Mary Eaton - The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families

CLARY WINE. Boil fifteen gallons of water, with forty-five pounds of sugar, and skim it clean. When cool put a little to a quarter of a pint of yeast, and so by degrees add a little more. In the course of an hour put the smaller to the larger quantity, pour the liquor on clary flowers, picked in the dry: the quantity for the above is twelve quarts. If there be not a sufficient quantity ready to put in at once, more may be added by degrees, keeping an account of each quart. When the liquor ceases to hiss, and the flowers are all in, stop it up for four months. Rack it off, empty the barrel of the dregs, and add a gallon of the best brandy. Return the liquor to the cask, close it up for six or eight weeks, and then bottle it off.

CLEANLINESS. Nothing is more conducive to health than cleanliness, and the want of it is a fault which admits of no excuse. It is so agreeable to our nature, that we cannot help approving it in others, even if we do not practise it ourselves. It is an ornament to the highest as well as to the lowest station, and cannot be dispensed with in either: it ought to be cultivated everywhere, especially in populous towns and cities. Frequent washing not only improves the appearance, but promotes perspiration, by removing every impediment on the skin, while at the same time it braces the body, and enlivens the spirits. Washing the feet and legs in lukewarm water, after being exposed to cold and wet, would prevent the ill effects which proceed from these causes, and greatly contribute to health. Diseases of the skin, a very numerous class, are chiefly owing to the want of cleanliness, as well as the various kinds of vermin which infest the human body; and all these might be prevented by a due regard to our own persons. One common cause of putrid and malignant fevers is the want of cleanliness. They usually begin among the inhabitants of close and dirty houses, who breathe unwholesome air, take little exercise, and wear dirty clothes. There the infection is generally hatched, and spreads its desolation far and wide. If dirty people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they ought at least to be avoided as infectious, and all who regard their own health should keep at a distance from their habitations. Infectious diseases are often communicated by tainted air: every thing therefore which gives a noxious exhalation, or tends to spread infection, should be carefully avoided. In great towns no filth of any kind should be suffered to remain in the streets, and great pains should be taken to keep every dwelling clean both within and without. No dunghills or filth of any kind should be allowed to remain near them. When an infection breaks out, cleanliness is the most likely means to prevent its spreading to other places, or its returning again afterwards. It will lodge a long time in dirty clothes, and be liable to break out again; and therefore the bedding and clothing of the sick ought to be carefully washed, and fumigated with brimstone. Infectious diseases are not only prevented, but even cured by cleanliness; while the slightest disorders, where it is neglected, are often changed into the most malignant. Yet it has so happened, that the same mistaken care which prevents the least admission of fresh air to the sick, has introduced the idea also of keeping them dirty; than which nothing can be more injurious to the afflicted, or more repugnant to common sense. In a room too, where cleanliness is neglected, a person in perfect health has a greater chance to become sick, than a sick person has to get well. It is also of great consequence, that cleanliness should be strictly regarded by those especially who are employed in preparing food; such as butchers, bakers, brewers, dairy maids, and cooks; as negligence in any of these may prove injurious to the public health. Good housekeepers will keep a careful eye on these things, and every person of reflection will see the necessity of cultivating general cleanliness as of great importance to the wellbeing of society.

CLEAR BROTH. To make a broth that will keep long, put the mouse round of beef into a deep pan, with a knuckle bone of veal, and a few shanks of mutton. Cover it close with a dish or coarse crust, and bake with as much water as will cover it, till the beef is done enough for eating. When cold, cover it close, and keep it in a cool place. When to be used, give it any flavour most approved.

CLEAR GRAVY. Slice some beef thin, broil a part of it over a very clear quick fire, just enough to give a colour to the gravy, but not to dress it. Put that and the raw beef into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with two onions, a clove or two, whole black pepper, berries of allspice, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Cover it with hot water, give it one boil, and skim it well two or three times. Then cover it, and simmer till it be quite strong.

CLOTHING. Those who regard their health should be careful to adapt their clothing to the state of the climate, and the season of the year. Whatever be the influence of custom, there is no reason why our clothing should be such as would suit an inhabitant of the torrid or the frigid zones, but of the state of the air around us, and of the country in which we live. Apparel may be warm enough for one season of the year, which is by no means sufficient for another; we ought therefore neither to put off our winter garments too soon, nor wear our summer ones too long. Every change of this sort requires to be made cautiously, and by degrees. In general, all clothes should be light and easy, and in no instance ought health and comfort to be sacrificed to pride and vanity. In the early part of life it is not necessary to wear many clothes: but in the decline of life, when many diseases proceed from a defect of perspiration, plenty of warm clothing is required. Attention should also be paid to the constitution, in this as well as in other cases. Some persons can endure either cold or heat better than others, and may therefore be less mindful of their clothing: the great object is to wear just so many garments as is sufficient to keep the body warm, and no more. Shoes in particular should be easy to the foot, and all tight bandages on every part of the body carefully avoided.

CLOUTED CREAM. String four blades of mace on a thread, put them to a gill of new milk, and six spoonfuls of rose water. Simmer a few minutes, then by degrees strain the liquor to the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Stir the whole into a quart of rich cream, and set it over the fire; keep it stirring till hot, but not boiling; pour it into a deep dish, and let it stand twenty-four hours. Serve it in a cream dish, to eat with fruits. Some prefer it without any flavour but that of cream; in which case use a quart of new milk and the cream, or do it as the Devonshire scalded cream. When done enough, a round mark will appear on the surface of the cream, the size of the bottom of the pan, which is called the ring; and when that is seen, remove the pan from the fire.

CLYSTER. A common clyster is made of plain gruel strained, and a table-spoonful of oil or salt. A pint is sufficient for a grown person.

COCK CHAFFERS. This species of the beetle, sometimes called the May bug, is a formidable enemy to the husbandman, and has been found to swarm in such numbers, as to devour every kind of vegetable production. The insect is first generated in the earth, from the eggs deposited by the fly in its perfect state. In about three months, the insects contained in these eggs break the shell, and crawl forth in the shape of a grub or maggot, which feeds upon the roots of vegetables, and continues in this state of secret annoyance for more than three years, gradually growing to the size of an acorn. It is the thick white maggot with a red head, so frequently found in turning up the soil. At the end of the fourth year, they emerge from the earth, and may be seen in great numbers in the mild evenings of May. The willow seems to be their favourite food; on this they hang in clusters, and seldom quit it till they have completely devoured its foliage. The most effectual way to destroy them, is to beat them off with poles, and then to collect and burn them. The smoke of burning heath, fern, or other weeds, will prevent their incursions in gardens, or expel them if they have entered.