In
eye
An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system.
In higher organisms, the ey ...
care, collyrium is an antique term for a lotion or liquid
wash
Wash or the Wash may refer to:
Industry and sanitation
* WASH or WaSH, "water, sanitation and hygiene", three related public health issues
* Wash (distilling), the liquid produced by the fermentation step in the production of distilled beverages
...
used as a cleanser for the
eye
An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system.
In higher organisms, the ey ...
s, particularly in
diseases of the eye. The word ''collyrium'' comes from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, eye-salve. The same name was also given to
unguent
An unguent is a soothing preparation spread on wounds, burns, rashes, abrasions or other topical injuries (i.e. damage to the skin). It is similar to an ointment, though typically an unguent is oilier and less viscous. It is usually delivered as a ...
s used for the same purpose, such as unguent of
tutty
In alchemy, cadmia (Latin for cadmium) is an oxide of zinc (tutty; from ''tutiya'', via Persian, from Sanskrit तुत्थ ''tuttha'') which collects on the sides of furnaces where copper or brass was smelted, and zinc sublimed. The term is ...
(Sanskrit ''tuttha'' meaning variously
zinc oxide
Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...
or
blue vitriol
Copper(II) sulfate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' can range from 1 to 7. The pentahydrate (''n'' = 5), a bright blue crystal, is the most commonly encountered hydrate of copper(II) sulfate, whi ...
). Lastly, the name was given, though improperly, to some liquid medicines used against
venereal disease
A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...
s.
Pre-modern
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
distinguished two kinds of collyriums: the one liquid, the other dry. Liquid collyriums were composed of
ophthalmic powders, or waters, such as
rose-water,
plantain-water, that of
fennel
Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...
,
eyebright
''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 215 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are hemiparasitic on grasses and other pl ...
, etc., in which was dissolved
tutty
In alchemy, cadmia (Latin for cadmium) is an oxide of zinc (tutty; from ''tutiya'', via Persian, from Sanskrit तुत्थ ''tuttha'') which collects on the sides of furnaces where copper or brass was smelted, and zinc sublimed. The term is ...
,
white vitriol
Zinc sulfate is an inorganic compound with the formula ZnSO4. It forms hydrates ZnSO4·''n''H2O, where ''n'' can range from 0 to 7. All are colorless solids. The most common form includes water of crystallization as the heptahydrate, with the for ...
, or some other proper powder. Dry collyriums were
pastille
A pastille is a type of sweet or medicinal pill made of a thick liquid that has been solidified and is meant to be consumed by light chewing and allowing it to dissolve in the mouth. The term is also used to describe certain forms of incense.
A ...
s of
Rhasis,
sugar-candy,
iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...
,
tutty
In alchemy, cadmia (Latin for cadmium) is an oxide of zinc (tutty; from ''tutiya'', via Persian, from Sanskrit तुत्थ ''tuttha'') which collects on the sides of furnaces where copper or brass was smelted, and zinc sublimed. The term is ...
prepared and blown into the eye with a little pipe.
The 2nd century
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
mention
collyrium The
Sunan Abu Dawood
''Sunan Abi Dawud'' () is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani ().
Introduction
Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those (plural of ...
reports, "Prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
said: 'Among the best types of collyrium is
antimony
Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...
(''ithmid'') for it clears the vision and makes the hair sprout.'"
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
[Hilchot Shabbat 18:2] (12th century Egypt) mentions the use of this eye salve.
References
*
*"Collyrium". ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.
History of pharmacy
{{med-hist-stub