when
rubbed amber acquired the property of attracting small particles of
dust or other tiny bodies. But the attractiveness of amber did not
depend upon this. Its trans-lucency, brightness and colour, and the
comparative ease with which it could be shaped and polished, carved and
drilled, have commended it from a remote age down to the present day
for a variety of ornamental uses too well known to require dwelling on
here.
A
string of well-matched amber beads is by no means to be despised, but
the beads must be cut from natural amber and not from block amber,
so-called, which is nothing else than a gummy exudation of certain
trees, freed from its impurities and moulded to requirements.
Amber
necklets are nowadays not greatly in fashion in Europe or America, but
in some Eastern countries the vogue for them still persists. Until very
recent times there were numerous collectors of rare crude amber, of
carved pieces dating back to Greek, Roman and Gothic days, and of
specimens containing plants (amber-flora) and insects or animals
(amber-fauna). But the hobby must now be restricted to a very few
enthusiasts, and these not willing to pay high prices. I remember when
the best collection of its kind extant came into the market.
This collection was brought to my notice by a Boston (U.S.A.) attorney who, happening to read my previous volume, The Pearl Trader (in Great Britain Pearls and Men), assumed
that a man who could find buyers for pearls should have no difficulty
in extracting many thousands of dollars from the pockets of English
lovers of amber. But as I had only sold one amber necklet in my
