Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million: Containing Four Thousand Five Hundred and Forty-five Receipts, Facts, Directions, etc. in the Useful, Ornamental, and Domestic Arts
John Stuart Mill · en
577. _Pearl White._--Bismuth dissolved in aqua-fortis, is pearl
white. This, though at first it whitens, afterwards blackens the
skin, as all preparations from lead do; and therefore none of them
are safely to be used.--_Dr. Moyes' Lectures._
578. _Pot-pourri._--Put into a large china jar the following
ingredients in layers, with bay-salt strewed between the layers:
two pecks of damask roses, part in buds and part blown; violets,
orange-flowers, and jessamine, a handful of each; orris-root sliced,
benjamin and storax, two ounces of each; quarter of an ounce of musk;
quarter of a pound of angelica root, sliced; a quart of the red
parts of clove-gillyflowers; two handfuls of lavender flowers; half
a handful of rosemary flowers; bay and laurel leaves, half a handful
of each; three Seville oranges, stuck as full of cloves as possible,
dried in a cool oven, and pounded; half a handful of knotted
marjoram; and two handfuls of balm of Gilead, dried. Cover all quite
close. When the pot is uncovered the perfume is very fine.
579. _A quicker sort of sweet Pot-pourri._--Take three handfuls of
orange-flowers, three of clove-gillyflowers, three of damask roses,
one of knotted marjoram, one of lemon-thyme, six bay-leaves, a
handful of rosemary, one of myrtle, half of mint, one of lavender,
the rind of a lemon, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves. Chop all,
and put them in layers, with pounded bay-salt between, up to the tip
of the jar.
If all the ingredients cannot be obtained at once, put them in as you
get them; always throwing in salt with every new article.
580. _Hungary Water._--Mix one quart of spirits of wine; half a pint
of water; and three-quarters of an ounce of oil of rosemary.
581. _Lavender Water._--Mix in a quart bottle three drachms of oil
of lavender; one pint rectified spirit of wine; shake them well
together, and add an ounce of orange-flower water, an ounce of
rose-water, four ounces of distilled water, and, if you like, two or
three drachms of essence of musk.
582. _Rose-water._--When the roses are in full bloom pick the leaves
carefully off, and to every quart of water put a peck of them; put
them in a cold still over a slow fire, and distil gradually; then
bottle the water; let it stand in the bottle three days, and then
cork it close.
583. _Another._--Take two pounds of rose leaves, place them on a
napkin tied round the edges of a basin filled with hot water, and
put a dish of cold water upon the leaves; keep the bottom water hot,
and change the water at top as soon as it begins to grow warm. By
this kind of distillation you will extract a great quantity of the
essential oil of the roses by a process which cannot be expensive,
and will prove very beneficial.