Colds

As a home treatment for colds. A syrup made from coltsfoot was used as an old cure for colds, as was an infusion of peppermint leaves with added honey. A tea made from dried yarrow leaves and dried elderflowers was recommended before retiring at night as a clod cure. Barley water was another cold cure.

Another old cure for colds involved mixing yarrow, ginger root, cayenne pepper and water and boiling these together with the addition of honey. Alternately, fresh elderflowers and angelica leaves could be soaked in boiling water and strained. The resulting liquid was used, sweetened with honey, for the relief of colds.

Elderberries formed the basis of another cure. These were simmered with brown sugar until the mixture was the consistency of honey before being administered in hot water.

Rubbing the chest with oil of rosemary was thought to bring relief to those suffering from colds. Wringing out a piece of flannel in boiling water, sprinkling it with turpentine and placing it on the chest was also thought to help. A more curious remedy was the rubbing of the soles of the feet with a mixture of crushed garlic bulbs and white horehound.

Hot mustard foot-baths, inhalations of eucalyptus in boiling water and drinking hot lemonade were all popular cold remedies.

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