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Amber.
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stance
have lately come to Europe from Japan. In New-Zealand it is carved
into.axe- and spear-heads, which are ground to a very fine edge. The
variety called soft jade, which is frequently sold for the real, is a
kind of stearite, or soapstone ; its inferior hardness will, however, show the difference to the most inexperienced observer.
AMBER.
This fossilized gum or resin is found in irregular masses without cleavage, having a very low degree of hardness—a- to a\5, and a specific gravity of only io8ij its lustre is resinous or waxy, and varies from transparent to opaque. Its composition is—
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It burns readily with a bright yellow flame and gives an agreeable odour, leaving a black carbonaceous residue. At 2870
it fuses and is decomposed, yielding water, an empyreumatic oil, and
succinic acid. It acquires negative electricity by friction, and is
soluble in alcohol.
Amber
is found in abundance on the Prussian coast of the Baltic, from Dantzig
to Memel; also on the coast of Denmark, in Sweden, Norway, Moravia,
Poland, Switzerland, and in France ; it also occurs embedded in clay,
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