I spent a good portion of last evening researching herbal cures used in the early 1800s for two separate books. The first is my newest one entitled “The Scandal of Lady Eleanor” (aka “A Touch of Gold”) and the second is a novella I am developing called “His American Heart Song.” Anyway, with both I found a most interesting source by Martha Bradley and written in 1756. It is called “The British Housewife.” The use of leaves of tansy to prevent a miscarriage … two drachms of gum armoniacum dissolved in a half pint of hyssop water for asthma … a mixture of comsrey roots, liquorice, curants, balm, thyme, and garden sorrel for consumption … were fascinating. We all remember such uses of nontraditional medicine. A slice of potato on a boil. Touching one’s chin to his chest to determine if he has the mumps. Silver on an acid blister. It made me start to think of how often those cures and diagnoses worked. So, dear reader if you too remember some such “miracle” to which your parents subjected you, please share with the rest of us. I, for one, would be most anxious to learn what else is out there. By the way, this is what the book says for a sprain. “Take common clay and boil it in white wine vinegar till it is of the thickness of a salve. Spread this upon a linen cloth and apply it to the part affected. Let it lie on till it is dry, and if the complaint is not removed apply a second time, and it will not fail of a cure.” Of course, Martha Bradley had never experienced the red clay we have in the South. If so, she would have known that the application of wet red clay and letting it dry would be equivalent to applying a modern day cast to the sprain. When red clay dries on something, you might as well plan on throwing it out. It cannot be removed from shoes or clothing easily.