Page:Peterson's Magazine 1862.pdf/188

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180

‫ހށގނ‬ SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS .- RECEIPTS .

Milk Griddle Cake for Breakfast.-Take a pound and a half of flour, and about three ounces of butter, and a little salt; rub the butter into the flour well, and wet it with milk enough to make it a stiff paste. Knead and work it well, roll it out very thin, cut the cakes out with either a tin cutter or a tumbler, prick them all over with a fork, and bake them on a griddle. A little additional butter will make them richer, but that is according to taste ; cream may be used in place of milk. Pork Cutlets.-Take the remains of cold roast loin of pork, one ounce of butter, two onions, one dessertspoonful of flour, half a pint of gravy, pepper and salt to taste, one teaspoonful of vinegar and mustard. Cut the pork into nice-sized cutlets, trim off most of the fat, and chop the onions. Put the butter into a stewpan, lay in the cutlets and chopped onions, and fry a light brown; then add the remaining ingredients, simmer gently for five or seven minutes, and serve. A Currant Cake Suitable for Young Folks.- Rub into two pounds of flour the ordinary quantity of salt ; add a quarter of an ounce of carbonate of soda, with a little of the flour first, and then with the whole ; then put a quarter of an ounce of muriatic acid in a pint of cold water; mix it with the flour and other ingredients, adding half a pound of currants nicely washed ; knead it well, and put it in the oven immediately. How to Toast Well.- Stir the fire until there is a clear, glowing surface, free from flame or smoke; cut the bread moderately thick, and do not hold it close to the bars, but at such a distance as to see when it is beginning to burn; move it gently up and down until the whole surface is a clear, uniform brown; when thoroughly toasted, serve it up as quick as possible before it has time to cool.

SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS . COMBUSTION WITHOUT FLAME.-Light a small green waxtaper; in a minute or two blow out the flame, and the wick will continue red-hot for many hours; and if the taper were regularly and carefully uncoiled, and the room kept free from currents of air, the wick would burn on in this manner until the whole was consumed. The same effect is not produced when the color of the wax is red, on which account red wax-tapers are safer than green ; for the latter, if left imperfectly extinguished, may set fire to any object with which they are in contact. CURRENTS IN BOILING WATER.-Fill a large glass tube with water, and throw into it a few particles of bruised amber; then hold the tube, by a handle for the purpose, upright in the flame of a lamp, and, as the water becomes warm, it will be seen that currents, carrying with them the pieces of amber, will begin to ascend in the center, and to descend toward the circumference of the tube. These currents will soon become rapid in their motions, and continue till the water boils. TO MAKE PAPER APPARENTLY INCOMBUSTIBLE . -Take smooth cylindrical piece of metal, about one inch and a half in diameter, and eight inches long ; wrap very closely round it a piece of clean writing-paper; then hold the paper in the flame of a spirit-lamp, and it will not take fire; but it may be held there for a considerable time without being in the least affected by the flame. Ifthe paper be strained over a cylinder of wood, it is quickly scorched. BOILING UPON COLD WATER.-Provide a tall glass jar filled with cold water, and place in it an air thermometer which will nearly reach the surface ; upon the surface place a small copper basin, into which put a little live charcoal. The surface of the water will soon be made to boil, while the thermometer will show that the water beneath it is scarcely warmer than it was at first.

MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS . To Prevent Ink from Damaging Steel Pens.-Throw, either into the inkstand or the bottle in which the ink is kept, a few nails, broken bits of steel pens (not varnished), or any piece of iron not rusted. The corrosive action of the acid contained in the ink is expended on the iron introduced, and which is soon covered, by the decomposition of the sulphate of copper, with the coppery hue observable on metallic pens used with common ink. The ink will not now affect the pen; or, should it still do so, it will only be necessary to add more iron, and the mischief will be entirely remedied. Hints on Hyacinths. -In purchasing your hyacinth glasses, avoid those which have a rounded indention at their opening, in which the water may rest, as, when the bulb itself lays in water, it has a tendency to decay. It is only to the level where the fibres at the bottom of the bulb put out that the water should reach. The glasses should be put in some dark place until the roots strike. It is a good plan to plant the bulbs in your garden until this takes place, and then remove them to the glasses, which should be placed in a good light. To Check the Flow of Blood.-Blood may be made to cease to flow as follows : Take fine dust of tea and bind it close to the wound ; at all times accessible and easily to be obtained. After the blood has ceased to flow, laudanum may be advantageously applied to the wound. Due regard to these instructions would save agitation of mind, and running for the surgeon, who would, probably, make no better prescription if he was present. To Season Earthenware and Iron.-It is a good plan to put new earthenware into cold water, letting it heat gra dually until it boil, then letting it cool. Brown earthenware, especially, may be toughened in this way. A little rye or wheat bran, thrown in while it is boiling, will preserve the glazing from being injured by acid or salt. New iron should be gradually heated at first, as it is very apt to crack. To Obtain Flowers from Bulbous Roots in Three Weeks.— Put quick-lime into a flower-pot until it is rather more than half-full ; fill up with good earth ; plant your bulbs in the usual manner; keep the earth slightly damp. The heat given out by the lime will rise through the earth, which will temper its fierceness ; and in this manner beautiful flowers may be obtained at any season. For Gum-Boil, or Weakness of the Gums.-Take of acetate of morphia, two grains ; tincture of myrrh, six drachms; tincture of krameria, one ounce ; spirits of lavender, three ounces and a half. Let a lotion be made. Washfor the Head.- Take of borax, half an ounce ; spirits of camphor, one drachm ; oil of almonds, six drops ; eau de cologne, half an ounce, or a tablespoonful ; boiling water, a pint. For Tooth-Ache.-Take of chloroform, spirits of camphor, laudanum, of each one drachm. Apply on a little cotton wool. "Lamb's Wool." This beverage is made of ale mixed with sugar, nutmeg, and the pulp of roasted apples.

DESSERTS . A Chartreuse of Apples and Rice.- Boil six ounces of rice, with a stick of cinnamon, in milk, until it is thick, stirring in a spoonful of rose-water or orange-flower water. Pare ten or twelve apples-golden pippins are the bestscoop out the core, and fill up the orifice with raspberryjam. Border a deep dish with paste ; put in the apples, leaving a space between, and fill it up with the rice. Brush the whole over with the yolk of an egg, and sift sugar thickly over it; form a pattern on the top with sweetmeats, and bake it for one hour in a quick oven.