Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/171

To Keep a Slow Fire in a Sick Room— Clean out the grate thoroughly and cover the bottom with a piece of paper, then pile in the cinders and coal to the level of the top bar keeping all close and the largest to the front. Now light the fire with paper and wood on top, and it will burn downwards instead of up, lasting for hours without any more fuel.

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REMEDIES FOR COUGHS AND COLDS.

For an Irritable Cough. — A teaspoonful of glycerine mixed with two of cream will give relief. Salid oil and sugar is also good. But best of all, if the patient is not an infant, is four or five drops of chlorodyne in a little water. This last is an excellent remedy for whooping cough.

For a Severe Cold.—Children may be given ten to fifteen drops of sweet spirits of nitre at bed time, followed by a good drink of warm lemonade.

An Old-fashioned Cough Mixture. —Boil one ounce of flaxseed in one pint of water. Strain and put in one ounce of sugar candy, two tablespoonsful of honey and the juice of three or four lemons. Boil all together, when cool take a tablespoonful now and then through the day as the cough is troublesome.

Cold and Cough Mixture.— Make about a pint of flaxseed tea, add to it a piece of liquorice (half a stick), half an ounce of ipecacuanha wine, half an ounce of paregoric. Let the liquorice be melted before the other ingredients are added. The dose is a small dessertspoonful every now and then, when the cough is troublesome. This has often proved successful when other remedies have failed.

Cure for a Cold.— Into two quarts of water put one teaspoonful of linseed, a quarter of a pound of raisins, and two ounces of liquorice. Let it simmer slowly over the fire till reduced to half the quantity; add to it a quarter of a pound of pounded sugar candy, two tablespoonsful of rum, and one of

white vinegar or lemon juice. The rum and lemon juice should be put in just as it is taken, otherwise the mixture becomes flat. The dose is half a pint, made warm, taken at bed time. The worst cold is generally cured by this remedy in two three days.

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HINTS FOR HEALTH.

REST— A rest or lie down after the midday meal is a necessity for some women. It helps digestion, rests the muscles and eyes, and soothes the nerves. Sleep always in pure air. Instead of keeping all the windows shut close, open them, and place the bed in the most airy (without being draughty) part of the room.

WOUNDS FROM RUSTY NAILS, OR STONE BRUISES. — Gather a couple of handfuls of peach leaves, pound them to a pulp, and apply as a poultice.

FOR FACEACHE.— A hot iron covered with thick flannel held to the face, or make a lotion of half a pint of rose water, and three tablespoonsful of strong wine vinegar. Rub the affected parts three or four times a day, or soak a piece of linen and bind it on, with flannel over it.

FOR CRAMP. — Wear a piece of common cotton wick round the limb liable to cramp, or failing the wick, a piece of new unbleached calico will answer the purpose, but it must be worn constantly as in rheumatism. Many men wear several skeins of red silk round their waist. Some say the virtue lies in the red dye, anyway, the effect is wonderful, and so is that of the cotton wick in cramp.

FOR HEARTBURN.— Half a teaspoonful of common salt taken in a wine glass of water.

FOR OFFENSIVE FEET.— Bathe in warm water, in which a few drops of ammonia have been added, or else a weak solution of salicylic acid. A small quantity of this acid powdered into the boots is also a preventative of unpleasantness.