temples; and after the bleeding has ceased, a small blister may be
tried, with a little opening medicine. Much benefit has been derived
from shaving the head, cutting the hair, and bathing the feet in warm
water. If the inflammation has arisen from particles of iron or steel
falling into the eyes, the offending matter is best extracted by the
application of the loadstone. If eyes are blood-shotten, the necessary
rules are, an exclusion from light, cold fomentations, and abstinence
from animal food and stimulating liquors. For a bruise in the eye,
occasioned by any accident, the best remedy is a rotten apple, and some
conserve of roses. Fold them in a piece of thin cambric, apply it to the
part affected, and it will take out the bruise.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. This is a complaint that requires great
care. If the belly be swelled, and painful to the touch, apply flannels
to it, dipped in hot water and wrung out, or use a warm bath. A blister
should be employed as soon as possible, and mild emollient injections of
gruel or barley water, till stools be obtained. The patient should be
placed between blankets, and supplied with light gruel; and when the
violence of the disorder is somewhat abated, the pain may be removed by
opiate clysters. A common bread and milk poultice, applied as warm as
possible to the part affected, has also been attended with great
success: but as this disorder is very dangerous, it would be proper to
call in medical assistance without delay.
INK. To make an excellent writing ink, take a pound of the best Aleppo
galls, half a pound of copperas, a quarter of a pound of gum arabic, and
a quarter of a pound of white sugar candy. Bruise the galls and beat the
other ingredients fine, and infuse them together in three quarts of
rain water. Let the mixture stand by the fire three or four days, and
then boil it gently over a slow fire; or if infused in cold water, and
afterwards well strained, it will nearly answer the same purpose. Care
must be taken to obtain good materials, and to mix them in due
proportion. To preserve the ink from mouldiness, it should be put into a
large glass bottle with a ground stopper, and frequently shaked; but if
a crust be formed, it should be carefully taken out, and not mixed with
the ink. A little more gum and sugar candy may be added, to render the
ink more black and glossy; but too much will make it sticky, and unfit
for use.--Another method is to bruise a pound of good galls, black and
heavy, and put them into a stone jar. Then pour on a gallon of rain
water, nearly of a boiling heat, and let it stand by the fire about a
fortnight. Afterwards add four ounces of green copperas or sulphate of
iron, four ounces of logwood shavings, one ounce of alum, one of sugar
candy, and four of gum arabic. Let the whole remain about two days
longer in a moderate heat, stir the ingredients together once or twice a
day, and keep the jar slightly covered. The ink is then to be strained
through a flannel, put into a bottle with a little brandy at the top,
well corked, and set by for use in a temperate place. A few cloves
bruised with gum arabic, and put into the bottle, will prevent the ink
from getting mouldy; and if some of superior quality be required, white
wine or vinegar must be used instead of water.
INK POWDER. For the convenience of travellers by sea or by land, ink
powders have been invented, which consist of nothing else than the
substances employed in the composition of common ink, pounded and
pulverized, so that it be instantaneously converted into ink by mixing
it up with a little water. Walkden's ink powder is by far the best.
INK STAINS. The stains of ink, on cloth, paper, or wood, may be removed
by almost all acids; but those acids are to be preferred, which are
least likely to injure the texture of the stained substance. The
muriatic acid, diluted with five or six times its weight of water, may
be applied to the spot; and after a minute or two, may be washed off,
repeating the application as often as it is found necessary. But the
vegetable acids are attended with less risk, and are equally effectual.
A solution of lemon or tartareous acid, in water, may be applied to the
most delicate fabrics, without any danger of injuring them: and the same
solution will discharge writing, but not printing ink. Hence they may be
employed in cleaning books which have been defaced by writing on the
margin, without impairing the text. Lemon juice and the juice of sorrel
will also remove ink stains, but not so easily as the concrete acid of
lemons, or citric acid. On some occasions it will be found sufficient,
only to dip the spotted part in the fine melted tallow of a mould
candle, and afterwards wash it in the usual way.
INSECTS. The most effectual remedy against the whole tribe of insects,
which prey upon plants and vegetables, is the frequent use of sulphur,
which should be dusted upon the leaves through a muslin rag or dredging
box, or fumed on a chaffing dish of burning charcoal. This application
will also improve the healthiness of plants, as well as destroy their
numerous enemies. Another way is to boil together an equal quantity of
rue, wormwood, and tobacco, in common water, so as to make the liquor
strong, and then to sprinkle it on the leaves every morning and evening.
By pouring boiling water on some tobacco and the tender shoots of
elder, a strong decoction may also be made for this purpose, and shed
upon fruit trees with a brush: the quantity, about an ounce of tobacco
and two handfuls of elder to a gallon of water. Elder water sprinkled on
honeysuckles and roses, will prevent insects from lodging on them. If a
quantity of wool happen to be infected with insects, it may be cleansed
in the following manner. Dissolve a pound of alum, and as much cream of
tartar, in a quart of boiling water, and add two full gallons of cold
water to it. The wool is then to be soaked in it for several days, and
afterwards to be washed and dried.
INSIDE OF A SIRLOIN. Cut out all the meat and a little fat, of the
inside of a cold sirloin of beef, and divide it into pieces of a
finger's size and length. Dredge the meat with flour, and fry it in
butter, of a nice brown. Drain the butter from the meat, and toss it up
in a rich gravy, seasoned with pepper, salt, anchovy, and shalot. It
must not be suffered to boil; and before serving, add two spoonfuls of
vinegar. Garnish with crimped parsley.
INVISIBLE INK. Boil half an ounce of gold litharge well pounded, with a
little vinegar in a brass vessel for half an hour. Filter the liquid
through paper, and preserve it in a bottle closely corked. This ink is
to be used with a clean pen, and the writing when dry will become
invisible. But if at any time it be washed over with the following
mixture, it will instantly become black and legible. Put some quicklime
and red orpiment in water, place some warm ashes under it for a whole
day, filter the liquor, and cork it down. Whenever applied in the
slightest degree, it will render the writing visible.
IRISH BEEF. To twenty pounds of beef, put one ounce of allspice, a
quarter of an ounce of mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and half an ounce
each of pepper and saltpetre. Mix all together, and add some common
salt. Put the meat into a salting pan, turn it every day, and rub it
with the seasoning. After a month take out the bone, and boil the meat
in the liquor it was pickled in, with a proper quantity of water. It may
be stuffed with herbs, and eaten cold.
IRISH PANCAKES. Beat eight yolks and four whites of eggs, strain them
into a pint of cream, sweeten with sugar, and add a grated nutmeg. Stir
three ounces of butter over the fire, and as it melts pour it to the
cream, which should be warm when the eggs are put to it. Mix it smooth
with nearly half a pint of flour, and fry the pancakes very thin; the
first with a bit of butter, but not the others. Serve up several at a
time, one upon another.
IRISH STEW. Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or
loin; four pounds of potatoes, peeled and divided; and half a pound of
onions, peeled and sliced. Put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a
stewpan, then a couple of chops, and some of the onions, and so on till
the pan is quite full. Add a small spoonful of white pepper, about one
and a half of salt, and three quarters of a pint of broth or gravy.
Cover all close down, so as to prevent the escape of steam, and let them
stew two hours on a very slow fire. It must not be suffered to burn, nor
be done too fast: a small slice of ham will be an agreeable addition.
IRON MOULDS. Wet the injured part, rub on a little of the essential salt
of lemons, and lay it on a hot waterplate. If the linen becomes dry, wet
it and renew the process, observing that the plate is kept boiling hot.
Much of the powder sold under the name of salt of lemons is a spurious
preparation, and therefore it is necessary to dip the linen in a good
deal of water, and to wash it as soon as the stain is removed, in order
to prevent the part from being worn into holes by the acid.
IRON POTS. To cure cracks or fissures in iron pots or pans, mix some
finely sifted lime with whites of eggs well beaten, till reduced to a
paste. Add some iron file dust, and apply the composition to the injured
part, and it will soon become hard and fit for use.
IRON AND STEEL. Various kinds of polished articles, in iron and steel,
are in danger of being rusted and spoiled, by an exposure to air and
moisture. A mixture of nearly equal quantities of fat, oil varnish, and
the rectified spirits of turpentine, applied with a sponge, will give a
varnish to those articles, which prevents their contracting any spots of
rust, and preserves their brilliancy, even though exposed to air and
water. Common articles of steel or iron may be preserved from injury by
a composition of one pound of fresh lard, an ounce of camphor, two drams
of black lead powder, and two drams of dragon's blood in fine powder,
melted over a slow fire, and rubbed on with a brush or sponge, after it
has been left to cool.
ISINGLASS JELLY. Boil an ounce of isinglass in a quart of water, with a
few cloves, lemon peel, or wine, till it is reduced to half the
quantity. Then strain it, and add a little sugar and lemon juice.
ISSUE OINTMENT. For dressing blisters, in order to keep them open, make
an ointment of half an ounce of Spanish flies finely powdered, mixed
with six ounces of yellow basilicon ointment.
ITALIAN BEEF STEAKS. Cut a fine large steak from a rump that has been
well kept, or from any tender part. Beat it, and season with pepper,
salt, and onion. Lay it in an iron stewpan that has a cover to fit it
quite close, and set it by the side of the fire without water. It must
have a strong heat, but care must be taken that it does not burn: in two
or three hours it will be quite tender, and then serve with its own
gravy.
ITCH. Rub the parts affected with the ointment of sulphur, and keep the
body gently open by taking every day a small dose of sulphur and
treacle. When the cure is effected, let the clothes be carefully
fumigated with sulphur, or the contagion will again be communicated. The
dry itch requires a vegetable diet, and the liberal use of
anti-scorbutics: the parts affected may be rubbed with a strong
decoction of tobacco.
IVORY. Bones and ivory may be turned to almost any use, by being
softened in the following manner. Boil some sage in strong vinegar,
strain the liquor through a piece of cloth, and put in the articles. In
proportion to the time they are steeped in the liquor, ivory or bones
will be capable of receiving any new impression.
J.
JAPAN BLACKING. Take three ounces of ivory black, two ounces of coarse
sugar, one ounce of sulphuric acid, one ounce of muriatic acid, a lemon,
a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and a pint of vinegar. First mix the
ivory black and sweet oil together, then the lemon and sugar, with a
little vinegar to qualify the blacking; then add both the acids, and mix
them all well together. The sugar, oil, and vinegar prevent the acids
from injuring the leather, and add to the lustre of the blacking.--A
cheap method is to take two ounces of ivory black, an ounce and a half
of brown sugar, and half a table-spoonful of sweet oil. Mix them well,
and then gradually add half a pint of small beer.--Or take a quarter of
a pound of ivory black, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a
table-spoonful of flour, a piece of tallow about the size of a walnut,
and a small piece of gum arabic. Make a paste of the flour, and whilst
hot, put in the tallow, then the sugar, and afterwards mix the whole
well together in a quart of water.
JARGANEL PEARS. These may be preserved in a fine state, in the following
manner. Pare them very thin, simmer in a thin syrup, and let them lie a
day or two. Make the syrup richer, and simmer them again. Repeat this
till they are clear; then drain, and dry them in the sun or a cool oven
a very little time. They may also be kept in syrup, and dried as wanted,
which makes them more moist and rich.
JAUNDICE. The diet of persons affected with the jaundice ought to be
light and cooling, consisting chiefly of ripe fruits, and mild
vegetables. Many have been effectually cured, by living for several days
on raw eggs. Buttermilk whey sweetened with honey, or an infusion of
marshmallow roots, ought to constitute the whole of the patient's drink.
Honey, anti-scorbutics, bitters, and blisters applied to the region of
the liver, have all been found serviceable in the cure of the jaundice.
JELLY FOR COLD FISH. Clean a maid, and put it into three quarts of
water, with a calf's foot, or cow heel. Add a stick of horseradish, an
onion, three blades of mace, some white pepper, a piece of lemon peel,
and a good slice of lean gammon. Stew it to a jelly, and strain it off.
When cold, remove every particle of fat, take it up from the sediment,
and boil it with a glass of sherry, the whites of four or five eggs, and
a piece of lemon. Boil without stirring; after a few minutes set it by
to stand half an hour, and strain it through a bag or sieve, with a
cloth in it. Cover the fish with it when cold.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. These must be taken up the moment they are boiled
enough, or they will be too soft. They may be served plain, or with
fricassee sauce.
