AMBER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 7 
That other manner kind is called metal, and is found in 
the earth, and is had in price. The third manner is made 
of the three parts of gold, and of the fourth of silver. 
And kind Electrum warneth of venom, for if one dip it 
therein, it, maketh a great chirking noise, and changeth oft 
into divers colours as the rainbow, and that suddenly. 
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 38. 
Tue Amber that is brought from these parts [Konigsberg 
and Kurland] lies in great quantity scattered on the sand of 
the sea, yet it is as safe as if it were in warehouses, since it 
is death to take away the least piece thereof. At Dantzic 
I did see two polished pieces thereof, which were esteemed at 
a great price, one including a frog with each part clearly 
to be seen, (for which the King of Poland then being there 
offered five hundred dollars) the other including a newt, 
but ‘not so transparent as the former. 
Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” pt. iii. bk. ii. ch. 3, p. 81. 
Any kind of Amber being sodden in the grease of a 
sow that gives suck to young pigs, is not only thereby 
the clearer but also much the better. Lupton, bk. i. § 25. 
Our drink shall be prepared gold and Amber. 
Ben Fonson’s “Fox,” iii. 7. 
He must drink his wine 
With three parts water, and have Amber in that too. 
Ben Fonson’s “ Magnetic Lady,” iii. 2. 
[Ambergris was a synonym for Amber, and was also used 
in caudles, cullises, and comfits.] 
I wonDER most at Sophocles the tragical poet. For he 
sticketh not to avouch, That beyond India Amber proceedeth 
from the tears that fall from the eyes of the birds. 
Flollana’s Pliny, bk. xxxvii. ch. 2. 
AmBeER is found as well in other places as in India. 
Garcias thinks it to be the nature of the soil, as chalk, 
bole-ammoniac, etc., and not the seed of the whale, or 
issuing from some fountain in the sea. 
Purchas’ “Pilgrims,” p. 508 (ed. 1616). 
