The turpentine treatment, as given to patient, G.P. Milton, who died the following day (January 8, 1865). From collection #612-z, Southern Historical Collection.
You never know what you’re going to find in our collections. Today, while looking for something totally unrelated, I happened upon a folder with an intriguing title: “Prescription and Diet Book, circa 1800s.” I thought I might have stumbled on some sort of early new age work. So, I started thumbing through.
What I found was that it was a record book, apparently from a Civil War hospital near Greensboro, North Carolina, that listed daily treatments that were given to wounded soldiers and others convalescing during the war.
In this record book are listings for some run of the mill treatments and remedies that were ordered on patients of the hospital such as, “light diet,” “light dressing applied to wound,” or “beef soup.” But then I started seeing some more, shall we say, experimental treatments listed. The regimen given to one particular patient named G. P. Milton was especially striking (see image shown here).
Sunday’s entry: “Rx…Whiskey and Turpentine every 3 hours”
Monday’s entry: “Died Jan. 8, 1865″
I guess turpentine isn’t always good for what ails you. Anyone know if this was once a common treatment? And if so, for which ailment was it usually prescribed? Was it ever successful?
[The item described comes from collection #612-z from the Southern Historical Collection.]
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i find your discoveries to be a a sort of de ja vu for myself. I am from Kentucky and turpentine was often used for people who had a chest cold. also as a vapo type rub. my grandmother used to give it to me. for coughs flu and head colds, she perscribed what she simply called the remedy, 4 shots of whiskey, 4 tablespoons of sugar, with a half cup of sweet tea, warmed. that would soothe anything. another big one i remember is the tobacco juice remedy for bee stings. whenever a bee would sting me, my dad would go runnin for his chew, and would then apply chewed tobacco to the sting. for any kind of posion from spiders to bees they also used baking soda, this also pulls out the poison.
Julie,
Thanks for your comment. Believe it or not, I saw a turpentine remedy/concoction for sale recently in an ethnic grocery store. It seems we southerners are not the only ones with a hankerin’ for the turpentine cure-alls.
Tobacco on bee stings was a big one for me as a kid, as well. The whiskey, sugar, and tea beverage I’ve never heard of before, but it sounds really…let’s say…invigorating.
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