ambergris - Source, Physical properties, Replacement compounds and economics

(‘grey amber’) A grey waxy substance found in the intestines of the sperm whale, Physeter catodon; up to 450 g/1 lb per whale; formerly used in perfumes to make the fragrance last longer.

Ambergris was also molded and dried and decorated and worn as jewelry, particularly during the Renaissance.

Source

Ambergris occurs as a biliary concretion in the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating upon the sea, on the sea-coast, or in the sand near the sea-coast. Because lumps of ambergris with embedded beaks of giant squid have been found, scientists have theorized that the whale's intestine produces the substance as a means of facilitating the passage of hard, sharp objects that the whale might have inadvertently eaten. Ambergris can be found in the Atlantic Ocean; However, most commercially collected ambergris came from the Bahama Islands, Providence Island, etc.

Physical properties

Ambergris is found in lumps of various shapes and sizes, weighing from ½ oz (14 g) to 100 or more pounds (45 or more kg). When initially expelled by or removed from the whale, the fatty precursor of ambergris is pale white in colour (sometimes streaked with black), soft in consistency, with a strong fecal smell.

In this developed condition, ambergris has a specific gravity ranging from 0.780 to 0.926. White crystals of a substance called ambrein, which closely resembles cholesterol, can be separated from ambergris by heating raw ambergris in alcohol then allowing the resulting solution to cool.

Replacement compounds and economics

Historically, the primary commercial use of ambergris has been in fragrance chemistry, although it has also been used for medicinal and flavoring purposes. Ambergris is one of the most important amber type odorants and is highly sought. However, it is difficult to get a consistent and reliable supply of high quality ambergris. Due to demand for ambergris and its high price, replacement compounds have been sought out by the fragrance industry and chemically synthesized.

Depending on its quality, raw ambergris fetches approximately 20 USD per gram. In the United States, possession of any part of an endangered species — including ambergris that has washed ashore — is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1978. Ambergris is mentioned in the conversations between Marcel and Claude LeFever in the Tom Robbins book Jitterbug Perfume. In Miguel de Cervantes epic novel Don Quixote, ambergris is frequently cited as a sweet smelling perfume, most often worn by the rich or noble. When Don Quixote, standing to Sancho Panza, suspects his squire of having recently relieved himself he cites his proof to Sancho saying "Because just now thou smellest stronger than ever, and not of ambergris". Chapter ninety-one of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick relates the extraction of ambergris from a dead sperm whale. In the Encyclopedia Brown series of children's detective stories, there is a story called "The Case of Smelly Nellie and the Ambergris". Ambergris is mentioned in The Far Side of the World, one of the Aubrey-Maturin series novels by Patrick O'Brian. Ambergris is one of the main plot subjects in Island at the Top of the World, a book by Ian Cameron, formally known as The Lost Ones. Ambergris features throughout Patrick Süskind's book Perfume - The Story of A Murderer (1985)

Author Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin is quoted for recommending hot chocolate with ambergris for obsessional thoughts and dullness of spirits in the book It Must Have Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten

Cinema and Television

In the 2003 motion picture Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, ambergris is mentioned as being a potential treasure found aboard the Acheron, a French privateer In the 2001 motion picture Hannibal, Dr. Lecter's secret location in Florence, Italy was determined after FBI Agent Clarice Starling received a letter from him that was scented with a hand-engineered fragrance containing ambergris. Agent Starling consulted a team of fragrance industry experts who identified the presence of ambergris by smelling the letter and lamented their inability to work with this substance in the United States due to its prohibition. A whale-sized block of ambergris plays a central role in artist Matthew Barney's film Drawing Restraint 9 The film The Island at the Top of the World (1974) mentions as ambergris as part of a valuable "whaler's El Dorado". The film The Whales of August (1987) makes mention of ambergris several times, including stating its value as $10 an ounce.

Other

There was also a rock band called Ambergris, who released one self-titled album in 1970 through ABC Records. In the World of Warcraft computer game, players occasionally receive an item called Threshadon Ambergris from defeating Loch Ness Monster-like sea creatures. The John Singer Sargent painting "Fumee d'Ambre Gris (Smoke of Ambergris)", 1880 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Massachusetts, USA Lyrics to the song "The Fountain of Lamneth" (track 5, part IV "Panacea" on the album "Caress of Steel", released in 1975 by the Canadian band Rush) refers to "the scent of ambergris". Bjork's soundtrack for Matthew Barney's film Drawing Restraint 9 contains a song entitled "Ambergris March"