All About Amber: History and Uses

We can see symbolized in them the great and consoling fact that, however marked may be the differences between any two peoples, they need not be cause for enmity, but may instead become true and enduring sources of peace and bonds of union. The characteristic talents of each one will supplement and complete those of the other, so that working together in harmony they may accomplish far more for each other and for humanity in general than either could do singly.

At an early date amber was brought from the Baltic coast to Rome, and Tacitus states that those who collected it called it glaesum, a name later applied to the glass introduced into that region by Roman traders. The natives knew nothing of the nature or growth of amber, and had no use for the material, only collecting it for export to Rome, where it commanded such a high price as to excite their astonishment. Tacitus gives in the following words his theory of the origin and character of amber-his chief error being due to his belief that the substance was of very recent formation.

Now you must know that amber is a juice of trees, since various creatures, some of them winged, are often found in it. They have become entangled in the liquid and then inclosed when the matter hardened. Therefore I believe that, as incense and balsam are exuded in the remote East, so in the luxuriant groves and islands of the West are juices which are forced out by the sun close to them. These flow into the neighboring sea and are washed up by the tempestuous waves on the opposite shore. If you test the quality of amber with fire, it may be lighted like a torch and burns with a small, well-nourished flame; then it is resolved into a glutinous mass resembling pitch or resin.

Both Juvenal and Martial relate that effeminate Romans used to hold balls of amber in their hands to cool them during the summer heat. If any such agreeable sensation was really experienced, it must have been due to the well-known electric properties of this substance. It is stated that the Chinese often place pieces of amber on or in their pillows, a use that may have been suggested by the same considerations.

As a proof of the extravagant value set upon amber by the Romans of the first century, Pliny notes that a very diminutive figure of a man, cut out of this substance, sold for a higher figure than did a healthy, vigorous slave. The popularity of this material was also attested by the fact that in the gay world of Rome the term "amber hair" was used to designate a rare and peculiar shade that became fashionable in this period. It seems probable that this modish shade was somewhat lighter than the "Titian hair" once so much favored, although the difference may not have been very great.

A change of hue in amber was thought to portend a waning of love on the part of the giver, as is shown by the following not especially melodious lines from "The Fruits of Jealousy" published by Richard Tofte in 1615:

Thy tokens which to me thou sent

In time may make thee to repent;

Thy gifts do groan (bestow'd on me)

For grief that they thee guilty see.

The amber bracelet thou me gave

(For fear thou shouldst shortly wave)

From yellow turned is to pale,

A sign thou shortly will be stale.

Not only for curative purposes and for general use as an amulet was amber prized, but an amber necklace was sometimes regarded as an especially auspicious decoration for a bride at her wedding, as is shown by an exceptionally fine necklace of facetted amber beads from Brunswick, Germany, made in the eighteenth century.

That the wearing an amber necklace will keep off the attacks of erysipelas in a person subject to them has been proved by repeated experiments beyond the possibility of doubt. Its action here cannot be explained; but its efficacy in defence of the throat against chills is evidently due to its extreme warmth when in contact with the skin and the circle of electricity so maintained.

The electrical property of amber was remarked as early as 600 B.C. by the Ionic philosopher Thales, and from this observation may be dated the beginnings of the study of electric phenomena.

That faith in the magic powers of amber beads still exists is illustrated in the case of an old Russian Jewess who recently died in one of our charitable institutions. This woman is said to have reached the age of one hundred and six years, and she ascribed her extraordinary longevity to the possession of a necklace of very large amber beads, which had been given her by her mother, who also lived more than a hundred years. The daughter, a few days before her death, bestowed this treasured heirloom upon her daughter, for it is generally believed that the virtues of gems largely depend upon their being received as gifts.