12 DR TRAILL ON THE TORBANEHILL MINERAL. 



Composition. 



A specimen of the darkest colour, from pit No. 3, afforded of — 



Volatile matter = 84*1 per cent. 

 Solid residue =15*9 „ 

 100 grains afforded 60 - 5 cubic inches of a dense inflammable gas. 



Besides these, the quantity of paraftine appeared considerable. 

 The solid residue consisted chiefly of silica and alumina, with traces of lime, 

 and oxide of iron. 



Geological Character. 



It occurs in a bed, varying in thickness from 16 to 24 inches, in the coal for- 

 mation at Torbanehill and Boghead, in Linlithgowshire, in contact with shales and 

 clay ironstone, with an inclination of about 7°, dipping to the north. It occa- 

 sionally contains casts and impressions of large Stigmarise, and other fossil vege- 

 tables, which are also found in the accompanying shales. 



Note. — Since the above paper was written, I have learnt that an important de- 

 cision of the question, " Whether this mineral be, or be not, a coal?" has occurred 

 in Germany. 



About the very time when the case of Gillespie v. Russell was tried in our 

 Courts, and a Jury decided that the Torbanehill mineral was a coal, a directly 

 opposite opinion was pronounced b}^ a more competent tribunal in Prussia. 



It seems that in the imperial city of Frankfort there are two rival gas compa- 

 nies, one of which is restricted to the use of oil, or of resinous or bituminous sub- 

 stances, the other to coal alone, in the manufacture of gas for illumination. 



The oil gas company imported the Linlithgow mineral, as a bituminous sub- 

 stance for gas-making ; but they were opposed by the other company, as infring- 

 ing their exclusive right. Another question also arose between the first company 

 and the customhouse. By the laws of the German Zollcerein, coal pays an im- 

 port duty of from one to two shillings per ton, while oil or resinous substances 

 used for gas-making may be imported duty free. 



The city customhouse authorities were unable to decide the question ; and, as 

 in all such circumstances of doubt, the case was referred to the determination of 

 the Central Board of Customs, which has its seat at Berlin. That board wisely 

 called in the assistance of the most eminent scientific men of the capital, among 

 whom were some of the distinguished Professors of the Berlin University ; and 

 these united bodies have decided that the Linlithgowshire mineral may be im- 



