TX
UC-NRLF
SB
REESE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
^Received LfTA^^-l^ , 180 7
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Accessions Nn.wlfvOf . Class No.
THE HANDBOOK
OF
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT
AND COOKERY
;
COMPILED AT THE REQUEST OF
WITH AN APPENDIX OF RECIPES USED BY THE TEACHERS OF THK
NATIONAL SCHOOL OF COOKERY
BY
W. B. TEGETMEIER
AUTHOR OF i: A MANUAL OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY
(JTWIVERSITY)
H o n tr o n
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1894
The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved
RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND EUNGAY.
First Edition printed 1876.
Reprinted 1877, 1879, 1882, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1894.
PREFACE.
THE present work was written at the request of THE
SCHOOL BOARD FOR LONDON. It was designed to
supply a want which has:iong been felt by practical
teachers ; that of a handbook on the general principles
on which the processes of Cookery and the sanitary
management of a home depend.
No work on the subject at present exists which
can be advantageously placed in the hands of the
pupils in ordinary schools. A mere collection of
recipes, however valuable in themselves, does not
constitute a book fit for use in schools, where the
pupils should be instructed in the first principles
adapted to all cases, and not have the memory
burdened by details applicable only to each indivi-
dual case. The " Manual of Domestic Economy," *
published by the Author for the use of students in
female Training Colleges, is adapted for the instruc-
tion of teachers, by whom it has been used with so
1 "A Manual of Domestic Economy," by W. B. Tegetmeier.
Tenth Edition. Hamilton and Adams, 1877.
PREFACE.
much success that Her Majesty's Commissioners,
appointed to Investigate the Education in Mining
Districts, in their Report on the Industrial Schools
founded by Messrs. Baird at the Iron Works at
Gartsherrie, stated that "The girls, in three months,
can be taught plain cooking, washing, and cleaning,
enough to prepare them for service, or to make
them useful to their mothers at home. They are
all instructed in Tegetmeier's ' Domestic Economy '
at school, so that their minds have been directed
to many useful principles. On going to service
after such a course, a girl would probably get i/.
more wages for the first half-year's service."
The value of the present work has been greatly
increased by an Appendix of upwards of 150
recipes prepared for the use of those teachers of
the NATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL OF COOKERY, South
Kensington, who inaugurated the teaching at the
Cookery Centres, established by the SCHOOL BOARD
FOR LONDON. For the permission to use these
recipes the author has to express his sincere thanks,
Finchley, N.
CONTENTS.
PART I. FOOD.
CHAP. PAGH:
I. THE NATURE AND USES OF FOOD .... II
II. MEAT : ITS COMPOSITION ....... 15
III. MEAT : THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY . . . 2O
IV. FISH : ITS VALUE AS FOOD, AND COOKERY . 34
V. EGGS : THEIR COMPOSITION, VALUE AS FOOD
AND COOKERY 37
VI. MILK : ITS CONSTITUENTS AND PRODUCTS
BUTTER AND CHEESE 41
VII. FLOUR : ITS CONSTITUENTS, STARCH, SUGAR
BREAD-MAKINGPASTRY, ETC 47
VIII. PULSE, PEAS, BEANS, AND FRESH VEGE-
TABLES AND FRUITS . 56
IX. CONDIMENTS : SALT, PEPPER, SPICES, ETC. . 60
X. BEVERAGES : TEA, COFFEE, COCOA, BEER., ETC 63
CONTENTS.
PART II.
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT.
CHAP. PAGE
XL THE HOME : CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO
HEALTH 66
XII. WATER SUPPLY : QUALITIES OF WATER,
INFLUENCE ON HEALTH, WASHING,
COOKING, ETC 72
XIII. AIR AND VENTILATION 76
XIV. FIRING: STOVES, RANGES, AND ECONOMI-
CAL MANAGEMENT OF FUEL 80
XV. LIGHTING : CANDLES, PETROLEUM, BENZO-
LINE, AND GAS LAMPS. THEIR MANAGE-
MENT, ETC 85
XVI. CLEANING, WASHING, AND GENERAL HOUSE-
WORK 91
XVII. CLOTHING 99
APPENDIX.
LESS. PAGE
J. LIGHTING A FIRE, MILK AND EGGS, CHIL-
DREN'S FOOD 103
II. ROASTING, AND THE PUDDINGS EATEN
WITH ROAST MEAT . ., 105
III. BOILING 106
IV. SOUPS AND BROTHS . , . IO8
V. STEWS ...... \ ....... 109
VI. BAKING . . . * . \ v , * ; . . . . IIO
VII. FRYING , 112
VIII. BROILING , . . 113
IX. USING UP COLD MEAT ....... 114
X. AUSTRALIAN MEAT .....'.... 115
XL FISH 117
XII. VEGETABLES . Il8
XIII. PIES AND BAKED PUDDINGS . . . , . JJ9
APPENDIX.
LESS. PAGE
XIV. BOILED PUDDINGS I2O
XV. BREAD AND CAKES 122
XVI. INVALID COOKERY 123
XVII. FARINACEOUS FOODS , . 125
XVIIL CHEAP SAUCES 126
XIX. CHEAPEST DISHES WITHOUT MEAT . . . 127
XX. CHEAPEST DISHES WITH MEAT . . . . 128
^A/fyX
OF THE Y \
UNIVERSITY)
THE HANDBOOK
OF
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT
AND COOKERY.
PART I. FOOD.
CHAPTER I.
THE NATURE AND USES OF FOOD
1. Milk is almost the only example of a substance
which is to be regarded as a naturally prepared food ;
other articles of diet serve other purposes. Seeds
grow, plants and animals live ; but milk is expressly
formed for food, and for food alone.
2. The young animal fed on milk grows or increases
in weight daily. It forms or secretes several sub-
stances, such as the saliva of the mouth, the bile of
the liver, the tears from the eye, &c. ; it keeps itself
warm, and exercises its strength in moving the limbs ;
all of which it is enabled to accomplish only by means
of materials derived from the milk which is its sole
food
12 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
3. Hence, as milk supplies every requisite for the
body, and enables a young calf to grow into a heifer
and a baby into a child, we may regard it as a model
food ; it is, in fact, the most perfect food that exists
in nature.
4. It is desirable, therefore, to examine milk and
ascertain the materials of which it is composed. A
very large proportion of milk consists of water, which
is necessary to supply the fluids of the body.
The cream which rises to the top when the milk is
allowed to stand at rest consists of fat, which is
chiefly consumed or burnt away in breathing, and
maintains the warmth natural to the young animal,
and, like the coal in a steam-engine, is the source of
the force or strength that it exercises ; when more
cream is taken than is required for immediate use it
is stored up in the body in the form of fat.
If milk is allowed to become sour the solid part
separates in the form of curd. It is this portion
which supplies the materials for the growth of the
flesh, skin, hair, heart, lungs, &c., of the young animal,
and for replacing the daily loss arising from the
wearing out of the different parts of the body.
The whey, or liquid left after the separation of
the curd, contains dissolved in it salt and other saline
bodies necessary for digestion, and the earthy materials
of which the bones are formed. It also contains some
sugar, which acts like the cream in keeping up the
warmth and maintaining the strength of the body.
5. In preparing our food we must endeavour to
imitate as far as possible the composition of milk ;
for any one simple substance, such as starch, arrow-
root, fat, gelatine, &c., which only fulfils one of the
CHAP, i.] THE NATURE AND USES OF FOOD. 13
purposes required in our food will not alone support
life; hence it is necessary we should arrange the
articles of food according to their uses.
6. The substances that when eaten go to supply the
materials of our bodies, and in this respect resemble
the curd of the milk, are sometimes termed flesh-
forming foods ; and, from containing nitrogen, are
sometimes called nitrogenous ; but as they resemble
white of egg (albumen) in many properties, they are
better termed albumenoid, or albumen-like.
The most important albumenoid articles of our
food are the solid parts of the flesh of animals, the
curd of milk, which when dried becomes cheese, the
albumen of eggs, gelatine, the gluten of flour, and the
curdy matter that forms a large portion of many seeds,
as peas, beans, &c.
7. The foods that are used to keep up the warmth
natural to the body, and by being consumed in the
breathing are the source of the strength we exercise,
are sometimes termed warmth-giving foods; as they
contain a great amount of carbon or charcoal they have
also been termed carbonaceous; and as they resemble
oil in being combustible they are frequently termed
oleaginous foods.
The most important of these foods are fats, oils,
starch, sugar, gum, and the softer and more digestible
fibres of plants.
8. Many of the articles used as food do not con-
tain a proper proportion of these two kinds of sub-
stances, and in economical cooking it is desirable that
the defects in one article of diet should be supplied
by using it with some other which contains that which
is wanting in the first.
14 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
_ ___
For example, rice and potatoes consist chiefly of
starch, and of themselves are bad foods unless com-
bined with fatty and albumenoid matters; therefore
we endeavour to use rice in puddings with milk, eggs,
and butter, which supply all that is wanting, and it
thus becomes a valuable article of food. Potatoes
are most useful and economical if eaten with milk,
fat meats ; alone they are barely able to support life
and cannot sustain health and strength. Beans,
which are chiefly albumenoid, are eaten with bacon.
Bread, which is wanting in fat, with butter or bacon,
&c. &c.
CHAPTER II.
MEAT: ITS COMPOSITION.
9. Meat, or the flesh of animals used for food,
consists of several very distinct substances, each of
which possesses different qualities. Some of these
substances are hardened, others softened by heat ;
some dissolved, and others rendered tough by boiling
water. It is therefore necessary to understand the
nature of these different substances, in order to per-
form the different operations of cooking in the best
and most economical manner.
10. If we take some small shreds of lean meat
and wash them repeatedly in clean water, rubbing
them at the same time, we shall wash away all the
soluble part, and at last there will remain nothing
but some white threads which constitute the fibrous
part of the flesh of the animal from which they were
obtained. We could in this manner obtain about
fifteen pounds from every hundred pounds of flesh.
This substance of which these threads are composed
is termed fibrin ; it is an albumenoid (6) article of
food. Fibrin also exists dissolved in the blood of
1 6 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
living animals ; and when the fresh blood of a pig
or other animal is stirred, as is done in making black
puddings, the fibrin separates and adheres to the stick
in long fibres.
The action of heat on fibrin is very important. It
is hardened and contracted by a heat as great as that
of boiling water : this is easily shown by pouring some
perfectly boiling water on the threads obtained by
washing meat, or by cutting a thin shred of meat in
the direction of the fibres, boiling it for a few minutes,
and then noticing the alteration in its size and the
hardening it has undergone.
In water that is considerably less hot than boiling,
the fibres of meat become soft, consequently any
meat, even if old and tough, can be rendered useful
for food by long continued stewing, at a heat much
less than that of boiling water.
ii. When meat is thoroughly washed to obtain the
fibrin, a soluble substance, similar to the white of egg,
passes away in the water; this is termed albumen.
There are from three to five pounds of albumen in
every hundred of meat; it also forms a very large
proportion of the brain and of the blood. In cold
or warm water it is easily dissolved, but if heated to
near the boiling point of water it becomes solid. If
a piece of fresh meat is suddenly plunged for a few
minutes into water quite boiling, the albumen at the
outside is hardened and becoming solid prevents the
escape of the juices which form the gravy. Exposed
to a heat greater than that of boiling water albumen
becomes very horny and indigestible, but when pro-
perly cooked it is one of the most valuable articles of
diet.
CHAP, ii.] ME A T: ITS COMPOSITION. i ^
1 2. The tendinous or gristly parts of the flesh, such
as cow's heel, the sinewy parts about the joints, also
the skin and the nutritive parts of the bones, consist
chiefly of a peculiar substance termed gelatin. This
is a valuable album enoid article of food when used
with other substances. Gelatin and gelatinous articles
of food may be dissolved by boiling, and the solution
becomes a jelly when cold. Gelatin is rendered hard
and horny by a dry heat, and therefore the sinewy
and tendinous parts of meat are better adapted for
stewing or boiling, than for roasting, broiling, or
frying.
13. If a quantity of lean meat be chopped up small,
and placed in a closely-covered earthen pot, without
water, and the pot be then put in a saucepan of water
by the side of the fire so as to be very gradually heated,
the juice of the flesh will escape. At first this will
be of a red colour, being tinged with a little blood,
but if heated to a greater degree it will become brown.
The juice of the flesh contains many substances of
the greatest value as food, and meat from which it is
extracted is of very inferior value.
All operations of cookery should be conducted so
as to prevent as far as possible any loss of this
valuable fluid. When meat is salted a large propor-
tion of the juice of the flesh is extracted and forms
the brine. This contains so much albumen as to
become partly solid if heated. It is from the loss of
this valuable juice that salted meats are so much less
nutritious and wholesome than those that are used
in a fresh state. What is termed extract of meat
is merely the juice of the flesh from which the water
has been evaporated so that it is nearly solid.
1 8 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
14. Almost all flesh used for food contains a con-
siderable proportion of fat, which when eaten main-
tains the warmth of the body. Hence we have a much
greater appetite for fat in cold seasons and climates
than in those that are warm. Fat is one of the olea-
ginous foods (7) which are the source of the force
we exert ; it is also essential to the proper action of
the digestive organs. When taken in too great a
quantity it accumulates in the body, which thus be-
comes fattened.
15. The quantity and quality of these different
substances vary very much in the different kinds of
meat. The flesh of very young animals is not nearly
so nutritious as that of those which are of mature age.
Lamb and veal contain much less solid food than
mutton or beef, and are consequently not so econo-
mical, even if purchased at the same cost per pound.
Mutton, if in good condition, is one of the most easily
digested of the ordinary flesh meats. Pork is not so
easily digested as beef or mutton, consequently is
unfitted for sick persons, and from the unwholesome
manner in which pigs are often kept, is more subject
to be diseased than the flesh of sheep or oxen.
1 6. Some of the internal parts of animals are ex-
ceedingly useful as food. The stomach of the ox
when cleaned and partially boiled is sold as tripe, an
easily digestible and nutritious food. In the tongue
the fibres of the flesh are very small and delicate,
and if stewed slowly, become very soft and digestible ;
but tongues are frequently much hardened by salting
for a long time. The flesh of the heart of the ox and
of the sheep is very firm and solid, and though nutri-
tious, is not very easily digested. Kidney and liver,
CHAP, ii.] MEAT: ITS COMPOSITION. 19
except in the case of those of young animals, are also
hard and firm when cooked, and are not very digest-
ible. The brain consists chiefly of albumen and water,
and if properly prepared is a useful food. The blood
contains a very large proportion of nutritive albu-
menoid substances, but it is not a favourite food, and
except in the form of " black puddings," which are
made from the blood of the pig, is rarely used in this
country.
CHAPTER III.
MEAT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY.
17. Roasting is a mode of cooking meat that is
more common in this than in any other country. It
is, however, not an economical or advantageous mode
of cooking small joints, as they become dried up ; and
it is exceedingly wasteful in the case of sinewy or
tendinous pieces of meat, as it renders a very large
proportion of them quite uneatable. Roasting is an
advantageous mode of cooking only in cases where
the joints are large and where the cost of a large fire
is not of importance. Consequently it is not the best
suited to the circumstances of the working classes.
When a piece of meat is hung before a fire, part of
the fat melts and forms the dripping which should be
carefully and cleanly preserved, as it constitutes a
valuable article of food. During the process some of
the water of the juice of the flesh is dried up ; from
these two causes the meat loses in weight. In some fat
joints more than one quarter of the weight is lost, in
others much less, as in the case of a leg of mutton
which is covered by a skin, and has but little fat to
melt away.
Ctt. in.] MEAT : TtfE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 21
To roast well the meat should be hung up before a
brisk bright fire, the first effect of which is to harden
the albumen in the outer parts and thus prevent the
escape of the nutritious juices. The heat should then
be continued until it has penetrated the inside. When
it is heated the natural red colour of the flesh is
changed, and from the hardening of the albumen the
meat becomes firm and can be cut in thin slices.
Underdone meat is not, as is generally supposed,
more nutritious than that which is properly cooked.
The heat of the fire causes the production of pecu-
liar flavours and odours which distinguish one kind of
meat from another.
1 8. In roasting it is important that the meat be put
down before a bright, clear fire, sufficiently large to
heat the whole of the joint at once. If possible,
skewers and spits should not be thrust into the meat,
as they make holes through which the gravy escapes.
The time usually allowed for roasting is a quarter of
an hour or twenty-minutes for every pound, but this
depends on the thickness and also on the size of the
joint.
The usual plan of making gravy for roast meat is,
to sprinkle a little salt on the joint after it is placed in
the dish, and then pour some boiling water over it ; this
washes off some of the brown and makes a coloured
liquid in the dish.
A much better plan is to collect the dripping in a
flat pan, and when the meat is dished to leave as much
as may be required for making the gravy ; and then to
dredge in some flour and place the pan over the fire
or stove until the flour is browned. A little cold water
is next added, which is to be well mixed with the brown
22 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
flour so as to avoid leaving any lumps. Boiling water,
or still better, broth made by stewing any scraps of
bones from the joint, is then poured on in sufficient
quantity, the whole being constantly stirred ; the whole
is allowed to boil for a few minutes and poured
over the joint. In this manner a large quantity of
very good, rich, nutritious gravy is produced which
is very economical, as it renders potatoes and other
vegetables much more acceptable, especially to child-
ren, and in this mode saves the consumption of meat.
If a joint is to be eaten cold it is better that it
should not be cut whilst warm, as the contraction of
the fibres forces out the gravy; but if not cut until cold
the gravy is retained and the meat is much more tasty
and tender.
19. Baking is a more economical mode of cook-
ing than roasting, especially in small families where
economical stoves or ranges with side ovens are used,
In baking there is less loss of weight than in roasting
as the joint is less dried. Care should be taken that
the floor of the oven is not too much heated or the
fat may be burnt, which causes a bad flavour. A great
advantage in baking is that it requires less attention
than roasting, and that potatoes, or a batter or York-
shire pudding, can be cooked under the meat. This
latter may be made by taking four tablespoonfuls of
flour, and rubbing them into a smooth batter with a
pint of milk, which has previously had a well-beaten
egg mixed with it. If eggs are abundant two or three
may be employed with advantage, the quantity of
flour being lessened. The milk and egg must be
added gradually, the batter being rubbed until uni-
formly smooth after each addition.
CH. m.] ME AT: THE, PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 23
20. Broiling is the rapid cooking of a small
piece of meat, as a chop or a steak, by exposing it to
the heat of a fire ; in large kitchens the gridiron on
which the meat is cooked is usually placed over a
large, clear fire, but in smaller houses it is generally
hung up before the fire. Broiling has very nearly the
same effect on meat as roasting. The albumen of the
outer portions is hardened, and forms a kind of skin
retaining the juices.
In order that this may be done most perfectly, the
meat should be rapidly turned so as to prevent the
juices escaping on the side furthest from the fire.
A fork should not be thrust into the flesh, as it makes
holes through which the juices escape.
In large chop-houses, the chops are turned over very
quickly with broiling-tongs.
Broiling is a good mode of cooking thick fleshy
chops and steaks, but is a wasteful method of pre-
paring thin pieces such as are often purchased when
cheap meat is required.
Success in broiling depends on having a thick, fleshy
piece of tender meat, a clear fire, a clean gridiron, and
on the meat being turned repeatedly. Broiled meat
should not be sprinkled with salt until after it is
cooked, and it should never be cut into in order to
ascertain whether it is done ; as if again put down
to the fire the juice escapes from the cut, and the
meat becomes dry and much less nutritious.
21. Frying is the cooking of meat in melted fat
heated in a frying or stew-pan over a fire or stove.
If the frying-pan is placed over an open fire, the fat
is usually over-heated, and gives out a very disagree-
able smell ; meat when placed in overheated fat ha.
24 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
its fibrin hardened and contracted, so that it becomes
very tough ; therefore fried meat is usually regarded as
inferior to such as is broiled.
If, however, the fat is not over-heated, and there
is sufficient to prevent burning, and to cover the
piece to be cooked, meat may be fried of a very light
brown colour without being hardened.
22. Boiling may be performed in various modes.
If the joint is put in cold water and placed on the
fire, and the heat very slowly raised to the boiling-
point, after which the saucepan is pulled back from
the fire so as to be kept hot without boiling until the
joint is thoroughly done ; the meat will be tender in
proportion to the length of time and slowness with
which it has been cooked, but a considerable propor-
tion of the gelatin and albumen will be dissolved in
the water, and unless this be used for soup or broth
will be wasted.
This dissolved albumen coagulates or hardens as
the water approaches the boiling-point, and forms the
scum, which should be removed by skimming just
before the water boils, or it is carried down by the
boiling and discolours the meat.
A different mode of boiling is sometimes adopted
when the liquor is not required for soup. It is to
place the joint in perfectly boiling water for a quarter
of an hour ; this hardens the outside and prevents the
escape of the nutritious juices ; the water is then
cooled, either by adding a quantity of cold water or
by drawing the vessel back from the fire, and the
process continued at a low heat until the whole is
thoroughly cooked.
If the water is made to boil during the whole time
CH. ill.} ME AT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 25
the meat is being cooked, the fibrin is rendered hard,
and the meat becomes tough and stringy.
To have meat tender it is important not to expose
it to the heat of boiling water for any length of time.
In what is termed a Norwegian kitchener the water
in which the meat is placed is made to boil. Then
the vessel is placed in a box thickly lined with
layers of woollen felt ; this prevents the escape of the
heat, and the largest joints will be perfectly and most
tenderly cooked after having been taken away from
the fire for three or four hours.
In all cases of boiling it is desirable to avoid
thrusting a large fork or skewers into the joint, as
these, by passing into the interior where the albumen
is not hardened, make holes through which the juice
escapes, and the meat becomes dry and less nutritious.
If necessary, it is better to tie the joint round with
string than to employ skewers.
Ham and the lean of bacon, which is usually hard
and tough, may be cooked so as to be perfectly tender
and without waste of fat, by not allowing the water to
boil. At the large ham and beef shops in London,
where the meat is always very tender, the hams are
placed in large coppers of cold water, a small fire is
lighted under the copper, and the water gradually
raised to the boiling-point, when the fire is imme-
diately raked out, the copper covered over, and the
hams allowed to remain in the water until it is nearly
cold. In this manner they are several hours in cook-
ing, and are never heated to the boiling-point, conse-
quently the flesh becomes exceedingly tender, and
there is no loss of fat.
23. Stewing is a much more advantageous and
26 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AtfD COOKERY.
economical mode of cooking than boiling : by its use
the flesh of old animals, and tough, sinewy joints that
would otherwise be wasted, can be used for food.
Stewing consists in cooking meat in a small quantity
of liquid, by a very moderate heat, which is continued
for a very considerable time. By this long-continued
action of a gentle heat the fibres are softened and the
toughest joints become tender and eatable. In cook-
ing meat by stewing it must be remembered that
length of time is much more important than extra
heat; and that the cooking of the food cannot be
hastened by increasing the heat, which if raised to the
boiling-point only hardens the fibres and renders the
meat tough.
In the houses of the working classes in England
stewing is not so much employed as it should be.
By its use small pieces of meat may be cooked with
vegetables, and made into the most savoury and
nourishing dishes, and the coarsest and cheapest
joints may be made almost equal in flavour and quite
as nutritious as the dearest.
The stews best known in this country are stewed
steak, haricot mutton, Irish stew, and jugged hare.
The value of these is recognized, and it is only
prejudice or ignorance which prevents the English
housewife applying the same mode of cooking to
other joints, and using the French plan of always
having a stewing pipkin or pot-au-feu by the side of
the fire.
24. As examples of different modes of stewing, the
following recipes are given :
Stewed Steak. Take a clean, well-tinned stew-
pan, which is much better for the purpose than an
CH. in.] MEAT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 27
ordinary saucepan, put in a little butter or dripping,
and melt it; then place in the steak, cut into conve-
niently sized pieces, and fry each of a very light brown,
frying a sliced onion at the same time; when suffi-
ciently fried, add the seasoning, such as pepper and salt.
The salt must not be added at first, as it would draw
out the gravy and prevent the meat browning. The
meat should then be barely covered with cold water
and allowed to stew slowly for four or five hours,
the greatest care being taken that it does not boil.
The vegetables, such as turnip, carrot, celery, &c.,
should be cut up and boiled in a separate saucepan
of water until tender, and them added to the stewed
meat. The object of cooking the vegetables separately
is to prevent the necessity of boiling the meat, which
would harden it. Half an hour before serving, add a
little flour and water, mixed into a very thin paste, and
let the stew just simmer so as to thicken the gravy.
Haricot Mutton is made in precisely the same
manner, using small cutlets from the neck of mutton
instead of steak.
Irish Stew is a popular dish ; it is usually made
by placing in a stew-pan alternate layers of pieces of
mutton and sliced potatoes and onions, with pepper
and salt, barely covering them with water, and allow-
ing the whole to stew for some hours. If a large
quantity of potatoes are required, it is desirable to
partially boil some small ones and place them on the
top of the stew half an hour or more before serving,
as they then become perfectly cooked and acquire the
flavour of the stew. If too many potatoes are added
at first, so much water is required to cover them
that the stew is spoiled.
28 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
Jugged Hare is a very good example of the
utility of stewing. If a hare is too old and tough to
be eaten when roasted, it is cut up and placed in an
earthenware vessel with a little bacon, onions, cloves,
lemon peel, sweet herbs, pepper and salt, and
a little water; the earthen jar is then to be very
closely covered over and placed in a large sauce-
pan of cold water, taking care the water is not
sufficiently high to run into the jar. The saucepan
is allowed to boil for four hours, or the jar may be
placed in a very slow oven. Before serving, the
gravy is thickened by adding a little flour and water.
Stewed Rabbits. A very economical and useful
mode of cooking rabbits is used in Spain. Alternate
layers of pieces of rabbits and sliced onions are
placed with a little seasoning and flour in a stew-pan
without any water, the whole is closely covered down,
and placed by the side of the fire for three or four
hours.
Vinegar is sometimes used in the preparation of
stews, as directed in the following recipe, which, if
strictly followed, produces a most excellent dish :
" Take shin or leg of beef, cut it into slices or
pieces of two or three ounces each ; dip it in good
vinegar, and with or without onions, or any other
flavouring or vegetable substances, put it in a stew-
pan, and without water, let it stand on a stew-hearth,
or by a slow fire for four or six hours, when it will
be thoroughly done, will have yielded plenty of gravy,
and be perfectly tender. Great care must be taken
that the heat is sufficiently moderate. Leg or shin
of beef makes the richest and most nutritious stew,
and., may be had at a low price \ but any other meat
CH. in.] MEAT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 29
or fish may be so dressed. A pound and a half of
leg of beef, without bone, so dressed, and plenty of
potatoes, will dine four people luxuriously."
25. The Stewing Pipkin or Pot-au-feu is the
general mode of cooking amongst the working classes
in France. Its use effects a great saving of fuel,
trouble, and skill. Careme, one of the most celebrated
French cooks, gives the following directions :
"The good housewife puts her meat into an
earthen pot, and pours cold water on it, in the pro-
portion of two quarts to three pounds of the beef.
She sets it at the side of the fire.
" The pot grows gradually hot, and as the water heats
it dilates the muscular fibres of the flesh by dissolving
the gelatinous matter which covers them, and allows
the albumen to detach itself easily, and rise to the
surface of the water in light foam or scum, while the
savoury juice of the meat, dissolving little by little,
adds flavour to the broth.
" By this simple proceeding of slow cooking, the
housewife obtains a savoury and nourishing broth,
and tender boiled meat, and with a good flavour. But
by placing \hzpot-aii-feu on too hot a fire, it boils too
soon the albumen coagulates and the fibre hardens ;
the sad result is that you have only a hard piece of
boiled meat, and a broth without flavour or goodness.
A little fresh water poured into the pot at intervals
helps the scum to rise more abundantly."
Whatever vegetables are in season may be added to
the ste wing-pot, as celery, onions, carrots, turnips, and
salt, pepper, and sweet herbs. The broth may be
poured over toasted bread, or rice or Scotch barley
may be added so as to make it more nutritious.
30 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
The great precaution to be taken in stewing is not
to allow the heat to rise too high. This is quite pre-
vented in Captain Warren's cooking-pots. These
consist of one saucepan within another, like a car-
penter's glue-pot, the outer being filled with water.
By this arrangement the inner cannot become over-
heated to the boiling point ; consequently the meat
is cooked slowly and without becoming hard. In
Warren's cooking-pots, meat, fowls, ham, bacon, &c.,
can all be cooked perfectly without any water
being placed in the inner vessel, so that the whole of-
the gravy flowing from the meat is preserved in the
richest form.
