No.459.]] AMBER IN EASTERN UNITED STATES. I39 
and fragments of lignite and charred wood. Pyrite, in nodules, 
is also a prominent constituent. This bed, where exposed in 
vertical section, appears as if lens-shaped, having an indicated 
maximum thickness of about 3 feet and a lateral extent of 18 
feet or more. The face of the pit at this place is about 20 feet 
high and the lower part of the bed is about ı foot from the 
present floor of the pit. The section in which the: bed is 
exposed is shown in Plate 2. It is immediately adjacent to the 
left of the section shown in Plate 1. 
Most of the amber was found in a relatively thick accumula- 
tion of finely comminuted lignite and charred wood, of limited 
extent, through which it was irregularly distributed. This 
matrix yielded nearly all of the larger specimens and a majority of 
the smaller ones. The remainder were obtained from the rela- 
tively thinner layers of leaves and twigs. A piece of the lignitic 
matrix, with fragments of amber enclosed, is shown on Plate 3, 
Fig. 34. 
Characters of the Amber.— A large part of the amber is in 
the form of drops or “tears,” examples of which may be seen 
on Plate 3, Figs. 1—23, but irregularly shaped fragments, varying 
in size from a large pin's head to 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. Some of the best examples of the former are shown on 
Plate 3, Figs. 24-32, and a large piece of the latter on Plate 3, 
Fig. 33. The finest specimen in size, color, and transparency, 
represented by Fig. 32, is about 6 cu. cm. in volume. All of 
the figures on Plate 3 are of natural size. 
Disposition of the Specimens.— Most of the specimens col- 
lected are deposited in the museum of the New York Botanical 
Garden and the remainder in that of the Natural Science Asso- 
ciation of Staten Island. The only other specimens from this 
vicinity which I have been able to locate are included in the 
collections at Columbia University. These are three in number 
and are labeled respectively, “ Marl pits, Squankum, N. J.” 
“Kirby’s marl pit, Harrisonville, N. J.," and “ Valentine's clay 
pit, Woodbridge, N. J.” The last mentioned is of good quality 
and is about the size of a filbert nut. 
