CHAPTER THREE
Part Two
DANDELION Taraxacum dens leonis is its botanical name, and why in the world the learned professors want to burden the poor little plant with such an extraordinary cumbersome name is more than the average student of our common herb remedies can understand. Perhaps the professor had a large door yard and had to dig the plants out of his lawn in order to keep them from killing the grass all out and he wanted to get even. Certain it is that the dandelion flourishes with unabated vigor in almost all civilized countries, pushing its bright golden head up early in the spring and continuing to blossom through the season, sometimes until the severe frosts cause it to retreat to winter quarters. Indeed, I noticed several bright blossoms in the grass at the roadside near my home here in northern Indiana the last of November in the year just passed. All are familiar with it and most of us know the pleasure of the early dandelion greens, which make such a desirable dish for early springtime.
The root is principally used in a medicinal way, and it, like some others of our most comon herbs, has gained a great reputation in the treatment of dropsy. It does, undoubtedly, exert a marked influence upon the kidneys, especially when they are disturbed on account of torpidity of the liver. It is considered a slow tonic, and is best employed in chronic condition where slow action is best. The root should be boiled in a similar manner to that of making other infusions. One ounce to a pint of water; about half a cupful of this infusion taken three or four times daily will produce the best results. Where there is an inflamed condition of the kidneys, peach leaves can be added to the infusion to great advantage, as it then becomes a very soothing agent.
DOGWOOD, or cornus, is a tree with a very peculiar flower, blooming in the early spring, and is familiar to all. The flowers and the bark of the tree are used in medicine, and are considered very good tonics. In their action the flowers greatly resemble camomile, being soothing and tonic, and are well adapted in weakened and debilitated conditions of the stomach. The bark possesses considerable astringency, and is a more decided tonic than the flowers. Some physicians use dogwood very effectively in cases of ague, but it is better adapted to diseases caused by weakness of the stomach and bowels. The fluid extract is sold, but an infusion is used to better advantage. Combined with golden-seal and ginger, the powder may be given in capsules after meals to overcome water brash and other stomach weaknesses.
DEVIL'S BIT, liatris spicata, is a tuberous, acrid, bitter, pungent, spicy root, smelling like turpentine or juniper, holding a peculiar balsamic resin, but no oil. Its properties are partly soluble in a watery decoction, and are wholly so in alcohol. It is a powerful diuretic, acting mildly - may be used freely. It is also a discutient, tonic, diaphoretic, and deobstruent. Is useful in dropsy, sore throat, scrofula, gravel, pain the breast, after-pains in women, and bites of snakes. It is used both externally and internally, and it may be administered in the form of powder, tea, or sirup.
DRAGON'S CLAW Pterospora Andromeda The common names of this plant are dragon's claw and fever root; it grows to a height of six or seven inches; the leaves grow in a cluster from the top of the root. The blossoms are yellow. The roots are small and black, about the size of cloves, are very tender, and very much resemble the claws of a hen.
It is found in the Genesee country, and in the mountains around Albany. This plant is useful in different kinds of fevers, particularly typhus. It keeps up a moisture of the skin, and produces no excitement. An infusion may be made by using a teaspoonful of the root to about half a pint of boiling water. It may be drunk freely.
DEADLY NIGHTSHADE, or atropa belladonna, is a perennial plant, which flowers from June to August. The fruit is ripe in September at which time it is black. It is found growing in stony and shady places, along old walls and fences, and among old ruins. The use of deadly nightshade produces heaviness of the head, vertigo, dilation of the pupils of the eyes, etc. It is used with great benefit, notwithstanding its poisonous quality, externally, in the cure of cancers, and in discussing indolent tumors in the breasts of females. It enters into the discutient ointment. The leaves and roots, either green or dry, may be simmered in soft water until the strength is extracted; then the slippery elm bark may be stirred in until a poultice is formed. It may be applied to boils and all hard, painful glandular swellings.
