Mother's Remedies Part 104

Diseases, Dose, etc.--This decoction is used as an injection in leucorrhea, piles and as a gargle in sore mouth, etc. Its astringent property is due to the tannic and gallic acid it contains.

ONION. Allium Cepa.

Internally, used for.--Coughs, catarrh, croup, laxative.

Externally, used for.--Poultice for boil, inflammation, earache, etc., raw and roasted and used locally.

Part used.--Bulb. It contains many const.i.tuents, such as citrate of lime, allyl sulphide, volatile oils, sulphur.

Gather.--In autumn.

Grows (where).--Native.

Prepared (how).--As a poultice, raw; when boiled volatile oil is cast off.

Diseases, Dose, etc.--Juice mixed with sugar is good for colds, coughs, catarrh, croup, chronic bronchitis. Roasted Spanish onion is good, eaten at bedtime, as a laxative; fried in lard and applied locally it makes a splendid poultice. Roasted in coals it makes a good poultice for earache, toothache, sore throat and sore chest.

[432 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

PARSLEY. Rock Parsley. Petroselinum Sativum.

Internally, used for.--Dropsy, especially following scarlet fever, retained urine, painful urination, gonorrhea.

Externally, used for.--Seeds and leaves sprinkled on the hair, in powder, destroy vermin. Bruised leaves applied as a fomentation, cure the bites or stings of insects.

Part used.--Root, seeds and leaves.

Gather.--In autumn.

Grows (where).--Cultivated.

Prepared (how).--Infuse the whole plant, or a decoction can be made of the root and seeds.

Diseases, Dose, etc.--Drink freely of the infusion or decoction. Dose, two to four ounces three times a day, or less dose and oftener. The oil can be bought and used, two to three drops three or four times, daily.

PARTRIDGE BERRY. Squaw Vine. Checker Berry. One Berry. Winter Clover.

Deerberry. Mitch.e.l.la Repens,

Internally, used for.--Dropsy, suppressed urine, tonic and alterative action on womb.

Externally, used for--Cure for sore nipples.

Part used.--The vine.

Gather.--During the season.

Flowers (when).--June and July.

Grows (where).--In United States and Canada; in dry woods, among hemlock timber and in swampy places.

Prepared (how).--Infusion, tincture, fluid extract, decoction. Infusion, one ounce to pint of boiling water. Tincture: chop fresh plant and pound to a pulp and weigh. Then take two parts, by weight, of alcohol; mix pulp with one-sixth part of it thoroughly and rest of alcohol added, stir all well, pour into a well stoppered bottle and let stand eight days in a dark cool place; pour off, strain and filter.

Diseases, Dose, etc.--Dose of tincture, one-half to one teaspoonful. For chronic diseases take one to two ounces of infusion four times a day. For suppressed urine take half ounce every two hours. Dose of infusion, from one to two ounces every three hours. To tone the womb and make labor easier, the Indians used to take it several weeks before confinement. For sore nipple: two ounces (fresh, if possible) and make a strong decoction in a pint of boiling water. Boil down thick and apply on nipple after each nursing.

PEACH TREE. Amygdalus Persica.

Internally, used for.--Constipation, tonic to the stomach and bowels, leucorrhea, worms, inflammation of stomach and bowels, irritable bladder.

haematuria, dysentery.

[HERB DEPARTMENT 433]

Part used.--Leaves and kernels.

Gather.--When ripe.

Grows (where).--Cultivated.

Prepared (how).--By infusion; put ounce of leaves in one pint of cold water and let it steep.

Diseases, Dose, etc.--For inflammations take one tablespoonful of the cold infusion every hour or two. For bladder and urinary troubles and leucorrhea, put four ounces of the kernels in a quart of brandy; dose,--teaspoonful three or four times a day. For bowel troubles use half ounce of the flowers and half ounce of the kernels to a pint of water; boil to make a decoction and sweeten; dose,--teaspoonful occasionally, until relieved; for teething children and for worms use about five doses.

PENNYROYAL. Squaw Mint. Tickweed. Hedeoma Pulegoides.

Internally, used for.--Stimulant, sweating, menstrual troubles, suppressed lochia, suppressed menses, flatulent colic in children.

Part used.--The herb. Gather.--In fall. Flowers (when).--June to October.

Grows (where).--In dry sterile places in calcareous soils. In all parts of the United States, etc.

Prepared (how).--An infusion, one ounce to a pint of boiling water and only steep, not boil.

Diseases, Dose, etc.--Use infusion freely. Dose of oil two to five drops.

For menstrual troubles, checked lochia and perspiration, take a hot foot bath in bed and drink freely of the tea until sweating occurs. It is frequently taken at bedtime for painful menstruation, etc.

PEPPERMINT. Mentha Piperita.

Internally, used for.--Tone stomach, colic, spasms, or cramps in stomach, to check nausea and vomiting.