Making a Poultice by J.Kent

Mortar and Pestle from bronze alloy - Greece

I love the history of all things medical and try to incorporate them into my novels. Little did I know that when I learned how to treat horses with salves and herbs for inflammation as a child and then wrapped the horses leg that I was making a type of poultice. However, I’m no expert when it comes to knowing all that much about the art of making a poultice, but I'm gaining more knowledge all the time because I want to incorporate it into my novels and in fact I did in my second novel.

I’ve explored the internet and I’ve found a few interesting sites I thought you might enjoy if you're interested in this fascinating subject. Here’s one that will give you a description of a poultice. http://www.healing-from-home-remedies.com/make-a-poultice.html

What I like about this video where you will learn how to make a garlic poultice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Bn2DbPIg8&feature=related

is that the instructor uses a mortar and pestle that was used during the Regency and long before that time but the types and styles are many. I like the picture of the mortar and pestle in the above picture from Greece.

I learned more about how to make a poultice when I wrote Chameleon, book two of The Ravensmoore Chronicles.

If you are an expert on the making of a poultice during the Regency era or if you make them today, please jump in here and comment. I’m researching to find out if anyone at Bethlem's lunatic asylum, aka Bedlam, used any kind of poultice related to mental illness. I bet someone tried it.They tried so many awful things a poultice would have been a kind relief.

Now, I’m also intrigued with alternative medicine, acupressure, acupuncture, herbs, etc. but I better save that for another time. I'm sure that the Native American Indians must have too. I’m wondering what type of cloth would have been used during the Regency and how they got the poultice to remain in place. I'm thinking these things moved easily and would slip without much effort. If you actually know a bit about using a poultice during the Regency, another time period or today please jump in and share your knowledge.

 JILLIAN

Jillian Kent loves England's Regency era. In 2013 her second book in The Ravensmoore Chronicles, Chameleon, finaled in both the Selah at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in romance fiction and in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Daphne du Maurier for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Jillian is employed as a counselor for nursing students in Cincinnati, Ohio and possesses a masters degree in social work. She is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors and passionate about mental health, wellness, and stomping out the stigma of mental illness. You can reach her at jill@jilliankent.com and explore further at her website www.jilliankent.com.You can also find her on Twitter @JillKentAuthor and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JillianKent

Jillian's most recent post for The Well Writer is here at Christian Fiction Online Magazine