Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes

How to silver a mirror, brew ginger beer, kill moths, make fireworks, tan a hide, bronze iron, cure a ham and clean a straw hat: William B. Dick's numbered encyclopedia answered the questions a nineteenth-century household actually had.

Solutions

42 receipts in this part of Practical Receipts and Processes.

Bitter Almond Water

Rub 16 minims oil of bitter almonds with 1 drachm carbonate of magnesia, adding 2 pints water gradually. Filter through paper. (U. S. Ph.)…

Camphor Water (Take ounce of camphor)

Take 1/4 ounce of camphor and enclose it with a glass marble in a muslin bag; put this into a wide-mouthed

Cinnamon Water

Treat 1/2 bottle, such a one as is used for preserved fluid drachm oil of cinnamon in the same manner as in the last receipt. Or, by…

Fennel Water

Treat 1/2 fluid water will become saturated with the camphor, drachm oil of fennel in the same way as last and may be poured off as…

Peppermint Water

Same as last, using 1/2 fluid drachm oil of peppermint, or 18 troy ounces peppermint. (U. S. Ph.)

Spearmint Water

Same as last, from oil of spearmint. anti-spasmodic in hysteric and nervous affections.

Barley Water

Wash away with cold water all extraneous matter from 2 ounces pearl barley; then boil for a short time in 1/2 pint water, throw this away…

Distilled Water

Take 10 gallons of spring water; distill it, rejecting the first quart that comes over, and preserving the next 8 gallons of the remainder.

Lime Water

Take of lime, 2 ounces; distilled water, 2 quarts. Slack the lime with a little of the water; pour on the remainder of the water and stir…

Lobelia Water

Lobelia leaves phia. Mix 4 drachms acetate of morphia and capsules, or powder, 1 ounce; boiling with 15 drops acetic acid, 1 pint distilled…

Fever Drink

The juice of a phia. Dissolve 1 grain sulphate of morphia lemon; cream of tartar, 1 tea-spoonful; wa- in 1 fluid ounce distilled water…

Saline Mixture

Take fresh lemon juice, 1½ ounces; carbonate of potassa, 1 drachm; white sugar, 3 drachms; pure water, 12 ounces; essence of peppermint, 30…

Tar Water (Take of tar pints water gallon)

Take of tar, 2 pints; water, 1 gallon. Mix, by stirring them with a wooden rod for a quarter of an hour, and, after the tar has subsided…

Tar Water (M Magnes Lahens suggests)

M. Magnes Lahens suggests a method of preparing this water, spoonful, used in the same cases as opium

Compound Solution of Alum

Rub together 1 ounce cach alum and sulphate of zinc; dissolve in 3 pints boiling water. If necessary, filter. This is detergent and…

Goulard's Water or Lotion

eructations, heartburn, &c., it may be taken Mix 1½ fluid drachms diacetate of lead with 2 with great benefit. It neutralizes the acid…

Solution of Nitrate of Baryta

Dissolve 4 grains nitrate of baryta in 80 grains water. This is used in the same manner as chloride of barium (see No. 4774) for testing…

Solution of Nitrate of Silver

pered), and kept in a cool and dark place. Dissolve 1 drachm crystals of nitrate of silver Nothing metallic should be allowed to come in 1…

Solution of Chloride of Potash

This solution is also known as Javelle's Bleaching Liquid; Eau de Javelle, &c. This is best part sublimed carbonate of ammonia in 3 made by…

Solution of Chloride of Soda (Solubility of santonin)

solubility of santonin in water impairs its Also variously called Solution of Chlorinated utility as a vermifuge. Water, cold or warm…

Solution of Chloride of Soda (However a useful and effective)

however, a useful and effective solution may be obtained. Put 20 grains bicarbonate of soda and 3 ounces distilled water into a flask; keep…

Solution of Indigo

Place a it clear. No heat should be used. This artistone-ware vessel containing 8 parts oil of cle is miscible with water, with which it…

Aceto-Carbolic Solution

Acet- which he has followed during two years, as ic acid (pyroligneous) 8°, 20 parts; pure being both simple and effectual: Take of…

Solution of Tartrate of Soda

Take of carbonate of soda, 14 pounds; tartaric acid, 14 pounds; crushed sugar, 2 pounds's LOTIONS. hot water, 2 gallons. Dissolve the soda…

Solution of Citrate of Potassa

acid; after effervescence has ceased, gradually introduce 1½ fluid ounces distilled water; add to this slowly, and with constant stirring…

Solution of Citrate of Iron

Dilute 1 pint of solution of tersulphate of iron with 2 pints distilled water; precipitate with water of ammonia in slight excess…

Solution of Citrate of Bismuth

Put 2 ounces pure sub-nitrate of bismuth into troy ounces citric acid in coarse powder, and stir until the precipitate is nearly dissolved…

Lotion of Muriatic Acid

Mix hydrochloric acid (specific gravity 1.16), 1 fluid ounce, with water, 19 fluid ounces. unbroken chilblains. Diluted with an equal bulk…

Lotion of Nitric Acid

Mix together 2 drachms dilute nitric acid and 1 pint water. This lotion is stimulating and cleansing. It is very useful when applied to…

Anodyne Lotion

Crude opium, 4830. Lotion of Chloride of Lime. 2 drachms; warm water, 1 pint. Rub the Take of chloride of lime (best, fresh), 1/2 ounce…

Astringent Lotion

Sulphate the filtrate in a stoppered bottle. of zinc, 2 drachms; water, 1 pint; camphorated spirit of wine, 2 drachms; mixed together. This…

Lotion of Chloride of Soda

As the last, but substituting chloride of soda for chloride of lime. Or: Take of chloride of lime, 1/2 ounce avoirdupois; water, 3/4…

Compound Alum Lotion

A detergent and astringent lotion for old ulcers, chilblains, excoriations, &c., and, largely diluted, as an eye-wash and injection…

Camphorated Lotion

Diluted As the last, but substituting 3 drachms dry solution of diacetate of lead, 8 fluid ounces; carbonate of potassa for the carbonate…

Lotion of Acetate of Lead

Dissolve sugar of lead, 1/4 ounce avoirdupois, in distilled or soft water, 1 Imperial pint. Sometimes a little vinegar is added, a like…

Preventive Lotions

These are washes intended to prevent infection from personal contact with those laboring under contagious diseases. Most of the nostrums of…

Lotion of Muriate of Ammonia

Dissolve sal-ammoniac in coarse powder, 1 to 4 drachms (avoirdupois), in water, 1 Imperial pint. A useful wash in itch, old ulcers, tender…

Lotion of Prussic Acid

Mix medicinal prussic acid, 1/2 fluid drachm, with rectified spirit, 1 fluid ounce, and distilled water, 2 fluid ounces; cover the bottle…

Sulphuretted Lotion

Dissolve sulphuret of potassium, 1 drachm avoirdupois, in distilled water, 1 pint Imperial. Used to render the skin soft, white, and…

Carbolic Acid Lotion

Dissolve 5 grains carbolic acid in crystals, in 1 ounce water. As a lotion for foul ulcers, carbuncles, scabies, and lepra.

Carbolic Acid Lotion for Burns

Mix 1 drachm liquid carbolic acid with 3 ounces linseed oil and 3 ounces lime-water. 4837. Lotion of Arnica for Bruises, Sprains, Burns…

Strong Lotion of Hydrochlorate fected

Renew the application occasionally, of Ammonia. Dissolve sal-ammoniac, 1 to and the pain will soon be removed. 2 avoirdupois ounces, in…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes (1872) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.