grains of flax-seed, which can be placed in the eye without pain or
injury. As they dissolve, a glutinous substance is formed, which
envelops any foreign body that may be under the lid, and the whole is
easily washed out. A dozen of these seeds should constitute a part of
every traveler's outfit.
Another remedy for removing objects from the eye: Take a horse-hair
and double it, leaving a loop. If the object can be seen, lay the loop
over it, close the eye, and the mote will come out as the hair is
withdrawn. If the irritating object cannot be seen, raise the lid of
the eye as high as possible and place the loop as far as you can,
close the eye and roll the ball around a few times, draw out the hair,
and the substance which caused the pain will be sure to come with it.
This method is practiced by axemakers and other workers in steel.
_Montreal Star._
EYE-WASHES.
The best eye-wash for granulated lids and inflammation of the eyes is
composed of camphor, borax and morphine, in the following proportions:
To a large wine-glass of camphor water--not spirits--add two grains of
morphine and six grains of borax. Pour a few drops into the palm of
the hand, and hold the eye in it, opening the lid as much as possible.
Do this three or four times in twenty-four hours, and you will receive
great relief from pain and smarting soreness. This recipe was received
from a celebrated oculist, and has never failed to relieve the most
inflamed eyes.
Another remedy said to be reliable: A lump of alum as large as a
cranberry boiled in a teacupful of sweet milk, and the curd used as a
poultice, is excellent for inflammation of the eyes.
Another wash: A cent's worth of pure, refined white copperas dissolved
in a pint of water, is also a good lotion; but label it _poison_, as
it should never go near the mouth. Bathe the eyes with the mixture,
either with the hands or a small piece of linen cloth, allowing some
of the liquid to get under the lids.
Here is another from an eminent oculist: Take half an ounce of rock
salt and one ounce of dry sulphate of zinc; simmer in a clean, covered
porcelain vessel with three pints of water until all are dissolved;
strain through thick muslin; add one ounce of rose-water; bottle and
cork it tight. To use it, mix one teaspoonful of rain-water with one
of the eye-water, and bathe the eyes frequently. If it smarts too
much, add more water.
SUNSTROKE.
Wrap a wet cloth bandage over the head; wet another cloth, folded
small, square, cover it thickly with salt, and bind it on the back of
the neck; apply dry salt behind the ears. Put mustard plasters to the
calves of the legs and soles of the feet. This is an effectual remedy.
TO REMOVE WARTS.
Wash with water saturated with common washing-soda, and let it dry
without wiping; repeat frequently until they disappear. Or pass a pin
through the wart and hold one end of it over the flame of a candle or
lamp until the wart fires by the heat, and it will disappear.
Another treatment of warts is to pare the hard and dry skin from their
tops, and then touch them with the smallest drop of strong acetic
acid, taking care that the acid does not run off the wart upon the
neighboring skin; for if it does it will occasion inflammation and
much pain. If this is continued once or twice daily, with regularity,
paring the surface of the wart occasionally when it gets hard and dry,
the wart will soon be effectually cured.
SWAIM'S VERMIFUGE.
Worm seed, two ounces; valerian, rhubarb, pink root, white agaric,
senna, of each one ounce and a half. Boil in sufficient water to yield
three quarts of decoction. Now add to it ten drops of the oil of tansy
and forty-five drops of the oil of cloves, dissolved in a quart of
rectified spirit. Dose: one tablespoonful at night.
FAINTING. (Syncope.)
Immediately place the person fainting in a lying position, with head
lower than body. In this way consciousness returns immediately, while
in the erect position it often ends in death.
FOR SEVERE SPRAINS.
The white of an egg, a tablespoonful of vinegar and a tablespoonful of
spirits of turpentine. Mix in a bottle, shake thoroughly, and bathe
the sprain as soon as possible after the accident. This was published
in _Life Secrets_, but it is republished by request on account of its
great value. It should be remembered by everyone.
