of Edinburgh, Session 1864-65. 
365 
The sp. gr. of the lighter is *768. 
Of the heavier „ ’858. 
The lighter oil, when refined, is colourless, and resembles the oils 
obtained from coal, petroleum, &c. 
^ Its sp. gr. is ‘753. 
The substance itself resembles, in general appearance, dried clay; 
but it is very light, being extremely buoyant in water. It breaks 
with a conchoidal fracture, and in some portions there are bands of 
minute strife, indicating sedimentary deposition. Thin sections, 
which I have prepared with difficulty, show no trace of organic 
structure under the miscroscope. 
No information was received with it as to the exact locality 
whence it was obtained, but in the Exhibition of 1862 similar sub- 
stances were shown in the Brazilian collection, under the following 
titles : — 
1. Schistos betuminosos calcareos — from the Serra de Araripe, 
in the Province of Ceara. 
2. Schisto argilo-calcareo betuminoso — from Chapad, in the Pro- 
vince of Maranham. 
3. Schisto betuminoso — from Pirapora, Province of Paulo. 
4. Schisto betuminoso — from the Morro do Taio, Province of 
Santa Catherina. 
5. Schisto betuminoso — from Camaragibe, Province of Alagoas. 
In all probability the specimen before this Society is from one of 
these localities ; and the fact that it is so widely distributed in 
Brazil will stimulate further inquiry about so valuable a substance. 
The following Donations to the Library were announced: — 
Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. Vol. VII. 
Part 1. 8 VO. — From the Society. 
G-eneral Index to the first 15 vols. of the Transactions of the 
Pathological Society of London, 1864. 8vo. — From the 
Society. 
Abstracts of the Meteorological Observations made at the Magne- 
tical Observatory, Toronto, C.W., during 1854 to 1859. 4to. 
Toronto, 1864. — From the Observatory. 
