Exhibits of amber in the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy, Lithuanian university of health sciences

Abstract

Among the 20,000 exhibits in the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy of Lithuania there is information concerning the use of amber in medicine and some exhibits of medicinal amber preparations including raw amber, amber cuttings, amber oil, and rectified amber oil made in Lithuanian and German pharmaceutical laboratories. There is also a unique exhibit - the apparatus for blood transfusion made of pressed amber. According to sources in the museum archives, amber has been used in Lithuanian folk medicine since ancient times in order to treat thyroid disease, ear ache and bodily weakness. Amber preparations included fumigants, amulets, tinctures and a range of other preparations. The aim of this article is to describe the amber exhibits in the Museum and to review their uses in the medicinal literature of different historical periods.