272 Transactions. 



than petroleum, so that the suggestion of these authors gains in probability, 

 in that it is known that large quantities of wax, almost certainly derived 

 from micro-organisms, are present in this lignite. 



Kramer and Spilker's hypothesis would appear, in this light, much more 

 probable than that of Mendeleef, Moissan, and others, who suggest that the 

 natural petroleums are due to the action of water upon metallic carbides, 

 substances which have never been found in nature in large quantity. 



If we assume with von Boy en that the bitumen derived from pyro- 

 pissite is an ester of montanic acid, then the fact that the inert constituent 

 of the wax derived from the bitumen is an olefinic hydrocarbon, probably 

 C 28 H 56 , suggests that the reaction during steam distillation of the wax 

 is represented by the equation 



C27H 35 C0 2 C 28 H 57 = C 27 H 55 C0 2 H + C 28 H 5(i 

 Montanyl montanate = Montanic acid Montanene,* 



just as during the distillation of Chinese wax we have — 



C 2 5H 51 C0 2 C 26 H 5 3 = C 25 H 51 C0 2 H + C 26 H S2 



Ceryl cerotate = Cerotic acid Cerotene. 



It is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when a systematic 

 examination of the brown coals and oil-shales of New Zealand will be made, 

 with the object of elucidating the chemical nature of their constituents. 

 It is a regrettable and remarkable fact that, notwithstanding the enormous 

 annual consumption of coal in all countries of the world, we are still practi- 

 cally in ignorance as to the chemical nature of this fuel. 



EXPERIMENTAL. 

 Part I. — The Composition of Montan Wax. 



A. the acid constituents. 



The following table gives a comparison of the physical constants of the 

 montan waxt used in this research with those of the waxes used bv Eisen- 

 reichj and Ryan and Dillon. § 



Wax used 

 by Author. 



Melting-point . . 78° 



Acid value . . . . 86-2 



Saponification value . . 88-4 

 Percentage of montanic 



acid (if M.W. = 424) 65-0 72-66 530 



It will be seen that the three samples of wax melt within 2° of one another, 

 and that the wax used in this research had an acid and saponification value 

 intermediate between those of the other investigators. Slight differences 

 in the rate of distillation of the original material would readily account for 

 these differences in the properties of the wax. 



* The fact that the proportion of hydrocarbon in commercial montan wax is much 

 less than that of the free acids is not surprising, for the physical properties of the hydro- 

 carbon are such as to lead to loss during the commercial process of recrystallization 

 from benzene. 



•j- This montan wax was obtained from Schliemann and Co., Hamburg and London. 



% Journ. Soc. Chem. Ind., 1909, p. 991. 



§Sci. Proc. Roy. Dub. Soc, vol. 12, 1909. 



