191 
1913-14.] The Organic Matter in Oil- Shales. 
expresses the opinion that the remains of dead animals form part of the 
organic material. This view is discussed later. 
Lastly, J. Schuster (. Neues Jahrbuch f Mineralogie, 1912, Bd. ii. p. 33) 
objects to the algal theory, and states that the yellow bodies are in some 
cases concretions of resin, and in others spherulites of silica, calcspar, or 
siderite. 
Little chemical work has been done on the subject beyond a few 
ultimate analyses for purposes of the above-mentioned trial. D. R. Steuart 
(' Oil-Shales of the Lothians, 1912, p. 164) prepared artificial shale from 
lycopodium dust and Florida fuller’s earth, and obtained from it on distilla- 
tion oil and ammonia in quantities similar to those obtained from torbanite. 
He also pointed out that there is very little in torbanite or in ordinary oil- 
shales which can be extracted by petroleum spirit, benzene, carbon di- 
sulphide, or ether, and that therefore the substance cannot be of the nature 
of petroleum, bitumen, or resin. 
Experimental. 
In order to determine whether the organic matter varied in composition, 
and, if so, what was the nature and extent of the variation, ultimate analyses 
were made of thirteen samples of oil -shales. The methods of analysis used 
were the same as those employed by Strahan and Pollard in their analyses 
of coals ( The Coals of South Wales, 1908, p. 6), except in the case of 
carbon and hydrogen determinations, where Walker and Blackadder’s 
modification of the Dennstedt combustion furnace was used. The samples 
were powdered in an agate mortar until sufficiently fine to pass through a 
90-mesh sieve, then dried in a toluene-bath at 105°-107° C. for an hour. 
No boat was used in the combustions, the powdered shale being mixed with 
the copper oxide. The ash was determined separately by igniting the shale 
in a muffle at bright red heat. 
The Kjeldahl method was employed for the nitrogen estimations, a gram 
of shale being used for each determination. The sulphur was estimated 
by heating one gram of the shale with five grams of sodium carbonate in 
a muffle till all the carbon was burned, digesting with warm water, filtering, 
acidifying the filtrate with hydrochloric acid (after the addition of 10 c.c. 
bromine solution to secure complete oxidation), and precipitating the 
sulphate formed with barium chloride. 
It was found that a slight correction was necessary in the hydrogen and 
ash determinations, there being present in the shales hydrous minerals from 
which the water was not expelled at 105° C. The amount of this water 
was estimated by heating a weighed quantity of the shale to a temperature 
