It is applied locally for various skin diseases, including syphilitic ulcers, and as a depilatory.
"The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines"
T. H. Pardo de Tavera
Tents were scattered here and there, in which, during the daytime, depilatory pastes, perfumes, garments, moon-shaped cakes, and images of the goddess with representations of the temple hollowed out in blocks of alabaster, were on sale.
"Salammbo"
Gustave Flaubert
She immediately took some arsenic that she had for making a depilatory, and she put it in a glass of water and drank it.
"The White Knight: Tirant lo Blanc"
Joanot Martorell and Marti Johan d'Galba