Cherry tooth-paste.—Boil briskly 1 oz. potassium carbonate and 1 oz. of powdered cochineal in a pint of water until reduced to 12 or 13 ozs. When cold, add 1 oz. cream of tartar, ½ oz. alum, 2 ozs. glycerin, and water sufficient to make 16 ozs. of filtered solution. Then add 4 ozs. of honey and set aside a few days to see if fermentation occurs. Carefully mix the liquid with 2 lbs. prepared chalk, 1¾ ozs. orris powder and ¾ ozs. cassia powder.
Non-fermenting cherry tooth-paste.—Fine powdered pumice stone 2 ozs., powdered orris root 2 ozs., powdered myrrh ½ oz., honey 4 ozs., sufficient liquid cochineal to color, oil of cloves ½ drachm, essence of lemon 1½ drachms, rose oil 8 drops. Mix well.
Odontine paste.—French chalk 30 drachms, soap 15, sugar 15, gum-arabic 2, peppermint oil 2, glycerin 8, water 8. Work into a paste.
Thymol tooth-powder.—Sugar of milk and carbonate of magnesium each 2 lbs., precipitated carbonate of calcium 1 lb., best soap-powder 7 ozs., alizarin, as coloring matter, and crystallized thymol, each 1 oz., glycerin of 28° B. 5¼ ozs., arnica tincture 7 ozs., white thyme oil 1½ ozs., peppermint oil 11¼ drachms.
Thoroughly mix—preferably in a capacious enamelled vessel—the powdered and colored ingredients, add the thymol dissolved in the mixture of the volatile oils, arnica tincture and glycerin, rub and uniformly mix the whole with the hands, so that no specks of coloring matter and perfume are perceptible, and then again pass through a fine sieve.
Tooth powder is best kept in well closed tin boxes; boxes of wood or paste-board are not suitable for the purpose, the powder, when kept in them, losing in quality.
The above explanations refer to all the following tooth powders:—
Poudre dentifrice.—Precipitated carbonate of calcium 2 lbs., carbonate of magnesium 1 lb., sugar of milk 1½ lbs., fine soap-powder 5¼ ozs., alizarin, as coloring matter, 5¼ ozs., peppermint oil 2 ozs., clove oil 5½ drachms, Ceylon cinnamon oil 2¾ drachms, rose-geranium oil 5½ drachms, vanilla tincture 1¾ ozs. Proceed as given for thymol tooth-powder.
Violet tooth-powder.—Orris-root powder 3 lbs., carbonate of magnesium 1 lb., sugar of milk 1½ lbs., best soap-powder 5¼ ozs., Portugal oil and peppermint oil each 1 oz., ratany tincture 3½ ozs. Proceed as given for thymol tooth-powder.