GEOLOGY: E. C. JEFFREY 
207 
down of vegetable materials in saline estuarial basins, even if this mode 
of accumulation be conceded, is very far from complying with the 
conditions of in situ formation. 
An interesting feature of the organization of ^coal balls' which ap- 
parently has not previously been emphasized vouches strongly for the 
accumulation of their constituents under open water conditions. Very 
frequently masses of charcoal are found distributed irregularly and 
without any principle of stratification through the petrified substance 
of the ball. This burned material irregularly disposed can only be 
explained naturally as the result of the washings of the rehcs of forest 
fires into open water, as often occurs in the case of our actual lakes. 
In figure 1 is shown part of a 'coal ball' showing on one side Cordaitean 
wood which had not been burned previous to mineralization and on the 
other side black woody material which shows all the evidence of trans- 
formation into charcoal. 
It is sometimes assumed that the occurrence of a peat-like organiza- 
tion in the coal balls vouches for their accumulation in situ. Nothing 
could be further from the truth. The use of the peat prober designed 
by the late Dr. C. A. Davis of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, in the case 
of lacustrine accumulations which are still covered by open water, has 
convinced the author that material, which superficially resembles ordinary 
peat is formed often at considerable depths, from the sinking of the water- 
logged twigs, leaves, cones, etc., of land plants to the bottom. Such 
an accumulation is shown in sections in figure 2, which represents mate- 
rial probed at about the depth of two meters under the open waters of a 
small lake in Eastern Quebec. It strikingly resembles in appearance 
the organization of the 'coal balls' shown in figure 1. An organization 
like that of land peat is consequently clearly not convincing evidence 
of the terrestrial origin in the case of masses of petrified coal. 
It will be convenient next to consider the organization of the coals 
which surround the petrifactions known as ' coal balls' . Figure 3 illustrates 
the structure of a coal derived from the well known Upper Foot Seam 
of Lancashire, England, from which so many of the English 'coal balls' 
have been secured. The cutting of successful sections of coals from 
seams producing 'coal balls' has proved to be a matter of considerable 
technical difficulty on account of the lack of bituminous binding material 
in such coals. The coals in question have to be held together with 
wrappings during the process of softening and must receive just the right 
degree of treatment with hydrofluouric acid and nascent chlorine to 
furnish utilizable sections. The general results here recorded depend 
on the examination of the structure of the three different samples of 
