Consult Me

I suppose that before ‘Google’ and the like, this is what people consulted if they wanted to find out how to do anything. And, as this was published in 1866, I think we can safely say this was before anyone had access to the Internet.
 
I have a big collection of books that I inherited from my great aunt and every so often I sort through them and I am always amazed at what I find. I had never looked inside this book before today and it is astonishing.
 
I am sure everyone would like to know how to ‘get up linen’, keep the House clean and sweet’, ‘beautify the person’, but would anyone really want to know about the ‘Cold Water Cure’. (I do note from the picture however that the idea may be not to actually do any of these things oneself, but to make sure that the servant knows exactly what to do.)
 
How about this for cleaning your black lace, should you have any:
 Pass the lace through a warm liquor of bullock’s gall and water; afterwards rinse in cold water; then take a small piece of glue, pour boiling water on it, and again pass the lace through it; clap it with your hands, and frame it to dry. Easy!
   
I won’t regale you (yet) with any of the treatments or cures for ailments and diseases, but I think it should be required reading for anyone who does not value the NHS or has any nostalgia for living life as it was in the past. For example it was deemed possible to deal with a ruptured hernia at home, as long as one had the means by which to give the patient an injection made of gruel, butter, salt, and five or six drops of laudanum. 

(A wild, wild day today! Thank goodness for a washing machine and tumble drier!)