AMERICAN SPRUCE. In the spring of the year, this valuable extract is obtained from the young shoots and tops of the pine or fir trees; and in autumn, from their cones. These are merely boiled in water, to the consistence of honey or molasses. The bark and softer part of the tops and young shoots, being easily dissolved, make the finest essence; while the cones and bark of larger branches, undergoing only a partial solution, form an inferior article, after being strained from the dregs. Both sorts, when decanted clear off, are put up in casks or bottles, and preserved for making spruce beer.
ANCHOVIES. These delicate fish are preserved in barrels with bay salt, and no other of the finny tribe has so fine a flavour. Choose those which look red and mellow, and the bones moist and oily. They should be high-flavoured, and have a fine smell; but beware of their being mixed with red paint, to improve their colour and appearance. When the liquor dries, pour on them some beef brine, and keep the jar close tied down with paper and leather. Sprats are sometimes sold for anchovies, but by washing them the imposition may be detected. See [Sprats].
ANCHOVY ESSENCE. Chop two dozen of anchovies, without the bone, add some of their own liquor strained, and sixteen large spoonfuls of water. Boil them gently till dissolved, which will be in a few minutes; and when cold, strain and bottle the liquor. The essence can generally be bought cheaper than you can make it.
ANCHOVY PASTE. Pound them in a mortar, rub the pulp through a fine sieve, pot it, cover it with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool place. The paste may also be made by rubbing the essence with as much flour as will make a paste; but this is only intended for immediate use, and will not keep. This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter, by the addition of a little flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice, or cayenne.
ANCHOVY POWDER. Pound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, make them into a paste with dried flour, roll it into thin cakes, and dry them in a Dutch oven before a slow fire. To this may be added a small portion of cayenne, grated lemon peel, and citric acid. Pounded to a fine powder, and put into a well-stopped bottle, it will keep for years. It is a very savoury relish, sprinkled on bread and butter for a sandwich.
ANCHOVY SAUCE. Chop one or two anchovies without washing, put them into a saucepan with flour and butter, and a spoonful of water. Stir it over the fire till it boils once or twice. When the anchovies are good, they will soon be dissolved, and distinguished both by their colour and fragrance.
ANCHOVY TOAST. Bone and skin six or eight anchovies, pound them to a mass with an ounce of fine butter till the colour is equal, and then spread it on toast or rusks. Or, cut thin slices of bread, and fry them in clarified butter. Wash three anchovies split, pound them in a mortar with a little fresh butter, rub them through a hair sieve, and spread on the toast when cold. Garnish with parsley or pickles.
ANGELICA TARTS. Take an equal quantity of apples and angelica, pare and peel them, and cut them separately into small pieces. Boil the apples gently in a little water, with fine sugar and lemon peel, till they become a thin syrup: then boil the angelica about ten minutes. Put some paste at the bottom of the pattipans, with alternate layers of apples and angelica: pour in some of the syrup, put on the lid, and bake them carefully.
ANGLING APPARATUS. Fishing rods should be oiled and dried in the sun, to prevent their being worm eaten, and render them tough; and if the joints get swelled and set fast, turn the part over the flame of a candle, and it will soon be set at liberty. Silk or hemp lines dyed in a decoction of oak bark, will render them more durable and capable of resisting the wet; and after they have been used they should be well dried before they are wound up, or they will be liable to rot. To make a cork float, take a good new cork, and pass a small red-hot iron through the centre of it lengthways; then round one end of it with a sharp knife, and reduce the other to a point, resembling a small peg top. The quill which is to pass through it may be secured at the bottom by putting in a little cotton wool and sealing wax, and the upper end is to be fitted with a piece of hazel like a plug, cemented like the other, with a piece of wire on the top formed into an eye, and two small hoops cut from another quill to regulate the line which passes through the float. To render it the more visible, the cork may be coloured with red wax. For fly fishing, either natural or artificial flies may be used, especially such as are found under hollow stones by the river's side, on the trunk of an oak or ash, on hawthorns, and on ant hills. In clear water the angler may use small flies with slender wings, but in muddy water a large fly is better: in a clear day the fly should be light coloured, and in dark water the fly should be dark. The rod and line require to be long; the fly when fastened to the hook should be allowed to float gently on the surface of the water, keeping the line from touching it, and the angler should stand as far as may be from the water's edge with the sun at his back, having a watchful eye and a quick hand. Fish may be intoxicated and taken in the following manner. Take an equal quantity of cocculus indicus, coriander, fenugreek, and cummin seeds, and reduce them to a powder. Make it into a paste with rice flour and water, roll it up into pills as large as peas, and throw them into ponds or rivers which abound with fish. After eating the paste, the fish will rise to the surface of the water almost motionless, and may be taken out by the hand.
ANTIDOTE to opium or laudanum. The deleterious effects of opium, which are so often experienced in the form of laudanum, may in great measure be counteracted by taking a proper quantity of lemon juice immediately afterwards. Four grains of opium, or a hundred drops of laudanum, are often sufficient for a fatal dose; but if an ounce of pure lemon juice, or twice that quantity of good vinegar be added to every grain of opium, or every twenty-five drops of laudanum, it will relieve both the head and the bowels; and the use of vegetable acids cannot be too strongly recommended to those who are under the necessity of taking considerable doses of opiates.