OXYGENATED HYDROCARBONS. 325 



II. OXYGENATED HYDROCARBONS. 

 Amber. 



In irregular masses. Color yellow, sometimes brownish 

 or whitish ; lustre resinous. Transparent to translucent. 

 H. = 2-2o. GL=1-18. Electric by friction. 



Amber is not a simple resin, but consists mainly (85 to 90 

 per cent.) of a resin which resists all solvents, called Suc- 

 cinite, and two other resins soluble in alcohol and ether, 

 besides an oil, and 2 h, to 6 per cent, of Succinic acid. 



Obs. Occurs in the loose deposits along coasts, especially 

 Tertiary strata, in masses from a very small size to that of 

 a man's head. In the Royal Museum at Berlin, there is a 

 mass weighing 18 pounds. On the Baltic coast it is most 

 abundant, especially between Konigsberg and Memel. It 

 is met with at one place in a bed of bituminous coal ; it 

 also occurs on the Adriatic ; in Poland ; on the Sicilian 

 coast near Catania ; in France near Paris, in clay ; in China. 

 It has been found in the United States, at Gay Head, 

 Martha's Vineyard ; Camden, N. J. ; and at Cape Sable, 

 near the Magothy River, in Maryland. 



It is supposed, with good reason, to be a vegetable resin 

 which has undergone some change while inhumed, a part 

 of which is due to acids of sulphur proceeding from decom- 

 posing pyrites or some other source. It often contains in- 

 sects, and specimens of this kind are so highly prized as 

 frequently to be imitated for the shops. Some of the insects 

 appear evidently to have struggled after being entangled in 

 the then viscous resin, and occasionally a leg or a wing is 

 found some distance from the body, having been detached 

 in the struggle for escape. 



Amber is the elektron of the Greeks ; from its becoming 

 electric so readily when rubbed, it gave the name electricity 

 to science. It was also called succinum, from the Greek 

 succum, juice, because of its supposed vegetable origin. 



It admits of a good polish and is used for ornamental 

 purposes, though not very much esteemed, as it is wanting 

 in hardness and brilliancy of lustre, and moreover is easily 

 imitated. It is much valued in Turkey for mouth-pieces 

 to pipes. 



Copalite, or Mineral- Copal, Walchoicite, Ambrite (the New Zealand 

 resin), Euosrrdte, Scleretinite, Middletote are some of the names of 

 other fossil resins ; Geocerite, and Geomyricite, of wax -like oxygenated 

 species ; Guyaquillite, BatJwillite, Torbanite, Ionite (from lone valley. 



