Chapter 60

SLATE, a well-known, neat, convenient, and durable material, for the covering of the roofs of buildings. There are great varieties of this substance; and it likewise differs very greatly in its qualities and colours. In some places it is found in thick laminæ, or flakes; while in others it is thin and light. The colours are white, brown, and blue. It is so durable, in some cases, as to have been known to continue sound and good for centuries. However, unless it should be brought from a quarry of well reputed goodness, it is necessary to try its properties, which may be done by striking the slate sharply against a large stone, and if it produce a complete sound, it is a mark of goodness; but if in hewing it does not shatter before the edge of the _sect_, or instrument commonly used for that purpose, the criterion is decisive. The goodness of slate may be farther estimated by its colour: the deep black hue is apt to imbibe moisture, but the lighter is always the least penetrable: the touch also may be in some degree a guide, for a good firm stone feels somewhat hard and rough, whereas an open slate feels very smooth, and as it were, greasy. And another method of trying the goodness of slate, is to place the slate-stone lengthwise and perpendicularly in a tub of water, about half a foot deep, care being taken that the upper or unimmersed part of the slate be not accidentally wetted by the hand, or otherwise; let it remain in this state twenty-four hours; if good and firm stone, it will not draw water more than half an inch above the surface of the water, and that perhaps at the edges only, those parts having been a little loosened in the hewing; but a spongy defective stone will draw water to the very top. There is still another mode, held to be infallible. First, weigh two or three of the most suspected slates, noting the weight; then immerge them in a vessel of water twelve hours; take them out, and wipe them as clean as possible with a linen cloth; and if they weigh more than at first, it denotes that quality of slate which imbibes water: a drachm is allowable in a dozen pounds, and no more. It may be noticed, that in laying of this material, a bushel and a half of lime, and three bushels of fresh-water sand, will be sufficient for a square of work; but if it be pin plastered, it will take above as much more: but good slate, well laid and plastered to the pin, will lie an hundred years; and on good timber a much longer time. It has been common to lay the slates dry, or on moss only, but they are much better when laid with plaster. When they are to be plastered to the pin, then about the first quantity of lime and sand will be sufficient for the purpose, when well mixed and blended together, by properly working them. Slates differ very much in thickness as well as colour, which suits them for different situations and purposes. A great deal of good slate of various kinds is raised in different parts of Wales, and much excellent blue and other coloured sorts is procured from the northern parts of Lancashire, and other neighbouring places, as well as from different other counties throughout the kingdom. In some parts the slate is distributed into three kinds, as the best, the middling, and the waste or common sort.

SLEEP. 'Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep,' is indispensible to the continuance of health and life; and the night is appropriated for the recovery of that strength which is expended on the various exercises of the day. But sleep, as well as diet and exercise, ought to be duly regulated; for too little of it, as well as too much, is alike injurious. A medium ought therefore to be observed, though the real proportion cannot be ascertained by any given time, as one person will be more refreshed by five or six hours sleep, than another by eight or ten. Children may be allowed to take as much as they please; but for adults, six hours is generally sufficient, and no one ought to exceed eight. To make sleep refreshing, it is necessary to take sufficient exercise in the open air. Too much exertion will prevent sleep, as well as too little; yet we seldom hear the active and laborious complain of restless nights, for they generally enjoy the luxury of undisturbed repose. Refreshing sleep is often prevented by the use of strong tea, or heavy suppers; and the stomach being loaded, occasions frightful dreams, and broken and interrupted rest. It is also necessary to guard against anxiety and corroding grief: many by indulging these, have banished sleep so long that they could never afterwards enjoy it. Sleep taken in the forepart of the night is most refreshing, and nothing more effectually undermines and ruins the constitution than night watching. How quickly the want of rest in due season will destroy the most blooming complexion, or best state of health, may be seen in the ghastly countenances of those who turn the day into night, and the night into day.

SLICED CUCUMBERS. Cut some cucumbers into thick slices, drain them in a cullender, and add some sliced onions. Use some strong vinegar, and pickle them in the same manner as gherkins and French beans.

SLICES OF BEEF. To prepare red beef for slices, cut off a piece of thin flank, and remove the skin. Rub the beef well with a mixture made of two pounds of common salt, two ounces of bay salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and half a pound of moist sugar, pounded together in a marble mortar. Put it into an earthen pan, and turn and rub it daily for a week. Then take it out of the brine and wipe it, strew over it pounded mace, cloves, pepper, a little allspice, plenty of chopped parsley, and a few shalots. Roll it up, bind it round with tape, boil it quite tender, and press it. When cold cut it into slices, and garnish it with pickled barberries, fresh parsley, or any other approved article.

SLICES OF COD. To boil slices of codfish, put plenty of salt into some spring water. Boil it up quick, and then put in the fish. Keep it boiling, and skim it very clean. It will be done sufficiently in eight or ten minutes. Some small pieces may be fried and served round it. Oyster, shrimp, or anchovy sauce, should be served with it.

SLICES OF HAM. Bacon or ham may be fried, broiled on a gridiron over a clear fire, or toasted with a fork. The slices should be of the same thickness in every part. To have it curled, the slices should be cut about two inches long, then rolled up, and a little wooden skewer passed through them. Put them into a cheese toaster or Dutch oven, for eight or ten minutes, turning the slices as they crisp. This is considered the handsomest way of dressing rashers of bacon, but it is best uncurled, because it is crisper, and more equally done. Slices of ham or bacon should not be more than half a quarter of an inch thick, and will eat much more mellow if soaked in hot water for a quarter of an hour, and then dried in a cloth, before they are toasted.

SLICES OF SALMON. When washed, wipe the salmon quite dry. Rub the slices over with a soft brush dipped in sweet oil, season with pepper and salt, fold them neatly in clean white paper, and broil them over a clear fire.

SLIGHT WOUNDS. When fresh wounds bleed much, lint dipped in vinegar or spirits of turpentine, may be pressed upon the surface for a few minutes, and retained by a moderately tight bandage; but if the blood spirts out violently, it shows that an artery is wounded, and it must be held very firmly till a surgeon arrives. But when the blood seems to flow equally from every part of the wound, and there is no reason therefore to suppose that any considerable vessel is wounded, it may be permitted to bleed while the dressings are preparing. The edges of the wound are then to be gently pressed together, and retained by straps of sticking plaster. These may remain on for three or four days, unless the sore becomes painful, or the matter smells offensive, in which case the straps of plaster must be taken off, the parts washed clean with warm water, and fresh slips of plaster applied, nicely adjusted to keep the wound closed. The slips must be laid over the wound crossways, and reach several inches beyond each side of it, in order to hold the parts firmly together. By keeping the limb or part very still, abstaining from strong liquors, taking only light mild food, and keeping the bowels open, all simple wounds may easily be healed in this manner. But poultices, greasy salves, or filling the wound with lint, will have an opposite effect. Even ragged or torn wounds may be drawn together and healed by sticking plaster, without any other salves or medicines. A broken shin, or slight ruffling of the skin, may be covered with lint dipped in equal parts of vinegar and brandy, and left to stick on, unless the place inflames; and then weak goulard is the best remedy. Common cuts may be kept together by sticking plaster, or with only a piece of fine linen rag, or thread bound round them. The rag applied next to a cut or wound of any kind, should always be of white linen; but calico, or coloured rags, will do quite as well for outward bandages. Important wounds should always be committed to the care of a skilful surgeon.

SLUGS. These reptiles do great damage in fields and gardens, especially to crops of lettuces, cabbages, or turnips. Their track is perceived by the shining and slimy substance which they leave behind them. There are several kinds of these little animals. The white and brown leathery kind often even destroy the strong stems of young cabbage, and other similar plants. The destruction of them has been suggested to be effected by the use of tar-water, sprinkled over the ground; and also by having recourse to lime, in the preparation of the land for such crops. They conceal themselves in the holes and crevices, only making their appearance early in mornings and late in the evenings. The white slug or snail is likewise very destructive to young turnip crops, by rising out of the holes of the soils, on wet and dewy mornings and evenings. Rolling the ground with a heavy implement, before the sun rises, has been advised as a means of destroying them in these cases. Slugs of this sort are likewise very destructive, in some districts, to the roots of corn crops, during the day-time, in the early spring months, while they lie concealed in the ground, by eating and devouring them; and by coming out in the evenings, and during the night-time, to commit ravages on the blades, and other parts above the ground. Numbers of them are sometimes met with upon the same plant, and they may easily be extirpated and removed from the land by the above practice, while they are at work, especially in moon-light seasons, and any further injury to the crops be guarded against. Warm moist weather is always a great encouragement to their coming out of their hiding-places; and advantage should constantly be taken of it for their extermination, as they suddenly retire under ground during the time of cold. The strong lands of other places are occasionally much infested with them in the pea, bean, and rye crops and stubbles, as well as clover roots, when a wheat crop is put in upon them. The slugs, in some cases, are of about half an inch in length, having their backs of a blueish cast in the skin part, and their under parts wholly of a white appearance. A mixture of sulphur and lime, made so as to be conveniently applied, has been found to be highly destructive of them in general.--The use of lime-water has lately been advised as an excellent and cheap mode of destroying slugs in gardens, as well as fields, in the second volume of the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. It is found to be far preferable, in this intention, to quicklime, which is liable to become too soon saturated with moisture, and rendered ineffectual. The manner of employing the water is after it has been newly made from stone lime, by means of hot water poured upon it, to pour it through the fine rose of a watering-pot over the slugs, which have been collected by means of pea-haulm, or some other similar substance, laid down on the ground in portions, at the distance of about a pole from each other. In proper weather, the slugs soon collect in this way, in great numbers, for shelter as well as to get food. When a boy takes up the substance, and by a gentle shake leaves the whole of the slugs on the ground, another person then pours a small quantity of lime-water on them, and the boy removes the haulmy material to some intermediate place, in order that the same practice may be repeated. By persevering in this method for a little while, the whole of the slugs may be destroyed, as the least drop of the water speedily kills them. This practice, it is supposed, will be found highly beneficial in the flower-garden, as by watering the edgings of box, thrift, or other kinds, the slugs will be killed with certainty, even when the weather is moist. The application is considered simple, the effect certain, and the expence trifling, whether in the garden or the field; a few pots only being required, in the latter case, to the acre, which can be made with a very small quantity of lime. And the labour is not of any material consequence, so that the whole charge will not, it is imagined, exceed five shillings the acre.--To prevent slugs from getting into fruit trees. If the trees are standards, tie a coarse horse-hair rope about them, two or three feet from the ground. If they are against the wall, nail a narrow slip of coarse horse-hair cloth against the wall, about half a foot from the ground, and they will never get over it, for if they attempt it, it will kill them, as their bellies are soft, and the horse-hair will wound them.

SMALL COAL. There is generally a great waste in the article of coal, owing to the quantity of dust found amongst it; but this if wetted makes the strongest fire for the back of the grate, where it should remain untouched till it is formed into a cake. Cinders lightly wetted give a great degree of heat, and are better than coal for furnaces, ironing stoves, and ovens. They should be carefully preserved and sifted in a covered tin bucket, which prevents the dispersion of the dust.

SMALL POX. Previous to the appearance of the eruption, the patient should be kept in a cool dry apartment, and abstain from all animal food, cheese, and pastry. The diet should consist of cooling vegetables, ripe fruit, pearl barley, and sago. The drink may be barley water, with a few drops of vinegar or cream of tartar, or lukewarm milk and water; but neither beer nor wine must be allowed. In case of an obstruction of the bowels, mild laxatives or clysters may be given; and if the throat be affected, it should be gargled with vinegar and water. Warm fomentations should be applied to the neck, and mustard poultices to the feet. After the eruption has made its appearance, the recovery of the patient may be chiefly entrusted to nature, while proper attention is paid to diet and regimen. But if the pustules begin to disappear, blisters ought to be immediately applied to the calves of the legs, and parsley-root boiled in milk should frequently be eaten, in order to encourage the eruption. When the pustules suddenly sink in, it denotes danger, and medical assistance should speedily be procured. In case of inoculation, which introduces the disease in a milder form, and has been the means of saving the lives of many thousands, a similar mode of treatment is required. For about a week or ten days previous to inoculation, the patient should adhere to a regular diet; avoiding all animal food, seasoned dishes, wine and spirits, and should live sparingly on fruit pies, puddings, and vegetables. The same regimen must be observed as in the former instance, during the progress of the disease, and then, but little medicine will be required.

SMALL RICE PUDDINGS. Wash two large spoonfuls of rice, and simmer it with half a pint of milk till it is thick. Put in a piece of butter the size of an egg, and nearly half a pint of thick cream, and give it one boil. When cold, mix four yolks and two whites of eggs well beaten, sugar and nutmeg to taste. Add grated lemon, and a little cinnamon. Butter some small cups, and fill them three parts full, putting at bottom some orange or citron. Bake them three quarters of an hour in a slowish oven. Serve them up the moment they are to be eaten, with sweet sauce in the dish, or in a boat.

SMELL OF PAINT. When a room is newly painted, place three or four tubs full of water near the wainscot, and renew the water daily. In two or three days it will absorb all the offensive effluvia arising from the paint, and render the room wholesome. The smell of paint may also be prevented, by dissolving some frankincense in spirits of turpentine over a slow fire, and mixing it with the paint before it be laid on.

SMELLING BOTTLE. Reduce to powder an equal quantity of sal-ammoniac and quicklime separately, put two or three drops of the essence of bergamot into a small bottle, then add the other ingredients, and cork it close. A drop or two of æther will improve it.

SMELTS. This delicate fish is caught in the Thames, and some other large rivers. When good and in season, they have a fine silvery hue, are very firm, and have a refreshing smell like cucumbers newly cut. They should not be washed more than is necessary merely to clean them. Dry them in a cloth, lightly flour them, and shake it off. Dip them in plenty of eggs, then into bread crumbs grated fine, and plunge them into a good pan of boiling lard. Let them continue gently boiling, and a few minutes will make them a bright yellow-brown. Take care not to take off the light roughness of the crumbs, or their beauty will be lost.

SMOKED HERRINGS. Clean and lay them in salt one night, with saltpetre; then hang them on a stick, through the eyes, in a row. Have ready an old cask, in which put some saw-dust, and in the midst of it a heater red-hot. Fix the stick over the smoke, and let them remain twenty-four hours.