All this talk of home cures reminds me of a "not so happy" story. Back in the very early 70's when everybody was "into" doing things the natural way, I bought a book at a country auction on cures and remedies. This book had to be at least 100 years old and was about 4 inches thick with a worn black cover. My grandmother was always known for her ways of knowing everything. My children were always having colds and congestion all winter. We lived in Missouri. After reading this book, I decided to try a cure on my little 4 year old boy. I put turpentine and lard on his chest then covered with a warm flannel cloth and covered him up with quilts. I thought well, I'll go one better and cover the padding on his chest with a heating pad since they didn't have one in grandma's day. In about 5 minutes he started crying and when I pulled back the padding his little chest was red and patchy. I quickly bathed him in soap and water and threw the book in the trash and never tried to cure anybody again! I do wish I still had the book just for the antiquity of it.