This is the second part of an article in two parts about amber, a remarkable substance with many qualities. Part one can be found here.
AMBER IN MEDICINE
In medicine, a mixture of honey and amber was used to treat a number of diseases in throat, ears and eyes. Roman ladies wore amber beads for thyroid. Ibn Sina used amber for many ailments and diseases, and so did Hippocrates. In China, a tranquiliser was made by mixing opium and amber extract. Beads of amber have been used to facilitate teething, especially in Germany. It has been widely used in Europe and the Middle East, against rheumatic and stomach ailments. In the Middle Ages it was used against jaundice, a disease associated with yellow (amber) colour, caused by accumulation of pigment from bile in the blood.
It has been used as a general bio-stimulant, to strengthen and balance the health, to purify body and spirit, and to convert negative energy to positive.
Chinese medicine makes a distinction between different colours of amber, and assigns to each of them specific medical effects - upon external use. For internal use, amber has been used for a large number of diseases; too many to bring up here.
Might amber have genuine medical properties, or is it purely superstition?
Internally: Yes of course it might have medical properties, and it certainly has effects on the biochemistry of the organism. Mainly by force of the major constituent (at least of Baltic amber), succinic acid, which is a potent substance.
Biochemically, succinic acid [1,2-ethane dicarboxylic acid, butanedioic acid, succinate, or German Bernsteinsäure] is part of the citric acid cycle [the Krebs cycle], an important part of our intermediate metabolism; and it is naturally occurring in wine and beer, a result of sugar fermentation. The bitter-acidic taste of such beverages is succinate.
Externally: This is harder to say. Amber is electrostatically active, and the surface contains the highest level of succinic acid - it might affect the local area which it is touching.
Pure chemical succinic acid is an irritant - inhaled, ingested, on skin, in eyes - but as many irritants, it is stimulating if not too concentrated.
AMBERGRIS
Ambergris (grey amber) is a substance produced by the sperm whale. For long, it was unknown what it was. Washed up on the beaches or floating on the water, it was confused with real amber. This substance was used by the old Egyptians, burned as incense - and by the old Chinese, who associated it with dragon's spittle. It has also been used as flavour in perfume, and for many medical purposes. It has a reputation of having an aphrodisiacal effect.
Actually, in historical records of the use of amber, it is not always possible to determine if they refer to genuine amber or ambergris. Widely, these two have been confused with each other. In French a clear distinction is made: ambre gris (grey amber) and ambre jaune (yellow amber). In English the term "ambergris" was adopted in the late 15th century.
Why does the whale produce this unique substance? Long unknown, the supposed explanation is that it serves as a counter-irritant, produced when hard-to-digest things, as bones from squids, irritate the stomach of the whale. Some of it is excreted via the faeces, but large pieces come as vomit.
Needless to say, genuine ambergris is expensive, not at least because the sperm whale is becoming rare. Synthetic replacements are used in the perfume industry.
AMBER - COLOUR
Amber, a yellow-orange hue, which got it name from the most common colour of Baltic amber, symbolises energy; and also Zoroastrianism, where it represents the spiritual energy of Ahura Mazda, manifested in fire.
The colour of amber also occurs in some translations of the Bible. In English, King James Bible mentions it three times in Ezekiel.
1:4/ "And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire."
1:27/ "And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about."
8:2/ "Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber."
Other translations use "electrum", "glowing metal", "glowing brass", "colour of copper", etc.
The word in original is "chashmal", whose meaning here is not at all clear. In modern Hebrew it means electricity, so perhaps chashmal is amber after all [compare how the word "electricity" is derived from Greek electron or electrum, meaning amber.] Yet this old "chashmal" of Ezekiel is much speculated upon. Both Talmudists and Cabbalists have much to say about it. We leave it at that.
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All my articles about history can be found here, and about natural science here.
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My 5 most recent articles:
Amber, Organic Gem with a Long History & Many Properties, Part I
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LITERATURE
The literature about amber is comprehensive. Much of it is very scientific. I only mention material here which I think an interested layman can understand, even if it might sometimes require a little more than average interest.
Anderson, K. B. and J. C. Crelling, eds; Amber, Resinite, and Fossil Resins (American Chemical Society, 1995).
Andrée, Karl; Der Bernstein. Der Bernsteinland und sein Leben (Stuttgart, 1951).
Cano, Raul J. and Monica K. Borucki; Revival and Identification of Bacterial Spores in 25- to 40-Million-Year-Old Dominican Amber, p 1060-1064 v 268, Science, 19 May 1995.
Grimaldi, D.; Amber: Window to the Past (Abrams, 1996).
Krzeminska, Ewa; W bursztynowej pulapce (Krakow, 1993).
Poinar, George and Roberta; The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World. (Princeton University Press, 1999).
Poinar, George and Roberta; The Quest For Life In Amber (Helix Books, 1994)
Poinar, George, and Raif Milki; The Oldest Insect Ecosystem in Fossilized Resin (Oregon State University Press, 2001).
William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.; A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (John Murray, London, 1875), page 450 on "Electrum", as amber or metal in Greek and Latin texts.
William F. Perrin, Bernd Würsig, J. G. M. Thewissen; Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals.
Rice, Patty C.; Amber: Golden Gem of the Ages. 4th Ed. (AuthorHouse, 1996)
Weitschat, Wolfgang, Wichard, Wilfried; Atlas der Pflanzen und Tiere im Baltischen Bernstein (Pfeil, 1998)
So amber was medicinal. That's really new to me. It was never discussed in my old pharmacology history but that's cool. I've only ever known amber as a decorative material or a preserving agent