Another Cure for the Consumption

April 18th, 2022

Take a newly laid hen’s egg on the third day of new moon in the morning before breakfast, break it into a glass and stir it well with a chip of pine wood, then add a gill of good wine and drink it for seven or nine days.

Source: Recipes: Information for Everybody, J.F. Landis

A salve to cure the Itch in twelve hours

May 28th, 2020

It also destroys lice and nits in twelve hours, and bedbugs, if put in the cracks containing the nits, likewise the weavils.

A person having the itch, must rub himself all over where the pustules are, with this salve, before going to bed, and after rising in the morning, take off the shirt and cleanse himself with a wet rag, after which he has to put on a clean shirt and cleanse the bed, and the itch will have left him. Children are to be greased on the head with this salve, till the hair is all greasy, then the head is to be tied up with a handkerchief. This will kill the lice and nits in one night. The salve is not injurious to children. To be prepared as follows:

To 4 ounces Venice turpentine and 4 ounces red precipitate add one pound fresh butter that has not been in water. This mixture is sufficient for twelve men to rub themselves with for the itch, but the Venice turpentine ought to be washed nine times before it is used for making the salve, which is to be done in the following manner: put one ounce Venice turpentine (or more if a greater quantity of salve is required) into an earthen vessel that will hold a pint, then take a chip of wood and go to where there is running water and holding the vessel containing the turpentine towards the water, take in a full gill and with the chip stir the turpentine well together with the water about two minutes, then pour off the water carefully and take in another gill of water (holding the vessel towards the stream) and stir it well together as before. Thus the turpentine is to be washed nine times, after which it will be very pure. The last water must be poured off completely, then take a quarter of a pound of butter, good weight, just out of the buttermilk and melt it in a pan, but do not suffer it to get hot, then pour it into the vessel with the turpentine and stir it well with the chip of wood; lastly add one ounce red precipitate, stir it again thoroughly, and the salve is done.

N.B. The salve ought every time to be stirred up before it is rubbed on.

Source: Recipes: Information for Everybody, J.F. Landis

Cure for Burns

January 31st, 2020

One-third part linseed oil.
Two-thirds lime water.

Shake up well; apply and wrap in soft linen.

Until you can procure this keep the part covered with wood-soot mixed to a soft paste with lard, or, if you have not these, with common molasses.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Polish for Hard or Stained Wood Floors

August 11th, 2017

Eight ounces of yellow beeswax, two quarts of spirits of turpentine, one quart of Venetian turpentine. Cut the wax in small pieces and pour the spirits over it–it will soon dissolve; then bottle. Apply with a flannel or soft cloth. It keeps the floors in excellent order.

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

French Polish

June 6th, 2017

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

To Prevent Flies From Injuring Picture Frames

October 31st, 2016

Boil three or four onions in one pint of water; brush the frames over with the liquid and no fly will touch them. It will not injure the frames.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

Vermin Exterminator

December 24th, 2015

A blessing to housekeepers, and no danger of poison: Take a half pound of alum to one pail of water boiling hot; dip in the ends of the slats; then take a good scrubbing brush and apply thoroughly to all parts affected, all cracks in the plastering or wood work. A certain cure for bed-bugs. Tried.

Source: The Kansas Home Cook-Book

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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.