Coal. 



43 



anthracites found in Ireland and on the European continent, as «• car- 

 bonaceous matters that can never be profitably worked, so as to be- 

 come objects of statistical interest." — (Ure.) And Mr. Conybeare, 

 in his admirable view of the English coal formations, speaks of the 

 deposit of bituminous coal, as " the only one capable of being applied 

 to purposes of extensive utility, which appears to exist in the whole 

 geological series." Is not this an example of that hasty generaliza- 

 tion, to which geologists are so prone ? 



A third sort of coal is commonly enumerated, called lignite, con- 

 sisting of wood partially carbonized, and still retaining its form, more 

 or less distinctly. All the kinds of coal that have been mentioned, 

 are found in Massachusetts ; the lignite on Martha's Vineyard ; the 

 bituminous coal on the Connecticut river, particularly at South Had- 

 ley ; and the anthracite at Worcester, and in small quantities, in the 

 north part of Middleborough, in Bridgewater, and West Bridgewa- 

 ter, in Wrentham and Braintree, and near the line of the state in 

 Cumberland, Rhode Island. It is found also in small quantities at 

 Turner's Falls, at Southampton, and at Enfield Falls, in the valley 

 of the Connecticut. But do they occur in sufficient quantity and of 

 such quality, as to render them of any statistical value 1 



The lignite exists in beds several feet thick, in the clay of the Vine- 

 yard: and although used as fuel in some parts of Europe, it burns 

 so poorly that it will not be much used probably, until fuel shall be- 

 come much more scarce. 



Genuine bituminous coal, in sufficient quantity to be worked to 

 advantage, has never been found, except in connection with a partic- 

 ular series of rock, called the Coal Formation. Such a formation 

 has long been supposed to exist in the valley of the Connecticut : ex- 

 tending across the whole of Massachusetts and Connecticut ; and the 

 strata have been bored in South Hadley, at least, in two instances, and 

 once by a gentleman familiar with the real European coal formations. 

 Several years ago, I myself delineated a coal formation, on a geolog- 

 ical map of the Connecticut, published in the American Journal of 

 Science. But further examination has brought me, unwillingly, to 

 the conclusion, that no such formation exists in that valley, and that 

 the one which I then regarded as real coal measures, is in fact the 

 new red sandstone, or its equivalent. In another part of this report, 

 I shall give my reasons for this conclusion. But I would remark, 

 that I do not feel so much confidence in this opinion, that I would 

 urge the entire abandonment of all efforts to find coal ; for the facts 



