In ancient times, amber was thought to have magical powers. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed it could protect people against sorcerers and disease, so they wore it. The reason amber was believed to have these mysterious powers was its ability to become electrified. When a piece of amber is rubbed briskly, a charge of electricity is produced. This makes amber attract light articles, such as bits of paper. The Greek name for amber was elektron, and this is the origin of our word “electricity.”

Amber is a brittle, yellow, translucent substance. It is hard enough to be cut into beads and ornaments, but it is not as hard as marble or glass.

Ages and ages ago, a certain resinous substance oozed from the pine trees that were then growing on the earth. Great amounts of it gradually accumulated on the ground, and as the earth’s crust changed, this was buried under the ground or under water. In the course of millions of years, this substance became fossilized or hardened into the amber we see today.

Because amber was originally a soft, sticky substance, many insects became stuck and caught in it. Over the millions of years, as this substance hardened, the insects remained preserved in the amber. Today, we can find pieces of amber with ants and flies entombed in them, and these insects often look just as if they had been caught yesterday!

The pine trees which produced amber grew chiefly in the area that is now the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This part of the earth’s crust gradually became submerged. In ancient times, the only amber found was obtained when violent storms disturbed these waters, and pieces of it would be washed ashore. Today, amber is obtained by mining.

Amber is usually found in small pieces, though some lumps weighing up to 8 kilograms have been found. The chief uses for it today are in mouthpieces for pipes and cigar-holders, and as beads and small ornaments.