1889.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. 1033 
sand composing it, and from which it derives its name. There were 
difficulties in the way of accepting hypotheses, advanced by several 
eminent authorities, that it came either from the northwest or south- 
east. After a careful survey of a large part of the region where it is 
found in New Jersey, I had arrived at a conclusion, as long ago as 
1883, that it had been derived from the erosion of Cretaceous strata 
containing gravel outcropping in the vicinity, and that after erosion 
it had been colored by ferruginous waters. [See Trans. N. Y. Acad. 
Sci., Vol. IV.] That this coloring is merely more or less on the sur- 
face may be seen by breaking the pebbles composing the gravel, and 
noting the white interior portions. The discovery of these fossils in 
the Cretaceous gravel goes far towards strengthening the conclusion, 
for it is a well known fact that similar fossils occur in the Pre-glacial 
Drift, and we have specimens in our cabinet from the Prince's Bay 
Bluff and Todt Hill, as previously reported to the Association. The 
beds of white gravel must lie near the base of the Cretaceous system, 
and form the exposures at Glen Cove, N. Y., and Camden, N. J. 
They are known to be of considerable thickness and extent, and as 
there is unmistakable evidence of some hundreds of feet of erosion 
from all this part of the country since the Cretaceous era, there is 
nothing extraordinary about the proposition. The problem still re- 
mains, however. Where did these silicified fossils come from originally? 
We have traced them back one step further, from the Pre-glacial 
Drift to the Cretaceous gravels, but that is as far as we can go at 
present. There are ledges of rock from which they might have been 
derived in Morris county, N. J., but the abundance of silicified fossils 
in the Pre-glacial Drift seem to require some less remote source. 
Mr. Hollick described a recent visit to the Triassic outcrop at 
Mariners' Harbor, in company with Dr. Britton. This outcrop was 
mentioned by Wm. W. Mather in "The Geology of New York," 
where he says (see page 285) : '' In Richmond county, Staten Island, 
the red sandstone occupies but a small area where it can be observed 
* * * * it is believed to range from between Bergen Point and 
Shooter's Islnad, south-south-westwardly to the Freshkill marshes. It 
is generally covered by soil, drift deposits, and the sand and clay 
beds. It may be seen at very low tide, on the shore, about southwest of 
Bergen Point. It is the slaty, micaceous, fissile, red sandstone and shale. " 
On page 294, in speaking of so-called bird tracks found in the same 
sandstone in Connecticut, he says : " I have seen no tracks on the 
red sandstone of Rockland and Richmond Counties, but they may 
very possibly be found there. My researches were necessarily very 
