Prune tea is an excellent drink for irritable persons. It is made as follows: To every pint of washed prunes allow 1 quart of distilled water. Soak the prunes all night, and afterwards simmer to rags in the same water. Strain, and flavour with lemon juice if desired.
Potato.
The potato is a cheap and homely remedy against gout, scurvy, and rickets. Dr. Lambe tells how he cured a case of scurvy solely with raw potatoes. One of the favourite dishes of that good old doctor was a salad composed of sliced raw potatoes and olive oil.
In order to preserve the medicinal properties of potatoes when cooked, they must always be steamed in their jackets. The skin may be removed before eating, but care should be taken not to allow a particle of the potato to adhere to it. The valuable potash salts chiefly lie just under the skin.
A raw potato scraped or powdered to a pulp is an excellent remedy for burns and scalds.
Dr. Fernie recommends the following decoction with which to bathe the swollen and inflamed joints of rheumatic sufferers. Take 1 lb. potatoes, cut each into four, but do not peel them. Boil in 2 pints of water until stewed down to 1 pint. Strain, and use the liquid.
Eaten to excess potatoes are apt to cause dullness and laziness.
Radish.
The radish is commonly cited as indigestible, but for all that it is commended by old writers as a potent remedy for stone. If not too old, well masticated, and eaten at the beginning of a meal, I do not think it is more indigestible than the majority of vegetables.
A syrup made with the juice expressed from pounded radishes and cane sugar is recommended for rheumatism, bronchial troubles, whooping-cough, and pustular eruptions.