Mix an ounce of oil of peppermint with a pint of alcohol. Then colour it by putting in some leaves of green mint. Let it stand till the colour is a fine green; then filter it through blotting paper. Drop it on sugar when you take it.
Essence of pennyroyal, mint, cinnamon, cloves, &c. may all be prepared in the same manner by mixing a portion of the essential oil with a little alcohol.
You may obtain liquid camphor by breaking up and dissolving a lump in white brandy or spirit of wine.
LAVENDER COMPOUND.
Fill a quart bottle with lavender blossoms freshly gathered, and put in loosely; then pour in as much of the best brandy as it will contain. Let it stand a fortnight, and then strain it. Afterwards, mix with it of powdered cloves, mace, nutmeg and cochineal, a quarter of an ounce of each; and cork it up for use in small bottles. When taken, a little should be dropped on a lump of sugar.
LEAD WATER.
Mix two table-spoonfuls of extract of lead with a bottle of rain or river water. Then add two table-spoonfuls of brandy, and shake it well.
[Footnote: These remedies are all very simple; but the author _knows_ them to have been efficacious whenever tried.]
REMEDY FOR A BURN.
After immediately applying sweet oil, sc.r.a.pe the inside of a raw potato, and lay some of it on the place, securing it with a rag.
In a short time put on fresh potato, and repeat this application very frequently. It will give immediate ease, and draw out the fire. Of course, if the burn is bad, it is best to send for a physician.
FOR CHILBLAINS.
Dip the feet every night and morning in cold water, withdrawing them in a minute or two, and drying them by rubbing them very hard with a coa.r.s.e towel. To put them immediately into a pail of brine brought from a pickle tub is another excellent remedy when feet are found to be frosted.
FOR CORNS.
Mix together a little Indian meal and cold water, till it is about the consistence of thick mush. Then bind it on the corn by wrapping a small slip of thin rag round the toe. It will not prevent you from wearing your shoe and stocking. In two or three hours take it off, and you will find the corn much softened. Cut off as much of it as is soft with a penknife or scissors. Then put on a fresh poultice, and repeat it till the corn is entirely levelled, as it will be after a few regular applications of the remedy; which will be found successful whenever the corn returns.
There is no permanent cure for them.
WARTS.
To remove the hard callous h.o.r.n.y warts which sometimes appear on the hands of children, touch the wart carefully with a new pen dipped slightly in aqua-fortis. It will give no pain; and after repeating it a few times, the wart will be found so loose as to come off by rubbing it with the finger.
RING-WORMS.
Rub mercurial ointment on the ring-worm previous to going to bed, and do not wash it off till morning. It will effect a cure if persevered in; sometimes in less than a week.
MUSQUITO BITES.
Salt wetted into a sort of paste, with a little vinegar, and plastered on the bite, will immediately allay the pain; and if not rubbed, no mark will be seen next day. It is well to keep salt and vinegar always in a chamber that is infested with musquitoes. It is also good for the sting of a wasp or bee; and for the bite of any venomous animal, if applied immediately. It should be left on till it becomes dry, and then renewed.
ANTIDOTE FOR LAUDANUM.
When so large a quant.i.ty of laudanum has been swallowed as to produce dangerous effects, the fatal drowsiness has been prevented when all other remedies have failed, by administering a cup of the strongest possible coffee. The patient has revived and recovered, and no ill effects have followed.
GREEN OINTMENT.
Take two or three large handfuls of the fresh-gathered leaves of the Jamestown weed, (called Apple Peru in New England,) and pound it in a mortar till you have extracted the juice. Then put the juice into a tin sauce-pan, mixed with sufficient lard to make a thick salve. Stew them together ten or fifteen minutes, and then pour the mixture into gallipots and cover it closely. It is excellent to rub on chilblains, and other inflammatory external swellings, applying it several times a day.
TO STOP BLOOD.
For a p.r.i.c.k with a pin, or a slight cut, nothing will more effectually stop the bleeding than old cobwebs compressed into a lump and applied to the wound, or bound on it with a rag. A sc.r.a.p of cotton wadding is also good for stopping blood.
PERFUMERY, ETC.
COLOGNE WATER.
Procure at a druggists, one drachm of oil of lavender, the same quant.i.ty of oil of lemon, of oil of rosemary, and of oil of cinnamon; with two drachms of oil of bergamot, all mixed in the same phial, which should be a new one. Shake the oils well, and pour them into a pint of spirits of wine. Cork the bottle tightly, shake it hard, and it will be fit for immediate use; though it improves by keeping. You may add to the oils, if you choose, ten drops of the tincture of musk, or ten drops of extract of ambergris.
For very fine cologne water, mix together in a new phial oil of lemon, two drachms; oil of bergamot, two drachms; oil of lavender, two drachms; oil of cedrat, one drachm; tincture of benzoin, three drachms; neroli, ten drops; ambergris, ten drops; attar of roses, two drops. Pour the mixture into a pint of spirits of wine; cork and shake the bottle, and set it away for use.
Another receipt for cologne water is to mix with a pint of alcohol, sixty drops or two large tea-spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and the same quant.i.ty of the essential oils of lemon, lavender, and bergamot.
LAVENDER WATER.
Mix two ounces of essential oil of lavender, and two drachms of essence of ambergris, with a pint of spirits of wine; cork the bottle, and shake it hard every day for a fortnight.
HUNGARY WATER.
Mix together one ounce of oil of rosemary and two drachms of essence of ambergris; add them to a pint of spirits of wine. Shake it daily for a month, and then transfer it to small bottles.
ROSE VINEGAR.
Fill a stone or china jar with fresh rose leaves put in loosely.
Then pour on them as much of the best white wine vinegar as the jar will hold. Cover it, and set it in the sun, or in some other warm place for three weeks. Then strain it through a flannel bag, and bottle it for use, This vinegar will he found very fine for salads, or for any nice purposes.
THIEVES" VINEGAR.
Take a large handful of lavender blossoms, and the same quant.i.ty of sage, mint, rue, wormwood and rosemary. Chop and mix them well.