Mother's Remedies, Thomas Jefferson Ritter [reading well .TXT] 📗

for.—Used as a fomentation over womb in dysmenorrhea. Part used.—Tops and leaves.

Gather.—Early autumn.

Flowers (when).—May and September.

Grows (where).—In fields and pastures.

Prepared (how).—Decoctions, use two ounces of dried herb to a quart of water and boil down to a pint.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—One to two tablespoonfuls every two hours. Smaller doses can be used for nervous women every hour, and when there are painful menstruations, suppressed lochia, hysteria, sleeplessness, etc.

[HERB DEPARTMENT 431]

MUSTARD. Sinapis Alba.

Internally, used for.—As an emetic, condiment, hiccough.

Externally, used for.—Counter-irritation.

Part used.—The seeds or leaves.

Gather.—While fresh, so the leaves can also be used. Seeds when used should be ripe.

Grows (where).—Almost everywhere.

Prepared (how).—In many ways, poultices, plasters, etc.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Mustard leaves dampened with cold water are good for pleurodynia, lumbago, neuritis, cramps in legs, inflammations, croup, etc., applied locally. For apoplexy and convulsions, mustard poultices of the seeds to feet, and mustard foot baths, handful of ground mustard to hot water. Same is good in colds, sleeplessness, dysmenorrhea, headache. Mustard water is good for poisoning as an emetic. Hiccough: Teaspoonful of mustard in four ounces of boiling water, steep for twenty minutes, and take in four doses.

OAK BARK. (Red and White). Quercus Alba.

Internally, used for.—Leucorrhea, piles, diarrhea, sore throat and mouth.

Externally, used for.—Sores on man or beast.

Part used.—The bark; white oak is more astringent.

Prepared (how).—Decoction.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—This decoction is used as an injection in leucorrhea, piles and as a gargle in sore mouth, etc. Its astringent property is due to the tannic and gallic acid it contains.

ONION. Allium Cepa.

Internally, used for.—Coughs, catarrh, croup, laxative.

Externally, used for.—Poultice for boil, inflammation, earache, etc., raw and roasted and used locally.

Part used.—Bulb. It contains many constituents, such as citrate of lime, allyl sulphide, volatile oils, sulphur.

Gather.—In autumn.

Grows (where).—Native.

Prepared (how).—As a poultice, raw; when boiled volatile oil is cast off.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Juice mixed with sugar is good for colds, coughs, catarrh, croup, chronic bronchitis. Roasted Spanish onion is good, eaten at bedtime, as a laxative; fried in lard and applied locally it makes a splendid poultice. Roasted in coals it makes a good poultice for earache, toothache, sore throat and sore chest.

[432 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PARSLEY. Rock Parsley. Petroselinum Sativum.

Internally, used for.—Dropsy, especially following scarlet fever, retained urine, painful urination, gonorrhea.

Externally, used for.—Seeds and leaves sprinkled on the hair, in powder, destroy vermin. Bruised leaves applied as a fomentation, cure the bites or stings of insects.

Part used.—Root, seeds and leaves.

Gather.—In autumn.

Grows (where).—Cultivated.

Prepared (how).—Infuse the whole plant, or a decoction can be made of the root and seeds.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Drink freely of the infusion or decoction. Dose, two to four ounces three times a day, or less dose and oftener. The oil can be bought and used, two to three drops three or four times, daily.

PARTRIDGE BERRY. Squaw Vine. Checker Berry. One Berry. Winter Clover.
Deerberry. Mitchella Repens,

Internally, used for.—Dropsy, suppressed urine, tonic and alterative action on womb.

Externally, used for—Cure for sore nipples.

Part used.—The vine.

Gather.—During the season.

Flowers (when).—June and July.

Grows (where).—In United States and Canada; in dry woods, among hemlock timber and in swampy places.

Prepared (how).—Infusion, tincture, fluid extract, decoction. Infusion, one ounce to pint of boiling water. Tincture: chop fresh plant and pound to a pulp and weigh. Then take two parts, by weight, of alcohol; mix pulp with one-sixth part of it thoroughly and rest of alcohol added, stir all well, pour into a well stoppered bottle and let stand eight days in a dark cool place; pour off, strain and filter.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Dose of tincture, one-half to one teaspoonful. For chronic diseases take one to two ounces of infusion four times a day. For suppressed urine take half ounce every two hours. Dose of infusion, from one to two ounces every three hours. To tone the womb and make labor easier, the Indians used to take it several weeks before confinement. For sore nipple: two ounces (fresh, if possible) and make a strong decoction in a pint of boiling water. Boil down thick and apply on nipple after each nursing.

