Red Oil For Cuts And Bruises

Gather the yellow flowers of St. Johnswort while in full bloom, enough to fill a wide-mouthed bottle, then pour on sweet oil to cover them, tie a string round the neck of the bottle, and hang it from a nail out of a window or in any place where the sun will reach it for five or six weeks. When a bright red, strain the oil from the flowers, bottle and cork it. This will keep fox years, and is excellent for bruises or cuts.

For A Burn Or Scald

Dust the burn thickly with flour from a dredging-box, and tie it up in old linen. After a few minutes, the pain will cease, and if kept covered an hour or two will cause no further trouble. For a deep burn or scald, stir together lime-water and sweet oil, and anoint the parts with a feather dipped in the mixture, which forms a cooling white paste.

For The Sting Of A Hornet Or Bee

Apply hartshorn to the sting, or a little earth mixed with water - otherwise called mud.

Salve For Boils

One ounce of beeswax, half an ounce of powdered rosin, and the same of sweet lard; melt them together over the fire. When thoroughly mixed, set aside to cool. Put half a teaspoonful in a poultice for a boil not yet open, and spread it on thick linen or kid, and apply it to a boil after it is opened.

Poultice For Boils

Crumb the inside of a slice of stale bread, cover it with cold water, let it stand fifteen or twenty minutes, then boil until perfectly smooth and thick enough not to run. Spread it on old linen four or five double. This is better than milk in hot weather, as there is no danger of its becoming sour; in cold weather use milk instead of water.

Mustard Plaster

One tablespoonful of mustard and three of flour. Mix them with warm (but not hot) water to a thick paste so that it will

Dot run, spread on muslin doubled four times, cover with soft old book or Swiss muslin or tarletan, baste it round with a needle and thread; heat very hot two large plates by putting them in a hot oven, put the plaster between the plates to keep it warm until you prepare to apply it.

If the case is urgent, make the plaster stronger by leaving out part of the flour. Keep it on for twenty minutes, or until the patient is relieved.

Camphor Ice

Three drachms of gum camphor, three of spermaceti, three of white wax and two of olive-oil.

Pound the camphor fine in a mortar, and dissolve all together over the fire. When all are well mixed, take it from the fire and beat well whilst it is cooling. For chapped hands and lips.

Cough Mixture

Break into small pieces one large stick of liquorice and a quarter of a pound of hoarhound candy; put them in a large bottle with a quarter of a pound of gum arabic; pour on them slowly a pint of boiling water, shake the bottle frequently until all is dissolved, which will be in twenty-four hours; then add two tablespoonsful of paregoric, the same of syrup of ipecac, and the same of syrup of squills. Give an adult a tablespoonful on going to bed for a cough and cold, and a child of four or five years old, a teaspoonful. This will cure an obstinate cough in a few days, and greatly alleviates the whooping cough. Shake it well before using it, and keep it in a cool place.

Poultice for a Felon, or Gathering of any Kind. A small head of garlic or half a large one peeled and mashed; put it in a small sauce-pan with a tablespoonful of hops and a little water, stew until the garlic is tender, then add a tea-spoonful of syrup-molasses and a piece of cheese the size of a hickory-nut; stew until the cheese melts (but not until the molasses thickens), then add flour to make it the consistence of a nice poultice (about a teaspoon and a half), apply it warm, and keep it on twenty-four hours; if necessary, renew it. One or two poultices of this kind are a sure cure for a gathering.

For Corns Spread a plaster of Burgundy pitch on a piece of kid the size of the corn and appty it. A few days will effect a cure.

A Tonic

Put into a pitcher two single handsful of camomile flowers, and pour on them a quart of cold water. It will be ready for use in twelve hours. Take a wineglassful three times a day to produce an appetite in an invalid.