SOME SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES WIDELY USED FOR SICK CHILDREN IN 1846

Abstract

Mrs. Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880), a prolific writer of books of advice for mothers and housewives during the first half of the 18th century, recommended the remedies below for the treatment of some of the most common childhood illnesses.1 Ear-ache. Cotton wool wet with sweet oil and paragoric, relieves the ear-ache very soon. Croup. Equal parts of camphor spirits of wine, and hartshorn, well mixed, and rubbed upon the throat, is said to be good for the croup. Sore throat. Loaf sugar and brandy relieves a sore throat; when very bad, it is good to inhale the steam of scalding hot vinegar through the tube of a tunnel (a straw). Also a stocking bound on warm from the foot. Constipation. Boil castor-oil with an equal quantity of milk, sweeten it with a little sugar, stir it well, and, when cold, give it to children for drink. They will never suspect it is medicine; and will even love the taste of it. Tooth-ache. A Poultice made of ginger or of common chickweed that grows about one's door in the country, has given great relief to the toothache, when applied frequently to the cheek. Cuts and Wounds. Balm-of-Gilead buds bottled up in New England rum, make the best cure for fresh cuts and wounds. Every family should have a bottle of it. The buds should be gathered in a peculiar state; just when they are well swelled, ready to burst into leaves, and well covered with gum. They last but two or three days in this state.