Recipes for the million

Dr. J. Lewis Smith asserts that he has never seen pseudo-membranes disappear more rapidly from the fauces than when the following is used : — Extracti pancreatis, one dram ; sodii bicarbonatis, two drams ; mix ; add one large teaspoonful to six teaspoonfuls of tepid water, and apply by a large camel’s-hair pencil every half hour to the fauces. DISINFECTANTS, Cheap. — Place some wood charcoal in an old iron saucepan, cover it with an iron lid ; stand it over the fire until the charcoal is red-hot, then put a thin layer of it on an iron plate and stand it in any convenient place. A room may be thoroughly deodorised by this simple process. Dr. Richardson states that iodine placed in a small box with a perforated lid destroys organic poison in rooms. In cases of small-pox he has seen this method used with great benefit. DISINFECTING FLUIDS. — Dissolve in a wine-bottle of cold water two ounces of acetate of lead, then add two ounces of strong nitric acid. Shake the bottle, and the fluid will be ready for use. A couple of handfuls of copperas (sulphate of iron) dissolved in a bucket of water makes a valuable disinfectant. A sick room may be quickly disinfected by standing therein a pail of [illustration: This will also] water to which has been added a teaspoonful of turpentine, prove a powerful auxiliary against germs and bad odours. DISINFECTING FUME. — Take of common salt, three ounces ; black manganese, one ounce ; oil of vitriol, one ounce ; and water, two ounces. Mix the whole. A little of the mixture carried in a cup through a sick room will remove all foul smells. DISINFECTING PERFUME. — Powder equal quantities of gum-benjamin, storax, and galban with oil of myrrh, and burn the mixture on a hot shovel or iron plate. DIURETIC DROPS. — Mix with one ounce of sweet spirits of nitre half an ounce of aromatic tincture. Fifty drops to be taken three times a day in a glass of water. These drops will be found valuable for promoting a natural flow of urine. DOCUMENTS, To Preserve. — Documents, deeds, and other writings may be kept proof from damp and consequent destruction by brushing a thin coating of gutta percha solution over both back and front of the paper. DODECATHEON ME ADI A, or American Cowslip. — This plant grows best in a partly shaded spot where it will not get too much wet nor remain dry. It delights in a mixture of one-third light loam and two-thirds heath mould. As its stem and leaves die away in the winter, it is advisable to mark its position by a stake or other means. DOGS, Remedies for Bites from. — Burn the wound with caustic, or, if this is not handy, with a red-hot iron, then apply poultices of common table salt and vinegar for three or four days, and allow the flesh to heal. The cautery is not half so painful as most people imagine. Or make a poultice of carbonate of soda ; or scrape the white incrustation from common soda, and apply to the part. Local or general bathing in either warm or cold water is likewise beneficial ; but a vapour bath is still more efficacious as a curative agent, by extracting the virus through the pores of the skin. The poison may also be extracted by the following method of drycupping : — Dip a piece of paper in spirits of wine, ignite it, throw it into a wineglass, and place the glass bottom upwards over the injured part.