Various conjectures have been proposed respecting its origin and formation. By some it is held to be a vegetable resin or gum; others, as professor liermb stadt, consider it as a mineral oil, thickened by absorp tion of oxygen ; Mr Parkinson is of opinion, that it is itispissatcd mineral oil; and Patrin maintains, that it is honey modified by time, and mineral acids, which have converted it into bitumen.
It occurs more abundantly in the northern parts of Europe than in any other part of the globe ; and parti cularly on the shores of the Baltic, between Konings berg and Memel, in East Prussia. It is also found in considerable abundance in the sandy plains of Poland ; in the brown coal formation in Saxony ; in rolled masses with large fragments of coal, in the gull of Kara, on the coast of the Arctic ocean; in the alluvial soil of Cour land, Liefland, Zeeland, and Wurtemberg. There are two mines of it in the province of Asturias in Spain ; and it is found floating on the coasts of the Baltic, England, Genoa, and Sicily' It very frequently includes bodies of different kinds, as grains of sand, pieces of iron pyrites, and also insects, which, according to Jussicu, are not natives of the con tinent of Europe. Born mentions a specimen of amber containing a species of gorgonia ; Alexander Sapicha describes another, including the seed vessels of the pi ma aoic.s.; in certain cabinets there are specimens in cluding beautiful pinnated leaves resembling ferns, and such are very rare and of great value ; and in others are specimens including drops of transparent water, and in sects of different kinds.
This substance is either fished on sea coasts, or dug out of the earth. After storms on the shores of the Baltic, great quantities of it arc observed floating on the surface of the sea ; this is immediately collected by means of a particular kind of net, and is, in general, found to be better than that which is dug. The amber mines are very irregular, consisting principally of in considerable galleries and shafts. As the amber found in the Prussian territories is the property of the crown, it is delivered by the fishers and miners to the proper officers at a certain rate, and is by them deposited in the amber warehouses, where it is arranged and sold ac cording to size and colour. It is said, that the Prussian government derives from this article a revenue of 17,000 dollars annually. The largest and most beautiful pieces are denominated sortimentstlicke; the second kind ton •enatein, because they arc sold in tons, a particular German weight. The smallest pieces are divided into what are called fernitz and schtuck. The sortiment
siiicke are sold at 300 dollars the ton ; when the pieces are large, pure, and of good colour, they are sold single : a good piece, of a pound weight, will sell for fifty dol lars: pieces of two or three pounds weight seldom oc In the year 1576, a piece weighing eleven pounds a as found in Prussia, and sent to Prague, as a present to Rudolph II. Very lately, a mass weighing thirteen pounds was also found in Prussia, for which 5000 dol hirs arc said to have been offered, and which, the Arme nian merchants assert, would sell in Constantinople for ;0,000 or 40,000 dollars.
The tonnenstcin are sold at 233 dollars the ton ; the rnitz at 100 dollars the ton; and the schluck at 20 lars the ton. The three last mentioned kinds are dis posed of to the amber turners in Stolpe and Konings berg, who again sell considerable quantities to the Jews, who carry it to the Levant, where it is in great request. Amber dealers, however, sometimes substitute for it different gums and resins ; also dried white of eggs, and even coloured glass.
On account of its beautiful yellow colour, its great transparency, and the fine polish it receives, it is cut into necklaces, bracelets, snuff boxes, and other articles of luxury. Before the discovery of the diamond, and other precious stones of India, it was considered as the most precious of jewels, and was employed in all kinds of ornamental dress. Attempts have been made to cut the pale-coloured varieties into burning glasses and lenses for microscopes. See Brealauer S'ammlungen, 7°. Venue-h. 1719, 8.116.
The wax and honey yellow varieties are most highly valued, not only on account of their beauty, but because they are more solid than the yellowish white coloured varieties. Gottlieb Samuelson of Breslau, and others, invented methods of rendering opaque and dark-coloured amber transparent ; and also of communicating to am ber colours of different kinds, as red, blue, green, and yellow. Most of these processes have perished with their inventors ; but the two following were the gene ral methods of rendering amber transparent : Firat, By surrounding it with sand in an iron pot, and cementing it in a gentle heat for 40 hours, some small pieces be ing occasionally taken out to judge of the progress of the operation. Srcondly, (which was the usual method,) by digesting and boiling the amber for about 20 hours in rape-seed oil, by which it became both clearer and harder; amber thus clarified, however, is much less electric than when in its natural state.