Avoid all the so-called " hair restoratives," for they are poisonous
and filthy, containing every one of them sugar of lead, sulphur, cop-
peras, etc. These preparations will darken the hair, but at the expense
of health. Those who advertise their nostrums as restoring the growth
on. perfectly bald heads, advertise falsehoods. If the scalp is glossy
and no small hairs discernible, the roots are dead and there is no rem-
edy. However, if small hairs are to be seen, there is hope. Brush
well, and bathe the bald spot every day with cold, soft water ; carbon-
ate of ammonia, one drachm ; tincture of cantharides, four drachms ;
bay rum, four ounces, and castor oil, two ounces.
For those elderly ladies who desire to keep the hair from turning
gray, the following is efficient and harmless : Infuse four ounces of the
hulls of butternuts into a quart of water for an hour, and half an ounce
of copperas✪ Gray Hair Prevention and apply with a brush every third day.
All depilatories for the removal of superfluous hair are somewhat
dangerous, unless used with great discretion. There is no way to
remove it but by diluted acids or caustics, patiently applied time after
time, as the hair makes its appearance. The mildest depilatories known
are parsley water, acacia juice and the gum of ivy. It is said that nut
oil will prevent the hair from growing. The juice of the milk thistle,
mixed with oil, according to medical authority, prevents the hair from
growing too low on the forehead, or straggling on the nape of the neck.
Muriatic acid, very slightly reduced, applied with a sable pencil, will
360 THE TOILET.
destroy the hair ; and to prevent its growing the part may be bathed
with strong camphor or clear ammonia. The depilatories sold in the
shop are strong caustics, and leave the skin very hard and unpleasant,
Bathe the upper lip, or other feature afflicted with superfluous hair,
with ammonia or camphor as strong as can be borne, and the hair will
die out in a few weeks. Moles, with long hairs in them, should be
touched with lunar caustic repeatedly. Care should be taken to brush
the back hair upward from childhood, to prevent the disfiguring growth
of weak, loose hairs on the neck. Fine, clean wood ashes, mixed with
a little water to form a paste, make a tolerable depilatory for weak hair,
without any pain. Strong pearlash washes also kill out poor hair.
Pale hair shows a want of iron in the system, and this is to be sup-
plied by a free use of beefsteak, soups, pure beef gravies and red wines.
Sandy hair, when well brushed and kept glossy with the natural oil of
the scalp, changes to a warm, golden tinge. The eyelashes may be
improved by delicately cutting off their forked and gossamer points,
and anointing with a salve of two drachms of ointment of nitric oxide
of mercury and one drachm of lard. Mix the lard and ointment well
and anoint the edges of the eyelids night and morning, washing after
each time with warm milk and water. This, it is said, will restore the
lashes when lost by disease. The effect of black lashes is to deepen the
color of gray eyes.
CARE OF THE HANDS.
Page 319 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Avoid all the so-called " hair restoratives," for they are poisonous and filthy, containing every one of them sugar of lead, sulphur, copperas, etc. These preparations will darken the hair, but at the expense of health. Those who advertise their nostrums as restoring the growth on. perfectly bald heads, advertise falsehoods. If the scalp is glossy and no small hairs discernible, the roots are dead and there is no remedy. However, if small hairs are to be seen, there is hope. Brush well, and bathe the bald spot every day with cold, soft water ; carbonate of ammonia, one drachm ; tincture of cantharides, four drachms ; bay rum, four ounces, and castor oil, two ounces.
For those elderly ladies who desire to keep the hair from turning gray, the following is efficient and harmless : Infuse four ounces of the hulls of butternuts into a quart of water for an hour, and half an ounce of copperas and apply with a brush every third day.
All depilatories for the removal of superfluous hair are somewhat dangerous, unless used with great discretion. There is no way to remove it but by diluted acids or caustics, patiently applied time after time, as the hair makes its appearance. The mildest depilatories known are parsley water, acacia juice and the gum of ivy. It is said that nut oil will prevent the hair from growing. The juice of the milk thistle, mixed with oil, according to medical authority, prevents the hair from growing too low on the forehead, or straggling on the nape of the neck. Muriatic acid, very slightly reduced, applied with a sable pencil, will
destroy the hair ; and to prevent its growing the part may be bathed with strong camphor or clear ammonia. The depilatories sold in the shop are strong caustics, and leave the skin very hard and unpleasant, Bathe the upper lip, or other feature afflicted with superfluous hair, with ammonia or camphor as strong as can be borne, and the hair will die out in a few weeks. Moles, with long hairs in them, should be touched with lunar caustic repeatedly. Care should be taken to brush the back hair upward from childhood, to prevent the disfiguring growth of weak, loose hairs on the neck. Fine, clean wood ashes, mixed with a little water to form a paste, make a tolerable depilatory for weak hair, without any pain. Strong pearlash washes also kill out poor hair.
Pale hair shows a want of iron in the system, and this is to be supplied by a free use of beefsteak, soups, pure beef gravies and red wines. Sandy hair, when well brushed and kept glossy with the natural oil of the scalp, changes to a warm, golden tinge. The eyelashes may be improved by delicately cutting off their forked and gossamer points, and anointing with a salve of two drachms of ointment of nitric oxide of mercury and one drachm of lard. Mix the lard and ointment well and anoint the edges of the eyelids night and morning, washing after each time with warm milk and water. This, it is said, will restore the lashes when lost by disease. The effect of black lashes is to deepen the color of gray eyes.
CARE OF THE HANDS.
Records on this page
Gray Hair Prevention