ambergris

Ambergris

Ambergris ( /ˈæmbərɡriːs/ or  /ˈæmbərɡrɪs/, Latin: Ambra grisea, Ambre gris, ambergrease or grey amber) is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales^{[citation needed]}.

Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. However, as it ages, it acquires a sweet, earthy scent commonly likened to the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency.^[1] The principal historical use of ambergris was as a fixative in perfumery, though it has now been largely displaced by synthetics.

Source

Ambergris occurs as a biliary secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale and can be found floating upon the sea, or in the sand near the coast. It is also sometimes found in the abdomens of whales. Because the beaks of giant squids have been found embedded within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorised that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that the whale might have eaten.

Ambergris is usually passed in the fecal matter. Ambergris that forms a mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, leading to the reputation of ambergris as primarily coming from whale vomit.^[2]

Ambergris can be found in the Atlantic Ocean and on the coasts of Brazil, Madagascar, the East Indies, The Maldives, China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Molucca islands. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from The Bahamas in the Caribbean, particularly New Providence.

Physical properties

Ambergris is found in lumps of various shapes and sizes, weighing from 15 g (~½ oz) to 50 kg (110 pounds) or more. When initially expelled by or removed from the whale, the fatty precursor of ambergris is pale white in color (sometimes streaked with black), soft, with a strong fecal smell. Following months to years of photo-degradation and oxidation in the ocean, this precursor gradually hardens, developing a dark gray or black color, a crusty and waxy texture, and a peculiar odor that is at once sweet, earthy, marine, and animalic. Its smell has been generally described as a vastly richer and smoother version of isopropanol without its stinging harshness.

In this developed condition, ambergris has a specific gravity ranging from 0.780 to 0.926. It melts at about 62 °C to a fatty, yellow resinous liquid; and at 100 °C (212 °F) it is volatilized into a white vapor. It is soluble in ether, and in volatile and fixed oils.

Chemical properties

Ambergris is relatively nonreactive to acid. White crystals of a substance called ambrein can be separated from ambergris by heating raw ambergris in alcohol, then allowing the resulting solution to cool. Breakdown of the relatively scentless ambrein through oxidation results in the formation of ambrox and ambrinol, which are the main odour components of ambergris.

ambrein   ambrox   ambrinol

Ambroxan, which is used widely in perfumery, is one of the many synthetics that emulate natural ambergris.^[3]

Historical and cross-cultural uses

Ambergris has been mostly known for its use in creating perfume and fragrance much like musk. While perfumes can still be found with ambergris around the world, American perfumers usually avoid it because of legal ambiguities. It was banned from use in many countries in the 1970s, including the United States, because its precursor originates from the sperm whale, which is a vulnerable species.^[4]

Ancient Egyptians burned ambergris as incense, while in modern Egypt ambergris is used for scenting cigarettes.^[5] The ancient Chinese called the substance "dragon's spittle fragrance".^[6] During the Black Death in Europe, people believed that carrying a ball of ambergris could help prevent them from getting the plague. This was because the fragrance covered the smell of the air which was believed to be the cause of plague.

This substance has also been used historically as a flavouring for food, and some people consider it an aphrodisiac. During the Middle Ages, Europeans used ambergris as a medication for headaches, colds, epilepsy, and other ailments.^[6]

In the wider culture

Eggs and ambergris was reportedly Charles II's favourite dish.^[7]

In Chapter 91 of Moby Dick, Stubb, one of the mates of the Pequod (captained by Ahab), cons the captain of a French whaler (Rose-bud) into abandoning the corpse of a sperm whale found floating in the sea. His plan is to recover the corpse himself in hopes that it contains ambergris. His hope proves well-founded, and the Pequod's crew recovers a valuable quantity of the substance. Melville devotes the following chapter to a discussion of ambergris, with special attention to the irony that "fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale."

In Tales from the Crypt 44 a plague-stricken man is eaten by a sperm whale, who produces ambergris that results in a cursed perfume.

There is a song called "Amber Gris" by the avant-garde jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. They frequently play the song live, and it is recorded on the album "Radiolarians II."

References

Further reading

• Borschberg, Peter, "O comércio de âmbar asiático no início da época moderna (séculos XV-XVIII) – The Asiatic ambergris trade in the early modern period (15 to 18 century)" Oriente, Lisbon: Fundação Oriente, vol. 8, April 2004, pp. 3–25.

• Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kemp, published in May, 2012 by The University of Chicago Press (ISBN 0226430367; ISBN 978-0-226-43036-2)

External links

Look up ambergris in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Natural History Magazine Article (from 1933): Floating Gold -- The Romance of Ambergris
• Ambergris - A Pathfinder and Annotated Bibliography
• On the chemistry and ethics of Ambergris
• Scientific American Strange but True: Whale Waste Is Extremely Valuable
• "The Origin of Ambergris" excerpted from Floating Gold by Christopher Kemp
• Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kemp

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.