Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Oxymel

OXYMEL, in pharmacy, a mixture of honey and vinegar, which are boiled to the consistence of a syrup.

Oxymel of Garlic, is prepared by boiling, for a short time, half a pint of vinegar together with two drams of caraway, and a similar quantity of sweet fennel-seeds, in a glazed earthen vessel; when an ounce and a half of garlic, cut in slices, should be added, and the whole closely covered. As soon as the mixture becomes cold, the liquor must be expressed, and mixed with ten ounces of clarified honey, by the heat of a water-bath. This preparation is sometimes taken in the humid asthma, for promoting expectoration, and the fluid secretions; being a medicine of considerable efficacy, though it acquires an unpleasant flavour from the garlic.

Oxymel of Squills, consists of three parts of honey, and two parts of vinegar of squills, which are boiled in a glass vessel to the consistence of a syrup. It is an useful expectorant, and resolvent in asthmas, coughs, and similar complaints, when the patient is oppressed with viscid mucus: it is generally given in doses of two or three small tea-spoonfuls, together with a little cinnamon, or other aromatic water, to prevent the nausea which it frequently excites. In larger doses, it may be occasionally administered as an emetic.