Canker in the Mouth (frog butter)

Four green frogs stewed in a pound of butter until dry, with an ounce of alum stirred in.

From: The House-Keeper's Guide and Indian Doctor
Published: 1851
Yikes Scale: Big yikes

Exactly as printed, 1851

-Mix equal parts of gum camphor, gum opium, and spirits of turpentine; rub them in a mortar to a paste, dip raw cotton in the paste, and put it into the hollow of the tooth each time after eating. Use it regularly one week, and the tooth will be effectually cured.

THE INDIAN DOCTOR.

Canker in the Mouth. - Put one pound of fresh butter into a glazedearthen vessel, set it on the fire until it boils, then add four common green frogs and let them stew until they are dry; take out the frogs, and add a little chamomile and parsley. When cold, stir in one ounce of pulverized alum; and if the fever is high, give a dose of rattlesnake's gall, dried in chalk. This is the Indian remedy for canker in the mouth, throat, or stomach; and although perhaps disagreeable to the fastidious, on account of some of the ingredients, it is said to be infallible.

The House-Keeper's Guide and Indian Doctor, 1851. Public domain; transcription unaltered.

So what happens if I make it?

Swabbed inside a mouth that is already ulcerated, this is butter, an aluminium salt and whatever the frogs were carrying. Amphibians are a routine source of salmonella, and the ulcers are an open door.

The escalation is the part worth reading twice. If the fever runs high, the same page recommends a dose of rattlesnake's gall, dried in chalk.

Notes from the 21st century

“Infallible” is doing heavy lifting. Mouth canker — aphthous ulceration — mostly resolves on its own in a week or two, which is how a remedy earns that reputation.
Alum is an astringent. It genuinely tightens tissue and dulls pain briefly, which is why it turns up in so many period mouthwashes. It does not treat the cause.
This book is not a cookbook. The Housekeeper's Guide and Indian Doctor bound domestic receipts and home doctoring into one volume, which is how a frog ends up beside the puddings.

Also in this book

Bilious Cholic (opium-turpentine cordial) — Opium, camphor and turpentine dissolved in spirits, and pronounced an excellent remedy.
Hectic Cough (tar-and-port cordial) — Egg yolks, honey and a tablespoonful of tar, warmed into half a pint of port.
Rattlesnake's Bite — For the most deadly bites: horehound juice, a tablespoonful three times a day, before meals.

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