512 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 16, 



question of much interest, I shall here state briefly the results of Sir 

 John Richardson's observations and inquiries on the subject, to which 

 he has given much attention. 



The Mackenzie traverses very obliquely the basin in which the 

 lignite-formation is deposited, while Bear Lake River cuts it more 

 directly across ; and it is at the junction of these two streams that 

 the formation is best exposed. It there consists of a series of beds, 

 the thickest of which exceeds 3 yards, separated by layers of gravel 

 and sand, alternating with a fine-grained friable sandstone, and some- 

 times with thick beds of clay, the interposing layers being often dark, 

 from the dissemination of bituminous matter. ** The coal, when re- 

 cently extracted from the bed," says Sir John Richardson, "is massive, 

 and most generally shows the woody structure distinctly ; the beds 

 appearing to be composed of pretty large trunks of trees, lying hori- 

 zontally, and having their woody fibres and layers much twisted and 

 contorted, similar to the White Spruce now growing in exposed situ- 

 tions in the same latitude. Specimens of this coal examined by Mr. 

 Bowerbank were pronounced by him to be decidedly of coniferous 

 origin, and the structure of the wood to be more like that of Pinus 

 than Araucaria ; but on this latter point he was not certain. It is 

 probable that the examination of a greater variety of specimens 

 would detect several kinds of wood in the coal, as a bed of fossil 

 leaves, connected with the formation, reveals the existence at the 

 time of various dicotyledonous trees, probably AcerinecB, and one of 



which appears to belong to the Yew tribe." "Different beds, 



and even different parts of the same bed, when traced to the distance 

 of a few hundred yards, present examples of ' fibrous brown coal,' 

 * earth-coal,' ^ conchoidal brown coal,' and * trapezoidal brown 

 coal.' Some beds have the external characters of a compact bitu- 

 men ; but they generally exhibit on the cross fracture concentric 

 layers, although from their jet-like composition the nature of the 

 woody fibres cannot be detected by the microscope. Some pieces 

 have a strong resemblance to charcoal, in structure, colour, and 

 lustre. Very frequently the coal may be named a * bituminous 

 slate,' of which it has many of the lithological characters ; but, on 

 examination with a lens, it is seen to be composed of comminuted 

 woody matter mixed with clay and small imbedded fragments resem- 

 bling charred wood. From the readiness with which the coal takes 

 fire spontaneously, the beds are destroyed as they become exposed to 

 the atmosphere, and the bank is constantly crumbling down ; so that 

 it is only when the debris have been washed away by the river that 

 good sections are exposed *." 



* With reference to the southern portion of this coal-field, where it is exposed 

 in the valley of the Saskatchewan, Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's 

 Bay Territories, has the following remarks, in his * Narrative of an Overland Jour- 

 ney round the World,' vol. i. p. 162 : — 



*' Near Fort Edmonton a seam of coal, about 10 feet in depth, can be traced for 

 a very considerable distance along both sides of the river. This coal resembles 

 slate in appearance ; and, though it requires a stronger draught of air than that of 

 an ordinary chimney, yet it is found to answer tolerably well for the blacksmith's 

 forge. Petrifactions are also found here in abundance, and at the Fort there was 



