Uses.—­It is put in laxative pills to prevent griping and to disguise the taste of the salines.  It is useful in dyspepsia of aged persons and also good in flatulence and diarrhea.  For menstrual cramps, due to suppression from exposure to cold it is useful as a warm tea and also for colds.  It is also used in the spice plasters.

Honey (Mel).—­This is a saccharine fluid deposited in combs by the honey bee (Apis Mellifica).

Action:  It is slightly laxative and a pleasant article of food.  Honey and water is used as a gargle and to relieve cough, dryness of the mouth and fauces.  When used as a gargle it increases the secretion of the mucous membrane and so relieves the congestion.  It is apt to disorder the stomach when used too freely.  Honey mixed with lemon juice and water is very good for a cough, especially the tickling kind.

Lard (Adeps).—­This is a common household article known to all.  It is frequently used as the basis for ointments and cerates and in domestic practice as a lubricant.  Tincture benzoin added to it prevents it from becoming rancid.  It can be used in corrosive poisoning as an antidote except where phosporus and carbolic acid have been swallowed.  It is also used in preparing articles of food.  It has more penetrating power than petrolatum or vaselin.  Washed lard, beaten up with an equal quantity of lime-water, and a few drops of oil of bitter almond, thymol, or carbolic acid added, is splendid for burns; stiffened with yellow wax it forms the simple ointment often used.  It softens the hard skin and reduces its heat, when the natural secretion is suppressed.  It also softens and removes scabs and lessens and prevents the effect of irritant discharges.  The simple lard ointment relieves the intense heat and itching of the skin in scarlet fever.  Dissolved and given in large doses it causes nausea and vomiting.

[Medical uses of common articles 673]

Mustard (Sinapis).—­Mustard flour, two tablespoonfuls to a glass of water, acts as an emetic.  If given largely it produces violent gastritis, and chronic gastritis is often set up by its constant use in excess.  It should not be used in acute dyspepsia and bowel irritation.

External:  It is applied for colic due to flatulence and for acute inflammation of different organs and is also good when applied to the nape of the neck in headache, neuralgia, etc.  Lint soaked in limewater and olive oil relieves the excessive burning from the plaster.  Mustard foot baths made by using one handful of ground mustard to half pail of hot water is useful in colds, sleeplessness, headache, convulsions, dysmenorrhea.

Cream of tartar (Potassii bitartras).—­Uses:  It is useful in kidney diseases to remove dropsy.  In large doses of four teaspoonfuls it acts as a watery purge.  It is useful where the urine is thick and alkaline to make it clear and normal.  It is sometimes combined in equal parts with epsom salts to move the bowels, especially when an action on the kidneys is also necessary.  It is given in teaspoonful doses before breakfast for prickly heat; it is cooling to the blood and is one of the old home remedies.