Boethius, Scotorum historiae (1526), fols. xvi verso-xvii recto, where, however, it seems clear that the substance described, though called Electrum, was not amber but ambergris, a secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale used as the basis for perfume. Unlike amber it floats on the surface of the water, and occurs in far larger pieces than amber - Boethius tells of a piece as big as a horse being washed ashore in Buchan, and of its giving off a sweet smell when burnt by villagers ignorant of its value.