398 Mr. Johnston's Description and Analysis of Hatchetine 



The following Table shows also the identity, in chemical constitution, of 

 these several substances, with the different varieties of Ozocerite. 



Hydrogen, ... 

 Carbon, 



Atoms. 



Equivalents. 



Per cent. 



Calculated. 



Ozocerite. 



Hatchetine, 

 from Urpeth. 



Magnus. 



Schrotter. 



Malaguti. 



1 

 1 



12-479 

 76-437 



14-0349 

 85-9651 



13-15 

 85-75 



13-787 

 86-204 



13-95 

 8607 



1406 

 86-80 





88-961 



100- 



98-86 



99-991 



100-02 



100-86 



The elementary composition of these different substances, therefore, is 

 identical, and is the same as that of olefiant gas. The Hatchetine, found 

 in Urpeth Colliery, must have had its origin in the coal strata. Emitted, 

 in the form of vapour, and carried along by the lighter gas (fire damp), 

 given off at the same time, it would pass through the trouble, on its way to 

 the surface, and be partly condensed in the cavities, and other cool places 

 it came in contact with. It is not improbable that the varieties of fossil 

 wax may have been derived from a similar source. 



In considering the inflammable and explosive substances existing in coal 

 mines it is usual to limit the attention solely to the permanent gas given 

 off, without adverting to the possibility of other substances, of a volatile 

 nature, being also emitted in the state of vapour. The occurrence of this 

 variety of Hatchetine, in Urpeth Colliery, shows us that the light carburet- 

 ted hydrogen sometimes carries along with it other volatile substances, and 

 there is strong reason for believing that the combustible portion of the 

 atmosphere of our coal mines rarely, if ever, consists wholly of this light 

 gas. To show the Proteus-like character of the compounds of carbon and 

 hydrogen, in the ratio of atom to atom, and how little chemical analysis can 

 avail directly in determining the total absence of these substances, I sub- 

 join a Table, exhibiting the characteristic properties of the numerous bodies 

 we are already acquainted with, in which the elements exist in this propor- 

 tion. 



