A. Tooth Pastes.

Tooth Soap (Savon Dentifrice).

Soap2 lb.
Talcum2 lb.
Orris root2 lb.
Sugar1 lb.
Water1 lb.
Oil of clove150 grains.
Oil of peppermint¾ oz.

The soap should be good, well-boiled tallow soap; it is mixed with the other ingredients (the sugar is to be previously dissolved in the water) by thorough and prolonged stirring, and is usually sold in shallow porcelain boxes. The talcum or French chalk is a soft mineral with a fatty feel and is a common commercial article.

This tooth soap and other similar preparations for the care of the mouth are frequently colored rose red. Of course only harmless colors can be used. The most appropriate are rose madder lake and carmine.

Tooth Paste (Pâte Dentifrice).

Prepared chalk2 lb.
Orris root2 lb.
Sugar2 lb.
Water1 lb.
Madder lake¾ to 1½ oz.
Oil of lavender150 grains.
Oil of mace150 grains.
Oil of clove150 grains.
Oil of peppermint1 oz.
Oil of rose150 grains.

The prepared chalk used in this and many other articles is pure precipitated carbonate of lime. It is made from pieces of white marble, the offal from sculptors’ workshops, which are placed in wide porcelain or glass vessels and covered with hydrochloric acid, when abundant vapors of carbonic acid are given off. When the development of carbonic acid has ceased, the liquid is allowed to stand at rest for several days with an excess of marble, whereby all the iron oxide is separated. This is necessary, otherwise the preparation would not be white, but yellowish. The liquid is filtered and treated with a solution of carbonate of soda (sal soda), in water as long as any white precipitate results. This precipitate is washed with pure water on a filter, and when slowly dried it forms a fine, brilliant white powder. Crystalline calcium chloride may also be purchased, dissolved in water, and treated with the soda solution to obtain the white precipitate. The quantity of madder lake in the above formula is given within the limits to form light or dark red tooth paste.