Centaur Liniment

July 13th, 2022

Oil Speke one oz., Oil Wormwood one oz., Oil Sassafras one oz., Oil Organum one oz., Oil Cinnamon one oz., Oil Cloves one drm., Oil Cedar one drm., Sulphur. Ether one oz., Aqua Ammonia one oz., Tinc. Opium one oz., Alcohol one gal. Mix. This is an excellent liniment and good whenever a liniment is needed.

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

Godfrey’s Cordial

July 1st, 2022

Sassafras, six ounces; seeds of coriander, caraway and anise, of each one ounce; infuse in six pints of water; simmer the mixture till reduced to four pints; then add six pounds of molasses; boil a few minutes; when cold, add three fluid ounces of tincture of opium. For children teething.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Sassafras Jelly

July 16th, 2021

Take the pith of sassafras boughs, break it in small pieces, and let it soak in cold water till the water becomes glutinous. It has the flavor of sassafras, and is much relished by the sick, and is also good nourishment.

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

Stiff Neck

February 17th, 2018

Rub with sassafras oil or with capsicum vaseline.

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

Tooth Powder

August 15th, 2017

Precipitated chalk, seven ounces; Florentine orris, four ounces; bicarbonate of soda, three ounces; powdered white Castile soap, two ounces; thirty drops each of oil of wintergreen and sassafras. Sift all together and keep in a glass jar or tin box. A very valuable recipe for hardening the teeth.

Source: The Golden Age Cook Book, H. L. Dwight

Liniment for Sprains

May 13th, 2017

One ounce oil of wormseed, one ounce of hemlock, one ounce of sassafras, one ounce of cedar, one ounce of red pepper, one ounce gum camphor, three pints of alcohol. This liniment Ls good for man or beast.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

Grandmother’s Universal Liniment

May 3rd, 2017

One pint of alcohol and as much camphor gum as can be dissolved in it, half an ounce of the oil of cedar, one-half ounce of the oil of sassafras, aqua ammonia half an ounce, and the same amount of the tincture of morphine. Shake well together and apply by the fire; the liniment must not be heated, or come in contact with the fire, but the rubbing to be done by the warmth of the fire.

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

Ingredients: Orchids

January 3rd, 2009

ORCHIDS.

Our common English Orchids are the “Early Purple,” which is abundant in our woods and pastures; the “Meadow Orchis”; and the “Spotted Orchis” of our heaths and commons. Less frequent are the “Bee Orchis,” the “Butterfly Orchis,” “Lady’s Tresses,” and the “Tway blade.”

Two roundish tubers form the root of an Orchid, and give its name to the plant from the Greek orchis, testicle. A nutritive starchy product named Salep, or Saloop, is prepared from the roots of the common Male Orchis, and its infusion or decoction was taken generally in this country as a beverage before the introduction of tea and coffee. Sassafras chips were sometimes added for giving the drink a flavour. Salep obtained from the tubers of foreign Orchids was specially esteemed; and even now that sold in Indian bazaars is so highly valued for its fine qualities that most extravagant prices are paid for it by wealthy Orientals. Also in Persia and Turkey it is in great repute for recruiting the exhausted vitality of aged, and enervated persons. In this country it may be purchased as a powder, but not readily miscible with water, so that many persons fail in making the decoction. The powder should be first stirred with a little spirit of wine: then the water should be added suddenly, and the mixture boiled. One dram by weight of the salep powder in a fluid dram and a half of the spirit, to half-a-pint of water, are the proper proportions. Sometimes amber, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger are added.

Dr. Lind, in the middle of the last century, strongly advised that ships, and soldiers on long marches, should be provided with Salep made into a paste or cake. This (with a little portable soup added) will allay hunger and thirst if made liquid. An ounce in two quarts of boiling water will sufficiently sustain a man for one day, being a combination of animal and vegetable foods. Among the early Romans the Orchis was often called “Satyrion,” because it was thought to be the food of the Satyrs, exciting them to their sexual orgies. Hence the Orchis root became famous as all aphrodisiac medicine, and has been so described by all herbalists from the time of Dioscorides.

A tradition is ascribed to the English Orchis Mascula (early Purple), of which the leaves are usually marked with purple spots. It is said that these are stains of the precious blood which flowed from our Lord’s body on the cross at Calvary, where this species of Orchis is reputed to have grown. Similarly in Cheshire, the plant bears the name of Gethsemane. This early Orchis is the “long Purples,” mentioned by Shakespeare in Hamlet: and it is sometimes named “Dead men’s fingers,” from the pale colour, and the hand-like shape of its tubers.

“That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do ‘dead men’s fingers’ call them.”

It is further styled “Cain and Abel” and “Rams’ horns,” the odour being offensive, especially in the evening. It thrives wherever the wild hyacinth flourishes, and is believed by some to grow best where the earth below is rich in metal. Country people in Yorkshire call it “Crake feet,” and in Kent “Keat legs,” or “Neat legs.” The roots of this Orchis abound with a glutinous sweetish juice, of which a Salep may be made which is quite equal to any brought from the Levant. The new root should be washed in hot water, and its thin brown skin rubbed off with a linen cloth. Having thus prepared a sufficient number of roots, the operator should spread them on a tin plate in a hot oven for eight or ten minutes, until they get to look horny, but without shrinking in size: and being then withdrawn, they may be dried with more gentle heat, or by exposure to the air. Their concocted juice can be employed with the same intentions and in the same complaints as gum arabic,–about which we read that not only has it served to sustain whole negro towns during a scarcity of other provisions, but the Arabs who collect it by the river Niger have nothing else to live upon for months together.

Salep is a most useful article of diet for those who suffer from chronic diarrhoea.

Source: Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure, William Thomas Fernie

Toothache, Oil of Cloves Quick Relief for

October 23rd, 2008

“If the tooth has a cavity take a small piece of cotton and saturate with oil of cloves and place in tooth, or you may rub the gum with oil of sassafras.” These are both good
remedies, and will often give relief almost instantly.

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

Deafness, Often Tried Remedy for

September 15th, 2008

“Take one dram each of tincture of lobelia, tincture of gum myrrh, oil of sassafras, tincture of opium and olive oil, mix and apply lint wet with the liniment in the ear, night, and morning, then syringe out with warm water and castile soap.”

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

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    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.