Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/565

 No. XIII.—Indian method of washing the hair.—Vol. i. p. 136.

A quarter of a ser of basun, the yolks of two large eggs (no whites), the juice of two or three limes; mix the whole in a basin with cold water, add some hot water, strain it through a towel. Rub it well into the roots of the hair, and wash it out by pouring warm water over the head, until the hair is perfectly clean. The operation is most agreeably performed in a hummām. In a bathing-room it is necessary to have ready prepared six kedgerī pots of boiling water, which can be mixed afterwards with cold. Having thoroughly dried the hair, put a small quantity of oil upon it. Use no soap. Basun is the pounded and sifted meal of gram, i. e. chanā.

No. XIV.—Take seven gelās (seed of mimosa scandens), break and put the kernels into a chhattak of water for a night; pound them, and strain through muslin; add the juice of four or five limes, and the yolks of two or three eggs; wash the hair with the mixture.

No. XV.—Ink for taking impressions off Hindūstanī seals.—Vol. i. p. 142.

Lampblack, one paisā, gond, (i.e. gum of the babūl, or gum Arabic,) two chhattaks. Having ground both, dry the whole on a plantain leaf. Mix two paisā of water with one of the mixture; boil, and strain it for use. If not good add one grain of salt. Lampblack made in unglazed pans is better than any other. The ink should be put on the seal with the point of the finger. It should be very black, and thick; but put on very thinly. The paper to be wetted with water on a bit of muslin, and just patted down before the seal is pressed on the spot. If the paper come off on the seal the former is not damp enough. Use thick Chinese paper, or common writing paper.

No. XVI.—To recover the ink of faded writing.—Vol. i. pp. 175, 176.

Fill up one quarter of a pint bottle with pounded gall nuts, add spirits of wine or gin to fill the bottle. Put the letter in a plate, and cover it with the mixture; after a short time the writing will become visible.

No. XVII.—Vol. i. p. 114.

Because a woman is a she-wālā (wālā, a fellow).

No. XVIII.—Treatment of cholera.—Vol. i. p. 203.

Our medical adviser said, he considered the best treatment was, "to give forty measured drops of laudanum in a glassful of brandy and