Old remedies are now long forgotten
Families planted pomegranates for fevers, used snake oil for toothaches

By Murphy Givens, Viewpoints Editor

   More than a century ago when doctors were scarce and people more self-sufficient, South Texans had their own remedies for home treatment.
   Some remedies sound sensible. There was chamomile tea for insomnia and kerosene for head lice. Others sound totally ineffective, such as a paste made from parched flour and milk used to treat cholera. Whether old home treatments worked or not perhaps can be judged by the short life spans people had back then.
   Many early families planted pomegranates. The late Ruth Dodson of Mathis once noted that deserted homesteads could be found by the pomegranates that continued to blossom long after the families had departed. Pomegranate seeds were said to reduce malaria fevers.
   Another way to reduce fevers was to apply a poultice of hot, stewed tomatoes to the feet. Sassafras tea also was said to lower a high temperature. A few teaspoonfuls a day of vinegar that had been steeped with rusty nails added iron to the blood. Kerosene, besides killing lice, was used to treat cuts. Sulphur mixed with molasses was a spring tonic forced on youngsters, whether they needed it or not.
   Vaqueros rendered oil from rattlesnakes to treat sore joints and rheumatism. Hog lard, rubbed into joints, was also said to be good for rheumatism. Vaqueros used crushed prickly pear leaves mixed with goat tallow to treat snake bites. They sucked the poison out, then applied the prickly pear poultice to draw out the rest of the poison.
   Rattlesnake oil was said to be good for toothaches, but it had to be obtained from a snake that was killed before it rattled; otherwise, the oil would be tainted with poison.
   A cure-all in Corpus Christi was the mineral water from the well in Artesian Square that was first dug by Zachary Taylor's troops.
   Many people believed the water would cure all kinds of ailments, even though it had an odor like rotten eggs and wet dogs.