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  SPONS’

  HOUSEHOLD MANUAL:

  A TREASURY OF

  DOMESTIC RECEIPTS

  And Guide for

  HOME MANAGEMENT.

  [Illustration: (Publisher colophon)]

  London:
  E. & F. N. SPON, 125 STRAND.

  New York:
  SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 12 CORTLANDT STREET.

  1894




PREFACE.


Time was when the foremost aim and ambition of the English housewife
was to gain a full knowledge of her own duties and of the duties of
her servants. In those days, bread was home-baked, butter home-made,
beer home-brewed, gowns home-sewn, to a far greater extent than now.

With the advance of education, there is much reason to fear that the
essentially domestic part of the training of our daughters is being
more and more neglected. Yet what can be more important for the
comfort and welfare of the household than an appreciation of their
needs and an ability to furnish them. Accomplishments, all very good
in their way, must, to the true housewife, be secondary to all that
concerns the health, the feeding, the clothing, the housing of those
under her care.

And what a range of knowledge this implies,--from sanitary
engineering to patching a garment, from bandaging a wound to
keeping the frost out of water pipes. It may safely be said that
the mistress of a family is called upon to exercise an amount of
skill and learning in her daily routine such as is demanded of few
men, and this too without the benefit of any special education or
preparation; for where is the school or college which includes among
its “subjects” the study of such every-day matters as bad drains, or
the gapes in chickens, or the removal of stains from clothes, or the
bandaging of wounds, or the management of a kitchen range? Indeed,
it is worthy of consideration whether our schools of cookery might
not with very great advantage be supplemented by schools of general
household instruction.

Till this suggestion is carried out, the housewife can only refer
to books and papers for information and advice. The editors of the
present volume have been guided by a determination to make it a _book
of reference_ such as no housewife can afford to be without. Much
of the matter is, of course, not altogether new, but it has been
arranged with great care in a systematic manner, and while the use
of obscure scientific terms has been avoided, the teachings of modern
science have been made the basis of those sections in which science
plays a part.

Much of the information herein contained has appeared before in
lectures, pamphlets, and newspapers, foremost among these last
being the _Queen_, _Field_, _Lancet_, _Scientific American_,
_Pharmaceutical Journal_, _Gardener’s Chronicle_, and the _Bazaar_;
but it has lost nothing by repetition, and has this advantage in
being embodied in a substantial volume that it can always be readily
found when wanted, while every one knows the fate of leaflets and
journals. The sources whence information has been drawn have, it is
believed, in every case been acknowledged, and the editors take this
opportunity of again proclaiming their indebtedness to the very large
number of lecturers and writers whose communications have found a
place within these covers.

  THE EDITORS.




CONTENTS.


  =Hints for selecting a good House=, pointing out the essential
  requirements for a good house as to the Site, Soil, Trees, Aspect,
  Construction, and General Arrangement; with instructions for Reducing
  Echoes, Water-proofing Damp Walls, Curing Damp Cellars          Page 1

  =Water Supply.=--Care of Cisterns; Sources of Supply; Pipes;
  Pumps; Purification and Filtration of Water                         12

  =Sanitation.=--What should constitute a good Sanitary Arrangement;
  Examples (with illustrations) of Well- and Ill-drained Houses; How
  to Test Drains; Ventilating Pipes, &c.                              35

  =Ventilation and Warming.=--Methods of Ventilating without causing
  cold draughts, by various means; Principles of Warming; Health
  Questions; Combustion; Open Grates; Open Stoves; Fuel Economisers;
  Varieties of Grates; Close-Fire Stoves; Hot-air Furnaces; Gas
  Heating; Oil Stoves; Steam Heating; Chemical Heaters; Management
  of Flues; and Cure of Smoky Chimneys                                55

  =Lighting.=--The best methods of Lighting; Candles, Oil Lamps, Gas,
  Incandescent Gas, Electric Light; How to Test Gas Pipes; Management
  of Gas                                                              82

  =Furniture and Decoration.=--Hints on the Selection of Furniture;
  on the most approved methods of Modern Decoration; on the best
  methods of arranging Bells and Calls; How to Construct an
  Electric Bell                                                       95

  =Thieves and Fire.=--Precautions against Thieves and Fire; Methods
  of Detection; Domestic Fire Escapes; Fireproofing Clothes, &c.     108

  =The Larder.=--Keeping Food fresh for a limited time; Storing Food
  without change, such as Fruits, Vegetables, Eggs, Honey, &c.       112

  =Curing Foods for lengthened Preservation=, as Smoking, Salting,
  Canning, Potting, Pickling, Bottling Fruits, &c.; Jams, Jellies,
  Marmalade, &c.                                                     123

  =The Dairy.=--The Building and Fitting of Dairies in the most
  approved modern style; Butter-making; Cheese-making and Curing     154

  =The Cellar.=--Building and Fitting; Cleaning Casks and Bottles;
  Corks and Corking; Aërated Drinks; Syrups for Drinks; Beers;
  Bitters; Cordials and Liqueurs; Wines; Miscellaneous Drinks        168

  =The Pantry.=--Bread-making; Ovens and Pyrometers; Yeast; German
  Yeast; Biscuits; Cakes; Fancy Breads; Buns                         207

  =The Kitchen.=--On Fitting Kitchens; a description of the best
  Cooking Ranges, close and open; the Management and Care of Hot
  Plates, Baking Ovens, Dampers, Flues, and Chimneys; Cooking by
  Gas; Cooking by Oil; the Arts of Roasting, Grilling, Boiling,
  Stewing, Braising, Frying                                          221

  =Receipts for Dishes.=--Soups, Fish, Meat, Game, Poultry,
  Vegetables, Salads, Puddings, Pastry, Confectionery, Ices,
  &c., &c.; Foreign Dishes                                           244

  =The Housewife’s Room.=--Testing Air, Water, and Foods; Cleaning
  and Renovating; Destroying Vermin                                  518

  =Housekeeping, Marketing=                                          563

  =The Dining-Room.=--Dietetics; Laying and Waiting at Table;
  Carving; Dinners, Breakfasts, Luncheons, Teas, Suppers, &c.        583

  =The Drawing-Room.=--Etiquette; Dancing; Amateur Theatricals;
  Tricks and Illusions; Games (indoor)                               648

  =The Bedroom and Dressing-Room.=--Sleep; the Toilet; Dress;
  Buying Clothes; Outfits; Fancy Dress                               699

  =The Nursery.=--The Room; Clothing; Washing; Exercise; Sleep;
  Feeding; Teething; Illness; Home Training                          746

  =The Sickroom.=--The Room; the Nurse; the Bed; Sickroom
  Accessories; Feeding Patients; Invalid Dishes and Drinks;
  Administering Physic; Domestic Remedies; Accidents and
  Emergencies; Bandaging; Burns; Carrying Injured Persons;
  Wounds; Drowning; Fits; Frostbites; Poisons and Antidotes;
  Sunstroke; Common Complaints; Disinfection, &c.                    755

  =The Bathroom.=--Bathing in General; Management of Hot-Water
  System.                                                            828

  =The Laundry.=--Small Domestic Washing Machines, and methods of
  getting up linen; Fitting up and Working a Steam Laundry           848

  =The Schoolroom.=--The Room and its Fittings; Teaching, &c.        862

  =The Playground.=--Air and Exercise; Training; Outdoor Games
  and Sports                                                         870

  =The Workroom.=--Darning, Patching, and Mending Garments           890

  =The Library.=--Care of Books                                      903

  =The Farmyard.=--Management of the Horse, Cow, Pig, Poultry,
  Bees, &c.                                                          907

  =The Garden.=--Calendar of Operations for Lawn, Flower Garden,
  and Kitchen Garden                                                 930

  =Domestic Motors=--A description of the various small Engines
  useful for domestic purposes, from 1 man to 1 horse power,
  worked by various methods, such as Electric Engines, Gas Engines,
  Petroleum Engines, Steam Engines, Condensing Engines, Water
  Power, Wind Power, and the various methods of working and
  managing them                                                      936

  =Household Law.=--The Law relating to Landlords and Tenants,
  Lodgers, Servants, Parochial Authorities, Juries, Insurance,
  Nuisance, &c.                                                      955




SPONS’

HOUSEHOLD MANUAL.




_THE DWELLING._


It is both convenient and rational to commence this volume with a
chapter on the conditions which should guide a man in the choice
of his dwelling. Unfortunately there is scarcely any subject upon
which ordinary people display more ignorance, or to which they
pay so little regard. In the majority of instances a dwelling is
chosen mainly with regard to its cost, accommodation, locality, and
appearance. As to its being healthy or otherwise, no _evidence_ is
volunteered by the owner, and none is demanded by the intending
resident. The consequences of this indifference are a vast amount of
preventible sickness and a corresponding loss of money. The following
remarks are intended to educate the house-seeker in the necessary
subjects, being subdivided under distinct headings for facility of
reference.


=Site.=--Of modern scientists who have studied the great health
question, none has more ably treated the essentials of the dwelling
than Dr. Simpson in his lecture for the Manchester and Salford
Sanitary Association. This Association has done wonders in improving
sanitation in the Midlands, and we cannot do better than follow Dr.
Simpson’s teaching.

_Soil._--He insists, first of all, on the great importance of the
soil being _dry_--either dry before artificial means are used to make
it so, or dry from drainage. To this end some elevation above the
surrounding land conduces. A hollow below the general level should,
as a matter of course, be avoided; for to this hollow the water
from all the adjacent higher land will drain, and if the soil be
impervious the water will lodge there. It will thus be damp, and, as
is well known, it will be a colder situation than neighbouring ones
which are a little raised above the general level. Those who live
where they can have gardens will find the advantage of the higher
situation in its being much less subject to spring and early autumn
frosts than the hollow just below. This is due not only to the former
being damper, but to the fact that the heat of the ground on still
nights passes off into space (is “radiated”) more rapidly than from
the higher situation, where there is more movement in the air. The
soil should not be retentive of moisture, as clay is when undrained;
nor should it be damp and moist from the ground water (concerning
which a few words will be said farther on), as is much alluvial
soil, i.e. soil which has been at some former time carried down and
deposited by rivers or floods. On the whole, sand or gravel, if the
site be sufficiently elevated, is probably the best, as it allows
all water to get away rapidly. Then come various rocks, as granite,
limestone, sandstone, and chalk.

Towns often present one specially dangerous, and therefore
specially objectionable soil--that where hollows have been filled
up with refuse of all kinds. This refuse is made up of all kinds
of vegetable, and, more or less, animal matter, often of the most
noxious character, together with cinders, old mortar, and no one
knows what besides. This becomes a foul fermenting mass, which is
often built upon and the houses inhabited before the process of
decomposition is completed, and the noxious gases cease to be given
off. Many outbreaks of disease have been traced most unmistakably
to this criminal act of putting up jerry buildings on pestilential
sites. It is easy for any one to understand how this may be when he
thinks of the way the house acts on the soil it is built upon, or
rather on the moisture and gases contained in the soil. The house is
warmed by the fires and by the people living in it, and the heated
air has a tendency to rise. The pressure on the gases in the soil
is lessened, and they are drawn up into the house, which acts as a
suction pump. This could not happen if the foundation were air-tight;
but this is rarely the case, and too often indeed “cottage property”
is built without any foundation at all. Drs. Parkes and Sanderson
recommended that such soil should not be built upon “for at least
two years,” but it would be well to give it another year. Attention
must also be paid to the “ground water”--the great underground sea
of which we find evidences almost anywhere that we seek for them.
Sometimes it is found even a foot or two only from the surface, in
other places at 15, 20, or 40 ft. This water rises and falls in
some places rapidly, rising after heavy rains, and falling in dry
weather. If it is always near the surface, the place must be damp and
unhealthy; and we should try to find out something about the ground
water before fixing on the site of our house. If possible, do not
live where it is less than 5 or 6 ft. from the surface.

_Trees._--Vegetation assists in rendering the soil healthy. Trees
absorb large quantities of moisture from the soil, and sometimes, as
in the case of the blue gum-tree of Australia, they seem even to do
something more than this. It is said that the common sunflower of
our gardens has a considerable influence in this way. Trees should
not be crowded close to a house, as they keep off much sun, and so
neutralise some of their good effects, but at a reasonable distance
they are beneficial.

_Aspect._--The aspect of a dwelling will necessarily be made to vary
with the climatic conditions of the locality in which it is situated.
In northern latitudes, such as Great Britain occupies, we are rarely
oppressed by sunshine, and need not seek special protection from
it. We should rather be anxious not to be deprived too much of its
genial and life-giving rays. On the other hand, we are often visited
by bleak and bitter winds, and though a free circulation of air is
desirable round a dwelling, there should be some shelter to break
the violence of a cold prevailing wind. In the country, where in
all probability there is no system of drainage for the district,
we should be careful not to place the house so as to receive our
neighbour’s drainage, nor that from our own outbuildings. In a town
the situation should be as open as can be obtained. The wider the
street and the greater the open space at the back the better, and the
back-to-back houses should be avoided altogether. (Simpson.)

As Eassie remarks, in one of the Health Exhibition Handbooks, aspect
and prospect have very much to do with comfort in housebuilding,
since a dwelling may be designed so as to fully command the scenery
while its plan might be very ill-adapted to the prevalent weather,
and the sun’s daily course. A house having a pleasant prospect may
be a decidedly unpleasant dwelling if the rooms have been arranged
without regard to the points of the compass. This will become quite
evident from a careful study of the annexed representation of Prof.
Kerr’s “aspect compass” (Fig. 1), which illustrates most clearly the
direction and character of the prevailing winds of this country, and
the sunny and shady quarters, the imaginary window of the dwelling
occupying the centre of the circle.

Obviously, as Eassie points out, the effects of aspect will not
be the same on the inside and outside of the room. Looking from
a window in the north, the prospect or landscape will be lighted
from behind; to the spectator looking from the south, it will
never be go lighted; looking from the east, the landscape will be
so lighted at sunset; and looking from the west, it will be well