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

id="id08023" >Baths.—One pound of salt to four gallons of water forms a suitable salt water bath acting as a tonic and excitant to the skin. [MEDICAL USES OF COMMON ARTICLES 669]

Ague.—Homeopathic doctors claim that salt in the attenuations will cure some cases of ague.

Abuse of Salt.—Too much use of salt will cause a great many troubles. It produces a peculiar eruption on the skin, sore eyes, etc.

Want of Salt.—Domestic animals need it and may die for the want of it.
Some animals may become sterile if deprived of it.

LEMON.—Lemons, owing to their pleasant flavor and agreeable acidity, are very useful in a sick room. The rind yields an oil of great fragrancy. Each lemon yields two to eight drams of acidulous juice and contains seven to nine per cent of citric acid, besides phosphoric and malic acids, in combination with potassa and other bases. Half an ounce of lemon juice should neutralize twenty-five grains of bicarbonate of potassium, twenty grains of bicarbonate of soda or fourteen grains of carbonate of ammonia. The rind of lemon when fresh, besides the oil above mentioned, contains a bitter crystalline glucoside.

Hesperidin.—Uses. Lemon juice applied to the surface of the skin removes freckles, moth spots, sunburn, pruritus, and ink-stains.

Internally.—This is a very good remedy to cure scurvy. It is a constant companion of sea-goers and scurvy is seldom seen when the regulation ration of lemon-juice is used regularly. It also cures the scurvy skin trouble or the form of muscular pains felt in scurvy.

Chronic Rheumatism.—In some cases several ounces of lemon-juice administered daily affords marked relief, and it is also sometimes useful in acute rheumatism. Lemonade is a useful drink during convalescence, as it increases the urine and reduces its acidity.

Hot lemonade is useful as a sweating agent to break up colds in their beginning. It satisfies the thirst and is very grateful to a stomach that is not normal. It makes a very pleasant drink in many cases of sickness.

ONION (Allium Cepa).—It is supposed that the onion is a native of Hungary. It is now found over the whole civilized world. It contains a white, acrid, volatile oil holding sulphur in solution, albumen, much uncrystallizable sugar and mucilage, phosphoric acid both free and combined with lime, citrate of lime. The Spanish onion contains a large proportion of sulphur and thus may be satisfactorily used in those cases where sulphur is needed. The action of the volatile oil enhances that of sulphur. Spanish onion boiled and eaten freely at bed-time is an excellent laxative. Moderately used the onion increases the appetite, promotes digestion, but in large quantities it causes flatulence, uneasiness in the stomach and bowels. The juice mixed with sugar is useful in cough, colds, and croup where there is little inflammation. Roasted or split it is excellent as a local application in croup, tonsilitis and earache. Boiling deprives the onion of its essential oil.

[670 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

SODA (Bicarbonate of Soda).—Uses. It is used in stomach fermentation and in sick headaches arising from this condition. Useful in acidity of the stomach. Good for gas in the stomach. It is good as a local application to enlarged acute tonsils applied in powder. It is also used in preparing different articles of food. The best to get is the bicarbonate of soda at a drug store.

SULPHUR.—This is an important constituent in certain native mineral waters. On the bowels it acts as a mild laxative. It is very good in certain skin diseases and for itch in the form of an ointment it is often used. It is useful in chronic acne, and for lice, itch, barber's itch, etc. It is frequently used as a disinfectant after infectious diseases. Burning sulphur in a room destroys bed-bugs, chicken lice, etc.

TURPENTINE (Terebinthina).—Uses. It is a valuable counter-irritant in peritonitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, lumbago, pleurodynia, etc. Turpentine stupes are frequently used in abdominal inflammation, for flatulence and for bloating in typhoid fever. It is a valuable constituent of a great many liniments. Used in excess it produces bloody urine, painful urination and inflammation of the kidneys. The free use of barley water, hot bath and purgative relieve its bad effects.

VASELIN.—Under the name of Petrolatum is sold a semi-solid substance derived from certain kinds of petroleum called cosmoline or vaselin. It has very soothing powers and does not become rancid and is used as a soothing dressing in sores, boils, and skin affections. It is frequently used as a base for ointments. Fluid or liquid petrolatum is much used now in the form of a spray in the treatment of acute and chronic catarrh and after irritant applications to the nasal cavities. It is put up now in tubes and is much cleaner and purer. It is very soothing and healing when used in this pure form.

ALCOHOL (Spirit of Wine).—Alcohol is a liquid composed of ninety-one per cent by weight of ethylic alcohol and of nine per cent by weight of water. Alcohol dissolves alkaloids, fatty and resinous substances, and is largely used as a menstruum in obtaining the active principles of drugs in an available form for administration. It is the basis for spirits, tinctures and elixirs; spirits being solutions of volatile substances in alcohol; tinctures, solutions of active principles of plants, generally obtained by maceration and percolation. An elixir is a cordial flavored with orange and syrup, used as a vehicle for other remedies and as a stomachic.

Its action is very extensive. It is used extensively in medical preparations. It is a good application to prevent bed-sores. The addition of one dram of alum to a pint makes it more effective. Hot applications relieve pain in face neuralgia, cold in the face or toothache. It is often used after bathing in full strength or diluted to rub on the body to prevent taking cold. It stimulates the digestive organs, nervous system and the circulation. It is much used in snake-bite. Its constant use is a menace, as all know. It should never be taken for disease unless prescribed by a reputable physician.

[MEDICAL USES OF COMMON ARTICLES 671]

ALUM (Alumen).—Dried alum is an astringent and mild "burner" for growths such as "proud flesh." The glycerite of alum is useful in tonsilitis or pharyngitis when it is not acute. In solution it condenses tissue by coagulating their albumin and acts as an astringent.

Uses of the Strength.—One dram to a pint of whisky and water aids in checking sweating in consumption when applied with a sponge. It is a good injection for the whites. A cotton plug soaked in alum often stops nosebleed by inserting it in the nostrils, or a solution may be thrown or snuffed into the nostrils. It is also good as a gargle for tonsilitis and sore throat.

Emetic for Croup.—Put a heaping teaspoonful in thirty-two teaspoonfuls of water or syrup and give a teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until vomiting is produced. It is often used stronger when quick action is desired. It is a mild astringent and thus used to check mucous discharges from the bowels, etc. Burnt powdered alum is often used to destroy "proud flesh."

BORAX (Sodium Borate).—This drug as it appears in commerce of America is derived entirely from natural deposits found on the shores of lakes of California and Nevada. This is purified.

Action.—It is antiseptic in its action. It renders the urine alkaline.

Gargle.—It is used as a gargle in sore mouth and throat in dose of a dram to a pint of water. It is very good used as a wash for fetid sweating, especially of the feet. It is often used in combination in catarrh of the nose. It can be combined with soda for this purpose in dose of one dram of each to two pints of pure water and used in an atomizer.

CAMPHOR.—This is distilled from the wood and bark of the camphor tree, cinnamomum camphora, which grows chiefly in China and Japan. It should be kept in closed bottles.

Uses.—It is good for cold in the head in the early stages. It may be snuffed up the nostrils in fine powder, or put in boiling water and the fumes inhaled. It is good used as a liniment in neuralgia, stiff neck, rheumatism and for boils and sores. Used in the form of camphor ice it is very good for sores, cuts, boils, etc. It is often of use to smell when one feels faint. It is one of the ingredients in many liniments. Its external use as spirits of camphor is extensive.

CASTOR OIL (Oleum Ricini).—This is derived from the beans of Ricinis
Communis, a plant in the United States.

Action.—It is bland and unirritating in its action as a purge and generally acts in four to five hours.

Uses.—It is used whenever irritant materials such as bad food, putrid flesh, decaying vegetables have been eaten, to move the bowels. It is good in diarrhea produced by above causes and others, such as corn, peanuts, cherry stones, berries. It is apt to produce piles and constipation if used constantly. It is often given in the form of capsules containing from one-fourth to one teaspoonful. Dip the capsules in water, as this renders them slippery and are easily swallowed. Dose is from one to six teaspoonfuls.

[672 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

OLIVE OIL. Sweet Oil (Oleum Olivae).—This is expressed from the ripe fruit.

Action and Uses.—It is a lubricant. It is added to poultices as an emollient in pneumonia and skin diseases. Internally, olive oil is nutritious and laxative, and a purgative in infants in doses of one teaspoonful. In adults it is a useful remedy in many irritant poisons, excepting phosphorus. It is given in large doses for gall stones, three to six ounces at a dose.

GINGER (Zingiber).—Ginger is the rhizome of Zingiber Officinale, a plant of Hindostan, Jamaica and other tropical countries.

Action: It is an agreeable carminative and stimulant, in easing the secretions and stimulating the wavelike movement of the bowels. It acts as an irritant to the bladder and urethra.

Uses.—It is put in laxative pills to prevent griping and to disguise the taste of the salines. It is useful in dyspepsia of aged persons and also good in flatulence and diarrhea. For menstrual cramps, due to suppression from exposure to cold it is useful as a warm tea and also for colds. It is also used in the spice plasters.

HONEY (Mel).—This is a saccharine fluid deposited in combs by the honey bee (Apis Mellifica).

Action: It is slightly laxative and a pleasant article of food. Honey and water is used as a gargle and to relieve cough, dryness of the mouth and fauces. When used as a gargle it increases the secretion of the mucous membrane and so relieves the congestion. It is apt to disorder the stomach when used too freely. Honey mixed with lemon juice and water is very good for a cough, especially the tickling kind.

LARD (Adeps).—This is a common household article known to all. It is frequently used as the basis for ointments and cerates and in domestic practice as a lubricant. Tincture benzoin added to it prevents it from becoming rancid. It can be used in corrosive poisoning as an antidote except where phosporus and carbolic acid have been swallowed. It is also used in preparing articles of food. It has more penetrating power than petrolatum or vaselin. Washed lard, beaten up with an equal quantity of lime-water, and a few drops of oil of bitter almond, thymol, or carbolic acid added, is splendid for burns; stiffened with yellow wax it forms the simple ointment often used. It softens the hard skin and reduces its heat, when the natural secretion is suppressed. It also softens and removes scabs and lessens and prevents the effect of irritant discharges. The simple lard ointment relieves the intense heat and itching of the skin in scarlet fever. Dissolved and given in large doses it causes nausea and vomiting.

[MEDICAL USES OF COMMON ARTICLES 673]

MUSTARD (Sinapis).—Mustard flour, two tablespoonfuls to a glass of water, acts as an emetic. If given largely it produces violent gastritis, and chronic gastritis is often set up by its constant use in excess. It should not be used in acute dyspepsia and bowel irritation.

External: It is applied for colic due to flatulence and for acute inflammation of different organs and is also good when applied to the nape of the neck in headache, neuralgia, etc. Lint soaked in limewater and olive oil relieves the excessive burning from the plaster. Mustard foot baths made by using one handful of ground mustard to half pail of hot water is useful in colds, sleeplessness,