1881.] -'-■^^ [Lewis. 



markable gelatinous substance discovered in Austria," read before tlie 

 Vienna Academy in 1849,* and stated tliat it was nearly insoluble in 

 water, alcohol and ether, but almost entirely dissolved by caustic potash. 

 Having been referred to Haidinger and Schrotter for further examina- 

 tion, it Avas fully described and named by them a week later. Schrotter f 

 found its composition to be (after drying at 212° F.) : 



C 48. 06 or without ash 



H 4.93 C 51.63 



40.07 H 5.34 



N 1.03 O + N... 43.03 



.Ash 5.86 



Haidinger named the substance and described its physical properties. 

 He stated the observation of Lowe that it burned without flame, and that 

 of Ettinghausen that it contained recognizable vegatable organisms. 



In 1858, Giimbel:]: announced that a substance very similar to Dopplerite 

 occurred in a peat-bed near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. Like the substance 

 from Scranton, a black jelly-like substance was found as irregular and 

 sometimes nearly vertical veins of varying, but slight thickness, in the 

 lower part of the peat. It was known as Peat-Pitch-Coal. It was very 

 slightly soluble in alcohol, giving it a pale yellow color, but was almost 

 completely soluble in alkali. Unlike the original Dopplerite, it burned 

 with a yellow flame. Giimbel indicated the chemical changes which con- 

 verted wood into peat, and showed that Dopplerite had the same composi- 

 tion as peat, and was in fact a truly homogeneous peat. 



In 1863, Dopplerite was discovered in a peat-bog at Obburg, Switzer- 

 land, and was described by Kauifmann, who in an important paperg 

 showed that it had the same physical properties and chemical composition 

 as the Dopplerite of Aussee. 



It occurred in a black peat at a depth of 13 to 14 feet, in layers 

 sometimes a foot in thickness. Except in burning without flame, its phys- 

 ical properties were nearly identical with the Scranton substance. The 

 air-dried Dopplerite lost 19.7 per cent, of water at a heat of 110° C, and 

 according to Muhlberg had the following composition : 



C 52.2 



H 5.9 



O -f N 35.7 



Ash 5.2 



100. 



By dissolving in caustic potash, precipitating by acid, and then analyzing 

 the dried precipitate, a similar composition was obtained. KaufFmann 



*Sitzunsb. d. k. Acad. d. Wiss. Wien, 1819, Vol. i, p. 239. 



t Loc. cit. p. 286. 



JNeues Jahr., f. Min., 18.58, p. 278. 



2 Jahr., d. k. k. Geol. Reich, Wien. 1865, Vol. xv, p. 283 . 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XX. 111. O. PRINTED MARCH 7, 1882. 



