Arkansas weekly mansion., 1884-01-19
ANNALS IN AMBER.

Cr1ilrman &c n Iimss man, hold
iug out Il large piece Of amber that had
ben cut into an oddly-Shapen cigar
Luij"r- The piece was perfectly clear.
q: 4 rich yellow or canary hue, and in
tie interior was a lizard. as perfect as
il i had crawlcd in 4 few minutes be-
fore.
Il got hold of this in Germany" con-
iinGrd the speaker, ''anI had it bored
:" hat the >mok"-tuhe runs right along
ste the creature and gives the impress
son that it is passing through him.
Are such cases rare.S asked the re-
porter.
No. was the replv ..Thcy are
rarely seen. but almost every collector
ha- more or less OF them. In the earl
ct times it WAS known that animals
were so cntombcl. Martial wrote A.
ID. i3:
'''rh" Ecs i ircase and shire rr served in
n 70 az "i TIC S!et"r' "t Gh:r.tCn: - It seems
worthy rcwa Il fnr il great t"~. Wc
supp ~. that the hc'. Itself w"Ll have ,ir~r't
such Il "a .ath-
lin 1910 Thomas May thus translated
this:
g Here ehin's be ;nclos"d in an amber
Asif .ut'r.,.i n h..r own hon.y ona.
NJ o her d's:ih w u / she h.v wished to
have.
INSECTS THEORETICALLY SEALED.
,.In all, cimht hundred different spc-
rics of insects have. been found hcrm-l-
ically sealed in this way and many of
them cnt' rely new Thy are, with
hardly an exception, extinct and nea"ly
ali tropical forms In tn" British Mu-
SUM there a rcmarkabl" cullc ton
oi them and at Amherst College they
In,-. . L I
pants that are fOund ent"mbcd are
cpua ly interesting, and Prof. Gocppcrt
ha, described ON. hundred and sixty
odd species. all of which are now "\-
tuct. Nar.ou, other articles are thus
found, such aS water pebbles, bark
fruit in fact, ANYTHING that happened
to TalI in the WAY of the running rr~in-
In oldcn times amber was much
more esteemed than gold. Its nature
WAS known then. and two thor>and
years ago Pliny told that it was the fnS-
Sil resin of an extinct confer SvcciIsIsW
pnitc$. Il IS found ia many countries,
but the or, Attest deposits have been
found on the shores OF the Baltic, where
many thousand wears ago 4 confer for
est extended from Holland over the
German coast, far into the adiac nj
countries Ii WAS tn. resin that drop
ped from these trees, iu>t a~ We see sim
lar drpo its of gum on our <,rlIc, and
other trees of to-day. A. it ran down
II en- angl"d insects, c;uTht lizards in
liz sticky embrace, holding tn IN fast
an finally burrinc them Up, harden ng
ana preserving them intact tor unknown
agrN- One of the finest deposits is To- !
Gated IA .nc IauptvatcrlanI. where on !
ifr i"nerNnian plains the peasants |
lax" II from the surface clay, and nrar !
Brann"nburgh pIrC~S we chino :our I!
pounds have been found The ucuin-
sn,a o. S"mland Is noted for the rich
ness of IT'S deposits, and formerly all the
amber here was GAINED by the Crown.
tie finders being carefully watched bv
gems Il armcS and receiving onlv-one
tenth o. lis value
RARE AND COSTLY SPECIMENS
. Are larre pccrs rare" asked the
REPORTER
Yes, TIL reply, .s both rar..
and costly. There is Il piece weighing
e.%ht en- pounds IN the Berlin Museum. |
frr which Sl,o0D was paid, and previous
to this S.j.OO1 was refused for 4 thirt .rn-
pound lump found in PRUSSIA. In the |
81 'lieSt days amber seems to have en-
'i;cd the cupi;ii,y of man. During the
rim of Nero an exp .dition wa- sent TO
III" Baltic Goa t whi h rourlt back !
$50 o poun :s # l.. including one
srcc men that weighed thirteen pounds !
This WIS nearly all Obtained from the !
r""ular vein or belt that lies Ectwccn
Piliau and Gro IIuhcnirk, ON the |
lrusS an ,oaS III rr are renu ar mn ,
f II ia workers of amber. Th"v cx,e i'll
tu depth of one hundred f ,ct, p"nc-
t!aiug under 4 stratum of sand and |
clay. tlcu into Il stratum of hitumiuoUs |
wo ri forty or fifty feet in thickness. |
1h"S' old trunks or remains are more |
ct less ImprcTuatel with am! or. The |
supply does not dimin sh ana pieces are |
washed up after stormS, showing IN II |
the ancient fore Is a~c now under wa.c- |
far out in the Baltic, and the gum be
ln- broken off during storms rises and |
i washed up. Such great quantities |
came ashore formerly that The peasants
used nets To catch it and dced-eS were
used tn DRAG the bottom of the sea.
The mines all along the ralt;c
coast yield yearly about 10000 pounds.
and some one has estimated that the
amount still in the amber district is
worth Sl.25u,On. The vast amounts
taken seem incredible. vel prub:' /,
since the beginning of this century 1000
tons have been quarricd, and for the
last three thousand wears over IL. ."On
tons have been taken from the Baltic
locality and made up into jcwclrv and
articles of luxury. As the amber is
ken from the mines il is packed in
baskets and slowed away n vaults ar
ranged according To the >z,. and quail
". In the vaults of Patchcr Douglas
the records can be seen of mining as
early rs 1900"
ANBER IN THIS COUNTRY.
lis amber found in this country?"
asked the re- oItcr.
''leS. it oc .urS at Gay Head. Mar
tina Vine ard and Camden, y. j. In
the after place. spme years ago, several
barrc.S Were taken from the green sand
tut burn Il by mistake, or II her
through the ignorance of the finders.
AT the present day il finds its greatest
value a. an adjunct 20 the smoker 5 out
lit, but in oldcn times it was considered 4
Jewel and worn as such. In an Irish
tnmulu> a cup of amber has been founi
that would hold half Il pint. The Car
oi Ru>sla possesses 4 tea set cut from
amber blocks that are probably worth
much more than treble their weight in
gold.
For commercial purposes the raw
material Is separated into different
{ asses. The finest generally goes to
ton>tantinOplc, there being made into
The next class. COM
posed of smaller pc es. is made into
beads. They find 4 lively sale abroad.
but go Off rather slow here. A set of
amber jewelry-pin, ear -rings-can be
boug-t very reasonable here, but at
present there is no call for it. The low
price is on account of there being no
duty on it; curiously enough, 1t comes