In
colour it varies from white, pale yellow, to a deep brownish-orange :
it is very brittle, and yields to the knife. Pliny surmised the fact
that Amber is of vegetable origin. The trees which are thought to have
produced it originally were of the Pinites succinifer kind.
This substance is much used to make mouthpieces for pipes ; it being
customary in the East to have the pipe lighted by a servant, and the
Amber being esteemed as incapable of transmitting infection from such a
source.
An
oil of Amber, as well as succinic acid, is got from Amber by
distillation; the residue serving for the manufacture of a black
varnish. The designation " Amber" is probably derived from the Arabic "
Anabaron " which denotes this resin, the Greek name being " Electron,"
(whence our term " Electricity " is obtained), from the property Amber
exercises of attracting to itself small substances when it is subjected
to friction. Another title once bestowed upon it was " Lyncurion,"
since it was supposed to be a deposit from the urine of the lynx, that
of the male animal giving a deep, and that of the female a pale tint.
Pliny records the medicinal use of Amber, and tells that necklaces made
from the substance were formerly hung about the necks of young children
to preserve them from the evil powers of witchcraft, and sorcery. The
Shah of Persia possesses—to be worn around the neck— a cube of Amber
reported to have fallen from heaven in the time of Mahomet, and which
can thus make him invulnerable.
Tacitus
describes the Amber-gatherers as a sacred nation, worshipping the
mother of the Gods. In Copenhagen, as we learn from one of its famous
