The finer varieties are used as an emollient and demulcent in medicine, and in the manufacture of confectionery; the commoner qualities are used as an adhesive paste, for giving lustre to crape, silk, &c., in cloth finishing to stiffen the fibres, and in calico-printing.
The poet takes great joy in parsing together seemingly disparate words and evoking a sundry whole, a demulcent of the seemingly incongruent.
Under the name decoctum hordei, a preparation of barley is included in the British Pharmacopoeia, which is of value as a demulcent and emollient drink in febrile and inflammatory disorders.
Gum tragacanth is used in calico-printing as a thickener of colours and mordants; in medicine as a demulcent and vehicle for insoluble powders, and as an excipient in pills; and feltsetting and mending beetles and other insect specimens.
This is the " Iceland moss " of the druggists' shops, which is undoubtedly an excellent demulcent in various dyspeptic and chest complaints.