Note on the Coals of the Kcmaiuha Valley. 275 



a rudely northeast and southwest direction, and having a 

 width of from five to twent^^ feet. Such "hips" are not 

 always of clay but are sometimes an odd mixture of sand- 

 stone and coal, the latter included not as layers, but as 

 fragments, as if it had been cut out after consolidation, 

 though in several instances the bowl-shape of these frag- 

 ments leads to the belief that it may have been removed 

 before consolidation. These "hips," when traced across 

 different entries, are seen to taper off* at each end. 



The thin layer of clay ordinarily interposing between the 

 sandstone and coal contains numerous impressions of Lejoi- 

 dodendron and jSigillaria, but usually in poor preservation. 

 Some years ago a series of remarkably fine leaf-scars of 

 Bothrodendron were found in entry I of the company's works. 

 Of these, several were sent to the Smithsonian Institution 

 and to Mr. Lesquereux. The rest were retained by Mr. 

 Edwards, but were lost during the destruction of his house 

 by fire, t^year ago. 



The dark slate. No. 4, is rich in Ifitumen, breaks with a 

 semi-conchoidal fracture, but does not burn readily and is 

 regarded as detrimental to the coal. The coal, No. 5, is the 

 most important portion of the seam, and with No. 3 affords 

 the marketable coal, which is sold in Cincinnati as Kanawha 

 semi-cannel. When first shipped the proprietors named it 

 "Splint," simply to distinguish it, and without reference to 

 the British signification of the term. This name was after- 

 ward applied to all the open-burning coals of the Kanawha 

 Valle3\ The coal is clean, breaks with a neat, sharp frac- 

 ture, bears transportation well a]id contains no appreciable 

 quantity of sulphur. It is made up of thin alternating 

 layers of cannel and bituminous coal, for the most part not 

 more than one-twelfth of an inch thick, though occasionally 

 a layer of cannel occurs one or two inches. It is conse- 

 quently dry and open-burning, with no tendency to cake 

 npon the fire. The "slack" yields a coke of only slight 

 density. Owing to the open-burning character, as well as 



