I5l) GE0L0G1CAJ REPO * - J"»l. 2i)'l. _•" 



sand for a few years \feet of th ft 



it is :i saline, sulphureous chalybeate, too strong for ordinary use 

 similar, on the whole, to that i el of the water is. probabl 



by several feet above that of the Sound. 



251. Near Pearlington, h out in washes on th 



Thence up to Habolochitto, ita appear near the surface in sc\ oral points. 



At the latter point, however, in a well dug by Col. Kimball, I 1 , aftei 



passing though some 25 feet of sand ami gravel, a deposi otm - was 



struck, in a gray sandy material. 1 did not sec any of the shells found ic 

 wel , which was dug 17 years before ; but Col. Kimball says they were quite 

 friable. — Thence northward, nothing but Orange Sand is seen, until we 

 ijhborhood ofBurnetl 



USEFUL MATERIALS OF THE TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 



25*2. Useful materials of the Northern Lignitic— These co 

 chiefly of Ligniti or Brown Coal, and <layey materials ol various 

 kind-, some suitable for firebri id pottery; others for the 



manufacture of alum, and doubtless, with proper precautions, for 

 manure also. 



The extensive Lignite beds of this formation have not a - 

 received that special attention and study which their great nltii 

 importance deserve-. Although in general inferior, as n fuel, to 

 bituminous, or stone coal, the better qualities of lignite can be. and 

 are made to si most of the purposes to which the former is 



applicable, the most important exception being, that on account of 

 their softness and tendency to cleave when carbonized, thelignites 

 cannot be successfully converted into coke. 



In its heating effect, as well as in other respects, lignite stands intermediate 

 between wood and bituminous coal ; being in fact nothing more than an 

 imperfectly formed coal, and showing transitions into true coal as distinctly or. 

 one side as it does into wood on the other. Examples of both these transitions 

 occur among the lignites of Mississippi ; hence there exists in this material, as 

 may be supposed, a great diversity of aspect as well as of quality, which it is 

 of the highest importance to take into consideration properly, in its exploitation. 

 As a good practical rule (not, however, without exceptions) we may say that 

 the nearer a lignite approaches, in its general aspect and character, to bituminous 

 coals, the higher will be its effective value. Thus far, the eye of any moderately 

 attentive observer will enable him to estimate the quality of the material. There 

 are besides, two other chief points requiring attention, viz : the amount of ash 

 yielded in burning, and the extent to which iron pyrites, or bisulphuret of iron, 

 is present ; the less there is of both of these, the better. 



253. It is but rarely the case, that the whole of a bed of lignite of any consid- 

 erable thickness, is of uniform quality. Even small fragments often exhibit 

 great diversities within their mass, and hence experiments on a small scale, on 

 mere specimens, may be far from yielding results applicable to the whole bed, 

 unless selected with especial care. The mass of lignites is almost always lamina- 

 ted, i. e., it shows a tendency to cleave into plates of greater or less thickness, 

 and frequently of different kinds of coal — some being of a dull, earthy aspect, 

 others brilliant like true coal. This tendency is often such, as to cause block:- 

 which were quite solid when wet, to exfoliate an I crumble into small flat pieces, 

 which cannot generally be used is fuel. It is necessiry, therefore, in most cases, 

 to allow the material (which is generally very wet as taken from the mine) to dry 

 slowly, in stacks or piles protected from the immediate rays of the sun. 



