For Sore Throat

April 24th, 2022

Make a gargle of cayenne pepper, honey and spirits, or sage tea, with alum and honey, or figs boiled, mashed and strained, and use it once in two hours. If it is very bad, steam the mouth with a funnel held over hot vinegar, and put on a hot poultice of hops, boiled in weak ley and thickened with corn-meal; there should be a little lard spread over; renew it every time it gets cold. Another very good poultice, is hot mush strewed with powdered camphor; put it on as hot as can be borne, and change it when cold. A purgative should be given, either of senna and salts, castor oil; or rhubarb and soap pills. An emetic is of great importance, and has caused the throat to break when persons have been very ill.

Sore throats have been cured when quinsy was apprehended, by using powdered camphor and lard on flannel. It is a good way, when persons are subject to it, to keep an ounce of camphor mixed with lard, in a wide-mouthed bottle, or jar; and corked tight. The cayenne pepper and honey gargle should also be kept ready mixed, and used when the first symptoms appear; or in a violent attack, a plaster of snuff and lard may be applied with benefit, keeping it on only a few minutes at a time. Sometimes a bag of hot ashes sprinkled with vinegar, and applied hot as can be borne, has cured a sore throat in one night. Persons that have been afflicted for years with repeated attacks of sore throat and quinsy, have been cured by bathing the throat, neck and ears with cold water every morning. The constant use of the shower bath is very important. Keep the feet warm.

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

Influenza, To Remove

September 16th, 2021

Place the feet in hot water, with a blanket spread over the knees, for twenty minutes, then, without stopping to dry them, dab off the majority of the water; place the feet in a warm blanket at the moment of getting into bed, and drink a glassful of hot lemonade.

Or, mix a quarter of a pound of ginger, an ounce and a half of cayenne pepper, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves. Dissolve a teaspoonful in a cupful of water, sweeten to taste, and take at bed-time.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Gargle for Sore Throat

September 2nd, 2021

Make a gargle of one teaspoonful of molasses, one of salt, and one half-teaspoonful of cayenne-pepper. Mix these with one teacupful of hot water. When cool, add one quarter of a cup of cider-vinegar.

Source: The Universal Cookery Book, Gertrude Strohm

Embrocation for Rheumatism, Sprains, etc.

February 15th, 2019

Beat up two raw eggs and add them to half pint of vinegar, half pint turpentine and 1 oz cayenne pepper essence. Keep in a corked bottle and shake from time to time. The mixture is ready for use a few hours after making, and should be well rubbed in to the affected parts.

Source: Household Management, E. Stoddard Eckford & M.S. Fitzgerald

Cure for Diarrhea

December 15th, 2018

The following is said to be an excellent cure for the above distressing complaint: Laudanum, two ounces; spirits of camphor, two ounces; essence of peppermint, two ounces; Hoffman’s anodyne, two ounces; tincture of cayenne pepper, two drachms; tincture of ginger, one ounce. Mix all together. Dose, teaspoonful in a little water, or a half teaspoonful repeated in an hour afterward in a tablespoonful of brandy. This preparation, it is said, will check diarrhea in ten minutes, and abate other premonitory symptoms of cholera immediately. In cases of cholera, it has been used with great success to restore reaction by outward application.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Cure for Sore Throat in All Its Different Forms

November 25th, 2018

Two ozs. Cayenne Pepper, one oz. common Salt, one-half pint of Vinegar. Warm over a slow fire and gargle the throat and mouth every hour. Garlic and Onion poultice applied to the outside. Castor Oil, one spoonful to keep the bowels open.

Source: One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus

Remedy for Lockjaw

December 23rd, 2017

If any person is threatened or taken with lockjaw from injuries of the arms, legs or feet, do not wait for a doctor, but put the part injured in the following preparation: Put hot wood-ashes into water as warm as can be borne; if the injured part cannot be put into water, then wet thick folded cloths in the water and apply them to the part as soon as possible, at the same time bathe the backbone from the neck down with some laxative stimulant–say cayenne pepper and water, or mustard and water (good vinegar is better than water); it should be as hot as the patient can bear it. Don’t hesitate; go to work and do it, and don’t stop until the jaws will come open. No person need die of lockjaw if these directions are followed.

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

To Keep out Mosquitoes and Bats

June 24th, 2017

If a bottle of the oil of pennyroyal is left uncorked in a room at night, not a mosquito, nor any other blood-sucker, will be found there in the morning. Mix potash with powdered meal, and throw it into the rat-holes of a cellar, and the rats will depart. If a rat or a mouse get into your pantry, stuff into its hole a rag saturated with a solution of cayenne pepper, and no rat or mouse will touch the rag for the purpose of opening communication with a depot of supplies.

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

Another Mixture for Cholera

May 24th, 2016

Laudanum two ounces, spirits of camphor two ounces, essence of peppermint two ounces, Hoffman’s anodyne two ounces, tincture of cayenne pepper two drachms, tincture of ginger one ounce. This is also invaluable. A teaspoonful in a little water, or a half a teaspoonful repeated in an hour afterward in a tablespoonful of brandy. This preparation will check diarrhea in ten minutes, and abate other premonitory symptoms of cholera immediately.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Remedy for Rheumatism

April 28th, 2016

One-half pint of turpentine, one-half pint of alcohol, one ounce of camphor, one ounce saltpetre, one ounce ammonia, one-eighth of an ounce of cayenne pepper. Shake well before applying.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

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    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.