To Remove Freckles
Take finely powdered nitre (saltpetre), and apply it to the freckles by the finger moistened with water and dipped in the powder. When perfectly done, and judiciously repeated, it will remove them effectually without trouble. Rough skins from exposure to the wind in riding, rowing or yachting trouble many ladies who will be glad to know that an application of cold cream or glycerine at night, washed off with fine carbolic soap in the morning, will render them presentable at the breakfast-table. Another method is to rub the face, throat and arms well with cold cream or pure almond oil before going out. With this precaution one may come home from a berry party, or a sail without a trace of that ginger-bread effect too apt to follow these pleasures.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
A Cure for Burns or Scalds
Thoroughly bruise a raw onion and a potato into a pulp, by scraping or beating them with a rolling-pin; mix this pulp with a good table-spoonful of salad oil, and apply it to the naked burn or scald; secure it on the part with a linen bandage.
Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli
To Eradicate Corns
Bathe the corn in warm water, with a sponge, on going to bed, until it has become tender ; then wet the corn with a bit of slackened potash, or some caustic of potash, or with a very strong ley. Repeat two or three times.
Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott
Hair Dye
Nitric acid, one part ; nitrate of silver, ten parts ; sap green, nine parts ; powdered gum arabic, two parts ; water, three hundred parts ; essence musii, one or two drops to each bottle. Mix. In all cases, first free the hair from grease, by soap and water. All hair dyes must be applied by means of moistening a comb with them, and passing it through the hair, observing not to touch the skin with the dye.
Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott
For a Burn
Make half a tumbler of strong lime water, let it set a few minutes; then strain the water through a thin muslin to the same quantity of linseed or sweet oil (neat’s or hog’s foot will answer); mix it well, and spread over the burn; wrap over linen cloths. Do not remove the cloth for several days; saturate it frequently with the lime and oil until the inflammation is subdued. Should the odor become offensive, apply cold poultices of the flour of slippery elm; spread over with pulverized charcoal. A plaster of lard and soot is also good for a burn. Heal with any simple salve — a very good one is made by stewing together heart leaves, white lily root, agrimony, a few leaves of the Jamestown weed, and sweet gum. When the strength of the herbs is extracted, strain the water; throw away leaves, etc.; add fresh unsalted butter, and simmer gently until the water has evaporated. Keep this on hand for common sores, in a close-covered box.
Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book
To Dress A Blister
Clip the blisters; dress with a soft cloth covered with hog’s lard. Renew as necessary. Cabbage leaves are not now used.
Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book
To Make Leeches Take Hold
To make leeches take hold on the spot required, take a piece of white paper, cut small holes in it where you wish them to bite, lay this over the place, and put the leeches on the paper. Not liking the paper, they will take hold of the skin where it appears through the hole.
Source: Valuable Receipts, J.M. Prescott
To Remove Pimples and Make the Skin Smooth
Make a tea of red clover blossoms and wash the face with it two or three times a day.
Source: 76: A Cook Book
Preparation for Rough Skin
A delicate and effective preparation for rough skins, eruptive diseases, cuts or ulcers, is found in a mixture of one ounce of glycerine, half an ounce of rosemary-water, and twenty drops of carbolic acid. In those dreaded irritations of the skin, occurring in summer, such as hives or prickly heat, this wash gives soothing relief. A solution of this acid, say fifty drops to an ounce of the glycerine, applied at night, forms a protection from mosquitoes. Use the pure crystallized form: it is far less overpowering in its fragrance than the common sort, Those who dislike it too much to use at night, will find the sting of the bites almost miraculously cured, and the blotches removed by touching them with the mixture in the morning. Babies and children should be touched with it in a reduced form. Two or three drops of otter of roses in the preparation will improve the smell so as to render it tolerable to human beings though not so to mosquitoes.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook