GEOLOGY. 303 



sound, Oregon, have been transmitted to the Navy Department. Tho 

 samples were selected from a considerable quantity dug up within three 

 feet of the surface, the vein having a dip west towards the near hills 

 and mountains, thus indicating its existence in great quantities. This 

 coal has been examined by Prof. W. R. Johnson, of Washington, who 

 pronounces it to be one of the purest American coals which he has yet 

 seen. It has a specific gravity of 1.31o, and will require on board a 

 steamer about 42^ cubic feet of space to stow one gross ton. It con- 

 tains in every 100 parts, 40.36 per cent, of volatile matter, 56.84 per 

 cent, of fixed carbon, and 2.80 per cent, of earthy matter. After the 

 luminous flame ceases, the coke burns with a bright glow, and leaves 

 a light brick-red or deep salmon-colored ash. Under a well-constructed 

 boiler, this coal ought to produce from 7i to 8 pounds of steam from 

 212 to one pound of coal burned. The importance of a discovery of 

 this character cannot be over-estimated when it is remembered that 

 we have heretofore failed to obtain coal from, any part of our Pacific 

 territories. The explorations of geologists have shown, conclusively, 

 that there is no coal in California, and, until this discovery was made, 

 none was known to exist in Oregon. There are inexhaustible deposits 

 of this valuable mineral at Vancouver's Island, but that island belongs 

 to the British government. Puget's Sound is the nearest point in 

 Oregon to Vancouver's Island, and it is probable the coal obtained there 

 is of a similar character to that derived from the island. 



COAL IN CHINA. 



THE following notices of coal in China have been forwarded to us 

 by Dr. D. J. Macgowan, of Ningpo. Editor. 



Coal deposits exist to a greater or less extent throughout the different 

 mountain ranges which girt the great plain of China. On its northern 

 boundary it is met with in numerous localities, on the Celestial moun- 

 tains, on the Mongolian steppes, and various offsets of the Altai range, 

 the most productive of which are in Shingking and Shansi. There are 

 several smaller deposits in Chihli and Corea. Unskilful mining and 

 the want of suitable means of transport enhance the cost of the min- 

 eral, and limit its consumption. Except for culinary and manufacturing 

 purposes, it is little used ; the inhabitants trusting to furs and skins 

 for protection from the extreme rigor of their winters. The best coal 

 brought to the capital is from Pingting, in Shansi. Chinese cosmogo- 

 nists, drawing on mythology, gravely state, that in one of the Pingting 

 mines the furnace still exists in which Niukiva fused stones for repair- 

 ing holes in the heavens. 



Those deposits which have been mined for the longest period, with 

 which we are best acquainted, and are the most productive, lie in the 

 middle and southern parts of the empire. 



That branch of the Himalayan range known as the Yun-ling has 

 the carboniferous system superimposed on a granitic base through a 

 great part of its extent, in numerous sections of which the coal meas- 

 ures exist, generally interstratified with beds of slaty clay and lime- 

 stone. Those best known lie in the basin of the Kan in Kiangsi, 



