W. M. Fontaine— West Virginia Asphaltum Deposit. 415 
their mass a dark gray, from impregnation with bituminous 
could have been very fluid or subjected to much pressure ver- 
tically ; while it may have been forced along a tergo. 
ome of these peculiar features may be explained by the 
following assumptions. 
Ve may suppose an open crevice formed, and then filled by 
the inflowing of a semi-fluid bituminous compound, which hard- 
ened rapidly on coming in contact with the porous sandstone 
walls. Its fluidity may have been due to the presence of a 
vaporizable liquid, like naphtha, which could easily penetrate 
the sandstone walls, thus causing the seeming crystalline struc- 
ture on the outer portions, and the lack of discoloration of the 
ock. This evaporating fluid may have met with more obstruc- 
fon in passing through a stratum of bituminous matter, and 
hence the present impregnation by it of enclosed fragments of 
tocks, and hence also the imperfect development of structure 
in the inner mass, 
Tf this be true, the inner portion should be richer in volatile 
e 
ee but so far as I know, no eg iy ; een made. 
= least, we know that there do exist heavy oils having nearly 
€ character of our assumed liquid. ; 
I know of but one analysis of the mineral, that by Prof. 
7 urtz. Iam informed that this has been verified, in the main, 
Y subsequent ones. This is as follows: Sp. gr. 1145. Com- 
Position: C 76-45, H 7°88, O 18-46, Ash 2°26, traces of S 
"ons N. For the behavior of the mineral with solvents and 
i nek article in Dana’s Mineralogy, on Grahamite, may be 
sulted. 
It yields theoretically 140 gallons of oil per ton; practical 
X g per ton; prac y; 
100 may be CE) “The fine dust pr luced OY hand- 
e dry dust having caught fire in the lower levels, the 
sous products became mixed with air in the upper works 
and exploded, 
