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

Mixture for a Cold

The juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 small teaspoonful sweet spirits of nitre
1 teaspoonful glycerine
A little honey

Put these ingredients into a tumbler and then fill 3 parts full of boiling water. Drink last thing at night.

Source: The Northampton Cookery Book, M.A. Jeffery

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

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

For Coughs and Colds

Equal parts of syrup of squills, Bateman’s drops, and sweet spirits of nitre; make a tea of flaxseed; flavor it by boiling sufficient lemon in it; sweeten with loaf sugar if liked. Into a wineglass of this, put a tablespoonful of the mixture; take it upon going to bed. Paregoric may be used in the place of Bateman’s drops. Give it at intervals of two or three hours until the cough is relieved.

Source: Mrs Hill’s New Cook-Book