Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-02-20

drawers he will show you a great
quantity of dull looking, irregularly
shaped Jumps, and explain that no
product is more variable in price
One lot may be purchased for 81
pound, while another, that appears
to the Impractical! eye not a whit
more valuable, may be worth $50
The amber is found in different
sizes, varying from that of a nut TO a
mans hand. A piece weighing one
pound might be worth $50, but a
/ piece weighing twelve or thirteen
pounds would be thought cheap at
/ $1,000 In the time of the Romans,
/ Nero used an amber drinking cup,
and fan amber dish represented the
/ countenance'and history OF AleIan-
/ der. The historian Gibbon tells us
that among.the Greeks the material
was so greatly appreciated that the
amphitheatres were adorned with
| either silver or'amber.
In modern times amberi is chiefly OBJ
| tanned .on sea coasts after storms,
when it is either picked up on the
beach or sought after by men who
walk up to their necks in the waves,
with long poles TO which nets are at
tached or it is gathered from precip-
itous cliffs by men in boats, who go
armed with poles and iron hooks, and
/ loosen fragments OF rocks in eXplor-
/ ing them. The latter methods are
not without danger TO the amber
seekers Amber occurs in beds in
/ Greenland. Prussia, France and
| Switzerland, but the greater portion
Of it comes from the southern coast of
| the Baltic sea, where il is thrown up
between koenigsberg and Memel. 1t
is also obtained by mining at a dis
tance OF 200 feet or more from the sea,
and has been met with in gravel beds
near London Not many years ago
specimens were found on Cape Sable,
in Maryland.
In 1874 the amber gathering on the
shores Of the Baltic was more abuud-
ant than ever before known at the
same spot. In the village of kahl-
berg alone. where the product was
"farmed,n - it is estimated that twenty
/ thousand thalers worth OF amber was
picked up in the course of a few
weeks. 1t is supposed that this in
creased quantity resulted from the vi
olent storms that prevailed on the
coasts of the Baltic during the pre-
eeding winter, by which the treasure
was thrown up from the bottom OF
/ the sea. One of the largest pieces OF
amber at present known IS In the roy
al cabinet at Berlin. its weight being
about eighteen pounds.
| 1t is mistake to suppose that am
Der is only used to tip pipes or give
additional glory to choice cigar, for,
| being full OF electricity, the smaller
/ fragments are made into beads and
worn by many people as a preventive
of sore throat and Group. Children
find relief in chewing upon the pol
ished surface while cutting teeth. The
/ Chinese wear bracelets made Of am
ber, and use large quantities Of it in
the construction of idols.
Amber isdesignated is as clear, cloudy
or milky. The eastern nations prefer
the milky variety, but Americans as
a rule choose the cloudy variety be-
cause it is less easily initiated by gum
copal. The material is worked with
chisel and turning wheel, the for
mer having a razorIike edge, and the
most beautiful objects are produced.
Among the collections of an artist,
which he preserves as evidence of the
kind of apprenticeship he passed
through. is an amber skull. 1t is less
than three-quarters of an inch high,
but the bones and articulatiOns are
distinctly marked. a magnifying
glass is necessary to enjoy the mar
velous detail of the carving.
Another specimen is a holder, with
a hollow head Of monk for the cigar.
the old recluse laughing but you can
only see the wrinkles in his face
through "a glass. There are still other
representations in art that will vie in
perfection with the most famous
statues. and yet there may not be half
an inch of substance on which to
carve the lines.
Take it all in all, amber in its histo-
ry and results constitutes one OF the
most interesting studies in natural
history, and to see the deft workmen
evolve from the crude mass forms OF
beauty on which the eye loves to lin
ger is luxury that is enjoyable by
( every devOtee OF high art.