The demand for a new edition of this Work, affords the author an opportunity of expressing his sense of gratitude to the public for their kind reception of the former ones, and of endeavouring to make the present one still more worthy of their approbation.<br><br>Acting on a suggestion made by the publisher, the author has undertaken to re-write the greater portion of the Work; has erased much which was considered as theoretical; has avoided, as far as able, the use of professional and technical terms, so as to bring it within the scope of a practical "Domestic Guide."