Mustard poultice

“ An annual, 2-3 ft. high, rigid, branched, more or less hispid. Leaves 4-8 in., petioled ; lower lyrate, upper entire. Racemes naked. Flowers - in. diarn., bright yellow. Sepals spreading. Pods - in., subulate ; valves keeled, torulose ; cells 3-5-seeded. Seeds oblong.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Uses:—The seeds of this plant are used in medicine as poultice, being a useful and simple rubefacient and vesicant. Mustard poultices prove highly serviceable in cases of febrile and inflammatory diseases, internal congestions, spasmodic, neuralgic, and rheumatic affections. ”

“ The purgative may be followed by the same neutral salts and in the same doses as for the horse. Counterirritants are of equal value. A mustard poultice may be kept on for several hours, or a mixture in equal parts of oil of turpentine, ammonia, and olive oil may be actively rubbed over both sides of the chest and repeated daily until tender. In Denmark a prompt and efficient blister is made with 1 part of Croton oil and 10 parts each of sulphuric ether and spirits of wine. ”

“ When the breathing is very laboured and difficult in consequence, from fifteen to twenty leeches are to be immediately applied to the outside of the throat, and when they drop off, warm poppy fomentations constantly kept to the part. When the pain over the stomach is very great, the same local treatment is necessary; but if it is only slight, a good mustard poultice will be sufficient without the leeches. In all these cases, two tablespoonfuls of the fever-mixture should be given every four hours, and only gruel or arrowroot allowed to be eaten for some days. ”

“ If the patient be a male, they may be applied to the belly; but if a female, the side of the abdomen must be shaven, and that part selected. From four to twenty-four leeches will be sufficient; and half that number may be again used if no change for the better is observed, and the strength does not fail. Stimulating applications are likewise beneficial. A large mustard poultice has appeared to be more operative than more violent agents. After it has been removed, warm fomentations of water, with occasional ones of hot turpentine, may be employed. ”

“ If a person be struck with lightning, throw pailfuls of cold water on the head and body, and apply mustard poultices on the stomach, with friction of the whole body, and inflation of the lungs. When no other emetic can be found, pounded mustard seed, taken a teaspoonful at a time, will answer. The ground mustard is not so effectual, but will do. ”

“ Diseases, Dose, etc.—Mustard leaves dampened with cold water are good for pleurodynia, lumbago, neuritis, cramps in legs, inflammations, croup, etc., applied locally. For apoplexy and convulsions, mustard poultices of the seeds to feet, and mustard foot baths, handful of ground mustard to hot water. Same is good in colds, sleeplessness, dysmenorrhea, headache. Mustard water is good for poisoning as an emetic. Hiccough: Teaspoonful of mustard in four ounces of boiling water, steep for twenty minutes, and take in four doses. ”

“ Poultices are only another form of fomentation, though chiefly used for abscesses. The ingredient best suited for a poultice is that which retains heat the longest; of these ingredients, the best are linseed—meal, bran, and bread. ”

“ For linseed poultices, take the best grade of linseed meal, pour hot water over it until it becomes pasty. Charcoal and antiseptics are often mixed with it. When used as a poultice on the foot in nail pricks, always put on a poultice that will cover the whole foot. ”

“ It should be borne in mind that a common poultice—such as is made of linseed meal or bread—is merely a vehicle for the application of damp heat—a continuous fomentation, in fact—and has no specific curative action. A muslin bag filled with bran, or flannels dipped in hot water, have precisely the same effect, but are not so conveniently employed, as they have to be more frequently renewed. A poultice should always be thoroughly mixed and homogeneous in consistence throughout ”

“ The secret of applying a mustard is to apply it hot and keep it so by frequent changes—if it gets cold and clammy it will do more harm than good. Poultices to be of any service and hold its heat should be from one-half to one inch thick. To make it, take flaxseed, oatmeal, rye meal, bread, or ground slippery elm; stir the meal slowly into a bowl of boiling water, until a thin and smooth dough is formed. ”

