Remedy for Rheumatism
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
Cholera Mixture
Laudanum, tincture of Rhubarb, and spirits of camphor, equal parts. Begin with thirty drops, taken clear and unmixed, with a little sugar placed in the mouth afterwards. Repeat the dose (after every evacuation) increasing it if the case becomes urgent to sixty drops, (a teaspoonful), or ninety if necessary. No household should be without this remedy, particularly in the summer.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
For Sore Throat
Take a small quantity of chlorate potassa, pour boiling water on it, and let it stand until it takes up all it will, then add old rye whisky equal to the amount of water you used. Add to this tincture of capsicum until the mixture is pretty sharp, and then it is ready for use. This is good for a gargle in all cases of sore throat and is an excellent remedy for diphtheria, using it both as a gargle and internally. Dose:— One teaspoonful every hour, or when very bad every half hour. Water will only dissolve a certain quantity of potassa. A good rule, is to take a half a pint of water, and when it has absorbed all the potassa it will, pour the water off and add a half a pint of whisky. The capsicum is harmless so there is no danger of getting too much in, but to this quantity I should say add about two tablespoonfuls, which will make it sufficiently hot.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
Receipt for Chronic Diarrhea
Cinnamon seed one-half ounce, cardamon seed one-quarter of an ounce, carroway seed one-quarter of an ounce, orange peel two ounces, English gentian one ounce, camomile flowers one-half ounce. Put on to the above one quart of old rye whisky. (They must all be ground up first).
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
Blackberry Syrup
Half a pound of blackberry root, and one-half pound of white oak bark, cut into small pieces or pulverized, and boiled in one gallon of water until it is reduced to two quarts, then strain, and boil up with cloves, cinnamon and pepper, and enough sugar to make a thick syrup. Add one gill best French brandy to each quart. Bottle and seal with wax, when it will keep for years. This was used most successfully during the late war, in cases of dysentery.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
Toast Water
Toast thoroughly a slice of stale bread, put it in a jug, and pour over it a quart of water which has been boiled and cooled, and in two hours decant ; a small piece of orange or lemon peel put into the jug with the bread improves the flavor greatly. This forms a good drink in febrile afflictions.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
Remedy for Diptheria
Chlorate of potassa is a well known means of arresting the progress of diphtheria. A solution should be kept in every family medicine chest, ready to be administered in every suspicious case of
sore throat. The solution is made by dissolving half an ounce of the chlorate in a pint of boiling water. It should be preserved in a bottle, closely corked, and when used the bottle should be shaken with sufficient violence to diffuse the crystalline sediments through the water. The dose is a tablespoonful thrice daily.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
A Splendid Remedy for Dysentery
A dessert spoonful of olive oil every four hours, and an opium pill between, this is the quantity for an adult, of course it must be much less for a child.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook