great enemies, and destroy them. Observe not to hare to* large a proportion of cock birds; for they are quarrelsome, and will soon thin the dove-cot.

Pigeons are fond of salt, and it keeps them in health. Lay a large heap of clay near the house, and let the salt brine that may be done with in the family be poured upon it.

Bay salt and cummin-seeds mixed is a universal remedy for the diseases of pigeons. The backs and breasts are sometimes scabby; in which case, take a quarter of a pound of bay-salt, and as much common salt; a pound of fennel-seeds, a pound of dill-seed, as much cummin-seed, and an ounce of ssafcetida; mix all with a little wheaten flour, and some fine worked clay; when all are well beaten together, put it into two earthen pots, and bake them in the oven. When cold, put them on the table in the dove-cot; the pigeons will eat it, and thus be cured.

Rabbits.

The wild ones have the finest flavour, unless great care is taken to keep the tame delicately clean. The tame one brings forth every month, and must be allowed to go with the back as soon as she has kindled. The sweetest hay, oats, bean?, sow-thistle, parsley, carrot-tops, cabbage-leaves, and bran, fresh and fresh, should be given to them. If not very well attended, their stench will destroy themselves, and be very unwholesome to all who live near them; but attention will prevent this inconvenience.

Feathers.

In towns, poultry being usually sold ready-picked, the feathers, which may occasionally come in small quantities, are neglected; but orders should be given to put them into a tub free from damp, and as they dry to change them into paper bags, a few in each; they should hang in a dry kitchen to season; fresh ones should not be added to those in part dried, or they will occasion a musty smell, but they should go through the same process. In a few months they will be fit to add to beds, or to make pillows, without the usual mode of drying them in a cool oven, which may be pursued if they are wanted before five or six months.

MEANS OF DESTROYING NOXIOUS INSECTS, &o.

CIVILIZATION and the arts having made the desert to blossom as the rose, have also delivered ue from the power of ravenous beasts; but we are still liable to be attacked by a more numerous though less powerful host of enemies, who commit their depredations on the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and thereby destroy many of the comforts of human life. Dwelling houses are continually exposed to the invasion of insects, reptiles, and other kinds of vermin, whose uses in creation we have either not discovered, or whose extermination is left to the power and wisdom of man to accomplish. It does not become us to be prodigal of life in any form, nor wantonly to seek its destruction; but when any species of animals become really noxious, the good of creation requires that they should be destroyed.

Beetles.

To destroy beetles that are troublesome in the house, put some small lumps of quick lime into the chinks or holes of the wall from whence they issue, or scatter it on the ground. Or at night, lay a little treacle on a piece of wood, and float it in a pan of water: beetles are so fond of treacle that they will be drowned in attempting to get at it. The common black beetle may be also extirpated by placing a hedge-hog in the room. during the summer nights; or by placing a bundle of pea straw near their holes, and afterwards burning it when the beetles have crept into it.

Bugs.

A strong solution of vitriol will effectually destroy this kind of vermin. Dip a sponge or brush into the solution, and rub it on the bed or furniture where they harbour, and it will destroy both them and their nits. If any bugs appear after once using it, the application must be repeated, and some of the mixture poured into the joints and holes of the bedstead and

and

headboard. Beds that have much wood work require to be taken down and well examined before they can be thoroughly cleared of these vermin, and the mixture should be rubbed all the joints and crevices with a painter's brush. It should be applied to the walls of the room to insure success; if mixed with a little lime, will give it a lively yellow, The boiling of any kind of wood work or new furniture in an iron caldron, with a solution of vitriol, will prevent the breeding of bugs, and preserve it from rottenness and decay.

If this does not completly succeed, take half a pint of the highest rectified spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine; dissolve in this mixture half an ounce of camphire, and shake them well together. Dust the bed or the furniture, dip a sponge or brush into the mixture, wet them all over, and pour some of the liquor into the holes and crevices. If any should afterwards appear, wet the lacings of the beds, the foldings of the curtains near the rings, and other parts where it is at all likely the bugs may nestle and breed, and it will effectually destroy them. The smell of this mixture is not unwholesome, and may be applied to the finest damask bed without any fear of soiling it. It should be well shaked together, but never used by candle-light, for fear of its taking fire.

