No. 459] AMBER IN EASTERN UNITED STATES. I41 
PREVIOUS RECORDS OF THE OCCURRENCE OF AMBER IN THE 
` EASTERN UNITED STATES. 
It is probable that amber is far more common in the Creta- 
ceous deposits of the eastern United States than is generally 
supposed. The amount that may be obtained at the Kreischer- 
ville locality alone is considerable, as evidenced by the relatively 
large quantity that was obtained in the few hours devoted to the 
work, from the small portion of the exposure examined ; and 
reports of its occurrence elsewhere indicate that careful search, 
with amber as the object in view, would produce excellent results. 
Probably the earliest published record on the subject is con- 
tained in an article by G. Troost, entitled : ** Description of a 
Variety of Amber and of a Fossil Substance supposed to be the 
Nest of an Insect, discovered at Cape Sable, Magothy River, 
Anne Arundel County, Maryland” (Am. Journ. Sci., vol. 3, 1821, 
pp. 8-15), in which he describes the amber as occurring with 
lignite, and says (p. 9): * This lignite seems to be formed of 
three varieties of wood, or rather the wood has undergone three 
different changes, some pieces of which are entirely charred, 
often changed into bituminous wood, and others again having 
undergone very little change from the brown lignite. Allthese 
varieties, particularly the brown lignite and the charred wood, 
are penetrated by pyrites, and are sometimes entirely changed 
into it." 
' The above account is of considerable interest to us for the 
reason that the geologic horizon in which the amber was found 
at Cape Sable is approximately the equivalent of that at Kreisch- 
erville, and the conditions under which it occurs at both places 
are evidently identical. The meaning or significance of the 
Charred wood presents an interesting problem, as it apparently 
indicates the direct effect of fire, at or immediately prior to the 
time when the deposits were laid down, and not that of any 
chemical change such as resulted in the gradual transformation 
of the wood into lignite. Further than this, its occurrence in 
such widely separated localities indicates that whatever the 
source of the heat may have been, the effects were far-reaching 
and extended over a considerable area. The same author, in the 
