1871 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
65 
Hike M©u§E!Ei©m 
(For other Household Items , see “Basket ” pages.) 
The German Student Lamp. 
Our ways and means for providing light are in¬ 
creasing gradually—*mot, indeed, with the rapidity 
one would suppose who reads the long lists of 
Fig. 1.— GERMAN STUDENT’S LAMP. 
patents, entitled, “Improvements in Kerosene 
Lamps,” for nine-tenths of the so-called improve¬ 
ments are so only in name. That horribly ex¬ 
plosive “Fluid,” a mixture of turpentine and 
alcohol, which was introduced in this country 
when sperm and whale oil went out of fashion 
from the scarcity of whales and the demand for 
the oil for lubricating machinery, gave way to a ; 
no less dangerous article, a kind of coal-oil. This, 
however, was soon superceded by a safer and bet- \ 
Fig. 2.— SECTION OF LAMP, 
ter oil, and now the article which stands the fire- 
test, or is up to the legal standard of density, is 
almost as free from danger, if properly used, as 
winter-strained sperm-oil. The amount of light 
which it gives, however, varies greatly with the 
lamp, and the comfort of its use depends greatly 
upon the construction of the same. Our people 
are ready and willing to pay for chimneys that will 
not break, for lamps that will not leak and defile 
both the hands and the air, for oil that will not 
explode, nor gum the wick, nor spatter and fizzle 
in the flame. There are those, of course, ready to 
go one step further, and make use of lalnps 
which give the very best light and the most of it. 
While we were using whale-oil and all manner 
of substitutes for it, the German people employed 
vegetable oils of various kinds, chief among 
which were those from rape and colza seeds, though 
olivc-oil was also used, as well as other kinds. The 
favorite lamp with all classes has been the one re¬ 
cently' introduced into this country, and known as 
the German Student Lamp, though called in trade 
the “St. German Lamp,” for what reason does not 
appear. It is in form and structure precisely the 
same lamp as used by the writer when a student in 
Germany, seventeen years ago, except that a proba¬ 
ble improvement has been made in the manner of 
raising and lowering the wick. Fig. 1 represents a 
view of this lamp, and fig. 2 a section of the same. 
There is a circular wick-tube and burner, surmount¬ 
ed by a tall, glass chimney, giving a powerful draft. 
This chimney is contracted about an inch above 
the top of the tube, so as to cause at this point a 
perfect combustion in the flame, which may be 
raised even so that it will flare a foot above the top 
of the chimney without smoking it. The wick-tube 
has, moreover, a draft up through the center, and a 
drip-cup at the bottom, all evaporation from which, 
while the lamp is burning, is 
drawn up through the flame 
and consumed. Second, there 
is a porcelain glass shade, 
suspended by a ring on a level 
with the flame, which, while 
it cuts off very little light, 
diffuses a beautiful,soft illumi¬ 
nation throughout, the room, 
throws a powerful light upon 
the table where it is used, 
and entirely protects the eyes 
from the intense glare of the 
flame. Third, there is a cistern 
and a reservoir for the oil at a 
distance of six inches from 
the flame, and connected with the wick-tube by 
a tube, which, as it always contains oil so long 
as a particle remains in the lamp, is a perfect safe¬ 
guard against explosion from the flame passing back 
through it, even though the wick-tube should over¬ 
flow and burn all over the outside. The structure 
of the cistern and reservoir is peculiar. It is shown 
in the section, so that it may be easily understood. 
The external cylinder, out of which the oil-tube 
goes, has a flat bottom above the ornamental one. 