Crickets.

The fume of charcoal will drive them away; or a little white arsenic mixed with a roasted apple, or snuff, and put into the holes and cracks where the crickets are, will effectually destroy them.

Fleas.

Want of cleanliness remarkably contributes to the production of these troublesome insects. The females deposit their eggs in damp and filthy places, within the crevices of boards and on rubbish, whence they emerge in the form of fleas in about a month. Cleanliness and frequent sprinkling of the room with a simple decoction of wormwood, will soon exterminate the whole breed of these disagreeable vermin; and the best remedy to expel them from bed-clothes is a bag filled with dry moss, the odour of which is to them extremely offensive. Fumigation with brimstone, or the fresh leaves of penny-royal

sewed in a bag, and laid in the bed, will also have the desired effect.

Dogs and cats may be effectually secured from the persecutions of these vermin, by occasionally anointing their skin with sweet oil, or oil of turpentine, or by rubbing into their coats some Scotch snuff; but if there be any manginess, or the skin be broken, the latter will be very painful.

Flies.

If a room be swarming with these noisome insects, the most ready way of expelling them is to fumigate the apartments with the dried leaves of the gourd. If the window be opened, the smoke will instantly send them out; or if the room be close, it will suffocate them; but in the latter case, no person should remain within doors, as the fume is apt to occasion the head-ach. Another way is to dissolve two drachms of the extract of quassia in half a pint of boiling water; and adding a little sugar or syrup, pour the mixture on plates. The flies are extremely partial to this enticing food, and it never fails to destroy them. Camphire placed near any kind of food will protect it from the flies.

Lice.

Want of cleanliness, immoderate warmth, violent perspiration, and a corrupted state of the fluids, tend to promote the generation of this kind of vermin. The most simple remedy is the seed of parsley reduced to a fine powder, and rubbed to the roots of the hair, or to rub the parts affected with garlic and mustard. To clean the heads of children take half an ounce of honey, half an ounce of sulphur, an ounce of vinegar, and two ounces of sweet oil; mix the whole together into a liniment, and rub a little of it on the head repeatedly. The clothes-louse may be destroyed by fumigating the articles of dress with the vapour of sulphur.

Mice.

The poisonous substances generally prepared for the destruction of these animals are attended with danger, and the use of them ought not therefore to be encouraged. Besides the common traps, baited with cheese, the following remedy

will be found both safe and efficacious. Take a few handful* of wheaten flour, or malt meal, knead it into a dough, and let it grow sour in a warm place: mix with it some fine iron filings, form the whole into small balls, and put them into the holes frequented by the mice. On eating this preparation, they are inevitably killed. Cats, owls, or hedge-hogs, would be highly useful in places infested with mice.

An effectual mouse-trap may be made in the following manner. Take a plain four-square trencher, and put into the two contrary corners of it a large pin or piece of knitting needle; then take two sticks about a yard long, and lay them on the dresser, with a notch cut at each end of the stick, placing the two pins on the notches, so that one corner of the trencher may be about an inch on the dresser or shelf that the mice The opposite corner must be baited with some butter and oatmeal plastered on the trencher; and when the mice run towards the butter, it will tip them into a glazed earthen vessel Cull of water, which should be placed underneath for that purpose. To prevent the trencher from tipping over so as to lose its balance, it may be fastened to the dresser with a a thread and a little sealing was, to restore it to its proper position.

come to.

Mite*.

Though principally infesting cheese, there are several spe cies of this insect breeding in flour, and other eatables, and occasioning considerable injury. The most effectual method of expelling them is to place a few nutmegs in the sack or bin condaining the flour, the odour of which is insupportable to mites; and they will quickly be removed, without the meal acquiring any unpleasant flavour. Thick branches of the lilac or elder txse peeled and put into the flour, will have the same effect. Quantities of the largest sized ants, scattered about cheeserooms and granaries, would presently devour all the mites, without doing any injury.

Moths.

One of the most speedy remedies for their complete extermination is the smell of turpentine, whether it be by sprinkling it on woollen stuffs, or placing sheets of paper moistened with