204 MARMALADE. 



attached ; the latter is then dissolved off with turpentine, and the gilded I 

 ornament exposed. The whole surface is subsequently covered with a 

 coating of fine copal varnish. 



The manufacture of articles in papier-mache of the kind described, has 

 become a great branch of trade in England, to which, indeed, it is almost 

 confined. For many piirposes it possesses very many valuable properties, 

 which will no doubt recommend a much 'more extensive use of it, now 

 the duty on paper has been removed. The tediousness of the process 

 joined with this duty, have hitherto rendered the cost of papier-mache 

 articles so very high, that they could only be purchased by the wealthy. 

 Considering the price paid for them, and the class which alone could afford 

 to purchase them, but little taste has been exhibited in the decoration of 

 English papier-mache" goods. 



MARMALADE. 



It is not very many years since marmalade was one of the greatest 

 rarities, and was used only in the houses of the wealthiest classes of 

 society. In some houses of the middle class, thrifty housewives, here and 

 there, would manage to economise a few shillings from the current expendi- 

 ture, and about the month of May or June, in the country, and perhaps in 

 April in cities, the little hoard would be spent upon a few pounds of bitter 

 oranges, with sugar to match. Bitter oranges were then tenpence or a 

 shilling per pound, and dingy whitey-brown sugar eost from sixteen to 

 eighteen pence per piound. This was in the days before railways, and 

 when the steamboats, conducted by foolhardy servants of rash companies, 

 paddled their dangerous voyage from the Broomielaw to Ayr Harbour in 

 the marvellous short space of fourteen hours ! 



Times have wonderfully changed since then. Now, few housewives in 

 cities ever dream of making marmalade or other preserves, though bitter 

 oranges can be bought, according to the time of the year, at from twopence- 

 halfpenny to fourpence or sixpence per pound, and good white loaf-sugar 

 at from sixpence to eightpence. Still, though the rich and pungent flavour 

 of boiling oranges does not salute the olfactories of hungry husbands every 

 day for a whole week during spring, nevertheless, there is no lack of mar- 

 malade — it is a common appendage to many a breakfast table, or a neatly 

 laid out tea-table on the Sunday evening, and now and then on week days. 

 Moreover, it can be purchased in every grocer's shop throughout the 

 country, and at prices so moderate that it is not an entire stranger to the 

 tables of our hard working, and not over highly-paid working-men. 



It may not be amiss to explain to our readers how it is that this refresh- 

 ing and healthful conserve, which possesses considerable tonic power, can i 

 be so easily and cheaply purchased. The great peculiarity of this age is, • 



