Online Encyclopedia

AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, ...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey
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amber)
  , a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour, the shades being variegated like marble, possessing a
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peculiar sweet, earthy odour . It occurs as a biliary
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concretion in the intestines of the spermaceti
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whale (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
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Atlantic Ocean; on the coasts of Brazil and
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Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa, of the East Indies,
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China,
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Japan and the Molucca islands; but most of the ambergris which is brought to England comes from the Bahama Islands,
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Providence, &c . It is also sometimes found in the abdomen of whales, always in lumps of various shapes and sizes, weighing from z oz. to zoo or more pounds . Ambergris, when taken from the intestinal canal of AMBIGUITY the sperm whale, 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 0.78o to o•926 . It melts at about 62° C. to a fatty, yellow resinous-like liquid; and at oo° C. it is volatilized into a white vapour . It is soluble in ether, and in volatile and fixed oils; it is only feebly acted on by acids . By digesting in hot
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alcohol, a substance termed ambrein, closely resembling cholesterin, is obtained, which separates in brilliant white crystals as the solution cools . The use of ambergris in
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Europe is now entirely confined to perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable place in
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medicine . 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

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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
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uniform fatty consistence on being penetrated by a hot wire .

End of Article: AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber)
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