RECEIPTS sYU)^ FOR THE CURE OF MOST DISEASES INCIDENT TO THE HUMAN FAMILY. BY THE A" CELEBRATED INDIAN DOCTOR, JOHN MACKENTOSH, OF THE Giierofeee Ration; VONE *( WHICH HAVE EVER BEFORE BEEN COJW^ CATED TO THE WORLD. NEW-YORK: •Ptt".vTED FOR THE rCBLISHER". 1827. frict 12 1-2 cunts,. ,&-■*■ • >^ DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE—TO WIT : • Be it remembered, That on the fifth day of June, in th? L S. fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, Seth Holderwell, Esq. of the said district, hath de- * posited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit : _ " Receipts for the cure of most diseases incident to the human family. By the celebrated Indian 4oc.tor, John Mackentosh, of the Cherokee nation." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, en- titled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by secjinng the copies of maps, charts, and hooks to the authors and propriotors oi such copies, during the times therein mentioned," \. W. LATCHAWAY, Clerk efthe District «f Tennessee. June 5th, 1827. \ RECEIPTS, &c. To those laboring under pain and disease, who look to this for relief and consolation. Dear Reader ;— My endeavour to afford you some consola- tion ana1 an alleviation and exemption from pain and afflic- tion, I deem one of the most glorious achievements of my life. Nothing could afford me more pleasing and durable satisfaction, than to know myself the author of so much good "to thousands, as the publication of the following re- ceipts must produce. They were discovered, tried, and their use ascertained and sanctioned, by the lengthy and extensive practice of an Indian, who devoted his whole life to curing the diseases and aiding the indigent. He la- boured from motives of pure humanity, possessing the most willing hand and feeling heart. From the same motives, was it, that (unwilling his much experience should be lost f to the world,) he placed these receipts in my hand. When this first happened, elated with the ptospect of success, in the acquisition of wealth and honour, which I supposed they might infallibly secure to me, I determined to keep them from the eye of the world. But thanks to the great Author of Nature, my heart of stone is converted into one of the most tender sensibility. I now feel, that it is an obligation I owe my fellow mortals to contribute all in my power to their necessities and comforts ; and as the hand of disease more completely than any thing else, deprives them of these, so by disclosing a method by which they may be les- sened, both in danger and frequency, I shall most effectu- ally fulfil my purpose. The diseases for which these re- ceipts were prescribed embrace most that are of common occurrence, especially of much importance and conse- quence. They go from me with great delight; but still greater will be the delight if I should have the pleasure to •-T see them take a widespread and have the happy effect that they have invariably had while given by my direction, oi the direction of their good and virtuous author. That this may be the case, I pray God grant. May your lives be thereby prolonged and made happy. May the blessing of Heaven be liberally showered upon you, and you be induc- ed to bless and praise the Lord for his goodness and mercy in sending this man upon earth, and endowing him with u competence of skill, not yet surpassed. SETH HOLDER-WELL New-York, June, 1827. DIRECTIONS. For Dropsy. Take Milk Weed Root6, green of Elder and Winter- green, of each a handful, steep strong, and drink agjjl three times a day. For Fever and Ague. Drink often of tea made strong of tag Alder and Oak Bark,' and take every other day a portion of Culver's Physic. For a Cancer. Take the berries of Poke Weed, or Cokum, squeeze out their juice, add to it the same quantity of cream, and sim- mer it down to the consistence of an ointment. If this is used in the early stage of the disease, it is a certain, safe, and easy cure. It should be rubbed on every six or eight hours until it has some effect. For Worms. If they rise up into the throat so that the child cannot" breathe, or is likely to have a fit, drop a few ashes into some water and let it be drinkeil. After this, use for one day a tea made of Garlicksi, Rue, and Wormwood. Then give a dose of Butternut Physic, and the worms will be speedily evacuated. For the stitg of Wasps and other Insects. Hold the part that is stung for a few minutes, over the steam of hot water. Then take some clean mud, warm it a little and apply it. This will stop its smart and prevent its swelling. For Asthma and Phthisic. Take the roots of Skunk Cabbage, steep them well and strain off the liquor. Add to it a little juice ofGarlicks, and take it often. This if so taken, will perform a speedy cure in either of the above complaints. 1* 6 For Sore Nipples. Take a walnut or walnuts and press the meats till a quan- tity of oil comes out ; apply this to the nipples and it will in a short time complete a cure. For Snake Bites. Take common plantain, the leaves, put them in boiling water for a short time, and then apply them to the part bit- ten : at the same time use of a tea made of the same plant, together with a little Virginia snake-root. For Dysentery. Take Thorough-woit and steep it in water until it is very bitter, then take a table-spoonful every half hour or hour till it effects a cure. Corns and Warts. Take a piece of Butternut root bark, pound it soft, put a little lye with it—this bound on corns and warts will soon cause them to disappear. For a'Ringworm. Take tobacco leaves and boil them well, then put some vinegar and lye with the liquor and wash often ; this will . infallibly cure. For Sores in the Ears of Children. Take Cats foot, the tops, steep them in cream until you think the strength is out, then strain off and steep the liquor down to the consistence of honey, put a little into the ear frequently, and you may rely on a cure. For Jaundice. Take a smart portion of physic, made by steeping Butter- nut roots strong, then take soot every day, or half day, or even three times a dav with an egg ; the Butternut physic should be taken as often as every third day, and if the sick one rattier grows weak, a tea made of the twigs of tag alder, will recruit the strength, this will effect a cure in the course of two weeks. For Tooth Ache. Take Y^rrors and Prickly Ash, of eacji equal quantities, 7 after steeping them a good while strain off: take the liquor and steep it down till it is nearly as thick as cream, drop a little of this into the tooth, or put it on lint and apply it. For Cholic. Take butternut roots, or Culver's physic, which eveT you like best ; boil them till the liquor is strong enough to purge smartly, then put into the liquor a good quantity of poppy leaves, and steep down into a syrup, give often until relief is obtained. To stop Vomiting. Take Spear Mint, make a tea of it and drink occasionally, it will soon check it. For Cholera Morbus. Give large draughts of May weed tea, till the patient pukes freely a few times, then take oats burn and pound them or steep them and give often, till the vomiting stops. The food should be oat cake or partridge broth and a tea or porridge like, made of squirrels, partridges or birds may be used for clysters. For the Spleen and Hystericks. Take hyssop, skunk cabbage root and solomon seal roots, equal parts, make a syrup of the above, to which add a lit- tle ginger, as this last is ,-ood for wind. Take a draught of this every morning as soon as out of bed, anotheron going to bed, and you will soon begin to mend. For the Itch. Take the tops of the plant called Hellebore, which looks some like skunks cabbage, only it grows more splindling. Put some tobacco with it, steep them into a strong tea, and wash whenever the eruption appears. I never knew this to fail of effecting a cure. For Rickets. Make use of cold water every once and awhile, by pour- ing a little of it on the body of the child, or which is better, rubbing with a cloth, wet in cold water. Keep the bow- els loose by green of elder tea, or elder berries, or elder blows, give at the same time burdock seeds, fennel seeds. 8 and oyster shells, burnt and pounded. All these articles may be either pounded and made into pills, or steeped and drank in the form of tea. For Heart Burn. Take corn, parch it, pulverize it and eat it in milk ; some- times a little ginget added will make the cure quicker. For Sprains. Take aspoonful of honey, the same quantity of salt, and the white of an egg, beat the whole together, anoint the place sprained with this, keeping the part well rolled with ,t good bandage. I have known this to enable persons with sprained ancles to walk in twenty-four hours entirely free from pain. For numbed or trembling Hands. Wash the hanJs so affected in strong wormwood and mus- tard seed tea, to be strained and used when cold. For a bruised Eye. Boil a handful of hyssop leaves in a little water, till they ;ue quite tender, then put them up in linen and apply it hot to the eye, tie it on tightly at bed-time, and the eye will next day be quite well. For Coughs i Spitting of Blood, 4*c. Take six ounces of comf'rey roots and twelve handfulls of plaintain leaves ; cut and beat them well, strain out the juice, and with an equal weight of sugar, boil it to a syrup. For Cramp and Stomach-Ache. First put the patient in a warm bed, then take as many spider's webs as can be put in a thimble, and mix them with as much honey, half of this is a dose, to be given once in half an hour till the patient sweats freely, when the cramp- in0, will cease or the stomach stop aching, and the patient fall to sleep. For a pimpled face and inflamed Sores. Drink of a tea made by steeping a handful of sassafra- bark in a quart of water. Wash the part affected, two or three times a day in a tea made by steeping a handful ot • 9 iiops in a quart of rain water, to be strained and used when cold. To cure a person's thirst for Ardent Spirits. Take blood-root, pods of Indian tobacco dried and pul- verized, of each, a tea-spoonful, which should be put into a pint of the spirit you like best ; and whenever you thirst for liquor, drink a swallow of this, and you will soon be cuied of that pernicious habit. For Rheumatism. Take som« brimstone and powder it fine, pour it in a long narrow bag and tie it about the body. A spoonful may be taken internally on going to bed. For Whitloes M^ke a strong lye of ashes, and in this, warmed, let the finger soak a good while Repeat this operation two or (hree times, and you will find the good effect of it. For Sore and Inflamed Eyes. A very small quantity of the pith of Sassafras, infused in a glass of water, gives to the whole a ropy consistence, like the white of eggs—which is an excellent application for Sore and Inflamed Eyes. For Sore Lips. White pine turpentine, apply it to the lips a few times and it will cure sores and chops. For Child Bed Fever. Give rattle snakes Gall, a piece as big as a shot, dissolved in boiling water, three times a day, it will soon check the fever and allay the pain. For the Whites in Females. Take white Cohush Root, make a weak tea of it, and use plentifully during the day. It may also be used to facilitate the birth of a child. For the Piles. Make an ointment by simmering together in cream, rose leaves, cats foot and sweet apple tree bark. 10 < For swelled Feet and Legs, ft om weakness^ Rub them with beef brine and cover them with common plaintain leaves. For Sick Head Ache. First sleep a handful of thorough wort in half a pipLpf water, and take a table spoonful once in five minutes filQit occasions vomiting, then steep a small quantity of white root, and take half a gill at a time for a few times, and the bead-ache will cease. For Crjatnp of the Stomach. Make a tea by steeping two spoonfuls of Ginger in a pint of water ; drink a swallow of this while warm, once in five ._, minutes, till it abates the cramping and pain, then give a. t purge of Butternut root bark. '.»*«S For a Relax. * * ^ Take Chesnut bark (the inner bark,) make a strong de- -4 coctionof it, sweetened well with loaf sugar, and it will im- mediately restrain it. Sore Throat and Mnuth. Take the roots of black w.llow, gold-thread and sage, make a wash or gargle, which sweetened with honey, will afford instantaneous ease for cankery mouth kind throat ; take every other day a purge of Culver's Physic. St. Anthony's Fire. Bathe the feet and leg* well in warm water, give aplenty of Virginia snake-root, un'il sweating takes place, and wash the paits affected with a was!) made of Celandine. For Hooping Cough. Give, before it is of many days standing, a smart puke of blood root, say a tea spoonful of the powdered root. If the breathing is at anytime laborious and hard, make a blister, by applying a strip of butternut bark over the chest, on the right side ; i£this does not help quickly, give a little skunk's ■ grease. The best remedy for consumption and cough in general, that I have ever found out, is the following. Take a hand- II f fill of Virginia snake-root, a handful of garden hyssop, half a handful of poppy leaves and three garlicks. Make half a pint of syrup, which sweeten with honey. Take a spoon- ful every three hours. "*l Ointment for Scalds and Burns. -Take of thorn apples, apple peru, or stink weed, the leaves and apples, a handful, steep them in a pint of cream, till the strength is out, then strain *id simmer down the cream, till it is proper Tor an unguent. « For Deafness. Take the oil of an eel and put a little of it in the ear each morning ; if there is pain in the ear, you may put an onion oultice under and into it. . luumm j^poultic ^ For the Nose Bleed. Make a strong decoction of high briar root, snuff this as far up the nose as possible ; at the same time pour cold vin- egar on the head. For Pain in the Bowels. Boil thorough wort in some vinegar and water, take flan- nel clothes and wring them out of this liquor while hot, and put them on the bowels ; this is one of the best fomen- tations. For a Fellon. Take wormwood burn it to ashes, take the ashes and mix with them a little lime, then wring the bark off from a small chesnut or willow stick ; take a piece of this in the shape of a thimble, fill it with the'above mixture and put it over the sore, pour on water and let it soak enough. It will soon eat it out. For Pain in the Breast and Side. Foment the outside with cloths wrung out of a decoction of May weed, drink pleutiful of Nettle teu» put on some butternut bark to draw a blister. ' will soon create a voracious appetite. To Vomit a Person. Take of Indian Physic, or what is called by ftome, Ipe- cac, a tea spoonful, put it in two gills of water a little warm ed ; drink half of this, wait ten minutes and if you do not vomit, take the remaining gill and you will certainly puke smartly. Should the vomiting continue longer than you would have it, drink milk, for this will stop it. For wind in the Stomach and Bowels. v Take peppermint, spearmint and the seeds of caraway. of the two first a handful, of the last half a handful ; these should be steeped in a pint and a half of wafer, till the strength is out, then strained through a Knen cloth ; to this tea^add a table spoonful of ginger, and drink it while a little"warm and you will be sure to obtain relief. That the public may be apprized of the efficacy of the preceding Receipts, the following certificate is offered for perusal. From Dr. J. W. Van Keuren, New-York. I hereby certify that in June last, Seth Holderwell Esq. presented me a small pamphlet, entitled Indian Receipts, by Dr. J. Mackentosh, that I have made use of a number of articles mentioned in that work in my practice, as there re- commended, &c. and have had the gratification to have them perform speedy cures in a number of cases of most in- veterate disease. It is with great pleasure, I recommend that pamphlet to the public, as being in my humble opinion. a most valuable publication. August 5, 1827. N. B. Numerous other certificates might be added re- lative to the friendly effects of these prescriptions, but it is thought unnecessary to present them to the purchaser, more especially as they tend to. enhance the price of the work without adding to its utility. 0^7" Rising of\3000 copies of this work were sold in the city of New-York, within 20 days from its publication.