Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 237

Fats and the fat oils are best preserved by being run into glazed jars, and secluded from the action of the air. A little benzoic acid or gum-benzoin, dissolved in them by heat, will generally prevent, and in all cases greatly defer, the accession of rancidity. We introduced this method into the laboratory in our early days of manipulation, and ourselves, and others to whom we have made it known, have since employed it with undeviating advantage in the manufacture of cerates, ointments, and other preparations containing fatty matter or the fixed oils. It has been shown by Dr Griesler that nitric ether, and its alcoholic solution, act in the same manner. A few drops are not only sufficient to prevent rancidity, but, it is said, will even destroy the disagreeable odour of rancid fat.

When heated to remove the alcohol, they immediately become bright, clear, and scentless. See OIL, GLYCERIN, OLEIN, PALMITIN, STEARIN, TALLOW, &c., also _below_.

=Fat, to melt down.= Let all the small pieces of fat cut off joints, &c., be collected, divided into small pieces, put in a stew pan (a little water being added to prevent their burning), and placed on the fire. This must be stirred carefully at intervals to prevent any of the pieces of fat sticking to the bottom.

When thoroughly melted (which it will be in about an hour and a half) pour through a strainer into a basin with some cold water in it. Thus prepared, dripping or fat may be used instead of suet, and there are few who would know any difference between them. Dripping, if clarified as above, may be used over and over again for frying, provided it has not been previously employed in dressing fish, in which case it will impart a fishy taste. But it can be used repeatedly for fish if it is kept for that purpose only.

The skimmings off the top of the saucepans, while a piece of meat is boiling, will also do capitally for light puddings.[296]

[Footnote 296: 'Artisan Cookery.' Griffith and Farran.]

=FAT'TY ACIDS.= In _chemistry_, compounds having acid properties derived from the various fats and oils. The radicals of these acids exist in the natural fats combined with a base called glyceryl. When fats are saponified by an alkali, stearate, palmitate, and oleate of pota.s.sa or soda, as the case may be, are produced and glycerin is set free. On decomposing either of these compounds with sulphuric acid a sulphate of the alkali is formed, and the fatty acid is precipitated. Some of the fatty acids, as stearic, cerotic, palmitic, and lauric, are solid at ordinary temperatures; others, as oleic, are liquid. The hard fatty acids are extensively used as candle materials, being superior in every respect to the natural fats from which they are derived.

=FAT'TENING.= Until comparatively a recent date, the plan used to fatten domestic animals was to prevent their taking exercise, and to gorge them with food. The excessive fat produced by these means was, however, found to be far from wholesome, and was less delicate than that arising in the natural way. This system was therefore gradually abandoned in favour of the present one, which consists in supplying the animal with abundance of wholesome food, and with the means of taking exercise as far as the disposition or feelings dictate. Hence the farmers "in the most enlightened districts, such as Berwickshire, East Lothian, &c., instead of tying up their fattening cattle in stables like horses, and placing their food before them, put two or three together in small yards with sheds attached, in which they can run about, eat when they choose, and take shelter from the rain, or cold, or the sun, at pleasure, under the open shed. Swine are treated in the same manner, and also spring lambs that are fattened for the market. Poultry are no longer kept in coops and crammed, or rabbits in hutches; but the former are allowed to take exercise in fields sown with various herbs, and the latter are kept in a species of artificial warren, where they can take exercise by burrowing." (Loudon.)

=FAVOURITE PRESCRIPTION (Dr Pierce's)= for the cure of those chronic weaknesses and complaints peculiar to females. 280 grammes of a turbid greenish-brown fluid with a bulky deposit of the same colour, made according to the following recipe:--Savin tops, 10 grammes; larch agaric and cinnamon, of each 5 grammes; China Jaen (ash cinchona bark), 10 grammes; boil with sufficient water to make 220 grammes when strained.

Dissolve in the filtrate gum Arabic, 10 grammes; white sugar, 5 grammes; and add tinct. digitalis and tinct. opii, of each 2 grammes; star anise oil, 8 drops; 90 per cent. spirit, 45 grammes. (Hager.)

