Drugs and Drug Substitutes in the South
Articles from Civil War Newspapers
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, January 7, 1860, p. 4, c. 1
To Cure Sore Throat.—Take the whites of two eggs and beat them with two
spoonsful of white sugar; grate in a little nutmeg, and then add a pint of luke
warm water. Stir well, and drink
often. Repeat the prescription if
necessary, and it will cure the most obstinate case of hoarseness in a short
time.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
February 10, 1860, p. 3, c. 2
Valuable Recipe for Dysentery--Take of peach leaves one handful, pour one pint
of boiling water over them; then add one tablespoonful of Epson Salts. Take a wine glass full every two or three hours till it
operates freely; then take the tea without the salts three times a day until
cured. The tea must be cold when
the salt is put.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, September 1, 1860, p. 1, c. 8
To Keep Off Musketoes.—Camphor is the most powerful agent to drive away
musketoes. A camphor bag hung up in an open casement will prove an
effectual barrier to their entrance. Camphorated
spirit applied as perfume to the face and hands will act as an effectual
preventative; but when bitten by them aromatic vinegar is the best antidote.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, February 2, 1861, p.
2, c. 3
Fresh Drugs!
J. B. Lancaster & Co., are now receiving, direct from New Orleans, an additional supply of Fresh and Pure Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Fancy Goods, Perfumery, &c.SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], March 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
The Importation of Opium.--One of the curious facts revealed by the publication
of Custom House tables is that there was imported into the country last year,
three hundred thousand pounds of opium. Of
this amount it is estimated, from reliable data, that not more than one tenth is
used for medical purposes. The
habit of eating opium is known to be spreading rapidly among lawyers, doctors,
clergymen and literary men, and enormous quantities are used by the
manufacturers of those poisonous liquids which are dealt out in drinks in the
saloons and groceries that infest every city and village in the country.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], April 13, 1861, p. 2, c. 5
Infallible Cure for Toothache.--Among the many diseases that humanity is heir
to, there are scarcely any which in violent pain and acute suffering, rival the
toothache. And yet, as far as we
are able to judge, though the affection is common to all, but a few are aware of
the fact, that other remedies exist besides the extraction of the tooth, which
if only tried, will be found infallible. The
following, for instance, suggested to us by a friend, will, if his experience
and veracity are worth anything, prove invaluable in the relief of this torment:
Take equal quantities of alum and common salt, pulverize and mix them,
and apply them to the hollow tooth on a wet piece of cotton.
The remedy is very simple, very cheap, and within the reach of all.
If any one will try it he will find it infallible.--Petersburg Express.
SEMI-WEEKLY
RALEIGH REGISTER, July 3, 1861, p. 3, c. 4
A Cure for Diarrhoea.—Numerous requests having been made to republish
the recipe for diarrhoea and cholera symptoms, which we gave in our paper weeks
ago, and which was used by the troops during the Mexican war with great success,
we give it below, with a very important correction of an error made in the first
formula, as to the size of the dose to be given.
Laudanum
2 ounces.
Spirits of Champhor [sic]
2 ounces.
Essence of Peppermint
2 ounces.
Hoffman's Anodyne
2 ounces.
Tincture of Cayenne Pepper
2 ounces.
Tincture of Ginger
1 ounce.
Mix all together. Dose—a
teaspoonful in a little water, or a half teaspoonful, repeated in an hour
afterwards, in a tablespoonful of brandy.—This preparation will check
diarrhoea in ten minutes, and abate other premonitory symptoms of cholera
immediately. In cases of cholera it
has been used with great success, to restore reaction, by outward
application.—Phila. Inquirer.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, July
9, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Cordial for our soldiers.--An army surgeon suggests the propriety of
friends sending "black berry cordial," having the following
ingredients--cloves--cinnamon, allspice and ginger--to their soldier friends.
The suggestion is doubtless a good one, and needs only to be mentioned to
be put in execution by the devoted and patriotic women of our land.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
July 20, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Antidote for Intermittent Fever--Substitute for Quinine--Dr. D. B.
Phillips, late of the United States Navy, now of the Confederate Navy, says:
"Raw corn meal unsifted and freshly ground, administered in doses of
a large table spoonful six or eight times a day, or a tea made of fodder, is an
admirable remedy in intermittent fever.--The yellow corn is the better variety,
and a drink made of a table spoonful of the meal stirred in a glass of water and
taken frequently, is not only a good remedy but a pleasant and refreshing
beverage, which may be taken in all stages of the disease without the slightest
evil effects.
MOBILE REGISTER AND
ADVERTISER, July 24, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
A correspondent of the Peedee Times recommends the Boneset (Eupatorium
Perfoliatum) as a substitute for quinine. It
is a valuable suggestion; let our Lady Bountifuls see to gathering and drying
it.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
August 29, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
Medicines for the Army.--An experienced Army Surgeon in Virginia gives
the following list of articles much needed by the sick and the wounded.
He says:
Such persons as are inclined to do so, can contribute to the necessities
of the sick and wounded, should we get into a battle, by making up a box of
bandages, and furnishing any amount of almost any kind of medicines.
A package of bandages might be made up as follows:
Take a piece of coarse, unbleached sheeting from eight to ten yards long,
and tear into strips--
1 dozen,
1/2 inch wide,
2 "
2 inches wide
3 "
2 1/2 " "
4 "
3
" "
4 "
4
" "
These should be rolled tightly and the loose end pinned.
Several pounds of tow.
Curved splints of all sorts.
Oil cloths, 20 dozen.
Pillow cases, 2 dozen.
Pillow ticks, 2 dozen.
Sheets, 4 dozen.
Flannel, a bolt. All are
needed.
Should any one take a notion to fit out a box of medicine and hospital
stores, the annexed is a list of the articles most needed:
For
a Regiment.
Simple Ceraie,
10 pounds.
Basilicon Ointment
5 "
Chloroform,
2 "
Creosote,
6 ounces.
Liquor Ammoniaie,
5 pounds.
Blue Mass,
1 pound.
Morphine
5 drhms.
Spts. Turpentine,
5 gallons.
Sugar of Lead,
2 pounds.
Powd. Gum Arabic,
4 "
"
Cayenne Pepper,
1/2 pound.
"
Ipicac,
1 "
Dover's Powder
1 "
Powd. Opium,
2 pounds.
" Mustard,
12 "
Crushed Sugar,
25 "
Spirits of Nitre,
1/2 gallon.
Brandy (good),
24 bottles.
Wine, Port, Madeira, or Sherry,
24 bottles.
Bourbon Whiskey.
24 bottles.
Opium Gum,
2 pounds.
Sabaraque's Disinfectant
3 bottles.
Chloride of Lime,
5 pounds.
Seidlitz Powders,
Laudanum,
}
Paregoric,
}
Es. Peppermint,
} Any quantity.
Tinct. Capsicum,
}
Liniments,
}
Cathartic Pills,
}
The foregoing is an imperfect list, but may serve as a sort of guide for
any person who may be moved by feelings of benevolence or duty to get up
supplies for a regiment.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
September 3, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
Slippery elm bark is needed in large quantities for poultices.
Let it be provided in advance and contributed for the service of our camp
by those who find the tree in their neighborhood.
SEMI-WEEKLY
RALEIGH REGISTER, September 4, 1861, p. 3, c. 3
Dysentery.—We find in an exchange the following remedy for this
disease, furnished by an old lady:
"Please insert in your paper a remedy for the cure of the dysentery
for the soldiers that is sick with that disease.
Take a piece of mutton suit, half the bigness of a hickory nut, and boil
it in a cup of sweet milk, and drink it, and repeat it till cured; it is a
certain remedy."
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
September 13, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
The Committee of the Georgia Relief and Hospital Association have been called on
for Thyme, Red Peppers and Orange leaves. Will
the kind ladies of Augusta, having these articles, send a small lot of each to
the store of Plumb & Leitner to-day, or as early as possible? as they are
much needed for the hospital in Richmond.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
September 14, 1861, p. 1, c. 5
Substitute for quinine. Dr. D. B.
Phillips, late of the United States Navy, now of the Confederate Navy, says:
"Raw corn meal unsifted,
and freshly ground, administered in doses of a large tablespoonful six or eight
times a day, or a tea made of fodder, is an admirable remedy in intermittent
fever. The yellow corn is the
better variety, and a drink made of the tablespoonful of the meal, stirred in a
glass of water, and taken frequently, is not only a good remedy but a pleasant
and refreshing beverage, which may be taken in all stages of the disease without
the slightest evil effect.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, September
17, 1861, p. 1, c. 8
A Simple Salve for Soldiers' Feet in Marching.--The _Scientific American_
has received the following receipt for making an excellent composition for
annointing the feet of the soldiers during long marching:
Take equal parts of gum camphor, olive oil and pure beeswax, and mix them
together warm until they are united and become a salve.
At night wash the feet well, dry them, and apply the salve, and put on
clean stockings and sleep with them on. Next
day the feet will be in excellent trim for marching.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
September 19, 1861, p. 1, c. 1
Prepare it in time. Slippery elm
bark is needed in large quantities for poultices, for which purpose it is
exceedingly valuable. Let it be
provided in advance, and contributed for the service of our camps by those who
find the tree in their neighborhood.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
September 21, 1861, p. 1, c. 3
Typhoid fever in the army. Messrs.
Editors: Every day we hear the sad
tidings of death among our boys in the army, from that scourge, Typhoid Fever.
A gentleman of the medical profession, now in our city, a citizen of
Texas, expresses his surprise that the potent remedy of Spirits of Turpentine
has made so little progress in the country for the cure of this ailment.
My friend Dr. R., a man of splendid professional ability, says that if
any remedy can ever be called a specific, Spirits of Turpentine may be so
considered in cases of Typhoid Fever.
He begins with small doses of about ten drops every two hours, and
continue the remedy in larger doses, giving as high as a teaspoonful at a dose,
till the right action is seen on the skin.
Spirits of Nitre may be needed to relieve the stranury apt to follow the
administration of turpentine, but nothing further is ever needed.--Atlanta
Confederacy.
We will add our humble testimony to the efficiency of this remedy.
During a serious spell of Billious fever, from which we suffered for
several weeks, last summer, the use of turpentine mainly, brought us out safe
and sound.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
September 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 4
A Simple Salve for Soldiers' Feet in Marching.
The Scientific American has received the following receipt for making an
excellent composition for annointing the feet of soldiers during long marching.
Take equal parts of gum camphor, olive oil and pure beeswax, and mix them
together warm until they are united and become a salve.
At night wash the feet well--dry them and apply the salve, and put on
clean stockings and sleep with them on. Next
day the feet will be in excellent trim for marching.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 3, 1861, p. 2, c. 2
A Simple Salve for Soldiers' Feet in Marching.—The Scientific American
has received the following receipt for making an excellent composition for
anointing the feet of soldiers during long marching:
Take equal parts of gum camphor, olive oil and pure beeswax, and mix them
together warm until they are united and become a salve.
At night wash the feet well, dry them and apply the salve, and put on
clean stockings and sleep with them on. Next
day the feet will be in excellent trim for marching.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
October 6, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
The willow bark, the bark of the root of the wild plum, and piperine, can
be advantageously used as substitutes for Quinine.
[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 10, 1861, p. 3, c. 2
Nashville, Hempstead Co., Ark., }TENNESSEE
BAPTIST, October 19, 1861, p. 4, c. 3
Dogwood Bark.
The Statesville Express says, that Lieut. Colonel John A. Young of the 4th Regiment North Carolina State Troops, urges the importance of furnishing the army at Manassas with a large supply of Dogwood root bark as a substitute for quinine. We can say, from considerable experience, that dogwood bark, steeped in water or spirits, is the best remedy for chills and fevers we ever saw.MOBILE REGISTER AND
ADVERTISER, October 22, 1861, p. 1, c. 7
The willow bark, the bark of the root of the wild plum, and the piperine
can be advantageously used as substitutes for quinine.
A Mr. Dance, of Texas, has made quinine from a tree common to our
Southern forest. The Houston
(Texas) Telegraph thinks it is made from the prickly ash.
In its taste it has the same long, lingering, bitter sensations that
quinine leaves.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 24, 1861, p. 2, c. 4
A Mr. Dance of Texas has made quinine from a tree common to our southern
forests. The Houston Telegraph thinks it is from the prickly ash.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 24, 1861, p. 2, c. 6
A Remedy for Measles.
Mr. Editor—As the above disease is now prevailing among our troops generally, you are at liberty, if you think proper, to insert the following remedy, which I can assure my brother practitioners they will find highly efficacious in the speedy and successful management of the measles at home or in the tented field. Any thing for the benefit of our gallant soldier boys. Our usual formula is one drachm of carbonate of ammonia (solid hartshorn) added to an ounce and a half of camphor water. Give a teaspoonfull three or four times a day, varying the dose according to age and other circumstances. it should be given early, if possible, before the eruption appears.SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, November
4, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Wanted
for the Soldiers
A supply of Sage and Red Pepper, which is much needed in
one of the hospitals on the coast. Housekeepers
and gardeners in the vicinity have an abundance of these articles, and if they
will deliver them at the Republican Office, as a contribution to the sick
soldiers, they will be promptly forwarded.
Immediate attention is requested.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, November 16, 1861, p. 4, c. 1
An Effectual Cure for the Ear-Ache.—Take a small piece of cotton
batting or cotton wool, make a depression in the center with the end of the
finger, and fill it with as much ground pepper as will rest on a five cent
piece, gather it into a ball and tie it up, dip the ball into sweet oil and
insert in the ear, covering the latter with cotton wool, and use a bandage or
cap to retain it in its place. Almost
instant relief will be experienced, and the application is so gentle that an
infant will not be injured by it, but experience relief as well as adults.
So says an exchange.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, December 6, 1861, p. 2, c. 1
Castor Oil--How Made.
The following communication to the Houston Telegraph, from Mr. E. T.
Duffau, of Austin, will be read with interest:
... The following is the process for preparing it on a large scale:
The seeds having been cleansed from dust and fragments of capsules, are
conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are submitted to a gentle
heat, insufficient to scorch them, and not greater than can be borne by the
hand; the object of this step is to render the oil sufficiently liquid for easy
expression; the seeds are then introduced into a powerful screw press.
One bushel of good seed will yield about six quarts of the best oil.
The yield of the seed is from 40 to 60 bushels to the acre, or say 75
gallons of oil, which, at the low price of $1 per gallon, is $75 to the acre.
The mode of cultivation is to plant and attend to the crop the same as
corn, thinning out to two stalks in a hill, and leaving a space between the rows
of four feet.
The oil will give about 10 or 12 per cent. more light than lard oil, and
can be used in the same lamps.
The plant may be found growing in Texas almost anywhere. There are stalks of it in the streets of Austin, and on my
visit to your city I found it all along the roads.
From the statement I make, you will at once see that it will pay better
than any crop which can be planted in Texas.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
December 18, 1861, p. 3, c. 1
A respected correspondent sends us the following, which he says is a
specific cure for Dyspepsia and all derangements of the liver.
The materials can be found in any drug store. He says:
"It may be used with impunity for an indefinite time.
1 oz. of Liverwort, 1 do Black Root, 1 do Black Snakeroot, 1 1/2 do Senna.
Mix these several articles together, and put them in a large pitcher or
any other convenient vessel, pour over them five half-pints (or a quart and
half-pint) of boiling water, cover the vessel closely and set it away.
After steeping 18 or 20 hours, stirring occasionally during that time,
strain it through a coarse cloth, and then add about a half-pint of good brandy,
or some other good spirits. Bottle,
and in the summer or warm weather in the winter, keep it in a cool place to
prevent it from souring. Dose, a
table spoon full three times a day, and always immediately after eating.
Some constitutions may require a little more, and others a little less;
each one must adjust the dose to suit themselves. There is no harm in the remedy, and if necessary it should be
persisted in for weeks and months."
Philos.
TENNESSEE
BAPTIST, December 21, 1861, p. 4, c. 3
For Rheumatics, Neuralgia, and Nervous Headache.—Mix one ounce oil
rosemary; one ounce oil cloves; one ounce oil oreganum; one ounce spirits
turpentine, one ounce spirits hartshorn; one ounce tincture cantharides; one
ounce alcohol. Shake and pour a
little in a saucer; set the saucer on embers, and rub in on the affected part
with your hand. Warm your hand by a
shovel of coals and hold it on the affected part to encourage absorption.
The price of the compound should only be one dollar.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, December 26, 1861, p. 2, c. 5
The following from the Napoleon Planter, is worth trying:
Napoleon Planter: I send you
what my neighbors are using as a substitute for quinine in common cases of chill
and fever.
Take a pint of cotton seed and pound them well, then add a pint and a
half of water and simmer down to one pint.
All speak well of it and use nothing else now.
Dose—A wine glass full every two hours.
Auburn, Ark., Nov. 23, 1861.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, December
28, 1861, p. 3, c. 3
A certain cure for coughs.--A remedy never known to fail:
Three cents' worth of liquourice; three cents' worth of rock candy; three
cents' worth of gum arabic. Put
them in a quart of water, simmer them till thoroughly dissolved; then add three
cents' worth of paregoric, and a like quantity of antimonial wine.
Let it cool, and sip whenever the cough is troublesome. It is pleasant, infallible, cheap and good.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 6
We forget what paper we clipped the following from, but as dyspepsia is
so common a disease among our people, it may be of interest and value to our
readers.
A respected correspondent sends us the following which he says is a
specific cure for dyspepsia and all derangements of the liver.
The materials can be found in any drug store.
He says.
"It may be used with impunity for an indefinite time.
1 oz. of Liverwort, 1 do. Black Root, 1 do. Black Snakeroot, 1½ do.
Senna. Mix these several articles
together, and put them in a large pitcher or any other convenient vessel, pour
over them five half pints (or a quart and a half pint) of boiling water, cover
the vessel closely and set it away. After
steeping 18 or 20 hours, stirring occasionally during that time, strain it
through a coarse cloth, and then add about a half pint of good brandy, or some
other good spirits. Bottle, and in
the summer or warm weather in the winter, keep it in a cool place to prevent it
from souring. Dose, a table
spoonful three times a day, and always immediately after eating.
Some constitutions may require a little more, and others a little less;
each one must adjust the dose to suit themselves.
There is no harm in the remedy, and if necessary, it should be persisted
in for weeks and months.
Philos.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, February 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Infallible Cure for Toothache.—Take equal quantities of alum and common
salt, pulverize and mix them, and apply them to the hollow tooth on a piece of
cotton. The remedy is very simple,
very cheap, and within the reach of all. If
any one will try it he will find it infallible.—Petersburg Express.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, March 1, 1862, p. 4, c. 1
New Remedy for Neuralgia.—The Journal de Chimie Medicale
contains an account of the discovery of a new and powerful sedative in
neuralgia, just discovered by Dr. Field. The
substance used is nitrate of oxide and glycile, and is obtained by treating
glycerine at a low temperature with sulphuric or nitric acid.
One drop mixed with ninety-nine drops of wine, constitutes the first
dilution. A case of neuralgia in an
old lady, which had resisted every known remedy, was completely cured by this
new agent.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, April
12, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
Castor Oil.—A druggist tells us that this article is very scarce and
dear, yet nothing grows more luxuriantly or is more easily cultivated on every
plantation in the South than the Palm Christi plant, out of which it is
made.—The two facts taken together is almost ludicrous.
They make striking commentary upon the absurd and slavish policy which we
of the South have so long been pursuing of depending almost exclusively upon
others for what can be easily and cheaply made at home.
Castor oil ought to be twice as cheap in the South as in the North.
Importing it is like importing fresh tomatoes and okra in hermitrically
[sic] sealed cans, while these articles will grow much better here than in the
places from which they are brought!
CHARLESTON MERCURY, April
12, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Sore Throats--Salt as a Remedy.--In these days, when diseases of the
throat are so prevalent and in many cases so fatal, the use of common salt is
recommended as an effectual remedy. We commenced by using it three times a day--morning, noon,
and night. We dissolved a large
tablespoonful of pure table salt in about half a tumbler full of cold water.
With this we gargled the throat most thoroughly before meal time.
The result has been that during the entire winter we were not only free
from the usual coughs and colds to which, so far as my memory extends, we have
always been subject, but the dry, hacking cough has entirely disappeared.
We attribute this satisfactory result entirely to the salt gargle.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, April
15, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Castor Oil.—The New Orleans Crescent has been furnished with the
following recipes for preparing castor oil from the castor bean:
Strip the seeds of their husks or pods; then bruise them in mortars.
Afterwards they are to be tied in linen bags, and boiled in water until
the oil which they contain rises to the surface. This is carefully skimmed off, strained, to free it from any
accidental impurities, and bottled for use.
Pressed castor oil is obtained like almond oil, by bruising the seeds
into paste with water, and distilling the mixture, when the oil passes over.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], April 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
To Wounded Soldiers.--The Rockingham Register says that the pain caused by
gunshot wounds, and wounds of any kind, will be relieved almost instantaneously
by holding that part affected over smoking lard.
Put the lard on burning coals in a shovel or pan convenient to handle,
and let the wounded part be brought as close as possible to the lard, the smoke
and fumes arising from which will act like a charm upon the part affected.
The gentleman who informed the Register states that he has seen it tried
repeatedly, and never know it to fail. All
who are suffering from wounds should try this simple and easily applied remedy.
WASHINGTON
[AR] TELEGRAPH, April 30, 1862
CASTOR OIL.--Every farmer who can possibly procure seed should raise the
"Palma Christi," or Castor Bean.
Otherwise we ill lack castor oil, an indispensable medicine.
It grows luxuriant here, and needs little attention.
The oil is easily expressed. If
the plants were raised it would pay to make the oil.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE,
May 10, 1862, p. 5, c. 2
Substitute for Quinine--The extremely high price of quinine renders it
very difficult for persons of moderate means to purchase it, and yet it has been
considered almost indispensable for the cure of our summer and autumnal fevers.
The best substitute for it, (if indeed it be not equal to the quinine
itself) may be obtained with all ease by taking the inside bark of the red
dogwood (thought to be preferable to the white dogwood) cut it up fine and put
it into a kettle covered with pure water; then boil it down to the consistency
of molasses or jelly. During the
process of boiling it should be strained once or twice to free it from all
impurities. After thus being boiled
down it may be put away in bottles. When
wanted for use, it can easily be made into pills by mixing with flour.
The writer of this has known three cases of severe chills and fevers
cured within the last thirty days, by taking a few pills of three or four grams
each, in twenty-four hours, taken every hour.
This information is obtained from an eminent Texas physician and chemist, who
has thoroughly tested the preparation in his last year's practice--B.--Nat.
Union.
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS,
May 21, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Substitute for Quinine--The extremely high price for quinine renders it very
difficult for persons of moderate means to purchase it, and yet it has been
considered almost indispensable for the cure of our summer and autumnal fevers.
The best substitute for it, (if indeed it be not equal to the quinine
itself) may be obtained with all ease, by taking the inside bark of the red
dogwood (thought to be preferable to the white dogwood) cut it up fine and put
it into a kettle covered with pure water; then boil it down to the consistency
of molasses or jelly. During the
process of boiling, it should be strained once or twice to free it from all
impurities. After thus being boiled
down it may be put away in bottles.--When wanted for use, it can easily be made
into pills by mixing with flour.
The writer of this has known three cases of severe chills and fevers
cured within the last thirty days, by taking a few pills of three or four grains
each, in twenty four hours, taken every hour.
This information is obtained from an eminent Texas physician and chemist,
who has thoroughly tested the preparation in his last year's practice.--B.--Nat.
Union.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
May 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
A Substitute for Spanish Flies.--The present scarcity of Spanish flies
for medical use in blister plasters, makes a proper substitute a desideratum.
A writer in the Savannah Republican says we have in this country many
representatives of the same genus, and enumerates the blistering beetle, or
potato fly, so prevalent in our gardens, and so injurious to vegetation, as
efficacious. He states:
The insect is of a dull, tawny or light yellowish color, with two black
spots on the head, two black stripes on the thorax, and three broad ones on each
wing cover. The under side of the
body, the legs, (excepting the first joint, which is yellowish), the antennae,
or feelers, are black. Its length
is from 5 to 8 lines, its breadth of body 2 lines.
The body is quite soft. These
beetles are very shy, timid insects, and whenever disturbed fall immediately
from the leaves, and attempt to conceal themselves among the grass, or draw up
their long, slender legs and feign themselves dead.
In the night and in rainy weather they descend from the plants and burrow
in the ground, or under leaves and tufts of grass.
It is, therefore, during clear weather, in the morning and evening, that
they feed and are to be collected. They
should be killed by throwing them into scalding water, for one or two minutes,
after which they would be spread upon cloth or paper to dry, and may be made
profitable by selling them to the apothecaries for medical use.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
May 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Substitute for Quinine.--The difficulty of procuring an adequate supply of
Quinine is causing attention to be directed to our native plants, possessing the
same medicinal qualities. A
professional gentleman sends us the following description of one of these
substitutes, which is no doubt valuable. A
fuller description of the tree would be acceptable, and also the different
common names it is known by, as scarcely any plant or herb is known by the same
name, in different localities:
From
the North American Sylva.
Georgia Bark--Pinckneya Pubens.
"This tree, still more interesting by the properties of its bark
than by the elegance of its flowers and of its foliage, is indigenous to the
most Southern parts of the United States; probably it grows also in
the two Floridas and in lower Louisiana. My Father (Michaux) found it for the first time, in 1791 on
the banks of the St. Mary's."
"With a great affinity to the Cinchona, which yields the Peruvian
Bark, my father discovered in the Georgia Bark sufficient differences to
distinguish it as a new genus. In
testimony of gratitude and respect he consecrated it to Charles Cotesworth
Pickney [sic?], an enlightened patron of the arts and sciences.
The Georgia Bark is a low tree, dividing itself into numerous branches,
and rarely exceeding the height of twenty-five feet, and the diameter of five or
six inches at the base. It has been
transplanted successfully at Charleston, S. C.
"Its inner bark is extremely bitter, and appears to partake of the
febrifuge virtues of the Cinchona, for the inhabitants of the Southern parts of
Georgia employ it successfully in the intermittent fevers, which during the
latter part of Summer and Autumn prevail in the Southern States.
A handful of the bark is boiled in a quart of water 'till the liquid is
reduced one half, and the infusion is administered to the sick."
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], July 1, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Notice--Barks
Wanted.
Medical Purveyor's Office,
Atlanta, Ga., June 30, 1862.
The best prices will be paid by the undersigned for large quantities of the
following BARKS:
Stem, branches and root of Dogwood, (root preferred); branches and roots
of White Willow; root, trunk and branches of American Poplar, (called also
White-wood, Canoe-wood and tulip-tree,) root preferred.
These barks must be carefully dried and securely packed.
They may be brought to this office, or sent to Mr. L. W. Waller,
Botanical Agent, Cartersville, Ga.; or Dr. W. W. Durham, Botanical Agent,
Decatur, Ga.
George S. Blackie,
Surgeon and Medical Purveyor, C. S. A.
july1 tf
CHARLESTON MERCURY, July
12, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
To Remove Maggots from Wounds.--As a matter of wide-spread interest at
this time, we give place to the following:
Take the leaves, bark, flowers, or berries of the common elder (Sambacus
niger), make a strong tea by pouring boiling water upon them, and letting them
steep. Wash the wounds once or
twice a day with this. Boil some
lard, and, while boiling, stir in elder in considerable quantity, and strain off
through a sieve of coarse cloth. This
makes an ointment for the same purpose. It
is improved by adding one-fourth as much common beeswax as the amount of lard
used.
Antiseptic Powder.--To correct the offensive odors of wounds, mix one
hundred parts of calcined plaster of paris and two parts of coal tar.
Rub well together. Sprinkle
this upon the wound once or twice daily. They
have been fully tested for years in the Bellevue Hospital.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, Mercury,
July 14, 1862, p. 2, c.4
Medicinal
Barks Wanted.
The barks of the following plants are much wanted in the army, to be
issued to the troops as a preventative of Country Fever:
Bark of the root of the dogwood.
Bark of the wild cherry.
Bark of the willow.
40 cents per pound will be paid for the above articles if properly dried
and delivered to the Medical Purveyor in Charleston.
J. J. Chisolm,
July 9.
Medical Purveyor C. S. A.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], July 20, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
To Remove Maggots From Wounds.--As a matter of wide-spread interest at
this time, we give place to the following:
Take the leaves, bark, flowers, or berries of the common elder (Sambacus
niger), make a strong tea by pouring boiling water upon them and letting them
steep. Wash the wounds once or
twice a day with this. Boil some
lard, and while boiling stir in elder in considerable quantity, and strain off
through a sieve or coarse cloth. This
makes an ointment for the same purpose. It
is improved by adding one-fourth as much common beeswax as the amount of lard
used.
Antiseptic Powder.--To correct the offensive odors of wounds, mix one
hundred parts of calcined plaster of Paris and two parts of coal tar.
Rub well together. Sprinkle
this upon the wound once or twice daily. They
have been fully tested for years in the Bellveue [sic] Hospital.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRANADA, MS], June 28, 1862, p. 1, c. 8
Epsom Salts.--Messrs. Sensabaugh, Mingus, & Long, says the Augusta
Chronicle, send us a specimen of Epsom salts manufactured by them from a cave in
Smokey mountain, between North Carolina and Tennessee.
They are now making 300 pounds of Epsom salts and 4000 pounds of alum
daily. The salts are said to be
superior to any heretofore sold in the South, and the alum is equal. The manufacturers say they will be able to supply the whole
Southern Confederacy with these necessary articles.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, July
31, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Flesh Wounds.--The following recipe for flesh wounds has proved very
efficacious, and is recommended to the Medical Faculty as an experiment.
It has been practically tested by an officer in the French army, who was
wounded in the arm, and in the space of eight days his wound was healed.
It is worth a trial:
Take a linen rag, in which cut small holes throughout, dip it in camphor
oil, and apply it to the wounded parts. Take
finely powdered camphor and sprinkle over the linen--a piece of lint in camphor
salve should then be applied over the wound.
Bandage the part wounded, and apply twice or three times a day.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, August
1, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
Confederate States of America,
Medical Purveyor's Office
Savannah, July 31, 1862.
Wanted.
The following, for
which the highest prices will be paid, delivered at either of my offices, in
Savannah or Macon:
Seneka Snake Root,
May Apple,
Blood Root,
Butter Nut,
Wild Cherry Bark,
Fever Root,
Indian Turnip Root,
American Hellebone,
Pleurisy Root
Bitter Sweet,
Ipecac Root,
Skunk Cabbage,
Blooming Spurge,
Jamestown Weed,
Indian Physic,
Hemlock,
Indian Tobacco, or Lobelia
Henbane,
Poke Root,
Pipsissewa,
Cranesbill Root,
Rearberry,
Marsh Rosemary,
Flea Bane,
Deerberry, or Blackberry,
Scotch Broom,
White Oak Bark,
Pink Root,
Meadow Sweet,
Jerusalem Oak Seed,
American Colombo,
Winter Green,
American Gentian,
Horse Mint,
Persimmon Bark,
Flag Root,
Centerary (herb),
Sassafras Root,
Boneset,
Wild Ginger,
Virginia Snake Root,
Queen's Delight,
Dandelion,
Slippery Elm,
Wild Senna Leaves,
Bene Leaves.
