The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-19
INSECTS THEORETICALLY SEALED.

In all, eight hundred different spe-
ci2s Of insects have been found hermet-
lcally sea led in this wav and many of
them entirely new. They are, with
hardly IN exception, extinct and nearly
all tropical forms. In the British Mu-
scum there Is 9 remarkable collection
Of them and at Amherst College they
have Il spider thus preserved. The
plants that are found entombed are
equally interesting, and Prof. Goeppert
has described one hundred and sixty
odd species, all of which are now ex-
tlnct. Various other articles are thus
found, such as water pebbles, bark.
fruit-in fact, anything that happened
to fall in the way of the running resin.
In olden times amber was much
more esteemed than gold. Its nature
was known then, and two thousand
years ago Pliny told that it was the fos-
sill resin OF an extinct confer succtRuna
p5nitcS. 1t is found i'll many countries,
but the greatest deposits have been
found on the shores OF the Baltic, where
many thousand years ago confer for
est extended from Holland over the
German coast, far into the adjacent
countries. 1t was the resin that drop
ped from these trees, Just as we see sim
ilar deposits of gum on our spruce and
other trees Of to-day. As it ran down
it entangled insects, caught lizards in
its sticky embrace, holding them fast
and finally burying them up, hardening
and preserving them intact for unknown
ages. One of the finest deposits is To-
Gated in the Hauptyaterland, where on
the Pomeranan plains the peasants
take it from the surface clay, and near
Brandenburgh pieces weighing four
pounds have been found The penin-
su!a o Samland is noted for the rich
ness Of It's deposits, and formerly all the
| amber here was claimed by the Crown.
the finders being carefully watched by
gems d'armes and receiving only-one-
tenth o. its value"
RARE AND COSTLY SPECIMENS.
" Are large pieces rare?" asked the
| reporter
- Yes was the reply, both rare
and costly. There is piece weighing
eight en- pounds in the Berlin Museum,
for which 81 900 was paid, and previous
to this $1,000 was refused for thirteen
Vound lump found in Prussia. In the
Earliest days amber seems to have ex-
| cited the cupidity Of man During the
reign Of Nero an expedition was sent to
the Baltic coast which brought back
1900 pounds cf ii. including one
spec men that weighed thirteen pounds.
This was nearly all obtained from the
regular vein or belt that lies between
Pillau and Grozz Hubenicken. on the
Prussan eoasf. Here are regular mines
| for the workers of amber They extend
to a depth of one hundred feet, pene-
trating under Il stratum of sand and
| clay, then into q stratum of bituminous
wood forty or fifty feet in thickness.
These old trunks or remains are more
or less impregHated with amber The
| supply does not dimin sh ana pieces are
washed up after storms, showing that
| tie ancient fore IS are now under water
| far out in the Baltic, and the gum be.
| ing broken off during storms rises and
| is washed up. Such great quantities
came ashore formerly that the peasants
used nets to catch it and dredges were
used to drag the bottom of the sea.
The mines all along the Baltic
coast yield yearly about 500, 900 pounds.
| and some one has estimated that the
amount still in the amber district is
worth $l,250,0J0. The vast amounts
taken seem incredible, yet probably
since the beginning Of this century 1000
tons have been quarried, and for the
last three thousand years over $4,000
| tons have been taken from the Baltic
locality and made up into iewelry and
articles of luxury. As the amber is
taken from the mines it is packed in
baskets and slowed away in vaults az
ranged according TO the size and quail
ty. In the vaults of Patcher Douglas
the records can be seen of mining as
early as 1900"