ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE COAL DIS- 

 COVERED BY THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 1875-6. 



BY 



RICHARD J. MOSS, F.C.S., 



Keeper of the Minerals, Museum of Science and Art. 



[Read November 19th, 1877.] 



During the late Arctic Expedition an extensive seam of coal was 

 discovered in Grinnell Land, close to the winter quarters of 

 H.M.S. Discovery, 81° 43' N.L., 64° At W.L. Dr. Moss, late of 

 H.M.S. Alert, presented a large specimen of the coal to this 

 Society. It is now deposited in the Museum of Science and Art. 

 The specimen was taken by Dr. Moss from the seam at about 

 fifteen feet from its upper surface, the estimated thickness of the 

 seam being about twenty-five feet. The coal possesses the lustre, 

 fracture, and other external characters of bituminous coal of good 

 quality, notwithstanding that the shale which overlies it is rich 

 in fossil remains of a flora of the Miocene peripd. The coal cakes 

 when heated, and leaves sixty-one per cent, of a coherent coke. 

 Its specific gravity is 1*3. The following are the results of my 

 analysis, every precaution having been taken to insure that the 

 sample analyzed was a fair average of the entire specimen : — 



Carbon, 



. , 



75-49 



Hydrogen, 

 Oxygen and 

 Sulphur, * . 

 Ash, 



Nitrogen, 



5-60 

 9-89 

 0-52 

 6-49 



Water, 



• 



201 



100-00 



The composition of the coal, excluding water, sulphur, and 

 ash, is : — 



Carbon, . . . .82-97 



Hydrogen, . . . 6-16 



Oxygen and Nitrogen, . . 10*87 



100-00 

 * Including Sulphur in the form of iron pyrites, 0-36 per cent. 



