The Baron Larrey on the Origin of Amher. 489 



pieces siiHicioitly small Tor their tcna.- 

 city to overcoiiip thc! power oCllic waves. 

 Tims expos<^(l lo tin- air, (hey perhaps 

 imbibe new principles, accjuirc a !.',ieater 

 coiisislency, and are thrown l>y tli* 

 action of the waves on the coast; tli« 

 insects we find in them are caught 

 eitlier in the flowing; of the licney on 

 the fall of a tree, or p' riiaps in li.cir 

 passage to the sea, which euvclopes tliem 

 in the mass; this, becoming concrete, 

 preserves them iu their natiual forms 

 and colours. 



These pieces of yellow amber arc 

 ciit at Koiiingsborg in,to all kinds of 

 ornaments. The Egyptian jihysicians 

 strongly reccminend their use tor w umeu 

 and children ; according to tlicm, a 

 necklace and (bracelet of yclbw ami-er, 

 which is a very ]irelty ornament, pre- 

 vents v.-ipours and nervous aluclions: 

 they pretend also, lliiil yellow amber luv 

 children removes oisorders of worms, 

 *<cc.; ami, when tlicy wear much, protects 

 them from the electrical current, wliieit, 

 in great storms, might strike them. 

 This reasoning suflicienlly agrees witl» 

 the observations aJi'orded by cxperieuoc; 

 for my own ])art, I am of opiiiiuii that 

 ladies cannot make choice of ornaments 

 so usclnl, under many respects, as those 

 of amber, which arc beautiful without 

 being too expensive. 

 Paris; ^ov. 2, 1S16. 



3 817.] 

 . by the natural sovereignty of the j)eople 

 retaining its ascendency; and the un- 

 alienable and imprescriptible rights and 

 immunities of citizens, founded on the 

 eternal and unvariable laws of justice 

 and equality, being held sacred and in- 

 violate to every member of the cona- 

 munify, Clement Cocte, 



Sutton, near Ely; Nov. 16, 1816. 



To the Editor of the Monthlij Magazine. 



SIR, 



ON our return to Koningsberg, after 

 the Treaty of Tilsit, I hail time to 

 examine the Admiralty and the other 

 establishments of the ])ort of that city, 

 which are equally remarkable for the 

 beauty oif their cor.strnction, as for their 

 eommodioiis distribution ; and I made 

 an excursion, by sea, « ith delight along 

 all the western coast of rrischhafen to 

 Pillau, where the great amber fishery is 

 cstablialied. The fishermen sold us a 

 collection of rough pieces of this yellow 

 amber, succinum, in each of which 

 we discovered various insects, as bees, 

 beetles, ants, &c. AVe did not see them 

 iish this kind of bitumen, but we learnt 

 from the fishermen that this substance 

 was thrown on the shore during great 

 storms, under the form of a liquid froth, 

 which hardened quickly on exposure lo 

 tlie air. 



Writers are not agreed on tlie natuj'e 

 of amber, and the priiiciplcs which com- 

 pose it ; but, relU cting on the variety 

 of insects found in tlie conoetc mor- 

 sels, and 00 the little analogy there is 

 between this substance and the bitu- 

 mens, the resins, and the gums, I am 

 inclined to believe that it is as much 

 the product of those masses of honey 

 aud wax which accumulated in grand 

 quantity in the trunks of old trees of 

 the immense forests of Western Europe, 

 as of those found on the shores of the 

 seas of the old Continent, where there 

 is ordinarily a vast number of bees. 

 The injuries of the air and tempests 

 overturn the trees, or they fall from age, 

 when they are imbedded in the turl and 

 remain there, contiimingto be saturated 

 with the gases and the mineral acids 

 which it contains, and thus changes the 

 nature of the honey, until the rain, 

 storms, the melting of the snows, sweep 

 them in toirents to the rivers, and tiius 

 lo the sea, the honey being still iu a 

 liquid state; there the conflicting waves 

 detach the masses, iuqiregnatc them 

 with the chemical princijiles of the sea- 

 water, tinov/ them on tlic surface iu 

 . Monthly Mac. No. QQ'i. 



D.J. Larrey, 



To the Editor of tie Monthly Magazine. 



SIH, 



(JUR correspondent Y. in your 

 last number, p. .334, I conceive, 

 is not quite correct in supposing the 

 openii}gs he obseived in the nectaries 

 of the scarlet-runner kidney-beans to b^ 

 natural. I do not recollect ever sieing 

 the bees busy about the floNVcrs of' this 

 jjlant, but have very freiiueutly seeu 

 them collecting honey fronj the (,'oluni- 

 bine, AtjiiiUgia vulgaris, by plcri in^ 

 the horn-shaped nectaries of its flowers; 

 and, if ihey obtain honey from the scar- 

 let-ruinier, 1 have no doubt but it is by 

 the same process. Trom frcqnout at- 

 tention to the habits of these liUlc in- 

 sects, I am oi opinion they do not at- 

 tcHipt to colici^t honey from thos« 

 flowers whose nectaries are too deep I'oc 

 Iheu) to reach it by the- opening of the 

 corollas, except in bad seasons, or late 

 in the summer; in which case they al- 

 ways n)ake an opening with their pro- 

 boscis into the melliferous reservoir. 



Eppittg ; '1\ i> w u i 11 :; . 



JSov. 2'2, lyiG. 



3H To 



