Boil three ounces of the shavings, or chips, of logwood, in four pints of water, till one half the liquor is wasted. Two or three ounces of simple cinnamon-water may be added to this decoction.
In fluxes of the belly, where the stronger astringents are improper, a tea-cupful of this decoction may be taken with advantage three or four times a-day.
Decoction of the Bark.
Boil an ounce of the Peruvian bark, grossly powdered, in a pint and a half of water to one pint; then strain the decoction. If a tea-spoonful of the weak spirit of vitriol be added to this medicine, it will render it both more agreeable and efficacious.
Compound Decoction of the Bark.
Take of Peruvian bark and Virginian snake-root, grossly powdered, each three drachms. Boil them in a pint of water to one half. To the strained liquor add an ounce and a half of aromatic water.
Sir John Pringle recommends this as a proper medicine towards the decline of malignant fevers, when the pulse is low, the voice weak, and the head affected with a stupor but with little delirium.
The dose is four spoonfuls every fourth or sixth hour.
Decoction of Sarsaparilla.
Take of fresh sarsaparilla root, sliced and bruised, two ounces; shavings of guaiacum wood, one ounce. Boil over a slow fire, in three quarts of water, to one; adding towards the end, half an ounce of sassafras wood, and three drachms of liquorice. Strain the decoction.