The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) written by Mrs. F.L. Gillette

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Garlics are also made for draughts by pounding them, placing them on a
hot tin plate for a moment to sweat them, and binding them closely to
the hollow of the foot by a cloth bandage.

Draughts of onions, for infants, are made by roasting onions in hot
ashes, and, when they are quite soft, peeling off the outside, mashing
them, and applying them on a cloth as usual.

POULTICES.

_A Bread and Milk Poultice._--Put a tablespoonful of the crumbs of
stale bread into a gill of milk, and give the whole one boil up. Or,
take stale bread crumbs, pour over them boiling water and boil till
soft, stirring well; take from the fire and gradually stir in a little
glycerine or sweet oil, so as to render the poultice pliable when
applied.

_A Hop Poultice._--Boil one handful of dried hops in half a pint of
water, until the half pint is reduced to a gill, then stir into it
enough Indian meal to thicken it.

_A Mustard Poultice._--Into one gill of boiling water stir one
tablespoonful of Indian meal; spread the paste thus made upon a cloth
and spread over the paste one teaspoonful of mustard flour. If you
wish a mild poultice, use a teaspoonful of mustard as it is prepared
for the table, instead of the mustard flour.

Equal parts of ground mustard and flour made into a paste with warm
water, and spread between two pieces of muslin, form the indispensable
mustard plaster.

_A Ginger Poultice._--This is made like a mustard poultice, using
ground ginger instead of mustard. A little vinegar is sometimes added
to each of these poultices.

_A Stramonium Poultice._--Stir one tablespoonful of Indian meal into a
gill of boiling water and add one tablespoonful of bruised stramonium
seeds.

_Wormwood and Arnica_ are sometimes applied in poultices. Steep the
herbs in half a pint of cold water and when all their virtue is
extracted stir in a little bran or rye meal to thicken the liquid; the
herbs must not be removed from the liquid.

This is a useful application for sprains and bruises.

_Linseed Poultice._--Take four ounces of powdered linseed and
gradually sprinkle it into a half pint of hot water.

A REMEDY FOR BOILS.

An excellent remedy for boils is water of a temperature agreeable to
the feelings of the patient. Apply wet linen to the part affected and
frequently renew or moisten it. It is said to be the most effectual
remedy known. Take inwardly some good blood purifier.

CURE FOR RINGWORMS.

Yellow dock, root or leaves, steeped in vinegar, will cure the worst
case of ringworm.

[Illustration]

HEALTH-SUGGESTIONS.

HOW COLDS ARE CAUGHT.

A great many cannot see why it is they do not take a cold when exposed
to cold winds and rain. The fact is, and ought to be more generally
understood, that nearly every cold is contracted indoors, and is not
directly due to the cold outside, but to the heat inside. A man will
go to bed at night feeling as well as usual and get up in the morning
with a royal cold. He goes peeking around in search of cracks and
keyholes and tiny drafts. Weather-strips are procured, and the house
made as tight as a fruit can. In a few days more the whole family have
colds.

Let a man go home, tired or exhausted, eat a full supper of starchy
and vegetable food, occupy his mind intently for a while, go to bed in
a warm, close room, and if he doesn't have a cold in the morning it
will be a wonder. A drink of whisky or a glass or two of beer before
supper will facilitate matters very much.

People swallow more colds down their throats than they inhale or
receive from contact with the air, no matter how cold or chilly it may
be. Plain, light suppers are good to go to bed on, and are far more
conducive to refreshing sleep than a glass of beer or a dose of
chloral. In the estimation of a great many this statement is rank
heresy, but in the light of science, common sense and experience it is
gospel truth.

Pure air is strictly essential to maintain perfect health. If a person
is accustomed to sleeping with the windows open there is but little
danger of taking cold winter or summer. Persons that shut up the
windows to keep out the "night air" make a mistake, for at night the
only air we breathe is "night air," and we need good air while asleep
as much or even more than at any other time of day. Ventilation can be
accomplished by simply opening the window an inch at the bottom and
also at the top, thus letting the pure air in, the bad air going
outward at the top. Close, foul air poisons the blood, brings on
disease which often results in death; this poisoning of the blood is
only prevented by pure air, which enters the lungs, becomes charged
with _waste_ particles, then thrown out, and which are poisoning if
taken back again. It is estimated that a grown person corrupts _one
gallon of pure air every minute_, or twenty-five barrels full in a
single night, in breathing alone.

