Secrets
OF
WISE MEN, CHEMISTS
AND
Top doctors.

Title page verso image

It is surprising how many large enterprises and fortunes depend upon some few simple trade secrets the knowledge of which has baffled competition and crushed all rivalry. The jealous care with which special information in trade and manufacture is guarded frequently renders it a monumental task to procure a single receipt or formula. Some idea, then, may be formed of the vast amount of labor and expense necessary to compile a work of this character. Books of recipes are quite numerous, but to the average person the good they contain is too often buried beneath a mass of wordy rubbish. In the preparation of this work the object has been to present all the best as well as the latest practical receipts, prescriptions, and trade secrets. Over a quarter of a million pages of patent-​office reports, encyclopedias, trade journals, receipt books, and other special publications have been carefully scrutinized. To the knowledge obtained from them we include the original matter procured from tradesmen, chemists, and the published works and private practice of some of the most eminent physicians both in this country and Europe, a greater portion of which has never before appeared in print; all of which has been carefully tested where any doubt existed. It will be found that few, if any, misleading directions have been given. The prescriptions have been reproduced, after careful thought, in the form in which they were originally written. In having them filled patronize only honest and capable druggists. In testing the recipes follow the directions with rigid care, and practice on a small quantity of the article until you get it right. Realizing that perfection in anything has never been attained, yet we believe that the work contains more really practical information for use by the masses in every-​day life than any similar publication.

Chicago, March, 1889. THE AUTHOR.

[HEKTOGRAPH.]

By this process a letter, postal card, drawing, or other manuscript can be duplicated from sixty to one hundred times from one original. Reproductions from the copying pad are now admitted in the mails as third-​class matter, i. e., one cent for every two ounces or fraction thereof. A soft, gelatinous composition, similar to that used in making printers’ rollers, is made and poured into shallow pans of the required size. The pans should be made of stout zinc one-half inch deep on the inside, with a lid or cover. The length and breadth of the pans is determined by the class of copying to be done. Always make the pan slightly larger than the paper used. The three sizes given below will answer most purposes:

The composition is made as follows:

Break up the glue and soak in the water for a few hours, then heat by water-bath until melted. Next add the glycerine and heat together for some time to evaporate part of the water, and then strain into the pan, which should be placed perfectly level and filled about two-thirds full; skim with a card to free from bubbles, and set away to cool. An improvement consists in adding one ounce of carbonate of barium to the fluid while warm. The composition should be made somewhat softer for winter use than for summer, which can be done by adding a little larger proportion of glycerine. Another way to make the composition is to soak over night in cold water best gelatine or glue 1 part, and the excess of water poured off. The glue is then warmed in a water-bath with the addition of from 10 to 12 parts of glycerine, to which may be added 4 to 6 parts of finely ground heavy spar, and one part dextrine thoroughly mixed by constant stirring. (In summer less glycerine.)

The letter or sketch to be duplicated is written on a sheet of paper with ink specially prepared for the purpose (see inks). For the original it is best to use smooth, well-​sized writing paper, allowing the ink to dry without using a blotter. After writing the original place it face downward on the pad, and rub it gently with the hand to insure contact at every point. Let it remain from two to six minutes, according to the number of copies you wish to print. In cold weather it should be left longer, as it requires more time for the composition to absorb the ink. Remove the original carefully, and a reversed impression will be observed on the pad. To take off copies lay dry sheets of paper on the reversed impression, press gently, and remove quickly.

When you have taken all the copies you require wash the ink from the surface at once with a sponge and plenty of lukewarm water; never use hot water. The surface of the composition will allow considerable rubbing without fear of tearing it, if not done roughly and carelessly. Be sure your sponge is free from sand and grit, and also avoid scratching with the finger nails. Always wash the surface with a sponge before using, and dry with a newspaper. In cold weather if the composition feels chilled it will not absorb the ink properly, and the copies will be faint unless it be carefully warmed to a moderate temperature. Attention to these details will produce the most gratifying results.

Horace M. Engle, Esq., of Marietta, Pa., has devised a method of taking leaf-prints of marked beauty, which he terms “foliotypes,” some specimens of which he sent to Dr. Gray, the eminent botanist, who pronounced the process a new way, and advised him to send an account of it to the Botanical Gazette, which he generously did. We have employed the method according to the explanation there given (which we reprint in full) with the most delightful results, having secured prints of some beautiful leaves which are faithful to nature in color and outline, with all their delicate tracery: “The method is of actual usefulness to the botanist, as well as a refining recreation for others who love Nature ‘on general principles.’ For illustrating monographs and similar papers, where the number is too limited to warrant an expensive lithograph; for identifying a rare specimen, or as an adjunct to an herbarium, combining portability, unalterability, and beauty withal the method seems particularly fitted. But aside from this others may find a delightful and instructive recreation in taking prints of the entire flora of the old farm, the trees of a certain grove, the native annuals of a county, the ferns of a State, or any other special field that seems most inviting. Such copies may be taken in a blank book suited to the purpose, or, better, take them on single sheets of uniform size, as in this way imperfect copies may be thrown out, and when the work is completed they may be named, classified, and bound, making a volume of real value and worthy of just pride.

“The process consists in using the leaf for producing an impression as a printer uses type, the ink being green, and the pressure applied either by hand or with a press. There will be needed for the work (1) a small ink roller such as printers use for inking type by hand in taking proofs; (2) a stout window glass (10×12 is a good size) fastened securely (not glued, as it may warp and break,) to an evenly planed board about twice its surface, say 10×24. A small quantity of the ink is put on the glass and spread with a knife, after which it is distributed evenly by going over in all directions with the ink roller. When this has been carefully done the leaf to be copied is laid on a piece of waste paper and inked by applying the roller once or more with moderate pressure. This leaves a film of ink on the veins and network of the leaf, which should then be placed on a piece of blank paper and considerable pressure applied for a few moments. When the leaf is removed from the paper the work is done.

“To get the best results several points must be carefully noted. Get a quarter or half a pound of dark green ink, which is put up in collapsible tubes costing from fifty cents to $2 per pound, according to quality. As sold it is invariably too thick for this purpose, and should be thinned by adding several drops of balsam of copaiba to as much ink as may be taken on a salt spoon. Much depends on the proper consistency of the ink. In inking the leaf is liable to curl on the roller, but it should part readily from it. In case it sticks tightly the ink is too thick. Take care that the ink is evenly distributed on the glass and roller, as it is essential that each part of the leaf receives an equal coating of ink. If the leaf is large ink it part by part, keeping the roller well supplied. A roller three inches long, costing forty cents, will answer for all small leaves and branches of plants. Clean the roller and glass with benzine after using. If the leaf is finely veined the lower surface makes the better print, but if the veins are coarse and large the upper surface may be used. If the specimen is fleshy or brittle allow it to wilt until it becomes more pliable, or if necessary it may be pressed and dried first. In most cases the best copy is obtained after taking one or two impressions, as the leaf takes the ink better after several applications. A good quality of unsized paper that is made slightly damp by placing between sheets of moist newspaper is best for general work, but in other cases well sized paper will take a copy that will allow a foliotype (may I coin the word?) to bear inspection side by side with a good lithograph. I find a copying press very valuable in making the impression, especially if the leaf is at all coriaceous. If it be soft it should be covered with a few thicknesses of newspaper. If it is irregular in thickness, paper may be laid over the thin parts, so that equal pressure is received. This is necessary with all leaves that have thick stems. If the branch is very irregular or delicate, or in the absence of a press of any kind, the specimen may be covered with several layers of paper, and held in place by one hand while the pressure is applied by the thumb or palm of the other hand as required.

“These particulars are as complete as practicable. Experiments will lead to many improvements in details. Employ tact and neatness, and you will be surprised at the result.”

Prof. F. S. Kedzie of the Michigan State Agricultural College, after a series of analyses and experiments, draws some important conclusions as to the value of hand-​grenades, in a paper which he publishes in the Chicago Sanitary News. A Harden hand-​grenade was opened, and the solution contained qualitatively analyzed. It consisted of common salt, sulphate of lime, and a small amount of acetate of soda. The principal ingredient was common salt.

The effort was made to determine (1) whether the solution in the grenades had any more extinguishing power than water; (2) if the solution had extinguishing power greater than water, what was the essential ingredient in the solution. The question that first arose regarding the composition of the grenades was: Did they contain carbon dioxide gas or any substance that would give up the gas by being heated? Opening the grenades under water and collecting the gas that escaped it was found that the average amount of carbon dioxide contained was about one cubic inch per grenade. Boiling the solution liberated a slight amount of gas in addition; but altogether the gas was not enough to be of any practical benefit in extinguishing fire. It was then certain that the extinguishing power was in the solution itself. Replacing the solution in the grenade with pure water the extinguishing power, while greater than water thrown from a dish upon flaming boards, was still much less than the power exerted by the solution.

By a careful series of trials it was found that the essential ingredient was common salt. From a number of experiments it was found that when a grenade, or a bottle containing a strong brine, was broken in the midst of the burning kerosene the flames were almost instantly extinguished. A vapor seemed to spread in all directions from where the salt solution struck the board, extinguishing the flame as it went. Strong solutions were also made of sulphate of soda, hyposulphite of soda, borax (biborate of soda), and bicarbonate of soda and tried as fire extinguishers. Some worked as well, but none any better, than common salt in extinguishing fire. The experiment was then made of charging the bottles with brine and generating carbon dioxide by adding lime dust and sulphuric acid and corking tightly. No practical increase in extinguishing power from this addition was noticed. In most instances the carbon dioxide gas escaped from the bottles inside of four days, proving that it is impracticable to attempt to use glass vessels with corks as a means of storing CO₂ under pressure for fire extinguishing.

The conclusion reached from these and many more experiments was that the Harden grenade solution possesses much greater extinguishing power than water alone, and that it owed this power to common salt held in solution. We then constructed some home-​made grenades, using flat bottles bound together side by side with wire. Using two bottles in this way insures their being broken in striking the burning body, which would not always occur when only one bottle is used. Bottles thus charged with brine and bound together were broken side by side with the Harden grenades and found to be equally valuable.

It thus appears from the experiment that any person can construct as good and effective grenades as those offered in the market at $7 and $10 per dozen. Bottles filled with brine and placed around the premises will afford considerable protection, especially when used upon the flames when the fire just begins. Salt solutions have the further advantage of not being easily frozen—never enough to burst the bottles.

The Lewis hand fire-extinguisher was next investigated. This consists of a tin tube about two feet long containing thirty-four fluid ounces of soda in weak caustic ammonia. From the trials made we could not notice any appreciable superiority over the salt solution as used in the Harden grenade. It has the disadvantage of not being made to break by being thrown, but must be opened by having a cork extracted from one end of the tube, requiring a smart jerk. The solution is then sprinkled on the fire by the operator.

We herewith append a number of fire-extinguishing compounds, all of which are highly recommended by various authorities:

Mix thoroughly and add 1 1/2 pounds of this mixture to each gallon of water, when required.

[ON GLASS.]

This beautiful and valuable process of transferring photographs in plain or colored work has been taught at high prices under various high-​sounding names, such as “Roman art,” etc. Photographs can be transferred and preserved for years which would have been soiled, faded, and ruined if allowed to remain on the card.

Separate the paper print from the background or card by steaming it, after which dry thoroughly. Warm the glass slightly and coat evenly with balsam or negative varnish and place the print face downward on the surface thus prepared. After smoothing it carefully set away in a cool place until the varnish has hardened. Then apply water, and with a soft piece of gum rubber rub off the paper so as to leave the photographic image on the varnished glass.

Draw the pattern upon heavy paper and perforate with small holes all the lines with the point of some sharp instrument, dust the following powder through the perforations, remove the pattern and pass a warm iron over the fabric, when the pattern will become fixed. Any desired color can be used, such as Prussian blue, chrome green, yellow, vermilion, etc.:

Powder very fine, mix, and pass through a sieve.

[FOR TRANSFERRING AND COPYING.]

This paper is really a valuable article, and is manufactured and sold under various names, such as the “stylograph,” “rapid copying process,” etc. It is used principally by salesmen in keeping a record of their sales, as three copies can be taken simultaneously with one writing. In this way traveling salesmen can with one writing give a copy of his sale to his customer (which is frequently demanded), another he can send to his firm, and retain the third one for his own use. It is used in a similar manner in nearly all the large stores, and by many individuals in their business correspondence. It is also valuable for transferring figures in embroidery and taking impressions of leaves for herbariums, etc., which it does beautifully, but for the latter purpose nothing equals the foliotype method previously explained.

The paper is made by mixing pure lard or sweet oil to the consistence of cream with either of the following paints, the color of which is desired: Prussian blue, lamp black, Venetian red, or chrome green, either of which should be rubbed with a knife on a plate or flat surface until smooth. Use rather thin but firm paper; put on with a sponge and wipe off as dry as possible. Lay the sheets between uncolored paper or newspaper, and press by laying books or some other flat substance upon them until the surplus oil is absorbed, when it is ready for use.

For Copying Letters and Orders.—Either two or three copies can be made at one time, as desired. To make two copies place a sheet of the magic paper between the two sheets selected for the order, bill, or letter, and write upon the upper sheet with a hard lead pencil (the harder the lead the cleaner the copy). It is best to place a piece of hard cardboard under all the sheets while writing.

To make three copies use two sheets of magic paper, placing one between the first and second leaves and the other between the second and third leaves. Proceed as in taking two copies by writing upon the top leaf. A stout, thin linen paper will produce the best results, but almost any kind will do.

To Transfer Embroidery Patterns.—Place a piece of thin paper over the embroidery to prevent soiling; then lay on the magic paper and put on the cloth you wish to take the copy on to embroider; pin fast and rub over with a spoon-handle, and every part of the raised figure will show upon the plain cloth.

To Take Impressions of Leaves.—Place the leaf between two sheets of the magic paper and rub it over hard; then take the leaf out and place it between two sheets of white paper; rub again, and you will have a beautiful impression of both sides of the leaf or flower.

An excellent general preparation for removing grease, paint, etc.

Dissolve, after which add and mix thoroughly,

An elegant general preparation for cleaning gloves, silks, etc., is made as follows:

Mix, and perfume with cologne, lavender, or any desired odor. Do not use near a flame.

“Gantein” for Cleansing Gloves.—The preparation sold under this name is made as follows: Dissolve 6 parts of soap in 2 parts of water; add 4 parts of bleaching liquor and  1/4 part of aqua ammonia. Rub the gloves with the fluid until clean.

[IN USE BY ALL LEADING JEWELERS.]

Mix and dissolve. Label it “poison,” and place out of the reach of children. Have the article clean and free from grease; dip in solution till tarnish is off, but no longer (and under no circumstances leave it in too long). After immersion the article must be taken out and thoroughly rinsed in a number of waters (warm preferred), then dried with a soft rag or sawdust.

Another method, which is safe and cheap, consists in using a saturated solution of hyposulphite of soda to which a little bolted whiting has been added. Apply with a brush or cloth until the tarnish is removed.

Solution 1.—Dissolve 10 parts of soap in 20 of water, and add 3 1/2 parts of soda and one-half part of liquid ammonia and spirit of wine.

Solution 2.—Is the actual cleansing liquid, and consists of 4 parts of liquid ammonia and 3 of alcohol diluted with water.

The last solution is first used, and when the dirt loosened by it has been removed the soap solution is applied. Carpets thus treated regain their original colors in all their freshness, the entire operation of washing and drying a large carpet requiring but two hours, and the carpet need not be taken up.

Showing at a glance what means to employ in removing any kind of stain from any kind of fabric. Red acid stains are destroyed by ammonia, followed by thorough washing with water. Burn stains of nitric acid are permanent. Great care must be observed when ether and benzine are used. Keep the open bottle and the fabric being cleaned away from an open fire or blaze. The ether especially is so volatile that an open bottle will take fire from a gas-jet or blaze several feet away if the draft is right. You cannot be too careful.

SAVING HALF THE WASH-BOARD LABOR.

Boil a short time, stirring occasionally; then let it settle and pour off the clear liquid into a bottle or jug and cork for use. Soak your clothes over night in simple water; wring out and soap wrist-bands, collars, and dirty or stained places. Have your boiler filled with water, and when at scalding heat put in a teacupful of the fluid, then put in your clothes and boil for half an hour, after which rub lightly through one suds only, rinsing well in the bluing water, and all is complete.

For each additional boiler of clothes add half a cup of the fluid; of course boiling in the same water through the whole washing. If more water is needed in the boiler for the last clothes dip it from the sudsing tub. Soak your woolen and calico in the suds from which you have washed the white clothes, while hanging them out dipping in some of the boiling water from the boiler, if necessary; then wash out the woolen and calico as usual—of course washing out woolen goods before you do the calico. The fluid brightens instead of fading the colors.—Dr. Chase.

Premium Washing Fluid.—This fluid is equal to the best that can be prepared, and as it is recommended to be used in a simpler manner than the foregoing many will doubtless prefer it:

Dissolve the sal soda, borax, and sal tartar in the hot water and add the other ingredients. Soak the clothes over night in water to which has been added a table-spoonful of the fluid for each gallon of water; also add a little in washing water.

BY MRS. HUSBANDPLEASER.

Take two ounces of spermaceti, one ounce of white wax, one ounce of paraffine. Mix and put in a saucer over a tea-kettle in which water is boiling, until melted, stirring several times. Then let it get cold, after which put in a clean box for use.

To make the starch: For two shirts, collars, and cuffs take one table-spoonful of starch dissolved in water; shave a piece of the above into it the size of a bean. Pour boiling water into it until thick, cook twenty minutes and set away to cool. Take one table-spoonful of starch, dissolve it in cold water, and when the boiled starch gets lukewarm pour it over it, stir well, and strain. Have the garments dry and lay the starch on the wrong side and work it through. Be careful that the starch is rubbed in until the right side is wet all over. When well saturated roll up tight in a clean cloth. They need not lay but a few minutes. Stretch them on a bosom-board, and with a damp cloth rub out all the wrinkles. Lay a fine cloth over and iron it twice. If a collar or cuff turn it over and do the same on the other side. Take off the cloth and iron perfectly dry. If the bosom has pleats raise them before ironing dry and dry under them. After the bosom is perfectly dry (for this polishing process you need a good, smooth, hard board about two by one and a half feet—the harder the better—a marble slab of that size is better still), put the bosom on the bare board, dip a clean white cloth in water, wring almost dry, rub lightly over the bosom, then rub it with a dry cloth, and polish with back of iron or with polishing iron. If any dirt gets on rub off with a damp cloth and polish again. The polishing is not necessarily done the same day they are ironed. If your time is limited, or your work interrupted by callers or other duties, lay them aside after having ironed them perfectly dry.

This makes the very best quality of bluing at a slight cost.

We see no reason why every economical housewife should not profit by these simple methods of preparing cheap laundry soap, as they are the results of practical experience.

Take 4 pounds of white bar soap, cut it fine, and dissolve by heating in 4 gallons of soft water, after which add 1 pound of sal soda. Dissolve and mix thoroughly. If it is desired the soap can be made thicker by adding less water.

Dissolve the lime and soda in the water by boiling, stirring, and settling; pour off, then return to the kettle (brass or copper), add the lard and boil it until it becomes soap. Then pour into a dish or molds, and when cool cut it into bars and dry it.

Take 2 pounds each of fresh-slacked lime, sal soda, and tallow; dissolve the soda in 1 gallon of boiling soft water, stirring occasionally every few hours after which let it settle, pouring off the clear liquor and boiling the tallow therein until it is all dissolved; cool it in a flat box or pan, and cut into bars or cakes as desired. It may be perfumed with oil of sassafras or any other perfume desired, stirring it in when cool.

The old form of this process was to use stale bread or bread baked to a proper consistency, but it seldom produces satisfactory results except in the hands of experts, and then it is an impossibility to keep from scratching the surface of the paper with the sharp points of the crust. A dough preparation known only to a few experts engaged in cleaning walls by contract, and who have been known to make from $5 to $25 per day, is now used, which is far superior in every way to anything yet discovered. The walls can be cleaned over and over again, each time appearing as bright as new paper.

Mix the flour and whiting thoroughly, and add enough water to bring it to the consistency of ordinary dough. Use by taking a small piece—about twice the size of a hen’s egg. Press against the wall and remove the dirt by making long strokes. After making a stroke knead the dirt into the dough, and continue doing so until it is useless. A quart of the preparation used in this manner will clean the walls of a good-sized room.

When it is desired to keep the ingredients of the composition a secret a coloring matter may be added to assist in mystifying. When the walls are discolored by grease or marks where people have rested their heads, mix pipeclay to the consistency of cream, lay it on the spot and allow it to remain until the following day, when it may be easily removed with a penknife or brush.

Polishing Powder.—For polishing silver and nickel-plated ware, brass, copper, etc.:

Rub the fossil silica to a fine powder and thoroughly mix with the chalk. This will not scratch the finest surface. Use by rubbing with a damp sponge or rag, and finish dry with chamois skin or dry rag.

Reduce the fossil silica to a very fine powder and mix it with the iron; melt the petrolatum, add the cotton-seed oil, stir in the powders, and while cooling add the flavoring oil and stir until ready to set, then run into boxes similar to ordinary blacking boxes. Apply with a soft rag dipped in the paste, and finish with a clean cloth. Prepared chalk or whiting can be used instead of fossil silica. The paste does its work faster than the polishing powder, and if the articles are very much corroded it is preferable.

Another excellent paste, which can be put in boxes or formed into balls and allowed to harden, is to take finely powdered rotten-stone, sift it thoroughly through muslin or a hair sieve, and knead with a sufficient quantity of soft soap to form a stiff paste. To  1/2 pound of this mass add 1 3/4 fluid ounces of oil of turpentine.

Moisten calcined magnesia with pure benzine. The mixture should be preserved in bottles with glass stoppers, as the benzine is very volatile. Use by placing a little of the mixture on a wad of cotton and apply to the glass.

Rub with muriatic acid diluted with water, care being taken that it is not too strong. Repeat the process till clean, then wash with clear water. When the marble is very dirty, as in the case of old tombstones, use the following:

Mix, apply with a brush, and sponge off with clear water. Repeat until clean, then polish with pumice stone continually moistened with water as you proceed.

Boil lightly for fifteen minutes, allow to cool, and then skim off the wax which floats on the surface. Apply the wax to the furniture, and by rubbing it an hour afterward with a woolen cloth a beautiful luster will be the result.

This is the best article that can be made for restoring the luster and color of furniture:

Dissolve the shellac in the alcohol and add the linseed oil and turpentine; then add the hydrochloric acid and butter of antimony, which has been previously mixed, and thoroughly mix all together. Apply with a tuft of cotton, and finish by rubbing down hard with Canton flannel or a woolen rag.

[ARTIFICIAL.]

It is an astonishing fact that nine-tenths of the so-called maple sugar and maple syrup sold as the genuine articles are nothing more than clever imitations. The method of making the best quality of these imitations—and which really defies detection of a majority of dealers and consumers—is very cheap and simple, a gallon of the syrup costing about fifty cents and the sugar simply the cost of ordinary, cheap sugar. We were told by a Mr. Baldwin of Kentucky, a son of the reputed discoverer of the secret for producing the maple flavoring, that various manufacturers of imitation maple sugar and syrup in the large cities had paid his father thousands of dollars in royalties for his discovery.

Procure a quantity of the rough outside bark of what is known as scaly-bark hickory tree. Take about 3 or 4 pounds of the bark and boil in one-half gallon of water until it is reduced to a quart, then strain and add 5 pounds of common brown or yellow sugar; heat again until thoroughly dissolved and it is ready for use. To make imitation maple syrup simply boil the syrup until it is reduced back to sugar again, and when it is made properly the flavor and appearance of the genuine article is obtained.

Dissolve the sugar in the water by the aid of gentle heat; take off the scum, and the honey and the cream tartar previously dissolved in a little water; bring to the boiling point, stir well, then let it cool.

Dissolve the citric acid in hot water, add the sugar, and lastly the lemon and almonds. Stir well, cover with a cloth, and leave until cold. Two table-spoonfuls to a tumbler of cold water will make an excellent drink as refreshing as the best lemonade.

Ferment for fifteen days in a warm place, then add:

If acid should be in excess add honey or sugar; if too sweet add cider vinegar to suit the taste.

Boil for fifteen minutes in eight gallons of water and let stand till cold to settle down, then strain through a flannel rag, and add to it in the fountain:

Add enough water to complete ten gallons, and charge with gas.—Prof. E. S. Wayne, in Kilner’s Formulary.

Pure baking powders are very simple in composition, care being used in preparing them and procuring pure ingredients. According to the advertised statements of the various leading manufacturers we are forced to make our own if we desire a pure and wholesome article. As the essential ingredients of the best baking powder are baking soda and cream of tartar we need only be careful in buying of honest grocers or druggists who will guarantee their purity. It is not difficult to procure pure soda, but the cream of tartar is frequently adulterated, and care must be used in its purchase.

It is very important that the materials used must be finely powdered, perfectly dry, and thoroughly mixed. For household purposes a patent sifter is the best to use in mixing. Run the articles through a number of times and free from all lumps. The ingredients can be dried by placing them in an oven for a short time before mixing.

This is the best that can be made. One to two tea-spoonfuls to a quart of flour.

A cheaper powder, but superior to the majority of powders you will buy, is prepared as follows:

Use two tea-spoonfuls to a quart of flour. Do not be afraid of the tartaric acid, as it is harmless. It is best to keep your baking powder in a well-stopped jar or bottle. Flour, terra alba, alum, and chalk are the chief ingredients used in the adulteration of cream of tartar. To determine the admixture of flour rub a few grains of iodine with one ounce of the suspected cream of tartar; if so adulterated a blue tint to the mixture will be produced; or by dissolving a small quantity in water you can prove its presence by the stickiness. Chalk may be determined by its effervescing on the addition of diluted acids; alum by dissolving in hot water and allowing the solution to chrystallize; terra alba and other clays by their insolubility in a hot solution of caustic potassa.

The profits to manufacturers and dealers on these household necessities are very large, and the prudent consumer will take advantage of the directions here given. Extracts of lemon and vanilla are most frequently used; nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, etc., are usually used dry by grating.

Cut the peels of two lemons into fine pieces and add to the alcohol and oil of lemon. Let stand for a few days and filter through a felt bag or filtering paper.

Extract of vanilla is prepared direct from the vanilla bean. Use care in the purchase of the beans, as there are several varieties. The Mexican vanilla beans have the finest flavor, and the longer the bean, as a rule, the better the extract. There are other excellent varieties of vanilla beans, but they have a somewhat ranker flavor than the Mexican. Unscrupulous jobbers and dealers have been known to soak the whole beans in spirits, practically stealing all their flavor, and then by drying them place them on the market. They can be detected by their light color and brittleness. Most of the vanilla extracts sold for flavoring purposes are adulterated with Tonka beans and other adulterants, some containing not a particle of vanilla.

The following will make a splendid article, and you know what you are getting without paying high prices for weak extracts put up in deceptive little panel bottles. Dishonest manufacturers never yield a point in their efforts to defraud. Not content with the liberty they take with the contents they employ the bottle-makers’ art to deceive us in the quantity of the precious stuff:

Slit the beans and cut them very fine, then mix them with sugar and bruise until moderately fine; then mix with spirits and water and put in a warm place; allow to stand for two weeks (longer the better) shaking every day, and when through filter. Manufacturers color with caramel or other coloring, but for home use this is unnecessary.

To extract essential oils from wood, bark, herbs, etc., put a quantity of the herb or other article into a bottle or jar and pour in a small quantity of ether. Keep in a cool place several hours, and then fill the bottle with cold water. The essential oil will rise to the surface, and may be easily separated.

The wording of the desired rubber stamp having been correctly set up in ordinary type, the same is locked up and placed upon a level support. Around it is put an iron frame, which will determine the shape and size of the matrix.

By means of a soft brush the type as well as all surrounding parts that are to be covered by the plaster of Paris are well oiled.

For the purpose of making the cast finely ground fresh plaster of Paris is needed; if of long standing, the same will lose its desirable properties. This plaster of Paris, of which a sufficient quantity should at one time be mixed to the consistency of pap, using clear water, is poured over the frame containing the type in a thin layer, so as to barely cover it. With a stout brush the mixture is driven into all spaces and interstices, until all details are thoroughly covered. After this the remaining pap of plaster of Paris is added until the frame is full to overflowing. The surface is smoothed down after the plaster has settled somewhat, and in a short while the matrix in the frame may be removed from the type.

After this it becomes necessary to bake the matrix in an oven for a period of from four to six hours. When thoroughly baked the matrix should be well brushed with a thin solution of shellac to impart a smooth surface, and at the same time greater strength.

The matrix at this stage represents a yellowish-white block, in which the lettering appears indented, but in proper place. The indentation corresponds to the height of the letter upon the piece of type or the marks upon a cut, while the remaining parts should be perfectly smooth and free from holes. This matrix, obtained by a coating from the type or cut, will serve as the mould for the final rubber stamp.

Pieces of caoutchouc are cut to the required size and laid upon the matrix. If pressure is now exerted the soft mass will adjust itself to fill all the spaces and reproduce the mould invertedly. Indentations become raised matter, and the whole will show as did primarily the type.

