548 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



now to a large extent fallen off, these " cylinders "" were manufactured in large quantities, 

 and of various sizes, the largest being about 5 centimetres in length and 2 in diameter, 

 but with a rather broader base. 



Other amber ornaments need not be described in detail since there are none of a particular 

 type which remain long enough in favour to justify their manufacture in large numbers. 

 New designs and devices must be constantly brought out to meet the ever-changing demands 

 of popular taste. In the same way the taste of the people of different countries must also 

 be studied by the manufacturer of amber goods, not only with regard to the design of these 

 goods, but also with respect to the variety of amber in which they are executed. Thus for 

 articles exported to Russia, fine bastard amber only must be used ; while in Holland the 

 most admired variety is clear amber ; in Germany, both clear and bastard amber is favoured ; 

 in France, bastard amber ; in China, clear amber ; in West Africa, the semi-osseous varieties 

 with a brownish tinge ; and so forth. 



The value of the whole of the rough amber annually used up lies between ^Pl 00,000 and 

 ,;&150,000. Of this, 40 per cent, is taken by Austria, 20 per cent, by Germany, 10 per cent, 

 by Russia, 10 per cent, by France, 10 per cent, is used in the manufacture of varnishes, and 

 the remaining 10 per cent, is used in the home manufactures of North America, China, 

 Turkey, and other countries already mentioned. 



The Amber Trade. — We have already seen that the amber trade is almost completely 

 controlled by the firm of Stantien and Becker, since they are responsible for the production and 

 marketing of almost the whole of the yield. The initiation of mining operations by this 

 firm effected a complete revolution in the trade, for whereas in former times almost 

 the whole of the annual yield consisted of sea-amber, and only a very small proportion 

 of dug-amber, these conditions are now reversed. The supposed superiority of sea-amber 

 over dug-amber lay in the fact that the former was free from the enveloping crust of 

 weathered material, so that its colour and quality could be seen at a glance, and, moreover, 

 was, as a rule, sound and free from cracks. In the case of dug-amber, with each piece 

 enclosed in a thick opaque crust, it was impossible to judge of the quality, and the purchase 

 of a parcel of such material was a risky speculation. This objection to purchasing rough 

 amber was overcome by removing the opaque external crust by the method already 

 described. The dug-stone had then no disadvantages compared with sea-amber, and even 

 possessed a certain advantage over the latter, seeing that after the treatment to which it 

 was subjected for the removal of the crust, every piece could not fail to be absolutely sound 

 and free from cracks. 



Another new and important departure, with which the same firm is to be credited, was 

 the system of sorting the rough amber into trade varieties before placing it on the 

 wholesale market. The rough amber is sorted out with regard to colour and quality, the 

 size of the pieces, the number that go to make up a pound, and the suitability of their form 

 to different purposes ; merchants are thus enabled to buy rough material, the whole of which 

 is exactly suited to their requirements. Previous, to this, the rough amber had been 

 classified to a certain extent, but not in accordance with the requirements of a more 

 extended trade, and it is unnecessary to enumerate here the names by which these original 

 trade varieties were known. The classification introduced by Stantien and Becker has been 

 gradually coming into general use since 1868. The brief review of it, which now follows, is 

 taken from R. Klebs, who has made a thorough study of the amber-producing industry, and 

 to whom we are indebted also for much of the information already given. 



One of the chief aims of the amber-worker is to produce any required article with the 

 least possible waste of rough material. Thus, for the fashioning of a long, thin cigar-holder 



