LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL POISONS, WITH THEIR ANTIDOTES OR REMEDIES.
Oil of Vitriol, Aqua Fortis, Spirit of Salt.—Magnesia, Chalk, Soap and Water.
Emetic Tartar.—Oily Drinks, Solution of Oak Bark.
Salt of Lemons or Acid of Sugar.—Chalk, Whiting, Lime, or Magnesia and Water. Sometimes an Emetic Draught.
Prussic Acid.—Pump on back, Smelling-Salts to nose, Artificial Breathing, Chloride of Lime to nose.
Pearlash, Soap-Lees, Smelling-Salts, Nitre, Hartshorn, Sal Volatile.—Lemon-Juice, and Vinegar and Water.
Arsenic, Fly Powder, or White Arsenic, King's Yellow, or Yellow Arsenic.—Emetics, Lime-Water, Soap and Water, Sugar and Water, Oily Drinks.
Mercury, Corrosive Sublimate, Calomel.—Whites of Eggs, Soap and Water.
Opium, Laudanum.—Emetic Draught, Vinegar and Water, Dashing Cold Water on chest and face, walking up and down for two or three hours.
Lead, White Lead, Sugar of Lead, Goulard's Extract.—Epsom Salts, Castor Oil, Emetics.
Copper, Blue-Stone, Verdigris.—Whites of eggs, Sugar and Water, Castor Oil, Gruel.
Zinc.—Lime-Water, Chalk and Water, Soap and Water.
Iron.—Magnesia, Warm Water.
Henbane, Hemlock, Nightshade, Foxglove.—Emetics and Castor Oil, Brandy and Water, if necessary.
Poisonous Food.—Emetics and Castor Oil.
CAUTION IN VISITING SICK ROOMS.
Never venture into a sick room in a violent perspiration (if circumstances require a continuance there for any time), for the moment the body becomes cold, it is in a state likely to absorb the infection, and receive the disease. Nor visit a sick person (especially if the complaint be of a contagious nature), with an empty stomach; as this disposes the system more readily to receive the infection. In attending a sick person, stand where the air passes from the door or window to the bed of the diseased, not betwixt the diseased person and any fire that is in the room, as the heat of the fire will draw the infectious vapor in that direction, and much danger would arise from breathing in it.
USEFUL MEDICAL HINTS.
If a person swallow any poison whatever, or has fallen into convulsions from having overloaded the stomach, an instantaneous remedy, more efficient and applicable in a large number of cases than any half-a-dozen medicines that we can now think of, is a teaspoonful of common salt and as much ground mustard, stirred rapidly in a teacup of water, warm or cold, and swallowed instantly. It is scarcely down before it begins to come up, bringing with it the remaining contents of the stomach; and lest there be any remnant of poison, however small, let the white of an egg, or a teacupful of strong coffee, be swallowed as soon as the stomach is quiet; because these very common articles nullify a larger number of virulent poisons than any medicines in the shops. In cases of scalding or burning the body, immersing the part in cold water gives entire relief as instantaneously as lightning. Meanwhile get some common dry flour, and apply it an inch or two thick on the injured part the moment it emerges from the water, and keep on sprinkling the flour through anything like a pepper-box cover, so as to put it on evenly. Do nothing else, drink nothing but water, eat nothing until improvement commences, except some dry bread softened in very weak tea of some kind. Cures of frightful burnings have been performed in this way, as wonderful as they are painless. Dr. Hall saved the life of an infant which had been inadvertently drugged with laudanum, and which was fast sinking into the sleep which has no awaking, by giving it strong coffee, cleared with the white of an egg, a teaspoonful every five minutes until it ceased to seem drowsy.
AN INFALLIBLE REMEDY FOR SORE THROATS.
Make a poultice of wormwood, boiled in sweet milk, and apply it to the throat. I have known this to give relief in its worst form in eight hours.
SORE THROAT.
Those subject to sore throats, &c., should bathe the neck with cold water in the morning, and use the flesh-brush at night, which will be found to relieve them very soon.
REMEDY FOR BRONCHITIS.
Take honey in the comb, squeeze it out, and dilute with a little water; wet the lips and mouth occasionally with it. It has never been known to fail in cases where children had throats so swollen as to be unable to swallow. It is certainly a simple remedy, and may be a very efficacious one.
FOR COUGH.
Take one table-spoonful of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of castor-oil, one teaspoonful of camphor, and one teaspoonful of paregoric; take half a teaspoonful frequently. This is of great service when children have symptoms of croup.
COUGH MIXTURE.
Take one teacupful of molasses; add two table-spoonfuls of vinegar; simmer this over the fire; then, when taken off, add three teaspoonfuls of paregoric, and as much refined nitre as can be put upon the point of a small breakfast knife. Of this mixture, take two or three teaspoonfuls on going to bed, and one or two during the day when you have a disposition to cough.
A GOOD PLASTER FOR A COUGH.
Take beeswax, Burgundy pitch, and rosin, each an ounce; melt them together, and then stir in three-quarters of an ounce of common turpentine, and half an ounce of oil of mace. Spread it on a piece of sheep's leather, grate some nutmeg over the whole plaster, and apply it quite warm.
TURNIP SYRUP FOR A COLD, OR AFFECTION OF THE LUNGS.
Roast twelve or more fine turnips in an apple roaster, press the juice from them, and add sugar candy to your taste. Take a teacupful at night and in the morning.
THE BEST WAY TO TAKE CASTOR OIL.
It is not generally known that castor oil may be most easily taken mingled with orange juice, a little sugar being added if the juice of the orange is not sweet. The difference between this and any other mode of taking this valuable medicine is surprising.
POULTICE FOR A FESTER.
Boil bread in lees of strong beer; apply the poultice in the general manner. This has saved many a limb from amputation.
FROSTED FEET.
For frosted feet, deer's marrow will be found excellent. For chilblains, tincture of iodine; also muriatic acid, frequently applied, will relieve them.
FOR FROSTED FLESH.
Take chrome yellow and hog's lard, and make it into an ointment, and apply to the injured parts, warming the same into the skin.
REMEDY FOR BLISTERED FEET FROM LONG WALKING.
Rub the feet, at going to bed, with spirits mixed with tallow dropped from a lighted candle into the palm of the hand.
BRUISES, STINGS, &c.
1. For a bruise, &c.—Bathe the part well with warm water, and afterwards apply treacle spread on paper or linen, as most convenient; it soon heals, and no mark will be left. Treacle, if applied also in the early stages of a quinsy or sore throat, will speedily effect a cure.
2. For the sting of a wasp or bee—Take about a wineglassful of vinegar, put a little common soda into it, and bathe the parts affected. It gives almost immediate ease, and no pain or swelling will afterward be felt.
FOR A STING.
Bind on the place a thick plaster of common salt or saleratus moistened—it will soon extract the venom.
FOR SPRAINS AND BRUISES.
Take one pint of train oil, half a pound of stone pitch, half a pound of resin, half a pound of beeswax, and half a pound of stale tallow, or in like proportion. Boil them together for about half an hour, skim off the scum, and pour the liquid into cups, and when cold, it will be ready for use. When needed, it must be spread as thick, but not thicker than blister salve, upon a piece of coarse flaxen cloth. Apply it to the part sprained or bruised, and let it remain for a day or more; it will give almost immediate relief, and one or two plasters will be sufficient for a perfect cure.
RELIEF FOR A SPRAINED ANKLE.
Wash the ankle frequently with cold salt and water, which is far better than warm vinegar or decoctions of herbs. Keep your foot as cold as possible to prevent inflammation, and set with it elevated on a cushion. Live on very low diet, and take every day some cooling medicine. By obeying these directions only, a sprained ankle has been cured in a few days.
CURE FOR SPRAINS.
In the Paris hospitals a treatment is practiced that is found most successful for a frequent accident, and which can be applied by the most inexperienced. If the ankle is sprained, for instance, let the operator hold the foot in his hands, with the thumbs meeting on the swollen part. These having been previously greased, are pressed successively with increasing force on the injured and painful spot for about a quarter of an hour. This application being repeated several times, will, in the course of the day, enable a patient to walk, when other means would have failed to relieve him.
TO REMOVE A CATARACT OR FILM GROWING ON THE EYE.
Wintergreen (fresh) leaves put into sweet cream; let it stand, when it is warm, until the little drops of oil arise. This oil, put into the affected eye two or three times a day, has been known to effect a cure.
DIRT IN THE EYE.
