| Chloral hydrate1 | drachm. |
| Camphor1 | drachm. |
| Morphia sulphate2 | drachms. |
| Oil peppermint2 | drachms. |
Rub the solids in a mortar until they liquefy, then add the oil of peppermint. Apply on cotton.
Removal of Freckles, Moles, Etc.
The following practical treatise on this much-abused subject is copied from the B. & C. Druggist, and although originally written in the interests of druggists it is of more value to persons affected with these blemishes; hence we reproduce the essay in its entirety with the formulas stripped of their technical terms and phrases:
At this time of the year there are few questions which are more frequently addressed to the “family chemist,” and fewer still to which he ordinarily gives so unsatisfactory a reply, as, “What shall I do to cure my freckles?”
Knowing as we do how greatly the popularity—i. e., the business prosperity—of the majority of our friends depends upon the votes and interest of their lady customers, we have been at some pains to lay before them such an amount of practical information upon the above subject as will enable them to retain the good will and material gratitude of their fair interrogators on the one hand, and to put a little extra profit in their own pockets on the other.
We do not propose to convert these pages into an elaborate treatise upon the skin; but for the benefit of those who are only just commencing business it will, perhaps, be as well to make a few observations which our more experienced friends may consider of the “leather and prunella” order. In the first place it will be generally admitted that upon the subject of our present notes there is no published information of a practical and reliable character, and that medical writers and practitioners either shun the question altogether or approach it in a perfunctory manner, and leave it very much where they found it. For our present purpose the cutaneous discoloration commonly designated by the term “freckles” may be considered under two heads—the so-called “summer” or temporary variety (ephelis), and the permanent kind (lentigo). Both are commonly stated to be simply morbid alterations of the skin-pigment, and to be situated solely in the rete mucosum, but this is not absolutely true, inasmuch as ephelis, properly so called, is generally due to a darkening of the under surface of the epidermis either in small ovoid patches (“summer freckles”) or extended over a large surface (“tan” or “sunburn”), while with lentigo the brownish discolorations are at a greater depth, and remain in situ after the covering epidermis has been completely removed. Strong sunshine, or any powerfully actinic light, and radiant heat from any source are apt to produce the first named, and to enhance the latter form of the skin’s chromatogenous function, the manifestations of which vary greatly according to individual idiosyncrasies.
Similarly the treatment which answers best for some persons is not so efficacious in other cases, but the old, old adage that “prevention is better than cure” applies here with considerable force, and as regards the rationale of remedial applications, it may be said in general terms that the application, in the right place, of active reducing, or deoxidizing, agents is as a rule successful in removing ephelis altogether, and in greatly toning down the shade of lentigo. Commencing with the mildest form we will give a good formula for a