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ENQUIRE WITHIN
UPON
EVERYTHING.
"WHETHER YOU WISH TO MODEL A FLOWER IN WAX; TO STUDY THE RULES OF ETIQUETTE; TO SERVE A RELISH FOR BREAKFAST OR SUPPER; TO PLAN A DINNER FOR A LARGE PARTY OR A SMALL ONE; TO CURE A HEADACHE; TO MAKE A WILL; TO GET MARRIED; TO BURY A RELATIVE; WHATEVER YOU MAY WISH TO DO, MAKE, OR TO ENJOY, PROVIDED YOUR DESIRE HAS RELATION TO THE NECESSITIES OF DOMESTIC LIFE, I HOPE YOU WILL NOT FAIL TO 'ENQUIRE WITHIN.'"—Editor.
ENQUIRERS ARE REFERRED TO THE INDEX AT THE END.
EIGHTY-NINTH EDITION. REVISED. MAKING THE TOTAL ISSUE TO DATE ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHT THOUSAND COPIES. LONDON:
HOULSTON AND SONS,
PATERNOSTER SQUARE.
1894.
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EDITOR'S PREFACE.
If there be any among my Readers who, having turned over the pages of "ENQUIRE WITHIN," have hastily pronounced them to be confused and ill-arranged, let them at once refer to THE INDEX, at page 389*, and for ever hold their peace.
The INDEX is, to the vast congregation of useful hints and receipts that fill the pages of this volume, what the DIRECTORY is to the great aggregation of houses and people in London.
No one, being a stranger to London, would run about asking for "MR. SMITH." But, remembering the Christian name and the profession of the individual wanted, he would turn to the DIRECTORY, and trace him out.
Like a house, every paragraph in "ENQUIRE WITHIN" has its number,—and the INDEX is the DIRECTORY which will explain what Facts, Hints, and Instructions inhabit that number.
For, if it be not a misnomer, we are prompted to say that "ENQUIRE WITHIN" is peopled with hundreds of ladies and gentlemen, who have approved of the plan of the work, and contributed something to its store of useful information. There they are, waiting to be questioned, and ready to reply. Within each page some one lives to answer for the correctness of the information imparted, just as certainly as where, in the window of a dwelling, you see a paper directing you to "ENQUIRE WITHIN," some one is there to answer you.
HOUSEKEEPERS of experience live at Nos. 1, 30, 438, 1251 and 2091; old Dr. KITCHINER lives at 44; CAPTAIN CRAWLEY is to be found at 46 and 2568; the well-known Mrs. WARREN lives at 1809; Miss ACTON at 1310; Dr. FRANKLIN at 1398; Mrs. HITCHING at 215; Mr. BANTING at 1768; Dr. WILSON PHILIP at 1762; Mr. WITHERING at 2338; Mr. MECHI at 997; Dr. STENHOUSE at 1776; Dr. ERASMUS WILSON at 1700; Dr. SOUTHWOOD SMITH at 1743; Dr. BLAIR at 2180; M. SOYER at 1130; Dr. BABINGTON at 2407; Miss GIFFORD at 2337; and Dr. CLARK at 2384. In addition to these and many more, a DOCTOR lives at 475; a GARDENER at 249; a SCHOOLMASTER at 161; a BUTCHER at 27; a DANCING-MASTER at 139; an ARTIST at 2548; a NATURALIST at 2330; a DYER at 2682; a MODELLER at 2346; a PROFESSED COOK at 1032; a PHILANTHROPIST at 1368; a LAWYER at 1440; a SURGEON at 796; a CHESS PLAYER at 71; a WHIST PLAYER, almost next door, at 73; a CHEMIST at 650; a BREWER at 2267; a LAWN TENNIS PLAYER at 2765; a HOMOEOPATHIC PRACTITIONER at 925; a WOOD-STAINER at 1413; two CONFECTIONERS at 1628 and 2024; a POULTRY-KEEPER at 1642; a METEOROLOGIST at 962; PHILOSOPHERS at 973 and 1783; a PRACTICAL ECONOMIST at 985; a BAKER at 1002; a MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES at 1924 and 2613; a BIRD FANCIER at 2155: a WASHERWOMAN at 2729; an ANALYTICAL CHEMIST at 2747; an ACCOUNTANT at 2769; and so on.
Well! there they live—always at home. Knock at their doors—ENQUIRE WITHIN. NO FEES TO PAY!!
Much care has been taken in selecting the information that is given, and, as is amply shown by the above list, so many kind and competent friends have lent a hand in the production of this volume that is impossible to turn to any page without at once being reminded of the GENEROUS FRIEND who abides there.
To some extent, though in a far less degree, assistance has been rendered by the authors of many useful and popular works, for which due acknowledgment must be made. Chief among these works are Dr. Kitchiner's "COOKS' ORACLE"; "THE COOK," in Houlston and Sons' Industrial Library; "THE SHOPKEEPER'S GUIDE;" "THE WIFE'S OWN COOKERY," "THE PRACTICAL HOUSEWIFE," and many of the volumes of the "REASON WHY" series.
Lastly, as in everyday life it is found necessary at times to make a thorough inspection of house and home, and to carry out requisite repairs, alterations, and additions, this has been done in the recent editions of "ENQUIRE WITHIN," to which some hundreds of paragraphs have been added, while others have been remodelled and revised in accordance with the progress of the times in which we live. Care, however, has been taken to alter nothing that needed no alteration, so that, practically, this Popular Favourite is still the old "ENQUIRE WITHIN;" improved, it is true, but in no way so changed as to place it beyond the recognition of those to whom it has been a BOOK OF CONSTANT REFERENCE since its first appearance.
* * * * *
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
TO THE SEVENTY-FIFTH EDITION.
The unparalleled success achieved by "ENQUIRE WITHIN UPON EVERYTHING" demands special mention from its Publishers at the present moment. Its prominent characteristics—varied usefulness and cheapness—have won for it universal esteem. There is scarcely a spot reached by English civilization to which this book has not found its way, receiving everywhere the most cordial welcome and winning the warmest praise. Proof of this world-wide popularity is clearly shown by the record of the number of copies sold, now amounting to the wonderful total of
ONE MILLION COPIES
—a sale which the Publishers believe to be absolutely without precedent among similar books of reference. This result has been mainly brought about by the kindly interest shown in the book by many friends, to whom the Publishers' most hearty thanks are tendered for their generous support and recommendations.
The work of revision has been carried on from year to year with watchfulness and care, and many Additions have been made, both modern and interesting, including Homoeopathy, Lawn Tennis, &c. Enquirers on the laws of Landlord and Tenant, Husband and Wife, Debtor and Creditor, are supplied with the latest information. Diseases and their Remedies, and Medicines, their Uses and Doses, have received special attention. The Index has been considerably extended, and with the aid of this, and the Summary of Contents, it is hoped that no Enquirer will fail to receive complete and satisfactory replies.
* * * * *
THE "ENQUIRE WITHIN" AND "REASON WHY" SERIES now comprises Twenty-seven Volumes, containing upwards of SEVEN THOUSAND pages of closely printed matter. They are entirely original in plan, and executed with the most conscientious care. The Indexes have been prepared with great labour, and alone occupy about 500 pages. A vast Fund of valuable Information, embracing every Subject of Interest or Utility, is thus attainable, and at a merely nominal Cost.
These Works are in such general demand, that the Sale has already reached considerably upwards of
ONE-AND-A-HALF MILLION VOLUMES.
The attention of all parties interested in the dissemination of sound Theoretical Instruction and Practical Knowledge is particularly directed to the Twenty-seven Volumes in this Series of Popular and Valuable Books.
1-3. "DAILY WANTS, THE DICTIONARY OF," containing nearly 1,200 pages of Information upon all matters of Practical and Domestic Utility. Above 118,000 copies have been sold.
4-7. "USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, THE DICTIONARY OF," a Book of Reference upon History, Geography, Science, Statistics, &c. A Companion Work to the "Dictionary of Daily Wants."
8 & 9. "MEDICAL AND SURGICAL KNOWLEDGE, THE DICTIONARY OF," a Complete Practical Guide on Health and Disease, for Families, Emigrants, and Colonists.
10. "ENQUIRE WITHIN UPON EVERYTHING."
11. "THE REASON WHY, CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS," giving the Origin, History, and Tenets of the Christian Sects, with the Reasons assigned by themselves for their Specialities of Faith and forms of Worship.
12. "THE REASON WHY, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY," containing upwards of 1,200 Reasons, explanatory of the Physical Phenomena of Earth and Sea, their Geological History, and the Geographical distribution of Plants, Animals, and the Human Race.
13. "THE REASON WHY, BIBLICAL AND SACRED HISTORY," a Family Guide to Scripture Readings, and a Handbook for Biblical Students.
14. "THE REASON WHY, GENERAL SCIENCE," giving Hundreds of Reasons for things which, though generally received, are imperfectly understood. This Volume has reached a sale of 53,000.
15. "THE REASON WHY, HISTORICAL," designed to simplify the study of English History.
16. "THE REASON WHY, NATURAL HISTORY," giving REASONS for very numerous interesting Facts in connection with the Habits and Instincts of the various Orders of the Animal Kingdom.
17. "THE REASON WHY, GARDENING AND FARMING," giving some Thousands of Reasons for various Facts and Phenomena in reference to the Cultivation and Tillage of the Soil.
18. "THE REASON WHY, HOUSEWIFE'S SCIENCE," affording to the Manager of Domestic Affairs intelligible Reasons for the various duties she has to superintend or to perform.
19. "JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY ALL ROUND OUR HOUSE; OR, THE INTERVIEW," with copious Information upon Domestic Matters.
