PREFACE. (continued 7)

For the finger-plates, and other brass ornaments about the room, you must have pieces of pasteboard, with holes cut in them of the size of the respective articles, to prevent soiling or rubbing the door or furniture to which they are fixed.

The carpet next requires attention; this must generally be swept with the carpet-mop, to clean off the lint and dust, but, occasionally with the carpet-broom, or long hair-broom, first strewing it over with a few damp tea-leaves, (which should always be saved for the purpose, when the tea-things are washed up.) Then remove the chairs, and other furniture, to the middle of the room, turn up the sides of the carpet, and sweep up all the dust and flue round the sides of the room before replacing the carpet.

Always rub and dust the chairs, tables, and other mahogany furniture, in the middle of the room, and return them to their places, one by one, as you finish them; this will prevent your scratching or soiling the walls or wainscot. The window-curtains and hangings may not require to be shaken and brushed every day, but the windows should be brushed with the long hair-broom, and cobwebs and other filth, on the ceiling, and upper corners of the room, should be occasionally sought for, and removed. When she has swept the room, and rubbed and dusted the furniture, she must dust the window-frames, ledges of the wainscot, and doors, chimney-pieces, glass, china, and other ornaments, and having seen that every article is in its proper place, stir the fire, and taking all her brushes, &c. leave the room perfectly clean, and fit for the reception of the family at breakfast. She next proceeds (if the parlour be up stairs) to sweep and dust the stairs, which she does one by one, sweeping the dust from each into the dust-pan, and afterwards dusting the windows and balustrade as carefully as she had done the room.

She should also sweep the passage in the same way. The floor-cloth in the passage, for the daily cleaning, need only to be swept and rubbed with a damp flannel first, and afterwards with a dry one. The steps, at the front door, should be cleaned every morning, after the passage is swept out, and the street-door and the knocker, &c. must be cleaned or polished. The kitchen stairs also, and the steps at the back-door, if any, are to be cleaned. Above all, the kitchen must now be put in order.

She then washes her hands and face, and puts on a clean apron, &c. so as to be cleanly before the parlour bell rings for breakfast. Directions for setting out the breakfast table will be found in the Instructions to the Footman, as well as for dinner, lunch, tea, &c.

As soon as the family is seated at breakfast, she throws open the bed-room doors and windows, and uncovers the beds to be aired, and placing the bed-clothes across a chair at the foot of the bed, leaves them in that state till breakfast is finished, when she proceeds to make the bed.

On going down, she takes the slop-pails, night-candlesticks, and the water-ewer and carofts to be filled with fresh water, and brought up again immediately, lest they should be wanted. When she goes up after breakfast, if there have been fires, the fire-places must be swept up, the fires laid, and before she makes the beds, she should wash her hands and put on a clean apron. Every bed should be well shaken daily, and the mattresses turned, at least, once a week. The head of the bed, the curtains, vallance, &c. will often require attention; when they should be brushed with a whisk-brush, and well shaken, the bed-side carpets having been first taken up. After she has made the beds, and before the carpets are laid down again, the chairs, glasses, and other articles of furniture in each room are to be properly rubbed and dusted, and the floors swept clean. The sleeping rooms being thus prepared, and the stairs swept down, she will scarcely have occasion to go up again till evening, when she turns down the beds, lets down, or draws the curtains, and puts the rooms in order for the night.

At intervals, she will, perhaps, be called to bring coals for the parlour fire, in the winter time; (see directions to the footman;) but, in addition to this, little will occur to take her from the regular routine of the morning’s work, till the preparation for dinner requires her attention. She will find ample instructions for the care of the kitchen and larder, and for dressing dinners, under the directions to the cook.

If she is required to wait at table, she will find instructions for the purpose in the directions to the footman. After the dishes, &c. and the cloth and table-cover are removed, when there is no company present, her mistress will, perhaps, require her to bring a piece of cloth, with bees’-wax on it, and a hard furniture brush, to rub the dining-table, and take out the stains of the hot dishes.

When all things are set right in the parlour, as her mistress may direct, she will get her own dinner, (which she will contrive to keep as warm as circumstances will allow;) meanwhile the water must be heating to wash the dishes, and all the kitchen utensils, which being washed, and the several articles (particularly the tinned ones) wiped out clean and dry, they are to be put away, always in their proper places, in the cleanest and nicest order, and fit for immediate use.

This done, she is to make up the fire, (having due regard to the very expensive article of coals) and put on the kettle for tea. The kitchen is next to be set to rights, and every article in and about it is to be made quite clean, and disposed in perfect order. In fact, the cleanly and orderly state of the kitchen ought, at all times, to claim her utmost attention, as it is there that all the food of the family is prepared, and nothing does, nor, indeed, can, more deservedly contribute to the good character of a servant, than the well-regulated state and cleanly appearance of her kitchen.

The situation of a servant of this denomination is, as we have seen, one continued round of activity, but industry becomes habitual, and she will reap the benefit of it throughout life. To be content is the main thing, and others, seeing her good tempered, and disposed to be happy, will study to make her so; while experience and habit will greatly contribute towards it, by daily rendering the routine of the service more familiar, and consequently, more easy.

There are times, however, when the regular course of business will be interrupted. Once a week is the appointed day for a thorough scouring and cleaning, viz. Saturday. But even this day is rendered less formidable by an attentive servant, and by a little charitable consideration in the mistress, (which is generally the case) who will contrive that there shall be less of the ordinary business of the family to be done on that day than on any other. The maid will, perhaps, manage to get the bed-rooms thoroughly scoured on Friday. This should be done as early in the day as possible, and in the winter, fires should be made in the rooms, in order that they may be quite dry and safe by bed-time. For cleaning calico and other bed-furniture, and for scouring rooms, see Head House-Maid. The Sitting-room, and the spare rooms, if any, instead of the usual every-day cleaning, should now be thoroughly cleaned, the floors scoured, the grates, hearths, chimney-pieces, carpets, curtains, and furniture rubbed, scrubbed, dusted, and otherwise cleaned in the best manner; the kitchen, it is presumed, is already clean—always clean; the pots, pans, kettles, and every other culinary utensil being always cleaned as soon as done with;—scoured, wiped out dry, and put away in their proper places, fit for use at a moment’s notice. However laborious the work of the Saturday may appear, it is but getting up an hour or two earlier, and setting about it with a good heart, and all the extra business of the house, in every part, is completely finished, and you sit down, in the evening, to tea, rejoicing that all is comfortable, and in order.

Another, and more laborious deviation from the regular routine of family business is—the appointed “Washing-day,” which is, indeed, a day of bustle and activity; perhaps the only one that can be called a hard day’s work, from one washing-day to another. But, here also, if the intervals between the washings be long, a washer-woman will be hired, and the mistress will probably lend her aid, in sorting the clothes, getting up the small linen, ironing, &c.

In proportion to the arduous and active duties of a situation, is the satisfaction to be enjoyed from a regular and attentive discharge of those services: hence no servant has it in her power to render herself and her employers more comfortable, than the maid of all work. By a methodical division of her time, she is enabled to keep in order every apartment in the house, from the kitchen to the attic, all of which may be accomplished without any extraordinary effort on her part: and while she thus promotes the comforts of her master and mistress by her industry and regularity, they will not be backward in rewarding those meritorious qualities. Wages from 8 to 12 guineas.

TO LIGHT AND MANAGE A PARLOUR FIRE.

There is more art, perhaps, and more economy than is considered necessary in making well, and managing a fire.

First rake out all the ashes, quite clean, leaving in the bottom of the grate a few light cinders, through which the air, from beneath, may pass freely; upon these lay shavings, or waste paper, and then the wood, the smaller pieces under, of course, and the whole crossing each other promiscuously, and in all directions; throw cinders behind, and some at the sides, to fill out the grate, and in the front, betwixt the bars, put small knobs of fresh coals, with some larger knobs at top, and a little small coal behind, but not so much at first as to prevent a draft of air through the grate at the top. The fire, thus prepared, may be lighted with a match, and will kindle well of itself, whilst the ashes are taken up, and the fire-place cleaned. When it is found necessary to blow a fire, do not thrust the nose of the bellows between the bars, but keep it at an easy distance from the fire, and rather below the centre of the fire, that so, the air may be dispersed around to a considerable distance in front of the fire. When you stir a fire, always put the poker between the second and third bars.—After you have stirred the fire, rake out the ashes at the bottom of the grate, and sweep up the hearth.

THE LAUNDRY MAID.

This Servant washes all the household and other linen belonging to her employers, and is assisted, generally, by the housemaids; or the house maids, kitchen maids, and scullery maids wash for themselves. All the men servants find their own washing, except the footmen’s aprons and jackets.

The foul linen is given out to her on Monday morning, and returned clean, on Friday night or Saturday morning.—Wages from 8l. to 15l. a year.

Two ounces of pearl-ash, to a pound and a half of soap, will make a considerable saving. Soda, by softening the water, saves a great deal of soap. It should be dissolved in a large jug of water, some of which should be poured into the tubs and boiler, and when the lather becomes weak, add more.

The use of soft soap, saves nearly half in washing.

Good new hard soap contains full half of oil, one-third water, and the rest soda.

TO MAKE TOWN-WASHED LINEN WHITE.

In large towns, where linen cannot be exposed to the air and sun upon the grass, let it be steeped, for some time before it is washed, in a solution of oxymuriate of lime. Let it then be boiled in an alkaline ley. Linen or cotton thus treated will not become yellow by age.

TO TAKE OUT IRON MOULDS FROM LINEN.

Hold the iron mould on the cover of a tankard of boiling water, and rub on the spot a little juice of sorrel and salt, and when the cloth has thoroughly imbibed the juice, wash it in ley.

TO SCOUR THICK COTTON COUNTERPANES.

Cut a pound of mottled soap into thin slices; and put it into a pan with a quarter of an ounce of pot-ash. Pour a pail of boiling water on it, and let it stand till dissolved. Then pour hot and cold water into a scouring tub, with a bowl of the solution. Put in the counterpane, beat it well, turn it often, give it a second liquor as before, and then rinse it in cold water. Then put three tea-spoonsful of liquid blue into a thin liquor; stir it, and put in the counterpane: beat it about five minutes, and dry it in the air.

TO SCOUR FLANNELS OR WOOLLENS.

Cut ½ a pound of the best yellow soap into thin slices, and pour such a quantity of boiling river water on it as will dissolve the soap, and make it of the consistence of oil. Cover the articles about two inches with water, such as the hand can bear, and add a lump of American pearl-ash, and about a third of the soap solution. Beat them till no head or lather rises on the water; throw away the dirty water, and proceed as before with hotter water without pearl-ash.

TO TAKE MILDEW OUT OF LINEN.

Rub it well with soap: then scrape some fine chalk, and rub that also in the linen; lay it on the grass; as it dries, wet it a little, and it will come out after twice doing.

TO TAKE OUT SPOTS OF INK.

As soon as the accident happens, wet the place with juice of sorrel or lemon, or with vinegar, and the best hard white soap.

THE DAIRY MAID

Manages the dairy, milks the cows, makes the butter, cheese, wheys, syllabubs, &c. attends the poultry, picks and prepares them for trussing, makes bread and fresh butter for the parlour every morning, and bakes all the bread of the family.

The greatest possible attention must be paid to the Dairy. Cleanliness being the primary object, all the utensils, shelves, and the floor, should be kept perfectly neat, and cold water should be frequently thrown over it.—There should be shutters to the Dairy to keep out the sun and hot air.

The cows should be milked at a regular and early hour, and their udders should be perfectly emptied, else the quantity given will be diminished. When you go to the cow, take with you, cold water and a sponge, and wash each cow’s udder; bathe it well with cold water, both in winter and summer, as that braces them and repels heat. But, if any cow has sore teats, let them be soaked in warm water twice a day, and either dressed with soft ointment, or bathed with spirits and water. In either case, the milk should be given to the pigs.

When the milk is brought into the Dairy, it should be strained and emptied into clean pans, immediately, in winter, but not till cool, in summer. Suffer no one to milk the cows but yourself, as much depends on their being dripped quite clean, particularly after a calf is taken away.

The quantity of milk given by cows, will be different according to their breed, health, pasturage, the length of time from calving, and other circumstances. Change of pasturage will tend to increase the quantity.

In good pastures, the average of each cow will be about three gallons a day from Lady-day to Michaelmas; and thence to Christmas, one gallon a day.

Cows will be profitable yielders of milk, to fourteen or fifteen years of age, if of a good breed. They should be fed well two or three weeks before calving, which will increase the quantity of milk. In gentlemen’s Dairies, more attention is paid to the beauty and size of cows, than to their produce.

It is absolutely necessary that the cows should be kept feeding whilst you are milking them.

It should be contrived that cows kept for a gentleman’s family, should calve at different seasons, and, particularly, that one or two should calve in August or September, to insure a supply of milk in winter.

When there is not a great demand for cream in the family, the Dairy-maid will take that opportunity to provide for the winter store. She should keep a regular weekly account of the quantity of milk given by each cow, and the quantity of butter she pots. The average of a good fair Dairy cow, during several months after calving, will be seven pounds of butter a week, and from three to five gallons of milk per day; afterwards, a weekly average of three or four pounds of butter, from barely half that quantity of milk. On an average, three gallons of good milk, will yield one pound of butter. The annual consumption of a good cow, turned to grass, is from an acre to an acre and a half in the summer, and from a ton to a ton and a half of hay, in the winter. Each cow should be allowed two pecks of carrots per day. The grass, if cut and carried to the cows green, will economize full one-third.

Alderney cows yield rich milk, upon less food, than larger cows, but are seldom large milkers, and are particularly scanty of produce in the winter.

Wages from 8l. to 12l. a year.—Perquisites, 1d. per pound for butter; 1½d. for each chicken, or fowl killed; 2d. each, for ducks, geese, and turkeys; and 3d. a score for eggs.

TO PRESERVE MILK.

Provide bottles which must be perfectly clean, sweet, and dry; draw the milk from the cow into the bottles, and as they are filled, immediately cork them well up, and fasten the corks with pack-thread or wire. Then spread a little straw on the bottom of a boiler, on which place the bottles with straw between them, until the boiler contains a sufficient quantity. Fill it up with cold water; heat the water, and as soon as it begins to boil, draw the fire, and let the whole gradually cool. When quite cold take out the bottles, and pack them with straw or saw-dust in hampers, and stow them in the coolest part of the house. Milk preserved in this manner, although eighteen months in the bottles, will be as sweet as when first milked from the cow.

TO MANAGE YOUNG CHICKENS.

The chickens first hatched, are to be taken from the hen, lest she be tempted to leave her task unfinished. They may be secured in a basket of wool or soft hay, and kept in a moderate heat, if the weather be cold, near the fire. They will require no food for 24 hours, should it be necessary to keep them so long from the hen. The whole brood being hatched, place the hen under a coop abroad, upon a dry spot, and, if possible, not within reach of another hen, since the chickens will mix, and the hens are apt to destroy those which do not belong to them. Nor should they be placed near young fowls, which are likely to crush them, being always eager for their small meat.

The first food should be split grits, afterwards tail wheat, all watery food, soaked bread, or potatoes, being improper. Eggs boiled hard, or curd chopped small, is very suitable as first food. Their water should be pure and often renewed, and there are pans made in such forms, that the chickens may drink without getting into the water, which, by wetting their feet and feathers, numbs and injures them; a bason in the middle of a pan of water, will answer the end; the water running round it. There is no necessity for cooping the brood beyond two or three days, but they may be confined as occasion requires, or suffered to range, as they are much benefited by the foraging of the hen. They should not be let out too early in the morning, whilst the dew lies upon the ground, nor be suffered to range over wet grass, which is a common and fatal cause of disease in fowls. Another caution requisite is to guard them against unfavourable changes of the weather, particularly if rainy. Nearly all the diseases of fowls arise from cold moisture.

For the period of the chickens quitting the hen, there is no general rule; when she begins to roost, if sufficiently forward, they will follow her; if otherwise, they should be secured in a proper place, till the time arrives when they are to associate with the other young poultry, since the larger are sure to overrun and drive from their food the younger broods.

TO FATTEN POULTRY.

An experiment has lately been tried of feeding geese with turnips, cut in small pieces like dice, but less in size, and put into a trough of water; with this food alone, the effect was, that six geese, each when lean weighed only 9 lbs., actually gained 20 lbs. each in about three weeks fattening.

Malt is excellent food for geese and turkeys; grains are preferred for the sake of economy, unless for immediate and rapid fattening; the grains should be boiled afresh.

Other cheap articles for fattening, are oatmeal and treacle; barley-meal and milk; boiled oats, and ground malt.

Corn before being given to fowls should always be crushed and soaked in water. The food will thus go further, and it will help digestion. Hens fed thus have been known to lay during the whole of the winter months.

TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMY OF A COW.

The annual product of a good fair dairy cow, during several months after calving, either in summer or winter, if duly fed and kept in the latter season, will be an average of seven pounds of butter per week, and from five to three gallons of milk per day. Afterwards, a weekly average of three or four pounds of butter from barely half the quantity of milk. It depends on the constitution of the cow, how nearly she may be milked to the time of her calving, some giving good milk until within a week or two of that period, others requiring to be dried 8 or 9 weeks previously. I have heard (says Mr. Lawrence) of 20 lbs. of butter, and even 22 lbs. made from the milk of one long-horned cow in seven days; but I have never been fortunate enough to obtain one that would produce more than 12 lbs. per week, although I have had a Yorkshire cow which milked 7 gallons per day, yet never made 5 lbs. of butter in one week. On the average 3 gallons of good milk will make 1 lb. of butter.

TO MAKE SALT BUTTER FRESH.

To every pound of salt butter put a quart of new milk, and a little arnotto. Churn it an hour, then take it out and treat it as fresh butter, by washing it with water, and add the usual quantity of salt. The butter gains about three ounces in the pound.

SUBSTITUTE FOR MILK AND CREAM.

Beat up the whole of a fresh egg, in a basin, then pour boiling tea over it gradually, to prevent its curdling. It is difficult, from the taste, to distinguish the composition from rich cream.

TO PRESERVE EGGS.

Apply with a brush a solution of gum-arabic to the shells, or immerse the eggs therein; let them dry, and afterwards pack them in dry charcoal dust. This prevents their being affected by any alterations of temperature.

Another Way.

Immerse them for a short time in strong lime-water, and they may be kept two years, if required.

TO TEST THE PURITY OF FLOUR.

Grasp a handful briskly, and squeeze it half a minute: if genuine, it will preserve the form of the cavity of the hand, even though rudely placed on a table; if adulterated, it will almost immediately fall down.

TO PRODUCE ONE-THIRD MORE BREAD FROM A GIVEN QUANTITY OF CORN.

Boil 5 lbs. of the coarsest bran in four gallons and half of water, keep stirring it, that it may not stick to the bottom, till reduced to four gallons, then pour it off into a trough, or tub full of holes, over which lay a coarse cloth or sieve. On the top of the whole put a wooden cover, with a weight sufficiently heavy to press out the liquor from the bran, which will sink to the bottom of the tub in a thick pulp. This liquor will contain the essential oil of the corn, and when kneaded in with half a hundred weight of flour, and the usual quantity of salt and yeast, it will yield one-third more bread than the same quantity of flour would, made with water in the usual way. Divide into middle sized loaves and bake two hours and a half.

When ten days old put it into the oven for twenty minutes and it will appear quite new.

TO MAKE FLOUR PASTE.

Paste is made principally of wheaten flour boiled in water till it be of a glutinous or viscid consistence. It may be thus prepared simply for common purposes; but when it is required for paper hangings to rooms, it is usual to mix a fourth, fifth, or sixth of the weight of the flour of powdered resin; and where it is wanted still more tenacious, gum arabic, or any kind of size may be added.