=FEAR.= Although fear is a depressing and debilitating emotion, and sometimes acts prejudicially on the health, it frequently acts as a curative or preventive of disease. It is a well-known fact that females who are the most faint-hearted and desponding during the period of their s.e.x's trial, generally experience a more rapid convalescence than those who are more confident and resolute. During the raging of an epidemic fear generally induces temperance, cleanliness, and the adoption of other precautions which tend powerfully to prevent disease. Boerhaave, according to Pereira, is said to have prevented the occurrence of epileptic attack (brought on by the sight of a person falling down in a fit in the sight of the hospital patients), by directing a red-hot iron to be applied to the person who should next be affected.

=FEA'THERS.= Ostrich feathers are those most esteemed as articles of personal decoration, and goose feathers for beds; but the feathers of other birds are commonly used for both purposes.

Feathers are prepared for ornamental purposes by scouring them with white soap-and-water (1 oz. to the pint), used hot; they are next well rinsed in several successive portions of pure water, and after being drained and shaken, are, lastly, pa.s.sed through water slightly blued with pure indigo, and dried out of the dust. When dry, the ribs are generally rubbed with a piece of gla.s.s, having a curved notch in it, for the purpose of increasing their pliancy, and the filaments are curled by drawing them, between the edge of a blunt knife and the ball of the thumb of the hand which holds it.

=Feathers, Bleaching of:=--

A new trade has sprung up within the past ten years, by which black, brown, or grey feathers are bleached sufficiently to enable them to be dyed any required colour.

The process is as follows:--The feathers are first thoroughly washed with soap-and-water, to free them from any oil they may contain. They are next transferred to a bath composed of bichromate of potash dissolved in water, to which has been added a few drops of nitric or sulphuric acid. In this bath they rapidly lose their black, brown, or grey colour, and become almost white. On being removed from this bath they are well rinsed in water, and are then fit to be dyed, even the most delicate colour. Great care is required in the process, as the flue of the feather is apt to be destroyed, if kept too long in the bath. A bleached feather may be readily known by the yellow colour of its stem.

Other methods have been adopted, such as a bath of chloride of lime, peroxide of hydrogen, or sulphurous acid, &c., but the bichromate bath gives the best results.

=Feathers, Dyeing of:=--

BLACK. By immersion for 2 or 3 days in a bath (at first hot) of logwood, 8 parts, and copperas or acetate of iron, (about) 1 part.

BLUE. With the indigo vat.

BROWN. By any of the brown dyes for silk or woollen.

CRIMSON. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot bath of brazil wood, and afterwards by a weak one of cudbear.

PINK or ROSE. With safflower and lemon juice.

PLUM. The red dye, followed by alkaline bath.

RED. A mordant of alum, followed by a hot brazil-wood bath.

YELLOW. From an alum mordant, followed by a bath of turmeric or weld.

Other shades may be obtained by a mixture of the above dyes.

Feathers may also be dyed by simple immersion, for two or three minutes, in a bath of any of the aniline colours.

Goose feathers for BEDS are generally PURIFIED by simply exposing them to the sun or in a stove until perfectly dry, and then beating them to remove loose dirt. When carelessly collected and dirty, they are sometimes first cleansed with lime water, or, better still, with a weak solution of carbonate of soda, or water to which a little solution of chloride of lime has been added; after which they are rinsed in clean water, and dried or stoved as before. Old feathers are cleansed or purified in the same way.

=FEB'RIFUGES.= _Syn._ FEBRIFUGA, L. In pharmacy, substances or agents which cure or alleviate fever. The term is more particularly applied to medicines used against the ague, as CINCHONA BARK and a.r.s.eNIOUS ACID, and their preparations. The extreme value of cold water, as a drink in ardent fever, has been known in all ages. In 1723 Dr Hanc.o.c.ke published a work ent.i.tled--'Febrifugum Magnum, or Common Water the best Cure for Fevers, and probably for the Plague,' which in a short time ran through several large editions, but appears to have been overlooked by the hydropaths of the present day.

=FEC'ULA.= _Syn._ FaeCULA, L. The matter which subsides from cold water in which bruised or rasped vegetable substances have been washed. The fecula obtained from the seeds of the cereals and leguminosae, and from tuberous or bulbous roots, consists of nearly pure STARCH. In some cases the starch is a.s.sociated with the green colouring matter (CHLOROPHYLL) and the narcotic principles of the vegetables which yield it. The green fecula obtained by straining the expressed juices of the leaves and herbaceous parts of plants is of this character.