26. Soups and Broths are not so generally
used among the working classes in this country as is
desirable. They furnish, when properly prepared,
very economical and nutritive articles of food.
Pea Soup is that which is most generally used in
England. It may be prepared either with or without
meat ; the latter is hardly required, except for the
flavour, as the peas are remarkably rich in albumenoid
substances. The following directions may be fol-
lowed. Soak a quart of split peas over night, place
them in a stewpan with half a pound of lean bacon,
or some bones from roast meat broken small, and
three quarts of cold water, or the liquor in which
some fresh meat has been boiled ; place on a very
slow fire and add celery, onions, and sweet herbs, and
simmer for two or three hours until the peas and
vegetables are sufficiently soft to pass through a
colander, when pepper and salt should be added and
the whole reheated, and eaten with toasted bread cut
into small square pieces. If no meat can be obtained
CH. m.] MEAT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 31
the soup may be rendered much more savoury by
frying the onions and celery in a little dripping before
adding them to the soup ; and if dripping is plentiful,
the bread may be fried instead of toasted.
Scotch Broth is very generally used among the
middle and working classes in Scotland. It is very
economical, as both broth and meat are used. The
following are the directions : Put into a pot three
quarts of cold water, along with a cupful of Scotch
barley, and let it boil. Add two pounds of neck of
mutton. Allow it to stew gently for an hour, skim-
ming occasionally. Then add turnips cut in squares,
and onions sliced, and carrots and turnips uncut. The
half of a small cabbage chopped in moderately sized
pieces may be put in instead of all these vegetables,
and leeks may be used instead of onions. Stew the
whole for an hour longer. The broth is now ready.
Season with salt, and serve in a tureen. The meat
is served in a separate dish, with the uncut pieces of
turnip and carrot, and a little of the broth as gravy.
Any meat may be employed in the same way, which
is not unlike that followed in preparing the French
Pot au feu (25).
27. Salting Meat is in most cases a very waste-
ful process ; salt when applied to fresh meat extracts
a very large proportion of the nutritious juice of the
flesh, and at the same time hardens the fibres and
renders them much less easily digestible. The brine
that runs from salted meat contains so much nutri-
tious albumen that it becomes nearly solid on being
heated, and as there is no means of extracting the
salt, it is necessarily wasted.
The salting of meat before cooking is an English
32 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
prejudice which is not followed in any other country,
nor is there any good reason why beef and pork should
be salted before boiling, and mutton and veal boiled
without salting. The plan followed on the Continent
of slowly stewing a joint of beef without first salting
it, yields a much more nutritious, tender, and well
flavoured food.
In cases where it is necessary to preserve meat, as
on shipboard, salting may be useful, but .health can-
not be preserved for any length of time on meat from
which the most valuable part, the nutritious juice>
has been extracted by salting.
In the case of very fat meats, as bacon, salting is
not objectionable, as in them the most valuable con-
stituent is the fat, which is not injured by the process.
In the case of ham a peculiar flavour is produced
during the process of salting which is highly esteemed)
but it should be remembered that the value of the
flesh of ham as food is very much less than that of
the meat from which it is produced.
28. Preserved Meats. The meats imported in
tins from Australia and South America are exceed-
ingly valuable articles of diet ; and are at the present
time much cheaper than fresh butcher's meat. The
only drawback to their value is that they are rather
overcooked in the process for preparing them, it is
therefore more advantageous to use them cold than in
any other manner.
29. Extract of Meat. The extracts of meat sold
in small jars are merely the juice of the flesh eva-
porated till it becomes nearly dry. It is useful as
means of making beef tea or soup quickly, but is by
no means an economical article of food.
CH.III.] MEAT: THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY. 33
Beef-tea, which is so valuable in cases of illness,
is usually made by boiling the meat in water ; this is a
very bad plan, as the fibres are hardened, and the
soluble portions less readily extracted. It should be
made by pouring a pint of cold water on half-a-pound
of finely-cut or chopped lean beef, and then placing it,
in a covered earthenware vessel, by the side of the fire
for an hour or two. By this means the whole of the
soluble nutritious portions are extracted and the
insoluble fibre alone remains. A small quantity of
salt and two or three cloves greatly improve the
flavour.
TEG.
CHAPTER IV.
FISH: ITS VALUE AS FOOD, AND COOKERY.
30. Fish although of great importance as yielding
a cheap supply of nutritious and easily digested animal
food, is not equal in value to the same weight of meat,
as it contains a much larger proportion of water and
less solid material.
Fish usually contain a very considerable proportion
of oil, in some kinds, as herrings, sprats, pilchards,
salmon, eels, mackerel, this is found in all parts of
the body, whilst in others, which are usually termed
white fish, the oil is contained in the liver, and the
rest of the body is almost entirely free from it. Such
is the case in cod, haddock, whiting, soles, plaice,
flounders, &c.
The fibre of the flesh of fish is very digestible, and
the juice though more watery than that of meat is of
considerable nutritive value. When boiled, a large
proportion of this escapes into the water and is lost ;
hence though so frequently practised, boiling is not
the most economical or advantageous mode of cooking
fish.
CHAP. iv.J FISH : ITS VA&UE AS . 3C
^
31. Salting, though often necessary to preserve
fish when caught in large quantities, is not a desirable
mode of preparing white fish. It extracts a very large
proportion of the nourishment and hardens the fibrin ;
and if the salt has to be extracted by soaking in water
before cooking, as in the case of salt cod, very little
nourishment remains. The fat of the oily fish, as
hearings, &c., is not removed by salting ; hence they are
very valuable as food when preserved in this manner.
32. The most advantageous modes of cooking fish
are those that retain the whole of the nutritious por-
tions. A plaice or" a sole placed on a buttered dish
covered over with a few bread-crumbs and seasoning
and baked retains the whole of the nutriment, and
furnishes a much more savoury meal than if boiled.
The following recipes give directions for the econo-
mical and advantageous cooking of fish.
Baked Fish. Almost any kind of fish, as
mackerel, haddock, whiting, soles &c. may be cooked
by being placed in a dish with bread crumbs, a little
chopped parsley, and other seasoning, as pepper, salt,
a few sliced onions, if desired, and baked in a side oven.
The more oily fish, as herrings, pilchards, sprats, may
be packed closed in a deep earthenware dish, seasoned
with pepper and salt, covered with vinegar and cooked
perfectly even by the side of the fire. Fish prepared
in either of these modes, are very good to eat cold, and
as they will keep good for some days furnish very
useful and cheap articles of food. Broiling fish is an
excellent mode of cooking them, there is no loss of
nourishment and the flavour is much better than
when they are boiled. A broiled mackerel, &c., is a
much more substantial meal than one that has been
B 2
36 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
cooked by boiling, and no sauce is required to be
prepared.
Frying is a useful mode of preparing fish, especially
soles, whitings, plaice, cod, and other white fish.
The chief precautions are to dry them thoroughly,
either to flour or dip them in a thin batter made of
flour and water, and fry in a deep pan with sufficient
fat or dripping to cover them if possible, and to take
care that the heat is not so great as to burn the fish,
which should be of a light brown colour.
Fish soups are largely used in some countries. In
the Channel Islands a very good and nutritious soup
is made of conger-eel according to the following
directions :
Cut up a moderate sized conger-eel in a stewpan
with three or four quarts of water, and let it simmer
two or three hours till it breaks to pieces. Rub it
through a sieve, and pour back into the stewpan with
a little butter. Throw in a small leek, the white heart
of a cabbage cut up, some parsley chopped small, and a
bunch of thyme. Mix two table- spoonfuls of flour in
a pint of milk, and when the cabbage is done, throw
it into the stewpan, stirring all the time, till it comes
to a boil ; then let it boil ten minutes to take off the
rawness of the flour. Before dishing up, season with
a little salt, as the salt is apt to curdle the milk if
added before. Have ready thin slices of bread in
your tureen, and pour the soup over.
CHAPTER V,
EGGS: THEIR COMPOSITION, VALUE AS
FOOD, AND COOKERY.
33- Eggs contain two distinct substances, the
white and the yolk. The solid part of the white is
almost entirely albumen which forms fifteen parts out
of every 100, the remaining eighty -five parts being
water. Albumen is a valuable flesh-forming food and
gives its name, albumenoid, or albumen-like, to the
class of foods to which it belongs. It possesses
peculiar properties, it dissolves in cold or warm water,
but in the white of egg it is in layers like those of an
onion, and these require to be broken up by beating
before the albumen can be dissolved.
If the beating is long continued a glairy fluid is
formed in which large quantities of air are contained
in bubbles; when used in pastry in this state eggs add
very much to the lightness or sponginess of the mass.
Heated to a point many degrees below that of boil-
ing water the albumen hardens, becoming solid and
of an opaque white, hence its name from the Latin
word, albus, white.
When an egg is boiled very hard and allowed to
38 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
become cold, the solid albumen may be separated into
the layers of which it consists.
The yolk contains a considerable quantity of
albumen, with nearly a third of its weight of oil, and
a very large proportion of sulphur and other mineral
matters. It is the sulphur which causes eggs to tarnish
silver, and produces their exceedingly offensive smell
when rotten.
34 The value of eggs as food is very great. Like
milk, they contain all the materials required for the
growth of the body. The entire of the young chick,
its bones, down or feathers, skin, internal organs, and
flesh are formed out of the materials contained in the
egg, which must therefore contain every substance
required for the support of the body.
35. The usefulness of eggs as food depends very
greatly upon the mode of cooking. When boiled
in the shell the outer portion of the white becomes
much hardened, and is of so solid a character, being
quite destitute of pores, that it is digested with ex-
treme slowness, and hence is not fitted for children
or persons of weak digestion. Eggs may be boiled
so as to render them much less difficult of digestion
by placing them in a saucepan of cold water, making
it boil, and then allowing the eggs to remain a few
minutes in the saucepan after it has been removed
from the fire, the time they have to remain in the
boiling water varies with that required to make the
water boil.
Poached eggs, if well prepared, are much less
hardened. The usual plan is to break each egg sepa-
rately into a tea-cup and pour it with the yolk un-
broken into a frying-pan or shallow stewpan of boiling
CHAP, v.] EGGS: THEIR COMPOSITION, c. 59
water ; where this cannot be had a very small quantity
of soda may be used; and in order to soften the
water as much as possible, it should be made to boil
rapidly before the greens are put in ; it should also
boil quickly during the whole time the green vegetables
are cooking, or they will become brown.
Turnips also contain about ninety per cent, of
water; the solid part is very nutritious, easily digested,
and wholesome. Turnips are used as fresh vegetables,
and flavour soups, broths, &c.
Boiled turnips pressed so as to get rid of the water,
and mashed up with a little butter or dripping, pepper
and salt, supply a very valuable article of food.
Carrots and Parsnips are more nutritive than
turnips ; they can be kept many months if the tops are
cut out and they are placed in damp sand.
Onions. Onions and leeks owe their flavour to a
volatile pungent oil ; if eaten uncooked they are not
easily digested, but when boiled or roasted, they are
nutritious and wholesome they contain a large amount
of albumenoid matter. They are also largely used
for flavouring stews and soups.
59. Fresh Fruits, such as apples, gooseberries,
oranges, pears, &c., are very important foods ; the
health of children can hardly be preserved without
their use, and they suffer greatly if deprived of
them.
Nuts and dried fruits, such as figs, raisins, &c., do
not possess the beneficial action of fresh fruits, and
nuts are very difficult of digestion.
CHAPTER IX.
CONDIMENTS: SALT, PEPPER, SPICES, &c.
60. THE most important condiments are salt, pep-
per, and mustard of these salt alone is a necessary
of life. The others are useful if used in small
quantity to render food more palatable, but employed
in large quantity they are injurious, and not required
by the young, whose powers of digestion are good.
6 1. Salt is absolutely essential to health, and even
to life. It is one of the most abundant of all
minerals \ in many places it is found in the earth in
great quantities. Sea water contains three parts in
every hundred ; it is found in small amount in all
soils, in spring and river water, and in all those
vegetables which are used for the food of man and
animals.
Salt when taken in the food supplies two substances,
an acid which helps to form the sour fluid of the
stomach that digests our food, and soda, which is the
bile, a fluid which must be added to the dissolved or
softened food before the nourishment can be extracted
from it. If persons are compelled to live without
salt, or on such food as does not contain a sufficient
quantity, they become ill. The quantity of salt each
CH. ix.] CONDIMENTS: SALT, PEPPER, &c. 61
person requires is between a quarter to half an
ounce daily. A large part of this is contained in the
various articles of food and drink.
Salt possesses the power of preserving meat and
other substances. It acts by removing a large pro-
portion of the liquid parts. The injurious effect of
salted meat, when used for a lengthened period, has
already been described (27).
Salt is largely employed in some countries in pre-
serving green vegetables for winter use. Thus French
beans may be kept for many months by cutting them
in slices, packing them in a jar with layers of salt, and
pressing them down so that no part comes above the
brine, which flows out. If tied over and placed in a
cool situation they will keep a long time, and are ready
for use as soon as the salt brine is washed away. In
many countries cabbages and cucumbers and other
vegetables are preserved in the same manner.
Salt should always be taken with our meals, for a
sufficient quantity does not exist in our food to supply
the wants of the body.
62. Vinegar. Vinegar is an acid liquid, obtained
in this country by allowing a kind of weak beer to
become sour.
It has the power of preventing substances putrefy-
ing, and is used for this purpose in making pickles.
If taken with our food in small quantity it helps us
to digest many substances that are difficult of diges-
tion ; in large quantity it is very injurious. It is
employed in cookery to assist in softening the fibres
of tough meat, 1 and to pickle fish, vegetables, &c.
1 See directions for making Brazilian Stew in Appendix,
Fifth Lesson.
62 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
Pickled vegetables, as onions, cabbage, &c., are very
difficult of digestion, and if taken in large quantity are
decidedly injurious.
63. Mustard is one of the most common condi-
ments. If used in small quantity it promotes the
appetite and increases the digestive power, but taken
too freely it irritates the stomach and is very injurious.
As a medicine mustard is of very great use, spread on
calico and applied to the skin it relieves internal
inflammation, by drawing the blood to the surface,
in this manner it often relieves the most violent pain,
and may be safely used in the absence of medical
aid.
64. Pepper is the spice most frequently employed
in this country ; like other spices it is useful in sea-
soning, but great care should be taken not to use it in
large quantity, as it injures the stomach and renders
the digestion of plain food difficult. Children should
not be accustomed to highly spiced and seasoned
dishes.
CHAPTER X.
BEVERAGES : TEA, COFFEE, COCOA, BEER, &c.
65. Tea is more used in this country than any
other unintoxicating beverage. Taken in moderate
quantity it is not injurious, but in large quantity it
is hurtful, especially to persons who are not well
fed. Tea is best made in an earthenware teapot,
which should be kept dry, for if allowed to remain
damp after use it acquires a musty flavour. The
water should be boiling, and, if possible, soft; when
hard water is used, it may be softened by being
kept boiling for half-an-hour, when the lime which
causes the hardness is partly thrown down, forming
what is called fur or rock on the kettle ; or a very
small quantity of carbonate of soda may also be used,
or the tea may be allowed to remain soaking for half-
an-hour by the fire-side, or be covered over with a
woollen cover to prevent the escape of heat. As a
general rule, the harder the water the longer the tea
should be allowed to remain before use, care being
taken to keep its temperature as near as practicable
to that of the boiling point.
66. Coffee is more stimulating than tea. If taken
immediately after a meal, it appears to assist the
^HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY*
digestion. Like tea, if drunk strong, it produces
wakefulness, which sometimes lasts for many hours.
Coffee contains a bitter principle, but its flavour
.mainly depends upon a volatile substance which
is driven off by boiling ; to preserve its taste, it
should therefore be made without boiling. The
French coffee-pots, made of two Cylindrical vessels, the
upper having a metal strainer on which the ground
coffee is placed, and through which the clear infusion
runs into the lower one, are the best. The flavour of
coffee is also very greatly improved by the employment
of hot boiled milk.
Chicory is the root of a plant. When roasted it is
used with ground coffee to give colour and flavour ; it
is most advantageous to purchase it separately and
mix it in the proportion of one part to three or four
of coffee.
67. Cocoa. Cocoa and chocolate are prepared
from the crusted seeds of an American plant. The
kernels contain nearly half their weight of fat. Cocoa
is much more nutritious than tea or coffee, but not so
stimulating. Chocolate is made of the pure kernels
ground in a mill with sugar. Cocoa should con-
tain the ground kernels only, but the husks are
ground up with the cheaper kinds, which also contain
potato-starch, and earthy substances, as red ochre, &c.
Soluble cocoa contains a large proportion of starch,
which thickens when boiling water is poured upon it.
Genuine ground cocoa unmixed with other substances
cannot be sold under one shilling to fourteenpence
per pound.
Cocoa is a very wholesome and nutritious beverage,
and does not produce those effects which render tea
CH. x.] BEVERAGES: TEA, COFFEE, &c. 65
and coffee objectionable to some people; and is far
better for working men and for children.
68. Beer and other intoxicating drinks are taken
as luxuries. There is no doubt that they are not
necessaries of life. To children all stimulants are
particularly injurious ; and they are never taken
willingly, unless the child has been trained to use
them. If children are brought up without them their
strength and health are much better than those of
children who take them, and they can do more work
and endure more fatigue.
There is more support and strength to be obtained
from a pint of milk than a gallon of beer. To old
persons who have been accustomed to the use of
spirits and beer for many years they often become
necessary, but it is exceedingly wrong to teach children
to use them.
TEG.
PART II.
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT,
CHAPTER XI.
THE HOME: CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO
HEALTH.
69. Good health and the power of working so as to
gain a comfortable living are impossible when persons
dwell in unhealthy and overcrowded homes. Many
circumstances render a house or dwelling unhealthy.
The neighbourhood of an overcrowded churchyard, or
a place where any unwholesome trade is carried on,
is always injurious to health. If a house is in a
narrow dark street, and the rooms face the north so
as not to be warmed by the sunshine, or if they are
closely shaded by trees, they always remain damp and
cold, and the health of the persons inhabiting them
suffers.
Houses in low situations, where the ground is
always damp, are never healthy, and fevers, rheuma-
tism, colds, and other diseases, are much more frequent
than in drier situations.
CH. XL] THE HOME, 6*. 67
70. In London and other large towns where the
houses are drained into the sewers, no house should
ever be lived in which is built over or near a cess-
pool, nor in which the drains allow an unpleasant
smell to escape, as fever is certain to attack the
inhabitants sooner or later. If cesspools are neces-
sary, as is the case where there are no sewers, they
should be placed at as great a distance as possible
from the house.
Earth closets are much more healthy than cesspools,
as, if well managed, they do not give out any offensive
smell ; the use of any patent apparatus is not neces-
sary; any outdoor closet may be made into an earth
closet by placing a stout well-pitched drawer or box
beneath the seat, arranged so as to pull out behind
when required to be emptied, and a box of dried
earth, with a scoop in the inside, is all else that is
necessary. Or the seat may be made to lift up, and
a large galvanized iron pail placed below, which can
be removed and emptied when necessary ; very little
earth is required if no slops are thrown into the pail.
Slops should not be thrown into an earth closet.
71. The homes of working men in London and
other large towns are generally greatly overcrowded,
and without proper sleeping-rooms. When a family
is obliged to dwell in one or two rooms, it is impos-
sible that they can live healthily or decently. Bed-
rooms should be of good size, and each one should
have a fire-place and chimney, which should never be
closed by a board, as the current of air passing up the
chimney helps to ventilate the room. It is not possible
to state any exact size for bedrooms as the air in a small
room properly ventilated may be purer than a large
68 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
one that is closed up. A room 12 feet square by
10 feet in height, would contain 1,440 cubic feet of
air. In barracks this would only be regarded as
space for two men, and in the best hospitals for
one patient.
In the country every cottage for a working man
with a grown up family should have three bedrooms
one for the husband and wife, one for the elder boys,
and a third for the girls. One of these bedrooms at
least should have a fire-place, to be used in case of
illness ; and for the sake of ventilation, it is better
that each one should be so provided.
Every cottage should have a living-room not less
than 12 feet square, and a small scullery or wash-
house. A small pantry for food is necessary ; this
should have a window able to be opened outside
of the cottage into the air. A place for tools, and
another for fuel, are desirable. Every house should
have a back as well as a front door, so that by open-
ing both in summer thorough ventilation may be
effected. If the front door opens into the sitting-room,
there is in cold weather a great loss of heat each
time the door is opened, and the sudden change of
temperature often gives rise to colds and coughs,
tiie front door should always be made to open into
a porch or lobby.
72. The following designs for a pair of cottages for
agricultural labourers, show the smallest accomoda-
tion that is necessary for health. 1
73. Furniture. Good well-made articles of furni-
1 They are from the publications of " The Society for Im-
proving the Condition of the Labouring Classes." Exeter Hall,
W.C.
CH. XI.]
THE HOME,
69
ture are much more lasting than those of inferior
quality, and are really the cheapest. Therefore it
is much better to purchase furniture of a durable
kind, although the first cost is greater.
Articles purchased at cheap shops are always made
of bad materials and are very much the dearest.
DOUBLE COTTAGES FOR THE COUNTRY.
It is desirable in a working man's house not to use
furniture which requires much time and trouble in
cleaning; glass and earthenware are more readily
cleaned than any other substances, and, for many
purposes, are preferable to metal.
Iron bedsteads are better than wooden ones, as they
do not harbour insects, are easily cleaned, and very
70 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
durable. The laths may be prevented from becom-
ing rusty by laying a piece of coarse canvas or old
GROUND FLOOR PLAN.
UPPER FLOOR PLAN.
carpet over them ; waterproof materials should not
be used under the mattress as they prevent the damp
CH. XL] THE HOME, &c. 71
escaping, when the bedding decays quickly and the
bed remains cold and damp. On getting up in the
morning the bed-clothes should be thrown across the
foot of the bed or on the backs of some chairs, and
aired for two or three hours before the bed is made ;
making the bed immediately on rising is a very
bad plan, as the sheets are charged with the moisture
of the perspiration which has passed out of the skin
during the night.
Mattresses are cheaper and more healthy to use than
soft feather beds; and curtains which keep the foul
air that has been breathed round the sleepers should
not be used.
74. It is very undesirable to buy furniture or cloth-
ing of the hawkers known as Tallymen, who call at
working men's houses, and sell showy and inferior
goods, to be paid for by small payments of sixpence
or a shilling per week. The articles are generally
purchased by the wife, often without the knowledge
of the husband, who becomes liable for the debt.
Should the payments not be kept up, the husband is
summoned to the County Court, and ordered to pay
so much a week or month ; after a judgment has been
obtained, if only one of these instalments be left
unpaid, the whole balance becomes instantly due,
and everything the debtor has can be seized by
the brokers and sold by auction immediately.
CHAPTER XII.
WATER SUPPLY: QUALITIES OF WATER,
INFLUENCE ON HEALTH; WASHING,
COOKING, &c.
75. THE goodness of the water used by us is of
very great importance. Many more diseases are
caused by bad water than even by bad food. Water
forms three-quarters of our weight, and before any part
of our food can be taken into our bodies it must be
dissolved in the watery fluids of the stomach. All
fresh vegetables contain a very large proportion of
water. Thus potatoes consist of three-quarters, and
turnips and cabbage of upwards of nine-tenths, of their
weight of this liquid. Even the driest vegetable sub-
stances contain a large proportion. Dry wheaten flour
has fifteen pounds of water in every hundred ; this is
driven off by the heat when it is baked in making
infant's food ; 1 and bread contains one third of its
weight of water.
76. Water has so great a power of dissolving other
substances, that it is not found anywhere in a perfectly
pure state, but has always in it mineral substances,
sometimes decaying vegetable and even animal mate-
rials derived from the soil or earth thrcugh which it
flows, and gases and odours absorbed from the air.
1 See Appendix, First Lesson.
OF THE
CH. xii. ] WA TER SUPJ&y[g?&g$ *&$ 73
77. In large towns water is usually supplied by the
water companies through pipes, having been obtained
from rivers. The water is generally supplied only for
a short time each day, and the quantity received has
to be stored up in cisterns or water-butts. These
should be very frequently cleaned out, as the impurities
of the water settle at the bottom and are stirred up
each time the fresh water comes in. Water-butts and
cisterns should never be placed near any decaying
matters, such as manure heaps, or in close underground
cellars, or near cesspools or drains, as the water very
quickly absorbs the gases and bad smells arising from
such substances, and becomes unwholesome. Water
standing for a night in a close or crowded room
absorbs the impure air and becomes unpleasant to
the taste and injurious to health. When the waste or
overflow pipe from a cistern runs into a drain the foul
air rises up the pipe and renders the water unwhole-
some, and the same evil arises if the cistern supplies
a water-closet.
78. River water varies very much in quality, that
from some rivers contains a great amount of decaying
matter from the sewers and drains that run into them ;
such water should not be used if it is possible to
avoid it, but if no other can be obtained, it should be
filtered and boiled before being drunk, or used in
preparing food.
All river water contains a small proportion of chalk,
or carbonate of lime, dissolved in it. If the quantity
is large the water is said to be hard the greater the
proportion of chalk the harder the water. The water
of the river Thames, with which the greater part of
London is supplied, contains fourteen grains of chalk
74 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
in each gallon. Very little chalk (only two grains in
every gallon) can be dissolved by pure water. The
large quantity found in river and spring water is dis-
solved by means of a gas, called carbonic acid gas,
which is always present. When the water is heated
this gas is driven off in small bubbles, which may be
seen just before the water reaches the boiling point ;
the chalk is then thrown down in a solid form,
rendering the water slightly cloudy or turbid, and
afterwards it settles down on the sides and bottoms
of boilers or kettles forming the rock or fur which
is always found in old boilers.
When green vegetables are boiled in hard water,
the chalk causes them to be of a dull colour ; and
when clothes are boiled in hard water, as is sometimes
done in washing, the rock or fur settles on them,
causing them to be of a bad colour, the dirt being
fixed in the clothes.
When hard water is used for cooking or washing it
is best to boil it for a few minutes before using it, as
then the fur is thrown down on the sides of the
boiler, and not on the food or clothes. Hard water
is not good for making tea, as the strength of the
tea-leaves is very slowly extracted.
The bad effects of hard water in cooking may be
partly remedied by using a small quantity of carbonate
of soda, or even common washing soda, this softens
the water, but if much be added it gives a soapy, un-
pleasant taste ; as much as would cover a sixpenny-
piece may be added to a large saucepan of greens,
and about a quarter as much to a large teapot of tea.
79. Spring or well water differs very much in
purity, that which is collected in shallow wells should
CH. xii.] WATER SUPPLY QUALITIES, &c. 75
never be used in places that are thickly populated or
highly manured, for the water is rendered impure by
the decaying animal and vegetable substances in the
soil, and becomes very unwholesome.
When shallow wells are situated near cesspools or
drains, the water becomes quite poisonous, and gives
rise to cholera, fevers, and other fatal diseases. The
water of wells situated in large cities, or near grave-
yards, is always to be avoided.
80. The water from deep wells is generally free
from any decaying vegetable matter or drainage, and
is wholesome as a beverage, but it most frequently is
excessively hard from containing a large amount of
chalk dissolved in it.
8 1. Rain water is very pure if collected in country
districts where there is but little smoke, but in towns
it is always blackened by soot It is very soft, being
perfectly free from mineral substances, and if collected
in proper tanks free from leaves of trees and other
decaying substances is very well fitted for cooking,
drinking and washing.
CHAPTER XIII.
AIR AND VENTILATION.
82. The Air we breathe is necessary to purify the
blood and to support life. Air, though invisible, is a
material substance, a quantity of it in a bladder or air-
tight bag prevents the sides being pressed together ; it
also possesses weight ; a box, each side of which is one
foot square (or one cubic foot), contains one ounce
and a quarter of air. The air in a room twelve feet
square and ei & ht feet in height weighs ninety pounds.
83. Air is not a simple substance, but a mixture of
several gases. The most important of these is oxy-
gen, which forms one-fifth part of its bulk. It is the
oxygen which purifies the blood when we breathe, and
it also enables combustible substances to burn when
set on fire. The remaining four-fifths of the air consist
chiefly of nitrogen, which serves to dilute the oxygen
and render it milder, otherwise both our breathing
and the burning of fires would go on too rapidly.
84. The breathing of men and animals and the
burning of fuel take away part of the oxygen of the
air, and its place is supplied by a gas called carbonic
CH. xiii.] AIR AND VENTILATION. 77
acid. This is very injurious if breathed. Air con-
taining only one-thousandth part ( 10 1 00 ) of carbonic
acid destroys health if breathed for any length of time.
In crowded places, or in bed or sitting-rooms when
the doors and windows have been kept closed for
some time after they have been occupied, the air often
contains two or three times as much of this poisonous
gas, or from two to three parts in a thousand. If this
air is breathed for any length of time it speedily causes
headache, weariness, and loss of strength. Persons
who spend great part of their lives in rooms filled
with bad air become pale and sickly, and are liable
to many more diseases than those living in pure air.
85. The air always contains a considerable quantity
of moisture, which varies very much at different times
of the year and in different places. When the quan-
tity of moisture is so great that it settles upon objects
and makes them damp, it is injurious to health ; and
houses in which the walls and foundations are damp
are always unhealthy.
A large quantity of moisture passes away from the
body in the air that is breathed out from the lungs,
and a great amount is produced by the burning of
gas and other lamps.
86. Not only is the air of close rooms and houses
rendered injurious by the carbonic acid and water
produced, but it is made still more poisonous by the
decaying animal matter which passes off in our
breath, and which is also given out by the walls and
floors of unclean houses, by dirty clothes, and by
that air which comes into the house through drains
or passes over stinking dust-bins and heaps of decaying
refuse.
^HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
Whenever a house smells close and fusty to a
person coming in out of the open air, it is always
unhealthy, and sooner or later will produce illness
in those who live in it. The good health that
persons who live in houses in open country places
enjoy is entirely owing to the pure air they breathe.
But even in country villages the air is often rendered
unwholesome by cesspools or dung-heaps being kept
close to the house, or by the filthy habit of throwing
the house-slops and dirty water on the ground close
to the door.
87. A full-grown person takes into his lungs about
two-thirds (f ) of a pint of air every time he breathes,
and when not breathing quickly, from running or
hard work, he usually does so about eighteen times
every minute ; this is equal to twelve cubic feet every
hour. This quantity of air weighs nearly one pound,
so that we actually take into our lungs nearly twenty-
four pounds of air every day, a greater weight than
our food and drink taken together.
88. The air that passes out of our lungs is quite
unfit to support life if breathed again, even when
mixed with ten times its bulk of pure air, therefore
the air in our living and sleeping rooms must be con-
stantly changed, or it would soon become poisonous.
Persons have often been killed by being shut up in
close rooms or in ships during storms.
The burning of a candle renders the air nearly as
impure as the breathing of a single person, and every
gas burner consumes a very much larger quantity.
89. The impure air that passes off from our bodies
and that produced by the burning of lamps and fires,
is always, from being heated, lighter than before, it
CH. xiii.] AIR AND VENTILATION. 79
therefore rises and at first collects in the upper part
of the room, unless it is allowed to escape.
In a room that has a fire-place a stream of air is
usually passing up the chimney, fresh air coming in
by the cracks round the doors and windows. No bed-
room should be slept in without a fire-place unless
ventilation is otherwise provided for ; even the quan-
tity of air coming in round the window and door is
not sufficient, it is therefore much better to sleep with
the window open. This may be done without causing
a draught, by placing a board three inches wide on its
edge under the lower sash, which is thus raised, caus-
ing a space between the two sashes in the centre of
the window ; through this the air enters and being
directed upwards does not cause a draught.
90. It is much more desirable to let the air come
into a bedroom through the window than through the
door, as the house being closed at night the air often
comes through the drains or damp cellars, and is not
as pure as that which comes from outside the house.
Gas is not desirable in close sitting or bedrooms, its
effect on the air being much more injurious than
candles or lamps.
CHAPTER XIV.
FIRING: STOVES, RANGES, AND ECONOMICAL
MANAGEMENT OF FUEL.
91. The fuel used for cooking our food and
warming our dwellings is usually coal or coke ; in some
parts wood or peat is employed, and occasionally
coal gas.
92. The heat produced during the burning of fuel
is given out when the carbon of the fuel unites with
the oxygen of the air, and carbonic acid gas is pro-
duced, as it is by the breathing of men and animals.
This poisonous gas usually passes up the chimney with
some unburned carbon which forms the smoke.
When charcoal is burnt, the carbonic acid is pro-
duced without smoke, and therefore it is often used in
stoves without chimneys, and the carbonic acid escap-
ing into rooms is frequently the cause of fatal accidents.
All stoves without flues or chimneys to carry off the
carbonic acid are dangerous, and many persons have
been poisoned by their having been used.
93. The heat produced by the burning of any kind
CH. xiv.] FIRING: STOVES, RANGES, &c. 81
of fuel makes the air in and around the fire much
lighter, and it rises rapidly over the fire, usually passing
up the chimney. More than nine-tenths ( T V) of the heat
of a common grate passes up the chimney in this
manner, and is wasted. If the grate is constructed of
thick solid metal, this conducts away a large quantity
of the heat so that it is impossible to keep in a very
small fire in an iron range, whereas a mere handful of
fuel can be kept alight in a grate lined with fire brick
or fire-clay which does not cool the burning fuel in the
same manner metal does. Part of the heat produced
is thrown out by the fire, and passes into the room. In
ordinary grates the amount of heat passing off in this
manner is very much lessened by the thick bars which
are frequently placed in the front of the grate.
94. Ordinary fire-grates are most extravagant modes
of using fuel, and are not employed by the people of
any other nation. Not only is a good deal of the
heat carried away up the chimney, and by the con-
ducting power of the iron, but the shape of the grate
and the bars also prevents much being thrown out
into the room.
95. An ordinary grate may^however, be made more
economical. If it be lined with bricks, tiles, or fire-
clay, and the open bars underneath be closed, either
by fire-clay or a piece of tin plate, the air will have
to enter in front where the fire will be brightest, and
no heat will be thrown down into the ash pit.
96. Cooking ranges with an oven on one side are
very useful in a small family. If well constructed they
will bake bread, meat, and pies or puddings very
perfectly.
Even when there is a low fire the oven can be used
82 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
for stewing, and slow cooking can be done on the top
much better than over a common fire.
A boiler by the side is not so important as an oven.
Boilers are liable to get filled with the deposit or rock
from the water ; and if they are of cast iron, they are
apt to crack.
As an example of a good cheap open range, the
following may be taken ; it has a fire-clay back to
IftltHtHHtt
prevent the heat passing away where it is not required,
a good sized oven with the door to let down in front,
and a boiler. Grates of this kind are now made by
many manufacturers, and are sold at a low price.
97. Cooking stoves are much more convenient
and economical in use than ranges. They are used by
almost all persons in America, and are now very largely
CH. xiv.] FIRING: STOVES, RANGES, &>f.
employed in this country. A very good pattern is
shown in the engraving. It has an open fire which
can be used for broiling and toasting. This fire is
quite under control, and can be raised or lowered in
a few minutes by opening or closing the doors so as
to cause a strong current of air to pass through the
burning fuel or over it as required. The size shown
will bake a joint as large as a leg of mutton, or two
tins of bread admirably.
The cooking vessels can be put down on the fire or
placed on the hot iron top, and shifted so as to receive
as much heat as required.
The stove can also be used as a hot plate for
84 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY,
preserving or stewing. The open fire is cheerful,
and the stove is a good heating stove as well as
cooking stove. Any large boiler placed on the top
will furnish an unlimited supply of hot water. If
placed in front of an open fire-place these stoves
require about six feet of iron pipe to be placed up the
chimney. Being perfectly movable they can be carried
by the owner from one house to another and placed
in front of any fire-place. They are sold by Smith
and Welstood, Ludgate Circus.
98. Gas-stoves. Gas when employed as ordinary
fuel is exceedingly expensive, being at least five or six
times as dear as coal. When the gas is burned inside
the oven in which meat is to be baked the vapour
arising from the burnt gas renders the meat sodden
and unpleasant, and quite different from the meat
cooked in an ordinary oven or before the open fire.
Gas can however be used as an occasional source
of heat with great economy as it is instantly lighted
and put out ; there is no waste of fuel or loss of time.
The best small gas stoves are those that can be placed
on a table and burn the gas mixed with air; when it
produces a pale blue flame which does not smoke
any vessel placed within it. These stoves are particu-
larly useful in heating a kettle of water in the summer
time, or when there are no fires in the house.
CHAPTER XV.
LIGHTING: CANDLES, PETROLEUM, BENZO-
LINE, AND GAS LAMPS, THEIR MANAGE-
MENT, ETC.
99. Flame, which gives the light employed in our
houses during the absence of the light of the sun, is
always produced by the burning or combustion of
inflammable gas.
When a candle is lit, the fat, wax, or other material
of which it is formed, is melted, then drawn upwards
into the flame by the attraction of the wick, it is there
heated so strongly that it is converted into gas, which
burns as fast as it is made, thus producing the flame.
In oil lamps the same happens, and in gas burners the
gas burns as it escapes.
100. The gas which is burnt to give us artificial
light, whether obtained from coals and supplied through
pipes, or produced in the burning of a lamp or candle,
consists chiefly of two substances, namely, hydrogen,
which is always a gas, and carbon, which when not
united with hydrogen or any other substance is usually
a black solid, like charcoal or soot.
86 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
i o i . Both these substances burn in the flame, uniting
with the oxygen of the air. The hydrogen in burning
forms water, a large quantity of which passes off from
every flame in the form of vapour or steam. Many
gas lights in a close room make the air very damp,
and the moisture they produce may often be seen
settling on the cold glass of the windows, or even run-
ning down the walls. The carbon or charcoal when
burnt forms carbonic acid, an invisible gas. When
there are many gas lights in a badly ventilated room,
or even one in a room that is not ventilated at all, the
air becomes very unwholesome from the presence of
carbonic acid gas.
102. If there is not enough air to enable both the
carbon and the hydrogen to burn, the hydrogen burns
first, and part of the carbon passes oft in the form
of smoke. By putting any cold pieces of metal, glass,
or earthenware into a flame, the carbon is prevented
from burning and settles on the metal or glass, cover-
ing it with black soot.
103. Candles, which were formerly very generally
used, give out very little light and are the dearest mode
of producing light.
Much may be learned of the nature of flame by
watching attentively that of a common candle ; at the
bottom is a pale blue light which is caused by the
fresh air rising against the flame and producing the
perfect burning of both the carbon and the hydrogen ;
in the interior of the flame is a dark centre which
consists of the unburnt inflammable gas rising from
the wick ; this cannot burn until it reaches the air
outside. The outside of the flame is very bright it is
there only the gas burns.
CH, xv.] LIGHTING. 87
If a small slip of wood be held for a moment
steadily across the centre of a flame, it will be seen
that the part in the middle is not burnt, only that
which was at the outside of. the flame.
104. The oil used in lamps is of two distinct
kinds. The fat greasy oils, such as seal or whale oil
from animals, and olive or colza oil from vegetables.
To obtain a good light from these fat oils it is necessary
to make the flame hollow, and admit air into the in-
terior, as is done in what is termed an Argand burner.
In order to cause a strong current of air through
the flame of an Argand, a tall glass chimney is requisite.
105. The mineral oils, called paraffin or petro-
leum oils, are the cheapest oils in use They contain a
very great amount of carbon or charcoal, and if they are
burned without a chimney this escapes into the air in
dark clouds of black smoke. These oils, therefore,
require to be burned in a properly constructed lamp,
so that sufficient air shall be sent against the flame to
consume all the carbon.
The best paraffin lamps are those with a single flat
wick, which is able to be turned to any required height
above the wick tube A, by small toothed wheels turned
by a handle, B. The large quantity of air required by
the flame rises up through the cone or cap c, and is
directed against the sides of the flame, producing a
complete combustion of the carbon, and a very
brilliant light.
Paraffin or petroleum oils were formerly sold con-
taining much volatile inflammable spirit. At the
present time no mineral lamp oil must be sold which
is dangerous.
Petroleum lamps are perfectly free from danger if
88 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
properly used. The oil-holder should be of glass, as
if made of metal, it is apt to become heated. The
lamps should always be filled before dark, and never
after being lighted.
Any oil spilled on the outside should be carefully
wiped off, or it will produce a disagreeable smell when
DIETZ'S FLAT WICK BURNER.
the lamp is used. To light a petroleum lamp the
glass chimney should be removed, then the wick turned
above the slit in the cone, and when lighted instantly
turned down again ; the chimney should then be put on
and the wick turned up so as to produce a large bright
flame without smoke, but so as to produce the full
flame, when the lamp burns without smell. -If the
flame is turned down low, there is no saving of oil,
CH. xv.] LIGHTING.
as a large quantity is sent off in vapour and produces
a most disagreeable smell.
1 06. Sponge or spirit lamps are made for using
the very inflammable spirit termed benzoline. They are
rilled with sponge or cotton wool which is moistened
with benzoline, the wick-holder is then screwed on and
the wick turned up level to the top; when lighted a
small flame, rather greater than that of a candle, is
produced. As the benzoline is very inflammable these
lamps should never be trimmed after dark, or near a
fire, as the vapour may take light. If trimmed in the
day-time, and only enough spirit poured in to moisten
the cotton wool, they are quite safe, and are the cheap-
est source of a small light. When used as night
lights they should always be placed under a chimney as
the vapour escapes and smells when they are turned
down low.
Coal gas is unquestionably the cheapest source of
light, but its economy is not so great as is generally
imagined ; the flame cannot always be brought
where it is wanted, consequently a much greater
amount of light is necessary than when movable
lamps are employed.
For small rooms, the two-hole, or fish-tail burner is
best, being cheap, simple, and capable of causing a
very perfect combustion of the gas. With this burner
the flame is spread out into a thin, flat sheet, by the
two currents of gas striking against one another. In
a fish-tail burner the gas should always be turned on
so as to cause a full-sized flame without flickering, as
otherwise the gas is not perfectly burnt. A large-sized
burner should not be used where a smaller one will
answer. The flame gives a much brighter and steadier
go HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
light when placed horizontally, with the flat sides
turned up and down, than when burned upright in a
glass globe, when the flame always flickers and is
injurious to the eyes. An ordinary- si zed fish-tail con-
sumes from three to four cubic feet of gas per hour,
and gives the light of from six to nine candles.
Where a great amount of light is required a circular
or Argand burner is more economical than the fish-tail.
In most burners the chimney is too high ; this causes
too strong a current of air, and a great loss of light
ensues. An Argand with a ring having fifteen holes,
should not have a chimney more than seven inches
high. Such a burner will consume about five cubic
feet of gas in an hour, and give an amount of light
equal to that of fifteen sperm candles.
In all cases where gas is used, the room should be
ventilated, or the air will become very unhealthy from
the great amount of carbonic acid and vapour of
water produced.
Explosions sometimes occur when gas has escaped
from a leaky pipe or a burner that has been left open.
The explosion is generally caused by some person
taking a lighted candle to discover the leakage, when
the escaped gas takes fire instantaneously, and burns
with a violent explosion. Whenever there is a strong
smell of escaped gas, the maincock at the meter should
be immediately turned, and the doors and windows
opened to allow the gas to escape. No attempt should
be made to search for the leak with a light, but notice
should instantly be given to a gas-fitter.
CHAPTER XVI.
CLEANING, WASHING, AND GENERAL
HOUSEWORK.
107. THE healthiness or unhealthiness of a house
depends very greatly upon its degree of cleanliness;
dirty, uncleaned houses are always more or less un-
healthy. In country places, where the ground around
a house is not paved with stone, care should be taken
that no puddles of dirty water remain close to the
house, as they not only render the air damp and
unwholesome, but cause much dirt to be brought in
on the feet.
Slops of dirty water, tea-leaves, coffee-grounds, &c.,
should never be thrown out near the house, as they
decay and are injurious.
All decaying vegetable and animal matter near a
house is injurious. Cabbage-leaves, potato and apple-
parings, and other waste vegetables should never be
thrown into the dust-bin, but should always be burnt ;
which can always be done if they are first dried by
throwing them at the back of the fire or in the ash-pit.
The dust-bins of houses in town should only be
92 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
used for ashes ; instead of using dust-bins, it is a
much better plan for the dust to be put into a
galvanized iron pail and carried away each day, as
is done in many towns.
1 08. The inside of the house not only becomes
dirty by the dust carried in by the air and the dirt
brought in by the feet, but from the odour or smell
given out by our skin, and by the lungs with the
breath.
This smell or odour is absorbed by all porous
substances, as the walls, floors, and ceilings ; it then
decays, and gives rise to that close, sickening, un-
wholesome smell, which is present in all dirty houses,
especially such as are overcrowded. No house with
such a smell can possibly be a healthy place to
live in. This animal effluvium, or smell of decay-
ing animal matter, is taken up by some substances
much more readily than others. Walls that are
covered with paper smell much more offensively than
those that are painted. And in rooms where one
paper has been pasted over another the whole thick-
nesses of paper become very offensive and injurious to
health. Painted or lime-washed walls are much
to be preferred to papered walls for crowded dwellings
and for all sleeping rooms.
Woollen garments, carpets, and curtains absorb
these smells freely, and give them out for a long
time. Rough wooden floors also take them up, and
consequently require frequent washing ; smoo thed
waxed, or painted floors are much preferable to rough
wooden ones.
109. The wholesomeriess of a dwelling is much
increased by its being frequently white-washed.
CH. xvi.] CLEANING, WASHING, &c. 93
White -wash is made by pouring water on cakes of
whiting, and stirring until the liquid is like a thin
cream, when a small quantity of warm size or dissolved
glue is then added, to prevent the colour from
rubbing off when dry. White- wash is applied with a
broad, flat brush, working in a uniform direction up
and down the wall. It is requisite first to remove the
dirt and the old white-wash by washing it away with
a brush and abundance of clean water.
no. Lime-washing is a much more effectual
mode of purification than white-washing, but is not so
often used, as few persons know how to make lime-wash.
If glue is used, it is destroyed by the lime, and the
wash easily rubs off the walls when dry. This also
happens if the lime be simply slaked in water and
used without any fixing material. Lime-wash should
be made by placing some freshly-burned quick-lime
in a pail, and pouring on sufficient water to cover
it; if the lime is fresh, great heat is given out;
boiled oil (a preparation of linseed oil, sold by all
oilmen) should then be added, one pint to each gallon
of wash. For cheapness, any refuse fat, such as
dripping, may be used instead of the boiled oil. The
whole should then be thinned with water. The brush
should not be left in the lime-wash or the bristles will
be destroyed. Should coloured wash be required,
one pound of green vitriol added to every two gallons
of wash gives a very pleasing drab.
Quick-lime slaked with skimmed milk, and after-
wards thinned with water, makes an excellent wash
for out-door walls, as it is not acted on by the
weather.
Lime- washing is strongly recommended as a means
94 HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT AND COOKERY.
of purification, more especially when any infectious
disorders are prevalent.
in. Floors should not be scrubbed so frequently as
is often recommended ; once a- week is generally quite
sufficient. In damp weather wet floors do not dry,
and the house remains damp and cold for a consid-
erable time ; it is better, in all cases, to defer the
scrubbing even for a week, than to wet the floors
on a rainy or foggy day. In cases of illness this is
particularly important ; so injurious is damp air to
invalids, that in some hospitals the floors are waxed,
and dry rubbing used instead of scouring, with g
