PHYSIOGRAPHY. 11 



Amber. 



Cleavage none. Fracture conchoidal. Surface une- 

 ven and rough. 



Lustre resinous. Prevalent color yellow, passing into 

 red, brown and white. Streak white. Transparent . . . 

 translucent. 



Not very brittle. Hardness = 2-0. . .2-5. Sp. gr. 

 = 1-081. 



Resinous electricity produced by friction. 



1. Two sub-species have been distinguished in Amber, according to 

 their lustre and transparency. Yellow Amber contains yellow and red 

 varieties, and which possess the highest degrees of transparency to be 

 met with in the species. White Amber refers to white and pale yel- 

 low, faintly translucent varieties. Often, however, both kinds are join- 

 ed in one and the same specimens, passing insensibly into each other, 

 which demonstrates their identity. 



2. Amber burns with a yellow flame, giving out an agreeable odor, 

 and leaves a carbonaceous residue. It is soluble in alcohol. 



3. Analysis. 

 By DRAPPIER. 



Carbon 80-59 



Hydrogen 7-31 



Oxygen 6-73 



Lime ..... 1*54 



Alumina 1-10 



Silica 0-63 



4. Amber, without doubt owes its origin to the vegetable kingdom ; an 

 opinion sufficiently established by the insects and other organic bodies 

 which it often includes, by the analogous substance known in commerce 

 under the name of Gum Copal, which is afforded by a family of trees 

 growing in India, as well as by the circumstances under which Amber 

 is known to occur, it being found in beds of bituminous wood, from 

 which it is disengaged by the action of the waves on the sea coast. 



5. The principal places from whence Amber is obtained are: the 

 Prussian borders of the Baltic Sea, (where it is collected by the govern- 

 ment, either during or immediately after storms, which rake it up from 

 its bed and throw it on shore,) Denmark, Spain, Sicily, Greenland, Chi- 



