The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-01-28
Topics Of Domestic Circle
ABOUT COUGH DROPS.

ABOUT COUGH DROPS.
The present unreasonable, damp wea-
Their, fruitful in colds, brings an newt
able demand for cough candy and troch-
es. Nearly all the excellent cough can
dies and trouches Of commerce have once
been made by family recipes It was for
merly the practice of many mothers to
prepare a stock OF these candies at the
beginning of each winter Shining amber
tinted lozengers of horehound made at
home or white candies of Iceland moss
soothed the weary hours of children who
were shut indoors with colds. Where one
has abundance Of time it certainly pays
to prepare these candies at home, for
only few confectioners make them as
they were made in the last generation.
Yet they are easily made, and are whole
some CONNECTIONS because of their tonic
powers. The herb has the ability, when
administered in proper quantity, to ex-
cite the flow of perspiration.
To make horehound candy put an ounce
Of the dried herb in a pint of boiling wa
ter 1t may be bought at a herb store or
at almost any drug store. 1t may also
be easily gathered az the brookside in
summer and drier, for it is a familiar
plant. Strain off, the infusion of hore
hound and add a pound of sugar to every
half pint of the liquid. Boil the syrup I'M
til it threads, and the thread cracks off
brittle when bitten, and then pour it out
on buttered sheets of tin. When 1T is par
thy cooled crease it into inch squares,
and when it is hard break it up into sep
crate candies. If these candies are too
bitter for your taste, lessen the amount
of horehound a little.
Iceland moss makeSan excellent sooth-
ing cough candy. Take five cents worth
of the lichen, soak it over night and wash
it repeatedly. Take it oupt Of the last
| water and put it in a thick porcelain lined
sauce pan in plenty of cold water, and let
it slowly simmer over the fire until the
water is of thick starchy consistency.
Add pound of sugar to half pint of the
thickened water. Stir the syrup repeated
ly until drop forms a creamy ball when
rolled between the finger and thumb. 1t
must be stirred repeatedly or it will burn
Pour it out on buttered biscuit pans that
have sides, which viii prevent the candy
spreading in too thin sheet. 1t should
be about half an inch thick.
The chief objection to a great many
| cough candies of the shops is that they
| contain morphine. and raw opium, in
more or less quantity. There are some
| popular cough candies which contain en-
ough morphine to put to sleep a person
who is easily affected by this drug. Espe-
| cially is this so when the candies are con-
| sumed without much thought as to re-
| suits. Candies containing morphine are
certainly dangerous for children to eat,
and it is strange that accidents do not
! occur more often, when confecuoners
| handle such dangerous drugs.
A simple troche which is easily prepar-
ed at home is made as follows: Mix to-
gether one ounce each of powdered cub
ebs, Iicorice and gum arabic. Add to this
mixture one dram of oil of aniseseed and
third of an ounce of oil of cubebs. When
the oils are mixed in add half pound of
raw sugar, and finally just enough warm
| water to make dough as stiff as you can
handle. Sprinkle a board with little
powdered licorice and roll out the mass
| as thin as a pie crust. Cut it into small
| troches with a thimble. Let them dry on
| a board in closet or any COOL dry room.
! If the atmosphere is not too moist they
will dry in a day. They are excellent to
soothe any roughness of the throat that
causes a cough. They will frequently en-
tirely stop a troublesome cough which
comes from some such trifling nervous
cause. The materials are simple, and. are
easily obtained at any drug store. Do not
put them on the fire to mix them, but do
all the work on a board.-New York Trf-
| bune.