W. H. Prioleau,
Asst. Surg. P.A.C.S., Med. Purveyor
Fourth
Depot.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, August
6, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Confederate States of America,]
Medical Purveyor's Office,]
Columbia, August 1st, 1862.]
The following prices will be paid for the following Medical Barks and
Roots, if carefully gathered and dried, upon delivery at the Medical Purveyor's
Office, 212 Main-street, Columbia:
Poplar Bark
per lb 10
cts.
*Wild Cherry Bark
80 "
*Dogwood Bark
80 "
*Sassafras Bark
25 "
*Persimmon Bark
25 "
*Willow Bark
20 "
*Slippery Elm Bark
30 "
*Red Oak Bark
10 "
Snake Root
50 "
Blackberry Root
30
"
Queen's Delight Root
25 "
Blood Root
30 "
Bone Sett
10 "
Pleurisy Root
25 "
*The inner bark of the trunk and branches, or the bark of the root, is
required. The outer coarse bark
from the trunk should be removed with a chaiding knife before the inner bark is
peeled off.
J. J. Chisolm,
August 4
mwf8
Medical Purveyor.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, August
19, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Attention, Soldiers!--Fill your pockets with dried slippery elm bark when
about to take up the line of march for the battle field, or for a new
encampment. You will find that
chewing it freely will greatly allay both thirst and hunger.
The slippery elm grows in abundance in Virginia, North and South
Carolina, and in Georgia. Our Surgeons call for it as a substitute for Gum Arabic.
It is to be hoped our patriotic and philanthropic friends in the country
will procure an abundant supply for our army.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], August 20, 1862, p. 3, c. 5
Just Received and for Sale,
Blue Stone, Quinine, Copperas; Morphine; Indigo; Castor Oil; Madder; Epsom
Salts; Blacking; Soda; Prepared Chalk; Gum Camphor; Matches; Cinnamon; Toilet
Soaps; Chloroform; Brushes; Snuff, &c., at R. M. Smith 8 Drug Store. No. 10
Broad street.
August 20.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRANADA, MS], August 26, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Attention Soldiers!--Fill your pockets with dried slippery elm bark when about
to take up the line of march for the battle-field or for a new encampment.
You will find that chewing it freely will greatly allay both thirst and
hunger.
The slippery elm grows in abundance in Virginia, North and South
Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. I
see that our surgeons use it as a substitute for gum arabic.
It is to be hoped our patriotic and philanthropic friends in the country
will procure an abundant supply for our army--Savannah News.
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS,
August 27, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
No Use for Quinine.--Ed. Mississippian:
I beg to make public through the medium of your paper, the following
certain and thoroughly tried cure for ague and fever:
1 pint of cotton seed, 2 parts of water boiled down to one of tea, taken
warm one hour before the expected attack. Many
persons will doubtless laugh at this simple remedy, but I have tried it
effectually, and unhesitatingly say it is better than quinine, and could I
obtain the latter article at a dime a bottle I would infinitely prefer the
cotton seed tea. It will not only
cure, invariably, but permanently, and is not at all unpleasant to the taste.
Yours truly, &c.
H. G. D. Brown, Copish co., Miss.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [GRANADA, MS], August 28, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
Watermelon.--Cucurbita Citrullus: The
seeds of watermelon are employed, to a considerable extent, as a remedy in
strangury and other affections of the urinary passages, and they are also highly
esteemed by many experienced physicians as a valuable diuretic.
They are given in infusion, made with one or two ounces of the bruised
seeds to a pint of boiling water and taken when cold ad libitum.
As this is the season when watermelons are abundant, would it not be well
for all families to secure a sufficient supply of the seeds for medicinal
purposes. To preserve them, dry
them in the sun for two days taking them in at night.
SOUTHERN WATCHMAN [ATHENS, GA], September 10, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
Domestic
Medicines.
Some of the medical purveyors of the Confederate States are offering the
following prices for the following domestic medicines:
Poplar bark, 10c per lb.; wild cherry bark, 30c; dogwood bark, 30c;
sassafras bark, 25c; persimmon bark, 25c; willow bark, 20c; slippery elm bark,
30c; red oak bark, 10c; snake root, 50c; blackberry root 30c; queen's delight
root, 25c; blood root 30c; bone-set, 10c; pleurisy root, 25c.
Where bark is wanted, the inner bark of the trunk and branches, or the
bark of the root, is required. The
outer coarse bark from the trunk should be removed before the inner bark is
pealed off.
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS,
September 10, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Worth Knowing--In the present scarcity of quinine, it is worth knowing that the
berry of the common dogwood will break fevers as successfully as quinine. We know four plantations where they used it successfully last
summer. One pill is a dose.
The season is now at hand to collect and dry them for use, they will
prove invaluable at home and in the hospitals of our soldiers.
DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA],
September 10, 1861, p. 2, c. 3
We are informed that a ripe Dog-wood berry taken three times a day, just before
eating, will cure ague and fever. It
wouldn't cost much to try.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, September 24, 1862, p. 1, c. 7
Wanted Immediately.
At the Medical Purveyor's Office, a thousand pounds of Black or White Mustard Seed, and all the Castor Oil and Palma Christi Beans that can be brought us, for which the highest price will be paid, on delivery.[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, September 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
[From the Columbus Enquirer.]
Every Soldier his own Physician.
Editor Enquirer:--Horrified at the rapidity with
which our soldiers die in camp, we are tempted to give them the following
recipes, the result of some experience, in hopes that some may be saved by using
remedies simple, safe, and generally sure cures:
To Prevent Sickness.—Have a jug of salted vinegar, seasoned with
pepper, and take a mouthful just before going to bed, the salt and vinegar make
a near approach to the digestive gastric juice of the stomach, and are antidots
[sic] to many of the vegetable and miasmatic poisons.
For Pneumonia, Colds, and Caughs [sic].—Take half a cup or less of the
salted pepper vinegar, fill the cup nearly full of warm water, and then stir in
a raw well beaten egg slowly. Take
a mouthful every 15 or 20 minutes; in the intervals slowly suck on a piece of
alum. If the attack is violent, dip
a cloth in hot salted pepper vinegar and apply it round the throat, cover with
dry clothes to get up a steam, and do the same to the chest.
For Chills.—Put a tablespoonful of salted pepper vinegar in a cup of
war water, go to bed and drink; in two hours drink a cup of strong water willow
bark tea; in two hours more another tablespoonful of the vinegar and warm water,
and so on; alternating, until the fever is broken up.
After sweating, and before going into the out door air, the body ought
always to be wiped off with a cloth dipped in cold water.
Dogwood will do if water-willow cannot be obtained.
For Measles.—Put a small piece of yeast in a tumbler of warm sweetened
water, let it draw, and drink a mouthful every 15 or 30 minutes, and drink
plentifully of cold or hot catnip, balsam, hoarhound, or alder tea; and use in
place of oil or salts, one tablespoonful molasses, one teaspoonful lard, and one
teaspoonful salted pepper vinegar, melted together and taken warm.
Take once a day, if necessary—keep out of the wet and out-door air.
For Diarrhoea.—A teaspoonful of salted pepper vinegar every one or two
hours. Take a teaspoonful of the yellow puffs that grow rownd [sic]
oak twigs, powdered fine; take twice a day in one tablespoonful of brandy, wine
or cordial. If these yellow puffs
cannot be found, suck frequently on a piece of alum.
The quantity of alum depends upon the severity of the attack; take slowly
and little at a time.
For Camp Fevers.—One tablespoonful of salted pepper vinegar, slightly
seasoned, and put into a cup of warm water—drink freely and often, from 4 to 8
cupfuls a day, with fever or without fever.
Pour a cupful more or less of the salted pepper vinegar into cold water;
and keep the body, particularly the stomach and head, well bathed with a cloth
dipped in it. Give enemas of cold
water, and for oil use a tablespoonful of molasses, a teaspoonful lard, and a
teaspoonful pepper vinegar, melted together and taken warm.
If the pepper is to [sic] exciting for delicate patients, leave it out in
the drinks and bathings, and use simply the salt and vinegar in water, and very
little salt.
Antidote for Drunkenness: For
the Benefit of Officers—One cup of strong black Coffee, without milk or sugar,
and twenty drops of Laudanum. Repeat
the dose if necessary. Or take one
teaspoonful of Tincture Lobelia in a tumbler of milk; if taken every ten or
fifteen minutes it will act as an emetic; taken in longer intervals, say thirty
minutes, it will act as an antidote. The
Yankees declared that poisoned liquor was put on the counters in Newbern to
poison their soldiers. Nobody
doubts the liquor being poisoned, but it was made of poisons to sell to our
own Southern boys; and it is horrifying to think of the liquors now being
made down in cellars, of "sulphuric acid, strychnine, puckeye, tobacco
leaves, coloring matter and rain water."
For this poisoned liquor, the best antidote is an emetic, say lobelia and
warm salt and water, and then drink freely of sugared vinegar water.
For Snake Bites—The best thing is one teaspoonful of Lobelia and ten
drops of Ammonia, taken every few minutes, and a bottle filled with Lobelia and
Ammonia, stopped with the palm of the hand and warmed in a panful of hot water;
then apply the bottle to the bite, and it will draw out and antidote the poison. Either of these, Lobelia or Ammonia, will answer without the
other. Tobacco, Nightshade, or
Kurtle Burr, or Deer tongue, (a rough-leafed herb, in flower and appearance like
to hog artichoke) stowed in milk; drink the milk, using the rest as a poultice.
The last is an Indian remedy, and will cure in the agonies of death.
For the Chicken Cholera, Now Devastating Fowldom.—Put one or two
Jimpson or Jamestown week leaves, properly called Stramonium, into the water
trough every day—fresh leaves and fresh water.
This is one of the triumphs of Homoepathy, for we were just from a
perusal of one of their works, and finding that the chickens died and made no
signs of sickness, except holding the head down, we concluded the head must be
the seat of the plague, and reading that stramonium affected the head with mania
and stupor, we tried it, and have not lost a chicken since the using.
If other papers will copy these recipes, they will save many lives, now
sacrificed to the negligence of salaried physicians.
The Eastern monarch's plan ought to be adopted, to strike off a certain
per cent. of a Doctor's salary every time he looses [sic] a patient—that would
soon stop the feast of Death!
X.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, September
30, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
From
the Northern Papers.
Charleston in War Times--As Seen by a Yankee Lady.
The New York Journal of Commerce prints the following as the substance
of a conversation with Mrs. Livingston, of New York, who was brought from
Savannah under a rebel flag of truce, after a sojourn of several months in
Dixie:
Mrs. Livingston, whom I find to be a very intelligent lady (and who is
the wife of a Captain in the Federal army), says she has been treated with
uniform kindness and respect since her detention in the South, which dates back
to the commencement of the war. From personal observation, she believes Savannah may be
taken, but Charleston, never. . . . The blockade is ineffectual; she has seen
three steamers enter Charleston harbor on one day--and during a short visit at
Charleston, one steamer made three trips to Nassau, N. P., bringing medical
stores enough to last the entire army a full year. . . .
[LITTLE
ROCK] WEEKLY ARKANSAS GAZETTE, October 4, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
Prepared Flour for Diarrhoea.—Tie up a pint of flour very tightly in
cloth and put into boiling water. When
untied, the gluten of the flour will be found in a mass on the outside of the
ball. Remove this and the inside
will prove a dry powder, which is very astringent.
Grate this and wet a portion of it in cold milk.
Boil a pint of milk, and when it is at the boiling point stir in as much
of the wet mixture as will thicken it to the quality of palatable porridge.
Stir in a little salt, and let this be the sole article of diet until the
disease has disappeared. Relieve it
first by toasted bread, or very delicate mutton broth, which latter is also
astringent. If the disease has not
progressed to the degree inflammation, this diet will generally preclude the use
of medicine.
GALVESTON
WEEKLY NEWS, October 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
We hear that the scarcity of medicines some time since so much complained
of, is now obviated. We learn on
good authority that there is now an unusual large supply of medicines in the
State, in the hands of merchants.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, October 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
Diphtheria.—A lady sends the following remedy for this fearful disease,
which is prevailing in some parts of the country.
She says that she has known it to be used in many cases, with the most
beneficial result:
"Take a handful of alder root, the same quantity of dogwood root,
and the same quantity of the bark of persimmon root.
Boil them with a pint of vinegar down to a half pint, then add a very
little water, a small lump of alum and a little honey, use as a gargle."
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, October 8, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
From the Yorkville Enquirer.
Castor Oil.
Because the season is near when the Palma Christi
(Castor Oil) bean of the present year's crop will be ready for use, it is proper
that all persons engaged in its production be informed of the processes by which
the said bean may be brought into use as a medicine.
When the capsule is about to expel the bean it is ripe; the ripe bunches should
be removed from the stalk with a knife, and laid thinly over a hard and dry
floor of earth, plank, &c., on a hot and sunny day, when the heat of the sun
will cause the capsules to expel the contained beans.
Now take away the straw, and winnow away the chaff.
The cleanest beans are now to be beaten in a mortar with a pestle, or
ground in a mill to a good degree of fineness.—The mass may now be made to
give out the contained oil, either by decoction or expression.
1. By decoction. Put
the loose mass in an iron pot, and add a sufficient water; or inclose [sic] it
in a coarse bag and suspend it in the water, and boil it until the oil is
extracted, then carefully skim it from the surface of the water from time to
time.
2. By expression. Subject
the mass of ground beans to hard pressure when inclosed [sic] in cloths, by
means of wedges; or, by a screw or lever, when inclosed [sic] in a hollow
cylinder made of iron, or wood, lined with sheet iron or tin of sufficient
capacity, and receive the oil in suitable vessels.
To clarify the oil. Boil it
with a little water added, and remove the coagulated albumen and gummy water
from the surface by skimming. Let
the boiling be not carried too far, or it will alter the quality of the oil and
render it acrid and unfit for medicine.
The beaten beans may be used as a purgative, but an over dose is sure to
act powerfully as a cathartic, and often as an emetic.
Three beans (a little more or less) is generally enough for a dose. Such is the information which I have derived from other
persons and from the books upon the matter.
E. A. Crenshaw.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], October 14, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
Diphtheria.
We learn that ulcerated sore throat, (thought by some to be diphtheria,)
is prevalent in portions of Banks and Franklin counties. We find the following remedy for diphtheria in our exchanges,
which is said to have been used with good result:
Take a handful of alder root, the same quantity of dogwood root, and the
same quantity of the bark of persimmon root.
Boil them with a pint of vinegar down to a half pint, then add a very
little water, a small lump of alum and a little honey, use as a gargle.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE,
October 14, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
WORTH KNOWING.--In the present scarcity of quinine, it is worth knowing
that the berry of the common dogwood will break fever as successfully as
quinine. We know four plantations
where they used it successfully, last summer.
One pill is a dose. The
season is now at hand to collect and dry them for use, they will prove
invaluable at home and in the hospital of our soldiers.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, October
21, 1862, p. 1, c. 1-2
Richmond, Friday, October 17.
. . . The Medical Purveyor's Office in this city, admirably managed by Dr.
Johns, is well worth a visit. It is
an immense establishment, and has done and is still doing an enormous amount of
work. Its supplies are derived
mainly from England, and the clerks tell me the English preparations are so
superior to those of the Yankees that even the English bottles can be told in
the dark by their feel and finish. The
medical stores captured by Jackson in Winchester, when he routed Banks, have
helped us out greatly. Among the
good things supplied to Yankee soldiers, are prepared soup and coffee.
A spoonful of the one put into hot water makes a splendid, rich vegetable
soup in five minutes; a spoonful of the other, used in the same way--both are in
the form of powder--makes an excellent cup of coffee, already sweetened and
creamed, complete in all respects, and far better than you get at hotel and
boarding house tables.
Next door to the Purveyor's, in Pearl street, is the Clothing House of
the Quartermaster's Department, another great establishment.
Here, every morning, may be seen a throng of servant girls, little white
girls and boys, poor women of the city, and even buggies from the country, all
in quest of bundles of soldiers' clothing, which are cut out and sent to all
parts of the city and suburbs to be sewed. . . .
Hermes.
MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, October 22,
1862, p. 2, c. 4
Physician Curing Diphtheria by the Suction of their Mouths.—It is not
long since that one of the most promising of the younger members of the medical
profession sacrificed his life to the voluntarily contracted contagion of
diphtheria, in an attempt to clear, by the suction of his own lips, the throat
of an infant, dying strangled by the exudations of that fearful disease.
Notwithstanding the proved danger of this expedient, however, it has not
lacked, and will never lack, imitators, for the sole reason that it is the
promptest and often the only means of saving life.
The expedient, notwithstanding the operator well knew its danger, was
practiced, and with complete success in rescuing the child, by Dr. Edmond
Bessette, a young Surgeon of Augouleme. What
adds to the satisfaction of the account, the child was not only saved by his
heroism, but Dr. Bessette suffered no ill effects.
This is attributed to his immediately rinsing his mouth and throat with
strong brandy. The case is reported
not by the noble young operator himself, but by his superior in the Augouleme
Hospital, Dr. Claude Gigon.—Medical Magazine.
[LITTLE
ROCK] WEEKLY ARKANSAS GAZETTE, October 25, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
Attention All.
The Medical Purveyor's Department, Little Rock,
Ark., is in need of the following herbs, &c., for the use of the army, for
which the following prices will be paid on delivery to Dr. E. Silverberg,
Medical Purveyor at Little Rock, or
to Dr. C. O. Curtman, at the Chemical Laboratory, Arkadelphia, Ark.
Persons residing in districts where they can be obtained, will please
give their attention to collecting and saving them.
The articles must be clean and well dried:
Poppy. ripe capsules
1 00 per lb.
Lettuce, garden, dried juice,
1 00 "
"
Marsh rosemary, root,
30 "
"
Virginia Snakeroot, root,
75 cts per lb.
Juniper, tops,
25
"
"
Red Cedar, tops,
25 "
"
Prickly Ash, bark, 50 "
"
Robin's Rye or Hair Cap Moss,
30 "
"
Seneca Snake Root,
60 "
"
Puccoon, or Blood Root,
40
"
"
Wild Cherry Bark, 30
"
"
Indian Turnip,
10 "
"
American Ipecac, root,
1 00 per lb.
Blooming Spurge, root,
50 cts. per lb.
Indian Physic, root.
25 "
"
Indian Tobacco,
25 "
"
Black Snake Root,
50 "
"
Poke Root,
20 "
"
Cranesbill,
20
"
"
Blackberry Root,
15 "
"
American Gentian,
15 "
"
Dogwood Bark,
25 "
"
Fever Root,
20 "
"
American Hellebore Root, 20
"
"
Peppermint,
20 "
"
Skunk Cabbage, root, 20
"
"
Jamestown Weed, seed and leaves,
20
"
"
Hemlock Leaves,
20 "
"
Wintergreen or Partridge Berry,
50 "
"
Horsemint,
20 "
"
Sassafras, bark of root,
20 " "
Sassafras pith
5 00 " "
Ginseng root,
50 "
"
Sarsaparilla root,
75 "
"
Lavender, leaves and stem,
20 "
"
Flax Seed,
2 50 per bush.
White Oak Bark,
10 cts. per lb.
Meadow Sweet,
25 "
"
American Columbo root,
50 "
"
Willow Bark,
20 "
"
Tulip Tree Bark or Wild Poplar,
10 "
"
Persimmon Bark, from Root,
20 "
"
Centaury Herb,
20 "
"
Boneset,
20 "
"
Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy root,
30 "
"
Dandelion Root,
30 "
"
Hops,
1 00 "
"
Wild Senna
50 "
"
May Apple or Mandrake,
75 "
"
Butternut, inner bark of root, 50
"
"
Henbane, leaves and seed,
75 "
"
Barberry leaves,
50 "
"
Fleabane,
25 "
"
Scotch Broom, tops of stems,
30 "
"
Pink Root,
50 "
"
Worm Seed,
25
"
"
Calamus,
25 "
"
Wild Ginger or Canada Snake Root,
25 "
"
Queen's Root,
50 "
"
Slippery Elm,
30 "
"
Red Pepper,
1 00 " "
Anise Seed,
50 "
"
Spear Mint,
25 "
"
Bitter Sweet, or Woody Night Shade
50 "
"
Particular attention called to the following articles:
Senega, Sanguinaria, Asclepias Tuberosa, Terpentaria, Geranium Maculatum,
Conium, Hyoscyanns, Gentian, Columbo, Pinckneya Pubens, Eupatorium, Thunnlus,
Lavanula, Castor Oil Beans, Mustard Seeds.
Howard Smith,
Surgeon
and Medical Purveyor,
Trans-Mississippi District.
October 25, 1862.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 29, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
Attention All.
The Medical Purveyor's Department, Little Rock,
Ark., is in need of the following herbs, &c., for the use of the army, for
which the following prices will be paid on delivery to Dr. E. Silverberg,
Medical Purveyor at Little Rock, or
to Dr. C. O. Curtman, at the Chemical Laboratory, Arkadelphia, Ark.
Persons residing in districts where they can be obtained, will please
give their attention to collecting and saving them.
The articles must be clean and well dried:
Poppy. ripe capsules
1 00 per lb.
Lettuce, garden, dried juice,
1 00 "
"
Marsh rosemary, root,
30 "
"
Virginia Snakeroot, root,
75 cts per lb.
Juniper, tops,
25
"
"
Red Cedar, tops,
25 "
"
Prickly Ash, bark, 50 "
"
Robin's Rye or Hair Cap Moss,
30 "
"
Seneca Snake Root,
60 "
"
Puccoon, or Blood Root,
40
"
"
Wild Cherry Bark, 30
"
"
Indian Turnip,
10 "
"
American Ipecac, root,
1 00 per lb.
Blooming Spurge, root,
50 cts. per lb.
Indian Physic, root.
25 "
"
Indian Tobacco,
25 "
"
Black Snake Root,
50 "
"
Poke Root,
20 "
"
Cranesbill,
20
"
"
Blackberry Root,
15 "
"
American Gentian,
15 "
"
Dogwood Bark,
25 "
"
Fever Root,
20 "
"
American Hellebore Root, 20
"
"
Peppermint,
20 "
"
Skunk Cabbage, root, 20
"
"
Jamestown Weed, seed and leaves,
20
"
"
Hemlock Leaves,
20 "
"
Wintergreen or Partridge Berry,
50 "
"
Horsemint,
20 "
"
Sassafras, bark of root,
20 " "
Sassafras pith
5 00 " "
Ginseng root,
50 "
"
Sarsaparilla root,
75 "
"
Lavender, leaves and stem,
20 "
"
Flax Seed,
2 50 per bush.
White Oak Bark,
10 cts. per lb.
Meadow Sweet,
25 "
"
American Columbo root,
50 "
"
Willow Bark,
20 "
"
Tulip Tree Bark or Wild Poplar,
10 "
"
Persimmon Bark, from Root,
20 "
"
Centaury Herb,
20 "
"
Boneset,
20 "
"
Butterfly Weed or Pleurisy root,
30 "
"
Dandelion Root,
30 "
"
Hops,
1 00 "
"
Wild Senna
50 "
"
May Apple or Mandrake,
75 "
"
Butternut, inner bark of root, 50
"
"
Henbane, leaves and seed,
75 "
"
Barberry leaves,
50 "
"
Fleabane,
25 "
"
Scotch Broom, tops of stems,
30 "
"
Pink Root,
50 "
"
Worm Seed,
25
"
"
Calamus,
25 "
"
Wild Ginger or Canada Snake Root,
25 "
"
Queen's Root,
50 "
"
Slippery Elm,
30 "
"
Red Pepper,
1 00 " "
Anise Seed,
50 "
"
Spear Mint,
25 "
"
Bitter Sweet, or Woody Night Shade
50 "
"
Particular attention called to the following articles:
Senega, Sanguinaria, Asclepias Tuberosa, Terpentaria, Geranium Maculatum,
Conium, Hyoscyanns, Gentian, Columbo, Pinckneya Pubens, Eupatorium, Thunnlus,
Lavanula, Castor Oil Beans, Mustard Seeds.
Howard Smith,
Surgeon
and Medical Purveyor,
Trans-Mississippi District.
October 25, 1862.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], November 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A Certain Cure for Colds.--A remedy never known to fail.
Three cents worth of licorice, two cents worth of rock candy, three cents
worth of gum arabic. Put them in a
quart of water, simmer them till thoroughly dissolved; then add three cents
worth of paregoric and a like quantity of antimonial wine.
Let it cool, and sip whenever the cough is troublesome. It is pleasant, infallible, cheap and good.
Its cost is only fifteen cents.
We notice the above in our exchanges and suppose it is either a
Homeopathic prescription, or that it has not been revised since the advance in
the price of drugs.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], November 7, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Remedy
in Diphtheria.
Take a handful of alder root, the same quantity of dogwood root, and the
same quantity of persimmon root. Boil
them with a pint of vinegar down to a half pint, then add a very little water, a
small lump of alum and a little honey, and use as a gargle.
We find the above prescription extensively published as a remedy that is
said to have done good in diphtheria. It
is a harmless gargle and a good remedy in cases of common or epidemic "sore
throat," which constitute the "diphtheria" of most physicians who
are famous for curing the malady, as well as of the unprofessional.
Below we give another prescription which has long been before the people,
and is entitled to confidence, and trial, in the absence of a skillful
physician.
Diphtheria and Its Cures.--The distinguishing mark of this malady from
other diseases of the throat, is the formation of a membrane which increases
gradually until the patient is strangled to death.
It is sometimes accompanied with ulceration and great bodily prostration.
To prevent the formation of membrane is to arrest and cure the disease.
The Cincinnati Press gives the following simple remedy:
In the early stages of the complaint, which is always accompanied by a
soreness and swelling of the throat, let the patient use a simple solution of
salt and water, as a gargle, every fifteen minutes.
At the same time moisten a piece of flannel with a solution of the same
kind, made as warm as the patient can bear it, and bind it around his throat,
renewing it as often as the gargle is administered, and in the meanwhile,
sprinkle fine salt between the flannel and the neck.
Use inwardly some tonic or stimulant, either separately, or if the
prostration be great, use both together. The
treatment as may be seen, is extremely simple, and if used in the earlier stages
of the disease, will effect a complete cure.
GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS,
November 19, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Houston, Nov. 14, 1862.
In Store, and to be received by the 20th inst., the following:
3880 lb Saleratus, in 1/2 & 1 lb. papers,
50 lb Chlorate of Potass,
400 do Gum of Camphor,
100 do Chloroform,
56 oz. Morphone, (Rosengarten's,)
500 do Quinine,
160 lb Carbonate of Ammonia,
56 do Iodide of Potass,
2000 gals. Turpentine,
210 bbls Rosin, No. 1,
56 lb. Sub Nitrate Bismirch,
50,000 Bottle Corks, Taper; 10 bxs Powatan Pipes,
10 bxs Olive Oil, (crop 1861)
George & Davidson.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, November 26, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Persimmons gathered and made into a syrup or cordial, are a specific
remedy for dysentery. If the
persimmons are not quite ripe so much the better.
Gather, wash, put in boiling water, strain through a coarse cloth and add
sugar.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, December 3, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
We find in the Selma Reporter the following recipe, which is said
to be a sure cure for small pox:
Take one grain each of powdered Foxglove (Digitalis) and sulphate of
zinc. Rub them together thoroughly in a mortar with 5 or 6 drops of
water; this done, add 4 or 5 ounces of water, and sweeten with sugar.
Dose—a tablespoonful for an adult, and one or two teaspoonfuls for a
child every two or three hours until the symptoms of the disease vanish.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, December 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Coal oil or Kerosene oil is said to be an excellent remedy for
diphtheria. The throat should be
rubbed with the oil freely and frequently.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
December 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Fresh Medicines, &c., &c. Just
received a small additional assortment of calomel, glycerine, mercurial
ointment, quinine, chlorate potas, Nitrate Silver, syrup iodide iron, Mur. Tr.
Iron. Also, assorted trusses,
single and double, tooth forcepts, &c., iodine potas, paregoric, laundanum,
Mrs. Winslow's syrup, cherry pectoral, syrup sarsaparilla, cod liver jelly, on
hand. Personal attention given to
Prescriptions at the Cotton Square Drug Store.
Dec. 11.
WASHINGTON
[AR] TELEGRAPH, December 31, 1862
BEESWAX
WANTED.
The
medical purveyor at Little Rock wishes to purchase Beeswax for the purpose of
making cerates and ointments for wounded soldiers.
The highest cash price will be paid for all delivered to the
undersigned.
W. H. ETTER.
Washington, Dec. 24, 1862.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], December 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Cure of Diphtheria.--The Richmond Whig says:
"A gentleman who tried it says that Kerosine, or coal oil, is an
almost infallible remedy for the terrible and fatal disease.--Diphtheria.
The remedy is to be applied externally, by rubbing the throat with the
oil freely and frequently. It has
cured numerous cases, as many probably, as fifty, in one neighborhood where our
informant lives, and he knows of but one case in which it failed.
He regards it as the best remedy known for this disease.
The remedy is a simple one and easily tried."
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, December 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Cure for diptheria: Rub the
throat with Kreosene [sic] or coal oil. Keep
it wet, and if the cloth is warm, so much the better.
[LITTLE
ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, December 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
We find the following in an exchange, and would like to try it when we
have the toothache. We have a piece
of zinc, and if any of our friends have a quarter about their clothes, we would
like to borrow it, just to try the experiment:
Cure for Tooth Ache.—Take a piece of sheet zinc about the size of a
fourpence halfpenny, and a piece of silver—say a quarter of a dollar, place
them together and hold them between and contiguous to the defective tooth, in a
few minutes the pain will be gone as if by magic.
The zinc and silver acting as a galvanic batter, will produce on the
nerves of the tooth sufficient electricity to establish a current and
consequently relieves the pain.
SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], February 26, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
Camp Itch--A Remedy Therefor.--A gentleman who has had much experience in the
treatment of that loathsome disease, the itch, furnishes the following recipe
for its cure:
For the benefit of our soldiers suffering with camp itch, if you think
proper you may publish the following: Take
iodide of potassium 60 grains, lard 2 ounces, mix well, and after washing the
body well with warm soap suds, rub the ointment over the person three times a
week. In seven or eight days the
Acarus, or itch insect, will be destroyed.--In this recipe the horrible effects
of the old sulphur ointment are obviated.
SELMA
MORNING REPORTER, March 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 3
Valuable
Recipe.—A lady friend has sent us for publication the following recipe for
making an invaluable liniment. She
says it is a certain remedy for swollen breasts, (in all cases,) and if used in
time will prevent breasts from rising. It
is good for swellings, bruises and sores of any kind—will cure in a short
time—but for swollen breasts especially.
The liniment is recommended by several ladies of our acquaintance:
Take one
ounce gum camphor; eight ounces gum myrrh; two ounces cayenne pepper; two pints
brandy, whisky or alcohol. After
pulverising the solid articles, put all, with the brandy or alcohol, in a stone
jug; set the jug in a kettle of boiling water, and let it remain therein,
unstopped, about thirty minutes; then add three tablespoonsful of turpentine,
and a small teacupful of sweet oil. It
will then be ready for use.
