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| 1862 MacKenzies Receipt Book |
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| Muskoka? Steam Propelled Snowplow.
TRAVELLING MEDICINE SHOW PROMISED NEW ELIXARS FOR WHAT AILED YOU - SNAKE OIL THAT WOULD CURE ANYTHING
OLD TIME CURES WERE BEING OVERTAKEN BY NEW AGE CURE-ALL MIXTURES
IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO JET TO A WARMER CLIMATE, WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THE WINTER BLAHS? NEVER STOP SHOVELLING, SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO PONDER JUST HOW CRAPPY IT IS? IT'S MY WAKING NIGHTMARE, AND I'VE FOUND A CURE FOR SUCH MANIFESTATIONS OF THE MIND, IN MY 1862 MACKENZIE'S GUIDE BOOK. APPARENTLY NIGHTMARES WERE CONSIDERED A DISEASE. WELL THEN, I'VE GOT WINTER DISEASE. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE SNOW MUSKOKA CAN TAKE BEFORE BECOMING A GLACIER....AND ME THE DINOSAUR PRESERVED WITHIN. I'D JUST LIKE TO WAKE UP ONE MORNING THIS MONTH, AND FIND THAT THERE ARE NO SNOW FLURRIES, NO PENDING GALES, OR SOON TO ARRIVE BLIZZARDS. I'D LIKE TO WALK BY THE SNOW SHOVEL, AND MOCK IT! NOT HAVE TO CLEAR A FOOT OF SNOW OFF THE FAMILY VAN, AND BE ABLE TO DRIVE IN AND OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY, WITHOUT GETTING STUCK. MY MOTHER ALWAYS WARNED ME ABOUT "WISHING AWAY TIME." I OFFER THIS APOLOGY TO MY DEAR MOTHER, BUT BY GOLLY, SPRING CAN'T COME FAST ENOUGH IN 2014. AND I DON'T OWN SHORELINE PROPERTY IN MUSKOKA. BOY OH BOY, THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE A DANDY WEATHER-EVEN YEAR. IMAGINE IF ALL THIS MUSKOKA SNOW HAD A FAST MELT. IT WOULD MAKE LAST YEAR'S FLOOD LOOK LIKE A MINOR INCONVENIENCE.
BRACEBRIDGE HISTORIAN, AND FORMER MAGISTRATE, REDMOND THOMAS, ONCE WROTE A STORY FOR THE BRACEBRIDGE GAZETTE, I BELIEVE IT WAS, PROFILING THE OLD FASHION MEDICINE SHOWS THAT USED TO STOP ON TOURS THROUGH THE MUSKOKA REGION. JUST LIKE THE ONES YOU'VE SEEN IN OLD WESTERNS. HE DESCRIBES HOW THE COLORFUL DISPLAY FOLDED OUT, TO REVEAL AN ARRAY OF MEDICINE BOTTLES FULL OF BRIGHTLY COLORED TONICS. IT WAS, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, A SIDE-SHOW, AT THE SAME TIME, AS STAGING OF OPEN-AIR THEATRE IN THE ROUND. THE SELLER AND ASSISTANT WERE OLD HANDS AT ATTRACTING A CROWD, LIKE A CARNIVAL BARKER; AND THE STAGING WAS ALLURING....THE SALESMAN AS SLICK AS ANY CARNEY, AT CAPTURING THE ATTENTION OF HIS AUDIENCE. WAS THE OLD SAYING, OF ONCE, LONG AGO, WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN WISDOM? THAT A SUCKER WAS BORN EVERY MINUTE? TRUTH IS, WE WANT TO BELIEVE THAT GOOD THINGS CAN HAPPEN. IF A NAGGING COUGH CAN BE CURED WITH A PILL OR A COUPLE OF TEASPOONS OF TONIC, WHY WOULDN'T WE AT LEAST GIVE IT THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT? FOR THE SMALL PRICE OF FIFTY CENTS A BOTTLE, A DOZEN FOR TEN DOLLARS. WHAT A BARGAIN. OR NOT!
WHEN IT WAS TIME TO MAKE THE PITCH TO HIS EAGER AND CURIOUS AUDIENCE, THE MEDICINE SHOW WAS OFF AND RUNNING, UTILIZING EVERY TRICK IMAGINABLE TO MAKE A QUICK IMPRINT ON VULNERABLE CLIENTS....MANY SUFFERING FROM AILMENTS, AND LOOKING FOR SOMETHING, A MAGICAL TREATMENT, A SALVE, OR POTION, THAT WOULD FINALLY OFFER A REMEDY TO A NAGGING CONDITION. AND THEY WOULDN'T BE DISAPPOINTED, THAT IS, UNTIL LONG AFTER THE TRAVELLING MEDICINE SHOW HAD MOVED ON TO THE NEXT COMMUNITY, TO SELL ITS SNAKE OIL REMEDIES. THE SALESMAN WOULD READ OFF A LIST OF ENDORSEMENTS OF THE PRODUCT, AND THE ASSISTANT, ACCORDING TO THE BARKER, WOULD HAVE BEEN A SUFFERER OF MANY OF THE AILMENTS LISTED ON THE ELIXAR, AND BE THUS, LIVING PROOF OF HOW WELL THE MEDICINE WORKS. OPINIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PRODUCTS WOULD HAVE BEEN READ OUT PROUDLY, TO THE AUDIENCE, THAT MAY HAVE HAD A FEW VOCAL OPPONENTS WITHIN. DISBELIEVERS YOU MIGHT SAY. MOST CITIZENS LIKELY WOULDN'T HAVE NOTICED IMMEDIATELY, THAT THE DISBELIEVERS HADN'T BEEN SEEN IN THE COMMUNITY PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SHOW. THIS WOULD BE OBSERVED LATER, WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THE POTIONS AND SALVES DIDN'T WORK....AND THE STRANGERS MADE MENTION OF, BY THEIR CURIOUS ABSENCE FROM TOWN. WHO WERE THEY? WELL SIR, THEY WERE ON THE COMPANY PAYROLL, DON'T YOU KNOW?
THOSE WHO SERIOUSLY QUESTIONED THE MEDICINE MAN, WERE MOST LIKELY HIS HIRED HANDS, WHO CAME TO THE SITE INDEPENDENT OF THE BARKER AND ONE HELPER. WHAT WOULD TRANSPIRE, IS THAT THE SELLER, WOULD TARGET HIS CRITICS, AND INVITE THEM TO HAVE A FREE SAMPLE OF THE MEDICINE IN QUESTION. WHILE THEY MIGHT INITIALLY LAUGH IT OFF, AND CONTINUE HECKLING, THE SHOW DEPENDED ON THESE FOLKS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE MEDICATION. THERE IS NOTHING AS POTENT IN SUCH A DEMONSTRATION, AS A CRITIC BECOMING A BELIEVER. THEN, HAVING BEEN SPARED SUFFERING FROM THEIR AILMENTS, THEY WOULD BECOME ACTIVE PROMOTERS OF THE PRODUCT; AND BE AMONGST THE FIRST TO BUY BOTTLES OF WHAT WASN'T MUCH STRONGER THAN SUGAR WATER, WITH A LITTLE TOUCH OF ALCOHOL, AND FLAVORING. ONCE IT WAS OBVIOUS, SALES WERE BEING MADE, IT MEANT THE AUDIENCE IN GENERAL HAD FALLEN PREY TO THE SCAM. "IF THEY'RE FEELING BETTER AFTER CONSUMING IT, WE SHOULD TRY IT AS WELL." THERE WOULD BE A TIME FACTOR BUILT IN, AS A WARNING, ABOUT THE FULL BENEFITS NOT BEING ACHIEVED FOR SOME HOURS, OR DAYS AFTER BEGINNING TREATMENT. BY THEN, WHEN IT IS DISCOVERED THE CURE-ALL DOESN'T DO A THING, THE SHOW WILL BE A LONG WAY DOWN THE ROAD. SOME HOWEVER, BY THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING, ACTUALLY FELT AS IF THEY HAD BEEN CURED, OR THE ILLNESS LESSENED, BY CONSUMING THE TREATMENT.
