Ambergris (anba’er)

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by Caroline Stone

Ambergris (from the Arabic ‘anbar) is a secretion from the intestines of the spermaceti whale (Physeter macrocephalus and catodon). The waxy grayish lumps found floating, or inside dead whales, were highly prized in the past and continue to be a valuable trade item. Ambergris is used in perfumery, particularly as a fixative, and, in the East, in cookery and medicine. It is still fished in a number of places, for example Socotra, although in much smaller quantities than formerly because of the diminishing whale populations.

The production of ambergris indicates a pathological condition of the whale. Lumps of up to 100 lbs have been extracted from dead whales, which were always found to be in poor condition. It has been suggested that it was produced in reaction to the damage done to the whales’ intestines by the beaks of the squid on which they feed.

The whales’ range traditionally included the Atlantic, the coast of Brazil, Madagascar, the coast of Africa, the East Indies, China, Japan and the Moluccas. Ambergris was thus known and prized all across the East and joined frankincense, myrrh and spices as one of the most sought-after imports to the West throughout the Middle Ages. It is mentioned in numerous sources, both trade lists and literary references.

Before the year 1000 A.D., the Chinese had named it lung sien hang - "dragon’s spittle perfume"; in the Thousand and One Nights, Sindbad the Sailor found a spring of liquid which became ambergris; Nicholas of Alexandria, known as Myepos – "the ointment maker" – mentions it in his Antidotarium Magnum; Marco Polo describes the hunting of whales for ambergris off Socotra (something, incidentally now specifically banned by the Marine Animals Protection Acts), while Leo Africanus describes a gift sent by the Sultan of Fez to another ruler: " . . . fiftie men slaves and fiftie women slaves, sixteen civet-cats, one pound of civet, and a pound of amber . . . " There is often some confusion in trade lists between ambergris and amber.

The main fragrant ingredient of ambergris is ambrein. It is found in various plants, particularly Cistus ladanifer (the common rock rose), and was traded as a natural substitute, known as labdanum. True ambergris was so valuable from the Middle Ages on that traders often tried to pass off imitations. A number of tests for genuine ambergris were devised: first of all, of course, its particular fragrance, then its solubility in hot alcohol, and again the uniform fatty consistency of the whole lump when tested with a hot wire.