My mother goes on and on about vinegar.  It has helped me a lot with antbites.  I just rub over the bite and within a few minutes it stops hurting.  It also usually does not leave a mark if I do it right away.   She drinks vinegar and water everyday and is 74 now without any health problems. She swears it cures everything. Cindy Z

Ant Bites- and other stings/bites: raw potato, finely grated, applied to a sting or bite, will reduce or remove swelling, and pulls the sting from the wound. Also works on spider bites, including black widow and Brown recluse- the potato will literally "suck" the poison into itself.  vixaenblue

I have terrible reactions to red ant bites... Ammonia does help a lot, but what really does the trick is "tea tree oil!"  Works wonderful!  Lori

During an outdoor gathering, a friend of ours was stung by a wasp. It was very painful for him. His wife took plain toothpaste and rubbed it on the sting and amazingly enough it took the pain away immediately. So while my husband was building our deck he was stung by a yellow jacket and complained that it hurt. Thinking back to my friend using toothpaste on her husband's bee sting, I rubbed some on my husband's bee sting and it too took the pain away immediately! I understand that any brand of toothpaste will work. So now I keep a tube nearby while outdoors.  Terri Huston

Having just read through the remedies for wasp stings I was amazed no one had mentioned Adolf’s Meat Tenderizer.  I have a severe allergic reaction to wasp stings – mostly the Paper Wasp which is commonly mistaken for the Yellow Jacket.  My lungs swell and I can’t breath – needless to say this is life threatening. The last time I had this situation occur a very young Doctor (after giving me an anti-venom shot) told me to always carry a small package of Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer with me everywhere I went.  He stated to me that the chemicals in the tenderizer that dissolve proteins in meat would neutralize the proteins in the venom.  So I put some in my car, my boat, saddle bag on my motorcycle and a small plastic baggie (rings come in them) in my wallet.  In the last 10 years I have been stung at least 8 times and never had to go for another shot to relieve the allergic symptoms.  The key is within the first two minutes apply moisture (saliva, water, tea, coffee or anything moist - I even tried Dr Pepper once) to wet the arrea and apply enough of the powder to create a paste over the bite.  I have not had any allergic symptoms and very little irritation every time.

Almost 50% of patients with suspected hymenoptera allergy turn out to be sensitized to both honeybee and yellow jacket venom. In two recent studies, protein-bound carbohydrate was shown to be a major, but not the only, cause for the simultaneous reactivity of patients with honeybee and yellow jacket venoms.  Larry L. Goeller
 

A kind reader sent additional information for this one.  He/she writes:
I still use this stuff.

New name:
Ichthammol Ointment 20%
Mfg. Goldline Labs
Miami FL
Removes splinters, good on bug bites, Tick bites

I put on Tincture of Iodine and than Ichthammol Ointment on a Band-Aid for a few days. Haven't had lyme disease sense I started doing this. Had it two times before, But, Maybe I just have immunity or been lucky.  Talpaulfl

I have used raisins to draw a boil when I didn't have anything else..Just tape a few raisins over the spot and in the morning the boil should be gone...I assume dried prunes would work also ..You should break the skin on the raisins or the prunes to get maximum drawing power....Diane

Make a paste of shavings from  a bar of soap, sugar and water.  Place the paste on the boil and cover with a  band-aid (best to do at bed time). It will come to a head by  morning. LavenderDream55

My Brazilian wife swears by an old South American indian remedy for minor burns. Urine. If  burned, just put some urine (preferably your own) on the burn and it will prevent blistering and take away most of the sting.  Tom J.

The best thing I have found id Bag Balm for burns; it works well on cuts and dry, cracked skin too. It takes the pain away quickly and heals without a scar or a small scar if the burn was deep. Bag Balm is what farmers use on cow teats to keep them soft, supple and clean. Maggie Plasker

This cure was completely by accident. My mom and I were frying some fish for dinner, and the bread crumbs were building up on the bottom of the pan. So I went to scoop out the crumbs from the oil with a spoon. Somehow the oil rolled backwards down my thumb. I was burned on my entire thumb. I sat down tto make a salad, dipping my thumb in and out of ice water, but when I started to peel the cucumber, I noticed the burning has stopped. So I peeled long slices of the cucumber, wrapped it around my thumb and covered it with gauze. 2 hours later, when everyone came for dinner, I took off the wrap. There were no blisters, no pain. Only a very faint pink mark...and no scar.  Denise T.

For burns I use carbolic salve or plastic wrap. I do cool the burn and rinse it with cold water first, then I apply either/or. Valerie R.

One other thing we noticed is with burns.  I know someone who had a 3rd degree burn and the skin has never properly attached to the leg after being burned.  After taking garlic for a month the skin is starting to attach to the underlying tissue.  This whole thing is the strangest thing I have ever seen.  I wish I knew about this sooner.  I wonder what else garlic is good for?  Debbie S.

In our family, there is a remedy for burns that has been handed down for generations and it works wonders. You take snow from the first snow that lays in March & melt it. PMake sure that it is clean snow......dont go where the huskies go. *smile* Keep it in a jug in your refrigerator until you need it. My husband was in an industrial explosion & they were afraid they were going to have to amputate his ear. We started applying snow water & the swelling went down. He doesn't even have a scar. The doctors were amazed. This was handed down by my mountain kinfolk. Dont know if it came from the Indians or not.

One remedy that I DO know came from the Indians ....... we were at a powwow several years ago. I was making fry bread when a huge wind came up and threw everything around, including my pan of boiling oil. Right in my lap, in fact. The ladies in charge of healing basted me with honey and covered it with crushed plaintain leaves to make a poultice, then they bound it to hold it in place. It took the pain away & better yet, it did not scar.  Harriet R.

Growing up my grandmother would use potatoes on a burn. Just cut it open and place the white part on the burn. When the potato gets brown cut that part off and do it again. The potato draws out the heat from the burn. I can't remember how often but it does work.  Dawn from IL

I swear by simple Vitamin C. Start taking 2000 mg a day at the very first tinge of a cold, along with Echinacea and Zinc. I rarely have a cold that becomes full-blown or lasts longer than a couple of days. And taking regular Ibuprofen  or  Acetominaphen  for a sore  throat  works  a  lot  better than  the  stuff  you  spray  down  your throat. Tiffany

At the first symptoms of a cold - the itchy sensation in the back of the nose, (or sinusitis, stuffy nose, etc.) try washing out your sinuses with a little salt and baking soda mixed in warm water.  Use a nasal pot to pour the warm water into one nostril and let it drain out the other.  Then flush the other side.  Often works for me!  Whalens

If your baby has colic just get into a hot bath with the baby.  Both of you will relax and the colic will quickly disappear.  You and the baby will be able to sleep!! Cynthia

Whenever my son was a baby and had tummy aches, bad case of colic or was just restless my mother-in-law suggested Manzanilla tea.   It is a remedy that is used in Mexican families.  When my son was a baby just a 4 oz. bottle would work like a charm and allow him to get rid of the gas and relax him enough to sleep.