Place your forefinger upon the cheekbone, having the patient before you; then draw up the finger, and you will probably be able to remove the dirt; but, if this will not enable you to get at it, repeat this operation while you have a netting-needle or bodkin placed over the eyelid; this will turn it inside out, and enable you to remove the sand or eyelash, &c., with the corner of a fine silk handkerchief. As soon as the substance is removed, bathe the eye with cold water, and exclude the light for a day. If the inflammation is severe, take a purgative, and use a refrigerant lotion.
LIME IN THE EYE.
Syringe it well with warm vinegar and water (one ounce to eight ounces of water); take a purgative, and exclude light.
TO KILL EARWIGS, OR OTHER INSECTS, WHICH MAY ACCIDENTALLY HAVE CREPT INTO THE EAR.
Let the person, under this distressing circumstance, lay his head upon a table, the side upwards that is afflicted; at the same time, let some friend carefully drop into the ear a little sweet oil, or oil of almonds. A drop or two will be sufficient, which will instantly destroy the insect and remove the pain, however violent.
APOPLEXY AND FITS GENERALLY.
Raise the head; unloose all tight clothes, strings, &c.; apply cold lotions to the head, which should be shaved; apply leeches to the temples, and send for a surgeon.
SUFFOCATION FROM NOXIOUS GASES, &c.
Remove to the fresh air; dash cold vinegar and water in the face, neck, and breast; keep up the warmth of the body; if necessary, apply mustard poultices to the soles of the feet, and try artificial respiration, as in drowning.
NOSE BLEEDING.
Roll up a piece of paper and press it up under the upper lip.
BLEEDING AT THE NOSE.
In obstinate cases, blow a little gum Arabic powder up the nostrils through a quill, which will immediately stop the discharge. Powdered Alum is also good.
FOREIGN BODIES IN THE THROAT
Persons are frequently in danger of suffocation from fish bones, pins, &c., which stick in the throat. The moment an accident of this kind occurs, desire the patient to be perfectly still; open his mouth, and look into it. If you see the obstruction endeavor to seize it with your finger and thumb, or a long, slender pair of pincers. If it cannot be got up, and is not of a nature to do any injury in the stomach, push it down with the handle of a spoon, or a flexible, round piece of whalebone, the end of which is neatly covered with a roll of linen, or anything that may be at hand. If you can neither get it up nor down, place six grains of tartar emetic in the patient's mouth. As it dissolves, it will make him excessively sick, and in consequence of the relaxation, the bone, or whatever it may be, will descend into the stomach, or be ejected from the mouth. If a pin, button, or other metallic or pointed body has been swallowed, or pushed into the stomach, make the patient eat plentifully of thick rice pudding, and endeavor to prevent him from going to stool for at least twelve hours.
CERTAIN CURE FOR HEADACHE AND ALL NEURALGIC PAINS.
To be applied as any other lotion: Opodeldoc, spirits of wine, sal ammoniac, equal parts.
TO PREVENT WOUNDS FROM MORTIFYING.
Sprinkle sugar on them. The Turks wash fresh wounds with wine, and sprinkle sugar on them. Obstinate ulcers may be cured with sugar dissolved in a strong decoction of walnut leaves.
WARTS.
Wet them with tobacco juice, and rub them with chalk. Another: Rub them with fresh beef every day until they begin to disappear. This last is simple and effectual.
CORNS.
Take half an ounce of verdigris, two ounces of bees-wax, two ounces of ammonia; melt the two last ingredients together, and just before they are cold, add the verdigris. Spread it on small pieces of linen, and apply it, after paring the corn. This has cured inveterate corns.
TO CURE A FELON.
When you fear a felon is coming, put a pint tin of boiling water on the stove; then add to that a teaspoonful of saleratus and a wineglass of vinegar; heat this every little while, say from half an hour to an hour, and hold your finger in it till the pain subsides; repeat this till you see all the matter drawn to one place; then have it opened and your finger will heal. A doctor ought to open it if possible, as the skin is always thickened over a felon. I have cured them in twenty-four hours with this.
A SURE REMEDY FOR A FELON.
Take a pint of common soft soap, and stir it in air-slacked lime till it is of the consistency of glazier's putty. Make a leather thimble, fill it with this composition, and insert the finger therein, and change the composition once in twenty minutes, and a cure is certain.
MUSTARD POULTICES.
Make a bag the size required, of book muslin; and, after mixing equal quantities of mustard and linseed meal (or a larger proportion of the former, should the case require it) in a basin, with boiling water of a proper consistency, fill the bag; and, sewing it up, apply it to the part affected, covering it with a handkerchief, or piece of linen. The patient will find this a very clean and comfortable plan. After it has been kept on as long as desired, it only remains to remove it, and lay on a piece of old cambric handkerchief, no rubbing nor washing being required. The poultice is perfectly efficacious; and all that is necessary afterward is, to dust it with hair-powder for a day or two.
SINGULAR PALLIATIVE FOR TOOTHACHE.
A little horse-radish scraped, and laid on the wrist of the side affected, will, in many cases, give speedy relief. A better way is to place a little scraped horse-radish in the mouth, or the tooth, and just around the gum. It relieves rheumatic pains in the gums and face also. The mouth may afterward be rinsed with a little camphorated water, lukewarm.
ACID STOMACH.
Prepared chalk, to be found always at druggists, is an excellent remedy for this complaint, and all the unpleasant headaches and sickness to which it gives rise. This is one form of dyspepsia, and is sometimes relieved by the use of this simple remedy.
TO STOP THE BLEEDING OF A WOUND.
Lay on the orifice, lint; if that is not sufficient, put on flour and then lint.
CURE FOR FLUX.
Take four ounces of castor oil, two tablespoonfuls of pulverized gum-arabic; two teaspoonfuls of pulverized gum-kino; one teaspoonful of laudanum; mix with one pint of warm water, shake well, and take a table-spoonful three times a day. I have never known this to fail in the most severe cases.
FOR DISEASE OF THE BOWELS.
Take equal parts of syrup of rhubarb, paregoric, and spirits of camphor; mix together. Dose for an adult, one teaspoonful. If necessary, it may be repeated in two or three hours.
FOR CHOLERA MORBUS.
Take a chicken just killed, if possible; boil it in two or three quarts of water and let the patient drink freely of the broth, either with or without salt. It should be boiled several hours.
A SIMPLE CURE FOR DYSENTERY.
Take some butter off the churn, immediately after being churned, just as it is, without being salted or washed; clarify it over the fire like honey. Skim off all the milky particles when melted over a clear fire. Let the patient (if an adult) take two table-spoonfuls of the clarified remainder, twice or thrice within the day. This has never failed to effect a cure, and in many cases it has been almost instantaneous.
DIARRHEA.
The first, the most important, and the most indispensable item in the arrest and cure of looseness of the bowels, is absolute quietude on a bed. Nature herself always prompts this by disinclining us to locomotion. The next thing is to eat nothing but common rice parched like coffee, and then boiled, and taken with a little salt and butter. Drink little or no liquid of any kind. Bits of ice may be eaten and swallowed at will. Every step taken in diarrhea, every spoonful of liquid, only aggravates the disease. If locomotion is compulsory, the misfortune of the necessity may be lessened by having a stout piece of woolen flannel bound tightly around the abdomen, so as to be doubled in front, and kept well in its place. In the practice of many years we have never failed to notice a gratifying result to follow these observances.
TO PREVENT THE NAILS GROWING DOWN INTO THE TOES.
This is a very troublesome, and sometimes dangerous thing, for I know an instance of toes having to be amputated in consequence. But the cure is very simple. Take a sharp-pointed knife, and cut a little furrow all along the top of the nail lengthwise. As it fills up, scrape it out again. This will cause the nail to contract at the top, and so loosen its hold from the flesh. Persevere until the difficulty is entirely overcome.
COOLING OFF.
Never sit or lie down in a current of air, or remove any of the clothing after ceasing from active exercise. Instead of lightening the dress, it should be increased under these circumstances, by throwing on a cloak, cape, or shawl, even in summer. Attention to this simple rule would save many lives annually, for the most dangerous and fatal forms of disease are caused by cooling off too rapidly.
CURE FOR HYDROPHOBIA.
A correspondent of the Providence Journal recommends asparagus as a cure for hydrophobia in any stage of canine madness. The directions are: Eat the green shoots of asparagus raw, sleep and perspiration will be induced, and the disease can thus be cured. This remedy proved effectual to a man in Greece after the paroxysms had commenced.
CURE FOR RINGWORM OR TETTER.
