502 G. H. PERKINS — TERTIARY LIGNITE OF BRANDON, VERMONT 



lignite. Bits of white quartz, usually quite small, are often abundantly- 

 intermingled with the lignite. 



Age of the Lignite 



None of the shafts have reached the underlying rock, so that it is not 

 known what is directly below the deposit. The age of the lignite is, at 

 least approximately, fixed as Tertiary by the fossils. Doctor Hitchcock 

 considered it as " Pliocene or newer Tertiary." In 1863 Mr Lesquereux 

 wrote : 



" Most of the fruits published, or rather figured, can be referred to the species 

 of the Upper Tertiary. They agree especially with the flora of Oeningen, and I 

 have no doubt that the Brandon lignites belong to the same epoch as the upper 

 bed of lignite of the Tertiary." 



By this must be meant the Miocene. 



In the last edition of Dana's Manual we find the statement that " the 

 Brandon lignite is probably of Eocene origin." Professor Knowlton, 

 however, thinks that this is " a conclusion which later investigation will 

 not sustain." And yet he says of the structure of some specimens of the 

 lignite, " Indeed after careful study I am scarcely able to distinguish the 

 Brandon lignite from a species of Pityoxylon described by Schmalhau- 

 sen from the Eocene and Braunkohle of southwestern Russia," and de- 

 cides that the Brandon specimens are only a variety of the Russian form. 



Stratigraphically we have no help, for so far as position is concerned 

 the lignite may be placed anywhere between the Cambrian and the 

 Quaternary. While the deposit may be either Eocene or Miocene, the 

 fossils, in the judgment of the writer, are more closely allied to modern 

 than to ancient forms — that is, they are more Miocene than earlier. 



Appearance and Character of the Lignite 



The lignite is always dark brown in color, though the shade varies 

 from that which is much like that of ordinary decayed wood, which some 

 specimens closely resemble, to that which is black like jet. In much of it 

 the grain of the wood is distinctly visible, but there is also not a little in 

 which no fiber can be found, nor any trace of the original structure, 

 except by careful examination under the microscope, but not always 

 then. The density and hardness also vary greatly. Some of it can be 

 easily cut ; a few specimens are as hard as soft coal. Usually it breaks 

 easily, a light blow of a hammer sufficing to shatter a good-sized piece, 

 but in some cases it can not be easily broken. When protected, as in a 

 museum, it often remains indefinitely unchanged. I have seen in several 

 museums pieces that had been in the cases 40 or 50 years, being among 

 the first found, and these do not appear to have changed in any respect. 



