478

WASH

composition. Proceed in every thing else as before, except thathere, on account of the addition of Ibxx more of the compositionthan in the former paste for wash balls, it will be necessary to addtwo quarts of water more than has been used in the best commonwash-balls.Or, One hundred weight of tallow-soap, and ftl of Spanish or commonwhiting, are mixed and beaten up with double the above quantity ofwater, and scented with oil of caraways or some other cheap essen-tial oil. These wash-balls are made large; and, to deceive thebuyer, are made very round, by being skin-dried or crusted, by lyingin the stove for 12 hours ; whereas, good wash-balls, dried in the air,generally lose their shape. They will no more lather than a pieceof clay or a stone. There have been wash-balls frequently made forthis sort of trade, which are merely the shells of large Frenchwalnuts, covered over with the above base composition.

Ambergris Wash Balls. Take fcxvi of the best Joppa, or the whitestAlicant, soap, cleansed well from dirt and lime. Shave or scrape itvery thin, and expose it to the air for several days. Now have,ready mixed, Ibij of ambergris powder, ftj of musk and civet powder,ftss of fine starch-powder, and ftss of Florentine iris-powder: allof which are to be well incorporated with the soap. Then take gr. xxof pure musk, gr. xx of civet, and gr. xxx or gr. xl of the remains ofmusk and ambergris spirit. Grind all these to a very fine powder,with loaf-sugar, and add to them, whilst in the glass mortar, gij ofspirit of ambergris, Jj of spirit of musk, 20 drops of oil of rhodium,and J-t of apoplective balsam. Mix all well together, and put thewhole into a quart of the remains of honey water. Shake themixture well, and put it into the compound of soap and powdersabove mentioned, and mix the whole well.

This mixture must be made in an earthern pan, but by no means in awooden vessel, which would absorb the best part of the perfumes.The incorporation of the above substances must be effected bybeating very finely; and, if it is found to be too stiff for working,rose, or orange-flower water may be added at discretion; still re-membering that the wash-balls are to be made up as stiff as possible.They are to be dried in the shade, and are not to be touched ormeddled with for a month at least, to prevent bruising or puttingthem out of shape. When quite dry, some manufacturers choose togild these wash-balls on their impressions. It is impossible to makeany sort of wash-ball superior to this.

Inferior Ambergris Balls. Take the same quantity of soap as above;but, instead of ftiv of the compound perfumed powder, here use six,taking care to proportion the several articles accordingly. In this