fluctuations in the annual quantity received. The following

are the comparative annual figures:

The Indian trade in coral in 1875 shows a very slight decrease on that of 1873-74, when it amounted to £66,689 ; but it is slowly recovering from the depression of previous years, that depression having, it is believed, been partly caused by the imposition of a duty of 7 per cent. in April, 1870. The value of the imports was as follows:

Though the imposition of the duty probably had an immediate effect in reducing the importations, it must be remarked that the trade is of a variable and fluctuating nature. It is mainly in the hands of a few foreign firms, from whom natives purchase the coral for sale in the interior at great fairs and religious gatherings. Coral forms

a favourite adornment for native children, as well as for adults, in certain classes of the population. The demand for coral depends upon the out-turn of the crops of the year. After an abundant harvest rupees will be freely exchanged for a string of corals to be added to those already worn as a necklace, but in a poor year the coral merchant will find his stock almost unsaleable at any price, and his next importations will consequently be on a very reduced scale.

Coral forms a large item of the Indian exports to Thibet. The preference is for round grains pierced, or oval grains with the ends truncated and pierced through the length. A piece as large as a pea fetches its weight in gold, and the price augments with the size. The darkest colours are the most esteemed.

In China coral constitutes an important article of trade. Various sorts are imported from Singapore, Sumatra, and the Samar Islands. Red coral is termed shan-hu, the white variety shih-hwa, but the black is more esteemed than any other colour. This is wrought into official buttons and beads, the inferior kinds being made into ear and finger rings. It is powdered and used there in medicine and in ophthalmia. Various madrepores and polypes have also a medicinal reputation in China.

A bank of coral of great richness is stated to have been discovered on the coasts of Japan. The coral collected is said to possess this peculiarity, that it is white in the centre and at all the lateral points, which are numerous on the branches. It is not, however, likely to prove useful for working up, as it appears to scale or break off. But a small quantity has yet been brought up. The principal fishery was to commence shortly, when more information will be obtained, but it does not appear likely to compete with the coral fished from the coasts of Italy and Sicily.

CHAPTER VI.

AMBER AND THE AMBER FISHERIES.

Source of amber-Chemical composition of the resin-Uses and application— Statistics of imports-Diving and fishing for amber-Prussian coasts of the Baltic the chief source of supply-Statistics of the trade-Large specimens found-Roumanian amber.

HAVING dealt with tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, pearls, and coral, we come now to consider a product of a somewhat amphibious character, and which, unlike those already treated of, is vegetable in its origin. Still it is largely dredged and fished for on the seashores, and as the greater part is obtained from the sea, it properly comes under the section of " Marine Contributions to Art."

Amber is a resinous exudation from an extinct species of conifer, called by Goppert Pinites succinifer. The source of amber was long uncertain; by some it was considered a carbonaceous mineral.

Professor Zaddach shows that the trees which yielded the amber must have grown upon the greensand beds of the cretaceous period, flourishing luxuriantly on the marshy coast which then surrounded the great continent of Northern Europe. Probably the temperature was much higher than it is now; and this even at that epoch extended to the now frost-bound Arctic regions, a fact

which has been proved by the remarkable plant-remains of temperate climes which have been recently discovered there. The amber flora of the Baltic area under review contains northern forms associated with plants of more temperate zones; thus camphor-trees (Cinnamomum) occur with willows, birches, beech, and numerous oaks. A species of Thuya, very similar to the American Thuya occidentalis, is the most abundant tree amongst the conifers; next in abundance Widdringtonia, a great variety of pines and firs, including the amber-pine. Thousands of these, it is supposed by the professor, might have perished, and while the wood decayed, the resin with which the stem and branches were loaded might have been accumulated in large quantities, in bogs and lakes, in the soil of the forest. If the coast at that time was gradually sinking, the sea would cover the land, and in due course carry away the amber and masses of vegetable detritus into the ocean, where it was deposited amidst the marine animals which inhabit it. But in higher districts the amber-pine would still flourish, and so amber still continues to be washed into the sea and deposited in the later formed greensand and still later overlying formation of the brown coal.

Reboux states that at the eocene epoch the bed of the Baltic Sea was occupied by an immense forest, which spread over nearly the whole northern continent. Dredging carried on at a depth of 64 feet below the sea bottom has brought to light thereby two species of conifers, a poplar, a chestnut, and various other trees. From the conifers, the author thinks, ran the resin which, through being buried in the earth, has become changed into amber. The largest quantity of the gum appears to have been derived from the Pinus succinus. More than 200 specimens of objects have been found embedded in the gum,

including insects, reptiles, plants, leaves, grains, shells, fruit, etc.

The density of natural amber varies from 109 to I'II. Its analysis, according to Schrotter, is: Carbon, 78-82; hydrogen, 10:23; oxygen, 10'90.

Amber is harder than most resins, and is susceptible of a good polish. It was known to the ancients, and called "electrum," on account of its electrical susceptibility; it was also engraved and used by the ancients for seals.

It occurs abundantly on the Prussian coast of the Baltic, from Dantzic to Memel. It is also found on the coast of Denmark and Sweden; in Gallicia, Poland, Moravia, the Ural; Switzerland, near Basle; France, near Paris; near London; in various parts of Asia, and in the greensand of New Jersey; also in Japan. It is chiefly obtained from Prussia, and is not very abundant in other countries.

With it are found fragments of lignite, and it frequently contains insects of extinct species embedded in its substance; it is also marked with the impression of branches and bark. It is sometimes thrown up in great quantities after storms. It contains a volatile oil, two resins (soluble in alcohol and ether), succinic acid, and an insoluble bituminous substance.

For ages amber has been valued for ornamental purposes, such as necklaces, bracelets, brooches, crosses, eardrops, silver links, and the like. It was also formerly much used for inlaying cabinets and ladies' jewel-cases, and a large picture frame inlaid with it was shown at the Naples Maritime Exhibition. The cloudy or milk-white amber, not that which is clear, is held in the highest esteem. The light-green variety, and that which is of one perfectly uniform colour throughout, are exceptions to this rule.