The fecula of all the amylaceous roots, rhizomes, and tubers, may be easily obtained, on the small scale, by rasping them, pressing, and working the pulp in cold water, and after straining the resulting milky liquid through a hair sieve, allowing it to settle. The sediment may be again washed by diffusion through clean cold water, and must be, lastly, collected, and dried out of the dust, and, without artificial heat.

The fecula of narcotic plants for medicinal purposes is obtained by allowing the expressed juice to repose for 24 hours, and then decanting the clear portion, and drying the residue. Sometimes heat is employed. See ARROW-ROOT, STARCH, &c.

=FEEDING BOTTLES.= We extract from 'The Sanitary Record' the following valuable paper on 'Feeding Bottles,' by Dr Eustace Smith, a.s.sistant-physician to the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, and Physician to the East London Hospital for Children:--"In the artificial rearing of infants it is of importance that food should be given to them from a feeding-bottle. By this means the natural method of taking nourishment is imitated; the muscles of the mouth and cheeks are brought into play; and the secretion of saliva--a secretion which, very scanty at birth, becomes gradually more copious and takes so active a part in digestion--is encouraged and increased.

"Almost all babies will take their food more readily by this method, their instinct teaching them to suck everything that is put into their mouths.

Even in cases where a deficiency in the hard palate presents so great an obstacle to sucking, on account of the impossibility of creating the necessary vacuum in the mouth, the difficulty can be overcome by a simple mechanical contrivance. Therefore, in every case of hand-feeding, a suitable bottle is the first thing to be desired.

"To be satisfactory a feeding-bottle must fulfil three indispensable conditions: it must be simple in construction and easily manageable; it must be capable of being readily cleaned; and in its use the milk must flow easily and without great effort on the part of the infant. The ordinary feeder in use at the present time consists of a flattened gla.s.s flask, closed at the mouth by a cap, which fits over the neck. A caoutchouc tube pa.s.ses through the cap, and is connected inside the bottle with a straight gla.s.s pipe. The other end of the elastic tube is attached to the teat, or mouth-piece, by means of a short hollow cylinder called the 'union-joint.' The teat is firmly fixed to this by means of the shield. In the construction of the cap and union-joint, metal, earthenware, or wood, is employed. The metal used by the best makers is tin, and this, if cleanliness be properly attended to, is not objectionable. In cheaper bottles, sold in the shops for sixpence, the mouth is closed by a perforated cork, through which the flexible tube pa.s.ses. Here there is no cap, but in all essential points the construction is the same as in the more expensive articles.

"In this apparatus it is important that the channel through the tubes should be perfectly free. The point at which the channel is narrowest is the union-joint, which connects the mouth-piece with the flexible tube. In a badly made bottle an impediment may exist at this point from carelessness in the manufacture, and may present a great obstacle to the ready pa.s.sage of the fluid. Care also should be taken that the flexible tube pa.s.ses completely through the cap, before it becomes connected with the gla.s.s pipe. This is very important. In the early feeding-bottles constructed upon this model by O'Connel, the gla.s.s pipe pa.s.sed from within the bottle through the cap, and was attached outside this to the caoutchouc tube. It was thus held rigidly in the centre of the bottle, and as a natural consequence, when the apparatus was in use, unless the bottle was held upright during the whole meal, long before its contents were exhausted the milk ceased to flow, as the end of the pipe soon came to be above the surface of the fluid, which necessarily gravitated to the lowest part as the bottle lay on its side.

"When, however, the connection between the two tubes is made within instead of outside the bottle, this disadvantage no longer exists, for the gla.s.s tube being free to move, its end is able to sink to whichever side of the bottle is undermost, and therefore always remains below the level of the fluid. The best bottles have a small cylindrical stop, _i.e._ a thick ring of metal or wood placed within the flexible tube, just above its junction with the gla.s.s pipe. The object of this is to prevent the latter being drawn through the cap, and thus held rigidly in the centre of the bottle.

