AMBER: WORKING 547 



Thin plates of amber for use in inlaid work, mosaics, &c., were once mu(;h in request, 

 but are manufactured now only in small numbers. 



Ornamental objects of amber are manufactured in great variety, and in accordance 

 with the taste of different peoples. Perhaps the conunonest of such ai'ticles are beads, 

 rounded or faceted, and perforated so that they can be strung together and worn as 

 necklaces and bracelets, or used as rosaries by Roman Catholics and Mohammedans. Also 

 pieces of special form for necklaces and bi'acelets, brooches, and other articles, these being 

 often delicately carved. 



A certain number of amber ornaments are manufactured, as we have seen, in Russia 

 (at Polangen and Krottingen), at Constantinople, and in England. The industry flourishes 

 also in China and Korea, where round beads for mandarins' chains are made in sreat 

 numbers. China now uses annually for this purpose from ^£"7500 to £10,000 worth of 

 rough amber, while formerly the beads were imported ready-made from Germany. 



The total production of amber ornaments in each of the countries enumerated is, 

 however, small, and Germany in this respect comes before all, while for smokers' requisites 

 Austria stands first. Danzig, Berlin, Stolp in Pomerania, and Worms manufacture almost 

 exclusively ornamental articles, with which they supply the whole world, with the exception 

 of the countries mentioned above. Some of these articles remain in Europe, but the 

 remainder are exported from Hamburg, London, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Livorno, Trieste, 

 and Genoa, some passing thi'ough Moscow and the fairs of Odessa and Nizhniy Novgorod 

 to Turkey, Persia, Armenia, the Caucasus, Siberia, various parts of Africa far into the 

 interior, China, India, Arabia (where numerous rosaries are disposed of to pilgiims going 

 to Mecca), the West Indies, North and South America, &c. The articles must be made to 

 suit the special requirements of each country, and certain classes of goods, which are more 

 in request than any others, are manufactured in large quantities. This is the case, for 

 instance, with beads, and in the wholesale trade six varieties are distinguished, namely : 



1. Olives, elongated, elliptical beads. 



2. Zotteii (German), cylindrical, slightly rounded, almost plane, at the two ends. 



3. Grecken (German), like "Zotten" but shorter. 



4. Beads proper, spherical. 



5. Corals, beads with facets. 



6. Horse-corah, fiat, clear beads faceted at the two ends. 



These different beads are made of various sizes and in different qualities of amber, 

 those of bastard being the most valuable. "Bastard olives" and "bastard beads" 

 constitute at the present time the most valuable article of export of the German amber- 

 industry. According to the size and colour of the beads, the price varies in 



" Bastard olives " from £2 10s. to £25 per kilogram. 

 " Bastard beads " „ £3 12s. „ £15 „ „ 



Another article manufactured in large numbers is the manelle. This is a flat, polished 

 disc of amber, in the middle of which is cemented an amber bead, the latter being of clear 

 amber and the disc of bastard, or vice versd. The bead is not infrequently set upon a piece 

 of tin foil to increase the lustre, and the underside engraved with flowers or other devices. 

 These "manelles" serve as the centre-pieces of necklaces and bracelets, and are much 

 appreciated in Persia, Armenia, and Turkey. 



Cylinders of amber were for a long time much sought after by certain races in Central 

 Africa and South America to be used as ornaments for the ears. To meet this demand, 



