4 M. Beaunieu on the 



11. Coal, more bituminous than the last, homogeneous, 

 with a brilliant fracture, generally hard, and separating in 

 large fragments. (This is the coal most esteemed for fuel ; 

 it is known at Rive de Gier by the name of Raffand, and 

 occurs abundantly in the vicinity of St. Etienne, that in 

 the greatest repute comes from la Berandiere or la Rica- 

 merie). 



12. Very bituminous coal, very homogeneous, of a fine 

 black colour, with a brilliant fracture, and slightly friable, 

 this is the variety known in the country by the name of 

 Marechale. (The most esteemed coal of this kind occurs 

 in the districts of Grand Croix, and la Chanchere, near 

 Rive de Gier, and St. Etienne ; in that of the Bois d'Aveize, 

 of Clusel, and of Roche-la-Moliere, upon the bed named 

 Seignat ; this variety is generally reserved for forges). 



The conglomerates, composed of large fragments scarcely 

 cemented together, never immediately accompany the coal ; 

 wherever they exist, they form the lower beds of the coal 

 measures, resting on primitive rocks ; frequently however 

 the lower beds, in immediate contact with the primitive 

 country, are of different kinds of sandstone, upon which, 

 near the edges of the basin, beds of coal rest.* When these 

 beds occur of little extent, they are generally contained 

 between others of the compact sandstone, variety No. 4. 



The coal often rests immediately on this sandstone; at 

 other times (and this case is rarer here than elsewhere) the 

 roof or floor of the coal bed, or both together, are of schist, 

 containing vegetable impressions. There are few coal beds 

 that are not divided in their thickness by seams of a more or 

 less compact schist, bearing in the country the name of 

 Gore. 



It is impossible to say any thing on the general thickness 

 of the coal beds. In certain situations + coal not more than 

 48 centimetres [about 5 inches] thick is worked. Ordinarily 

 the workings are carried on in those varying in mean depth 



• A fine example of this fact is seen on the road from Rive de Gier to 

 Lyon, above the bridge of la Madeleine. 



+ At Rive de Gier, for example, at the colliery of Mont Dixien, 



