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Book X.

TREASURY AND HANDBOOK
OF HEALTH AND HOME
INFORMATION.

QUICK CURES FOR ALL DISEASES.

Cholera Morbus.—Cayenne pepper, ten grains; chalk, one-half drachm; anise, two drachms; add to this a pint of water sweetened with sugar and boil to one-half pint, and give teaspoonful every hour or two until relieved, and apply kerosene oil to stomach and bowels.

Chafing.—Use powdered starch freely after bathing and drying (well) the parts.

Corns.—Apply kerosene oil to part each night. Apply turpentine to part each night.

Biliousness.—Use the juice of half a lemon each morning before breakfast. Boil two ounces of quassia root in one pint of water and strain. Take a teaspoonful every four hours for a week or two.

Bunion.—Apply adhesive plaster to part; put about a teaspoonful of salicylic acid to two tablespoonfuls of lard and apply morning and night.

Backache.—Apply a mixture of one part of turpentine to two parts of sweet oil and apply to back two or three times a day. Apply the same warm.

Abscess.—Make a mixture of equal parts of rosin and sugar, and apply for several days till broken; if not, poultice hourly with flaxseed meal.

Bronchitis.—To a pint of flaxseed tea add the Juice of two lemons and about three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and take a teaspoonful every half hour until relieved,

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Colic.—Give ten to fifteen drops of asafetida every half hour until relieved. Chamomile tea, a teaspoonful every ten or fifteen minutes.

Painter's Colic.—Give patient a free purge of cream of tartar, about tablespoonful in half glass of water, and apply warmth to stomach and bowels.

Asthma.—Make strong solution of saltpetre and saturate pieces of blotting paper and dry. When a paroxysm is felt ignite a piece of the paper and inhale the smoke. This acts most quickly, alleviating distressing symptoms and shortens the paroxysm.

Bleeding from the Nose.—Inject a strong solution of alum, made with one-quarter teaspoonful of alum to half teacup of water, into each nostril, and place cotton saturated with same to nostril.

Bleeding from the Stomach.—Make a strong decoction of geranium tea, made by boiling about two ounces of geranium root in a pint of water to half pint, and give a dessertspoonful every hour or two until hemorrhage abates.

Sun Stroke.—Apply alternately hot and cold applications to forehead and base of the brain or back of neck; place the feet in warm mustard water, and apply mustard to stomach and calves of legs.

Nausea or Sick Stomach.—Drink a teacup of warm water every few minutes until free vomiting takes place, and apply a small mustard plaster, made with the white of egg instead of vinegar or water, to the pit of stomach, allowing same to remain an hour or two, as no blister will occur.

Cramps in Stomach.—Make mustard poultice, with white of egg instead of water, and apply same to bowels, and give a tablespoonful of blackberry tea, made from root, every fifteen or twenty minutes until relieved.

Hemorrhage of lungs.—Give patient half a teaspoonful of common salt every hour or two until hemorrhage abates.

Erysipelas.—Put about a tablespoonful of baking soda in one pint of water and bathe parts several times a day. Keep parts well bathed with witch hazel.

Burns or Scalds.—Put a teaspoonful of alum in pint of water, and bathe parts frequently. Keep the parts well wet with this solution, which extracts the heat in a remarkable manner and soothes the patient into a calm and refreshing sleep. Apply a solution of kerosene oil in the proportion of one part of sweet oil and two parts of kerosene oil, and keep the parts well wet with this mixture.

Tonsillitis.—Chlorate of potash, a teaspoonful in teacup of water, and gargle throat frequently. Borax, put quarter teaspoonful in teacup of water and gargle throat frequently.

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Croup.—Mix a teaspoonful of alum with the white of one egg, and give a teaspoonful every few minutes until free vomiting occurs. Give one-quarter teaspoonful of syrup of ipecac every ten minutes until free vomiting occurs.

Blood Purifier.—Sarsaparilla tea, a tablespoonful three or four times a day. Cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful night and morning.

Arrest Cough.—Flaxseed tea, a teaspoonful every ten or fifteen minutes. A mixture of lemon and sugar is very efficacious. Take small quantity every ten or fifteen minutes.

Diarrhoea.—Take half ounce of blackberry root and boil in pint of water about fifteen minutes, strain and give teaspoonful every hour or two until relieved; or fluid extract, dose five to ten drops in a little water; or boil about half an ounce of tannin root in pint of milk, about ten or fifteen minutes, and give a tablespoonful every hour or two.

Deafness.—Put about five or ten drops of the juice of onion in affected ear several times a day. If any pain exists, add a drop or two of laudanum, or drop two or three drops of glycerine in ear. In about one hour syringe ear well with warm castle soap suds or warm milk.

Varicose Veins.—Apply witch hazel night and morning, and wear bandage during day.

Blood Poisoning.—Quinine sulphate, one scruple; tincture chloride of iron, one and one-half drachms; syrup simple, two ounces; make mixture and give half teaspoonful four times a day.

Dropsy.—Make a tea or infusion of half an ounce of skull cap root to one quart of water, and boil to pint. Take wineglass of same three or four times a day. Or the same quantity of grapevine root, made in same manner, and taken as above. Also use vapor bath, about a week, each day, and drop one week, again renewing.

Diphtheria.—Give adult one teaspoonful of kerosene oil two or three times a day. For child, from ten to thirty drops, according to age, and apply some to throat. Also make gargle of half teaspoonful of tannin to four ounces or teacup of water, and bathe throat thoroughly several times a day, and apply to throat a strip of fat bacon, with a liberal supply of common salt rubbed on the bacon, and apply the same to throat morning and evening.

Dyspepsia.—Take one teaspoonful of white mustard seed, followed by half glass of water about ten minutes before each meal, or use the yolk of one egg, with small quantity of common salt, before breakfast.

Diabetes.—About one teaspoonful of powdered alum in glass of milk, and drink one-half the quantity about half an hour before each meal.

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Dysentery.—Take one ounce of dewberry root and boil in quart of water to one pint, and give half wineglass of same every two or three hours until discharges diminish.

Chilblains.—Apply lime-water to part affected several times a day.

Chapped Hands and Face.—Apply a mixture of one-third glycerine and two-thirds rose water two or three times a day.

Cancer.—Give a tablespoonful of sarsaparilla tea, made with two ounces of sarsaparilla root in quart of water boiled to pint; and apply to cancer growth a poultice made of carrots scraped or mashed cranberries.

Cold Feet.—Make solution of two teaspoonfuls of borax in quart of warm water, and soak feet thoroughly at bedtime, and wear woolen socks for sleeping.

Constipation.—Drink teacup of flaxseed tea each morning before breakfast, and establish regular hour each day for stool. Eat orange each morning; also laxative food, as oatmeal, prunes stewed, and so forth.

Catarrh.—Use as an injection a mixture composed of one teaspoonful of common salt, a teacup of milk and half pint of warm water as injection for nostrils three times a day; or same quantity of borax can be substituted for the salt.

Water Brash.—Give about quarter teaspoonful of common baking soda in wineglass of water after each meal.

Worms.—Make decoction of pink-root tea, one ounce of pinkroot to pint of water, and boil to half pint. Give teaspoonful three times a day for two days, followed by purge of castor oil or cream of tartar.

Wen.—A mixture of ten grains sulphate of copper to two tablespoonfuls of water, and apply three or four times a day.

Toothache.—Apply oil of cloves on small piece of cotton and place in cavity of tooth, or rub gum lightly with oil of sassafras.

Tympanites.—Make mixture of one tablespoonful of turpentine to half pint of water, and apply as fomentations, hot as can be borne.

Ulcer.—Make poultice of fresh scraped carrot, and apply to ulcer or sore two or three times a day, keeping parts well cleansed.

Fever Sores.—Make a decoction of clover blossoms, and apply to parts three or four times a day. Half ounce of clover blossoms to one pint of water, and boil about half an hour.

Suppression of Urine.—Boil three tablespoonfuls of watermelon seeds in one pint of water, strain and cool, and give teaspoonful every half hour until relieved.

Scurvy.—Use a decoction of dogwood root, one ounce to pint of boiling water; strain and cool and give tablespoonful four times a day.

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St. Vitus' Dance.—Make infusion of black cohosh, one ounce to pint of boiling water; strain and cool and give teaspoonful four times a day.

Putrid Sore Throat.—Make strong decoction of white oak bark, one ounce to pint, and use as a gargle several times a day, or a solution of borax, one drachm to one-half pint of water.

Scrofula.—Make a decoction of walnut leaves, one ounce to pint of boiling water, and give one tablespoonful four times a day.

Ring-Worm.—Make a strong solution of tobacco leaves, and apply to part until it entirely disappears.

Shingles.—Make solution of yerba rheuma, one ounce to pint of boiling water, and apply freely to part several times a day.

Sleeplessness.—Persons so affected will be benefited by the use of a pillow composed of hops, or cup of warm hop tea on retiring.

Small-Pox.—At once give a wineglass of infusion of pitcher-plant, made with one ounce to pint of boiling water, three or four times a day.

Salt Rheum.—Use an astringent wash as alum, tablespoonful in pint of water, and keep bowels opened by cooling medicines, as cream tartar, rochelle salts, and so forth.

Salivation.—Use as a wash for mouth a mixture composed of the tincture of cinchona, four ounces; borax, one drachm; water, six ounces. Wash mouth thoroughly several times a day.

Falling of Palate.—Make a strong decoction of white oak bark, and use as a wash several times a day.

Piles.—Smartweed root, about half an ounce, boiled with two ounces of lard, and apply to piles three or four times a day; or an application of crushed cranberries is very effective; use as a food cranberries freely.

Pleurisy.—Make a decoction of prickly ash bark, one ounce to one pint of boiling water; cool and strain and give tablespoonful about four times a day, and apply poultices hot as can be borne.

Proud Flesh.—Apply to part powdered burnt alum until the flesh Is entirely removed.

Rheumatism.—Make use of lemon juice freely. Use decoction of black snakeroot, one ounce to pint of boiling water; a tablespoonful four times a day. Wet cold compress, renewed every two hours, applied to painful joints.

Rupture.—Make poultice of lobelia and stramonium leaves, equal parts, and apply to part; renewing as often as necessary. In the reduction of hernia the use of chloroform is obvious.

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Kidney Disease.—Make decoction of sheep-sorrel, one ounce to pint; boil, strain and cool. Give wineglassful three or four times a day. Or the same quantity of buchu leaves, made in same manner, and dose the same, and apply the spinal ice bag to kidneys.

Melancholy.—Use a pill composed of about three grains of asafetida three or four times a day; change of scene, bright surroundings, and so forth, or one grain of musk three or four times a day.

Neuralgia.—Equal parts of tincture of belladonna, tincture of aconite root and laudanum applied to part affected, several times a day. Or make mixture of one teaspoonful of common black pepper, the yolk of one egg, make plaster and apply; renew if necessary.

Polypus.—Apply powdered poke root several times a day. This treatment must be pursued for some weeks.

Night Sweats.—Make a strong infusion of sage tea, and use a tablespoonful three times a day, with double dose at bedtime. Sponging body before retiring with alum or borax water often checks same, and induces refreshing sleep. Apply belladonna ointment at night to chest.

Itch.—Apply kerosene oil, undiluted, to part several times a day. Apply nitrate of mercury ointment to the body.

Inflammation of the Bowels.—Make poultice of flaxseed meal, and put on surface a mixture of equal parts of tincture of aconite root and laudanum, and apply to bowels; changing same every three hours. Perfect quiet. Give no cathartics. Mucilaginous drinks: Gum arabic water, toast water, and so forth.

Inflammation of Bladder.—Make an infusion of pipsissewa root, one ounce to pint of boiling water, and give wineglassful three or four times a day. Keep parts well warm with poultices, and so forth, over bladder. Drink plentifully of hop tea, which is an excellent remedy; also an infusion of cubebs and buchu.

Gall Stones.—Drink about one wineglassful of sweet oil at bedtime, followed in morning by cathartic, as seidlitz powder or cream of tartar, and phosphate of soda, teaspoonful each morning in wineglassful of water. This treatment to be pursued several weeks. Massage the part over the region of the liver lightly night and morning. Gall stones being very painful and dangerous, it would be well to consult page 497, Liver Colic.

Bright's Disease.—Use skimmed milk freely, both at meals and between, and apply soothing fomentations to small of back, as infusion of hops with laudanum, and take acetate and citrate of potash two or three times a day in five- and ten-grain doses.

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Nettle Rash.—Make a strong solution of common baking soda, about three teaspoonfuls to pint of water, and sponge or bathe body thoroughly.

Hay Fever.—If much irritation of eyes and nostrils, inject into nostrils, three or four times a day, a mixture composed of ten grains of sulphate of zinc, half teaspoonful of borax, and about four ounces of rose water.

Hoarseness.—A mixture of scraped horseradish, with a small proportion of wheaten flour, use of this a small quantity several times a day. Or the juice of one lemon, with sufficient sugar to saturate, and take teaspoonful of same several times a day, or a small piece of borax dissolved in mouth and swallowed slowly.

Liver Complaint.—Make infusion of dandelion tea, one ounce to one pint of boiling water, strain and cool, and give wineglassful morning and evening. Or use from one to three grains of may apple night and morning for several weeks, followed occasionally by a light purgative, as seidlitz powder or rochelle salts.

