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Amber.
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on
the coast of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk ; in various parts of Asia,
and many other places. In the United States it has also been found in
the Greensand, both imbedded in the soil and in lignite. The colour
varies from white and pale yellow to a deep brownish-orange. It is very
brittle, and yields to the knife.
The
experiments made by Sir David Brewster, Goe-pert, and others, have
established the fact of its vegetable origin, which was surmised by
Pliny. Goepert calls the trees which produced it Pinites succinifer, and
he supposes amber to have been derived from at least eight other kinds
of plants, and enumerates not less than 163 species of insects, most of
which are unknown to us, except by what we can learn from their remains
encased in amber.
Yellow
amber beads used formerly to be in fashion in this country, and in
Turkey and other Asiatic countries the material is still prized,
saddles, bridles, and arms being adorned with it. In Oriental countries
it may frequently be seen inlaid with gold and precious stones. It is
also much used for the mouthpieces of pipes, it being the custom in the
East to have the pipe lighted by a servant, the amber being thought
incapable of transmitting infection. The most valuable variety is
nearly opaque, and resembling fresh butter in colour.
Amber
is also employed in chemistry; the oil of amber and succinic acid being
obtained from it by distillation, the residue serving for the
manufacture of black varnish. The name amber is probably derived
p 2
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