The P may stand for P_ro_, and not for P_ost_; but I am not aware of any instance of the former preposition (_Pro_) occurring in these inscriptions, while several examples of this use of the latter preposition (_Post_) are known. An instance of this use of the preposition _Post_ will be found in the sequel, in Stamp No. VI. SECTION V. STAMP NO. IV.—FOUND AT COLCHESTER. The first Roman medicine-stamp discovered in Great Britain was described about a hundred and thirty years ago by Mr. Chishull in the learned “Dissertatio De Nummo ϹΚωΠΙ,” which he addressed to Haym, and which this last-mentioned author has published in the preface to his second volume of the _Tesoro Brittanico_. The stamp had been found some years previously at Colchester, a well-known and extensive Roman colonial station. Mr. Chishull believed it to have belonged to some old Roman Iatraliptes, or curer by ointments.[467] The following is a copy of the inscription on this Colchester stamp, as given by Chishull:— 1. QIULMURRANIMELI NUMADCLARITATEM. 2. QIULMURRANISTAGIU MOPOBALSAMATADCAP. And Mr. Chishull interpreted these inscriptions thus:—“Quinti Julii Murranii Melinum, sive ex malis cotoneis oleum, ad claritatem oculorum faciens. Iterumque, Quinti Julii Murranii stagium opobalsamatum, sive myrrhæ oleum opobalsamo permixtum, ad cap. _i.e._, ad caput medicandum utile.” In this interpretation, Mr. Chishull seems to have fallen into more than one important error, as we shall endeavour to show by considering the two inscriptions in detail. 1. Q. JULII MURRANI MELINUM AD CLARITATEM.—_The Melinum of Q. (Quintus?) Julius Murranus, for clearness of vision._ Two or three varieties of the collyrium _Melinum_ are given by Galen.[468] Thus, in his list of collyria he gives formulæ for the _Melinum_ of Lucius; for the _Melinum atarachum_ (_i.e._ against the taraxis); and for a _Melinum delicatum_, fitted for those who could not bear the irritation of any powerful medicament. Different opinions have been expressed in relation to the origin and signification of the term _Melinum_. Walch,[469] like Chishull, derives the term from “malum” (μῆλον), an apple, supposing it to be the principal ingredient in the collyrium. And certainly Pliny and Paulus Ægineta speak of an oil termed _melinum_,[470] being made from the quince (Malum Cydoneum); and the flower of the plant is described by Pliny as useful in inflammation of the eyes. But no “malum” enters into the composition of any of the three _Melina_ collyria, which I have referred to in Galen.