Devon charm to cure dropsy / swelling of soft tissues from water retention

Toad - Bufo bufo - By Korall (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Take several large fully-grown toads, place them in a vessel in which they can be burned without their ashes becoming mixed with any foreign matter. When reduced to ashes, pound them in a stone mortar. Place the ashes in a wide-mouthed jar, cork closely and keep in a dry place.

Dose. One teaspoonful of ashes in milk to be taken at the growing of the moon for nine mornings."

Hewett 1900

[I love toads - do not replicate this 'cure'.]