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

AIllDtl lldo 81 'Ot' 'NN'A
with the luxury of perfect enjoyment
behind a pipe or cigar that 1t Is not
pleasant to be reminded that the sup
ply is gradually diminishing, and un-
less new deposits are found 1t Will
eventually be exhausted.
Familiar as most people are with
the substance, few realize as they
touch to their lips the pretty bit of
color that it is product OF nature
dating so far back in the ages that no
record of its origin is attainable. For
all we know to the contrary, 1t was
coutemporaneous with Adam and
Eve The prophet Ezekiel speaks OF
a great cloud with fire enfoIding 1t
and brightness about it of the color
of amber. The classic writer's OF ola
compared it with the yellow tresses OF
the celestial divinities.
Sophocles sang of amber as the
congealed tear drops of the birds that
mourned the death of Meleager As
tradition hath it, the sisters of Me
leager wept increasingly after his
death. until Diana changed them into
guinea hens, which were transferred
to the island of Leros.' y y still older
fable, coeval with HesiOd himself who
lived about 735 b. c., and wrote an
account of the birth of the world and
the origin of the gods, relates how
Phathon paid the penalty OF his drive
across the heavens in the chariot OF
the sun. Zeus having killed him with
a flash of lightning and hurled hlm
down into the River EridanuS. his
sisters, the Heliad;e, daughter OF Hell
los (the sum who had yoked the
horses to the chariot, bewaiIed the
death Of their brother so bitterly that
the gods, in compassion, changed
them into poplar trees that shed
tears of amber" In later times the
Eridanus was supposed to be the same
as the River Po, because amber was
found on the banks. Hence, the EIec-
tribes insula, or amber island, are
placed at its mouth.
The philosophers showed them
selves scarcely less imaginative than
the poets. With them amber was
LIQUID produced by the rays of the
setting sun, or an eXcretlon OF the
ocean thrown up by its waves IN the
spring, or the gum of certain tree'
growing on some of the inaccessible
islands in the Adriatic, which eXuded
from their branches with the rising OF
the dog star. Thales, the first to OBJ
serve its electrical properties, was so
struck with its power of attracting
other substances that he did not hes
itate to endow the amber with the
possession of a soul. Absurd as were
the deductions, they constitute the
germ of the modern science OF cleo
tricity, which takes its name from
elektron, the Greek for amber
Pliny arrived much nearer the
truth than any of his predecessors
when he alleged it TO be u resinous
Juice oozing from old pines and frs
and discharged into the sea, where,
taking lodgment, it was gradually
hardened by the influence Of heat or
cold or the action Of the sun. The or
igin of amber has also been IA matter
of dispute among naturalists, some
describing it as an animal substance
resembling beeswax secreted by an
ant inhabiting pine forests, others
maintaining it to be fossil mineral
of antediluvian origin but, accord
ing TO the recent researches of Cop
pert, amber is nothing more than in
durated resin derived from various
trees of the gum family, which resin
is found in similar condition in all
zones. because its usual original de-
positories, namely, beds of brown
coal. have been found almost every
where under similar circumstances.
\ convincing proof that amber was
once fluid is afforded by the fact that
insects, leaves, drops Of clear water
or portions of metal, sand and other
articles are sometimes found inclosed
in il. Occasionally the insects are IN
tire and in a fine state of preserva
ton. but frequently their detached
legs and wings indicate q hard strug
gle to escape from the viscid mass.
Bees. wasps, gnats, spiders and bee
ties have been observed in specimens,
and because they were imbedded
years ago in the soft tree gum they
are in demand by collectors and by
college museums there the Enclosures
are subject of careful study by natu-
ralists. The discovery of such piece
of amber Is bit of good fortune, for
unusual value is attached TO the IN
lucky prisoner.
Very beautiful specimens contain
ing insects ages old may be seen in
the establishment of an amber expert
and merchant in New York City IL
he takes the fancy he will lead you
into a queer looking little workshop.
The walls look as il they were affiict-
ed with an eruption of carving tools.
Odd looking lathes and polishing ma