MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS, RULES, ETC

3743. _To Cure a Soft Corn when between the Toes._--A small piece of cotton wool applied fresh every morning--gives no inconvenience, is cleanly and efficacious. Castile Soap placed between the toes is both cure and preventive of soft corns.

3744. _Excellent Remedy for Lumbago._--Dip a piece of flannel in scalding water; wring it out, and sprinkle some turpentine immediately over it, and apply it quickly to the part affected by the pain. Repeat this process a few times, and it will afford certain relief.

3745. _Burns and Scalds._--Cold water is the readiest, surest, most plentiful, and, for these reasons, the best remedy for burns and scalds. Use it instantly, it will remove pain and smarting; keep a cloth wet and _cold_ upon the affected part for five or six hours after the injury has occurred; a blister will never rise, and the skin will be quite free from pain afterward.--(See 109, 110.)

3746. _Scratches._--Trifling as scratches often seem, they ought never to be neglected, but should be covered and protected, and kept clean and dry, until they have completely healed.

3747. If there is the least appearance of inflammation, no time should be lost in applying a large bread and water poultice, or hot flannels repeatedly applied.

3748. _Ringworm._--The head to be washed twice a day with soft soap and warm soft water; when dried, the places to be rubbed with a piece of linen rag dipped in ammonia from gas tar; the patient should take a little sulphur and molasses, or some other general aperient, every morning; brushes and combs should be washed every day, and the ammonia kept tightly corked.--(See page 99.)

3749. _Another Cure for Ringworms._--Common sulphur mixed with butter and pepper till it is a salve: apply twice a day.

3750. _Invaluable Ointment._--Obtain a pint of real cream, let it simmer over the fire, or on the side, till it resembles butter, and forms a thick oily substance, which maybe used as ointment for fresh or old wounds, cracked lips or hands.

3751. _To avoid catching Cold._--Accustom yourself to the use of sponging with cold water every morning on first getting out of bed. It should be followed with a good deal of rubbing with a wet towel. It has considerable effect in giving tone to the skin, and maintaining a proper action in it, and thus proves a safeguard to the injurious influence of cold and sudden changes of temperature.

3752. _Friction_ of the body is one of the most gentle and salutary kinds of exercise, cleaning the skin, dispersing stagnating humors, promoting perspiration, strengthening the fibres, and increasing the warmth and energy of the whole body.

3753. _Depilatory._--Take of sulphate of sodium, or hydro-sulphate of soda, crystallized, three parts; quick-lime in powder, ten ditto; starch, ten; mix. This powder, mixed with a little water, and applied over the skin, acts so rapidly as a depilatory, that if it be removed in a minute or two after its application by means of a wooden knife, the surface of the skin will be entirely deprived of hair.

3754. By this process, the removal of hair becomes so simple, rapid, and safe in operation, that it will possibly supercede the use of the razor in many cases; it is only after several days that the hair begins again to appear.

3755. _Brandy and Salt as a Medicine._--It is useful in the reduction of inflammation of fractured limbs or bruises, the alleviation of incurable sores, cure of ringworms, headache, toothache, inflammation in the eyes, ague, colic, pains in the side, chilblains, burns and scalds, cancers, sprains, open sores, asthmas, and complaints of the lungs.

3756. Fill a bottle three-quarters full with good brandy, after which add as much salt as will fill the bottle for corking; shake it together twenty minutes; let the salt settle to the bottom, and do not shake it up before using. The clearer it is used the better.

3757. A bottle of this preparation should be constantly kept ready for use, as its virtues have been fully tested. When taken inwardly, for asthma, bowel complaints, &c., mix two spoonfuls with equal quantity of warm water.

3758. _Cancer._--Five out of six cases have been cured by brandy and salt, described above. The pain is very severe, but temporary.

3759. _Poison_, from vines, may be cured by bathing in whiskey and cream, and cooling with rye flour; if obstinate, use a strong solution of copperas.

3760. _Simple Remedy for a Pain in the Side._--At bed-time take a fresh cabbage-leaf, hold it near the fire till quite warm, and then apply it to the part affected, binding it tight with a cloth round the body; let it remain for twelve hours or more, when it will generally be found to have removed the pain.

3761. If not entirely removed, it will be well to repeat the application of a fresh leaf, allowing it to remain on the same time as the first.

3762. _Boils._--See page 109.

3763. _Carbuncles._--These should be brought to a head by warm poultices, by fermentation with hot water, or by stimulating plasters. When ripe, they should be discharged by a needle, or the lancet. But this should not be attempted until they are fully proved.

3764. _Constitutional Treatment._--Stimulating food and drinks, such as ale, porter, champagne and other wines. Strong beef tea should be taken freely--it is very nourishing.

3765. _Carbuncles reduce the strength greatly._--To recover this, Peruvian bark and sea-bathing are recommended.

3766. _An inflamed bunion_ should be poulticed, and larger shoes be worn. Iodine, twelve grains; lard or spermaceti ointment, half an ounce, makes a capital ointment for bunions. It should be rubbed on gently twice or thrice a-day.--See page 97.

3767. _Frost-Bitten Feet._--Dissolve half pound alum in one gallon warm water, and soak fifteen minutes.

3768. _Valuable Aperient Pills._--Four drachms Castile soap, four drachms soccotrine aloes; make into the pills with a sufficient quantity of syrup. Two or three may be taken when costive.

3769. _Good Eye-Water._--Ten teaspoonsful of water, one ditto of brandy, and one ditto of vinegar.

3770. _Lip Salve._--Spermaceti ointment, half an ounce; balsam of Peru, one quarter of a drachm. Mix. It is not _couleur de rose_, but it will _cure_--often with but a single application. Apply a _thin_ coating with the forefinger, just before getting into bed.

3771. _An Excellent Tooth Powder._--Cuttle-fish, prepared chalk, and orris-root, commingled together in equal quantities, which any one may procure separately from any respectable chemist, and mix himself.

3772. _To remove Tartar from the Teeth._--Strawberries, ripe, or dried and powdered, are excellent to clean the teeth.

3773. _To drive away Rats._--Potash strewn around rat holes, will drive the vermin away.

3774. _To kill Flies._--Cobalt in powder, moistened with hot water, and covered with a little sugar.

3775. _Gum Water._--It is a fact not generally known that gum should be dissolved in vinegar instead of water, especially when it is wanted for immediate use.

3776. _To remove Water-stains from Black Crape._--When a drop of water falls on a black crape vail or collar, it leaves a conspicuous white mark. To obliterate this, spread the crape on a table (laying on it a large book or a paper weight to keep it steady), and place underneath the stain a piece of old black silk. With a large camel's hair brush dipped in common ink, go over the stain; and then wipe off the ink with a little bit of old soft silk. It will dry immediately, and the white mark will be seen no more.

3777. _Copper in liquids_ maybe detected by spirits of hartshorn, which turns them blue.

3778. _Arsenic_ may be detected by a solution of blue vitriol dropped into the suspected liquid, which will turn green, if arsenic be present.

3779. _To remove Ink Stains from Silver._--The tops and other portions of silver inkstands frequently become discolored with ink, which is difficult to remove by ordinary means. It may, however, be completely eradicated by making a little chlorid of lime into a paste with water, and rubbing it upon the stains.

3780. _To remove Ink Stains from Wood, &c._--As much oxalic acid as will lay on a sixpence, dissolved in a tablespoonful of hot water; lay some on the wood, and rub hard with a cork until the stain disappears; then wash and repolish. The above will remove the stain, without injury to the color of the wood, mahogany or any other kind. It also cleans the brass-work.

3781. _To Clean Plate._--Take of cream of tartar, alum, and common salt, each an ounce, and boil in a gallon of water, throw the plate in and boil; when taken out and rubbed dry it will look beautiful. Plate, when laid aside, will generally tarnish, but if cleaned by this method, at stated periods, it will always look well.

3782. _Washing Paint._--The best method to wash paint is to rub some Bath-brick fine, and when you have rubbed some soap on the flannel, dip it in the brick. This will remove the grease and dirt speedily, without injury.

3783. _Glue Paste._--Instead of pure water for mixing the flour, use glue-water, to which add some alum and resin to keep it from turning. It must be made very thick.

3784. _Whenever oil is used_ for the purpose of artificial light, it should be kept free from all exposure to atmospheric air; as it is apt to absorb considerable quantities of oxygen. If oil is very coarse or tenacious, a very small quantity of oil of turpentine may be added.

