of some of the Principles of Vegetables into Bitumen , &c. 405 
disagreeable, owing most probably to a small portion of the resin, 
which had not been completely extracted by the alcohol. It 
was insoluble in water, and in alcohol, but was readily dissolved 
by heated fat oils ; and in every other particular was found to 
possess the properties of asphaltum. 
The 44 grains of asphaltum, when burned, left a residuum, 
which weighed 3 grains, and consisted of alumina, silica, and iron. 
By this analysis it appears, that the bitumen which accom- 
panies the Bovey coal, is a peculiar and hitherto unknown 
substance, which is partly in the state of vegetable resin, and 
partly in that of the bitumen called Asphaltum, the resin being 
in the largest proportion, 
as 100 grains of the above mentioned 
substance afforded. 
Resin 
55 
Asphaltum 
41 
Earthy residuum 
3 
99 - 
Thus we have an instance of a substance being found under 
circumstances which constitute a fossil, although the characters 
of it appertain partly to the vegetable, and partly to the mineral 
kingdom. 
§ VI. 
The powerful action which alcohol exerts on most of the 
resins, may justly be regarded as forming a marked distinction 
between those substances and the bitumens. But, as some of 
the bitumens are acted upon by alcohol, in a slight degree, I 
was desirous to ascertain whether a small portion of resin was 
contained in any of these; or, if that was not the case, I wished 
to determine the nature of the substance which could be sepa- 
rated, although very sparingly, by this menstruum. I therefore 
made the following comparative experiments, on the soft brown 
