ANALYSIS OF AMBERGRIS. 



179 



fervatlons to which I am flill inclhied to give confidence, 

 until Mr. Fichte can more clearly convince me that it ought 

 in no cafe to be depended on. 



III. 



Anah/fis of Ambergris ; by Cit. Bouillon La Grange*. 



T Is an opinion now generally adopted, that ambergris is Ambergris founi 



I 



formed in the ftomach of the cachalot, or fpermaceti whale, ^f ^he phyfeter 



phyfeter macrocepludus, and appears to be a produ6l of its macrocephalus. 



digeftive facuUies. 



Dr. Swediaur has fliewn, in his inquiries Into the nature Beaks of cuttle- 



and origin of ambergris, that the beaks of the cuttlefifh, in- ^.^ ,^°""<1 j" ^^* 

 r ? I 1 1 II t 1 ' • r 1 -1 tiae large piecesj 



terlperled throughout all the large pieces or ambc'gns, that 



are found fwimming on the fea, or caft upon the (here, as 



well as fhofe extraded from the bellies of whales, belong to 



the fpecies called by Linneus /t'pia oBopodia, The exiftence 



of thefe beaks and other foreign fubftances in ambergris 



evidently proves it to have been originally in a foft or fluid whence it muft 



Hate. Dr. Swediaur afferts, that the whale, in the belly of f""^' 'if 'J„^, ^'^5^. 



which ambergris is found, is the fame fpecies as that from The fpermactti 



which fpermaceti is extracted, which appears to be ihephyfeter ^'^^j'° . . 



macrocephalus of Linneus ; and feeds chiefly on the large fpecies 



of cuttlefilh. The ambergris is found in the intefl:inal canal 



of this fiOi ; it is a fource of difeafe to it +; and after it itfues Occafionsa 



from the cavity in which it had been included, it gradually ^'^^afe m the 



, ^ ,.,... , , », ,- ° •' fi/h? becomci 



acquires the lolidity it is known to polleis. f_,]i^ aft^r its 



Ambergris is found in the Indian Seas, near the Moluccas, exclufion. 



Maldivia Iflands, and Madagafcar, on the coafts of China ^"""^ jj°"},g 



and Japan, and from Jolo to the Philippine Iflands. It is Indian Ocean 



frequently coUecled on the fhores of the Ifland of Maragnan, ''"-'^ '^' ^'''"'^'-l- 



or of Brazil; but more commonly on thofe of Africa, toward Of Brazil, 



cape Blanco, the gulf of Arguin, the bay of Portendie, and anJaifoof 



on forae other Iflands, that extend from Mofambique to the 



Red Sea. 



* Annates de Chimie, No. 139. or XLVII. 68. 



t Is it not rather the efFeft, than the caufe of difeafe ? J. C. 



N 2 From 



