Tooth Powder
Sal ammoniac, gum mastic, red coral, and myrrh, of each an equal quantity finely powdered.
Another: 3 oz. camphor, 1 oz. powdered cinchona bark, 1 oz. prepared charcoal, and sufficient spirits of wine to dissolve the camphor. Mix thoroughly, and pass through a fine sieve.
The mixture of chalk and camphor is very good for preserving as well as cleansing teeth.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
Filed under Remedy | Tags: camphor, chalk, charcoal, cinchona park, cobbett, coral, gum mastic, mouth, myrrh, red coral, sal-ammoniac, spirits of wine, teeth, tooth | Comment (0)French Polish
Take a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac and a quarter of an ounce of gum mastic; pick the dirt and black lumps out very carefully, and pound them in a mortar quite fine; put them into a bottle, and add to them a quartern (old measure) of strong spirit of wine; cork it down and put it in a warm place; shake it frequently till the gum is entirely dissolved, which will be in about twenty-four hours.
Before using it, be careful to ascertain that no grease is on the furniture, as grease would prevent its receiving the polish. If the furniture has been previously cleaned with bees’-wax or oil, it must be got off by scraping, which is the best way, but difficult to those who do not perfectly understand it, because if you are not very careful, you may scratch the surface, and create more expense than a workman would charge to do it properly at first. Or it may be done by scouring well with sand and water, and afterward rubbed quite smooth with fine glass paper, being careful to do it with the grain of the wood. To apply the polish, you must have a piece of list or cloth twisted, and tied round quite tight, and left even at one end, which should be covered with a piece of fine linen cloth; then pour a little of the polish on the furniture, and rub it well all over till it is worked into the grain of the wood, and begins to look quite smooth; then take a soft fine cloth, or what is better, an old silk handkerchief, and keep rubbing lightly until the polish is complete, which will take two or three hours. It will greatly help the polish if it is done near a fire.
If it does not look so smooth and clear as it should, a little sweet oil rubbed lightly over, and cleaned off directly, will greatly heighten it. If any part of the furniture has carving about it, where it will be impossible to polish, it must be done with mastic varnish, and a camel’s hair brush, after the rest is finished.
When the polish begins to look dull, it may be recovered with a little spirit of wine.
Source: The Cook’s Oracle and Housekeeper’s Manual, W.M. Kitchener
Filed under Remedy | Tags: beeswax, cloth, french polish, furniture, glass paper, grease, gum, gum mastic, gum sandarac, kitchener, linen, oil, polish, sand, spirit of wine, varnish, wax, wine, wood | Comment (0)Remedy for Toothache
First wash the mouth well with warm water, then use the following tincture: Tannin, 10 grains; gum mastic, 1/2 drachm; 10 drops of carbolic acid; dissolve in 1/2 ounce of sulphuric ether. Paint the decayed hollow of the aching tooth over with this tincture twice or thrice, using a camel’s hair brush. The tincture will remain in good condition for a month or more, provided care is taken to keep it in a vial with a glass stopper.
Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts