Enquire Within Upon Everything Part 184

One raw egg well beaten, half a pint of vinegar, one ounce of spirits of turpentine, a quarter of an ounce of spirits of wine, a quarter of an ounce of camphor. These ingredients to be beaten well together, then put in a bottle and shaken for ten minutes, after which, to be corked down tightly to exclude the air. In half an hour it is fit for use.

_Directions_.--To be well rubbed in, two, three, or four times a day.

For rheumatism in the head, to be rubbed at the back of the neck and behind the ears. This mixture should not be used for broken chilblains.

2423. Excellent Remedy for Sprains.

Put the white of an egg into a saucer; keep stirring it with a piece of alum about the size of a walnut, until it becomes a thick jelly; apply a portion of it on a piece of lint or tow large enough to cover the sprain, changing it for a fresh one as often as it feels warm or dry. The limb should be kept in a horizontal position by placing it on a chair.

2424. Remedy for Blistered Feet.

Rub the feet, on going to bed, with spirits mixed with tallow, dropped from a lighted candle into the palm of the hand.

2425. Boils.

These should be brought to a head by warm poultices of camomile flowers, or boiled white lily root, or onion root; by fermentation with hot water, or by stimulating plasters. When perfectly ripe and ready to break, they may be discharged by a needle or the lancet.

_Const.i.tutional treatment:_--Peruvian bark, and port wine, and sea-bathing are desirable. Gentle purgatives should be given occasionally.

2426. Bunions.

Bunions may be checked in their early development by binding the joint with adhesive plaster, and keeping it on as long as any uneasiness is felt. The bandaging should be perfect, and it might be well to extend it round the foot. An inflamed bunion should be poulticed, and larger shoes be worn. Iodine, twelve grains; lard or spermaceti ointment, half an ounce, makes a capital ointment for bunions. It should be rubbed on gently twice or thrice a day.

2427. Cure of Warts.

The easiest way to get rid of warts is to pare off the thickened skin which covers the prominent wart; cut it off by successive layers; shave it till you come to the surface of the skin, and till you draw blood in two or three places. When you have thus denuded the surface of the skin, rub the part thoroughly over with _lunar caustic_. One effective operation of this kind will generally destroy the wart; if not, cut off the black spot which has been occasioned by the caustic, and apply the caustic again, or _acetic acid_ may be applied in order to get rid of it.

2428. Corns (1).

Any remedy for these painful growths, to be effectual, must include removal of the usual cause--pressure by tight or ill-fitting boots.

Strong acetic acid may be used, but great care is necessary in applying it, to avoid burning the adjacent parts. _Soft corns_ may be cured by extract of lead.

2429. Corns (2).

A very good remedy for corns is that known as "Celandine," which is harmless and easily applied. Any chemist will supply it.

2430. To Cure Stings of Bees and Wasps.

The sting of a bee is generally more virulent than that of a wasp, and with some people attended with very violent effects. The sting of a bee is barbed at the end, and is consequently always left in the wound; that of a wasp is pointed only, so that the latter insect can sting more than once, which a bee cannot do. When stung by a bee, let the sting be instantly pulled out; for the longer it remains in the wound, the deeper it will pierce, owing to its peculiar form, and emit more of the poison. The sting is hollow, and the poison flows through it, which is the sole cause of the pain and inflammation. The pulling out of the sting should he done carefully, and with a steady hand; for if any part of it breaks in, all remedies then, in a great, measure, will be ineffectual. When the sting is extracted, suck the wounded part, if possible, and very little inflammation, if any, will ensue.

If hartshorn drops are immediately afterwards rubbed on the part, the cure will be more complete.

2431. A Cure for Bee Stings, etc.

Among other simple remedies for this purpose, rubbing the part affected with sweet oil, the juice of onion, or the blue bag used in was.h.i.+ng, slightly moistened, will be found efficacious.

2432. Nettle Stings.

The sting of a nettle may be cured by rubbing the part with rosemary, mint, or sage leaves. Dock leaves are also said to supply an effectual remedy.

2433. Arnica for Bites.

A correspondent of the _Times_ says:

"Noticing in your paper an account of the death of a man from the bite of a cat, I beg to trouble you with the following case, which occurred to myself about three weeks ago:--I took a strange dog home, which produced consternation among the cats. One of them I took up, to effect a reconciliation between her and the dog. In her terror, she bit me so severely on the first finger of the left hand, as not only to cause four of the teeth of her lower jaw to enter the flesh, but so agonizing was her bite that the pressure of her palate caused the finger to swell at the joint on the opposite side to where the lower teeth entered the finger. In a minute or two the pain was about as excruciating as anything I ever felt--certainly greater than I have suffered from a wound. I got some tincture of arnica, diluted with about twelve times the quant.i.ty of water, and proceeded to bathe the finger well with it. In about half a minute the blood began to flow freely, the pain ceased, and the swelling abated, and up to this moment I have had no further inconvenience or pain, not even soreness."

2434. Cure for Burns.

Of all applications for a burn, there are none equal to a simple covering of common _wheat flour_. This is always at hand; and while it requires no skill in using, it produces most astonis.h.i.+ng effects. The moisture produced upon the surface of a slight or deep burn is at once absorbed by the flour, and forms a paste which shuts out the air. As long as the fluid matters continue flowing, they are absorbed, and prevented from producing irritation, as they would do if kept from pa.s.sing off by oily or resinous applications, while the greater the amount of those absorbed by the flour, the thicker the protective covering. Another advantage of the flour covering is, that next to the surface it is kept moist and flexible. It can also be readily washed off, without further irritation in removing. It may occasionally be washed off very carefully, when the crust that it forms has become dry, and a new covering be sprinkled on.

2435. Remedy for Burns and Scalds.

Take chalk and linseed, or common olive oil, and mix them in such proportions as will produce a compound as thick as thin honey; then add vinegar so as to reduce it to the thickness of treacle; apply with a soft brush or feather, and renew the application from time to time.

Each renewal brings fresh relief, and a most grateful coolness. If the injury is severe, especially if it involve the chest, give ten drops of laudanum to an adult, and repeat it in an hour, and again a third time. To a child of ten years give, in like manner, only three drops, but beware of giving any to an infant. This plan with an internal stimulant, according to age, as brandy, or salvolatile, or both, should be at once adopted, until the arrival of the medical attendant.

2436. Lime-Water.

Lime-water beaten up with sweet oil is an excellent application for burns.

2437. Pitting in Small Pox.

The following is a simple process that has been adopted most successfully, not only in cases of small pox, in which it completely prevented pitting, but in all eruptive diseases generally, such as measles, scarlatina, nettlerash, chicken pox, &c., relieving the itching, tingling, and irritation of those complaints, and thereby affording great relief, especially in the case of children. It consists in smearing the whole surface of the body, after the eruption is fairly out, with bacon fat; and the simplest way of employing it is to boil thoroughly a small piece of bacon with the skin on, and when cold to cut off the skin with the fat adhering to it, which is to be scored crosswise with a knife, and then gently rubbed over the surface once, twice, or thrice a day, according to the extent of the eruption and the recurrence of itching and irritation.

Another plan, practised by Dr. Allshorn, of Edinburgh, is to mix three parts of oil with one of white wax, by heat, and while warm and fluid to paint over the face and neck with a camel-hair brush. As this cools and hardens it forms a mask, which effectually excludes the air, and prevents pitting. It is said that if light is admitted into the patient's room through yellow blinds, so that the red and blue rays of the sun are excluded, pitting will be prevented.

2438. Cutaneous Eruptions.

The following mixture is very useful in all cutaneous eruptions: Ipecacuanha wine, four drachms; flowers of sulphur, two drachms: tincture of cardamoms, one ounce. Mix: one teaspoonful to be taken three times a day, in a winegla.s.sful of water.

2439. Wash for a Blotched Face.

Rose water, three ounces: sulphate of zinc, one drachm. Mix; wet the face with it, gently dry it, and then touch it over with cold cream, which also dry gently off.