FoodNetArchive

Recipes for the million

1891

Page 109

Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
INK (CRIMSON MARKING). — Dissolve one ounce of nitrate of silver and one ounce and a half of carbonate of soda in crystals, separ- ately, in distilled water ; then mix the solutions, collect and wash the precipitate, and, while still moist, put it into a stone mortar, add to it two drams forty grains of tartaric acid, and rub together till effervescence has ceased ; dissolve six grains of carmine in six ounces of liquor ammonia (882), and add to it the tartrate of silver, then mix in six drams of white sugar and ten drams of powdered gum-arabic, and add as much distilled water as will make six ounces. INK (FADED), To Restore. — Dip the writing in a weak solution of prussiate of potash, slightly acidulated with muriatic acid, observing so to apply the liquid as to prevent the ink spreading. Manuscripts rendered illegible by age may also be restored by moistening them, by means of a feather, with an infusion of galls. Dipping the paper in water containing sulphuret of ammonia, or ex- posing it to the vapour of that substance, will likewise achieve the object. INK FOR BOOK COVERS (QUICK DRYING).— Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of gum-arabic in sufficient acetic acid to make a thin mucilage, and then add one ounce of beeswax, a quarter of an ounce of Brown’s japan, half an ounce of asphaltum varnish, and one pound of woodcut ink. INK FOR GARDEN LABELS. — Dissolve ten grains of chloride of platinum in two ounces of rain water. Apply with a quill pen. A cheap fluid for bright zinc may be made as follows : — Mix in an earthen mortar two ounces of verdigris, two ounces of sal ammoniac, an ounce of lampblack, and a pint of water. Shake well before using. A wooden spatula should be used in mixing the above ingredients. 99 INK FOR TICKET WRITING. — To a gill of ordinary writing Ink, add half an ounce of gum ; set it in a warm place, and shake it up occasionally till it is well mixed. INK (GOLD), To Prepare. — Grind with a muller upon a porphyry slab some gold leaves with white honey till they become reduced to the finest possible division. Collect the paste with a knife or spatula, put it into a large glass and diffuse through water. The gold will then fall to the bottom, while the honey will dissolve in the water, which must be decanted off. Wash the sediment repeatedly till it is entirely free from the honey. The powder, when dried, is very brilliant. When required for use, mix the gold dust with a little gum-water, and when the writing is dry burnish it with a wolf’s tooth. INK (INDESTRUCTIBLE). — Dissolve twenty grains of sugar in thirty grains of water and add a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid. Upon heating the mixture the sugar becomes carbonised, and when applied to the paper leaves a coating of carbon which cannot be w'ashed off. The stain is rendered more permanent by the action of the acid upon the paper, and resists the action of chemical agents. INK (JAPAN). — Boil half a pound of Aleppo galls and a quarter of a pound of logwood chips in six quarts of water till reduced to half the quantity ; strain, and add a quarter of a pound of copperas, a quarter of a pound of gum-arabic, an ounce of sugar, half an ounce of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper), and half an ounce of sugar-candy ; stir till dissolved ; strain clear, and put into a bottle.