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Ambergris ( or , (ラテン語:Ambra grisea), ''Ambre gris'', ''ambergrease'' or ''grey amber'') is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. The word amber is derived from the Arabic word 'anbar'(عنبر).〔Cupboard love 2: A dictionary of cullinary curiosities. Mark Morton.〕 Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, faecal odour. However, as it ages, it acquires a sweet, earthy scent commonly likened to the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency. Although ambergris was formerly highly valued by perfumers as a fixative (allowing the scent to last much longer), It has now largely been replaced by synthetic ambroxan. ==Sources== Ambergris occurs as a bile duct secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale and can be found floating upon the sea, or lying on the coast. It is also sometimes found in the abdomens of whales. Because the beaks of giant squids have been found embedded within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorised that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that the whale might have eaten. The sperm whale usually vomits these, but if one travels further down the gut, it will be covered in ambergris.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Origin of Ambergris )〕 Ambergris is usually passed in the fecal matter. It is speculated that an ambergris mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, leading to the reputation of ambergris as primarily coming from whale vomit. It takes years for ambergris to form. Christopher Kemp, the author of ''Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris'', says that It is only produced by sperm whales, and only by an estimated one percent of them. Once expelled by a whale, it must float for years, then it must make landfall, avoid being broken into pieces by rough seas, and someone must find it. In other words, the odds of finding ambergris are extremely small. The very small chance of finding ambergris and the legal ambiguity involved led perfume makers away from ambergris. Ambergris can be found in the Atlantic Ocean and on the coasts of South Africa, Brazil, Madagascar, the East Indies, The Maldives, China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the Molucca Islands. In rarer cases, it can be found in other locations. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from the Bahamas in the Caribbean, particularly New Providence. Fossilised ambergris from 1.75 million years ago has also been found. A 1.1 kg (2.4 lb) piece of ambergris found on a beach at Anglesey, Wales, was sold for £11,000 at an auction in Macclesfield, England, on 25 September 2015 to a French buyer.〔(Ambergris found on Anglesey beach sells for £11,000 ) BBC 25 September 2015〕 A 13kg ambergris was found by two Omanis from the guts of a dead sperm whale that washed up on the Fooshi shores of Sadah province in southern Oman, in November 2015.〔(Omanis offered Dh600,000 for prized 'whale vomit' ) Gulf News 11 November 2015〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「ambergris」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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