79 
dislocations, appears on the slope of the hills at a different level, 
usually with a dip of 10 to 20 degrees towards South West or West. 
The coal, the quality of which in the various portions of the bed 
in one and the same locality, and also in the various localities ob- 
served, suffers but little change, partakes, according to the varying 
gloss upon the surfaces of fracture, sometimes rather of the cha- 
racter of “glance coal”, at others more of “pitch coal”. It has a 
conchoidal fracture and black colour; but by the brown colour of 
its powder it at once betrays the character of brown coal. It is 
but slightly contaminated by iron pyrite, or by intermediate strata 
of bituminous shale; when recently broken it has a considerable 
consistency; yet by desiccation on exposure to the air and especially 
to the sun, it crumbles into small fragments. 
A fossil resin is very frequently found imbedded in the coal, 
sometimes in pieces from the size of a fist to that of a man’s 
head, but usually only in smaller groups. It is transparent, very 
brittle, and has a conchoidal, and quite glossy fracture. The colour 
changes from a bright yellow to a dark brown. It is easily ig- 
nited, much more so than the Kauri gum, burns with a steady, 
fast-sooting flame, and develops a bituminous rather than aromatic 
smell. Although originating probably from a coniferous tree re- 
lated to the Kauri pine, it nevertheless has been erroneously taken 
for Kauri gum. 1 The fossil leaves found in the shales and sand- 
stones flanking the coal belong to dicotyledon plants, which leads 
me to infer a tertiary age of this brown coal formation. I much 
regret to say, that my collection of these fossils remains but very 
1 Mr. Richard Maly found as a mean result of three chemical analyses of this 
fossil resin: 
Carbon 76,53 computed 76,65 
Hydrogen .... 10,58 „ 10,38 
Oxygen ..... — „ 12,78 
Ash 0,19 „ 0,19 
100 , 00 . 
yielding the formula C 32 H 26 O 4 . It shows great indifference to solvents. By fric- 
tion it becomes electric. Hardness 2, specif, grav. 1,034 at 12° R. It is sufficiently 
characterized to deserve a special name; but it comes so near to real amber that, it 
deserves the name Ambrite . 
