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In: Medicine·How To ...·Health & Medicine
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #17439.
Mother’s Remedies is a sprawling compendium of more than a thousand home‑cure formulas collected from mothers across the United States and Canada. The editor, Thomas Jefferson Ritter, frames the work as a practical guide for “non‑medical family members,” yet the text frequently lifts passages from contemporary medical textbooks. The opening pages warn readers that many of the recipes contain hazardous substances, kerosene, mercury, arsenic, opium, and even cocaine, and that instructions often omit whether a preparation is meant for internal consumption or external application. With an obsessive focus on poultices and bowel‑clearing remedies, the book offers a stark glimpse into the desperation of families when professional doctors were either unaffordable or ineffective. It also preserves a cultural record of period foods, lengthy kitchen labor, and the precarious state of food safety before modern refrigeration.
The voice is that of a nineteenth‑century compiler, dense with period terminology, lengthy glossaries, and unaltered spelling. Its style is encyclopedic rather than narrative, blending earnest medical advice with cautionary commentary. Readers who enjoy historical pharmacopoeias, the sociology of folk medicine, or the gritty realities of Victorian‑era domestic health will find this volume a fascinating, if unsettling, window into the era’s therapeutic mindset.
The opening · free to read
Some of the suggestions in this book may be helpful or at least have a placebo effect. Beware of the many recipes that include kerosene (coal oil), turpentine, ammonium chloride, lead, lye (sodium hydroxide), strychnine, arsenic, mercury, creosote, sodium phosphate, opium, cocaine and other illegal, poisonous or corrosive items. Many recipes do not specify if it is to be taken internally or topically (on the skin). There is an extreme preoccupation with poultices (applied to the skin, 324 references) and "keeping the bowels open" (1498 references, including related terms).
I view this material as a window into the terror endured by mothers and family members when a child or adult took ill. The doctors available (if you could afford one) could offer little more than this book. The guilt of failing to cure the child was probably easier to endure than the helplessness of doing nothing.
There are many recipes for foods I fondly remember eating as a child.
Note the many recipes for a single serving that involve lengthy and labor-intensive preparation. Refrigeration was uncommon and the temperature of iceboxes was well above freezing, so food had to be consumed quickly.
Many recipes use uncooked meat and eggs that can lead to several diseases.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected but contemporary spelling and usage are unchanged. Page headers are retained, but are moved to the beginning of the paragraph where the text is interrupted. Page numbers are shown in brackets [ ].
The author claims the material is directed toward non-medical "family" members, but many passages are obviously copied from medical textbooks. The following glossary of unfamiliar (to me) terms is quite lengthy and does not include incomprehensible (to me) medical terms and many words and names I could not find in several reference books. The book's own 16 page dictionary is on page 893.
I recommend the article on "hydrophobia" (page 241) as an interesting history of the Pasture treatment.
These entries are absent or brief in the original dictionary on page 893. A short cooking dictionary is on page 831. Check there for items not found here.
acetanilide (also acetanilid) White crystalline compound, C6H5NH(COCH3), formerly used to relieve pain and reduce fever. It has been replaced because of toxicity.
Aconite Various, usually poisonous perennial herbs of the genus Aconitum, having tuberous roots, palmately lobed leaves, blue or white flowers with large hoodlike upper sepals, and an aggregate of follicles. The dried leaves and roots of these plants yield a poisonous alkaloid that was formerly used medicinally. Also called monkshood, wolfsbane.
actinomycosis (lumpy jaw) Inflammatory disease of cattle, hogs, and sometimes humans, caused by actinomyces; causes lumpy tumors of the mouth, neck, chest, and abdomen.
Addison's disease Caused by partial or total failure of adrenocortical function; characterized by a bronze-like skin color and mucous membranes, anemia, weakness, and low blood pressure.
ad libitum At the discretion of the performer. Giving license to alter or omit a part.
affusion Pouring on of liquid, as in baptism.
ague Alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating. Used in reference to the fevers associated with malaria.
aletris farinosa (Colicroot, star grass, blackroot, blazing star, and unicorn root ) Bitter American herb of the Bloodwort family, with small yellow or white flowers in a long spike (Aletris farinosa and A. aurea).
algid Cold; chilly.
alkanet European perennial herb (Alkanna tinctoria) having cymes of blue flowers and red roots. The red dye extracted from the root. Plants of the Eurasian genus Anchusa, having blue or violet flowers grouped on elongated cymes.
allyl Univalent, unsaturated organic radical C3H5.
aloin Bitter, yellow crystalline compound from aloe, used as a laxative. alum Double sulfates of a trivalent metal such as aluminum, chromium, or iron and a univalent metal such as potassium or sodium, especially aluminum potassium sulfate, AlK(SO4)2 12H2O, widely used in industry as clarifiers, hardeners, and purifiers and medicinally as topical astringents and styptics.
anemonin Acrid poisonous compound containing two lactone groups; obtained from plants of the genus Anemone and genus Ranunculus, containing the buttercups.
aneurysm (aneurism) Localized, blood-filled dilatation of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall.
animadversion Strong criticism. Critical or censorious remark:
anise Aromatic Mediterranean herb (Pimpinella anisum) in the parsley family, cultivated for its seed-like fruits and the oil; used to flavor foods, liqueurs, and candies.
anodyne Relieves pain.
antipyrine (antipyrin, phenazone) Analgesic and antipyretic (reduces fever) C11H12N2O formerly used, but now largely replaced by less toxic drugs such as aspirin.
antrum Cavity or chamber, especially in a bone. Sinus in the bones of the upper jaw, opening into the nasal cavity.
apomorphine Poisonous white crystalline alkaloid, C17H17NO2, derived from morphine and used to induce vomiting.
arnica Perennial herbs of the genus Arnica. Tincture of the dried flower heads of the European species A. montana, applied externally to relieve the pain and inflammation of bruises and sprains.
articular Relating to joints: the articular surfaces of bones.
asafetida (asafoetida) Fetid (offensive odor) gum resin of Asian plants of the genus Ferula (especially F. assafoetida, F. foetida, or F. narthex). It has a strong odor and taste, and was formerly used as an antispasmodic and a general prophylactic against disease.
atresia Absence or closure of a normal body orifice or tubular passage such as the anus, intestine, or external ear canal. Degeneration and resorption of one or more ovarian follicles before a state of maturity has been reached.
atropine Poisonous, bitter, crystalline alkaloid, C17H23NO3, obtained from belladonna and related plants. Used to dilate the pupils of the eyes and as an antispasmodic.
bainmarie Large pan of hot water in which smaller pans may be placed to cook food slowly or to keep food warm.
barberry Shrubs of the genus Berberis having small yellow flowers, and red, orange, or blackish berries.
baryta A barium compounds, such as barium sulfate.
baste Sew loosely with large running stitches to hold together temporarily.
batiste Fine, plain-woven fabric made from various fibers and used especially for clothing.
bedizen Ornament or dress in a showy or gaudy manner.
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