CONCERNING AMBERGRIS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9470, 12 June 1909, Page 7

CONCERNING AMBERGRIS.

Recently the British barque Antilope sailed from Newcastle, Australia, to San Francisco. On the voyage, ’in latitude 20 degrees south, a great of grease waa seen floating on the surface of the ocean. A calm .prevailed at the time, and the Bailors drew up many; bucketfuls. With this grease they anointed the masts, their seaboots and oilskins. They regarded their find as ordinary grease and wasted it as such. As I matter of fact, the grease was ambergris, and the waste of material was worth something like £4OOO. Such astounding ignorance , on the part of a- whole : shipful has no parallel. For instance it was_on!y .» 4 few years ago thak the Fanny Lewis, a schooner, while on its way to Portland, Maine, came near “something white floating on the - water,” as the- lookout reported This proved to be a compact mass oi ambergris, the value of which was ■ about £SOOO. . . nri Thera is some popular confusion of ambergris with amber; in fact, how•ever, there is no relation between them. But for a long time the nature of ambergris.waa hidden in mystery. In ancient days it was commonly believed that it flowed up from the bottom of the sea. Smbad the Sailor tells of a spring of'ambergris that he found; but it was in a crude state. The fish swallowed it, and then disgorged it in congealed form, and in this condition it floated on the surface of the sea . . .. This story harmonises perxectiy with the old Arabian belief. The Hindus a thousand years ago described ambergris as a .generated by whales. In the Middle Ages, and even as late as the seventeenth century, ambergris was supposed to possess magic powers, and it W as highly esteemed as a principal ingredient of love philters. Ambergris is an animal product, an emanation from the sperm whale. It is usually found floating on the surface of the sea along the coasts of tropical countries. The word itself means grey amber, though from the nature of the substance the final syllable has been often corrupted into “grease.” The scientific ■theory as to its production is that it is the result of some disease in the sperm whale, analogous to gallstones. .Sometimes it is found in the intestines; but ordinary it has been expelled by the animal. It floats in mass, and is of a speckltbd-grey appearance. 1 The bent quality is soft and waxy, but not uniform in colour; a streaked appearance is preferred. It is inflammable, opaque, light, coarse to the touch. The bulk of that on the market la always found along the coasts of the Bahama Islands; but the Moluccas furnish a considerable quantity. It is found also in other part# of the Indian Ocean, and a little is gathered at times on the South American coast. The essential characteristic of ambergris is the penetrating and peculiar odonr. Art has never been able to contrive an imitation of is, though She scarcity and the value of the product have stimulated invention to its beat efforts. It is so powerful and so diffusive in its perfume that the most minute quantity when mingled with any other strong scant Jis still perceptible. Its chief ■ component is a fatty matter, called ambrein, which ia got by boiling ambergris in alcohol. There is ;abont 85 per cent, of this substance In the best ambergris, and it is this that gives the value of the product as a perfume. It is claimed for ambergris that not only has it its own odour, hut that it also possesses the quality of •exalting the flavour and perfume of other substances with which it is 'brought in oonfcaot. The odour is similar to that of musk, but it is much more penetrating and enduring. These qualities give ambergris a value that is shown ia the prices paid for the limited quantities found and offered for sale. At a recent auction in London, the prices ran: For the fair flavoured, £6 on ounce; for the ordinary black and speckled, an average, of £2 16s an ounce; for inferior quality, £1 12a an ounce. “Fine” ambergris, which is almost unattainable, is rated as like £lO an ounce. And it was this precious substance that the sailors of the Anfcilope used to grease their sea boots.