Amber is em}: 
Norway; in Switzerland, and in Franee, 
near Paris, in cdity. In England it has 
been discovered near London, and on 
the coasts of Norfolk, Pjssex and Suf¬ 
folk. On the American continent it 
has been found in i^lexico, and in the 
United States, at Gay Head, at Cam¬ 
den and in New Jersey. To tlie geol¬ 
ogist there is a peculiar charm about 
the ‘‘golden gum,” for it carries him 
back to the ages wlien there were prim¬ 
eval forests where man’s foot never 
trod. It tells him that under the 
stormy Baltic and beyond the marshy 
coast lines of Northern Europe were 
once titanic woods, abounding with 
resinous pines and tii-s, somewhat re¬ 
sembling those of our own age; and 
that thousands upon thousands of ages 
ago these pines exuded from their 
limbs and trunks masses of half-liquid 
gums, clinging in ball to their rough 
l)arks, and that these odorous gums 
attracted numerous insects and even 
small reptiles, and that maiw of them 
gradualh^ became embedded in the vis¬ 
cid gum. Ages upon ages swept down 
the vale of time, the amber-bearing 
pines and firs grew old, perished and 
decayed where they fell, leaving the 
exuded gum to harden, and to finally 
become altered by fossilization under 
the deposits of succeeding ages until 
it lay many feet beneath the accumu¬ 
lated debris. Then the coast gradu¬ 
ally sank and the sea swept over the 
dead forest, and thus it is that amber 
is found both under the land and be- 
neath the sea. 
And from the insects and small rep¬ 
tiles perfectly preserved and buried in 
their ‘‘crystal coffins,” the geologist is 
enabled to tell that some of the Hies, 
bugs and small lizards of that prime¬ 
val forest resemble those of our own age. 
ety of pur[)oses. It is the basis of an 
excellent transparent varnish; it af¬ 
fords by distillation oil of ambei- and 
also succinic acid; and as the })repara- 
tion of the amber varnish required 
that the amber be fused, all these pro¬ 
ducts ai‘e obtained at the same time. 
Small pieces and scraps of amber are 
pulverized and burned as an incense 
in certain churches. The use of amber 
for the mouthpieces of pipes and cigar- 
holders originated in the East, where 
the pi[)e, like the calumet of the Amer¬ 
ican Indians, is a special institution. 
The cliiboiique was passed from one to 
another, and as the amber was suppos¬ 
ed to be prophylactic, or proof against 
poison, no fear of treachery existed, as 
it wuis supposed to be impossible to 
convey poison by this substance. It is 
undoubtedly owing to its perfect clean¬ 
liness and non-absorptive property 
that makes it grow' more in favor wdtli 
smokers each year. There is a differ¬ 
ence of opinion as to which variety of 
amber makes the finest mouthpieces. 
In America the clear amber is consid¬ 
ered the most valuable, wdiile in Europe 
the cloudy material commands the 
highest price. 
Coleoptera Found in Fungi at 
Peekskill, N. Y. 
BY J. D. SHERMAN, JR., PEEKSKIEE, N. Y. 
Cercyonp7'aetextatum,S ay .—One spec¬ 
imen, August 28th. 
Silpha americana, Linn. —One speci¬ 
men, August 17th. 
Listoti'ophus cingidatus., Guay.— Oc¬ 
casionally found. 
Philonthus cyanipennis, Fabk.—V ery 
common; August. 
