Whilst some of the medical suggestions in this book may be helpful, other recipes contain poisonous or illegal ingredients. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! This book has great historical interest and presents the best that mothers could do for their family members when they took ill. Even if they could afford a doctor, he would probably offer the same remedies that are contained in this book. One of the fascinating aspects of the book is it has a very long section entitled "Manners and social customs for our great middle class as well as our best society", offering advice, such as to when a man should offer his arm to a woman.This volume comes complete with Housewife's Alphabet, 300 'recipes' to be a successful housewife, recipes for candy making and jelly making, instructions on pickling and canning, a beautiful set of ten commandments on how to raise your child, beauty treatments, etiquette instructions in every situation, glossary, 16 page dictionary, extremely copious index, illustrations, and table of illustrations.