Emollient Gargle.
Take an ounce of marshmallow roots, and two or three figs; boil them in a quart of water till near one half of it be consumed; then strain out the liquor.
If an ounce of honey, and half an ounce of spirit of sal ammoniac, be added to the above, it will then be an exceeding good attenuating gargle.
This gargle is beneficial in fevers, where the tongue and fauces are rough and parched, to soften these parts, and promote the discharge of saliva.
The learned and accurate Sir John Pringle observes, that in the inflammatory quinsey, or strangulation of the fauces, little benefit arises from the common gargles; that such as are of an acid nature do more harm than good, by contracting the emunctories of the saliva and mucus, and thickening those humours; that a decoction of figs in milk and water has a contrary effect, especially if some sal-ammoniac be added; by which the saliva is made thinner, and the glands brought to secrete more freely; a clrcumstance always conducive to the cure.
William Buchan
Domestic Medicine 2nd edition 1785