THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
DEG. 
Ilotwstit (Broitomi). 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE 
PITHS. 
Hang pictures with copper or silver wire. 
Better untidy rooms than ill-cooked food. 
Wide-striped silks are again fashionable. 
Eat Graham pudding and milk for breakfast. 
Mood coal-scuttles with ilour paste and Canton- 
flannel. 
A cement of ashes and salt will stop cracks in 
a stove. 
Wicks must be changed frequently to insure a 
good light. 
Bonnets with strings are worn, even by very 
young ladies. 
Dffta’t use good sheets to iron upon, taking a 
fresh one every week. 
Pour cold tea, that would otherwise be thrown 
away, into the vinegar barrel. 
A cup of water In the oven, while baking, will 
prevent meats, broad, etc., from burning. 
Mend china with a cement made of plaster of 
Paris and a thiok solution of gum-arabic. 
Cranberries can be kept fresh many weeks by 
keeping them under water in the cellar, chang¬ 
ing the water every two weeks. 
To renovato a black silk dross, rip up and dust 
thoroughly, then sponge upon the right side with 
flax-seed water a handful of seed to a bowlful 
of water—and iron with a moderately warm iron 
upon the wrong side. 
■-»+-» 
MORE ABOUT BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 
“A Bad Recipe,” in the Domestic columns of 
the Bubal of Oct. 27th, amused me, for I had 
read “How to Make Buckwheat Cakes,” the 
week before, and was wondering how it happen¬ 
ed that I had made such a “mess” out of that 
same sour-mitk recipe, for I had tried it several 
years ago with the poorest possible result. 
Buckwheat cakes are a favorite winter break¬ 
fast dish with us, and I have found nothing bet¬ 
tor than the old-fashioned omptymgs for raining 
them. I make them as follows: To a quart of 
buckwheat add two level spoonfuls each of In- 
dlau meal and wheat flour, mix with warm water, 
add a cup of swcot yeast and a teaspoonful of 
salt. In the morning, before baking, pour off a 
cup of the batter and set in a cool place for the 
next morning, then beat the remainder briskly 
for a fow minutes, add a scant teaspoonful of 
soda and bake at once. 
I like my way of making Indian meal cakes. 
Said our school teacher, while boarding with us: 
“ Mrs. Y/aley, your Johnny-cakes should taka a 
premium at the coming Pair ; they certainly are 
the most delicious ones that 1 have ever eaten. 
How do you make them ?" “ Just the simplest 
way I possibly can,'’ I replied. “ A spoonful of 
sirup and a pinch of Halt to a quart of meal, mix 
quite thin wl th cold water, pour into buttered 
tins and bake in a quick oven. As soou as they 
are of a nice brown, open the oven door and let 
them steam a few minutes, that they may be 
tender.” Mary Wally. 
small lemons minced fine ; a quarter of a pound 
each of candied orange and citron cut thin; Beven 
tablespoonfuls of sweet wine; mace, nntmeg, 
salt and sugar to the taste ; mix all well together 
and press into a jar for use. 
We thank Miss Mtllee Peterson, Union 
SpringB, N. Y., for the following excellent 
recipes: 
Hickory-Nut Cake for the Holidays. 
Two cups of BUgar ; three-fourths of a cup of 
butter; the beaten whites of six eggs; three- 
fourths of a cup of sweet milk ; three cups of 
flour, in which mix thoroughly three teaspoon¬ 
fuls of baking-powder, one pint of rolled 
hickory-nut meats—careful not to roll too flue. 
* Yankee Cake. 
One and one-half cup of sugar; one egg; 
bit of butter the size of an egg; one cup of 
sweet milk ; one teaspoon ful of soda and two of 
cream-of-tartar; one pint of flour; flavor to 
taste. This cake I always bake in a four-quart 
pan. 
Sponge Cake. 
One cup of sugar; three eggs: one table- 
spoonful of butter; three tablespoonfuls of 
sweet milk ; one scant teaspoonful of soda and 
two of cream-of-tartar; one cup of flour. This 
recipe is almost never failing. I usually put 
the ingredients together, beat rapidly * until 
thoroughly light and bake twenty-five minutes. 
This is a good recipe also for layer-cake. 
Crullers. 
Two cups of sugar ; two eggs ; butter size of 
an egg; one coffee cup of sweet milk ; one and 
one-balf teaspoonful of soda and two heaping 
teaspoonfnls of cream-of-tartar; nutmeg or 
other spice; do not mix too stiff. 
7reakfast Gems 
One egg beaten well; one cup of sweet milk, 
even full; one cup of flour; salt; bake in gem- 
irons very quickly, and servo hot. 
E. W. G. —The better way to renovate your 
mattress would be to rip it apart, “pickup” 
the hair and wash through a warm suds, rinsing 
in clear water ; then spread out, if possible in 
the sun, that it may dry at once. 
Buy “A.” ticking, make the case yourself 
and have a man from the upholsterers oome in 
to t:e it. This I know is far more troublesome 
than sending it away to be made over, still in 
the end I think you will be better pleased. 
ijiniunir Information. 
B 
designation of xpes phthisica —the consumptive’s 
hope—and which is as unreasonable as the de¬ 
pression of the victim of biliary disturbance. 
Chronic gout is also accompanied by unusual 
intellectual activity, especially at the outset. 
This is due to an excess of nitrogen in the blood 
of the gouty, which, according to the opinion 
of the ablest chemists and physicians, is a pow¬ 
erful stimulant to th© brain-cellB. More notice¬ 
able, perhaps because more disagreeable, results 
of this ailment arc u villainous temper, and fre¬ 
quent fits of suspicion, depression nud anxiety. 
Often the unfortunate sufferers arc more griev¬ 
ously tormented by the excesses of this “ gouty 
temper,” than even their attendants, for they 
are generally tortured by a haunting Impression 
that they are utterly unreasonable, and that 
their irritable ebullitions are not juetifled by any 
outside provocation. 
The mental effects of cancer take the form of 
a sullen and defiant submission to the inevitable. 
The sufferer, a i a rule, seems to be keenly sensi¬ 
ble of the hopelessness of his condition, and 
though still alive to the instinct of self-preserv¬ 
ation, he grimly submits to what he secs no 
chance of eluding, and rarely makes any active 
attempt to avert his doom. 
Heart disease is generally accompanied by 
caprice, vacillation, and suspicion; and often 
in its advanced stages by intellectual enfecble- 
ment. 
It has been noticed that rickety children have 
generally huge heads and quick perceptive fac¬ 
ulties, and that the blood-vessels of their heads 
are of largo caliber. They are generally of a 
scrofulous tendency, and in scrofula there is a 
great deal of uitrogonous matter in the blood, 
which, doubtless, has an effect hero similar to 
that produced by it in the early stages of gout. 
There is high authority for the opinion that 
the more quickly and strongly the blood flows 
toward the brain, the greater the activity of the 
brain-cells wliioh modern science considers the 
source of intellectual power. In confirmation 
of this theory, it has been remarked that hunch¬ 
backed persons, in whom thoflow of the blood to 
the brain is most rapid, aro remarkably spright¬ 
ly and vivacious. It has also been observed 
that the length of the neck exorcises an influ¬ 
ence over the mental activity of the individual. 
The brain superimposed on a short neck, has, 
other things being equal, an advantage over 
that fed by a longer artery, and its possessor 
is asserted to be capable of better and more sus¬ 
tained power of work than the owner of a neck 
of the swan or camelopard type. 
these are so common that no account of them or 
their properties is needed by the youngest of our 
readers, a few have been referred to in former 
articles, and others will be sufficiently described 
as occasion may thereafter require in relation to 
agriculture. Four of the clei. enta—chlorine, 
hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen—are gases ; two 
—mercury and bromine—are liquid at ordinary 
temperatures; there is some doubt as to the un¬ 
combined condition of three others; and the re¬ 
mainder are all solids. 
With very few ftmeptions, none of the ele¬ 
ments is ever met with in an uncombined state ; 
for, in general, two or moro of them are found 
united. When an element enters into chemical 
combination with another, it does bo in a fixed 
proportion, a given compound always consisting 
of the same- elements united in the same propor¬ 
tions. For example, chloride of sodium, or 
common salt, is a compound which invariably 
consists of 23 parts of sodium and 35 parts of 
chlorine. This proportion may be expressed by a 
number, and this number is called the equiva¬ 
lent or combining number, or simply the equiva¬ 
lent of the element. But it often happens that 
the same elements combine together in several 
proportions, thereby forming different kinds of 
compounds ; whenever this occurs all the pro¬ 
portions invariably bear a simple multiple rela¬ 
tion to each other. For example: 1 part by 
weight of hydrogen unites with 8 parts by weight 
of oxygen, forming water, and with 16 or 8x2, 
parts of oxygen, forming a compound called 
peroxide of hydrogen. 
A great hindrance to the popular study of 
science is presented by the hard names which 
scientists have given to various substances ; but 
in the present condition of scientific nomencla¬ 
ture, it Is quite necessary to be acquainted with 
the meaning of, at any rate, a few of these in 
order to enable one to acquire scientific knowl¬ 
edge. In subsequent articles, terms of this 
kind will be Introduced only when necessary, and 
then an effort will be made to give an explana¬ 
tion of them sufficiently clear for the unscientific 
readers for whom these papers are mainly in¬ 
tended. The whole are designed to form a se¬ 
ries having special reference to prat. ical agri¬ 
cultural knowledge. 
NORTH CAROLINA NOTES. 
MENTAL EFFECTS OF CERTAIN BODILY 
CONDITIONS. 
BY DR.OOODENOUGH. 
DOMESTIC RECIPES. 
We have been experimenting in the hopes of 
originating a very economical yet palatable sal¬ 
ad, and the two following aro the results, which 
we submit to our readers : 
Cabbage Salad 
One quart of finely-chopped cabbage; salt and 
pepper to the taste ; the yelks of three hard- 
boiled eggs rubbed smooth with a tablespoonful 
of melted butter : one-half cup of vinegur—not 
too strong, and three tablespoonfuls of oatBun ; 
chop the whites of the eggs either with the cab¬ 
bage, or slice and garuiBh the salad with them. 
Mock Chicken Salad. 
To every quart of finely-chopped cabbage, 
allow one pound of roasted pork tenderloins and 
the whites of four hard-boiled eggs chopped 
fine ; to the yelks rubbed Binooth in a tablespoon- 
ful of melted butter, add one-half cup of vino- 
gar ; salt and pepper ta the taste. 
SalsilV, or Vegetable Oysters, 
Wash thoroughly, scrape off the skin and 
throw at once into weak vinegar and water for a 
few minutes ; take out, cut across in rather thin 
slices and stow, either in porcelain or new tin 
until tender; they should be almost dry when 
done, then add milk, plenty of butter, pepper, 
and salt, and pour hot over slices of nicely-toast¬ 
ed bread, or roll two or three crackers fine and 
add to the soup. 
Another way is to wash, scrape and boil whole 
in salted water until tender ; then cut length¬ 
wise, dip into a beaten egg, roll in crumbs, and 
fry in lard. 
Egg Mince-Meat. 
Chop eight hard-boiled eggs with double their 
weight of cooked beef, very fine; add one pound 
of washed and dried currants; the peel of two 
A great doal of attention has, of late years, 
been bestowed on the relations existing between 
various conditions and diseases of the body, and 
coincident abnormal states of the mind. True 
it is that these coincidences did not altogether 
escape the observation of the medical men of 
olden times, hut it has been reserved for this 
anti the last; aouple of generations to investigate 
these phenomena scientifically in order to ac¬ 
count for them satisfactorily. All know that in 
some diseases there are found certain mental 
attitudes so regularly present and clearly marked 
that they may bo fairly included as part of the 
symptoms of the maladies. For instance, so 
commonly is mental depression found along with 
disorders of the bile that, very appropriately, the 
ancients gave to this condition of mental gloom 
the name, melancholia, derived from two Greek 
words signifying “ black bile,” and only slightly 
modified fn our word melancholy. 
Closely allied to this, but arising from a differ¬ 
ent cause, is what is oommonly known as “ low 
spirits,” an ailment much more prevalent among 
women, and especially widows and spinsters, 
thau among men. There is in it much emotional 
mobility, great readiness to shed abundant tears 
on the slightest provocation, and a fAtal tendency 
to seek relief from tho depression in alcoholic 
stimulants. Unhappily in such cases habits of 
the most depraved and deadly intoxication are 
readily contracted, ail the more hopeless because 
the condition calls only for better nutrition of the 
brain in the shape of a more liberal supply of ar¬ 
terial blood. 
Two very noticeable effects of consumption 
are great mental activity in the victim, especially 
during the early stages of the disorder, and an 
irrational hopefulness often even in the presence 
of death. Indeed there frequently seems to be 
a halo of intellectual brilliancy around the head 
of the fated victim of phthisis, the cause of 
which is, in a measure, probably due to an un¬ 
usual accession of arterial blood to the brain, in¬ 
dicated by an accelerated pulse and a hlghtened 
temperature. No cause, however, has hitherto 
been assigned for that marvelous confidence in 
ultimate recovery, which haB earned for itself the 
ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES. 
BY ENOCH SPENCER. 
An examination, as far as possible by the sci¬ 
entific methods and appliances of oar time, of 
all the various substances met with in nature, 
has led to the discovery of sixty-four different 
bodies which it is impossible by any means novo 
at our disposal, to decompose into simpler sub¬ 
stances, or transmute into other forms, and 
each of which differs in some essential property 
from every other known body. These are, there¬ 
fore, termed either “ elementary substances or 
bodies,” or simply “ elements.” Formerly, it 
was held that such of them as were then known 
were primary principles of matter; but science 
having grown somewhat older, has become more 
dillident, and nowadays it is not asserted that 
these bodies are absolutely simple, that here¬ 
after t hey may not be found to yield more than one 
kind of matter, hut all that is meant is that each 
of them has hitherto resisted every method of 
analysis that has been applied to it. Indeed, re¬ 
cent researches favor the impression that Borne of 
them arc, perhaps, compounds of simpler bod¬ 
ies. Their number is increasing, three of them 
having been discovered since 1860. 
It is the study of the laws which regulate the 
combination of these elements with each other, 
and to which their compounds are subject in 
their mutual notions, and of the properties of 
the elements as well as of those of the compounds 
formed by then- union, winch constitutes tho 
science of chemistry. 
The majority of the elements are of rare oc¬ 
currence, and some of them have been seen by 
few except their discoverers. The great mass 
of the matter of which the earth and the plants 
and animals living on it, are composed, consists 
of about thirty elements, the remaining thirty- 
four being extremely rare. The only elements 
which appear to be absolutely essential to vege¬ 
table or animal life, are carbon, oxygon, hydro¬ 
gen, nitroge t. sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, 
iron, potassium, sodium, magnesium, silicon, 
and chlorine. In addition to these, man could 
ill afford to do without gold, silver, copper, lead, 
mercury, tin, and zinc, all of which hold import¬ 
ant places in the list of elements. Several of 
Brookston, N. C., Nov. 2<5, 77. 
Our bright autumnal days have been inter¬ 
spersed with very many dark and rainy ones. 
Since September 1st, we have had much more than 
our usual amount of falling water, delaying the 
progress of farm work, though at this date the 
cotton fields show little but bare stalks and other 
crops aro mostly secured. Chrysanthemums and 
Roses still make our gardens gay. By the way. 
why plant any but monthly Roses ? When we can 
have a constant display from May to December, 
with but little more attention, why cumber our 
gardens with such as will only bloom some ten 
days in the whole year, and for the remaining 
three hundred and fifty-five are no more attrac¬ 
tive than a tangled mass of blackberry briars ? 
Crops generally good, sweet potatoes are exceed¬ 
ingly large and give a bountiful yield; abund¬ 
ant rains gave them a fine start, and the late 
fall a long run. Brices, as usual at digging time, 
aro low; about forty cents per bushel. Were it 
not for the uncertainty of preserving them du¬ 
ring the winter, it would be a profitable crop to 
grow for feeding. Horses, cows, sheep, and pigs 
eat them greedily. Our farmers give but little 
attention to food for their stock, farther than to 
secure fodder for the work animals and a supply 
of corn for horses, hogs and themselves. 
Cattle and store hogs mostly shift for them- 
Belves, many receiving no feed at home, except, 
an occasional feed of Hhucks to the former and, 
now and then, an ear of corn to the latter. If 
we would read more, especially agricultural 
papers, and learn that it is only the food over 
and above that required to sustain the life of our 
animals, on which we realize a profit, and also 
learn that by keeping our stock at home, we 
save fertilizers far better than those we buy, and 
which need no guarantee to convince ns that we 
are not cheated ; then we would nee more pros¬ 
perity and far less grumbling about hard times. 
While I am so near the point, let me say that I 
am an advocate of soiling in this and all sections 
where grass does not naturally fiourisb. Having 
practised it in a Bmall way and in a very unsys¬ 
tematic manner for the past year. I am, so far, 
well pleased. Those who have never tried the 
plan, will be surprised at the small area of land 
required to feed a cow, and also at the pile of 
valuable manure iproduced. In this climate 
where we can have green forage for six months 
in the year, and green pastures of rye, oats and 
clover, nearly the whole of the remaining six 
months, it might, and I am inclined to believe 
it would, be a good plan to soil during the sum¬ 
mer and graze during winter. The four aorea 
