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[Transcriber's Notes]Some of the suggestions in this book may be helpful or at least have a
placebo effect. Beware of the many recipes that include kerosene (coal
oil), turpentine, ammonium chloride, lead, lye (sodium hydroxide),
strychnine, arsenic, mercury, creosote, sodium phosphate, opium, cocaine
and other illegal, poisonous or corrosive items. Many recipes do not
specify if it is to be taken internally or topically (on the skin). There
is an extreme preoccupation with poultices (applied to the skin, 324
references) and "keeping the bowels open" (1498 references, including
related terms).
I view this material as a window into the terror endured by mothers and
family members when a child or adult took ill. The doctors available (if
you could afford one) could offer little more than this book. The guilt of
failing to cure the child was probably easier to endure than the
helplessness of doing nothing.
There are many recipes for foods I fondly remember eating as a child.
Note the many recipes for a single serving that involve lengthy and
labor intensive preparation. Refrigeration was uncommon and the
temperature of iceboxes was well above freezing, so food had to be
consumed quickly.
Many recipes use uncooked meat and eggs that can lead to several diseases.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected but contemporary spelling
and usage are unchanged. Page headers are retained, but are moved to the
beginning of the paragraph where the text is interrupted. Page numbers are
shown in brackets [ ].
The author claims the material is directed toward non medical "family"
members, but many passages are obviously copied from medical textbooks.
The following glossary of unfamiliar (to me) terms is quite lengthy and
does not include incomprehensible (to me) medical terms and many words and
names I could not find in several reference books. The book's own 16 page
dictionary is on page 893.
I recommend the article on "hydrophobia" (page 241) as an interesting
history of the Pasture treatment.
Don Kostuch
Transcriber's Dictionary
These entries are absent or brief in the original dictionary on page 893.
A short cooking dictionary is on page 831. Check there for items not found
here.
acetanilide (also acetanilid)
White crystalline compound, C6H5NH(COCH3), formerly used to relieve pain
and reduce fever. It has been replaced because of toxicity.
Aconite
Various, usually poisonous perennial herbs of the genus Aconitum, having
tuberous roots, palmately lobed leaves, blue or white flowers with large
hoodlike upper sepals, and an aggregate of follicles. The dried leaves
and roots of these plants yield a poisonous alkaloid that was formerly
used medicinally. Also called monkshood, wolfsbane.
actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)
Inflammatory disease of cattle, hogs, and sometimes humans, caused by
actinomyces; causes lumpy tumors of the mouth, neck, chest, and abdomen.
Addison's disease
Caused by partial or total failure of adrenocortical function;
characterized by a bronze like skin color and mucous membranes, anemia,
weakness, and low blood pressure.
ad libitum
At the discretion of the performer. Giving license to alter or omit a
part.
affusion
Pouring on of liquid, as in baptism.
ague
Alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating. Used in reference to
the fevers associated with malaria.
aletris farinosa (Colicroot, star grass, blackroot,
blazing star, and unicorn root )
Bitter American herb of the Bloodwort family, with small yellow or white
flowers in a long spike (Aletris farinosa and A. aurea).
algid
Cold; chilly.
alkanet
European perennial herb (Alkanna tinctoria) having cymes of blue flowers
and red roots. The red dye extracted from the root. Plants of the
Eurasian genus Anchusa, having blue or violet flowers grouped on
elongated cymes.
allyl
Univalent, unsaturated organic radical C3H5.
aloin
Bitter, yellow crystalline compound from aloe, used as a laxative.
alum
Double sulfates of a trivalent metal such as aluminum, chromium, or iron
and a univalent metal such as potassium or sodium, especially aluminum
potassium sulfate, AlK(SO4)2 12H2O, widely used in industry as
clarifiers, hardeners, and purifiers and medicinally as topical
astringents and styptics... Continue reading book >>