HE BUBAL NEW-YORKER. 
its rim. and arranged to resemble a row of teeth 
so that when the tnbe is made to revolve on its 
axis these teeth act as a circular saw, and rapidly 
cut their way into even the hardest, granite. At 
the end of the tnbe first set in motion may be 
attached, by welding them firmly, any number of 
similar tubes, and the spinning movement is 
communicated to the whole of the long gimlet 
by an engine applied to its further extremity. 
The perforator travels with a marvelous rapid¬ 
ity, and the rock, as it is cut, pushes its way into 
the tube, from which it is afterward extracted, 
sometimes in lengths of as much as six feet, At 
Bohmisch Bood, in some difficult workings 
through the quartz rock, a passage of 10 feet in 
length was cut with one of those instruments in 
24 hours, whereas, with any other tools, it would 
have taken five or six times as long, with little or 
no economy of expense. The diamonds do not, 
of course, last forever, and the loss of one gener¬ 
ally destroys for the time the efficiency of the 
machine. But they cun be replaced, and that 
more readily, inasmuch as stones of an inferior 
kind seem to act as well as those of the first wa¬ 
ter. 
Homcstit (fconomn. 
RULES FOR MAKING GOOD BREAD. 
The good housekeepers who read the Rural 
New Yorker, may have their private opinion in 
regard to men knowing anything about bread 
making, still we think Dr. Holruock, offers some 
good hints on the subject in the following: 
With gooil flour, a good oven, and a good, sen¬ 
sible, interested cook, we can be pretty sure of 
good, wholesome bread. Yeast bread is consid¬ 
ered the standard bread, and is. perhaps, more 
generally found on every table than any other 
kind. Hence it is important to know how to 
make good, Bweet, wholesome, yeast bread. 
Good flour is the first indispensable, then good, 
lively yeast, either yeast cakes or bottled, the 
former is preferable in all respects. Then, of 
course, there must be the proper materials to 
work with. A broad bowl or pan—the pan is 
easiest kept clean—a stouo or earthen jar for 
setting tho sponge; a sieve—flour should al¬ 
ways be sifted before making bread of any kind ; 
first, to be sure that it is perfectly clean, secondly, 
sifting enlivens and aerates the flour, and makes 
both mixing and rising easier and quicker; a 
clean, white cloth to cover the dough, and a 
woolen blanket to keep the dough of even tem¬ 
perature while rising; baking pans, deep and 
shallow, a large, strong spoon for stirring, and a 
little melted suet or fresh butter for oiling the 
pans; never use poor butter. If you want short¬ 
ening, rich milk or cream scalded and cooled will 
answer the purpose and he most wholesome. 
But thorough kneading is better still, and should 
always be done effectually. Scalding a portion 
of the flour makes a sweeter bread and speeds 
the work. Water, milk, or butter—milk may be 
poured boiling bot on a quart or two of tho flour, 
stirring well, and oooling to a moderate temper¬ 
ature before adding the yeast—this makes the 
sponge. Scalded flour always makes a little 
darker bread, unless we use buttermilk, which 
makes a rich, creamy, white bread. Yeast is 
fermented flour or meal—the first stages of de¬ 
composition or decay. 
Understanding this, every baker will compre¬ 
hend the necessity of regulating tho extent of 
the fermentation with the greatest care ; for a 
sponge or bread fomented or '• raised ” too long, 
is decomposing, spoiling— actually rottiug ! This 
is the language of an experienced English baker 
to us only a few days ago, during a talk about 
the delicate, foamy loaves “yeasted to death,” 
which so many families are eating and calling 
“ the staff of lifo," quite discarding the firm, 
sweet, substantial, home-made loaf which our 
mothers and grandmothers kneaded with their 
own skilled hands. Bread-making should stand 
at the head of domestic accomplishments, since 
the health and happiness of the family depend 
incalculably upon good bread; there comes a time 
in every true, thoughtful woman’s experience 
when she is glad she can make nice, sweet loaves, 
free from soda, alum, and other injurious ingre¬ 
dients, or an earnest regret that she neglected or 
was so unfortunate as not to have been taught 
at least what are the requisites of good bread¬ 
making. 
- 4 ^-*- 
ORIGINAL AND .SELECTED RECIPES. 
Wafers .—A quarter of a pound of butter, one 
pound of flour, four eggs, a salt-spoon of salt, 
one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg or cinnamon. 
Make theso ingredients into a thin hatter with 
sweet milk. Heat your wafer-irons and grease 
them well with butter. Bake the wafers a light 
brown, and roll them so soon as they are taken 
out of the irons. Sift powdered sugar over 
them. 
