Bad breath from catarrh, foul stomach, or bad teeth, may be temporarily relieved by diluting a little bromo chloralum with eight or ten parts of water, and using it as a gargle, and swallowing a few drops before going out. A pint of bromo chloralum costs fifty cents, but a small vial will last a long time.
SHAVING COMPOUND.
Half a pound of plain, white soap, dissolved in a small quant.i.ty of alcohol, as little as can be used; add a tablespoonful of pulverized borax. Shave the soap and put it in a small tin basin or cup; place it on the fire in a dish of boiling water; when melted, add the alcohol, and remove from the fire; stir in oil of bergamot sufficient to perfume it.
BARBER"S SHAMPOO MIXTURE.
Dissolve half an ounce of carbonate of ammonia and one ounce of borax in one quart of water; then add two ounces of glycerine in three quarts of New England rum, and one quart of bay rum. Moisten the hair with this liquid; shampoo with the hands until a light lather is formed; then wash off with plenty of clean water.
RAZOR-STROP PASTE.
Wet the strop with a little sweet oil, and apply a little flour of emery evenly over the surface.
CAMPHOR ICE.
Melt together over a water bath white wax and spermaceti each one ounce, camphor two ounces, sweet almond oil, one pound, then triturate until the mixture has become h.o.m.ogeneous, and allow one pound of rose-water to flow in slowly during the operation. Excellent for chapped lips or hands.
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.
HOW TO KEEP BRUSHES CLEAN.
The best way in which to clean hair-brushes is with spirits of ammonia, as its effect is immediate. No rubbing is required, and cold water can be used just as successfully as warm. Take a tablespoonful of ammonia to a quart of water, dip the hair part of the brush without wetting the ivory, and in a moment the grease is removed; then rinse in cold water, shake well, and dry in the air, but not in the sun.
Soda and soap soften the bristles and invariably turn the ivory yellow.
TOILET ITEMS.
Mutton tallow is considered excellent to soften the hands. It may be rubbed on at any time when the hands are perfectly dry, but the best time is when retiring, and an old pair of soft, large gloves thoroughly covered on the inside with the tallow and glycerine in equal parts, melted together, can be worn during the night with the most satisfactory results.
Four parts of glycerine and five parts of yolks of eggs thoroughly mixed, and applied after washing the hands, is also considered excellent.
For chapped hands or face: One ounce of glycerine, one ounce of alcohol mixed, then add eight ounces of rose-water.
Another good rule is to rub well in dry oatmeal after every washing, and be particular regarding the quality of soap. Cheap soap and hard water are the unknown enemies of many people, and the cause of rough skin and chapped hands. Castile soap and rain-water will sometimes cure without any other a.s.sistance.
Camphor ice is also excellent, and can be applied with but little inconvenience. Borax dissolved and added to the toilet water is also good.
For chapped lips, beeswax dissolved in a small quant.i.ty of sweet oil, by heating carefully. Apply the salve two or three times a day, and avoid wetting the lips as much as possible.
To soften the hands: One can have the hands in soap-suds with soft soap without injury to the skin if the hands are dipped in vinegar or lemon juice immediately after. The acids destroy the corrosive effects of the alkali, and make the hands soft and white. Indian meal and vinegar or lemon juice used on hands where roughened by cold or labor will heal and soften them. Rub the hands in this, then wash off thoroughly and rub in glycerine. Those who suffer from chapped hands will find this comforting.
To remove stains, rub a slice of raw potato upon the stains; or wash the hands in lemon juice or steeped laurel-leaves.
To give a fine color to the nails, the hands and fingers must be well lathered and washed with fine soap; then the nails must be rubbed with equal parts of cinnebar and emery, followed by oil of bitter almonds.
To take white spots from the nails, melt equal parts of pitch and turpentine in a small cup; add to it vinegar and powdered sulphur. Rub this on the nails and the spots will soon disappear.
TOILET SOAP.
One pound of washing soda, one pound of lard or clear tallow, half a pound of unslaked lime, one tablespoonful of salt, three quarts of water. Put the soda and lime in a large dish, and pour over the water, boiling hot; stir until dissolved; let it stand until clear, then pour off the clear liquid, add the grease and salt; boil four hours, then pour into pans to cool. If it should be inclined to curdle or separate, indicating the lime to be too strong, pour in a little more water, and boil again. Perfume as you please, and pour into molds or a shallow dish, and, when cold, cut into bars to dry.
ANTIDOTES FOR POISONS.
The following list gives some of the more common poisons and the remedies most likely to be on hand in case of need:--
_Acids:_--These cause great heat and sensation of burning pain from the mouth down to the stomach. The remedies are-: Magnesia, soda, pearl ash, or soap dissolved in water, every two minutes; then use the stomach pump, or an emetic.
_Alkali:_--Drink freely of water with vinegar or lemon juice in it, made very strong of the sour.
_Ammonia:_--Remedy is lemon juice or vinegar.
_a.r.s.enic Remedies:_--Give prompt emetic of mustard and salt, a tablespoonful of each, in a coffeecup of _warm_ water; then follow with sweet oil, b.u.t.ter made warm, or milk. Also may use the white of an egg in half a cupful of milk or lime water. Chalk and water is good, and the preparation of iron, ten drops in water every half hour: hydrated magnesia.
_Alcohol:_--First cleanse out the stomach by an emetic, then dash cold water on the head, and give ammonia (spirits of hartshorn).
_Laudanum, Morphine, Opium:_--First give a strong emetic of mustard and water, then very strong coffee and acid drinks; dash cold water on the head, then keep in motion.
_Belladonna:_--Give an emetic of mustard, salt and water; then drink plenty of vinegar and water or lemonade.
_Charcoal:_--In poisons, by carbonic gas, remove the patient to the open air, dash cold water on the head and body, and stimulate the nostrils and lungs with hartshorn, at the same time rubbing the chest briskly.
_Corrosive Sublimate, Saltpetre, Blue Vitriol, Bed-bug Poison:_--Give white of egg, freshly mixed with water, in large quant.i.ties; or give wheat flour and water, or soap and water freely, or salt and water, or large draughts of milk.
_Lead:_--White lead and sugar of lead. Give an emetic, then follow with cathartics, such as castor oil, and epsom salts especially.
_Nux Vomica:_--First emetics, and then brandy.
_Oxalic Acid (frequently taken for epsom salts):_--First give soap and water, or chalk or magnesia and water. Give every two minutes.
_White Vitriol:_--Give plenty of milk and water.
_Tartar Emetic:_--Take large doses of tea made of white oak bark, or peruvian bark. Drink plenty of warm water to encourage vomiting; then, if the vomiting should not stop, give a grain of opium in water.
_Nitrate of Silver (lunar caustic):_--Give a strong solution of common salt and water, and then an emetic.
_Verdigris:_--Give plenty of white of egg and water.
_Tobacco:_--Emetics, frequent draughts of cold water; camphor and brandy.