TO REMOVE FRECKLES.

Bruise and squeeze the juice out of common chick-weed, and to this juice add three times its quant.i.ty of soft water. Bathe the skin with this for five or ten minutes morning and evening, and wash afterwards with clean water.

Elder flowers treated and applied exactly in the same manner as above.

When the flowers are not to be had, the distilled water from them, which may be procured from any druggist, will answer the purpose.

A good freckle lotion is made of honey, one ounce, mixed with one pint of lukewarm water. Apply when cold.

Carbonate of pota.s.sa, twenty grains; milk of almonds, three ounces; oil of sa.s.safras, three drops. Mix and apply two or three times a day.

One ounce of alcohol; half a dram salts tartar; one dram oil bitter almonds. Let stand for one day and apply every second day.

FOR PIMPLES ON THE FACE.

Wash the face in a solution composed of one teaspoonful of carbolic acid to a pint of water. This is an excellent purifying lotion, and may be used on the most delicate skin. Be careful not to get any of it in the eyes as it will weaken them.

One tablespoonful of borax to half a pint of water is an excellent remedy for cutaneous eruptions, canker, ringworm, etc.

Pulverize a piece of alum the size of a walnut, dissolve it in one ounce of lemon juice, and add one ounce of alcohol. Apply once or twice a day.

Mix two ounces of rose-water with one dram of sulphate of zinc. Wet the face gently and let it dry. Then touch the affected part with cream.

WASH FOR THE COMPLEXION.

A teaspoonful of the flour of sulphur and a wine-gla.s.sful of lime-water, well shaken and mixed; half a wine-gla.s.s of glycerine and a wine-gla.s.s of rose water. Rub it on the face every night before going to bed. Shake well before using.

Another prescription, used by hunters to keep away the black flies and mosquitoes, is said to leave the skin very clear and fair, and is as follows: Mix one spoonful of the best tar in a pint of pure olive oil or almond oil, by heating the two together in a tin cup set in boiling water. Stir till completely mixed and smooth, putting in more oil if the compound is too thick to run easily. Rub this on the face when going to bed, and lay patches of soft cloth on the cheeks and forehead to keep the tar from rubbing off. The bed linen must be protected by cloth folded and thrown over the pillows.

The whites of four eggs boiled in rose-water; half an ounce of alum; half an ounce of sweet almonds; beat the whole together until it a.s.sumes the consistency of paste. Spread upon a silk or muslin mask, to be worn at night.

Take a small piece of the gum benzoin and boil it in spirits of wine till it becomes a rich tincture. In using it pour fifteen drops into a gla.s.s of water, wash the face and hands and allow it to dry.

BORACIC ACID FOR SKIN DISEASES.

Boracic acid has been used with great success as an external application in the treatment of vegetable parasitic diseases of the skin. A solution of a dram of the acid to an ounce of water, or as much of the acid as the water will take up, is found to meet the requirements of the case satisfactorily. The affected parts should be well bathed in the solution twice a day and well rubbed.

TO SOFTEN THE SKIN.

Mix half an ounce of glycerine with half an ounce of alcohol, and add four ounces of rose-water. Shake well together and it is ready for use.

This is a splendid remedy for chapped hands.

REMEDY FOR RINGWORM.

Apply a solution of the root of common narrow-leafed dock, which belongs to the botanical genus of _Rumex_. Use vinegar for the solvent.

Dissolve a piece of sulphate of potash, the size of a walnut, in one ounce of water. Apply night and morning for a couple of days, and it will disappear.

TO REMOVE SUNBURN.

Take two drams of borax, one dram of alum, one dram of camphor, half an ounce of sugar-candy, and a pound of ox-gall. Mix and stir well for ten minutes, and stir it three or four times a fortnight. When clear and transparent, strain through a blotting paper and bottle for use.

TO PREVENT HAIR FALLING OUT.

Ammonia one ounce, rosemary one ounce, cantharides four drams, rose-water four ounces, glycerine one ounce. First wet the head with cold water, then apply the mixture, rubbing briskly.

Vinegar of cantharides half an ounce, eau-de-cologne one ounce, rose-water one ounce. The scalp should be brushed briskly until it becomes red, and the lotion should then be applied to the roots of the hair twice a day.

TO BEAUTIFY THE HAIR.

Take two ounces of olive oil, four ounces of good bay rum, and one dram of the oil of almonds; mix and shake well. This will darken the hair.

HAIR OILS.

Mix two ounces of castor oil with three ounces of alcohol, and add two ounces of olive oil. Perfume to liking.

TO MAKE POMADES FOR THE HAIR.

Take the marrow out of a beef shank bone, melt it in a vessel placed over or in boiling water, then strain and scent to liking, with ottar of roses or other perfume.

Unsalted lard five ounces, olive oil two and a half ounces, castor oil one-quarter ounce, yellow wax and spermaceti one-quarter ounce. These ingredients are to be liquified over a warm bath, and when cool, perfume to liking.

Fresh beef marrow, boiled with a little almond oil or sweet oil, and scented with ottar of roses or other mild perfume.

A transparent hair pomade is made as follows: Take half a pint of fine castor oil and an ounce of white wax. Stir until it gets cool enough to thicken, when perfume may be stirred in; geranium, bergamot or lemon oil may be used.

GERMAN METHOD OF TREATING THE HAIR.

The women of Germany have remarkably fine and luxuriant hair. The following is their method of managing it: About once in two or three weeks, boil for half an hour or more a large handful of bran in a quart of soft water; strain into a basin, and when tepid, rub into the water a little white soap. With this wash the head thoroughly, using a soft linen cloth or towel, thoroughly dividing the hair so as to reach the roots. Then take the yolk of an egg, slightly beaten in a saucer, and with the fingers rub it into the roots of the hair. Let it remain a few minutes, and then wash it off entirely with a cloth dipped in pure water. Rinse the head well till the yolk of the egg has disappeared from it, then wipe and rub it dry with a towel, and comb the hair from the head, parting it with the fingers, then apply some soft pomatum. In winter it is best to do all this in a warm room.

TO KEEP THE HAIR FROM TURNING GREY.

Take the hulls of b.u.t.ternuts, about four ounces, and infuse in a quart of water, and to this add half an ounce of copperas. Apply with a soft brush every two or three days. This preparation is harmless, and is far better than those dyes made of nitrate of silver.

Oxide of bis.m.u.th four drams, spermaceti four drams, pure hog's lard four ounces. Melt the two last and add the first.