Old Cures 4

A horseshoe hung above a door is supposed to ward off evil sprits. A story tells how Saint Dunstan, when working as a blacksmith, was visited by a very strange-looking customer. He recognised him as the Devil and, when asked to place a horseshoe on the Devil's foot he hammered it so hard that the Devil promised that he would never enter a house with a horseshoe above the door if only the Saint would release him from his pain.
Unscrupulous brewers in Victorian Britain used to add sulphate of iron to their brew to give it added head in order to hide the fact that the beer had been wartered down.
It was once common for sufferers from rheumatism to carry around potatoes untill they were rotten in the belief that this would cure their affliction.
Many people once believed that storking the tail of a black cat was a good cure for a stye in the eye.
Among patent medicines that could be bought in 18th-century England were:-Tea forProlonging Life, Elixer of Life, Botanical Syrup and Nervous Cordial.
A Brazilian jungle shrub contains a substance that causes vomiting-useful in cases of poisoning.
It is believed that a snakeroot plant from the Indian forest can help overcome insomnia.
During the Middle Ages when meat was used in cooking was often rancid, the meats of the rich were often perfumed with musk, violets, roses, primroses and hawthorn flowers.
A poultice of boiled turnips was once used to cure chilblains.
A popular cosmetic used in the 18th-century was made of white lead. Unfortunately it tended to cause fatal lead-poisoning in its users.
An 18th-century charlatan sold a lotion that was guaranteed to cure stammering if speard on the tongue.