Abstract
Studies were made on the inorganic constituent of ambergris obtained from the intestines of the sperm whale. The ether-insoluble matter (11.8%) of the ambergris is a dark brown powder, and contained some fragments of snout-like bone formations found in cuttle fish. Incineration of this powder yielded 16.3% of grayish white ash whose spectral analysis by the quartz spectrograph indicated the presence of the following. Group I - Ga, Fe*, K*, Mg, Na, (P), Si, Sr*, Zn; Group II - Al, Nb*, Cr*, Cu, La*, Mn, Ni*, Ti*, W* (where* denotes presence in minute amounts). The elements of the Group I were detected directly from the spectral lines, and those of the Group II were determined by comparing with spectrographs taken under the same conditions of the known compounds, such as aluminum oxide, columbite, chromium oxide, titanium oxide, and tungsten oxide, with that of ambergris ash. Phosphorus was confrmed as ammonium phosphomolybdate. It was assumed that a very minute amount of Ag, Co, Gd, and Hg were also present, although they were not determined. The quantitative analysis of the ash gave the following results. CaO 6.21%, MgO 9.88%, P2O5 4.65%, SiO2 6.02%.
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