Strikes, Lockouts & Labor

As manufacturing grew during the 19th century so did strikes and lockouts. If you're writing about the struggle for worker's rights and problems it caused owners within your fictional characters I think this will be a valuable source. I'm attaching a link to a Google book The Law of Strikes, Lockouts and Labor Organization by Thomas Sydenham Cogley ©1894. In this book you'll not only find the definitions to the various terms but also histories as well as case law and various cases.

Opium

Opium was widely used during the 19th century. Below is a brief medical description of the herb and it's history and uses.

OPIUM (papaveb Somniferum).
Common Name. Poppy.
Medicinal Part. Concrete juice of unripe capsule.
Description.—~An annual herb, with an erect, round, green, smooth stem, from two to four feet high. Leaves large, oblong, green; margins wavy, incised, and toothed; teeth sometimes tipped with a rigid hair. Flowers large, calyx smooth, and the fruit a large, smooth, globose capsule. There are two varieties, the black and white.

History.—A native of Asia and Egypt. It grows apparently wild in some parts of Europe and in England, but has escaped the gardens. Cultivated in Asia Minor, Egypt, Persia, and India, for the opium obtained from it. The white variety is cultivated on the plains of India, and the black in the Himalayas. Its virtues have been known to the ancients; for Homer speaks of the poppy growing in gardens. Poppy capsules contain a small quantity of the principles found in opium, and the effect is similar, but much weaker than it possesses. They are used medicinally; but opium is almost universally used.

Properties and Uses.—Opium is a narcotic and stimulant, acting under various circumstances as a sedative, antispasmodic, febrifuge, and diaphoretic. It is anodyne, and extensively used for that purpose. It contains many active principles, morphia and codeia being, however, the most important. There is no herbal medicine more extensively used, as well as abused, than Opium, and though a valuable remedy, its indiscriminate use is pernicious, as it is capable of doing great harm. Laudanum and paregoric are the forms mostly used in domestic practice, but the "soothing syrups" and "carminatives" found in every nursery and household all contain Opium in some form, and work a great deal of mischief.

Dose.—Opium, one grain; laudanum, twenty drops; paregoric, a teaspoonful.
Source: The Complete Herbalist ©1885

Lamplighters

Lamplighters were a part of the 19th century everyday life until electricity started replacing the oil and gas lamps. They were the first defense on city streets when night skies and dark shadows blanketed the streets. Below are some requirements and recommendations for those hiring lamplighters as well some of the structure of who is responsible for oversight of this occupation.

1872 Boston: The public lamps shall be lighted, cleaned and taken care of by lighters employed and paid by the City of Boston. They shall light and extinguish them punctually according to the printed tables to be furnished by the Superintendent of Lamps. Each lighter will be required to make a written return to the Superintendent of Lamps, and to the Clerk of the Dorchester Gas Light Company, on Monday of each week, of the number of lamps lighted each night, and of the time of beginning to light and beginning to extinguish.

1879 Detroit...there are plenty of good, sober and steady men, who would gladly take a position as lamplighter, to be found in all the wards of the city, and there is no possible excuse for the present unjust distribution of these positions.

1892 San Francisco
Two Lamplighters one was a foreman the other a horseman. They were also given badges. The foreman's badge number was 139 the horseman's 143.

1871 Chicago Fire

I think most of us have heard about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. As a child I heard that a cow set the fire in the 1872 account it states "The fire started corner of De Koven and Jefferson streets, and is said to have originated in a barn where a boy was milking a cow, having first carelessly placed a kerosene oil lamp on the floor. The kicking of the cow is said to have upset and burst the lamp."

If you're using the fire as a part of your novel you might want to check out The Great Fire of Chicago. It has great illustrations as well as some wonderful first hand accounts.

Mark Twain & Charles Dickens

When writing novels set in the 19th century I often look for books that my characters would be readings. A quick reference is Wikipedia and select the year you're writing in or prior to the year your setting. There are many authors from that century two of my favorite for different reasons are Mark Twain & Charles Dickens. Twain's writing is more for the every day man whereas Dickens is for a more educated one. However both were quite popular. A good source for these works is Project Gutenberg another source is Google Books.


Below is a list from Wikipedia of Mark Twain's works.
Works by Mark Twain
Novels
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Prince and the Pauper Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The American Claimant Tom Sawyer Abroad Pudd'nhead Wilson Tom Sawyer, Detective Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc A Double Barrelled Detective Story A Horse's Tale The Mysterious Stranger
Short stories
"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" "General Washington's Negro Body-Servant" "My Late Senatorial Secretaryship" "Some Learned Fables for Good Old Boys and Girls" "A Literary Nightmare" "A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage" "The Invalid's Story" "The Great Revolution in Pitcairn" "1601" "The Stolen White Elephant" "Luck" "Those Extraordinary Twins" "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" "A Dog's Tale" "Extracts from Adam's Diary" "The War Prayer" "Eve's Diary" "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven" "My Platonic Sweetheart" "The Private Life of Adam and Eve"
Short story collections
Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance Sketches New and Old A True Story and the Recent Carnival of Crime Punch, Brothers, Punch! and Other Sketches The Library of Humor Merry Tales The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches The Washoe Giant in San Francisco
Plays
Is He Dead?
Essays
"The Awful German Language" "Advice to Youth" "English As She Is Taught" How to Tell a Story and Other Essays "Concerning the Jews" "A Salutation Speech From the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth" "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" "To My Missionary Critics" "Edmund Burke on Croker and Tammany" "What Is Man?" "Christian Science" "Queen Victoria's Jubilee" "The United States of Lyncherdom" "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" Letters from the Earth
Non-fiction
The Innocents Abroad Roughing It Old Times on the Mississippi A Tramp Abroad Life on the Mississippi Following the Equator What Is Man? Is Shakespeare Dead? Queen Victoria's Jubilee Autobiography of Mark Twain Mark Twain's Notebook King Leopold's Soliloquy The Private History of a Campaign That Failed Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire The Bible According to Mark Twain Hellfire Hotchkiss


Below is the list from Wikipedia for Dickens' Novels, Short Stories and Poems.
Novels
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Monthly serial, April 1836 to November 1837)
The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837 to April 1839)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839)
The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840, to 6 February 1841)
Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 13 February 1841, to 27 November 1841)
The Christmas books:
A Christmas Carol (1843)
The Chimes (1844)
The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
The Battle of Life (1846)
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848)
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to July 1844)
Dombey and Son (Monthly serial, October 1846 to April 1848)
David Copperfield (Monthly serial, May 1849 to November 1850)
Bleak House (Monthly serial, March 1852 to September 1853)
Hard Times: For These Times (Weekly serial inHousehold Words, 1 April 1854, to 12 August 1854)
Little Dorrit (Monthly serial, December 1855 to June 1857)
A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 30 April 1859, to 26 November 1859)
Great Expectations (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 1 December 1860 to 3 August 1861)
Our Mutual Friend (Monthly serial, May 1864 to November 1865)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Monthly serial, April 1870 to September 1870. Only six of twelve planned numbers completed)
Short story collections
Sketches by Boz (1836)
The Mudfog Papers (1837) in Bentley's Miscellany magazine
Reprinted Pieces (1861)
The Uncommercial Traveller (1860–1869)
Christmas numbers of Household Words magazine:
What Christmas Is, as We Grow Older (1851)
A Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire (1852)
Another Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire (1853)
The Seven Poor Travellers (1854)
The Holly-Tree Inn (1855)
The Wreck of the "Golden Mary" (1856)
The Perils of Certain English Prisoners (1857)
A House to Let (1858)
Christmas numbers of All the Year Round magazine:
The Haunted House (1859)
A Message from the Sea (1860)
Tom Tiddler's Ground (1861)
Somebody's Luggage (1862)
Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings (1863)
Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy (1864)
Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions (1865)
Mugby Junction (1866)
No Thoroughfare (1867)
Selected non-fiction, poetry, and plays
The Village Coquettes (Plays, 1836)
The Fine Old English Gentleman (poetry, 1841)
Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi (1838)
American Notes: For General Circulation (1842)
Pictures from Italy (1846)
The Life of Our Lord: As written for his children (1849)
A Child's History of England (1853)
The Frozen Deep (play, 1857)
Speeches, Letters and Sayings (1870)

The rest of this week

Due to some family illnesses I may not be able to post this week. I appreciate your prayers for my husband as well as my in-laws, thanks in advance for your prayers.

Clarksville Female Academy Expenses 1872

If you've ever wondered what the costs were for women to attend Academies this clipping might be very helpful for you.

1872 Arizona Stage Line

Below is an advertisement for the Arizona Stage Line in 1872. It was in the "Weekly Arizona Miner" newspaper. For those of you wondering how long stage coach travel was this advertisement lays it out well.

The bottom two paragraphs read:
Stage leaves Prescott every Saturday morning at eight o'clock; arrives at Wickenburg Sunday morning; La Paz and Ehrenburg, Monday morning; San Bernardino Thursday Evening.

Return stage from San Bernardino leaves Saturday morning at eight o'clock and arrives at Prescott every Thursday evening.

Corned Beef

I grew up in New England, primarily on Martha's Vineyard. One of my favorite meals was called New England boiled dinner. Mom often made it for our Sunday dinner, the big meal after church, not supper. So with St. Patrick's Day coming up soon I thought it might be fun to share a recipe in how to make corned beef. Personally I love going to the store and purchasing one but hey our 19th century folks didn't have that luxury. Enjoy!

CORNED BEEF.
Wash thoroughly, and if very salt leave in cold water for one hour. Put over a moderate fire, or at the side of the range, in enough cold water to cover it deeply. If you mean to use the liquor for soup, fill the pot with water and cut up in it half an onion, a carrot, and a small turnip. Cook slowly half an hour to each pound, and when done, let it stand in the liquor for at least fifteen minutes. Scrape the top of the meat and trim off the ragged edges. Serve with a white sauce made by straining through a cloth a cupful of the "pot liquor" and thickening it with a white roux, then stirring in a tablespoonful of capers or chopped pickles.

When dinner is over, cover the beef with a flat plate, and lay a heavy weight upon this, to press the meat.

Corned beef is best cold or made into hash. There is a growing dislike to it when served hot.
While the round is considered the choice cut, the brisket, or the " plate," properly cooked is less solid and sweeter, and makes a good larnily dinner dish.
Source: The National Cookbook ©1896 pg259

St. Patrick's Day

Below are several links to various sources in Google books for St. Patrick's day. It was a celebrated holiday in much of America during the 19th Century.

St. Patrick's Day or, A Tragico=Comico Farewell to Lord M---A by Dr. M*LLS"s Ghost ©1813

A St. Patrick's Day Hymn ©1861 #77 pg220
Hymn Link

An Eliza Cook Poem ©1870 from a collection of Eliza Cook Poems

And Lastly an account of St. Patrick's Day from Squibs of California ©1874
Squibs

Anti-Slavery Addresses

Below is another book free on Google that helps to paint the picture of slavery in the 19th Century. The book titled "Anti-slavery addresses of 1844 and 1845, Vol. 3" by Salmon Portland Chase and Charles Dexter Cleveland.


"Anti-slavery addresses of 1844 and 1845, Vol. 3"

Slave Songs

Today I'd like to share a link with some great information from the University of North Carolina, in their "Documenting the American South." This link was given to me by another historical novelist, Karl A. Bacon. Click his name for a link to his web site.

The link for the "Documenting the American South" is a book called Slave Songs from 1867. Here's the Slave Songs of the United States Link. Below is a summary for the University's site about the book and it's author.
Summary

In his introduction, William Allen states his purpose for publishing Slave Songs of the United States: "...it seems time at last that the partial collections in the possession of the editors, and known by them to be in the possession of others, should not be forgotten and lost, but that these relics of a state of society which has passed away should be preserved while it is still possible" (iii).

Allen continues his introduction with a thorough discussion of the songs, including their places of origin, their composition, their phonetic and grammatical properties, and their performative qualities. The editors then provide directions for singing the songs before providing the musical transcriptions of one hundred and thirty-six mostly sacred songs from Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana.

Brent Kinser

Irish Cottage Replica

Today I'm breaking from the 19th Century in order to show you a replica done by my husband's cousin. Michael Coleman is an artist who lives with his family in Ireland. The link will take you to an article about the replica he built of an Irish Cottage that represents the cottage Bridget Donohue left when she was heading to America on the Titanic. Many of the items in the cottage date back to the 19th century and it's just plain old fantastic. Enjoy!

Michael, Can you build me a Cottage?

19th Century Houses & Rooms

Here is a link from a fellow writer to a site that lists the rooms and inventory of the houses listed in wills. It's quite helpful for writers. Thanks Debbie Lynne!

An Index of 19th Century Virginia Room by Room Inventories

Scarlet Fever

Recently on one of the writer email loops I followed the question was asked about scarlet fever. Her time period was not the 19th Century but I thought it would be great to cover it here. The source I'm using comes from the end of the 19th Century, 1897. The source is much too large to read the entire text. So I've given some bits and pieces below. Here's a link to Google Books for the entire text.

SCARLET FEVER
By P. GERVAIS ROBINSON, M.D.
Synonyms.—Scarlatina; Scarlet rash; Scharlach (German); Scarlatine (French).
Definition.—Scarlet fever is an acute, highly infections disease, due, we may fairly believe, to the presence in the body of a specific organism. Though the malady presents, in its clinical manifestations, more variations than any other exanthem, there are certain symptoms which are so frequently present as to be characteristic: there is a punctiform scarlet rash upon the skin which terminates in a lamellar desquamation; an angina which is usually well marked ; a fever of varying degree ; and a noticeable immunity from future attacks.

Etiology.—Scarlet fever, like other diseases of its class, has ever followed in the path of commerce. It seems to have been first introduced into this country in 1735. From the coast it crept inland until all the inhabited portions of the land were affected. It is curious to note that scarlatina when introduced into a virgin soil does not seem to possess the same virulence which is displayed by measles and smallpox under similar conditions. The writers who first described the disease in the United States regarded it as a mild affection. In this country, as in all other portions of the civilized world, scarlet fever has now become endemic in the large cities ; from these as foci from time to time epidemics arise.

Symptoms.—It is a very difficult matter to give a comprehensive yet succinct account of the symptoms of a disease which presents so variable a course as scarlatina.

The Ordinary Form.—As a rule, in the period of incubation there are no symptoms or they are so slight as to pass unnoticed. Sometimes, however, slight malaise is complained of if the patient be old enough to give expression to his sensations, and if the temperature be taken a slight evening rise may be detected. The stage of invasion is ushered in abruptly, so that commonly the exact time of the beginning of illness can be stated. In a large proportion of cases chilly sensations are experienced in the commencement of an attack, and in some a decided rigor. In young children it may happen that a convulsion is the first symptom of illness. The temperature rises rapidly, and in a few hours'attains a considerable degree. It may reach 102°,' 103°, 104° F., or even higher. The increased temperature is accompanied by those symptoms which usually mark fever from any cause, such as headache, loss of appetite, flushing of the face, sparkling eyes, and thirst. Coincident with the elevation of the temperature there is an increase in the rapidity of the pulse, and it is a thing to be noted that the pulse rate in scarlet fever is out of proportion to the height of the fever.

Vomiting is one of the most important of the early symptoms of scarlet fever.

The diet of the person suffering from scarlet fever should be light, but nutritious. Milk forms the ideal food in a large proportion of the cases.

For a child three years of age the iodide of potassium may be given

One of the chief symptoms which the physician is called upon to combat is fever. As long as the temperature remains below 10."5° F., it does not constitute a dangerous condition unless it be unduly prolonged.
For the reduction of temperature the use of drugs is not, as a rule, to be so highly recommended as the abstraction of heat by means of the application to the body of cold. Quinine is a drug which has some antipyretic action, and used in reasonable doses it also acts as a tonic.

Coffee Cake

Below are various recipes for Coffee cakes from the 19th Century.

Coffee Cake.—Two cups of flour, one cup of sugar, one cup of fruit, half a cup of molasses, half a cup of butter, half a cup of cold coffee, two eggs, one tea-spoonful each of "mace, cloves, and soda, one table-spoonful of cinnamon. A nice fruit cake may be made by adding more fruit.
Source: Household Hints ©1881

COFFEE CAKE. One cup of sugar, 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of molasses, 1 egg, well mixed together; then add 1 cup of warm coffee, with 1 teaspoonful of soda, 4 cups of flour, 1 lb. of raisins or currants, 1 tablespoonful, each, of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Source: The Creole Cookery Book ©1885

Coffee Cake (for either Breakfast or Tea).
Three cups of light sponge of bread dough before flour is added for the first molding, one cup sugar, one cup of half lard and half butter, one cup currants, teaspoonful soda; add a few raisins, if wished. Put it in a long cake pan to rise, when light have melted some butter and sugar, cover the top of the cake and sprinkle over it thickly ground cinnamon. Omit the raisins and currauts for ordinary use.
Source: The Home Messenger Book of Tested Receipts ©1878

Coffee Cakes.—Take some rice that has been boiled soft, twice as much flour as rice, a little fine Indian meal, and a little yeast. Mix it with cold water, and let it rise over night, this will make a very fine biscuit for breakfast.
Source: The Family Companion ©1846

The Old Fashion Parlor

What I find kind of fun about this topic is that the source is from 1881.

