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45$ INFLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES. Se&. 2JJ. a. It lias an agreeable fmell, chiefly when burnt: Is confumed in an open fire: Softens in a flight degree of warmth, f» ^ as to flick to the teeth, like pitch. It js of a black or grey colour; and of a dull or flue grained texture [<£]. The though he had mentioned alfo the other fubftances in his paper, inferted in the Philofophical Tran/anions for 1783, ttherein he attempts to eftabiifh the very erroneous opinion, Sfert the amber is nothing elfe but a preter-naturally hardened ctang, or farces of the phyfrtcr whale. It is not a little fur- prrting, that both Dr. Withering and Mr. Kinvan have em braced this ill-grounded notion. Certainly they did not react that paper with any fort of attention, or they would have perceived the futility of his rcafoning. [b~] The late Mr. Aublet abovementioned, with whom I was intimately acquainted, gave me fume fpecimens of this gmm-rcfm, which he colleGcd, on the fpot, from the cuma itTety at Guyana. The be ft of thefe I prcfentcd to my late worthy friend Dr. Fothergill, who, for the eminent qualities pf his mind, and the benevolence of his heart, will be ever Tegretted by all that knew him. From the remainder of thefe fpecimens, I gave the beft to my worthy friend Dr. Combe, F. R.S.: and the reft I ftill keep. It is of a whitifh brown colour, with a yellowifh ftiade; it melts and burns like wax on the fire, but it is rather of a more powdery conliftency than any amber 1 have feen, probably on account of the im proper feafon in which it was collected. Tire Angularity of this gumo-refin is, that it imbibes very ftrongly the fmell of the aromatic fubftances which furround it; and it is well known, that perfumers avail themfelves very confulerably of this advantage. Mv lafe friend, Mr. Rouelle, one of the greateft chemifts of France, examined very carefully, this fob- ltance brought over by Mr. Aublet: and found that it pro duced the very fame refults as any other good kind of amber. Fcfidcs Mr. Aubletb authority, which is deciftvc, as being grounded