WHEN I BEGAN IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE, AS I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT MANY TIMES, I WAS HOOKED ON VINTAGE GLASS. MOSTLY OLD MEDICINE BOTTLES. I USED TO DIG THEM UP FROM HOMESTEAD DUMP SITES, THROUGHOUT MUSKOKA, AND AT ONE TIME, WHEN A REPORTER CAME TO DO A STORY ON ME, I HAD ABOUT A THOUSAND MEDICINE BOTTLES IN MY COLLECTION. I LOVED SOME OF THE NAMES OF THOSE POTIONS AND CURE-ALLS, PROMISING TO BE THE LEADING CURE OF THIS OR THAT, IN SO MANY INTERESTING ANTIQUE BOTTLES. I COULD IMAGINE THEM FILLED AND CORKED, ALL LINED UP ON THE SHELVES OF SOME OF THESE TRAVELLING SHOWS. NOW OF COURSE, YOU COULD ALSO GET MAINSTREAM MEDICINES, FROM THE LOCAL CHEMIST (DRUG STORE), IN SIMILAR BOTTLES, SOME WITH THE DOCTOR'S NAME AND LOCATION NOTED ON THE BOTTLE'S EMBOSSED OR PRINTED LABELS....EG., DR. SMITH, CHEMIST, BOLSOVER, ONTARIO. THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE. THE MEDICINE SHOWS, IN CONTRAST, MAY HAVE HAD SIMILAR MEDICINES, AND HEALING INGREDIENTS FOR SALE, BUT THEIR MISSION WAS TO PRESENT MEDICAL MARVELS, RATHER THAN THE SAME REMEDIES AVAILABLE, THAT HADN'T CURED THEIR ILLNESSES, OR EASED THEIR PHYSICAL COMPLAINTS.
MOST GENERALIST ANTIQUE DEALERS, HAVE A SMALL COLLECTION OF OLD CORK-TOP MEDICINE BOTTLES IN THEIR SHOPS. ALTHOUGH THEY ARE HARDER TO MOVE THESE DAYS, THAN SAY, BACK IN THE 1980'S AND EARLY 90'S, WHEN CANADIAN GLASS WAS SELLING WELL FOR US, I STILL SELL AT LEAST FIFTY EACH YEAR, DEPENDING ON WHAT I'M ABLE TO SCROUNGE UP. I DON'T DIG ANY MORE, BUT OCCASIONALLY, SOMEONE WILL OFFER US A SMALL COLLECTION AS AN ESTATE CLEAR-OUT FOR EXAMPLE.....AND LIKE GLASS INSULATORS, I ALWAYS FEEL I SHOULD HAVE SOME REPRESENTATION IN THE SHOP. BUT GOING BACK NOW, TO MACKENZIE'S 1862 SELF-HELP BOOK, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE 1820'S, THERE ARE SOME FASCINATING REMEDIES FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF AILMENTS, INCLUDING THE USE OF LEECHES AND THE RELIEVING BENEFITS OF "BLEEDING" PATIENTS, OF THE CONTAMINATION AND PRESSURES IN THEIR BODIES. I HAVE SEEN AND HANDLED BOWLS THAT WERE SPECIFICALLY USED FOR BLEEDING. NOW THERE'S AN INTERESTING COLLECTIBLE.
AS PROMISED, HERE NOW ARE A FEW OF THE MORE INTERESTING MEDICINAL AND THERAPEUTIC TREATMENTS, CIRCA 1862, FROM A BOOK RETRIEVED FROM A MUSKOKA FARMSTEAD. BY THE LOOKS OF THE BOOK, NOW MINUS ITS FRONT AND BACK COVERS, WITH A LOT OF DOG EARRED PAGES, IT SUGGESTS THE TEXT WAS FREQUENTLY CONSULTED OVER A GREAT MANY YEARS. IT IS AN AMAZING BOOK, AND I LOVE HAVING IT AVAILABLE IN THE SHOP, TO HELP IDENTIFY ITEMS THAT COME IN FOR SALE. THESE KIND OF FARM-FRIENDLY BOOKS ARE QUITE IMPORTANT IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE, AND I USE THEM FREQUENTLY, OVER AND ABOVE PRICE AND IDENTIFICATION GUIDES. FIRST OF ALL, SOME TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING, CIRCA 1862.
