POMANDER (from Fr. pomme d'ambre, i.e.

See also:

• APPLE (a common Teut. word, A.S. aepl, aeppel, O.H.G. aphul, aphal, apfal, mod. Ger. Apfel)

apple of

See also:

• AMBER

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 . The globular cases which contained the " pomanders " were hung from a neck-chain or attached to the girdle, and were usually perforated and made of gold or silver . Sometimes they contained several partitions, in each of which was placed a different perfume . There is an early Spanish pomander set with emeralds, and a fine 16th-century one, dredged from the Thames, in the British Museum .