96 STEVENSON-INTERRELATIONS OF THE FOSSIL FUELS. 



36.25; nitrogen, 0.86. The material analyzed was air-dried; the 

 ultimate composition as given is ash and water free. 



Demel/2^ studying dopplerite from the original locality, found 

 that it would not give up all its water at less than 120° C. ; but this 

 high temperature should not be prolonged, as decomposition begins 

 quickly. His specimens contained no nitrogen, thus differing from 

 those analyzed by Schrotter and Muhlberg. The ash varies little 

 from 5 per cent. The carbon approaches that obtained by Kauf- 

 mann but is nearly 5 per cent, more than that reported by Schrotter, 

 with also an increase of 0.4 per cent, in the hydrogen. He assigns 

 the formula of QoHi^Oc to dopplerite. A large part of the mineral 

 is soluble in caustic potash, from which it may be precipitated by 

 acids. This precipitate has less hydrogen, the formula as determined 

 by Demel, being C^Ji^nO^. The ash, 5 per cent., contains 72.67 per 

 cent, of calcium oxide, equivalent to about 3.63 per cent, of the dried 

 dopplerite, along with 12.02 per cent, of alumina and ferric oxide. 



Von Giimbel in his later study, recognized the calcareous nature 

 of the ash, which is snow-white ; he thinks there may be a chemical 

 combination of the calcareous and organic constituents. 



Friih's^^^ discussion was more elaborate than that by any one 

 of his predecessors. He compared the features of dopplerite from 

 many localities. It is present throughout some peats as brown 

 flakes, one centimeter to a decimeter, giving a mottled appearance 

 to the mass, which he terms Marmortorf. He found it only in 

 Rasentorf (grass and sedge), or at the junction between Rasen- and 

 Hochmoor (Sphagnum peat) ; that is to say, only in peat rich in 

 water, a condition which favors ulminification. Dopplerite and peat 

 are not separated sharply, there being always a passage zone. Evi- 

 dently the dopplerite was fluid ; it is associated frequently with a 

 twig or root, along which it flowed ; sometimes, it is in thin sheets ; 

 it may fill preexisting cracks in the peat or in the underlying 

 materials. The calcareous ash led him to believe that it is present 

 in the Rasentorf because that thrives in calcareous water, whereas 

 Sphagnum does not ; at the same time. Sphagnum is convertiljle into 



138 •\Y. Demel, " Ueber den Dopplerit von Aussee," Sita.-ber. k. Akad. 

 Wiss. Wien, 1883, Bd. 86, Abt. 2, pp. 872-878. 



^3° J. J. Friih, " Ueber Torf und Dopplerit," Trogen, 1883, pp. 64, 68, 69-72. 