"1. RISE EARLY, AND NEVER SIT UP LATE. 2. WASH THE WHOLE BODY EVERY MORNING WITH COLD WATER, BY MEANS OF A LARGE SPONGE, AND RUB IT DRY WITH A ROUGH TOWEL, OR SCRUB THE WHOLE BODY FOR TEN OR FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH FLESH BRUSHES. 3. DRINK WATER GENERALLY, AND AVOID EXCESS OF SPIRITS, WINE AND FERMENTED LIQUORS. 4. KEEP THE BODY OPEN BY THE FREE USE OF THE SYRINGE, AND REMOVE SUPERIOR OBSTRUCTIONS BY APERIENT PILLS. 5. SLEEP IN A ROOM WHICH HAS FREE ACCESS TO THE OPEN AIR. 6. KEEP THE HEAD COOL BY WASHING IT WHEN NECESSARY WITH COLD WATER, AND ABATE FEVERISH AND INFLAMMATORY SYMPTOMS WHEN THEY ARISE BY PERSEVERING STILLNESS. 7. CORRECT SYMPTOMS OF PLETHORA AND INDIGESTION BY EATING AND DRINKING LESS PER DIEM FOR A FEW DAYS. 8. NEVER EAT A HEARTY SUPPER, ESPECIALLY OF ANIMAL FOOD, AND DRINK WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER; IF THESE ARE NECESSARY, ONLY AFTER DINNER."
"REGIMEN FOR HOOPING COUGH - A FREQUENT CHANGE OF AIR IS EXCEEDINGLY USEFUL IN HOSPING ENOUGH, PARTICULARLY SHORT VOYAGES AT SEA. AT THE SAME TIME FLANNEL IS TO BE WORN NEXT TO THE SKIN. YOUNG CHILDREN SHOULD LIE WITH THEIR HEADS AND SHOULDERS RAISED, AND WHEN THE COUGH OCCURS, THEY OUGHT TO BE PLACED ON THEIR FEET AND BENT A LITTLE FORWARD, TO GUARD AGAINST SUFFOCATION. THE DIET SHOULD BE LIGHT, AND THE DRINK WARM AND MUCILAGINOUS. TAKE OF EMETIE TARTAR, 2 DRACHMS, BOILING WATER, 2 OZ., TINCTURE OF CANTHARIDES, 1 DRACHM, OIL OF WILD THYME, 3 DRACHMS. MIS. A DESSERT-SPOON FULL RUBBED UPON THE CHEST EVERY NIGHT AND MORNING."
"GRIPING AND FLATULENCE - THESE ARE KNOWN BY CONTINUAL CRYING (INFANTS), RESTLESSNESS AND DRAWING UP OF THE LEGS. WHEN ATTENDED BY DIARRHEA, AND GREEN STOOLS, IT IS TO BE RELIEVED, IN GENERAL, BY THE ADMINISTRATION OF A FEW GRAINS OF RHUBARB AND MAGNESIA. IF SOUR BELCHING, STILL CONTINUES, IT WILL BE PROPER TO GIVE A TEA-SPOON FULL EVERY QUARTER OF AN HOUR, OF WEAK SOLUTION OF TARTER EMETIE, UNTIL THE CHILD VOMITS. AFTER THIS, PARTICULARLY IF THERE BE ANY PURGING, IT WILL BE PROPER TO GIVE A LITTLE RHUBARB AND MAGNESIA AGAIN, AND NOW AND THEN A LITTLE CHALK MIXTURE."
"AWAKENING SUDDENLY FOR A CHILD - TO AWAKEN CHILDREN FROM THEIR DEEP SLEEP WITH A NOISE, OR IN AN IMPETUOUS MANNER, IS EXTREMELY HURTFUL; NOR IS IT PROPER TO CARRY THEM FROM A DARK ROOM IMMEDIATELY INTO A GLARING LIGHT, AGAINST A DAZZLING WALL; FOR THE SUDDEN IMPRESSION OF LIGHT DEBILITATES THE ORGANS OF VISION, AND LAYS THE FOUNDATION OF WEAK EYES, FROM EARLY INFANCY."
"HEADACHES - WHEN HEAD-ACHE OR DROWSINESS PROVE TROUBLESOME TO A PREGNANT WOMAN OF ROBUST HABIT, A FEW OUNCES OF BLOOD SHOULD BE TAKEN FROM THE ARM. IF SHE BE OF A WEAK OR IRRITABLE HABIT, LEECHES OUGHT TO BE APPLIED TO THE TEMPLES. IN BOTH CASES, THE BOWELS SHOULD BE OPENED BY EPSEN SALTS, OR SOME OTHER GENTLE LAXATIVE MEDICINE."
"HYSTERIA - WHEN HYSTERIA, OR FAINTING OCCURS, THE PREGNANT PATIENT SHOULD BE PLACED IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION IN THE OPEN AIR. WHEN SHE IS A LITTLE RECOVERED, A GLASS OF WINE IN A LITTLE COLD WATER SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED, OR, WHAT IS PERHAPS BETTER, A FEW DROPS OF THE SPIRIT OF THE HARTSHORN IN A GLASS OF WATER."
"NIGHTMARE - GREAT ATTENTION IS TO BE PAID TO REGULARITY AND CHOICE OF DIET. INTEMPERANCE OF EVERY KIND IS HURTFUL, BUT NOTHING IS MORE REDUCTIVE OF THIS DISEASE THAN DRINKING BAD WINE. OF EATABLES, THOSE WHICH ARE MOST PREJUDICIAL ARE, ALL FAT AND GREASY MEATS, MOST VEGETABLES, FRUIT AND PASTRY. THESE OUGHT TO BE AVOIDED OR EATEN WITH CAUTION. THE SAME MAY BE SAID OF ALL SALT MEATS, FOR WHICH DYSPEPTIC PATIENTS HAVE FREQUENTLY A REMARKABLE PREDILECTION, BUT WHICH ARE NOT ON THAT ACCOUNT THE LESS NOXIOUS. MODERATE EXERCISE CONTRIBUTES, IN A SUPERIOR DEGREE, TO PROMOTE THE DIGESTION OF FOOD, AND PREVENT FLATULENCE; THESE, HOWEVER, WHO ARE NECESSARILY CONFINED TO A SEDENTARY OCCUPATION, SHOULD PARTICULARLY AVOID APPLYING TO STUDY, OR BODILY LABOUR, IMMEDIATELY AFTER EATING. IF A STRONG PROPENSITY TO SLEEP SHOULD OCCUR AFTER DINNER, IT WILL BE CERTAINLY BETTER TO INDULGE IT A LITTLE, AS THE PROCESS OF DIGESTIONS FREQUENTLY GOES ON MUCH BETTER DURING SLEEP THAN WHEN AWAKE. GOING TO BED BEFORE THE USUAL HOUR IS A FREQUENT CAUSE OF NIGHTMARES, AS IT EITHER OCCASIONS THE PATIENT TO SLEEP TOO LONG, OR TO LIE LONG AWAKE IN THE NIGHT. PASSING A WHOLE NIGHT, OR PART OF A NIGHT WITHOUT REST, LIKEWISE GIVES BIRTH TO THE DISEASE, AS WITHOUT REST, LIKEWISE GIVES BIRTH TO THE DISEASE, AS IT OCCASIONS THE PATIENT, ON THE SUCCEEDING NIGHT. INDULGING IN SLEEP TOO LATE IN THE MORNING IS AN ALMOST CERTAIN METHOD OF BEING ON THE PAROXYSM, AND THE MORE FREQUENTLY IT RETURNS, THE GREATER STRENGTH IT ACQUIRES; THE PROPENSITY TO SLEEP AT THIS TIME IS ALMOST IRRESISTIBLE. THOSE WHO ARE HABITUALLY SUBJECT TO THE ATTACKS OF THE NIGHTMARE, OUGHT NEVER TO SLEEP ALONE, BUT TO HAVE SOME PERSONS NEAR THEM, SO AS TO BE IMMEDIATELY AWOKE BY THEIR GROANS, OR STRUGGLES, AND THE PERSON TO WHOM THIS OFFICE MAY BE ENTRUSTED, SHOULD BE INSTRUCTED TO ROUSE THE PATIENT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE, THAT THE PAROXYSM MAY NOT BARE TIME TO GAIN STRENGTH."
"STRONG BEER POULTICE - STIR INTO HALF A PINT OF ALE, STRONG BEER GROUNDS, AS MUCH OATMEAL OF LINSEED-MEAL, AS WILL MAKE A CATAPLASM OF PROPER THICKNESS. THIS WILL PROVE AN EXCELLENT STIMULANT AND ANTISEPTIC FOR FOUL ULCERS. IT SHOULD BE APPLIED AS WARM AS THE PARTS WILL BEAR, AND SHOULD BE RENEWED EVERY SIX HOURS."
"MUSHROOM POISONING - GIVE THE PATIENT IMMEDIATELY THREE GRAINS OF TARTAR EMETIE, TWENTY-FIVE OR THIRTY OF IPECACUANHA, AND AN OUNCE OF SALTS, DISSOLVED IN A GLASS OF WATER, ONE THIRD TO BE TAKEN EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES, UNTIL HE VOMITS FREELY. THEN PURGE WITH CASTOR OIL. IF THERE IS GREAT PAIN IN THE BELLY, BLEED HIM, AND GIVE VINEGAR AND WATER,"
"DIRECTIONS FOR BLEEDING - TIE UP THE ARM, PLACING THE BANDAGE AT LEAST TWO INCHES ABOVE THE PROJECTION OF THE ELBOW JOINT; AND THEN FEEL FOR THE PULSE AT THE WRIST. IF IT IS STOPPED, THE BANDAGE IS TOO TIGHT, AND MUST BE RELAXED. SELECT THE MOST PROMINENT VEIN, AND FEEL WITH THE TIP OF YOUR FINGER IF AN ARTERY LIES NEAR IT. IF YOU FEEL ONE PULSATING SO CLOSE TO THE VEIN THAN YOU ARE FEARFUL OF WOUNDING IT, CHOOSE ANOTHER. HAVING SET YOUR LANSET, ( I ALUDE, OF COURSE, TO THE SPRING LANCET, THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN BE USED WITH SAFETY), BEND THE ARM IN THE PRECISE POSITION IT IS TO BE KEPT IN, WHILE THE BLOOD FLOWS. THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE LANCET IS NOW TO BE PLACED ON THE VEIN, WHILE YOU DEPRESS THE HANDLE OR FRAME JUST AS MUCH AS YOU WISH THE CUT TO BE DEEP; BY TOUCHING THE SPRING ON THE SIDE WITH YOUR THUMB. THE BUSINESS IS DONE. TO STOP THE BLEEDING, RELAX THE BANDAGE, PRESS THE TWO EDGES OF THE WOUND TOGETHER, PLACE A LITTLE COMPRESS OF LINEN ON IT, AND BIND UP THE WHOLE WITH A BANDAGE PASSING ROUND THE JOINT IN A FIGURE OF EIGHT."
AND IF YOU WERE USING A LEECH TO EXTRACT SOME BAD BLOOD, YOU WERE TO USE A WINE GLASS, CUPPED OVER TOP, TO KEEP THE PESKY LITTLE FELLOW ON THE RIGHT AREA. SO HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT EITHER ONE OF THESE PROCEDURES, AS A MEANS OF IMPROVING YOUR HEALTH? I'VE SEEN GROWN MEN CRY, WHEN COVERED WITH LEECHES FROM A SWIMMING MISADVENTURE. AND I'VE WATCHED THEM BEING PULLED OFF AND LET ME TELL YOU, IT'S NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. SO I WOULDN'T BE HAPPY AT ALL, TO BE TOLD BY MY FAMILY DOCTOR, THAT HE WAS GOING TO TREAT MY WONKY HIP WITH A BAG OF LEECHES.
THANKS FOR JOINING ME TODAY FOR THIS LOOK BACK ON SOME OLD WAYS AND TREATMENTS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WORKED AS PRESCRIBED. BUT IT'S ALL THEY HAD. FOR THE HOMESTEADER, THE ADVISORIES WITHIN, WOULD HAVE PROVEN FRUSTRATING, AS THERE WAS A SHORTAGE OF INGREDIENTS TO MAKE INTO THESE POTIONS AND POULTICES, AND POOR IDENTIFICATION, AS TO WHAT THESE NATURAL INGREDIENTS LOOKED LIKE, GROWING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. IT WAS TRIAL AND ERROR, AND THE ERROR COULD PROVE FATAL. AS FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF POISONOUS MUSHROOMS? CHANCES WERE, YOU WOULD DIE DESPITE WHAT REMEDY WAS USED; AND IT WOULD BE A PAINFUL END OF LIFE.
WE'VE COME A LONG WAY.
SEE YOU AGAIN SOON. MORE ON MUSKOKA ANTIQUES AND ANTIQUING COMING UP.
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