97. _To loosen the Glass Stopples of Smelling Bottles and Decanters._--With a feather rub a drop or two of olive oil round the stopple, close to the mouth of the bottle or decanter, which must be then placed before the fire, at the distance of a foot or eighteen inches; in which position the heat will cause the oil to spread downward between the stopple and the neck. When the bottle or decanter has grown warm, gently strike the stopple on one side, and on the other, with any light wooden instrument; then try it with the hand. If it will not yet move, place it again before the fire, adding, if you choose, another drop of oil. After a while strike again as before; and by persevering in this process, however tightly the stopple may be fastened in, you will at length succeed in loosening it.
98. _Or_, knocking the stopper gently with a piece of wood, first on one side, then on the other, will generally loosen it. If this method does not succeed, a cloth wetted with hot water and applied to the neck, will sometimes expand the glass sufficiently to allow the stopper to be easily withdrawn.
99. _Crockery and Glass._--Crockery and glass, to be used for holding hot water, are best seasoned by boiling them, by putting the articles in a saucepan of cold water over the fire, and letting the water just boil; the saucepan should then be removed, and the articles should be allowed to remain in it till the water is cold. Some kind of pottery is best seasoned by soaking in cold water.
Choose thin rather than thick glasses, as the thin glass is less likely to be broken by boiling water than that which is thicker; for, thin glass allows the heat to pass through it in least time. The safest plan is to pour boiling water very slowly into cold glasses.
As boiling water will often break cold glass, so a cold liquid will break hot glass; thus wine, if poured into decanters that have been placed before the fire, will frequently break them.
Glass dishes and stands made in moulds are much cheaper than others, and they have a good appearance, if not placed near cut-glass.
Lamp-glasses are often cracked by the flame being too high when they are first placed round it; the only method of preventing which is to lower the flame before the glass is put on the lamp, and to raise the flame gradually as the glass heats.