Dry Lips

When the lips, gums and tongue are dry in acute diseases, they should be washed several times daily with glycerine, diluted with an equal quantity of water. A little lemon juice or a few drops of rosewater can be added to make it more pleasant to the patient.

Source: Household Gas Cookery Book, Helen Edden

Flax-Seed Lemonade

4 tablespoonfuls flax-seed (whole.)
1 quart boiling water poured upon the flax-seed.
Juice of two lemons, leaving out the peel.
Sweeten to taste.

Steep three hours in a covered pitcher. If too thick, put in cold water with the lemon-juice and sugar. Ice for drinking.

It is admirable for colds.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Wash for Hands

Glycerine and lemon juice, equal parts of each.

Source: Flint Hills Cook Book

Slippery-Elm Bark Tea

Break the bark into bits, pour boiling water over it, cover and let it infuse until cold. Sweeten, ice, and take for summer disorders, or add lemon-juice and drink for a bad cold.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Apple Toddy

Boil a large juicy pippin in a quart of water, and when it has broken to pieces strain off the water. While it is still boiling-hot, add a glass of fine old whiskey, a little lemon-juice, and sweeten to taste.

Take hot at bed-time for influenza.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Bites

Apply vaseline and burnt alum; lemon juice for bee stings ; common bluing for bites of any insect, or vaseline, lard and burnt alum can be applied.

Source: 1001 Household Hints, Ottilie V. Ames

Complexion Wash

Put in a vial one drachm of benzoin gum in powder, one drachm nutmeg oil, six drops of orange-blossom tea, or apple blossoms put in half pint of rain-water and boiled down to one teaspoonful and strained, one pint of sherry wine. Bathe the face morning and night; will remove all flesh-worms and freckles, and give a beautiful complexion. Or, put one ounce of powdered gum of benzoin in a pint of whisky; to use, put in water in wash-bowl till it is milky, allowing it to dry without wiping. This is perfectly harmless.

Cream cures sun-burn on some complexions, lemon juice is best on others, and cold water suits still others best.

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

To Remove Freckles

The following lotion is highly recommended: One ounce of lemon juice, a quarter of a drachm of powdered borax, and half a drachm of sugar; mix in a bottle, and allow them to stand a few days, when the liquor should be rubbed occasionally on the hands and face. Another application is: Friar’s balsam one part, rose-water twenty parts.

Powdered nitre moistened with water and applied to the face night and morning, is said to remove freckles without injury to the skin.

Also, a tablespoonful of freshly grated horse-radish, stirred into a cupful of sour milk; let it stand for twelve hours, then strain and apply often. This bleaches the complexion also, and takes off tan.

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

Stained Hands

To remove stains, rub a slice of raw potato upon the stains; or wash the hands in lemon juice or steeped laurel-leaves.

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

Colds

At the first sign of “taking a cold” — use some simple remedy, such as inhaling camphor from time to time for several hours. Dampen the center of a handkerchief in water, and drop on it some spirit of camphor. Eat a sliced onion.

Take two drops of spirit of camphor on a tsp. sugar.

Or, drop five drops camphor in ½ tumbler of water. Take a tsp. every half hour.

Ginger tea is a much valued old-fashioned remedy. Pour boiling water over a tbsp. bruised ginger root. Let stand two hours. The dose is 1 tbsp. every hour or two.

If the “cold” continues, take a laxative, such as castor oil or rhubarb, and follow the dose with a hot foot bath at night and hot lemonade after getting into bed, to induce perspiration. Keep well covered.

If a cough comes with the cold, lemon juice and sugar syrup make a pleasant cough remedy; or molasses-and-vinegar syrup is liked by children. Mix in the proportion of 1 tbsp. vinegar to 2 tbsp. molasses.

Flaxseed tea will sometimes relieve a “tickling” cough. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over 1 tbsp. whole flaxseeds. Stir; let simmer gently one-half hour. Add juice of half a lemon, and sugar if desired. Take a tbsp. as often as wished.

If the chest is sore, rub it with camphorated oil, or ammonia liniment, which is made by shaking together in a bottle 4 tbsp. olive (sweet) oil and 1 tbsp. household ammonia. This hardens upon standing a few days — so it is best made as needed.

All these are simple home remedies, but if a cold is severe, see a doctor. A neglected cold is dangerous.

Source: The Mary Frances First Aid Book, Jane Eayre Fryer