68 THE CARBONIFEROUS. 



with the immense amount of the vegetable matter which has perished 

 during the accumulation of coal, in comparison with that which has 

 been preserved. 



"I am indebted to Dr T. Sterry Hunt for the following very valu- 

 able information, which at once places in a clear and precise light the 

 chemical relations of epidermal tissue and spores with coal. Dr 

 Hunt says — ' The outer bark of the cork tree, and the cuticle of many 

 if not all other plants, consists of a highly carbonaceous matter, to 

 which the name of suberin has been given. The spores of Lycopodium 

 also approach to this substance in composition, as will be seen by the 

 following, one of two analyses by Duconi,* along with which I give 

 the theoretical composition of pure cellulose or woody fibre, according 

 to Payen and Mitscherlich, and an analysis of the suberin of cork, 

 from Quercus Suber, from which the ash and 2-5 per cent, of cellulose 

 have been deducted. -f- 



100-00 100-00 100-00 



" ' This difference is not less striking when we reduce the above 

 centesimal analyses to correspond with the formula of cellulose, 

 C 34 H 20 O 20 , and represent cork and Lycopodium as containing 24 

 equivalents of carbon. For comparison I give the composition of 

 specimens of peat, brown coal, lignite, and bituminous coal. J 



Cellulose, ..... C24 H 2 o O20 



Cork, ...... C24 Histo 06tt7 



Lycopodium, .... C24 Hio T % NOsts 



Peat (Vaux), .... C24 Hi 4T 4 o O10 



Brown Coal (Schrothcr), . . C 2 i Hi 4 to Oio t 6 o 



Lignite (Vaux), .... C24 Hn T 3 5 06 T 4 o 



Bituminous Coal (Rcgnault), . . C24 H10 03 T 3 o 



"'It will be seen from this comparison that, in ultimate composi- 

 tion, cork and Lycopodium are nearer to lignite than to woody 

 fibre ; and may be converted into coal with far less loss of carbon and 

 hydrogen than the latter. They in fact approach closer in composi- 

 tion to resins and fats than to wood, and, moreover, like those sub- 

 stances repel water, with which they arc not easily moistened, and 



* Liebig and Kopp, Jaliresbuch, 1847-48. f Ginelin, Handbook, xv. 145. 



X Canadian Naturalist, vi. 253. 



