BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
VoL. 20, No. 8 
Campripas, Massacuusetts, May 8, 1964 
PRESENT STATUS OF BOTANICAL 
STUDIES OF AMBERS’ 
BY 
JEAN H. LANGENHEIM 
Desprire the fact that amber is known to be fossilized 
resin, there is a general lack of knowledge regarding the 
plants from which it was derived, as well as the kinds of 
forests and environmental conditions in which the source 
trees lived. The following discussion is a survey of exist- 
ing botanical investigations of ambers, and a discussion 
of approaches and present progress in studies of amber 
from Chiapas, Mexico. 
Since the earliest stages of man’s social development, 
ambers have had esthetic appeal. They also have long 
been used to ward off evil powers, as well as to cure ill- 
nesses such as rheumatism, stomach disorders, asthma, 
toothaches, etc. In some measure, the attribution of these 
special powers to amber may be a result of the negative 
electrical properties exhibited when most ambers are 
rubbed. Thales recognized these electrical properties, 
and they were reported early in the annals of electricity. 
1 Grateful recognition is made to the American Association of Uni- 
versity Women Educational Foundation for the Margaret L. Wiley 
post-doctoral fellowship which enabled me to carry out this study. 
Support from the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study likewise 
is acknowledged. Thanks are due to Professor J. Wyatt Durham, 
Professor Elso S. Barghoorn and Dr. Virginia Page for critically re- 
viewing this manuscript and offering valuable suggestions. 
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