Lavender Water

Oil of lavender two ounces, orris root half an ounce, spirits of wine one pint. Mix and keep two or three weeks. It may then be strained through two thicknesses of blotting-paper and is ready for use.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

To Keep Flies Out of a Room

Put a few drops of oil of lavender on a sponge placed in a saucer of hot water. This will give out a scent which flies dislike. If you do not wish to try it in the house, put the sponge on a table on the porch if the flies are troublesome there.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

Cologne Water (Superior)

Oil of lavender two drachms, oil of rosemary one drachm and a half, orange, lemon and bergamot, one drachm each of the oil; also two drachms of the essence of musk, attar of rose ten drops, and a pint of proof spirit. Shake all together thoroughly three times a day for a week.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Cologne

A fine cologne is prepared from -one gallon of deoderized alcohol, to it add one ounce of oil of lavender, one ounce of oil of orange, two drachms of oil of cedrat, one drachm of oil of neroli, or orange flowers, one drachm of oil of rose, and one drachm of ambergris. Mix well, and keep for three weeks in a cool place.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Cologne

White whisky one gallon, attar of rose ten drops, musk ten grains, oil of lavender one-half ounce, oil of lemon one-half ounce, oil of bergamot one-half ounce, four Tonka beans cut fine. Let it stand ten or twelve days, shaking it daily.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Odoriferous or Sweet-Scenting Bags

Lavender flowers one ounce, pulverized orris, two drachms, bruised rosemary leaves half ounce, musk five grains, attar of rose five drops. Mix well, sew up in small flat muslin bags, and cover them with fancy silk or satin.

These are very nice to keep in your bureau drawers or trunk, as the perfume penetrates through the contents of the trunk or drawers. An acceptable present to a single gentleman.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Common Cologne

(To Use as a Toilet Water.)

Oil of bergamot, lavender and lemon each one drachm ; oil of rose and jasmine each ten drops ; essence of ambergris ten drops, spirits of wine one pint. Mix and keep well closed in a cool place for two months, when it will be fit for use.”

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Thieves’ Vinegar

Take a large handful of lavender blossoms, and the same quantity of sage, mint, rue, wormwood and rosemary. Chop and mix them well. Put them into a jar, with half an ounce of camphor that has been dissolved in a little alcohol, and pour in three quarts of strong clear vinegar. Keep the jar for two or three weeks in the hot sun, and at night plunge it into a box of heated sand. Afterwards strain and bottle the liquid, putting into each bottle a clove of garlic sliced. To have it very clear, after it has been bottled for a week, you should pour it off carefully from the sediment, and filter it through blotting paper. Then wash the bottles, and return the vinegar to them. It should be kept very tightly corked. It is used for sprinkling about in sick-rooms; and also in close damp oppressive weather. Inhaling the odour from a small bottle will frequently prevent faintness in a crowd.

It is best to make it in June.

This vinegar is so called from an old tradition, that during the prevalence of the plague in London the composition was invented by four thieves, who found it a preservative from contagion; and were by that means enabled to remain in the city and exercise their profession to great advantage, after most of the inhabitants had fled.

Source: Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches, Eliza Leslie

For Neuralgia

Alcohol one quart, sulphuric ether four ounces, chloroform two ounces, laudanum two ouncss, oil of wintergreen one-half ounce, oil of lavender one-half ounce, camphor one-half ounce. Apply with a
silk handkerchief. Half this quantity is enough to have mixed at one time, as the chloroform and ether evaporate so quickly.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

A Most Excellent Remedy for Toothache

Alcohol one ounce, laudanum one drachm, chloroform five drachms, gum camphor one-half drachm, oil of cloves one-half drachm, sulph. ether two drachms, oil of lavender one drachm. Saturate a small piece of cotton, and put into the cavity; be careful not to touch any part of the mouth with it as it is very pungent; put the cotton on the point of some sharp instrument, put it into the cavity and place a small piece of clean cotton over it.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook