In a message dated 11/15/2002 1:23:05 AM Mountain Standard Time, NJ-MEMORIES-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: > I have also heard of people taking Kerosene, as odd as it may seem, for > childhood croup. My late aunt told me that when she was a child in > Stroudsburg she had to take Kerosene whenever she had croup. The subject > came up as I told her of my three sons problem with croup and she offered > me that solution. Seemed rather drastic and dangerous sounding to > me....needless to say I passed on making my kids take it. I'm glad you did . . . that's one old wives' remedy that was actually dangerous. Aromatic hydrocarbons (like kerosene) can cause chemical pneumonia if they get vomited and aspirated into the lungs . . . and we all know that the first thing that kids do when they get sick, no matter in what part of the anatomy the illness is, is to puke up their guts. That's why making a kid vomit if he's drunk something like that is a huge "no-no." Doris in Colorado (Up2Nutrix@aol.com) "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -- Jim Elliot, missionary and martyr