1893. | NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 233 
cretaceous strata occupied practically the whole of what is now 
Loug Island Sound, as I have discussed in a previous article.* 
At the western end of Long Island, where Brooklyn now is, 
the extent of cretaceous strata subject to erosion by the glaciers 
was very limited, and the paucity of such indications need not 
surprise us. In fact, the discovery of the few fossil leaves 
which have been made in digging wells and sewers there, may 
be considered peculiarly fortuitious. While examining the 
moraine through the Eastern district of Brooklyn, I was parti- 
cularly impressed with the great number of the characteristic 
concretions, many of them containing plant remains (lignite and 
twigs)at the headof the Newtown Creek valley. Ican only account 
for this as due to the material which was eroded in the forma- 
tion of the valley. Such valleys or inlets are among the most 
prominent features in the topography of the north shore of the 
island, and ice action has been advocated by previous observers 
as their probable cause. Having this theory in mind, the fact 
above noted is of some significance. 
At this part of the island the clays do not appear anywhere 
in mass, so far as 1am imforméd. They were probably in such 
limited amount on the north side, where subjected to glacial 
action, that they were entirely eroded, while to the south they 
were deeply covered by the moraine. As we proceed eastward, 
however, we find the clays out-cropping on the north shore at 
many localities, though generally much squeezed and contorted 
by the pressure of the ice sheet, and they are invariably met 
with on the south side, containing lignite, whenever wells or 
other excavations have been sunk to a sufficient depth, 
Throughout the moraine, also, wherever I have examined it, 
the characteristic concretions and micaceous sandstones are 
abundant. 
Only a beginning has yet been made in the search for plant 
remains, but now that attention has been called to the matter 
they are being reported from a number of localities, and 
specimens are constantly coming to light, and there seems to be 
no doubt that the entire north shore of the island will present 
the same story to the searcher, when it has been carefully 
explored. 
In the vicinity of Glen Cove, where the greatest amount of 
exploration has been personally made, the clays are exposed at 
the base of steep bluffs fronting the shores. At Carpenter's 
clay pits, on the west shore of the cove, a fine white clay is 
found, associated with sandy clay, white sand, gravel and 
‘“‘kaolin’’ ; all of which are mined for economic purposes. <A few 
* Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sei. xii- 190-202. 