20. "THE PRACTICAL HOUSEWIFE AND FAMILY MEDICAL GUIDE," a Series of Instructive Papers on Cookery, Food, Treatment of the Sick, &c., &c.
21. "THE FAMILY SAVE-ALL," a System of Secondary Cookery with Hints for Economy in the use of Articles of Household Consumption.
22. "NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS," a Work full of curious Information on all Subjects, gathered from actual Answers to Correspondents of various Magazines and Newspapers.
23. "THE CORNER CUPBOARD," containing Domestic Information, Needlework Designs, and Instructions for the Aquarium, &c.
24. "LIFE DOUBLED BY THE ECONOMY OF TIME," and "HOW A PENNY BECAME A THOUSAND POUNDS." The first of these teaches the Value of Moments, and shows how Life may be abridged by a careless indifference to trifles of time; the second pursues a similar argument with reference to Money.
25 & 26. "WONDERFUL THINGS;" affording interesting descriptions of the Wonders of all Nations, with Illustrations.
27. "THE HISTORICAL FINGER-POST," giving briefly, but clearly, the meaning and origin of hundreds of Terms, Phrases, Epithets, Cognomens, Allusions, &c., in connection with History, Politics, Theology, Law, Commerce, Literature, Army and Navy, Arts and Sciences, Geography, Tradition, National, Social, and Personal Characteristics. &c.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
ADULTERATIONS OF FOOD, TESTS FOR 2747
BEVERAGES, PREPARATION OF, AND RECEIPTS FOR 565, 2267, 2455
BIRD-KEEPING, BEE-KEEPING, AND POULTRY-KEEPING 2155
CARVING, ARRANGEMENTS OF THE DINNER TABLE, ETC. 2616
CHILDREN, REARING AND MANAGEMENT OF 2025
CHOICE OF FOOD, MARKETING, ETC. 1
CONFECTIONERY: CAKES, JELLIES, SWEETMEATS 2091
COMMERCIAL AND MONETARY HINTS, MAXIMS 441
CORRECT SPEAKING, HINTS ON WRITING 161
DECORATION, PAINTING, STAINING, GILDING, ETC. 1413
DESTRUCTION OF VERMIN, NOXIOUS ANIMALS 1722
DRESS, CHOICE, ARRANGEMENT, AND CARE OF 1926
DYEING, SCOURING, CLEANING, LAUNDRY OPERATIONS 2682
EMERGENCIES AND ACCIDENTS, DROWNING, FIRE, ETC. 1376
ETIQUETTE, FORMS AND CEREMONIES OF 1924
FOOD OF VARIOUS KINDS, WHEN IN SEASON 30
FANCY NEEDLEWORK 1808
FUEL, LIGHTING, ETC., ECONOMY AND MANAGEMENT OF 984
FURNITURE, SELECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF 296
GARDENING OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 249
HOUSEHOLD CARPENTRY, MENDING, REPAIRING 308
INDOOR GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS 45
LADIES' EMPLOYMENTS: LEATHER-WORK, DIAPHANIE ETC. 2506
LEGAL INFORMATION AND ADVICE 1440
MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ADVICE 475
MINOR COMPLAINTS, COUGH, CRAMP ETC. 553
MISCELLANEOUS PREPARATIONS: INK, GUM, CEMENT, ETC. 2481
OUTDOOR SPORTS AND PASTIMES, LAWN TENNIS 2568
POISONING, TREATMENT IN CASES OF 1340
PREPARATION OF FOOD, COOKING OPERATIONS 1003
PRESERVING AND PICKLING, HINTS ON 1619
MODELLING, PREPARING BOTANICAL SPECIMENS, ETC. 2330
RULES OF CONDUCT: COUNSELS, HINTS, ADVICE 2180
SANITARY PRECAUTIONS AND REGULATIONS 1717
SAUCES, RELISHES, ZESTS, HOW TO PREPARE 2203
TABLES OF PERCENTAGES, INTEREST, MARKETING, WAGES 2770
TOILET REQUISITES, RECEIPTS FOR, ETC. 1677
* * * * *
ENQUIRE WITHIN
UPON
EVERYTHING.
* * * * *
1. Choice of Articles of Food.
Nothing is more important in the affairs of housekeeping than the choice of wholesome food. Apropos to this is an amusing conundrum which is as follows:—"A man went to market and bought two fish. When he reached home he found they were the same as when he had bought them; yet there were three! How was this?" The answer is—"He bought two mackerel, and one smelt!" Those who envy him his bargain need not care about the following rules; but to others they will be valuable:
2. Mackerel
must be perfectly fresh, or it is a very indifferent fish; it will neither bear carriage, nor being kept many hours out of the water. The firmness of the flesh and the clearness of the eyes must be the criteria of fresh mackerel, as they are of all other fish.
3. Turbot, and all flat white fish,
are rigid and firm when fresh; the under side should be of a rich cream colour. When out of season, or too long kept, this becomes a bluish white, and the flesh soft and flaccid. A clear bright eye in any fish is also a mark of its being fresh and good.
4. Cod
is known to be fresh by the rigidity of the muscles (or flesh), the redness of the gills, and clearness of the eyes. Crimping much improves this fish.
5. Salmon.
The flavour and excellence of this fish depend upon its freshness and the shortness of time since it was caught; for no method can completely preserve the delicate flavour that salmon has when just taken out of the water. A great deal of what is brought to London has been packed in ice, and comes from the Scotch and Irish rivers, and, though perfectly fresh, is not quite equal to salmon from English streams.
6. Herrings
should be eaten when very fresh; and, like mackerel, will not remain good many hours after they are caught. But they are excellent, especially for breakfast relishes, either salted, split, dried, and peppered, or pickled. Mackerel are very good when prepared in either of these ways.
7. Fresh Water Fish.
The remarks as to firmness and clear fresh eyes apply to this variety of fish, of which there are carp, tench, pike, perch, &c.
8. Lobsters
recently caught, have always some remains of muscular action in the claws, which may be excited by pressing the eyes with the finger; when this cannot be produced, the lobster must have been too long kept. When boiled, the tail preserves its elasticity if fresh, but loses it as soon as it becomes stale. The heaviest lobsters are the best; when light they are watery and poor. Hen lobsters may generally be known by the spawn, or by the breadth of the "flap."
9. Crab and Crayfish
must be chosen by observations similar to those given above in the choice of lobsters. Crabs have an agreeable smell when fresh.
10. Prawns and Shrimps,
when fresh, are firm and crisp.
11. Oysters.
If fresh, the shell is firmly closed; when the shells of oysters are open, they are dead, and unfit for food. The small-shelled oysters, the Byfleet, Colchester, and Milford, are the finest in flavour. Larger kinds, as the Torbay oysters, are generally considered only fit for stewing and sauces, and as an addition to rump-steak puddings and pies, though some persons prefer them to the smaller oysters, even when not cooked. Of late years English oysters have become scarce and dear; and in consequence the American Blue Point oysters find a ready market.
12. Beef.
The grain of ox beef, when good, is loose, the meat red, and the fat inclining to yellow. Cow beef, on the contrary, has a closer grain and whiter fat, but the meat is scarcely as red as that of ox beef. Inferior beef, which is meat obtained from ill-fed animals, or from those which had become too old for food, may be known by a hard, skinny fat, a dark red lean, and, in old animals, a line of horny texture running through the meat of the ribs. When meat rises up quickly, after being pressed by the finger, it may be considered as being the flesh of an animal which was in its prime; but when the dent made by pressure returns slowly, or remains visible, the animal had probably passed its prime, and the meat consequently must be of inferior quality.
13. Veal
should be delicately white, though it is often juicy and well-flavoured when rather dark in colour. Butchers, it is said, bleed calves purposely before killing them, with a view to make the flesh white, but this also makes it dry and flavourless. On examining the loin, if the fat enveloping the kidney be white and firm-looking, the meat will probably be prime and recently killed. Veal will not keep so long as an older meat, especially in hot or damp weather: when going, the fat becomes soft and moist, the meat flabby and spotted, and somewhat porous like sponge. Large, overgrown veal is inferior to small, delicate, yet fat veal. The fillet of a cow-calf is known by the udder attached to it, and by the softness of the skin; it is preferable to the veal of a bull-calf.
14. Mutton.
The meat should be firm and close in grain, and red in colour, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep is about five years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily separates; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-coloured, the fat inclining to yellow; the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains; after cooking, the meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh.
15. Lamb.
This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the neck is bluish in colour when the fore quarter is fresh, green when it is becoming stale. In the hind quarter, if not recently killed, the fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have lost its firmness.
16. Pork.
When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed or diseased pig.
17. Bacon
should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm, and tinged red by the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short thick one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Of English hams, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Hampshire are most esteemed; of foreign, the Westphalian. The bacon and "sugar cured" hams now imported in large quantities from Canada and the United States are both cheap and good.
18. Venison.
When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the haunch; and from the smell the cook must determine whether to dress it at once, or to keep it a little longer.
19. Turkey.
In choosing poultry, the age of the bird is the chief point to be attended to. An old turkey has rough and reddish legs; a young one smooth and black. Fresh killed, the eyes are full and clear, and the feet moist. When it has been kept too long, the parts about the vent have a greenish appearance.
20. Common Domestic Fowls,
when young, have the legs and combs smooth; when old these parts are rough, and on the breast long hairs are found when the feathers axe plucked off: these hairs must be removed by singeing. Fowls and chickens should be plump on the breast, fat on the back, and white-legged.
21. Geese.
The bills and feet are red when old, yellow when young. Fresh killed, the feet are pliable, but they get stiff when the birds are kept too long. Geese are called green when they are only two or three months old.
22. Ducks.
Choose them with supple feet and hard plump breasts. Tame ducks have yellow feet, wild ones red.
23. Pigeons
are very indifferent food when they are kept too long. Suppleness of the feet shows them to be young; the flesh is flaccid when they are getting bad from keeping. Tame pigeons are larger than wild pigeons, but not so large as the wood pigeon.
24. Hares and Rabbits
when old, have the haunches thick, the ears dry and tough, and the claws blunt and ragged. A young hare has claws smooth and sharp, ears that easily tear, and a narrow cleft in the lip. A leveret is distinguished from a hare by a knob or small bone near the foot.
25. Partridges,
when young, have yellowish legs and dark-coloured bills. Old partridges are very indifferent eating.
26. Woodcocks and Snipes,
when old, have the feet thick and hard; when these are soft and tender, they are both young and fresh killed. When their bills become moist, and their throats muddy, they have been too long killed.
(See FOOD IN SEASON, Pars. 30—42.)
27. Names and Situations of the Various Joints.
28. Meats.
In different parts of the kingdom the method of cutting up carcases varies. That which we describe below is the most general, and is known as the English method.
i. Beef.
Fore Quarter Fore rib (five ribs); middle rib (four ribs); chuck (three ribs). Shoulder piece (top of fore leg); brisket (lower or belly part of the ribs); clod (fore shoulder blade); neck; shin (below the shoulder); cheek. Hind Quarter. Sirloin; rump; aitch-bone these are the three divisions of the upper part of the quarter; buttock and mouse-buttock, which divide the thigh; veiny piece, joining the buttock; thick flank and thin flank (belly pieces) and leg. The sirloin and rump of both sides form a baron.
Beef is in season all the year; best in winter.
[THE MISER FASTS WITH GREEDY MIND TO SPARE.]
ii. Mutton.
Shoulder; breast (the belly); over which are the loin (chump, or tail end): loin (best end): neck (best end); neck (scrag end); leg; haunch, or leg and chump end of loin; and head. A chine is two necks; a saddle, two loins.
Mutton is best in winter, spring, and autumn.
iii. Lamb
is cut into fore quarter and hind quarter; saddle; loin; neck; breast; leg; and shoulder.
Grass lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas; house lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.
iv. Pork
is cut into leg, hand or shoulder; hind loin; fore loin; belly-part; spare-rib, or neck; and head.
Pork is in season nearly all the year round, but is better relished in winter than in summer.
v. Veal
is cut into neck (scrag end); neck (best end); loin (best end); loin (chump, or tail end); fillet (upper part of hind leg); hind knuckle, which joins the fillet; knuckle of fore leg; blade (bone of shoulder); breast (best end); and breast (brisket end).
Veal is always in season, but dear in winter and spring.
vi. Venison
is cut into haunch; neck; shoulder; and breast.
Doe venison is best in January, October, November, and December, and buck venison in June, July, August, and September.
vii. Scottish Mode of Division.
According to the English method the carcase of beef is disposed of more economically than upon the Scotch plan. The English plan affords better steaks, and better joints for roasting; but the Scotch plan gives a greater variety of pieces for boiling. The names of pieces in the Scotch plan, not found in the English, are:
the hough, or hind leg; the nineholes, or English buttock; the large and small runner, taken from the rib and chuck pieces of the English plan; the shoulder-lyer, the English shoulder, but cut differently; the spare-rib or fore-sye, the sticking piece, &c.
The Scotch also cut mutton differently.
viii. Ox-tail
is much esteemed for purposes of soup; so also is the Cheek. The Tongue is highly esteemed. The Heart, stuffed with veal stuffing, roasted, and served hot, with red currant jelly as an accompaniment, is a palatable dish. When prepared in this manner it is sometimes called 'Smithfield Hare', on account of its flavour being something like that of roast hare.
ix. Calves' Heads
are very useful for various dishes; so also are their Knuckles, Feet, Heart, &c.
29. Relative Economy of the Joints.
i. The Round
is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts owing to its comparative freedom from bone: it is usually boiled, and is generally sold at the same price as the sirloin, and ribs. It is sometimes divided downwards, close to the bone; one side being known as the 'top side', and the other as the 'silver side'. Either of these parts is as good roasted as boiled.
ii. The Brisket
is always less in price than the roasting parts. It is not so economical a part as the round, having more bone with it, and more fat. Where there are children, very fat joints are not desirable, being often disagreeable to them, and sometimes prejudicial, especially if they have a dislike to fat. This joint also requires more cooking than many others; that is to say, it requires a double allowance of time to be given for simmering it; it will, when served, be hard and scarcely digestible if no more time be allowed to simmer it than that which is sufficient for other joints and meats. Joints cooked in a boiler or saucepan, should always be simmered, that is to say, boiled as slowly as possible. Meat boiled fast, or "at a gallop," as the phrase goes, is always tough and tasteless. The brisket is excellent when stewed; and when cooked fresh (i.e., unsalted) an excellent stock for soup may be extracted from it, and yet the meat will serve as well for dinner.
iii. The Edge-bone, or Aitch-bone,
is not considered to be a very economical joint, the bone being large in proportion to the meat; but the greater part of it, at least, is as good as that of any prime part. On account of the quantity of bone in it, it is sold at a cheaper rate than the best joints. It may be roasted or boiled.
iv. The Rump
is the part of which the butcher makes great profit, by selling it in the form of steaks, but the whole of it may be purchased as a joint, and at the price of other prime parts. It may be turned to good account in producing many excellent dishes. If salted, it is simply boiled; if used unsalted, it is generally stewed.
v. The Veiny Piece
is sold at a moderate price per pound; but, if hung for a day or two, it is very good and very profitable. Where there are a number of servants and children to have an early dinner, this part of beef will be found desirable.
vi. The Leg and Shin
afford excellent stock for soup; and, if not reduced too much, the meat taken from the bones may be served as a stew with vegetables; or it may be seasoned, pounded with butter, and potted; or, chopped very fine, and seasoned with herbs, and bound together by egg and bread crumbs, it may be fried in balls, or in the form of large eggs, and served with a gravy made with a few spoonfuls of the soup.
vii. Ox Cheek
makes excellent soup. The meat, when taken from the bones, may be served as a stew.
viii. The Sirloin and the Ribs
are the roasting parts of beef, and these bear in all places the highest price. The more profitable of these two joints at a family table is the ribs. The bones, if removed from the beef before it is roasted, are useful in making stock for soup. When boned, the meat of the ribs is often rolled up on the shape of a small round or fillet, tied with string, and roasted; and this is the best way of using it, as it enables the carver to distribute equally the upper part of the meat with the fatter parts, at the lower end of the bones.
30. Food in Season.
There is an old maxim, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," To which may be added another, "A season for everything, and everything in season."
[Fish, Poultry, &c., whose names are distinguished by Italics [here marked like this] in each month's "Food in Season," are to be had in the highest perfection during the month.]
31. In Season in January.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, carp, cod, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, haddocks, herrings, lampreys, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon-trout, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, sturgeon, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.—Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, and doe venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.—Capons, chickens, ducks, wild-ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, hares, larks, moor-game, partridges, pheasants, pigeons (tame), pullets, rabbits, snipes, turkeys (hen), widgeons, woodcocks.
iv. Vegetables.—Beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), Jerusalem artichokes, kale (Scotch), leeks, lettuces, mint (dry), mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, rape, rosemary, sage, salsify, Savoy cabbages, scorzonera, shalots, skirrets, sorrel, spinach (winter), tarragon, thyme, turnips.
v. Forced Vegetables.—Asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, sea-kale.
vi. Fruit.—Almonds. Apples: Golden pippin, golden russet, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain. Pears: Bergamot d'Hollande, Bon Chretien, Chaumontel, Colmar, winter beurre. Grapes: English and foreign. Chestnuts, medlars, oranges, walnuts, filbert nuts.
[THE HYPOCRITE WILL FAST SEEM MORE HOLY.]
32. In Season in February.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, haddocks, herrings, lampreys, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Capons, chickens, ducklings, geese, hares, partridges, pheasants, pigeons (tame and wild), rabbits (tame), snipes, turkeys, turkey poults, wild-ducks, woodcocks.
iv. Vegetables.
Beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, lettuces, mint (dry), mushrooms, onions, parsnips, parsley, potatoes, radish, rape, rosemary, sage, salsify, Savoys, scorzonera, shalots, skirrets, sorrel, spinach, sprouts, tarragon, thyme, turnips, winter savoury.
v. Forced Vegetables.
Asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, sea-kale, &c.
vi. Fruit.
Apples: Golden pippin, golden russet, Holland pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, Wheeler's russet, winter pearmain. Chestnuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, winter Bon Chretien, winter Russelet.
33. In Season in March.
i. Fish.
Brill, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dabs, dory, eels, flounders, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, salmon-trout, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, turbot, tench, and whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Capons, chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, grouse, leverets, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, turkeys, woodcocks.
iv. Vegetables.
Artichokes (Jerusalem), beet, broccoli (white and purple), Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, colewort, cresses, endive, garlic, herbs (dry), kale (sea and Scotch), lettuces, mint, mushrooms, mustard, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, rape, rosemary, sage, Savoys, shalots, sorrel, spinach, tarragon, thyme, turnips, turnip-tops.
v. Forced Vegetables.
Asparagus, French beans, cucumbers, and rhubarb.
vi. Fruit.
Apples: Golden russet, Holland pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, Norfolk beefing, Wheeler's russet. Chestnuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, Chaumontel, winter Bon Chretien. Forced: Strawberries.
34. In Season in April.
i. Fish.
Brill, carp, chub, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dabs, dory, eels, floandeis, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullets, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, prawns, plaice, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wood-pigeons.
iv. Vegetables.
Asparagus, broccoli, chervil, colewort, cucumbers, endive, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, radishes, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, small salad, tarragon, turnip-radishes, turnip-tops, and rhubarb.
v. Fruit.
Apples: Golden russet, nonpareil, Wheeler's russet. Nuts, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, Bon Chretien, Carmelite. Forced: Apricots, cherries, strawberries.
35. In Season in May.
i. Fish.
Brill, carp, chub, cod, conger-eels, crab, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddock, halibut, herring, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, pullets, rabbits; wood-pigeons.
iv. Vegetables.
Angelica, artichokes, asparagus, balm, kidney-beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, fennel, herbs of all sorts, lettuce, mint, onions, parsley, peas, new potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, salad of all sorts, sea-kale, sorrel, spinach, turnips.
v. Fruit.
Apples: Golden russet, winter russet. May-duke cherries; currants; gooseberries; melons. Pears: L'amozette, winter-green. Forced: Apricots, peaches, strawberries.
36. In Season in June.
i. Fish.
Carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, salmon-trout, skate, smelts, soles, sturgeon, tench, trout, turbot, whitebait, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, grass-lamb, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, buck venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducklings, fowls, geese, leverets, pigeons, plovers, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wood-pigeons.
iv. Vegetables.
Angelica, artichokes, asparagus, beans (French, kidney, and Windsor), white beet, cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, chervil, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, spinach, turnips, vegetable marrow.
v. For Drying.
Burnet, mint, tarragon, lemon thyme.
vi. Fruit.
Apples: Quarrenden, stone pippin, golden russet. Apricots. Cherries: May-duke, bigaroon, white-heart. Currants; gooseberries; melons. Pears: Winter-green. Strawberries. Forced: Grapes, nectarines, peaches, pines.
37. In Season in July.
i. Fish
Barbel, brill, carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, dory, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, skate, soles, tench, thornback, trout.
ii. Meat.
Beef, grass-lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, leverets, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.
iv. Vegetables.
Artichokes, asparagus, balm, beans (French, kidney, scarlet, and Windsor), carrots, cauliflowers, celery, chervil, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, lettuces, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, radishes, salads of all sorts, salsify, scorzonera, sorrel, spinach, turnips.
v. For Drying.
Knotted marjoram, mushrooms, winter savoury.
vi. For Pickling.
French beans, red cabbage, cauliflowers, garlic, gherkins, nasturtiums, onions.
vii. Fruit.
Apples: Codlin, jennetting, Margaret, summer pearmain, summer pippin, quarrenden. Apricots, cherries (black-heart), currants, plums, greengages, gooseberries, melons, nectarines, peaches. Pears: Catherine, green-chisel, jargonelle. Pineapples, raspberries, strawberries.
[WITHOUT ECONOMY NONE CAN BE RICH.]
38. In Season in August.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, carp, cod, conger-eels, crabs, cray-fish, dabs, dace, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, herrings, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, skate, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, grass-lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse (from 12th), leverets, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, turkeys, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.
iv. Vegetables.
Artichokes, beans (French, kidney, scarlet and Windsor), white beet, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, endive, pot-herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, salsify, scorzonera, shalots, spinach, turnips.
v. For Drying.
Basil, sage, thyme.
vi. For Pickling.
Red cabbage, capsicums, chilies, tomatoes, walnuts.
vii. Fruit.
Apples: Codlin, summer pearmain, summer pippin. Cherries, currants, figs, filberts, gooseberries, grapes, melons, mulberries, nectarines, peaches. Pears: Jargonelle, summer, Bon Chretien, Windsor. Plums, greengages, raspberries, Alpine strawberries.
39. In Season in September.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crab, dace, eels, flounders, gurnets, haddocks, hake, herrings, lobsters, mullet, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, shrimps, soles, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, mutton, pork, veal, buck venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse, hares, larks, leverets, partridges, pigeons, plovers, rabbits, teal, turkeys, turkey poults, wheat-ears, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits.
iv. Vegetables.
Artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, beans (French and scarlet), cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad of all sorts, shalots, turnips.
v. Fruit.
Apples: Golden nob, pearmain, golden rennet. Cherries (Morella), damsons, figs, filberts. Grapes: Muscadine, Frontignac, red and black Hamburgh, Malmsey. Hazel nuts, walnuts, medlars, peaches. Pears: Bergamot, brown beurre. Pineapples, plums, quinces, strawberries, walnuts.
40. In Season in October.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, conger-eels, crabs, dace, dory, eels, gudgeon, haddocks, hake, halibut, herrings, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, prawns, salmon-trout, shrimps, smelts, soles, tench, thornback, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, dotterel, ducks, fowls, green geese, grouse, hares, larks, moor-game, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkey, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, wild pigeons, wild rabbits, woodcocks.
iv. Vegetables.
Artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, coleworts, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach (winter), tomatoes, truffles, turnips.
v. Fruit.
Apples: Pearmain, golden pippin, golden rennet, royal russet. Black and white bullace, damsons, late figs, almonds, filberts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts. Grapes, medlars. Peaches: Old Newington, October. Pears: Bergamot, beurre, Chaumontel, Bon Chretien, swan's-egg. Quinces, services, walnuts.
41. In Season in November.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, dace, dory, eels, gudgeons, gurnets, haddocks, hake, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, tench, thornback, turbot, whiting.
ii. Meat.
Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Chickens, dotterel, ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, hares, larks, partridges, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkey, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, wood-cocks.
iv. Vegetables.
Jerusalem artichokes, beet root, borecole, broccoli, cabbages, cardoons, carrots, celery, chervil, coleworts, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsnips, potatoes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach, tomatoes, turnips.
v. Fruit.
Almonds. Apples: Holland pippin, golden pippin, Kentish pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain, Wheeler's russets. Bullace, chestnuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts, grapes, medlars. Pears: Bergamot, Chaumontel, Bon Chretien.
[WITH ECONOMY, FEW NEED BE POOR.]
42. In Season in December.
i. Fish.
Barbel, brill, turbot, carp, cockles, cod, crabs, dab, dory, eels, gudgeon, gurnets, haddocks, bake, halibut, herrings, ling, lobsters, mackerel, mussels, oysters, perch, pike, plaice, ruffe, salmon, shrimps, skate, smelts, soles, sprats, sturgeon, tench, whitings.
ii. Meat.
Beef, house-lamb, mutton, pork, veal, doe venison.
iii. Poultry and Game.
Capons, chickens, ducks, fowls, geese, grouse, guinea-fowl, hares, larks, partridges, pea-fowl, pheasants, pigeons, rabbits, snipes, teal, turkeys, wheat-ears, widgeon, wild ducks, woodcocks.
iv. Vegetables.
Jerusalem artichokes, beet root, borecole, white and purple broccoli, cabbages, cardoons, carrots, celery, endive, herbs of all sorts, leeks, lettuces, onions, parsnips, potatoes, salad, Savoys, scorzonera, skirrets, shalots, spinach, truffles, turnips, forced asparagus.
v. Fruit.
Almonds. Apples: Golden pippin, nonpareil, winter pearmain, golden russet. Chestnuts, hazel nuts, walnuts, filberts, Almeria grapes, medlars, oranges. Pears: Bergamot, beurre d'hiver.
43. Drying Herbs.
Fresh herbs are preferable to dried ones, but as they cannot always be obtained, it is most important to dry herbs at the proper seasons:
Basil is in a fit state for drying about the middle of August, Burnet in June, July, and August, Chervil in May, June, and July. Elder Flowers in May, June, and July. Fennel in May, June, and July. Knotted Marjoram during July. Lemon Thyme end of July and through August. Mint, end of June and July. Orange Flowers, May, June, ard July. Parsley, May, June, and July. Sage, August and September. Summer Savoury, end of July and August. Tarragon, June, July, and August. Thyme, end of July and August. Winter Savoury, end of July and August.
These herbs always at hand will be a great aid to the cook. Herbs should be gathered on a dry day; they should be immediately well cleansed, and dried by the heat of a stove or Dutch oven. The leaves should then be picked off, pounded and sifted, put into stoppered bottles, labelled, and put away for use. Those who are unable or may not care to take the trouble to dry herbs, can obtain them prepared for use in bottles at the green-grocer's.
44. Dr. Kitchiner's Rules for Marketing.
The best rule for marketing is to pay ready money for everything, and to deal with the most respectable tradesmen in your neighbourhood. If you leave it to their integrity to supply you with a good article at the fair market price, you will be supplied with better provisions, and at as reasonable a rate as those bargain-hunters who trot "around, around, around about" a market till they are trapped to buy some unchewable old poultry, tough tup-mutton, stringy cow-beef, or stale fish, at a very little less than the price of prime and proper food. With savings like these they toddle home in triumph, cackling all the way, like a goose that has got ankle-deep into good luck. All the skill of the most accomplished cook will avail nothing unless she is furnished with prime provisions. The best way to procure these is to deal with shops of established character: you may appear to pay, perhaps, ten per cent. more than you would were you to deal with those who pretend to sell cheap, but you would be much more than in that proportion better served. Every trade has its tricks and deceptions; those who follow them can deceive you if they please, and they are too apt to do so if you provoke the exercise of their over-reaching talent. Challenge them to a game at "Catch who can," by entirely relying on your own judgment, and you will soon find nothing but very long experience can make you equal to the combat of marketing to the utmost advantage. If you think a tradesman has imposed upon you, never use a second word, if the first will not do, nor drop the least hint of an imposition; the only method to induce him to make an abatement is the hope of future favours; pay the demand, and deal with the gentleman no more; but do not let him see that you are displeased, or as soon as you are out of sight your reputation will suffer as much as your pocket has. Before you go to market, look over your larder, and consider well what things are wanting—especially on a Saturday. No well-regulated family can suffer a disorderly caterer to be jumping in and out to make purchases on a Sunday morning. You will be enabled to manage much better if you will make out a bill of fare for the week on the Saturday before; for example, for a family of half a dozen:
Sunday Roast beef and pudding.
Monday Fowl, what was left of pudding fried, or warmed in the Dutch oven.
Tuesday Calf's head, apple pie.
Wednesday Leg of mutton.
Thursday Ditto broiled or hashed, and pancakes.
Friday Fish, pudding.
Saturday Fish, or eggs and bacon.
It is an excellent plan to have certain things on certain days. When your butcher or poulterer knows what you will want, he has a better chance of doing his best for you; and never think of ordering beef for roasting except for Sunday. When you order meat, poultry, or fish, tell the tradesman when you intend to dress it: he will then have it in his power to serve you with provision that will do him credit, which the finest meat, &c., in the world will never do, unless it has been kept a proper time to be ripe and tendar.
(Kitchiner's Cook's Oracle 56th Thousand. 5s. Houlsion & Sons.)
[DO GOOD TO YOUR ENEMY, THAT HE MAY BECOME YOUR FRIEND.]
45. The Family Circle
Under this title a group of acquaintances in London once instituted and carried out a series of friendly parties. The following form of invitation, and the rules of the "Family Circle," will be found interesting, probably useful:
Will you do me the favour of meeting here, as a guest, on——— next, at seven precisely, a few friends who have kindly joined in an attempt to commence occasional pleasant and social parties, of which the spirit and intent will be better understood by the perusal of the few annexed remarks and rules from
Yours sincerely,———
"They manage it better in France," is a remark to be often applied with reference to social life in England, and the writer fancies that the prevalence here of a few bad customs, easily changed, causes the disadvantageous difference between ourselves and our more courteous and agreeable neighbours.
i. Worldly appearance; the phantom leading many to suppose that wealth is the standard of worth—in the minds of friends, a notion equally degrading to both parties.
ii. Overdress; causing unnecessary expense and waste of time.
iii. Expensive entertainments, as regards refreshments.
iv. Late hours.
The following brief rules are suggested, in a hope to show the way to a more constant, easy, and friendly intercourse amongst friends, the writer feeling convinced that society is equally beneficial and requisite—in fact, that mankind in seclusion, like the sword in the scabbard, often loses polish, and gradually rusts.
RULE I. That meetings be held in rotation at each member's house, for the enjoyment of conversation; music, grave and gay; dancing, gay only; and card-playing at limited stakes.
RULE II. That such meetings commence at seven and end about or after twelve, and that members and guests be requested to remember that punctuality has been called the politeness of kings.
RULE III. That as gentlemen are allowed for the whole season to appear, like the raven, in one suit, ladies are to have the like privilege; and that no lady be allowed to quiz or notice the habits of another lady; and that demi-toilette in dress be considered the better taste in the family circle; not that the writer wishes to raise or lower the proper standard of ladies' dress, which ought to be neither too high nor too low, but at a happy medium.
RULE IV. That any lady infringing the last rule be liable to reproof by the oldest lady present at the meeting, if the oldest lady, like the oldest inhabitant, can be discovered.
RULE V. That every member or guest, be requested to bring with them their own vocal, instrumental, or dance music, and take it away with them, if possible, to avoid loss and confusion.
RULE VI. That no member or guest, able to sing, play, or dance, refuse, unless excused by medical certificate; and that no cold or sore throat be allowed to last more than a week.
RULE VII. That as every member or guest known to be able to sing, play, or dance, is bound to do so if requested, the performer (especially if timid) is to be kindly criticized and encouraged; it being a fact well known, that the greatest masters of an art are always the most lenient critics, from their deep knowledge of the feeling, intelligence, and perseverance required to at all approach perfection.
RULE VIII. That gentlemen present do pay every attention to ladies, especially visitors; but such attention is to be general, and not particular—for instance, no gentleman is to dance more than three times with one lady during the evening, except in the case of lovers, privileged to do odd things during their temporary lunacy, and also married couples, who are expected to dance together at least once during the evening, and oftener if they please.
RULE IX. That to avoid unnecessary expense, the refreshments be limited to cold meat, sandwiches, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, negus, punch, malt liquors, &c., &c.
RULE X. That all personal or face-to-face laudatory speeches (commonly called toasts, or, as may be, roasts) be for the future forbidden, without permission or inquiry, for reasons following:—That as the family circle includes bachelors and spinsters, and he, she, or they may be secretly engaged, it will be therefore cruel to excite hopes that may be disappointed; and that as some well-informed Benedick of long experience may after supper advise the bachelor to find the way to woman's heart—vice versa, some deep-feeling wife or widow, by "pity moven," may, perhaps, after supper advise the spinster the other way, which, in public, is an impropriety manifestly to be avoided.
RULE XI. (suggested by a lady). That any lady, after supper, may (if she please) ask any gentleman apparently diffident, or requiring encouragement, to dance with her, and that no gentleman can of course refuse so kind a request.
RULE XII. That no gentleman be expected to escort any lady home on foot beyond a distance of three miles, unless the gentleman be positive and the lady agreeable.
RULE THE LAST. That as the foregoing remarks and rules are intended, in perfect good faith and spirit, to be considered general and not personal, no umbrage is to be taken, and the reader is to bear in mind the common and homely saying,—
"Always at trifles scorn to take offence, It shows great pride and very little sense."
P.S.—To save trouble to both parties, this invitation be deemed accepted, without the necessity to reply, unless refused within twenty-four hours.
46. Evening Pastimes.
Among the innocent recreations of the fireside, there are few more commendable and practicable than those afforded by what are severally termed Anagrams, Arithmorems, Single and Double Acrostics, Buried Cities, &c., Charades, Conundrums, Cryptographs, Enigmas, Logogriphs, Puzzles, Rebuses, Riddles, Transpositions, &c. Of these there are such a variety, that they are suited to every capacity; and they present this additional attraction, that ingenuity may be exercised in the invention of them, as well as in their solution. Many persons who have become noted for their literary compositions may date the origin of their success to the time when they attempted the composition of a trifling enigma or charade.
47. Acrostics.
The acrostic is a short poem in which the first letters of each line, read collectively, form a name, word, or sentence. The word comes from the Greek akros, extreme, and stichos, order or line. The acrostic was formerly in vogue for valentine and love verses. When employed as a riddle it is called a Rebus, which see.
[AS A MAN LIVES, SO SHALL HE DIE.]
48. Acrostics (Double).
This very fashionable riddle is a double Rebus, the initial and final letters of a word or words selected making two names or two words. The usual plan is to first suggest the foundation words, and then to describe the separate words, whose initials and finals furnish the answer to the question. Thus:
A Party to charm the young and erratic— But likely to frighten the old and rheumatic.
1 The carriage in which the fair visitants came:
2 A very old tribe with a very old name;
3 A brave Prince of Wales free from scandal or shame.
The answer is Picnic.
1 P Phaeton N 2 I Iceni I 3 C Caradoc C
Sometimes the Double Acrostic is in prose, as in this brief example:
A Briton supports his wig, his grand-mother, his comfort, and his country-women.
The answer is, Beef—Beer:
Bob, Eve, Ease, Fair.
49. Acrostics (Triple)
are formed on the same plan, three names being indicated by the initial, central, and final letters of the selected words.
50. Anagrams
are formed by the transposition of the letters of words or sentences, or names of persons, so as to produce a word, sentence, or verse, of pertinent or of widely different meaning. They are very difficult to discover, but are exceedingly striking when good. The following are some of the most remarkable:
Words Transpositions
Astronomers............ No more stars. Catalogues..............Got as a clue. Elegant ................Neat leg. Impatient...............Tim in a pet. Immediately.............I met my Delia. Masquerade .............Queer as mad. Matrimony...............Into my arm. Melodrama...............Made moral. Midshipman..............Mind his map. Old England.............Golden land. Parishioners............I hire parsons. Parliament..............Partial men. Penitentiary............Nay I repeat it. Presbyterian............Best in prayer. Radical Reform..........Rare mad frolic. Revolution..............To love ruin. Sir Robert Peel.........Terrible poser. Sweetheart..............There we sat. Telegraphs..............Great helps.
51. Arithmorems.
This class of riddle is of recent introduction. The Arithmorem is made by substituting figures in a part of the word indicated, for Roman numerals. The nature of the riddle—from the Greek arithmos, number, and the Latin remanere, back again—will be easily seen from the following example, which is a double Arithmorem:
H 51 and a tub—a fine large fish. A 100 and gore—a sprightly movement in music. R 5 and be—a part of speech. U 551 and as and—a Spanish province. To 201 and ran—a stupefying drug. R 102 and nt—an acid. OU 250 and pap—a Mexican town.
The answer is Havanna—Tobacco. Halibut, Allegro, Verb, Andalusia, Narcotic, Nitric, Acapulco.
52. Charades
are compositions, poetical or otherwise, founded upon words, each syllable of which constitutes a noun, the whole of each word constituting another noun of a somewhat different meaning from those supplied by its separate syllables. Words which fully answer these conditions are the best for the purposes of charades; though many other words are employed. In writing, the first syllable is termed "My first," the second syllable "My second," and the complete word "My whole." The following is an example of a Poetical Charade:
The breath of the morning is sweet; The earth is bespangled with flowers, And buds in a countless array Have ope'd at the touch of the showers. The birds, whose glad voices are ever A music delightful to hear, Seem to welcome the joy of the morning, As the hour of the bridal draws near. What is that which now steals on my first, Like a sound from the dreamland of love, And seems wand'ring the valleys among, That they may the nuptials approve? 'Tis a sound which my second explains, And it comes from a sacred abode, And it merrily trills as the villagers throng To greet the fair bride on her road. How meek is her dress, how befitting a bride So beautiful, spotless, and pure! When she weareth my second, oh, long may it be Ere her heart shall a sorrow endure. See the glittering gem that shines forth from her hair— 'Tis my whole, which a good father gave; Twas worn by her mother with honour before— But she sleeps in peace in her grave. Twas her earnest request, as she bade them adieu, That when her dear daughter the altar drew near, She should wear the same gem that her mother had worn When she as a bride full of promise stood there.
