26 ANTHRACITE. 



soaked the material in cold water, wring it out dry, and pull 

 it apart, and boil it in the ley with the coloring bag. 



The nicer kinds of annotto are of a bright color, yield to 

 the pressure, and dissolve in water more readily than that 

 which is usually to be had of the druggists. ,The English 

 color their cheeses with the purer sorts of annotto. An 

 ounce is sufficient to color twenty cheeses of ten or twelve 

 pounds each. Cheeses are not so universally colored in 

 America. 



ANTS. Mrs. Loudon remarks (Gardening for Ladies), 

 that " it has been found that the liquor discharged by ants is 

 very acid and acrid ; the idea presented itself that alkalies 

 would be disagreeable to them ; and experience proves this 

 so far to be the case, that a circle of chalk or lime laid round 

 any plant will effectually prevent the ants from touching it." 

 Similar measures and great cleanliness will keep them out 

 of closets. 



ANTHRACITE. A hard mineral coal. Lehigh, Schuyl- 

 kill, and Rhode Island coal come under this head. It is 

 heavier, less black, and not so easily ignited as bituminous 

 coal ; it emits no smoke, and burns slowly w r ith a white flame, 

 but once excited to flame, and burned in large masses, it 

 throws out great heat, and is not so quickly exhausted as 

 bituminous coal. It is now used quite extensively in Ameri- 

 ca, both for domestic and other purposes. 



In making fires for the grate, the best way is to lay a thin 

 foundation with hard coal, selecting the smaller pieces from 

 the scuttle ; put bright kitchen coals on this basis, seeing that 

 the coals are unmixed with ashes ; over these coals put some 

 pieces of charcoal, filling up the crevices with small bits of 

 anthracite ; when this has ignited, put on the last heap of 

 anthracite, the smaller lumps first, and set the blower firmly 



