A beat up edition of The Cottage Physician — published in 1892 — has been around my house forever; I’m not sure where it came from but I’ve always been fascinated reading about diseases and cures.
Every so often, I’ll blow the dust off and share some of the remedies here on Enchanted Seashells, Confessions of a Tugboat Captain’s Wife. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Except for the Ginger, Arnica, and Yarrow, I can’t recommend actually using these ingredients. I drink ginger tea, cook with fresh ginger — LOVE anything ginger. My Botox doc suggests using arnica for bruising — it has a really high rate of efficacy. I grow yarrow in my garden but I’ve never actually made a tea with it, but I know people who have.
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Trask’s Magnetic Ointment
Lard, raisins, fine cut tobacco, each equal parts. 
Mix thoroughly.
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Oregano
For Pain Relief
Choice Family Liniment
Origanum oil, 2 ounces; aqua ammonia, 1 ounce, opium, ½ ounce, tincture iodine ,1/4 ounce, spike oil (lavender), 1 ounce, alcohol, 1 pint. This has been in constant family use for over fifty years, and is a most excellent remedy for all general purposes, both for man and beast.
Opium poppy
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Podophyllin
Carter’s Little Liver Pills
Podophyllin 1 ¼ grains (used to be used to treat genital warts, too), aloes (socotrine) 3 ½ grains, mucilage acacia, sufficient quantity. Mix. Divide into 12 pills, and coat with sugar.
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Ginger
Ginger, Syrup of
Compound ginger, sliced and bruised, one ounce; angelica root, sliced and bruised, ½ ounce; peppermint, ½ ounce; boiling water, one pint—infuse in a warm place an hour
Angelica
Strain it, press off, add sugar, two pounds; simmer and strain. Dose: a tablespoonful when required. It is useful for a pain in the stomach, wind, colic, and the like. (Sounds great, but way too much sugar!)
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Arnica
Arnica (Arnica Montana) Leopard’s Bane
A European plant. The flowers alone are used int this country Useful in cuts, bruises and internal injuries. An infusion or decoction of half ounce of the flower to a pint of water is the best preparation for external use. For internal injuries the tincture may be given in five or ten drop doses every two hours.
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Yarrow
Yarrow (Archillea Millefolia)
Stimulant, tonic, promotes the appetite and improves the digestion. Highly recommended for piles, delayed menstruation, leucorrhea, and flatulent colic. Administered in infusion.
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Pumpkin Seeds (Curcurbita Pepo)
A remedy of reputation for expelling tapeworm, and if properly used they rarely fail. The patient should subsist entirely upon the seeds and milk for twenty-four hours. Eat freely and drink a limited quantity of milk to allay thirst, at the expiration of twenty-four hours, take a good dose of castor oil.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I’m merely sharing anecdotal content from a book I found interesting to read. This post contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on anything that you read here as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website.
Credit: This was created using a Contractology template available at http://www.freenetlaw.com.
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Interesting collection. Other than Ginger tea probably wouldn’t try any. I do remember when I was about 5 or 6 my mother trying to make us take a spoon of castor oil to prevent us from getting sick. Was fine till I tried that. Awful stuff 😦
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Oh, it sounds yucky, do you know it’s really cod LIVER oil? I watched a video of how they extract it from the fish. Ick. Also liver is the filter for toxins so I don’t know how healthy it even is. Arnica is SUPER good for bruising. you can buy the gel at health food stores, etc.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 1:35 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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Arnica does help – I have some arnica ointment in my medicine cupboard right now.
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Yup, sometimes those old time remedies have merit! Not sure about lard and tobacco, tho. Thank you for visiting!
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Is the family lidinum actually ‘laudanum’? It is correct that even if you prize poppy seed heads (at least 15) from any common poppies, even in UK, boil them for 15 mns and drink the sickly syrup, you will tend to feel very relaxed and sedated afterwards.
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I don’t know, I’ve only done cursory research of some of those old remedies, I haven’t really delved into it–I’d be cautious about experimenting!
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Love this. I’m with you with ginger. Have a big jar (good price at Trader Joes) of candied ginger on my kitchen counter that I put in my morning green tea. And, chewed with a piece of dark chocolate, it’s yummo. 🙂
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What a GREAT idea, I never thought of putting into my Yogi green tea! I love candied ginger, I’m going to TJ tomorrow. Thank you! Don’t get me started on dark chocolate 🙂
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 7:59 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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My mother-in-law has a wicked remedy for cold and flu – it includes ginger root, garlic, honey, and white overproof rum. It’s the rum that kills any illness I’m sure. Actually when we went to Jamaica one year, I caught something on the plane. I was so sick the next day. They gave me something “special” at the bar, and my sickness disappeared within 24 hours LOL. Maybe it was only a 24 hr bug, but I swear the drink helped.
Also, my son could use something to help his “wind” LOL.
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HAHAHA wind is a much nicer thought than “gas”. Peppermint tea works too. I love you MILs remedy, you should bottle and sell it! I always say a shot helps to kill the germs, people laugh but I really think it does!
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 8:35 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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I have nominated you for the Shine On Award! Check out the details on my blog: http://stylesalvation.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/shine-on-award/
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thank you so much! I’m honored and very grateful.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 9:24 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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My favorite is “Choice Family Liniment” — I’m sure anything containing alcohol and opium would do wonders, at least in the short term, for “man or beast” — LOL!
Can you imagine getting caught with a smidge of heroin and explaining to the cops that you only needed a little, you know, to whip up some liniment?
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For medicinal purposes only…right? Right! I’m rather fond of tobacco with lard, something to do with all the ciggies when you stop smoking. it’s call repurposing!
On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 5:15 AM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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Oh, what fun! Thanks for sharing.
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My greatest pleasure!
On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 5:53 PM, Enchanted Seashells…Confessions of a Tugbo
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