Chapter X: Part 10

TO PRODUCE SWEAT.--Take of nitre, one-half drachm; snake's head (herb), saffron, camphor, snake-root, seneca, bark of sassafras root, each one ounce; ipecac, and opium, each one half ounce; put the above in three quarts of Holland gin, and take a tablespoonful in catnip tea every few minutes, till a sweat is produced.

TEETHING.--Young children whilst cutting their first set of teeth often suffer severe constitutional disturbance. At first there is restlessness and peevishness, with slight fever, but not infrequently these are followed by convulsive fits, as they are commonly called, which depends on the brain becoming irritated; and sometimes under this condition the child is either cut off suddenly, or the foundation of serious mischief to the brain is laid. The remedy, or rather the safeguard, against these frightful consequences is trifling, safe, and almost certain, and consists merely in lancing the gum covering the tooth which is making its making its way through. When teething is about it may be known by the spittle constantly driveling from the mouth and wetting the frock. The child has its fingers in its month, and bites hard any substance it can get hold of. If the gums be carefully looked at, the part where the tooth is pressing up is swollen and redder than usual; and if the finger be pressed on it the child shrinks and cries, showing that the gum is tender. When these symptoms occur, the gum should be lanced, and sometimes the tooth comes through the next day, if near the surface; but if not so far advanced the cut heals and a scar forms, which is thought by some objectionable, as rendering the passage of the tooth more difficult. This, however, is untrue, for the scar will give way much more easily than the uncut gum. If the tooth does not come through after two or three days, the lancing may be repeated; and this is more especially needed if the child be very fractious, and seems in much pain. Lancing the gums is further advantageous, because it empties the inflamed part of its blood, and so relieves the pain and inflammation. The relief children experience in the course of two or three hours from the operation is often very remarkable, as they almost immediately become lively and cheerful.

WASH FOR TEETH AND GUMS.--The teeth should be washed night and morning, a moderately small and soft brush being used; after the morning ablution, pour on a second tooth-brush, slightly dampened, a little of the following lotion: Carbolic acid, 20 drops; spirits of wine, 2 drachms; distilled water, 6 ounces. After using this lotion a short time the gums become firmer and less tender, and impurity of the breath (which is most commonly caused by bad teeth), will be removed. It is a great mistake to use hard tooth-brushes, or to brush the teeth until the gums bleed.

TETTER.--After a slight feverish attack, lasting two or three days, clusters of small, transparent pimples, filled sometimes with a colorless, sometimes with a brownish lymph, appear on the cheeks or forehead, or on the extremities, and at times on the body. The pimples are about the size of a pea, and break after a few days, when a brown or yellow crust is formed over them, which falls off about the tenth day, leaving the skin red and irritable. The eruption is attended with heat; itching, tingling, fever, and restlessness, especially at night. Ringworm is a curious form of tetter, in which the inflamed patches assume the form of a ring.

TREATMENT--Should consist of light diet, and gentle laxatives. If the patient be advanced in life, and feeble, a tonic will be desirable. For a wash, white vitriol, 1 drachm; rose-water, 3 ounces, mixed; or an ointment made of alder-flower ointment, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc, 1 drachm.

TO REMOVE TAN.--Tan may be removed from the face by mixing magnesia in soft water to the consistency of paste, which should then be spread on the face and allowed to remain a minute or two. Then wash off with Castile soap suds, and rinse with soft water.

CARE OF THE TEETH.--The mouth has a temperature of 98 degrees, warmer than is ever experienced in the shade in the latitude of New England. It is well known that if beef, for example, be exposed in the shade during the warmest of our summer days, it will very soon decompose. If we eat beef for dinner, the particles invariably find their way into the spaces between the teeth. Now, if these particles of beef are not removed, they will frequently remain till they are softened by decomposition. In most mouths this process of decomposition is in constant progress. Ought we to be surprised that the gums and teeth against which these decomposing or putrefying masses lie should become subjects of disease?

How shall our teeth be preserved? The answer is very simple--keep them very clean. How shall they be kept clean? Answer--By a toothpick, rinsing with water, and the daily use of a brush.

The toothpick should be a quill, not because the metalic picks injure the enamel, but because the quill pick is so flexible it fits into all the irregularities between the teeth. Always after using the toothpick the mouth should be thoroughly rinsed. If warm water be not at hand, cold may be used, although warm is much better. Closing the lips, with a motion familiar to all, everything may be thoroughly rinsed from the mouth.

Every morning (on rising), and every evening (on going to bed), the tooth-brush should be used, and the teeth, both outside and inside, thoroughly brushed.

Much has been said _pro_ and _con_., upon the use of soap with the tooth-brush. My own experience and the experience of members of my family is highly favorable to the regular morning and evening use of soap. Castile or other good soap will answer this purpose. (Whatever is good for the hands and face is good for the teeth.) The slightly unpleasant taste which soap has when we begin to use it will soon be unnoticed.

TOOTH POWDERS.--Many persons, while laudably attentive to the preservation of their teeth, do them harm by too much officiousness. They daily apply to them some dentifrice powder, which they rub so hard as not only to injure the enamel by excessive friction, but to hurt the gums even more than by the abuse of the toothpick. The quality of some of the dentifrice powders advertised in newspapers is extremely suspicious, and there is reason to think that they are not altogether free from a corrosive ingredient. One of the safest and best compositions for the purpose is a mixture of two parts of prepared chalk, one of Peruvian bark, and one of hard soap, all finely powdered, which is calculated not only to clean the teeth without hurting them, but to preserve the firmness of the gums.

Besides the advantage of sound teeth for their use in mastication, a proper attention to their treatment conduces not a little to the sweetness of the breath. This is, indeed, often affected by other causes existing in the lungs, the stomach, and sometimes even in the bowels, but a rotten state of the teeth, both from the putrid smell emitted by carious bones and the impurities lodged in their cavities, never fails of aggravating an unpleasant breath wherever there is a tendency of that kind.

REMEDIES FOR TOOTHACHE.--1. One drachm of alum reduced to an impalpable powder, three drachms of nitrous spirits of ether--mix, and apply them to the tooth on cotton. 2. Mix a little salt and alum, equal portions, grind it fine, wet a little lock of cotton, fill it with the powder and put it in your tooth. One or two applications seldom fail to cure. 3. To one drachm of collodion add two drachms of Calvert's carbolic acid. A gelatinous mass is precipitated, a small portion of which, inserted in the cavity of an aching tooth, invariably gives immediate relief. 4. Saturate a small bit of clean cotton wool with a strong solution of ammonia, and apply it immediately to the affected tooth. The pleasing contrast immediately produced in some cases causes fits of laughter, although a moment previous extreme suffering and anguish prevailed. 5. Sometimes a sound tooth aches from sympathy of the nerves of the face with other nerves. But when toothache proceeds from a decayed tooth either have it taken out, or put hot fomentations upon the face, and hot drinks into the mouth, such as tincture of cayenne.

TO CURE WARTS.--Warts are formed by the small arteries, veins, and nerves united together, taking on a disposition to grow by extending themselves upward, carrying the scarf-skin along with them, which, thickening, forms a wart. Corns are a similar growth, brought about by the friction of tight boots and shoes. 1. Take a piece of diachylon plaster, cut a hole in the centre the size of the wart, and stick it on, the wart protruding through. Then touch it daily with aquafortis, or nitrate of silver. They may be removed by tying a string tightly around them. 2. Take a blacksmith's punch, heat it red hot and burn the warts with the end of it. When the burn gets well the warts will be gone forever. 3. Scrape down enough dry cobwebs to make a ball large enough to, or a little more than, cover the wart and not touch the flesh around the same; lay it on top of the wart, ignite it and let it be until it is all burnt up. The wart will turn white, and in a few days come out. 4. Pass a pin through the wart; apply one end of the pin to the flame of a lamp; hold it there until the wart fries under the action of the heat. A wart so treated will leave. 5. Dissolve as much common washing soda as the water will take up; wash the warts with this for a minute or two, and let them dry without wiping. Keep the water in a bottle and repeat the washing often, and it will take away the largest warts. 6. They may be cured surely by paring them down until the blood comes slightly and then rubbing them with lunar caustic. It is needless to say this hurts a little, but it is a sure cure. The hydrochlorate of lime applied in the same way will cure after several applications and some patience; so will strong good vinegar, and so it is said will milk weed. The cures founded upon superstitious practices, such as muttering some phrases over the excrescence, stealing a piece of beef, rubbing the wart therewith and then burying it under the leaves to await its decay, etc., etc., are all the remnants of a past state of ignorance and are of no use whatever. Warts are generally only temporary and disappear as their possessors grow up.

HOW TO CURE WHITE SWELLING.--Draw a blister on the inside of the leg below the knee; keep it running with ointment made of hen manure, by simmering it in hog's lard with onions; rub the knee with the following kind of ointment: Bits of peppermint, oil of sassafras, checkerberry, juniper, one drachm each; simmer in one-half pint neatsfoot oil, and rub on the knee three times a day.

HOW TO CURE WOUNDS.--Catnip steeped, mixed with fresh butter and sugar.

HOW TO CURE WHOOPING-COUGH.--Take a quart of spring water, put in it a large handful of chin-cups that grow upon moss, a large handful of unset hyssop; boil it to a pint, strain it off, and sweeten it with sugar-candy. Let the child, as often as it coughs, take two spoonfuls at a time.

HOW TO CURE WORMS IN CHILDREN.--1. Take one ounce of powdered snake-head (herb), and one drachm each of aloes and prickly ash bark; powder these, and to one-half teaspoonful of this powder add a teaspoonful of boiling water and a teaspoonful of molasses. Take this as a dose, night or morning, more or less, as the symptoms may require. 2. Take tobacco leaves, pound them up with honey, and lay them on the belly of the child or grown person, at the same time administering a dose of some good physic. 3. Take garden parsley, make it into a tea and let the patient drink freely of it. 4. Take the scales that will fall around the blacksmith's anvil, powder them fine, and put them in sweetened rum. Shake when you take them, and give a teaspoonful three times a day.

SCALDING OF THE URINE.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar, and the oil of spearmint.

URINARY OBSTRUCTIONS.--Steep pumpkin seeds in gin, and drink about three glasses a day; or, administer half a drachm uva ursi every morning, and a dose of spearmint.

FREE PASSAGE OF URINE.--The leaves of the currant bush made into a tea, and taken as a common drink.

VENEREAL COMPLAINTS.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar, combined with sarsaparilla, yellow dock and burdock made into a syrup; add to a pint of this syrup an ounce of gum guiaicum. Dose, from a tablespoonful to a wine-glass, as best you can bear.

HOW TO CURE SORE THROAT.--"One who has tried it" communicates the following sensible item about curing sore throat: Let each one of your half million readers buy at any drug store one ounce of camphorated oil and five cents' worth of chloride of potash. Whenever any soreness appears in the throat, put the potash in half a tumbler of water, and with it gargle the throat thoroughly; then rub the neck thoroughly with the camphorated oil at night before going to bed, and also pin around the throat a small strip of woolen flannel. This is a simple, cheap and sure remedy.

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LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

Acacia--Concealed love.
Adonis Vernalis--Sorrowful remembrances.
Almond--Hope.
Aloe--Religious superstition.
Alyssum, Sweet--Worth beyond beauty.
Ambrosia--Love returned.
Apple Blossom--Preference.
Arbor Vitæ--Unchanging friendship.

Bachelor's button--Hope in love.
Balsam--Impatience.
Begonia--Deformity.
Bellflower--Gratitude.
Belvidere, Wild (Licorice)--I declare against you.
Blue Bell--I will be constant.
Box--Stoical indifference.
Briers--Envy.
Burdock--Touch me not.

Cactus--Thou leavest not.
Camellia--Pity.
Candytuft--Indifference.
Canterbury Bell--Gratitude.
Cape Jessamine--Ecstasy; transport.
Calla Lily--Feminine beauty.
Carnation (Yellow)--Disdain.
Cedar--I live for thee.
China Aster--I will see about it.
Chrysanthemum Rose--I love.
Cowslip--Pensiveness.
Cypress--Mourning.
Crocus--Cheerfulness.
Cypress and Marigold--Despair.

Daffodil--Chivalry.
Dahlia--Forever thine.
Daisy (Garden)--I partake your sentiment.
Daisy (Wild)--I will think of it.
Dandelion--Coquetry.
Dead Leaves--Sadness.
Dock--Patience.
Dodder--Meanness.
Dogwood--Am I indifferent to you?

Ebony--Hypocrisy.
Eglantine--I wound to heal.
Elder--Compassion.
Endive--Frugality.
Evening Primrose--Inconstancy.
Evergreen--Poverty.
Everlasting--Perpetual remembrance.

Fennel--Strength.
Filbert--Reconciliation.
Fir-tree--Elevation.
Flux--I feel your kindness.
Forget-me-not--True love; remembrance.
Fox-glove--Insincerity.
Furze--Anger.
Fuchsia--Taste.

Gentian--Intrinsic worth.
Geranium, Ivy--Your hand for the next dance.
Geranium, Nutmeg--I expect a meeting.
Geranium, Oak--Lady, deign to smile.
Geranium, Rose--Preference.
Geranium, Silver leaf--Recall.
Gilliflower--Lasting beauty.
Gladiolus--Ready; armed.
Golden Rod--Encouragement.
Gorse--Endearing affection.
Gass--Utility.

Harebell--Grief.
Hawthorn--Hope.
Hazel--Recollection.
Hartsease--Think of me.
Heliotrope--Devotion.
Henbane--Blemish.
Holly--Foresight.
Hollyhock--Fruitfulness.
Hollyhock, White--Female ambition.
Honeysuckle--Bond of Love.
Honeysuckle, Coral--The color of my fate.
Hyacinth--Jealousy.
Hyacinth, Blue--Constancy.
Hyacinth, Purple--Sorrow.
Hydrangea--Heartlessness.

Ice plant--Your looks freeze me.
Iris--Message.
Ivy--Friendship; matrimony.

Jessamine, Cape--Transient joy; ecstasy.
Jessamine, White--Amiability.
Jessamine, Yellow--Grace; elegance.
Jonquil--I desire a return of affection.
Juniper--Asylum; shelter.
Justitia--Perfection of loveliness.

Kalmia (Mountain Laurel)--Treachery.
Kannedia--Mental beauty.

Laburnum--Pensive beauty.
Lady's Slipper--Capricious beauty.
Larch--Boldness.
Larkspur--Fickleness.
Laurel--Glory.
Lavender--Distrust.
Lettuce--Cold-hearted.
Lilac--First emotion of love.
Lily--Purity; modesty.
Lily of the Valley--Return of happiness.
Lily, Day--Coquetry,
Lily, Water--Eloquence.
Lily, Yellow--Falsehood.
Locust--Affection beyond the grave.
Love in a Mist--You puzzle me.
Love Lies Bleeding--Hopeless, not heartless.
Lupine--Imagination.

Mallow--Sweetness; mildness.
Maple--Reserve.
Marigold--Cruelty.
Marjoram--Blushes.
Marvel of Peru (Four O'clocks)--Timidity.
Mint--Virtue.
Mignonette--Your qualities surpass your charms.
Mistletoe--I surmount all difficulties.
Mock Orange (Syringa)--Counterfeit.
Morning Glory--Coquetry.
Maiden's Hair--Discretion.
Magnolia, Grandiflora--Peerless and proud.
Magnolia, Swamp--Perseverance.
Moss--Maternal love.
Motherwort--Secret love.
Mourning Bride--Unfortunate attachment.
Mulberry, Black--I will not survive you.
Mulberry, White--Wisdom.
Mushroom--Suspicion.
Musk-plant--Weakness.
Myrtle--Love faithful in absence.

Narcissus--Egotism.
Nasturtium--Patriotism.
Nettle--Cruelty; slander.
Night Blooming Cereus--Transient beauty.
Nightshade--Bitter truth.

Oak--Hospitality.
Oats--Music.
Oleander--Beware.
Olive-branch--Peace.
Orange-flower--Chastity.
Orchis--Beauty.
Osier--Frankness.
Osmunda--Dreams.

Pansy--Think of me.
Parsley--Entertainment; feasting.
Passion-flower--Religious fervor; susceptibility.
Pea, Sweet--Departure.
Peach Blossom--This heart is thine.
Peony--Anger.
Pennyroyal--Flee away.
Periwinkle--Sweet remembrances.
Petunia--Less proud than they deem thee.
Phlox--Our souls are united.
Pimpernel--Change.
Pink--Pure affection.
Pink, Double Red--Pure, ardent love.
Pink, Indian--Aversion.
Pink, Variegated--Refusal.
Pink, White--You are fair.
Pomegranite--Fully.
Poppy--Consolation.
Primrose--Inconstancy.

Rhododendron--Agitation.
Rose, Austrian--Thou art all that's lovely.
Rose, Bridal--Happy love.
Rose, Cabbage--Ambassador of love.
Rose, China--Grace.
Rose, Damask--Freshness.
Rose, Jacqueminot--Mellow love.
Rose, Maiden's Blush--If you _do_ love me, you will find me out.
Rose, Moss--Superior merit.
Rose, Moss Rosebud--Confession of love.
Rose, Sweet-briar--Sympathy.
Rose, Tea--Always lovely.
Rose, White--I am worthy of you.
Rose, York and Lancaster--War.
Rose, Wild--Simplicity.
Rue--Disdain.

Saffron--Excess is dangerous.
Sardonia--Irony.
Sensitive Plant--Timidity.
Snap-Dragon--Presumption.
Snowball--Thoughts of Heaven.
Snowdrop--Consolation.
Sorrel--Wit ill (poorly) timed.
Spearmint--Warm feelings.
Star of Bethlehem--Reconciliation.
Strawberry--Perfect excellence.
Sumac--Splendor.
Sunflower, Dwarf--Your devout admirer.
Sunflower, Tall--Pride.
Sweet William--Finesse.
Syringa--Memory.

Tansy--I declare against you.
Teazel--Misanthropy.
Thistle--Austerity.
Thorn Apple--Deceitful charms.
Touch-me-not--Impatience.
Trumpet-flower--Separation.
Tuberose--Dangerous pleasures.
Tulip--Declaration of love.
Tulip, Variegated--Beautiful eyes.
Tulip, Yellow--Hopeless love.

Venus' Flytrap--Have I caught you at last.
Venus' Looking-glass--Flattery.
Verbena--Sensibility.
Violet, Blue--Love.
Violet, White--Modesty.

Wallflower--Fidelity.
Weeping Willow--Forsaken.
Woodbine--Fraternal love.

Yew--Sorrow.

Zennæ--Absent friends.

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MASTERPIECES OF ELOQUENCE

The following masterpieces of elegiac eloquence are unsurpassed in the repertory of the English classics, for lofty and noble sentiment, exquisite pathos, vivid imagery, tenderness of feeling, glowing power of description, brilliant command of language, and that immortal and

seldom attained faculty of painting in the soul of the listener or reader a realistic picture whose sublimity of conception impresses the understanding with awe and admiration, and impels the mind to rise involuntarily for the time to an elevation out of and above the inconsequent contemplation of the common and sordid things of life.

AT HIS BROTHER'S GRAVE.

The following grand oration was delivered by Hon. Robert G. Ingersoll on the occasion of the funeral of his brother, Hon. Eben C. Ingersoll, in Washington, June 2:

"My friends, I am going to do that which the dead oft promised he would do for me. The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died where manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while the shadows were still falling towards the west. He had not passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest point, but being weary for a moment he lay down by the wayside, and using his burden for a pillow fell into that dreamless sleep that kisses down the eyelids. Still, while yet in love with life and raptured with the world, he passed to silence and pathetic dust. Yet, after all, it may be best, just in the happiest, sunniest hour of all the voyage, while eager winds are kissing every sail, to dash against the unseen rock and in an instant to hear the billows roar, 'A sunken ship;' for whether in mid-sea or among the breakers of the farther shore, a wreck must mark at last the end of each and all, and every life, no matter if its every hour is rich with love, and every moment jeweled with a joy, will at its close become a tragedy as sad and deep and dark as can be woven of the warp and woof of mystery and death. This brave and tender man in every storm of life was oak and rock, but in the sunshine he was vine and flower. He was the friend of all heroic souls. He climbed the heights and left all superstitions far below, while on his forehead fell the golden dawning of a grander day. He loved the beautiful, and was with color, form and music touched to tears. He sided with the weak, and with a willing hand gave alms. With loyal heart, and with the purest hand he faithfully discharged all public trusts. He was a worshiper of liberty and a friend of the oppressed. A thousand times I have heard him quote the words, 'For Justice all place temple, and all seasons summer.' He believed that happiness was the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worshiper, humanity the only religion, and love the priest. He added to the sum of human joy, and were everyone for whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep to-night beneath a wilderness of flowers. Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word, but the light of death. Hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustic of a wing, he who sleeps here when dying, mistaking the approach of death for the return of health, whispered with his latest breath, 'I am better now.' Let us believe, in spite of doubts and dogmas, and tears and fears, that these dear words are true of all the countless dead. And now, to you who have been chosen from among the many men he loved to do the last sad office for the dead, we give his sacred dust. Speech cannot contain our love. There was, there is, no gentler, stronger, manlier man."

AT THE GRAVE OF A CHILD.

Colonel Ingersoll upon one occasion was one of a little party of sympathizing friends who had gathered in a drizzling rain to assist the sorrowing friends of a young boy--a bright and stainless flower, cut off in the bloom of its beauty and virgin purity by the ruthless north winds from the Plutonian shades--in the last sad office of committing the poor clay to the bosom of its mother earth. Inspired by that true sympathy of the great heart of a great man, Colonel Ingersoll stepped to the side of the grave and spoke as follows:

"My friends, I know how vain it is to gild grief with words, and yet I wish to take from every grave its fear. Here in this world, where life and death are equal king, all should be brave enough to meet what all the dead have met. The future has been filled with fear, stained and polluted by the heartless past. From the wondrous tree of life the buds and blossoms fall with ripened fruit, and in the common bed of earth the patriarchs and babes sleep side by side. Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell; we do not know which is the greater blessing--life or death. We cannot say that death is not a good; we do not know whether the grave is the end of this life or the door of another, or whether the night here is not somewhere else a dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more fortunate, the child dying in its mother's arms, before its lips have learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length of life's uneven road, taking the last slow steps painfully with staff and crutch. Every cradle asks us 'whence,' and every coffin 'whither?' The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions as intelligently and satisfactorily as the robed priest of the most authentic creed. The tearful ignorance of the one is just as good as the learned and unmeaning words of the other. No man, standing where the horizon of life has touched a grave, has any right to prophesy a future filled with pain and tears. It may be that death gives all there is of worth to live. If those we press and strain against our hearts could never die, perhaps that love would wither from the earth. May be this common fate treads from out the paths between our hearts the weeds of selfishness and hate, and I had rather live and love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is not. Another life is naught, unless we know and love again the ones who love us here. They who stand with breaking hearts around this little grave need have no fear. The larger and the nobler faith in all that is and is to be, tells us that death, even at its worst, is only perfect rest. We know that through the common wants of life, the needs and duties of each hour, their grief will lessen day by day, until at last these graves will be to them a place of rest and peace, almost of joy. There is for them this consolation, the dead do not suffer. If they live again, their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear; we are all the children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, have our religion, and it is this: 'Help for the living; hope for the dead.'"

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SUNDRY BRIEF ITEMS OF INTEREST.

In 1492 America was discovered.

In 1848 gold was found in California.

Invention of telescopes, 1590.

Elias Howe, Jr., invented sewing machines, in 1846.

In 1839 envelopes came into use.

Steel pens first made in 1830.

The first watch was constructed in 1476.

First manufacture of sulphur matches in 1829.

Glass windows introduced into England in the eighth century.

First coaches introduced into England in 1569.

In 1545 needles of the modern style first came into use.

In 1527 Albert Durer first engraved on wood.

1559 saw knives introduced into England.

In the same year wheeled carriages were first used in France.

In 1588 the first newspaper appeared in England.

In 1629 the first printing press was brought to America.

The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1652.

England sent the first steam engine to this continent in 1703.

The first steamboat in the United States ascended the Hudson in 1807.

Locomotive first used in the United States in 1830.

First horse railroad constructed in 1827.

In 1830 the first iron steamship was built.

Coal oil first used for illuminating purposes in 1836.

Looms introduced as a substitute for spinning wheels in 1776.

The velocity of a severe storm is 36 miles an hour; that of a hurricane, 80 miles an hour.

National ensign of the United States formally adopted by Congress in 1777.

A square acre is a trifle less than 209 feet each way.

Six hundred and forty acres make a square mile.

A "hand" (employed in measuring horses' height) is four inches.

A span is 10-7/8 inches.

Six hundred pounds make a barrel of rice.

One hundred and ninety-six pounds make a barrel of flour.

Two hundred pounds make a barrel of pork.

Fifty-six pounds make a firkin of butter.

The number of languages is 2,750.

The average duration of human life is 31 years.

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PHYSICIANS' DIGESTION TABLE.

SHOWING THE TIME REQUIRED FOR THE DIGESTION OF THE ORDINARY ARTICLES OF FOOD.

Soups.--Chicken, 3 hours; mutton, 3-1/2 hours; oyster, 3-1/2 hours; vegetable, 4 hours.

Fish.--Bass, broiled, 3 hours; codfish, boiled, 2 hours; oysters, raw, 3 hours; oysters, roasted, 3-1/4 hours; oysters, stewed, 3-1/2 hours; salmon (fresh), boiled, 1-3/4 hours; trout, fried, 1-1/2 hours.

Meats.--Beef, roasted, 3 hours; beefsteak, broiled, 3 hours; beef (corned), boiled, 4-1/4 hours; lamb, roast, 2-1/2 hours; lamb, boiled, 3 hours; meat, hashed, 2-1/2 hours; mutton, broiled, 3 hours; mutton, roast, 3-1/4 hours; pig's feet, soused, 1 hour; pork, roast, 5-1/4 hours; pork, boiled, 4-1/2 hours; pork, fried, 4-1/4 hours; pork, broiled, 3-1/4 hours; sausage, fried, 4 hours; veal, broiled, 4 hours; veal, roast, 4-1/2 hours.

Poultry and game.--Chicken, fricasseed, 3-3/4 hours; duck (tame), roasted, 4 hours; duck (wild), roasted, 4-3/4 hours; fowls (domestic), roasted or boiled, 4 hours; goose (wild), roasted, 2-1/2 hours; goose (tame), roasted, 2-1/4 hours; turkey, boiled or roasted, 2-1/2 hours; venison, broiled or roasted, 1-1/2 hours.

Vegetables.--Asparagus, boiled, 2-1/2 hours; beans (Lima), boiled, 2-1/2 hours, beans (string), boiled, 3 hours; beans, baked (with pork), 4-1/2 hours; beets (young), boiled, 3-3/4 hours; beets (old) boiled, 4 hours; cabbage, raw, 2 hours; cabbage, boiled, 4-1/2 hours; cauliflower, boiled, 2-1/2 hours; corn (green), boiled, 4 hours; onions, boiled, 3 hours; parsnips, boiled, 3 hours; potatoes, boiled or baked, 3-1/2 hours; rice, boiled, 1 hour; spinach, boiled, 2-1/2 hours; tomatoes, raw or stewed, 2-1/2 hours; turnips, boiled, 3-1/2 hours.

Bread, Eggs, Milk, etc.--Bread, corn, 3-1/4 hours; bread, wheat, 3-1/2 hours; eggs, raw, 2 hours; cheese, 3-1/2 hours; custard, 2-3/4 hours; eggs, soft-boiled, 3 hours; eggs, hard-boiled or fried, 3-1/2 hours; gelatine, 2-1/2 hours; tapioca, 2 hours.

* * * * *

THEMES FOR DEBATE.

Following are one hundred and fifty topics for debate. The more usual form in their presentation is that of a direct proposition or statement, rather than that of a question. The opponents then debate the "affirmative" and "negative" of the proposition. It is well to be very careful, in adopting a subject for a debate, to so state or explain it that misunderstandings may be mutually avoided, and quibbles on the meaning of words prevented.

THEMES FOR DEBATE.

Which is the better for this nation, high or low import tariffs?

Is assassination ever justifiable?

Was England justifiable in interfering between Egypt and the Soudan rebels?

Is the production of great works of literature favored by the conditions of modern civilized life?

Is it politic to place restrictions upon the immigration of the Chinese to the United States?

Will coal always constitute the main source of artificial heat?

Has the experiment of universal suffrage proven a success? Was Grant or Lee the greater general?

Is an income-tax commendable?

Ought the national banking system to be abolished?

Should the government lease to stockgrowers any portion of the public domain?

Is it advisable longer to attempt to maintain both a gold and silver standard of coinage?

Which is the more important to the student, physical science or mathematics?

Is the study of current politics a duty?

Which was the more influential congressman, Blaine or Garfield?

Which gives rise to more objectionable idioms and localisms of language, New England or the West?

Was the purchase of Alaska by this government wise?

Which is the more important as a continent, Africa or South America?

Should the government interfere to stop the spread of contagious diseases among cattle?

Was Caesar or Hannibal the more able general?

Is the study of ancient or modern history the more important to the student?

Should aliens be allowed to acquire property in this country?

Should aliens be allowed to own real estate in this country? Do the benefits of the signal service justify its costs?

Should usury laws be abolished?

Should all laws for the collection of debt be abolished?

Is labor entitled to more remuneration than it receives?

Should the continuance of militia organizations by the several States be encouraged?

Is an untarnished reputation of more importance to a woman than to a man?

Does home life promote the growth of selfishness?

Are mineral veins aqueous or igneous in origin?

Is the theory of evolution tenable?

Was Rome justifiable in annihilating Carthage as a nation?

Which has left the more permanent impress upon mankind, Greece or Rome?

Which was the greater thinker, Emerson or Bacon?

Which is the more important as a branch of education, mineralogy or astronomy?

Is there any improvement in the quality of the literature of to-day over that of last century?

Should the "Spoils System" be continued in American politics?

Should the co-education of the sexes be encouraged?

Which should be the more encouraged, novelists or dramatists?

Will the African and Caucasian races ever be amalgamated in the United States?

Should the military or the interior department have charge over the Indians in the United States?

Which is of more benefit to his race, the inventor or the explorer?

Is history or philosophy the better exercise for the mind?

Can any effectual provision be made by the State against "hard times"?

Which is of the more benefit to society, journalism or the law?

