Yet another fascinating snippet from the book called 'Tobacco Leaves: Being A Book Of Facts For Smokers' by William Augustine Brennan of the Department Of Medical Science at the John Crerar Library (University Of Chicago) published in 1915.
This time it is on amber used in pipe stems. I often wondered how large the piece of raw amber must be so as to make a pipe stem. Well apparently the answer is here...
The manufacture of commercial amber is a government monopoly in Prussia. The pieces are all melted down at a temperature of about 550 ° F., and then after purification it is cast into slabs about ⅞ inch to 1 ⅝ inches thick and four inches to eight inches long, in which form it is sold to dealers. There are two qualities, opaque and transparent, the opaque being the tougher. The cost varies considerably , the inferior kinds being sold for $ 2.00 per pound, and the finest specimens cost up to $ 60.00 per pound.
...though I appreciate that amber is a hard resin, it never occurred to me that it could be melted as particles to form one homogenous slab.
Hope someone finds this useful.
Regards,
Jay.
This time it is on amber used in pipe stems. I often wondered how large the piece of raw amber must be so as to make a pipe stem. Well apparently the answer is here...
The manufacture of commercial amber is a government monopoly in Prussia. The pieces are all melted down at a temperature of about 550 ° F., and then after purification it is cast into slabs about ⅞ inch to 1 ⅝ inches thick and four inches to eight inches long, in which form it is sold to dealers. There are two qualities, opaque and transparent, the opaque being the tougher. The cost varies considerably , the inferior kinds being sold for $ 2.00 per pound, and the finest specimens cost up to $ 60.00 per pound.
...though I appreciate that amber is a hard resin, it never occurred to me that it could be melted as particles to form one homogenous slab.
Hope someone finds this useful.
Regards,
Jay.