THE CHAMBER NURSE.

Every experienced person, and every liberal physician and medical man, is sensible of the value of a careful, skilful, and kind-hearted nurse, and that the alleviation of sickness and the actual cure of diseases, depend as much on the anxious attention of the nurse, as on the efficacy of medicine itself. Good temper, patience, watchfulness, and sobriety, are the cardinal virtues of every good nurse, and when possessed by one who unites skill with those personal qualities, she is a treasure above all price.

Although the chamber nurse forms no part of the establishment of healthy families, yet as in every family she is a necessary auxiliary for longer or shorter periods, a brief notice of her qualifications and duties, will confer completeness on such a volume as the present.

The chamber or sick nurse should be qualified for her duty by some experience; and if her experience has been considerable, and she is a woman of good understanding, she will prove herself quite as important in the nursery of the sick, as medical practitioners, or all the drugs in an apothecary’s shop. She ought to be past the middle age, and if a married woman or widow, so much the better. She ought to be clean in her person, and neat in her dress, and free from habits of drinking or snuff-taking. She ought also to be a woman of cheerful and equable temper, and, above all things, free from superstition, or belief in charms, omens, signs, dreams, and other follies of gross ignorance.

The sick room should be clean, well aired, and free from noisome smells; and, on the contrary, the air should be purified by sprinkling vinegar or eau de cologne, and occasionally burning a little vinegar in a heated shovel.

Quietness, in every respect, is of the first consequence. Fire irons should be avoided: creaking doors and locks should be oiled; and list shoes constantly worn. Talking loud and whispering, so as to excite the suspicion of the patient, should be equally avoided; and a long feather should be pushed through the key-hole, as a signal on the outside, when the patient is asleep. The nurse should only sleep when the patient sleeps, as one means of preventing the patient being awoke by her frivolous activity.

In cases of contagion, whatever is sent out of the room, should be immersed in water, and the nurse should be careful not to receive the breath of the patient, nor to sit on the bed. She should also carry about her person a bag of camphor, and during such diseases, frequently fumigate the room with vinegar, and indulge occasionally in half a glass of brandy.

The sick chamber should be provided with a lamp and appurtenances, for heating whatever may be wanted; with a tea kettle, two or three saucepans, empty bottles for hot water, (to put to the feet,) some sal volatile and spirits, a bottle of salts, and of eau de cologne; some lambs-wool gloves to rub the patient, a bed-pan, a foot-bath, or a large tin bath; some lemonade, barley-water, and toast and water: oranges, lemons, and empty medicine bottles, which occasion smells that infect the air, should be kept in an adjoining room. There should also be a supply of flannel, old linen, and napkins, for every purpose. Different medicines should be carefully kept apart; lest pernicious ones be given, or proper ones, at improper times. A thermometer in the room is the only means of keeping an equal temperature, or increasing or diminishing it, as the medical attendants may direct.

The reports of the nurse to the physician, and the observations of the physician, should always be made in an adjoining room, and the mind of the patient not be distracted by details of symptoms, and of the nurse’s business. Changes which take place after the visit of the medical attendant, should be immediately reported, and in all that regards the administration of the medicines, and the general system of treatment, the nurse should scrupulously obey the instructions of the medical advisers, not only as the most likely means of promoting the speedy recovery of the patient, but to remove from herself all responsibility and blame. At the same time, she should not withhold her opinion, in regard to the effect of the medicines administered, and in her conferences with the medical advisers, should suggest whatever appears likely to be useful.

Nurses, according to the length of a disease, are paid by the day, week, or month; and as boarders in the family, they ought not to take advantage of the sympathy which induces the relatives of the sick to afford them every indulgence, so as to involve unnecessary or wanton expenses; but consider the interest of the family, whose affliction requires their attendance, as their own. The usual payment of a nurse in London, is from 10s. 6d. to 15s. per week, according to the circumstances of the parties, and of the case.

Nurses who have to compound and administer Family Medicines must be prepared with proper scales and weights; and with graduated glass measures, such as are used by Apothecaries; according to the following

TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Measure of Fluids.

1 gal. measure (cong.) contains 8 pints,

1 pint (O.) 16 ounces,

1 ounce (f. ℥.) 8 drams,

1 dram (f. ʒ.) 60 minims, (m.)

Weights of Dry Substances.

1 pound (lb.) contains 12 ounces,

1 ounce (℥.) 8 drams,

1 dram (ʒ.) 60 grains, (gr.)

1 scruple (℈.) 20 grains, or 1-3d of a dram.

It is customary to distinguish quantities of fluid from dry substances, by prefixing the letter f. (fluid) when an ounce or dram is mentioned in medical works, as may be seen in the first of these tables.

The following table of the gradations of doses of medicines for different ages, will in general be found pretty correct, and ought never to be deviated from, except by professional advice.

If at the age of maturity the dose be one dram, the proportion will be at

From 14 to 21 years, 2 scruples,

7 14 half a dram,

4 7 1 scruple,

4 15 grains,

3 half a scruple,

2 8 grains,

1 5 grains,

6 months 3 grains,

3 2 grains,

1 1 grain.

TOAST AND WATER.

Cut a slice of fine and stale loaf bread, very thin, and let it be carefully toasted on both sides, until browned all over, but not blackened or burned. Put the toast into a deep stone or china jug, and pour over it, from the tea-kettle, as much boiling water as required to make into drink. Cover the jug with a saucer or plate, and let the drink become quite cold; it will then be fit for use. Toast and water is peculiarly grateful to the stomach, and excellent for carrying off the effects of any excess in drinking. It is also a most excellent drink at meals.

WATER-GRUEL.

Put a large spoonful of oatmeal into a pint of water, stir it well together, and let it boil three or four times, stirring it often. Then strain it through a sieve, put in some salt according to taste, and if necessary add a piece of fresh butter. Stir with a spoon until the butter is melted, when it will be fine and smooth.

BARLEY-WATER.

Take of pearl-barley, 2 oz. water, 4 pints.

First wash off the mealy matter which adheres to the barley with some cold water; then extract the colouring matter, by boiling it a little with about half a pint of water. Throw this decoction away; and put the barley thus purified into four pints of boiling water; then boil down to one half and strain the decoction.

COMPOUND BARLEY WATER.

Take of the decoction of barley, 2 pints, raisins, stoned, 2 oz. figs, sliced, 2 do. liquorice-root, sliced and bruised, ½ oz. distilled water, 1 pint.

During the boiling, add the raisins first, and then the figs, and, lastly, the liquorice, a short time before it is finished, when the strained decoction ought to measure two pints.

These liquors are to be used freely, as diluting drinks in fevers and other acute disorders.

PANADA.

Put a blade of mace, a large piece of the crumb of bread, and a quart of water, in a clean saucepan. Let it boil two minutes, then take out the bread, and bruise it very fine in a bason. Mix with it as much of the warm water as it will require, pour away the rest and sweeten it to the taste of the patient. If necessary, put in a piece of butter the size of a walnut, but add no wine. Grate in a little nutmeg, if requisite.

BEEF TEA.

Take off the fat and skin from a pound of lean beef, and cut it into pieces. Then put it into a gallon of water, with the under crust of a penny loaf, and a small portion of salt. Let the whole boil till reduced to two quarts, and strain, when it will be fit for use.

MUTTON BROTH.

Take the fat off a pound of loin of mutton, and put the lean into a quart of water. Skim it well as it boils, and put in a piece of the upper crust of bread, with a large blade of mace. Having covered it up close, let it boil closely for half an hour, and then pour the broth clear off, without stirring. Season it with a little salt. Turnips should not be boiled with the meat.

MEDICINAL TEA.

This country affords herbs much more wholesome than either tea or coffee, and if they were all imported from a distant region, and sold at a high price, they would, no doubt, be held in great estimation. The following composition is very superior to tea or coffee, inasmuch as the infusion is very agreeable, will strengthen the stomach, and invigorate, instead of debilitate, the nervous system.

Take of rosemary leaves, dried, 2 oz.

sage do. do. 4 oz.

rose do. do. 4 oz.

peach do. do. 3 oz.

hyssop do. do. 4 oz.

balm do. do. 5 oz.

male speedwell, (veronica) 4 oz.

A wine-glassful of these mixed herbs is sufficient to make 3 pints of infusion, which is made in the same manner as tea, sugar and milk being added. In London, where herbs are sold at a dearer rate than in the country, it may be obtained at the rate of 2s. per pound.—Either of the above ingredients may be diminished or augmented at pleasure. If too bitter, lessen the quantity of hyssop, and add dried mint leaves.

ISINGLASS JELLY, &c.

Put an ounce of isinglass, and a few cloves, into a quart of water. Boil it down to a pint, strain it upon a pound of loaf sugar, and when cold, add a little wine, when it will be fit for use.—A very nourishing beverage may be made by merely boiling the isinglass with milk, and sweetening with lump sugar.

SALOP.

Put a dessert spoonful of the powder of salop, into a pint of boiling water. Keep stirring it till it becomes of the consistence of jelly, and then add white wine and sugar, according to taste.

SUBSTITUTE FOR ASSES MILK.

Put an ounce of hartshorn shavings into a quart of boiling barley-water; boil down to a pint, add two ounces of candid eringo root, and a pint of new milk; boil for a quarter of an hour, when strain for use.

BROWN CAUDLE.

Boil four spoonsful of oatmeal, a blade or two of mace, and a piece of lemon peel, in two quarts of water, for about a quarter of an hour; taking care that it does not boil over. Then strain, and add a quart of good ale that is not bitter. Sweeten it to the palate, and add half a pint of white wine. When no white wine is used the caudle should consist of one half of ale.

WHITE CAUDLE.

Make the gruel as above, and strain through a sieve, but put no ale to it. When to be used, sweeten according to taste, grate in some nutmeg, and add a little white wine. Juice of lemon is sometimes added.

TRANSPARENT SOUP FOR CONVALESCENTS.

