Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 16 July 1908, Page 33

Domestic

By MAUREEN

To Mend Granite Ware.

Shellac poured over the worn places in granite ware and the vessel held over the fire so that the shellac can cook hard will make them last for a long time. Fat and Frying.

Remember that whein fat bubbles it is only just melting, and not at all in the right condition for frying. . After the bubbling has subsided a slight smoke will arise, and that is the moment the material should be put in.

To Remove Stains From Brass

Vinegar and salt with a few drops of ammonia will remove stains from brass. 'Make it into a paste and apply with a piece of flannel, then rub off with a dry piece, and you will be delighted with the result.

Bananas for Dyspepsia.

When a fruit such as a banana becomes ripe, and still more when it reaches the pulpy stage of over-ripeness, it might well have been supposed that micro-organisms were at work, and that very likely the over-ripe fruit might be harmful on that account (says ' The Hospital '). This is not the case, however. Doctor Giuseppe Tallarico has done some very elaborate and exhaustive work on the subject. His main conclusions are twofold : First, that the pulp of the banana remains absolutely free from microbes so long as the pericarp is intact ; cultivations upon bread, agaric, gelatine, and so forth remained completely sterile. Secondly, that the maturation of the fruit is due to ferments, of which there are three main kinds — each of which is present in quantity in the ripe banana. It is, perhaps, upon this account that the fruit is so beneficial in many cases of simple dyspepsia.

Tired Eves.

People speak about their eyes being tired, meaning that the retina or seeing portion of the eye is fatigued, but such is not the case, as the retina hardly ever gets tired. The fatigue is in the inner and outer muscles attached to the eyeball and the muscles of accommodation which surround the lens of the eye. When a near object is to be looked at this muscle relaxes and allows the lens to thicken, increasing its refractive power. The inner and outer muscles are used in covering the eye on the object to be looked at, the inner one being especially used when a near object is looked at. It is in the three muscles mentioned that the fatigue is felt, and relief is secured temporarily by closing the eyes or gazing at far distant objects. The usual indication of strain is a redness of the rim of the eyelid, betokening a congested state of the inner surface accompanied by some pain. Sometimes this weariness indicates the need of glasses rightly adapted to the person, and in other cases the true remedy is to massage the eye and its surroundings as far as may be with the hand wet in cold water.

Diet and Indigestion.

Even very abstemious people arc often sufferers from indigestion caused by over-eating. The amount of food they take is not too much for the day, but it is distinctly too much at the time they take it. We will suppose the case of a woman who has had nothing since her light lunch, and who has come home tired and hungry with -.her day's work to a dinner at 7 o'clock. She is thankful for a good meal, eats heartily, and is surprised to find afterwards she feels rather worse than belter for it. The reason of this is simple.- She was tired out; her stomach, like the rest of her body, was unfit for work, and the digestion of a meal means hard work for that important organ. Instead of dining directly she came in, she should have taken a cup of hot water with a tablespoonful of milk in it, and then sat down quietly for five minutes. Had she done this, and then begun to eat slowly, masticating thoroughly, all would have been well. The little pick-me-up would have enabled the stoma,ch to do its work. If only people would nrtore generally follow this plan, dyspepsia would be less frequent than it is at present.

Woods', Great Peppermint Cure for Coughs and Colds^ never fails. is 6d and 2s 6d.