GALEN ON THE COMPOSITION OF MEDICINES

...by these, a linctus medicine eclegma: a medicine thickened with honey or syrup, designed to be licked or dissolved slowly in the mouth to treat the throat and windpipe is created. In the Attic dialect, they also call these "elect" compositions.

Immediately after the formula described above, Andromachus wrote a second one as follows: "Windpipe medicine made from poppy heads. Take 1,200 green poppy heads, 4 pounds of Attic honey, 4 drachmas of Cilician saffron original: "croci Cilicii", though others say 10 drachmas, 10 drachmas of juice of hypocystis A parasitic plant, Cytinus hypocistis, known in antiquity for its astringent properties., 10 drachmas of acacia, and rainwater for the poppy heads."

Rainwater is added so that the medicine is less prone to decay. Clearly, this water also possesses a certain astringent quality. The goal of this medicine is to concoct In ancient medicine, "concoction" refers to the process of ripening or "cooking" raw humors or inflammation so the body can expel them. the condition in the windpipe, whatever it may be. It achieves this through sleep A reference to the sedative, opium-like effects of the poppy heads. and through substances that promote concoction without being overly astringent.

The simple version of this medicine made from poppy heads, which I am accustomed to making, contains only the poppy heads soaked in water. When they have become soft, we discard the heads themselves and mix the resulting water with Attic honey alone. We then boil the mixture until it reaches the consistency of a linctus. This is the method I usually follow. As for the specific amount of water and honey...