OF ARKANSAS 



227 



and is in good repute with the workmen. By analysis, it is found to con- 

 tain, in 100 parts: 



Volatile matter 16.2 $ JJoisture 1.0 



( Volatile combustible matter 15.2 



Coke 83 8 S Fixed carbon 80.8 



( Ashes, (yellowish-red) 3.0 



100.0 100 .0 



It belongs to the class of semi-bituminous coals, and is free from earthy 

 impurities, as shown by the small amount of ashes in the analysis. 



As a fuel, the semi-bituminous coals are in high estimation, being rich 

 in carbon; and, without any superflous volatile matter, they have a suffi- 

 ciency of gas to render them easy of ignition. 



On%Frog bayou this coal lies under a bed of twelve feet of blue shale, 

 which has to be removed in order to get out the coal. So long as this 

 coal can be reached by this amount of stripping, it can be obtained, but 

 not without considerable expense, which will be greatly increased when 

 it shall become necessary to follow it by a drift, as much waste material 

 will have to be removed to make head room in the mine. 



The black shale forming the roof of this coal contains fossil plants, belong- 

 ing to the genera Kpidodendron, sphenopleris, catamites, and pinularia, and 

 also a shell belonging to the genus avicula, of which only a fragment was 

 found, too imperfect for determining the species. 



At the Phillips bank, the argillaceous shale is all that can be seen over 

 the coal; but the following section, taken in the hills near by, shows the 

 overlying beds: 



Top of the hill, soil and subsoil ? 



Thin bedded sandstone, alternating with red marly clay, (base of 



millstone grit) o 5 f eet 



Blue argillaceous shale with segregations of carbonate of iron GO " 



Black bituminous shale with fossil plants 1. 



Semi-bituminous coal j t 



Fire clay 0.6 



87.G 

 Thirteen miles from VanBuren, and about one mile north of the stage 

 road, on the property of the Messrs. Herds, a mineral spring breaks out at 

 the base of a hill, from beneath an exposure of bluish-colored, rough, 

 shecty Sandstone, with concretionary markings. The water comes, most 

 likely, from a blue shale, which is concealed below the surface: as strata 