 

My son is 23 yrs old now & I have just found out that Manzanilla tea is Chamomile tea! I still refer to it as Manzanilla tea and now my son uses it for his babies when they have cases of Colic. Lou R.

Pimples can be brought to a head with hot, wet, washclothes.  Don Ryan

For constipation: eat dandelion; flowers, greens, or roots dandelion, little yellow weeds that everyone seems to hate is a natural antiviral and a mild laxative.  Chas

i was constipated once, and my husband gave me warm apple juice.  A few mins later, i was in the bathroom. It really works. He got it from his grandpa.  Lori

Fletcher's Castoria;  A dark, herbal remedy that didn't taste very bad at all (as I remember) -- good for coughs or "whatever ails you".  Dennis Palmer

My mother used to mix honey in lemon juice and give as cough syrup.  I did this for my own children -- they liked it, it seemed to soothe the throat, and they could have it as often as they wanted, unlike the drug store cough syrups.  In retrospect, the vitamin C probably did some good.  Dolly Yates

My grandmother used margarine mixed with sugar as an edible cough medicine.  No particular mix; but enough sugar to make the margarine palatable.  Billie

Here is one that works.  A slice of raw sweet potato. Suck on it for a cough and the cough will go away or lessen in a few minutes.  Mike Young

Try plain honey.  Casey

THis is a remedy for a bad cough/sore throat that my mom and dad swore by and now that I'm a parent I have used it a time or to myself.  You take any kind of whiskey (my dad used Wild Turkey), mix it with honey and lemon juice then warm it.  There was never an exact measurement but of course with kids you should be a little shy on the whiskey.  It not only puts you to sleep but cures the cough & sore throat.  You can even add peppermints and let them "marinate" so to speak and use them as cough drops.  Carrie Davis

I have 2 entries for your cold remedies.

1.    Father John's cough syrup. (in the 1950s) It came in a brown, tall, thin bottle, it was tan and thick and had some cod liver oil in it.  I think John was dressed as a monk on the label.

2.    Homemade fermented wild cherry liquid.  Dad put an old sheet under a wild cherry tree and shook out the ripe ones.  He put them in jars and let them ferment.  Free cough medicine.  Take enough and you didn't care if you were sick.  From ct

When I would get bronchitis my dad would  mix vinegar, sugar and water for me to drink. It tasted terrible, but it  worked!  LavenderDream55

When you have a persistent cough that will not go away....try Vicks Vapor Rub on the bottom of your feet!   Apply liberally and cover with socks.  It stops your cough in minutes.  Mark Aldridge

I am not in any type of medical profession, and I usually do not have enough time to answer questions, but "skunk grease" piqued my interest, and since I had a free second, I Googled it and found the following article:

It is from te Free Lance Srar Newspaper.  It tells how well it cures, as well as a  vague way of how to make it.  The person sent it to the CDC to get a positive reply on it so he could patent it. The article begins this way:

"Health problems? A good dose of skunk grease will work wonders.

OLD PEOPLE had the perfect remedy for diseases like whooping cough and the croup:
Skunk grease.

When your chest got tight, skunk grease would loosen it up. That's what my grandmother always said. Just take some of this potent remedy and rub it on. Pretty soon you'll be healthy again."

Click here for the article: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2001/102001/10142001/417838
It is an interesting read.  :-)

Another kind user wrote in to say:  You should add that salt is ONLY TO BE USED when the cut is NOT a puncture wound.  Casey

My Mother was raised on a turpentine plantation.  It seems that was the only medicine they had. It was used for cuts, burns, colds, you name what ever was ailing you and they would bring out the medicine bottle. Jinx Dopson

I started a whole fad in my college dorm for using Glovers Mange Cure (for Dogs and Horses) and still available, for dandruff.  On Saturday morning the whole floor would smell of coal tar while we all walked around with towels on our heads having a treatment. Philip Ingerman

Fish Oil 1000 mg 3xs a day will relieve the anxiousness.  KissKi88

This is relatively new but it works. Take Maalox and rub it on the babys bottom before you put on anything else, this will neutralize the acid in the babies waste. It works wonders as long as you apply healing agents over the Maalox. Billy

I worked with a man who had colon cancer and had a colostomy reversed.  He was rashed up to the point of being unbearable.  I told him to have his wife do this, since they had used every immaginable potion and lotion over the counter and doctor perscribed without help.  Scourched all purpose flour works best and quickest.  You take all purpose flour, scatter it on a cookie sheet and bake it until it is good and scourched.  Let it cool and use as a powder.   She made it for him that day, the next day; he came in and said his rash was almost totally gone and he was so much relieved.   I've used it on my children and now my grandchildren.  Best and cheapest cure going.  Nancy W.

Cornstarch:   Clean the area with a warm moist washcloth (do not a baby wipe-it will burn the skin) do not dry the area  - then sprinkle cornstarch on the irritated area.  (Hint: Cornstarch does not mix well with liquid  (it's like vinegar and oil) therefore it keeps the skin dry (keeps urine from burning the skin).  Nancy B.

My first baby had an ugly diaper rash - bright red and raw - numerous trips to the doctor, expensive prescription ointments and all - nothing worked.  An older woman saw me changing her diaper and said "If you want to cure that - put Crisco on it".  I thought, why not - tried everything else, so I did.  It was cleared up in a day or so and she never got diaper rash again!  Debbie

My mother in law told me about this one: When my oldest son was an infant, he had a terrible diaper rash. She told me to find a dirtdobbers nest and crush it up and sprinkle it on him.  i didn't think it would work, but to my surprise, it did...so i continued to use it on my other children when they would get a diaper rash.  Yes, it sounds nasty, but it really works great.   Melissa

Castor Oil:  My mother honestly believed that mixing orange juice with castor oil made it more palatable----which it DIDN'T!!  Furthermore we received castor oil whether we were constipated OR had diarrhea---in the latter case it was supposed to "rinse out" all the germs.   Howard Congdon

Add more cheese to your diet. Rosanna

If something is eaten that seems good and upsets the stomach, add vinegar to water and  sip it.  It works immediately.  If not taken right away and the toxin passes thru the system and causes diarrhea the vinegar will still work as soon as taken. I have personally used this and will swear by it.  Vinegar is so simple and cheap --- my favorite kind of remedy.  Betty C

A sure cure for Diarrhea.. boil down some blackberries take the juice add a little sugar to taste and drink it. Your Diarreah will be cured within 15 min or less, The rest you can use to make a cobbler! Double duty cure!  Barbara

My grandma grew up in Europe at a time when medicine was hard to come by. Her family used stewed blueberries (or canned) which plugged up the runs within a very short time. You don't need more than a cup (or 2 if really bad) of stewed berries. I use this remedy for myself and my children and nothing works better! I understand it is the pectin in the berries that does the trick. Plus they are good for you too & safe! :) Cynthia

This really works!  Eat crystalized ginger. Tastes good and also acts as a breath freshner while it curbs all kinds of motion sickness, dizziness, sea sickness, and vertigo.  Connie Matejek

Bag Balm:  This was used for chapped skin on hands and face as well as it's intended use which was as an ointment for cow's udders.  I still keep Bag Balm in the house because it really works better than most of today's lotions. Mary Stuart Parks

Try Vaseline for dry skin. It has always worked for me,  Casey


Dysentery

Ear Ache

From the webmaster: Out of curiousity, I Googled "Betsy Bug." and I found it to be a beetle with many names. Some of these are: Bess beetle, bess-bug, Betsy-bug, horned passalus beetle, patent-leather beetle, and passale. Some species often have a short horn protruding from the center of the head, which results in the common name, Horned Passalus. The body is very shiny and slick looking, resulting in another common name, Patent-leather Beetle.

Their habitat is mainly tropical areas but also includes North America. These beetles can be found in decaying logs and stumps. Wood infested by these beetles is usually well decomposed and falls apart readily. Larvae and adults live together in a network of galleries dug in the wood, forming small colonies that show some social organization, a very rare trait among beetles.  You can read more & see a picture here.

My youngest son gets earaches often. We heat a bag of rice for about 1 1/2 min. in the microwave, wrap it in a towel and he holds it to his ear or lays on it like a pillow. It works every time and pretty quickly.  Carol Hawkins

Once when I was around 16. I got this horrible ear ache. My grandma put first heated olive oil then drained it, Then hydrogien proxidied (sp) once again drained. Last but the most important part is a whole piece of garlic with both ends sniped off. She put that in my ear with one of the cut ends pointing out then a warm wash cloth and told me to go to sleep. 4 hours later my ear ache was gone. I have used this on myself and on my son. Works everytime and very fast!  Pru

My daughter had constant earaches as a toddler. A family friend is a nurse who recommended the following to us; a garlic capsule in the infected ear. Use the supplemental ones, prick with a safety pin and squirt into the ear. She smelled like a caesar salad, but it really worked! We have used this remedy ever since.  Melanie

If you drink Black cherry juice you can off set a flame up very quickly BUT, it will leave you in the bathroom for a while. You only need about 8 ounces or so and organic is best if you can get it. My boyfriend has gout in his feet and it works like a charm for him. I hope anyone who has gout will take this advice to heart. Andrea

A mixture (1/2 & ½) of Flower of sulfur and Molasses (one teaspoon full) taken twice a day by mouth for three days then drink a cup of Epson salt solution (add the salt to water until it is saturated and no longer dissolves).  Do this process for nine days.  It worked for me before the nine days were up.  This was given to me by a "little granny woman" from South Carolina.  Bob Hammer

If you take 2 lysine 100 mg daily it will keep you from having an attack.  Lysene can be found in any vitamin section.   KissKi88

Since Hiccups are caused by a deficit in oxygen, often taking several very deep longs breathes will cure them.  The hiccup 'reflex' is triggered behind the ear, so another way is to apply ice cubes to the nerve behind the lobe of the ear (in the little valley part) and holding it there for a couple of minutes.  Try the ice while taking the deep breathes and 90-95% of time you will be cured! Kathi Rodriguez

On larger, infected sores or wounds my grandmother applied some leftover mashed potatoes and a bandage and the "infection" was sucked right out of one's body. Howard E.Congdon

For lice, after trying (what I thought to be) all, talking with everyone, dealing with lice with 6 people (4 of us female), their beds and hair checks and treatments, I found this, which I believe works wonders in prevention:   eucalyptus oil, added to shampoo & conditioner. I also add a good amount of eucalyptus oil to plain (not minty) listerine (or generic) in a spray bottle. When I hear of a case of lice at school or in the family, I spray this all over AT the SCALP. Listerine added to wash cycle when doing laundry is an old army wife trick (big ingredient is eucalyptol), and since I've been addicted to "menthol" cough drops since my third pregnancy, I've gotten lice, though my school-aged kids had come home with the critters. OUNCE of PREVENTION. Since I began this routine, neighbors, extended family, and classmates have had lice, but not my kids. Marlene Wisely

Red Rasberry leaf dryed or fresh rolled and place into the mouth next to the sore "may"(**) stop the discomfort in as little 30 seconds.  Mike

Here is one that I use and is almost a guaranteed to work--table salt.  No one likes the little mouth sores called "mouth ulcers". A good remedy when one comes to a full sore is to get some "Compound benzoien" found in a drug store. It puts a coating on the sore allowing you to eat, but believe me "IT BURNS LIKE FIRE". But if you feel one in the making, here is the best thing you can do sprinkle some table salt in the palm of your hand, (it is best to wash your hands before doing this) stick your tongue in the salt that is in the palm of your hand. It does not take much salt. Just cover the tip of your tongue with some salt. Then with the salt on the tip of your tongue place your tongue on the mouth sore and rub the salt into the sore with your tongue. If the sore has just made a little bump and has not turned white (open up), it will stop it from opening up and within 24 hours it will be completely gone! But if you do not catch the sore before it turns white (opens up) it will burn like down below and take longer to heal.  It W O R K S for me and my house. Victor

For nausea, car or air sickness: put pressure on the underside of your wrist at about 2 inches below the area where the wrist and hand meet.  Hold until nausea subsides.   Dora Schwemley

For nausea, you can use a flat.. FLAT coca cola classic, or now they market coke syrup in the drug stores.  Ginger ale, consumed slowly, ginger added to tea, or ginger capsules, camomile or peppermint tea also help.  There is also a pressure point between your thumb and forfinger in the webbing of your hand that is supposed to help fight nausea and motion sickness. Chris

For an upset stomach or for nausea our pediatritian recommends the child drink the juice from canned peaches.   Julie Woods

For Nausea, try eating Saltine crackers and sipping Sprite.  Casey

We have in this area of Texas two plants that have fine acid loaded hairs - Bull Nettle and Stinging Nettle. If you brrush against them the effect is terrific stinging. We used urine to conteract the acid.  Charles Diltz

Take a Pine fern (not cone) brake it in half and rub the broken ends on the effected area.   Mike

When i was younger i was in the boyscouts in washington state, whenever any scout encountered Stinging nettles the scoutmaster would immediatly put wet mud on the area, You would leave it on till it dried then rub it off.. it worked! The mud would lessen the pain and "leech" the fine hairs out of your skin... then again he also showed us you could eat nettles after boiling... tasted like spinich... yech!   Robert Mendes

We have tons of sting nettle around here.  We have two cures that we use faithfully.  Rub a burdock leaf on the sting and it goes away like magic.  We also use jewel weed and rub that on the sting.  Peggy

Vinegar will stop a nosebleed in its tracks.  Just take a small sip and get it to the back of your throat, and breathe the vapors out your nose. No more nosebleed. It appears to cause the blood vessels of the nose to contract or to clot the blood rapidly.   CG482

Fold a piece of tissue(small not to large) and tuck it under your upper lip (Boy Scout fieldbook pg.247)  Mike

For a Nosebleed, put a little Cold water up your nose and lean your head back.  Casey

Once initial bleeding has subsided, we put a little hemorrhoid ointment on a cotton swab and run it around the nostril.  It moistens passageway and the ointment causes vessels to close up faster!  Laura L.

