For a Sprain
Stir the white of an egg with alum, until it curdles; rub the part affected often.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
To Prevent A Blister On The Heel
If shoes slip and cause blisters on the heels, rub paraffin on the stocking. In a short time the slipping will stop.
Source: Fowler’s Household Helps, A.L. Fowler
For A Hoarseness
Sweeten a 1/4 pint of hyssop water with sugar candy, and set it over the fire; when quite hot, stir in the yolk of an egg well beaten, and drink it off; this may be taken night and morning.– Or: put a new laid egg in as much lemon juice as will cover it: let it stand twenty-four hours, and the shell will be dissolved. Break the egg, then take away the skin. Beat it well together, add 2 oz. of brown sugar candy pounded, 1/4 pint of rum, a wine-glassful of salad oil, and beat all well together. A table-spoonful the first in the morning, and the last at night.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
Astringent Mixture
An astringent mixture, in case of dysentery, may be made of three ounces of cinnamon water, mixed with as much common water, an ounce and a half of spirituous cinnamon-water, and half an ounce of japonic confection. A spoonful or two of this mixture may be taken every four hours, after the necessary evacuations have been allowed, and where the dysentery has not been of long standing, interposing every second or third day a dose of rhubarb.
Source: The Cook And Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary, Mary Eaton
Chilblains
Make a liniment, of 1 oz. of palma oil, 1 oz. of expressed oil of mace, and 2 drachms of camphor.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
An Excellent Bitter
Cut 1/2 oz. of gentian in thin slices into a stone jar, with the same quantity of fresh orange peel and sliced ginger. Pour over them 1 quart of boiling water, and let it stand ten hours. Strain it, add a gill of sherry, and bottle it. For a weak stomach, a wine-glassful the first thing in the morning will create an appetite.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett
Burns
In slight cases, the juice of onions, a little ink or brandy rubbed immediately on the part affected, will prevent blisters. The juice of burdock, mixed with an equal quantity of olive oil, will make a good ointment for the purpose, and the fresh leaves of that plant may also be applied as a kind of plaster. Houseleek used by itself, or mixed with cream, will afford quick relief in external inflammations. A little spirit of turpentine, or linseed oil, mixed with lime water, if kept constantly to the part will remove the pain. But warm vinegar and water, frequently applied with a woollen cloth, is most to be depended on in these cases.
Source: The Cook And Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary, Mary Eaton
Sassafras Jelly
Take the pith of sassafras boughs, break it in small pieces, and let it soak in cold water till the water becomes glutinous. It has the flavor of sassafras, and is much relished by the sick, and is also good nourishment.
Source: Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book, Catherine Beecher
For Insomnia
A heaping bowl of bread and milk, seasoned with salt, and eaten just before retiring, is recommended as a sure cure for the worst case of insomnia.
Source: Fowler’s Household Helps, A.L. Fowler
Plaster for a Cough
Beat together 1 oz. each, of bees-wax, white Burgundy pitch, and rosin, 1/4 oz. coarse turpentine, 1/2 oz. oil of mace; spread it on white leather, the shape of a heart; when it flies off, renew it, two or three times.
Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett