PLANTS AS MEDICINE (on preparing remedies with water)

Vegetable substances were further prepared for use by combining them with water. Some were boiled a few moments, others were allowed to come to a boil, then removed from the fire, and others were scalded or steeped. Some roots were boiled in a thin sirup made of maple sugar, to give a pleasant flavor. Poultices and compresses were made by moistening the pounded fresh or dry roots or herbs. The strength of a decoction varied with the nature of the root and the age of the patient. A common proportion was a “hand-hollow-ful” of pulverized root to about a quart of water, but some roots were exceedingly strong and required special direction. Thus one root (calamus), although only about one-eighth of an inch in diameter, was so strong that the quantity used was measured by the length of the patient’s index finger, whether an infant or an adult.