Part 21

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.

HOW TO WHITEN NAILS.--The best wash for whitening the nails is two drachms of diluted sulphuric acid, one drachm of tincture of myrrh, added to four ounces of spring water; first cleanse the hands, and then apply the wash.

SURE CURE FOR NEURALGIA.--1. Fill a tight-top thimble with cotton wool, and drop on it a few drops of strong spirits of hartshorn. The open mouth of the thimble is then applied over the seat of pain for a minute or two, until the skin is blistered. The skin is then rubbed off, and upon the denuded surface a small quantity of morphia (one-fourth grain) is applied. This affords almost instant relief. A second application of the morphia, if required, is to be preceded by first rubbing off the new formation that has sprung up over the former blistered surface.

2. Dr. J. Knox Hodge recommends the following as an application which will relieve facial or any other neuralgia almost instantaneously: Albumen of egg, one drachm; rhigolene, four ounces; oil of peppermint, two ounces; colodion and chloroform, each one ounce. Mix. Agitate occasionally for twenty-four hours, and by gelatinization a beautiful and semi-solidified, opodeldoc-looking compound results, which will retain its consistency and hold the ingredients intimately blended for months. Apply by smart friction with the hand, or gently with a soft brush or mop along the course of the nerve involved.

3. Mix one and one-half drachms iodide of potash, fifteen grains of quinine and one ounce ginger syrup, and two and a half ounces water. Dose, a tablespoonful every three hours.

4. OF THE STOMACH.--Take of distilled water of cherry laurel, five parts; muriate of morphia, one-tenth part. Mix and dissolve. One drop on a lump of sugar immediately before meals.

OINTMENT FOR SORE NIPPLES.--Glycerine, rose water and tannin, equal weights, rubbed together into an ointment, is very highly recommended for sore or cracked nipples.

GLYCERINE OINTMENT.--Melt together spermaceti, two drachms; white wax, one-half drachm; oil of sweet almonds, two ounces, and then add glycerine, one ounce, and stir briskly until cool. An admirable application for chapped hands, etc.

OINTMENT FOR ITCH.--White precipitate, fifteen grains; saltpetre, one-half drachm; flour of sulphur, one drachm; Mix well with lard, two ounces. Long celebrated for the cure of itch.

SULPHUR OINTMENT.--Flour of sulphur, eight ounces; oil of bergamot, two drachms; lard, one pound. Rub freely three times a day, for itch.

OINTMENT FOR PILES.--Tannin, two drachms; water, two fluid drachms; triturate together, and add lard, one and a half drachms. An excellent application for piles.

OINTMENT FOR HEMORRHOIDS.--Sulphate of morphia, three grains; extract of stramonia, thirty grains; olive oil, one drachm; carbonate of lead, sixty grains; lard, three drachms.

PAINS.--1. Steep marigold in good cider vinegar and frequently wash the affected parts. This will afford speedy relief.

2. Take half a pound of tar and the same quantity of tobacco, and boil them down separately to a thick substance; then simmer them together. Spread a plaster and apply it to the affected parts, and it will afford immediate relief.

PAINTERS' COLIC.--Make of tartaric acid a syrup similar to that of lemon syrup; add a sufficient quantity of water, and drink two or three glasses a day.

INSTANTANEOUS PAIN-KILLER.--Another and even more instant cure of pain is made as follows: Take aqua-ammonia, sulphuric ether and alcohol, equal parts, and apply over the pain.

HOW TO CURE PIMPLES.--Take a teaspoonful of the tincture of gum guaiacum and one teaspoonful of vinegar; mix well and apply to the affected parts.

POOR MAN'S PLASTER.--Melt together beeswax, one ounce; tar, three ounces; resin, three ounces, and spread on paper or muslin.

RHEUMATIC PLASTER.--One-fourth pound of resin and one-fourth pound of sulphur; melt by a slow fire, and add one ounce of Cayenne pepper and one-fourth of an ounce of camphor gum; stir well till mixed, and temper with neatsfoot oil.

STRENGTHENING PLASTER.--Litharge plasters, twenty-four parts; white resin, six parts; yellow wax and olive oil, of each three parts, and red oxide of iron, eight parts. Let the oxide be rubbed with the oil, and the other ingredients added melted, and mix the whole well together. The plaster, after being spread over the leather, should be cut into strips two inches wide and strapped firmly around the joint.

MUSTARD PLASTERS.--It is stated that in making a mustard plaster, no water whatever should be used, but the mustard mixed with the white of an egg; the result will be a plaster that will "draw" perfectly, but will not produce a blister even upon the skin of an infant, no matter how long it is allowed to remain upon the part.

BREAD AND MILK POULTICE.--Take stale bread in crumbs, pour boiling sweet milk, or milk and water over it, and simmer till soft, stirring it well; then take it from the fire, and gradually stir in a little glycerine or sweet oil, so as to render the poultice pliable when applied.

LINSEED POULTICE.--Take of linseed, powdered, four ounces; hot water sufficient, mix and stir well with a spoon, until of suitable consistence. A little oil should be added, and some smeared over the surface as well, to prevent its getting hard. A very excellent poultice, suitable for many purposes.

SPICE POULTICE.--Powdered cinnamon, cloves and Cayenne pepper, of each two ounces; rye meal, or flour, spirits and honey, of each sufficient to make of suitable consistence.

QUINSY.--This is an inflammation of the tonsils, or common inflammatory sore throat; commences with a slight feverish attack, with considerable pain and swelling of the tonsils, causing some difficulty in swallowing; as the attack advances these symptoms become more intense, there is headache, thirst, a painful sense of tension, and acute darting pains in the ears. The attack is generally brought on by exposure to cold, and lasts from five to seven days, when it subsides naturally, or an abscess may form in tonsils and burst, or the tonsil may remain enlarged, the inflammation subsiding.

TREATMENT.--The patient should remain in a warm room, the diet chiefly milk and good broths, some cooling laxative and diaphoretic medicine may be given; but the greatest relief will be found in the frequent

inhalation of the steam of hot water through an inhaler, or in the old-fashioned way, through the spout of a teapot.

OTHER REMEDIES FOR RHEUMATISM.--1. Bathe the parts affected with water in which potatoes have been boiled, as hot as can be borne, just before going to bed; by morning it will be much relieved, if not removed. One application of this simple remedy has cured the most obstinate of rheumatic pains. 2. Half an ounce of pulverized salt petre put in half a pint of sweet oil; bathe the parts affected, and a sound cure will be speedily effected. 3. Rheumatism has frequently been cured by a persistent use of lemon juice, either undiluted or in the form of lemonade. Suck half a lemon every morning before breakfast, and occasionally during the day, and partake of lemonade when thirsty in preference to any other drink. If severely afflicted a physician should be consulted, but, in all cases, lemon juice will hasten the cure. 4. By the valerian bath, made simply by taking one pound of valerian root, boiling it gently for about a quarter of an hour in one gallon of water, straining and adding the strained liquid to about twenty gallons of water in an ordinary bath. The temperature should be about ninety-eight degrees, and the time of immersion from twenty minutes to half an hour. Pains must be taken to dry the patient perfectly upon getting out of the bath. If the inflammation remain refractory in any of the joints, linseed meal poultices should be made with a strong decoction of valerian root and applied.

HOW TO CURE RING-WORM.--To one part sulphuric acid, add sixteen to twenty parts water. Use a brush and feather, and apply it to the parts night and morning. A few dressings will generally cure. If the solution is too strong and causes pain, dilute it with water, and if the irritation is excessive, rub on a little oil or other softening application, but always avoid the use of soap.

Or, wash the head with soft soap every morning, and apply the following lotion every night: One-half drachm of sub-carbonate of soda dissolved in one gill of vinegar.

HEALING SALVE.--Sweet oil, three quarts; resin, three ounces; beeswax, three ounces. Melt together; then add powdered red lead, two pounds; heat all these together and when nearly cold add a piece of camphor as large as a nutmeg. Good for burns, etc.

SALT RHEUM.--1. Make a strong tea of elm root bark; drink the tea freely, and wash the affected part in the same. 2. Take one ounce of blue flag root, steep it in half a pint of gin; take a teaspoonful three times a day, morning, noon and night, and wash with the same. 3. Take one ounce of oil of tar, one drachm of oil of checker berry; mix. Take from five to twenty drops morning and night as the stomach will bear.

BLEEDING OF THE STOMACH.--Take a teaspoonful of camomile tea every ten minutes until the bleeding stops.

SICKNESS OF STOMACH.--Drink three or four times a day of the steep made from the bark of white poplar roots.

SUNBURN AND TAN.--1. Take two drachms of borax, one drachm of Roman alum, one drachm of camphor, half an ounce of sugar candy, and a pound of ox-gall. Mix, and stir well for ten minutes or so, and repeat this stirring three or four times a day for a fortnight, till it appears clear and transparent. Strain through blotting paper, and bottle up for use. 2. Milk of almonds made thus: Take of blanched bitter almonds half an ounce, soft water half a pint; make an emulsion by beating the almonds and water together, strain through a muslin cloth, and it is made. 3. A preparation composed of equal parts of olive oil and lime water is also an excellent remedy for sunburn.

TO PRODUCE SWEAT.--Take of nitre, one-half drachm; snake's head (herb), saffron, camphor, snake-root, seneca, bark of sassafras root, each one ounce; ipecac, and opium, each one half ounce; put the above in three quarts of Holland gin, and take a tablespoonful in catnip tea every few minutes, till a sweat is produced.

TEETHING.--Young children whilst cutting their first set of teeth often suffer severe constitutional disturbance. At first there is restlessness and peevishness, with slight fever, but not infrequently these are followed by convulsive fits, as they are commonly called, which depends on the brain becoming irritated; and sometimes under this condition the child is either cut off suddenly, or the foundation of serious mischief to the brain is laid. The remedy, or rather the safeguard, against these frightful consequences is trifling, safe, and almost certain, and consists merely in lancing the gum covering the tooth which is making its making its way through. When teething is about it may be known by the spittle constantly driveling from the mouth and wetting the frock. The child has its fingers in its month, and bites hard any substance it can get hold of. If the gums be carefully looked at, the part where the tooth is pressing up is swollen and redder than usual; and if the finger be pressed on it the child shrinks and cries, showing that the gum is tender. When these symptoms occur, the gum should be lanced, and sometimes the tooth comes through the next day, if near the surface; but if not so far advanced the cut heals and a scar forms, which is thought by some objectionable, as rendering the passage of the tooth more difficult. This, however, is untrue, for the scar will give way much more easily than the uncut gum. If the tooth does not come through after two or three days, the lancing may be repeated; and this is more especially needed if the child be very fractious, and seems in much pain. Lancing the gums is further advantageous, because it empties the inflamed part of its blood, and so relieves the pain and inflammation. The relief children experience in the course of two or three hours from the operation is often very remarkable, as they almost immediately become lively and cheerful.

WASH FOR TEETH AND GUMS.--The teeth should be washed night and morning, a moderately small and soft brush being used; after the morning ablution, pour on a second tooth-brush, slightly dampened, a little of the following lotion: Carbolic acid, 20 drops; spirits of wine, 2 drachms; distilled water, 6 ounces. After using this lotion a short time the gums become firmer and less tender, and impurity of the breath (which is most commonly caused by bad teeth), will be removed. It is a great mistake to use hard tooth-brushes, or to brush the teeth until the gums bleed.

TETTER.--After a slight feverish attack, lasting two or three days, clusters of small, transparent pimples, filled sometimes with a colorless, sometimes with a brownish lymph, appear on the cheeks or forehead, or on the extremities, and at times on the body. The pimples are about the size of a pea, and break after a few days, when a brown or yellow crust is formed over them, which falls off about the tenth day, leaving the skin red and irritable. The eruption is attended with heat; itching, tingling, fever, and restlessness, especially at night. Ringworm is a curious form of tetter, in which the inflamed patches assume the form of a ring.

TREATMENT--Should consist of light diet, and gentle laxatives. If the patient be advanced in life, and feeble, a tonic will be desirable. For a wash, white vitriol, 1 drachm; rose-water, 3 ounces, mixed; or an ointment made of alder-flower ointment, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc, 1 drachm.

TO REMOVE TAN.--Tan may be removed from the face by mixing magnesia in soft water to the consistency of paste, which should then be spread on the face and allowed to remain a minute or two. Then wash off with Castile soap suds, and rinse with soft water.

CARE OF THE TEETH.--The mouth has a temperature of 98 degrees, warmer than is ever experienced in the shade in the latitude of New England. It is well known that if beef, for example, be exposed in the shade during the warmest of our summer days, it will very soon decompose. If we eat beef for dinner, the particles invariably find their way into the spaces between the teeth. Now, if these particles of beef are not removed, they will frequently remain till they are softened by decomposition. In most mouths this process of decomposition is in constant progress. Ought we to be surprised that the gums and teeth against which these decomposing or putrefying masses lie should become subjects of disease?

How shall our teeth be preserved? The answer is very simple--keep them very clean. How shall they be kept clean? Answer--By a toothpick, rinsing with water, and the daily use of a brush.

The toothpick should be a quill, not because the metalic picks injure the enamel, but because the quill pick is so flexible it fits into all the irregularities between the teeth. Always after using the toothpick the mouth should be thoroughly rinsed. If warm water be not at hand, cold may be used, although warm is much better. Closing the lips, with a motion familiar to all, everything may be thoroughly rinsed from the mouth.

Every morning (on rising), and every evening (on going to bed), the tooth-brush should be used, and the teeth, both outside and inside, thoroughly brushed.

Much has been said _pro_ and _con_., upon the use of soap with the tooth-brush. My own experience and the experience of members of my family is highly favorable to the regular morning and evening use of soap. Castile or other good soap will answer this purpose. (Whatever is good for the hands and face is good for the teeth.) The slightly unpleasant taste which soap has when we begin to use it will soon be unnoticed.

TOOTH POWDERS.--Many persons, while laudably attentive to the preservation of their teeth, do them harm by too much officiousness. They daily apply to them some dentifrice powder, which they rub so hard as not only to injure the enamel by excessive friction, but to hurt the gums even more than by the abuse of the toothpick. The quality of some of the dentifrice powders advertised in newspapers is extremely suspicious, and there is reason to think that they are not altogether free from a corrosive ingredient. One of the safest and best compositions for the purpose is a mixture of two parts of prepared chalk, one of Peruvian bark, and one of hard soap, all finely powdered, which is calculated not only to clean the teeth without hurting them, but to preserve the firmness of the gums.

Besides the advantage of sound teeth for their use in mastication, a proper attention to their treatment conduces not a little to the sweetness of the breath. This is, indeed, often affected by other causes existing in the lungs, the stomach, and sometimes even in the bowels, but a rotten state of the teeth, both from the putrid smell emitted by carious bones and the impurities lodged in their cavities, never fails of aggravating an unpleasant breath wherever there is a tendency of that kind.

REMEDIES FOR TOOTHACHE.--1. One drachm of alum reduced to an impalpable powder, three drachms of nitrous spirits of ether--mix, and apply them to the tooth on cotton. 2. Mix a little salt and alum, equal portions, grind it fine, wet a little lock of cotton, fill it with the powder and put it in your tooth. One or two applications seldom fail to cure. 3. To one drachm of collodion add two drachms of Calvert's carbolic acid. A gelatinous mass is precipitated, a small portion of which, inserted in the cavity of an aching tooth, invariably gives immediate relief. 4. Saturate a small bit of clean cotton wool with a strong solution of ammonia, and apply it immediately to the affected tooth. The pleasing contrast immediately produced in some cases causes fits of laughter, although a moment previous extreme suffering and anguish prevailed. 5. Sometimes a sound tooth aches from sympathy of the nerves of the face with other nerves. But when toothache proceeds from a decayed tooth either have it taken out, or put hot fomentations upon the face, and hot drinks into the mouth, such as tincture of cayenne.