182 Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters. 
The high percentage of volatile, combustible matter 
suggested that the Nebraska lignite should be of value 
as a gas coal. The experiments seem to verify this idea. 
Table IX gives the results of these experiments, and 
Table X enables a comparison to be made between these 
and other lignites and various standard gas coals. The 
Nebraska lignite is superior in yield to the other lignites 
and bituminous coals and is almost equal to the best 
canuel coals. No photometric tests could be applied, but 
on burning the gas in a dark room that of the lignite was 
fouud to be much inferior in luminosity to that produced 
by the cannel coal, Table IX, No. 3. This weak illumi- 
nating power suggests that the gas consists largely of 
methane and other lightly carburetted hydrocarbons and 
hydrogen. The gas would doubtless have to be enriched 
to be made a good illuminant, but for fuel purposes it 
should prove satisfactory. The high percentage of coke 
in No. 1, Table IX, is compatible with the high percent- 
age of ash contained in the lignite and which is included 
in the coke. 
CONCLUSIONS AS TO LIGNITES. 
The tenor of this article may have seemed enthusi- 
astic. The enthusiasm, if any, proceeds solely from the 
scientific standpoint. We must now consider the prac- 
tical side of the subject. It is a many sided question. 
The distance of the Sioux City, northeast Nebraska 
and the Dakota markets from a coal supply assures a 
steady demand for a suitable fuel. This narrows the 
question down to (1) the fuel value of the lignite; (2) its 
extent, and (8) the practicability of mining it. Chemical . 
analysis has shown that it is of equal fuel value with the 
brown coals of Europe, which are widely used, and with 
those of Arkansas and Texas, which have been the sub- 
ject of extensive investigations by the geological surveys 
of the United States and of Texas, with the conclusion 
that such lignites are of considerable value for local use 
and that their production should be encouraged. 
The physical properties of the Dakota County lig- 
nite, however, offer a fatal objection to its use over more 
than a very restricted local area. The tendency to 
disintegrate or slack while drying precludes its being 