Bathe the
parts affected from ten to twenty minutes, according to the severity of the
case, before a fire; then wet a flannel with it and apply it to the affected
part.—Repeat the application every twelve or twenty hours until well.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, March 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Manufacture of Medicines.—We were equally gratified and surprised on a
recent visit to Montgomery by an inspection of the chemical laboratory attached
to the Confederate States Medical Purveyor's office in that city.
Our esteemed townsman, Dr. W. H. Anderson, is the head of that
establishment. Besides attending to
the extensive business of this office as Medical Purveyor, and purchasing and
distributing immense stocks of medicines and supplies of all sorts for the
military hospitals, he has improvised at small expense a chemical laboratory,
where he is making medicines which either cannot be bought at all, or which are
very scarce and high priced. During
the last summer and fall he advertised for medicinal barks and plants, the
growth of our Southern forests, and these were brought into him in large
quantities, from far and near, thus giving profitable employment to many men,
women and children in the country.
These are now being manufactured into extracts, tinctures and other
articles indispensable for hospital use. Many
other medicines are being manufactured besides those made from domestic plants,
and all with a very great saving to the government.
Tannin, a very scarce article and worth in the market $8 per ounce, is
produced at this depot at the cost of $12 per pound.
Chloroform, an article of prime necessity in surgery, is made for $4 per
pound, the market price being $20. Sweet
spirits of nitre, an article much used in the army, and exceedingly scarce, and
bringing in the market $6 per pound, is made here at leas than ninety cents per
pound.
The laboratory, as we have remarked, has been "improvised" and
got up with simple apparatus and great economy.
The whole has not cost the Government more than one thousand dollars, and
the supplies it turns out afford a saving to the Government of not less than
three hundred dollars a day.
Such examples of official industry and tact are worthy of public mention
and high praise. If every
administrative army officer had labored as faithfully to save the Government
money, it would make a difference of millions upon millions in the footing up of
the Confederate National debt.—Advertiser & Register.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, March 7, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Wanted.
Some of our hospitals are much in want of red pepper, sage, cotton strips
for bandages, and other articles useful to the sick or wounded.
Let those who have any of these articles send them to the Republican
Office without delay for distribution among the needy.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
March 17, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Just received, cotton cards, quinine, toilet soap, spool cotton, shoe-thread,
and matches. J. M. Benbrook, at
Hewit & Coulson's old stand. mar17
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, March 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
The following receipt we are assured from an entirely reliable source,
makes a most useful and excellent Ointment for sores, ulcers &c.
It has been furnished by a patriotic lady of Galveston, Mrs. Arnold, who
is anxious that it may be found useful to our soldiers. We recommend its trial.
1 Ounce Venice Turpentine; 1 ounce Precipatate [sic]; 1 ounce Castor Oil;
1 ½ ounce Mutton Tallow; 1 ounce lard; 1 spoonful Spirits of Turpentine to be
sell stirred in a warm earthen dish.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, March 18, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
Typhoid Fever in the Army.—Every day we hear sad tidings of death among
the gallant boys in the army from that scourge, typhoid fever.
A gentleman of the medical profession new in this city, a citizen of
Texas, expresses his surprise that the potent remedy of spirits of turpentine
has made so little progress in the country for the cure of this ailment. My friend, Dr. R., a man of splendid professional ability,
says that if any remedy can ever be called a specific, spirits of turpentine may
be so considered in case of typhoid fever.
He begins with small doses of about ten drops every two hours, and
continues the remedy in large doses, giving as high as a teaspoonful at a dose,
till the right action is seen on the skin.
Spirits of nitre may be needed to relieve strangury apt to follow the
administration of turpentine, but nothing further is ever needed.—Atlanta
Confederacy.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
March 20, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Quinine. On consignment, two
hundred ounces Power & Wieghtman's Quinine, for sale by P. H. McGraw. mar20.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, March 25, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Our contemporary of the Marshall Republican reminds his readers of the
importance of raising a good supply of mustard.
It is very easily raised in this climate, and is valuable, not only as a
condiment, but for various medical purposes.
Let us remember that we must now raise or make nearly everything we want,
or else do without.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
March 28, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Blackberry and Wine Cordial. We
avail ourselves of the kindness of a friend to publish the following excellent
receipt for making cordial. It is
recommended as a delightful beverage, and as infallible specific for diarrhoea
or ordinary disease of the bowels:
Receipt. To half a bushel of
blackberries, well mashed, add a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of
cinnamon, two ounces of cloves; pulverize well, mix, and boil slowly until
properly done; then strain or squeeze the juice through homespun or flannel, and
add to each pint of the juice one pound of the loaf-sugar; boil again for some
time, take it off, and while cooling, add half a gallon of best Cognac brandy.
Blackberry Wine.--The following is said to be an excellent receipt for
the manufacture of superior wine from Blackberries:
Measure your berries and bruise them, to every gallon adding one quart of
boiling water; let the mixture stand twenty-four hours, stirring occasionally;
then strain off the liquor into a cask, to every gallon adding two pounds of
sugar; cork tight, and let stand till following October, and you will have wine
ready for use, without any further
straining or boiling, that will make lips smack as they never smacked under
similar influence, before.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
March 28, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Blackberry and Wine Cordial. We
avail ourselves of the kindness of a friend to publish the following excellent
receipt for making cordial. It is
recommended as a delightful beverage, and as infallible specific for diarrhoea
or ordinary disease of the bowels:
Receipt. To half a bushel of
blackberries, well mashed, add a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of
cinnamon, two ounces of cloves; pulverize well, mix, and boil slowly until
properly done; then strain or squeeze the juice through homespun or flannel, and
add to each pint of the juice one pound of the loaf-sugar; boil again for some
time, take it off, and while cooling, add half a gallon of best Cognac brandy.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [JACKSON, MS], April 4, 1863, p. 2, c. 7
To
The Ladies!
Confederate States of America, }
Surgeon General's Office,
}
Richmond, Va., March 19th, 1863.}
Circular.]
Medical Purveyors will make endeavors through cards published in
newspapers, to induce the ladies throughout the South to interest themselves in
the culture of the Garden Poppy. They
may thus render the Confederacy essential service.
[Signed]
S. P. Moore,
Surgeon General, C.S.A.
------
Medical Purveyor's Office,
}
Jackson, Mississippi, April 2d, 1863}
In compliance with the above order from the Surgeon General, I would
respectfully call the attention of the ladies of Mississippi and Louisiana to
the importance of the cultivation of this plant, the juice of which exuding from
the punctured capsules, when sufficiently hardened and carefully put up, may be
sent to this depot.
Richard Potts,
Surgeon C.S.A. and Medical Purveyor,
ap4 1m
Department Miss and East Louisiana.
NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER,
April 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
How to cure chills. Strong
hoarhound tea well boiled and drank freely, will cure the most obstinate case of
chills on record. It is easily
obtained, and the remedy should be known to every poor soldier throughout the
Confederacy.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, April 8, 1863, p. 1. c. 6
Ladies throughout South, are requested to interest themselves in the
culture of the Garden Poppy, and thus render the Confederacy essential service.
The juice extracted from the punctured capsules, when sufficiently
hardened, should be carefully put up and forwarded to the nearest Medical
Purveyor's Department.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, April 15, 1863, p. 3, c. 3
Strong hoarhound tea, well boiled and drank freely, will cure the most
obstinate cases of chills on record. It
is easily obtained, and the remedy should be known to every poor soldier
throughout the Confederacy.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
April 20, 1863, p. 4, c. 5
Cultivation
of the Garden Poppy.
To the Editor of the Mercury: As
the prospect of cultivating the Garden Poppy on an extensive scale is very
encouraging, and having received a number of letters asking information relative
to the planting, management and preparation of Opium, I send you the following
directions, which I have extracted from a work, recently published, entitled
"Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests," by Surgeon F. Peyre
Porcher, C. S. Army.
Thomas Lining,
Medical Purveyor, C. S. A.
Garden Poppy.--The variety most preferred is that whose heads or
capsules, when ripe, assume a slightly bluish tinge.
The color of the flower is unimportant.
The seed is either white or black; some persons think that the black
seeded variety is more productive, others give the preference to the white in
this respect. The structure of the
capsules is of more consequence; for there is a variety in which the envelope of
the capsule dehises [sic?] spontaneously when ripe, so that the seed is easily
shed; and another, in which the seed remains enclosed within the capsules, which
must be opened in order to extract it. The
Poppy may become one of the most profitable corps, if we have the means of
disposing of the seed, or if we knew how to extract the oil.
By proper cultivation it might be made to produce from nine to ten
bushels of seed per acre, and one bushel yields twenty-four pounds of good
oil.--This oil, especially the first portion, which is cold expressed, and mixed
in the mill with slices of apple, is doubtless the purest kind of oil for the
table, and the most agreeable that is known.
It is inferior to none excepting the finest Nice or Lucca oil.
It is preferable to the second rate oil of those places, and the peculiar
taste of the olive oil may be imparted to it by the addition of a small quantity
of that oil of superior quality.--The oil of the Poppy is bland, and not
narcotic. It is used both for food
and light, and is considered a fifth more valuable than that of the Coliza.
The cakes remaining after the expression of the oil are valuable for the
fattening of swine, and the stalks for fuel.
The ashes which remains after burning it are of the best kind for manure.
The oil expressed in cold weather is much superior to that obtained in
warm weather, and the two must not be mixed.
The largest seeds, which are employed for medical and domestic use, are
obtained from the single-flowered kind, not only for the purpose of extracting
Opium, but also on account of the bland esculent oil which is expressed from the
seeds, which are simply emulsive, and contain none of the narcotic principle.
For the latter purpose, if no other, its culture in this country is
worthy of attention. The annual
amount of Opium imported into the United States is valued at upwards of
$407,000. The Poppy, it is said, produces better when planted in the
fall. The seeds should be planted
in the month of September, by which means the plants attain sufficient size to
endure the cold of winter; they were also found to produce more opium than those
planted in March. Having a
tap-root, their size will consequently be proportioned to the depth of earth
they are enabled to penetrate--hence the necessity of land that will admit of
deep ploughing. The finest of the
surface, too, is very essential. As
the seed is small, and the plants on their first coming up so exceedingly
tender, that the brush harrow should always be used after those which are
commonly employed. They should be
so cultivated that the gatherer may not disturb the plants in collecting the
juice. The successful cultivation
of the plant, however, requires the provision of a good soil, appropriate manure
and careful management. In
obtaining Gum Opium, the capsules are cut longitudinally only through the skin,
though some advise that it should be done from below upwards.
The incisions should be made in the afternoon, the hardened gum being
scraped off the next morning. If
the incisions be too deep, the juice passes within the poppy head.
I n England, forty pounds were made in one season by one person.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [JACKSON, MS], April 22, 1863, p. 2, c. 7
J. N. Cannon & Co. have just received--
500 ounces Quinine,
100 ounces Morphine,
200 pounds Calomel,
200 pounds Blue mass,
100 pounds Green tea,
500 pounds Lamp Black,
200 lbs best Glue
12 dozen Medicinal Brandy,
500 assorted Violin Strings.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, April 23, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
A gentleman who has administered the following remedy for diphtheria,
says it has always proved effectual in affording speedy relief:
Take a common tobacco pipe, place a live coal within the bowl, drop a
little tar upon the coal, and let the patient draw smoke into the mouth and
discharge it through the nostrils. The
remedy is safe and simple, and should be tried whenever occasion may require.
Many valuable lives may be saved, the informant confidently believes, by
prompt treatment as above.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
April 29, 1863, p. 1, c. 1-2
Resources
of Our Fields and Forests.
In compliance with the suggestion of the Surgeon General, we begin to-day
the publication of extracts from the valuable work of Dr. Porcher.
We call the special attention of farmers and planters, of house-wives,
gardeners, and all who deal with herbs, to these extracts, in the hope that they
will devote themselves with energy to the patriotic task of collecting and
preparing medicinal plants for the use of the soldiers in the field and in
hospitals. A vast deal of good may
be done, and an immense stock of native medicines may be gathered before next
winter sets in, if the hints here given are attended to.
Of course, a fair price will be paid for all medicines, and a ready sale
will be found for them:
Sassafras.--Whilst engaged in active duties as Surgeon to the Holcombe
Legion, whenever a soldier suffered from measles, pneumonia, bronchitis, or
cold, his companion or nurse was directed to procure the roots and leaves of
sassafras, and a tea made with this supplied that of flax seed or gum arabic.
Bene (Sesamum).--The planters and farmers throughout the Confederate
States should save and cure all the leaves of the Bene now growing, to be used
in camp dysentery, in colds, coughs, etc., among our soldiers, in place of gum
arabic or flax seed. One or two
leaves in a tumbler of water imparts their mucilagenous properties.
Dogwood (Cornus Florida)--Since the war, the bark has been employed with
great advantage in place of quinine--by physicians in Sumter District, S. C.,
and elsewhere--particularly in cases of low forms of fever, and in dysentery, on
the river courses, of a typhoid character.
It is given as a substitute for Peruvian bark.
In fact, in almost any case where the Cinchona bark was used.
Wild Jalap (Podophyllum Peltatum).--This can be used as a laxative in
place of rhubarb or jalap, or whenever a purgative is required.
Every planter in the Confederate States can produce the opium, mustard
and flax seed that is required, either for the army or home use.
Podophyllum peltatum, L. Wild jalap; May Apple.--We have employed this plant among
negros as a substitute for jalap and the ordinary cathartics, and find that it
answers every purpose, being easily prepared by the person having charge of
them. Thirty grains of the root in
substance were given, or an infusion of one ounce in a pint of water, of which a
wine glassful three times a day is the dose; employing the Liriodendron
tulipiferaas a substitute for quinine during the stage of intermission of all
mild cases of intermittent fever. We
would invite the particular attention of planters to the extensive use of these
medicines upon their plantations. We
have caused them to be used on one on which upward of a hundred negros resided,
and we found that during a period of seven months, including the warm months of
summer, they were used in all cases, and apparently fulfilled every indication.
Papaver Sumniferum. Opium
Poppy.--"The poppy may become one of the most profitable corps if we have
the means of disposing of the seed, or if we knew how to extract the oil.
By proper cultivation it may be made to produce from nine to ten bushels
of seed per acres, and one bushel yields twenty-four pounds of good oil.
This oil, especially the first portion, which is cold pressed, and mixed
in the mill with slices of apple, is doubtless the purest kind of oil for the
table, and the most agreeable that is known.
It is inferior to none, excepting the finest Nice or Lucca oil.
It is preferable to the second rate oil of those places, and the peculiar
taste of olive oil may be imparted to it by the addition of a small quantity of
that oil of superfine quality." The
largest heads which are employed for medical or domestic use, are obtained from
the single flowered kind, not only for the purpose of extracting opium, but also
on account of the bland, escurent [sic] oil that is expressed from the seeds,
which are simply emulsive, and contain none of the narcotic principle.
For the latter purpose, if no other, its culture in this country is
worthy of attention. Certainly, it
is an object worthy of public encouragement, as the annual amount of opium
imported into the United States is valued at upward of $407,000.
If this was true some years since, how much more essential to us is its
production now (1862), when gum opium and morphine are so very difficult to
obtain? Occupied in researches upon
these subjects during the month of June, under the order of the Surgeon-General,
I was enabled to collect, in a few days, more than an ounce of gum opium,
apparently of very excellent quality, having all the smell and taste of opium
(which I have administered to the sick), from specimens of the red poppy found
growing in a garden near Stateburgh, S. C.
I have little doubt that all we require could be gathered by ladies and
children within the Confederate States, if only the slightest attention was paid
to cultivating the plants in our gardens. It
thrives well and bears abundantly. It
is not generally known that the gum which hardens after incising the capsules is
then ready for use, and may be prescribed as gum opium, or laudanum and
paregoric may be made from it, with alcohol or whisky. The poppy, it is said,
produces better when planted in the fall.
In obtaining gum opium, the capsules are cut longitudinally only through
the skin, though some advise that it should be done from below upwards.
I find longitudinal incisions the most economical.
This is generally done late in the afternoon, the hardened gum being
scraped off early next morning. Boys
and girls can easily attend to this. If
the capsules are cut only on one side, the same operation may be repeated on the
other side, and a fresh supply of opium obtained.
A knife with three or four edges, cutting about the twelfth or fourteenth
part of an inch, is some times used. If
the incision is too deep, the juice passes within the poppy head.
Liriodendron tulipifera, L. Tulip tree; white wood; poplar.
Grows in swamps; diffused. Collected
in St. John's, Charleston District; Columbia; Newbern.
Fl. June.
This plant is tonic diuretic, and diaphoretic, and is generally
considered one of the most valuable of the substitutes for Peruvian bark.
Dose of bark xx to xxx grains. It
is a stimulant tonic, slightly diaphoretic.
The infusion or decoction is made in the proportion of an ounce to a pint
of water; dose, one or two fluid ounces.
Aconitum uncinatum, L. Aconite, monkshood, wolfbane.
Shady banks of streams among the mountains of
Confederate States, and northward.
The tincture of aconite is more manageable, and is useful as an external
anesthetic in frontal neuralgia, local pains, etc.
No remedy, save chloroform, equals it when applied locally for the relief
of pain. The tincture may be
combined with oil and chloroform, as a liniment in rheumatism.
Cornus Florida, L. Dogwood.
Well known; diffused in rich shady lands; Newbern, Va.
In our present need of astringent and anti-periodics and tonics, the
dogwood bark powdered will be found the best substitute for Peruvian.
Internally and externally, it can be applied wherever the cinchona barks
were found serviceable. The dogwood
bark and root, in decoction, or in form of cold infusion, is believed by many to
be the most efficient substitute for quinine, also in treating malarial fevers;
certainly it might be used in the cases occurring in camp, to prevent the waste
of quinine, as it can be easily and abundantly procured.
Dr. Richard Moore, of Sumter District, informs me that he not only finds
it efficient in fevers, but particularly useful, with whisky or alcohol, in low
forms of fevers, and dysentery occurring near our river swamps.
During convalescence, where an astringent tonic is required, this plant
supplies our need. See eupatorium
(boneset) and Liriodendfon. These, with the blackberry and chinquapin as astringents, the
gentians and pipsissewa as tonics and tonic diuretics, the sweet gum, sassafras
and bene for their mucilaginous and aromatic properties, and the wild jalap (podophylum)
as a cathartic, supply the surgeon in camp with easily procurable medicinal
plants, which are sufficient for almost every purpose.
Nitrate and bi. carbonate of potash are most required, and with calomel,
may be procured from abroad. Our
supply of opium can be easily procured by planting the poppy. and incising the
capsules. Every planter could raise a full supply of opium, mustard and
flax seed. The wood of the dogwood,
like the willow, is preferred in making gun powder. See Salin. A
tonic compound, as advised by the herbalists, is made with the bark of the root
of dogwood, colombo (Frasera), poplar, each six ounces; bark of wild cherry, six
ounces; leaves of thoroughwort, four ounces; cayenne pepper, four ounces--sifted
and mixed. Dose, a teaspoonful, in
warm or cold water, repeated. It is
stated in the Newbern Progress "that a ripe dogwood berry taken three times
a day, before meals, will cure ague and fever."
Cucumis pepo, W. Pumpkin. Cultivated
very successfully in South Carolina.
The fruit which should have been dried as a winter provision for our
army, ahs been converted into brandy, and dried fruit will probably be very
scarce. An excellent substitute may
be found in the pumpkin. Cut into
slips and dried either in the sun or in a dry room, it is said to be little
inferior to dried apples.
Ricadus communis. Castor oil
plant.
Mode of Culture.--Break up the land with a plough, and lay it off in rows
six feet apart, each way. The best time to plant is from the middle of April to the
second week in May. Drop three
seeds in each hill. Half a bushel
of seed will plant ten acres. Treat
the plant in the same manner as corn. Be
careful in looking after the cut-worm, which gives it the preference to corn.
When the plants are six inches high, they should be thinned to one stalk
in a hill. New lands, broken up the
same season, are not suited. One
hand can tend five acres. In a
good, dry soil, the yield will be from fifteen to twenty bushels per acres, each
bushel yielding seven quarts of pure oil.
Gathering the Seed.--About the middle of August the seeds begin to ripen,
and will continue until checked by the frost.
A writer in the Western Plough Boy, of 1832, says: "Previous to the
ripening of the seeds, the yard for spreading on should be prepared.
It should be made on ground of a gradual descent, open to the sun, and
made very smooth and firm. The
first and second parcels that ripen must stand till the pods on the ear begin to
crack, otherwise a part of the bean will be imperfect.
Later in the season, when the stalk is more mature, they must be cut,
when two or three pods begin to open, or they will waste.
They are laid in the yard one layer deep. In warm weather a layer will pop out in three days.
When all have opened, the stems are raked off.
The hulls are swept off with a broom made with naked switches; which, if
carefully done, will not leave more than one bushel of hulls in eight of beans.
They may be cleaned with a common wheat fan, with a riddle suited to the
size of a bean."
Mode of Extraction--The oil is obtained both by coction and expression.
The former method is performed by tying up the seeds, previously broken
and bruised, in a bag, which is suspended in boiling water till the oil is
extracted and rises to the surface, when it is skimmed off.
This is the usual mode adopted by farmers.
The smallest quantity of water, however, remaining in the oil, causes it
to become rancid.
I trust our planters will see the necessity of preparing to plant the
castor oil bean extensively. The great value of the oil as a purgative is in the mildness
and rapidity with which it operates. It
is much needed by the brave defenders of our soil. It has saved thousands of lives; and if we cannot obtain it,
thousands must perish by our inattention to the production of this necessary
medicine. That the profits,
under moderate prices, are greater than the production of any other article, I
am fully aware.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 5, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Poppy.—We have a considerable quantity of the seed of this valuable
medicinal herb in hand, which will be cheerfully distributed among those who are
inclined to embark in the production of opiate, a drug much needed in the
Confederacy.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, May 22, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Save the Rose Leaves.—Rose leaves, says the Southern Cultivator, are
extensively used in the manufacture of blue pills, and are in great demand for
preparing this valuable medicine. The
gardens of city and country now abound in roses, and we are sure that the ladies
will see to it that the leaves are made to subserve this purpose of utility.
Surgeon J. J. Chisholm, of the Medical Purveying Department, in Columbia,
S. C., invokes the aid of the ladies in collecting a supply, and we trust our
lady readers everywhere will heartily respond to the call.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, May 27, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
How to Cure Chills.—Strong hoarhound tea, well boiled and drank freely,
will cure the most obstinate case of chills on record.
It is easily obtained, and the remedy should be known to every poor
soldier throughout the Confederacy.
The number of paper mills now in the Confederacy is one in Alabama, three
in Georgia, five in South Carolina, eight in North Carolina, two in Virginia,
and one in Tennessee, making twenty in all.—These, it is said, would be able
to supply all the paper wanted in the Confederacy, but for the great scarcity of
the material.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, June 8, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
40
Ounces
P. and W. Quinine,
Received and for sale by
G. M. Heidt,
Corner State and Whitaker sts.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, July 2, 1863, p. 2, c. 7-8 [note:
Latin names hard to read and may be mistranscribed; some numbers may also
be mistranscribed]
Confederate States of America.
Medical Purveyor's Office, 4th District.
Macon, Ga., July 1st, 1863.
List
of Indigenous Plants Wanted at This Department.
Botanical Name
Common Name.
Part Used
Price
Asarum Canadense
Wild Ginger.
Dried Root
30 cents per pound.
Capsicum
Red Pepper
Dried Pods
25
"
Cicutum Maculatum
Hemlock
{Dried Leaves
15
"
{Seed
30
"
Cornus Floridae
Dogwood
{Inner bark, freed from
{wood and coarse outer bark
{and well dry
10
"
Colombo
Dried root
30
"
Calamus
"
20
"
Eupatorium Perfoliatum
Boneset
Leaves and Flowers
5
"
Euphorbia Ipecacuanhic
Ipecacuantae Spurge
Dried Root
50
"
Gentiana Catesbaei
American Gentian
"
25
"
Gelsaminum
Yellow Jasmine
Root
10 "
Hyosiamus Niger
Henbane
{Leaves
25
"
{Seed
30
"
Humulus Lupulus
Hops
Dried Flowers
1 dollar "
Juglans Cincrea
Butternut
Dried Bark and Root 10
cents "
Liriodendron
Tulip or Poplar Tree
{Dried Inner bark freed 3
"
{from wood and coarse
{bark
Pinckneya Pubens
Georgia Bark
Inner Bark dried
20
"
Prunus Virginianus
Wild Cherry
Dried Bark
5
"
Podophyllum Peltatum
May Apple
Dried Root
30
"
Panax Quinquefolium
Ginseng
"
80
"
Rubus Villosus
Blackberry
"
5
"
Senega
Seneka Snakeroot
"
75
"
Sanguinaria Canadensis
Puccoon Root
"
30
"
Spirea Tomentosa
Hardhack
Plant
5
"
Statice Caroliniana
Marsh Rosemary
Leaves
20
"
Sinapis
Mustard
Seed
30
"
Serpentaria
Snakeroot
Dried Root
75
"
Sarsaparilla
"
30
"
Triosteum Perfoliatum
Fever Root
20
"
Ulmae
Slippery Elm
{Dried bark freed from
{outer coarse bark
5
"
Sesamum
Bene
Seed
20
"
Dried Apples
$2.00 per bushel
"
Peaches
3.50
"
"
Pumpkin
1.00
"
"
Okra
5.00
"
Rhus Glabrum
Sumach
Leaves, Bark and Root 10 cents per
pound
Marsh Mallow
Root,
50
"
Potato Fly
$2.00 "
Ricinus Communis
Castor Oil
Beans, hulled
$7.00 per bushel
"
" not hulled $3.00
"
[illegible] named Articles, if carefully gathered and dried in the shade, will
be purchased at the Medical Purveyor's Office in Macon, Ga.
By order of the Surgeon General
W. H. Prioleau,
Assistant Surgeon and Medical Purveyor, C.S.A.
SOUTHERN WATCHMAN [ATHENS, GA], June 17, 1863, p. 4, c. 2
Save the Rose Leaves.--Rose leaves are extensively used in the manufacture of
blue pills, and are in great demand for preparing this valuable medicine.
The gardens of city and country now abound in roses, and we are sure that
the ladies will see to it that the leaves are made to subserve this purpose of
utility. Surgeon J. J. Chisholm, of
the Medical Purveying Department, in Columbia, S. C., invokes the aid of the
ladies in collecting a supply and we trust our lady readers everywhere will
heartily respond to the call.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], June 30, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
Cut this out.--At the present season of the year, when dysentery and
diarrhea are prevalent, it is well to have a preventative at hand. Clip the one below and have it convenient.
Many years' trial has proved it a sure remedy:
Take equal parts tincture of opium, cayenne pepper, rhubarb, essence of
peppermint, and spirits of camphor. Mix
well in a bottle and shake before using. Dose,
from four to thirty drops, to be repeated every ten or fifteen minutes, until
relief is obtained.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
July 7, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Confederate
States of America
Medical Purveyor's Office,
}
Columbia, S. C., June 24, 1863.
}
The following indigenous plants are wanted at this office:
Wild Ginger
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Red Pepper
Dried Pods
25 cents per lb.
Hemlock
{ Dried
Leaves
15 cents per lb.
{ Seed.
30 cents per lb.
Dogwood
{ Inner bark freed from
{ wood and coarse outer
{ well dried
10 cents per lb.
Columbo
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Calamus
Dried Root
20 cents per lb.
Boneset
Leaves and Flowers
5 cents per lb.
Ipecac or Hippo
Dried Root
50 cents per lb.
Gentian
Dried Root
25 cents per lb.
Indian Physic
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Yellow Jessamine Root
10 cents per lb.
Henbane
{ Leaves
25 cents per lb.
{ Seed
30 cents per lb.
Hops
Dried Flowers
1 dollar per lb.
Butternut
Dried Bark and Roots 10 cents
per lb.
Tulip or Poplar
{ Dried Inner Bark
Tree
{ freed from wood and
{ coarse bark
3 cents per lb.
Lavender
Dried Flowers
50 cents per lb.
Georgia Bark
Inner bark dried
20 cents per lb.
May Apple
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Ginsing
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Blackberry
Dried Root
5 cents per lb.
Seneka Snake Root
Dried Root
75 cents per lb.
Puccoon Root
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Hardhack
Plant
5 cents per lb.
Marsh Rosemary
Leaves
20 cents per lb.
Mustard
Seed
30 cents per lb.
Snake Root
Dried Root
75 cents per lb.
Sarsaparilla
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Fever Root
Dried Root
30 cents per lb.
Slippery Elm
{ Dried Bark freed from
{ outer coarse bark
5 cents per lb.
Arnica
Dried Flowers
75 cents per lb.
Bene
Seed
20 cents per lb.
New Jersey Tea
Dried Leaves
15 cents per lb.
Potato Fly
{ Killed by throwing into
{ boiling water for a few
{ minutes, and then dried
{ in the sun
$2 per lb.
Castor Oil Bean
{ Hulled
$7 per bush.
{ In hull
$3 per bush.
Apples
Dried
$2 per bush.
Peaches
Dried
$3 1/2 per bush.
Pumpkins
Dried
$1 per bush.
Okra
Dried
$4 per bush.
Sumac
Leaves, Bark, Root
5 cents per lb.
Marsh Mallow
Root
30 cents per lb.
The above named articles, if carefully gathered and dried in the shade,
will be purchased at the Medical Purveyor's Office in Columbia, S.C.
J. J. Chisolm,
Surgeon and Medical Purveyor C. S. A.
July 7
tuS
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, July 29, 1863, p. 3, c. 6-7
List of Indigenous Plants Wanted at This Department.
Confederate
States of America, Medical Purveyor's Office,
}
Montgomery, Ala., July 11, 1863.
}
Botanical Name
Common Name Part Used
Price
Asarum Canadense
Wild Ginger
Dried Root
30 cts. per lb.
Capsicum,
Red Pepper
Dried Pods
25 do
do
Conium Maculatum
Hemlock {Dried
Leaves
15 do
do
{Seed,
30 do
do
Cornus Floridae,
Dogwood, {Inner bark freed
from wood
{and coarse outer bark and
{well dry
10 do
do
Columbo
Dried Root
30 do
do
Calamus
Do
20 do
do
Eupatorium Perfollatum
Boneset
Leaves and Flowers
15 do
do
Euphorbia Ipecacuanhae
Ipecacuahane Spurge Dried Root
50 do
do
Gentiana Catesbei
American Gentian
Do
25 do
do
Gillena Trifoliata
Indian Physic
Do
30 do
do
Geiseminum
Yellow Jasmine
Root
10 do
do
Hyosclamus Niger
Henbane,
{Leaves,
25 do
do
{Seed,
30 do
do
Humulus Lupulus
Hops
Dried Flowers
1 dollar do
Juglans Cinerea
Butternut,
Dried Bark and Root 10 cents do
Liriodendron
Tulip or Poplar Tree,{Dried inner bark freed from
{wood and coarse bark 3 do
do
Laevendulse
Lavender
Dried Flowers
50 do
do
Pinckneya Pubens
Georgia Bark
Inner Bark dried
20 do
do
Prunus Virginiana
Wild Cherry
Dried Bark,
5 do
do
Podophyllum Peltatum
May Apple
Dried Root,
80 do
do
Panex Quinquefolium
Ginseng
Do
30 do do
Rubus Villosus
Blackberry Do
5 do
do
Senega
Seneca Snakeroot
Do
75 do
do
Sanguinaria Canadensis
Puccoon Root,
Do
30 do
do
Spiroea Tomentosa
Hardhack
Hardhack,
5 do
do
Statice Caroliniana
Marsh Rosemary
Leaves,
20 do
do
Sinapis
Mustard
Seed,
30 do
do
Serpentariae
Snakeroot
Dried Root
75 do
do
Sarsaparilla
Do
80 do
do
Triosteum Perfoliatum
Fever Root
Do
20 do
do
Ulmus
Slippery Elm
Dried Bark freed from
outer coarse bark
5 do
do
Arnica
Dried Flowers
75 do
do
Sesamum
Bene
Seed
20 do
do
Dried Apples
$2 per bushel
Dried Peaches
$3.50 do
Dried Pumpkin
$1 do
Dried Okra,
$5 do
Rhus Glabrum
Sumach
Leaves, Bark and Root
Marsh Mallow,
Root,
Potato Fly,
$2
per pound,
Castor Oil Beans (hulled),
$7 per bushel,
Do (not hulled),
$3 per bushel,
The within named articles, if carefully gathered and dried in the shade, will be
purchased at the Medical Purveyor's office in Montgomery, Ala.