For pink eye, dilute 1 tblsp of honey in about 8 oz of water, and using a shotglass, wash out affected eye.    Use 3 times daily.  Barb

My mother treated our family for pink eye all the time, never a doctor was needed, so when my daughter and her friends came down with pink eye from sharing makeup, there parents went and spent money on prescribed medicine, and I used my moms recipe. My daughter was cured almost 2 wks before her friends. I still use it for my grand kids.
 
2 tsp Boric Acid
1 cup of water

Bring to boil, then set aside to cool.  When cool, place in air tight bottle.

Wash eyes 3 times daily till improved (3-4 days) with cotton ball. DO NOT DROP IN EYES -- Wash Eyes Only.   Do not use the same cotton ball twice.    Sylvia Posch

My grandmother told me of this:

Salt dries up poison ivy and other rashes.  Merry

Monistat 7 Cream applied to the affected area, Monistat for itching.  Mike

The best thing i have found for poison oak and ivy is to get a banana peel and lay it out on the counter and wait until the inside turns a light shade of brown , then rub it on the rash but only use one spot on the peel per infected area so you dont spread it, then let it dry and it is instant relief and dries the rash up within a few days. this treatment has worked for our family for many many generations. Earl H.

My grandmother used Fels Naptha soap.  It is a bar laundry soap that used to be very popular.  It can usually still be found in the laundry section.   While it is a little harsh, taking a shower with it (make sure to rinse off well) dries out the bumps or scabs and neutralizes the oils from the plant.  Brenda

I had poison ivy and flax seed oil cleared it up. A very overweight girl went to the Health food store where I go and said Drs.couldn't stop her poison ivy. The lady told her what I had said about the flax seed oil. She came back later and said it worked. Harold Tinker

I had just told a friend that some years ago when I was diagnosed with shingles (probably the 2nd or 3rd day due to the pain I was feeling) and the "spot" on my back was obvious, I'd returned to work and a co-worker said to go to the Health Foods store and get L-lycene, 500 mg and Vitamin C, 500 mg and take 1500 of each every day.  Could take a higher dose if necessary.  She said it "cured" her Dad of a really bad case on his face.  So I did as she said.  It worked for me too.The doctor had said there was nothing you could do, it would take 6 weeks to run it's course.  He gave me a prescription for pain which I did not have to fill.  However, after a week or 10 days, I stopped and the spot and pain came back.  So I found that you have to stay on the Vitamin C and L-lycene for the whole 6 weeks.  Then you have to taper off the vitamin C.  I probably took 1000 of each 3 times a day.  The body adjusts to the Vitamin C; taper off or get a sore throat!

I would like to advise that coal oil is now a rare commodity and is derived from coal. Kerosene is a petroleum byproduct and does not have the same medicinal properties as coal oil. Bill Hudson

Many times while driving I would sneeze.  I found if you rub your ear lobes it would suppress the sneeze.Don't pull on them, just rub them. Try it at home before a sneeze, it really does work for me and others that I have told.  Chimes

i was in my school's choir and our teacher was really strict about moving or drawing attention to ourselves in any way while we were singing in concerts. she told us if we had to sneeze, just close your mouth and suck on the roof of your mouth with your tounge. it worked for me every time!  missy d

Voice of Caution: I enjoyed this site a lot but wanted to suggest that you put in a warning on the one for kerosene for a sore throught. My daughter spent 2 weeks in the hospital with chemical phenmonia from a teaspoon of ingested kerosene. I wouldn't want anyone to try it. ShirlRay

When I had a cold my mother used to chop up onions and put some sugar on them and set them in the warming oven until there was juice.  I actually liked the sweet warm onion juice and it was soothing for a sore throat. Dolly Yates

When I get a sore throat I sniff warm salt water up my nose and let it run down the back of my throat.  It really does work.  Also, you can mix 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup honey. Take 1 tbls 6 times a day.  This worked for my hubby whose refuses to sniff salt water.  Fredshobby

 My grandmother used to prescribe a dose of turpentine and sugar for a sore throat. I certainly wouldn't advise it today, but there is a legitimate treatment sometimes prescribed by doctors, called turpenhydrate and codeine. Obviously the codeine part is a narcotic, but the turpenhydrate is surely a derivative of turpentine. Anyway, it tastes just as foul as the original.  John E. Bowles

THis is a remedy for a bad cough/sore throat that my mom and dad swore by and now that I'm a parent I have used it a time or to myself.  You take any kind of whiskey (my dad used Wild Turkey), mix it with honey and lemon juice then warm it.  There was never an exact measurement but of course with kids you should be a little shy on the whiskey.  It not only puts you to sleep but cures the cough & sore throat.  You can even add peppermints and let them "marinate" so to speak and use them as cough drops.  Carrie Davis

This is a remedy that has helped when my husband had a spider bite that was growing bigger and was forming a knot under the skin. I went and picked a couple plantain leaves and chewed them up slightly. Actually, the person with the bite should chew it, as it has detoxifying properties. But, since my husband wouldn't, I chewed it and then put it on the bite. I placed a Band-Aid over it and changed it twice a day for 2 days-after that, the bite, the knot, everything was healed. I believe I found this remedy in a Native American herbal remedy book. I also use a chewed plantain leaf on places I have that start bleeding a little. I just place it on the cut or whatever and hold it there for a short time. the bleeding stops. Betty Black

I have a remedy for spider bites. Simply cut an onion in half and place it on your spider bite this will draw the poison out works very well. Tape the onion on with duck tape leave on over night. Frieda-Anne

I remember one time when I got a bad splinter in my foot.  My mother made a poultice of equal parts Alcohol, flour and lard.  (If you use 1 tsp of alcohol then use 1 tsp of the others or if you use 1 TBLS. of alcohol, use 1 TBLS of the others)  Mix this until it is like silly putty in your hands and then place a small amount on where the splinter entered the skin and put a gauze pad over it secured with some type of tape, leaving the gauze uncovered over the site.   This poultice will work with either metal like straight pins or needles or splinters of wood. - - - I used this remedy just two years ago when I had a BAD splinter in my foot and it worked beautifully.  Pulled it out within 24 hours.   Mona Clouse

Just dab a little elmers glue on it an let it dry the peel the glue back and the splinter will pull out.  ds

 

Wild Cherries:  My grandmother made a wonderful concoction from wild cherries, which are darker, smaller, and more bitter than domestic cherries.  She let it ferment :0)   and mixed it with sugar and hot water for a stomach ache. I loved it!  I had regular stomach aches, until my parents put a stop to the "cure." Patricia I. Shaw

Mormons use pineapple juice for strep throat. Just drink it when the strep throat season starts. Valerie R.