Which was the greater general, Napoleon or Wellington?

Should the volume of greenback money be increased?

Should the volume of national bank circulation be increased?

Should the railroads be under the direct control of the government?

Is the doctrine of "State rights" to be commended?

Is the "Monroe doctrine" to be commended and upheld?

Is the pursuit of politics an honorable avocation?

Which is of the greater importance, the college or the university?

Does the study of physical science militate against religious belief?

Should "landlordism" in Ireland be supplanted by home rule?

Is life more desirable now than in ancient Rome?

Should men and women receive the same amount of wages for the same kind of work?

Is the prohibitory liquor law preferable to a system of high license?

Has any State a right to secede?

Should any limit be placed by the constitution of a State upon its ability to contract indebtedness?

Should the contract labor system in public prisons be forbidden?

Should there be a censor for the public press?

Should Arctic expeditions be encouraged?

Is it the duty of the State to encourage art and literature as much as science?

Is suicide cowardice?

Has our Government a right to disfranchise the polygamists of Utah?

Should capital punishment be abolished?

Should the law place a limit upon the hours of daily labor for workingmen?

Is "socialism" treason?

Should the education of the young be compulsory?

In a hundred years will republics be as numerous as monarchies?

Should book-keeping be taught in the public schools?

Should Latin be taught in the public schools?

Do our methods of government promote centralization?

Is life worth living?

Should Ireland and Scotland be independent nations?

Should internal revenue taxation be abolished?

Which is of greater benefit at the present day, books or newspapers?

Is honesty always the best policy?

Which has been of greater benefit to mankind, geology or chemistry?

Which could mankind dispense with at least inconvenience, wood or coal?

Which is the greater nation, Germany or France?

Which can support the greater population in proportion to area, our Northern or Southern States?

Would mankind be the loser if the earth should cease to produce gold and silver?

Is the occasional destruction of large numbers of people, by war and disaster, a benefit to the world?

Which could man best do without, steam or horse power?

Should women be given the right of suffrage in the United States?

Should cremation be substituted for burial?

Should the government establish a national system of telegraph?

Will the population of Chicago ever exceed that of New York?

Should the electoral college be continued?

Will the population of St. Louis ever exceed that of Chicago?

Should restrictions be placed upon the amount of property inheritable?

Which is more desirable as the chief business of a city--commerce or manufactures?

Which is more desirable as the chief business of a city--transportation by water or by rail?

Should the rate of taxation be graduated to a ratio with the amount of property taxed?

Will a time ever come when the population of the earth will be limited by the earth's capacity of food production?

Is it probable that any language will ever become universal?

Is it probable that any planet, except the earth, is inhabited?

Should the State prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors?

Should the government prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors?

Should the guillotine be substituted for the gallows?

Was Bryant or Longfellow the greater poet?

Should the jury system be continued?

Should the languages of alien nations be taught in the public schools?

Should a right to vote in any part of the United States depend upon a property qualification?

Can a horse trot faster in harness, or under saddle?

Should the pooling system among American railroads be abolished by law?

Is dancing, as usually conducted, compatible with a high standard of morality?

Should the grand jury system of making indictments be continued?

Which should be the more highly remunerated, skilled labor or the work of professional men?

Which is the more desirable as an occupation, medicine or law?

Should the formation of trade unions be encouraged?

Which has been the greater curse to man, war or drunkenness?

Which can man the more easily do without, electricity or petroleum?

Should the law interfere against the growth of class distinctions in society?

Which was the greater genius, Mohammed or Buddha?

Which was the more able leader, Pizarro or Cortez?

Which can to-day wield the greater influence, the orator or the writer?

Is genius hereditary?

Is Saxon blood deteriorating?

Which will predominate in five hundred years, the Saxon or Latin races?

Should American railroad companies be allowed to sell their bonds in other countries?

Should Sumner's civil rights bill be made constitutional by an amendment?

Does civilization promote the happiness of the world?

Should land subsidies be granted to railroads by the government?

Which is the stronger military power, England or the United States?

Would a rebellion in Russia be justifiable?

Should the theater be encouraged?

Which has the greater resources, Pennsylvania or Texas?

Is agriculture the noblest occupation?

Can democratic forms of government be made universal?

Is legal punishment for crime as severe as it should be?

Should the formation of monopolies be prevented by the State?

Has Spanish influence been helpful or harmful to Mexico as a people?

Which is of more importance, the primary or the high school?

Will the tide of emigration ever turn eastward instead of westward?

Should the art of war be taught more widely than at present in the United States?

Was slavery the cause of the American civil war?

Is life insurance a benefit?

* * * * *

HOW TO MAKE 32 KINDS OF SOLDER.--1. Plumbers' solder.--Lead 2 parts, tin I part. 2. Tinmen's solder.--Lead 1 part, tin 1 part. 3. Zinc solder.--Tin 1 part, [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'lead 1 to parts'] lead 1 to 2 parts. 4. Pewter solder. Lead 1 part, bismuth 1 to 2 parts. 5. [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'Spelter soldier'] Spelter's solder.--Equal parts copper and zinc. 6. Pewterers' soft solder.--Bismuth 2, lead 4, tin 3 parts. 7. Another.--Bismuth 1, lead I, tin 2 parts. 8. Another pewter solder.--Tin 2 parts, lead 1 part. 9. Glaziers' solder.--Tin 3 parts, lead 1 part. 10. Solder for copper.--Copper 10 parts, zinc 9 parts. 11. Yellow solder for brass or copper.--- Copper 32 lbs., zinc 29 lbs., tin 1 lb. 12. Brass solder.--Copper 61.25 parts, zinc 38.75 parts. 13. Brass solder, yellow and easily fusible.--Copper 45, zinc 55 parts. 14. Brass solder, white.--Copper 57.41 parts, tin 14.60 parts, zinc 27.99 parts. 15. Another solder for copper.--Tin 2 parts, lead 1 part. When the copper is thick heat it by a naked fire, if thin use a tinned copper tool. Use muriate or chloride of zinc as a flux. The same solder will do for iron, cast iron, or steel; if the pieces are thick, heat by a naked fire or immerse in the solder. 16. Black solder.--Copper 2, zinc 3, tin 2 parts. 17. Another.--Sheet brass 20 lbs., tin 6 lbs., zinc 1 lb. 18. Cold brazing without fire or lamp. --Fluoric acid 1 oz., oxy muriatic acid 1 oz., mix in a lead bottle. Put a chalk mark each side where you want to braze. This mixture will keep about G months in one bottle. 19. Cold soldering without fire or lamp.--Bismuth 1/4 oz., quicksilver 1/4 oz., block tin filings 1 oz., spirits salts 1 oz., all mixed together. 20. To solder iron to steel or either to brass.--Tin 3 parts, copper 39-1/2 parts, zinc 7-1/2 parts. When applied in a molten state it will firmly unite metals first named to each other. 21. Plumbers' solder.--Bismuth 1, lead 5, tin 3 parts, is a first-class composition. 22. White solder for raised Britannia ware.--Tin 100 lbs., hardening 8 lbs., antimony 8 lbs. 23. Hardening for Britannia.--(To be mixed separately from the other ingredients.) Copper 2 lbs., tin 1 lb. 21. Best soft solder for cast Britannia ware.--Tin 8 lbs., lead 5 lbs. 25. Bismuth solder.--Tin 1, lead 3, bismuth 3 parts. 26. Solder for brass that will stand hammering.--Brass 78.26 parts, zinc 17.41 parts, silver 4.33 parts, add a little chloride of potassium to your borax for a flux. 27. Solder for steel joints.--Silver 19 parts, copper 1 part, brass 2 parts, Melt all together. 28. Hard solder.--Copper 2 parts, zinc 1 part. Melt together. 29. Solder for brass.--- Copper 3 parts, zinc 1 part, with borax. 30. Solder for copper.--- Brass 6 parts, zinc 1 part, tin 1 part, melt all together well and pour out to cool. 31. Solder for platina--Gold with borax. 32. Solder for iron.--The best solder for iron is good tough brass with a little borax.

N. B.--In soldering, the surfaces to be joined are made perfectly clean and smooth, and then covered with sal. ammoniac, resin or other flux, the solder is then applied, being melted on and smoothed over by a tinned soldering iron.

* * * * *

COOKERY RECIPES

ALE TO MULL.--Take a pint of good strong ale, and pour it into a saucepan with three cloves and a little nutmeg; sugar to your taste. Set it over the fire, and when it boils take it off to cool. Beat up the yolks of four eggs exceedingly well; mix them first with a little cold ale, then add them to the warm ale, and pour it in and out of the pan several times. Set it over a slow fire, beat it a little, take it off again; do this three times until it is hot, then serve it with dry toast.

ALE, SPICED.--Is made hot, sweetened with sugar and spiced with grated nutmeg, and a hot toast is served in it. This is the wassail drink.

BEEF TEA.--Cut a pound of fleshy beef in thin slices; simmer with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled and been skimmed. Season if approved.

BEEF TEA.--To one pound of lean beef add one and one-half tumblers of cold water; cut the beef in small pieces, cover, and let it boil slowly for ten minutes, and add a little salt after it is boiled. Excellent.

BEEF TEA.--Cut lean, tender beef into small pieces, put them into a bottle, cork and set in a pot of cold water, then put on the stove and boil for one hour. Season to taste.

BLACK CURRANT CORDIAL.--To every four quarts of black currants, picked from the stems and lightly bruised, add one gallon of the best whisky; let it remain four months, shaking the jar occasionally, then drain off the liquor and strain. Add three pounds of loaf sugar and a quarter of a pound of best cloves, slightly bruised; bottle well and seal.

BOSTON CREAM (A SUMMER DRINK).--Make a syrup of four pounds of white sugar with four quarts of water; boil; when cold add four ounces of tartaric acid, one and a half ounces of essence of lemon, and the whites of six eggs beaten to a stiff froth; bottle. A wine-glass of the cream to a tumbler of water, with sufficient carbonate of soda to make it effervesce.

CHAMPAGNE CUP.--One quart bottle of champagne, two bottles of soda-water, one liqueur-glass of brandy, two tablespoons of powdered sugar, a few thin strips of cucumber rind; make this just in time for use, and add a large piece of ice.

CHOCOLATE.--Scrape Cadbury's chocolate fine, mix with a little cold water and the yolks of eggs well beaten; add this to equal parts of milk and water, and boil well, being careful that it does not burn. Sweeten to the taste, and serve hot.

COFFEE.--Is a tonic and stimulating beverage, of a wholesome nature. Use the best. For eight cups use nearly eight cups of water; put in coffee as much as you like, boil a minute and take off, and throw in a cup of cold water to throw the grounds to the bottom; in five minutes it will be very clear.

Or, beat one or two eggs, which mix with ground coffee to form a ball; nearly fill the pot with cold water, simmer gently for half an hour, having introduced the ball; _do not boil_, or you will destroy the aroma.

COFFEE.--The following is a delicious dish either for summer breakfast or dessert: Make a strong infusion of Mocha coffee; put it in a porcelain bowl, sugar it properly and add to it an equal portion of boiled milk, or one-third the quantity of rich cream. Surround the bowl with pounded ice.

CURRANT WINE.--One quart currant juice, three pounds of sugar, sufficient water to make a gallon.

EGG GRUEL.--Boil eggs from one to three hours until hard enough to grate; then boil new milk and thicken with the egg, and add a little salt. Excellent in case of nausea.

LEMON SYRUP.--Pare off the yellow rind of the lemon, slice the lemon and put a layer of lemon and a thick layer of sugar in a deep plate; cover close with a saucer, and set in a warm place. This is an excellent remedy for a cold.

LEMONADE.--Take a quart of boiling water, and add to it five ounces of lump-sugar, the yellow rind of the lemon rubbed off with a bit of sugar, and the juice of three lemons. Stir all together and let it stand till cool. Two ounces of cream of tartar may be used instead of the lemons, water being poured upon it.

RASPBERRY VINEGAR.--Fill a jar with red raspberries picked from the stalks. Pour in as much vinegar as it will hold. Let it stand ten days, then strain it through a sieve. Don't press the berries, just let the juice run through. To every pint add one pound loaf sugar. Boil it like other syrup; skim, and bottle when cold.

SUMMER DRINK.--Boil together for five minutes two ounces of tartaric acid, two pounds white sugar, three lemons sliced, two quarts of water; when nearly cold add the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, one tablespoonful of flour and half an ounce of wintergreen. Two tablespoonfuls in a glass of water make a pleasant drink; for those who like effervescence add as much soda as a ten-cent piece will hold, stirring it briskly before drinking.

BLACKBERRY SYRUP.--To one pint of juice put one pound of white sugar, one-half ounce of powdered cinnamon, one-fourth ounce mace, and two teaspoons cloves; boil all together for a quarter of an hour, then strain the syrup, and add to each pint a glass of French brandy.

TEA.--When the water in the teakettle begins to boil, have ready a tin tea-steeper; pour into the tea-steeper just a very little of the boiling water, and then put in tea, allowing one teaspoon of tea to each person. Pour over this boiling water until the steeper is a little more than half full; cover tightly and let it stand where it will keep hot, but not to boil. Let the tea infuse for ten or fifteen minutes, and then pour into the tea-urn, adding more boiling water, in the proportion of one cup of water for every teaspoon of dry tea which has been infused. Have boiling water in a water-pot, and weaken each cup of tea as desired. Do not use water for tea that has been boiled long. Spring water is best for tea, and filtered water next best.

ICED TEA A LA RUSSE.--To each glass of tea add the juice of half a lemon, fill up the glass with pounded ice, and sweeten.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING BREAD.--In the composition of good bread, there are three important requisites: Good flour, good yeast, [and here let us recommend Gillett's Magic Yeast Cakes. They keep good for one year in any climate, and once used you will not do without it. All grocers keep it] and strength to knead it well. Flour should be white and dry, crumbling easily again after it is pressed in the hand.

A very good method of ascertaining the quality of yeast will be to add a little flour to a very small quantity, setting it in a warm place. If in the course of ten or fifteen minutes it raises, it will do to use.

When you make bread, first set the sponge with warm milk or water, keeping it in a warm place until quite light. Then mold this sponge, by adding flour, into one large loaf, kneading it well. Set this to rise again, and then when sufficiently light mold it into smaller loaves, let it rise again, then bake. Care should be taken not to get the dough too stiff with flour; it should be as soft as it can be to knead well. To make bread or biscuits a nice color, wet the dough over top with water just before putting it into the oven. Flour should always be sifted.

BROWN BREAD, for those who can eat corn-meal: Two cups Indian meal to one cup flour; one-half teacup syrup, 2-1/2 cups milk; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 teaspoons of Gillett's baking powder. Steam an hour and a half. To be eaten hot. It goes very nicely with a corn-beef dinner.

BROWN BREAD.--Stir together wheat meal and cold water (nothing else, not even salt) to the consistency of a thick batter. Bake in small circular pans, from three to three and a half inches in diameter, (ordinary tin pattypans do very well) in a quick, hot oven. It is quite essential that it be baked in this sized cake, as it is upon this that the raising depends. [In this article there are none of the injurious qualities of either fermented or superfine flour bread; and it is so palpably wholesome food, that it appeals at once to the common sense of all who are interested in the subject.]

BROWN BREAD--Take part of the sponge that has been prepared for your white bread, warm water can be added, mix it with graham flour (not too stiff).

BOSTON BROWN BREAD.--To make one loaf:--Rye meal unsifted, half a pint; Indian meal sifted, one pint; sour milk, one pint; molasses, half a gill. Add a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water; stir well, put in a greased pan, let it rise one hour, and steam four hours.

BOSTON BROWN BREAD.--One and one-half cups of graham flour, two cups of corn meal, one-half cup of molasses, one pint of sweet milk, and one-half a teaspoon of soda; steam three hours.

CORN BREAD.--One-half pint of buttermilk, one-half pint of sweet milk; sweeten the sour milk with one-half teaspoon of soda; beat two eggs, whites and yolks together; pour the milk into the eggs, then thicken with about nine tablespoons of sifted corn meal. Put the pan on the stove with a piece of lard the size of an egg; when melted pour it in the batter; this lard by stirring it will grease the pan to bake in; add a teaspoon of salt.

EXCELLENT BREAD.--Four potatoes mashed fine, four teaspoons of salt, two quarts of lukewarm milk, one-half cake Gillett's magic yeast dissolved in one-half cup of warm water, flour enough to make a pliable dough; mold with hands well greased with lard; place in pans, and when sufficiently light, it is ready for baking.

FRENCH BREAD.--With a quarter of a peck of fine flour mix the yolks of three and whites of two eggs, beaten and strained, a little salt, half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk, made a little warm, as will work into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but don't knead it. Have ready three quart wooden dishes, divide the dough among them, set to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick. Rasp when done.

GRAHAM BREAD.--For one loaf, take two cups of white bread sponge, to which add two tablespoons of brown sugar, and graham flour to make a stiff batter; let it rise, after which add graham flour sufficient to knead, but not very stiff; then put it in the pan to rise and bake.

ITALIAN BREAD.--Make a stiff dough, with two pounds of fine flour, six of white powdered sugar, three or four eggs, a lemon-peel grated, and two ounces of fresh butter. If the dough is not firm enough, add more flour and sugar. Then turn it out, and work it well with the hand, cut it into round long biscuits, and glaze them with white of egg.

RICE AND WHEAT BREAD.--Simmer a pound of rice in two quarts of water till soft; when it is of a proper warmth, mix it well with four pounds of flour, and yeast, and salt as for other bread; of yeast about four large spoonfuls; knead it well; then set to rise before the fire. Some of the flour should be reserved to make up the loaves. If the rice should require more water, it must be added, as some rice swells more than others.

SAGO BREAD.--Boil two lbs. of sago in three pints of water until reduced to a quart, then mix with it half a pint of yeast, and pour the mixture into fourteen lbs. of flour. Make into bread in the usual way.

STEAMED BREAD.--Two cups corn meal; 1 cup graham flour; 1/2 cup N. O. molasses; salt and teaspoonful of soda. Mix soft with sour milk, or make with sweet milk and Gillett's baking powder. Put in tight mold in kettle of water; steam three hours or more. This is as nice as Boston brown bread.

Use this receipt with flour instead of graham; add a cup of beef suet, and it makes a nice pudding in the winter. Eat with syrup or cream.