But as the caoutchouc has a tendency to return to its previous shape it becomes necessary to apply the process called vulcanizing. The object is to impart hardness to the rubber, and to prevent its losing the form into which it has been pressed.

To accomplish this the caoutchouc must be heated to a temperature of from 120 to 130 deg. C. As the substance is ordinarily softened by heat it is necessary to take some means to prevent it from sticking to the mould. For the purpose soapstone will answer, and the mould, as well as the piece of caoutchouc, should be well brushed or dusted with this substance.

The duration of the heating varies with the thickness of the rubber sheet. As a general thing from twenty to thirty minutes ought to be sufficient. It may be mentioned here that special apparatus can be purchased for pressing and vulcanizing. The proper vulcanization is of the greatest importance in determining the durability of the stamp.

All that remains to complete the stamps is the mounting of the rubber plate upon a suitable base or handle. This is best done either with zinc or with a solution of caoutchouc in benzine. The surface of the handle, as well as the back part of the stamps, having been covered with such a solution and well pressed together, after drying the entire stamp will be ready for use.—Amer. Lith. and Printer.

This is an unequaled preparation for destroying rats, mice, cockroaches, etc. It attracts them by its luminous appearance and also by its odor, which is very attractive to all vermin. They eat it with great avidity.

Cook the flour and water to a thin paste; add the phosphorus—previously melted in a little hot water—and mix; then add the rest and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Other Methods of Destroying Rats.—(1) Mix some fine plaster of Paris with an equal quantity of flour; put the mixture in the place infested by the vermin and a vessel full of water beside it. The rats will devour the mixture and then drink, whereupon the plaster, brought into contact with the water, will become solid and like a stone in their stomachs, which will cause their deaths. (2) When a house is infested with rats which refuse to nibble at toasted cheese or the usual baits, a few drops of oil of rhodium poured on or near the bait will attract them while the most tempting baits fail. (3) Cover the floor near their holes and place into their haunts a quantity of caustic potash. This they lick with their tongues, which makes their mouths sore, and they not only shun this locality, but appear to tell all the neighboring rats about it. (4) Instead of using chloride of lime or potash a quantity of tar can be smeared in and around their haunts and they will disappear. Tar and rats do not agree. If a live rat be caught, smeared with tar, and allowed to escape into the holes he will do the smearing process thoroughly.

This new, simple, and cheap preparation makes no stain and kills the vermin immediately. The odor is not unpleasant, and is quickly removed by airing the room. Use by sprinkling, or moistening blotting paper with the solution.

Mix thoroughly and strew among the furs and woolens.

Apply with a feather or stick into their hiding places. Label poison, and place all such compounds out of the reach of children.

Dissolve the concentrated lye in the water, add the sugar and boil the solution, meanwhile gradually adding the arsenic. While still warm dip porous paper (cut into small squares) in the solution and dry them. For use place in plates or saucers partly filled with water where the flies can get at them.

Boil together, spread thinly on manilla paper, place another sheet on top, and when wanted pull them apart and it is ready for use. This is now usually preferred to the poison paper, as the flies are caught and held and do not die and drop into food, etc.

Melt the solid ingredients together, and when partly cooled add the other ingredients. This is an elegant preparation to rub on the hands and face where flies, mosquitos, gnats, etc., are troublesome.

Late improvements in the manufacture of inks are due to the discovery and cheapening of substances which can be used in preparing them. While good common writing inks are quite easily procured in the market, still they can be manufactured much cheaper by the consumer; and then again there are a variety of special purposes which require inks that are not on sale, and formulas for making them are very valuable. In this collection we give approved and tested formulas for everything in the ink line.

[FROM LOGWOOD.]

A good black ink can be made by boiling 3 pounds of logwood with sufficient water to leave a residue of 5 quarts. When cold add 3 drachms of yellow bichromate of potash and stir thoroughly. To prevent thickening add a few drops of solution of mercury salt. It flows freely from the pen. Its color at first is of a dark indigo-blue tint, changing soon into a permanent black. A beautiful gloss may be given to this or any other black ink by adding a strong solution of shellac and borax.

[FROM ANILINE.]

Dissolve the negrosine in a quart of hot water; dissolve the corrosive sublimate and dextrine in the remaining quart, and pour all together. This is a splendid ink, flows freely from the pen, and will keep well.

In making ink use care in buying the best anilines and other ingredients. This is important.

Simply dissolve the aniline in the water. No better bright, fiery red ink can be made.

Dissolve the aniline in the alcohol and the dextrine in the hot water, and mix them.

One-fourth of an ounce of Prussian blue may be used instead of the water blue aniline.

Aniline inks of any color can be made in a similar manner. Simply get the desired color of aniline. Maroon ink may be made by mixing equal quantities of black, blue, and red inks; yellow by adding 1 1/4 drachms of picric acid to 1 pint of hot water.

Take 1 pint of the violet-black ink and add 1 ounce each of sugar and gum Arabic. This is for what is called moist copying where a press is used. For what is termed dry copying mix about  1/3 pint of glycerine to a pint of any good black ink. The manuscript, if written on glazed paper, will not dry for hours, and will yield one or two fair, neat, dry copies by simple pressure of the hand. The writing should not be excessively fine nor the strokes uneven or heavy. The copies and the original are neater than when water is used.

The potash water glass should be of the consistency of syrup.

(SEE PAGE 1.)

A good purple ink to use on the gelatine copying pad, or hektograph, is prepared as follows:

Dissolve the methyl-violet in the water and add the glycerine. Gently warm the solution for an hour, and after cooling add the alcohol.

When black hektograph ink is desired, instead of the methyl-violet use double the amount of negrosine.

An excellent white ink, which can be used with a pen for writing on colored cards or paper, may be made as follows:

If too thick add water; if too thin, more mucilage. Shake well while using.

FOR TYPE-WRITERS, DATING STAMPS, ETC.

Dissolve the aniline in the alcohol and add the other ingredients.

FOR PACKAGES AND BOXES.

Boil the logwood with the water, add the acid and potash, and lastly the dextrine.

FOR MARKING LINEN, ETC.

Dissolve 5 parts of lunar caustic in 10 parts of spirit of sal ammoniac. Add to the solution 7 parts of pure soda, 5 of gum Arabic, and 12 of water.

VALUABLE IN MARKING TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS.

Cover the portion of metal you wish to write upon with melted beeswax and allow it to cool. Write the inscription plainly with any sharp-pointed instrument through the beeswax to the metal. Apply the acids with a feather or rag, carefully filling each letter, and let it remain from one to thirty minutes, according to the desired depth of the lettering, after which wash off the beeswax and acids and rub over with a little sweet oil to prevent further rust or tarnish.

As in the case of fluid inks there are many formulas for preparing ink powders. The following are the best:

Black.—Nut-galls, 1 ounce; copperas,  1/2 ounce; gum Arabic, 7 ounces. Add one clove to this quantity. Or, take negrosine, 1 ounce; dextrine, 3 ounces; mix.

Blue.—Water blue aniline, 1 ounce; dextrine, 5 ounces. Or, soluble Prussian blue,  1/2 ounce; dextrine, 1 ounce.

Green.—Aniline green, 44 parts; gelatine, 4 parts, and lunar caustic, 2 parts. Or, green aniline, 1 part; dextrine, 4 parts.

Red.—Eosine aniline, 1 ounce; dextrine, 1 ounce.

A tea-spoonful to a table-spoonful of the powder is dissolved in 1 pint of water, requiring from  1/2 to 1 hour to make the solution.

Boil some nut-galls in aqua fortis, and add to the infusion some gum Arabic and a little sulphuric acid. When written on paper this ink is perfectly legible, but will disappear from the paper in a few days.

Invisible inks are those which when first written are not visible, but upon the application of heat or other means the characters are made to appear distinctly. The following are decidedly the best preparations for this purpose:

This makes a fluid which is perfectly invisible until heat is applied by holding over a lamp or by placing in an oven, when it changes to a permanent black. Write with a clean steel pen. All invisible inks will show on glazed paper, therefore unglazed paper should be used.

Another singular invisible ink is made as follows: Oxide of cobalt,  1/2 ounce; muriatic acid, sufficient to dissolve it; water, 4 ounces; mucilage of gum acacia, 1 drachm. Place in a stained bottle. Characters written with this solution are invisible, but on the application of heat they instantly appear in blue. On cooling they again become invisible.

Mix, bottle, and label No. 1.

Mix, bottle, and label No. 2.

To erase ink dip the end of a penholder or pencil in No. 1 and apply to the writing, and do the same with No. 2. Let remain a moment and blot off with clean blotting-paper. If the characters are not erased repeat as before.

The jewellers of Turkey, who are mostly Armenians, have a singular method of ornamenting watch cases, etc., with diamonds and other precious stones by simply gluing or cementing them on. The stone is set in gold or silver and the lower part of the metal made flat, or to correspond to that part to which it is to be fixed. It is then warmed gently and the glue applied, which is so very strong that the parts thus cemented never separate. For this glue, which will firmly unite bits of glass and even polished steel, and which may of course be applied to a vast variety of useful purposes, large number of formulas have been published. The following is the original recipe. Dissolve 5 or 6 bits of gum mastic, each the size of a large pea, in as much alcohol as will suffice to render them liquid; in another vessel dissolve as much isinglass, previously softened a little in water (though none of the water must be used), in good brandy or rum as will make a two-ounce vial of very strong glue, adding two small bits of galbanum or ammoniacum, which must be rubbed or ground until they are dissolved. Then mix the whole with a sufficient heat. Keep the glue in a vial closely corked, and when it is to be used set the vial in boiling water. To avoid cracking the vial by exposure to such sudden heat use a thin green glass vial and hold it in the steam for a few seconds before immersing it in the hot water.—Workshop Receipts.

FOR GLASS, CHINA, WOOD, LEATHER, ETC.

Soak the gelatine in half a pint of water for four hours. Place in a bottle and heat in a water bath; add the acids, dissolve, add the oil of cloves and sufficient hot water to make a pint, and strain.

Mix, and stir the mixture into a stiff paste by adding water. Use while fresh.

For attaching metal plates, such as metal letters, etc., to flat sheets of glass or windows, the following is excellent:

Melt in a water bath, and add 10 parts of slaked lime. The cement commonly used for fastening the tops on kerosene lamps is plaster of Paris, which is porous, quickly penetrated by the kerosene, and readily destroyed. A cement which does not have this defect is made by boiling 3 parts of resin and 1 of caustic soda in 5 of water. This composition forms a soap, which mix with half its weight of plaster of Paris. Use while fresh.

Dissolve  1/8 ounce of salicylic acid in half a gallon of warm water, and when cold stir in as much flour as will bring it to the consistency of cream, being particular to break up all the lumps; next place it on the fire and allow it to cook gently for a few minutes, stirring well meanwhile. This paste answers a variety of purposes. The salicylic acid is to keep it from spoiling. The addition of 1 ounce of powdered colocynth to the above amount will effectually banish all insects and worms from the walls where the paper is pasted.

Ordinary pastes will not adhere labels to tin. The following is a good one: Make a paste of gum tragacanth and add a little oil of wintergreen. Apply by removing the film of grease from the tin by a solution of caustic soda (10 parts of water to 1 of soda). Apply with a rag to the spot on which you wish to affix the label.

Rub together till a uniform paste is formed, transfer to a small kettle over a fire, heat, and stir until the lumps are all dissolved and the paste becomes stiff; transfer to another vessel and cover up. This paste is applied in a thin layer to the surface of the table or desk to be covered, the cloth or leather is then laid on and smoothed with a roller. If leather is to be fastened on it must be first dampened.

This is a time-tried whitewash, either for inside or outside work, and has been known to retain its brilliancy for over thirty years. Nice unslaked lime,  1/2 bushel; slake it with boiling water; cover it during the process to keep in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it  1/4 bushel of salt, previously well dissolved in water; rice, 3 pounds—boiled to a thin paste and stirred in boiling hot; Spanish whiting,  1/2 pound; best glue, 1 pound, which has been previously dissolved by soaking it well, and then hanging it over a slow fire in a small kettle immersed in a larger one filled with water. Now add hot water, 5 gallons, to the mixture, stir well, and let it stand a few days covered from the dirt. It should be put on hot. For this purpose it is best to keep it in a kettle on a portable furnace, or use other means more convenient. It answers as well as oil paint for brick or stone, and is much cheaper.

Coloring matter, dissolved in alcohol, may be put in and made of any shade you like. Spanish brown stirred in will make red-pink, more or less deep, according to quantity. A delicate tinge of this is very pretty for inside walls. Finely pulverized common clay, well mixed with Spanish white, makes reddish stone color. Yellow ochre stirred in makes yellow wash, but chrome goes further, and makes a color generally esteemed prettier. In all these cases the darkness of the shade is of course determined by the quantity of the coloring used. It is difficult to make rules, because tastes differ. It would be best to try experiments on a shingle, and let it dry. Green must not be mixed with lime. The lime destroys the color, and the color has an effect on the whitewash which makes it crack and peel. When inside walls have been badly smoked and you wish to make them a clean, clear white, it is well to squeeze indigo plentifully through a bag into the water you use before it is stirred into the whole mixture; or blue vitriol pulverized and dissolved in boiling water and put into whitewash gives a beautiful blue tint. If a larger quantity than five gallons be wanted the same proportions should be observed.

The coloring substances are pulverized and the mixture ground. Should the mixture be too thick reduce it with equal parts of linseed oil and oil of turpentine. Give the roof two coats, allowing the first to dry before applying the second. See that the tin is free from rust, and the coats should not be laid on too thick nor too thin.

Mix, and add one-half its volume of pure coal-tar and boil to a fluid mass.

This paint gives a very durable and pliant covering, which does not melt in the greatest heat of summer nor crack or break in the greatest cold. It resists moisture, and a roof painted with it need not be gone over again for four or five years.

Common glue, 4 ounces; flour of emery, 3 ounces, and just lampblack enough to give an inky color to the preparation. Dissolve the glue in  3/4 quart of warm water, put in the lampblack and emery, stir till there are no lumps, then apply to the board with a woolen rag smoothly rolled. Three coats should be given.

Place a vessel of lighted charcoal in the room and place on it two or three handfuls of juniper berries; shut the windows, chimneys, and doors and twenty-four hours afterward the room may be opened, when it will be found that the sickly, unwholesome smell will be gone. Another very simple method is to plunge a handful of hay into a pail of water and let it stand in the newly-painted room.

To remove dry paint or hard putty make a saturated solution of caustic of potassa with water. Apply to the paint with a swab. After a short time it will be easily removed.

