¶ Cotton wet in the same and a lytell wronge out agayn and so put in the eares at nyght goynge to bedde, and a lytell dronke thereof, is good against all defnes. ¶ It easeth the payn in the teethe, when it is a longe tyme holden in the mouthe, it causeth a swete brethe, and theleth the rottyng tethe. ¶ It heleth the canker in the mouthe, in the teethe, in the lyppes, and in the tongue, whan it is longe time holden in the mouthe. ¶ It cawseth the hevy togue to become light and wel spekyng. ¶ It heleth the shorte brethe whan it is droke with water wheras the figes be soden in, and vanisheth al flemmes. ¶ It causeth good dygestynge and appetyte for to eat, and taketh away all bolkynge.[54] ¶ It dryveth the wyndes out of the body, and is good agaynst the evyll stomake. ¶ It easeth the fayntenes of the harte, the payn of the mylte, the yelowe Jandis, the dropsy, the yll lymmes, the goute, in the handes and in the fete, the payne in the brestes whan they be swollen, and heleth al diseases in the bladder, and breaketh the stone. ¶ It withdryveth venym that hath been taken in meat or in drynke, whā a lytell tryacle is put therto. ¶ It heleth the flanckes[55] and all dyseases coming of colde. ¶ It heleth the brennyng of the body, and of al membres whan it is rubbed therewith by the fyre viii dayes contynnynge. ¶ It is good to be dronke agaynst the sodeyn dede. ¶ It heleth all scabbes of the body, and all colde swellynges, enoynted or washed therwith, and also a lytell thereof dronke. ¶ It heleth all shronke sinewes, and causeth them to become softe and right. ¶ It heleth the febres tertiana and quartana, when it is dronke an houre before, or the febres becometh on a body. ¶ It heleth the venymous bytes, and also of a madde dogge, whan they be wasshed therwith. ¶ It heleth all stynkyng woundes whan they be wasshed therwith.” From use in medicine, Aqua Vitæ soon came into domestic use, and here is given one of Iherom Bruynswyke’s “Styllatoryes,” which he says was the “comon fornays” which was “well beknowen amonge the potters, made of erthe leded or glased, and it may be removed from the one place to the other.” [Illustration] It was in a still of this sort that the old housewives of the sixteenth and succeeding centuries used to concoct their strong and cordial waters—a practice which has given, and left to, our own times, the name of “Still-room,” as the housekeeper’s own particular domain. They experimented on almost every herb that grew, and some of their concoctions must have been exceedingly nasty. Yet some of their recipes read as if they were comforting, and they were not deficient in variety.