bunnyjadwiga: (Default)
To Make Whyte Teeth (from The Seconde part of the Secretes of Alexis of Piemont) p. 2 face and verso
Take Limons, and make distilled water of the, and wasshe youre Teeth with it, of it is a soueraine thynge, or yf you will not make the water, take the licour of the which is also good for the same purpose, but the water is much better, bicause it is finer, so that in distilling, it lose not his force.

For the same:
Take Lees of wine called Tartarum, and put in a vessell of Marble, and stope it surelye, than burye it in the grounde, and let it remayne there untyll it become water, and then take it out, and rubbe your teeth with it, and thei will waxe very faire. Take also the water that falleth at the beginning of the distillatcion of salte Peter and Alome, and rubbe your teethe with therwith. If you take also the roote of Mallowes and rub your teeth with it euery daie, thei well be bright, white, and fayre without hurting the gommes. Or yf you take a cruste of wheaten bread, and burne it euen to coales, and than hauing made it to powder, skower youre teeth wythall, and washe them afterward with cleane and faire water, either of the Welle or of the Conduite, they will bee white, for it is a thing experimented.
bunnyjadwiga: (Default)
Alessio, The Second part of the Secretes, p. 18-19.


For the stinkinge of the breath, and to make the teeth whyte.
Take a pound of skimmed Hony, halfe a pound of Aqua vite, three onces of Lignum aloe, two onces of gomme Arabick, Nuttemegges, Galingale, Cububes, Cinamome, Masticke, Cloves, Spic, and Lavander new, anna three drammes, tow drammes of Amber beaten, mix all this together, & still water of it in a limbeck, and this water will take away the stinking of the breath, whiten the teeth, and maintaine helth long.

A water to make cleane teeth.
Take salt Armoniac, and salt Gemma, three onces of eche one, an once & a halfe of alumen Sucharinum, and distill it, or temper it in two pound of water, the space of eight daies, & with this licour distilled or so tempered, you shal rubbe your teeth & they will be whyte.

Another water to whiten teeth,
Take a pound of salt well purged, and beaten, an once of Alumen Glaciale, & distill it in a limbeck, and mingle an once of the water, with an once of Plantaine water, and rubbe your teeth with the composition, and with cotten, and they will be white and cleane.

To take away the smell of Garlike, Leekes, or Onyons.
After that you have eaten Garlike, Leekes, or Onions, take the roote of Beete, & rost it under embers, and eate it, & you shall see the effect; or els eate a piece of the rote of Zeduaria, & you shal not smell at all, and this is easier to be done than with the roote of Beete.


Spic is probably spike, which may be spike lavender.
Aqua Vitae is distilled spirits
Lignum aloes is aloeswoood (Aquilaria species?)
I have no idea what 'anna' is there.
gomme Arabick is Gum Arabic; Acacia gum.
Salt armoniac shoule be Sal Ammoniac, ammonium chloride, NH4Cl
Salt gemma may be salgemma, halite, AKA natural salt.
bunnyjadwiga: (Default)
The Dirt on Clean Katherine Ashenburg, p. 100-101
says that Mistress Twist, Queen Elizabeth I's court laundress, gave her queen a present of: "four tooth-cloths of coarse Holland wrought with black silk and edged with bone lace."
Ashenburg also says Elizabeth had gold toothpicks and a ruby-studded gold earpick.

At the nether end, she quotes part of a "Song" by John Wilmot Earl of Rochester, 1680... "Song. By all Loves soft, yet mighty Pow'rs" on, ahem, cleanliness of the lady's nether parts: "..using Paper still behind, And Spunges for before." (see http://dev.hil.unb.ca/Texts/EPD/UNB/view-works.cgi?c=wilmotjo.1504&pos=1)
bunnyjadwiga: (Default)
The Dirt on Clean, p. 75.
Ashenburg quotes the Ancrene Wisse, a guide for anchoresses: circa 1225-1240 (see http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/awintro.htm )
this is from part 8, plines 179-180:

Wesscheth ow, hwer-se neod is, as ofte as ye wulleth, ant ower othre thinges:
nes neaver fulthe Godd leof, thah poverte ant unorneschipe beon him lic-wurthe.

Which she translates:
Wash yourself whenever there is need as often as you want, and your things, too. Filth was never dear to God, though poverty and plainness are pleasing.


Also, she gives a different translation of the quote from Erasmus' "On Good Manners for Boys":
Care of the Teeth
To brush them with urine is a custom of the Spaniards. Food particles should be removed from the teeth, not with a knife or the nails, in the manner of dogs or cats, and not with a napkin, but with a toothpick of mastic wood, or with a feather, or with small bones taken from the drumsticks of cocks or hens.

Profile

bunnyjadwiga: (Default)
bunnyjadwiga

August 2017

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516 171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 9th, 2025 06:28 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios