ing it is still at
issue. It is found in the stomachs of the most voracious fishes, these
animals swallowing, at particular times, everything they happen to meet
with. It has been particularly found in the intestines of the spermaceti
whale, and most commonly in sickly fish, whence it is supposed to be the
cause or effect of the disease.

Some authors, and among them Robert Boyle, consider it to be of
vegetable production, and analogous to amber; hence its name
amber-_gris_ (gray) gray amber. It is not, however, within the province
of this work to discuss upon the various theories about its production,
which could probably be satisfactorily explained if our modern
appliances were brought to bear upon the subject. The field is open to
any scientific enthusiast; all recent authors who mention it, merely
quoting the facts known more than a century ago.

A modern compiler, speaking of ambergris, says, "It smells like dried
cow-dung." Never having smelled this latter substance, we cannot say
whether the simile be correct; but we certainly consider that its
perfume is most incredibly overrated; nor can we forget that
HOMBERG found that "a vessel in which he had made a long
digestion of the human faeces had acquired a very strong and perfect
smell of ambergris, insomuch that any one would have thought that a
great quantity of essence of ambergris had been made in it. The perfume
(_odor!_) was so strong that the vessel was obliged to be moved out of
the laboratory." (Mem. Acad. Paris, 1711.)

Nevertheless, as ambergris is extensively used as a perfume, in
deference to those who admire its odor, we presume that it has to many
an agreeable smell.

Like bodies of this kind undergoing a slow decomposition and possessing
little volatility, it, when mixed with other very fleeting scents, gives
permanence to them on the handkerchief, and for this quality the
perfumer esteems it much.

ESSENCE OF AMBERGRIS

Is only kept for mixing; when retailed it has to be sweetened up to the
public nose; it is then called after the Parisian name

EXTRAIT D'AMBRE.

Esprit de rose triple, 1/2 pint.
Extract of ambergris, 1 "
Essence of musk, 1/4 "
Extract of vanilla, 2 ounces.

This perfume has such a lasting odor, that a handkerchief being well
perfumed with it, will still retain an odor even after it has been
washed.

The fact is, that both musk and ambergris contain a substance which
clings perti