Tidbits On Some Herbs

Hi all,
Herbs for medicine isn't new. Below are some tidbits about five different herbs and there uses. These come from "The Medical Companion: or family physician; treating of the diseases of the United States" by James Ewell ©1827

ARROWROOT
It's cultivated in the Southern States
1 Tablespoon makes a pint of jelly
Great for children
For persons labouring under bowel complaints, as diarrhoea and dysentery, it is of itself a remedy.

TOUCHWOOD
Also called Spunk
Grows on white oak, pine, and hickory trees
Used to start a fire with flint and steel
Reduce to a powder and apply to violent hemorrhages from wounds is said to be an excellent application to stop the bleeding.
Modern information says it's good for sinusitis.

RED PEPPER OR CAYENNE PEPPER
Is a powerful stimulant, and has been found beneficial in chronic rheumatism
In cases of violent pain or cramp in the stomach, no medicine is superior to a strong infusion of red pepper
It is also useful, both as a medicine and gargle, in putrid sore throat, when infused in water.

PEPPERMINT
Is an excellent stomachic in flatulent colics, languors, hysteric cases and vomiting.
In nausea, cholera morbus, obstinate vomiting, and griping, peppermint, infused in spirits, and applied as hot as can be endured to the stomach and bowels, will be found a most valuable remedy.

PLANTAIN, Plantago (not the banana like fruit)
Has long been employed as an antidote against the bites of snakes, spiders, and other venomous insects.
The juice, extracted from tho whole of the plant, is generally given in doses of two table- spoonfuls every hour, or oftener, until the patient is relieved.
The leaves bruised are considered by some a good application to fresh wounds.



Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 42 years. Lynn's latest novel "The Shepherd's Betrothal" is the third book in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series.

Moonshine for the Measles? Really?

Pam Hillman

Good morning HHH! I have a wonderful historical society where I live. Every meeting is so informative! One of the most interesting was centered on old timey health remedies.

A hundred years ago, families couldn't run off to the doctor at the first sniffle. Even if they had the money for a doctor, the doctor lived miles away, and the only way to get to him was by wagon or horseback. So, many families made do with what they had and only sent for the doctor as a last resort.

Instead, they relied on tried and true home remedies.

Mr. Bobby Caldwell gave a very interesting talk about home remedies passed down from his grandmother and his mother. Many of these home remedies were common throughout the United States and some are still used today.

Common Mullein

Mr. Caldwell told us how his grandmother made cough syrup from Common Mullein leaves. Take a handful of mullein leaves, tear them into small pieces, boil gently for 10-15 minutes, strain through a cloth, then add 2 tablespoons of raw honey and mix well. You can also simmer this mixture on very low heat for just a bit if you want it thickened. I went online and sure enough, some people are still using this same basic recipe for home remedies today. More interesting uses for the mullein plant.

Another home remedy from yesteryear, and one I've heard of before is onion poultices for congestion. Some people boil the onions and make a poultice for the chest. One lady mentioned that she just slices some onions and puts them in a towel, then covers that with a hot water bottle or a heating pad and a blanket.

As the group reminisced about the past, it was revealed that some of their ancestors chewed the inner bark of the red oak tree to relieve the symptoms of a toothache, while others make mustard poultices for a stomach ache.

Mr. Bobby and his cousin, Ms. Patsy, shared the same grandmother who lived to be over 100 years old so all these old home remedies must have done their job! She made a salve called Julie's Salve that people from all around used for many ailments. It was made with equal parts pine resin, beeswax, and tallow. Another quick search on the internet revealed many variations and uses for salve made from similar ingredients.

Castor Oil

The old standbys of Castor Oil and 666 Tonic for spring purification (Black Draught, anyone? Alder tea?)  and garlic poultices were discussed with abandon. One elderly lady mentioned wearing a penny around her neck as a child. We all nodded in agreement as the implications of wearing a copper penny seventy years ago sunk in. Who hasn't noticed the resurgence of copper bracelets in recent years?

Black Draught

Acid water was used to stop bleeding. If I remember correctly (contrary to popular belief, Mississippians can talk faster than I can write!) acid water was made from acidic soil southeast of Decatur, on the other side of a community called Hickory, MS. The soil was boiled in water to leech out the acid. Various methods of separating the soil from the acidic water were employed, including straining and allowing the residue to settle. Some of those present said the acidic water in their grandmother's medicine cabinet was clear. Again, I did a quick search on the internet, and there are lots of suggested ways to stop bleeding: steeped tea bags, water and salt, water and vinegar. The common ingredient in most of these natural remedies seems to be...tannic acid.

Honestly, I could go on all day. We had the best time talking about all the old remedies our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents used. Once Mr. Bobby opened the floor to comments, things got really interesting.

I heard a couple of new remedies that I had never heard before. Someone mentioned that many, many years ago, as a very young child of about two years old, her aunt was "trying to break out with the measles", and everybody knows that it's better to have a full-blown case of measles, as opposed to a mild case.

Apparently, moonshine helps the measles along quite nicely. So, the grandmother poured a small amount of moonshine into a soda can and left it on the table, knowing the child would drink the "soda". But her sister drank it instead. No, the sister didn't break out with the measles, but she felt pretty chipper for the rest of the day!

Plain ol' Onions!

Another remedy I had never heard of was to roast an onion in the fire, squeeze the juice out, add sugar and give it to a baby to help it sleep. Sounds pretty gross, doesn't it?

Lard mixed with turpentine was used before Vicks salve for congestion. Here's one that I simply cannot imagine doing, but the lady lived to be over one hundred. Hold on to your hat. She swallowed a teaspoon of Vaseline every day for diverticulitis. Ewwww!

For more interesting medical cures, check out this discussion at Linky Dinky's Forgotten Medical Cures.

We've all heard that there is nothing new under the sun, and I guess that's true in home remedies too. When I searched the internet, I found instances of most of these common cures sprinkled throughout the world. Many of the patented medicines we use today were created using these same herbs found in nature.

Except for how moonshine accelerates a case of the measles. That one has me stumped!

What unusual home remedies/health cures have you heard about? Something you're absolutely sure could only have been practiced in your little neck of the woods. You'll probably be surprised at how wide-spread it was!

Disclaimer: Do not try any of the health remedies mentioned in this post without consulting your doctor first. Since I can barely boil water without burning it, I thought I'd better throw this in for everyone's safety!

~ ~ ~

Coming June 1st
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CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

Doctrine of Signatures and Colonial Medicine

        
Susan F. Craft
Author of The Xanthakos Family Trilogy
The Chamomile, Laurel, and Cassia

        The doctrine of signatures refers to the concept that “nature marks each growth according to its curative benefit.” In other words, herbs and plants that resemble various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of those parts of the body.
        The concept was developed in the early 1500s by Paracelsus and was followed throughout centuries and around the world until the late 1700s when scholars realized that there was no scientific evidence that plant shapes and colors helped in the discovery of medical uses of plants.
        There was a theological justification for the doctrine, as stated by botanists like William Coles who lived until the late 1600s. He said that God would have wanted to show men what plants would be useful for them. He supposed that God had made “herbes for the use of men, and hath given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read ... the use of them.”
        Coles's The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, stated that walnuts were good for curing head ailments because in his opinion, "they Have the perfect Signatures of the Head." Regarding Hypericum, he wrote, "The little holes whereof the leaves of Saint Johns wort are full, doe resemble all the pores of the skin and therefore it is profitable for all hurts and wounds that can happen thereunto."
        Many colonial women who created their own “medicine kits” to care for their families and friends brought the idea of the doctrine of signatures with them when they travelled from Europe to the colonies.
        The concept of signatures is reflected in the common names of some plants whose shapes and colors reminded herbalists of the parts of the body where they were thought to do good, for instance: 

• Eyebright used for eye infections
• Liverwort used to treat the liver
• Lungwort for pulmonary infections
• Toothwort for dental problems
  
• Carrots for the eyes
  
• Mushrooms for the ears
  
   
• Walnuts for the brain
  
• Beans for the kidneys
  

        Lilyan, the main character in my The Xanthakos Family Trilogy, is not only a portrait and mural artist she is a healer who cares for her family and friends with medicines from her kit that she has assembled over the years.
        For a chance to win a copy of Cassia, the third book in the trilogy, can you guess what the tomato was used for according to the doctrine of signatures?
        I will select a winner from among the people responding to this question.

Susan F. Craft is the author of the historical romantic suspense series, The Xanthakos Family Trilogy