Inflammation of Stomach.—Make decoction of hops or stramonium leaves, of either one ounce to pint of boiling water, and foment stomach and bowels several times a day. Apply mustard plaster.

Goitre.—Apply the following several times a day: Extract of belladonna, half drachm; compound ointment of iodine, two drachms; vaseline, half ounce. This treatment must be kept up for several months.

Gleet.—To one ounce of Port wine add about ten grains of tannin, and use as an injection three or four times a day.

Hiccoughs.—Put about quarter of a teaspoonful of cinchona bark, powdered, in two ounces of peppermint water, and give a teaspoonful every five or ten minutes until relieved.

Sick Headache.—Make a strong decoction of hop tea, and take wine-glassful every half hour or hour until relieved.

Nervous Headache.—Give about fifteen or twenty drops of the aromatic spirits of ammonia until relieved.

Palpitation of Heart.—Make an infusion of geranium root, half ounce in pint of boiling water; strain and cool and give wineglassful three or four times a day.

Enlarged Spleen.—Give from ten to fifteen drops of fluid extract of Bear's Foot three or four times a day, and apply over seat of enlargement a plaster composed of Burgundy pitch and extract of belladonna, equal parts; also use massage over affected part.

Ague in Face.—Make a solution of teaspoonful of menthol crystals dissolved in two ounces of alcohol, and apply to face several times a day, taking care it does not enter eyes.

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Felon.—Apply a mixture of half teaspoonful of powdered camphor to one egg, mix thoroughly, and apply same two or three times a day.

Fistula.—Use as an injection a solution of witch hazel, diluted with water.

Aching and Tender Feet.—Make a strong solution of white oak bark, and soak the feet night and morning.

Gravel.—To one teaspoonful of powdered borax add about two tablespoonfuls of cream of tartar, and add one pint of water; of this mixture take four teaspoonfuls four or five times a day; also give ten grains of the bicarbonate of potash three times a day to dissolve the calculi.

Simple Fever.—Give about half a teaspoonful of sweet spirits of nitre in a little sweetened water every two or three hours for an adult, and less quantity to child, in proportion to age. Keep bowels well open with simple purgative.

Bilious Fever.—Take about ten drops of the fluid extract of wild indigo-root in a little water, once in four hours. After a day or two commence with one grain of cinchonidia. To be taken every three hours.

Scarlet Fever.—Give at outset ten to fifteen drops of sweet spirits of nitre every two or three hours, and apply to throat strip of fat bacon well saturated with common salt. Change same morning and evening and apply each night to body the following: Resorcin, one drachm; vaseline or lard, one-half an ounce, and rub body thoroughly.

Brain Fever.—Give from five to twenty drops of the following mixture every hour or two during the excitement. Tincture aconite root, thirty drops; tincture yellow jassemine, two drachms; sweet spirits nitre, one drachm; simple syrup, two ounces.

Fever and Ague.—Make an infusion of one ounce of dogwood root boiled in one quart of water to one pint; strain and give half wineglassful every two or three hours.

Cold.—Mix ten drops of spirits of camphor with a pint of hot water. Sip the whole of it as hot as it can be taken. Avoid draughts till the free perspiration has carried the cold off.

Rheumatism.—Among the many remedies found effective in rheumatism is rochelle salts. Dissolve a dessertspoonful in water and take every two hours. After twelve hours take once in four hours.

Eczema.—1. Chronic eczema (skin disease) may be treated successfully by an ointment of pitch and turpentine melted together; an ounce of each. Add an ounce of vaseline and two drachms of red precipitate. Mix all well and apply as a salve.

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2. A good eczema wash is made of an ounce each of bruised blood-root and yellow dock, steeped well in a pint of alcohol and half pint of vinegar.

3. A paste of sulphur and lard applied to the affected skin morning and evening is recommended as a good eczema cure.

Sore Throat.—Hardly any remedy for sore throat proves more efficacious than the old-fashioned plan of tying around the throat a slice of fat bacon on which is sprinkled black pepper.

Erysipelas.—Boil white navy beans, mash and add cornmeal to make poultice. Apply hot and change frequently.

Indigestion.—An exclusive diet of fruit for several days is found efficacious in most cases of indigestion. This diet is excellent in dyspepsia and constipation.

Insomnia.—On going to bed, take some sound, as a clock-tick or the breathing of some one within hearing, and breathe long full breaths, keeping time to the sound. In a very short time you will fall asleep, without any of the painful anxieties attending insomnia.

Croup.—Fat bacon applied to the throat, as in sore throat, is recommended as a remedy for croup. Its action can be helped by taking internally a few drops of kerosene oil on sugar.

Nervous Headache.—A cloth wet with spirits of camphor and sprinkled with black pepper when applied to the head, gives relief.

Appendicitis.—To allay the pain and stop the formation of pus in appendicitis it is recommended that the flannel cloth be saturated with hot water, wring it out, drop ten to fifteen drops of turpentine upon it and apply it to the afflicted parts as hot as the patient can bear. Repeat till relief is obtained. Then cover the bowels with a thin cotton cloth, upon which place another cloth wrung out of kerosene oil. This sustains the relief and conduces to rest and eventual cure. It is an essential part of the absorbent cure for appendicitis, and since its adoption doctors do not resort to a surgical operation half so often. A liver pill should be used and taken every few nights at bed-time.

2. Dr. Wm. W. Myers says that root of wild yam is a good remedy for appendicitis; one ounce to a pint of water, boiled down to a half-pint. Take a teaspoonful every hour until relieved, and then every two hours until cured.

Neuralgia.—Make a tea of the root of twin-leaf and take a wineglassful three or four times a day. Or, if the tincture is used, take two or three teaspoonfuls. This is recommended by many as affording entire relief in the most severe cases of neuralgia.

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Whites (Leucorrhea).—Cleanse the parts effectually with warm water, by means of an injection. Then inject a full syringe of a mixture made by dropping a tablespoonful of extract of witch hazel (Pond's is best) into warm water.

Suppressed Menses.—A capsule of cayenne pepper—five grains—is recommended as a remedy for suppressed menses. It should be taken on or about the period the menses is expected. For regulating the menses the insertion, before retiring, of a five-grain capsule, composed of two ounces of baking soda and two drachms of citric acid is highly spoken of.

Ring-Worm.—The application of kerosene is a good remedy for ring-worm. Apply several times a day by rubbing it in well with the finger or a rag.

Quinsy.—Those who have tried oil of peppermint, applied externally to neck and throat, pronounce it an excellent remedy for quinsy. A gargle of kerosene, and an application of the same to the throat by means of a wet cloth, saturated, repeating every two or three hours, is also highly recommended.

Membranous Croup.—Give the patient a warm bath. Put a small piece of quicklime in a little water in a pitcher and place it so that the patient can breathe the fumes. Do this at quarter hour intervals. The inhalation of the fumes from a cloth saturated with a mixture of salt and vinegar is said to be equally effectual.

Diabetes.—In this disease there is an excessive flow of yellowish, sweet urine, with frequent calls to void it, and an excessive flow.

Treatment.—1. A tea of water-hoarhound, drunk freely, is an excellent remedy. Or, in place of the tea, a teaspoonful of the tincture may be taken four or five times a day.

2. A tea of common chickweed, drunk freely for sometime, is also mentioned as an excellent remedy. Salicylate of soda in five-grain doses is most efficacious.

3. A purely milk diet, in copious quantities, has been found to result in a cure.

4. A favorite remedy of Dr. Myers is an ointment made of one drachm of veratria and one ounce of simple cerate. This is applied by rubbing on the spine morning and evening.

5. A preparation of three grains of tannic acid and fourth of a grain of opium, taken before meals and at bed-time, is said to be a good remedy; also valerianate of ammonia in two-grain doses is very effective.

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Ulceration of the Womb.—1. The symptoms of pain, soreness and smarting at the neck of the womb yield to an injection of alum water, twice a day. The solution should consist of a third of a teaspoonful of powdered alum in a pint of water.

2. Fluid extract of white pond-lily, in doses of ten to fifteen drops, three times a day, has been recommended as an excellent cure. The same effect follows injections of an infusion of the plant, two to three times daily, at the same time drinking teacupful doses of the infusion three times daily.

3. An infusion of golden seal, used two or three times daily as an injection, proves efficacious.

4. An infusion of oak-bark, used as an injection twice a day, is found very curative. If tannic acid be applied directly to the affected part, a like result is reached. A strong solution of tannic acid in collodion is Very effective, or sulphate of zinc with warm water, as a wash.

Sleeplessness.—Hops in the form of a pillow on which to sleep, is given as a cure for wakefulness.

Hop Remedies.—Hop fomentations and poultices are excellent to relieve pain and inflammation. The yellow powder of hops, in doses of ten to fifteen grains, allays the pain of gonorrhea and chordee. It settles nervous irritation of almost any kind, especially that of delirium tremens. A decoction of hops is found to be a cure for sick headache. A tea, drunk freely, is a remedy for kidney complaint.