THE OLD-FASHIONED PARLOR.
A great deal has been said and written against the oldfashioned parlor. Indeed, people generally have come to look upon it as a failure, and to speak slightingly of the taste which rendered it possible. "Whatever may have been its defects, there is a question in the minds of some people whether the modern parlor is a great improvement upon the ancient one, and, in fact, whether there is sufficient reason for its existence.

It is true that this modern room is not kept hermetically sealed, as is alleged of the older one. There are more feast days upon which it is opened, and children are allowed to sit upon its handsome chairs, and look out into the street through its lace curtains. The furniture is arranged more artistically, still it is not a room to be happy in, and it too often absorbs into itself the best there is in the house, not only in the way of the best furniture, the easiest chairs, but also of pictures and books, leaving the living room of the family bare as a desert so far as anything refining and educating is concerned.

That this is not best a little thought will show; we who are so wonderfully made and so mysteriously influenced gain miich by having about us every-day surroundings which are elevating and suggestive. So if there is only one picture in the house which is worth looking at or studying, let it hang where it will most frequently attract the attention of the family. To the thoughtful man who wishes well to his kind, it is saddening to see people spending their money for that which is not bread.

People who think they can not afford to buy so much as a photograph or heliotype of a good picture must have their parlor "set" and cheap lace in imitation of those who can well afford to have the real thing. They illustrate the woful facility we have in copying the failings of our neighbors instead of their virtues.

This is not a plea for the utter extinction of the parlor: a tasteful reception-room, which may always be in order for guests and for any strangers whom you may not wish to introduce into your family life, is a great convenience, and in many houses almost a necessity; but, if two pleasant, inviting rooms can not be afforded, it would be vastly better to invariably make the one cheerful, comfortablyfurnished room, with the books and the good pictures, the room for the family to meet in and enjoy. The money, or a part of it, saved by not indulging in a parlor, might be spent to good advantage in buying books and objects of interest and instruction.
It is interesting to notice the value placed upon books, by many who profess loudly to wish for them, by their always putting them after everything else. Such persons would hardly appreciate Charles Lamb's going about in his threadbare, plum-colored coat that he might buy a favorite folio. Nor would they be found wondering how much Oliver Wendell Holmes owes to the fact that he "staggered against books as a baby."

Who that has ever attempted to trace back any of his own impressions to their source has not been surprised to find that deep and lasting ones have been made by something in itself very slight?

Keeping Boys & Girls Busy at Home

To Keep Boys and Girls at Home.—An excellent and welltried recipe for keeping boys and girls out of mischief in the long winter evenings is to give them something suitable and interesting to do. Set them to making scrap-books. If there are two or three children, let each one take a subject, and see what and how much he can collect upon that for his book. For example, we have what we call an "Animal Scrap-Book," in which is pasted every fact, incident, and anecdote we can find relating to animals. We have a dog department, a horse department, etc. It is a valuable book for purposes of illustration or reference.

Burlap Mats.—A handsome and inexpensive mat for the floor may be made of burlap worked in cross-stitch with different-colored worsteds. Use for it the odds and ends left from other fancy work. Work a few stitches of one color and then of another, just as the colors happen to come, and the effect is like that of a Persian pattern. Jf one cares to spend so much time on it, a center-piece and border add much to the beauty of it. The mat may be lined with a piece of carpet, or with matting or new ticking, and the edge finished with worsted fringe or with flannel cut in scallops.

Something Warm for Supper.—When cold weather comes on it is pleasant to have something warm for supper; and there are many things so easy to get that a tired woman will not object to preparing them. Oyster and clam soup come first; then baked potatoes, with milk gravy; warmed potatoes ; fried or broiled potatoes; milk toast; canned salmon, heated in the can before opening; this is an advantage, as the oil will readily drain off, and the pieces of fish keep their shape better.
Table Covers.—Simple and tasteful table covers for bedrooms may be made of pale blue Canton flannel, trimmed with antique lace, or with velvet ribbon feather-stitched on, and finished with fringe made of blue split zephyr or Shetland wool. Table covers made of blocks of cretonne are very handsome. If two or three persons wish to make them, they can buy the materials to better advantage. Let each one get several kinds of cretonne, a quarter of a yard of each kind; then they can arrange to have each block different. Stitch the blocks on to a lining made of unbleached cotton or of colored cambric. Then, where the blocks are joined, sew on narrow braid, which can be bought at any furniture store, or use narrow black velvet, worked in fancy stitches, or common black dress braid, featherstitched with canary-colored silk. When cutting out the blocks, if a little care is exercised in placing the pattern on the cloth, strips will be left with a suitable figure which can be sewed together to make a lambrequin. Have the strips about five inches wide. One thing should be thought of when beginning to do fancy work, and that is, if you have not time to do it well, do not undertake it; it can not be slighted or hurried over without entirely spoiling the effect. In making the spread, unless the blocks are exactly square, and the edges. not stretched, your spread will not hang well on the table.

Pretty and Simple Ornaments.—A pretty decoration for the corner of a room is a bunch of ripe wheat tied with a bright ribbon ; or divide the wheat across the stems, tie, and hang over a picture. The beauty of common things is now fully established; cat's-tails, sunflowers, and dandelions are at length appreciated. Acorns may also be used to good advantage for trimming fancy baskets for waste paper; take a piece of wire and fasten around the stems, and you can arrange them in any way to suit yourself. They are pretty bronzed, or may be used in the state of nature, as they were picked up in the woods. To bronze them, get a little bronze powder at a drug store, mix it with varnish, and apply with a soft cloth. The powder must be used very quickly after mixing with the varnish, or that will harden so that it will be impossible to use it.

Socks known as Stockings during the 19th Century

Have you ever wondered how folks took care of their socks during the 19th century? Well, even if you haven't below you will find some information from 1881.

Taking Care of Stockings.—Before the children's stockings begin to be thin at the knees and to need darning, put a piece of cloth under and sew with fine stitches, so that they will not show. Soft flannel, or pieces of old stockings which are strong enough to be worth using, are better than any heavier cloth. By taking the trouble to do this, the stockings may be made to last twice as long as without it.

Putting Away Stockings.—When putting away summer stockings, see that they are clean and whole. It is a great comfort to find them ready for use in the spring. Have a calico or cambric bag to hold the stockings of each member of the family. Label each one, in order to save time, and not be obliged to look into each to find the ones you wish to use. In summer, keep the winter stockings in them.

To Preserve Old Stockings.—Pale-blue stockings which have faded can have the color restored by dipping them into hot water in which common bluing has been jiourcd, and some lumps of alum dissolved. Old white stockings can be colored in this way, and do a good deal of service.

CATARACT OF THE EYE

Below is the information about the treatment for Cataracts from 1871.

CATARACT OF THE EYE.
This disease is the result of inflammation attacking the crystalline lens, seated behind the pupil of the eye, for the purpose of refracting the rays of light. The transparent membrane which covers the lens, when inflamed becomes opaque, so that the rays of light cannot pass through it; and vision is gradually lessened until it is finally destroyed or obstructed.
Patients suffering from cataract, when they look at a candle burning, see the flame surrounded by a halo, or luminous circle; and they also see objects best in twilight, because the pupil is then more dilated, and the rays of light enter at the edges of the lens, where the opacity is thinnest.

The disease is easily recognised by looking into the eye, and observing the white or flaky appearance of the crystalline lens behind the pupil.

To cure this disease, the lens must be removed out of the axis of vision, and this operation can be performed in three different ways.

By extraction, making an incision in the pupil, and removing the lens out of the eye.
Secondly, by couching, introducing a curved needle through the white of the eye behind the pupil, and pressing the lens down below the pupil.

Thirdly, by breaking up, introducing an instrument through the pupil, tearing the opaque covering of the lens, and thus exposing the lens to the action of the aqueous humours of the eye, by which it becomes dissolved or absorbed.

The first operation, or extraction, if fortunate, and not followed by inflammation, gives a perfect cure; but it is more hazardous than the others.

The second operation, or couching, is much safer, and is easily performed; but it is not always perfect, because the lens, having been depressed, may rise again, and obstruct vision.
The third, or breaking up, is tardy in its results, for time is required to dissolve the lens, after the capsule is torn, and therefore I never adopted it; but many modern operators prefer it.