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gined that it derived its name Succinum, from succus a juice. This opi- 

 nion he thought was confirmed, by the smell it yields on being rubbed, 

 and the bright flame with which it burns. According to the learned 

 annotator, in the edition of Pliny by Dalechamp*, in that part of 

 the world which appears to yield amber there are no trees which 

 can be termed resiniferous ; but he observes, along the northern 

 shore there is certainly a kind of yellow bitumen, as well as a black 

 kind, to be found about Auvergne, and that from it proceeds a 

 yellow naphtha, as well as from the other is produced a black 

 petroleum. When the bitumen thus flows, soft and even liquid, 

 from its spring, it catches, retains, and incloses whatever it may 

 meet with. Flowing thus, he supposes it to be carried into the sea, 

 where, by the saltness of the water, by agitation, and great length 

 of time, it becomes hardened, as likewise takes place with asphal- 

 tum, thus becoming amber; and, being driven by the winds, is 

 thrown on the shores opposite to where its springs exist. Agricola 

 had no hesitation in placing this substance among those of the mi- 

 neral kingdom, considering it as a bitumen, from which he knew 

 that peculiar products might be obtained by chemical operations. 

 Hartmann erroneously supposed it to be a stone of the precious 

 kind, and therefore considered it as one of the gems. Some mo- 

 derns have adopted the old opinion of its being a vegetable pro- 

 duction, supposing it to be the gum or resin of the poplar tree. 

 This opinion has been corroborated by the similarity, in many 

 respects, between this substnnce and copal, which is positively 

 asserted to be a concrete juice of a tree (rhus copaliumm) of New 

 Spain ; but this substance being neither soluble in water, like gums, 

 nor in spirits of wine, like resins, has by many been also supposed 

 to be of mineral origin. Girtanner even considered amber as an 

 animal production, and supposed it to be formed by the large red 

 ant (formica rufa LINN.) These ants, he observes, form hills, which 



* Lib. xxxvii. cap. iii. 



