378 Transactions. — Geology. 



Ambrite (Eetinite). — Dr. v. Hoclistetter 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. Bichard Maly found as a mean of three chemical 

 analyses of this fossil resin — 



Carbon .. .. 76-53 Computed .. .. 76-65 



Hydrogen .. ., 10-58 ,", .. .. 10-38 



Oxygen ,. — „ .. .. 12-78 



Ash .... .. -19 „ .. .. -19 



100-00 

 yelding the formula C 32 H 26 O 1 . It shows great indifference to solvents ; 

 by friction it becomes electric ; H. 2, sp. gr. 1-034 at 12° E. 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' Eep. N.Z. Ex., 1865, 

 p. 426) under the name of Eetinite, 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, ^y. M 3 + 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. Eeps., vi., p. 15) as a resinous looking substance, with a 

 splintery fracture. Another specimen was collected by Dr. Hector in 1876 

 from a cave in Bligh Sound, and is mentioned in the Twelfth Laboratory 

 Eeport under the number 1915. There is no description and none of the 

 mineral remains. 



Non-Metallic Minerals. — 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' Eep. N.Z. Ex., 

 1865, pp. 34, 425), and it occurs in smaller quantities on various other 

 islands in the Bay of Plenty. It is also deposited from fumaroles at the 

 Eotomahana hot lakes and Taupo, and in several other localities where hot 



