Traditional knowledge and practice of the Triassic variegated clay from Silesia (Krasiejów), Poland, in human medicine.

BACKGROUND: Krasiejów clay (in German: Krascheow) became famous following the discovery of numerous fossilised bones of Upper Triassic amphibians and reptiles, which have been extracted from clay deposits since the 1980s. These organic remnants remained in Krasiejów clay due to the large amount of slime deposits and the optimal concentration of basal mineral salts. The main aims of the paper are to determine the historical evolution of the use of clay in Silesia for therapeutic purposes and to provide a summary of the historical uses of Krasiejów clay as a medical treatment, based on the knowledge of the local population. METHODS: The mode of utilisation of Triassic variegated claystone treatment from Krasiejów was surveyed based on oral communication with local people. This information was collected over the last 35 years (1982-2017) by interviewing those who used clay as a traditional remedy, especially the eldest residents. Each resident was interviewed several times regarding the healing properties of Krasiejów clay, including the causes and symptoms of the ailments treated, mode of clay preparation, application methods, and dosage through semistructured interviews. RESULTS: Clay from Krasiejów was used in medicine after proper preparation. The clay underwent a complicated preparation process before the use in wraps, compresses, poultices, and baths as a skin peeling agent and even as a potion to be drunk. All recorded applications, diseases, and ailments to which it were applied are described here in detail, divided into treatments with warm, and cold clay. CONCLUSIONS: Krasiejów variegated claystone had different benefits depending on the form in which it was used; different diseases were treated with warm and cold clay. According to informants, many of these diseases have been successfully treated, in particular eczema of various origins, purulent ulcers on the skin, and following internal use, digestive ailments. According to informants, in cases where the disease could not be cured, for instance, psoriasis, a significant improvement in the condition of the skin was visible in a short period of time. Clay from Krasiejów should be subjected to more detailed physicochemical analyses to determine its exact chemical composition and healing properties.

Historical ethnopharmacology of the herbalists from Krummhübel in the Sudety Mountains (seventeenth to nineteenth century), Silesia.

BACKGROUND: Krummhübel (after 1945, Karpacz) in the Sudety Mountains (now SW Poland) was called "the village of pharmacists". At the end of the seventeenth century, there were 57 households, of which about 40 were inhabited by herbalists. Krummhübel herbalists were the first in the Sudety region who applied medicinal mixtures for the treatment of various diseases (using, among others, plants, oils, minerals and even viper venom) in contrast to previous herbalists who only indicated the use of individual plant species for specific diseases. Riesengebirge (in Polish Karkonosze) potions were sold in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia, and some of them could even be purchased in Scandinavia and England. The purpose of this paper is an ethnopharmacological analysis of historical texts of herbalists from Krummhübel. Based on their recipes, we analysed the use reports of drugs. Recently, research on ethnobotany and ethnopharmacological analyses of historical materials or egodocuments related to formulations used in folk medicine have become an important source of acquiring knowledge about new medicines. METHODS: Based on 46 recipes of Krummhübel herbalists re-written by Reitzig (1943), we analysed the use reports of drugs which included plant taxa and other constituents such as animal formulations, fungi, inorganic and organic substances and minerals as well as tinctures (with alcohol/spirit) and elixirs (without alcohol/spirit). For each usage mentioned in the text, we recorded (i) the putative botanical identity of the taxon; (ii) the plant family or origin of other than the plant constituent; (iii) the reported plant part; (iv) the number of the recipe; (v) the name of the recipe; (vi) the vernacular name of ingredient; (vii) the described symptom, ailment or specific use; (viii) our modern (viz. biomedical) interpretation of the described symptom or ailment; (ix) the mode of administration; and (x) the category of use under which we filed the specific use. We also cross-checked the medicinal plants of Krummhübel herbalists with the species described in old manuscripts and regional surveys and compared their use with contemporary plant use. RESULTS: The paper introduces the generated database comprising 348 use reports of 46 drugs based on 70 plant taxa and other constituents. Besides, we address patterns such as the frequent recommendation of Fabaceae herbs for respiratory system issue and gynaecology and Asteraceae for respiratory system and cardiovascular problems. Gastrointestinal use reports are based on Asphodelaceae, Burseraceae and Rosaceae species. CONCLUSIONS: Remedies that lost importance over time as well as drugs used for diseases now controlled by conventional medicine may be interesting starting points for research on herbal medicine and drug discovery. It seems to be important to attempt to reproduce therapeutic mixtures from the preserved recipes of Krummhübel herbalists, which offers an opportunity to learn more about the real effects of the former medicines and their therapeutic activity. The obtained data can also be used to search for new drugs.

The Jewish doctors involved in the development of health resorts in eastern Galicia at the late 19th and early 20th century (Central and Eastern Europe).

BACKGROUND: The involvement of Jewish doctors and scientists in the development of health resorts in eastern Galicia (part of the Austrian monarchy after 1772, and since 1918 as part of independent Poland, now part of Ukraine) is unquestionable; however, awareness of this fact is not that common. Meanwhile, also due to their work and activity, small borderland resorts became important medical, cultural and social centers of the region. The involvement of Jewish doctors in the development of Galician health resorts resulted from, among others, the rich and multi-layered tradition and integration of Judaism with the hygiene regulations and moral principles of the religion. The eastern Galicia health resort culture, architecture, style of how free time was spent, along with treatment and disease prevention, contributed to a European identity in the region. AIM: This article constitutes an attempt to restore the memory of places and people who created the phenomenon of Galician health resorts, an important social amenity and whose contribution to this process is completely forgotten or omitted. Most of the physicians mentioned in this article died in concentration camps or were murdered by the Nazis. METHODS: The article is based on the analysis of source texts drawn up in the German and Polish languages, including biographical archives, books, scientific articles, ego documents and press reports from the decades before WW I. RESULTS: On the European level, eastern Galicia resorts were new resorts and the development took place mainly around 1900. The Jewish community constitutively contributed to the medical, economic and cultural development of the resorts. Its role in creating a resort culture is related both to the activity of the Jewish intelligentsia and wealthy bourgeoisie, as well as local craftsmen, tavern owners or shopkeepers. It resulted from a wealthy and multi-layered Jewish tradition and the integration of Judaism with the orders of hygiene and moral principles of religion.