To Pack Glass or China.

Procure some soft straw or hay to pack them in, and, if they are to be sent a long way and are heavy, the hay or straw should be a little damp, which will prevent them slipping about. Let the largest and heaviest things be always put undermost in the box or hamper. Let there be plenty of straw, and pack the articles tight; but never attempt to pack up glass or China which is of much consequence, till it has been overlooked by some one used to the job. The expense will be but trifling to have a person to do it who understands it, and the loss may be great, if articles of such value are packed up in an improper manner. To Clean China and Glass.

The best material for cleaning either porcelain or glassware is fuller's earth, but it must be beaten into a fine powder and carefully cleared from all rough cr hard particles, which might endanger the polish of the brilliant surface.

To Clean Wine Decanters.

Cut some brown paper into very small bits, 80 as to go with ease into the decanters; then cut a few pieces of soap very small, and put some water, milk warm, into the decanters, upon the soap and paper: put in also a little pearlash. By well working this about in the decanters it will take off the crust of the wine and give the glass a fine polish. Where the decanters have been scratched, and the wine left to stand in them a long time, have a small cane, with a bit of sponge tied tight at one end; by putting this into the decanter any crust of the wine may be removed. When the decanters have been properly washed let them be thoroughly dried and turned down in a proper rack.

If the decanters have wine in them when put by, have some good corks always at hand to put in instead of stoppers; this will keep the wine much better.

To Decant Wine.

Be careful not to shake or disturb the crust when moving it about or drawing the cork, particularly Port wine. Never decant wine without a wine-strainer, with some fine cambric in it to prevent the crust and bits of cork going into the decanter. In decanting Port wine do not drain it too near; there are generally two-thirds of a wineglass of thick dregs in each bottle, which ought not to be put in; but in white wine there is not much settling. Pour it out, however, slowly, and raise the bottle up gradually. The wine should never be decanted in a hurry; therefore always do it before the family sits down to dinner. Do not jostle the decanters against each other when moving them about, as they easily break when full. To Preserve Hats.

Hats require great care or they will soon look shabby. Brush them with a soft camel-hair brush; this will keep the fur smooth. Have a stick for each hat to keep it in its proper shape, especially if the hat has got wet. Put the stick in as soon as the hat is taken off, and when dry put it into a hat-box, particularly if not in constant use, as the air and dust soon turn hats brown. If the hat is very wet, handle it as lightly as possible; wipe it dry with a cloth or silk handkerchief, then brush it with the soft brush. If the nap sticks so close, when almost dry, that it cannot be got loose with the soft brushes, then use the hard ones; but if the nap still sticks, damp it a little with a sponge dipped in beer or vinegar; then brush it with a hard brush till dry.

To Clean Boots and Shoes.

Good brushes and blacking are indispensably necessary. First remove all the loose dirt with a

wooden knife, and never use a sharp steel one, as the leather is too often cut, and the boots and shoes spoiled. Then take the hard brush and brush off the remainder, and all the dust; they must also be quite dry before blacking, or they will not shine. Do not put on too much blacking at a time, for if it dries before using the shining brush the leather will look brown instead of black. If there are boot-trees, never clean boots or shoes without them, but take care that the trees are always kept clean and free from dust. Never put one shoe within another, and when cleaning ladies' boots or shoes, be careful to have clean hands, that the linings may not get soiled. Always scrape off the dirt when wet from boots or shoes, but never place them too near the fire when dry, as that cracks the leather.

To Keep Up Sash Windows.

This is performed by means of cork, in the simplest manner, and with scarcely any expense. Bore 3 or 4 holes in the sides of the sash, into which insert common bottle-cork, projecting about the sixteenth part of an inch. These will press against the window frames along the usual groove, and by their elasticity support the sash at any height which may be required.

To Choose a Carpet.

Preservation of Eggs.

