Golden Ointment

One pound lard and eight ounces beeswax melted. Have one ounce camphor gum put to five ounces of alcohol, one ounce organum, one ounce laudanum. Let all dissolve while you are melting the first two, then stir together till cold. Do not put these together too hot, or the camphor will go off in steam, and you will lose the good of it.

Source: The New Galt Cook Book, M. Taylor & F. McNaught

Cholera Medicine

Tincture of opium, spirits of camphor, tincture capsicum, each one fluid ounce; purified chloroform three fluid drachms, and sufficient stronger alcohol to make five fluid ounces. Each fluid drachm or teaspoonful contains about one hundred drops, being about twenty of each ingredient. Dose for adults, one teaspoonful.

Source: Tried and True Recipes, F.D.P. Jermain

Hair Invigorator

Bay rum, two pints; alcohol, one pint; castor oil, one ounce ; carb. ammonia, half an ounce ; tincture of cantharides, one ounce. Mix well. This compound will promote the growth of the hair and prevent it from falling out.

Source: The Canadian Family Cookbook, Grace E. Denison

Excellent Liniment for Sprains or Bruises

Two ounces gum camphor, eight ounces alcohol, one ounce organum, one ounce amber, one-half ounce oil spikenard, three ounces laudanum, four ounces sweet oil, eight ounces hartshorn, one ounce spirits turpentine.

Source: Tried and True Recipes, F.D.P. Jermain

To Relieve Neuralgia

When one is suffering from neuralgia in the head, put him in a warm bed. Make a brick very hot and cover it with several thicknesses of flannel. Fold a coarse, thick cloth and place it on the pillow. Lay the brick on this and wet thoroughly with rum. Rest the most painful part of the head or face on the brick, and throw a blanket over the patient, covering the head. Keep covered in this way until the pain ceases. When the blanket is removed, wipe the moisture from the head, face, and neck; then bathe in alcohol or rum, to prevent taking cold.

Another remedy is to make salt very hot by stirring it over the fire in a frying-pan; then pour it into a bag, which should be securely tied. Have the patient lie down, and cover him well. Place the bag of hot salt on that part of the head or face where the pain is located. The salt will retain the heat a long time. This method is much easier than the first, but it will not relieve one so quickly nor so thoroughly.

Source: Miss Parloa’s Young Housekeeper, Maria Parloa

Lotion for Chapped Hands

Soak 1/8 oz gum tragacanth in one pint soft water for three days, or until quite soft, then add to it one gill alcohol, 1 gill glycerine, and 1/4 gill cologne. Shake well and it is ready for use.

Source: Book of Recipes, Daughters of the American Revolution, Genesee Chapter

Cologne Water

No. 1:

1 drachm oil lavender.
1 drachm oil bergamot.
2 drachm oil lemon.
2 drachm oil rosemary.
50 drops tincture of musk.
8 drops oil of cinnamon.
8 drops oil of cloves.
1 pint of alcohol.

No. 2:

60 drops oil of lavender.
60 drops oil of bergamot.
60 drops oil of lemon.
60 drops orange-flower water.
1 pint of alcohol.

Cork and shake well.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Piles

Piles are varicose veins at the anus. If small and not ulcerated, opium ointment should be applied. Large piles require medical attention and, if in a very bad condition, surgical removal — quite a small and simple operation. Persons liable to piles should eat moderately and avoid alcohol, keep the bowels open, as straining aggravates the trouble; and be very careful to avoid sitting on damp ground or on stone, whether wet or dry.

Source: The Complete Household Adviser

To Make the Hair Soft and Glossy

Put one ounce of castor oil in one pint of bay rum or alcohol, and color it with a little of the tincture of alkanet root. Apply a little every morning.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Toilet or Face Powder

Take a quarter of a pound of wheat starch pounded fine; sift it through a fine sieve, or a piece of lace; add to it eight drops of oil of rose, oil of lemon thirty drops, oil of bergamot fifteen drops. Rub thoroughly together.

The French throw this powder into alcohol, shaking it, letting it settle, then pouring off the alcohol and drying the powder. In that case, the perfume is added lastly.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette