Remedies Old-time remedies sound disgusting: rub yourself with grey snails to strengthen the spine; for rickety bones drink snail broth; for inflamed eyes apply a cold poultice of rotten apples; to ‘draw the evil humours from a croupy child’ place a live frog on the tongue. A ‘certain cure’ for whooping cough was to kill a mouse, carefully skin and roast it then serve it up to the invalid without saying what it was. Or the patient might have been fed stewed snails, or placed on the back of a live bear, or taken to the seaside to watch the tide turn. Snails were certainly popular. A helping of small white snails, enjoyed either raw or fried, was advised for cases of consumption (tuberculosis). Jaundice and liver complaints were supposed to be eased by drinking one’s own urine. The ‘medicine’ had to be boiled up in a saucepan after midnight and repeated every night for ten days. Read More >> More Pictures Health and Sickness