W. H. Anderson,
Surgeon and Medical Purveyor, C. S. A.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, August 5, 1863, p. 2, c. 6
Wanted
to Purchase—Red Pepper and black Mustard Seed.
Howard Smith,
Medical Purveyor, C. S. A., Dept. Trans. Miss.
Office over Cramer & Wolf's
CLARKE COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL,
August 13, 1863, p. 2, c. 4
Jamestown Weed.—In collecting medical plants, (remarks the Charleston
Courier,) attention should now be particularly directed to the "Datura
Stramonium," or Jamestown weed. It
is now in perfection. The whole
plant should be taken up and dried in the shade.
Every portion of the plant is medicinal.
When the fruit is mature and the pod dries, the seed should be saved.
This whole plant is narcotic, and can be made to take the place of opium
for many purposes, so as to save that now expensive article.
For all external applications, for the relief of local pain, in rheumatic
affections, irregular spasm and cramps, bruises and sprains, the Stramonium can
be used to great advantage.—Every part of the plant has been long known and
used in asthma, dried and smoked in the common pipe.
In dressing wounds, great relief is often given by using an infusion of
the Stramonium—either of the green or dry plant—instead of water; and in
painful injury, where the part can easily be put into the infusion, particularly
where it can be borne warm, the relief is often immediate.
It is believed also to exert a decided influence upon the irritability of
the nerves of a wounded part, and thus to diminish the chance of tetanus and of
erysipelas. The surgeon has long
known the value of Stramonium ointment. The
infusion is advantageous in keep [keeping] off flies.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
September 8, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
Poppy Plant.--The cultivation of the poppy plant being one of great
importance, we remind our readers that the time for sowing the seed is now at
hand; and those persons intending to cultivate should get the seed into the
ground as early as possible. The
seed sown in September will yield treble the amount of opium to that sown in
March. One acre properly cultivated
will yield _fifty pounds_ of opium. Any
of our friends having in their possession more seed than they intend to sow,
will oblige us to forward to our Office, or to the Medical Purveyor in this
city, for distribution, as much as they can spare.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, September 14, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Honey.—A correspondent says that the Medical Director of Ewell's corps,
a successful surgeon and practitioner, has discovered by frequent trial, that
honey, applied by a light brush or other convenient means of the kind, is a most
effectual remedy to prevent fly blows in wounds.
It is at the same time very soothing and grateful to the wounded part;
and as this question has often been discussed during the war, hospital nurses
and those entrusted with the care of the wounded soldier, should preserve the
recollection of this simple and convenient remedy.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], September 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 4
Useful information.--In the absence of quinine, an effective substitute may be
found in red pepper tea and table salt--say a table spoonful of salt to a pint
of tea--which will answer every purpose for chills.--Commence some hours before
chill time, and drink copiously of the beverage.
It never fails to keep off the chill.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, September 30, 1863, p. 4, c. 5
In the absence of quinine, an effective substitute would perhaps be
acceptable to some of your readers. Red
pepper tea and table salt answer every purpose for chills.
Say a table spoonful of salt to a pint of tea, commencing some hours
before shill time, and drinking copiously of the beverage, never fails to keep
off the chill. This I have from an
intelligent physician, who uses it among the whites as well as the blacks of his
own family. Several of his
neighbors have employed the same remedy with complete success.
Iter.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, September 30, 1863, p. 4, c. 5
Cure for the Lockjaw.—A young lady ran a nail into her foot recently.
The injury produced lockjaw of such a malignant character that her
physician pronounced her recovery hopeless.
An old nurse then took her in hand, and supplied powdered beet roots to
her foot, removing them as often as they became dry. The result was a complete and astonishing cure.
Such a simple remedy should be borne in mind.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, October 1, 1863, p. 2, c. 1
In the absence of quinine, an effective substitute would perhaps be
acceptable to some of your readers. Red
pepper tea and table salt answer every purpose for chills.
Say a table spoonful of salt to a pint of tea, commencing some hours
before chill time, and drinking copiously of the beverage, never fails to keep
off the chill. This I have from an
intelligent physician, who uses it among the whites as well as the blacks of his
own family. Several of his
neighbors have employed the same remedy with complete success.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], October 9, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
An Effectual Cure for the Earache. Take
a small piece of cotton batting or wool, make a depression in the center with
the end of the finger, and fill it with as much pulverized black pepper as will
rest on a half-dime. Gather it into
a ball and tie it up; dip the ball into sweet oil, and insert it into the ear,
covering the latter with cotton wool and use a bandage or cap to retain it in
its place. A most instant relief
will be experienced, and the application is so gentle that an infant will not be
injured by it, but experience relief as well as adults.
MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], October 16, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
General
Directions for Collecting and Drying Medicinal Substances
of the Vegetable Kingdom.
From Dr. F. P. Porcher's "Botanical Resources."
Directions
for Collecting.
All leaves, flowers and herbs should be preferably gathered in clear, dry
weather, in the morning, after the dew is exhaled.
The roots of medicinal plants, although more advantageously gathered at
certain periods, to be hereafter specified, do not lose their medicinal virtues
in consequence of being dug in mid-summer.
It is probably that most of those imported are thus collected by savages,
or ignorant persons, when the plant is in full leaf, it being then more easily
recognized.
Plants, annual, should be gathered at the time when their vegetation is more
vigorous, which is generally from the time they begin to flower until their
leaves begin to change.
Plants, biennial, should, in most instances, be gathered in the second
season of their growth, and about the time of flowering.
Roots of annuals are to be gathered just before the time of flowering.
Roots of biennials are to be gathered after the vegetation of the first
year has ceased.
Roots of perennials are to be gathered in the spring; before vegetation
has commenced. Roots should be
washed, and the smaller tubers, unless they are the part expoyed [sic], should
be then separated from the body of the root, which, when of any considerable
size, is to be cut in slices previous to being dried.
Bulbs are to be gathered after the new bulb is perfected, and before it
has begun to vegetate, which is at the time the leaves decay. Those which are to be preserved fresh should be buried in dry
sand.
Barks, whether of the root, trunk or branches, should be gathered in the autumn,
or early in the spring. The dead
epidermis or outer bark, and the decayed parts, should be removed. On some trees (as the elm) the inner bark only is preserved.
Leaves are to be gathered after their full development, before the fading
of the flowers. The leaves of
biennials do not attain their perfect qualities until the second year.
Flowers should, in general, be gathered at the time of their expansion,
before or immediately after they have fully opened; some--as the Rosa Gallica--while
in bud.
Aromatic herbs are to be gathered when in flower.
Stalks and twigs should be collected in autumn.
Seeds should be collected at the period of their full maturity.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, October 28, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Mr. Camp, of Navasota, has presented us with a bottle of Castor Oil of
his own manufacture. We have not
yet tested its quality, but those who have say it is a good article.
We know of no article of domestic manufacture so much needed, and Mr.
Camp is certainly supplying a great desideratum both to the country and the
army. His enterprise will doubtless
be well rewarded.
SELMA
MORNING REPORTER, November 18, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
Plant Opium.
Dr. R. E. Fullerton having had large experience
during the last seven years in the successful cultivation of opium, has invented
an improved mode of gathering it, by which one hand can gather more than forty
hands can collect by the old, slow and tedious process of incisions and
scraping. He wishes to engage, on
very favorable terms, in the cultivation of Opium with planters who have very
fertile lands and an abundance of manure or cotton seed, either rotted or
unrotted. Those who wish to engage
should apply forthwith, as now is the planting season.
Seed, with all necessary instructions, will be furnished.
Planters can cultivate and gather from 10 to 30 acres without materially
interfering with other crops. It is
a very important, interesting and very lucrative business.
Also, we will pay in money, opium, laudanum, or paregoric, for any
amount, large or small, of poppy, anise, or sweet fennel seed.
Ladies having collected such seed from their flower gardens will do an
act of patriotism by responding to this call, as we will take a contract to
furnish the Government with Opium. My
Opium is, in morphia, twice as rich as many samples of imported Opium which now
command $120 per pound.
We already have effected arrangements with planters to plant about sixty
acres, and wish to get contracts for about as much more.
Opium is a crop which, when ready, must be gathered immediately, or it is
lost, and therefore it is that very little success has attended the usual mode
of obtaining it.
Persons wishing to engage should address immediately Dr. R. E. Fullerton,
Demopolis, Alabama, or call for him at the Railroad Hotel, Demopolis, on
Wednesdays or Saturdays, between the hours of 11 o'clock A.M., and 2 P.M.
And those having the above named seed to spare, will confer a great favor
by informing him of the same, and for which they shall be liberally compensated.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, November 25, 1863, p. 2, c. 5
A Substitute for Quinine.—A New Orleans refugee, now residing in
Mobile, whilst on a visit to this section some two or three weeks ago, informed
us that Dr. McFarland—one of the oldest and most distinguished physicians of
New Orleans, who died in that city since the commencement of the war—had
discovered what he considered a most valuable substitute for quinine, and
expressed a short time before his death, his deep regret that he should not live
long enough to see it tested throughout the Confederacy.
The substitute is the leaves of the Balsam Apple, to be steeped for three
or four days in a bottle of whiskey. Dose—one
table spoonful three times a d ay.—Greensboro' Beacon.
SAVANNAH [GA]
REPUBLICAN, December 28, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
Cure for Itch.—That almost intolerable complaint, the camp itch, may be
speedily and effectually relieved by the acetate of copper.
This can be prepared by placing a copper cent, or any other piece of
copper, in a small quantity (say two table spoonsfuls) of strong vinegar for
some twenty-four hours. Then apply
to the parts affected three or four times a day, each morning washing them with
fine soap and water.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, January 13, 1864, p. 2, c. 5
Castor Oil.—Mr. I. M. Camp has shown us a most beautiful article of
castor oil, of his own manufacture. It
could not be distinguished from the best imported article in appearance, and we
cannot entertain a doubt but that its quality is equally good.
Mr. Camp deserves the thanks of the public for his enterprise.
He has spent much time and money in bringing this article to its present
perfection.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 28, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Substitute for Quinine.--An Article in the Medical and Surgical
Journal is devoted to "the External Application of Oil of Turpentine as
a substitute for Quinine in Intermittent Fever."
Surgeon Kennedy reports the successful trial of this application, without
failure, in over thirty cases. Of
seven cases reported at the General Hospital Guyton, Ga., the result was
immediately successful in all, but in three of the cases the chills returned
afterwards. The mode of application recommended is: "Half an hour before the expected paroxysm, a bandage
wet with the turpentine, is applied around the body at the lower part of the
chest, the linen replaced and the outside clothing buttoned. If convenient, the patient should be placed in blankets.
When there is a probability of the return of the paroxysm on the seventh
or fourteenth day, the application should be repeated.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, February 4, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
New Goods.
We are receiving the following Goods:
. . . Mustard, Calomel, Blue Mass, Morphine, quinine, Castor Oil, Indigo,
Rhubarb, Dovers Powders, . . . all of which will be sold as low as the present
high prices will justify. Persons
purchasing liquid medicines must furnish Bottles or Vials.
Burge & Daffin.
Grove Hill, Feb. 2.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 17, 1864, p. 2, c. 3-4
A Styptic which will stop the bleeding of the largest wound.--Scrape fine
two dramchs [sic?] of Castile Soap,
and dissolve in two ounces of Brandy or common spirits. Mix well with it one drachm of Potash and keep it in a close
phial. When [tear] plied, warm it
and dip in pledgets [sic?] of lint. The
blood will suddenly coagulate some distance within the vessel.
For deep wounds and amputated limbs, repeated applications may be
necessary.--Rebel.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, February 25, 1864, p. 1, c. 5
Just Received.
Factory Thread, . . . Morphine, Alum, Camphor,
Cook's Pills, Dover's Powders, Laudanum, Paregoric, & other Medicines, all
of which will be sold as low as the late advance in all goods will justify.
Feb 24, '64
Burge & Daffin.
SELMA
MORNING REPORTER, March 8, 1864, p. 1, c. 5
Smoke for the Cure of Wounds.—A correspondent of the Country Gentleman
recommends smoke as a cure for wounds in men and animals.
He says:
I cut my foot with an axe. The
lady of the house, seizing the foot while it was yet bleeding freely, held it
over a pan containing smoking ham hocks. In
a few minutes the bleeding stopped, and the smoke was removed, and a bandage
applied to protect it from accidental blows.
The wound never suppurated, and consequently never pained me.
I have seen the remedy tried in many similar cases, and always with the
same results. Let the reader bear
in mind that no liniment or salve, drawing or healing should be supplied.
You have merely to [illegible] the wound well, and nature will do the
rest.
I suppose that smoke of burning wood would produce the same results, but
it would not be so manageable. There
is a principle in the smoke of wood, which when applied to the flesh, coagulates
the albumen, thus rendering it susceptible of putrefaction.
The same principle stops bleeding by coagulating the blood.
It promotes healing, and may be applied with decided benefit to almost
all ulcers, wounds, and cutaneous diseases.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, March 16, 1864, p. 1, c. 1
Ed. News.—Having suffered from vaccination with the impure vaccine
matter so extensively circulated over the country, and experimented until I
found a successful remedy, you will please publish it for the benefit of those
suffering. Take sage leaves and
vinegar, boil together, thicken with corn meal, and make poultice, apply to the
wound for three days and nights, changing morning and night for fresh one, and
treat constitutionally as follows: Take
1 tablespoonful sulphur, 1 do of cream tartar, mixed with molasses, every other
morning, and every other morning a dose of salts and cream tartar.
When the poultice is changed, the sore should be washed with camphor.
This course faithfully followed will cure the worst arm in the State in
less than one week.
Yours, &c.,
O. A. McGinnis
Moscow, Texas, Feb. 27th, 1864.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], March 30, 1864, p. 3, c. 2
Blackberry
Wine.
Mr. John H. Colt has presented us with a bottle of blackberry wine, in
which he used sorghum syrup instead of sugar.
The syrup should be used according to taste; but care should be taken
that the wine is not made too sweet. Probably
a safe rule would be to use the same quantity by weight as of sugar.
The sample before us is fully equal, if not superior, to any we have ever
tasted. This is a valuable
discovery; as nothing is more useful in certain cases of sickness, than
blackberry wine, and its manufacture has almost entirely ceased, on account of
the scarcity of sugar. Mr. Colt
deserves the thanks of the public for the prompt manner in which he has made the
discovery known.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, May 19, 1864, p. 1, c. 5
Just Received.
Cotton Cards, . . .Laudanum, Paregoric, Calomel,
Blue Mass, Ipecac, Dover's Powders, Quinine, Morphine, Salts, Sulphur, Alum,
Blue Stone, Extract Logwood, Spanish Brown, Toilet Soap, &c.
Burge & Daffin.
May 18, 1864.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, May 25, 1864, p. 4, c. 1
Blockade Profits.
We hear it frequently asserted that there is no
profit upon cargoes brought in and sold here, and that the only profit is on the
outward cargo. Let us look at a few
things where we have a chance of comparing the Nassau prices with those obtained
here yesterday at auction. We take
the Nassau quotations from the Bahama Herald of the 4th: . . .
Sulph. Quinine—Nassau, $2.25 per oz; Wilmington, $59a$80 per oz.--$25 to 36 ½
for $1 . . .
Now here is an average of $56 for $1, that is to say two hundred per cent on
Nassau prices, allowing for exchange the full current rates, and all the
articles we have quoted are, we are pretty sure, included among the articles not
prohibited. It will not do to say
that at these prices goods will not be brought in, or that the profits are not
sufficiently remunerative to tempt capitalists to take the risk.
The venture is a paying one both ways, and would be so were prices
lowered one half.—Wilmington Journal.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], May 25, 1864, p. 3, c. 4
A Remedy for Congestive Chills.--"The Mother of a soldier" has sent to
the Petersburg Express a remedy for congestive chills, which she has never known
to fail. She has (she says) for a
number of years been managing a large boarding school, and has had some
experience n nursing.
The remedy is spirits of turpentine, give from ten to fifteen drops, in
syrup or toddy--rub the spine, chest and extremities well, adding a small
quantity of oil of turpentine to prevent blistering.
The extremities should be rubbed until re-action takes place.
A cloth saturated with the mixture should be applied to the chest.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, June 1, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Drugs & Medicines--J. J. Beech, on Pecan Street, has just received a
selected stock of staple goods [?] and Medicines, direct from Monterey.
SAVANNAH
[GA] REPUBLICAN, June 30, 1864, p. 2, c. 2
Send Rose Leaves.—Surgeon J. J. Chisolm, Medical Purveyor at Columbia,
S. C., has requested the papers to ask contributions of rose leaves from the
ladies of the Confederacy. All the
blue pills required for the army has been from last summer's contributions, and
the medical department would be again under obligations to the ladies if they
would assist in collecting these, to be used in manufacturing medicines for our
sick soldiers.
THE SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], July 6, 1864, p. 4, c. 1
Blackberry
Wine and Vinegar.
We find in an exchange some useful hints about making blackberry wine and
vinegar. Here they are:
Blackberry
Wine.
The blackberry contains a very large quantity of juice, but it is
contained in numerous small cells, all of which must be broken in order to
effect its perfect liberation. This
may be done by rubbing the berries in a tub with a wooden pestle if no better
means are at hand, though a wine press might no doubt be used to great
advantage. The berries should be
ripe, fresh and clean to make the nicest product.
Taken them as many ripe, fresh and clean blackberries as you please, and,
as fast as y you rub them up so as to break the cells, throw them into a vat or
tub of sufficient size to hold all you propose to use at one time.
When they are thus prepared, add to the whole mass the quantity of sugar
you intend to use. Ordinary brown sugar will do very well, and the proportions
may be from half a pound to two pounds for each gallon of berries.
If you desire a very light wine of the claret order, use very little
sugar--if a stronger, heavier, bodied wine, use more but be careful not to use
too much, or you will have a supply of cordial and not wine.
According to experience two pounds is the extreme limit.
It is very probable a good light wine may be without any sugar at all,
but this we have not tried.
Having mixed the sugar with the berries, then add for each gallon of
berries, one quart of boiling water, and stir the whole well together.
The heat thus communicated to the mass will cause a fermentation to
commence without the use of yeast or any other substance whatever.
After standing about twenty-four hours, the seeds and skins will most of
them rise to the top and may be skimmed off, and the clear liquid may be drawn
off into the casks or other vessels destined to receive it.
The vessels containing the wine should now be removed into a cool cellar
or vault, and nothing remains to be done but to allow the vinous fermentation to
go through its regular course. This
it will do in the course of three or four weeks, and the vessels may then be
stopped or bunged up.--We have lost two five gallon demijohns by putting in the
stoppers too soon. They exploded
and went to pieces.
Wine made in this way will keep well without bottling. Any family, therefore, that can have access to berries--and
almost every farmer's family can obtain them--may have a five, ten, or forty
gallon cask of excellent wine--worth ten times the same quantity of cider, and a
great deal better than the foreign wines which--at a very small cost of money
and labor.
Blackberry
Vinegar.
Do not throw away the seeds and skins after drawing off the must.
Pour warm water over these until they are entirely covered, and let them
stand in an open vessel three or four days.--Then draw off the liquid and let
that stand until the acetous fermentation takes place.
A small quantity of coarse sugar or molasses will hasten the process.
In this way a most excellent article of wine vinegar may be obtained; and
those who have used the delectable stuff commonly sold under the name of
vinegar, will consider the quantity thus obtained from the blackberries worth
more than the cost of all the materials used for making both the wine and
vinegar.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, July 7, 1864, p. 1, c. 5
On Sale.
Good Cotton Cards $60 and $65; . . . Alum, Salts,
Calomel, Ipecac, Morphine, Quinine, Cream of Tartar, Mustard, Castor Oil, Jalap,
Rhubarb, Blue Mass, Fancy Soap, Soda, &c.
Burge & Daffin.
July 7, 1864.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, July 13, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Drugs and Chemicals--In another column will be found the advertisement of
Koester & Tolle, of New Braunfels, to which we invite the special attention
of all who wish to procure a pure article in drugs or chemicals.
We have been well acquainted with this establishment for many years and
have had repeatedly, since we came to Austin, to send there for things we could
get no where else in the State. Dr.
Koester, has been a practicing physician for over twenty years in Texas, and is
familiar with the drugs and medicines most in use in this country; besides the
firm is extensively engaged in manufacturing alcohol, and medical liquors, the
quality of which we have had frequent opportunities of testing.
It is the only establishment in the State, at this time, that we know of
where a full and complete stock of chemicals is always kept on hand, from which
orders wholesale and retail can be filled.
Having a large amount of capital invested in the business, and an agent
in Mexico, especially employed to make purchases for them, they are also able to
offer their goods at lower prices, than have been usually charged since the war
commenced.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, July 13,
1864, p. 2, c. 5
Drugs,
Chemicals, &C.
The undersigned have
received a large supply of DRUGS, CHEMICALS, &c. from Mexico, carefully
selected there by a professional man, sent there expressly for that purpose,
which they are selling at comparatively moderate prices.
Among other things, they have on hand--
Ether, Opium, Iodine, Iodide Potash, English Calomel, Blue Mass, Nitrate of
Silver, Copaiva, Gum Camphor, Quinine, Chloroform, Morphine, Copperas, Chlorate
of Potash, Spirits of Hartshorn, Soda, Epsom Salts, Castor Oil, Dover's Powders,
Rhubarb, Strychnine, Cream of Tartar, Borax, Carb. of Magnesia, Wright's Pills,
&c. &c.
The undersigned have also always on hand Pure Strong Alcohol, which they
manufacture at their own distillery.
Koester & Tolle.
New Braunfels, July 6, 1864
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, August 31, 1864, p. 2, c. 6
A Cure for Diarrhoea.
Numerous requests having been made to republish the
receipt for diarrhoea and cholera symptoms, which we gave in our paper some
weeks ago, and which was used by the troops during the Mexican war with great
success. We give it below, with a
very important correction of an error made in the first formula, as to the size
of the dose to be given.
Laudanum
2 ounces.
Spirits Camphor
2 ounces.
Essence Peppermint
2 ounces.
Hoffman's Anodyne
2 ounces.
Tincture of Cayenne Pepper
2 drachms
Tincture of Ginger
1 ounce.
Mix all together. Dose—a
teaspoon full in a little water, or a half teaspoon full, repeated in an hour
afterwards, in a tablespoon full of brandy.
This preparation will check diarrhoea in ten minutes, and abate other
premonitory symptoms of cholera immediately.
In cases of cholera it has been used with great success, to restore
reaction, by outward application.—Inq.
MONTGOMERY
WEEKLY ADVERTISER, August 31, 1864, p. 3, c. 3
Valuable Recipes.
Substitute for Quinine.
In the absence of quinine, an effective substitute would perhaps be acceptable to some of our readers. Red pepper tea and table salt answers every purpose for chills. Say a table spoonful of salt to a pint of tea, commencing some hours before shill time, and drinking copiously of the beverage, never fails to keep off the chills. this is from an intelligent physician, who uses it very successfully in his practice.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
September 6, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Confederate Medicines.--A medical friend informs us in a brief note, that
during a recent casual visit to the office of Surgeon General Moore, a day or
two since, he was equally surprised and delighted to find a cabinet filled with
choice extracts and preparations of various medicinal substances, mineral as
well as vegetable. Many of these articles were with difficulty to be procured
here before the war. They are
prepared at the C. S. Laboratory, in South Carolina, and for neatness of
preparation and general "getting up," will compare favorably with the
best English and French preparations of similar character.
Many of them, our correspondent says, are of Southern growth, as well as
of Southern manufacture; indeed, exclusively Southern, as they are not found
growing north of the Potomac.
Even in this can our sunny land claim superiority--rich in all mineral
and vegetable productions, as she is, we will shortly be able to claim a
Pharmacopoeia of our own, and be in this, as in everything else, independent.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
October 27, 1864, p. 2, c. 2
Infallible cure for toothache.--To a tablespoonful of any kind of spirits
add the same quantity of sharp vinegar and a teaspoonful of common salt; mix
them well together; hold the liquid in the mouth so that it can enter the cavity
or hollow of the tooth; it will give almost instantaneous relief, without any
increase of pain.
ALBANY [GA.] PATRIOT,
November 3, 1864, p. 2, c. 5
Wanted. 1000 bushels "Castor
Oil Beans," for which the highest price will be paid.
Asher Ayres, Ag't S. C. Chemical Works.
October 13th, 1864.
ALBANY [GA.] PATRIOT,
November 10, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
More New Goods at Welch's Drug Store, for Family Use.
Medicines. Opium, Morphine,
Quinine, Gum Camphor, Castor oil, Epsom Salts, Blistering Cerate, Lunar Caustic,
Magnesia, Gum Arabic, Alcohol. Rye Whiskey, &c.
And everything in the medicinal line to be bought in the market for sale.
At the Drug Store of L. E. Welch. Albany,
Nov. 10, 1864.
GALVESTON WEEKLY
NEWS, December 28, 1864, p. 2, c. 7
Radish Seed.—A friend informs us that in a case of sickness, where a
blister was required, he found the radish seed pounded up as good as
mustard.—Macon (Miss.) Beacon.
CLARKE
COUNTY [AL] JOURNAL, December 29, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
Cotton Cards for $2 60!
We have on hand a superior article of English
Cards, on good backs, and larger than the Whittemore, at the above price in
specie.
Also, . . . Medicines, Hair Pins, and various other articles.
Burge & Davvin.
Dec. 22, 1864, 42 3t.
CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 9, 1865, p.
2, c. 1
To Cure Camp Itch.--Take a pound of fresh poke root, mash it, and boil a
quarter of an hour, with water; add four pounds lard, and stew till the fibres
of the root feel dry--i.e., till all the water is evaporated--then strain.
Rub at night on the afflicted parts very thinly.
Sure cure.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, January
11, 1865, p. 2, c. 4
Drugs and Medicines.
Just received for sale
at reasonable prices:
200 ounzes Sul. Quinine,
50 "
Sul. Morphine.
100 Gallons castor oil
25 pounds gum opium,
100 "
English Calomel,
100 " Blue Mass.
100 " Gum Arabic,
100 " Aqua Ammonia,
50 " Powd. Rhubarb,
50 " Cayenne Pepper,
50 " Merc. Ointment
Cod Liver, Olive Oil;, &c.
F. T. Duffau
Jan. 11
Congress Avenue, Austin.
CHARLESTON MERCURY,
January 13, 1865, p. 1, c. 1
Cure of Corns.--A correspondent of the London Lancet recommends
the use of caustic in case of corns. He says:
I applied it (the lunar caustic) thus:
I put my feet in warm water, and allowed them to remain till I found the
outer surface of the corn was soft; I then dried the feet, and applied the
caustic all over the corn--in a few minutes it was dry.
It remained so ten days, when I removed the black skin and applied the
caustic again; and I continued until I had eradicated the corns completely.
I have tried the same plan with many of my patients; and those who have
been sufferers for years--all have been cured.
It produces no pain, nor the least inconvenience, and does away with the
necessity of cutting, which is dangerous in itself, and likely to produce
extensive inflammation, with frequently the loss of life.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, January 27, 1865, p. 1, c. 1
To Country Traders.
.
. . French Quinine, six dollars per oz. . . .
Orders with cash will receive prompt attention.
James Burke.
Houston, Jan. 27, 1865.
GALVESTON
WEEKLY NEWS, March 15, 1865, p. 4, c. 1
A letter dated Matamoros, February 25th, says:
"Goods are daily falling in this market. . . .
Quinine, best French, $3 per ounce; . . .
I have filled a bill at these prices.
[MARSHALL]
TEXAS REPUBLICAN, March 17, 1865, p. 2, c. 5
Camp Itch.—By Assistant Surgeon S. R. Chambers.—Having lately read
several theses upon a disease peculiar in the army, known as "Camp
Itch," and believing it to be the duty of every medical officer to make
known his experience in the treatment of the disease, especially as there is
such a difference of opinion among the profession as to the proper treatment, I
do not presume to offer my treatment as a "specific," but certify that
it has never failed in my hands to accomplish a cure, or also in the
hands of several of my "confreres," to whom I have given it, for
trial. It is composed of the
following articles, viz:
The inner bark of the elder
1 pound
Water
2½ pts.
Boil the bark down to one quarter of a pint, then add
Lard
1 pound
Sweet Gum
4 ounces.
Evaporate the water, and at the same time skim whatever filth may rise to
the top of the vessel, after which set it aside to cool.
When thoroughly cool, add:
Basilicon Ointment 2
ounces
Olive Oil
3 ounces
Sulphur Flour
½ ounce
The mode of applying this ointment is as follows:
First, make the patient wash well with soap and water, dry the parts
affected, rub the ointment on the parts affected with the hand until it is
absorbed. Repeat this twice a day,
omitting the last, which is only done previous to the first application.
I also recommend that the patient, in the worst form of the disease, wear
the same under-clothing one week, as the clothes necessarily will absorb the
ointment, thereby saving the patient the trouble of applying it more frequently. In ordinary cases this treatment will cure in one week; the
more severe cases will take longer. Were
it necessary, I could furnish the reports of over one hundred cases that I have
treated in this way, and in every case with perfect success.
AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, April 5,
1865, p. 1, c. 5
Drugs! Drugs!! Drugs!!!
A fresh supply just
imported, consisting in part of the following--
French quinine, morphine, opium, Eng. and Am.
Calomel, Eng. codliver oil, Am. Arrow root, raw ginger, prescription
vials, Jayne's expectorant, Radway's R. R.,
Brown's Essence Jamaica ginger, Allcock's plaster, Brandreth's pills, Wright's
Indian vegetable pills, Bull's sarsaparilla, mexican mustang liniment, Cherokee
liniment, lobelia seed, ergotine, extract of colocynth, sweet spirits of nitre,
spirits ammonia, etc. etc. We
constantly keep as much assorted as the times will allow.
Koester & Tolle.
New Braunfels, (Comal Co.), March 23, 1863.