AMBROSINE. 137 



24 parts of alcohol of '830, and 96 of caustic ammonia of '916, eau de lues is formed. 

 Eau de luce was a celebrated old perfume, but it is now rarely made. 



If nitric acid is poured into eau de luce a viscid resinous mass is formed, which has 

 the smell of musk, and is known as artificial musk. Formerly this preparation, dis- 

 solved in alcohol, was considered as a specific in whooping-cough, and it was fre- 

 quently administered in spasmodic diseases. 



AMBER VARNISH. A strong and durable varnish is made by dissolving 

 amber in drying linseed oil. The amber is, however, previously heated in an iron 

 pot, over a clear red fire, till it softens and assumes a semi-fluid form. The oil, which 

 has been also made hot, is to be poured on the melted amber, and the mixture dili- 

 gently stirred. 



The following proportions are stated to be the best: 16 ounces of amber and 10 

 ounces of linseed oil. When these are, by the above method, thoroughly incorporated, 

 and tho liquid is somewhat cooled, a pound of oil of turpentine must be added. 



Black coachmakcr's varnish is prepared by melting 16 ounces of amber and adding 

 thereto about half a pint of boiling-hot drying linseed oil, 3 ounces of asphaltum, and 

 the same quantity of resin. After these have been thoroughly mixed over tho fire, 

 the vessel containing tho varnish is removed, and, after cooling, a pint of warm oil of 

 turpentine is added. 



Amber is composed of a mixture of resins, two of which are soluble in alcohol 

 ether, and in certain hydrocarbons ; whilst the third, which forms by far tho greater 

 part of the amber, is insoluble in all known solvents. Varnishes are prepared from 

 the soluble portions, and sold under the name of amber spirit varnishes ; but these are 

 frequently composed' of either copal or mastic. They have boon much used for 

 varnishing collodion pictures. 



AMBERGRIS. (Ambregris, Fr.; Ambra, Ger.) A morbid secretion from tho 

 liver and intestines of the spermaceti whale (Physeter macroccphalus). It is found 

 usually swimming on tho sea upon the coasts of Coromandel, Japan, the Moluccas, 

 and Madagascar, and also on various parts of tho east coast of Africa. Ambergris 

 has not been found in any whales but such as have been dead or sick ; its production 

 has therefore been attributed to disease. As portions of the food of the whale are 

 invariably found in any large pieces of ambergris, there is little doubt that it origi- 

 nates in the intestines of that animal. 



The best ambergris is ash-coloured, with yellow or blackish veins or spots, scarcely 

 any taste, and very little smell unless heated or much handled, when it yields an 

 agreeable odour. Exposed in a silver spoon it melts without bubble or scum, and on 

 Jie heated point of a knife it vaporises completely away. 



The Chinese try the genuineness of ambergris by scraping it fine upon boiling 

 tea ; it should dissolve and diffuse itself generally. Black or white is bad ; tho smooth 

 and uniform is generally factitious. It has often a black streak, or is marbled yellow 

 and black; has a fatty taste, is lighter than water, melts at 60 C. (140 F.), dissolves 

 readily in absolute alcohol, in ether, and in both fat and volatile oils. 



The chemical composition of ambergris is represented by the following formula, 

 Qss jps (C M H 84 O). True ambergris is very rarely met with, by far the largest 

 proportion of that which is sold as ambergris being a preparation scented with civet or 

 musk. The alcoholic tincture of ambergris is highly fluorescent in sunlight, exhibiting 

 a characteristic yellow green rim on the surface of the solution. This is a test by 

 which genuine ambergris may be distinguished from such as is spurious. 



Capt. Alex. Hamilton, .in his ' Thirty Years' Experience,' says, ' Sometimes, in tho 

 south-west monsoons, they find ambergrease floating on the sea. I saw a piece in 

 Adda Rajah's possession as big as a bushel ; and he valued it at 10,000 rupees, or 

 1,250/. sterling.' This was at the Laccadive Islands, 170 miles from the Malabar 

 Coast. New Account of the East Indies, 1688 to 1730. 



In France tho duty upon ambergris is 62 francs per kilogramme when imported in 

 French vessels, and 67 francs when imported in foreign vessels. 



Mr. Temple, of British Honduras, speaks of an odorous substance thrown off by tho 

 alligator, which appears to resemble ambergris. 



AMBOY1TA WOOD. A beautiful wood much used for inlaid work. Several 

 varieties are imported, but probably all are produced by one species the Pterosper- 

 mum Indicum, a tree belonging to the Byttneriacece, or chocolate order. 



AMBRErarE. The fragrant substance of ambergris, which may be obtained by 

 digesting ambergris in hot alcohol, from which, on cooling, it is deposited in a 

 crystalline form. It is composed of C 88'37, H 3'32, 3-31. 



AMBRXTE. A fossil resin occurring in large masses in Now Zealand, and much 

 resembling the common resin of tho Dammara Australia, with which it is often exported. 

 AIYEBROSXTCE. A resinous mineral found in tho phosphatic bods near Charleston, 

 South Carolina, U.S. 



