276 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



rusma in a preparation, and that they were always 

 looking for it in the mineral, an ore extracted from 

 the earth and slightly burnt, of which Bellonius 

 has made mention, without attending that a few 

 lines below he subjoins, that it needs to be mixed 

 with lime, in order to produce the effect expected. 



This mixture is the real rusma of the Turks; 

 and, as I have just said, the Arabs give it the name 

 of nouret, a word which, according to the Turkish 

 dictionary, is of Persic extraction. It is certain 

 that the rusma and the nouret are the same sub- 

 stance, or rather the same composition ; and if you 

 consult the same Turkish dictionary, under the 

 words nure and nuret *, you will see that they 

 give this name to a depilatory, composed of chalk 

 and arsenic. 



It is, in truth, with arsenic or orpiment -f, 

 mixed with quick-lime J, that they prepare in the 

 baths of Egypt, the drug which makes the hair fall 

 off. The proportion is seven parts lime to three 

 of orpiment. When they mean to apply it, they 

 find it necessary to retire to a very warm place, 



* Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalium, &c. Aut. MeninskL 

 Vienna, 1680. 



f In Arabic, zernicL 

 X Tn Arabic, guir. 



such 



