For Cold

There is no remedy so good as to go to bed and stay there, drinking nothing, not even water, for twenty-four hours, and eating as little as possible. Or, go to bed; put your feet in hot mustard and water; put a bran or oatmeal poultice on the chest ; take ten grains of Dover’s powder, and an hour afterwards a pint of hot gruel ; in the morning rub the body all over with a coarse towel, and take a dose of aperient medicine.

Violet, pennyroyal, or boneset tea are excellent to promote perspiration in case of sudden chill.

Or, take white wine whey. One pint of milk ; two wineglassfuls of white wine ; one teaspoonful of vinegar. Simmer gently; then strain, sweeten, and spice; give hot.

Source: The Unrivalled Cook-Book and Housekeeper’s Guide, Mrs Washington

Eye-Washes

The best eye-wash for granulated lids and inflammation of the eyes is composed of camphor, borax and morphine, in the following proportions: To a large wine-glass of camphor water–not spirits–add two grains of morphine and six grains of borax. Pour a few drops into the palm of the hand, and hold the eye in it, opening the lid as much as possible. Do this three or four times in twenty-four hours, and you will receive great relief from pain and smarting soreness. This recipe was received from a celebrated oculist, and has never failed to relieve the most inflamed eyes.

Another remedy said to be reliable: A lump of alum as large as a cranberry boiled in a teacupful of sweet milk, and the curd used as a poultice, is excellent for inflammation of the eyes.

Another wash: A cent’s worth of pure, refined white copperas dissolved in a pint of water, is also a good lotion; but label it poison, as it should never go near the mouth. Bathe the eyes with the mixture, either with the hands or a small piece of linen cloth, allowing some of the liquid to get under the lids.

Here is another from an eminent oculist: Take half an ounce of rock salt and one ounce of dry sulphate of zinc; simmer in a clean, covered porcelain vessel with three pints of water until all are dissolved; strain through thick muslin; add one ounce of rose-water; bottle and cork it tight. To use it, mix one teaspoonful of rain-water with one of the eye-water, and bathe the eyes frequently. If it smarts too much, add more water.

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

Chilblains

We give a few household remedies for the cure of these disagreeable companions. 1. Take half an ounce of white wax, one ounce of ox-marrow, two ounces of lard; melt slowly over a fire in a pipkin, and mix them well together; then strain through a linen cloth. 2. Before going to bed spread the ointment on the parts affected, feet or hands, taking care to wrap them up well. 3. Lemon juice rubbed on the inflamed parts is said to stop the itching. 4. A sliced onion dipped in salt has the same effect, but is apt to make the feet tender. 5. When the chilblains are broken, a little warm vinegar, or tincture of myrrh, is an excellent thing to bathe the wound and keep it clean. 6. Another useful remedy is a bread poultice, at bedtime, and in the morning apply a little resin ointment spread on a piece of lint or old linen.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Hemlock Poultice

Two drachms of dried hemlock; two pints of water boiled down to one; add sufficient linseed meal to make it of a proper consistency. Excellent for cancerous and scrofulous ulcers, and malignant sores.

Source: The Unrivalled Cook-Book and Housekeeper’s Guide, Mrs Washington

Figs for Carbuncles or Boils

A poultice of ripe figs is one of the best things known for carbuncles or boils. Must be well washed and peeled.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Swollen Throat

If the throat becomes badly swollen and very painful, apply a poultice of flaxseed upon which you have poured a little warm lard and laudanum.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Bloody Flux

Apply a suppository of linen dipt in Aqua Vitae.

Or, drink cold water, as largely as possible, taking nothing else till the flux stops.

Or, take a large apple, and at the top pick out all the core, and fill up the place with a piece of honey comb; (the honey being strained out,) roast the apple in embers, and eat it, and this will stop the flux immediately.

Or grated rhubarb, as much as lies on a shilling, with half as much of grated nutmeg, in a glass of white wine, at lying down, every other night. Tried.

Or take four drops of Laudanum, and apply to the belly a poultice of wormwood and red roses boiled in milk.

In a Dysentery, the worst of all fluxes, feed on rice, saloup, sago, and sometimes beef-tea; but no flesh.

To stop it, take a spoonful of suet melted over a slow fire. Do not let blood.

A person was cured in one day, by feeding on rice milk, and sitting a quarter of an hour in a shallow tub, having in it warm water three inches deep.

Source: Primitive Physic: or an easy and natural method of curing most diseases, John Wesley.

A Cure for Rheumatism

One quart of milk, quite hot, into which stir one ounce of alum; this will make curds and whey. Bathe the parts affected with the whey until too cold. In the meantime keep the curds hot, and, after bathing, put them on a poultice, wrap in flannel, and go to sleep (you can). Three applications should be a perfect cure, even in aggravated cases.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Cure for a Felon

Mix well one teaspoonful of burnt salt, one teaspoonful of Indian meal, and the yolk of one egg, ten drops of spirits of turpentine, a small quantity of home made lye soap, shaved fine. Apply as a poultice for twenty-four hours. If applied early, it will certainly effect a cure.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

Onion Poultice for Cold on the Chest

A very old remedy for a cold on the chest is an onion poultice, which is made by heating the onions and putting them in a muslin bag and bruising them. Lay the bag upon the chest over night. Care should be taken about getting in a draught when the poultice is removed in the morning.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts