oil of cole seed which was spread upon a cloth worn as a 

 masque at night. A favorite face- wash was made by mac- 

 erating two young pigeons with bread, almonds, and peach 

 kernels in goat's milk and then adding borax, camphor, can- 

 died sugar, and powdered alum, the liquid being exposed 

 three days to the sun, kept fifteen days in a cellar and 

 filtered. The wild cucumber was held in esteem as a pre- 

 ventive of wrinkles, and bull's gall for removing freckles. 

 The cosmetics formed a lucrative branch of the business of 

 the pharmacy, hardly less so was the sale of love philtres ; 

 of these the most important constituents were the East 

 Indian resin called dragon's blood, mandragora, cantharides, 

 vervain and other aphrodisiacal herbs; but the most highly 

 esteemed contained the gall of a man, the eyes of a black 

 cat, or the blood of a bat. 



"Strait to the 'pothecary's shop I went 



And in love-powder all my money spent; 



Behap what will, next Sunday after prayers, 



When to the ale-house Lubberkin repairs, 



These golden flies into his mug I'll throw 



And soon the swain with fervent love shall glow." 



Philtres were made not only for exciting amorous pas- 

 sions, but also for quenching them: 



"If so a toad be laid 



In a sheepskin newly flaid, 



And that ty'd to man, f t will sever 



Him and his affections ever." 



Allied to the philtres were the charms superstitiously 

 worn or carried on the person to ward off the evil eye, pes- 

 tilence and malignant diseases; moles' feet fastened to one's 

 garters and worn continually were a recognized charm to 

 ward off gout ; the leaves of shepherd's purse worn in shoes 

 next the skin was a specific against toothache. Horcicky's 

 shop kept all these innocent charms in stock, but the master 



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