Important: Safety Warning
This page prescribes plants as medicine according to pre-modern medical theory. Several of the plants named are toxic, correct identification is difficult, and the doses given have no scientific basis. Do not ingest or apply any preparation described here.
In addition, this page presents medical treatment from an era before modern medicine. The remedies described are ineffective against the conditions named, and some of the ingredients or doses are harmful. Do not use them to treat any illness; consult a qualified medical professional.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Medicinal Tinctures › Tincture of Balm of Gilead
Tincture of Balm of Gilead
Infuse 2 ounces of the buds in a quart of with a piece of perforated paper, and pour on good rum, and 4 ounces of sugar. Digest for alcohol previously mixed with an equal vol- 4 days. Take 2 or 3 tea-spoonfuls at a time. ume of syrup until it has reached the tow and It greatly relieves cough, pains in the chest, and other pulmonary affections. The tincture and decoction form excellent remedies for cough, asthma, wheezing, &c. 4536. Tincture of Prickly-ash Berries. Macerate 8 ounces prickly-ash berries (Xanthoxylum) for 14 days in 2 pints diluted alcohol; or, displace 2 ounces of tincture by percolation. This tincture possesses all the virtues of the berries. In cholera, the dose is from 1/2 to 1 fluid ounce, repeated as often as required; in ordinary cases from 1 to 4 fluid drachms, given in water. (Am. Dis.) the surface of the powder is covered; cork the neck of the funnel and allow it to macerate 48 hours; then remove the cork and continue the percolation with equal parts of alcohol and syrup, mixed, until 16 fluid ounces have been obtained.