Tooth Powder

Powdered orris-root, 1/2 an ounce; powdered charcoal, 2 ounces, powdered Peruvian bark, 1 ounce; prepared chalk, 1/2 an ounce; oil of bergamot, or lavender, 20 drops. These ingredients must be well worked up in a mortar, until thoroughly incorporated. This celebrated tooth-powder possesses three essential virtues, giving an odorous breath, cleansing and purifying the gums, and preserving the enamel; the last rarely found in popular tooth-powders.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley

Violet Mouthwash

Mix equal quantities of tincture of orris, spirits of roses, and common spirit, with a few drops of otto of almonds.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Lozenges for Offensive Breath

Gum kino, half an ounce; catechu, one ounce; white sugar, three ounces; orris powder, three-quarters of an ounce. Make into a paste with mucilage, and add a drop of neroli.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Tooth Powder

A half an ounce of cuttlefish bone; half an ounce of the finest prepared chalk; two drachms of Peruvian bark; two drachms of Florentine orris root. Reduce the whole to a fine powder and mix.

Source: The Kentucky Housewife, Mrs Peter A. White

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

Pectorals for a Colde or Consumption

Take one pound of brown Sugar Candy, one Ounce of Juice of Lycorisse, dissolve y^e lycorisse in 3 spoonfulls of Hysop water, put to these a drachm of Orrice a drachm of Enul-campane, halfe a drachm of Gum dragon being all made into fine powder, muske a graine then take a drachm of oyle of Anniseeds, worke it well together with your hand and make it up into pectorals of what bigness you please, lay them on a dish to dry before y^e fire or in an oven after drawn bread, and keep them dry.

Source: A Book of Simples, H.W. Lewer

Pearl Tooth Powder

Prepared chalk half a pound, powdered myrrh two ounces; camphor two drachms, orris root, powdered, two ounces; moisten the camphor with alcohol and mix well together.

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

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

Tooth Powder

Precipitated chalk, seven ounces; Florentine orris, four ounces; bicarbonate of soda, three ounces; powdered white Castile soap, two ounces; thirty drops each of oil of wintergreen and sassafras. Sift all together and keep in a glass jar or tin box. A very valuable recipe for hardening the teeth.

Source: The Golden Age Cook Book, H. L. Dwight

An Indispensable Powder

A trouble scarcely to be named among refined persons is profuse perspiration, which ruins clothing and comfort alike. For this it is recommended to bathe frequently, putting into the water a cold infusion of rosemary, sage or thyme, and afterward dust the under-garments with a mixture of two and a half drachms of camphor, four ounces of orris-root, and sixteen ounces of starch, the whole reduced to impalpable powder. Tie it in a coarse muslin bag, (or one made of flannel is better if you wish to use it on the flesh,) and shake it over the clothes. This makes a very fine bathing powder.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook