5927. To Cure the Stings of Hornets, Wasps, Bees, and Spiders

5927.    To Cure the Stings of Hornets, Wasps, Bees, and Spiders. Swelling may instantly be arrested by an application of equal parts common salt and bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in warm water, and well rubbed in on the place bitten or stung. (See also No. 5929.)

5928. Cure for Stings of Wasps, etc.

5928.    Cure for Stings of Wasps, etc.. Rub the part affected with a mixture of 1 part spirits of hartshorn and 2 parts olive oil.

5929. To Cure the Bites of Insects

5929.    To Cure the Bites of Insects. Dissolve 1 ounce borax in 1 pint water that has been boiled and allowed to cool. Instead of plain water, distilled rose-water, elder, or orange-flower water is more pleasant. The bites are to be dabbed with the solution as long as there is any irritation. For bees' or wasps' stings the borax solution may be made of twice the above strength.

5930. To Cure Poisoning by Poison Ivy, Oak, or Sumach

5930.    To Cure Poisoning by Poison Ivy, Oak, or Sumach. Bathe the poisoned part thoroughly with hot water, without soap. When dry, paint the place liberally, 2 to 4 times a day, with a feather dipped in strong tincture of lobelia. Avoid bringing the tincture in contact with any fresh wound or excoriation.

5931. Remedy for Poison Ivy, etc.

5931.    Remedy for Poison Ivy, etc.. In some cases, where lobelia (see last receipt) does not succeed quickly, an application, in a similar manner, of fluid extract of gelseminum sempervirens (yellow jessamine) will rarely fail to cure. Both of these are excellent remedies, generally acting like magic.

5932. Remarks on Poison Ivy, etc.

5932.    Remarks on Poison Ivy, etc.. Poison ivy, etc., act very differently upon different people. Some people are entirely proof against its effects, and can, with impunity, rub it on without any ill effect. Others are poisoned by simple contact with clothing that has touched it. This difference of susceptibility to the poison seems to apply equally to the remedies, as what will cure one person has little or no effect on another.

5933. Applications for Poison Ivy

5933.    Applications for Poison Ivy. Various applications have been used for the same purpose; bathing the parts with a decoction of hemlock boughs, or of oak leaves; or with a table-spoonful of copperas (sulphate of iron) in a small tea-cupful of boiling water; or painting over with fresh lime-water; or rubbing wet salt on the poisoned part; or bathing the parts affected freely with spirit of nitre. If the blisters bo broken, so as to allow the nitre to penetrate, more than a single application is rarely necessary. It will scarcely be possible to fail in finding, in one or other of the remedies here given, a means of cure suited to the party affected.