Pomander
Pomme d’ambre, “apple of amber”
- Known today as
- A ball of fragrant paste, of ambergris, musk, civet, and spices, carried in a pierced case.
- Kind
- Compound
- Constituents
- ambrein, muscone, civetone, labdanum, benzoin, storax, cloves and cinnamon
Revised October 3, 2026: Checked against its sources, each read in full, in part, or in its abstract. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.
Pomander: what was it used for?
Carried and sniffed against foul air and the plague.
Pomander: what does modern science say?
A perfume; it was carried against infection in times of pestilence, or merely to mask bad smells.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- ambrein, muscone, civetonethe odorous principles of ambergris, musk, and civet
- labdanum, benzoin, storaxthe resins
- cloves and cinnamon
- Mechanism
- A ball of scents in a pierced case, held to the nose against the foul air that was believed to carry plague: it masked bad smells. Cipolla’s study of the Florentine health office shows the medicine of the time, intent on humours and pungent exhalations, coming tantalizingly close to the real sources of infection in dirt, rubbish, and effluent.
- Toxic dose
- Not taken: it was hung by a lace and smelled.
- Standing
- An ornament, in cases of gold or silver; in the eighteenth century it was largely replaced by the vinaigrette box.
- Cipolla, C. M. (1992). Miasmas and Disease: Public Health and the Environment in the Pre-Industrial Age. Yale University Press. Abstract read · the text read
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
What Medicine Makes of It
- The PlagueThe pomander and the vinegar, the flea and the bacillus.
Pomander: what lore surrounds it?
Its name is its recipe: an apple of ambergris. See Ambergris and Musk.
In Their Own Words
The 1911 Britannica explains the pomander (from pomme d'ambre) as a ball of perfumes such as ambergris, musk and civet, carried in a case against infection in times of pestilence or simply against bad smells.
“POMANDER (from Fr. pomme d’ambre, i.e. apple of amber), a ball made of perfumes, such as ambergris (whence the name), musk, civet, &c., and formerly worn or carried in a case, also known by the same name, as a protection against infection in times of pestilence or merely as a useful article to modify bad smells.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Pomander, “Pomander”, vol. 22. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. The text, read in full
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
The Recipe
The recipe: 4 ingredients, each linked to its entry. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.
Sources
- Partridge, J. (1573). The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits, & Hidden Secrets. London. Text Creation Partnership edition A68556, cap. xliij, “To make a Pomeamber.” Read in part · the text read
- Wikipedia contributors. “Pomander.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomander (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
- Wikipedia contributors. “Ambergris.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
- Wikipedia contributors. “Muscone.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscone (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
- Wikipedia contributors. “Civetone.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civetone (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026, and October 3, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Every source read, in full, in part, or in its abstract, and every sentence checked against what was read (October 3, 2026)
- Sources
- 6 cited: 4 read in full, 1 read in part, 1 abstract read. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 3, 2026
- Chicago
“Pomander.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 3, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/pomander.
- MLA
“Pomander.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 3 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/pomander. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Pomander. (2026, October 3). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/pomander
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See Also
Nearby in the alphabet
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) · Polypody of mercurialis, syrup of · The precious stones (emerald, jacinth, garnet, and topaz, as they were used in medicine) · Pokeweed (the American pokeweed) · The prologue of John · Poison fire coral (finger-like fungus of Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia) · Puffball (White balls that ripen into a cloud of brown spores) · Plantain (Plantago major)
Historical description, not medical advice.