Rosin is used as a main ingredient in many healing salves (ointments) such as Pneumonia salve, drawing salve, …. I have collected some recipes of healing salves you can see below:

Pneumonia Salve:

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung with symptoms such as cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. According to the book of “THE OLD HERB DOCTOR” a good recipe for pneumonia is to ” Make a salve of the following and put on the affected lungs. Keep warmed up. I know of cases cured with this where doctors gave up.

We always keep in house for colds on chest and sore throat:”. Salves are generally rubbed on the skin; so what I understand from “put on the affected lungs” is to rube the salve on the chest. Following are the ingredients for Pneumonia Salve. I have changed the ancient units of measurements to grams and ounces to make this more understandable.

Ingredients of Pneumonia Salve for 61 ounces of salve:

• Lard (24 oz)
• White rosin (Gum Rosin Grade WW) (12 oz)
• Bees wax (12 oz)
• Camphor gum (8 oz)
• Oil of Eucalyptus (1 oz)
• Balsam Peru Oil (1 oz)
• Turpentine Oil (1 oz)
• Cedar Oil (1 oz)

If you are not familiar with ounces or you prefer metric units of measurements, please use this list instead:

Ingredients of Pneumonia Salve for 1270 grams of salve.

• Lard (500 grams)
• White rosin (Gum Rosin Grade WW) (250 grams)
• Bees wax (250 grams)
• Camphor gum (170 grams)
• Oil of Eucalyptus (40 grams)
• Balsam Peru Oil (20 grams)
• Turpentine Oil (20 grams)
• Cedar Oil (20 grams)

Lard is fat from pig and is available at grocery stores. Use unsalted lard.

White rosin is natural gum rosin or pine rosin grade WW. It is one of the lightest color rosins. It is white in powder form, but it is yellow to amber color in solid chunks. It can easily brake to smaller pieces or powder. Do not use synthetic rosin or rosin powder for salve. Only use CROSIN, BROSIN or HROSIN for salves.

Any grade of Bees wax will work fine. The more filtered and pure bees wax have lighter color. (Only use natural Bees waxes such as NBWAX421P and NBWAX423P for salve).

Camphor gum is in the form of waxy white or clear crystals. This is one of the main ingredients of this salve that is absorbed through the skin and has anti-inflammatory properties. Camphor is poisonous in large doses.

Eucalyptus oil is a fragrance and has insect repellent properties.

Balsam Peru oil is an essential oil. It is a plant extract and natural.

Turpentine (also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, and wood turpentine) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from live trees, mainly pines.

Cedar oil, also known as cedarwood oil, is an essential oil derived from the foliage, and sometimes the wood and roots, of various types of conifers, most in the pine or cypress botanical families. It has many uses in medicine, art, industry and perfumery.

Steps of making Pneumonia salve

1. Use a one gallon or 4 liter steel or aluminum pot and an electric heater for making the salve.
2. Start by melting lard over a medium heat.
3. Crush rosin into small pieces, add them to the molten lard and stir until rosin fully dissolves.
4. Add bees wax to the mix, continue stirring until bees wax dissolves.
5. Lower the heat and add camphor. Continue stirring until fully dissolved.
6. Stop the heat and add Eucalyptus oil, balsam oil, Turpentine and Cedar oil. Continue stirring while the salve is cooling down. Pour the salve into small wide mouth jars for storage and future use.
7. Warning: All the materials used in making salve are flammable or combustible and they can easily catch fire when hot. Use proper ventilation and avoid direct flame.