Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 48, June, 1854

JUNE, 1854 ***

+------------------------------------+ | Note: | | | | Italics surrounding _text_. | | The Table of Contents and | | EMBELLISHMENTS, &c. have been | | harvested from the January | | edition. | | | +------------------------------------+

[Illustration: FASHIONABLE BONNETS AND CAPS.

FROM THE CELEBRATED ESTABLISHMENT OF THOMAS WHITE AND CO.,

_No. 41 South Second Street, Philadelphia._

No. 1.--INFANT'S TURBAN. No. 2.--BOY'S JOCKEY CAPS.

No. 3.--SUMMER BONNET. No. 4.--ITALIAN LEGHORN.

(Description on page 548.)]

[Illustration]

THE PYRAMID TALMA.

[From the establishment of G. BRODIE, No. 51 Canal Street, New York. Drawn by L. T. VOIGT, from actual articles of costume.]

THE Talma we select for illustration is peculiarly becoming, especially for the richest toilet. Its material is white _poult de soie_. It is constructed of nine pieces cut in gores or pyramidal form, joined together, the seams being hidden by a fancy braid trimming. Nine tabs, widening at the bottom, and placed at distances equal to their width, descending about one-third of the depth of the garment, constitute the form of this novel garment. It is exquisitely adorned in needlework, and beautified by an elegant netted fringe. By an oversight in the drawing, fringe, which should also border the tabs that form the upper portion of the dress, was omitted.

[Illustration: The Truant Detected.]

[Illustration]

THE SCARF VOLANT.

[From the establishment of G. BRODIE, No. 51 Canal Street, New York. Drawn by L. T. VOIGT, from actual articles of costume.]

THIS is a novel and peculiarly dressy-looking garment, the distinctive features being a closed square front (which is confined by a bow of a rare fancy ribbon), and in the character of the flounce: this is gathered or fulled in divisions, giving it the appearance somewhat of a series of festoons. The separate compartments are strongly pronounced by transverse bands of black velvet and narrow black lace; a similar trimming of which outlines the whole scarf, and, with the piquant air of the garment, renders it an exceedingly beautiful production. The color may be made to taste. Those of lavender _glacé_ silks, the drabs, and of black taffeta, especially are very beautiful.

THE PALACE WALTZ.

BY A YOUNG AMERICAN COMPOSER.

Published by T. C. ANDREWS, 66 Spring Garden St., Phila.

* * * * *

_Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1853, by T. C. ANDREWS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania._

[Illustration: [Music]]

[Illustration: [Music]]

[Illustration:

THE EMPRESS. THE NOVADA.

A pattern of either of these will be sent on receipt of 62½ cents. Post-office stamps received in payment. These patterns are exact counterparts of the original, with trimmings, etc.

THE EMPRESS.--_A silk mantelet_, cut low in the neck. Two hollow plaits forming a fichu are trimmed with a bow in the middle of the back. The bottom is bordered by a wide ribbon plaited with bows at each side of the arm. Two rows of lace complete it.

THE NOVADA.--_Pelisse_, cut low and square. A wide revers forms the sleeve. All the edges are trimmed with ribbon, silk with gold fillets. Two rows of lace fall on the back, one narrow between two plaited ribbons; the other wider, which begins square in front and widens in the back: a deep lace runs along the bottom. The back is plain, and falls in flutes from the second row of ribbons.]

[Illustration: EAST PORT & PASSAMAQUODDY BAY.

_ENGRAVED BY ALFRED JONES FOR GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK._]

GODEY'S

LADY'S BOOK.

PHILADELPHIA, JUNE, 1854.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Consideration, 569

A Lace Basque, 550

A Loving Heart, by _W. S. Gaffney_, 543

A Song, by _Charles Stewart_, 501

A Strange Incident, 514

Braid for Child's Dress, 549

Bread-Cloth, 553

Caps and Headdress, 546

Celestial Phenomena, by _D. W. Belisle_, 504

Centre-Table Gossip, 569

Chemistry for Youth, 81, 185, 279, 566

Chinese Sayings, 548

Costly China, 569

Cottage Furniture, 551

Editors' Table, 555

Enigmas, 567

Evening Thoughts, by _H. Merran Parke_, 543

Everyday Actualities.--No. XX 487

Every Lady her own Dressmaker, 570

Fashions, 571

Geraniums, _from Mrs. Hale's New Household Receipt-Book_, 565

Godey's Arm-Chair, 561

Godey's Course of Lessons in Drawing, 502

History of Pearls, Natural and Artificial, 533

Illuminated, or Vellum-Painting, 538

Juvenile Fashions, 547

Lady's Riding Boots, 551

Lady's Slipper, 552

Legend of Long-Pond; or, Lake of the Golden Cross, by _Fanny Fales_, 506

Let me Die! by _S. M. Montgomery_, 544

Letters Left at the Pastry Cook's, _Edited by Horace Mayhew_, 499

Lines to a Bronchitis Birdie, by _N. W. Bridge_, 545

L'Isolement, _Translated from the French of Alphonse de Lamartine, by Wm. A. Kenyon_, 545

Literary Notices, 558

Mantillas, from the celebrated Establishment of G. Brodie, New York, 482, 483

Mrs. Clark's Experience as a Servant, by _Bell_, 508

My Tulips, by _H. S. D._, 544

Niagara, 521

Ornaments, 570

Patterns for Embroidery, 554

Philadelphia Agency. 565

Physical Training, 525

Preservation of Food, 487

Receipts, &c., 567

Secret Love, by _Kate Harrington_, 542

Slander, 557

Smyrna Embroidery.--Lady's Slipper on Cloth, 552

Sonnets, by _Wm. Alexander_, 543

The Borrower's Department, 566

The Dead Tree, 544

The Last Kiss, by _Jenny A. M'Ewan_, 541

The Needle in the Haymow.--A Story for Housekeepers, by _H. D. R._, 515

The Nursery Basket, 570

The Pedestrian Tour, by _Pauline Forsyth_, 494

The Schottisch Partner, by _Motte Hall_, 542

The Toilet, 568

The Trials of a Needle-Woman, by _T. S. Arthur_, 527

The Wild Flowers of the Month, by _H. Coultas_, 523

Time's Changes; or, Fashions in the Olden Times, 512

To a Friend on the Day of his Marriage, 545

To Correspondents. 571

Truth, by _D. Hardy, Jr._, 550

Two Mothers? by _Mrs. S. F. Jennings_, 543

What shall be done for the Insane? 555

Why don't Ladies learn to Cook? 549

EMBELLISHMENTS, &c.

_June._

Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay.

Colored Fashions.

Embroidered Dress Collar.

The Truant Detected.

Fashionable Bonnets and Caps.

The Pyramid Talma.

The Scarf Volant.

Music.--The Palace Waltz.

The Empress and the Novada.

Preservation of Food.

Godey's Course of Lessons in Drawing.

The Wild Flowers of the Month.

Artificial Pearls in the Mussel.

Illuminated, or Vellum-Painting.

Caps and Headdress.

Juvenile Fashions.

Braid for Child's Dress.

Lace Basque.

Lady's Riding Boots.

Cottage Furniture.

Lady's Slipper on Cloth.--Smyrna Embroidery.

Design for a Bread-Cloth.

Patterns for Embroidery.

EVERYDAY ACTUALITIES.--NO. XX.

ILLUSTRATED WITH PEN AND GRAVER.

BY C. T. HINCKLEY.

PRESERVATION OF FOOD.

THE various organic substances furnished by the animal and vegetable kingdoms, which constitute the food of man, are, from the nature of their chemical structure, liable to change and decay; they are also irregular in their supply; hence arises the necessity of storing up the abundance of one season to meet the deficiencies of another. The art of preserving food as much as possible in its original state is therefore of great importance; it has been improved by gradual steps, depending, in great measure, as in so many other cases, on chemical discovery and the diffusion of chemical knowledge among persons engaged in the useful arts; so that, at the present time, the deprivations suffered by our forefathers may be prevented; the commonest articles of food may be enjoyed at all seasons; and even the delicious fruits of our gardens may be made to contribute to our health and refreshment at a season when the trees which produced them are covered with snow. The mariner, too, is not now necessarily confined to salt meats; he may, on the longest voyage, and in the severest clime, as easily enjoy fresh meat and vegetables as when he is in port.

The necessity for adopting means for the preservation of articles of food arises from the complicated structure of organic compounds, and their tendency to resolve themselves into simpler or inorganic compounds. Although the comprehensive history of the animal and vegetable kingdoms is written with a very brief alphabet; although the elements which enter into the composition of organic bodies are only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen--often, but not always, nitrogen--and occasionally minute portions of sulphur and phosphorus; yet their extraordinary powers of combination are such that there appears to be no limit to the number of definite substances which they are capable of producing, each substance having a character peculiar to itself, and often a crystalline form. It is very different with the fifty-eight other members of the list of elements; the compounds which they assist in forming are inorganic, and they are formed by the union of _pairs_ of elements, or _pairs_ of _binary_ compounds.

It is a consequence of this complicated structure that organic compounds are unstable in their character, and liable to decomposition, or, in other words, to resolve themselves into simpler compounds. An inorganic substance, on the contrary, however complex its formula may appear, is actually built up of binary compounds, the simplest that can be formed. But in the organic substance the carbon and hydrogen have a strong tendency to form carbonic acid; the hydrogen and oxygen to form water; the hydrogen and nitrogen to form ammonia; or, the hydrogen and the sulphur to form sulphuretted hydrogen, &c. In popular language, these changes are expressed by such terms as _decay_ and _putrefaction_. Liebig, however, has given precision to them by limiting the term _decay_ to the decomposition of moist organic matter freely exposed to the air, the oxygen of which gradually burns and destroys it without sensible elevation of temperature.[1] The term _putrefaction_ is limited to changes which occur in and beneath the surface of water, the effect being a mere transposition of elements or metamorphosis of the organic body.[2] The conversion of sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid is a simple illustration of the term. The contact of oxygen is, however, first necessary to the change, which, when once begun, is continued without the aid of any other external substance, except perhaps water, or its elements. Every instance of putrefaction begins with decay; and if the decay, or its cause, viz., the absorption of oxygen, be prevented, no putrefaction occurs. In short, if the access of oxygen be prevented, there is no decay; if the access of water be prevented, there is no putrefaction. The exclusion of air and moisture forms the basis of some of the best methods of preserving food.

There are certain substances named _Antiseptics_ (from ἀντὶ, against, and σήπομας, to putrefy), from their property (exerted, however, very unequally) of preventing the putrefaction of organic substances. Thus, alcohol, and common salt in certain proportions, check all putrefaction and all the processes of fermentation by depriving the putrefying body of water. Nitre, vinegar, spices, and sugar are also antiseptics. The antiseptic effect of a very low temperature is caused by the solidification of the water and other juices, which, in their usual fluid state, allow the molecules to move freely on one another.

We will first notice the various methods of preserving animal food. These are: 1, by drying; 2, by cold; 3, by salting and by sugar; 4, by smoking; 5, by vinegar; 6, by parboiling and excluding air; 7, by potting; 8, by alcohol.

1. A familiar example of the first method is afforded in common glue, which in its hard and dry state may be kept for any length of time. So also may white of egg, if prepared by pouring the white of a number of eggs into a large flat dish, and exposing this for twelve or fourteen hours to heat in front of the fire. As the water evaporates, the albumen forms into a yellow, transparent, hard, shining, brittle mass, which scales off at the least touch--a test that it is properly done. These two substances, _gelatine_ and _albumen_, are two of the constituents of flesh; _fibrin_ or _fleshy fibre_, which is the third, dries equally well, and is not liable to putrefaction in that state. Gelatine, after being dried, may be softened by the action of hot water. Albumen _coagulated_ by heat cannot be softened again by water; but if dried at about 140° without being coagulated, it may be dissolved in cold water, retaining all its valuable properties. Hence, in preserving meat by drying, too high a temperature must be carefully avoided, or the albumen will become coagulated, and the meat be made insoluble.

The dried flesh of the bison, of the buffalo, and of the deer, forms _pemmican_, the preparation of which is thus described in Captain Back's Journal:--

"While meat remains in a thick piece, it is impossible to get the middle dried before putrefaction commences; but if the meat be cut into slices, its desiccation may be easily effected. The fleshy parts of the hind quarters are cut into very thin slices, dried in the sun, or before the fire, and pounded. Two parts of the pounded meat are then mixed with one of melted fat, and packed into a bag formed of the hide of the animal. A bag weighing ninety pounds is called a _taureau_ by the Canadian voyageurs; and, in fact, only one bag of pemmican is generally made from each bison cow. Two pounds of this kind of food are sufficient for the daily support of a laboring man; though, when the voyageurs first commence upon pemmican, they each consume three pounds or more. In the spring, they generally boil the young shoots of _Epilobium angustifolium_ with it, and some Scotchmen in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company add flour or oatmeal, thus rendering it more palatable. The best pemmican is made of finely-pounded meat mixed with marrow, and further improved by the addition of dried berries or currants. If kept from the air, it may be preserved sound for several years, and being very portable, it might be used with great advantage in provisioning troops that have to make forced marches. It may be eaten raw, or mixed with a little water and boiled; and although not much relished by those who taste it for the first time, the voyageur, with the single addition of the luxury of tea, requires nothing else for breakfast, dinner, and supper."

In the West Indies, and in South America, jerked beef is prepared by cutting the meat into slices, dipping them into sea-water or brine, and then drying them in the sun. The flesh of wild cattle is thus preserved at Buenos Ayres. Sometimes this dried meat is pounded in a mortar, into a uniform paste, which is pressed into jars, and if intended to supply the wants of the traveller, it is beaten up with maize meal and packed closely in leather bags. It is eaten in this state without further cooking. Drying meat in the air is said, however, to injure its flavor, and to dissipate a great portion of the nutritious juices.

Some kinds of fish are preserved by slitting them down the middle, and drying them in the air to evaporate the moisture. Small cod, haddock, and stock fish, prepared in this way, will, if kept dry, remain good for a great length of time.

Portable soup is prepared by processes similar to those used in the manufacture of glue. The gelatine of meat is dissolved by boiling water, and the water being evaporated, the gelatine is left in a solid state. Any fresh lean meat, with the fat cut away, will answer the purpose. Bones are also used for the purpose, the gelatine being extracted by means of a digester. In the French manufacture of _gelatine brut fin_, one hundred pounds of bones yield about twenty-five of gelatine, which is dried, cut up into dice, and used for making soup.

2. The effect of cold in the preservation of animal substances received a remarkable illustration in the discovery made by Pallas, in the year 1779, on the shores of the Frozen Ocean, near the mouth of the river Lena, of an animal of immense size, imbedded in ice, which, as it melted gradually, exposed it to the air and furnished food for the hungry wolves and other animals of those regions. It was the opinion of Cuvier that this animal differed from every known species of elephant, and was antediluvian, preserved from the remote period of the deluge in the mass of ice which enveloped it. Some of the hair of this animal may be seen in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, in Lincoln's Inn Fields, England.

In Russia, Canada, Hudson's Bay, and other countries where the frost is sufficiently steady, meat preserved in this way is a common article of commerce. Travellers speak with admiration of the frozen markets of Russia, supplied as they are from distant places with provisions solidified by the cold. Thus, in the market at Petersburg, Mr. Kohl noticed partridges from Saratoff, swans from Finland, heathcocks and grouse from Livonia and Esthuria, while the wide Steppes furnished the trapp-geese which flutter over their endless plains, where the Cossack hunts them on horseback, and kills them with his formidable whip. All these birds, as soon as the life-blood has flown, are apparently converted into stone by the frost, and, packed in huge chests, are sent for sale to the capital. So rapid are the effects of frost in that country, that the snow-white hares, which are brought in sledge-loads to the market, are usually frozen in the attitude of flight, with their ears pointed and their legs stretched out, just as they were at the moment of death. Another curious sight in these markets is a frozen reindeer, its knees doubled under its body, its hairy snout stretched forth upon the ground, and its antlers rising majestically in the air; or a mighty elk, disappearing piece by piece, as the action of the saw and the axe separates it for distribution among the several customers.