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 in the intestines of the spermaceti
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 Atlantic Ocean; on the
coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; also on the coast of Africa,
of the East Indies, China, Japan and the Molucca islands;
but most of the ambergris which is brought to
England comes
from the Bahama Islands, Providence, etc. It is also sometimes
found in the abdomen of whales, always in lumps of various
shapes and sizes, weighing from 1/2 oz. to 100 or more
pounds. Ambergris, when taken from the intestinal canal of
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 0.780 to 0.926. It melts at about 62 deg. C. to a
fatty, yellow resinous-like liquid; and at 100 deg. 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. 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 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.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed