130 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALBANY MEETING 



Prof. W. H. TwENHOFEL : Worn shells and gravels occur throughout the 

 Gotland section and have very little significance in so far as the existence of 

 a stratigraphic break is concerned. Many, if not all, of the phenomena de- 

 scribed in the paper are to be referred to the influence of the coral reefs. The 

 strata and faunas on opposite sides of the reefs are different. Discordances 

 of strata are common and mean nothing in terms of a stratigraphic break. 



Further remarks were made by Miss O'Connell. 



EVIDENCE AS TO THE MODE OF FORMATION OF COAL DERIVED FROM THE 

 DEPOSITS OF JAPAN, CHINA, AND MANCHURIA 



BY E. C. JEFFREY AND KONO YASUI 



{Abstract) 



Through the kindness of various geologists in Japan and eastern Asia, we 

 have been able to investigate the organization of the coals of these regions by 

 means of the improved methods devised by one of us. 



Coals from the Mesozoic and Tertiary of Japan, from the island of Hokkaido 

 southward, show evidence of being composed of modified vegetative structures 

 intermingled almost invariably with spores often present in such large amounts 

 as to result in a canneloid appearance. For the most part the vegetative re- 

 mains in the coal have lost their structure except when partially or wholly in 

 the condition of charcoal. The frequently large spore content of Japanese 

 coals, even of those belonging to the category of steam coals (for example, the 

 Takashima or Nagasaki coals), as well as the occasional presence of isolated 

 fragments of charred wood or mother of coal, so called, vouch for their accu- 

 mulation by open water deposition. 



Similar results were obtained from the examination of coals of various 

 geological ages from China and Manchuria. The Oriental coals consequently 

 supply further and convincing evidence for the deposition of the raw material 

 of coal in open water. 



Presented in abstract extem23oraneonsly by the senior author. 



PETRIFIED COALS AND THEIR BEARING ON THE ORIGIN OF COAL 

 BY E. C. JEFFREY 



(Abstract) 



In various European coal deposits petrifactions have been found in coal 

 seams, which are commtmly (jailed "coal balls." The author has recently de- 

 vised methods of investigating the coals which are present in coal beds con- 

 taining coal balls. It appears from examination of somewhat numerous sam- 

 ples from England (Lancashire and Yorkshire), from Germany (Westphalia), 

 and Russia (Donetz coal field) that such coals are not normal coals. Their 

 reaction to chemical reagents is quite distinct and they are free from the 

 quantities of spores which are characteristically present in coals from all parts 

 of the world and every geological age. Their structure is homogeneous except 



