170 Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters. 
shaly partings; as to the presence of calcareous or sili-- 
ceous concretions containing iron pyrites or as to their 
relative abundance; and as to the relative density and 
cohesion of the lignite, churn-drill prospecting is not 
capable of furnishing much definite information. A 
home-made core drill was tried without success at the 
Goodfellow place. The only core it brought up was one: 
from the bed of fire clay beneath the lignite. 
As soon as a Shaft on the Goodfellow tract had 
reached the first important bed of lignite, opportunity 
was afforded for a thorough investigation of these points.. 
The shaft first laid bare the bed at a depth of 82 feet and. 
was sunk through it nearly the full size of the open- 
ing, 7 by 14 feet, penetrating a bed of fire clay, rather 
sandy at this point, and containing splinters and sticks 
of lignite material evidently the residue of branches and 
roots from the former bed of vegetation above. The bed. 
averaged 22 inches, being mostly of that thickness, but 
narrowing in one place to 18 inches and thickening in 
another to over 24 inches. The top of the bed appeared 
to have a more undulating surface than the bottom. 
Over the bed was a stratum of buff, sandy shale, which, 
upon drying, easily crumbled and would have been of no: 
value as a roof. 
When freshly mined the lignite was so very moist 
that lumps weighed in the hand felt like heavy, wet clay. 
Its color is only a shade lighter than black, when fresh, 
but on drying becomes a trifle lighter, although much of 
it remains a dead black when dry. The lustre is dull 
along some of the joint planes, and in a few of the harder 
places where fractured a pitchy glint may be noticed, 
but the greater part of the material is so soft as to pre- 
sent only a rough, dusty surface incapable of reflecting 
much light. 
The streak is very nearly black, and the powder ap- 
pears only a shade less black than the powder of bitumi- 
nous coal. The lignite exhibits a shiny, but not oily sur- 
face upon being scratched with a knife. The texture is: 
not entirely uniform, there being many fragments and 
streaks of charcoal-like matter, softer than the rest and 
having a woody structure. 
While removing the lignite from the shaft it was 
necessary to use heavy picks to loosen it, so compact 
