Salt Rheum — Get 12 grains arseniate of soda; dissolve in 12 ounces
of water and take a teaspoonful three times a day. Also use an oint-
ment composed of citrine (mercurial) ointment and lard equal parts.
Should the eyes become swollen decrease the dose of arseniate of soda.
Croup can be cured in .a minute by administering a teaspoonful of
powdered alum in twice that quantity of sugar to make it palatable "r
almost instantaneous relief will follow. A towel or flannel cloth wrung
out of hot vinegar in which a little salt has been added, and placed upon
the chest and throat, changing every ten minutes, with a dry towel
thoroughly covering it, often materially assists in relieving an attack of
croup.
Canker Sore Mouth — Use common cranesbill root steeped and
PRESCRIPTIONS AND CURES. 273
sweetened with honey, as a mouth wash. Use frequently ; or wash the
mouth with a tea made from the fruit of the staghorn sumach (rhus
typhina), at the same time take a teaspoonful internally. Repeat every
few hours until a cure is effected.
Hydrophobia — Take the root of common upland ash, generally called
black ash, peel off the bark, and boil it to a strong decoction. Take
one gill three times a day for eight or ten days.
If bitten by a mad dog, the wound should be cut out as soon as pos-
sible, thoroughly washed with aqua-ammonia, or, for want of that, in a
solution of potash or common salt.
The bite of the rattlesnake and most common bites and stings may
be cured in this way.
Rheumatism— Take ten grains of salicylic acid three times a day for
three days, and if very severe, take the same amount four or five times
a day ; take in a little cold water. This is also good for neuralgia.
Inflammatory rheumatism is relieved by steeping wormwood in vinegar
wringing a flannel out of the decoction, applying while hot and renew-
ing often.
Warts — Cut a slice from a raw potato and rub the hand each night;
let the water dry on the hand. It will need but few applications ; or,
get five cents worth of spirits of salts and apply frequently to the warts
and they will soon disappear. The milk of milkweed is also good.
Neuralgia — Two drops laudanum in half a teaspoonful of warm
water and dropped into the ears ; it will give immediate relief ; or this,
squeeze the juice of a lemon into a small cup of strong coffee. This
will usually afford immediate relief in neuralgic headache. Tea ordin-
arily increases neuralgic pain, and ought not to be used by persons
affected with it.
Run Rounds — Bathe freely and frequently in turpentine, and bind on
a cloth well saturated in it ; or take a piece of common soap about the
size of a hickory nut, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt
and water enough to melt the whole ; thicken with oatmeal, and boil ten
minutes ; apply as a poultice.
Sprains — There is nothing better than a strong decoction of worm-
wood and vinegar. A flannel cloth wrung out of the above just as hot
as the patient will bear, and bound on the affected part will give imme-
diate relief. The pain of a sprained limb is quickly removed by ice-
cold water. The terrible pangs of whitlow or felon are cut short by
intense heat. A large proportion of all cramp and spasms can be
relieved by water of proper temperature and intelligently applied.
Cuts or Bruises — Tobacco, wet with spirits or water, bound on a
Page 242
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Salt Rheum — Get 12 grains arseniate of soda; dissolve in 12 ounces of water and take a teaspoonful three times a day. Also use an ointment composed of citrine (mercurial) ointment and lard equal parts. Should the eyes become swollen decrease the dose of arseniate of soda.
Croup can be cured in a minute by administering a teaspoonful of powdered alum in twice that quantity of sugar to make it palatable or almost instantaneous relief will follow. A towel or flannel cloth wrung out of hot vinegar in which a little salt has been added, and placed upon the chest and throat, changing every ten minutes, with a dry towel thoroughly covering it, often materially assists in relieving an attack of croup.
Canker Sore Mouth — Use common cranesbill root steeped and
sweetened with honey, as a mouth wash. Use frequently ; or wash the mouth with a tea made from the fruit of the staghorn sumach (rhus typhina), at the same time take a teaspoonful internally. Repeat every few hours until a cure is effected.
Hydrophobia — Take the root of common upland ash, generally called black ash, peel off the bark, and boil it to a strong decoction. Take one gill three times a day for eight or ten days.
If bitten by a mad dog, the wound should be cut out as soon as possible, thoroughly washed with aqua-ammonia, or, for want of that, in a solution of potash or common salt.
The bite of the rattlesnake and most common bites and stings may be cured in this way.
Rheumatism— Take ten grains of salicylic acid three times a day for three days, and if very severe, take the same amount four or five times a day ; take in a little cold water. This is also good for neuralgia. Inflammatory rheumatism is relieved by steeping wormwood in vinegar wringing a flannel out of the decoction, applying while hot and renewing often.
Warts — Cut a slice from a raw potato and rub the hand each night; let the water dry on the hand. It will need but few applications ; or, get five cents worth of spirits of salts and apply frequently to the warts and they will soon disappear. The milk of milkweed is also good.
Neuralgia — Two drops laudanum in half a teaspoonful of warm water and dropped into the ears ; it will give immediate relief ; or this, squeeze the juice of a lemon into a small cup of strong coffee. This will usually afford immediate relief in neuralgic headache. Tea ordinarily increases neuralgic pain, and ought not to be used by persons affected with it.
Run Rounds — Bathe freely and frequently in turpentine, and bind on a cloth well saturated in it ; or take a piece of common soap about the size of a hickory nut, one teaspoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt and water enough to melt the whole ; thicken with oatmeal, and boil ten minutes ; apply as a poultice.
Sprains — There is nothing better than a strong decoction of wormwood and vinegar. A flannel cloth wrung out of the above just as hot as the patient will bear, and bound on the affected part will give immediate relief. The pain of a sprained limb is quickly removed by icecold water. The terrible pangs of whitlow or felon are cut short by intense heat. A large proportion of all cramp and spasms can be relieved by water of proper temperature and intelligently applied.
Cuts or Bruises — Tobacco, wet with spirits or water, bound on a