These are composed of loaf sugar in fine powder, and other substances,
either liquid or in powder, which are mixed together and made into a
paste with dissolved gum, rolled out into thin sheets, and formed with
tin cutters into little cakes, either oval, square, or round, and dried.
One ounce of gum tragacanth, and one pint of water. Let it soak in
a warm place twenty-four hours; put it in a coarse towel or cloth,
and let two persons continue twisting it until the whole of the gum
is squeezed through the interstices of the cloth. One ounce of this
dissolved gum is sufficient for four or five pounds of sugar; one ounce
of dissolved gum arabic to twelve ounces of sugar.
Either of these gums may be used separately, or in the proportion of
one ounce of gum dragon to three ounces of gum arabic mixed together.
These are generally used for medicated lozenges; but gum arabic alone
is considered to make the best peppermint.
In mixing _these_, as well as all other medicated lozenges, the
different powders should be well mixed with the sugar, in order that
each lozenge may have its due portion. If this is not attended to,
the perfect distribution of the component parts cannot be depended
on, and one lozenge may contain double or treble the quantity of
medicated matter it ought to have, whilst others contain comparatively
none; therefore, those that have the greatest portion may often prove
injurious by acting contrary to what was intended.
BRILLIANTS.--Take either of the pastes for peppermint lozenges from
Nos. 1 to 4, and cut into small fancy devices, such as hearts,
diamonds, spades, triangles, squares, etc.
CATECHU LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, catechu twelve ounces. Make into
a paste with dissolved gum.
CATECHU A L'AMBERGRIS.--To the paste for catechu lozenges add sixteen
grains of musk.
CATECHU WITH ORANGE-FLOWERS.--As before, adding twelve drops of essence
of neroli.
CATECHU WITH VIOLETS.--As before, adding Florence orris root, in
powder, three drachms. These are all used to fasten the teeth, and
disguise an offensive breath.
CHING'S BROWN WORM LOZENGES.--Calomel washed in spirits of wine (termed
_white panacea of mercury_) seven ounces, resin of jalap three pounds
eight ounces, fine sugar nine pounds, dissolved gum sufficient quantity
to make a paste. Each lozenge should contain half a grain of mercury.
Panacea one ounce, resin of jalap two ounces, sugar two pounds.
Dissolve a sufficient quantity of gum in rose-water to make a paste.
Make 2,520 lozenges, weighing eight grains each, and containing a
quarter of a grain of calomel and half a grain of jalap.
These lozenges should be kept very dry after they are finished, as the
damp, acting on the sugar and mercury, generates an acid in them.
CHING'S YELLOW WORM LOZENGES.--Fine sugar twenty-eight pounds, calomel
washed in spirits of wine one pound, saffron four drachms, dissolved
gum tragacanth sufficient to make a paste. Make a decoction of the
saffron in one pint of water, strain, and mix with it. Each lozenge
should contain one grain of mercury.
CINNAMON LOZENGES.--Gum tragacanth, dissolved, two ounces, lawned sugar
eight pounds, cinnamon in powder one ounce, essential oil ten drops.
Mix into a paste and color with bole ammoniac. A stomachic.
CLOVE LOZENGES.--Sugar eight pounds, cloves three ounces, gum
tragacanth two ounces.
Each lozenge should contain two grains of cloves. A restorative and
stomachic.
GINGER LOZENGES.--Eight pounds of sugar and eight ounces of the best
ground ginger. Mix into a paste with dissolved gum. Essence may be
used instead of the powder, coloring it with saffron. A stimulant and
stomachic.
IPECACUANHA LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, ipecacuanha one ounce,
apothecaries' weight; dissolved gum sufficient to make a paste.
Make 960 lozenges, each containing half a grain of ipecacuanha. An
expectorant and stomachic, used in coughs.
LAVENDER LOZENGES.--Make as rose lozenges, using the oil of lavender
instead of rose.
LOZENGES FOR THE HEARTBURN.--Prepared chalk four ounces, crab's eyes,
prepared, two ounces, bole ammoniac one ounce, nutmeg one scruple, or
cinnamon half an ounce. Mix into a paste with dissolved gum arabic.
MAGNESIA LOZENGES.--Calcined magnesia eight ounces, sugar four ounces,
ginger in powder two scruples, dissolved gum arabic sufficient to form
a paste.
Magnesia two ounces, sugar eight ounces, sufficient gum arabic to make
a paste, dissolved in orange flower water.
MARSHMALLOW LOZENGES.--Marshmallow roots in powder one pound, or slice
the root and make a strong decoction, in which you dissolve the gum,
fine sugar four pounds. Mix into a paste. If six drops of laudanum
be added, with two ounces of licorice, the pectoral quality of these
lozenges will be improved. Good for obstinate coughs.
NITRE LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, sal-nitre one pound, dissolved gum
tragacanth sufficient to make a paste. A diuretic internally; held in
the mouth, it removes incipient sore throats.
NUTMEG LOZENGES.--Sugar eight pounds, oil of nutmegs one ounce,
dissolved gum sufficient to mix into a paste. A stimulant and stomachic.
PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, NO. 1.--Take double refined loaf-sugar, pound and
sift it through a lawn sieve; make a bay with the sugar on a marble
slab, into which pour some dissolved gum, and mix it into a paste as
you would dough, flavoring the mass with oil of peppermint. One ounce
of this is sufficient for forty pounds of lozenges. Some persons prefer
mixing their gum and sugar together at first in a mortar; but as it is
indifferent which way is pursued, that may be followed which is most
convenient. Roll out the paste on a marble slab until it is about the
eighth of an inch in thickness, using starch-powder to dust it with,
to prevent its sticking to the slab and pin. Before cutting them out,
strew or dust over the surface with powder, mixed with lawned sugar,
and rub it over with the heel of your hand, which gives it a smooth
face. This operation is termed "facing up." Brush this off, and again
dust the surface with starch-powder, cut them out, and place in wooden
trays. Put them in the hot-closet to dry. All lozenges are finished in
the same manner.
PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, NO. 2.--These are made as No. 1, adding a little
starch-powder or prepared plaster, as for gum paste, to the paste,
instead of using all sugar.
PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, NOS. 3 AND 4.--Proceed in the same manner as for
No. 2, using for each more starch-powder in proportion. Use smaller
cutters, and let the paste be rolled thicker.
PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, NO. 5.--These are made from loaf sugar in coarse
powder, the finest having been taken out by sifting it through a lawn
sieve. Mix it into a paste with dissolved gum arabic and a little lemon
juice. Flavor with oil of peppermint.
PEPPERMINT LOZENGES, SUPERFINE TRANSPARENT.--The sugar for these must
be in coarser grains. Pass the sugar through a coarse hair-sieve.
Separate the finest by sifting it through a moderately fine hair-sieve.
Mix and flavor as the others.
The coarser the grains of sugar, the more transparent the lozenges.
The finer particles of sugar being mixed with it destroy their
transparency. The solution of gum should be thicker in proportion as
the sugar is coarse.
REFINED LICORICE.--Four pounds of the best Spanish juice, and two
pounds of gum arabic. Dissolve the gum in warm water, as for Bath pipe.
Strain and dissolve the gum in the solution of licorice. Place it over
a gentle fire, in a broad pan, and let it boil gradually, stirring it
continually (or it will burn) until it is reduced to a paste. Roll into
pipes or cylinders of convenient lengths, and polish by putting them
in a box and rolling them together, or by rubbing them with the hand,
or a cloth. This is often adultered by using glue instead of gum, and
by dipping the pipes in a thin solution, which gives them a beautiful
gloss when dry. In establishments where this is manufactured on a large
scale, the licorice is dissolved in a large bain-marie, and stirred
with spatulas which are worked by a steam-engine.
RHUBARB LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, best Turkey rhubarb, in powder,
ten ounces.
ROSE LOZENGES--Make your paste as No. 1, using the essential oil or
otto of roses to flavor them; or the gum may be dissolved in rose
water, and a little essential oil may be added to give additional
flavor, if required. Color the paste with carmine or rose pink.
SAFFRON LOZENGES.--Saffron, dried and powdered, four ounces, sugar four
pounds, dissolved gum sufficient. An anodyne, pectoral, emmenagogue.
STEEL LOZENGES.--Pure iron filings or rust of iron one ounce, cinnamon,
in powder, four ounces, fine sugar seven pounds, dissolved gum, a
sufficient quantity to make a paste. A stomachic and tonic.
SULPHUR LOZENGES.--Four pounds of sugar, eight ounces of sublimed
sulphur, gum sufficient to make a paste. For asthma and the piles.
TOLU LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, balsam of tolu three drachms, or the
tincture of the balsam one fluid ounce, cream of tartar six ounces, or
tartaric acid one drachm, dissolved gum sufficient to make a paste.
These may also be flavored by adding a quarter of an ounce of vanilla
and sixty drops of the essence of amber. The articles must be reduced
to a fine powder with the sugar. A pectoral and balsamic.
VANILLA LOZENGES.--Sugar four pounds, vanilla in powder six ounces, or
sufficient to give a strong flavor. Make into a paste with dissolved
gum.
YELLOW PECTORAL LOZENGES.--Sugar one pound, Florence orris-root powder
twelve drachms, licorice-root six drachms, almonds one ounce, saffron
in powder four scruples, dissolved gum sufficient to make a paste. Make
a decoction of the licorice to moisten the gum with.
BATH PIPE.--Eight pounds of sugar, twelve ounces of licorice. Warm
the licorice, and cut it in thin slices, dissolve it in one quart of
boiling water, stir it well to assist the solution; let it settle, when
dissolved, to allow any impurities or bits of copper which are often
found in it to fall down; pour it off free from the sediment; dissolve
the gum in the clear part, and mix it into a paste as for lozenges.
Roll out a piece with your hand in a round form; finish rolling it with
a long flat piece of wood, until it is about the size of the largest
end of the stem of a tobacco-pipe. Dry them in the stove as lozenges.
These may be also flavored with anise-seed by adding a few drops of the
oil, or with catechu or violets by adding the powders of orris-root or
catechu.
PEPPERMINT OR OTHER PIPES.--Any of the pastes for lozenges may be
formed into pipes by rolling it out as directed for Bath pipes. They
are occasionally striped with blue, green, and yellow, by making strips
with liquid color on the paste and twisting before you roll it out with
the board.