For Nervous Affections

Take a small wine-glassful of the following mixture: a tea-spoonful of sal volatile, of tincture of hops, and an equal portion of infusion of orange peel and of gentian.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Bark Gargle

Boil 1 oz. powdered bark and 1 drachm myrrh, in 1 1/2 pint of water, over a slow fire, till one third is wasted; strain, then add a table-spoonful of honey, and a tea-spoonful of spirits of lavender.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

For Bilious Complaints and Indigestion

Pour over twenty grains each of rhubarb and ginger, and a handful of camomile flowers, a pint of boiling water. A wine-glassful the first in the morning, and an hour before dinner.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Gout Cordial

Rhubarb 1 oz., senna, coriander seeds, sweet fennel seeds, cochineal, saffron, and liquorice root, of each, a 1/4 oz., and of jar raisins 4 oz. Let the raisins be stoned, and all the ingredients be bruised. Put them into a quart of French brandy. Shake well every day for a fortnight. Take 1 table-spoonful, with peppermint, or plain water.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

For Weakness of Stomach

1 drachm of prepared Columba root, and 1/2 drachm of rhubarb root, infused in 1/2 pint of boiling water, one day: add 1 oz. tincture of Columba, and a little sugar. 2 table-spoonsful, twice a day.– Or: put about 25 camomile flowers into 1/2 a pint boiling water, with 3 cloves, and 2 hops, cover close and let it stand all night: a tea-cupful first in the morning, and again an hour before dinner. If giddiness ensues, the camomile does not agree with the patient, and must not be continued. Where it does agree, this will be found to restore the appetite.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Mustard Whey, for Dropsy and for Rheumatism

Boil 1 1/2 oz. bruised mustard seed, in a quart of milk and water, till the curd which forms is separated. Strain it and take a tea-cupful three times a day.

Another for Rheumatism: A handful of scraped horse-radish, and a table-spoonful of whole mustard seed, infused in a bottle of Madeira; the longer the better. A wine-glassful in bed at night, and another before the patient rises.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Garlic Syrup, for Hooping, or any other Cough

Put 3 roots of garlic, sliced thinly and transversely, with 4 oz. honey, and 4 oz. vinegar, into a 1/2 pint bason, and set that into a large wash-hand bason; let it infuse half an hour, then strain it. Take the first in the morning, and the last at night, a tea-spoonful of the syrup, in an equal quantity of brandy and water; put the water in the glass first.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

For a Sore Throat

At the beginning of a sore throat, get fresh ivy leaves, tack them together, warm them, and put the shady side to the throat.– Or: wet bread-crumbs with brandy, and tie them round the throat. Make a gargle of 2 carrots, sliced and boiled, and use it often.– Or: dissolve 4 oz. camphor in a pint of rectified spirits of wine. Dip a piece of new Welsh flannel into this, and apply it to the throat. Be careful to wet frequently.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

A Carrot Poultice

Boil washed carrots, and pound them to a pulp with a wooden pestle; add an equal quantity of wheaten meal, and 2 table-spoonsful yeast, and wet it with beer or porter. Let it stand before the fire to ferment. The soft part to be made into a poultice with lard.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett