lozenge, in sweets and candy-making terminology, principally refers to the shape of a diamond or rhomboid cut from a thin layer and, by extension, to confections cut in this shape. Lozenges were usually cut from pastillage or similar types of paste made of sugar mixed with gum tragacanth. See pastillage and tragacanth. The notion of the lozenge is closely linked to the original medicinal concept of confectionery, as something compounded to affect the health of the consumer. Sugar paste was an ideal vehicle for conveying powdered drugs. Apothecaries composed a mixture of sugar and soaked gum with drugs, flavors, and colors as required. This mass was thoroughly kneaded, then rolled out to a specific thickness, and divided accurately to give small, tablet-like sweets that contained measured doses of the active ingredient. See medicinal uses of sugar and pharmacology. The shape was sometimes used with other mixtures, such as plain boiled sugar.