PEACH TREE. Amygdalus Persica.

Internally, used for.—Constipation, tonic to the stomach and bowels, leucorrhea, worms, inflammation of stomach and bowels, irritable bladder. haematuria, dysentery.

[HERB DEPARTMENT 433] Part used.—Leaves and kernels.

Gather.—When ripe.

Grows (where).—Cultivated.

Prepared (how).—By infusion; put ounce of leaves in one pint of cold water and let it steep.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—For inflammations take one tablespoonful of the cold infusion every hour or two. For bladder and urinary troubles and leucorrhea, put four ounces of the kernels in a quart of brandy; dose,—teaspoonful three or four times a day. For bowel troubles use half ounce of the flowers and half ounce of the kernels to a pint of water; boil to make a decoction and sweeten; dose,—teaspoonful occasionally, until relieved; for teething children and for worms use about five doses.

PENNYROYAL. Squaw Mint. Tickweed. Hedeoma Pulegoides.

Internally, used for.—Stimulant, sweating, menstrual troubles, suppressed lochia, suppressed menses, flatulent colic in children.

Part used.—The herb. Gather.—In fall. Flowers (when).—June to October.

Grows (where).—In dry sterile places in calcareous soils. In all parts of the United States, etc.

Prepared (how).—An infusion, one ounce to a pint of boiling water and only steep, not boil.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Use infusion freely. Dose of oil two to five drops. For menstrual troubles, checked lochia and perspiration, take a hot foot bath in bed and drink freely of the tea until sweating occurs. It is frequently taken at bedtime for painful menstruation, etc.

PEPPERMINT. Mentha Piperita.

Internally, used for.—Tone stomach, colic, spasms, or cramps in stomach, to check nausea and vomiting.

Externally, used for.—Fresh herb bruised and laid over the abdomen, to allay sick stomach and diarrhea of children.

Part used.—The whole herb.

Gather.—Early autumn.

Flowers (when).—July to September.

Grows (where).—Native of England, cultivated here and grows wild in wet places.

Prepared (how).—Essence, oil; infusion made by adding one ounce of herb to a quart of boiling water and steep.

Disease, Dose, etc.—One to two ounces of infusion at a dose. The best form is the essence or oil. Dose of the essence five to ten drops; of oil one to five drops. It should be used carefully.

[434 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PLANTAIN. Plantago Major.

Externally, used for.—It is better used externally; the bruised leaves are good for poisonous wounds, bites of snakes, spiders and insects, ulcers, sore eyelids, salt rheum, erysipelas, poisoning from ivy and other skin affections.

Part used.—Roots and tops.

Flowers (when).—From May to October.

Grows (where).—Well known and grows in rich moist places.

Prepared (how).—Tincture, infusion, bruised leaves for external use.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Some claim the infusion is good for snake bites or the expressed juice can be used. This, to my mind, is doubtful and I would advise the usual remedies first. The tincture is good for some kinds of toothache, in one to two drop doses. The bruised leaves or the tea may be used for other diseases mentioned as poultice or wash.

PLEURISY ROOT. Butterfly Weed. Wind Root. Tuber Root. Orange Swallow Wort.
Asclepias Tuberosa.

Internally, used for.—Pleurisy, pneumonia, catarrh, acute rheumatism, diarrhea, dysentery, sweating and expectorant, falling womb.

Part used.—Root.

Gather.—Autumn.

Flowers (when).—July and August.

Grows (where).—In gravelly and sandy soils.

Prepared (how).—Infusion, one ounce to a pint of boiling water and let steep. Tincture; buy powder.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Dose of powder, ten to thirty grains three times a day in womb diseases. For falling womb use one ounce pleurisy root and one-half ounce unicorn root (true), mix powder and give in twenty to thirty grain doses three times daily; and an injection of the same, in infusion, may be given once a day. For pleurisy, etc., in first stage give the warm infusion to promote sweating. Dose,—Four teaspoonfuls every half hour, until sweating is produced. Following is good for diarrhea and dysentery: Tincture pleurisy root two ounces, brandy one ounce, syrup of raspberry three ounces. Half to one teaspoonful everyone or two hours.

POKE. Garget. Coakum. Pingeon Berry. Scoke. Phytolacca Decandra.

Internally, used for.—Chronic rheumatism, syphilis, sore throat, sore, inflamed breasts, scrofula.

Externally, used for—For fat people. Caked breasts, felons and tumors.

