IN THE HIMALAYA. 389 



ignited in open fire, it leaves behind a residue of a reddish brown color ; 

 does not soil with the touch j contains minute crystals of Pyrites. The ge- 

 neral structure appears to consist of thin lamina parallel to the line of seam, 

 jointed. 



It is a matter of little doubt, that an excavation at the point where these 

 seams have been discovered would produce a result highly satisfactory in 

 the exposure of a greater deposit ; as it is a circumstance not to be passed 

 over, and well known to Geologists, that the presence of Shale, or the tena- 

 cious blue clay into which it decomposes, is supposed to be the strongest indi- 

 cation of the existence of a coal formation in its vicinity -, and Aiken, in making 

 the above remark, concludes : 



*' There are few situations in which this shale or clay occurs, where an 

 " accurate search will not discover detached fragments of coal, and often the 

 " crop or outburst of the seam itself j and even should these be wanting, it 

 *' will be well worth while to employ the borer, and pierce through the shale ; 

 " immediately beneath which a seam will be found, if it belongs to the coal 

 '* formation." 



T'o the Secretary/ of the Asiatic Society. 



Sir, — In continuation of the paper, which I had the honor of presenting 

 relative to the appearance of coal in the Jajar Nadi, it is necessary for me 

 to observe, that although the mineral, of which specimens are presented, 

 bears undoubtedly the character of coal in a mineral sense, and as a speci- 

 men, may be admitted as such into a cabinet, there may be doubts whether, 

 geologically speaking, its position, and the formation in which it has been 

 discovered, would entitle it to a higher rank amongst the Bituminous 

 minerals, than the intermediate grade between coal and peat, or a Ligneous 

 deposite under various degress of Bituminization. 



