I’ve spent the past four days trying to get my rear
out of bed. I was sidelined by a nasty virus that left me taking doctor
prescribed medicine that looked more like a horse pill that something offered
for humans. However, the good news is that after whopping doses of penicillin
the bug seems to be retreating.
While I was half comatose between my morning and
early afternoon naps, I began considering how pioneer women handled colds,
viruses, flu, etc. I do remember touring Yorktown and one of the stops was the
physician’s tent.
Early American doctors use some of the very same things we
have in our kitchen cabinets. Cloves were used for toothaches. A whole clove
was placed on the gum below the tooth in question or rubbed against a teething
baby’s gums. In the case of fevers, a tea made with the grated knots from a
willow tree – willow bark tea, was used to bring temperatures down. A simple
leaf called a lamb’s ear could be used in poultices to stop bleeding. Camphor
or mustard rubs would break up chest congestion. Often the heat would leave
blisters on the skin. A fine case of blisters meant the medication was working.
Gives new meaning to what doesn’t kill you might cure you.
Now, that I’m feeling better, I went back to an old
family bible, that was my great, great, great grandfather’s, Jonathan Whaley
given to him in 1856. Not only did they list births, deaths, marriages, but
medical advice. According to the ‘ladies’, a sure cure for Diphtheria was thus:
a teaspoon of common sulfur mixed into a wine glass of water and used to
gargle. For neuralgia, one must use a
fresh cut lemon and rub against the heart. In the case of small pox, one must
find a recently hanged individual and place the palm of the left hand against
the skin. (Yeah, I must say, I’d just a soon die on that one) But, who would
have thought, one would make a cure out of mold on bread either?
Until next time,
Happy trails.
Nan O'Berry
Actors Milburn Stone and Dennis Weaver on a still from the long running western, "Gunsmoke".
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