STAMP NO. V.—FOUND AT BATH.
This stamp was found, in the year 1731, at Bath, a well-known Roman
station. It was discovered in a cellar in the Abbey-yard. Shortly
afterwards the stamp was exhibited to the Antiquarian Society of London
by Mr. Cutler. Mr. Mitchell of Bristol, who possessed the stone about
the middle of the last century, submitted it also for examination to the
Royal Society of London. I have, through Mr. Norman of Bath, and other
friends in England, attempted to trace out the present proprietor of
the stamp, with a view of ascertaining more correctly the exact nature
of the inscriptions upon it; but these efforts have been quite
unsuccessful.
Mr. Lethieullier presented to the London Antiquarian Society plaster
casts of the inscriptions on the stamp; and three of these plaster
impressions of it are still preserved in the London Antiquarian Museum.
These plaster casts, however, are very imperfect; and the lettering upon
them is now unfortunately defective at some of those very points that
are otherwise the most difficult to decypher.
Manuscript notices of this Bath medicine-stamp exist in the Minute-books
of the Antiquarian Society for 1744 (vol. iv. p. 210), and for 1757
(vol. viii. p. 29); the last is with an impression taken with ink from
the inscriptions. For copies of these I am deeply indebted to the polite
kindness of Mr. Akerman, the distinguished secretary to the Society. The
outline in Pl. II., No. V., presents a copy of a rude drawing of the
Bath stamp given in the Minute-book of the Antiquarian Society for April
27, 1732.[481] Mr. Akerman has also obligingly furnished me with this
sketch, which is interesting as giving us the form of the stone. On the
exposed sides of this sketch there is given retrograde, as on the
original stone, one of the inscriptions. This inscription the engraver
has entered in the plate, as corrected from the pertaining plaster-cast
in the museum; and below it, in the plate, is a reversed impression of
this inscription.
[Illustration: Nº V
Nº VI
Nº VII
ROMAN MEDICINE STAMPS.]
In 1788 Mr. Gough published, in the _Archæologia_, “Observations on
certain Stamps or Seals used anciently by the Oculists.”[482] In
this communication he has given, amongst others, copies of the
inscriptions on the medicine-stamp found at Bath; but without making any
attempt whatever to read and decypher these inscriptions. He appears to
have seen the stone itself, as he describes it as “square, of a greenish
cast, and perforated.” He presents the following as the legends or
inscriptions on the four sides of the stamp:[483]—
1. T. IVNIANI THALASER
AD CLARITATEM
2. T. IVNIANI CRSOMAEL
IN M AD CLARITATEM
3. T. IVNIANI D[symbols]VM
AD VETERES CICATRICES
4. T. IVNIANI HOFSVMAρDV
EC VMODELICTA AMEDICIS
The two first of these inscriptions are given with sufficient
distinctness and accuracy; and they do not offer any great difficulties
in the way of explanation. But the two last have been copied so
imperfectly,—and, perhaps, so inaccurately,—by Mr. Gough, as to
surround their meaning with no small degree of uncertainty and doubt.
In all of the four inscriptions, the name of the proprietor or oculist,
T(_itus_?) JUNIANUS, is perfectly distinct. The first side reads as
follows:—
1. T. JUNIANI THALASSER AD CLARITATEM. _T. Junianus’ Thalasser (or
Marine Collyrium) for clearness of vision._
The collyrium _Thalasseros_ (θαλασσερος) is mentioned by several of the
old Greek and Roman authors, who have discussed the subject of diseases
of the eye and collyria, as by Galen,[484] Myrepsus,[485] Aetius,[486]
Alexander Trallianus,[487] and Paulus Ægineta.[488]
The name itself—_Thalasseros_—is evidently derived from θαλασση, the
sea. Fuchs, the translator of Myrepsus, avows that he can form no
conjecture as to why the collyrium was termed Thalasseros (quam autem ob
causam nescio). In Cornarius’ translation of Aetius, it is entered as
“Thalasserum, _hoc est marinum_.” And in all probability it originally
received its high-sounding and attractive appellation from the marine
colour of the preparation, the hue of the collyrium being, as we have
already seen, sometimes the cause and source of its distinctive
appellation, as in the collyria termed _Melinum_, _Cygnus_, _Cirrhon_,
etc. It has been conjectured that the name was imposed upon it in
consequence of one or other of its ingredients being of marine origin.
But in none of the formulæ given for it by the authors already named,
does any sea ingredient enter into its composition.[489]
The object of the _Thalasseros_ in our inscription was to produce
clearness of vision (_ad claritatem_). It was used in vision impaired
from cataract (_suffusio_) and other causes. Galen describes the
_Thalasseros_ of Hermophilus as “accomodatum ad suffusiones et ad omnem
hebetudinem visus; facit et ad incipientem suffusionem” (vol. xii. p.
