119 
Dr. FEUCHTWANGER, Pror. EGueston, and Dr. B. N. 
Martin exhibited several specimens of minerals, which 
were examined and discussed. 
March 9th. Chemical Section. 
Dr. H. ENDEMANN in the chair. Twenty-five persons present. 
Dr. FEUCHTWANGER exhibited a number of interesting 
minerals, American and foreign. 
Pror. H. Wurrz presented an outline report on the 
“Greenland coal,” or lignite, brought from the mines at Disco 
Island, by the U. S. steamer Juniata, in 1873.* He de- 
scribed minutely the structure of the material, its treatment in 
analysis, and its behavior in the various stages of the pro- 
cess. It yielded, 
Water, 14.00 
Volatile matter, 35.38 
Coke, containing 1 eat ga: 100.00 
Sulphur was present in minute amount. 
Should the above proportion of volatile matter be found to 
hold good when the water is expelled, which can be done at 
the low heat of a sand-bath, this lignite would rank as an 
excellent gas-coal. This interesting and perhaps important 
point, he had not had opportunity to investigate. 
The dehydrated lignite, when in powder, becomes some- 
what pyrophorie, igniting very readily. The coke would ap- 
pear to yield a powerful and valuable fuel. 
This lignite is remarkable as having the highest density 
recorded, 1.46 (mean). The coke also, which shrinks greatly 
in forming, has the unequaled density of 1.836, higher even 
than any anthracite known, apparently. It contains, how- 
ever, a large proportion of ash. 
The analysis is remarkably close in its results, to that of 
the lignites of Mt. Diablo, California, as given by Prof. 
Whitney (Geol. Cal., 1865, p. 30), especially when the varia- 
ble ash, in the two cases, is left out. The Mt. Diablo lignite 
* Published in the American Chemist, Vol. IV., p. 401. 
