Subject:Chamber Lye
Other forms: CHAMBER-LYE
Entries
Entry 8837
Well, dey say yo' kin take dat, yo' han'writin'. Dey say dey kin take yore han'writin' an' dey kin put - yo' see, yo' take yore han'writin' an' yo' roll dat up, an' yo' put dat in a bottle wit sulphuh, red peppah an' gunpowdah. An' yo' put chamber lye in dis bottle an' yo' set it up dis way [demonstrates]. Stop it up airtight an' den yo' put fire aroun' dere. It will shoot up in dere - de stoppah will shoot up in dere an' de bottle will bu'st. Dey say dat will take effect on yore nerves - dat will effect yore nerves an' stuff lak dat - yore hands. Kinda throw yo' in palsy-lak, whut dey tell me.
Entry 10625
You get 'em - two together, you know.
(Oh! It's a root that grows together.)
Two of 'em together; one's Adam, the other Eve. Now those, the things they are used for, will keep a man and woman together - they will keep them together. (Well now, how would they use that?) They go to work and get that Adam-an'-Eve root, get it green [fresh], and you name one Adam and the other one Eve, after you wash it off good. And you put it in a bottle, ay old bottle, and don't break 'em loose. One Adam and the other one is Eve. Dren they put perfume in there.
(Any special kind of perfume?)
No, any kind. Put the perfume in there. They name [one] for the woman and Che other the man, when they are speaking about 'em. They may use chamber lye ad perfume in it. Stop it up. Long as you keep that, you will hold the man if you want to.
Entry 12886
To keep the laws away, stick that lye and keep scrubbing lye - chan- ber-lye [urine] - use that and scrub well with it, all around the door place, the doors and on the porch where they go backwards and forwards at. And then you - you get some oil of bergamine [bergamot].
(Oil of what?)
Oil of bergamine.
(Berg...)
Bergumine - oil of bergumine.
(What's that?)
[Here may be the first time I ever heard this troublesome word bergamine. Other hearings of the word followed. The long process by which I came up with bergamot I no longer remember. Many words gave me trouble.] That's a oil jest like oil of cinnamon. It's got a scent, only de scent is different. See. And you put that in your bath water and bathe with it.
(What do you do that for?)
What do you do that for? Well, anytime you come in contact with the law, you kin almost - always square 'em up.
(I see.)