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Medicinal tablets are nothing new. Doctors have been dispensing1 pills for thousands of years. And now archaeologists have turned up some of those ancient medicines, which were preserved in a shipwreck2 for close to two millennia4
The 2nd-century Pozzino wreck3 was discovered in 1974 off the coast of Italy. It's cargo5 included medical equipment like a cupping vessel6, iron probe, and tin boxes of supplies. And in one of those boxes, researchers recovered five gray tablets. Now, they've analyzed7 the antique medication. The work is in the Proceedings8 of the National Academy of Sciences.
The pills primarily contained zinc9 compounds, probably the active medicinal ingredients. But researchers also detected starch10, pollen11, charcoal12, fats and linen13 fibers14. Those fibers helped the tablets hold their round, loaf-like shape, which may be the key to the medication's use -- the Greek word meaning small round loaves also inspired the word collyrium, or eye-wash. The pills were probably either dissolved in liquid or ground into a powder and used to treat eye conditions. Who knows, maybe Hippocrates used them on his pupils.
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1 dispensing | |
v.分配( dispense的现在分词 );施与;配(药) | |
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2 shipwreck | |
n.船舶失事,海难 | |
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3 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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4 millennia | |
n.一千年,千禧年 | |
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5 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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6 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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7 analyzed | |
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析 | |
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8 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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9 zinc | |
n.锌;vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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10 starch | |
n.淀粉;vt.给...上浆 | |
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11 pollen | |
n.[植]花粉 | |
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12 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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13 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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14 fibers | |
光纤( fiber的名词复数 ); (织物的)质地; 纤维,纤维物质 | |
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