is sufficient in ordinary cases; carbonate of potash or soda is too
alkaline for the skin. Every application removes a portion of the
cuticle, as you may observe by the smoothness of the skin of your
hands after washing them with it. Borax is recommended; but this
is also soda combined with a weak acid, boracic acid, and may by
protracted use also injuriously act on the scalp. Soap is also soda or
potash combined with the weak, fatty acids; and when the soap contains
an excess of the alkalies or is sharp, it is as injurious as the
carbonate of potash. All that injures the scalp injures the growth of
the hair. One of the best applications from the vegetable kingdom is
the mucilaginous decoction of the root of the burdock, called bardane
in French (botanical name, _Lappa Minor_). In the mineral kingdom the
best remedy is a solution of flowers of sulphur in water, which may be
made by the addition of a very small portion of sulphide of potassium,
say ten or twenty grains to the pint. This solution is shaken up with
the sulphur, and the clear liquid remaining on the top is used. This
recipe is founded on the fact that sulphur is a poison for inferior
vegetable or animal growth, like dandruff, itch, etc., and is not at
all a poison for the superior animal like man.
HOW TO CURE DIPHTHERIA.--A French physician expresses his preference
for lemon juice, as a local application in diphtheria, to chlorate of
potash, nitrate of silver, perchloride of lime water. He uses it by
dipping a little plug of cottonwood, twisted around a wire, in the
juice, and pressing it against the diseased surface four or five times
daily.
HOW TO CURE BAD BREATH.--Bad or foul breath will be removed by taking
a teaspoonful of the following mixture after each meal: One ounce
liquor of potassa, one ounce chloride of soda, one and one-half ounces
phosphate of soda, and three ounces of water.
2. Chlorate of potash, three drachms; rose-water, four ounces. Dose, a
tablespoonful four or five times daily.
HOW TO CURE BUNIONS.--A bunion is a swelling on the ball of the great
toe, and is the result of pressure and irritation by friction. The
treatment for corns applies also to bunions; but in consequence of
the greater extension of the disease, the cure is more tedious. When
a bunion is forming it may be stopped by poulticing and carefully
opening it with a lancet.
HOW TO CURE BURNS AND SCALDS.--Take half a pound of powdered alum,
dissolve it in a quart of water; bathe the burn or scald with a linen
rag, wetted with this mixture, then bind the wet rag on it with
a strip of linen, and moisten the bandage with the alum water
frequently, without removing it during two or three days.
TEA LEAVES FOR BURNS.--Dr. Searles, of Warsaw, Wis., reports
the immediate relief from pain in severe burns and scalds by the
application of a poultice of tea leaves.
HOW TO CURE CANCER.--Boil down the inner bark of red and white oak to
the consistency of molasses; apply as a plaster, shifting it once a
week; or, burn red-oak bark to ashes; sprinkle it on the sore till it
is eaten out; then apply a plaster of tar; or, take garget berries and
leaves of stramonium; simmer them together in equal parts of neatsfoot
oil and the tops of hemlock; mix well together, and apply it to the
parts affected; at the same time make a tea of winter-green (root and
branch); put a handful into two quarts of water; add two ounces of
sulphur and drink of this tea freely during the day.
CASTOR OIL MIXTURE.--Castor oil, one dessert spoonful; magnesia, one
dessert spoonful. Rub together into a paste. By this combination, the
taste of the oil is almost entirely concealed, and children take it
without opposition. HOW TO DISGUISE CASTOR OIL.--Rub up two drops oil
of cinnamon with an ounce of glycerine and add an ounce of castor oil.
Children will take it as a luxury and ask for more.
CASTOR OIL EMULSIONS.--Take castor oil and syrup, each one ounce; the
yolk of an egg, and orange flower water, one-half ounce. Mix. This
makes a very pleasant emulsion, which is readily taken by adults as
well as children. HOW TO CURE CATARRH.--Take the bark of sassafras
root, dry and pound it, use it as a snuff, taking two or three pinches
a day.
HOW TO CURE CHILBLAINS.--Wash the parts in strong alum water, apply as
hot as can be borne.
HOW TO CURE COLD.--Take three cents' worth of liquorice, three of rock
candy, three of gum arabic, and put them into a quart of water; simmer
them till thoroughly dissolved, then add three cents' worth paregoric,
and a like quantity of antimonial wine.
HOW TO CURE CORNS.--Boil tobacco down to an extract, then mix with
it a quantity of white pine pitch, and apply it to the corn; renew it
once a week until the corn disappears.
GOOD COUGH MIXTURE.--Two ounces ammonia mixture; five ounces camphor
mixture; one drachm tincture of digitalis (foxglove); one-half ounce
each of sweet spirits of nitre and syrup of poppies; two drachms
solution of sulphate of morphia. A tablespoonful of this mixture is to
be taken four times a day.
2. Tincture of blood-root, one ounce; sulphate of morphia, one and a
half grains; tincture of digitalis, one-half ounce; wine of antimony,
one-half ounce; oil of wintergreen, ten drops. Mix. Dose from twenty
to forty drops twice or three times a day. Excellent for a hard, dry
cough.
3. Common sweet cider, boiled down to one-half, makes a most,
excellent syrup for colds or coughs for children, is pleasant to the
taste, and will keep for a year in a cool cellar. In recovering from
an illness, the system has a craving for some pleasant drink. This
is found in cider which is placed on the fire as soon as made, and
allowed to come to a boil, then cooled, put in casks, and kept in a
cool cellar.
4. Roast a large lemon very carefully without burning; when it is
thoroughly hot, cut and squeeze into a cup upon three ounces of sugar
candy. Finely powdered: take a spoonful whenever your cough troubles
you. It is as good as it is pleasant.
CURE FOR DEAFNESS.--Take ant's eggs and union juice. Mix and drop them
into the ear. Drop into the ear, at night, six or eight drops of hot
sweet oil.
REMEDIES FOR DIARRHOEA.--1. Take one teaspoonful of salt, the same
of good vinegar, and a tablespoonful of water; mix and drink. It acts
like a charm on the system, and even one dose will generally cure
obstinate cases of diarrhoea, or the first stages of cholera. If the
first does not bring complete relief, repeat the dose, as it is quite
harmless. 2. The best rhubarb root, pulverized, 1 ounce; peppermint
leaf, 1 ounce, capsicum, 1/8 ounce; cover with boiling water and
steep thoroughly, strain, and add bicarbonate of potash and essence
of cinnamon, of each 1/2 ounce; with brandy (or good whisky); equal in
amount to the whole, and loaf sugar, four ounces. Dose--for an adult,
1 or 2 tablespoons; for a child, 1 to 2 teaspoons, from 3 to 6
times per day, until relief is obtained. 3. To half a bushel of
blackberries; well mashed, add a quarter of a pound of allspice, 2
ounces of cinnamon, 2 ounces of cloves; pulverize well, mix and boil
slowly until properly done; then strain or squeeze the juice through
home-spun or flannel, and add to each pint of the juice 1 pound of
loaf sugar, boil again for some time, take it off, and while cooling,
add half a gallon of the best Cognac brandy.
CURE FOR CHRONIC DIARRHOEA. Rayer recommends the association of
cinchona, charcoal and bismuth in the treatment of chronic diarrhoea,
in the following proportions: Subnitrate of bismuth, one drachm;
cinchona, yellow, powdered, one-half drachm; charcoal, vegetable, one
drachm. Make twenty powders and take two or three a day during the
intervals between meals.
CURES FOR DYSENTERY.--Tincture rhubarb, tincture of capsicum, tincture
of camphor, essence of ginger and laudanum, equal parts. Mix; shake
well and take from ten to twenty drops every thirty minutes, until
relief is obtained. This is a dose for an adult. Half the amount for
a child under twelve years of age. 2. Take some butter off the churn,
immediately after being churned, just as it is, without being salted
or washed: clarify it over the fire like honey. Skim off all the milky
particles when melted over a clear fire. Let the patient (if an adult)
take two tablespoonfuls of the clarified remainder, twice or thrice
within the day. This has never failed to effect a cure, and in many
cases it has been almost instantaneous. 3. In diseases of this kind
the Indians use the roots and leaves of the blackberry bush--- a
decoction of which, in hot water, well boiled down, is taken in doses
of a gill before each meal, and before retiring to bed. It is
an almost infallible cure. 4. Beat one egg in a teacup; add one
tablespoonful of loaf sugar and half a teaspoonful of ground spice;
fill the cup with sweet milk. Give the patient one tablespoonful once
in ten minutes until relieved. 5. Take one tablespoonful of common
salt, and mix it, with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and pour upon it
a half pint of water, either hot or cold (only let it be taken cool.)
A wine glass full of this mixture in the above proportions, taken
every half hour, will he found quite efficacious in curing dysentery.
If the stomach be nauseated, a wine-glass full taken every hour will
suffice. For a child, the quantity should be a teaspoonful of salt and
one of vinegar in a teacupful of water.
DROPSY.--Take the leaves of a currant bush and make into tea, drink
it.
CURE FOR DRUNKENNESS.--- The following singular means of curing
habitual drunkenness is employed by a Russian physician. Dr.
Schreiber, of Brzese Litewski: It consists in confining the drunkard
in a room, and in furnishing him at discretion with his favorite
spirit diluted with two-thirds of water; as much wine, beer and coffee
as he desires, but containing one-third of spirit: all the food--the
bread, meat, and the legumes are steeped in spirit and water. The poor
devil is continually drunk and dort. On the fifth day of this regime
he has an extreme disgust for spirit; he earnestly requests other
diet: but his desire must not be yielded to until the poor wretch
no longer desires to eat or drink: he is then certainly cured of his
penchant for drunkenness. He acquires such a disgust for brandy or
other spirits that he is ready to vomit at the very sight of it.
CURE FOR DYSPEPSIA.--1. Take bark of white poplar root, boil it thick,
and add a little spirit, and then lay it on the stomach.
2. Take wintergreen and black cherry-tree bark and yellow dock: put
into two quarts of water; boil down to three pints; take two or three
glasses a day.
Here are two remedies for dyspepsia, said by those who "have tried
them" to be infallible. 1. Eat onions. 2. Take two parts of well-dried
and pounded pods of red pepper, mixed with one part of ground mustard,
and sift it over everything you eat or drink.
HOW TO CURE EARACHE.--Take a small piece of cotton batting or cotton
wool, make a depression in the center with the finger, and then fill
it up with as much ground pepper as will rest on a five-cent piece;
gather it into a ball and tie it up; dip the ball into sweet oil and
insert it in the ear, covering the latter with cotton wool, and use a
bandage or cap to retain it in its place. Almost instant relief will
be experienced; and the application is so gentle that an infant, will
not get injured by it, but experience relief as well as adults. Roast
a piece of lean mutton, squeeze out the juice and drop it info the ear
as hot as it can be borne. Roast an onion and put into the ear as hot
as it can be borne.
HOW TO CURE ERYSIPELAS.--Dissolve five ounces of salt in one pint of
good brandy and take two tablespoonfuls three times per day.
CURE FOR INFLAMED EYES.--Pour boiling water on alder flowers, and steep
them like tea; when cold, put three or four drops of laudanum into a
small glass of the alder-tea, and let the mixture run into the eyes two
or three times a day, and the eyes will become perfectly strong in the
course of a week.
CURE FOR WEEPING EYES.--Wash the eyes in chamomile tea night and
morning.
EYES, GRANULAR INFLAMMATION.--A prominent oculist says that the
contagious Egyptian or granular inflammation of the eyes is spreading
throughout the country, and that he has been able in many, and indeed
in a majority of cases, to trace the disease to what are commonly
called rolling towels. Towels of this kind are generally found in
country hotels and the dwellings of the working classes, and, being
thus used by nearly every one, are made the carriers of one of the
most troublesome diseases of the eye. This being the case, it
is urgently recommended that the use of these rolling towels be
discarded, and thus one of the special vehicles for the spread of
a most dangerous disorder of the eyes--one by which thousands of
workingmen are annually deprived of their means of support--will no
longer exist.
CURE FOR STY IN EYE.--Bathe frequently with warm water. When the sty
bursts, use an ointment composed of one part of citron ointment and
four of spermaceti, well rubbed together, and smear along the edge of
the eye-lid.
CURE FOR FELONS.--1. Stir one-half teaspoonful of water into an ounce
of Venice turpentine until the mixture appears like granulated honey.
Wrap a good coating of it around the finger with a cloth. If the felon
is only recent, the pain will be removed in six hours.
2. As soon as the part begins to swell, wrap it with a cloth saturated
thoroughly with the tincture of lobelia. An old physician says, that
he has known this to cure scores of cases, and that it never fails if
applied in season.
