■■

5^8

General Bijhry of D R U G G S.

Vol. If.

M

\ow'd thisiaft Opinion in my Book of Chy-miftry : Bur as I have been convinc'd, finceby feveral Circumftances, I have changed myOpinion, and found that the Thoughts ofthe Ancients, on this Subject, were prefera-ble to thofe of the Moderns: For firft of all,Travellers know that about the Baltick. Sea,on the Coaft of Swelsn, there grows Abun-dance of Poplars, Pines, and Firs, fromwhich there-flows in Summer a great Quan-tity of Gum and RoQn, which is partlyblown into the Sea by the Winds.

In the nest Place, the Subftance, the Co-lour, and the Tranfparency of that refinousGum, rckrubles much thofe of Amber; forwe have Gum Copal brought us that flowsfrom Poplars, in the Antilles Ifles, and hasno other Elaboration than what it receives

m the Torrent of the Water in the Ri-vers, from whence they take it, as has beenlaid in its proper Place ; and it is k> like Kjt-r.abe, tine thole who know it not well mayeafily be deceiv'd, from whence it is call'd,F.tlfe or Coun4crfeit IQtrabe. Amber, indeed,is forneihing harder, of a higher Colour,more tranfparent and refpiendent than Gum'Cop.il, but thefe Perfections come from the

It that is tnix'd in it, a long Fermenta-tion and Working it meets with in the Sea,

kies the Mixture of tiie Pine with theRollns i r, d5q. In the third Place

the Principles tint are drawn from the trueI^irabe by Chymiftry, arc likewife thofe thatare taken from Gum Cajral, or the refinousGums,

Chnfe your Amber in fine, large, hardPieces, clear and tranfparent, that will at-tract or draw to itfelf Straws, and feveralother little light Bodies, when the Amber isrub'd in your Hand, or otherwife, and ap-

ly'd near the fame. The white Kjrabe is

eferable to the yellow, but the Differenceis not considerable: They u(e both Sorts to

ike Necklaces, Bracelets, and little Cabi-nets, with feveral other Nick-Nacks that are

.rry'd into Perfia, China, Turkey, wherethe Natives efteein them as great Rarities.They likewife make Amber Necklaces in Au-Jiria, Germany, in Venice, and fometimes inFrance.

In Pieces of Amber there are fometimesfound Spangles, Leaves of Trees, or littleInfects 5 as Spiders, Ants, Flies, &c. This

Circumftance has given Occafion to Natu-ralifts to enquire How thefe little Bodies be-come enclos'd in the Amber j and it appearsto me that the Difficulty is eafie to refolve,fince from the Opinions given, touching theNature of Amber, it has been thought necef-fary to admit that the Subftance of it wasfometime liquid or foft before it harden'd ;that during that Time thefe fmall Bodies ad-hered to it, as to Glue, and were wrap'd upin it, or rather were cover'd and enclos'dtherein bv the Addition of frefh Matter ofthe fame Kind ; lb that when the Whole washardned, thefe little Bodies remain'd whollyembalm'd, as we now fee them.

The fQirabe' contains in it a great deal ofOil and volatile acid Salt ; it ftops the Fluxof the Belly, Hemorrhages, Gonorrhea, andrefifts Poifon : The Dofe is from ten Grainsto half a Dram ; they likewife burn it overthe Fire to receive the Fume of it, whichchecks the Violence of Rheum from theHead, and Catarrhs. Kjirabe is a PerfianName that fignifies draw Straw ; and theyhave given this Name to Amber, becaufe itattracts Straws, efpecialiy when it has beena little rub'd in the Hand. The Reafon ofthat Effedt proceeds from this, That the fub-til and infenfible Particles of the Matterhaving been put into Motion with fome Kindof Heat that follows the Friction, they emiton all Sides their Effluvia, and fpatter it inthe Air within their Circumference ; but asthey lofe their Motion according to the Di-ftance they are from their Center, they be-come fo much weaker, and are on all Sidesrepelfd by the Air, and in their Return theyftick by their Vifcofity to a Straw, or anyother light Body they meet with in theirWay, and drag it along with them ; thefame Effect happsns to feveral other Sub-ftances, which are rub'd after the fame Man-ner as Wax, Suet, and divers Gums; thisis call'd Sitccinum, from Succus, becaufe it isfuppos'd to be the Juice of the Poplar, or ofthe Earth.

Of the Spirit and Oil of AmberFrom Amber grofly powder'd, put

Pomet.

into a Glafs or Earthen Retort, may

be drawn a reddiih Spirit, and greenilh fetid

Oil.

The