What is "retinite"

Retinite \Ret"i*nite\, n. [Gr.??? resin: cf. F. r['e]tinite.] (Min.) An inflammable mineral resin, usually of a yellowish brown color, found in roundish masses, sometimes with coal.

n. (context mineralogy English) Any of various resins, similar in appearance to amber, associated with brown coal

Retinite is a general name applied to various resins, particularly those from beds of brown coal, which are near amber in appearance, but contain little or no succinic acid. It may conveniently serve as a generic name, since no two independent occurrences prove to be alike, and the indefinite multiplication of names, no one of them properly specific, is not to be desired.