Word: amber
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Just how the parasitic insects were preserved in a fossil state so that they could be studied advantageously was not clear to the reporter until, in reply to his question, Professor Brues said that there were large numbers of insect fossils in Baltic amber...
...This amber is the fossilized resin of great pine trees which grew in northern Europe during the early Tertiary period. Naturally, insects just as at present were entangled and covered by the gum, large numbers of them being contained in it when it became fossilized. It is remarkable how excellently these insects are preserved in the amber. Some, of course, are disfigured from one cause or another but many are quite natural in appearance and can be fairly easily studied in the relatively clear material...
...interesting thing was discovered some time ago," Professor Brues continued, "when in one piece of amber was found a spider and in another the remains of an insect which had obviously been entangled in a spider's web and eaten, these animals of three to ten million years ago showing habits remarkably similar to those...
...fossil-bearing is amber occurs in several places, but is particularly abundant around the Baltic sea. Much of the land originally covered by the great pine forests has at present sunk into the sea, and lumps of the amber are constantly being cast up on the Baltic beaches. The lumps of amber are then sliced and polished so that the insects imbedded in it are brought as near to the surface as possible. Most of the fossil-bearing amber available for study," said Professor Brues, "is contained into the various museums of Prussia...
...Helen Wills seemed to be thinking too much. Suzanne Lenglen's nerves were twittering. Regal in pink silks, she had won her advantage from her opponent's errors. Then Helen Wills, driving at the corners, volleying and smashing, took three games in succession. Hence Lenglen's demand for the amber glass. It contained brandy and water...