The Ladies Book of Useful Information, Anonymous [rocket ebook reader txt] 📗

dram; pulverized opium and macrotin, of each thirty grains. Melt the first two articles over the fire, and then stir in the others. Mix well and make into sixty pills. Dose: One or two pills, in cases of hysteric fits, every two or three hours; also good in female nervous attacks and spasmodic affections. PILLS FOR CHRONIC BRONCHITIS.

Take pulverized skunk cabbage root, two drams; pulverized extract of liquorice, one dram; sanguinaria and macrotin, of each thirty grains. Make into large sized pills (say from eighty to one hundred) with a sufficient quantity of tar, and take one pill from three to six times a day, and continue for several weeks if necessary. One of the best remedies known for chronic bronchitis, and what is sometimes called “clergyman's sore throat.”

PILLS FOR NEURALGIA.

Hyoscyamus, extract of, one dram; extract of aconite, thirty grains; macrotin, twenty grains; morphine, five grains. Make into forty pills, thickening the mass, if necessary, with a little powdered liquorice or ginger. Dose: One pill every three hours till relief is obtained. Good in neuralgia and all severe nervous pains.

BLEEDING AT THE LUNGS.

Eat freely of raw table salt, or take a teaspoonful three or four times a day of equal parts of powdered loaf sugar and rosin, or boil an ounce of dried yellow dock root in a pint of milk. Take a cupful two or three times a day.

FOR CONSUMPTION.

Take a teaspoonful of the expressed juice of horehound (the herb) and mix it with a gill of new milk. Drink it warm every morning. If persevered in it will perform wonders.

COUGH SYRUP.

Take horehound herb, elecampane root, spikenard root, ginseng root, black cohosh, and skunk cabbage root, of each a good-sized handful. Bruise and cover with spirits or whisky, and let stand ten days; then put all in a suitable vessel, add about four quarts of water and simmer slowly over a fire (but don't boil) for twelve hours, or till reduced to about three pints, then strain and add one pint of strained honey, half a pint each of number six, tincture lobelia, and tincture bloodroot (the vinegar or acetic tincture of bloodroot is the best) and four ounces of strong essence of anise, and you will have one of the best cough syrups known. Dose: A tablespoonful three to six times a day, according to circumstances. Good in all kinds of coughs and incipient consumption.

SOOTHING COUGH MIXTURE.

Take mucilage of gum arabic, oil of sweet almonds, syrup of balsam tolu, and wine of ipecac, of each one ounce; tincture of opium, half an ounce. Dose: For a grown person, one to two teaspoonfuls as often as required.

COUGH MIXTURE.

Take extract of liquorice, one ounce, powdered; nitrate of potash (saltpetre) and muriate of ammonia, of each two drams. Dissolve in half a pint of boiling water, and when cool add wine of ipecac, syrup of balsam tolu, and essence of anise, of each one ounce. Dose: From a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful several times a day. An excellent remedy for bronchitis, colds, and catarrhal coughs.

EXPECTORANT TINCTURE.

Take pulverized lobelia (seed or herb), powdered bloodroot, and powdered rattleroot (black cohosh), of each three ounces; alcohol and good vinegar, of each one pint. Digest for ten days or two weeks, then strain or filter and add four ounces each of wine of ipecac and tincture balsam of tolu and one ounce strong essence of anise. A portion of honey may be added if preferred. Dose: One to two teaspoonfuls repeated as often as circumstances require. Highly useful as an expectorant in coughs, colds, and all affections of the lungs.

COMPOUND TINCTURE OF MYRRH.

Take best gum myrrh, eight ounces; cayenne, balsam of fir, and nutmegs, of each one ounce; good brandy, two quarts. Bruise the solid articles, and let stand two weeks to digest (shake it once or twice every day), then strain or filter. Or, it may be made for immediate use by putting the whole in a stone jug and placing this in a warm sand bath or in a vessel of boiling water for twenty-four hours, shaking frequently. Dose: A teaspoonful is an ordinary dose for a grown person. Good in colic, pains in the stomach and bowels, diarrhœa, headache, sick stomach, and wherever a powerful stimulant is indicated. It is also valuable as a wash or external application for sprains, bruises, and foul ulcers and old sores. It is a preparation that no family should be without.

SURE REMEDY FOR BOWEL COMPLAINTS.

Take half an ounce bruised turkey rhubarb and half an ounce saleratus, steep or simmer slowly for fifteen minutes in a pint of water, strain and add a teacupful of white sugar, and heat again to dissolve; then add sixty drops oil of peppermint dissolved in one ounce of alcohol. Dose: From a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful every hour till relieved. An excellent remedy for diarrhœa, dysentery, and especially adapted to the bowel complaints of young children.

CORDIAL FOR SUMMER COMPLAINTS.

Take cloves, allspice, and cinnamon bark, of each half an ounce; white oak bark, one ounce. Bruise all, and boil in one quart of water down to half a pint; strain, add four ounces white sugar, dissolve by melting, then add half as much good brandy as there is of the liquid. Dose: One, two or three teaspoonfuls three to six times a day or oftener, according to age and urgency of symptoms. An infallible cure for cholera infantum, or summer complaints of children, and for all bowel complaints.

SCROFULOUS SYRUP.

