Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians

The above Obstetric “Ready Reckoner” consists of two columns, one of calendar, the other of lunar months, and may be read as follows: A patient has ceased to menstruate on the first day of July; her confinement may be expected at soonest about the 31st of March (the end of nine calendar months); or at latest, on the 6th of April (the end of ten lunar months). Another has ceased to menstruate on the 20th of January; her confinement may be expected on the 30th of September, plus 20 days (the end of nine calendar months), at soonest; or on the 7th of October, plus 20 days (the end of ten lunar months), at latest.

COMMON NAMES OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES.

Proprietary and Elegant Preparations.

MEDICATED PADS.

Medicated pads are quite popular with many who have tried them, and a multitude of remarkable cures are attributed to their use. We here present formulas equal to the best, and as they are quite simple to prepare they can now be tried with but little expense:

Liver Pad.

Grind the drugs with the powdered guaiac and add the oil. The above is sufficient for two pads, which should be made into an oblong or diamond shape, with linen or muslin, and worn over the pit of the stomach. Liver pads are recommended for all diseases arising from a disordered liver.

Kidney Pad.

Useful in all diseases of the kidneys.

Grind the drugs to a moderately fine powder, and mix with the oils and gums. Make an oblong pad and wear over the kidneys.

Lung Pad.

Useful in consumption and diseases of the lungs.

Grind the drugs to a moderately fine powder and mix them with the oils and gums. Make an oblong pad and wear well up to the throat.

Liniments.

Mexican Mustang Liniment.

Merchant’s Gargling Oil.

Mix.

Radway’s Ready Relief.

This remedy, according to Peckolt, is an ethereal tincture of capsicum with alcohol and camphor.

Liver Regulator.

Dose, teaspoonful to one-half wineglassful, as needed. For all bilious diseases or disorders arising from torpidity of the liver, dyspepsia, bilious headache, costiveness, sour stomach, jaundice, heartburn, nervousness, restlessness, etc.

Elixir Cascara Sagrada Compound.

Mix and filter.

Dose, one teaspoonful before eating. For headache, constipation, biliousness, dyspepsia, or all diseases arising from torpidity of the liver. Kilner’s Formulary.

Dr. Hamilton’s Blood Purifier.

Better than S. S. S. or any blood medicine on the market. A specific for scrofula, syphilis, rheumatism, and all impurities of the blood:

Macerate the drugs with alcohol and water, and after a few days transfer to percolator. Percolate till clear, and then add to simple elixir.

Dose, one to two teaspoonfuls three times a day.

Blood Purifying Tea.

Mix thoroughly. Take two ounces of the tea and steep in a quart of water, with gentle heat, for two hours; strain off 1 1/2 pints into a quart bottle and add half a pint of alcohol and 4 ounces of sugar. The dose is a wineglassful for adults before meals and at bedtime; children, in proportion to age.

Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure.

In Germany each maker of patents must furnish the Government with the formula for the patent he makes. This is the one furnished by Warner for “Safe Kidney and Liver Cure.” Each bottle contains:

Any one can now make this preparation equally as well as Warner. Fenner’s Formulary.

Electric Catarrh Remedy.

This remedy, under various electrical names, is inclosed in a closely stoppered bottle or box containing a bit of zinc and copper to which is attached a piece of cotton or sponge saturated with the preparation, which is very volatile and irritating to the mucuous membrane, and produces by inhalation a decided effect at once. The patient is led to believe that there is some electrical value attached to the combination, and, strange to say, in the face of such absurdity it has many votaries; however, notwithstanding the electrical deception it has merits as an inhalant, and remarkable cures of catarrh, headache, neuralgia, etc., are ascribed to its use. The following is the required formula:

Mix and dissolve. This can also be used as an external application, though not so good as another under the head of “Liquid Lightning” (see page 119).

Catarrh Snuff.

Catarrh Salve.

The following remedy for catarrh, and other uses for which it is recommended, was patented by William H. Thomas of Los Angeles, Cal. From the nature of its ingredients and mode of preparation we are led to believe that it is the most elegant and effective of all the “salve catarrh remedies” that have been brought to our notice:

The boracic acid, subnitrate of bismuth, thymol, and pimento is placed in a mortar and reduced to a fine powder. The leaves of the cassia lanceolata are subjected with the petrolatum to a sufficient degree of heat to extract the active principles of the leaves, after which the petrolatum is strained off and added to the powdered substances before mentioned with the spirit of wintergreen, the whole being thoroughly commingled and mixed in any convenient manner. In using the compound it is applied locally in the usual manner by means of the fingers or any material by which the application can be thoroughly effected. As an ointment it is especially applicable to the treatment of catarrh, malignant sores, abrasions, and other affections where a local remedy can be applied.

Rubber Patching and Waterproofing.

