Miss Jacob used to get skin eruptions in every rainy season, and she could noteven go to school sometimes due to these eruptions.
Nat-sulph, a homoeopathic medicine, would give relief of acute conditions, but the trouble would re-erupt whenever the rains came.
Walnut T.D.S. was regularly given for 3 months, and the eruptions did not occur in the next season.
When Mr. Gian Parkash was transferred to Madras, he was very much upset. He could not countenance absence from home even for one day. How could he live in Madras where everything would be different. Food, water, environment, language, atmosphere, all things would change, and he was so sensitive to change that if he travelled away from home even for one day he would get constipated. Fear gripped him at the thought of leaving for Madras. Fortunately he had been allowed one month as joining period.
Mimulus (for fear) and Walnut (for breaking old habits) given T.D.S for 1 month made him fit to join duty at Madras without any difficulty.
*199\308\8*
Those who can enjoy looking at the good fortune of others without feeling envious have passed their first big test, which will ensure them happiness and peace throughout their lives. Possessions always mean responsibility but there are many things we can relish without such cares. Our walks can be taken not only for the healthy exercise they give but also for the joy of seeing the beauty of the flowers, the distant mountains, the fine woods and rich fields. We need not consider the fact that the cool, blue lake and the rushing stream do not belong to us. We can rejoice in the graceful gambols of someone else’s young animals without fearing that, by some mischance, we might lose them. We can enjoy all these things so much better than their owner, because ownership is a heavy burden that demands work and care. Many who strive for it with envy or jealousy in their hearts perhaps could not enjoy such a burden successfully. So, if you wish to enjoy beauty to the full, do not let envy and jealousy encroach upon your joy in appreciating the possessions of others.
*1253/28/1*
There is also another thing which needs to be protected in the interest of health. It is our right to breathe good, unpolluted air, is it not? Clean air is necessary for life, and the sanitary measures taken everywhere should definitely embrace this important requirement. Appropriate laws should be made and enforced. For is it not still possible for anyone to pollute the air without anything being done about it? We all know that air is just as important as water. So if industry is not allowed to poison the water, it goes without saying that the many factory chimneys should not be permitted to belch out their fumes into the atmosphere without any consideration for the well-being of the human race.
Think of those people who have built their homes and picked the spot carefully so as to enjoy it, only to find that in time the increasing traffic brings an endless stream of cars and lorries passing right outside their front doors, forcing them to inhale stinking exhaust fumes instead of clean and healthy air. Since the motorways have already been built, it is imperative that remedial measures be sought and taken in order to protect the health of people who now live near them but did not choose to do so. If every motor car had to be fitted with an exhaust emission control device, the costs of installation would certainly not ruin us economically, but would improve our environment.
*1184/28/1*
The call for pesticides that do not harm our own health or that of our children is more urgent than ever before. If it is really impossible to fight pests without some kind of poison, then we should at least employ plant poisons that are easily eliminated, neutralised and made ineffective. When I was in South America I came to know of certain roots that were used as an insecticide. They had hardly been discovered when the industry replaced them by synthetic chemicals. Systematic research, I am sure, would no doubt find ways of using tobacco extract, products made from derris (of the Artemisia family), and various tropical plants. Such products could be used without disturbing the biological balance in nature or harming our health. It is possible that plant pesticides may be considerably more expensive than chemical products, but it is only right that people’s health should come before financial considerations.
*1115/28/1*
Raw potato juice has proved its worth in the treatment of arthritis and it is also a fine remedy for stomach ulcers. Patients are advised to drink the juice of a medium-sized potato (about one-third of a glass) before breakfast on an empty stomach. The ulcers usually disappear within 3-6 weeks. If a little fresh carrot juice is added to the potato juice the taste will be improved, making it easier to take. If the patient is unable to prepare his own juice because of lack of time, he can take the lacto-fermented juice sold in health food stores.
Raw potato juice, together with centaury, is a splendid help in neutralising excess acid in the stomach, which is generally the cause of heartburn. The simplest way to do this is to add fresh centaury drops to the potato juice. It has not yet been discovered whether the remedial effect is attributable to the solanin content (about 0.002 per cent) or to the alkaline mineral salts.
An interesting letter informed us recently that Solanosan, together with Petasites, helped a stomach and liver patient to find relief from pain, providing restful sleep, an improved appetite and weight gain. Solanosan complex is made from the potato plant, which can have a poisonous effect, but the remedy is in homoeopathic potency and therefore efficacious in treating the indicated illnesses. Large amounts of Solanin, however, can cause poisoning and even endanger one’s life.
*1045/28/1*
All things considered, what does this account emphasise? It is good to serve a dish of raw food before the main meal, but be careful to stick to one variety of food. Before a vegetable meal eat raw vegetables, never fruit, and before a meal composed of sweet dishes, you may eat fruit. Dr Bircher-Benner’s theory may apply to healthy people whose organs function properly, but if there is a tendency to dysfunction of one or more organs, especially the liver and pancreas, the consumption of fruit and vegetables as part of the same meal can encourage further disturbances.
A urinalysis disclosed that the writer of the above letter had trouble with her liver and pancreas, and it was no doubt for this reason that she suffered from flatulence when she ate fruit and vegetables at the same meal. Where the liver and pancreas are working efficiently, the digestive juices are able to break down fruit and Dr Bircher-Benner’s theory would be correct. It would then do no harm to eat fruit before a vegetable meal. However, if the organic mechanism is impaired, the enzymes will clearly be unable to digest the fruit acids, resulting in a reaction between the fruit acids and the alkaline vegetable components. The unpleasant consequences are excessive fermentation and flatulence.
*975/28/1*
This is the 64-dollar question for all herb growers. The very edible nature of herbs means that any methods used to combat insect pests or disease must be carefully chosen to ensure that they are of a non-cumulative, non-toxic nature. No gardener or cook would voluntarily poison the family foodstuffs, and yet we are asked to do this by some manufacturers of the many chemicals and sprays at present advertised. Where there is any doubt at all as to the possible dangers of eating food thus contaminated, it would be wise to use only natural products harmless to humans; so some careful sorting-out of the “goodies” and “baddies” on the nurseryman’s insecticide shelves must be undertaken. Pay special attention to the time that must elapse before plants sprayed with anything at all can be eaten. This is printed on the pack by all reputable firms.
I have read every publication I can lay my hands on in this regard, and have talked to gardeners, to Department of Agriculture authorities, and to workers in the chemical spray industry. From their freely given information, and my own experience, have come several pesticides of natural vegetable origin that I can recommend as having been used with safety over and over again.
The Bio-dynamic Gardening Association in America, and the Henr Doubleday Research Association in Essex, England, have several publications relating to insect control that make interesting reading for gardeners who wish to use natural products only on edible crops.
*31\181\8*
Hot yarrow tea, made from a handful of the fresh leaves, can break the most stubborn cold if taken each night on retiring. Two doses should be all you will need. It can also prevent cramp after exercise in cold weather, and can bring down a fever if taken very hot.
Much herbal lore was discovered originally by observing how animals included various plants in their diet to suit their body’s requirements, and yarrow was found to be a favourite pasture food for cattle if seasonal changes or meagre grass pasture had weakened the herd. It also has a deflammatory action on swollen tissues of any kind, and was the herb supposedly used by Chiron the Centaur to cure the heel wound of Achilles. For its services on the battlefield in early times, it was called “Wound-wort” or the “Soldiers’ Herb”. Stitching a ragged arrow- or spear-gash was unheard of; so yarrow was used to reduce the swelling of the surrounding tissue, enabling the wound to close naturally, and heal. Fresh leaves were often packed straight into the torn flesh, there to staunch the flow of blood as well; and yarrow collected two more names, “Staunch-grass” and “Sanguinary”. Next time your husband cuts himself while shaving, rush out to the herb garden for a yarrow leaf and press it firmly against the spot.
For a nose-bleed which will not stop, take a cup of yarrow tea. This will also promote appetite, and can be of assistance in any pelvic troubles.
One yarrow-taker wrote, “It has a beneficient effect, similar to that of a life on the ocean-wave in rough and stormy weather.” This (I hope) was not to say, “It made me vomit”, but referred to the breezy bracing strength a cup of yarrow tea can provide.
If I have one of those days when it becomes apparent that even getting out of bed was a mistake, on goes the red light saying: “Yarrow tea!”
*152\181\8*
Try this simplified haggis recipe if the traditional time-consuming one is inconvenient for you. (By the time those brawny lads and fetching lassies have come to the haggis-stage of the festivities, they will probably not notice any difference anyway!)
8 oz. sheep’s liver 4 oz. beef suet 2 onions
1 heaped cup oatmeal Salt and black pepper A few chopped pennyroyal sprigs
Boil the liver in water to cover for § hour. Drain, and keep the liquid. Chop up the liver very finely. Steam the onions till tender and chop up very small with the suet. Brown the oatmeal very quickly in an oiled heavy pan over medium heat. Combine all the ingredients, add the salt and pepper and chopped pennyroyal and moisten with the saved liquid. Turn into a greased pudding bowl, cover with a cloth and steam for two hours. Decorate the upturned pudding with more sprigs of pennyroyal to serve.
*122\181\8*
They do have various culinary uses, too, which are decorative as well as unusual. Try several perfect leaves of the lemon- or rose-scented variety bruised gently with the fingers to release their fragrance, in individual glass or crystal finger bowls for a very special dinner or reception. Place pats of butter on a bed of the leaves. For everyday use, put a leaf of the peppermint, lemon, rose or lime geranium on the bottom of the greased pan before baking a wholemeal teacake or a tray of muffins. Add one or two leaves to jellies and milk puddings. Egg custard can benefit too. Crush a large handful of the leaves, place them in the bath, run the hot tap first, swishing the leaves about in the water, then add the cold water, and yourself.
Geranium leaves can be used very effectively in flower arranging too. They harmonize well with formal blooms like rose-buds, gladioli florets and flowering bulbs. Add them to a float bowl of pansies, or any beautiful but unscented flower. Bruise the leaves, so that they can release their perfume.
Insect pests do not relish the strongly scented geranium leaves, and will not attack them, so give these plants plenty of your allotted garden space for herbs, and put some in the border or street planting strip, too. Rockeries and sunny corners suit them well, and you will soon have thick healthy clumps. The flowers are all rather inconspicuous, the main value of the plant being in its hardiness and ground-covering ability, together with its perfume, of course.
*91\181\8*