believed that it was a vegetable juice, and from this it derives the Latin name of succinum or sap.
People used it as an amulet, and it was administered as a drug.
Even
in our own day many naturalists have considered amber a mineral ; but
Sweigger and Brewster finally proved that it is a resinous gum ; that
is, the fossil juice of a now extinct tree of the primeval period,
called the amber tree.
This
substance is found in round nodules, which vary from the size of a
grape stone to that of a man's head, and sometimes several of them are
grouped together.
When
broken, one surface appears concave and the other convex ; it is
translucent and transparent ; has single refraction, and resinous
light. It is found in different gradations of colour, from greenish
yellow to reddish yellow. It oxidizes in the course of years, and
darkens into red, but its dust is always of a whitish yellow. It
scratches chalk, but is scratched by carbonate of lime.
This
substance, under the action of the blow-pipe, burns with a yellow or
bluish-green flame, emitting a dense smoke having a pleasing smell, and
leaving a carbonized residue. Warm oil bends and makes it pliable, but
it does not melt so soon as other gums, as it requires the heat of 517°
Fahrenheit. By distillation it produces an acid, which from its name is
called acido guccinico, and an essential oil named oil of amber ; whilst in the retort there remains a brown deposit, known
