Madame Young's Guide to Health / Her experience and practice for nearly forty years; a true family herbal, wherein is displayed the true properties and medical virtues of all the roots, herbs, &c., indigenous to the United States, and their combination in all the diseases the human body is heir to; also, an explanation of the human body, its liability to injuries through ignorance of its structure. Dedicated exclusively to her sex.

by Amelia Young

Moss, taken from the maple tree, is good, sweetened with honey, for a bad cough, and for consumptive persons.

For a Relax.—Take equal parts of beeswax and mutton tallow, mix and simmer in molasses; give a tablespoonful warm to a grown person, reducing the dose for children.

Rheumatic Ointment.—Stramonium leaves, or juice, and poke root; add hogs’ fat and tallow.

A Poultice for Rheumatism.—Elecampane roots and burdock roots and leaves, put on hot, will cure rheumatic affections in a few days. Inwardly, use a tea made of smartweed, adding a very little black cohosh. Great care must be taken in using black cohosh, as an overdose is very dangerous. Those unacquainted with its properties should use the smartweed alone.

Poke root and spikenard make a good poultice; must be put on hot and often.

Balsam of Life.—Gum benzoin, 4 oz.; gum storax, 3 oz.; socatrine aloes and gum myrrh, each, 1½ oz.; angelica root and johnwort tops, each, 2 oz.; pound all together; put them into three pints of rectified spirits of wine, and let it stand four weeks; keep warm, shaking it every day, strain and it is fit for use; thirteen or fourteen drops to be taken in a spoonful of wine. This balsam is good for all in consumptive complaints, weakness, whooping cough, pain in the side; to be taken morning and evening.

Salt Rheum.—One pint yellow dock root, boil till the strength is out, strain and add one pint spirits turpentine, one pound fresh butter, four ounces burgundy pitch, two ounces mutton tallow, two ounces beeswax, for summer use, (for winter, use only half the quantity of mutton tallow and beeswax.) Simmer together three hours, stirring it all the time; do not let it burn.

Rheumatic Plaster.—White beech bark and hemlock bark, each, one bushel, tamarack bark half a bushel; cut these fine and boil till the strength is out, then strain; to this add one gill white pine turpentine, and boil down till thick enough for a plaster, and apply.

Sprains and Bruises.—Use beefs’ brine and roman wormwood; boil half an hour; when cool bathe the parts affected.

Toothache Drops.—One ounce sweet spirits nitre, one ounce alum, together; wet with lint or cotton and put into the tooth.