An invaluable remedy for a sprain or bruise is wormwood boiled in
vinegar and applied hot, with enough cloths wrapped around it to keep
the sprain moist.
CAMPHORATED OIL.
Best oil of Lucca, gum camphor. Pound some gum camphor and fill a
wide-necked pint bottle one-third full; fill up with olive oil and set
away until the camphor is absorbed. Excellent lotion for sore chest,
sore throat, aching limbs, etc.
LINIMENT FOR CHILBLAINS.
Spirits of turpentine, three drachms; camphorated oil, nine drachms.
Mix for a liniment. For an adult four drachms of the former and eight
of the latter may be used. If the child be young, or if the skin be
tender, the camphorated oil may be used without the turpentine.
"THE SUN'S" CHOLERA MIXTURE.
More than forty years ago, when it was found that prevention for the
Asiatic cholera was easier than cure, the learned doctors of both
hemispheres drew up a prescription, which was published (for working
people) in _The New York Sun_, and took the name of "The Sun Cholera
Mixture." It is found to be the best remedy for looseness of the
bowels ever yet devised. It is to be commended for several reasons. It
is not to be mixed with liquor, and therefore will not be used as an
alcoholic beverage. Its ingredients are well known among all the
common people, and it will have no prejudice to combat; each of the
materials is in equal proportions to the others, and it may therefore
be compounded without professional skill; and as the dose is so very
small, it may be carried in a tiny phial in the waistcoat pocket, and
be always at hand. It is:--
Take equal parts of tincture of cayenne, tincture of opium, tincture
of rhubarb, essence of peppermint and spirits of camphor. Mix well.
Dose fifteen to thirty drops in a wine-glass of water, according to
age and violence of the attack. Repeat every fifteen or twenty minutes
until relief is obtained. No one who takes it in time will ever have
the cholera. Even when no cholera is anticipated, it is a valuable
remedy for ordinary summer complaints, and should always be kept in
readiness.
COMP. CATHARTIC ELIXIR.
The only pleasant and reliable cathartic in liquid form that can be
prescribed.
Each fluid ounce contains: sulp. magnesia one drachm, senna two
drachms, scammony six grains, liquorice one drachm, ginger three
grains, coriander, five grains, with flavoring ingredients.
_Dose._--Child five years old, one or two teaspoonfuls; adult, one or
two tablespoonfuls.
This preparation is being used extensively throughout the country. It
was originated with the design of furnishing a liquid cathartic remedy
that could be prescribed in a palatable form. It will be taken by
children with a relish.
GRANDMOTHER'S COUGH SYRUP.
Take half a pound of dry hoarhound herbs, one pod of red pepper, four
tablespoonfuls of ginger, boil all in three quarts of water, then
strain, and add one teaspoonful of good, fresh tar and a pound of
sugar. Boil slowly and stir often, until it is reduced to one quart of
syrup. When cool, bottle for use. Take one or two teaspoonfuls four or
six times a day.
GRANDMOTHER'S UNIVERSAL LINIMENT.
One pint of alcohol and as much camphor gum as can be dissolved in it,
half an ounce of the oil of cedar, one-half ounce of the oil of
sassafras, aqua ammonia half an ounce, and the same amount of the
tincture of morphine. Shake well together and apply by the fire; the
liniment must not be heated, or come in contact with the fire, but the
rubbing to be done by the warmth of the fire.
These recipes of Grandmother's are all old, tried medicines, and are
more effectual than most of those that are advertised, as they have
been thoroughly tried, and proved reliable.
GRANDMOTHER'S FAMILY SPRING BITTERS.
Mandrake root one ounce, dandelion root one ounce, burdock root one
ounce, yellow dock root one ounce, prickly ash berries two ounces,
marsh mallow one ounce, turkey rhubarb half an ounce, gentian one
ounce, English camomile flowers one ounce, red clover tops two ounces.
Wash the herbs and roots; put them into an earthen vessel, pour over
two quarts of water that has been boiled and cooled; let it stand over
night and soak; in the morning set it on the back of the stove, and
steep it five hours; it must not boil, but be nearly ready to boil.
Strain it through a cloth, and add half a pint of good gin. Keep it in
a cool place. Half a wine-glass taken as a dose twice a day.
This is better than all the patent blood medicines that are in the
market--a superior blood purifier, and will cure almost any malignant
sore, by taking according to direction, and washing the sore with a
strong tea of red raspberry leaves steeped, first washing the sore
with castile soap, then drying with a soft cloth, and washing it with
the strong tea of red raspberry leaves.
GRANDMOTHER'S EYE-WASH.
Take three fresh eggs and break them into one quart of clear, cold
rain-water; stir until thoroughly mixed; bring to a boil on a slow
fire, stirring often; then add half an ounce of sulphate of zinc
(white vitrol); continue the boiling for two minutes, then set it off
the fire. Take the curd that settles at the bottom of this and apply
to the eye at night with a bandage. It will speedily draw out all
fever and soreness. Strain the liquid through a cloth and use for
bathing the eyes occasionally. This is the best eye-water ever made
for man or beast. I have used it for twenty years without knowing it
to fail.
HUNTER'S PILLS.
These pills can be manufactured at home and are _truly reliable_,
having been sold and used for more than fifty years in Europe. The
ingredients may be procured at almost any druggist's. The articles
should be all in the powder. Saffron one grain, rue one grain, Scot
aloes two grains, savin one grain, cayenne pepper one grain. Mix all
into a very thick mass by adding sufficient syrup. Rub some fine
starch on the surface of a platter or large dinner-plate, then with
your forefinger and thumb nip off a small piece of the mass the size
of a pill and roll it in pill form, first dipping your fingers in the
starch. Place them as fast as made on the platter, set where they will
dry slowly. Put them into a dry bottle or paper box. Dose, one every
night and morning as long as occasion requires.
This recipe is worth _ten times_ the price of this book to any female
requiring the _need_ of these regulating pills.
HINTS IN REGARD TO HEALTH.
It is plainly seen by an inquiring mind that, aside from the selection
and preparation of food, there are many little things constantly
arising in the experience of everyday life which, in their combined
effect, are powerful agents in the formation (or prevention) of
perfect health. A careful observance of these little occurences, an
inquiry into the philosophy attending them, lies within the province,
and indeed should be considered among the highest duties, of every
housekeeper.
That one should be cautious about entering a sick room in a state of
perspiration, as the moment you become cool your pores absorb. Do not
approach contagious diseases with an empty stomach, nor sit between
the sick and the fire, because the heat attracts the vapor.
That the flavor of cod-liver oil may be changed to the delightful one
of fresh oyster, if the patient will drink a large glass of water
poured from a vessel in which nails have been allowed to rust.
That a bag of hot sand relieves neuralgia.
That warm borax water will remove dandruff.
That salt should be eaten with nuts to aid digestion.
That it rests you, in sewing, to change your position frequently.
That a little soda water will relieve sick headache caused by
indigestion.
That a cupful of strong coffee will remove the odor of onions from the
breath.
That well-ventilated bedrooms will prevent morning headaches and
lassitude.
A cupful of hot water drank before meals will relieve nausea and
dyspepsia.
That a fever patient can be made cool and comfortable by frequent
sponging off with soda water.
That consumptive night-sweats may be arrested by sponging the body
nightly in salt water.
That one in a faint should be laid flat on his back, then loosen his
clothes and let him alone.
The best time to bathe is just before going to bed, as any danger of
taking cold is thus avoided; and the complexion is improved by keeping
warm for several hours after leaving the bath.
To beat the whites of eggs quickly add a pinch of salt. Salt cools,
and cold eggs froth rapidly.
Hot, dry flannels, applied as hot as possible, for neuralgia.
Sprains and bruises call for an application of the tincture of arnica.
If an artery is severed, tie a small cord or handkerchief above it.
For bilious colic, soda and ginger in hot water. It may be taken
freely.
Tickling in the throat is best relieved by a gargling of salt and
water.
Pains in the side are most promptly relieved by the application of
mustard.
For cold in the head nothing is better than powdered borax, sniffed up
the nostrils.
A drink of hot, strong lemonade before going to bed will often break
up a cold and cure a sore throat.
Nervous spasms are usually relieved by a little salt taken into the
mouth and allowed to dissolve.
Whooping cough paroxysms are relieved by breathing the fumes of
turpentine and carbolic acid.
Broken limbs should be placed in natural positions, and the patient
kept quiet until the surgeon arrives.
Hemorrhages of the lungs or stomach are promptly checked by small
doses of salt. The patient should be kept as quiet as possible.
Sleeplessness, caused by too much blood in the head may be overcome by
applying a cloth wet with cold water to the back of the neck.
Wind colic is promptly relieved by peppermint essence taken in a
little warm water. For small children it may be sweetened. Paregoric
is also good.
For stomach cramps, ginger ale or a teaspoonful of the tincture of
ginger in a half glass of water in which a half teaspoonful of soda
has been dissolved.
Sickness of the stomach is most promptly relieved by drinking a
teacupful of hot soda and water. If it brings the offending matter up,
all the better.
A teaspoonful of ground mustard in a cupful of warm water is a prompt
and reliable emetic, and should be resorted to in cases of poisoning
or cramps in the stomach from over-eating.
Avoid purgatives or strong physic, as they not only do no good, but
are positively hurtful. Pills may relieve for the time, but they
seldom cure.
Powdered resin is the best thing to stop bleeding from cuts. After the
powder is sprinkled on, wrap the wound with soft cotton cloth. As soon
as the wound begins to feel feverish, keep the cloth wet with cold
water.
Eggs are considered one of the best remedies for dysentery. Beaten up
slightly, with or without sugar, and swallowed, they tend by their
emollient qualities to lessen the inflammation of the stomach and
intestines, and by forming a transient coating on those organs, enable
Nature to resume her healthful sway over the diseased body. Two, or at
most, three eggs per day, would be all that is required in ordinary
cases; and, since the egg is not merely medicine, but food as well,
the lighter the diet otherwise, and the quieter the patient is kept,
the more certain and rapid is the recovery.
Hot water is better than cold for bruises. It relieves pain quickly,
and by preventing congestion often keeps off the ugly black and blue
mark. "Children cry for it," when they experience the relief it
affords their bumps and bruises.
For a sprained ankle, the whites of eggs and powdered alum made into a
plaster is almost a specific.
MEDICINAL FOOD.
Spinach has a direct effect upon complaints of the kidneys; the common
dandelion, used as greens, is excellent for the same trouble;
asparagus purifies the blood; celery acts admirably upon the nervous
system, and is a cure for rheumatism and neuralgia; tomatoes act upon
the liver; beets and turnips are excellent appetizers; lettuce and
cucumbers are cooling in their effects upon the system; beans are a
very nutritious and strengthening vegetable; while onions, garlic,
leeks, chives and shallots, all of which are similar, possess
medicinal virtues of a marked character, stimulating the circulatory
system, and the consequent increase of the saliva and the gastric
juice promoting digestion. Red onions are an excellent diuretic, and
the white ones are recommended raw as a remedy for insomnia. They are
tonic, nutritious. A soup made from onions is regarded by the French
as an excellent restorative in debility of the digestive organs. We
might go through the entire list and find each vegetable possessing
its especial mission of cure, and it will be plain to every
housekeeper that a vegetable diet should be partly adopted, and will
prove of great advantage to the health of the family.
