Boils
Soak 1/2 slice of crustless bread in 1 cup of black coffee for 10 minutes. Meanwhile saute 1/2 finely chopped onion and 2 tablespoons castor oil until soft, but not brown. Add soaked bread and stir well over slow heat for 2 minutes. Remove from stove and form into plasters. Place on boil as hot as can be borne. Repeat every 4 hours until the core has been removed. Clean wound with warm Dettol water and cover with a clean bandage.
Source: Die N.C.V.V. Resepte Boek
Baked Apples
Bake them in a tin roaster, as iron discolors them; pour molasses over them and bake until soft. This is good for opening the bowels of patients who are a little constipated.
Source: La Cuisine Creole
Dropsy
1 lb (454 gms) Epsom salts, 1 lb (454 gms) tamarind, 3 bottles water. Cut the tamarind up finely. Dissolve epsom salts in water. Add the tamarind and boil together until only 1 bottle of liquid is left. Strain and bottle. Drink 1 tablespoon in 3 tablespoons water, thrice daily, before meals.
Source: Die N.C.V.V. Resepte Boek
Simple Remedy for Chilblains
Soak them in warm bran and water, then rub them well with mustard-seed flour; but it will be better if they are done before they break.
Source: Recipes for the Million
Remedy for Weak Heart
To 1 bottle of gin add a big handful of green thyme. Leave to lie in the sun for 2 days, turning bottle periodically. Drink 1 tablespoon twice daily.
Source: Die N.C.V.V. Resepte Boek
Blackberry Cordial
Simmer nice ripe blackberries in water enough to cover them, and when they are tender take them out, mash them and strain them through a strong cloth; get all the juice out you can by squeezing, but do not let the pulp and seed come through the bag. Now add a little of the water they were boiled in, however not more than two tablespoonfuls to each pint of strained juice. To every pint of this liquor, add one pound of loaf sugar, one teaspoonful of mace, same of cloves and cinnamon. Boil all these together a few minutes, and strain it again to free it from the spice. When this syrup is cool, add to each pint a wineglass of good French brandy. If you cannot get brandy, substitute rum or whiskey, remembering to use twice as much as you would brandy. This is excellent for children during the prevalence of summer complaints, and an excellent tonic for all debilitated persons.
Source: La Cuisine Creole
To Destroy Crickets
To destroy crickets at night, set dishes or saucers filled with the grounds of beer or tea, on the kitchen-floor, and, in the morning, the crickets will be found dead from excess of drinking.
Source: Recipes for the Million