EYEBRIGHT Euphrasia officinalis As a reward and out of gratitude for its faithful services our forefathers gave this little herb the pretty name of "eyebright" (in German "augentrost" - eyes' comfort). Often this little flower will give to the eyes great comfort when all other remedies fail. It is often recommended with very satisfactory results.
When the aftermath harvest it half-ripe, about August, you will find this salubrious little herb on almost every meadow. It has a wonderful faculty for crowding out the forage plants with its plentiful growth, and consequently is often greatly disliked by the farmers. Both the dried and pulverized leaves are used as tea and as powder. The eyes are well washed with the tea two or three times daily, or little pieces of linen are dipped into it and fastened over the eyes by means of a bandage, during the night. It will clease the eyes, make them clear, and strengthen the sight.
The patient should, at the time, use the powder internally by daily taking a pinch of it in a spoonful of soup or water. This, however, does not exhaust the healing power of the little herb. It might also be called the stomach comfort. On account of its innate bitterness its tea is good as stomachic bitters for regulating the digestion and improving the juices of the stomach. If given a trial, you will find this little herb will be of great value.
EUPHORBIA IPECACUANHA, the common names for which are American ipecacuanha, American ipecac, purge, etc., is a native of America, growing in shady woods, bogs, and sandy soils in the Middle and Southern states.
This plant possessed very powerful properties. It is an emetic, cathartic, and tonic. It is an excellent hydragogue, evacuating the water when all other agents prove abortive or useless. A physician, who once had a very severe and obstinate case of dropsy, which had resisted every means to remove it, used fifteen grains of the euphorbis ipecacuanha, two or three times throught the week, and the effect of it was a complete evacuation of all the water. It is also considered almost an infallible cure for the bilious colic. It first produces nausea or vomiting, then purges freely. A celebrated botanic physician in the East prescribes this medicine with great success in a variety of diseases. The powdered root may be given in doses of from twelve to fifteen grains in molasses or tea, or from a half to a teaspoonful.
ELECAMPANE-INULA This is an old-fashioned household remedy, but is none the less useful on that account. As a matter of fact, if the medical profession would abandon their mysteriously concocted preparations and go back to the old remedies their grandmothers used, their patients would be better off in the majority of cases. Elecampane root is a stimulating expectorant, and is best adapted to old coughs. An ounce to the pint of hot (not boiling) water makes the usual infusion, but it is best used in combination with other agents in the form of sirup. A good formula is: Elecampane and spikenard, each one ounce; wild cherry bark, four ounces, for one quart of sirup, and add one ounce of fluid extract of lippia Mexicana.
ELM BARK Ulmus Slippery elm has been used as a household remedy for many years, the inner bark of the tree bring the part used. Owing to its pronounced mucilaginous properties it is very valuable in irritable conditions of the mucous membrane, such as are present in inflammations of the stomach, bowels, and kidneys. The bark should be placed in cold water for some time, then strained and drank freely for such difficulties. Hot water renders the infusion too thick. For irritable coughs and sore throat, relief may be obtained by chewing the bark and swallowing the saliva. For making poultices the ground bark should be used, softened with water containing a little glycerin. For enemata, slippery elm is very valuable as a means of soothing the lower bowel. As an external application, in the form of poultice, it is an admirable remedy, far exceeding any other known production of the world, for ulcers, tumors, swellings, gunshot wounds, chilblains, burns, cutaneous disesase, crysipelas, felons, old, obstinate ulcers, and scabs. For sore mouth it should be used as a wash. In point of utility it is of far more value than its weight in gold; and, therefore, whoever has but a single tree on his farm should never permit it to be cut.
FEVERFEW matricaria parthenium This is a very common plant in household gardens, and bears a flower which is highly valued on account of its wonderful beauty. It resembles camomile in appearance. Both the wild and garden plants have the same virtues - they are warm, aperient, carminative, bitter, and strengthen the stomach, expel wind, act as a emmenagogue, destroy worms, and are beneficial in hysterical complaints and lowness of spirits. For a decoction, pour two quarts of boiling water on two handfuls of the leaves, of which a teacupful may be taken three or four times a day as an emmenagogue; the same may be taken in cases of colds and fevers. In hysterical complaints a teaspoonful of the compound spirits of lavender may be added to the above decoction.
FIVE-FINGER potentilla reptans The root of five-finger is a gentle astringent, and has been found, by experience, to be very beneficial in fevers, and particularly when there is great debility, lassitude, and night sweats, which last it very seldom fails to check; it also is a great help in cases of loss of appetite. It is taken in decoction, or may be boiled in milk, It is also serviceable in allaying fluxes.
FENNEL foeniculum officinale all The fennel corns must not be found wanting in any home dispensary, as the complaint for which they bring relief so frequently occurs. I refer to the colic, with its attendant - the spasms. A spoonful of the fennel should be quickly boiled in a cup of milk - boiled from five to ten minutes - and a portion given to the patient, as warm as possible. It is very quick in its action, and produces the most gratifying results. The quickly spreading warmth eases the spasms, the colic abates, and disappears. There should also be a warm compress of water and vinegar laid on the abdomen. Fennel powder, sprinkled as spice on the food, removes the gases from the stomach and the lower bowels. The powder is made by roasting, drying, the corns, and then grinding them in an ordinary coffee mill. The fennel oil will have to be obtained of the chemist. Fennel, used as an eye water, has been of great benefit to many. For this purpose half a tablespoonful of fennel powder is boiled with water, and the eyes are washed with the decoction about three times a day. The eye vapors operate in a still more cleansing and strengthening manner. By adding one, or at least one-half, spoonful of fennel powder to the water for the head vapor the head vapor will also serve as an eye vapor at the same time.
Similar effects as from fennel are obtained from anise and caraway, and oftentimes two, or even all of these three, medicinal corns are mixed, ground together, and used.
FLOWERING ASH, the botanical name of which is fraxinus ornus, is a native of Europe, particularly of Sicily and Calabria. The concrete juice of the tree is called mamma, which is a very mild purgative. It appears even that when it is recently collected it has no action on the intestinal canal; since, in the country where it is gathered, it is employed for the same purposes as sugar. By the alterations produced upon it by age it acquired its laxative properties. As a matter of fact, the older it is the more powerful are its effects. About the proper quantity for a dose is one dram to three ounces in millk. This enters largely into the composition of our "worm powders."
FOXGLOVE, or digitalis purpurea, is a plant which seldom flowers before July, and the seeds are ripe in August. It grows on dry, sandy ground for the most part, on the high as well as the low places. Foxglove is a biennial plant, indigenous to Europe, but flourishes well in America.
It is a sedative and diuretic, diminshes the activity of the pulse and the general irritability of the system, and increases the action of the absorbents and the discharge of urine. In cases of hydrothorax, or dropsy in the chest, this medicine is very useful. Add half a pint of boiling water to a teaspoonful of the leaves. For dropsy give a tablespoonful every two hours. It never fails to increase the discharge of urine and afford relief.
FLAX SEED or linseed is much used in medicine, both internally as a demulcent and externally as a poultice. It will be found very useful in cases of inflammation of the mucous membrane, taken as a drink, either warm or cold. A tablespoonful of the whole seed, steeped in a pint of hot water for an hour and then strained, will be found very useful in dysentery or flux or in inflammation of the bladder and kidneys. Such an infusion may be made into a soothing cough medicine by adding to it half a pound of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and a fourth stick of ordinary black licorice; a little ginger may be added if there is paleness, or a small quantity ot spikenard if there is too little expectoration. A boiled and strained infusion of flax seed will be found a very soothing injection for the lower bowels. The ground seed should be used as a poultice, and medicaments may be mixed with it or sprinkled over the surface.
FENUGREEK foenum Graecum A powder is prepared from the seed of this plant and is highly appreciated and made use of by a great many; it is quite harmless and may be used without the least fear. Internally, it works as a cooling remedy in fevers. In throat troubles, with great heat in the throat, the tea affords a good gargle. A teaspoonful of the powder is sufficient for a middle-sized cup of tea, which is either drank or used as a gargle during the day - one tablespoonful every hour or oftener. As an external remedy fenugreek is the best of all remedies for dissolving tumors. It works slowly, painlessly, but lastingly and thoroughly. It should be applied in a manner similar to that of linseed; the powder, mixed with water, is boiled to a paste and put on the afflicted part in linen cloths. In cases of wounds on feet these poultices heal the inflamed margins of the wound and prevent the formation of putrid flesh, as well as blood-poisoning.
GUARANA, or paullinia sorbilis, is a poweful nervine, prepared from the seeds of a Brazilian plant. The active principle is guaranine; the fluid extract is also much used. It gives speedy relief in headache caused by overworking the brain, or from exhaustive diseases, where there is a tendency to faintness. Its main action is due to its active principle, which is very similar to theine and caffeine in tea or coffee. A dose of the fluid extract is ten drops in water, repeated every half-hour for three doses. A dose of the guaranine (in powder) is five grains. It is considered a most excellent remedy in cases of neuralgia from depression of the nervous system. Persons with any weakness of the heart, however, should not use guarana freely.
GENTIAN Some of the herbs are so well known to nearly all of my readers that it would seem almost childish to write about them. Yet, in a recent conversation with a very well-educated couple, I was surprised to find that they knew absolutely nothing about the good old family remedy, gentian. The lady, it is true, said she had often heard her mother speak of it, but what it was used for and how, was something of which she knew nothing. So, for fear there may be many others whose modern education has shut out many useful things, and taken in many of the opposite character, I will continue to give the information of the many useful nature remedies.
The yellow gentian, known to scientists as gentiana lutea, is found on the mountains of many foreign countries, and that is the kind most commonly used in medicine. It is used by the medical fraternity as a bitter tonic. In fact, it has occupied one of the most honored places in the pharmacopoeia of nearly all schools of medicine for many hundreds of years, but it is a very bitter dose, and when combined with the other herb remedies with which it forms one of the best true tonics and resotratives ever prescribed, the combination is of such a nauseous character that few can be induced to continue its use. In desperation, a very sick person will swallow almost anything, but after a few days the strength and health are so far restored that the remedy which gave it back is abandoned. Many and costly have been the experiments of earnest men who sought to overcome the nasty taste and still retain the properties, but until very recently all have failed. Why they failed and how success has at last been obtained, I will tell you in the near future. The herb has many excellent attributes, but the most pronounced effect is upon the stomach and liver.
The roots are first well dried and then cut into small bits; then place these small pieces in a bottle of brandy or spirits, or it may be made into in infusion in the usual way - one ounce to a pint of water. Hourly doses of this infusion, of about half a teaspoonful, or one-fourth that amount of the tincture, made with the spirits, is most excellent. Good digestion will soon be indicated by genuine natural hunger for wholesome food. For ague, it many times proves effective when all other agents fail, seeming to counteract the effect of the malarial poisons. If the food appears to lie heavily in the stomach, a little cordial made with a teaspoonful of the tincture or extract in half a glass of water will soon restore an easy, natural feeling.
Gentian is also an excellent remedy for cramps in the stomach, or as a restorative after an exhausting journey or day's work, when all of the vital forces appear to have been exhausted, and there is a feeling almost of illness. Take a few drops of the tincture on a little lump of sugar, and there will soon come a feeling of restfulness and after that renewed strength and rediness for further activity. Nausea and attacks of faintness are likewise overcome by a few drops of the tincture in water.
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