Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Lotus Eaters/081

Annotations

Aq. Dist. Fol. Laur. Te Virid.     (Latin abbreviations) Aqua Distillata. Folia Lauri. Thea Viridis. (Distilled Water. Laurel Leaves. Green Tea.) Bloom is reading some of the labels on the apothecary's jars of ingredients. Several of these and similar jars are still on display in Sweny's Chemist.

Distilled water is used by pharmacists as a diluent.

Leaves of the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) have several medicinal uses.

Thea viridis L. is one of the older scientific names for the Chinese tea herb from which green tea is made. Camellia sinensis is the currently preferred name. It too has medicinal uses.

Is Joyce's Te an error for The.?

Peau d'Espagne     (French) Spanish skin. Peau d'Espagne is a perfume made of flower and spice oils. Presumably Bloom is mentally answering Martha Clifford's inquiry concerning Molly's perfume. In Penelope, Molly will recall using a cheap and inferior form of Peau d'Espagne when she was living with her father in Gibraltar.