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MISS BEECHER’S HOUSEKEEPER AND HEALTHKEEPER:
MISS BEECHER’S HOUSEKEEPER AND HEALTHKEEPER:
CONTAINING FIVE HUNDRED RECIPES FOR ECONOMICAL AND HEALTHFUL COOKING; ALSO, MANY DIRECTIONS FOR SECURING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS . APPROVED BY PHYSICIANS OF ALL CLASSES. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS , FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1873. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by Harper & Brothers , In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington....
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CHAPTER I. ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR TO AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS.
CHAPTER I. ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR TO AMERICAN HOUSEKEEPERS.
It is my most earnest desire to save you and your household from the sad consequences I have suffered from ignorance of the laws of health , especially those which women peculiarly need to understand and obey. God made woman to do the work of the family, and to train those under her care to the same labor. And her body is so formed that family labor and care tend not only to good health, but to the highest culture of mind . Read all that is included in our “profession,” as detailed in the Second
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CHAPTER II. MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.
CHAPTER II. MARKETING AND THE CARE OF MEATS.
1. The head : frequently used for mince-pies; sometimes it is tried out for oil, and then the bones are used for fertilizers. The horns are used to make buttons and combs, and various other things. 2. The neck ; used for soups and stews. 3. The chuck-rib , or shoulder , having four ribs. It is used for corning, stews, and soup, and some say the best steaks are from this piece. 4. The front of the shoulder , or the shoulder-clod , which is sometimes called the brisket . 5. The back of the shoulde
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CHAPTER III. STEWS AND SOUPS.
CHAPTER III. STEWS AND SOUPS.
This stew-kettle consists of two pans, the inner one not fastened, but fitting tight to the outer, with holes the size of a large pin-head commencing half an inch from the bottom and continuing to within two inches of the top of the under pan. It has a flat lid, on which may be placed a weight, to confine steam and flavors. The holes may be an inch apart. The size of the kettle must depend on the size of the family: it may be of any desired size. General Directions. Generally, in making stews, u
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CHAPTER IV. SOUPS.
CHAPTER IV. SOUPS.
When onion is used for flavor, slice and fry it, and dredge on a little flour; add the water in which the vegetables for soup were boiled, or some meat broth, and then pour it into the soup. If you flavor with wine, soy, or catsup, put them into the tureen, and pour the soup upon them, as the flavor is lessened by putting them into the soup-kettle. Bread-crumbs, toast, or crackers also must be put in the tureen. Keep soup covered tight while boiling, to keep in flavors. If water is added, it mus
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CHAPTER V. HASHES.
CHAPTER V. HASHES.
Bread-Crumbs and Cold Meats. —Take any remnants of cooked fresh meats, and chop them fine with bits of ham or salt pork. Season with salt and pepper; add three eggs and a little milk, and then thicken with pounded bread-crumbs. Bake it as a pudding, or warm it for a hash, or cook it in flat cakes on a griddle. A Meat Hash with Bread-Crumbs. —One tea-spoonful of flour, (or potato or corn-starch,) wet in four tea-spoonfuls of cold water. Stir it into a tea-cupful of boiling water, and put in a sal
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CHAPTER VI. BOILED MEATS.
CHAPTER VI. BOILED MEATS.
Calf’s Feet. —Wash and scrape till very clean. Boil three hours in four quarts of water salted with four even tea-spoonfuls of salt. Take out the bones, and put the rest into a saucepan, with three table-spoonfuls of butter, two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, a great-spoonful of sugar, and a salt-spoonful of pepper. Add three tea-cups of the liquor in which the feet were boiled; dredge in some flour, and simmer for fifteen minutes. Garnish with sliced lemon. (Save the liquor to make calf’s-foot jel
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CHAPTER VII. ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.
CHAPTER VII. ROAST AND BAKED MEATS.
Roast Poultry. —No fowl should be bought when the entrails are not drawn; and the insides should always be washed with soda-water—a tea-spoonful of soda to a pint of water. Rinse out with fair water. Stuff with seasoned bread-crumbs, wet up with eggs. Sew and tie the stuffing in thoroughly. Allow about ten minutes’ cooking for each pound, more or less, according to the fire and size of the fowl. Put a grate in the bake-pan, with a tea-cup of salted water. Dredge the fowl with flour at first, and
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CHAPTER VIII. BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.
