For ordinary burns or scalds, cover the parts well with molasses, and give some internally. If blisters have not formed, this will prevent them; and if they have formed, the water should be let out, and the molasses well applied. It will keep out the air most effectually, and draw out the fire in a short time. Also, chilblains, skin or scalp sores, either on infants or adults. Corns, tetter, etc., may be cured by covering the parts at night with molasses, and washing it off in the morning with a weak solution of borax. In scalp sores of infants a little sweet oil should be added to the molasses.
Corns, or callous, whether on the feet of children or adults, come from wearing shoes that are too short and too wide, or otherwise ill suited, the friction of which, when walking, creates festers, the matter of which dries and becomes a corn.
_Treatment._—Remove the cause, keep the feet clean, and comfortably clad.
This term is generally applied to all forms of throat troubles; but the most frequent cause of difficulty in swallowing comes from cold attended with swelling, and some degree of inflammation of the tonsils, hence tonsilitis. The palate, or curtain-like arrangement over the root of the tongue, usually partakes of the irritation. The uvula swells, or becomes inflamed, and rests on the root of the tongue, creating a disagreeable sensation in the attempt to swallow. The palate is then said to be “down,” when, in fact, it is not down, but enlarged. Ulcers frequently form on the tonsils, or almond-like glands, inducing extreme suffering for weeks, when it could be cured in a few days.
_Treatment._—Apply with a quill, or hair pencil, a grain or two of bread soda (carbonate of soda), and give one teaspoonful of Epsom salts dissolved in warm water daily; at the same time, keep the neck moist during hours of sleep by the application of cloths wrung out of hot water, until relief is obtained. Epsom salts should be of the finest quality, well dissolved, and sweetened with sugar, whenever administered. The quantity should be reduced or increased to suit the age and condition of the patient.
This disease is usually ushered in by complete lassitude or loss of strength. The patient appears to lose intelligence, has no disposition to fret or laugh, the nervous powers seem to be blunted, with complete loss of appetite.