Baker's second powder recipe is for 'oyle of talcume' (f. 21,) and appears to have been a labour of love to make, considering at one point in the process it needed to be...

'by a rope let it doune into a well some yard & a halfe or two yardes from the water nere to the well soe it touch it not' & soe let it hang .20. or. 25. daies then if you find that it begine to cast out some oyle take it out of the well & set it in some moyst place, in some corner of your seller to defend it from the ayre: wind or other harmes & soe leaue it soe longe untill all the liccor become out of it.'

The finished result was powder that once mixed with water enabled the washing of the hands and body the result being 'it will make them very white, soft and free from freckles or spottes - good for ladies'

The Oxford English Dictionary describes civet as a ‘yellowy brown unctuous substance with a strong musky smell, obtained rom the sacs or glands in the anal pouch of several animals of the civet genus.’ Similarly it describes the wax-like substance known as ambergris as 'a secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale, found floating in tropical seas and used in perfume manufacture.

It would not be until the eighteenth century that alternative base notes would be used allowing some perfumes to become increasingly more fragrant in conjunction with improvements in basic hygiene. Today ambergris and civet continue to be used though there is a vast range of scents to choose from. In Baker's seventeenth century it was predominately the aromas of musk and spice that most effectively covered body odour. (Moeran, 3)

We can see the use of civet in Bakers recipe for perfumed gloves (f.98). Spanish and Italian glovers settling in England in the sixteenth century had established the practice to sweeten the smell of leather having undergone the tanning process. Common fragrances were either cinnamon or cloves but the more expensive gloves were infused with musk, civet, ambergris and spirit of roses.

The fact Baker is perfuming her gloves is a significant social comment. Suggesting damask rose water is used in the first line of her recipe could signify her gloves were expensive suggesting a level of wealth. Yet it is just as plausible her gloves were only made of linen. If so, we can see an earlier connection to the Lady Croon's pomatum in this manuscript. In both cases their inclusion may point to Baker as a woman with social aspirations.

Bakers instructions as to how to perfume gloves are similar to those found in 17th Century manuals such as Sir Hugh Plats 'Delights For Ladies' that were considered part of a woman's 'secret knowledge.' (Rankin & Leong 172). This manual gives instructions on how to perfume up to eight pairs of kid-skin gloves at a time proof that women knew how to redress the leather at home (Dugan, 150).

Mary Doggetts recipe for perfuming gloves in the 'spanish manner' instruct that the gloves be anointed until they ‘swim with amber (ambergris) and ‘drink up the ointment’ emphasizing the Spanish ingredients of ambergris, civit, and musk'. Again echoing Bakers recipe it is suggested the gloves are then 'Rowled up in fair paper very close so they do not lose their smell’ then ‘layed 3 nights under the first bed quilt of the bed you lie on' (Dugan,150).

Baker's links with empire rest with the transference of geographical, specialist and domestic knowledge, in the connections with foreign markets and the sourcing of ingredients resulting in and the smells of luxury infusing the early modern kitchen. (Dugan, 151). It also gives us a social link to Baker via her gloves. Was she wealthy enough to afford expensive gloves that she would have wanted to keep scented? Or, was she simply buying into the early modern expansion of empire and perfuming cheaper gloves to give an impression of status? Until we know more biographical detail about Baker it can only be supposition.

Having said that, mercury, a poison, was used by Baker in both her medicinal recipes and beautifying physic. Not just an ingredient, its use put her within the recognized masculine sphere usually reserved for male practitioners of medicine, surgery and science. However, in relation to one particular beautifying physic (f.12v.) it appears that Baker is attempting the impossible.

An anomaly arises in the title 'the taking away ‘quicksilver from mercurie’ as the Oxford English Dictionary affirms that mercury and quicksilver are in fact the same. However alchemist Robert Boyle, Baker's contemporary explains that through a system of depuration or continuous distillation and reduction common quicksilver will run from the purified form of mercury left behind which is then suitable for more sophisticated use. (Boyle 645). In Baker's case she is able to produce a 'perfect water to keep the face cleare from spots or wrinkles'

To be familiar with such details is proof of Bakers intellect, her interaction with ideas of the day, the scope of her reading material and an ability to 'transform' on both a chemical and alchemical basis. This is also a testament to her engagement with scientific experiment either by herself or in possible collaboration with others, an indication of significant female agency. (Snook, 30).