96 E. Hitchcock on a Brown Coal Deposit in Brandon, Vt. 
At this wae we find the following varieties of substances in 
juxtaposition nh 
1. Beautiful kaolin and clays colored aah by ochre, rose- 
color by manganese, (?) and dark by carbor 
2. Brown reiaawiing and emia ochre. 
3. Ores of manganese 
4. Brown coa 
5. Beds of gravel connected with the clays. 
6. Drift, overlying the whole. 
7. Yellowish limestone, underlying the whole. 
The position of the clays it is difficult to determine exactly, 
as there seems to have been a good deal of disturbance of the 
strata, perhaps only the result of slides. The iron is generally 
found beneath the clay, as is also the manganese. ‘T'he coal ina 
few places shows itself at the surface. In one spot a shaft has 
been carried through it, only a few feet below the surface, and 
the same has been done to the same bed nearly 100 feet below 
the surface. In both places it is about twenty feet thick. I 
found it to be the conviction of the miners that this mass of co 
forms a square column of that thickness, descending almost pet 
pendicularly into the earth, in the midst of the clay. My owl 
impression was, that it is a portion. of an extensive bed, having 4 
dip very large towards the northwest; perhaps separated from 
other portious 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 said 
exhibit any marks of the metamor PME action of heat. 
Coal, Lignite and Fossil Fri 
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 structie 
save in the lignite and the fruits, is obliterated. Dissem inated 
through it are numerous angular grains, mostly of white quart, 
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 consume away, serine of course, a quantity é 
ashes. It is employed to great advantage in driving the stea® 
engine at the works; and I should think it might be used advan . 
tageously for fuel in a region where wood is scarce, which ® 
not the case at Bra 
Interspersed. through. the carbonaceous mass aboye described, 
occur numerous masses of lignite. In all cases which have far 
len under my aeration, they are broken portions of the stems 
or branches of shrubs and trees, varying in size frome that of # 
few lines to a foot and a half in diameter. They al all appear t? 
