232 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [MaY 22 



was a specimen of remarkable interest. In its litliological characters 

 this rock closely resembles the Tinassic sandstone so much used in New 

 York for architectural purposes, but it contained numbers of very beautifully 

 preserved iinj)ressions of angiospermous leaves. No plants of this kind 

 were known to exist during the Trias, or before the Cretaceous ; but we 

 know of no such Cretaceous or Tertiarj' sandstone on the North Ameri- 

 can Continent. The mass from which this specimen was taken was a 

 bowlder and the associated transported blocks were granite, porphyry, 

 greenstone, dolomite, etc., plainly refererable to well-known localities 

 north of New York. But no such sandstone as this was known, and it 

 became a matter of extreme interest to ascertain what was its origin. 



Agaiu, at the meeting of March 23, 1874, as reported in the 

 Proceedings, 2d Ser. No. 4, pp. 12G, 127, the matter came up 

 in the following form : 



The President described a sandstone containing angiospermous leaves 

 very similar in aspect to those of the Raritan and of the Lower Creta. 

 ceous in the far west, which occurs in bowlders at Lloyd's Neck, L. I. 

 This is undoubtedly the same rock with that of the Wllliamsburgh Gas 

 House, as he was satisfied by comparison. It is totally unlike anything 

 known in this vicinity, and unfortunately, has not yet been found in situ. 

 Whenever it is, some interesting light will be thrown on the whole ques- 

 tion. But its presence under these circumstances, points to its existence 

 in place, at some locality not far away. 



As previous!}' stated, we have since found it in place at Glen 

 Cove, and can account for other masses on the theory of glacial 

 transportation and subsequent hardening of incoherent creta- 

 ceous material. The demonstration of these facts, however, 

 came too late for their appreciation by Dr. Newberry. Our 

 present interpretation of the facts is also of importance, as 

 indicating the former existence of cretaceous strata in localities 

 where their presence was not susjjected, or if suspected, could 

 not be demonstrated. By means of similar facts I was first able 

 to trace the extent and positive existence of the cretaceous 

 formation on certain parts of Staten Island, and reasoning 

 from similar premises and facts in Long Island, we must con- 

 clude that at least a portion of New York Harbor and the East 

 River to the north of Brooklyn was occupied by cretaceovis 

 strata. It is probable that the archsean axis, which extends 

 through Staten Island and thence diagonally across the harbor 

 to New York, with extensions up the river valleys, was the old 

 shore line in this vicinity, as we find it to have been the case 

 elsewhere. Further eastward, there seems to be no question that 



