A VISIT WITH THE DOCTOR

" My best assistants," says the good old doctor, " are catnip, smart- weed, horseradish leaves and mustard plasters."

When baking, if you touch your finger against the oven door or a hot pan, the instant application of a little mucilage will alleviate the pain and heal the blister.

Aromatic spirits of ammonia, if inhaled, will often cure a catarrhal cold.

Spearmint and sage tea is good for children troubled with worms, and warm water a trifle sweetened is good for the stomach ache.

The instant anyone is stung, wet some cut tobacco and lay it at once on the spot. Hold it there a few minutes and the cure is complete.

For a burn, if the skin is not broken use raw linseed oil, or varnish If the skin be broken, wet with a feather and the white of an &gg, and sift on charcoal through thin muslin.

Steep some fine cut tobacco until it is a strong solution, and mix with clean, fresh lard — enough to color the lard a dark brown — it is one of the best ointments for burns, scalds, sores, etc., in the market.

For sprains, take one part blue clay and two parts vinegar and make into a paste and bind on at night with a wet towel. One appli- cation is generally sufficient.

. -To draw fire from a burn, wet the burn with pulverized alum dis- solved in water, the stronger the better.

270 MEDICAL,

Liniment for pain proceeding from cold — Half pint spirits turpen- tine, half pmt vinegar, one raw &gg. Shake all well together and rub part affected night and morning with a flannel rag.

For a cut, wash off the blood in cold water and bind it up with a clean cotton bandage ; if it inclines to bleed put on scraped lint, after bringing the edges of the wound together as closely as possible, and bind it rather tight.

Milk is found to form an excellent solvent for quinine, and also to disguise, in a measure, the bitterness of that drug. It will be found particularly useful in administering quinine to children. Five grains in a tumbler of milk is almost tasteless.

For a cough or a tickling in the throat, take the juice of two lemons, the beaten white of one &gg and enough powdered or fine granulated white sugar to make a thin paste. A teaspoonful of this mixture will allay the irritation and cure a cough in its early stages.

The leaves of the geranium are an excellent application for cuts, when the skm is rubbed off, and other wounds of the same kind ; one or two leaves must be bruised and applied on linen to the part, and the wound will become cicatrized in a very short time.

Lint dipped in nettle juice and put up the nostril will stay the bleed- ing of the nose. Fourteen or fifteen of ihe seeds ground into powder and taken daily will cure swelling of the neck, known as goitre, without in any way injuring the health.

To allay irritation and stop vomiting, take in the proportion of one teaspoon each of salt and cayenne pepper, to a teacup of vinegar ; dose one tablespoon, or less, every fifteen minutes. This is also useful to bathe painful parts, as headache, bruises, sprains, and is excellent used as a gargle for a sore throat.

For a cold on the lungs grease a cloth and sprinkle with fine salt and apply to the chest. If congestion is feared, make a mustard paste, mixing the mustard with glycerine which will prevent blistering without taking from the efficacy of the mustard.

A nice wash for the delicate skins of infants is made by obtaining maple twigs. Put a small lump of alum in and boil with the twigs. Wash the tender places with this in lieu of water.

Probably not all know the efficacy of dry heat in relieving pains. Earache can quickly be cured by heating a folded cloth against a stove- pipe, laying on the ear, and changing for another as fast as they can be heated. It is best to first fill the ear with melted lard, which should be only blood warm.

If any are troubled with bronchitis or asthma, smoke dried mullein leaves two or three times a day. Use a common clay pipe and smoke night and morning; oftener if necessary. Several severe cases of bron- chitis, and of several years' standing, have been cured by smoking these leaves.

PRESCRIPTIONS AND CURES. 271

Stammering may be cured by reading aloud for an hour or two each day keeping the teeth shut tightly together. Speak slowly and as dis- tinctly as possible, and the difficulty may be overcome in time.

Those who are troubled with cold feet, should ^€l a hard-wood board, set it up before the kitchen stove a few minutes until heated, and then it will be warm to stand upon while washing, ironing, baking and washing dishes, or even can be used while sitting to sew or read, and will save much time that is otherwise lost by stopping to warm the feet. If you don't do your own work it is well to have one for the girl, for her feet are as likely to get cold this weather as yours, and she will be enabled to do more work and with greater comfort with the hot plank than without it. A loop of strong cloth can be tacked to one end to hang it away by when not in use.

To prevent wearing through the skin when bed-ridden, apply to tender parts of the body with a feather a lotion made by beating to a stiff froth, the white of an &gg. Bottle for use.

To drop medicine correctly, shake the bottle so as to moisten the cork. With the wet end of the cork moisten the edges of the bottle, then holding the cork under the mouth of the bottle, let the fluid pass over the cork in dropping.

A self holder for a spoon, when both hands are occupied, is to place the handle of the spoon between the leaves of a closed book lying on the table.

A valuable means of disinfectant in a sick room is coffee, to be burned on hot coals or a hot shovel. If a small piece of camphor gum is placed in the center of the coals and coffee, the atmosphere will soon be cleared and the nurse and patient invigorated.