To take out Mildew from Linen

January 31st, 2017

Mix some soft soap with powdered starch, half as much salt, and the juice of a lemon ; apply on both sides with a brush, and lay it on the grass day and night, till the stain comes out.

Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott

How to make Rice Water

January 29th, 2017

To six ounces of rice add two quarts of water, and two ounces of Valentia raisins; boil these very gently for about half an hour, or rather more; strain off the water into a jug, add about two table-spoonfuls of brandy. Rice water, prepared as above, is recommended in cases of dysentery and diarrhoea.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Whooping Cough

January 27th, 2017

Bruise a tumbler of flaxseed, three ounces of liquorice, two ounces of loaf sugar, two of strained honey. Pour to these a quart of water; boil until reduced half. Give frequently. Hog’s lard and molasses in equal quantities with a little laudanum is also good.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book

Specific for a Cough

January 25th, 2017

Take equal quantities of camomile flowers, elecampane, life-everlasting, mullen, a few races of ginger, and as much fat lightwood splinters as camomile. Boil to a strong tea; strain it, and add enough honey and sugar mixed in equal quantities; boil down to a syrup; add enough good apple vinegar to give a pleasant acid taste. Pills made of fresh tar, brown sugar, and the yolk of an egg,
are good for a cough. Pills of fresh rosin taken from the pine tree are also good.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book

To keep away Bed-Bugs

January 23rd, 2017

Scald and saturate the holes and bedstead thoroughly with hot strong soap-suds, or water diluted with corrosive sublimate ; dip the cord also in the same liquor. Then, before putting up the bedstead, dip the feathered end of a quill into soft soap, or hard soap melted, or any kind of paint, and work it round in the cord-holes of the beams and elsev/here. This renders every part obnoxious to them, and they will not inhabit it.

Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott

Putrid Sore Throat

January 21st, 2017

Mix one gill of strong apple vinegar, cue tablespoonful of common salt, tablespoonful of strained honey, half a pod of red pepper; boil them together; strain into half a pint of strong sage tea. In severe cases give half a teaspoonful for an adult every hour; decrease the dose as the disease is relieved. Use some as a gargle.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book

A Cure for a Hard Dry Cough

January 19th, 2017

Take of each one table-spoonful — spermaceti grated, honey, and peppermint water; mix all together with the yolks of two eggs in a gallipot. A tea-spoonful to be taken on the tongue, and allowed to be swallowed slowly as it dissolves.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

To Eradicate Corns

January 17th, 2017

Bathe the corn in warm water, with a sponge, on going to bed, until it has become tender ; then wet the corn with a bit of slackened potash, or some caustic of potash, or with a very strong ley. Repeat two or three times.

Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott

For Coughs and Colds

January 15th, 2017

Equal parts of syrup of squills, Bateman’s drops, and sweet spirits of nitre; make a tea of flaxseed; flavor it by boiling sufficient lemon in it; sweeten with loaf sugar if liked. Into a wineglass of this, put a tablespoonful of the mixture; take it upon going to bed. Paregoric may be used in the place of Bateman’s drops. Give it at intervals of two or three hours until the cough is relieved.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book

Croup

January 13th, 2017

A layer of onions sliced and brown sugar – a teaspoonful of the syrup is a dose. Put upon the chest a plaster of Scotch snuff. Grease a cloth three or four inches long, two or three wide ; sprinkle over it the snuff. Remove the plaster as soon as the stomach becomes nauseated.

The premonitory symptoms of croup are a shrill, sonorous cough, cold hands, and flushed face. The patient is not always sick, and is often gayer than usual. Use without delay a plaster of mustard upon the throat, or apply to the throat a strip of flannel dipped in turpentine or spirits of hartshorn. Give nauseating doses of hive syrup or syrup of squills. When these remedies are used promptly, they usually give relief.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book

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    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.