Boil the logwood for 30 minutes in a gallon of water, and then add the copperas and lampblack. Apply to the wood hot, giving a number of coats. In varnishing ebonized wood a little drop black must be added to the varnish or it will give a brown shade.

A brilliant and uniform rose color can be imparted to wood and vegetable ivory by chemical precipitation, as follows: The first bath consists of 8 parts of potassium iodide to 100 parts of water. The second bath is prepared by mixing 2 1/2 parts of corrosive sublimate with 100 parts of water. Immerse the wood for a few hours in the first bath, then place it in the second, in which it will acquire a beautiful rose color. Varnish the wood after drying. Both baths can be repeatedly used without renewing them.

Mix 2 parts by weight of catechu, 1 part of caustic soda, and 100 of water. The best wood to use is white wood, and after the article is finished it is boiled in the stain for several hours, rinsed, and dried. The length of time in boiling depends upon the depth of color desired. This is a very deep and natural stain.

To coat wood with a substance as hard as stone apply the following mixture while hot with a brush:

Melt the rosin and pitch together, add the other ingredients, and heat all in an iron vessel until all moisture is driven out, and the heated mass ignites from a burning chip of wood held over it; the flame is at once extinguished by a close-fitting lid.

In using the method for saw blades, they are first heated in a suitable furnace and then placed vertically, teeth upward, in troughs filled with the mixture. After sufficient cooling they are taken out and wiped with a piece of leather so that only a slight film of fat remains. They are then placed flat over a coal fire until the coating of fat ignites, which may burn as freely as required for great hardness. Screws, or other articles which require a less degree of hardness, are dipped into the hot mixture and brought to a white heat.

Melt together and dip the steel in the mixture when hot.

Anoint the article all over with tallow, temper it in a gentle charcoal fire, and let it cool itself; or take a little clay, cover your iron with it, and temper in a charcoal fire.

It is not generally known that burnt steel may be almost instantaneously restored by plunging it while hot in cold water and hammering it with light strokes on the anvil, turning it so as to hammer all over it, again dipping in the cold water, and repeating the hammering process as before. Try again if you do not succeed the first time.

Dissolve the saltpeter in the vitriol and add it to the water. After scarfing the steel get it hot; and quench in the preparation. Then weld the same as a piece of iron, hammering it very quickly with light blows. It answers the purpose much better than borax. Cork it in a bottle and it will keep for years.

Another:

Dissolve all in water, and evaporate the water at a low temperature.

Cover your steel with melted beeswax, and when cold make a hole in the wax with a fine-pointed needle or other article the size of the hole you require; put a drop of strong nitric acid upon it, and after an hour rinse off and apply again. It will gradually eat through.

By means of carbolic acid a hole  1/4 of an inch in diameter has been drilled through  1/2 inch thickness of cast-iron with a carpenter’s brace.

Take your ferrule, lap round the “joining” a small piece of brass wire, then wet the ferrule, scatter on the joining ground borax, put it on the end of a wire, and hold it in the fire till the brass fuses. It will fill up the joining and form a perfect solder. It may afterward be turned in the lathe.

Cut a piece of a tin-foil the size of the surface to be soldered, then pass over the surface a solution of sal-ammoniac, place the tin-foil between the pieces, and heat over a lamp or fire until the foil melts. Instead of the solution of sal-ammoniac equal parts of water and hydrochloric acid saturated with zinc can be used just as well.

Pour in a little mercury, agitate it over the interior surface of the barrel, and pour it out again. The mercury will amalgamate the lead and remove it.

Dissolve the saleratus in the water. Boil the old files or rasps in this solution for half an hour. Then take out, wash, and dry them. Next stand them in a jar, filling it up with rain water and sulphuric acid in the proportion of water, 1 quart; sulphuric acid, 4 ounces. Coarse files should remain in the bath twelve hours and fine ones two or three hours less. Take them out, wash them clean, dry quickly and thoroughly, and rub them with sweet oil to prevent rusting.

Another method, though not so effectual, is to pour a few drops of benzole upon the file and brush thoroughly with a scratch brush.

This is such a simple and cheap way of mending tinware that a person with just a bit of ingenuity can do his own work in this line. Take a vial about two-thirds full of muriatic acid and put into it little bits of sheet zinc as long as the acid will dissolve them. Then put in a crumb of sal-ammoniac and fill up with water and it is ready for use. Wet the cork in the vial and with it wet the edges of the place to be mended. Then put a piece of sheet zinc over the hole and hold a lighted candle or spirit lamp under the place, which melts the solder on the tin and causes the zinc to adhere without further trouble. Do not forget to wet the zinc also with the solution.

Put the razor blade for half an hour in water to which has been added one-twentieth of its weight of muriatic or sulphuric acid, and after a few hours “set” it on a hone. The acid acts as a whetstone by corroding the whole surface uniformly.

Moisten flour of emery with tallow or sweet oil.

Scratch the glass around the shape you desire with the corner of a file or graver; then having bent a piece of wire the same shape heat it red-hot and lay it upon the scratch, and sink the glass into cold water just deep enough for the water to come almost on a level with its upper surface. It rarely fails to break perfectly true.

Acid sulphuric, a sufficient quantity to decompose the ammonia fluoride and making the mixture of a semi-fluid consistency. It must be prepared in a leaden vessel. It can be used with a common pen, but must be kept in bottles coated inside with paraffine, beeswax, or gutta-percha, with rubber stoppers.

Any hard steel tool will cut glass with great facility when kept freely wet with camphor dissolved in turpentine. A drill-bow may be used, or even the hand alone. A hole bored may be readily enlarged by a round file. The ragged edges of glass vessels may also be thus easily smoothed by a flat file. Flat window glass can readily be sawed by a watch-spring saw by aid of this solution. In short, the most brittle glass can be wrought almost as easily as brass by the use of cutting-tools kept constantly moist with camphorized oil of turpentine.

Mix all together in a glass vessel, and it is ready for use. Thoroughly clean the article from all grease and dirt (see polishing preparations, page 12), and apply with a soft rag or brush and polish with a chamois skin.

Powder and mix the articles thoroughly. This is excellent in silvering brass and copper articles. Clean the surface of the article, as in the preceding preparation, and apply the mixture by rubbing on with a cork or piece of soft leather moistened with water and dipped in the powder. Afterward the metal should be well washed in hot water and wiped dry.

Dissolve the amalgam in the acid and then add the alcohol. Thoroughly clean the article to be plated and apply the solution with a soft brush. Rinse and dry in sawdust or with tissue paper and polish with chamois skin.

To a solution of chloride of zinc 5 or 10 per cent strong add enough nickel salt to give the usual color of nickel bath. Cleanse the articles and put them in the solution for from  1/2 to 1 hour.

An American has discovered a beautiful alloy, which has been most successfully applied as a substitute for gold. It is composed of pure copper, 100 parts; pure tin, 17 parts; magnesia, 6 parts; tartar of commerce, 9 parts; sal-ammoniac, 3.6 parts, and quicklime, 1.6 parts. The copper is first melted, then the lime, magnesia, sal-ammoniac, and tartar are added, little at a time, and the whole is briskly stirred for about half an hour, so as to mix thoroughly, after which the tin is thrown on the surface in small grains, stirring until entirely fused. The crucible is now covered and the fusion kept up for about thirty-five minutes, when the dross is skimmed off, and the alloy found ready for use. It is quite maleable and ductile, and may be drawn, stamped, chased, beaten into powder, or into leaves, like gold leaf, in all of which conditions it is not distinguishable from gold even by good judges, except by its inferior weight.

Combine by fusion 1 part pure copper, 24 parts block tin, 1 1/2 parts pure antimony,  1/4 part pure bismuth, and 2 parts clear glass. The glass may be omitted save in cases where it is an object to have the metal sonorous.

The teeth, through negligence and ignorance, receive less attention among the majority of people than any other subject of a personal character. The care of children’s teeth is very important, and if parents do not post themselves in the matter frequent visits to a skilled dentist should in their case be imperatively enforced, as well as upon the older members of the family.

The first teeth of the infant are called the deciduous or milk teeth, and are twenty in number—ten in each jaw. These twenty teeth are as follows: Eight incisors, four in each jaw—the four being composed of two central and two lateral incisors—also four canine or cuspid teeth, two in each jaw, and eight molars, four in each jaw—the molars being called first and second molars, indicating their relative positions as well as the periods of their eruption (commonly called cutting). It is generally recognized among physicians that all diseases of children are more difficult to treat during dentition than before or after. It is well enough for parents to recognize this fact in administering medicines to their children. Although the time of eruptions of the teeth differ with different persons, yet the following table gives a close approximation:

It would be difficult indeed to condense in so short a space so much practical information from a reliable source as has been given in the following prize essay on the teeth, which was awarded by the Dental Society of Philadelphia:

1st. Cleanse your teeth once, or oftener, every day. Rinse the mouth after eating. Cleansing the teeth consists in removing every particle of foreign matter from around the teeth and gums.

2d. To cleanse use well-made brushes, soft quill, or wood toothpicks, an antacid styptic tooth wash, and precipitated chalk. If these means fail apply to a regular dentist.

3d. Avoid eating hot food. Thoroughly masticate the food, and well salivate it before swallowing.

4th. Parents ought to carefully attend to the child’s second dentition. Prevail upon your children to visit, at frequent intervals, a careful and skillful operator.

5th. Remember that four of the permanent double teeth come in at the age of six years. They are very liable to decay early, are very large, and should never be allowed to require extracting.

6th. Never allow any one to extract a tooth or dissuade you from having them filled unless absolutely necessary.

7th. Carelessness and procrastination are responsible for a large proportion of teeth that are lost.

The teeth were never intended to take the place of nut-crackers nor to rival scissors in cutting thread. The teeth must be taken care of or your health will suffer.

Remember, a clean tooth would not decay in a hundred years.

Mix the powder thoroughly, and with a small portion add the oils and mix them until in the form of a moist powder. Then add the rest of the mixed powders gradually until all are evenly distributed throughout. A solution of carmine can be added in with the oils, which will color it as desired.

Some prefer a preparation in the form of a paste, as follows:

Honey, glycerine, and mucilage acacia equal quantities of each sufficient to make into a paste of the desired consistence. First mix the powders and color with carmine, and then add the other ingredients and thoroughly mix.

Mouth washes are a valuable addition to the toilet as they assist to harden and heal the gums, cleanse the mouth and purify the breath.

Color with tincture of cochineal. A few drops of carbolic acid may be added to the above in the case of decayed teeth and foul breath.

When the breath is very offensive the following should be taken in addition to rinsing the mouth with the mouth wash:

Mix and take one-half tea-spoonful in water after each meal.

When the services of a dentist are not at hand and the teeth are badly decayed and aching, the following mouth wash is recommended. It is used by holding a tea-spoonful in the mouth as long as possible and spitting out:

Cut the camomile in pieces and rub fine with the sal-ammoniac; add the lavender water and vinegar by placing all in a glass flask and let it digest for twelve hours and filter.

The following preparation is one of the best for relieving toothache until a dentist can be consulted:

Rub the solids in a mortar until they liquefy, then add the oil of peppermint. Apply on cotton.

The following practical treatise on this much-abused subject is copied from the B. & C. Druggist, and although originally written in the interests of druggists it is of more value to persons affected with these blemishes; hence we reproduce the essay in its entirety with the formulas stripped of their technical terms and phrases:

At this time of the year there are few questions which are more frequently addressed to the “family chemist,” and fewer still to which he ordinarily gives so unsatisfactory a reply, as, “What shall I do to cure my freckles?”

Knowing as we do how greatly the popularity—i. e., the business prosperity—of the majority of our friends depends upon the votes and interest of their lady customers, we have been at some pains to lay before them such an amount of practical information upon the above subject as will enable them to retain the good will and material gratitude of their fair interrogators on the one hand, and to put a little extra profit in their own pockets on the other.

We do not propose to convert these pages into an elaborate treatise upon the skin; but for the benefit of those who are only just commencing business it will, perhaps, be as well to make a few observations which our more experienced friends may consider of the “leather and prunella” order. In the first place it will be generally admitted that upon the subject of our present notes there is no published information of a practical and reliable character, and that medical writers and practitioners either shun the question altogether or approach it in a perfunctory manner, and leave it very much where they found it. For our present purpose the cutaneous discoloration commonly designated by the term “freckles” may be considered under two heads—the so-called “summer” or temporary variety (ephelis), and the permanent kind (lentigo). Both are commonly stated to be simply morbid alterations of the skin-pigment, and to be situated solely in the rete mucosum, but this is not absolutely true, inasmuch as ephelis, properly so called, is generally due to a darkening of the under surface of the epidermis either in small ovoid patches (“summer freckles”) or extended over a large surface (“tan” or “sunburn”), while with lentigo the brownish discolorations are at a greater depth, and remain in situ after the covering epidermis has been completely removed. Strong sunshine, or any powerfully actinic light, and radiant heat from any source are apt to produce the first named, and to enhance the latter form of the skin’s chromatogenous function, the manifestations of which vary greatly according to individual idiosyncrasies.

Similarly the treatment which answers best for some persons is not so efficacious in other cases, but the old, old adage that “prevention is better than cure” applies here with considerable force, and as regards the rationale of remedial applications, it may be said in general terms that the application, in the right place, of active reducing, or deoxidizing, agents is as a rule successful in removing ephelis altogether, and in greatly toning down the shade of lentigo. Commencing with the mildest form we will give a good formula for a

The sulphate of iron must be in clear green crystals, unless the “granulated” form, which is preferable, be available, and in either case the salt should be fresh and free from oxidized portions, or “rustiness;” it should be dissolved in half the elder-flower water (all of which is better, if not quite recently distilled, for being quickly raised to the boiling point and cooled out of contact of air before use), the citric acid being also in solution in the other half, and the two fluids mixed, filtered if necessary, and bottled immediately, a lump of camphor about the size of small peppercorn to be added to the contents of each bottle.

The two lotions are stated to give excellent results, especially the latter. They are to be applied to the skin of the face, etc., in the usual way, at least twice in the course of twenty-four hours, after it has been washed and dried carefully. If the skin be of the nature known as “greasy,” a preliminary wash with tepid water containing a few drops of stronger water of ammonia is advisable.

Under this empirical title a process of removing “tan” and the milder variety of “freckles,” a foreign surgeon has devised the following:

Dissolve the iodide of potassium in a small quantity of the infusion and a drachm of the glycerine; with this fluid moisten the iodine in a glass mortar and rub it down, gradually adding more liquid until complete solution has been obtained; then stir in the remainder of the ingredients, and bottle the mixture.

With a small camel’s hair pencil or piece of fine sponge apply a little of “Albadermine A” to the tanned or freckled surface, until a slight but tolerably uniform brownish-yellow skin has been produced. At the expiration of fifteen or twenty minutes moisten a piece of cambric, lint, or soft rag with “B” and lay it upon the affected part, removing, squeezing away the liquid, soaking it afresh, and again applying until the iodine stain has disappeared. Repeat the entire process thrice daily, but diminish the frequency of the application if tenderness be produced. In the course of from three or four days to as many weeks the freckles will either have disappeared entirely or their intensity will be very greatly diminished. “Summer freckles” yield very speedily to this treatment.

Dissolve the corrosive sublimate in three ounces of the orange-flower water, add the hydrochloric acid, and set aside. Blanch the bitter almonds and bruise them in a Wedgwood mortar, adding thereto the glycerine and using the pestle vigorously; a smooth paste is thus obtained. Then add gradually about nine ounces of the orange-flower water, stirring constantly, continuing this operation until a fine, creamy emulsion is the result. Subject this to violent agitation—preferably with the aid of a mechanical egg whisk—and allow the tincture of benzoin to fall into it the while drop by drop. Then add the mercurial solution, filter, and make up the whole to the measure of one imperial pint (20 ounces) with more orange-flower water.

This preparation is recommended to us by an eminent dermatologist as being invariably efficacious in the treatment of ephelis, and always greatly ameliorating lentigo, even if it does not entirely decolorize the patches in the latter case. A general whitening of the skin is produced by this lotion without any irritation. It is as well, however, not to apply it to any abraded surfaces. It has been found far superior in practice to a preparation—which it somewhat resembles—sold at a high price in Paris under the name of Lait Antiphelique.

Apply to the face, etc., at night, and remove in the morning with a little cold cream previous to washing. This is from a private American source.

This is a much more effective and reliable ointment for the purpose than the preceding, which is really only suited for the milder form of sunburn, while the oleate of copper will remove the more persistent and obstinate lentigo. It is thus prepared:

This is to be applied in the same manner as the preceding, washing the surface of the skin, however (after the cold cream), about every third morning, with a little weak ammonia water, in order to prevent any inadvertent accumulation of copper.

Several of the preceding are well adapted for the treatment of very dark-colored and deep-seated examples of lentigo, of which, however, some seem capable of resisting all treatment of this kind. The only method of reaching these is by the complete removal of the epidermis of the part and of the upper portion of the cutis also. A Turkish bath is often useful as a preliminary for an effort of this kind, which, of course, needs the application of some disorganizing substance. Permanganate of potassium answers in this direction, but we find that a moderately strong solution of Mr. H. B. Condy’s new disinfectant—per­manga­nate of aluminum—is undoubtedly the best of the two for this purpose. It should be applied several times until the skin has acquired a uniform brown tint. At from one to twelve hours after this is noticed it should be removed by a warm and dilute solution (about 8 or 10 per cent) of hydrochloric acid, to which a little glycerine may be added to prevent too rapid drying. Still better, however, is nitric acid, which if “painted” upon a colored spot of this kind first renders it more distinctly yellow, then orange-brown. In a day or two this becomes a deeper brown, and more or less disorganized, cracking, either round the edge, or right across the center, so that it can be readily peeled away. Freckles removed in this manner seldom crop up again, in that particular place, at all events. In this connection it is a somewhat curious fact that whereas dilute nitric acid often caused soreness and irritation when applied in this manner, a stronger acid does nothing of the kind, but quietly and quickly “deadens” that portion of the outer covering it has been applied to, so that in a day or two it can be removed quite painlessly. What is known as “French nitric acid,” of from 1.330 to 1.350 specific gravity, is very appropriate for this purpose.

The removal of either deep-seated freckles or moles is, as before hinted, not always an easy task, but nitric acid is perhaps about as good an agent for the purpose as any other. The mole should be surrounded by a little “cell” or ring of wax, so that the acid can be applied direct without fear of disorganizing the adjacent skin. As, however, nitric acid by itself sometimes occasions a good deal of smarting, etc., when applied, it is better to avoid this by mixing cocaine with it. The mixture given below answers the purpose very well indeed:

This should be kept ready for use in a small bottle with a good-fitting stopper. The end of a glass rod dipped in and then cautiously applied to the surface of the mole or freckle, the process being repeated once or twice a day, and the unsightly spot has its vitality destroyed without pain, being then easily and effectually removed.

This formula was procured from a friend of the author residing at Little Rock, Ark. I can vouch for its efficacy in his case, as it removed the unnatural color in a few days, and he told me that others had tried it with equally gratifying results. It is translated from a formula of a young physician, a graduate of Jefferson Medical College:

Mix and apply with a small, soft sponge. The medical works say little about the red nose. The cause is usually attributed to drinking, but gluttony, tight lacing, nasal catarrh, chronic enlargement of the tonsils, exposure to strong sunlight, etc., all contribute to a reddening of the nasal organ.

The following formula, prescribed by the late Dr. Tilbury Fox, is a very soothing application, and is a great favorite with ladies who have flushed faces:

Be sure and get the white calamine, and not the red. Apply with a small, soft sponge and allow to dry on, the excess of powder being lightly dusted off with a soft cloth.

Mix and apply with a soft sponge while the skin is damp, and wipe dry with a towel. This is the best preparation of its class.

For healing and softening the lips, preventing them from cracking, etc., the following is an elegant preparation:

Melt the petrolatum and wax together and add the tannin while cooling; add the oils and stir until cold. When it is desired to color the lips add 20 grains of carmine. This is done by reducing the carmine to a fine powder in a mortar and rub with a small portion of the salve until it is thoroughly incorporated, and then mix the remainder gradually.

Mix and dissolve. Apply night and morning.

This is used for polishing and cleaning the nails:

This is for softening the nails, curing hang-nails, etc.:

Mix thoroughly and apply upon going to bed, wearing a pair of gloves.

Mix the oils and dissolve them in the alcohol; to this gradually add the lye, previously dissolved in the water, then add the acetic ether and coloring matter, and let stand a few days and filter through a glass funnel into a glass vessel.

Add the oil to the alcohol, rub with magnesia and sugar, then add the water and filter.

Mix, let stand 30 days, and then filter.

Apply once or twice a day, rubbing well into the scalp.

Mix, and dissolve 1 ounce of the mixture in 1 pint of water when wanted for use.

This is much better than the old form containing ammonia.

Perfume with bergamot or any desired odor. This makes an elegant, creamy preparation, and is one of the best that can be made. The addition of  1/4 ounce of tincture of cantharides to the above amount will stop the hair from falling out and assist Nature in supplying new hair. A great many persons are prejudiced against hair oils, but they have been used for ages, and will continue to be used. Some hair actually demands oil, owing to a lack of that supplied by nature.

Melt the petrolatum and add the tincture of cantharides, and while cooling add the other ingredients.

Mix thoroughly, and apply by dusting the powder into the stockings and gloves.

Mix the starch with the glycerine, heat, and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Dissolve the potassa in the water heated to a boiling point and add the other mixture to it. This preparation needs to be applied only once or twice. Spread a little of the salve on the corn, bunion, or wart. Do not touch the healthy skin. Allow it to remain several hours and then soak the part in warm water.

A very popular liquid preparation for removing corns, etc., is prepared as follows:

Apply once a day to the hard skin by means of a small brush.

In the treatment of chilblains we give a detailed list of formulas from the works and practice of a number of the most eminent physicians and surgeons.

Dr. Bartholow’s prescription is as follows:

Dr. Bandt gives the following prescription:

Mix with a little water and apply.

Dr. Beasley’s prescription is as follows:

Dissolve and filter. Apply night and morning.

Dr. Giacomini’s prescription is as follows:

Mix, and apply night and morning.

Mix the oil and turpentine first, then gradually add the acid. Apply by rubbing on two or three times a day.

Rub in with continued friction.

Melt the wax with the oil, then add the camphorated oil and Goulard extract.

[From Scientific American Supplement.]

Experiments with the incubator here given have been made all over the country. It is one that is in actual use, and has always given satisfaction. Having secured permission from the originator, we here illustrate it for the benefit of our readers.

To make this incubator get your tinner to make you a tank 15 inches wide, 30 inches long, and 12 inches deep, of galvanized iron or zinc, the iron being preferable. On the top should be a tube 1 inch in diameter and 8 inches high. In front should be another tube, 9 inches long, to which should be attached a spigot, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Having made your tank, have what is called the ventilator made, which is a box with a bottom but no top. The ventilator should be 8 inches deep, and 1 inch smaller all round than the tank, as the tank must rest on inch boards. In the ventilator should be four or six tin tubes  1/2 inch in diameter and 6 inches long. They should extend through the bottom, so as to admit air from below, and to within 2 inches of the top or a little less. Now make an egg drawer, which is a frame of wood 3 inches deep having no top or bottom, except that the front should be boxed off and filled with sawdust, which is covered over afterward with a piece of muslin to keep the sawdust from spilling. This box in front of the drawer exactly fits the opening in Fig. 3, when the drawer is in its place. Of course the egg drawer must be made longer than the tank and ventilator, in order to allow for this space which it fills in the opening, which is the packing all around the incubator. The bottom of the egg drawer should be made by nailing a few slats lengthwise to the under side, or rather, fitting them in nicely, and over the slats in the inside of the drawer a piece of thick, strong muslin should be tightly drawn. On this muslin the eggs are placed, in the same position as if laid in a hen’s nest, and it allows the air to pass through to the eggs for ventilation. The eggs can be turned by hand, marked for designation, or an egg turner may be made by fastening slats crosswise to one on each side running lengthwise, something like a window lattice, and when the eggs are placed between these slots by merely pushing the frame the eggs will turn over, exactly on the same principle that an egg will roll when it is pushed by a block, a book, or anything else; but we believe the method is patented, and do not advise infringement.

Having prepared the tank, let it be covered with a box, but the box must not have any bottom. This is to protect the tank against pressure of water on the sides, and to assist in retaining heat. Such being done, place your ventilator first, egg drawer next, and tank last. Now place a support under the tank and the box, or have them rest on rods, and as the weight of water will be great in the center, the iron rods should be placed crosswise under the tank every 6 inches. Now fasten the three apartments (ventilator, egg drawer, and tank) together, with boards nailed to the sides and back and front (of course leaving the opening for the egg drawer), care being taken to drive no nails in the egg drawer, as it must move in and out, and should have a strong strip to rest on for that purpose. Having completed these preparations make a larger box to go over all three, so that there will be a space on the sides, back, front, and on top; but as the ventilator must be filled with sawdust to within 1 inch of the top of the tubes, it serves for the bottom packing. Make the outer box so that there will be room for filling all around the inside box with sawdust, and also on top, being careful to let the tube for pouring in the water come through, as also the spigot in front. About 4 inches or so thickness of sawdust is sufficient, according to preference. The front of the incubator must be packed also, but an idea of how it should be done may be learned by observing the opening in Fig. 3, which is so constructed that the box in front of the egg drawer (Fig. 4) exactly fits into it, and completes the packing when the drawer is shut. The incubator should be raised from the floor about an inch, when completed, to allow the air to pass under and thence into the ventilator tubes.

The incubator being complete, the tank is filled with boiling water. It must remain untouched for twenty-four hours, as it requires time during which to heat completely through. As it will heat slowly, it will also cool slowly. Let it cool down to 120 deg., and then put in the eggs, or, what is better, run it without eggs for a day or two in order to learn it and notice its variation. When the eggs are put in, the drawer will cool down some. All that is required then is to add about a bucket or so of water once or twice a day, but be careful about endeavoring to get up heat suddenly, as the heat does not rise for five hours after the additional bucket of water is added. The tank radiates the heat down on the eggs, there being nothing between the iron bottom of the tank and the eggs, for the wood over and around the tank does not extend across the bottom of the tank. The cool air comes from below in the ventilator pipes, passing through the muslin bottom of the egg drawer to the eggs. The 15×30-inch tank incubator holds 100 eggs if turned by hand, but less if the eggs are placed between slats. Lay the eggs in the same [way] as in a nest—promiscuously.

Keep the heat inside the egg drawer as near 103 deg. as possible; the third week at 104 deg. Avoid opening the egg drawer frequently, as it allows too much escape of heat. Be sure your thermometer records correctly, as half the failures are due to incorrect thermometers, and not one in twenty is correct. Place the bulb of the thermometer even with the top of the eggs, that is, when the thermometer is lying down in the drawer. The upper end should be slightly raised, so as to allow the mercury to rise, but the bulb and eggs should be of the same heat, as the figures record the heat in the bulb and not in the tube. Keep a pie pan filled with water in the ventilator for moisture and keep two or three moist sponges in the egg drawer, displacing a few eggs for the purpose. Turn the eggs half way round twice a day at regular intervals. Let the eggs cool down for fifteen minutes once every day, but do not let them cool lower than 70 deg. No sprinkling is required if the sponges are kept moist. If the heat gets up to 110 deg. or as low as 60 deg. for a little while it is not necessarily fatal. Too much heat is more prevalent than too little. A week’s practice in operating the incubator will surprise one how simple the work is. The tank will be troublesome to fill at first, but the matter will be easy after it is done, as it can be kept hot. Heat the water in two or more boilers, as a large quantity will be required, and pour it in through the tube on top of the incubator boiling hot, using a funnel in the tube for the purpose. Just at the time of hatching out do not be tempted to frequently open the drawer. Cold draughts are fatal. Patience must be exercised.

An excellent brooder may be made with a tank of hot water, covered well, the same as the incubator. A piece of muslin or woolen cloth should be next the bottom to prevent burning the chicks. Keep the heat among the chicks at about 90 deg. Let the tank rest on inch boards with no opening under it, but in front; a fringe should hang in front for the chicks to run in and out under the tank. A little yard may be constructed of glass sash, something like a hot-bed. Feed the chicks four or five times a day, at first on hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, giving them also a little milk, fine screenings, and millet seed. After they are a week old feed anything they can eat, but never feed meal in a raw state, as it should be scalded first. Keep a little sand, fine gravel, and bone-meal within reach of them all the time, and see that they are always dry, clean, and warm. Do not crowd them, as the fewer the number together the better, and never have different ages together.

This incubator will hatch chicks, ducks, turkeys, or guineas, and we see no reason why it should not hatch the egg of the ostrich or anything else as well. Chicks hatched by in­cu­ba­tors, if rightly cared for, do better than with hens, and are stronger and more vigorous.

We have endeavored here to embody all the answers to questions that we suppose may be asked. Should you be in doubt, read the directions carefully again. We trust that with the help of our illustrations our readers will have no difficulties in the way.—The Poultry Keeper.

I saw the other day at a friend’s house one of the simplest and most effective stoves for a small conservatory it is possible to imagine. It was composed of three 12-inch ordinary flower pots. The hole at the bottom of the lowest was covered with a small pot, into the sides of which had been bored a number of holes. The pot was then three parts filled with charcoal, and lighted from the top. This is the furnace. It is covered by pots Nos. 2 and 3, and a light tin funnel and chimney carry off the vapor. The draught is maintained by placing the apparatus on a couple of bricks, and regulated by closing the intervening space with mud, leaving only a sufficient aperture to keep the fire burning. This improvised stove will burn without attention for twenty-four hours, and it is amazing what a great amount of heat is given off from so small a surface.—S. J., in the Gardener’s Chronicle.

Within a few years some valuable methods of keeping meats, fish, oysters, fruits, fruit juices, milk, butter, etc., in a healthful, nutritious, and palatable condition for a considerable time past the ordinary period of their decay have been discovered. In the following treatise we give the results of the most patient research in securing all the latest and most valuable information in regard to this important subject.

We will not deal with processes which necessitate complicated apparatus or which require almost impossible chemical combinations, but we will explain inventions which have un­doubt­ed value combined with as much simplicity in the preparation as the circumstances will permit.

Of all the anti-septic agents used for the purposes mentioned boracic acid is the favorite, and salicylic acid next in choice. Various other anti-septic agents are used and combined in different ways, according to the results of experiments. They are applied either by immersion, coating, injecting, vapors, etc., according to specified instructions.

Prof. Frederic S. Barff of Kilburn, England, it seems was the first to combine boracic acid with glycerine, and to produce a preservative compound known as boroglyceride, which is soluble in water and alcohol. As boracic acid is but slightly soluble in water and other common solvents this combination with glycerine—which is also a useful agent in arresting the growth of germs—is peculiarly valuable. It is tasteless and inodorous and imparts no dis­agree­able taste or odor to the substance being treated. Solutions of the compound may be applied to the preservation of all organic substances, either animal or vegetable. The process was patented in England in 1881 and in the United States in 1882.

To prepare boroglyceride, glycerine is heated to near its boiling point and boracic acid added until it ceases to be dissolved, the proportions being about 92 parts by weight of glycerine to 62 parts by weight of boracic acid in chrystals. Maintain the mixture to a temperature of about 200 deg. centigrade as long as water is given off. When the mass cools it becomes a yellowish, transparent, glacial substance, tough and deliquescent. This dissolves in water, but when boiled in large quantities of the same it is decomposed into glycerine and boracic acid. In order to employ the compound prepare a solution either in water, alcohol, or other suitable solvent and immerse in or impregnate with such solutions the organic substances to be operated upon. Solutions may be prepared of various degrees of strength, but it has been found that a solution consisting of 1 part by weight of the compound and 40 parts by weight of water will give good results; but other desired proportions may be adopted.

Prof. Barff, the inventor of the boroglyceride process, read a paper before the Royal Society of Arts, London, in regard to his method of preserving food. The date of the reading is not at hand, but it is supposed to be slightly prior to May 13, 1882, on which date it was printed in the Scientific American Supplement. Although quite lengthy the paper contains so much interesting data and light upon the subject that we reproduce it almost entirely, together with remarks by other eminent gentlemen who were present at the meeting:

“This evening I have on the table specimens of food which have been kept for longer or shorter periods, as they are intended to illustrate various applications of this preserving material. As you know oysters are imported very largely in tins. They are cooked at a high temperature and hermetically sealed. The high temperature to which they are exposed necessarily causes a loss of flavor, and it is generally remarked that tinned oysters are not a success. * * * I have oysters on the table which were opened on the 3d of December in last year. I will ask you to taste them and see in what condition they are, and I would also remind you that they have not been kept in hermetically sealed tins, but simply in corked or stoppered bottles; hence this method of preserving oysters is cheaper than the other, and I maintain that it is more effective, because their natural and fresh flavor is preserved. I am informed by a friend in Jamaica that he has sent me some Jamaica oysters and other things—I trust they will be here in time for me to submit them to you this evening.

“Another substance, the perfect preservation of which is very important, is cream, both for home use and for exportation. Cream in London costs from four to five shillings per quart; it can be bought in country places for two shillings, and even for less. This preservative substance will keep cream for months perfectly good and sweet, having its full flavor; so that it would be quite possible to send it in quantities from the country, and its sale need not be pressed as it need not be used immediately. I have regularly every week, except during the holidays, brought with me from Beaumont College, near Windsor, where I lecture, a quart of cream treated with one ounce of the boroglyceride; it has always kept perfectly good even in the hottest weather. I have done this for a year and a half; a near relative has taken the greater part of this regularly for the time stated, and this proves conclusively that there is nothing at all injurious to health in the compound. I see a gentleman present here to-night who is connected with that college as a professor of natural science, and he will, in the discussion, be able to give you very valuable information as to the material and as to its perfect wholesomeness. Last month I sent some cream to the Rev. J. Ryan, a Jesuit priest in Jamaica, and I have received a letter from him, from which I will read you an extract:

“Last year I sent some Devonshire clotted cream, which I prepared myself, to Zanzibar, on the east coast of Africa. The climate here is very hot; fresh food will only keep a few hours. This cream had to pass through the hot climate of the Red Sea. I will read an extract from a letter written by a lady who received the cream:

“A year ago I sent some cream from Beaumont College dairy to the Rev. Thomas Porter, the head of the Jesuit Mission in the West Indies. He states that the cream was as good as any he had eaten at home, that he gave it to several strangers to eat, and that they would not believe that it came from England. These experiments and these testimonies prove conclusively that this compound will preserve cream. I shall this evening show you specimens. It is easy to send cream in good condition to the tropics. A great objection to condensed milk is that it is always too sweet. The boroglyceride will preserve condensed milk, and will give it no flavor at all. My friend, the Rev. Thomas Porter, sent me some articles preserved with the material which I sent him from England. They arrived about June in last year. Some raw, fresh turtle came quite fresh. It was cooked and eaten by several persons, who said it was quite fresh and good, and had the flavor of fresh turtle. At my own house I had turtle cutlets fried; they were perfectly good, and tasted like turtle. Another article which Father Porter sent me was an uncooked Jamaica pigeon; it was roasted at Beaumont College. I divided it and brought half of it home It was tasted by twelve people, who all pronounced that it was perfectly good, and had the true pigeon flavor. In the same parcel came some green sugar-cane, fresh tamarinds taken direct from the tree, fresh limes, and the juices of two different fruits. All were fresh, and were tasted by gentlemen who had lived in Jamaica, who all declared that they had all their own peculiar flavors. On the 3d of September, 1881, another box was sent me from Jamaica, containing sugar-cane, guavas, fresh ginger, and turtle; the turtle had come to grief, because it was not properly treated on the other side; the cane, guavas, and fresh ginger have been tasted by those who have lived in Jamaica, and have been pronounced to have their true flavors.

“Ordinary milk cannot be kept good for a long time, especially in hot weather. If milk were concentrated in this country, and heated with the boroglyceride, carriage would be saved, and the milk might be kept good and fresh for a fortnight and more; all it would require would be to reduce it again to its original strength. If fresh milk be treated with this preservative it can be set for cream for several days, even in hot weather. The cream which rises will keep, and the skim-milk will remain sweet for several weeks; this I have tried in the dairy at Beaumont College. From the cream so prepared butter was made, and was kept for several weeks without a particle of salt, and was eaten by members of the college. I also wish to show another method by which meat can be preserved and cheaply transported. In South America, about Buenos Ayres and the River Platte, many cattle are killed simply for the hides and fat; the flesh is thrown away. Now, if this flesh were cut up in small pieces, and put into the preserving liquid for a night, it would, even in that hot climate, keep good for some time. It could then in a few hours be dried in the sun, packed in casks, and sent to this or to other countries. I have a specimen of beef treated in this way. It was put into the solution on Jan. 19, 1882, dried Feb. 1, and has lately, within a few days, been boiled, and here is the resulting beef tea, which has not in any way been flavored. I have also small quantities of beef juice here preserved in bottles. The juice was expressed and has been kept raw. Raw beef and mutton juice is recommended by medical men in many conditions of the digestive system. I administered it to a near relation for six weeks, and the juice was preserved good by my material. In the case referred to the effect was very satisfactory. It appears to me to be a most important matter that soup meat, and meat for potting and stewing, should be sent to this country in the way I propose. The supply would be large, the prices low, and the profits highly satisfactory, and it would greatly relieve the meat market, because a very large quantity of fresh meat which is now used for soup could be employed in other ways. It has been remarked to me: ‘But would you get people to use it?’ I think, to begin with, that if proprietors of hotels and heads of large public institutions, workhouses, and hospitals could be shown that for half the cost they could have equally good soup and soup stock, they would willingly use it, and from thence it would come into private use. I have specimens to show the effect of boroglyceride on fish. Here are sprats which have been kept for a year; they are dry, but perfectly good and eatable; also some preserved fresh since Jan. 13, 1882. You will be able to judge of their appearance and flavor. I have also herrings and a piece of skate which have been preserved for the same time. If fishmongers had a tank of this solution they could, at the end of the day, put their fish in it, and take them out when required. Bloaters, when lightly cured in hot weather, do not keep good many days; if a small quantity of this stuff was used with the salt, they would keep good for months. The same may be said of smoked salmon. That which is very salt costs 9d. per pound, but the mild cured kinds cost 3s. 6d. to 4s. per pound. All could be mildly cured if this material was used with the other curing substances. As an adjunct in curing mild hams and bacon it would be of great use, for these, when cured lightly, would not go bad, as they often do in the summer time. What I have said as to the temporary preservation of fish by fishmongers applies equally to the preservation of meat and fowls by butchers and poulterers.

“It is justly complained of that the Australian cooked meat is overcooked. If it were for a short time dropped in this preservative solution it would keep perfectly well after being lightly cooked, even underdone. I have a piece of beef which was dipped Feb. 28 and boiled on March 9. It has been left in its own liquid, it was not flavored, and no salt was added. Here, too, is a vast field for the application of the process. Here is also lobster which was taken out of the shell Feb. 1, and here are two lobsters in their shell which were immersed on the same day.

“I now wish to draw your attention to a parcel from Jamaica, which has just arrived, and from which I am able, I am happy to say, to show you specimens which must be of interest. In a jar on the table is some fresh turtle, which I had simply cooked. I thought it better so to present it to you rather than raw. There is also a Jamaica pigeon, also just cooked here, and a vol au vent, which I have had made from oysters which were sent open in the preserving stuff from Jamaica. These specimens will prove conclusively that food sent from a tropical climate retains its freshness and delicate flavor. I have reserved one of the pigeons raw, that you may see in what state it arrived. Some mutton was shipped to me from the Falkland Islands at the beginning of last August; a piece of it is uncooked on the table. I have also had a piece stewed, which you will be able to taste; this has of course passed the tropics. Through the kindness of my friend Mr. Haffenden of the ‘Andaluzia,’ in the Strand, who owns vineyards in the southwest of Spain, I can show you some perfectly fresh sardines which he had placed in the preserving fluid several months ago in Spain, and which he brought with him. You will yourselves judge of their condition; I will only remark that they have the peculiar fragrance of that delicate fish, and will it not be a boon to have a supply of this fresh delicacy at a moderate cost?

“You will also see, and I hope taste, a pigeon pie. The pigeons and the steak have been preserved raw in stoppered bottles since the 21st of last November and the eggs since the 4th of July, 1881. I will also call your attention to a tongue which I myself placed in the solution Feb. 9 in this year, with some garlic, sugar, and juniper berries, my object being to show that salt can, if desired, be dispensed with. You will doubtless find that it will require salt; but you will readily infer that hams, tongues, etc., can be made just as salt as one pleases, and will yet keep perfectly sweet, in fact sounder, than those cured only with salt. This tongue was boiled out of pickle. I exhibit two shoulders of mutton, one cooked, the other raw; they are from sheep killed Jan. 10, 1882. Also a piece of beef preserved on the same day; this when you have inspected it shall be cut in slices and broiled. You will see some sausages, both cooked and uncooked; they were made for me by Mr. Bowron, poulterer, of Paddington, early in July last, before I went to Carlsbad. I took some with me to that place, and they were there eaten and pronounced good. These are some of the same lot; they were made as follows: The meat was chopped, put into the preserving fluid for one night, and then mixed with the other material in the ordinary way. They have been kept since in an earthenware jar; they have, therefore, been made more than nine months. I may remark that the bread in these sausages was not treated, and therefore it has become slightly sour, but the pork has kept perfectly fresh. I have also some other sausages which I bought Jan. 12, and at once preserved; these having been steeped, the bread has not turned in the slightest degree sour.

“Mock turtle soup, bought ready made from a confectioner’s shop in Oxford street, Jan. 25, treated with the preservative stuff, has remained quite good and unchanged in flavor.

“There is also a specimen of gravy soup made in October last, and some vermicelli soup made about three weeks ago. The preservative action of boroglyceride in cooked foods is, it seems to me, of great importance to hotel-keepers, confectioners, and restaurant proprietors, as it will enable them to buy large stocks when certain articles are cheap, and from the specimen I show of cooked beef you see it remains quite moist, as it can be kept, without getting sour, in its own gravy and under a layer of its own fat. To prove that articles can be kept and dried without losing their flavor, I had some partridges treated and dried last February twelvemonth, and I exhibit some soup made from two of these birds. The other articles on the table are one raw and one roast fowl, bought Jan. 17; one raw and one roast pheasant, bought Feb. 5; one rabbit boiled, bought Jan. 17. There are also from Jamaica a green lime, some fresh tamarinds, and some pieces of fresh ginger. * * *

“I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the patient hearing you have given me.”

The Chairman said the paper was marked by the clear and philosophic way in which the subject was treated, and before inviting discussion upon it he would mention shortly his own experience of the process, the only interest of which was that it was quite independent of Prof. Barff. When he was asked to take the chair he communicated with Mr. Barff, and inquired what the process was. Mr. Barff kindly sent him a specimen of this substance, which he melted, and put some of it into one-half of a pint of cream. The other half very soon turned sour, and had to be thrown away, but that to which the substance was added was perfectly fresh that morning. He was confirmed in the opinion of its freshness by the cook, though she said there was a very slight tartness perceptible, by which she could distinguish it from fresh cream. He had also tried another experiment on meat which was chopped very fine, and divided into two parts; to one part he added merely tepid water, to the other, tepid water to which one-sixteenth of its bulk of this compound had been added. This was left on the meat for eighteen hours, and then filtered off through muslin. Several days ago the portion which had no preservative was very offensive, but the other portion was that morning perfectly free from any odor whatever.

The Rev. J. L. Dobson said he had had the pleasure of being associated with Mr. Barff in most of the experiments he had detailed, and might therefore anticipate his reply to one or two points raised by Dr. Graham. An experiment which was tried for some time in a large school would answer the question of wholesomeness. At the Beaumont College, Windsor, there was a large staff of teachers and over 200 pupils, and during the hot weather of last summer the dairymaid was very much annoyed at the milk turning sour, and applied to him to see if he could do anything to counteract it. He handed her some 14 or 15 lbs. of this material and during the whole of the hot weather and well on into September it was constantly used, and the milk was preserved; but the method was not detected by any one, either by the younger members or by those who might be expected to be more critical. No ill effects were observed by the medical officer or by individuals. From his own experience he thought the aroma was very well preserved throughout. For instance, in oysters which had been preserved over three months there was the characteristic aroma of the fresh oyster; mutton could be easily distinguished from beef, and the peculiar smell of the turtle was also very distinct. They had not yet tried beer with so much fullness as other articles, but about nine months ago a small quantity was treated and left exposed to the air, with only a loose stopper of cotton wool. It did not grow cloudy in the ordinary way, but owing to the severity of the experiment, and perhaps to not sufficiently treating it, after four months it lost all flavor, became extremely flat, and a slight fungus appeared.

Dr. Thudichum had listened with great pleasure to the paper, and had no doubt if the application of the invention could be effected on a large scale it would be very useful. He had some experience with regard to a portion of the ingredients used, viz.: boracic acid, though he had none of this beautiful new compound. It might not be known to the meeting that boracic acid had been used for a great many years for preserving food, and in fact many of them in summer time had their milk well dosed with it. It had been sold to milkmen in London for years under the name of “aseptin.” He had tested it in 1865 and found a great many of those effects which Mr. Barff described. For instance eggs were beautifully preserved, and steak immersed in the solution did not become either mouldy or decomposed, but on the contrary appeared to retain its flavor. A variety of other things, such as cheese and cream, were for a long time preserved by this application of aseptin. He hoped the addition of the glycerine would increase the power and prevent some drawbacks which would otherwise stand in the way of boracic acid alone as a preservative of raw or cooked meat.

Prof. Barff, in reply to the various questions which had been asked, said he had used salicylic acid and had found it useful in preserving food, but for several reasons discontinued further investigations, one being on the score of its unwholesomeness, and he found that his views on that point had been borne out by the action taken by the French Government. Dr. Graham had asked him about flavor; he had given Dr. Graham a few days ago some specimens of preserved fish, which he said had lost their flavor, but that would not be found to be the case with the box of sardines. The herrings had been kept in an open vessel exposed to the air ever since the day they were put into the liquid, and therefore it was not surprising that they had lost their flavor. If they would try any of the things which had been tinned, not soldered up, but such as the Jamaica pigeons, which were in a common corked bottle, it would be found that the aroma and flavor were retained. The only thing requisite was to keep the vessel so as to exclude the air, as you would with tea or coffee. Dr. Thudichum made some very interesting remarks which there was not time to refer to at length, if he were competent to do so, but not being a medical man he could not enter into medical questions. As to the wholesomeness of the compound, however, he might say that he had taken large quantities of it himself and it had never done him any harm; and a near relative had taken an ounce per week regularly for a year and a half, without any ill effect—a person, too, not very strong or of good digestive powers. The boys and teachers of Beaumont College drank milk preserved with it without distinguishing the taste or suffering any ill effects. He knew there were medical opinions in favor of boracic acid, and one physician he was acquainted with used it as a medicine. If it were at all unwholesome he certainly should not recommend it, but he did not think there was the slightest fear. As to boron getting into the system, it was not boron which was used, but oxide of boron; but even if it did—and he should not be surprised if traces of boron were found in the excreta—it did not follow that any harm was done. There were many things which went through the system without injury; for instance, silica, of which most people took a great deal in the twenty-four hours. As to the cost of the process the cost per gallon, as far as he could tell—he could not tell exactly—would be under 1s.—perhaps 8d. or 9d.—and a gallon would affect an enormous quantity. Most of the articles on the table were put into one pan of solution, and the cost of the whole stuff was about 9 1/2d. Should the process be adopted commercially experiments as to the cost would be most carefully made and the results published. A joint of any size could be soaked; the only thing was to give it plenty of time. You might soak a piece of beef of twenty pounds, forty pounds, or fifty pounds; or you might use an injecting syringe, such as butchers employed for salting meat quickly, and the meat so treated would keep for a week or a fortnight perfectly good, but he did not think it would keep well enough to pass under a tropical sun. In order to do that you must inject by the aorta, by means of a force pump, so as to send the liquid into all the interstices of the flesh. As to the proportions, 1 in 20 was the strongest he used, and 1 in 60 the weakest; for preserving meat 1 in 50 answered perfectly well—1 lb. of the compound added to 50 lbs. of water. The bottle should be put before the fire until melted, and then poured into hot water, and it would dissolve. With regard to preserving morbid specimens he thought it would answer perfectly well. He had had some practice in morbid anatomy, and he might say that, for the injection of bodies to be used for anatomical purposes it would keep them perfectly sweet. It should be injected by the aorta in the usual way before injecting with the red wax. In reply to Mr. Dipnall he would say that the compound penetrated right through into the innermost parts of the meat. If you had an earthen pan and put into it 1 lb. of this and 50 lbs. of water, and placed in it a joint which came home on the Saturday night in hot weather, you could take it out the next day and it would keep perfectly for a fortnight. Of course it took time to penetrate into the meat, but the first superficial penetration stopped the injurious effects of germs which set up putrefaction. Another important fact was this: if you had a roast leg of lamb, perfectly good, but did not eat it all, and put it away in hot weather, it would turn sour, but if it had been treated in this way it would not; it would keep for six months without going sour. By adding a small quantity from time to time, which you could only learn by experience, the bath would keep perfectly fresh and effective, though it would be found after a time to get rather dark colored. That arose from the juice of the meat, and the advantage of this process was that you need not throw it away, as you must brine, but could boil it down into very good soup. In conclusion he would only ask his hearers to read the paper and discussion carefully when published, and he was sure any one would be able to carry out the process.

The Chairman, in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to Prof. Barff, said the process he had described was remarkable for its great simplicity and the ease with which it could be carried out. Any cook could readily apply it.

The vote of thanks was carried unanimously.

The following is the invention of an American, William S. Fickett of Rochester, N. Y., and is an improved process of combining boracic acid with glycerine for preservative purposes. (Patent No. 285,350.)

“My invention consists in a new mode of producing a new preservative compound from boracic acid and glycerine, as hereinafter described. Heretofore by one method^* such a compound has been produced from these ingredients by heating glycerine to near its boiling point and adding boracic acid until it ceases to be dissolved, and maintaining that mixture to a temperature of 200 deg. centigrade as long as water is given off, etc.

* Doubtless the Barff process—[author].

“Now my process consists in taking equal quantities of glycerine and crystallized boracic acid, placing the same in a closed or sealed vessel, and then applying heat at about 300 deg. Fahrenheit for about two hours, which causes the boracic acid to dissolve and blend with the glycerine. On cooling it forms without loss of weight into on opalescent semi-solid, freely soluble in cold water, entirely devoid of bitter or metallic taste, and communicating no objectionable taste to butter or like delicate foods. When thus produced it is an unfailing preventive of fermentation and decay in animal and vegetable matter or fluid compounds.”

The following is a different process of using boracic acid, and explains itself:

James Howard, Philadelphia, Pa.; composition for preserving foods. (Patent No. 276,246.)

“I have discovered a method of obtaining a chemical compound of boracic acid for the production of which neither solution nor the employment of heat is necessary, the salt being formed by the union of the component substances in a dry state, so that the difficulties of solution and of loss through volitization is avoided. Moreover the compound has anti-septic properties distinct from those of the acid, due to one of the other elements thereof, and is tasteless.

“I take preferably not less than 5 parts by weight of pure boracic acid in crystals, and add thereto 1 part of pure phosphate of soda. The ingredients are mixed together dry, in a mill or other suitable grinding apparatus, and as the chemical reaction between them progresses the whole, or practically the whole, of the acid crystals lose their structure, and the mass can be ground until it assumes a pasty or doughy condition. The result is boro-phosphate of soda, containing more or less free boracic acid, according to the excess thereof used above the proportions given. The moisture yielded by the chemical reaction is evaporated at the ordinary temperature by exposure to the air without loss of boracic acid, and the dry amorphous salt thus produced is readily ground. It may be used either as a dry powder or may be dissolved in water and applied in the usual modes to the substances to be preserved. If desired other substances, such as salt and saltpeter, may be added to the boro-phosphate compound, and the whole mixed thoroughly by regrinding.”

The following process is the invention of Mr. William Pitt Clotworthy. (Patent No. 284,184.)

The process consists of incorporating with the fat, which may consist of butter, lard, or other grease, a sufficient amount of paraffine. Paraffine is non-oxidizable, without taste or odor, and, as the inventor claims, it is perfectly harmless when used in this manner, just as beeswax is swallowed with honey, although not in such large proportion. Tons of paraffine are manufactured yearly into chewing gum and chewed harmlessly by thousands.

In preserving butter the process is as follows: Take 1 ounce of fresh unsalted butter and incorporate with it 1 ounce of paraffine, and thus form a jelly, and then thoroughly mix this amount of jelly with 1 pound of butter.

In preserving lard combine the paraffine as follows: When the lard is ready to be drawn off from the rendering kettles, and while still hot, add 1 ounce of paraffine to each pound of lard and stir the mass thoroughly.

Theodore L. Corwin of Marathon, N. Y., has invented the following. (Patent No. 253,983):

The invention relates to the class of compounds used to preserve in a healthful state such articles of food as meats, fish, milk, eggs, butter, oysters, cider, and also to be used as a disinfectant and to arrest putrefaction.

“I take of nitrate of potassium, of salicylic acid, and of chloride of sodium, each 1 ounce. These should all be in powder and dissolved in 1 quart of water. Then add 1 drachm of hydro­chloric acid previously diluted with 1 ounce of water. To preserve meat immerse for twenty minutes in the hot solution, after which let it drain for one hour; then pack in a well-closed vessel. For the preservation of fish use the same as for meat, only the solution should be allowed to become cold before using. To keep oysters stir into them 3 ounces of the solution (cold) to each gallon of oysters. Cider will be kept sweet if there is added to each barrel 1 quart of the solution immediately after the cider comes from the press. Milk to be kept sweet should have the powder first named, viz.: nitrate of potassium, salicylic acid, and chloride of sodium, each 1 ounce, added to every 16 gallons. As a disinfectant the solution should be sprinkled freely around the place or places to be disinfected. To prevent putrefaction the solution should be copiously applied to the object treated.”

An Ohio inventor has patented a process for preserving fruit juices such as cider, wine, etc., which he says, if treated according to his directions, will keep unchanged for years:

“The juice is taken before fermentation takes place and boiled, all scum is carefully skimmed off, and then the liquid, while still hot, is filtered through a compound of partially pulverized charcoal, crushed mustard seed, and ground sassafras root. The filter should be covered with fine woven wire, outside of which should be fastened a flannel cloth to catch all escaping sediment. To every gallon of juice to be filtered there is placed in the filter 2 ounces of charcoal, 2 scruples of crushed mustard seed, and 6 drachms of ground sassafras root. After filtering it is again boiled, and if any scum or impurities appear on the surface they are removed, when the juice is to be bottled, corked tightly, and should be left for one year.”

Schaumberg & Dillon’s method of preserving fruit juices consists in bottling and sealing the juices, and then heating the bottles to 170 deg. Fahrenheit for thirty-five minutes. The juices are put in bottles and are immediately corked and wired securely, and then submerged in a water bath to a depth of about 1 inch above the bottles.

The advantages of this process are that the fruit juices will remain sweet indefinitely, will not ferment, and are free from all deleterious matter.

Rebecca A. McDaniel of Burr Oaks, Ia., has patented the following, which is one of quite a number of this class of preservative processes:

“In preserving different articles, such as fruits, meats, and other edibles, I subject them for a proper time—differing with different articles—to the fumes arising from burning the compound. This may be accomplished by confining the articles to be treated in a chamber in which the compound is being burned.

“This compound well mixed will burn slowly and generate fumes or vapor which have a peculiar action in the preservation of fruits, butter, milk, pies, bread, eggs, and all kinds of cooked or uncooked food. In treating meats add nitrate of potash, 4 ounces.

“Treatment: Provide a box or other chamber with shelves upon which the articles to be treated may be placed. Within the chamber, properly closed, I burn a suitable quantity of the compound, allowing the fumes to bathe the articles to be treated. The compound is of a quality that will burn slowly by reason of its peculiar composition, and it may be burned with fuel other than it contains.”

Salicylic acid, aside from its remedial value, is used largely as a preservative, either in a dry state or in the form of a solution in water or alcohol. Salicylic acid is a white, dry, crystalline powder, devoid of smell or taste, undergoes no change when kept in store, and is neither inflammable nor volatile. It can be procured in almost any drug store, and since 1874 a new process in its manufacture has cheapened it in price and placed it within the reach of all.

Medical authorities agree in considering the daily consumption of 1 gramme as being not only perfectly inoffensive, but decidedly beneficial to health. An individual living on a salicylated diet would not absorb so much of the salicylic acid per diem as that which is prescribed to be taken for the prevention of epidemics and other ailments, such as gout, rheumatism, catarrhal affections, etc.

The proportions in which salicylic acid dissolves are:
One part by weight in 300 to 500 parts of cold water.
One part by weight in 18 to 20 parts of hot water.
One part by weight in 50 parts of glycerine.
One part by weight in 3 parts of absolute alcohol.

In rum, brandy, wine, cider, etc., it dissolves according to their respective strengths and temperatures.

Note.—By contact with iron in any form salicylic acid takes a violet color.

This must be noted, especially when treating milk, etc., if contained in metallic vessels. The only bad effects will be simply slight discoloration.

It is a well-known fact that, especially in hot weather, meat, poultry, and game, although apparently quite fresh, prove, on closer examination, or often only when cooked, to be tainted and of bad odor. This can be entirely removed by either watering and washing the meat in a lukewarm solution of salicylic acid (three to four teaspoonfuls of acid to two quarts of water), or by adding a small pinch of the dry acid in powder, during the cooking.

To keep meat for several days from becoming high or tainted:

Place it for twenty or thirty minutes in an aqueous solution of 8 drachms of salicylic acid to one gallon of water.

Rub into the surface of the meat some dry salicylic acid, particularly about the bony and fatty parts; the meat to be afterward cleaned before cooking as usual.

Although the raw meat treated with the acid turns slightly pale on the surface it suffers no change whatever internally. Meat thus treated with salicylic acid requires, also, less cooking to render it tender.

