14 FoRTY-THITtB ANNUAL REPORT ON TUB 



York quarries. The beauty of the specimens attracts all visitors 

 and tliey make one of the most important accessions of the year. 

 The minerals from Manhattan or New York island and from 

 Westchester county, purchased last year, have been arranged in 

 the first table case in the ,front room. One hundred and thirty 

 specimens, and thirty-eight species make up this collection. 

 The orthoclase, beryl, tourmaline and muscovite are notable for 

 their crystalline forms, and the comparatively rare dumortierite 

 and xenotime, the latter well crystallized, attract the attention of 

 mineralogists. As a representative of the variety and excellence 

 of mineral species, which occur on New York island, the collection 

 is interesting and it is valuable since many of the localities have 

 already been covered by buildings and lost to mineral collectors. 



Geological and PALaEONTOLOGicAL Collections. 



Few changes have been made in the arrangement of the palieon- 

 tological collections in the rooms on the second and third floors 

 of the Museum building. A large flag- stone, taken from the side- 

 walk in front of the Sherman Free Library at Port Henry, 

 ripple-marked and crossed by the trails of an unknown crusta- 

 cean, has been set up, so that it can be seen to the best advantage 

 and studied by specialists interested in these fossil footprints. 

 A full notice of the discovery of this slab and of the associated 

 material, obtained from the same quarry, was given in the last 

 annual report. (Pp. 25-34.) 



The largest addition on this floor is the collection of sandstone, 

 with footprints and structural markings, from Turner's Falls, 

 Massachusetts. There are six slabs. One of them has two 

 three-toed tracks, having a length of stride of three feet. A pair 

 of slabs show the mud cracks and foot impressions and the cast 

 of the same on the lower and upper surfaces respectively. On a 

 smaller slab there are numerous smaller footprints and represent- 

 ing several animal forms. One slab, three and one-half feet by 

 two feet, shows extraordinarily well preserved ripple-marks and 

 one obscure footprint. The sixth slab exhibits finely a bit of 

 the old beach history, in its footprints, partly obscured and 

 indented by the rain, which was subsequent to the passage of the 

 animal, and the later wind-drifted sand, covering raindrops and 

 footprint alike with fine sand lines. The collection is an important 



