47 



AMBERGRIS. 



AS this substance is a marine production, I 

 have thought proper to introduce some account 

 of it here. 



THIS delicious perfume is, without doubt, 

 the produce of the Sperm-whale *, and pro- 

 bably is the result of a disease in the digestive 

 organs. Captain Poole, the commander of a 

 whale-ship, in pushing a lance through the 

 blubber, and near the passage of the abdomen, 

 felt it strike against something hard, and on 



* The fibres of the skin from the head of this whale are of 

 great tenacity, excellent ropes may therefore be manufactured 

 of them, especially for situations exposed to much friction : it is 

 said that they are stronger than catgut, and make better strings 

 for violins. 



