Slices may be taken down the whole length of the back; the legs, which, next to the back, are considered the best eating, may then be taken off, and the flesh divided from or served upon them, after the small bones have been parted from the thighs. The shoulders, which are not much esteemed, though sometimes liked by sportsmen, may be taken off by pa.s.sing the knife between the joint and the trunk. When a hare is young, the back is sometimes divided at the joints into three or four parts, after being freed from the ribs and under-skin.

2681. Remarks.

Sufficient general instructions are here given to enable the carver, by observation and practice, to acquit himself well. The art of carving does not consist merely in dissecting the joints sent to table, but in the judicious and economical distribution of them, and the grace and neatness with which this distribution is effected. Every dish ahould be sent to table properly garnished (where needed), and the carver should preserve the neatness of the arrangement as much as possible.

2682. Dyeing.

The filaments from which stuffs of all kinds are fabricated are derived either from the animal or vegetable kingdom. We recognise the former by the property they possess of liberating ammonia on being treated with potash; while the latter afford a liquor having an acid reaction under the same treatment. The animal kingdom furnishes three varieties--silk, wool, and the furs, &c., of various animals; the vegetable kingdom also three--flax, hemp, and cotton: all of which require certain preliminary preparations to render them fit for the dyer, which do not come within our province, our s.p.a.ce only admitting of a rapid glance at the production of the various colours.

2683. General Observations.

The various shades produced by colouring matters may be cla.s.sed in one or other of the following groups:

1. Blues } 2. Reds } _Simple_.

3. Yellows }

4. Violets } 5. Orange colours } _Binary_.

6. Greens }

7. Compound colours } 8. Black } _Ternary_.

Some colours adhere at once to the stuff, and are called _substantial colours_; while others require that the material to be dyed should undergo some previous preparation in order to render it permanent. The substances used to fix the colouring matters are called _mordants_, which should possess four qualifications:

i. They should possess an equal affinity for the fibre of the material and the colouring matter.

ii. They should be incapable of injuring or destroying either by prolonged action,

iii. They should form, with the colour, a compound capable of resisting the action of air and water.

iv. They should be capable of readily conforming to the various operations of the dyer.

2684. The Mordants.

For the reasons just given, the acetate or tartrate of iron is preferable to the sulphate; and the acetate or tartrate of alumina to alum. _For reds, yellows, green, and pinks_, aluminous mordants are to be used. _For blacks, browns, puces, and violets_, the acetate or tartrate of iron must be employed. _For scarlets_, use a tin mordant, made by dissolving in strong nitric acid one-eighth of its weight of sal-ammoniac, then adding by degrees one-eighth of its weight of tin, and diluting the solution with one-fourth of its weight of water.

[CUNNING MEN'S CLOAKS SOMETIMES FALL.]

2685. Calico, Linen, and Muslin (Blue).

_Blue_.--Wash well to remove dressing, and dry; then dip in a strong solution of sulphate of indigo--partly saturated with potash--and hang up. Dry a piece to see if the colour is deep enough; if not dip again.

_Saxon Blue_.--Boil the article in alum, and then dip in a strong solution of chemical blue.

2686. Calico, Linen, and Muslin (Buff).

_Buff_.--Boil an ounce of anatto in three quarts of water, add two ounces of potash, stir well, and put in the calico while boiling, and stir well for five minutes; remove and plunge into cold pump water, hang up the articles without wringing, and when almost dry, fold.

2687. Calico, Linen, and Muslin (Pink).

_Pink_.--Immerse in the acetate of alumina mordant, and then in the colouring of a pink saucer.

2688. Calico, Linen, and Muslin (Green).

_Green_.--Boil the article in an alum mordant, and then in a solution of indigo mixed with any of the yellow dyes until the proper colour is obtained.

2689. Calico, Linen, and Muslin (Yellow).

_Yellow_.

i. Cut potato tops when in flower, and express the juice; steep articles in this for forty-eight hours.

ii. Dip in a strong solution of weld after boiling in an aluminous mordant. Turmeric, fustic, anatto, &c., will answer the same as weld.

2690. Cloth (Black).

Impregnate the material with the acetate of iron mordant, and then boil in a decoction of madder and logwood.

2691. Cloth (Madder Red).

Boil the cloth in a weak solution of pearlash--an ounce to a gallon of water,--wash, dry, and then steep in a decoction of bruised nutgalls.

After drying it is to be steeped twice in dry alum water, then dried, and boiled in a decoction made of three quarters of a pound of madder to every pound of the article. It should then be taken out and dried, and steeped in a second bath in the same manner. When dyed, the articles should be washed in warm soap and water, to remove a dun-coloured matter given out by the madder.

2692. Cloth (Scarlet).

Three quarters of a pint of a tin mordant, made by dissolving three pounds of tin in sixty pounds of hydrochloric acid, is added to every pound of lac dye, and digested for six hours. To dye twenty-five pounds of cloth, a tin boiler of seventy-five gallons capacity should be filled nearly full with water, and a fire kindled under it. When the heat is 150 Fahr., half a handful of bran and two ounces of tin mordant are to be thrown into it. The froth which arises is skimmed off, the liquor is made to boil, and two pounds and three quarters of lac dye, previously mixed with a pound and three quarters of the solvent, and fourteen ounces of the tin solvent, are added.

Immediately afterwards two pounds and three quarters of tartar, and a pound of ground sumach, both tied up in a linen bag, are to be added, and suspended in the bath for five minutes. The fire being withdrawn, five gallons of cold water and two pints and three quarters of tin mordant being poured into the bath, the cloth is immersed in it. The fire is then replaced, and the liquid made to boil rapidly for an hour, when the cloth is removed and washed in pure water.

2693. Cloth (Yellow).

Use No. ii. for calico. Quercitron and weld produce a solid yellow; fustic a very brilliant tint; while turmeric yields a less solid yellow.

2694. Feathers (Black).