Within this cylinder is another, open at the bot¬ 
tom only, with a narrow mouth, closed by a valve, 
as shown. T lx is is drawn up, taken out, and in¬ 
verted, to be tilled ; when full, a little wire, which 
is attached to the valve, is taken in the thumb and 
finger, and, by lifting it up, the valve is closed, and 
the rdServoir may be turned up and placed in the 
cistern without spilling its contents. When set¬ 
tled to its place, the wire spoken of touches the 
bott om and the valve is lifted, and .the fluid allowed 
to escape. It flows out until its level in the wick- 
tube reaches the level of the mouth of the reser¬ 
voir, when, by the well-known laws of hydrostatics, 
and the pressure of the air, it ceases to flow ; but 
flows again, little by little, as the fluid is consumed, 
thus keeping it always at nearly the same level in 
the wiclc-tube. Fourth, there is the standard, which 
is an upright rod, with a heavy foot at the bottom 
and a ring at the top. The lamp is held upon this 
standard by a screw with a milled head, at any de¬ 
sired hight, thus placing the light close down near 
the book or paper, as one may be reading or writ¬ 
ing alone, or higher up upon the standaid, to light 
up the room. 
To Cools: Tripe.— The butcher should un¬ 
derstand the business of cleaning, scouring, and 
soaking the tripe which is prepared from the stom¬ 
ach of killed beeves, and is an epicure’s dish. Boil 
the tripe in water, gently, until tender enough to 
almost fall apart (but not quite, you know; it 
must be tender). Remove from the water for which 
there is no further use. Serve with onion sauce, 
made of thickened milk and chopped boiled onions, 
and English mustard mixed with water. 
Vegetable Slicer and Grater, 
The simple contrivance, herewith presented, may 
be made by any neat carpenter, and by almost any 
one apt in the use of tools. It is a box, or trough, 
about 10 inches by 20 inches, open at one end and on 
the top, strongly made of inch stuff, furnished with 
strong cleats on the sides, upon which is a smaller 
box, without top or bottom, which may be moved 
back and forth through the box. Slides,very strong¬ 
ly made, to bear pressure, are fitted to rest upon 
the same cleats, but lower down, so as not to in¬ 
terfere with the free motion of the box over them. 
These slides are either graters for horse-radish, car¬ 
rots, etc., or furnished with knives for slicing- 
cabbage, or any other vegetables so used in the 
household economy. In use, the article to be sliced 
or grated—say a cabbage head—is placed in the lit¬ 
tle box, shown in the engraving, and, the knife 
slide being inserted, it is shoved back and forth, 
bearing with the hand upon it until enough is cut 
off to enable the little follower to be put in, and 
after this the slicing is continued until it is all cut 
GRATER AND SLICER. 
up. A drawer beneath catches the shavings, or the 
gratings, and, if desirable, a place may be made to 
keep the slide which may not be in use, but this 
should not add much to the bulk of the machine. 
The Wife for a Young- Parmer. 
All seem to agree that farming cannot be carried 
on very profitably by a man who has to depend 
upon hired laboK and hired supervision inside the 
house. Why not ? “ Because no ordinarily paid 
housekeeper will look after the odds and ends 
with sufficient economy.” Then an extraordinary 
housekeeper, who does attend to all the little de¬ 
tails that save expenses, and add to the profits of 
farming, should receive more than ordinary com¬ 
pensation, should she not? even though she goes 
by the name of “ wife.” “ But a wife,” you say, 
“ will do all that for love, not for money.” “ Yes, 
she will, indeed, for love." There is no telling how 
much a woman will do if she is sure of her hus¬ 
band’s love, and if she loves in return. 
But, my dear young farmer on the lookout for 
a suitable helpmeet, I want to whisper a few sis¬ 
terly words in your ear. Don’t marry just for the 
sake of getting a housekeeper. Do you not see 
that it is the worst kind of cheating to tell a young 
woman that you love her when you are really in¬ 
tending to make of her an unpaid upper servant? 
Not that I want you to pay your wife a servant’s 
wan-es. It would be better to give her the rank of 
a partner in the concern. But a true marriage is 
not a mere business transaction. It is a love af¬ 
fair. True love is amenable to reason. 'When any 
person of the opposite sex attracts you, ask your¬ 
self what part of your nature is moved, and whether 
the influence you feel is elevating or lowering. 
Love is something more than mere sexual passion. 