Onion Remedies.—Onion syrup, prepared by sprinkling sliced onions with sugar, and taken in teaspoonful doses every fifteen minutes, until relief is obtained, is a favorite home remedy for croup. Free use of onions on the table is a preventive of constipation. An application of crushed onions to burns, extracts the fire and relieves the pain. In bronchial affections onions afford a remedy, in the form of a syrup, taken in teaspoonful doses, three or four times a day, or oftener if the case be severe,

Celery Remedy.—To cure rheumatism, drink freely of celery tea, three or four times a day. It should also be used freely as an article of diet. Officinal preparations of celery can be had at the drug stores,

Peppermint Remedies.—Essence of peppermint, a teaspoonful to a tumbler of hot-water, sipped occasionally, is both a preventive and cure of seasickness. Bruised and applied to the stomach it relieves nausea and vomiting.

Tomato Remedy.—Tomato syrup, made of peeled tomatoes well sweetened with sugar, taken in teaspoonful-doses every half hour, is recommended as a remedy for cholera infantum.

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Grapevine Remedies.—The ashes of the grapevine are recommended by some eminent authorities as a cure for dropsy. The inner bark is burned to ashes, and a teaspoonful taken three times a day in a glass of wine. Various grape remedies are found effective in dysentery of chronic form.

Camphor Remedy.—A favorite remedy for colds. Drink, as hot as can be borne, a pint of water mixed with ten drops of spirits of camphor.

Lockjaw.—Apply a warm poultice of flaxseed meal, saturated with laudanum and sugar of lead water, to the jaws and neck.

Stings of Insects.—Apply hartshorn or water of ammonia to part, which neutralizes the formic acid, the active principle of the poison.

Offensive Breath.—Teaspoonful each of powdered myrrh and camphor and put in pint of water; use as a wash for mouth.

Inhalation of Noxious Vapors.—Remove patient from influence; place in open air; put two tablespoonfuls of turpentine in quart of boiling water and inhale vapor to counteract the deleterious effects of the poisonous gas.

For Regulating the Menses.—For regulating the menses take half a teaspoonful of tea of smartweed or tansy before going to bed, and continue daily till relief is had. To aid the remedy bathe the feet in hot mustard water. A warm injection of chamomile tea before going to bed will give almost instant relief.

For Painful Menstruation.—Let patient take an active cathartic; then, when put to bed let half a cupful of hop tea be given, and a douche of one quart of hot water, into which ten drops of laudanum have been dropped, be injected.

For Chronic Disordered Stomach.—Take as much powdered burnt alum as will go on the point of a penknife blade and place dry on the tongue three or four times a day.

Itching of Anus.—Make a solution of five to ten grains of borax to the ounce of hot water and apply freely to the anus.

Diabetes.—Five grains of the salicylate of soda taken three times a day—a specific cure.

Diarrhoea.—An infusion of chamomile, prepared by steeping four to six heads of chamomile flowers in a cup of boiling water for an hour, and giving a teaspoonful hourly.

Cold Feet.—The ice bag, by increasing the flow of blood to the legs, relieves the coldness of the feet.

Constipation.—Drink glass of cold water before and eat orange after breakfast each morning.

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Scurvy.—Vinegar and fresh vegetables.

St. Vitus' Dance.—Apply ice to spine, which relieves muscular tension.

Scrofula.—Sulphide of lime in ten- to fifteen-grain doses, given in milk after meals, is most efficacious.

Shingles.—Apply morning and night an ointment prepared from the oleate of mercury.

Small-pox.—An infusion of the plant actea racemosa; one ounce to a pint of boiling water. Tablespoonful every three hours will prevent pitting. Cold packing is beneficial.

Piles.—A cold water injection of about half a pint every morning before going to stool cures in many instances. In bleeding piles use injection of witch-hazel. Rhubarb is most efficacious, a piece of about ten grains to be chewed or dissolved in the mouth nightly.

Sick Headache.—Aconite ointment rubbed over painful brow, or aconite liniment will cut short the pain. One drop of the tincture of nux vomica in a teaspoonful of water every five or ten minutes will quickly relieve.

Enlarged Spleen.—Give quinine and the tincture of the chloride of iron—one-half grain of quinine and ten drops of the tincture of iron—three times a day, and apply morning and night over the enlargement the compound iodine ointment.

Rheumatism.—Acid steam bath is most effective. Cold, wet compress applied to painful joints. The bicarbonate and citrate of potash in doses of five or ten grains each three or four times a day. Drink freely of lemonade.

Eczema.—If the secretion is profuse apply powdered cinchona bark; also a mixture of glycerin, two parts to one of borax. A cold potato poultice, with a small quantity of camphor, has proven most beneficial.

Erysipelas.—A wash containing two parts of borax to five of water is effectual in subduing inflammation; also an ointment of three grains of morphine, two drachms of green vitriol and one ounce of lard, applied several times a day.

Neuralgia (of Face).—Use aconite liniment, care being taken that it does not enter the eyes. An infusion of capsicum pods, one handful to a pint of warm water, and applied on lint is most efficacious.

Whites (Leucorrhea).—An infusion of hydrastis or yellow root, when there is much secretion, being effective. One drachm of bicarbonate of potash to a pint of water is most useful as an injection. Vaginal injections of cold water are useful after it has been stopped, to prevent its recurrence.

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Suppressed Menses.—Hot sitz bath with mustard a few days before the period. Ice applied to the lower portion of the spine increases the amount of blood supplied to the pelvic organs and restores the monthly flow.

Quinsy.—In inflamed tonsils, when they almost meet, mercury and chalk (or gray powder), the third of a grain every hour, acts like magic. Cold compress used nightly to harden throat. A teaspoonful of the tincture of cayenne pepper to half a pint of water is a useful gargle.

APPENDICITIS.

The appendix is a malformation of the large intestine attached to the internal part of the cecal sac, a large fluid intestine closed at one end. It is a useless organ, but at the same time one essentially injurious.

Causes.—If a retention of its contents (through any external cause) takes place the most favorable conditions are present for their decomposition and the development of bacterial infection. In this manner excess in eating, violent exercise after meal and a continued arrest of fecal matter prove most harmful.

Constipation produces a defective secretion and a sluggish contraction of the muscular coat of the appendix, manifesting itself by dull pains in the belly, and irregular stools. This condition is the most frequent cause of hardened dregs or sediments. Indigestion is also a frequent cause.

Symptoms.—There are several symptoms of the first attack of appendicitis. A person of habitually good health, or suffering for some time from vague digestive troubles, is suddenly taken with a severe pain in the right side of the abdomen between the ribs and the hip. The pain is accompanied with colicky paroxysms more or less violent, followed or not by one or two attacks of vomiting of food or bile. Colic will eventually subside and fixed pain continue, sometimes exactly limited to this point, or it may spread over the bowels, the muscles of the region becoming hard, with little fever.

After careful research and successful experiments we have scientifically compounded the following pills which will prevent and cure appendicitis. It keeps the stomach, bowels and bladder clean and pure. It dissolves and eliminates uric acid deposits and fecal concretions. It allays inflammation and allows no accumulation of fecal matter about the appendix.

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Severe Attacks.—The treatment of the attack proper consists of absolute quiet, both general and of the intestines. The pain and general indisposition will compel the patient to go to bed and assume a position where the abdominal muscles will be as much relaxed as possible. Avoid abdominal movements, such as sneezing, coughing, and so forth. The diet should at first consist of only small quantities of cold or lukewarm milk, oatmeal, bouillon from white meat, and so forth; avoid sweet and starchy foods. 

            Aloin .................................. 15 grains
            Cascarin ............................... 15 grains
            Podophyllin ............................ 10 grains
            Extract of belladonna ................... 7 grains
            Strychnia ............................... 1 grain
            Gingerne ................................ 7 grains

        Make into sixty pills. Take two pills at first dose, and
    then one pill every two or three hours until relieved.

This pill will regulate the bowels; all drastic cathartics must be avoided. It removes all gases, sweetens the stomach and aids digestion. Prevents attacks of appendicitis and surgical interference. It dissolves all concretions and deposits. Increases the healthy action of the bowels. Vegetable purgative not required. It affects directly the appendix. Relieves all pain and inflammation. Stops all incipient cases.

PILES.

Causes.—Piles are due to constipation, difficult stools, sedentary habits, and some forms of liver complaint.

Symptoms.—They consist of little tumors which form at the edge, or just inside of the fundament, and give rise to intense pain, especially during evacuation. Very often their surfaces exude blood, in which case they are called "bleeding piles." When seated at the edge of the fundament they are not apt to bleed, and are called "blind piles."

Treatment.—1. When small, an ointment of ten grains of extract of belladonna, thirty grains of tannin, and twenty grains of powdered opium, will generally relieve them. When large, protruding and very stubborn and painful, apply a solution of cocaine to the parts affected. Then gently press the tumors back into the rectum. The swelling will gradually diminish and the pain subside.

2. A strong solution of salt injected two or three times a day has been found efficacious. The solution is to be weakened to suit the conditions of each particular case. Inject half a pint of cold water before going to stool each day.

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3. Some recommend the simple extract of Canada Pine (Pinus Canadensis) as a cure. It is applied by rubbing it on with the finger, two or three times a day.

4. Calomel, half a teaspoonful, well beaten into lard, and used as an ointment, two or three times daily, is spoken of as an excellent cure. A lead plaster applied to back is very efficacious.

5. In some places cranberry juice is said to be used with good effect. It is used in the ordinary cooked form and eaten freely as a sauce.

6. An ointment of white lead and linseed oil, well mixed and applied twice a day, has produced some very effectual and rapid cures.

7. An ointment of tannin and glycerine, well mixed and applied once or twice a day, is a favorite remedy with some medical men.

Auxiliary Treatment.—Avoid all liquors, tea, coffee and highly spiced foods. Take exercise. Bathe the parts frequently with cold water. Injections for the purpose of securing easy stool are of benefit.

WORMS.

Take a wineglassful of vermuth and mix it with twenty-five seeds of the pumpkin, add water and boil as in making tea. Drink a teacupful of the tea three times a day for two to three weeks. This is the celebrated Kneipp cure for worms as practiced at his sanitoriums in Germany, and is always found effectual. Another valuable remedy is pink root and senna, one ounce of the former and four drachms of the latter, steeped in a quart of water. Dose, two tablespoonfuls twice a day.

GRAVEL OR STONE IN BLADDER.

Causes.—When the system is healthy the ingredients which form gravel or stone are carried off by the secretions without difficulty. But when there is excess of uric or any other acid these particles unite and gradually grow to the proportions of stone, which may find deposit in the kidneys, bladder or gall ducts, and produce great inflammation and pain.

Symptoms.—Small gravel stones may pass off with the urine, sometimes with great pain, others remain to grow into stone. When the gravel or stone is too large to pass through the urethra the patient is subject to terrific spasms of pain, in groin, kidney, testicle, thigh, abdomen, but generally pointing to the direction in which the stone seeks an exit; nausea and vomiting sometimes set in, and the pulse becomes weak and complexion pale. The patient is rendered uneasy by frequent desires to pass urine.

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Treatment.—1. Treatment of gravel in the acute form comprises the warm bath, suppositories of a grain of opium and one-sixth of a grain of belladonna, flaxseed tea, and the use of salty purgatives.

2. In chronic gravel teas or fluid extracts of buchu are often used, and in stubborn cases five-drop doses of diluted nitromuriatic acid, or salicin in five-grain doses, thrice daily, may be given.

3. Some recommend onion juice for gravel, in doses of a wineglassful morning and evening.

4. Relief is sometimes had from a mixture of two teaspoonfuls of powdered borax and five of cream of tartar, dissolved in a pint of water, the dose being two or three dessertspoonfuls four times a day.

5. The juice of the garden beet, boiled to a syrup, and taken two to three times a day in doses of a wineglassful, is said to have valuable curative efficacy.

Auxiliary Treatment.—As already mentioned, a palliative of the spasm of pain is a warm bath or a wrapping of the patient in a blanket saturated with hot water. Keep the blanket hot by frequent applications of the water.

SCARLET FEVER.

The nature of this disease and its treatment will be found under DISEASES OF CHILDREN. But it may be mentioned here:

1. That the external use of fat, raw bacon, is highly recommended as a remedy. The diet should be kept low and cooling drinks freely taken.

2. Another remedy is a tablespoonful of brewer's yeast in three tablespoonfuls of sweetened water, taken three times a day. Half the quantity for children.

3. The remedy recommended by Dr. Myers is: 

      Rx.---Tincture of aconite root .............. 25 drops
            Salicylic acid ......................... 1 drachm
            Simple syrup ........................... 2 ounces

A teaspoonful every two or three hours.

Or, 

      Rx.---Sweet spirits of nitre .................. 1-1/2 drachms
            Tincture of belladonna ................. 30     drops
            Simple syrup ............................ 2     ounces

Take as in above recipe.

4. Some doctors use a gargle in connection with the bacon remedy. It is composed of one teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, two teaspoonfuls of salt and half a pint of boiling water. Strain and add half a pint of vinegar. Gargle the throat frequently with this mixture and take inwardly in teaspoonful doses every hour for adults. Reduce the quantity for children and regulate according to age.

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Last Modified: Monday, 13-May-2013 15:31:47 EDT