110 



DR. REDFERN, ON THE TORBANEHILL 



Table showing the average proportion of the different (ultimate) ingre- 

 dients of Coal and of 'J orbane Mineral. 



Dr. Fjfe says, " The Torbane mineral, in a chemical point 

 of view, resembles coal. It has in it all the component parts 

 of coal, and in nearly the same proportions as in some of 

 them. It does not contain anything that is not found in coals. 

 It yields the same products by distillation, at different tem- 

 peratures ; such as gas for illumination, tar, and ammoniacal 

 liquor, benzole, naphtha, naphthaline, pitch oil, paraffine oil, 

 and paraffine. I have shown also that it differs materially 

 from asphalt, and from shales, and bituminous shales, in con- 

 taining almost no bitumen." 



So chemistry points out that the Torbanehill coal is made 

 up of the same substances as compose other coals, and that 

 such proportions of these individual substances as exist in it 

 are also found in other coals. Further, its chemical compo- 

 sition points clearly to its formation from the organic king- 

 dom of nature. 



When a thin piece of this coal is lighted at a flame it 

 burns like a candle, hence such coals have been called candle 

 or cannel coals ; when a piece is thrown on the fire it crackles 

 in splitting to pieces, and for that reason it and such like 

 coals are called parrot coals. 



Structure of the blocks in which the coal is found naturally 

 and solid. They are very tough, elastic, and difficult to break, 

 unless they are struck on their sides with a sharp-edged ham- 

 mer, or with a knife and hammer ; the blocks then split into 

 thin layers with great ease. I have split 16- inch blocks in 

 this way into 16 layers of one inch in thickness, without 

 breaking more than one of them. Yet not one entire piece 

 can be split off in the vertical direction by any means what- 

 ever. If the hammer be applied perpendicularly to the sur- 

 face of the bed, the fracture produced is conchoidal. 



One great fact has thus been arrived at : the whole bed of 

 Torbanehill coal is laminated, I think the importance of this 

 fact has not yet been thoroughly understood. 



