The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-11-09
Amber.

personal adOrnment, amber is OF the high
est antiquity. 1t is mentioned by Homer,
and is found introduced in the most
ancient specimens of Etruscan jewelry.
In the collection of the Prince of the
Canine was necklace of choice Etruscan
workmanship, having pendants in the
form of scarabei of alternate sardonyx and
amber. The Greeks termed amber cleo
iron, from Elector, one of the names of
the sun god. Among the Romans also
this substance was greatly priced. Pliny
tells us that small figure carved in amber
had been known to sell at higher price
than a living slave in vigorous health. In
the time Of Nero one of the equestrian
order was sent to Germany by Julianus,
the manager of the gladiatorial exhibit
tons, in-Order to procure supply of this
gem. He succeeded 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 studied with am
Der. 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 ele-
plant carved in amber.
Great uncertainty prevailed among the
ancients as to the nature of amber, and
many were the legends to which this I'M
certainty gave rise. After Phaeton had
been 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
a liquid produced by the rays of the sun
that these rays, at the moment of the sun s
setting, striking with the greatest force
upon the surface of the soil, leave upon
it an unctuous sweat, which is carried off
by the tides of the ocean, and thrown up
on the shores of Germany. According to
another author there is a river "beyond
India, the banks Of which are frequented
by birds called meleagrides; these, weep
ing the death of Meleager, allow their
tears to drop into the stream, whereupon
they are transformed to amber. A SINH.
I lar belief-that amber was produced by
the tears of birds-prevailed among the
Orientals. This is alluded to by Moore
in !" Laliah Rookh:''
Around thee shall g;isten the lovelest amber
That ever the sorrowing sea-birds have wept.
1t was gradually, however, made mani
fest that amber was neither more nor less
than a vegetable product-ak kind of gum
hence it acquired the name succinum, by
which it is now known in natural history
1t 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 imbedded, proving that the amber
must at one time have been in liquid OF
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 Konigsberg,
is the only district that supplies it in
qualities. As much as 1000 pounds
weight OF amber yearly is said to be the
average produce of that country. 1t is
mostly found on tho seashore, but in Prus-
/ STA tRefe are also mines.
In Shakespeare's time amber would
seem to have been fashionable as an orna-
ment, as hesmere. than once alludes to it.
When Petruchio promises to take Rather
inc on q visit to her father he
mentions :. amber bracelets among
the bravery" with which she is
to be adorned. Among the artists OF
the renaissance period it was chiefly used
in the formation of jewel caskets and such
like elegant objects. 1t is still much val
ued in the East, but the chief market at
present is China, where it is crushed into
powder and burnt as incense. Mouth
pieces for cigars, beads and other orna-
ments in this material are, however, ex-
tensively manufactured 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, at
tended by the cracking Of fame, and
gives warning by this double indication. =
It is still supposed to possess certain viz
tues. The wearing OF an amber neck
lace, it is said, will keep off attacks Of
erysipelas, and it is also . preservative
against sore Threats, on account of the cir
Gle Of electricity maintained, as well as
from the warmth Of the amber. Arcade
Times. NJ .as' - A.st-
"a.