“ It is a good plan to oil the face of the poultice with a feather, as this effectually keeps it from sticking to the skin, even if it is not well mixed, and it is better than to put the poultice into a muslin. ”

“ Genuine mustard, either in powder, or in the state of a paste ready for use, is perhaps rarely to be met with in the shops. The article sold under the name of genuine Durham mustard, is usually a mixture of mustard and common wheaten flour, with a portion of Cayenne pepper, and a large quantity of bay salt, made with water into a paste, ready for use. Some manufacturers adulterate their mustard with radish-seed and pease flour. ”

“ The Mustard Bran is about twenty-five per cent. of the cost of table mustard.
Mustard Maintains Health
The experiment with mustard, with the eighteen hens, was carried on over a term of twelve months. We do not believe, however, that it is wise to feed mustard to the layers and breeders after June 15th, unless the early months of Summer should prove to be exceptionally cool. The mustard nourishes very strongly and puts an immense amount of red corpuscles into the blood, so that if continued into warm weather the hen is not in best condition to stand extreme Summer heat. ”

“ They are far too nutritious to be eaten with a dozen other things. Their proper use is to substitute the joint in an ordinary respectable meal of meat and pudding.
[13] Before the Adulteration Act was passed, mustard flour was usually mixed with well-dried wheaten flour, whereby the redundant oil was absorbed, and the mixture was a dry powder. Now it is different, being pure powdered mustard seed, and usually rather damp. It not only lies closer, but is much stronger. Therefore, in following any recipe of old cookery-books, only about half the stated quantity should be used. ”

“ To make a mustard plaster, or sinapism, take one part of powdered mustard, and about three times the quantity of flour and mix into a paste with tepid water, and spread it evenly between two pieces of thin muslin. As hot water or vinegar weakens the active principle of mustard, tepid water is best, even if it seems cold when applied to the patient. ”

“ The best application is immediately to apply a large hot white-bread poultice to the part, and to renew it every four hours; and, if there be much pain in the wound, to well foment the part, every time before applying the poultice, with a hot chamomile and poppy-head fomentation.
Scratches of a cat are best treated by smearing, and that freely and continuously for an hour, and then afterward at longer intervals, fresh butter on the part affected. If fresh butter be not at hand, fresh lard—that is to say, lard without salt—will answer the purpose. ”

“ They are apt to be allowed to get extremely dirty, and so, by carrying infective matter from the foot of one animal to that of another, undo the good that the warmth of the poultice is bringing about. The advantage of the ordinary sacking or canvas is that it may be cast aside after the application of each poultice. ”

“ Bread poultices are less generally useful than those of linseed meal. They do not retain the heat nearly so well as those of linseed meal, and are chiefly used in cuts, wounds, or small abscesses; and also because they are so easily made. ”

“ A linseed poultice being always needed hot, care should be taken that it is made so. Put the meal into the oven to heat for a quarter of an hour, and scald out with boiling water the basin in which it is to be mixed. Have also in readiness 2 plates in the oven, and a piece of tow, pulled to shape, or a portion of old linen, upon which to spread the poultice. Into the basin put as much linseed as will be required, and pour on boiling water, stirring vigorously with a knife, until the mass is of the consistency of thick porridge. ”

“ Pounded with vinegar, mustard is employed as a liniment for the stings of serpents and scorpions, and it effectually neutralizes the poisonous properties of fungi. To cure an immoderate secretion of phlegm it is kept in the mouth till it melts, or else it is mixed with hydromel, and employed as a gargle. Mustard is chewed for tooth-ache, and is taken as a gargle with oxymel for affections of the uvula; it is very beneficial, also, for all maladies of the stomach. ”

“ Then put on the poultice some lard or oil or vaseline to keep it from getting dry and hard, and to make it less likely to stick. It will be well to put on it a cover of thin muslin or mosquito netting, or tulle, or illusion, and then fold over like a broad hem the edges of both the covers. The poultice should be evenly spread about a quarter of inch in thickness 233and may be carried to the patient on a small tray or board, and if you are changing the poultice you should also have a small basin to carry away the old ones. ”

