412 Transadioits of the Societtj. 



so brittle that no very satisfactory sliilcs could be made, though a 

 lair idea of the structure was gained during the process of j)repara- 

 tion. The bed 4 feet G inches thick, following the last in 

 descending order, is tlie chief one of the seam ; it may be said 

 to bo a mass of highly carbonized vegetable tissue, with a small 

 portion of hydrocarbon. Next loUows an argilliiceous parting 

 5 inches thick, then comes coal 2 feet thick. The structure of this 

 bed is mo>t interesting and is well preserved; at the top, close 

 under the argillaceous parting, scalaritorm tissue was detected, 

 fig, 4, but it was not discovered in any quantity below that 

 horizon. Spores occur, and were most numerous about the centre 

 of the bed, fig. 5, and are a distinct variety to those observed 

 in the Shallow seam. The structure of this coal is represented in 

 tigs. G and 7 ; the former is drawn from a slide taken from about 

 the centre of the coal, and the latter from the top close under the 

 argillaceous parting; both aie magnified 160 diameters. 



The next seam of coal to which I shall draw attention is the 

 " Better 13ed " of Yorkshire, which has been rendered famous by 

 Professor Pluxley, who, as I have stated, made it the subject of 

 an article in the ' Contemporary Review ' for 1870. lieferring to the 

 structure of this coal, Professor Huxley says : * " Thus, the singular 

 conclusion is forced upon us, that the greater and the smaller sacs 

 of the Defter IJed and other coals, in which the primitive structure 

 is w'ell preserved, are simply the sporangia and spore -cases of certain 

 plants, many of which were closely allied to the existing club- 

 mosses." For the specimen which I have examined of the Better 

 Bed I am indebted to Mr. Woodhead, Colliery JManager to the Low 

 jMoor Iron Company near Bradford, Yorkshire, who sent me a 

 portion of the seam intact for a thickness of ten inches from the 

 top. I therefore determined to examine it inch by inch. The 

 stratagraphical section of the seam, as sent me by Mr. Wocdhead, 

 is as follows. 



SfXTlON OF THE BETTER BeD SeaM OF COAL, LoW MoOR IrOJJ CoMPANY'S 



Colliery, near Bradford, Youksuihe. 



ft. in. ft. in. 



Shales 



Coul (laminutcd) 3J\ , ,„ 



Coal 1 Gi/ ^ ^" 



Seatstoue (undercliiy) 10 



The lustre of the first IH inches of the above coal was dull, 

 the remainder, with the exception of a layer half an inch thick at 

 four inches from the top, was a medium brightness. In describing 

 my own investigations, I cannot do better than record them as 

 written down at the time. 



* Cuntouip. Eev., xv. (1870) p. 621. 



