Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0865470367, Paperback)

Mrs. Fisher has collected a charming mixed bag of ageless nostrums, "a perfect combination of superstition, instinct and primitive knowledge," dealing with such commonplace ailments as warts, nosebleeds, menstrual cramps, sore throats, hangovers, head colds, and obesity. Ingredients of these recipes include onions, honey, spittle and cobwebs, mud, toads and frogs, enemas, apple cider vinegar, bacon grease, cat skins, and powdered deer antlers.

M.F.K. Fisher, one of America's most distinguished stylists, finds that these ingredients are transformed by the addition of "incantations and mystery, and ageless faith: the essentials of healing."