Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1880 — USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE. [ARTICLE]

USEFUL AND SUGGESTIVE.

Ebown Dye fob Hair. —The most ready way to color the hair brown is to use permanganate of potass a, one ounce (Troy), in a quart of water. The hair should first be cleaned with diluted ammonia, and, when dry, the solution should be applied. Care should be taken not to discolor the skin; bat, if by accident it shonld be spotted, it may be cleansed with diluted hydro-chloric acid. Watch Oil.— p«t one ounce pure olive oil in tumbler, add two ounces of 96-per-cent, alcohol, stirring well; set it away in a dark place for twenty-four hours or more, well covered; then pour into a clean bott'econtaining ten ounces distilled or clean rain-water. Shake violently for five minutes, allow the mixture to stand half an hour or so, then freeze with salt and ice. Ypu will find a good article of limpid watch or clock oil, perfectly fluid at top. Draw off with a siphon. Make Your Own Paste, —A German scientist gives the following recipe for making a good, durable paste: He takes twenty grammes of wheat starch and makes it into a stiff paste with a little cold water, then he pours 100 c. c. of boiling water all at once—not gradually—into this paste and stirs it gradually ; a little carbolic acid or salicylic acid is then stirred in, and a paste is obtained which will keep until it dries up. Care must be taken to have tho best staroh, as good paste can no’ be made with inferior kinds.

To Cleanse the Teeth.— A good way to cleanse the teeth is to dip the brush in water, rub it over genuine white castile soap, then dip in prepared chalk. A lady says: “ I have been complimented upon the whiteness of my teeth, which were originally anything but white. I have used the soap constantly for two or three years, and the chalk for the last year. There is no danger of scratching the teeth, as the chalk is prepared, but with a good stiff brush and the soap it is as effectual as soap and sand on a floor.” Cheap Ice Houses.— Cheap ones may be quickly constructed in the form of strong shanties with good, but not tight, floor. Place a few inches of sawdust on the floor, pile up the ice compactly in square blocks; leaving a space from eight to twelve inches all around, next to the boards, to be tilled with sawdust, trodded in as the structure of ice is built upward. Cover the whole with eight or ten inches of s iwdust, and let plenty of fresh air blow through the shanty over the top. Ice will keep this way as well as in the most costly and elaborate building. Chaff or finely-cut straw may be substituted for the sawdust; but being less perfect non-con-ductors, should be in thicker layers. The Family Scrap Book. —ln many papers which you do not care to preserve you wilt find items of interest which are worth saving. To meet this case, make a scrap-book. You can get, from a junk dealer, some ell books with good bindings, as, for example, old blotters, day-books, journals, etc., of defunct firms, or public reports of all descriptions. Always index thp contents of your book. You will find it tedious work, but it is worth a mine when done. It is not a bad plan to cut slips from political papers from time to time, which represent your views politically. A back look at these will give you an idea of how men change, and will tend to make a man less partisan. On all ac counts a scrap-book is invaluable. Plants.— Give your plants fresh air on cheerful, sunny days; they need it. Cleanliness is as necessary to their health as to that of animals; and it is, therefore, necessary to secure them from dust as much as possible, and also to cleanse the plants frequently by svringiDg or washing. Even here a little caution is necessary, for while the smooth-leaved plants are benefited, not only by showering, but even by washing the leaves with a cloth or sponge, the rough-leaved plants, like the Begonia Bex, do not like to have the surface of their leaves frequently moistened. It would, therefore, be well to remove such plants before syringing. Take every precaution, however, to prevent the accumulation of dust upon the plants. The essentials of success in plant culture are suitable soil, air. light, moderate and regular heat, a moist atmosphere, regular and moderate watering, and freedom from dust and foul gas. When out of health, plants are benefited by wetting the earth with hot water. Such waterings render repotting in fresh earth needless, when the flagging of the plants is eansed by acid substances, which, contained in the soil and absorbed by the roots, act on living vegetables like veritable poisons. The small roots are withered and cease thhir action, consequently the upper and younger shoots of the plant turn yellow, and the spots with which the leaves are covered indicate their morbid state. In such cases the usual remedy is to transplant them into fresh soil, clean the pots carefully, secure good drainage, and so on, often with the best results. But watering with hot water answers the same purpose, and with far less trouble.