CHAPTER VIII. BROILED AND FRIED MEATS AND RELISHES.
The most slovenly and unhealthful mode of cooking is frying, as it usually is done. If the fat is very hot, and the articles are put in and taken out exactly at the right time, it is well enough. But fried fat is hard to digest, and most fried food is soaked with it, so that only a strong stomach can digest it. Almost every thing that is fried might be better cooked on a griddle slightly oiled. A griddle should always be oiled only just enough to keep from sticking. It is best to fry in lard not
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CHAPTER IX. PICKLES.
CHAPTER IX. PICKLES.
To pickle Cucumbers. —Wash the cucumbers in cold water, being careful not to bruise or break them. Make a brine of rock or blown salt (rock is the best), strong enough to bear up an egg or potato, and of sufficient quantity to cover the cucumbers. Put them into an oaken tub, or stone-ware jar, and pour the brine over them. In twenty-four hours, they should be stirred up from the bottom with the hand. The third day pour off the brine, scald it, and pour it over the cucumbers. Let them stand in th
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CHAPTER X. SAUCES AND SALADS.
CHAPTER X. SAUCES AND SALADS.
Tomato Catsup. —Boil a peck of tomatoes, strain through a colander, and then add four great-spoonfuls of salt, one of pounded mace, half a table-spoonful of black pepper, a table-spoonful of powdered cloves, two table-spoonfuls of ground mustard, and a table-spoonful of celery seed tied in a muslin rag. Mix all and boil five or six hours, stirring frequently and constantly the last hour. Let it cool in a stone jar, take out the celery seed, add a pint of vinegar, bottle it, and keep it in a dark
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CHAPTER XI. FISH.
CHAPTER XI. FISH.
Clams. —Wash them and roast them; or stew or fry them like oysters; or make omelets or fritters by the recipe for oysters. Clam Chowder. —Make alternate layers of crackers wet in milk, and clams with their liquor, and thin slices of fried salt pork. Season with black pepper and salt. Boil three quarters of an hour. Put this into a tureen, having drained off some liquor which is to be thickened with flour or pounded crackers, seasoned with catsup and wine, and then poured into the tureen. Serve w
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CHAPTER XII. VEGETABLES.
CHAPTER XII. VEGETABLES.
New potatoes boil in salted water, and rub off the tender skins with a coarse towel. A good Way for old Potatoes. —Peel and soak in cold water half an hour, then slice them into salted water that is boiling; when soft, pour off the water, add cream, or milk and butter, with salt and pepper, also dredge in a very little flour. Another way is to chop the cold boiled potatoes, and then mix in milk, butter, salt, and pepper. Some cold potatoes are nice cooked on a gridiron. A favorite relish for sup
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CHAPTER XIII. FAMILY BREAD.
CHAPTER XIII. FAMILY BREAD.
It is not well to use yeast powders instead of yeast, because it is a daily taking of medicinal articles not needed, and often injurious. Cream tartar is supertartrate of potash, and soda is a supercarbonate of soda. These two, when united in dough, form tartrate of potash, tartrate of soda, and carbonate of soda; while some one of the three tends to act chemically and injuriously on the digestive fluids. Professor Hosford’s method is objectionable for the same reason, especially when his medica
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CHAPTER XIV. BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.
CHAPTER XIV. BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.
Rye and Corn-Meal. —Put into a pint and a half of boiling water one tea-spoonful of salt, two great-spoonfuls of sugar, two well-beaten eggs, three great-spoonfuls of corn-meal or unbolted wheat. Thicken with rye flour, and then add two well-beaten eggs. Bake in muffin-rings or as drop-cakes. Oat-meal. —Take one pint of boiling water, and pour it on to one pint of Oat-meal. Add a great-spoonful of butter, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and two great-spoonfuls of sugar. Stir fast and thoroughly; th
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CHAPTER XV. PUDDINGS AND PIES.
CHAPTER XV. PUDDINGS AND PIES.
Meat and Rusk Puddings. —Chop any kind of cold meat with salt pork or ham, season it well with butter, pepper, and salt, and add two or three beaten eggs. Then make alternate layers of wet rusk-crumbs, with milk or cold boiled hominy or rice, and bake half or three quarters of an hour. Let the upper layer be crumbs, and cover with a plate while baking, and, when nearly done, take it off to brown the top. A handsome and good Pudding easily made. —Put a pint of scalded milk (water will do as well)
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CHAPTER XVI. CAKE.
CHAPTER XVI. CAKE.
When fruit is used, sprinkle the fruit with a little flour to keep it from sinking when baking. Some put fruit in in layers, one in the middle and another near the top, as this spreads it evenly. Put in the flour just before baking. When using whites beaten to a froth separately, put in the last thing, so that the bubbles of air which make the lightness may be retained more perfectly. Bake as soon as the cake is ready. Water is as good as milk for most cakes as well as for bread; a mixture of ne
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CHAPTER XVII. PRESERVES AND JELLIES.
CHAPTER XVII. PRESERVES AND JELLIES.
For permanent covering, lay brandy papers over the top, cover them tight, and seal them; or, what is best of all, soak a split bladder and tie it tight over them. In drying, it will shrink so as to be perfectly air-tight. Keep them in a dry but not warm place. A thick, leathery mold helps to preserve fruit, but when mold appears in specks, the preserves must be scalded in a warm oven, or the jars containing them are to be set into hot water, which must then boil till the preserves are scalded. A
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CHAPTER XVIII. DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES.
CHAPTER XVIII. DESSERTS AND EVENING PARTIES.
Lemonade Ice, and other Ices. —To a quart of lemonade, add the whites of six eggs, cut to a froth, and freeze it. The juices of any fruit, sweetened and watered, may be prepared in the same way, and are very fine. Charlotte Russe. —One ounce of gelatine simmered in half a pint of milk or water, four ounces of sugar beat into the yelks of four eggs, and added to the gelatine when dissolved. Then add a pint of cream or new milk. Lastly, add the whites beat to a stiff froth, and beat all together.
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CHAPTER XIX. DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.
CHAPTER XIX. DRINKS AND ARTICLES FOR THE SICK AND YOUNG CHILDREN.
Dangerous Use of Milk. —Milk is not only drink, but rich food. It therefore should not be used as drink with other food, as is water or tea and coffee. Persons often cause bilious difficulties by using milk in addition to ordinary food as the chief drink. It is a well-established fact that some grown persons as well as young children can not drink milk, and in some cases can not eat bread wet with milk, without trouble from it. Simple Drinks. —Pour boiling water on mashed cranberries, or grated
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CHAPTER XX. THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.
CHAPTER XX. THE PROVIDING AND CARE OF FAMILY STORES.
It is too frequently the case that families fall into a very limited round of articles, and continue the same course from one year to another, when there is a much greater variety within reach of articles which are just as cheap and as easily obtained, and yet remain unthought of and untouched. A thrifty and generous provider will see that her store-closet is furnished with such a variety of articles that successive changes can be made, and for a good length of time. To aid in this, a slight ske
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CHAPTER XXI. ON SETTING TABLES, AND PREPARING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD FOR THE TABLE.
CHAPTER XXI. ON SETTING TABLES, AND PREPARING VARIOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD FOR THE TABLE.
A small plate should be placed at each plate for butter, and a small salt-cup set by each breakfast or dinner-plate. This saves butter and salt. All the flour should be wiped from small cakes, and the crumbs be kept from the bread-plate. In preparing dishes for the dinner-table, all water should be carefully drained from the vegetables, and the edges of the platters and dishes should be made perfectly clean and neat. All soiled spots should be removed from the outside of pitchers, gravy-boats, a
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CHAPTER XXII. WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.
CHAPTER XXII. WASHING, IRONING, AND CLEANSING.
Assort the clothes, and put those most soiled in soak the night before. Never pour hot water on them, as it sets the dirt. In assorting clothes, put the flannels in one lot, the colored clothes in another, the coarse white ones in a third, and the fine clothes in a fourth lot. Wash the fine clothes in one tub of suds. When clothes are very much soiled, a second suds is needful, turning them wrong side out. Put them in the boiling-bag, and boil them in strong suds for half an hour, and not much m
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CHAPTER XXIII. MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.
CHAPTER XXIII. MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE AND RECIPES.
To Purify a Well. —Get out the water, and then put in three or four quarts of quick-lime. Any well long unused should be thus cleansed. How to treat Roses and other Plants. —Water them daily with water steeped in wood-ashes. To destroy slugs, scatter ashes over the plant at night before the dew falls, or before a coming shower. Water all plants with washing-day suds, and it makes them flourish. Scatter salt in gravel-walks to get out grass and weeds. Use old brine for this purpose. Use sawdust t
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CHAPTER I. NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.
CHAPTER I. NEEDFUL SCIENCE AND TRAINING FOR THE FAMILY STATE.
In communities destitute of intelligent artisans, a widow, or a woman whose husband has not time or ability to direct, on building a house, would need for guidance the leading principles of architecture, pneumatics, hydrostatics, calorification, and several other connected sciences, in order to secure architectural beauty, healthful heating and ventilation, and the economical and convenient arrangements for labor and comfort. A housekeeper properly instructed in these principles would know how t
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CHAPTER II. A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOUSE.
CHAPTER II. A HEALTHFUL AND ECONOMICAL HOUSE.
In the following drawings are presented modes of economizing time, labor, and expense by the close packing of conveniences . By such methods, small and economical houses can be made to secure most of the comforts and many of the refinements of large and expensive ones. The cottage at the head of this chapter is projected on a plan which can be adapted to a warm or cold climate with little change. By adding another story, it would serve a large family. Fig. 7 shows the ground-plan of the first fl
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CHAPTER III. ON HOME VENTILATION.
CHAPTER III. ON HOME VENTILATION.
The lungs occupy the upper portion of the body from the collarbone to the lower ribs, and between their two lobes is placed the heart. Fig. 28 shows the position of the lungs, though not the exact shape. On the right hand is the exterior of one of the lobes, and on the left hand are seen the branching tubes of the interior, through which the air we breathe passes to the exceedingly minute air-cells of which the lungs chiefly consist. Fig. 29 shows the outside of a cluster of these air-cells, and
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CHAPTER IV. ON WARMING A HOME.
CHAPTER IV. ON WARMING A HOME.
It is owing to this principle, also, that water and air can not be heated by fire from above. For the particles of these bodies, being non-conductors, do not impart heat to each other; and when the warmest are at the top, they can not take the place of cooler and heavier ones below. Another principle of heat (which it shares with light) is Radiation , by which all things send out heat to surrounding cooler bodies. Some bodies will absorb radiated heat, others will reflect it, and others allow it
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CHAPTER V. ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.
CHAPTER V. ON STOVES AND CHIMNEYS.
Fig. 36 represents a portion of the interior of this cooking-stove. First, notice the fire-box, which has corrugated (literally, wrinkled) sides, by which space is economized, so that as much heating surface is secured as if they were one-third larger; for the heat radiates from every part of the undulating surface, which is one-third greater in superficial extent than if it were plane. The shape of the fire-box also secures more heat by having oblique sides—which radiate more effectively into t
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CHAPTER VI. ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.
CHAPTER VI. ECONOMIC MODES OF BEAUTIFYING A HOME.
The curtains can be made of plain white muslin, or some of the many styles that come for this purpose. If plain muslin is used, you can ornament them with hems an inch in width, in which insert a strip of gingham or chambray of the same color as your chintz. This will wash with the curtains without losing its color, or, should it fade, it can easily be drawn out and replaced. The influence of white-muslin curtains in giving an air of grace and elegance to a room is astonishing. White curtains re
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CHAPTER VII. CARE OF HEALTH.
CHAPTER VII. CARE OF HEALTH.
By the aid of the microscope, we can examine the minute construction of plants and animals, in which we discover contrivances and operations, if not so sublime, yet more wonderful and interesting, than the vast systems of worlds revealed by the telescope. By this instrument it is now seen that the first formation, as well as future changes and actions, of all plants and animals are accomplished by means of small cells or bags containing various kinds of liquids. These cells are so minute that, o
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CHAPTER VIII. DOMESTIC EXERCISE.
CHAPTER VIII. DOMESTIC EXERCISE.
