by Barkham Burroughs
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HOW TO CURE JAUNDICE.--1. Take the whites of two hen's eggs, beat them up well in a gill of water; take of this a little every morning; it will soon do good. It also creates an appetite, and strengthens the stomach. 2. Take of black cherry-tree bark, two ounces; blood root and gold thread, each half an ounce; put in a pint of brandy. Dose, from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful morning and night.
HOW TO CURE STIFFENED JOINTS.--Take of the bark of white oak and sweet apple trees, equal parts; boil them down to a thick substance,
and then add the same quantity of goose-grease or oil, simmer all together, and then rub it on the parts warm.
HOW TO CURE KIDNEY DISEASE.--Equal parts of the oil of red cedar and the oil of spearmint.
HOW TO CURE LAME BACK.--Take the berries of red cedar and allow them to simmer in neatsfoot oil, and use as an ointment.
HOW TO KILL LICE.--All kinds of lice and their nits may be got rid of by washing with a simple decoction of stavesacre (Delphinium staphisagria), or with a lotion made with the bruised seed in vinegar, or with the tincture, or by rubbing in a salve made with the seeds and four times their weight of lard very carefully beaten together. The acetic solution and the tincture are the cleanliest and most agreeable preparations, but all are equally efficacious in destroying both the creatures and their eggs, and even in relieving the intolerable itching which their casual presence leaves behind on many sensitive skins. The alkaloid delphinia may also be employed, but possesses no advantage except in the preparation of an ointment, when from any reason that form of application should be preferred.
RHEUMATIC LINIMENT.--Olive oil, spirits of camphor and chloroform, of each two ounces; sassafras oil, 1 drachm. Add the oil of sassafras to the olive oil, then the spirits of camphor, and shake well before putting in the chloroform; shake when used, and keep it corked, as the chloroform evaporates very fast if it is left open. Apply three or four times daily, rubbing in well, and always toward the body.
SORE THROAT LINIMENT.--Gum camphor, two ounces; castile soap, shaved fine, one drachm; oil of turpentine and oil of origanum, each one-half ounce; opium, one-fourth of an ounce; alcohol, one pint. In a week or ten days they will be fit for use. Bathe the parts freely two or three times daily until relief is obtained.
A WONDERFUL LINIMENT.--Two ounces oil of spike, two ounces origanum, two ounces hemlock, two ounces wormwood, four ounces sweet oil, two ounces spirit of ammonia, two ounces gum camphor, two ounces spirits turpentine. Add one quart strong alcohol. Mix well together, and bottle tight. This is an unequaled horse liniment, and of the best ever made for human ailments such as rheumatism, sprains, etc.
HOW TO CURE SORE LIPS.--Wash the lips with a strong tea, made from the bark of the white oak.
LIVER COMPLAINT.--Make a strong tea of syrup of burdock, wormwood and dandelion, equal parts, and drink freely.
LOCK JAW.--It is said that the application of warm lye, made of ashes as strong as possible, to a wounded part, will prevent a locked jaw; if a foot or hand, immerse in it; if another part of the body, bathe with flannels wrung out of the warm lye.
MUMPS.--This disease, most common among children, begins with soreness and stiffness in the side of the neck. Soon a swelling of the parotid gland takes place, which is painful, and continues to increase for four or five days, sometimes making it difficult to swallow, or open the mouth. The swelling sometimes comes on one side at a time, but commonly upon both. There is often heat, and sometimes fever, with a dry skin, quick pulse, furred tongue, constipated bowls, and scanty and high-colored urine. The disease is contagious. The treatment is very simple--a mild diet, gentle laxative, occasional hot fomentations, and wearing a piece of flannel round the throat.
HOW TO PREVENT INGROWING NAILS.--If the nail of your toe be hard, and apt to grow round, and into the corners of your toe, take a piece of broken glass and scrape the top very thin; do this whenever you cut your nails, and by constant use it makes the corners fly up and grow flat, so that it is impossible they should give you any pain.
