644 BROWN COAL 



BROWN BERRIES. A name occasionally given to the fruit of tho Rubua 

 frueticosus, or common bramble. 



BROWN COAli is of a brownish-black colour, and presents, in some cases, the 

 texture of wood, when it is called LIGNITE ; but, in some varieties, all organic struc- 

 ture has disappeared, and it is then called Pitch coal, from its strong resemblance to 

 true coal. 



The beds of brown coal are usually of small extent, and are of later date than the 

 true carboniferous strata, belonging generally to tho Tertiary period. 



Brown coal is worked in Saxony and in countries whore there is an absence of true 

 carboniferous deposits. It burns with an empyreumatic odour, and generally contains 

 more pyrites than ordinary coal. 



At Steieregg, in Southern Styria, brown coal occurs in tho form of a basin ; and 

 has been opened out through a distance of more than two miles. The coal, from 8 

 to 16 feet thick, is of good quality. It contains 9 to 14 per cent, of water, and leaves 

 from 5 to 12 per cent, of ash after combustion. 



The following is an analysis of a variety from Oregon : volatile matter, 49'5 ; fixed 

 carbon, 42-9 ; ash, 27 ; water, 4-9 = 100-00. 



A variety of brown coal, called the Paper-coal of Eott, near Bonn, and of Erpel on 

 the Rhine, contains numerous remains of freshwater fishes, Leuciscus papyraceus ; 

 and of frogs, Palaopkrygnos grandipes. The ashes of this coal are rich in infusorial 

 remains. 



For an account of the brown coals of this country, see LIGNITE and BOGHEAD COAL. 



The following is a summary of the state of the brown coal-mines of Europe at the 

 dates given, which are the latest returns obtainable, upon which reliance can be 

 placed : 



HANOVKH. Government mines near Miinden, on the Steinberg, and near Wallensen, 

 in the Wanzerbruche ; and private mines near Dransfeld, produced in 



Centners Value of produce 



of 100 Ibs. In Thalers=2. lOirf. 



1861 99,177 8,9/59 



1862 108,314 7,526 



1863 . . . ... 92,658 6,188 



NASSAU produces JAgnit, a bituminous wood, preserving the ligneous structure; 

 Pseudolignit, in which the woody structure is more or less obliterated ; Meerkohl 

 (literally sea-coed), a miry earthy coal resembling turf ; Bldttcrkohl (literally leaf -coal), 

 a dark-coloured aggregate of decomposed leaves. The total produce in 1864 amounted 

 to 1,032,000 centners (of 50 kilogrammes of 2'204 avoirdupois pounds). 



ITALY. Leffe Gandino, in the Val Sterina, in Lombardy. This bed extends over 

 500 hectares. The lignite produced is of a kind resembling peat. It is sold at 15 

 francs per ton. Cadibona, near Savona,~in the Gulf of Genoa, produces about 1,000 tons 

 annually. From Sarzanctta, near Spezia, 25,240 to 31,300 tons of lignite are ex- 

 tracted yearly. At Monte Bamboli, between Grosscto and Piombino, the production, 

 which may amount to 30 tons daily, does not exceed 10,000 tons in the year, as 

 owing to the unhealthiness of the climate, the works cannot be carried on more than 

 seven or eight months. At the Monte Ritfoli or Podemnovo mine, the field of lignite 

 extends over 2,000,000 square metres. At Monte Massi and Castel Tatti mines, in the 

 year ending June 30, 1865, the amount of lignite produced was about 6,000 tons. 



PRUSSIA. The annual production of brown coal from the beds in the vicinity of 

 Stettin does not exceed 7,000 tons. The total production of brown coal in Prussia was 

 as follows : 



In Metrical tonnes of 20 



Zollverein centners. Statute tons 



1860 . . . 3,194,640 

 1862 . . . 3,815,129 

 1864 . . . 4,649,527 



1867 ' 6,587,719 



1868 5,677,398 



1869 6,005,062 



Brandenburg. According to tho best information, there were sent to Berlin 

 462,298 tonnon of Bohemian and Saxon brown coal. Kottbus. The quantity taken 

 from the pits Felix and Conrad, at Borsdorf, Julius at Friedrichshain, and Franz at 

 Klein Kolzig, was about 400,000 tonnen. Silesia, Breslau. One pit in the neighbour- 

 hood of Saaran produced 21,000 tonnen, of the value of 2,000 thalers. Halle. There 

 were produced in the district of Meresburg, from the 3 government and 192 private 

 works, the amount of 12,255,365 tonnon; in tho government district of Magdeburg, 

 7,794,563 tonnen ; in the total district of the Bergamt of Halle, 24,149,214 tonnen. 