[HERB DEPARTMENT 435] Part used.—Root, leaves and berries.

Gather.—Root late in November, cut in thin transverse slices and dry with moderate heat. Berries, when ripe.

Flowers (when).—July to September.

Grows (where).—Native of United States along fences in newly cleared spots, in cultivated fields, roadsides, etc.

Prepared (how).—Juice of plant. Powdered root, poultice, fomentation.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—One to five grains of powdered root as an alterative in chronic blood diseases, syphilis, etc. Juice of plant, half teaspoonful three times a day, for same diseases can be used. For caked breasts one to three drops of the tincture every one to three hours, at same time applying the root (roasted in ashes until soft) mashed and applied as a poultice; good also for a felon or can apply a hot fomentation of the leaves instead.

PRICKLY ASH. Toothache Tree. Xanthoxylum Fraxineum.

Internally, used for.—Chronic rheumatism, syphilis, skin affections, dysmenorrhea.

Externally, used for.—Decoction used as a wash or gargle in sore throat.

Part used.—Bark and berries.

Gather.—Autumn or earlier in some climates.

Flowers (when).—April and May.

Grows (where).—United States in woods, thickets and moist shady places.

Prepared (how).—Tincture. Powder. Decoction of root one ounce to a pint of water and boil.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Dose,—half ounce every four to five hours. Tincture of the berries is also used for nervous diseases, dysmenorrhea, etc., in ten to thirty drops every two to four hours. Good also in blood diseases, four times a day. Powder for same troubles in doses of five to ten grains four times a day.

PRINCE'S PINE. Wintergreen. Ground Holly. Pipsissewa. Rheumatism Weed.
Chimaphila Umbellata.

Internally, used for.—Kidney and bladder troubles, chronic rheumatism, syphilis, scrofula, gout, gleet.

Part used.—Whole plant.

Gather.—In autumn or late summer.

Flowers (when).—June and July.

Grows (where).—United States, etc., under the shade of woods and prefers a loose sandy soil enriched by decaying leaves.

Prepared (how).—Decoction and tincture; put a pound of the dried herb into a quart of water and three quarts of spirits; let stand for twelve days, and then turn off the liquid. This makes a tincture. To make decoction use one ounce of plant to a pint of boiling water and boil.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Take one to two ounces of the decoction three or four times a day; fluid extract can be bought, dose fifteen drops four times daily. Dose of tincture, one-half to one teaspoonful.

[436 MOTHERS' REMEDIES ]

PUMPKIN. Cucurbita Pepo.

Internally, used for.—For tape worm and for urinary troubles, suppressed or retained urine.

Gather.—When ripe.

Grows (where).—Common.

Prepared (how).—A tea can be made of the seeds, or an oil gathered from them.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—A tea strong or weak as the age and case demand, may be given freely and is very effective. Do not bruise the seeds, as the virtue resides in the covering. An oil can be gathered from the seeds and is good for same purpose. Dose.—Six to twelve drops several times daily or three drops every two hours. For Tape worm, see article on another page. If it is best to take it as an emulsion get druggist to make it. Taken at night with fasting. In the morning take dose of salts. Watermelon seed tea is also good for kidney trouble.

QUEEN OF THE MEADOW. Purple Boneset. Gravel Root. Trumpet Weed. Joe-Pye
Weed. Eupatorium Purpureum.

Internally, used for.—Gravel stone in the bladder, kidney or stone colic, or other urinary troubles.

Part used.—The herb.

Gather.—Autumn.

Flowers (when).—August to November.

Grows (where).—In wet places in United States.

Prepared (how).—Fluid extract; or an infusion, one ounce of the dried leaves or plant in a quart of boiling water and steep.

Diseases, Dose, etc.—Half teacupful of the infusion may be taken every hour or two as hot as possible. This is a splendid remedy. Drug stores keep the fluid extract, which can be bought and given in doses of fifteen to thirty drops every three or four hours. Some claim it relieves the pain in the kidney stone colic; the Indians used it for that purpose.

[HERB DEPARTMENT 437]

QUEEN'S ROOT. Queen's Delight. Yaw Root. Cock-up-Hat. Stillingia Sylvatica.

Internally, used for.—Secondary syphilis, scrofula, chronic skin diseases.

Part used.—The root.

Gather.—Autumn.

Flowers (when).—April to July.

Grows (where).—In United States, etc.

Prepared (how).—An infusion of the fresh root, or use the tincture or fluid extract. One ounce of root to pint of water for infusion.

Diseases, Dose,