452 THE HOUSEHOLD. 



(2) Ice will check at first; if they do not suppurate quickly, apply warm 

 poultices of bread and milk; prick them and apply citrine ointment. 



(3) Dip a feather in the white of an egg, and pass it along the edge of the 

 eyelids. 



To Purify the Blood. — (1) A well-known physician says that he con- 

 siders the following prescription for purifying the blood as the best he has 

 ever used: One ounce yellow dock, oue-half ounce horseradish, one quart 

 hard cider. Dose, one Avineglassful four times a day. 



(2) Mix half an ounce sulphate of magnesia with one pint water. Dose, 

 a wineglassful three times a day. This can be used in the place of iron 

 tonic, or in connection with it. 



For Liver Complaint. — (1) Twenty grains of extract of dandelion, di- 

 vided into four pills, and to be taken four times a day; it acts on the liver, 

 and is also a tonic for debilitated persons. '' 



(2) A cup of fresh buttermilk every day is said to bo a cure for liver 

 complaint. 



Cramps. — A correspondent gives the following dkections for the relief of 

 cramps: When the cramp is in the calf of the leg, draw up the foot 

 ■trongly toward the sliin bone, and in a few seconds the cramp will disap- 

 pear. When they are in the thighs or arms, tic a towel, cord, or handker- 

 chief around the limb, just above the cramped part, and then rub tliis part 

 with the naked hand alone, or using some stimulating liniment like spirits 

 ol camphor or red-peppcrcd whiskey. The -preparation may also be rubbed 

 iipon the neck when cramps attack this part. Cramps in the stomach may 

 be checked by first strongly rubbing and kneading over the stomach, and 

 then rubbing upon and around the pit of the stomach a mixture of equal 

 parts of sweet oil or linseed oil, essence of peppermint, laudanum, and 

 spirits of camphor. 



Petrolenm in Pulmonary Diseases— A partial investigation has been 

 made of the alleged utility of this article in affections of the chest. The pe- 

 troleum of Pennsylvania and Virginia was first experimented upon — a very 

 safe substance, for even considerable quantities, when swallowed by error, 

 have caused only a little nausea. It is found that in chronic bronchitis, 

 with abundant expectoration, it rapidly diminishes the amount of secretion 

 and the paroxysms of coughing, and in simple bronchitis rapid ameUoration 

 has been obtained. Its employment in phthisis has been continued for too 

 short a time, as yet, to allow of any judgment being formed as to its 

 efficiency, beyond that it diminishes the expectoration, which also loses its 

 punilent character. The petroleum is customarily taken in doses of a tea- 

 spoonful before each meal, and, after the first day, any nausea which it may 

 excite in some persons disapijears. 



Corpulence. — For those people whose fleshiness is a matter of solicitude, 

 whether because it is iincomfortable or unfashionable, the following diet is 

 proposed by Dr. George Johnson: May eat — Lean mutton and beef, veal and 

 lamb, soups not thickened, beef tea and broth; poultry, game, fish, and 

 eggs; bread in moderation, greens, cresses, lettuce, etc., green peas, cab- 

 bage, cauliflowei', onions; li-esh fruit without sugar. May not eat — Fat 

 meat, bacon or ham, butter, cream, sugar, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, ri(H>, 

 i^ago, tapioca, macaroni, custard, pastry and puddings, sweet cakes, May 