"The method of connection of the cap with the neck of the bottle is not unimportant. It should not be too tight or air will be prevented from entering the bottle to supply the place of the milk which is withdrawn. A common plan is to line the interior of the cap with cork, but this substance, besides its risk of being broken and detached by careless handling, has the further disadvantage of absorbing milk, which turns sour and may afterwards set up fermentation in fresh milk put into the bottle for a subsequent meal. In the best bottles the cap is constructed to screw on to the neck, as in the 'Alexandra' Feeding bottle made by the Messrs Maw; or is united to it by an application of the 'bayonet catch,' as in the 'Improved' feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch and Son. In this very admirable apparatus three grooves in the inside of the cap pa.s.s over corresponding projections on the neck of the bottle; the cap is then turned to the right, with a slight s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g motion, and becomes securely fastened.

"With badly made bottles infants often have very great difficulty in drawing up the milk, and can only do so by violent efforts, which soon exhaust their strength or their patience. There are two reasons why milk in these cases may not flow easily--either the cap fits too tightly, so that air cannot enter with sufficient facility in proportion as the liquid contents become diminished, as has just been mentioned; or the caoutchouc forming the flexible tube is too thin, so that it collapses when suction is applied. In the first case a small hole should be made through the cap, so as to allow a free admission of air, or if the bottle be a simpler one, closed at the mouth by a perforated cork, this may be slightly eased at the neck of the bottle, so as to fit less closely. In the second case, stouter caoutchouc should be used in the construction of the tube. In weakly infants, or those much reduced in strength by acute disease, special attention should be paid to these points, as such children will often refuse to take the bottle, if they find any difficulty in drawing up the milk.

"Infants born with a cleft palate cannot suck from an ordinary bottle, as the deficiency in the hard palate prevents the necessary vacuum being formed in the mouth. Such children are, therefore, usually brought up with a spoon, and often waste and die through insufficient nourishment. An ingenious contrivance first suggested by Mr Oakley Coles will, however, entirely remove the difficulty, and enable them to suck with as much ease as if they suffered from no such congenital difficulty. The plan is a very simple one, and consists in attaching to the nipple of any ordinary feeding-bottle a flap of sheet elastic, cut to fit the roof of the mouth.

This flap must be of the shape and about the size of the bowl of a teaspoon, and is to be sewn to the upper part of the stalk of the teat, where this projects from the shield. In the mouth of the child the flap forms an artificial palate, which if the sheet elastic chosen be sufficiently stout, offers firm resistance to the tongue pressing against in sucking, and prevents fluid from pa.s.sing into the nose in the act of swallowing.

"The closest attention must be paid to the cleaning of feeding-bottles.

Each time after being used the whole apparatus should be well washed out with water containing a little soda in solution.

"The inside of the cap must be carefully cleaned, and the brush should be carried several times through the whole length of the tubing. Afterwards the bottle and tubes should be laid in cold water until again wanted. An objection to the common brush usually supplied with each feeder is, that after a few days' use the softened bristles are apt to get detached and be caught in the joints of the tubing, whence they may afterwards be washed by the stream of fluid and be swallowed by the child. Accordingly, a new cleaner has been manufactured by Messrs Maw and Sons, in which bristles are entirely dispensed with. They are replaced by a thin strip of caoutchouc, which is wound round in a spiral form, at the end of the ordinary wire handle. This instrument answers all the purposes of a brush, without the disadvantages alluded to, and is besides far more durable.

"Excellent feeding-bottles are now made by many different manufacturers, and are sold at prices which place them within the reach of the poorest.

These cannot all be mentioned, but some of the bottles more commonly met with, may be shortly referred to. The six-penny feeder made by Messrs Maw, Son, and Thompson, can be recommended for its simplicity of construction, and at the same time for its perfect efficiency. In this instrument there is no cap, instead the mouth of the bottle is closed by a cork, which is perforated for the pa.s.sage of the flexible tube. In all other respects the construction of this apparatus is the same as in the more expensive instruments. The 'Alexandra' feeding-bottle, price half-a-crown, by the same makers, is an admirable bottle. The cap screws on to the neck, and is furnished with a small hole for the admission of air. A 'stop' in the lower part of the flexible tube prevents the gla.s.s pipe being drawn into the cap, and the instrument is supplied with all the latest improvements.

The bottles made by Messrs Maw are all furnished with the new patent cleaner just described. The improved feeding-bottle made by Messrs Lynch and Son, at one shilling and eighteen pence, has been before referred to.

The material used for the cap is boxwood. It is a capital bottle, and will give the fullest satisfaction to the purchaser. Mr Lang's 'Alma Mater'

feeding-bottle can also be recommended. In this instrument the cap is made of earthenware and is lined with cork. A good bottle is made by Mr Elam, of Oxford Street, price two shillings; the cap is formed of britannia metal, and screws on to the neck. A cheaper bottle, but one which for elegance of design and accuracy of detail cannot be surpa.s.sed, is Mr Mather's 'Princess' feeding-bottle. A tin cup screws on the neck, and is pierced by a small hole for the admission of air. The opening is fitted with a 'cone valve' of simple and ingenious construction, which allows air to enter freely when suction is applied to the tube, but closes firmly against any escape through the air-hole of the fluid contents of the bottle. The bottle itself has a double curve towards the neck to provide against too sudden bending of the flexible tube against the tap. This is apt to happen when the curve is single, if the bottle lie with the convexity downwards, and partial obstruction of the tube may be the result. The 'Princess' feeding-bottle is sold in the shops for eighteen pence.

"All bottles bear their name in raised letters upon the gla.s.s, but a report which has obtained currency that these letters are hollow in the interior, and difficult to cleanse is without any foundation in fact. Any one may test this for himself by placing a finger within the bottle underneath the letters, when the internal surface will be found perfectly plain and uniform. In all cases where cork enters into the construction of a feeding-bottle, especial care should be taken in cleansing the apparatus, and the cork should be well soaked in soda and water in order that any sour milk it may contain may be neutralised at once."

=FEET (The).= To preserve the feet in a proper condition, they should be frequently soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid water. The nails of the toes should be pared, to prevent their becoming inconveniently long, and from growing into the flesh, soaked, and well washed in warm or tepid water. Many persons suffer severely from TENDER FEET. This generally arises from the use of thin cotton or silk stockings, and boots or shoes that are either too tight or stiff, or not sufficiently porous to permit of the escape of the perspiration. Waterproof boots and shoes which are also air-tight (as those of gutta percha and India rubber), are common causes of tender feet, and even of headaches, dyspepsia, and apoplexy. The best treatment of tender feet is the immediate adoption of worsted stockings or socks, and light, easy shoes of buckskin, goatskin, or some other equally soft kind of leather. It is highly necessary for the preservation of health to preserve the feet DRY; persons who are, therefore, exposed to the wet, or who are frequently pa.s.sengers through the public streets in bad weather, should regard sound and good boots and shoes as of the first importance. In fact, in a hygienic point of view, a wet back should be less shunned than wet feet. Many persons frequently experience EXTREME COLDNESS and NUMBNESS OF THE FEET. The best and most natural remedy for this is active exercise or friction, the former being always adopted when possible. In such cases the use of warm woollen stockings is absolutely necessary, and the debilitated and aged may advantageously keep them on throughout the night, or at all events until the feet acquire a comfortable degree of warmth. The DISAGREEABLE ODOUR which is evolved by the feet of some individuals in hot weather may be removed by the observance of extreme cleanliness, and by occasionally soaking the feet in warm water, to which a small quant.i.ty of chloride of lime or sal ammoniac has been added. A good deodoriser for unpleasant smelling feet is said to be the following, invented by M Paulcke:--A mixture of equal parts of salicylic acid, soap, talc, and starch, to be applied in the form of powder.

DISTORTION OF THE FEET is not uncommon in childhood, being sometimes congenital, but as frequently the result of weakness or bad nursing. "A child with its feet turned inwards is called VARUS; when they are turned outwards it is styled VALGUS. The proper use of bandages, early applied, will generally correct these deformities; but if they be neglected in infancy they become incurable." ('Med. Lex.') CLUBFOOT, of which there are several varieties, may also be frequently relieved by a simple surgical operation. See BOOTS and SHOES, DISTORTIONS.

=FELT'ING.= This is a process by which various species of fur, hair, and wool, are blended into a compact texture, in many respects resembling cloth. It depends on the peculiar anatomical construction of these substances, enabling them to interlace and intertwine with each other, by which they become permanently matted together. Felt was formerly chiefly employed for hats. It is now commonly used for mill-bands, filters, &c.; and when varnished or j.a.panned, or saturated with asphalte or bitumen, is a durable subst.i.tute for j.a.panned leather, and for roofing.