REMARKABLE REMEDIES.

Western Star, Issue 430, 26 March 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

REMARKABLE REMEDIES.

.■Man ip, a physieit^king.aaimal.. Her Majesty’s lieges alone dispose , of a prodigious but unknown quantity, in obedience to the orders of orthodox practitioners; while their annual consumption of patent medicines is at the rate of half a box or bottle for every man; woman, and child in the United Kingdom, at ah expenditure' of something vefy much more than a million pounds; . h'oWever, plenty of real and fancied invalids who have no, faith, in the apothecary's wares.: \., t Some- believe ; in hydropathy; of ivhiioh Lamb, wittily said : ff.ltiis neither new.nor wonderful, for it is as old! as the Deluge,f which killed more -thanriti cured."" 'Others are of Burke’s; opinion; that hot wCather is'a specific 1 for everybody's . ill ; .while .others, again,! idudly Vaunt th'6-tfiarn phsof the' hanger- j ;‘ctir ( e^,sb'; bedaiise; tine' patient has to subsist upon two. or three ounces of ■ bread and one wine-glass of water every twenty-four hours; as long asj he remains nnouredi . ' w ««, ft w'Tie hunger-cure is after all only,a dangerous extension of D*. Rutty’s prescription o,f a dinner of breads And water; as a hhyereign :for indigestion. Dr. Johnsfcon’s preseriptiofa for thh ‘same ment was apleaSariter one.'Learning thaF;Masß. ’troubled; that Way , he . wrote ' to his “ dear angel :;'’ f ■' ; siye me leave, who have thought..much oh medicine, to propose to you ap easyi and, 1 think, ft very , probable. remedy for indigestion and stomach complaints. Take an ounce,, of ; dried orange-peel finely pondered,jirvidb’ itlirito scruples, and take one scrapie at a time. The best way is; perhaps, to drink’it in a glass of hot Ted bott; of to eat it first, aha drink the 'Do hot take too much in MAfe / A scrapie once in three, ti hoars, nr abphk fiypscruples, a day, will be sufficigatTta .bepn; .yp,u;find'any ., Triei, ihmedy,i certainly v, ia, a simple one, and worthy a trial,,being, as says,; i“ npt disgusting, not costly,,, easily,,.fried, .and..if; nob,found ' useful,.easily left off/’;: i&isidvdhb ewi ii\ At an inquiat held at Bradwell, Bucks; on the body of a • five-year*old • girl who died ofhydrophobia, l one'of the witnesses deposed; thatitWo days after the" child had been ’ jthh bhfied, dog' : was disin/ ‘ terredj'its liveFert^cled,arid a jiiece of it. ’Weighing about ah ouace and a half, frizzled on a. fork before the, fire until- it was dried up* and then given to the child, who' ate it freelyhub died. )^;jO|iii|amftn'charged, before a .'Hew Yprik magistrate,,^it^,Bjt^ng ; 'a i daek.'in a 'state of decompprition, explained that he took the,bird for medicinal purposes* “.You Bayeysaid■: he; ", oneduck, hal lotted; takee, boiiee Fiia; lub mattafi on leg; him all light'; cue plnlicy.”- Hot'an oyer; nice 1 - .remedy for 1 pleurisy! bat; hardly which ho less‘a’ than Apparently dehms an; infallible ; specific loy'epilepsy' j .’sinpe no longer than, damn-, ary last,, the . President of, the .Eekerir fpehdcr Shooting Club, addressed the fol lowing . circular to the members of that association :• ■ ‘(Her./Highness Princess Bismarck wishes to receive, before the 18th v inst;, : as many magpies as possible, from l the' burned remains of which,ap Anti-Opiliptic powder may be hiahipulabedi I ‘permit. myself;’ 1 therefore, High arid Wellborn Sir,' to' ehfreat'that you 'will forthwith' ShopfJ as many,'magpies as .yop pah.m your 'pfeseryes,; arid; forward tbe sapipi stoi|Ohief Forester, Lange, .at/ Fre.rirjiohrahe or.bither, without paying for down.-to the.OiSth . of; thiA mohthi’«!'i’l [III* Ixtlj 'ilOWn friij flViThbtwintiSr of 1876-7; was exceptionally severe'in Detroit;and marked; moreover, by siriall-pdi,'’ pediaUy virulent ! ih the Polish quarter of the city, the, > Obstinate anti-vaccinationists, whose only method of thp; scourge at bay was to close, their dodrrf against all comers. About Christmas. time,- a. young Pole, fresh..lrptq,Europe, found his,way to and naturally made, for the quar* dwelt .his. compatriots. ’One hsq no hopper .dpap aP : thap, seping um ( Piffle dreadful disease; Jig r*t?'. fapp,! he hustled . him any ,ceremony. jeahileas, the .ppor. fellow a 4d rreaching a barnyard, imade his. bed; pn .aomp .straw at the end-of a S.bed* Thpre he lay* sick and s tarving for . of the.pustuies, until in desRe , plastered .face, neck,, . and frpsh cattle manure about bhrigep. drove bira to the farmppuse to. beg a, Uttle food. There he was supplied, soap and .water whereydth to cleanse.lumself ; and his ablutions dvOTjdtpbd'befdrd the pitying family appareptlyjftw. from any sign of sinall-pox. day thp farmer was down with the disease, through.whipK his . yxsitor nursed withont apparently thinking of apjiying remedy .that bad, ,proved ,ao f biv^V 8 ®wn . casp-ra case on which fbe chronicler commented thus Thosfcranger certainly had: small-pox, .IPJJtfe? S* ve mother... He certainly recovered, for here .he is walking, about. Xf the fresh manure did hot absorb the disease from his system in the short time, ; whiat q|se did ? If burying a patient up to his heck in the earth, as practised in Bbjme 7 cpi|ntrieß,. has a beneficial effect on why should not fresh compost have double the strength of a healer P It is a straight plain case, and though not discovered by Jenner, the cure may one day rank with his preventive.” Sir Waiter Scott’s piper, John Bruce, spent a whole Sunday selecting twelve stones from twelve south-running streams with the purpose that his sick master .might sleep upon them and become whole. Scott was not the man to hurt the honest fellow’s feelings , by ridiculing the notion of such a remedy proving of avail ; so he ■\ caused Bruce to be told that the recipe was infallible; but that it was absolutely necessary to success that the stones should be wrapped in the petticoat of a widow

who had never wished to marry again, upon.learning' which,. the Highlander renounced , allhope of:. completing, /the charm.

Lady Duff / Gbrddn once gaVd''ah old Egyptian woman a powder wrapped in a fragment of the, ,Saturday Review, She came, again tp assure her benefactresss, .the, charm. wand WPhderfuUy powerful one ; for although she had not been- able to wash off all the fine writing from rthe .paper, - eVen .that little, had done her a great, deal of-good. ; She would hhve made an excellent subject fo'r a Llama' doctor, whoj if he does not .happon ' to have any medicine Ehridy,' Writes 11 thd; haihe of '''the wbuld. administer dh a stir, of paper, mdistehs it with,hih mqpl bV.rvilslfc up in tlie. form of jtpsse? /down’: jhis >tlisfdat.. In default pf paper,thenameof.thedrug iwchalked on the iboard/iand washed. off . again with water, which serves as a healing draught. : These easy-going, practitioners might probably bite plenty of- instances ’of the efficacy of their method.' Dr. John Brown,' 1 of price .gavp: a labourer | a • prescription;-. saying • A Take that, arid dbrne'back in a .fortnight, you wfil jbp wen.", Obedient ,tp the/injunction, the patient presented himself, at a fortnight’s end, clean tongue and a happy face.. Proud of the fulfilment of his'promise;: Dr." Brown said;! “Let = me see What L gave' you;”' f “ Oh;” answered the inari, I’ l look it; doctor/' 3 Yes, I know you. did,; but where is the’ prescription P ” ' “ I swailpwed it,” Was the reply.! The 1 , patient had made, a pUI of thepkper,; And'faith in, his physiciah’s skill 1 had done the rest. Faith - is a rare wonder-worker. .* Strong: in- i the belief that every Frank, is a/doctpr.;; ( an! .old Arab; who had been partially blind frPm his birth,, pestered an English traveller into giving him a seidlita-pOwder and some dajr ! fh^ u ’eliief declared that’ he; : could s6e better than he hAd done for twenty years.; •; f • ■ j ‘ 1! ■ ’’ A sea-captain, when one of his crew craved something for. his stomach’s good, on consulting his book found 16 ’’ was 'the thing for the occasions "Unfortunately there- had beeri *a rrin on that : numberLarid the bottle'Was empty. ’Hot caring to 'sbhd the mAh away uncomfprtedi i the' thiS’ eight And : seven made'fifteen, made upa.dosefrprh' the bottles so ; numbered, which the seaman took with, startling effects; never contemplated by himself or the cribbageloving captain.; That worthy jumped too hastily at 1 conclusions, like the Turkish ; physician, of "Whom Oscanyatt tells the: foUdWing'story :—Galled in’to a ease' pf ; typhus, the, doctor in question examihed , the patient (ah 1 uphplstercf), prescribed, | and'’departed: ' Passing the house the ‘ nextday.he inquired of; a servant at the door if his master Was deadi. and to his pstonishmehf,/heard he Was much .better. 1 Indoors, he went, to. learn, from the con- > vale scent that. being, consumed with thirst, he had drank a pailful of ■ the ’ juice of! pickled>"cabbage. " Soon ■ Afterwards a dealer ' : in : embroidered hand kerchiefs, seized with the same malady, sent for tlie physician, who forthwith ordered; him to take a pailful bfe pickled cabbage juice.! The man died next the dhbtor ; set doWn tbis memorandhth in‘ his book i for future guidance: “ Although in case’s • pf typhus',.pibkied ■ cabbage juice is‘ an; efficient remedy, it is not, however,,,to,bp used nhlegsj the. parent be by.profession : an,upholsterer.” Lady Barker’s Hew'Zealand shepherd : found a somewhat , similar potipp! bfrih-; fihit'e'use; , < '■ , Wheh';hiß , distress expressed • 4ii> itQiifif. iitfl! . ..’taw ./ . her. surprise at t his possession pf a bottle 6f 'Wbroesters,hh:e (.sauce,!.!Bnifer! .said,;; “;You. ; Bee t;n mum l i although WP: get oar health uncommon well in these'salubrions mountings, still iafdrop of physiedis often handy-like; andlin aiygenSfalWay I-Al-ways purchase thyself a bbX'pf ‘Holloway’s Pills—of which yori ; db ; get such A; lot for : your- money^-arid-also, a bottle of jpainkiller; But-last shearing they was but, o’ \ painkiller, so l they put me up a 1 bottle" o’ caih pepper; and likewise that ’ere ! cpndi-; merit; which Was very efficacious, ,’Speoi* l ally towards the ehd o’ the hottle, ‘ It always took my mind off the loneliness, and I Cheered me .up wonderful, if 1 1 abided ;, .! ! ’ One of the same seryatits, • suffering -from a bad bilious attack, de-, dined , to be treAted' in a- cmlised way ;i and in a very short time reported himself perfectly weili a nativedoctor having bled his great toe; Still more extraordinary; Was the remedy of which Lady Barker writes : “ Tom had a frightful headache, which is not,to be wondered at, consider- j ;ing how that boy smokos the strongest tobacco out of a cow’s; ; horn, , morning, noon, and night, to say nothing of inces-, sant snuff-taking., The first I heard of ! Tom’s headache was when Charlie cam© to ask me for-a,remedy, Which I thought; very nice on his parti because be and Tom live in a chronic state of quarrelling, and half my time is taken up in keeping the peace between them. I told Charlie that* I knew of no remedy for a bad headache, except going to bed, and that was what I ; Should advise Tom to do. Charlie smiled! rather contemptuously, as if pitying my; ignorance, and Asked if I would give him, a box of wooden matches.. How matches are a standing grievance in a Kaffir establishment, so I, failing to connect wooden, matches and Tom’s headache together,; began a reproachful catalogue of how many boxes of matches he had asked for lately. Charley hastily cut me short by say : ‘ But, ma’m, it for make Tom well.' Of course I produced a new box, and stood by to watch Charlie doctoring Tom. Match after match did Charlie strike, holding the flaming splinter up Tom’s exceedingly wide nostrils, until the box was empty. Tom’ winced a good deal, but bore this singeing process with great fortitude. Every now and then he cried out when Charlie thrust a freshly lighted match up his nose, but on. the whole ho s tood it bravel}'; and by the'(' time the matches w r ere all burned out, he declared his headache was quite cured, and that ho was ready to go and chop wood. ‘ It very

good stuff to smell, ma’m,’ said. Charlie ; ‘ burn de. sickness away.’ ”1 ; . •i ; ■ Whatever virtue there inay be in any of the.remedies of which we have written, not one among them all is so sure of effecting its end as this old “ cure ‘for a lovefiti’— yli,)/;.' ■

Tye one end of a rope fast over a beam, And make a slip-noose at the other, extreme; Then, just underneath, let a ; Wicket he set," Oh‘! which'let .the Ibvcr most manfully get,'! Then oVer his head let the' snieket be.got,. , And under one ear be well settled the knot. The wicket, kicked down, let him take a fair i ',"' swing; And leave all the ; rest of the work .to the ' ’ string Chambers’ Jourfiil. 1 .