[ 549 ] 
of coal, of io inches; under which is a black earth, 
and at the bottom of the clift, clay. It rifes in la- 
minae, and is difcovered in the outermoft part of the 
clift, whence it is taken, by digging horizontally : 
fome is black,' and fome of a redifh colour; which 
latter is reputed the worft, and does not burn fo 
well. The afhes of both are reckoned very good 
manure for clay ground. It is made ufe of to heat 
ovens ; and when piled up as turff, gives a clear light, 
and yields a ftrong bituminous fmell. It is found 
more to the weft, at Chickerel and Fleet, in the 
fands, the fhore being open. 
The Kimendge coal, which, in all refpedts, re- 
fembles that before-mentioned, and is fo called from 
the place where it is dug, appears in moft of the 
cliffs of the ifle of Purbeck, from St. Aldhelm’s cha- 
pel to Eaft-Lulworth, and at Ofmington, oppofite to 
that part of Portland where the coal is dug. It is 
found 1 6 feet below the top of the rock, in great 
lumps ; but the ftratum does not exceed a feet in 
thicknefs, nor extend far from the fhore. It emits, 
when burnt, a ftrong fulphureous fmell, and has a 
great many yellow ftrokes and fpots on it, which 
feem to be marcafite. It is almoft wholly ufed by 
the poor, in their ovens and chimneys, and is fold 
for nine pence per hogfhead, or fix (hillings per ton. 
Under water, and in the cliffs, it is very hard ; but 
when expofed to the air it fhivers into pieces like 
flate. 
At Kimendge are found fmall round pieces of this 
coal, from one to three inches in diameter, one fide 
of which is flat, the other tapering, like the lower 
part of a cone. In fome there is a fquare hole in 
4 B 2 the 
