Health, To Enjoy: A Very Useful Recipe

One tablespoonful of lime-water taken in a little milk in a morning keeps a person in good health; or to look well and keep well, simply boil one pennyworth of watercress ten minutes in one pint of water, the water to be drunk in milk in equal parts; to each teacupful add one tablespoonful of lime water, and the best of health is the result; use it freely and at any time; the cost is a mere trifle. This entirely dispenses with all sorts of 2s. 6d Blood Mixture bottles, for everyone knows the value of the watercress, and most people know the value of lime water, and all know the properties of milk.

Source: Fray’s Golden Recipes for the use of all ages, E. Fray

Invaluable Dentifrice

Dissolve two ounces of borax in three pints of boiling water; before quite cold, add one tea-spoonful of tincture of myrrh, and one table-spoonful of spirits of camphor; bottle the mixture for use. One wine-glassful of this solution, added to half a pint of tepid water, is sufficient for each application.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley

Candied Lemon or Peppermint for Colds

Boil 1 1/2 pounds sugar in a half pint of water, till it begins to candy around the sides; put in 8 drops of essence; pour it upon buttered paper, and cut it with a knife.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

For Thickening The Hair

To one ounce of Palma Christi oil, add a sufficient quantity of bergamot or lavender to scent it. Apply it to the parts where it is most needed, brushing it well into the hair.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley

Cramp

Persons subject to this complaint, being generally attacked in the night, should have a board fixed at the bottom of the bed, against which the foot should be strongly pressed when the pain commences. This will seldom fail to afford relief. When it is more obstinate, a brick should be heated, wrapped in a flannel bag at the bottom of the bed, and the foot placed against it. The brick will continue warm, and prevent a return of the complaint. No remedy however is more safe or more certain than that of rubbing the affected part, to restore a free circulation. If the cramp attack the stomach or bowels, it is attended with considerable danger: medicine may relieve but cannot cure. All hot and stimulating liquors must be carefully avoided, and a tea-cupful of lukewarm gruel or camomile tea should be frequently given, with ten or fifteen drops of deliquidated salt of tartar in each.

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

Milk Of Almonds

Blanch 4 ounces of Jordan almonds, dry them with a towel, and then pound them in a mortar; add 2 drachms of white or curd soap, and rub it up with the almonds for about ten minutes or rather more, gradually adding one quart of rose-water, until the whole is well mixed, then strain through a fine piece of muslin, and bottle for use.

This is an excellent remedy for freckles and sunburns, and may be used as a general cosmetic, being applied to the skin after washing by means of the corner of a soft towel.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley

To Whiten The Hands

Take a wine-glassful of eau de Cologne, and another of lemon-juice; then scrape two cakes of brown Windsor soap to a powder, and mix well in a mould. When hard, it will be an excellent soap for whitening the hands.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley

Coughs

The extract of malt will be found an excellent remedy for coughs or colds. Pour as much hot water over half a bushel of pale ground malt as will just cover it; the water must not be boiling. In forty-eight hours drain off the liquor entirely, but without squeezing the grains. Put the former into a large sweetmeat pan, or saucepan, that there may be room to boil as quick as possible, without boiling over. When it begins to thicken, stir it constantly, till it becomes as thick as treacle. Take a dessert-spoonful of it three times a day.

Another remedy for a bad cough may be prepared as follows. Mix together a pint of simple mint water, two table-spoonfuls of sallad [sic] oil, two tea-spoonfuls of hartshorns, sweetened with sugar, and take two large spoonfuls of the mixture two or three times a day.

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

Cosmetic Soaps for Washing the Hands

Take a pound of castile soap, or any other nice old soap; scrape it fine; put it on the fire with a little water, stir it to a smooth paste; turn it into a bowl; add any kind of essence; beat it with a silver spoon till well mixed; thicken it with Indian meal, and keep it in small pots, closely covered; exposure to the air will harden it.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Costiveness

From whatever cause it may arise, frequent exercise in the open air, and abstinence from heating liquors, will be found very beneficial. To those who are afflicted with this complaint, it is particularly recommended that they should visit the customary retreat every morning at a stated hour, that nature may in this respect, by perseverance, acquire a habit of regularity. In obstinate cases, three drams of carbon may be taken two or three times a day, mixed with three ounces of lenitive electuary, and two drams of carbonate of soda, as circumstances may require. Half an ounce of Epsom salts, dissolved in a tumbler or two of cold water, and drank at intervals, will have a very salutary effect.

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