For Insomnia

A heaping bowl of bread and milk, seasoned with salt, and eaten just before retiring, is recommended as a sure cure for the worst case of insomnia.

Source: Fowler’s Household Helps, A.L. Fowler

Washes

An infusion of horseradish in milk, makes one of the safest and best washes for the skin; or the fresh juice of houseleek, mixed with an equal quantity of new milk or cream. Honey water made rather thick, so as to form a kind of varnish on the skin, is a useful application in frosty weather, when the skin is liable to be chipped; and if it occasions any irritation or uneasiness, a little fine flour or pure hair powder should be dusted on the hands or face. A more elegant wash may be made of four ounces of potash, four ounces of rose water, and two of lemon juice, mixed in two quarts of water. A spoonful or two of this mixture put into the basin, will scent and soften the water intended to be used.

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

Asses’ Milk

Asses’ milk, so beneficial in consumptive cases, should be milked into a glass that is kept warm, by being placed in a bason of hot water. The fixed air that it contains sometimes occasions pain in the stomach; at first therefore a tea-spoonful of rum may be taken with it, but should only be put in the moment it is to be swallowed. The genuine milk far surpasses any imitation of it that can be made; but a substitute may be found in the following composition. Boil a quart of water with a quart of new milk, an ounce of white sugar-candy, half an ounce of eringo-root, and half an ounce of conserve of roses, till the quantity be half wasted. As this is an astringent, the doses must be proportioned accordingly, and the mixture is wholesome only while it remains sweet.

Another way. Mix two spoonfuls of boiling water, two of milk, and an egg well beaten. Sweeten with white sugar-candy pounded: this may be taken twice or thrice a day.

Or, boil two ounces of hartshorn-shavings, two ounces of pearl barley, two ounces of candied eringo-root, and one dozen of snails that have been bruised, in two quarts of water till reduced to one. Mix with an equal quantity of new milk, when taken, twice a day.

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

Kidney, Stone In The

When there is much pain take from five to fifteen drops of tincture of henbane in a little water three times a day. Live chiefly on milk and soda.

Source: Fray’s Golden Recipes for the use of all ages, E. Fray

Sinapisms

The sinapism is a poultice made of vinegar instead of milk, and rendered warm and stimulating by the addition of mustard, horseradish, or garlic. The common sinapism is made of equal quantities of bread crumbs and mustard, a sufficient quantity of strong vinegar, and mixing all together into a poultice. When a sinapism is required to be more stimulating, a little bruised garlic may be added. Sinapisms are employed to recal the blood and spirits to a weak part, as in the case of palsy; they are also of service in deep-seated pains, as in the case of sciatica. When the gout seizes the head or stomach, they are applied to the feet to bring the disorder down, and are likewise applied to the soles of the feet in a low state of fever. They should not be suffered to lie on till they have raised blisters, but till the parts become red, and will continue so when pressed with the finger.

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

Hay Fever, To Cure

This unpleasant complaint may be cured by aconite and white wine whey taken at bed-time. Boil half a pint of milk, add a little aconite and a glass of sherry, strain through muslin, and sweeten the whey with white sugar.

To twelve parts of absolute phenol, eight parts of carbonate of ammonia, twenty-two parts of strong solution of ammonia, half a part of oil of lavender, and one and a half parts of camphor, add a little sifted pine sawdust. Inhale five or six times a day, or when the sneezing comes on.

Relief has often been found by wearing tinted side spectacles to soften the light and lessen the glare of the sun.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Bad Legs

A bad leg should be frequently washed in warm milk, and afterwards dusted with camphor dust, and a cure is the result; or, four ounces of mutton fat, taken from next the kidneys, melted and strained, and when cool mixed with one pennyworth of red precipitate, is one of the best remedies to use as an ointment for bad legs.

Source: Fray’s Golden Recipes for the use of all ages, E. Fray

Borage

This plant contains a certain amount of saltpetre, as may be proved by burning a dried leaf. For this reason, it is used with great benefit for the relief of sore throats. The root is rich in gum, and if boiled yields a mucilaginous emulsion, excellent for irritation of the throat and chest. Very violent attacks of toothache, where the nerve has taken cold, are often cured by holding a portion of the leaves, previously boiled in milk, and applied warm, in the mouth, against the affected tooth.

Source: The Universal Cookery Book, Gertrude Strohm

Sago for Invalids

Wash one large spoonful of sago, boil it in a little water, with a pinch of salt and one or two sticks of cinnamon, until it looks clear; then add a pint of milk, boil all well together, and sweeten with loaf sugar.

Source: Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book, Catherine Beecher

Cream Tartar Whey

Warm a pint of fresh milk, when scalding hot, stir in a teaspoonful of cream tartar, and if this does not turn it, add more, till it does. Strain it, and sweeten with loaf sugar. Those who cannot eat wine whey can eat this without trouble, and it is good in fevers.

Source: Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book, Catherine Beecher