The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

What is generally called a “ Punjab tub ” will be found a great convenience for heating bath-water. It consists of an ordinary wooden cask, with a small iron cylinder in the middle. The cylinder is open both top and bottom, and has a grating about a foot from the latter. The cask being filled with water, some live charcoal is put into the cylinder, and the water soon becomes hot, with a very small expendi- ture of fuel. If the Punjab tub be placed in the. verandah near the pantry, it will be found an exceedingly useful aid to the khitmutgdrs in heating water for Avashing up, and thus taking the place of the English boiler. Filters are often a source of great trouble, and the follow- ing, recommended publicly by an authority, will be found excellent : — Cut the bottom neatly off a quart bottle. This may be done with an ordinary steel file well moistened by oil of tur- I)entine, or by tying a hank of cotton thread dipped in tur- pentine round the bottle, setting light to it, and immediately dipping the bottle into cold water. Get a new cork, and through the centre put the glass tube of a Maw’s feeding- bottle (to be had in any bazaar), pushing it well through 84 The Complete Indian and letting the indiarnbber tube remain as in the feeding bottle. Cork the bottle tight, place a bit of sponge in the neck to prevent the tube getting clogged, and fill the bottle with, if possible animal, charcoal finely pounded —but free from dust— and silver sand, in equal parts. Place another sponge at the open end of the bottle, and either close by tying a bit of muslin over, or get a tight fitting tin cover made in the bazaar ; it must, of course, be perforated with .small holes. If this filter be placed in an ordinary guvi'cih of water, and the indiarubber tube attached to the glass tube be allowed to liang over the side into a ]M-oper vessel, such as a surdlii, water will filter over rapidly when once it has started. Tins must be effected as with a baby’s bottle, by squeezing the nipple, or by sucking it. In this case, the nipple should be removed afterwards. Ihe advantage of this filter is the ease with which it can be cleaned and renewed. _ But it has lately been discovered that the addition ot even a few grains of alum to a gallon of water is the best filter there is". In fact, if the water is first boiled, then put to cool in a small-mouthed vessel in a clean place, with two o-rains of powdered alum to every gallon, it will, after an hour’s settling, and careful decanting to another vessel, be practically as pure as it is possible to get water. Permanganate of potash added till the water is faintly iiink destroys most bacilli. It is also put into wells nowadays, about 2 oz. every week or so for a well in constant use. The Duties of the Ayah. The implements of the aijah are few', and consist chiefly of dusters, brushes, &c. The amk’s duties naturally vary immensely with her situation. ■ If there are no children, she is virtually a lac y s maid, while if an English nurse is kept, her responsibilities are almost nil. On the other hand, when she is really head nurse, she is of all the servants the most imporbmt. In the latter case, again, her duties would vary very much according to the part taken by her mistress ; so that it is hardly worth while treating of the ai/aji simpl) as a nurse. We may only remark that with very few e.Kceptions,