Great Supplement For Coughing

The active ingredient in many commercial cough drops, suitable for common, uncomplicated coughs, are wholly or largely herbal. One English brand, for instance, which is quite powerful, contains encalyptus oil, cubeb (an extract of berries, I presume), tincture of capsicum (an extract of red pepper in alcohol) extract of glycyrrhiza (licorice), and menthol (the essential oil derived from peppermint). All this is put together in some kind of sugar base, although they don't specify what kind. Many cough drops use honey instead of sugar.

For coughs and colds, Levy recommends gargling frequently with a strong brew of elder blossoms and sage leaves and tops. To this is added some honey, a small amount of oil of sweet almonds, and five drops of oil of cloves for every half-pint of gargle.

Clymer recommends a syrups made front comfrey, baked onion juice, and honey, taken as warm as possible, Kordel likes a strong infusion of the blossoms and leaves of honeysuckle for soothing the mucous membranes and expelling phlegm. Grieve remarks that "When brewed and boiled with garlic, (kidney) beans have cured otherwise incurable coughs."

In adding to the herbs mentioned, teas and syrups, or even homemade cough drops, can be made from coltsfoot, horehound, marshmallow, red clover, the dried inner barks of white pine, bark of wild cherry, and elecampane.