CHAPTER XXXII.

VARIOUS RECEIPTS AND DIRECTIONS TO
SERVANTS.

VARIOUS RECEIPTS.

873.-Indian Cure for Rheumatism.-Lemon-grass oil mixed with sweet oil, in the proportion of 1 spoonful of the former to 2 of the latter, and rubbed on the part affected.

Hooping Cough.-The following remedy has been the means of curing hundreds of persons, but it must be steadily applied, and if the disease is not of long standing a sensible amendment will be perceived in about a fortnight. A friend of above 50 years of age was cured by it after many other remedies had failed.

Oil of amber (the foreign is the best) to be rubbed every night at bedtime on the palm of the hands, the soles of the feet, the small of the back, and the pit of the stomach. The oil, if good, is so essential that a teaspoonful is enough for a child at one time of rubbing.

Or:--A dozen cloves of garlic steeped in pint of rum for 24 hours: rub a dessertspoonful over the pit of the stomach at bedtime. This has been found of great benefit.

A Cure for Chilblains.-Take of ammoniac gum (the real drop) oz. ; reduce it into a smooth pulp with as little water as possible; then add oz. of extract of hemlock, and 3 drachms of the strongest mercurial ointment; the whole to be well mixed together. When used it should be spread on soft leather and sewed on the feet, and need not be removed above once a week. For recent chilblains, and for their prevention, this plaister is infallible. The above quantity is sufficient for a family of 3 or 4 children for the winter if their feet are properly attended to.

For a Cough.-Take of treacle and the best white wine

vinegar 6 tablespoonfuls each, add 40 drops of laudanum ; mix it well and put it into a bottle. A teaspoonful to be taken occasionally when the cough is troublesome.

A Remedy for a Burn or Scald.-Apply immediately a thick covering of wool to the burnt part, and bind it on tight; in the course of an hour very little pain will be felt, and scarcely any blister will remain. As this remedy is so simple, no housekeeper should be without loose wool at hand in case of an accident. This remedy was discovered by the child of a woolcomber having been dreadfully scalded: its mother laid it in a basket of newly carded wool whilst she ran for a doctor; when she returned she found the child fast asleep amongst the wool, and when it awoke the excessive pain had subsided. We have frequently tried it, and invariably with success.

To destroy Warts.-Dissolve as much common washing soda as the water will take up; wash the warts with this for a minute or two, and let them dry without wiping. Keep the water in a bottle and repeat the washing often, and it will take away the largest warts.

Before applying a blister rub the part over with a few drops of olive-oil; this will make the blister act quicker and with less irritation.

FOR THE DRESSING-TABLE.

874.- To make soft Pomatum.-Beat + lb. of unsalted fresh lard in common water; then soak and beat it in 2 rose-waters, drain it, and beat it with 2 spoonfuls of brandy; let it drain from this; add to it some essence of lemon, and keep it in small pots.

Or: Soak lb. of clear beef-marrow, and 1 lb. of unsalted fresh lard, in water, 2 or 3 days, changing and beating it every day. Put it into a sieve, and, when dry, into a jar, and the jar into a saucepan of water. When melted, pour it into a basin, and beat it with 2 spoonfuls of brandy; drain off the brandy, and then add essence of lemon, bergamot, or any other scent that is liked.

Hard Pomatum. - Prepare equal quantities of beefmarrow and mutton-suet as before, using the brandy to preserve it, and adding the scent; then pour it into moulds, or, if you have none, into phials of the size you choose the rolls to be. When cold, break the bottles, clear away the glass carefully, and put paper round the rolls.

Or :-Take equal quantities of marrow, melted and strained, lard, and castor-oil; warm all together; add any scent you please; stir until cold and put into pots.

Pomade Divine.-Clear 1 lb. of beef-marrow from the strings and bone, put it into an earthen pan or vessel of water fresh from the spring, and change the water night and morning for 10 days; then steep it in rose-water 24 hours, and drain it in a cloth till quite dry. Take an oz. of each of the following articles, namely, storax, gum-benjamin, and odoriferous cypress powder, oz. of cinnamon, 2 drachms of cloves, and 2 drachms of nutmeg, all finely powdered; mix them with the marrow above prepared; then put all the ingredients into a pewter pot that holds 3 pints; make a paste of white of egg and flour, and lay it upon a piece of rag. Over that must be another piece of linen to cover the top of the pot very close, that none of the steam may evaporate. Put the pot into a large copper pot with water, observing to keep it steady, that it may not reach to the covering of the pot that holds the marrow. As the water shrinks, add more, boiling hot; for it must boil 4 hours without ceasing a moment. Strain the ointment through a linen cloth into small pots, and, when cold, cover them. Do not touch it with anything but silver. It will keep many years.

A fine pomatum may be made by putting lb. of fresh marrow, prepared as above, and 2 oz. of hog's lard, on the ingredients, and then observing the same process as before.

Pot-pourri.-Put into a large china jar the following ingredients in layers, with bay-salt strewed between the layers :2 pecks of damask-roses, part in buds and part blown; violets, orange-flowers, and jasmine, a handful of each; orris-root sliced, benjamin, and storax, 2 oz. of each; oz. of musk; lb. of angelica-root sliced; a quart of the red parts of clove-gillyflowers; 2 handfuls of lavender-flowers; a handful of rosemary-flowers; bay and laurel leaves, a handful of each; 3 Seville oranges, stuck as full of cloves as possible, dried in a cool oven, and pounded; a handful of knotted marjoram ; and 2 handfuls of balm of Gilead dried. Cover all quite close. When the pot is uncovered the perfume is very fine.

A quicker sort of Sweet Pot-pourri.-Take 3 handfuls of orange-flowers, 3 of clove-gillyflowers, 3 of damask-roses, 1 of knotted marjoram, 1 of lemon-thyme, 6 bay-leaves, a handful

of rosemary, 1 of myrtle, of mint, 1 of lavender, the rind of a lemon, and oz. of cloves. Chop all, and put them in layers, with pounded bay-salt between, up to the top of the jar.

If all the ingredients cannot be got at once, put them in as you get them; always throwing in salt with every new article.

To make Wash-balls.-Shave thin 2 lbs. of new white soap into about a teacupful of rose-water, then pour as much boiling water on as will soften it. Put into a brass pan a pint of sweet oil, 4 pennyworth of oil of almonds, lb. of spermaceti, and set all over the fire till dissolved; then add the soap and oz. of camphor that has first been reduced to powder by rubbing it in a mortar, with a few drops of spirits of wine, or lavenderwater, or any other scent. Boil 10 minutes, then pour it into a basin, and stir it till it is quite thick enough to roll up into hard balls, which must then be done as soon as possible. If essence is used, stir it in quickly after it is taken off the fire, that the flavour may not fly off.

Paste for Chapped Hands.-Mix lb. of unsalted hog's lard, which has been washed in soft water, and then rose-water, with the yolks of 2 new-laid eggs, and a large spoonful of honey. Add as much fine oatmeal or almond-paste as will work into a paste.

Or:-Blanch 1 lb. of bitter almonds, pound them smooth in a marble mortar; add oz. of camphor, 1 oz. of honey, lb. of spermaceti, all pounded, and mixed with the almonds, till it becomes a smooth paste. Put it into jars or china boxes, and tie it down till wanted.

For Chapped Lips.-Put oz. of benjamin, storax, and spermaceti, two-pennyworth of alkanet-root, a large juicy apple chopped, a bunch of black grapes bruised, lb. of unsalted butter, and 2 oz. of bees' wax, into a new tin saucepan.

Sim

mer gently till the wax, &c., are dissolved, and then strain it through linen. When cold, melt it again, and pour it into small pots or boxes; or, if to make cakes, use the bottoms of teacups.

Or:-Put 4 oz. of olive-oil into a bottle with 1 oz. of alkanet-root; stop it up, and set it for some days in the sun, shaking it often until it becomes perfectly bright. Then strain the oil from the alkanet, put it into a pipkin, and add to it 1 oz. of white wax and 1 oz. of clarified mutton suet; set the mix

ture on a very slow fire to simmer for a little while, after which take it off, and, when it begins to cool, mix with it a few drops of any perfumed essential oil.

Cold Cream will have nearly the same effect. Take 2 oz. of oil of sweet almonds, 1 drachm each of white wax and spermaceti, which scrape very fine, and put them with the oil into an earthen pipkin to melt slowly on the embers, and stir it till it becomes quite smooth; after which, when becoming cold, add 1 oz. of rose-water, and put it into a gallipot closely covered; it should be a very thick cream.

Thieves' Vinegar." Take a large handful of lavenderblossoms and the same quantity of sage, mint, rue, wormwood, and rosemary; chop and mix them well together; put them into a jar with oz. of camphor that has been dissolved in alcohol, and pour in 3 quarts of strong vinegar; keep the jar for 2 or 3 weeks in the sun, and plunge it every night in a box of hot sand; afterwards strain and bottle the liquid, putting into each bottle a clove of garlic sliced. It should be kept very tightly corked, and is best made in June.” a

Hungary Water.-To 1 pint of highly-rectified spirits of wine put 1 oz. of oil of rosemary and 2 drachms of essence of ambergris; shake the bottle well several times, then let the cork remain out 24 hours. After a month, during which time shake it daily, put the water into small bottles.

Honey Water.-Take 1 pint of spirit as above, and 3 drachms of essence of ambergris; shake them well daily.

Lavender Water.-Take 1 pint of spirit as above, essential oil of lavender 1 oz., essence of ambergris 2 drachms; put all into a quart bottle, and shake it extremely well.

A very fine Scent.-Take 6 drachms of oil of lavender, 3 of the essence of bergamot, 60 drops of ambergris, and 2 grains of musk. Mix these into a pint of the best rectified spirits of

wine.

An excellent Water to prevent Hair from falling off, and to thicken it.-Put 4 lbs. of unadulterated honey into a still, with 12 handfuls of the tendrils of vines, and the same quantity of rosemary-tops. Distil as cool and as slowly as possible. The liquor may be allowed to drop till it begins to taste sour. Bandoline for the Hair.-Crush the pips of the ripe quince a Miss Leslie's Receipts, p. 424.