Take yellow dock root, two pounds; stillingia root and bark of bittersweet root, of each one pound. Boil slowly in three or four gallons of water down to three quarts; strain, and add six pounds of white sugar. Dose: Half a wineglass three times a day. A valuable remedy for scrofula, and all scrofulous skin diseases, as tetter, herpes, leprosy, and the like; also a valuable alterative in all constitutional diseases.

EYEWATER.

Take half an ounce each of green tea and lobelia herb, and tincture a few days in four ounces of alcohol and water, equal parts. An invaluable eyewater for weak eyes and all kinds of sore and inflamed eyes. Use it two or three times a day.

TINCTURE FOR RHEUMATISM.

Take pulverized gum guaiac and allspice, of each four ounces; bloodroot, pulverized, two ounces; pearlash, one ounce; fourth proof brandy, one quart. Let stand and digest three or four days, shaking it two or three times a day. Dose: A teaspoonful three or four times a day, in a little milk, syrup or wine. An almost infallible remedy for rheumatism.

WORM ELIXIR.

Take gum myrrh and aloes, of each one ounce; saffron, sage leaves, and tansy leaves, of each half an ounce. Tincture in a pint of brandy for two weeks, and give to children a teaspoonful once a week to once a month as a preventive. They will never be troubled with worms as long as you do this.

DR. JORDAN'S CHOLERA REMEDY.

Take gum guaiac, prickly ash berries (or double as much bark of the root), cloves, and cinnamon bark, of each two ounces; gum camphor and gum myrrh, of each one ounce; gum kino, half an ounce. Reduce all to a coarse powder and add to one quart of best French brandy. Let it stand ten days or two weeks to digest, shaking the bottle two or three times a day to keep the ingredients from becoming impacted at the bottom; then strain and press out, and then take oil anise and oil peppermint, of each two drams; alcohol, four ounces. Mix the oils and alcohol together in a bottle and shake well till they are cut, then add to the former, and it is ready for use. Dose: From one to two teaspoonfuls every five, ten, fifteen or thirty minutes, according to the urgency of the symptoms. In cholera it should be given frequently, and if there are nausea and vomiting small doses are preferable; a single teaspoonful every five minutes till urgent symptoms are checked, then give it less frequently. It should always be given alone, unmixed with anything else. In ordinary diarrhœa, one or two teaspoonfuls taken once an hour will be sufficient. It is also an excellent remedy for colic and pains in the stomach and bowels, and will generally settle the stomach very soon in case of vomiting or nausea. It should always be kept in the house. Where it is needed for immediate use, it may be made in an hour or less by using alcohol instead of brandy and by boiling all in a stone jug, uncorked, by placing the jug in a vessel of boiling water, shaking or stirring frequently.

PILE OINTMENT.

Take say a teacupful of hog's lard, put in a flat or pewter dish, and take two bars of lead, flattened a little, and rub the lard with the flat ends and between them till it becomes black or of a dark lead color. Then burn equal parts of cavendish tobacco and old shoeleather in an iron vessel till charred. Powder these and mix into the lard till it becomes a thick ointment. Use once or twice a day as an ointment for the piles. An infallible cure.

WARTS AND CORNS.

The bark of the common willow burnt to ashes, mixed with strong vinegar and applied to the parts, will remove all warts, corns, and other excrescences.

DEAFNESS.

It is seldom that the power of hearing once entirely lost can ever be restored, and not always that even partial deafness can be cured, though it may often be relieved. Partial deafness is frequently owing to the accumulation and hardening in the ear of the ear wax, which may generally be remedied by dropping into the ear such articles as are calculated to soften, relax, and stimulate. For this purpose the following preparations are recommended as the best:

Take sulphuric ether, one ounce, and add to it one dram pulverized carbonate of ammonia. Let it stand a few days to form a solution. If it does not all dissolve, pour off carefully the liquid from the dregs, and of this liquid drop into the ear once a day from three to six drops. The patient should lay his head upon the opposite side at the time, and remain in that position a few minutes to allow the liquid to penetrate. This preparation is highly recommended, and if persevered in will, it is said, overcome almost any partial deafness or greatly relieve it.

ANOTHER.

Take pure olive oil, say one ounce, and half an ounce each of the tincture of lobelia and tincture of cayenne. Mix; and from a warm teaspoon drop into the ear four to six drops of this twice a day, shaking the vial well always before using it. This is relaxing, softening, and stimulating, and in all ordinary cases will answer the purpose. Turkey oil (or grease) is said to be still better than olive oil and may be used instead of it in this preparation. The following remedy, long kept a secret, is said to be infallible where it is possible for anything to effect a cure:

Take a common eel, remove the skin and intestines, and hang it up before the fire and let the oil drip into a pan or vessel. When done dripping, bottle the oil, and of this drop into the ear once a day or twice a day five or six drops from a warm teaspoon. I have heard remarkable accounts of the efficacy of this remedy, and doubt not but it is good. I believe it has never been published but once before. The secret was obtained with some difficulty from an old negro.

INVERTED TOE-NAIL.

This is a very troublesome and often painful affection. The edges or sides of the nail are disposed to turn down and grow into the flesh, giving rise to inflammation, ulceration, and often great pain and suffering. The best remedy I have ever known in this difficulty is to scrape with some sharp-pointed instrument, as the point of a penknife,