CURE FOR FEVER AND AGUE.--Take of cloves and cream of tartar each
one-half ounce, and one ounce of Peruvian bark. Mix in a small
quantity of tea, and take it on well days, in such quantities as the
stomach will bear.
CURE FOR FEVER SORES.--Take of hoarhound, balm, sarsaparilla, loaf
sugar, aloes, gum camphor, honey, spikenard, spirits of turpentine,
each two ounces. Dose, one tablespoonful, three mornings, missing
three; and for a wash, make a strong tea of sumach, washing the
affected parts frequently, and keeping the bandage well wet.
CURE FOR FITS.--Take of tincture of fox-glove, ten drops at each time
twice a day, and increase one drop at each time as long as the stomach
will bear it, or it causes a nauseous feeling.
GLYCERINE CREAM.--Receipt for chapped lips: Take of spermaceti, four
drachms; white wax, one drachm; oil of almonds, two troy ounces;
glycerine, one troy ounce. Melt the spermaceti, wax and oil together,
and when cooling stir in glycerine and perfume.
GLYCERINE LOTION.--For softening the skin of the face and hands,
especially during the commencement of cold weather, and also for
allaying the irritation caused by the razor: Triturate, four and a
half grains of cochineal with one and a half fluid ounces of boiling
water, adding gradually; then add two and a half fluid ounces of
alcohol. Also make an emulsion of eight drops of ottar of roses with
thirty grains of gum arabic and eight fluid ounces of water; then
add three fluid ounces of glycerine, and ten fluid drachms of quince
mucilage. Mix the two liquids.
FLESHWORMS.--These specks, when they exist in any number, are a cause
of much unsightliness. They are minute corks, if we may use the term,
of coagulated lymp, which close the orifices of some of the pores or
exhalent vessels of the skin. On the skin immediately adjacent to them
being pressed with the finger nails, these bits of coagulated lymph
will come from it in a vermicular form. They are vulgarly called
"flesh worms," many persons fancying them to be living creatures.
These may be got rid of and prevented from returning, by washing with
tepid water, by proper friction with a towel, and by the application
of a little cold cream. The longer these little piles are permitted
to remain in the skin the more firmly they become fixed; and after a
time, when they lose their moisture they are converted into long bony
spines as dense as bristles, and having much of that character.
They are known by the name of spotted achne. With regard to local
treatment, the following lotions are calculated to be serviceable: 1.
Distilled rose water, 1 pint; sulphate of zinc, 20 to 60 grains.
Mix. 2. Sulphate of copper, 20 grains; rosewater, 4 ounces; water, 12
ounces. Mix. 3. Oil of sweet almonds, 1 ounce; fluid potash, 1 drachm.
Shake well together and then add rose-water, 1 ounce; pure water, 6
ounces. Mix. The mode of using these remedies is to rub the pimples
for some minutes with a rough towel, and then dab them with the
lotion. 4. Wash the face twice a day with warm water, and rub dry with
a coarse towel. Then with a soft towel rub in a lotion made of two
ounces of white brandy, one ounce of cologne, and one-half ounce of
liquor potassa.
HOW TO REMOVE FRECKLES.--Freckles; so persistently regular in their
annual return, have annoyed the fair sex from time immemorial, and
various means have been devised to eradicate them, although thus far
with no decidedly satisfactory results. The innumerable remedies in
use for the removal of these vexatious intruders, are either simple
and harmless washes, such as parsley or horseradish water, solutions
of borax, etc., or injurious nostrums, consisting principally of lead
and mercury salts.
If the exact cause of freckles were known, a remedy for them might
be found. A chemist in Moravia, observing the bleaching effect
of mercurial preparations, inferred that the growth of a local
parasitical fungus was the cause of the discoloration of the skin,
which extended and ripened its spores in the warmer season. Knowing
that sulpho-carbolate of zinc is a deadly enemy to all parasitic
vegetation (itself not being otherwise injurious), he applied this
salt for the purpose of removing the freckles. The compound consists
of two parts of sulpho-carbolate of zinc, twenty-five parts of
distilled glycerine, twenty-five parts of rose-water, and five parts
of scented alcohol, and is to be applied twice daily for from half an
hour to an hour, then washed off with cold water. Protection against
the sun by veiling and other means is recommended, and in addition,
for persons of pale complexion, some mild preparation of iron.
GRAVEL.--1. Make a strong tea of the low herb called heart's ease,
and drink freely. 2. Make of Jacob's ladder a strong tea, and drink
freely. 3. Make of bean leaves a strong tea, and drink freely.
WASH FOR THE HAIR.--Castile soap, finely shaved, one teaspoonful;
spirits of hartshorn, one drachm; alcohol, five ounces; cologne water
and bay rum, in equal quantities enough to make eight ounces. This
should be poured on the head, followed by warm water (soft water); the
result will be, on washing, a copious lather and a smarting sensation
to the person operated on. Rub this well into the hair. Finally, rinse
with warm water, and afterwards with cold water. If the head is very
much clogged with dirt, the hair will come out plentifully, but the
scalp will become white and perfectly clean.
HAIR RESTORATIVE.--Take of castor oil, six fluid ounces; alcohol,
twenty-six fluid ounces. Dissolve. Then add tincture of cantharides
(made with strong alcohol), one fluid ounce; essence of jessamine (or
other perfume), one and a half fluid ounces.
CURE FOR HEARTBURN.--Sal volatile combined with camphor is a splendid
remedy.
SICK HEADACHE.--Take a teaspoonful of powdered charcoal in molasses
every morning, and wash it down with a little tea, or drink half a
glass of raw rum or gin, and drink freely of mayweed tea.
HEADACHE.--Dr. Silvers, of Ohio, in the Philadelphia _Medical and
Surgical Reporter_, recommends ergot in headache, especially the
nervous or sick headache. He says it will cure a larger proportion
of cases than any other remedy. His theory of its action is that it
lessens the quantity of blood in the brain by contracting the muscular
fibres of the arterial walls. He gives ten to twenty drops of the
fluid extract, repeated every half hour till relief is obtained, or
four or five doses used. In other forms of disease, where opium
alone is contra-indicated, its bad effects are moderated, he says, by
combining it with ergot.
HEADACHE DROPS.--For the cure of nervous, sun, and sick headache,
take two quarts of alcohol, three ounces of Castile soap, one ounce
camphor, and two ounces ammonia. Bathe forehead and temples.
HIVE SYRUP.--Put one ounce each of squills and seneca snake-root into
one pint of water; boil down to one-half and strain. Then add
one-half pound of clarified honey containing twelve grains tartrate of
antimony. Dose for a child, ten drops to one teaspoonful, according to
age. An excellent remedy for croup.
