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AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AMBERGRIS (Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, or See also:grey See also:amber) , a solid, fatty, inflammable substance of a dull grey or blackish See also:colour, the shades being variegated like See also:marble, possessing a See also:peculiar sweet, earthy odour. It occurs as a biliary See also:concretion in the intestines of the See also:spermaceti See also:whale (Physeter macrocephalus), and is found floating upon the See also:sea, on the sea-See also:coast, or in' the See also:sand near the sea-coast. It is met with in the See also:Atlantic Ocean; on the coasts of See also:Brazil and See also:Madagascar; also on the coast of See also:Africa, of the See also:East Indies, See also:China, See also:Japan and the Molucca islands; but most of the ambergris which is brought to See also:England comes from the Bahama Islands, See also:Providence, &c. It is also sometimes found in the See also: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 See also:canal of See also:AMBIGUITY the sperm whale, is of a deep grey colour, soft consistence and a disagreeable See also:smell. On exposure to the See also:air it gradually hardens, becomes See also:pale and develops its peculiar sweet, earthy odour. In that See also: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 See also:white vapour. It is soluble in See also:ether, and in volatile and fixed See also:oils; it is only feebly acted on by acids. By digesting in hot See also:alcohol, a substance termed ambrein, closely resembling cholesterin, is obtained, which separates in brilliant white crystals as the See also:solution cools. The use of ambergris in See also:Europe is now entirely confined to See also:perfumery, though it formerly occupied no inconsiderable See also:place in See also:medicine. In See also: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 See also:

pharmacy and as a flavouring material in See also:cookery. The high See also:price it commands makes it peculiarly liable to See also:adulteration, but its genuineness is easily tested by its solubility in hot alcohol, its fragrant odour, and its See also:uniform fatty consistence on being penetrated by a hot See also:wire.

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

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