A manuscript notebook kept by Robert Havell containing many varieties of household recipes and taxidermic instructions. For taxidermy, there are notes on the stuffing and preserving of birds, including "arsenical soap for stuffing birds" and varnishes that "may be applied to any part of the bird with a camel hair brush". Pages at the end of volume record the names and addresses of select London merchants, including a bird stuffer and a bird eye manufacturer. Entries in the notebook devoted to household recipes are manifold. In the realm of veterinary medicine, there are recipes for mange, for rot in sheep feet, for distemper, and a recipe to prevent horses balling. In human medicine, there are cures for toothache, bile, viper bites, dog bites, sore throats, rheumatism, ague, and cholera morbus. Recipes for useful household products are also noted, including a composition for shoe polish, a rat poison, a waterproof varnish for umbrellas, and a strong glue. Of potential use for an artist or artisan, there are instructions on how to obtain the skeletons of leaves & flowers, how to revive old writings which are almost defaced, how to clean old pictures painted in oil colors, as well as recipes for cement, ink, gum paste, and red varnish. At the end of the volume there are recipes for making fireworks, including compositions for a two ounce rocket, "Brilliant Stars", and white and blue stars. Sources and dates for the recipes are rarely noted. Dated notes range from 1830 to 1834.