HOW TO CLEAN THE HAIR.--From the too frequent use of oils in the hair,
many ladies destroy the tone and color of their tresses. The Hindoos
have a way of remedying this. They take a hand basin filled with cold
water, and have ready a small quantity of pea flour. The hair is in
the first place submitted to the operation of being washed in cold
water, a handful of the pea flour is then applied to the head and
rubbed into the hair for ten minutes at least, the servant adding
fresh water at short intervals, until it becomes a perfect lather.
The whole head is then washed quite clean with copious supplies of the
aqueous fluid, combed, and afterwards rubbed dry by means of coarse
towels. The hard and soft brush is then resorted to, when the hair
will be found to be wholly free from all encumbering oils and other
impurities, and assume a glossy softness, equal to the most delicate
silk. This process tends to preserve the tone and natural color of
the hair, which is so frequently destroyed by the too constant use of
caustic cosmetics.
HOW TO SOFTEN HANDS.--After cleansing the hands with soap, rub them
well with oatmeal while wet.
HOW TO REMOVE STAINS FROM HANDS.--Damp the hands first in water, then
rub them with tartaric acid, or salt of lemons, as you would with
soap; rinse them and rub them dry. Tartaric acid, or salt of lemons,
will quickly remove stains from white muslin or linen. Put less than
half a teaspoonful of salt or acid into a tablespoonful of water; wet
the stain with it, and lay it in the sun for an hour; wet it once or
twice with cold water during the time; if this does not quite remove
it, repeat the acid water, and lay it in the sun.
HOW TO WHITEN HANDS.--1. Stir 1/4 of a pound of Castile soap, and
place it in a jar near the fire, pour over it 1/2 pint of alcohol;
when the soap is dissolved and mixed with the spirit, add 1 ounce of
glycerine, the same of oil of almonds, with a few drops of essence of
violets, or ottar of roses, then pour it into moulds to cool for use.
2. A wineglassful of eau-de-cologne, and one of lemon-juice, two cakes
of broken Windsor soap, mixed well together, when hard, will form an
excellent substance.
HOW TO CURE SCURF IN THE HEAD.--A simple and effectual remedy. Into a
pint of water drop a lump of fresh quick lime, the size of a walnut;
let it stand all night, then pour the water off clear from the
sediment or deposit, add 1/4 of a pint of the best vinegar, and wash
the head with the mixture. Perfectly harmless; only wet the roots of
the hair.
HOW TO CURE CHAPPED LIPS.--Take 2 ounces of white wax, 1 ounce of
spermaceti, 4 ounces of oil of almonds, 2 ounces of honey, 1/4 of an
ounce of essence of bergamot, or any other scent. Melt the wax and
spermaceti; then add the honey, and melt all together, and when hot add
the almond oil by degrees, stirring till cold. 2. Take oil of almonds 3
ounces; spermaceti 1/2 ounce; virgin rice, 1/2 ounce. Melt these
together over a slow fire, mixing with them a little powder of alkane
root to color it. Keep stirring till cold, and then add a few drops of
the oil of rhodium. 3. Take oil of almonds, spermaceti, white wax, and
white sugar candy, equal parts. These form a good, white lip salve.
HOW TO REMOVE MOTH PATCHES.--Wash the patches with solution of common
bicarbonate of soda and water several times during the day for two
days, or until the patches are removed, which will usually be in
forty-eight hours. After the process wash with some nice toilet soap,
and the skin will be left nice, smooth and clear of patches. HOW TO
TAKE CARE OF THE NAILS.--The nails should be kept clean by the daily
use of the nail brush and soap and water. After wiping the hands, but
while they are still soft from the action of the water, gently push
back the skin which is apt to grow over the nails, which will not only
preserve them neatly rounded, but will prevent the skin from cracking
around their roots (nail springs), and becoming sore. The points of
the nail should be pared at least once a week; biting them should be
avoided.
HOW TO CURE HICCOUGH.--A convulsive motion of the diaphragm and parts
adjacent. The common causes are flatuency, indigestion, acidity
and worms. It may usually be removed by the exhibition of warm
carminatives, cordials, cold wafer, weak spirits, camphor julep,
or spirits of sal volatile. A sudden fright or surprise will often
produce the like effect. An instance is recorded of a delicate young
lady that was troubled with hiccough for some months, and who
was reduced to a state of extreme debility from the loss of sleep
occasioned thereby, who was cured by a fright, after medicines and
topical applications had failed. A pinch of snuff, a glass of
cold soda-water, or an ice-cream, will also frequently remove this
complaint.
HOW TO CURE HOARSENESS.--Make a strong tea of horse-radish and yellow
dock root, sweetened with honey and drink freely.
REMEDIES FOR HOARSENESS.--Take one drachm of freshly scraped
horse-radish root, to be infused with four ounces of water in a
close vessel for three hours, and made into a syrup, with double its
quantity of vinegar. A teaspoonful has often proved effectual.
HOW TO CURE HUMORS.--Take equal parts of saffron and seneca snake
root, make a strong tea, drink one half-pint a day, and this will
drive out all humors from the system.
HOW TO CURE HYSTERICS.--Take the leaves of motherwort and
thoroughwort, and the bark of poplar root; equal parts. Mix them in
molasses, and take four of them when the first symptoms of disorder
are felt, and they will effectually check it.
HOW TO CURE BARBER'S ITCH.--Moisten the parts affected with saliva
(spittle) and rub it over thoroughly three times a day with the ashes of
a good Havana cigar. This is a simple remedy, yet it has cured the most
obstinate cases.
ITCH OINTMENT.--1. Take lard, one pound; suet, one pound; sugar of
lead, eight ounces; vermillion, two ounces. Mix. Scent with a little
bergamot. 2. Take bichloride of mercury, one ounce; lard, one pound;
suet, one pound; hydrochloride acid, one and a half ounces. Melt and
well mix, and when perfectly cold, stir in essence of lemon, four
drachms; essence of bergamot, one drachm. 3. Take powdered chloride of
lime, one ounce; lard, one pound. Mix well, then add essence of lemon,
two drachms. 4. Take bichloride of mercury, one part; lard, fifteen
parts. Mix well together. 5. Take white precipitate, one part; lard,
twelve parts. Mix. A portion of either of these ointments must be well
rubbed on the parts affected, night and morning.
HOW TO CURE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH.--1. Use plenty of castile soap and water,
and then apply freely iodide of sulphur ointment; or take any given
quantity of simple sulphur ointment and color it to a light brown or
chocolate color with the subcarbonate of iron, and then perfume it.
Apply this freely, and if the case should be a severe one, administer
mild alteratives in conjunction with the outward application. 2.
The sulphur bath is a good remedy for itch or any other kind of skin
diseases. Leprosy (the most obstinate of all) has been completely
cured by it, and the common itch only requires two or three
applications to completely eradicate it from the system. 3. Benzine,
it is said, will effect a complete cure for scabies in the course of
half to three-quarters of an hour, after which the patient should take
a warm bath from twenty to thirty minutes.
HOW TO CURE JAUNDICE.--1. Take the whites of two hen's eggs, beat them
up well in a gill of water; take of this a little every morning; it
will soon do good. It also creates an appetite, and strengthens the
stomach. 2. Take of black cherry-tree bark, two ounces; blood root and
gold thread, each half an ounce; put in a pint of brandy. Dose, from a
teaspoonful to a tablespoonful morning and night.
HOW TO CURE STIFFENED JOINTS.--Take of the bark of white oak and sweet
apple trees, equal parts; boil them down to a thick substance,
and then add the same quantity of goose-grease or oil, simmer all
together, and then rub it on the parts warm.
HOW TO CURE KIDNEY DISEASE.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar and
the oil of spearmint.
HOW TO CURE LAME BACK.--Take the berries of red cedar and allow them
to simmer in neatsfoot oil, and use as an ointment.
HOW TO KILL LICE.--All kinds of lice and their nits may be got rid
of by washing with a simple decoction of stavesacre (_Delphinium
staphisagria_), or with a lotion made with the bruised seed in
vinegar, or with the tincture, or by rubbing in a salve made with
the seeds and four times their weight of lard very carefully beaten
together. The acetic solution and the tincture are the cleanliest
and most agreeable preparations, but all are equally efficacious in
destroying both the creatures and their eggs, and even in relieving
the intolerable itching which their casual presence leaves behind on
many sensitive skins. The alkaloid delphinia may also be employed, but
possesses no advantage except in the preparation of an ointment, when
from any reason that form of application should be preferred.
RHEUMATIC LINIMENT.--Olive oil, spirits of camphor and chloroform, of
each two ounces; sassafras oil, 1 drachm. Add the oil of sassafras
to the olive oil, then the spirits of camphor, and shake well before
putting in the chloroform; shake when used, and keep it corked, as
the chloroform evaporates very fast if it is left open. Apply three or
four times daily, rubbing in well, and always toward the body.
SORE THROAT LINIMENT.--Gum camphor, two ounces; castile soap, shaved
fine, one drachm; oil of turpentine and oil of origanum, each one-half
ounce; opium, one-fourth of an ounce; alcohol, one pint. In a week or
ten days they will be fit for use. Bathe the parts freely two or three
times daily until relief is obtained.
A WONDERFUL LINIMENT.--Two ounces oil of spike, two ounces origanum,
two ounces hemlock, two ounces wormwood, four ounces sweet oil, two
ounces spirit of ammonia, two ounces gum camphor, two ounces spirits
turpentine. Add one quart strong alcohol. Mix well together, and
bottle tight. This is an unequaled horse liniment, and of the best
ever made for human ailments such as rheumatism, sprains, etc.
HOW TO CURE SORE LIPS.--Wash the lips with a strong tea, made from the
bark of the white oak.
LIVER COMPLAINT.--Make a strong tea of syrup of burdock, wormwood and
dandelion, equal parts, and drink freely.
LOCK JAW.--It is said that the application of warm lye, made of ashes
as strong as possible, to a wounded part, will prevent a locked jaw;
if a foot or hand, immerse in it; if another part of the body, bathe
with flannels wrung out of the warm lye.
MUMPS.--This disease, most common among children, begins with soreness
and stiffness in the side of the neck. Soon a swelling of the parotid
gland takes place, which is painful, and continues to increase for
four or five days, sometimes making it difficult to swallow, or open
the mouth. The swelling sometimes comes on one side at a time, but
commonly upon both. There is often heat, and sometimes fever, with a
dry skin, quick pulse, furred tongue, constipated bowls, and scanty
and high-colored urine. The disease is contagious. The treatment
is very simple--a mild diet, gentle laxative, occasional hot
fomentations, and wearing a piece of flannel round the throat.
HOW TO PREVENT INGROWING NAILS.--If the nail of your toe be hard, and
apt to grow round, and into the corners of your toe, take a piece of
broken glass and scrape the top very thin; do this whenever you cut
your nails, and by constant use it makes the corners fly up and grow
flat, so that it is impossible they should give you any pain.
HOW TO WHITEN NAILS.--The best wash for whitening the nails is two
drachms of diluted sulphuric acid, one drachm of tincture of myrrh,
added to four ounces of spring water; first cleanse the hands, and
then apply the wash.
SURE CURE FOR NEURALGIA.--1. Fill a tight-top thimble with cotton
wool, and drop on it a few drops of strong spirits of hartshorn. The
open mouth of the thimble is then applied over the seat of pain for
a minute or two, until the skin is blistered. The skin is then
rubbed off, and upon the denuded surface a small quantity of morphia
(one-fourth grain) is applied. This affords almost instant relief. A
second application of the morphia, if required, is to be preceded by
first rubbing off the new formation that has sprung up over the former
blistered surface.
2. Dr. J. Knox Hodge recommends the following as an application which
will relieve facial or any other neuralgia almost instantaneously:
Albumen of egg, one drachm; rhigolene, four ounces; oil of peppermint,
two ounces; colodion and chloroform, each one ounce. Mix. Agitate
occasionally for twenty-four hours, and by gelatinization a beautiful
and semi-solidified, opodeldoc-looking compound results, which will
retain its consistency and hold the ingredients intimately blended for
months. Apply by smart friction with the hand, or gently with a soft
brush or mop along the course of the nerve involved.
3. Mix one and one-half drachms iodide of potash, fifteen grains of
quinine and one ounce ginger syrup, and two and a half ounces water.
Dose, a tablespoonful every three hours.
4. OF THE STOMACH.--Take of distilled water of cherry laurel, five
parts; muriate of morphia, one-tenth part. Mix and dissolve. One drop
on a lump of sugar immediately before meals.
OINTMENT FOR SORE NIPPLES.--Glycerine, rose water and tannin, equal
weights, rubbed together into an ointment, is very highly recommended
for sore or cracked nipples.
GLYCERINE OINTMENT.--Melt together spermaceti, two drachms; white
wax, one-half drachm; oil of sweet almonds, two ounces, and then
add glycerine, one ounce, and stir briskly until cool. An admirable
application for chapped hands, etc.
OINTMENT FOR ITCH.--White precipitate, fifteen grains; saltpetre,
one-half drachm; flour of sulphur, one drachm; Mix well with lard, two
ounces. Long celebrated for the cure of itch.
SULPHUR OINTMENT.--Flour of sulphur, eight ounces; oil of bergamot,
two drachms; lard, one pound. Rub freely three times a day, for itch.
OINTMENT FOR PILES.--Tannin, two drachms; water, two fluid drachms;
triturate together, and add lard, one and a half drachms. An excellent
application for piles.
OINTMENT FOR HEMORRHOIDS.--Sulphate of morphia, three grains; extract
of stramonia, thirty grains; olive oil, one drachm; carbonate of lead,
sixty grains; lard, three drachms.
PAINS.--1. Steep marigold in good cider vinegar and frequently wash
the affected parts. This will afford speedy relief.
2. Take half a pound of tar and the same quantity of tobacco, and boil
them down separately to a thick substance; then simmer them together.
Spread a plaster and apply it to the affected parts, and it will
afford immediate relief.
PAINTERS' COLIC.--Make of tartaric acid a syrup similar to that of
lemon syrup; add a sufficient quantity of water, and drink two or
three glasses a day.
INSTANTANEOUS PAIN-KILLER.--Another and even more instant cure of pain
is made as follows: Take aqua-ammonia, sulphuric ether and alcohol,
equal parts, and apply over the pain.
HOW TO CURE PIMPLES.--Take a teaspoonful of the tincture of gum
guaiacum and one teaspoonful of vinegar; mix well and apply to the
affected parts.
POOR MAN'S PLASTER.--Melt together beeswax, one ounce; tar, three
ounces; resin, three ounces, and spread on paper or muslin.
RHEUMATIC PLASTER.--One-fourth pound of resin and one-fourth pound of
sulphur; melt by a slow fire, and add one ounce of Cayenne pepper
and one-fourth of an ounce of camphor gum; stir well till mixed, and
temper with neatsfoot oil.
STRENGTHENING PLASTER.--Litharge plasters, twenty-four parts; white
resin, six parts; yellow wax and olive oil, of each three parts, and
red oxide of iron, eight parts. Let the oxide be rubbed with the
oil, and the other ingredients added melted, and mix the whole well
together. The plaster, after being spread over the leather, should be
cut into strips two inches wide and strapped firmly around the joint.
MUSTARD PLASTERS.--It is stated that in making a mustard plaster, no
water whatever should be used, but the mustard mixed with the white of
an egg; the result will be a plaster that will "draw" perfectly, but
will not produce a blister even upon the skin of an infant, no matter
how long it is allowed to remain upon the part.
BREAD AND MILK POULTICE.--Take stale bread in crumbs, pour boiling
sweet milk, or milk and water over it, and simmer till soft, stirring
it well; then take it from the fire, and gradually stir in a little
glycerine or sweet oil, so as to render the poultice pliable when
applied.
LINSEED POULTICE.--Take of linseed, powdered, four ounces; hot
water sufficient, mix and stir well with a spoon, until of suitable
consistence. A little oil should be added, and some smeared over
the surface as well, to prevent its getting hard. A very excellent
poultice, suitable for many purposes.
SPICE POULTICE.--Powdered cinnamon, cloves and Cayenne pepper, of each
two ounces; rye meal, or flour, spirits and honey, of each sufficient
to make of suitable consistence.
QUINSY.--This is an inflammation
of the tonsils, or common inflammatory sore throat; commences with
a slight feverish attack, with considerable pain and swelling of the
tonsils, causing some difficulty in swallowing; as the attack advances
these symptoms become more intense, there is headache, thirst, a
painful sense of tension, and acute darting pains in the ears. The
attack is generally brought on by exposure to cold, and lasts from
five to seven days, when it subsides naturally, or an abscess may
form in tonsils and burst, or the tonsil may remain enlarged, the
inflammation subsiding.
TREATMENT.--The patient should remain in a warm room, the diet chiefly
milk and good broths, some cooling laxative and diaphoretic medicine
may be given; but the greatest relief will be found in the frequent
inhalation of the steam of hot water through an inhaler, or in the
old-fashioned way, through the spout of a teapot.
OTHER REMEDIES FOR RHEUMATISM.--1. Bathe the parts affected with
water in which potatoes have been boiled, as hot as can be borne,
just before going to bed; by morning it will be much relieved, if
not removed. One application of this simple remedy has cured the most
obstinate of rheumatic pains. 2. Half an ounce of pulverized salt
petre put in half a pint of sweet oil; bathe the parts affected, and
a sound cure will be speedily effected. 3. Rheumatism has frequently
been cured by a persistent use of lemon juice, either undiluted or
in the form of lemonade. Suck half a lemon every morning before
breakfast, and occasionally during the day, and partake of lemonade
when thirsty in preference to any other drink. If severely afflicted
a physician should be consulted, but, in all cases, lemon juice will
hasten the cure. 4. By the valerian bath, made simply by taking one
pound of valerian root, boiling it gently for about a quarter of an
hour in one gallon of water, straining and adding the strained liquid
to about twenty gallons of water in an ordinary bath. The temperature
should be about ninety-eight degrees, and the time of immersion from
twenty minutes to half an hour. Pains must be taken to dry the patient
perfectly upon getting out of the bath. If the inflammation remain
refractory in any of the joints, linseed meal poultices should be
made with a strong decoction of valerian root and applied.
HOW TO CURE RING-WORM.--To one part sulphuric acid, add sixteen to
twenty parts water. Use a brush and feather, and apply it to the parts
night and morning. A few dressings will generally cure. If the solution
is too strong and causes pain, dilute it with water, and if the
irritation is excessive, rub on a little oil or other softening
application, but always avoid the use of soap.
Or, wash the head with soft soap every morning, and apply the
following lotion every night: One-half drachm of sub-carbonate of soda
dissolved in one gill of vinegar.
HEALING SALVE.--Sweet oil, three quarts; resin, three ounces; beeswax,
three ounces. Melt together; then add powdered red lead, two pounds;
heat all these together and when nearly cold add a piece of camphor as
large as a nutmeg. Good for burns, etc.
SALT RHEUM.--1. Make a strong tea of elm root bark; drink the tea
freely, and wash the affected part in the same. 2. Take one ounce of
blue flag root, steep it in half a pint of gin; take a teaspoonful
three times a day, morning, noon and night, and wash with the same. 3.
Take one ounce of oil of tar, one drachm of oil of checker berry; mix.
Take from five to twenty drops morning and night as the stomach will
bear.
BLEEDING OF THE STOMACH.--Take a teaspoonful of camomile tea every ten
minutes until the bleeding stops.
SICKNESS OF STOMACH.--Drink three or four times a day of the steep
made from the bark of white poplar roots.
SUNBURN AND TAN.--1. Take two drachms of borax, one drachm of Roman
alum, one drachm of camphor, half an ounce of sugar candy, and a pound
of ox-gall. Mix, and stir well for ten minutes or so, and repeat this
stirring three or four times a day for a fortnight, till it appears
clear and transparent. Strain through blotting paper, and bottle up for
use. 2. Milk of almonds made thus: Take of blanched bitter almonds half
an ounce, soft water half a pint; make an emulsion by beating the
almonds and water together, strain through a muslin cloth, and it is
made. 3. A preparation composed of equal parts of olive oil and lime
water is also an excellent remedy for sunburn.
TO PRODUCE SWEAT.--Take of nitre, one-half drachm; snake's head (herb),
saffron, camphor, snake-root, seneca, bark of sassafras root, each one
ounce; ipecac, and opium, each one half ounce; put the above in three
quarts of Holland gin, and take a tablespoonful in catnip tea every few
minutes, till a sweat is produced.
TEETHING.--Young children whilst cutting their first set of teeth
often suffer severe constitutional disturbance. At first there is
restlessness and peevishness, with slight fever, but not infrequently
these are followed by convulsive fits, as they are commonly called,
which depends on the brain becoming irritated; and sometimes under
this condition the child is either cut off suddenly, or the foundation
of serious mischief to the brain is laid. The remedy, or rather the
safeguard, against these frightful consequences is trifling, safe, and
almost certain, and consists merely in lancing the gum covering the
tooth which is making its making its way through. When teething is
about it may be known by the spittle constantly driveling from the
mouth and wetting the frock. The child has its fingers in its month,
and bites hard any substance it can get hold of. If the gums be
carefully looked at, the part where the tooth is pressing up is
swollen and redder than usual; and if the finger be pressed on it the
child shrinks and cries, showing that the gum is tender. When these
symptoms occur, the gum should be lanced, and sometimes the tooth
comes through the next day, if near the surface; but if not so far
advanced the cut heals and a scar forms, which is thought by some
objectionable, as rendering the passage of the tooth more difficult.
This, however, is untrue, for the scar will give way much more easily
than the uncut gum. If the tooth does not come through after two or
three days, the lancing may be repeated; and this is more especially
needed if the child be very fractious, and seems in much pain. Lancing
the gums is further advantageous, because it empties the inflamed part
of its blood, and so relieves the pain and inflammation. The relief
children experience in the course of two or three hours from the
operation is often very remarkable, as they almost immediately become
lively and cheerful.
WASH FOR TEETH AND GUMS.--The teeth should be washed night and
morning, a moderately small and soft brush being used; after the
morning ablution, pour on a second tooth-brush, slightly dampened, a
little of the following lotion: Carbolic acid, 20 drops; spirits of
wine, 2 drachms; distilled water, 6 ounces. After using this lotion a
short time the gums become firmer and less tender, and impurity of the
breath (which is most commonly caused by bad teeth), will be removed.
It is a great mistake to use hard tooth-brushes, or to brush the teeth
until the gums bleed.
TETTER.--After a slight feverish attack, lasting two or three days,
clusters of small, transparent pimples, filled sometimes with a
colorless, sometimes with a brownish lymph, appear on the cheeks or
forehead, or on the extremities, and at times on the body. The pimples
are about the size of a pea, and break after a few days, when a brown
or yellow crust is formed over them, which falls off about the tenth
day, leaving the skin red and irritable. The eruption is attended with
heat; itching, tingling, fever, and restlessness, especially at night.
Ringworm is a curious form of tetter, in which the inflamed patches
assume the form of a ring.
TREATMENT--Should consist of light diet, and gentle laxatives. If the
patient be advanced in life, and feeble, a tonic will be desirable.
For a wash, white vitriol, 1 drachm; rose-water, 3 ounces, mixed; or
an ointment made of alder-flower ointment, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc,
1 drachm.
TO REMOVE TAN.--Tan may be removed from the face by mixing
magnesia in soft water to the consistency of paste, which should then
be spread on the face and allowed to remain a minute or two. Then wash
off with Castile soap suds, and rinse with soft water.
CARE OF THE TEETH.--The mouth has a temperature of 98 degrees, warmer
than is ever experienced in the shade in the latitude of New England.
It is well known that if beef, for example, be exposed in the shade
during the warmest of our summer days, it will very soon decompose. If
we eat beef for dinner, the particles invariably find their way into
the spaces between the teeth. Now, if these particles of beef are
not removed, they will frequently remain till they are softened by
decomposition. In most mouths this process of decomposition is in
constant progress. Ought we to be surprised that the gums and teeth
against which these decomposing or putrefying masses lie should become
subjects of disease?
How shall our teeth be preserved? The answer is very simple--keep
them very clean. How shall they be kept clean? Answer--By a toothpick,
rinsing with water, and the daily use of a brush.
The toothpick should be a quill, not because the metalic picks injure
the enamel, but because the quill pick is so flexible it fits into all
the irregularities between the teeth. Always after using the toothpick
the mouth should be thoroughly rinsed. If warm water be not at hand,
cold may be used, although warm is much better. Closing the lips, with
a motion familiar to all, everything may be thoroughly rinsed from the
mouth.
Every morning (on rising), and every evening (on going to bed), the
tooth-brush should be used, and the teeth, both outside and inside,
thoroughly brushed.
Much has been said _pro_ and _con_., upon the use of soap with the
tooth-brush. My own experience and the experience of members of my
family is highly favorable to the regular morning and evening use of
soap. Castile or other good soap will answer this purpose. (Whatever is
good for the hands and face is good for the teeth.) The slightly
unpleasant taste which soap has when we begin to use it will soon be
unnoticed.
TOOTH POWDERS.--Many persons, while laudably attentive to the
preservation of their teeth, do them harm by too much officiousness.
They daily apply to them some dentifrice powder, which they rub so
hard as not only to injure the enamel by excessive friction, but
to hurt the gums even more than by the abuse of the toothpick. The
quality of some of the dentifrice powders advertised in newspapers is
extremely suspicious, and there is reason to think that they are not
altogether free from a corrosive ingredient. One of the safest
and best compositions for the purpose is a mixture of two parts of
prepared chalk, one of Peruvian bark, and one of hard soap, all finely
powdered, which is calculated not only to clean the teeth without
hurting them, but to preserve the firmness of the gums.
Besides the advantage of sound teeth for their use in mastication,
a proper attention to their treatment conduces not a little to the
sweetness of the breath. This is, indeed, often affected by other
causes existing in the lungs, the stomach, and sometimes even in the
bowels, but a rotten state of the teeth, both from the putrid smell
emitted by carious bones and the impurities lodged in their cavities,
never fails of aggravating an unpleasant breath wherever there is a
tendency of that kind.
REMEDIES FOR TOOTHACHE.--1. One drachm of alum reduced to an
impalpable powder, three drachms of nitrous spirits of ether--mix,
and apply them to the tooth on cotton. 2. Mix a little salt and alum,
equal portions, grind it fine, wet a little lock of cotton, fill it
with the powder and put it in your tooth. One or two applications
seldom fail to cure. 3. To one drachm of collodion add two drachms of
Calvert's carbolic acid. A gelatinous mass is precipitated, a
small portion of which, inserted in the cavity of an aching tooth,
invariably gives immediate relief. 4. Saturate a small bit of
clean cotton wool with a strong solution of ammonia, and apply it
immediately to the affected tooth. The pleasing contrast immediately
produced in some cases causes fits of laughter, although a moment
previous extreme suffering and anguish prevailed. 5. Sometimes a sound
tooth aches from sympathy of the nerves of the face with other nerves.
But when toothache proceeds from a decayed tooth either have it taken
out, or put hot fomentations upon the face, and hot drinks into the
mouth, such as tincture of cayenne.
TO CURE WARTS.--Warts are formed by the small arteries, veins, and
nerves united together, taking on a disposition to grow by extending
themselves upward, carrying the scarf-skin along with them, which,
thickening, forms a wart. Corns are a similar growth, brought about
by the friction of tight boots and shoes. 1. Take a piece of diachylon
plaster, cut a hole in the centre the size of the wart, and stick it
on, the wart protruding through. Then touch it daily with aquafortis,
or nitrate of silver. They may be removed by tying a string tightly
around them. 2. Take a blacksmith's punch, heat it red hot and burn
the warts with the end of it. When the burn gets well the warts will
be gone forever. 3. Scrape down enough dry cobwebs to make a ball
large enough to, or a little more than, cover the wart and not touch
the flesh around the same; lay it on top of the wart, ignite it and
let it be until it is all burnt up. The wart will turn white, and in
a few days come out. 4. Pass a pin through the wart; apply one end
of the pin to the flame of a lamp; hold it there until the wart
fries under the action of the heat. A wart so treated will leave. 5.
Dissolve as much common washing soda as the water will take up; wash
the warts with this for a minute or two, and let them dry without
wiping. Keep the water in a bottle and repeat the washing often, and
it will take away the largest warts. 6. They may be cured surely by
paring them down until the blood comes slightly and then rubbing them
with lunar caustic. It is needless to say this hurts a little, but it
is a sure cure. The hydrochlorate of lime applied in the same way will
cure after several applications and some patience; so will strong
good vinegar, and so it is said will milk weed. The cures founded
upon superstitious practices, such as muttering some phrases over the
excrescence, stealing a piece of beef, rubbing the wart therewith and
then burying it under the leaves to await its decay, etc., etc.,
are all the remnants of a past state of ignorance and are of no use
whatever. Warts are generally only temporary and disappear as their
possessors grow up.
HOW TO CURE WHITE SWELLING.--Draw a blister on the inside of the leg
below the knee; keep it running with ointment made of hen manure,
by simmering it in hog's lard with onions; rub the knee with the
following kind of ointment: Bits of peppermint, oil of sassafras,
checkerberry, juniper, one drachm each; simmer in one-half pint
neatsfoot oil, and rub on the knee three times a day.
HOW TO CURE WOUNDS.--Catnip steeped, mixed with fresh butter and
sugar.
HOW TO CURE WHOOPING-COUGH.--Take a quart of spring water, put in it
a large handful of chin-cups that grow upon moss, a large handful of
unset hyssop; boil it to a pint, strain it off, and sweeten it with
sugar-candy. Let the child, as often as it coughs, take two spoonfuls
at a time.
HOW TO CURE WORMS IN CHILDREN.--1. Take one ounce of powdered
snake-head (herb), and one drachm each of aloes and prickly ash
bark; powder these, and to one-half teaspoonful of this powder add a
teaspoonful of boiling water and a teaspoonful of molasses. Take
this as a dose, night or morning, more or less, as the symptoms may
require. 2. Take tobacco leaves, pound them up with honey, and lay
them on the belly of the child or grown person, at the same time
administering a dose of some good physic. 3. Take garden parsley,
make it into a tea and let the patient drink freely of it. 4. Take the
scales that will fall around the blacksmith's anvil, powder them fine,
and put them in sweetened rum. Shake when you take them, and give a
teaspoonful three times a day.
SCALDING OF THE URINE.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar, and the
oil of spearmint.
URINARY OBSTRUCTIONS.--Steep pumpkin seeds in gin, and drink about
three glasses a day; or, administer half a drachm uva ursi every
morning, and a dose of spearmint.
FREE PASSAGE OF URINE.--The leaves of the currant bush made into a
tea, and taken as a common drink.
VENEREAL COMPLAINTS.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar, combined
with sarsaparilla, yellow dock and burdock made into a syrup; add to
a pint of this syrup an ounce of gum guiaicum. Dose, from a
tablespoonful to a wine-glass, as best you can bear.
HOW TO CURE SORE THROAT.--"One who has tried it" communicates the
following sensible item about curing sore throat: Let each one of your
half million readers buy at any drug store one ounce of camphorated
oil and five cents' worth of chloride of potash. Whenever any soreness
appears in the throat, put the potash in half a tumbler of water, and
with it gargle the throat thoroughly; then rub the neck thoroughly
with the camphorated oil at night before going to bed, and also pin
around the throat a small strip of woolen flannel. This is a simple,
cheap and sure remedy.
* * * * *