A Pectoral Extract.
Take the best Malt can be got, (not burnt in drying) ready ground 1 gasllon and a half; Water 2 gallons; make Ale Wort according to Art.
To this (drawn off clear) add Malaga Raisins stoned and shred small half a pound; Liquorice 2 ounces; powder'd Japanic Earth 1 ounce; boil 'till it come to half a gallon, then strain it out, and having added Cochineal 4 scruples; set it on a moderate Fire, to evaporate 'till it come to a consistence of Honey.
I have often caus'd this extraordinary neat and efficacious Medicine to be prepared, and ever esteem'd it the more excellent upon this account, that though it be a thick, glewy sort of Mucilage, yet by reason of its grateful Austerity, it doth not (like all other Incrassating Pectorals) relax, and sit heavy upon the Stomach; But on the other hand, comforts it, and strengthens and confirms its Tone.
Its Business is, to moisten the Membranes of the Larynx when parch'd, appease them when Irritated, heal them when excoriated: To refrigerate the Glands when over-heated; soften them when swell'd hard, and constringe them when lax and spungy: To temper the Acrimony of the Serum, Incrassate it, when too thin, and restrain it, when flying out. And so upon these Accounts, its a moist substantial and adequate Remedy for a Rheumatic Cough and Asperity of the Throat. To be taken like a Linctus.
Thomas Fuller
Pharmacopeia Extemporanea 1710