LIGNITE. 



I>)thran?, Fifefrhre, Linlithgowfhire, rfland of Skyc, and 

 Cannoby and Sanquhar, in Dunifriesdiire, in Scotland; 

 Ne«-ca!lle, Tindel fcUs, Bolton and Whitehaven, in Eng- 

 land ;. Aullria ; Hungary, Binnat, Traiilylvania ; Upper 

 L,uf itia ; Silefia ; mount MeifTiier in HeiTia ; Wiirtenberg ; 

 Francoiiia J i5ava:ia ; Salzburg; Italy; Pruffia. 



Of this combu'lible ornaments are made, particularly 

 iponrning trinkets ; it is pclifhcd with water on a horizontal 

 wheel of fatiditone. Jet mixed with pyrites is generally 

 rejected. 



z. Fr'uibk Llgnhe ; Moor coal ; Moor lohl:, Wern. 



This variety occurs in thick and exteniive beds. It is of 

 a lively black, but lefs (hining than that of the preceding 

 variety. Its great friability is particularly charafterillic of 

 at. Its furface is always cracked, and its mafl'es divide with 

 the greateil facility into a number of cubic fragments ; a 

 cliaracif r which is not found in jet. 



Friable lignite is more abundant and confequeitly more 

 ufeful than the two firil varieties. It is found in horizontal 

 banks often thick and extenfive, but is never feeu in fuch 

 large maffes as coal, with which it has been confounded by 

 fome ; it differs not only by its properties but alfo by its 

 gcogiioflic li;uation. It occurs in thofe maffes of land 

 wtiich often till up vallies in cahareous mountains, or cover 

 the fides of the hills that fliirt them. Is alfo found, 

 though more ra-ely, in clayey marie. 



Friable lignite is pretty common in the fouth of France, 

 fuch as in the department of Vaiiclufc*. Alfo as confider- 

 able mafs at Lnette, department des Forcts. 



Other locaaiies cited by authors are Leitmeri:z, Snatz, 

 and EUenbogen in B-<l;emia ; Thalern near Krems in Auf- 

 tria ; Tranfylvaiiia ; Moravia ; the ifl.uid of Barnholm in 

 the Baltic, and the Faroe idands. It oijc^irs more fre- 

 fluently in Bohemia than in any other countr^ Jam. 



It burns without diinculty, but fpreads a very difagree- 

 able odour. It can be made ufe of only in raanufaftures, or 

 to bur-7 lime. Smiths cannot ufe it in their forges. 



3. Fibrous Liginti ; Bltumhi.us 'wood; Bilumhiofcs IjoJt^, 

 Wern. 



Its colour varies from a clear blacklfh-brovvn to clove 

 brown ; it has a perfectly woody form and texture ; confe- 

 qiiently, its longitudinal fraiture is iibrous, and its tranf- 

 verfal fraclu'v Ihews tlie yearly layers of the wood. Jt is 

 more eafily frangible than wood, and takes a degree of 

 polifh whtn cut with a knife. 



This bgr.lte often occurs in large mafies. 



It Is found in France ; in the vicinity of Paris, near 

 .St. Germain, in the ifle of Chatou, which appears to 

 be entirely formed of it ; and near Vitry on the banks of 

 the Seine, where is a thick bed of trunks of trees well pre- 

 (erved. In the department of Arricge, tlie clef:s of this 

 lignite are filled with calcareous fpar. In Liguria, near 

 Ciflelnuovo, at the mouth of the Magra, it is found in 

 thick and exten.lve beds. In Heffia, in the .mountains of 

 Ahlberg, the ilratum is above two yards thick. /i.t Stein- 

 berg, near Miinden in Hanover, it forms two ftrata, one of 

 about ten yard?;, the other of fix, feparated by a bed of 

 rock from twelve to fourteen inches thick. In England, 

 EtBovey near Exeter, there are fevcnteen pretty thick llrafa, 

 (iiuated at a depth of about twenty two yards under fand 

 and in pott.-rs' cLy. In Iceland, w here it is very abundant, 

 it is called Sarturhrand i the trunks which form thefe beds 

 are very diilind, a'ld appear merely to ha-ve been comprciFed. 



To tliefe locahties we add tlie following from Jamefon : 

 Scoilaiul, iii the fietz-trap formation, accompanied with 

 pitch-coa!, in the ifland of Skye ; in feparate pieces in 

 traiip-brectia in tlie ifluud of Cannay ; in Betz Lmc-llone, in 



the iiland of Skye, and in the independent coal formation ia 

 the county of Mid Lothian ; Bohemia, in the Saatz and 

 Leitmeritz circles; Auilria ; Tranfylvania ; Moravia; Leo- 

 ban in Stiria ; Irfcnberg in Bavaria ; Upprr Palatinate ; 

 Landeck in Silefia ; Halle; Merfeburg ; .-^.rtern and Eifle- 

 ben in Tliuringia ; Kalten-Nordheirn near Eifenach ; Weh- 

 rau, Upper Lufatia ; Wiirtenberg; Freeienwalde and Ko- 

 nigfwalde in Brandenburg ; Weilerwald ; Salzburg ; Rufiia. 



But this lignite is iliil more common in fmail detached, 

 maflcs ; it fometimes accompanies the preceding varieties; 

 fometimes it is found alone in (mail layers, in the mid It of 

 banks of clay or fand. It is met with almoil every where, 

 and is ufod as fuel in thofe places «here it is abundant. 



This combuilible being fcarcely deconipofcd, and hence 

 rather vegetable than mineral, would not deferve to conlli- 

 tute a variety ir. a fyilem of mineralogy, if it did not p;.fs by 

 imperceptible degrees into the preceding varieties, and inti> 

 that which follows. 



4. Earlhy Lignite; Enrlli coal ; Erd Ljhle, Wern. 



Commonly called earth of Cologne, and fometimes^ 

 though improperly, umber ; but the true umber, whicli comes 

 from Italy or the eaft, contains nothing that is combulLble,. 

 whence it cannot belong to this fpecies. 



This fubllanee is black, or blackifh-brown mixed witk- 

 reddifh. Its fratlure and afpect are earthy ; it is fine- 

 grained, eafily frangible and even irial-le; it is rather foft to- 

 the feel. Its fpecific gravity is nearly that of water. It 

 burns, emitting a difagreeable fmell. 



It not only often contains vegetable remains, but fome- 

 times it.Gflf preients the texture of wood, without ever pof- 

 feffing either the colour and luftre, or the hardnels of the 

 pr-ceding varieties. It burns fufficiently well to be ufed as 

 fuel. It gives a gentle and equal heat. 



It is found in fecondary formation in the neighbourhood 

 of coal mines, and more frequently in alluvial land. 



As an authentic example of this variety may be mentioned 

 the earthy lignite from the vichiity of Cologne, known ia 

 trade by the name of eai'th ot Cologne. It is dug up at a 

 little diilance from that city, near the villages Briihl and 

 Liblar, where it forms very extenfive beds of eight or ten 

 yards in thicknefs, v/hich are fituated under elevated ground. 

 It is immediately covered with a bed, more or lels thick, of 

 rolled pieces of quartz and jafper, of the fize of an eg.g, 

 and refts on a bed of white clay of an unknown thickntls. 

 The bed of lisjnite is homog-eneous, but foffil veiretables are 

 found in it in a good Hate ot prelervation ; they arc, 



1, trunks of trees lying one on the other without order; 

 the wood is black or reddiih, generally comprefied', it readily 

 exfoliates by drying in the open air. Some of theie belong 

 to dicotyledonous trees, others are fragments of palms. 

 Among thefe M. Coquebert-Montbret has found fome that 

 are fi.led with a number of fmall round pyritic badies re- 

 fembling grains of fmall (hot. Similar fmall, but elongated- 

 round grains, refembhng a two-celled pod, have been found- 

 by Mr. Heim, in the lignite of Kalten Nordheim. This 

 wood burns very well, and even with a fmall flame.., 



2. Woody fruits, of the fize of a nut, and which are con- 

 fulered as belonging to a fpecies of areca. The hgnite of 

 Cologne contains about twenty per cent, of a(hes rather alka- 

 line and ferruginous. Its uies are manifold ;. it is wxirked 

 in open air with a iimple fpade, but in ordei- to convey it 

 wiih greater convenience, it is moillened and moulded iti 

 veffcls which give it the fhape of a truncated cone. It is 

 generally ufed as fuel in the neighbourhood of Cologne., v 

 It burns (lowly but readily and wiihout flame, like fungu* 

 tinder, giving a llroug heat and leaving very fine allies. 

 The latter being conliuiicd as a very good manure, a paix 



