Another Remedy for Dropsy

Mix 1lb (454g) of pure honey with 1 dessertspoon of ground salpetre. Bottle and cork and drink 1 teaspoon twice daily.

Source: Die N.C.V.V. Resepte Boek

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

Dropsy

Gentle exercise and rubbing the parts affected, are highly proper in this complaint, and the tepid bath has often procured considerable relief. The patient ought to live in a warm dry place, not expose himself to cold or damp air, and wear flannel next the skin. Vegetable acids, such as vinegar, the juice of lemons and oranges, diluted with water, should be drank in preference to wine or spirits, either of which are generally hurtful. The diet should be light and nourishing, easy of digestion, and taken in moderation. Horseradish, onions and garlic, may be used instead of foreign spices; but tea, coffee, and punch, are alike improper.

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

Broom

This is a plant common enough in England, growing in abundance on most of our commons and heaths. It has very powerful and diuretic properties, which render it useful in cases of dropsy, and other diseases of the kind. The tops and seeds are the parts used, but principally the former. They are usually taken in the form of a decoction, and prepared thus :—

Broom Tops, 2 ounces.

Water, 1 quart.

Boil down to a pint and a half, and strain.

Dose:— A wineglassful three or four times a day.

In liver complaints the above decoction, with an equal quantity of dandelion roots, is held to be very efficacious. The same decoction will draw away all phlegmatic and watery humours from the joints, thereby helping the gout, sciatica, and pains of the hips and limbs; it cleanses the kidneys and expels the gravel and stone, provokes urine abundantly, and taken occasionally, will prevent the water and stone forming again in the body.

Source: Baldwin’s Herbal Guide To Health, G. Baldwin

For Dropsy

Put a quarter of a pound of cream of tartar, and a pound of new nails, in a stone jug, with half a gallon of water, let it stand three or four days, occasionally shaking it; take a table spoonful three times a day, on an empty stomach, and half an hour after each dose, take two spoonsful of mustard seed or scraped horse-radish. If the swelling abates, you may take the medicine less frequently, or omit every other day, but do not leave it off until you are entirely cured. After it has stood some time, it becomes stronger, when you may put in more water. This has been highly recommended for the dropsy.

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

Mustard Whey, for Constipation, &c.

Take a cupful of milk, and the same quantity of water, and boil them together with half an ounce of mustard-seed till the curd separates, then strain. Dose : One dessert-spoonful an hour before breakfast.

A teacupful of the above mixture, taken several times a day, gives great relief in cases of dropsy, palsy, and chronic rheumatism.

Source: Recipes for the Million

A Cure for Dropsy

Six lemons, one pound of loaf sugar, one ounce of cream of tartar, one ounce of magnesia, two ounces of parsley seed. Slice the lemons thin, put them and the parsley seed into three quarts of water, boil down to one quart, strain and add the other things to them. Dose, a wine glass three times a day.

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

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

Dandelion Tea

Infuse one ounce of dandelion in a jug with a pint of boiling water for fifteen minutes; sweeten with brown sugar or honey, and drink several tea-cupfuls during the day. The use of this tea is recommended as a safe remedy in all bilious affections; it is also an excellent beverage for persons afflicted with dropsy.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Infusion of Foxglove

Take of

• Dried leaves of foxglove, one drachm;
• Boiling water, eight ounces;
• Spirit of cinnamon, one ounce.

Macerate for four hours, and filter.

This is the infusion so highly recommended by Withering. Half an ounce, or an ounce, of it, may be taken twice a day in dropsical complaints. The spirit of cinnamon is added to improve its flavour, and to counteract its sedative effects.

Source: The Edinburgh New Dispensatory, Andrew Duncan