When I was small and would get a sty on my eye, my mother would take a an Irish potato, cut it in half and scrape out about 3 or 4 tablespoons of the raw potato.  Then she would put the gooey mess in a clean, white handkerchief and put it over my eye.  She'd leave it about 30 or 45 minutes, take it off, wash the area around my eye and in about an hour the sty would be gone.  It has been a really long time since I was a little girl, but I still use this remedy to this day.  Don't know how it works or why; but, it works.   Betty Giblin

Sty - Rub a gold ring on the sty. I have not hadd great luck with this one. Sabrina Barton

Being a redhead who sunburned so-o-o easily, I learned early how soothing & beneficial vinegar gently  &  liberally applied to burned areas can be.   Mary

Vinegar does soothe sunburn, more importantly it will reduce or stop the severity of the burn if epeatedly applied for an hour or so, immediately after the incident. The burning usually continues for quite a while afterwards once someone is over exposed to the sun. Vinegar will stop the pain and heal in its tracks.  CG482@aol.com

For sunburn try dabbing on vanilla. It takes the sting out and keeps it from peeling and smells good. I have used both real vanilla and imitation and they both work the same. Phyllis

For Sunburn use cold brewed tea on the sunurn (unsweetened of course.) it also puts the fire out in your mouth when eating hot peppers.  Luvy

There isn`t anything better for sun burn then cold tea...Tea has tinactin in it and brings the fire right out..My husband was badley burnt when he spent a day on the water,I soaked towels in cold tea and let them set on him,when they got warm soaked them again, he never even blistered..I have used this for years..  wonderless

I burn easy.  I use Aloevera gel on my sunburn. I keep a very large plant in my house at all times. Its great for burns of all kinds. Jen

I get laughed at a lot when i tell people this, but preparation H or it's generic equivalent works the best for sunburn.  Someone who worked in a burn unit in a hospital told me about this.  Chill it in fridge, stops the sting and you don't peel afterwards either.  Just smooth on the cream .  I've used it many times.  It Works!!!!!! Barb

I have found, on the recommendation of an older Norwegian lady I used to work with, that putting olive oil on it takes out a lot of the feeling of the burn, plus it comes out of your clothes. At night (you don't want to use this one in public - it stinks a bit) you can rub on Noxema face cleaning cream and that works good too.  Tiffany F.

Suntan Oil

For a great suntan oil, try mineral oil instead of baby oil.  (Baby oil has mineral oil in it.  Plain mineral oil is thicker, doesn't have any perfumes, and leaves the skin moisturized as a bonus.) Rosanna

Swelling

I had a very serious car accident and shattered my wrist.  Several months later,  my hand and wrist were still very swollen.  My surgeon told me the swelling might never subside.  My grandmother told me to make a mixture of kerosene, turpentine and lard and apply it to the swollen area, then top that with a hand towel that had been soaked in hot water and wrung out.  In about an hour's time, the swelling was gone and has not returned in ten years.  Liz

The potato is one of the best all-round treatments for sprains, bruises, swelling and numerous other such injuries.  Cut a raw potato and rub it on the hurt area.  When it gets dry cut a thin slice off to expose more moist potato and rub some more--or you could grate the potato and make a poultice.  I think this will work on burns, insect bites and stings as well, though have not tried it on those.  A few years ago I sprained my ankle.  The pain and swelling were terrible and I hobbled around for several days.  Then I rubbed it with a potato.  Relief was astonishingly quick--maybe ten minutes.  The swelling went down and the bruise did, too.  I continued with potato rubbings whenever I thought about it and within a few days was as good as new. Allen

Swollen Tonsils

Merthiolate:  I had puss pockets on my tonsils and he punctured them with a long wire and then painted my throat with merthiolate.  Talk about nasty! Glenda Todd

Salsalic acid (used for canning) could be used to swab swollen tonsils. It was like aspirin. Wilma

There was  a mixture of iodine, aconite and glycerin that cured swollen tonsils. Wilma

I had bad tonsils and, more than once, with an applicator had to have them swabbed with Tincture of Merthiolate. It smarted a bit but it did seem to help,..at least for a while. Doris Goldsborough

Iodine & rubbing alcohol mixed together painted on the outside of throat and dabbed on each tonsil, it works if done early.   Velma Arnold

For Swollen Tonsils OR Sore Throat.  When my son was young he had tonsilitis EVERY year.  Sometimes bad enough to nearly block off his airway.  I had always used Peroxide on cuts to kill infection and tonsilitis is just a simple infection.  I read the bottle and it gave directions for a gargle which I mixed and had him use.  I NEVER took him to the doctor for tonsilitis ever again.  As soon as he got a sore throat, he would tell me and I would mix up the Peroxide and water for him.  Once the nurse from school called to tell me he had a sore throat.  I told her I would come get him and asked her if she had peroxide.  She said yes and I proceeded to tell her how to mix it and asked her to have him gargle with it while I was on the way.  She told him (while I was on the phone) and I heard him say, "Yep, it tastes AWFUL but it DOES work".  He was in 8th grade at the time.   To this day I always keep a "concoction" mixed in my medicine cabinet.   A 50 cent bottle of peroxide is a lot cheaper than a $50 bottle of antibiotics plus a doctor's office call.  Rebecca from Georgia

Thorn (more found under "Splinter")

My grandmother used sugar, some bar soap (Ivory I think) and spit.  Mixed a poultice and covered with a gauze pad.  Within 20 minutes, the stinger dislodged.  Works good will thorns and splinters, too.  Stacie

Thrush

Gention Violet will clear-up "Thrush", which is a yellow coating like fungus, that is sometimes found in the mouths of some infants and adults. Swab Gention Violet on the sides of the mouth and also the tounge. Gention Violet is messy and glows cobalt blue under flourescent lights but it is a great cure!! (I know from experience and nothingworks better for Thrush.)   Kathleen

Tooth Paste

Baking Soda Charlie Urban

From an old book that I have - copyright 1879 -Home & Health and Home Economics by C.H. Fowler,D.D., LL.D., and W.H.DePuy, A.M., D.D.........: "A Mixture for the Teeth:-Dissolve two ounces of borax in three pints of boiling water, and before it is cold add one teaspoonful of spirits of camphor, and bottle for use. A tablespoonful of this mixture, mixed with an equal quantity of tepid water, and applied daily with a soft brush, preserves and beautifies the teeth, extirpates all tartarus adhesions, arrests decay, induces a healthy action of the gums, and makes them look pearly white."  Doris Goldsborough

Tooth Ache

I'll never forget using Toothache Wax and putting it in the tooth cavity. The toothache was bad enough but the taste of cloves in that toothache wax made it "yucky" ! Doris Goldsborough

From an old book that I have - copyright 1879 -Home & Health and Home Economics by C.H. Fowler,D.D., LL.D., and W.H.DePuy, A.M., D.D.: "Toothache Cures.- Relief from toothache or neuralgic affections arising from teeth in any stage of decay, may often be obtained by saturating a small bit of clean cotton or wool with a strong solution of ammonia, and applying it immediately to the affected tooth. The pleasant contrast in-stantaneously produced sometimes causes a fit of laughter, although a moment before extreme suffering and anguish prevailed" [I AM SURE THEY MEANT SPIRITS OF AMMONIA and not the household ammonia we now use!]   Doris Goldsborough

For a abscessed tooth put a Tea Bag on it or a clean cloth with a bit of bulk tea in it--just moisten enough so it will cover the tooth and hold it there, don't remember for how long but probably till the tooth stopped hurting. I have had it do good for me when I had Teeth. LOL  Dorothy

I was surprised to see that to relieve the pain for a toothache, dab whiskey on the root of the tooth, and the gums below/around the tooth wasnt listed.  Works better than ambesol or anything out there. HavUSeenMyMarbl

Ulcers

Back around 1950 my mother was diagnosed with an ulcer. Our elderly family doctor told her to eat a baked potato hot from the oven every night before dinner. One night she let the potato sit for a time while she attended to a child, and later was doubled over with pain. The doctor scolded her, saying his instructions were to eat the potato hot from the oven. Thereafter she followed his orders religiously, and the ulcer went away.  WRGPBG

Upset Stomach

My grandmother mixed a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of baking soda in a half-glass of water then poured in about  a tablespoonful of vinegar.  This concoction was drunk while foaming---actually it tasted a lot like today's alka-seltzer. Nina Hall

She also made blackberry wine for medical purposes for the stomach.  Joanne H. Boswell

Granny would peel a Irish Potato, cut it in pieces and pour water over it and let it set a while. Then she would pour the water off the Potato and we drank it. It tasted sweet and it worked. Verna

When I was a little girl we were travling in the mountains of West Virginia and I had an upset stomach. Carsick maybe.. We stopped at an old country store to get something for it and there was an old women running the store that looked as old as the hills.. LOL!!.. She told my mom to fold up a newspaper and put it next to my skin under my shirt.. It worked!!.. The nausea went away and the rest of the trip was great!!   Cindy

For upset stomach (heartburn, indigestion) mix one tsp. of baking soda in a cup of water and drink straight up (this is on the baking soda box). Dora Schwemley

For an upset stomach or for nausea our pediatritian recommends the child drink the juice from canned peaches.   Julie Woods

I use a 1/2 of a small glass of any kind of pickle juice for upset stomach & heartburn.  It helps me and doesn't taste awful. Jeff

Vitamin D

Cod Liver Oil: .The cod liver oil was to ward off colds, too.  I had to take cod liver oil tablets all one winter and didn't have a cold all winter. Grover

Warts

Freshly killed chicken gizzard rubbed on the wart. The gizzard may have been sliced open. After rubbing it on the wart, you were to bury the gizzard and never look at it again. This worked on my little brother's warts that had resisted conventional medical treatments. Maybe it was the power of persuasion. Sabrina Barton

Some of these old remedies do seem to work. When I was a kid ( back in the 1940s) I had large warts on my hands. My grandmother told me to cut a potato in half and rub the raw potato on my hands several times a day. Before I knew what was happening, those things just disappeared. Sure make a believer out of me !!! Connie Humphrey

It is really not an old time cure, but it's a cheap alternative.  Two years ago my little girl got  a bad case of plantar warts on the bottoms of her feet.   We have no health insurance and my husband had lost his job, and I thought "what am I going to do?"  I began researching on the web and found a bulletin board,  and several people posted that Tea Tree Oil had made their plantar warts disappear.

  Well, Tea Tree Oil is a great antiseptic and we keep it in the house all the time.  Several years ago I had a large wart on my face, and the doctor wanted $100 to remove it.  I used the Tea Tree Oil every night, and in two weeks the wart was gone.

  So, I used the Tea Tree Oil on my daughter's plantar warts.  It worked great!  The warts were gone in about two months.  A doctor would have used expensive treatments or lazer surgery.  All it took to get rid of them was a couple of $6 bottles of Tea Tree Oil from the Natural Health
store, and some patience.

  Tea Tree Oil is from Australia.  I purchase mine at the local Natural Health and vitamin store, for about $6 a bottle and it lasts a long time (we've had our current bottle for about two years).  The one I like best is in a dark brown bottle and is by a company called NOW.   Tea Tree Oil is great for lots of things --- warts, acne, etc.   Maggie Hays

A friend of my mother's has a set of twin girls. One of them had a problem with warts on her hands. So, every night before bed, she'd put petrolium jelly (vasoline) on her hands and then put rubber gloves over them so she wouldn't get the stuff all over the bed linen. After several days (not sure how many), the warts were gone.  Leanne Evans

Take a vitamin A gelcap...split it open and rub the oil on the wart......will see results 3 to 6 days..completely gone.  KissKi88

My brother had a hugh wart on the little finger of his right hand ,,it covered the second section of the finger and stuck out at least 1/4 inch or more. Nasty looking thing.  He had tried all kinds of wart removers to no avail.  He worked in a gasoline station/garage, as they were called back then.  He was restoring an old car and had just bought a new wrench,,well somehow it got knocked into a vat of acetone, and without thinking my brother just plunged his hand into it to grab the wrench before it went to the bottom,,and luckily he grabbed it.  He cleaned of his hand and the next morning at breakfast our Mother asked what had he done to get rid of the wart.  He said he hadn't done anything.  Mom said,,well, it is gone,,what did you do?  He told Mom about the acetone saying that was the only thing he could think of that was unusual that had happened.  Mom said,,go upstairs and see if it is in your bed.  Sure enough it was,,it had fallen off during the night. Not long ago, I had a wart on the back of my hand. I had tried several remedies and nothing got rid of the wart. Then remembered what had happened with my brother.  I went to Wal Mart,,got some fingernail polish remover with acetone. I would saturate a quetip with the nail polish remover with acetone and dab it on the wart for about three or four times every day for about a week,,and every day I could see the wart shrinking, it finally just flaked off.  Works,,don't ask me why,,although I have a theory,,don't know if it is correct.  If warts are caused by a virus maybe the acetone freezes the virus and kills it ..don't know, just guessing. Acetone is cold. Works faster if you can find acetone. Alice Cokus

