come to the boil allow the bottles to remain in the boiling water
for fifteen minutes. The idea is to bring the juice inside the bottles
to boiling point just before sealing up, but not to boil it. See that
the bottles are _full_. Cork _immediately_ on taking out of the pan,
and then seal up. To seal mix a little plaster of Paris with water and
spread it well over the cork. Let it come a little below the cork so as
to exclude all air.

The juice of the elderberry is famous for promoting perspiration, hence
its efficacy in the cure of colds. Two tablespoonfuls should be taken at
bed-time in a tumbler of hot water.

The juice of the elderberry is excellent in fevers, and is also said to
promote longevity.

_Elderberry Poultice._

"The leaves of the elder, boiled until they are soft, with a little
linseed oil added thereto," laid upon a scarlet cloth and applied, as
hot as it can be borne, to piles, has been said to be an infallible
remedy. Each time this poultice gets cold it must be renewed for "the
space of an hour." At the end of this time the final dressing is to be
"bound on," and the patient "put warm to bed." If necessary the whole
operation is to be repeated; but the writer assures us that "this hath
not yet failed at the first dressing to cure the disease." If any reader
desires to try the experiment I would suggest that the leaves be steamed
rather than boiled, and pure olive oil used in the place of linseed oil.
It must also be remembered that no outward application can be expected
to effect a permanent cure, since the presence of piles indicates an
effort of Nature to clear out some poison from the system. But if this
expulsion is assisted by appropriate means the pain may well be
alleviated by external applications. (Pepper should be avoided by
sufferers from piles.)

_Fig._

A "lump of figs" laid on the boil of King Hezekiah, as recorded in 2
Kings xx. 7, brought about that monarch's recovery. The figs used were
doubtless ripe figs, not the dried figs of our grocers.

"This fruit," says Dr. Fernie, "is soft, easily digested, and corrective
of strumous disease." The large blue fig may be grown in England, in the
milder parts and under a warm wall. The fresh figs were rarely seen at
one time outside of the large "high-class" fruit shops, but for the last
year or two I have seen them peddled in the streets of London like
apples and oranges in due season.

Green figs (not unripe) were commonly eat