-108- 
     
     would gladly have opted for Epsom salts --a preference that speaks 
     
     eloquently of the properties of senna tea. 
     
    

    
     For chest disorders, the standard treatment was the mustard plaster. In 
     
     very severe cases, a second plaster was placed between the patient's 
     
     shoulder-blades. No doubt, the method had some therapeutic worth, but I 
     
     have always leaned to the belief that the burns resulting from over-long 
     
     application made the victim's other discomforts seem trivial. for 
     
     threatened, or actual, cases of pneumonia, steaming bran poultices were 
     
     much relied on. Much of the time they Seemed to be of benefit; or perhaps, 
     
     as some cynic once remarked, "the man was probably goin' to get better 
     
     anyway." Only when the poultices failed to effect a cure, was the problem 
     
     turned over to the doctor. 
     
    

    
     The convalescent period following all those afflictions was, 
     
     theoretically, assisted by liberal doses of a compound called Scott's | 
     
     Emulsion. -- a preparation only slightly less nauseous than senna tea. The 
     
     urge to be finished with swallowing the stuff was in itself a powerful 
     
     stimulus in the direction of speedy recovery. In Spring, water in which 
     
     wild cherry bark had been boiled was popular as a general tonic, taken in 
     
     combination with liberal helpings of sulphur and molasses. But chief among 
     
     health builders, even when there had been no previous illness, was Cod 
     
     Liver Oil. Most youngsters had no love for it; I had the distinction of 
     
     actually liking its flavor, especially that of the strong raw product that 
     
     we bought from the Rustico and the South Shore fishermen. 
     
    

    
     For sore throats, a teaspoonful of sugar saturated with turpentine was 
     
     considered effective by some sufferers, though here again the counter- 
     
     irritant quality may have been the main curative agent. Brisk rubbing, with 
     
     oose-grease was also believed to produce good results. A flannel collar, 
     
     soaked in goose-grease and liberally sprinkled with cinnamon or black 
     
    
   
   
    
     pepper was also quite popular. Older people, who were particularly