﻿332 
  B. 
  J. 
  Harrington 
  — 
  So-called 
  Amber 
  of 
  

  

  Art. 
  XXXII. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  so-called 
  Amber 
  of 
  Cedar 
  Lake, 
  North 
  

   Saskatchewan, 
  Canada; 
  by 
  B. 
  J. 
  Harrington, 
  McGill 
  

   College, 
  Montreal. 
  

  

  The 
  occurrence 
  of 
  mineral 
  resins 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  coals 
  and 
  

   lignites 
  of 
  the 
  Northwest 
  and 
  British 
  Columbia 
  has 
  been 
  

   known 
  for 
  many 
  years, 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  a 
  partial 
  examina- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  specimens 
  from 
  three 
  localities 
  were 
  .published 
  by 
  the 
  

   writer 
  in 
  the 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  for 
  1876-77, 
  p. 
  

   471. 
  The 
  conclusion 
  then 
  arrived 
  at 
  was 
  that 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  

   specimens 
  could 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  amber 
  or 
  succinite, 
  though 
  in 
  

   some 
  respects 
  closely 
  resembling 
  that 
  substance. 
  Attention 
  

   was 
  also 
  called 
  to 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  Goeppert 
  that 
  he 
  knew 
  of 
  

   no 
  instance 
  of 
  true 
  amber 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  brown 
  coals 
  of 
  

   northern 
  Germany, 
  the 
  substance 
  occurring 
  in 
  those 
  beds 
  

   being 
  "retinite." 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1890, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  B. 
  Tyrrell, 
  M.A., 
  of 
  the 
  

   Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Canada, 
  visited 
  a 
  locality 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  

   shore 
  of 
  Cedar 
  Lake, 
  near 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Saskatch- 
  

   ewan, 
  where 
  a 
  mineral 
  resin 
  resembling 
  amber 
  in 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  large 
  quantity. 
  With 
  regard 
  to 
  it 
  Mr. 
  

   Tyrrell 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  It 
  occurs 
  mixed 
  with 
  sand 
  and 
  many 
  fragments 
  

   of 
  partly 
  decayed 
  wood, 
  on 
  a 
  low 
  beach 
  behind 
  a 
  gradually 
  

   shelving 
  shore 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  a 
  deep, 
  wet, 
  spruce 
  

   swamp. 
  The 
  pieces 
  were, 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part, 
  smaller 
  than 
  a 
  

   pea, 
  but 
  could 
  be 
  readily 
  seen 
  glittering 
  among 
  the 
  sand 
  and 
  

   vegetable 
  debris. 
  Some 
  pieces 
  were 
  found 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  a 
  robin's 
  

   egg, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  King 
  [of 
  the 
  Hudson's 
  Bay 
  Company] 
  informed 
  

   me 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  collected 
  pieces 
  very 
  much 
  larger. 
  It 
  has 
  evi- 
  

   dently 
  been 
  washed 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  by 
  the 
  waves, 
  but 
  its 
  

   exact 
  age 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  positively 
  determined. 
  

  

  " 
  The 
  first 
  place 
  at 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  seen 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  small 
  bay 
  

   behind 
  a 
  limestone 
  point 
  projecting 
  towards 
  the 
  north, 
  but 
  the 
  

   most 
  extensive 
  deposit 
  is 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  mile 
  south 
  of 
  this 
  point, 
  

   where 
  a 
  rounded 
  beach 
  stretches 
  across 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  a 
  low 
  

   swamp. 
  This 
  beach 
  is 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  from 
  eighty 
  

   to 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  feet 
  in 
  breadth. 
  The 
  amber 
  is 
  

   found 
  most 
  plentifully 
  along 
  its 
  ridge, 
  where 
  it 
  constitutes 
  

   between 
  five 
  and 
  ten 
  per 
  cent 
  by 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  sand 
  and 
  vege- 
  

   table 
  debris, 
  and 
  holes 
  dug 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  two 
  feet 
  show 
  no 
  

   diminution 
  in 
  its 
  quantity. 
  Towards 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  lake, 
  

   however, 
  the 
  sand 
  is 
  freer, 
  both 
  from 
  fragments 
  of 
  w 
  r 
  ood 
  and 
  

   amber. 
  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  make 
  an 
  accurate 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  amber 
  on 
  this 
  mile 
  of 
  beach, 
  but 
  it 
  may 
  confidently 
  

   be 
  said' 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  throughout 
  the 
  distance 
  in 
  a 
  band 
  thirty 
  

   feet 
  wide, 
  with 
  a 
  minimum 
  depth 
  of 
  two 
  feet."* 
  

  

  * 
  Summary 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  Department 
  for 
  1890, 
  p. 
  22 
  

  

  