Ambergris.
Mr George Edwards having found a lump of a substance which resembles ambergris we have been asked to furnish any information about it. W® take from the Century Dictionary the following Ambergris is a morbid secretion of the liver or intestines of the spermaceti whale; a solid, opaque, ash-coloured substance, lighter than water, ot a consistence like that pf wax, and having when heated a fra* grant odour. • It softens in the heat of the hand, melts below 2X2° F into a kind of yellow resin, and is highly soluble in alcohol. It is usually found floating on thq surface of the ocean, or cast upon the shore in regions frequented by whales, sometimes in masses from 60 to 335 pounds in weight. In this substance are found the beaks of the cuttle*fish, on which the whale is known to feed. It is highly valued as a material for perfumery, and was formerly used in medicine as an aphrodisiac, and for spicing wines.
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Manawatu Herald, 9 April 1903, Page 2
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164Ambergris. Manawatu Herald, 9 April 1903, Page 2
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