30 MINERALOGY. 



There is sometimes a depth of forty feet in a peat-bed. 

 The beds in some countries are very extensive. They 

 cover one tenth of Ireland, and one of them is fifty miles 

 long and two or three in breadth. It is estimated that 

 the amount of peat in Massachusetts is 120 millions of 

 cords. 



44. Diffusion of Coal in the Earth. The stores of coal 

 in the earth are immense. The provision which has been 

 made by the Creator in this respect for the wants of man, 

 and the means which have been adopted for bringing the 

 coal within his reach, are among the highest evidences 

 of far-reaching design and system in the construction of 

 the earth. This point, barely alluded to here, will be 

 fully developed in another part of this book. 



45. Amber. This is a resin from some tree which has 

 been chemically changed, or mineralized, as it is express- 

 ed. It is found in lumps of various sizes, from small bits 

 up to even the size of a man's head. It is commonly of 

 a yellowish color, has considerable lustre, and is suscep- 

 tible of a polish. It is appropriated to ornamental pur- 

 poses, but it is not highly prized in this respect, as it is 

 soft, yielding readily to the knife, and, besides, can be 

 easily counterfeited. It is used in making a superior 

 transparent varnish. There are sometimes seen in speci- 

 mens of amber insects and parts of insects, which became 

 enveloped in the resin in its semi-liquid state. Such spec- 

 imens are highly prized, because it is supposed these in- 

 sects lived ages before the creation of man. Imitations, 

 therefore, have sometimes been made, and have been 

 palmed off upon those who are not able to distinguish 

 insects of those early ages from the insects of the pres- 

 ent day.* Amber becomes electric when it is rubbed, 



* In the geological part of this book you will learn that both the 

 animals and plants of the early ages of the earth differed, in some re- 

 spects, from those which exist at the present time. The imposture 

 referred to reminds me of one which was once detected in the court- 

 room when a will case was on trial. The will, on being held up to 