A third of a teaspoonful (or, if the temperature be high, a little more) of the solid acid to a quart of milk delays the process of curdling for thirty-six hours, without influencing its property of yielding cream.

Washed with an aqueous solution (four drachms of acid to a gallon of water), or kept in it, or wrapped in cloths soaked in this water, keeps fresh for a very long time. Butter already rancid can be improved by treatment with a stronger solution (8 drachms of acid to 1 gallon of water), followed by washing in pure water. The bad smell often arising in salted butter is entirely prevented by addition of the acid.

Of every description, made in the usual way, but with the addition of about 1 drachm of salicylic acid to every 4 pounds of the preserve, will keep sound with absolute certainty for a much longer time, fermentation and mouldiness being prevented. Under exceptionally unfavorable circumstances, such as hot pantries, a little of the dry acid should be sprinkled on the top of the vessel or preserve pot. A tightly-fitting piece of blotting paper, previously saturated with a concentrated solution of salicylic acid in spirit, brandy, or rum, and placed on the top of the preserves will also greatly aid in keeping them.

Can be kept for a very long time by being placed for half an hour in a cold, saturated, aqueous solution of the acid, then allowed to dry in the air, and, as usual, kept in a cool place. Some prefer to coat them by dipping them in melted paraffine after they have been treated in this manner. (Use no straw or hay in packing eggs.)

Are most effectually preserved for a long time by the addition of  1/2 to 1 ounce of the acid per 20 pounds of these substances. It is also well to place a paper soaked in the salicylic acid solution on the top of them, which greatly enhances the preserving effect.

In the manufacture of vinegar, salicylic acid is also of great importance to prevent false or excessive fermentation, putridity, etc.

With respect to wine the experiments of Prof. Neubauer of Wiesbaden have proved that the introduction of the acid for the preservation of wine marks an era of great industrial progress, as it energetically prevents, even when used in very small quantities, the formation of mould germs and other circumstances which are injurious to wine, while it absolutely arrests secondary fermentation, cloudiness, etc. As wine differs very much in its constitution the requisite quantity of salicylic acid must be found out by practice in each particular case. About  1/4 to  3/4 of an ounce per 50 gallons will be found sufficient for most wines. In using the salicylic acid for this purpose it is recommended to make a strong solution of it in pure spirit, perfectly free from fusel oil, and then to add of this solution as much as may be requisite.

If in addition to this the casks are washed out with an aqueous solution of the acid it will prove of great service, and all other agents at present used for this purpose will soon be abandoned. The larger the amount of sugar in proportion to the alcohol the more salicylic acid will be required. The addition is best made when the wine has attained its full ripeness. The effervescence of wine in spring, or after carriage in warm weather, will at once be stopped. The salicylic acid kills all kinds of germs, and destroys the growth and action of any yeast which may still be present; it is therefore of incalculable value in effectually preserving wine, and as a preventive of the deterioration to which this liquid is subject.

Must, fresh from the press in autumn, can be kept without fermentation perfectly fresh, bright, and sweet for six to eight months by the addition of 1 to 1 1/2 ounces per 50 gallon, or of  3/4 ounce per 100 bottles. Sparkling Must requires an addition of 6 to 7 ounces of salicylic acid per 100 gallons. In the same manner all kinds of fruit-wine which, as is well known, soon turn sour, can be preserved by the addition of a similar quantity of salicylic acid. Must kept still for transport can at any time be set into fermentation by a slight addition of carbonate of soda and fresh yeast.

Experiments made upon a large scale have placed beyond a doubt the remarkable properties of salicylic acid as a preventive of secondary fermentation and acidity in beer, and as a preservative of beer in a sound condition when sent out or exposed to the noxious influences of warm cellars, change of temperature, etc. The amount of salicylic acid required to produce the best effects in preserving beer varies according to the quality of the malt liquor; but half an ounce per barrel of 36 imperial gallons will be very generally found to answer the purpose well. The addition of the salicylic acid delays secondary fermentation in stock and export beers, which may then be kept for any length of time without becoming unsound or of unpleasant flavor. Less than a quarter ounce of the powder of salicylic acid per barrel of boiling wort strewn into the same while turning out will destroy or suspend the vitality of the false ferments, especially that of the lactic ferment, in the fermenting vats, and this not only without injury to the yeast cells, but keeping them free from parasitical growths. In this manner the fermentation will take a steadier course and enable the liquor to attain its perfection during the ensuing still fermentation in the cask, into which another quarter ounce or more of the acid is to be given per barrel a fortnight before racking. Stout, and in fact all beers for export to a hot climate, require rather more.

For long transports the acid in powder can be simply thrown into the export casks, in which it dissolves in the course of three days instead of a week, which is required by the cold beer lying quietly.

The clean bottles must be rinsed with a solution of 1 part of salicylic acid in 4 or 5 parts of spirit (free from fusel oil), which can be poured from 1 bottle to another. Or, a small pinch of the acid in powder is placed in every bottle before filling.

The corks should always be boiled in water containing 1 ounce to the gallon, which is also efficient in disinfecting tubes, taps, etc.

Dissolve  3/4 of an ounce of salicylic acid in a gallon of cider, and then add this amount to each barrel of cider. This is superior to any preparation of lime. The cider must be treated when fresh.

Are successfully preserved for a length of time from decomposition or deterioration by means of salicylic acid. One-thousandth part of the acid introduced into a vat of gelatine or into decoctions of animal matter, prevents their undergoing decomposition for an indefinite period of time. Calico printers are using half a pound of the acid to every 100 pounds of dressing starch, in order to entirely preclude the disagreeable odor arising after awhile from dry goods in store.

If the bark-color be slightly salicylated, this liquor will not undergo the change which, instead of making the hides and skins swell, often causes the opposite effect, contracting them by an alkaline action, and at the same time imparting to them a putrid odor. Treatment with carbolic acid also leaves a most objectionable odor, especially in fine leather goods. The use of salicylic acid will thus be found highly remunerative to all tanners, as it has proved in the industries already alluded to.

Three drachms of salicylic acid are used to every 300 pounds of beetroot in the diffusing liquor, in order to prevent fermentation, and for destroying the parasitical growths, especially noticeable in the old material.

Fumigation with the acid purifies the air and walls of closed rooms. Simply evaporate some on a heated shovel, which must not be red-hot.

The air in crowded buildings, schools, barracks, hospitals, factories, etc., will be improved by keeping the floors sprinkled with the solution. In sick rooms this is of great importance, the dust settling on the floor being the readiest receptacle and means of transmitting the microscopic fungi or germs of infection which float in the air.

Are very well cleaned and disinfected by washing them with an aqueous solution of the acid. This deserves especial notice.

It is evident that numerous advantageous applications of salicylic acid are carried out besides those enumerated above, but the descriptions already given will enable any person interested in the matter to find out the best means of deriving profit from the wonderful properties of this extremely useful substance.

BY JOHN TAYLOR.

Houses built on this plan are lined throughout the inside with sheet iron. There is a layer of felt nailed to the sides, ceiling, and floor of the room, and on this is nailed the sheet iron. It is then painted with two heavy coats, it being the aim to fill up all joints and seams with the paint. But as the tin and felt do not render the room absolutely air-tight, I am of opinion that it can as well be dispensed with. It might save some ice if the seams were all soldered. The layer of cement, asphaltum or gas tar, which should cover the ground below the joists, is to protect the room from the moisture and warmth of the earth. Above this layer should be about 30 inches of dry sawdust or turners shavings, well packed up to the level of the top of the joists.

The drainage from the ice is carried off by a series of V-shaped tin or iron troughs, which run between the joists, all of which carry the water to one point, where it is carried outside by a trap-pipe. These troughs reach over to the center of the top of the joists, and are soldered together, so that no water will drip on the floor below. It will be seen that in this plan there is no sawdust or other preservative in contact with the ice, and that the air of the room circulates around and over the ice. As long as the temperature of the goods stored is above the temperature of the room there will be a gentle draught around the mass of ice, and of course all the moisture in the air, vapors, and odors from the goods will condense on the ice and pass off, so that you can keep milk, cream, butter, fruits, and meats all in the same chamber without danger of injuring the flavor of either. The atmosphere of the room is always dry, sweet, and pure.

The features of this plan can as well be carried out by arranging a room inside of another building.

I should have explained before that the ice does not rest directly on the joists; but there is a bed of oak lath, about 1 1/2 by 3 inches, laid across the joists, about 4 or 5 inches apart, on which the ice is laid. I would further suggest that another cold chamber can as well be had by making a cellar under the one shown, with a lattice floor between them. It would be necessary to finish the sides and bottom of this cellar in the most complete manner, as above described. At the entrance to the store-room there must be a vestibule, either inside or outside, as space or circumstances may direct. If outside the walls should be thick and the door very heavy. The doors, both inside and outside, should be fitted with rubber, so as to close perfectly tight, and both doors must never be opened at the same time. This vestibule should be large enough to contain a fair wagon load of goods, so that if you are receiving a load of stuff you are not required to stop until all is in the vestibule and ready to store. This house only needs filling once a year. The temperature will range from 34 deg. in winter to 36 deg. in summer, and will preserve fruit perfectly from season to season. The opening for putting in the ice, shown just under the pulley in the cut, has two doors with a space between; each door a foot thick. The window in the cold room has three sets of sash, well packed or cemented. The walls are 13 inches thick, lined with 17 inches of sawdust. Thirty-six inches of sawdust are put on the floor over the ice. The building shown is 25 feet square, inside measure, and 22 feet from floor of cold room to ceiling over the ice. The ice-room is 12 feet high, and the cold room 9 feet. Pillars are required under the center of the ice.—Country Gentleman.

Settlers in the newer portions of the country are often deprived of many comforts which are easily accessible in long-settled places. Whatever contributes to lessen these privations, if at little cost, should merit special attention. A cheap ice-house may be made to afford an important share of country comforts in such settlements. There is nothing to prevent an abundant supply through the heat of summer where there is a stream or sheet of water within two or three miles from which clear blocks of ice may be sawed. Sawdust is the best material for packing, but in its absence chaff, chopped straw, or even straw unchopped may be made to answer the purpose.

A costly and elaborate building is no better than the cheapest structure for keeping ice, if care is only taken to have it properly packed, which is very easily done after one “knows how.” We have never seen ice better preserved through a long and hot summer than in a board shanty with only one thickness of siding, and that full of cracks and crevices. For a new settle­ment one built of logs, like that shown in the ac­com­pany­ing figure (Fig. 1), may be made to answer a good purpose. The floor may be slabs, and the roof a covering of brush to hold the packing to its place, if a slab roof is not readily made. If sawdust is used for packing, the crevices between the logs will need close stopping; or, still better, it can be faced on the inside with slabs set upright, with the smooth side inward. If straw is employed, the rough logs may remain, and the crevices between them may be left open. For sawdust a well-packed space of 10 inches between walls and ice will keep the ice well; chopped straw should be 15 or 20 inches thick, and long straw should occupy a space of 2 feet. Stiff, coarse straw will not answer unless packed very solid; finer and softer, as of thickly sown oats, is better, and the walls which it forms need not be quite so thick. Fine hay would be still better, and would answer if only a foot and a half thick and well put in. Dry swamp moss, such as nurserymen use for packing trees and plants, would be one of the very best substances for protecting the ice, if only a foot thick.

Having prepared the house and packing cut the blocks of ice of precisely equal size, using a cross-cut saw with one handle removed, to go under water. The size should be measured and scratched on the surface for the saw to follow. Two feet square is a convenient size. When cut lift them out with a light plank having a batten nailed across one end to hold them (Fig. 2). Place about 10 inches of sawdust on the floor (or twice as much solid straw), and build the structures solid with the ice blocks, ramming in the sawdust or other packing as the structure goes up (Fig. 3). When finished cover it with a thickness of packing nearly equal to that at the sides. It is important that there be free ventilation over the top, which the loose brush will not prevent. If there is a slab roof the air must blow freely between this roof and the top covering. The slab floor will allow a free drainage of all the water which runs down through the packing from the melting ice.

A structure nearly as cheap as the preceding is represented in Fig. 4. It is made by setting rough posts into the ground with the inner sides straight or faced with the ax, and then nailing common rough boards on them (like a tight fence) to a sufficient height. The floor is made as already described, and the roof may be boards or slabs. The openings at the gables perform an important part in the ventilation by admitting all the air that can sweep over the top sawdust. Fig. 3, already referred to, is the ground plan, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section.

There are three requisites to be secured in order to keep the ice successfully: 1st. The closely packed, non-​con­duct­ing substance on each side, under and above the mass of ice. 2d. Perfect drainage at the bottom without the admission of air. 3d. Free circulation of air over the top covering. If these requisites are observed the result will be entirely satisfactory.—Country Gentlemen.

Procure two dry-goods boxes, one of which is enough smaller than the other to leave a space of 3 or 4 inches all around when it is placed inside. Fill the space between the two with sawdust packed closely and cover with a heavy lid made to fit neatly inside the larger box. Insert a small pipe in the bottom of the chest to carry off the water from the melting ice. For family or grocers’ use this will prove even more serviceable than some of the high-priced patent refrigerators.

Select a dry, shady spot; dig a ditch for carrying off the waste water, and over it place a lath-work. Upon this lay a thick layer of moss, leaves, or sawdust. Now pile upon this the cakes of ice, the larger the better, and cut or sawed square in such a manner as to leave as few spaces as possible, filling up those which may occur with fine sawdust in order to prevent the air from penetrating into the interior of the pile. It is best to build the pile in the form of a pyramid. When completed it is covered with straw, moss, or leaves as thick and as close as possible, a layer of earth being thrown upon it to secure the covering and as a further protection to the ice. Where a stream or lake is inaccessible from which to procure ice for filling ice-houses, especially where a small quantity is stored, the ice can be frozen with water from the well in boxes or other contrivance made especially for the purpose, which we leave to the ingenuity of those who are interested.

Refrigerating salts and mixtures are used to produce cold artificially. They are used with or without ice or snow. As is well known common salt mixed with pounded ice or snow lowers the temperature to a considerable degree, so there are other mixtures which will produce a still greater degree of cold. The following simple and cheap preparation, when mixed according to directions, will produce artificial cold sufficient to cool wines, etc., without the aid of ice: Take common sal-ammoniac, well pulverized, 1 part; saltpeter, 2 parts, and mix well together: then take common soda, well pulverized. To use, take equal quantities of these preparations (which must be kept separate and well covered previous to using) and put them in the freezing pot; add of water a sufficient quantity, and put in the article to be frozen in a proper vessel and cover up until cooled as desired.

These tables consist of mixtures having the power of generating or creating cold, with or without the aid of ice, sufficient for all useful and philosophical purposes, in any part of the world at any season: