Those who are fond of soda powders will do well to inquire at the
apothecaries for the suitable acid and alkali, and buy them by
the ounce, or the pound, according to the size of their families.
Experience soon teaches the right proportions; and, sweetened with
a little sugar or lemon syrup, it is quite as good as what one gives
five times as much for, done up in papers. The case is the same with
Rochelle powders.

When the stopper of a glass decanter becomes too tight, a cloth
wet with hot water and applied to the neck, will cause the glass to
expand, so that the stopper may be easily removed.

Glass vessels in a cylindrical form, may be cut in two, by tying
around them a worsted thread, thoroughly wet with spirits of
turpentine, and then setting fire to the thread. Court plaster is
made of thin silk first dipped in dissolved isinglass and dried, then
dipped several times in the white of egg and dried.

When plain tortoise-shell combs are defaced, the polish may be renewed
by rubbing them with pulverized rotten-stone and oil. The rotten-stone
should be sifted through muslin. It looks better to be rubbed on by
the hand. The jewellers afterwards polish them by rubbing them with
dry _rouge powder_; but sifted magnesia does just as well--and if the
ladies had rouge, perhaps they would, _by mistake_, put it upon their
cheeks, instead of their combs; and thereby spoil their complexions.
The best way to cleanse gold is, to wash it in warm suds made of
delicate soap, with ten or fifteen drops of _sal-volatile_ in it. This
makes jewels very brilliant.

Straw carpets should be washed in salt and water, and wiped with a