44 
quarry ; it was chosen not only as a building material in great re- 
pute, but also with the view of investigating the bituminous matter 
which is both disseminated through it, and found in sufficiently 
large quantities to admit of a special inquiry. 
In the specimen alluded to, the bitumen appeared in small spots, 
becoming more visible when the stone was heated to 212° Fahr. 
When held in a flame, it melted, burned, and left the stone quite 
white. 
To the consideration of this curious substance the last part of this 
paper is entirely devoted ; and the experiments upon the stone itself 
are given in the table. 
I now proceed to a few remarks upon the bituminous substance 
already briefly noticed as occurring in the Binnie stone. 
It is a brittle substance, resembling wax to the touch, fusing at 
240° Fahr., and boiling above 680° Fahr. 
It is slightly soluble in alcohol, imparting to it an acid reaction ; 
it is somewhat more soluble in ether, in which case the solution also 
has an acid reaction. It is also soluble to a slight extent in bisul- 
phide of carbon ; turpentine, however, is its best solvent, giving a 
solution of a brown colour. 
The specific gravity of the bitumen is *955 ; when heated it com- 
pletely melts, then boils, and finally burns away, leaving a trace of 
ash. 
A large quantity of it was burned and the ash examined, when 
the following substances were found : — silica, iron, soda, and mag- 
nesia. 
When subjected to destructive distillation, it furnishes two dif- 
ferent products : the first solidifies as soon as it distils over ; the 
second remains liquid even at 32° Fahr. ; and exhibits the proper- 
ties of paraffine oil. 
The first product, when treated with ether, yielded paraffine in 
large quantity. 
A quantitative estimation of the ash and volatile matter gave the 
following results : — 
Volatile, ..... 99’86 
Ash, ..... *06 
Water '68 per cent. 
99’92 
