Royal Society. 327 
by the heat of the animals body : The country people in ^ruHia 
do, with nets faftened to a long pole, either turn up the bottom 
of the fea, or oppofe them to the current, and this is called 
fi/hed or draught amber, and what is taken up out of the 
weeds, wood and fand, and thrown in upon the fhore is called 
picked amber j and what is dug out of the earth is called foffile 
amber 5 and in this they ufe a fickle fixed to the end of a long 
pole 5 the digging for it is fuperficial, not reaching deep in the 
earth, and was firft attempted in the time of Frederic William 
the Great. 
Amber, when taken out of the matrix, as M. Hartman ob- 
ferved at the pits, is, tough and hard to the touch 5 and it fome- 
times happens to break m digging, but that is owing to the 
glebe, for fome amber is harder than other Ibme ^ and tho* au- 
thors affirm that they have leen the fame piece of amber, partly 
foft and partly hard 5 yet M. Hartman could not difcover either 
by its fragrant tafle, or by the fire that it was amber, and all fuch 
as are converfant in thofe affairs affirm that they never knew any 
that was foft, whether draughty fofflle or picked amber -^ and 
M. Hartman himfelf, having carefully examined heaps of rude 
amber, found none that was foft, which he would have difcovered, 
were there any fuch, by the frequent experiments he made of its 
virtues ; it is the common opinion that the chief difference be- 
twixt the /oj////^ and draught amber confifts in its hardnefs, purity 
and cruft, but they are miftaken who think lb; for it happens, 
that fuch pieces as are found without their matrix contrail: Ibrae 
defe6l in their firmnefs or heat, and are covered with a pretty 
thick cruft; but thefc accidents do not infer any difference in the 
native amber ; for he was well affured that a good and indifferent 
fort was equally generated amidft the rocks in the fea and thele 
on the fhore, according to the different quantities and virtues of 
the generating bitumen and falts. 
Nature is very curious in the formation of amber glebes, {Jo as 
varioufly to reprelent pears, almonds, onions, peafe, ^c. the 
amber-polifhers call them drops, when they are nearly globular 5 
the leveral figures and reprefentations on other pieces of amber are 
no lefs furprifing; M. Hartman faw leveral whereon nature had 
formed different letters; in one there was a white line which by 
it's bending neatly formed the letter S, lome had rude draughts 
of Arabian and Hebreiv charafters; befides that, a nice eye 
might diftinguifh on the variegated amber the outlines of /lirubs, 
leaves, clouds, ^r, he had one piece of apber whereon was 
reprelented the picture of an old man, with a child in his arms. 
'rliny 