There is nothing better to get rid of warts than plain old duct tape. Make sure you get the type that has cloth fibers in it. Just cut a small piece and place it over the wart. In about a week the wart will die. If you feel silly running around with a piece of duct tape stuck to yourself, just cover the whole thing with a Band- aid.  Ed Bayer

For warts: rub with dandelion milk; just pick flower and rub on wart.  Chas

I am 63 now and three or four times during my life I have been afflicted with numerous warts on my hands.  When I was a boy with the warts my grandmother told me to pick up a smooth, round pebble and rub the stone over each wart a few seconds, saying at the same time "wart, wart, go away".  Then I was told to bury the rock.  All the warts disappeared in a few days.  Although this procedure sounds silly, I have performed this rite several times with positive results.  I believe it is an illustration of the power of the mind to heal the body.  Don Joliff

I read in a book of Grandmas home remedies when I was a teenager (this cure) and tried it. It worked on me, and since then, my daughter, son, sister-in-law, and several friends.  Unfortunately this cure is seasonal...  Take a pod from a milkweed plant, and apply the white milk seeping out of the pod twice daily for two weeks, and bye bye gone gone. No more warts...and they don't come back, ever!  We found this to be somewhat sticky so we applied the milk to the pad on a bandaid and then to the wart. This worked great!  Hogpainter

My husband had many moles on his back. These were flat with dark tops on them. He started to take one clove of garlic every day because he was told by a friend it would help with circulation. In 2 weeks we noticed that 2 moles that he has for at least 10 years was gone. The warts what were growing on his back just flaked off. I have never heard of this before. Have you?  Debbie S.

My 10-year old daughter had three large warts on her fingers that were very bothersome to her. A friend of mine gave me a bottle of oregano oil that she had used successfully on her daughter's wart(an essential oil, inexpensive and not hard to find...this was from Young Living). I put a dab on each wart, intending to faithfully put it on daily, but I only did it a total of 3 times over the course of about 2 weeks ( I kept forgetting). After the two weeks, my daughter came out of the shower missing one wart, and by the next day all three were gone. I am sure that if we had used it more often right away it could have disappeared even sooner. I heard this also works well for skin tags. It's a natural, easy, painless and cheap way to remove warts. Try it; it works! Alisa

When I was about 12 years old, I contracted a very nasty and persistent seeded wart on my finger.  This wart had white roots that reached deep into my finger.  Very painful.  My mother tried a very popular over-the-counter remedy over the course of  two months but this only served to aggravate it.  My mother then decided to try a remedy she recalled from her own childhood.  Each night before I went to bed, she tied a piece of sliced lemon to my finger with a strip of cloth, ensuring that the lemon's 'flesh was in direct contact with the wart.  After less than a week, the had wart completely disappeared and left no scar. Charles V

Worms

Tobacco juice:  Tobacco Juice was dosed in case anyone had been exposed to intestinal parasites (worms). Barb

Dr. Jayne's Syrup of Pepsin.  I believe that was for worms.  Very sweet tasting and not so bad, actually; however, I always dreaded it. Nina Hall

Way back when I was a child I remember my mom would draw a ring around all of our navels with turpentine. I guess it does really work. JMoonglo1

Wounds

When I was a kid, I ran barefoot all the time.  I ended up stepping on a rusty nail and it went in my foot pretty deep.  Due to financial issues, we didn't go to the hospital. My mother is 1/2 Cherokee so she used the following thing to remove the rust from my wound.

She cleaned the wound with soap and water, then she cut some fat off a slab of bacon placing it over the wound. Then she cleaned and heated up a penny and placed it on top of the bacon, wrapped it with gauze and tape.  During the night, my foot went to throbbing quiet a few times.  The next morning, she removed the wrap and the bacon was covered with rust and drainage from the wound.  All the redness was gone and in a few days, the pain was gone too.  Kathryn

For wounds, the Amish use kerosene. They just put it directly on a bleeding wound and it stops the bleeding. Valerie R.

Remedies Program

A few years ago, while checking through a (now defunct) BBS' files archive, I found a little DOS program that lists all kinds of herbs and what they're used for, as well as all kinds of ailments and what herbs to use for them.  It's a stand-alone type of program that does not install on your hard drive.  Just click and go.  If you would like to take a peek at it, just click here.  It is virus free, but I encourage you to check it (and any other file you download off of the 'Net.)

Remedies Available

Miller's Rexall Drugs has a bunch of the hard to find old remedies. 1-404-523-8481  they have a catalog. No on-line ordering.   Charline Burress

There are several books on the market that do in fact have an abundance of home remedies and cures. "Back to Eden" by Jefthro Claus. Seems to me to be one of the most over looked. Mike

Old Fashioned Mustard Plaster
           (For Chest Colds)

4 T. flour
2 tsp. oil
1 T. dry mustard

- Mix in lukewarm water to form a paste.
- Spread on a thin clean cloth and cover.
- Place on chest for 20 minutes (shorter time for small children). Be careful not to burn the skin.
- Remove the plaster and cover the chest with camphorated oil or Vicks.
- Then cover with warm fabric such as flannel or a towel.
- Repeat in 4 hours.

Found at: http://www.lis.ab.ca/walton/grain/cookin/mstrdptr.html

Thunderstone

I have what I was told was a thunder stone (that is a translation from polish as I can not write polish). It has been passed down in our family for over 70 years the stone was formed when lightning struck a house or tree. People would look for this funny shaped stone after a lightning strike. The one I have is from the early 1920's when my grandparents house was struck by lightning.  My mother used to take the stone and rub it in a saucer of milk, but I don't remember what it was a cure from the milk would turn pink and we would drink it. John Chmielewski

Rooters,

For those of you who may be confused by all this, coal and kerosene are the same thing.  Originally called coal oil because it was first refined from coal, it later was refined from petroleum and given the more scientific name kerosene.  Turpentine on the other hand came from pine trees.  They both tasted bad, but turpentine stings the worst when applied to sensitive areas of the body, including rusty nail punctures.  It was presumed to prevent "lockjaw" (old-time name for tetanus), which was presumed to be caused by rusty nails.  Most of our generation have experienced the turpentine foot-soak, as it was customary to go barefoot all summer, at least.  (If it was a good year, we got a new pair of shoes in the fall, which had to last until we outgrew them.  That usually occurred early in the spring, in spite of having started out a size or two too large.  So the toes were cut out of the now too-short shoes, and worn that way until school was out or the weather warmed up.  In the latter case, we could sometimes get away with going barefoot to school, the last few weeks.   But we knew that inevitably we would step on that rusty nail and out would come the turpentine bottle.)

I'm glad to find a lot of other rooters are old enough to remember these things.  Our kids and grand kids have no idea what they missed.  They'll never have callouses on their feet so thick they could run all day up and down a gravel road and never feel a thing.

GrGrampa Chuck

I would like to advise that coal oil is now a rare commodity and is derived from coal. Kerosene is a petroleum byproduct and does not have the same medicinal properties as coal oil.

My '49 "A" Farmall tractor, with a "coal oil" engine, -will- run on kerosene(or my grandfather's white lightning). But it makes lousy medicine.

Note also that isopropyl alcohol is a petroleum product. It is a wonderful solvent and cleaner. But for medicinal use, I am particular to use natural grain alcohol. A good brand of vodka will work in a pinch, but I prefer neutral grain spirits of high (190+) proof. An example would be the brand name "Ever Clear". Such  spirits must -never- be taken internally at full strength. They work well for tinctures. Bill Hudson

These stories have always fascinated me...they seem to be sort of like the "Thunderstone" mentioned above.  If you have or know of any others, will you please share them with us? 

The following "madstone" stories were collected from the Genhumor mailing list a while ago, and were posted by Marvin D. Snoddy and are reposted here with permission.  I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

Madstones, still treasured but no longer used, were employed for centuries in the treatment of rabies.  I copied an old advertisement that states:

“Madstone will be used on spider, snake or dog bites”   Rev.  R. J. Tucker,  Pelham, Tennessee.

It was against the law for a common man to have one in Cleopatra’s time. The royal family had them for use on snake and spider bites.

Madstones continued to be used until French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the germ theory of disease and treated successfully in 1885 a small boy bitten by a dog with rabies.  The Pasteur treatment replaced the madstone in rabies cases.

The once-valued madstone was not a rock in the true sense of the word.  It came from an unlikely place to find a "stone" of any kind - - the fore stomach of a wild deer.

The madstone was a stone-like piece of calcium and minerals that allegedly formed around some foreign substance the deer had swallowed.

If madstones had medicinal value, and deer were so plentiful in days gone by, why didn't everybody go out and round up his own madstone?  It was something like looking for the needle in the haystack.  I've never cut open the fore stomach of a wild deer but a friend of mine says the stench is awful.   Only a few deer had madstones, possibly one out of several thousand.  Once a madstone was obtained it was handed down in the same family for generations.

In treating rabies the madstone was applied directly to the bite wound. If it did not adhere to the wound it was thought that no poison was in the wound.   It might stay on for several hours.  If it fell off quickly, the stone was put back on the wound.   In most cases the madstone would adhere and stay on from one to several hours.  Then it would be placed in warm milk and the milk would turn sickly green.  It would then be placed back on the wound.  If it did not stick the poison was thought to be gone.  If it stuck again it was thought to still have poison in the wound and the process was repeated until it failed to stick.

Did the madstone have any real value in these cases?  I have read several stories that say they worked. 

My grandfather, Thomas Gideon Snoddy, had one used on him in 1904.  If a mad dog had bit me, and I had access to a madstone, would I have tried it?  Faster than a speeding bullet.

- Story of a Madstone as Told to Mr. Eugene Doyle -

        The following story was told to Eugene Doyle by his grandmother many years ago:

        William Owen of North Carolina married Miss _______ Pigg of the State of Virginia in the latter part of the eighteenth century.  Soon after this, they moved to Kentucky and settled in the Buck Creek valley in the southern section of Barren County.  Among their possessions, they brought with them a very large madstone, which they valued very highly.  To this union were born six girls.  Mr. Owen sawed this madstone into six pieces as nearly equal as possible and gave each girl a piece, telling her to give the part received by each to her oldest son, who in turn would give it to his eldest son and so on, thus keeping it in the family forever.

        One of these girls married a Mr. Hinton of Allen County, Kentucky; another married a Mr. Stovall, father of the Rev. Isaac Stovall, a very prominent preacher of Allen County.  Still another married a Mr. Boatman of Buck Creek valley;  one married "Singing Billie" Gardner, a prominent Baptist preacher and at one time president of Bethel Male College, Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky.

        Mr. Jeff Boatman, son of the daughter, who married a Mr. Boatman, traded his part of the madstone to Mr. Ed Edmunds of the Beckton neighborhood.  The madstone which was given the daughter who married a Mr. Gardner, is still in the Gardner family, belonging to Mr. Louis Gardner who lives one-half mile north of old Dripping Springs Church on the Dixie Highway No. 31 West.  Much of the time, the madstone can be found at Charlie Moore’s at Cave City, Kentucky.  I know of only two of the six madstones now in existence - the Edmunds and the Gardner stones.  I never knew whom the other two girls married.

        I have never known a person upon whom the madstone was used to develop hydrophobia, but I have known of the use of both madstones quite frequently and have applied the Gardner stone a number of times myself.  In 1889, Ed Self came to my father's and we went to Uncle Holland Gardner’s, then alive, but he had sent the stone to two of his nephews, who were in school in Miller Town, Grayson County.  So Self and I started for a fifty mile, horseback ride through much mud; it took us all day.  We reached our destination a little after dark.  The stone stuck tight and fast to Self’s hand for an hour and three-quarters.  We cleaned the stone in warm water and applied it to his hand until it ceased to stick, then took it and washed it in warm water, then applied it once more to the hand and it stuck, even when the stone was on the underneath side of the hand.  Ed Self is still alive and makes his home at Horse Cave, Kentucky.

        In 1891, a mad dog came to Hiseville, Kentucky, and bit Mr. Fanning Johnson, then a policeman of Hiseville.  Mr. Johnson came to my brother, W. S. Doyle, Cave City, Kentucky, who was boarding there at the time, and went after the madstone, which was placed upon Mr. Johnson’s thigh, where the dog had bitten him; it stuck twenty-four hours.  Mr. Johnson lived many years after this.   You may not believe in the power of the madstone, but if you see one in operation, you will be forced to admit its power, even though you cannot understand the mystery of its peculiar affinity for the mad dog virus.

                Eugene Doyle

(Copied from an old scrapbook, which belonged to Nellie Snoddy Hatchett, at the Glasgow, Kentucky Library.)

Marvin D. Snoddy

The following Madstone story was sent in by Donna Morgan

I thought you might like to have this additional story about the use of a madstone to cure a rabies bite.

From: The Elizabethtown News "Devoted to Home Interest and Home People" 
Established 1869 Elizabethtown, Hardin Co., KY

Tuesday, September 21, 1909

"Bitten by Mad dog, James Portman of Big Clifty is in serious condition as result.

"James Portman, of Big Clifty, was bitten by a dog last Tuesday afternoon and went to Louisville to have madstone applied to wound.

"The stone was applied eight times and on each occasion it adhered. Portman returned home yesterday morning. Several days will have to elaspe before anything definite can be learned as to his condition."

Sure makes you wonder how it turned out???

Donna Morgan

 

This Page Last Updated on June 9, 2009