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

For Indigestion

1 handful senna leaves
2 teaspoonsful sugar
1 teaspoonful ground ginger
1 pint boiling water
2 teaspoonsful carbonate soda
1 teaspoonful essence of peppermint

Boil slowly, for 1/2 an hour, the senna, sugar, ginger, and soda, then strain and cool. When quite cold, put into a bottle with the essence of peppermint.

Take a wine-glass fasting, or before meals.

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

Menses, For Obstruction Of The

Steel filings, two ounces; powdered sugar, two ounces; ginger, two drams. Pound together. One teaspoonful to be taken twice a day in orange wine.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Heartburn, Remedies For

Add two drams of carbonate of magnesia to a cupful of milk, and drink it whenever the rising is experienced.

Eating a raw turnip will also take away the smarting sensation.

The following effervescing drink is also good:— The juice of an orange, with loaf sugar to flavour, and, in proportion to the acidity of the orange, a little bicarbonate of soda. Mix the orange juice, sugar, and water together in a tumbler, then add the soda; stir, and drink while effervescing.

Source: Recipes for the Million

Blackberry Syrup, for Cholera and Summer Complaint

Two quarts of blackberry juice.

One pound of loaf sugar.

Half an ounce of nutmegs.

A quarter of an ounce of cloves.

Half an ounce of cinnamon.

Half an ounce of allspice.

Pulverize the spice, and boil all for fifteen or twenty minutes. When cold, add a pint of brandy.

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

Remedy for Cough

One ounce of Balm of Gilead buds; put in a quart of water and boil down to a pint; add one pint of Bourbon whisky and one pound of loaf sugar.

Source: The Canadian Family Cookbook, Grace E. Denison

Cure for Hiccough

A good cure for hiccough is slippery elm-bark boiled and made sweet with sugar.

Source: The New Galt Cook Book, M. Taylor & F. McNaught

A Mild Aperient (To Take In The Spring)

Put 1 oz. of senna into a jar, and pour 1 quart of boiling water over it; fill up the vessel, with prunes and figs; cover with paper, and set it in the oven, with household bread. Take every morning, one or two prunes, and a wine-glass of the liquor.– Or: dissolve 3 oz. of Spanish liquorice in one pint boiling water, add 1 oz. socotrine aloes in powder, and 1 pint brandy. Take 1 tea-spoonful in a wine-glassful of water, either in the morning, at night, or both.– Or: a large tea-spoonful of magnesia, a lump of sugar, a dessert-spoonful of lemon juice, in 1/2 pint of spring water.

Source: The English Housekeeper, Anne Cobbett

Egg Gruel

Beat the yolk of an egg with a spoonful of white sugar, and then beat the white separately, to a stiff froth. Pour water when boiling to the yolk, then stir in the white and add spice, or any seasoning, to suit the taste. When a person has taken a violent cold, after being warm in bed give this as hot as it can be taken, and it is often a perfect cure.

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

The Best Cough Syrup

One ounce of hoarhound leaves and blossoms, one ounce each of spikenard root, camfrey root, sunflower seed and elecampane. Put all in water, and boil one hour in water enough to have a quart remaining after it has boiled, and has been strained. To this add one pound of loaf sugar, boll it again for a little while and add a little brandy, and bottle it. Dose: a tablespoonful three times a day. Has been thoroughly tested.

Source: Tried and True Recipes, F.D.P. Jermain