COMBUSTIBLE MINERALS, NOT GASEOUS. J89 



Greene Couinty. Acmnling lo Prof. Eaton, this luiiicral is fouiid oiillie Kaulcrskill, four 

 miles west of Catskill, prcciscl_v at the meetiii!:; of the chcrty limerock with wliat he has 

 termed the second greywacke slate* 



Herkimer County. Anthracite has been found in small veins, traversing the sandstone, 

 in the town of Salisbur)'. It also occurs at Little-Falls, Middlcville and elsewhere, but 

 only in sufficient quantity for cabinet specimens. Masses of several inches in diameter, the 

 largest indeed that have hitherto been found in the State, have been brought from Salisbury. 

 The beautiful quartz crystals for which this county is so celebrated, are often associated with 

 black and shining anthracite, which sometimes adheres to, and penetrates them. The geodes 

 of these crystals are sometimes also lined with a black powder, which is found to be nearly 

 pure carbon. It does not burn with llame, but is gradual!}'" consumed under the blowpipe, 

 and leaves a slight earthy residuum. Tlie same black powder is also frequently diffused 

 throughout the entire body of the crystal. 



Montgomery County. At Canajoharic and Cherry-Valley, anthracite occurs in thin seams, 

 with associations similar to those which have been noticed under the preceding county. It 

 is also found disseminated in small inasses through hornstonc, near Spraker's, in the town of 

 Palatine. A considerable sum has been expended in working this locality. The mineral is 

 found in the calcifcrous sandstone. 



Orange County. In the greywacke, it is not unusual to lind masses of this mineral from 

 the size of a pui's head to that of a pea, so as to give the rock a liandsomc appearance. Dr. 

 Horton states that this is strikingly the case at Walden, on the northwest bank of the Walkill. 



Rensselaer County'. As in the adjoining counties, thin seams of anthracite are some- 

 times found between the layers of slate. 



Schoharie County. Small masses oi anthracite have been obtained in Middleburgh, where 

 it is associated with calcareous spar. 



Sullivan County. About a mile and a half west of Red bridge, there is a bed of black 

 carbonaceous shale from four ami a half to live feel thick, which has thin seams of anthracite 

 interlaminated, from the thickness of paper to that of thick pasteboard. Mr. Mather states 

 that the shale contains vegetable impressions, similar to those found at Carbondale in Penn- 

 sylvania. Thin seams of anthracite have also been found in the counties of Ulster, Greene 

 and Schoharie, and occasionally with associated fossil plants. lie adds, that although the 

 strata in which these seams of anthracite occur arc all perhaps below the coal-bearing rocks 

 of Pennsylvania, and it is not thought probable that coal will be found in useful quantity in 

 them, " still some parts of ihe upper portions bear so much resemblance to the anthracite coal 

 rocks of Pennsylvania, both ia mineralogical character and fossil remains, that it is thought 

 possible that coal beds of workable thickness may be discovered. ''t 



It cannot be doubted that other localities of anthracite, similar lo the above, exist in various 

 parts of the State, but we have as yet little encouragement to pursue explorations lor this 

 important mineral. 



* Anurrkm Journal of Science, XIX. Ijl. t MalliL-r. .Yt-io-lVA Gcohstcal Keporls, lS-10. 