“ Ordinary mustard also soon loses its piquancy if left exposed to the air. It should therefore be kept in a properly closed bottle or jar. It is best to make small quantities of ordinary mustard frequently, almost daily, as required.
To make Ordinary Mustard.—Take a bare table-spoonful of mustard, white and brown in equal parts, and mix therewith one tea-spoonful of salt, adding to the mixture, little by little, two table-spoonfuls of cold water, stirring the while. ”

“ Mustard is the product obtained by crushing and sifting the seeds of Sinapis nigra and Sinapis alba, of the genus Brassicaceæ. In the manufacture of the condiment, both the black and white seeds are used. According to analyses made by Piesse and Stansell, [138] fine grades of the two varieties of mustard possess the following composition:—
Clifford Richardson regards the following proportions of the more prominent constituents of pure mustard flour as a basis for detecting adulterations:—
The following results were obtained by Messrs. ”

“ Mustard is in daily use at our tables, and the seeds, whole or bruised, are employed in pickles, and for numerous other culinary purposes. These seeds yield, on pressure, a considerable quantity of oil, which is soft and insipid to the taste, and partakes but little of the acrimony of the plant.
Different preparations of mustard are sometimes used in medicine. The seeds, taken internally, are serviceable in asthma, rheumatism, and palsy. Cataplasms of mustard are employed, on account of its stimulating properties, on benumbed or paralytic limbs. ”

“ It is, however, a grievous mistake to allow them to collect; they are in themselves a source of irritation, and they entirely prevent any application reaching the skin beneath. They must always be removed, and never be allowed to form again. They can be removed either by the employment of a poultice, half of bread, half of linseed meal, or by the application over-night of a handkerchief soaked in sweet oil, and covered over with a piece of oiled silk, which softens the crusts effectually, and allows of their easy removal by abundant washing with weak soap and water. ”

“ For which purpose the common farinaceous poultice is the most eligible, made by soaking slices of bread in milk, and simmering them together over a gentle fire until they are reduced to the proper consistence, which ought to be such as to prevent its spreading farther than is designed, and yet not so hard as to occasion any mechanical irritation; the whole is then to be beat smooth with a spoon, and applied as warm as the patient’s feelings will readily admit. ”

“ In ordinary cases a poultice made of bruised burdock root and elm flour, together with a tea made by steeping burdock root and drinking a pint a day; keeping the bowels regular, eating rye and Indian bread, and taking about a half teaspoonful of calcined magnesia dissolved in water, once a day, will effect a cure. The poultice 45should be made soft and applied fresh twice a day between two thin cloths.
A lady of wealth may get discouraged and give her babe to the care of another, whose babe may in consequence have lo be put in some charity-house or otherwise to board. ”

“ It grows extensively wild and is also largely cultivated. The mustard seed forms one of the most important condiments of commerce. The mustard is often ground before it is sold, and frequently it is mixed with other spices and with oils and is known as prepared mustard. This latter variety is subjected to all kinds of adulterations, frequently containing very little mustard but with enough turmeric to give the preparation a yellow color resembling that attributed to the pure article. ”

“ It is the farmer’s chief pest, being highly prolific and difficult to eradicate. In France, its native land, this innocent-looking member of the mustard family grows within decorous bounds, giving no trouble to agriculturists, so that French visitors to Canada resent the ill-will it there excites. The wild mustard, accidentally introduced in wheat imported years ago for cultivation, is another agricultural nuisance, though it works less havoc than the native thistle—a bright-hued offender. ”

“ Every manufacturer has his own particular formula, and consequently there are many different qualities, both in the pure mustard and the compounds. One is composed of 37 per cent brown and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent of rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili pepper and ginger.
Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not pungent and will not blister unless mixed with water.
The English mustard seed is the best in the world. Of this class 4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs. of flour were imported during the year 1908. ”