Collyrium

In <a href="/facts/Human_eye/a24ua4fy">eye</a> care, collyrium is an antique term for a lotion or liquid <a href="/facts/Eyewash/JKLGDweX">wash</a> used as a cleanser for the <a href="/facts/Human_eye/a24ua4fy">eyes</a>, particularly in <a href="/facts/Diseases_of_the_eye/RJ2Jw9kE">diseases of the eye</a>. The word collyrium comes from the <a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">Greek</a> κολλύριον, eye-salve. The same name was also given to <a href="/facts/Unguent/T4yeKtBs">unguents</a> used for the same purpose, such as unguent of <a href="/facts/Tutty/yAchUWjS">tutty</a> (Sanskrit tuttha meaning variously zinc oxide or blue vitriol). Lastly, the name was given, though improperly, to some liquid medicines used against <a href="/facts/Venereal_disease/IYL1rxdI">venereal diseases</a>.
Pre-modern <a href="/facts/Medicine/2fnp90Je">medicine</a> distinguished two kinds of collyriums: the one liquid, the other dry. Liquid collyriums were composed of <a href="/facts/Ophthalmology/024hdTWF">ophthalmic</a> powders, or waters, such as <a href="/facts/Rosewater/kPm7UJyF">rose-water</a>, <a href="/facts/Plantago/M2s9h4ju">plantain</a>-water, that of <a href="/facts/Fennel/TjXgYjLp">fennel</a>, <a href="/facts/Eyebright/JxnFMeH8">eyebright</a>, etc., in which was dissolved <a href="/facts/Tutty/yAchUWjS">tutty</a>, <a href="/facts/White_vitriol/uwhWDMCC">white vitriol</a>, or some other proper powder. Dry collyriums were <a href="/facts/Pastille/xm1uXfH1">pastilles</a> of <a href="/facts/Muhammad_ibn_Zakariya_al-Razi/PC32Rzes">Rhasis</a>, <a href="/facts/Sugar_candy/NJmKHh3u">sugar-candy</a>, <a href="/facts/Iris_(anatomy)/e774BXL8">iris</a>, <a href="/facts/Tutty/yAchUWjS">tutty</a> prepared and blown into the eye with a little pipe.
The 2nd century Mishnah mentions <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Shabbat.8?lang=bi">collyrium</a>. The <a href="/facts/Sunan_Abu_Dawood/YSkdtsFB">Sunan Abu Dawood</a> reports, "Prophet <a href="/facts/Muhammad/5VcA7XrT">Muhammad</a> said: 'Among the best types of collyrium is <a href="/facts/Antimony/YsA7lVgT">antimony</a> (ithmid) for it clears the vision and makes the hair sprout.'" <a href="/facts/Maimonides/fGyQDPC8">Maimonides</a> (12th century Egypt) mentions the use of this eye salve.

Look up collyrium in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<ul><li> This article incorporates text from a publication now in the <a href="/facts/Public_domain/YWKMDKw4">public domain</a>: <a href="/facts/Ephraim_Chambers/Jw3pGdyb">Chambers, Ephraim</a>, ed. (1728). <a href="/facts/Cyclop%C3%A6dia,_or_an_Universal_Dictionary_of_Arts_and_Sciences/RUFoBtqc">Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences</a> (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)</li>
<li>"Collyrium". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.</li></ul>

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Collyrium