for breakfast, luncheon and supper.’ London, 1883. 5_s._
H. L. S. Lear: ‘Maigre Cookery.’ London, 1884. 2_s._
A. G. Payne: ‘Choice Dishes at small Cost.’ London, 1883. 3_s._ 6_d._
Susan Anna Brown: ‘Mrs. Gilpin’s Frugalities; remnants, and 200 ways
of using them.’ New York, 1883. 5_s._
‘The Vegetist’s Dietary, and Manual of Vegetable Cookery.’ London,
1877. 6_d._
Catherine Ryan: ‘Convalescent Cookery; a family handbook.’ London,
1881. 2_s._ 6_d._
Lady Sarah Lindsay: ‘A Few Choice Recipes.’ London, 1883. 4_s._ 6_d._
Susan Anna Brown: ‘The Book of 40 Puddings.’ New York, 1882. 2_s._
6_d._
Mrs. Matthew Clark: ‘366 Menus and 1200 Recipes of the Baron Brisse,
in French and English.’ London, 1882. 5_s._
Charles Elmé Francatelli: ‘The Modern Cook; a practical guide to the
culinary art in all its branches; comprising, in addition to English
cookery, the most approved and recherché systems of French, Italian,
and German cookery, adapted as well for the largest establishments as
for the use of private families.’ London, 1881. 12_s._
Mrs. Henry Reeve: ‘Cookery and House-keeping; a manual of domestic
economy for large and small families.’ London, 1882. 7_s._ 6_d._
Jules Gouffé: ‘The Royal Cookery Book.’ London, 1880. 10_s._ 6_d._
The _Queen_. London, weekly. 6_d._
_THE HOUSEWIFE’S ROOM._
This apartment should represent in the household the important
place occupied by the laboratory in a manufactory. In it should be
found the necessary means of examining the qualities of the various
articles consumed in the household, and of combating the evils which
surround the inmates. This statement presupposes a wide knowledge on
the part of the housewife, who, indeed, is often expected to know
more than many professors--hence the value of a book like the present
as a guide. For facility of reference, the main facts useful to the
housewife in her daily duties, i.e. facts which she is particularly
called upon to know outside the ordinary routine of cooking and
housework, will be grouped together in sections.
=Testing.=--Chemistry is a valuable science, and more fully
appreciated every day in its application to home matters; but the
average housewife cannot be expected to qualify herself as an
analyst. At the same time there are many simple tests for the purity
of air, water, and foods that can easily be brought within the range
of an ordinarily intelligent woman, and will be found of great
service.
_Air._--Apart from poisonous gases due to sewers, &c., there is a
constituent of air, which, in excess, becomes poisonous also. This is
carbonic acid. Wholesome air does not contain more than 5 volumes of
carbonic acid in 10,000; as the proportion increases, the quality of
the air deteriorates till it becomes actively poisonous. The simplest
method of estimating approximately the proportion of carbonic acid
present in the air of a room is by shaking up a small quantity of
lime water with a certain amount of the air to be tested. The lime
water is prepared by shaking slaked lime with distilled water,
allowing it to settle, and then carefully drawing off the clear
liquid by a siphon, so as not to disturb the sediment. It can be
obtained from any druggist, but should be freshly made.
When this lime water is shaken up in a bottle of air containing
carbonic acid, the acid combines with the lime, forming an insoluble
powder of carbonate of lime, and when this is in sufficient quantity
it makes the water turbid, or milky, so that it can be recognised
by the eye. By having a series of bottles of various sizes, filling
them with the air to be tested, placing in each bottle a large
tablespoonful of lime water, and then shaking them vigorously for
3 or 4 minutes, so that all the air in the bottle shall be brought
in contact with the lime water, and all the carbonic acid be taken
up by the lime, we shall find that in one bottle of the series the
turbidity is just perceptible, while in bottles of less size the
fluid remains clear, and in those of greater size it is dense.
The following table is given by Dr. Smart as expressing the relation
between the size of the bottle in which turbidity occurs and the
volume of carbonic acid in the air:--
+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+
| Size of | Carbonic Acid || Size of | Carbonic Acid |
| Bottle in | in volumes per || Bottle in | in volumes per |
| fluid ounces.| 10,000 air. || fluid ounces.| 10,000 air. |
+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+
| 20.6 | 3 || 5.5 | 12 |
| 15.6 | 4 || 5.1 | 13 |
| 12.5 | 5 || 4.8 | 14 |
| 10.5 | 6 || 4.5 | 15 |
| 9.1 | 7 || 3.5 | 20 |
| 8.0 | 8 || 2.9 | 25 |
| 7.2 | 9 || 2.5 | 30 |
| 6.5 | 10 || 2.0 | 40 |
| 6.0 | 11 || | |
+--------------+----------------++--------------+----------------+
If an 8 oz. bottle shows turbidity, the presence of more than 8
volumes per 10,000 is indicated; how much more must be determined
by a second experiment. Taking a 6½ oz. bottle, the air is known
to contain less than 10 volumes if no precipitate is developed.
The carbonic acid can then be stated as constituting from 8 to
10 volumes per 10,000 of the air. But a third experiment with a
bottle intermediate in size will correspondingly reduce the limits
of uncertainty regarding the carbonic acid figure. There is no
test-paper which can be made practically useful as a quantitative
test for carbonic acid. (_Sanitary Engineer._)
_Water._--The tests for water embrace impurities which affect the
character of water for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes.
Drinking-water should not be too soft, as it provides much of the
lime required in building up the bones of the body; the chief evil in
drinking-water is the presence of organic ferments. For cooking and
washing purposes, water cannot be too soft, and, if used boiled, the
presence of organic matters is practically neutralised.
Drinking-water.--In 1871, Dr. Hager published a valuable and
simple test for the presence of fermentable poisonous matter. He
proposed a tablespoonful of a clear solution of tannin to be added
to a tumblerful of water. If no gelatinous turbidity occurs within
5 hours, the water may be considered good. If turbidity occurs
within the first hour, the water is unwholesome. If turbidity is
displayed within the second hour, the water is not to be recommended.
Previously, in 1866, Dr. Hager had recommended for travellers,
as a precaution in cholera times, the addition of the following
solution (20 drops to 1 pint) to any water they might be about to
drink:--Tannic acid, 5 parts; syrup, 4 parts; distilled water, 6
parts; spirit of wine, 12½ parts.
A very simple test for the purity of water is given by Heisch. He
observes that good water should be free from colour, and unpleasant
odour and flavour, and should quickly afford a good lather with a
small proportion of soap. If ½ pint of water be placed in a clean
colourless glass-stoppered bottle, a few grains of the best white
lump sugar added, and the bottle freely exposed to the daylight in
the window of a warm room, the liquid should not become turbid, even
after exposure for a week or 10 days. If, while the stopper remains
secure, the water becomes turbid, it is open to grave suspicion of
sewage contamination; but if it remains clear, it is almost certainly
safe for drinking and all domestic purposes.
Hard or Soft Water.--Dissolve a small quantity of good soap in
alcohol. Let a few drops fall into a glass of water. If it turns
milky, it is hard; if not, it is soft.
Earthy Matters or Alkali.--Take litmus paper dipped in vinegar, and
if, on immersion, the paper returns to its true shade, the water does
not contain earthy matter or alkali. If a few drops of syrup be added
to a water containing an earthy matter, it will turn green.
Carbonic Acid.--Take equal parts of water and clear lime water. If
combined or free carbonic acid is present, a precipitate is seen, in
which, if a few drops of muriatic acid be added, an effervescence
commences.
Magnesia.--Boil the water to 1/20 part of its weight, and then drop a
few grains of neutral carbonate of ammonia into a glass of it, and a
few drops of phosphate of soda. If magnesia be present, it will fall
to the bottom.
Iron.--(_a_) Boil a little nut-gall, and add to the water. If it
turns grey or slate colour, iron is present. (_b_) Dissolve a little
prussiate of potash, and if iron is present, it will turn blue.
Lime.--Into a glass of the water put 2 drops oxalic acid, and blow
upon it; if it gets milky, lime is present.
Acid.--Take a piece of litmus paper. If it turns red, there must be
acid. If it precipitates on adding lime water, it is carbonic acid.
If a blue sugar-paper is turned red, it is a mineral acid, and there
would be reason to suspect poisonous metallic salts.
_Foods._--Foods are adulterated in three principal ways, viz.:--(1)
By replacing a superior article or ingredient by an inferior or
cheaper substitute, (2) by adding foreign matters capable of giving
an appearance of superiority, (3) by adding water to increase the
weight, this being often accompanied by incorporating foreign
materials which absorb much water though perhaps otherwise harmless.
Bread.--Pure flour (wheaten) may be replaced by various meals of
inferior nutritive value and lower price; if done on a scale to
repay the baker, their presence can be at once detected under the
microscope. This kind of adulteration is nearly always accompanied
by the use of alum, which improves the appearance of bread made
from inferior flour, and enables it to hold much more water. The
presence of alum can be ascertained easily and rapidly by the logwood
test: soak some crumbs of bread for 6 or 7 minutes in an alcoholic
solution of logwood containing an excess of carbonate of ammonia,
and squeeze it--a more or less deep blue colour is produced. Alum is
often used too to hide the employment of damaged flour, containing
perhaps only 7 per cent. of gluten instead of 12. The presence of
mineral adulterants, which seldom occurs, is proved by burning a
sample of the bread and weighing the ash, which should not exceed
7 parts in 1000. Bread is sometimes made of the flour from wheat
which has “sprouted” or germinated, and is then inferior. This
can only be ascertained by examining the flour: if it has a musty
odour and flavour and an acid reaction, the flour has probably
been damp for some time; if there is no mustiness but only an acid
reaction, sprouted wheat has been employed. The acid reaction is
best discovered by stirring some of the flour in water, filtering,
and testing with a solution of corallin rendered red with a trace of
alkali; if the flour is acid it turns yellow.
Butter.--Cheap butters largely consist of admixtures with other
animal fats, especially that known as “butterine” or “bosch.”
Analysis of suspected butter could hardly be undertaken by the
housewife, but the presence of butterine is probable if the butter
breaks in a crumbly manner and loses its colour on being kept melted
for a short time at the temperature of boiling water (212° F.).
Milk.--Adulteration chiefly consists in adding water to skim milk and
in mixing skim milk with that sold as new. Analysis is possible only
to the skilled chemist, but a rough test may be made. The lactoscope
devised by Dr. Bond, of Gloucester, is based on the principle of that
of Prof. Feser, of Munich, in which the opacity of fresh milk is
taken as proportionate to the amount of butter fat. It is useful as
providing a ready means of determining with approximate accuracy the
richness of milk, and is therefore a rough but sufficient test where
adulteration is suspected. As supplied by the Sanitary and Œconomic
Association of Gloucester, it consists of a little glass dish with
some black horizontal lines on the base, a small measure, and a sort
of pipette. The measure is filled with water and emptied into the
dish; the pipette is filled with the milk to be tested, which is then
dropped into the water, the drops being counted. The mixture of water
and milk is stirred, and when the horizontal lines can no longer
be seen, say, from a height of 2 ft., the number of drops of milk
used are compared with a table supplied, and the approximate amount
of butter-fat is read off. This instrument must not be confounded
with the various lactometers, which aim at estimating the quality
of a milk by its density (specific gravity)--an utterly erroneous
proceeding, seeing that a poor milk will often show a higher density
than a rich one.
For new milk a capital test is to pour a small quantity into an
ordinary glass test-tube graduated from 0 at the top to 100 at the
bottom; on allowing the sample to stand, cream will form, and its
proportion can be read off at a glance, always allowing 20 hours’
rest. Good new milk should show an average of 11½ per cent. of cream,
and will sometimes reach 80 per cent. The quality of skim milk is
less easy to estimate by ready means. It should average not less than
1 part of fat in 1000.
As a precaution against possible infection by diseased milk, it
is advisable to let all milk be boiled before use, as the boiling
temperature is fatal to the disease germs. Such milk, however, is not
so digestible or palatable to many people.
Tea.--The present low prices of tea do not afford much scope for
profitable adulteration in this country. The chief falsifications
to be on the look out for are the artificial colouring of green
teas, which, naturally, are hardly distinguishable from black; and
the substitution of re-rolled exhausted leaves for genuine fresh
leaves. There is also in cheap teas often a considerable proportion
of mineral matter, i.e. added dirt. This last can be readily detected
by chewing a small quantity of the leaf, when dirt will be felt in
the mouth. The presence of exhausted leaves will be manifested by the
increased weight of solid matters left on boiling a sample repeatedly
and drying the residue. With genuine teas, the average weight of
leaves (dried) remaining after exhaustion is 65 per cent.; therefore
1 oz. of tea thoroughly boiled should not give more than ⅔ oz. of
exhausted leaves weighed after drying. If the figure is higher, the
addition of exhausted leaves to the original tea may be suspected.
Coffee.--Coffee-berries can scarcely be adulterated without easy
detection, therefore the best safeguard is to buy the berries and
grind them at home. Ground coffee is nearly always adulterated with
chicory: in fact a certain proportion is allowed by law, and the
chicory is itself often largely mixed with various rubbish which
by roasting gives a brown colour to water. The simplest plan for
detecting the sophistication of ground coffee is to sprinkle some in
a glass of cold water: pure coffee will not colour the water for some
time, while chicory and its substitutes will do so immediately.
Cocoa.--This is never sold in the pure state, and no two preparations
are alike. The only safeguard is to buy it in packets bearing
the name of one of the well-known makers, whose preparations are
wholesome and adapted to the demands of the palate.
Pickles.--Pickles and preserved vegetables are often coloured highly
by the addition of copper or by boiling the articles in copper
vessels. The presence of copper, even in very small proportion, can
be easily and rapidly detected by plunging a bright knife-blade into
the vessel for a few moments, when, if copper be present, it will
coat the knife. Another evil in cheap pickles is the adulteration
of the vinegar by means of sulphuric and other acids, generally
sulphuric, that being one of the cheapest. A very small addition of
sulphuric acid can be detected by pouring a few drops of the vinegar
on a small piece of lump sugar and then evaporating the vinegar away
on a water bath; the residue will become more or less blackened
(carbonised) according to the amount of free mineral acid present.
(Hassall.) A water bath can be extemporised out of a china tea-saucer
placed on a small saucepan in which water is boiling. A further risk
in vinegar containing sulphuric acid is that the acid has been made
from pyrites and is contaminated with arsenic.
Pepper.--Pepper-corns may readily be judged by tasting; they cannot
easily be replaced by other seeds, but may have been damaged by
sea water and retain but little pungency. Ground pepper is often
adulterated with flour or starch, whose presence is at once revealed
by the microscope. The same may be said of most spices.
Obviously the housewife cannot conduct a critical chemical analysis
of any article coming into her household; the most she can do is to
detect the presence of inferior or injurious goods. Where analyses
are desired, the author will provide them on the terms stated below,
on samples being sent to the publishers of this volume, with the
necessary instructions:--
1. Chemical and microscopical examination of water,
each sample £2 2 0
2. Chemical examination of bread, flour, lard, butter,
jam, marmalade, sauces, ale, wine, spirits, for
adulteration only, each sample 1 1 0
3. Chemical examination of milk, coffee, tea, spices,
pickles, and sweetmeats, for adulteration only,
each sample 0 10 6
=Cleaning and Renovating.=--This is a wide and important subject,
embracing not only the person and personal attire, but also the
furniture and fittings of the dwelling and the various utensils of
the household. Classification is adopted as far as possible.
_Chip or Straw Goods._--To Clean.--Wash in warm soap liquor, well
brushing them both inside and out; then rinse in cold water, and they
are ready for bleaching.
To Bleach.--(_a_) Put a small quantity of salts of sorrel (oxalic
acid) into a clean pan, and pour on it sufficient scalding water to
cover the bonnet or hat. Put the bonnet or hat into this liquor, and
let it remain in it for about 5 minutes; to keep it covered, hold
it down with a clean stick. Dry in the sun or before a clear fire.
(_b_) Having first dried the bonnet or hat, put it, together with a
saucer of burning sulphur, into a box with a tight-closing lid. Cover
it over to keep it in the fumes, and let it remain for a few hours.
The disadvantage of bleaching with sulphur is that the articles so
bleached soon become yellow, which does not happen to them when they
are bleached by oxalic acid.
To Finish or Stiffen.--After cleaning and bleaching, white bonnets
should be stiffened with parchment size. Black or coloured bonnets
are finished with a size made from the best glue.
Straw or chip plaits, or leghorn hats and bonnets, may also be
cleaned, bleached, and finished as above.
_Feathers._--(_a_) To clean feathers from their own animal oil, steep
them in 1 gal. water mixed with 1 lb. lime, stir them well, then
pour off the water, and rinse the feathers in cold spring water. To
clean feathers from dirt, simply wash them in hot water with soap.
Rinse them in hot water. (_b_) To clean white ostrich feathers: 4
oz. white curd soap cut small, dissolved in 4 pints water, rather
hot, in a basin. Make the solution into a lather by beating it with
birch rods, or wires. Introduce the feathers and rub well with the
hands for 5 or 6 minutes. After the soaping, wash in clean water as
hot as the hand can bear. Shake until dry. (_c_) Slightly soften
the soiled feathers with warm water, using a camel’s-hair brush.
Next raise each feather with a flat piece of wood or paper-knife,
and clean them with spirits of wine. Dry with plaster-of-Paris, and
afterwards brush them carefully with a dry camel’s-hair brush. (_d_)
Make a strong solution of salt in water, saturate a large and thick
cloth with it. Wrap the bird up in the damp cloth in as many folds as
you can, not disarranging the plumage. Look at the bird in 6 hours,
and if not long dried on the blood will be soft; if not soft, keep it
in the cloth longer, and re-wet it. When soft, rub out with gentle
pressure, putting something hard under each feather with blood on,
and rubbing with the back of a knife. Of course each feather must
be done separately. (_e_) Col. Wragge treated the soiled plumage of
albatrosses, Cape petrel, &c., by simply washing the feathers in
rain water, after the process of skinning, and then laying a thick
mixture of starch and water over the portion to be cleansed. Next he
laid the birds aside, and left them till the plastering of starch had
become thoroughly dry. He then removed the dry plaster by tapping it,
and found that the feathers had become much cleaner. Old specimens
may be cleaned in this way. Feathers may be “set” by just arranging
them naturally with a needle or any pointed instrument. (_f_)
White.--Dissolve 4 oz. white soap in 2 qt. boiling water; put it into
a large basin or small pan, and beat to a strong lather with a wire
egg-beater or a small bundle of birch twigs; use while warm. Hold
the feather by the quill with the left hand, dip it into the soap
liquor and squeeze it through the right hand, using a moderate degree
of pressure. Continue this operation until the feather is perfectly
clean and white, using a second lot of soap liquor if necessary.
Rinse in clean hot water to take out the soap, and afterwards in cold
water in which a small quantity of blue has been dissolved. Shake
well, and dry before a moderate fire, shaking it occasionally that it
may look full and soft when dried. Before it is quite dry, curl each
fibre separately with a blunt knife or ivory paper-folder.
Coloured.--These are to be cleaned, and rinsed in warm and cold
water, as above, but not rinsed in blue water. Coloured feathers may
also be cleaned in a mixture of 1 part fresh gall and 3 of lukewarm
water, washing them in this mixture in the same manner as in the soap
liquor. But they will require more rinsing when done by this method,
in order to take off all smell of the gall. Dry and curl as before.
Grebe.--Carefully take out the lining, and wash with warm water and
soap, as directed for white ostrich feathers, but do not shake them
until they are quite dry. Before re-making, carefully repair any
rents there may be in the skin.
To Purify Feathers for Beds, Pillows, &c.--Prepare a quantity of lime
water in the following manner: Well mix 1 lb. quicklime in each gal.
of water required, and let it stand until all the undissolved lime
is precipitated, as a fine powder, to the bottom of the tub or pan,
then pour off the clear liquor for use. The number of gallons to be
prepared will, of course, depend on the quantity of feathers to be
cleaned. Put the feathers into a clean tub, pour the lime water on
them, and well stir them in it until they all sink to the bottom.
There should then be sufficient of the lime water to cover them to
a depth of 3 in. Let them stand in this for 3 or 4 days, then take
them out, drain them in a sieve, and afterwards well wash and rinse
them in clean water. Dry on nets having a mesh about the same size
as a cabbage net; shake the net occasionally, and the dry feathers
will fall through. When they are dried, beat them well to get rid of
the dust. It will take about 3 weeks to clean and dry a sufficient
quantity for a bed. This process was awarded the prize offered by the
Society of Arts.
_Fenders._--(_a_) Have your bright steel fenders and fire-irons well
rubbed with mercurial ointment, and leave all bright parts smeared
over with it; they will not rust while left all winter. (_b_) Rub
them well with sperm oil; after which some people put unslaked lime.
Wrap the fenders in paper to keep off dust. (_c_) Take a piece of raw
mutton fat (the loin fat is best) and melt it in front of the fire,
and rub it thickly all over the bright fenders and fire-irons, and
then do them up in several thicknesses of brown paper; you will find
them free from rust in the spring. The fat must be raw, not cooked,
and melted just enough to rub on.