THE HOUSEHOLD.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 6, 6 May 1893, Page 3

THE HOUSEHOLD.

Flowers.- —If you wish to preserve flowers in the drawing: room, a good plan is to cut them with a sharp knife. Cutting with scissors, or pinching the stalks, bruises the stems, and consequently impedes the action of the vessels which take up the moisture to replace the loss arising from evaporation. Use soft water with a sprinkling of salt in it, and change it every other day. Cut off the ends of the stems at the same time, as by this means they are better able to absorb moisture, and cover with a glass shade when convenient to protect from dust and air. The Silver Lining Out-done.— How mar v wives and sisters have ever tWTght of the finest preventive of csfds amongst their husbands and brothers ? It is no medicine, but merely the insertion of a woollen lining beneath the ordinary lining of a vest. Curiously enough, although we all take the greatest care of the chest, the general rule is to leave the back to look after itself. Any doctor, however, will tell you that the back requires as much clothing as the chest, and that many lung diseases are caught through the neglect of this elementary fact. It is the oddest thing in the world that thin Italian cloth should be chosen by tailors as the most suitable material for the lining of the vest. Underdone Meat. —Here is a statement made by a well-known physician which is worth repeating over and over again : —“ It is a fallacy to suppose that underdone meat is wholesome. It is distinctly unwholesome. Meat, vegetables, and breads must be properly cooked if they are to be properly digested. In schools especially, half cooked beef is frequently given to boys, w r ith the idea that it is strengthening. This is a mistake ; it is never half as wholesome or digestible as if thoroughly cooked. It is true that sometimes shredded raw beef is given in exhausting diseases, but this is as a medicine, and, like most medicines, it is positively injurious to healthy persons. A Banana Fritter is a pleasant variety to the ordinary pudding, old as the everlasting hills. Make a thick batter with water instead of milk; slightly sweeten, taking especial care to beat the yolk and white of the eggs separately, dip the banana into the batter, and fry in boiling fat. Delicious as is the fruit in its raw state, when cooked in this way its flavour becomes even more apparent.