AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 794 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ALM-ANC

AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber) , a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour, the shades being variegated like marble, possessing a peculiar sweet, earthy odour. It occurs as a biliary

concretion

CONCRETION

in the intestines of the

spermaceti

SPERMACETI (from Lat. sperma, seed, and cetus, a ' whale)

whale (Physeter macrocephalus), and is found floating upon the sea, on the sea-

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

, or in' the sand near the sea-

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

. It is met with in the Atlantic Ocean; on the coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa, of the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

Indies, China, Japan and the Molucca islands; but most of the

ambergris

AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber)

which is brought to England comes from the Bahama Islands, 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

AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or grey amber)

, 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

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

and develops its peculiar sweet, earthy odour. In that

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

its specific gravity ranges from 0.78o to o926. 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 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 Europe is now entirely confined to perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable place in

medicine

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

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

, and there it is also used in 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 uniform fatty consistence on being penetrated by a hot wire.

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