Many marvelous effects and healing powers have been ascribed to garlic. It lowers cholesterol levels, gives relief from rheumatism, prevents blood clots, boosts the immune system, and protects against heart disease and stroke. As an antiseptic, its use has long been recognized. In World War I it was widely employed in the control and treatment of infected wounds. The raw juice was squeezed or pressed, diluted with water, put on swabs of sterilized sphagnum moss and then applied to the wound. Thousands of lives were saved by its use.
It can be applied externally as an ointment or lotion, as an antiseptic and as a poultice for infected sores. Garlic has been said to prevent anthrax in cattle.
Syrup of garlic works well for asthma, hoarseness, coughs, breathing difficulties and most other lung disorders – in particular chronic bronchitis, on account of its ability to promote expectoration. Syrup of garlic is made by pouring a quart of boiling hot water over a pound of the fresh root cut into slices, and allowing it to stand in a closed vessel for twelve hours. Honey is then added to make it the consistency of syrup. Apple cider vinegar also improves this syrup as a medicine. A little caraway and sweet fennel seed, bruised and boiled for a short time in the ACV before being added to the garlic, will mask the pungent smell.
A remedy for asthma, very popular in days of yore, is a syrup of garlic made by boiling the bulbs till soft, adding an equal quantity of vinegar to the water in which they were boiled, and then boiling this down to a syrup with added honey. The boiled bulbs are allowed to dry, and the syrup is then poured over them. The resulting syrup (with bulbs) is kept in a sealed jar. Each morning a bulb or two is taken, along with a spoonful of the syrup.
A syrup of garlic made simply by melting 1.5 ounces of honey in 1 ounce of the raw, squeezed juice can be given to children with a bad cough. Successful treatment of tuberculosis with garlic has been recorded, where the freshly squeezed juice, diluted with equal quantities of water, was inhaled antiseptically. Bruised and mixed with lard, garlic has been reported to relieve whooping cough if rubbed on the chest and between the shoulder blades. Traditionally, an infusion of the bruised bulbs, given before and after every meal, was considered to relieve epilepsy. A clove or two of garlic, pounded with honey and taken two or three nights successively, has been reported to relieve rheumatism. Garlic also helps with chronic edema, removing the water that may already have collected and preventing its future accumulation. If given like smelling salts, garlic will usually revive someone who is hysterical. It's reported that garlic makes the eye retina more sensitive and less able to bear strong light. Both garlic juice and garlic milk (made by boiling the mashed bulbs in milk) can be used to eliminate worms. A slice of fresh garlic taped to a veruca on the sole of the foot will often completely eliminate the problem.
If small quantities of garlic are finely chopped and added daily to chickenfeed, it prevents gapes (a malady known to every chicken farmer). Chickens will lay higher quality eggs if they're fed garlic in their food before they start laying (however, when they start to lay, the garlic should be stopped; otherwise the eggs become interestingly garlic-flavored).