﻿32 Canadian Record of Science. 



Peculiar Behaviour of Charcoal in the Blast 

 Furnace at Radnor Forges, Que. 



By J. T. Donald, M.A. 



In October last the Canada Iron Furnace Company 

 sent the writer a sample of what they termed partly con- 

 sumed charcoal, containing a large percentage of siliceous 

 matter, and which they stated " had been thrown out at 

 the cinder notch of the furnace in large quantities, uncon- 

 sumed, and showing fibres, or threads, of a yellow colour, 

 and similar to mineral wool." It was further stated that 

 " the coal, which was made from oak, and, apparently, 

 basswood and elm, seems unfit for furnace work." A 

 superficial examination was sufficient to show that this 

 charcoal was very peculiar indeed. Its unusual weight 

 at once challenged attention ; and a closer inspection 

 showed in the specimen a framework in the form of a 

 fibrous mass — not unlike a piece of harsh fibred asbestos. 

 Analysis showed that this fibrous matter amounted to na 

 less than 41.16 per cent, of the coal. The question now 

 was, to account for this large percentage of mineral 

 matter. The only explanation I could offer was to sug- 

 gest that it might be the result of charring wood that 

 had been partially fossilized, for it was well known that 

 such silicified wood is not uncommon. At the same time 

 this suggestion did not satisfy me ; it did not, I thought^ 

 cover the fibrous or rod-like structure of the mineral 

 matter — for I had never seen a similar structure in silici- 

 fied wood. I therefore decided to send portions of the 

 sample to Prof. Penhallow, of McGill, and Mr. W. F. 

 Ferrier, of the Geological Survey. These gentlemen are 

 authorities in their own departments — the former as a 

 botanist, and the latter as a mineralogist and lithologist. 

 It appeared to me that the question of the origin of the 

 siliceous matter of this coal was one of either botany or 

 mineralogy, and not of chemistry. Prof. Penhallow, 



