The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1890-12-05
some CURIOUS FACTS.
Tue Origin OF Amber, Crystal and Pearl
Explained by an Expert

Tue Origin OF Amber, Crystal and Pearls
Explained by an Expert
amber is curious stuff" said col
lector Of curios to a Washington Star
reporter the other day. "lt Is only CON
parativclr recently that its nature has
been known. and even at this day very
few people seem 90 have any notion as
to what it is in reality. The ancients
regarded IL as altogether mysterious and
even magical. They found that 1t was
rendered electrical by friction so as to
attract light substances, and our word
electricity comes from the Greek name
for amber, which was 'electron.' a IA
vorite puzzle with them was how the
insects so frequently found in amber
came to be 50 situated. Not as mod
ern poet has phrased 10
-thal the thing was either rich or rare,
But now the devil ala {; get there:
Il have myself seen a chunk Of very
transparent amber in which q small liz
ard with five legs was encased, looking
as If It might have been alive yesterday,
though, doubtless, it had been dead for
thousands of years. The mystery re-
gardiug this SOFT of phenomenon is oasi-
" enough explained when it is under
gum of an extinct kind Of cone-bearing
tree. In the process of hardening 1T i'm
prisoned the flies and other creatures
preserved in the chunks of il that are
found to-day. 1t is discovered plenti-
fully by digging in certain parts of the
great plains of North Germany, where
the strange tree once fourished. 1t is
also found in considerable quantities
along the shores Of tho Baltic, in the
yellow sandstone. At Palmicllen, in
East Prussia, it is dug in regular mines;
elsewhere it is picked from cliffs, and q
good deal OF it is gathered in the shape
of nodules cast up by the waves. The
finest specimen of amber in Europe is a
cup made of that material, now at the
Brighton Museum, England. 1t was
found at Hove some years ago, together
with weapons and utensils OF stone and
bronze, so it is evidently very ancient
indeed. In the fourteenth century, and
before amber was made into knives and
forks with one prong, which were used
by princes and church dignitaries, it
was moro valuable than gold then. Now
it is worth from - to $50 4 pound, ac-
cording to its quality. The most i'm
portant uso made of it is for mecrschaum
and other pipes. Meerschaum, by the
way, is q material dug out of the earth
in Turkey; it comes in boxes holding
fifty pounds, and valued at from $50 TO
$780, The dust and chips obtained from
it in the process Of manufacture are
worked into pipes, this material being
called imitation meCrschaum." Amber
dust is melted, and the product is what
is sold as 'amberine.''
What q very beautiful sphere of
crystal this isy' said the newspaper man,
taking in his hand cool globe that
looked like q huge dewdrop, which the
collector handed him for examination.
YES, that is pretty specimen. l
suppose you are aware of the theory en-
tertained by the ancients regarding
such rock crystal. They thought it was
actually ice frozen to great density by
duration of time, concealed beyond
liquidation. 'Krystallos in Greek
means Ice The famous writer on nat
ural philosophy, Pliny, who wrote more
facts that were not true than ever any
man collected together before or since,
says the crystal is undoubtedly water
frozen by cold so intense that nothing
can melt IL again. Roman ladies of
that time were accustomed to carry
during hot weather for coolness. 1t
was the thing also to have the material
worked into wine jugs and other vessels.
Nero had two drinking cups Of crystal
worth $4,000 each, and a crystal ladle
also; but whom he learned that he had
lost his kingdom he broke them, lest
they fall into the hands Of any one else.
a crystal lens was employed in Rome to
kindlc the sacred vestal fire. Great
care was taken not to put the crystal
ware in warm place for fear that it
would melt. The most remarkable dis
covCry of crystal on record was made in
1867 above the Tiefcn glacier by party
of tourists, q single cave in the granite
yielding 1000 crystals of from 80 to 100
pounds weight"
..And what is this?"
That" replied the collector, els q
dimiuutive Chinese god. covered with a
coat of pearl by q real pearl oyster. On
such parts Of the coast Of the ElOwcry
Kingdom as produce pearl oysters q
regular business is often made Of manu-
featuring pearls artiiicially by intro
ducing into the shells Of the live oysters
foreign objects of various kinds. You
doubtless know that tho pearl is a NOR
bid symptom in the bivalvc. \ grain of
sand or some such substance getting
into the oyster produces irritation and
the animal protects itself by covering
the Objectionable particle with coating
after coating of its own pearly secre-
tion. The interruption Of light by the
successive coats of which the pearl is
formed in this way gives it its beautiful
luster. Taking advantage of this habit
of the pearl oyster the ingenious China
man prizes it gently open and puts in
whatever he likes, may be little figure
of a god like this. The oyster goes
to work and covers it with pearl, until