134 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION B. 



Volatile. Fixed Carbon. Ash. 



Lesmahaeo ... 1 



Wiggan ... 1 

 Mold 1 



1.495 ... 6.03 per cent. 

 1.304 ... 2.40 per cent. 



1.188 



Cannel differs from bituminous coal in being of a nearly 

 uniform texture, in which it resembles torbanite, but differs from 

 the latter in every other way. From the character of the hydro- 

 carbons it yields on distillation, it seems probably derived from 

 adipo-cellulose and ligno-cellulose, the latter having considerable 

 development in plants, which, form the comparative uniformity 

 of the mineral, were probably of small size. 



Torbanite or Kerosene Shale — In the coals and cannels 

 the volatile hydrocarbons are always less than the fixed carbon, 

 whilst in the shales, this ratio is always reversed and that 

 irrespective of the amount of ash present. The following are 

 five recent determinations of mine, the carbon being the smaller 

 is taken as No. 1, not the volatile matter as in the coals : — 



Volatile 

 Carbon. Hi/t 

 No. 



Nos. 1 and 2 were beautiful, fine grained shales, with a velvety 

 lustre and pale streak. 

 No. 3. Fine grained brownish, scarcely velvety. 

 ,, 4. Coarse-grained brownish, dull. 

 ,, 5. Black, dull — streak dark brown, almost black. 



It will be' observed that the ratios in these shales difler widely, 

 and also that the percentage of ash has a great range, but the 

 value of the shale for distillation, either for oil or gas, appears to 

 depend more on the ratio of hydrocarbons to fixed carbon than 

 upon the quantity of ash. Thus, No. 3 is a shale much superior, 

 whilst No. 4 is very little inferior, to No. 5, although it contains 

 more than five times as much ash. I refer to the quantity of 

 gas or oil yielded. If distilled for oil. No. 5 would yield a very 

 bad quality, the distillate containing much tar. This shale 

 approaches in appearance the outlying portions of the better 

 shales where they have been pinched under heavy cover. 



Looking at the ultimate composition of shale in conjunction 

 with the yield of fatty hydrocarbons, I was at first inclined to 

 consider it as a product of adipo-cellulose. The following are 

 analyses — first, of torbanite from Bathgate given in " Watt's 

 Dictionary." — second, of shale from Hartley, by Professor 

 Liversidge, which I haA e calculated free from ash, and for com- 

 parison I repeat that of adipo-celluloses in the third column. 



