19th century | inside the CHS

Dr. Howell Rogers medical receipts, 1801-1823, MS 59357. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Conn.

Howell Rogers (1774-1851) was a doctor in Colchester, Connecticut. Between 1801 and 1823, Rogers recorded medical receipts (recipes) in a small notebook. This notebook made its way to my desk for cataloging this morning and several of the treatments caught my eye.

A Relaxing Unquint calls for skunk cabbage root. A Whimsical Treatment for the Rhematism includes brandy and hogs hoof’s [sic]. There are cures for ringworm, dysentery, tooth ach [sic], and asthma. Some recipes, such as the West India Cordial, were not assigned to any specific ailment.

Apparently tumors may be cured with a little wild turnip.
Take – Wild Turnip,
Scabish-root &
Itch-weed-root, a a
p. ce. Ster in a little skunks
grease – untill the virtues of
the ingredients are extract-
ed, then strain and apply
to the tumor. – It either dis-
perses or brings them to sup-
puration – immediately. (p. 120)

My favorite, though is shown below. The cure for baldness (page 87) calls for onions and honey!