Iwona Arabas, Alicja Pielińska, Joanna Popiołek

Leczenie bursztynem dawniej i dziś
2015-03-03

Treatment with amber in the old times and nowadays

At first, people valued amber mostly for its supposed magical power. Amber was believed to guard against tonsillitis and sore throat. It was also worn as protection against madness and urinary disorders. Greek physicians as well as Islamic scholars believed in the medical efficacy of amber when mixed with water, milk, beer or wine. In 1546 Georgius Agricola subjected amber to dry distillation. Amber oil and succinic acid were described in the Pharmacopoeia Regni Poloniae. In his 1833 monograph entitled „On Amber”, physician Jan Karol Jerzysław Freyer mentioned “amber tincture, ethereal amber tincture, amber oil, artificial musk and succinic acid”, describing their utility and even dosage. In the beginning of XX century medical equipment and small laboratory instruments were often made of amber.

Keywords: amber, treatment.

© Farm Pol, 2013, 69(1): 32-36