A writer says: The best method I know of to preserve eggs is to fill the pores of the shell with fresh, clean lard, so as to exclude all the air. It is my opinion that this simple and easy method is preferable to any now in use. Some put them in lime-water, some lay them down in salt, some put them in saw-dust. But the lime cooks them, so that they have a dried appearance; salt has a similar effect, while eggs saturated with lard (as far as my experience goes) open fresh and nice. In Paris, however, where they understand these things thoroughly, eggs are preserved by immersion in hot water, as follows: Water is made to boil in a kettle, a dozen eggs are put into a colander, which is plunged into the kettle, left there about a minute, and then withdrawn with the eggs. By this means a thin layer or yolk becomes congulated, and forms in the interior surface of the shell a sort of coating, which opposes itself to the evapo. ration of the substance of the egg, and conse quently to the contact of the air which rushes in to fill the void left by the evaporation.

A Method of Preserving Lime-Juice. The juice, having been expressed from the fruit,

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was strained and put into quart bottles; these having been carefully corked. were put into a pan of cold water, which was then by degrees raised to the boiling point. At that temperature it was kept for half an hour, and was then allowed to cool down to the temperature of the air. After being bottled for 8 months the juice was in the state of a whitish, turbid liquor, with the acidity and much of the flavor of the lime; nor did it appear to have undergone any alteration Some of the juice, which had been examined the year before, and which had since only been again heated and carefully bottled, was still in good

condition, retaining much of the flavor of the recent juice. Hence it appears that, by the application of the above process, the addition of rum or other spirit to lime or lemon-juice, may be avoided, without rendering it at all more liable to spontaneous alteration.

To Preserve Milk.

Provide bottles, which must be perfectly clean, sweet, and dry. Draw the milk from the cow into the bottles, and, as they are filled, immediately cork them well up, and fasten the corks with pack-thread or wire. Then spread a little straw on the bottom of a boiler, on which place the bottles with straw between them, until the boiler contains a sufficient quantity. Fill it up with cold water; heat the water, and as soon as it begins to boil draw the fire, and let the whole gradually cool. When quite cold take out the bottles, and pack them with straw or saw-dust in hampers, and stow them in the coolest part of the house or ship. Milk preserved in this manner, although 18 months in the bottles, will be as sweet as when first milked from the cow.

To Preserve Cabbages and other Esculent Vegetables Fresh during a Sea Voyage or a Severe Winter.

Cut the cabbage so as to leave about 2 inches or more of the stem attached to it; after which scoop out the pith to about the depth of 1 inch, taking care not to wound or bruise the rind by the operation. Suspend the cabbage by means of a cord tied around the stem, so that that portion of it from which the pith is taken remains uppermost, which regularly fill every morning with fresh water. By this simple method cabbages, cauliflowers, brocoli, etc. may be preserved fresh during a long voyage, or in a severe winter, for domestic

use.

Fish-House (State of Schuylkill) Punch. One-third pt. of lemon-juice, lb. white sugar, pt. peach brandy, pint cogniac brandy, pt. Jamaica rum, no water, but a large lump of ice. To Whitewash.

Put some lumps of quicklime into a bucket of cold water, and stir it about till dissolved and mixed, after which a brush with a large head, and a long handle, to reach the ceiling of the room, is used to spread it thinly on the walls, etc. When dry, it is beautifully white, but its known cheapness has induced the plasterers to substitute a mixture of glue size and whiting for the houses of their opulent customers; and this, when once used, precludes the employment of limewashing ever after, for the latter, when laid on whiting, becomes yellow.

Whitewashing is an admirable manner of rendering the dwellings of the poor clean and whole

some.

First. For rough outside walls - those exposed to the weather-the best mixture is clear lime and water. Any animal or vegetable substance added diminishes the adhesion and durability of the wash. Second. But if the wall is hard and smooth, the

wash is improved by a mixture of very fine sandas much as will mix and can be applied.

Third. For inside walls an addition of a little glue-say lb. to 3 pailfuls- increases the adhesion. If it is desired to have the walls very white, the whites of eggs may be used in the place of the glue.

To Prevent the Smoking of a Lamp.

Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it well and pleasant, and give much satisfaction for the before you use it; it will then burn both sweet trifling trouble in preparing it.

Easy Method of Preserving Meat in the Country,

for a Few Days, without Salt and without Iee.

Put the meat into the water running from a spring. It will sink-examine it daily-when it begins to rise from the bottom it must be used; it will be found perfectly sound and tender, and may be boiled or roasted. Meat may be preserved in this manner 3 or 4 days in summer-time, free from taint. The outside will appear somewhat whitened, but the flavor is not injured. It would be advisable to have a box or tub, with a cover, into and out of which the water shall have free passage, which may be put either inside or outside of the spring-house.

Ready Mode of Mending Cracks in Stoves, Pipes, and Iron Ovens, as Practised in Germany.

When a crack is discovered in a stove, through which the fire or smoke penetrates, the aperture may be completely closed in a moment with a composition consisting of wood-ashes and common salt, made up into paste with a little water, and plastered over the crack. The good effect is equally certain, whether the stove, etc., be cold or | hot.

POTICHOMANIA;

Or, to make Glass Jars look like China. After painting the figures, cut them out, so that none of the white of the paper remains, then take some thick gum Arabic water, pass it over all the figures, and place them on the inside of the glass to taste; let them stand to dry for 24 hours, then clean them well with a wet cloth betwixt the prints, and let them stand a few hours longer lest the water should move any of the edges, then take white wax and flake white, ground very fine, and melt them together; with a japanning-brush go over all the glass above the prints; done in this manner they will hold water; or, boil isinglass to a strong jelly, and mix it up with white lead, ground tine, and lay it on in the same manner; or use nut-oil and flake-white. For a blue ground, do it with white wax and Prussian blue, ground fine; for red, wax and vermilion, or carmine; for green, wax and verdigris; for a chocolate color, wax and burnt umber.

To make Grindstones without Moulds, Take of river sand, 3 parts; of seed-lac, washed, 1 part. Mix them over a fire in a pot, and form the mass into the shape of a grindstone, having a square hole in the centre; fix it on an axis with liquefied lac, heat the stone moderately, and by turning the axis it may easily be formed into an exact circular shape. Polishing grindstones are made only of such sand as will pass easily through fine muslin in the proportion of 2 parts of sand to 1 of lac. This sand is found at Ragimaul. It is composed of small angular crystalline particles tinged red with iron; 2 parts to 1 of black magnetic sand. The stone-cutters, instead of sand, use the powder of a very hard granite called corune. These grindstones cut very fast. When they want to increase their power they throw sand upon them, or let them occasionally touch the edge of a vitri

fied brick. The same composition is formed upon sticks for cutting stones, shells, etc., by the hand.

To make Wax Candles.

Place a dozen wicks on an iron circle, at equal distances, over a large copper vessel tinned and full of melted wax; pour a ladlefull of the wax on the tops of the wicks, one after another; what the wick does not take will drop into the vessel, which must be kept warm by pan of coals; continue this process till the candles are as large as required. If they are wanted of a pyramidal form, let the first three ladlesful be poured on at the top of the wick, the fourth at the height of three-quarters, the fifth at half, and the sixth at a quarter; then take them down hot, and lay them beside each other in a feather-bed folded in two to preserve their warmth and keep the wax soft; then take them down and roll them one by one on a smooth table, and cut off the thick end as required.

To make Kitchen Vegetables Tender. When peas, French beans, etc., do not boil easily, it has usually been imputed to the coolness of the season, or to the rains. This popular notion is erroneous. The difficulty of boiling them soft arises from an excess of gypsum imbibed during their growth. To correct this, throw a small quantity of carbonate of soda into the pot alone with the vegetables.

To Prevent Haystacks from Taking Fire. When there is any reason to fear that the hay which is intended to be housed or stacked is not sufficiently dry, let a few handfuls of common salt be scattered between each layer. This, by absorbing the humidity of the hay, not only prevents the fermentation, and consequent inflammation of it, but adds a taste to it, which stimulates the appetites of cattle and preserves them from many diseases.

Castor Oil as a Dressing for Leather. Castor oil, besides being an excellent dressing for leather, renders it vermin-proof; it should be mixed, say half and half, with tallow or other oil. Neither rats, roaches, nor other vermin will attack leather so prepared.

Substitute for a Corkscrew.

A convenient substitute for a corkscrew, when the latter is not at hand, may be found in the use of a common screw, with an attached string to pull the cork.

Another.-Stick two forks vertically into the cork on opposite sides, not too near the edge. Run the blade of a knife through the two, and give a twist.

Another.-Fill the hollow at the bottom of the bottle with a handkerchief or towel; grasp the neck with one hand, and strike firmly and steadily with the other upon the handkerchief.

To send Messages in Cypher.

Any document written in cypher, by which signs are substituted for letters, or even for words, is liable to be decyphered. The following plans are free from such objection: The correspondents select two copies of the same edition of a book, the word to be used is designated by figures referring to the page, line, and number of the word in the line; or the message may be written on a slip of paper wound spirally around a rod of wood; these can only be decyphered by bringing them into their original position, by wrapping around a second rod of the same size. [For SYMPATHETIC INKS, see INKS.]

Expectation of Life at any Age from Five to Sixty

Yeurs.

Every man, woman, and child has a property in Mr. life. What is the value of this property? Charles M. Willich has established an extremely easy rule for expressing this value-this "Expectation of Life" at any age from 5 to 60. His for

Tico Letters at Once.

the expectation of life is equal to two-thirds of the difference between the age of the party and 80. Thus, say a man is now 20 years old, between that age and 80 there are 60 years; two-thirds of 60 are 40; and this is the sum of his expectation of life. If a man be now 60 years, he will have an By the expectation of life nearly 14 years more. same rule, a child of 5 has a lien of life for 50 years. Every one can apply the rule to his own age. Mr. Willich's hypothesis may be as easily remembered as that by De Moivre in the last century, which has now become obsolete, from the greater accuracy of the mortality tables. The results obtained by the new law correspond very closely with those from Dr. Farr's English LifeTable, constructed with great care from an im

mense mass of returns.

well.

Grafting Wax.

Five parts of rosin, 1 part of beeswax, 1 part of tallow. Melt these in a skillet, tin cup, or any metal vessel; the skillet being preferable, as it can be handled better, and the wax keeps warm longer Mix these over the fire, and mix together in it. When the scions are set-say as many as 20 or 30, or as few as wished-have the mixture ready and apply it warm with a small wooden paddle. See that every part is covered, and the air completely excluded. It requires no bandage. We have made the wax in different proportions to the above, but we find these to be best adapted to the purpose. The object to be attained is to have the wax of such consistency that it will not crack in the cold winds of March and April, nor run in the hot suns of summer.

seed meal. When the poultice is prepared, and as hot as the patient can bear it, about 2 oz. of the prepared liquor must be poured equally over the whole of the s irface of each, without its being imbibed; the part affected is then to be wrapped up in it, and bour d up with flannel and bandages to preserve the heat. The poultice is generally changed every 24 hours, sometimes at the end of twelve.

Liebig's Soup for Invalids.

Takelb. of newly-killed beef or fowl, chop it fine, add 1 lbs. of distilled water, with 4 drops of pure muriatic acid, and 34 to 67 grains of common salt, and stir well together. After an hour the whole is to be thrown on a conical hair-sieve, and the fluid allowed to flow through without any pressure. The first thick portions which pass through are to be returned to the sieve, until the fluid runs off quite clear. Half a lb. of distilled water is to be poured, in small portions at a time, on the flesh residue in the sieve. There will be obtained in this way about 1 lb. of fluid (cold extract of flesh), of a red color, and having a pleasant taste of soup. The invalid is allowed to take it sold, a cupful at a time, at pleasure. It must not be heated, as it becomes muddy by heat, and deposits a thick coagulum of albumen and coloring matter of blood. In soup prepared in the usual way by boiling, all those constituents of flesh are wanting which are necessary for the formation of blood albumen; and the yolk of egg, which is added, is poor in those substances, for it contains in all 824 per cent. of water and fat, and only 17 per cent. of a substance, the same or very similar to albumen of egg. But whether it is equal in its power of nutrition to the albumen of flesh, is at least doubtful from the experiments of Magendie. Besides the albumen of flesh, the new soup contains a certain quantity of coloring matter of blood, and with it a much larger quantity of the necessary iron for the formation of the blood-corpuscles, and finally, the muriatic acid to assist digestion. A great obstacle to the use of this soup in summer is its liability to change in warm weather. It enters into fermentation like sugar with yeast, but without acquiring a bad odor. What may be the substance which gives rise to this fermentation is a question well worthy of being investigated. The extraction of the flesh must consequently be made with very cold water, and in a cool place. Iced water, and external cooling with ice, completely removes this difficulty. But the most important point to be attended to is to employ meat quite recently killed, and not several days old. The soup has been successfully employed in low fevers and the summer-complaint of children.

Liebig's Soup for Children.

With that remarkable estimation of the greatness of small things which is the most valuable of his many high intellectual qualities, and with a tender appreciation of the importance of small people, Baron Liebig devotes a special article in an English scientific periodical to the description of a new diet which he conceives to be the most fitting substitute for the natural nutriment of children robbed of their mother's milk. It is well known the cow's milk does not adequately represent the milk of a healthy woman, and when wheaten flour is added, as it commonly is, Liebig points out that, although that starch be not unfitting for the nourishment of infants, the change of it into sugar in the stomach during digestion imposes an unnecessary labor on the organization, which will be spared it if the starch be changed into the soluble forms of sugar and dex

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trine. This he effects by adding to the wheaten flour a certain quantity of malt. As wheaten flour and malt flour contain less alkali than woman's milk he supplies this when preparing the soup. This soup may be shortly prepared, as follows: "Half an oz. of wheaten flour and an equal quantity of malt flour; 74 grs. of bicarbonate of potash and 1 oz. of water are to be well mixed; 5 oz. of cow's milk are then to be added, and the whole put on a gentle fire; when the mixture begins to thicken it is removed from the fire, stirred during 5 minutes, heated and stirred again till it becomes fluid, and finally made to boil. After the separation of the bran by a sieve it is ready for use. By boiling it for a few minutes it loses all taste of the

flour." The immediate inducement for Baron

Liebig making this soup arose from the fact that one of his grandchildren could not be suckled by its mother, and that another required, besides his mother's milk, a more concentrated food. The the children soup proved an excellent food thrived on it. Baron Liebig has himself used this soup with tea as a breakfast, and a most thoroughly nutritious meal it must be. The temperature before boiling should not exceed 148° Fahr.

To Write for the Use of the Blind. Let an iron pen be used, the point of which is not split. Blind persons writing without ink, and pressing on a strong paper, will produce characters in relief, which they can immediately read by passing their fingers over the projecting characters on the opposite side of the paper, in the contrary direction.

On the Honing and Stropping of a Razor.

Let the hone be seldom and but sparingly resorted to, and never, unless by frequent and repeated stropping the edge of the razor is entirely destroyed; use the best pale oil, and be careful to preserve the hone clean and free from dust. Previously to the operation of shaving, it will be found of service, particularly to those who have a strong beard and a tender skin, to wash the face well with soap and water, and the more time is spent in lathering and moistening the beard, the easier will the process of shaving become. Dip the razor in hot water before applying it to the face; use the blade nearly flat, always taking care to give it a cutting instead of a scraping direction. Strop the razor immediately after using it, for the purpose of effectually removing any moisture that may remain upon the edge, and be careful not to employ a common strop, as the composition with which they are covered is invariably of a very inferior quality, and injurious to a razor. The strop should always be of the best manufacture, and when the composition is worn off it will be found particularly useful to rub it over, lightly, with a little clean tallow, and then put upon it the top part of the snuff of a candle, which, being a fine power, will admirably supply the place of the best composition ever used for the purpose. Another excellent mode of renovating a razor-strop is by rubbing it well with pewter, and impregnating the leather with the finest metallic particles.

Paste for Sharpening Razors.

Take oxide of tin levigated, vulgarly termed prepared putty, 1 oz.; saturated solution of oxalic acid, a sufficient quantity to form a paste. This composition is to be rubbed over the strop, and when dry a little water may be added. The oxalic acid having a great attachment for iron, a little friction with this powder gives a fine edge to the

razor.