THE HOUSEHOLD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 2 June 1891, Page 4

THE HOUSEHOLD.

/ Waterproofing with Paraffin. — Take 2o ozt lard oil, io oz. paraffin, i 02. beeswax ; lval; (.he oil over a slow fire, and when hot.add the paraffin and wax, and allow the : v \y^le to remain over the fire until dissolved. Polish. — Thesubjoined simple is said to be desirable for cleanWgVftd polishing old furniture. Over a moderate fire put a perfectly clean vessel. •Into this drop two ounces of white or yellow "was. When melted add four ounces of fmre turj-jntine, then stir until cool, when tis ready for use. The mixture brings out * the original colour of the wood, adding a lustre equal to that of varnish. ' A Seas jxable Kemedv. — Wet Boots. — | When boots are wet through do not dry, them by the fire. As soon as they are taken off nil them quite full with dry oats. ( The grain' will rapidly absorb every vestige . of damp from wet leather. As it takes up the moistm*". it swells, and fills the boot like a tightly-fitting last, keeping its form good, and drying the leather without hardening it. i In the' morning' shake out the oats, and ■ . hang them in a bag near the fire to dry,, ready for another c ccasion. Ta ftfic;^ for Fix^on Wax.— The following method ox'^v tTrifno'ST I gently, then put in wax cut into b. ''^' > and boil. When the wax comes u t p ° u^ 2 litres of water, in which the tart.. ' , J~ previously dissolved ; heat twenty miv -f, until i:.-ip'>nfied, if the wax i's pure, at. ; add ii litre:; of water. It is useless to add * more wax than required ; it would make the floor dirty without adding extra brilliancy. The excess of tartar in the solution sets any powdered colours that may be" used more ■firmly. . . ./ Ink for Window Tickets. — This differs „ from tho ordinary ink in being blacker when f<- first written with, and more glossy when dry; but it does not flow" so readily from the pe.i. The best Aleppo galls, in coarse Eowder, two pounds ; copperas, ten and a alf ounces ; gum arabic, twenty ounces ; sugar, one ounce; water (rain), sufficient to make c ; -liken pints. Place the galls in an ■ enamelled vessel, pour in six pints ofboiling Iva*" 1 ' 1 ;UK ' macerate for twa days near the g re# * jV %eil stra i n > an d to the .dregs add another' six pints of boiling water, which allow to stanJ twenty -four hours, and strain. Mix the . two infusions. Then-. dissolve the gum and s.Jf , r ia the ' re ' maindcr of the water ; add this, also - . f hen , make the cupperas white by holding 5t in an Iron ladle over a clear fire or gas sto ye - When cold add it to the ink ; stir well. Lastly, add one drachm of carbolic acid dissolved in four drachms of glycerine. Mix well together; allow it to repose twelve days; when it will be splendid. N.B. — If more gloss is wanted, dissolve more gum, which add from time to time until the desired effect Is produced. Destruction of Rats. — The following directions for the destruction of rats have been communicated by Dr. Ure to the Council of the English Agricultural Society, and are highly recommended as the best known means of getting rid of these most obnoxious and destructive vermin: — Melt bog's lard in a bottle plunged in water heated to about 150 degrees Fah. ; introduce into it half an ounce of phosphorus for every pound of lard ; then add a pint of proof spirit, or whisky ; cork the bottle lirmly after its contents have been heated to 150 decrees, taking it at the same time out of the water, and agitate smartly until the phosphorus becomes uniformly diffused, forming a milky-looking liquid. This liquid, . being cooled, will afford a white compound of phorphorus and lard, from which the spirit spontaneously separates, and may be poured off to be used again. This compound, on being warmed very gently, may be poured out into a mixture of wheat, flour, and sugar, and flavoured with oil of aniseed. The dough thus formed, being made into pellets, is to be laid in rat-holes. By its luminousness in the dark it attracts their notice, and being agreeable to their palates and noses, it is readily eaten, and proves certainly fatal. • Gilding on Ivory and Glass. — One plan for gilding ornate designs on ivory or glass is to paint over the design with a fine Dimel's hair brush, moistened with nitromuriate of gold. Then hold the glass or Ivory thus painted over the mouth of a flask In which hydrogen gas is being generated (by the action of dilute sulphuric acid on eine scrnps) . The hydrogen will reduce the gold chloride to metallic gold on the painted surfaces, and the gold flim thus deposited will in a short time be found to have considerable lustre, when the operation' may be stopped. The gold flim is exceedingly thin. Another method suggested for the same purpose, which will answer for glass, is the following : — Make some gold powder by putting into an earthenware mortar some gold-leaf with a little honey or thick gum water, grinding the mixtoreyuntil the gold is completely reduced to powder, and then washing out the honey or gum by repeated additions of warm^yjater, andjiecantation. Mix the gold powde4'\n tQ astrongborax solution, and paint over the design with it. When dry, place the glass in a stove and give it a considerable _heat,. This will vitrefy the borax, and tfie'gold to •the glass with much firmness. Curing Skins.— The ordinary plan in stuffing bird? is to cure the, skin with, arsenic, arsenical soap, or some other poison 1 . Thus prepared, the skin is puffed out with cotton, moss, or straw, and propped up with wire, which always produces a disagreeable stiffness and derangemenfrTrf-synntretry. When Charles Waterson arrived at Demerara from Paramaribo he ap«nt six months studying the habits of .birds of the forest aud preparing the skins ;#'^tiriqkfbrilliant. He stuffed more th«n^ Wfctmdrtd at that lime upon a plan which he" had himself invented. •• He had obpwed," we art told, " that every specimen Jp ever/ museum he had visited was shockingly deformed. The skins were shrunk ; the Itps and aose of the quadrupeds shrivelled up, and altogether the -skin and straw rapraseatativ* was a hideous caricature of the flesh and blood original. His process was widely different. He soaked the skin in corrosiv* sublimate dissolved in alcohol. The mixture penetrated every pore, and being antiputrescent, preserved the skin from decay, and being poisonous, secured it from the depredations of insects. As the. solution kept the skin moist and flexible for several days, it could all this while be moulded at will. The hollows and protuberances oi the animal frame, the play and action of feather and limb, the physiognomy. c<jf ; pain or 1 pleasuie, rage or mildness, could be faithfully impressed upon therein, more assumed the shape audygestur^sits wearer bore in life. Protected. : rrbnV wind, sun, and rain, the reinoddlJea^skia^wxis dried very slowly, and the corrosive sublimate caused it to stiffen without shrinking, till the form and features given to it by the artist became as firm set as if they had been carved in marble." Equal quantities of highly rectified spirit of wine and distilled water must be mixed together, to a quart bottle of which add a tablespoonful of corrosive sublimate in fine powder, keep well corked and in a cool place under lock and key, as it is a deadly poison. .Remember that the birds must' be steeped in this solution tefore they are skinned: