MR. A. S. FOOUD ON EAST COAST AMBER. 1)3 
During a visit to Yarmouth last summer my attention was 
directed to a very fine private collection of East Coast Amber, 
belonging to Mrs. Burwood of that place ; but what attracted 
my notice even more than the beauty of the Amber itself, was 
the large number of specimens containing insects and some plant 
remains, for the most part in a remarkably perfect state of pre- 
servation. It occurred to me that such an opportunity of recording 
a most interesting series of organisms should not be lost; none 
of the forms having, so far as I am aware, been previously observed 
in the Amber of this country.* I, therefore, with the kind per- 
mission of the owner, at once set to work to figure them. I may 
hero mention that my brother, Mr. Arthur H. Foord, F.G.S., 
saw the collection and was much struck with it. He submitted 
my drawings to the inspection of Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, F.X.S., 
of the Zoological Department, British Museum, who, at my 
brother’s request, kindly named the genera and species that could 
be made out. 
With regard to the general appearance of the specimens in the 
collection, those of a rich wine-yellow seemed to predominate ; 
but besides these there were several pieces of a lemon-yellow colour, 
more or less clouded, and a few quite opaque, looking like ivory. 
One of these latter was picked up on the beach at Winterton, about 
nine miles north of Yarmouth. A good many of the specimens, 
as is often the case elsewhere, were brought in by the fishermen, 
and purchased from them at various places on the Norfolk and 
Suffolk coasts. One point that particularly struck me was the 
unusually large size of most of the pieces, some of which must 
have exceeded a pound in weight; and in Amber, which is remarkable 
for its lightness, this of course means a considerable bulk. 
I was told that in most cases the insects were not revealed 
until after the Amber containing them had been polished. This 
polishing had been done in a very judicious and painstaking 
manner ; the natural contour of each piece being preserved, instead 
of the pieces being cut away so as to produce flat surfaces, merely 
for the convenience of the operator, as is the practice of most 
lapidaries. 
* See Mr. Clement Reid's paper, read before this Society, 30th March, 
1886, and published in the “ Transactions.” 
