Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-10-31
4 PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE.



It's history has never been properly ex-
planned Various theories have been
advanced, but all specialists have con-
tented themselves with quoting some
predecessors words concerning its origin
and composition. and to day it affords
an ample field for the scientific enthusi-
asst. as it IS an extremely valuable com
nudity, and If the latest appliances were
brought to bear upon the subject all I'M
settled questions undoubtedly could be
answered 1t was at first supposed to
/ be of vegetable production for the most
part, and analogous to amber; hence its
name, anbergris, or gray amber. 1t is
| dark gray in color and is formed of con-
centric layers. 1t feels like hard rubber
The sailors found it in the whales intes-
tines near the stomach, and developed
the theory that it was q petrifaction,
and that as a natural course of events
the whole whale might turn into the
substance. In q short time sailors were
multiplying who had seen amber whales
During the spring of last year the Sea
Ranger, whaling ship owned by f. III.
Bartlett & Sons, of Massachusetts, which
had sailed from New Bedford in June,
1879, for a four-years' whaling voyage
in the South Atlantic. took sperm
whale while cruising to the south Of ST.
Helena. After the usual operation of
hooking, hosting and cutting off the
blubber and baling out the lease, +" the
most interesting part of the work was be-
gun. At this point all on board eagerly
watch while the long spade is pushed
into the intcstines in order to ascertain
| if there is any ambergris in the stripped
] leviathan. In the present instance the
men were rewarded by finding the finest
/ specimen of ambergris that has been cap
tured during the last ten years. 1t was
about the size and shape of a water
melon, weighed seventy pounds, and was
worth SIS, 900.
| The price of ambergris has been as
high as $500 per pound. The piece
! found by the Sea Ranger was regular in
shape and of the best ouality-compact
and solid. 1t was very pleasant task
| for the captain to put the little $4,000
lump under his arm and take it ashore
and forward it by freight ship to the
owners of his vessel, into whose hands it
came on the 31st of last May, and was
sold the same day to Messrs. Weeks 81
| Potter, of Boston, who had received
news by cable of the great I" find"
/ Whenever large piece of the substance is
/ found, the more prominent chemists and
druggists of the world are promptly mott
! fed-and there is spirited competition for
the control of the market. The supply
| is extremely small. There are ebout 17j
whaling ships in the world, all are con-
stantly looking fer the precious sub
stance, and the entire amount taken by
! oil fhnco ohi,N- Ifno1p6inos ha
| lean whalers, the twenty-five ships that
go to Baffin's bay from Dundee, anu the
few stragglers from Norway and
| Sweden) is not more than fifty to seventy
| five pounds year. This amount is ex-
elusive of whatever some firms may be
lucky enough to secure secretly. 1t was
used for many years in medicine and is
now prescribed in some parts of France,
but its great and important present use is
in the manufacture of perfumes. 1t con-
sists chiefly of peculiar fatty matter,
similar to cholesterin, and is readily dis
solved in alcohol, ether. or the volatile
or fixed oils The most widely accepted
supposition is that it is a hardened piece
of hillary matter formed in the stomach
of sick whale, and perhaps III some
other fishes also, for the sperm whale is
known to feed upon cutie fish, whose
tough, indestructible beaks are to be
] found in the ambergris. fact arguing
that the ambergris was cause or re-
suit of indigestion, and might occur
in the stomachs of other ex-
tremely voracious fishes that are known
to devour at certain periods anything
they meet. They are sick during the
presence of tneil Jonah-li like visitors and
get we'll again after the visitors have
taken their departure. The Bartletts
have been in the whaling business for
forty years, and the specimen here de-
scribed is the first piece of ambergris
ever found by them, which will illustrate
the scarcity of the article. Not only has
the origin of ambergris been enshrouded
in mystery, but there has been a wide
spread disposition to count the discovery
of piece as a sign of good luck aside
from its commercial value. The lucky
star of the crew of the ship was then in
the ascendant. During the last ten years
there have only been few large pieces
| found. A little schooner from Martha's
Vineyard got a goSd-sized piece three
years ago, and New Bedford whaler
found a piece weighing $50 pounds in
m 1882, but it was of poor quality. Many
deliberations are attempted. The spuri-
Gus stuff, however, can readily be dis
tinguished from the genuine by standard
tests.
Ambergris is now found floating in the
water near Sumatra, Molacca and NADIA
gascar, also along the American coast