The American Woman's Home Ebook

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
The chief cause of woman's disabilities and sufferings, that women are not trained, as men are, for their peculiar duties Aim of this volume to elevate the honor and remuneration of domestic employment Woman's duties, and her utter lack of training for them Qualifications of the writers of this volume to teach the matters proposed Experience and study of woman's work Conviction of the dignity and importance of it The great social and moral power in her keeping The principles and teachings of Jesus Christ the true basis of woman's rights and duties.
I.
THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY.
Object of the Family State Duty of the elder and stronger to raise the younger, weaker, and more ignorant to an equality of advantages Discipline of the family The example of Christ one of self−sacrifice as man's elder brother His assumption of a low estate His guide labor His trade Woman the chief minister of the family estate Man the out−door laborer and provider Labor and self−denial in the mutual relations of home−life, honorable, healthful, economical, enjoyable, and Christian.
II.
A CHRISTIAN HOUSE.
True wisdom in building a home Necessity of economizing time, labor, and expense, by the close packing of conveniences Plan of a model cottage Proportions Piazzas Entry Stairs and landings Large room Movable Screen Convenient bedsteads A good mattress A cheap and convenient ottoman Kitchen and stove−room The stove−room and its arrangements Second or attic story Closets, corner dressing−tables, windows, balconies, water and earth−closets, shoe−bag, piece−bag Basement, closets, refrigerator, washtubs, etc. Laundry General wood−work Conservatories−Average estimate of cost.
III.
A HEALTHFUL HOME.
Household murder Poisoning and starvation the inevitable result of bad air in public halls and private
homes Good air as needful as good food Structure and operations of the lungs and their capillaries and air−cells How people in a confined room will deprive the air of oxygen and overload it with refuse carbonic acid−Starvation of the living body deprived of oxygen The skin and its twenty−eight miles of perspiratory tubes Reciprocal action of plants and animals Historical examples of foul−air poisoning Outward effects of habitual breathing of bad air Quotations from scientific authorities.
IV.
SCIENTIFIC DOMESTIC VENTILATION.
An open fireplace secures due ventilation Evils of substituting air−tight stoves and furnace heating Tendency of warm air to rise and of cool air to sink Ventilation of mines Ignorance of architects Poor ventilation in most houses Mode of ventilating laboratories Creation of a current of warm air in a flue open at top and bottom of the room Flue to be built into chimney: method of utilizing it.
V.
STOVES, FURNACES, AND CHIMNEYS.
The general properties of heat, conduction, convection, radiation, reflection Cooking done by radiation the simplest but most wasteful mode: by convection (as in stoves and furnaces) the cheapest The range The model cooking−stove Interior arrangements and principles Contrivances for economizing heat, labor, time, fuel, trouble, and expense Its durability, simplicity, etc. Chimneys: why they smoke and how to cure them Furnaces: the dryness of their heat Necessity of moisture in warm air How to obtain and regulate it.
VI.
HOME DECORATION.
Significance of beauty in making home attractive and useful in education Exemplification of economical and tasteful furniture The carpet, lounge, lambrequins, curtains, ottomans, easy−chair, centre−table Money left for pictures Chromes Pretty frames Engravings Statuettes Educatory influence of works of art Natural adornments Materials in the woods and fields Parlor−gardens Hanging baskets Fern−shields Ivy, its beauty and tractableness Window, with flowers, vines, and pretty plants Rustic stand for flowers Ward's case How to make it economically Bowls and vases of rustic work for growing plants Ferns, how and when to gather them General remarks.
VII.
THE CARE OF HEALTH.
Importance of some knowledge of the body and its needs Fearful responsibility of entering upon domestic duties in ignorance The fundamental vital principle Cell−life Wonders of the microscope
Cell−multiplication Constant interplay of decay and growth necessary to life The red and white cells of the blood Secreting and converting power The nervous system The brain and the nerves Structural arrangement and functions The ganglionic system The nervous fluid Necessity of properly apportioned exercise to nerves of sensation and of motion Evils of excessive or insufficient exercise Equal development of the whole.
VIII.
DOMESTIC EXERCISE.
Connection of muscles and nerves Microscopic cellular muscular fibre Its mode of action Dependence on the nerves of voluntary and involuntary motion How exercise of muscles quickens circulation of the blood which maintains all the processes of life Dependence of equilibrium upon proper muscular activity Importance of securing exercise that will interest the mind.
IX.
HEALTHFUL FOOD.
Apportionment of elements in food: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, iron, silicon, etc. Large proportion of water in the human body Dr. Holmes on the interchange of death and life Constituent parts of a kernel of wheat Comparison of different kinds of food General directions for diet Hunger the proper manual and guard of appetite Evils of over−eating Structure and operations of the stomach Times and quantity for eating Stimulating and nourishing food Americans eat too much meat Wholesome effects of Lenten fasting Matter and manner of eating Causes of debilitation from misuse of food.
X.
HEALTHFUL DRINKS.
Stimulating drinks not necessary Their immediate evil effects upon the human body and tendency to grow into habitual desires The arguments for and against stimulus Microscopic revelations of the effects of alcohol on the cellular tissue of the brain Opinions of high scientific authorities against its use No need of resorting to stimulants either for refreshment, nourishment, or pleasure Tea and coffee an extensive cause of much nervous debility and suffering Tend to wasteful use in the kitchen Are seldom agreeable at first to children Are dangerous to sensitive, nervous organizations, and should be at least regulated Hot drinks unwholesome, debilitating, and destructive to teeth, throat, and stomach Warm drinks agreeable and not unhealthful Cold drinks not to be too freely used during meals Drinking while eating always injurious to digestion.
XI.
CLEANLINESS.
Health and comfort depend on cleanliness Scientific treatment of the skin, the most complicated organ of the body Structure and arrangement of the skin, its layers, cells, nerves, capillaries, absorbents, oil−tubes, perspiration−tubes, etc. The mucous membrane Phlegm The secreting organs The liver, kidney, pancreas, salivary and lachrymal glands Sympathetic connection of all the bodily organs Intimate connection of the skin with all the other organs Proper mode of treating the skin Experiment showing happy effects of good treatment.
XII.
CLOTHING.
Fashion attacks the very foundation of the body, the bones Bones composed of animal and mineral elements General construction and arrangement Health of bones dependent on nourishment and exercise of body Spine Distortions produced by tight dressing Pressure of interior organs upon each other and upon the bones Displacement of stomach, diaphragm, heart, intestines, and pelvic or lower organs Women liable to peculiar distresses A well−fitted jacket to replace stiff corsets, supporting the bust above and the under skirts below Dressing of young children Safe for a healthy child to wear as little clothing as will make it thoroughly comfortable Nature the manual The very young and the very old need the most clothing.
XIII.
GOOD COOKING.
Bad cooking prevalent in America−Abundance of excellent material General management of food here very wasteful and extravagant Five great departments of Cookery Bread−What it should be, how to spoil and how to make it Different modes of aeration Baking Evils of hot bread. Butter−Contrast between the butter of America and of European countries−How to make good butter. Meat−Generally used too newly killed Lack of nicety in butcher's work Economy of French butchery, curving, and trimming Modes of cooking meats The frying−pan True way of using it The French art of making delicious soups and stews Vegetables Their number and variety in America The potato How to cook it, a simple yet difficult operation Roasted, boiled, fried. Tea Warm table drinks generally Coffee Tea Chocolate. Confectionery Ornamental cookery Pastry, ices, jellies.
XIV.
EARLY RISING.
A virtue peculiarly American and democratic In aristocratic countries, labor considered degrading The hours of sunlight generally devoted to labor by the working classes and to sleep by the indolent and wealthy Sunlight necessary to health and growth whether of vegetables or animals Particularly needful for the sick Substitution of artificial light and heat, by night, a great waste of money Eight hours' sleep enough Excessive sleep debilitating Early rising necessary to a well−regulated family, to the amount of work to be done, to the community, to schools, and to all classes in American society.
XV.
DOMESTIC MANNERS.
Good manners the expression of benevolence in personal intercourse Serious defects in manners of the Americans−Causes of abrupt manners to be found in American life Want of clear discrimination between men Necessity for distinctions of superiority: and subordination Importance that young mothers should seriously endeavor to remedy this defect, while educating their children Democratic principal of equal rights to be applied, not to our own interests but to those of others The same courtesy to be extended to all classes Necessary distinctions arising from mutual relations to be observed The strong to defer to the weak Precedence yielded by men to women in America Good manners must be cultivated in early life Mutual relations of husband and wife Parents and children The rearing of children to courtesy De Tocqueville on American manners.
XVI.
GOOD TEMPER IN THE HOUSEKEEPER.
Easier for a household under the guidance of an equable temper in the mistress −Dissatisfied looks and sharp tones destroy the comfort of system, neatness, and economy Considerations to aid the housekeeper Importance and dignity of her duties Difficulties to be overcome Good policy to calculate beforehand upon the derangement of well−arranged plans Object of housekeeping, the comfort and well−being of the family The end should not be sacrificed to secure the means Possible to refrain from angry tones Mild speech most effective Exemplification Allowances to be made for servants and children Power of religion to impart dignity and importance to the ordinary and petty details of domestic life.
XVII.
HABITS OF SYSTEM AND ORDER.
Relative importance and difficulty of the duties a woman is called to perform Her duties not trivial A habit of system and order necessary Right apportionment of time General principles Christianity to be the foundation Intellectual and social interests to be preferred to gratification of taste or appetite Neglect of health a sin in the sight of God Regular season of rest appointed by the Creator Divisions of time Systematic arrangement of house articles and other conveniences Regular employment for each member of a family Children Family work Forming habits of system Early rising a very great aid Due apportionment of time to the several duties.
XVIII.
GIVING IN CHARITY.
No point of duty more difficult to fix by rule than charity First consideration Object for which we are placed in this world Self−denying Benevolence. Second consideration Natural principles not to be exterminated, but regulated and controlled. Third consideration Superfluities sometimes proper, and sometimes not Fourth consideration No rule of duty right for one and not for all The opposite of this principle tested Some use of superfluities necessary Plan for keeping an account of necessities and superfluities Untoward results of our actions do not always prove that we deserve blame General principles to manual in deciding upon objects of charity Who are our neighbors The most in need to be first relieved Not much need of charity for physical wants in this country Associated charities Indiscriminate charity Impropriety of judging the charities of others.
XIX.
ECONOMY OF TIME AND EXPENSES
Economy, value, and right apportionment of time Laws appointed by God for the Jews Christianity removes the restrictions laid on the Jews, but demands all our time to be devoted to our own best interests and the good of our fellow−men Enjoyment connected with every duty Various modes of economizing time System and order Uniting several objects in one employment Odd intervals of time Aiding others in economizing time Economy in expenses Contradictory notions General principles in which all agree Knowledge of income and expenses Evils of want of system and forethought Young ladies should early discover to be systematic and economical.
XX.
HEALTH OF MIND.
Intimate connection between the body and mind Brain excited by improper stimulants taken into the
stomach Mental faculties then affected Causes of mental disease Want of oxygenized blood Fresh air absolutely necessary Excessive exercise of the intellect or feelings Such attention to religion as prevents the performance of other duties, wrong Unusual precocity in children usually the result of a diseased brain Idiocy often the result, or the precocious child sinks below the average of mankind This evil yet prevalent in colleges and other seminaries A medical man necessary in every seminary Some pupils always needing restraint in regard to study A third cause of mental disease, the want of appropriate exercise of the various faculties of the mind Extract from Dr. Combe Beneficial results of active intellectual employments Indications of a diseased mind.
XXI.
THE CARE OF INFANTS.
Herbert Spencer on the treatment of offspring Absurdity of undertaking to rear children without any knowledge of how to do it Foolish management of parents generally the cause of evils ascribed to Providence Errors of management during the first two years Food of child and of mother Warning as to use of too much medicine Fresh air Care of the skin Dress Sleep Bathing Change of air Habits Dangers of the teething period Constipation Diarrhea Teething How to relieve its dangers Feverishness Use of water.
XXII.
THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN.
Physical education of children Animal diet to be avoided for the very young Result of treatment at Albany Orphan Asylum Good ventilation of nurseries and schools Moral training to consist in forming habits of submission, self−denial, and benevolence−General suggestions Extremes of sternness and laxity to be avoided Appreciation of childish desires and feelings Sympathy Partaking in games and employments Inculcation of principles preferable to multiplication of commands Rewards rather than penalties Severe tones of voice Children to be kept happy Sensitive children Self−denial Deceit and honesty Immodesty and delicacy Dreadful penalties consequent upon youthful impurities Religious training.
XXIII.
DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS AND SOCIAL DUTIES.
Children need more amusement than older persons Its object, to afford rest and recreation to the mind and body Example of Christ No amusements to be introduced that will tempt the weak or over−excite the young Puritan customs Work followed by play Dramatic exercises, dancing, and festivity wholesomely enjoyed The nine o'clock bell The drama and the dance Card−playing Novel−reading Taste for solid reading Cultivation of fruits and flowers Music Collecting of shells, plants, and minerals Games Exercise of mechanical skill for boys Sewing, cutting, and fitting General suggestions Social and domestic duties Family attachments Hospitality.
XXIV.
CARE OF THE AGED.
Preservation of the aged, designed to give opportunity for self−denial and loving care Patience, sympathy, and labor for them to be regarded as privileges in a family The young should respect and minister unto the aged Treating them as valued members of the family Engaging them in domestic Games and sports Reading aloud−Courteous attention to their opinions Assistance in retarding decay of faculties by helping them to exercise Keeping up interest of the infirm in domestic affairs Great care to preserve animal heat Ingratitude to the aged, its baseness Chinese regard for old age.
XXV.
THE CARE OF SERVANTS.
Origin of the Yankee term help Days of good health and intelligent house−keeping Growth of wealth tends to multiply hired service American young women should be trained in housekeeping for the guidance of ignorant and shiftless servants Difficulty of teaching servants Reaction of society in favor of women's intellectuality, in danger of causing a new reaction American girls should do more work Social estimate of domestic service Dearth of intelligent domestic help Proper mode of treating servants General rules and special suggestions Hints from experience Woman's first right, liberty to do what she can Domestic duties not to be neglected for operations in other spheres Servants to be treated with respect Errors of heartless and of too indulgent employers Mistresses of American families necessarily missionaries and instructors.
XXVI.
CARE Of THE SICK.
Prominence given to care and cure of the sick by our Saviour Every woman should know what to do in the case of illness Simple remedies best Fasting and perspiration Evils of constipation Modes of relieving it Remedies for colds Unwise to tempt the appetite of the sick Suggestion for the sick−room Ventilation Needful articles The room, bed, and person of the patient to be kept neat Care to preserve animal warmth The sick, the delicate, the aged Food always to be carefully prepared and neatly served Little modes of refreshment Implicit obedience to the physician Care in purchasing medicines Exhibition of cheerfulness, gentleness, and sympathy Knowledge and experience of mind Lack of competent nurses Failings of nurses Sensitiveness of the sick Sisters of Charity, the reason why they are such excellent nurses Illness in the family a providential opportunity of training children to love and usefulness.
XXVII.
ACCIDENTS AND ANTIDOTES.
Mode of treating cuts, wounds, severed arteries Bad bruises to be bathed In hot water Sprains treated with hot fomentation and rest Burns cured by creosote, wood−soot, or flour Drowning; most approved mode of treatment Poisons and their antidotes Soda, saleratus, potash, sulphuric or oxalic acid, lime or baryta, iodine or iodide of potassium, prussic acid, antimony, arsenic, lead, nitrate of silver, phosphorus, alcohol, tobacco, opium, strychnia Bleeding at the lungs, stomach, throat, nose Accidents from lightning Stupefaction, from coal−gas or foul air Fire Fainting Coolness and presence of mind.
XXVIII.
SEWING, CUTTING, AND MENDING.
Different kinds of Stitch Overstitch Hems Tucks Fells Gores Buttonholes Whipping Gathering Darning Basting Sewing Work−baskets To make a frock Patterns Fitting Lining Thin Silks Fitted and plain silks Plaids Stripes Linen and Cotton How to buy Shirts Chemises Night−gowns Under−skirts Mending Silk dresses Broadcloth Hose Shoes, etc. Bedding Mattresses Sheeting Bed−linen.
XXIX.
FIRES AND LIGHTS.
Wood fires Shallow fireplaces Utensils The best wood for fires How to measure a load Splitting and piling Ashes Cleaning up Stoves and grates Ventilation Moisture Stove−pipe thimbles Anthracite coal Bituminous coal Care to be used in erecting stoves and pipes Lights Poor economy to use bad light Gas Oil Kerosene Points to be considered: Steadiness, Color, Heat Argand burners Dangers of kerosene Tests of its safety and light−giving qualities Care of lamps Utensils needed Shades Night−lamps How to make candles Moulded Dipped Rush−lights.
XXX.
THE CARE OF ROOMS.
Parlors Cleansing Furniture Pictures Hearths and jambs Stains in marble Carpets Chambers and bedrooms Ventilation How to make a bed properly Servants should have single beds and comfortable rooms Kitchens Light Air Cleanliness How to make a cheap oil−cloth The sink Washing dishes Kitchen furniture Crockery Ironware Tinware Basketware Other articles Closets Cellars Dryness and cleanliness imperative necessities Store−rooms Modes of destroying insects and vermin.
XXXI.
THE CARE OF YARDS AND GARDENS.
Preparation of soil for pot−plants For hot−beds For planting flower seeds For garden seeds Transplanting To re−pot house plants The laying out of yards and gardens Transplanting trees The care of house plants.
XXXII.
THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.
Propagation of bulbous roots Propagation of plants by shoots By layers−Budding and grafting The outer and inner bark Detailed description of operations Seed−fruit Stone−fruit Rose hushes Ingrafting Stock grafting Pruning Perpendicular shoots to be taken out, horizontal or curved shoots retained All fruit−buds coming out after midsummer to be rubbed off Suckers Pruning to be done after sap is in circulation. Thinning Leaves to be removed when they shade fruit near maturity Fruit to be removed when too abundant for good quality How to judge.
XXXIII.
THE CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.
A pleasant, easy, and profitable occupation Soil for a nursery Planting of seeds Transplanting Pruning Filberts Figs Currants Gooseberries Raspberries Strawberries Grapes Modes of preserving fruit trees The yellows Moths Caterpillars Brulure−Curculio Canker− worm.
XXXIV.
THE CARE OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
Interesting association of animals with man, from childhood to age Domestic animals apt to catch the spirit of their masters Important necessities Good feeding Shelter Cleanliness Destruction of parasitic vermin Salt and water Light Exercise Rule for breeding Care of Horses: feeding, grooming, special treatment Cows: stabling, feed, calving, milking, tethering Swine: naturally cleanly, breeding, fresh water, charcoal, feeding Sheep: winter treatment Diet Sorting Use of sheep in clearing land−Pasture Hedges and fences Poultry Turkeys Geese Ducks Fowls Dairy work generally Bees Care of domestic animals, occupation for women.
XXXV.
EARTH−CLOSETS.
Deodorization and preservation of excrementitious matter The earth−closet Waring's pamphlet The agricultural argument Necessity of returning to the soil the elements taken from it Earth−closet based on power of clay and inorganic matter to absorb and retain odors and fertilizing matter Its construction Mode of use The ordinary privy The commode or portable house−privy Especial directions: things to be observed Repeated use of earth Other advantages Sick−rooms House−labor Cleanliness Economy.
XXXVI.
WARMING AND VENTILATION.
Open fireplace nearest to natural mode by which earth is warmed and ventilated Origin of diseases Necessity of pure air to life Statistics General principles of ventilation Mode of Lewis Leeds Ventilation of buildings planned in this work The pure−air conductor The foul−air exhausting−flue Stoves Detailed arrangements Warming Economy of time, labor, and expense in the cottage plan After all schemes, the open fireplace the best.
XXXVII.
CARE OF THE HOMELESS, THE HELPLESS, AND THE VICIOUS.
Recommendations of the Massachusetts Board of State Charities Pauper and criminal classes should be scattered in Christian homes instead of gathered into large institutions Facts recently published concerning the poor of New−York Sufferings of the poor, deterioration of the rich Christian principles of benevolence Plan for a Christian city house Suggestions to wealthy and unoccupied women Roman Catholic works Protestant duties The highest mission of woman.
XXXVIII.
THE CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORHOOD.
Spirit of Christian Missions Present organizations under church direction too mechanical Christian family influence the true instrument of Gospel propagation Practical suggestions for gathering a Christian family in neglected neighborhoods Plan of church, school−house, and family−dwelling in one building Mode of use for various purposes Nucleus and gathering of a family Christian work for Christian women Children Orphans Servants Neglected ones Household training Roman Catholic Nuns The South The West The neglected interior of older States Power of such examples Rapid spread of their influence Anticipation of the glorious consummation to be hoped for Prophecy in the Scriptures Cowper's noble vision of the millennial glory.
APPEAL TO AMERICAN WOMEN.
GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND REFERENCES