5i6 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



and in later times the amber revenues have amounted to about £35,000, the exact sum 

 received by the Prussian treasury in the year 1894-5 being ,£'35,500. Of this, £33,850 

 was contributed by the firm of Stantien and Becker alone for the mining rights of the 

 Palmnicken mine and other places. The remaining £1650 was paid for the right to collect 

 amber along certain stretches of shore, which for some years had been knocked down to the 

 highest bidder, and many of these workers also were under the control of the firm just 

 mentioned. 



A more or less systematic winning of amber also exists in the interior of the country, 

 but it is impossible to single out localities for special mention. Pieces of amber picked up 

 casually must be yielded up to the State officials, who are authorised to pay the finder a 

 reward fixed by law. The material accumulated in this manner is sold periodically by the 

 State. 



Wouking of Ambee. — Evei-y piece of amber of a suitable size and quality is worked 

 for ornaments or for articles used by smokers, the latter application being far more 

 extensive than any other. The material suitable for this purpose is known as worh-stone. 

 Pieces which are impure or too small, together with the fragments detached in the working 

 of larger stones, are melted down and used for the manufacture of lac and varnish, material 

 of this kind being known as " varnish." The same kind of material has been used to a 

 certain extent in recent years for the preparation of pressed amber, of which more will be 

 said below. About half of the total production of amber must be placed in the " varnish " 

 category, its value being about one-tenth that of the annual yield. 



The application of the so-called work-stone must now be considered more in detail. 

 The material is mostly turned on the lathe, but it may be fashioned into the desired form 

 also by cutting and grinding, and a certain amount is cut up into thin plates. By 

 immersion in hot linseed-oil, amber is not only clarified, as stated above, but is also softened 

 and made flexible, a fact of great importance in the amber-working industry. 



Nearly one-half of the total production of amber is devoted to the manufacture of 

 articles for the use of smokers, namely, cigar- and cigarette-holders, mouthpieces for the same, 

 and for pipes, &c. This manufacture is one of the staple industries of Vienna, the ai-ticles 

 made there being famous all the world over for their excellence. A quantity of material worth 

 40 per cent, of the value of the annual yield of rough material goes to Vienna, and this 

 includes only the oest qualities of amber. The German towns in competition with Vienna 

 for this trade are Niirnberg, Konigsberg, Ruhla near Eisenach, and Erbach in the 

 Oldenwald. Niirnberg and Erbach are engaged exclusively in the manufacture of articles 

 for the use of smokers, which are all exported, while Ruhla manufactures the same class of 

 goods, but for home use. In France, Paris and St. Claude in the Jura, are engaged in the 

 same manufacture, the articles being for home use, and the value of the rough material 

 employed being about 10 per cent, of that of the total yield. In England there is no 

 important manufacture of amber goods ; in Holland and Belgium ornamental articles of 

 amber are manufactured, but not for export. In Russia both smokers' requisites and 

 ornamental articles are manufactured at Polangen and Krottingen to the north of Memel 

 on the Prussian border, the industry affording a livelihood to the whole of the population 

 of the district. At Zhitomir, in Volhynia, are made only articles used by smokers, 

 including the cigar-holders mounted with Tula silver, supplies of which are sent to Warsaw, 

 St. Petersburg, Riga, Ostrolenka, and Odessa. In North America amber is worked for the 

 same class of goods, but only foi- home use. After a period of depression, due to the 

 pressure of Viennese competition, the industry in Turkey, especially at Constantinople, is 

 now in a flourishing condition, and is still growing. 



