CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Clothes-balls for removing grease and stains may 

 be made as follows : Fuller's-earth, two pounds ; 

 curd-soap, one pound ; ox-gall sufficient to make 

 a stiff dough, with which form balls. Or pipe- 

 clay, two pounds ; fullerVearlh, one pound ; whit- 

 ing, one-half pound ; mix with water. What are 

 called Scouring-balls are composed of soft soap 

 and fuller's -earth in equal proportions, beaten 

 well together, and formed into balls. Wash-balls, 

 again, are generally made of white curd -soap 

 beaten up with bole or ochre ; the mottled colours 

 being produced by using a mixture of red, blue, or 

 other coloured boles. 



Cloth, Incombustible, Cotton and linen fabrics 

 that are liable to get ignited, such as theatrical 

 dresses, &c., may be rendered flame-proof by being 

 stiffened with starch containing a quantity of tung- 

 state of soda, or sulphate of ammonia. The former 

 is preferable, as the latter is apt to get brown 

 under the iron. Borax is also effective. Articles 

 so prepared do not take fire readily, and when 

 they do so, only smoulder, without flame. 



Temperance Drinks. The simplest beverage of 

 a cooling and pleasing quality which contains no 

 intoxicating liquid, is lemonade j this may be very 

 easily made by pouring boiling water on sliced 

 lemons, and sweetening with sugar to taste. 

 Lemons, however, are not always to be procured, 

 and in such a case, citric acid, or cream of tartar, 

 may be employed instead. Ginger-beer may be 

 made as follows : Take of lump-sugar, three 

 pounds ; bruised ginger, two ounces ; cream of 

 tartar, one ounce ; one or two lemons sliced ; 

 boiling water, four gallons ; and yeast, eight 

 ounces. Let the whole stand to work in a cask 

 for four days, and then bottle off for use. Spruce- 

 beer, which is a pleasant beverage when well pre - 

 pared, and possesses slightly diuretic properties, 

 may be prepared as follows : Water, ten gallons ; 

 sugar, ten pounds ; essence of spruce, quarter of a 

 pound ; yeast, half a pint. Dissolve the sugar 

 and essence of spruce in the water, previously 

 warmed ; then allow it to cool a little, and add 

 the yeast as in making ginger-beer : bottle im- 

 mediately. 



Treacle-beer is a cheap drink, which may be 

 made as follows : Boil as much water as will fill 

 twelve common quart bottles ; and to it add one 

 pound of treacle or more, according to taste. 

 When the treacle is dissolved, take the pot from 

 the fire, and let the solution cool. When luke- 

 warm, put into it half a gill of yeast. As soon as 

 it is cold, bottle it, but do not put in the corks till 

 next morning, when the yeast will have wrought 

 over the top of the bottles. Let it stand in a cool 

 place for two or three days, when it will be fit for 

 use. Unless care is taken as to the proportion of 

 yeast, and keeping cool, the bottles may burst. 



MISCELLANEOUS HINTS AND RECIPES. 



To remove a tight Stopper. It frequently hap- 

 pens that the stopper of a glass bottle or decanter 

 becomes fixed in its place so firmly, that the exer- 

 tion of force sufficient to withdraw it would endan- 

 ger the vessel. In this case, if a cloth be wetted 

 with hot water, and applied to the neck of the 

 bottle, the glass will expand, and the neck will be 

 enlarged, so as to allow the stopper to be easily 

 withdrawn. Where hot water is not at hand, the 

 same result may be produced by the friction of a 



handkerchief, strip of flannel, or thick twine passed 

 round the neck of the bottle, and drawn backward 

 and forward with a see-saw motion. The same 

 result may be obtained by striking the stopper 

 gently with a piece of wood. 



Adhesive Plaster. A very useful adhesive plas- 

 ter may be made by melting together five parts of 

 common or litharge plaster with one part of white 

 resin. The mixture, when well incorporated, is 

 spread on thin strips of linen with a spatula or 

 table-knife. Such a plaster may be advanta- 

 geously employed for keeping on other dressings, 

 where ligatures and bandages might be objection- 

 able. 



Cutting Glass. Panes or flat pieces of glass 

 may be divided, when a glazier's diamond is not at 

 hand, by making a notch with a file, and carrying 

 a piece of hot charcoal in the line in which it is 

 wished the fracture should proceed. The charcoal 

 must be kept alive by blowing upon it with the 

 breath. A red-hot iron will also do. Phials, 

 bottle-necks, and the like, may be cut across by 

 looping a cord round the part where the fracture 

 is wanted, drawing the cord rapidly backward and 

 forward till a considerable degree of heat is pro- 

 duced by the friction, and then immersing in cold 

 water up to the line of fracture. The rapid and 

 unequal contraction of the parts will cause the 

 glass to snap asunder. 



Mending China and Earthenware. When holes 

 are required to be drilled in china or earthenware 

 for the purpose of riveting it when broken, pro- 

 cure a three-cornered file, and harden it completely 

 by making the end red-hot, and plunging it into 

 cold water j then grind the point quite sharp on a 

 grindstone, and afterwards on an oil-stone or hone. 

 With the point of this tool pick repeatedly on the 

 spot to be bored, taking care not to use too much 

 violence, lest the object should break. In a short 

 time, or in a few minutes, by a continuance of the 

 operation, a small conical hole will be forced out, 

 not bigger than a pin's head, but which may after- 

 wards be widened by introducing the point, and 

 working the file round. Rivets of lead are those 

 generally employed in this kind of operation. 



The best cement for broken china or glass is 

 that sold in the shops under the name of diamond 

 cement, which is colourless, and resists moisture. 

 This is made as follows : Soak some isinglass 

 in whisky, and then in hot water till quite dis- 

 solved. When the cement is to be used, it must 

 be gently liquefied by placing the phial contain- 

 ing it in boiling water. The phial must be well 

 closed by a good cork, not a glass-stopper, as 

 this may become fixed. It is applied to the 

 broken edges, which must be made hot, with a 

 camel-hair pencil. 



When the objects are not to be exposed to mois- 

 ture, white of egg alone, or mixed with finely 

 sifted quicklime, will answer pretty well. 



To remove Crust or Fur from Teapots. Put a 

 good-sized lump of common soda into the pot ; 

 fill it quite full with boiling water ; let it remain 

 in the whole of a day and night. Should a 

 teapot spout have become furred, when the 

 water has been in for a sufficient length of time, 

 put a skewer or knitting-needle into the spout to 

 clean it. It will afterwards be necessary to scald 

 and well wash the pot, to prevent any taste of 

 soda, and to remove the fur, which will then come 

 away easily. 