The peculiar property of the cells which compose the muscles is their elasticity, no other cells of the body having this property. At Fig. 49 is a diagram representing a microscopic muscular fibre, in which the cells are relaxed, as in the natural state of rest. But when the muscle contracts, each of its numberless cells in all its small fibres becomes widened, making each fibre of the muscle shorter and thicker, as at Fig. 50. This explains the cause of the swelling out of muscles when they act
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CHAPTER IX. HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.
CHAPTER IX. HEALTHFUL FOOD AND DRINKS.
Water, which is composed of the two gases oxygen and hydrogen, is the largest portion of the body, forming its fluids; there is four times as much of carbon as there is of nitrogen in the body; while there is only two per cent. as much phosphorus as carbon. A man weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds, who leads an active life, takes into his stomach daily from two to three pounds of solid food, and from five to six pounds of liquid. At the same time he takes into his lungs, daily, four or f
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CHAPTER X. CLEANLINESS.
CHAPTER X. CLEANLINESS.
At Fig. 57 is a magnified view of another set of vessels, called the lymphatics or absorbents . These are extremely minute vessels that interlace with the nerves and blood-vessels of the skin. Their office is to aid in collecting the useless, injurious, or decayed matter, and carry it to certain reservoirs, from which it passes into some of the large veins, to be thrown out through the lungs, bowels, kidneys, or skin. These absorbent or lymphatic vessels have mouths opening on the surface of the
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CHAPTER XI. CLOTHING.
CHAPTER XI. CLOTHING.
Where the bones unite with others to form joints, they are covered with cartilage , which is a smooth, white, elastic substance. This enables the joints to move smoothly, while its elasticity prevents injuries from sudden jars. The joints are bound together by strong, elastic bands called ligaments , which hold them firmly and prevent dislocation. Between the ends of the bones that unite to form joints are small sacks or bags, that contain a soft lubricating fluid. This answers the same purpose
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CHAPTER XII. EARLY RISING.
CHAPTER XII. EARLY RISING.
Sir James Wylie, of the Russian imperial service, states that in the soldiers’ barracks three times as many were taken sick on the shaded side as on the sunny side; though both sides communicated, and discipline, diet, and treatment were the same. The eminent French surgeon, Dupuytren, cured a lady, whose complicated diseases baffled for years his own and all other medical skill, by taking her from a dark room to an abundance of daylight. Florence Nightingale writes: “Second only to fresh air in
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CHAPTER XIII. DOMESTIC MANNERS.
CHAPTER XIII. DOMESTIC MANNERS.
It was under such stern and rigorous discipline that the first children in New-England were reared; and the manners and habits of parents are usually to a great extent transmitted to children. Thus it comes to pass that the descendants of the Puritans, now scattered over every part of the nation, are predisposed to conceal the gentler emotions, while their manners are calm, decided, and cold, rather than free and impulsive. Of course, there are very many exceptions to these predominating charact
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CHAPTER XIV. THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.
CHAPTER XIV. THE PRESERVATION OF GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.
It is probable that there is no class of persons in the world who have such incessant trials of temper, and temptations to be fretful, as American housekeepers; for a housekeeper’s business is not, like that of the other sex, limited to a particular department, for which previous preparation is made. It consists of ten thousand little disconnected items, which can never be so systematically arranged that there is no daily jostling somewhere. And in the best-regulated families it is not unfrequen
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CHAPTER XV. HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
CHAPTER XV. HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
Surely it is a pernicious and mistaken idea that the duties which tax a woman’s mind are petty, trivial, or unworthy of the highest grade of intellect and moral worth. Instead of allowing this feeling, every woman should imbibe, from early youth, the impression that she is in training for the discharge of the most important, the most difficult, and the most sacred and interesting duties that can possibly employ the highest intellect. She ought to feel that her station and responsibilities in the
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CHAPTER XVI. HEALTH OF MIND.
CHAPTER XVI. HEALTH OF MIND.
When, by confinement and this process, the air is deprived of its appropriate supply of oxygen, the purification of the blood is interrupted, and it passes, without being properly prepared, into the brain, producing languor, restlessness, and inability to exercise the intellect and feelings. Whenever, therefore, persons sleep in a close apartment, or remain for a length of time in a crowded or ill-ventilated room, a most pernicious influence is exerted on the brain, and, through this, on the min
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CHAPTER XVII. CARE OF THE AGED.
CHAPTER XVII. CARE OF THE AGED.
Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in the domestic games and sports which unite the old and the young in amusement. Many a weary hour may thus be enlivened for the benefit of all concerned. And here will often occur opportunities of self-denying benevolence in relinquishing personal pursuits and gratification thus to promote the enjoyment of the infirm and dependent. Reading aloud is often a great source of enjoyment to those who by age are deprived of reading for themselves. So
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CHAPTER XVIII. THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
Shelter in winter is most important for cows. They should have good tight stables or byres, well ventilated, and so warm that water in a pail will only freeze a little on the top the severest nights. Oxen should have the same stabling, though they bear cold better. Horses in stables will bear almost any degree of cold, if they have all they can eat. Sheep, except young lambs, are well enough sheltered in dry sheds, with one end open. Cattle, sheep, and dogs do not sweat as horses do, they “loll;
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CHAPTER XIX. CARE OF THE SICK.
CHAPTER XIX. CARE OF THE SICK.
The following extract from a discourse of Dr. Burne, before the London Medical Society, contains important information: “In civilized life, the causes which are most generally and continually operating in the production of diseases are, affections of the mind, improper diet, and retention of the intestinal excretions. The undue retention of excrementitious matter allows of the absorption of its more liquid parts, which is a cause of great impurity to the blood, and the excretions, thus rendered
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CHAPTER XX. FIRES AND LIGHTS.
CHAPTER XX. FIRES AND LIGHTS.
Coal-stoves should be carefully put up, as cracks in the pipe, especially in sleeping-rooms, are dangerous. Professor Phin, of the Manufacturer and Builder , has kindly given us some late information on this important topic, which will be found valuable. In choosing the source of our light, the great points to be considered are, first, the influence on the eyes; and secondly, economy. It is poor economy to use a bad light. Modern houses in cities, and even in large villages, are furnished with g
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CHAPTER XXI. ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.
CHAPTER XXI. ON THE CARE OF ROOMS.
Cheap footstools, made of a square plank, covered with tow-cloth, stuffed, and then covered with carpeting, with worsted handles, look very well. Sweep carpets as seldom as possible, as it wears them out. To shake them often is good economy. In cleaning carpets, use damp tea leaves, or wet Indian meal, throwing it about, and rubbing it over with the broom. The latter is very good for cleansing carpets made dingy by coal-dust. In brushing carpets in ordinary use, it will be found very convenient
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CHAPTER XXII. THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.
CHAPTER XXII. THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.
Transplanting should be done at evening, or, which is better, just before a shower. Take a round stick sharpened at the point, and make openings to receive the plants. Set them a very little deeper than they were before, and press the soil firmly round them. Then water them, and cover them for three or four days, taking care that sufficient air be admitted. If the plant can be removed without disturbing the soil around the root, it will not be at all retarded by transplanting. Never remove leave
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CHAPTER XXIII. SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.
CHAPTER XXIII. SEWING, CUTTING, AND FITTING.
Let a fund be provided by school officers, or by contribution, to provide needles, thread, scissors, and thimbles of various sizes, and place them in the care of the teacher. Let two half-days of the week be devoted to this and other industrial employments, giving, as a reward for success in careful, neat, and quick accomplishment of the duties, the time left beyond that used in the task as holiday hours. Let the first lesson be the use of scissors, in cutting straight slips of newspaper, thus t
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CHAPTER XXIV. ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.
CHAPTER XXIV. ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.
In case of drowning, the aim should be to clear the throat, mouth, and nostrils, and then produce the natural action of the lungs in breathing as soon as possible, at the same time removing wet clothes and applying warmth and friction to the skin, especially the hands and feet, to start the circulation. The best mode of cleansing the throat and mouth of choking water is to lay the person on the face, and raise the head a little, clearing the mouth and nostrils with the finger, and then apply har
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CHAPTER XXV. ON THE RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.
CHAPTER XXV. ON THE RIGHT USE OF TIME AND PROPERTY.
Again, we find every rational mind so made that it may be controlled by some leading desire of ruling purpose to which all other desires and purposes are subordinate, and that it is the nature of this ruling purpose which constitutes moral character . By moral character is meant that which results from our own choice instead of that which consists in qualities and propensities created by God. This ruling purpose that controls the mind sometimes, by a figure of speech is called the heart , which
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CHAPTER XXVI. THE CARE OF INFANTS.
