Salt Rheum.—1. Make a strong tea of elm root bark; drink the tea freely, and wash the affected part in the same. 2. Take one ounce of blue flag root, steep it in half a pint of gin; take a teaspoonful three times a day, morning, noon and night, and wash with the same. 3. Take one ounce of oil of tar, one drachm of oil of checker berry; mix. Take from five to twenty drops morning and night as the stomach will bear.
Bleeding of the Stomach.—Take a teaspoonful of camomile tea every ten minutes until the bleeding stops.
Sickness of Stomach.—Drink three or four times a day of the steep made from the bark of white poplar roots.
Sunburn and Tan.—1. Take two drachms of borax, one drachm of Roman alum, one drachm of camphor, half an ounce of sugar candy, and a pound of ox-gall. Mix, and stir well for ten minutes or so, and repeat this stirring three or four times a day for a fortnight, till it appears clear and transparent. Strain through blotting paper, and bottle up for use. 2. Milk of almonds made thus: Take of blanched bitter almonds half an ounce, soft water half a pint; make an emulsion by beating the almonds and water together, strain through a muslin cloth, and it is made. 3. A preparation composed of equal parts of olive oil and lime water is also an excellent remedy for sunburn.
To Produce Sweat.—Take of nitre, one-half drachm; snake's head (herb), saffron, camphor, snake-root, seneca, bark of sassafras root, each one ounce; ipecac, and opium, each one half ounce; put the above in three quarts of Holland gin, and take a tablespoonful in catnip tea every few minutes, till a sweat is produced.
Teething.—Young children whilst cutting their first set of teeth often suffer severe constitutional disturbance. At first there is restlessness and peevishness, with slight fever, but not infrequently these are followed by convulsive fits, as they are commonly called, which depends on the brain becoming irritated; and sometimes under this condition the child is either cut off suddenly, or the foundation of serious mischief to the brain is laid. The remedy, or rather the safeguard, against these frightful consequences is trifling, safe, and almost certain, and consists merely in lancing the gum covering the tooth which is making its making its way through. When teething is about it may be known by the spittle constantly driveling from the mouth and wetting the frock. The child has its fingers in its month, and bites hard any substance it can get hold of. If the gums be carefully looked at, the part where the tooth is pressing up is swollen and redder than usual; and if the finger be pressed on it the child shrinks and cries, showing that the gum is tender. When these symptoms occur, the gum should be lanced, and sometimes the tooth comes through the next day, if near the surface; but if not so far advanced the cut heals and a scar forms, which is thought by some objectionable, as rendering the passage of the tooth more difficult. This, however, is untrue, for the scar will give way much more easily than the uncut gum. If the tooth does not come through after two or three days, the lancing may be repeated; and this is more especially needed if the child be very fractious, and seems in much pain. Lancing the gums is further advantageous, because it empties the inflamed part of its blood, and so relieves the pain and inflammation. The relief children experience in the course of two or three hours from the operation is often very remarkable, as they almost immediately become lively and cheerful.
Wash for Teeth and Gums.—The teeth should be washed night and morning, a moderately small and soft brush being used; after the morning ablution, pour on a second tooth-brush, slightly dampened, a little of the following lotion: Carbolic acid, 20 drops; spirits of wine, 2 drachms; distilled water, 6 ounces. After using this lotion a short time the gums become firmer and less tender, and impurity of the breath (which is most commonly caused by bad teeth), will be removed. It is a great mistake to use hard tooth-brushes, or to brush the teeth until the gums bleed.
Tetter.—After a slight feverish attack, lasting two or three days, clusters of small, transparent pimples, filled sometimes with a colorless, sometimes with a brownish lymph, appear on the cheeks or forehead, or on the extremities, and at times on the body. The pimples are about the size of a pea, and break after a few days, when a brown or yellow crust is formed over them, which falls off about the tenth day, leaving the skin red and irritable. The eruption is attended with heat; itching, tingling, fever, and restlessness, especially at night. Ringworm is a curious form of tetter, in which the inflamed patches assume the form of a ring.
TREATMENT—Should consist of light diet, and gentle laxatives. If the patient be advanced in life, and feeble, a tonic will be desirable. For a wash, white vitriol, 1 drachm; rose-water, 3 ounces, mixed; or an ointment made of alder-flower ointment, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc, 1 drachm.
To Remove Tan.—Tan may be removed from the face by mixing magnesia in soft water to the consistency of paste, which should then be spread on the face and allowed to remain a minute or two. Then wash off with Castile soap suds, and rinse with soft water.