SCIENCE GOSSIP. 



2 73 



THE BALTIC AMBER MINES. 



By M. Lane. 



"\ \J"& had left grim old Konigsberg, the coronation 

 place of the Kings of Prussia, behind us, 

 struck by its thick brick walls, huge ramparts with 

 iron-studded gates, and astonished that these for- 

 midable-looking defences should be of no avail in 

 modern warfare. At a distance of about four or five 

 miles, however, we passed by some insignificant- 

 looking forts, which, forming a ring round the old 

 town, make it, we are told, by dint of their far- 

 reaching guns hidden under a green surface, the 

 greatest stronghold of Eastern Germany. For a little 

 while the railway line ran along the river and passed 

 on to the open country, which bears a striking re- 

 semblance to the vast, flat, monotonous, but fertile 

 plain of Northern Germany. Wide fields deprived 

 of their golden crops but speckled with white geese 

 and sleek cows met our eyes in quick succession. 

 Now and then a stately mansion peeped out from 

 under the leafy shelter of its orchard, or we passed 

 large villages, the thatched roofs of their farmhouses 

 having storks* nests on their gables, whose inhabitants 

 had gone to their winter resorts on the Nile. Wherever 

 we looked there was a line of dark pine woods along 

 the horizon. Sometimes they came quite near, so 

 near that one could even see a squirrel jumping from 

 tree to tree, or the gleam of wooden houses between the 

 dusky trunks of the pines, habitations for people who, 

 away from the dust and heat of towns and the lurking 

 germs of disease, wished to bathe their lungs in the 

 health-giving zephyrs wafted from the conifers. 



A few stations farther on we had to change in order 

 to go to Palmnicken, where are the amber mines. The 

 branch line owes its existence to the mines ; it was 

 made about fifteen years ago, when the mines had 

 been ten years in operation. 



" Gold of the Baltic Sea," as amber is often called, 

 is found in various places on the globe, but nowhere 

 in such abundance as on the shores of the Baltic from 

 Memel to Danzig, and there principally on the coast 

 of the oblong piece of land jutting out into the sea 

 between the Kurische and the Frische Haff. 



Being as hard as stone, it is no wonder that amber 

 was considered in ancient times to be a mineral. It 

 is now ascertained, without doubt, to be a vegetable 

 product, a fossil gum of a coniferous tree, and from 

 time immemorial it has been used as a jewel by many 

 a fair lady. From the coast of the Baltic the Phoe- 

 nicians are supposed to have brought it to the countries 

 on the Mediterranean. Why should not those bold 

 ancient traders have gone so far in their search ? It 

 is true they left no traces there as on the coast of 

 Cornwall, for instance, where many names of places, 

 by their mellow sound or numerous vowels, evince 

 their southern origin, and are pronounced by philolo- 



gists to have originated in the language of Tyre and 

 Sidon. 



It is not to be wondered that amber, looked upon 

 as a precious stone, should be claimed by the State. 

 The Teutonic Knights who were once lords over East 

 and West Prussia watched its production with a 

 jealous eye. The inhabitants of the villages on the 

 amber coast had to bind themselves by oath to 

 deliver all the amber they should find or gather. 

 Notwithstanding, depredators were numerous, al- 

 though they were punished by death on the gallows, 

 which at brief intervals arose along the beach, like 

 fingers stretched out in ominous warning. 



The original method of gathering amber was very 

 primitive. When strong gales had been tossing the 

 waves, a great amount of seaweed was thrown on the 

 sands. Men, women, and children then gleaned the 

 pieces of amber from the meshes of this vegetable 

 network, or simply picked up what was washed on 

 shore. To prevent thefts, the Order of the Teu- 

 tonic Knights did not allow amber cutters to settle 

 within their dominions, and all the raw produce was 

 sold to the guilds at Bruges and Liibeck. After the 

 Reformation, however, when Prussia became a duke- 

 dom, her first duke, Albrecht, had amber manu- 

 factories established at Konigsberg as well as Danzig. 



It can be understood that the peasantry in the 

 villages and the landed proprietors on the amber 

 coast derived considerable pecuniary advantages from 

 gathering amber, but there were great drawbacks too. 

 No person was permitted to approach the beach 

 without a special license ; no villages were frequented 

 for bathing or as summer resorts. Besides, the 

 population stood under a kind of police surveillance, 

 that did not fail to have a demoralising effect. No 

 wonder a change which took place in the earlier part 

 of this century was hailed with enthusiasm. Leases 

 were then given to villages and estates, to gather and 

 sell whatever amount of amber could be got, pro- 

 vided a certain sum of money was paid as royalty. 

 The favourable effects of this measure were soon felt. 

 Thefts ceased, bathing places were established along 

 the coast, and, last but not least, there was a general 

 effort made to increase the production. Formerly 

 people had waited for gales to stir up the seaweed, 

 now they went out in their boats to dredge. In 

 older times a storm proved most productive, now 

 they set out on calm clear days with long spears in 

 their hands to stir the yellow stone from among the 

 shingle in shallow places, and to raise it in their 

 landing-nets. 



In 1867 these leases were slightly altered ; a new 

 method, that of mining, was exempted from them, 

 and the license for this operation was given to two 



