Foxfire Home Remedies

I've been reading my Foxfire books & have learned how to build a log cabin, how to make moonshine, hog dressing, dutch oven cooking, how to build a chimney, and many more useful skills.  My favorite, so far, has been the Home Remedies!  Probably Granny Clampett had a resource book like this one ~ or maybe she is one of the women they interviewed for the Foxfire books.

Arthritis
*Drink a mixture of honey, vinegar & moonshine.
*Make a tea from either the seeds or leaves of alfalfa.
* Drink powdered rhubarb dissolved in white whiskey.
*A magnet draws it out of the body.

Asthma
*In 1 pint of gin, place several pieces of the heartwood of a pine tree.  Leave them in the gin until they turn brown.  Then take one tsp. of the mixture twice a day.
*Suck salty water up your nose.
*Smoke or sniff rabbit tobaco.
*Swallow a handful of spider webs rolled into a ball
*Keep a Chihuahua dog around the house (got this one covered)
*Smoke strong tobacco until you choke.
*Drill a hole in a black oak or sourwood tree just above the head of the victim, and put a lock of his hair in the hole.  When he passes that spot in height, he will be cured. (this won't work for me since I stopped growing in height at about age 12)
*Drink a mixture of honey, lemon juice, and whiskey, using about a tablespoon of each (cough, cough I need more medicine)

Pneumonia (gotta be able to help Greg is he ever gets it again)
*To bring down the fever, put some quinine and hog lard on a cloth & put it on your chest.
*Give the person 2 tsp. of oil rendered from a skunk.
*Make an onion poultice to make the fever break.  Then give the person whiskey and hot water.
*Make a tea of butterfly weed, add a little whiskey and drink it.

Cramps
To cure cramps in the feet, turn your shoes upside down before going to bed.

Poison Ivy
*Use a mixture of buttermilk or vinegar and salt.
*Make a strong brown tea by boiling willow leaves, and put the tea on the affected area.
*Take some witch hazel and add all the boric acid that will dissolve in it.  Apply to all affected parts of the skin.
*Rub wild Touch-me-mot on the area (hold on, its probably named touch me not for a reason!)
*Rub the infection with the inside surface of a banana (not me!)
*Slice open a green tomato and run the juice over the affected area.

Athletes Foot
*Wrap a wool string around the toe
*or step in cow dung that is fresh

Nosebleed
 *Take a piece of lead and bore a hole in it.  Put a string through the hole, tie it , and wear it around your neck.  Your nose won't bleed again.
*Place a nickel directly under the nose between the upper lip and gum and press tightly.
*Lie down and put a dime on your heart.
*Sniff devil's snuff box or some puff balls, and it will stop.
*Hang a pair of pot hooks about your neck.
*Place scissors, points up, on your neck (this just doesn't sound safe at all)

And the cures just go on and on.  Now this is useful information....I didn't see them trying any of these remedies on Greg or James when they were hospitalized this year.  But then, if they charge $75 for a tylenol ~ just what would the charge be for skunk oil?  And no one was walking the halls of the hospital dispensing cough syrup made of whiskey,honey, and lemon.  (well, they didn't come down Gregs hall!)

So, I've got to take up drinking, & smoking to be cured of some of the symptoms of arthritis and asthma.  I've got plenty of chihuahua dogs so that cure won't be a problem.

There are plenty more home remedies in the book for bleeding, body builders, broken arm, burns, chest congestion, colds, colic, constipation, croup, diarrhea, dropsy, dysentery, earache, eye ailments, fever, flu, gall bladder, headaches, heart trouble, hiccups (tsp. of peanut butter), skin irritations, bee stings, freckles, measles, kidney trouble, rheumatism, sore throat, toothache, etc.  Very interesting reading!!!!!

And just because I figure everyone needs this useful information in caring for their families, I am linking up with
http://www.oursimplefarm.com/2012/05/simple-living-wednesday-link-up_08.html
and
http://raisinghomemakers.com/2012/homemaking-link-up-76/
and
http://frugallysustainable.com/2012/05/frugal-days-sustainable-ways-26/
and
http://mysimplecountryliving.blogspot.com/2012/05/country-homemaker-hop-20.html

Now, who wants to render some skunk oil?