Rhubarb Tarts .—Cut the stalks from the 
leaves and peel off the skin, and out them into 
small pieces ; wash, and put them into a sauce¬ 
pan to stew with no more water than that which 
adheres to them; add sullicient sugar to make 
the sauce sweet enough: let it simmer slowly 
till thick. When done and cool, line your patty¬ 
pans with good puff paste, put in the filling, and 
bake in a quick oven. Add any flavoring that 
suits the taste. 
Icing for Tarts. —Beat the white of au egg 
with a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, 
and flavor with almond or lemon extract; stir 
together one way till the mixture is smooth and 
thick; then lay it on the tarts with a feather— 
after the tarts are perfectly cold, then return 
them to the oven until hard, but not long enough 
to become discolored. 
Rock Cream. —Boil a teacupful of good rice in 
sweet milk till soft, swoeton it with powdered 
loaf-sugar and a little salt, and pile it up high 
on a dish. Lay on it, hero and there, square 
pieces of currant jelly, or any kind of preserved 
fruits; boat to a stiff froth the whites of four or 
five eggs and a little powdered sugar, flavored 
to suit the taste; then drop it over tho rice, 
giving it the appearance of snow. A wholesome 
dessert for children. 
White Pudding, —Beat to a stiff froth the 
whites of eight eggs; then beat into thorn half a 
pound of powdered sugar—a tablespoon fill at a 
time. Htir into a pint and a half of rioh milk a 
wine-glassful of rose-water, or a teaspoonful 
of extract of lemon. Stir the beaten eggs and 
sugar into the milk, alternately, with four 
ounces of flour. Beat the whole till very smooth, 
put it into a well-buttered pudding-dish, and 
bake it in a quick oven. To be eaten cold, with 
butter and sugar worked to a cream and flavored, 
or with whipped cream. 
Didch Loaf. —One pound of flour, half a 
pound of Bugar, one egg, quarter of a pound of 
butter, half a pound of raisins, and half a pound 
of dried cun-ants— well-cleaned and. rolled in 
flour; a half teaspoonful of baking soda dis¬ 
solved in enough buttermilk to make the bat¬ 
ter of the proper consistency. Beat the butter 
and sugar to a cream, add tho eggs, then Htir in 
the flour and buttermilk; add the fruit last. 
Bake slowly, as the fruit will not admit of a hot 
oven. Do not forget to add a good pinch of salt 
to the mixture. 
Broiled Sweet-Breads. —First parboil them, 
then put them into cold water, to whiten and 
harden them. Wipe them dry, rub thorn well 
with blitter, season with pepper and salt, and 
broil on a well-greased gridiron. Turn fre¬ 
quently, and now and then roll over in a plate 
containing somo melted butter. This will pre¬ 
vent them from getting too dry and hard. 
Fried Srceet - Brea<ls. — Blanch tho sweet¬ 
breads by parboiling; dry with a clean, soft 
cloth. Lard with narrow strips of fat, salt pork. 
Use for this purpose a larding-needle. Lay the 
sweet-breads in a hot frying-pan, which has 
been well-buttered, and cook until the pork is 
crisp, turn often while cooking. 
Boiled Shad. —Clean and wash the fish care¬ 
fully, and wipe it dry with a clean cloth. If a 
roe shad, cleanse the roes, and having sprinkled 
both shad and eggs with salt, wrap in separate 
cloths and put into tho fish-kettle, side by side. 
Cover with salted water, and boil from a half to 
three-quarters of an hour, in proportion to the 
size. Serve the shad upoM a hot dish, covered 
with a napkin. Garnish with capers and slices 
of hard-boiled eggs. Send to the table with it a 
sauce-tureen of drawn butter, mingled with 
chopped eggs and parsley. 
Fried Shad. —Cut your shad in half and wipe 
it dry, score it, and season with salt and pepper, 
dredge flour over it and fry it in hot lard. When 
done, put the two halves together, that it may 
assume the appearance of the whole fish. Serve 
with criBp parsley and melted butter. 
To Boil Lobsters. —Throw them into fast-boil¬ 
ing salted water, that Life may bo destroyed in 
an instant. A moderate - Bized lobster will be 
done in from fifteen to twenty minutes. Before 
they are sent to the table, the large claws should 
be removed and the shells cracked across the 
joints without disfiguring them; the tail should 
be separated from the body and split quite 
through the middle; the whole neatly dished 
upon a napkin and garnished with curled pars¬ 
ley. Serve with mayonnaise sauce. 
Spirutch taith Cream, —lYepare the spinach as 
directed in a back number of the Rural ; place 
it over the fire in a sauce-pan; season with a lit¬ 
tle nutmeg, sauce, and an ounce of fresh butter; 
stir it until it is warm through : then add a gill 
of thick, sweet cream and a dessert-spoonful of 
sugar; work the whole well together with a 
wooden spoon; then fill the spinach in the center 
of a dish and garnish with croutons. 
Croutons —Are the soft parts of stale bread, 
cut into fancy shapes, and about one-quarter of 
an inch thick, and fried a light brown on both 
sides in butter. They should be well drained 
before they are used for decorating dishes. 
Mrs. Rustic. 
DIGESTION. 
If it could properly be said that in the whole 
animal economy one part or organ is of more 
importance than auother, we should say, with¬ 
out hesitation, that organ is the stomach—the 
principal organ of digestion; for, without doubt, 
a great majority of the ills that flesh is heir to 
are tho result, more or less directly, of indiges¬ 
tion. 
Digestion may bo defined as tho preparation 
of substances taken into tho stomach as food, to 
the end that they may bo absorbed by the veins 
and lacteal vessels and transferred to tho blood, 
in which they are distributed through the sys¬ 
tem. 
The processes of digostiou include insaliva¬ 
tion, solution, chymification, ohylit!cation, and 
aeration, either of which, being interfered with, 
renders the action of the whole imperfect. 
With proper attention tho stomach, unless it 
inherits disease, is not easily disarranged, but 
will perform its fnnotions in spite of moderate 
ill-treatiuent; but, when too much imposed 
upon, it is sure to rebel. 
The action of tho digestive organs dopends 
largely upon the condition of the system gener¬ 
ally. Different people require different food, 
and that, which is proper for a person at one 
time may be injurious at another It does not 
make so muds- difference what we eat, as how 
and when. 
Tho first uecessary Btep toward digestion is 
that the food be so thoroughly masticated as to 
enable every particle of it to bo mixed with 
saliva. This would seem to show that solid 
foods i. c., those that require mastication—are, 
as a rule, preferable to liquids, such as soups, 
stews, etc. 
Noxt, the food after passing into the stomach 
is subjected to the action of tho gastric juice, 
and is by a vital process transformed into chyme. 
The principal office of stomach digestion seems 
to be a solution of tho articles placed tlieroin, 
which are ground, dissolved, or otherwise acted 
upon until a pulpy, homogenous mass is formed. 
This mass is passed to the duodenum or sec¬ 
ond stomach, where it is subjected to the action 
of the secretions known as bile, the pancreatic 
juice, etc., and converted into chyle, in which 
condition it is taken by the absorbent vessels 
and mixed with the blood, after which it is con¬ 
veyed to the lungs for aoration. Of course, not 
all that is taken into the stomach finally finds 
its way to the lungs. Much that is not nutritive 
passes off by the intestines; but the portion that 
is nutritive must go through the process of aora¬ 
tion before it is fitted for assimilation—that is, 
becomes in a condition to be used in making 
bone, muscle, fiber, fat, etc. 
After passing the lungs, such portions as are 
not thrown off by respiration are carried through 
the entire system, contributing to each and every 
part of the organization such proper constitu¬ 
ents as are necessary for its sustenance and 
growth. 
When one is in perfect health (if in these days 
such a thing can be conceived) all the physical 
organa are in working condition and equal to 
almost any labor that may bo required of them. 
Any substances may then be taken into the 
stomach with little risk of harm, unless they be 
virulent poisons, or aro taken in such large 
quantities as to overtask its capacity. But, like 
a machine, if one part becomes ont of order, 
the whole is thereby rendered inefficient, and the 
effort at recuperation often seriously interferes 
with the normal action of tho other organs. In 
this way the proper action of the stomach is 
sometimes hindered by injuries or diseases of 
some other part of the vital organism. And 
oven when in health persons differ so much in 
temperament, in occupation, and in many other 
ways as to require different food. 
Whatever the nature of the food may be, it is 
well that It be taken regularly. Tho organs of 
digestion require seasons of rest as much as any 
others, and as soon rebel when it is not al¬ 
lowed. There is nothing more promotive of 
trouble with them than irregularity in eating. 
Whatever bo the number of meals in a day, 
whether two, three, or more, they should be 
taken at regular hours. A man can labor sixteen 
hours a day regularly, with less weariness and 
loss of physical energy than he will expend in 
half that number, if meals are taken at irregular 
intervals during the day. 
Rome say, “ Never eat until you are hungry.” 
We should rather say, ■“ Never delay eating un¬ 
til you are hungry, if by so doing it would tnter- 
I fere with the regularity of your meal hours.” 
If the taking of food is repugnant at auy time, 
it should be let alone, as it is a sure indication 
that something is wrong, and time should bo 
given for Nature to right it. The first direction 
we would give in eating is, eat slow, or, rather, 
masticate your food thoroughly. The time spent 
at the table is no criterion. What you do in the 
time is of consequence. If you bolt your food 
as soon as taken, leaving the grinding process 
to bo done by tho stomach, instead of by tho 
teeth, the stomach, sooner or later, will require 
payment for this overwork. 
The stomach is the second station for the food, 
and for its preparation, therefore, the mouth 
should he kept in such condition that tho sali¬ 
vary glands may perforin their proper functions. 
To this end it should always bo kept shut, ex¬ 
cept when in use for eating or talking. The 
month was not made to breathe through. If 
there was no other argument against the use of 
tobacco, either for smoking or chewing, tho fact 
that it interferes injuriously with the secretions 
of tho saliva would bo enough. 
The use of focal is to generate heat and supply 
nutrition. We should eat to five, instead of liv¬ 
ing to oat; consequently, in making our choice 
of viands, regard should be had for the wants of 
tho system, which depend largely on our occu¬ 
pation or condition, tho season, the climate, and 
ago. The waste of tho body seems to be very 
nearly in proportion to the volumo of air in¬ 
spired, and this again is increased or diminished 
by our action or position, being tho least in 
sleeping in a lying poBturo, and increasing with 
any action requiring bodily exertion. The sea¬ 
son and the climate have also groat influence ou 
respiration, as is well known. 
We have examined tho question of vegetarian¬ 
ism pretty thoroughly, both iu theory and prac¬ 
tice, and aro convinced that u mixed diet of flesh, 
fruit, and vegetables is tho best. Wilhoutdoubt, 
wheateu broad contains the constituents which 
entor into the component parts of tho structure 
of tho adult man in nearer tho proper proportion 
than any other one article of food yet found ; 
but none would suggest that loan should live 
by bread alone ; and wo see no good reason why 
one should not, if ho chooses, get his phosphate 
from ono article and iron, magnesia, etc., from 
others. No doubt oue could live on one article 
of diet. Wo find somo plants that manage to 
derive sustonnuco from air and water, although 
tho soil is their natural feeding-place; but it is 
very questionable if they are perfect in their 
growth. Chinamen live chiefly on ltice, it is 
true ; and they are nothing but Chinamen. 
There acorns to be a prevailing opinion in cer¬ 
tain sections that tho regular and exclusive use 
of oatmeal, as an article of diet, would prove tho 
grand eatholicon of tho ago. If those could 
visit the Highlands of Scotland, and see tho tall, 
large, well-formed Scotsmen, who have fed on it 
from infancy, dying of consumption from the 
want of such elements in their food as are need¬ 
ed to support tho tissues, their faith in oatmeal 
might be somewhat shaken. Oatmeal gives 
them phosphate for their hones; but they lack 
what they would rocoive from beef and mutton. 
Another idea so void of sense as to be scarcely 
worthy of notice, is that of fish being tho proper 
food for those whose labor is of a mental charac¬ 
ter, because brain-work causes loss of phosphor¬ 
ous, which exists largely in liah. In thoRe whose 
principal diet is fish we see no such extraordinary 
development of mental power as might be ex¬ 
pected, if the theory of fish being the best brain 
food was correct. But we might fill columns 
with fallacies of this kind. 
In behalf of the digestive organs, we desire to 
put in a protest against over-eating. If argu¬ 
ment waB necessary to prove that the average 
man consumes double tho amount of food nec¬ 
essary for his well-being, we have only to point 
to the dietary of our public institutions. No 
doubt regularity in times of eating has much lo 
do with the healthfulness of tho inmates; but 
so, also, has the fact that there is no overloading 
or overworking of the stomach. We visited an 
orphan asylum, recently, where were over 300 
children, of all ages, between three and fifteen, 
and not one but was in good health and ready 
for rations when the time came. 
The great inducement to over-eating is the 
manner in which the food is prepared. Our 
housekeepers and cooks have much to answer for 
in that they make their dishes bo appetizing as 
to tempt excess. With dishoa more plainly pre¬ 
pared there would be leHs sin in this direction. 
Wo would, in closing, suggest that caution be 
used about eating when very tired or ovor-beated 
by exercise. The whole system is affected by 
the exhaustion, and the digestion will lie incom¬ 
plete in consequence. It is better to omit a meal 
entirely thau to eat it under circumstances 
which are likely to have it do more harm than 
good. 
COLDS IN SPRING. 
More people take cold iu early spring than at 
any other season, and for tho reason that w© are 
all too anxious to enjoy a little of the warmth of 
the sun, hence oxnoso ourselves to chilling a 
baths in-doors and out. Flannels and winter 
clothing are removed at tho first approach of 
warm weather, but before it actually arrives; 
the overcoat is left at home and cloak and shawl 
laid aside, because the day promises to be warm, 
but far too frequently a change comes on sudden¬ 
ly and when least expected, and a severe cold is 
i the consequence. 
