; for which purpose, besides the regimen mentioned above, the cold bath, especially in the warm season, is highly recommended. It must, however, be used with prudence, as some ricketty children cannot bear it. The best time for using the cold bath is in the morning, and the child should be well rubbed with a dry cloth immediately after he comes out of it.

RING WORM. This eruption, which generally appears on the head, in a circular form, attended with painful itching, is sometimes removed by rubbing it with black ink, or mushroom ketchup. The following preparation is also recommended. Wash some roots of sorrel quite clean, bruise them in a mortar, and steep them in white wine vinegar for two or three days. Then rub the liquor on the ring worm three or four times a day, till it begin to disappear.

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