1904] 'D.'H.oO'per—'Rusoi: an ancient Eastern Medicine, 177 



Rusot : an ancient Eastern Medicine, — By David Hooper. 

 [ Read 3rd August, 1904.] 



Among some collections of Grrecian antiquities exhibited in the 

 British Museum and at Paris are certain small vases bearing the legend 

 LYKION. That in the British Museum is a small vase made of lead, 

 of a sub-ovoid form, about one inch in height, and about three-quarters 

 of an inch in breadth. The inscription is in Greek letters and may be 

 rendered the Lycium of Museus. In Paris there is a similar small vessel 

 made of pottery-ware bearing on its side in Grreek an inscription which 

 may be translated Lycium of Heracleus. In 1814 M. Millin of Paris, 

 published an account of a similar vase found at Tarentum, formerly a 

 well-known Greek settlement. This vase is slightly larger than either of 

 the others; it is made of clay, and has an inscription, Lycium of Jason, 

 Two years later M. Tochon of Paris, gave an account of another vase 

 not improbably from Tarentum, of the same material and size, and 

 presenting the same inscription. 



Figures of these four vessels were published by Dr. J, Y. Simp- 

 son, of Edinburgh, in an interesting paper entitled " Notes on some 

 Ancient Greek Vases containing Lycium " [See Monthly Journal of Medi- 

 cal Society (Edin.). XVI. (1853), 24; also Pharm. Journ, XIII. 

 (1854), 413.] 



These vases are intended to contain one and tlie same substance as 

 shown by the indelible labels which they bear. The medicinal sub- 

 stance called Lycium or Lykion was a drug, which enjoyed much 

 favour among the ancients and was supposed to be possessed of 

 great virtue as a collyrium. The early Greek and Arabian writers des- 

 cribe its properties. Dioscorides recommends it as an astringent for 

 the cure of various complaints affecting the eye. Galen, Oribasius, 

 Paulus uEgineta, Scribonius Largus and Avicenna dilate upon the 

 medicinal uses of Lycium as of value in many diseases besides ophthal- 

 mia. 



Two varieties of Lycium were in use among the Greeks, one 

 obtained from Lycia and Oappadocia, and the other from India. In the 

 opinion of Paulus Aegineta (Adam's Translation, vol. III., p. 234) an4 

 J. II. 24 



