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 water every time the bowels are moved, which is preferable to giving a greater quantity, as that would produce drowsiness. You give opium to abate pain and stop the sickness, not to dull the senses, which are too dull already. After the first few evacuations, all that follow are like pipeclay and water,—one of the signs of cholera.”
Spirits of hartshorn in water we found very beneficial to the natives. Colonel Gardner said, “Half a wine glass of the juice of onions, rubbed up with ginger, red and black pepper, and garlic, I have seen administered in desperate cases of cholera with great success.”