46 
twigs and fragments of lignite and charred wood. This bed, 
where exposed in vertical section, appears as if lens-shaped, with 
an indicated maximum thickness of about three feet and a lateral 
extent of about eighteen feet, near the base of the pit [Fig. 14]. 
Fic, Exposure of Cretaceous cee Androvette pit, Kreischerville, Staten 
14. 
Island, — Layers g in the stratum indicated by the pick handle 
Most of the amber was found in a relatively thick accumula- 
tion of finely comminuted lignite and charred wood, through 
which it was irregularly distributed. Other specimens were ob- 
tained from thinner layers of closely packed leaves and twigs. 
A piece of the lignitic matrix, with two fragments of amber en- 
closed, is shown in Fig. 15a. A large part of the amber is in the 
form of drops or “tears,” examples of which are shown in Fig. 
15¢, @, e, but irregular shaped fragments, some as large as a 
hickory-nut, are the most abundant. They are generally more 
or less transparent and yellow or reddish in color, but many are 
opaque and grayish-white, from the presence of impurities. One 
of the best specimens of the former is shown in Fig. 15%, and one 
of the latter in Fig. 154 
