Mr. RoYLE on the Lycium of Dioscorldes. 85 



barhe, vol. i. p. 162, quotes Rauwolf and Hasselquist as authorities for consi- 

 dering Lyc'nim europceum as the Xvxiov of Dioscorides, though he alludes to the 

 opinion of Prosper Alpinus, that Berberis cretica was the plant, but that he had 

 not obtained any of the juice from it. In the same work, at page 191, Sprengel, 

 in conformity with the opinion of Garcias ab Orto, gives Acacia Catechu as 

 the plant yielding the Kvxiov nioixov of Dioscorides. 



From the above references it is evident that the subject does not appear to 

 have been so satisfactorily settled as to render further investigation unneces- 

 sary ; but it is expedient, before proceeding in our inquiry, to refer to the au- 

 thors who have treated expressly on the subject. 



In Matthiolus's Commentaries on Dioscorides, (edition of 1698, by Caspar 

 Bauhin,) figures of three plants are given, which he thinks may be those 

 yielding Lycium. The first, called simply Lycium, appears to be Rhamnus 

 catharticus ; the second, called Lycium italicum, may be Rhamnus infectorius ; 

 and the third is Buxus sempervirens. 



Garcias ab Orto in Clusii Exot. lib. i. cap. 10. p. 163., after describing the 

 mode of making Catechu from the wood of Acacia Catechu, which, he says, is 

 called Hacchic, adds : " Nunc superest, fuerit ne Cate veteribus cognitum, 

 examineremus. Ego si mihi dicere licet quod sentio, omnin5 existimo nos- 

 trum hoc Cate nihil aliud esse, qu^m Grsecorum et Latinorum Lycium. Nam 

 ejus extrahendi ratio ab omnibus eadem describitur, iisdemque facultatibus 

 pollere censetur quibus nostrum Cate. Hue, adde, qu6d Indicum Lycium prae- 

 fertur cum a Dioscoride, Plinio, tum a Galeno. Vocatum autem est k Grtecis 

 Lycium, quoniam in Lycia primiim inter Grsecos illius usus repertus sit, opti- 

 mumque istic nasci eo tempore censerent. Praefertur etiam Indicum Avicennae 

 et Serapioni, qui id Hadhadh appellant, easdemque illi facultates tribuunt, quas 

 Grccci et Latini. Avicenna vult in ejus penuria Arecam et Santalum substitui." 

 To this Clusius adds, " Dioscoridi Lycium folia Buxi habet, et pusilla est arbor. 

 Itaque longe alia censenda est quam ea quae nostro auctori describitur." I do 

 not think that this would be considered an insuperable objection, as it is not to 

 be supposed that Dioscorides ever saw the plant affording the Indian Lycium ; 

 indeed, he expressly says, " it is related, that a plant with leaves like the olive, 

 &c., yields the Indian Lycium." From the foregoing extract it appears that 

 Garcias ab Orto considered Catechu to be Lycium, because both are similarly 



