AMBERG, a walled town of Bavaria, formerly the capital of the Upper Palatinate, and at present the scat of the appeal court for the district, is situated on both sides of the Vils, 35 miles east of Nuremberg. It is a well-built town, and has a library, a gymnasium, a lyceum, elementary schools, an arsenal, and several churches, the finest of which is St Martin’s, with many fine paintings, and a tower 300 feet high. The principal manufactures are fire-arms, ironmongery, earthenware, woollen cloth, beer, and salt; in the neighbourhood are iron and coal mines. The French under Jourdan were defeated by the Austrians near Amberg in 1796. Population in 1871, 11,688. i
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 1, p. 660 [117 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]
A solid, opake, ash-colored inflammable substance, variegated like marble, remarkably light, rugged on its surface, and when heated, it has a fragrantodor. It does not effervesce with acids; it melts easily into a kind of yellow resin, and is highly soluble in spirit of wine. Various opinions have been entertained respecting its origin; but it is well ascertained, that it is induratedfecal matter, discharged by the spermacetiwhale, a species of physeter. It has been found in that species of whale, but usually is found floating on the surface of the ocean, in regions frequented by whales; sometimes in masses of from 60 to 225 pounds weight. In this substance are found the beaks of the cuttle fish, on which that whale is known to feed. It is highly valued as a material in perfumery.
A substance of the consistence of wax, found floating in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the tropics, and also as a morbid secretion in the intestines of the spermwhale (Physeter macrocephalus), which is believed to be in all cases its true origin. In color it is white, ash-gray, yellow, or black, and often variegated like marble. The floating masses are sometimes from sixty to two hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight. It is wholly volatilized as a white vapor at 212¡ Fahrenheit, and is highly valued in perfumery.
AMBERGRIS(Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or Grey Amber) is a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour, the shades being variegated like marble, possessing a peculiar sweet earthy odour. It is now known to be a morbid secretion formed in the intestines of the spermacetiwhale (Physeter macrocephalus), and is found floating upon the sea, on the sea-coast, or in the sand near the sea-coast. It is met with in the Atlantic Ocean, on the coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa, of the East Indies, China, Japan, and the Molucca Islands; but most of the ambergris which is brought to England comes from the Bahama Islands, Providence, &c. It is also sometimes found in the abdomen of whales, always in lumps in various shapes and sizes, weighing from ½ oz. to 100 or more lb. A piece which the Dutch East India Company bought from the King of Tydore weighed 182 lb. An American fisherman from Antigua found, inside a whale, about 52 leagues south-east from the Windward Islands, a piece of ambergris which weighed about 130 lb, and sold for £500 sterling. Like many other substances regarding the origin of which there existed some obscurity or mystery, ambergris in former times possessed a value, and had properties attributed to it, more on account of the source from which it was drawn than from its inherent qualities. Many ridiculoushypotheses were started to account for its origin, and among others it was conjectured to be the solidifiedfoam of the sea, a fungoid growth in the ocean similar to the fungi which form on trees, the excreta of sea-birds, &c. The true source and character of ambergris was first satisfactorily established by Dr Swediaur in a communication to the Royal Society (Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxxiii.) It was ...found by Dr Swediaur that ambergris very frequently contained the horny mandibles or beaks of the squid (Sepia moschata), on which sperm whales are known to feed. That observation, in connection with the fact of ambergris being frequently taken from the intestines of the spermwhale, sufficiently proved that it was formed within that creature, and not an extraneous substance swallowed by the whale. It was further observed that the whales in which ambergris was found were either dead or much wasted and evidently in a sickly condition. From this it was inferred that ambergris was in some way connected with a morbid condition of the spermwhale. Ambergris, when taken from the intestinal canal of the spermwhale, is of a deep grey colour, soft consistence, and a disagreeable smell. On exposure to the air it gradually hardens, becomes pale, and develops its peculiar sweet earthy odour. In that condition its specific gravity ranges from 0∙780 to 0∙926. It melts at a temperature of about 145° Fahr. into a fatty yellow resinous-like liquid; and at 212° it is volatilised into a white vapour. It is soluble in ether, volatile and fixed oils, but only feebly acted on by acids. By digesting in hot alcohol, a peculiar substance termed ambrein is obtained, which deposits in brilliant white crystals as the solution cools. In chemical constitution ambrein very closely resembles cholesterin, a principle found abundantly in biliarycalculi. It is therefore more than probable that ambergris, from the position in which it is found and its chemical constitution, is a biliaryconcretion analogous to what is formed in other mammals. The use of ambergris in Europe is now entirely confined to perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable place in medicine. As a material of perfumery its price varies from 15s. to 25s. per ounce; and in minute quantities its alcoholic solution is much used for giving a “floral” fragrance to bouquets, washes, and other preparations of the perfumer. It occupies a very important place in the perfumery of the East, and there it is also used in pharmacy, and as a flavouring material in cookery. The high price it commands makes it peculiarly liable to adulteration, but its genuineness is easily tested by its solubility in hot alcohol, its fragrant odour, and its uniform fattyconsistence on being penetrated by a hot wire.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 1, p. 660 [705 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
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