AMBREIN. 



England about the year 1720. They found about 20 Ibs. of am- 

 bergris in the intestines of one of these animals.* This account 

 was confirmed in 1783 by Dr Schwediawer,f and in 1791 by Mr 

 Champion. :f 



Ambergris, when pure, is a light soft substance which floats in 

 water. Its specific gravity, as determined by Brisson, varies from 

 0-78 to 0*92. Its colour is ash-gray, with brownish-yellow and 

 white streaks. It has an agreeable smell, which improves by 

 keeping. It is insipid to the taste. 



Ambergris was subjected to a chemical examination by Bouillon 

 Lagrange about the beginning of the present century ; by Bu- 

 cholz in 1810. || Pelletier and Caventou subjected it to a new 

 examination in 1820, 1F and showed that it consisted chiefly of a 

 peculiar fatty matter, which they distinguished by the name of 

 ambrein ; and in 1832 Pelletier subjected ambrein to a chemical 

 analysis.** 



Ambrein may be obtained by digesting ambergris in hot alco- 

 hol of the specific gravity 0*827. The alcohol, on cooling, de- 

 posites the ambrein in very bulky and irregular crystals, which 

 still retain a considerable portion of alcohol. This may be got 

 rid of, by subjecting the ambrein to pressure between folds of 

 blotting-paper. 



Ambrein thus purified is a white, brilliant, and insipid solid. 

 It has an agreeable smell, which may be driven off by keeping 

 the ambrein a long time in a state of fusion by means of a gentle 

 heat ; or by repeated solutions in alcohol and crystallizations. 



According to Pelletier and Caventou, it melts, when heated, 

 to 86, and softens at 77. When heated on platinum foil, it 

 melts, smokes, and is volatilized, without leaving any residue. It 

 is insoluble in water, but dissolves readily in alcohol and ether. 

 When distilled per se in a retort, it becomes brown, but passes 

 over into the receiver without having suffered any notable alte- 

 ration, leaving in the retort a little charcoal. It dissolves also 

 in volatile and fixed oils. Nitric acid converts it into a peculiar 

 acid,, which has been already described in a preceding chapter of 

 this volume under the name of ambreic acid. 



* Phil. Trans. 1724, xxxvii. 193, 256. f Ibid. 1783, p. 226. 



\ Phil. Trans. 1791, p. 43. Ann. de Chim. xlvii. 6& 



|| Ann. de Chim. Ixxiii. 95. J Jour, de Pharm. vi. 49* 

 * Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. li. 187. 