781). Myrepsus assigns to it the powers of “lachrymas retinens, ad
inchoantes suffusiones et nyctalopas, et ad recentem pupillæ
dilatationem” (sect. xxiv. cap. 51). It is adapted, according to
Trallianus, “ad hebetudinem, et incipientes suffusiones; et callos
exterit” (lib. ii. cap. v. p. 175).
2. T. JUNIANI C_e_R_us_SOMAELINUM AD CLARITATEM.—_T. Junianus’ Leaden_
(?) _Melinum (or Golden Yellow Collyrium) for clearness of vision._
I have already had occasion to speak of the signification and qualities
of the collyrium named _Melinum_. In the Colchester stamp the _Melinum_
is invested with the same supposed properties as the _Crsomelinum_ in
the above legend on the Bath seal,—namely, “ad claritatem.”[490]
The prefix CRSO, in _Crsomelinum_, admits of more than one
interpretation. Galen gives four different formulæ for “collyria
_Melina_.” Three of these contain, as one of their ingredients, the
_Cerussa_, or carbonate of lead; and the prefix CRSO may possibly stand
as a contraction for _Cerussa_, implying the presence of this medicine
in the collyrium. And, in relation to this view, it is to be recollected
that this preparation of lead was, in these ancient times, held in some
esteem as a local application in eye-diseases. Galen recommends it as an
anodyne in pains of the eyes, and as a general astringent and sedative
application.[491]
Another, and perhaps more probable meaning, has been suggested to me by
my friend M. Sichel. He supposes the CRSO to be a contraction for CHRSO,
_golden_ (from χρυσος, gold), the prefix marking the golden
colour of this _melinum_, or yellow collyrium. In this way we would have
Junianus retailing his “Golden Yellow Collyrium” to the colonists and
natives of Bath some sixteen centuries ago. And we all know that “Golden
Ointment” for the eyes is an application not by any means unknown to the
medical practitioners and pharmacopolists of England in the nineteenth
century.
3. T. JUNIANI DIEXUM AD VET_e_RES CICATRICES.
In the above line I give the reading of the third side of the Bath
medicine-seal, such as it stands copied into the manuscript minute-books
of the Antiquarian Society for 17th November 1757. By turning back to
the inscription, as cited in a previous page from Gough, it will be seen
that the three medial letters IEX are in a rude Brittano-Roman
character, which allows us only to guess at their true signification.
Unfortunately, the plaster cast of this side of the stamp does not
happen to be preserved with the others, so as to enable us to ascertain
the probability of either reading; and it is more than doubtful whether
the inscription thus given by these opposed authorities is correctly
copied, either by Gough, or in the Society’s minute-book. And I believe
I state the general experience of all who have worked at the
deciphering of Roman and other inscriptions, in observing that the
perplexities connected with the reading of them have often been
produced, much more by grave errors in the published copies of the
inscriptions, than by actual difficulties in the interpretation of the
original, after a true copy has been once obtained.
In the present instance, by reversing the usual mode of procedure in
such investigations, we may perhaps arrive at the probable truth. In
other words, if we consider the disease prescribed for, we may possibly
arrive at a knowledge of the drug prescribed. Now the affection on this
side of the Bath stamp is _old cicatrices_ (VETERES CICATRICES). This
disease, or rather result of disease, is mentioned on various Roman
medicine-stamps discovered on the continent of Europe, as on examples
found at Verona, Lillebonne, Ingweiler, and Saint Cheron,[492] and in
one which I shall notice in the sequel, lately detected in Ireland. In
all the instances which I have just named, the collyrium indicated on
the inscriptions as the remedy (VETERES CICATRICES), is the collyrium
termed DIAMYSOS or DIAMYSUM, which contained, as its principal
ingredient, the metallic preparation known under the name of Μισυ, or
Mysy, among the ancient medical authors; and Marcellus Empiricus gives a
formula for the formation of a collyrium DIAMYSOS from it. Looking to
these facts, in relation to other analogous Roman medicine-seals, it
seems not an improbable conjecture that the word on this third side of
the Bath stamp is the same, perhaps more or less mis-spelt or
contracted; and consequently, that the whole inscription is T. JUNIANI
DIAMYSUM AD VETERES CICATRICES. The re-discovery of the stamp itself can
alone settle this and other difficulties connected with it.
If we judged of the nature of the inscription by the characters of the
letters, as given by Gough, the disputed word might perhaps be more
correctly read DRYCUM or DRYXUM. And possibly, in this way, it may
signify an astringent and detergent collyrium, made from the bark,
acorn, or galls of the DRYS (δρυς) or oak—a tree that held a
place in the materia medica of Hippocrates, Galen, and the other
ancients, and which still maintains its place in our own modern
Pharmacopœias. Dioscorides, and the other old pharmaceutical
authorities, describe the _Drys_ or Quercus as possessing desiccant,
astringent, and other properties; and they attribute especially these
powers to the gall excrescences that so often grow upon it, and which
they incorrectly deemed the fruit of this tree. According to Oribasius,
the gall of the oak—“siccat, repercutit, contrahit, constringit, et
particulas infirmas roborat.”[493]
Further, in favour of the present supposition, that the collyrium of the
inscription may possibly be named from the DRYS, I may take the present
opportunity of mentioning that the ancient Roman oculists seem to have
pursued, in regard to old cicatrices of the eye, a treatment which is
not followed by their successors in modern times. “All cicatrices on the
transparent part of the eye,” says Aetius, “appear white (omnes
cicatrices in nigro oculi _albæ_ apparent”);[494] and consequently
give, by their presence, a disagreeable and disfiguring effect to the
eye.[495] Some of the Roman oculists seem to have used various collyria,
for the purpose of dyeing or changing the colour of these white specks
or pearly cicatrices, and of thus imparting to them some kind of tint
that rendered the appearance of the eye, and the distinction between the
transparent cornea and its white opacities, less marked and striking.
For this purpose the gall-nuts of the oak or DRYS appear to have been
greatly used. Aetius does not approve of the practice of tinting
cicatrices; but, in a chapter bearing the heading of “Albuginum
Tincturæ,” he describes half-a-dozen applications and collyria that
might be employed for the purpose of staining and correcting the colour
of old cicatrices of the eyes, lest, he adds, his readers should be
ignorant of the means which might effect this (ut ne ignorentur ea quæ
hoc facere possunt). In three or four of these collyria the gall-nut
forms a leading ingredient,[496] and it seems to have been generally
used previously to, or in combination with, blue vitriol (_atramentum
sutorium_). Myrepsus gives a “collyrium tingens crassas albugines et
cicatrices,” containing galls with chalcanthus (or copperas), roasted
lead, etc.; and a second formed of burnt and washed lead, etc., combined
with unripe galls.[497] Paulus Ægineta mentions two dyes for
cicatrices, both of them containing galls along with chalcanthus.[498]
Alexander Trallianus gives a collyrium for staining cicatrices, which he
pronounces “valde generosum.” It consists principally of chalcanthus and
galls.[499]
Lastly, let me offer one more conjecture. If the debateable word in this
legend be correctly copied as DIEXUM into the Antiquarian Society
minute-book, it may probably signify the collyrium DIOXUS or DIOXUM
given by Marcellus, and which he recommends for the removal of
granulations of the eyelids. This collyrium was composed of cadmia,
burnt copper, hæmatites, myrrh, and gum.[500]
4. T. JUNIANI HOBSUM AD ρUECUMO DELICTA A MEDICIS.
This fourth legend on the Bath stone offers the most puzzling of all the
inscriptions hitherto found upon the Roman medicine-stamps discovered in
Great Britain. As Mr. Gough gives it, the last words of the inscription
DELICTA, or more probably DELECTA[501] A⃨ MEDICIS (esteemed by
physicians), are alone intelligible. The plaster cast of this side of
the seal, contained in the Museum of the Antiquarian Society of London,
contains an extremely imperfect copy of the second line, and not an over
perfect one of the first; but we see enough in it to be quite aware of
the great carelessness with which Mr. Gough had originally copied the
whole inscription. The second last letter in the line is not the Greek
ρ, as Gough prints it, but the Latin Q; and the name of the collyrium is
not HOBSUM, as he gives it, but apparently PHOEBUM. At all events there
is a P, which he has omitted, before the H; and the two medial letters,
which he read F S, are seemingly E B. Such is the conclusion to which a
careful examination of the lettering of the cast itself forces me; and
what is much more important,—because affording far stronger evidence
than mine,—Mr. Akerman reads this inscription in the same way. I may
add, that (as I am informed by the same gentleman) the word is always
copied and written as PHOEBUM, in the several notices of the stamp
contained in the minute-books of the Antiquarian Society, and to which I
have already referred; and Gough’s Greek ρ is always given as the Roman
Q.
Still, with all these emendations, I confess myself quite at a loss to
decipher, satisfactorily, the inscription. The spelling of all the
inscriptions on this stamp is executed very carelessly,—as in
_crsomaelinum_ for _crysomelinum_; _thalaser_ for _thalasser_; and
possibly the term QUECVMO may be a mis-spelling by the engraver for
LEUCOMA. If so, the inscription would stand as
T JUNIANI PHOEBUM AD LU
ECOMA DELECTA A MEDICIS.
Or, as we may then translate it, “_The Phoebum of T. Junianus for
Leucoma, esteemed by physicians._”
I am not aware that any of the old authors have described a collyrium
under the name of PHOEBUM. But it looks like one of those specious
titles which the oculists were so fond of selecting and assuming; and we
find described in their works collyria with analogous semi-astronomical
and mythological appellations, such as _Sol_, _Aster_, _Lumen_, _Phos_,
_Uranium_, etc.[502]
I shall venture only one more remark, viz. the possibility of the term
being PHORBIUM and not PHOEBUM. “The PHORBIUM,” observes Galen,
“possesses attenuating, attractive, and discutient powers. They apply
its seeds, mixed with honey, to LEUCOMA; and it is believed to have the
power of extracting spicula of wood.”[503]