HOME COMFORT. 



concerts interfere* sadly in every way with sleep, they ought one 

 and all to be generally avoided. Kising at a suitable hour in the 

 morning, not later than six in summer and seven in winter, is also 

 recommended, as it imparts health to the frame as well as anima- 

 tion to the household. 



AVOIDANCE OF STIMULANTS. To preserve health it is necessary 

 to avoid the use of alcoholic stimulants, except as a medicine. 

 is surprising," says Dr. Chavasse, "the quantity of wine some 

 young ladies, at parties, can imbibe without being intoxicated; but 

 whether if such ladies marry they will make fruitful vines is quite 

 another matter; but of this I am quite sure, that^ such girls will as 

 a rule make delicate, hysterical and unhealthy wives'. The young 

 are peculiarly sensitive to the evil effects of over-stimulation. Exces- 

 sive wine-drinking with them is a canker, eating into their very 

 lives." 



HOUSE DUTIES A good wife is not only a healthy woman but 

 one who thoroughly understands household duties. In Sweden, it 

 is said, the daughters of wealthy families esteem it a privilege to 

 be permitted to cook the family dinner; in France every woman 

 can cook and hence good cookery is with them the rule, while with 

 us it is far from being so. It is emphatically true, as Dr. Johnson 

 remarked, that a man is in general better pleased when he has a 

 good dinner upon his table than when his wife speaks Greek. But 

 it is also true that a good housewife is, of necessity, a well-informed 

 woman. She provides herself with a small but select library of 

 books on Household Science, Domestic Economy, and Common 

 Sense Cookery. The practical value of cookery books consists not 

 so much in the instruction they afford to persons totally ignorant 

 of the art, as in their suggestiveness to heads of households who do 

 know something about it. A lady is puzzled how to vary agreeably 

 and economically her day's bill of fare. She consults her books 

 and there are many good ones and without slavishly following 

 their indications, adapts them to her own tastes and circumstances. 

 A skillful housekeeper with only half a hint will improvise pleasing 

 culinary novelties novelties, that is, to the habitual diners at her 

 own family table, whereas without the hint she might go plodding 

 on in a wearisome routine of roast, boiled, and cold until all were 

 tired. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY A good wife not only knows the details 

 of household duties, but the secret of economical management. 

 There are many women who have the disposition to make the house 

 a home, and succeed tolerably well provided they have plenty of 

 means, but in management are inordinately extravagant. They 

 throw away as remnants what would suffice a good cook for a meal. 

 They cook more than is required and allow the surplus to spoil. 

 They spend the time in making iced cakes which should be devoted 

 to making good bread. It has been said of American women that 

 there are more who can furnish you with good ice-cream than a well- 



