400 Mr. Hatchett’s Observations on the Change 
also speedily melted, when placed on a red-hot iron, burned 
with much flame, and emitted a fragrant odour, totally unlike 
the very unpleasant smell produced by burning the coal itself, 
or by burning any of the common bituminous substances. The 
quantity, however, which could be extracted from 200 grains of 
the coal, by alcohol, was but small, as it did not exceed 3 grains. 
But this small quantity was sufficient to prove, that although 
the Bovey coal does not contain any vegetable extract, like the 
schistus formerly mentioned, yet the whole of the proximate 
principles of the original vegetable have not been entirely 
changed ; as a small portion of true resin, not converted into 
bitumen, still remains inherent in the coal, although the bitu- 
minous part is by much the most prevalent, and causes the fetid 
odour which attends the combustion of this substance. 
Upon a comparison of the general external characters of the 
Bovey coal, with those of the substance which forms the leaves 
contained in the Iceland schistus, a very great resemblance will 
be observed ; and this is farther confirmed, by the similarity of 
the products obtained from each of them in the preceding ex- 
periments, with the single exception, that the leaves contain 
some vegetable extract, which I could not discover in the Bovey 
coal. They agree however in every other respect; as they both 
consist of woody fibre in a state of semicarbonization, impreg- 
nated with bitumen, and a small portion of resin, perfectly 
similar to that which is contained in many recent vegetable 
bodies ; and thus it seems, that as the woody fibre, in these cases, 
still retains some part of its vegetable characters, and is but 
partially and imperfectly converted into coal, so, in like manner, 
some of the other vegetable principles have only suffered a 
partial change. Undoubtedly, there is every reason to believe 