3785. _Bugs._--Spirits of naphtha rubbed with a small painter's brush into every part of a bedstead is a certain way of getting rid of bugs.--(See p. 87.)

3786. _Calcareous Deposits in Boilers._--In a common tea-kettle, potatoes boiled a few times, will remove the calcareous deposits, and a few oyster-shells, kept constantly in the kettle, will prevent future accumulations.

3787. _To remove the Stoppers of Glass Bottles._--Dip a piece of linen or cloth in hot water, and wrap it tightly round the neck of the bottle. In a few minutes the stopper will probably be loosened; if not, repeat the application. I have never found this method to fail.

3788. _How to get a Tight Ring off a Finger._--Thread a needle, flat in the eye, with a strong thread, pass the head of the needle with care under the ring, and pull the thread through a few inches toward the hand; wrap the long end of the thread tightly round the finger, regularly all down to the nail, to reduce its size. Then lay hold of the short end, and unwind it.

3789. The thread repassing against the ring, will gradually remove it from the finger. This never-failing method will remove the tightest ring without difficulty, however much swollen the finger may be.

3790. _Cleaning Knives._--Mutton fat made hot, and put on a leather or buff-board, with emery-dust--not powder, as that is too sharp--well rubbed in with an old brush, is the best way of giving a knife as good a polish and edge as any razor.

3791. _To restore the Color to Mahogany._--Wash well with soap and water, and then polish daily with the following oil: Take half an ounce of alkanet root, cut small, and add to a pint of linseed oil; when this has stood for a week, add half an ounce of powdered gum-arabic, and an ounce of shellac varnish; let them stand in a bottle by the fire for a week, then strain. Rub well in.

3792. _Rice Flour Cement._--An excellent cement may be made from rice flour, which is at present used for that purpose in China and Japan. It is only necessary to mix the rice flour intimately with cold water, and gently simmer it over a fire, when it readily forms a delicate and durable cement, not only answering all the purposes of common paste, but admirably adapted for joining together paper, cards, &c., in forming the various beautiful and tasteful ornaments which affords much employment and amusement to the ladies.

3793. When made of the consistence of plaster-clay, models, busts, bas-relievos, &c. may be formed of it, and the articles, when dry, are susceptible of high polish, and very durable.--(See p. 70.)

3794. _Oil of Lavender._--A few drops in a library will keep the books from moulding. A single drop of the same will prevent a pint of ink from mouldiness for any length of time. Paste may be kept from mould entirely by this addition; and leather is also effectually secured from injury by the same agency.

3795. _Ink._--To make five gallons of good ink, costing but twelve-and-a-half cents, take half a pound of extract of logwood, and dissolve it in five gallons of hot water, and add half an ounce of bichromate potash. Strain and bottle it.

3796. _Blue Tracing Ink._--Indigo tied in a flannel bag, moistened with water. Put a lump of white sugar into an egg-cup, and squeeze out the blue on it; the sugar stiffens it, so as to prevent its running, and the color depends on the quantity of water used. Use a quill pen.

3797. _Marking Linen, preparation._--The preparation used for wetting linen, previous to marking it with ink, is a drachm of salt of tartar in one and a half ounces of water.

3798. _Economy in Candles._--If you would burn a candle all night, unless you use the following precaution, it is ten to one an ordinary candle will gutter away in an hour or two, sometimes to the endangering the safety of a house. This may be avoided by placing as much common salt, finely powdered, as will reach from the tallow to the bottom of the black part of the wick of a partly-burnt candle, when, if the same be lit, it will burn very slowly, yielding sufficient light for a bed-chamber; the salt will gradually sink as the tallow is consumed, the melted tallow being drawn through the salt, and consumed in the wick.

3799. _Deafness._--Take three drops of a sheep's gall, warm, and drop it into the ear on going to bed. The ear must be thoroughly syringed with warm soap and water in the morning.

3800. _Times of Application._--The gall must be applied for three successive nights. It is only efficacious when the deafness is produced by cold. The most convenient way of warming the gall is by holding it in a silver spoon over the flame of a candle.--(See p. 95.)

3801. _For Heartburn, &c._--Orange juice (of one orange), water and lump sugar to flavor, and in proportion to acidity of orange, bicarbonate of soda, about half a teaspoonful. Mix orange juice, water and sugar together in a tumbler, then put in the soda, stir, and the effervescence ensues.

3802. _Remedy for Rheumatism, Lumbago, Sprains, Chilblains, (before they are broken) Bruises, and Bites of Insects._--One raw egg well beaten, half a pint of vinegar, one ounce of spirits of turpentine, a quarter of an ounce of spirits of wine, a quarter of an ounce of camphor. These ingredients to be beaten well together, then put in a bottle and shaken for ten minutes, after which, to be corked down tightly to exclude the air. In half an hour it is fit for use.

3803. _How to use it._--To be well rubbed in, two, three, or four times a day.--For rheumatism in the head, to be rubbed at the back of the neck and behind the ears.--(See page 101.)

3804. _Asthma._--The following is recommended as a relief.--Two ounces of the best honey, and one ounce of castor oil mixed. A teaspoonful to be taken night and morning.--(See page 103.)

3805. _For Scurf in the Heads of Infants._--Lard, two ounces; sulphuric acid, diluted, two drachms; rub them together, and anoint the head once a day.

3806. _For Moth on the Skin._--These unpleasant discolorations may be entirely removed by a wash made of borax and vinegar.

3807. _Sunburn._--A little scraped horseradish mixed in warm milk and rubbed on the face and hands will whiten the skin.

3808. _Cold Cream._--A piece of sperm candle two inches long, a small cake of white wax, three table-spoonsful of fresh sweet oil; just melt it on the fire, stirring it, and take it off stirring it till it is cold. Before it is quite cold stir in any perfume you prefer.--(See page 136.)

3809. _A New Method for the Hair._--Carefully avoid all lotions and pomades.

3810. Keep the hair and scalp clean by the use of the brush and comb.

3811. Twice a day, at least, comb it out in such a manner that the air may pass through it freely; then, with the fingers, moisten the roots with soft water, at the same time gently rubbing the scalp.

3812. This will not only fasten and renovate the old hair, but actually bring out a fine new suit; the length of time for this purpose varying with the health and constitution of the patient.

3813. Should the hair become too dry, lessen the quantity of water employed, and use a very little cocoanut or perfumed castor oil.

This receipt is also invaluable as a remedy for headache or neuralgia.

3814. _Headache--A Sure Remedy._--Wet paper, white or brown, bound tightly on the forehead with a bandage or kerchief, the part pressing over the forehead to be also made wet with cold water, though not dripping. This process, if followed nightly, will entirely prevent headaches, and also keep the forehead free from wrinkles. Try it.

3815. _To Promote the Growth of Whiskers, Mustaches, &c._--The best method to force the growth of whiskers and mustaches, is to shave the parts frequently. Use as a stimulant the ashes of burned tobacco, and bay-water.

3816. _Cosmetics generally._--(See page 152 and on.)

3817. _The Complexion_ can only be preserved in freshness, softness and beauty, by cleanliness, regular exercise, temperance, a plain diet and pure air, and a cheerful temper.

3818. _Offensive Breath._--Use the concentrated solution of chlorid of soda. From two to five drops of it in a wine-glass full of pure spring water, taken immediately after the operations of the morning are completed.

3819. In some cases the odor arising from carious teeth is combined with that of the stomach. If the mouth be well rinsed with a teaspoonful of the solution of the chlorid in a tumbler of water, the bad odor of the teeth will be removed.

3820. _Breath tainted by Onions._--Leaves of parsley, eaten with vinegar, will prevent the disagreeable consequences of eating onions.

3821. _Toothache._--Put a small piece of the inside of a nut-gall into the hollow tooth, and replace by another bit every half-hour, as long as white matter comes away with the piece taken out.

3822. _Black eyes_ may be cured by a lotion made of equal parts of gin, vinegar, and cold water mixed. Bathe the eye for ten or fifteen minutes, and repeat in an hour if the pain continues.

3823. _Bilious Disorders._--If a person is bilious, it is generally owing to errors in regimen. Let these be reformed, and the complaints will cease. But if a person would be always bilious, let him be often taking calomel, or blue pill, or active purges. Lee's antibilious, &c., and he will certainly succeed: the soundest liver will not be proof against such remedies for bile.

3824. _Remedy for Bile._--The yolks of eggs taken fasting. If required, beat up the egg with a little sugar and lemon-juice.

3825. _Household Hints, etc._--(See page 210.)

