114 DESCRIPTION or 



the same as the Retinasphalt, which was first discovered at 

 Borytrace, England, and is composed of 



100.0 



The true amber, which occurs at the same place, is usu- 

 ally of a brown colour, and transparent when the piece is 

 not thicker than one-eighth of an inch. Sometimes it is of 

 a honey-yellow, resembling in that case the amber of the 

 Baltic ; but this variety is rare. I found jneces at that place 

 of the size of three and four inches. By destructive distilla- 

 tion it gives succinic acid, and has all the other qualities of 

 the amber of the above cited place. This mineral is dis- 

 tinguishable from the Retinasphalt by the action of alcohol 

 upon it. When a piece of the latter is kept for some time 

 in this fluid, it soon loses its lustre, and becomes covered 

 with a dull grey crust ; the amber on the contrary retains its 

 lustre, and is not altered. 



There occurs also a substance which has much resem- 

 blance to the copal ; possessing the same colour and trans- 

 parency. Alcohol seems to have little or no action upon it. 

 It occurs at Cape Sable, only in grains not exceeding the size 

 of a large pea. 



It is probable that these vegeto-mineral substances are the 

 products of the same species of trees, and tliat their peculiar 

 nature is ascribable to local circumstances. They all occur ai 

 Cape Sable, in the same formation ; but as can be seen in the 

 description which I have pubhshed of that place in the ai)ove 

 mentioned Journal, this formation is composed of difteiput 

 strata of minerals. The uppermost is a loose sand, the lower 

 part of which is so strongly agglutinated by iron oxide, as to 

 form a coarse ferruginous sandstone. Tiiis stone is some- 



