An 18th century lip balm

Take two ounces of virgin's wax (pure beeswax), two ounces of hog's lard, half an ounce of spermaceti (sperm-whale wax), one ounce of oil of sweet-almonds, two drams of balsam of Peru, two drams of alkanet root cut small, six new raisins shred small, a little fine sugar, simmer them all together a little while; then strain it off into little pots. It is the finest lip salve in the world.

Via Lucy at The Lay Scientist, we have Hannah Glasse's recipe for lip balm. Hannah was the Julia Child of her day and wrote the wildly influential Art of Cookery (for which she received little compensation).

I enjoy looking through old recipes, including recipes for old folk remedies. The ingredients are often astonishing, such as the full two ounces of hog's lard in Hannah's recipe (gross!). This particular recipe intrigues me. It must have had an interesting scent. It was probably a pretty good lip balm too (assuming one didn't have an allergic reaction to the Myroxylon balsamum (balsam of Peru). Certainly with all that wax and lard one's lips must have been hermetically sealed against the elements. Indeed, one imagines it would have also made a damn fine window caulk.

Just one question... Wouldn't "new raisins" just be grapes?