Wash for the Skin

An infusion of horse-radish in milk, or the fresh juice of house leek, are both good.

Honey water, very thick, is good in frosty weather.

Also, a wash made of 4 oz. potash, 4 oz. rose water, and 2 oz. lemon juice, mixed with 2 quarts of water; pour 2 table-spoonsful in a bason of water.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

To Remedy A Sluggish Liver

Boil two ounces of freshly-sliced dandelion root in two pints of water until the liquor is reduced to one pint, then add one ounce of compound tincture of horse-radish. Use occasionally.

Or, take occasionally ten minims of tincture of rhubarb, ten grains of bicarbonate of soda, and twenty grains of Epsom salts, in a wineglassful of water.

Source: Recipes for the Million

To correct a bad Taste and sourness in Wine

Put in a bag the root of wild horse-radish cut in bits. Let it down in the wine, and leave it there two days; take this out, and put another, repeating the same till the wine is perfectly restored. Or fill a bag with wheat; it will have the same effect.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

To Remove Freckles

The following lotion is highly recommended: One ounce of lemon juice, a quarter of a drachm of powdered borax, and half a drachm of sugar; mix in a bottle, and allow them to stand a few days, when the liquor should be rubbed occasionally on the hands and face. Another application is: Friar’s balsam one part, rose-water twenty parts.

Powdered nitre moistened with water and applied to the face night and morning, is said to remove freckles without injury to the skin.

Also, a tablespoonful of freshly grated horse-radish, stirred into a cupful of sour milk; let it stand for twelve hours, then strain and apply often. This bleaches the complexion also, and takes off tan.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

To Keep Milk Sweet

Put into a panful a spoonful of grated horse-radish, it will keep it sweet for days.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Draughts for the Feet

Take a large leaf from the horse-radish plant, and cut out the hard fibres that run through the leaf; place it on a hot shovel for a moment to soften it, fold it, and fasten it closely in the hollow of the foot by a cloth bandage.

Burdock leaves, cabbage leaves, and mullein leaves, are used in the same manner, to alleviate pain and promote perspiration.

Garlics are also made for draughts by pounding them, placing them on a hot tin plate for a moment to sweat them, and binding them closely to the hollow of the foot by a cloth bandage.

Draughts of onions, for infants, are made by roasting onions in hot ashes, and, when they are quite soft, peeling off the outside, mashing them, and applying them on a cloth as usual.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette