EGGS FOR SALLAD. Boil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them into a bason of cold water, to render the yolks firm and hard. Rub them through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a spoonful of water, or fine double cream, and add two table-spoonfuls of oil or melted butter. When these are well mixed, add by degrees a tea-spoonful of salt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard. Add very gradually three table-spoonfuls of vinegar, rub it with the other ingredients till thoroughly incorporated, and cut up the white of the egg to garnish the top of the sallad. Let the sauce remain at the bottom of the bowl, and do not stir up the sallad till it is to be eaten. This sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for cucumbers, celery, and radishes.

EGGS FOR THE SICK. Eggs very little boiled or poached, when taken in small quantities, convey much nourishment. The yolk only, when dressed, should be eaten by invalids. An egg divided, and the yolk and white beaten separately, then mixed with a glass of wine, will afford two very wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together. An egg broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a bason of milk, makes a breakfast more supporting than tea only.

EGGS FOR TURTLE. Beat in a mortar three yolks of eggs that have been boiled hard. Make it into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, roll it into small balls, and throw them into boiling water for two minutes to harden.

EGG BALLS. Boil the eggs hard, and put them in cold water. Take out the yolks, and pound them fine in a mortar, wetting them with raw yolks, about one to three. Season them with salt and white pepper, dry them with flour, and roll them into small balls, as they swell very much in boiling. When dressed, boil them in gravy for a minute.

EGG PIE. Boil twelve eggs hard, and chop them with one pound of marrow, or beef suet. Season with a little cinnamon and nutmeg finely beaten, adding one pound of currants clean washed and picked, two or three spoonfuls of cream, a little sweet wine, and rose water. Mix all together, and fill the pie: when it is baked, stir in half a pound of fresh butter, and the juice of a lemon.

EGG MINCE PIES. Boil six eggs hard, shred them small, and double the quantity of shred suet. Then add a pound of currants washed and picked, or more if the eggs were large; the peel of one lemon shred very fine, and the juice; six spoonfuls of sweet wine, mace, nutmeg, sugar, a very little salt; orange, lemon, and citron, candied. Cover the pies with a light paste.

EGG SAUCE. Boil the eggs hard, chop them fine, and put them into melted butter. If thrown into cold water after being boiled, the yolks will become firmer, will be easier to cut, and the surface be prevented from turning black. Egg sauce will be found an agreeable accompaniment to roast fowl, or salt fish.

EGG WINE. Beat up an egg, and mix it with a spoonful of cold water. Set on the fire a glass of white wine, half a glass of water, with sugar and nutmeg. When it boils, pour a little of it to the egg by degrees, till the whole is mixed, and stir it well. Then return the whole into the saucepan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for about a minute. If it boil, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. The wine may be made without warming the egg; it is then lighter on the stomach, though not so pleasant to the taste. Serve it with toast.

ELDER. The foetid smell of the common elder is such, especially of the dwarf elder, that if the leaves and branches be strewed among cabbage and cauliflower plants, or turnips, it will secure them from the ravages of flies and caterpillars; and if hung on the branches of trees, it will protect them from the effects of blight. Or if put into the subterraneous paths of the moles, it will drive them from the garden. An infusion of the leaves in water, and sprinkled over rose-buds and other flowers, will preserve them from the depredations of the caterpillar.

ELDER ROB. Clear some ripe elder-berries from the stalks, bake them in covered jars for two hours, and squeeze the juice through a strainer. To four quarts of juice put one pound of sugar, and stir it over the fire till reduced to one quart. When cold, tie it down with a bladder, and keep it in a dry place. It is very good for sore throats and fevers.

ELDER SYRUP. Pick off the elder berries when fully ripe, bake them in a stone jar, strain them through a coarse sieve, and put the juice into a clean kettle. To every quart of juice add a pound of fine soft sugar, boil and skim it well: when it is clear, pour it into a jar, cool it, and cover it down. Half a pint of this syrup added to a gallon of new made wine, will give it a very rich flavour, or it may be used for other purposes.

ELDER WINE. Pick the berries from the stalk, and to every quart allow two quarts of water. Boil them half an hour, run the liquor and break the fruit through a hair sieve, and to every quart of juice put three quarters of a pound of moist sugar. Boil the whole a quarter of an hour, with some peppercorns, ginger, and a few cloves. Pour it into a tub, and when of a proper warmth, into the barrel, with toast and yeast to work, which there is more difficulty to make it do than most other liquors. When it ceases to hiss, put a quart of brandy to eight gallons, and stop it up. Bottle it in the spring, or at Christmas.—To make white elder wine, very much like Frontiniac, boil eighteen pounds of white powder sugar with six gallons of water, and two whites of eggs well beaten. Skim it clean, and but in a quarter of a peck of elder flowers from the tree that bears white berries, but do not keep them on the fire. Stir it when nearly cold, and put in six spoonfuls of lemon juice, four or five spoonfuls of yeast, and beat it well into the liquor. Stir it every day, put into the cask six pounds of the best raisins stoned, and tun the wine. Stop it close, and bottle it in six months. When well kept, this wine will pass for Frontiniac.

ELDER FLOWER WINE. To six gallons of spring water put six pounds of sun raisins cut small, and a dozen pounds of fine sugar: boil the whole together for about an hour and a half. When the liquor is cold, put in half a peck of ripe elder flowers, with about a gill of lemon juice, and half the quantity of ale yeast. Cover it up, and after standing three days, strain it off. Pour it into a cask that is quite clean, and that will hold it with ease. When this is done, add a quart of Rhenish wine to every gallon of liquor, and let the bung be lightly put in for twelve or fourteen days. Then stop it down fast, and put it in a cool dry place for four or five months, till it is quite settled and fine: then bottle it off.

ENGLISH BAMBOO. About the middle of May, cut some large young shoots of elder; strip off the outward peel, and soak them all night in some strong salt and water. Dry them separately in a cloth, and have in readiness the following pickle. To a quart of vinegar put an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of sliced ginger, a little mace and pimento, all boiled together. Put the elder shoots into a stone jar, pour on the liquor boiling hot, stop it up close, and set it by the fire two hours, turning the jar often to keep it hot. If not green when cold, strain off the liquor, pour it on boiling again, and keep it hot as before.—Or if it be intended to make Indian pickle, the addition of these shoots will be found to be a great improvement. In this case it will only be necessary to pour boiling vinegar and mustard seed on them, and to keep them till the jar of pickles shall be ready to receive them. The cluster of elder flowers before it opens, makes a delicious pickle to eat with boiled mutton. It is prepared by only pouring vinegar over the flowers.

ENGLISH BRANDY. English or British brandy may be made in smaller quantities, according to the following proportions. To sixty gallons of clear rectified spirits, put one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, one pound of cassia buds ground, one pound of bitter almond meal, (the cassia and almond meal to be mixed together before they are put to the spirits) two ounces of sliced orris root, and about thirty or forty prune stones pounded. Shake the whole well together, two or three times a day, for three days or more. Let them settle, then pour in one gallon of the best wine vinegar; and add to every four gallons, one gallon of foreign brandy.

ENGLISH CHAMPAIGNE. Take gooseberries before they are ripe, crush them with a mallet in a wooden bowl; and to every gallon of fruit, put a gallon of water. Let it stand two days, stirring it well. Squeeze the mixture with the hands through a hop sieve, then measure the liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds and a half of loaf sugar. Mix it well in the tub, and let it stand one day. Put a bottle of the best brandy into the cask, which leave open five or six weeks, taking off the scum as it rises. Then stop it up, and let it stand one year in the barrel before it is bottled.

ENGLISH SHERRY. Boil thirty pounds of lump sugar in ten gallons of water, and clear it of the scum. When cold, put a quart of new alewort to every gallon of liquor, and let it work in the tub a day or two. Then put it into a cask with a pound of sugar candy, six pounds of fine raisins, a pint of brandy, and two ounces of isinglass. When the fermentation is over, stop it close: let it stand eight months, rack it off, and add a little more brandy. Return it to the cask again, and let it stand four months before it is bottled.

ENGLISH WINES. During the high price of foreign wine, home-made wines will be found particularly useful; and though sugar is dear, they may be prepared at a quarter of the expence. If carefully made, and kept three or four years, a proportionable strength being given, they would answer the purpose of foreign wines for health, and cause a very considerable reduction in the expenditure. Sugar and water are the principal basis of home-made wine; and when these require to be boiled, it is proper to beat up the whites of eggs to a froth, and mix them with the water when cold, in the proportion of one egg to a gallon. When the sugar and water are boiled, the liquor should be cooled quickly; and if not for wines that require fermenting, it may be put into the cask when cold. If the wine is to be fermented, the yeast should be put into it when it is milk-warm; but must not be left more than two nights to ferment, before it is put into the cask. Particular care should be taken to have the cask sweet and dry, and washed inside with a little brandy, before the wine is tunned, but it should not be bunged up close till it has done fermenting. After standing three or four months, it will be necessary to taste the wine, to know whether it be fit to draw off. If not sweet enough, some sugar should be added, or draw it off into another cask, and put in some sugar-candy: but if too sweet, let it stand a little longer. When the wine is racked, the dregs may be drained through a flannel bag; and the wine, if not clear enough for the table, may be used for sauce.

ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Take a dram of the oil of pimento, and mix it by degrees with two ounces of strong spirit of wine. A few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine.

ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. Put into a marble mortar ten or twelve fine mellow anchovies, that have been well pickled, and pound them to a pulp. Put this into a clean well-tinned saucepan, then put a table-spoonful of cold water into the mortar, shake it round, and pour it to the pounded anchovies. Set them by the side of a slow fire, frequently stirring them together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a dram of good cayenne, and let it remain by the fire a few minutes longer. Rub it through a hair sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and keep it stopped very closely: if the air gets to it, it is spoiled directly. Essence of anchovy is made sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the addition of mushroom ketchup.

ESSENCE OF CAYENNE. Put half an ounce of cayenne pepper into half a pint of wine or brandy, let it steep a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor. This article is very convenient for the extempore seasoning and finishing of soups and sauces, its flavour being instantly and equally diffused.

ESSENCE OF CELERY. Steep in a quarter of a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, half an ounce of celery seed bruised, and let it stand a fortnight. A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are an excellent addition to pease, and other soups.

ESSENCE OF CLOVES. Mix together two ounces of the strongest spirit of wine, and a dram of the oil of cloves. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace are prepared in the same manner.

ESSENCE OF FLOWERS. Select a quantity of the petals of any flowers which have an agreeable fragrance, lay them in an earthen vessel, and sprinkle a little fine salt upon them. Then dip some cotton into the best Florence oil, and lay it thin upon the flowers; continue a layer of petals, and a layer of cotton, till the vessel is full. It is then to be closed down with a bladder, and exposed to the heat of the sun. In about a fortnight a fragrant oil may be squeezed away from the whole mass, which will yield a rich perfume.

ESSENCE OF GINGER. Grate three ounces of ginger, and an ounce of thin lemon peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, and let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day. If ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect, to warm the stomach, or dispel flatulence, this will be found the best preparation.

ESSENCE OF LAVENDER. Take the blossoms from the stalks in warm weather, and spread them in the shade for twenty-four hours on a linen cloth; then bruise and put them into warm water, and leave them closely covered in a still for four or five hours near the fire. After this the blossoms may be distilled in the usual way.

ESSENCE OF LEMON PEEL. Wash and brush clean the lemons, and let them get perfectly dry. Take a lump of fine sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the sugar; scrape off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down. Cover it very close, and it will keep for some time. By this process is obtained the whole of the fine essential oil, which contains the flavour.

ESSENCE OF MUSHROOMS. This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over some mushrooms, and mashing them three hours after. Next day strain off the liquor, put it into a stewpan, and boil it till reduced one half. It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the ketchups. An artificial bed of mushrooms would supply this article all the year round.

ESSENCE OF OYSTERS. Take fine fresh Milton oysters, wash them in their own liquor, skim it, and pound them in a marble mortar. To a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry, boil them up, and add an ounce of salt, two drams of pounded mace, and one of cayenne. Let it just boil up again, skim it, and rub it through a sieve. When cold, bottle and cork it well, and seal it down. This composition very agreeably heightens the flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes. If a glass of brandy be added to the essence, it will keep a considerable time longer than oysters are out of season.

ESSENCE OF SHALOT. Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of shalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for three days. Then pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more of shalots, and let the wine remain on them ten days longer. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little thin lemon peel. This will impart a fine flavour to soups, sauces, hashes, and various other dishes.

ESSENCE OF SOAP. For washing or shaving, the essence of soap is very superior to what is commonly used for these purposes, and a very small quantity will make an excellent lather. Mix two ounces of salt of tartar with half a pound of soap finely sliced, put them into a quart of spirits of wine, in a bottle that will contain twice the quantity. Tie it down with a bladder, prick a pin through it for the air to escape, set it to digest in a gentle heat, and shake up the contents. When the soap is dissolved, filter the liquor through some paper to free it from impurities, and scent it with burgamot or essence of lemon.

ESSENCE OF TURTLE. Mix together one wine-glassful of the essence of anchovy, one and a half of shalot wine, four wine-glassfuls of Basil wine, two ditto of mushroom ketchup, one dram of lemon acid, three quarters of an ounce of lemon peel very thinly pared, and a quarter of an ounce of curry powder, and let them steep together for a week. The essence thus obtained will be found convenient to flavour soup, sauce, potted meats, savoury patties, and various other articles.

EVACUATIONS. Few things are more conducive to health than keeping the body regular, and paying attention to the common evacuations. A proper medium between costiveness and laxness is highly desirable, and can only be obtained by regularity in diet, sleep, and exercise. Irregularity in eating and drinking disturbs every part of the animal economy, and never fails to produce diseases. Too much or too little food will have this effect: the former generally occasions looseness, and the latter costiveness; and both have a tendency to injure health. Persons who have frequent recourse to medicine for preventing costiveness, seldom fail to ruin their constitution. They ought rather to remove the evil by diet than by drugs, by avoiding every thing of a hot or binding nature, by going thinly clothed, walking in the open air, and acquiring the habit of a regular discharge by a stated visit to the place of retreat. Habitual looseness is often owing to an obstructed perspiration: persons thus afflicted should keep their feet warm, and wear flannel next the skin. Their diet also should be of an astringent quality, and such as tends to strengthen the bowels. For this purpose, fine bread, cheese, eggs, rice milk, red wine, or brandy and water would be proper.—Insensible perspiration is one of the principal discharges from the human body, and is of such importance to health, that few diseases attack us while it goes on properly; but when obstructed, the whole frame is soon disordered, and danger meets us in every form. The common cause of obstructed perspiration, or taking cold, is the sudden changes of the weather; and the best means of fortifying the body is to be abroad every day, and breathe freely in the open air. Much danger arises from wet feet and wet clothes, and persons who are much abroad are exposed to these things. The best way is to change wet clothes as soon as possible, or to keep in motion till they be dry, but by no means to sit or lie down. Early habits may indeed inure people to wet clothes and wet feet without any danger, but persons of a delicate constitution cannot be too careful. Perspiration is often obstructed by other means, but it is in all cases attended with considerable danger. Sudden transitions from heat to cold, drinking freely of cold water after being heated with violent exercise, sitting near an open window when the room is hot, plunging into cold water in a state of perspiration, or going into the cold air immediately after sitting in a warm room, are among the various means by which the health of thousands is constantly ruined; and more die of colds than are killed by plagues, or slain in battle.

EVE'S PUDDING. Grate three quarters of a pound of bread; mix it with the same quantity of shred suet, the same of apples, and also of currants. Mix with these the whole of four eggs, and the rind of half a lemon shred fine. Put it into a shape, and boil it three hours. Serve with pudding sauce, the juice of half a lemon, and a little nutmeg.

EXERCISE. Whether man were originally intended for labour or not, it is evident from the human structure, that exercise is not less necessary than food, for the preservation of health. It is generally seen among the labouring part of the community, that industry places them above want, and activity serves them instead of physic. It seems to be the established law of the animal creation, that without exercise no creature should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. Every creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary: he alone deviates from this original law, and suffers accordingly. Weak nerves, and glandular obstructions, which are now so common, are the constant companions of inactivity. We seldom hear the active or laborious complain of nervous diseases: indeed many have been cured of them by being reduced to the necessity of labouring for their own support. This shews the source from which such disorders flow, and the means by which they may be prevented. It is evident that health cannot be enjoyed where the perspiration is not duly carried on; but that can never be the case where exercise is neglected. Hence it is that the inactive are continually complaining of pains of the stomach, flatulencies, and various other disorders which cannot be removed by medicine, but might be effectually cured by a course of vigorous exercise. But to render this in the highest degree beneficial, it should always be taken in the open air, especially in the morning, while the stomach is empty, and the body refreshed with sleep. The morning air braces and strengthens the nerves, and in some measure answers the purpose of a cold bath. Every thing that induces people to sit still, except it be some necessary employment, ought to be avoided; and if exercise cannot be had in the open air, it should be attended to as far as possible within doors. Violent exertions however are no more to be recommended than inactivity; for whatever fatigues the body, prevents the benefit of exercise, and tends to weaken rather than strengthen it. Fast walking, immediately before or after meals, is highly pernicious, and necessarily accelerates the circulation of the blood, which is attended with imminent danger to the head or brain. On the other hand, indolence not only occasions diseases, and renders men useless to society, but it is the parent of vice. The mind, if not engaged in some useful pursuit, is constantly in search of ideal pleasures, or impressed with the apprehension of some imaginary evil; and from these sources proceed most of the miseries of mankind. An active life is the best guardian of virtue, and the greatest preservative of health.



F.

FACSIMILES. To produce a facsimile of any writing, the pen should be made of glass enamel, the point being small and finely polished, so that the part above the point may be large enough to hold as much or more ink than a common writing pen. A mixture of equal parts of Frankfort black, and fresh butter, is now to be smeared over sheets of paper, and is to be rubbed off after a certain time. The paper thus smeared is to be pressed for some hours, taking care to have sheets of blotting paper between each of the sheets of black paper. When fit for use, writing paper is put between sheets of blackened paper, and the upper sheet is to be written on, with common ink, by the glass or enamel pen. By this method, not only the copy is obtained on which the pen writes, but also two or more, made by means of the blackened paper.

FAMILY PIES. To make a plain trust for pies to be eaten hot, or for fruit puddings, cut some thin slices of beef suet, lay them in some flour, mix it with cold water, and roll it till it is quite soft. Or make a paste of half a pound of butter or lard, and a pound and a half of flour. Mix it with water, work it up, roll it out twice, and cover the dish with it.

FAMILY WINE. An excellent compound wine, suited to family use, may be made of equal parts of red, white, and black currants, ripe cherries and raspberries, well bruised, and mixed with soft water, in the proportion of four pounds of fruit to one gallon of water. When strained and pressed, three pounds of moist sugar are to be added to each gallon of liquid. After standing open for three days, during which it is to be stirred frequently, it is to be put into a barrel, and left for a fortnight to work, when a ninth part of brandy is to be added, and the whole bunged down. In a few months it will be a most excellent wine.

FATTING FOWLS. Chickens or fowls may be fatted in four or five days, by setting some rice over the fire with skimmed milk, as much as will serve for one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled, and add a tea-spoonful of sugar. Feed them three times a day, in common pans, giving them only as much as will quite fill them at once. Before they are fed again, set the pans in water, that no sourness may be conveyed to the fowls, as that would prevent their fattening. Let them drink clean water, or the milk of the rice; but when rice is given them, after being perfectly soaked, let as much of the moisture as possible be drawn from it. By this method the flesh will have a clean whiteness, which no other food gives; and when it is considered how far a pound of rice will go, and how much time is saved by this mode, it will be found nearly as cheap as any other food, especially if it is to be purchased. The chicken pen should be cleaned every day, and no food given for sixteen hours before poultry is to be killed.

FAWN. A fawn, like a sucking pig, should be dressed almost as soon as it is killed. When very young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same as a hare. But they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb, and then roasted in quarters: the hind quarter is most esteemed. The meat must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the time it is roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon. When done, baste it with butter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour, till a nice froth is set upon it. Serve it up with venison sauce. If a fawn be half roasted as soon as received, and afterwards made into a hash, it will be very fine.

FEAR. Sudden fear, or an unexpected fright, often produces epileptic fits, and other dangerous disorders. Many young people have lost their lives or their senses by the foolish attempts of producing violent alarm, and the mind has been thrown into such disorders as never again to act with regularity. A settled dread and anxiety not only dispose the body to diseases, but often render those diseases fatal, which a cheerful mind would overcome; and the constant dread of some future evil, has been known to bring on the very evil itself. A mild and sympathizing behaviour towards the afflicted will do them more good than medicine, and he is the best physician and the best friend who administers the consolation of hope.

FEATHERS. Where poultry is usually sold ready picked, the feathers which occasionally come in small quantities are neglected; but care should be taken to put them into a clean tub, and as they dry to change them into paper bags, in small quantities. They should hang in a dry kitchen to season; fresh ones must not be added to those in part dried, or they will occasion a musty smell, but they should go through the same process. In a few months they will be fit to add to beds, or to make pillows, without the usual mode of drying them in a cool oven, which may be pursued if they are wanted before five or six months.

FEATHERS CLEANED. In order to clear feathers from animal oil, dissolve a pound of quick lime in a gallon of clear water; and pour off the clear lime-water for use, at the time it is wanted. Put the feathers to be cleaned in a tub, and add to them a sufficient quantity of the clear lime-water, so as to cover them about three inches. The feathers, when thoroughly moistened, will sink down, and should remain in the lime-water for three or four days; after which, the foul liquor should be separated from them by laying them on a sieve. They are afterwards to be washed in clean water, and dried on nets, the meshes being about the same fineness as those of cabbage nets. They must be shaken from time to time on the nets; as they dry, they will fall through the meshes, and are to be collected for use. The admission of air will be serviceable in the drying, and the whole process may be completed in about three weeks. The feathers, after being thus prepared, want nothing farther than beating, to be used either for beds, bolsters, pillows, or cushions.

FEET. To prevent corns from growing on the feet, wear easy shoes, and bathe the feet often in lukewarm water, with a little salt and potash dissolved in it. The corn itself may be completely destroyed by rubbing it daily with a little caustic solution of potash, till a soft and flexible skin is formed. For chilblains, soak the feet in warm bran and water and rub them well with flour of mustard. This should be done before the chilblains begin to break.

FENNEL SAUCE. Boil fennel and parsley, tied together in a bunch; chop it small, and stir it up with melted butter. This sauce is generally eaten with mackarel.

FEVER DRINK. To make a refreshing drink in a fever, put into a stone jug a little tea sage, two sprigs of balm, and a small quantity of wood sorrel, having first washed and dried them. Peel thin a small lemon, and clear from the white; slice it, and put in a bit of the peel. Then pour in three pints of boiling water, sweeten, and cover it close.—Another drink. Wash extremely well an ounce of pearl barley; shift it twice, then put to it three pints of water, an ounce of sweet almonds beaten fine, and a bit of lemon peel. Boil the liquor smooth, put in a little syrup of lemons, and capillaire.—Another way is to boil three pints of water with an ounce and a half of tamarinds, three ounces of currants, and two ounces of stoned raisins, till nearly a third is consumed. Strain it on a bit of lemon peel, which should be removed in the course of an hour, or it will infuse a bitter taste.

FILLET OF VEAL. Stuff it well under the udder, at the bone, and quite through to the shank. Put it into the oven, with a pint of water under it, till it comes to a fine brown. Then put it in a stewpan with three pints of gravy, and stew it quite tender. Add a tea-spoonful of lemon pickle, a large spoonful of browning, one of ketchup, and a little cayenne; thicken it with a bit of butter rolled in flour. Put the veal in a dish, strain the gravy over it, and lay round it forcemeat balls. Garnish with pickle and lemon.

FINE CAKE. To make an excellent cake, rub two pounds of fine dry flour with one of butter, washed in plain and then in rose water. Mix with it three spoonfuls of yeast, in a little warm milk and water. Set it to rise an hour and a half before the fire, and then beat into it two pounds of currants, carefully washed and picked, and one pound of sifted sugar. Add four ounces of almonds, six ounces of stoned raisins chopped fine, half a nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and a few cloves, the peel of a lemon shred very fine, a glass of wine, one of brandy, twelve yolks and whites of eggs beat separately, with orange, citron, and lemon. Beat them up well together, butter the pan, and bake in a quick oven.—To make a still finer cake, wash two pounds and a half of fresh butter in water first, and then in rose water, and beat the butter to a cream. Beat up twenty eggs, yolks and whites, separately, half an hour each. Have ready two pounds and a half of the finest flour well dried and kept hot, likewise a pound and a half of loaf sugar pounded and sifted, an ounce of spice in very fine powder, three pounds of currants nicely cleaned and dry, half a pound of almonds blanched, and three quarters of a pound of sweetmeats cut small. Let all be kept by the fire, and mix the dry ingredients. Pour the eggs strained to the butter, mix half a glass of sweet wine with a full glass of brandy, and pour it to the butter and eggs, mixing them well together. Add the dry ingredients by degrees, and beat them together thoroughly for a great length of time. Having prepared and stoned half a pound of jar raisins, chopped as fine as possible, mix them carefully, so that there shall be no lumps, and add a tea-cupful of orange flower water. Beat the ingredients together a full hour at least. Have a hoop well buttered, or a tin or copper cake-pan; take a white paper, doubled and buttered, and put in the pan round the edge, if the cake batter fill it more than three parts, for space should be allowed for rising. Bake it in a quick oven: three hours will be requisite.

FINE CRUST. For orange cheesecakes, or sweetmeats, when intended to be particularly nice, the following fine crust may be prepared. Dry a pound of the finest flour and mix with it three ounces of refined sugar. Work up half a pound of butter with the hand till it comes to a froth, put the flour into it by degrees, adding the yolks of three and the whites of two eggs, well beaten and strained. If too thin, add a little flour and sugar to make it fit to roll. Line some pattipans, and fill them: a little more than fifteen minutes will bake them. Beat up some refined sugar with the white of an egg, as thick as possible, and ice the articles all over as soon as they are baked. Then return them to the oven to harden, and serve them up cold, with fresh butter. Salt butter will make a very fine flaky crust, but if for mince pies, or any sweet things, it should first be washed.

FIRE ARMS. The danger of improperly loading fire arms chiefly arises from not ramming the wadding close to the powder; and then when a fowling-piece is discharged, it is very likely to burst in pieces. This circumstance, though well known, is often neglected, and various accidents are occasioned by it. Hence when a screw barrel pistol is to be loaded, care should be taken that the cavity for the powder be entirely filled with it, so as to leave no space between the powder and the ball. For the same reason, if the bottom of a large tree is to be shivered with gunpowder, a space must be left between the charge and the wadding, and the powder will tear it asunder. But considering the numerous accidents that are constantly occurring, from the incautious use of fire arms, the utmost care should be taken not to place them within the reach of children or of servants, and in no instance to lay them up without previously drawing the charge.

FIRE IRONS. To preserve them from rust, when not in use, they should be wrapped up in baize, and kept in a dry place. Or to preserve them more effectually, let them be smeared over with fresh mutton suet, and dusted with unslaked lime, pounded and tied up in muslin. Irons so prepared will keep many months. Use no oil for them at any time, except a little salad oil, there being water in all other, which would soon produce rust.

FIRMITY. To make Somersetshire firmity, boil a quart of fine wheat, and add by degrees two quarts of new milk. Pick and wash four ounces of currants, stir them in the jelly, and boil them together till all is done. Beat the yolks of three eggs, and a little nutmeg, with two or three spoonfuls of milk, and add to the boiling. Sweeten the whole, and serve it in a deep dish, either warm or cold.

FISH. In dressing fish of any kind for the table, great care is necessary in cleaning it. It is a common error to wash it too much, and by this means the flavour is diminished. If the fish is to be boiled, after it is cleaned, a little salt and vinegar should be put into the water, to give it firmness. Codfish, whiting, and haddock, are far better if a little salted, and kept a day; and if the weather be not very hot, they will be good two days. When fish is cheap and plentiful, and a larger quantity is purchased than is immediately wanted, it would be proper to pot or pickle such as will bear it, or salt and hang it up, or fry it a little, that it may serve for stewing the next day. Fresh water fish having frequently a muddy smell and taste, should be soaked in strong salt and water, after it has been well cleaned. If of a sufficient size, it may be scalded in salt and water, and afterwards dried and dressed. Fish should be put into cold water, and set on the fire to do very gently, or the outside will break before the inner part is done. Crimp fish is to be put into boiling water; and when it boils up, pour in a little cold water to check extreme heat, and simmer it a few minutes. The fish plate on which it is done, may be drawn up, to see if it be ready, which may be known by its easily separating from the bone. It should then be immediately taken out of the water, or it will become woolly. The fish plate should be set crossways over the kettle, to keep hot for serving; and a clean cloth over the fish, to prevent its losing its colour. Small fish nicely fried, covered with egg and crumbs, make a dish far more elegant than if served plain. Great attention is required in garnishing fish, by using plenty of horseradish, parsley, and lemon. When well done, and with very good sauce, fish is more attended to than almost any other dish. The liver and roe should be placed on the dish in order that they may be distributed in the course of serving.—If fish is to be fried or broiled, it must be dried in a nice soft cloth, after it is well cleaned and washed. If for frying, smear it over with egg, and sprinkle on it some fine crumbs of bread. If done a second time with the egg and bread, the fish will look so much the better. Put on the fire a stout fryingpan, with a large quantity of lard or dripping boiling hot, plunge the fish into it, and let it fry tolerably quick, till the colour is of a fine brown yellow. If it be done enough before it has obtained a proper degree of colour, the pan must be drawn to the side of the fire. Take it up carefully, and either place it on a large sieve turned upwards, and to be kept for that purpose only, or on the under side of a dish to drain. If required to be very nice, a sheet of writing paper must be placed to receive the fish, that it may be free from all grease; it must also be of a beautiful colour, and all the crumbs appear distinct. The same dripping, adding a little that is fresh, will serve a second time. Butter gives a bad colour, oil is the best, if the expense be no objection. Garnish with a fringe of fresh curled parsley. If fried parsley be used, it must be washed and picked, and thrown into fresh water; when the lard or dripping boils, throw the parsley into it immediately from the water, and instantly it will be green and crisp, and must be taken up with a slice.—If fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, floured, and laid on a very clean gridiron, which when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of suet, to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled over a very clear fire, that it may not taste smoky; and not too near, that it may not be scorched.

FISH GRAVY. Skin two or three eels, or some flounders; gut and wash them very clean, cut them into small pieces, and put them into a saucepan. Cover them with water, and add a little crust of toasted bread, two blades of mace, some whole pepper, sweet herbs, a piece of lemon peel, an anchovy or two, and a tea-spoonful of horse-radish. Cover the saucepan close, and let it simmer; then add a little butter and flour, and boil with the above.

FISH PIE. To make a fine fish pie, boil two pounds of small eels. Cut the fins quite close, pick off the flesh, and return the bones into the liquor, with a little mace, pepper, salt, and a slice of onion. Then boil it till it is quite rich, and strain it. Make forcemeat of the flesh, with an anchovy, a little parsley, lemon peel, salt, pepper, and crumbs, and four ounces of butter warmed. Lay it at the bottom of the dish: then take the flesh of soles, small cod, or dressed turbot, and rub it with salt and pepper. Lay this on the forcemeat, pour on the gravy, and bake it. If cod or soles are used, the skin and fins must be taken off.

FISH SAUCE. Put into a very nice tin saucepan a pint of port wine, a gill of mountain, half a pint of fine walnut ketchup, twelve anchovies with the liquor that belongs to them, a gill of walnut pickle, the rind and juice of a large lemon, four or five shalots, a flavour of cayenne, three ounces of scraped horse-radish, three blades of mace, and two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard. Boil it all gently, till the rawness goes off, and put it into small bottles for use. Cork them very close and seal the top.—Or chop two dozen of anchovies not washed, and ten shalots, and scrape three spoonfuls of horseradish. Then add ten blades of mace, twelve cloves, two sliced lemons, half a pint of anchovy liquor, a quart of hock or Rhenish wine, and a pint of water. Boil it down to a quart, and strain it off. When cold, add three large spoonfuls of walnut ketchup, and put the sauce into small bottles well corked.—To make fish sauce without butter, simmer very gently a quarter of a pint of vinegar, and half a pint of soft water, with an onion. Add four cloves, and two blades of mace, slightly bruised, and half a tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion is quite tender, chop it small with two anchovies, and set the whole on the fire to boil for a few minutes, with a spoonful of ketchup. Prepare in the mean time the yolks of three fresh eggs, well beaten and strained, and mix the liquor with them by degrees. When all are well mixed, set the saucepan over a gentle fire, keeping a bason in one hand, to toss the sauce to and fro in, and shake the saucepan over the fire, that the eggs may not curdle. Do not let it boil, only make the sauce hot enough to give it the thickness of melted butter.—Fish sauce a la Craster, is made in the following manner. Thicken a quarter of a pound of butter with flour, and brown it. Add a pound of the best anchovies cut small, six blades of pounded mace, ten cloves, forty corns of black pepper and allspice, a few small onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, consisting of savoury, thyme, basil, and knotted marjoram, also a little parsley, and sliced horse-radish. On these pour half a pint of the best sherry, and a pint and a half of strong gravy. Simmer all gently for twenty minutes, then strain it through a sieve, and bottle it for use. The way of using it is, to boil some of it in the butter while melting.

FLANNELS. In order to make flannels keep their colour and not shrink, put them into a pail, and pour on boiling water. Let them lie till cold, before they are washed.

FLAT BEER. Much loss is frequently sustained from beer growing flat, during the time of drawing. To prevent this, suspend a pint or more of ground malt in it, tied up in a large bag, and keep the bung well closed. The beer will not then become vapid, but rather improve the whole time it is in use.

FLAT CAKES. Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, and one ounce of carraways, with four or five eggs, and a few spoonfuls of water. Make all into a stiff paste, roll it out thin, cut it into any shape, and bake on tins lightly floured. While baking, boil to a thin syrup a pound of sugar in a pint of water. When both are hot, dip each cake into the syrup, and place them on tins to dry in the oven for a short time. When the oven is a little cooler, return them into it, and let them remain there four or five hours. Cakes made in this way will keep good for a long time.

FLAT FISH. Flounders, plaice, soles, and other kinds of flat fish, are good boiled. Cut off the fins, draw and clean them well, dry them with a cloth, and boil them in salt and water. When the fins draw out easily, they are done enough. Serve them with shrimp, cockle, or mustard sauce, and garnish with red cabbage.

FLATULENCY. Wind in the stomach, accompanied with pain, is frequently occasioned by eating flatulent vegetables, or fat meat, with large draughts of beverage immediately afterwards, which turn rancid on the stomach; and of course, these ought to be avoided. Hot tea, turbid beer, and feculent liquors will have the same effect. A phlegmatic constitution, or costiveness, will render the complaint more frequent and painful. Gentle laxatives and a careful diet are the best remedy; but hot aromatics and spirituous liquors should be avoided.

FLEAS. Want of cleanliness remarkably contributes to the production of these offensive insects. The females of this tribe deposit their eggs in damp and filthy places, within the crevices of boards, and on rubbish, when they emerge in the form of fleas in about a month. Cleanliness, and frequent sprinkling of the room with a simple decoction of wormwood, will soon exterminate the whole breed of these disagreeable vermin; and the best remedy to expel them from bed clothes is a bag filled with dry moss, the odour of which is to them extremely offensive. Fumigation with brimstone, or the fresh leaves of pennyroyal sewed in a bag, and laid in the bed, will also have the desired effect. Dogs and cats may be effectually secured from the persecutions of these vermin, by occasionally anointing their skin with sweet oil, or oil of turpentine; or by rubbing into their coats some Scotch snuff. But if they be at all mangy, or their skin broken, the latter would be very painful and improper.

FLIES. If a room be swarming with these noisome insects, the most ready way of expelling them is to fumigate the apartment with the dried leaves of the gourd. If the window be opened, the smoke will instantly drive them out: or if the room be close, it will suffocate them. But in the latter case, no person should remain within doors, as the fume is apt to occasion the headache. Another way is to dissolve two drams of the extract of quassia in half a pint of boiling water; and, adding a little sugar or syrup, pour the mixture upon plates. The flies are extremely partial to this enticing food, and it never fails to destroy them. Camphor placed near any kind of provision will protect it from the flies.

FLIP. To make a quart of flip, put the ale on the fire to warm, and beat up three or four eggs, with four ounces of moist sugar. Add a tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum or brandy. When the ale is nearly boiling, put it into one pitcher, and the rum and eggs into another: turn it from one pitcher to another, till it is as smooth as cream.

FLOATING ISLAND. Mix three half pints of thin cream with a quarter of a pint of raisin wine, a little lemon juice, orange flower water, and sugar. Put it into a dish for the middle of the table, and lay on with a spoon the following froth ready prepared. Sweeten half a pound of raspberry or currant jelly, add to it the whites of four eggs beaten, and beat up the jelly to a froth, until it will take any form you please. It should be raised high, to represent a castle or a rock.—Another way. Scald a codlin before it be ripe, or any other sharp apple, and pulp it through a sieve. Beat the whites of two eggs with sugar, and a spoonful of orange flower water; mix in the pulp by degrees, and beat all together till it produces a large quantity of froth. Serve it on a raspberry cream, or colour the froth with beet root, raspberry, or currant jelly, and set it on a white cream, which has already been flavoured with lemon, sugar, and raisin wine. The froth may also be laid on a custard.

FLOOR CLOTHS. The best are such as are painted on a fine cloth, well covered with colour, and where the flowers do not rise much above the ground, as they wear out first. The durability of the cloth will depend much on these two particulars, but more especially on the time it has been painted, and the goodness of the colours. If they have not been allowed sufficient space for becoming thoroughly hardened, a very little use will injure them: and as they are very expensive articles, care is necessary in preserving them. It answers to keep them some time before they are used, either hung up in a dry airy place, or laid down in a spare room. When taken up for the winter, they should be rolled round a carpet roller, and care taken not to crack the paint by turning in the edges too suddenly. Old carpets answer quite well, painted and seasoned some months before they are laid down. If intended for passages, the width must be directed when they are sent to the manufactory, as they are cut before painting.

FLOOR CLOTHS CLEANED. Sweep them first, then wipe them with a flannel; and when the dust and spots are removed, rub with a wax flannel, and dry them with a plain one. Use but little wax, and rub only with the latter to give a little smoothness, or it will make the floor cloth slippery, and endanger falling. Washing now and then with milk, after the above sweeping and dry rubbing, will give as good an appearance, and render the floor cloths less slippery.

FLOUNDERS. These are both sea and river fish: the Thames produces the best. They are in season from January to March, and from July to September. Their flesh should be thick and firm, and their eyes bright: they very soon become flabby and bad. Before they are dressed, they should be rubbed with salt inside and out, and lie two hours to acquire firmness. Then dip them in eggs, cover with grated bread, and fry them.

FLOUR. Good wheat flour may be known by the quantity of glutinous matter it contains, and which will appear when kneaded into dough. For this purpose take four ounces of fine flour, mix it with water, and work it together till it forms a thick paste. The paste is then to be well washed and kneaded with the hands under the water, and the water to be renewed till it ceases to become white by the operation. If the flour be sound, the paste which remains will be glutinous and elastic, and brittle after it has been baked.—Adulterated meal and flour are generally whiter and heavier than the good, and may be detected in a way similar to that already mentioned, under the article ADULTERATIONS. Or pour boiling water on some slices of bread, and drop on it some spirits of vitriol. Put them in the flour; and if it contain any quantity of whiting, chalk, or lime, a fermentation will ensue. Vitriol alone, dropped on adulterated bread or flour, will produce a similar effect.—American flour requires nearly twice as much water to make it into bread as is used for English flour, and therefore it is more profitable. Fourteen pounds of American flour will make twenty-one pounds and a half of bread, while the best sort of English flour produces only eighteen pounds and a half.

FLOUR CAUDLE. Into five large spoonfuls of pure water, rub smooth one dessert-spoonful of fine flour. Set over the fire five spoonfuls of new milk, and put into it two pieces of sugar. The moment it boils, pour into it the flour and water, and stir it over a slow fire twenty minutes. It is a nourishing and gently astringent food, and excellent for children who have weak bowels.

FLOWER GARDEN. The pleasures of the garden are ever various, ever new; and in every month of the year some attention is demanded, either in rearing the tender plant, in preparing the soil for its reception, or protecting the parent root from the severity of the winter's blast. Ranunculuses, anemones, tulips, and other bulbous roots, if not taken up, will be in great danger from the frost, and their shoots in the spring will either be impaired, or totally destroyed.——JANUARY. Cover the flower beds with wheat straw, to protect them from the cold; but where the shoots begin to appear, place behind them a reed edge, sloping three feet forward. A mat is to be let down from the top in severe weather, and taken up when it is mild. This will preserve them, without making them weak or sickly. The beds and boxes of seedling flowers should also be covered, and the fence removed when the weather is mild. Clean the auricula plants, pick off dead leaves, and scrape away the surface of the mould. Replenish them with some that is fine and fresh, set the pots up to the brim in the mould of a dry bed, and place behind them a reed edging. Cover carnation plants from wet, and defend them from mice and sparrows.——FEBRUARY. Make hotbeds for annual flowers, of the dung reserved for that purpose, and sow them upon a good thickness of mould, laid regularly over the dung. Transplant perennial flowers, and hardy shrubs, Canterbury bells, lilacs, and the like. Break up and new lay the gravel walks. Weed, rake, and clean the borders; and where the box of the edging is decayed, make it up with a fresh plantation. Sow auricula and polyanthus seeds in boxes, made of rough boards six inches deep, with holes at the bottom to run off the water. Fill the boxes with light mould, scatter the seeds thinly over the surface, sift some more mould over them about a quarter of an inch thick, and place them where they may enjoy the morning sun. Plant out carnations into pots for flowering.——MARCH. Watch the beds of tender flowers, and throw mats over them, supported by hoops, in hard weather. Continue transplanting all the perennial fibrous rooted flowers, such as golden-rods, and sweet-williams. Dig up the earth with a shovel about those which were planted in autumn, and clean the ground between them. All the pots of flowering plants must now be dressed. Pick off dead leaves, remove the earth at the top, and put fresh instead; then give them a gentle watering, and set them in their places for flowering. Be careful that the roots are not wounded, and repeat the watering once in three days. The third week in March is the time to sow sweet peas, poppies, catchflies, and all the hardy annual plants. The last week is proper for transplanting evergreens, and a showery day should be chosen for the purpose. Hotbeds should now be made, to receive the seedlings of annual flowers raised in the former bed.——APRIL. Tie up to sticks the stalks of tall flowers, cut the sticks about two feet long, thrust them eight inches into the ground, and hide them among the leaves. Clean and rake the ground between them. Take off the slips of auriculas, and plant them out carefully for an increase. Transplant perennial flowers and evergreens, as in the former months; take up the roots of colchichams, and other autumnal bulbous plants. Sow French honeysuckles, wallflowers, and other hardy plants, upon the natural ground, and the more tender sorts on hotbeds. Transplant those sown last month, into the second hotbed. Sow carnations and pinks on the natural ground, and on open borders.——MAY. When the leaves of sowbreads are decayed, take up the roots, and lay them by carefully till the time of planting. Take up the hyacinth roots which have done flowering, and lay them sideways in a bed of dry rich mould, leaving the stems and leaves to die away: this will greatly strengthen the roots. Roll the gravel walks carefully and frequently, and keep the grass clean mowed. Clean all the borders from weeds, take off the straggling branches from the large flowering plants, and train them up in a handsome shape. Plant out French and African marigolds from the hotbeds, with other autumnals, the last week of this month, choosing a cloudy warm day. Tie up the stalks of carnations, pot the tender annuals, such as balsams and amaranths, and set them in a hotbed frame, till summer is more advanced for planting them in the open ground.——JUNE. Choose the evening of a mild showery day, and plant out into the open ground, the tender annuals hitherto kept in pots in the hotbed frame. They must be carefully loosened from the sides of the pot, and taken out with all the mould about them; a large hole must be opened for each, to set them upright in it; and when settled in the ground by gentle watering, they must be tied up to sticks. Let pinks, carnations, and sweet-williams, be laid this month for an increase. Let the layers be covered lightly, and gently watered every other day. Spring flowers being now over, and their leaves faded, the roots must be taken up, and laid by for planting again at a proper season. Snow-drops, winter-aconite, and such sorts, are to be thus managed. The hyacinth roots, laid flat in the ground, must now be taken up, and the dead leaves clipped off; and when cleared from the mould, they must be spread upon a mat in an airy room to dry, and laid by for future planting. Tulip roots also must now be taken up, as the leaves decay: anemones and ranunculuses are treated in the same manner. Cut in three or four places, the cups or poles of the carnations that are near blowing, that they may show regularly. At the same time inoculate some of the fine kind of roses.——JULY. Clip box edgings, cut and trim hedges, look over all the borders, clear them from weeds, and stir up the mould between the plants. Roll the gravel frequently, and mow the grass plats. Inoculate roses and jasmines that require this kind of propagation, and any of the other flowering shrubs. Gather the seeds of flowers intended to be propagated, and lay them upon a shelf in an airy room in the pods. When they are well hardened, tie them up in paper bags, but do not take them out of the pods till they are wanted. Lay pinks and sweet-williams in the earth as formerly, cut down the stalks of those plants which have done flowering, and which are not kept for seed. Tie up with sticks such as are coming into flower, as for the earlier kinds. Sow lupins, larkspurs, and similar sorts, on dry warm borders, to stand the winter, and flower early next year.——AUGUST. Dig up a mellow border, and draw lines at five inches distance, lengthways and across. In the centre of these squares, plant the seedling polyanthuses, one in each square. In the same manner plant out the seedling auriculas. Shade them till they have taken root, and water them once a day. See whether the layers of sweet-williams, carnations, and such like, have taken root; transplant such as are rooted, and give frequent gentle waterings to the others in order to promote it. Cut down the stalks of plants that have done flowering, saving the seed that may be wanted, as it ripens, and water the tender annuals every evening. Sow anemones and ranunculuses, tulip, and narcissus seed. Dig up a border for early tulip roots, and others for hyacinths, anemones, and ranunculuses. Sow annuals to stand through the winter, and shift auriculas into fresh pots.——SEPTEMBER. During this month, preparation should be made for the next season. Tear up the annuals that have done flowering, and cut down such perennials as are past their beauty. Bring in other perennials from the nursery beds, and plant them with care at regular distances. Take up the box edgings where they have outgrown their proper size, and part and plant them afresh. Plant tulip and other flower roots, slip polyanthuses, and place them in rich shady borders. Sow the seeds of flower de luce and crown imperial, as also of auriculas and polyanthuses, according to the method before recommended. Part off the roots of flower de luce, piony, and others of a similar kind. In the last week transplant hardy flowering shrubs, and they will be strong the next summer.——OCTOBER. Let all the bulbous roots for spring flowering be put into the ground; narcissus, maragon, tulips, and such ranunculuses and anemones as were not planted sooner. Transplant columbines, monkshood, and all kinds of fibrous rooted perennials. Place under shelter the auriculas and carnations that are in pots. Dig up a dry border, and if not dry enough, dig in some sand, and set in the pots up to the brim. Place the reed fence sloping behind them, and fasten a mat to its top, that may be let down in bad weather. Take off the dead leaves of the auriculas, before they are thus planted. Bring into the garden some fresh flowering shrubs, wherever they may be wanted, and at the end of the month prune some of the hardier kind.——NOVEMBER. Prepare a good heap of pasture ground, with the turf among it, to rot into mould for the borders. Transplant honeysuckles and spireas, with other hardy flowering shrubs. Rake over the beds of seedling flowers, and strew some peas straw over to keep out the frost. Cut down the stems of perennials which have done flowering, pull up annuals that are spent, and rake and clear the ground. Place hoops over the beds of ranunculuses and anemones, and lay mats or cloths in readiness to draw over them, in case of hard rains or frost. Clean up the borders in all parts of the garden, and take care to destroy not only the weeds, but all kinds of moss. Look over the seeds of those flowers which were gathered in summer, to see that they are dry and sweet; and prepare a border or two for the hardier kind, by digging and cleaning.——DECEMBER. During frost or cold rain, draw the mats and cloths over the ranunculuses; give the anemones a little air in the middle of every tolerable day; and as soon as possible, uncover them all day, but draw on the mats at night. Throw up the earth where flowering shrubs are to be planted in the spring, and turn it once a fortnight. Dig up the borders that are to receive flower roots in the spring, and give them the advantage of a fallow, by throwing up the ground in a ridge. Scatter over it a very little rotten dung from a melon bed, and afterwards turn it twice during the winter. Examine the flowering shrubs, and prune them. Cut away all the dead wood, shorten luxuriant branches, and if any cross each other, take away one. Leave them so that the air may have a free passage between them. Sift a quarter of an inch of good fresh mould over the roots of perennial flowers, whose stalks have been cut down, and then rake over the borders. This will give the whole an air of culture and good management, which is always pleasing.

FLOWER POTS. As flowers and plants should enjoy a free circulation of air to make them grow well, sitting rooms are not very well adapted to the purpose, unless they could be frequently ventilated by opening the doors and windows. In every severe frost or damp weather, moderate fires should be made in the rooms where the plants are placed, and the shutters closed at night. Placing saucers under the pots, and pouring water continually into them, is highly improper: it should be poured on the mould, that it may filter through it, and thereby refresh the fibres of the plant. Many kinds of annuals, sown in March and the beginning of April, may be transplanted into pots about the end of May, and should be frequently watered till they have taken root. If transplanted in the summer season, the evening is the proper time, and care must be taken not to break the fibres of the root. When the plants are attacked by any kind of crawling insects, the evil may be prevented by keeping the saucers full of water, so as to form a river round the pot, and rubbing some oil round the side. Oil is fatal to most kinds of insects, and but few of them can endure it.

FLOWER SEEDS. When the seeds begin to ripen they should be supported with sticks, to prevent their being scattered by the wind; and in wet weather they should be removed to a dry place, and rubbed out when convenient. August is in general the proper time for gathering flower seeds, but many kinds will ripen much sooner. To ascertain whether the seed be fully ripe, put a little of it into water: if it be come to maturity, it will sink to the bottom, and if not it will swim upon the surface. To preserve them for vegetation, it is only necessary to wrap the seed up in cartridge paper, pasted down and varnished over with gum, or the white of an egg. Some kinds of seeds are best enclosed in sealing wax.

FLUMMERY. Steep in cold water, for a day and a night, three large handfuls of very fine white oatmeal. Pour it off clear, add as much more water, and let it stand the same time. Strain it through a fine hair sieve, and boil it till it is as thick as hasty pudding, stirring it well all the time. When first strained, put to it one large spoonful of white sugar, and two of orange flower water. Pour it into shallow dishes, and serve it up with wine, cider, and milk; or it will be very good with cream and sugar.

FOMENTATIONS. Boil two ounces each of camomile flowers, and the tops of wormwood, in two quarts of water. Pour off the liquor, put it on the fire again, dip in a piece of flannel, and apply it to the part as hot as the patient can bear it. When it grows cold, heat it up again, dip in another piece of flannel, apply it as the first, and continue changing them as often as they get cool, taking care not to let the air get to the part affected when the flannel is changed.—To relieve the toothache, pain in the face, or any other acute pain, the following anodyne fomentation may be applied. Take two ounces of white poppy heads, and half an ounce of elder flowers, and boil them in three pints of water, till it is reduced one third. Strain off the liquor, and foment the part affected.

FOOD. In the early ages of the world, mankind were chiefly supported by berries, roots, and such other vegetables as the earth produced of itself, according to the original grant of the great Proprietor of all things. In later ages, especially after the flood, this grant was enlarged; and man had recourse to animals, as well as to vegetables artificially raised for their support, while the art of preparing food has been brought to the highest degree of perfection. Vegetables are however, with a few exceptions, more difficult of digestion than animal food; but a due proportion of both, with the addition of acids, is the most conducive to health, as well as agreeable to the palate. Animal as well as vegetable food may be rendered unwholesome by being kept too long; and when offensive to the senses, they become alike injurious to health. Diseased animals, and such as die of themselves, ought never to be eaten. Such as are fed grossly, stalled cattle and pigs, without any exercise, do not afford food so nourishing or wholesome as others. Salt meat is not so easily digested as fresh provisions, and has a tendency to produce putrid diseases, especially the scurvy. If vegetables and milk were more used, there would be less scurvy, and fewer inflammatory fevers. Our food ought neither to be too moist, nor too dry. Liquid food relaxes and renders the body feeble: hence those who live much on tea, and other watery diet, generally become weak, and unable to digest solid food. They are also liable to hysterics, with a train of other nervous affections. But if the food be too dry, it disposes the body to inflammatory disorders, and is equally to be avoided. Families would do well to prepare their own diet and drink, as much as possible, in order to render it good and wholesome. Bread in particular is so necessary a part of daily food, that too much care cannot be taken to see that it be made of sound grain duly prepared, and kept from all unwholesome ingredients. Those who make bread for sale, seek rather to please the eye than to promote health. The best bread is that which is neither too coarse nor too fine, well fermented, and made of wheat flour, or wheat and rye mixed together. Good fermented liquors, neither too weak nor too strong, are to be preferred. If too weak, they require to be drunk soon, and then they produce wind and flatulencies in the stomach. If kept too long, they turn sour, and then become unwholesome. On the other hand, strong liquor, by hurting the digestion, tends to weaken and relax: it also keeps up a constant fever, which exhausts the spirits, inflames the blood, and disposes the body to numberless diseases. Beer, cider, and other family liquors, should be of such strength as to keep till they are ripe, and then they should be used. Persons of a weak and relaxed habit should avoid every thing hard of digestion: their diet requires to be light and nourishing, and they should take sufficient exercise in the open air. Those who abound with blood, should abstain from rich wines and highly nourishing food, and live chiefly on vegetables. Corpulent persons ought frequently to use radish, garlic, or such things as promote perspiration. Their drink should be tea, coffee, or the like; they ought also to take much exercise, and but little sleep. Those who are of a thin habit, should follow the opposite course. Such as are troubled with sour risings in the stomach, should live chiefly on animal food; and those who are afflicted with hot risings and heartburn, should have a diet of acid vegetables. Persons of low spirits, and subject to nervous disorders, should avoid all flatulent food, whatever is hard of digestion, or apt to turn sour on the stomach. Their diet should be light, cool, and of an opening nature; not only suited to the age and constitution, but also to the manner of life. A sedentary person should live more sparingly than one who labours hard without doors, and those who are afflicted with any particular disease ought to avoid such aliment as has a tendency to increase it. Those afflicted with the gravel ought to avoid every thing astringent; and the scorbutic of every description, salted or smoked provisions. In the first period of life, the food should be light, but nourishing, and frequently taken. For infants in particular, it ought to be adapted to their age, and the strength of their digestive powers. No food whatever that has been prepared for many hours should be given them, especially after being warmed up; for it creates flatulence, heartburn, and a variety of other disorders. Sudden changes from liquid to solid food should be avoided, as well as a multiplicity of different kinds; and all stimulating dishes and heating liquors, prepared for adults, should be carefully withheld from children. The common but indecent practice of introducing chewed victuals into their mouth, is equally disgusting and unwholesome. Solid food is most proper for the state of manhood, but it ought not to be too uniform. Nature has provided a great variety for the use of man, and given him an appetite suited to that variety: the constant use of one kind of food therefore is not good for the constitution, though any great or sudden change in diet ought as well to be avoided. The change should be gradual, as any sudden transition from a low to a rich and luxurious mode of living, may endanger health, and even life itself. The diet suited to the last period of life, when nature is on the decline, approaches nearly to that of the first: it should be light and nourishing, and more frequently taken than in vigorous age. Old people are generally afflicted with wind, giddiness, and headachs, which are frequently occasioned by fasting too long, and even many sudden deaths arise from the same cause. The stomach therefore should never be allowed in any case to be too long empty, but especially in the decline of life. Proper attention to diet is of the utmost importance, not only to the preservation of health, but in the cure of many diseases, which may be effected by diet only. Its effects indeed are not always so quick as those of medicine, but they are generally more lasting, and are obtained with greater ease and certainty. Temperance and exercise are the two best physicians in the world; and if they were duly regarded, there would be little occasion for any other.

FOOD FOR BIRDS. An excellent food for linnets, canaries, and other singing birds, may be prepared in the following manner. Knead together one pound of split peas ground to flour, half a pound each of coarse sugar and fine grated bread, two ounces of unsalted butter, and the yolks of two eggs. Brown the paste gently in a fryingpan, and when cold mix with it two ounces of mace seed, and two pounds of bruised hemp seed, separated from the husk. This paste given to birds in small quantities will preserve them in health, and prompt them to sing every month in the year.

FORCEMEAT. This article, whether in the form of stuffing balls, or for patties, makes a considerable part of good cooking, by the flavour it imparts to whatsoever dish it may be added. Yet at many tables, where every thing else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing. Exact rules for the quantity cannot easily be given; but the following observations may be useful, and habit will soon give knowledge in mixing it to the taste. The selection of ingredients should of course be made, according to what they are wanted for, observing that of the most pungent, the smallest quantity should be used. No one flavour should greatly preponderate; yet if several dishes be served the same day, there should be a marked variety in the taste of the forcemeat, as well as of the gravies. It should be consistent enough to cut with a knife, but neither dry nor heavy. The following are the articles of which forcemeat may be made, without giving it any striking flavour. Cold fowl or veal, scraped ham, fat bacon, beef suet, crumbs of bread, salt, white pepper, parsley, nutmeg, yolk and white of eggs well beaten to bind the mixture. To these, any of the following may be added, to vary the taste, and give it a higher relish. Oysters, anchovy, taragon, savoury, pennyroyal, knotted marjoram, thyme, basil, yolks of hard eggs, cayenne, garlic, shalot, chives, Jamaica pepper in fine powder, or two or three cloves.

FORCEMEAT BALLS. To make fine forcemeat balls for fish soups, or stewed fish, beat together the flesh and soft parts of a lobster, half an anchovy, a large piece of boiled celery, the yolk of a hard egg, a little cayenne, mace, salt, and white pepper. Add two table-spoonfuls of bread crumbs, one of oyster liquor, two ounces of warmed butter, and two eggs well beaten. Make the whole into balls, and fry them in butter, of a fine brown.

FORCEMEAT FOR FOWLS. Shred a little ham or gammon, some cold veal or fowl, beef suet, parsley, a small quantity of onion, and a very little lemon peel. Add salt, nutmeg, or pounded mace, bread crumbs, and either white pepper or cayenne. Pound it all together in a mortar, and bind it with one or two eggs beaten and strained. The same stuffing will do for meat, or for patties. For fowls, it is usually put between the skin and the flesh.

FORCEMEAT FOR GOOSE. Chop very fine about two ounces of onion, and an ounce of green sage. Add four ounces of bread crumbs, the yolk and white of an egg, a little pepper and salt; and if approved, a minced apple. This will do for either goose or duck stuffing.

FORCEMEAT FOR HARE. Chop up the liver, with an anchovy, some fat bacon, a little suet, some sweet herbs, and an onion. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, crumbs of bread, and an egg to bind all together.

FORCEMEAT FOR SAVOURY PIES. The same as for fowls, only substituting fat or bacon, instead of suet. If the pie be of rabbit or fowls, the livers mixed with fat and lean pork, instead of bacon, will make an excellent stuffing. The seasoning is to be the same as for fowls or meat.

FORCEMEAT FOR TURKEY. The same stuffing will do for boiled or roast turkey as for veal, or to make it more relishing, add a little grated ham or tongue, an anchovy, or the soft part of a dozen oysters. Pork sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkies or fowls, or fried, and sent up as garnish.

FORCEMEAT FOR TURTLE. A pound of fine fresh suet, one ounce of cold veal or chicken, chopped fine; crumbs of bread, a little shalot or onion, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, mace, pennyroyal, parsley, and lemon thyme, finely shred. Beat as many fresh eggs, yolks and whites separately, as will make the above ingredients into a moist paste. Roll it into small balls, and boil them in fresh lard, putting them in just as it boils up. When of a light brown take them out, and drain them before the fire. If the suet be moist or stale, a great many more eggs will be necessary. Balls made in this way are remarkably light; but being greasy, some people prefer them with less suet and eggs.

FORCEMEAT FOR VEAL. Scrape two ounces of undressed lean veal, free from skin and sinews; two ounces of beef or veal suet, and two of bread crumbs. Chop fine two drams of parsley, one of lemon peel, one of sweet herbs, one of onion, and add half a dram of mace or allspice reduced to a fine powder. Pound all together in a mortar, break into it the yolk and white of an egg, rub it all up well together, and season it with a little pepper and salt. This may be made more savoury, by the addition of cold boiled tongue, anchovy, shalot, cayenne, or curry powder.

FOREHAND OF PORK. Cut out the bone, sprinkle the inside with salt, pepper, and dried sage. Roll the pork tight, and tie it up; warm a little butter to baste it, and then flour it. Roast it by a hanging jack, and about two hours will do it.

FOREQUARTER OF LAMB. Roast it either whole, or in separate parts. If left to be cold, chopped parsley should be sprinkled over it. The neck and breast together are called a scoven.

FOWLS. In purchasing fowls for dressing, it is necessary to see that they are fresh and good. If a cock bird is young, his spurs will be short; but be careful to observe that they have not been cut or pared, which is a trick too often practised. If fresh, the vent will be close and dark. Pullets are best just before they begin to lay, and yet are full of egg. If hens are old, their combs and legs will be rough: if young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick belly and a large rump: there is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very pale. Black-legged fowls being moist, are best for roasting.

FRECKLES. The cosmetics generally recommended for improving the skin and bloom of the face are highly pernicious, and ought by no means to be employed. Temperance in diet and exercise, with frequent washing and bathing, are the best means of preserving a healthful countenance. But those who desire to soften and improve the skin, may use an infusion of horseradish in milk, or the expressed juice of houseleek mixed with cream, which will be useful and inoffensive. Freckles on the face, or small discolourations on other parts of the skin, are constitutional in some cases; and in others, they are occasioned by the action of the sun upon the part, and frequent exposures to the morning air. For dispersing them, take four ounces of lemon juice, one dram of powdered borax, and two drams of sugar: mix them together, and let them stand a few days in a glass bottle till the liquid is fit for use, and then rub it on the face. But for chaps and flaws in the skin, occasioned by cold, rub on a little plain unscented pomatum at bed-time, and let it remain till morning. Or, which is much better, anoint the face with honey water, made to the consistence of cream, which will form a kind of varnish on the skin, and protect it from the effects of cold.

FRENCH BEANS. String, and cut them into four parts; if smaller, they look so much the better. Lay them in salt and water; and when the water boils, put them in with some salt. As soon as they are done, serve them immediately, to preserve their colour. Or when half done, drain off the water, and add two spoonfuls of broth strained. In finishing them, put in a little cream, with flour and butter.

FRENCH BREAD. With a quarter of a peck of fine flour, mix the yolks of three and the whites of two eggs, beaten and strained; a little salt, half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much lukewarm milk as will work it into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but do not knead it. Divide the dough into three parts, put them into wooden dishes, set them to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick, and rasp the bread when done.

FRENCH DUMPLINGS. Grate a penny loaf, add half a pound of currants, three quarters of a pound of beef suet finely shred, and half a grated nutmeg. Beat up the yolks of three eggs with three spoonfuls of cream, as much white wine, and a little sugar. Mix all together, work it up into a paste, make it into dumplings of a convenient size, and tie them up in cloths. Put them into boiling water, and let them boil three quarters of an hour.

FRENCH PIE. Lay a puff paste round the edge of the dish, and put in either slices of veal, rabbits or chickens jointed; with forcemeat balls, sweetbreads cut in pieces, artichoke bottoms, and a few truffles.

FRENCH PORRIDGE. Stir together some oatmeal and water, and pour off the latter. Put fresh in, stir it well, and let it stand till the next day. Strain it through a fine sieve, and boil the water, which must be small in quantity, adding some milk while it is doing. With the addition of toast, this is much in request abroad, for the breakfast of weakly persons.

FRENCH PUDDING. Grate six ounces of brown bread, and shred half a pound of suet. Add four eggs well beaten, half a pound of currants picked and washed, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a little nutmeg. Mix all together, tie the pudding up close in a cloth, and boil it two hours. Serve it up with a sauce of melted butter, a little sugar and sweet wine.

FRENCH ROLLS. Rub one ounce of butter into a pound of flour; mix one egg beaten, a little yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk as will make the dough tolerably stiff. Beat it well, but do not knead it: let it rise, and bake it on tins.

FRENCH SALAD. Mince up three anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley. Put them into a bowl with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, and a little salt and mustard. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast or boiled meat in very thin slices: put in a few at a time, not exceeding two or three inches long. Shake them in the seasoning, and then put more: cover the bowl close, and let the salad be prepared three hours before it is to be eaten. Garnish with parsley, and a few slices of the fat.

FRICANDEAU OF BEEF. Take a nice piece of lean beef; lard it with bacon seasoned with pepper, salt, cloves, mace, and allspice. Put it into a stewpan with a pint of broth, a glass of white wine, a bundle of parsley, all sorts of sweet herbs, a clove of garlic, a shalot or two, four cloves, pepper and salt. When the meat is become tender, cover it close. Skim the sauce well, strain it, set it on the fire, and let it boil till reduced to a glaze. Glaze the larded side with this, and serve the meat on sorrel sauce.

FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. Cut a large piece from the fat side of the leg, about nine inches long and half as thick and broad. Beat it with the rolling pin, take off the skin, and trim the rough edges. Lard the top and sides, cover it with fat bacon, and then with white paper. Lay it into a stewpan with any pieces of undressed veal or mutton, four onions, a sliced carrot, a faggot of sweet herbs, four blades of mace, four bay leaves, a pint of good veal or mutton broth, and four or five ounces of lean ham or gammon. Cover the pan close, and let it stew slowly for three hours; then take up the meat, remove all the fat from the gravy, and boil it quick to a glaze. Keep the fricandeau quite hot, and then glaze it. Serve it with the remainder of the glaze in the dish, and sorrel sauce in a tureen.—The following is a cheaper way of making a good fricandeau of veal. With a sharp knife cut the lean part of a large neck from the best end, scooping it from the bones a hand's length, and prepare it in the manner above directed. Three or four bones only will be necessary, and they will make the gravy; but if the prime part of the leg is cut off, it spoils the whole.—Another way is to take two large round sweetbreads, and prepare them like veal. Make a rich gravy with truffles, morels, mushrooms, and artichoke bottoms, and serve it round.