228 LIGNITE. 



west ; perhaps separated from other portions of the bed by some disturbance of the 

 strata. But I found great difficulty in tracing out its exact position. 



It ought to be mentioned that no unstratified or igneous rocks are known to exist in 

 the vicinity of these deposits; nor do they exhibit any marks of the metamorphic action 

 of heat. 



II. Coal, Lignite, and Fossil Fruits. 



The greater part of the carbon of this deposit is in a condition intermediate between 

 that of peat and bituminous coal. It is of a deep brown color, and nearly every trace of 

 organic structure, save in the lignite and the fruits, is obliterated. Disseminated through 

 it are numerous angular .grains, mostly of white quartz, rarely exceeding a pea in size. 

 It burns with great facility with a moderate draught, and emits a bright yellow flame, 

 but without bituminous odor. After the flame has subsided, the ignited coals gradually 

 comsume away, leaving, of course, a quantity of ashes. It is employed to great advan- 

 tage in driving the steam engine at the works ; and I should think it might be used 

 advantageously for fuel in a region where wood is scarce, which is not the case at Brandon. 



Interspersed through the carbonaceous mass above described, occur numerous masses 

 of lignite. In all cases which have fallen under my observation they are broken portions 

 of the stems or branches of shrubs and trees, varying in size from that of a few lines to a 

 foot and a half in diameter. They all appear to me to have been drift wood. The 

 largest mass which I have seen, and to which I have already referred, as sent me by Mr. 

 Howe, resembles exceedingly a battered piece of flood- wood ; which led Mr. Howe 

 humorously to inscribe upon the box in which it was sent, "A piece of flood-wood from 

 NoaKs Ark." 



This lignite, in all cases, retains and exhibits, upon a fresh fracture, its organic structure. 

 Yet generally it is quite brittle, and when broken across the fibers, it has the aspect of 

 very compact coal, which admits of a good polish. In some specimens the original 

 toughness of the wood is not quite lost, and the aspect of the wood remains. 



The large mass of which I have already spoken, as now in the cabinet of Amherst 

 College, is four feet long and sixteen inches in its largest diameter. It is consider- 

 ably flattened, but seems to have been so originally. In the peaty matter that adheres 

 to it I noticed several specimens of fruit, and more than one species. 



With perhaps one or two exceptions, all the lignite of this deposit belongs to the exo- 

 genous or dicotyledonous class of plants. In general, the texture is close, and some of the 

 wood is very fine grained and heavy. The bark is often quite distinct. I have been in- 

 clined to refer some of the wood to the maple ; perhaps some of it is coniferous ; but my 

 microscopic examinations on this point have not been as satisfactory as I could wish. I 

 do not think much of the wood belongs to the pine tribe now common in this latitude. 

 I have placed specimens in the hands of several distinguished vegetable physiologists, 

 and had hoped ere this to learn their opinion ; but they have not yet given it. 



The fruits and seeds of this deposit are the most interesting of the relics found in it. 

 But they are even more perplexing than the lignite. As yet, I hardly dare venture to 

 refer any of them to living or fossil genera known to me. I shall, therefore, merely pre- 

 sent figures of the principal distinct forms which I have obtained, and leave a minute 

 description to some future occasion. 



