Amber, a fossil resin. It is found in greatest abundance on the shores of the Baltic, where mines are worked to a depth of one hundred feet. Lumps of amber are found in a stratum of material, half wood and half coal. After storms the shores are searched for pieces which may have been cast up by the waves. Small specimens have been found in the sands of New Jersey and in the soft coal beds of western America. Amber is of a pale yellow color, usually nearly transparent. It is considered to be the resinous gum exuded by certain extinct pine trees. Several hundred different kinds of insects have been found inclosed in amber, as well as leaves and fragments of many plants. Amber is highly prized, particularly for the mouthpieces of pipes. Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Persia pay high prices for genuine amber. A fine specimen is worth its weight in coin. The Cabinet of Berlin has a mass of eighteen pounds, valued at $30,000. Recent explorers of the lakes of Switzerland have discovered pieces of amber in the ruins of the old lake dwellings, showing that commerce in amber is of ancient date. The Romans admired amber ornaments. They thought amber beads a charm against poison and the baleful influence of sorcery and witchcraft. Frictional electricity was first noted in connection with amber. See KAURI.