The answer is Ear-ring. The bells ring, the sound steals upon the ear, and the bride wears an ear ring. Charades may be sentimental or humorous, in poetry or prose; they may also be acted, in which manner they afford considerable amusement.
53. Charades (Acted).
A drawing room with folded doors is the best for the purpose. Various household appliances are employed to fit up something like a stage, and to supply the fitting scenes. Characters dressed in costumes made up of handkerchiefs, coats, shawls, table-covers, &c., come on and perform an extempore play, founded upon the parts of a word, and its whole, as indicated already. For instance, the events explained in the poem given might be acted—glasses might be rung for bells—something might be said in the course of the dialogues about the sound of the bells being delightful to the ear; there might be a dance of the villagers, in which a ring might be formed; a wedding might be performed, and so on: but for acting charades there are many better words, because Ear-ring could with difficulty be represented without at once betraying the meaning. There is a little work entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," and another work, "Our Charades; and How we Played Them," [1] by Jean Francis, which supply a large number of these Charades. But the following is the most extensive list of words ever published upon which Charades may be founded:
[Note: hyphen added to Art less, Bar rack]
[Footnote 1: "Philosophy and Mirth, united by Pen and Pencil," One Shilling.
"Our Charades; and How we played Them," by Jean Francis, One Shilling.
Both published by Houlston and Sons, Paternoster Square, London, EC.]
[A FOOL'S BOLT IS SOON SHOT.]
54. Words which may be converted into Acting or Written Charades:
Aid-less Air-pump Ale-house Ann-ounce Arch-angel Arm-let Art-less Ass-ail
Ba-boon Back-bite Back-slide Bag-gage Bag-pipe Bag-dad Bail-able Bale-ful Band-age Band-box Bane-ful Bar-bed Bar-gain Bar-rack Bar-row Bat-ten Beard-less Bid-den Bird-lime Birth-right Black-guard Blame-less Block-head Boat-man Boot-jack Book-worm Bound-less Bow-ling Brace-let Brain-less Break-fast Breath-less Brick-bat Brick-dust Bride-cake Bride-groom Broad-cloth Broad-side Broad-sword
Brow-beat Brown-stone Bug-bear Bull-dog Bump-kin Buoy-ant But-ton
Cab-in Can-did Can-ton Care-ful Car-pet Car-rot Cart-ridge Chair-man Chamber-maid Cheer-ful Cheer-less Christ-mas Church-yard Clans-men Clerk-ship Cob-web Cock-pit Cod-ling Coin-age Con-fined Con-firm Con-form Con-tent Con-test Con-tract Con-verse Cork-screw Count-less Court-ship Crab-bed Cross-bow Cur-tail Cut-throat
Dark-some Day-break Death-watch Dog-ma Don-key Drink-able Drug-get Duck-ling
Ear-ring Earth-quake Ear-wig
False-hood Fan-atic Fare-well Far-thing Fear-less Fee-ling Field-farm Fire-lock Fire-man Fire-pan Fire-ship Fire-work Fir-kin Fish-hook Flag-rant Flip-pant Flood-gate Fond-ling Foot-ball Foot-man Foot-pad Foot-step Foot-stool For-age For-bear For-bid Found-ling Fox-glove Free-hold Free-stone Fret-work Fri-day Friend-ship Frost-bite Fur-long
Gain-say Gang-way Glow-worm Glut-ton God-child God-daughter God-father God-like God-mother God-son Gold-finch Gold-smith Goose-berry Grand-father Grate-ful Grave-stone Green-finch Grey-hound Grim-ace Grind-stone Ground-plot Ground-sell Guard-ship Gun-powder
Had-dock Hail-stone Hail-storm Half-penny Ham-let Ham-mock Hand-cuff Hang-man Hap-pen Hard-ship Hard-ware Harts-horn Head-land Head-less Head-long Head-stone Head-strong Hear-say Heart-less Heart-sick Heart-string Hedge-hog Heir-less Heir-loom Hell-hound Hell-kite Hence-forth Hen-roost Herb-age Herds-man Her-self Hid-den High-land High-way Hind-most Hoar-frost Hob-goblin Hogs-head Home-bred Honey-bag Honey-comb Honey-moon Honey-suckle Hood-wink Horse-back Horse-shoe Host-age Hot-bed Hot-house Hot-spur Hounds-ditch Hour-glass House-hold House-maid House-wife Hum-drum Hump-back Hurri-cane
Ill-nature Ill-usage In-action In-born In-crease In-justice Ink-ling In-land In-mate In-no-cent In-sane In-spirit In-tent Inter-meddle Inter-sect Inter-view In-valid In-vent In-vest In-ward Ire-ful Iron-mould I-sing-lass
Jac(k)o-bite Joy-ful Joy-less Justice-ship
Key-stone Kid-nap King-craft King-fisher Kins-man Kit-ten Knight-hood Know-ledge
Lace-man Lady-bird Lady-ship Lamp-black Land-lady Land-lord Land-mark Land-scape Land-tax Lap-dog Lap-pet Laud-able Law-giver Law-suit Lay-man Leap-frog Leap-year Lee-ward Life-guard Like-wise Live-long Load-stone Log-book Log-wood Loop-hole Lord-ship Love-sick Low-land Luck-less Luke-warm
Ma-caw Mad-cap Mad-house Mad-man Mag-pie Main-mast Main-sail Main-spring Mam-moth Man-age Man-date Marks-man Mar-row Mass-acre Match-less May-game Meat-man Mis-chance Mis-chief Mis-count Mis-deed Mis-judge Mis-quote Monks-hood Moon-beam Moon-light Muf-fin
Name-sake Nan-keen Nap-kin Neck-cloth Neck-lace Nest-ling News-paper Nick-name Night-cap Night-gown Night-mare Night-watch Nine-fold Noon-tide North-star North-ward Not-able Not-ice No-where Nut-gall Nut-meg
Oak-apple Oat-cake Oat-meal Off-end Oil-man O-men On-set O-pen O-pinion Our-selves Out-act Out-bid Out-brave Out-brazen Out-cast Out-cry Out-do Out-grow Out-law Out-line Out-live Out-march Out-rage Out-ride Out-run Out-sail Out-sell Out-shine Out-side Out-sit Out-sleep Out-spread Out-stare Out-stretch Out-talk Out-vie Out-ward Out-weigh Out-wit Out-work Out-worn Over-act Over-awe Over-bear Over-board Over-boil Over-burden Over-cast Over-charge Over-cloud Over-come Over-court Over-do Over-due Over-eye Over-feed Over-flow Over-grown Over-head Over-hear Over-heard Over-joy Over-lade Over-lay Over-leap Over-load Over-look Over-mast Over-match Over-pass Over-pay Over-peer Over-plus Over-poise Over-power Over-press Over-rack Over-rate Over-reach Over-right Over-ripen Over-roast Over-rule Over-run Over-see Over-seer Over-set Over-shade Over-shadow Over-shoe Over-shoot Over-sight Over-size Over-sleep Over-spread Over-stock Over-strain Over-sway Over-swell Over-take Over-throw Over-took Over-value Over-work Ox-gall Ox-lip
Pack-age Pack-cloth Pad-dock Pad-lock Pain-ful Pain-less Pal-ace Pal-ate Pal-let Pan-cake Pan-tiler Pa-pa Pa-pal Par-able Pa-rent Pa-ring Par-snip Par-son Par-took Part-ridge Pass-able Pass-over Pas-time Patch-work Pa-tent Path-way Pat-ten Peace-able Pea-cock Pear-led Peer-age Peer-less Pen-knife Pen-man Pen-man-ship Penny-worth Per-jury Pert-in-a-city Pick-lock Pick-pocket Pie-bald Pike-staff Pill-age Pin-cushion Pine-apple Pip-kin Pitch-fork Pit-men Plain-tiff Play-fellow Play-house Play-mate Play-wright Plough-man Plough-share Pole-cat Pol-lute Pop-gun Pop-in-jay Port-age Port-hole Post-age Post-chaise Post-date Post-house Post-man Post-office Pot-ash Pot-hook Pound-age Prim-rose Prior-ship Prop-a-gate Punch-bowl
Quad-rant Quench-less Quick-lime Quick-sand Quick-set Quick-silver
Rain-bow Ram-part Ran-sack Rap-a-city Rasp-berry Rattle-snake Red-breast Red-den Rid-dance Ring-leader Ring-let Ring-tail Ring-worm Rolling-pin Rose-water Rot-ten Round-about Round-house Run-a-gate Rush-light
Safe-guard Sal-low Sand-stone Sat-in Sat-ire Sauce-box Sauce-pan Saw-dust Saw-pit Scare-crow Scarf-skin Scar-let School-fellow School-master School-mistress Scot-free Screech-owl Scul-lion Sea-born Sea-calf Sea-coal Sea-faring Sea-girt Sea-gull Sea-maid Sea-man Seam-less Seam-stress Sea-nymph Sea-piece Sea-port Sea-sick Sea-son Sea-ward Second-hand Seed-cake Seed-ling Seed-pearl Seed-time Seers-man Sex-tile Sex-ton Shame-less Sham-rock Shape-less Sharp-set Sheep-cot Sheep-shearing Sheep-walk Sheet-anchor Shell-fish Shift-less Ship-board Ship-wreck Shirt-less Shoe-string Shoe-waker Shop-board Shop-keeper Shop-man Shore-less Short-hand Short-lived Short-sighted Shot-free Shoulder-belt Shrove-tide Side-board Side-long Side-saddle Side-ways Sight-less Silk-weaver Silk-worm Silver-smith Sin-less Six-fold Skim-milk Skip-jack Sky-lark Sky-light Slap-dash Sleeve-less Slip-board Slip-shod Slip-slop Slope-wise Slow-worm Snip-pet Snip-snap Snow-ball Snow-drop Snuff-box Sod-den Sol-ace So-lo Sol-vent Some-body Some-how Some-time Some-what Some-where Song-stress Son-net Southern-wood Span-king Spare-rib Spar-row Speak-able Speech-less Spite-ful Sports-man Spot-less Spring-halt Spruce-beer Stair-case Star-board Star-gazer Star-less Star-light Star-like Star-ling States-man Stead-fast Steel-yard Steer-age Step-dame Step-daughter Step-father Step-mother Steward-ship Stiff-neck Still-born Stock-jobber Stone-fruit Store-fruit Store-house Stow-age Strata-gem Straw-berry Stream-let Strip-ling Sum-mary Summer-house Summer-set Sun-beam Sun-burnt Sun-day Sun-dry Sun-flower Sun-less Sup-plant Sup-pliant Sup-port Sup-port-able Sup-position Sup-press Swans-down Sweep-stake Sweet-bread Sweet-briar Sweet-heart Sweet-william Sweet-willow Swine-herd Swords-man
Tar-get Tar-tar Taw-dry Tax-able Tea-cup Teem-ful Teem-less Tell-tale Ten-able Ten-a-city Ten-ant Ten-dance Ten-don Ten-dril Ten-or Thank-ful Thank-less Them-selves Thence-forth There-after There-at There-by There-fore There-from There-in There-on There-to There-with Thick-set Thought-ful Thought-less Thread-bare Three-fold Three-score Thresh-old Through-out Thunder-bolt Thunder-struck Till-age Tip-pet Tip-staff Tire-some Title-page Toad-stool Toil-some Tom-boy Tooth-ache Top-knot Top-most Top-sail Touch-stone Touch-wood Towns-man Toy-shop Track-less Trap-door Tre-foil Trip-let Trip-thong Trod-den Turn-pike Turn-spit Turn-stile Tutor-age Twelfth-night Twelfth-tide Two-fold Two-pence
Up-braid Up-hill Up-hold Up-land Up-ride Up-right Up-roar Up-shot Up-start Up-ward Use-less
Vain-glory Van-guard Vault-age
Wag-on Wag-tail Wain-scot Waist-coat Wake-ful Wal-nut Wan-ton Ward-mate Ward-robe Ward-ship Ware-house War-fare War-like War-rant Wash-ball Waste-ful Watch-ful Watch-man Watch-word Water-course Water-fall Water-fowl Water-man Water-mark Water-mill Water-work Way-lay Way-ward Weather-cock Weather-glass Weather-wise Web-bed Web-foot Wed-lock Week-day Wel-come Wel-fare Well-born Well-bred Wheel-wright Where-at Where-by Whet-stone Whip-cord Whip-hand Whirl-pool Whirl-wind White-wash Whit-low Whit-sun-tide Who-ever Whole-sale Whole-some Wild-fire Wil-low Wind-lass Wind-mill Wind-pipe Win-now Win-some Wise-acre Wit-less Wolf-dog Wood-cock Wood-land Wood-lark Wood-man Wood-note Wood-nymph Work-house Work-man Work-shop Worm-wood Wrath-ful Wrath-less Wrist-band Writ-ten
Year-ling Youth-ful
[A LIAR SHOULD HAVE A GOOD MEMORY.]
55. Chronograms or Chrono-graphs
are riddles in which the letters of the Roman notation in a sentence or series of words are so arranged as to make up a date. The following is a good example:
My Day Closed Is In Immortality.
The initials MDCIII. give 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth's death. Sometimes the Chronogram is employed to express a date on coins or medals; but oftener it is simply used as a riddle:
A poet who in blindness wrote; another lived in Charles's reign; a third called the father of English verse; a Spanish dramatist; the scolding wife of Socrates; and the Prince of Latin poets,—their initials give the year of the Great Plague—MDCLXV.—1665: Milton, Dryden, Chaucer, Lope-de-Vega, Xantippe, Virgil.
The word comes from Chronos, time, and gramma, a letter.
[BEGIN WELL AND END BETTER.]
56. Conundrums.
These are simple catches, in which the sense is playfully cheated, and are generally founded upon words capable of double meaning. The following are examples:
Where did Charles the First's executioner dine, and what did he take? He took a chop at the King's Head.
When is a plant to be dreaded more than a mad dog? When it's madder.
What is majesty stripped of its externals? It is a jest. [The m and the y, externals, are taken away.]
Why is hot bread like a caterpillar? Because it's the grub that makes the butter fly.
Why did the accession of Victoria throw a greater damp over England than the death of King William? Because the King was missed (mist) while the Queen was reigning (raining).
Why should a gouty man make his will? To have his legatees (leg at ease).
Why are bankrupts more to be pitied than idiots? Because bankrupts are broken, while idiots are only cracked.
Why is the treadmill like a true convert? Because it's turning is the result of conviction.
When may a nobleman's property be said to be all feathers? When his estates are all entails (hen-tails).
[EVERY MAN KNOWS WHERE HIS OWN SHOE PINCHES.]
57. Cryptography, or secret writing
from the Greek cryptos, a secret, and graphein, to write—has been largely employed in state despatches, commercial correspondence, love epistles, and riddles. The telegraphic codes employed in the transmission of news by electric wire, partakes somewhat of the cryptographic character, the writer employing certain words or figures, the key to which is in the possession of his correspondent. The single-word despatch sent by Napier to the Government of India, was a sort of cryptographic conundrum—Peccavi, I have sinned (Scinde); and in the agony column of the 'Times' there commonly appear paragraphs which look puzzling enough until we discover the key-letter or figure. Various and singular have been the devices adopted—as, for instance, the writing in the perforations of a card especially prepared, so as only to allow the real words of the message to be separated from the mass of writing by means of a duplicate card with similar perforations; the old Greek mode of writing on the edges of a strip of paper wound round a stick in a certain direction, and the substitution of figures or signs for letters or words. Where one letter is always made to Stand for another, the secret of a cryptograph is soon discovered, but when, as in the following example, the same letter does not invariably correspond to the letter for which it is a substitute, the difficulty of deciphering the cryptograph is manifestly increased:
Ohs ya h sych, oayarsa rr loucys syms Osrh srore rrhmu h smsmsmah emshyr snms.
The translation of this can be made only by the possessor of the key.
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z h u s h m o n e y b y c h a r l e s h r o s s e s q
"Hush Money, by Charles H. Ross, Esq."—twenty-six letters which, when applied to the cryptograph, will give a couplet from Parnell's "Hermit":
"Far in a wild, unknown to public view, From youth to age a reverend hermit grew."
The employment of figures and signs for letters is the most usual form of the cryptograph. From the following jumble we get a portion of Hamlet's address to the Ghost:
9 a 6 2 x # 9 a 1 3 a 3 # 2 # * 7 6 9 5 2 1 2 7 2 a 1 ; # 4 2 8 * ; # ( 3 3 , * 7 8 2 9 x , 1 * 6 * 4 x 3 a 1 9 a 2 1
With the key
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 9 4 5 1 2 7 6 8 3 + - x a * ( ) # , ; : . o $ /
it is easy to write and not very hard to read the entire speech. The whole theory of the cryptogram is that each correspondent possesses the key to the secret. To confound an outside inquirer the key is often varied. A good plan is to take a line from any ordinary book and substitute the first twenty-six of its letters for those of the alphabet. In your next cryptogram you take the letters from another page or another book. It is not necessary to give an example. Enough will be seen from what we have written to instruct an intelligent inquirer.
58. Decapitations and Curtailments
are riddles somewhat of the nature of the Logogriph, which see. In the first, the omission of the successive initials produces new words, as—Prelate, Relate, Elate, Late, Ate. In the curtailment the last letter of the word is taken away with a similar result, as—Patent, Paten, Pate, Pat, Pa. Of like kind are the riddles known as variations, mutilations, reverses, and counterchanges. A good example of the last-named is this:
Charge, Chester, Charge: on, Stanley, on! Were the last words of Marmion. Had I but been in Stanley's place, When Marmion urged him to the chase, A tear might come on every face.
The answer is onion—On, I, on.
[MOCK NOT A COBBLER FOR HIS BLACK THUMB.]
59. Enigmas
are compositions of a different character, based upon ideas, rather than upon words, and frequently constructed so as to mislead, and to surprise when the solution is made known. Enigmas may be founded upon simple catches, like Conundrums, in which form they are usually called RIDDLES, such as:
"Though you set me on foot, I shall be on my head."
The answer is, A nail in a shoe. The celebrated Enigma on the letter H, by Miss Catherine Fanshawe, but usually attributed to Lord Byron, commencing:
"'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell, And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;"
and given elsewhere in this volume (See par. 215, page 77), is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an Enigma.
60. Hidden Words.
A riddle in which names of towns, persons, rivers, &c., are hidden or arranged, without transposition, in the midst of sentences which convey no suggestion of their presence. In the following sentence, for instance, there are hidden six Christian names:—Here is hid a name the people of Pisa acknowledge: work at each word, for there are worse things than to give the last shilling for bottled wine.—The names are Ida, Isaac, Kate, Seth, Ethel, Edwin. Great varieties of riddles, known as Buried Cities, Hidden Towns, &c., are formed on this principle, the words being sometimes placed so as to read backwards, or from right to left. The example given will, however, sufficiently explain the mode of operation.
61. Lipogram
from leipein, to leave out, and gramma, a letter—is a riddle in which a name or sentence is written without its vowels, as:
Thprffthpddngsthtng, The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Whnhnorslst ts—rlftd, Dths bt—sr rtrt fm nfmy.
"When honour's lost 'tis a relief to die, Death's but a sure retreat from infamy."
This riddle sometimes appears as a proverb.
"Fear's the white feather all cowards wear." ——s' th wht fthr ll cwrds——
62. Logogriph.
This is a riddle (logos, a word, and griphos, a riddle) in which a word is made to undergo several changes. These changes are brought about by the addition, subtraction, omission, or substitution of a letter or letters. The following, by the late Lord Macaulay, is an excellent example:
"Cut off my head, how singular I act: Cut off my tail, and plural I appear. Cut off my head and tail—most curious fact, Although my middle's left, there's nothing there! What is my head cut off?—a sounding sea! What is my tail cut off?—a flowing river! Amid their mingling deaths I fearless play Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!"
The answer is cod. Cut off its head and it is od (odd, singular); its tail, and it is Co., plural, for company; head and tail, and it is o, nothing. Its head is a sounding C (sea), its tail a flowing D (river Dee), and amid their depths the cod may fearless play, parent of softest sounds yet mute for ever.
63. Metagram,
a riddle in which the change of the initial letter produces a series of words of different meanings; from meta, implying change, and gramma, a letter. Thus:
I cover your head; change my head, and I set you to sleep; change it again and again, and with every change comes a new idea.—Cap, Nap, Gap, Sap, Hap, Map, Lap, Pap, Rap, Tap. This kind of riddle is also known as word-capping.
[GUNPOWDER MADE BY A MONK AT COLOGNE A.D.1330.]
64. Palindrome,
from the Greek palin-dromos, running back again. This is a word, sentence, or verse that reads the same both forwards and backwards—as, madam, level, reviver; live on no evil; love your treasure and treasure your love; you provoked Harry before Harry provoked you; servants respect masters when masters respect servants. Numerous examples of Palindrome or reciprocal word-twisting exist in Latin and French; but in English it is difficult to get a sentence which will be exactly the same when read either way. The best example is the sentence which, referring to the first banishment of the Great Napoleon, makes him say, as to his power to conquer Europe:
"Able was I ere I saw Elba."
65. Puzzles
vary much. One of the simplest that we know is this:
Take away half of thirteen and let eight remain.
Write XIII on a slate, or on a piece of paper—rub out the lower half of the figures, and VIII will remain.
Upon the principle of the square-words, riddlers form Diagonals, Diamonds, Pyramids, Crosses, Stars, &c. These specimens will show their peculiarities:
66. Oblique Puzzle.
Malice, eight, a polemical meeting, a Scottish river, what I write with, a decided negative, the capital of Ireland. The initials downward name a celebrated musician.
(solution in p.67 below.)
67. Diagonal Puzzle.
A direction, a singer, a little bird, a lady's ring, a sharp shaver.
Read from left to right and right to left, the centrals show two famous novelists.
The following are answers to these two puzzles, and afford good examples of their construction to any one who wishes to try his hand at their manufacture.
OBLIQUE. DIAGONAL.
R E V E N G E L A B E L O C T A V E T E N O R S Y N O D D I V E R S P E Y J E W E L I N K R A Z O R N O I
68. Diamond Puzzle.
The head of a mouse, what the mouse lives in, the county of calves, the city of porcelain, a German town, a Transatlantic stream, a royal county, a Yorkshire borough, Eve's temptation, our poor relation, myself. Centrals down and across, show a wide, wide, long river.
The construction of the Diamond Puzzle is exhibited in the following diagram, which is, at the same time, the answer to it.
DIAMOND. M A I R E S S E X D R E S D E N G O T T I N G E N M I S S I S S I P P I B E R K S H I R E H A L I F A X A P P L E A P E I
69. Rebuses
are a class of Enigma generally formed by the first, sometimes the first and last, letters of words, or of transpositions of letters, or additions to words. Dr. Johnson, however, represents Rebus to be a word represented by a picture. And putting the Doctor's definition and our own explanation together, the reader may glean a good conception of the nature of the Rebus of which the following is an example:
The father of the Grecian Jove; A little boy who's blind; The foremost land in all the world; The mother of mankind; A poet whose love-sonnets are Still very much admired;— The initial letters will declare A blessing to the tired.
Answer—Saturn; Love; England; Eve; Plutarch. The initials form sleep.
The excellent little work mentioned in para. 63, entitled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," has this novelty, that many of the Enigmas are accompanied by enigmatical pictures, so that the eye is puzzled as well as the ear.
[GLASS FIRST BROUGHT TO ENGLAND A.D. 668.]
70. Square Words.
A comparatively modern sort of riddle, in which the letters of each word selected reads both across and down. With four letters the making of the riddle is easy, but with five or six the difficulty increases. We give an example of each.
i. Inside, a thought, a liquid gem, a timid creature.
ii. To run out, odour, to boil, to loosen, unseen essence.
iii. Compensations, a court favourite, to assist, to bite slightly, Spanish money, sarcasms.
i. ii. P I T H I S S U E I D E A S C E N T T E A R S E E T H H A R E U N T I E E T H E R
iii. A M E N D S M I N I O N E N A B L E N I B B I E D O L L A R S N E E R S
With seven or eight letters the riddle becomes exceedingly difficult, especially if the selected words are of like character and syllables.
71. Chess, Laws of.
The rules given below are those which are now universally accepted by English players.
i. The board is to be so placed as to leave a white square at the right hand of the player.
ii. Any mistake in placing the board or the men may be rectified before the fourth move is completed, but not after.
iii. The players draw lots for the first move, and take the move alternately.
[When odds are given, the player giving them moves first. White generally moves first; therefore, if black win the move, the board is turned. It is usual to play with the white and black men alternately.]
iv. The piece touched must be moved. When the fingers of the player have once left the man, it cannot be again removed from the square it occupies.
[Except the move be illegal, when the opponent can insist on the piece being moved in the proper manner, or for the opposing King to be moved.]
v. In touching a piece simply to adjust it, the player must notify to his adversary that such is his intention.
[It is usual, in such a case, to say J'adoube (I adjust); but he may not touch a piece with the intention of moving it, and then, when he discover his mistake, say, J'adoube. The phrase is simply intended to be used when a piece is displaced or overturned by accident.]
vi. If a player take one of his own men by mistake, or touch a wrong man, or one of his opponent's men, or make an illegal move, his adversary may compel him to take the man, make the right move, move his King, or replace the piece, and make a legal move.
vii. A pawn may be played either one or two squares at a time when first moved.
[In the latter case it is liable to be taken en passant, with a pawn that could have taken it had it been played only one square.]
viii. A player cannot castle under any of the following circumstances:—1. If he has moved either King or Rook. 2. If the King be in check. 3. If there be any piece between the King and the Rook. 4. If the King, in moving, pass over any square commanded by any one of his adversary's forces.
[You cannot castle to get out of check.]
ix. If a player give a check without crying "check," the adversary need not take notice of the check. But if two moves only are made before the discovery of the mistake, the pieces may be replaced, and the game properly played.
x. If a player say check without actually attacking the King, and his adversary move his King or take the piece, the latter may elect either to let the move stand or have the pieces replaced and another move made.
xi. If, at the end of a game, the players remain, one with a superior to an inferior force, or even if they have equal forces, the defending player may call upon his adversary to mate in fifty moves on each side, or draw the game.
[If one player persist in giving perpetual check, or repeating the same move, his opponent may count the moves for the draw; in which case touching a piece if reckoned a move.]
xii. Stalemate, or perpetual check is a drawn game.
xiii. Directly a pawn reaches its eighth square it must be exchanged for a piece.
[It is usual to change the pawn for a Queen, but it may be replaced by a Rook, Bishop, or Knight, without reference to the pieces already on the board. In practice it would be changed for a Queen or a Knight, seeing that the Queen's moves include those of the Rook and Bishop. Thus you may have two or more Queens, three or more Rooks, Bishops, or Knights on the board at the end of the game.]
xiv. Should any dispute arise, the question must be submitted to a bystander, whose decision is to be considered final.
For information as to the best modes of play, the Openings and Endings of Games, &c., read 'The Book of Chess', by G.H. Selkirk, published by Messrs. Houlston and Sons.
72. Draughts, Rules of the Game.
The accepted laws for regulating the game are as follows:
i. The board is to be so placed as to have the white or black double corners at the right hand of the player.
ii. The first move is taken by chance or agreement, and in all the subsequent games of the same sitting, the first move is taken alternately. Black generally moves first.
iii. Any action which prevents your adversary from having a full view of the board is not allowed, and if persisted in, loses the game to the offending player.
iv. The man touched must be moved, but the men may be properly adjusted during any part of the game. After they are so placed, if either player, when it is his turn to play, touch a man, he must move it. If a man be so moved as to be visible on the angle separating the squares, the player so touching the man must move it to the square indicated.
[By this it is meant that a player may not move first to one square and then to another. Once moved on to a square, the man must remain there.]
v. It is optional with the player either to allow his opponent to stand the huff, or to compel him to take the offered piece.
["Standing the huff" is when a player refuses to take an offered piece, but either intentionally or accidentally makes another move. His adversary then removes the man that should have taken the piece, and makes his own move—huff and move, as it is called.]
vi. Ten minutes is the longest time allowed to consider a move, which if not made within that time, forfeits the game. |
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