Cut the meat from a leg of veal into small pieces, and break the bone into several bits. Put the meat into a very large jug, and the bones at top, with a bunch of common sweet herbs, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and half a pound of Jordan almonds, finely blanched and beaten. Pour on it four quarts of boiling water, and let it stand all night, covered close by the fire-side. The next day put it into a well-tinned saucepan, and let it boil slowly, till it is reduced to two quarts. Be careful, at the time it is boiling, to skim it, and take off the fat as it rises. Strain into a punch-bowl, and when settled for two hours, pour it into a clean saucepan, clear from the sediment, if any.

EFFERVESCING DRAUGHT.

Pulverize 1 ounce of citric acid, and divide it into 24 parts; that is, 24 scruples, which are to be put into separate small blue papers. Pulverize, also, 1 ounce of the sub-carbonate of soda, and divide it into 24 like packages, in white paper. When the draught is to be prepared, put the carbonate into a tumbler, half filled with water: in another, dissolve the acid in an equal quantity; throw one into the other, and drink it while effervescing.

A similar preparation may be made by using tartaric acid instead of the citric.

TO PREVENT INFECTION.

Mix in a plate, a few ounces of pulverized black oxyde of manganese and common salt, which being placed in the house supposed to be infected, sprinkle oil of vitriol upon the mixture, and gas will arise which will render the place perfectly salubrious. The oil of vitriol should be carefully added by a few drops at a time, the face being turned from the mixture.

SALINE DRAUGHT.

Dissolve 20 grains of carbonate of potass in a table-spoonful of lemon juice, and three table-spoonsful of water, to which add a small quantity of lump sugar. This draught is very serviceable in sore throats, &c.

SEDLITZ POWDERS.

Take of Rochelle salt, 1 dram, carbonate of soda, 25 grains, tartaric acid, 20 do.

Dissolve the first two in a tumbler of water, then add the latter, and drink without loss of time.

TO DISTINGUISH GOOD RHUBARB FROM BAD.

The general characters of good rhubarb are, it having a whitish or clear yellow colour, being dry, solid, and compact; moderately heavy, and brittle; when recently broken appearing marked with yellow or reddish veins, mixed with white; being easily pulverizable; forming a powder of a fine bright yellow, having the peculiar, nauseous, aromatic smell of rhubarb, and a sub-acrid, bitterish, somewhat astringent taste, and when chewed feeling gritty under the teeth, speedily colouring the saliva, and not appearing very mucilaginous.

TAMARIND WATER.

This fruit very much resembles the nature of prunes, but is more acid, and enters as a useful ingredient into the lenitive electuary. It is found of the highest use in a sore throat, as a powerful cleanser; and, put into boiling water until moderately cold, is a delightful drink to persons parched under the heat of fever, and in the lowest state of putrid fever.

WATER-CRESSES.

Water-cresses act as a gentle stimulant and diuretic; for these purposes the expressed juice, which contains the peculiar taste and pungency of the herb, may be taken in doses of an ounce or two, and continued for a considerable time. It should be at the same time eaten at breakfast, also at dinner, and for supper, to experience benefit from the virtues of this herb.

WHITE COUGH MIXTURE.

Mix 1 dram of powdered spermaceti with the yolks of 2 eggs; then add 1 dram of tincture of opium, and 5 oz., of water.

To be taken in the quantity of a wine-glassful when the cough is troublesome.

FOR ALLAYING COUGH IN THE NIGHT, AND PROCURING REST.

Mix together a dessert spoonful of syrup of poppies, and 15 drops of antimonial wine. To be taken at a draught, with or without a little warm water, either at bed-time, or in the middle of the night. Half this quantity may be given to a child under the same circumstances.

Another.

Mix together in a wine-glass, 30 drops of laudanum, 4 tea-spoonsful of vinegar, and 6 tea-spoonsful of water, sweetened with a little lump sugar.

ALMOND MILK.

Take of sweet almonds, blanched, 1½ oz. double-refined sugar, ¾ oz. distilled water, 2½ pints.

Beat the almonds with the sugar; then rubbing them together, add by degrees the water, and strain the liquor.

Almost any quantity may be taken as a frequent drink to soften coughs, and to assuage urinary disorders.

MUCILAGE OF GUM ARABIC.

Take of gum-arabic, in powder, 4 oz. boiling water, 8 oz.

Triturate the gum with a small portion of the water until it be dissolved.

It is necessary to pass the mucilage through linen, in order to free it from pieces of wood and other impurities, which always adhere to the gum: the linen may be placed in a funnel.

Mucilage of gum-arabic is very useful in making up medicines, &c. it also possesses the powers of a mucilaginous demulcent in a high degree; and is frequently given in diarrhœa, dysentery, chin-cough, hoarseness, strangury, &c.

GUM-ARABIC EMULSION.

Take of gum-arabic, in powder, 2 drams, sweet almonds, blanched, double refined sugar, each ½ dram, decoction of barley, 1 pint.

Dissolve the gum in the warm decoction; and when it is almost cold, pour it upon the almonds, previously well beaten with the sugar, and at the same time triturate them together, so as to form an emulsion, and then filter.

The almonds are blanched by infusing them in boiling water, and peeling them. The success of the preparation depends upon beating the almonds to a smooth pulp, and triturating them with each portion of the watery fluid, so as to form an uniform mixture before another portion be added.

DECOCTION OF MARSHMALLOWS

Take of marshmallow roots, bruised, 4 oz. sun raisins, stoned, 2 oz. water, 7 pints.

Boil down to five pints; strain the decoction, and after the grounds have subsided, pour off the clear liquor.

Marshmallow roots contain nothing soluble in water except mucilage, which is very abundant in them. This decoction is therefore to be considered merely as an emollient, rendered more pleasant by the acidulous sweetness of the raisins.

COMPOUND ALOETIC PILLS.

Take of hepatic aloes, 1 oz. ginger powder, 1 dram, soap, ½ oz. essential oil of peppermint, ½ a dram.

Let the aloes and ginger be rubbed well together, then add the soap and the oil so as to form a mass.

These pills may be advantageously used for obviating the habitual costiveness of sedentary persons. The dose is from 10 to 15 grains.

LADY WEBSTER’S ANTIBILIOUS PILLS.

Take of socotrine aloes, 6 drams, gum mastic, 2 drams.

Reduce to powder separately; make into a mass with syrup of wormwood, and divide into one hundred pills, of which take one every night.

COMPOUND SOAP LINIMENT.

Take of camphor, 1 oz. soap, 3 oz. spirit of rosemary, 1 pint.

Digest the soap in the spirit of rosemary until it be dissolved, and add to it the camphor.

STEER’S OPODELDOC.

Dissolve 2 lbs. of white soap, and 1 lb. of yellow ditto, in 3 pints of water.

Now dissolve 4 oz. of camphor, 1 oz. of oil of rosemary, and 6 drams of oil of origanum, in 3 pints of spirit of wine.

Mix both solutions, and then add 3 oz. of water of ammonia.

This liniment is extensively used to allay the inflammation of bruises, sprains, &c.

CAJEPUT OPODELDOC.

Take of almond soap, 2 ounces, alcohol, 1 pint, camphor, 1 ounce, cajeput oil, 2 ounces.

First dissolve the soap and camphor in the alcohol, and when the solution is about to congeal, or becomes nearly cold, add the oil of cajeput: shake them well together, and put it into bottles to congeal.

This composition is a great improvement on the opodeldocs in general use, and in cases of rheumatism, paralytic numbness, chilblains, enlargement of joints, and indolent tumours; where the object is to rouse the action of absorbent vessels, and to stimulate the nerves, it is a very valuable external remedy.

LINIMENT OF AMMONIA.

Take of water of ammonia, ½ an ounce, olive oil, 1½ ounces.

Shake them together in a phial till they are mixed.

In the inflammatory quinsey, a piece of flannel, moistened with this mixture, applied to the throat, and renewed every four or five hours, is one of the most efficacious remedies.

LINIMENT OF LIME WATER.

Take of lime water, and olive oil, each three ounces.

Mix them by shaking in a phial.

This solution is thick, of a white colour, and devoid of acrimony. It is very advantageously applied to burns and scalds. The soapy matter separates from the water when it has been made some time, and therefore it is always better to prepare it only when it is wanted.

EAU-DE-LUCE.

Dissolve ten or twelve grains of white soap in four ounces of rectified spirit of wine; after which, strain the solution. A dram of rectified oil of amber is then added, and the whole filtered: with this solution should be mixed such a proportion of the strongest volatile spirit of ammonia, in a clear glass bottle, as will, when sufficiently shaken, produce a beautiful milk-white liquor. If a kind of cream should settle on the surface, it will be requisite to add a small quantity of the spirituous solution of soap. Those who may wish to have this liquor perfumed, may employ lavender or Hungary water, instead of the spirit of wine.

It is employed for curing the bites of adders, wasps, bees, gnats, ants, and other insects, and for burns.

RIGA BALSAM.

Mix together, 4 ounces of spirit of wine, 1 dram of Friar’s balsam, 2 do. of tincture of saffron.

This balsam is used for sprains and bruises.

OF FOMENTATIONS.

Fomentations are applied externally, and as warm as the patient can conveniently bear, in the following manner: Two flannel cloths are dipped into the heated liquor, of one which is wrung as dry as the necessary speed will admit then immediately applied to the part affected. The flannel lies on, until the heat begins to go off, and the other is in readiness to apply at the instant in which the first is removed:—thus these flannels are alternately applied, so as to keep the affected part constantly warm. This is continued fifteen or twenty minutes, and repeated two or three times a day, or as often as occasion may require. The degree of heat should never exceed that of producing a pleasing sensation; great heat sometimes produces effects very opposite to that intended by the use of the fomentation.

DECOCTION FOR FOMENTATIONS.

Take of the leaves of southernwood, dried, tops of sea-wormwood, do. camomile flowers, ditto, each 1 oz. bay leaves, do. ½ oz. distilled water, 6 pints.

Boil them a little, and strain.

In making these decoctions the aromatic substances should not be added until the decoction is nearly completed, for otherwise their flavour would be entirely dissipated.

ANODYNE FOMENTATION.

Take two poppy heads, boil them in a quart of milk, and use this as a fomentation. It is excellent in inflamed eyes, also to relieve the pain of inflammation from a blister or other cause.

MUSTARD CATAPLASM.

Take of mustard-seed, powdered, ½ lb. crumb of bread, ½ do. vinegar, as much as is sufficient.

Mix, and make a cataplasm.

Cataplasms of this kind are employed as stimulants: they often inflame the part, and raise blisters, but not so perfectly as cautharides. They are frequently applied to the soles of the feet, in the low state of acute diseases, for raising the pulse and relieving the head.

SIMPLE OINTMENT.

Take of olive oil, 5 ounces, white wax, 2 ounces.

This is an useful emollient ointment for softening the skin.

OINTMENT OF HOG’S LARD.

Take of prepared hog’s lard, 2 lbs. rose water, 3 oz.

Beat the lard with the rose-water until they be mixed; then melt the mixture with a slow fire, and set it apart that the water may subside; after which, pour off the lard from the water, constantly stirring until it be cold.

This ointment may be used for softening the skin, and healing chaps.

WAX OINTMENT.

Take of white wax, 4 oz. spermaceti, 3 oz. olive oil, 1 pint.

Mix them together over a gentle fire, and then stir them very briskly, without ceasing, till they are cold.

SPERMACETI OINTMENT.

Take of spermaceti, 6 drams, white wax, 2 do. olive oil, 3 oz.

Melt all together over a gentle fire, stirring briskly, without intermission, till the ointment becomes cold.

These two ointments are supposed only to supple the parts, and hinder the rag or lint from sticking to the granulating flesh, and they also keep the air from wounds, which is known to irritate them, from the oxygen in the atmosphere; but they have, otherwise, no peculiar healing virtue.

LIP SALVE.

Melt together 2½ oz. of white wax, 3 oz. of spermaceti, 7 oz. of oil of almonds, 1 dram of balsam of Peru, and 1½ oz. of alkanet root, wrapped up in a linen bag.

Pour the salve into small gallipots or boxes, and cover with bladder and white leather.

COURT PLASTER.

Bruise a sufficient quantity of isinglass, and let it soak for twenty-four hours in a little warm water; expose it to heat over the fire, to dissipate the greater part of the water, and supply its place by colourless brandy, which will mix the gelatine of the glue. Strain the whole through a piece of open linen: on cooling, it will form a trembling jelly.

Now extend a piece of black silk on a wooden frame, and fix it in that position by means of tacks, or pack-thread. Then, with a brush made of badger’s hair, apply the glue, after it has been exposed to a gentle heat, to render it liquid. When this stratum is dry, which will soon be the case, apply a second, and then a third, if necessary, to give the plaster a certain thickness; as soon as the whole is dry, cover it with two or three strata of a strong tincture of balsam of Tolu.

This is the real English court plaster: it is pliable, and never breaks, characters which distinguish it from so many other preparations sold under the same name.

Application.

This plaster is generally used to cover slight abrasions and excoriations of the skin. When used for small cuts, from sharp instruments, bring the lips of the wound together, and lay over it a piece of goldbeater’s skin; then fix this by means of a piece of court plaster. The wound will generally heal without further trouble.

TINCTURE OF RHUBARB.

Take of rhubarb, sliced, 3 oz. lesser cardamom seeds, bruised, ½ oz. liquorice root, bruised, ½ oz. saffron, 2 drams, proof spirit of wine, 2 pints.

Digest for seven days, and strain. Dose, ½ an oz. as a purge, or 2 dr. as a stomachic.

COMPOUND TINCTURE OF RHUBARB.

Take of rhubarb, sliced, 2 oz. liquorice root, bruised, ½ oz. ginger, powdered, saffron, each 2 drams; distilled water, 1 pint, proof spirit of wine, 12 oz. by measure.

Digest for 14 days, and strain. Dose, ½ an oz. as an aperient, or 1 oz. in violent diarrhœa.

AROMATIC TINCTURE, OR COMPOUND TINCTURE OF CINNAMON.

Take of cinnamon, bruised, lesser cardamom seeds, each 1 oz. long pepper, in powder, 2 drams, diluted alcohol, 2½ lbs.

Digest for seven days, and filter through paper.

A tea-spoonful or two may be taken in wine, or any other convenient vehicle, in languors, weakness of the stomach, flatulencies, and other similar complaints; and in these cases it is often employed with advantage.

COMPOUND TINCTURE OF SENNA.

Take of senna leaves, 2 oz. jalap root, 1 oz. coriander seeds, ½ oz. proof spirit, 2½ pints.

Digest for seven days, and to the strained liquor add 4 oz. of sugar-candy.

This tincture is an useful carminative and cathartic, especially to those who have accustomed themselves to the use of spirituous liquors; it often relieves flatulent complaints and colics, where the common cordials have little effect: the dose is from 1 to 2 ounces.

DAFFY’S ELIXIR.

Take of senna, 2 lbs. rhubarb shavings, 2 lbs. jalap root, 1 lb. caraway seeds, 1 lb. aniseeds, 2 lbs. sugar, 4 lbs. shavings of red sanders wood, ½ lb.

Digest these in 10 gallons of spirit of wine, for 14 days, and strain for use. This elixir possesses almost the same qualities as the Compound Tincture of Senna. The above quantities may be reduced to as small a scale as may be required.

GODFREY’S CORDIAL.

Dissolve ½ an oz. of opium, 1 dram of oil of sassafras, in 2 ounces of spirit of wine. Now mix 4 lbs. of treacle, with 1 gallon of boiling water, and when cold, mix both solutions.

This is generally used to soothe the pains of children, &c.

BALSAM OF HONEY.

Take of balsam of tolu, 2 oz. gum storax, 2 drams, opium, 2 do. honey, 8 oz.

Dissolve these in a quart of spirit of wine.

This balsam is useful in allaying the irritation of cough.

Dose, 1 or 2 tea-spoonsful in a little tea, or warm water.

TINCTURE OF THE BALSAM OF TOLU.

Take of balsam of Tolu, 1 oz. alcohol, 1 pint.

Digest until the balsam be dissolved, and then strain the tincture through paper.

This solution of the balsam of Tolu possesses all the virtues of the balsam itself. It may be taken internally, with the several intentions for which that balsam is proper, to the quantity of a tea-spoonful or two, in any convenient vehicle.

Mixed with simple syrup, it forms an agreeable balsamic syrup.

TINCTURE OF PERUVIAN BARK.

Take of Peruvian bark, 4 oz. proof spirit, 2 pints.

Digest for 10 days, and strain.

It may be given from a tea-spoonful to ½ an ounce, or an ounce, according to the different purposes it is intended to answer.

HUXHAM’S TINCTURE OF BARK.

Take of Peruvian bark, powdered, 2 oz. the peel of Seville oranges, dried, 1½ do. Virginian snake root, bruised, 3 drams, saffron, 1 do. cochineal, powdered, 2 scruples, proof spirit, 20 oz.

Digest for 14 days, and strain.

As a corroborant and stomachic, it is given in doses of two or three drams; but when employed for the cure of intermittent fevers, it must be taken to a greater extent.

TINCTURE OF GUAIACUM.

Take of guaiacum, 4 oz. rectified spirit of wine, 2 pints.

Digest for seven days, and filter.

This solution is a powerful stimulating sudorific, and may be given in doses, of about ½ an ounce, in rheumatic and asthmatic cases.

AMMONIATED TINCTURE OF GUAIACUM.

Take of resin of guaiacum, in powder, 4 oz. ammoniated alcohol, in powder, 1½ lb.

Digest for seven days, and filter through paper.

In rheumatic cases, a tea, or even table-spoonful, taken every morning and evening, in any convenient vehicle, particularly in milk, has proved of singular service.

FRIAR’S BALSAM.

Take of benzoin, 3 oz. purified storax, 2 oz. balsam of Tolu, 1 oz. socotrine aloes, ½ oz. rectified spirit of wine, 2 pints.

Digest for seven days and filter.

The dose is a tea-spoonful in some warm water four times a day, in consumptions and spitting of blood. It is useful, also, when applied on lint, to recent wounds, and serves the purposes of a scab, but must not be soon removed.

TINCTURE OF CATECHU.

Take extract of catechu, 3 oz. cinnamon, bruised, 2 oz. diluted alcohol, 2 pints.

Digest for seven days, and strain through paper.

The cinnamon is a very useful addition to the catechu, not only as it warms the stomach, but likewise as it covers its roughness and astringency.

This tincture is of service in all kinds of defluxions, catarrhs, looseness, and other disorders where astringent medicines are indicated. Two or three tea-spoonsful may be taken occasionally.

IPECACUAN WINE.

Take of the root of ipecacuan, bruised, 2 oz. Spanish white wine, 2 pints.

Digest for ten days and strain.

This wine is a very mild and safe emetic, and nearly equally serviceable in dysenteries, with the ipecacuan in substance; this root yielding nearly all its virtues to the Spanish white wine. The common dose is an ounce, more or less, according to the age and strength of the patient.

LAVENDER WATER.

The common mode of preparing this, is to put three drams of the essential oil of lavender, and a dram of the essence of ambergris, into 1 pint of spirit of wine.

SPIRIT OF ROSEMARY.

Take of the fresh tops of rosemary, 1½ lb. proof spirit, 1 gallon.

Distil off in a water-bath, 5 pints.

COMPOUND SPIRIT OF ANISEED.

Take of aniseed, angelica-seed, each bruised, ½ lb. proof-spirit, 1 gallon, water, sufficient to prevent a bad taste or flavour.

Draw off 1 gallon by distillation.

This compound is often employed with advantage, in cases of flatulent colic.

BLACK PECTORAL LOZENGES.

Take of extract of liquorice, gum arabic, each 4 oz. white sugar, 8 oz.

Dissolve them in warm water, and strain; then evaporate the mixture over a gentle fire, till it be of a proper consistence for being formed into lozenges, which are to be cut out of any shape.

WHITE PECTORAL LOZENGES.

Take of fine sugar, 1 lb. gum arabic, 4 oz. starch, 1 oz. flowers of benzoin, ¾ dram.

Having beat them all in a powder, make them into a proper mass with rose-water, so as to form lozenges.

These compositions are calculated for softening acrimonious humours, and allaying the tickling in the throat which provokes coughing.

NITRE LOZENGES.

Take of nitre, purified, 3 oz. double-refined sugar, 9 oz.

Make them into lozenges with mucilage of gum tragacanth.

This is a very agreeable form for the exhibition of nitre, as a diuretic or febrifuge, though, when the salt is thus taken, without any liquid (if the quantity be considerable), it is apt to occasion uneasiness about the stomach, which can only be prevented by a large dilution with aqueous liquors.

HONEY OF ROSES.

Take of dried red rose-buds, 4 oz. boiling distilled water, 3 pints, clarified honey, 5 lbs.

Macerate the rose-leaves in the water for six hours; then mix the honey with the strained liquor, and boil the mixture to the thickness of a syrup.

This preparation is not unfrequently used as a mild, cooling detergent, particularly in gargles for ulcerations and inflammation of the mouth and tonsils.

SYRUP OF POPPIES.

Take of the heads of white poppies, dried, 3½ lbs. double-refined sugar, 6 lbs. distilled water, 8 gallons.

Slice and bruise the heads, then boil them in the water to three gallons, and press out the decoction. Reduce this, by boiling, to about 4 pints, and strain it while hot through a sieve, then through a thin woollen cloth, and set it aside for twelve hours, that the grounds may subside. Boil the liquor poured off from the grounds to three pints, and dissolve the sugar in it, that it may be made a syrup.

This syrup, impregnated with the narcotic matter of the poppy-head, is given to children in doses of two or three drams, and to adults of from half an ounce to one ounce and upwards, for easing pain, procuring rest, and answering the other intentions of mild operations.

SYRUP OF VIOLETS.

Take of fresh flowers of the violet, 1 lb. boiling distilled water, 3 pints.

Macerate for 25 hours, and strain the liquor through a cloth, without pressing, and add double-refined sugar, to make the syrup.

This is an agreeable laxative medicine for young children.

OXYMEL OF SQUILLS.

Take of clarified honey, 3 lbs. vinegar of squills, 2 pints.

Boil them in a glass vessel, with a slow fire, to the thickness of a syrup.

Oxymel of squills is an useful aperient, detergent, and expectorant, and of great service in humoral asthmas, coughs, and other disorders where thick phlegm abounds. It is given in doses of two or three drachms, along with some aromatic water, as that of cinnamon, to prevent the great nausea which it would otherwise be apt to excite. In large doses it proves emetic.

VINEGAR OF SQUILLS.

Take of squills, recently dried, 1 pound, vinegar, 6 pints, proof spirit, ½ pint.

Macerate the squills with the vinegar, in a glass vessel, with a gentle heat, for 24 hours; then express the liquor, and set it aside until the fæces subside. To the decanted liquor add the spirit.

Vinegar of squills is a very powerful stimulant; and hence it is frequently used with great success as a diuretic and expectorant. The dose of this medicine is from a dram to half an ounce.

TAR-WATER.

Take of tar, 2 pints; water, 1 gallon.

Mix, by stirring them with a wooden rod for a quarter of an hour, and, after the tar has subsided, strain the liquor, and keep it in well corked phials.

Tar-water should have the colour of white wine, and an empyreumatic taste. It is, in fact, a solution of empyreumatic oil, effected by means of acetous acid. It acts as a stimulant raising the pulse, and increasing the discharge by the skin and kidneys. It may be drank to the extent of a pint or two in the course of a day.

DECOCTION OF SARSAPARILLA.

Take of sarsaparilla root, cut, 6 oz. distilled water, 8 pints.

After macerating for two hours, with a heat about 195 degrees, then take out the root, and bruise it; add it again to the liquor, and macerate it for two hours longer; then boil down the liquor to 4 pints, and strain it. The dose is from 4 oz. to half a pint, or more, daily.

COMPOUND DECOCTION OF SARSAPARILLA.

Take of sarsaparilla root, cut and bruised, 6 oz. the bark of sassafras root, the shavings of guaiacum wood, liquorice root, each 1 oz. the bark of mezereon root, 3 drams, distilled water, 10 pints.

Digest with a gentle heat for six hours, then boil down the liquor to one half (or 5 pints) adding the bark of the mezereon root towards the end of boiling. Strain off the liquor. The dose is the same as the last, and for the same purposes.

DECOCTION OF THE WOODS.

Take of guaiacum raspings, 3 oz. raisins, stoned, 2 oz. sassafras root, sliced, liquorice root, bruised, each 1 oz. water, 10 lbs.

Boil the guaiacum and raisins with the water, over a gentle fire, to the consumption of one half, adding, towards the end, the sassafras and liquorice, and strain the decoction without expression.

INFUSION OF ROSES.

Take of dried red roses, ½ oz. diluted vitriolic acid, 3 drams, boiling distilled water, 2½ pints, double refined sugar, 1½ oz.

First pour the water on the petals, in a close vessel, then add the diluted vitriolic acid, and macerate for half an hour. Strain the liquor when cold, and add the sugar.

EMETIC DRAUGHT.

Take of ipecacuan wine, 7 drams, antimonial wine, 1 do. syrup of violets, 1 do. rose-water, 3 do.

Make into a draught to be taken at eight in the evening; or, for an infant, give a tea-spoonful every five minutes until it operates, and half of it for a child of ten or twelve years. It has no taste.

MILD APERIENT DRAUGHT.

Take senna leaves, an ounce and a half, ginger, sliced, 1 dram, boiling water, 1 pint.

Macerate for an hour, and strain the liquor.

Two or three tea-spoonsful of Epsom salts dissolved in a wine-glassful of warm water, with 3 table-spoonsful of the above infusion of senna, and a tea-spoonful of tincture of senna, or cardamoms, will act as a mild aperient. It should be taken early in the morning, and a plentiful supply of tea, afterwards, at breakfast.

MILD PURGATIVE FOR INFANTS.

Take of manna, 1 oz. mucilage of gum arabic, oil of almonds, syrup of lemons, each 2 drams.

Of this mixture give a tea-spoonful to a child at bed-time.

CAMPHOR MIXTURE.

Take of camphor, 1 dram, rectified spirit of wine, ten drops, double-refined sugar, half an ounce, boiling distilled water, one pint.

Rub the camphor first with the spirit of wine, then with the sugar; lastly, add the water by degrees, and strain the mixture.

In the common form of camphor emulsion the union is effected, by triturating the camphor with a few almonds, the unctuous quality of which serves in a considerable degree to cover the pungency of the camphor without diminishing its activity. Camphor under the present form, as well as that of emulsion, is very useful in fevers, taken to the extent of a table-spoonful every three or four hours.

CHALK MIXTURE.

Take of prepared chalk, 1 oz. refined sugar, ½ an oz. mucilage of gum arabic, 2 oz.

Rub them together and then add by degrees, water, 2 pints, spirituous cinnamon-water, 2 ounces.

This is a very elegant form of exhibiting chalk, and is a useful remedy in diseases arising from or accompanied with acidity in the stomach, &c. It is frequently employed in diarrhœa proceeding from that cause.

TO RELIEVE FAINTING AND OTHER FITS.

The person ought to be immediately carried into the open air, and the temples should be rubbed with strong vinegar and brandy, and volatile salts or spirits held to the nose. The patient should then be laid on the back with the head low, and have a little wine or other cordial poured into the mouth. If subject to hysteric fits, castor or assafœtida should be applied to the nose, or burnt feathers, horn, or leather.

TO RELIEVE SUDDEN BLEEDING.

Dry lint put up the nostrils, pledgets of lint dipped in spirits, or weak solution of blue vitriol, or from ten to twenty drops of oil of turpentine taken in water, generally stop discharges of blood.

TO MAKE A WARM BATH.

Water for a warm bath should be rather more than a blood heat, or from 90 to 100 of the thermometer, and if a portable tin bath is not at command, and a warm bath is suddenly wanted, the quickest mode of making one, is to knock in the head of a beer or wine cask, according to the size of the patient, and every neighbourhood will supply these, as well as sufficient quantities of hot water, clean or dirty.

TO RESTORE SUSPENDED ANIMATION.

In cases of substances being stopt between the mouth and the stomach, where they cannot be extracted by the fingers or otherwise, the person should swallow a piece of meat or tow tied to a thread, which should be immediately drawn up again. Emetics are sometimes serviceable, and injections of warm milk and water frequently remove the obstructions. When animation is suspended by noxious vapours, the usual methods in fainting should be employed, and lemonade or vinegar and water given to the patient as soon as he can swallow.

When it proceeds from extreme cold, the part affected should be immersed in cold water, or rubbed with snow till they recover their natural warmth.

TO RELIEVE AN APOPLECTIC FIT.

Every method should be taken to lessen the circulation of blood towards the head; the patient should be kept easy and cool, the head raised high, and the feet suffered to hang down. The clothes should be loosened and fresh air admitted into the room, and medical assistance procured immediately for bleeding.

Apoplexy is preceded by giddiness, pain, and swimming of the head, loss of memory, &c. and on the symptoms appearing, bleeding, slender diet, and opening medicines are advisable, and often act as preventives.

TO EASE OR CURE HEAD-ACHES.

Most head-aches arise from imperfect digestion, either from acidity, or from accumulations of bile. The first cause may be removed by half a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, or by a dessert spoonful of magnesia, in a small tumbler of water. But if the cause is bilious, then two or three antibilious pills, or a pill of from two to five grains of calomel, is the best remedy, and this may be assisted in its operation by half an ounce of salts in a large tumbler of water, in the morning. Washing the head with cold water, is always salutary in habitual head-aches, particularly at rising in the mornings.

FOR CANCER.

One part of red lead, in fine powder, and two parts of hog’s-lard.—Spread on lint, and dress the sore twice a day.

FOR THE GRAVEL.

Three drams of prepared natron (which may be obtained for three-pence) in a quart of soft cold water, and take half of it in the course of the day; continue it for a few days, and the complaint will subside. It may be taken at any hour, but it is best after a meal.

FOR A COLD AND COUGH.

A large tea-cupful of linseed, two pennyworth of stick-liquorice, and a quarter of a pound of sun raisins, put to two quarts of soft water, and simmered over a slow fire, till reduced one-third or more; add thereto a quarter of a pound of sugar-candy pounded, a table-spoonful of old rum, and a table-spoonful of white wine vinegar, or lemon-juice. Note—the rum and vinegar should be added only to the quantity which is about to be taken immediately. Drink half a pint at going to bed, or a small quantity at any time when the cough is troublesome.

FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL OR WINTER COUGH, BY SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON, BART.

Take of almond emulsion, 7½ ounces; syrup of white poppies, oxymel of squills, of each two drams; compound powder of gum tragacanth, one dram. Two table-spoonsful to be taken frequently.

FOR A SORE THROAT.

Inhale the steam of hot vinegar, through the spout of a tea-pot, or a funnel, for about half an hour just before you go to bed:—also two or three times in the course of the day, and keep at home. A piece of flannel dipped in hartshorn will be serviceable, applied when going to bed. In a relaxed sore throat, a few lumps of sugar dipped in brandy, and gradually dissolved in the mouth, will be very efficacious.

FOR A COLD.

Bathe the legs and feet in warm water at night, and take, going into bed, a drink of hot whey, with 4 grains of nitre.

If a sore throat, tie round it three or four folds of flannel sprinkled with spirits.

BATHING THE FEET AND LEGS IN WARM WATER AT NIGHT.

This is an excellent remedy in all cases of colds, coughs, hoarseness, pains and head-aches; for in the above-mentioned complaints, inflammation, or undue determination of blood to the part affected, is present. After this operation the patient should instantly go to bed.

TO CLEAN THE TEETH AND GUMS, AND MAKE THE FLESH GROW CLOSE TO THE ROOT OF THE ENAMEL.

One ounce of myrrh, in fine powder, two spoonsful of the best honey, and a little sage, in fine powder, mixed together, with which rub the teeth and gums night and morning.

A PRESERVATIVE FROM THE TOOTH-ACHE.

After having washed your mouth with water, rinse the mouth with a tea-spoonful of lavender water mixed with an equal quantity of warm or cold water, to diminish its activity.

Another.

To a table-spoonful of any spirit, and the same quantity of vinegar, add a tea-spoonful of salt. When mixed, hold the liquid in your mouth, so as to enter the cavity of the tooth.

WARTS AND CORNS.

Red spurge destroys warts and corns.

WARTS.

Cut an apple, and rub it for a few minutes over the wart; the juice of the apple will loosen the wart, and in a few days it will drop off. Any strong acid, either vegetable or mineral, has the same tendency.

CORNS.

Mr. Cooper, in his Dictionary of Surgery, gives the following recipe as infallible for the cure of corns:—Take two ounces of gum ammoniac, two ounces of yellow wax, six drams of verdigris, melt them together, and spread the composition on a piece of soft leather or linen; cut away as much of the corn as you can with a knife before you apply the plaster, which must be renewed in a fortnight, if the corn is not by that time gone.

FOR BURNS OR SCALDS.

When the blisters are open, dress them with a simple white ointment spread thinly on the smooth side of lint, the first day, and every day after sprinkle a little powder of prepared chalk, and dress it as before. To alleviate the immediate pain, apply any quick evaporating fluid, as æther, spirits of wine, or brandy; or better than all, if at hand, spirits of turpentine, or rags dipped in vinegar and water, and often renewed.

Another.

Rub the part burnt every two or three hours with spirits of turpentine, or with vinegar if the skin be not broken, or vinegar and cold water. Half a pound of alum dissolved in a quart of water, likewise makes an admirable wash for a burn or scald; bathe the part with a linen rag dipped in the mixture, then bind the rag upon it with a slip of linen, and keep it moist with the alum water for two or three days, without removing the bandage.

TO EXTINGUISH FIRE WHICH MAY HAVE CAUGHT THE CLOTHES.

The mischief which arises from this accident is owing to the party standing in an erect position, because flame ascends, and feeds and accumulates in intensity during its ascent. The first remedy is, therefore, to lay the child or other person on the floor, in which position the flames will not only make no progress, but will do little or no harm to the person. The fatal consequences of this accident arise from the ascent of the flame to the throat, head, and sensitive organs, an effect which cannot take place if the body is instantly placed in an horizontal position. Sir Richard Phillips, who first promulgated this treatment, proved its efficacy by taking two strips of muslin, a yard long, and one of them, which was set on fire at the end, and held perpendicularly, burnt out with an intense flame in less than half a minute; but the other piece, laid hollow and horizontally, on being set on fire at the end, burnt even with difficulty, and twenty minutes elapsed before it was entirely consumed; the flame at the same time being inconsiderable and harmless.

After the person on fire has been laid horizontally, the best method of extinguishing the fire, is an immediate covering of any kind, and when every spark has been extinguished, spirits and water, or vinegar and water, should be applied to affected parts till the pain is removed. Adult females, whose clothes take fire, should have the presence of mind instantly to throw themselves on the floor, and in that case, no serious injury can ever arise, and if this precaution were generally known, many families would have been relieved from the unavailing affliction of the loss of dear connexions, and from the heart-rending scenes which, under other circumstances, they have been fated to witness.

FOR A BRUISED EYE.

Take conserve of red roses and rotten apple in equal quantities, wrap them in a fold of thin cambric, or old linen, and apply it to the eye; it will relieve the bruise and remove the blackness.

FOR A SPRAINED ANCLE OR WRIST.

Foment it with warm vinegar for five minutes every four hours, wet it afterwards with rectified spirit of wine, and rub it gently. Sit with the foot on a low stool, and occasionally rest upon the ancle, and move it gently backwards and forwards.

OXALIC ACID.

A heaped table-spoonful of magnesia, mixed in a middling sized tumbler of water, and drank immediately after oxalic acid has been swallowed, will save life.

FOR THE BITE OF A MAD DOG.

Take a spoonful of common salt, add as much water as will make it damp; apply it like a poultice every six hours, and it will be sure to stop the hydrophobia.

REMEDY FOR A WASP’S STING.

Over the spot where the sting has entered, apply the pipe of a key, press it for a minute or two, and the pain and swelling will disappear.

TO AVOID INJURY FROM BEES.

A wasp or bee swallowed, may be killed before it can do harm, by taking a tea-spoonful of common salt dissolved in water. It kills the insect and cures the sting. Salt, at all times, is the best cure for external stings; sweet oil, pounded mallows, or onions, or powdered chalk made into a paste with water, are also efficacious.

If bees swarm upon the head, smoke tobacco, and hold a empty hive over the head, and they will go into it.

FOR THE POISON OF THE ADDER.

Olive oil is an absolute specific for the bite (or sting, as it is erroneously called,) of the adder; the oil should be well rubbed upon the part bitten: in case of violent symptoms a glass or two should be taken inwardly. If olive oil is not at hand, common sweet oil will answer the purpose.

METHOD OF RESTORING LIFE TO THE APPARENTLY DROWNED.

Avoid all rough usage. Do not hold up the body by the feet, or roll it on casks, or rub it with salt, or spirits, or apply tobacco. Lose not a moment, carry the body, the head and shoulders raised, to the nearest house. Place it in a warm room. Let it be instantly stripped, dried, and wrapped in hot blankets, which are to be renewed when necessary. Keep the mouth, nostrils, and the throat free and clean. Apply warm substances to the back, spine, pit of the stomach, arm pits, and soles of the feet. Rub the body with heated flannel, or warm hands.—Attempt to restore breathing, by gently blowing with bellows into one nostril closing the mouth and the other nostril. Keep up the application of heat. Press down the breast carefully with both hands, and then let it rise again, and thus imitate natural breathing. Continue the rubbing, and increase it when life appears, and then give a tea-spoonful of warm water, or of very weak wine or spirits and warm water. Persevere for six hours. Send quickly for medical assistance.

THE LAND STEWARD AND BAILIFF.

To form a complete land steward, it is requisite that theory and practice should be combined. By consulting books we profit by the experience of other men, enlarge our own sphere of thinking, and add more, perhaps, to our stock of knowledge in a short space of time, than could be acquired by long and laborious practice. No land steward or even ordinary farmer should be without Young’s Farmer’s Calendar, the last edition of which, improved by Middleton, contains a body of valuable information; but Mr. Lawrence on this subject, with great propriety, recommends the reading of Tull and Miller, as the great originals on tillage; Ellis on sheep and other live stock; and the Surveys of the several Counties of the Kingdom, made, and published by the Board of Agriculture.

To these, for a further knowledge in the treatment of live stock, may be recommended a perusal of our best veterinary treatises. We must also recommend Sir John Sinclair’s Code of Agriculture, as a companion to Middleton’s edition of Young’s Calendar, and these, with Mackenzie’s Receipt Book, ought to be the standing literary furniture of every steward’s room.

The land steward should never undertake more business than he can faithfully and properly execute, and therefore should have no other occupation or profession to attend; the mere collecting of rents and giving discharges being the least considerable part of his duty.

On his first entering into office, he should make a general survey of all the estates and property entrusted to his care:—he should also form an inventory, and open a set of books on a clear and perspicuous plan, if not already done by his predecessor, taking care to enter in them a correct list of all the books, writings, deeds, schedules, court-rolls, &c. From this survey, whether left by his predecessor, or taken by himself, regular memorandums should be made in a book, of every thing necessary to be remarked or executed, of the places where deficiencies are found, or improvements may be made; of buildings and repairs necessary; insurances, dates of leases, rates, nuisances, trespasses, live and dead stock, game, timber, fencing, draining, paths, and roads, culture, commons, rivers, and sea coasts, and of every other specific article relative to his trust, which deserves attention, and therefore ought not to be committed to loose papers, or left to memory.

He should endeavour to gain a practical knowledge of the characters and conduct of inferior servants, taking nothing upon trust; but observing with his own eyes their performances early and late. A faithful steward will lose no time in detecting the peculations, and counteracting the combinations among those servants who are under his controul, which may be prejudicial to the estate of his principal; and of replacing them with servants of fair character, to whom ample wages should be allowed; and the job work, or more profitable kinds of labour, should be impartially dealt out to them, that so, all may be equally benefited, and equally satisfied.

Every farm, when surveyed, should be correctly described in a map, of which the tenant should have a copy. A Terrier should also be kept of the commonfield-lands, for the satisfaction of the tenant as well as the lord, and where the bounds of any parcel of land are dubious, they should be fixed, and properly marked out, by a jury impannelled at the manor court. The boundaries of the parish and precincts should also be ascertained, and the particular property of the lord kept entire, by the annual custom of perambulation on Holy Thursday, and its concomitant ceremonies. The steward should frequently ride round and make an eye survey of the estates, in order to obviate any disputes,—to prevent encroachments, and to afford timely advice and assistance if necessary. He should see that all repairs are duly and substantially performed according to covenant, ditches cast and scoured, water courses kept free, common rights fairly enjoyed, according to the custom of the manor, the commons not overstocked by one, in prejudice to others, observe that the underwood be cut at the stated periods, that the trees are properly lopped and topped without damage to the lord, that the wood-wards do watch and report all trespasses by cattle and otherwise, and to discourage poaching and the destruction of game, by all fair, moderate, and rational means.

The tenants should not be suffered to let their lands be over-run by moles—nor the commons and woodlands by swine unrung.

The strictest caution should be used to prevent all the produce of the estates, that is fit for manure or other useful purposes, from being alienated or carried off.

An eye ought always to be kept on the surveyor of the highways of the neighbouring parishes, to see that no nuisance exists, or bridge or highway be neglected.

Trespasses from stray cattle ought to be prevented, and if necessary punished, as well as the depredations of dogs, which often do much injury to the farmer.

It behoves the steward to support, and cause to be recognized, all the ancient manorial rights and privileges that are usually respected.

Heriots accruing from copyhold estates, ought not to be taken in kind, but a moderate fine should be levied in lieu thereof.

Encouragement should be given to improvements in cultivation. The best heads of cattle should be introduced, and any successful mode of culture recommended among the tenantry. They should also be stimulated to plant fruit-trees, as means of adding to the produce without encumbering the land.

The transactions of the steward should always be pure, incorruptible, and free even from suspicion. He ought not to sell preference, either for money or for any indirect consideration, such concession to him being in effect a robbery on the tenant, or on his employer, who is entitled to all the advantages which can accrue from his estate. If a sum of money is covertly given for preference in a lease, then the lease is worth so much more, and the proprietor is defrauded of the difference. Nothing can be more pernicious to an estate than such underhand transactions. Modest industry and merit are thereby subverted by the audacity of knaves, and the steward, from the moment he has thus sold himself becomes a dependent on the honour of the parties. Preference given to kin ought also to be avoided, and every nobleman and gentleman is justified in being jealous of the introduction of his steward’s kindred upon his estate, often to the great prejudice of his old and attached tenants.

Many stewards become the tyrants of their vicinity by an impertinent interference with the domestic economy of the families of the tenants, presuming to prescribe in regard to their dress, habits, and amusements, seeming thereby to consider them as vassals, instead of freemen, to whose industry their landlord is indebted for his ease and luxury. With these affairs the steward has no concern, and every farmer and his family should be left to their own discretion in such particulars, if they pay with regularity the average rent of their vicinity, and do not manifestly deteriorate the estate; they are, and ought to be, in all their domestic and personal concerns, and also in their opinions, religious and political, as independent of the steward, or of his employer, as these parties are of them. His interference has, in truth, tended to retard the civilization of the agricultural classes, and, in many districts, placed them one or two centuries behind the inhabitants of towns. The steward, therefore, who forbears to meddle with what does not properly concern him, will enjoy the love of tenantry, and that affection will always best promote the interest of his employers.

Whilst the steward is not unmindful of every possible improvement, he should keep in view every appearance of the existence of minerals or metals, that so the needful essays or experiments may be made under the superintendance of persons of experience and fidelity. Proximity to the sea coast, navigable rivers, canals, or great towns, will much enhance the value of such discoveries.

Every opportunity should be embraced of letting land on building leases, as a means of greatly improving the value of estates; the fitness by means of water and roads for the establishment of a manufactory, or a village, or, by being near the sea coast, for a fishery, are objects too important to be overlooked by a faithful and intelligent agent.

It has already been remarked, that the land steward should not be engaged in any business that would detract from that attention which is required in the faithful discharge of the duties of his office; and even in performing those engagements, he should occasionally be assisted, in cases of importance, where he may consider his own knowledge not sufficient, by an able professional adviser. He will most require this aid in the making of leases, deeds, agreements, and other legal instruments.

The balance of cash, which may often be considerable, ought not be allowed to lie idle in the house. All money is part of the vital blood of society, and should be kept in circulation. This may be effected either by lodging it at a country bank, where moderate interest will be allowed for it, or by discounting the notes of respectable tenants, who, at certain turns of the season, are often in want of ready money, and their notes will, in many cases, serve as cash payments for other purposes, or they may be made to fall due at periods when cash will be wanted, while it will thus be accumulating at five per cent. No risk need be incurred in such transactions, while the accommodation would add much to the prosperity of the estate. If the steward reside in London, spare cash may, in like manner, be employed at a full rate of interest, by discounting such good bills as are always to be met with at the principal brokers in and about Lombard Street; and these bills will be received by the bankers as they arrive at maturity. By this means 3 or 4 per cent may always be added to the income of a nobleman or gentleman, or sufficient to pay the wages of all the servants.

In the business of accounts, the first objects are, arrangement, perspicuity, and security. In all accounts of property, there are certain general rules which must be attended to, the chief of which are the following: 1st. Trust as little as possible to memory, but make memorandums of payments, receipts, bargains, agreements, &c. on the instant. 2d. Pay no money without receiving a proper discharge. 3d. Give up no security, lease, agreement, or other valuable property, without taking in return a written acknowledgement. 4th. Let all contingent, undecided, or uncertain transactions be forthwith entered, with every necessary remark, voucher, and reference. 5th. Post all the various transactions under their proper heads as soon as possible. 6th. Fold, label, date, and class all papers, the most valuable of which are to be deposited at the end of every year, in a secure place, with the date on the outside. Perhaps the two principal books necessary to be kept, are a day-book or journal, and a ledger, with two other books, to be called the memorandum-book, and general inventory. A portable pocket memorandum-book will also be found to be convenient. Every servant in trust under the land steward ought to be provided with an account book appropriately ruled: this book should be examined and passed monthly by the steward and an abstract of it transcribed into his journal.

FORM OF THE JOURNAL.

Journal belonging to the Right Hon. Lord Viscount A. X. Y. Steward. 1825.

Dr. Cash Cr.

Date 1825. Fol. in Ledger £ s. d. £ s. d.

Jan. 6 Agreed this day with R. P. to accept as a compensation for a Heriot, due on the death of his father, £30.

17 Rec^d. of C. L. for half year’s rent, due at Christmas last 25 0 0

21 Rec^d. of S. R. for one year’s rent in full, to do. 75 0 0

31 Paid the following persons their bills:—

T. M. saddler, as pr. bill to Xmas. 22 5 0

W. R. Smith do. do. 29 6 0

—– —– —– —– —– —–

100 0 0 51 11 0

51 11 0

—– —– —–

Balance this month. £48 9 0

The journal, spoken of, should be kept as a book of reference for every transaction that occurs, and which is to be entered daily, precisely as it occurs; and if it be afterwards found necessary, is to be entered in the ledger as a distinct and separate account—from all others. This journal will, of course, include every cash transaction, and save the trouble of keeping a separate cash-book. The cash account may be posted regularly in the ledger, under a general head, bearing that title.

In the ledger will, of course, be opened an account with every tenant, and as a consequence with Dr. and Cr.; also an account Dr. and Cr. of every article, the increase, decrease, and actual state of which, it is necessary to ascertain with precision.

The memorandum ledger being paged, and having an alphabet, is for the purpose of containing the head title of every memorandum of consequence, and pointing out the page, in the journal, where the particulars are to be found. This ought to be examined frequently, and the items that are become useless, marked out; those remaining unmarked, should, if numerous, be carried forward. The regular, or occasional deposits of leases, deeds, and other documents of importance, are invariably to be pointed out by a memorandum, as it may be of great import to successors and survivors.

From these original sources, transcripts may be made in any form required, for the use of the principal or lord. An account current of cash received and paid should be made out annually, half-yearly, or otherwise, to be examined, passed, and signed by the principal.

THE HOUSE STEWARD.

This is the most important officer in domestic establishments, and is seldom adopted except in the families of noblemen or gentlemen of great fortunes, by whom he is appointed as their locum tenens, not only to superintend such necessary business as, from their rank and condition, or other circumstances, they cannot undertake, but also to control and manage, generally, all the most important concerns of the household. It follows, therefore, that he ought to be a man of great experience in household affairs, steady and attentive in his conduct, and of approved principles and integrity. His character must be irreproachable and exemplary, that he may be regarded with confidence and satisfaction by his employers, and respected by those around him.

His chief business will be to hire, manage, and direct, and discharge every servant of every denomination. To appropriate to every domestic his proper and express business, and to see that it be done accordingly. He ought to make it a point never to take a servant without strict enquiry as to his moral character, orderly conduct, and abilities for his situation, nor ought he to withhold a fair character from any servant he discharges.