g a
leaf of houseleek, ground ivy, or purslain, dipped in vinegar. Or
instead of these leaves, they may be dressed every day with a plaster of
simple diachylon, or of gum ammoniacum softened in vinegar. The bark of
the willow tree burnt to ashes, and mixed with strong vinegar, forms a
lixivium which by repeated applications eradicates, warts, corns, and
other cutaneous excrescences. It is however the wisest way to obviate
the cause which produces them.

WASH. An infusion of horseradish in milk, makes one of the safest and
best washes for the skin; or the fresh juice of houseleek, mixed with an
equal quantity of new milk or cream. Honey water made rather thick, so
as to form a kind of varnish on the skin, is a useful application in
frosty weather, when the skin is liable to be chipped; and if it
occasions any irritation or uneasiness, a little fine flour or pure hair
powder should be dusted on the hands or face. A more elegant wash may be
made of four ounces of potash, four ounces of rose water, and two of
lemon juice, mixed in two quarts of water. A spoonful or two of this
mixture put into the basin, will scent and soften the water intended to
be used.

WASH BALLS. Shave thin two pounds of new white soap, into about a
teacupful of rose water, and pour on as much boiling water as will
soften it. Put into a brass pan a pint of sweet oil, four pennyworth of
oil of almonds, half a pound of spermaceti, and dissolve the whole over
the fire. Then add the soap, and half an ounce of camphor that has first
been reduced to powder by rubbing it in a mortar with a few drops of
spirits of wine, or lavender water, or any other scent. Boil it ten
minutes, then pour it into a basin, and stir till it is quite thick
enough to roll up into hard balls, which must then be done as soon as
possible. If essence is used, stir it in quick after it is taken off the
fire, that the scent may not fly off.

WASHING. Soda, by softening the water, saves a great deal of soap. It
should be melted in a large jug of water, and some of it poured into the
tubs and boiler; and when the lather becomes weak, more is to be added.
The new improvement in soft soap is, if properly used, a saving of
nearly half in quantity; and though something dearer than the hard, it
reduces the expence of washing considerably. Many good laundresses
advise soaping linen in warm water the night previous to washing, as
facilitating the operation with less friction.

WASP