878 Transactions.—Geology. 
Ambrite (Retinite).—Dr. v. Hochstetter is the first to mention the occur- 
rence of this mineral in New Zealand (New Zealand, 1863; Eng. ed., p. 
79). He describes it as follows :—“ Fossil resin imbedded in the coal, 
sometimes in pieces from the size of a fist to that of a man's head, but 
usually only in smaller groups. It is transparent, very brittle, and has a 
conchoidal and quite glossy fracture. Colour changes from a bright yellow 
to dark brown ; is easily ignited, much more so than the kauri gum; burns 
with a steady fast sooting flame, and developes a bituminous rather than 
aromatic smell Mr. Richard Maly found as a mean of three chemical 
analyses of this fossil resin— 
Carbon «s «+ 76°53 Computed  .. .. 76°65 
Hydrogen 10°58 ^ .. 10:38 
Oxygen e — 2: E a 
sh .. 19 i *19 
100-00 
yelding the formula C H* Ot, It shows great indifference to solvents; 
by friction it becomes electric; H. 2, sp. gr. 1-084 at 19? R. It is suffi- 
ciently characterized to deserve a special name, but it comes so near to 
real amber in composition that it deserves the name of Ambrite.” 
Dr. Hector also mentions its occurrence (Jurors’ Rep. N.Z. Ex., 1865, 
p. 426) under the name of Retinite, in the brown coals of Hyde, Caversham, 
Tuapeka, Waitahuna, and Dunstan ; and Professor Liversidge (Trans. N.Z. 
Inst., vol. x., p. 490) again describes samples from Dunstan and the Bay of 
Islands. It is of common occurrence in the brown coals of New Zealand 
wherever they occur, being sometimes in moderately large blocks, and at 
others as dispersed grains. 
Mellite, Ay M* + 18 H.—A specimen of this mineral was first collected 
by Captain Hutton from the Thames in 1870, and the specimen is described 
(Col. Mus. & Lab. Reps., vi., p. 15) as a resinous looking substance, with a 
splintery fracture. Another specimen was collected by Dr. Hector in 1876 
from a eave in Bligh Sound, and is mentioned in the Twelfth Laboratory 
Report under the number 1915. There is no description and none of the 
mineral remains. E 
Non-Meratiic MixERALS.— Class III. 
SULPHUR AND SELENIUM. 
Sulphur, S.—Considerable quantities of this valuable mineral occur on 
White Island, where it is deposited from numerous geysers and an enormous 
boiling spring near the centre of the island (Hector, Jurors' Rep. N.Z. Ex., 
1865, pp. 84, 425), and it occurs in smaller quantities on various other 
islands in the Bay of Plenty. It is also deposited from fumaroles at the 
Rotomahana hot lakes and Taupo, and in several other localities where hot 
