Good Way To Give Castor Oil

Put a tablespoon of orange juice into a small tumbler, pour in the required amount of oil, and more orange juice on top. The oil forms a ball in the middle of the juice and is swallowed without coming in contact with the tongue. Wine may be used instead of orange juice.

Source: Civic League Cook Book

French Polish

Take a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac and a quarter of an ounce of gum mastic; pick the dirt and black lumps out very carefully, and pound them in a mortar quite fine; put them into a bottle, and add to them a quartern (old measure) of strong spirit of wine; cork it down and put it in a warm place; shake it frequently till the gum is entirely dissolved, which will be in about twenty-four hours.

Before using it, be careful to ascertain that no grease is on the furniture, as grease would prevent its receiving the polish. If the furniture has been previously cleaned with bees’-wax or oil, it must be got off by scraping, which is the best way, but difficult to those who do not perfectly understand it, because if you are not very careful, you may scratch the surface, and create more expense than a workman would charge to do it properly at first. Or it may be done by scouring well with sand and water, and afterward rubbed quite smooth with fine glass paper, being careful to do it with the grain of the wood. To apply the polish, you must have a piece of list or cloth twisted, and tied round quite tight, and left even at one end, which should be covered with a piece of fine linen cloth; then pour a little of the polish on the furniture, and rub it well all over till it is worked into the grain of the wood, and begins to look quite smooth; then take a soft fine cloth, or what is better, an old silk handkerchief, and keep rubbing lightly until the polish is complete, which will take two or three hours. It will greatly help the polish if it is done near a fire.

If it does not look so smooth and clear as it should, a little sweet oil rubbed lightly over, and cleaned off directly, will greatly heighten it. If any part of the furniture has carving about it, where it will be impossible to polish, it must be done with mastic varnish, and a camel’s hair brush, after the rest is finished.

When the polish begins to look dull, it may be recovered with a little spirit of wine.

Source: The Cook’s Oracle and Housekeeper’s Manual, W.M. Kitchener

How to make White Wine Whey

Put a pint of milk into a very clean saucepan or skillet, to boil on the fire; then add half a gill of any kind of white wine; allow the milk to boil up, then pour it into a basin, and allow it to stand in a cool place, that the curd may fall to the bottom of the basin; then pour off the whey — which is excellent as an agent to remove a severe cough or cold.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Mouth Wash for Receding Gums

Hydronaphthol 15 grains.

Spirits of Wine 1 ounce.

Water 1 ounce.

Put twenty drops in wineglassful of water, holding in mouth a little at a time for a few moments and spitting out. Do this daily.

Source: Tested Formulas and Useful House and Farm Recipes, T. Kenny

Croup

Croup, it is said, can be cured in one minute, and the remedy is simply alum and sugar. Take a knife or grater and shave off in small particles about a teaspoonful of alum; then mix it with twice its amount of sugar, to make it palatable, and administer it as quickly as possible. Almost instantaneous relief will follow. Turpentine is said to be an excellent remedy for croup. Saturate a piece of flannel and apply it to the chest and throat, and take inwardly three or four drops on a lump of sugar.

Another remedy.–Give a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine every few minutes, until free vomiting is excited.

Another recipe said to be most reliable: Take two ounces of the wine of ipecac, hive syrup four ounces, tincture of bloodroot two ounces. Mix it well.

Dose for a child one year old, five to ten drops; two years, eight to twelve drops; three years, twelve to fifteen drops; four years, fifteen to twenty drops; five years, twenty to twenty-five drops, and older children in proportion to age. Repeat as often as shall be necessary to procure relief. If it is thought best to produce vomiting, repeat the dose every ten or fifteen minutes for a few doses.

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

Cracker Panada

Break in pieces three or four hard crackers that are baked quite brown, and let them boil fifteen minutes in one quart of water; then remove from the fire, let them stand three or four minutes, strain off the liquor through a fine wire sieve, and season it with sugar.

This is a nourishing beverage for infants that are teething, and with the addition of a little wine and nutmeg, is often prescribed for invalids recovering from a fever.

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

Restorative Jelly

One-half box gelatine, 1 cup port wine, 1 tablespoon of powdered gum arabic, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 cloves. Put all together in a glass jar, and cover closely. Place the jar on a trivet in a kettle of cold water. Heat it slowly and when the mixture is dissolved, stir well and strain. Pour into a shallow dish, and when cool cut it into small squares. This is good for an old person or a very weak patient.

Source: Tested Recipe Cook Book, Mrs H.L. Wilson

Mulled Wine

Take a quarter of an ounce of bruised cinnamon, half a nutmeg, (grated), and ten bruised cloves ; infuse them in half a pint of boiling water for an hour, strain, and add half an ounce of white sugar. Pour the whole into a pint of hot port or sherry wine. This is a good cordial and restorative in the low stages of fever, or in the debility of convalescence from fevers.

Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook

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

To Stop the Flow of Blood

Bathe the cut with ordinary red wine; then cover the wound with either whiting, pipe-clay, or cobwebs and brown sugar ; if you have none of these, apply the fine dust of tea, or, if all are
wanting, a handful of earth held tightly to the wound until help can be obtained ; if the cut is deep, it is wise not only to bandage it tightly, but to tie another bandage above, not onto, the wound.

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