[Illustration]
HOUSEKEEPERS' TIME-TABLE.
| MODE OF | TIME OF | TIME OF |
|PREPARATION| COOKING |DIGESTION|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| | H. M. | H. M. |
Apples, sour, hard |Raw | | 2 50 |
Apples, sweet and mellow |Raw | | 1 50 |
Asparagus |Boiled | 15 to 30| 2 30 |
Beans (pod) |Boiled | 1 00 | 2 30 |
Beans with green corn |Boiled | 45 | 3 45 |
Beef |Roasted |[A] 25 | 3 00 |
Beefsteak |Broiled | 15 | 3 00 |
Beefsteak |Fried | 15 | 4 00 |
Beef, salted |Boiled |[A] 35 | 4 15 |
Bass, fresh |Broiled | 20 | 3 00 |
Beets, young |Boiled | 2 00 | 3 45 |
Beets, old |Boiled | 4 30 | 4 00 |
Bread, corn |Baked | 45 | 3 15 |
Bread, wheat |Baked | 1 00 | 3 30 |
Butter |Melted | | 3 30 |
Cabbage |Raw | | 2 30 |
Cabbage and vinegar |Raw | | 2 00 |
Cabbage |Boiled | 1 00 | 4 30 |
Cauliflower |Boiled | 1-2 00 | 2 30 |
Cake, sponge |Baked | 45 | 2 30 |
Carrot, orange |Boiled | 1 00 | 3 15 |
Cheese, old |Raw | | 3 30 |
Chicken |Fricasseed | 1 00 | 3 45 |
Codfish, dry and whole |Boiled |[A] 15 | 2 00 |
Custard (one quart) |Baked | 30 | 2 45 |
Duck, tame |Roasted | 1 30 | 4 00 |
Duck, wild |Roasted | 1 00 | 4 50 |
Dumpling, apple |Boiled | 1 00 | 3 00 |
Eggs, hard |Boiled | 10 | 3 30 |
Eggs, soft |Boiled | 3 | 3 00 |
Eggs |Fried | 5 | 3 30 |
Eggs |Raw | | 2 00 |
Fowls, domestic, roasted or |Boiled | 1 00 | 4 00 |
Gelatine |Boiled | | 2 30 |
Goose, wild |Roasted |[A] 20 | 2 30 |
Lamb |Boiled |[A] 20 | 2 30 |
Meat and vegetables |Hashed | 30 | 2 30 |
Milk |Raw | | 2 15 |
Milk |Boiled | | 2 00 |
Mutton |Roast |[A] 25 | 3 15 |
Mutton |Broiled | 20 | 3 00 |
Onions |Boiled | 1-2 00 | 3 00 |
Oysters |Roasted | | 3 15 |
Oysters |Stewed | 5 | 3 30 |
Parsnips |Boiled | 1 00 | 3 00 |
Pigs' Feet |Soused | | 1 00 |
Pork |Roast |[A] 30 | 5 15 |
Pork |Boiled |[A] 25 | 4 30 |
Pork, raw or |Fried | | 4 15 |
Pork |Broiled | 20 | 3 15 |
Potatoes |Boiled | 30 | 3 30 |
Potatoes |Baked | 45 | 3 30 |
Potatoes |Roasted | 45 | 2 30 |
Rice |Boiled | 20 | 1 00 |
Salmon, fresh |Boiled | 8 | 1 45 |
Sausage |Fried | 25 | 4 00 |
Sausage |Broiled | 20 | 3 30 |
Soup, vegetable |Boiled | 1 00 | 4 00 |
Soup, chicken |Boiled | 2 00 | 3 00 |
Soup, oyster or mutton |Boiled |[B]3 30 | 3 30 |
Spinach |Boiled | 1-2 00 | 2 30 |
Tapioca |Boiled | 1 30 | 2 00 |
Tomatoes |Fresh | 1 00 | 2 30 |
Tomatoes |Canned | 30 | 2 30 |
Trout, salmon, fresh, boiled or|Fried | 30 | 1 30 |
Turkey, boiled or |Roasted |[B] 20 | 2 30 |
Turnips |Boiled | 45 | 3 30 |
Veal |Broiled | 20 | 4 00 |
Venison steak |Broiled | 20 | 1 35 |
[Footnote A: Minutes to the pound.]
[Footnote B: Mutton soup.]
The time given is the general average; the time will vary slightly
with the quality of the article.
MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES.
USES OF AMMONIA.
All housekeepers should keep a bottle of liquid ammonia, as it is the
most powerful and useful agent for cleaning silks, stuffs and hats, in
fact cleans everything it touches. A few drops of ammonia in water
will take off grease from dishes, pans, etc., and does not injure the
hands as much as the use of soda and strong chemical soaps. A spoonful
in a quart of warm water for cleaning paint makes it look like new,
and so with everything that needs cleaning.
Spots on towels and hosiery will disappear with little trouble if a
little ammonia is put into enough water to soak the articles, and they
are left in it an hour or two before washing; and if a cupful is put
into the water in which clothes are soaked the night before washing,
the ease with which the articles can be washed, and their great
whiteness and clearness when dried, will be very gratifying.
Remembering the small sum paid for three quarts of ammonia of common
strength, one can easily see that no bleaching preparation can be more
cheaply obtained.
No articles in kitchen use are so likely to be neglected and abused as
the dish-cloth and dish-towels; and in washing these, ammonia, if
properly used, is a greater comfort than anywhere else. Put a
teaspoonful into the water in which these cloths are, or should be,
washed everyday; rub soap on the towels. Put them in the water; let
them stand half an hour or so; then rub them out thoroughly, rinse
faithfully, and dry outdoors in clear air and sun, and dish-cloths and
towels need never look gray and dingy--a perpetual discomfort to all
housekeepers.
A dark carpet often looks dusty soon after it has been swept, and you
know it does not need sweeping again; so wet a cloth or a sponge,
wring it almost dry, and wipe off the dust. A few drops of ammonia in
the water will brighten the colors.
For cleaning hair-brushes it is excellent; put a tablespoonful into
the water, having it only tepid, and dip up and down until clean; then
dry with the brushes down and they will be like new ones.
When employed in washing anything that is not especially soiled, use
the waste water afterward for the house plants that are taken down
from their usual position and immersed in the tub of water. Ammonia is
a fertilizer, and helps to keep healthy the plants it nourishes. In
every way, in fact, ammonia is the housekeeper's friend.
Ammonia is not only useful for cleaning, but as a household medicine.
Half a teaspoonful taken in half a tumbler of water is far better for
faintness than alcoholic stimulants. In the Temperance Hospital in
London, it is used with the best results. It was used freely by
Lieutenant Greely's Arctic party for keeping up circulation. It is a
relief in nervousness, headache and heart disturbances.
TO DESTROY INSECTS AND VERMIN.
Dissolve two pounds of alum in three or four quarts of water. Let it
remain over night till all the alum is dissolved. Then with a brush,
apply boiling hot to every joint or crevice in the closet or shelves
where croton bugs, ants, cockroaches, etc., intrude; also to the
joints and crevices of bedsteads, as bed bugs dislike it as much as
croton bugs, roaches, or ants. Brush all the cracks in the floor and
mop-boards. Keep it boiling hot while using.
To keep woolens and furs from moths, be sure that none are in the
articles when they are put away; then take a piece of strong brown
paper, with not a hole through which even a pin can enter. Put the
article in it with several lumps of gum camphor between the folds;
place this in a close box or trunk. Cover every joint with paper. A
piece of cotton cloth, if thick and firm, will answer. Wherever a
knitting-needle can pass, the parent moth can enter.
Place pieces of camphor, cedar-wood, Russia leather, tobacco-leaves,
whole cloves, or anything strongly aromatic, in the drawers or boxes
where furs and other things to be preserved from moths are kept and
they will never be harmed. Mice never get into drawers or trunks where
gum camphor is placed.
_Another Recipe_.--Mix half a pint of alcohol, the same quantity of
turpentine and two ounces of camphor. Keep in a stone bottle and shake
well before using. The clothes or furs are to be wrapped in linen, and
crumbled-up pieces of blotting-paper dipped in the liquid to be placed
in the box with them, so that it smells strong. This requires renewing
but once a year.