Medicine and pharmacy have not always been what they are today. The history of pharmacy and medicine is not only the history of the progress of science, marked by subsequent great discoveries but also a fascinating story about therapies and medications from the past that nobody would dare to try today...

Sneakers are usually an attribute of children’s games. The ones in the collection of Małopolska’s Virtual Museums are big (size 44!). Judging from the state of preservation, they were used by Karol Wojtyła many times when hiking.
His love for sport was inculcated in Karol by his brother, 14 years older Edmund, who played in a football team. Very often Karol accompanied him; however, due to the age difference he could not run on a football pitch.

Among the medicinal plants preserved on the stained glass, which can be seen in the Museum of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, there is an aconite specimen with a blue inflorescence, which, according to Greek mythology, grew out of the saliva of Cerberus guarding the gates of Hades. What does another exhibit in the collection of WMM  – Herbarium by Szymon Syreniusz – say about it?

Tibetan medicine is characterised by a holistic approach. It uses the practice of Buddhist tantras, based on the “Four Medical Tantras”. This is predicated on the belief that everything that exists is a manifestation of one being. Imbalance of one element entails the disease of the entire organism.

Pigulnica to urządzenie służące do wytwarzania pigułek (pilulae, od łac. pila — piłeczka, kulka), jednej z najstarszych form leków. Prezentowany eksponat konstrukcji Eugena Dietericha (II poł. XIX wieku) składa się z drewnianej podstawy oraz z ruchomej deseczki. Na obu elementach...

For centuries, precious stones have been desired not only because of their beauty. It was believed that, if properly selected, they could cure a variety of ailments and diseases. Some of them became direct components of healing potions. Powdered pearls, which were believed to be created from God’s tears...

The mortar is decorated with a flat relief cartouche, on which there is a house mark and the monogram JR, belonging to Jan Radziwin, a doctor of medicine and philosophy, the owner of the pharmacy on the Warsaw Old Town Square. On the cartouche frieze, there is an inscription in capital letters: ANNO DOMINI...

In pharmacies, mortars were used to crush a variety of substances and to make certain forms of prescription drugs, such as: emulsions, ointments and powders. The presented mortar comes from 1562. It has a conical shape and is made of bronze. Its decoration is a plant motif – acanthus leaves – with the year 1562 placed among them. An additional ornament...

The portable first aid kit has been made of wood varnished in black. Inside the chest for the first aid kit, there are shelves, dividers and drawers. The dividers are painted in navy blue, the edges – in red. The drawers have fronts, panels and metal handles varnished in black. Each of them is additionally protected by a sliding lid.

The presented object is a wooden paddle, joined in the middle (screwed-on, detachable), which served Karol Wojtyła  during canoeing trips with young people. The ends of the paddle are covered with metal; it is coloured brown and made of natural wood.