3826. _Hard Water._--When water is hard, and will not readily unite with soap, it will always be proper to boil it before use.--(See pages 42, 43; also "General Washing," pages 46, 47.)

3827. _Materials for Washing._--The meal of many kinds of seed may be used for washing, as well as various kinds of bran. That of almonds, which, on account of its oil, is remarkably soft, is employed at present for washing the hands, by those who are desirous of having a white delicate skin. Cloth, the colors of which easily fade, and which will neither endure soap nor hard rubbing, may be washed extremely well with bran. Our fullers, therefore, and stocking-manufacturers, use oats, barley, and bran meal, especially when they wish the cloth to be slowly milled.

3828. _To Wash White Lace._--Cover a glass bottle with calico or linen, and then tack the lace or collar smoothly upon it, rub it with soap, and cover it with calico. Boil it for twenty minutes in soft water; let all dry together, and the lace will be found to be ready for use.

3829. A long piece of lace must be wound round and round the bottle, the edge of each round a little above the last, and a few stitches to keep it firm at the beginning and end will be found sufficient, but a collar will require more tacking to keep it in its place.--(See page 53.)

3830. _Bleaching Liquid._--Take one pound of chlorid of lime, empty it into a stone jar, and pour on it one gallon of water; stir it well with a stick for fifteen minutes; then let it settle, and pour off the clear liquor into clean bottles, and cork them up. A tumblerful of this preparation, added to a tubful of water, in which the clothes are rinsed, will add very much to their whiteness.

3831. _Washing Windows._--The nicest article for washing windows is deer skin, as no particles come off to adhere to the glass and make it look as if washed with feathers.

3832. Wash-leather and a bowl of suds are all that are necessary. Wipe the glass first with the wet cloth or leather, and after it has become dry, with the clean cloth; and it will look clear, and far more so than if rinsed in a dozen pails of water.

3833. _Cleaning Kid Gloves._--Lay the gloves flat on a towel, and wash them with a piece of clean flannel and the best _yellow_ soap, being careful to squeeze the flannel as dry as it is possible to use it. When the dirt is removed, with another piece of flannel wash them lightly with plain milk.--(See page 53.)

3834. _Stains_ may be removed from the hands by washing them in a small quantity of oil of vitriol and cold water without soap.

3835. _Cleaning Velvets._--A very simple method of cleaning velvets is to procure a small square of pipe-clay (such as the soldiers use to clean their uniforms with) and scrape a little off upon the velvet; then take a brush, made of the same material as the carpet-whisk, and lightly brush it off. This raises the pile, and restores the bloom.

3836. _Silk articles_ should not be kept folded in white papers, as the chlorid of lime used in bleaching the paper will impair the color of the silk.

3837. _Papier-Mache_ articles should be washed with a sponge and cold water without soap, dredged with flour while damp, and polished with a flannel.

3838. _Worsted and Lambs'-Wool Stockings_ should never be mended with worsted or lambs'-wool, because the latter being new it shrinks more than the stockings, and draws them up till the toes become short and narrow, and the heels have no shape left.

3839. _In choosing Paper for a room_, avoid that which has a variety of colors, or a large, showy figure, as no furniture can appear to advantage with such. Large figured papering makes a small room look smaller.

3840. _Bright green colors_ are dangerous when first put on, because poisons are used in the coloring matter.

3841. _Gilt frames_ may be protected from flies and dust by oiled tarlatan pinned over them. Tarlatan already prepared, may be purchased at the upholsterers'. If it cannot be procured, it is easily made by brushing boiled oil over cheap tarlatan. It is an excellent material for keeping dust from books, vases, woodwork, and every description of household ornament.--(See page 18.)

3842. _To Pack Glass or China._--Procure some soft straw or hay to pack them in, and if they are to be sent a long way, and are heavy, the hay or straw should be a little damp, which will prevent them slipping about. Let the largest and heaviest things be always put undermost, in the box or hamper.

3843. Let there be plenty of straw, and pack the articles tight; but never attempt to pack up glass or china which is of much consequence, till it has been seen done by some one used to the job. The expense will be but trifling to have a person to do it who understands it, and the loss may be great if articles of such value are packed up in an improper manner.

3844. _To Polish Enameled Leather._--Two pints of the best cream, one pint of linseed oil; make them each lukewarm, and then mix them well together.