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LIII. [1]Amber alſo is a Stone: It is dug out of the Earth in Liguria, and has, as the before mentioned, a Power
- ↑ This is much to the Honour of Theophraſtus. I have before had Occaſion to obſerve, that in departing from the Opinions of this Author, After-ages became more and more ignorant, their Syſtems erroneous, and their Accounts full of Confuſion and Obſcurity; till in ſome late Ages we have been at the pains of unlearning what our Forefathers had been taught by them, and now have brought ourſelves to Syſtems of real Knowledge, by cloſer Obſervations of Nature. In many Caſes, we find all that we have been ſtudying for is to know juſt what we might have learnt from the Works of this Author alone. Of this I have before given ſome Inſtances; and the Sentence before us, is another very remarkable one: That Amber is a Stone, or native Foſſile, the beſt of the modern Writers ſeem as certain, as that Gems, Rocks, or Minerals are ſo. It has, however, for many Ages, been judged by ſome, to be of a vegetable, and by others an animal, nature. And a thouſand idle and incoherent Syſtems have been received as to its Formation: Dioſcorides thought it an Exſudation of the black Poplar; and Pliny, of the Pine; and others, the Fat or Semen of Whales. And it is but of late, that the World has been again brought into the Opinion, that it is, as this Author eſteemed it, a mere native Foſſile. It is of various Colours, white, brown, and yellow, and is found in Maſſes of different Shapes and Sizes, on the Shores, in many Parts of the World, particularly in Pruſſia; but where-ever it is found on the Shores, it is alſo to be found, if carefully fought for, in the neighbouring Cliffs, the Sea having had no Share in bringing it to light; but that it has, in Storms and high Tides, waſh'd it out of the Strata of thoſe Cliffs, and cleaned and rounded it at the Edges, by conſtantly toſſing it about; and rubbing it againſt harder Subſtances. Amber is naturally inveſted with a Cruſt, as the Flints and other natural foſſile Nodules are; it is found in this State, in digging, in Pruſſia, Pomerania, and other Places, and is called Rock Amber. When it has been waſhed out of its native Place by the Sea, and diveſted of this Cruſt, it is called Waſh'd Am-
ſeen of it with thoſe particular degrees of fainter and fuller Colour, which would beſt anſwer the antique Lyncurius. I therefore fear the Lapis Electricus of the Berlin Memoir, &c. is not the Lyucurius: but I am very confident that the Hyacinth has all the ſame Qualities.
