Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

Chamois-skin which is used for filtering should be washed carefully as follows : Make a very weak solution of washingsoda, borax, or any alkali, with warm water ; wash the chamois in it without soap, and then rinse it through several cold waters ; every time the chamois is used, wash it in this way, and dry and stretch it as directed above. The use of steel knives as part of the dinner-equipage is regaining favor in this country. For a long time silverplated blades maintained the supremacy ; but now the sharp steel blade, set in an ivory or fancy wood handle, is found upon the best-laid tables. For the white ivory and bone handles, the best polishing-agent is finely powdered chalk. Mother-of-pearl is brightened by washing it in salted water, with subsequent hard rubbing with dry chamois-skin ; fruitstains on the handles can be carefully scraped off, and the places polished. The steel blades of table-knives can be cleaned and sharpened at the same time by rubbing them carefully upon a board covered with emery-cloth, or by using emery-powder as bath-brick is used. The latter is the agent most generally known for cleaning steel knife-blades. It should be finely powdered and sifted to insure uniformity, and then applied either with a cloth or a cork, dipped in cold water, or with a piece of raw potato ; before the knife is scoured, it should be washed clean, and then after scouring the blade can be wiped free from dust on a soft, clean cloth. Of the use of the knife at table, there can be but little diversity of opinion among people of refinement in this country. The fork is used whenever it is possible to separate food with it, the knife being called into use only when it is required for cutting, but never to convey food to the mouth. As a matter of convenience, the knife-blade does not contain food to be lifted from the plate to the mouth as well as the three- or four-pronged fork : its use was fostered by the old-fashioned two-pronged steel fork, which is not often seen now. The fork is held in the left hand when it is used with the knife for cutting ; otherwise it is held in the right. Apart from the general disuse of the knife in eating, its approach to the mouth is really a source of discomfort to a nervous or sensitive person ; if only for that reason, the practice of using it ought to be abandoned. When the knife is not in actual use, it should be laid upon the upper righthand side of the plate. When the fbrk is put down momentarily, it may be laid across the plate from either the right or the left, or crossed upon the knife. When both have been qS practical AMERICAN COOKERY.