Take yellow-dock root; cut in small pieces, and simmer them in vinegar, and, when the strength is extracted, strain off the vinegar, which apply to the part affected at least three times a day. At the same time, it is well to drink a tea made of the same root; or take some of the extract of yellow-dock root, which can be found at any drug store. This is infallible.
CANCER.
Take a quantity of red-oak bark, burn it to ashes; to this add water; boil to the consistence of molasses; apply it freely to the part affected; leave on for an hour; afterward cover the plaster with tar; remove in a few days, and if protuberances appear in the wound, apply the plaster and tar, alternately, until they all disappear; after which apply any healing salve. This remedy effected a cure in the case of a gentleman in Missouri. The cancer was on his nose, and after being treated by the ablest surgeons, and suffering painful operations with the knife, cautery, and otherwise, was speedily cured with the above preparation.
GODFREY'S CORDIAL.
Dissolve half an ounce of opium, one dram of oil of sassafras, in two ounces of spirits of wine. Mix four pounds of treacle with one gallon of boiling water, and when cold, mix together. This is the celebrated cordial so much used for children.
DR. BIRT DAVIES' GOUT MIXTURE.
Wine of colchicum, one ounce; spirit of nitrous ether, one ounce; iodine of potassium, two scruples; distilled water, two ounces. Mix. A teaspoonful in chamomile tea two or three times a day.
DECOCTION OF SARSAPARILLA.
Take two ounces of sarsaparilla root, sliced, and bruise it, then one ounce of guiacum wood; boil over a slow fire in three quarts of water till reduced to one; shortly before removing it from the saucepan, add half an ounce of sassafras wood and three drams of liquorice; afterward strain it. This is used after mercurial treatment, and to restore the stomach. It may also be taken in rheumatism and cutaneous disorders arising from impurity of the blood and juices. It may be taken from a pint and a half to two quarts per day.
THIEVES' VINEGAR.
Take of rue, sage, mint, rosemary, wormwood, and lavender, a large handful of each; infuse in one gallon of vinegar, in a stone jar closely covered, and keep warm by the fire for four days; then strain, and add one ounce of camphor, pounded; bottle, and keep well corked. There is a legend connected with this preparation (called in French Vinaigre a quatre Voleurs), that during the plague at Marseilles certain robbers plundered the infected houses with impunity, and being apprehended and condemned to death, were pardoned on condition of disclosing the secret of their preventive, as above. The mode of using is to wash the face and hands with it previous to exposure to any infection. It is very aromatic and refreshing in a sick-room, if nothing more.
SIMPLE REMEDY FOR THE ASTHMA.
The Repertoire de Pharmacie gives the following simple remedy for the asthma: Take a strongly saturated solution of nitrate of potassa; dip tinder into it, and then allow it to dry. Procure a wide-mouth vial, the cork of which has an aperture in the center, so as to admit any hollow tube whatever—a pipe closed at the end, for example. Light the piece of tinder and place it in the vial. Then cause the patient to inhale the gases that are disengaged, either through the mouth or nostrils. At the end of a few respirations he will find relief which will augment. In regard to an explanation of this mode of treatment, it is supposed that a small portion of oxygen, disengaged by the combustion of the nitrate of potassa, is inhaled by the patient. It is known that in asthmatic patients the sanguinous circulation is incomplete in the lungs, that the blood is imperfectly regenerated, that it is black, and does not burn its excess of carbon. By the oxygen absorbed, therefore, combustion may be facilitated.
BLACKBERRY SYRUP.
Take a sufficient quantity of ripe blackberries. Put them into a sieve placed over a large, broad pan, and with a clean potato-masher, or something of the sort, press out all the juice. Or having bruised them first, put the blackberries into a linen bag, and squeeze out all the juice into a vessel placed beneath. Measure it, and to every quart of the strained juice allow half a pound powdered loaf sugar, a heapened teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, the same of powdered cloves, and a powdered nutmeg. Mix the spices with the juice and sugar, and boil all together in a porcelain kettle, skimming it well. When cold, stir into the above quantity half a pint of fourth-proof brandy. Then bottle it for use. This is a good family medicine, and is beneficial in complaints incident to warm weather. It should be administered at proper times (at proper intervals), from a teaspoonful to a wineglassful, according to the age of the patient.
TO PURIFY THE ATMOSPHERE OF A SICK-ROOM.
Keep always on the shelf of the washing-stand, or on the mantel-piece or table, or in a corner of the floor, a saucer or small bread-pan, or a shallow mug filled with a solution of chloride of lime in cold water, stirring it up frequently. The proportion may be about a table-spoonful of the powder to half a pint of water. Renew it every two or three days. If the room be large, place in it more than one vessel of the chloride of lime. On stirring it, any unpleasant odor with be immediately dispelled. On going to sea, it is well to take with you one or more quart bottles of this solution, to sprinkle occasionally about your state-room.
ANOTHER.
The onion is a superior disinfectant. Two or three good-sized ones, cut in halves, and placed on a plate on the floor, absorb the noxious effluvia, etc., which are generated in the sick-room, in an incredibly short space of time. They should be changed every few (say six) hours.
ANOTHER.
A friend tells of a skunk being captured in a house by a dog, with the usual results of disgust to the victors. The terrible scent was neutralized by burning tar upon live coals of fire by which the air was purified as if by magic. If this kind of fumigation is a sure specific, it deserves to be known and put upon record.
CURE FOR LOCK-JAW.
A positive preventive and remedy for this disease is said to be the simple application of beef's gall to the wound. Besides its antispasmodic properties, the gall draws from the wound any particles of wood, glass, iron, or other substances that may cause irritation, when other applications may fail.
CURE FOR BRONCHITIS.
Common mullein leaves, smoked in a new pipe—one in which tobacco has never been used—is said to be a simple, innocent, and certain cure for bronchitis.
PITTING OF SMALL-POX.
A friend who has been a sufferer from the disease of small-pox, informs us, that if, when the pustules begin to appear, they are anointed with sweet oil and lime-water, as these are generally prepared for applications to burns or water-scalds, it will operate to prevent or allay all irritation, and hinder the discoloration of the cuticle and the pitting, which are so often the accompaniment of this fearful disorder.
EAR-ACHE.
Cotton wool, wet with camphor, or paregoric and sweet oil, hot, and the ear bandaged, will give relief.
BUNIONS.
Bunions may be checked in their early development by binding the joint with adhesive plaster, and keeping it on as long as any uneasiness is felt. The bandaging should be perfect, and it might be well to extend it round the foot. An inflamed bunion should be poulticed, and larger shoes be worn. Iodine twelve grains, lard or spermaceti ointment half an ounce, make a capital ointment for bunions. It should be rubbed on gently twice or thrice a day. Enlarged joints should be rubbed thrice a day with common salad-oil, care being taken at the same time, not to strain or overtax the feet by too great or too frequent exercise. Slippers, and loose ones, should invariably be worn. Of shoes I may say the same thing; on no account have tight-fitting shoes, slippers, or boots.
RELIEF OF NEURALGIA.
As this dreadful disease is becoming more prevalent than formerly, and as the doctors have not discovered any method or medicine that will permanently cure it, we simply state that for some time past a member of our family has suffered most intensely from it, and could find no relief from any remedy applied, until we saw an article, which recommended the application of bruised horse-radish to the face, for toothache. As neuralgia and toothache are both nervous diseases, we thought the remedy for the one would be likely to cure the other, so we made the application of horse-radish, bruised and applied to the side of the body where the disease was seated; it gave almost instant relief to the severe attack of neuralgia. Since then we have applied it several times, and with the same gratifying results. The remedy is simple, cheap, and may be within the reach of every one.
COLD WATER TO CURE SCALDS.
A writer in the Ohio Cultivator says: "I placed a large tub full of water with plenty of ice in it, by the side of a large kettle full of water which was boiling very fast. I then rolled up my sleeves above my elbow, and thrust my arm into the kettle of boiling water up to my elbow, then immediately back into the tub of ice-water, letting it remain a few seconds, then into the boiling water again, repeating this process ten times in a minute, without injury or inconvenience, not even making my arm look red. From this experiment, I suggest the propriety of using cold-water baths immediately after being scalded. Cold water is always handier than hot water. The sooner cold water is applied after scalding, the surer will be the cure.
TO APPLY LEECHES.
One of the operations generally intrusted to the nurse is the application of leeches. The part to which they are to be applied should be carefully and thoroughly washed with soap and warm water, then dried, and again just moistened with fresh milk. The leeches having been put into a wineglass or tumbler (according to their number), it should be quickly inverted, and pressed firmly on the skin, so as to prevent them from escaping under the edge of the glass.
SMALL-POX.
In this loathsome disease, the apartment should be large, cool, and well-ventilated. The windows should be open day and night, and the linen changed daily. During the discharge of the pustules, change it twice a day. The patient should be taken into the open air often. Children and others, even if they have been vaccinated, should not visit the sick-room, though they need not leave the house. After the disease is over, the bed and bedding should be scoured, the room fumigated, and thoroughly cleansed.
TYPHUS FEVER.
If the apartment is large, airy, and clean, there is little danger from infection. The simple process spoken of in another part of this work, will prevent any bad effect from the disease. The sheets and body linen should be changed.
MUMPS.
Care should be taken to prevent taking cold. Perspiration should be promoted by warm drinks. If there is costiveness, give a gentle laxative. Cover the swelling with cotton, and if painful, bathe it with volatile liniment, or Cheeseman's balsam.
BOILS.
Make a plaster of molasses and flour, or honey and flour, and apply it as often as they get dry. If very painful, make a soft poultice of bread and milk, moistened with volatile liniment and laudanum. This will ease pain, allay inflammation, and hasten a cure. Remedies for cleansing the blood should be freely used.
TO REMOVE PROUD FLESH.
Pulverize loaf-sugar very fine, and apply it to the part affected. This is a new and easy remedy, and is said to remove it entirely without pain. It has been practiced in England for years.
FOOD FOR THE SICK.
The greatest care should be taken in the preparation of food for the sick. It should be just right, or the weakened and sensitive appetite will refuse it. If gruel is scorched in preparing, or whatever you attempt fails the first time to be as nice as it should be, throw it away and make more. Be scrupulously neat in serving it up. Use your prettiest dishes and finest napkins. Something depends upon looks; and the eye of a sick person may be unusually critical. Except in the preparation of light puddings, the process of baking is inadmissible for the sick. Roasting is better—a light roast potato is sometimes very acceptable. Meats should be delicately broiled, except when boiled for broths.
A STRENGTHENING JELLY FOR INVALIDS.
One ounce of isinglass, half an ounce gum-arabic, a pint of port wine; sweeten with sugar-candy or loaf-sugar, and then flavor with cinnamon, or a little nutmeg and lemon-peel. The cinnamon may be boiled in a quarter of a pint of water for an hour; strain, and add the isinglass with another quarter of a pint of water; strain when it is dissolved, and add the other ingredients. Take a wineglassful the first thing in the morning, and the last at night, melted; or eat it cold, taking a piece the size of a nutmeg occasionally.
ANOTHER.
Take three ounces of isinglass, two ounces of candied Eringo root, and one ounce each of conserve of roses, pearl barley, and rice. Put them in two quarts of water, and simmer about five hours till reduced to less than a pint. Put a spoonful of it into tea or any other liquid food, or take it alone.
MUTTON CUSTARD FOR BOWEL COMPLAINTS OR CONSUMPTIVE CASES.
Take two ounces of fresh mutton suet shred fine, and a half dram of cinnamon, or some grated nutmeg, and boil in rather more than a pint of milk; when boiled, to be set by the fire till the scum rises, which should then be carefully taken off. Half a teacupful may be given warm or cold, as the patient prefers, three or four times a day. It should be continued till the complaint is quite cured.
CHICKEN, BEEF, OR VEAL BROTH.
This is made by cutting up the chicken, or the lean of veal or beef, and putting in two spoonfuls of washed rice, and boiling until tender. It may be used, if needed in haste, after boiling in less water about 15 minutes, then filling it up and finishing. It should be put by in a bowl or pitcher covered, to keep for use. Warm it, and add crumbs of Boston crackers or bread a day or two old, with a little salt, and there is nothing more palatable for the sick.
TOAST-WATER.
Take a thin slice of stale bread, toast it brown on both sides slowly and equally. Lay it in a bowl, and pour on boiling water, and cover with a saucer to cool.
HOT LEMONADE.
Cut up the whole of a lemon, rind and all, add one teacupful of white sugar, and pour on boiling water. This is good for colds, and is a pleasant drink for the sick.
RICE JELLY.
Having picked and washed a quarter of a pound of rice, mix it with half a pound of loaf sugar, and just sufficient water to cover it. Boil it till it becomes a glutinous mass; then strain it; season it with whatever may be thought proper; and let it stand to cool.
FOR BREAD JELLY.
Measure a quart of boiling water, and set it away to get cold. Take one-third of an ordinary baker's loaf, slice it, pare off the crust, and toast the bread nicely to a light brown. Then put it into boiling water, set it on hot coals in a covered pan, and boil it gently, till you find, by putting some into a spoon to cool, that the liquid has become a jelly. Strain it through a thin cloth, and set it away for use. When it is to be taken, warm a teacupful, sweeten it with sugar, and add a little grated lemon-peel.
CALVES' FEET BROTH.
Boil two feet in three quarts of water until the water is half gone. Take off all the fat, season with a little salt, and, if suitable, a spoonful of white or port wine to a teacupful. This is nourishing and strengthening for an invalid. If a richer broth may be used, boil with the feet two ounces of veal or beef, a slice of bread, a blade or two of mace.
PANADA.
Having pared off the crust, boil some slices of bread in a quart of water for about five minutes. Then take out the bread, and beat it smooth in a deep dish mixing in a little of the water it has boiled in; and mix it with a bit of fresh butter, and sugar, and nutmeg to your taste.
BEEF-TEA.
Take one pound of lean fresh beef cut thin, put it in a jar or wide-mouthed bottle, add a little salt, place it in a kettle of boiling water to remain one hour, then strain it, and there will be a gill of pure nourishing liquid. Begin with a teaspoonful and increase as the stomach will bear. This has been retained on the stomach when nothing else could be, and has raised the patient when other means have failed.
WINE WHEY.
Take half a pint of new milk, put it on the fire and the moment it boils, pour in that instant two glasses of wine and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar previously mixed. The curd will soon form, and after it is boiled, set it aside until the curd settles. Pour the whey off and add a pint of boiling water, and loaf-sugar to sweeten to the taste. This may be drunk in typhus and other fevers, debility, etc.
WATER GRUEL.
Mix two table-spoonfuls of Indian or oat meal with three of water. Have ready a pint and a half of boiling water in a saucepan or skillet, perfectly clean; pour this by degrees into the mixture in the bowl; then return it back into the skillet, and place it on the fire to boil. Stir it, and let it boil nearly half an hour. Skim it, and season it with a little salt. If it is admissible, a little sugar and nutmeg renders it more palatable. Also, if milk is not forbidden, a small teacupful added to a pint of gruel, and boiled up once, makes a nice dish for an invalid.
MILK PORRIDGE.
This is made nearly in the same way as gruel, only using half flour, and half meal, and half milk, instead of water. It should be cooked before the milk is added, and only boiled up once afterward.
RICE GRUEL.
Take one spoonful of rice, a pint and a half of water, a stick of cinnamon or lemon-peel, boil it soft, and add a pint of new milk; strain it, and season with a little salt. If you make it of rice flour, mix one spoonful with a little cold water smoothly, and stir it into a quart of boiling water. Let it boil five or six minutes, stirring it constantly. Season it with salt, nutmeg, and sugar, and if admissible, a little butter. If the patient bears stimulants, a little wine may be added.
MEDICATED PRUNES.
Take a quarter of an ounce of senna and manna (as obtained from the druggists), and pour on it a pint of boiling water. Cover it, set it by the fire, and let it infuse for an hour. If the vessel in which you prepare it has a spout, stop up the spout with a roll or wad of soft paper. This should also be done in making herb teas or other decoctions, as a portion of the strength evaporates at the spout. When the senna and manna have thus been an hour by the fire, strain it into a skillet or saucepan (one lined with porcelain will be best), and stir in a large wineglass or small teacup of West India molasses. Add about half a pound or more of the best prunes, putting in sufficient to absorb the liquid while stewing. Then cover the vessel tightly, and let the whole stand for an hour, or till all the stones of the prunes are loose. If stewed too long, the prunes will taste weak and insipid. When done, put it into a dish to cool, and pick out all the stones. This will be found an excellent and agreeable cathartic medicine, as there will be no perceptible taste of the senna or manna. It may be given to children at their supper.
______
For the complete contents of the Butter Rum Cartoon, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment