Long ago a family cookbook, now over 100 years old, came into my possession even though I don't cook. I've never bothered looking at any of the recipes, but there are other bizarre sections of the book that make for fun reading, mainly because they are filled with all sorts of medical advice and personal grooming tips. For the next few days, I shall be discussing Woman's Favorite Cook Book, circa 1900, and enlighten all you modern-days guys and gals. First off, many of the diseases and other health issues are maladies I've never heard of: scrofula (swollen lymph nodes), quinsy (an abscessed tonsil), dropsy (swelling from edema), proud flesh (excessive tissue growth), felon (a fingertip abscess), catarrh (inflammation of mucus membrane), and gumboil being a few. Gumboil is described as "decayed fangs of teeth" that cause "broken abscesses." My general conclusion is that people in 1900 were quite concerned with all types of pus and how to set it free.
Next, all the "cures" are home remedies that typically involve making poultices, inhaling camphor, and gargling with sulphur. One of my favorites is "How to Cure Dry Piles" (hemorrhoids). Just roast some bruised onions on ashes and apply to the affected area. Yikes! Those who "suffer from chafing of the armpits" (and don't we ALL have that problem now and then?) can "dust the irritated parts with sub-nitrate of bismuth," while walnut leaves boiled in sugar and water are sure to help ones' leprosy.
For some reason, jammed into all these pages of medical cures is a blurb called "To Clear a Waste Pipe." I thought this was going to be a cure for constipation, but it was actually instructions on clearing clogged plumbing with liquid soda-lye. Go figure.
More helpful hints tomorrow. I've got to dash off to the kitchen to see if we have any bruised onions.
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