It is said that in New Zealand has such a profession, a group of people have to smell a lot of dog feces before going to work, and then go to the beach to find a "dog feces"-smelling stone, because this "stone" can be regarded as a priceless city. In 2012, a British boy accidentally discovered a stone like this. Although weighs only 0.58 kilograms, it is worth as high as $60,000 . Such a large piece of
should be worth a house. | Wiki
Maybe you have heard of this kind of stone's name, because it often appears in movies and TV series, it is Ambergris (Ambergris 2).
The DNA of the Legend of Zhen Huan Level 10 scholar has moved
From ancient times to the present, this magical "stone" seems to be highly respected and its uses are also very wide. Ambergris itself has a unique fragrance and can also evaporate other fragrances more evenly. Therefore, is often used in ancient precious spices or perfumes .
while others unlock another usage. Medieval Europeans used it as a magical drug for colds and epilepsy, and also drank it with hot chocolate. But of course this is all food for rich people. The 17th-century British King Charles II was fascinated by ambergris and he had to eat a dish made of ambergris with eggs every morning.
Let us turn our eyes back to the beach where we discovered ambergris. It is rumored that in 1891, a fisherman found a corpse of an whale on the beach, so he cut a hole in the whale's neck and drilled it in his mouth, and found a black and gray boulder in his intestines, which is ambergris.
Maybe this story has not been verified, but Ambergris really comes from the whale's intestine .
amberg comes from the belly of a sperm whale. | Wiki
Although it has a fabulous name, ambergris is actually a stool that is difficult to digest in the belly of a sperm whale. Sperm whales like to feed on squid, but the horny jaws of squid are difficult to digest and if they cannot be spit out, they will accumulate in the whale's intestines. When it gradually combines with other excrement, fat, microorganisms, and other things, will form a black stone-like thing in the body . If some sperm whales fail to successfully discharge these blockages, it is very likely that they will cause rupture of the intestinal wall and death.
These "stones" will float on the sea after being discharged from the whale. They look black, a little sticky and greasy, and smell bad, and don't look like any precious material. But nature will make it softer.
After the action of sunlight, air and seawater, it will wear a hard shell, waxy appears on the surface, saponified by the salt of the seawater, and absorb the special odor of the ocean. It ends up turning gray or even white.
After being washed by sea water, the originally black ambergris will turn off white. | Wiki
People who have smelled ambergris said that it does have a little bit of poop, but it is much more complicated than the simple poop smell. It produces a sweet and earthy atmosphere, and it also has a special smell of the ocean. This is the result of the cooperation between sperm whales and nature.
The longer this "stone" floats on the sea, the more complicated the taste will be. Therefore, people will estimate based on the time it is "aging" by nature.
However, there is a question that has caused controversy: Is ambergris from whales' vomit or whale's feces? But scientists think the stone smells more like it is discharged along with the poop. So the long term saying that it is called "whale vomit" is not accurate.
Calling whale poop may be more accurate. | Wiki
The special fragrance of ambergris is often used in perfumes. But natural ambergris is precious, and with ocean pollution, a large number of algae in the ocean produces toxins, and many sperm whales are poisoned and stranded, or are injured by propeller of ships. And climate changes also put sperm whales in more dangers.Not to mention ambergris, maybe even the number of sperm whales is in danger. Natural ambergris really turned into "floating gold" .
Ambergris found all over the world. | May 2019 issue of "Everything" magazine
Although natural ambergris is not available now, artificial synthesis will help us smell this strange smell. Scientists have found that the magical taste of ambergris should come from an alcoholic substance called ambrein. When it is exposed to the environment, it produces a compound with a special fragrance: ambergris ether (Ambroxide).
In the late 11940s, chemists from Swiss created synthetic ambergris (Ambrox), and now we still feel the charm of ambergris in common perfumes.
You may find it hard to imagine that whales' poop will be widely used in perfume, but this is not an individual case in perfume. The secretions and excrements used in perfume are called animal natural spice (Fauna Natural Perfume), and they all have a long history and stories worth telling.
There may be many magical scents in the perfume. | Pixabay
, for example, the musk aroma that is widely used in the perfume industry. The natural musk of animals comes from secretions between the navel and genitals of the musk family. However, what we are using is not natural musk now, but artificially synthesized chemical with a musk-like odor, and it has a very small impact on the human body.
Musk beetles are national first-class key protected wild animals. | Wiki
and secretions produced by beaver scent glands , which has also become a unique source of fragrance after dilution. However, these animal fragrances are very expensive, and what we often use in our lives are artificially synthesized substances. It is precisely because of these synthesis technologies that we can also experience the magical smells from nature in our lives.
Beaver fragrance is also a unique fragrance. | Giphy
Source: Bring science home
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