Clothes that have been worn through the day should be changed for
fresh or dry ones to sleep in. Three pints of moisture, filled with
the waste of the body, are given off every twenty-four hours, and this
is mostly absorbed by the clothing. Sunlight and exposure to the air
purifies the clothing of the poisons which nature is trying to dispose
of, and which would otherwise be brought again into contact with the
body.

Colds are often taken by extreme cold and heat, and a sudden exposure
to cold by passing from a heated room to the cold outside air. Old and
weak persons, especially, should avoid such extreme change. In passing
from warm crowded rooms to the cold air, the mouth should be kept
closed, and all the breathing done through the nostrils only, that the
cold air may be warmed before it reaches the lungs, or else the sudden
change will drive the blood from the surface of the internal organs,
often producing congestions.

Dr. B. I. Kendall writes that "_the temperature of the body_ should be
evenly and properly maintained to secure perfect health; and to
accomplish this purpose requires great care and caution at times. The
human body is, so to speak, the most delicate and intricate piece of
machinery that could possibly be conceived of, and to keep this in
perfect order requires constant care. It is a fixed law of nature that
every violation thereof shall be punished; and so we find that he who
neglects to care for his body by protecting it from sudden changes of
weather, or draughts of cold air upon unprotected parts of the body,
suffers the penalty by sickness, which may vary according to the
exposure and the habits of the person, which affect the result
materially; for what would be an easy day's work for a man who is
accustomed to hard labor, would be sufficient to excite the
circulation to such an extent in a person unaccustomed to work, that
only slight exposure might cause the death of the latter when
over-heated in this way; while the same exercise and exposure to the
man accustomed to hard labor might not affect him. So, we say, be
careful of your bodies, for it is a duty you owe to yourselves, your
friends, and particularly to Him who created you. When your body is
over-heated and you are perspiring, be very careful about sitting down
to 'cool off,' as the custom of some is, by removing a part of the
clothing and sitting in a cool place, and perhaps where there is a
draught of air passing over your body. The proper way to 'cool off'
when over-heated is to put on more clothing, especially if you are in
a cool place; but never remove a part of the clothing you have already
on. If possible get near a fire where there is no wind blowing, and
_dry off_ gradually, instead of cooling off suddenly, which is always
dangerous."

Many colds are taken from the feet being damp or wet. To keep these
extremities warm and dry is a great preventative against the almost
endless list of disorders which come from a "slight cold." Many
imagine if their feet are not thoroughly wet, there will be no harm
arising from mere dampness, not knowing that the least dampness is
absorbed into the sole, and is attracted nearer the foot itself by its
heat, and thus perspiration is dangerously checked.

WATER.

All beings need drink as much as they need food, and it is just as
necessary to health as pure air; therefore the water should be boiled
or filtered before being drank. Rain-water filtered is probably the
best attainable. Boiling the water destroys the vegetable and animal
matter, and leaves the mineral matter deposited on the bottom of the
vessel containing it; therefore it leaves it clear from poisonous
substances.

REGULATION IN DIET.

The food we eat is a very important item, and one which it would be
difficult to arrange any rule for which would apply to all persons
under different circumstances. In health, it is safer to eat by
instinct rather than to follow any definite rules. While there are
many who have a scanty living, with a small variety of food, there is
a large number who have an abundance and a large variety. The former
class, in many cases, live miserable lives, either to hoard up for
miserly purposes the money which might make them happy, or in some
cases through poverty; while the latter class, as a rule, have better
health and have much more enjoyment in this life, unless it be some
who are gluttonous, and make themselves miserable by abusing the
blessings they should enjoy. Avoid extremes in living too free or
scanty; have a good nourishing diet and a sufficient quantity, and it
should always be properly cooked; for if the cooking is poorly done,
it affects not only the nutritious qualities, but is not so easily
digested, thus making food, which is originally the best kind, of very
little value to us, and with very poor cooking it is sometimes a
positive injury.

It is very important that the food be taken with regularity at the
accustomed time. Be careful not to take too much drink during any
meal, but, if thirsty, drink water before meal time so that you will
not care for it until some time after eating, as it is a bad plan to
drink much either during or for a little time after the meal is taken.
It is a very bad plan to hurry in eating, because by so doing the food
is not properly masticated; it is better to be a long time in eating
and chew the food well.

_Dr. B. I. Kendall, Enosburg Falls, Vt._

HOW TO USE HOT WATER.

One of the simplest and most effectual means of relieving pain is by
the use of hot water, externally and internally, the temperature
varying according to the feelings of the patient. For bruises,
sprains, and similar accidental hurts, it should be applied
immediately, as hot as can be borne, by means of a cloth dipped in the
water and laid on the wounded part, or by immersion, if convenient,
and the treatment kept up until relief is obtained. If applied at
once, the use of hot water will generally prevent, nearly, if not
entirely, the bruised flesh from turning black. For pains resulting
from indigestion, and known as wind colic, etc., a cupful of hot
water, taken in sips, will often relieve at once. When that is
insufficient, a flannel folded in several thicknesses, large enough to
fully cover the painful place should be wrung out of hot water and
laid over the seat of the pain. It should be as hot as the skin can
bear without injury, and be renewed every ten minutes or oftener, if
it feels cool, until the pain is gone. The remedy is simple,
efficient, harmless, and within the reach of every one; and should be
more generally used than it is. If used along with common sense, it
might save many a doctor's bill, and many a course of drug treatment
as well.

GROWING PAINS CURED.

Following in our mother's footsteps, we have been routed night after
night from our warm quarters, in the dead of winter, to kindle fires
and fill frosty kettles from water-pails thickly crusted with ice,
that we might get the writhing pedal extremities of our little heir
into a tub of water as quickly as possible. But lately we have learned
that all this work and exposure is needless. We simply wring a towel
from salted water--a bowl of it standing in our sleeping room, ready
for such an emergency--wrap the limb in it from the ankle to knee,
without taking the child from his bed, and then swathe with dry
flannels, thick and warm, tucking the blankets about him a little
closer, and relief is sure.

_Good Housekeeping._

HOW TO KEEP WELL.

Don't sleep in a draught.

Don't go to bed with cold feet.

Don't stand over hot-air registers.

Don't eat what you do not need, just to save it.

Don't try to get cool too quickly after exercising.

Don't sleep in a room without ventilation of some kind.

Don't stuff a cold lest you should be next obliged to starve a fever.

Don't sit in a damp or chilly room without a fire.

Don't try to get along without flannel underclothing in winter.

DIPHTHERIA.

A gargle of sulphur and water has been used with much success in cases
of diphtheria. Let the patient swallow a little of the mixture. Or,
when you discover that your throat is a little sore, bind a strip of
flannel around the throat, wet in camphor, and gargle salt and vinegar
occasionally.

COLDS AND HOARSENESS.

Borax has proved a most effective remedy in certain forms of colds. In
sudden hoarseness or loss of voice in public speakers or singers, from
colds, relief for an hour or so may be obtained by slowly dissolving,
and partially swallowing, a lump of borax the size of a garden pea, or
about three or four grains held in the mouth for ten or fifteen
minutes before speaking or singing. This produces a profuse secretion
of saliva or "watering" of the mouth and throat, just as wetting
brings back the missing notes to a flute when it is too dry.

A flannel dipped in boiling water and sprinkled with turpentine, laid
on chest as quickly as possible, will relieve the most severe cold or
hoarseness.

Another simple, pleasant remedy is furnished by beating up the white
of one egg, adding to it the juice of one lemon, and sweetening with
white sugar to taste. Take a teaspoonful from time to time. It has
been known to effectually cure the ailment.

Or bake a lemon or sour orange twenty minutes in a moderate oven. When
done, open at one end and take out the inside. Sweeten with sugar or
molasses. This is an excellent remedy for hoarseness.

An old time and good way to relieve a cold is to go to bed and stay
there, _drinking nothing_, not even water, for twenty-four hours, and
eating as little as possible. Or go to bed, put your feet in hot
mustard and water, put a bran or oatmeal poultice on the chest, take
ten grains of Dover's powder, and an hour afterwards a pint of hot
gruel; in the morning, rub the body all over with a coarse towel, and
take a dose of aperient medicine.

Violet, pennyroyal or boneset tea, is excellent to promote
perspiration in case of sudden chill. Care should be taken next day
not to get chilled by exposure to fresh out-door air.

MOLASSES POSSET.

This old-fashioned remedy for a cold is as effectual now as it was in
old times. Put into a saucepan a pint of the best West India molasses,
a teaspoonful of powdered white ginger and a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter. Set it over the fire and simmer it slowly for half an
hour, stirring it frequently. Do not let it come to a boil. Then stir
in the juice of two lemons, or two tablespoonfuls of vinegar; cover
the pan and let it stand by the fire five minutes longer. This is good
for a cold. Some of it may be taken warm at once, and the remainder
kept at hand for occasional use.