JUGGED HARE. After cleaning and skinning an old hare, cut it up, and
season it with pepper, salt, allspice, pounded mace, and a little
nutmeg. Put it into a jar with an onion, a clove or two, a bunch of
sweet herbs, a piece of coarse beef, and the carcase bones over all. Tie
the jar down with a bladder and strong paper, and put it into a saucepan
of water up to the neck, but no higher. Keep the water boiling five
hours. When it is to be served, boil up the gravy with flour and butter;
and if the meat get cold, warm it up in the gravy, but do not boil it.
JUGGED VEAL. Cut some slices of veal, and put them into an earthen jug,
with a blade of mace, a little pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Add a sprig of
sweet herbs, and a bit of lemon peel. Cover the jug close, that the
steam may not escape; set it in a pot of boiling water, and about three
hours will do it. Half an hour before it is done, put in a piece of
butter rolled in flour, and a little lemon juice, or lemon pickle. Turn
it out of the jug into a dish, take out the herbs and lemon peel, and
send it to table garnished with lemon.
JUMBLES. Powder and sift half a pound of fine lump sugar, and mix it
with half a pound of dried flour. Beat up two eggs in a table-spoonful
of orange or rose water, shred the peel of half a lemon very fine, mix
the whole together, and make it into a paste. Cut the paste into fancy
shapes, bake them slightly on tins, and take them out of the oven as
soon as the edges begin to brown.
K.
KETCHUP. The liquor obtained from mushrooms, approaches the nearest to
meat gravy, in flavour and quality, of any other vegetable juice, and is
the best substitute for it, in any of those savoury dishes intended to
please the palate. But in order to have it wholesome and good, it must
be made at home, the mushrooms employed in preparing ketchup for sale
being generally in a state of putrefaction; and in a few days after the
mushrooms are gathered, they become the habitation of myriads of
insects. In order to procure and preserve the flavour of the vegetable
for any considerable time, the mushrooms should be sought from the
beginning of September, and care taken to select only the right sort,
and such as are fresh gathered. Full grown flaps are the best for
ketchup. Place a layer of these at the bottom of a deep earthen pan, and
sprinkle them with salt; then another layer of mushrooms, and some more
salt on them, and so on alternately. Let them remain two or three hours,
by which time the salt will have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered
them easy to break. Then pound them in a mortar, or mash them with the
hand, and let them remain two days longer, stirring them up, and mashing
them well each day. Then pour them into a stone jar, and to each quart
add an ounce of whole black pepper. Stop the jar very close, set it in a
stewpan of boiling water, and keep it boiling at least for two hours.
Take out the jar, pour the juice clear from the settlings through a hair
sieve into a clean stewpan, and let it boil very gently for half an
hour. If intended to be exquisitely fine, it may be boiled till reduced
to half the quantity. It will keep much better in this concentrated
state, and only half the quantity be required. Skim it well in boiling,
and pour it into a clean dry jar; cover it close, let it stand in a cool
place till the next day, and then pour it off as gently as possible, so
as not to disturb the settlings. If a table-spoonful of brandy be added
to each pint of ketchup, after standing a while, a fresh sediment will
be deposited, from which the liquor is quietly to be poured off, and
bottled into half pints, as it is best preserved in small quantities,
which are soon used. It must be closely corked and sealed down, or
dipped in bottle cement, that the air may be entirely excluded. If kept
in a cool dry place, it may be preserved for a long time; but if it be
badly corked, and kept in a damp place, it will soon spoil. Examine it
from time to time, by placing a strong light behind the neck of the
bottle; and if any pellicle appears about it, it must be boiled up again
with a few peppercorns. No more spice is required than what is necessary
to feed the ketchup, and keep it from fermenting. Brandy is the best
preservative to all preparations of this kind.
KEEPING PROVISIONS. When articles of food are procured, the next thing
to be considered is, how they may be best preserved, in order to their
being dressed. More waste is oftentimes occasioned by the want of
judgment or of necessary care in this particular, than by any other
means; and what was procured with expense and difficulty is rendered
unwholesome, or given to the dogs. Very few houses have a proper place
to keep provisions in; the best substitute is a hanging-safe, suspended
in an airy situation. A well-ventilated larder, dry and shady, would be
better for meat and poultry, which require to be kept a proper time to
be ripe and tender. The most consummate skill in culinary matters, will
not compensate the want of attention to this particular. Though animal
food should be hung up in the open air, till its fibres have lost some
degree of their toughness; yet if kept till it loses its natural
sweetness, it is as detrimental to health as it is disagreeable to the
taste and smell. As soon therefore as you can detect the slightest trace
of putrescence, it has reached its highest degree of tenderness, and
should be dressed immediately. Much of course will depend on the state
of the atmosphere: if it be warm and humid, care must be taken to dry
the meat with a cloth, night and morning, to keep it from damp and
mustiness. During the sultry months of summer, it is difficult to
procure meat that is not either tough or tainted. It should therefore be
well examined when it comes in; and if flies have touched it, the part
must be cut off, and then well washed. Meat that is to be salted should
lie an hour in cold water, rubbing well any part likely to have been
fly-blown. When taken out of the water, wipe it quite dry, then rub it
thoroughly with salt, and throw a handful over it besides. Turn it every
day, and rub in the pickle, which will make it ready for the table in
three or four days. If to be very much corned, wrap it in a well-floured
cloth, after rubbing it with salt. This last method will corn fresh
beef fit for the table the day it comes in, but it must be put into the
pot when the water boils. If the weather permit, meat eats much better
for hanging two or three days before it is salted. In very cold weather,
meat and vegetables touched by the frost should be brought into the
kitchen early in the morning, and soaked in cold water. Putting them
into hot water, or near the fire, till thawed, makes it impossible for
any heat to dress them properly afterwards. In loins of meat, the long
pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint;
as also the kernels of beef. Rumps and edgebones of beef when bruised,
should not be purchased. To preserve venison, wash it well with milk and
water, then dry it with clean cloths till not the least damp remains,
and dust it all over with pounded ginger, which will protect it against
the fly. By thus managing and watching, it will hang a fortnight. When
to be used, wash it with a little lukewarm water, and dry it. Pepper is
likewise good to keep it.
KIDNEY PUDDING. Split and soak the kidney, and season it. Make a paste
of suet, flour, and milk; roll it, and line a bason with some of it. Put
in the kidney, cover the paste over, and pinch it round the edge. Tie up
the bason in a cloth, and boil it a considerable time. A steak pudding
is made in the same way.
KITCHEN ECONOMY. Many articles thrown away, or suffered to be wasted in
the kitchen, might by proper management be turned to a good account. The
shank bones of mutton, so little esteemed in general, would be found to
give richness to soups or gravies, if well soaked and brushed, before
they are added to the boiling. They are also particularly nourishing for
sick persons. Roast beef-bones, or shank bones of ham, make fine
peas-soup; and should be boiled with the peas the day before the soup
is to be eaten, that the fat may be taken off. The liquor in which meat
has been boiled makes an excellent soup for the poor, by adding to it
vegetables, oatmeal, or peas. When whites of eggs are used for jelly, or
other purposes, a pudding or a custard should be made to employ the
yolks. If not immediately wanted, they should be beat up with a little
water, and put in a cool place, or they will soon harden, and become
useless. It is a great mistake to imagine that the whites of eggs make
cakes and puddings heavy: on the contrary, if beaten long and
separately, they contribute greatly to give lightness. They are also an
advantage to paste, and make a pretty dish beaten with fruit, to set in
cream. All things likely to be wanted should be in readiness; sugars of
different sorts, currants washed, picked, and perfectly dry; spices
pounded, and kept in very small bottles closely corked, but not more
than are likely to be used in the course of a month. Much waste may be
prevented by keeping every article in the place best suited to it.
Vegetables will keep best on a stone floor, if the air be excluded. Meat
in a cold dry place. Salt, sugar, and sweetmeats require to be kept dry;
candles cold, but not damp. Dried meats and hams the same. Rice, and all
sorts of seeds for puddings and saloops, should be close covered to
preserve from insects; but that will not prevent it, if long kept.