Chapter III: Part 3

RECIPE FOR A COLD.--Take a large teaspoonful of linseed with two penny worth of stick licorice, and a quarter of a pound of sun raisins. Put them in two quarts of soft water; add to it a quarter of a pound of brown sugar candy, powdered and a tablespoonful of white wine vinegar, or lemon juice.

_Note._--The vinegar is to be added only to the quantity you are going immediately to take; for if it be put into the whole, it is liable, in a little time, to grow flat. Drink half a pint on going to bed, and take a little when the cough is troublesome.

This recipe generally cures the worst of colds, in one or two days; and, if taken in time, may be said to be almost an infallible remedy. It is a sovereign balsamic cordial for the lungs, without the opening qualities which endanger fresh colds in going out. It has been known to cure colds which have almost been settled into consumptions, in less than three weeks.

BITE OF A RATTLESNAKE, OR ANY OTHER POISONOUS SNAKE.--It is good, when you expect to be in danger of being bitten by poisonous snakes, to keep a small bag of fine salt in your pocket, so that you may bind it on. As soon as you are bit, cut and scarify in and near the place where the bite is, with a lancet, or sharp pointed knife; this will keep the orifice open, so that the poison may the better be drawn out; then take, if it can be had, one or two of the nubs or balls of the thimble-weed, steep in water, pound it well, put it on the bite and keep it on a quarter or half hour; then see if it has made a blister, and if not, repeat the application until you get one; then take it off, but, in the mean time, take care to have the person chewing the leaves or bark of white ash, and swallow plenty of the juice, but not one drop of water, until the poison is working out; take the leaves of white ash, mountain flax, robin’s plantain roots, tops, and bloodwort, (called by some St. Andrew’s crosswort, and by some quinsy) roots and tops, and snake violet (sometimes called buck-horn plantain) roots and tops, and conicle roots, altogether, or such parts as can be collected in great haste, about a handful of each, and pound all together; then put them into a pot of water, and boil them until very strong, (save some out to drink often and plentifully,) and wash and bathe the part affected with this preparation often, rubbing, stroking and working above, below, and all around, pressing toward the wound; the liquor should be about blood warm; apply on the bite a cabbage leaf, or a smooth plantain leaf, wilted by the fire; apply your herbs and liquor like a poultice, all over the limb or the part affected, and repeat as often as the poultice gets too dry--not forgetting to drink often of the liquor. If the poison doth rage much, give the juice of horehound and brown sugar, to drink. But I tell you again, give no water to drink, and take care to keep the wound open and moving, with the leaves wilted by the fire.

When you want to heal the wound, make an ointment of hog’s lard and ox-weed, green bark of sweet elder, the smooth leaf plantain roots and tops, and anoint the part two or three times a day, or as you find need. After the cure is effected, you ought to physic well, in order to cleanse the blood; and to prevent a return of the sickness and preserve the eye-sight; the patient may have new milk to drink, with other drinks. And when the poison is out of the system, be careful not to drink great draughts of water, but make tea of good things, to warm and sweeten the blood. In this way, I have kept patients from one drop of water, for full nine days. One John Lee, being hit on his feet, had three doctors to attend him, who soon fixed him for his winding-sheet. He had been laid out near two hours, when a man came in and gave him the snake violet and bloodwort juice, in white or sweet wine, half of each, mixed together, and the man recovered and lived.

STOMACH FAINTNESS, SICKNESS AND SWELLING.--Take the ripe berries of spice bush, dry them, and pound them in a mortar as fine as you can; then put them in a good, strong linen bag, press it well, and it will produce a very good oil; then bottle it up for use. You may take it with safety.

A SALVE FOR BRUISES, SCALDS AND WOUNDS.--Take two pounds of fresh hog’s lard, one-half pound each of beeswax and rosin, one pound of good well-cured tobacco, one-quarter pound nightshade and one drachm of deaplemer; stew over a moderate fire about two hours, then strain it clear for use. It is also good for burns.

A SALVE FOR GREEN WOUNDS AND BOILS.--Take the yolk of an egg, and one spoonful each of honey, wheat flour and white pine turpentine; simmer all together; when cold, it is fit for use.

TO MAKE EYE WATER, AND A WASH FOR BRUISES, STABS, OLD SORES, ULCERS, SWELLINGS, EAR ACHES, AND TO REMOVE CANCERS.--Take one quart of rain or river water, made boiling hot, put it into a pewter or earthen basin, and put into it one spoonful of white vitriol and half a spoonful of raw alum, pounded fine, one spoonful of the spirits of wine, half a large thimble full of gum elerne, made fine as can be; let it stand till it is cold, and bottle it up for use.

The way to use it, is to make it as hot as you can bear it, in an earthen vessel, and bathe the place often and well.

TO STOP BLEEDING, AND TO HEAL A FLESH WOUND.--Take a clean linen rag, dry it well by the fire so that it begins to be brown; then put it to the blaze, and let it burn to a good cinder, put it on the wound as hot as you can, bind it on the wound and keep it on till it works loose, and it will stop the blood; if it wants more healing, apply clean lint instead of a plaster, and make a wash of liquor of soap and urine, spikenard, or the like.

FOR THE RHEUMATISM.--Take a small glass bottle full of angle-worms, washed clean, with a rag or paper stopple, and put the bottle into a loaf of bread, and mould it to bake as usual; set it into the oven and bake it well, and after your bread is drawn out of the oven, let it stand till it gets cold; then cut it open, and the worms will make a fine oil; you may strain the oil from the muddy bottom, and anoint the place affected with it. For a drink, put the root and tops of princes pine into brandy, and drink night and morning as you can bear, repeating your anointing as often as required, and keep warm.

ANOTHER--FOR RHEUMATISM, OR PAINFUL SWELLING OF THE JOINTS.--Take a black water turtle, and bruise or pound it to pieces; put it into a pot of water and boil it smartly near two hours; then take it off and let it get cold, and skim off the oil and keep it for use; anoint the place affected hot by the fire, bind it up with flannel cloths, and dress as often as you find need. For drink to cleanse the blood, take a handful of the roots and tops of princes pine, half a handful of horse-radish roots, a pound each of the bark of sweet alder roots, sarsaparilla root, prickly ash bark, black birch bark, garden nettle roots and burdock roots, and half a bushel of good malt or one gallon of molasses, and brew about six gallons of good beer, let it work well, and drink as you find you can bear; keep yourself from wet and cold.

AN EXCELLENT SALVE FOR BURNS AND OTHER SORES.--Take one gallon of good old cider, and steep one pound of good tobacco in it cold for twenty-four hours, then strain and press out all the liquor; you may dry the tobacco, and it will be good to smoke; take your liquor, strain it clean and put into it half a pound of rosin, half a pound of beeswax and half a pound of deer or mutton tallow; stew it over a moderate fire to the consumption of all the cider, and if you find it hard, temper it by adding fresh hog’s lard: fit for use. It is the best kind of salve.

TO MAKE GOOD FAMILY PHYSIC.--Take a large iron pot full of the bark of butternut roots, got in the month of June; fill it up with water, and boil it twelve hours; take out the bark and put in a handful of the roots of smellage, dill, annis-seed, or the like, and boil it again till it begins to be a little thick; then strain it again very clean, and stew it away very moderately, until it is hard enough to form into pills, as you may ascertain by cooling some of it as the rest is boiling; when you find it is sufficiently hard, take it off the fire and put it into a small dish; burn two or three egg shells on the hot coals till they will pound fine enough to go through a coarse sieve, and near three spoonsful of fine flour of brimstone, together, and put it into the physic; mix it all the time while cooling, to prevent the powders from settling. A grown person may take as much as a tablespoonful at night, before going to bed, either made into pills or dissolved in water, or in the morning, fasting; if it does not work down in two hours, take half as much more, and keep repeating until it does work; drink a great plenty of water gruel, made of Indian meal.

AN OINTMENT FOR THE KING’S EVIL.--Take one pound of butter made in May, and take as much of the roots of fresh fox glove (what some call lady-shoe), pound it very fine, and put as much in the butter as will mix; set it in the hot sun thirty days, taking it in evenings, and days when it rains or is very cloudy; after it has had thirty days’ sun, press out the ointment, and annoint the king’s evil. For this purpose, it is said it has no equal; you must physic the blood well to carry it off.

FOR A COUGH OF LONG CONTINUANCE.--Take three or four quarts of wheat bran, boil it in a pailful of water to a strong wort; then take it off the fire, take out near a quart of the wort and set it away to drink; then put your feet into the bran and liquor, and rub, scrape and work the soles of your feet with an old knife as long as the water is warm; then go right into a warm bed and drink the rest of the wort you have saved out; sweat plentifully and so repeat it three or four nights, and you will likely find help in almost any cough; be careful not to get any cold.

SYRUP FOR A COUGH.--Take one or two turnips, slice them very thin, take a pewter or earthen basin and sprinkle it over with brown sugar, then lay on a layer of elecampane roots, sliced or pounded, then a laying of sugar, next of turnips, and so on until the basin is nearly full; set it in an oven, or a warm cellar, a day or a night, and you will have a fine syrup. Take half a gill on going to bed; you may eat the roots also--but, as they open the pores of the body, you ought to be careful not to get cold.

ANOTHER.--Take hoarhound, garden colt’s-foot roots, spikenard roots, and, for weakness, add hartshorn, Solomon’s seal, comfrey and brook liverwort; stew in water till it is strong, then strain off the liquor, and to a quart of the syrup add half a pound of honey or good brown sugar, and a gill of rum; simmer again over the fire half an hour and bottle it up; take as you can bear, night and morning, fasting.

WIND CHOLIC--INDIAN MEDICINE.--Take the bark or buds of boxwood, such as has a large blossom in the spring, much like a peach blossom--the tree is short and scrubby, and bears paleish berries; boil the bark or buds, or both together, in water, and give the person plenty to drink, to break away the wind, and it will quickly give the patient ease.

HARD SWELLING--FOR MAN OR BEAST.--Make an ointment of one pound of the bark of bittersweet, half pound of young and tender mullen leaves, a large handful of the white of hen dung and a handful of wormwood; boil all together in water till the strength is all boiled out; squeeze out the liquor and strain it clean; now add one pound of hog’s lard, stew it till the water is all out, then turn it into a small vessel and keep it for use, to annoint the place swelled; if you find it is not powerful enough, add to a gill of the ointment, one spoonful of the spirits of vitriol, or half a spoonful of the oil of vitriol, well mixed by a hot fire or with a hot iron. If it is a beast you have in hand, the spirits and oil of vitriol may be used with neat’s foot oil for the same purpose, or be put into other ointments for swellings, with safety; it is good for old crusty, hard, scabby sores, to work out hard, dead matter or crusts in sores, for both man or beast, and set the sore to work.

DROPSY.--For persons inclined to dropsy, or stoppage of urine, and swelling in the body, take the roots of one-berry, so called because it bears but one berry in a place, which is large, red, resembling a strawberry; by some it is called Scotch bonnet, because the bud on the top, before the blossom comes, resembles that bonnet; it grows some like a weed, about logs, stone-heaps or old fences; it has a large leaf, which falls off in the fall of the year, and grows again the next spring; some call this dropsy root. Take this root and boil it in water, and drink plenty of it. It is also very good for horses and cattle, if they swell in their bodies, for stoppage of water and great pain, add some rosin to it.

ULCERS, SORES AND HARD SWELLINGS ON THE JOINTS.--If they have been so for many years, take half a pailful of the bark of the red roots of red willow, (found on low, wet land,) scrape it off very fine with a knife; the bark must be red, as you will find some will be red and some not, as both will grow from one tree or bunch of willow bushes; that which is not red will not do at all, and if such large red willow is not to be had, get a small willow which is called rose willow, and grows on dry, hilly land, and sometimes on flat plains, two, three and four feet high, and has a bunch of leaves on the top, much in the form of a rose, from which it takes its name, and it will answer for the same purpose; take the red bark of these roots, as of the other, and boil it very strong in a large pot of water; then take it off the fire, and place the joint over the steam, covered over with a blanket and fermented as long as the liquor is hot; then wash and bathe as long as the liquor is warm, and bind on as much of the bark as you can keep on, and so repeat twice a day; it may be some months before a cure is completed.

In cases where fever sores existed, or the like, and the bone has rotted by the fever, and the scales come out, this treatment has made the greatest number of cures, in such cases, of any I have ever met with, or knew; it is also very good to put about half a brick, well pounded, in the liquor; in using this great remedy, you ought first to physic the blood thoroughly, to throw off the old humors, and make the cure sound and firm; afterwards, use plenty of scabis root, made into a tea, and drink every day, or make a good beer with it; or sometimes take it in powders--about a spoonful.

WORMS IN CHILDREN.--Take the third bark (which is the inner one,) of spotted alder, that bears a small, red berry, scrape off the bark with a knife, and boil half a pound in about one gallon of water, to one quart; then strain it clean, and take out, for a child, about half a pint, and set it away in a bottle; add to the other about half a pint of sweet milk and about half a pint of molasses; simmer these together over the fire a little while, and bottle it up; one day before the full or change of the moon, give the child a third part of that you saved out, and the rest the two next mornings; after that let them drink the syrup.

CANCERS.--Take the leaves and small, tender tops or branches of poke-weed; pound together and squeeze out the juice, and put it into an earthen pot; set it in the sun, till it has acquired the thickness of an ointment; spread the plaster the size of the sore on the leaf of the plant, when green, and on black silk in the winter; apply a new plaster three or four times during the day, if the pain can be indured, which is sometimes very great. This remedy, which kills and loosens the cancer at the bottom and draws it to the outside, makes it apparently worse for the time, on first using, but nevertheless effects a radical cure in about five or six months. No physic or strong drink is to be made use of, except in case of fainting, when a little good spirits may be used. This has effected cures, in many instances, where the cancers were of an inveterate kind and of long duration, and has never failed of success.

SALT RHEUM OR SCURVY.--Take the poke-weed leaves, any time in the summer, pound and squeeze out the juice; strain it into a pewter basin, and set in the sun until it becomes a salve; then put it into an earthen mug and add fresh butter and beeswax, sufficient to make an ointment of common thickness; simmer the whole over the fire, and keep constantly stirring it until it is thoroughly mixed; when cold, rub the part affected twice a day, till the cure is completed, which will be in the course of three or four months; the patient will soon experience its good effects.

WHOOPING COUGH.--Take a good handful of dry colts-foot leaves, cut them small and boil them in one quart of spring water to half a pint, then take it off the fire, and when it is almost cold, strain it clean through a cloth, squeezing the herbs as dry as you can; then dissolve in it one ounce of brown sugar candy, finely powdered, and give a child three or four years old one spoonful, cold or warm, according to the season, and so in proportion to the age and strength, three or four times a day (or oftener if the fits of coughing come frequently,) till well, which will be in two or three days; it will soon abate the fits of coughing.

RHEUMATISM.--A specific and infallible cure for the most inveterate Rheumatism of many years standing, has been communicated by a man of character from the coast of Guinea. He says the negroes of that country easily remove it in a little time, by rubbing the part affected with a mixture of cayenne pepper and strong spirits; the rubbing must be continued for some time, and repeated till the cure is effected; the pepper must be reduced to powder. Several Americans, most grievously tormented with this intolerable disorder, have been so effectually relieved by this happy communication, as not to have the least remains of it, and with my own experience, I believe it, but would rather depend on it with the addition of drinking a glass of princes pine, steeped in good French brandy, morning and evening, for the blood; I do not doubt of its being an almost certain cure--but remember to guard against cold and wet.

SORE BREAST.--Take the sprouts of the first year’s growth of bitter poplar, and scrape off the bark, and the bark of sumack roots, a handful of each, half a handful of camomile and as much of mullen leaves; stew in one pound of hog’s fat over a moderate fire, then strain it clean and add half a gill of good rum; simmer again to the consumption of the rum, and it is fit for use.

FOR A POULTICE--Take roots and some of the tender leaves of scabious, pound in a mortar to a salve and spread it on a piece of thin leather; heat it hot by the fire until it is brown, cover it over with the before mentioned ointment, and apply to the breast; repeat as often as you find need.

ULCER.--A tea of white pine bark, elixir salutes and the yolk of an egg, is good for an inward ulcer that is broke.

BURNS.--Make a poultice of Indian meal and emptyings, to draw out the fire; when it is out, strew on red precipitate, then apply a plaster made of hog’s fat, mutton tallow and beeswax; simmer together, take it off and cool it so as not to curdle the egg, then put in the yolk of an egg, and stir it till it becomes the consistency of salve.

DISSOLVING STONE IN THE BLADDER.--Take the expressed juice of horse mint and red onion, one gill of each, every morning and evening, till the complaint be removed; if the green mint cannot be had, make a strong decoction of the dry herb.

WEAK JOINTS.--When the cord is stretched, take yarrow, Solomon’s seal, comfrey roots and mug-wort, make it into an ointment, with fresh butter or cat’s grease; to guard the stomach, make a tea of St. John’s wort.

FLUX.--Take two teaspoonfuls of clean hickory or oak ashes, quite hot, in half a gill of old spirits or milk, night and morning, two or three days if necessary; let the patient live on a flour diet altogether, and it is good to wear warm flannel next the stomach.

RHEUMATISM.--Take one pound of roll brimstone, pound it fine and put it into an earthen pot; pour thereon one gallon of boiling water, and stir it well; after standing about twenty-four hours, it is fit for use. Drink half a pint in the morning, before breakfast, and the same before going to bed, and a radical cure will be effected in the space of a few weeks.

BROKEN BONES.--Take the bark of tag alder, wormwood tops and the white of hen-dung; boil in water till the strength is out, then strain and add one gill of hog’s fat, and simmer to an ointment; use with care not to hurt the bone.

SCALD OR BURN.--Take half a pint of milk, thicken it with Indian meal, add four spoonsful of soot and four spoonsful of molasses; wet the poultice with sweet oil and apply. The milk must be scalded, not boiled.

RICKETS AND CONSUMPTION.--To make two quarts of syrup: take a quart of malt, put it into two gallons of water and boil till the strength is out; strain it, and to the wort add brook and noble liverwort, rock polly pody, maiden hair, dog grass, comfrey roots, Indian beans, parsley, violets, daisy, Johnwort, low balm, tormentile, low bittory, elder flowers and garden berage, a good handful of each; boil them two or three hours, strain and let it settle, pour it off from the dregs and put into it a little licorice and annis-seed; boil it again, strain and put into it a pint of molasses, make it just boil, and it is done. Dose for a child three months old, a spoonful in the morning, before noon, afternoon and at night.

TO MAKE ELIXIR PRO.--Take one quart of good spirits, add to it two ounces of myrrh; let it stand in the warm sun four days, then add half ounce socotrin aloes and one ounce saffron; stir it as before, let it stand two days, then pour it off for use.

TO MAKE ELIXIR ASTHMATIC.--Take two ounces of flowers of benzoin, two ounces saffron, one ounce crude opium, half ounce oil of annis-seed and one pound spirits wine; put all together, stand four days in a warm place, frequently shaking it; strain, and add half ounce oil of annis-seed; shake it well. Dose, from 20 to 100 drops.

PILES.--Take one handful each of the bark of sumack roots, the green of alder, and mullen, put them all together in a clean earthen vessel, with hog’s lard; simmer over a moderate fire the best part of a day, then strain it through a cloth, and it is fit for use; anoint often.

STRENGTHENING SYRUP.--Take a handful each of asparagus roots; sweet apple tree bark, black and red alder bark, black cherry bark and hops; put all into two quarts water, and boil it down to one quart; add one ounce of rosin, sweeten it with loaf sugar, and add half a pint of gin. Dose, half a gill.

HEAD-ACHE PILLS.--Two ounces aloes, half an ounce mastic, two drachms dried marjoram, two drachms salts of wormwood; make them all into a powder, with juice of coolwort and sugar, as much as is sufficient. This compound strengthens the stomach, brain, nerves and muscles, and relieves them of humors; they open obstructions of the liver and spleen, and remove diseases therefrom. Take half a drachm on going to bed.

DEWEY’S TINCTURE.--Take two ounces gum guaiacum, half ounce alspice, one-fourth ounce salts of tartar or common pearlash, and one pint brandy; pulverize the gum and alspice, steep the whole in the brandy four days, and then strain off the liquor; add to it one tablespoonful of the volatile spirits of sal-ammoniac, and keep it corked close. Dose--a teaspoonful twice a day for about a week, before and at the time of being unwell.

STIMULATING EMBROCATION.--In case of mortification, take a drachm of sal-ammoniac to two ounces of vinegar and six of water. This forms a mixture of the proper strength.

POULTICE TO STOP MORTIFICATION.--Take beef brain, boil and skim it well, then take it off; take the blossoms of mayweed and feather few, powder them fine and put them in the brain, stirring them in; thicken it with Indian meal until fit for use. Do not put it over the fire after the meal is put in.

RHEUMATISM.--One pint neats foot oil, middling beef’s gall, half pint French brandy and one gill spirits turpentine, simmered well together; when applied to the parts affected, those parts should be well heated by the fire to make it take affect.

CHOLIC.--Take one handful of hoarhound and one handful of oak of Jerusalem, boil them well until the liquor is reduced to two tablespoonful, then add one tablespoonful of molasses; simmer the whole together, and add one spoonful each of good spirits and spirits of turpentine; stir them well together. Take one teaspoonful three times a day.

OPODELDOCK.--Take two and half pounds of alcohol, five drachms windsor soap, and four drachms camphor; digest in a glass vessel till the soap is dissolved; then add one ounce oil of sassafras, three ounces oil of lavender, half drachm each origanum and oil fir, four drachms alcohol and spirits ammonia; put into viol.

COMPOUND POWDERS.--Of jalap, cream tartar and senna, take equal quantities of each. Dose--one drachm or sixty grains.

SODA POWDERS.--Forty grains tartaric acid, in powders, fifty grains super-carbonate soda, and eighty grains Rochelle salts.

PAIN IN THE LEGS.--Take oil origanum and make a strong tincture; then add as much fine salt as will dissolve; bathe with this evenings.

ANOTHER.--Oil origanum, sassafras and lavender; add ether to dissolve the oils.

PHTHISIC.--Take buds of mandrake, dry them thoroughly and pound them finely, then take the same quantity of ipecac, put it into vinegar or warm water, and take a tablespoonful at a time, until it operates; then take roots of mandrake, split, dry and powder them fine, also a handful of rock lungwort, dried and powdered, and a spoonful of red vain-dock and tamarack gum; put all into a quart of gin, and drink half a wine glass full three times a day.

TO WARM THE BLOOD.--Take of wild colts foot roots and tops, white wood bark and skunk cabbage roots, three tablespoonsful each, powdered, in one pint of gin and one pint of water; infuse three days, and take half a wine glass full four times a day.

SALT RHEUM.--Take half pound litharge, one quart sharp vinegar, simmer over the fire till the litharge is dissolved; add one pound hog’s lard, tallow, fresh butter, and the fine dust of guiacum; apply a moderate heat till the vinegar is principally evaporated; stir till cold. Anoint the parts twice a day. This has cured very obstinate cases.

TO CLEANSE THE BLOOD.--Sarsaparilla, burdock roots, lignumvitæ and spice bush, in tea or syrup, with tar ointment made with mutton tallow.

INDIGESTION.--Take one quart of Lisbon wine, put in four ounces of Peruvian bark, three ounces of steel dust and one ounce of ginger; take a wine glass full four times a day, morning, noon and night, half an hour before eating; after supper, put two teaspoonsful of magnesia in water, and take before going to bed; to relieve the wind in the stomach, take a teaspoonful of ether in cold water.

DISTRESS IN STOMACH AND BREAST.--Inside bark of white pine and tamarac twigs of this year’s growth, a large handful of each, and two large wild turnips; boil in three quarts of water down to three pints; strain and add half a pound loaf sugar and half pint rum; bottle it close. Dose--half a gill three times a day, an hour before you eat.

FITS.--One drachm flowers of pine, one drachm extract of stramonium and fifteen grains assafœtida; make into pills the size of a pea. Take one every night.

DIABETES.--Take equal parts of the roots of Solomon’s seal and comfrey roots, and half as much spikenard; boil twelve hours and sweeten with honey; take sufficient to nauseate the stomach, three times a day; use medical beer with plenty sumach roots in it. Wash the abdomen every day with a wash made of equal parts tincture cantharadus and cinnamon water, mixed.

PLASTER.--Four ounces rosin, one ounce beeswax, half ounce each black and red pepper; put the whole into one pint of spirits, and simmer till it becomes thick; when nearly cold, add half ounce sassafras oil and half ounce gum camphor pulverized; spread on leather.

ASTHMA.--The vegetables which compose these drops, present themselves about the last of July or first of August, and should be procured at that time. Take half pound garden rue, one pound garden colt’s-foot, one pound tops and blows of purple vervain, half pound green tobacco leaves, half pound hyssop, one pound hoarhound, one pound arsmart, half pound oak Jerusalem, half pound elecampane roots and half pound sweet cicely roots.

Pound these ingredients in an iron mortar, boil them twelve hours, then throw out the roots and put half a pound rock weed, called spleenwort; then add four ounces stick licorice, two ounces seneca snake root and two ounces annis seed; boil down to one quart, then strain and boil down to one pint; add one ounce refined licorice, half pound loaf sugar, half pound of honey--bumble bee honey, if it can be procured. These drops must be corked tight in tin vessels; after fermentation, add an ounce of red cedar oil. Take one teaspoonful twice a day.

FOR RELAXATION OF THE SOLIDS.--Take four drachms each of colt’s-foot and sweet cicely, three ounces hartshorn rasped, two drachms guaiacum, two drachms each comfrey, Solomon’s seal and spikenard roots, and one drachm elecampane; boil or simmer all in a suitable quantity of water to three pints; strain and add one pound of honey; simmer, stir and strain again; when cold, add a pint of Madeira wine and bottle for use. Dose--half a gill three times a day.

SYRUP FOR CONSUMPTION.--Take spikenard, elecampane, comfrey and yellow willow root, put into a stone pot and cover; let it stand and steep twelve hours, then strain it and add loaf sugar and one pint wine to a quart. Take half gill three times a day.

FLAX SEED SYRUP.--Take one pint flax seed and a small handful spikenard; boil in about three parts water until it becomes quite thick, then strain it through a thin strainer; add half pint molasses or strained honey, put it on to simmer, and be particular to take off the scum. The flax seed and spikenard should be washed clean. Take two tablespoonsful on going to bed, one in the morning, fasting, and one a little before dinner.

MARKS ON CHILDREN.--Take one gill of rum, one gill port wine, one spoonful tar, one spoonful black pepper and a piece of mutton tallow; take a parsnip and pound so as to get the strength; simmer the whole together in fresh butter till the liquid part is evaporated; then strain the ointment and anoint the sore.

COUGH SYRUP.--Take tamarac twigs, inside bark of white pine, oak of Jerusalem, colts-foot, maiden hair and wild turnip; half gill three times a day.

STOMACH PLASTER.--Four pounds beeswax, two pounds frankincense (gum therics), two and a half pounds burgundy pitch, two pounds rosin, one pound Venice turpentine, two and half ounces winter’s bark, two and half ounces oil spearmint, four ounces alspice, two and half ounces camphor, two and half ounces cloves, six ounces red sanders.

WEAK STOMACH.--Take half pound green bark balsam fir, one pound white pine bark, half pound bark sumach roots, two ounces garden sallindine, and a little milk weed roots; boil in four quarts of water down to two quarts, add one pint of good rum, and sweeten with honey or sugar; take half a gill three times a day, an hour before eating.

PAIN IN THE BREAST.--Take white pine, one ounce grated touch-wood, and put in one quart French brandy; quarter gill three times a day.

Make a tea of golden maiden hair for a common drink.

STRENGTHENING SYRUP.--Take white pine, pitch pine and balm of gilead buds; make a syrup. Dose--half gill three times a day; live upon a light, nourishing diet.

FOR CONSUMPTIVE FEMALES.--Take polly pod roots, boil them in water to suitable strength, then sweeten, and add one pint of sweet wine to one quart. Take half gill three times a day.

Take pepperage chips from the east side of the tree, and make a tea for a constant drink.

CATAMENIA.--Give a tea of lady shoe, and polly pod roots, for an obstructed catamenia.

FITS.--Take wild indigo roots, make a poultice, and put on the stomach, hands and feet.

TO STRENGTHEN.--Take two ounces prickly ash bark and one ounce crawley, and make a syrup. Take half gill three times a day, fasting.

KING’S EVIL.--A tea of seneca would be good for the patient to drink frequently; for a bath, take white maple bark, boil it and wash the parts affected, and apply the bark as a poultice.

FEMALE DEBILITY.--To prevent raising her food after eating, give her trule root, pulverized, instead of pepper, and tea of the former roots, a little before eating.

BEER.--Take two parts sumach roots, four parts each sassafrass and black alder, two parts wild cherry and spice bush.

CHILBLAINS.--Take off the dirt from an ant-hill; then take the dirt and ants’ eggs, put them into boiling water; draw off the water, and save a bottle of it, to drink two or three times a day, half a gill at a time; with the remainder wash the feet.

TO WARM AND CLEANSE THE BLOOD.--Take prickly ash berries, bark of white wood roots, brook lime, bark of bitter sweet roots and culver, and a little bloodroot.

SYRUP FOR CONSUMPTION.--Take one pound bark bitter sweet roots, one pound sarsaparilla roots, one pound inside of black birch bark, one pound twigs of sweet fern, one pound prickly ash bark; put into six quarts water, boil it to four, and strain the liquor into a large pewter basin; add a quart of rum, one pound loaf sugar, and simmer till the scum is raised; skim it off, and put into bottles for use. Take half gill three times a day, an hour before eating.

CHOLERA MORBUS.--Take one part alspice and two parts saffron, steep them together and drink often; sweeten with loaf sugar.

SALVE--To remove swellings, weakness of back or joints, and sores. Take one pound rosin, two ounces beeswax, one ounce spermacetti, one ounce mutton tallow; melt and stir these together, raise to boiling heat, take it off the fire and stir again, adding as much good cogniac brandy as will work in; put this salve into a glass jar, cover with brandy, and cork it tight for use.

FELONS--On the fingers, may be effectually cured, it is said, in three hours, by making a poultice the size of a small bean, of quick lime slacked with soap, bound on the spot and renewed every half hour.

COLD FEET.--Take one ounce and half common salt, put into one quart rum and add one ounce oil origanum; rub the feet well every night.

FEMALE WEAKNESS.--Take one ounce golden seal, half ounce tansy, half ounce motherwort seed, not quite half ounce golden thread, ounce beth root, one ounce white cohosh; put all into four quarts water, boil six minutes, keep warm seven hours, strain and let cool; add one quart Madeira wine, and drink a wine glass morning, noon, and before tea.

SPIRITS OF LAVENDER.--Take one ounce cinnamon, two drachms cloves, four drachms nutmeg and three drachms red saunders, to two quarts spirits, half ounce oil lavender, and four scruples oil rosemary.

HYSTERIC PILLS.--Take one ounce hepetick, half ounce each aloes, New England saffron, and castor; powder and mix them well together, then add two ounces pitch pine turpentine; stir well together and it is fit for use.

CURRANT WINE.--Take one gallon of water for every gallon currants; press the currants and strain the liquor; add three pounds sugar to gallon liquor; let it stand in an open vessel while the scum is rising, then skim, put it up and cork tight. Two bushels of currants will make a barrel of wine.

SARSAPARILLA SYRUP.--Take one pound sarsaparilla, thirteen ounces princes pine, nine ounces yellow dock, two pounds poke root, two pounds black cohosh, two pounds mandrake, one ounce blood root, two pounds bitter sweet, two pounds juniper berries; boil and strain, and to every thirteen pints syrup, add three-fourth pound extract dandelion, one ounce extract white ash, one and half grains licorice to fifteen gallons syrup, and three pounds sugar to a gallon.

DIURETIC DROPS.--Two ounces of sweet spirits nitre, one ounce balsam copavia, two ounces oil almonds, one ounce spirits turpentine; mix together and add one scruple champagne. Dose--a small teaspoonful given in mucilage of gum Arabic, three or four times a day.

These drops are useful in scalding of urine, from syphilitic or other inflammations.

BLOODY FLUX.--Take fresh butter, melt and skim curdy part; give two teaspoonsful two or three times a day.

ANOTHER.--Take three-fourths ounce old cheese, scrape it fine in a pint new milk, thickened with flour; let this be the diet; purge with rhubarb.

PLASTER--To draw all humors to one place. Take two quarts strong beer, not sour, four ounces copperas, four ounces bole Armenia, six drachms Venice turpentine, and one pint tar; pulverize hard substances, and mix all in an iron vessel; simmer (not boil,) over a slow coal fire, stirring often, until it is reduced to one quart; take it from the fire, stirring it constantly while cooling; it will take from twelve to sixteen hours to prepare it.

_Manner of Using._--Spread it on a piece of soft leather, two inches or more in diameter; put the plaster on when you want to draw the sore; dress it once in two days, until it begins to run, then dress every morning.

_Manner of Dressing._--Take the plaster off, and scrape off the salve; wash the sore one morning with Castile soap, and the next morning with milk and water; remove all the old salve before putting on fresh.

_Medicine Internally._--Make a tea of three pints water to one ounce mandrake root; when cold, add a quarter pound salts; take half tea cup on going to bed. Drink sarsaparilla and spotted maple tea; be careful not to overheat the blood.

ASPARAGUS ROOTS.--An excellent ingredient in all compositions intended to cleanse the viscera, especially where there are obstructions, and in jaundice and dropsy, as it operates on the urine; it is likewise used in disorders of the breast.

SUDORIFIC DROPS.--Two ounces ipecac, two ounces saffron, two ounces camphor, two ounces Virginia snake root, two ounces opium, three quarts Holland gin or spirits; let stand two weeks and strain. Dose--one teaspoonful in a cup of catnip or pennyroyal tea, given every hour. To raise perspiration in colds, fevers and inflammations, I know of no medicine so sure in its operation as this.

MADAME YOUNG’S MEDICA MENTUM.--Half ounce of gum aloes, one ounce each of rhubarb and ginger, one teaspoonful myrrh and cayenne pepper, and one quart spirits; steep twenty-four hours, and add one teacup sugar and half pint water. Take one to two tablespoonsful an hour before eating. This is good for dyspepsia, or any derangement of the stomach.

BOWEL COMPLAINT.--One ounce rhubarb, one teaspoonful saleratus, and one pint boiling water; when cold, add two teaspoonsful essence peppermint; a tablespoonful to be taken every hour.

SPRAINS, BRUISES, &c.--One pint soft soap, handful salt, and tablespoonful saltpetre; apply with bandage.

NEUTRALIZING CORDIAL--Good for dysentery, cholera morbus and diarrhœa. Take one pound green peppermint, simmer in half gallon water and strain off; then take four ounces Turkey rhubarb, simmer into half a gallon water, till all the strength is out; then strain, add these two liquids together, with two ounces saleratus and three pounds loaf sugar; then boil all a few minutes, and when nearly cold, add half pint brandy. Dose, wine glass full.

ELDER WINE.--Take sixteen quarts of elder berries, clean from the stem, put with six gallons cold water in a large tub; let them stand two days, then boil them till the berries fall to the bottom; strain and squeeze, and to every gallon liquor add three pounds brown sugar; boil and add quarter pound bruised ginger, two ounces allspice, and cloves, if you like; when cold, add a little yeast; let it work two days, then cork bottle up tight.

SWELLINGS.--Dogmacamus is good, scraped, for swellings; steep in milk and water.

ACID COUGH DROPS.--One pound sumach berries, four ounces elecampane, one ounce West Indian or African cayenne, one gallon vinegar; boil, strain and add three pounds honey, or double the quantity of molasses. If you add licorice, wild turnip, skunk cabbage, say two ounces, you will have a syrup that will cure sore throat, mouth or lungs. Take a tablespoonful when the cough is troublesome, or every two hours, gargling it in the throat, if sore.

SNUFF.--For headache and catarrh: Take one pound yellow dock, half pound bayberry, four ounces elecampane, three ounces bloodroot and three ounces beth-root. Take a pinch occasionally, particularly on going to bed.

VEGETABLE TOOTH POWDER.--Equal parts bayberry bark, yellow oak bark, black alder bark, pulverized; add half a pound elecampane, quarter pound prickly ash bark, four ounces cloves. This will cure scurvy, and, if the teeth are sore and loose, it will cure and make them firm in a short time.

NERVE DROPS.--One pint and half gin, half pint water, two ounces nerve powder, one ounce hops, pulverized, half ounce skunk cabbage; let this stand ten days, shaking it often; strain and let it settle. This will calm and strengthen the nervous system; whereas opium destroys every energy of the system, and makes it a complete wreck.

ANODYNE BATHING SOLUTION.--Two ounces camphor, six fluid drachms solution ammonia, and one pint essence lavender; mix the lavender with the ammonia, then put in camphor, and it is ready for use.

ULCERS OR BAD SORES.--Boil one pound each vervain, yellow dock and sage, half pound cicuta leaves, in one gallon water; wet cloths in this, and let them lay on the sores; then dry and sprinkle with powdered bloodroot, mornings only. Make a strong tea of vervain, drink a teacupful three times a day, taking three or four of my bilious pills at night, for nine nights successively.

IROQUOIS UNIVERSAL OINTMENT.--Take one pound tobacco leaves, bruise and steep twelve hours in one pint red wine; then add half pound fresh hog’s lard, simmer over a slow fire till the red wine is consumed; then add four ounces tobacco juice and two ounces rosin; simmer again till juice is evaporated, then add one ounce wild turnip, and rosin sufficient to make into an ointment. This is good for sores of every description, and a wound dressed with this will never putrefy; if you have pain in your head, anoint your temples; apply to the stomach and lungs, and no inflammation will settle there; anoint the bowels of children in case of worms or weakness. This ointment is, as I know, the best now in use, for sores, burns, ulcers, &c.

OLD SORES.--Pumpkin or carrot poultice is good for old sores; if they smell bad, sprinkle charcoal on the poultice; to prevent putrefaction, wash it twice a day in saltpeter water.

ST. ANTHONY’S FIRE.--Drink lemonade and tar water, warm, and wash in tar water.

ANTI-EMETIC DROPS.--Take a teacup full of good cider vinegar; add a teaspoonful each of salt and cayenne pepper; give a teaspoonful every fifteen minutes. I never knew a case where but a half teaspoonful had not the desired effect. It is good in external application for rheumatism, bruises, headaches and sprains; for the latter, use hot.

SORREL EXTRACT.--If you wish to make sorrel extract, for burns or sores, gather it before the 20th June, press out the juice and dry on a pewter plate. This is the best way to make good extract.

TO CLEANSE THE BLOOD AND STRENGTHEN THE LIVER.--Wide leaf dock, black alder bark and buds, burdock roots and leaves, sarsaparilla, striped maple, and half as much bloodroot;. a handful of each, to which add one gallon of water. Drink a teacup full three times a day, before eating.

FEVERS.--Marigolds are good to put on the stomach, in all cases of fevers, inflammation, &c.

GOITRE, OR ADAM’S APPLE.--Take a teaspoonful nettle seed, pulverized, morning and noon; at night take a teaspoonful of a mixture of one ounce cream tartar, one ounce sulphur, and half ounce Turkey rhubarb. This is good for corpulent people and for spitting blood.

TONIC.--Red rose willow is an excellent tonic.

CHRONIC RHEUMATISM.--Unicorn root (aletois farinasa), is good with prickly ash bark; add a small quantity bloodroot; it is necessary in some cases to add spirits, for flatulency, colic or hysterics. Take a teaspoonful in warm water.

TINCTURE OF SOAP ANODYNE.--Take two ounces hard soap, shaved, one ounce opium, one ounce camphor, half ounce of rosemary, two pounds alcohol; let the soap and opium stand three days; shake often, then add the camphor and oil. This is good for sprains, and pains of all descriptions.

But one thing I would remark; that is, where opium is used frequently, it will debilitate; but from three to five times will not injure, but will allay pains for the time being.

RHEUMATISM.--Take one ounce mandrake, two ounces Epsom salts, put into one quart metheglin wine--wine glass twice a day; an anodyne at night, say a cup of strong hop tea; rub the parts affected with the following ointment: boil skunk cabbage in water, make a strong decoction, then add hog’s lard, simmer all the water away, and add sulphur. This is an excellent anti-rheumatic ointment. It must be rubbed near the fire.

FOR HUMORS.--Make a very strong decoction of boiled oats, to one pint of which add one ounce saltpeter; this is good for swellings. For carbuncles, mix equal parts of bloodroot, beth root and honey; purge with anti-bilious pills.

RHEUMATISM.--Take bark of sumach roots, and cayenne, if it can be borne by the patient; boil in rum and bathe the parts; take inwardly a strong decoction of prickly ash bark. I would recommend salt and vinegar, with cayenne, for bathing, but in most cases it must be hot, and applied with cloths.

INDIAN TURNIP, OR WAKE ROBIN.--For chronic, deep-rooted rheumatism, pains, debilitated habits, loss of appetite, lowness of spirits, faintness, &c. Take three pounds fine Indian turnip and three pounds fine loaf sugar; mix them together in a mortar; there must be equal parts of each, well mixed. Take a teaspoonful three times a day, half hour before eating; it must be taken dry, if possible. Begin with half teaspoonful and increase to whole one.

GRAVEL.--Life root is good for the gravel.

DROPSY.--Wild lettuce is good for dropsy, ten or twelve grains a day; use white cohosh as drink, also cuckles seed mixed with juniper berries.

GALL, &c.--Low centuary, of all herbs, is one of the best for overflowing of the gall, and, in my opinion, is good in jaundice and all bilious complaints, and also in cleansing the blood from humors; it must be used plentifully and for some weeks.

BLOODROOT.--This is good for the rattles; mix with honey and give a child five years old a teaspoonful.

BONE OINTMENT.--Equal parts small kind mullen, red clover tops, burdock burs, plantain, sweet alder bark, yarrow, black alder buds and tobacco; simmer down in hog’s lard and fresh butter. This ointment is likewise good for all kinds of sores.

STICKING SALVE.--Equal parts catnip tops, horsemint, sarsaparilla, striped (some call it soft) maple, spikenard, mouse wood, (this wood or tree grows bushy, and the wood is tender but the bark is tough; use the wood and bark,) comfrey, young mullen leaves, Solomon’s seal, yellow dock, princes pine, wormwood; boil down thick, then add one pound and four ounces mutton tallow; roll, and it is fit for use; all cuts and sores, with or without swellings, inflammations and wounds, this will cure, and no proud flesh will be created.

BALSAM OF HONEY.--Take as much balsam of tolu as will dissolve in alcohol.

OIL SOAP.--Take as much Castile soap as will dissolve in alcohol.

SALVE FOR SCROFULOUS SORES.--Take turpentine, and half a pound bayberry, and tallow; dissolve and add sweet oil if necessary.

THE BEST SALVE I ever found, in all cases of humors, is composed of raw linseed oil, beeswax, and mutton tallow, for sore lips, and chapped hands; if the sore is very bad, sprinkle pulverized bloodroot on it every morning, then apply salve; a sore need not be washed but once a day, but dress it three times a day, if bad.

OINTMENT PILLS.--Sweet fern, sweet apple-tree, rose leaves, cats foot, and cream; simmer on a slow fire. The best I ever found was composed of hog’s dung and lamp oil, simmered; a little beeswax will be good to keep it firm.

HOT DROPS.--To one quart alcohol add one ounce hemlock oil, one ounce gum myrrh, two tablespoonsful cayenne; shake well twice a day for at least a week. This is good for rheumatism, pains in head and stomach. Take from ten drops to a teaspoonful, in sugar and water.

TAR SYRUP.--One gill tar, one pint wheat bran, half pound loaf sugar, and two quarts water. Dose, wine glass full three times per day, for cough and consumptive complaints.

RUPTURE PLASTER.--One part fresh buckthorn, bruised, and two parts fresh cranes bill; blend by bruising in a mortar; spread on leather and apply; wear a truss or bandage; this must be occasionally changed and worn three months.

INDIAN TURNIP.--Pulverize it fine, two ounces loaf sugar or sugar candy, half ounce flour sulphur; mix and let the patient take a teaspoonful three times a day, dry, if possible, if not, in any vehicle the most palatable, molasses, &c. Use in all lingering, or beginning of pains of a consumptive nature, such as pain in the breast, weak appetite, and slow circulation of the blood; where there is any cough, whether loose or tight, add half ounce pulverized bloodroot. I can testify by experience that this is good, not only for the young, but particularly for the aged, it is better than all the tinctures in the world, as it creates action and warms the blood. Either of the ingredients can be omitted, if disagreeable.