Take good unsifted Havannah snuff, and grind it down to a fine powder. If the tobacco be too strong, mix it with the fine powder of Spanish nut-shells, which is by far the best mixture which can be used. Over this sprinkle some weak treacle water, and when, after mixing with the hands, it has lain in a heap for some days, to sweat and incorporate, pack it up; but take care that it be not too moist.
This snuff, in the course of twelve months, will be of one uniform and agreeable flavour; and will keep good and mending, for many years. When old, this sort will hardly be inferior to any of the plain snuffs made in Spain.
333. LONDON IMITATION OF SPANISH AND OTHER FOREIGN SNUFFS.
The fine powder, which is the best part of the snuff as it comes from abroad, is sifted from the bale snuff; and the course and stalky part left, is ground down, previously mixed with strong cheap tobacco powder, or dust, along with savine, brick-dust, yellow sand, the sweepings of tobacco, old rotten wood, and with many other filthy vegetable substances, both dry and green, to pass as the real flavour of tobacco. All or most of these ingredients being mixed into one body. This is nothing more than colouring the filthy compound with red ochre, or umber, or other noxious red or brown colour, mixed with water and molasses!
The whole, when properly incorporated, is now passed through a hair sieve, to mix it more intimately; and is then left for some time to sweat, or become equally moist. This moistness is intended to imitate the oiliness which is peculiar to the real genuine rancia from Havannah.
This snuff is packed in barrels, tin canisters, and stone jars, so that it may come out in lumps, like the Spanish snuffs. This is done to deceive the purchaser, on whom this bad compound is imposed for real Spanish snuff. Such is the composition of a very great part of what is made and sold in this town for common Spanish snuff.
334. TRANSPARENT SOAP.
Suet is the basis of all the soaps of the toilette, known by the name of Windsor soap, because olive-oil forms a paste too difficult to melt again, and contains an odour too strong to be mixed with essences. The suet soap dissolved hot in alcohol retakes its solid state by cooling. To this fact is due the discovery of transparent soap, which, if well prepared, has the appearance of candied sugar; it may also be coloured, and the vegetable hues for this purpose, are preferable to mineral; any person may make this soap, by putting in a thin glass phial, the half of a cake of Windsor soap-shavings; fill it with one half of alcohol, and put it near the fire until the soap is dissolved; this mixture, placed into a mould to cool, produces the transparent soap.
335. WINDSOR SOAP.
Melt hard curd soap, and scent it with oil of karni, and essence of bergamot, bought at the druggists; or the essence of bergamot may be omitted.