Fire-places and Kitchen Utensils. 337 



bright, which notable housewives are apt to do, in 

 order that their kitchen furniture may appear neat and 

 clean, they be simply washed and rinsed out with warm 

 water, and wiped with a soft dishcloth or towel, the 

 surface of the metal will soon become covered with a 

 thin crust or coating of a dark brown colour resem- 

 bling enamel ; which covering, if it be suffered to remain 

 and to consolidate, will at last become so hard as to tako 

 a very good polish, and will serve very efficaciously to 

 defend the surface of the metal from farther corrosion, 

 and consequently to prevent the food from acquiring 

 that taste and colour which iron is apt to impart to it. 



The process by which this covering is gradually formed 

 is similar to that by which some gunsmiths brown the 

 barrels of fowling-pieces, and could no doubt be greatly 

 expedited by the same means which they employ for 

 that purpose. The object had in view is likewise the 

 same in both cases, namely, by causing a hard and im- 

 penetrable covering of rust to be formed on the surface 

 of the iron to defend it from a contact with those sub- 

 stances which are capable of dissolving or corroding it ; 

 or, in other words, to prevent the farther progress of the 

 rust. 



For iron utensils designed merely for frying or cooking 

 in fat there is an easy and a very effectual precaution 

 that may be taken for preventing rust. It is to avoid put- 

 ting hot water into them, and above all to avoid boiling, 

 or even heating, water in them. They may occasionally 

 be washed out with warm water ; but as often as this is 

 done great care must be taken to wipe them perfectly 

 dry with a dry cloth before they are put away. 



The effects produced by this management may be 

 explained in a satisfactory manner. As fatty or oily 



VOL. III. 



