Litchfield enquirer., 1876-05-04
WHOLE NO. 2605.
AMBER!

2.
 Of all the gem-like substances used for personal sdorument, amber is of the high. est antiquity It is mentioned by Homer. and is found introduced in the most ancient specimens of Etruscan jewelry. In the collection of the Prince of Canino was necklace of choice Etruscan work. manship, having pendants in the form of scarabei of alternate sardonyx and amber. The Greeks termed amber electron, from Hector, one of the names of the sun god. Among the Romans also this substance was greatly prized. Pliny tells us that small figure carved in amber had been known to sell at higher price than liv- ing slave in vigorous health. In the time of Nero one of the equestrian order was rent to Germany by Julianus,the manages of the gladiatoral exhibitions, in order to procure supply of this gem. He sue-~ ceeded so well and brought back such vast quantities that the very nets that protected the podium against the wild beast, the litters upon which the slain gladiators were carried away and all the other articles used were studded with amber. Sir Thomas Browne also, in his "Urn Burial" mentions among the con- tents of Roman urn in the possession of Cardinal Farnese, not only jewels, but an ape in agate and grasshopper and an elephant carved in amber.
 Great uncertainty prevailed among the ancients as to the nature of amber, and many were the legends to which this un- certainty gave rise. After Phaeton had qeen struck by lightning, his sisters, we are told, changed to poplars which every day shed their tears upon the banks of the Eridanus, and to these tears was given the name electron. NiciaS says that it is liquid produced by the rays of the sun; that these rays, at the mo- ment of the suns setting. striking with the greatest force upon the surface of the soil, leave upon it an unctuous sweat, which is carried of by the tides of the ocean, and thrown upon the shores of Germany. According to another authoA '. there is river "beyond India" the banks of which are frequented by birds called meleagrides these, weeping the death of Meleager, allow their tears to drop into the stream, whereupon they are transform ed to amber: Asimilar beIief-that amber was produced by the tears of birds-pFe- vailed among the Orientals. This is alluded to by Moore in "Lalla Rookh."
 Around thee shall gisten the loveiest amber
 That ever the sorrowing sea birds have wept.
 It::was gradually, however, made mani fest that amber was neither more nor less than a vegetable product--a kind of gum; hence it acquired the name suc- cinum, by which it is now known in natural history. It was found that by boiling in turpentine it could be rendered plastic, and pieces were discovered in which insects, leaves of plants and other foreign matter had become embedded, proving that the amber must at one time have been in liquid or semi-liquid state.
 Wherever beds of Ignite occur amber is found; so that it is very generally ditfused over the world But the shores of the Baltic, between Memel and Konigs- berg,i is the only district that supplies it in quantities. As much as 4.0OO pounds weight of amber yearly is said to be the average produce of that country. It is mostly found on the seashoore, but in Prussia there are also mines. .,
 In Shakespeare's time amber would seem to have been fashionable as an ho Shau Ill to it. When Petruchio promises to take Katherine on 9 visit to her father, he mentions ''amber bracelets" among the bravery" with which she is to be adorn- ed. Among the artists of the renaissance period it was chiefly used in the form ation of jewel caskets and such like ele-. gant objects. It is still much valued in the east but the cheif market at present is China, where it is crushed into powder and burnt as incense. Mouth pieces for cigars, beads and other ornaments in this material are, however, extensively manu- factured in the workshops of Dantzic Hamburg, and elsewhere:
 The electric properties of amber early attracted attention; it was also believed to be highly medicinal, and was said to have the power of detecting the presence of poison; "for then an appearance like the rainbow flies to and fro in the vessel, attended by the cracking of flame, and gives warning by this double indication" !" It is still supposed to possess certain vir- tues. The wearing of an amber necklace; it is said, will keep of attacks of erysipe- las, and it is also preseryatiye against sore throats, on account of the circle of electricity maintained, as well IS from the warmth of the amber. ..-