and thirty gallons, two bushels and a half of malt will be sufficient.
The dimensions of the vessels may be supposed to correspond with those
used in a moderate family, and the copper holding about thirty gallons.
A quantity of boiling water being poured into the mash tub, is suffered
to remain there till the steam is nearly all evaporated. The malt
previously ground, is then thrown into the water, and thoroughly stirred
and mixed with it. This agitation of the malt and water, commonly called
mashing, is kept up for a quarter of an hour, by which the malt is more
effectually brought into contact with the water, and a greater
proportion of its soluble matter extracted. After this the mash tub is
covered over in order to retain as much heat as possible, and the whole
is suffered to remain undisturbed for an hour and a half or two hours.
At the end of that time, the water thus impregnated with the malt, in
which state it is commonly called sweet wort, is slowly drawn off into
another vessel. The quantity of water used in the first mashing is about
twenty-five gallons; of which, not above fifteen are afterwards
obtained, the rest being absorbed by the malt, with the exception of a
small quantity carried off by evaporation. This first wort being drawn
off from the malt, a fresh portion of hot water is thrown into the mash
tub, and the process of mashing is repeated for ten minutes. The tub
being again covered, the whole is suffered to remain for about an hour,
when a second wort is drawn off. The quantity of water used in this
second mashing is about fifteen gallons; and the malt having already
retained as much water as is sufficient to saturate it, the whole
amount of the fifteen gallons is afterwards recovered from the mash tub.
About twelve gallons of hot water is now added to the malt, and the
mixture being mashed for a few minutes, is suffered to remain another
hour, in order to form a third wort. In the meantime a part of the two
first worts is poured into the copper, with a pound and a half or two
pounds of hops, and boiled for an hour, or an hour and a half; after
which it is strained through a sieve into another vessel. The third wort
is now drawn off from the mash tub, and being mixed with the remaining
part of the first and second wort, it is boiled for an hour or more,
with the hops used in the former instance. The three worts are then
distributed into shallow vessels or coolers, and suffered to remain
there till the liquor is reduced to a lukewarm state. It is then
collected into the tun tub, and fermented with about a quart of yeast,
which converts it into beer. But as table beer is sometimes brewed in
considerable quantities for the use of large families, and in a still
more economical manner, an estimate will be given, in order to show the
saving that is made in private brewing. The following is a preparation
for ten barrels.
L _s._ _d._
Malt, one quarter 2 10 0
Hops, eight pounds 0 10 0
Colouring, ditto 0 4 0
Spanish liquorice, 8oz. 0 0 8
Treacle, ten pounds 0 3 4
---------
3 8 0
---------
Ten barrels bought at
the brewery at 16_s._ 8 0 0
Ten barrels brewed at home 3 8 0
---------
Clear gain 4 12 0
---------
Liquorice root and other flavouring substances may be added: what are
here inserted are only the general requisites.--Another way of making a
cheap and wholesome table beer, is to dissolve four pounds of coarse
sugar in ten gallons of water. Then put in three ounces of hops, boil
the whole for three quarters of an hour, and let it work as usual. It
should be kept a week or ten days before it is tapped, and it will
improve daily afterwards, if not kept too long. Or for a still smaller
quantity, put a pound of treacle to eight quarts of boiling water: add
two bay leaves, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered ginger. Boil the
whole for fifteen minutes, then let it cool, and work it with yeast.
TAINTED MEAT. When the weather is so hot that meat will scarcely keep
from day to day, wrapping it in a thin cloth dipped in vinegar, and not
wrung very dry, will help to keep it from being tainted. Or rubbing the
meat with black pepper will preserve it, and let it be hung up as usual.
It is much better however, that meat should not be kept so long as to
risk its being tainted.
TAN GLOVES. To dye gloves to look like York tan or Limerick, put some
saffron into a pint of water boiling hot, and let it infuse all night.
Next morning wet the leather over with a brush, but take care that the
tops of the gloves be sewn close, to prevent the colour from getting in.
TANSEY. To make a tansey, beat up seven eggs, yolks and whites
separately. Add a pint of cream, nearly the same of spinach juice, and a
little tansey juice, gained by pounding it in a stone mortar; a quarter
of a pound of Naples biscuit, a glass of white wine, and a little sugar
and nutmeg. Set all in a saucepan, just to thicken, over the fire; then
put it into a dish, lined with paste to turn out, and bake
it.--Another. Beat ten eggs very well with a little salt, half a pound
of loaf sugar pounded, half a pint of spinach juice, and a spoonful of
the juice of tansey; mix them well together, and strain it to a quart of
cream; grate in half a pound of Naples biscuits, and a nutmeg; add a
quarter of a pound of Jordan almonds blanched and beat fine, with a
little rose water, and mix all well together; put it into a stewpan,
with a piece of butter the bigness of a golden pippin. Set it over a
slow charcoal fire; keep it stirring till it is hardened; then butter a
dish very well, that will just hold it: put in the tansey, bake it in a
moderate oven, taking care that it is not scorched. When it comes home,
turn it upon a pie plate, cut Seville oranges in small quarters, and lay
round it, and on the tansey, citron, and orange peel cut thin, with
double refined sugar laid in little heaps between. If you have not
Naples biscuits, grate seven ounces of the finest stale bread you
have.--_A boiled tansey._ Cut the crumb of a stale penny loaf thin, pour
over as much hot cream as will wet it, and cover it over till cold; then
beat and strain six eggs to it, a little lemon peel shred fine, a little
grated nutmeg, and salt; green it as you did the baked tansey, and
sweeten it to your taste; stir all very well together, butter a bason,
that will hold it, butter also a cloth to lay over the top, tie it
tight, and boil it an hour and quarter; turn it into a dish, and garnish
with Seville orange; stick candied orange cut thin on the top.
TANSEY PUDDING. Grate four ounces of bread, blanch two ounces of sweet
almonds, and beat them fine in a marble mortar, with orange-flower
water. Mix these, and four ounces of fine powdered sugar with the bread.
Add five eggs, a little salt, a pint of cream, a grated nutmeg, half a
pint of spinach juice expressed from the leaves, beaten in a marble
mortar, and strained through a cloth, and two or three spoonfuls of
tansey juice beaten out and strained in the same manner. Stir the whole
together, and put it into a saucepan with a small piece of butter. Set
it over the fire till it thickens, stirring it all the time, but do not
let it boil. When done, cool it in a basin, then pour it into a dish
well buttered, and bake it half an hour. Turn it out of the dish before
it is sent to table, sift some fine sugar over it, and lay a Seville
orange round it cut in pieces, and squeeze the juice upon it.
TAPIOCA JELLY. Choose the largest sort, pour on cold water to wash in
two or three times, and then soak it in fresh water five or six times.
Simmer it in the same until it become quite clear, with a bit of lemon
peel. Then add lemon juice, wine, and sugar.
TAPIOCA PUDDING. Wash six spoonfuls of the large kind of tapioca, and
stew it gently in a quart of milk till it is pretty thick. Let it stand
uncovered to cool. Add two eggs well beaten with some salt, and sugar to
the taste. Bake it with a crust round the edge of a dish, in a moderate
oven, for an hour.
TAR WATER. Pour a gallon of cold water on a quart of tar, and stir and
mix them thoroughly with a ladle or flat stick, for the space of three
or four minutes; after which the vessel must stand forty-eight hours,
that the tar may have time to subside; when the clear water is to be
poured off, and kept for use, no more being made from the same tar,
which may still serve for common purposes. The general rule for taking
it is, about half a pint night and morning, on an empty stomach, which
quantity may be varied according to the case and age of the patient;
provided it be always taken on an empty stomach, and about two hours
before or after a meal. Tar water cures indigestion, and gives a good
appetite. It is an excellent medicine in an asthma; it imparts a kindly
warmth, and quick circulation to the juices, without heating, and is
therefore useful, not only as a pectoral and balsamic, but also as a
powerful and a safe deobstruent in cachectic and hysteric cases. As it
is both healing and diuretic, it is very good for the gravel. It is
believed to be of great use in a dropsy, having been known to cure a
very bad anasarca in a person whose thirst, though very extraordinary,
was in a short time removed by the drinking of tar water. It is also
believed to be the best and safest medicine, either for preventing the
gout, or for so strengthening nature against the fit, as to drive it
from the vitals. It may likewise be safely used in inflammatory cases;
and, in fact, hath been found an admirable febrifuge, at once the safest
cooler and cordial. The salts and more active spirits of tar are got by
infusion in cold water; but the resinous part is not to be dissolved
thereby. Hence the prejudice which some, perhaps, may entertain against
tar water, the use of which might inflame the blood by its sulphur and
resin, as a medicine, appears not to be well grounded. It is observed by
chemists, that all sorts of balsamic wood afford an acid spirit, which
is the volatile oily salt of the vegetable. Herein is chiefly contained
their medicinal virtues; and it appears that the acid spirit in tar
water possesses the virtues, in an eminent degree, of that of guaiacum,
and other medicinal woods. It is certain tar water warms, and therefore
some may perhaps still think it cannot cool. The more effectually to
remove this prejudice, let it be farther considered, that, as on one
hand, opposite causes do sometimes produce the same effect; for
instance, heat by rarefaction, and cold by condensation, do both
increase the air's elasticity; so, on the other hand, the same cause
shall sometimes produce opposite effects. Heat, for instance, in one
degree thins, in another coagulates, the blood. It is not therefore
strange, that tar water should warm one habit and cool another; have one
good effect on a cold constitution, and another good effect on an
inflamed one; nor, if this be so, that it should cure opposite
disorders. A medicine of so great virtue in so many different disorders,
and especially in that grand enemy the fever, must needs be a benefit to
mankind in general. There are nevertheless three sorts of people to whom
it may be peculiarly recommended; seafaring persons, ladies, and men of
studious and sedentary lives. If it be asked, what precise quantity, or
degree of strength is required in tar water? It is answered, that the
palate, the stomach, the particular case and constitution of the
patient, the very season of the year, will dispose and require him to
drink more or less in quantity, stronger or weaker in degree. Precisely
to measure its strength by a scrupulous exactness, is by no means
necessary. It is to be observed, that tar water should not be made in
unglazed earthen vessels, these being apt to communicate a nauseous
sweetness to the water. Tar water is also recommended in the plague, and
for the distemper among horned cattle; with what success must be left to
experience.
TARRAGON VINEGAR. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with tarragon leaves,
gathered on a dry day, just before the plant begins to flower. Dry the
leaves a little before the fire, steep them a fortnight in the best
vinegar, and strain it fine through a flannel jelly bag. Pour it into
half-pint bottles, cork them up carefully, and keep them in a dry place.
This forms an agreeable addition to soups and salad sauce, and to mix
with mustard.
TARTAR WINE. Add to a quantity of mare's milk a sixth part of water,
and pour the mixture into a wooden vessel. Use as a ferment an eighth
part of sour cow's milk; but at any future preparation, a small portion
of old koumiss will answer better. Cover the vessel with a thick cloth,
and set it in a place of moderate warmth, leaving it at rest for twenty
four hours. At the end of this time the milk will become sour, and a
thick substance will be gathered on its surface. Now with a churn-staff,
beat it till the thick substance just mentioned, be intimately blended
with the subjacent fluid. In this situation leave it at rest for twenty
four hours more. Afterwards pour it into a higher and narrower vessel,
resembling a churn, where the agitation must be repeated as before, till
the liquor appear to be perfectly combined. In this state it is called
koumiss, the taste of which ought to be a pleasant mixture of sweet and
sour. Agitation must be employed every time before it is used. This
wine, prepared by the Tartars, is cooling and antiseptic. Sometimes
aromatic herbs, as angelica, are infused in the liquor during
fermentation.
TARTS. Sweetmeats made with syrups are formed into pies and tarts the
same as raw fruits, and the same crusts may be used for them. Tarts made
of any kind of jam are usually formed with a crust round the bottom of
the dish, the sweetmeat is then put in, and little ornaments of crust
placed over the top, made with a jagging iron. Sugar paste is suitable
for these. Little tartlets are made in the same way, only baked in tins
and turned out.----Take apples, or pears, cut them in small quarters,
and set them over the fire, with a piece of lemon peel, and some
cinnamon; let them simmer in as much water as will cover them, till
tender; and if you bake them in tin pattipans, butter them first, and
lay over a thin paste; lay in some sugar, then the fruit, with three or
four tea-spoonfuls of the liquor they were simmered in; put in a little
more sugar, and lid them over. If your tarts are made of apricots, green
almonds, nectarines, or green plums, they must be scalded before you use
them, and observe to put nothing to them but sugar, and as little water
as possible; make use of the syrup they were scalded in, as you did for
your apples, &c. Cherries, currants, raspberries, and all ripe fruits
need not be scalded; and if you make your tarts in china, or glass
patties, lay the sugar at bottom, then the fruit, with a little more
sugar on the top; put no paste at the bottom, only lid them over, and
bake them in a slack oven. You have receipts how to make crust for
tarts; mince pies must be baked in tin patties, that you may slip them
out into a dish, and a puff paste is the best for them. When you make
sweetmeat tarts, or a crocant tart, lay in the sweetmeats, or preserved
fruit either in glass or china patties that are small, for that purpose;
lay a very thin crust on the top, and let them be baked no more than
till your crust is nicely coloured, and that in a slow oven. If you
would have a crocant tart for the middle of the table, or a side-dish,
have a glass, or china dish, of what size you please, and lay in the
preserved fruit of different sorts, (you must have a round cover just
the size of the inside of your dish) roll out a sugar crust, the
thickness of an half crown, and lay over the cover; mark it with marking
irons made on purpose for that use, of what shapes you please; then put
the crust, with the cover, into a very slack oven, not to discolour it,
only to have it crisp. When you take it out of the oven, loosen it from
the cover very gently, and when quite cold, take it carefully off, and
lay over your sweetmeats, and it being hollow, you will see the fruit
through it. If the tart is not eaten, only take off the lid, and your
sweetmeats may be put into the pots again.
TEA. The habit of drinking tea frequently, and in large quantities,
cannot fail to be injurious, as it greatly weakens and relaxes the tone
of the stomach. This produces indigestion, nervous trembling and
weakness, attended with a pale, wan complexion. When tea is taken only
at intervals, and after solid food, it is salutary and refreshing; but
when used as a substitute for plain nourishing diet, as is too commonly
the case amongst the lower classes, it is highly pernicious, especially
as large quantities of a spurious description are too frequently imposed
upon the public. The policy which compels a very numerous class to
purchase this foreign article, for procuring which immense sums are sent
out of the country, while the produce of our own soil is comparatively
withheld by an exorbitant system of taxation, cannot be too severely
condemned, as alike injurious to health, to the interests of
agriculture, and to the comfort and industry of the people. The duty on
foreign tea has indeed been greatly encreased, but at the same time, so
has the duty on malt and beer; no encouragement therefore is given to
the home consumption, but the money which ought to be paid for the
production of barley and malt is given to the foreigner, while by the
enormous price of the article, a powerful stimulus is furnished for
attempting an illicit importation, and for the pernicious adulteration
of what is now esteemed almost a common necessary of life. It is
desirable to lessen the injurious effects of tea as much as possible by
mixing it with milk, which will render it softer and more nutritious.
With the addition of sugar it may be made to form a wholesome breakfast
for those who are strong and live freely, operating as a diluent for
cleansing the bladder and kidnies, and the alimentary passages. Persons
of weak nerves ought however to abstain from tea, as they would from
drains and cordials, as it causes the same kind of irritation on the
delicate fibres of the stomach, which ends in lowness, trembling, and
vapours. Tea should never be drunk hot at any time, as it tends still
more to produce that relaxation which ought to be carefully avoided.
Green tea is less wholesome than black or bohea.
TEA CAKES. Rub four ounces of butter into eight ounces of flour, mix
with it eight ounces of currants, and six of fine Lisbon sugar. Add two
yolks and one white of eggs, and a spoonful of brandy. Roll the paste
about the thickness of a biscuit, and cut it out with a wine glass into
little cakes. The white of the other egg beaten up, may be washed over
them, and then they may be dusted with fine sugar.
TEA-KETTLES. Hard water used for tea is apt to form an offensive crust
inside the tea-kettle, which may be prevented by frequent cleaning, or
putting a flat oyster shell at the bottom. This will attract the stony
particles that are in the water, and the concretion will be formed upon
it.
TEA-POTS. An infusion of tea is always more perfect in a metal tea-pot,
than in one of stone or earthenware. If boiling water be poured into two
tea-pots, one of bright silver or polished tin, and the other of black
stoneware, and they be left in a room of moderate temperature, it will
be found that the former will retain its heat nearly twice as long as
the other. Tea-pots of polished metal are therefore to be preferred.
TEATS. Sore teats, in Neat Cattle, is an affection in those of the cow
kind, to which some are much more subject than others; especially such
as have newly or lately calved. When the teats of these animals are
affected during the summer months, they often become ulcerated, and by
the teazing of the flies, the cattle are rendered difficult to be
milked; they also become a very great nuisance at the periods of
milking, as the discharges from them are apt, without much attention, to
pass between the fingers of the operator into the milk-pail, and spoil
the milk. The affection is caused by inflammation, irritation, and too
much distention of the parts by the milk. In order to the removal of it,
the milk should be first frequently drawn, and the parts well washed
with soft soap and warm water; after which, a substance composed of
elder ointment and wax melted together, to which is then added a little
alum and sugar of lead, in fine powder, may be used to the parts after
milking at night and in the morning; or a weak solution of white vitriol
and a little sugar of lead, in soft water may be made use of in the same
way, in some cases, with more advantage. The addition of a little
assafoetida, and such like substances, in powder, is, it is said,
beneficial in the summer season in driving away the flies. Great care is
to be taken to keep the teats as clean as possible during the time of
cure.
TEETH AND GUMS. In order to preserve the teeth and gums, they require to
be cleaned very carefully; for if the enamel of the teeth be worn off by
an improper mode of cleaning, they will suffer more injury than by a
total neglect. A common skewer of soft wood, bruised and bitten at the
end, will make the best brush for this purpose. Once a week dip the
skewer brush into a few grains of gunpowder, after they have been
bruised, and it will remove every spot and blemish till the teeth appear
beautifully white. The mouth should be well washed after the operation,
to prevent any ill effects of the gunpowder. Teeth, if not regularly
cleaned, are apt to contract a false kind of enamel which is injurious
to the gums, leaving the fangs of the teeth bare, so that they are soon
destroyed, by being exposed to the air, and for want of being protected
by the gums. This tartarous enamel must therefore be scaled off, that
the gums may grow up to their proper place. Raspberries or strawberries
eaten plentifully have been found to dissolve these concretions, and
contribute to the preservation of the teeth and gums. Tooth powders and
tinctures also have their use. A very convenient powder may be made of
charcoal pounded in a mortar, and sifted fine. Apply a little of it to
the teeth twice a week, and it will not only render them beautifully
white, but also make the breath sweet, and the gums firm and
comfortable. The charcoal may be ground in water, and so preserved for
use. A tincture for the gums may be made of three ounces of the tincture
of bark, and half an ounce of sal ammoniac, mixed together. Dip the
finger into a tea-spoonful of the tincture, and rub the gums and teeth
with it, which are afterwards to be washed with warm water. This
tincture not only cures the toothache, but preserves the teeth and gums,
and causes them to adhere to each other.
TENANT AT SUFFERANCE. When a lease is expired, and the tenant keeps
possession without any new contract, he is deemed a tenant at
sufferance. But on the landlord's acceptance of any rent after the
expiration of the lease, the tenant may hold the premises from year to
year, till half a year's notice is given.
TENANT AT WILL. A tenant at will is one who holds an estate or tenement
at the will of the landlord, and may at any time be ejected. Meanwhile
he is at liberty to leave when he chooses, on giving proper notice, and
cannot be compelled to occupy.