ladies’ department. 
291 
Caiiiee’ department. 
TO MAKS MJDLES—AN EXCELLENT SUBSTITUTE 
FOR VERMICELLI. 
Mix a teaspoonful of salt in half a pound of 
sifted flour; beat the yolks of four eggs, and 
add the flour, a little at a time, beating until it 
becomes thick; then flour the pie board, and 
knead the mass, adding slowly as much flour as 
it will take up; for the harder the dough, the 
thinner you can roll it. When you can work 
in no more flour, roll it with the rolling pin as 
thin as possible; with a sharp knife, cut it into 
slips two inches wide, knead the scraps together, 
and roll and cut them also. Lay these strips 
neatly one over the other, and cut them across, 
as fine as vermicelli; then sprinkle some flour 
over them, to prevent them from sticking to¬ 
gether, and put them into the soup half an hour 
before it is taken up. 
This quantity is enough for five quarts of 
soup. Nudels are best while fresh; but will 
keep well for several days, if spread thin be¬ 
tween the folds of a napkin ; but they require 
to be boiled much longer than when fresh. 
M. 
ON DRYING PLANTS SO AS TO PRESERVE THEIR 
COLORS, 
No science, perhaps, requires so much prac¬ 
tical knowledge as botany ; in its study, botani¬ 
cal ramblings and the preservation of gathered 
specimens are of the greatest assistance. The 
usual method, however, of drying plants is gen¬ 
erally long and troublesome, and, above all, 
very uncertain. Indeed, whatever quantity of 
papers is employed to separate the plants, and 
even if the damp papers are replaced by dry 
ones every twelve hours, ten days are required 
before the plants are properly dried, and at the 
end of that time they are so discolored, and their 
characters are so altered, that a great deal of 
practice is requisite to enable one to make them 
out. I have made several attempts to remedy 
these inconveniences, and I take the liberty of 
laying the results before the (French) Academy. 
In a botanical excursion, I arrange my plants 
between sheets of grey paper, which immedi¬ 
ately absorbs any free water arising from rain 
or dew. In this state, the plants can be preserved 
for 24 hours without alteration. The next day, 
I place them in very dry paper; then I put them 
in an apparatus of my own invention, in which 
they are completely dried in 24 or 30 hours, 
preserving the color of their leaves and the 
brilliancy of their flowers. 
The following is the theory of my method :— 
The water of composition and interposition 
evaporates but slowly in ordinary cases. It, j 
however, struck me that by raising the temper- j 
ature and diminishing the atmospheric pressure j 
I should probably arrive at a good result. I 
accordingly made a copper cylinder half a yard j 
high, and two feet in diameter. In this vessel, I 
I placed a packet of papers containing 100 ■ 
specimens. I then put about 81bs. of lumps of, 
unslacked lime in the spaces between the paper 
and the side of the cylinder, and fixed the top of 
the cylinder on. I then put the whole into a 
small tub, and raised the temperature to about 
125° or 130°F. by means of boiling water poured 
into the tub. The air is then exhausted from the 
copper cylinder by means of a small air pump 
screwed into its lid. I make use of no ananom- 
eter, because, at this temperature, as the air is 
drawn out its place is filled by aqueous vapor, 
and besides, in such an operation as this, no 
precision is requisite. The vacuum once made, 
that is to say, after having pumped at intervals 
for two or three hours, the apparatus is left to 
itself for 24 or 30 hours; at the end of this time 
on opening the apparatus, the plants are found 
dry and like the specimens I have the honor to 
lay before the Academy.— Gannal , in Comptes 
Rendus. 
A Capital Tomato Recipe. —The following 
has been handed to us as the recipe of a good 
housewife for preserving or “curing” tomatoes 
so effectually that they may be brought out at 
any time between the seasons “ good as new,” 
with precisely the same flavor of the original 
article. Get sound tomatoes, peel them, and 
prepare just the same as for cooking; squeeze 
them as fine as possible, put them into a kettle, 
bring them to a boil, season with pepper and 
salt; then put them in stone jugs, taken directly 
from water in which they, (the jugs,) have been 
boiled. Seal the jugs immediately, and keep 
them in a good cool place.— Exchange. 
To Make Hens Lay. —The South Carolinian 
says a neighbor states that hog’s lard is the best 
thing that he can find to mix with the dough he 
gives to his hens. He says that one cut of this 
fat as large as a walnut, will set a hen to laying 
immediately after she has been broken up from 
sitting, and that, by feeding them with the fat 
occasionally, his hens continue laying through 
the whole winter. 
To Toughen New Earthen Ware. —It is a 
bad plan to put new earthen ware into boiling- 
hot water; it should first be plunged into cold 
water, and placed over a fire where it will heat 
moderately to the boiling point, and then be 
permitted to cool again. This process greatly 
promotes the toughness and durability of com¬ 
mon earthen ware, which is generally objec¬ 
tionable for domestic uses on account of its fra¬ 
gility. The glazing on this kind of ware will 
remain uninjured by the boiling, if a handful of 
rye or wheat bran be added to the water, and 
prepare it to withstand successfully, and for a 
long time, the action of acid or salt.— Exchange. 
Filling Beds.— Beds should be filled with 
barley straw in preference to rye, oat, or wheat 
straw, when obtainable. The husks of Indian 
corn, carefully selected, and slit into shreds, 
make an excellent article for beds. They are 
durable, clean, not very likely to absorb moist¬ 
ure, and are not objectionable on account of 
making dirt.— Ibid. 
