Some medical men having to examine the body of an individual who was supposed to have been poisoned, and who had been dead nearly a month, found the smell so insupportable, that they were induced to try the application of the chloride of lime. A solution of this substance was frequently sprinkled over the body, and produced a wonderful effect; for scarcely had they made use of it, when the unpleasant odour was instantly destroyed, and the operation could be proceeded in with comparative comfort. The above I had on such good authority, that I was induced to try it myself the first opportunity; and not long since I had a striking proof of the advantages of this invaluable preparation. On visiting a sick woman in a small, low room, I found it almost insupportable from the confined space and nature of the complaint; but on using the chloride, which I did on a succeeding visit, the unpleasant smell was immediately dispersed, and I found no inconvenience in remaining by her side. I attended this person for some months previous to her death, during which time her malady increased to that degree, that the place would have been intolerable but for the chloride, which so effectually purified the room, that though I believe the window was not opened for weeks, I never experienced the least unpleasantness. As you would be really doing families a service, Mr. Editor, by pointing this out to them, I will make no apology for trespassing on your pages, And remain, your obedient Servant, COOKERY FOR THE POOR. May 11th, 1881. MR. EDITOR, ،، In an article which appeared in the April number of your excellent Family Monitor," headed as above, one thing struck me, for remarking upon which your kind and benevolent "Friend to the Poor," will not, I am sure, feel hurt. It is this-the universal distribution of the soup to all the poor in the parish in turn. I am not, Mr. Editor, I believe the only person who has heard of the carelessness and unthankfulness with which soup is frequently received by the poor, after the novelty of the gift had passed away. Instances have been known of their growing nice and fastidious, and rejecting it as not being good enough for them; and I do believe, in an indiscriminate distribution of it, these instances are far from uncommon. The following plan is the one which I have adopted ever since my first entrance on the care of a parish. To give soup only to the sick. The effect is, that those in health feel no jealousy, and those who are sick value it infinitely more than the healthy ever do. Often and often have they told me how great a comfort it has been to them, and how much nourishment they have felt it impart to them. They receive it at a time when they are incapable of making any thing nice for themselves, and such as a palate, fastidious through sickness, can relish. They are never ungrateful for it, and in no instance have ever thought it not nice enough for them. My cook makes it twice a week, solely from the remnants of the parlour aad kitchen, and very delicious I assure you it is, Mr. Editor. If this hint prove acceptable, I would offer one more to the consideration of my brother clergy and their wives. When poor women are confined, the nurses who attend them are, generally speaking, but sorry cooks. My wife has given permission to every poor woman, as soon as she is confined, to send to the parsonage for some gruel (nicely prepared by our own cook) every day for the first week or ten days; after that they have broth for a week. At the end of which time, where clergymen can afford it, two bottles of good beer would prove an invaluable treasure. If, Mr. Editor, you consider these hints not ill-suited for "The Family Monitor," they are quite at your service. A COUNTRY CURATE. P.S. Let cooks remember that nothing, no, not even a bone, should be wasted; and that if they take as much pains to bestow a comfort on their poor brethren, as they do to provide a luxury for their masters, they will not be forgotten by Him by whom motives are weighed. 272 IF SIR, DOMESTIC HINTS. To the Editor of the Family Monitor. If any of the following hints should meet with your approbation, they are much at your service. T. D. S. Immediate relief is given to the pain of a scald or a burn by the application of wool or cotton-wool used for wadding, merely wrapped loosely round the part about an inch in thickness. Equal proportions of milk and water boiled together till the quantity is reduced to half, is a very light and pleasant way of taking milk, when the stomach is not strong enough to bear it alone. Rice, barley, or sago, boiled in the same, forms a very nourishing food where meat is forbidden. Oil, used in cakes and pastry, where butter disagrees, is a very good substitute, and is not tasted. It makes very good biscuits: a table spoonful to a pound of flour, and a few caraways. A cup of groat gruel taken after dinner assists digestion, and has not the weakening effect of warm water, sometimes used. It also stops fermentation instantly and effectually. To wash common printed calicoes or very delicate colours which will not bear soap:-A quart of bran boiled in two gallons of water, and strained, will cleanse them thoroughly without injuring them. To restore the spots made by acids, on black silk:-Touch them first with spirits of hartshorn, and when dry, with ink. If the first application is not effectual, a second or third will succeed. THE HYDROMETER AND CHINESE MERCHANT. THE hydrometer is an instrument by which the strength of spirit is determined, or rather by which the quantity of water mixed with spirit is ascertained; and the dependance which may be placed on its accuracy, once gave rise to a curious scene in China. A merchant sold to the purser of a ship, a quantity of distilled spirit, according to a sample shown; but not standing in awe of conscience, he afterwards, in the privacy of his storehouse, added a certain quantity of water to each cask. The article having been delivered on board, and tried by the hydrometer, was discovered to be wanting in strength. When the vendor was first charged with the fraud he stoutly denied it; but on the exact quantity of water which had been mixed with the spirit being specified, he was confounded, for he knew of no human means by which the discovery could have been made, and trembling he confessed his roguery.-If the ingenuity of man is thus able to detect the iniquity of a fellow-creature, and to expose his secret practices, how shall we escape the all-seeing eye of the Almighty, that omniscient Being "who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart?" N. ON THE FREQUENT CHANGES OF PLACE AMONG SERVANTS. SIR, ON inquiry into the condition of a portion of the female sex in London, it has been ascertained, that the number of female servants in the Metropolis alone is 165,732: that the time each servant remains in one situation, by an average taken at seven different periods, is 462 days; consequently, on an average, 358 leave their situations every day. If those good old servants, those faithful creatures, who remain quietly and happily for years in one family, as well as those who remain a few years in their several places-forming, perhaps, a third of this whole number, were not calculated in taking this average number of days, it would be found that by far the greater portion of female servants remain but a few months or weeks in the same place, a fact which the difficulty that often occurs of meeting with a 'twelve months' character, proves. If in such a case as this, Mr. Editor, I may use the words of the psalmist, "I have been VOL. I. N N young, and now am old; and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread:" they may, I think, with great justice be applied. I can bear full testimony to their truth in regard to servants; since I have myself seen many years, and have not only had many servants under my own roof, but have also watched the changes in the establishments of a large circle of acquaintance; and I may safely say, I never saw an old, steady, and conscientious servant neglected by a family, or by their children; whereas, from this habit of constantly changing their places, many servants of the present day have scarcely a friend to look up to in the times of sickness, age, or trouble; and surely have no one to blame but themselves, should they at last be seen "begging their bread.”—If you think this will suit the pages of the Monitor, I should be glad to see it when convenient; and remain, 66 Your obedient Servant, AN OLD HOUSEKEEPER. In a former number, we acknowledged the receipt of "The Diary of a Clergyman;" but as it professes to be only a collection of rough notes, and we were left at liberty to use it when and how we pleased, we have not yet had recourse to it. We hope, however, to do so occasionally hereafter; in the mean time, we give the following extract, as it bears upon the foregoing letter. I visited a female servant of who had lived upwards of forty years in the family. I found the poor creature fast sinking from a decay of nature, without any apparent disease, and still in the enjoyment of all her faculties. This visit led to several others; and I soon found that the service of this old woman had not been that 'eye service' of which the apostle speaks; but that she was devotedly attached to the family with whom she had lived; and had also, to the best of her ability, endeavoured to serve her heavenly Master. Our conversation took no extraordinary turn, therefore I rather note such marks of attachment which I saw she bore towards the family, who were all at this time absent in a distant county. As I often chatted with her after our religious duties were finished, I soon found that the family knew nothing of her illness, which she had studiously kept from them; and |