Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 3.
Ague Cured for a Penny
‘It has been discovered that nitric acid is of great value in the treatment of lntermittent Fever, or Ague. A physician administered the article in twenty-three cases of such fever, and it was successful in all but one, in interrupting the paroxysms, and there occurred no relapse.
In the majority of cases, 5 or 6 drops of the strong acid, given in a little gum mucilage, every 2 hours, until 60 drops had been taken, were found sufficient to break the fever, and restore the patient to health.’
If that doesn't do the job, try this:
‘Soot Coffee — Has cured many cases of ague, after “everything else” had failed; it is made as follows: Soot 1 tablespoon, steeped in water 1 pt., and settled with one egg beaten up in a little water, as for other coffee, with sugar and cream; 3 times daily with the meals in place of other coffee.’
‘Many persons will stick up their noses at these “Old Grandmother prescriptions", but I tell many “upstart Physicians”, that our grandmothers are carrying more information out of the world by their deaths than will ever be possessed by this class of “sniffers”,........'
Quoted from DR. CHASE’S RECIPES or INFORMATION FOR EVERYBODY published in London, Ontario in 1883.