Digestive Pills

Rhubarb, two ounces; ipecacuanha, half an ounce; cayenne pepper, quarter of an ounce; soap, half an ounce; ginger, quarter of an ounce; gamboge, half an ounce. Mix, and divide into four grain pills.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Drink for the Sick

Pour a table-spoonful of capillaire, and the same of good vinegar, into a tumbler of fresh cold water. Tamarinds, currants, fresh or in jelly, scalded currants or cranberries, make excellent drinks; with a little sugar or not, as most agreeable. Or put a tea-cupful of cranberries into a cup of water, and mash them. In the meantime boil two quarts of water with one large spoonful of oatmeal, and a bit of lemon peel; then add the cranberries, and as much fine Lisbon sugar as shall leave a smart flavour of the fruit. Add a quarter of a pint of sherry, or less, as may be proper: boil all together for half an hour, and strain off the drink.

Source: The Cook And Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary, Mary Eaton

Remarks upon a Deeply Seated Cough

It is very important to begin in time with a cold. Consumption is sometimes prevented by very simple remedies. To put Burgundy pitch plasters on the breast and back of the neck, often has a good
effect; they should be re-spread frequently, and when one part is irritated, change them to another place. Put one on your side if you have a pain there.

Flannel should be put on next the skin by all means, which, with the above simple remedies, will cure a cold, if begun with in time.

I have frequently known new flannel put on those that usually wore it, greatly to benefit a delicate person. The increased irritation of the new flannel acts on the pores of the skin and promotes circulation. Hair soles worn in the shoe, or socks made of flannel, or soft buckskin worn under the stockings, are very good to keep the feet warm and dry. Persons predisposed to consumption should have nourishing food, and not eat too much at a time; they should avoid strong tea or coffee, and drink milk. Eggs, oysters, fresh fish and fowls, are very good for them. Fruit of all kinds is useful.

They should take exercise in the air, particularly riding on horse-back, or take a short walk, but not so as to be fatigued; to work moderately in a garden, when the ground is not too damp, is good exercise for a delicate person; the smell of fresh earth, and of flowers, is beneficial to both body and mind. After taking exercise, a glass of lemonade is very refreshing, and promotes appetite.

If there should be perspiration at night, change the sheets and pillow-cases frequently, and the under garments; air the chamber and bed-clothes every day; if the weather is too damp to raise the windows, shake up the bed, and leave it unmade half of the day, and put it out in the sun occasionally.

By all means avoid strong medicine, or any thing that has a tendency to weaken the body.

Sometimes blisters are used with very good effect; also, rubbing the breast and back with camphor or spirits, or with a piece of dry flannel.

Taking anodyne drops, particularly laudanum, should be avoided, if possible; they may still the cough during the night, but it will come on with increased violence in the morning; they weaken the stomach, increase the fever, and sometimes cause delirium.

Everything that tends to excite or irritate the mind, should be kept from them. It is very important to talk cheerfully to sick persons, particularly if confined to their chamber, which can be done without lightness or trifling.

If they see gloomy faces around them, it has a very disheartening effect; and, if the mind sinks, such is its intimate connection with the body, that it is hard to raise it.

I have known persons by judicious management to live for many years, after it was thought they were in a deep decline, by avoiding weakening medicines, taking exercise on horse-back and on foot, and never indulging in a full meal.

Sometimes such persons have very good appetites, and it is a satisfaction to their friends to see them eat heartily; but they should eat something frequently, rather than over-load the stomach too much. When they come in hungry from a ride, to beat up an egg with a tea-spoonful of wine, and a little sugar and nutmeg put in a tumbler with some milk, and taken with a cracker or biscuit, or a piece of thin toast broken up in it, has a very strengthening effect.

Persons are seldom benefitted by a strict diet, but it is sometimes enforced till they lose their appetite and cannot eat.

If the weather is so that exercise cannot be taken out of doors, some method should be devised for taking it in the house. Rubbing furniture and playing battle-door, are good exercise for a female, but should not be taken too much at a time.

Men that are confined to the house are sometimes very much at a loss what to do; if such would purchase a few tools, and appropriate a spare room as a workshop, it would promote their health. I have known men that were but little acquainted with the use of tools, do many useful and ornamental pieces of work, that were greatly valued by their friends; and the exertion kept their spirits from sinking, when the weather was too inclement to take exercise in the open air.

Source: Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers, Elizabeth E. Lea

Erysipelas

The decoction of sarsaparilla has proved useful in cases of erysipelas. Take two ounces of sarsaparilla, one of sassafras, one of burdock root, and one of liquorice; boil them slowly in three pints of water, keeping it covered close, until reduced to one-half. Take two table-spoonsful four times a day.

While taking medicine for the erysipelas, meat and all strong food should be avoided, and every thing that has a tendency to inflame the blood. Dusting the parts affected, with rye or buckwheat flour, sometimes has a cooling effect, and bathing with camphor or spirits will allay the irritation.

Nettle rash is very much like erysipelas, and the same treatment is good for both. Slippery-elm bark, chipped, and let to stand in cold water till it becomes thick, is a very cooling drink. It may be filled up the second time. Barley water is also a suitable drink.

Erysipelas is frequently brought on by violent exercise, and the perspiration being checked too suddenly. Persons that have once had it, should avoid extremes of heat and cold, and pay strict attention to diet–not eating any thing that disagrees with them. All acids, particularly pickles, are improper.

The stomach should be cleansed by emetics. Small and frequent doses of senna and salts, if taken just at going to bed, will not occasion much sickness, and tend greatly to relieve the system of this unpleasant disease. Where the case is slight, the rhubarb pills sometimes give relief. The pores of those that are subject to it are generally open, and flannel should be worn all the year, to prevent too sudden a check of perspiration.

Source: Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers, Elizabeth E. Lea

Dropsy

Gentle exercise and rubbing the parts affected, are highly proper in this complaint, and the tepid bath has often procured considerable relief. The patient ought to live in a warm dry place, not expose himself to cold or damp air, and wear flannel next the skin. Vegetable acids, such as vinegar, the juice of lemons and oranges, diluted with water, should be drank in preference to wine or spirits, either of which are generally hurtful. The diet should be light and nourishing, easy of digestion, and taken in moderation. Horseradish, onions and garlic, may be used instead of foreign spices; but tea, coffee, and punch, are alike improper.

Source: The Cook And Housekeeper’s Complete and Universal Dictionary, Mary Eaton