Superior Cologne Water

Alcohol, one gallon: add oil of cloves, lemon, nutmeg and bergamot, each one drachm; oil neroli, three and a half drachms; seven drops of oils of rosemary, lavender and cassia; half a pint of spirits of nitre; half a pint of elder-flower water. Let it stand a day or two, then take a cullender[sic] and at the bottom lay a piece
of white cloth, and fill it up, one-fourth of white sand, and filter through it.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Gargles For Inflamed Throat

Take one dram of sulphuric ether and add to it half an ounce of syrup of marsh-mallows and a teacupful of barley water. Gargle the throat frequently with the mixture until the inflammation dies away.

Or, mix together two drams of purified nitre, seven drams of acetate of honey, and eight ounces of barley-water. Use frequently.

Source: Recipes for the Million

For the Tooth-ache

Each of the following remedies have been known to alleviate suffering. Turn up a wine-glass, put a little powdered alum on the round part, rub it to a paste with sweet spirits of nitre, and apply it directly to the cavity of the tooth, if there be one, if not, on the gum round it. Repeat this often.

Or: mix 2 drachms of alum, in impalpable powder, and 2 drachms of nitrous spirits of ether.

Or: 2 drachms of alum powdered very fine, with 7 drachms of nitrous spirits of ether.

Or: a drop of ether and of laudanum on cotton: this will also relieve the ear-ache.

Or: 1 oz. tincture of myrrh, 1 oz. tincture of gumlac, 1/2 oz. tincture of bark: mix the two last, shake well, add the myrrh by degrees, and shake well together. 1 table-spoonful to 2 of hot water; wash the mouth frequently, holding it in for some time.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Asthma

As this complaint generally attacks aged people, the best mode of relief will be to attend carefully to diet and exercise, which should be light and easy, and to avoid as much as possible an exposure to cold and frosty air. The temperature of the apartment should be equalised to moderate summer’s heat by flues and stoves, and frequently ventilated. A dish of the best coffee, newly ground and made very strong, and taken frequently without milk or sugar, has been found highly beneficial. An excellent diet drink may be made of toast and water, with the addition of a little vinegar, or a few grains of nitre. Tar water is strongly recommended, and also the smoking of the dried leaves of stramonium, commonly called the thorn-apple.

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

Almond Emulsion for a Cough

Beat well in a marble mortar, 6 drachms of sweet almonds blanched, and 2 drachms of white sugar, add 1 pint cold water, by degrees; strain, then add 2 table-spoonsful of sweet spirits of nitre. Cork, and keep it in a cool place, or in cold water. A tea-spoonful three times a day.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

To Remove Sudden Hoarseness

Take a teaspoonful of sweet spirits of nitre in a wineglassful of water. Or a little salt prunella dissolved slowly in the mouth, or eating a piece of anchovy will generally remove it.

The following will likewise be found very useful: — Spermaceti powder, half an ounce ; gum-arabic powder, half an ounce ; elixir paregoric, three drams ; honey, one tablespoonful. Mix, and take a teaspoonful dissolved in the mouth.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Syrup for a Cough

Boil 1 oz. balsam of tolu, very gently, two hours, in a quart of water; add 1 lb. white sugar candy, finely beaten, and boil it half an hour longer. Strain through a flannel bag twice; when cold, bottle it. You may add 2 oz. syrup of red poppies, and the same of raspberry vinegar. A spoonful when the cough is troublesome.

Or: 2 oz. honey, 4 table-spoonsful vinegar, 2 oz. syrup white poppies, and 2 oz. gum arabic: boil gently to the consistency of treacle; a tea-spoonful when the cough is troublesome.

Or: 1 table-spoonful treacle, 1 of honey, 1 of vinegar, 15 drops laudanum, and 15 drops peppermint. Simmer together a quarter of an hour. A dessert-spoonful to be taken at going to bed.

Or: mix together in a phial, 2 drachms of compound tincture of benjamin, 6 drachms ethereal spirits of nitre, 3 drachms of compound tincture of camphor, and 5 drachms of oxymel; a tea-spoonful in a wine-glass of warm water, when the cough is troublesome.

Or: mix 1 oz. gum arabic, 1 oz. sugar candy, and the juice of a lemon; pour on it a pint of boiling water; a little when the cough is troublesome.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Lumbago

Dip a flannel in scalding water, wring it out, and sprinkle it with spirits of turpentine. Apply quickly to the part affected. Repeat this a few times and it will afford certain relief. Also take a little sweet spirits of nitre.

Source: Recipes for the Million

An Excellent Cough Remedy

Twenty grains tartar emetic;
Forty grains pulverised opium;
Four ounces sweet spirits of nitre;
Two ounces of liquorice;
Twelve tablespoons of honey and one pint of whiskey.

For an adult one dessert-spoonful three times a day, at night, when the cough is troublesome, take the same proportions; for children a teaspoonful and so on according to the age.

Source: Household Recipes, Constance Hatton Hart

Gonorrhea

Balsam of Copabia one oz., Oil of Cubebs two drms., Laudanum one dram, Mucilage of Gum Arabic two ozs., Sweet Spirits Nitre half oz., Compound Spirits Lavender three drms., Camphor Water four ozs., White Sugar two drms., Oil of Partridge Berry five drops. Mix. Dose, a tablespoonful 3 or 4 times a day.

Source: One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus