by Barkham Burroughs
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Polishing Plate Glass.--To polish plate glass and remove slight scratches, rub the surface gently, first with a clean pad of fine cotton wool, and afterwards with a similar pad covered over with cotton velvet which has been charged with fine rouge. The surface will acquire a polish of great brilliancy, quite free from any scratches.
Recipe for a Good Condition Powder.--Ground ginger 1 pound, antimony sulphide 1 pound, powdered sulphur 1 pound, saltpetre. Mix altogether and administer in a mash, in such quantities as may be required.
Recipe to Make Violet Ink.--Ordinary aniline violet soluble in water, with a little alcohol and glycerine, makes an excellent ink.
Recipe to Make Good Shaving Soap.--Either 66 pounds tallow and 34 pounds cocoanut oil, or 33 pounds of tallow and the same quantity of palm oil and 34 pounds cocoanut oil, treated by the cold process, with 120 pounds caustic soda lye of 27 deg. Baume, will make 214 pounds of shaving soap.
How to Make a Starch Enamel for Stiffening Collars, Cuffs, etc.--Use a little gum arabic thoroughly dissolved in the starch.
A Good Cough Syrup.--Put 1 quart hoarhound to 1 quart water, and boil it down to a pint; add two or three sticks of licorice and a tablespoonful of essence of lemon. The Cause of the Disease Called "Hives," also Its Cure.--The trouble is caused by a perversion of the digestive functions, accompanied by a disturbance of the circulation. It is not attended with danger, and is of importance only from the annoyance which it causes. Relief may be obtained in most instances by the use of cream tartar daily to such extent as to move the bowels slightly. Make a strong solution, sweeten it pleasantly, and take a teaspoonful, say after each meal, until the effect above mentioned is produced, and continue the treatment until the hives cease to be troublesome.
A Bedbug Poison.--Set in the center of the room a dish containing 4 ounces of brimstone. Light it, and close the room as tight as possible, stopping the keyhole of the door with paper to keep the fumes of the brimstone in the room. Let it remain for three or four hours, then open the windows and air thoroughly. The brimstone will be found to have also bleached the paint, if it was a yellowish white. Mixtures such as equal parts of turpentine and kerosene oil are used; filling up the cracks with hard soap is an excellent remedy. Benzine and gasoline will kill bedbugs as fast as they can reach them. A weak solution of zinc chloride is also said to be an effectual banisher of these pests.
A Preparation by Which You can Take a Natural Flower and Dip It in, That Will Preserve It.--Dip the flowers in melted paraffine, withdrawing them quickly. The liquid should only be just hot enough to maintain its fluidity and the flowers should be dipped one at a time, held by the stalks, and moved about for an instant to get rid of air bubbles. Fresh cut specimens free from moisture make excellent specimens in this way.
What Causes Shaking Asp Leaves to be always in a Quiver?--The wind or vibration of the air only causes the quiver of the aspen leaf.
What is "Sozodont" is Composed of.--Potassium carbonate, 1/2 ounce; honey, 4 ounces; alcohol, 2 ounces; water, 10 ounces; oil of wintergreen and oil of rose, to flavor, sufficient.
What is Used to Measure Cold below 35 Degrees Fahrenheit?--Metallic thermometers are used to measure lowest temperatures, alcohol being quite irregular.
Is the Top Surface of Ice on a Pond, the Amount of Water let in and out being the Same Day by Day, on a Level with the Water Surface or above it?--Ice is slightly elastic, and when fast to the shore the central portion rises and falls with slight variations in water level, the proportion above and below water level being as is the weight of ice to the weight of water it displaces.
Of the Two Waters, Hard and Soft, Which Freezes the Quicker; and in ice Which Saves the Best in Like Packing?--Soft water freezes the quickest and keeps the best.
Does Water in Freezing Purify Itself?--It clears itself from chemicals; does not clear itself from mechanical mixtures as mud and clay.