CHAPTER XXVI. THE CARE OF INFANTS.
In view of such considerations, every young lady ought to learn how to take proper care of an infant; for, even if she is never to become the responsible guardian of a nursery, she will often be in situations where she can render benevolent aid to others in this most fatiguing and anxious duty. The writer has known instances in which young ladies, who had been trained by their mothers properly to perform this duty, were in some cases the means of saving the lives of infants, and in others, of re
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CHAPTER XXVII. THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
CHAPTER XXVII. THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
There is probably no practice more deleterious than that of allowing children to eat at short intervals through the day. As the stomach is thus kept constantly at work, with no time for repose, its functions are deranged, and a weak or disordered stomach is the frequent result. Children should be required to keep cakes, nuts, and other good things, which should be sparingly given, till just before a meal, and then they will form a part of their regular supply. This is better than to wait till af
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CHAPTER XXVIII. FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
CHAPTER XXVIII. FAMILY RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
There are two ways in which mankind learn this. The first is, by the trial of experience. Man learns “to know good and evil” by good lost or gained, and evil suffered. This experimenting has been going on in all ages, each generation gaining by the experience of the past. The other mode is, by revelations from God made in human language, and to be interpreted by the common rules of the language employed. But one distinction is very important, and that is, the two relations in which an action is
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CHAPTER XXIX. THE CARE OF SERVANTS.
CHAPTER XXIX. THE CARE OF SERVANTS.
“Although in earlier ages the highest-born, wealthiest, and proudest ladies were skilled in the simple labors of the household, the advance of society toward luxury has changed all this, especially in lands of aristocracy and classes; and at the present time America is the only country where there is a class of women who may be described as ladies who do their own work. By a lady we mean a woman of education, cultivation, and refinement, of liberal tastes and ideas, who, without any very materia
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CHAPTER XXX. DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.
CHAPTER XXX. DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.
Another rule which has been extensively adopted in the religious world is, to avoid those amusements which experience has shown to be so exciting, and connected with so many temptations, as to be pernicious in tendency, both to the individual and to the community. It is on this ground that horse-racing and circus-riding have been excluded. Not because there is any thing positively wrong in having men and horses run and perform feats of agility, or in persons looking on for the diversion; but bec
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CHAPTER XXXI. LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
CHAPTER XXXI. LAWS OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.
Laws of Health for the Lungs. It is proved by many experiments that a full-grown person vitiates a hogshead of air every hour; therefore, so ventilate every room that each inmate shall have the needful pure air at this rate, especially by night. Take care so to dress, to sit, and to lie, that the lungs shall not be compressed, and thus be deprived of the needful nourishing oxygen. Laws of Health for the Digestive Organs. Supply every part of the body with its peculiar nutriment; nitrogen for mus
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CHAPTER XXXII. COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.
CHAPTER XXXII. COMFORT FOR A DISCOURAGED HOUSEKEEPER.
And perhaps your children are sickly, and rob you of rest by night, or your health is so poor that you feel no energy or spirits to make exertions. And perhaps you never have had any training in domestic affairs, and can not understand how to work yourself, nor how to direct others. And when you go for aid to experienced housekeepers, or cookery-books, you are met by such sort of directions as these: “Take a pinch of this, and a little of that, and considerable of the other, and cook them till t
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NOTE A. VIEWS OF MEDICAL WRITERS
NOTE A. VIEWS OF MEDICAL WRITERS
Effects of Imagination in Reference to these Diseases. “Besides the evils of misunderstanding and mistreating these affections, we have a host of evils from the effects of imagination. Multitudes of women, who hear terrific accounts of the nature of these complaints, and of the treatment that is inevitable, have their imagination so excited that aches and pains that are really trifling become magnified into all the symptoms of the dreaded evil. They betake themselves to bed, become more and more
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VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES,
VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES,
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York . ☛ For a full List of Books suitable for Libraries, see Harper & Brothers’ Trade-List and Catalogue , which may be had gratuitously on application to the Publishers personally, or by letter enclosing Five Cents. ☛ Harper & Brothers will send any of the following works by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price. MOTLEY’S DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. By John Lothrop Motley,
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