The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-04-03
ANIMALS IN AMBER.

Amber IH and where II Comes From
valuable ooyerlos-Amerioan Ambor,
"There's on odd inouthpoce,' said q
gentleman 10 Times man, hold
Ing out large piece of amber that had
been cut into an oddly-,hopcn cigar
holder, The piece was perfectly cloar
OF u rich yellow or canary hue, aud IN
the interior was u lizard, as perfect rs
II II hal crawlcd In u few minutes be-
fore,
81 got hold Of this In Germany con-
tinued tho speaker 'and had i bored
NJ that tho smoke-tu' @ runs right along
side the ureaturc and gives the Impress
sion that II Is passing through him
care such cases rare" asked the re-
porter
"No,' was the reply, "They are
rarely seen, but almost every collector
has more or less Of them, In the carli-
esl tim0s II was known that animals
We're 50 entombed, Martial wrote, A.
ID, 49,
"The boo I, incnsel und shine preserved In
htrar of the sisters of lhNetQn, 80 \ seems
On trlnol In IL own nectar II has obtained
worthy Towa d for ila great tolls, We may
suppose that the bee Itself would have desired
such d'hth,
"In lCio Thomas May thus translated
this.
"Horo shines q boo inclosed In an amber
tomb,
Asif Inferred in her own honey omb,
a M reward lao 10 her labor, Rlyoi .,
No other death would she have wished TO
have,
INSECTS nERMETICALLY SEALED,
"In MI, eight hundred different spo-
clcs of insects have been found hormcl-
ically sealed In this way aud many Of
them entirely new, They are, with
hardly an exception, extinct aud nearly
oil tropical forms. In the British Mu'
scum there IL remarkable collection
OF them aud NJ Amherst College they
have q spider thus preserved, Tho
plants that are found enDombcd are
equally interesting, and Prof Goeppert
ha, described one hundred and SIXTY
odd species, all Of which arc now cN,
tuct Various other articles arc thus
found, such ns water pebbles, bark,
fruit In fact, anything that happened
10 fall In the way OF the running rosin
"lu oldcn times amber was much
more esteemed than gold. lls nature
was known then, and two thousand
years ago Pllny told that Il was the fos-
sil resin Of M extinct confer SWcClHHm
pHiieS, II Is found Ia many countries,
but the greatest deposits have been
found on The shores oil the Baltic, whcro
many thousand years ago n coullCr for.
est extended from Holland over tho
German coast, far into the adjacent
countries, II was The resin lhal drop
ped from these trees, Just as we see SIM
iar dopo 10, Of gum on our spruce aud
other trees Of to-day, As II ran down
Il ON hngld Insects, caught lizards In
IT, sticky embrace, holding them fast
aud finally burylIg them up, hardening
aud preserving them Intact for unknown
ages one Of the llnosl deposits Is 10.
Gated In the llauptvatorand whore on
the Pomcrunlan plains tho peasants
take It from tho surface clay, and near
Brandcnbutgh pieces weighing our
pounds have been found, The PENN,
sua o S0m'and Is noted for the rich
ness Of rs deposits, and formerly all tho
amber here was claimed 10y the Crown,
the finders being carefully watched by
gems dOrmcs and receiving oul -onO
tonlh o IT, value"
RARE AND COSTLY SPECIMENS
"Arc large pieces roro'' asked the
reporter
"Ycs,' was the reply "both ro"n
aud costly There Is u piece weighing
eighteen pounds In the Berlin Muscup,
for which 81 100 was paid aud previous
90 this 5000 was refused for u thirteen.
pound lump found In Prussia, In the
earliest days amber seems TO have ~.
cited the cupldity OF man, During the
reign oi Nero an expedition was sent 10
the Baltic coast which brought back
1900 pounds II II, including one
specimen that weighed thirteen pounds,
This was n0urly MI obtained from the
regular vein or bolt that lies between
Pillau and Gro y Hubonlckon, on the
Pruss'On oas, Here are regular mines
for the workers OF amber They cXicl I'd
o. u depth Of one hundred feet, pcnc.
trailing under n stratum Of sand and
clay, then 'nto stratum Of bltumnous
wood forty or fifty feet In thickness
These old trunks on remains aro more
or less lmprognatod with amber Tho
supply does not diminish nnd pieces nrN
washed up after storms, showing hat
the ancient forests are now under water
far out In tho Baltic, and the gum bc.
Ing brokon of during storms rises and
X washed up, Such great quantities
came ashore formerly that tho peasants
used nets 10 catch IL and drcdgos were
used 10 drag the bottom Of the sea.
"Tho mines all along the pnltc
coast ylold yoarly about 100000 pounds,
and some one has estimated that tho
amount still In the amber district Il
worth sl,250,000. The vast amounts
taken seem incredible, yet probably
since the beginning Of this century 1000
tons have boon quarried, and for tho
last throo thousand years over 60, 900
tons have boon taken from the Baltic
locality and made up into jowelry aud
articles OF luxury. AS the amber Is
tnkon from. the mines II Is packed In
baskets and slowed away In vaults ar.
ranged according 10 the size aud quail
ty. In the vaults Of Patohor Douglas
the records can bo seen Of mining as
carly as 1900"
AMBER IN THIS COUNTRY.
"Is amber found In this country"
asked tho reporter.
"Yos, II occurs NJ Gay Head, Mar
tha's vlnoyar and Camden, N. j. In
the after place, some years ago, several
barrels were taken from the green sand
but burned by mistake, or rather
through tho ignorance Of the finders.
Al tho present day II finds lts greatest
value as an adjunct 10 tho smokers out
H., but In oldon times 10 was considered a
Jewel and worn ns such. In an Irish
tumulus cup OF amber has been found
that would hold half pint. The Car