Capt. Paul Boyton, the famous aquatic voyager in his rubber suit, has furnished us two practical suggestions in regard to patching rubber boots, coats, etc., and also to waterproof sails, tents, awnings, and similar fabrics.

To Patch a Rubber Boot or Garment.

Take a piece of sand-paper and roughen the edges of the break as far around as the size of the patch. Next apply rubber cement to the roughened surface, and at the same time cement a piece of rubber cloth or cloth well coated with the cement. Let both remain for four hours in a place free from dust. Then put on another thin coat of cement and let them lay for about two hours. Next place the patch carefully over the break and hammer well together. Let stand for a few hours and the place will be as strong and tight as ever. Be sure the patch and the article to be patched are perfectly dry before applying the cement.

Pure natural rubber or rubber cement can be obtained at any rubber store, also prepared patch cloth.

To Make Rubber Cement.

Take half a pound of pure natural rubber, cut it into small pieces, and dissolve it in a sufficient quantity of 100 proof naptha. It will take from two to three days to dissolve properly.

To Waterproof Canvas or Cloth.

Take one pound of yellow paraffine wax and dissolve in one quart of benzine. Apply with a brush.

To Make Tissues Incombustible.

The Societé d’Encouragement of Paris has recently awarded a prize of 2,000 francs to J. A. Martin of Paris for the following preparations for making tissues fire-proof. The conditions under which the award was offered were as follows: The ingredients constituting the preparations must be cheap and easily applied, must neither injure the tissues themselves nor their colors, must be neither of a poisonous nor caustic nature, must not change in a very moist nor very dry atmosphere, and finally the impregnated tissues and wood must remain incombustible after they have been exposed for one month to a temperature of 100° to 120° Fahr. It was found that Martin’s fluids made the tissues and the surface of wood incombustible, that they do not attack the tissues and their colors, and that they remained incombustible after having been exposed for several months in a drying chamber to a temperature of 97° Fahr. The experiments were made by the Society and at the same time in the different Paris theaters.

For all Light Tissues.

Two-fifths part of dextrine (or the same quantity of gelatine) may be substituted for the 2 parts of starch. The fluid is heated to 85° Fahr. and the tissues immersed in it until they are thoroughly permeated. They are then slightly wrung and dried sufficiently for ironing. The quantity of the starch or dextrine or gelatine may be changed according as the tissues are to be more or less stiff.

For Painted Decorations and Wood.

Add sufficient powdered talc to give the mass the necessary consistency. For use it is heated to 120° or 140° Fahr. and applied with a brush. For decorations already painted it suffices to apply it to the back and wooden frames.

For Coarse Linen, Ropes, Straw, and Wood.

The fluid is heated to 220° Fahr. and the articles are submerged in it for 15 to 20 minutes, wrung out slightly, and dried.—Techno-Chemical Receipt Book.

Gold and Silver Inks.

Take equal parts of gold leaf (or silver leaf) and honey. Triturate them in a mortar until perfectly fine, add about 30 parts hot water, and triturate. Allow to settle and pour off the water. Triturate again with fresh hot water. Allow to settle and pour off as before. Repeat the washing several times until the honey is all washed out, then dry the powdered gold leaf and mix it with water and gum arabic. It must be shaken occasionally while writing. Very fine bronze may be made into ink by adding water and gum arabic and shaking occasionally while writing. (For other inks see page 20.)

Worcestershire Sauce.

The composition of this sauce is a trade secret, but a variety of similar sauces are found on the market. A good imitation may be made as follows:

Chop the green outer covering of unripe walnuts 5 pounds, bruise them to a pulp in a mortar, pour upon them 6 pints of good strong vinegar, and after standing a day heat to boiling and strain with strong pressure. To the liquid thus obtained add garlic, grated to a pulp, 2 ounces; capsicum, in fine powder, 2 ounces; black pepper, 1 ounce; cinnamon, 1 1/2 ounces; nutmeg,  1/2 ounce; allspice, 1 ounce; cloves,  1/2 ounce, all in fine powder; salt, 12 ounces; brown sugar, 8 ounces, and enough good vinegar to make 1 gallon of the finished product. This is to stand for some time, with frequent agitation, and then be put up in bottles.

Butter Color.

Annatto, fresh and of good quality, 2 pounds; salad oil of good quality without flavor (purified cotton-seed oil is best), sufficient to make 1 gallon. Rub the annatto with a portion, about one-third, of the oil and macerate it by the heat of a water-bath for 12 hours, stirring occasionally, pour off the liquid and add to the residue another portion, about one-third of the oil, and macerate as before, adding the product of the portion before reserved, then add the remainder of the oil to the sediment, macerate as before and add the product to the reserved portions to make 1 gallon of butter color.—Fenner’s Formulary.

Rarey’s Original Horse Liniment.