It is the preparation absurdly called by the common people _stewed
quaker_.

Half a pint of strained honey mixed cold with the juice of a lemon and
a tablespoonful of sweet oil, is another remedy for a cold; a
teaspoonful or two to be taken whenever the cough is troublesome.

COUGH SYRUP.

Syrup of squills four ounces, syrup of tolu four ounces, tincture of
bloodroot one and one-half ounces, camphorated tincture of opium four
ounces. Mix. Dose for an adult, one teaspoonful repeated every two to
four hours, or as often as necessary.

LEANNESS.

Is caused generally by lack of power in the digestive organs to digest
and assimilate the fat-producing elements of food. First restore
digestion, take plenty of sleep, drink all the water the stomach will
bear in the morning on rising, take moderate exercise in the open air,
eat oatmeal, cracked wheat, graham mush, baked sweet apples, roasted
and broiled beef, cultivate jolly people, and bathe daily.

FOR TOOTHACHE.

The worst toothache, or neuralgia, coming from the teeth may be
speedily and delightfully ended by the application of a bit of clean
cotton saturated in a solution of ammonia to the defective tooth.
Sometimes the late sufferer is prompted to momentary laughter by the
application, but the pain will disappear.

Alum reduced to a powder, a teaspoonful of the powder and an equal
quantity of fine salt well mixed, applied to the gums by dipping your
moistened finger in the mixed powder; put some also in the tooth, and
keep rubbing the gums with it; it scarcely ever fails to cure.

TO CURE A STING OF A BEE OR WASP.

Bind on common baking soda, dampened with water. Or mix common earth
with water to about the consistency of mud.

TO CURE EARACHE.

Take a bit of cotton batting, put on it a pinch of black pepper,
gather it up and tie it, dip it in sweet oil, and insert it in the
ear; put a flannel bandage over the head to keep it warm; it often
gives immediate relief.

Tobacco smoke, puffed into the ear, has often been effectual.

Another remedy: Take equal parts of tincture of opium and glycerine.
Mix, and from a warm teaspoon drop two or three drops into the ear,
stop the ear tight with cotton, and repeat every hour or two. If
matter should form in the ear, make a suds with castile soap and warm
water, about 100 deg. F., or a little more than milk warm, and have some
person inject it into the ear while you hold that side of your head
the lowest. If it does not heal in due time, inject a little carbolic
acid and water in the proportion of one drachm of the acid to one pint
of warm water each time after using the suds.

CROUP.

Croup, it is said, can be cured in one minute, and the remedy is
simply alum and sugar. Take a knife or grater and shave off in small
particles about a teaspoonful of alum; then mix it with twice its
amount of sugar, to make it palatable, and administer it as quickly as
possible. Almost instantaneous relief will follow. Turpentine is said
to be an excellent remedy for croup. Saturate a piece of flannel and
apply it to the chest and throat, and take inwardly three or four
drops on a lump of sugar.

_Another remedy._--Give a teaspoonful of ipecacuanha wine every few
minutes, until free vomiting is excited.

Another recipe said to be most reliable: Take two ounces of the wine
of ipecac, hive syrup four ounces, tincture of bloodroot two ounces.
Mix it well.

Dose for a child one year old, five to ten drops; two years, eight to
twelve drops; three years, twelve to fifteen drops; four years,
fifteen to twenty drops; five years, twenty to twenty-five drops, and
older children in proportion to age. Repeat as often as shall be
necessary to procure relief. If it is thought best to produce
vomiting, repeat the dose every ten or fifteen minutes for a few
doses.

BURNS AND SCALDS.

A piece of cotton wadding, spread with butter or sweet oil, and bound
on the burn instantly, will draw out the pain without leaving a scar;
also a handful of flour, bound on instantly, will prevent blistering.
The object is to entirely exclude the air from the part affected. Some
use common baking-soda, dry or wet, often giving instant relief,
withdrawing the heat and pain. Another valuable remedy is to beat the
yellow of an egg into linseed oil, and apply it with a feather on the
injured part frequently. It will afford ready relief and heals with
great rapidity. Some recommend the white part of the egg, which is
very cooling and soothing, and soon allays the smarting pain. It is
the exposure of the part coming in contact with the air that gives the
extreme discomfort experienced from ordinary afflictions of this kind,
and anything which excludes air and prevents inflammation is the thing
to be at once applied.

TO STOP THE FLOW OF BLOOD.

For a slight cut there is nothing better to control the hemorrhage
than common unglazed brown wrapping paper, such as is used by
marketmen and grocers; a piece to be bound over the wound. A handful
of flour bound on the cut. Cobwebs and brown sugar, pressed on like
lint. When the blood ceases to flow, apply arnica or laudanum.

When an artery is cut the red blood spurts out at each pulsation.
Press the thumb firmly over the artery near the wound, and on the side
toward the heart. Press hard enough to stop the bleeding, and wait
till a physician comes. The wounded person is often able to do this
himself, if he has the requisite knowledge.

GRAVEL.

Into a pint of water put two ounces of bicarbonate of soda. Take two
tablespoonfuls in the early forenoon, and the same toward night; also
drink freely of water through the day. Inflammation of the kidneys has
been successfully treated with large doses of lime-water.

Persons troubled with kidney difficulty should abstain from sugar and
the things that are converted into sugar in digestion, such as starchy
food and sweet vegetables.

SORE THROAT.

Everybody has a cure for this trouble, but simple remedies appear to
be most effectual. Salt and water is used by many as a gargle, but a
little alum and honey dissolved in sage tea is better. An application
of cloths wrung out of hot water and applied to the neck, changing as
often as they begin to cool, has the most potency for removing
inflammation of anything we ever tried. It should be kept up for a
number of hours; during the evening is usually the most convenient
time for applying this remedy.

Cut slices of salt pork or fat bacon, simmer a few minutes in hot
vinegar, and apply to throat as hot as possible. When this is taken
off as the throat is relieved, put around a bandage of soft flannel. A
gargle of equal parts of borax and alum, dissolved in water, is also
excellent. To be used frequently.

Camphorated oil is an excellent lotion for sore throat, sore chest,
aching limbs, etc. For a gargle for sore throat, put a pinch of
chlorate of potash in a glass of water. Gargle the throat with it
twice a day, or oftener, if necessary.

WHOOPING COUGH.

Two level tablespoonfuls of powdered alum, two-thirds of a cupful of
brown sugar, dissolved in two quarts of water; bottle and put in a
dark closet where it is cool.

For a child one year old, a teaspoonful three times a day on an empty
stomach. For a child two years old, two teaspoonfuls for a dose. For a
child five years old, a tablespoonful. The state of the bowels must be
attended to, and the doses repeated accordingly. No other medicine to
be taken, except an emetic, at first, if desirable. Except in the case
of an infant, a milk diet is to be avoided.

DIARRHOEA.

Take tincture of Jamaica ginger one ounce, tincture of rhubarb one
ounce, tincture of opium half ounce, tincture of cardamom one and
one-half ounces, tincture of kino one ounce. Mix. Dose for an adult,
half to one teaspoonful, repeated every two to four hours; and for
children one year old, five drops; two years old, five to ten drops;
three years old, ten to twelve drops, and older children in proportion
to age.

FOR CONSTIPATION.

One or two figs eaten fasting is sufficient for some, and they are
especially good in the case of children, as there is no trouble in
getting them to take them. A spoonful of wheaten bran in a glass of
water is a simple remedy, and quite effective, taken half an hour
before breakfast; fruit eaten raw; partake largely of laxative food;
exercise in the open air; drink freely of cold water during the day,
etc. It is impossible to give many of the numerous treatments in so
short a space, suffice it to say that the general character of our
diet and experience is such as to assure us that at least one-quarter
of the food that we swallow is intended by nature to be evacuated from
the system; and if it is not, it is again absorbed into the system,
poisoning the blood and producing much suffering and permanent
disease. The evacuation of the bowels _daily_, and above all,
_regularity_, is therefore all important to aid this form of disorder.

RELIEF FROM ASTHMA.

Sufferers from asthma should get a muskrat skin and wear it over their
lungs with the fur side next to the body. It will bring certain
relief.

Or soak blotting paper in saltpetre water, then dry, burning at night
in the patient's bedroom.

Another excellent recipe: Take powdered liquorice root, powdered
elecampane root, powdered anise-seed, each one drachm, powdered ipecac
ten grains, powdered lobelia ten grains; add sufficient amount of tar
to form into pills of ordinary size. Take three or four pills on going
to bed. An excellent remedy for asthma or shortness of breath.