us iRambles witb mature Students 



divers, who work under water for five hours at a 

 time, prising up large blocks of amber from the 

 weed and sand in which they are embedded ; these 

 are hauled up to the boats and brought to shore. 



Amber is chiefly used 

 for mouth-pieces for 

 pipes, partly because of 

 its smooth surface, and 

 originally on account of 

 the belief which prevails 

 in Turkey that it cannot 

 transmit infection. Some 

 amber, like my own 

 specimen, is as clear as 

 FLIES IN AMBER. yellow glass, while other 



pieces are more or less clouded. The first mention 

 of this substance is in Homer's Odyssey 



'An artist to my father's palace came, 

 With gold and amber chains.' 



So we learn that necklaces of amber are of high 

 antiquity. 



As many as eight hundred different kinds of 

 insects have been discovered embedded in amber, 

 all formerly natives of warm climates, but now 

 extinct. 



If a piece of amber is firmly rubbed upon flannel 

 or cloth, it will become so electric as to attract small 

 pieces of paper, which will adhere firmly to it. To 

 this electric quality we may trace its Greek name of 

 electron, from which our \vord electricity is derived. 



If we like to experiment with a piece of amber 

 and apply it to a candle, it will burn, giving out a 



